Chase Uncles in the Civil War

Yesterday (January 30th) I wrote about my 2nd great-grandfather, John Wilson Smalley, in the Civil War and mentioned his brother Abner Smalley, who was killed during the War.

Now I will attempt to write about a couple of the other uncles in the War. Really they are 2nd great-grand uncles.

Uncle Luman Chase (2nd great-grand uncle) served in Company E, Illinois 38th Infantry Regiment from 19 Jun 1864 to 14 Oct 1864. He was considered one of the Hundred Days Men. From an article in Wikipedia we learn that this was a nickname for regiments that were raised in 1864 for 100 days of service. They were lightly trained and spent their short term freeing veteran units from routine duty so those units could go to the front lines for combat. Uncle Luman's unit served at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. But even that short service entitled him to become a member of the G.A.R. In his obituary, when he died at Deer Park, Washington (near Spokane) 18 Apr 1832, the headline read: "Taps Sound for Last G.A.R. Veteran."

Luman's brother, Uncle Ralph Chase (2nd great-grand uncle) enlisted as a private on 30 Aug 1862 in Company A, Ohio 23rd Infantry Regiment. His service was quite a lot longer than his brother's, since he was mustered out 30 Jun 1865. Uncle Ralph was living in Leroy Township, Lake County, Ohio, in 1890 and is listed on the Special Schedule of the 1890 Census for Surviving Soldiers, Sailors and Marines and Widows. This states he had applied for a pension since he had contracted rheumatism.

John Wilson Smalley in the Civil War

When I wrote John's birthday information on January 26th, I said I would write this week about his Civil War experience.

So far in my researching, John was my only direct ancestor who fought in the Civil War - everyone else was too young, too old, Quakers who preferred not to fight and others who chose not to fight.

In 1861, John was living in Adams County, Ohio. Both he and his older brother Abner enlisted in Company C, of the 70th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, John on 14 Oct 1861 and Abner on 14 Nov 1861. The Sherman County Kansas history stated that John fought on the Union side and a brother on the Confederate Side. Family tradition indicated that he lost an arm in the war. So far, I have not found either to be true.

His pension records were ordered from the National Archives in Washington D.C. and we were surprised to discover that he was classified as absent without leave (AWOL) from 6 Feb 1862 until 3 Aug 1863 when he was arrested and placed in confinement until 31 Dec 1863. Apparently after he had served his time, he was again a soldier, so he was mustered out with an honorable discharge 28 Oct 1864 at Chattanooga, Tennessee.. Because he had actually served over a year and claimed disability he did receive a pension.

Sadly it was 14 Aug 1864 during the siege of Atlanta (Georgia) that his brother Abner was killed in action. I have wondered what Abner thought about his brother who was AWOL, while evidently he continued fighting.

What did Rachel, John's wife, know about his activities? The county history states: "During John's absence in the Army, Rachel fixed meals for the slaves who were going to Canada on the 'Underground Railway.'" When John enlisted they had 3 small children, the oldest being 4. It appears that Rachel was 3 months pregnant at the time, since their son James was born 11 Apr 1862. If the Army dates are correct, John could have been home at that time. He had been stationed at Camp Riley, which was in a neighboring county in Ohio. We can be fairly sure that he was at home in April of 1863 as his son William was born 24 Jan 1864, after he had been arrested and confined and probably put back on duty. There are some items in his files about his being listed as sick and even in the hospital, so maybe there was enough confusion about this, that he just went home.

Whatever the circumstances, John seemed to be proud of his Civil War service and joined the Union Veterans organization, Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). Both the W.S. Robinson post of the GAR in Sherman County, Kansas, and the Women's Relief Corp participated in his funeral service and his obituary called him an "honored member" of the W. S. Robinson Post GAR.

Counting Birthdays on the Calendar

When I made the goal to write a blog post about each ancestor as they were listed on the ancestor birthday calendar on my website, I didn't take the time to investigate how many blog posts that would be.

So now I have taken the time and did the counting. Writing a post each day is taking a little more effort than I supposed it would. But for the birthday ancestors, I was surprised to find that January has the most birthdays of any month. It now has 14 (it did have 15 when I began the year but deleted Elizabeth Charles in January and added Elizabeth Kent to June.) February has 10 and March has 11. All the other months have single digit numbers, with July and November being the lowest with 3 each.

So if my addition is correct, there are 89 ancestor birthdays on my calendar to write about. I now have 14 completed, so only have 75 to go in the next 11 months, or 48 weeks. So it averages less than 2 per week and the goal does seem doable.

Of course I can hope that as I do more research and entering onto my database, more ancestors will be showing up on the birthday calendar and these calculations will need to be updated.

Ancestor Birthday - January 4th - Stephen Scovill[e] 1751/52-1813

I'll admit it. I made a mistake. When I entered the information in my database about my 5th great-grandfather Stephen Scovill, I failed to enter the day in January of 1751/52 that he was born. So my birthday calendar just said January and I missed him back on the 4th. Now it's time to make the correction and give him his post only 24 days late.

Stephen's birth is entered in the records at East Haddam, Connecticut, on 4 Jan 1751 [1751-52], son of Stephen and Rebeckah (Millard) Scoville. He was their second son named Stephen. The first was born 19 Sep 1729 and died 19 Sep 1751, so when this son was born a little over 3 months later, they named him Stephen.

It is believed that Stephen married his cousin Mary Scoville. (A Scovell family history gives a rather detailed explanation of this conclusion)¹ From his will of 1813 he had at least 4 children.

His death on 27 Jan 1813 at Cornwall, Connecticut, was reported in the Hartford, Connecticut, newspaper Connecticut Courant on 2 Mar 1813. There were 5 others there as well as one from Salisbury, who all died from the "prevailing epidemic." Doing a Google search, it appears that New England had suffered from a "spotted fever epidemic" in the spring seasons of 1812 and 1813. It was later called "malignant fever" and is believed to be what is now known as cerebro-spinal-meningitis.

Since my 4th great-grandmother, Irene (Scovill) Howe, also died in this epidemic a few days after her father, it meant that Irene's children would receive her inheritance. It was in those probate records I found my 3rd great-grandmother as a child and it identified both her parents and grandparents for me.

I am sad that both Stephen and his daughter Irene died in the epidemic, but at least the fact that their deaths were so close together created probate records which helped me put the family together.

1Jennie M. (Scoville) Holley and Homer Worthington Brainard, compilers, Arthur Scovell and His Descendants in America 1660-1900 (Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing Company, 1941). page 41

Ancestor Birthday - January 27th - Wilma Falk 1912-1982

Wilma Anna Falk was my mother. So today in honor of her birthday 105 years ago, I am posting some of my photos of her. 

As a baby and young child: 

 As a young mother

Ancestor Birthday - January 26th - John W. Smalley 1832-1914

John Wilson Smalley was my 2nd great-grandfather. If you check my website you will find quite a lot of information about him:

http://www.joanneskelton.com/p16.htm#i379

It shows his birth as 26 Jan 1932 in Adams County, Ohio and his marriage to Rachel Hemphill 26 Apr 1856. His obituary notes his service in the Civil War from 1861-1864. The listed censuses show he was in Adams County, Ohio in 1860; in Clinton County, Ohio in 1870; in Saline County, Nebraska in 1880; and by 1895 he was in Sherman County, Kansas. He continued living there through 1900, 1905 and 1910 before his death 2 Jul 1914, which is marked on his gravestone in Goodland Cemetery, Goodland, Sherman County, Kansas.

What more can I write about him? Next week I plan to write more about his Civil War service. Now I'd like to share some of the difficulties in determining a birth year before official registrations. Ancestry's Red Book, edited by Alice Eichholz, Revised Edition, 1992, page 523, states: "Ohio enacted a statute in 1856-57 that required birth, death, and marriage registration, a law that was generally disregarded." But even if obeyed it would be over 20 years too late to help our situation.

John's death certificate, gravestone and obituary all give his birth year as 1832. But even his obituary creates a contradiction as it states he was 27 in 1861 and 30 in 1864, which equates to an 1834 birth. His marriage record of 1856 shows his age as 23, so this equals an 1833 birth.
Then when you check each census entry, which are not known for exact correctness, you find:

1850 age 14 = 1836

1860 age 26 = 1834

1870 age 37 = 1833

1880 age 47 = 1833

1895 age 67 = 1838

1900 age 68 = 1832

1905 age 74 = 1831

1910 age 74 = 1836

In his military pension records he was not a lot more consistent. In his application from 1890 he gave his age as 57 which equals 1833, but then in 1909 his age is given as 77, so this pushes his birth year back to 1832.

So how do I know when he was born? I don't. I can't see that I will ever know for sure, but I have chosen to use the date that the family was using at the end of his life: 1832.

Ancestor Birthday - January 25th - Joseph L. Shipman 1807-1893

Today I am writing about my 3rd great-grandfather, Joseph Lester Shipman, in relation to my 2017 genealogy goals (as posted on 2 Jan 2017).

Review. In checking him on my website, I found it told of his birth on 25 Jan 1807 in Old Lyme, New London County, Connecticut, the son of Elisha and Catherine Shipman. There was his marriage to Mary Carey (or McCreary) on 16 Feb 1837 in Ashtabula County, Ohio. The information from the 1850 census was there as well as his death on 30 Sep 1893 in Tuscola County, Michigan with burial in Moreland Cemetery. Only my 2nd great-grandfather, Joshua Rodney Shipman, was shown as his child. I believe this information was basically correct, but so much was lacking. There were more censuses to be entered. I remembered that his first wife had died and he had a second wife and a number of other children.

Organize. I had collected a fair amount of information on the Shipman family, particularly with help from other researchers. But, it was pretty much all in one big pile. So I divided most of it into four sections: (1) Joseph Lester, (2) his son Joshua Rodney, (3) Joseph's father Elisha and (4) Joseph's grandfather Abner, with the other children of each in their section. This led me to do more research on the family.

Write. Well, since you are reading this, I have done that.

Enter. This is the step that still has much to be done. I have found the census entries for Joseph in Ohio in 1860 and in Michigan in 1870 and 1880. There is his 2nd marriage to Huldah Jane (with a very difficult to read surname on the marriage record) and 8 more children.

Digitize. So far I have saved digital copies of his two marriage records from the Ashtabula County marriage books as found on familysearch.org. Again much more needs to be done on this goal also.

But that's what goals are for, to help us see what needs to be done and give us the incentive to do it.

Posted 25 Jan 2017

Ancestor Birthday - January 24th - Benjamin Albertson 1826-1908

Benjamin is my 2nd great-grandfather. He was born in 1826 in Perquimans County, North Carolina, which is in the northeastern corner of the state, which I visited in 1996. He was the son of Nathan Albertson and Phariby Nicholson. I wrote about Nathan on the 5th of January post.

Benjamin, while still a child, traveled with his parents and extended family going north in the 1830's to Rush County Indiana. He was still living with his parents when they moved to Hancock County Indiana in 1837. The family were charter members of the Quaker Walnut Ridge Monthly Meeting. It was at the Westland Meeting House on 26 November 18, 1847, that he married Sabina Marsh. Her family had also been Quakers for a number of years coming from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio before arriving in Indiana. In 1852 Benjamin and Sabina and their two small sons, Nathan and William, were granted certificates from Walnut Ridge to transfer to Westfield Monthly Meeting in Hamilton County, Indiana, but Benjamin's family had already moved westward to that area because they were counted there in the 1850 census. In 1855, the family moved again, going farther west into Hardin County, Iowa. By the 1880 census they went across the county line and were living in Marshall County, Iowa.

A family history of Bejamins's gt-grandmother's family, Genealogy of the Bell Family: A Record of the Decendants of Lancelot Bell which was published in 1907, lists Sabina's death as 4 Oct 1897, so Benjamin was now a widower. He apparently moved with his daughter's family as they are in Jericho Springs, Cedar County, Missouri by the 1900 census. When and where Benjamin died is a mystery I haven't yet solved. Other researchers have listed the date as 23 Feb 1908, but I have not seen their documentation for this. This date would not contradict the family history publlshed in 1907 as it does not give any death information for him.

Although Benjamin owned land and worked as a farmer, he also worked as woodworker, being listed in the 1850 census as a wagonmaker and as a carpenter in 1870, 1880 and 1900.

Benjamin was one of nine children, having seven brothers and one sister. I find it interesting that Benjamin and Sabina had only one daughter along with four sons. Then their oldest son, my ancestor Nathan Elias Albertson, had only one daughter and four sons. So in my direct line there were three generations where there was just one daughter. Do you suppose those girls were given special attention in their families?

See Benjamin on my website:http://www.joanneskelton.com/p9.htm#i208

Unknown Connections at School

When my father Lester Albertson was in the fifth grade at Oak Plain School 1918-19, his teacher was Ida Mitzner. I thought I recognized the name Mitzner. I found that Ida's older brother, Herman, married Lela Bond in September 1919. Lela was a first cousin of Florence (Bond) Falk, who was Wilma Falk's mother. Lester would not meet Wilma for about another ten years, but then they would be married in 1933. He is being taught by a very close relative of his future wife's relative's husband.

But then, when I looked at his eight grade teacher's name, Lillian I. Clingman, I thought I recognized that name also. So I checked in my database and discovered that Lillian was the adopted daughter of Irene (Bond) Clingman. Irene was the first cousin of my mother's grandfather, John Howard Bond. I am sure that Irene knew our family since she attended the same Bond Reunion in 1939 that my grandmother did. Again Lester's teacher is related to his future wife.

I wonder how many times this happens in our families that lived in rural areas. .

Eighth Grade -- Finishing Well

For the eighth grade, 1921-22, it was not a report card that my father, Lester Albertson, received, but a report book. It is rather small, but does have more than one page. It includes the song Oregon, written by Chas. B. Jones, copyright 1905. It also included a section with notes to the teacher and to the parents and another page with rules and regulations.

Of course, it was probably the middle section, Monthly Report of Grade Standings, which would have been most important to my father and also to his father. My grandfather, O. J. Albertson, signed this booklet seven times so it could be taken back to school, so his teacher, Lillian Clingman, knew that the booklet had been taken home. For this year the grades were recorded by letter grades and Lester received all As and Bs and even a couple of A+ grades for arithmetic. The teacher wrote in one subject, not on the printed form, Music. He also received all As for that. I do remember when I sang in the church choir along with my father. For his last year in grade school, Lester received all As for deportment. The teacher wrote that he had attended 252 days of school, but she made a mistake. If you add each month's days together it totals 152. Again it was 0 days absent and 0 days tardy.

Filed with the little book was a paper from the County School Superintendent which gave Lester's scores from the 8th grade examinations, and yes he did pass:

• Arithmetic 97
• Civil Gov. 94
• Geography 95
• Grammar 92
• History 90
• Physiology 90
• Reading 82
• Spelling 92
• Writing 85

I expect that both Lester and his parents were proud of receiving that "common school diploma" dated on 31 May 1922. Although the diploma entitled him to enter high school, he never had the opportunity. Looking at the rest of his life I would say his eight grades of school served him well.

Report Cards From the Past

Yesterday, January 20, 2017, I posted a photo from Oak Plain School near Halsey, Oregon, with the names of the students pictured. I had the pleasure of finding some of my father's (Lester Albertson) old report cards from that school. I was able to learn some interesting facts from these records.

Lester was in the fifth grade in the 1918-19 school year. His teacher was Ida Mitzner. . He attended school for 149 days, with 0 days absent and 0 times tardy. For his studies his grades ranged from 88 to 100, with most of the grades in the 90s. One of the items I found surprising was in the second month of the school year under the designation deportment. It was marked 75. Then all the other months were from 88 to 94. Apparently he slipped up that one month. So I did find on the back of the card a section for teacher remarks and she wrote, "An excellent pupil." Note that Ida's younger brother Theodore and sister Amanda were on yesterday's photo.

In the 1920-21 school year, Lester was in the seventh grade with Ethel Bray as his teacher. That year he went to school 152 days, again with 0 days absent and 0 times tardy. The lowest grade I found in his subjects were 80 for the first month's test in history and the second month's test in writing. By the second half of the year the lowest was 85 in spelling, but almost all the others were in the 90s and even a few 100s, which made his total average for the year 93. By now his deportment was graded 94-100 and application was 95-100. So he was promoted to the 8th grade.

Did Any of Your Family Attend Oak Plain School?

Oak Plain School was located on the road now known as Oak Plain Drive west of old Highway 99, between Halsey and Shedd in Linn County Oregon. My father (Lester Albertson) and his two sisters (Buena and Vida) attended this school. He and his older sister Buena are in this photo taken about 1915.

The names are listed as found on the back of the photo: left to right

Back row: Frank Maxwell (teacher), Glen Walton, John Bass, Lawrence Wells, Glen Frum, Worth Bass, George Walton, Arlene Zimmerman, Effie Walton.

Front row: Earl Frum, Tom Zimmerman, Lester Albertson, Theodore Mitzner, Amanda Mitzner, Pearl Walton, Buena Albertson, Opal Walton, Genevieve Wells.

Ancestor Birthday - January 19th - Francis Frazier 1759–1830

Francis Frazier, my 4th great-grandfather, was born 19 Jan 1759 in Rowan County, North Carolina. It was in the part of the county that became Randolph County. I found him in North Carolina Quaker Records when he was received by request in 1790 at Cane Creek Monthly Meeting. More of the family were also received within the next few years.

He was probably married about 1783, based on the birth date of his eldest son in Dec 1784. His wife was named Elizabeth. Various researcher have assigned her the maiden name of Stanley. At the moment I tend to agree with that, although there is scarce documentation. The family moved to Ohio in 1810 and later to Randolph County, Indiana where Francis died 8 Nov 1830.

Francis was connected to my Hockett/Hoggatt tribe because his daughter Sarah married Isaac Hockett. I posted about Isaac day before yesterday, January 17th. There I noted that two of Sarah's brothers also married Hocketts. Of course those young men were also sons of Francis and Elizabeth. When the three Frazier siblings married the three Hockett siblings, it was almost like they were carrying on a family tradition. Two of Francis's brothers, John and James, married sisters of Elizabeth, Majorie and Susanna. Thus three Frazier siblings married three Stanley siblings. So here's another area where I can possibly find double cousins.

Ancestor Birthday - January 18th - Mary Wicom 1679/80–1741/42

Although I'm posting a blog about Mary today, January 18th probably isn't her birthday, but it was the date of her baptism or christening in 1679/80. Her birthday most likely was within the week before January 18th. I found that 6 of her 9 children have both birth and baptism dates recorded and all the dates are less than a week apart.

In genealogical classes we are taught to research women in the past by looking at the men in their lives: father, husband, brother, or son. Mary is mentioned in the book, Early Settlers of Rowley, Massachusetts by George Brainard Blodgette and Amos Everett Jewett on page 172 in the entry for her husband, Jonathan Jewett, who she married 24 Jan 1679/1700. She is also mentioned as a child of her parents, John Wicom and Abigail Kimball, on page 409. Her children are named as a part of Jonathan's entry on page 173.

Going back 300 years to 1717, we could find Mary alive, living on Bradford Street in Rowley with her husband Jonathan, who was a tanner.  By 1717, 7 of her 9 children had been born. Before her death on 21 Jan 1741/42, the 9 children had been born, all living to adulthood and 8 were already married. One son, Jedidiah, had graduated from Harvard College in 1726 and then was ordained in 1729 and became the minister at First Congregational Church in Rowley.  Do you suppose she was more regular in attendance when her son was the minister?

There were at least 20 grandchildren born before her death, so we can imagine she enjoyed those babies and children. Mary died in Exeter, New Hampshire "while there visiting."  It is probable she was visiting her son Moses and family who lived there. Maybe she wanted to see the grandchild who was born in 1740.

Ancestor Birthday - January 17th - Isaac Hockett 1791-1872

I believe this listing in the 1856 Iowa state census really is my 3rd great-grandfather, Isaac Hockett, who was born in 1791 in Randolph County, North Carolina. If you are the least bit proficient in math you can see that the listed age of 6 does not match that birthdate. It looks like here is another place where the census taker wrote down the wrong number, or probably forgot to finish the entry. I have been known to start writing something, then get distracted and not complete it. The census taker did write that Isaac had lived in Iowa for 18 years, and was a married man, neither of which fits someone age 6.

What else do I believe about Isaac?

He was the son of Stephen Hockett/Hoggatt and Margaret Thornburg, who were Quakers. When Isaac was 15, in 1806, the family moved to Ohio. It was just 6 years later that Isaac married Sarah Frazier on the 10th day of the 7th month (July 10) 1812 at the Fairfield Monthly Meeting in Highland County, Ohio. This was two years after his sister Ann had married Sarah's brother Gideon. Then it was just a month after Isaac's marriage that another sister, Hannah, married another one of Sarah's brothers, Thomas. So there are possibilities for a number of double cousins out there.

It was in 1816 that Isaac and Sarah and their two oldest children moved to Indiana, where they stayed for over 20 years. It was in Randolph County Indiana in 1836 that Sarah died. It was a little over a year later when Isaac married another Sarah. She was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Wheeler, born in 1793, the widow of John Davis. So they combined their families, Isaac with 10 children and Sarah with 7. Then along with a number of other Quakers they moved to Henry County, Iowa about 1838. By the 1850 census most of the children have left the household as it shows Isaac, Sarah, Charles (listed as Hockett but really Davis), Susanna (age 23 listed as an idiot), Mary and Ezra. Also in the household was Ellen Pearson, who was said to be an orphan.

Eventually the family moved to Hardin County, Iowa, and it was there in 1872 that Isaac died and was buried at Chester Friends Cemetery.

Lessons Learned from My Father's Cars

Before his death in 2004 my father and I went through a number of his photos and wrote the information about them on the back. He told me the years for the cars in his photos.

In December I wrote about the early cars registered in Oregon to many of my family members as found in the Ancestry.com Data Base: Oregon, Motor Vehicle Registration, 1911-1946. So I searched that database for my father, Lester Albertson, and got 7 hits.

So I checked each one:

• 1930-31, Ford 1/21
• 1930-31, Ford 28 sdn
• 1931-32, Ford 25 tk
• 1932-33, Ford 28 sdn
• 1932-33, Ford 25 tk
• 1946, Ford 40 pickup
• 1946, Chev 35 truck

The 1928 Ford photo also had a notation of 1931 written on the back, so I believe he bought it in 1931, replacing the 1921 Ford shown in the data base. But, what about the cars from the later 1930's? Why didn't they show in the data base?

So I did what I should have done earlier, investigate the data base more carefully. I used the browse function and discovered that it included data for each year from 1911 to 1929, then had the split years 1930-31, 1931-32, 1932-33, but then skipped to 1942 and then to 1946. All the years were not included.

So I have learned two lessons:

1. Don't assume a data base which names beginning and ending years includes all the years in between.
2. Take time to visit with the older generation and get those photos identified while you can.

Am I Related to Buster Keaton?

Buster Keaton is a pivotal figure in the life of the town where I live, Cottage Grove, Oregon. In 1926 Buster came to Cottage Grove with a crew of movie makers and it was here that the silent movie, "The General" was filmed. At the Cottage Grove Museum where I volunteer we have had a featured exhibit of photos taken by local residents during the filming in 1926.

Our Cottage Grove Genealogical Society also did an exhibit at the Cottage Grove Community Center about Buster, his life and his ancestry. When I read about his ancestry I recognized an early place name, Pasquotank County, North Carolina. So I did more research and found Buster and I apparently had no common ancestors. However, our families certainly knew each other and we were connected by marriage three times.

In 1753 his 4th great grand aunt Susanna Morris married my 5th great grand uncle, Christopher Nicholson.

In 1762 his 4th great grand uncle John Morris married my 5th great grand aunt, Mary Nicholson.

In 1768 his 4th great grand uncle Aaron Morris married my 5th great grand aunt, Margaret Nicholson.

So you might say we are related by marriage.

Looking at Falks in Linn County Directories

Yesterday (January 13th) I posted the Albertsons I found in the rural directories for Linn County Oregon for 1953-54 and 1956-57. Today I'll share the Falks I found in those same directories.

There were 9 entries which were in both directories. These are listed here as in the latter directory with a note if there was a change in acreage between the two.

Name Address Acres Section Township Range 

Falk, Char. L. & Elizabeth R1 B 66 Halsey 160 17 14 3W

Falk, Esther E R1 B 5 Halsey 160 8 14 3W

Falk, Florence E R2 B 37 Harrisburg 160 34 14 4W

Falk, Helen L & Russell R3 B 84 Lebanon 33* 14 11 2W

Falk, Leslie & Virginia R1 B 26 Halsey 361 32 13 3W

Falk, Louis R R1 B 73 Halsey 190* 9 14 3W

Falk, Omar E. & Phebe R1 B 35 Halsey 263 28 13 3W

Falk, Russell C & Helen R3 B 84 Lebanon 6 14 11 2W

Falk, Wm. A R1 B 6A Halsey 80 8 14 3W

*in 1953-54

Helen was listed with 34 acres

Louis was listed with 160 acres

All of these Falks are found on my website: www.joanneskelton.com

However in the 1956-57 directory there is a Falk listing which is a mystery to me who he is.

Falk, L. S. R1 B 33 Brownsville 300 12 14 3W

Is there someone out there who can enlighten me?

It was fun to find that by the 1956-57 directory, Falks (including mystery man) owned 1713 acres of Linn County.

Looking at Albertsons in Linn County Directories

In taking genealogy classes we are urged to remember to research in city directories. However, since most of my ancestors were farmers and lived out of town, this doesn't always work.

But I was delighted to find in my father's collection a pair of rural directories for Linn County Oregon where my parents and both sets of grandparents had lived. There is one for 1953-54 and another for 1956-57. So I began looking up family members.

Starting with the Albertsons: 1953-54 had four listings:

• Albertson, A. F. Rt 1, Halsey 74 acres section 33, township 13, range 4W
  This was my grandfather's brother Arthur
• Albertson, Earle F Rt 1, Halsey 120 acres section 33, township 13, range 4W
  This was Arthur's son
• Albertson, Lester Halsey 55 acres section 14, township 13, range 4W                                       This was my father
• Albertson, O. J. 2434 Columbia St, Eugene 117 acres section 3, township 14, range 4W
  This was my grandfather, although he had died in 1948

Next to compare with the 1956-57 listings

• Albertson, A. F. Same except added Box 232 to his address
• Albertson, Earl F. Same except added wife's name Ester and Box 195 to his address
• Albertson, Lester Several differences:
  Added wife's name Welma, Address Rt 1, Box 257
  Changed to 112 acres section 23, township 12, range 4W
• Albertson, O.J. Same except added wife's name Lucy

Most of these changes cause no problem, except wives' names are spelled incorrectly. It is good to have more complete addresses. But what about the changes for my father, the number of acres are different and the section location is different.

Thankfully, I had some resources to use. I had copies of two deeds. The first was for 55 acres, more or less and the second one, dated Oct 1954, was for 53.25 acres, more or less. Adding them together doesn't quite equal 112, but 108, more or less, is close enough. My other resource is the Internet where Linn County has posted their assessment and taxation maps. I found the property, listed there as 112 acres and it is about half in section 14 and half in section 23, so both directories were half correct.

It was fun to find that by the 1956-57 directory, Albertsons owns 423 acres of Linn County.

Maybe tomorrow I can check the Falk families in these directories.

Ancestor Birthday - January 12th - Abner Shipman 1759-1832

Yesterday I posted about his wife, Margery Avery.  Abner Shipman, my 5th great-grandfather, was born just 2 years and 1 day after her. He is shown in the Lyme Connecticut records with a birthdate of 12 Jan 1759.    

I checked the public family trees on Ancestry.com and used a search for Abner Shipman born in 1759 with a wife Margery. There were 148 hits. It appears I could have a lot of cousins out there.

I need to enter census information for Abner in my database for 1790, 1800, 1810 and 1820. Since these census years only list the name of the head of household, I need to make some deductions about who those "tick" marks represent. Hopefully these will be entered within a few days then will update my website and others can evaluate my deductions.

Let me know if your deductions match or differ from mine.


See Abner on my website:http://www.joanneskelton.com/p96.htm#i2376

Ancestor Birthday - January 11th - Margery Avery 1757-

When did Margery (Avery) Shipman die?

I believe I know when my 5th great-grandmother, Margery Avery, the daughter of Nathaniel Avery and Mary Wickwire, was born. Looking at the microfilm for the Lyme Connecticut town records I found her born 11 Jan 1757. She also is listed in the town records for Lyme when she married Abner Shipman on 20 Oct 1779. The birthdates for their 13 children are recorded in the Lyme records.

But when did Margery die? The website Find A Grave has a page for her, but without a death date. There is a photograph of a tombstone from Woodlawn Cemetery, Lincklaen, Chenango County, New York. It is a stone with both her husband Abner and her names. It has birth and death dates for him, but only a birthdate for her. The tombstone appears to be much newer than the 1832 death date for Abner, so may have been erected later by one of the descendants.

I've found Margery's birth, marriage and births of her children in 3 different published family histories: Avery, Wickwire and Shipman. None of them gives death information for her.

Maybe the US census could help give a clue. The census listings for Abner show a female of about the correct age in 1790 and 1800 in New London County, Connecticut and 1810 and 1820 in Chenango County, New York. So far I have not been able to locate either of them in the 1830 census. Thus I may use a death date of "after 1820" and continue looking.

See Margery on my website:http://www.joanneskelton.com/p96.htm#i2377

Ancestor Birthday - January 10th - Margaret Thornburg 1767-1843

Margaret was my 4th great-grandmother. She was the daughter of Quakers Joseph Thornburg and Ann Armfield. The spelling of her surname seemed to depend on who was recording it. The clerks at some of the Quaker monthly meetings in North Carolina in the late 1700s used various spellings:

• Cane Creek: Thornburg, Thornbrugh, Thornborough
• Center: Thornbrough, Thornberry
• New Garden: Thornbrug, Thornbrugh, Thornburgh, Thornbrough, Thornburg, Thornbury

Her father's will was recorded in 1800 in Guilford County, North Carolina with the name Thornburg, so this is the spelling I use in my compiled records.

Many researchers have stated that her ancestry can be traced many generations back to noble lines in England. It may be true, but I don't have any proficiency in that type of research, so won't speculate.

I do know that Margaret was one of my "moving ancestors." She was born in 10 Jan 1767 in Guilford County, North Carolina; moved to Highland County, Ohio with her husband Stephen Hoggatt/Hockett and family in 1805; then they moved to Hancock County, Indiana in 1817; and finally with most of their married children moved to Henry County, Iowa in the 1830s. It was there that Margaret died in 1843, after her husband of 53 years had died in 1839.

Margaret is one of my DNA circles on Ancestry DNA. As of today, 10 Jan 2017, my DNA matches 21 individuals whose paper trail would include Margaret as an ancestor. I am amused that Ancestry gives a brief summary of her life with the DNA Circle and they state that she had 12 sons and 8 daughters. She did have a large family, but my research shows she had 6 sons and 5 daughters for a total of 11. They all lived to marry and she had at least 100 grandchildren. So using conservative sizes for families we could estimate there would be thousands of descendants alive today, so naturally some of them have tested their DNA.

See Margaret on my website:http://www.joanneskelton.com/p18.htm#i434

Charles May Not Be Her Maiden Name

The first goal I posted for 2017 was:

Review each ancestor on the day before their birthday as shown on the calendar on my website.

My birthday calendar showed two ancestors for January 8th. So I posted one yesterday on the 8th. The other one was Elizabeth Charles. But while reviewing her information I came up with a question about her. The birthday calendar links to the wife of Samuel Nicholson, my 8th great-grandfather. She is shown as Elizabeth Charles born 8 Jan 1670.

There was an Elizabeth Charles born on the 8th of January in 167_, daughter of Will. Charles and his wife Abigail, according to birth records recorded at Perquimans Precinct, Old Albemarle County, North Carolina. It appears the births of 7 of their children were all recorded at the same time, probably on Dec. 5, 1679. By comparing the birth years for her siblings, I believe that Elizabeth's birth year was probably 1671/72.

Then reviewing the marriage records for Perquimans Precinct after 1679, we can find the following:

• William Charles, oldest son of William and Abigail, married Elizabeth Kent on 8 Nov 1683.
• Jeles Longe married Elizabeth Charles on 11 Aug 1687
• Samuel Nicholson and Elizabeth Charles were married at a Quaker meeting 16 Dec 1688.

So by 1684 we have at least two women named Elizabeth Charles: the daughter of William and Abigail and the wife of William Charles (2). Why does this make a difference? Because William (2) died sometime between 4 Apr 1687 when he made his will and 23 Sep 1687 when the will was probated, so now there is a widow named Elizabeth Charles who probably married either Jeles Longe or Samuel Nicholson.

Now which is most probable? We do not know the exact date for William (2)'s death, but since Jeles Longe's marriage was before the probate date, it seems more likely to me that he married the daughter Elizabeth and Samuel married the widow. Another clue to support this is in the abstracts of Quaker Marriage Certificates including Perquimans Monthly Meeting compiled by Gwen Boyer Bjorkman. The index shows only two entries for the name Kent: Hannah and Mary. They were witnesses at the marriage of Samuel and Elizabeth, which would be reasonable since she would be their sister.

This conclusion does not agree with all of the family trees posted out there that I have seen, so I would appreciate any comments others can share.

Another of my goals:

Write something for my blog each day. Have it be about the ancestor on his or her birthday.

So if Elizabeth Charles born on January 8th is not my ancestor, Elizabeth Kent is. She was shown in the birth records as born on 1 June 1667 to parents Thomas and Ann Kent. So I plan to wait until June 1st to write about her.

Also another goal:

Enter some missing information or make corrections about the birthday ancestor in my database.

Now back to my database and make some changes about this 8th great-grandmother.

Ancestor Birthday - January 8th - Christopher Wickwire

Christopher was my 7th great-grandfather. He was the son of the immigrant John Wickwire, who was born about 1650 in England. John was in the colonies by 1675 when he served in the military in King Philip's War. It was the next year, 1676, in November when John was married to Christopher's mother, Mary Tonge, in New London, New London County, Connecticut. They were early settlers in the section of New London now known as Montville.

Christopher was the 2nd son, born on 8 Jan 1679/80. My website uses this "double dating" becuase before 1752 the calendar used March 25th as the beginning of the year. So January 8th would be in the latter part of 1679, but in our way of thinking it would be in the beginning of 1680, so I used the double dating system, showing both years.

Christopher was one of 8 children and at least 7 lived long enough to be married. He was married about 1700 to Elizabeth Swaddle. The Wickwire family history compiled by Ellwood Count Curtis shows Christopher and Elizabeth with 9 children and identifies 21 grandchildren. Now I must get busy and enter Christopher's siblings and grandchildren into my database. Part of the goal of blogging about the birthday ancestors is so I will get my database and then my website updated.

check Christopher on my website in a few days and see if I accomplished my goal.

http://www.joanneskelton.com/p96.htm#i2396

Another Ten Years and Another Bond Reunion

On January 6th I posted about the Bond Reunion in 1939. In August 1949, the Albany Democrat-Herald reported on another Bond reunion. This was held in the Baptist park on the Frank Harlow farm near Eugene. That would probably be at or near Camp Harlow today. Now the reunion was for two of the Bond brothers: Solomon and George.

Again my grandmother, Mrs. Florence Falk, now a widow, attended the reunion along with 45 other named individuals. Among those were my mother, Mrs. Lester Albertson, my brother Oran and me, Joanne. I don't have a clear memory of this particular reunion, but as a child growing up, we regularly attended 2 family reunions each year, Bond and Falk, plus some other family get-togethers.

Those attending this reunion came from 3 locations in Washington: Woodland, Vancouver and Centralia. Oregon provided 9 locations: Portland, Springfield, Trent, Dorena, Madras, Harrisburg, Halsey, Albany and Eugene.

You can check with me jskelton@oip.net to see if your Bond relative was at this same reunion as me.

Ten Years Later Grandmother Falk Attended a Bond Reunion

On January 4th I posted about the England reunion of 1929. I found an article in September of 1939 in the Albany Democrat-Herald telling of the Bond Reunion held in Turner, Oregon, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. H. [Harvey] S. Bond on August 20th. It stated that the reunion was for families of the pioneers: Solomon, William and George Bond. Again names were listed with 51 individuals.

My grandparents, Mr & Mrs Julius Falk and their youngest child Gerald were among the attendees. Grandmother Falk's maiden name was Bond. She was a granddaughter of Solomon Bond.

My parents didn't attend that year. I suspect they were busy caring for their new baby girl (me) born just 8 days earlier.

The article included where those attending were from. They came from Washington: Woodland and Vancouver, and from Oregon: Eugene, Albany, Harrisburg, Halsey, Florence, Portland, Salem and Turner.

Again any Bond researchers can contact me to see if your ancestor went to the reunion in 1939.

Ancestor Birthday - January 5th - Nathan Albertson 1801-1883

Nathan is my 3rd great-grandfather. He was born in 1801 in Perquimans County, North Carolina, whic is in the northeastern corner of the state. I was privileged to visit that area in 1996. The Albertsons had lived in that area for over a century as Nathan's 3rd great-grandfather Albert settled a land grant there in 1694.

By the time Nathan was ten, his mother had died, as his father, Benjamin Albertson, remarried in 1811, to a widow, Margaret (Bagley) Nixon, with three children from her previous marriage. Nathan gained a half-brother William in about 1814. Nathan's father had died before October 1824, when Nathan married Phariby Nicholson in a Quaker ceremony at Suttons Creek Monthly Meeting. Nathan's step-mother, Margaret Albertson's name was listed as one of the witnesses.

Nathan and Phariby followed the trend of Quakers moving north in the 1830's and purchased government land in Rush County Indiana in 1834. They continued moving, buying land in Hancock County Indiana in 1837 and then in 1855 buying land in Hardin County, Iowa. By the 1880 census Nathan and Phariby were living with their son Benjamin's family in Marshall County, Iowa.

A family history (Genealogy of the Bell Family: A Record of the Decendants of Lancelot Bell ) gives Nathan's death date as 12 January 1883. Benjamin's family is listed on the 1885 Nebraska state census with Phariby in their household.

See Nathan on my website:http://www.joanneskelton.com/p9.htm#i215

Grandmother Falk Attended an England Family Reunion

The 1929 England family reunion photo is on the main page of my genealogy website:

http://www.joanneskelton.com/

I was really happy when I found an article from the Corvallis Gazette-Times on Wednesday, August 21, 1929, telling of the England Reunion held the previous Sunday in the Corvallis Park. The article stated that it was the fourth annual reunion and then proceeded to list 69 individuals who had attended. Included in the list were my grandparents, Mr. & Mrs. Julius Falk, and their 5 children, including my mother: Wilma, Lois, Erma, Violet and Gerald. Grandmother Falk's grandmother was Margaret England, who was married to Commodore Perry O'Neal and lived in the Creswell area.

If you have an England family connection who lived in Oregon and that was alive in 1929, let me know and I will check the listing to see if they are there.

My First 2017 Birthday Ancestor

The birthday ancestor for January 3rd is Joshua Rodney Shipman, my 2nd gt-grandfather who was born in 1840 in Ashtabula County, Ohio. By the 1860 census, he and his wife were living in Berrien County, Michigan. Then by 1865 the family is in Mercer County, Illinois and had moved to Saline County, Nebraska before the 1880 census. Sometime after their two children were married in the early 1880s, the Shipmans and other related families moved to Sherman County, Kansas where J.R. settled a homestead. He was widowed in 1913 when Lucy died, then he died five years later in 1918 in Nebraska while staying with his son. He was buried in the Edson Cemetery in Sherman County beside his wife. I was able to visit their graves in the 1990s.

Read about Joshua Rodney Shipman on my website: www.joanneskelton.com

Genealogy Goals for 2017

Featuring Ancestor's Birthdays

http://www.joanneskelton.com/ui26.htm

Review each ancestor on the day before their birthday as shown on the calendar on my website.

Organize some of the materials about that person, both paper and digital.

Write something for my blog each day. Have it be about the ancestor on his or her birthday.

Enter some missing information or make corrections about the birthday ancestor in my database.

Digitize family documents, especially those not already on-line.

New Year's Greeting from the Past

This was a card received by my father, Lester Albertson, from his uncle Arthur Albertson family. The card was not dated, but probably was over 100 years ago.

I wish a Happy New Year to all who read this.