20 Jul Ancestry Newsletter- May 31, 2025
Contents
ANCESTRY- ANOTHER COLEMAN’S BROKEN HEART
ANCESTRY- ANOTHER COLEMAN’S BROKEN HEARTIn the last edition, we covered the death of millionaire industrialist Robert and Coleman and future president James Buchanan’s fiancé Ann Caroline Coleman Ann Coleman
It turns out Coleman had another daughter, Sarah, who is also believed to have committed suicide. Around 1824, William Augustus Muhlenberg (1796-1877) (pictured), co-rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Lancaster, courted Sarah.
Robert Coleman served on the vestry of St. James and had a bitter dispute with Muhlenberg over the latter offering evening worship services. Coleman then banned Muhlenberg from his house. Muhlenberg wrote in his diary, “But for no earthly consideration whatever, not even the attainment of the dear object of my heart will I sacrifice what I believe to be the interests of my church. O lord, help me!” The dispute continued for a year before coming before the church council again, but by that time, Coleman was too ill to protest. After her father’s death in August 1825, Sarah hoped to marry Muhlenberg. However, in his will, Coleman gave his sons Edward and James the right to approve of Sarah’s spouse and tied such approval to her inheritance. Unfortunately, her brother Edward disliked Muhlenberg and even offered the church $5,000 only if the young rector was to leave. Perhaps brokenhearted, Sarah traveled to Philadelphia in the fall of 1825, where she died at 23.
Muhlenberg went on to become what is considered the father of church schools in the United States. An early exponent of the Social Gospel, he founded St. Luke’s Hospital in New York City. Muhlenberg was also an early leader of the liturgical movement in Anglican Christianity. His model schools on Long Island significantly impacted the history of American education. Muhlenberg left his work in secondary education in 1845.
I wonder what he would have thought of the Supreme Court case that originated in Oklahoma?
ANCESTRY- MORE PRESIDENTIAL HEARTBREAK
ANCESTRY- MORE PRESIDENTIAL HEARTBREAKWhile in the NYC area, we saw the play “Oh, Mary!”, thinking it would comically present some history. It was hilarious.
SPOILER ALERT! Don’t read further if you plan to see the play someday and want to be surprised. The premise revealed hysterically is that John Wilkes Booth and Abraham Lincoln were secret lovers. Lincoln had hired Booth to amuse his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, with acting lessons, as she was obsessed with returning to her earlier career as a cabaret dancer, and Mary fell in love with Booth. Meanwhile, through Mary, Booth gets wise to Lincoln having a soiree with one of his guards, and when Booth confronts Lincoln, Mary learns of their affair when Lincoln breaks it off, and then Booth confronts Lincoln at the Ford Theater, Mary grabs the gun, shoots Lincoln, tosses the gun to Booth, and yells, “he shot my husband”. Mary goes on to resume her cabaret career, and you know the rest of the story, or maybe more imagination is waiting to be supplied for the “Oh, John Wilkes Booth!”.
So, while we’re talking about possible gay presidents, it’s odd that the two who seem to make the news or fake news were back-to-back presidents, Buchanan and Lincoln. We also visited President Buchanan’s Wheatland home in Lancaster, PA, on the same trip.
We were surprised when the introductory film spoke about other politicians making fun of Buchanan’s sexuality.
Buchanan had a close relationship with William Rufus King (pictured), which became a popular target of gossip. King, like Buchanan, never married. King was an Alabama politician who briefly served as vice president under Franklin Pierce.
Buchanan and King lived together in a Washington boardinghouse and attended social functions together from 1834 until 1844. Such a living arrangement was typical, though Buchanan once called the relationship a “communion”. Andrew Jackson mockingly called them “Miss Nancy” and “Aunt Fancy”, the former being a 19th-century euphemism for an effeminate man. Buchanan’s later Postmaster General, Aaron V. Brown, also referred to King as “Aunt Fancy”, as well as Buchanan’s “better half” and “wife”. King died of tuberculosis shortly after Pierce’s inauguration, four years before Buchanan became president. Buchanan described him as “among the best, the purest and most consistent public men I have known”. Biographer Jean H. Baker opines that both men’s nieces may have destroyed correspondence between the two men. However, she believes their surviving letters illustrate only “the affection of a special friendship.”
The love life of William Rufus DeVane King, or “Colonel King” as he was often addressed, is a different story. Unlike Buchanan, King was never known to pursue a woman seriously. But—critically—he, like Buchanan, could also tell a story of a love lost. In 1817, while serving as secretary to the American mission to Russia, he supposedly fell in love with Princess Charlotte of Prussia, who was just then to marry Czar Nicholas Alexander, heir to the Russian imperial throne (wedding picture below). As the King family tradition has it, he passionately kissed the hand of the czarina, a risky move that could have landed him in serious jeopardy. The contretemps proved fleeting, as a kind note the next day revealed that all was forgiven. Still, he spent the remainder of his days bemoaning a “wayward heart” that could not love again.
ANCESTRY- THE JEWISH MILLERS
ANCESTRY- THE JEWISH MILLERSA client recently asked us to research their Miller ancestry. He had heard that some of their Miller ancestors were German, and they suspected they came from Germany as Mueller’s. He felt his possible Jewish ancestry had once kept him from getting a job in the Middle East.
They were disappointed that we could only add four generations of Millers to their three known generations. Ironically, we did that from the bible records of the Miller family (pictured), so they were not Jewish.
After the fact, the client shared that they expected us to discover 21 generations of Jewish ancestry. I explained that it would be comparable to a biblical magnitude discovery, as the Bible only lists 21 generations in Luke, from Adam to Jacob.
Unfortunately, due to people like Hitler and Stalin, many Jewish records were destroyed, so Jewish genealogy is challenging.
Furthermore, Miller is a name that represents a profession, and every country has grain millers, so the Millers weren’t even necessarily German or Jewish. All of these names are terms used in different countries in Europe for a miller:
Meunier, Mlynář, Moleiro, Molnár, Mugnaio. Mulinero, Müller, and Mytnarz,
Also, if you’re interested in a deep dive into the history of Israel and Palestine, this 38-part series was the best I’ve ever read to understand the conflict, which started before I was born, and continues today.
ANCESTRY- UNCLE SYLVESTER LIVED TO 107
ANCESTRY- UNCLE SYLVESTER LIVED TO 107In the last edition, we mentioned my 5th Great-Grandfather, Daniel Adams, who lived on Carter land in Fauquier, VA. The map below shows Daniel’s land in the northeast corner of the larger map, and in the cutout of the northeast section, it is shown in the lower middle.
Daniel’s son, Sylvester Adams, was born between 1760 and 1765 in Virginia. According to his bounty land warrant application, he enlisted in the Revolutionary Army at Winchester, Virginia, in 1781 and led a wagon team of supplies to Yorktown, where the British General Cornwallis was besieged. He died in 1867 at age 107. My 2X Great-Grandfather Henry Smith Adams remembers meeting Sylvester when he was 103, around the Civil War. Here’s his pension application:
State of Kentucky, Rockcastle County
_Be it known that on this 15th day of December. 1841 personally appeared before me, the undersigned, a Justice of the Peace for the County and state aforesaid. Sylvester Adams who states that he cannot tell his precise age but states that he was 13 years old in March before the Revolutionary War or independence was declared – and now being duly sworn according to law on his oath makes the following Declaration to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed 7th June 1832 – that he entered the services of the US in the Revolutionary War in February before Wallace was taken he thinks in 1781 [sic: Cornwallis, captured at Yorktown 19 Oct 1781] – and was in actual service eleven months. _
He was enlisted by one Cox (whose given name he has forgotten) [possibly Samuel Cox of the Loudoun County Militia] in Winchester, Loudoun [sic: Frederick] Co, Virginia – he was marched to York, where Wallace was. However, he was ordered to take charge of a wagon & team which had been pressed into the service, as he believes, and he continued in the Wagoning service all the time of his service hauling supplies for the army from different places and depositing at the locations of receiving provisions for the army. All his hauling was for the army at York. Two other wagoners engaged with their teams in the same district as it was called, Elisha Cundiff and Abraham Fur – when he enlisted, he rec’d. $8, which is all he ever received for his services. He hauled the most from Winchester Longs Mills and Gibson’s Mill.
He states he was born in Loudoun County, Virginia. He has no record of his age. He received a discharge from Cox, but it was burned in his father’s house, which was burned in the fall after peace. He moved from Virginia to North Carolina & from there to Kentucky, where he has been ever since – was never engaged in battle. He was personally acquainted with General Washington, and he was also acquainted with Col Johnson – Capt. Ashley – Major Hammonds, old Major Burdoine, and Daniel Ragan, his captain or wagon master.
He also recruited soldiers sometimes. He states he knows of no person living by whom he can prove his services except what he can prove by Daniel Cummins of this county & John Cornol of the State of Indiana and does not know that he is living. He hereby relinquishes all claim to a pension or annuity except the present & declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state whatever. He states that he should have made an application long since. Still, he was advised that because he drove the wagons he was not entitled to anything and never was differently advised until a few weeks since Sworn to & subscribed before me the day & year aforesaid Sylvester his X mark Adams [Daniel Cummins deposed that a wagon belonging to Adams’s father was impressed into service during the war, and that his own father was a soldier in the Continental service during the war.]
Kentucky
Rockcastle County _
Be it remembered that on this 14th day of February 1844, personally appeared before me, the undersigned, a Justice of the Peace for the County aforesaid, Daniel Cummins Senior, who stated on oath that he was some younger than Sylvester Adams, who is an applicant for a pension, that he was present when the said Sylvester Adams enlisted into the services of the Unites States in the revolution and wanted to enlist himself but was forbid – that Daniel Adams the Father of the Applicant was illiterate and not qualified for public business – also Nathaniel Adams states on oath that he was 8 or 9 years old when Sylvester Adams enlisted into the service of the Revolution. He was not present when he enlisted & has. Still, very indistinct recollection of his enlistment, but he always understood from his Father & Mother, who are dead, that his Brother Sylvester Adams was in the Revolutionary War and [illegible word] a wagon._
NOTE: On 24 Apr 1855, Sylvester Adams applied for bounty land stating that he thought he was about 90 years old.
ANCESTRY- MORE ON THE ADVENTURES OF J. ADDISON SMITH
ANCESTRY- MORE ON THE ADVENTURES OF J. ADDISON SMITHBetween 1896 and 1898, the Smith’s became part-time and full-time Santa Monica, CA, residents. On July 6, 1896, Mrs. J. Addison and Miss Addison Smith stayed at the Hotel Arcadia in Santa Monica (pictured). As of May 19, 1898, Mrs. Addison Smith attended a fundraiser for St. Margaret’s Church. As of August 11, 1898, Mrs. Addison Smith entertained the Croquet Club. On August 28, 1898, they were in Santa Monica as Mrs. Addison Smith attended a clambake.
Once they moved to Santa Monica, they were socialites, hosting and participating in many events. They rented out a large home called “The Doria” for the 1899 summer and were celebrated as great caterers and hosts with the parties they hosted over the summer. They engaged in the wealthy class’s sports: polo, golf, horse racing, dog shows, yachting, deep-sea fishing, tennis, ping-pong, croquet, and ballroom dancing.
For example, “Captain and Mrs. Addison Smith of the Abbottsford Inn (they started managing the Inn in October 1899) entertained many friends at a race dinner last night. Their table was very tastefully decorated in yellow and green, while the colors of the Southern California Polo club were also conspicuous. The place cards were ingeniously wrought horseshoes to which were tied favors of the racing colors of each guest.”
One of the prettiest social functions of the season unusually gay season at the coast resorts was the fancy dress ball given at “The Doria”, Santa Monica, last night by Mmes. J. Addison Smith, Abbot Kinney and T. Horace Dudley The spacious house, which lends itself beautifully to decoration, was bright with a highly artistic arrangement of geranium-studded fishnet, cannas, potted plants and the national colors. The wide veranda was enclosed and cozy with rugs, Japanese furnishings, and lanterns. The Klaus orchestra furnished excellent music, and supper was served. About one hundred people were present, and the costumes worn included many richly elegant and others original and amusing.
In June 1900, they rented a cottage in South Beach on Kinney Street in Ocean Park for the summer so that their daughter Sallie could recover from her severe bout with typhoid fever.
John was known as Captain J. Addison Smith of Baltimore, or even Colonel. “On January 6, 1901, Colonel and Mrs. J. Addison Smith and their daughter, Miss Smith, took the Leihy cottage on Fourth Street in Santa Monica.
In February 1901, Addison organized the “Ocean Park Fishing Club.” Captain J. Addison Smith operated a fishing yacht called the Donahue, where he took people fishing on some banks off the Ocean Park coast. They also operated the Abbottsford Inn in Santa Monica. In 1901, Captain Donahue brought a gasoline launch to Santa Monica, operated from the Pier Avenue wharf, carrying fishermen and pleasure seekers on trips up and down the coast. This little craft had been the source of much pleasure to beach residents and visitors, and it was with regret that they learned of her total wreck, which occurred March 23, 1904, off the Short Line beach. John was also involved in rebuilding the wharf in Santa Monica.
Addison was also involved in trying to develop yachting as a greater sport in Santa Monica as evidenced by “If the plans of Captain J. Addison Smith and Messrs. Dudley and Fraser of Ocean Park do not miscarry; a handsome cup will be offered south coast yachtsmen provided they will sail a race for it off Santa Monica and Ocean Park. Captain Smith said the other day, “When our landing stage is finished, we will have as convenient a place for yachtsmen as possible, and as the winds are steady at this time of the year, the anchorage is as safe as possible. There is not that long a beat down channel against adverse wind and tide, for all that is necessary is to cast off the lines, get up sail, and lay off on the desired course, or as near it as the direction of wind will allow. It stimulates the interest in yachting that we are focusing on this cup. All south coast yachtsmen need to do is let us know if they will sail for it, where we can see them, and we will raise at least $75 and have a cup made that will be a trophy worth capturing.”
The proposition has not been formally made, but it probably will be tendered in a few days. Captain Smith and several other Santa Monica men are figuring on having boats built. The South Coast club members who have been interviewed say the only serious drawback on their part is the difficulty of getting to Ocean Park. “It is a far harder trip than going to Catalina, but the boys may wish to try it,” said N. Bonfilio last night. At present, he has no yacht and cannot compete. The offer is also open to the Los Angeles Yacht Club. Still, that organization is not in shape to consider any such proposition at present, and according to Commodore John Huslinell it will not be until all the lines of communication now trending into San Pedro and Terminal are completed. Then a house will be secured, and the club will go on. Any South Coast members who think Captain Smith’s proposition is feasible can reach him and his associates through the sporting editor”.
ANCESTRY- THE BRITISH ARE COMING PART TWO
ANCESTRY- THE BRITISH ARE COMING PART TWOIn the last edition, we covered how my wife’s 4x great-grandfather, Richard Franklin, likely saw the buttons of the British redcoats in the War of 1812, not the Revolutionary War, while in Baltimore.
The potentially incorrect information came from his grandson, Santarelli Franklin, likely from his father, Benjamin C. Franklin. Likewise, Santarelli also supplied the information that his other grandfather, Stephen Jones, fought in the Revolution in the Carolinas. There was only one Revolutionary War soldier from the Carolinas named Stephen Jones, and he died in 1788, before Santarelli’s mother was born about 1806.
Also, according to the 1820 census, Stephen was born between 1776 and 1794, so he was too young to have fought in the Revolutionary War.
However, Stephen Jones served as a private in the 7th Regiment, Lt. Colonel Nicholas Perkins, Mississippi Militia in the War of 1812 from September 15, 1814, to March 14, 1815. The MS Militia was led by General Ferdinand Claiborne and was used in the Creek War from July 27, 1813, to January 1, 1814, and simultaneously in the War of 1812. The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 1, 1815, so Stephen’s unit would have been part of that battle.
Here’s an excerpt from the roster of the Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson’s total of 4,732 men consisted of 968 Army regulars, 58 Marines (holding the center of the defensive line), 106 Navy seamen, 1,060 Louisiana militia and volunteers (including 462 Black people), 1,352 Tennessee militia, 986 Kentucky militia, 150 Mississippi militia, and 52 Choctaw warriors, along with a force from pirate Jean Lafitte’s (pictured) Baratarians.
The men working for Lafitte were called Baratarians because the waterways they used for smuggling were located in an area called Barataria. Barataria’s swamps and bayous stretched south of New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico. This area had been famous for smuggling even before privateers arrived in 1810 to use the deep-water harbor of Barataria Bay.
By 1812, Lafitte led the Baratarians with headquarters on Grand Terre, a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico near Grand Isle. Lafitte may have had as many as 1000 people working for him, including free men of color and runaway slaves. Throughout Barataria, Lafitte built warehouses to store goods and pens to hold slaves. Merchants and planters came to Barataria for auctions, which Lafitte held outside New Orleans to avoid the law. His knowledge of the swamps helped him make quick getaways. Several times, customs officials and soldiers tried to capture Lafitte in the swamps, but they were usually captured, wounded, or killed by the Baratarians.
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