Before I Forget

Curious about a family's ancestor during the Civil War, we were surprised to find that THREE of his sons had enlisted and fought in the Union Army from Charleston and/or Pendleton County, (now) West Virginia. George Washington Arbogast and his wife, Mary (Reed) were parents of ten children. Their teenage sons, Michael, Francis, and George Jr., served with the 7th Regiment, West Virginia Cavalry. Among the many splendid web sites researching this regiment's history is:

          http://7wvcavalry.com/

First, a page from the 1860 Federal Census showing the family of George and Mary "Arbagas" living in Clay County, Virginia, beginning on line 20. 

Another record (see attached) reports these dates' events on a Michael Arbogast:

June 1862 (8th VA Infantry) Wounded at the Battle of Cross Keys on June 8. Absent sick, with leave.

July 1862 - Absent sick at Cumberland Hospital

Dec. 1862 - Absent since Dec. 5.

July 1863 - July 24, Cherry Run. Deserted before the Enemy. 

A later record dated January 26, 1865 shows:

         Wheeling W Va. Pvt., Co. K, 7th Reg. West Virginia Cavalry, Remarks: Deserted at Cherry Run July 18, 1863.

This battle at Cherry Run was soon after Gettysburg. Two different records show two desertion dates--both in July 1863 at Cherry Run. I found this from Michael's commanding officer, Benjamin Kelley. My word, the sheer number of soldiers, horses, and gear moving through the countryside!

Cherry Run, Va.,  July 22, 1863—12.30 p.m.

TO: Major-General Meade:

I crossed the Potomac at this place with my force, about 6,000 strong—3,200 infantry, 2,500 cavalry, and three batteries—on the 15th and 16th instant, and occupied Hedgesville, Berkeley County, 7 miles west of Martinsburg. On Saturday and Sunday skirmished briskly with Hampton’s brigade near Martinsburg. On Monday, Hill’s and Ewell’s corps moved from Bunker Hill to Martinsburg, and a strong cavalry force was sent through Mill’s Gap into the Back Creek Valley to cut off my retreat. It therefore became necessary to fall back to this point, and recross the river.

I am ready to go forward again at any moment, and annoy and harass the flank and rear of the enemy; whenever I can do so without unnecessarily endangering my small command. Will you please keep me advised of your movements and whereabouts, so that I can act in concert with and subordinate to your movements?

B. F. Kelley,

Brigadier-General

I do not find young Michael on the 1870 Federal Census. He appears on the 1850 and 1860 rolls, but is hiding from me in later censuses. The 1860 census transcriptions spells his last name as "Arbagas" so evidently I'm not sufficiently creative in my use of keyword searches. I will continue to guess at how his name might have been misspelled. Or perhaps he died soon after the War? No pension record has been found for a Michael Arbogast. His whereabouts were also unknown to family historian/cousin, Chuck Eades. Did he seek his fortune in gold in California? Was he sent to Andersonville or another prison?

GEORGE, JR.:  Young George had to obtain his Dad's consent to volunteer, and I think he lied about his age. Please see the images within this gallery. 

          I had a fun exchange of messages with my friend and fellow history buff. Questions were raised about how the media reports on candidates' genealogy. What's that? You didn't know the media looks to uncover everything on a candidate? 

          Other readers may be interested in a couple of presidential candidates' ties to both Oklahoma and Princess Diana. (said with tongue in cheek)  As is typical in big election years, Debbie and I are anxious to see the research that certified genealogists are now compiling on Senators Cruz and Sanders, Secretary Clinton, and the esteemed self-proclaimed impresario, The Donald. Don't you just know that journalists are seeking quotes from former grade school companions, neighbors, and any/all co-workers of candidates in an effort to find a newsworthy story!

          FIRST, President Obama:  In March of 2008 a London paper released the article below claiming Obama is related to Brad Pitt and Hillary Clinton to his partner, Angelina Jolie.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/25/barackobama1

          William Reitwiesner studies celebrity genealogies, and shares this family tree of Barack Obama:

http://www.wargs.com/political/obama.html

          Findagrave volunteers have shared photos and grave site data on Pres. Obama's ancestors. I love the images of his family! And some of the obits show his Tulsa cousins' names. I'll start with his mom's father, Stanley Dunham's memorial:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=25406984

          Stanley's father was named after a famous author (much to his embarrassment):

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=32649741

          Ralph's father, Dr. Dunham, has interesting hair:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=32649710

          Meet West Virginia native, Jacob Dunham, who emigrated in 1889 to Indian Territory long before present-day Oklahoma became a state. He and wife, Louisa, also appear in an 1890 Oklahoma Territory census. They operated restaurants in both Oklahoma City and Okmulgee (south of Tulsa). After Jacob died, his sons opened Dunham Grocery and Billiard Parlor in downtown Okmulgee at 300 North Oklahoma Street. Many of his descendants still live in northeastern Oklahoma. Do you see the family resemblance in his photo?

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=57699838


          No, Obama isn't related to Diana--but his cousin George Bush is. A website called "famous kin" has this on Princess Diana's many relatives:

http://famouskin.com/famous-kin-menu.php?name=6102+princess+diana

          Before moving to Oklahoma Territory, Senator John McCain's ancestor lived in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. (Where the Stones cut an album!)

http://www.wargs.com/political/mccain.html

          OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE: A 2008 Oklahoma City paper writes of John McCain's maternal grandpa, Archie Wright. What a colorful character he was!

http://newsok.com/article/3290757

          No, I didn't find any of his criminal records on Oklahoma's court database, but only Archie's probate case. Perhaps if I were to leave the comfort of my large monitor and drive to Muskogee...

http://www1.odcr.com/detail?court=051-&casekey=051-PB++7200307

          Archie's daughter is STILL ALIVE at age 104, having had a birthday last February. Amazing! John McCain has great genes. Perhaps it is that Oklahoma connection that added to her longevity?

http://www.kctv5.com/story/31161271/sen-john-mccains-mother-turns-104

         I appreciate you stopping by!

_____________

 Again. Forgive my clunky URLs. Considerable time spent reading kindergarten-level coding primers has taught me nothing about tendering links into keywords, drat!

          A morbid title? Not to this chica! Death certificates offer clues to those lost pieces in the ancestor puzzle game I play. Mother's maiden names, parents' birthplaces, burial locations, full legal names instead of "go-by" names--these are so often missing from a family's history.  

          Other than a cause of death, information provided on a death certificate comes from an INFORMANT. That may be a relative, close family friend, or a coroner (if no known family is at hand). Informants often give incorrect answers to questions posted on certificates. But their replies can and very often lead to better sources to those with hunting dog instincts. Or not. Only a physician's replies to the "Primary Cause of Death" and "Secondary Cause" questions are considered primary source. (Filed Under Splitting Hairs:  Unless the rural doctor took brief notes that long night he tended to the deceased and only prepared/submitted the formal certificate weeks later when he rode his buggy to the county seat)

          GEMS OF INFO, I tell you! Let's say you've been searching for your ancestor's children. Informants to a death record are often a son or daughter. If you're lucky, their address will also be given. Census and court papers can then lead to other family names. You strike gold if a will is found. Alas, search engines are confused by keywords involving initials. It drives me NUTS when initials are used in names, as was common 100+ years ago for adult males. Here's an example of an informant I've not yet identified who was likely a family friend. I have collected other info regarding my great-grand-aunt, born Rosa Theresa Leeper, that this informant didn't know at the time of Rosa's death:

          Texas, Arizona, Missouri, and other states have uploaded death certificates for FREE viewing online. (See links below) But today's post was prompted by the news that Missouri's wonderful volunteer researchers have uploaded another year's worth (1965!) of death records:

http://s1.sos.mo.gov/records/archives/archivesdb/deathcertificates/ 

          And the home page to the Missouri Secretary of State's vital records is:

http://s1.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/bdrecords.asp

          FREE DEATH RECORDS FROM A FEW OTHER STATES HANDY TO MY RESEARCH:

                 West Virginia --  http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_select.aspx 

                 Texas -- Joe Beine has THE BEST links: http://www.deathindexes.com/texas/

          Here's hoping your name isn't found in a death index any time soon!

Don Taylor creates poignant videos on Youtube of Oklahoma's past. So very nicely done.  Have a look at this one on forgotten railroads and stations:

Today Ancestry.com/ uploaded a new database for people fluent in German. The original docs are held in the Staatsarchiv Stadt in Germany. 

          Hannover, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1621–1879
          http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=61007

The "about" states: This collection consists of Lutheran church records for the years 1621 to 1879 from the Elbe-Weser Triangle in Lower Saxony, Germany. Included in this collection are records of baptism, confirmation, marriage, and burial. Further reading indicates the collection includes the state of Niedersachsen. Hmmm, several in my family recorded birthplaces of "Sachsen" which could mean the town (there were several), or the county/province/state of Sachsen, which is also known as Saxony. Yes, THOSE Saxons of Monty Python fame. 

It is yet another tool in my search for my paternal 2nd great-grandmother Hannah. She allegedly was born about 1824 in Hamburg, Deutschland. Germany wasn't yet a country, but was made up of several states. Assuming her family was Lutheran, I ran several variations of my surnames through this new Lutheran database. A few returns of similar surnames, but none with given names near my Wisers or Wostas:

Zilch. I tried other variations with wild cards. Another time I may be inspired to continue. Perhaps another cousin might find something remotely similar to a Hannah or a "Johanna" born about 1824 or Wiser sons born in 1844, 1845 and 1852? German researchers have told me four names were common among many citizens. Databases often ask for only two.

As a guide, I offer this brief timeline of Hannah taken from census, land and marriage records:

     1853 - April 19 --  Hannah Wosta marries Samuel Leeper. (Wosta may be Woste)

     1860 - U.S. Census, Hannah Leeper. age 36, birthplace: Germany. Other household members showing name, age and birthplace are: (see also four census images below)

• Louis Wiser     16   Germany
• Lemuel Wiser  15  Germany (my great granddad!)
• Barney Wiser  15  Germany
• Sam Leeper     5   Texas

     Among the many free websites offering a growing number of names of veterans who served in the U.S. armed forces is:
http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/

     One of the first such online databases is from the National Park Service featuring brief data on veterans from the U.S. Civil War. If you find a name with initials and want to know more, try googling that name with keywords +Civil War and/or +Confederate or +Union. There are TONS of databases available of various Civil War units. 

http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm

     My dad served in the Army and was stationed in Korea during that war--I mean, "conflict." Until recently, there were not many websites devoted to those veterans. Some that I just discovered are:

http://www.butlercenter.org/koreanwarproject/  This admirable site is for Arkansas Korea War veterans.

and West Virginia's: http://www.wvculture.org/history/wvmemory/wvvetmem.html

     The National Archive (NARA) has several Korean War links:

http://www.archives.gov/research/military/vietnam-war/casualty-lists/index.html 

     And Pennsylvania has a Soldiers and Sailors Museum in Pittsburgh? I wonder how many states have similar museums.

http://soldiersandsailorshall.org/

     Fold3 offers the best in military research, should you want to subscribe/pay. Many large libraries make it available to their subscribers. https://fold3.com/   Fold3 has many other databases, too. And until recently it was the best go-to place for the Native American Dawes Applications, files ("packets"), and to see actual Dawes rejection documents. Many of those same are now on Ancestry dot com, which I believe also owns Fold3. I've spent untold number of hours reading those fascinating docs, as this white chick loves her Indian Territory history. 

     Nice seeing you here. Thanks for reading!

Leamon Evans has quite an inscription on his grave marker. 

Was that a phrase he often used, or had he a wicked sense of humor? I found a little background on Leamon. A justice of the peace married "Winnifred Reed" and Leamon on February 26, 1929 in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He was 21, she--19. Both were residents of Gore, Oklahoma. He was actually 20. So he either inflated his age, or it was incorrectly recorded.

Sadly, in three years young Leamon was gone. What was his cause of death? A last record found was the 1930 census. He was working as a farmer, and living in rural Muskogee County with Winnie and their six month old daughter, Camelia (written as "Amelia"). Their next door neighbors? Leamon's father, Richard, and his two siblings, Otis and Fern. His mother, born Jessie Belle Brock, had died in March of 1928. Her grave marker reads: She was the sunshine of our home. Sweet!

Seven years after Leamon's death, Winnie married James Cordell McClain on November 16, 1940. That license is recorded with the Washington County court clerk in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It doesn't specify where the marriage occurred. 

If you know more, please comment below. Thanks for following my blog!

Sources:  

•   Thanks to Lonnie Hoover for photographing Leamon's grave and allowing free non-commercial use of it. 
•   See Leamon's mom's grave on Findagrave:  http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=37016150
•   1930 Fed. Census for Moore, Muskogee, Oklahoma; Roll: 1915; Pg,: 3A; E.D. 21; Image: 1010.0.
•   1929 marriage record on ODCR.com/ http://www1.odcr.com/detail?court=051-&casekey=051-MLI+3000558
•   Location of White Cemetery: Two & 1/2 miles west of Gore on Hwy. 10, & just west of White Chapel Church.
•   Transporting liquor into Indian Territory, from the Muskogee Times-Democrat, Muskogee, Oklahoma, Saturday, November 29, 1913, page 3.