Surprise in a Pension File

 This week's #52Ancestors in #52 Weeks Prompt is Surprise

A recent find in a pension file was quite a surprise. There are many stories about pages from a Bible or other originals included in a file as proof of some event. I've never encountered such a thing until now.

John C. McDowell (1784-1861) served as a Sergeant in Captain James Dennison's Company of the Pennsylvania Militia during the War of 1812. His widow, Susannah Vaughn McDowell (1792-1876) filed for a Widow's pension after John's death. It is 50 pages long and will likely be filled with great information. But the surprise that caught my eye was a "Certificate of Birth and Christening" for a son born in 1815. Besides the lovely decoration, Susannah's maiden name is also included. 

This decorative certificate was definitely a Surprise!!!

HE Was the Oldest Son - Overlooked

Although the oldest son, George Sampson was often overlooked!!

George A. Sampson was born on 8 June 1869 in Excelsior, Hennepin County, Minnesota.[1] The second child and oldest son of Leroy Francis and Eliza (Spaulding) Sampson, he lived with his parents and siblings in Excelsior and Chanhassen. His parents were born in Maine and Rhode Island, so he had deep roots in New England, as did many others in the area.

George's life was cut short at an early age when he died on 9 September 1890 in Excelsior, having never married. His cause of death was given as traumatic tetanus, which likely resulted from a puncture wound. He was working as a clerk at the time, so it seems unlikely that it was an on-the-job accident.[2] 

In 1890, there was no cure or prevention of tetanus, and it was usually a death sentence, killing 85% of those infected. Tetanus was incredibly painful. It caused muscle stiffness, including "lockjaw," muscle spasms, and difficulty swallowing and breathing. Usually treated with morphine or opium, patients were kept in dark, quiet rooms and sometimes fed by a feeding tube. There was little the doctors could do, and all the family could do was watch him die a painful, likely protracted death.[3]

George was just 21 years old when he died, barely a man. Yet his younger brother Walter was often described as the oldest son of Leroy and Eliza.[4] And while technically, after George's death, this was true, it still feels like George was "overlooked" in this description. Walter would have been better described as the oldest "living" son of Leroy and Eliza. 

The Sampson family was close-knit, so perhaps the loss of young George was just too much, and the family chose not to mention him. While others may have overlooked him, I suspect his parents never stopped thinking about their young son, lost to a disease that would soon be preventable and curable. 

This week's prompt for #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks was Overlooked!

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1 No record of his birth has been found. The date is calculated from the age given on his death record.

2  “Minnesota County Deaths, 1850-2001,” digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPS1-ZPPV : accessed 18 January 2025); entry for George A. Sampson, Hennepin County, 9 September 1890. FSL DFN 7552565, Image 1100.

3 Battling Tetanus, Smithsonian  online article https://www.si.edu/spotlight/antibody-initiative/battling-tetanus?utm_source=chatgpt.com: accessed 19 January 2025.

4  “Minnetonka, The Minneapolis Journal, 11 April 1901, p.5, col. 5; digital image, newspapers (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 19 January 2025).

In the Beginning

 

The New Year is the start of #52Ancestors in #52Weeks, prompts provided by Amy Johnson Crow. My goal is to write at least two blog posts a month from the prompts. So here goes.

 The first prompt for the year is In The Beginning. I thought I would start at the beginning of my genealogical research. I started my research in early 1977. I was home with two toddlers, bored and looking for a challenge. I had been a history major in college and was still very interested in history. (I had only graduated a couple of years before.) One day, I saw a class offered through the local community education program. The class was Genealogy Basics, taught at a local school in the evenings. So I signed up. 

The instructor was a man named Mr. Ingalls (and yes, I believe he said he was related to THAT Mr. Ingalls). If I recall, he was a member of the local LDS Church. He talked about basic research principles, handed out various forms, and, for three or four nights, walked us through all the steps we needed to get started. 

So, you might ask - how exactly do you remember when that class was offered? While I was sitting in a class, learning about genealogical research, everyone else in the country was sitting at home watching ROOTS on TV. I missed the genealogical event that got so many others started on their journeys. Instead, I got a good grounding in genealogical basics. 

So off I went on my own journey. I started working both on my family and my husband’s family. I sent out questionnaires to some relatives (we were at least 400 miles away from the closest relatives, and long-distance phone calls weren’t a thing back then.) I went to the local LDS center, filling out those little forms to order microfilm. I think the first film I ordered cost $1.25. Eventually, that cost went up to somewhere around $3.50. Then I’d sit back and wait for those films to come in. Of course, I’d also check through the microfilm drawer to see if someone else had ordered a film of interest. 

I made frequent trips over to St. Paul to the Minnesota Historical Society. While I had no Minnesota people to research, they had a great French-Canadian collection, and my husband’s maternal side was French Canadian. I subscribed to Everton’s Genealogical Helper and read through each issue, learning about various things and checking all the inquiries included from people all over. I wrote many letters to county clerks requesting copies of records, sent off those checks for $5 or $10, and anxiously awaited the return mail. I built lots of files, trying out various filing systems, labeling systems, etc. 

And then life got in the way, and for the next 20 years or so, I only worked on my genealogy in spits and spurts. I finally picked it up in earnest again about 15+ years ago, and it’s taken over my life. While I prefer modern-day digital records and organization, starting out the “old-fashioned” way gave me an excellent grounding in genealogical methods. 

And it all started, in the beginning, with Mr. Ingalls.

Those Colorful Characters

This week's #52 Ancestors prompt is "Colorful". While I do have some colorful characters in my family, the prompt made me wonder about the people in my family who had names of color. And I did find a few of them. 

The first name I encountered was BLACK. None of these were direct ancestors but were by marriage and from Scotland. I had some very distant BROWNs. Again, most of these were from Scotland, but some were from various places around the U.S. Brown was a common name - I had quite a few in my database. 

I encountered a couple of CHERRYs that married into my McClerran family including a Henry Clay Cherry. I found a couple of GOLDs and GOLDENs that married into the family and a couple of GRAYs. 

Barbara GREEN, born about 1760 in North Carolina, was my 5th great-grandmother. She married Thomas Travis and together they had at least 11 children. One of their sons, Thomas Travis, married my 5th great-aunt Elizabeth and then ran away with her sister Margaret. It was a scandal that deserves its own story.

Of course, I have some LEMONs that married into the family (in more ways than one) and found a couple of SCARLETs. I have one lonely TEAL who is unrelated but married into the family. Lastly, there are some WHITEs who married into the family.

Of course, my family is more colorful than this, but looking through the list for these people with names of colors was a quick and fun exercise!!

The Challenging Family

 This week's #52 Ancestors blog prompt is Challenging. While I have many challenging families that I'm working on, the one that came first to mind was my POGUE family.

Olive Isabelle "Belle" Pogue, born 9 September 1892 in Franklin County, Illinois, was married at least three times. (1) She had four children with her first husband, George Elmus Edwards, including my grandmother (and another son with her second husband Joseph Kehder). I don't remember her, but I do remember that when she died in 1959, my grandmother went to southern Illinois for the funeral.(2) (Not sure why that memory sticks in my mind - I was pretty young at the time.)

Olive's father was Josiah Pogue. Josiah was born in March 1848, likely in Franklin or Williamson County (or possibly Saline or Gallatin). He is listed throughout his life as Josiah, Si, Cy, Cyrus, Silas, Josirus, and Joe. Josiah was married to Mahala Jane McClerren in 1886, and they had four children. He was only 52 when he died in 1900 in Franklin County Illinois. 

Here's where things start to get really murky. Josiah's father is James Pogue, born about 1807, somewhere in Kentucky. He appears to have been married three times - to Nancy Taylor, Lydia Medlin and Nancy Plaster - I've only found records for his marriage in 1831 to Lydia and in 1839 to Nancy Plaster. But Josiah's 1886 marriage record lists his mother as Nancy Taylor. So I'm not sure who his mother really was because it seems it should be either Lydia Medlin or Nancy Plaster. No death record has been found for Josiah - there are a couple of missing years on the Franklin County death register, including most of 1900 and all of 1901. It's like the registrar stopped entering records for a couple of years and no one knows why.

James Pogue served in the Black Hawk War briefly (as did many others from the area). He was in Captain Archilaus Coffey's Company of the 1st Regiment, 1st Brigade of Illinois Volunteers. A large group from Gallatin County Illinois enlisted in June of 1832.

In 1850, James "Pouge" and his wife Nancy lived in Franklin County, along with 10-year-old Wm. R, 7 year old Geo. W, L.E., aged 3 (a female), and Josiah, aged 2. The page is faint and hard to read. But they lived next door to John Foster and his family. 

In 1851, James bought land in Franklin County using the Bounty land scrip he received from his Black Hawk War service. He sold the land one year later. Things really get confusing after that.

In a book of abstracts of Early Franklin County Court records, in December of 1851, there is a record that I believe belongs to this family. (3) I have not been able to locate the original record. The abstract says 

"William Foster represents that James Page, father of George W., 9, Lyenin, 7 and Josiah Page 4, has for six months past wilfully neglected to provide for his minor children. A jury was called and found James Page guilty. It is ordered by the court that Joseph Swafford be appointed guardian of George Washington Page, aged 9 years on 9 April 1851, Lyain Page, aged 7 years and Josiah, aged 4 years, minor children of James Page."

 Is this James Pogue? I believe it is and was either mis-abstracted or written incorrectly in the original. I suspect the name may have been written as POGE. The last name is often misspelled for some reason. The ages closely match. The names match. It's always been unclear what L.E.'s name was - my assumption was it may have been Lydia since Josiah named a daughter Lydia. But maybe not. I'm also unclear about Joseph Swafford - there doesn't appear to be a Joseph Swafford in Franklin County, but there are many others, so perhaps it's one of those. There is no mention of William R. Pogue, who would have been around 11 or 12 - was he already living with someone else? 

So the mystery -- is the above a court record for my family? I don't know, but James disappears after this. There's no sign of his wife Nancy. In 1860, Josiah Pogue, aged 13, lived with John M. Foster and his family. John and his wife had been next-door neighbors to the then-intact Pogue family.

So my hypothesis, which still needs proving, is that James Pogue lost his wife right after that 1850 census. She likely died, but it's possible she ran off or they got a divorce. He could not, or would not care for his family and was taken to court because of his actions. He gave up the guardianship of his family to others, sold his land, and then just seemed to disappear. 

It's also unclear as to who the parents of James were - possibly James and Maran Pogue - but maybe not.  James may also have had two earlier children, David and James - but maybe not. He may have been married before he married Lydia Medlin -- but maybe not. There are still so many mysteries to be investigated. The work is impacted by the lack of records and the various spellings of the Pogue name.

So what about the rest of the family? They led challenging and sometimes troubled lives and they deserve their own posts which will follow in the future.

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(1) Olive's death certificate lists her birth date as 9 September 1893. The 1900 census gives her birth date as September 1892, and her Social Security Claims Index lists her birth date as 9 September 1892. Marriage records have been found for her first and second marriages but not for her third. 

(2) Death Certificate and obituary. It does list her name as Belle Hedges, that of her last husband.

(3)Pulliam, Carla, comp. Early Court Records, Franklin County, Illinois (Self-published, 1995) V. 1 1836-1876, V 2, 1877-1900. FHL library has vols 1-2 into 1 volume.

A (Really) Full House

 In 2025 I'm taking the SLIG Spring course coordinated by David Ouimette on "Tracing French-Canadian Ancestry and Telling their Stories." The French-Canadian lines I'm working on belong to my sons. About 25 years ago I did a lot of research which is scattered all over the place. So I thought perhaps I should revisit what I have and get it into shape before the course. 

One of the first things I noticed was Joseph Brosseau. He was born in Quebec in 1801 and died in Kankakee County, Illinois in 1856. So he lived a relatively short life of 54 years. He is my son's 4th great-grandfather.

Joseph married Marguerite Moreau who was born in 1814 and died in 1880. Amazingly she lived longer than her husband. I say amazingly because, as near as I can tell from my old notes, she gave birth to 21 children. At least six of these children died very young - within a year or two of birth. Several need further research to determine what happened to them. One appears to have lived to 102, others lived pretty long lives. 

When Joseph died in 1856, he had at least six children under 10. Marguerite was left a widow with a number of children. She does not appear to have remarried. 

So when I was thinking about last week's #52 Ancestors topic of Full House, this family came to mind and I wondered about the kind of house they had and how crowded it must have been. I've got a lot of review of my old research to do - and tons of new research to do but I think this is going to turn out to be quite an interesting story and I'm looking forward to telling it!!

Working on the Railroad (and living in it sort of)

 In many ways, John Ryan was a typical Irishman. He married in 1860 in Cappawhite, County Tipperary in Ireland. He was 35 and his bride, Mary Dwyer was 30. They had two children before leaving for America where they would have another six children.

One of their sons, John Henry Ryan, became the editor and publisher of a very short-lived newspaper called the Decatur Labor World, published in Decatur, Illinois. In the 25 February 1915 edition, he published his autobiography giving some details of his father's life in the U.S. 

The Ryan family landed first in New York and stayed in Orange County for a couple of years. It is likely that John started working on the railroad upon his arrival in the U.S. and followed it west. By 1870, they had moved to Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, where they bought land from the Chicago and Alton Railroad, John's employer. He also bought the body of a box car which they moved to their lot. John Henry was born in the boxcar in October 1870. No pictures exist of this boxcar which had been made into a home, but it obviously provided them with shelter for a short period of time. 

 In the spring of 1874, the family moved to Gibson City, Illinois. John built a small house on a lot they had purchased, and it was in this house that he died of pneumonia, leaving his wife, Mary, with six children. The date of John's death is still undetermined. His son John Henry placed it in 1877, yet he is listed in the 1880 census. 

Stephen Ryan, my daughter-in-law's great-grandfather, was the second son born to John and Mary Ryan. He was born in Orange County, New York in 1865. By the time of his marriage to Helen "Nellie" Lanham in April of 1891, Stephen was working as a telegraph operator for the Wabash Railroad. After their marriage, they moved to Minonk, North Dakota, where he managed the Great Northern Railroad telegraph office. By 1907, Stephen had graduated from law school but continued to work for the railroad in St. Paul, Minnesota. He eventually left the railroad to practice law.

Only one of John Ryan's other children ever worked for the railroad. Michael Edwin Ryan worked as a telegraph operator for the Burlington Northern Railroad. Like his brother Stephen, he got a law degree and became a distinguished lawyer and judge in the Brainerd, Minnesota, area. 

As to John's other children--John Henry became an editor and publisher, as noted above. Patrick was a cigar maker among other things. His daughter Josephine, who never married, became a nurse. 

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

This week's topic for #52 Ancestors was "Trains".

What was his name?? Josiah, Cyrus, Silas, Si, Cy, Joseph???

I wrote this post last year in response to the Nickname theme for #52Ancestors in #52Weeks. The variety of names Josiah Pogue used still puzzles me. I've updated the post for this year's theme. 

My great-great-grandfather, Josiah Pogue, was a man with many names. To this day, I don't know what his "real" name was but I suspect it was Josiah. 

Born before births were registered in Franklin County, Josiah first shows up as a three-year-old in the 1850 Franklin County, Illinois census. He is clearly listed as Josiah. The last name is spelled Pouge [This happens often. The name is also misspelled as Page].[1] 

Enumerated as a thirteen-year-old, he is still listed as Josiah, living with the John M. Foster family in Franklin County in 1860.[2] Both parents (or at least his mother) died sometime between 1850 and 1860, and the Fosters were a family intertwined with the Pogue family in some way. Relatives, perhaps, or at least close friends? The actual relationship is still unclear.

He cannot be found in the 1870 census. [I believe a whole neighborhood was missed in the enumeration process.] In 1880, twenty-three-year-old Josirus Pogue was listed as a cousin in the William Foster household. William Foster is related to John M. Foster, who lived next door in 1880.[3]

Thirty-eight-year-old Josiah Pogue married Mahala McClearin Striplin in 1886 in Franklin County. It is unclear how Josiah had aged fifteen years in six years, but it is likely an error and should say twenty-eight. [This whole marriage record has a lot of problems, and the recorder appears to have been careless in several ways.] John M Foster, a Baptist minister, performed the marriage.[4]

In 1900, fifty-two-year-old Cyrus Pogue was enumerated in the Franklin County census with his wife Mahala and four children, including my great-grandmother Isabel Pogue.[5] Josiah died later in the year, and his tombstone lists his name as Josiah Pogue.[6]  

In 1910, when daughter Olive Isabel "Belle" Pogue married, her license listed her father as Joseph Pogue.[7] He is also called Joseph S. Pogue on her Social Security Application.[8] On her 1959 death certificate, her father is listed as Silas Pogue.[9] In 1964, when Josiah's daughter Lydia Pogue Ewing died, her obituary listed her father as Joe Pogue.[10]

Other mentions have been found calling him Si, Silas, and Cy. He was likely indeed named Josiah but was called Joe or Cy by various people. Both nicknames can easily be found within the name Josiah, and multiple people likely mistook them for nicknames such as Joseph, Cyrus, or Silas. 

#52 Ancestors topic of the week - Nicknames!!  Revised 15 January 2025.

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[1] 1850 U.S. census, Franklin County, Illinois, pop. sched., p. 34b, dwell. 482, fam. 496, Jas Pouge household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 May 2024).

[2] 1860 U.S. census, Franklin County, Illinois, pop. sched., Township 75, range 4E, p.34b, dwell and fam 977, Josiah Pogue in John M. Foster household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 20 May 2024).

[3] 1880 U.S. census, Franklin County, Illinois, pop. sched. Cave Township, e.d. 16, p.7, dwell. and fam. 54, Josirus Pogue in William A. Foster household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 5 April 2023). 

[4] "Marriage Records, 1878-1916," digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org: accessed 10 October 2024); Franklin County, Vol. 1, p. 129, Lic. #1617, 1886, Pogue-Striplin marriage; FHL #4661221/1005307, image 141. 

[5] 1900 U.S. census, Franklin County, Illinois, pop. sched., Cave Township, e.d. 27, sheet 8a, dwell. 144, fam. 144, Cyrus Pogue household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 13 October 2022).

[6] Find a Grave; digital image (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed 15 January 2025); Memorial #191234210, Josiah Pogue (1849-1900), Mount Zion Cemetery (Thompsonville, Franklin County, Illinois); photo by Brandon Rowe.

[7] Marriage license received from Williamson County Clerk. p. 333, marriage book M, 1910, Edwards-Pogue marriage.

[8] "Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007": index, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 15 January 2025).Belle Pogue Hedges, SSN 334-16-8882. Father: Joseph S. Pogue, Mother: Mahala J. McClerr (sp). 

[9] Illinois Death certificate. Copy received from cousin [name withheld for privacy], Williamson County, Illinois, Belle Hedges, 1959, Father: Silas Pogue, Mother: Mahalia McClerren. 

[10] "Mrs. Ewing Dies in West Frankfort," Southern Illinoisan (Carbondale), 2 February 1964, p.24, col.2. 

Grape Preserves (Jelly)

 This week's topic in #52 Ancestors is "Preserve." Of course, as a genealogist, I spend most of my time trying to preserve family stories and records. But that's not what came to mind when I first thought about the topic.

When we lived in South Holland, Illinois, we had climbing grape vines. They surrounded a small patio area, which was actually quite lovely, even though I don't remember using it much. The grapes were dark purple Concord-type grapes. I suspect the birds enjoyed them, but I mostly remember the birds picking the cherries off our two cherry trees so maybe that kept them away from the grapes.

Every year, late in the summer, we'd pick those grapes, and my mom would make grape jelly. The smell of that process was wonderful and the resulting jelly was yummy. Of course, I just did the picking - I didn't get involved in the process, which I seem to recall involved the stove, lots of jars, and hot wax (in those days, that's how jelly was sealed). It must have been a lot of work. 

But mostly, I remember eating the grapes as we picked them off the vines. Even today, the smell of dark purple grapes brings me back to my childhood and those wonderful grapevines.

Looking at a picture of our old house on Google Maps, it appears as though the grapevines are long gone. We might have even pulled them out before we moved—I can't quite remember. But I'd love to have a small, sheltered area these days—surrounded by those dark, fragrant grapes. 

OUT OF PLACE - GEORGE W. POGUE

My Pogue line presents a lot of brick walls. In 1850, James and Nancy Pogue were living in Franklin County, Illinois, with their four children: William R, George W., L.E. (Lydia?), and Josiah Pogue, my great-great-grandfather. [1] The family appears to have fallen apart after that, likely due to the death of Nancy. In 1860, William was living in Oregon, where he spent the rest of his life; L.E. is not found; George is not found; and Josiah is living with the John M. Foster family.[2]

George W. Pogue lived a wandering life, searching for something--sometimes literally searching for gold. Once he left home, he never returned and was never found where one would expect to find a farmer's son from southern Illinois.

Born in 1843, George enlisted in the Union army in 1861 as a private in Company A, 18th Illinois Infantry. He enlisted in Anna, Illinois, for a three-year term. [3] While he served his full time, it was not an uneventful war for George. 

In late July 1863, just a couple of weeks after the end of the siege of Vicksburg, George was court-martialed for "conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline." He had been absent from camp, procured whiskey, and then proceeded to "peddle and dispose of the same to soldiers of said 54th Regt" at Haines [Haynes] Bluff, Mississippi. Lastly, when caught, he promised to go quietly but broke away and escaped from custody. His punishment for these crimes was pay stoppage for August and September. [4]

Once George Pogue was discharged, he headed west. In 1870 he was living in a gold mining area of Colfax County, New Mexico territory.[5] By 1880, he had found his way to Lewis and Clark County, Montana, where he mined.[6] In 1900 he was in the Great Falls area mining quartz.[7] Life as a miner was likely hard. George never married. 

By 1908, George had moved to Los Angeles and was admitted to the Pacific Branch of the Old Soldiers Home in Sawtelle. In 1910, he was enumerated in this home, a 68-year-old single male born in Illinois. He discharged himself from the home in June of 1912.[8] He filed for a pension in 1913 while living in Salem, Oregon, likely with his brother's family. [9]

In June 1914, a small article appeared in the Evening Vanguard, a Venice, California newspaper. [10]

    

Two days later, a second article appeared in the Los Angeles Times. George had fallen on hard times.[11]

By July 1st, George was readmitted to the Soldier's home, where he stayed for almost three months before discharging himself again. By June of 1915, George Pogue moved east again, this time being admitted to the Leavenworth Kansas Soldier Home. For the next couple of years, George followed the same pattern - getting admitted to the home and discharging himself after a few months. 

His hospital record listed George W. Pogue as 6-foot tall, with a fair complexion, dark eyes, and grey hair. These records noted he was a Protestant miner who could not read or write and gave his nearest relative as his nephew, M.E. Pogue of Salem, Oregon. [12]

George W. Pogue died 10 March 1918 of Acute Cardiac dilatation. A notification was sent to his niece Laura Crossland [wife of John Thomas Crosslin] of Johnston City, Illinois. [13] His funeral was conducted in Leavenworth, and he was buried in the Leavenworth National Cemetery. 

Footnotes:

[1] 1850 U.S. census, Franklin County, Illinois, population schedule, p. 34b, dwelling 482, family 496, Jas Pouge household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 10 October 202); citing NARA microfilm publication m432, roll 106.

[2] For William, 1860 U.S. census, Lane County, Oregon, population schedule, Springfield Precinct, sheet 284, dwelling 544, family 544, W.R. Page living in Sarah Powers household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 January 2023); citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 1055. For Josiah, 1860 U.S. 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: accessed 10 October 2021); citing NARA microfilm publication M653.

[3]  Various records, including Enlistment, burial, and Soldier's home registry.

[4] Court-martial records from NARA.

[5] 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: accessed 16 January 2023); citing NARA microfilm publication m593, roll 893.

[6] 1880 U.S. census, Lewis and Clark County, Montana, population schedule, Belmont, p. 36, e.d. 19, dwelling 362, family 365, George Pogue in R. Woolcox household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 January 2023); citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 742.

[7] 1900 U.S. census, Cascade County, Montana, population schedule, Great Falls, p. 26a, e.d. 147, visit 161, family 170, George Pogue boarding in George Genier household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 January 2023); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 910.

[8] "U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938," digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 January 2023), Registers of members, Sawtelle California and Leavenworth Kansas, George W. Pogue. Various admissions, discharges, and readmissions.

[9] Civil War Pension file, copies received from NARA.

[10] "Tells the Police Officers What He thinks of Them," Evening Vanguard (Venice, CA), 15 June 1914, p.1, col. 3; digital image, newspapers.com.

[11] "Veterans Uncongenial," The Los Angeles Times, 16 June 1914, p.12, col.2; digital image, newspapers.com. 

[12] Soldiers Home Record and Death Notification.

Family Legends

     There are two family legends I grew up hearing. The first was that our family came west with Daniel Boone. The second was that someone in the family killed the last Native American in southern Illinois. One to be proud of and one not so much. Through the years I've kept these two legends in the back of my mind, wondering if there was truth to either one.

   It turns out that there are nuggets of truth in the Daniel Boone rumor. First, there may have been confusion about a man named John Rains, an early Tennessee settler and comrade of Daniel. There are several John Rains in my family who settled in Tennessee and it's possible there is some distant relationship. However, my John Rains was not the famous John Rains. 

    Some of my family followed Daniel Boone's trail as they moved wast. There are several places where they could have been in the same place around the same time. My daughter-in-law has a closer connection. Her family was at Strode's Station. Built by John Strode who was related to Daniel Boone's wife, the station was about 10 miles from Fort Boonesborough.  It turns out my son married into the legend.

    The second family legend has no basis in truth that I can find. I do have family who moved into southern Illinois very early but most of the Native Americans had moved on by the time they got there. The Trail of Tears came near their homes but there is no evidence of any incident. This is such an odd family legend that I wonder how it got started? Did it start a long time ago when people in the area still feared and hated Native Americans? Was it some boast made in jest or over one too many drinks? This is one family legend that I am happy to discard.

    Sometimes family legends can be true or partially true. But family legends can be like the game of telephone. They start out as one thing and by the time they get to the end, they have morphed into something entirely different. 

Beginnings

    Every year I think about participating in Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks blogging challenge and every year life gets in the way. But I'm hoping this year will be different. This post is the "beginning" of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. (We'll see how long I can last.)

    I've been researching for more than 40 years and every day seems like a beginning. Every day I learn something new, every day I stumble on an unknown website. and every day I learn a new piece of information about someone I'm researching. Sometimes these facts take me right back to the beginning again and sometimes they propel me forward.

    My genealogical journey started when I took a class through the local school district. I was in class while everyone else in America was at home watching Roots. I had a good teacher who got me started on the right foot. I had majored in History in college and genealogy helped me understand what I learned in college. 

    I've continued to learn. This week is the beginning of my 2021 education, participating in NGSQ study groups - reading and dissecting Q articles. And next week is the beginning of 2021 SLIG - Advanced Methods. Normally I'd be finishing up my laundry about now and packing my suitcase for a trip to Salt Lake City and research time in the Family History Library. While I'm sad to not be able to do that this year, I am excited to be able to take TWO SLIG courses and a SLIG Academy course.

    Each new course, each new article, each new webinar, each new conference, each new blog post -- these are all beginnings of a new adventure in learning.

A Fresh Start

Every year, Amy Johnson Crow does the #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks blog challenge. She provides the prompts and the goal is to write a story about an ancestor using the prompt. The stories people tell are interesting and varied – one can interpret the prompts in many different ways. Every year I swear I’m going to push myself to write at least 12 of those prompts. And every year I write at least one!

I’ve been thinking all week about  the first topic – A Fresh Start. This seems to literally apply to almost all of my relatives. My grandmother moved to Chicago from southern Illinois after my grandfather died – to get a fresh start. Many of my ancestors moved from the old country to the US – to get a fresh start. Earlier ancestors moved from North Carolina to Kentucky and Tennessee – before ending up in southern Illinois – all for a fresh start.

Each one most likely had something different in mind when making that fresh start. There was the promise of new land and better farms, working coal mines, staying one-step ahead of the law, better jobs and a new neighborhood. I imagine each relative had high hopes that this fresh start would be the right start. In some cases it was – in some cases, things didn’t change much. But that’s the chance you take when you make a fresh start!

For me, this year is somewhat of a fresh start. It’s not anywhere near as grand and scary as the fresh starts made by my ancestors. I’ve reduced most of my commitments and plan to concentrate on two things – working on my BCG certification portfolio and doing more writing. Of course it’s not that simple! Both require a ton of research and learning. But that’s what keeps me interested in genealogy and  keeps me coming back for more – the challenge of that  next new thing that’s around the corner – that fresh start!!!