Civil War Letter from 1861

This is the second letter I have from the Civil War era.  This one was written by Col. Jonathan Webster Childs. He is the older brother to Lewis E. Childs, the letter transcribed in the previous post. Again, this letter is written to my great-great-grandfather, James Webster Childs, of Augusta Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan, while he was in the legislature for the State of Michigan. See more on J. Webster in the last post and watch for more detail on him in a future post.

     Jonathan was born March 14, 1834, in Laoni (Laona), Chautauqua, New York. This is near Jamestown in the southwest corner of New York. He was the first child of Aaron Childs and Hannah Bemis. He married first, Frances Crawford, born in 1840. They were married in Appalachicola, Franklin, Florida, on June 29, 1866. Frances died in December, 1871. They had no children that I could find. Nothing more is known about Frances. He married a second time on December 28, 1873, in Savannah, Georgia, to Frances E. (Fannie) Gause. They had two daughters, Elaine, born in 1875, in Richmond, Virginia, and a second daughter, Abbie Blanche, born in 1876 in Washington, D.C. Abbie only lived two months.  Elaine did marry and have a son.

     Johnathan died on May 24, 1896 and Fannie died in 1913.

There is a great deal written about Jonathan Webster Childs and his time in the service during the Civil War and discussion of the reasons he may have resigned.  If you are interested in further information about him, please refer to the following book:

The 4th Michigan Infantry in the Civil War by Martin N. Bertera and Kim Crawford.

Martin and Kim used the following letter and many others as background for their book and discussion of this very interesting episode in the Childs family and the Civil War.

As with the first letter, I have left the spellings, punctuation, etc. as they were written.

Headquarters, 21^st Mich Inf’y

Camp Union   Aug 15, 1861

Dear Uncle,

Several weeks has passed since I wrote you last. And notwithstanding I have not heard from gm. Allow me to try again.  You have doubtless been informed that our Regiment is brigaded under Gen’l Sherman, who ranks at the head of the Brigadiers, he had given him to make the selection thirty-two Regiments.  And the following are those he chose.

                9^th Reg’t Mass

                14^th Reg’t NY (Utica)

                 DeKalb, NY City (German, all of whom have seen service)

                4^TH Reg’t Mich

                Ayers Battery (formerly Shermans)

                Company I U.S. Cavelry 

During the past week there has been added to his brigade one other Battery, and a company of Cavelry.  It has been about a week since we came over here, and were placed in advance of all other Regiments.  The remainder of the brigade lies between us and the river. The enemy is at Falls Church and we are constantly expecting to have a brush with them. Our pickets are doing a little skirmishing each day. Our pickets until Sunday extended about a mile beyond the Rail Road, but now they are taken in and extend only half a mile this side of the R.R. Yesterday our scouts brought information that the rebels had advanced to the Rail Road with two pieces of artillery and several companies of cavelry. Several companies of our troops are stationed out with the furthest picket. I was out there one night with two companies. 

We are all of us kept constantly in the dark as to when where or how the next movement will be made. Defeat in a great measure seems to attend our armies, both here and in Missouria but our zeal in the cause does not relax in the least. The men are all anxious to have a fight and I venture to say when the “Fourth” is called into an engagement, they will fight most desperately. Many things has been said in Michigan against our Regiment, calculated to lower it in the estimation of people at home and abroad. Several of our officers have been spoken of by those same designing persons in a manner calculated to give a faulse [sic] impression as regards their ability to discharge the various duties devolving upon them. As regards our Colonel he is a man admirably calculated for the position which he holds. He is in a word beloved by the whole Regiment and not one could be found who would for a moment hesitate to _____ his own life for the safety of the Colonel. His devotion to the Regiment is unbounded.  unlike many commanders he is always to be found in the camp instructing his men and never leaves except upon business connected with the Regiment. As regard the proficiency of our drill, few Regiments if any now in the field can excell us in Battalion movements.  and had it been otherwise we should not have received the second post of honor in Gen’l Sherman’s brigade.  of which with pride, we can now boast. And furthermore a cordiality of feeling greater never existed between the officers of a Regiment. To my certain knowledge there has not a thing transpired to mar the good feeling which has ever existed. We believe there is one and only one exception. Dr. Turnicliffe of Jackson who at the urgent request of the Governor was placed upon the Colonel’s staff as surgeon with the rank of Major, has during the whole time he has been with shown great dissatisfaction.  and now particularly since the Col. requested him for his own good and that of the men also, to remain in camp and not visit Washington so frequently as he was in the habit of attending Congress daily and frequently would not return for many days. He is now in Mich on a furlough and we have information from good authority that he is saying all he can against the Regiment. Later information says he has received an appointment in the first Regiment. There is also another, the correspondent of the Detroit Free Press who signs his articles “Hamilton” & “H” (H.H. Finley) who went with us from Adrian to Washington expecting to receive the appointment of Captain or Lieutenant or anything else he could obtain in the Regiment but the Col. received word from the Governor not to give him any position. Consequently the Col. told him it was not likely any opening would occur for him. And from that time he has openly declaired that he was by nature vindictive and would do his utmost to ruin the reputation of the Regiment.  and he has constantly been putting in circulation false reports concerning as viz = that the officers were intemperate that there was no discipline, that the Col. and Quarter Master contrived to cheat on the rations, that the officers quareled amoung themselves and were dispised by the soldiers, etc. etc.  All of which are the bleakest bare faced lies. He made himself busy with the 1^st  2^nd & 3^rd Reg’ts circulating such reports. He is careful to keep without our lines, should he enter them the men would tar & feather him.  and no power could prepurt (?) them from doing so. There are other things in this connection that I will write soon. If outsiders would let us alone there would be nothing to mar the peace of this camp. Every report that has been put in circulation calculated to injure us, can be proven to originate from a spirit of jealouscy [sic] and envy.

Hoping to hear from you soon I remain Dear Uncle every your affectionately,   J.W. Childs

Civil War Letter from 1862

     The following is a letter written in 1862, during the Civil War.  The writer, Lewis Eugene Childs, was the son of Aaron Childs, one of the first settlers (from New Hampshire) in Augusta Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan.  Aaron and Hannah Bemis Childs had nine children.  Their first child was Col. Jonathan Webster Childs.  Next week I will transcribe a letter he wrote in 1861 while he served in the Civil War.  I have the originals of both of these letters.  Lewis E. Childs, was born on  May 25, 1836 and died February 1, 1889.  He married Frances Hazeltine Richardson on June 12, 1866 in Fitchburg, Worcester, Massachusetts. He served three years in the Army of the Cumberland. He was severely wounded at the Battle of Chickamunga, taken prisoner and later exchanged. They had five children with only one, Herbert Ward Childs, surviving to adulthood. Although Herbert married, there were no children and he died at the young age of 37. Lewis and Frances are both buried in Highland Cemetery, in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

      Lewis wrote this letter to his uncle James Webster Childs. J. Webster was my great-great grandfather. He was a Representative and then a Senator in the Michigan Legislature in the 1860s and 1870s. I will write more on him later.  As you can see from the letter, Lewis was asking a favor. He had apparently done so before. 

     The spelling, underlining, and punctuation are as written.                                                                                            

                                                                                          Head Quarters

                                                                                          11^th Reg’t Mich Vols

                                                                                Belmont Ky March 31^st – 62

Dear Uncle

Knowing the willingness you have allready manifested to use your influence for my bennifit, I again ask a favor of you.

Lieut Col Stoughton (The man of the Reg’t) with some of the other officers of the Reg’t have written Gov. Blair to give me a Capts commission and Ephraim G. Hall a 2^nd Lieuts commission. The Col. requested me to write to you requesting you to recommend us to the Gov for the same. The Col’s letter was sent last Saturday. If you will write the Gov as soon as convenient and can conscientiously recommend us for those positions you will much oblige. The Col said there was no doubt but the Gov would grant them but he wished you to write so the Gov. would know and feel satisfied.

Fortune has seen fit to cast our lot in the Def. of the Ohio but not in the advance of that army which has lately moved its Head Quarters from Louisville to Nashville.

Four months have we been anxiously waiting to be ordered into more active service, but today finds us scattered for thirty miles along the R.R. guarding its depots and bridges. This line of RR is indispensable to our army and every bridge from Louisville to Nashville is guarded night and day. The trains run on the road so one can go to Bowling Green and back in a day. Some of us are talking of going to see the cave (?)In a few days, but situated where we are one does not want to go far to find scenes interesting and wonderful, to us who have never seen hills much higher than (our heads?).  Just to the South of our camp are three high hills and the one in the center which is a number of hundred feet high looks as if it was monarch of all it surveyed.  I went to the top of it a few days ago and for the first time in my life stood where I could look in every direction just as far as the eye could reach.

Today the paymaster is here and we are being payed off. The paymaster is late from Washington and he and his clerk were well acquainted with Webster. This afternoon as soon as they [sic] are through payin we are to ride out in the country. I am to be pilot and shall direct the way to where two young ladies live

And by the way you remember the Browns. They attended this school at Mount Washington, and have given me a whol history of their   __vadings?  in Ky. But I must clos for the room is full. They are paying in my room. Please answer soon and receive this hasty note from

                                              Your affectionate Nephew       Lewis E. Childs

New name for my blog

Greetings  -  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and found much to be thankful for - I certainly did, and do.

I decided to change the name of my blog to "Relatives in the Attic."  I should have done it when I started my new website awhile ago and then changed both names at the same time - but better late than.....

The study group met this last month at the West Valley Genealogical Society's library, had a tour and did some research. Thank you, Peggy, for a great tour and answering all our questions.

These last two months we have all been working (hopefully) on a new writing assignment. Many of us have either already written, or would like to write, stories about a relative or ancestor. I can't wait to start reading the stories at our November meeting.  I have mine almost complete, it just needs more fine tuning.  I will put it in the blog next month. Three of us from the study group had stories in the Fall edition of the West Valley's "Desert Tracker" publication that comes out twice a year. I submitted my story on "Who Was Mickey" - it was the same story that I detailed on this blog several months ago.

More to come, but wanted everyone to be aware of my new address. Watch for the new website name to come soon.

Fall and Writing and Scramblin!

Fall is coming to Phoenix. That means cooler evenings and mornings (great for walking) and days under 100. I know it still sounds warm, and it is, but it is a huge relief from over 100 and it is surprisingly comfortable.

It has been a busy summer with traveling (a wonderful family wedding in Michigan) and escaping the heat of Phoenix, for the cool summer in Colorado. I have been working on small projects, not getting a great deal done, but keeping busy. I am having trouble keeping motivated on the book I am working on about my Beckington grandparents. I have submitted an article locally to a society's publication in the Phoenix area about Mickey, which will appear in the Winter edition. I have written extensively about Mickey Bruner on my blog in the past. The Writer's Group I belong to meets next week so I need to get busy on another article. I am going to write about the Court family that stayed in New York. My great-great Grandfather, William Wallace Court, came to Michigan. He was one of five children born to James and Janette Bouquet Court, and the only one to migrate to Michigan. The others stayed in New York and didn't seem to fare as well.

I watch a blog called "Life from the Roots" by Barbara Poole. It is an excellent blog. She has the name Scramblin on her surname list. Maria Court, William's daughter, married a Lewis Wilson Scramblin. They lived in the Jackson County area of Michigan at one point. Maria had at least three children who died in infancy. Maria died at the age of 43 in 1928. I did some further research on the Scramblin name and am trying to figure out a connection to the family that Barbara highlights. Since Barbara is in the New England area and most of her ancestors are from there, we have a great many names in common.

Our monthly study group has been going very well. Everyone is trying new things and learning a great deal. I certainly learn putting the meeting and lessons together. This September was our one-year anniversary so we went over the goals we had set last year. It was amazing how many of those goals had been accomplished already or were near completion. We then started a new list of goals for this next year.

The group is heading for the West Valley Genealogical Society's library in Sun City in late October. It is a wonderful library (over 12,000 books and 1,500 periodicals) with an extensive map collection. Some of the ladies have never been. We are also all going to start a writing project on an ancestor who has an interesting story to tell, which we will work on over the next couple of months. Many of the group are avid writers already, but we are ALL going to start on a new project to write about and then will present them - and maybe do some editing - at our November meeting. I will be working on the Court story I mentioned above.

Final note on Mickey and new possibilities on my grandfather's wife

I did indeed have the death certificate for Mickey waiting for me on my return to Phoenix. What a surprise to actually find a name in the "father" category. I did not really expect there to be one. You have to wonder if Dorothy also named the father on the birth certificate (which I can't get because of privacy laws), or did she decide - now that the child had died, it didn't matter anymore? I, of course, immediately started doing research on this person. I will not give his name. There are several reasons for this - 1) did he know?  2) did his family know?  3) is he really the father?  4) I guess if someone else really wants to know, they can also ask for the death certificate.

By the way, Washtenaw County in Michigan, has a wonderful system for this very thing. For any death certificate (years available) and marriage certificates, you simply request online what you want with appropriate information and give your credit card information. If they have it, it will be mailed to you within a week or so, if they don't have it - you don't owe them any money. I wish more counties had this set up. Thank you, Washtenaw County!

Anyway, back to Mickey's father. I did some checking. There is a man with that name in Ann Arbor about that time. He is about a year older than Dorothy. He would have been 17, Dorothy 16, when she got pregnant. Did they go to the same high school? same church?  I don't know. This man died in 1982 and I noted that he was a Sr. when he died, so there is a Jr. I don't know if the family knew about Mickey. Since these two parents would have been in high school and Mickey died not even ten years later, maybe not. It solves a mystery for me. If this man is indeed Mickey's father, then there was no incest involved. Rape?  Maybe, maybe not. We will just never know.

The second "mystery" I have been researching is my grandfather, Garth Beckington, and the woman he married after my grandmother's death. Edna died in April, 1952. Garth remarried a woman by the name of Luddie in November 1954. He died in March of 1956. No one knows much about Luddie. Again, most cousins remember a small, round woman from the south, maybe Alabama. How did they meet? And who was she? His obituary does state that he married Miss Luddia M. Hensen. A start! I started searching Luddia/Luddie Hensen. I was amazed at how many Luddies are out there. Mostly in the south.

I found a very likely candidate. Luddia Mae Perkins was born in 1906 in Alabama. She married J. Chart Henson (spelled Henson in most cases) about 1920. I was able to follow this family through the 1940 census. She had two sons, Carl and Edward, and a daughter - the name is either Lion or Lucy, or something similar, all born in the 1920s. I can't find a death date or burial for J(ames) Chart, but assume he died between 1940 and 1954, when she married my grandfather. Or did she? Marry, that is? They were not married in Washtenaw County, in Lucas County (Toledo), Ohio or Chicago - three places that cousins suggested. Where did they marry? Why not marry in Washtenaw County, Michigan where he lived? How did they meet? She spent most of her life in Alabama, possibly some time in Georgia. Her sons lived and died in Alabama. I am having trouble finding descendants who might have an answer or two about this woman and if she was indeed the second wife of Garth. Did I follow the right woman and family? What happened to her after he died? I know Garth's children were not fond of her (for various reasons) and apparently one of her sons came in a "big car" to pick her up after Garth's funeral. That is the last anyone heard from her. She did not die with the name of Beckington, so maybe she remarried or just went back to Henson?  I can't find a burial for that name either.

I will keep trying to find a descendant mostly to learn if I have the right woman. Garth was born in 1878 and she was born in 1906. Most of the cousins were young and to a child - anyone over the age of 40 is "old."  There would have been 20+ years difference in their ages. My one surviving aunt was asked by her son if she thinks Luddie could have been that much younger than her father. She didn't live in Michigan during those years, but said yes, that was her understanding. Maybe a Henson will see this blog while Googling their name and make a comment.

Did I answer more questions than I added to my list of "don't knows?"  I guess I feel confident that I have answered some major ones anyway.

August in the Mountains and other thoughts

I have been enjoying the coolness of the Colorado mountains this last month, it has been a nice break from the Phoenix heat. I have gotten some genealogy research and writing done. Not as much as I would like, but - it all takes time!

Another note on Mickey (check my November and July posts). I requested his death certificate from Washtenaw County, Michigan, and it should be waiting for me in Phoenix when I return. I am anxious to see what details it might reveal that I don't already know. I suppose there could be "one more note" on Mickey later, depending on what the death certificate reveals.

I did go through letters that I have been saving from various family members to my grandparents. I will be writing about the correspondence between my grandparents (to each other, while they were dating) in a book - hopefully that will come out in the winter/spring. It is a larger undertaking than anticipated.

Among others, I have letters written by Dorothy Bruner Beckington (Mickey's mother) to Garth and Edna Beckington (her new husband's parents), after her marriage to Garth (my uncle Toot). Some of the early letters were written when he was stationed at Fort Atterbury, Indiana, where he was stationed for training during WW II and before he was shipped out to England. She was able to live on the base (or near by) with him after their marriage. They married June 6, 1942. As I wrote about in the previous posts mentioned above, Mickey was her son by a previous relationship. He would have been about six years old when Toot and Dorothy married. I am guessing he stayed with his grandparents, William Gross and Alice Marenger Bruner Gross, Dorothy's mother and step-father, while Toot and Dorothy were in Indiana. At least, I assume. She never mentions him in her letters. Where is he? She doesn't say she misses him, or anything. She always (even in the years to come) addresses her in-laws as "Mr. and Mrs. Beckington."  I don't think any other in-laws in the family did so. She did write many letters to them over the years so I do have to give her credit for staying in touch and keeping them apprised of their lives. But she never mentions Mickey - before or after his death.

At one point I assumed that Toot lived with the boy (and Dorothy) from their marriage until Mickey's death in August, 1946. Actually with WW II intervening and Toot having enlisted (or been drafted?), he was away from the family most of the time between 1942 and the fall of 1945. He made one comment in a letter home that he felt they didn't let the soldiers come home earlier (the war officially ended in Europe in May of 1945) because there were no jobs for the soldiers to return to. Toot spent most of his time during his service in England but he was in France for a short time in 1945 because he describes the destruction he sees all over France, including Paris. So, actually, he probably lived with Mickey (if at all, assuming Mickey did not continue living with his grandparents) for less than a year before Mickey died on August 28, 1946 of polio.

Michigan and Mickey

I just spent a great week in Michigan. I attended a beautiful family wedding and then stayed with my sister and her husband for a few days. While there, my sister and I took a road trip to the northern area of Michigan - not the UP. I have a cousin in Hillman and another in Elmira and we visited them both.  They were gracious hosts and they allowed me to "pick their brains" for memories of our grandparents. That part of Michigan, with all the little lakes is beautiful. It has been years since I did any traveling in Michigan. I thank my sister for allowing me to drag her along (and do the driving). It gives us a little "sister-time" also.

We left Monday morning and got back Tuesday evening. On Thursday, we made it to the St. Thomas Cemetery in Ann Arbor to look for the grave of Mickey.  I wrote about this step-cousin on my blog last November 11th and 15th, in two parts. I wanted to visit his grave and get a picture. We found it easily, with the directions given to us by the cemetery caretaker. Mickey is in the middle of three stones in a row. The names on either side of him have no connection to our family. I assume his parents bought this one plot and none others. Kind of sad as he not only is buried by himself, but there is really no one to visit his grave site, but the cemetery is well maintained.

Here is a picture of his stone:

I also asked the cousins if they knew anymore about Mickey or his father, mother, and her family. They did not. They pretty much knew exactly what has traveled down the family grapevine - he died of polio when he was about 10 years of age.

Ira Union Cemetery, Ira, New York

I have been trying to sit down and write this article for my blog for days.  Today is the day. 

I was in Syracuse and the surrounding area for a week and returned last Friday. It was a good trip. I got to spend the week with my husband and eat out every night (actually, I get tired of that pretty quickly). We spent the first weekend in Montreal. Neither of us had ever been there. What a beautiful city - clean, friendly and with a very interesting history. We did a guided walking tour of Old Montreal on Saturday. It is a very French city and 70% of the people are bi-lingual. Friday night we ate at a restaurant that served "rare horse" - I talked Bruce out of ordering it! But I had wild boar which tasted like pork ribs (as the waitress had assured me).

Back in New York, I did some roaming around the countryside of Cayuga and Oswego counties. One of the places I wanted to visit was the Ira Union Cemetery (also known as the White Cemetery or the Old Floridaville Cemetery) in Ira, so I headed in the direction of Ira and Cato to look for it. The countryside alone was worth the drive. It was one beautiful farm after another, rolling hills, green and peaceful - the word bucolic seems to fit here. I LOVE the old barns. I thought about taking pictures of the best ones - but I don't know how I would ever have chosen. My current residence, Arizona is not known for its green landscapes - now mind you, we live in a more central area of Phoenix that does have trees. We have a huge Aleppo pine in our side yard, a Brazilian Pepper tree in the front and a pecan tree in the back. Plus there are a couple of other big trees which help with shading, and palm trees. We also have a green lawn.

In Cayuga county, the cemetery was close to Floridaville Road and White Cemetery Road - that must be where the name came from :-) - in Cayuga County. I found it after many u-turns and traveling roads that seemed to lead nowhere. I stopped twice at little markets to ask directions. One in Plainville and another near a 'major' (two-lane) intersection. But, you know, if you want directions you are more likely to get them from people in a local market, not employees of a major gas station/convenience store. The Plainville market was in a very small area and a father and son helped me out. I did have my iPhone with Google maps, but sometimes the reception wasn't always available. There were also two old churches in Plainville. I wonder if either church was attended by the Lane or Rhoades families? One looked like it was now a home and the other was closed down.

I finally found the cemetery. The above is a picture of the (former church?) building that was within the cemetery grounds, near the gate. It wasn't open and no one was there, so I don't know what is inside. I was looking for the graves of my third great-grandparents, Roswell and Jerusha Rhoades Lane.  I already had pictures of their tombstones from another source, but I wanted to see the site and placement of the graves and who was buried around them. These things can be important. I knew that Jerusha's father, David Rhoades (sometimes this name is spelled Rhoads or Rhodes, among many other spellings) was buried near them. But, where was David's wife, Jerusha Hitchcock Rhoades buried? She died one month after he did in 1834, so she should be there. There is no stone for her.

Above is a picture of the gravestone of Roswell and Jerusha.  Roswell's name is on one side, and Jerusha's is on the other. The star you see in the picture is for his service in the War of 1812. The smaller stones on either side of the larger one say "Mother" and "Father." 

 This next picture is of the stone for David Rhoades.  He has an emblem with a small American flag attached for his service in the Revolutionary War. It was put there by the DAR Chapter in Ypsilanti, Michigan, requested by Mary Ella Hazelton Childs, my great-grandmother. I do think there is space for David's wife, Jerusha, next to his stone. Roswell's parents, Ezra and Sarah Chapman Lane, were also in that area when they died, but no records of where they are buried exist. Now that I can see the whole area, I think there is space for them in this same plot.

 If you look closely at this picture, you will see the Lane stone in the middle and a space to the left, then a square looking stone (more on that one ahead), a larger space and then David Rhoades' stone at the far left.  There is also space on the other side of David's stone - plenty for three more people.

This last stone, pictured above, the square one between the Lane and Rhoades stones, is for Adelbert Lane, Roswell and Jerusha's youngest son, and his wife, Sarah Earl. Adelbert and Sarah still have living descendants in this area.

So, because I was able to visit this cemetery, I was able to prove to myself that there is space, albeit no stones, for Ezra and Sarah Chapman Lane and David Rhoades' wife, Jerusha. Does that mean they are buried there?  No. Maybe some day I will hire a dowser. Google 'Dowsing' or check out articles by Brenda Marble ("Grave Dowsing: Basic Techniques for Dowsing Burial Sites" by Brenda Marble and Debbi Lehr, 2003). Or then again, maybe I will learn to do it myself.

Time Lines

I have grown to respect and enjoy Timelines for genealogy. If you have never created one - you must!  At our last study group meeting our "homework" assignment was to create a timeline. We had discussed them at the previous meeting: how to put them together, what to include and how to use them. There are several ways you can do this depending on what you want to it to accomplish.

I have one that is about five pages long for my Hitchcock/Sears Brick Wall problem. It starts with Samuel Hitchcock's (#3) birth in 1731 in New Milford, Litchfield, CT. The last entry is for Samuel Bradley Hitchcock (Silas Hitchcock's son, b. 1822) dated 1881. It states that a land record indicates he is homesteading in Yuba, CA. Silas is Samuel's fourth child, third son, but his first - and only child - by his second wife, Betsey Sears Hitchcock. I think his first wife is Sarah Sears (Betsey's sister). For more details on this dilemma and what I know, or more apropro - what I don't know - about these two families, go to my webpage www.freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jbmbtrees. This particular timeline might be a little too detailed for some people and for certain situations, but for this problem it works for me.

The other important timeline I have done, is for Ezra and Sarah Chapman Lane. This one starts with their marriage in 1792 in New Marlborough, Berkshire, MA.  They are my 4xgreat-grandparents. The reason I started it with that date, was because I am mostly interested in Ezra and Sarah and their 11 children, where they lived and for how long. I have been searching for documentation on the events in their lives for several years. Ezra was the middle of three children born to Roswell and Sarah Dudley Lane in 1768, in Guilford or Killingworth, Middlesex, CT. I have baptism dates from the Church in Killingworth for his older sister, Sarah (b. 1767) and his younger brother, Luman (b. 1769), but alas! not for middle-child Ezra. Some people put a fourth child, Polly (b. abt. 1780) with Roswell and Sarah, but I can find no proof of this and they can not tell me what proof they have for this assertion. And really, more important to me, Polly is never mentioned in my greatgrandmother's genealogical notes. Mary Ella Hazelton Childs (1857-1941) did a lot of research and had many handwritten notes which I received from my mother's things after her death. Mary Ella never indicated a fourth child. I find with my research and documentation to verify her claims - she is usually right in her assertions, despite not necessarily having the documentation.

The timeline for the Lanes is two pages and continues through the 11 childrens' births, marriages and deaths and ends with Ezra's son, Roswell's (my 3x great grandfather) death in 1870. Ezra died in 1859 at the age of 91. They left New Marlborough fairly early in their marriage and moved to Norfolk, Litchfield, CT. They were there for about 12 years. The first seven children appear to have been born there, but no records for the births of the children exist!  Except for land records indicating that Ezra and his brother, Luman, bought and sold land in the area, Norfolk has nothing.  In 1806, they moved to NY. Ezra brought his father, Roswell, with him. I assume Roswell's wife, Sarah Dudley, died in Norfolk, but can not document the place or date for sure. There is some indication that they are both buried in NY. I can not find burial places for Roswell and Sarah, or Ezra and Sarah. They were in the Oswego County area of NY, mostly in the town of Oswego, for several years and the remaining children were probably all born there. They then settled in Hannibal in Oswego County. Sarah Chapman died before 1850 when she does not appear in the 1850 Federal Census with Ezra, who is living with his son, Jackson, in Ira, Cayuga, NY. We assume that Ezra died in Ira. Roswell, the son, lived and died in Hannibal. I have a record from a book ("Hannibal's Historical Highlights" by Gordon W. Sturge, Mayor and Town Historian) indicating that Ezra and sons bought pews in the Congregational Society (Church) in Hannibal in 1826. No other records are available for Ezra and/or Sarah. I could write much more on this couple, but I started this column on timelines.

What do you want your timeline to show?  A particular family followed through their lives? A particular person and his life? What about a locale and how it either was impacted by your family or your family was impacted by what happened there? Do you want to use the timeline as an outline to eventually write a story of your family? In that case, you could add historical data found on the internet or in books, add flavor to make the story "pop." Use pictures of the area of residence, as well as any pictures you have of the family members you are writing about.

If you are creating the timeline for a family or person, I think it is important to include as much detail as you can. Maybe using dates at the beginning of each entry. An example from my Lane timeline:

1792 - Mar 6: Ezra Lane and Sarah Chapman m. in New Marlborough, Berkshire, MA.
1794 - Almira Lane b. in Litchfield Co., CT.
1796 - Lovina Lane b. in Litchfield Co., CT.

... and so on.  I like starting with dates because I can get a picture of what years I have something happening and what years I don't. How detailed can I get their lives? Then, I can see where I need to fill in. Obviously, you can add and delete as required.  I like to put as complete a date as I can, full names and complete area information available. Keep it consistent in the way you list your entry.

So, give it a try and let me know what you learned. I had one member who found information she forgot she had when putting her timeline together. Another, discovered what she needed to do in order to get a more complete picture. Send me a comment about any additional "tricks of the trade" you have found when creating a timeline. I will be glad to share them. 

May 1 - Margaret Edna Beckington's birthday

Unknown neighbor? Tom and Margaret

May 1st - My mother's birthday. May Day. What do I miss about my mother?  Probably the same thing I miss about my dad.  They were always there for us. We always knew we were wanted and loved. My parents waited 7 years after marrying before they had my sister. I understand part of that reason was because Margaret had TB about a year after they married. I wrote about that in an earlier post.

Margaret and Ken gave us a "normal" childhood. Daddy came home from work every night. Mother didn't start working until we were 13, 8 and 6. Then we had a babysitter "Aunt Lottie" who came to the house for a year of two when we were young.

It was always a treat for us when a Saturday of shopping came around. Mother and we three girls would go to Ann Arbor. The first stop was usually Goodyear's in downtown Ann Arbor. Almost immediately we would have lunch. Goodyear's was (it is no longer there) the kind of store where you would go to the fitting room, tell the saleslady what you were looking for and she would bring you several things to try on. Gone are those days for sure. There are still some small upscale stores that do that, but they are rare.  And, occasionally we would go to Hudson's in Detroit to shop. They had a Cobb Salad on their lunch menu that we always ordered. Anyone else remember that?

After Mother started working, she had more of a social life. She was basically a shy person, but she did join a golf team, bowling (Daddy bowled too) and an investment club over the years. They occasionally went out to dinner with another couple, but mostly it was family. Margaret's or Ken's brothers and/or sisters and their spouses were their social life, and our social life, when we were young. They were not church goers. They did like to travel and over the years they went on a few cruises and trips with groups and always seemed to enjoy it.

Margaret's children and grandchildren could do no wrong. She wasn't very demonstrative or a big talker, she didn't interfere with her children's lives as we got older, but we knew she cared. She was a very loyal person and I am sure she took secrets to her grave. We never had a curfew growing up, but we just KNEW what we had to do to keep the "parental unit" (my son's term for us) happy. Somehow it worked. I don't know if she was happy, I think she was the kind of person that felt things were never perfect (except her children and grandchildren).  She brought us up to be very independent, we could do anything we put our minds to.

She died too early. But, if there is a consolation to that it was that it gave her daughters a chance to get to know their father better over the next 19 years. And we certainly enjoyed that. We miss him still.

Census excitement

Most everyone in the genealogy world was anticipating the arrival of the 1940 census in April. I was. But I also made a point of staying away the first day or two. Good thing. The NARA website apparently crashed for awhile early on April 2 - not my fault! Now everyone appears to be in a race to get it online and be the first to have it indexed. I hope there isn't another 'crash' when the indexing comes online. I can always wait a day or two for that also.

I tried to find my parents, Ken and Margaret McDougall, on the Pittsfield Township portion of the Washtenaw County, Michigan census. I know right where they SHOULD be. But, I guess someone forgot to tell the census taker in the area that there was a small apartment above Cady's Food Market. Cady's was on the corner of Platt Road and Michigan Avenue, on the southeast corner. The Cady's lived around the corner and down Platt Road from the Market. My sister, Pat, remembers in later years, Mrs. Cady sitting in a rocking chair by the stove most days in the Market. Her daughter, Donna, would help out everyday after school.

Pat was born April 19 of that year, so I know she would have missed having her name there by 18 days. The census, even though there may be other dates at the top of the page - I see: May 6, April 11, May 7, on just a few I looked at - is supposed to be a list of the people who reside in the house at that address as of April 1, 1940.

I did find my maternal grandparents, also in Pittsfield Township. Garth and Edna Beckington. They are on Bemis Road, near Fosdick Road. They are listed along with my Uncle Garth (Toot), 29, Uncle Tom (24) and his wife, Aunt Dorothy (20) and daughter, Karen (1), Aunt Mary (20) and Aunt Jim (Alice) (16).  Toot and Tom are both working for King Seeley Corp. My mom eventually worked there, starting when I was about 8 years old. Also, the ages listed would be the age at their last birthday.

My parents purchased land on 105 W. Bemis Road, where they eventually lived (moving there about 1942), but the house hadn't been built yet in 1940.  We lived there until I was about 9, when we moved down the road to another house. It was much bigger and put us in a different school district. We kept the original house, and when my parents retired, they added another story and moved back. We sold it a couple of years after my father died in 1996. The land was in the family for almost 60 years.

It was fun 'going up and down' the roads in that area of Saline/Milan/Ypsilanti (Pittsfield and York Townships) and seeing all those familiar names from my childhood. They are still familiar after all these years, and the descendants of many continue to live in that area. I need to spend more time looking for other family members. Another day, another time.

Boy, life has a habit of getting in the way!  It has been a busy month, but I do see the light at the end of the tunnel.

We had another great meeting of the Study Group on Wednesday. Everyone enjoyed the trip to the Mesa Libary and learned a great deal - mostly about the library and what it has to offer, but some also found exciting things to add to their research. We are excited about planning another field trip - maybe this time to the State Archives and the genealogy library in downtown Phoenix - at the State Capital.

But first we are going to tackle a case study. We have talked about doing this but just haven't had the time. One of the members, MaryLu, prepared a 4-generational pedigree chart on an ancestor, Cassandra Brashears, she is interested in finding more information on Cassandra and her family. She found the information she has on a 5-generational chart in Belmont County, Ohio. No resources, just "family lore."  This is a collateral line for her. Other people have come up with the same information but again, no real documentation.

I think this will be a great learning tool. Taking people/places that are completely unfamiliar to us and trying to track down information and, hopefully, sources. This is what you would do if you were helping a client. It is a good exercise  in "thinking outside the box." I think sometimes you get so focused on your particular lines, think you have done everything possible to locate more records on them. Maybe having to look at a family/person/locale completely foreign (so to speak), will help open up some new ways of approaching our own research. MaryLu has found, in preparing this information for us, new data she didn't already have for this family. She is sending an email to the members with further information for this project. It will be interesting to see the different tactics the members take to gather data and sources. Everyone will do what they have time to do and go about it any way they want.

Syracuse and the Mesa Library

It has been a busy couple of weeks, with travel and research. Somewhat frustrating, but overall good things were accomplished. Syracuse was fun - mostly because I got to spend time with my husband. We went to a basketball game, a play, had a nice Valentine's dinner and tried many new restaurants. We had dinner with a friend and her husband Saturday night at their home and then I spent a day with said friend and had a great time - thank you, Lauren!  Enjoyed getting to know Syracuse better too. They have great old houses - lots of history - oh, and it was cold! But not much snow, which helped with traveling around the area. I was able to do some research, especially in the town of Oswego where the county records are. Unfortunately, I got hit about 4 days into the trip with a flu/cold bug and had to slow down a bit. But, next time....

I am still having trouble nailing down anything concrete about Ezra Lane and a connection to his father, Roswell Lane, and exactly where they were in 1810. We have really quite overwhelming circumstantial evidence that they have that relationship, but it would be nice to find it "on paper."  I did pick up deeds to land in Oswego County by a couple of Ezra's children, including my ancestor, Roswell, but other than names, no relationships were revealed.  I stopped in and talked to the County Historian, Justin White. I have corresponded with him quite a bit in the past and he has been most helpful. It was fun meeting him and we talked about other possibilities for research. A real disadvantage to those doing New York research is that they did not require records for births, deaths and marriages until 1881, but every town and county in New York has a historian and they are always very helpful. Ezra had two daughters, Almira and Laura, who married brothers, James M. and Richard P. Watson, who all remained in the Skaneateles area (pronounced "skinny-atlas" for those of us NOT in the know) of Onondaga County, about 10 miles from Syracuse. I did find a few more pieces of information on them. I do wish I could confirm all the children they had, with names and dates. The next step will be church records.

Then yesterday, back in Phoenix, the GenieGirls study group had their long awaited field trip to the Mesa Library. It is second only to the Salt Lake City LDS library in size, and about 45 minutes from our general area of Phoenix, but several of the members had never been. Those who had, were a bit intimated and didn't know where to begin, how to use it and hadn't stayed long. We started with a great tour by one of the volunteers to familiarize us with what they have, how it is set up and how best to use it. That was a huge help. Then we all started doing the research that each had prepared for. Lunch, of course, was a fun break and then back to work! We stayed until about 3, before heading back home. Everyone seemed to accomplish something, even if it was getting more familiar with the library and feeling better about going alone in the future. I think, in general, it enthused everyone to continue with their research.

Syracuse on the Horizon

The new coat is on it's way (check the previous post)! The weather in Syracuse seems to be cooperating with not much snow this year. Let's hope that continues for at least another two weeks. I am getting excited about my trip. I am also going to see a former high school classmate and enjoy a day with her, which should be fun.

I have heard from a few new "relatives" this past couple of weeks  The first was a woman in Michigan who is descended from the Muirs. Andrew and Mary Donaldson Muir, born in Scotland, arrived in America in 1828 and arrived in Michigan within the year. They are my 3rd great-grandparents. I had written an article on them entitled: "Early Settlers of Augusta and Superior Townships." This woman found my website, read the article and then emailed me. She is descended from this same couple, through a different daughter. This article (Winter 2010) and a more recent one on my Hazelton family (Winter 2011), can be found at:     

     http://www.ypsilantihistoricalsociety.org/publications/gleanings.html

Then I heard from a young man who is my first cousin, once removed on the Beckington side of the family. He is the son of a cousin. He was searching the web and came across my website and contacted me. It is always exciting when someone from the younger generation shows an interest. 

But, of course, the last couple of weeks have been mostly about getting organized for my trip. Ezra Lane, my 4th great-grandfather, was born in Connecticut and eventually migrated with his family, to New York (bringing along his father, Roswell). He and his wife, Sarah Chapman, had eleven children. The first seven were born in CT, the last four children in NY. By the 1860s, most of the sons had migrated to Michigan or Kansas. It appears that several of the daughters married and stayed in the NY area. It is not always easy to follow daughters. Two of them, Almira and Laura, married brothers, James M. and Richard P. Watson, respectively. Ezra's son, Roswell, my 3rd great-grandfather (named after his grandfather), married Jerusha Rhoads and stayed in NY. They are buried in Ira, Cayuga County, NY. I hope on one of these trips to visit their grave sites. I assume the elder Roswell, Ezra and Sarah might also be buried there, but there are no stones or records that prove that. I guess I am thinking I will see a "space" where they might be.

Anyway, I have done a great deal of research over the last several years through the mail, email and phone calls. The various organizations: historical societies, town historians, libraries, have been a great help. But, what can I do while I have "boots on the ground" that I haven't been able to do from a distance? I emailed some of the more experienced genealogists I know and asked for recommendations. I got some good suggestions and am following them. Apparently the court house may have records that have never been filmed. Libraries may have newspapers to browse - hopefully, some will have been indexed. I could visit cemeteries, but that may happen on a later visit. And, I need to travel to other small towns nearby - again, that may have to wait.

I would love any suggestions that someone would consider sharing on research in an area one is visiting. Back to organizing!