What Grandmother Said?

I have a brick wall I’ve been chipping at for about 35 years, and I thought I’d run it by you:

My grandmother Ruby Reed left a hand-drawn family tree that indicated that her mother’s father (1822—1863) was killed in the Civil War.

So the only evidence that you have that your grandmother's mother's father was a Prosser is this family tree?  And some people of that surname in a later census found in the household of others?

 

Ruby’s mother was Rhoda Ruth Prosser, who was born in Hillsdale, Michigan in 1860.  Rhoda’s younger brother Charles was born about 1863, and their mother (also named Rhoda) remarried, to Henry Jones, in 1865.  I have not been able to find the Prossers on the 1860 census of Hillsdale, and of course by 1870 they are listed with Henry Jones. 

Where is Charles in 1870?

Although you do not mention Robin Wilsey in this post as the father of Rhoda Ruth, you state that is the case in your blog according to her death record. There is an R. Wilsey in the 1860 census in Michigan (Tuscola, Fremont, p. 27), with a wife Rhoda and a three-year-old daughter, Rhoda. Are you sure that this is not your family of interest. Rhoda, the daughter is born in Michigan, but it looks like they came from Canada just before 1858.
 
So one has to ask what the basis is for the assertion that Rhoda Ruth is born in Hillsdale, Michigan in 1860. Could it be that the Rhoda in the household of R. Wilsey in 1860 is this person?

If that I nos the case than Ruby Reed's mother's (Rhoda Jones) father would be a Wilsey, not a Prosser. Is is possible that Rhoda Wilsey, wife of R. Wilsey (aka Robin) remarried to a Prosser and that the man who died in the Civil War was Wilsey and her mother remarried a Prosser, only to marry Henry Jones at a later date prior to 1870?

It’s taken me a long time to learn of Rhoda Prosser Jones’ death (she was indeed hit by a train – or possibly murdered) in 1883, and even longer to understand that she would not have received a pension, because she had remarried. 

But her children under certain circumstances would have in the event of her marriage.
 

So, I have the Civil War pension records for every male Prosser who fought in a Michigan regiment during the Civil War.

In looking at the list of Michigan soldiers from Hillsdale county (on the Hillsdale US GenWeb), there is one Prosser – Lewis Prosser, who was 17 in (presumably) 1861.  That seems way too young, as Rhoda was about 30 when my great grandmother was born.

So, I have two questions:

1.        Would it be productive to explore the military records of all the Prossers from Michigan, who fought in the Civil War?  I’ve looked on Fold3, and they only have index cards.  According to the Civil War Soldiers & Sailors, there were 7 Prossers who fought from Michigan, and some of those names I recognize as being men I have pension records for.  For that matter, since Prosser is a fairly unusual name, maybe I should explore ALL Prossers who fought on the Union side!

I would focus on those who died in the war.

2.       And, since Prosser is an unusual name, it has occurred to me that perhaps my great-great-grandfather wasn’t alone in the state of Michigan, that perhaps he had brothers or cousins there as well.  And perhaps I should explore the families & ancestries of those other Prossers.  I’m doing a proof argument on Charles Prosser (who died in Chicago in 1910), and in arguing that the two Charles Prossers in Michigan during the right time period are not my great-grandmother’s brother, I’ve discovered that those other two Charles Prossers are actually related to each other – 2^nd cousins.  AND, what is stranger still, all three Charles Prossers had sons named Earl.

So who was Earl?

I would also look at the Wilsey families in the area to the same depth, but believe because they were new to the area you might not find much.

So, any hints you could give me would be greatly appreciated!

My sense of this is that Robin Wilsey and Rhoda Wilsey of the 1860 census are the parents of your Rhoda.

That Rhoda Wilsey would married a Prosser prior to 1863 and have Charles.

That Rhoda would then marry Henry Jones. will will will will and will you will you as you is a you and a you a you

And then Henry would kill her, but that is just a guess.

Hope this helps.

C.

Marine Corps Muster Roll Remarks

While researching U.S. Marine Corps records for a client, I located muster rolls noting that this ancestor was put on probation in early 1938 and spent several months “sick” [and hospitalized] before his last found record in January 1939.

 

The following discharge notes were included in that final muster roll.

“1, jd by S/Rs fr Bty C, 1^st Bn, 10^th Mar, 1^st Mar Brig, FMF, Post. 1-17, con Post Prison awtg BCD. 18, jd in person. 18, BCD in pursuant of sent of SCM. Char Bad.”

 1, joined by Service/Records from Battery C, First Battalion, Tenth Marines, First Marine Brigade, Fleet Marine Force, Post 1 - 17, confined Post Prison awaiting Bad Conduct Discharge, 18, judged in person. 18, Bad Conduct Discharge in pursuant of sentence of Summary Court Martial. Character of Service: Bad

There is the possiblity that it is not a Summary Courts-martial, but a Special Courts-Martial. Today, under the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) it would have to be a Special Courts-Martial, but I am not sure what the circumstances were in 1939. Because NPRC states that it has Summary Courts-Martials on file that do not result in a BCD it leads me to believe that Summary Court-Martials could sentence an enlisted man to a BCD at some time in the past. 

HQMC-CMC
MMSR-10
2008 Elliot
Quantico, VA 22134

If that does not work I would So I would start with the Marine Corps Historical Center to see if they know where they are located.

Since the Marine Corps and the Navy are all part of the Navy Department it might be that they are found in Navy JAG records.

They would be in RG 125, Records of the Office of the Judge Advocate General (Navy), but they seem to end in 1930 at NARA. So if the MCHC does not pan out I would then look to the Naval Historical Center.
 

Additionally, a same-name ancestor, and the name is unusual, enlisted and served in the U.S. Army in 1944.  Could this have been possible if the enlistee had served time in a Marine Corps prison?

He probably lied about prior service. In 1944 they were not that picky and probably did not check to see if there was prior service.


Hope this helps.

Craig

The Underwood Sisters?

I would also to prove the relationship of two women who I suspect are sisters in my family tree.  I have an ancestor - Rebecca Underwood - who appears in the
census suddenly in 1860 in Clarke County, Iowa.  The Census states she was from Indiana.

You have to admit that the household she is in in 1860 in Clarke County is an interesting one. I think you need to look at why she is in the Hunt household. I would not consider Iowa to necessarily be a safe place for an unemployed 18 year old woman. It looks like she marries prior to the 1870 census. When does she marry, to whom, where, when?


  I am pretty sure she is my ancestor based on her location in the Iowa census.

How are you sure? Not from what is in the 1860 census. Must be something else.

 I checked Indiana for census records on Rebecca and there is a Rebecca Underwood in the 1850 – 1870 Censuses in Hendricks, Indiana that has a similar birth year but I have ruled her out as a match because I have the 1870 census for my Rebecca Underwood (now Proctor) in the same place in Clarke County, Iowa.

If you found Rebecca in 1850 in Indiana, did you also find the person you suspect of being her sister in the same household? 

I believe I have found Rebecca’s sister based on the fact that the 1880 Census for Rebecca states that she has her niece and nephew living with her and her husband.  The census gave the niece and nephew’s name as Mary and William Lafollette, who were born in Indiana.

Could you send me the citiation. I don't see the census record you are refering to.

  I was able to find a marriage record for a Susanna Underwood who married a Joshua LaFollette in Clarke Co Iowa in Jul 1859. 

Yet I don't see a Joshua LaFollette in the 1860 census.

 

From the location and the names I am pretty sure that Rebecca and Susanna are sisters. 

Why is that?

 

However I cannot find other Underwoods in Clarke Co – there is a group of Underwoods who lived in Mahaska County, Iowa but the census records seem spotty for them and I do not find any Underwood Iowa family trees on ancestry.com that have sisters named Susanna and Rebecca.

Probably because you are not looking for an Iowa family with a Susanna and Rebecca but an Indiana one.

Where would you suggest I look next?

I suggest that you focus on finding Rebecca in Indiana (or elsewhere) in 1850 and also the person you believe to be her sister. There is also the possibility that the residents of the Hunt household in 1850 believed that she was born in Indiana, whereas she might have just been from Indiana but born in another state. Regardless, given their ages and the issue that you believe them to be in the same county in 1860, they should be together in 1850 somewhere.

I also continue to wonder who this Garner Hunt might be and what his family looks like. Why would Rebecca end up in this household. Is there a relationship between her and any of the other people in this household.

In the 1880 census do both sisters have parents born in the same states.

I would not rule out the Rebecca Underwood of Hendricks just yet.

Hope this helps.

C.

Emily Gloria Grey

Emily Gloria Grey was born born 19 June 1915 per her social security application.  [The names of her parent's are blacked out, however I am appealing that based on the fact that she is deceased as well as her husband, and I am a direct descendent.  All pertinent documentation was sent in along with the appeal.  It's been 30 days and nothing from them yet].

On her social security application  she states her birth place as Baltimore, Maryland.  Emily Grey married Weldon W. Tyson on 17 May 1935 in Anne Arundel, Annapolis, Maryland.  She states she was 20 at the time of marriage with no prior marriages.  

Emily Gray Tyson died 31 December 1994 at Peninsula Medical Center in Fruitland, Putnam, Florida.  Her birth date is given as 19 June 1915.  She was a widow.

Based on this information I took a trip to the Baltimore State Archives, in Annapolis, MD to look for Emily's birth record.  After spending 3 hours with a very nice archivist no birth record was found within a 5 year time span for an Emily Gloria Grey/Gray in Baltimore or Annapolis County.  Now I'm stuck.


You don't mention finding Emily as a child of anyone in the 1920 and 1930 census enumerations. That is where I would start looking while you wait for the SS-5 to appear. 


I would also look for a newspaper article about the marriage of Emily and Weldon and see what clues it provides. Might be in the Baltimore Sun since she was from Baltimore.


You might also look for a birth announcement in the Baltimore Sun.




I have very little faith in social security applications or even marriage certificates for that matter. My great-grandmother not only cheated at checkers, but she also managed to have two entirely different sets of parents between the SS-5, the church record of the marriage and the county record of the marriage.


Get back to me with what you find and we can take it from there.


As an aside, the archives in Annapolis is the Maryland State Archives. There is no Annapolis County, it is Anne Arundel. And Baltimore County is not the same thing as Baltimore City, they have been separate since 1859 (that is off the top of my head, I think it is right). So if you did not look at Baltimore City records, you should do that.


C.

He Died Mysteriously

My ancestor, Stamey Thomas Craver (1891-1918), died rather mysteriously and I'm trying to figure out his cause of death.  He lived his whole life in NC, and died in Forsyth County. His death certificate is on-line at Ancestry.com and in the NC Archives but there is no cause of death!  He died November 7, 1918.  Family lore is that he was struck by a train.  That's all anyone remembers. I even checked the original death certificate at the NC Archives - it's just like on Ancestry.com. The cause of death area is blank and there's nothing on the back or penciled in or on the next or previous page.

I searched the newspapers on GenealogyBank.com and I checked the Winston-Salem Journal on microfilm at the State Library in Raleigh and couldn't find any mention of accidents or Stamey just prior to or just after November 7. 

I emailed the NC Medical Examiner office, and their response is below -- they don't have any records that go that far back.

Any further ideas for how to solve this mystery?


The first thing that I do when I encounter a male death in the 1917 to 1919 timeframe is consult my database of known dead in World War One. There were five Cravers, but none from NC or named Thomas. Sometimes it pans out, mostly not.


I have a great uncle that was struck by a train. But there was a newspaper article and fortunately a piece of paper in his pocket with the name and address of his brother in Oklahoma. That was how the family learned of the death of Worton French Scott, hit by a train in California. Family lore has it that he rode a lot of trains.


Blank causes of death are not unheard of. Probably means that there was the expectation of a coroner's inquest. So you headed down the right path to find the coroner's report but probably went about it in the wrong way. A coroner would be responsible for providing his findings to the appropriate court. So in the absence of a report from the medical examiner I would look in Forsyth County court minutes. The county court, according to the "Guide to County Records in the North Caroline Archives" has court minutes from 1915 to 1931 on film. Can you figure out the name of the coroner at the time in the records. Try looking for him in newspaper articles. It could be that at the time of the death the person, because of the trauma of the accident could not be identified so the article is about an unidentified person being hit by a train.


Also in examining the possibilities for court records in the county there are two boxes of Railroad Records, 1870 - 1930. Can't imagine what they are, but they must be worth a look. I believe that you should also look for suit between the family and the railroad. Could it have been a wrongful death?


Looking at GenealogyBank.com is only one of the places to look. And the Winston-Salem Journal is a good place also, but again only one of the places to look. There might have been more than one paper in Forsyth County at the time. So that should be examined to see what other papers should be consulted. It is also possible that he was struck by a train in some other place than Forsyth County and came home to die. So the accident was in one jurisdiction and the death in another. Where did he live in the county in relation to the railroad? There is a good NC railroad map for 1900 online, just Google it. It looks like two different rail companies ran through the county in that timeframe.




There is of course the possibility that the train that he was hit by was a foundry train. It looks like he was an iron moulder the year before his death. You should look for the company records and see if his death was a result of being hit by something at work. My own great-grandfather was a moulder who was hit in the head by something while he was working at the Newport News Shipyard in the early 1900s. 


It looks like he might have been working for Briggs-Shaffner Company and they still exist today. Now the question for the other readers is how did I know that he was a iron moulder and worked for Briggs-Shaffner in 1917?


Hope this helps.


C.


















































































C.

Private corporation pension records

In a nutshell, I have a question for you on historic pension records for genealogy research. Specifically corporate pension records.  By way of background, I'm a librarian not a genealogist.  However, I did work for a time at a private-sector financial services firm that handled company pensions.  (For instance, AT&T -- one of their clients -- has provided employee pensions longer than Social Security has existed.) 

My question specifically is do you know of any resources, websites, or sources about company pension plans for family history research? The public and military pensions are great resources. I assume the corporate ones would be as well, if the information became public.   I have done a bit of searching, but can't find any myself.  That is outside of a couple railroad archives and www.pbgc.gov. I suspect a big roadblock will be private nature of these records.  Any information or suggestions would be most welcome.

I have no experience in these records, but as you are aware these large corporations have librarians and archivists (quiet as they might be). That is where I would start. Your point about private is well taken, they probably are going to be inaccessible, but you won't know til you try.

A Soldier in 1840 in the census?

Where would I find a census record of a soldier supposedly stationed at Fort/Camp Jesup, Louisiana in 1840? I've searched for him on Ancestry.com reading line by line without success.

A fort would be a somewhat permanent structure, a camp is a more impermanent place. In the case of Fort Jesup it was built in 1822. It was a fort and would remain so until about 1846 when it was abandoned. There is a state park there today, so the park ranger might be a good person to contact to see if they have a card file or something of that ilk that deals with soldiers at the fort.

It is likely for this time period you will not find a census record for a soldier at Fort Jesup. Military people are ignored a lot when it comes to census enumerators.

It would be a good idea to determine what units were at the fort in 1840. Your soldier could be a part of the fort headquarters staff or part of an infantry, cavalry or artillery regiment stationed there.

If you do not know what unit the soldier was in you can start on Ancestry.com with the Register of Enlistments.

Regimental muster rolls are found on NARA microfilm for the years after 1821 when the Army reorganized into the alpha company - numbered regimental system.

So finding the soldier on the muster rolls would be like finding them on the census in that time period.