(Not So) Wordless Wednesday: Don, Paul and Clarence Snyder

(click to make bigger)

Written on the back of the photograph is:
"Don    Paul     Clarence,
upon Don's return from WWII 1943-4
Notice he has a cast on his leg - shot -
Huronia Beach"

Don and Paul are my Grand-uncles and Clarence is my Grandpa.
My grandparents lived in Huron Ohio so this was likely taken near their home. Huronia Beach, Ohio, is on Lake Erie.

The photo must have been taken while Don was on leave, because he served on Bataan in April 1945.

Per the 16 April 1945  Findlay Republican Courier, p. 11: 

"Despite Japanese mortar and sniper fire, Technical Sergeant Don B Snyder, of Findlay, leading a platoon of the 151st Infantry, 38th Division, maintained a continuous supply line to the front in the battle of ZigZag pass on Bataan. There were no beaten trails through the jungle-like thickets but the platoon was able to keep the supplies moving. Tech. Sgt. Snyder is the son of Mr. & Mrs. Philip Snyder and the husband of the former Ardyce Ebersole of Arcadia. He was a well-known boxer prior to entering the Army and has continued winning numerous titles while in service. Overseas 15 months he now holds the Combat Infantry Badge, the American Defense ribbon, and [?] Pacific and Phillipine Liberation ribbons with two campaign stars."

(Newspaperarchive.com)

52 Ancestors: # 4 Edward Carleton Bailey (1849-1926)

This is my 4th entry in the 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks challenge put forth by Amy Johnson Crow of  the No Story Too Small blog.

Edward Carleton Bailey (1849-1926)
Posted with permission of Christina Inman
Click to make bigger

Edward Carleton Bailey is one of my 2nd Great Grandfathers on my maternal lines (he is the father of my grandpa’s mother).  I know a bit more about him than I do about some of the folks I’ve been writing about recently, but even so I’ve got some gaping holes.

I’m lucky in this instance to have a few pages written by my great-grandmother (GGM), Pauline Bailey Snyder, Edward’s youngest daughter, of her recollections of her parent’s family and ancestors and those of her husband as well, and I’ve been able to use them to help confirm whether records I found were related to the right family. On the other hand, I’ve discovered that while her recollections are largely correct, they are not entirely right when they rest on hearsay – at times her facts get somewhat twisted, and on other occasions she's repeating the family legend which seems, so far, to be apocryphal. In any case, I am extremely grateful to my great-grandmother for writing out her recollections and leaving them for later generations.

Edward C. Bailey was born on 12 November 1849 in Union Township, Mifflin County, PA (see picture below)  to James and Maria Bailey.[1]  My great grandmother says that James was Scots-Irish and Methodist, and that Maria (whom she knew as Sarah Williams, “her first name may have been Maria”) was full blooded Welch, Quaker by birth, and “a straight line descendant  from the Roger Williams who founded Rhode Island.” [2] I have been unable to verify any of GGM’s description of the lineage of Edward’s parents as  I have not been able to find them before 1850. I've also not been able to confirm that Maria is related to the Roger Williams of Rhode Island.

Mifflin County PA

As a baby, Edward was evidently known as Carlton, as that is how he is listed in the 1850 Census, when he was one year old. Both his parents are listed as being born in Pennsylvania and both are 34 years old (so born approximately 1816). The census lists his siblings as John, age 7; Anna M., 5; and Lydia, 3. [3] My GGM recalls his brothers and sisters as John “who was killed in the Civil War”; Richard or Dick, “who had a family of several girls – I remember three of their names – Dove, Mabel, and Pin – there were four but I’ve forgotten the other name”; Ella “a housewife”; Lydia “a trained nurse”; and James “who bred fine Kentucky horses”. (None of the descriptors are confirmed yet). I assume Richard, Ella, and James are younger than Edward Carlton since they weren’t on the 1850 Census but I don’t know for sure as I’ve not found Edward’s parents or siblings in any other Census, yet.*

GGM told me, via her notes, that her father had served in the Civil War, and I confirmed this when I searched Fold3.com and found his service index card and his pension index card showing  he had filed  for an invalid pension in 1884 (granted). It noted that he had enlisted as a private in Company D of the 192 Regiment of the Pennsylvania Infantry, on February 10, 1865. [4] I subsequently found him on the Company D, 192^nd regiment Infantry Roster, which indicated he had mustered in on February 15, 1865 (lying about his age and telling them he was 17 – he would have been 15 then)  under Captain Andrews and mustered out with the whole Company on August 24, 1865. [5] In the spring of 1865, nine new companies were recruited to the regiment, which reported as fast as organized, to the commander of the Middle Military Division, with headquarters at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. When the spring campaign opened, the regiment moved up the valley to Staunton and Lexington, and after Lee’s  and Johnston’s surrenders, assisted with the decommissioning of the Confederate armies in the Shenandoah Valley and with . The fighting was substantially over.  It was, however, retained in the department, engaged in various duties, until the 21th of August, when it was mustered out of service. [6] I have no idea how or where Edward was injured. I intend to order his pension records from the National Archives.

I then lost Edward again for ten years, and next found him in Ottawa, Kansas, in 1875, with his wife, Emma, and 4 month old child, Howard, on the Kansas State Census; it states he is a boilermaker. [7] He had married my 2^nd great-grandmother Martha Emily (called Emma)  Wolfington in 1874. [8] She was born and lived in Paoli, IN. (I have no idea how they met and neither did GGM, although she did say that “Mama went (or started) with her parents to Kansas.”). By 1880, the family had moved to Anderson, Kansas where Edward was a fruit grower, and the couple had three more children: Howard W. was now 5, Granville W. was 4, Lloyd W. was 3, and Myrtle was 5 months old. [9] In 1884,Edward submitted his request for a military invalid pension and it was granted.[4]

By 1900, Edward has moved his family to Findlay OH; he is 50 and states that he is a blacksmith. Living at home with them are Howard, age 25; Floyd age 23; Myrtle, age 20; James, age 17; and Pearl Pauline (my GGM), age  9. The city directories show the family living at 519 Hull Avenue, and lists Edward as a blacksmith through 1914. [8, 10] He worked as a blacksmith at the Buckeye Traction Ditcher Company in Findlay for 18 years. [1]

Edward’s wife Emma died in or about 1914. [1] His daughter, Myrtle was still single and still living at home. She applied for a passport to China in 1916 and subsequently lived much of the rest of her life there as a missionary (I wrote a post on her life here. Do read it; it’s fascinating!) By 1918, Edward had married Martha Emily’s sister Isabel Wolfington Wells .[10] (She had been previously married to John Wells, in Kansas [11]).  The couple lived at Edward’s house at 519 Hull St. In 1923, at age 74, he is listed as a fruit grower. [10] I hope it is as a hobby rather than out of necessity.

In 1925 and 1926, he was ill for most of the time and spent March through June 1926 mostly bedfast.  He died on June 30, 1926, at the home of his daughter, Pearl Pauline (Mrs. Philip A Snyder). [1]

His obituary stated that he was a member of the Stoker Post G.A.R. and had converted to the Assemblies of God Church where he had been an Elder and a Deacon for many years.   He was survived by six of his eight children of his first marriage (Homer W. Bailey, Lloyd Weldon Bailey, Myrtle Bell Bailey, Pearl Bailey Snyder, all of Findlay Ohio, and Lloyd Wellington Bailey and James Bailey, of Toledo Ohio) his 2^nd wife, Isabel, and one brother, Richard H Bailey of Vandergrift PA. Edward was buried in the Maple Grove Cemetary. [1]

[*UPDATE: I've subsequently found out that Edward's father died in 1858, but his mother was still living in 1860 and was living with her are her daughters Lydia Marie, Eliza Jane, and Rebecca Ella, and her son James -- I still don't know where John, Edward and Richard are that year. In 1870, Edward's Mother has remarried, to Samuel Huber, and she is living with Samuel and his son, and her son James, and her daughter, Ella. Edward's mother lives through the 1900 census. See Mariah/Maria's story.]

________

I want to:
Find Edward's parents, James Bailey & Maria Sarah Williams (if that is her last name)
Find Edward's siblings
Get Edward's military pension file.
Find Birth, marriage (2), and death records
Find out if Edward's brother died in Civil War

I'd really like to know why Edward left PA to go to Kansas, where he met Emma, and why they left Kansas to go to Findlay Ohio, and what happened to Isabel after Edward's death?


[1] Edward C Bailey Obituary, Findlay Morning Republican, July 1, 1926, p. 12; newspaperarchive.com.
[2] Family record. Pearl Pauline Bailey's notes. Copy .
[3] 1850 U.S. Census, Union Township Mifflin County PA
[4] Index Card for Civil War Pensions: http://www.fold3.com/image/5844937/; Index to Civil War Service Record: http://www.fold3.com/image/288562900/.
[5] http://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/192nd_Regiment,_Pennsylvania_Infantry
http://www.pa-roots.com/pacw/infantry/192nd/192dcoe1yr.html; Records of the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs REGISTERS OF PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS, 1861-1865. Volume 13: 160th-171st, 188th, 190th-192nd Regiments.
[6]http://www.pa-roots.com/pacw/infantry/192nd/192dorg.html;http://vshadow.vcdh.virginia.edu/OR/augusta1865.html
[7] 1875 Kansas State Census, Ottawa, Franklin, Kansas; Ancestry.com.. Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009.
[8] 1900 U.S. Census, Findlay, Ward 6, Hancock Ohio
[9] 1880 U.S. Census, Anderson Kansas
[10] Findlay City Directory, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
[11] 1900 U.S. Census, Chanute, Neosho, Kansas.

52 Ancestors: Ancestor # 3 Samuel Hartman 1809-1864

I almost blew the challenge in just the third week. I've been spending the weekend doing research on another branch of the family but I'm not ready to write about any of that yet. I couldn't intially get my head yanked out of that area to figure out what, or who, to do my #3 Ancestor post on. And I left it to the last minute. (It's 7:10 PM Tuesday night; let's see if I can get this posted by the 8:00 PM deadline!)

I noticed in reading other's 52 Ancestors blogs that a number of people are writing about their end line ancestors in hopes of finding someone to help them break through their brick wall. That sounded like a good idea. So I'm going with that.

Samuel Hartman is my 3rd great grandfather on my Mom's maternal side. I have a prior blog post about his son, my 2nd great grandfather, Samuel Myers Hartman here, where I talked  a little about the Samuel I will talk about here, too, so there will be some overlap. Our ancestors' propensity to be more flexible in the spelling of their names made finding Samuel, for sure, a little challenging. I ended up tracking him more by his wife and kids' names than by his middle initial, which, since I've seen it as F., S., T, and U., I left out of the title of this post! (Mostly, I think it's more an issue with the census taker's handwriting.)

Samuel Hartman was born somewhere in Pennsylvania in approximately 1809. I haven't yet found where or who his parents were for certain. (Let's hold off on that thought until the end of the sketch.) He first shows up in the 1830 Census in Wayne County, Ohio. It was one of those numbers in a category census and indicated in his household 1 male 20-29 (him) and one female 15-20, who I take to be his wife, Maria Eve Whonsetler, who was also born in Pennsylvania  around 1813 (per later censuses ...censi?).

Over the course of their marriage the couple had 11 children. The first, Alexander Stephen Hartman, was born the year after that first census, in 1831. Tragically, he pre-deceased his parents in 1853. Their first daughter, Laraneice, born in 1833, also died before her parents in 1850. Their second son, Hiram Whomsetler, born 1836, died in 1862 but, as far as I can tell so far, his death was not related to the Civil War. The rest of the children are as follows: Elmira Suse (1837-1892), Ephraim D (1839-1930), Samuel Myers (1844-1928), Jasper Newton (1847-1906), Francis Marion (1851-1934), Franklin Pierce (1853-1926), Pandie Elmer (1855-1856 [sad]) and Lorena 1856-1886.  (Francis and Franklin show that the American trend of naming your kids after celebrities is not solely a current phenomena!)

Samuel owned property worth $1001 in 1850 in the Canaan Township of Wayne County OH. At that point he and Marie Eve had 8 children, ranging from 19 to just born. (1850 Census) By 1860, Samuel had become a very successful farmer, owning $18,200 worth of real property and $1573 of personal property in Chester Township. (1860 Census.)  [For perspective, a 4 room apartment rented for $4.45 cents a month in 1860; land sold for $3-$5 an acre; a laborer’s wage without board was 90 cents a day; eggs were 20 cents a dozen. (http://www.choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com/what-did-things-cost-in-1860/)]

Samuel died in 1864. His wife outlived him by over 20 years. The 1880 Census shows her living in her son Franklin's home, which was next door to Francis' home.

At one point, I did have Samuel's mother, or who I think is his mother (based mainly on other Ancestry tree and shaking leaf hints). But I was having problems figuring out who his father was, or rather which Peter was his father. I discovered via a note on one person’s well-documented tree that the problem I was having with Peter Hartman is partially because there are four Peter Hartman(s) in Wayne county in Ohio at that time; I’d run across all four, plus one Peter Hartmann, and  in another state a Johann Peter Hartmann that various people were tying into what looks like our line and having them all married to Catherine Zollnar or Caterina ZÖllner, which just isn’t possible – one Peter Hartman even had a different birth date that had him marrying her at age 11, while she was 23, which I think is unlikely. It looks like Catherine Zollnar is in our line but I couldn't establish that for certain yet so I took her off the tree.

So if there's anybody out there who has these Hartman's in your tree or knows more, Cousin, I'd love to hear from you! If there is anybody with research suggestions, I'd love to get them too. I've only been doing this about a year; I have a lot to learn. Any insight on where or how to research Wayne County OH would be appreciated as I seem to have a boatload of ancestors that came through there. Some Amish! But that will be another post...

52 Ancestors: Ancestor #2 John Snyder 1854-1925

John Snyder, 1854-1925, was my 2nd great grandfather

I have less information on this ancestor than the one I wrote about last week.  As far as I can tell to date, no one has included his bio in a book.  ; )  On, the other hand, I am lucky enough to have a copy of some hand-written recollections of family by his daughter-in-law, Pearl Pauline Bailey (my great grand-mother, wife of John's son Philip A. Snyder). Thus far, her recollections of various family members in her family tree and that of her husband, have proven to be largely, but not entirely, accurate (or at least sometimes confusing), and a hand-drawn (on one sheet of paper) family tree which is drawn in a way that indicates the person drawing it tended to believe the viewer already knew these people as many names are incomplete (it's a help for verifying the record X I'm looking at refers to the right family). 

John Snyder was born in Pennsylvania on or about August 15, 1854, to John and Hannah Snyder, according to his obituary; however, the obituary is slightly inaccurate as his mother's name was Margaretha Pink. [My posts on my third great-grandparents: Johannes Schneider (see HERE) and Margaretha Pink  (see HERE2).]  John was christened Johannes Schneider on November 3, 1854 in the Second Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chambersburg, PA.  Some of my research indicates his parents were born in Pennsylvania, but more of it indicates they were born in Germany. John always told the census taker they were born in Germany and my great --grandmother's notes say his father was born ne near Stuttgart and his mother's father, Philip, was born in "Dumstart" but does not indicate where John's mother was born. Hannah’s maiden name was Pink (my great-grandmother’s notes say that her name was originally Pinkstein but that she dropped the “stein”, and that she may have been Jewish. GGM’s notes say that after she dropped the “stein” they laughed about her being named “Pink”).

So far I have nothing on his life with his birth family, other than he had three sisters and two brothers, according to GGM's tree.  They were Deenie (married name Buess or Buse), Elizabeth (married name Hines), Mary (married name Keckly), Ben, Charles, and John. [Charles is not listed in the obituary and may have predeceased John, if he existed; the others are listed as surviving John in his obituary.]

The first record I have of John is from when he married Catharine Snyder (daughter of Philip Snyder/Snider/Schneider, 1831-1909, and Hannah Essinger, 1834-1898), in Hancock County OH. I have a copy of their marriage license (bottom right of picture), but it contains little information, other than their names and that it was applied for on October 4, 1875, and they were  married on October 21, 1875, by minister A. W. P. Wilson.  I wonder if  it has been reconstructed after a fire in the courthouse? Or whether they eloped?

For the first few years of their marriage John was a farmer in Wyandot County, Ohio. The 1880 Census places them in Jackson Township, Wyandot County (Wyandot County is adjacent to Hancock County). They had a 3 year old daughter, Mary (born approx. 1877) and a 1 year old daughter Delly (born approx. 1879). It also says that John cannot read or write but Catherine can.

In 1882, Philip, my great grandfather was born, and in 1884 his brother George was born.  1984 was a year of major changes for the family, in that Delly died, and the family moved to Findlay,OH. I’m don’t know which occurred first but I imagine that the family may have moved back to Hancock county so that Catharine would be closer to her family for comfort after  her 15 year old daughter died.  

It’s also possible they could have moved back to allow Catherine to help care for elderly parents.  At the time of the 1990 Census, Catherine’s widowed father, Philip, 69, was living with them. My great grandfather, Philip, 17, also still lived at home, but his older sister, Mary, no longer lived with them – she had married Marion M. Greer in 1895. John worked as a saw mill hand, was renting their home, and had learned to read and write. I like to imagine that Catherine helped him learn to read and write over the course of their marriage.  

By the time of the 1920 Census, John owned their home at 301 East Main Cross Street in Findlay.  At 65, he was still "working out" as a laborer, paid by wages and not salaried. In 1925, at age 71, John still worked as a laborer. On November 3, 1925, he was working in a potato field near Arcadia OH for Mart Sausser, when he died suddenly of heart trouble. He had been in poor health for several years. He was a member of the Evangelical Church in Findlay and was buried in Arlington Cemetery in Hancock County, Ohio.

[Sources: Second Evangelical Lutheran Church records Chambersburg, PA, Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records,  Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; U.S. Census for 1880, 1900,and 1920; Obituary, John Snyder, "Dies Suddenly While Working", Findlay Morning Republican, 4 November 1925, p. 7 (Newspaperarchive.com);"Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8FZ-73X : accessed 14 Jan 2014), John Snyder and Catharine Snyder, 21 Oct 1875; citing Hancock, Ohio, United States, reference Vol-6 P-239 #183; FHL microfilm 1299132; "Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X63H-8LT : accessed 14 Jan 2014), John Snyder, 03 Nov 1925; citing Washington Twp., Hancock, Ohio, reference fn 63938; FHL microfilm 1992764; Notes written by my great grand-mother, Pearl Pauline Bailey.] 

Further Explanation - No Worries!

I've answered a few questions in emails, so I thought that I should address the general subjects here as well, in case anyone else  has been curious too.

The first is in regard to the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge I'm participating in. The "premise of the challenge is to write once a week about a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, a research problem — any that focuses on that one ancestor. The next week, write about a different ancestor."  I see it as a way to give you all something to look forward to each week. I will try to make most of them like my previous Ancestor Highlights, as complete as currently possible, but depending on whatever else is going on in my life there will likely be times that I will take advantage of the flexibility of the challenge, and do a shorter story about a person.

For those concerned that I intend to move on to research my father's side of the family before telling all the stories for all the people I've found on Mom's side of the family, just because I'm moving on to the other side doesn't mean I'll stop dipping into Mom's side for stories for the blog -- particularly when I don't have time enough to complete enough research on a Henn side person to do a decent story that week! I'll be popping back to Mom's side for stories off and on through out the year, likely.

For those concerned that I'm going to run out of people to tell stories about, as of today Ancestry.com reports that I have 572 people in the tree. They are not all sufficiently developed right at the moment to write a story about, true; but, even without writing about living people, I have material to fill this blog for a decade! Moreover, the tree is going to keep growing! And the stories should only get better as I uncover more information throughout the years. I may even be able to discover more stories simply by blogging about the ones I do have.

Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small posted a blog recap post covering all the blogs participating in the challenge by the name of the Ancestor they wrote about and giving links to all so that we could read each other's work (she intends to do this each Wednesday). Amy Johnson Crow reports that within hours of the publication of the 1st recap post, two participants in the challenge discovered a connection with each other, and another's post netted him a new 8th cousin, and Crow herself made two connections, helping her smash through a long time brick wall (dead end) in her research! Exciting stuff! Perhaps I will find new connections (with pictures and/or new information in the course of this challenge, too!   

Treasure Chest Thursday - The Hartman Girls

Written on the back is "The Hartman Girls: Cleo Duffield, Fannie Hart-Erwin, Zoe Rader and Etta."


These are my Great-grand aunts and my Great-grand-mother Fannie (Hartman) (Hart) Erwin, on my mother's maternal line. My great-grandmother is behind two of her sisters, so we only see her head. I don't know why Etta's married name is not listed, but it is Archer.

Their parents were Samuel Myers Hartman (1844-1928) and Julia Zimmerman (1844-1913) who  grew up and married in Wayne Co Ohio, near Wooster, then moved to Findlay Ohio in Hancock County sometime before October 26, 1872 as my great-grandmother was the first child I know for certain was born in Findlay.  Samuel and Julia had 11 children: Charles O (1869-1930) s; Etta /Ettie (1870-????); Dellie (1871- ????); Fannie (1872-1954); Zoe (1874-1954); Jesse (1877-1945); Samuel T. (1877-1880); Wellie (1879-1960); 1880-1957); Henry (1884-1968); and Cleo (1899-1966.)

52 Ancestors: Ancestor #1 Crawford Erwin, 1818-1910

[Picture property of Jimmie Ferguson, Bowling Green Kentucky, used with permission. Click to embiggen.]

Crawford Erwin is my third great grandfather, and it is through researching his family that I connected with my first previously unknown cousin, a third cousin once removed, Jimmie Ferguson. He had several photographs of our mutual several times great grandfather and he graciously allowed me to use the photo above for my blog. Jimmie is descended through Crawford’s son ,Edward, from his second wife, and I am descended through Crawford’s second son from his first marriage.

I’ve done several posts about others in Crawford Erwin’s family. He is the son of Judge William Erwin and the father of John Erwin and Eli Erwin. They have been easier than some to write about as biographical sketches of several family members were written up in History of Wayne and Clay Counties, Illinois", published in 1884.

The book describes Crawford Erwin as one of Hoosier Township's "best and most prominent farmers." He would have been sixty-six when it was published. Crawford was born on April 19, 1818, in Lawrence County, Indiana, when his father was 40 and his mother was 35. His father, William Erwin, moved with part of his family, including Crawford and two of his brothers, to Clay County in October, 1832.  Crawford was fourteen at the time.  

Crawford Erwin was “brought up among the deer and other wild animals, and hence early learned the use of fire-arms. He has killed many a deer and other wild game.  At one time, upon returning home from taking his grandmother to his aunt's, he saw a herd of seven deer. He at once brought his gun to his shoulder (for they always carried guns then), and fired without getting off the horse.  The ball passed entirely through the deer he had shot at, and entered another one just in the rear, killing both of them. This was a wonderful feat for a boy. “ (I think it was pretty amazing since he likely had a muzzle loading rifle. It probably also was a flintlock rifle. Percussion rifles had just been invented in the 1820’s and were more expensive and thus not likely to have been given to a boy. The U.S. army had adopted an early single shot breech loader in 1819; but again, given the expense, it is doubtful that a boy had one.) 

In 1837, when he was 19 years old,  he married Eliza A. Craig (my third great-grandmother), daughter of Adam Craig, an early settler of Clay county; she was also 19. They had seven children, two of whom  died in childhood, in 1852, (Sarah Jane, 13, and Elbert, 16 mos.); those who survived to adulthood were William, John, Eli, Lafayette, and Elizabeth Adeline. Eliza died in February 1855, and Crawford again married, July 3 of the same year; this time to Mrs. Rachel Humes Milligan. (While this might seem like unseemly haste, Crawford was a farmer, which would have involved long hours in the fields, or hunting for meat for his family, and when Eliza died, their youngest surviving child was only one year old, and the rest were boys of 7, 12, 14, and 17. He needed someone to care for his youngest sons and baby daughter.) Rachel also likely needed a man to help provide for her children as the 1860 Census shows four children under 15 with Rachel’s prior married name living with Crawford and Rachel. He and Rachel had another five children together, two of whom were living in 1884 when the county history book was published, Angeline and Edward Everett. 

[Crawford Erwin seated with second wife Rachel Humes Milligan Erwin. Back row, standing (L to R): Angeline Erwin Britten, John Erwin (my 2nd great- grandfather), Edward Everett Erwin (Jim Ferguson's great-grandfather), and Elizabeth Adeline Erwin Kenley Henderson. (kindly given to me by Jim Ferguson, 9/23/13, and used with permission.) The gentleman with the medal is my 2nd-great-grandfather, John. The one labeled "Grandpa" is Jimmie Ferguson's 2nd-great-grandfather, Edward. They are half brothers. (Click to embiggen.)]

When the Civil War broke out Crawford’s three oldest sons left to fight for the North in the Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and his fourth son fought for the North in the Illinois Infantry.  Crawford's eldest son, Capt. William Erwin, Captain of Company D, Eleventh Regiment Missouri Volunteer Infantry, was killed in front at Spanish Fort, Ala., while “heroically leading his men on to victory”.  His third son, Eli, a private, was badly wounded at the Battle of Shiloh; and, while records show he survived in hospital a few months, he never made it home. His second son John was wounded in his first service but returned to fight again, and survived the war, to return to Clay County. The youngest of the four, Lafayette, also survived, and subsequently moved to California.

At the time the county history book was written, Crawford owned 347 acres of land and resided along the northern township line (sort of in the central portion) of Hoosier Prairie, Clay County, Illinois (see picture below, click to embiggen). He was a member of the Methodist Protestant Church, and of the Masonic order. For ten years, in addition to being a farmer, he held the office of Justice of the Peace, and “also has held other offices of trust”. 

Rachel Erwin died in 1893 at age 70, and apparently Crawford liked being married, as he married Elizabeth Adams the next year. She was 69 and he was 76. He was widowed again by 1910, and living in the home of Clara and Thomas McWilliams; the 1910 census lists Crawford as a step-father in that household. I haven’t figured out whether one of the two was a child of Rachel Humes Mulligan who wasn’t living with them after their marriage, a child of Elizabeth Adams, or whether he married yet again after Elizabeth Adams died. Crawford died on December 2, 1910, at the age of 92.

["History of Wayne and Clay Counties, Illinois” published 1884 by Chicago: Globe Publishing,historical Publishers, reprinted 2000 by Brookhaven Press , LaCrosse Wisconsin, (Google ebook, scanned), pp. 185 & 186 of original, pp. 655 & 656 of Google eBook scan;  Find-a-Grave: Illinois; Federal Census for 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910; Illinois, Marriages, to 1850 and 1851-1900[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Volume 1, page 222, Lic # 2950, Clay County; Ancestry.com. U.S., Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918 (database on-line). Photos from Jimmie Ferguson, used with permission.]

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I'm Back!

I had a good Christmas with my parents and youngest brother’s family, and a good break. I hope you did as well! [The photo is what it looked like here on Thursday.]

I don’t really do New Year’s Resolutions but I have sort of reviewed where I am in my life and set some goals for myself. The genealogy related ones involve finishing up the first pass at my mother’s side of the family, probably by the end of January the way things are going (I’ve got a couple other things going on in my life that are temporarily limiting the time I have to spend on genealogy research, but one of which, upon completion, will likely make it easier to do in some respects). The other genealogy related goal is to start and complete my first pass at my father’s side of the family this year.

I have also been considering taking up the challenge of "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" proposed by Amy Johnson Crow of the No Story Too Small blog. I think that I will as it plays into my Ancestor Highlight posts quite well and gives my readers something to look forward to each week.  I've missed this week already so I will start next week and perhaps, if I can, get two in to catch up. They, as always, will be based on what I have been able to find about the person I’m highlighting. I heard over my vacation that one person on my father’s side has been disappointed with some of my blog posts because I don’t “tell the stories” of my ancestors. I tell what I know/have found out. Sometimes that is fairly dry bones at this point. I expect to be able to flesh people out more in my second pass when I spend more time tracking down more different databases to check but that will also take more time. “Telling stories” will also occur more naturally when I do my father’s side of the family, even on the first pass through, because people on the Henn side, and others in that surname soup, have been keeping family stories and family trees for years and I have a lot more to draw one (like Grand-Aunt Lucille’s book, and the treasure trove of collected family stories and history one of Dad’s siblings gave him a few years ago that he loaned me this Christmas) and will be able to tell more stories. But, if such exists of my Mom’s side, neither she nor I had access to it. I’m constructing the highlight posts from the data I find on Mom's ancestors, not from anyone’s memories, and doing the best I can with it.

I have had an exciting breakthrough on one of the lines on Mom’s side of the family that I had thought stonewalled after I discovered a new source last month. I had tried several different ways to get access to a copy of it, but it’s only in 24 library collections throughout the country and they don’t send it out through inter-library loan. Finally, I found it online at a price I could justify gifting myself with (Amazon had it for $189 – and that was hard to justify), and wow, it looks like I have Amish roots! Who would have thought?! I’ll be spending the next few weeks working with that and trying to cross-reference it with other sources through Ancestry.com and I’ll eventually do a full post on it, and I expect several Ancestor Highlights will grow from it. Not this week though, as I don’t have enough information yet.

Check back Sunday to see who I write an Ancestor Highlight on this week!