Ye Olde Homestead

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Week 13: Homestead

 Ye Olde Homestead

 By Myra Vanderpool Gormley ©2018

It is good to have “rich and/or famous” relatives. They leave such magnificent genealogical trails to follow. Along the way, one sometimes finds a few crumbs of information about the lives of our lesser renowned families.

Dr. Elijah Lewis Connally

Dr. Elijah L. Connally (1837-1930) is a double first cousin 3 times removed — to be technical. We are related through our Connally and Peacock lines of Atlanta, Georgia. He married Mary Virginia Brown (1850-1927) in 1874. She was the daughter of four-term Governor Joseph E. Brown (1821-1894) and Elizabeth Grisham (1826-1896). He served as an assistant surgeon officer in the Confederate Army.

"I have often heard him [Elijah Lewis Connally] tell of the heavy shell fire in Pensacola, Florida, from the Yankee ships sent to destroy the forts and the entrance of Pensacola Bay, Nov. 22-23, 1861, he was in battle at Fortress McRae. Later he served in Mobile, Alabama; Fort Gaines, Fort Morgan, Spring Hill and Macon, Georgia. In May 1864 he was made Chief Medical Examiner of the Second Georgia Congressional District. In 1865 he was transferred to Macon, Georgia, where he was when the war ended.

“When the news came that Sherman was at the gates of Atlanta, horror and fear went through every heart. My father obtained leave of absence to come home to tell his people that they must not stay in the track of a ruthless army, in which there were many low-class soldiers. Sherman had said ‘War is hell’ and Sherman knew because he made it so. My father said his mother protested and he told her it would never do to subject nine girls, the little boys and the servants to the dangers of an invading horde of enemy troops.” . . .

". . . he was able to secure several large army wagons, which he was allowed to put to the use of his family to refugee away from the plantation at East Point, six miles south of Atlanta. The big wagons were brought to the farm house and were loaded with as much as they could possibly carry.

One of the uncles told me that at the time there were 12 or 14 fine horses on the plantation. As many provisions as possible were packed, then my father, the last thing, put his mother up on the best saddle horse and lifted the baby, Cora, 10 months old, into her lap. My grandmother wept and said, "Son, I do not to go. I will never see my home again." (Spalding, Mary Connally, 1943; Battle of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, Atlanta Historical Society).

In addition to standard genealogical material about this family, such as that found in censuses, marriages and cemetery records, there is a written history (quoted above) by one of his daughters. Civil War and World War I military records (Dr. Connally’s son, Captain Joseph Brown Connally, served during the latter, and died from gassing), city directories, passport applications, ship passenger lists, newspaper articles and pictures provide rich details about him and his family’s life.

In 1887, Dr. Connally acquired a large two-story home, that when originally built by John J. Thrasher, was surrounded by a 300-acre plantation. The house survived the Civil War, although it had a battle scar — the marking of a spent cannon ball on its north wall. In August 1864, the house had been the headquarters of General John B. Hood, commander-in-chief of all the Confederate forces in and around Atlanta. (Garrett, Franklin M., 1969, Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of its People and Events, volume I, Athens, Georgia, University of Georgia Press.)

Dr. Connally and his family lived in this house from 1887 until 1930. He graciously, albeit inadvertently, provided me with the narrative for today’s topic. His lovely home in Atlanta on Ashby Street was called The Homestead.

A Fatal Decision

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Week 12: Misfortune

A Fatal Decision

By Myra Vanderpool Gormley ©2018

If 53-year-old David George Jr. had not gone to a corn-shucking one November night in 1873, he might have lived to see the many grandchildren produced by his numerous children. He had survived the Civil War, having served as a 2^nd lieutenant in Confederate Army, worked for years as a blacksmith in Henry County, Georgia; appeared to have a comfortable life — even in the Reconstruction Era. And, then, misfortune struck.

Corn-shuckings were common the South prior to the Civil War, and evidently the tradition carried over into the 1870s and perhaps later, but those were happenings about which I knew nothing. However, genealogical research is a great educator, and a small reference in a book of somewhat unusual records revealed why I had been unable to find David George Jr. in the 1880 census, and perhaps the reason so many of his children left Georgia and went to Texas in the 1870s.

It reads: “On the night of 4 Nov. last in Henry County, David George was murdered by John Walker, colored. Issued 17 Dec. 1873.” (Robert Scott Davis, Jr., The Georgia Black Book: Morbid, Macabre, & Sometimes Disgusting Records of Genealogical Value (Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, Inc., 1982), p. 319. Taken from Executive Minutes 26 October 1870—3 March 1874; Microfilm Reel 171-41; Microfilm Library, Georgia Department of Archives and History, p. 758. This was a governor proclamation for the arrest of unknown felons or felons who had fled justice. The information in the book is abstracted genealogical data found in the proclamations as described in the Georgia Executive Minutes for 1869-1900.

A cousin shared some information she had discovered which revealed a bit more about this event:

“On the night of 4 November last in Henry County David George was murdered by John Walker, Colored, while at a corn shucking near Stockbridge, Georgia. Issued 17 December 1873.”

And in the Georgia Weekly Telegraph on 10 Nov. 1874, it was reported from the Rockdale Register that John Walker (Negro) was conficted [convicted] in Henry County [GA] Superior Court and was to be hung [sic] 18 December 1874.

What really happened at this corn-shucking and why? This “cold case” about David George’s murder remains one of the unsolved mysteries in my family tree. From time-to-time I stumble upon a new clue and continue the search, but always is the hope that I’ll make contact with a cousin who has more information about this misfortunate event.

Obviously, this is why my genealogy is never “done.”

Lucky Escape

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Week 11: Lucky

Lucky Escape: Fleeing up the Columbia River

By Myra Vanderpool Gormley ©2018

On March 26, 1856, Yakama, Klickitat, and Cascades tribes attacked American settlers who were living along the Cascade Rapids on the Columbia River in Washington Territory. Fourteen settlers and three soldiers were killed. My family was lucky — they escaped on the steamer Mary.

When the Indians attacked that morning, many settlers took shelter in a sturdy, two-story store at the Upper Cascades, owned by brothers Daniel and Putnam Bradford. Fortunately, especially for my family, the Indians failed to trap the two steamers Mary and Wasco, above the rapids. The escape of the Mary was a remarkable episode in Pacific Northwest history. The boat picked up Vanderpool and Sheppard families, who came out to her in skiffs, and then she steamed rapidly up the river to get help for the others. The Mary was not a luxury steamer, but rather was built for hard work in the swift waters of the mid-Columbia River. She also was rather shallow because of the need to be able to land at many places along the river to pick up and unload passengers, mail and freight in the rapidly growing Pacific Northwest.

History records this event as the Cascades Massacre (March 26-28, 1856) and notes that warriors of the Yakama and Cascade tribes, angered over broken treaties, and in an attempt to repel white settlers from their land, attacked settlers living near the Cascades Rapids of the Columbia River. The next day, on March 27th, 20 to 40 mounted dragoons, under Lieutenant Phil Sheridan, arrived aboard the steamer Belle from Fort Vancouver. The Yakama fled, leaving the Cascade behind, who surrendered.

For scenes and more history about this area, see:

http://columbiariverimages.com/Regions/Places/cascade_rapids.html

Francis Marion Vanderpool (called Marion) married Nancy Priscilla Shepard (daughter of Henry Shepard) in January of 1853 (Lockley, Fred, and Mike Helm. Conversations with Pioneer Women. Eugene, Or: Rainy Day Press, 1981, p. 159)  and they first set up housekeeping on the Washington Territory side of the Columbia River — near what’s now the town of Stevenson.

·         Contributor: William E. Hill

·         Article Title: Oregon Trail

·         Website Name: Encyclopædia Britannica

·         Publisher: Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.

·         Date Published: February 22, 2017

·         URL: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Oregon-Trail

·         Access Date: March 05, 2018

Marion and Nancy made the trip to the Pacific Northwest on the Oregon Trail in 1852, but whether they were in the same wagon train or not is not known, but it is possible that’s how they met. Nancy was born in Jefferson County, Iowa. Marion, although born in North Carolina, had moved to the Midwest by the early 1840s. He appears twice in the 1850 federal census — enumerated on 26 August with his father, siblings and his new stepmother, who was same age as Marion, in Dade County, Missouri, and again on 7 November in Wayne County, Iowa with relatives there. His mother (Polly Fuson) died 18 August 1849 in Decatur County, Iowa. His father (William Vanderpool), left with 10 children ranging in ages from an infant to Marion, then about 20 years of age, remarried quickly. Whether this remarriage had anything to do with Marion deciding to go to the Oregon country is not known. After all, he was a young, single man with carpentry skills — and the Oregon and Gold Rush fevers were especially prevalent in Iowa and Missouri at the time. Ironically, Nancy lost her mother (Elizabeth Mattern) in 1849 also.

The emigration year of 1852 was one of much illness and death on the trail. Most of the deaths were attributed to cholera.  However, both Marion and Nancy were lucky — they made it safely to Oregon. The diaries and journals available for that year mention seeing wagons "as far as the eye can see" both ahead and behind.  According to The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants on the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-60, by John D. Unruh Jr., (published by the University of Illinois Press in 1979), it’s estimated that more than 10,000 started out for Oregon in 1852, plus about 50,000 headed to California, and 10,000 for Utah. How many actually arrived in the Oregon Territory that year is not known, but my family was among those who made the trip successfully.

By 1852 a considerable community had developed on the north side of the Columbia River, just a mile or so west of Stevenson. Its existence came about largely because of its proximity to the upper end of unnavigable water at the Cascades rapids. At this point, all travel continued by portage for some four miles around the Cascades on the north (Washington) side of the river, either by a tramway that had been recently constructed or, more commonly, by wagon road. Mary, the first active steamer on the mid-Columbia River was finished and ready for launching on September 12, 1853, and luckily for my family she was there to rescue them on that fateful day in 1856.

Exploits of a Tiger Mom in Captivity

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Week 10: Strong Woman

Exploits of a Tiger Mom in Captivity

By Myra Vanderpool Gormley ©2018

Catherine Sea (See/Zeh) appears in various publications pertaining to the history of Augusta County, Virginia, Bouquet’s Expedition, and the Muddy Creek Massacre. The Shawnee called her “Fighting Squaw” for her defiance of a warrior and for successfully running the gauntlet. I think of her more as a Tiger Mom, fighting to save her children and herself.

Catherine Sea was one of the approximately 200 captives whose release was obtained by Col. Henry Bouquet. Her name appears among those released at Fort Pitt in December 1764. She had been a captive of the Shawnee since July 15, 1763. On that day, a party of 80 or 90 Shawnees arrived at Muddy Creek (Augusta County, Virginia) where several scattered families, including the Seas, were living. The Indians killed and scalped Catherine’s husband, Fredrick Sea, and the other men, then took the women and children prisoners and forced them to go to Ohio.

Family stories claim that the Sea children held up [on the long trek to Ohio] for two to three days. But, the smallest, John, was quite weak and Catherine, his mother, feared for his life. Seeing a warrior riding their stolen horse, Catherine indicated to him that she wanted it. When he refused, she picked up a club and attempted to knock him off the horse. About to kill her, the amused Indians prevented the warrior from doing so, calling her a “fighting squaw."

Once they reached the Indian campgrounds in what is now Ross County, Ohio, the Shawnee had a celebration. The women were forced to sing for them, and Catherine was called upon to run the gauntlet. Grabbing a stick she began making whirling moves and swinging the stick, which pleased the Indians. Another family legend claims that Catherine was able to iniquitously secure places for her children so they could sleep inside when the weather became cold. However, through the years, the history, the legends, and the genealogical data about her have become increasingly intermingled and distorted. Historically, she lives on in such publications as “Indian Captives Released by Colonel Bouquet.”[i]

She also is found in many family trees — in print and online. The latter require careful examination as few of them are sourced and almost all of them have the “wrong” Catherine. See an earlier blog of mine about this:  “Fighting Squaw.”

https://shakingfamilytrees.blogspot.com/search?q=fighting+squaw

So who was this Catherine Sea? It has long been claim that her maiden name was Vanderpool, but nothing in primary sources has been found to substantiate this — such as a marriage record, or a mention in deeds, or in a will of her purported father. However, proximity places a Vanderpool family in Augusta County, Virginia and “on the Greenbrier (river)” in the right time period. That family was Abraham Vanderpool’s and he was the only one of that name who settled there. He had a daughter named Catherine. This Abraham Vanderpool was from the Newark, New Jersey area, but he had been baptized 9 February 1709 in the Dutch Reformed Church in Albany, New York.[ii] His parents and the family removed to New Jersey ca 1725-30.

Abraham married first Jannetje Weibling about 1733, probably in New Jersey and by her had six children, among whom was Catherine “Kitty” Vanderpool who was baptized 14 May 1738 in the Second River Dutch Reformed Church (Second River) in Belleville, Essex County, New Jersey.[iii] In the early 1740s, Abraham and Jannetje removed to the frontier of Virginia, living on the South Branch and the Greenbrier. Three sons — Wynant (named for Abraham’s father), William and John — are believed to have been born to them in the 1740s in what was then Augusta County, but no birth records have been located and probably do not exist. Settlers on the American frontier in the mid-18^th century had more pressing needs than the recording of vital records.

Jannetje died about 1747 as Abraham married secondly to a Rebecca [—?—] whose surname is unknown. They were married about 1748 and in 1751 they sold 430 acres in Augusta County[iv] and in 1753 are listed as living on the Greenbrier (River)[v]. The last known record of Abraham Vanderpool in Virginia is when he is in Winchester in May 1757. By August of that year he appears in land records in Orange County, North Carolina.[vi] He remained in North Carolina until about 1778 when he and Rebecca removed to what’s now Tennessee, where they both died.

His daughter, Catharine “Kitty,” grew up on the frontier of Virginia and it is much more likely that she was the “Fighting Squaw” — a 25-year-old rather than the older Catherine Vanderpool many family trees have claimed. The Catherine Vanderpool who was bp. 1725 in New York City was a younger sister of Abraham Vanderpool and the paternal aunt of the younger Catherine. The older Catherine grew up in the Newark, New Jersey area and evidence points to her having married William Sandfort, as his second wife, in 1741 in Bergen County, New Jersey. That locality is near where her parents and most of her siblings lived. Her brother, Abraham, was the only one out on the Virginia frontier.

Colonel Bouquet negotiating the release

of the Indian captives 1764-1765.

The problem with so many family trees is that they have assumed that the Catherine Vanderpool, bp. 1725, was the wife of Fredrick Sea, and since most of Fredrick’s known children were born in the 1740s and 1750s, her name and age to be the wife and mother “fits,” BUT (always the big problem in genealogy), what’s been overlooked is that Fredrick Sea married first Maria Ottilia Stemple 22 May 1744 in Pennsylvania,[vii] and while no marriage record has yet been found for Fredrick Sea and Catherine Vanderpool (bp. 1738), she probably was his second wife, the mother of his younger children and stepmother to his older ones. This makes sense when you compare the ages of the SEA children that are given on the “Indian Captives Released by Colonel Bouquet” in 1764-1765. They were: Peggy, 19; Sally, 10 and Mary 7 (all listed as taken from the Greenbrier, which helps distinguish them). There’s also a John Sea is listed as age 7. These 4 SEAs are on the G list of the captives. The other SEAs listed are: Catherine, George, Michael and Mary. The children born between 1745 and about 1754 most likely are children of Maria Ottillia Stemple, the first wife of Frederick Sea. But, the children — John, George, Mary, and Sally, who were born ca 1755 to 1761, would be Catherine Vanderpool’s children.

Historians and genealogists have assumed that all of the SEA children on the captive lists were the children of Catherine, the wife of Fredrick in 1763. However, it is my conclusion that some of them are her children, but others are her stepchildren — and they all deserve to be recognized properly, even though Catherine apparently was a Tiger Mom to all of them. 

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[i] The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine, Volume 39, Number 3, Fall 1956. Available in PDF. https://journals.psu.edu/sph/article/view/2529/2362

[ii] Dutch Settlers Society of Albany, Yearbook, Volume 41 (Albany, New York  1966-1968), p. 13

[iii] Genealogy Magazine of New Jersey, Vols. 3 and 4: Catharine bp. 14 May 1738; d/o Abraham Vander Poel and Jannetje Wibling, Second River (Belleville) Reform Church, 1727-1794, Belleville, Essex County, New Jersey.

[iv] Lyman Chalkley, Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, 1745-1800, (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 3 volumes, 1912-1913, reprint, 1965), Virginia Land, Marriage, and Probate Records, 1639-1850 extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County, Virginia, Vol. 1, p. 423.

“25th May, 1751. Abraham Vanderpool  and Rebecca to George Yoccum (Yoccomb), No. 10 held by patent of Lord Fairfax, 19th October, 1748, on ye south fork of ye Wappaconee (or) Great South Branch of Potomac, 430 acres. Endorsed and delivered to James Machir for George Harnost, Sr., one of the heirs of the grantee, 16th July, 1806. Teste: Wm. White, Thomas Moore.”

[v] Chalkley, p.  307. “MAY, 1753. Rogers and Sutton vs. Vanderpool.--Not executed by reason Abraham Vanderpool lives on Greenbryer.”

[vi] Orange County [N.C.] Records, Vol. V, Granville Proprietary Land Office, Deeds & Surveys, 1752-1760, edited by William D. Bennett, CG (privately published, NC: Raleigh, 1989). Abraham Vanderpool (1709-1778) removed to Orange County, NC area by 20 August 1757 where he is found as a Sworn Chain Carrier on that date. (353. 25 July 1760. Harmon Husband, planter, 10 schillings, on waters of Sandy Cr. and Rocky R. called Level's Addition Tract . . . surveyed 20 August 1757, Abraham Vanderpool and Joseph York, SCC.) [p. 120.] referencing also N. C. Patent Book 14:409

[vii] Pennsylvania, Lutheran Baptisms and Marriages, 1730-1799 [database online], Provo, UT, USA. Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2000. Original data: Early Lutheran Baptisms and Marriages in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, PA, USA: n.p., 1896. John Friederich Zeh, marriage date: 22 May 1744; marriage place: Swatara, Pennsylvania; spouse: Maria Ottilia Stempel.

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The Mystery in the Old Will

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Week 9: Where There’s a Will

The Mystery in the Old Will

By Myra Vanderpool Gormley ©2018

 It looks like an ordinary will and starts out that way, although it soon becomes apparent that the 80-year-old testator, Isaac Pierson, had specific ideas about who and what his widow and his heirs were to inherit. The Will was made 31 March 1859 and probated eight months later in Preble County, Ohio.

I give and bequeath to my present and beloved wife in lieu of her dower in the farm I own in state aforesaid, township and county, one-half of all the monies and credits that are in my possession at death, but if my wife would rather choose, the sum of $20,800 . . .  I will in addition to the above to my present wife one mantel clock now owned by me and a closet, a corner cupboard and furniture.

His “present wife” was his second wife, Elizabeth (née House) Utz, widow of Lewis Utz. She and Isaac Pierson married in December of 1834 (his first wife, Hannah Ayers, died in March of 1834). They both had children by their first spouses, but they had no children together. Isaac and Hannah (his first wife) had had seven children, but only four were living at the time Isaac made his Will; the other three had died young and left no heirs.

I will and bequeath my daughter, SARAH, and her children 30 acres of land off of the north side of my farm that I now own in Twin Township, Preble County, Ohio.

Fathers sometimes gave  their daughters land, especially if they were newlyweds, but Sarah Pierson had married William Hixson Jr. in 1831 — 28 years earlier, so this bequeath was somewhat out of the ordinary, but perhaps there was another reason — something my research had not yet turned up. It might throw some light on why I had been unable to find Sarah in the 1850 and 1860 censuses as she was not with her husband and children in those Preble County, Ohio enumerations.

And I have given to each of (my) children something heretofore to give them a start in the world and considering that I have given to my son Briam [sic] A. Pearson $100 more than I gave to [each] of my other children, I therefore make it his duty after my death to see that there be paid only $5 to REBECCA's children, $25 to my daughter MARY, and $25 to my daughter SARAH for the purpose of making these all equal . . .
[caps on the daughters’ names are mine].

Did he really mean to give only $5 to Rebecca’s children (she had two) rather than $25?  I re-checked the Will to be sure, and the transcription is accurate. It is impossible to know for sure why the Testator did this since he did not record his reasons, but perhaps he had already given her children money or property. The Will continues:

 and the balance of my property after the debts are fully paid to be divided equally among all my children by my executor in the manner he may think most profitable  . . . I appoint John VANWINKLE and William UTZ as my executors to settle up the estate and they shall have full power to execute any instrument of writing that may be necessary for a conveyance of a title and the title so conveyed shall be as good as if I had made it myself.

Then, evidently he remembered additional things he wanted to include:

. . . and further as I have forgot to mention, I will to my present wife the young bay mare that I have always considered should be hers and the buggy . . .

And then he threw the curve:

. . . also that SARAH is not to have any more after she gets what I have willed to her -- the 30 acres of land and the $25 she is to have from my estate. [and in almost a conversational letter-style manner, he continues giving instruction to his son] Biram, after she gets this, her interest in my estate, she is not to have any more.
The balance is to be divided among my other children or their heirs. I desire that sale of my personal property be made.

So, Sarah, what did you do or not do that evidently displeased your father? More importantly, where did you disappear to and why can’t I find you and unravel this mystery?