New Henn Family Photos!

Erwin, age 7; Hazel, age 5; Lowell, age 3, and Carl, age 1 (The Henn Family)

My new found cousin, SGT, 3rd cousin 1x removed, found the above picture when she was going through her grandmother's photograph album.  It was a postcard sent to Mr, & Mrs. Frank Henn, Mallory NY, on December 23, 1908. "Mr, & Mrs. Frank Henn, Mallory NY" is the whole address on the card! (Since it was in her grandmother's photograph album it must have made it.) The postcard gives the names and ages of the children pictured, and was signed by Owen J. Henn.

This is the back of the postcard:

Henn Family Postcard back

Owen J, Henn was my great-grandfather and 1-year-old Carl was my grandfather.

SGT also sent me a photograph of  Frank (1875 - 1945) and Olive (1884-1938) the youngest two of my great-grandfather's siblings.

Ollie and Frank Henn

Ollie & Frank Henn, back of photo

There was another photo enclosed, but I'm going to save that for a later posting after I'm more certain of which generation of my family he belongs to.

Joshua Currey (1741-1802), U. E. Loyalist

United Empire Loyalist  Flag, Public Domain

It is, perhaps, a good thing that much of my early research on my paternal side of the family had to do with Canadian history (since many of the Scotts-rooted and Irish-rooted branches of the family tree emigrated through Canada and the pre-Canadian British colonies in the north). Because I've read so many blogs written by Canadian genea-bloggers, and histories written by Canadian authors, I know how special it is, from the Canadian perspective, to have a U. E. Loyalist in the family. As an American, I knew it would probably not politic to post this on July 4, because to have a U. E. Loyalist in the family means that they fought on the "other side” of the Revolutionary war and that would disappoint some of my family.

Joshua Currey, my fifth great-grandfather, on my Dad’s side, was born in about December 1741 to Richard Currey, Jr (4 Nov 1709- 20 Mar 1806) and Elizabeth Jones (about Dec 1711-14 Feb 1778) in Cortlandtown, Westchester County New York.

In about 1730,  Richard Currey, Jr., after marrying Elizabeth Jones, mounted both of them on a single horse, and with all their effects, rode northward into the deep forests of northern Westchester County, which was still occupied by the Algonquins, and bought land in the Peekskill Creek Valley in the Cortlandt Manor (Westchester County, NY, which was then divided into huge tracts of land called Manors [with one owner] and Patents [owned by multiple people]), a few miles back from the Hudson River. At that point, he carved out a home and farm, eventually becoming a large landowner, and raised his family there.  Richard and Elizabeth, my sixth great-grandparents, had at least ten children. I’ve seen some people’s trees with more children listed for them but I’m going with the ones listed in his will as I haven’t been able to confirm any others at this point: Sarah Currey (1736-1770, m. John Jones), my fifth great-grandfather Joshua Currey, Stephen Currey (1742-1830, m. Frances Moore), Jemima Currey (1744-1825, m. Elisha Horton, Sr), Richard Currey (1750-1835, m. Sarah Ferris), Phoebe Currey (??-??, m. John Sherwood), Elizabeth Currey (??-??, m. Robert Wright), Mary Currey (??- 1806, m. John Smith), Martha Currey (??-??, m. ­? Sherwood) and Rachel Currey (? -  before 1806, m. William Lane).

New York State (now rather than then, unfortunately) with Westchester County in red
By User:Rcsprinter123 [CC BY-SA 3.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons

In a short biographical article on one of his descendants, amongst the section that talks about his family history it reports that ”when Joshua grew two years of understanding, he married”. I don’t know what that means in terms of how old he was, but he married Eunice Travis, born in about 1750, daughter of Justus Meade Travis (abt 1728-abt 1793); I’ve been unable to find out who her mother is. Joshua owned 144 acres and farmed near his father’s lands in the Manor of Cordtland. He and Eunice had a beautiful house on that land and had six children born there: Richard Currey (1765-1857, m. Rebecca Dykeman), my 4^th great-grandfather David Currey, Sr (1767-1827, m. Dorothy Estey, Gilbert Currey (1771-1857, m. Sarah Oakley), and Eunice Phoebe Currey (1780-1845, m. Moses Dykeman).

In the years after 1771, the local political climate had become tense. There were more Loyalists New York than in any other colony. It broke down to about 50 percent Patriots and 50 percent Loyalists, although historians agree that both sides were more American than British. It’s just that the Patriots did not see a way of reconciling with Great Britain and stood for independence as a separate country, and Loyalists stood for the recognition of law as against rebellion in any form, for the unity of the Empire as opposed to a separate independent existence of the colonies, and for monarchy instead of Republicanism. The Loyalists wanted the freedoms colonists had grown to enjoy across the ocean from Great Britain and reform of the oppressive taxation without representation system currently in place, but they were conservatives in their approach as to how to achieve this. History is written from the point of view of the victor: because the Patriots won the war fought against the British from 1775 to 1783, it is known as the Revolutionary War, the American War for Independence, or Our Rebellion. Had the British won, the war would likely have become known as the North American continent’s first Civil War.

In August 1775, New York Patriots determined that as the Loyalists were so numerous, regulations must be adopted to control them or the whole cause was in jeopardy and made a resolution that anyone found guilty of furnishing supplies to the British Army and Navy was to be disarmed and to forfeit to New York double the value of the articles they supplied and were to be imprisoned for three months after the forfeiture was paid. A second offense would be followed by banishment from the colony for seven years. By 1776, Loyalists were being arrested for arming to support the British or aiding the enemy in any way; harboring or associating with Tories (another name for Loyalists); recruiting soldiers; refusing to muster with local Patriot forces; corresponding with Loyalists or with the British; refusing to sign a document saying that they were Patriots; denouncing or refusing to obey congresses and committees; writing or speaking against the American cause; rejecting continental money; refusing to give up arms; drinking the king’s health; inciting or taking part in Tory plots and riots; being royal officers; and for trying to remain neutral. Mere suspicion was sufficient cause for seizure and imprisonment. All the property of those who adhered to the King or helped him in his war against the states was made liable to seizure.

Unlike his father and brothers, who supported the colonists, Joshua Currey sided with the British. This put his life in danger. At one time he had to hide under the floor of his house to escape the anger of the revolutionists, and his son David was nearly killed by them by being buried in a sandpit. He was also fined a number of times for failing to attend musters of the local Patriot militia. He was driven from his home and family, and forced to live in the woods, “skulking about, watching to see when it might be safe to return home.”

In Westchester County, the farms, stock, crops, and furniture of Loyalists were seized and sold before December 6, 1776. By March 1777, Joshua had joined the British Army, he and his family leaving home in the dead of night and traveling 300 miles to the nearest British camp, where they found protection from Sir William Howe, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in North America. Joshua first served with Major-General Tryon, commander of British Forces on Long Island, NY, and subsequently served with a section of the Loyal American Regiment (or LAR, which was primarily made up of Loyalists from Westchester County and lower Dutchess County) known as the Guides and Pioneers, under Colonel Beverly Robinson which put him at the forefront of any action against Patriot forces. In the Guides and Pioneers, Joshua was promoted to lieutenant.

First Page of Memorial Of Joshua Currey, claim for reparations
Photo taken by H.C.,  used with permission
Click to make bigger

His family had presumed him dead as they had not seen him until the end of the war. After his service with the LAR, he worked as a refugee farmer behind the British lines, in Morrisania, in what is now the Bronx. The war officially ended with the treaty of peace and separation in 1783. The English government tried to provide for their Loyalist subjects in America through the terms of the Treaty. The fourth article of the Treaty stated that creditors on each side should "meet with no lawful impediment” to recover all their debts in sterling money. The fifth article held that the Congress of the United States should recommend to the states the restoration of the rights and possessions of ”real British subjects” and of Loyalists who had not born arms against their countrymen. All other Loyalists were given the liberty to go into any state within 12 months to adjust their affairs and to recover their confiscated property upon paying the purchasers the sale price. The sixth article stated that no future confiscation should be made, that imprisoned Loyalists should be released, and no further persecutions should be permitted. The Congress sent the “recommendations” to the states but stated that they had no power to enforce them. The state of New York felt no obligation to restore Tory lands and to allow the returning Loyalists to be treated as fellow citizens. The provisions of the Treaty were rejected and the New York legislature declared that the forfeited and taken property should not be returned since England had offered no compensation for property which had been destroyed. Loyalists who returned under the treaty of peace were insulted, tarred and feathered, beaten, whipped and otherwise assaulted. The New York legislature also revoked the voting rights of any who had served under the British finding them guilty of treason. Therefore, most New York Loyalists chose to become exiles.

In the public domain. Click to make bigger

The British Army could see the way things were going, and the officers petitioned the Crown to allow for ships and supplies to resettle their loyal subjects, now refugees, in other British colonies. Over the next six months, 30,000 Loyalist refugees would take ship to Nova Scotia, with almost half going to the St. John River Valley area. Because of the huge influx of citizens, the new province of New Brunswick was separated from Nova Scotia in 1784.  (For the most part civilian refugees were sent to Nova Scotia and former military refugees were sent to what became New Brunswick, along the strategically valuable Bay of Fundy.)  Each family received two tents, and one and a half blankets per person; each man received 4 yards of woolen cloth, 7 yards of linen cloth, two pairs of shoes, two pairs of stockings, one pair of mittens; each woman received 3 yards of woolen cloth, six charts of linen, one pair of shoes, one pair of stockings, and one pair of mittens; each child over the age of 10, received 3 yards of woolen cloth, 6 yards of linen, one pair of stockings, and one pair of mittens; each child under 10, received 1 ½ yards of wool and 3 yards of linen. They were also given provisions for the trip to Nova Scotia and were to be given one year‘s provisions thereafter. The weekly ration consisted of 1 pound of flour per person, half a pound of meat (either beef or pork), a tiny amount of butter, a half a pound of oatmeal a week and a half of pound of pease per week and a little rice. Some areas had molasses and vinegar but they were rare. The settlers could supplement the provisions with hunting and fishing.

Map of New Brunswick

The Arrival of the Loyalists
in the public domain
Click to make bigger

In the fall of 1783, Joshua and his family evacuated with the British forces to the St. John River Valley and received a land grant upriver around Gagetown, New Brunswick. My 4^th great-grandfather David Currey, Sr., was 16 at the time the family arrived at St. John’s (then Nova Scotia).

Joshua later presented a claim to the commission for inquiring into the Losses, Services, and Claims, of the American Loyalists. He was one of only 500 New Brunswick Loyalists to do so. Joshua stated that he had lost 103 acres in the Manor of Cortlandt for which he paid 400 pounds was worth 500 pounds now, 36 acres of woodland also in Cortlandt Manor which he had cleared and values now at 5 pounds per acre, and 5 acres adjacent which he was once offered 10 pounds per acre for. He also had the following confiscated and sold by the NY government: two oxen (40 pounds), six cows (60),  an ox, (10) young  six young cattle (10), 55 sheep (27), 18 hogs (10), eight horses (00), 30 acres of wheat (40 pounds per acre… 60), 10 acres of rye (at 20… 10; farming utensils and household (100 pounds); furniture (450 pounds); losses sustained for being out of possession of said estate for nine years (1610.10 pounds). No one received all that they requested on their claims; the average payout was one-third to one-half of value asked. I don’t know what Joshua received.

Second and Third Pages of Memorial Of Joshua Currey, claim for reparations
Photo taken by H.C.,  used with permission
Click to make bigger

They spent this first year in or near St. John as they had arrived just before winter. The late fall was wet and cold, and the first snow fell on November 2^nd – 6 inches! Those who had arrived earlier had started building log cabins and wood sheds for shelter for the winter, but many of those who arrived in late fall had to spend the winter in pitched tents covered in spruce branches for insulation. It snowed a lot that winter, which turned out to be a benefit as the six feet of snow around the tents helped keep out the bitter cold. Many families slept in shifts throughout the night to keep a fire going to keep the family from freezing (and not burn down the tent). Many women and children died that winter. Men hunted bear and moose to feed their families as the delivery of the promised provisions was erratic, at best. As spring came on, and the two-foot thick ice on the river and bay thawed, they also fished, and trapped pigeons, and ate fiddlehead ferns and the leaves of the trees. One account said the people cheered when the first schooner arrived carrying cornmeal and rye.

For Joshua and his family, as for many, their new life was a hard life, and a step backward from the comfort of their New York estate to the hard work of prior generations. In the spring they moved upriver to lands near Gagetown. He and his sons had to clear the land they bought in the parishes of Gagetown & Canning as it was a dense forest, chopping down trees and lopping off limbs to make the long trunks easier to transport; and the stumps had to be burned or dug out before the family could plow and plant crops. All this was done by people working together by hand because no one had been able to bring teams of oxen or horses on the ships. Potatoes and beans were planted amongst the burned stumps the first year and did well.

A Loyalist Family Starts Anew
In the public domain.
Click to make bigger.

The British government eventually sent seeds “for garden and farm”. By July 1784, the British government distributed an ax, a hoe, a spade, and a plow to every two families; a whipsaw and a crosscut saw to every fourth family; and a set of carpenter’s tools to every five families. Later, a cow was given to every two families, and one bull per neighborhood.

The first homes the new settlers built were simple log cabins consisting of round logs, from 5 to 20 feet in length, laid horizontally over each other, and bound at the corners, with the seams packed with moss and clay. Chimneys were built of stacked stone set in clay. A few rafters would be put up to hold a roof which was made of bark tied to thin poles laid across and tied to the roof frame. It might have had a framed floor or it might have been dirt initially. If they put in windows, they were small. Later, in 1789, Joshua built his family a large frame and brick home.

After life settled down, Joshua and Eunice had two more children in St. John County: Daniel Travis Curry (1785-22 June 1867; m. Elizabeth “Betsy” Scribner) and Joshua Curry, Jr (?? – aft 1802).  As the initial hardships disappeared, the people became comfortable and prosperous, for the land was fertile, and the early sacrifices made for loyalty to King and Empire became more of something to brag about than to complain about.

In November 1789, Lord Dorchester requested the council at Quebec “to put a mark of honor upon the families who adhered to the unity of the empire and joined the Royal Standard in America before the Treaty of Separation in the year 1783”. The council concurred. Accordingly, all Loyalists who fit that description “were to be distinguished by the letters U.E. [United Empire] affixed to their names, alluding to their great principle, the unity of the Empire.”   A Registry of these U.E. Loyalists was ordered to be kept and for twenty years names were added to this list. Joshua Currey is on the list.

Joshua Currey died at age 60 on 20 September 1802. He must have realized he was dying because that is also the day he drafted his will. He was survived by his wife and all of his children. In his will, he said, in pertinent part (with legalese translated into English, in brackets, where unnecessarily convoluted),

“I give and bequeath to Eunus, my dearly beloved wife the whole of my property both real and personal during such time as shall be and continue my widow and no Longer [if she remarried, the property was to be distributed as if she were dead].

“I also give and bequeath to my son Richard Currey the sum of 5 pounds and to my son David the sum of 2 pounds ten shillings and to my son Gilbert the sum of 1 pound 5 shillings and to my son Joshua the sum of 25 pounds to be in the care of Richard and David Currey. And five shillings I gave to my daughter Phebe Dickman and all that remain of my estate to my son Daniel Currey. [He named his] dearly beloved sons Richard Currey and David Currey to be my … executors [and states they are to be paid from the estate in the amount the law directs].“ 

[Note: One pound sterling in 1802 is equivalent to $98.76 in  U.S. dollars in 2018.]

He was buried in Chase Cemetery, Gagetown, New Brunswick, Canada.

Tombstone of Joshua Currey
Photo taken by H.C.,  used with permission.
Click to make bigger

________________________

Sorry about the weird spacing folks. I tried to fix it several times but it won't get better, and twice it got worse,  I've given up. 

________________________

The wills of Richard Currey, and Joshua Currey (Found at Ancestry.com); Old Sands Street Methodist Episcopal Church, of Brooklyn NY, an illustrated Centennial record, historical and biographical, by the Rev. Edwin Warriner, corresponding secretary of the New York conference historical Society (New York: Phillips & Hunt, 805 Broadway. 1885), p. 441;   Joshua Currey’s Claim for Reparations, The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; American Loyalist Claims, Series I; Class: AO 13; Piece: 098; The Journal of the Rev. Silas Constant, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Yorktown NY, With Some of the records of the Church and a List of His marriages, 1784-1825, Together with notes on the Nelsons, Van Cortlandt, Warren, and some other families Mentioned in the Journal by Silas Constant, Emily Warren Roebling, (Printed for Private Circulation by J.B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, 1903), p. 116 (https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=L0kVAAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA116) ; https://earlyamericanists.com/2014/02/18/was-the-american-revolution-a-civil-war/ ; https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/facts-american-war-of-independence-declaration-battle-yorktown-george-iii-colonies/ ; The King’s Men: Loyalist military units in the American Revolution, Hudson Valley and New York City Loyalists: http://www.nyhistory.net/drums/kingsmen_02.htm /; http://www.royalprovincial.com/military/rhist/g&p/gphist.htm; United Empire Loyalists, Second Report of the Bureau of Archives for the Province of Ontario, part 1 by Alexander Fraser, Provincial Archivist, 1904; http://www.uelac.org/ ; http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info/Loyalist_list.php?letter=c ;  http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info/detail.php?letter=c&line=863 ; http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Trails/2012/Loyalist-Trails-2012.php?issue=201223 ; History of New Brunswick, by Peter Fish (as originally published in 1825, with a few additional explanatory note, reprinted jointly by The Government of New Brunswick & William Shives Fisher, grandson of the author, under the auspices of the New Brunswick Historical Society, St. John, N.B. 1921); “Evacuation Day”, 1783 Its Many Stirring Events: With Recollections of Capt. John Van Arsdale, by James Riker (New York 1883); The Loyalists of New Brunswick, by Esther Clark Wright (Lancelot Press, Windsor N.S. 1955; A Biographical Sketch of  Lemuel Allen Currey and Biographical Sketch of John Zebulon Currie, Cyclopedia of Canadian biography, being chiefly men of the time. A collection of persons distinguished in professional and political life; leaders in the commerce and industry of Canada, and successful pioneers, by George MacLean Rose, (Toronto: Rose Publishing Company. 1888.); Biographical Sketch of Frank A. Curry. Biographical history of Westchester County New York, illustrated. Volume II (The Lewis Publishing Company. Chicago: 1889, pp. 974-977.); New Brunswick Loyalists of the War of the American Revolution, New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Record, Vol 35-36 1904-1905, Oct., p.277-281; Planters, Paupers, and Pioneers, English Settlers in Atlantic Canada, by Lucille H. Campey (The Dundurn Group, Toronto CA, 2010); Tories: Fighting for the King in America’s First Civil War by Thomas B. Allen (Harper Collins E-books, 2010; Loyalism in New York during the American Revolution by Alexander Clarence Flick, Ph.D (New York, Columbia University Press, 1901); Loyalist Regiments of the American Revolutionary War 1775-1783, by Stuart Salmon, Ph.D. Dissertation, 2009; and https://www.uwyo.edu/numimage/currency.htm.

Tours, Books, DNA, oh my!

New York State Library Genealogy and Local History section.
Photo: mine.

This past weekend I on a Walking Tour of the New York State Library’s Genealogical and Local History section. One of my friends had seen a write-up of the program in the newspaper and called to tell me about it since it said it was limited to 15 people. I went online to the library’s website. The program notice on the library’s website was enticing, “Join us for a tour highlighting published genealogies, local histories, church records, DAR records, United States and New York State census records, newspapers on microfilm, city directories, and more.” I quickly signed up at their website, and that’s how I came to find myself down at the New York State Museum/Library/Archives on Saturday, a bit before 11 AM.

The shameful thing is that I had never been there before – well, I’ve been to the museum parts of it, but not up to the library or archives – and I only live 7 miles away! I have used their online resources before, particularly in finding out more about the unit history of the New York artillery unit that my second great-grandfather fought in during the Civil War, along with some other things, but I hadn’t been to their physical facilities before.

The Genealogy and Local History department is on the seventh floor of the building that houses the state museum and state library and archives, on Madison Street in downtown Albany. Our guide for this one and a half hour tour was Shawn Purcell, Senior Librarian and subject specialist for genealogy and local history at the library, and the class turned out to be much bigger than 15 people. I think there were about 40 of us.

He showed us the online catalog at a station near the librarian’s desk and taught us some tricks I hadn’t figured out on my own on how to make our catalog searches better. To save time, and their resources – in terms of available computer stations dedicated to the online catalog – I can access the online catalog at home and do my initial search is there, then write down the information I need or print it out before coming to the library. Then I can either go directly to the stacks or fill out one of those green forms to have the item retrieved from archives.

Cemetery, Church & Town records - lots of them!
Photo: Mine

Mr. Purcell showed us their surname and vital record card file which contains information noted by former librarians, which is not contained in Google or in Ancestrydotcom. Then he showed us through the book stacks on the seventh floor pointing out where the genealogy pamphlet/ephemera boxes are kept, the church records, the DAR records, County information, and biographies, folios, and the microform and microfilm areas, including city directories, newspapers, Civil War unit histories, and something called the Gabit Index, which, as I understand it, is an index in which a former librarian wrote down all marriage and death notices in the state (and one county into each bordering state) during the time that he was librarian. The hour and a half tour just flew by. It seemed like only minutes had passed when it ended. I will be back to look up the Henns in Oswego and Onondaga Counties in the late 1800s!

DNA image from Pixabay.com

I believe I’ve mentioned recently that I’ve made a DNA connection, or rather my Dad’s DNA has (apparently I didn’t inherit that bit), to a woman who connects at the person I had found in designated a probable third grandfather, Thomas Bennett of Schull, County Cork, Ireland. She descends from one of my second great-grandfather’s probable siblings. I suppose if it’s a DNA connection is more than probable, but I mean to say that I don’t have a documented connection yet. So recently I have been researching the persons she named in her tree as my second great-grandfather’s siblings because in the past I have found that I am able to make connections up and sideways through research done on siblings that I have not been able to make through my direct ancestor. Researching siblings has been very helpful to me. In the course of this I was contacted by another DNA connection to my Dad; she seems to be related through my probable third great-grandmother, the wife of the aforementioned probable third great grandfather. I didn’t have anything she needed and I haven’t heard back but it does seem to confirm that relationship, so I continue to do collateral research. There are quite a few siblings is going to take a while.

In addition, this past week I was contacted by another distant relative, whose father connects in a bit lower on the same line, and I’ve been checking my paper files to see if I have clues that will help her cut through one of her brick walls. So this past week I did not get anything done toward scanning or recording the information I picked up from my parents when I last visited them.

I also received some books in the mail that I had forgotten I’d ordered:

Recently Received Books to Help with Genealogy Research

These will be fun to go through when I have (or make)  the time.

I also made some corrections to my article about Aunt Angie, supplied by her husband after he saw it.

As to the other intentions I mentioned in my New Year’s post, well, this is my first “chatty” post this year that does not involve an ancestor bio. I’ve kept up with my 365 photography project and have tied in with a 365 project on Instagram in which they give you a word for each day of the week and your photo is supposed to represent that word somehow. I was able to use my family history material in the 365 project when the word of the day was “old” and I took and posted a picture of several old family photos of my grandparents, my great-grandparents, and my second great-grandmother on my Wilcox line. (The Instagram account for The Genealogy Roadshow “liked” my picture – oh wow!). I haven’t managed to watch the genealogy webinar yet, but I bought one. I also haven’t watched any of my CLE webinars, or the ones I bought from The Great Courses during their huge sale around New Year’s. I still haven’t taken the camera out of the box. I started a book of short stories but haven’t finished it. I have lost 3 pounds, but have failed miserably at getting more sleep, averaging four hours a night in the past week. I have not yet done anything with the YNAB software other than download it. I’ve realized that I forgot to set aside a day for church work other than Sunday in my planning, and that I’ll be at the church nearly every Tuesday night. I haven’t been getting home from work any earlier, and, while I have limited my time on Facebook, to a degree, that has been more than offset by my discovery of Quora!

So I remind myself that not everything needs to be done at once. I need not even start on all of my intentions at once. There are 11 ½ more months to go. And now...I should go to bed.

Crestleaf.com’s 12 Months of Fascinating Family Finds: September 2015 –Finding the graves of Franz Joseph and Phillipina [Blank] Henn, mythird great grandparents

Graves of Edmund Henn (1838-1861), Franz  Henn (1800-1863), and Phillipina Henn (1805-1890)
Click to Make Bigger

I am participating in the Crestleaf.com "12 Months of Fascinating Family Finds" contest (see Crestleaf.com’s 12 Months of Fascinating Family Finds Challenge for details) and my most exciting find of September 2015 is finding the graves of Franz Joseph Henn (1800-1863) and Phillipina Blank Henn (1805-1890), my third great grandparents, who had immigrated to the United States in 1853 from Doerlesburg, Baden, Germany.

I’m not the first to find the cemetery. I found directions to the cemetery they were buried in on findagrave.com, but I’m still quite happy and excited to have found them myself and spent time there with them. (Yes, “found”, even with directions the cemetery is still in the middle of a very rural area, in an area I’ve never been before. A very pretty drive, but still…)

I spent the weekend at the New York State Family History Conference (and I will be writing a post about that experience, too). It was held in Syracuse, which I knew put me in the same general part of the state that my third great-grandparents, France Joseph (later “Francis”) and Katharina Phillipina [Blank] Henn lived after coming to the United States. I’d decided to try to find their graves after the conference, having copied the directions to the St. Francis cemetery that were online at findagrave.com: “St. Francis cemetery. Route 49 East of Central Square, approx. .2 mi., turn north onto Co. Rte. 37, go approx. .5 mi. cemetery is on east side of road (approximately 2000 feet south of Co. Rte 84) it sits off the road quite a bit.” [Don’t try to follow those directions; they aren’t entirely accurate because the punctuation given screwed up the actual distance.]

Fortunately, I met two people at the conference who lived in the area where I would be going to find the cemetery, who clarified the directions, which was very helpful (I’m more of a visual person and the directions I give tend to say things like ‘turn left at the gray barn’, and things like that, and I don’t have a compass in the car). I got lucky again as I got closer to the Central Square exit off of 81 North and discovered that the cemetery was in Google Maps (iPad app) under the local name of Little France Cemetery. I followed the audio directions given by the nice lady at Google maps, which amounts to: Take North I-81 to exit 32 (Central Square exit) for NY 49. At the bottom of the exit turn right onto NY 49. You’ll pass a Mobil station and the Good Golly restaurant on your left (if you need gas get it there, I don’t recall passing another one). Go 6 tenths of a mile (.6) on NY 49, and then turn left onto County Route 37. It winds through some very scenic country, with cows and barns and horses, and a good chance of a slow-moving combine on the road in front of you.

Combine on Co. Rte. 37
Click to Make Bigger

View from Co. Rte 37
Click to Make Bigger

Stay on County Route 37 for 4.2 miles (start slowing down when you hit 4 miles in). You will see a small brown sign hanging off a post by a dirt road into the woods on the right-hand side. The sign says, “St. Francis cemetery. Est. 1848.” If you cross County route 84, turn around; you’ve gone too far.

St. Francis Cemetery, Town of West Monroe NY (Little France Cemetery)
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On the narrow dirt road leading to the cemetery, there is a gate across the road with a sign on it that says open 9 to 4, Monday through Sunday, May 1 through September 30. The first time I saw that sign was at 5 o’clock on Saturday, and yes, the gate was closed and chained. As I could not see the cemetery from the road I did not feel comfortable walking in, and about that time it started to rain anyway. I found a hotel in the area and came back the next morning, and the gate was open by the time I got there about 10:00 AM.

The cemetery is off the road, but not that far off. The road is very narrow and very green. When you get to a Y in the road, there is a wide spot in the road off the left side, park your car there (it’s about a football field length in from County route 37). You will be able to see the graveyard off to the right, up a little hill. It is very well-kept by the Knights of Columbus. And, while you’re there, remember to go over to the big cross on the right side and pull out the drawer. Inside is a visitor sign-in book and some pens inside two Ziploc containers (if everyone who visits the cemetery signs the book, it has gotten about eight visitors a year, since 2006). It is a very pretty little cemetery.

Looking back at the road I drove in on to the County Road
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Looking up the hill at the right fork
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The graves of my third great-grandparents, France Joseph and Phillipina, and their son, Edmund, are close to the front and can be seen from the little road in front.

Franz Henn, closeup
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Phillipina Henn, closeup
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[Edmund's grave is even more illegible in closeup -- almost totally black-- so I'm not posting the photo.]

They have a great view through the trees.

from the back
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view
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Walking further into the graveyard, on the right side of the road, near the large cross, is a big more modern looking gravestone that belongs to my third great uncle, Frank J Henn (1843-1928) and his wife, Rosine Besanen Henn (1853-1929).

Frank and Rosine Henn
(the picture is bad, but the best of those I took)
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I spent about an hour in the cemetery, before driving home. I told them how brave they were to come to this new country with their whole family, and that it had been a very good decision, as their children, and their children’s children, and their children’s children’s children, and so on, had good lives, with many opportunities, and grew into being good people, and it was all because they’d taken this huge leap of faith in moving here.

52 Ancestors: #31 Henry Strauss, jr. (1862 - 1881) Part 2 - "Justifiable Homicide"

HEADLINE: "Justifiable Homicide"
The Syracuse Morning Standard, June 18, 1881
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This is my latest post for the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” challenge initiated by Amy Johnson Crow of the No Story Too Small blog. For more information about the challenge and links to the other blogs participating in the challenge, please click on the badge in the right margin.

This is the second of two posts this week on Henry Strauss, junior, my 1st cousin 3 times removed, born on June 11, 1862 to Rosa Henn Strauss and Henry B. Strauss. Everyone seems to run into some less than honorable black sheep ancestors in the course of their family history search. Henry is the first I’ve found in my tree (there are bound to be more, but he’s my first). Last week I wrote about Henry’s mother, my 2nd great-grand aunt, Generosa (later Rosa) Henn Strauss, who was declared insane within a few years of Henry’s death (she spent the last 21 years of her life in an asylum). In the article on his mother I promised that this week I would do two posts – part 1 & 2 - of transcriptions of the article reporting on the fight in which died, which he started, and of the article reporting on the inquest into his death.  

On Wednesday, I posted the first articles describing the fight. Unlike today’s news stories, there was no indication of from where or who the author had obtained his information, and as you’ll see in today’s post the initial article got quite a few details wrong (assuming that those testified to are more likely to be right). But, unlike today’s journalism, the article does not highlight the changed details, and makes no apology for the changes in the newspaper’s recounting of the story.

Today’s news articles describe the inquest into Henry’s death and the funeral. The inquest came about as a result of Henry’s father pressing charges against David McClure (identified in the first article as Joseph McClure) for murder; it included testimony from Henry ‘s father, the doctor who treated Henry and subsequently performed the autopsy, and two disinterested eyewitnesses to the fight (merchants whose places of business were in the area). The inquest itself does not seem that dissimilar to today’s inquests, and the reporting in this article seems more like modern reporting.  The article, in the main, appears to have a more balanced factual tone than the article I transcribed in Part 1. The final small article regarding the funeral just adds a note of the bizarre to the whole thing.

"Justifiable Homicide"
(Strauss McClure fight)
 The Syracuse Morning Standard, June 18, 1881
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The Syracuse Morning Standard, Saturday Morning, June 18, 1881

“JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE

The Killing of Henry Strauss by David McClure Not Murder

Yesterday afternoon Coroner Knapp held an inquest in the case of Henry Strauss, who died early last Tuesday morning from the effects of the blow which David McClure, an imbecile, dealt him on the head with a stick of wood late last Saturday afternoon.

The first witness called was Henry Y. Strauss (sic), father of the deceased. He testified that he was at work in the garden when his son came home on Saturday evening between 6 and 7 o’clock. The boy staggered as he came into the yard. The father asked him what was the matter. The boy made no answer but said: “Help me take off my boots and my coat so that I can lay down on my mother’s bed.” The father did so and the lad lay down on the bed. A short time after Mrs. Strauss called her husband into the house, said the boy was restless and complaining of pain in his head. The father slept with the injured son during the night. The boy complained during the night and Mr. Strauss got him a drink of water. On feeling his son’s head, the father found it very hot. In the morning the boy was asleep when his father got up. Mrs. Strauss was ordered to keep the other children quiet in order that Henry might sleep. The boy lay that way until the doctor was called Sunday night, and finally died on Tuesday morning between 2 and 3 o’clock.

Dr. Van Duyn said that he cut through the scalp and found bruises over the left ear. The cranial cavity was opened and the left side of the skull was found to be broken in such a way that the middle meningeal artery was broken. From this break blood had poured out and formed a clot weighing four and three-fourth ounces. This compressed the brain so as to cause paralysis and death.

James Barry, who resides at No. 218 West Fayette Street and keeps a store at that location testified that the accident took place in front of his store. He heard a noise and on going out saw Henry Strauss and James Plunkett throwing David McClure’s wagon into the sewer hole. Strauss and Plunkett were both intoxicated and came over near Barry. McClure called to them and Strauss walked over toward him. McClure then picked up a stone. Plunkett followed Strauss. Strauss went up to McClure and said something to him the witness did not hear, McClure said: “Keep away from me, I want you to leave me alone.” McClure kept backing up and Strauss kept following him slowly. McClure said something about being “picked on” and about leaving his wagon alone. Strauss acted as though he wanted to clinch his opponent but dare not because McClure had the stone in his hand. Finally McClure got up against a building standing on the corner. McClure dropped the stone and picked up a stick which lay against the building. A blow aimed at Strauss with the stick failed to be effective. A second attempt resulted in the same manner. The third time McClure struck at the deceased, the latter was leaning down trying to pick up a stone. The blow did not take effect and Strauss ran into the road and picked up a stone and walked back towards McClure. McClure then struck Strauss and the latter fell to the ground. He struck partly on his head. Plunkett then helped Strauss home. The wagon of McClure had wood in it and part of the latter was strewn on the ground. The witness said that McClure seemed to be afraid of Strauss and Plunkett, but wanted his cart. After the deceased was struck McClure threw the stick away. McClure drew his cart into Barry’s yard after the accident. He told the witness that Strauss was in the habit of bothering him, and about a week before had torn his coat. The witness said he had seen Strauss intoxicated several times.

Jacob Sehl, who keeps a restaurant opposite Barry’s store, was called. He certified that he had seen the occurrence as elated by the last witness. Sehl was the last witness called and at the close of his testimony, the jury retired. After a short deliberation they brought a verdict that Henry Strauss “came to his death by a blow to the head struck by David McClure on June 11, 1881, between the hours of 4 and 5 o’clock in the afternoon, at the corner of Niagara and West Lafayette streets, in the city of Syracuse, and that said blow was provoked, and struck by McClure in self-defense. Death of said Strauss taking place from the effects of the injury induced by said blow at No, 314 West Lafayette Street.”

The father and mother of young Strauss feel very much grieved at the untimely death of their son, and yesterday while the inquest was in progress tears rolled down the cheeks of the bereaved couple. The dead boy was the oldest of five brothers. The four younger ones survive the deceased. The eldest is about sixteen years old. The parents acknowledge that Henry Strauss was inclined to be somewhat dissipated. It is rumored that some seven or eight months before his death the wayward son was married to a girl of his own age. The parents say that they never knew of the marriage, and although they heard the rumor, they did not believe it to be true.” 

[The Syracuse Morning Standard, Saturday Morning, June 18, 1881 (found at http://www.fultonhistory.com/ Syracuse NY Daily Standard 1881 Grayscale - 0546.pdf)]

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And this is the last (very) small article I found in this matter, in the oddities section of the paper:

 The Oswego Palladium, Friday, June 17, 1881 

“Things Which Don’t Happen Every Day

The young wife of Henry Strauss of Syracuse, who was killed in an affray, was not permitted to attend the funeral services by his parents, and followed the procession to the grave at the very rear.”

[The Oswego Palladium, Friday, June 17, 1881 (Found at http://www.fultonhistory.com, Newspaper Oswego Palladium Jan-June 1881-0836.pdf)]

52 Ancestors: #31 Henry Strauss, jr. (1862 - 1881) Part 1

Headline: "DEALING A DEADLY BLOW"
The Syracuse Standard, June 14, 1881
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This is my latest post for the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” challenge initiated by Amy Johnson Crow of the No Story Too Small blog. For more information about the challenge and links to the other blogs participating in the challenge, please click on the badge in the right margin.

[Due to technical difficulties I do not understand, it has taken me 4 solid hours to post this article. If it doesn't post this time I am giving up and going to bed. I am beyond tense!]

Last week I week I wrote about Henry’s mother, my 2^nd great-grand aunt, Generosa(later Rosa) Henn Strauss, who was declared insane within a few years of Henry’s death, and entered New York’s asylum system.

Henry was Rosa and Henry Strauss’ first born child, and my 1^st cousin 3 times removed.  He was born on June 11, 1862 and died as a result of a street fight he instigated. In the article on his mother I promised that this week I would do two posts – part 1 & 2 - of transcriptions of the article reporting the fight and of the article reporting on the inquest.  In actuality, I’m going to throw in two other small articles to complete the coverage of the matter, one with each post.

In reading and transcribing these articles, I find the differences in writing styles between today’s journalism and 19^th century journalism to be very interesting. I also found a significant difference in tone between the two main articles -- I wonder if they had the same author? (No byline is indicated on either piece.)

Today, in the papers I read, when a paper reports on an incident, it is careful to sound balanced and detached (unless the article is identified as an opinion piece), and the reporter is careful to indicate his sources, or to indicate if he is using an anonymous source.  The article below is not detached and the author does not indicate where he got his information, and I'd really like to know how he knew what happened in the Strauss home.Additionally,reporters today explain corrections when they must be made in a subsequent article or squib. This was evidently not common practice in the late 19^th Century, as there are some significant differences between the two articles, with no explanation. We’ll start off with the articles about the fight, Henry’s death, and the subsequent arrest of the boy who struck Henry. Strauss, jr.

  

"Dealing A Deadly Blow"
(Strauss-McClure fight )
The Syracuse Standard, June 14,1881
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The Syracuse Standard, Tuesday Morning, June 14, 1881:

“DEALING A DEADLY BLOW

HOW A HALF-WITTED BOY DEFENDED HIMSELF

Joseph McClure, Attacked by a Crowd of Tormentors, Inflicts upon the Leader a Wound which Occasions Paralysis—Death the Probable Result of the Injury

In Geddes lives an impoverished family named McClure, among whom is a son Joseph, aged about 19 or 20 years. The boy is not of sound mind and has lived at home with his parents from infancy. The needs of the household have compelled father, mother, and children to unite in endeavoring to keep the dread wolf from the door. Joseph, the half-witted boy, earns now and then a few pennies by doing odd jobs for anybody who will employ him. He is honest, quiet, and inoffensive, and has frequently been dispatched on errands by people who know him and his wants. When not thus engaged, it is the boy’s habit to trundle a 4-wheeled cart along the railroad tracks and public thoroughfares, where he gathers up bits of coal and wood to be used at home for fuel. In this way he adds his mite to the support of the family of which he is a member. His unfortunate condition has for many years made him the butt among other boys, of equal age and better mental capacity, who have poked fun at him at every opportunity. While he mopes along with his cart, they often taunt him about his occupation, his shabby clothes, and his disease of mind. Last Saturday McClure picked up sufficient coal to fill his small wagon and was on his way home in the evening. He was met in Geddes by a party of boys who at once undertook to plague annoy and abuse him. Although somewhat incensed, the poor lad bore their torments without a reply. Among the aggressors who thus abused McClure was a young man named Henry Strauss who resides with his parents at No. 344 West Fayette Street. Strauss and a companion went so far as to tip over the small wagonload of coal which McClure had spent several hours in collecting and was drawing to his home. McClure’s wrath was aroused to the highest pitch by this treatment, and picking up a stick, which was near to hand, he struck Strauss a hard blow on the left side of the head. Strauss fell to the walk in an insensible condition. He was carried home and put to bed. Blood was issuing from his left ear and his face was livid. As he was being placed on the bed, he recovered his senses long enough to moan:

“Oh, I feel as if I was dying.”

Almost immediately, he became unconscious again. He lay very quiet, but as he breathed with accustomed regularity, his parents concluded that he was sleeping. No mark on the head seemed to indicate that he was seriously hurt. It was thought that the blood on the ear came from some small wound that had been inflicted by the stick. The family thought Strauss would wake all right in the morning, and did not deem the injury sufficient to need the attention of a doctor, consequently none was summoned.

All Sunday the injured lad lay in the same unconscious state. About 6 o’clock at night Dr. Van Duyn was summoned. When the Doctor saw the patient he was at once convinced the injury was very serious. He contrived to partly restore the sleeper, but could not wholly bring him to. The medical examination disclosed the fact that the sufferer’s right side was completely paralyzed, and the left side partially. It was also evident that the skull was probably fractured near the base of the brain. The parents were still of the opinion that there was no danger of a serious result. During Sunday night and the whole of yesterday there was no change for the better in Strauss’ condition. When the Doctor called last night he found the boy much worse and expressed his opinion that death must ensue. No effort served to resuscitate the sleeper. So low was his condition that when the doctor left his bedside last night it was feared that he would not live until morning. The father and mother of the dying boy could hardly realize the fact that the lad’s end was so near, and as they stood silent and tearful by the bedside the sight was very sad.

Henry Strauss is about 19 years of age and is very smart and a good workman. He has found employment in several different places but was too unsteady to remain long with one employer. After working for a few weeks he would unexpectedly leave the shop. What money he had saved he would spend in getting intoxicated. He was inclined to be somewhat dissipated. His father, who is steady and industrious, is well-liked by all who know him, and works hard to get sufficient money to support a large family. Mrs. Strauss is also spoken of as a very estimable woman who does her share towards providing for the necessities of the family.

A warrant was issued yesterday for McClure’s arrest, but at a late hour last night he had not been apprehended.”

[The Syracuse Standard, Tuesday Morning, June 14, 1881 (found at http://www.fultonhistory.com/ Syracuse NY Daily Standard 1881 Grayscale – 0536.pdf)]

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And the second article for today:

The Syracuse Standard, Wednesday Morning, June 15, 1881

“AN IMBECILE’S VICTIM

Henry Strauss Dies from the effects of David McClure’s Blow

Henry Strauss died at 2 o’clock yesterday morning at the home of his parents, No. 344 West Fayette Street. Death was caused by the blow on the head which David McClure, an imbecile whom he had been tormenting, dealt him with a heavy stick of wood late last Saturday afternoon. When Officer Quigley awoke early yesterday morning he read the full account of the affair published in THE STANDARD and learned that a warrant had been issued for the arrest of the aggressor. The officer thereupon went to a barn where McClure was in the habit of sleeping and arrested him. Subsequently McClure was arraigned, charged on oath of Henry B. Strauss, father of the dead boy, with murder. The prisoner pleaded guilty to the charge and bail was fixed at $1000. In default of the required bond McClure was sent to the penitentiary to await the action of the grand jury.”
[The Syracuse Standard, Wednesday Morning, June 15, 1881 (found at http://www.fultonhistory.com/ Syracuse NY Daily Standard 1881 Grayscale – 0540.pdf)]