Sunday, October 16, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Susannah Swingle, 3rd Great-Grandmother
If you are ever in the vicinity of Knoxville, Tennessee
and you are in the mood for visiting the graves of any of your ancestors, well just wander a bit north of there to the vicinity of Maynardville, in Union County and then commence a few miles further north of that hamlet to the vicinity of Pinhook which is just a tiny bit to the west of Lickskillet. You then are very close to an old cemetery, seemingly on private land today, by the name of Butcher Cemetery. I suppose it got that name from someone by the name of or the occupation of Butcher. Not a pressing issue to sort that out at the moment. Just be assured that if you are on Butcher Hollow Road and just a tad bit south of Pinhook well then you are really close to the graves of two of your distant ancestors, that of one John Mohlar, commonly spelled Moulder today by all the descendants, and his wife, Susannah Swingle. Somehow and someplace along the line the spelling of the surname was adapted in lieu of a much more difficult spelling of Schwaengeler as revealed by her family heritage somehow ferreted out by someone of very good genealogical sources. How the spelling change came about is probably rather obvious for a Swiss born young lady finding herself in a land of “Bloody English” or Irish.
The internet is a fascinating place these days. A brief description for John Moulder’s wife, Susannah, that has trickled down from various family genealogical sources, reveals something of her beginnings and also the place of burial for her and her husband. A little scrambling around on the internet reveals a picture of their grave as well as a somewhat obscure satellite view of the very cemetery where they were laid to rest between 1810 and 1833 . Another very important web source for family history research also provides pictures of their graves as they are today.
Vicinity of Butcher Cemetery,
Union County, North Tennessee
Current Memorial Markers
John (Moulder) Mohlar 1733-1810
and his wife
Susannah Swingle 1733-1833
It Wasn’t Always Easy Coming to America- A Tale Worth Noting-
Five generations back in our family tree one finds a Susannah Swingle, of Swiss birth, to be our 3rd Great-Grandmother. Sometimes it is difficult to relate to such a distant relationship but suffice it to say we all carry some sort of a genetic path that can be scientifically traced directly back to her and or her husband. Susannah’s life spanned approximately 100 years, stated in a family history as 1733-1833. Those years may be approximate but they do establish the background period of her lifespan.
The woman has a history that the current generations would have difficulty comprehending but I do find a portion of it interesting and worth posting here in order to highlight how difficult times were for our ancestors so many generations ago.
The power of the internet and the growing hobby of current generations capturing their past from a massive amount of genealogical information accumulating in thousands of web-sites available to anyone interested has brought forth information pertaining to our ancestral line worth noting and reflecting on. Specifically any small snippet of information regarding ancestors I freely copy and examine as best as possible to determine authenticity. It isn’t an official authentication by any means but a system of patience and searching for others also claiming the same information. Over time it is possible to obtain a level of confidence in data based on just how persistent the information is. If it passes a test of time after being placed on the internet and is not disputed or corrected by others, over time the authenticity begins to take hold. Such is the case for the following small fact copied from a volume of history of the Moulder family published within the past 50 years or so and seemingly validated by a very large amount of family historians following the Moulder family. In short we are part of a countless list of Moulder descendants all sharing the same basic data and a very large number of them are presently active on the web.
What follows is a description of some minor history of this ancestor, Susannah Swingle, that has passed the test of time and I consider it valid enough to want to post it for others to contemplate. I find it rather interesting.
Copied from Ancestry.com, 10 June 2011:
MOULDER'S RECORD OF THE MOULDER FAMILY OF AMERICA,
written and published by George Chester Moulder; Lebanon, Missouri; 1933. FHLC Microfiche #6017757.
Introduction
"...preparation of this book would not have been possible without the...cooperation of George B. Moulder of Nashville, Tenn, and the many other descendants of the Moulder family.
"We start this work with the birth of John Moulder 1733, he came to America about 1740 or 1750, with his brothers Lewis and Valentine, first settling near Philadelphia, Pa. His wife was Susannah (Susa) Swingle.
She and her sister when children were decoyed into a ship and brought across the Ocean, and she was sold to John Moulder for her passage. She could shoulder a two bushel bag of wheat and she had no trouble in catching and overpowering her husband John, when he came home intoxicated and un-ruly.
John emigrated from Pennsylvania with his brother Valentine and settled in Rowan County, North Carolina, before the Revolutionary War. Here raised a family of eight children all whom married there. John sold his farm in Rowan County, North Carolina to Vincent Gardner in 1795, and moved with his son Felta to Granger (now Union) County, Tenn., he died May 17 1810. His grave is located on what is now the Jesse Butcher farm three miles North of Maynardsville, Union County, Tenn., gravestone and markers well preserved. His wife Susannah died in 1833. She is buried by her husband John. Their descendants are listed through the following pages. (Geo. C. Moulder)"
Another description of the fate of the Swingle sisters from a Moulder family descendant:
From: "Nina Robertson" <ninaer@yahoo.com> 4-15-2002
It is said that Susannah "Susa" (wife of John) and her sister, when they were children in the "Old Country" were decoyed into a ship, locked up,brought to Philadelphia and sold "for their passage" to Lewis and John Moulder. The girls were properly raised on Henry (father of John and Lewis) Moulder's farm. Later, Lewis and John would legally marry them.
This was posted on Moulder GenForum 4/21/00 by Tonie Bedell, a descendant of John Moulder.
In times past it seems than not only were men kidnapped and forced into the crews of sailing ships, but it also appears that the practice at times involved children, kidnapped and sold as indentured servants. Those were tragic times for many families I am sure.
The area where Susannah and her husband finally settled in Tennessee appears to be in the area of the TVA dam building activities of the 1930’s when viewed in satellite photos of today. Here is another set of ancestors graves calling to me to someday search out to photograph and pay respects to. Perhaps I will eventually. At least it goes on the list of possible projects.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Sounds of the Night-
It was either Trains, Trucks, Cars, Dogs, Bulls, Cows, or the Familiar Noise from the Bridge, and then off to Sleep-
These are the sounds I heard when very young while falling asleep in the northeast corner, upstairs bedroom of the McGinnis farm house that I loved to visit each summer. The small farm in Florence was maybe a half mile away from the rail tracks across the river to the north of us that ran between Vancouver, Canada and Seattle, and to points far south and east. The nostalgia produced today here in Georgia whenever I hear the distant sound of a modern train in the evenings takes me directly back to those years of the late 1940's and early 50's. Lying in my own bed these days I hear sounds of the modern day diesel trains moving north and south thru my small town, going to and fro from the northeast to Florida. When hearing the distant fading call of the modern air horn of the diesel engines I am reminded of the wonderful sounds of the whistles of the old steam engines, again moving north and south, but between Canada and all points south along the Pacific coast.
I loved my time on the Island of Florence back then. What follows is but one narrow facet of my recall of those days and a meager effort to tap some very nostalgic feelings, the memories of sounds of the night ,and oh, how they have remained so vivid in my mind.
During the hot summer months this small farm house, built in the 1890's before insulation of houses became feasible and economical, the upstairs rooms of the house could become extremely uncomfortable when night descended. The upstairs windows would be thrown wide open during the summer heat in hopes of capturing a bit of breeze to bring some sort of relief to a long uncomfortable day.
But when in the dark one settled finally into their bed for a night of sleep, the silence could become almost extreme, nearly sullen deadness of the air, until the sounds of the night would begin, sounds nearly ignored during the daylight hours. But when a young mind is drifting off to sleep, the sounds would gradually grow in strength until you might hear a fish jump in the river or even a muskrat scoot itself down the river bank and enter the water with a near silent splash. A young curiosity then would take over and all sounds became louder by the minute as one attempted to relate to just what was occurring outside in the darkness. Safety demanded facts. Not knowing what a sound really was might send one off on a journey of unnecessary anxiety and mental anguish. Knowing exactly what was heard did bring comfort and a feeling of safety. Realizing we were not under attack by strange animals or mean looking criminals carrying daggers was always a good thing to know. Sleep would then come on very peacefully once all the sounds were sorted out, explained and any new strange sounds cataloged for future reference and identification.
One thing that always had me frightened was the winged bats of the evening. One early but dark evening in particular, while outside with the adults, one small tiny bat swooped by me with a near silent flutter of it wings and quickly whisked off into the darkness. “What might that be” and I was told it was a bat. Knowing at the time that the most dreaded fear of a bat was to have it alight in one’s hair for it would become entangled and cause a great ruckus was something to be carefully avoided at all times. Knowing this, it was added to my possible sounds of the night, and due to an over active imagination, what could be a worse possible scenario than a bat entering the house through an open window and causing havoc. That possibility was always near the top of the list to be something to always watch for. Alas no bats entered, lucky for them, more lucky for me though.
The trains of the time were still steam driven and at night their sounds, while on their journey north or south could disrupt the evening darkness but there was safety in knowing the tracks were somewhat distant. Regardless of how the breezes might be carrying the sound of the wheels on the tracks, and the blasting of the steam whistle to announce the approach to those of interest in East Stanwood, one could easily catalog this sound as a common occurrence and certainly not a threat to worry about. Always on schedule and at a certain place the steam whistles would begin their lonesome wail. It really was such a unique and combined sound, the lonely, groaning sound of a giant mechanical struggle that only a steam engine distant in the night could create along with the whistling it emitted as if to warn one to stay away, there is danger. Alas, there was no danger, but today it seems to have been a real mechanical struggle I was hearing, steel against steel, as if struggling to resist any human influence every mile of the way. In recalling it now, it is so distant but yet distinct. I suppose a pleasant, haunting memory would be a valid description of what it is to me personally today .
Another sound of the railroad that I am not sure is in use today and that is the loud explosive sound coming from what was called a railroad torpedo. This is something that might occur both day and night but it was sure to bring one from approaching deep sleep.
A description of the device as found recently on the internet……………….
The following explanation and illustrations for the device are copied from an Internet Wiki page, http://www.thefullwiki.org/Detonator_(railway)
This illustration from an 1882 Leslie's Monthly portrays an engineer (fireman) finding a torpedo on the track.
A railway detonator (called a torpedo in North America) is a device used to make a loud sound as a warning signal to train drivers. The detonator is the size of a large coin with two lead straps, one on each side. The detonator is placed on the top of the rail and the straps are used to secure it. When the wheel of the train passes over, it explodes emitting a loud bang. It was invented in 1841 by English inventor Edward Alfred Cowper.
The sound was not an everyday or night occurrence but when it did occur it was very noticeable. Obviously as with it’s common usage, as a passing train was approaching East Stanwood from the south and there was reason to warn the approaching engine of a possible danger or at least to let an engineer know of something out of the ordinary was present just ahead an activated Torpedo would emit it’s explosive warning. Day or night, due to our nearness to the tracks approaching East Stanwood, we would also be warned of something different present along the tracks. Without ever knowing exactly what was happening the adults would explain it away as a way for track construction crews to caution the train engineers that there was probably some sort of work occurring along the tracks. Since track work did not occur at night it was probably just a warning to slow down for repair equipment may be temporarily placed near the tracks and thus served as a notice for the train to proceed with caution. But when the devices exploded there was no doubt what it was. Again, another sound of the night I shall not forget.
I have to add that during the daylight hours sounds seemed far different than was noticeable of the same causes during the night. As an example, the sound of the trains shuttling back and forth seemed different in daylight in that they did not interrupt ones activities or thought processes. Difficult for me to explain exactly what the difference was back then but the trains could not be seen easily from our side of the river. Occasionally and only if at the right place one might be able to get a glimpse of one passing by to the north but the tall trees and the brush on both banks of the river obscured the view but you knew they were there of course. But to me, the sound of the trains coming and going were different at night. The darkness seemed to always amplify the powerful sounds of a passing train.
On occasion, one might hear the loud bray of a bull confined to his small pen adjacent to the barn on the farm directly across the river from Uncle John's home, the home where Uncle John, his brothers Tom, Jim and Mother grew up. Perhaps even a lowing call from a milk cow might come drifting across the still air, or a barking dog in the distance. A barking dog with their warnings of the night was not all that usual, but the sound of the bull as I recall was far more usual. The cows were usually quiet at night unless something was disturbing them, but for the most part all was peaceful at night for the several small herds in the vicinity. Contented cows, and most of those I was familiar with were “Carnation Contented Cows”, were good producers so their evenings were necessarily peaceful.
The sound of milk cans being transferred from the milk stand at the road into the metal bed of the Carnation Dairy transport truck is another memory, but that is a sound of the daylight hours, and not to be dwelled on here. Thousands and thousands of gallons of milk were placed at the road but a few feet from the front door of the house over the years. I live far too much in the past, but that is my special weakness and I would not have it any other way.
Of course the house being situated next to the river road leading into Stanwood over the bridge just downstream would produce the noise of the traveling vehicles, trucks and cars going back and forth. It is surprising how the noise of tires traveling across the cement paved road from a distant approaching car would carry on the night air. One could seemingly hear a car coming for miles depending on the direction of the night breeze. But as evening slowly turned into night the road traffic became less and one could fall asleep quite easily. But occasionally the tranquility would be gently disturbed but it was always just temporary.
As Mother explained though, it was somewhat different when she was growing up. She would tell of the Indians in canoes, in a hurried pace, rowing downstream to Stanwood in the daylight hours, only to hear them come rowing back upstream much later in the night, in a very happy boisterous mood, singing quite loudly. Most likely a rather effective method to sober up I would suggest. The sounds of Steamboats, of various sizes, in the river were common I am sure. Inconceivable today at least to me. These were the times and events that Mother experienced but I am sure so very difficult for anyone new to the area today to even conceive of and rightfully so. But the river of the time was so different than it is today, even the main stream that was captured by Hatts Slough will never bear the importance the original river had to the early settlers. It was a lifeline of commerce, up and downstream. Goods coming up from Puget Sound, logs and crops coming back down. That’s what it was and the sounds I heard in my youth were certainly far different than what the McGinnis families heard and even far more different during current times.
The bouncing of the loose planks at the center of the bridge when passed over by a moving vehicle was a most telling sound, both day and night, but most remakably so on a quiet night. A period of absolute stillness followed by the warning from the bridge might awake one from a light sleep. The tell-tale sound coming from the bridge was always a signal of an approaching vehicle. Any vehicle crossing the bridge would reliably produce the distinct sound, a rather lonely sound in the middle of the night. Every vehicle of any size crossing the river always produced a warning of it's approach created from the purposely placed loose timbers at the center of the bridge being jostled about.
Florence Bridge Under Construction
1908
It was a most distinctive tell-tale "Ker- Boom” followed immediately by a “Ka-Thunk” each time a vehicle passed over it. The deck timbers may have had to be loose in order to allow the bridge to rotate on it's center pier when required to be opened, removing the obstacle to river traffic and allow a boat to pass thru. This procedure is something that ceased before my time as the river slowly lost it’s importance for navigation. It was not a drawbridge as the topographical maps state, it was on a swivel with a large steel encased concrete pier in the center of the river, allowing it to rotate and allow boat traffic to pass on either side of the center pier. it was such a narrow channel and to this day it’s difficult to imagine it ever provided enough room for any boat of any size to traverse. Of course the river began to silt up after the main current of the river was diverted to Hatt’s Slough and by the time I was aware of my surroundings the river had seen many seasons with each year depositing a little more silt with very little flow to carry it out to Puget Sound. You could tell a vehicle was approaching from Stanwood by the sound. If the vehicle did not roll by the front of the house within a very few minutes it was assumed to be headed to farms down river. And the opposite was of course true if after a car or truck passed the house going down river on the route to Stanwood the sound of the loose bridge planks rumbling did not come thru the night soon.
I would go to sleep sometimes counting the minutes and seconds between the rumbling of the bridge planks and the passing of a vehicle in one direction or another. My young way of counting sheep perhaps, but more out of curiosity I believe, for I was the sort that tended to delve into minutia. One could almost determine someone traveling at a high speed just by noticing the period of time produced at the bridge and the corresponding sound of the vehicle passing the house.
The area of Florence remains an agricultural community today and since it all lies within the Stillaguamish River delta, it will probably always remain primarily dedicated to farming. It really is not an area conducive to subdivisions and large housing developments. For that reason in many respects what one might witness during a following of the seasons in Florence today, more than likely it probably remains much like it has always been. A farming community dedicated to the growing of crops that thrive in the rich soil deposited by the flooding river over many centuries.
Outside of the bridge noise, the sounds of the night may be very similar today only with the near musical tone of the trains steam whistles being replaced with the throaty blast of a modern air-horn.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
The Crane Incident- The Flying Types, Not Mechanical……….. !
In Florence, about summer of 1950-
Probably the strangest event I have ever witnessed-
Life along the river on a quiet summer night could be very peaceful. The occasional sound of a passing steam powered train a half mile north across the river was one of the sounds that might arise to really disturb an evening after all the truck and automobile truck traffic along the road in front of the house had lessened. After dark, traffic really was light and it could be several minutes between vehicles. It could be very pleasant and near sublime at times, at least to me in my memories some sixty years or so later.
During the pea harvest season, the constant sound of the trucks carrying the freshly vined peas, stacked in neat wood box crates on the back of the trucks, going up and down the river road in front of the house, going back and forth between the vining machines on the many farms of the area and the cannery in Stanwood. So much of the areas harvest passed in front of our home every day and into the night during the corn and pea harvests. Not every night, but quite often, in order to keep the local harvests on schedule the pea vining crews would work under lights at the vining machine well into the night. How late I never realized for I always drifted off to sleep even with all the quiet noise one encountered in that wonderful period of my life.
Of course, on occasion, one might hear the loud bray of a bull confined to his small pen adjacent to the barn milking parlor on the farm directly across the river from Uncle John's home, the home where Mother grew up. What might disturb the animal, I never understood, for his brood, his private harem, had completed their evening milking before sunset and were all lying down and at rest in the fields for the night, chewing their cud in the rapidly declining light, and once again awaiting the morning milking routine. All was at peace until the "Bull" gave his call of unrest. Or was it his sign of approaching danger? But he could certainly assert himself and give notice to all around him, that this was his right, his duty to express his instincts of the moment. Poor guy, what a life to live. I need not say more, for his duties certainly had it's ups and downs. Sometimes he was needed, sometimes he was not. Perhaps his call was nothing other than an expression of extreme frustration. Most likely he was still hungry, I shall never know.
But I was a distant witness to his demise one evening just after dusk. Something I shall never forget, and once again it was the loud call of this confined bull across the river. A very strange thing to have witnessed and it happened so quickly.
It was a common sight to see large winged cranes fly along the river, usually in the morning and the evenings as I recall. One evening while on the side porch with Uncle John feeding his faithful old dog "chummy" I did notice a crane flying in the weak light along the river at a customary height, about the height of power poles. Not really very high, but that was not unusual for it seemed to be a convenient height for them when they were in flight. But this one time was the last time for one surprised crane.
For some reason, the crane decided to alight and rest this one evening, and his choice of locations proved fatal for him and the old penned up bull. I do have a slight memory of just watching the crane land on what was probably a common place to find temporary roost for many cranes in the area. That place was on a power line that ran along the road on the opposite bank. A natural place to land for sure, it was at his level of flight but what happened then is difficult to describe in detail for it all happened at a seemingly lightning speed. I turned away from watching the large bird and immediately I heard a squawk, saw a bright flash of light, and an extremely loud cry from the bull, a very drastic call for help I am sure, but alas it was his last call in the evening light.
What had happened was that the crane after settling on one wire of the dual-strand power service atop the poles, had for some reason reached across and in some fashion had made contact with the second strand of wire which immediately short-circuited the power as it went through it's body. Of course it immediately killed the animal and it of course fell to the ground near the bull, which was penned outside at the corner of the barn directly below the bird. But that was not the end of the event.
The power lines being damaged due to the direct short between the two wires caused by the bird, apparently weakened, broke and fell to the ground right within the bulls pen. As commonly happens when a live power line comes into contact with the earth it begins to bounce around erratically powered by it's continuing contact with the ground. The result was inevitable I suppose for the out of control live power wire instantly made contact with the bull, causing it to cry out in pain, and it too fell to the ground dead. Again, a most horrible cry of helplessness I have never heard since in my life.
But that again was not the end of the story. No more life of any sort was lost after the initial onslaught but the next thing to happen was that the live power wire then made contact with the barn somehow and immediately set the barn on fire. It was rapidly building in strength as Uncle John and I stood there watching in disbelief what had just transpired in what seemed like just a split second.
We did eventually gather our wits and I was told to run next door to Mary and Charly's house and alert Mary to call the East Stanwood Fire Department. Mary and Charley had the closest phone in the area. To this day I can't really remember what excited words may have come out of my mouth but Mary somehow understood and went immediately to her phone with Charley putting on his boots to race next door to view the scene with Uncle John. It wasn't very long before we heard sirens coming from town and eventually wind their way down the river road on the far side to the barn. The barn was actually saved, but with some serious damage.
What a sight it must have been for the farmer coming out of his house as well as for the arriving firemen to come across the scene and to see such destruction. Even today it seems an almost impossible scene to me but I did witness it. It doesn’t seem to have traumatized me for life however. At least I hope not. I do look for large flying birds whenever near a river though. Never know what might happen. Lightning can strike twice they say.
Probably the strangest event I have ever witnessed-
Life along the river on a quiet summer night could be very peaceful. The occasional sound of a passing steam powered train a half mile north across the river was one of the sounds that might arise to really disturb an evening after all the truck and automobile truck traffic along the road in front of the house had lessened. After dark, traffic really was light and it could be several minutes between vehicles. It could be very pleasant and near sublime at times, at least to me in my memories some sixty years or so later.
During the pea harvest season, the constant sound of the trucks carrying the freshly vined peas, stacked in neat wood box crates on the back of the trucks, going up and down the river road in front of the house, going back and forth between the vining machines on the many farms of the area and the cannery in Stanwood. So much of the areas harvest passed in front of our home every day and into the night during the corn and pea harvests. Not every night, but quite often, in order to keep the local harvests on schedule the pea vining crews would work under lights at the vining machine well into the night. How late I never realized for I always drifted off to sleep even with all the quiet noise one encountered in that wonderful period of my life.
Of course, on occasion, one might hear the loud bray of a bull confined to his small pen adjacent to the barn milking parlor on the farm directly across the river from Uncle John's home, the home where Mother grew up. What might disturb the animal, I never understood, for his brood, his private harem, had completed their evening milking before sunset and were all lying down and at rest in the fields for the night, chewing their cud in the rapidly declining light, and once again awaiting the morning milking routine. All was at peace until the "Bull" gave his call of unrest. Or was it his sign of approaching danger? But he could certainly assert himself and give notice to all around him, that this was his right, his duty to express his instincts of the moment. Poor guy, what a life to live. I need not say more, for his duties certainly had it's ups and downs. Sometimes he was needed, sometimes he was not. Perhaps his call was nothing other than an expression of extreme frustration. Most likely he was still hungry, I shall never know.
But I was a distant witness to his demise one evening just after dusk. Something I shall never forget, and once again it was the loud call of this confined bull across the river. A very strange thing to have witnessed and it happened so quickly.
It was a common sight to see large winged cranes fly along the river, usually in the morning and the evenings as I recall. One evening while on the side porch with Uncle John feeding his faithful old dog "chummy" I did notice a crane flying in the weak light along the river at a customary height, about the height of power poles. Not really very high, but that was not unusual for it seemed to be a convenient height for them when they were in flight. But this one time was the last time for one surprised crane.
For some reason, the crane decided to alight and rest this one evening, and his choice of locations proved fatal for him and the old penned up bull. I do have a slight memory of just watching the crane land on what was probably a common place to find temporary roost for many cranes in the area. That place was on a power line that ran along the road on the opposite bank. A natural place to land for sure, it was at his level of flight but what happened then is difficult to describe in detail for it all happened at a seemingly lightning speed. I turned away from watching the large bird and immediately I heard a squawk, saw a bright flash of light, and an extremely loud cry from the bull, a very drastic call for help I am sure, but alas it was his last call in the evening light.
What had happened was that the crane after settling on one wire of the dual-strand power service atop the poles, had for some reason reached across and in some fashion had made contact with the second strand of wire which immediately short-circuited the power as it went through it's body. Of course it immediately killed the animal and it of course fell to the ground near the bull, which was penned outside at the corner of the barn directly below the bird. But that was not the end of the event.
The power lines being damaged due to the direct short between the two wires caused by the bird, apparently weakened, broke and fell to the ground right within the bulls pen. As commonly happens when a live power line comes into contact with the earth it begins to bounce around erratically powered by it's continuing contact with the ground. The result was inevitable I suppose for the out of control live power wire instantly made contact with the bull, causing it to cry out in pain, and it too fell to the ground dead. Again, a most horrible cry of helplessness I have never heard since in my life.
But that again was not the end of the story. No more life of any sort was lost after the initial onslaught but the next thing to happen was that the live power wire then made contact with the barn somehow and immediately set the barn on fire. It was rapidly building in strength as Uncle John and I stood there watching in disbelief what had just transpired in what seemed like just a split second.
We did eventually gather our wits and I was told to run next door to Mary and Charly's house and alert Mary to call the East Stanwood Fire Department. Mary and Charley had the closest phone in the area. To this day I can't really remember what excited words may have come out of my mouth but Mary somehow understood and went immediately to her phone with Charley putting on his boots to race next door to view the scene with Uncle John. It wasn't very long before we heard sirens coming from town and eventually wind their way down the river road on the far side to the barn. The barn was actually saved, but with some serious damage.
What a sight it must have been for the farmer coming out of his house as well as for the arriving firemen to come across the scene and to see such destruction. Even today it seems an almost impossible scene to me but I did witness it. It doesn’t seem to have traumatized me for life however. At least I hope not. I do look for large flying birds whenever near a river though. Never know what might happen. Lightning can strike twice they say.
Friday, February 11, 2011
A Concise Donahue History- Copied From Floyd Billings Jr.
Floyd Billings, a descendant of Thomas Donahue, has compiled a combined history of what is known of the Donahue family to current times. Floyd has been researching the Donahue’s some fifty years and only through the recent collaboration with four descendants that have found one another on the Internet has he been able to bring together a summary of pooled knowledge, some facts being new even to him. It is the result of a collaborative effort of the known interested Donahue descendants and what he outlines is a collection of facts from all us. A transcription of his writing is included in this post and it is a valuable piece that describes what is known of the Donahue’s of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. This is being posted with Floyd’s permission and the purpose here is to ensure that his narrative survives long into the future through the “magic” of the internet.
Floyd can be found on our family tree as a descendant of the first child of Thomas Donahue, a daughter, Amelia Bridget, born in Ireland. This daughter eventually came to the United States, most likely through the auspices of her father, and married in Milwaukee to one John Shimunok the great grandfather of Floyd Billings. Floyd has uncovered an extensive lineage history of his Shimunok family in Wisconsin that he has also shared with us but it is not included here.
What I consider to be the “Holy Grail” of our history, the records of our ancestors in Ireland, has yet to be found. I remain positive that someone in the future will find the records, at the very least that is my hope. In the meantime our overall knowledge has expanded greatly and all that Floyd describes in his narrative is the baseline that those in the future will use to actually trace down our Irish beginnings.
The following is a transcription of a Donahue Family History written by Floyd Billings Jr.
Note: The history that follows is based on the information that is presently available to me and reflects my interpretation of it. I expect that the story will change somewhat as further information becomes available. I welcome and appreciate any questions, comments or suggestions.
Floyd Billings. 12 December 2009
My second great grandfather Thomas Donahue was born in Galway county, Ireland, on or about December 25, 1816. Sources presently available to us indicate his father’s name was Patrick and his mother’s maiden name was Mary Connelly. (See note at the end of this account).
It is known that Thomas had a sister Mary and a brother (or half brother) Patrick, both several years younger than himself. It seems likely that there were other children in the family as well, but if so, we presently know nothing of them.
The early years of the Donahue children were characterized by an abundance of work and a lack of schooling. As Thomas’s brother and sister later explained, “Neither of us had any schooling, no chance was given us to go to school. It was nothing but work in those days in Ireland.”
About the year 1840, when Thomas was in his early 20’s, he married his first wife Anna White. A daughter was born to them on March 1, 1842, and named Amelia Bridget.
Two very significant events took place after that. One was the death of Thomas’s wife. The other was when Thomas went to the United States and joined the Army. It is not possible at this point to say which happened first.
In 1899 it became necessary for Thomas’s second wife Mary, then a widow, to establish the fact, the date and the place of death of the first wife. Since she was not personally involved, she could only repeat what she had been told earlier, namely, that the first wife died “a number of years” prior to her marriage to Thomas in May 1850.
Unable to locate non-relatives familiar with the facts, as requested, she turned to Thomas’s brother and sister, “who have a personal knowledge of the facts called for- and it is currently first hand information.”
Patrick and Mary then related in an affidavit that: “Both of us lived in the same house in County of Galway, Ireland where Mrs. Donahue first wife of Thomas Donahue died, saw her, both of us, after she was dead and attended her funeral. She, Mrs. Donahue, first wife of Thos. died in the fall, being so long ago do not remember the year.”
So we know that Thomas’s wife died in Galway county, Ireland , that she died in the fall of the year and that it was sometime after March 1842 but “a number of years” prior to May 1850.
We can establish the date of Thomas’s departure from Ireland fairly closely by working backward from his enlistment in the army on May 19th, 1845 at Bangor, Maine.
When asked if Thomas had any U.S. military service prior to his May 1845 enlistment, Mary, again relying on what she had been told, said that she did not believe that he had served in the Army or Navy of the United States prior to that date “because he was then still in Ireland.” It was thus her understanding that Thomas left Ireland and arrived in the U.S. shortly before enlisting.
At this point, we must consider some of the circumstances in regard to immigration in the 1840’s. First of all, we need to realize that at that time the British government encouraged British subjects going to the United States to obtain passage on British ships and to go by way of Canada. Of course, many would have done so anyway because the crossing to Canada was shorter, somewhat quicker (typically 35 to 45 days at sea) and perhaps somewhat less expensive.
It is also important to understand that Canadian immigration was seasonal. The first immigrants in a given year typically arrived at the beginning of May and the last near the end of October. Because of unfavorable conditions, potential immigrants seldom ventured to cross the North Atlantic in winter.
So this leaves us with two likely scenarios. The first is that Thomas left Ireland in the latter part of March 1845, arrived at Quebec or at one of the ports in New Brunswick just after the first of May and then went directly to Bangor, Maine, where he enlisted on the 19th of that month. The implication here would be that he left Ireland with intention of enlisting, and that once underway, executed that plan as quickly as possible.
The other possibility would be that he left Ireland a bit earlier, perhaps in the summer or fall of 1844, and then, after arriving, spent a few months looking at other possibilities before enlisting in May. Of course it is also possible that he could have left Ireland sooner than that or that he entered the U.S. directly rather than through Canada.
Concerning the name of the first wife, the name Anna White comes from the 1899 affidavit mentioned earlier. On Thomas’s daughter Bridget’s death certificate in 1921, however, her daughter gives Bridget’s mother’s name as “--- Shaunessy”. At this point I am inclined to accept Anna White as the correct name and to speculate that Shaunessy may have been the name of relatives or others who raised Bridget as a foster child after her mother died. Bridget’s daughter just might have heard her mother mention the name Shaunessy and made an incorrect assumption.
As previously indicated, Thomas enlisted at Bangor, Maine by May 19, 1845. At enlistment, Lt. Bowen, the enlisting officer recorded the following:
Name: Thomas Donohue – Note: spelled thus
Age: 27 – Note: if December 25, 1816 is really his birthdate, he was actually 28.
Eyes: blue
Hair: brown
Complexion: fair
Height: 5’ 7” – Note: fairly tall in those days
Born: Ireland, Galway
Occupation: Laborer
Enlisted: May 19, 1845
Where: Bangor
By whom: Lt. Bowen
Term: 5 yrs
Regiment or co: 1 Art. G – Note: Battery (or company) “G”, 1st artillery regiment
A perusal of the Enlistment Registers shows that eleven men enlisted at Bangor in May of 1845, five of them born in Ireland, but Thomas was the only one on the 19th. There does not seem to be any connection between Thomas and any of the other men who enlisted during that month.
Thomas remained in Battery G of the 1st Artillery for his full five year term. During the war with Mexico he went to that country with his regiment and participated in a number of battles, including the battles of Vera Cruz, Cerre Gordo, and Chepultapec. At the conclusion of his enlistment, he was discharged from Fort Columbus (Governor’s Island), New York on May 19, 1850, having served five years as a private.
Before his discharge, Thomas met a young Irish woman named Mary McHugh or McKeough. On May 12, 1850, Thomas and Mary were married at the Church of the Transformation in New York City according to the rite of the Roman Catholic Church. Thomas was about 33 years of age. Mary was in her early 20’s. The witnesses were Thomas Green and Margaret Long. The names of the parents were not recorded.
Upon his discharge, Thomas applied for and received a Bounty Land Warrant redeemable for 160 acres of government land. The warrant was dated May 27, 1850. He qualified for this warrant based on his service in Mexico
Thomas and Mary then started west. At Buffalo they boarded a steamer bound for Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Aboard the boat they became acquainted with the Mulholland family who had just arrived from the old country and were planning to settle in Manitowoc county, Wisconsin. So Thomas and Mary followed them there.
By early July Thomas and Mary had arrive in Manitowoc where on July 8th Thomas sold his land warrant to a man named John Stevens “for value received.” On that same day, he purchased 80 acres of land, being the west half of the southeast quarter of section 35 in the township later known as the town of Liberty, Manitowoc county, Wisconsin. This is the farm where Thomas and Mary lived for the next forty years or so and where they raised their family.
Thomas purchased this land from John Stephenson and his wife Elizabeth, paying a total of $100 or $1.25 per acre. The presumption would be that Thomas figured that it was better to purchase 80 acres of previously-owned land, likely at least partially cleared and developed, and possibly in a more favorable location, rather than to claim the 160 acres of totally unoccupied, uncleared and uncultivated government land which the land warrant entitled him to claim.
(A few months later, John Stevens used the land warrant to claim 160 acres of public land after first inspecting the land and certifying, as required, that it was entirely uninhabited and that no part of it was under cultivation.)
About three years after Thomas and Mary arrived in Manitowoc county Thomas’s brother and sister Mary also arrived. It is unclear whether they came together or separately. In his declaration of intent Patrick indicated that he entered the country at New York City in November of 1853.
It is not known at this point if Thomas sent passage money for Patrick and Mary or if they came on their own nickel. It is clear, however, that although neither he nor they could read or write, he devised some way to keep in touch with them and to paint a picture of Manitowoc county as a good place to live. Otherwise they simply would not have known where to come.
On March 12th, 1855, Mary married Arnold Siehr at Manitowoc Rapids in Manitowoc county. A native of Prussia (Germany), Arnold had arrived in Manitowoc county a few years before and by the time of his marriage had established himself as a farmer in the town of Meeme, having purchased and patented 40 acres of government land there in 1852.
At the time of the marriage, Arnold gave his parents’ names as Jacob and Maria Siehr (spelled Sierh). Mary gave her parents’ names as Patrick and Mary Donahoe.
In June of 1855, the state of Wisconsin took a census which identified each household and recorded the number of persons living there. The Siehr household (spelled Sears) included, as we would expect, one male and one female, both foreign born.
The enumeration of the “Th. Danehow” household in the town of Newton – this was before the town of Liberty was separated from the town of Newton – is more problematic. It lists four males and three females, five of them foreign born. This does not add up since by this time Thomas and Mary had three children -- John, Patrick and Sarah. So the members of the immediate family should have included three males and two females. If we add Thomas’s brother Patrick and another foreign born female that makes four males and three females as recorded, but only four are foreign born rather than five.
It appears that Thomas and Mary, after purchasing the 80 acres in 1850 enjoyed some degree of success as farmers because on July 28, 1855, they purchased another 120 acres. This land is described as the west half of the southeast quarter and the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 31 in the township known as the town of Newton and is thus located two miles east of the home farm. In this case the purchase price was $480 or $4.00 per acre.
Also in 1855, Patrick was involved in a legal matter which came before the Manitowoc county court. The card index does not specify the nature of the case or the outcome – only that the other party was W. Richmond.
On February 16, 1857, Thomas and Mary sold half of the 120 acres to Patrick for $200 or $3.33 per acre.
In 1859, Patrick again appeared before the court, this time to face a charge of assault and battery brought by one Anna Burns and the State of Wisconsin. The card index does not indicate whether he was found guilty or not.
In October 1859, Thomas and Patrick were both admitted to United States citizenship, Thomas on the 24th and Patrick on the 29th.
About 1859, Patrick married Honorah Luby and they settled on the land in the Town of Newton where they raised a family of one son and three daughters. This was the land that Patrick purchased from Thomas and Mary in 1857.
Thomas and Mary continued to farm in the Town of Liberty where eight additional children were born to them – Thomas, Michael, Mary Ellen, Katherine, Martin, Margaret, James and Alice.
Meanwhile about 1857 or 1858 Thomas’s daughter Bridget arrived from Ireland. She remained with the family for a short time. Then she and another girl that she knew went off to Milwaukee to find work. There she met and married John Shimunok, but that is another story.
--
Note: I have reached my current conclusion as to the likely names of Thomas’s parents as follows:
The following is a descendant tabulation of the family of Thomas and Mary Donahue as detailed by Floyd Billings:
Thomas Donahue
Husband: Thomas Donahue
b: 23 December 1816 (tombstone)
b: 25 December 1816 (death record)
m: abt 1840 in Ireland to Anna White
m: 12 May 1850, Church of the Transfiguraton, New York City, to Mary McHue
occ: 19 May 1845 – 19 May 1850 – Private in Battery “G” First Artillery Regiment, U.S. Army; was in Mexico at least 60 days during the war with that country and participated in the battles of Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo and Chepultapek and others.
occ: 1850 to retirement, Farmer in Liberty twp, Manitowoc co, Wis.
d: 14 January 1898, Manitowoc, Wisconsin
First Wife: Anna White
b: abt 1820 in Ireland, probably county Galway
d: abt 1843-1847 in County Galway, Ireland
Note: this information comes from the affidavit by Patrick Donahue and Mary Siehr dated 19 July 1899 in which they declare under oath that “Both of us lived in the same house in County of Galway, Ireland, and attended her funeral, her maiden name was Anna White. She, Mrs. Donahue, first wife of Thos. died in the fall, being so long ago do not remember the year.”
Note: Patrick and Mary add this further comment: “Neither of us had any schooling, no chance was given us to go to school. It was nothing but work in those days in Ireland.”
Known child:
1.Amelia Bridget Donahue
b: 1 March 1842 in Ireland, presumably in County Galway
immigration: 1858
m: 17 August 1862 at Milwaukee, Wisconsin to John Shimunok
d: 14 December 1921, Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wis,
Second Wife: Mary McKeough
Also: McHugh, McHue, McCue
b: abt 1825 in Ireland
d: December 1900 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Children:
1.John Donahue
b: 6 April 1851
m: abt 1875 Margaret (Maggie) Fitzgerald
d: 1 October 1912, Centerville, Manitowoc co, Wis.
b: 3 October 1912, St. Isadore
occ: Farmer in Newton and Centerville, Manitowoc county
2.Patrick W. Donahue
b: April 1853
m: abt 1901, Amelia Emma McLaughlin
d: Chicago- I have the date but cannot find it at the moment.
occ: Grocer in Chicago
3.Sarah Donahue
b: 3 February 1855
m: 28 January 1891, Seattle, James H. Hall
d: 26 September 1910
b: Florence, Snohomish, Washington
occ: dairy farm in Florence
4.Thomas Donahue
b: 9 June 1857
m: 18 November 1884 to Mary Ann McMahon
d: 14 March 1887
b: St. Isadore
occ: Farmer in Manitowoc county
5.Michael J. Donahue
Note: His baptismal name was simply Michael. He often added the initial J (for Jeremiah) which was the name of his godfather
b: 1860
m: 24 September 1905 at Florence, Washington to Bridget McPadden
occ: Lumber camp cook
occ: Farmer, Iron River, Michigan abt 1882-1896
occ: Gold Miner in the Klondike 1897-1905
occ: Farmer, Quincy, Washington
Note: For numerous details about him and his brother Martin, refer to the transcript of the U.S. Supreme Court case :Donohue v Vosper” (1917). Also “Donahue v Lake Superior Ship Canal, Railway and Iron Co.” (1894).
6.Mary Ellen Donahue
b: 7 May 1861
m: 3 July 1883, Chicago, to James McGinnis, witnesses Hugh McGinnis and Kate Donahue
d: 15 May 1929, Florence, Snohomish co., Washington
bur: 18 May 1929 at Florence, Washington
occ: dairy farm in Florence
7.Catherine I. (Kate) Donahue
b: 6 May 1863
m: 29 December 1889, Seattle, Hugh Patrick McGinnis
d: 6 August 1929 at Everett, Washington
bur: 8 August 1929, Florence, Washington
occ: Dairy farm in Florence
8.Martin Edward Donahue
b: 15 December 1866
bap: 21 December 1866, St. Isadore
m: 1913 Jessie Florence Pidd
m: 1920 Della Richards
d: 12 May 1936, Escanaba, Michigan
bur: Iron River, Michigan
occ: Farmer in Iron River, Michigan
occ: Principal stakeholder in the Homer Mine
Note: See note under Michael above
9.Margaret Donahue
b: 22 May 1869
m: 27 December 1889 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin to William Scherer
d: 13 December 1944
10.James Roger Donahue
b: 28 August 1872
bap: 1 September 1872 St. Isadore
m: Laura P,
d: 1951
11.Alice Donahue
b: 4 April 1878
m: 31 May 1902 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Robert Martin Puls
d: 15 July 1966
Floyd can be found on our family tree as a descendant of the first child of Thomas Donahue, a daughter, Amelia Bridget, born in Ireland. This daughter eventually came to the United States, most likely through the auspices of her father, and married in Milwaukee to one John Shimunok the great grandfather of Floyd Billings. Floyd has uncovered an extensive lineage history of his Shimunok family in Wisconsin that he has also shared with us but it is not included here.
What I consider to be the “Holy Grail” of our history, the records of our ancestors in Ireland, has yet to be found. I remain positive that someone in the future will find the records, at the very least that is my hope. In the meantime our overall knowledge has expanded greatly and all that Floyd describes in his narrative is the baseline that those in the future will use to actually trace down our Irish beginnings.
The following is a transcription of a Donahue Family History written by Floyd Billings Jr.
Note: The history that follows is based on the information that is presently available to me and reflects my interpretation of it. I expect that the story will change somewhat as further information becomes available. I welcome and appreciate any questions, comments or suggestions.
Floyd Billings. 12 December 2009
My second great grandfather Thomas Donahue was born in Galway county, Ireland, on or about December 25, 1816. Sources presently available to us indicate his father’s name was Patrick and his mother’s maiden name was Mary Connelly. (See note at the end of this account).
It is known that Thomas had a sister Mary and a brother (or half brother) Patrick, both several years younger than himself. It seems likely that there were other children in the family as well, but if so, we presently know nothing of them.
The early years of the Donahue children were characterized by an abundance of work and a lack of schooling. As Thomas’s brother and sister later explained, “Neither of us had any schooling, no chance was given us to go to school. It was nothing but work in those days in Ireland.”
About the year 1840, when Thomas was in his early 20’s, he married his first wife Anna White. A daughter was born to them on March 1, 1842, and named Amelia Bridget.
Two very significant events took place after that. One was the death of Thomas’s wife. The other was when Thomas went to the United States and joined the Army. It is not possible at this point to say which happened first.
In 1899 it became necessary for Thomas’s second wife Mary, then a widow, to establish the fact, the date and the place of death of the first wife. Since she was not personally involved, she could only repeat what she had been told earlier, namely, that the first wife died “a number of years” prior to her marriage to Thomas in May 1850.
Unable to locate non-relatives familiar with the facts, as requested, she turned to Thomas’s brother and sister, “who have a personal knowledge of the facts called for- and it is currently first hand information.”
Patrick and Mary then related in an affidavit that: “Both of us lived in the same house in County of Galway, Ireland where Mrs. Donahue first wife of Thomas Donahue died, saw her, both of us, after she was dead and attended her funeral. She, Mrs. Donahue, first wife of Thos. died in the fall, being so long ago do not remember the year.”
So we know that Thomas’s wife died in Galway county, Ireland , that she died in the fall of the year and that it was sometime after March 1842 but “a number of years” prior to May 1850.
We can establish the date of Thomas’s departure from Ireland fairly closely by working backward from his enlistment in the army on May 19th, 1845 at Bangor, Maine.
When asked if Thomas had any U.S. military service prior to his May 1845 enlistment, Mary, again relying on what she had been told, said that she did not believe that he had served in the Army or Navy of the United States prior to that date “because he was then still in Ireland.” It was thus her understanding that Thomas left Ireland and arrived in the U.S. shortly before enlisting.
At this point, we must consider some of the circumstances in regard to immigration in the 1840’s. First of all, we need to realize that at that time the British government encouraged British subjects going to the United States to obtain passage on British ships and to go by way of Canada. Of course, many would have done so anyway because the crossing to Canada was shorter, somewhat quicker (typically 35 to 45 days at sea) and perhaps somewhat less expensive.
It is also important to understand that Canadian immigration was seasonal. The first immigrants in a given year typically arrived at the beginning of May and the last near the end of October. Because of unfavorable conditions, potential immigrants seldom ventured to cross the North Atlantic in winter.
So this leaves us with two likely scenarios. The first is that Thomas left Ireland in the latter part of March 1845, arrived at Quebec or at one of the ports in New Brunswick just after the first of May and then went directly to Bangor, Maine, where he enlisted on the 19th of that month. The implication here would be that he left Ireland with intention of enlisting, and that once underway, executed that plan as quickly as possible.
The other possibility would be that he left Ireland a bit earlier, perhaps in the summer or fall of 1844, and then, after arriving, spent a few months looking at other possibilities before enlisting in May. Of course it is also possible that he could have left Ireland sooner than that or that he entered the U.S. directly rather than through Canada.
Concerning the name of the first wife, the name Anna White comes from the 1899 affidavit mentioned earlier. On Thomas’s daughter Bridget’s death certificate in 1921, however, her daughter gives Bridget’s mother’s name as “--- Shaunessy”. At this point I am inclined to accept Anna White as the correct name and to speculate that Shaunessy may have been the name of relatives or others who raised Bridget as a foster child after her mother died. Bridget’s daughter just might have heard her mother mention the name Shaunessy and made an incorrect assumption.
As previously indicated, Thomas enlisted at Bangor, Maine by May 19, 1845. At enlistment, Lt. Bowen, the enlisting officer recorded the following:
Name: Thomas Donohue – Note: spelled thus
Age: 27 – Note: if December 25, 1816 is really his birthdate, he was actually 28.
Eyes: blue
Hair: brown
Complexion: fair
Height: 5’ 7” – Note: fairly tall in those days
Born: Ireland, Galway
Occupation: Laborer
Enlisted: May 19, 1845
Where: Bangor
By whom: Lt. Bowen
Term: 5 yrs
Regiment or co: 1 Art. G – Note: Battery (or company) “G”, 1st artillery regiment
A perusal of the Enlistment Registers shows that eleven men enlisted at Bangor in May of 1845, five of them born in Ireland, but Thomas was the only one on the 19th. There does not seem to be any connection between Thomas and any of the other men who enlisted during that month.
Thomas remained in Battery G of the 1st Artillery for his full five year term. During the war with Mexico he went to that country with his regiment and participated in a number of battles, including the battles of Vera Cruz, Cerre Gordo, and Chepultapec. At the conclusion of his enlistment, he was discharged from Fort Columbus (Governor’s Island), New York on May 19, 1850, having served five years as a private.
Before his discharge, Thomas met a young Irish woman named Mary McHugh or McKeough. On May 12, 1850, Thomas and Mary were married at the Church of the Transformation in New York City according to the rite of the Roman Catholic Church. Thomas was about 33 years of age. Mary was in her early 20’s. The witnesses were Thomas Green and Margaret Long. The names of the parents were not recorded.
Upon his discharge, Thomas applied for and received a Bounty Land Warrant redeemable for 160 acres of government land. The warrant was dated May 27, 1850. He qualified for this warrant based on his service in Mexico
Thomas and Mary then started west. At Buffalo they boarded a steamer bound for Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Aboard the boat they became acquainted with the Mulholland family who had just arrived from the old country and were planning to settle in Manitowoc county, Wisconsin. So Thomas and Mary followed them there.
By early July Thomas and Mary had arrive in Manitowoc where on July 8th Thomas sold his land warrant to a man named John Stevens “for value received.” On that same day, he purchased 80 acres of land, being the west half of the southeast quarter of section 35 in the township later known as the town of Liberty, Manitowoc county, Wisconsin. This is the farm where Thomas and Mary lived for the next forty years or so and where they raised their family.
Thomas purchased this land from John Stephenson and his wife Elizabeth, paying a total of $100 or $1.25 per acre. The presumption would be that Thomas figured that it was better to purchase 80 acres of previously-owned land, likely at least partially cleared and developed, and possibly in a more favorable location, rather than to claim the 160 acres of totally unoccupied, uncleared and uncultivated government land which the land warrant entitled him to claim.
(A few months later, John Stevens used the land warrant to claim 160 acres of public land after first inspecting the land and certifying, as required, that it was entirely uninhabited and that no part of it was under cultivation.)
About three years after Thomas and Mary arrived in Manitowoc county Thomas’s brother and sister Mary also arrived. It is unclear whether they came together or separately. In his declaration of intent Patrick indicated that he entered the country at New York City in November of 1853.
It is not known at this point if Thomas sent passage money for Patrick and Mary or if they came on their own nickel. It is clear, however, that although neither he nor they could read or write, he devised some way to keep in touch with them and to paint a picture of Manitowoc county as a good place to live. Otherwise they simply would not have known where to come.
On March 12th, 1855, Mary married Arnold Siehr at Manitowoc Rapids in Manitowoc county. A native of Prussia (Germany), Arnold had arrived in Manitowoc county a few years before and by the time of his marriage had established himself as a farmer in the town of Meeme, having purchased and patented 40 acres of government land there in 1852.
At the time of the marriage, Arnold gave his parents’ names as Jacob and Maria Siehr (spelled Sierh). Mary gave her parents’ names as Patrick and Mary Donahoe.
In June of 1855, the state of Wisconsin took a census which identified each household and recorded the number of persons living there. The Siehr household (spelled Sears) included, as we would expect, one male and one female, both foreign born.
The enumeration of the “Th. Danehow” household in the town of Newton – this was before the town of Liberty was separated from the town of Newton – is more problematic. It lists four males and three females, five of them foreign born. This does not add up since by this time Thomas and Mary had three children -- John, Patrick and Sarah. So the members of the immediate family should have included three males and two females. If we add Thomas’s brother Patrick and another foreign born female that makes four males and three females as recorded, but only four are foreign born rather than five.
It appears that Thomas and Mary, after purchasing the 80 acres in 1850 enjoyed some degree of success as farmers because on July 28, 1855, they purchased another 120 acres. This land is described as the west half of the southeast quarter and the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 31 in the township known as the town of Newton and is thus located two miles east of the home farm. In this case the purchase price was $480 or $4.00 per acre.
Also in 1855, Patrick was involved in a legal matter which came before the Manitowoc county court. The card index does not specify the nature of the case or the outcome – only that the other party was W. Richmond.
On February 16, 1857, Thomas and Mary sold half of the 120 acres to Patrick for $200 or $3.33 per acre.
In 1859, Patrick again appeared before the court, this time to face a charge of assault and battery brought by one Anna Burns and the State of Wisconsin. The card index does not indicate whether he was found guilty or not.
In October 1859, Thomas and Patrick were both admitted to United States citizenship, Thomas on the 24th and Patrick on the 29th.
About 1859, Patrick married Honorah Luby and they settled on the land in the Town of Newton where they raised a family of one son and three daughters. This was the land that Patrick purchased from Thomas and Mary in 1857.
Thomas and Mary continued to farm in the Town of Liberty where eight additional children were born to them – Thomas, Michael, Mary Ellen, Katherine, Martin, Margaret, James and Alice.
Meanwhile about 1857 or 1858 Thomas’s daughter Bridget arrived from Ireland. She remained with the family for a short time. Then she and another girl that she knew went off to Milwaukee to find work. There she met and married John Shimunok, but that is another story.
--
Note: I have reached my current conclusion as to the likely names of Thomas’s parents as follows:
- At her 1855 marriage, Mary gave her parents’ names as Patrick and Mary Donahoe.
- When Patrick died in 1907, his daughter gave the parents’ names as John Donehue and Mary Cornelia.
- When Mary died in 1915, her son gave the parents’ names as Patrick Donehue and Maria Cornelia.
- Since it was almost unheard of in the 1790’s for a common person to receive more than one given name, I must assume that the name Cornelia was probably an attempt to supply a surname. However, since Cornelia did not exist as a surname in Ireland at that time, I must assume that it is likely a poorly recorded or poorly spelled version of a similar name – such as Connelly.
The following is a descendant tabulation of the family of Thomas and Mary Donahue as detailed by Floyd Billings:
Thomas Donahue
Husband: Thomas Donahue
b: 23 December 1816 (tombstone)
b: 25 December 1816 (death record)
m: abt 1840 in Ireland to Anna White
m: 12 May 1850, Church of the Transfiguraton, New York City, to Mary McHue
occ: 19 May 1845 – 19 May 1850 – Private in Battery “G” First Artillery Regiment, U.S. Army; was in Mexico at least 60 days during the war with that country and participated in the battles of Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo and Chepultapek and others.
occ: 1850 to retirement, Farmer in Liberty twp, Manitowoc co, Wis.
d: 14 January 1898, Manitowoc, Wisconsin
First Wife: Anna White
b: abt 1820 in Ireland, probably county Galway
d: abt 1843-1847 in County Galway, Ireland
Note: this information comes from the affidavit by Patrick Donahue and Mary Siehr dated 19 July 1899 in which they declare under oath that “Both of us lived in the same house in County of Galway, Ireland, and attended her funeral, her maiden name was Anna White. She, Mrs. Donahue, first wife of Thos. died in the fall, being so long ago do not remember the year.”
Note: Patrick and Mary add this further comment: “Neither of us had any schooling, no chance was given us to go to school. It was nothing but work in those days in Ireland.”
Known child:
1.Amelia Bridget Donahue
b: 1 March 1842 in Ireland, presumably in County Galway
immigration: 1858
m: 17 August 1862 at Milwaukee, Wisconsin to John Shimunok
d: 14 December 1921, Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wis,
Second Wife: Mary McKeough
Also: McHugh, McHue, McCue
b: abt 1825 in Ireland
d: December 1900 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Children:
1.John Donahue
b: 6 April 1851
m: abt 1875 Margaret (Maggie) Fitzgerald
d: 1 October 1912, Centerville, Manitowoc co, Wis.
b: 3 October 1912, St. Isadore
occ: Farmer in Newton and Centerville, Manitowoc county
2.Patrick W. Donahue
b: April 1853
m: abt 1901, Amelia Emma McLaughlin
d: Chicago- I have the date but cannot find it at the moment.
occ: Grocer in Chicago
3.Sarah Donahue
b: 3 February 1855
m: 28 January 1891, Seattle, James H. Hall
d: 26 September 1910
b: Florence, Snohomish, Washington
occ: dairy farm in Florence
4.Thomas Donahue
b: 9 June 1857
m: 18 November 1884 to Mary Ann McMahon
d: 14 March 1887
b: St. Isadore
occ: Farmer in Manitowoc county
5.Michael J. Donahue
Note: His baptismal name was simply Michael. He often added the initial J (for Jeremiah) which was the name of his godfather
b: 1860
m: 24 September 1905 at Florence, Washington to Bridget McPadden
occ: Lumber camp cook
occ: Farmer, Iron River, Michigan abt 1882-1896
occ: Gold Miner in the Klondike 1897-1905
occ: Farmer, Quincy, Washington
Note: For numerous details about him and his brother Martin, refer to the transcript of the U.S. Supreme Court case :Donohue v Vosper” (1917). Also “Donahue v Lake Superior Ship Canal, Railway and Iron Co.” (1894).
6.Mary Ellen Donahue
b: 7 May 1861
m: 3 July 1883, Chicago, to James McGinnis, witnesses Hugh McGinnis and Kate Donahue
d: 15 May 1929, Florence, Snohomish co., Washington
bur: 18 May 1929 at Florence, Washington
occ: dairy farm in Florence
7.Catherine I. (Kate) Donahue
b: 6 May 1863
m: 29 December 1889, Seattle, Hugh Patrick McGinnis
d: 6 August 1929 at Everett, Washington
bur: 8 August 1929, Florence, Washington
occ: Dairy farm in Florence
8.Martin Edward Donahue
b: 15 December 1866
bap: 21 December 1866, St. Isadore
m: 1913 Jessie Florence Pidd
m: 1920 Della Richards
d: 12 May 1936, Escanaba, Michigan
bur: Iron River, Michigan
occ: Farmer in Iron River, Michigan
occ: Principal stakeholder in the Homer Mine
Note: See note under Michael above
9.Margaret Donahue
b: 22 May 1869
m: 27 December 1889 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin to William Scherer
d: 13 December 1944
10.James Roger Donahue
b: 28 August 1872
bap: 1 September 1872 St. Isadore
m: Laura P,
d: 1951
11.Alice Donahue
b: 4 April 1878
m: 31 May 1902 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Robert Martin Puls
d: 15 July 1966
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Samuel Jones, Incorporation Commissioner
This is the last of a few references found for Samuel Jones in the Georgia online Archives. It really reveals little about the man other than maybe how he was held in some esteem in the Ellijay and Gilmer County area. I may have the interpretation of all this somewhat skewed but what follows is my brief take on what this is all about.
Ellijay at the center of the Map
It appears that this is an act of the Georgia Legislature during the 1853 and 1854 session enabling the incorporation of a Railroad Company and permitting it to sell stock in the State in order to finance construction. Ellijay apparently may have been a terminal point on the new railroad or at least it was an area of some sort of importance to the endeavor. As I understand the document Samuel Jones is among several men appointed as some sort of trustees or commissioners and assigned the task of overseeing the incorporation of the company and monitoring the proper handling of investors money. Admittedly it is rather a dry document to read through but this is how I summarize the legislation and the role our Great-Grandfather played.
The act is dated February of 1854 and helps to establish a more accurate date that Samuel Jones sold off his Gilmer County property and moved more to the west in North Georgia, to what was known then as the Snow Hill community in Catoosa County. Right smack-dab in the middle of some of the worst fighting of the Civil War in the Western Theatre of operations. Actually in the middle of what became General Sherman’s eventual Military playground so to speak. Samuel’s wife Narcissa Tate Jones had died in 1852 and this document establishes that he waited at least two years or more before making his move out of Ellijay.
I have tried to highlight the mention of Samuel’s name but online blog editing can sometimes be rather hit and miss. I hope I succeeded.
A GALILEO Digital Initiative Database
Georgia Legislative Documents
Content of Act/Resolution
ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA, PASSED IN MILLEDGEVILLE, AT A BIENNIAL SESSION, IN NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, JANUARY, AND FEBRUARY. 1853-4. COMPILED, AND NOTES ADDED, By JOHN RUTHERFORD.
PART II.--PRIVATE AND LOCAL LAWS.
INTERNAL TRANSPORTATION. RAIL AND PLANK ROADS AND RIVERS*
* See No. 500, Broad River, Commissioners for; and Ohoopie River, Commissioners for.
†
† See No. 348, for Habersham and Union Telegraph Company incorporated.
UGUSTA AND [Illegible Text] RAIL ROAD COMPANY.
[Illegible Text] [Illegible Text] AND ZEBULON RAIL ROAD CHANGED TO [Illegible Text] FRANKLIN AND OXFORD RAIL ROAD.
CHARLESTON AND SAVANNAH RAIL ROAD.
CHATTAHOOCHEE RIDGE RAIL ROAD.
COLUMBUS AND HAMILTON RAIL ROAD.
COLUMBUS AND WEST POINT RAIL ROAD.
COOSA AND CHATTOOGA RAIL ROAD.
DALTON AND COPPER MINE TURNPIKE, PLANK AND RAIL ROAD COMPANY.
DALTON AND ALABAMA LINE RAIL ROAD.
EATONTON AND COVINGTON RAIL ROAD COMPANY.
EATONTON AND MONTICELLO RAIL ROAD COMPANY.
ELIJAY RAIL ROAD COMPANY AND THOMASTON RAIL ROAD.
1853 Vol. 1 -- Page: 425
Sequential Number: 453
Law Number: (No. 363.)
Full Title: An Act to open and construct a Rail Road, commencing at some point between Marietta and Calhoun, to be determined by a majority of the Stockholders herein incorporated, and thence the most practicable route, by Elijay, in Gilmer County, to the, or near the, Mouth of Fightingtown Creek, at the Copper Mines, in the County of Gilmer; also, to incorporate the Thomaston and West Point, and Thomaston and Milledgeville Rail Road Company.
WHEREAS, There are large developments of Copper Ore now raised and raising at or near the mouth of Fighting town Creek, on both sides of the State line, between Georgia and Tennessee, which cannot be shipped to places of manufacture without the aid of a Rail Road through that section of the country:
SECTION I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That for the purpose of opening and constructing a Rail Road communication, from the Western and Atlantic Rail Road, beginning at some point on said Road, at or between Marietta and Calhoun, to be determined by a majority of the Stockholders herein after incorporated, and thence the most practicable route by the way of Elijay, in Gilmer County, to or near the mouth of Fighting town Creek, in Gilmer County, at or near the Copper Mines; the subscribers for the
Page: 426
capital stock, herein after mentioned, and their assigns, shall be a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of the Elijay Rail Road Company, and by said corporate name shall be capable in law to purchase, accept, hold and convey real and personal estate; make contracts, sue and be sued, and to make by-laws, and to do all lawful acts properly incident to a corporation and necessary and proper for the construction of the works and transaction of the business for which said Company are incorporated; and to have and use a common seal, and the same to alter and destroy at pleasure.
[Sidenote: Elijay Rail Road Company.]
[Sidenote: Powers, rights, &c.]
SEC. II. And be it further enacted, That the capital stock of said Company shall be five hundred thousand dollars, but shall be liable to be increased from time to time, and by such sum or sums as may be deemed expedient, by the majority of the Board of Directors of said Company for the time being: Provided, That said capital stock shall not be so increased as to exceed in the whole the sum of one million and one half of dollars; And it is also enacted, That the Board of Directors for the time being, shall be authorized to prescribe the terms of subscription, for such additional capital stock as may from time to time be required.
[Sidenote: Capital.]
[Sidenote: [Illegible Text]]
[Sidenote: [Illegible Text] [Illegible Text]]
SEC. III. And be it enacted, That for the original capital stock of five hundred thousand dollars, books of subscription shall be opened at Elijay, in Gilmer County, by the following Commissioners, who are hereby authorized and made competent to do all acts incident to the said office, to wit: Benjamin Johnston, Peter Patterson, Joseph Patterson, Beverly A. Freeman, Lorenzo Gudger, Robert [Illegible Text] Jasper Johnson, Williamson Forrester and Samuel Jones; and if any of said Commissioners should refuse to act, others in their places shall be appointed by the remaining Commissioners; and there shall be no more than seven Commissioners at the above named place; at any time after giving twenty days notice of the day and place in two or more public places in said County, shall open said books of subscription. And Andrew J. Hansell, David Irvin and William P. Young, Commissioners at Marietta, Georgia; and John Burk, Hawkins F. Price and William T. Wofford, Commissioners at Cassville, Georgia; David Knot, William M. Peoples and William H. Dabney, Commissioners at Calhoun, Georgia; and Basil H. Overby, James M. Calhoun and L. C. Simpson, Commissioners at Atlanta, Georgia; and Robert J. Cowart, Andrew H. Shuford and William P. Hammond, Commissioners at Canton, Georgia, shall open books of subscription at said several places, under the same rules and regulations as are provided in this Act for the Commissioners at Elijay, in Gilmer County, Georgia; and receive, from individuals, companies or corporations, subscriptions for any number of shares, not exceeding two hundred shares to any one individual, company or corporation, Banking Companies excepted; and no subscription shall be received and allowed unless there shall be paid the Commissioners at the time of subscribing the sum of five dollars on each share subscribed; for which the Commissioners shall give the subscriber a certificate, setting forth the number of shares taken by such subscriber, and amount per share paid thereon; and if after ten days the shares are not taken they may be subscribed
Page: 427
for without limiting the number of shares; and said books of subscription shall remain open for sixty days, or longer if necessary, at the discretion of the Commissioners, and when closed on the last day said Commissioners shall certify and sign to its being a correct list of said subscription, and thereupon make out a general list, setting forth the name of the subscribers, the number of shares taken by each subscriber, and the sum paid thereon, and if on summing up all the subscriptions the same shall appear to amount to the sum of two hundred thousand dollars, the said Company may be organized and go into operation; thereon and after the organization of the Company all future subscriptions for stock shall be by the Board of Directors of the Company; and the said Company shall at once proceed to the measures as hereinafter subscribed [prescribed] for the organization of the Company.
[Sidenote: Subscriptions.]
[Sidenote: Commissioners, [Illegible Text] [Illegible Text] &c.]
[Sidenote: Shares taken, &c.]
[Sidenote: Books to remain open.]
[Sidenote: Other regulations.]
For the entire document follow this link:
http://neptune3.galib.uga.edu/ssp/cgi-bin/legis-idx.pl?sessionid=7f000001&type=law&byte=28478547
Samuel Jones- Slave Owner, Farmer, Planter
It cannot be denied that our Great-Grandfather was a slave owner prior to the Civil War. The following census Slave Schedules have been found online. Even after the war he is quoted in one obscure document as stating that he believed in the Southern Cause and since he had a considerable amount of his assets invested in slaves, it is understandable that he had such sentiments, for reasons of wealth if for nothing else.
I do not believe a separate Slave Schedule for 1840 was created, at least I have no access to such online. If it does exist surely it would be available. Thus it is not known if Samuel Jones possessed any such property in 1840 but a few short years after arriving from Lumpkin County to the east of Ellijay. Sadly, property was one of the terms of the time to describe slave ownership. However by 1850 he had acquired five slaves as revealed in the 1850 census.
Slaves were enumerated separately and listed under their owners name. The schedule under Samuel’s name lists a mulatto couple, middle aged, and three younger males ranging in ages from 12 to 18. The younger boys, being black, obviously were not children of the mulatto couple. This was in the Ellijay area in Gilmer County, Georgia. After his wife Narcissa died in 1852 the man for some reason had decided to leave Gilmer County and relocated to the northwest of Ellijay some 50 miles, closer to Chattanooga, in Catoosa County, Georgia, very close to the southern Tennessee border. This of course placed him in the direct path of the Civil War fighting as the Federal Armies chose his region of Georgia as the route to invade south towards Atlanta. That has been documented in my previous effort explaining what is known of the comings and goings of the Jones family during the time leading up to, during, and after the Civil War.
The total number of slaves for Samuel Jones in the 1860 census reveals he is listed as owning six slaves ranging in age from 48 to 12, and but one female. It appears that Samuel had been buying and selling in the preceding ten years for the ages alone do not match the ages of the five listed in 1850. Apparently he had replaced all his 1850 slaves. By no means was Samuel a major slave owner for maybe 25-100 slaves or more was considered a major holding at the time. Most common farmers or plantation owners probably did not have any slaves. To be an owner required capital and that was not really the norm in the day in my understanding. Many farmers, like Samuel, the ones that probably worked the fields day in and day out along side their slaves really looked at slaves as a necessity in order to bring any profit at all to the land. Sadly, they were looked on probably as a modern farmer would look at a piece of mechanical farm equipment today. It is only assumed however that Samuel also worked the fields but he assumedly had an amount of acreage that probably required him to work to some extent.
In 1860 his son Alfred Hines was living with a brother, Willis and his family, in Smith County, Texas, very near Tyler in the eastern part of the state, and is listed in the 1860 census as a '”Student”. After war broke out he obviously returned to his Father’s home in Catoosa County, Georgia, and enlisted in the Confederate Cavalry in the small town of Dalton in the nearby county of Whitfield. Dalton would be an important area of battle later in the war when Sherman began his march south towards Atlanta. Just when our Grandfather departed for Texas and why he chose to continue his education in Texas in the first place is not really known but I do find it rather curious to consider. Regardless he headed back home to Georgia when the Confederate draft was about to begin in earnest.
Based on somewhat subjective formulas found on the web today, the total value of the Samuel’s holdings in today’s currency, is hard to determine. I don’t consider him to have ever been extremely wealthy, but probably comfortably well off. Perhaps his pre- Civil War holdings would amount to about $300, 000 today. The eventual loss of most everything, if not all he held when war broke out, as revealed in his 1870 census entry must have been devastating to the man, and to all those around him.
When looking at his story and that of his daughter Elizabeth during the war, and without knowing all the day to day happenings, it is easy to say that the surviving Jones family suffered greatly during and after the war. He died in Gordon County, Georgia in 1870, in or near the small town of Calhoun. Calhoun was some 30 direct miles to the southeast of the family home near Chickamauga. It is easy to imagine the ordeal that Samuel must have endured during the period for with his slaves obviously gone and his daughter and what appears to be her four young children in tow, one of which must have been near infancy, he attempted to keep himself and his wards out of harms way. Not knowing how and where they traveled in order to avoid the battles one can only speculate it had to have been a stressful situation for the community of Calhoun, where the man and his remaining family around him ended up was also directly along the path of the fighting. From day to day, it is quite possible, based on typical family accounts of the time, that as they moved away from the scenes of battle, they simply placed themselves in the path of the next ensuing battle. It must have been a terrible thing to have endured.
I do not believe a separate Slave Schedule for 1840 was created, at least I have no access to such online. If it does exist surely it would be available. Thus it is not known if Samuel Jones possessed any such property in 1840 but a few short years after arriving from Lumpkin County to the east of Ellijay. Sadly, property was one of the terms of the time to describe slave ownership. However by 1850 he had acquired five slaves as revealed in the 1850 census.
Slaves were enumerated separately and listed under their owners name. The schedule under Samuel’s name lists a mulatto couple, middle aged, and three younger males ranging in ages from 12 to 18. The younger boys, being black, obviously were not children of the mulatto couple. This was in the Ellijay area in Gilmer County, Georgia. After his wife Narcissa died in 1852 the man for some reason had decided to leave Gilmer County and relocated to the northwest of Ellijay some 50 miles, closer to Chattanooga, in Catoosa County, Georgia, very close to the southern Tennessee border. This of course placed him in the direct path of the Civil War fighting as the Federal Armies chose his region of Georgia as the route to invade south towards Atlanta. That has been documented in my previous effort explaining what is known of the comings and goings of the Jones family during the time leading up to, during, and after the Civil War.
1850 Census, Samuel Jones, Slave ScheduleGilmer County, Georgia
The total number of slaves for Samuel Jones in the 1860 census reveals he is listed as owning six slaves ranging in age from 48 to 12, and but one female. It appears that Samuel had been buying and selling in the preceding ten years for the ages alone do not match the ages of the five listed in 1850. Apparently he had replaced all his 1850 slaves. By no means was Samuel a major slave owner for maybe 25-100 slaves or more was considered a major holding at the time. Most common farmers or plantation owners probably did not have any slaves. To be an owner required capital and that was not really the norm in the day in my understanding. Many farmers, like Samuel, the ones that probably worked the fields day in and day out along side their slaves really looked at slaves as a necessity in order to bring any profit at all to the land. Sadly, they were looked on probably as a modern farmer would look at a piece of mechanical farm equipment today. It is only assumed however that Samuel also worked the fields but he assumedly had an amount of acreage that probably required him to work to some extent.
1860 Census, Samuel Jones, Slave ScheduleCatoosa County, Georgia
The average value of a slave in 1860 was about $500 and that depended on health, age, sex, and abilities of the individual slave. Samuel does give some hint to their value in his actual family census entry in the listing of his assets. That census reveals also that all his family had left home for it appears the other two members of his household were probably a caretaker and his wife employed by him. This gives hint that the caretaker possibly was the one directing the slaves or perhaps he was just considered a field hand as well. Samuel very well may not have been working alongside his slaves at the time but it is a mute point that can never be determined. His daughter Elizabeth was married and living with her husband and his extended family in Alabama, assumedly someplace in North Central Alabama, up until the war but sometime during the war, between 1862 and 1865, she was forced to flee Alabama with her children and sought refuge with her father in Georgia. That is another story in itself for she once again found herself in danger as the war commenced fighting in the very vicinity of her father’s home near the famous battle field of Chickamauga.
1860 Census, Samuel Jones Household,Catoosa County, Georgia,Near Chickamauga
1860 Census, Willis Jones Family,Smith County, Texas,Near TylerA.H. Jones in the Household, Attending School
In 1860 his son Alfred Hines was living with a brother, Willis and his family, in Smith County, Texas, very near Tyler in the eastern part of the state, and is listed in the 1860 census as a '”Student”. After war broke out he obviously returned to his Father’s home in Catoosa County, Georgia, and enlisted in the Confederate Cavalry in the small town of Dalton in the nearby county of Whitfield. Dalton would be an important area of battle later in the war when Sherman began his march south towards Atlanta. Just when our Grandfather departed for Texas and why he chose to continue his education in Texas in the first place is not really known but I do find it rather curious to consider. Regardless he headed back home to Georgia when the Confederate draft was about to begin in earnest.
Based on somewhat subjective formulas found on the web today, the total value of the Samuel’s holdings in today’s currency, is hard to determine. I don’t consider him to have ever been extremely wealthy, but probably comfortably well off. Perhaps his pre- Civil War holdings would amount to about $300, 000 today. The eventual loss of most everything, if not all he held when war broke out, as revealed in his 1870 census entry must have been devastating to the man, and to all those around him.
When looking at his story and that of his daughter Elizabeth during the war, and without knowing all the day to day happenings, it is easy to say that the surviving Jones family suffered greatly during and after the war. He died in Gordon County, Georgia in 1870, in or near the small town of Calhoun. Calhoun was some 30 direct miles to the southeast of the family home near Chickamauga. It is easy to imagine the ordeal that Samuel must have endured during the period for with his slaves obviously gone and his daughter and what appears to be her four young children in tow, one of which must have been near infancy, he attempted to keep himself and his wards out of harms way. Not knowing how and where they traveled in order to avoid the battles one can only speculate it had to have been a stressful situation for the community of Calhoun, where the man and his remaining family around him ended up was also directly along the path of the fighting. From day to day, it is quite possible, based on typical family accounts of the time, that as they moved away from the scenes of battle, they simply placed themselves in the path of the next ensuing battle. It must have been a terrible thing to have endured.
Do keep in mind that much of this is but speculation on my part. However, based on a several years of reading of Civil War history, the theory of what happened is well within the realm of possibility.
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