Civil War letter with story for children back home

     In December 2012, on this blog, I transcribed two letters written by distant family members during the Civil War. Today, I will share another. This letter was forwarded to me by a lovely woman who was a neighbor of a Childs family member (my grandmother was a Childs  - Edna Ella Childs Beckington). Mary A. Childs White, was Edna's father's sister. Mary A. (some say Ann and some say Alice), married A. Gates White and lived in Garden Prairie, Boone County, Illinois. I wrote about them in February of this year. This letter - because of the date, must have been written by Mary A's husband, Gates', father - Amos Gates White, also called Gates.  He was born in 1831, and died in 1868. His wife was Catherine Cox (1822-1866). They both died in New Gascony, Jefferson County, Arkansas, but are buried in Garden Prairie, Illinois. They would have had daughters, Neenah and Lelia, and son Aurelius Gates (A. Gates) at the time of this letter. 

     This letter was written by Gates and mailed to his family in Garden Prairie.  It is dated September 12, 1864 and he is in Vicksburg, Mississippi. It is a story for Catherine to read to the children:

 

                     ”A Story for Mother to read to the children"

     Very many hundred years ago in a country called Germany which lies many thousand miles from here away over the Atlantic Ocean, there lived a King and Queen who had one child, a little daughter of which they were very fond indeed and their greatest delight was in studying how they might add to the happiness of their little girl. Now it came to pass that when little Bertha was a year old, her parents wishing to celebrate her first birthday in a joyful manner made a great feast to which they invited all the lords and ladies in the land that they might rejoice with the King and Queen. Now there dwelt in this Kingdom thirteen wise women and the King wished to invite them all to the feast, but unfortunately they could not attend the feast unless their food could be served to them on plates of gold with golden knives & forks and golden cups from which to drink their wine. Now the King had only twelve of the golden dishes so he could invite only 12 of the wise women to sit at his table, and the thirteenth woman was very angry because she too was not invited to eat with the King.

     When the appointed day came around, the guests all sat down to dinner and when they had finished eating, each of the wise women began to wish good wishes for Bertha, the little princess. One wished that she might be very beautiful. The second that she might always be happy, another that she be very rich and very kind and good and so on until eleven of the wise women had made their wishes. When the woman who had not been invited to sit down with the rest, burst into the rooms and out of revenge for the slight she had suffered, wished that the princess might die when she was sixteen years old and that her death might be caused by falling on a spindle, whereupon the twelfth wise woman who still sat at the table wished that her death might be changed into a hundred years sleep, and then the company separated and went to their own homes.

     But the King remembering the wish of the angry woman and for years that it might come to pass caused all the spindles in his Kingdom to be collected and destroyed, and then thought that he had nothing to fear. But there was one poor woman who lived in a little cottage near the palace of the King who hid her spindle during the search and used secretly to spin in her cottage whenever she thought no one would see her. In the meantime the princess grew up tall and beautiful and of an angelic disposition so that everyone loved her and praised her both for her beauty and goodness.

     One day when she was about sixteen years old her father and mother went on a visit to a neighboring prince and Bertha, white rambling about the fields happened to enter the cottage where the poor woman was spinning and accidentally fell upon the spindle and was killed. The servants carried her home and placed her on her bed where she looked as though she were asleep, and when the King and Queen came home they too went to sleep and then the servants too fell asleep. The chamber maid with her broom in her hand, the butler with his keys in his fingers as he was going to the cellar for wine, the groom as he was cleaning the horses in the stall, and the cook dropped asleep too with one hand stretched out to box the ears off the scullion who had neglected to turn the spit on which the meat was roasting for dinner. The scullion fell asleep too with his hand upon the spit, in fact all fell asleep even to the flies upon the wall and the dogs in the yard and the horses in the stable. Even the fire went to sleep with the blaze still around the kettle and the water ceased to boil and the dinner ceased to cook, and a hedge of large solid trees grew up all around the palace so that no one could enter even into the garden where there plants and vegetables as well as the people were all asleep. And here I much leave the story of the sleeping princess for the present but some time I will write you an account of their waking after the hundred years had expired. Dear C, No letters from you, get no boat for four days hope to get one soon.        Gates

I am sure most of us are familiar with this story - so we know the ending!  I have added some punctuation to make it a little easier to read. I also looked Scullion up as I thought maybe he was spelling it wrong - he was not:

                     Scullion, male counterpart to Scullery Maid,

                     servant who performed menial kitchen jobs

                     (washing, cleaning, etc.) in large households

                     during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

New Chapman information - cont. from January 17, 2014 post

Among the many projects I am working on, I have continued to research John Chapman and his family. Please reread the post from January 17 of this year to refresh your memory.

I have concluded a couple of things:

1) I do think there is a valid argument for Ira - a last child, born about 1800-1801, to be the 11th child of John Chapman. Not only did each of the eight children (land records found so far) selling parcels of land that were bequeathed to them from "their honored father" John Chapman of New Marlborough state just that, but they all indicated they were selling their "11th share." That certainly gives the impression there were probably 11 children.

Ira, in the Berkshire County Probate office, is noted in December, 1814, as a minor and is bonded to Isaac Turner, as his guardian. John Chapman died in September 1814. Ira would have been only 14 at the time and in need of a guardian. His mother, Dorcas, died in 1814 also.

Ira appears in New Marlborough in the 1840 census with a possible two daughters and a wife. In the 1850 census, New Marlborough, he is called a widow and has one daughter, Ellen, living with him. I do not find him in the 1860 census. In the State of Massachusetts 1865 census, he is living with the Hastings Benson family in New Marlborough. More research on this family needs to be done - could the wife of Hastings, Lidelin (?), be his daughter? When Ira dies in 1868, the records list his father as John Chapman, but no mother is named.

With these above facts, I think a case can be made for Ira being a child of John Chapman.

As far as John Chapman being a son of Peletiah Chapman and from Sharon - that has finally been verified by a land record found in Sharon, Litchfield County, CT. John is selling the land he inherited from his father Peletiah, to his brother, William. It is all fitting together nicely.

Now, to get this all written and possibly published. I have started, but it is slow going. Trying to decide exactly how I am going to use this and what to include, how to organize it, etc., is causing me FITS!

Journaling

A few months ago, I attended a talk by Duane Roen, Professor at Arizona State University. Dr. Roen's current titles are: Assistant Vice Provost for University Academic Success Programs, Interim Dean, University College, and Interim Director, School of Letters and Sciences.

The talk given by Dr. Roen at West Valley Genealogical Society, Sun City, AZ, was titled: "Writing Family History: A Gift for Generations to Come." 

As background, he and his wife have been journaling since they married. Sometimes it is only 15 minutes a night, sometimes they both add to the journal, or sometimes just one of them. They never say anything negative about anyone. It is mostly about family, their daily routines, thoughts and observations. Dr. Roen encourages everyone to consider journaling. What a gift to your children!

One of the exercises we did during his presentation, was filling in 'frameworks' that he and others use to write about someone close. He shared one he had written about his mother, as an example. The following format was used:

A Biographical/Autobiographical Poem:

Line 1: (First name)

Line 2: (Several traits of this person)

Line 3: (Relationship to someone else)

Line 4: Who loves (several people or things)

Line 5: Who feels

Line 6: Who needs

Line 7: Who fears

Line 8: Who gives

Line 9: Who would like to see

Line 10: Resident of

Line 11: (Last name)

There are other possibilities such as: 'A Memorable Family Place', 'A Memorable Family Member' and 'A Memorable Family Event'.

I followed the above Biographical Poem and wrote about my mother, Margaret Beckington McDougall. Here is what I wrote:

Margaret Edna,

English and Irish ancestry, many in America since the 1600s;

Daughter of Garth and Edna Childs Beckington, wife of Ken;

who loved her children, learned to drive at age 38;

who died too young, from a preventable disease;

who loved to try new activities such as bowling, golf, and travel;

who made sure her three daughters were independent;

who would be proud of her grand and great-grandchildren;

who always wished for more; could keep a secret;

spent all her life in Washtenaw County, Michigan;

Beckington McDougall

I would love to have family and friends try this exercise. Use any family member or close friend. If you want, I will publish them in the future, with your permission. I think this would be a fun exercise for everyone to try. And, please, consider journaling about your life for those who come after you.

Finding a family for old pictures

I have written about my maternal grandparents previously on this blog. Garth Beckington was born in Spring (Garden Prairie), Boone County, Illinois and Edna Ella Childs was born in Ypsilanti, Washtenaw County, Michigan. They met when Edna was visiting her aunt and uncle, A. Gates and Mary A. Childs White, who lived near Garth's family. Garth and Edna corresponded after she returned home, and married nine months later, on February 28, 1906. They married in Ypsilanti, but spent the next 3-4 years in Garden Prairie, Illinois. 

My grandmother became good friends with Julia Loveridge Kleber. Julia and her husband, Charles, lived in Garden Prairie and also were newly married. Charles and Julia would eventually have five children, Lawrence, Ada, Norman, Elizabeth, and Raymond. While working on another project, I came across two postcard pictures that Julia had send to Edna after Edna and Garth returned to Washtenaw County, where they spent the rest of their lives.

The first photograph is of Julia and her first child, Lawrence, and is dated January 18, 1909:

The second photograph is of Julia and her first two children, Lawrence and Ada. There is no date:

I decided it was time to put these photographs in the hands of the Kleber family. After spending some time doing research on this family, I sent a message to the Boone County mailing list. I received an answer almost immediately from someone who went to high school with a grandchild of Julia and Charles Kleber. He gave me an email that he hoped would still work for this person. It did! I scanned the pictures, but sent the originals to him. He was very excited to receive them and said they were the only pictures he had of his grandmother. He is in the process of sharing them with other family members! How exciting is that?

I also heard from a man I had corresponded with in the past from Boone County. He still lives in the Garden Prairie area and is connected with the Boone County Historical Society. I sent him copies of the scanned pictures and he is going to pass them on to the Society. Mission accomplished!!   

Now - who is this couple? This picture was taken by photographer, E. J. Buss, in Genoa, Illinois.

Weird Tale of Old Fort

This is an article that appeared in the Oswego Daily, Oswego County, New York on March 25, 1916.  Colonel Roswell Lane (don't know when he became a Colonel) is my 3rd great-grandfather, and my soldier for the National Society of Daughters of the War of 1812. The following article contains a letter from A.S. (Adelbert S.) Lane, Roswell's youngest (13th) child. I don't know what the S. stands for, if anything.

WEIRD TALE OF OLD FORT
How Ghostly Soldier Broke Enchanted Spell
Digging for Treasure
Interesting Story About Old Fortification in Letter From Son of Colonel Roswell Lane
(these were all headlines)

The publication in the Times of Saturday last of the original of the west side of old Oswego attracted wide attention. It came to the attention of A. S. Lane of Hannibal and Mr. Lane has sent to the Times the following interesting letter relating a story of the search for buried tresure on the site of the old fortification. The story is of rare interest and throws the glamour of the weirdly romantic about the history of the fort. Mr. Lane's letter, in full, follows:
Editor Oswego Times:

     I saw in a recent issue of the Semi-weekly Times a map of early Oswego, showing the old fortification on the west side. It called to mind what I had heard my father, Colonel Roswell Lane, tell about that old fort. My father was born in April, 1798. In 1814 he enlisted as a soldier in the War of 1812 near the close of the war, being then 16 years old. He used to tell that when that fort was abandoned or taken by the enemy the French who occupied it buried a large quantity of money in an iron chest in this fort ground so the enemy could not get it. This story became known to many, and men tried to locate the money and dig for it. A man named Walters had a mineral rod and he and my father located the treasure and went there in the night and dug for it. Mr. Walters claimed to be a professional at the business. He took a sword and marked a circle around large enough so the dirt would not be thrown over the mark or out of the Circle. They then laid down two stones and placed the sword on them for a gate. Whenever they went out or in the circle they were to take up the sword and lay it back in its place. They were not to speak out loud.
     My father said they dug down and struck something hard; they struck an iron bar in the ground and dug by it and found an iron chest which appeared to be square. They found the top of it and the end and the corner and dug down to the bottom, and were talking about it when a soldier appeared and said: "What are you doing here?" The soldier was in full uniform. They had a bulldog lying by the wagon and when he heard the soldier speak jumped for him over the circle. That broke the enchantment and the chest moved off toward the lake with a rumbling sound and the soldier disappeared. The searchers stuck their shovels down in soft dirt where it had been and it was not to be found. It was thought later someone did find it and take it away.
     I used to think it was a fish story but later my father-in-law, John Ottman, who lived any years in Oswego town, told me he had been at the old fort many times when he was young, and saw where someone had dug there for money as it was said. That gave some strength to the story. In the 40's, when there was general training, Roswell Lane was colonel of the regiment. He died in 1870, being then 72 years old. I am the only one of his family living and am residing in the town of Hannibal, where I have lived nearly 76 years in the house where I was born.
     Thinking this may be interesting to someone as pertaining to the old fortification you have the liberty to publish it if you wish.
          Respectfully yours,  A.S. Lane            Hannibal, N.Y., March 23, 1916

I have transcribed this as it appears in the newspaper article. Thought it was a fun read. JMB

 Brothers: Adelbert S. Lane (1846-1930) and Marquis Dudley Lane (1828-1910)
                                     

DCH

Yippee!  Just received notice that my application for DCH (The Dames of The Court of Honor) has been approved.   

To become a member of DCH you have to prove you are "of lineal descent from a commissioned officer who served in one or more of the American wars, during the years 1607 through 1865 or from a Colonial Governor who served in the Colonial Period,1607 to 1775. Invitations to join are issued by State Societies."

My Revolutionary War soldier, Captain John Noyes, is my DCH soldier. His service was as a member of the Committee of Safety, he signed the Association Test of New Hampshire. His name was given as "John Noyce."

Captain John Noyes, was born on March 13, 1744 in Bow, Rockingham, NH. He died on October 7, 1835, in Pembroke, Merrimack, NH. He married Mary Fowler, on June 22, 1762 in Bow.  I am descended from their daughter, Sarah, who married Ballard Hazelton. Ballard is my 4th great-grandfather.

Now to concentrate on my "witch" application. 

A. Gates and Mary Ann White Childs

I had the most wonderful experience earlier this month. It started with a phone call from a woman calling from Kentucky. She had come across my blog and website. She thought I was just the person she had been "hunting for" to give family papers to.

It turns out that for many years, she lived across the road from a family named Schwanderman, in Boone County, Illinois. Garden Prairie, Boone Co., is where my grandfather, Garth Beckington was born and raised. The wife of this couple, Marian, was the daughter of Alva McMaster and his wife, Markella White. Markella was the daughter of A. Gates White and Mary Ann Childs.  Marian and her husband, Elsa, had no children and they were both only children. They died in 2001 and 2004.

My phone caller and her husband lived in Garden Prairie for many, many year. The job of cleaning out the Schwanderman house fell to them.  She has donated many of the papers to the appropriate historical societies, but she kept the papers on the White family. She has been searching for someone who might treasure them.

Mary Ann and my great-grandfather, Carlos Webster Childs, were the children of J. Webster and Lucy Hubbard Childs. I had never seen a picture of Mary Ann. So it was especially exciting to see the beautiful picture (below) of her included in these papers. There was also a picture of her with her husband and other family members, taken about 1920. Both Mary Ann and Carlos were adopted from the New York Foundling Home (American Female Guardian Society and the Home for the Friendless). I wrote about Carlos' adoption (or indenture at the time) in "A 19th Century Adoption" on April 1, 2013.

Mary Ann Childs White

I received another daguerreotype of J. Webster and Lucy when they were young (see the column mentioned above). This one is in better condition. Mary Ann and Gates' marriage license is included, a few letters from various people and writings by J. Webster Childs. They used to practice their penmanship in those days. J. Webster was in the Michigan Legislature in the 1860s and 70s and there is a letter from a Civil War Soldier asking for help of some sort.  I will transcribe for a future column. What generosity!

How exciting someone is willing to share this information with family, and to take the time to find them. If I hear from someone in the White family who is interested in this information, I will share.  I tried several years ago to find descendants of daughter Neenah, but didn't find anyone interested.

Aurelius Gates White and Mary Ann Childs had six daughters:  Lelia B.; Lucy Millicent "Millie"; Neenah E.; Markella; Winnifred and Geraldine. Gates and Mary Ann may have had one son who died young. The daughters all married and had children. I count 17 grandchildren in all (may not be completely accurate). I did research on this family a few years ago.

1 Aurelius Gates White (1859 - 1931)

+Mary Ann Childs (1858 - after 1930)

   2  Lelia B. White (1881 - 1918)

       +Russell Sears

3 Elizabeth Aileen (Aileen) Sears (1904-1980)

+Francis M. Toth

2    Lucy Millicent (Millie) White (1883 - 1972)

+John Daniel Clancy (1875 - 1952) 

 3 Gates White Clancy (1909 - 2001) 

+   Mary Lucille Jackson (1910 - 1989)

 3  John Daniel (Jr.) Clancy (1911 - 1953)

+  Marian Sawales

+  Dorothy Weldon

  4   Edward C. Clancy (1912 - 1912) 

3 Catherine Clancy (1914 - )

+Charles Popejoy

3 Millicent M. (Mugs) Clancy (1916 - )

   + Frederick E. Jones

3 Female Clancy (1919 - 1919)

2  Neenah E. White (1884 - 1966)

 +Charles E. C. Trueblood (1877 - 1942)

             3  Gwyn J. Trueblood (1909 - 1986) 
                      + Ona Baillargeon

+ Charlotte Ferris (1919 - )

          3  Elizabeth Trueblood (1911 - 1994)

          +David Allen Benson (1898 - 1984) 

          3 Brooks Gonaulus Trueblood (1921 - 2000)      

        + Lillian Ann Bergman (1922 - 1963) 

        + Elizabeth Jane Harris

        +  #3

         2  Markella White (1888 - 1972) 

 + Alva Henry McMaster (1884 - 1952)

         3 Marion McMaster (1916 - 2001)

          + Elza R. Schwanderman (1910 - 2004)

    2  Winnifred White (1894 - before 1940)

         + Alfred Christian Meyers (1884 - 1964) 

          3  Virginia A. Meyers (1918 - )

              + David J. Henry (1913 - )

          3  Alfred G. Meyers (1923 - 2003)

             3  Marilyn W. Meyers (1926 - 1927)

             3  Maynard W. Meyers (1927 - 1987)

         2   Geraldine White (1899 - after 1951)

              + Charles D. Chumbley (1895 - 1939)

                 3  Venita Chumbley (1922 - )

             3   Germaine Chumbley (1928 - )

          + ? Fritz

I do have more on this family, but will not include any members that may still be living.