The Two Moses Jones - The Same Name but Very Different People

As genealogists, we often encounter people with the same name. Many times, it's father and son or uncle and nephew or some relation or the other. We learn, sometimes the hard way, that 'senior' and 'junior' don't always mean 'father' and 'son'. There can be two people with the same name in the community, and they are just designated as the older and younger.

But sometimes we encounter people with the same name in totally different places, with no relationship between them at all. Jones is one of the most common names, but encountering two different men named Moses Jones was fun!

THE FIRST MOSES JONES

Moses Jones is my 5th great-grandfather. He is my DAR patriot. Moses was born about September 1762 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. He married twice -- first to Hester Thomas in 1791 in Gates County, North Carolina, and second to Elizabeth Allen Thomas in 1806 in Wilson County, Tennessee. I descend through Moses and Elizabeth. 

Moses was a private in the Revolutionary War, serving from North Carolina. He served first in a Regiment commanded by Captain Walton. After the war, he moved to Wilson County, Tennessee, where he served again in the War of 1812. 

Moses Jones moved his family to Illinois in 1819, a year after Illinois became a state. He settled in Franklin County, Illinois. He applied for a pension in 1831, which is how we learned more about his life. He died in April of 1851 at the age of 89, having survived two wars, multiple moves, and the rigors of frontier life. He is definitely a man that I am proud to call an ancestor. 

THE SECOND MOSES JONES

The other Moses Jones I've encountered is not my ancestor. He is the 3rd great-grandfather of my friend Steve. Steve's family was heavily involved in the American Revolution, living on Long Island during the war, serving in various military units, and having involvement in Washington's Culper Spy Ring. 

His Moses Jones was born too late to be involved in the war. And I know little about him. It's possible his father served, but that hasn't been confirmed yet. But this Moses Jones was born in 1773 in New Jersey. He married Elizabeth Van Sickle at the Old Clove Dutch Reformed Church in Wantage, New Jersey, in 1793. He and Elizabeth had eight children before he died in 1813 at the age of 40. I haven't found any record of him serving in the War of 1812, but that is a possibility. 

Two men named Moses Jones - one from the south who lived a long life despite fighting in two wars. A second in the north, who was not as fortunate. Both left a legacy that lives on today. 

This week's #52 Ancestors prompt is "Names the Same."

Raymond Ryan, the Spruce Squadron, and Post-War Work

Raymond Ryan was the 3rd child of Stephen and Nellie (Lanham) Ryan He was born on 4 May 1897 in St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota.[1] 

As he grew up, Ray followed in his older brother's footsteps and got a job working for the railroad. He worked for the Northern Pacific both before and after World War I. He started as a clerk and then became a tapeman earning $35/month. The tapeman operated the ballast tamper, a machine that was used to pack and level the crushed stone under the tracks. He was promoted to rodman at a new salary of $55/month. The rodman was the surveyor's assistant, holding the leveling rod.[2]  

When Raymond registered for the draft in June of 1917, he gave his address as Ellensburg, Washington, and his employer as the Northern Pacific. He was described as tall, of medium build, with gray eyes and dark hair.[3] This matched his employment record, which listed him as 6 feet 2 inches tall, 175 pounds, with brown hair and gray eyes.[4]

In March of 1918, Ray enlisted in the Army. He was assigned to the 112th Spruce Squadron, which brought him to Vancouver, Washington. The Spruce Production Division was a home-front division and part of the Army Signal Corps. There was a need for spruce for airplane wing spars and fuselage frames, and fir for ships. The Pacific Northwest was the primary source for this wood. Sitka spruce, which grew heavily in Washington and Oregon, was in high demand because it did not splinter when hit by a bullet. 

Lumber mills in the area could not keep up with the demand for this wood, and soldiers were assigned to help speed up production of the spruce. Vancouver Barracks was the center for receiving, training, and disbursing the Spruce Soldiers who were stationed throughout the Pacific Northwest. They worked in camps near railroads, logging operations, and mills. By November 1918, about 18,000 soldiers were engaged in logging, construction, and mill work, working at Vancouver Barracks and 235 camps across the Northwest.

The 112th Spruce Squadron, Ray's unit, was a "production inspection" unit. They moved from camp to camp, gathering statistics on the amount of lumber being processed. The statistics were then provided to the Army Planner. The group traveled all over the Northwest, including Idaho, Montana, eastern Washington, and Oregon. The Spruce Squadron started demobilizing almost immediately after the Armistice was signed, as they were no longer needed. 

Raymond was demobilized in December 1918. He likely returned to St. Paul for a visit, but he was obviously drawn to the Pacific Northwest. By 1920, he was living in the small logging and mining town of Index, working on the railroad. He boarded at the Globe Hotel.[5]

A year later, Raymond married 21-year-old Genevieve Hyatt of Everett, Washington.[6] They remained in Everett, and in 1930, Ray got a job working as a welder at the City Water Department.[7] 

In November of 1938, Ray became the Sheriff of Snohomish County. It is likely that he was a Deputy Sheriff for some time before that. One of the notorious cases he was involved in was the murder of Harry Fain by his wife, Mabel Fain, in 1937. He appears to have provided information about the case to various area newspapers.

From 1945-1949, Ray was the Superintendent of the Washington State Reformatory. A newspaper article noted that: 

"After four years of what law enforcement men are just about unanimous in terming the institution's finest administration Ray Ryan Friday stepped down as superintendent." 

The number of escaped prisoners had decreased during his tenure, and Ray had purchased surplus military equipment, saving money. The equipment was used to train inmates so they would have a trade upon release. 

All was not perfect, though. Another article in the same newspaper, accused Ray of using inmate labor to help build a house for himself. He disputed the claim, stating that only Union labor was used for construction and that inmates only cleared brush on the worksite.[8]

Ray and his wife Genevieve were living in that house in Index in 1950 when the census enumerator came around. Ray was working as an investigator for the Attorney General, and Genevieve was teaching grade school.[9]

Ray's next role was working as the chief Deputy U.S. Marshal in Anchorage, Alaska. According to his obituary, he became friends with Henry "Scoop" Jackson during that time. But Henry Jackson was already a U.S. Senator by then. However, earlier in his life, Jackson was a county prosecutor for Snohomish County, so that's likely where Ray encountered him.[10]

In May of 1969, Ray filed for divorce from his wife Genevieve. They had been separated for two years, and the grounds were cruelty and personal indignities. The divorce was granted to both parties. Genevieve died in 1977.[11]

Ray died on 8 June 1998 of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, complicated by diabetes and organic brain syndrome. When he died, he was living in Longview, Cowlitz County, Washington, likely closer to his children in nearby Kelso and Castle Rock. Both his death certificate and his obituary listed his wife as Genevieve so perhaps they reconciled at some point.[12]

Ray was an active participant in the communities he lived in. He participated in Catholic Church activities, was a member of the Everett Elks Lodge, and  the American Legion. He was the former president of the WWI Barracks 129, likely a local veterans group. He was a member of the "4 & 8" which was an invitational veterans society. He was also a past president of the Washington State Sheriff's Association.[13] Raymond Ryan was buried in the Cowlitz View Memorial Garden next to Genevieve, who was also included on his headstone.[14]

Children of Raymond Ryan and Genevieve Hyatt. 

• Raymond Richard Ryan, born 2 February 1933 in Snohomish County, Washington; died 15 May 2015 in Cowlitz County, Washington. He was an LTC US Army veteran, serving in Vietnam and a Bronze Star Medal winner.
• Rosemary Ryan Dahl, born 1936 Snohomish County, Washington. Died before May 2017.

This week's #52 Ancestors prompt was WAR TIME

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    [1] “World War I draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6482/records/31846176 : accessed 22 August 2025), Serial # 2077, Raymond Bernard Ryan, Washington State.

    [2] “Northern Pacific Railway Company personnel Files, 1890-1963,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2157/records/158201 : accessed 22 August 2025), Raymond Bernard Ryan, 1916 Application and personnel file #11-5645. 

    [3] WWI Draft Registration.

    [4] Northern Pacific Railway Company Personnel Files

    [5] 1920 U.S. Census, Snohomish County, Washington, population schedule, Index City, e.d. 176, sheet 4a, dwell 96, visit 101, Ray Ryhan in Globe Hotel; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6061/records/13946170 : accessed 20 August 2025).

    [6] “Washington, Marriage Records, 1854-2013,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2378/records/1035520 : accessed 20 August 2025), Cert. #74898, 1921, King County WA, Raymond B Ryan and Genevieve E Hyatt.

    [7] 1930 U.S. census, Snohomish County, Washington, population schedule, Everett City, e.d. 31-20, sheet 6a, dwell. 33, family 14, Ray Ryan household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/records/112581137 : accessed 20 August 2025).

    [8] “Earl Lee Takes Over as Ray Ryan Leaves Reformatory,” Daily Herald, 16 April 1949, p.1, col. 6-7; digital image, newspapers (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 20 August 2025). And also page 10.

    [9] 1950 U.S. census, Snohomish County, Washington, population schedule, Index, e.d. 31-80, sheet P71, #9, Raymond B Ryan household; digital image, Ancestry(https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62308/records/65482859 : accessed 20 August 2025). NOTE: This page is out of order and the entry for Raymond Ryan references P1. P1 - Block 8, Avenue A. Not at Home. See p71. 

    [10] “Raymond B. Ryan,” Longview Daily News, 6 June 1988, p.10, col.1; digital image, newspapers (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 20 August 2025).

    [11] “Washington, Divorce Records, 1968-2017,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61251/records/1376508 : accessed 20 August 2025); #6283, Certificate of Absolute Divorce, 1969, Raymond B Ryan and Genevieve Ryan. 

    [12] “Washington, Death Records, 1907-2017,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6716/records/6398725 : accessed 20 August 2025). Cowlitz County, #146-8 8 13379, 1988, Raymond B Ryan.

    [13] Raymond B. Ryan obit.

    [14] Find a Grave #130512433, photo by Jim. 

Not All Rural Residents are the Same!!

We often put our ancestors in boxes. Urban residents work in factories and live in apartments. Rural residents work as farmers, plowing fields and baking bread. But we need to remember that not all our pioneer ancestors followed the same path. They were all individuals and lived their own individual lives.

Rebecca Smith was one of those who appeared to have broken out of the standard pioneer woman mold. She was born in October of 1822-23 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Her parents, Jessie Smith and Esther/Hester Freer, would soon join the growing Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints along with other family members living in Ohio. 

The family followed church members to Missouri sometime after 1831. They settled first in Clay County and then moved to Jackson County. When Governor Boggs issued Executive Order #44, giving Missouri residents the authority to exterminate or drive out Mormons,  they were forced out along with the other Mormons to move from county to county, losing everything multiple times. The family finally ended up in Van Buren County, Iowa, by 1843, where Rebecca met and married Frank Nelson Gipson. 

Rebecca and Frank had their first child, William, in 1845, and by 1850 had moved to Appanoose County, Iowa. Each time they moved, they were surrounded by family, in-laws, and other familiar faces. That softened the blow of the frequent moves.

Sometime, likely in early 1851, Nelson and Rebecca packed up and moved to Texas. Going along were Rebecca's father, Jesse (her mother having recently died), her sister, Sarah, and her husband, Isaac Scalf/Scaif, and others. They may have been heading to the Mormon Mill settlement, where other Mormons had settled after moving to Texas in the 1840s.

Whatever their destination, they made it only as far as Collin County, Texas, where Rebecca's father, Jesse Smith, died in 1851. At least two of Rebecca's children were born in Texas. Some time between 1857 and July 1860, the family moved back to Iowa. Many of the Mormons who had traveled to Texas earlier also left about this time, but Rebecca's sister, Sara, and her family stayed behind. 

In 1860, Rebecca was on her own with her children, William, Francis, and Ellen. Living in Davis County, Iowa, she gives her occupation as Day Laborer, a somewhat unusual occupation for a rural woman at that time. It's unclear what happened to her husband, Nelson. The 1860 census does not specify marital status. Unsourced sources give his death date as 1870, and Rebecca had at least one more child, a daughter, Martha, born in 1868, presumably fathered by Nelson. 

By 1870, Rebecca had moved to the Mormon community of Galland's Grove, Shelby County, Iowa.  She was living with three of her children, Francis, 18, Ellen, 14, and Martha, 2. She owned $75 worth of real estate. Again, there was no sign of her husband.

The Galland's Grove community was part of the "Winter Quarters" area, where many Saints stopped on their way to the Salt Lake Valley. But some people stayed. These mainly were Mormons who disagreed with the practice of polygamy and had left the parent church to form a Reorganized group, commonly known as the RLDS. It's unclear if Rebecca was part of this group or if she even continued to practice the Mormon faith. But as in other locations, her neighbors included family and other familiar faces.

By 1880, a 55-year-old "Beckey" Gipson is listed as widowed. But she's not the standard farmer, housekeeper, or day laborer.  Her occupation is listed as "fortune-telling." Her daughter, Martha, now 12, is still with her, along with David Jenkins, a 26-year-old day laborer born in Texas. 

One can't help but wonder what this occupation was all about. While there was a spiritualism boom later in the century, it doesn't appear to have hit rural Iowa at this point. Was she reading palms? Was she reading tea leaves? Healing?  What exactly was she doing to tell fortunes? 

By this time, the Mormon church was discouraging anything resembling fortune-telling or spiritualism. So what did her mostly Mormon neighbors think?  It was obviously known in the community, since it was enumerated in the census. And she seems to have been using it to support herself and her daughter. Women, especially those living in rural communities, had few ways to support themselves during this period. She may have been accepted, but not respected, tolerated, but whispered about behind her back. Neighbors likely visited on the sly to get their fortunes told. 

Whatever the reason for her foray into fortune-telling, by 1900, she was a 78-year-old widow, living in Harrison County, Iowa, with her 13-year-old grandson, Archie Haner. No mention of fortune-telling. 

Rebecca Smith Gipson died on 9 February 1907 in Harrison County from a sudden stroke of apoplexy. The informant on her death certificate was her grandson Archie, who was now living in Omaha, Nebraska. 

Rebecca lived a challenging yet fascinating life, often moving. She likely lost some children as babies, and lost her husband (either to death or desertion) while she still had young children. The saving grace is that, until at least 1880, she lived with family and friends nearby, which likely made those moves less challenging. 

This week's #52Ancestors prompt is RURAL.

Fire - An Ever-present Danger

My grandmother's sister, Hazel Lucille Edwards, was born on 23 July 1916. She and my grandma shared a birthday, four years apart, so there was likely a special bond between the two. The family lived in the country as my great-grandfather, George Elmus Edwards, was a farmer. He and Olive Isabel Pogue were married on 31 March 1910 in Williamson County, Illinois, and the children started coming almost immediately.

Hazel Lucille Edwards

George Everett Edwards, their only son, was born on 1 October 1910. My grandmother was born on 23 July 1912. Hazel came next in 1916, and Ruby Laura was born on 27 April 1920. 

In November 1921, Laura, as she was known, was about 17 months old; likely still a handful for her mother. The 12th of November was a Saturday, and those were still the days when baths were mostly taken once a week, on Saturdays, to be ready for church the next day. 

Hazel got her bath and put on her nightgown. She stood in front of the fireplace or the stove to dry her hair. To everyone's horror, her clothing caught fire. It's unclear who was there other than my grandmother. But the fire wasn't put out in time, and Hazel died that very day.

My grandmother never talked much about this - she didn't hide it, but she never elaborated on the incident. I recall her mentioning that Hazel didn't die right away. The family would have been some distance from a hospital. The nearest was in Herrin, some 25 miles away. 

An inquest was held, and it was ruled an accidental death due to a missing grate.

Death Certificate Hazel Edwards

Hazel Lucille Edwards was buried the next day at County Line Cemetery. She was just five years old. Her headstone has the lamb on top that typically signifies the death of a child. 

Find a Grave #10871795, photo by DebRob


This week's #25Ancestors Prompt was Fire.

The "Family" Cemetery

While we do not have a real family cemetery, I've always kind of thought of County Line Cemetery as a "family" cemetery. Situated next to County Line Baptist Church, it is located on the county line between Franklin and Williamson Counties, Illinois, and is sometimes known as Zion Grove Cemetery.

The church was founded in 1867, and the first burials at the cemetery were around 1870. They continue to this day. When I was younger, I would always go to southern Illinois (from Chicago) with my grandmother to visit and put flowers on the graves. I didn't pay too much attention at the time, and now I wish I had. I suspect my grandmother could have told me many stories about people who were buried there. 

Both my grandmother and her husband are buried there. I always thought it was odd that my grandmother's name was engraved on the stone - long before she died. It was something I didn't understand as a child. The monument is more elaborate than I expected from my grandmother. She was always a plain, practical woman, but she obviously splurged when setting up the grave marker for my grandfather. 

Looking through the names of graves listed on Find a Grave (587 of them, which is likely most of the graves), I recognize name after name — either as a relative, a collateral relative who married into the family, or friends and neighbors of the family. These include:

• Armes
• Beasley (by marriage)
• Blades (neighbors)
• Cardwell (by marriage)
• Davenport (by marriage)
• Edwards (including uncles, aunts, cousins, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, 3rd and 4th great-grandparents, etc.)
• Finney (by marriage)
• Fletcher (by marriage and neighbors)
• Jordan (by marriage)
• King (by marriage)
• Parker (by marriage)
• Plaster
• Pritchard (neighbors)
• Rains (cousins, uncles, aunts, and some great-grandparents, etc.)
• Rotramel (by marriage and neighbors)
• Smith (by marriage)
• Striplin (by marriage)
• Summers (by marriage)

These names were selected through a brief review of the burials posted on Find a Grave. But I suspect that more than half of the people buried there have some kind of relationship to my family. And that's why I've always considered it the family cemetery. 

This week's #52Ancestors prompt is Cemetery.

Disappeared - Where did they go?

Some people just disappear without a trace. My Pogue line is filled with mysteries and disappearances.

Oliver Isabel Pogue (1910-1959) was my great-grandmother. Her life is reasonably well documented, although I might have missed a husband. (She was married at least three times.) But things start to get murkier with her father.

Josiah Pogue (1848-1900) had many names: Cyrus, Silas, Si, Cy, Joe, and Josirus. All are variations, and one can understand how these names evolve. In 1850, two-year-old Josiah was living with his parents in Franklin County, Illinois. They are enumerated as Jas and Nancy Pouge. He has three older siblings: Wm. R., age 10, and Geo. W. age 7 and L.E. age 3, who was the only girl. (1)

And then James and Nancy Pogue disappear. In 1860, Josiah, then 12, was living with John M Foster, his wife, Sarah, and their five children. (2) John and Sarah had lived next door to the Pogues in 1850. 

But in 1870, Josiah vanishes. No record has been found of him. As a matter of fact, several neighbors appear to be missing, so it's likely their little hollow was just missed in the enumerators' trek.

In 1880, Josirus, now aged 23, is living with William Foster and his wife. William was the son of the above John Foster, and Josirus is listed as a cousin. (3) So was there a relationship? In 1886, John Foster, who is a minister, married Josiah Pogue and Mahala McClerren.(4) 

So what happened to Josiah's parents? His father James, has always been a bit of a mystery. Was he married three times or just two? Wives may have been Nancy Taylor, Lydia Medlin, and Nancy Plaster. James served in the Black Hawk War along with others from Franklin County. (5) He moved around, living in Saline, Gallatin, and Franklin Counties. He appears to have purchased land in Franklin County in 1851. (6) 

So the mystery grows. Later in 1851, there is a court record that I believe is for James. William Foster (not the same William Foster that Josiah lived with in 1880) went to court to state that James Page, father of George W, aged 9, Lyenin aged 7, and Josiah Page, aged 4, "has for six months last past wilfully neglected to provide for his minor children." He was found guilty, and Joseph Swafford was appointed guardian. (7) This record was an abstract, and I haven't yet tracked down the original. But this would indicate that James's wife had died and he was having trouble taking care of the children. 

In April 1852, James sold his land in Franklin County.(8) And that's the last of the records I've found for James Pogue. In 1852, he would have been 45 years old. So where did he go? Did he die? I'm assuming, with no proof, that his wife Nancy had died, perhaps in childbirth, after the 1850 census. 

It is possible that James Pogue had two older sons, likely by one of his first wives, David and James. Their lives are a bit of a mystery. Son William R Pogue moved to Lane County, Oregon, by 1860. (9)  He married, had a family, and died at the age of 80, in the Oregon State Insane Asylum.  (10) 

His son, George W Pogue, isn't found in the 1860 census but enlisted in the Civil War. He was court-martialed for selling bootleg liquor in Vicksburg, Mississippi. After the war, he lived in New Mexico, probably working in a gold mine, then moved to Montana as a miner. (11) By 1910, he was living in Malibu, California, in the Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers.(12) He had a couple of run-ins with the law and eventually ended up in the Leavenworth Soldiers' Home, where he died in 1918. ,(13)

L.E. Pogue is a real mystery. The only female in the family, it's unclear what her name even was. Some say it was Lydia but normal searches have not turned up good candidates. She was three in 1850. Did she die soon after? It appears that she was mentioned in her father's court case in 1851, listed in the abstract as Lyenin.

So where did all these people vanish to? William and George vanished from southern Illinois, but they are both trackable. Josiah is trackable except for 1870. So what happened to the rest of this family? Where did they go? And more importantly, why? These are mysteries that may never be solved.

This week's #52 Ancestors prompt is DISAPPEARED.

(1) 1850 U.S. Federal census, Franklin County, Illinois, population schedule, p. 34b, dwelling 482, family 496, Jas Pouge household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8054/images/4193355-00269: accessed 10 October 2021).

(2) 1860 U.S. Federal census, Franklin County, Illinois, population schedule, Township 7S, Range 4E, p 495, dwelling and family 977, Josiah Pogue in John M. Foster household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/37996966:7667: accessed 20 May 2024).

(3) 1880 U.S. census, Franklin County, Illinois, population schedule, Cave township, e.d. 16, p. 7, dwelling 54, family 54, William A. Foster household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/21070843:6742: accessed 5 April 2023).

(4) “Marriage Records, 1878-1916,” Digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939J-KM94-N6: accessed 10 October 2024); Franklin County, volume 1, p. 129, License #1617, 1886, Pogue-Striplin marriage. FHL #4661221/1005307, Image 141 of 521. 

(5) Elliott, Isaac H., Record of the Services of Illinois Soldiers in the Black Hawk War 1831-32 and in the Mexican War 1846-48 (Journal Company: Springfield, 1902). P.8-9.

(6) James Pogue (Franklin County) scrip Warrant file, certificate #14503 (1851), Shawneetown, Illinois, Land Office; Issue Date 10 December 1851; digital image, Bureau of Land Management (https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=0604-156&docClass=MW: accessed 10 October 2024).

(7) Pulliam, Carla, comp. Early Court Records, Franklin County, Illinois (Self-published, 1995). V. 1 1836-1876, V 2, 1877-1900. 

(8) “Deed Record: Franklin. Deeds, 1832-1853,” digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C37S-QS6F-M: accessed 8 October 2024); Volume D, p. 571-572, 1852, James Pouge Deed to Handovus D. Johnson; FSL Film 8571267, Item 3, Image 306 of 324. 

(9) 1860 U.S. census, Lane County, Oregon, population schedule, Springfield Precinct, p. 11[?], sheet 284, dwelling 544, family 544, Sarah Powers household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/43982636:7667: accessed 16 January 2023).

(10) “Oregon, State Deaths, 1864-1968,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/330761:61675: accessed 18 September 2022); entry for Wm R Pogue, Marion County, 7 February 1921.

 

(11) 1870 U.S. census, Colfax County, New Mexico Territory, population schedule, Precinct #1, p. 14, dwelling 246, family 206, George Pogue household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/39418625:7163: accessed 16 January 2023). Also, 1880 U.S. census, Lewis and Clark County, Montana, population schedule, Belmont, page 36, e.d. 19, dwelling 362, family 365, George Pogue in R. Woolcox household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/15221305:6742: accessed 16 January 2023).

(12) 1910 U.S. census, Los Angeles County, California, population schedule, Malibu, e.d. 288, sheet 10b, Family #, Pogue, George W, inmate; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1271263:7884: accessed 4 August 2022).

(13) “Tells the Police Officers What He Thinks of Them,” Evening Vanguard (Venice, CA), 15 June 1914., p.1, col. 3; digital image, newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com: accessed 16 January 2023). Also, “U.S., National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/17319:1200: accessed 16 January 2023); Registers of Members, Leavenworth, Kansas, #22307, George W. Pogue, admitted 3 October 1908; Citing NARA Series M1749.  For death, “Burial Registers, Military Posts and National Cemeteries, 1862-1960,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/446241:3135: accessed 4 August 2022); Leavenworth National Cemetery. 1918, George W. Pogue; citing The National Cemetery Administration: Leavenworth National Cemetery Death Records, Western Branch N.H.D.V.S. 1808-1929, 1932-1936, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773-2007, Record Group 15, NARA.

But What About the Alligator???

 A curious article appeared in the 26 August 1905 Minneapolis Star Tribune. 

“Excelsior,” Star Tribune (Minneapolis), 26 August 1905, p 6, col 1; digital image, newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com: accessed 19 January 2021).

Birth and Early Life

Horace Edward Brisbin was sixteen years old when he received this odd gift. Born 3 May 1889 in Excelsior, Minnesota, he and his twin sister Hattie came along seven months after the death of their father, H.E. Brisbin. (1) Their mother, Hattie Sampson, who was widowed just two years into her marriage, was the daughter of Leroy Sampson, owner of the Sampson House. She was just 22 years old when she became the widowed mother of twins.

Horace grew up in Excelsior, attending school there. He graduated from the newly built Excelsior High School and worked at the Sampson House, which was a family business. First known as the Slater House, Leroy Sampson, Horace's grandfather, bought it in 1885 and renamed it. After burning to the ground in 1893, it was rebuilt and reopened in 1895 and continued to operate until 1960. 

The Sampson House was one of the large hotels that were common around Lake Minnetonka in the late 1800s and early 1900s. People from all over the United States (especially the South) would spend their summers in the area. Sampson House had 40 rooms and operated year-round. Entertainment included boating and fishing parties. It was a grand hotel and likely required a good-sized staff to manage it.

1920 - 1930. "Sampson House, Excelsior, Minnesota." Westonka Historical Society, Accessed March 11, 2023. https://collection.mndigital.org/catalog/whs:173.

Marriage and Adult Life

Horace's mother and sister moved to Texas after his mother had remarried. Horace stayed behind. In 1910, he lived with his paternal uncle George Spaulding and worked on the railroad. (2) In 1913, he married Mabel E. Seamans, the daughter of Charles and Ida (Moeschler) Seamans. (3) 

Horace got a job in 1914 as a stock manager and later as a salesman for McDonald Brothers, a wholesale merchandise company. They moved to 3320 Longfellow Avenue, living with Mabel's mother, Ida. The home would remain in the family for many years. 

In about 1923, the family moved to Owasso, Michigan,  where Horace got a job working for J.C. Penney.(4) By 1930, they moved to New Rockford City in Eddy County, North Dakota. (5) The store went bankrupt during the depression, and the family moved back to Minneapolis, again living at 3320 Longfellow. Horace Brisbin died on 5 December 1943 at the age of 89. (6)

But What About the Alligator???? 

    No further mention was found about this "pet." Alligators can live to be 30-50 years old. Did Horace let him go in nearby Lake Minnetonka or Christmas Lake?? Would the alligator have been able to survive a cold Minnesota winter? Was it kept as a pet until it got too big? Or did Horace Brisbin find himself with a smart pair of boots?? We'll likely never know.

This week's #52 Ancestors Prompt was Animals. (And yes, I know alligators are reptiles.)

(1)    “Killed in a Runaway,” Star Tribune (Minneapolis), 1 November 1888, p 5, col 2; image copy, newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com: accessed 19 January 2021.

(2)  1910 U.S. census, Hennepin County, Minnesota, population schedule, Minneapolis, Enumeration District (ED) 0124, page 13a, visit #188, Family #279, George B. Spaulding household; digital image, Ancestry (:https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/31111_4330227-00483: accessed 19 January 2021).

(3)  "Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VKNY-BXR: accessed 22 January 2021), entry for Horace E Brisbin and Mabel E Seamans, 1913, Hennepin County, Minnesota.GS Film #1380413, DFN 4540679, image #1013.

(4)  Polk’s Owosso (Michigan) City Directory 1928, including Shiawassee County, R.L. Polk & Co., Publishers, Directory Bldg., Detroit, Michigan. My Heritage. accessed 1/22/2021 

(5)  1930 U.S. census, Eddy County, North Dakota, population schedule, New Rockford, Enumeration District (E.D.) 0012, sheet 5b, dwelling 86, family 86, Horace E. Brisbin household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com:viewed 19 January 2021).

(6) "Minnesota Deaths, 1887-2001," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Z82T-DF2M: accessed 22 January 2021), entry for Horace Edward Brisbin, 5 Dec 1943; citing Death, Minnesota State Department of Health, St. Paul. No image.

Off to School -- but the Russians are coming!!

Starting kindergarten in 1956, I found myself in the middle of the Cold War. I don't remember talking much about current events in school, and we certainly had no understanding of the Cold War. We received the Weekly Reader, which covered some current events on a high level, and we were vaguely aware of "the Russians." But we were taught to fear them. 

There was always the chance that "the Russians" would bomb us. So we practiced 'duck and cover' exercises. At a pre-arranged time, we were signaled to 'duck and cover.' There were two ways we did this. In some classes, we would get under our desks and cover our heads. In other classes, we would go out into the hallway, back to the wall, crouch down, and cover our heads. We were told to especially cover our eyes to avoid seeing the "flash." I'm not sure we ever knew what the flash was. All this was especially difficult for the girls - there was no such thing as wearing slacks in those days -- we were always in dresses. 

Of course, as we learned later, 'duck and cover' wouldn't have protected us from a real nuclear bomb if it had fallen on us. I'm not sure if people initially thought this was some kind of protection or if they just wanted to scare us. 

These drills were scary at first, but they eventually just became routine and a way to avoid classes. I don't remember when the drills stopped, but it was likely sometime in the early 1960s. But a whole generation of kids remembers these drills and our fear of "the Russians." 

This week's #52Ancestors prompt is Off to School.

Off To Work - What My Dad Did!

My dad, George Robert Martin, worked for many years for a company called Visking (now Viskase). At one point, there were a few plants around the country, but now it's a global corporation. The plant he worked at made casings for skinless hot dogs. I never understood what that meant because how could you have a casing if the hot dog was skinless? 

I found a copy of a 1956 paycheck in a box of stuff after he died. It was for a whopping $93.85 after they took out deductions, including social security, taxes, union dues, and insurance. 

For most of his work life, my dad was an extrusion operator (or supervised other extrusion operators), meaning he operated the machines that formed the casings. These were long tubes of a cellulose material called "viscose," which is obviously where the company name came from. The casing would be sold to companies like Oscar Mayer, who then use it to form their hot dogs. (Before the invention of viscose, people used the intestines of animals to create their sausages.) 

My dad always worked three shifts -- four to twelve, the day shift, and the night shift. We always liked the 4-12 shift because things were much more casual in the evenings when he was gone. The night shift was the hardest, especially in the summer when we'd have to tiptoe around the house all day so we wouldn't wake him up. 

At one point, Visking sent my dad to work in Puerto Rico for several months. I still remember going to O'Hare airport to pick him up and waiting patiently for him - and he never arrived. For some reason, our wires got crossed, and he was apparently having us paged, which we never heard. We drove home, and he ended up taking a costly taxi ride from O'Hare to our home in Oak forest.

Later in life, he transferred to a plant in Arkansas, and he, my mom, and two of my youngest siblings moved to Osceola. They stayed there for several years before moving back to the Chicago area. 

The plant where my dad worked for most of his working life was in the Clearing neighborhood of Chicago. This was just southwest of Midway Airport. It was an incorporated town, but it became part of the city of  Chicago. While it is a typical Chicago neighborhood in many ways, at one point, it was a huge industrial area with numerous industries making their homes there. 

The last thing I remember about my dad's job was the Visking Magazine that came every month. It always had a story about some production area, but what I remember is the notes about the various locations and what people were doing there. I always looked to see if my dad was mentioned!!

The prompt this week for #52 Ancestors was Off to Work.

 

Those Wide Open Spaces

I've always been fond of wide open spaces. I especially like being on the prairie or driving through the flat lands of Illinois and Iowa, where you can see for miles and miles. Was that something passed down to me from my ancestors?

The U.S. side of my family started out in North Carolina and Virginia. They kept moving west, into Kentucky, Tennessee, and finally into Illinois. Were they searching for wide open spaces? Did they make their moves when things got too crowded or more land was needed? What brought them west? And why did the majority of them stop before they crossed the Mississippi River? 

The other group of ancestors, those who came over the ocean from eastern Europe, England, and Scotland, were also in search of something. Were they also searching for wide open spaces, or were they just looking for better opportunities? Some of them did make it across the Mississippi - but just barely into Iowa. 

So I'm left wondering -- what were they in search of when they packed up their families and made the hard journeys by wagon, by foot, or by boat? Most ended up in towns of varying sizes or big cities like Chicago. Were they content where they ended up, or did they dream at night of wide open spaces??

This week's #52Ancestors prompt was Wide Open Spaces.

Vacation Bible School (and other Religious Traditions)

In my family, we only had a few religious traditions. Most of these came from my maternal grandma, Stella Edwards Butzek, who was a staunch Baptist. For much of my childhood, we attended a Baptist Church. I seem to recall it had various locations - sometimes a school, sometimes another building. At one point, there must have been an actual church building because I can picture a baptismal area where adults were baptized. 

At one point, my mother played the piano for church services. This was at a time when the services were held in a school auditorium. One Christmas, I was introduced as the junior pianist and played a Christmas carol.

There was always Sunday School, and I vaguely remember that we had Bible contests. We either had to memorize a certain number of Bible verses or we raced to see who could look up a Bible verse the fastest. I was always reasonably good at the second activity, and small prizes were usually available.

We occasionally attended Wednesday night services. My grandma never missed a Wednesday night service, but we didn't go regularly. I can't remember what those services were like, but like most Baptist services, there was probably a lot of hymn singing. 

At one point, when I was very young and we lived in Dolton Illinois, a woman from the church who lived nearby would have Vacation Bible School for us. I think her name was Mrs. Hess. She was a short, stout woman (she seemed quite old, but was likely more middle-aged) who lived in a small upstairs apartment. The thing I remember the most was the Bible stories she would tell, using flannel board figures. I don't remember the stories, but I remember the flannel board. 

My paternal grandparents didn't go to church. My grandfather had been raised a Catholic but left the church when he married my grandmother, a protestant divorcee. And my maternal grandfather had been raised in a Catholic family also, but his relationship with the church was negligible -- likely because his mother was also a divorcee. So, most of my great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins were Catholic. I was always puzzled as a young girl as to why they had big Catholic weddings in their family and why we weren't Catholic. 

My parents left the Baptist church at some point. I was probably about 12 years old at the time. I wasn't sure why -- I know my grandmother wasn't happy about the decision. We were living in South Holland at the time - an area that had very strong Dutch religious traditions that weren't really for us. (You never hung laundry on a Sunday.) 

We shopped around for a new church and eventually, when we moved to Oak Forest, we settled on a Lutheran church. My siblings were all married in that church, but I married a Catholic - getting married in a big Catholic church in Chicago. I guess I had come full circle, back to my roots.

This week's #52Ancestors prompt was Religious Traditions.

Cousins (or lack of)

This week's #52 Ancestors topic is COUSINS. So I set out to figure out how many cousins I might have.

FIRST COUSINS: I only have two first cousins. They are the same ages as my sons, one even being born on the same day as my oldest son, but about 10 hours earlier. 

This piqued my interest in the number of other cousins I had, so I ran a report from Legacy. Here's what I learned:

• 1C - 2
• 1C1R - 50
• 1C2R - 118
• 2C - 33
• 2C1R - 27
• 2C2R - 94
• 3C - 2
• 3C1R - 7
• 3C2R - 58
• 4C - zero
• 4C14 - 2

The numbers were interesting to me as I've always been envious of people who had a lot of cousins. I didn't know most of my cousins, and those I did know, I rarely saw. This is probably why I struggled to write a blog post about cousins. However, through my research, I have come to know most of their names and have learned a bit about many of them. 

Family Vacations

When I was growing up, we always took summer vacations. These trips lasted anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks. The locations varied. 

My mom was the vacation planner. She sent away for brochures, booklets, and hotel information. And then she planned the route, the sights we'd see, and booked hotels along the way (usually by mail).

My dad was content with fishing. His favorite vacation spot was the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. One year, we stayed in some cabins along the lake, and we returned for two or three years after. There was a beach, a dock, boats, and, of course, we got to do all the kitschy things around the touristy area.  We also went to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky once or twice. I can still remember, with amazement, the large cafeteria that was in the cave. 

The summer after 8th grade, we took our biggest trip—a three-week vacation to California. We took the southern route as we traveled west. I'm guessing that much of the trip followed Route 66, since we were leaving from the southern suburbs of Chicago. My dad was a bit of a "Look kids, there's the Grand Canyon" kind of guy as we drove by. However, we did stop at various places to take in the sights. My most vivid memory of that part of the journey was stopping in Needles, California. I still remember getting out of the pool and drying almost immediately - it was SO hot. 

In California, we went to Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, and Universal Studios. Then we headed up the coast to San Francisco. We stayed in an old hotel somewhere in the city, and I got to wander around a bit on my own. My mom and I walked to Chinatown to have dinner, and we were served by a waiter who looked like a movie star. 

Coming back east, we took the northern route. We picked up a hitchhiker in Yellowstone. She was working there for the summer and sightseeing on her day off. I decided I would work in Yellowstone when I got older - something I never did.

But the overall theme of this three-week trip was one of dealing with my siblings. My little brother was about 10 months old at the time, and he cried whenever we went out to eat. We started taking turns so we didn't have to take him into a restaurant. And my oldest younger sister got car sick - ALL THE TIME. It made for an interesting trip. 

Other than visiting family in southern Illinois or Iowa, that was the last big family trip I can remember taking. But as long as they were able, my parents still took trips each summer. Most of the tales we heard about their trips were rehashes of the various meals they had along the way. The sights along the way just weren't that important!!

This week's #52Ancestors prompt was TRAVEL.

The Family Business

This week's prompt for #52Ancestors is Family Business. This is an interesting topic for some people. However, it is somewhat boring for my family, as they were mostly either farmers or coal miners. 

Here's my paternal line:

• Father: George Robert Martin. He was the first generation to leave the mines and worked in a factory for his entire life.
• Grandfather: George Michael Martin (1900-1973). COAL MINER. He was crippled in a mine accident and I don't remember him ever working as I grew up. 
• Great-grandfather: Michael Philip Martin (1876-1923) COAL MINER. Killed in a mining accident.
• Great-grandfather: Robert Halliday (1867-1933), COAL MINER. He was in the mines in County Durham, England at an early age and was involved in union activities in Iowa. 
• Great-great-grandfather: Frank Martin (1824-1905). COAL MINER and plasterer.
• Great-great-grandfather: Wenzil Kausilik (1854-1933), COAL MINER. 
• Great-great-grandfather: John Halliday (1838-after 1910). COAL MINER.
• Great-great-grandfather: Alexander Clark (1834-1912), COAL MINER.
• 3rd great-grandfather: John Halliday (1816-1843) COAL MINER. Died in Coal mining accident. "Fell out of the loop while about to descend the staple."
• 3rd great-grandfather: John Hutchinson (1829-1874) COAL MINER. Found dead at bottom of shaft. Accused of throwing himself down the shaft. 
• 4th great-grandfather: John Halliday (1781-1854) COAL MINER but died of "natural decay."

Here's my maternal line:

• Grandfather: Anthony Martinek/Butzek (1907-1943) COAL MINER. Killed in mining accident.
• Great-grandfather: Anton Martinek (1875-?) COAL MINER.
• Great-grandfather: George Elmus Edwards (1880-1923) FARMER.
• Great-Great-grandfather: Hugh Richard Edwards (1856-1928) FARMER.
• Great-great-grandfather: Josiah Pogue (1848-1900) FARMER.
• 3rd Great-grandfather: Hugh H. Edwards (1821-1907) FARMER.
• 3rd Great-grandfather: John Rains (1832-1917). FARMER.
• 3rd Great-grandfather: Benagie McClerran (1831-1899) FARMER.
• 4th Great-grandfather: Hugh H. Edwards (1795-1834) FARMER. 
• 4th Great-grandfather: John Rains (1800-1854) FARMER.
• 4th Great-grandfather: Moses Armes (1787-1862) FARMER. 
• 4th Great-grandfather: Richard Hilton (1776-1865). FARMER.

Writing out the above ancestors and their occupations brought home the fact that the coal miners were mainly on my Paternal side and that ALL the coal miners were immigrants from Eastern Europe, England, and Scotland. The farmers on my mother's side were all from families that have been in the United States since the 1700s (or before). 

My Favorite Names

 This week's #52Ancestors Prompt is FAVORITE NAMES. 

I have some favorite names that I'm researching, but a couple are unusual and interesting and always make me smile.

The first is Cinderella Breedlove, my friend Sharon's 3rd great-grandmother. I always wonder where her first name really came from. I've seen a photograph that is supposedly her; she looks like a prim, unsmiling woman. But the name is just fun.

Cinderella Breedlove was born in March of 1800, likely in Albemarle County, Virginia. She was the fourth child of Martin and Elizabeth (Carr) Breedlove. Except for her sister Permilia, all the other siblings had common names, such as John, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Thomas. So what made her parents come up with the name of Cinderella, which is often spelled with an S?

Cinderella married in 1820 in Warren County, Kentucky, to Thomas Richard Lowry. The family moved around 1829 to Lebanon, Laclede County, Missouri, where they remained. Cinderella died on 22 April 1858 in Laclede County and is buried in the Old Bolles Cemetery. She and Thomas had twelve children, all of whom were given common names. 

Another name I like is Clinkenbeard. This surname is found in both my friend Sharon's family and my daughter-in-law's family. And it turns out they are related. The name is sometimes spelled Clinkingbeard, which always conjures up a picture of an old man with a long beard. 

In my family, there aren't any favorite last names, but I do have various aunts with interesting (yet typical for the time) first names. There is America, Tennessee, and Missouri. There are many in my family, like others, who are named after political and military persons. I have a Henry Clay Rains and a Winfield Scott McClerran. There are some named after notable figures such as Lorenzo Dow, George Washington, and Andrew Jackson, among many others. Learning something about the names sometimes gives me an idea of how the family leaned politically! But I still can't figure out where Cinderella came from. 

My Big Mistake

 This Week's #52Ancestors Prompt is Big Mistake

While I have made many mistakes in my genealogical research, the biggest one was likely in researching my Clark line. I knew that my paternal grandmother’s mother was Margaret Clark. She married Robert Halliday in Iowa. Robert was a coal miner who was born in England. There might have been some connection to Pennsylvania, and it seemed her family also had coal mining roots. But I didn't know where the family came from or even when they arrived in this country. Pennsylvania and coal mines were the extent of my knowledge when I started. 

For some reason, Pennsylvania got stuck in my head, and I started researching Clarks in Pennsylvania. I had no specific location. Never mind that Clark is one of the most common names in the U.S.. Never mind that I knew nothing about Pennsylvania. Never mind that I barely knew anything about genealogical research. That’s where I focused. 

This was long before the internet, and I had few resources to turn to. I joined a Clark Family Association based in Pennsylvania and combed through each issue of their journal for a clue to my Clark family. Of course, I never found anything. I would have been better off throwing darts at a dartboard. This misguided research was a BIG MISTAKE. 

Except there was a nugget of truth to the story. 

Margaret Clark’s father was Alexander Clark.  He was born in Coaltown, County Fife, Scotland in 1834 to Alexander Clark and Grace Christie. Alexander and Grace never married, but Grace filed for child support. Alexander married Mary Callendar in October of 1854 in New Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He had already started working in the coal mines. They had six children born in Scotland before they moved to the United States in 1869. 

IN 1870, THEY WERE LIVING IN FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. So, there was that nugget. They moved to Trumball County, Ohio, where Margaret was born in 1872. By 1880, the family had relocated to Richland Grove, Mercer County, Illinois. At some point, they moved to Appanoose County, Iowa, where Alexander and Mary remained until their deaths. Alexander died in June of 1912. His wife, Mary, died in 1903. Margaret married 25 December 1893 in Appanoose County to Robert Halliday. She died in Chicago in 1948. 

The moral of the story is to make notes on all those bits and pieces you hear from your family. But until you have some evidence, don’t chase a common surname in a big state like Pennsylvania unless you know what you are looking for.

The Languages We Know (and Those We Don't)

Genealogists often need to have a basic understanding of more than one language. Besides reading old handwriting, we read it in an unfamiliar language. Fortunately, we have tools to help us. 

I took four years of high school French, and it turned out that I’ve been able to put that to good use. My sons have deep French-Canadian roots. Records in Quebec - and some in Kankakee County, Illinois, where they ended up, are all in French. With the help of a good dictionary, a French word list from Family Search, and Google Translate, I’ve read most of the records I’ve encountered. Add in using Transkribus and other AI tools, and it all becomes even easier. 

One of the things I’ve found most helpful is ensuring I understand what I’m looking at. To that end, the book French Language Lifelines for the Anglo Genealogist by Sandra Goodwin has proved to be just that - a lifeline. It has helped me decipher unknown words, understand what information is typically included in specific records, and provided additional word lists. If you are doing French-Canadian research, I highly recommend it. (Thanks to David Ouimette for telling us about this book!!) 

I started researching a friend’s roots in southern Colorado and New Mexico a couple of years ago. This was a new world for me. I took two or three quarters of Spanish in college, which helped me with the language. Again, word lists from FamilySearch and Google Translate have helped. I think two things will prove useful in helping me through the challenge of understanding Spanish documents. The first is George and Peggy Ryskamp’s book Mastering Spanish Handwriting and Documents - 1520-1820. The second is the BYU handwriting tutorial, which covers various documents. And again, Transkribus and AI will likely prove to be helpful. 

I’ve got several German families I’m researching - my own and other projects I’m working on. German was out of my wheelhouse, so I did about six months of DuoLingo German language. Of course, six months isn’t long enough to learn a language, but it gave me some basics - sentence structure, vocabulary, and familiarity with the language. I think this fundamental knowledge has helped, again, along with all the standard tools, in deciphering German documents. 

The other language(s) I’ve tried to understand a bit of is Hebrew and Yiddish. I’ve got a couple of projects I’m working on with Jewish roots, and the language was a brick wall. A couple of years ago, I took a great Jewish genealogy course at SLIG coordinated by Emily Garber. There were great resources included, and I’ve got a few that, at the very least, can help me read tombstones (with a lot of work). I haven’t been brave enough to dig into other documents. And, of course, there’s often the challenge of many of the records being in Cyrillic. I don’t think I’ll be willing to dig into that in any depth. 

I’ve also encountered Polish, Czech, Norwegian, and Swedish documents as a genealogist. Each language has its challenges. Fortunately, we have all those great tools at our fingertips that can help us understand the basics of each document. The process remains the same for each language. Do your best to transcribe the document precisely as it is written - manually or using Transkribus. Then the document is translated using word lists, Google Translate and/or AI. Ensure you understand what you are looking at, what the document is about, and what information it might contain. Using all the tools we now have, genealogists can “read” almost anything. (Except for those written with very, very bad handwriting. Bad handwriting occurs in EVERY language.)

The #52 Ancestor Prompt for this week was LANGUAGE.

The Day the "Black Monster" Came

 

One hundred years ago, on 18 March 1925, the United States’ deadliest tornado roared through Missouri, southern Illinois, and southern Indiana. When it was all over, 695 people were dead, over 2000 more were injured, and 15,000 homes were destroyed. Known as the Tri-State Tornado, this F5 storm destroyed entire towns as it made its way for over 200 miles. It lasted for almost four hours before it finally died out. 

Late in the afternoon, the “Black Monster,” as some newspapers called it, struck Franklin County, Illinois. It directly hit the town of West Frankfort, destroying the northwest part of town. West Frankfort was a town I knew well — both my parents grew up there, but my great-grandparents hadn’t yet moved from Iowa. My mother’s family lived on farms and in small communities outside town.  

As the storm hit West Frankfort, it destroyed Central School. The windows shattered, and everything crumbled. Children hid under their desks, and many were buried under the rubble for hours before being rescued. Parents raced to the school — some found their children alive. Others were not so lucky - at least 15 children were dead.

In the town of Orient, the Orient No. 2 coal mine was destroyed, killing many miners. While being in the mines provided some protection from the storm, the apparatus and buildings above ground were all destroyed. The tornado hit as a shift was ending. Miners coming to the surface were hurled into piles of rubble. Survivors described walking through the wreckage and seeing twisted steel and bodies. Many miners who had been underground throughout the storm came to the surface only to find their homes destroyed and their families dead. 

The City of West Frankfort https://www.westfrankfort-il.com/page/tornado-of-1925

The tornado destroyed entire neighborhoods throughout the county. Telegraph lines, railway facilities, and other infrastructure were devastated impacting communication and delaying rescue efforts. Families started the search for their missing loved ones, digging through the rubble with their bare hands and whatever tools they could find. 

Medical staff was overwhelmed with the number of casualties. Makeshift medical facilities were set up in undamaged buildings, including the high school in West Frankfort. Doctors arrived from nearby towns, but the damage to roadways and rail facilities made it hard to get into town. Buildings were turned into makeshift morgues. Families had the sad task of identifying their loved ones. Local funeral homes were overwhelmed, and funeral homes throughout southern Illinois offered assistance. Some were buried in mass graves. 

A particularly sad story was noted in a newspaper article.

"Storm Freaks," Herald and Review (Decatur), 20 March 1925, p.2, col.5.

After the storm, a downpour hit the devastated areas. Most of the streets were unpaved then, and the mud further impacted the rescue efforts. The Red Cross arrived the next day to distribute food and clothing and provide medical aid. The National Guard was deployed to prevent looting and help with the cleanup. Martial law was briefly instituted but not needed. Hundreds of families lived in tents for weeks after the tornado while housing was rebuilt. At the time, there was no formal disaster relief. Help came from private donations, charity, and fundraising. The mining companies helped to rebuild homes for their workers. 

Throughout the county, more than 150 people lost their lives, including at least 40 small children. Many people left the area after the storm and did not return. But the community came together to rebuild and recover. My grandparents moved to West Frankfort within a couple of years after the tornado — my dad was born there at the end of 1929. My grandparents remained there for the rest of their lives.

This week's #52 Ancestors prompt is Historic Events. 

Those Nasty Brick Walls

 This week's #52 Ancestors Prompt is Brick Walls

I have a number of brick walls in my research, but the majority of them are of my own making. For the most part, I haven't taken the time to review my current information, looking for clues. I haven't sat down and developed a research plan for proceeding. And I haven't taken the time to do everything one needs to undertake reasonably exhaustive research. So, the brick wall below might just be a few stumbling blocks and not an actual wall!

THE HILTON FAMILY

My 3rd great-grandmother was a woman named Mary Hilton. I believe she was born in 1825 in Tennessee, married about 1848 to Hugh H Edwards in Simpson County, Kentucky, and probably died 10 August 1894 in Williamson County, Illinois. The only evidence I have for any of that is a tombstone and a couple of census records. I believe her father is Richard C. Hilton -- but again there is no real proof of that other than the fact he was in Simpson County and moved to Williamson and it seemed to be common knowledge in Williamson County. 

Richard was born between 1781-1790 in either North Carolina or Virginia. The location varies on the census records, which is all I have for him now. I have no clue who is father is. A Moore Hylton seems to appear in the same area as this Hilton family -- he may be related. And one tree has his father as Andrew Hilton, who was married in Frederick County, Maryland. I don't believe that one but it's still worth noting. Richard's wife is Mary, born either in North Carolina or Virginia. And that's it!! 

As I was writing this, I realized right away that I need to examine a number of things. 

• I'd start by reviewing the census records and building a better list of neighbors.
• Probate records and land records in Simpson County, Kentucky and Williamson County. Illinois would be a good next step.
• I'd likely expand that search to Robertson County, Tennessee (which is across the way from Simpson) and 
• Saline County, Illinois, where Richard seems to have lived in 1865. 
• I know a bit about Williamson and Simpson counties, which helps, but many Simpson County records were destroyed in a fire in 1882.  
• DNA might help so I need to look a bit closer at some of those matches. 
• FamilySearch Full Text Search would also be a good place to dig in to see what I might find. 
• Cluster research might also provide some answers

These are just a few things off the top of my head. So is this really a brick wall? It might turn out to be. I might work through my research plan and still not have an answer, partly because my research is currently limited to online resources. But when I've worked the plan, I will have confidence in my answer - or lack thereof.