Who We Were, Are & Will Be Our Family

Amanuensis Monday: Obituary for Louisa L. (Dutton) Walker Easterling (1833-1913)

2011-04-18T06:00:00.002-05:00

This is my latest big score. It is impossible for me to express how badly I wanted this obituary! Louisa was my g-g-grandmother along my pure paternal line (me <-- living Walker <-- Keith G. Walker <-- Henry M. Walker, Jr. <-- Louisa (Dutton) Walker). The obituary did not answer all my questions about my g-g-grandmother Louisa, but it answered some of them. Most of all it confirmed where she died -- Farina, Illinois. Without further adieu, first the death announcement published Thursday, 13 March 1913, in the Farina (IL) News --

Grandma Easterling was found dead in bed at her house in the west part of town Thursday morning. Justice of the Peace Rauckman held an inquest over the body. the verdict was heart failure. Funeral was held Saturday afternoon at the residence conducted by Rev. J. W. Hornbeck, her former pastor.

Now the obituary, published one week later, Thursday, 20 March 1913, in the Farina (IL) News --

Louisa Lorana Dutton was born April 20th, 1883 and was united in marriage with Henry M. Walker Nov. 6th 1855. He enlisted as private in Company A 33 regiment of Ill., Infantry, and was killed March 2, 1865. To this union were born three children -- Letta A. Clarke of Farina, L.C. Walker of Cooksville, and Henry M. Walker of Lauder, Wyoming; all of who still survive her. Besides these are eleven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren also two brothers and one sister, Samuel Dutton, living in Idaho; Capt. H.J. Dutton in Florida, and Mrs. Julia Owens of Colorado Springs, Colorado. During her residence in Kansas she was married to Jas. Easterling a veteran in the Civil war, he preceding her in death January 25th 1897. to this union no children were born. In 1897 she moved to Farina where she has lived until her death at her home, March 6th 1913. Her age being 79 years, 10 months, 19 days.

In early life she gave herself to God ever since living a conscientious Christian life. She first united with the Congregational church from which she joined with the Christian Faith, and after moving to Farina in the absence of this Christian church she joined with the Presbyterian Oct. 31, 1897 in which church she has ever since worked with earnest Christian zeal. She was also a member of the W.C.T.U.

Our dear mother and sister; now we will miss her but the angel of death has come and carried her home to the realms of bliss where no sorrow, no pain can come. Just inside the Eastern Gate waiting to welcome the heart-broken children and relatives home. She has set the beautiful gates ajar and she can not come again to us but we can go to her, who will be watching and waiting for us.

We extend our sympathy to the relatives and friends.

Rev. J. W Hornbeck

Factual errors: Birthdate does not match what I have, off by four days; Son listed as "L.C. Walker" in fact should read "S.C. Walker."

Observations: Referred to in the local paper as "grandma" could express popular familiarity. I did not have as residences S.C. Walker in Cooksville, Samuel Dutton in Idaho, or especially Harvey Dutton in Florida. We suspected the Henry Walker in Wyoming in the 1910 census was our Henry, now we know it was him. We did not know her sister Julia was still alive in 1913! The obit makes no mention of her very first husband Smith or her brief marriage to her third husband Mantle. Of course she was a member of the W.C.T.U., Mantle was a drunk who beat her up! My biggest disappointment is no mention of where she is buried.

Follow the trail: Confirm above previously unknown residences for said relatives; Seek inquest documentation; Seek help from Fayette county research experts on possible cemeteries; Research Henry in Wyoming; Research Julia (Dutton) Owens.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Capt. Harvey J. Dutton (1836-1928) -- University Graduate

2011-04-15T12:55:00.000-05:00

This man's life keeps impressing me! From THE ILLINOIS STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY ALUMNI REGISTRY 1860-1882, as reported in A History of the Illinois State Normal University by John W. Cook and James V. McHugh (Illinois: Normal, 1882) --

18. Harvey J. Dutton entered the Thirty-Third Regiment immediately after graduation, and remained four years, becoming captain before the close of the war. On his return to Illinois he commenced farming, and removed to Missouri in 1860, where he had purchased a farm. He has taught from four to six mouths each winter for nine successive winters. In August, 1866, he was married to Louise V. Brinsden. They have four children—three girls and one boy. His address is Virgil City, Missouri.

Harvey was my g-g-grandmother Louisa (Dutton) Walker's brother. [Me <-- Living Walker <-- Keith G. Walker <-- Henry Martin Walker, Jr. <-- Louisa (Dutton) Walker]

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Amanuensis Monday: Muster Card from Civil War CSR of Charles H. Chesley (1828-1905)

2011-04-11T06:00:00.002-05:00

C -- 8 CAV. -- Ill.
Charles H. Chesley
Appears with rank of Pvt on
Muster and Descriptive Roll of a Detach-
ment of U.S. Vols. forwarded
for the 8 Reg't Illinois Cavalry Roll dated
Dixon, Ill., Oct 10, 1864
Where born Oneida New York
Age 35 y'rs; occupation farmer
When enlisted Oct 5, 1864
Where enlisted Dixon, Ill.
For what period enlisted 1 years.
Eyes blue; hair Auburn
Complexion fair; height 5 ft. 11 in.
When mustered in to date from enlistment Oct 10, 1864.
Where mustered in Dixon, Ill
Bounty paid $33 33/100; due $ (blank) /100
Where credited Union Grove
Whiteside Co.
Company to which assigned C
Remarks: Res. Union
Grove Whiteside Co.
3 Dist Ill
Book mark: (blank)

Civil War Draft Registration of Charles Chesley (1828-1905)

2011-04-10T06:00:00.001-05:00

Third Congressional District, village of Union Grove, Whiteside County, Illinois, enumerated June 1863, one Chesley, Charles, age 35, white, farmer, born in New York (Remember you can click on the image to enlarge it) --

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Notable Descendants of Capt. Samuel Walker (1615-1684)

2011-04-07T06:00:00.003-05:00

My DNA testing has confirmed that I am a member of the Walker surname group that are descendants of Captain Samuel Walker (1615-1684), resident of Exeter, N. H. (1637); Reading, Mass. (1645); Woburn, Mass. (1654). The group's website is HERE. I thought it was worth pointing out something interesting and neat from the first page --

This Walker family tree includes the following notable descendants:
Rev. James⁷ Walker, (1794-1874); Minister and Rel. Philosopher; President of Harvard
Sears Cook⁷ Walker, (1805-1853); Mathematician and Astronomer
George⁸ Walker, (1824-1888); U. S. Consul-General in Paris, France, from 1880 to 1887
Gen. Francis Amasa⁸ Walker, (1840-1897); Civil War General; President of MIT
Col. Everett Worthington⁸ Foster, (1835-1933); Third Minnesota Regiment; Walker Family Researcher
(John) Calvin⁹ Coolidge, Jr., (1872-1933); 30th President of the United States
Nicholas⁹ Longworth, Jr., (1870-1931); Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives
George W.¹² Bush, (1946- ); 43rd President of the United States; (related through his mother)

This Walker family tree includes the following notable people who married descendants:
Sir Benjamin Thompson, also known as Count Rumford, (1753-1814); Physicist and Inventor; m. (1) Sarah⁵ (Walker) Rolfe
Samuel F. B. Morse, (1791-1872); Inventor of the Telegraph and Morse Code; m. (1) Lucretia Pickering⁷ Walker
Alice Roosevelt, (1884-1980); Daughter of Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States; m. Nicholas⁹ Longworth, Jr.
George H. W. Bush, (1924- ); 41st President of the United States; m. Barbara¹¹ Pierce

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Biography of Capt. Harvey J. Dutton (1836-1928)

2011-04-06T06:00:00.008-05:00

From The History Of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade And Barton Counties, Missouri published by Goodspeed, 1889; Pgs. 732, 733 Cedar County Section --

Capt. Harvey J. Dutton, general merchant of El Dorado Spring, with a stock of goods valued at about $3,000 is a native of Woodford County, Ill., born in 1836, and is the eldest of six sons and two daughters, born to Norman and Nancy E. (Smith) Dutton. Mr. Dutton was born in Rutland County, VT., in 1810, and Mrs. Dutton in Canada, in 1808. they moved to Illinois, were married there, and there Mrs. Dutton died in 1866. One year later, Mr. Dutton married Miss Maria Sleeper, from New Hampshire. He died March 18, 1889, was a member of the Congregational Church for forty years, was a deacon in the same, and was a successful tiller of the soil. Capt. Harvey J. Dutton was reared to farm life, received a fair education in the common schools, and later attended the State normal at Bloomington, Ill, from which institution he graduated July 3, 1861. He then joined Company A, Thirty-third Illinois Infantry, known as the Normal Regiment, and was made sergeant at once. Afterward, he was made lieutenant, etc., until August, 1863, when he was commissioned captain, and commanded his company with credit until December, 1865, when he was mustered out at Springfield, Ill. He operated in Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Louisiana and Alabama, and was slightly wounded three times. August 21, 1867, he married Miss Louisa V., daughter of John and Louisa Brinsden, who were natives of London, England, where they were married. Mr. and Mrs. Brinsden emigrated to Canada before Mrs. Dutton was born, and there they both died, Mr. Brinsden in 1861, and Mrs. Brinsden in 1850. Mrs. Dutton came to Illinois with an uncle, and was there married to Mr. Dutton, by whom she had six children, one son and four daughters now living: Florence E., Clarence A., Norma E., Bertha I., and Gertrude L. The fourth child, Colena A., is deceased. In 1869 Mr. Dutton moved to Cedar County, Mo., settling five miles south of El Dorado Springs, where he followed farming until 1889, when he moved to town, and engaged in his present business. He is a Republican in politics, voting for Lincoln in 1860; is a member of Colonel Leonard Post at El Dorado Springs, and has held nearly all the offices in the same. He and Mrs. Dutton are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

-- As the article states, Capt. Harvey J. Dutton was the offspring of Norman Dutton and Nancy (Smith) Dutton. Nancy was the widow of Norman's older brother Samuel. Nancy and Samuel's eldest daughter was my g-grandmother Louisa (Dutton) Walker. So Harvey was my half great-grand uncle, and a blood relative. What makes this article so nice is that it has so much to say about Harvey's parents who are my ancestors!

What makes Harvey so important to my family history is it is probably a safe assumption that he talked Louisa's husband Henry to enter the Civil War. It was January 1865, the war was winding down, the South was fighting without regular supplies and victory appeared inevitable. Henry mustered into Company A, of the 33rd Regiment Illinois, the very same company that Harvey was in command of as Second Lieutenant. Two months later Henry was killed while in service in a railroad accident.

According to the government's military pension records, Capt. H.J. Dutton died January 18, 1928, age 92. Quite a full life and an ancestor to be proud of.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Amanuensis Monday: NEW FOUND Penitentiary Letter from Henry M. Walker 1/17/1897

2011-04-04T06:00:00.008-05:00

Written on letter-sized lined paper with no letterhead, addressed to "Mr. H.H. Andrews, Callaway, Custer Co., Neb." and dated "Jan, 17th, 1897," herein transcribed with all mistakes of spelling, grammar, etc., included --

Dear Sir:

I would like to see you cl much if my enimyes are not trying to rong you too but I will say if you ~~make settle~~ acpet a settlement of my busness with you from my enimyes and let them keep me locked you must not expect any more from me for I did think they might have given me a chance to cure my self and most my debts or at least not sent their influence quite so far from home but they say I might have been cured there in the bow if I had taken the Drs. Medicine but perhaps they don't know that Mr. Seasure gained my confidence and I took the medicine as he advised me to but I did not expect him to tell what was not so if ~~they~~ he did say at one time I should not go home if he could help it then, he may be a good Sherrif for all I know but I do not think he done right by me but if they try to make out I am lazy I can say I have never put my propity out of my name to keep my credeters from geting it or expected more of a sick person than a well person I don't supose I look as though I was sick but I dont beleave any of my folks that has not seen me for a year would recognize me but I may be as well as I can be as long as I am confined for the Dr here has only given me promices untill the last time I went to him and ~~if they the Dr is~~ my mind is to be docktered I and I the Dr why dont they let me but if I have no friends still there please send this to G.S. Miller Garden City Kan. I know ~~I can~~ he is still my friend and I believe my Wife and her father is to as well as Mother.

I can be found when not at Chapple on sunday in cell 39. or I suppose me a letter would find me directed
H. Walker. 3033
~~Lancaster or~~
H. Walker
Lancaster,
Lancaster Co.
No. 3033 |
I dont know why M M. was omited I will close for this time direct I have not received any mail yet

-- I monkeyed with the contrast and brightness of the scans to make the letter more legible. I have a lot of thoughts about this letter, some of it, sadly is nothing more than speculation. This is the second letter my new found friends in Kansas have found from Henry to their ancestor, the first being posted and transcribed here. Henry wrote this letter just thirty-three days after being put in prison, and the former letter just three months before release, and I see a world of difference. 1) I find this letter much more disjointed, defensive, and the number of words struck-out seems to indicate his thoughts were unsorted. However the former letter was more lucid, accepting of his situation, and with absolutely no words struck-out. 2) He is clearly mentally ill. The newspaper accounts pointed to paranoia, and I sense great angst in this letter. He seems to point to mental illness himself, talking of meds and his head being "docktered(sic)" by the doctor at the penitentiary. 3) Can he really believe his wife and his in-laws are still friendly toward him? It seems absurd, but then again, if he had a mental illness maybe they were sympathetic....at least until the shooting happened. 4) Was "Mr. Seasure" a real person or code for "seizures" associate with his mental illness? 5) Mr. Andrews appears to be a creditor at this point, and Henry seems to say he treated "the well" and "the ill" the same, hinting Andrews should do the same for him.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Who Are You?

2011-04-03T06:00:00.003-05:00

Here are two of my saddest family treasures -- at least for the time being they are sad. Two tintypes of two of my ancestors circa the Civil War. Why so sad? I don't know who they are. After my years of family history research I have a good idea who they could be, and a very great hope one of them is my g-g-grandfather Henry Martin Walker, Sr., who died while serving in the Union Army.

So in the next week or so, I will be packaging them up and sending them to an expert to get cleaned and restored. Then I will take a super-high resolution scan to a photo identification expert to see what clues he or she might be able to pick out to aid my investigation.

My Duttons in D.A.R. Lineage Book

2011-04-02T14:55:00.001-05:00

From the Daughters of the American Revolution Lineage Book (1900) --

MRS. NATALIE THOMPSON TUTTLE. 31055
Born in Perry, Ohio.
Wife of Henry A. Tuttle.
Descendant of Thomas Thompson, Major Richard Sinclair, Samuel Dutton and Joseph Call.
Daughter of Thomas Thompson and Carlista Adelle Call, his wife.Granddaughter of Moses Thompson and Rachel T. Dutton, his wife; Amherst Call (1804-69) and Olive Sinclair, his wife.
Gr.-granddaughter of Thomas Thompson and Ruhama Barrows, his wife; Daniel B. Dutton (1767-1813) and Lorana Smith, his wife;
Rufus Call (1769-1869) and Lydia Ellis Dutton, his wife; Joseph Sinclair (b. 1766) and Olive Coolbath, his wife.
Gr.-gr.-granddaughter of Samuel Dutton and Joanna Root, his first wife; Joseph Call and Mary Sanderson, his wife; Richard Sinclair and Mary Cilley, his wife.
Thomas Thompson, (1762-1828), was placed on the pension roll of Vermont, 1818, for service as private in the Massachusetts Continental line. He was born in Halifax, Mass. ; died in Stowe, Vt.
Samuel Dutton, (1737-1813), served as a private in Capt. Jesse Safford's Co., of Vermont militia. He died in Hartford.
Joseph Call, (1741-1821), served in the Vermont militia on guard duty 1777. He died in Perry, Ohio.
Richard Sinclair, (1731-1813), commanded a company in Col. Thomas Bartlett's regiment and was promoted major. He died in Barnstead, N. H.
Also Nos. 509, 2134, 5669, 5551, 10757, 15335. 18497.

"Spider-web" Genealogy

2011-03-30T06:00:00.005-05:00

From The History of Hartford, Vermont July 4, 1761 - April 4, 1889 by William Howard Tucker (Burlington, VT: Free Press Association, 1889) --

No longer than sixty years ago there was in one school district in Hartford six families whose total membership, parents and children, was ninety-nine persons, viz :—
David Newton and wife, and 16 children ;
Sylvanus Smith and wife, and 20 children ;
Samuel Dutton and wife, and 16 children ;
Philip Sprague and wife, and 12 children ;
Harvey Gibbs and wife, and 10 children ;
Daniel Benedict Dutton and wife, and 13 children :
number of children, 87. The number of other children in the same district at that time swelled the aggregate to nearly 120.

-- And then they all grew up and got married. And then their children got married to what are effectively their cousins. And then again to their second cousins. And of course you must name some of the kids after yourselves, and their grandparents, and their aunts and uncles! And if you tragically had a Rachel die while a toddler, well, no problem, you just named the next girl "Rachel." Your husband die? Well of course you married his brother, who was named after his father. And if your wife dies, why of course you married her niece who was named after your sister in law, and whom you named two of your daughters after!

Then some day, over a hundred years later, a descendant like me comes along and must try to sort it all out. I am sure it all made perfect sense to them back them, but for a researcher it is terribly confusing. I haven't actually started the hard slosh, because I have done a cursory look ahead, and I dread it. Mind you this is just a cursory look, but I note I am descended from three of the above families, and Sylvanus Smith at least twice.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

My Dutton Family of Connecticut and Vermont

2011-03-29T11:03:00.001-05:00

From The History of Hartford, Vermont July 4, 1761 - April 4, 1889 by William Howard Tucker (Burlington, VT: Free Press Association, 1889) --

THE DUTTON FAMILY

The Duttons in America are of Saxon nativity. The ancient family of Duttons assumed their surname from the place of their residence--Duntune—now contracted to Dutton, a township lying about five miles east of Frodsham, on the river Wever, in Cheshire. The Duttons in Vermont are descendants of the Duttons who emigrated to New England about 1630, many of whose descendants settled in Connecticut. The Duttons in Hartford are lineal descendants of Thos. Dutton of Wallingford, Ct.

1. THOMAS DUTTON, of Wallingford, Ct., was b. March 1, 1707; was m. May 6. 1799 [transcriber's note: this must be a typo, as children were born to this couple from 1730 to 1753], to Abigail Merriam, b. 1708, died April 6, 1799, in Wallingford; he d. in Royalton, Vt., in 1802. Their children were:
John, b. Feb. 6, 1730, d. 1842;
Abigail, b. July 8, 1732;
Thomas, b. Jan. 31, 1735, m. Mar. 1756, Anna Rice, d. Jan. 20, 1806;
Samuel, b. Feb. 3, 1737;
Lois, b. Nov. 8, 1738, m. Dec. 17, 1759, a Mostly, and settled in Poultney, Vt.;
Matthew, b. Nov. 11, 1740, d. young;
John, b. April 14, 1743;
Amasa, b. July 31, 1745;
Nathaniel, b. June 5, 1747;
Phebe, b. Oct. 11, 1749, d. 1825;
Asahel, b. Feb. 2, 1753;
Asenath.

2. SAMUEL, son of Thomas (1), b. in Washington, Ct. ; m. Dec. 6, 1754, Joanna Root, b. Jan. 1, 1737, d. in Woodstock, Vt., 1772; he m. 2d, Oct. 7, 1772, Rachel Benedict, b. April 14, 1751, d. in Hartford, July 21, 1828; he d. in Hartford, Feb. 22, 1813. Mr. Dutton moved from Woodbury, Ct., to Woodstock, Vt., in 1778, and there bought the home farm of Abraham Powers, which he occupied until 1796, when he removed to Royalton, Vt., where his brother Amasa had already settled. Mr. Dutton was a carpenter and house-joiner by trade. While in Woodstock he carried on farming, and was quite prominent in town affairs. March 28, 1782, he was chosen to be a deacon of the First Congregational church, then called "Mr. Hutchinson's Church." On the 6th of April, 1802, Mr. Dutton bought a 100-acre lot of land in Hartford, of Elias Lawrence, and moved into this town prior to April, 1803. A portion of the land he then bought is now occupied by David D. Hazen. Mr. Dutton died in Hartford, July 21, 1828.
His children by his first wife (all born in Connecticut) were :
Olive, b. Aug. 17, 1761, m. about 1780, Seth Fuller of Hartford, d. Aug. 17, 1828;
Abigail, b. Aug. 30, 1763, m. June 7, 1779, Thomas Hazen 4, (See Hazen family);
Lois, b. Aug. 18, 1765, d. Jan. 7, 1772;
David, b. Aug. 17, 1767, d. Feb. 26, 1813.
Joanna, b. 1769, (further history not recorded);
Samuel, b. June 1, 1771.
The children by his second wife were:
Daniel Benedict, b. Aug. 22, 1773;
Thaddeus, b. Nov. 3, 1775, d. Feb. 18, 1813;
Hannah his wife, d. Feb. 24, 1813, aged 37;
Matthew, b. April 5, 1778;
Esther, b. July 24, 1770, m. Oct. 9, 1814, Joseph Savage, b. Oct. 15, 1780, (son of Lt. Seth and Rhoda (Bacon) Savage), d. March 14, 1857;
Rachel, b. Oct. 17, 1782, d. Sept. 30, 1783;
Rachel, b. June 30, 1784, d. June 3, 1795;
Reuben, b. July 24, 1786, d. Sept. 28, 1815;
Asa, b. Dec. 22, 1789, d. Oct. 29, 1790;
Chloe, b. Sept. 29, 1793, d. same day.

4. DANIEL BENEDICT, son of Samuel (2), b. 1773, m. Dec. 5, 1796, Lorana Smith, b. Feb. 15, 1779, (dau. of Sylvanus and Dina (Fisk) Smith); he d. Sept. 1, 1849, in Norwich, Vt. ; she d. in Norwich, Sept. 15, 1857.
Their children were :
Matthew, b. July 16, 1798, d. Nov. 17, 1820;
Marvin, b. Nov. 30, 1799, m. 1st, April 5, 1826, Ruliana Barrows, 2nd, June 10, 1830, Eunice Hazen, b. Jan. 10, 1799, (dau. of Philemon and Eunice (Marsh) Hazen of Hartford), he d.. April 11, 1872;
Rachel, b. Oct. 7, 1801, m. Dec. 5, 1822, Moses Thompson, died July 21, 1861;
Louisa, b. May 12, 1802, d. Sept. 6, 1820;
Aaron, b. Aug. 4, 1804, m. Phebe Tracy;
Samuel, b. Sept. 6, 1806, m. Nancy Smith;
Olive, b. April 8, 1808, m. Dec. 31, 1838, a King, d. Jan., 1877;
Norman, b. Feb. 14, 1810, m. widow of his brother Samuel;
Esther, b. Jan. 15, 1812, m. Jan. 31, 1837 Morgan. L. Crosby, d. March 27, 1878;
Thaddeus, b. Nov. 23, 1814, m. March 31, 1840, Emily Sprague, b. Dec. 13, 1813, (dau. of Philo and Laura (Hazen) Sprague), he d. Dec. 19, 1874, she d. Aug. 2, 1878, children three;
Daniel B. Jr., b. Aug. 30, 1816, m: Cornelia Howland;
John, known as Dea. John, b. Aug. 23, 1818, m. Harriet Lord;
Louisa A., b. Feb. 8, 1820, d. Oct. 31, 1851.

Samuel and Nancy (Smith) Dutton were my g-g-g-grandparents. They had two children together, one being my g-g-grandmother Louisa Dutton, who of course married my g-g-grandfather Henry Martin Walker, Sr., who died in the tragic railroad accident while serving in the Civil War. Samuel died prematurely, and Nancy remarried to Samuel's younger brother Norman (see above) to whom she also gave two children. Nancy died, and Norman remarried.

When Henry Sr. died during the Civil War, his family was completely broken up with each member going to live with a different relative. Louisa remarried twice, and spent much of her elderly years living with her daughter Letta and son-in-law. Henry Jr., my g-grandfather and who was to become known as a pariah, grew up with his step-grandfather Norman as his legal guardian.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Amanuensis Monday: 8/15/1900 Penitentiary Letter from Henry M. Walker

2011-03-28T06:00:00.005-05:00

Having a genealogy blog pays off once again! A nice couple from Kansas were going through the estate papers of one of their g-grandfathers and found a letter written to their ancestor on Nebraska State Penitentiary letterhead. Out of curiosity they Googled the name of the author of the letter and found him, my g-grandfather Henry Martin Walker, and his story on my blog! Then out of the goodness of their hearts they emailed me to make contact and then sent the original letter to me. Two strangers richly blessed me -- I pray God blesses them!

The letter is dated three months before Henry's early release on good behavior from a four-year sentence for "shooting to wound" his wife. According to my new friends, their ancestor the recipient was an attorney and a banker.

Handwritten on Nebraska State Penitentiary letterhead, dated August 15, 1900, from Henry M. Walker, prisoner #3033, to Mr. H.H. Andrews of Callaway, Nebraska. Transcribed with all spelling and grammar errors as original --

Dear Sir,

It has been along time since I heard from you or anyone there I have heard at last what the news papers said was the cause of my trouble and it has explaned a good deal to me but it is strange that Mr Holladay or any one else neather told me or shode me a copy of it especly when they beleived it as much as it appears every one did but of corse the facts were brought out at my trial, Well that is all past and my turm nearly expired and I hope that I will not find any one that will care any more about taking care of me than I care to have them I expect to see Mr B. in Lincoln and find out how we stand financly. Will you please write to me soon and tell me whether Milldale P.O. is discontinued or is the same P.O. Mistress of it now that was four years ago? or have you heard how my boys are geting a long and the rest of the family? How are the crops? and oblige,

Please excuse mistakes and poor writing.

I remain as ever your friend Henry M. Walker No. 3033

-- 1) It is a strange feeling to read that and know one of his "boys" he is inquiring about is my grandfather. 2) Milldale was a small but thriving community in Custer County, Nebraska. At least it was until the railroad decided to bypass it, now it is nothing more than a bunch of crumbling foundations hidden under the wild prairie grasses. 3) The newspapers account of when Henry shot Lucy was quite dramatic, and it seemed ludicrous to us who read it that he was only charged with "shooting to wound," when the newspapers made it clearly out to be attempted murder. So here Henry is claiming the true account is not in the newspapers but in the trial transcripts. I have a cousin in Custer County who hopes to get a copy of the trial transcripts at the courthouse this coming week, if they still exist. The courthouse burned to the ground on January 13, 1910.

UPDATE: ANOTHER LETTER FOUND! My new friends in Kansas found another letter from Henry to their ancestor H.H. Andrews, and are putting it in the mail to me. I will post that one here too. It is dated shortly after he started his prison sentence and they tell me that it seems to indicate that the two of them were in business together. All records point to Henry being a farmer. Perhaps Mr. Andrews was part owner of the land and crops? I have asked my new friends to also keep an eye out on Mr. Andrews business papers, perhaps they will find details.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Capt. David Cochran and the War of 1812

2011-03-24T22:32:00.000-05:00

From The History of Clinton and Franklin Counties, New York (Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1880) --

Nearly every one who could shoulder a musket took part in the war. Some of those who responded to the requisition made upon the militia by the officer in command at Plattsburgh were David Cochran, captain; Elisha Button, lieutenant; Lucius Elderkin, orderly sergeant; Peter Haff, Abraham Haff, Elvey Ketchum, Isaac Ketchum, Ezra Stewart, Solomon Stewart, Allen Everest, Zelotis Bemas, Brinton Anson, Amos Anson, Jeremiah Hays, Asa Cochran, Nathaniel Cochran, Gardner Button, and others.

Capt. Cochran, with his men, was among the first to report to Gen. Macomb at Plattsburgh for duty, in September, 1814, when that place was threatened by a superior force of well-trained soldiery. On Tuesday, September 6th, his company, with others, was ordered out on the Beckmantown road to tear up the bridges and render the approach to Plattsburgh in that direction as difficult as possible. At a stream about four miles from Plattsburgh, while busy tearing up a bridge, nearly all of his men having their arms stacked, they were suddenly fired upon by a large body of troops, under the command of Gen. Willington, who came through the woods and around a bend in the road just beyond them. With great presence of mind, Capt. Cochran ordered his men to form into line of battle and return the fire of the enemy. It was at this point that the fight began for the defense of Plattsburgh, and the troops from Peru have the honor of having first met the foe. Not one of them was killed or wounded, and after having given battle an orderly retreat was commenced towards Plattsburgh, the men loading and firing on the march as Willington followed with his detachment of Sir John Prevost's army, numbering 6000 men. The company continued to perform patriotic and useful service during the war, and were not formally discharged until 1815.

Captain David Cochran (1765-1836) was my g-g-g-g-grandfather.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

States My Direct Ancestors Lived In (Map)

2011-03-22T21:59:00.001-05:00

States My Direct Ancestors Lived In

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Happy St. Patrick's Day for Real

2011-03-17T10:27:00.000-05:00

I am over fifty years old, and thanks to genealogy this is the first St. Patrick's Day that I know uncategorically I have some Irish ancestry. The same is true for my wife. For her, the link to the green is through her Baggotts. For me it is through both my Porters and Cochrans.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Genealogy Quote

2011-03-16T19:00:00.003-05:00

"[Her spouse's] ancestry may not be my ancestry, but it is my kid's ancestry, and that matters a lot to me." -- Lisa Louise Cook

I feel the same exact way.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Norman Dutton (1810-1889) and the Underground Railroad

2011-03-15T13:43:00.000-05:00

From the Early History of Washington, Illinois and Vicinity (Tazewell County Reporter: Washington, IL 1922) --

The early settlers of this county, although mainly from
the southern or slave states, entertained a deep-seated prejudice
against the Negro, for which it is hard for us to account
at the present day.
The depot masters and conductors on the "under ground
railroad" from Elm Grove to Crow Creek were Josiah
Matthews, Lawyer Briggs, Absalom Dillon, Johnson Sommers,
William Woodrow, Anthony Field, Deacon and Willard
Gray, Uriah H. Crosby, Daniel Roberts and sons John M.,
Ambrose, Darius and Walter, Seth Billings and Elijah Lewis,
George, Channey and Charles Crandle; Orin M. Bartlett,
James Patterson and J. Randolph Scott, Parker, Mark and
Levi ]\Iorse; George Kern and sons John, George and Andrew;
Norman Dutton, the Work brothers and Wilham Lewis.
Nathaniel Smith and Moses Pettingill of Peoria proved their
faith by their works.

-- This is just one of several citations I have ran into so far documenting Norman Dutton's activity in the "Underground Railroad." More to come, especially about this astounding man.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

A Brief Rant on Ancestry.Com Family Trees

2011-03-10T11:56:00.002-06:00

While researching "Cyrus D. Ward" on Ancestry.com last night, I discovered something completely disturbing. EVERY record said he was born in New Jersey. Every census, every military record, every record. BUT, nine out of ten family trees said he was born in Pennsylvania! My gawd!!!

I am a huge fan of "the more people researching their family tree the better!" More people is a good thing. The more people, the more money, the more time invested in the hobby, the more responsive companies and bureaucracies are going to be to our wants and needs.

However there are responsibilities inherent to our research endeavors. Responsibilities to our ancestors, to our descendants, and to ourselves, to get it right. Just because someone says something is true does not mean it is. Treat it as a clue or a hint, not as a fact. Prove it to be true or false BEFORE you pass it along to others. That is how you serve your ancestors, your descendants, and your own integrity.

Here is a simple little dictum to begin with "Someone else's unsourced family tree is not a source!"

And to my beloved Ancestry.Com, you could help the cause by stopping telling your subscribers that they are. I love them shaking leaves, and you properly describe them as "hints." But then when the subscriber saves the "hint" to his/her family tree you then qualify it as a "source" when it is not. The act of saving a hint does not in any way change it qualitatively or quantitatively, it is still a "hint." Keep hints as hints, and sources for facts.

End of rant.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Cyrus D. Ward (1788-1873) War of 1812 Record

2011-03-10T11:15:00.001-06:00

"Record of Cyrus Ward" from U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914 --

No.: 550
Name: Ward Cyrus
Rank: Pvt
Regiment: 17 USI ["U.S. Infantry"]
Company Commander: Capt. Bradford
Height: 5'8"
Eyes: Blue black
Hair: dark brown
Age: 24/25
Complexion: dark
Occupation: farmer
Where Born: Chatham, Morris, New Jersey
Enlistment When: March 24, 1813
Enlistment Where: [blank]
Enlistment By Whom: [illegible]
Enlistment Period: 5 years
Remarks: [Identical to Below]

From Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in Wars, 1791-1815 --

Ward, Cyrus -- Private, Capt. Benjamin Watson's Company; enlisted, March 24, '13, for five years; promoted Sergt., Feb. 28, '15; transferred with Capt. Benjamin Watson's Company to 6th Infantry, Aug. 31, '15; reduced to private, March 9, '17; promoted Sergt., Dec. 11, '17; discharged at Plattsburgh, N.Y., March 24, '18, expiration of service.

Cyrus D. Ward was my g-g-g-grandfather by way of my g-grandmother Lucy (Chesley) Walker and her mother Phoebe (Ward) Chesley.

I was finding it brutal to get info on Cyrus Ward and his family. But the above disclosed his birthplace which should help tremendously.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Rev. Samuel Porter (1760-1825)

2011-03-09T21:14:00.002-06:00

From the Stewart Family History, a personal family history written by William Flennikan Stewart, circa 1900 --

Samuel Porter b. 1760 Ireland. He came to the U.S. Samuel was a minister of the Gospel and did a good deal of pioneer work in Washington Co. Pa. His studies were under the direction of Mr. Smith & Dr. McMillen, the latter making no charge for board or tuition, while a friend provided for his family in the meantime. He was licenced Nov 12, 1789. In the following year he became pastor of the congregation of Poke Run & congruity. Of the former he was pastor until 1789, of the latter until his death Sept 23, 1825 in the 66th year of his age. He was a very able man. The above churches were in Washington Co. Pa.

From History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania by John Boucher (Lewis Publishing Co., New York :1906).

Rev. Samuel Porter was an Irishman, born in 1760. He studied Greek and Latin and theology under Rev. McAlillen, and boarded with his family while doing so, all free of charge. He was licensed to preach in 1789, and the year following began preaching at Polk Run and Congruity. He died September 23, 1825, while pastor in charge of the latter congregation. . . .

The first pastor, Rev. Samuel Porter, was born in Ireland, June 11, 1760, and was of Covenanter parentage. He came to America in 1783, and spent some time in Mercersburg. In 1784 he went to Washington county, where he taught school. There he came under the notice of some of the renowned men of the Presbyterian Church, and he was induced to enter upon a course of study preparatory to entering the ministry. He studied under James Hughes, John Brice and Joseph Patterson and others. After three years he was licensed by the Red Stone Presbytery on November 12, 1789, and in April of the following year began his work at Congruity and Poke Run. The region embraced by his congregation was little less than a backwoods or frontier settlement at that time. Many of the people were as wild and uncultivated as the country in which they lived, and they were greatly in need of the refining influences of the gospel. It is said that on one occasion when Rev. Porter was preaching in the weeds, two young men withdrew from the congregation and ran a foot race in full view of the preacher and his hearers. Under his faithful work the congregation increased very rapidly, and in eight years they felt themselves able to support a pastor alone, so Poke Run was taken from Congruity in 1798. This was due in part to the fact that Mr. Porter did not regard himself as physically able to attend to the wants of both people. Congruity congregation promised him a salary of "one hundred and twenty pounds per year, to be paid one-half in merchantable wheat at five shillings per bushel, and the remainder in cash." To this Mr. Porter agreed, and continued his pastoral relations in that church until his death, September 10, 1825, in all a period of thirty-five years.

While Mr. Porter was pastor there, a new stone tavern was built on the pike, scarcely a mile from the church, and was opened by the owner, a very clever and ingenious landlord, who invited the young folks to have a housewarming and dance in his new tavern. Tickets were distributed and guests invited, many of whom were members of Congruity Church. On the Sunday previous to the intended ball, Mr. Porter, after preaching one of his customary eloquent sermons, before dismissing the congregation, said that the Presbytery would meet the following Tuesday in Greensburg, and also said that on Thursday evening at early candle-light a ball would be held about three-fourths of a mile from that place. He said it was to be hoped that all polite young ladies and gentlemen would attend, for it was a place where politeness and manners could be learned and cultivated, and that many other things could be said in favor of such places which it was not necessary for him to mention at the time. For his own part, if he did not attend, the young' folks, he hoped, would excuse him, as it was likely he might be detained by the Presbytery, but if he should return in time and nothing else prevented him, he would be present and would open the exercises of the night by reading a text of scripture, singing a psalm, etc. Then, with full and solemn voice and in his most impressive manner, he read the 9th verse of the 11th chapter of Ecclesiastes; next he announced and read the 73rd Psalm, and then offered prayer. He prayed for the thoughtless and gay, and asked the Great Spirit to guard them from the vices which might lead the youthful minds astray, after which, with a most solemn benediction, he dismissed his congregation. The evening set for the ball arrived and passed away, but no ball was held, the whole community having been awakened by the venerable pastor's words. During his last years he was enfeebled and unable to stand, and therefore preached while sitting in a split-bottom chair which stood in the pulpit.

From Banners in the Wilderness: Early Years of Washington and Jefferson College by Helen Turnbull Waite Coleman (University of Pittsburgh, 1956) --

Samuel Porter (1760-1825) had come from Ireland in his twenties with a wife, and with his trade as a weaver. McMillan gave him free board and instruction; a neighbor (possibly John McDowell) provided for his family. He spent his subsequent life in the expanding border country; as did also John Brice (1754-1811), William Swan (1764-1827), Thomas Marquis (1757-1827), and John McPherrin (1757-1822), whose ministerial studies were directed by John Clark.

Every one of them, except McGready, participated in the local schools which grew into W. and J. Swan succeeded James Rossas assistant to McMillan in his log cabin school; Patterson and Marquis served as trustees of Canonsburg Academy and Jefferson College; Hughes, Swan, Porter, and McPherrin as trustees of Jefferson College; Patterson and Brice as trustees of Washington College.

There were other contemporary ministers and teachers who came a little later and therefore are not named by McMillan among this second set.

Reverend Samuel Porter was my g-g-g-g-granduncle, through my great-grandmother Camilla (Porter) Needham.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Signature of Henry M. Walker, Sr. (1829-1865)

2011-03-01T12:44:00.000-06:00

As I already documented here my g-g-grandfather died in a tragic railroad accident while serving in the Civil War. One of my seemingly endless quests is to try and find his grave. This week I acquired from the National Archives a copy of his Civil War record including his "Final Statement." Unfortunately it did not offer the information I sought but it did provide a lot of other neat material for future posts, so keep this blog bookmarked.

In the meantime here is an image of his signature taken from his enlistment papers. I find it very well done, especially considering he gave his occupation as "farmer" --

My Take on Scanners for Genealogical Research

2011-02-24T06:00:00.011-06:00

Lately there has been a lot written and said about the new selection of wand-type scanners for use in genealogical research. My problem with my use of the wand scanners that I have tried is my inability to get a nice equal scan. This is probably due to my lack of patience or shaky hands.

When I first got involved in genealogy, before the current popularity of wand-type scanners, a research assistant at NARA told me that the only scanners they would allow is flatbed. My research led me to the wonderful portable-sized Canon LiDE200 Color Image Scanner.

It is about the same size as a 17-inch laptop computer but much lighter. It fits perfectly into my backpack right next to my laptop. It scans at 4800x4800 resolution, scans in only fourteen seconds, and intelligently identifies the type of document being scanned and adjusts its settings accordingly. But here is the kicker -- it powers off of my Laptop via USB!! No bulky, heavy adaptor; No extra wires! I connect it to my laptop and go, that is all it takes. I also got it for about half the price of what wand-type scanners sell for. So for me the decision was clear. Older models than the 200 are available with a little research, and there is a newer 500 model, all priced accordingly.

I have to admit the size of the wand scanner makes it so-o-o-o tempting! It takes up so little space! But for me the Canon LiDE200 is easier to use and priced better.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Wordless Wednesday: Joseph and Edith Baggott Wedding (1/10/1888)

2011-02-23T06:00:00.003-06:00

Joseph Cashel Baggott and Edith Hense Wedding, January 10, 1888.

My wife's maternal great-grandparents.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Maria Gertrude (Homberg) Hense (1836-1880)

2011-02-22T06:00:00.005-06:00

From The Baggott Family: A Family History (self-published, 2002) by Bert and Joan Donlon --

Frank Hense, born in Prussia in 1820, married Maria Gertrude Homberg, born in 1836, on April 15, 1852 in Adams County, Illinois. Frank was 32 and Gertrude was 16. They lived in Hersman, Brown County, Illinois where Frank owned the Lillian Flour Mill. Hersman is located about three miles southeast of Mt. Sterling on State Highway 99. Frank and Gertrude had 17 children, five of whom died as infants or in early childhood. Records from a family Bible indicate that Gertrude died 12 days after the birth of her 17th child. Gertrude was 44 years old. Our family has Gertrude's prayer book as our only remembrance.

Gertrude is my wife's great-great-grandmother along her purely maternal line (Gertrude Homberg Hense --> Edith Hense Baggott --> Helen Marie Baggott Frank --> Living Casattas --> Sherri Casattas Walker). If we were to test Sherri's Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) it would establish a direct link to Gertrude.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Amanuensis Monday: Eugene Chesley Still in Nebraska in 1903

2011-02-21T11:40:00.000-06:00

From the February 19, 1903 issue of the Custer County Republican (Broken Bow, NE) --

Mr. Eugene Chesley, one of our
former students came over from
Mildale, Monday to visit friends.
He returned Tuesday. He expects
to start to Buckley, Washington
where his parents already
reside, about April 1st.

Wordless Wednesday: Keith G. Walker Family (Circa 1971)

2011-02-09T06:30:00.003-06:00

Pictured (left to right) Arthur "Bud" Walker (1916-1985), Sister Violet Walker (1920-present), Beulah "Lee" Walker Wistrom (1907-1980), Keith G. Walker (1894-1980), Paul Walker (1929-present), Betty Jo Walker Strasheim (1924-2002) [not pictured: Dorothy Grace Walker Nitzsche 1912-1948; Frances "Jennifer" Walker 1909-1993; Ralph Walker 1918-1969, Wayne Walker 1931-present].

Remember you can always click on the picture to enlarge it.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Amanuensis Monday: Capt. Edward Everett (1739 - 1815)

2011-02-07T12:17:00.002-06:00

From Descendants of Richard Everett of Dedham, Mass. (Boston, Mass. : T.R. Marvin & Son Printers, 1902) by Edward Franklin Everett --

Capt. Edward5 Everett (Edward4, John3, John2, Richard1), born Dec. 9, 1739, at Dedham, Mass.; died about 1815, at Peru, N. Y.; married , 1762, at Milton, Mass., Ruth Field, of Milton, died at Peru, N. Y., between 1807 and 1815.

They were both received into the Secoud Church of Dedham, Dec. 25, 1763, and after their removal to New York, are reported as being Quakers. He was a land surveyor, and about 1769 removed from Stoughton to Rumney, N. H. He was one of a committee, in 1779, to settle the town lines of Rumney, and in 1785 was a town assessor. In 1781-2, he removed to New Holderness, and represented that town in the Legislature of 1782. In 1786, he crossed Vermont and Lake Champlain to that part of Plattsburg, N. Y., which was set off, in 1793, as Peru, when he was elected the first supervisor of the town, and re-elected three times. His name appears, May 3, 1757, as private on the muster roll of Stephen Miller's company, in Col. Miller's regiment, of Stoughton. He was captain, from Rumney, N. H., in Col. Bedel's regiment of New Hampshire Rangers, in 1776, in the expedition to Canada; was taken a prisoner, at the Cedars, May 19, 1776, and later released.

Children:
134. i. George, b. Oct. 26, 1763.
ii. Persis, b. Jan. 20, 1767.
iii. Hannah, b. July 2, 1769; d.___ at Peru, N. Y.; m. 1st, Robert Whitcomb, of Peru, d. about 1805; m. 2d, Eleazer Nichols.
135. iv. Edward, b.___
136. v. Robert, b.___
vi. Susan, b.___ ;d.___ at Peru, N. Y.; m. Capt. David Cochran, of Peru.
vii. Ruth, b.___ ;m. Elisha Green, of Peru.
viii. Polly, b.___ ;d.___ at Peru; m. John Stafford.
137. ix. David Allen, b. May 23, 1786.

-- Susan Everett and David Cochran were my g-g-g-g-grandparents. That makes Captain Edward Everett and his wife Ruth Field my g-g-g-g-g-grandparents. This is the maternal line behind my g-g-grandmother Phoebe Cochran (Ward) Chesley.

The interesting thing here is that the Everetts were said to be of Quaker persuasion. Their daughter Susan married Capt. David Cochran, which one source said was mistaken for being a Quaker by the way he dressed. Capt. Cochran was famously the leader of the local militia that fought the British in the Battle of Plattsburgh during the War of 1812.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Obituary for Cyrus D. Ward, Jr.

2011-02-06T21:36:00.001-06:00

I found this obituary on the Ward-Surname Forum on Ancestry.Com. No other citation is offered. Cyrus D. Ward, Sr. was my g-g-g-grandfather. Cyrus Jr. is the older brother of my g-g-grandmother Phoebe (Ward) Chesley.

Cyrus D. Ward was born July 1st, 1832 at Plattsburg, Clinton County, New York.

He came west in 1868, settled in Mankato and in the early seventies came to Chippewa County [Minnesota] where he settled on a homestead and lived there until his death, Nov. 20, 1922.

Mr. Ward was one of the early pioneers of this part of the country. At the time he settled on his homestead was before the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul R. R. came to Montevideo. There was a little village near where Montevideo now stands known as Chippewa City. [2007 update: this village was restored into a museum.]

Mr. Ward was a man without an enemy in the world, he was respected and loved by all who knew him.

He answered Lincoln's call for Volunteers when the Civil Was broke out, served two and a half years in the 16th N. Y. Volunteers. Among the battles he was in were Bull Run, Fredricksburg and Vicksburg.

In 1859 he was married to Marion Danforth of Port Henry, N. Y. Twelve children were born, seven still survive; George of Port Henry, N. Y., Ed of Donnybrook, N. D., Linnie Cromwell of Red Stone, Mont., Alice Matthews of Minneapolis, may McGoech of Devils Lake, N. D., Mabel Post of Black River Falls and D. M. Ward of Havelock, with whom he has lived for the past 25 years, his wife having died about 30 years ago.

The funeral was held today at 10 o'clock at the house. Interment at the Montevideo cemetery. [2007 update: Now known as Sunset Memorial]

Rev. Seifert officiated. The deceased has been a member of the Methodist church the past 30 years.

Such men as Mr. Ward were the real empire builders of the northwest.

My Ward-family has ties to Massachusetts?

2011-02-03T11:56:00.000-06:00

This is news to me, but apparently true. More fleshing out is needed. From Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts (New York, Lewis historical Pub. Co., 1910) by William Richard Cutter and William Frederick Adams --

Cyrus Ward lived near Plattsburg, New York. His ancestors settled originally in New Jersey, and his father moved to Ohio after the revolution and during the early settlement of that state.

(II) Luman F., son of Cyrus Ward, was born at Keesville, New York. He was educated in the public schools, and learned the trade of cabinet making, which he followed for many years. From 1855 to the time of his death lie was engaged in farming at Keeseville. He enlisted in the civil war in the Ninety-eighth Regiment of New York Volunteers and served two years, and when he was mustered out he was sergeant of his company. He was a faithful member of the Presbyterian church, an upright, honored and useful citizen. He married Lydia D. Chesley. Children: I. Myron A., born April 14, 1844, mentioned below. 2. Oscar, resides at Easthampton, Massachusetts. 3. Albert Lewis, killed on the railroad at Emery. 4. Elizabeth. 5. Lydia, lives on the homestead at Keesville. 6. Carrie.

(III) Myron A., son of Luman F. Ward, was born in Keeseville, New York, April 14, 1844. He was educated there in the public schools, and worked on his father's farm until 1861, when he enlisted in Company D, Sixtieth New York Regiment, and served four years in the civil war. He was wounded in the battle of Lookout Mountain. He was with General Sherman in his "March to the Sea"' and was one of the men detailed to forage for his regiment. He was discharged and mustered out July 17, 1865. During the next three years he followed farming on the homestead in his native town. In 1868 he came to Easthampton, Massachusetts, to learn the trade of steam-fitter, and in 1870 came to Turner's Falls, where he worked as a journeyman two years. In 1879 he embarked in business as partner in a firm of plumbers and steamfitters and met with gratifying success. He bought out the interests of his partner in 1897 and since then has been in business alone. He has a store on Third street, Chicopee. Besides his tinsmith, plumbing and steam heating business, he deals in stoves, ranges, furnaces and tinware and is one of the leaders in his line of trade in Turner's Falls. Mr. Ward was one of the water commissioners of the town when plans were made and adopted and a system of municipal water supply introduced. He is a member of Post No. 162, Grand Army of the Republic, of which for several years he was commander. He is also a charter member of Elliottstone Lodge, No. 132, Knights of Pythias, of which he was one of the first delegates to the state convention.

He married, November, 1867, Alice I. Keach, daughter of Oran H. Keach, of Rhode Island. Children: William Wallace and .Myron A. Jr.

The Cyrus Ward mentioned in the first paragraph is my g-g-g-grandfather, he lived from 1788-1873, and is buried in Treadwells Mills Cemetery, Plattsburgh, NY, along with his wife Rachel (Cochran) Ward (1797-1859).

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Obituary for Dr. Aaron Walker (1815-1899)

2011-01-27T15:06:00.001-06:00

From The Obituary Record of Graduates of Amherst College Academic Year ending June 28, 1899 (Published by the College, Amherst, Mass, 1899) --

AARON WALKER, the son of Aaron and Submit (Clark) Walker, was born in Belchertown, Mass., Aug. 20, 1815, and was fitted for college at Burr Seminary, Manchester, Vt., and at Monson Academy.

For more than twenty years he was a teacher of a private school in Ware, Mass, for one year, of the Eighth Grammar school, Lowell, 1842-1845, of the Winthrop school, Boston, 1845-1847, and of the Colburn Grammar school, Lowell, 1849-1864. He was in the service of the Christian Commission at New Orleans. La., in 1864. and from that year until 1866 was general agent for establishing and superintending government colored schools in that state.

Having previously studied medicine one year, he continued it at the Medical school of Harvard University, 1866-1867, and at the Homoeopathic Medical college of New York City, 1867-1868, receiving the degree of M. D. in 1868. He practiced his profession in Manchester, N. H., two years, and at Denver, Col., from 1870 to 1885. He then removed to Edgewood, a suburb of Providence, R. I., and spent the rest of his life in retirement there.

He died of heart failure consequent upon an attack of the grip, in Providence, R. I., Jan. 22, 1899.

Dr. Walker was married, (1) July 3, 1844, to Harriet, daughter of Samuel C. Oliver of Lowell, Mass., who died April 17, 1878; (2) Dec. 27, 1881, to Mrs. Lucina M. Smith, daughter of Welcome Sayles of Burrillville, R. I., who survives him. One child, not living.

-- Aaron Walker, Sr. was my g-g-g-grandfather. Dr. Aaron Walker was the older brother to my g-g-grandfather Henry M. Walker, Sr. (1929-1865).

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Tombstone Tuesday: Regina Baggott (1895-1905)

2011-01-25T13:44:00.000-06:00

My wife's great-aunt who died prematurely from diabetes --

Amanuensis Monday: "Stories Told by Dolores Waterman"

2011-01-24T12:44:00.002-06:00

Genealogy can be a strange hobby sometimes. Like I have written previously, I have a tendency to be myopic about it being "my" family history. Sometimes I have to remind myself that not all my relatives share all my family history, as a matter of fact, only my brother shares exactly my ancestry. I even have to remind myself that my ancestry is only half of what belongs to my two sons. And that is the introduction for this post.

My wife's grandmother was Helen Marie (Baggott) Frank (5/29/1901 - 8/15/1973). Her younger sister was Dolores Josephine (Baggott) Waterman (9/10/1905 - 10/01/1996). Below are the "Stories of Dolores Waterman" as told by Joan Donlon and published The Baggott Family: A Family History (self-published, 2002) by Bert and Joan Donlon.

Mom shared a few stories about her family history and her childhood. When I asked why not more she said that my Nana didn't like to talk about the "old" days because they were so "hard." In fact my Nana found herself in a pasture one day with a bull ready to charge. Nana took off at a fast clip, hoisted her long skirts, and cleared a six-foot fence with a foot to spare! She said in later years as things got tough she sometimes wished she'd let the bull win the race. Joseph and Edith Baggott, Dolores' parents, came to San Jose in 1900 after living in Kansas, Illinois, and Colorado. They were farmers and Nana had vivid memories of trying to keep her sanity with five little boys cooped up in a tiny house during the Midwestern blizzards. She carried a switch in her apron pocket as an aid to keeping order! Their home in San Jose was at 820 Spring Street. Grandpa had a dairy business for a while. The boys sold the milk after school going around by horses and wagon. He sold his dairy business to work as a contracting carpenter. The most difficult part of any job was hanging doors. He also found his asthma to be worse when sawing the wood for the projects. He was also active in civic affairs. Grandpa was just about blind by the time of his death in October 23, 1936 at the age of 81. His funeral service was held at St. Joseph's Church and he is buried at Santa Clara Catholic Cemetery.

Nana and Grandpa had eight children, seven lived to have families of their own. Regina died at the age of eight from diabetes. Grandpa had heard that the water from the springs in Alum Rock Park was healthy so, on the weekends, he would hitch up the horse and travel the day to collect water. Insulin had not yet been developed.

One of their most colorful children was Charles. He had a love of adventure and horses. One day he was brought home injured from riding bulls in the rodeo. His injuries were serious enough to have the doctor come to the house. He advised bed rest to allow Charles' knees time to heal. While Nana walked the doctor to the door Charles climbed out the bedroom window and went back to the rodeo!

Mom remembered being at her brother George and Dell's wedding. Mom was only six years old and this was an exciting event. During the dinner Aunt Dell's dad was dishing up raviolis and mom had never seen any before. Being a "suspicious" eater she wanted just a taste. When Aunt Dell's dad didn't hear her timid request to stop, mom pulled away her plate and the raviolis ended up being served on the lace tablecloth.

Nana worked hard raising her children and running the household. They raised cows, had a cherry orchard, and a vegetable garden. She baked five pies, a cake or two, and batches of cookies every week on her wood stove. She spent days canning produce. Nana understood that a carpenter might not be able to earn money during the rainy season so she planned ahead toward the lean times. Mom remembered not-so-prudent women asking for food to "tide their families over." Knowing the generosity of my Nana I am sure they got a jar or two.

Mom went to St. Joseph's Grammar School and had her heart set on going to Notre Dame High School. She needed to earn her tuition money so at age 11 1/2 she started working at the cannery.

As an adult, Mom realized her family didn't have much money but it had never been an issue. It was a busy household with everyone pitching in. Her parents managed to take a trip to Texas and Mexico and mom and Nana took trips together. The first trip was back to Kansas in 1926 where Nana was reunited with her brothers and sisters after a thirty year separation. The second trip was in 1928 when they went to Hawaii to visit Charles "King" Baggott and his family. Those were happy memories!

Nana liked excitement and, as her son Louis said, she would have loved to ride on a fire engine. She was active in civic affairs including the Woman's Civic League of San Jose. In 1915 she was chairman of the league's charter committee. She was also a member of the Women's Get-Together Club of the First Ward. Nana enjoyed politics and worked on many projects for St. Joseph's School and parish. She was also a very capable organizer of Whist parties for the benefit of the parish.

My brother Harold (Hal) and I were fortunate to have known her. I remember: being rocked in the big chair, apple pies, feeding the chickens, a comfy nap to nestle in, a gentle hand, doll clothes made with love. Her favorite word to get our attention was "Hark!" We knew to be quiet and to listen-up. I remember being sneaked a piece of candy to take the taste of soap out of my mouth! Oh yes, mom was a disciplinarian and I must have had a sassy mouth! A treasured memory: Nana took the airplane home from Los Angeles in time for my 3rd birthday. I felt so loved!

Nana died on September 20, 1946 in San Jose, California. Her funeral service was held at St. Joseph's Church and she is buried in Santa Clara Catholic Cemetery.

Obituary: LeRoy Strasheim 1922-2011

2011-01-22T10:49:00.002-06:00

From the January 20, 2011 issue of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle --

LeRoy Strasheim

1922-2011

LeRoy Strasheim, 88, of Cheyenne passed away Jan. 19 at the Veterans Administration Medical Center after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease.

He was born July 4, 1922, in Kimball, Neb., to John and Katherine Strasheim. He married Betty Jo Walker on Nov. 19, 1943, and served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. They owned and operated a liquor store in Kimball before moving to Cheyenne in 1948 to work for Civil Service at WAFB and the VA. He retired from the Wyoming Liquor Commission after 28 years of service.

LeRoy's life was dedicated to his family. He was a loving caregiver to his wife, Betty, during her lengthy illness.

He was an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church. LeRoy enjoyed sports, antique cars, woodworking, was an avid Wyoming football fan and pool player. He collected Jim Beam decanters, and in earlier years, enjoyed league bowling. He was an all-state athlete in football and track at Kimball High School.

He is survived by a son, Bob (Kim) Strasheim of Cheyenne; two daughters, Patty (Dean Haney) Strasheim of Jackson, and Nancy (Russ) Nagel of Cheyenne; five grandchildren, Kiphany (David) Hof of Kearney, Neb., Jessica (Paul) Wireman of Jackson, Joshua Haney of Manhattan, N.Y., Devin Strasheim and Maddison Strasheim, both of Springfield, Mo.

Mr. Strasheim was preceded in death by his wife, Betty; his parents; and his siblings, Katherine Hofferber, John Strasheim, Emma Switzer and Alex Strasheim.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Trinity Lutheran Church with the Rev. John Christensen officiating. Interment will follow at Cheyenne Memorial Gardens.

Pallbearers will be Russ Nagel, Dean Haney, David Hof, Joshua Haney, Paul Wireman, Jared Melton and Jeremy Payne.

Memorials may be made to Trinity Lutheran Church, or the Laramie County Seniors Activity Center, Attn: Kim, 2101 Thomes Ave., Cheyenne, WY 82001.

Friends may sign the online guestbook for LeRoy at www.wrcfuneral.com

Obituary: Ann B. Shadel (1920 - 2004)

2011-01-19T07:39:00.009-06:00

From the Callaway Courier, 20 Jan 2004

Ann B. Shadel 1920 - 2004

Kearney -- Ann B. Shadel, 83, of Callaway, died Thursday, Jan. 1, 2004 at Good Samaritan Hospital.

Ann was born July 25, 1920, in Arnold, to Lynn C. and Bessie Ann (Hutchens) Walker. She attended School at Arnold and graduated from Arnold High School with the class of 1938. After graduation, she moved to Fort Collins, Colo., for a time and then back to Arnold.

On Aug. 11, 1946, she was united in marriage to Dean Shadel in North Platte. The couple moved to Grant where she was employed as a telephone operator. The couple moved to Callaway in 1948 and lived there until 1953 when they moved to Cozad. They moved back to Callaway for good in 1957.

After returning to Callaway, she was employed by the telephone company until 1965. An was then employed by the gas company, Dean's Market and the Loup Valley Queen. She was an advertising setter for the next 27 years before retiring.

Ann was a member of the Callaway United Methodist Church, the American Legion Auxiliary, The Birthday Belles, a Lioness and a member of the church circle.

She liked to attend school activities, enjoyed traveling and was an avid reader. Most of all, she loved spending time with her grandchildren.

Survivors include her husband of Callaway; a son, Neil Shadel of Pocatello, Idaho; two daughters, Charlynn (Dick) Behrends of Broken Bow and Sue (Randy) Stratton of Callaway; two brothers, Harold of Omaha and Gerald of Lexington; six grandchildren: Scott (Tina) Behrends, Stevi Wilson, Kimaree (Bernie) Woodward, Kara Shadel, R.D. Stratton, and Travis Stratton; four great grandchildren: Bridget Behrends; Rileigh Wilson, Travis Woodward and Brayden Behrends.

Ann was preceded in death by her parents, two sisters, Beulah and Flora Mae; two brothers, Glenn and Norman.

Funeral services were conducted at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004, at the Callaway United Methodist Church with the Rev. Gerald Schwarz officiating.

Interment is at Rose Hill Cemetery at Callaway.

Memorials are suggested to the Callaway District Hospital and the Callaway Rescue Unit.

Timm - Reynolds - Love Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Ann was my father's cousin. My Dad came from a large family and because of the disparity in ages found himself in a lot of ways closer to Ann.

She was obviously my first cousin once-removed. I remember clearly visiting "Dean and Ann" when I was growing up. I learned a lot about farm/ranch life. I remember going to the county fair and hanging around as an "exhibitor" because they were competing with their farm animals. I remember the tornado sirens being tested in the evening, and the coyotes calling back to them. I remember having a huge crush on the girl who lived next door to them (and was about four years older than me). I hope she is well.

Dean and Ann were instrumental, along with other Nebraska relatives, in getting me to fall in love with the state and get me to long to live there.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Genealogy Poem

2011-01-18T11:07:00.002-06:00

This poem has been posted all over the web, but I know I have some readers who never go where this might appear, so I thought I would share it with them here. The author is unknown --

I started out calmly, tracing my tree,
To find if I could find the makings of me.

And all that I had was Great-grandfather's name,
not knowing his wife or from where he came.

I chased him across a long line of states,
And came up with pages and pages of dates.

When all put together, it made me forlorn,
Proved poor Great-grandpa had never been born.

One day I was sure the truth I had found,
Determined to turn this whole thing upside down.

I looked up the record of one Uncle John,
But then I found the old man to be younger than his son.

Then when my hopes were fast growing dim,
I came across records that must have been him.

The facts I collected made me quite sad,
Dear old Great grandfather was never a Dad.

I think someone is pulling my leg,
I am not at all sure I wasn't hatched from an egg.

After hundreds of dollars I've spent on my tree,
I can't help but wonder if I'm really me.

Book Review: Annie's Ghosts by Steve Luxenberg

2011-01-10T16:00:00.000-06:00

After yesterday's negative book review I felt compelled to present a positive alternative. Last year I completed Annie's Ghosts: A Journey into a Family Secret by Steve Luxenberg (Hyperion, New York, 2009), an outstanding work in this genre. Near the end of his mother's life, newspaperman Steve Luxenberg discovers that the long-held family assumption that she was an only child may be untrue. The work follows Steve in his inquiry which in turn is a typical family history quest. He interviews relatives, visits sites important to his family, follows leads on various documentation, and queries the government. This last being perhaps the most interesting as he navigates the hurdles the bureaucracy has created, supposedly in the name of privacy, that prevent even close family members from reaching the truth, as well as where the government has dropped the ball on caring for the records (and remains) of those they seek to help.

It is written in the first person, but personal politics and opinions are not an issue nor even see the light of day, especially about people and issues unrelated to his search. Steve stays fully focused on the task at hand, although his personal remorse over the treatment of his ancestor and her records does come to the surface, as well as his personal feelings about his parents, his siblings, and other relatives. And like any good writer, he makes us feel what he feels.

The book reads as much like a detective story as anything. His experience as a journalist is evident, as he masters both primary and secondary sources. But there are historical backgrounds relevant to the story that are in turn educational, in particular how society has in the past treated classes of people perceived to be less persons.

The book has extensive notes, an epilogue and an index, all of which proved valuable. But as a someone actively involved in genealogy and family history myself, what I really got the most out of the book was encouragement. The way he overcame the challenges and was able to reach reasonable and informative conclusions gives me hope in my work.

I Have Enabled Comments on the Blog

2011-01-09T10:17:00.000-06:00

I probably should have done this sooner but really didn't want to have to do the dance with the spammers.

If there were past posts you wished you could have commented on, I hope you will return to them and post now.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Book Review: Shaking the Family Tree by Buzzy Jackson

2011-01-09T07:00:00.002-06:00

I just completed reading Shaking the Family Tree: Blue Bloods, Black Sheep, and Other Obsessions of an Accidental Genealogist by Buzzy Jackson (Touchstone, New York, 2010). I picked it up on the recommendation of more than one other Geneablogger, and the title alone was enough to grab me.

I must say that I don't find it the least bit ironic that written in an era dominated by online social networking, that I thought the book read like a 200+ page post on Facebook or tweet on Twitter. It is in fact sort of two books interwoven. On one hand you have the almost ego-driven story of Buzzy herself as she goes about learning and practicing family research. She tells us her opinion on practically everything -- guns, gays, cruises, cruise ship participants, the south, southerners, the use of the Confederate Flag, religion, the religious, the D.A.R., elites, and on and on. And perhaps most of all -- her undying support for Barack Obama. What does any of this have to do with family history, genealogy, or the search for it? Nothing. Yet that makes up at least half the book.

Contrast that to the other half, that which is relevant to her quest. And I do mean "contrast," for it is engaging and engrossing; Masterfully written. If you are a true genealogist, I dare you to put down the chapter on her trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City! But those genuinely golden nuggets are few and far between, and the reader must put up with yet another liberal rant about this or that to find them.

I am politically and socially conservative, Buzzy is clearly from the other end of the political spectrum. So I found all the political opinion irritating and irrelevant. I suspect that those who agree with her politically will find it lesser so.

Roxa Rich (1785-1868) in D.A.R. Lineage Book

2011-01-08T11:19:00.001-06:00

Lineage book, Volume 23 by Daughters of the American Revolution --

MRS. ROMELIA M. QUAYLE. 22376

Born in Dover, Ohio.

Widow of William H. Quayle.

Descendant of David Foote and of Capt. Divan Berry, Jr., of Connecticut.

Daughter of Lyman Perry Foote and Ruth Berry Smith, his wife.

Granddaughter of Thomas Foote and Dema Perry, his wife; Sylvanus Smith and Roxa Rich, his wife.

Gr.-granddaughter of David Foote and Betsey Hamlin, his wife; David Rich and Ruth Berry, his wife.

Gr.-gr.-granddaughter of Divan Berry, Jr., and Lydia Yale, his wife.

David Foote, (1760-1851-4), served at various alarms in the Berkshire county militia, 1777-80. He was born in Lee, Mass.; died in Dover, Ohio.

Divan Berry, Jr., (1735-83), served as ensign at the Lexington Alarm, as lieutenant in the New York campaign, 1776. He was appointed by the Assembly, 1778, captain of the Sixth Company. He was born in Wallingford; died in Meriden.

Also Nos. 2501, 10348, 16606.

There you go ladies! If your maiden name is Walker and you are my direct relative, you are very likely eligible for membership in the D.A.R. (Men are eligible for membership in the Sons of the American Revolution.)

Sylvanus Smith and Roxa Rich are my 4th great-grandparents.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Death Notice for Ralph E. Phillips (d. 1956)

2011-01-07T13:09:00.000-06:00

Paper: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Deceased: Ralph E. Phillips, Sunnycrest, Ill.
Date: November 18, 1956

Ralph E. Phillips, Sunnycrest, Ill., beloved husband of Anna May; loving father of De Etta, Eugene Phillips, and Mrs. Barbara Vaughn; dear son of Maude E. and Joseph Bartosch; fond brother of Mrs. Gladys Butterfield. Service Monday 2 p.m., at funeral home, 18022 Dixie hwy., Homewood. Interment Cedar Park cemetery. Member of South Park lodge, No. 662, A. F. & A. M.

Gleaned: New family unit complete with names; New surname (Vaughn), and a fraternity membership.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Death Notice for Maude Bartosch (1883-1958)

2011-01-07T09:49:00.001-06:00

From the June 25, 1958 issue of the Chicago Tribune. Maude was my first cousin twice removed, and comes from an Illinois family line I desperately want to do more research on. Her father Samuel C. Walker (b. 1860) was my great-grandfather Henry M. Walker's (1864-1952) older brother.

BARTOSCH-- Maude W. Bartosch of 624 E. 103d place, suddenly, June 24, beloved wife of Joseph I; fond mother of Gladys Butterfield and the late Ralph E. Phillips; grandmother of three; sister of the late Guy T. Walker. At chapel, 214 E. 115th street. Service Friday, June 27, at 1:30 p.m. Internment Cedar Park.

Gleaned: She was survived by a married daughter (look for contemporary descendants). She was preceded in death by a son from a different marriage (so she was married before). Her brother Guy had already passed before 1958. She is buried relatively locally.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

A New Genealogy Emotion, At Least New to Me

2011-01-06T13:47:00.003-06:00

It seems a common and repeated refrain for genealogists to ask "Why do we do genealogy?" And I think by now it is pretty much understood there is no one answer. But I encountered something new, an emotion I really can't easily put my finger on. And to be totally honest I am using this post in my blog to journal it, to see if I can't help my self understand it.

It seems to me that for years I have perceived that I have been doing genealogy in a virtual vacuum, a bubble if you will. I saw it as just me, my relatives, and my ancestors doing our research in parallel and alongside a whole lot of others also doing their own research in their own bubbles. Nothing entirely wrong with that, there is communication back and forth as we share research, give each other tips, etc. That is the way I perceived it.

I have run into a few indirect relatives along the way also researching the same family lines. But, no offense intended, by and large, with few exceptions, there was an air of abstraction about them to me. Unfair, I admit, they are real people. However, it just seemed that unless someone was a part of my direct ancestry they were not inside my self-made bubble with me. Then my bubble burst.

A lady recently contacted me saying that she had some documents to share on one of my g-g-grandmothers. She said she was related by a previous marriage. I had no evidence of any previous marriage! But she insisted and I thought there was no harm so accepted the papers. When the papers arrived, I was surprised, there it was in black and white, my g-g-grandmother had been previously married, and while my new found correspondent was not a descendant of my g-g-grandmother, she was descended from her first husband by a different marriage. No threat to my bubble; Still intact.

However then I went to visit my g-g-grandmother's grave, and it began to hit me, something existentially awakening. I sensed it when looking at the graves of my other ancestor's too. These were not "my" ancestors per se. These were the ancestors of dozens if not more descendants; People I don't know, but am yet related to hereditarily, genealogically, totemically, and every other familial way. My perceived bubble was absurd.

A new emotion struck me. I am not exactly sure what it is, but I liken it to "responsibility". If my unknown relatives are anything like me, and some day down the road, which they may not yet be able to envision today, want to know something about their roots, they were counting on me. If they were not counting on me, they were at least putting hope in me. The hope I would do the work; That I would do the work right, and that I would be willing to share it.

Now don't get me wrong, I still do family history and genealogy for me. And it is and will remain a "choice." But I love it. I love doing the research, I love the rewards. But now the thought of it being practiced in a bubble is just plain absurd. And I have a stronger sense of wanting to produce something worth sharing.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

The Kind of Family Bible that is the Stuff that Genealogical Dreams are Made Of

2011-01-05T12:13:00.001-06:00

I was given "the" Family Bible by my grandfather, something for which I am eternally grateful. But it is really not "old" as it was started by him, and unfortunately research has proven he fudged some of the dates deliberately to hide some family peccadilloes. So while I am deeply, emotionally touched to be the designated recipient, it has lost a bit of its luster. Especially when I uncovered this about a different Family Bible belonging to his grandparents:

Testimony given by my g-g-grandmother Phoebe (Ward) Chesley (1830-1928) in the Civil War Widow's Pension File for her husband the late Charles H. Chesley (1829-1905). --

On this 3 day of July 1905 before me a Notary Public in and for the county and state afore mentioned personally appeared Phebe C. Chesley who being by me duly sworn swears there is no public record of any kind of fact or date of my marriage to Charles H. Chesley as no such record was by law required to be kept in the state of New York at date of our marriage. I have a truthful record of my marriage in our family Bible. . . .

The testimony goes on at some length where, among other perfunctory statements like a listing of personal property, she swears there are no remaining witnesses to the marriage nor is she able to contact the minister nor would he have records.

Attached to the sworn affidavit are two more affidavits witnessing to the veracity of the first. These are from her son-in-law Warren Denslow Copeland (1866-1942) and from a J. O. Mylor who says his age is 44 and his residence as Milldale, NE.

Finally we have an addendum from the attesting notary --

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 3 day of July 1905 by Phebe C.Chesley, claimant for pension and the two persons above subscribing. I have no interest whatever in the claim for pension by said Phebe C. Chesley widow. I certify that at the same time said Phebe C. Chesley presented to me a Bible which she said on her oath contained a correct and true record of her family. I have carefully examined said book. It appears to have been printed in 1855. The record is legibly written with no change or alteration from its appearance. I believe said record is genuine and was probably written near the dates the respective events therein recorded are said to have transpired. As to the marriage of Charles H. Chesley and Phebe C. Ward the record recites as follows

At top of page under heading of marriages in an old and badly worn and faded Bible appears the following:

Charles H. Chesley (Born Dec 26th AD 1828) x Phebe Ward (Born Feb 6th AD 1830) - August 13th 1848

also a list of others of family with apparent date of marriage set opposite as above.

THAT'S what I am talking about! The stuff that a Genealogist's dreams are made of.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Description of Charles Henry Chesley (1828-1905)

2011-01-02T23:02:00.001-06:00

For personal reasons I have been unable to find the time to update my blog for the last three months. But with the holidays behind us, it is time to fire it up again.

My son was able to make it to Washington D.C., and graciously stopped in at the National Archives to copy off the Civil War pension records for four of our ancestors. One such record was for my g-g-grandfather Charles H. Chesley, a Private in Company K, 8th Regiment, Illinois. In the pension records we find the requisite medical report (formally known as "Surgeon's Certificate"). And from the medical report we get the following description --

Upon examination we find the following objective conditions: Pulse rate, 75; respiration, 18; temperature, 98 1/2; height, 5 feet 10 1/2 inches; weight, 165 pounds; age, 62 years. Left eye globe collapsed - otherwise in reasonable good condition, the eye totally blind. Right mucous membrane relaxed areas [ ] of right, eyesight normal.

Rheumatism right shoulder [ ] tender [ ] motion limited because of pain same description of right hip [ ]. No other sign of rheumatism, heart normal.

Supporting documentation appears to indicate he lost his left eye in combat during the Civil War, but I need to transcribe the handwritten documents before I will know for sure.

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin W. Walker

Sharing Sources, Research, Etc.

2010-09-11T18:07:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite chefs is Mario Batali. I was shocked when I heard him say he didn't keep any cooking secrets -- he was willing to share recipes and techniques with anyone! He was comfortable in his shoes and unthreatened by others knowing what he knew. And besides, it was all about the food.

I have been researching my family tree for about four years, but didn't get serious about doing it right and sourcing everything until this year. Now whenever I discover a distant cousin also doing family research, almost always my first request is for their sources. I am glad to share mine, although because I am a newbie at sourcing I have a limited supply.

So far, most of my new-found "cousins" are like what I was -- essentially a name collector and have no sources. The next step up, barely, are those whose "sources" are the online family trees of name collectors! But the worst, at least in my opinion, the absolute worst, is the successful genealogist who has been researching our mutual ancestors for decades and has documented everything. . . . and won't share the sources.

I know how it must feel, to have put in all that hard work, money, and time, and then some newbie comes along and wants it handed to him or her with little effort. But I wish you would take a lesson from Mario Batali. It is about family. Isn't that why you started genealogy in the first place? Is there any better way to honor your ancestors than to share the truth about their lives with a relative who wants to know? It does them no honor to keep it to yourself.

I know it is easy for me to say, I am one of those newbies. And I am certainly in no position to tell you what you must do with the product of all your hard work and expense. But I am not too far removed from when I started researching, to remember "family" is why I got started in the first place.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

9/11/2001 Memory

2010-09-11T17:31:00.000-05:00

I was still in bed while my wife was getting ready for work. She had just gotten out of the shower and had heard on the radio that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center, she saw me stirring and told me. I figured, at first thought it was some tiny two-seat propeller plane accident, but turned on the radio to listen. Just then the second plane hit the second tower, and I sat up in bed like a rocket, this was no accident!

I watched several hours of the television coverage, glued to the set. The boys came home from school early and so did my wife from work. This gave us a chance to sit down and talk together and deal with any fears or anxieties in a rational way, and at the same time exercise our family bonds making them stronger.

That afternoon we headed down to DesPlaines Conservation Area to train our dogs like we did every Tuesday. There was a surreal feeling about doing the norm on that day, continuing to listen to the coverage over the radio in the truck. It didn't help that there were much fewer people outside and cars on the road. It almost felt like we were behaving wrongly.

While we were out training, a single airliner flew high above us in the sky, when all other had been grounded. It was Air Force One accompanied by two fighter jets heading back to Washington, D.C., from Offutt AFB in Nebraska where the President was first taken for safety.

Nine years later and I still remember it like it was yesterday. It is true when they say you will never forget where you were when we were attacked in our homeland, September eleventh, two-thousand and one.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Oakwood Cemetery Trip, Part 4: A Scare and An Angel

2010-09-01T16:54:00.000-05:00

We were on the way back to the other side of the cemetery to visit the grave of my g-g-g-grandfather Aaron Walker (1788-1862), when we stopped to visit the graves of a couple veterans in the middle and back of the cemetery far from the road. When we returned to my son's car it wouldn't start. It sounded to me like it wasn't getting any fuel, but my son insisted on trying to jump it, so Jane pulled her car up, and we tried a jump which proved fruitless. We decided to leave the car and walk the rest of the way to visit Aaron. It was hot, I was sweating, and Jane gave us bottled water.

The mystery of "A.W."

We put down the rocks we brought from home up against Aaron's marker, and my son gave him a flag. The marker next to him says simply "A.W." I am yet to locate the grave of his wife, my g-g-g-grandmother Submit (Clark) Walker who outlived him. Since Aaron and Submit were already elderly when they came to Illinois from Belchertown, Massachusetts, it is not likely their child. Was this a placemarker for her and she never made it there? Another question for the sexton.

After an hour my son walked back to the car and it still wouldn't start. It is late on a Sunday evening in a cemetery in a small town that doesn't even have a motel or a car repair shop. We call our insurance company for roadside service, and they must be using the same location service as our TomTom GPS because they can't locate the cemetery either. Jane, a local, gets on the phone to give them our location and they still can't find us. Panic is starting to set in.

We get out the GPS and hit the "Where Am I?" button and give the insurance company what the GPS says. Still no soap. We give them the coordinates for the longitude and latitude, and aha! Now they found us. The tow truck is now on the way.

But what to do when it arrives? The GPS is wonderful. It told us where were the nearest car repair shops as well as hotels/motels. But they were many miles away in other small towns, and it was late Sunday evening. We were calling them on our cell phones, and striking out.

Jane was an angel. After all she had already given us, she wasn't done. She sat there and waited with us for hours as we tried to resolve our situation, stuck in a remote cemetery as the sun is going down. She began planning on how she would take us to a hotel, then come for us the next day and take us to our car after it is fixed. She apologized for not being able to bring us to her home, but it is small and they have rented out the spare room. Note, I am summarizing here for brevity, the true extent of her generosity was breathtaking. All the time we are sitting there, she is thinking of ways she can help us.

Just as the sun was going down the tow truck arrived. The driver looked the car over and discovered my big foot had loosened a wire on the passenger side that controlled the electronic fuel injection. I was right, the engine wasn't getting any fuel. The driver tightened the wire and reset the controls, and like magic the car was fixed.

We each gave Jane a hug, and repeatedly thanked her for her consideration and generosity for a couple of brand spanking new acquaintances. She said, "That is the way we do it in small towns."

And so ended our adventure. Lots of surprises, a scare, and an angel. We are already thinking when we can do it again!

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Oakwood Cemetery Trip, Part 3: More Surprises

2010-08-31T21:18:00.001-05:00

We spent a couple hours visiting with the Duttons, but we knew we wanted to also spend a good amount of time with my g-g-g-grandfather Aaron Walker (1788-1862) so it was time to move along. But before we did, the sexton Jerry had told me about the oldest part of the cemetery, so secluded and far back in the woods, there was no road to it. Jerry was confident there were no Walkers or Duttons back there, but my son wasn't going to leave without walking the area, so we headed back there.

As soon as we turned off the road and started driving down the path we came upon a couple isolated graves, and my son shouts "It says 'Dutton'"! And he put the car in park.

As is our custom, we each put a stone we brought from home on the marker to show it had been visited.

"Eunice Hazen, wife of Marvin Dutton, born in Hartford, Vt. Jan. 10, 1799, died Aug. 31, 1885." Marvin Dutton (1799-1872) was the older brother of my g-g-g-grandfather Samuel Dutton (1806-1835) and Norman Dutton. As a reminder, my g-g-g-grandmother Nancy (Smith) Dutton married Samuel, gave birth to my g-g-grandmother Louisa, Samuel died, and as a widow she married Norman, who was Samuel's younger brother. Follow all that? Geesh they make it complicated! Next to Eunice was a small slab marker, again worn smooth. Not even the shaving cream trick could bring up anything on it. Was it Marvin? Or was it a child? I am hoping to get the info from the sexton.

On the other side of Eunice was this marker --

Theodore S. Barton (1826-1888) and his wife Almira M. (1836-1899). The Bartons have made an appearance in my blog before! As you can correctly guess, Almira Marie (Dutton) Barton is the daughter of Marvin and Eunice Dutton.

Next to Theodore and Almira was another marker (almost completely illegible without the shaving cream, and completely legible with it, not saying that is an excuse to keep using it, it is not) --

"Dora A., Dau. of T.S. & A.M. Barton, died Mar. 25, 1872, Aged 4 Yrs. 5 Mos."

I must say I have been overall impressed with the amount of information my ancestors have decided to put on their stones. ESPECIALLY maiden names, one of the hardest things to locate in the rural midwest predating marriage licenses.

Much more to follow in Part 4.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Tombstone Tuesday, S.E.: Oakwood Cemetery Trip, Part 2

2010-08-31T16:17:00.000-05:00

Oakwood Cemetery does not exist. At least that is what my TomTom GPS says, we had to punch in the longitude and latitude to get it to work.

The trip down was fairly uneventful. It was a hot and sunny day, and I got a little sunburned. We were running a little behind schedule so the sexton Jerry had to cancel meeting us. I must admit my heart beat just a little faster when we passed the sign announcing "Woodford County." So many of my ancestors are from there -- the towns of Metamora, Secor, and Washington are continually appearing and reappearing in my research.

I wouldn't exactly call the cemetery "beautiful." There is almost no uniformity. But it is very peaceful and restful. It is extremely shaded by centuries old oaks, so the grass does not grow very well at all, but the overall feeling is one of comfort. When we pulled into the cemetery we were greeted by FaG volunteer Jane who was there photographing gravemarkers for the website. She was only too happy to show us the burial sites for our ancestors that we had driven to see.

We started at the Dutton family plot. It is marked by a column with the names of eight deceased but is marked on the ground by at least nine graves.

Dutton family monument in back, individual stones line up to the west facing each other.

Jane had warned me that many of the markers at the cemetery were broken, missing, and even rubbed smooth. In the case of the Dutton family plot, two were rubbed smooth, one was broken and missing, one was cracked.

We were able to identify six of the markers on the ground -- Norman J. Dutton (1810-1889), James M. Owen (1846-1883), Ella Dutton Rickets (1854-1887), Henry M. Dutton (1852-1853), Horace S. Dutton (1843-1862) and finally, drum roll please, Roxa Smith (1785-1868)!


Roxa Smith's marker with the Dutton monument in the back. We believe the stone to the left is not a gravemarker but a cornerstone of some type.

Roxa's gravemarker was probably our biggest surprise of the visit. A little backstory -- when I learned that the remains of Norman Dutton had been dug up in Kansas and reintered here in Oakwood Cemetery, Metamora, Illinois, I knew immediately there had to be a reason. And I was correct, this was the location of the gravesite of his wife, my g-g-g-grandmother Nancy (Dutton) Smith (1812-1868), but not in my wildest dreams did I imagine we would also locate her mother, my g-g-g-g-grandmother Roxa (Rich) Smith! We summize that Nancy must occupy one of the other graves with a smooth stone, or broken and missing stone. The grave between her husband Norman and her mother Roxa is has the broken missing stone, our best guess that is Nancy because of the placement.

Another necessary comment about the appearance of the above stone. The first time I saw one like it that Jane sent me I was horrified, I was just sure she was splashing the stone with bleach or hydrogen peroxide! But she assured me that she felt as strongly as all of us that the stones need to be protected and she would never use anything that would harm them. She uses shaving cream, smears it on, and then squeegee's off the excess, and when the rains come they wash off the rest. Made sense to me, shaving cream is especially known for being gentle. Well it turns out I found out after I got home that the use of shaving cream can also be harmful to the stones. I didn't know then, now I do.

Anyway, more to come about our surprising and eventful trip to Oakwood Cemetery in part 3.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

"Close" Only Counts in Horseshoes and Tiddlywinks, not Genealogy

2010-08-30T20:08:00.001-05:00

Oh the heartbreak.

As reported here previously, my g-g-grandfather Henry Martin Walker, Sr. (1929-1865) died in a troop train accident during the Civil War. It was March 2nd, 1865, and he was a member of Company A, in the Thirty-Third Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Now let's get a bit of perspective. There were several hundred of regiments fighting in the Civil War. And most all regiments had several companies. So what are the odds?

Researching the Thirty-third and the train accident, I found a 1914 publication of the Illinois Historical Society indicating that I might find useful a book written in 1883 by Alfred O. Marshall called Army Life or Recollections of a Private Soldier which I was lucky to find online here. And I got really excited to begin reading that he was a member of Company A in the Illinois Thirty-Third! And it is over four hundred pages long! What are the odds?!!

Jumping to the end of the book, I couldn't have been more crestfallen to read that the book ends when Mr. Marshall was mustered out -- three months before my g-g-grandfather enlisted, and five months before the train accident. Sigh. What are the odds?

Ugh.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Oakwood Cemetery Trip, Part 1

2010-08-30T19:35:00.003-05:00

I have known for a long while that my g-g-g-grandfather Aaron Walker (1788-1862) was buried in Oakwood Cemetery some three hours away in Metamora, Illinois. But when I discovered his daughter-in-law Louisa (Dutton) Walker's stepfather Norman Dutton (1810-1889) had been reintered there from Kansas, I knew it was time to try and set up a road trip.

Norman John Dutton passed away and interred in Kansas, reinterred in Illinois with his wife.

Transportation and companionship was not a problem. My oldest son is a bona fide "graveyard rabbit" and is always up for visiting a cemetery, especially an old one; The older the better. He enjoys spending hours walking the cemeteries local to us reading gravemarkers, interpreting, and learning, and applying what he learns to local history.

I only wanted to make the trip once, so I wanted to do research ahead of time to make sure we got to visit all our ancestors. I found allies in two FindaGrave.Com volunteers named Deb and Jane. They made multiple trips to the cemetery on my behalf locating ahead of time what ancestors my research put there, looking for ancestors I suspected might be there, AND BEST OF ALL -- finding an ancestor who I never dreamed of finding on this trip! But more about that later. Jane put me in touch with the cemetery sexton Jerry, who could not have been more courteous and helpful, offering to meet me out there with his maps and book of names to show me around.

So the trip was set for yesterday and I am here to report we made it there and back. A trip full of surprises, a scare, and the encountering of an angel.

Part 2 tomorrow.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

My Blog Pays Me Back -- Signatures of my Great-Great-Grandfather and Great-Great-Great-Grandfather

2010-08-23T17:38:00.002-05:00

I had two main reasons for starting this blog. The first was to keep my family and relatives abreast of my research. The second was to try and make connections with other cousins researching the same lines so we can share data. The hope being that through searches on Google and other search engines would hit this site, and the cousins would come visiting. Well it finally happened! This weekend I got an email from from a "not-really-cousin" who was Googling my g-g-grandmother Nancy Dutton. She wrote that Nancy's mother "Roxa was the 3rd wife of my great-great-great grandfather Elisha Collins. My ancestors are from Cynthia Osborn his 2nd wife."

Since Nancy's father was likely Sylvanus Smith of Vermont, my new found friend and I are "not really cousins" but she did provide for me something I was not likely to find anytime soon -- Roxa (Smith) Colllins' application for a Revolution War Widow's Pension, in the name of her deceased husband Elisha. And what did I find but the signatures of my great-great-grandfather Henry M. Walker, Sr. and his father, my great-great-great-grandfather Aaron Walker as witnesses!

The date was April 5, 1860. In the family's timeline, Henry had been married to Roxa's granddaughter Louisa for four years. Henry and Louisa's first child Letta was almost three, and Louisa was three months pregnant with their second child Samuel.

More to follow from this resourceful document as I transcribe it. Thanks to my new found friend and contact for pointing it out to me. And if I have any other cousins or "not-really-cousins" out there reading this that want to share data, my contact email is not very cryptically on the right.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Treasure Chest Thursday: Signatures of TWO Great-Great-Great-Grandmothers on ONE Document!!

2010-08-19T13:02:00.011-05:00

If you follow my blog you know that my great-great-grandfather Henry Martin Walker (1829-1865) died in the Civil War, leaving behind his widow Louisa Lorena Walker (nee. Dutton, 1833-1913), and three children -- Letta Agnes Walker (b. 1857), Samuel Clark Walker (b. 1860), and Henry Martin Walker, Jr. (1864-1952).

I ordered Louisa's Civil War Widow's Pension Application from the National Archives, and they sent me the first hundred pages (I still have to obtain the remaining). What a wealth of information! Tons of resources! But the real treasure for me was on one of the first affidavits testifying that she was the mother and guardian of the three surviving children. The hand-written paragraph reads --

Nancy S. Dutton is the mother of the claimant and Submit C. Walker is the mother of the deceased and they have both resided in the same town as the claimant and children for the last fifteen years and have both of them been present at the birth of all the above named children.

And there affixed below, the signatures of BOTH my great-great-great-grandmothers --

-- Five generations back from me, and six generations back from my children. I got goosebumps!

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Tombstone Tuesday: Grandparents Bruce and Thelma Gibson

2010-08-17T11:51:00.000-05:00

I know it appears I have been on a theme lately, so I thought I might as well keep up with the appearances --

"Do You Remember Grandma's Lye Soap?"

2010-08-16T13:21:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Dick Eastman over at Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter for both educating me and rekindling a wonderful memory --

YES! I remember grandma's lye soap! My grandmother Thelma Gibson (1903-1991) actually made the stuff and my mom kept some of it around principally for fighting the spread of poison oak and poison ivy. She would also reach for it as a "last straw" when commercial soaps or cleansers were not up to the job she was performing. Actually, truth be told, my mom kept lots of bars of it around, more than she would ever need. The bars were huge, and she kept many. I wonder if she took that much to appease my grandmother?

No, I am not old enough to remember the song, a big hit apparently selling over two million copies back in 1952. But what seems strange to me is people from 1952 asking "do you remember" grandma's lye soap, when we were still using my grandma's lye soap into the '60s and '70s?

However, I do remember my mom jokingly singing the song around the house! What a fun memory. You can hear the tune and read the lyrics by clicking here. You can see YouTube videos of the song being performed by clicking on the link above to Dick Eastman's website.

Do you remember grandma's lye soap? "Yes, I do."

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Amanuensis Monday: The Obituary for Lucy (Surpluss) Turner, 1874-1933

2010-08-16T10:58:00.006-05:00

The El Dorado Times, Saturday, April 15, 1933 --

FORMER RESIDENT DIES IN CALIFORNIA

Word has been received here of the death recently in Inglewood, Calif., of Mrs.
Lucy Surpluss Turner, formerly a resident of the Rosalia community. Mrs. Turner
was 58 years old and was well known throughout Butler County, her father,
Nelson Surpluss, having been one of the first settlers in Rosalia Township.

Surviving are a brother, J. A. Surpluss, of Topeka, and two sisters, Mrs. J. A.
Armor, and Mrs. Mary Hembree, both of Wichita. Mrs. Surpluss was buried at
Whittier, Calif.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Treasure Chest Thursday: Grandma's Afghan Crocheted Just for Me

2010-08-12T21:37:00.001-05:00

In her twilight years my beloved grandmother Thelma Gibson (1903-1991) with great forethought decided to make a blanket or afghan for each of her six grandchildren. Here is mine, ironically made up of "granny squares." It is being modeled here by my beautiful wife.

Grandpa Gibson the "Millionaire"

2010-08-12T12:25:00.003-05:00

From the September 17, 1942 edition of the Tucson Daily Citizen --

-- According to this website if you adjust for inflation, $75,000 in 1942 is the equivalent to $1,044,914.52 today in 2010. My grandfather Bruce Gibson (1902-1994) was making "in excess" of an annual equivalent salary of over a million dollars. But less than a year later after this article appeared, he declared bankruptcy. My aunt, his eldest daughter, and I obtained his bankruptcy papers from the National Archives and we cannot find any clue "why" he went bankrupt. The search continues.

What we do know is he moved his family to northern California and worked very hard to restore his family to financial security. And he was successful at it! The family was the epitome of middle class for the decades to follow.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Tombstone Tuesday: Keith (1894-1980) and Mattie Walker (1884-1938)

2010-08-10T10:08:00.004-05:00

Since I got past the morbidity of the subject matter, I have found the FindaGrave.Com website one of the most rewarding on the whole Internet for family historians. My grandparents Keith Glen Walker and Mattie Mae Walker (nee. Needham) are buried in Kimball, Nebraska. Realistically, when is the next time I am going to make it to Kimball? Sadly, no time soon. So I post a photo request on FindaGrave.Com, and one of the thousands of members of FaG's army of volunteers goes to work! Thank you "custer1963" for the reward you have given me and my relatives by taking this picture for us --

Amanuensis Monday: The Obituary for Mrs. Keith Walker (Mattie Mae Needham 1884-1938)

2010-08-09T17:39:00.001-05:00

From the Arnold (Nebraska) Sentinal September 29, 1938 --

DEATH OF MRS. KEITH WALKER

Mrs. Keith Walker of Dix, Nebr., formerly Mattie Needham of Arnold, passed away Tuesday at a hospital in Omaha, where she had undergone an operation several weeks ago. Mrs. Walker is survived by her husband and several children, and her sister-in-law Mrs. Hattie Needham of Arnold.

Funeral services and internment are to be at Dix, Friday afternoon, according to word received this morning by local relatives.

Poem: "A Crazy Quilt"

2010-08-09T17:18:00.000-05:00

An elderly neighbor passed away and his widow found out I was interested in genealogy so she gave me all his study materials. I found the following poem included amongst the papers. The citation reads "From the 'Romance of the Patch Work,' by Douglas Mallock, seen at the display of rare old quilts, Denver Museum, June 2. 1970."

A CRAZY QUILT

They do not make them anymore
For quilts are cheaper at the store
Than woman's labor, though a wife
Men think the cheapest thing in life
But now and then a quilt is spread
Upon a quaint old walnut bed.
A crazy quilt of those old days
That I am old enough to praise.

Some women sewed these points and squares
Into a pattern like life's cares.
Here is a velvet that was strong
The poplin that she wore so long,
A fragment from her daughter's dress,
Like her, a vanished loveliness;
Old patches of such things as these,
Old garments and old memories.

And what is life: a crazy quilt
Sorrow and joy, and grace and guilt
With here and there a square of blue
For some old happiness we knew;
And so the hand of time will take
The fragment of our lives and make,
Out of life's remnant as they fall,
A thing of beauty after all.

Not So Fast!: The Newspaper Record of the Death and Burials of Norman J. Dutton (1810-1889)

2010-07-31T16:55:00.001-05:00

Norman Dutton was the step-father of my great-great-grandmother Louisa Dutton (1833-1913), and was an early settler of Metamora, Woodford County in Illinois. So we go to the Metamora Herald newspaper seeking his obituary and here is what we find in the March 22nd, 1889 issue --

Word has been received by Mrs. Theodore Barton that her uncle Norman Dutton, formerly a citizen and early settler of this locality, had died at his home near Great Bend, Kansas last Monday.

Well there I go! The attention of my research, including to find his gravesite, switches to Kansas, right? Not-so-fast! Research provides us with a second entry. In the October 4th, 1889 issue of the same publication we find --

The remains of Norman Dutton were brought here yesterday, from Great Bend, Kansas, for burial. Mr. Dutton died last March and was buried in Kansas, and has now been removed to Oakwood Cemetery for final rest.

Usually the researcher hopes for a long obituary loaded with information. Here we have a small entry, but it gives me a wealth of clues! We now know where he is buried, is this a clue where to find his wife, especially since they went to the trouble of moving his remains here? Louisa got remarried to her fourth husband, one James Easterling while in Kansas, which confused me. Additionally, her son, my great-grandfather Henry M. Walker (1864-1952) married my great grandmother Lucy M. Chesley (1866-1940) while in Kansas. Now this all makes sense -- the family, three generations, moved there together. One final "long shot" to look into -- Great Bend, Kansas is in "Barton County." The Bartons of Illinois were closely tied to the Duttons, including multiple intermarriages.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Wordless Wednesday: My Two Sons

2010-07-28T14:30:00.002-05:00

Whom I love more than life itself.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Tombstone Tuesday: Norman (1921-1922) and Kenneth (1923-1923) Walker -- Baby Uncles

2010-07-27T12:27:00.002-05:00

When I was growing up it kind of creeped me out to hear my father talk about his brothers Norman and Kenneth who died as infants, long before he was ever born. But they were his brothers, and they should not be begrudged that fact, just as they are my uncles. Doing genealogy, researching my family tree has been therapeutic for me. I have increased my understanding, and thereby my emotions have evolved.

My Dad says he did not even know about these two brothers until his early-teens, and they were really only ever spoken about at funerals. The marker is in the Dix Cemetery, Dix, Nebraska. Norman was nine months old when he died, and Kenneth died the same day he was born. My Dad no longer remembers how they passed. Will I ever learn? Possibly. But since I am just starting my serious research, the focus is on direct ancestors first.

Thanks to user custer1963 on FindaGrave.com for taking the picture for me.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Obit: Betty Jo Strasheim, 1924 - 2002

2010-07-23T10:39:00.008-05:00

The following obituary is transcribed from the March 15, 2002 edition of the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle --

Betty Jo Strasheim

1924-2002

Betty Jo Strasheim, 77, of Cheyenne died March 12 at 3128 Boxelder Dr. in Cheyenne. She was born Sept. 30, 1924, in Dix, Neb., and had lived here for 54 years with prior residence in Kimball. Mrs. Strasheim had retired after 15 years as the secretary at Trinity Lutheran Church. She was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church.

Mrs. Strasheim is survived by her husband, (LIVING) of Cheyenne; a son, (LIVING) of Cheyenne; two daughters, (LIVING) of Jackson and (LIVING) of Cheyenne; two brothers, (LIVING) of San Lorenzo, Calif., and (LIVING) of Yorba Linda, Calif.; a sister, (LIVING) of Omaha, Neb.; and five grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Keith and Mattie Walker; two brothers, Ralph K. Walker and Norman Walker; a half-brother, Arthur Walker; and two half-sisters, Beula Mae Wistrom and Jenifer Cosgrif.

Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Trinity Lutheran Church with the Rev. David Caspersen officiating. Interment will be in Cheyenne Memorial Gardens.

Friends may contribute to Trinity Lutheran Church or the Alzheimer's Association.

Note: It is "Beulah Lee Wistrom" not "Beula Mae."

Note: The obituary informant forgot Dorothy Grace Nitzsche, who was Betty's half-sister, and died in 1948 decades before any of the other siblings.

Note: It might seem silly for me to replace the names of the living in a published obituary, when that information is readily available from the newspaper itself. But I am endeavoring to protect the privacy of my living relatives on this blog, and if someone wants that information bad enough they can work to get it.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Amanuensis Monday: The Prison Record of Henry Martin Walker, Jr. (1864-1952)

2010-07-19T11:32:00.004-05:00

From the Nebraska State Historical Society, this is the NE Dept. of Correctional Services Descriptive Record to Inmates entry for Henry Walker as I could best transcribe. The writing was done by hand in ink, very small, and in cursive (paranthetical remarks are mine and not a part of the original) --

Name: Henry Walker
No.: 3033
Received: Dec 16, 1896
County: Custer
Crime: Shooting to Wound
Sentence: 5 years
Age: 32
Occupation: Farmer Lhd. (Left-handed)
Height: 5' 7 5/8"
Complexion: Light
Hair: Light-brown
Eyes: Blue
Where Born: Ills.
Religion: Methodist
Servitude: None
Politics: Republican
Tobacco: None
Habits: Temperate (choice of "temperate," "moderate," or "intemperate")
Wife: Lucy A. Walker, Callaway, Neb. (Lucy's real middle initial is "M")
Father: Dead
Mother: L.L. Easterling, Lake, Okl.
Brother: Samuel C. Walker, Anchor, Ills
Sister: Letta N. Clark, Ferris, Ills (actually is Letta A. Clarke)
Friend: G.L. Miller, Gordon Cy, Ne
        Robert ?????., Milldale, Neb
Education: R+W (Can read and write)
Guilty or Not: Guilty
Term When Convicted: Nov 96
Time Expires: Dec 12, 1901   Write Wife (notation)
Good Time: Sept 12, 1900     Write Wife (notation)
When Discharged: Sept 12, 1900
Description: Weight 143 1/2, foot 10 1/2, men's 8
             Scar on left shin
             Vacc. mark on right arm
             Lower right tooth out

What I Do

2010-07-09T12:50:00.003-05:00

Thomas MacEntee over at Geneabloggers.Com has suggested that all the geneabloggers post what technology they use to do their blogging and genealogical work. --

* Hardware: The last computer system I ever bought was a HP 286, back circa 1990. Since then I have built my own. The heart of my system is a homebrew AMD Phenom Quad-Core 2.41 GHz system built on an ASUS motherboard, with 8gigs memory, dual widescreen monitors, numerous hard drives and disk drives, networked with a cable modem and Linksys router to three laptops, one for each -- myself, my wife, and my son.

* External storage: Three external hard drives -- 1TB Seagate for backup, 500GB for storage, 350GB for music files.

* Backup: Acronis TrueImage Home

* Firewall: ZoneAlarm

* Virus protection: Multiple

* Spyware: Multiple

* Printer: Canon Pixma MP610 All-in-One (I have had a lot of printers over the years, this is the BEST!)

* Phone: Motorola RAZR2 v9

* Music player: Sony 16gb Walkman

* Browser: Firefox

* Blog: Blogger (duh)

* Text editor: MS Word, but I am not above using NotePad

* Graphics: Corel's PaintShop Photo Pro x3 (leaves all others in the dust)

* Screen capture: PrtSc and Paste (old school)

* Social media: Facebook and Twitter (both I rarely use)

* Office suite: MS Office 2007

* E-mail: MS Outlook, Gmail

* Genealogy database: Legacy 7.4 (is my core), Family Tree Maker 2010 (for interacting with Ancestry.Com)

* Genealogy tools: GenSmarts, GenMerge

* Other tech stuff: Canon LIDE200 Mobile Flatbed Scanner (powered by USB, invaluable for research trips)

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Amanuensis Monday: Happy Belated Independence Day

2010-07-05T16:12:00.002-05:00

I love Independence Day holiday! No greater proof is needed that how busy I was yesterday. I never got around to posting on my blog what I wanted to; I never got around to calling my parents to wish them a happy holiday, and I didn't get to do any of my "fun work" like research. My son and daughter-in-law flew in from the east coast to spend the weekend with us, and it has been fabulous! What a fine couple they have matured into.

My wife decorated our house inside and out with a patriotic theme. We had a large meal with my barbecued smoked spareribs at the center. We spent much of the day sitting outside drinking and talking, shaded from the mid-day heat by awnings. We watched the 1972 musical 1776 on TCM, which was once an annual family tradition. The city fireworks were on Saturday night, so we spent the evening playing card games indoors. It was a great time.

So today I offer the entry for my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather John Needham who served in the Revolutionary War, taken from the published family history The Ancestors and Descendants of Horatio Edmund Needham and Lucina Bagley, Who Married 25 November 1852 in Royalton, Cuyahoga County, Ohio (Wise, 1995) by Melva Kinch Breffeilh and Shirley Kinch Morrison. --

John Needham was born in Salem on 22 Jan 1736, the son of Daniel and Isabella (Armstrong) Needham. Some time around 1755, his father moved the family to Norwich, Ct. and on 11 Aug 1763, John married in East Haddam, Ct. Esther Willey, daughter of Noah and Sarah (Hart) Willey. . . .John served in the Revolutionary War aboard the ship General Putnam, in the expedition against the British at Penobscot (Maine) in 1779. Serving with him were his son John, his brother Elias, and several of his Connecticut Valley neighbors. The General Putnam was commissioned April 23, 1778. Her master, Capt. Allen, posted these notices: "Gentleman Volunteers who are inclined for a cruise are desired to apply on board, or at Nathan Douglas's Tavern." Following the war, the family moved to Washington County, New York, and John Needham, Sr. probably died there between 1790 and 1800 (Censuses). In the 1800 census. Esther is listed as the "head of household" and probably died soon afterwards. Both Esther and John Needham, Sr. were probably buried in or near Granville, N.Y. but no record of their graves can be found.

For TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: A Wonderful Gift!

2010-06-29T12:42:00.002-05:00

A very nice couple in Omaha kindly posted a picture of my mother and stepfather's gravesite on FindaGrave.Com.

Aunt Dorothy R.I.P.? Not Yet.

2010-06-28T16:07:00.006-05:00

Last month I posted about my feelings for my Aunt Dorothy Grace (McNeill Walker) Nitzsche (1912-1948) and my desire to find her gravesite. It was not in her obituary so the next obvious step was to order a copy of her death certificate which I did, and it arrived last week.

I was a little disappointed to discover she had been cremated on the realization there might not be any marker for her, but realizing still her ashes might have been interred I knew more research was required. The certificate said she had been cremated by "California Crematory" which no longer exists by that name. Some more digging and I discovered it still survives under the name "Chapel of the Chimes."

I called the Chapel and was pleased to get a friendly, caring and helpful lady. I asked if there was any record of my aunt's remains having been interred? She put me on hold for several minutes while she looked in her records, Dorothy died sixty-two years ago, these are not records at your finger tips. The nice lady came back on and said "We have your aunt but I am afraid, she is not interred." She goes on to explain that the ashes were originally handed off to Dorothy's husband John M. Nitzsche (1905-????), but nine years later her ashes had been discovered in an abandoned apartment in Berkeley, and since they still had the name of the crematory on the container the police returned them to the crematory. My aunt Dorothy's remains were now being held in storage with the remains of everyone else who were not wanted. I was stunned and shocked, thanked the nice lady, and hung up.

I began gathering my thoughts. Obviously my first thought was that my Dad and my Uncle, the last two surviving siblings from this large family, will need to be contacted. But second all the surrounding questions began. What happened to her husband, and how did her ashes get abandoned? Was there a police record? I called the nice lady at the Chapel back. She said the only records she had left were from when they took possession of Dorothy's body, which included the order for cremation. She would check them but it would take a couple hours and call me back, which she did. The only new thing we learned relevant was that Dorothy's ashes were destined for Cheyenne, Wyoming for interment. Cheyenne was the home of my grandfather Keith Glenn Walker (1894-1980) who adopted Dorothy after marrying her mother, my grandmother Mattie Mae (Needham) Walker (1884-1938). I asked the lady at the Chapel if I could have copies of all the records mailed to me, and she said yes, and I received them today.

I cannot believe how many times the ball was dropped!! First there is the gem of a husband who never got her ashes to Cheyenne nor made any permanent plans for them. Conceivably it can all be laid at his feet. Indeed while my grandfather never completely followed up, perhaps he was unable to, perhaps John Nitzsche disappeared? And did my grandfather make arrangements for her interment in Cheyenne, did he pay for a space? No one survives who would know. Then there are all my Walker relatives, a huge family albeit with a limited presence in northern California, eight of her siblings survived her and for sixty-two years not one stumbled onto the fact that her remains were missing?!? Unreal. Such is a commentary on how contemporary society, and my relatives in particular, feel about cemeteries and things related.

Now what to do? The first decision is left up to my father and his brother, as I said, the last two surviving siblings. I am confident they will rectify the situation. But if they don't, my two sons and I have already decided we will. We wouldn't be able to live with the guilt if we didn't. "Treat others as you would want them to treat you in the same situation" is our motto.

So aunt Dorothy may not yet "rest in peace." But she will. And whatever happened to her husband is a mystery yet to be solved.

Treasure Chest Thursday: Father-Daughter Letters

2010-06-24T11:14:00.003-05:00

One of the casualties of the Great Depression was my grandfather Bruce Gibson's (1903-1994) logging business in Arizona, forcing him to go into bankruptcy. He quickly began rebuilding his life caring for his family principally by overseeing the building of roads and highways in northern California. This was the late 1940s, a time of a huge boom in housing and transportation, but also the monstrous discovery of oil overseas. Roads needed to be built to ferry the oil out of the fields and into heating homes and propelling automobiles. So on the behalf of the the huge oil companies my grandfather packed his bags for points abroad.

He regularly wrote his three daughters, my mother Brenda Kay (1938-1989) included. In our family treasure chest we have a collection of just some of these letters and postcards to my mom. They represent Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Anchorage, Alaska. One of my aunts tells me she still has her letters too.

Remember, you can enlarge the picture by clicking on it.

Sentimental Sunday: Father's Day -- Dear Dad, You Did the Best You Could!!

2010-06-20T00:55:00.004-05:00

Dear Dad,

Usually when someone says "you did the best that you could" it is intended as a platitude to comfort someone who fell short. I am going to say it and mean it to its fullest intention -- YOU DID THE BEST THAT YOU COULD! And nothing more could be asked of any of us.

You have been a great Dad. When I was young, you went out of your way to spend time with me. You took me hunting when my boots were so big on my feet they got pulled off by the sucking mud. You took me fishing when learning water wears down stone. You took me camping when I was too excited to sleep that "relaxing with my eyes closed" was almost as good as sleep. You took me around the USA. You took me to Canada. You took me deep into Mexico. You showed me a world outside my immediate surroundings. You would make sure I was experientially enlightened.

The divorce judge told you that you could have my brother and me every other weekend. So you made sure to take us every other weekend! If that was all you were going to get, then that is what you were going to use to its fullest! You would take us to the movies or the ballgame, but sometimes you would just take us to your apartment and watch tv, because you were going to spend with us all the time the law allotted you to spend with us, recognizing the importance of a present father, regardless the activity we spent together. I grew up in a generation of broken homes. Do you know what an exception you were?!? Most of my peers were "abandoned" by their broken-off parent! You were different, you evidently cared! And that was not lost on me.

I am not an only child. I willingly share you with my brother. You were a public school teacher for what, thirty-five years? I necessarily share you with tens of thousands of students to whom you dedicated your best.

But dearest Dad, there are things that are just mine. Until I was three, you sang me to sleep with the "Wabash Cannonball."

With apologies to my younger brother whom I love, there were some advantages to being the first born. On Sunday mornings before church, we read the newspaper together.

And then there are the stupid dogs. It was you who introduced them to me. It was you who taught me to love them. It was you who set me on the road to raising and training and competing with them.

I love you Dad. Life threw its curve balls at you, and you not only never stepped out of the batter box, you choked up on the bat! Be proud. Recognize you did the best that you humanly could. And that is the most that can be asked of any one of us.

Happy Father's Day.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Follow Friday: The You Go Genealogy Girls

2010-06-18T13:40:00.003-05:00

My heart and soul belong to Nebraska (despite my never having lived there), and these two Nebraska grandmas make me wish I was ridin' right along with them on their family research travels!

Bohemian Congregation of Freethinkers

2010-06-18T13:05:00.005-05:00

I am a religious scholar by vocation, so I was excited to learn something new from a copy of a marriage license for my step-mom's grandparents. It is from Chicago (Cook County, Illinois), dated 26 Oct 1907, and states that Vaclav Derfler (age 25) and Caroline Vykoukova (age 19) were united in marriage by minister Frank B. Zrubek of the "Bohemian Congregation of Freethinkers." That was new!

From the Encyclopedia of Chicago History article of "Free Thought" --

Free thought embraced reason and anticlericalism, and freethinkers formed their ideas about religion independently of tradition, authority, and established belief. A product of the Enlightenment, free thought was deist, not atheist. In nineteenth-century Chicago, freethinkers, many of them immigrants from Europe, institutionalized irreligion.

Within Bohemian (Czech) Pilsen, on the city's Southwest Side, the irreligious might have outnumbered the religious six to one, and they built an elaborate social network. The Congregation of Bohemian Freethinkers of Chicago, Svobodna obec Chicagu, founded in 1870, became a central community institution. That congregation published the largest Czech-language newspaper in the city. These freethinkers set up building and benevolent societies, maintained a school and a library, organized children's programs and adult lectures, and sponsored musical and dramatic programs. Their congregation offered secular baptisms for their children and secular funerals, in the Bohemian National Cemetery, for their dead. . . .

From Encyclopedia of Chicago History article on "Czechs and Bohemians" --

Religious or philosophical differences divided Chicago Czechs and their institutions. Although most Czechs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire were content to subscribe to the state religion on official documents, with the result that the overwhelming majority identified themselves as Catholics, many emigrants espoused free thought (rationalist) and socialist views in the United States. The immigrant institutions founded as the Czechs became established, including mutual benefit societies, fraternal organizations, savings and loan associations, and gymnastic societies (Sokols), were frequently identified with one group or another within the community. Schools were attached either to Catholic parishes or to freethinkers' societies. Burial was equally segregated: the Bohemian National Cemetery, a cemetery for freethinkers, was founded in 1877 and remains in existence today. The immigrant press was also divided. By the 1920s there were four main Czech-language newspapers in Chicago: the Narod (Nation, founded 1894) served the Catholic community, Svornost (Concord, founded 1875) served the freethinkers, Spravedlnost ( Justice, founded 1900) served the socialists, and the Denní Hlasatel (Daily Herald, founded 1891) was a “neutral” paper for the larger Midwestern Czech community.

Again from the article on "Free Thought" --

Free thought became disreputable in the minds of native-born elites, as it increasingly attracted a working-class audience after 1875. By the end of the century, free thinkers were becoming socialists, and institutionalized free thought barely survived into the twentieth century.

A cursory read of other sources indicate there is a lot more to the story! There are accounts of free thought in the old country; There are accounts of free thought religious meetings ("revivals"), and there are interesting interactions between the freethinkers and the Christian evangelicals of the era, remember these are the days of D.L. Moody.

But my job is to find out how this movement influenced Vaclav and Caroline.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

An Incredible Photo Restoration

2010-06-15T12:20:00.002-05:00

The guys over at Legacy Family Tree News Blog posted a before and after example of the photo restoration done for them by Miles at 399retouch.com and I was so blown away I had to submit one of my own.

This is a picture of Mattie Mae Needham (1884-1938) with her parents Arthur Herrick Needham (1831-1921) and Camilla Elizabeth Needham (nee. Porter, 1844-1910). Mattie was born in 1884, so I date this picture circa 1895. Mattie was my Dad's mother, and my grandmother. Arthur and Camilla were therefore my Dad's maternal grandparents, and my great-grandparents. This is the picture before the restoration done by 399retouch.com --

And here is the picture after the restoration by 399retouch.com --

The difference absolutely blows me away! Miles not only fixed the damage to the photo, but he brought my ancestors to life! Click on the pictures to blow them up to larger size. Look at the details, the cut of the ladies' dresses, the wear on their hands. My wife said "those are working hands." Unreal.

Anyway, the price was fair for the work done, and the feeling the results gave me. If I need anymore pictures restored, I would definitely give Miles first crack at it.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Amanuensis Monday: The Biography of Norman John Dutton (1810-1888)

2010-06-14T16:40:00.003-05:00

DUTTON, NORMAN, farmer and
stock raiser ; Sec. 9 ; P. 0. Metamora ;
one of the early settlers of the county ;
was born in Lamoille Co., Vt., Feb. 14,
1810 ; he resided there until he was 23
years of age, and then came to Lake Co.,
Ohio, where he remained two years ; he
then came to Illinois, spending a year in
Morgan Co., and settled in Woodford
Co. in 1836 ; he was married Nov. 7,
1835, to Mrs. Nancy Dutton, of Morgan
Co., who was born in Canada ; she died
in March, 1868, leaving six children-
Louisa L.: Samuel S.: James H., Julia
E. ; the oldest two being the children
of her former husband ; Mr. Dutton was
married again June 6: 1869, to Miss
Maria Sleeper, who was born in
Hillsborough Co., N.H., Dec. 1, 1825;
he owns 100 acres of land valued at $6,400.

Before I found this entry, all indication was leading me to believe Norman was my direct ancestor, father of Louisa, my great-great-grandmother. But this simple little paragraph provided me with two clues to a small little family research sidetrack. The first clue was obvious, "the oldest two children were of a former husband." Louisa was second oldest, she was not Norman's daughter! So who was her father? Second clue, her mother Nancy's surname is shown as "Dutton" the same as Norman's. But her maiden name was "Smith." Further research would show Nancy's first husband, and Louisa's father, and my g-g-g-grandfather was Samuel Dutton (1808-1835), Norman's older brother. Nancy was widowed for seven months before marrying Norman.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Tombstone Tuesday: Arthur H. and Camilla E. Needham

2010-06-08T12:16:00.001-05:00

Following yesterday's post on the biography of Frank Needham, I thought today I might go with his parents. This is the joint gravesite of Arthur Herrick Needham --

"Father"
Arthur H.
Sept 7, 1831 - March 24, 1921
Member 2nd Iowa Cavalry

-- and Camilla Elizabeth Needham (nee. Porter) --

"Mother"
Camilla E.
Apr 11, 1844 - Feb 2, 1910
She hath done what she could. Mark 14-8

Here are Camilla and Arthur pictured holding my late aunts Frances Irene "Jennifer" McNeill Walker Ball (1909-1993) and Beulah Lee McNeill Walker Wistrom (1907-1980).

Amanuensis Monday: The Biography of Frank E. Needham (1866-1932)

2010-06-07T15:17:00.001-05:00

(Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. "Amanuensis Monday" is a blogging theme hosted by John Newmark at the Transylvanian Dutch Genealogy Blog.)

The following is a biography of my great-uncle taken from HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA: A NARRATIVE OF THE PAST, WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS UPON THE PIONEER PERIOD OF THE COUNTY'S HISTORY, ITS SOCIAL, COMMERCIAL. EDUCATIONAL, RELIGIOUS, AND CIVIC DEVELOPMENT FROM THE EARLY DAYS TO THE PRESENT TIME by W. L. GASTON AND A. R. HUMPHREY (Western Publishing and Engraving Company, Lincoln, NE, 1919). --

FRANK E. NEEDHAM is a substantial
citizen of Custer county, where he owns valuable
farm lands and also a business building
and a cream station in the town of Arnold.
He has spent almost his entire life thus far
in Nebraska and hence considers himself almost
in the light of a native son. He was
born at Princeton, Iowa, August 3. 1866, one
of the four children of Arthur H. and Camelia
(Porter) Needham, the others being: Leroy,
who married Grace Chappie : Bertha, who is
the wife of Grant Mills : and Mattie M., who
is the wife of Keith Walker. The mother of
Mr. Needham died February 20, 1900, but his
father survives and makes his home with his
daughter Bertha (Mrs. Mills), at Forest
Grove, Oregon.

Frank E. Needham was two years old when
his parents brought him to Nebraska and settled
twelve miles east of Lincoln. In 1882 removal
was made to Custer county and a preemption
claim was secured, situated five miles
south of Arnold. There Frank E. Needham
grew up, having as many advantages as the
ordinary farmer boy at that time, as to schooling
and recreation. He remembers that the
Fourth of July was about the greatest day in
the year's calendar, and to celebrate it seemed
almost a patriotic duty. He found, one year,
that he would have to earn the money in order
to enjoy celebrating, and therefore he engaged
to plow a neighbor's corn field. He was only
ten years old at the time, the task was pretty
heavy, and along toward noon he mentioned
to his employer that he thought it was a very
long forenoon. All the satisfaction he received
was a benevolent look from the old farmer
and the consoling remark: "Son, don't you
know while man makes the forenoon, God
makes the afternoon?"

Mr. Needham was united in marriage August
7, 1893, at Broken Bow, to Miss Hattie
Burk, a daughter of James and Martha
(Crabb) Burk. He and Mrs. Needham have
one daughter, Ruth, who has prepared herself
to be a teacher and was graduated in 1918
from the Nebraska Wesleyan University, at
University Place, near Lincoln. Mrs. Needham
has three brothers and two sisters, namely:
John, William, Albert, Mrs. Laura
Rodgers, and Mrs. Emma Beltz. Mr. Needham
owns several properties that he has under
rental, and he is also the owner of twenty-two
acres of land and a substantial business
building in the town of Arnold, where also,
as mentioned above, he conducts a cream station,
in which town he is an influential citizen
in many ways.

Sentimental Sunday: Memorial Day, Part 2 -- Ralph Keith Walker (1918-1969)

2010-05-30T13:14:00.005-05:00

Now for something new. My fondest memories of growing up are the days I spent with my Dad and my uncle Ralph, usually hunting. We hunted ducks, geese, doves, quail, and pheasants. It was my Dad and my uncle Ralph that introduced me to working Labrador Retrievers, and are primarily responsible for how integral they have become in my life. You see, I was too young to take much interest in Dad and Ralph's conversations on our hunting trips, so I spent all my time bonding with the dogs.

Ralph voluntarily enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1938. He was stationed aboard the battleship USS West Virginia in communications as a radio operator. In early 1941, Ralph was transferred to the heavy cruiser USS Minneapolis. On December 7, 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the USS Minneapolis was 20 miles north participating in gunnery practice. But the USS West Virginia was sunk, killing over a hundred of her crew.

Ralph saw lots of action in World War II, earning five medals and accommodations with service stars (three in Asian Pacific, one in Atlantic off coast of north Africa) that represent actual engagement with the enemy. He was at Wake Island, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf; He helped liberate the Philippines and allied forces invade north Africa. In addition to the USS West Virginia, and the USS Minneapolis, he also served aboard the USS Walker, the USS Titania, and the USS Terry. He separated out in October 1945, two months after the surrender of Japan and the end of the war, serving a total of seven and a half years; enlisting before it began, exiting after it was over.

Ralph died in 1969 at age 50 from a kind of cancer that is now curable in over 90% of the patients who contract it, but for which they didn't have a cure back then. He left behind my aunt "Betty" (Florence Esther Spurrier, 1920-2009) and a daughter.

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Memorial Day, Part 1 -- Capt. James Walker (1732-1806)

2010-05-30T11:58:00.002-05:00

For this Memorial Day I wanted to post "something old and something new" to express the timelessness of it all -- war and sacrifice. One of the things I love the most about genealogy is the history I learn, and a couple days ago I came across a quote from a veteran who said it wasn't fighting for liberty he minded, "But why do we have to do it every twenty-five years?" My sentiments exactly. Liberty is worth fighting for, but why must we do it so often?

This Memorial Day, I remember first my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Capt. James Walker (1732-1806) of Belchertown, Massachusetts. He was a town Selectman, Constable, church Deacon, and veteran of both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. From E.W. Foster's WALKER: A Genealogy Giving Some of the Descendants of Samuel Walker of Woburn, Mass. (s.n. 1930) --

[Capt. Walker] became a member of Captain Nathaniel Dwight’s Company of Colonel Israel William’s regiment and in 1757 marched with that company to the relief of Fort William Henry. He was afterward captain of the company.

His home was in the district of Belchertown known as “Turkey Hill,” now better known as Chestnut Hill. His children were all born and grew up on the farm and as his sons became of proper age they also joined the military company of the town. When the alarm of 19 April 1775 was heralded, there was a generous response in Belchertown to the call. James Walker with his oldest son marched on the morning of the 20th for the front. Captain Walker was Sergeant in Captain Cowles’ Company, Col. Woodbridge’s regiment. He remained at Cambridge until 14 May when he was discharged and returned home.

Wordless Wednesday: The Walker Brothers (ca. 1945)

2010-05-26T11:43:00.001-05:00

Tombstone Tuesday: The Grave of James Burr on the Grounds of Wheaton College (IL)

2010-05-25T11:04:00.000-05:00

I know this is not directly related to the surnames I am researching, but Wheaton College of Wheaton, Illinois is my alma mater, and the following is a neat little story I thought you might find interesting.

Wheaton, Illinois and the Illinois Institute (now Wheaton College) were founded in 1853 by strict Wesleyan Methodists who were strong abolitionists. It is said that the school's first President Jonathan Blanchard's home was a part of the Underground Railroad, hiding runaway slaves in a room on the top floor of his home.

Well one of the first bits of trivia that "Wheaties" first learn when they come to the school is that the grounds of the college hosts the actual grave of an abolitionist! His name was James Burr, and he was an anti-slavery activist. In 1841 he was ambushed in Illinois by slave owners, and taken to Missouri where he was tried and imprisoned for "stealing slaves."

From the article "Good Soil" by David Malone, November 5, 2008 --

The Illinois Institute had been founded in 1853 by Wesleyan Methodists who had split from the main body of the Methodist Church over the question of slavery. Early in 1859, two months before his death from consumption, which he probably contracted while in prison, he prepared a will leaving $300 of his $4000 estate to the Illinois Institute in Wheaton. This money was “to be used for the educating of indigent fatherless young men who were wholly devoted to the cause of Christ wishing a preparation for such a calling and wishing to preach said gospel to all irrespective of color and who are opposed to slavery and sin of every grade and in favor of the reformers of the present day.”

The question of how Burr’s grave came to campus remains an unsolved mystery. According to a brief letter in the Christian Cynosure of February 20, 1879, by George Thompson, Burr was buried there “by special request.” He wished his grave to be on grounds untrampled by slavery. There were many other ties between the tiny school and the city where Burr lived. In 1860 two of the trustees of the institution, Rufus Lumry and Owen Lovejoy, (another zealous abolitionist), list Princeton, Illinois, as their home address. In addition, John Cross, who taught in the school, was also from Princeton. Undoubtedly, Burr was well acquainted with the sympathies of these men and knew of their efforts to aid runaway slaves. Given tuition costs of $24 per year for the college by 1860, his legacy endowed a full scholarship. When forced to reorganize in 1859-60, the administration naturally looked for a man who felt as deeply as they did about the issue of abolition. Consequently, they invited Jonathan Blanchard to become the president of the struggling school and he arrived in January, 1860, almost a year after Burr’s burial. No one knows whether these two men were acquainted, but it is almost certain that they knew of each other and their joint sympathy for the abolitionist cause.

For years Burr rested quietly, his grave officially decorated once each year by students. Then the damage done by pranksters to the tombstone caused campus officials to remove the seven-foot high marker and replace it with one flush with the ground. In April of 1959, there was a special commemorative service in his memory, focusing attention on his life. Although speculation about Burr waxed and waned following that occasion, he didn’t return to prominence until 1987 when the new James E. Burr Scholarship for first-year minority students was announced.

Amanuensis Monday: Casattas - Frank Wedding Announcement

2010-05-24T19:32:00.001-05:00

Helen Frank, Paul Casattas Say Vow in Nuptial Ceremony

Helen Marie Frank and Paul Steven Casattas Saturday morning repeated nuptial vows in a formal double ring ceremony performed by the Reverend Joseph G. O'Gara at St. Patrick's Church, San Jose.

Helen, the daughter of Col. and Mrs. Clarence A. Frank of San Jose was given away by her father.

The bride selected a wedding gown of chantilly lace over satin with a fitted bodice, full-length skirt, long sleeves and a long train. Her fingertip veil was secured to a pearl crown. A spray of stephanotis arranged on her great-grandmother's prayer book centered with a white orchid and white satin streamers composed the bridal bouquet.

Carol Eason maid of honor wore a blue net over satin gown with a bouffant skirt fashioned with three rows of inserted ruffles and appliqued roses on the tucked bodice. She wore a band of net ruffles in her hair and carried a colonial bouquet of pastel blue delphiniums backed with pale blue satin.

The three bridesmaids, who preceded Helen down the aisle, wore gowns identical to the maid of honors. Serving as attendants were Mary Elizabeth Frank, sister of the bride; Joan Waterman, cousin of the bride, and Linda Whelan, cousin of the groom.

Best man for the rites was Lawrence Estevan, Jr., while Robert Bevans, Harold Waterman, and William Whelan, showed guests their places.

Approximately 350 friends and relatives attended a reception honoring the couple at the De Anza Hotel.

Mrs. Frank, mother of the bride, wore a changeable pastel blue silk shantung afternoon dress to her daughter's wedding, complemented with a white picture hat and gloves. She wore a pink cymbidium orchid corsage. The benedict's mother was costumed in a navy blue two-piece crepe suit, with navy blue and white accessories. She too wore an orchid corsage.

Casattas, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl G. Casattas, of 571 N. Bayview, is a graduate of St. Joseph's High School in Alameda, and San Jose State College where he was affiliated with Theta Kappa Phi Fraternity. his sisters are Mrs. Jens Juhl and Sister Julie of the Holy Family Order.

Helen graduated from Notre Dame High School, San Jose, and San Jose State College where her sorority was Epsilon Sigma Alpha. Her sisters and brothers are Clarence A. Frank, Jr., Eugene P. Frank, Sister Dorothy Cecillia of Notre Dame, Mary Elizabeth, and Eileen Frank.

For her going away outfit, Helen wore a sand-hued two-piece pure silk suit overlaid with turquoise and white print. She pinned an orchid corsage at her shoulder.

After a honeymoon in Southern California, the newlyweds will make their home in San Carlos.

Great Find = Great Idea for Family Historians!

2010-05-24T13:21:00.005-05:00

My late grandmother Thelma Gibson (nee. Surpluss) grew up in Rosalia, Kansas. Her daughter, my aunt has been very supportive of me in both my family history and genealogical quests. I just received from her one of the greatest finds I could EVER have imagined! It is a copy of A Pictorial History Of Rosalia, 1869-1935 by Harold J. Borger (unknown publisher, 1972).

"So what" you say? "What makes that so special" you say? It is loaded with personal notes in the margins from my late grandmother! "This is our doctor." "This church was across the road from the cemetery." "I went to school with him." And on and on. When the book comments on the Kafir Corn Festival, my grandmother wrote, "We always went, it was like a fair." About one town doctor she wrote, "This is the doctor that moved to Texas and Mexico, and was said to be using goat glands for the men in town to keep them young and productive." Next to one lady's name she wrote, "Always recited 'The Blue and the Gray' every May 30th."

What a find, and what an idea!!! I have two county history books from where my Dad grew up. When he comes to visit this Summer I an going to ask him to make as many personal notes in the margins that he can recall.

Thanks dear aunt for this wonderful contribution you have made to the family history!

Copyright © 2010 by Kevin W. Walker

Amanuensis Monday: "The Civil War Letter"

2010-05-17T12:11:00.005-05:00

(Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. "Amanuensis Monday" is a blogging theme hosted by John Newmark at the Transylvanian Dutch genealogy blog.)

Growing up there were three items we all knew with evident family history value -- the family Bible, some Civil War era tin-types of ancestors, and "the Civil War Letter." The letter is from my great-great-grandfather Charles Chesley to his wife Phoebe, who we have recently posted about.

The Civil War Letter was carried around in my father's coat pocket for many years. To this day he is not exactly sure why, all he knows is that he knew it had value as it offered him a form of connectedness to his roots as he moved around the country. I think those of us who cherish family history know exactly what he means.

Here is the letter by letter transcription, all mistakes in spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. belong to my g-g-grandfather:

K Co. 8th Ill. Cav
Benton Barracks St. Louis Mo
June 28th, 1865

Dear Phebe,

I received your letter of the 18th last night while in bed and was truly glad to hear from home once more. We left Fairfax Station on the morning of the 19th. I was taken quite ill at Fairfax Courthouse but after remaining a short time I went on to Washington where I overtook the regiment. That evening we got on the cars of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, laid over one day at Cumberland and then came to Parkersburgh, West Virginia. There we took Steam Boat and landed at Lawrenceburgh, Indiana on the 25th where we again got on the cars, passed through the States of Indiana and Illinois and landed here yesterday evening and here we are in Missouri. How long we will stay or where we will go next I do not know, we hear a great many yarns in reference to our destination. Some tell us we are going to Texas, some say we go to Kansas. I think we will go to Illinois, but how soon I do not know. I cannot believe we will remain here any great length of time. I see nothing fixing up here to remain, another thing we are not getting any soft bread, no cooking utensils or other conveniences for staying any length of time. I ought to have told you that my sickness was only temporary. I had a friend who stayed with me and I soon recovered, and had quite a pleasant trip considering the inconveniences we had to contend with, having no opportunity to cook. Only at Cumberland where we did a little cooking, and the Sanitary Commission gave us coffee. When we landed at Lawrenceburgh the citizens very kindly invited us to dinner at there houses & had they known we were coming they would have given us a jublie dinner. It is the first, last and only town we passed through where we were treated like white folks or where the people seemed to appreciate the services of the soldiers. We are encamped on the most beautiful place I have been in since I enlisted. Very level, all the Barracks painted white. I think the grounds contain about 40 acres, probably more. There are a great many troops here, and as far as I can learn they are all homeward bound, except the Missouri troops and the Regulars, this makes me believe we will not remain here any length of time. We have very beautiful weather, not very hot, yesterday was quite cool with a little rain. I am at present in very good health but somewhat tired after our long trip of twelve hundred miles. Yesterday evening after we got into our Barracks one of Co. D was shot by the accidental discharge of a Carbine through the carelessness of another of the same Co. He lived about 15 minutes but never spoke or showed any indication of being conscious of what was passing around him. If you write soon direct your letters to me at Benton Barracks St. Louis Missouri instead of Washington. When we leave here I will write to you immediately on stopping at the next place. Having nothing more of importance to write, and hoping you are in good health, accept the love of your devoted Husband.

C. H. Chesley
K Co. 8th Ill Cav

Milldale, Nebraska

2010-05-14T20:33:00.001-05:00

According to the homestead records when Lucy Walker (nee. Chesley) and her Chesley relatives were homesteading Custer County, Nebraska, they gave the town of Milldale as their post office.

Milldale is no longer a town, not even a ghost town, it now exists as ruins; It exists now mostly on the midwestern winds. Just a little over a hundred years old.

In 2005, the tenth graders in Mr. Swingle's science class at Arnold (NE) High School did a brief report on Milldale and put in online. Make sure and follow the links they provide to even more interesting info.

© 2010, Copyright Kevin W. Walker

How Many of Us?

2010-05-13T14:01:00.006-05:00

The U.S. Census Bureau has published a list of all the 151,671 names on the 2000 census and ranked them according to commonality. I thought it would be interesting to look up the surnames that make up the lower branches on my family tree. Here they are ranked --

Walker - 28th
Gibson - 119th
Mack - 441st
Frank - 454th
Needham - 3,074th
Chesley - 10,779th (tied)
Derfler - 87,348th
Surpluss - 110,523rd (tied)
Molfino - (not listed)*
Casattas - (not listed)

The "Casattas" results were not surprising. Our research says it was a made up name for one family line, and the last remaining person with that surname is my wife's aunt, who is a nun! The surname will die with her passing. The "Molfino" results surprised me, but perhaps there are residents of Italy still using it. I will have to check.

"Walker" remains common, but just a couple decades ago it was in the top twenty. However with the recent high number of immigrants from Mexico and Asia, it has been overtaken by such names as "Garcia," "Lopez," Hernandez," "Lee," and others.

My wife is 1/4 Casattas, and 1/4 Molfino. I am only a newbie in genealogy, but my limited experience is that this is not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, just like the commonality of "Walker" is not necessarily good or bad. The less common surnames are often easier to research, but the more common surnames often lead to others who are researching the same family and with whom you can share notes.

To the best of my knowledge I am the only one researching Casattas, and possibly Molfino, and possibly even Surpluss! Believe me, I welcome anyone who can show me differently!

email me at amiable160 [at sign] gmail dot com

* -- White Pages shows at least ninety-six individuals currently with the surname "Molfino" in the U.S.

© 2010, Copyright Kevin W. Walker

Dorothy Grace Nitzsche (nee. McNeill Walker) 1912-1948

2010-05-12T15:10:00.004-05:00

How can I have a crush on someone seventeen years older than my father, AND who died over a decade before I was born? But I do. Perhaps it was how glowingly my parents spoke about her when I was growing up, including by my mother who never met her? Or maybe I just think she is pretty? I don't know. I am just embarrassed to admit it, but my heart goes all aflutter when I see her pictures.

Aunt Dorothy was born December 2, 1912 to Clifton Leslie McNeill (1884-1969) and my paternal grandmother Mattie Mae Walker (nee. Needham, 1884-1938), and was affectionately known as "Pat." When Mattie divorced Clifton and married my grandfather Keith Glen Walker (1894-1980) in 1916, he legally adopted Dorothy. So she was my father's half-sister. But to hear my Dad tell it, there never was any recognition of any familial differences among the siblings, they all treated each other like full siblings.

Pictured above is my Aunt Dorothy and my father.

Finding anything on Aunt Dorothy has been very hard, perhaps because she only lived 36 years; Perhaps because she was a woman, perhaps she lived under the radar.

Dorothy (left) parties with two unnamed friends.

Whatever the case, while scoring an obituary is often quite commonplace in family research, for me scoring Aunt Dorothy's felt like a home run! From the Oakland Tribune - December 19, 1948, Oakland, California:

NITZSCHE -- In Oakland. December 16, 1948. Dorothy Grace Nitzsche, loving wife of John M. Nitzsche; daughter of Keith Walker, sister of Mrs. Genifer Gordon, Mrs. W. L. Wistrom, Violet Walker, Mrs. Leroy Strasheim and Arthur, Rlaph(sic), Paul and Wayne Walker. A native of Nebraska; age 36 years.

Friends are invited to attend services Monday, December 20, 1948, at 1 o'clock p.m. at the Truman Chapel, Telegraph Avenue at 30th Street. Dr. Harold Kelley, officiating.

The next step is to try and discover her gravesite and get a picture. So here is to you Aunt Dorothy, from a nephew who never met you, but is somehow sure he loves you.

Tombstone Tuesday: Warren Denslow Copeland (1859-1942)

2010-05-11T16:16:00.001-05:00

"Tombstone Tuesday" is a daily blogging theme used by many genealogy bloggers to help them post content on their sites.

Today I offer Warren Denslow Copeland, 15 Oct 1859 (New York) - 01 Mar 1942 (Arnold, Custer, Nebraska).

My paternal grandfather Keith's step-father, but the only "father" he ever knew.

Mother Phoebe Chesley (nee. Ward) 1830-1928

2010-05-09T18:23:00.005-05:00

When I think of "mother" relative to my ancestry there is no stronger image than that of Phoebe Chesley, mother of eight (one of whom had Downs Syndrome), grandmother to over thirty, and great-grandmother to an untold number many of whom she lived long enough to see born.

Pictured above are two sets of four generations of women, three generations on each side of the baby! Standing L to R -- Flora Mae Hutchens (nee. Moore), Bessie Ann Walker (nee. Hutchens), Lucy May Walker Copeland (nee. Chesley); Sitting L to R -- Elizabeth Moore (nee. Johnson), Beulah Walker, Phoebe Chesley (nee. Ward). The baby's father was Lynndon Walker, Lucy's son.

Phoebe ruled with a strong will and a compassionate heart. She was the glue that held that huge family together, some of the time without the presence of her husband Charles who served in the Civil War. After the passing of Charles, she lived with my great-grandmother Lucy. At first thought I would say it was an honor. But research says it was likely because Lucy needed the most help.

From Settling the Seven Valleys 1872-1982 (Loup Valley Queen, 1982) --

Some notes on Charles H. and Phoebe Ward Chesley and their eight children. They were married in 1848 in Plattsburgh, New York, where they grew up and here their first four were born, George 1849, Candis 1852, Charles E. 1854, Ida 1856. With one nursing baby and three toddlers the couple traveled by wagon train to Morrison, Illinois the summer of 1857. One year later twins Catie (Eva) and Carrie were born (Carrie died at three months), in 1860 Cyrus Henry and Lucy May, 1866. . . .

In 1870, when the oldest George was 21 and the youngest Lucy May was four, the family emigrated to homestead near Osborn City, Kansas. . . .

In 1889 Charles E. moved his family to Custer County, Nebraska. By 1894 the entire clan had joined him there, including the elderly Phoebe and Charles H. now in their sixties. Some of the families homesteaded, some bought existing farms, my great-grandmother Lucy homesteaded.

Phoebe Ward Chesley, the mother, grandmother, and great grandmother to the above families lived to be 98. She was cared for in the home of her youngest daughter Lucy Walker Copeland. She was still making quilts until the last years, always wore a neat ruffled bedcap, used a magnifying glass to read her Bible. She died in 1928.

In My Avatar, That is Indeed Me!

2010-05-07T18:45:00.001-05:00

In honor of Mother's Day, somewhat. Pictured is my mother introducing baby me to our Labrador Retriever "Pat" some fifty years ago.

My Dad was a duck hunter, and responsible duck hunters hunt with retrievers. "Pat" was his retriever.

Dogs, and Labradors in particular, have always been and remain an integral part of my life to this day. My wife and I raise and train Labradors for competition in Obedience, Agility, and Field. If my mother and father could only have known what they started, some fifty years ago.

© 2010, Copyright Kevin W. Walker

The Death of Henry Martin Walker, Sr. (1929-1865)

2010-05-06T14:02:00.007-05:00

In January of 1865, in Springfield, Illinois, Henry Martin Walker enlisted in Company A, 33rd Regimental Infantry, Illinois Volunteers, Union Army. He was dead six weeks later due to a tragic accident.

Henry probably enlisted at the behest of his brother-in-law Harvey Dutton who was the Captain in charge of this particular company. The consensus at the time was the war was winding down, and this was a chance for Henry to come in at the end of the fight and qualify for benefits.

In those early months of 1865, the 33rd Illinois was stationed along the Opelousas Railroad outside of New Orleans to prevent guerrilla attacks and keep supply lines open. This was all swamp, and illness took its toll on the men. By the end of the war, all totaled the regiment suffered many more deaths by disease than they did by battle, and that includes the siege of Vicksburg of which they were a part. But that is not how my g-g-grandfather died. Here is the account taken from HISTORY of the Thirty-Third Regiment Illinois Veteran Volunteer Infantry IN THE CIVIL WAR: 22nd AUGUST, 1861. to 7th DECEMBER, 1865 by GENERAL ISAAC H. ELLIOTT, published in 1902. --

After staying at Brashear and along the railroad for
nine months and thirteen days, we received the wel-
come order to join the expedition to operate against
Mobile, and on the morning of Thursday, March 2nd,
1865, the companies were picked up at the several sta-
tions, beginning at Bayou Boeuf. I was in command of
the regiment, Col. Lippincott being absent. The train
was a mixed one of flat and box ears, carrying all our bag-
gage and horses. Many of the men were on top of the
box ears. After Company B had been taken on at La-
Fourche and Des Allemandes there was only left Com-
pany H at Boutee, some seven or eight miles distant.
We were now considerably behind time, and the train
from New Orleans was nearly due at Boutee. I in-
quired of the conductor if he could make that station
before the other train was due to leave it. He replied
that he could, and we went ahead at quite a high rate
of speed. I had some anxiety about meeting the train
from New Orleans, and was leaning from the door of
the baggage car near the rear of the train looking for-
ward. Suddenly I saw a horse running close alongside
the track, and then dart in front of the engine. In-
stantly the second car from the tender left the track
and was thrown broadside around, and those behind it
crashed into it and each other cars were crushed to
fragments, and the rails of the track torn up and
driven through them. The whole train, except a few
cars at the rear, filled and covered with men, was a
horrible wreck.

The men had been in a very gale of joy, singing and
shouting at the happy release from the pestilential
swamps. Now they were to see a more active life and
be able to do something to bring the war to an end and
go home. In an instant the happy shouting was
changed to cries and shrieks for help from beneath the
shattered cars. Every effort was made to release the
wounded and imprisoned men, each company working
frantically to help its own members; and how they did
work! Perhaps not always to the best advantage, but
with a frenzy that told of the affection they had for
their suffering comrades.

It was a horrible scene, worse than any battle, and
with none of its honors. Company A, being near the
head of the train, suffered the most. Brave, splendid
1st Sergeant Spillman F. Willis, who carried the flag at
Vicksburg, and who was loved not only by his com-
pany, but the entire regiment, was ground to dust;
Howell, Greening, Walker and Wolf, of A, were killed.
Melvin, Walden and Webster, of H, and Barkley of G,
were killed; seventy-two of the regiment were wounded,
some of them soon died. One young soldier of Co. D
had both feet cut off, and I believe is still living at
Springfield, Illinois.

There was one spectacle in all this terrible scene that
could not but be admired. I know that all members of -
the 33rd will remember my own horse with a white
mane and tail. No finer styled horse ever wore a
bridle. The flat ear he was on was shoved up on the
one in front of it, and he stood there quietly and un-
hurt, high above the wreck. No finer equestrian statue
was ever looked at.

It was a forlorn and badly broken up regiment that
went into Algiers that night. The wounded were taken
to the hospitals in New Orleans, and the regiment
across the river and quartered in a cotton press. . . .

Here is a second accounting, same source, but this time the author is Harvey Dutton, Henry's brother-in-law --

The winter of 1864-65 passed with no other incidents
of special moment that I remember, except the acces-
sion to the company of the following recruits: Charles
Greening, Alphonso K. Smith, Henry W. Smith, Hen-
ry M. Walker, Jerome Wolf, Hans Erickson and Wil-
liam J. Hester. All but the last two were from Meta-
mora, I11., my home. H. M. Walker was my brother-
in-law, the others acquaintances. They had enlisted
January 10th, '65, for one year, and had chosen Com-
pany A because I was Captain. February 23, 1865,
Lieut. Fyffe was sent to Thibodeaux, La., division
headquarters, on detached service as Judge Advocate.

Then came the railroad disaster of March 2nd, 1865.
As we loaded our effects into that box car, and our-
selves into and on top of it, that pleasant spring morn-
ing, there was some grumbling about the gorgeous ac-
commodations "Uncle Sam" saw fit to furnish us; still
the boys were in good spirits, believing we were to
take part in the closing campaign of the war. The
make-up of the train brought Company A near the en-
gine, the place of greatest danger in case of accident.
They were in the third car; the first was an empty, the
second was occupied by B Company. For fear of repe-
tition (as the whole regiment except Company H was
concerned in this horrible affair) I will only insert
here remarks from the first "muster roll" of Company
A made after the occurrence: "March 2nd, 1865,
started at 8:80 a.m. by railroad for Algiers, La. ; near
Boutee Station met with serious disaster ; train thrown
from the track by running over a horse; five of the
company killed ; twenty-one wounded seriously, were
sent to the hospital ; several others were more or less in-
jured ; lost a large quantity of camp and garrison equip-
age and ordinance stores; arrived at Algiers about
seven in the evening; crossed the river at New Orleans
and camped in the Anchor Cotton Press. The killed
were: 1st Sergt. Spillman F. Willis, Vet.; Private
Chas. G. Howell, Vet.; Private Chas. Greening, Pri-
vate H. M. Walker, and Private Jerome Wolf."

A peculiarly distressing feature of this affair to me
was not only that Company A had lost its noble, brave
and efficient Orderly Sergeant, and another veteran of
three and a half years of faithful service, but that of the
five new men from my home, as before mentioned, three
of them, one my brother-in-law, now lay dead. Upon
me devolved the painful duty of sending the unwel-
come tidings to loved ones so sadly bereft. Those ser-
iously injured and discharged on account of such in-
juries were Sergt. S. W. Durrlinger, and Privates W.
H. Foster, Harvey D. Garrett and David Shaw. . . .

The post will come when we will have to examine in full the effect that Henry, Sr.'s death had on his family. Census rolls show the family was completely broken up, his wife and his three children each went to live with a different relative. Henry, Sr.'s widow married again but to a drunk and physically abusive man whom she quickly divorced nine months later. She would marry again. Henry, Jr. was less than a year old when his father died, and we know already of some of the trouble he got into (shooting his wife three times and going to prison). His older sister Letta married a man almost thirty years her senior! I do not know yet what life was like for the other sibling Samuel. But all in all a case study for how broken homes can lead to broken lives.

© 2010, Copyright Kevin W. Walker

In the Beginning

2010-05-05T14:10:00.014-05:00

It all started innocently enough. I have always had a very strong sense of "family," and therefore also had a deep-seeded need to know where I came from. And like most people, I started with my surname "Walker." Ironically for several reasons that would also prove to be one of the toughest nuts to crack, especially for a fledgling genealogist.

First, my paternal grandfather had passed away decades ago, and no one, including me, had the good sense to interview him before he died. Not to say he would have told us the truth anyway! But more about that later. He was the baby of his family, and all his siblings had also passed away, so that avenue was a dead end.

Second, my paternal grandfather had been raised for as long as he could remember by his mother and his step-father. He never knew his real father, and as far as we know no one ever told him who he was, or did they?

Third was all the "hearsay" stories about our family history. Nature abhors a vacuum so something had to go there. My paternal grandfather used to say we were "Pennsylvania Dutch." This was allegedly done, according to family history, because we were German and to dissuade negative encounters during World War 1. Following on that idea, came the speculation that our Walker surname had become anglicized, and was originally "Voker" or "Vokker" or some sort. None of which would prove true.

Finally, because I was such a newbie, I really made it harder than it had to be. I was often trying to force Ancestry.Com to give up what it didn't have, and that I could have gotten easily with a few letters to some courthouses.

But this is where I started. I talked to my Dad and his older sister Violet to get what I could on their grandfather, my paternal great-grandfather. We started with initials "H. Walker," then "H. M. Walker," and then "Henry M. Walker," each step was a possibility that required fleshing out, and as soon as I had meat, it was on to the next possibility.

I tried approaching the conundrum sideways, by researching my paternal great-grandmother Lucy Walker (nee. Chesley). After a lot of work, that got me a location of their wedding (Kansas), and a possible residence -- Illinois. But do you know how many Henry Walker's there were in Illinois around 1900?! Enter the process of elimination -- tracking the history of the other Henry Walker's so they can excluded from being my Henry Walker. Problems arose though, the only Henry Walker's that could not be excluded had dead ends and all in the same census. It was at this time a fellow member of Ancestry.Com pointed out to me that all the Walkers for that census, in that county, had been entered misspelled. Now I had a possible location for his birth -- Metamora, Woodford, Illinois. But that too did not come without complications, as the Henry Walker that I was researching was a "Junior" sharing the same exact name as his father.

It was about this time that my Dad and his sister recalled something about "Lena, Illinois" as a possible place for where Henry was buried. So it looked like a little research forward might be in order. I wrote the Lena Historical Society, and got a nice, helpful reply -- Henry's obituary, and a map to his gravesite in a town called Stockton, a few short miles from Lena. All things were coming together, this was indeed the Henry that I was researching from Metamora, but a mystery was still brewing. In his obit he made no claim to ever being married or having kids. On his census he said he was a "Widower," which my paternal great-grandfather could not have been. Factually he had been married, had five kids, and my great-grandmother survived their marriage.

Let me take a nota bene moment here and point out my naivete which only complicated things. First, I thought the Census records were seriously accurate. But now I can't remember a time when I opened them up and didn't find at least a misspelling and often worse like the bastardization of facts. Second, I believed people told the truth. Now I know you have to "trust but verify" what is said. Third, this last fact also relates to newspapers, books, records, and especially other genealogical research! Look, I am not saying you can't trust, I am just saying you don't know something until you know you know it. And if all you do is "trust" without the "verify" you wind up going down a lot of wrong roads, and even running into dead ends that really aren't. I learned all this the hard way.

About this time I receive an email from a Chesley descendent who saw my queries about Lucy. She sends me an email offering to share everything she has with me if I will share back, and then she baits the hook, "I even have the story about when Henry shot Lucy." HUH?!?!?!?!?!!!! Shock and utter surprise! Now another piece of the puzzle fell into place, the Henry Walker I found in the 1900 Census, residence the Nebraska State Penitentiary, was my Henry Walker!

My new found cousin sends me her Chesley family GEDCOM and a transcription from a Calloway, Nebraska history book that chronicles the time my great-grandfather shot my great-grandmother three times, in the back twice and once in the forehead, this last of which severed the small finger off her right hand as she tried to shelter her face. She survived, and he went to prison. I got out some pictures I have of Lucy and could make out what appears to be a dent in her forehead!

I sent off a quick letter to the Custer County (Nebraska) Historical Society. They confirmed the story, and sent me copies of the newspaper clippings, and their divorce papers. The nice elderly lady from the Historical Society sent me a private note, "It is no wonder you and your family never knew, back them people didn't talk about such things in 'polite society.' The people who did know, took their knowledge with them to the grave."

In essence my great-grandfather was a pariah, and intended to be forgotten. But I would soon learn he had ancestors who were heroes.

The next plan of attack was to follow Henry's father Henry (Sr.) and his siblings, with a two-pronged approach now, still looking to factually tie Henry Martin Walker of Metamora, Illinois as my great-grandfather, and to see what was behind him, but he fell off the Earth somewhere around 1865, the time of the Civil War. So I had to start researching Henry Sr.'s relatives. I found on the Internet another researcher who was researching the same Walker line behind Henry Sr., and I jotted him off a quick email, telling him what I was researching saying "I think we may be related?" He wrote back, "if we are you hit the mother lode" pointing me to the website Descendants of Captain Samuel Walker (1615-1684), there it was the whole Walker family tree researched and documented back to the first to step on this continent! I quickly went to the name index and there I found them, Henry Sr. (died in Louisiana during Civil War) and Henry Jr. of Metamora, Illinois. I got goosebumps and celebratory, and then teary-eyed. I felt more whole; I felt more complete. Some will think that incongruous and/or silly. Some know precisely what I mean.

To seal the deal, and tie up all my research in a big knot, I joined the Walker-Surname DNA Project and had my Y-chromosome mapped, and it confirmed I am related to that Henry, and that family line.

A couple years later my son and I drove up to Stockton, Illinois to visit Henry's grave. I had interviewed an elderly woman in Lena who knew him when she was a little child. If her recollections were accurate he was a very eerie man, not the kind I would want to know. But visiting his grave was like putting the period on the end of the sentence, the completion of all my hard work. An abstract question mark becomes a tangible identity.

He has a simple little marker, befitting the man. My son and I each put a stone on the marker, not out of respect as most do, but simply to show his grave had been visited. We took a couple pictures and left.

© 2010, Copyright Kevin W. Walker