Republic of Connacht

On 31 August 1798, General Jean Joseph Amable Humbert proclaimed the Republic of Connacht (also spelled Connaught), a French client republic. It was established by French Revolutionary Army and the United Irishmen during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. The United Irishmen wanted Ireland to separate from Great Britain. Humbert appointed John Moore as President of the Republic of Connacht.

A Collection of State Papers Relative to the War Against France Now Carrying on by Great Britain and the Several Other European Powers. J. Debritt, 1799. Pages 361-362. Available from Google Books.

The Republic of Connacht only lasted until 8 September 1798, when the French and the United Irishmen were defeated by Great Britain at the Battle of Ballinamuck in County Longford.

Connacht consists of five counties: Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, and Sligo. My 3rd-great-grandfather Michael Dyer was from County Roscommon. Although he had not yet been born at the time the Republic of Connacht was established (he was born about 1829), his family may have been in the area.

References
A Collection of State Papers Relative to the War Against France Now Carrying on by Great Britain and the Several Other European Powers. J. Debritt, 1799. Available from Google Books.
Connacht
Irish Rebellion of 1798 
Jean Joseph Amable Humbert 
John Moore (Irish politician)
Republic of Connacht | World Public Library

Travel Tuesday: Wilderness Road Completed

Kentucky Gazette, 29 October 1796, page 5. Kentucky Digital Library.

In 1796, the Kentucky Gazette published a notice that the Wilderness Road had been completed:

   THE WILDERNESS ROAD From the Cumberland Gap to the settlements in Kentucky, is now compleated. Waggons loaded with a ton weight, may pass with ease, with four good horses. –– Travellers will find no difficulty in procuring such necessaries as they may stand in need of on the road ; and the abundant crop now growing in Kentucky, will afford the emigrants a certainty of being supplied with every necessary of life on the most reasonable terms.
                                                                            Joseph Crockett, } Commissioners
                                                                            James Knox        }
   The Printers in the different States are requested to re-publish this notice.

Military Monday: Kentucky in the War of 1812

During the War of 1812, my 5th-great-grandfather Andrew Russell was a private in Tunstall Quarles' Company of Infantry, 2nd Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Militia. Although he is not mentioned by name in the clippings below, they provide more information about his experiences.

 Kentucky Gazette, 8 September 1812, page 3. Kentucky Digital Library.

Captain Quarles' regiment is specifically mentioned in this report of army movements.

Kentucky Gazette, 15 September 1812, page 13. Kentucky Digital Library. 

Andrew was one of the 600 men in Col. Jennings' regiment.

Hornets' Nest (Murfreesboro, NC), 5 November 1812, page 2

Andrew's regiment built Fort Jennings.

Sunday's Obituary: Alice P. (Taylor) Sawyer

Nashville Tennessean, 29 October 1923, page 10

SAWYER––Saturday evening, Oct. 27, 1923, at 8'30 o-clock, at the family residence, four miles from Franklin, on the Nashville pike, Mrs. Alice P., wife of John H. Sawyer, age 62 years. She is survived by her husband and the following children: Daughters, Misses Janie, Etta and Alice Sawyer; sons, Leslie, John Jr., and James H. Sawyer; two brothers, W. D. and A. D. Taylor; two sisters, Mrs. H. C. Whitehurst and Miss Mary Taylor. Funeral from the residence this (Monday) afternoon at one o'clock, services conducted by Rev. W. S. Marshall. The following friends will serve as pallbearers: J. D. Cook, R. P. Cook, W. B. Taylor, Jr., Ben Taylor, W. H. Murrey and D. L. Hawkins. Interment at Mt Hope cemetery, Franklin, Tenn. Crafton-Sweeney Co., funeral directors, 211 Eighth avenue, north.

Alice P. Taylor was born on 29 July 1861 or 1862 in Tennessee. She was the daughter of William Taylor and Sarah J. Little. She married my second cousin four times removed John Harvey Sawyer on 6 March 1889. Their children were William Leslie Sawyer, John Allen Sawyer, Jane Sawyer, James Henry Sawyer, Etta Sawyer, and Alice Sawyer.

Sympathy Saturday: In the Apple Orchard

My 3rd-great-grandfather's brother Montgomery Binkley died in October 1891.  His body was found in his apple orchard in Pleasant View, Cheatham County, Tennessee by Will Cobbs, a schoolteacher who boarded with the Binkley family. Montgomery had taken a razor with him to the orchard and had committed suicide by cutting his throat.

No one knew why he had chosen to take his own life. He was apparently happily married, had a family, and was a successful farmer.  On the day of his death, he had said that he was sick and lay in bed for most of the day. It sounds like he was suffering from depression.

Daily Tobacco-Leaf Chronicle (Clarksville, Tennessee), 20 October 1891, page 4

Daily American (Nashville, Tennessee), 20 October 1891, page 5

Friend of Friends Friday: Abraham, Runaway Slave of Geo. Malone

Nashville Whig, 31 October 1825, page 1

$30 REWARD.

RANAWAY from the subscriber on the 22d July last, living in Giles county, in the state of Tennessee, 12 miles north of Pulaski, a negro man named ABRAHAM, aged about 30 years, five feet 3 or 4 inches high, with one stiff ancle, clothed in homespun when he went off. Any person apprehending the above described negro and confining him in jail so that I may get him, shall receive the above reward, if said negro is apprehended in any free state, or one adjoining a free state, or $20 if found in this state.
      ept. 17––––tf                                          GEO MALONE.

Anna Maria Gersbacher

Anna Maria "Ann" Gersbacher was born 130 years ago today, on 25 August 1886. She was the first American-born child of my 2nd-great-grandparents John Gersbacher and Kunigunde Dreier.

St. Louis, Missouri birth register, August 1886. Ancestry.com. Missouri, Birth Records, 1847-1910 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.

She was baptized on 10 September 1886  at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in St. Louis, Missouri.

SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church (St. Louis, Missouri). Baptisms, 1878-1900. Baptism of Annam Mariam Gerstbacher. Family History Library microfilm 1871462. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS79-KCFT-D?i=436&cat=657997

After her mother died on 6 January 1893, her father abandoned the family. Her older sister Paulina (my great-grandmother) went to work as a servant, and hid Ann in her room. Eventually Ann was discovered, and Paulina was fired. After Paulina got another job as a servant, Ann went to live with a woman in a wheelchair. Ann told her niece Margaret (my maternal grandmother) that the woman had a cane and often hit her. Paulina visited Ann every week, but did not find out what was going on right away because the woman always stayed in the room with them during the visits. By 1900, Ann was living with her brother Joseph and his wife and son.

1900 United States census, St. Louis Ward 6, Missouri, population schedule, enumeration district 85, sheet no. 2B, family 49. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

By 1908, she was living with her sister Gussie Glaser, and did laundry work.

Gould's St. Louis Directory for 1908. St. Louis, MO: Gould Directory Co. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Gussie ran a rooming house. Ann was still living with her in 1910.

1910 United States census, St. Louis City, Missouri, Ward 7, population schedule, enumeration district 111, sheet no. 5A, family 118. Available from Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. 

By 1930, Ann had met her husband, Fredrick Taschner, and was living with him and his mother. Although Ann and Fred were listed as married in the 1930 U.S. Census, a notation on Ann's baptismal record shows that they married on 19 May 1934, so they may not have actually been married at the time of the census enumeration. However, Ann was Catholic and Fred was divorced, so it is also possible that they had a civil ceremony and then had a church wedding after he obtained an annulment.

1930 United States census, St. Louis, Missouri, population schedule, enumeration district 288, sheet no. 29A, family 479. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.

1940 United States census, St. Louis, Missouri, population schedule, enumeration district 96-66, sheet no. 11A, family 210.Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Ann's husband Fred died on 26 January 1952.

Ann died on 2 March 1978. She was buried on 6 March 1978 in Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri, section 010K, lot 0024E.

Wordless Wednesday: My Mother and Aunt, Detroit, Michigan

Travel Tuesday: A. T. Anderson's Visit to Sweden

In 1912, my 2nd-great-grandfather Andrew T. Anderson (born Andreas Troedsson) traveled to Sweden to visit his family. He arrived in Sweden in late May 1912. He stayed with his sister Carolina and her husband Nils Andersson on Ollof farm in Grevie, Skåne. He wrote a letter to his wife and children on 7 June 1912. He said that they had had Sunday School there the previous Sunday, and that he was not able to attend church because he only had his old clothes. His trunk of clothing did not arrive until the day before he wrote the letter. Later that Sunday, he, Carolina, and Carolina's son Elof and his family drove to visit Pat Johnson. He planned to buy dress material for his wife the next day.

He was asked to lead Sunday school in the American fashion on the following Sunday. He also planned to visit his brother Johannes that day.

Carolina made a cheese for him to take home to his family, and made another one for him to bring home to to their sister Johanna.

Andrew/Andreas said that he and his brother-in-law Nils went to the forest one evening and heard a nightingale singing in the treetops at 11:00.

Common Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos, near Gordevio, Ticino, Switzerland. 12 May 2010. Photo by Noel Reynolds [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]. Available from Flickr and Wikimedia Commons.

He thought that he might go to Helsingborg and Copenhagen the following week. On 28 June 1912, he planned travel on the Göta Canal and go to Stockholm and see museums and art.

Göta kanal (Göta canal) near road E20, Sweden. 7 July 2015. Photo by Pudelek (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

On 20 July 1912, he sailed from Liverpool, England to New York, New York on the Caronia.

RMS Caronia. Cunard Line, 1905-1933. Ancestry.com. Passenger Ships and Images [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.

He arrived at Ellis Island on 28 July 1912.

Passenger manifest, Caronia. 28 July 1912. Microfilm serial T715, 1897-195, microfilm roll 1904, line 6, page number 24. Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897. Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls. NAI: 6256867. Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36. National Archives at Washington, D.C.

Passenger manifest, Caronia. 28 July 1912. Microfilm serial T715, 1897-195, microfilm roll 1904, line 6, page number 24. Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897. Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls. NAI: 6256867. Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36. National Archives at Washington, D.C.

This was probably the last time that he saw his family in Sweden. He died on 24 January 1916.

Military Monday: Joshua Hunt Thomas, Musician

Spicer, William Arnold. History of the Ninth and Tenth Regiments Rhode Island Volunteers, and the Tenth Rhode Island Battery, in the Union Army in 1862. Providence, RI: Snow & Franham, 1892. Pages 396-397. Available from Internet Archive.

Joshua Hunt Thomas, the husband of my 3rd-great-grandfather's sister Catherine Bennett Winters, was a musician during the Civil War. He enlisted on 26 May 1862.

Joshua was in Company C, 10th Rhode Island Infantry. The regiment was mustered into service on 26 May 1862 in Providence, Rhode Island, and then moved to Washington, DC from 27 May-29 May 1862. The regiment was on duty at Camp Frieze, Tennallytown until 26 June 1862.

Spicer, William Arnold. History of the Ninth and Tenth Regiments Rhode Island Volunteers, and the Tenth Rhode Island Battery, in the Union Army in 1862. Providence, RI: Snow & Franham, 1892. Page 199. Available from Internet Archive.

Company C was then assigned to garrison duty at Fort Cameron.

Joshua served for just over a month. He was discharged due to disability on 7 July 1862, and he mustered out on 8 July 1862 at Battery Cameron, DC.

References
Historical Data Systems, comp. U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009.
Spicer, William Arnold. History of the Ninth and Tenth Regiments Rhode Island Volunteers, and the Tenth Rhode Island Battery, in the Union Army in 1862. Providence, RI: Snow & Franham, 1892. Available from Internet Archive.
10th Rhode Island Infantry
Union Regimental Histories: Rhode Island. Civil War Archive.

Sunday's Obituary: William J. Page

Nashville American, 5 March 1905, page 22

PAGE––Saturday evening at 7:40 o'clock, March 4, 1905, at his residence, corner of Fatherland and Seventeenth street, William J. page.
  The remains were removed to the residence of his brother-in-law, Sam Baxter, No. 116 Claiborne street, from which the funeral will take place to-morrow (Monday) afternoon at 2 o'clock, march 6.
  Interment at Mt. Olivet.
  Carriages from Wiles & Karsch's.

My first cousin 4 times removed William James Page was born about 1873 in Tennessee. He was the son of John Franklin Page and Nancy L. Gatlin. He worked as a pants cutter. He married Bernice about 1899. He died in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee on 4 March 1905. The cause of death was heart disease.

Shopping Saturday: Alexander Smiley's Ready-Made Clothing Store

Nashville Whig, 1 December 1817, page 3

In 1817 Alexander Smiley opened a ready-made clothing shop next to the post office in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee. The clothes were reasonably priced. At this time, there was not much variety in ready-made clothing; it mostly consisted of coats, jackets, and undergarments. (National Institute of Standards and Technology Virtual Museum, Short History of Ready-Made Clothing.)

Alexander Smiley planned to start selling shoes as well. Less than a year later, he sold both shoes and boots.

Nashville Whig, 14 November 1818, page 1

Friend of Friends Friday: Daniel, Runaway Slave of Robert Lankford

Nashville Republican, 4 July 1835, page 3

20 Dollars Reward.

RANAWAY from the subscriber, on the morning of the 26th inst. a negro boy : named DANIEL about 16 or 17 years old, very black skin, and dirty or slovenly in his appearance : he is well made, of common size, and tolerably smart. Said boy ranaway about 2 years ago, and was taken up and confined in Bellefonte jail, and had assumed another name. He will all probability change his name again and endeavor to make for some free State, or for some other distant point. If apprehended in this county and delivered to me, I will give five dollars reward, or ten dollars if taken out of the State and secured in jail, so that I get him. Any person taking up or hearing of said boy, will please address me, at Huntsville, Ala: and they shall be fully satisfied for any trouble or expense they may be at, besides the reward above offered.
                                                  ROBERT LANKFORD.
  Madison County, Ala; July 4th––3t. prs fee $3

Johanna Carolina Samuelsdotter

Johanna Carolina

My 3rd-great-grandmother Johanna Carolina Samuelsdotter (Samuelson, Erickson) was born 180 years ago today, on 18 August 1836, in Västra Harg, Östergötland, Sweden. She was the daughter of Samuel Eriksson/Erickson and Anna Lisa Torstensdotter.

Johanna was baptized on 21 August 1836.

Västra Harg C:1 (1797-1840) Image 250 / page 483 (AID: v42201.b250.s483, NAD: SE/VALA/00446).

In 1851, Johanna, her parents, and her brothers Anders and Samuel left Sweden. Johanna's oldest brother Johan Peter did not go with them.

The family arrived in New York, New York on the Preciosa on 8 September 1851.

Passenger list, Preciosa, 1851. Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

The family spent a year in Chicago, and then settled in Westchester, Porter County, Indiana. Johanna married Johannes "John" Borg, and their first child, Clara Matilda, was born on 29 August 1858. Their second child, Anna Christina, was born on 24 August 1860.

1860 United States census, Westchester, Porter County, Indiana, population schedule, page 466, family 281. Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.

By 1860, Johanna's brother Johan Peter had joined the family in Porter County, Indiana.

John and Johanna's third child, my 2nd-great-grandmother Mary/Marie Louise Borg, was born on 13 January 1864. Their first son,  Alfred, was born almost exactly two years later, on 15 January 1866. Another son, Carl Gust, was born a little over two years later, on 26 January 1868.

Johanna's mother Anna Lisa had died by 1870. Johanna had four more children during the 1870s: Emil Richard (born 11 June 1870), Minnie (born September 1872), Malinda (born 16 March 1875), and Carl/Charles John (born 28 July 1878).

1880 United States census, Westchester, Porter County, Indiana, population schedule, enumeration district 136, p. 399A, family 243. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

Johanna had two more children during the 1880s: David Theodore (born 21 October 1880) and Daniel Elvin (born 17 October 1882).

In September 1888, the family moved into a new house, which was designed by A. J. Lundquist.

Johanna experienced two losses in less than two years. Her son Carl/Charles John died of typhus fever on 18 October 1889. Her father Samuel Erickson died of dropsy on 18 July 1890. Six years later, Johanna became a widow; her husband John died of cancer on 20 September 1896.

In 1900, Johanna lived with her daughter Clara and her sons David and Daniel. Three months after the census was taken, Clara married Nels A. Samuelson, whose family was listed underneath the Borg family in the 1900 census.

1900 United States census, Westchester, Porter County, Indiana, population schedule, enumeration district 95, p. 8B, families 168 and 169. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

Johanna died on 11 May 1903 in Westchester, Porter County, Indiana. The cause of death was carcinoma of the stomach. She was buried in Augsburg Lutheran Church Cemetery in Porter, Porter County, Indiana.

Indiana State Board of Health. Death certificate no. 23, Johana Carolina Borg, 1903. Ancestry.com. Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Wordless Wednesday: My Cousin and Me in Grandma and Grandpa Boe's Backyard, Ridgewood, New Jersey

Angeline Isabelle Mayo

My 3rd-great-grandmother Angeline Isabelle Mayo was born 185 years ago today, on 16 August 1831, in Virginia. She was the daughter of Jacob Dillard Mayo and Eliza Bardil Gordon. Considering the family tradition of using family surnames as middle names, her name may actually have been Angeline Isbell Mayo.

Angeline was hard of hearing ever since her childhood. She had difficulty hearing conversations unless people spoke in a loud voice.

Statement of Angeline Binkley. Angeline Binkley, widow's pension application no. 120,126, certificate no. 166,029; service of Davidson Binkley (Pvt., Co. G, 128th Ill. Inf., Civil War); Case Files of Approved Pension Applications..., 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

By 1839, Angeline and her family had moved to Davidson County, Tennessee. Her mother Eliza had died by 29 July 1841, when her father Jacob married Nancy Lee.

1850 United States census, District 22, Davidson County, Tennessee, population schedule, page 374A. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.

Angeline married Davidson Binkley on 20 January 1853 at her father's home in Whites Creek, Davidson County, Tennessee. The couple were married by Jonathan Garrett.

Marriage license for Davidson Binkley and Angeline Mayo, 19 January 1853. Nashville, Tennessee: Metropolitan Government Archives.

Davidson and Angeline's first child, Sara Elizabeth Binkley, was born on 28 September 1853, but died not long afterward, on 11 October 1853. Their second child, Louise Jane Binkley, was born on 15 November 1854. She died just over a year later, on 18 November 1855. Their third child, William Searcy Binkley, was born on 15 June 1856. Mrs. Raley was the midwife. Sometime after his birth, but before December 1858, the family moved to Williamson County, Illinois. Their daughter Anna Malvina Binkley (my 2nd-great-grandmother) was born there on 19 December 1858. Mrs. Grimes was the midwife.

1860 United States census, Township 9 Range 2 E, Williamson County, Illinois, population schedule, page 30, family 203. Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.

On 12 February 1861, their son James Rutherford Binkley was born. Mrs. Moore was the midwife.

Angeline's husband Davidson joined the Union Army on 26 September 1862 at Camp Butler, Illinois, and he mustered in at Camp Butler on 5 November 1862. He died of measles on 9 January 1863 in Cairo, Alexander County, Illinois, while serving in Company G, 128th Illinois Infantry. After his death, Angeline and their children moved back to Tennessee. They lived with her brother, Samuel Lee Mayo.

1870 United States Census, District 14, Davidson County, Tennessee, population schedule, page 10. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.

Samuel gave Angeline money to buy a house.

From family group sheet compiled by P. C. Lampley

1880 United States census, District 14, Davidson County, Tennessee, population schedule, enumeration district 74, page 238B, family 49. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

Angeline's son James Rutherford Binkley died on 20 May 1890. Her son William Searcy Binkley died on 25 April 1894.

By 1900, Angeline was living with her widowed daughter Anna Malvina (Binkley) Tarkington and her grandchildren Viola Maydell Tarkington, Anna Gertrude Tarkington (my great-grandmother), and Robert Vaughn Tarkington. Her granddaughter Laura Belle (Tarkington) Leech, Laura Belle's husband Patrick Henry Leech, and their children John Leech, Nina Leech, and Henry Leech lived nearby. Her son James Rutherford Binkley's widow Clementine Virginia (Leech) Binkley and grandchildren Burl and James Binkley also lived nearby.

1900 United States census, Civil District 14, Davidson County, Tennessee, population schedule, enumeration district 130, sheet 11A. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

Angeline died of la grippe (influenza) on 26 March 1901 in Vaughn's Gap, Davidson County, Tennessee. She was buried in J. R. Binkley Cemetery in Vaughns Gap, Davidson County, Tennessee.

Davidson County, Tennessee. Board of Health. Death certificate, Angeline Binkley, 1901. Ancestry.com. Tennessee, City Death Records, 1872-1923 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Angeline left part of her property and three apple trees to her daughter-in-law Clementine Virginia "Jennie" (Leech) Binkley. The property was to go to her sons when she died, or if she remarried. she left the rest of her property to her daughter Anna Malvina (Binkley) Tarkington.

Will of Angeline Binkley. Davidson County, Tennessee, Wills, Vol. 35, 1898-1902. Ancestry.com. Tennessee, Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.