1871 Petition, Chicago

I received John Bennet Winters' 1871 petition for a free peddler's license. I knew that my third-great-grandfather had had a difficult life, and this document told me that he had had even more bad luck. His grocery business had failed, and he needed to peddle tea and coffee to earn a living, but could not afford to pay for a license. Fortunately, his petition was granted.

Chicago City Council Proceedings Files, 1833–1871

As a result of the Great Fire in 1871, most of Chicago's records prior to that time were destroyed. But in 1983, the proceedings of the Chicago City Council from 1833 to 1871 were discovered in a warehouse in southwest Chicago. The Illinois State Archives has made a searchable index to these records available at http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/databases/chicago_proceedings/home.html. I found an entry for the petition of John B. Winters for a free peddler's license. I believe this relates to my 3rd-great-grandfather John Bennet Winters. I called the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. A copy of the document will be sent to me, and I will be invoiced. I am so lucky that this document still survives!

So many discoveries!

In the last week I have found so much information about my family. I learned more about several of the siblings of my great-great-grandfather Andrew T. Anderson (born Andreas Troedsson in Grevie, Skåne, Sweden). I found the passenger list which documents the arrival of his sister Elna and her son Sven Peter Nilsson/Nelson. They arrived in Boston, Massachusetts on 2 September 1903, and then went to Chicago, Illinois. I found their brother Sven T. Anderson on Find A Grave, and there is a photo of his tombstone. According to the family history compiled by my grandmother's cousin, their oldest brother Ola Petter Troedsson went to Australia. A few days ago I confirmed that he did settle there; he emigrated from Sweden to Brisbane, Queensland.

I also learned more about the family of my 3rd-great-grandfather John Bennet Winters. He was born in Scotland, and was with his parents and siblings in Leith, Midlothian, Scotland in 1841. By 1859 he was in Tonawanda, Erie, New York, where he married Anna Walker. I did not know if he emigrated alone or with family. I could not find his family in Scotland in 1851. I looked for them in England too, but did not find them. According to the 1841 census, his parents, Hugh Winters and Mary Bennet, were born in Ireland. Last night I found out that they emigrated to the United States and lived in Brooklyn, New York; they were there by 1851, when another child of theirs was baptized.

Irish Ancestors

Since it's St. Patrick's Day, it seemed an appropriate time to write about my Irish ancestors.

My 3rd-great-grandmother Mary Nevins was born about 1835 in Ireland. By 1855 she was in Davidson County, Tennessee, where she married William Dow Gatlin. Mary had a very difficult life. She probably left Ireland because of the famine, and her marriage was not a happy one. Her husband physically abused her. She became close to a boarder in the family home, Samuel Haslam, and they had an affair. He was going to help her divorce her husband, but then he was murdered in their home, killed with an ax. William Dow Gatlin was tried for murder but was acquitted due to insufficient evidence. However, based on the newspaper articles, he sounded very guilty, and he had motive and opportunity. Mary remained married to him. Her oldest daughter Florence passed away in 1881 at age 24, which must have been a difficult loss for her. Mary died on September 9, 1888 in Nashville, Tennessee.

My 3rd-great-grandparents Michael and Mary Dyer were also born in Ireland. Michael was born about 1830, and Mary was probably born about 1835 (she kept getting younger in records as the years passed!) By 1860 they were living in St. Louis, Missouri, and by 1863 they were in Nashville, Tennessee. Michael had passed away by 1870. The family ran a saloon in Nashville. Mary married John Cox in 1871, and by 1880 she was widowed again, and raising seven children on her own. Mary died on November 10, 1906 in Nashville, Tennessee.

My 4th-great-grandparents Hugh Winters and Mary Bennet were both born in Ireland. Hugh was born about 1810, and Mary was born about 1814. By January 1831 they were in Leith (now part of Edinburgh), Midlothian, Scotland, where they married. Mary’s father, Peter Bennet, was living in Airdrie, Scotland at that time. Hugh was a clothes broker and fireman. Their son John Bennet Winters (my 3rd-great-grandfather) was living in Tonawanda, Erie County, New York by 1859, where he married Anna “Ann” Walker, who was born on February 28, 1842 in Ireland. They moved to Chicago, Illinois in the mid-1860s. Only one of their children lived to adulthood. Two infants lived for 2-3 weeks, and another child died at age 3. Ann died in Illinois on September 19, 1872.

Patriot Ancestors

On Independence Day, I would like to honor my Revolutionary War ancestors:

My 6th-great-grandfather Francis Hardgrave was born on March 5, 1745 in Augusta County, Virginia, and moved to North Carolina around 1770. He was a major in the Company of Light Horse, Wilkes County, North Carolina. He fought for his country again in the War of 1812. He died on August 7, 1828 in Davidson County, Tennessee.
Francis Hardgrave at Find A Grave
Papers of the War Department: Pay of Robert McClure and Francis Hardgrave

My 5th-great-grandfather Stephen Mayo was born about 1757 in Virginia. He was a private in the 14th Virginia Regiment. He fought in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, and participated in the siege of Yorktown. He died on March 16, 1847 in Fluvanna County, Virginia. His widow, Rebecca Dawson Mayo, was the second-to-last surviving Revolutionary War widow; she died on March 6, 1904. (I am descended from his first wife, Ann Isbell Mayo.)
History of the Battle of Brandywine
The Battle of Germantown
Chronology of the Siege of Yorktown

My 6th-great-grandfather Lazarus Gatlin was a soldier in the North Carolina Continental Army. He died in Davidson County, Tennessee in July 1808.
Will of Lazarus Gatlin
Estate Inventory of Lazarus Gatlin

Revolutionary War records are available on footnote.com.

HathiTrust Digital Library

HathiTrust is a partnership of research institutions and libraries that are working to preserve the cultural record. The HathiTrust Digital Library contains many public collections of books, serials, and other materials, including an Ancestry and Genealogy collection and the Kean University New Jersey History Project.

http://www.hathitrust.org/

Chellberg Farm

A farm that is part of my family's history is now part of a national park! My great-great-grandmother's brother Alfred Borg married Emily Charlotte Kjellberg on September 29, 1897 in Porter County, Indiana. After their marriage, Alfred and Emily lived at the Chellberg Farm (which had been purchased by Emily's parents in 1869) until 1901. The farm is now part of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, which is managed by the National Park Service.

Links:
Chellberg Family Story (Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, U.S. National Park Service)
Chellberg Farm (Wikipedia)
Chellberg Farm (Virtual Tourist)