Genealogist- Newsletter- April 5, 2025

05 Apr Genealogist- Newsletter- April 5, 2025

GENEALOGIST- WHAT’S THE REAL STORY?

More on Addison Smith, whom we covered in the last edition.

According to family legend, Addison was a graduate of West Point and a member of a surveying team that mapped the route of the Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific Northwest.

Like many legends, this one has evolved and been retold with changes to the story over the years. While West Point existed in Lewis and Clark’s time, Addison was not born until 1841. So, I set out to see what I could find.

I discovered a May 1902 article that discussed how “Captain J. Addison Smith of Ocean Park, who was appointed to inspect the building of the new Highway 1 bridge, but whose office was abolished by the board of trustees before he had an opportunity to do a day’s work, is an old Army Civil Engineer. The captain came west for the government and was employed in Montana and Washington for 12 years, subsequently working in the same line on the Northern Pacific Railway. He had charge of building the famous Mullan Road from Walla Walla, Washington, to Ft. Benton, Montana.”

Now we were getting somewhere. However, there were many men named John A. Smith serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, with spouses named Mary. Still, they all appeared to have been discharged at the end of the war, making it challenging to determine which one was correct. There were no graduates of West Point named Addison Smith, and no John Smiths graduated between 1824 and 1912.

More on the Mullan Road – As early as 1852, the US government began considering the construction of an overland route to the Pacific Ocean to help settle the area with pioneers and eliminate any claims that France, England, or Russia had on the disputed territories. Despite the Lewis and Clark expedition, little detail was known about the country. Isaac Ingalls Stevens, a West Point graduate appointed the first governor of the Washington Territory, was ordered to survey a route from the Missouri River to the Columbia River suitable for building a railroad. Stevens assumed the task but also kept in mind that the route should be appropriate for a wagon road.

In the spring of 1853, Congress authorized a U.S. Army expedition, led by Stevens. It was comprised of engineers and explorers, who organized near St. Paul, Minnesota. They were to detail the geographical and topographical character of the country. Among them was a small, dark-haired young man, Lieutenant John Mullan; just a year out of West Point, he was anxious to prove his mettle as an engineer. Mullan was placed in charge of surveying and later improving a wagon route (now commonly known as the Mullan Road) between Fort Benton, Montana, and Fort Walla Walla, Washington. Lieutenant Mullan, a topographical engineer, began gathering information in 1854. Delayed by the Yakima War, which ended in 1858, construction started in 1859 from Fort Walla Walla in what was then Washington Territory. Lieutenant Mullan commanded a workforce of more than 200, including civilian workers, surveyors, engineers, and soldiers who carved a 25-foot (7.6 m) wide road across the region.

After the problematic project was completed in 1860, floods wiped out substantial stretches of the road. It was rerouted in 1861. Floods again damaged the road, and ultimately, no provision was made for its maintenance. Although the road was never heavily used by the military, it served as an essential conduit for civilian passage, which accelerated the settlement of the northwestern United States. In the first year after completion, it was used by an estimated 20,000 people, 6,000 horses and mules, 5,000 cattle, and 83 wagons—the discovery of gold in North Central Idaho in 1860 by Capt. E.D. Pierce contributed to this usage, making Lewiston, Washington Territory, the largest town in the Pacific Northwest and the capital of the new Idaho Territory beginning July 4, 1863. The Mullan Road helped Walla Walla become the largest town in Washington Territory by 1870, with a population of 1,394. The road continued to serve as an important route until the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1883 provided faster and more convenient access to the region.

There are no references for Captain J. Addison Smith and the Mullan Road in searchable records. There is an Addison Smith in Idaho records, but he appears to be Addison T. Smith, future Idaho Congressman.

All the referrals to Captain J. Addison Smith were made after 1901, and I believe they pertained to his operation of a fishing boat in Santa Monica, CA (see the picture above of his bait shop, The Angler). I imagine that he was employed as a civil engineer by the U.S. Army and the Northern Pacific Railroad in the Northwest. Still, he was likely not in a significant leadership role, and did not hold a West Point graduate or a captain’s rank in the army.

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GENEALOGIST- JUDGE LYMAN CHALKLEY

While researching another Richard Franklin, whom I thought might be my wife’s elusive great-great-great-grandfather, I came across a probate article indicating that he might not have been of sound mind and was a son of Joel Franklin Sr.

In the December 2024 edition, I wrote about Henry Clay’s extended family, which included William Campbell Preston Breckenridge William Campbell Preston Breckenridge and his scandal with his mistress. While Breckenridge’s first wife was Henry Clay’s granddaughter, he married again, and his daughter with his second wife, Eleanor Desha Breckenridge, married Judge Lyman Chalkley.

It turns out Judge Lyman Chalkley was a noted genealogist, most famously known for the Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia. Coincidentally, Chalkley was the great-nephew of Richard Franklin, but through his records, I was able to determine that it was unfortunately not the correct Richard Franklin, as he was born too late.

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GENEALOGIST- HAYDEN KERSHNER AND PROHIBITION

My wife’s great-uncle, Hayden Kershner, was an ardent prohibitionist. He was a gifted orator and ran for Congress in 1916. While he didn’t win, they must have made a difference in the national consciousness as Prohibition became law in 1920.

Often, he was booked to appear at events alongside suffragettes. Why were women’s suffrage and prohibition so interlinked in terms of protest? After seeing so many stories of broken families, you realize that when women and their children were held hostage to drunken husbands, there weren’t a lot of good alternatives for them. So, outlawing alcohol seems like a good way to minimize drunk husbands endangering their families and others.

Hayden Kershner wished to get his PhD and wanted to study under a particular professor in Los Angeles. They (Hayden, Mary, and their daughters, Dorothy and Gloria) moved to Los Angeles in 1926 or 1927 for this reason. He went to work with Uncle Glen in the donut business, whom we wrote about in December Harvey’s Donuts. His daughter remembers assembling boxes in the donut shop and being paid $ 0.01 per box.

Prohibition ended in 1933. Hayden developed a brain tumor in 1934 and was unable to continue his studies. He lived until 1948. Hayden and Mary are pictured below.

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GENEALOGIST- WHERE DO AMERICANS MOVE?

We have published articles on dual citizenship in February Dual, January Dual, and November Dual. Do you ever wonder where those people went? The map and legend show you the American diaspora.

Many individuals who were intending to obtain dual citizenship in Italy have just received the bad news that they can now only qualify for citizenship if their parents had resided in Italy for two consecutive years.

Additionally, Italian citizens with dual nationality will lose their Italian citizenship if they fail to engage in the following activities: paying taxes, voting, and renewing their passports and identity cards.

This disrupts many people’s well-established plans, including those involving the purchase of real estate and the sale of their U.S. properties. Now, they will have to use the visa process and spend significantly more money on lawyers to remain in the country.

 

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GENEALOGIST- MY SWEDISH COUSIN’S MOST FAMOUS COUSIN

When I first saw Jordy Nelson play for the Green Bay Packers and heard he was from Kansas, I thought, ‘I wonder if he could be related.’ Especially when I found out he was from the tiny town of Leonardville. Other than his parents, I couldn’t find out much more about him.

After our first trip to Sweden to visit my third cousins, I discovered that there was a Nelson reunion near Leonardville, so we attended. With that, I learned that I was not related to Jordy Nelson through my direct Great-Grandfather Nelson’s line, but instead through his wife, whose sister had married Frank Nelson.

Jordy is Frank’s great-great-grandson, and we share 5th Great Grandparents Nels Johanson and Kristina Petersdotter Nilsson.

On our second visit to Sweden, we knew it would be impolite not to bring gifts. However, we each take only one carry-on, which limits our options for gift-hauling.

Meanwhile, my grandson had gotten into trading card collecting with his dad, and I went to a show with them. That’s when the idea popped into my head. I purchased enough Jordy Nelson cards (rare at the show, but plentiful online) and handed them out as presents.

So, while they’re not into the NFL, and the Super Bowl is played while they’re asleep, they now have some representation of their most famous American relative, Super Bowl XLV winner Jordy Nelson.

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GENEALOGIST- THE DANES HAVE SOLD THEIR TERRITORIES TO US BEFORE, AND ANOTHER HAREBRAINED IDEA

As I have mentioned before, I try not to express any political leanings here unless it’s between the Whigs and Tories of yesteryear.

With all of the news about the U.S. acquiring Greenland, I thought I recalled another transaction in history with the Danes. In 1917, the United States purchased the Danish West Indies, which are now known as the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Danish parliament has considered disposing of the unprofitable islands on multiple occasions, including selling them to the U.S. or Germany. The U.S. paid $25 million, worth $613,570,000 in 2025. At 150 square miles, that’s just over $4 million a square mile.

Greenland has an area of 836,330 square miles, which is 5,575 times the size of the Virgin Islands. At the current Virgin Islands price in 2025 dollars, that would be $3,420 billion, which is a substantial amount of money.

When I visited Copenhagen, the Danes were sunbathing on the docks because they don’t have beaches, and even in June, it was a bit chilly.

So, what if we threw in Puerto Rico for Greenland? Here’s how everyone benefits:

• The U.S. gets access to scarce, valuable rare-earth minerals. Those minerals would have to be placed into a sovereign fund to pay back the $3420 billion

• The Danes have access to sunny, sandy beaches, rather than an icecap.

• The Puerto Ricans become half the population of Denmark, and are apportioned representation in the Danish parliament, compared to less than 10% of the U.S. population.

• Greenlanders would gain access to all U.S. beaches (see a beach from Greenland below), including those in the U.S. Virgin Islands, along with the economic benefits of U.S. investment.

Like I said, it’s a harebrained idea. If the Danes knew of me, they would say there’s another person of Swedish descent who spent a bit too much time in the sauna.

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GENEALOGIST- PRESERVE YOUR FAMILY HISTORY, TODAY

Then you won’t have to run ads like these folks were in 1901, to find your ancestors!

Reach out to Dancestors Genealogy. Our group of genealogists will research, discover, and preserve your family history. No one is getting any younger, and stories disappear from memory every year and eventually from our potential ability to find them.

Preserve your legacy and the heritage of your ancestors.

Paper gets thrown in the trash; books survive!

Ready to embark on your family history journey? Don’t hesitate. Call Dan Nelson and get your project started!