Joseph Rutherford Cawthron Returns on the Wheaton

 ©  Kathy Duncan, 2023

Recently, a news report reminded me that a former president of the U.S. canceled a trip to the Aisne-Marne American cemetery near Paris in 2018. At the time, he blamed it on the rain. Later it was revealed that was just a convenient excuse, "Why should I go to that cemetery? It's filled with losers." Later in the same trip, he referred to the 1,800 marines who died at Belleau Wood as "suckers" for being killed in battle. The importance of that presidential trip was that it was intended to honor the sacrifice of American soldiers, and it was also intended to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. 

As stunningly callous and disrespectful as those comments were, they set me thinking about my grandfather's first cousin who died in France during WWI and who was buried there for a short time. Then in 1921, his body was shipped to Sacramento, California, and reinterred there. I started wondering about the circumstances of that reinterment. 

Joseph Rutherford Cawthorn, born in 1893, was the son of Willie Porter Cawthon and his wife Maggie Skelton. Joseph and his four siblings were orphaned in 1904. The siblings seem to have been farmed out to different maternal family members, perhaps neighbors, and at least one orphanage. All of them used the Cawthorn spelling rather than the family's spelling of Cawthon. I'm not sure why that happened except perhaps the name was pronounced with an "r" sound, and the Skeltons thought that was how it should be spelled. 

Joseph's World War I registration card listed his sister Lillian Inez Cawthorn as the person to be notified in the event of his death. Lillie, at age fourteen, was a minor living in Hunt County, Texas.

Joseph, a mail clerk, died of pneumonia on 14 October 1918 and was interred in France.

Almost three years later, his body was shipped to Sacramento, California to be reinterred in East Lawn Cemetery. For several years, I've had a copy of his burial notice that appeared in the Sacramento Bee on 17 June 1921.

Mrs. S. Mancuso, listed as Joseph's "only close surviving relative," was his little sister, Lillian Inez Cawthorn. 

The former president's words sent me delving back into the circumstances of Joseph's reinterment in Sacramento. I was certain that Lillian did not have the funds to have his body exhumed in France and shipped to Sacramento.

I began by revisiting Joseph's Findagrave memorial. There still was not a photograph of his tombstone. The notation on his memorial said that the exact location of his plot was unknown. I did not make a photo request at that time because the cemetery is too large for any photo volunteer to search it randomly. My next step was to find out if I could determine the location of his grave. For that, I googled the cemetery and located a database for the cemetery's burials. A search for Joseph Cawthorn gave me the section number, row number, and plot number for his grave. I returned to Findagrave and entered that information as a suggested edit. Within a short period of time, Joseph's memorial was updated. Then I made my photo request, which, to my surprise, was fulfilled in just a couple of days. Joseph's grave is unmarked, as I feared, but the Findagrave volunteer kindly laid a bouquet on his grave and photographed that.

My next step was to try to figure out where in France Joseph had been originally buried. I performed a very basic Google search for something like - France cemetery WWI US soldiers. That turned up various items that were published for and following the 100-year anniversary of the end of WWI. One especially informative article written by Michael E. Ruane for the Washington Post was about the process by which bodies were returned to relatives in the U.S. Beginning in 1919, the U.S. government sent out 74,000 questionnaire postcards that asked relatives where they wanted their soldier's final resting place to be - in France or in the U.S. By January 1920, the U.S. had received 63,000 responses. Between 1919 and 1922, about 44,000 U.S. soldiers were returned to the U.S. for burial. Families could choose between a military cemetery or a civilian cemetery. 

So far, I have not been able to locate the postcard that Lillian filled out and returned, but after continuing to Google for information, I found the National Archives database with records for the 44,000 soldiers whose bodies were turned. Among them, I found Joseph's information.

The ship, the Wheaton, immediately caught my attention. I was sure I'd seen it mentioned in several articles that I had skimmed. Well, duh.

Joseph R. Cawthorn's body had traveled on the Wheaton in the largest shipment of U.S. soldiers' remains to be repatriated to the U.S. The Wheaton landed in Hoboken, New Jersey, on 18 May 1921 with 5,000 deceased soldiers. Five separate funeral services were held at the pier as the caskets were unloaded. President Warren Harding presided over one of the services on May 23, where he laid a wreath and gave a brief speech honoring the men who had given their lives for their country. 

According to the information on Joseph's card, his body had been sent to Antwerp before being loaded onto the Wheaton. The National Archives has a photograph of the group of soldiers' caskets that were loaded at Antwerp; each casket draped with a U.S. flag.

The U.S. WWII Research and Writing Center has an article by Jennifer Holik on "WWI Army Transport Ships," which relates the return of the repatriated remains of soldiers. Her own great-granduncle returned on the Wheaton along with Joseph R. Cawthorn. All of the deceased on the transport ships were listed as passengers - not as cargo. In death, they were afforded a full measure of respect.

My next step was to search newspaper databases to find more information about the Wheaton. I found a wealth of information in an article published by the Galveston Tribune in the Portal to Texas database. On 7 February 1921, the Tribune reprinted an article that originally appeared in the San Antonio Express. It consisted of an interview conducted with Capt. Robert E. Shannon of the U.S. Army who was assigned to the Graves Registration Service and who had been visiting his sister in San Antonio. 

Shannon related that once a soldier's remains were identified by a metal disk that he was wearing at the time of death and removed from the military cemetery in Europe, they were placed in a hermetically sealed metal container. The metal container was then enclosed in a burial casket, which was then placed in a wooden shipping case. The recommendation was for the metal container to remain unopened before the funeral, which was usually arranged by the American Legion. Each casket was draped in an American flag. All of the expenses involved in shipping the remains to its final destination were paid by the U.S. government. Funeral expenses of up to $100 were also paid for by the government. Most of the bodies were transported on the Wheaton. The ship would leave Hoboken carrying emptying caskets to Europe. When it returned to Hoboken with the deceased soldiers, two piers were dedicated to the Wheaton's mission. While in Hoboken, the caskets were guarded until the day they were shipped to one of several distribution centers. Lists were made of the soldiers and their destinations. Then twenty to twenty-five were loaded onto special express cars or baggage cars and were escorted by enlisted Army personnel to a local central distribution point. From there, the deceased soldiers traveled with an individual escort who remained with them until they were delivered to their families. 

Looking back at Joseph's card, there are several pieces of information to unpack. He was buried in grave 430 in the American Cemetery at Toul M-et-M, which turned out to be a temporary cemetery at Toul, Meurthe-et-Moselle. He was in group 91. It's difficult to pinpoint that exactly since there were groups 91A, 91B, and 91C. His sister Lillian's name appears as Lillian Inez Rouse. At the time she was the foster daughter of a Rouse family. Her guardian was a Mrs. Young. I don't know who she was. By the time Joseph was transported to Sacramento, Lillian had married Samuel Mancuso and was living at 4748 Ninth Ave. in Sacramento. 

The Bedside of M. P. Kelley

     ©  Kathy Duncan, 2023

Remember that materials are constantly being added to databases, especially newspaper databases. Periodically, repeat a search that has been done before. For the best results, vary keywords and spellings. Never, never assume that you've already found everything a database has to offer.

I've long been aware of this obituary for my great-great grandfather, Mansel Pinkney Kelley. A copy of it was in his widow's Civil War pension file. Although he had lived in Oklahoma for a few years prior to his death, his obituary was published in Camden, South Carolina, where he was raised and lived well into adulthood. In fact, he enlisted in the army from Kershaw County, South Carolina during the Civil War.

Repeated searches for a similar obituary in Oklahoma newspapers have garnered zero results. However, my search this week, using the Gateway to Oklahoma database, yielded a social notice, that indicated Pink Kelley had been seriously ill for months before his death on 19 June 1912 in Tupelo, Oklahoma. Son, Richard Singleton Kelley, had traveled from the Mt. Pleasant, Texas, area to visit his father. Although M. P. Kelley was able to sit up, he obviously did not fully recover. He was 68 years old at the time of his death. 

Dating Photographs through Social Media - William S. and Mary C. (Cawthon) Chapman

    ©  Kathy Duncan, 2023

One strategy for determining the date of old photographs is to join a photograph dating group on Facebook. Be warned that many will make authoritative pronouncements whether they really know and even if their conclusions are illogical. Once someone offers a date, be sure to ask what it is about the photograph that helped them determine a date; otherwise, you haven't learned much.

I was hoping to receive specific information that might help narrow the date on this photograph of my great-grandparents, and I mean really narrow it down, which is always too much to hope for. The few answers I received spread possible dates over three decades. However, I think that turned out to be very helpful because I think that if I combine what I already knew about the photograph with the answers that I received, it adds an interesting new layer to the story.

William Sargent and Mary Charlotte (Cawthon) Chapman

What I knew: The photograph was taken in Titus County, Texas by an itinerant photographer. On the day he arrived on the scene, my great-grandfather was excited to have an opportunity to have their picture taken. He ran to the creek where my great-grandmother was washing clothes and rushed her back to the house. I assume that the photographer was setting up his equipment while my great-grandparents were rushing to change their clothes. My great-grandmother, however, was mad because she did not have time to fix her hair. I think her anger shows in the picture. She must have told this story to my grandfather repeatedly and with maybe a little regret because this was the only photograph ever taken of my great-grandparents together.

They married on Christmas Eve, 1889. She was ten years his senior – she was 32 and he was 22. They were married for a very short time because he was killed in a hunting accident in September of 1893. Their first child was born in late November of 1890, and my grandfather was born in late December 1892. I would think that if the children had been born when this photograph was taken, one or both of them would be in the photograph, too.

The responses I received in a Facebook group dated my great-grandfather’s lapels and pants to the 1880s and his collar to the 1890s. That makes sense and fits within the timeframe of their marriage.

Another response that I received dated my great-grandmother's dress firmly in the 1870s. The poster refused to accept that the photograph could have been taken at a later date while also admitting that his clothes were from a later period. Logically, dating photographs should work in that direction: later styles do not appear in earlier photographs because that's not how time works. Another member seconded the 1870 date for the dress because it was plaid. Several members of that group also insist that women were always fashion-forward regardless of their economic status or age so that no woman would appear in a style that was over ten years old. In fact, their logic is that all women's styles are within a couple of years of a photograph being taken. That's a broad and sweeping statement that is full of pitfalls.

At first blush, it makes little sense that my great-grandmother's dress in a c. 1890 photograph would be from the 1870s. But then maybe, again, it makes perfect sense. In the late 1870s, my great-grandmother would have been in the 19 to 22-year-old range. She was one of two daughters that her father had with his first wife. When the first wife died, he married her younger sister. Together they had a house full of children. My great-grandmother’s beloved stepmother/aunt must have died between 1878 and 1800 because her youngest child was two in 1880. In 1880, my great-grandmother’s father died, leaving her and her sister to raise their younger siblings. The sister married, had three babies who died, and then died herself in 1886. Times might have been easier while the sister was married, but overall things were very bad for this family from 1880 on. My great-grandmother struggled to raise her younger siblings by taking in laundry and by relying on the kindness of her neighbors. As a result, my great-grandmother did not marry until her younger siblings were all almost raised. When she married, she married her sister’s brother-in-law. In other words, my great-grandfather was the brother of my great-grandmother's sister’s husband.

So that problematic dress: I would think that if it had been my great-grandmother’s dress from the late 1870s, it would have been worn out by 1890ish. However, when her stepmother/aunt died, her clothes might have been stored in a chest and left untouched. It’s reasonable to think that there might have been a dress that accommodated her last pregnancy. It’s also possible that the same thing happened when my great-grandmother's sister died in 1886, but for some reason, I think it is less likely to be her sister’s dress. I think her clothes would have been well worn, too, and post-1880.

At this point, I think that on the day this picture was taken, my great-grandmother’s only option for a presentable dress might have been one that belonged to her stepmother and that had been stored in a chest. I also think it is possible that she might have been in the early stages of her first pregnancy although no one in the Facebook jumped to the conclusion that she was pregnant. The waist on the dress seems oddly high. I’m wondering if she had pulled it up and then spread the skirt out to conceal her little baby bump.

My best guess is that the photograph could be narrowed to the late spring or early summer of 1890.

Family Search's Experimental Search Tool - Benajah and Hannah Brown

   ©  Kathy Duncan, 2023

In the later part of July, researchers on Facebook started sharing a link to Family Search's United States Wills and Deeds Experiment Search tool. Family Search's experimental prototypetext tool came with the warning that they made no guarantees regarding the availability of the tool. I think we all took that as a warning that it would be short-lived.  

While it lasted, it was phenomenal, and I am looking forward to it being re-released in its "final" form. The beauty of the search tool was that it ran an every-name search so that it went well beyond the principal parties in a record. It found records that were in unindexed county record books. Most importantly, it shortened the length of time required to wade through records county by county. 

My ancestor, Nathaniel Holcomb's wife, serves as a prime example. Up until now, I could only theorize that her name was probably Hannah. I knew that whatever her name was, she had married Benajah Brown of Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri as her second husband after Nathaniel Holcomb died - which was by 1814.

My previous research indicated that the woman, who was Benajah Brown's wife and Nathaniel Holcomb's widow, was old enough to be the mother of all of Nathaniel Holcomb's children, but I don't know that for a fact.

The experimental search tool pulled up a deed in Ste. Genevieve County from Benajah and Hannah Brown to James Skaggs, the husband of Nathaniel Holcomb's daughter Hannah Holcomb. Hannah Brown is named in the deed and released her dower rights before Robert Jameson, the husband of Nathaniel Holcomb's eldest daughter Esther. This indicates that Hannah was still alive as of 1834 and that she could not write her own name. Of most interest is that it provides the location of their land: the NE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of sec 29 Twp 39 N Range 7E. 

Click to Enlarge

The next deed record that the experiment search tool located was from Benejah Brown of Newton County, Missouri to John C. Brickey of Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri in 1843. Hannah Brown was not included, which is an indication that she was deceased by 1843. This deed confirmed my theory that Benajah Brown was the elderly man living with his son James Brown in Newton County, Missouri in 1840. This land was located at SE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Sec 29, Twp 39N, Range 7E in Ste Genevieve County.

Click to Enlarge

This 1930 Plat Map Book of Ste. Genevieve provides the location Sec 29 Twp 39N Range 7E:

Benajah Brown's land was roughly here:

Mary (Kelly) Fair, Daughter of John Kelly Sr. - Update

  ©  Kathy Duncan, 2023

This post has been decades in the making. Most of the other researchers who were interested in Mary (Kelly) Fair are deceased now.

While on a brain break from working on my husband's Brown family, I decided to have another go at one of my ancestor's sisters - Mary (Kelly) Fair. I've seen a lot of new researchers ask what they should do when they have run out of steam while researching an ancestor or family line. I always work on something else that I have not touched for a long time. It's a good use of my time and beats frustrating myself with material that I can't find anything "new" in - or I just need a break from something tedious that I'm working on. Usually, new information for an old problem has become available, and I can make progress. In this case, the Hinds County, Mississippi estate files for Mary (Kelly) Fair and her husband William Fair were available on Family Search. I've attached those files to both of them as sources on Family Search. Here are the highlights from Mary's file.

Mary Fair, wife of William Fair, appears in the estate records of John Kelly Sr. of Fairfield County, South Carolina, as one of his children. She was to receive three slaves from the estate: Nelly, Tom, and Serena. A Fairfield District, South Carolina, equity court document stated that Mary and William Fair resided in Mississippi as early as 1843. Tracking them from there has been difficult. A William Fair lived in Hinds County, Mississippi in the same timeframe that other children of John Kelley Sr. lived there, but it has been impossible to know for sure if it was the same William Fair. In 1850, neither Mary nor William Fair appeared on the census. Their children, if they had any, were unidentified.

As it turns out, both Mary and William Fair were deceased by 1850. Mary died first in 1846, and there is an estate record for her in Hinds County because she owned four slaves in her own right. Therefore, William Fair, filed to administer her estate. This document provides her death date, the names of the four slaves, and the names of her heirs:

According to the document, created on 24 January 1848, the Fairs were residents of Hinds County, where Mary died on 17 April 1846. At the time of her death, she owned four slaves: Jesse, his wife Lina, and their children Caroline and Ben. Note that these are not the slaves that Mary Fair was to receive from her father's estate. Her brother Littleton Kelly inherited a slave named Jesse. It's possible that they traded slaves. It is also possible that rather than transporting three slaves from South Carolina to Mississippi they were sold in South Carolina and the money was used to buy slaves in Mississippi. In that event, the slaves purchased with that money would still be considered Mary's property. 

The document names Mary Fair's legal heirs: Sarah Harris, John Farr, Isaac Milton Farr, Frances Hutson, Mary Taylor, Mariah Floyd, Jane Farr, William H Farr, and Eliza Mitchell. The last three are noted as being minors. Farr is a frequent alternate spelling for Fair. 

Additionally, the document states that the William Fair who is filing to administer the estate was Mary's husband. The document also requests that Littleton Kelly, Mary's brother, be named as one of the appraisers.

The estate record indicates that at the time of her death, Mary (Kelly) Fair was old enough to be the mother of four married daughters: Sarah Harris, Frances Hutson, Mary Taylor, and Mariah Floyd. Eliza Mitchell is a bit of a puzzle. Is Mitchell her middle name or a surname? Would a married daughter also be considered a minor??

In other documents in William Fair's estate records, Isaac M. Fair is called Isaac Middleton Fair, which seem like a more likely name for him, given that Mary had a brother named Middleton Kelly.

By 1851, William Fair was also deceased and Mary Fair's estate was being administered by Francis Stubbs.

This document states that Stubbs had been administering the estate since October of 1849. In another document that Stubbs filed when seeking to administer the estate, he stated that William Fair died in April 1849. This document names heirs and their whereabouts as of October 1851: Isaac M. Fair and William H. Fair who reside in the state of Lousiana; and Mariah Floyd, wife of Thomas H. Floyd, who reside in the state of Arkansas; also Eliza Tyler, wife of Joseph A. Tyler who reside in the state of Texas; and the following persons who reside in the state of Mississippi, to wit: Elizabeth J. Seastrunk, wife of Joseph Seastrunk, of Copiah County; Sarah C. Harris, wife of James Harris, of Claiborne County; John J Fair of Rankin County, and Mary Taylor wife of William Taylor, and Harriett Hutson wife of Jefferson M. Hutson deceased - each reside in Hinds County. All of them were of full age except for William H. Fair, who was under the age of 21. 

Note the addition of John J. Fair to the list of heirs. Jane Fair seems to be the same person as Elizabeth J. Seastrunk. Is Eliza Tyler also the same person as Elizabeth Mitchell [Fair]?

In other documents, there are dealings with Obediah K. Kelly and F. J. Kelly - two of Mary Fair's brothers.

This is a wealth of information about Mary Fair's children, who her daughters married, and where they lived as of 1851. However, tracking them has not proven to be that easy. Only about half of them can be found on the 1850 census at this point. Even fewer can be found on the 1860 census. Even fewer of their children can be tracked forward.

Next, I need to go through the key documents in William Fair's estate records.

Mollie F. Brown's Photo Album

  ©  Kathy Duncan, 2023

A few months ago, I was contacted by Jim McCabe, who had read my blog post that connected Squire Brown and Isaac S. Brown as brothers. Jim had a family photo album that was kept by a young woman named Mollie F. Brown who was a daughter of James A. and Margaret (Ryan/Rian) Brown of Scott County, Illinois. Mollie's album was unusual in that it contained many identified photographs, but Jim was trying to positively identify who those people were and how they might be connected to James A. Brown.

One photograph was of "Uncle Squire Brown" of Alton, Illinois:

A photograph of "cousin Joe Brown," who was the son of Squire Brown:

One of "Aunt Kate" Brown. Aunt Kate would be Catherine E. (Hay) Brown, wife of Isaac S. Brown of Pike County, Illinois:

A photograph of "Cousin Hank E. Brown, Milton, IL." This is a photograph of Henry E. Brown, a son of Catherine E. (Hay) and Isaac S. Brown of Pike County, Illinois:

A photograph of "cousin Clara Grimes." Clara Grimes was the daughter of Ellen Elizabeth (Brown) and Eli Cox Grimes. Clara was also the granddaughter of Catherine E. (Hay) and Issac S. Brown:

A photograph of "cousin Katie Grimes." Catherine Grimes was Clara's sister:

A photograph of "Uncle William Brown" of Woodville, IL. I believe that this was William Brown of Woodville Twp in Greene County, Illinois rather than Woodville, Illinois:

My interpretation is that in order for Mollie to be related to these Browns in the way that the photographs are labeled, her father James A. Brown would be a brother to Squire Brown of Upper Alton, Madison County, Illinois; Isaac S. Brown of Milton, Pike County, Illinois; and William Brown of Woodville Twp, Greene County, Illinois. 

There are other photographs in Mollie's album that need to be identified. 

This was the most exciting genealogy "discovery" of the summer of 2023. I never thought that I would ever see a photograph of Catherine E. (Hay) Brown. 

A Clue for Isaac S. Brown and His Brother, Squire

  ©  Kathy Duncan, 2023 

So far, I have not been able to determine much about Isaac S. Brown and his brother Squire Brown. Both were born somewhere in Kentucky - Isaac in 1810 and Squire in 1818. By pulling from biographical information about each one, it can be guessed that they came to Greene County, Illinois in 1828 with their parents. The 1880 census for Squire Brown states that his parents were born in Virginia. Of course, during the time period in which Isaac and Squire's parents were born, Kentucky was also considered Virginia. By 1850 Isaac S. Brown was living in Pike County, Illinois while Squire Brown was still in Greene County, Illinois. By 1860, Squire was in Madison County, Illinois.

I am looking for a Brown family with brothers named Isaac and Squire Brown, both born in Kentucky, to parents who had been born in Virginia. I started googling for such a family and felt hopeful when I found the following biography of Norman W. Brown of Pike, County Illinois:

Brown, Norman W.

Norman W. Brown, who follows farming on section 35. Atlas township, was born on the old family homestead of two hundred and twenty acres, upon which his father, Isaac Brown, located in 1828. The natal day of the son was September 23, 1840, and he was reared upon the home place, acquiring his preliminary education in the old log schoolhouse of the neighborhood about one mile from his father's home. He afterward, however, attended the Summer Hill district school, from which he was graduated. All this time he was living with his parents, Isaac and Susan (Smoot) Brown, the former of Scotch ancestry and the latter of Dutch lineage. Isaac Brown was a native of Virginia and removed from the Old Dominion to Kentucky, where he was married. He made farming his life work and followed that occupation until his life's labor's were ended in death. He became a pioneer resident of this county, settling here in 1828, when much of the land was still in possession of the government and few clearings had been made. He at once began to cultivate his land in Atlas township and resided upon the old homestead farm until his death in 1850. He had served his country as a soldier in the war of 1812. His widow survived him until April, 1860, and was then buried beside her husband on the old home farm that is now the property of C. B. Dustin. The old flintlock musket which was carried by Isaac C. Brown in the war of 1812 is still in possession of the family, being now the property of Willis Brown, a brother of Norman W. Brown. In the family of Isaac and Susan Brown were thirteen children, namely: Maria, Mahala, Squire, Owen, Hardin, John, Willis, James, Isaac, Susan, Jane, Benjamin and Norman W. All are now deceased with the exception of four. Isaac died in infancy and was buried beside his parents on the old home farm, where also lie the remains of Hardin and John Brown, while Susan, Mahala and Benjamin were buried in California and Owen was buried in Kentucky near Mammoth Cave.

Norman W. Brown, the youngest of his father's family, was reared upon the old homestead farm. He lost his father when but ten years of age and was reared by his older brothers and sisters with whom he lived until nineteen years of age. when, in August, 1859, in company with William and James Baxter, he started for Pikes Peak, attracted by the discovery of gold in Colorado. They traveled with ox teams a part of the way and on reaching Nebraska they met many gold-seekers who were returning and who gave them information that there was no gold to be found. This discouraged the party so that they turned back and again came to Pike county. In the spring of 1860, however, Mr. Brown once more determined to try and win a fortune from the depths of the earth, for favorable reports concerning mining operations were still being received from Colorado and California and other sections of the country. In company with about one hundred and forty others he started, the party having forty wagons, most of which were drawn by ox teams. The company was commanded by John Underwood, whom they elected captain, and slowly they wended their way across the plains, completing in safety the long trip of five months, and reached Sacramento, California, on the 5th of September, 1860. They saw many Indians en route but they kept a strict watch, each male member of the company standing guard in his turn and they were not molested. Upon reaching Sacramento they did not find the gold as plentiful as they had pictured in their minds, so the members of the company scattered and sought employment in various ways. Mr. Brown went to work on a ranch and was thus employed for four and a half years, at the end of which time he returned home on the ocean steamer, Moses Taylor, embarking at San Francisco on the 13th of November, 1865. He disembarked with six hundred others at San Juan on the coast of Panama and from there they traveled overland, crossing the mountains, Mr. Brown riding a pony. He finally reached Virginia Bay, where he with the rest of the party took a boat across the bay to the head of San Juan river, where they embarked on two small river boats, going to Walker's Rapids. They traveled around the rapids on foot and again embarked on two other boats, thus making their way to old Graytown. a small port in the Atlantic ocean, where they took the steamer Santiago de Cuba for New York, arriving safely at that port. Thence they traveled by rail to Niagara Falls, and then on to Quincy, Illinois, and from there Mr. Brown made his way home.

On again reaching Pike county he once more engaged in farming and soon afterward he secured a companion and helpmate for life's journey. He was married on the 28th of January, 1869, to Miss Ann Elizabeth Gay, a daughter of James and Amelia (Yokem) Gay, who are mentioned on another page of this volume. Unto this marriage six children, three sons and three daughters, have been born, namely: Nellie, who was born November 25, 1869, and is now the wife of X. J. Carter, of Rockport; Paul W., who was born June 19, 1871, and is now a practicing physician in Springfield, Ohio ; Carrie, born October 27, 1873, who is the wife of H. D. Marion, a resident of Atlas township ; Claud, who was born October 9, 1876, and is living in Carterville, Illinois, where he is employed and is part owner in a mining machinery foundry; Erma, who was born May 22, 1882, and is a stenographer with the Simmons Hardware Company of St. Louis, and Bert, who was born May 10, 1884, and resides with his parents.

Politically Mr. Brown is a republican, unfaltering in the advocacy of his party and its principles. He cast his first presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and is proud of the fact that his second vote also supported the martyred president. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are now living upon the old home farm in Atlas township, where for years he has carried on general agricultural pursuits, having devoted his life to farm work since his return home from California more than forty years ago. [Source: Past and Present Of Pike County, IL by Capt. Massie, 1906]

Then there was this biography for Norman W. Brown's brother Willis Brown:

Brown, Willis
Willis Brown, who since 1877 has resided in Pike county, was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, on the 2d of September, 1827. He was brought by his parents to this state, the family home being established in Atlas township on a farm now owned by Charles Dustin, but which is better known as the old Brown homestead. He is a son of Isaac and Susan (Snodgrass) Brown. The father was born in Virginia and was a planter there. He removed from the Old Dominion to Hardin county, Kentucky, where he again conducted a plantation and in the latter state he was married. He lives in Kentucky until there were eight children in the family and he and his wife, with their children, then came to Pike county, Illinois, settling in Atlas township upon what is now the Dustin farm. There he carried on general agricultural pursuits, being identified with the tilling of the soil up to the time of his death, which occurred on the old homestead in 1848, while his wife passed away two years later. Their graves were made on the old home farm. In their family were thirteen children, namely: Maria, Mahala, Squire, Owen, Hardin, John, Willis, James, Isaac, Susan, Jane, Benjamin and Norman W. All are now deceased with the exception of four. Isaac died in infancy and was buried by the side of his parents, where also lie the remains of Hardin and John, while Susan, Mahala and Benjamin were buried in California, and Owen near Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.

Willis Brown received but limited educational privileges as the schools of Atlas township were not in very good condition at that day. He was reared on the old homestead and early became familiar with the labors of field and meadow. After his father's death he took entire management of the farm, for his brothers had learned trades and had left the old homestead. He then conducted the property for about six years, subsequent to his mother's death, when it was sold to Charles Dustin and the proceeds of the sale were divided among the heirs. Willis Brown then purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which was covered with forest trees. It was situated on section 25, Atlas township, and here he took up his abode and began to clear and cultivate the property. He has since made extensive improvements and now has an excellent farm, the fields being rich and productive, so that he annually harvests good crops.
In 1874 Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Worley, a daughter of Elias and Elizabeth Worley, and they have become the parents of eight children, Byron, Meyer, Malinda, Guy, Nettie, Sadie, Charley and Bessie. Of these Charley, Sadie, Bessie and Guy are all now sleeping in the Ball Bluff cemetery near Atlas. In 1861 Mr. Brown went to California, where he engaged in farm work for two years, returning to Pike county in 1863.

In his political affiliation Mr. Brown is a stalwart republican and has always supported the party. He and his wife still reside upon the home farm in the midst of children and grandchildren. Mr. Brown is a self-made man, owing his success entirely to his own labors and during the years he has wrought earnestly to acquire a competence and provide a good living for his family. [Source: The Book of St. Louisans, Publ. 1912. Transcribed by Charlotte Slater]

While Isaac Brown and his wife Susan Smoot were born in Virginia, married in Hardin County, Kentucky, and had children there, including sons named Isaac and Squire, they can't possibly be the parents of the Isaac S. Brown and Squire Brown that I am seeking. Isaac Brown and Susan Smoot's son Isaac turned out to be younger than Isaac S. Brown, and he died in infancy. Not only is he a different Isaac, but this could not be an instance of Isaac S. Brown being named after an older, deceased brother. Squire Brown, the son of Isaac Brown and Susan Smoot, was a couple of years older than the Squire Brown that I am seeking, and he remained in Pike County, Illinois while my Squire Brown was living in Greene County and Madison County, Illinois. 

However, there are several parallels between the families of Isaac and Susan (Smoot) Brown and my Isaac S. Brown and Squire Brown. In both families, the parents were born in Virginia. Both families spent a few years in Kentucky. Both families removed to Ilinois in 1828 with Isaac Brown and Susan Smoot going to Pike County and the parents of Isaac S. Brown and Squire Brown going to Greene County. Significantly, Pike County and Greene County are neighboring counties. Then there is the repetition of the names Isaac and Squire in both families. The elder Isaac Brown, husband of Susan Smoot, may have been an uncle or cousin to my Isaac S. Brown. So far, I have been able to determine that Isaac Brown and Susan Smoot married in Hardin County, Kentucky, and that Isaac Brown is supposedly a son of Dixon Brown. Dixon Brown had several sons, so one of them might yet turn out to Issac S. Brown's father. 

Starling J. Thompson

  ©  Kathy Duncan, 2023

Starling J. Thompson was the son of Lodowick and Priscilla (Reeves) Thompson. He was born c. 1810 in South Carolina, probably in Kershaw County.

In April 1841, he married Margaret R. Shiver in Kershaw County, South Carolina.

They were still living in Kershaw County in December of 1844 when Starling was arrested for defending himself from Ferdinand Hunter.

The DeKalb Factory was reportedly a cotton mill that provided cottages for its workers. I've found nothing further about this incident.

By 1850, Starling and Margaret (Shriver) Thompson were living in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.

29 November 1850, Chesterfield Dist., SC, p. 152:

Starling Thompson 40 M Overseer b. SC

Margaret " 29 F b. SC

Jesse " 10 M b. SC

Amelia " 8 f b. SC

Lewis " 6 M b. SC

Anne " 4 F b. SC

Note that on this census Starling was working as an overseer. His brother Solomon Thompson was also an overseer in Fairfield District, South Carolina in 1860. 

On 31 September 1855, Sterling Thompson married Antoinette Jones in Richmond County Georgia.

They were still in Richmond County, Georgia in 1860.

27 June 1860, Augusta, Richmond Co., GA:

460-452

Sterling Thompson 47 Carpenter M b. SC

Antoinnett Thompson 38 F b. SC

Jessee J Thompson 19 M Carpenter b. SC

Amelia Thompson 17 F b. SC

Lewis Thompson 15 M b. SC

Anna Thompson 13 F b. SC

Mary Thompson 11 F b. SC

George Thompson 8 M b. SC

According to this census, all of the children would have been Margaret's. Margaret must have died between 1852 and 1855. There is no way of knowing if she died in South Carolina or Georgia. Sterling and Antoinette had no living children after five years of marriage. It seems unlikely that they ever had any children.

In 1860, Starling Thompson was in debt to Hiram Scarborough, who is believed to have been his brother-in-law and husband of Abigail Thompson. In Richmond Co., GA Deed Bk 2P on pages 84-85 is a mortgage that Starling took out from Hiram indicating that he owed Hiram $150 and was putting up his household furniture as collateral. Specifically, Starling mortgaged two bedsteads and bedding, three tables, one cook stove and utensils, six chairs, one sideboard, one bay mule and a wagon - all located in Starling's house at Number 410 on the south side of Broad Street in Augusta. 

Researching a house number from 1860 is not an easy task. Over time streets were moved, renamed, and houses renumbered. A house located at 410 Broad Street in 1860 cannot be expected to still be at 410 Broad Street today even if it is still standing. I looked for it anyway.

The earliest map I have found so far is a Sanborn Fire Insurance Map dated 1884. On the south side of Broad Street, there was a house numbered 410. It was near the intersection of Broad Street and 4th Street.

410 Broad appears to be what we would call a duplex today. The key indicates that it was a frame house.

Further studying of the 1884 map indicated something that absolutely should not be on the map, but is.

In the middle of Broad Street, which was a wide boulevard, was the Broad Street Market, often referred to as the Lower Market. Prior to the Civil War, it served as a slave market. In 1878, a tornado swept through Augusta and left a path of devastation. All period newspapers recount the total destruction of the Market on Broad Street. The path of the tornado was mapped out in the 1878 Army Signal Corps report.

The Signal Corps map shows the tornado's path when it reached Broad Street. The Lower Market took a direct hit. The map suggests that the house numbered 410 might have survived.

The question is why does the 1884 map include a structure that no longer existed? My guess is that mapping Augusta was a project that took several years. Some sources indicate that the population of Augusta in 1860 was 12,000. It would have increased much more by 1878. At this point, my theory is that the Broad Street neighborhood had already been mapped prior to the tornado, and it was not revised before the map was published in 1884. That makes me think that the 1884 map shows 410 Broad Street as it was prior to the tornado.

As far as I can tell, what was once the location of 410 Broad Street is now under an overpass. Of course, this assumes that the house numbered 410 in 1860 was still numbered 410 in 1878. 

By 1862, Starling Thompson was once again employed as an overseer. He ran this notice in the Daily Constitutionalist of Augusta, Georgia on 22 May 1862. Since he was over the age of 50, he would not have been expected to enlist during the Civil War.

I have been unable to locate Sterling and Antoinette Thompson on the 1870 census although they should be somewhere.

Starling was deceased when the following sheriff's sale notice was run in the Augusta Chronicle on 20 November 1879.

I have not been able to locate Antoinette Thompson on the 1880 census.

Antoinette (Jones) Thompson died on 29 February 1896 in the Widow's Home located at 124 Greene Street in Augusta, Georgia. The Widow's Home was originally intended for widows of Confederate soldiers, but after burning, it was reopened in 1887 with the intention of assisting needy widows.

Allen Kendrick Manos, Son-in-Law of Daniel A. Lewis

 ©  Kathy Duncan, 2023

For those sitting on the fence about the identity of John D. Lewis's son Daniel Adams Lewis and whether he had one wife (Betsy Young) or several additional wives (Tempe DeSpain and Margaret Masters), consider this additional information. 

In 1870, Daniel's sister Jane (Lewis) Wardlaw was a widow, living in Hunt County, Texas with three of her children and a farm laborer named Allin Manos. Jane and Milton Wardlaw's married daughter Susan Ashmore was living next door.

For too many years, the identity of Allen Manos, the farm hand, was unimportant since he did not seem to have any family connection.

That is he was seemingly unimportant until he turned up again in connection with Daniel Adams Lewis's third set of children with Margaret (Masters) Digman Newby. Allen Kendrick Manos married Missouri Texana Lewis, the middle daughter of Daniel Adams and Margaret (Masters) Lewis. In 1870, Missouri Texana Lewis was living with her mother and step-father L. H. Newby in Johnson County, Texas.

How on earth did Allen K. Manos and Missouri Texana Lewis meet? There are a couple of possibilities. Missouri Texana may have gone to Hunt County to visit her aunt and met him there. Margaret (Masters) Newby's marriage disintegrated by 1880. If she was in need of reliable help and had communicated that to her sister-in-law Jane Wardlaw, then Allen K. Manos may have gone to Johnson County to work for the family. To date, I have not located the marriage record of Allen K. Manos and Missouri Texana Lewis, which might shed some light on a possible place for their meeting.

Allen K. Manos establishes that there was a connection between Daniel Adams Lewis's sister Jane Wardlow and the daughter of Daniel and Margaret (Masters) Lewis. I do not believe that was purely coincidental. 

Digging into the identity of Allen K. Manos turned up even more mysterious information and even more questions. 

In 1860 Allen K. Manos was living in Hunt County, Texas with his parents John and Mary J Manos. John C. Manos was born in Tennessee in 1815 and Mary J Manos was born in Tennessee in 1825. It is notable that they were living in Tishomingo County, Mississippi in 1850. Even more notable, among their many children were Wiley Manos born c. 1842 in Mississippi, Matilda Jane Manos born c. 1848 in Mississippi, and Joel Manos born c. 1859 in Texas. These are names used repeatedly in the Lewis family. 

Further digging revealed that John C. Manos married Mary Jane Lewis in Jefferson County, Alabama on 20 November 1839.

Who was Mary Jane Lewis??? The short answer is that I do not know. She does not seem to be an unidentified daughter of John D. Lewis. The lawsuit brought by the children of Green and Elizabeth (Lewis) Babb against their stepmother does not include any information about Mary Jane (Lewis) Manos and her children. She does, however, seem to have a connection to John D. Lewis. At this point, I think it is very possible that she was an elder, unidentified daughter of John D. Lewis's son Wiley Lewis. At the same time, I cannot figure out how she would have ended up in Alabama in 1839. 

I suspect now that the marriage of Allen Kendrick Manos and Missouri Texana Lewis was a marriage between cousins. More digging needs to be done, but this is a prime example of why it is important to research siblings and associates. It is admittedly tedious, but it pays off. 

Obituaries of the Children of Charles Henderson and Esther A. (Jernigan) Graham

©  Kathy Duncan, 2023

In the interest of leaving no stone unturned, I searched for the obituaries of the children of Charles Henderson Graham and his wife Esther A. Jernigan. This family was living in Johnston County, North Carolina in 1850 and 1860. Henderson Graham's origins are unknown other than he was born in North Carolina in about 1820. The Jernigans had been in Johnston County for decades. Esther had been previously married to Haywood Whitley and had three children with him. I was not able to locate their obituaries. 

This group of sibling obituaries was frustratingly lean on information. Parents were not named. Often spouses were not named. Children were rarely named. 

Birth order of the children of Charles Henderson Graham and his wife Esther A. Jernigan:

1. Martha E. Graham b. 1845, married Fredrick E. Wayne
2. William Henderson Graham b. 1848
3. Chloe Virginia Graham b. 1849
4. Edward Bright Graham b. 1852
5. Thomas Jefferson Graham b. 1854
6. Mollie Graham 
7. Esther Ann Graham b. 1860 m. Jackson Benjamin Smith

Obituaries were not found for Martha E. (Graham) Wayne or Esther Ann (Graham) Smith.

Published obituaries of the Graham siblings in the order of their death:

1. Mollie F. (Graham) Mozingo died 5 October 1911. This obituary was found in The Times-Dispatch of Richmond, Virginia rather than in a North Carolina paper. Her obituary does not reveal that she was the widow of  Jonathan P. Mozingo nor that she had a surviving son, Foy Daniel Mozingo. 

2. William Henderson Graham died 27 October 1917 in Ingrams Township, Johnston County, North Carolina. His obituary does not name his parents or any of his nine surviving children. No siblings are mentioned. It does mention his two wives by name: Fannie Upchurch and Mrs. Lucinda Lee. This obituary appeared in the Smithfield Herald of Smithfield, North Carolina on 30 October 1917.

3. Chloe Virginia (Graham) Wayne died on 16 August 1928 at her daughter's home in New Bern, North Carolina. In her obituary, her parents, siblings, and spouse are not named even though she had at least two siblings still living. As was the custom of the time, her daughter is referred to as Mrs. H. M. Buntin of Bridgeton. Her obituary appeared in the News and Record of Greensboro, North Carolina.

4. Edward Bright Graham died on 3 January 1931 in Carlisle, Kentucky. His death notice appeared in The News and Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina because he had two surviving nieces in Johnston County, North Carolina. Even though Rev. E. B. Graham had a long and illustrious career, this is the only obituary I have found to date. It does not mention his own surviving son, William Bright Graham, or his surviving brother, Thomas Jefferson Graham. 

5. Thomas Jefferson Graham died on 20 January 1942 in Mangum, Greer County, Oklahoma. His obituary appeared in The Mangum Daily Star on Tuesday, 20 January 1942. It does not name his parents or his deceased wife. However, each of his six surviving children are named along with their residences: Thomas E. Graham and H.E. Graham of Oklahoma City, Carl E. Graham of Denver, Walter B. Graham of Albuquerque, Annie (Graham) Duck of Amarillo, J. M. Graham and H.H. Graham of Floydada, Texas.