Ancestor Birthday - February 28th - Judith Cook - 1679-1708

Judith Cook was my 7th great-grandmother. It was over three hundred years ago that she lived. She was born in Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut on 28 Feb 1679 to Samuel and Hope (Parker) Cook. The Barbour Collection just gives the year a 1679. Comparing her birth date to others in the family I believe it was probably 1679/80. Another family researcher has listed eleven brother and sisters for her with at least seven living to be married. This is a family I need to do more research on. The original town record may show the correct birth year and show the others in the family. I suspect that Judith was named for her grandmother, Judith (Birdsall) Cook.

Judith married Jeremiah Howe 20 Apr 1704 in Wallingford. Sadly she lived only a few years more as she died 20 Mar 1708, probably 1708/09. Apparently she left two small children, Jeremiah and Judith, both named for their parents. I am sad to know so little of this woman who lived a relatively short life. 

Ancestor Birthday - February 27th - Francis Hockett - 1818-1886

Francis Hockett was my 2nd great-grandfather. He is one of my Quaker ancestors who had a number of children. My website lists 11 children. A biography found in a Hardin County History of 1883 states he had 12 children, with 10 living at the time. I do have those ten, so who is the other one? See my website: http://www.joanneskelton.com/p6.htm#i148

Maybe more important me is this question? Which of these pictures is Francis and Rebecca (Hartley) Hockett and which one is Benjamin and Sabina (Marsh) Albertson? Almost two years ago, 12 Mar 2015, I posted these pictures and asked this same question. Now I'm asking again.

Ancestor Birthday ­ February 20th - Robert Rogers 1682-1723

It seems I may be posting this ancestor on the wrong day because my calendar shows February 28th, but in reviewing his information it appears the correct date should be February 20th, so I am a few days late, but still in the correct month.

Robert was my 7th great-grandfather, born 20 Feb 1682/83 in Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts. He was the son of John and Dinah (Chiske) Rogers. There are records in Ipswich that his father John was an innkeeper in 1693 with the tavern "The Black Horse."

There is quite a long article about Robert on the Find a Grave website. Although they have not found a gravestone for him, they have placed his information in the Rowley Burial Ground section.

Robert's father John and his uncle Thomas Rogers were "saddlers" and Robert followed that same occupation, making saddles and other equipment for horses. He continued in that occupation when he moved to Rowley.

After he had been married for a few years, apparently Robert served as a trooper during Queen Anne's War and was wounded at Dunstable 3 Jul 1706. After a couple of weeks of treatment he returned to Rowley.

The author at Find a Grave believes that Robert had three wives. I did find three marriages for a Robert Rogers in the Rowley marriage records: to Dorothy Smith (my ancestor) 4 Feb 1702/03, then after her death 17 Aug 1718, he married widow Sarah (Jewett) Prime 7 Oct 1718. The Rowley death record shows the death of a Sarah Rogers, wife of John, died 20 Nov 1722, but on Find a Grave that death date is given for Robert's wife Sarah. Early Settlers of Rowley, Massachusetts also shows that date for Robert's wife Sarah. Rowley records shows Robert Rogers married widow Lydia (Leaver) Thurston 11 Mar 1722/23. That marriage was very short as he died 18 Apr 1723.

Robert had five children with Dorothy, including my ancestor Dorothy that I wrote about yesterday (25 Feb 2017), and two children with Sarah. I wonder about who was caring for the young children as the first two wives died, then Robert himself. Did Lydia care for them along with her two children from her first marriage? She married 23 Nov 1725 to Stephen Jewett, her third husband. It is interesting to consider how families may have coped with the deaths of one or both parents in a family.

Ancestor Birthday ­ February 25th - Dorothy Rogers 1703/04 - ??

from Rowley Massachusetts birth records

Dorothy (Rogers) Jewett was my 6th great-grandmother. She was born 25 Feb 1703/04 in Rowley, Essex County, Massachusetts to Robert and Dorothy (Smith) Rogers. She married Benjamin Jewett 18 Jan 1724/25 in Rowley. She had one child, Mary, in Rowley. Then it appears that the family moved north about 1727 into New Hampshire to the town of Stratham . A family history, Hunting an Ancestor by George Anson Jewett written in 1914, states she had three more children there, Benjamin, John and Jedediah and maybe more. Some on-line trees do list more children.

Evidently she received an inheritance from the death of her father in 1730 since Benjamin signed a receipt for 19 pounds 8 + 4d as his wife's share in Robert Roger's estate.

I find this time period difficult to research. I haven't yet found a good source for her date of death.

posted 25 Feb 2017

Living Close Together

When the Hayes family came to Oregon in 1853, a number of them claimed Donation Land Claims in Linn County. One of Seth Hayes' first cousins, Albert Hayes, had come to Oregon in 1850 and had settled a claim about a mile south of the current location of the city of Halsey. Because he was in Oregon before the end of 1850, he was entitled to 320 acres. He settled his claim in November 1853.

Then Seth and Lydia Hayes, my 3rd great-grandparents, chose land adjoining Albert's on the north. As they came after 1850 and were a married couple, they could claim 320 acres together.  They settled their claim in February 1854.

Seth and Lydia's son, Ebenezer, was still single, so he could claim 160 acres, but ended up with 121.64, about one half mile from the north edge of his parents claim. He settled this a few months later in May of 1854.

At the north edge of Ebenezer's claim was his sister and her husband, Solomon and Huldah (Hayes) Bond, my 2nd great-grandparents. They settled their 320 acre claim in October 1854.

Ebenezer and Huldah's brother, Seth Whipple Hayes and his wife Polly (Stillwell) Hayes came the next year in May 1855 and settled between Ebenezer and their parents, Seth and Lydia. One of their descendants stated that Seth and Polly had first settled in the Portland area, but came later to this Halsey area. They officially received 328.4 acres.

When the city of Halsey was laid out after the Oregon and California Railroad was built in 1871, most of the city was in the original claims of Ebenezer and Seth Whipple & Polly. But Polly had died in 1863, so her half would have been inherited by someone. By then, both Seth and Lydia had also passed away so the small edge of Halsey on their claim would be in their estate. Checking the map, it appears that where I went to high school was on the claim of Ebenezer Hayes, by 2nd great-granduncle. I certainly didn't realize it at the time.

Back to the original settlement, it was July 1855 when the fourth child of Seth and Lydia, Lydia Louisa and her husband, Reuben Jewett, came and settled their claim of 162.4 acres. They joined Solomon and Huldah on the north and Ebenezer and Seth Whipple on the west. Their claim was about half the size they were entitled to receive, but my guess is that they wanted to settle next to their family and that was all the land that had not already been taken.

I find it fascinating that this block of land of Seth and Lydia and four of their children totaled just over one thousand two hundred fifty acres. Then if you add cousin Albert's their block was over fifteen hundred acres. I titled this living close together. But if you look at the individual acreage amounts the smallest was over 100 acres so even if they all joined each other, their homes could still be a ways apart.

Wouldn't Deaths Bring Sadness to Lydia?

I think about what must have been sadness in the life of my great-grandmother, Lydia (Jewett) Hayes when there were deaths in her family. Her oldest daughter, Huldah, died at about 3 years of age in 1823. I don't have a record of when her mother passed away, but family history states that her father, Joseph, died in 1837. Lydia and her family moved to Indiana by 1837 where her youngest child was born.

By 1842 the family has moved to Jefferson County Iowa and her children began getting married and having children of their own. Before the end of the year Lydia's first grandchild was born, Daniel. But he had died before 1850. In 1846 granddaughter Rebecca died when 1 month old. Then in 1851 grandson William died at age 4 months.

It was in 1853 when the family traveled together for about five months over the Oregon Trail. Not long after another granddaughter was born while in the Blue Mountains, that Lydia's daughter, Hannah, died in the Cascade Mountains. The baby Emma lived with her grandparents, Seth and Lydia. Six year old Emma and Lydia are shown on the 1860 census as the only members of the household, because Seth had died that year previous to the census. I would think it was especially hard for Lydia when Emma died at age 9, around 1863. Also in 1863 Lydia's son, Seth Whipple Hayes who lived next door, suffered two deaths in his family: his 8 year old daughter Celia, another of Lydia's granddaughters, died and then just 3 months later Seth's wife, Polly, died.

Hopefully Lydia had joyful moments to counteract the sad times in her life. She herself died in November 1864. From her obituary in the Pacific Christian Advocate we can read; "Sister Lydia Hays died in great peace and full assurance of eternal life."

Consider the Names of Lydia and Seth's Children

Naming Baby

Since Seth and Lydia (Jewett) Hayes had their first child almost 200 years ago (1820) we can't know why they gave their children the names they did. However, we can look at their family trees and make some educated guesses as to who they honored when they named their children.

1. Huldah -- Lydia's mother was Huldah (Fenton) Jewett. Since they reused this name with child No. 5, it seems it was an important name to her.

2. Hannah -- Lydia's grandmother was Hannah (unknown) Jewett. Lydia also had a sister named Hannah and Seth also had a sister named Hannah.

3. Lydia Louisa -- Of course the Lydia is for Lydia herself and Louisa was her sister.

4. Seth Whipple -- Seth would be for Seth and Whipple is the surname of Seth's mother.

5. Huldah -- See No. 1.

6. Ebenezer -- Seth had a brother Ebenezer Hayes. He also had an uncle Ebenezer Whipple.

7. Sybil Ann -- Seth had a sister Sybil Hayes and his grandmother was Ann (Hough) Whipple.

8. Priscilla -- Seth's mother was Priscilla (Whipple) Hayes.

So it appears that Lydia named No 1, 2, 3 and 5 and Seth named 4, 6, 7 and 8. I enjoy finding a family where most of the names come from family connections. However it does make it more difficult sometimes to be sure you have identified the correct individual.

Ancestor Birthday - February 21st - Lydia Jewett 1793-1864

I find it interesting that my 3rd great-grandmother, Lydia (Jewett) Hayes lived nearly at the same time as my 4th great-grandmother, Nancy (Patton) Milligan who I wrote about a few days ago. This means we can't always predict how many generations will be within a certain number of years.

Lydia has also been very interesting to me because of where she lived. She was born in New Hampshire to Joseph and Huldah (Fenton) Jewett, married Seth Hayes in Ohio, moved to Indiana, then Iowa, and crossed the plains to Oregon where she died. Within her 71 years she traveled from coast to coast without the benefit of airplanes, trains or automobiles.

In 2015 I used an airplane to get to the East Coast and then traveled by motorcoach for a tour of New England. The tour materials told me that we would visit New Hampshire, but they didn't let me know that we would drive through the "town" of Lisbon. I was really excited to see the type of geography where my ancestor had been born. I wrote in my trip journal, "in a valley, harvested fields, ponds and marshy areas."

posted 21 Feb 2017

An Unknown Cousin in Halsey

Pine Grove Cemetery, Halsey, Oregon

I grew up in the Halsey, Oregon, area. I knew I had some Hayes and Bond relatives in the area since my 3rd great-grandparents Hayes and 2nd great-grandparents Bond were original settlers there. In the early 1900s some of my Albertson and Falk ancestors moved into the area. When I graduated from Halsey High School I had an Albertson 2nd cousin and a Falk 2nd cousin in my graduating class. But I had no idea while growing up that I had any relatives from the Patton family who lived at Halsey. In fact, I had never even realized that I had any Patton ancestors.

When I began researching my family history in the mid-1980s, my Albertson, Falk, Bond and Hayes cousins shared much information with me. I began working on my Smalley relatives from Kansas and learned they had previously lived in Adams County Ohio. As was usual at that time, I began writing letters and corresponded with various relatives. When I had traced back to Nancy (Patton) Milligan, some of the correspondents noted that two of the Milligan daughters had married Gordon brothers. A Gordon descendant (Robert Abram Gordon) had self-published a book about the Gordon family and included sections on the Milligans and Pattons, so some of my ancestors were in it. Copies were shared with me and I began to study the book. Several generations down in the Patton family it noted that a certain descendant was born in "Halsey, Linn Co., Oregon," the daughter of Thomas Porter Patton who was born in Illinois in 1855 and died in 1933. If his daughter was born in Halsey and he didn't die until 1933, maybe my father, who lived in Halsey area from 1911, would have known him. So on one of my visits I asked my father if he remembered a Thomas Porter Patton. He replied yes. He and his father had considered buying some sheep that Thomas had for sale, but then decided against it.

Later in doing newspaper research in the microfilmed Halsey newspapers, in the Halsey Journal on 9 Mar 1933, there on the same page as a Falk item was an obituary for T. P. Patton. The headline stated: "Pioneer Passes." In the article: "Thomas Porter Patton was born in Illinois, June 26, 1855, the son of Mr. and Mrs. James Patton. He came to Oregon in 1879, and has lived in this locality ever since." It also stated he would be buried at Pine Grove Cemetery. In a visit there looking for other relatives, I photographed his gravestone. I suspect that my grandmother Albertson never knew that her 2nd cousin twice removed lived close by. We probably have many unknown cousins out there.

Some Descendants of Nancy (Patton) Milligan

The John Wilson Smalley Family about 1890

  Front Row (l to r): Samuel Fred b. 1877, Rosa b. 1879

  2nd Row: Mary V. b. 1857, John Wilson b. 1832, Rachel Ann b. 1838, Lafe v. 1858

  3rd Row: Eliza b. 1867, Martha Ella b. 1875

  4th Row: John H. b. 1871, James C. b. 1862, David L. b. 1860, William S. b. 1864, Joseph F. b. 1873

Yesterday (18 Feb 2017) I posted about my 4th great-grandmother, Nancy (Patton) Milligan. These are some of her descendants, because Rachel Ann (in the 2nd Row) was the daughter of John Hemphill and Elizabeth Hawkins Milligan, which makes Rachel Nancy's granddaughter and therefore all of Rachel' s children are Nancy's great-grandchildren. With fairly large families descendants can increase rapidly.

Ancestor Birthday - February 17 - Nancy Patton - 1791-1866

On 17 Feb 1791 or 1792 my 4th great-grandmother, Nancy Patton, was born to John Patton and Martha (Sharp) Patton in Rockbridge County, Virginia. She was their eighth and youngest child.

Nancy was named as an heir in her father's will written in 1809. A special bequest to her stated "I bequeath to my daughter Nancy such quantity of property so as to be equal in value to what any of my other daughters has received of my estate." Nancy had three older sisters. Jane never married and also had a special bequest along with her mother as apparently Jane had special needs. The other two: Martha "Patsy" and Mary "Polly" had married before 1809. Did Nancy's bequest indicate they had something like a dowery when they had married? I don't know, but maybe.

Nancy did get married 2 Oct 1812 to William Milligan in Rockbridge by Daniel Blaine, a Presbyterian minister. Soon Nancy and William moved to Adams County, Ohio as their first child may have been born there (reports are conflicting) and certainly their second child in 1815. Nancy's siblings as well as her mother moved to Adams County before 1820.

Her mother's will written in 1819, named Nancy as an heir. Nancy got a share of her mother's books, household effects and wearing apparel. I wonder if the books had originally belonged to John since Martha signed with her mark. Maybe she could read and not write.

William, Nancy's husband, died in the 1840's. She was enumerated on the 1850 US census in Wayne Township, Adams County, as the head of household, with real estate valued at $1200. Also living with her were her youngest son, William Steele Milligan, and her sister Jane Patton.

By the 1860 census, Nancy was living with her son William his wife and 3 children in Oliver Township, Adams County. Nancy was shown as a housekeeper. Her sister Jane, who was marked idiotic, was also living there. This listing helps explain the special bequest from their father. I was glad to see that Nancy appears to be taking care of her sister.

Nancy (Patton) Milligan died 19 Jun 1866 and was buried in Unity Cemetery, Unity, Adams County, Ohio. I was glad to find an entry on Find A Grave website which shows a photo of her "old" barely readable gravestone.

Ancestor Birthday - February 17 - Jeremiah Howe - 1705-1783

Jeremiah Howe, my 6th great-grandfather, was born over 300 year ago, on 17 Feb 1704/05 in the town of Wallingford, Connecticut. I believe he was the son of Jeremiah Howe (born 1675) and Judah Cook. His father and mother were married 20 Apr 1704, ten months before Jeremiah was born. They had a daughter named Judah, who was born 22 Oct 1706. Jeremiah's mother died 20 Mar 1708 when he was only three years old. His father remarried about 3 1/2 months later to Mary Cook, a widow. In the next few years Jeremiah became the older brother to four half-siblings.

At age 25, Jeremiah married Elizabeth Gailor or Gaylord on 11 Mar 1730. They continued living in Wallingford for the births of their first eleven children, but between Oct 1746 and Oct 1748 they moved about 40 miles northwest to the fairly new town of Goshen. It had been settled about 1739 and soon after Jeremiah and Elizabeth moved there and their 12th child had been born the town was incorporated in 1749. Jeremiah lived in Goshen through the Revolutionary War times and died there 20 Nov 1783.

A family story has been handed down that our Howe family was related to the British General Howe from the Revolutionary War. However, Jeremiah's grandfather was born in the Connecticut Colony in 1650, a hundred twenty-five years before the War. If there is any relationship, it would be distant, so I won't worry about it now.

Families Visit Each Other

Often I find it very interesting how the older local newspapers report on who visited whom.

Checking out some of the Falk families I found that in August 1915, nine family members of the Leonard Falk clan from Albany, Oregon, traveled by automobile to Salem Heights to visit their brother George's home.

In October of 1925, Roy Bond of Glide, a brother of Mrs. Julius Falk, my grandmother, came to Harrisburg area to visit her. I suspect he was glad to tell her that the prune ranch operated by he and his brother Perry had a good yield that year.

There was quite a strange item in the paper of December 1925. It stated: "Julius Falk and family, who reside southwest of town, [Harrisburg, Oregon] motored to Roseburg Thanksgiving day and spent a few days visiting with Mrs. Falk's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bond."

What is strange is that her parents had died in 1918 and 1919. I suspect it is probable that they visited her brothers who lived at Glide, which is in the Roseburg area.

It was in August of 1934 when my grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Julius Falk, along with their seven year old son Jerry, went to Halsey on Sunday morning and attended church services at the Church of Christ. Then they had dinner at my parents' home, Lester and Wilma (Falk) Albertson. Wilma's ten year old sister, Violet, had been visiting with them and now later that day she went back home with her parents.

A year later, August of 1935, the paper reported that my parents went up to Harrisburg and visited my grandparents' family on a Sunday afternoon. I wonder if they visited other times too rather than just once a year.

Would They Be Triple Cousins?

One of my older cousins who I liked and respected for her historical writing was Margaret (Standish) Carey, who lived in the Halsey, Oregon area. She shared with me a manuscript of Hayes family history, which included me. Margaret's 2nd great-grandparents were Seth Hayes and Lydia Jewett, who were my 3rd great-grandparents. Her great-grandfather was their son Seth Whipple Hayes, the brother to my 2nd great-grandmother Huldah (Hayes) Bond, so Margaret and I were 3rd cousins once removed and her children would be my 4th cousins.

Now Margaret was married to Robert Carey, whose 2nd great-grandparents were Ludwig Falk and Anna Louisa Boehm, who were my great-grandparents. His great-grandfather, Charles L. Falk, was an older brother of my grandfather, Julius A. Falk. So Bob was my 2nd cousin once removed and that would make his children my 2nd cousins twice removed. Since her children and his children are the same people they are my double cousins.

But recently I was reviewing my Hayes information and was reminded that Margaret's great-grandfather, Seth Whipple Hayes, was married to Polly Bond Stillwell. Polly was a 1st cousin to Solomon Bond, the husband of Huldah Hayes. Margaret's 3rd great-grandparents were an earlier Solomon Bond and his wife Anna Allen, and they were my 4th great-grandparents, so from this family Margaret is my 4th cousin once removed. This makes her children my 5th cousins.

Bob and Margaret's children are at the same time:

my 2nd cousins twice removed from the Falk line;

my 4th cousins from the Hayes line; and

my 5th cousins from the Bond line.

Does this make them triple cousins?

Valentines From the Past

These are a few of the Valentines which had been saved by my husband, Harry E. Skelton. They had been received from some of his cousins.

Busey School Was in the News in the 1920s

Yesterday (12 Feb 2017) I posted a photo of the students at Busey School in 1923. Busey School, District 44, was located about three miles north of Harrisburg, Oregon. Because Harrisburg is located between the cities of Eugene and Albany, I was able to find some mentions of the school in both Eugene and Albany newspapers.

In February 1923, eight months before the photo, Busey dedicated a new school building with a community supper and some outside speakers, including Mrs. Edna Geer, the Linn County School Superintendent. It had cost more than $2000, covered by interest-bearing warrants. The article concluded with a new fact for me. My grandfather, J. A. Falk, was a member of the school board. A month after the photo was taken, in November of 1923, a newspaper reported that the pupils "enjoyed a Hallowe'én frolic that evening. The ghost, witch and jack o'lantern featured."

The papers usually noted who the teachers were at the school:

1922-23 -- Miss Bess Jones

1923-24 -- Miss Jennie Reed

1924-25 -- Miss Mildred or Margaret Martin

1928-29 -- Mrs. Vernita Cooley

It was in May 1925 when the results of the Linn County Dental Essay Contest were announced. The winner of the division for 5th & 6th grades in rural districts was my aunt, Lois Falk, a sixth grader. The paper announced in June 1925 that District 44 had one student who had passed the 8th grade examination on the first try and so graduated: my mother, Wilma Falk.

The next spring in April of 1926, Busey School children entertained their parents with an Easter program. They also enjoyed the new volleyball and flag there, which they had earned by selling pencils. At the last day of school in May of 1926 the Lake Creek and Busey schools celebrated together at the Busey school grounds.

In June of 1927, four of the students from the photo graduated from the 8th grade: Lois Falk, Samuel Brock, Merle Cook and Ralph Wilbert. June of 1929 reported that two students from Busey had passed the 8th grade exam: Helen Cook and George Hargett. So together with the newspapers and the photo you can put faces with some of the names.

My Mother Went to Busey School

Busey School, 17 Oct 1923

Back row (left to right): Jennie Reed (teacher), Ralph Wilbert, Sam Brock, Merle Cook, Wilma Falk, Wayne Brock, Silas Hargett

Front row (left to right): George Hargett, Lois Falk, Helen Cook, Pauline Marts, Dica Brock, Helen Wilbert

I am very thankful for this photo, which was shared with me by Helen (Helen Cook in the photo). I attended my Aunt Lois' 80th birthday party and met one of her friends, Helen. I explained how I was related to Lois and Helen told me she had a photo from their school days which included my Mother. Then she offered to get me a copy, which she did along with the identification of those in the photo. There are some things we can't give enough thanks for.

You Don't Have to Use a Car

Almost a month ago I posted some photos of cars owned by my father, Lester Albertson. Today I want to show you that sometimes he rode something besides a car.

Probably it was the early 1920's when he used a bicycle. 

                                                                                                         

By the 1940's he was busy farming.     

                       Then in the 1950's he could go hunting in Canada by horseback.

Owning a Piece of History

Carrie Nation

It was 25 Jan 1901 when The Goodland Republic newspaper in Goodland, Kansas reported that my grandfather, Ora Albertson, along with Ivan Higbee were "keeping bach" while Ora's parents, Nathan E. and Mary M. (Hockett) Albertson were in Wichita, having her face doctored. Two weeks later the paper said that they had returned from Wichita after three weeks getting treatment, but she was not any better.

Then a few days later the paper noted that Nathan along with two other Goodland area residents were possessors of pieces of glass from the saloon wrecked at Wichita by Carrie Nation. Was this really true? Was it logical to have happened?

I searched using Google to try to find out more about Carrie Nation. I discovered that it was 27 Dec 1900, when prohibitionist Carrie Nation smashed a saloon in Wichita, Kansas. Since that was just a few weeks before the Albertsons went to Wichita, I can believe that great-grandfather really could have a piece of glass from the saloon smashed by Carrie Nation.

Great-Grandfather Albertson Had a Homestead

His signature on the Final Affidavit Required of Homestead Claimants

The fact that he had a homestead was not so unusual. The website for the Homestead National Monument in Nebraska states that 10% of United States land was homesteaded, 4 million claims were made and almost 90,000 homesteads in just Kansas. The Bureau of Land Management General Land Office website gives the following description of a Homestead.

1862 Homestead Act. Allowed settlement of public lands and required only residence and improvement and cultivation of the land. Any person, a citizen or person intending to become a citizen, 21 years of age or older, and the head of a household could make application. With five years residence and improvements/cultivation, only a $15.00 fee was required to get 160 acres. Repealed in 1976.

I was able to use the BLM GLO website and search for information about him. I entered the state: Kansas, and then the county: Sherman and then his name: Nathan Albertson and I was able to get the basic information about the claim, including a map down to the section level. (I did discover that if I misspelled his name they couldn't find him.) It was 160 acres, the southwest 1/4 of section 9, township 10 south and range 41 west. It was about 10 miles southwest of the town of Goodland.

But it was much more interesting to read the case file, which I ordered from the National Archives a number of years ago. I discovered that he paid $14.00 on 29 Sep 1886 for his original claim at the Land Office in Wa-Keeney, Kansas. It was the next spring, 9 Mar 1887, when he had a house there and actually took up residence.

On his proof statement 10 Mar 1893, he described the improvements that had been made: frame house 8 X 16, sod house 13 x 24 plus sod addition 12 x 16 (inside), frame barn 16 x 24, sod stable 18 x 100, well 69 ft, 10 ft water, windmill, 70 acres under fence and 90 acres under cultivation. In the six growing seasons cultivated acreage was: 1887 - 20 acres; 1888 - 35 acres; 1889 - 45 acres; 1890 - 45 acres; 1891 - 45 acres; 1892 - 90 acres. He described the land as prairie, 1st rate, most valuable for farming, no indication of minerals, so more valuable for agricultural purposes.

When asked about who was in his family, he stated his wife and 3 children. He didn't mention the fact that his oldest (only) daughter had married in 1891, so was no longer living with the family. He also didn't mention that his wife was seven months pregnant and their fourth son would be born in May of 1893. This accounts for all five of his children.

Great-grandfather Albertson Was Not Perfect

I found the following advertisement published 10 Mar 1905 in The Goodland Republic, from Goodland, Kansas, extolling the healing properties of Dodd's Kidney Pills for rheumatism.

THE NEIGHBORS ALL USE THEM NOW

Quick Cure of Rheumatism by Dodd's Kidney Pills. How They Saved the Shop

of a Kansas Blacksmith -- Cure was Permanent too.

Goodland Kans., Feb. 20th --- (Special) --- So quick and ccomplete was the cure

of N. E. Albertson, a local blacksmith, that it almost seems like a miracle. He had

Rheumatism so bad he feared he would have to give up his shop. One box of Dodd's

Kidney Pills drove away all the pains and they have never returned. Speaking of

his cure Mr. Albertson says:

"I had Rheumatism in my shoulders and arms for years. Part of the time it was so

bad I could not sleep at night. My arm hurt so that it seemed I would have to give

up my blacksmith shop. I went to the drug store and bought one box of Dodd's

Kidney Pills and took them. I have nnot had the Rheumatism since. A great many

of the neighbors are using Dodd's Kidney Pills since they saw how they cured me."

When I checked the Goodland paper from 1902 to 1905 which was on-line at Chronicling America at the Library of Congress, I discovered that at least eight other individuals had given their testimonial about how Dodd's Kidney Pills had cured their rheumatism, living in Missouri, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania and New York. Then I checked one of our local newspapers on the same website, The Bohemia Nugget, Cottage Grove, Oregon,  and in the early 1900's there were 45 ads for Dodd's Kidney Pills for curing various ailments. I relooked at the page where I found Great-grandfather Albertson and discovered other companies also had people telling of their experiences with their products: Someone in Hot Springs, Arkansas, told about digestive wellness from eating Grape Nuts and Cream; a man in Normal, Illinois had used Doan's Kidney Pills to solve his kidney problems and then a woman from Canton, Ohio, had been very satisfied from using Dr Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People. Patent medicine companies apparently used this type of advertising quite heavily. So great-grandfather Albertson was not the only one. I hope he was paid a little to make his statement or at least got some free pills.

Good Words About Great-grandfather Albertson

While reading about Nathan Elias Albertson in The Goodland Republic, from Goodland, Kansas, I was delighted to find complimentary words describing him.

In January 1902, when he married his second wife, Mary (Smalley) Morey, the paper reported: "Mr and Mrs Albertson live near Edson where they are well and favorably known."

When the county commissioners met near the beginning of January 1905, the comments in the paper said: "the retiring members,....and N. E. Albertson, who holds over, have been honored and respected by their constituency. The new board.....is composed of ....and N. E. Albertson. These gentlemen are from our most substantial citizens, and enjoy the respect and confidence off all the people of Sherman County."

Then when Nathan lost the election in November 1906 with the flip of the coin, the paper wrote: "Mr. Albertson.....has been a faithful and conscientious officer..." Then when he gave up his office in January 1907, "Mr. Albertson, the retiring member of the board, has just closed his term and retires with honor."

After his death in July 1917, I was glad to see the published thank yous from the family for "kindness and sympathy during the illness and death of our dear father, N. E. Albertson" was from all five children and their families and all five step-children and their families.

Of course it might be expected that his obituary would have good words, but I did like how it was expressed: "He united with the Friends church when a boy and has since lived a devoted Christian life, and was prepared to meet his Savior in the Better world.....He was loved and trusted by all who knew him, and will be sadly missed by all."

How Many Votes Did Nathan Get?

My great-grandfather, Nathan Elias Albertson, ran for office in Sherman County Kansas in the November 1902 election. It was fun to read about this in the local newspaper, The Goodland Republic, which has a number of issues on-line at the Library of Congress website, Chronicling America.

Nathan's first wife, Mary Magdalene Hockett had died 10 Jul 1901 and he had remarried to a widow, Mary Victoria (Smalley) Morey 26 Jan 1902. Each of them had received a homestead, so together they had a large farm. But each had sons who could help with the work.

Nathan ran as the Republican candidate for county commissioner for the First District. At that time Sherman County had three commissioners which were paid positions. Apparently they had three year terms, but some were elected each two years so either one or two of them were hold-overs. When the votes were counted his opponent from the Democratic party, incumbent D. W. Dillinger, had 62 votes and Nathan had 70, so he had won. He took office in January of 1903 for his four year term. The newspaper reported the expenditures for the county and in April he had been paid $40.70 for salary and mileage. Similar amounts were paid each quarter.

Nathan was the hold-over for the 1904 election, so when two new commissioners took office in January of 1905, as senior member, he was elected board chairman. I enjoyed seeing his name often in county legal notices.

At election time in November 1906, Nathan ran for reelection. When the votes were counted, Nathan again had 70 votes, but this time his opponent, G. A. O'Neal, also had 70 votes - it was a tie. This is how the newspaper described what happened when it was agreed to break the tie by flipping a dollar, two best out of three. "Mr. Albertson took 'heads,' and Mr. O'Neal 'tails,' and the dollar went up for the first time, coming down with heads up for Albertson. The second time it showed tails up--one apiece. It was sent up the third time and rattled down on the floor with the fate-carrying index of tails, which made George ONeal county commissioner."

So it was luck which stopped Nathan's political career.

Ancestor Birthday - February 5th - Nathan Elias Albertson 1849-1917

My great-grandfather, Nathan Elias Albertson, worked as a blacksmith. This photo from about 1912 shows him with his youngest son, Ernest.

Nathan was born 5 Feb 1849 in Hancock County, Indiana, the oldest son of Benjamin and Sabina (Marsh) Albertson. By the time of the 1850 census, the family was in Hamilton County Indiana and by 1856 in Hardin County Iowa. It was in Hardin County at the County seat Eldora, that Nathan, age 21, married 15 year old Mary Magdalene Hockett in Oct 1870. Although both were Quakers, their marriage was officiated by a justice of the peace, which was contrary to discipline. However they appear to have been reinstated and are shown in later Quaker records.

In the 1880 census in Hardin County, Nathan is listed as a farmer and a blacksmith. In the Iowa state census of 1885, his occupation is listed as blacksmith.

It was soon after that, in September 1886, that Nathan made application for homestead land in Sherman County, Kansas. The homestead file shows they took up residence in March of 1887. I intend to write more about his homestead during the coming week. But as a homesteader,his occupation in 1900 and 1905 is shown as farmer. However by 1915 he is again a blacksmith.

Nathan died 30 Jun 1917 in Sherman County, Kansas and he is buried at the Goodland Cemetery.

Tomorrow I plan to tell you about Nathan's venture into politics.

Ancestor Birthday - February 4th - Priscilla Whipple 1759-??

Priscilla Whipple's page on my website has even less information than Reuben's did from yesterday. Priscilla is almost a mystery woman. There are quite a large number of family trees posted on-line which include her, but the majority have no sources except other family trees. I am thankful that in 1909 my 2nd great-grand aunt, Sybil (Hayes) Windom wrote some of her memories for Oregon Historical Society and I was able to get a copy. She named her father's parents: Pliny Hayes and Priscilla Whipple. So you see Priscilla is my 4th great-grandmother.

I believe she was born in Groton, Connecticut to Daniel Whipple and Ann Hough. She was the youngest child, born 4 Feb 1759. Her father went to Brattleboro, Vermont, around 1770. Since she would have been a young teenager, maybe she went there also. Somewhere along the line she married Pliny Hayes, who was a Revolutionary War soldier. I have not found any marriage record for them, but their oldest child, Hannah, was said to have been born around 1776 in New York. Pliny and Priscilla had at least four more children, maybe more before Pliny left her for another woman between 1790 and 1800, running off into the "wilds of Pennsylvania." Then it appears Priscilla married Libeus Herrick, who may have been married before. Did they have any children? Maybe.

Since the early census records only give the name of the head of household, I can guess which ones may have Priscilla as one of the females.

• 1790 Pleny Hayes Stephentown, Albany County, New York
• 1800 Not found
• 1810 Lebeus Herick Petersburg, Renssalaer County, New York
• 1820 Lebbius Herrick Burton, Geauga County, Ohio

It was soon after the 1810 census that two of her children who had moved to Geauga County went east and brought her back.

Libbeus Herrick has a tombstone in Memorial Cemetery in Burton, Geauga County, Ohio showing a death date of Oct 1821. So it would appear that Priscilla then became a widow at about age 62. Where did she go or who did she stay with? I don't know.

Many on-line family trees give a death date for her of 26 Aug 1838 and they show the place as Burton, Geauga County, Ohio or Rochester, Monroe County, New York or Pottstown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania or Pottstown, Chester County, Pennsylvania. So with all these differences I don't trust the date either. So it is still a part of the mystery.

Ancestor Birthday - February 3rd - Reuben Fitzrandolph 1733/34-1784

Reuben Fitzrandolph, my 5th great-grandfather, is one of those ancestors on my website with just the barest amount of information; birth, death, marriage and names of children. Most of this information comes from a family history: The Descendants of Edward Fitz Randolph and Elizabeth Blossom 1630-1950, by Louise Aymar Christian and Howard Stelle Fitz Randolph, published in 1950.

He was born at Blazing Star in Middlesex County, New Jersey, on 3 Feb 1733/34, the son of Jacob Fitzrandolph. Jacob apparently married a cousin Mary, but that seems to be after the birth of Reuben. Reuben married Elizabeth Moores at Woodbridge 31 Mar 1754. They had six children, four of whom died while young. Reuben's will named a wife Elizabeth, a son Reuben and a daughter Martha who had married Elias Marsh. Martha is my 4th great-grandmother. Apparently he wrote his will on 6 Aug 1784, before his death on 18 Aug 1784. The will was proved 7 May 1785.

He had died before the first U.S. census in 1790, but that didn't make much difference because the 1790 census for New Jersey no longer exists.

By looking at the dates you can see that Reuben lived during the time of the Revolutionary War. In the past, as least two women have joined the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) as his descendants. Both claimed he was captain of the 2nd regiment, one saying in Monmouth County N.J. and the other Middlesex County N.J. The family history I've used gives no comment about any military service for him. So I need to do more research about this.

An interesting fact about Reuben is related in the family history. He "was the founder of the Blazing Star ferry from Rahway Neck, N.J., to Staten Island, N.Y." His will indicates he was then living on Staten Island. The location on Staten Island formerly called Blazing Star is now known as Rossville. So far, he is my only ancestor who established a ferry line.

He Used a Different Name in the Civil War

August Falk, my half-grand uncle (half-brother to my grandfather), served in the Civil War as John Krause. August was born in Prussia 11 Oct 1842 to Ludwig and Marianna (Kuss) Falk. Marianna died about 1849 and Ludwig remarried. In 1858 the family immigrated to the United States: Ludwig and his second wife Anna Louisa, August, his two sisters and a half-brother and half-sister. The family settled in Muscoda Township, Grant County, Wisconsin.

August used the name John Krause when he enlisted in Company G, Wisconsin 27th Regiment Infantry 16 Aug 1862, at age 19. His future brother-in-law, August Schrader, had enlisted in that same company 4 days before. A researcher for August's family, stated that August had taken the place of John Krause for a payment of $300. and then just continued to use that name for the remainder of his life. August was wounded and met a lovely Irish nurse (Mary Ellen Sweeney) at the hospital and they were married 24 Jan 1866 in Brooklyn, NY. Later the family moved to Illinois and eventually August and Mary Ellen were divorced. August, as John Krause, died 17 Dec 1915 in the Veteran's Hospital in Danville, Illinois.

It was fortunate that one of August's half-brothers, who was living in Halsey Oregon in 1917, had his Congressman write a letter to the Pensions Department, telling the story of the change of name to try to locate August. The letter was sent after August had died, but the letter stayed in the pension file, so in the 1970s a researcher for the Krause family found the letter and was able to make the connection with the Falk family in Halsey Oregon.. So when I started researching in the 1980s the information was there for me.

Quaker Uncles in the Civil War

Yesterday (January 31st) I wrote about my Chase 2nd great-grand uncles. Today I want to look at a couple of my Quaker uncles, again they are really 2nd great-grand uncles.

Wait a minute! I thought Quakers did not believe in fighting in war. They didn't, but they also didn't believe in slavery and isn't this what the Civil War was all about. It created a problem for many young Quaker men whether they should volunteer to serve the Union.

Jordan P. Albertson, a son of Nathan and Phariby (Nicholson) Albertson, lived in Hardin County, Iowa. He had already gotten into trouble with the Quaker church there because he had "married contrary to discipline" when he married Tallitha Haworth 30 Jun 1860. He enlisted on 12 Sep 1861 as a private, age 22 and was mustered in on 1 Oct 1861 (the day after his son Clarence was born) in Company B, Iowa 11th Infantry Regiment. Jordan served for over 2 1/2 years until the battle of Atlanta on 22 Jul 1864, when he was declared missing. His wife filed for a pension on 6 Mar 1865 and the pension papers show that he had died on 22 Jul 1864. Later on, 12 Jan 1867, she filed for support benefits for a minor child.

Jordan's next older brother, Jesse B. Albertson, was married to Minerva Haworth on 31 Mar 1861. Almost a year after his brother had enlisted , Jesse enlisted in the same company on 5 Sep 1862. After about six months service, he received a disability discharge on 10 Mar 1863 at Lake Providence, Louisiana. I don't have information about what this was, but he died less than a year later, 4 Dec 1863, and was buried in Hardin County, Iowa.

So I am sad that neither of these two 2nd great-grand uncles survived to see the victory at the end of the War.