“We began the War for the Union alone, but...The Nation was taught that God had linked to our own, the destiny of an enslaved race--that their liberty and our Union were indeed 'one and inseparable'... .”
-- James A. Garfield, May 30, 1868, retired U.S. Army general during Civil War, and later U.S. President in 1881.
Nope. Not listening. Mostly reading.
My paternal great-grand aunt, daughter of Ben Abshier and Carmelite Boulet, was born in Chambers County, Texas in 1847. My Wiser cousins may know her as an older sister to our Sylvina Abshier Wiser.
Known as "Bettie," Elizabeth married Daniel Ainsworth July 3, 1865.
Dan had only recently returned home from the Civil War when the couple married. In 1862 the 25 year old Dan had enlisted in the Confederate States Army in Liberty County, Texas. He served four years as a private with Company F, 2d Battalion Waul's Legion, Texas Infantry. He reportedly saw several battles.
He was injured from a bomb sometime between May and July of 1863 during the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Read about it in his 1899 application for military pension:
[Six pages in the above gallery]
Bettie Ainsworth was approved for a pension. See what amount she received each year until her death in 1912. That is an annual payment--not monthly.
https://www.tsl.texas.gov/arc/pensions/amounts.html
By the way, it was 158 years ago tomorrow that Daniel Ainsworth entlisted in the Texas Infantry. I wonder what stories he might have told about the War.
Citing this Record
"Louisiana Parish Marriages, 1837-1957," FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKJH-B9YW : 4 April 2020), Benjamin Absher and Carmelite Boullet, 02 Sep 1842; citing St. Landry, Louisiana, United States, various parish courthouses, Louisiana; FHL microfilm 870,694.
Benjamin Franklin Abshier II was born 21 June 1820 in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana to Benjamin F Abshier Sr. (1788-1864) and Hannah Weed (1792-1878). After marrying Miss Boulet, I next found Ben Jr. in Liberty County, Texas in 1846 after the young couple moved from Louisiana with other family members.
You will recall that Texas had become a state just a year before in 1845. With the Mexican Army gone, the Apache were still raiding new residents. Gamblers and swindlers often duped immigrants and American citizens out of their land. Stories from the many newspapers from the 1850s online tell of the profiteers now lauded as honored sons of Texas.
My hero Sam Houston had a home and a law office in the village of Liberty. While researching family, I often fantasize that Sam had more than a casual acquaintance with my kin. I'm still looking for that document prepared by him or his signature on some deed as a witness to my ancestor's property transaction. Oh, let it be!
The Tax Rolls for 1856 Liberty County show the land Benjamin Abshier bought from Levi Barrow and the taxes due:
Abshier Benj Jr
ACRES: 409
VALUE: 400
ORIGINAL GRANTEE: Levy Barrow
FROM WHAT TRACT TAKEN: 4,428
ON WHAT STREAM: Turtle Bayou
NEGROES: -0-
HORSES: 30, valued at 450
CATTLE: 165 valued at 990
POLL TAX: 30
STATE TAX: $3.26
COUNTY TAX: -0-
See the actual document here. Benjamin Jr. is second on the list, and his dad, Ben, Sr., is third. Go ahead, click once to enlarge it. It's a lovely record!
Source: "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910," FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939J-HM9Y-QH?cc=1827575&wc=M63X-4PK : 22 May 2014), Liberty county > 1856 > image 2 of 21; State Archives, Austin.
Carmelite and Ben stayed busy raising their family of 13 children. Their eighth child was my Great-Grandmother Sylvina, born in 1858. (Yes, that's correct. She died in Tulsa in 1921).
Ben served with Capt. Thomas Wooten's home guard (Confederate) during the civil war in 1863. I have not yet learned what that meant or if he even had reason to leave the area and/or fight the Union forces.
Meet Ben and Carmelite in their later years. Be amazed that Mrs. Abshier had thirteen children.
https://www.tsl.texas.gov/arc/pensions/amounts.html
CARMELITE'S BIRTH RECORD:
Name: Carmelite Boulet
Event Type: Birth
Event Date: 7 Dec 1827
Event Place: Louisiana, United States
Event Place (Original): Lafayette
Gender: Female
Father's Name: Jean Boulet
Mother's Name: Adelaide Hebert
Citing this Record
"Louisiana Births and Christenings, 1811-1830, 1854-1934", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HSR4-85T2 : 14 January 2020), Adelaide Hebert in entry for Carmelite Boulet, 1827.
This "blast from the past" article contains news from 1906--not 1908. It really looks like 1908, but Google tells me that McKinley was president in 1908. One event mentions Teddy Roosevelt met with a group of Tulsans demanding removal of restrictions "from the sale of Indian Land." So that "8" you think you see must be a "6" instead.
Also, a piece about cows in hymns. Cocaine smuggled from Germany. #20thCenturyProblems
In Rhea County, Tennessee on September 29, 1835, Pleasant Wilhelm obtained a marriage license to marry (Virginia) Jane Lockmiller. They are my maternal 3rd GGrandparents.
"License Bond
Pleasant L Wilhelms
Jane ? L_Miller
Sept 29th 1835"
This clipped section is easier to read.
Citing this Record - https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N974-V4Z
"Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N974-V4C : 18 March 2019), Nancy A Gains in entry for Pleasant Willhelms, 15 Feb 1877; citing Marriage, Franklin, Arkansas, United States, county offices, Arkansas; FHL microfilm 1,034,243.
I'm reading Newspapers.com this rainy afternoon. Found a few McCormick obits of people my GGrandmother Elta (McCormick) Coffee or her parents may have known--beginning with her dad's obituary:
Obit of Elta's father's father, William S. McCormick, Sr.:
A grandson of William S. McCormick, Sr., via Redlands Daily Facts, Redlands, California, p. 6, April 25, 1961.
Another grandson of William, Sr., and our GREAT Aunt Helen's cousin, via Albuquerque Journal, New Mexico, p. 84, April 10, 1983. (Postscript to Coffee cousins: my app's relationship-counter ALSO indicates Helen and Wilfred were 4th cousins via a distant Van Doren ancestor-cousins who were married). #Agoodygoody
Front page of The Galveston Daily News, Galveston, Texas, on November 9, 1882.
