Yearbook Photo of Thelma (Surpluss) Gibson (1903-1991), Age 16

My maternal grandmother.  I miss her horribly.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

Lt. Col. Dr. Frank G. Porter (1821-1879)

One of the surprise discoveries of my listing my Civil War ancestors was that I have a Brigade Surgeon as a relative.  Dr. Frank Gibson Porter was my 2xg-uncle, behind my Dad's mother.  His history is rich and will require future fleshing out, but for now let us hear his Civil War record.

From Reavis, L. U. (1881). Saint Louis, the future great city of the world: And its impending triumph. St. Louis: G.A. Pierrot. --

            Early in 1861, he joined the Union army as Brigade Surgeon. He remained in the army until the last days of 1865. He was with Generals Totten, Schofield, Herron, Fisk and Grant. He participated in thirteen hard-fought battles; quite a number of minor engagements; was "bushwhacked" three times, and captured once. At the battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, single-handed and alone, he turned back two six-gun batteries that were in full retreat, and thus saved the day for the Union. One of his most noted transactions during the war, was the planning and constructing of the most extensive field hospital of the Rebellion, at Hamburg, Tennessee, after the battle of Pittsburg Landing. Harper's Weekly reproduced it, and the New York Herald and Tribune noticed it in the highest terms of praise. The farthest east he was during the war, was Fort Donelson, Tennessee; south, New Orleans; west, Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, and north, Fort Laramie. 

            In the summer of 1865 he was ordered to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as his headquarters, where he remained until the last days of the same year, when he was mustered out of the service, carrying with him a commission from the Governor of Missouri, and three from the President of the United States : the first, that of Assistant Surgeon ; the second, that of full Surgeon, and the third, that of Lieutenant-Colonel by brevet. 

            During the war, for a period of nine months he had charge of the United States Marine Hospital in St. Louis, and aside from this he always held the position of Medical Director while in the army, his appointment being that of General Staff Surgeon, United States Volunteers. Upon his leaving the service he returned to St. Louis, and resumed his profession.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

Surprise Find is also a Reminder to Be Careful

Growing up we visited my maternal grandparents Bruce and Thelma Gibson frequently.  And like most loving grandparents they had at least one picture of each of their grandchildren in their living room where everyone resided in the evenings.  I got very familiar with the picture they had of me --

-- in a brass frame on a shelf next to where my grandmother would sit for hours and knit or crochet. 

When my grandparents died, my aunt Barbara Butler was the executrix and she gave the picture to me still in its frame.  Jump ahead almost twenty years, and my son asks for a baby picture of me to compare to his daughter, my granddaughter, whom he swears is my spittin' image.

I go to get the baby picture of me to scan and send to my son.  When I open up the frame, I am surprised to find inside another picture --  

-- My brother and I are confident that is a picture of my (living) aunt and maybe her prom date?  We are pretty sure it is not our uncle.

So what's the sum?  I went to retrieve a baby picture of myself, and in opening a frame that had not been opened in six decades I discovered another family picture behind it.  Lesson learned?  Don't assume what is inside things.  Be they books, shoe boxes, pictures frames, or whatever.  Look inside, you never know what you might discover.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

Civil War Relatives

For the last month I have been obsessed with the Civil War, from a family history perspective.  I have been working on getting the National Park Service to give the grave of my gg-grandfather a marker; I have been researching the current location of the regimental flags for the 33rd Illinois, and I have been researching the oral history that one of my gg-grandfathers was a Union spy.

In the meantime, I did put together a list of all my grandfathers and granduncles who served.  I have not done cousins yet.  This list is complete as best as I can determine (the seven names of gg-grandfathers have been bolded; the five names of those who died in service have been italicized) --

RANK        NAME                REGIMENT        STATE         COMPANY

        Henry M. Walker, Sr.    33rd            Illinois        A

Capt    Harvey J. Dutton        33rd            Illinois        A

        Horace S. Dutton        108th           Illinois        E  

        Charles H. Chesley      8th Cavalry     Illinois        K

        John P. Chesley         13th            Illinois        G

        Leonard Chesley         13th            Illinois        G

Sgt     Luman F. Ward           98th            New York        D

        David Ward              2nd Artillery   Ohio            C

Corp    Arthur H. Needham       2nd Cavalry     Iowa            E

        John H. Needham         155th           Ohio            A

        Horatio E. Needham      29th            Iowa            E

Sgt     George E. Needham       177th           Ohio            A

        Benjamin E. Needham     41st            Ohio            D

        Samuel R. Porter        17th            Illinois        I

Lt Col  Dr. Frank G. Porter               -- Surgeon --

        Alexander W. Porter     39th            Pennsylvania    B

Sgt     John W. Porter          39th            Pennsylvania    B

Corp    Alfred Gibson           33rd            Kentucky        D

Sgt     David Gibson            27th            Kentucky        E

        Thomas R. Gibson        35th            Kentucky        B

        William Gurwell         14th            Ohio            E

        Jesse Jones             13th            Kansas          B

Lt      Edward W. Hall          3rd             Iowa            B

        George Hall             26th            Illinois        K

Corp    Levi Hall               33rd            Illinois        C

        Wilbur Hall             2nd Artillery   Massachusetts   M

        Josiah McKee            33rd            Illinois        C

-- Twenty-seven names in total.  All blue, no grey.   My gg-grandfather James G. Gurwell is said to have served, but I can find no record, so he is not included.  Six of these Illinoisans were at Vicksburg, and their names are cast in bronze inside the Illinois memorial there.

Expanding the list to include cousins will be quite a chore but is within my plans.  I know that will expand my connection to the 33rd Illinois even further, at last count I had seven ancestral relatives in that regiment.  And I am not sure, but I think I have one Gibson cousin who went to Texas and fought on the side the Confederacy, ruining my perfect record of all Union ancestral relatives.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

Ask and You Shall Receive: Civil War CDV

(Click to Enlarge.)

True Story.  A few days ago I was lamenting I did not have a Carte de visite of my 2xg-uncle Capt. Harvey J. Dutton (1836-1928) and two days later I stumbled across one on the Internet!  I wasn't even looking for it!  Could someone being looking down on me?


Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

Wordless Wednesday: Half-Brothers

Arthur D. "Bud" Walker (1916-1985) and Ralph K. Walker (1918-1969)

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

Amanuensis Monday: Marriage Certificate of Henry Walker (1864-1952) and Lucy Chesley (1866-1940)

(Click to Enlarge.)

CERTIFICATE OF MARRIAGE

STATE OF Kansas

Osborne County, I Certify, That on the Twenty-sixth

day of October AD 1887 at the residences of the Bride's Parents in the County

aforesaid, I J.C. Lawrence Justice of the Peace joined 

in Marriage Henry M. Walker of Corinth Township

in the State of Kansas and Lucy Chesley

of Corinth Township in the State of Kansas

That the parties did then and there solemnly declare that they took

each other as HUSBAND AND WIFE, and there

were present as witnesses Charles Chesley of Corinth Township

and Lucy Chesley of Corinth Township

Dated this Twenty-Sixth day of October

A.D. One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty-Seven.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

A Reflective Essay about Family and Why Genealogy

I am one of those people who believes we are all genetically born with certain behavioral predispositions and predilections.  I still believe in free will!  I don't believe these born-with desires determine our choice and behaviors, they just influence them.

I was born with a profound appreciation and affection for family.  It is in my blood.  It is in my soul.  I have always loved visiting relatives, and this was noticeable even when I was very young, I couldn't wait to visit family, and didn't want to leave after visiting.  I was happy.  Everyone one else seemed happy.  The adults seemed happy.  The kids seemed happy.  I felt loved.

When I was little we were blessed to have my mom's parents and two sisters and their families living within driving distance of our home in northern California.  But since my Dad was a Nebraska transplant the bulk of his relatives were back in Nebraska.  He grew up in a family of nine kids and seven close cousins, and each of them having families of their own. So in the summer of 1968 we packed up the old blue Ford station wagon and drove the short 1677 miles from Fremont, California to Dix, Nebraska for a Walker family reunion.  I was in heaven, pure heaven.  There must have been forty of us, everyone was smiling, and laughing, and having a great time!

Late that evening, as my eyelids grew heavy, my Dad's cousin Bob Wistrom scooped me up into his arms and carried me to the car.  I started to cry.  Bob said "What's the matter?"  I said "I don't want to leave!"  Bob's eyes welled with tears and he dried the tears on my cheek with the back of his hand.  And we drove the long, long 2000 miles home.

This experience had a huge effect on me.  The value of family grew even more in my heart and never wavered.  But as time passed, things happened, things change, as they always do.  My Dad started with two brothers in California, but one passed, and the other moved to Arizona.  My Mom's family started out close, but they too began to spread out, chasing their own dreams, and their own predilections.  Even my parents and brother moved, and then, after growing up and marrying, so did I.  This was my curse -- no family close, anywhere.

But it did not stop.  Soon my grandparents' generation passed on.  Then my parents.  I had two kids, and then as is normal, they got married and had kids and moved.  And now I am the grandparent, and my curse continues.  I only see my immediate family once or twice a year.  And my extended family?  Well, we talk on Facebook.  That is about the extent of it.

"Kevin, why do you do genealogy?"  This is why -- to defeat my curse.  To fill my familial love tank.  I feel love for, and dare I say, even love from every ancestor I find.  I knew none of our ancestors' names, none of my family did.   My contemporary relatives were all getting the love they needed from each other, there was no pragmatic rationale to look back at their roots, beyond curiosity.

But I am different.  I am uncovering our ghosts, waking them up and giving them new life.  Finding their images, cleaning them off.  Telling their histories, both good and bad.  I can feel their familial love filling up my tank, as their names and stories, that were covered in decades and centuries of darkness, get to see the light of day.

My predisposition and predilection for family drives me to fight off a curse of familial loneliness.  I am selfish that way.  But I can sense the smiles of my long dead relatives, as they are remembered for whatever reason.


Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

1878 Map of El Dorado, Butler County, Kansas

(Click to Enlarge.)

This is an 1878 lithographed map of El Dorado, county seat of Butler County, Kansas.  In 1878, My gg-grandfather John Nelson Surpluss (1839-1901) and his wife my gg-grandmother Sarah (Maclean) Surpluss (1843-1913), were raising their family of three girls and one boy only thirteen miles away in Rosalia.  The boy of course being my g-grandfather James A. Surpluss (1867-1948).


Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

New Notation Added to "Newspaper Account of My G-Grandfather Shooting My G-Grandmother"

(Click to Enlarge.)

Back in May of 2015 on this blog I wrote about the Newspaper Account of My G-Grandfather Shooting My G-Grandmother.  The original copy given to me was by a Chesley second cousin, mostly identical to the one you see here above.  I confirmed the accuracy of the citation and then published it here.

This week a Walker second cousin shared the above copy with me making sure I had it.  I did.  Well, all except for that last paragraph --

It was not unusual for some to have thought Walker insane.  the high incidence[sic] of insanity in Custer County had prompted the Chief, in 1893, to say "It begans[sic] to look as if we would have to adopt the suggestion of the Norfolk asylum authorities that a fence be placed around Custer County, and our fertile fields and rolling hills be turned into a large asylum for the accomodation[sic] of our insane."

-- It would be interesting to look into this history of Custer County a little farther but what might be really interesting is discovering who added the note?  We might have a clue in the paragraph above, because it was also added to my original.  The paragraph give us the status as of 1907.  There is no reason to believe that date was picked arbitrarily.  So we have a possible clue.


Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

Obituary for Bennie Lynn Walker (1959-2017)

Bennie Lynn Walker  1959 - 2017 

Bennie Lynn Walker, 57, of Arnold, passed away May 1, 2017, at his home.  Bennie was born to Norman E. and Mary Ann (Seda) Walker May 11, 1959, in North Platte. He graduated from Arnold High School in 1978.  

You could always find him tinkering with automobiles and lawn mowers. He worked for various farmers in the community and was a custodian at Arnold Public Schools for 18 years. At the time of his death, he helped Glen Weinman whenever his health permitted. 

Bennie was united in marriage to Marlyn Sue Larsen Nov. 5, 1983. To this union, three children were born, Jean Ann, Edward Lynn and Eugene Dale.  Bennie was preceded in death by his daughter, Jean Ann; and his parents, Norman and Mary Ann Walker.  He is survived by his wife, Marlyn Sue; sons, Edward Lynn of Jefferson City, Mo., and Eugene Dale of Arnold; one brother, Dale (Nyla) Walker of Hershey; and a sister, Norma Walker and her special friend David Dibbern of North Platte. 

Cremation was chosen. Book signing will be Friday, May 5, from 1 - 5 p.m. at the Arnold Funeral Home.  Services will be Saturday, May 6, at 2 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in Arnold.  

Internment will be in the Arnold Cemetery following the services.  Memorials are suggested to the Bennie Walker Memorial Fund, c/o the family at P.O. Box 52, Arnold, NE 69120. 

Arnold Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.

Published in the Custer County Chief , May 11, 2017.

Bennie was my second cousin.  His father Norman was my Dad's first cousin.


Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

Wordless Wednesday: Poster of Company C, 33rd Illinois Veteran Volunteer Regiment, U.S. Civil War, 1865

(Click to Enlarge.)

Image provided by McLean County Museum of History, Bloomington, Illinois.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

Tombstone Tuesday: Sisters Grace Combs (1803-1892) and Sarah Combs (1800-1876)

Sarah Combs and Grace Combs were my 3xg-grandaunts on my mother's maternal side.  They never married.  They are interred at Stouts Grove Cemetery, Danvers, McLean County, Illinois.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

Obituary for Julia Emma (Dutton) Owens (1847-1920)

From The Springfield News-Leader (Springfield, Missouri), 9 Nov 1920, Page 7 --

MRS. J.E. OWENS

Mrs. J.E. Owens, age 74 years, died at 1:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon at the residence of R.E.M. Mack, 501 High Street.  The home of the decedent was at Joliet, Ill., and she was in Springfield visiting relatives.  She was a sister of Mrs. Harry J. Dutton, 501 West High street.  She is also survived by the following nieces: Mrs. R.E.M. Mack, Mrs. A.O. Mack, and Mrs. G.A. Coover, all of Springfield.  She is also survived by two daughters, Mrs. Mabel Marklow, Joliet, Ill., and Mrs. Madge Dunlop, Colorado Springs, Colo., both of whom formerly lived in Springfield.  No funeral arrangements are made, pending the arrival of the daughters.

-- Identified Error: She was the sister of Mr. Harvey J. Dutton.



Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

Circa 1975: The Grown Children of Lynndon Walker (1887-1946) and Bessie Ann (Hutchins) Walker (1894-1936)

Left to right: Beulah Fern (Walker) Cumpston Markee (1913-1996); Flora Mae (Walker) Cunningham Paist (1915-1997); Glen Lynndon Walker (1917-1993); Anne Bessie (Walker) Shadel (1920-2004); Norman Edward Walker (1926-1993).  All calling Nebraska home.


Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

At Least Five Civil War Ancestral Relatives Have Their Names in Bronze

(Click to Enlarge.)

(Click to Enlarge.)

From a Vicksburg Mississippi website:

The Vicksburg National Military Park, established by Congress on February 21, 1899, commemorates the campaign, siege, and defense of Vicksburg during the Civil War. The 1,800 acres of the park are dotted with over 1,300 monuments, the most impressive being the Illinois Monument, which was dedicated on October 26, 1906 and modeled after the Roman Pantheon. On its walls are 60 bronze tablets which record the names of the 36,325 Illinois soldiers who participated in the Vicksburg campaign. 

On those bronze tablets are the names of at least five of my ancestral relatives, most notably my gg-grandfather Pvt. George Hall (1845-1908) --

-- Three other more distant ancestral relatives 3xg-uncle Pvt. Josiah McKee (1844-1921), and First Cousin 4x removed Pvt. Levi W. Hall (1841-1923) and First Cousin 4x removed Pvt. William P. Lamphier (1839-1865)  --

 

 -- And finally we have the ancestral relative of whom I am the most proud,  2xg-uncle Capt. Harvey J. Dutton (1836-1928), who was only a Lieutenant at Vicksburg.  He was also shot in the leg in the battle and kept fighting --

(Click to Enlarge.)

-- The Battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg were both completed on the same date -- July 4, 1863.  The Battle of Gettysburg got most of the attention from the press at the time for a number of reasons, including that it involved the defeat of the great General Robert E. Lee, and happened closer to Washington D.C.  But arguably, the Battle of Vicksburg was much more important to the ultimate Union victory.  Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's victory at Vicksburg gave the Union Army control of the entire Mississippi River, and cut off the Confederate deep south from the supplies of the commodity-rich southwestern states like Texas.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

Thirty-miles and One Hundred Years

(Click to Enlarge.)

I have never had a familial affinity for Illinois.  My heart has always belonged to Nebraska.  It was Nebraska that I associated with family, and my family history.  But truth be told, Illinois could reasonably lay a claim to my heritage.  Direct ancestors of both my father and mother made homes here.  And startlingly they did it only thirty miles apart from each other. 

(Click to Enlarge.)

Around 1855 in Woodford County, in and around the town of Metamora were my Dad's ancestors 3xg-grands Aaron and Submit (Clark) Walker, my 2xg-grands Henry and Louisa (Dutton) Walker Sr., and my g-grandfather Henry M. Walker, Jr.  Also my 3xg-grandmother Nancy (Smith) Dutton.

At the same time, only thirty miles away in McLean County, in and around the town of Danvers were my Mom's ancestors 3xg-grands Jeremiah and Jane (Combs) Hall, and also 3xg-grands William and Sarah (Moore) McKee.

One hundred years later in northern California, my Mother from Phoenix, Arizona would meet my Dad from Dix, Nebraska, get married and produce me.

As I currently reside in Illinois, this state reminds me of her involvement in my development everytime I travel her highways, and of course visit the graves of my deceased ancestors.  I am blessed that I live so close to where I can walk the same ground my ancestors walked on.











Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

Capt. Harvey Dutton Recommends Two Enlisted Men for Promotion (1864)

Tigerville, La
Nov 3rd, 1864 

Col. I. H. Elliott, 

In accordance with your instructions of yesterday I would recommend Sergeant Sylvester W. Durflinger and Corporal Rasselas P. Reynolds of Co. A 33rd Ills Vet Vol Infntry for the positions, spoken of, in Col. Bryant's Regt. 

Sergeant Durflinger has never been examined except by the Regim't'l Board.  Corporal Reynolds passed examination before Col. Currie's board in the city last spring and was recommended for 1st Lieut. 

Very Respectively,
Your obedient servant,  

H.J. Dutton
Capt. Co. A 33rd Ills Inft.

If anything more than this is necessary please inform me.
H.J. Dutton capt.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

Wordless Wednesday: An Accidental Work of Art "Time is Big; Life is Fleeting"

Wayne N. Walker (1931-2018) and Paul E. Walker (1929-2019), 1933 in Weir, CO.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

Elsie M. Walker (1885-1885)

In yesterday's blog Genealogical Letter from Keith G. Walker (1894-1980) to His Cousin May  grandpa Keith wrote about his sister being buried "in either Downs or Beloit, I am not sure."  This is Elsie, this is her picture.  She was born June 29th, almost eight months to the day after Keith's parents Henry Martin Walker, Jr. (1864-1952) and Lucy Mae Chesley (1866-1940) were married.  She died December 3rd.  My mother told me this was a post-mortem memorial picture the Victorians were fond of having taken.  I have no way to confirm that.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker

Genealogical Letter from Keith G. Walker (1894-1980) to His Cousin May

July 1 1973

Dear Cousin May

I expect you thought what I wrote you like I did I did not want to help you but was not that I thought Lillie could help you more than I so Mother's day I called Lillie's Girl Blanche Yerves and asked her to see if Lillie could remember the trip from Nebraska but she could not your Grandpa Henry Chesley was bourn March 15, 1860 in Illinois died December 14 1926 at 66 yr.

Hattie Olly Chesley bourn July 7 1867 in Michigan died in March 1938 age 70 she did not know where they were married but they moved to Kansas 1882 or 83 Lillie was bourn in Nicodemus Kansas October 14 1883 in 1887 or 1888 they moved to Nebraska my folks was married in Osborn Kansas in Oct 26 1884 then thy moved to near Arnold in 1886 then my Stept Father and his brothers came to Arnold he was Warren D Copeland but he went to Wyoming in with 1890 and when your folks went to Montana he stayed there for a while then came back to Arnold in 1896 or 97 and then he and my mother was married in 1899 and a good father to us boys.

His brother stay near Arnold the rest of his life I have a book that has the names of seven children they had three before they left here I think it 1891 or 1892 when they left Arnold because my brother would tell about playing with the three of he was bourn in August of 1887.

My Dad Warren would tell about being in or Downs Beloit in Kansas that is where my sister is buried I am not sure.

There was Geo Chesley then Charles Chesley he was the first one to come to Arnold Nebr Henry was the 4th of the Chesley family and Charles Chesley went to Washington near Tacoma or Buckly in Dec 1902 I remember but at one time Charles Henry then my folks and George Chesley all lived close together within 3 miles I hope this helps you some and I hope to see you sometime this year the Lord willing I would like to have these back when you get your copy

Love, Cousin Keith 

Keith G. Walker was my grandfather.

Copyright © 2020 by Kevin W. Walker