52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 17 – Cemetery

Sorry but I missed week 15 and 16, may get back to them later, but decided it was better to go ahead and do 17 and go on from there. This photo is of a local cemetery. None of my ancestors are buried there, but I do have a 2^nd gt-grandaunt, Mary Ann (England) Dillard, and a 1^st cousin 3 times removed, Eliza Jane (England) Lebow, in that cemetery.

I feel fortunate that I have been able to visit many of the burial places of my ancestors. My parents and grandparents are all buried close enough to where I live (Lane County, Oregon) that I can visit their graves each Memorial Day, as well as one set of 2^nd gt-grandparents.

Through the years I have been able to visit all the graves on the following list, except 3 (2 gt-grandparents in Wisconsin and 2^nd gt-grandmother in Steven County Kansas.) I posted photos of four of the cemeteries  on May 29 and 30 in 2017 (Alford, Rest Haven, Creswell and Oak Creek)

Here is a chart of 4 generations with their names (women's maiden names), locations (Cemetery, County and State) and my relationship to them.

Name	Cemetery	County	State	Relationship
Lester O. Albertson	Alford	Linn	Oregon	father
Wilma A. Falk	Alford	Linn	Oregon	mother
Oran J. Albertson	Rest Haven	Lane	Oregon	grandfather
Lucie R. Smalley	Rest Haven	Lane	Oregon	grandmother
Julius A. Falk	Alford	Linn	Oregon	grandfather
Florence E. Bond	Alford	Linn	Oregon	grandmother
Nathan E. Albertson	Goodland	Sherman	Kansas	gt-grandfather
Mary M. Hockett	Goodland	Sherman	Kansas	gt-grandmother
Lafayette P. Smalley	Goodland	Sherman	Kansas	gt-grandfather
Rosa E. Shipman	Goodland	Sherman	Kansas	gt-grandmother
Ludwig Falk	Avoca	Iowa	Wisconsin	gt-grandfather
Anna L. Boehm	Avoca	Iowa	Wisconsin	gt-grandmother
John H. Bond	Oak Creek	Douglas	Oregon	gt-grandfather
Mary A. O'Neal	Oak Creek	Douglas	Oregon	gt-grandmother
Rebecca D. Hartley	Bethel	Stevens	Kansas	2nd gt-grandmother
John W. Smalley	Goodland	Sherman	Kansas	2nd gt-grandfather
Rachel A. Hemphill	Goodland	Sherman	Kansas	2nd gt-grandmother
Joshua R. Shipman	Edson	Sherman	Kansas	2nd gt-grandfather
Lucy J. Chase	Edson	Sherman	Kansas	2nd gt-grandmother
Solomon Bond	Halsey Pioneer	Linn	Oregon	2nd gt-grandfather
Huldah Hayes	Halsey Pioneer	Linn	Oregon	2nd gt-grandmother
C. P. O'Neal	Creswell	Lane	Oregon	2nd gt-grandfather
Margaret J. England	Creswell	Lane	Oregon	2nd gt-grandmother

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 14 – Priscilla (Hayes) Windom Hill

The theme for this week is “Maiden Aunt” I did not find a maiden aunt within my closer generations, so decided to write about an “aunt” who escaped marriage, was married, was divorced and then remarried during her 35 years of life in the mid -1800s.

My 2^nd gt-grandaunt Priscilla was the daughter of Seth and Lydia (Jewett) Hayes. She was the youngest of 8 children and was the only one born in Indiana as her older siblings were born in Ohio. She was born 5 Feb 1837. Apparently the family was not in Indiana for long as by 1840 the family was listed on the census in Jefferson County Iowa.

By 1850 her 5 oldest siblings were all married. But when her parents decided to go to Oregon in 1853 all the family went together on a wagon train where Nelson Davis was Captain. Nelson's wife was a sister to 2 of Priscilla's brothers-in-law. So it really was a family affair.

In the Year Book of 1968 for the Jewett Family of America, a granddaughter of Priscilla's sister Louisa related a story she had heard about 16 year old Priscilla on that journey. When some friendly Indians visited where the wagon train was camped, they had spread out blankets and it seems that Priscilla picked one up and put it around her shoulders and danced around. It was then they discovered their Indian custom was that it meant she would be married to that Indian. Apparently it took a fair amount of persuading to get the Indians to leave and they continued to follow the train for several days. But Priscilla did not have to marry the Indian and she arrived safely in Oregon. But there was sadness on that trip, for one of Priscilla's sisters delivered a baby girl while they were traveling in the Blue Mountains and then died when they were going over Mt. Hood.

I wonder if Priscilla was excited when her 22 year old sister Sybil was married to Benjamin Windom in the fall of 1853. It was in the spring of 1854 when Priscilla, at age 17, married Benjamin's brother, Drury Douglas Windom. By the time of the 1860 census Priscilla and Douglas and their 3 children (Alanson, James Henry and Polly Anna) were living with her unmarried brother, Ebenezer, in the Peoria Precinct of Linn County, Oregon. In about 5 more years, 3 more children were born to this family: Emily, Jesse and Carrie.

But things must have gone wrong somehow, because Priscilla filed for divorce and 31 Oct 1868 the Circuit Court in Linn County granted her a divorce with custody of the children. The next door neighbor in 1860, George M. Hill, was now a widower and he and Priscilla were married on the 14^th of Nov 1868. So when the 1870 census was taken it included George and Priscilla; George's 3 daughters ages 12 – 17; Priscilla's 6 children ages 5 – 15; and their 1 year old daughter Sarah.

It was about a year and a half later. 2 Mar 1872, when Priscilla died at age 35. Her infant daughter Lydia died almost a month later on 29 Mar 1872.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 13 – The Old Homestead

The theme for this week is “The Old Homestead.” It was during the Civil War, in May of 1862 when the United States Congress passed the Homestead Act. I believe that 6 of my ancestors chose to use that legislation and gain “free” land: 2 in Oregon, 3 in Kansas and 1 in Nebraska.

So who were my “Homesteaders”? I'll begin with those from Oregon. My 2^nd gt-grandfather, Commodore Perry O'Neal, received a patent dated 30 Jun 1891 for 164.53 acres located adjacent to land he had purchased in 1870. This was about 4 miles west of the town of Creswell in Lane County, Oregon. His son-in-law John Howard Bond, my gt-grandfather, received his patent about a year earlier, 28 May 1890, for 160 acres located about 2 miles northwest of Commodore Perry's land. John sold his land in 1893 and moved across the Cascade Mountains to Gilliam County Oregon where he stayed about 10 years before moving back to the Willamette Valley. Commodore Perry stayed on his land until his death in 1919. He had deeded his land to his 3 sons about 2 months before he died.

In Kansas, my gt-grandfather, Nathan Elias Albertson, received his patent 28 Sep 1893 for 160 acres in McPherson township, Sherman County Kansas. As I noted in a blog post about his homesteading last year, 9 Sep 2017, it was located about 10 miles southwest of the County Seat, Goodland Kansas.¹ Before the 1900 census he had moved to another township in the County, Washington Township, about 2 ½ miles west of the town of Edson Kansas.

Nathan's future daughter-in-law's (Lucie Rachel Smalley) grandfather, my 2^nd gt-grandfather, Joshua Rodney Shipman had a homestead also in Washington Township. His patent was dated 23 Sep 1893 for 159.28 acres, located about 2 ½ miles southwest of the town of Edson.

Lucie's other grandfather, another of my 2^nd gt-grandfathers, John Wilson Smalley received his patent 29 Apr 1893 for 160 acres in Itasca Township, Sherman County, Kansas. This was a mile east of Goodland and so was about 5 miles west of where Nathan lived in Washington Township.

It was one of my 3^rd gt-grandmothers who received the patent to a homestead in Nebraska, Lucy Irene Chase (the mother-in-law to Joshua Rodney Shipman.) Lucy's husband Timothy had originally filed for the homestead, but died in 1877 before it was finalized. She received the patent for 80 acres 30 Jun 1879 as his widow. This land was in Atlanta Township, Saline County Nebraska.

Knowing that some who filed for homesteads did not complete the process, I was glad to discover that at least 6 of my ancestors did the required work and were issued patents. Maybe I should also be thankful to the U.S. Congress for passing such a law so my family had the opportunity to be landowners.

1The blog post about Nathan Elias Albertson's homestead is at:

https://joannesgenealogyresearch.blogspot.com/2017/02/great-grandfatheralbertson-had.html