family tree Tag

10 Oct

Posted at 11:54h in Newsletter

ANCESTORS- CAPTAIN STARBUCK'S JOURNEY Back in 2023, I shared information on my wife’s 5th Great Grandfather, Hezekiah Starbuck Starbuck We learned more about him on a visit to Nantucket, where it turned out he had kept a journal recorded from 1770 to 1775, as a whaling ship captain in the Pacific, which is in the hands of the Nantucket Historical Society. At Mystic River Seaport, we had the opportunity to board the Charles W. Morgan, an 80-year-old whaling ship (pictured) that remains afloat. It was interesting to see how it was set up and to see the captain’s quarters. Because the Atlantic had...

02 Oct

Posted at 21:01h in Newsletter, Genealogy

GENEALOGY- HE WASN'T SHOT IN THE WAR, BUT SUFFERED FOR 23 YEARS My wife’s three-times great-grandfather, Joseph Craig Needham, came to America at age 19 in 1841 or ‘42. At the age of 40, he left his wife and their four children, aged 14 to 3 months, at home, and enlisted for three years on February 29, 1864, at Clarendon with Company H of the Michigan Eighth Infantry (pictured in his soldier’s uniform). There were ten other soldiers in Company H who were older than him. His regiment served in front of Richmond when Lee evacuated on April 3, 1865. They were also...

02 Oct

Posted at 20:26h in Newsletter

ANCESTRY- THE FIRST LADIES AND ALL OF THE OTHER LADIES One of the questions that people ask when we’re building books is “What about grandma?” Where’s her page? The reality is, until the invention of family planning and birth control, most of our female ancestors were busy raising a herd of children, feeding everyone, tending to the time-consuming home, and helping with farm or ranch chores. Unfortunately, there was not a lot of public documentation about their independent activities, which may have occurred in their early or later lives. Until the 1960s, most married women were referred to as Mrs. "So and...

23 Aug

Posted at 13:35h in Newsletter

GENEALOGIST- NOT YOUR GRANDPA'S MARCHING BAND My wife’s grandfather was a drummer in the Straughn, KS, Concert Band, standing to the left of the drum in the colorized picture below. My wife inherited the legacy and was in marching band in high school and college. Later in life, she joined the local community orchestra and a traveling “second time around band” that performed in the 2019 Macy’s Parade and the 2021 Dublin, Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day parade. That band has transformed into a traveling symphony and has performed in Germany, Austria, Italy, and will next year perform in Belgium, France, and Germany. As...

16 Aug

Posted at 12:34h in Newsletter

ANCESTORS-GRANDPA AND THE GREAT CHAIN My wife’s 4th Great-Grandfather, Haynes Bartlett, was born in Newburgh, Ulster County, New York, on March 4, 1757, when the village was mostly comprised of rail fences. He learned the blacksmith trade in his early days in Newburg. He lived in Cornwall, Orange County, NY, when he enlisted in the Revolutionary War for five of the seven years, with three terms of enlistment ranging from 1 to 9 months. At one point, he served in the Dragoons. He was in New York City when the British captured it. After returning to Orange County, he helped in the...

26 Jul

Posted at 11:16h in Newsletter

ANCESTRY- FROM EXTORTION TO WASHINGTON'S APPOINTMENT My 5th Great Grandfather, Joseph Greenway, was baptized on August 4, 1756. He was taxed as a cooper in 1774. He was commissioned as an Ensign on January 20, 1776, for the 1st Pennsylvania battalion, Continental Line. Later that August, he was commissioned as a 3rd lieutenant to serve on the Frigate “Delaware”. In July 1777, he, along with 11 other Lieutenants, were dismissed from the Navy for attempting to extort higher pay and allowances. Before action was taken, the “Delaware” was captured, and the British in Philadelphia imprisoned him along with the rest of...

20 Jul

Posted at 12:49h in Newsletter

ANCESTRY- ANOTHER COLEMAN'S BROKEN HEART In 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...

20 Jul

Posted at 12:26h in Newsletter

HOUSTONS PAY THEIR DEBTS In several past editions, I wrote about my three times great-grandfather, William Harper Smither. His father, John Smither (pictured), was born on May 27, 1779, in Richmond County, Virginia. He moved to Culpeper County, Virginia, and married Mary Polly Greenway in Chesterfield County, Virginia, on July 18, 1808. He was a Captain in the Virginia Regiment during the War of 1812. He failed in business in Culpeper Co. and then moved in 1824 to Huntingdon, Carroll Co., Tennessee. From there, William Harper moved to Mississippi. John, Mary, and the younger children moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1839, John...

20 Jul

Posted at 11:54h in Newsletter

GENEALOGY- MORE ON THE SMITHERS My Great-Great Grandfather Gabriel Neil Smither served in the Confederate Army. He enlisted at age 17 on March 10, 1862, at Oxford, Mississippi for one year. Less than a month later he reenlisted for three years or the duration of the war. He served with the 11th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, Co G. Lamar Rifles (pictured below in Oxford). His regiment was involved in both Confederate excursions into the North with Antietam and Gettysburg. He participated in Lee's Virginia Peninsula campaign and during 1862 was present at Seven Pines (May 31-June1), Gaine's Farm (June 27th), White Oak Swamp...

29 Jun

Posted at 17:39h in Newsletter

GENEALOGIST- MORE ON THE SMITHERS OF HUNTSVILLE In the last edition, I shared my Smither ancestor’s store accounts book, John Smither, which showed Sam Houston’s debts, and that our client, who is Houston’s second cousin five times removed, paid off Sam’s debt. As a genealogist, I received a copy of the Smither account book from James Patton, the long-time Walker County Clerk, who found the ledger amidst the many stacks of books and papers in his office when my oldest daughter and I stopped by to meet him. James was ever the gentleman and spent some time chatting about the early days of...

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