Amanuensis Monday: Keith G. Walker's letter to May (Northup) Conn

This is my best attempt at an identical transcription.  My grandpa Keith was 79 when he wrote this and suffering for Parkinson's.  I kind of feel guilty for including all his grammatical, punctuation and spelling errors, but I also know it is necessary for identifying other things he may have written.  I will apologize to him face to face when I get to heaven.

July 1, 1973 

Dear Cousin May 

I expect you thought what I wrote you like I did I did not want to help you but was not that  I thought Lillie could help you more than I so mother's day I called Lillie's Girl Blanch Yerves(?) and asked her to see if Lillie could rember the trip from Nebraska but she could not Your Grand Pa Henry Chesley was bourn March 15 1860 in Illinois died December 14 1926 at 66 yr. 

Hattie Olly Chesley bourn July 7 1867 in Michigan died in 8 March 1938 age 70 she did not know where they were married but they moved to Kansas 1882 or 83  Lillie was bourn in Nicodemus Kansas Oct 14 1883 in 1887 or 1888 they moved to Nebraska  My folks was married in Osborn Kansas in Oct 26 1884 then they moved to near Arnold in 1886 then my Stept Father and his brothers came to Arnold he was Warren D Copeland but he went to Wyoming within 1890 and when your folks went to Montana  he stayed there for a while then came back to Arnold in 1896 0f 1897 and then he and my mother was married in 1899 and a good Father to us boys. 

His brother stay near Arnold the rest of his life I have a book that has the names of seven  They had 3 befor they left here I think it 1891 or 1892 when they left Arnold because my brother would tell about playing with the three if he was bourn in August of 1887. 

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

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

Love Cousin Keith

This is another example of this family history blog paying me back for my work.  A third cousin was Googling his ancestors and found my blog.  He was in possession of this letter and asked me if I wanted it?  "Why-y su-re!" (Thank you Frank.)

Keith G. Walker was my grandfather, and May (Northup) Conn was his first cousin once removed.

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Chesley Homestead, Part 1 (pictures)

Circa 1895 --

Circa 1906 --

Circa 2010 --

Remember you can click on the pictures to enlarge.  Lower Powell Canyon, six miles east of Arnold, Custer County, Nebraska.  Home to my 2xg-grandparents Charles H. and Phoebe Chesley.

Sod house, barn, windmill.  Originally lived in by Charles E. Chesley, sold to his father Charles H. Chesley then sold to Nolien Steel to headquarter for his B&S Cattle Company.


Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Death Certificate: Frederic J. Hall

I had previously provided the newspaper account of the automobile accident that killed Frederic J. Hall.  Here is the death certificate on location --

CERTIFICATE OF DEATH: State of South Carolina
File no. 18060
County of Cherokee, Town of Gaffney,
Registration District no. 10a, Registration number 102
Name: F.J. Hall
male, white, married
salesman
born: Jan. 24, 1874, age 52
birthplace Elm Creek, Neb.
informant: "Identification card on person."
Date of Death: Oct. 28, 1926
Cause: "Fracture at back of brain" by automobile accident
location: Cherokee township
signed, J.N, Nebitt, M.D.
Remains removed to Roanoke, VA on nov. 1926
P.S. Courtney, undertaker of Gaffney, SC
Certificate filed Nov. 10, 1926 local registrar W.F. Smith

Frederic J. Hall (1874-1926) was my great-grand uncle, an older brother to Elsie Rue (Hall) Surpluss my great-grandmother on my mother's maternal side.


Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Certificate of Marriage: George Hall to Mariam B. McKee

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State of Illinois, Woodford County

Certificate of Record of Marriage

I Ed. C Engel Clerk of the County Court

of said County Hereby certify that Mr. George Hall

was married to Miss. Mariam B. Mckee in said County

on the twenty-first day of December A.D. 1871

by J. B. McCorkle a Minister of the Gospel

duly authorized to solemnize marriages by the Statute of the State of Illinois

as appears by his return and certificate of marriage attached to the license 

granted therefor by the Clerk of this Court and now on file in my office.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and

attached the seal of said County Court, at my Office in

Eureka, Ill this seventeenth day of October A.D. 1898

Ed. C. Engel

Clerk of the County Court

 by John Leys, Dep.

George Hall and Mariam (McKee) Hall were my 2xg-grandparents on my mother's maternal side.  It still amazes me that I have THREE ancestral lines to Woodford County, two behind my Dad and one behind my Mom.  The two behind my Dad eventually met up and married, however the ancestors behind my Mom lived many miles away, but you never know!  Maybe they walked the same ground, or perhaps were even acquainted with each other.

Their minister Joseph Byram McCorkle is a character worth researching.  Son of another minister. 

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

The Character of Harvey James Dutton (1836-1928)

From -- Way, V. G., & Elliott, I. H. (1902). History of the Thirty-Third Regiment Illinois Veteran Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War, 22nd August, 1861, to 7th December, 1865. Gibson City, Ill: The [Regimental] Association. 

Harvey J. Dutton was another excellent product of the "Normal Rifles." He was of the graduating class at Normal in 1861, carried a musket for a year ; then for his manly qualities and soldierly bearing was selected by vote of his company for 2nd Lieutenant. He was regularly promoted, and was Captain of his company at muster out. Dutton was unassuming and courageous and showed himself, on critical occasions, to be a cool and intrepid commander. His gallantry at Cache River and Vicksburg will be noted farther on. For nineteen years after the war Captain Dutton was a farmer in Cedar county, Mo., and is now a successful merchant in Springfield, Mo. 

These are the recollections of General Isaac H. Elliott.  I would invite the reader to read my other posts on this blog of Harvey J. Dutton.  He was a true hero.  He was my 2xg-granduncle.


Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Gibson Family Bible: Births

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C.L. Gibson was born January 26, 1855
Ella Gibson was born July 31, 1865
Ira Gibson was born June 28, 1890
Leo Gibson was born September 18, 1892
Leslie Gibson was born August 5, 1894
June Gibson was born January 8, 1897
Emma Gibson was born September 3, 1898
Stacy Gibson was born September 17, 1900
Bruce Gibson was born June 5, 1902
Wallace Gibson was born December 16, 1905

This is my great-grandfather's family.  Bruce Gibson was my grandfather.  I don't know who has the original copy of this Bible.  I have a copy of a copy that was made decades ago in negative.  I don't even know who has the original copy in negative!  But these copies were given to all the family forty-years ago.  My mom had one, my aunt had one, her cousins each had one.  The writing is in all one hand so I think the dates were entered at once and not over time. The dates match other records except for my great-grandfather Charles Lewis Gibson's birth year.  It is actually 1858.  But research shows he lied about his age frequently.


Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Gibson Family: Then (1948) - Forty Years Later (1989)

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Gibson Family Circa 1948

back row: oldest daughter Barbara Gibson (1931-2014), father Bruce Gibson (1902-1994), 

mother Thelma Gibson (1903-1991); front row: middle daughter Brenda Gibson (1938-1989), youngest daughter living.  

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Gibson Family 1989

back row: Barbara Butler, Brenda Walker Cox, living daughter

front row: Thelma Gibson, Bruce Gibson

This is my maternal grandparents and their three daughters, Brenda Walker Cox being my mother. The 1989 pic is on the occasion of my grandparents sixty-fifth wedding anniversary.  Seven months after the picture my mother will pass away from a relapse of breast cancer.

Life is short.


Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Wordless Wednesday: Yeah, it is Me.....

Yeah, it is me.  You want to make something of it?

Kevin, circa 1967.


Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

My Five-year Anniversary on FindaGrave.Com

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Happy anniversary to me!  Well, to be precise, I am not sure.  Yesterday the site said I had been a member for 4 years 11 months and 28 days.  Today it says 5 years 2 days.  Whatever, I presume it has been five years.

I am not a devoted user, there is always more that can be done to the memorials including adding more and more.  But I am a loyal user, I do what I can, and try to keep things up to date.  For me it is a nice companion to this family history blog.  I am honoring my ancestors, keeping my family informed, and occasionally drawing a cousin or two out of the woodwork.

Without a doubt, the best part of Find a Grave are the photo volunteers.  What a treasure it is to have these selfless individuals to go out into a cemetery thousands of miles from where I live, locate a grave, and take a picture of my relative or ancestor for me.  I try to reciprocate and take pictures for other users when I can.

Without a doubt the worst part of Find a Grave are the users who treat accumulating memorials as a competition, and create memorials for strangers before a family member even has a chance to.  Very sad.

There are other positives and other negatives, I guess that is the way with anything in life.  But with Find a Grave the scale overall comes down on the positive side.  Using Find a Grave is a keeper.


Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Deacon Norman Dutton (1810-1889) and Sunday School Associations

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From The Great Bend (KS) Weekly Tribune, Dec 25, 1896, Page 2 --

Many of the workers who were with us in the beginning have gone to their reward; among them who have died is Norman Dutton, No. 77, Eureka twp.

The above was noted seven years after his death, Deacon Norman Dutton, religious abolitionists and prohibitionist.  Activist in the cause, documented conductor on the Underground Railroad, and behind the scenes of the local Women's Temperance Union.  We should not be surprised he is also counted as a founding member of the local Sunday School Association.

Sunday Schools were first organized around the year 1800 as a way of reaching poor inner city children (Sundays were their day off from work).  Churches taught them reading and writing, personal grooming and care (brushing teeth, combing hair, etc.) mostly designed as a form of prison reform to keep them out of prison.

The 1800s following the Civil War saw phenomenal growth in Sunday Schools, due almost entirely to the local associations.  By the late 1800s these associations were banding together, and meeting in state conventions.  By the mid 1900s national organizations were forming, and unifying the curriculum and the published materials.  One of these in 1950 was the World Council of Christian Education, but in 1971 changed its name to the World Council of Churches.

Deacon Norman Dutton

It was the less liturgical denominations that first led the way with Sunday Schools.  I have traced Deacon Dutton as a Methodist, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist.  And this is just "so far."  It makes me wonder if he was an idealist for praxis or doxasis?

Norman Dutton was both my 3xg-granduncle, and second husband to my 3xg-grandmother.


Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

His Fifteen Minutes of Fame? James Gurwell (1834-1926)

From the February 23, 1908 issue of The Topeka (KS) Daily Capital -- 

There is a tradition that a great battle between the Sac and Foxes and Pawnees was fought on Wolf river, near where Severance now stands, in 1844. James Gurwell, of Highland Station, settled in Missouri, opposite the mouth of Wolf river, in 1838 and frequently hunted deer in what is now Doniphan county, during the '40s. He says, he was within hearing distance of the Indian battle when it was fought.

This long history article on the Wolf River in Doniphan County, KS was written by the noted historian George Remsburg whose papers are on file with the Kansas Historical Society.  They say George Remsburg "was a nationally known authority on the history and archaeological study of Indians in northeastern Kansas and northwest Missouri, as well as a noted author and journalist."

Quite a feat being quoted by such an authority!  And I have seen the story of James Gurwell's recollection in other published works too.

The article itself is interesting reading, you only need to click on the pics to enlarge.

James G. Gurwell was my 2xg-grandfather on my mother's paternal side.

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

"Hey! A little help?" : Calling an Audible in Finding the Grave of Louisa L. Walker

Remember on the playground and a ball got past you and rolled over near someone else?  Sure you do! You would call out an audible, "Hey!  A little help?"  That is what I did with trying to locate the grave of my 2xg-grandmother Louisa Lorana Walker Easterling (nee. Dutton, 1833-1913).

Respected researchers before me had gotten her place of death wrong, so I had to start from scratch. It took a couple years but I traced her place of death to Farina, Fayette, Illinois.  The biggest hurdle was there is no vital record of her death there when there should be.  I inquired at the both the County Clerk's office and at the Illinois Regional Archive Depository (IRAD) at Illinois State University at Springfield, with no luck.  However, I was able to find newspaper accounts of both her death notice and her obituary separately, that cinched the location for me.  But her place of burial nor her funeral home are mentioned in the articles.  I looked in various publications, both digital and in print, that list and/or record tombstones and graves.  No score.

I finally called an audible.  I reached out on Facebook to the Fayette County Genealogical and Historical Society and talked to a volunteer named Kate.  She said that at sometime in the 1970s the historians in the area had collected the names and dates from all the area tombstones and she would check on her next trip to the library.

Twenty four hours later, I had this --

 -- I cried tears of joy.  The grave was in Farina Cemetery, and Kate found it listed in the society's own publication Fayette Facts (Vol. XVII, no. 3).

Thank God for Kate.  Thank God for genealogical and historical societies.  Thank God for a community of hobbyists willing to help each other in their searches for ancestors, when it becomes necessary to call an audible.


Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Memorial Day: Horace Saxton Dutton (1843-1862)

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Memorial Day is the day to remember all who served in the armed forces and paid the ultimate price.  But it was originally called "Decoration Day" and was the day set aside to decorate the graves of those who died in the Civil War with flowers.

Horace Saxton Dutton was just a kid.  Nineteen years old when he died, from a religious family of avowed abolitionists, was this the proud, highly principled and determined child?  The first to speak up and the last to shut up?  I suspect but still need to find out.

He enlisted at age eighteen, a month before his nineteenth birthday.  He was dead less than four months later from the number one killer of soldiers during the Civil War -- illness.  He died at the regimental hospital while encamped in Memphis, Tennessee.

His father Norman drove a wagon from Metamora, Illinois down to Memphis to retrieve his son's body so it could be buried back home.

I have a cousin who has a family letter from the time documenting this story.  I am getting a copy and will transcribe and post to this blog.


Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Newspaper Account of G-Grandfather Shooting G-Grandmother

From the Custer County (NE) Chief, May 29, 1896 --

DASTARDLY CRIME

Powell Canyon Farmer Attempts to Murder Wife

     Henry Walker, living three miles northeast of Arnold is in jail at Broken Bow charged with the most dastardly crime in the history of Custer County.
     On last Saturday, Walker attempted to kill his wife, firing three shots at her, one of them missing her.  He lives in Powell Canyon and the neighbors have known for years that he did not get along well with his wife.  He has often accused her of trying to poison him.
     Saturday morning Walker went to town and complained to Dr. Robinson that he was suffering discomfort, caused by the poisoning.  When he got home, he took a revolver he had purchased several days before, in Callaway and told Mrs Walker that  he was going to shoot her.  She ran from the house and got about ten feet away when he fired two shots at her, one missing her and the other entering her back.
     He then compelled her to return to the house and ordered her too get dinner.  When she became so weak from loss of blood, she had to lie down, he said, "Now, I'm going to finish you off", and pointed the gun at her head.  She begged him not to kill her and put her hands over her face.  He fired, the ball almost severing one finger, then lodging in her head.  After trying unsuccessfully, with a dull paring knife to dig the ball from where it was lodged, he sent the oldest boy to the nearest neighbor, Mr. Donaldson.
     Dr. Robinson and Dr. Matthews from Callaway were called and they removed that ball, but were unable to find the one in her back.
     All that saved Walker from being lynched was that some thought he was insane although he had never shown signs of insanity.  He was taken to Broken Bow the next day where the board judged him sane and he will stand trial for the crime at next term of court.
     Walker is about 35 years of age and has been in the county for a number of years.  Mrs Walker is suffering greatly, but it is believed her wounds will not be fatal.

From the Custer County (NE) Chief, December 1896 --

     The case of Henry Walker, Powell Canyon farmer accused of attempting to murder his wife was brought before the court.  Walker pleaded insanity and both sides fought stubbornly, but the verdict was guilty and he was sentenced to five years in the penitentiary.

On 27 July 1899, Lucy (Chesley) Walker married Warren D. Copeland, brother of Maria Jane (Copeland) Chesley, her sister-in-law.  My grandfather Keith was still a toddler when the shooting occurred.  Warren Copeland was the only father he ever knew.

For further information on what happened to Henry and Lucy and the kids after the shooting, search this blog.


Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

5/22/2015 Genealogy Road Trip

Ralph examines closely the marker next to Aaron's grave.  Note the stones on Aaron's marker to show we visited.

My son Ralph and I decided to make another research trip down to Woodford County, where by sheer coincidence so many of my ancestors behind both my parents resided.

Our first stop were two pieces of property in Montgomery township that were owned and lived on by my 3xg-grandparents McKee.  The first one we went to had some interesting visuals like a decades old fence surrounding some weeds and an atrium that leads to nowhere.  I approached the property owner, introduced myself, explained what we were doing there and asked if he had anything of interest to us?  He said he didn't, but I am not sure.  My son Ralph said I did fine, but I don't think I did a good job of expressing my reasons and what I might be interested in seeing.  But you live and learn.  The second piece of property had nothing to offer, there was nothing there.  My research says their residence was on the first piece of property anyway.

We then went to the county building in Eureka, the county seat.  We went to the County Clerk's office, and got my 2xg-grandmother Louisa Dutton's three wedding licenses.  That went real fast.  The lady knew exactly what she was doing.  The Clerk of the Circuit Court's office was not as smooth and required researching, but we got it going and done.  I had hoped to look at the actual dockets -- touch the same documents my ancestors touched.  But to do that you have to give them at least a day's notice.  I didn't know.  So I worked from microfilm which was not as good.  But I made a lot of copies of the probate records for my 2xg-grandfather Henry Walker and my 3xg-grandfather Aaron Walker, and it gave me a lot of information to research and play with.

Off to 3xg-grandfather Norman Dutton's homesite.  It is a cornfield.  Nothing there.  But we wanted to see it.  And I hope some day to come back with a metal detector.

On to beautiful downtown Metamora (population 3,616) where we found the block that Aaron and Henry owned and where they had their cobbler shop.  Old houses there now, likely from the 1930s.  My ancestors lived there from the 1840s to 1860s.

We ran to Subway, and grabbed lunch.  I called the sexton for the Oakwood cemetery and we agreed on a time to meet and headed out there.  Ralph and I found the Dutton family plot and put rocks on the markers to show it had been visited.  Then we headed over to Aaron's grave and waited for the sexton.  He arrived, he was an older gentleman, farmer, very nice and accomodating.  There is a stone marker next to Aaron's grave with the initials "A.W." (as in "Aaron Walker") and we are looking to solve its story.  I think it is a footstone that got misplaced when they transferred all the graves from the original cemetery site to this one.  But since we are still trying to locate the grave of my 3xg-grandmother, Aaron's wife Submit Walker, it is a question that keeps coming up.

The sexton and I looked at the platte maps they did not help solve it.  The maps appear to only list the names of the owners of the plots and not the graves or burials.  We discussed the length of sexton's research which he did the night before, looking through all the records, and was as thorough as anyone could expect.  No record of her there.  We put rocks on Aaron's marker to show it had been visited, drove around the cemetery a little bit looking at markers for other distant relatives, then left for home.

Now, this might sound like a unproductive trip.  But it wasn't!

Reportedly when Thomas Edison was struggling to invent the incandescent light bulb. He was told he had "failed 6000 ways."  He answered, "I have not failed 6000 ways!  I found 6000 ways that don't work!"

That is what this researching is like.  These were logical places to look for records of my ancestors, but they were not fruitful.  So you keep looking.

In sum, it was NOT an unproductive trip.  I knew I would be getting those papers at the county courthouse, and that alone was worth the trip.  And I have seen the platte maps and been assured by the sexton he has looked in all the databases for Submit and did not find her.  Checking those out was an accomplishment.  I can cross those off the list in my search.

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Don't Wait

When my grandparents died, they had thousands of pictures, not just of them and their three daughters, but of their relatives and ancestors.  My aunt who was the executrix of the estate, painstakingly went through them dividing the pictures up between herself and her two sisters.  However at the time, with no one interested in family history, she kept for herself any pictures that lacked duplicates, and where there were duplicates, she kept the ones that had names and dates on the back.

I inherited one of the incomplete sets from my mother.  And eventually got sucked into this hobby we call genealogy.  Seeing my interest, my aunt vowed to get me the complete set of pictures with the names and dates and single copies.  For over ten years she intended.  They were in her storage locker and she would just need to get out there to get them.  I negotiated -- I only need to scan the ones I don't have and copy the names and dates from the others.  I will return them!  Just let me get the names and dates!!  I will pay for the shipping, I will do everything.  For over ten years this went on.  Toward the end she even decided her kids were not interested in them, she will just give them to me because they mean so much to me.

"The end?" Yup.  She contracted a fast moving cancer and was gone quickly.  She never let her kids know her desires with the pictures.  I tactfully pleaded with my cousins.  But it is apparently a loss.

Heartbreaking, so much heartbreak.  Don't make this mistake.  Don't wait.


Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Treasure Chest Thursday: Civil War New Testament

My cousin Tony comes through again.  During the Civil War my 2xg-grandfather (Tony's 1xg-grandfather) George Hall (1845-1908) enlisted in the 26th Illinois Infantry Regiment in 1861 for a three year enlistment.  When that was up he re-enlisted for another three years in the Veterans service.

This was his copy of the New Testament he carried with him during his time of service.  Click on it to enlarge.

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Passport Application for Marya Catherine (Casattas) Sivatoff, 1893-1970

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     Marya Catherine Casattas a native of the United States, born in San Francisco California on the 6th of January 1896.  Father Peter Casattas born in Greece, now deceased April 23, 1917, migrated from Greece, resided in the United States for 26 years from 1891 to 1917 in San Francisco, was naturalized in San Francisco.

     Marya has never lived outside the U.S., permanently resides in San Francisco, and works as a singer.  Plans to be gone only six months to Puerto Rico and Santa Domingo, working as a theatrical entertainer.  She will leave the port of New York, aboard the S.S. Caracas on February 19, 1919.  She has never had a passport before.  She swears an oath of allegiance.

Age: 23 years                 Mouth: large                            Stature: 5 feet 3 inches
Chin: round                    Forehead: medium                    Hair: brown
Eyes: Brown                  Complexion: dark                     Nose: Medium
Face: Oval                     Distinguishing marks: none

     Identifying witness Elinor Mary Cronin, resident of San Francisco, has known Marya for five years.  Elinor is also a singer and works on Broadway in New York.
     Marya requests passport sent to her c/o Mr. Odierno, 124 W. 41st St, New York.
     Picture attached

Marya Catherine Casattas was my wife's grand-aunt.

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

What's In a Name?

My second cousin twice removed Levi from Nebraska decided to have our surname tattooed on his back.  His grandmother Orpha Walker told him, "You can't deny that name now."

Building on the work of others and my own, I can trace my surname back eight generations, all confirmed with y-DNA.  I have found heroes and pariahs.  I have found the good and the bad. I have found the practical and the principled.  I have found presidents and felons.  But most of all I have found just average people doing the best they can, most not looking to make a place in history for themselves.

What's in a name?  What's in your name?  What you make of it.

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker

Brickwall Comes Down: Gravesite of Henry M. Walker, Sr. (1829-1865), Part 4.

Moving Forward

I had discovered multiple records contemporary to the death of my 2xg-grandfather in 1865 saying he is buried in Chalmette National Cemetery.  The records list him by name, rank, company, and regiment; date of death, original burial site, and new grave location by number and section.  Yet no current records, including those at Chalmette list him by name.

The next day I called Chalmette National Cemetery, now a part of Jean Lafitte National Park, and told the Ranger who answered the phone my predicament and asked for the email address of the party I needed to address.  She politely gave me the email addresses of the cultural anthropologist and the curator.

I gathered my documentation, wrote a long email, attached all the documentation and emailed it.  The next day the anthropologist replied politely, thanking me and informing me the curator would need to see this and she was out of the office for a week.  While I waited I found more documentation the soldiers are at Chalmette, funny how once your questions are answered the floodgates open. I continued to forward copies to the curator.  I emailed the original ranger I talked to on the phone and asked her to run out to the cemetery and look for those graves by number.  She replied those grave numbers don't exist.

After about a week I received a very nice email from the curator, telling me pretty much what I already knew -- the men are not recorded in any contemporary databases.  She agreed with my documentation and asked for the formal bibliography of sources because she had never seen those records, and she required them at Chalmette in her capacity.

Another week passed.  I received the nicest email from the curator.  She researched everything about the regiment, the soldiers, the train accident, etc. into one large file, sending me a copy.  (She even used this blog as a source.)  It was a nice gesture, but for me it was nothing more than a trip down memory lane, for all that she had included, I had already collected and read at sometime over the last decade.

So, what's the delay?

The problem is that at some point during the last century and a half, the graves were all renumbered.  The one hundred and fifty-year old records I found have the original numbering for the graves of these soldiers, which does not match what is currently in use.

The section number is presumed to still be correct.  My ancestors and his comrades from Company A are recorded as having been buried in Section 86.  The curator informed me that of the ninety-six known graves in section 86, forty-six are marked "Unknown."  She is of the opinion I have "identified" some of the "Unknowns."  I am not the first to have done this, it has happened before.  I politely reminded her they were not "unknown" when they were buried there.

Keeping Moving Forward

It has been a little over two weeks now.  I know the wheels of government turn very slow, and am practicing patience.  The nice curator told me she had now started files for all the men so that they will have answers for any future inquiries.

But I have every intention of identifying the grave of my 2xg-grandfather Henry Martin Walker, Sr., and the graves of his comrades.  These are men who gave their lives in service to the national cause and deserve personal recognition and not gravemarkers reading "Unknown."  The location of the graves are identified by the original set of numbers, and on the burial ledger in the possession of the National Archives (NARA).  I am sorry that somehow, someway their records got misplaced along the way.  I wonder how many other "Unknowns" can now be identified with these new old records the curator will have in her possession?  It is now just a matter of the park service doing the painstaking research.

I told the nice curator, "The 33rd Regiment had two nicknames, first the 'Normal Regiment' and second, the 'Brains Regiment.'  Most of the soldiers were from the 'Bloomington-Normal' area of Illinois, thus the 'Normal' nickname.  Normal, Illinois is the location of Illinois State University, where many of the boys were enrolled, thus the 'Brains' nickname."

So far I could not be happier with the treatment I have received from the three ladies (the ranger, the anthropologist, and the curator) I have dealt with at Chalmette.  But I told the nice curator "this might make an interesting story for the local paper down there, the highly respected Bloomington Pantagraph?  And maybe even the local congressman might want to get his hands involved in making right this injustice?"  I will keep it moving.  You can be sure of that.

My dream is to fly down for the new gravemarker dedication if and when it occurs.

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin W. Walker