Those Big Decisions That My Relatives Made

This week's #52Ancestors prompt, Big Decisions, got me thinking about 

decisions made by relatives that impacted their lives.

My maternal grandmother, Stella Edwards Butzek, made the decision as a young woman to move to Chicago to find work. This turned out to be a good decision as she met and married my grandfather, Anthony Butzek. As a young married couple with a young child, they made the decision to move to southern Illinois, where Anthony farmed and worked the coal mines. After Anthony's untimely death in a mining accident, my grandmother made the decision, yet again, to move to Chicago where she spent the rest of her life.

My paternal grandparents, George Michael Martin and Florence Halliday Martin, made the decision to move from Albia, Iowa, to West Frankfort, Illinois, as newlyweds. It's not clear what prompted this decision, but I suspect the coal mines in Iowa were close to being played out, and they saw a better financial future in southern Illinois. They raised two children and spent the rest of their lives in West Frankfort.

I had several relatives who made the big decision to immigrate to the United States. These included my grandfather, Anthony Butzek, who came over in 1909 with his family. He was just a toddler and obviously had no say in the matter, but his parents made that decision. Perhaps it was for a better life; perhaps there were legal issues in the old country, as the family stories suggest. 

My paternal Halliday great-grandparents moved from County Durham, England, to Iowa, from one coal-mining area to another. And it was a successful move. My paternal Clark great-great-grandparents moved from Lanark County, Scotland, to Iowa, stopping first in Ohio. Despite the challenges, life was reasonably good for them. 

Further back in time, I had relatives who decided to move westward. They moved from North Carolina to Tennessee and Kentucky, finally ending up in southern Illinois, although some ended up in Texas and Oregon. 

What caused all these people to pack up and make these moves? More land, better opportunities, anti-slavery sentiments, or a combination of things that made the decision easier? Did they have so little that packing up and moving wasn't a big deal? I can't answer these questions—I can only speculate. Whatever the reasons, I am grateful for these moves. Because in the end, it gave me a better life!

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). 

"Writing These Few Lines"

This week's prompt for #52Ancestors is Letters and Diaries

I am not lucky enough to have many letters from relatives. In fact, I have precisely one—a copy of a letter from my second great-grandfather, Alexander Clark, in Iowa to an old friend, C.B. (Charles) Reddie, in Brazil, Indiana. It's unclear how they knew each other—perhaps they arrived in the United States together or knew each other in Scotland. They were both coal miners; based on the letter, they knew each other's families. C.B.’s wife, Isabella Graham, was born in County Fife, as was Alexander, so perhaps that was the connection.

The letter, dated 16 December 1895, was written in Clarkdale, Iowa, and sent to C.B. Reddie of Brazil, Indiana, in response to a letter that C.B. had sent.

“Of course, you will find a great change from your former way of living, but these things must be put up with.”

Something had happened in C.B.'s life that changed it —his wife had died in August 1895  Charles was a new widower. Alexander mentioned that they received the photos that were sent and he noted “You have better stood time well as far as looks go. Well I hope trade is good with you and keeping you going and help to keep your mind from other things.” This seems like something an old friend would say to comfort a grieving widower.

“Work is going slow here. Trade seems at a stand still. No one seems to be using any coal this winter. I think the coal trade is played out in this part of the country. We hardly make as much as clear expenses  but then we will best have to put up with it. I hope for better times.”

Besides working in the coal mines at an early age, Alexander Clark and his family owned a small coal mine in Appanoose County, Iowa. It’s unclear what years they had this mine and how large it was, but they were concerned about the coal industry. A major strike had occurred the previous year, and the effects were still being felt. As a small mine operator, they faced competition from the mines in southern Illinois. Unionization and mechanization were growing, which likely also affected the mine operation.

Then Mr. Clark went on to talk about his family.

“Alex, John & Charles are all dead & gone. George & William are married & live here beside us. George & wife has 2 children, 1 boy & 1 girl. William & wife has 6 children, 1 girl and 5 boys. Grace & Maggie [my great-grandmother] are married & live at WhatCheer. Grace has 1 girl & 2 boys. Maggie 1 girl. James & Isabella are still unmarried & live at home with us. Alex left one boy & he lives with us. He is 13 years of age. John left 5 children 3 boys & 2 girls. They live with their mother in Mystic. Alex was killed in the Pit at WhatCheer. John died of Typhoid fever in Mystic. Charles was killed by lightning standing speaking to his mother in the door about 3 years ago. He was 17 when he died. So you see we have all our little troubles in life. And when death comes we have rest from them all.”

He finishes his family talk with the following:

“I was 61 years old yesterday. I am not able to work very hard now but still I get along very well. Mrs. Clark has got a cold in her back which pains her bad at present but I think it will soon get better again.“

Mrs. Clark lived until 1903, and Alexander Clark lived until 1912.  He closed his letter somewhat pessimistically – or perhaps he was being a realist.

“Wishing you all as Merry a Christmas as it is possible for you to have under the circumstances. There will be a great want this time.”

And he signed off:

I loved reading this letter for so many reasons. First, it’s a genealogical goldmine!! But secondly, this is a man I know very little about. Born out of wedlock, he was in the coal mines at a very early age. He and his family journeyed to the United States, hoping for a better life. He seems to have written this letter very matter-of-factly, and I get the feeling that, regardless of the troubles he’s seen, he is proud to have his family around him. 

 

Out-of-Wedlock Children

Before I got into genealogy, I assumed, quite mistakenly, that out of wedlock children were a modern day occurrence. I've learned, at every turn, that it happened much more frequently than I sure would have expected.

Most laws in the US and Great Britain,  appear to attach a stigma to the child by labeling them a bastard. More modern laws, take that stigma away if the parents eventually marry. But what of those children whose parents don't ever marry?  I've come up on two situations recently.

HENRIETTA HOBBS, b. 1873 in Berkshire, England appears to have had a son, ARTHUR EDWARD HOBBS, out of wedlock in 1897 in Oxfordshire. There doesn't seem to be a record of his father (although I haven't seen an official birth record yet.) When Arthur marries in 1918, he does not list a father on his marriage record. The interesting thing is that Henrietta marries in 1900 to JAMES PARSONS. She does not take her son to live with her in her marriage. He stays with his grandparents.  This seems to be a common way of dealing with this if the mother didn't "give the child up." Henrietta and James went on to have a family of their own.

In my family, my gr-great grandfather, ALEXANDER CLARK was born out of wedlock to GRACE CHRISTY in 1834 in Fife, Scotland. There is a record in 1834 in the Cupar Sheriff's Court Aliment Decrees where Grace is listed along with the father ALEXANDER CLARK. In this case, Grace obviously acknowledges the child and is trying to get some support. It appears as though Grace and Alexander never married and it is possible that Grace may have gone on to live as a "housekeeper" with another family - and may have had two or three other children out of wedlock within that family. So if this is true, why did she never get married.?The man in this second family was a widower so he appears to have been free to marry. It is unclear to me yet, what happened to the father and what happened to the son between the time of his birth and the time of his marriage in 1854. Pieces of the puzzle yet to be filled in.

Early on in England, it appears as though once a child is born out of wedlock, they were always considered to be a bastard, regardless of whether their parents were ever married. This changed in 1926 so that if the parents married, that legal designation went away.  Wikipedia says the term bastard may have come from the word bastum which means packsaddle. This was apparently because originally they thought these children were fathered by passing travelers.

In Wales, a bastard was a child not acknowledged by his father. If a child was acknowledged by his father, then he was not legally considered a bastard and could inherit regardless of whether he was born in or out of wedlock.

As a genealogist, I find all these occurrences quite interesting and add to the colorful fabric that makes up our family history.