I'm guessing this was taken on a Thanksgiving Day in the mid-1990s because I recognize Helen's green shirt from when she once visited us on the prairie about that same time. I think they are at Nancy and Larry's home.
My paternal third great-uncle, Abraham Lincoln Ackley, was mentioned in a San Francisco newspaper one summer in 1891. I was happy to find this article on GenealogyBank this morning.
Abe and his brothers, along with their dad, Sam Ackley, operated ferries that carried people, animals, and supplies across both the Cimarron and Arkansas Rivers in what is today eastern Oklahoma.
As an added bonus, you get to read Women & Cigars next to a charming illustration of that medical giant, Dr. Sweany:
ONE SMALL QUIBBLE: Tulsa was then (and is now) in Creek Nation. The "mouth of the Cimarron" River may have been near Keystone, which was in Pawnee Nation, Oklahoma Territory. (My Ackleys lived in O.T. until Oklahoma became a state in 1907). So I will forgive a reporter from a Fort Smith, Arkansas paper who may have considered anything west of the Arkansas River part of that wild and woolly frontier, "Cherokee Nation." This murder may very well have occurred in Osage Nation, as I find a "Salt Creek" listed near Grainola, Oklahoma.
Source: The Morning Call (newspaper), San Francisco, Calif., Friday, June 26, 1891, Vol. 70, page 8
Finding proof that supports a family mystery? That's what I call a great day! But learning that your ancestor murdered a man? It's a sobering feeling.
Read what The Galveston Daily News reported on June 2, 1893 about Welcome Wilhelm:
Just a few days earlier, this paper reported that the perpetrator had been captured. Wait, who was the poor fellow who was wrongly accused of murder. What a fright he had!
In her Willhelm Family Record, my Great-Aunt Beatrice Willhelm Steeves wrote this about Welcome's flight from Texas:
My grandfather, William Welcome Willhelm, at about the age of 18 joined the war between the States in Co. C, 15th Northwest Arkansas Infantry. In one of the battles the flag bearer was shot and grandfather rescued the flag before it hit the ground and carried it through the battle. A bullet aimed at him, hit a coin in his pocket and made it look like a thimble. He was captured in the battle of Vicksburg, when on July 3, 1865, General John C. Pemberton, commanding the 50,000 Confederate troops around Vicksburg forced to surrender 37,000 men and 172 cannons to U.S. Grant Commander of the Union Army. After the war, grandfather went to Texas, married and had a family of 3 boys and 5 girls. Just before the birth of his youngest child in 1883, some trouble came up and grandfather's life was threatened. Due to the lack of law and order on the Texas frontier, grandfather was advised, for his sake and the sake of the family, to move his family. He left to look for a place to move to and then returned to await the birth of his daughter. When the baby was born, he left again and went to Arkansas to his father's place. In December of that year he sent grandmother some money. That was the last the family ever heard of him.
Welk's parents, Pleasant and Jane (Lockmiller) Willhelm, were living in the Boston Mountains in Madison County, Arkansas. (near Fayetteville) A pretty but rugged place. I would think it a good place to hide. But it would also be the first choice of the Williamson County Sheriff should he care to send in "the law."
I saw True Grit. Did any Texas Rangers try tracking my ancestor?
WHAT WILHELM LEFT BEHIND:
William Welcome Wilhelm married Mary Elizabeth Cowan in Florence, Williamson County, Texas just before Christmas in 1866. Having grown up in Arkansas, Mary and Welk were new Texas residents. Both had many relatives living in the same counties in Texas and Arkansas. Did they know each other as children or meet after Welk's service in the War? Perhaps their families knew each other from Tennessee before the Wilhelms had moved to Arkansas in the late 1840s?
Mary had eight children with Welk in Texas:
Addie Martha "Mattie" born 19 Oct 1867 in Bell County,
William Edgar born 28 Aug 1869 in Bell County,
James Arthur born 15 Oct 1872 in Granger, Williamson County,
Mary Virginia "Jennie" born 26 Feb 1875 in Bell County,
Grace Idena born 8 July 1877 Circleville, Williamson County,
Joseph Flemon born 4 Jan 1879 Williamson County,
Ollie Josephine born 30 March 1881 Williamson County,
and Alice Emily born 20 April 1883 in Williamson County.
The 1880 Federal Census records Welcome and Mary's young family living in Precinct No. 6 in rural Williamson County, Texas. Welk is working as a blacksmith. Their oldest "Mattie" is 12, and little Joseph is two years old.
As of this writing I do not find a "W. Berry" in the 1880 Census for Williamson County or surrounding counties. There ARE several families with the surname Berry. But none named "Barry." Knowing names and dates are often incorrect in newspapers, I look for variations. Among the many archived newspapers from that time, I've not found any mention of Mr. Berry's untimely death. I will update here when I learn more of Mr. Berry at Donahue Creek.
Imagine Mary's horror when Welk left her five months before the birth of their last child. My heart goes out to her!
To the best of anyone's recollection from elders now long gone, Mary last heard from Welk a few months after he had fled to Arkansas in 1883. She had the support of her parents and siblings, but to our knowledge did not remarry.
She died June 1, 1894 at the age of 51. She is buried in the Katemcy Cemetery in Mason County, Texas near her father, William Flemon Cowan. I've long wondered how her family coped after losing Welcome. My great-grandfather, Welk's son, grew to be a stern, exacting man who was later estranged from his brothers and sisters. He was but 13 when his dad had left home.
How did that event shape Edgar's history--and ours?
UPDATE: Found a similar article in a Dallas, Texas newspaper. This account has a different year for the murder:
Sources:
-- The Galveston Daily News, Galveston, Texas, published June 2, 1893, Fri., p. 7 from The Portal to Texas History via https://texashistory.unt.edu/
-- Citation: Year: 1880; Census Place: Precinct 6, Williamson, Texas; Roll: 1333; Family History Film: 1255333; Page: 541A; Enumeration District: 161.
-- Steeves, Beatrice Willhelm Reiswig, 1907-1995. Willhelm Family Record & Hurley Family Record. 1973. Raw data.fdfdrf St. Helena, Napa, California, USA. A family history and genealogy of Tobias Willhelm (1760-1834) and Daniel Hurley (1817- 1859) and their descendants
-- The Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), published Sat., 27 May 1893, p. 5
Big news. Descendants of enslaved people once owned by members of the Cherokee Tribe have had their citizenship rights restored by a federal judge. The Freedmen are again lawful and equal citizens of a sovereign nation.
In 1866, as part of a treaty with the U.S., the Cherokee Nation agreed to give its former slaves citizenship. You will recall that a war had just ended. A war where one side fought to preserve its right to enrich themselves from the labor of humans they bought and sold. That side lost.
Yet in 2007 Cherokee citizens voted to remove membership privileges from the Freedmen--its name for those who descended from enslaved Cherokees.
This from a tribe that itself has had numerous treaties broken by our U.S. government for 200+ years.
Freedmen fought in the courts to restore their citizenship. A ten year battle that ended this week.
Judge Thomas F. Hogan wrote in Cherokee Nation v. Raymond Nash:
"The Court finds it confounding that the Cherokee Nation historically had no qualms about regarding freedmen as Cherokee 'property' yet continues, even after 150 years, to balk when confronted with the legal imperative to treat them as Cherokee people. While the Cherokee Nation might persist in its design to perpetuate a moral injustice, this Court will not be complicit in the perpetuation of a legal injustice."
On April 12, 1912, John H. Coffee of Kingston, Oklahoma, and Ina Hight of Denison, Texas, were married. A widower who had lost his wife Nancy (James) Coffee in 1895, this was John's second marriage. He was 60. It was the bride's third marriage. She was 40.
I don't know where they were married, but the license was filed in Grayson County, Texas--just over the Oklahoma border. Source: Texas, Select County Marriage Records, 1837-2015 (database) via Ancestry.com/
Born Ina Marie Beasley, her second husband, James Robert Hight, had recently lost his wife, Ruth Ella (Beasley). Yes, Ruth was Ina's older sister. James was left with the care of their six children. I imagine his concern as a father was a factor in his January 1, 1909 marriage to Ina Marie Greer.
It was not uncommon for siblings to marry widowed spouses of family. Ina brought with her the three young children from her first husband, Oscar Gilbert Greer. One year after marrying, the 1910 Federal Census finds James and Ina living in Comanche County, Oklahoma with their combined ten children. See them on this census page:
MEANWHILE BACK IN LITTLE DIXIE: (Yes, southeast Oklahoma is called that) The next I find Ina Hight is in 1912 Marshall County after marrying my 2xGreat-Gramps. John has a grocery, a restaurant, and a candy store in Kingston. His obit later indicated "Mrs. Iona Hight" was from Denison, Texas. If accurate, then Ina somehow moved from Comanche County, Oklahoma to northeastern Texas. Would love to know how she met John Coffee.
Here are two images from the 1913 Polk City Directory for Kingston, Oklahoma showing John's restaurant and grocery:
Sadly, their new marriage was shortened, as my maternal 2xG-Grandfather suffered a heart attack in early November 1913. He died two weeks later. Ina notified John's two adult children: John, who lived in New Mexico, and Elizabeth in Gravois Mills, Missouri. John's obituary made the front page of The Kingston Messenger. The WEEKLY paper, mind you!
Can't read it? It says: A PIONEER CITIZEN PASSES AWAY -- Death of J.H. Coffee After an Illness of a Short Time.
Last Monday night, after an illness of about two weeks, Mr. J.H. COFFEE, one of our oldest citizens, laid down his life's burdens and went to his last rest. He was well thought of by all our people, a man of honor, integrity and uprightness. He was loyal to the church of his faith, the Christian church. He was born in Mt. Sterling, Ky., March 9, 1850, going from there to Missouri in his early manhood, where he was married to Miss Nancy C. JAMES, Sept. 1, 1872. Two children were born to them, John COFFEE, now residing in New Mexico, and Mrs. Lizzie PAGE, now living in Missouri. His wife died at their Missouri home August 9, 1895, soon after which he came to this section and located near here. About eleven years ago he purchased property in town and opened up the business which he conducted to the time of his death. April 12, 1912 he was married to Mrs. Iona HIGHT of Denison, who survives him. He was buried Tuesday afternoon in the cemetery here. The funeral services were held in the new church of which he was so proud, Rev. J.H. LAWSON of Denison, conducting the services. Mr. John COFFEE, of New Mexico, and little daughter, and Mrs. Martha EDMON, his sister, and her daughter, Mrs. Ida THOMPSON, of Texarkana, Ark., Mr. Tom COFFEE and family of Madill, and Joe COFFEE, of Calera, nephews of deceased, were here to attend the funeral.
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They came to Oklahoma for their dad's funeral. Upon learning of John's will leaving them $2 each, they promptly hired lawyers to contest the will. But after a few weeks, it ended well. John's children dismissed their claim.
Descendants may find these 19 pages interesting, as they are actual copies from the court's probate file. Woo hoo! Click on each page, and move the horizontal scroll bar to the right to see all 19. Errors and all! White Out wasn't yet invented.
Meet the gentlemen in question: John H. Coffee, born March 9, 1852, and died November 17, 1913
I'm grateful to Aunt Nancy for sharing her worn copy of his obit long ago. It gave me the clues necessary to begin my search. And I so appreciate RaeJean for contacting me this summer. What a thrill it was to find a message from Ina's descendant! She helped knock down a genealogy "brick wall" of many years.
A heart-breaking story, not for the squeamish.
And, please. It's PEA RIDGE--not "Pear Ridge."
Really, Florida? All able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 55 had to be employed or face arrest? In August of 1918 did Pensacola have a problem with vagrants? Was it a slam against itinerant or migrant workers?
Was this a way of shaming those who hadn't yet enlisted in the armed forces? The United States had been in World War I for over a year at this time.
Source:
- The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.), 31 Aug. 1918. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87062268/1918-08-31/ed-1/seq-4/>
That Sam Leeper! The bounty land this old soldier received for fighting in the battles of San Jacinto and Bexar was all over Texas. With more papers appearing on the internet, I find previously unknown counties where Sam's name appears on land patents. I wonder what amount of $$$ of real estate its value might hold today. His untimely death in 1855 left his third wife, Hannah, holding the deeds.
From The San Antonio Express in October 1909:
And this from the Houston Post, on 28 March 1917:
UPDATE: June, 2020 - Found another one in Smith County:
Source: The Weekly Courier-Times, Tyler, Smith County, Texas, p. 6 on December 30, 1910 (via The Portal of Texas History at URL: texashistory.unt.edu/ )
My maternal Great-Grandfather keeps popping up in newly-uploaded papers online.
On September 13, 1940 a Lamar County newspaper in Texas published this fuzzy photo of Edgar Willhelm standing next to the offspring of a well-known symbol of the Democratic Party. He had just turned 70 years old, and he and his wife, Lena, were living on "Sylvan Pattonville Road" according to the 1940 Federal Census. From The Paris News, page 8, see the clipping along with the whole page:
BTW, make mine a 1941 Plymouth in cherry red!
My Great-Grands were living in Santa Anna, Coleman County, Texas, as evidenced by this mention of "E. Willhelm" in a church newsletter published January 19, 1909. Reading this description of West Texas reminds me of the old greeting, "Hey, how are you? Tell me the price of corn." (Yes, I honestly heard that expression as a kid. It was said with a laugh)
Archived newspapers from Paris, Texas have several "For Sale" want ads from Ed Willhelm for firewood and vegetable produce. This ad below is from a town outside of Denton, Texas called Decatur and was published in June 1924. I've seen several of these uh, offers over the years, but this ad is a new discovery. But I've long been told that Edgar wrote religious pamphlets and enjoyed debating Scripture.
And one more ad Ed placed in The Bartlett Tribune & News, Bartlett, Texas, Vol. 38, No. 43, Ed. 1, Friday, June 6, 1924:
If anything, my small collection of Ed's name in newspapers has helped me construct a timeline of his many home addresses. (The adjective "peripatetic" has also been used with my Indian Territory pioneer ancestor, Sam Ackley). I've now learned that he and Lena were living outside of Houston, in Seabrook in 1924. I wonder if he had to part with any ten-spots to these "Sunday isn't Sabbath" advertisements.
What did YOUR Great-Grandfather do for fun?
The bane of my research today is initials. Initials used in a man's given name. And therefore used in a wife's legal name.
Many genealogy databases don't work well with initials. This church paper from 1948 assumes the reader will know those gents hidden behind initials.
A Texas birth certificate from 1906 is indexed without the child's first name, and with initials only for the parents' given names. Luckily I know this is a match because I have supporting documents showing the Sillivent family's full names. But again, a clear disregard for future genealogists is shown in these two images below, tut tut:
Are you old enough to recall when polite society referred to a married woman only by her husband's name? Business correspondence required that a married woman be addressed as Mrs. Husband's-First-And-Last-Name. If widowed, her given name might then be used with the title Mrs.
EXAMPLE FROM PRIDE & PREJUDICE: Miss Elizabeth Bennet married Darcy. She then became Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Darcy, we know, lives on in film. But should he ever die, then our Elizabeth becomes Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy. Actually I really don't know the English custom for names 183+ years ago.
Happy Saint Arbogast's Day (this July 21st)! Thanks for stopping by.
Postscript: Women as chattel is a subject found elsewhere on this blog.