tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3534027828042500532024-03-13T14:08:06.845-07:00Wadleigh-Brown-Plymale-BixbyThis blog is intended to be a forum for posting those random, odd-ball tidbits about my ancestors that make researching them so interesting and helps to give color and character to my family tree. The blogs posted to this site will be a random and arbitrarily-chosen sampling of factoids about and photographs of my ancestors. Enjoy!
If you have any questions, you can contact me at ryanwadleigh@yahoo.com.Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-5692148596386618912019-02-18T11:56:00.002-08:002019-02-23T09:51:45.867-08:00Murder in Tennessee<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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In February 1897, in a crowded court room in Clarksville,
Tennessee, David Halliburton (a Confederate Civil War veteran) was found <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Not Guilty</i> of committing first degree
murder. Eight months earlier David had shot his son-in-law three times, killing
him instantly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As sensational as that sounds,
it was not the first time that David was on trial for a violent crime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yn5dVayTT9M/XGr2XVP6XyI/AAAAAAAAAs4/ASB6LzcSNUMyqJf-bjoFHZTN-zyCE3viwCLcBGAs/s1600/DavidandMargaretHalliburton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1139" data-original-width="711" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yn5dVayTT9M/XGr2XVP6XyI/AAAAAAAAAs4/ASB6LzcSNUMyqJf-bjoFHZTN-zyCE3viwCLcBGAs/s640/DavidandMargaretHalliburton.jpg" width="396" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David Halliburton and his wife Margaret</td></tr>
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One year earlier, David attempted to murder the same man by
shooting him in the head, but he survived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After a short trial, David was declared innocent of attempted murder
because of insanity.<br />
<br />
So what happened?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why
was a man with a history of violence (and who was both legally insane and
legally blind) able to access guns and commit murder?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And get away with it?</div>
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<br /></div>
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One of the reasons I love history is that it provides
enduring lessons that remain relevant in spite of the time that has elapsed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tragic story of David Halliburton touches
on issues that are still quite relevant to this day, including gun violence,
gun control, the criminal justice system, care for mental illness, veterans’
issues, access to social services and good old fashioned racism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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David Halliburton was born into a wealthy and well-respected
southern family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Yes, the same family
behind the infamous Halliburton Corporation). David’s sister <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/halliburton.html#elizabethg">Elizabeth</a> was my
great-great-great-grandmother. By the time of the events of this article,
Elizabeth was long since dead. However her children, including my
great-great-grandmother Georgia, lived in the same town and must have been
scandalized by their uncle’s murder trial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have no idea what they thought about any of this, but this story isn’t
about them.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The story of David’s life is interesting, as it helps to provide
context and an explanation for what led him to violence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Making of a Murderer</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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David Halliburton was born in 1843 in Montgomery County,
Tennessee. He was born and raised in an area of fertile farmland in
north-central Tennessee, not far from the border with Kentucky. He was the
oldest son of a relatively wealthy plantation owner. The Halliburtons were
slave owners and personally profited from the subjugation of other people. In
1860, shortly before the Civil War, David’s family owned 14 people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PXM99xdrDcQ/XGsNPNicDFI/AAAAAAAAAuI/A9p4SiPn94gVJhHrRNFcAOfSQCIM-np1gCLcBGAs/s1600/MaryJHalliburton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1157" data-original-width="702" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PXM99xdrDcQ/XGsNPNicDFI/AAAAAAAAAuI/A9p4SiPn94gVJhHrRNFcAOfSQCIM-np1gCLcBGAs/s400/MaryJHalliburton.jpg" width="242" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David's daughter Mary. She died of diphtheria in 1878 at the <br />
age of 9, along with all of her siblings. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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So at the outbreak of the war, it is no surprise that the
Halliburtons supported the Confederacy and by extension the family’s livelihood
and source of income. It was also no surprise that David, who was 19, enlisted
in the Confederate Army and fought for the South in the Civil War. We already
know the rest of that story. The South lost the war and the slaves were
emancipated. Yet their freedom was somewhat hollow, as their descendants were
subject to widespread discrimination, violence and institutional racism for
many years to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Halliburtons – and David in particular - were a good
example of a White family that lost their fortune after the war and were faced
with poverty. For some of them, their financial loss and engrained racism was
hardened into bitterness and rage. Yet the rest of David’s family was
resourceful and they were able to use their ingenuity and skills to pursue
successful careers in areas such as store ownership, farming and even
photography. David, however, struggled for the rest of his life. In adulthood
he made a meager living working as a carpenter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
David’s skills though as a carpenter were enough to support
a family. He married in 1865 and began to raise a family. He and his wife
Margaret had eight children. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His later problems aside, David suffered from resentment and
had a difficult time adjusting to his lot in life. He was raised in relative
luxury, yet struggled to survive as an adult. It is easy to understand then how
David’s resentment boiled over into easy targets, such as Yankees and
African-Americans. Yet in time, his rage apparently found its way to anyone and
anything around him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
David served for four years in the Civil War. Because David was often on
guard duty while in the war, he was usually able to avoid combat in battle.
That changed in July 1864, when he was “severely wounded” at the Battle of
Atlanta. During the battle he was shot in the head and in the leg, but
survived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though he was close to death,
he also tended to his fallen comrades on the same battlefield.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the wound to his head was
superficial, the wound to his leg caused permanent problems – he was often in
pain and had difficulty walking for the rest of his life. It is no big leap
then to suggest that he suffered from physical as well as psychological trauma;
perhaps he had what we would now call post-traumatic stress disorder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His experience dealing with death and trauma
would have lasting psychological impacts on him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If the trauma of war was not enough, David’s personal life
was also marred by tragedy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most adult members
of his family suffered from consumption (tuberculosis), a fatal disease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, his mother, both of his sisters and two
of his brothers all succumbed to early deaths from tuberculosis during the
1870s and 1880s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although David and his
wife escaped the clutches of consumption, deadly disease did not escape their
immediate family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the summer of 1878,
all four of David’s children died within a week of each other from a diphtheria
epidemic – Emma (11), Mary (9), David Jr. (5) and Rena (2).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A newspaper article describing their tragic
deaths included the profound words “Disease spreads its wings of sorrow and
flies over all the land, while death, the grim monster, follows and in its
fatal work severs the most affectionate ties by which people can possibly be
connected.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was devastating to
David and his wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tragically they lost
three more children to infant ailments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Only one child survived to adulthood, their daughter Annie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AHoFytTeDGo/XGsKqD-fgsI/AAAAAAAAAtc/rO7ncaDdBTUmfVOOzYVbTfpoaWsw8KYngCLcBGAs/s1600/WeeklyLeafChronicle-8-27-1895.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="253" data-original-width="353" height="229" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AHoFytTeDGo/XGsKqD-fgsI/AAAAAAAAAtc/rO7ncaDdBTUmfVOOzYVbTfpoaWsw8KYngCLcBGAs/s320/WeeklyLeafChronicle-8-27-1895.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clarksville Weekly Leaf-Chronicle, Aug. 27, 1895</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As if the sorrow in his life was not enough, David also
became destitute and unable to support his family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His income as a carpenter required his
physical capabilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly by 1886 (at
the age of 43) he partially lost his eyesight and then in 1888 (at the age of
45) he was injured while working which rendered him incapacitated and partially
paralyzed for the rest of his life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Later in 1888 he underwent an experimental surgery to install artificial
pupils in his eyes, which was successful at restoring some of his
eyesight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even at that time, he was not
able to pay for the surgery and relied on charity to fund the operation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By the 1890s, David was perhaps a shell of a man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was plagued with poverty, frequent tragic deaths
of his loved ones, untreated wartime trauma, he had been unable to work for 10
years and had to use a cane to walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
50, he was already an angry person who was usually described by other people
merely as an “old man”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly, life
had been tough on him and aged him prematurely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is easy to understand how at this point he was ready to snap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On August 21, 1895, David’s only living child – his 16-year
old daughter Annie – ran away from home and married a man against her parents’
wishes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To add insult to injury, her new
husband was twice her age – 33-year old John Hite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When her parents found out, Margaret was
hysterical and David flew into a violent rage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although he did not have any weapons himself, David borrowed a gun from
a neighbor by telling her that he needed to shoot a stray dog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he found where the couple was staying
(in the same town), he used diplomacy to implore them to come outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was able to convince them that Annie’s
mother was desperately ill and that they needed to come home immediately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the three of them were walking home
together, David purposefully dropped his cane, and while John was picking it up
for him, he shot him in the back of the head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Luckily the wound was superficial and John began to defend himself and
started beating the old man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that
point, bystanders intervened to break up the fight and both men were
arrested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
John was immediately released.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>David was held for a few days and then
released on bail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A week later David was
again living at home when he made the newspapers again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently one morning he was attacked by a
“fit of insanity” and became violent, although it is not clear who he was
violent to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After some intervention, it
was decided that he should be sent to his brother’s farm in the country to
recover from his affliction which was described as “a temporary aberration of
the mind”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Within a few months, David returned home and his life went
somewhat back to normal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John and Annie
continued to live together as husband and wife, while David and Margaret remained
across town, unable to do anything about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>David was charged with assault for the attack and after a quick trial,
was acquitted in March 1896 on the grounds of his insanity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then three months later, on June 4<sup>th</sup>, 1896, David
and John passed each other on the street in Clarksville and they got into an
argument. David drew a revolver out of his pocket and shot John three times. It
was a shot to his stomach that killed him within minutes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
David surrendered to police, where he was held in jail
without bail and was charged with first degree murder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>David’s wife Margaret was hysterical – she
went to the courthouse to try to have him released, but to no avail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile his daughter Annie was also
horrified when she learned that her husband had been murdered by her
father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was not the best time for
her, as she was heavily pregnant with John’s child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She gave birth to her son Theodore three
weeks later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
David remained in jail for eight months while his case
awaited trial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then after a 2-day trial
and 3 hours of jury deliberations, David was acquitted and was immediately
freed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reporters acknowledged that
although the verdict was a relief to some, it was a somber affair and there was
no rejoicing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time, many
reporters acknowledged that the real victim in this case was John’s orphaned
daughter, 7-year old Ida (daughter by a previous marriage), who was sent <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k8BsYQdSc8w/XGsK3DwwUqI/AAAAAAAAAtg/UIyqms1jGasTx0tfcTE8g1Ws36FA103ygCLcBGAs/s1600/WeeklyLeafChronicle-6-5-1896.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="354" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k8BsYQdSc8w/XGsK3DwwUqI/AAAAAAAAAtg/UIyqms1jGasTx0tfcTE8g1Ws36FA103ygCLcBGAs/s320/WeeklyLeafChronicle-6-5-1896.PNG" width="192" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clarksville Weekly Leaf-Chronicle, June 5, 1896</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
away
to live with distant relatives.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">So what happened?</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In both cases, David was acquitted on the grounds of his “mental
impairment” or “insanity”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet surviving
records make it clear that there was a poor understanding at the time of mental
illness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People involved with the case
assumed that it was not caused by any physical trauma or psychological issues,
and instead was merely the result of his “grief” about his daughter’s
marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All sources assumed that it
was temporary in nature. So it was something to blame for his egregious
actions, yet because it would go away, it did not require any treatment or
attention.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In my opinion, David’s actions were actually quite
calculated and do not indicate that he was mentally impaired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By his own statement in August 1895, he had
purposefully acquired a gun for the purpose of shooting his son-in-law and used
his own powers of manipulation to persuade his son-in-law to travel with him to
a place where he could murder him without witnesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He even mentioned in his statement that he
didn’t care if his daughter was also killed, because he’d rather see her dead
than the wife of this man that he hated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To me, these aren’t the actions of a crazy man, but the actions of an
angry man who was fed up with the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Clearly, he was in need of help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But was he legally responsible for the murder he committed?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems like he should have been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The reality is that as a wounded Confederate veteran, David
had an exalted status in his society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even though he had become desperate and pathetic, his contemporaries
viewed him with awe and probably would have done anything to protect him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By this time the Civil War was already 30
years in the past, but it was deeply ingrained in southern culture and there
was something almost mythological about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To some extent that has persisted to this day, and there continues to be
arguments about the appropriateness of lauding monuments to Confederate history, arguably
a dark period in American history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All that aside, what was this man – who was legally blind,
who could barely walk, suffering from acknowledged insanity and who was a known
perpetrator of violent crimes - doing with firearms in the first place?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This issue was not acknowledged or addressed
by a single source at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gun ownership
was a universal right that probably would have been absurd to challenge in 1897
in Tennessee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet if anyone should have
had their guns taken away, it was him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Perhaps awareness of cases like these, and proper attention to mental
illness and provision of social services could have prevented this senseless death
and many more in the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Db5fT3GJtdI/XGsMho5bkcI/AAAAAAAAAt0/8gM8CDvEr90Dd1pN291YLascJ038r3DXQCLcBGAs/s1600/WeeklyLeafChronicle-2-19-1897.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="153" data-original-width="349" height="140" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Db5fT3GJtdI/XGsMho5bkcI/AAAAAAAAAt0/8gM8CDvEr90Dd1pN291YLascJ038r3DXQCLcBGAs/s320/WeeklyLeafChronicle-2-19-1897.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clarksville Weekly Leaf-Chronicle, Feb. 19, 1897</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
David definitely suffered from hardship and was in need of
help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet the concept of social services
really did not exist at the time – at least not from a widespread, government
perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The expectation was that
society would take care of its own and the government was not involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were in fact many community groups that
did provide social services, including churches and fraternal
organizations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet in large part, access to these services
required effort on the part of the individual to join and seek out help,
provided they pass whatever criteria required of these groups – many of which
were elitist, sexist, racist, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
this case, David was a member of the Masons, the Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) and the
Forbes Bivouac (Confederate veteran association).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In August 1895, when David was attacked with his
fit of violent insanity, it was the Odd Fellows who intervened and contrived to
send him to his brother’s farm, rather than face any more criminal penalties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3t-0Y_-a8z0/XGsLu7UvNdI/AAAAAAAAAto/NGHFgVpPh1M63nIsEpkI4_88EucoKEbggCLcBGAs/s1600/forbes1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="851" height="376" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3t-0Y_-a8z0/XGsLu7UvNdI/AAAAAAAAAto/NGHFgVpPh1M63nIsEpkI4_88EucoKEbggCLcBGAs/s640/forbes1.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Members of the Forbes Bivouac (Confederate veteran association) in Clarksville, Tennessee. David is probably in this photo. Date unknown. Courtesy University of Tennessee, Knoxville Library</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Years later, in 1905, David was working as a night watchman
and making $150 a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (I hope he wasn't equipped with any weapons on his job - but it wouldn't surprise me if he was). </span>At that time, he
finally received a pension for his military service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He received his pension until his death in
1911.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-81032343783197531122017-07-07T14:52:00.001-07:002017-10-04T08:36:08.081-07:00DNA ResearchI’ve been fortunate that my family has a well-documented history,
and I’ve been able to research most lines of my family tree back many
generations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of that I was never
too interested in having my DNA tested, as I already <i>knew</i> where my ancestors
were from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally, I was skeptical
about how accurate DNA tests could be in determining exact ethnic origins. And my interest in genealogy is mostly a focus on the stories of peoples' lives - so I don't know if I even <i>care</i> where my ancestors happened to live hundreds or thousands of years ago. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yCMNVdQi5hs/WV5FdyuN4ZI/AAAAAAAAAm8/gptZ5KwYzBsM5WBPQKg_wmfsbg-2IF-yQCLcBGAs/s1600/Percy-Violet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1141" data-original-width="1600" height="285" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yCMNVdQi5hs/WV5FdyuN4ZI/AAAAAAAAAm8/gptZ5KwYzBsM5WBPQKg_wmfsbg-2IF-yQCLcBGAs/s400/Percy-Violet.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Siblings Percy and Violet Roberts, circa 1897. They were the first cousins<br />
of my great-grandfather and all of them had the same amount of Asian (or <br />
Native American) ancestry that they inherited from their mothers <br />
(who were twins). <br />
<br />
This photo shows the genetic variety that can appear in one family: <br />
one sibling looks more Asian and one looks more European</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recently though, I decided to take the plunge and have my
DNA tested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mostly I wanted to
participate because I was curious about the process and I have an interest in
the science of genetics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally, I
wanted to test the accuracy of my own research.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Does my research and evidence match my DNA???</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a result of 15+ years of research, I have been able to
trace most lines of my family tree back to their origins in the Old World. I knew
that I was mostly (perhaps 90%) English, German and Scottish. I also knew that the rest of my
ancestry (the last 10%) was Danish, Dutch, Welsh, French,
Swedish, Irish, and Swiss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Aside from those northwestern European ancestors, I also knew about (unproven)
legends of trace amounts of Native American and even Moroccan ancestry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> By and large though, most of my ancestors would have been considered Anglo-Saxon Protestants.</span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I had my DNA tested through AncestryDNA, which provides
<a href="https://isogg.org/wiki/Autosomal_DNA">autosomal DNA testing</a> services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I
got my results back, I was actually quite surprised.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The main thing we both agree on is that I am
mostly from Great Britain (including England and Scotland).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, it was surprising that my second place
hit was Scandinavia. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other than one great-great-great-grandfather
who was Danish (1/32nd or 3.125%), and a couple of very distant ancestors from
Sweden (2/256th or 0.8%), I had no other (known) Scandinavian ancestors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also odd that “Europe West” (which
includes Germany) shows up low at only 10%, as my documented German ancestors
were fairly prolific (at least 23/128th or 18%).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally, the Native American and
Moroccan theories were apparently proven false; as I showed up at 0% in both
regions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H9cht2CZx-Y/WV5GZHvGilI/AAAAAAAAAnA/f3cl8knFbAsPtFcOqLv5CU4yZ7R4_ED9gCLcBGAs/s1600/dna.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="346" height="319" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H9cht2CZx-Y/WV5GZHvGilI/AAAAAAAAAnA/f3cl8knFbAsPtFcOqLv5CU4yZ7R4_ED9gCLcBGAs/s320/dna.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">summary of my Genetic Ancestry results from AncestryDNA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
What was most surprising to me though was that the results
indicated that I am 9% West Asian, or more specifically from the Caucasus (which is an area above the Middle East that
includes Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan; and neighboring countries like Turkey
and Iran).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not
especially weird to have non-European ancestors, but in this case – it does
seem a little odd considering how much I know about my ancestors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My family has fairly deep roots in America,
as most lines of my ancestors settled here in the 1600s or 1700s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been able to trace all branches of my
family tree back fairly far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, my
most recent “dead end” ancestor was born in about 1800, in Kentucky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can safely say that in 1800, <b>all </b>of my
ancestors were living in America, Germany, Denmark or Wales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
Because of the historical unlikelihood of an Anglo-Saxon person
interbreeding with a West Asian person in colonial America and because of my
relatively high amount of that DNA, it’s likely then that my Asian blood came
from one branch of my family tree, and from a relatively recent ancestor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Assuming that we inherit equal amounts of DNA
from each of our ancestors in each generation (which we don’t), it’s most
likely that the DNA would have come from a single great-great-grandparent (1/16th
or 6.25 percent of that generation of my ancestry). Although genetics don't really work that way, it gave me a clue for where to start looking. <br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Luckily, I know quite a bit about my ancestors and have
photographs of many of them, including all 8 of my great-grandparents, all 16
of my great-great-grandparents and quite a few of my
great-great-great-grandparents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
suspicion for this bloodline quickly fell on my great-great-grandmother Josephine
Martin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Compared to other branches of my
tree, I know comparatively little about her ancestry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, I have several photos of her –
and to me – she had facial features and coloring that don’t quite look Western European.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there is a family story among descendants
of her sister that they were Native American (perhaps as an explanation for
their appearance).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In spite of that, she
and all of her family were always classified as white in contemporary
records.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of her family had English
or German surnames and were admittedly racist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (Josephine was a fascinating person in her own right and something of a bad-ass. I wrote an earlier article about her life: <a href="http://ryanwadleigh.blogspot.com/2012/01/pioneer-feminist.html">pioneer feminist</a>.)</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what is going on here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And how would I prove or disprove it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--IXOWKCO9yk/WV29JMRNRTI/AAAAAAAAAmk/Ma9CUvhLiDgg09uGIgISZxnz9fZNmyuJACEwYBhgL/s1600/Josephine2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="698" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--IXOWKCO9yk/WV29JMRNRTI/AAAAAAAAAmk/Ma9CUvhLiDgg09uGIgISZxnz9fZNmyuJACEwYBhgL/s400/Josephine2.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-great-grandmother Josephine Martin, circa 1880s,<br />
who was apparently the carrier of a significant amount <br />
of Asian DNA.<br />
<br />
Percy and Violet Roberts (in the photo<br />
above), were her niece and nephew</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Luckily, AncestryDNA has a feature that compares your DNA
results to other Ancestry members who have had their DNA tested to see if and how closely you are genetically related (based on the amount of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centimorgan">centimorgans</a> you share across DNA segments).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, you can then compare DNA matches' results
to your documented family trees to potentially aid in proving or disproving
biological relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It turns out I
have quite a few cousins from most branches of my tree that have had their DNA
tested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Browsing through their results
was interesting and also seemed to prove what I suspected; Caucasus DNA is
unusual among white Anglo-Americans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then I finally found other relatives with Caucasus DNA; five different cousins
who are descendants of Josephine or her twin sister.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This all seemed fairly conclusive: my West Asian DNA came
from my great-great-grandmother Josephine Martin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to the amount of West Asian DNA inherited
by myself and the five other cousins; Josephine was significantly (perhaps completely)
West Asian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, Josephine’s life
was well documented; she was born in Missouri in 1845 and her parents were white
slave owners who were born in Kentucky and Virginia respectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And she was born during a time when
emigration from West Asia to the US was incredibly rare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How would I reconcile the DNA evidence with the
other evidence?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was she adopted?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was a parent or a grandparent from that
region?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what in the world were
people from the Middle East doing in Missouri in the 1840s?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As is usual with genealogy, research usually
seems to uncover more questions than answers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<hr />
<h3>
The Caucasus</h3>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Caucasus region is home to the Caucasus mountain range
and is between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Historically, the region was culturally and
ethnically diverse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For much of its
history, the region was under the control of various empires, including the
Persian Empire [Iran], the Ottoman Empire [Turkey] or the Russian Empire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, the Caucasus region is made up of
three countries: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan and it borders Russia, Turkey and Iran.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The region was important throughout history;
it was at the border between Europe and Asia and was at the crossroads between
the Christian and the Muslim world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because of its strategic location, it was frequently the site of wars
and persecution of religious minorities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Perhaps it was because of this tumultuous environment that my unknown
ancestors left their homeland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Aem4Odb-o40/WV-e7bhjfjI/AAAAAAAAApw/VxMltWtLjqoO1cpVjLhE7g7f_KivKNSxwCLcBGAs/s1600/File%2BJul%2B07%252C%2B7%2B46%2B30%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1282" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Aem4Odb-o40/WV-e7bhjfjI/AAAAAAAAApw/VxMltWtLjqoO1cpVjLhE7g7f_KivKNSxwCLcBGAs/s400/File%2BJul%2B07%252C%2B7%2B46%2B30%2BAM.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map of my DNA results, showing the Caucasus <br />
area in blue.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Curiously though, my Caucasian ancestors (or their
descendants) must have arrived in the US sometime before 1845.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But widespread emigration from that part of
the world really did not happen until the late 1800s or early 1900s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Based on my limited knowledge of that
region’s history though, the most likely country to have had pre-1845
emigration would have been Armenia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
example, there was a small wave of Armenian immigration to America during the
1830s as a result of oppression of Armenian Christian minorities in the Ottoman
Empire, and there is documentation of individual Armenians in America back to
the early 1600s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another tempting clue related
to this theory is that Josephine had a cousin (on her mother’s side) that was<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>named Armenia Crobarger. Was she named
after her ancestral place of origin? It’s compelling but unfortunately, Armenia
is just a guess and we will probably never know for sure where exactly my
Caucasian ancestors came from or really anything about them.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is of course possible that my ancestors did not directly
come from the Caucasus to the US.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
historically more likely that they would have first moved to closer regions,
like Russia, Eastern Europe or Southern Europe before indirectly making their way to America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<hr />
<h3>
Josephine’s Documented Family</h3>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
According to various surviving records, Josephine was born
on June 3, 1845 in Platte City, Missouri; near what is now Kansas City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time, this was at the edge of the
frontier of America; they were literally just a few miles away from unorganized
frontier territory and the start of the Oregon Trail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
Her father, <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/martin.html#williamj">William Martin</a>, was born in 1815
in Kentucky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His parents, Zadock Martin
and Susannah Brown, were born in North Carolina and Virginia respectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They moved to Missouri when William was a young
child, and it was there that he grew to adulthood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The paternal line of the Martin family has a
documented descent from an English family that settled in Maryland in the
mid-1600s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Josephine’s mother was <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/crobarger.html#harrietc">Harriet Crobarger</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Harriet was born in 1816 or 1817 in Virginia or Tennessee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not know who her father was. Her mother
though was the widow Catherine Crobarger, who raised Harriet and her
siblings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They lived for many years in
Tennessee, and lived briefly in Indiana before settling in Missouri in the late
1830s; shortly before Harriet married William Martin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Crobarger family likely descends from a
German family that settled in Pennsylvania in the mid-1700s.<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Josephine was a twin; born alongside her sister Frances
“Fanny”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had 5 other siblings:
Catherine, Hardin, Joseph, George and Emma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<hr />
<h3>
Possible Explanations for the West Asian DNA</h3>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
The DNA evidence suggests that Josephine carried a
significant amount of West Asian DNA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is even possible that she was 100% West Asian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, given the fact that at least some of her documented ancestors
were English or German, it is necessary to hypothesize what might have
happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
Below are some of the theories
I have come up with:<br />
<br />
1. Josephine and her twin sister Frances were adopted by William and Harriet Martin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2. Josephine and her twin sister Frances were a result of
infidelity; children of Harriet Martin by an unknown West Asian man who was not
her husband.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
3. Either William Martin or Harriet Crobarger were adopted
or born to their mothers as a result of infidelity</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4. One or more of Josephine’s four grandparents were ethnically
West Asian:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4a. Her paternal grandfather, <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/martin.html#zadock2">Zadock Martin</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was born in 1789 in North
Carolina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I don’t technically
have proof of his parentage, he was most likely the son of another Zadock
Martin, and descended directly from an English family that lived for about 100
years in Maryland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally, I also
have DNA matches with two distant cousins who are documented as descendants of
his brothers – and neither of them show up with Caucasian DNA, although that
doesn’t necessarily mean they didn’t actually have Caucasian ancestry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(This likely is an indication that I AM biologically/genetically related to this side of the family and that the West Asian DNA did NOT come from here.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4b. Her paternal grandmother, <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/brown2.html#susannah">Susannah Brown</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was born sometime during
the 1780s in Virginia and was raised in Kentucky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know nothing about her origins, except the
names of two siblings and that she was possibly the daughter of Frederick Brown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4c. Her maternal grandfather, name unknown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the easiest guess because we know
close to nothing about him. All we know is his supposed surname – Crobarger –
and the fact that he apparently lived in Virginia and Tennessee as an
adult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Crobargers as a whole were German, and
settled in Pennsylvania in the 1700s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Perhaps though he was not a Crobarger at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe it was his wife/partner – Catherine
Crobarger – who was really born into that family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All we know is that in 1830 she was living in
a household with her four children, enumerated as Katharine Croborger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the next 45 years, she used the name
Crobarger and was never explicitly described as a widow or wife of anyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe Crobarger was <i>her</i> birth name, and she
had a relationship with an unknown man that she did not marry, who
was the father of at least one of her children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
This theory seems even more likely when I realized that Catherine Crobarger shares a birth date (December 16, 1777) with Christina Crobarger, wife of George Pence. Christina was the documented daughter of Michael and Eva Crobarger, who I know that my Crobarger family had some kind of connection to. If these two women were twins, it would make sense because twins were definitely common among the descendants of both of them.<br />
<br />
If this theory is true, then the unidentified father of Catherine's children was in the southwest Virginia/northeast Tennessee area between about 1800 and 1820. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4d. Her maternal grandmother, <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/crobarger.html#catherine">Catherine Crobarger</a>. Assuming that her husband really was a Crobarger, we know
nothing about her maiden name or origins except that she was born in 1777, supposedly
in Pennsylvania; and her first known child was born in Virginia in 1808. In one
census she indicated that both her parents were foreign-born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although most sources list her birthplace as
Pennsylvania, one source (the 1850 census) just lists her birthplace as “O.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The census enumerator probably meant Oregon
or Ohio, but neither of those is possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Could “O” have stood for something else entirely, like Orient or Ottoman
Empire?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Conclusion?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unfortunately, there is no way to prove any of the above theories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My educated guess though is that Josephine and
her twin sister were in fact the biological children of William and Harriet
Martin. And it is most likely that the West Asian DNA comes from their mother,
Harriet Crobarger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> This also fits with the clue that the name "Armenia" was used in the Crobarger side of the family and that the Crobarger line also contained family legend of Native American ancestry. In addition, although all of these families were southerners, Harriet's brother Francis Crobarger supported the North during the Civil War while most of the rest of the family supported the South. It seems more likely that the family containing non-white individuals would have been against the institution of slavery.</span><br />
<br />
More research is
needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<hr />
<h3>
Racism<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HsrCaJS_KMY/WV-07MmxTmI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/Qeh3b5rKxEgRJzbk8uCl5r_A7ZImm56XgCEwYBhgL/s1600/DavidBaby.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1253" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HsrCaJS_KMY/WV-07MmxTmI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/Qeh3b5rKxEgRJzbk8uCl5r_A7ZImm56XgCEwYBhgL/s400/DavidBaby.jpeg" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josephine's 10th child, David Plymale, in 1883</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</h3>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am educated as a sociologist, which allows me to often
look at issues through a larger lens and examine the social institutions that affect peoples' lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In this case, the context of Josephine’s life was relatively
fascinating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although she was (probably)
a mixed-ethnic person, she was raised by and married into white families that
were admittedly quite racist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> She also lived in a society where racism was not just institutionalized but also blatant and acceptable, even in the progressive North.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<h4>
Her father</h4>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Josephine’s father William Martin was born in Kentucky and
raised in Missouri.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He grew up around
the institution of slavery and his parents owned slaves throughout his
upbringing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Years later, he supported
the Democratic Party and the Confederacy during the Civil War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although many historians have tried to
justify support for the Confederacy as part of a non-racist, political ideology
(i.e. states’ rights), the reality is that those who supported slavery were
conditioned to do so, and viewed black people not just as lesser people, but
not as people at all.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In Missouri, the Martin family lived in the frontier of
America where they often interacted with the Native Americans that lived
nearby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a story that has survived about how an Indian played a trick on one of William's brothers, Gill Martin, when they were teenagers. It was perhaps because of these experiences and conditioning that in adulthood, William apparently developed a distrust
and hatred of Indian people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, he
served as a volunteer soldier in three different Indian wars and was directly
responsible for the murder of many Indian people throughout his life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a soldier in the Seminole Indian War
in Florida from 1837-1838.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a
captain in the Cayuse Indian War in Oregon from 1847-1848 and he was a colonel
in the Rogue River Indian Wars in Oregon from 1855-1856.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am fortunate to have many surviving letters written by
William during his lifetime (all of them to his friend and political ally,
Joseph Lane – a general, governor and senator).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Many of the letters expressed disparaging attitudes towards other ethnic
groups; including his desire to kill Indian people during war times and using
the “n” word to describe Mexican people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">William's story is even more interesting when I realize that some of his wife's relatives (who were also southerners) supported the North during the Civil War. The sources also seem to suggest that William remained close with his various relatives; and it is interesting to see that the family remained close in spite of wars, political differences and racism, which might ordinarily tear families apart. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<h4>
Her Husband</h4>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When Josephine was 17, she left her family and moved away to
become a school teacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following
year she married William Plymale and they started a family together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Plymales were probably a little less
racist than the Martins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>William was
born in Illinois; and the story is that his parents had moved there from
Virginia because they did not approve of slavery which was legal there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his later years, William was a writer and
considered himself a historian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of
the papers he wrote lambasted the White man’s terrible treatment of Native
Americans, while also still maintaining that Native Americans were inferior people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His paper specifically said: “While it is
true that the “white man”, and especially the Aryan or Anglo-Saxon type,
possesses in the most eminent degree many of the noble, generous and admirable
qualities, and is in fact the greatest and grandest type of mankind on earth…”
<br />
<br />
<br />
So although William was apparently against slavery and the poor treatment of
Indians, he definitely thought that white people were superior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<h4>
Josephine</h4>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So how does Josephine, who was apparently <i>not</i> an Aryan person,
fit into this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know quite a bit about
Josephine’s life, and what she was passionate about (including education, fruit farming, history, women’s suffrage, progressive politics, temperance, etc.) but
absolutely nothing about her views about racism or non-white people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps nobody – including herself – even
knew she was anything but white.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite
her appearance, she was definitely passable as a white person and that was the
identity used by her throughout her life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The surviving records suggest that Josephine was a fiery, passionate and
strong person; and was not meek or subservient like women were expected to
be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While her father and husband were
both Democrats, she was an outspoken Republican (which tended to be the more
liberal/progressive party of the time).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She was a prominent women’s suffrage activist, worked for the Oregon State senate, and even tried to run for political office (and was ridiculed for doing so).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
It's possible that Josephine's silence on the subject and the blatant racism within her family may have partially been a result of sensitivity or resentment over their own Asian heritage. <br />
<br /></div>
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
Photographs</h3>
<br />
I am fortunate that I have photographs of many members of this family, priceless aids in this journey of exploring potential Asian ancestry. I have four photographs of Josephine. In addition, I have a photograph of her father, William Martin, but none of her other ancestors or siblings. I also have photographs of 10 of her children and 5 of her twin sister's children.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Josephine </h3>
Below are the four photographs I have of Josephine. To me, her appearance was unusual; especially in contrast to her Anglo-Saxon counterparts. Various evidence suggest that she was partially northwest European and partially Asian or Native American.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EtA7oJlDrOo/WV-Xb687zBI/AAAAAAAAApM/qSub7kvfS3kQYB6f5f1lF_hlVPJOSW73ACLcBGAs/s1600/Josephine3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="698" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EtA7oJlDrOo/WV-Xb687zBI/AAAAAAAAApM/qSub7kvfS3kQYB6f5f1lF_hlVPJOSW73ACLcBGAs/s640/Josephine3.jpg" width="443" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josephine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-llr6RHrJVfs/WV-Xi7zPJaI/AAAAAAAAApQ/p2REKD7_rfs-l7ADYQTkKLkVz32By-R4gCLcBGAs/s1600/File%2BJun%2B16%252C%2B7%2B20%2B31%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="931" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-llr6RHrJVfs/WV-Xi7zPJaI/AAAAAAAAApQ/p2REKD7_rfs-l7ADYQTkKLkVz32By-R4gCLcBGAs/s640/File%2BJun%2B16%252C%2B7%2B20%2B31%2BAM.jpeg" width="369" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josephine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-54l5v2cNoAo/WV-XpTijgAI/AAAAAAAAApU/ROH65PJXdicnpDQG-XykjgAX_rCXCgYWACLcBGAs/s1600/Josephine2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="698" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-54l5v2cNoAo/WV-XpTijgAI/AAAAAAAAApU/ROH65PJXdicnpDQG-XykjgAX_rCXCgYWACLcBGAs/s640/Josephine2.jpg" width="443" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josephine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CGi29pv5XX8/WV-XvkTE-WI/AAAAAAAAApY/gcACSRwjGEwXWbCu3PSiDxRlJ0jhu_YOACLcBGAs/s1600/Josephine4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1078" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CGi29pv5XX8/WV-XvkTE-WI/AAAAAAAAApY/gcACSRwjGEwXWbCu3PSiDxRlJ0jhu_YOACLcBGAs/s640/Josephine4.jpg" width="427" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josephine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Father</h3>
Below is the only photograph I have of Josephine's father, William Martin. The image is so weird though, that it's hard to really compare it to compare it to others. That said, I really don't see any resemblance between Josephine and her father.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W3PtQTcKn9g/WV-WnmtHOsI/AAAAAAAAAo0/0AGsSD3-oOwkfDPs321-Q5rfUCSmkR8jACLcBGAs/s1600/WilliamMartin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1120" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W3PtQTcKn9g/WV-WnmtHOsI/AAAAAAAAAo0/0AGsSD3-oOwkfDPs321-Q5rfUCSmkR8jACLcBGAs/s640/WilliamMartin.jpg" width="448" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William J. Martin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
Children</h3>
Josephine had 12 children and I have photographs of 10 of them, below. It is interesting that the majority of the children seem to take after their father; many of them had light coloring, blue eyes and his facial features. Her three youngest children were the ones that most resembled her. How does birth order play a role here?<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i5pJmbo3sbA/WV-WbnpvYkI/AAAAAAAAAow/x0HbB5M-EconI0sA3F7opWEkTjHlG4ZvACLcBGAs/s1600/William2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="525" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i5pJmbo3sbA/WV-WbnpvYkI/AAAAAAAAAow/x0HbB5M-EconI0sA3F7opWEkTjHlG4ZvACLcBGAs/s640/William2.jpg" width="499" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William L. Plymale</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lcNc8rhST2o/WV-WWCsRTFI/AAAAAAAAAos/BNKn1HuxuWwciwAxrZFS8EVmaXRbc-m9wCLcBGAs/s1600/Ada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="307" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lcNc8rhST2o/WV-WWCsRTFI/AAAAAAAAAos/BNKn1HuxuWwciwAxrZFS8EVmaXRbc-m9wCLcBGAs/s640/Ada.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ada C. Plymale</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k_W86zn2fIE/WV-WPej--MI/AAAAAAAAAoo/NtQq2puiCs8SRpmMUdAulrluftRY4YlbACLcBGAs/s1600/Kate.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="941" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k_W86zn2fIE/WV-WPej--MI/AAAAAAAAAoo/NtQq2puiCs8SRpmMUdAulrluftRY4YlbACLcBGAs/s640/Kate.tif" width="376" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kate M. Plymale</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yWdoUTKFZwc/WV-V-5_ADoI/AAAAAAAAAok/zMpc_3vto4MEJQgeYq6QFVzQKt-iAX2qQCLcBGAs/s1600/PlymaleSon2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="713" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yWdoUTKFZwc/WV-V-5_ADoI/AAAAAAAAAok/zMpc_3vto4MEJQgeYq6QFVzQKt-iAX2qQCLcBGAs/s640/PlymaleSon2.jpeg" width="563" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louis H. Plymale</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v_BFW9SL1tU/WV-V3JL8jAI/AAAAAAAAAog/afAR9188zbswg4i6cvRWwCE6nBMKFwfqwCLcBGAs/s1600/PlymaleSon3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="874" data-original-width="798" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v_BFW9SL1tU/WV-V3JL8jAI/AAAAAAAAAog/afAR9188zbswg4i6cvRWwCE6nBMKFwfqwCLcBGAs/s640/PlymaleSon3.jpeg" width="584" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frank M. Plymale</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3hbc8_5-mP8/WV-Vv36PsZI/AAAAAAAAAoc/w0UfZGcEqjMAUXnUM6Aybf4g4UxgsRarACLcBGAs/s1600/Emaline5.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1414" data-original-width="1236" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3hbc8_5-mP8/WV-Vv36PsZI/AAAAAAAAAoc/w0UfZGcEqjMAUXnUM6Aybf4g4UxgsRarACLcBGAs/s640/Emaline5.tiff" width="555" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emaline J. Plymale</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yNHZFZ0vdPY/WV-VcxxCWwI/AAAAAAAAAoY/wCakPA_V0awh_8t7NRJk-Q79HWdy7aLhgCLcBGAs/s1600/Marie4.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1382" data-original-width="1188" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yNHZFZ0vdPY/WV-VcxxCWwI/AAAAAAAAAoY/wCakPA_V0awh_8t7NRJk-Q79HWdy7aLhgCLcBGAs/s640/Marie4.tiff" width="547" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marie F. Plymale</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZIuUwk-U-sQ/WV-VNq58bYI/AAAAAAAAAp0/ncSvQh6vZLspa6l80aJ5DRPbYJ3pHDkPgCEwYBhgL/s1600/PlymaleSon4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="878" data-original-width="717" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZIuUwk-U-sQ/WV-VNq58bYI/AAAAAAAAAp0/ncSvQh6vZLspa6l80aJ5DRPbYJ3pHDkPgCEwYBhgL/s640/PlymaleSon4.jpeg" width="520" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David H. Plymale</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HR8dxjNYKVY/WV-VFv2PqMI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/C7iMOv2O4DIFjTN-BmxLilTkYCM-mHLVACLcBGAs/s1600/PlymaleSon5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="973" data-original-width="861" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HR8dxjNYKVY/WV-VFv2PqMI/AAAAAAAAAoQ/C7iMOv2O4DIFjTN-BmxLilTkYCM-mHLVACLcBGAs/s640/PlymaleSon5.jpeg" width="563" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Victor B. Plymale</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2hHLiF46un0/WV-U3xDtmDI/AAAAAAAAAoM/JUTbgY5mypcuxJ_WQyKqvwBvqncTO5regCLcBGAs/s1600/File%2BJun%2B16%252C%2B7%2B19%2B44%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1111" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2hHLiF46un0/WV-U3xDtmDI/AAAAAAAAAoM/JUTbgY5mypcuxJ_WQyKqvwBvqncTO5regCLcBGAs/s640/File%2BJun%2B16%252C%2B7%2B19%2B44%2BAM.jpeg" width="441" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Benjamin H. Plymale<br />
(my great-grandfather)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3>
Niece and Nephews</h3>
Josephine's twin sister Frances also had 12 children, and I have photographs of 5 of them, below.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WI7v_taUNS8/WV-Ww_In3xI/AAAAAAAAAo4/oe7-ABpAEfEaql-7wC4g77ebOGNonk0kQCLcBGAs/s1600/Head-George.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="327" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WI7v_taUNS8/WV-Ww_In3xI/AAAAAAAAAo4/oe7-ABpAEfEaql-7wC4g77ebOGNonk0kQCLcBGAs/s640/Head-George.jpg" width="592" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">George W. Roberts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b8WqED1J67A/WV-W6mkB7II/AAAAAAAAAo8/ZO7jeHjRDIghpRO1oB8_RuF3BD3zjVQygCLcBGAs/s1600/Head-Joseph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="481" height="611" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b8WqED1J67A/WV-W6mkB7II/AAAAAAAAAo8/ZO7jeHjRDIghpRO1oB8_RuF3BD3zjVQygCLcBGAs/s640/Head-Joseph.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joseph L. Roberts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_UpTy-S6Nvs/WV-XEKRmD5I/AAAAAAAAApA/dGXpU7SEUv4OUl8i61joVDTkFSe5N1PuACLcBGAs/s1600/Head-Pearl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1361" data-original-width="1059" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_UpTy-S6Nvs/WV-XEKRmD5I/AAAAAAAAApA/dGXpU7SEUv4OUl8i61joVDTkFSe5N1PuACLcBGAs/s640/Head-Pearl.jpg" width="496" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Perle F. Roberts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8SEJdQem8vE/WV-XK6skHvI/AAAAAAAAApE/vcZFZjXoOhgQCrimHuh4QItZ0TiXageAQCLcBGAs/s1600/Head-Percy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="969" data-original-width="849" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8SEJdQem8vE/WV-XK6skHvI/AAAAAAAAApE/vcZFZjXoOhgQCrimHuh4QItZ0TiXageAQCLcBGAs/s640/Head-Percy.jpg" width="560" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Percy H. Roberts <br />
(Percy and Perle were twins)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ttST3cJket8/WV-XRUzjcjI/AAAAAAAAApI/nMpdfJjAbE0AVrsMs_uv4DqJADBvKKWtwCLcBGAs/s1600/Head-Violet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="863" data-original-width="673" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ttST3cJket8/WV-XRUzjcjI/AAAAAAAAApI/nMpdfJjAbE0AVrsMs_uv4DqJADBvKKWtwCLcBGAs/s640/Head-Violet.jpg" width="496" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Violet R. Roberts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br />
<h3>
</h3>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<hr />
<h3>
Update - A Different Test</h3>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
Because I was so fascinated by these results, I decided to
have my DNA tested through a different company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I submitted my sample to <a href="https://www.23andme.com/">23andMe</a>, which also provides autosomal DNA
testing (similar to AncestryDNA).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
hope was that the ancestry profiles of both tests would be identical or at
least mostly the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FQ3c6HMMMlc/WV-MW9cX_nI/AAAAAAAAAn0/IJb17cy6GgAZ4QEswWh56J6Zut3qgfz1wCLcBGAs/s1600/AncestryBreakdown.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="196" data-original-width="470" height="166" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FQ3c6HMMMlc/WV-MW9cX_nI/AAAAAAAAAn0/IJb17cy6GgAZ4QEswWh56J6Zut3qgfz1wCLcBGAs/s400/AncestryBreakdown.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Comparison of my DNA ancestry composition from AncestryDNA<br />
and 23andMe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The<i> overall</i> results were similar – in that they both agree
that I am mostly British (57% vs 52%) and northwestern European in general (79% vs 95%), and both show trace amounts of DNA from Eastern Europe and from Finland. But they differ from there. The AncestryDNA test shows trace amounts of DNA from Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece, but the 23andMe test does not.<br />
<br />
<br />
The region identified as Caucasus in the AncestryDNA test is covered by
the Middle Eastern region in 23andMe. Yet the 23andMe test showed up at 0% in
the Middle Eastern region.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The other discrepancy is that I
showed a positive result for East Asian DNA in the 23andMe test, specifically in the Yakut region.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Yakut are indigenous people that live in Siberia, in eastern
Russia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reports from 23andMe suggest
that the Yakut DNA entered my family relatively recently; and that specifically
someone born during the 1700s was 100% Yakut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what is going on here? Why does one test indicate I am
partially West Asian while another indicates I am partially East Asian?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s tempting to suggest that one of the
samples was wrong or contaminated, but both tests matched me with known
relatives and the AncestryDNA test also showed the five other cousins with a
similar amount of Caucasus DNA.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In reality, the different results suggest that the two
different companies use different methods/processes and that the whole thing is
a fairly inexact science and should be “taken with a grain of salt”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Essentially, each company's method of predicting ethnic origin really just depends on the size and accuracy of the reference dataset that they use to compare your DNA to (and an assumption that DNA of people with the same ethnic origin will look the same). In this case, AncestryDNA has a dataset specific to the Caucasus, whereas 23andMe does not; which seems to suggests that the AncestryDNA result is more specific and thus more accurate. To that end, an employee of 23andMe even responded to a user's question about DNA results for Armenians and said that without a dataset for the Caucasus, the results of people from there would probably not be accurate and would instead probably show up as European, rather than Middle Eastern. (In addition, 23andMe has a dataset specific to Yakut, whereas AncestryDNA does not; which might explain why I show results there in one test and not in the other.) </span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">To boil it down, your genes themselves don't identify where your ancestors came from. Instead, your DNA is just compared to other DNA samples and those comparisons are used to <i>guess</i> where your ancestors might have come from. </span><br />
<br /></div>
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">This process overall has been educational for me, as I learned that the way we inherit our genes is random and does not necessarily match our biological ancestry. In particular, the genes we inherit from our ancestors are not evenly distributed. This means that in a particular generation, we probably have zero genes from some of our biological ancestors and a larger amount of genes from others. So by default, it's likely that your DNA will <b>not</b> match your biological family tree. </span><br />
<br />
Regardless, both test results are similar overall and they mostly agree with my own research. They also both seem to agree that I
had some Asian ancestors in the relatively recent past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And those results seem to match with photographic and oral history evidence that my family contained some non-white ancestry. </span>And based on the reasons highlighted in this
article, those genes (whatever the ethnic origin) were probably in the
ancestry of my great-great-grandmother Josephine Martin, specifically through her mother Harriet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
<hr />
<h3>
A New Theory - Cherokee</h3>
<br />
While doing research on this issue, I came across theories from a distant cousin in the Crobarger line who hypothesized that our family included either Cherokee or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melungeon">Melungeon</a> ancestors (based on appearance, timeline, and geographic location). When briefly looking into this possibility, I stumbled across something that is actually quite fascinating. Apparently a few genetic studies have found that the DNA of certain Cherokee Indians is most similar to people from the Middle East and has little in common with other Native Americans of East Asian descent. As far as I know, all of these tests have been of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of people with a documented maternal line descent from Cherokee tribal members in North Carolina. The haplogroups resulting from these tests are by-and-large common in people from the Middle East or neighboring areas like southern Europe and north Africa, and are <b>not</b> found in indigenous people in the Americas or East Asia.<br />
<br />
These findings also seem to agree with the claims of some historians, that the culture and language of the Cherokee tribe was considerably different from other tribes in the southeast United States and that there is no historical evidence of the tribe before the early 1700s (even though there is documentation of <i>other </i>tribes much earlier than that). As far as I know, nobody knows why or how that is the case. Many historians though think that the Cherokees actually originated in the Great Lakes region and migrated to traditional Cherokee territories relatively recently. That might explain the historical and cultural discrepancies, but does not explain the DNA evidence. Various theories though have been proposed, and as far as I can tell, they fit into four main groups:<br />
<br />
1. The Cherokee tribe does not actually have an ancient history in North America, and instead they are descendants of Jewish emigrants and other marginal ethnic groups who moved to North America in the 1600s. Over time, these settlers merged with other groups, including some local Native Americans and eventually gained a tribal identity as Cherokees. <br />
2. The ancestors of the Cherokee tribe moved to the New World from the Mediterranean/Middle East in a previously unknown Atlantic Ocean crossing, sometime before Christopher Columbus. Some people even think that there is a biblical explanation, and that the Cherokees are one of the Lost Tribes of Israel.<br />
3. The DNA testing "proving" that Cherokees have Middle Eastern ancestry is bogus, and the Cherokees' ancestors have been in the Americas for thousands of years, just like all of the other Native American tribes.<br />
4. The existence of Middle Eastern DNA says nothing about the tribe's ancient history, and is only evidence of a high degree of admixture (interbreeding) with other groups of people. <br />
<br />
I am not interested in getting embroiled in this controversial issue. But, if Cherokee DNA <i>does</i> sometimes show up as Middle Eastern, it would potentially solve the riddle posed by this article and would explain why some of the DNA of myself and five cousins is similar to people from the Caucasus (at least according to AncestryDNA). If one accepts this Cherokee ancestry, it makes much more sense historically than either Caucasus or Yakut. As referenced in the article above, my non-European ancestry likely came from my great-great-great-grandmother Harriet Crobarger - which means it probably entered the family in northeast Tennessee or southwest Virginia; in the late 1700s or early 1800s. This was exactly where Cherokee people were living and was during a time of increased interaction between Cherokees and European-American settlers.<br />
<br />
All of this considered, my current theory is that my great-great-great-great-grandfather (unidentified father of Harriet Crobarger) was a Cherokee Indian. He was probably born in southwest Virginia, in the second half of the 1700s, and also lived in Tennessee as an adult. He had a relationship with a German-American woman named Catherine Crobarger, by whom he had four children. The inference from surviving records is that they moved frequently during their relationship and were apparently not married, it probably not being legal to do so. The Cherokee people had a matriarchal society, in which clan identity was passed through the mother. This might also explain why their four children all used their mother's last name - Crobarger - as their own, even if the parents were married. In addition the children were all given "White" names (George, Susannah, Francis and Harriet) and they all identified as White in adulthood. <br />
<br />
If this theory is true, then my great-great-grandmother Josephine Martin (primary subject of this article) was one-quarter Cherokee. (And would also mean that I am 1/64th Cherokee.) And if we have identified these ancestors as Cherokee, it opens up another can of words - genetically, who were the Cherokees? <br />
<br />
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At the end of the day, I’ll probably never know anything
more about these unknown people; but the process of trying to find answers is
fun and rewarding and helps me to learn more about people I am more closely
related to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And regardless of the accuracy of the tests, the whole thing is rather irrelevant anyway as humans are genetically quite similar. And to me, the history of humanity is really a history of migration; humans have been moving around for thousands of years!</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xBobtXY6vE4/WbrfvOk5u_I/AAAAAAAAArA/x41NgSIMMV4-xO5O30qfDV-ivv2I4yHbACLcBGAs/s1600/dnacomparisons.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="252" data-original-width="977" height="164" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xBobtXY6vE4/WbrfvOk5u_I/AAAAAAAAArA/x41NgSIMMV4-xO5O30qfDV-ivv2I4yHbACLcBGAs/s640/dnacomparisons.PNG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In addition to AncestryDNA and 23andMe, I also had my DNA sample run through two other prominent companies' autosomal ethnicity prediction services. This table shows my own research compared to my estimated genetic makeup from four different companies.<br />
<br />
Check out this recent <a href="https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-dna-ancestry-testing-kit/">Wire Cutter article</a> which rated AncestryDNA as the best DNA testing service, in part because they use the largest database of samples. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<blockquote>
<table border="1"><tbody>
<tr><td>The tests described above were all autosomal DNA tests, which have their limitations. There are a couple of other tests that are perhaps more accurate or specific, but are limited in different ways. The Y-DNA test will test your Y-chromosome (males only) to determine your paternal haplogroup. That is pretty accurate, but it only tests your direct paternal line (father, his father, his father, his father, etc.). The mtDNA test will test your mitochondrial DNA - which everyone has - but is only passed down in the direct maternal line (mother, her mother, her mother, her mother etc.). Both of these tests can provide clues to your origins, but only for a very small portion of your ancestry. In this case, neither my direct paternal or maternal lines contained the ancestry described in this article, so those tests are not relevant. <br />
<br />
My paternal haplogroup (Y-DNA) is I-L161.1, which is relatively rare, but is found throughout Europe. However, it is most common in the British Isles and one theory is that the I-L161.1 haplogroup members were among the earliest settlers of Britain. They would have predated most colonizers, including the Celtics, the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons, and the Vikings, and probably would have been around for the construction of Stonehenge. Apparently, members of this haplogroup were more likely to have survived
in the peripheries of Britain - like western England, Ireland and
Scotland - after being pushed out or repopulated by the centuries of conquest by
various other groups. This haplogroup identification definitely fits with my documented family tree that my oldest known paternal-line ancestor was John Wadleigh, who was born in about 1600 in southwest England. <br />
<br />
My maternal haplogroup (mtDNA) is V9. Like my paternal haplogroup, this one is also relatively rare, but is found throughout Europe. Apparently it is most common in northern Europe and Scandinavia. This fits with my documented family tree; my earliest known maternal line ancestor was Elisabeth Voss, who was born in about 1750 in northern Germany, near the border with Denmark. </td></tr>
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--><br />Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-81837109187732114412017-03-03T17:03:00.000-08:002017-03-07T21:39:51.067-08:00Earthquake SurvivalAs a Seattle-area native, I have been hearing my whole life about the risks of earthquakes in this area - talk about earthquakes and earthquake drills have become second nature to me. I can remember experiencing three significant earthquakes, including the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Nisqually_earthquake">2001 Nisqually Earthquake</a> (when I was sitting in my high school classroom). I can also remember stories from my grandmother of the <a href="http://www.historylink.org/File/2063">1949 earthquake</a>, in which waves were smashing against the windows of her office building on Lake Washington; and my mom in the <a href="http://www.historylink.org/File/1986">1965 earthquake</a>, when she had to duck from bricks falling off chimneys as she was walking home from school. For me then, earthquakes are relatively minor (no significant damage and nobody hurt or dead) and kind of exciting. However, the fear of a severe earthquake is all too real. Scientists have been saying for many years that we are long overdue for (or at least could be hit any day by) "the big one". This concept was echoed in a widely-read 2015 New Yorker article, <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one">The Really Big One</a>, which predicts complete devastation of western Washington.<br />
<br />
The subject of this post is a real-life disaster that may be similar to whenever the big one does decide to hit Seattle. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_San_Francisco_earthquake">1906 San Francisco Earthquake</a> was one of the worst natural disasters in American history. As a result of the (approximately) 7.8 magnitude earthquake: 3,000 people were killed; over 220,000 people became homeless; 80% of the city was destroyed and the cost to restore was approximately 10 billion dollars (estimate of the actual cost in 2015 dollars). In spite of the tragedy, the aftermath of that event is uplifting: people (citizens, companies, governments) came together to care for the wounded and homeless and quickly rebuild the city. In nine short years, San Francisco celebrated its complete recovery at the Pan-Pacific Exposition in 1915.<br />
<br />
This blog explores the earthquake and its recovery through the lens of the experience of my great-grandfather's sister, Ada Jones, who survived the disaster and was a part of the city's recovery.<br />
<br />
<br />
<hr />
<strong>Ada Jones</strong>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a0RD2qe74dU/WLhRkYZ3Z-I/AAAAAAAAAkQ/SwDVmwdm6WQecwUmQUn4th0thQOwbYchACLcB/s1600/ada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a0RD2qe74dU/WLhRkYZ3Z-I/AAAAAAAAAkQ/SwDVmwdm6WQecwUmQUn4th0thQOwbYchACLcB/s400/ada.jpg" width="254" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ada Plymale Jones, c. 1909</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Ada Plymale Jones was born and raised in southern Oregon, one of the oldest siblings of my great-grandfather <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/plymale.html#benjaminh">Ben Plymale</a>. She married at 19 and had a happy, but brief, married life. She moved with her husband to the Bay Area of California in 1896. Sadly, tragedies struck her family. Both of her children died in childhood and her husband died suddenly in 1900, at the age of 35. Ada was left in a difficult situation. At 34, her entire family was dead and she had nothing to do but go back to work and support herself. Although she had worked for newspapers in her youth, she decided to go into a field that was popular with women: stenography.<br />
<br />
At the time of the 1906 earthquake, Ada was living by herself in an apartment in nearby Oakland, California. She was working as a stenographer for the Fulton Iron Works in their office in downtown San Francisco. Ada was at work in San Francisco at the time the earthquake hit during the morning of April 18, 1906.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<hr />
<strong>The Earthquake</strong><br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W3y_wQQoLXk/WLhU7m_U47I/AAAAAAAAAkg/9cGJFCREeWk7jtj0ptw28ZXflrZfdVEHACLcB/s1600/3rd%2Band%2BHoward.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W3y_wQQoLXk/WLhU7m_U47I/AAAAAAAAAkg/9cGJFCREeWk7jtj0ptw28ZXflrZfdVEHACLcB/s400/3rd%2Band%2BHoward.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3rd and Howard in San Francisco. This was just two blocks <br />
from Ada's office - Fulton Iron Works - where she was at the<br />
time of the quake and which was also destroyed in the disaster<br />
Courtesy California Historical Society</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="border-image: none;">
Prior to the major 1906 earthquake, there were decades of minor earthquakes that served as precursors to the big one. The big earthquake hit on the morning of April 18, 1906; the epicenter was just offshore, west from San Francisco. The earthquake lasted about 42 seconds and estimates range from 7.7 to 8.3 magnitude on the Richter scale. </div>
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</div>
<div style="border-image: none;">
Many buildings were destroyed during the initial quake. However, most of the destruction occurred as a result of widespread fires in the city. The fires burned out of control because of ruptured gas mains and an inability to fight the fires because the city's water system was also destroyed. The fires burned out of control for four days. At that point, 80% of the city was destroyed. In addition to the hardships to its inhabitants, this was also crippling to the economy because San Francisco was then the largest city and port on the west coast. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JiKKU7HPEKc/WLoCNU77rNI/AAAAAAAAAlk/dvqBKz4ov4El2vwy8Bv-U0VUxR7LutI5ACLcB/s1600/earthquake.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JiKKU7HPEKc/WLoCNU77rNI/AAAAAAAAAlk/dvqBKz4ov4El2vwy8Bv-U0VUxR7LutI5ACLcB/s320/earthquake.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front page of the Oakland Tribune newspaper, April 18, 1906</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="border-image: none;">
</div>
<div style="border-image: none;">
At the time, my great-grandfather on my other side of the family (Odin Wadleigh) was a 17-year old high school student in upstate New York. He wrote the following entry in his diary on April 18, 1906: "There was a terrible earthquake in San Francisco this A.M. It killed 3,000 persons and destroyed many buildings. Fire broke out and because the water works + water pipes were destroyed could not be stopped. They are having an awful time. We do not know all about it yet." And the next day he wrote: "We hear more about San Francisco. The earthquake has ceased but fire is raging every where and can not be stopped. The whole city will probably be destroyed."</div>
<br />
<br />
<hr />
<strong>Aftermath</strong><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h-MZKEZrrgI/WLhZuTYQOpI/AAAAAAAAAlE/Y4WpHcHAAwUECNJUweS4K3c4Gnpw7OeGgCEw/s1600/hb2s2005xq-FID4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h-MZKEZrrgI/WLhZuTYQOpI/AAAAAAAAAlE/Y4WpHcHAAwUECNJUweS4K3c4Gnpw7OeGgCEw/s400/hb2s2005xq-FID4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a scene from one of the refugee camps at the Presidio, where <br />
Ada lived for three weeks after the earthquake<br />
Courtesy California Historical Society</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="border-image: none;">
When the earthquake hit, Ada was at work in her office at Howard and Fremont. She managed to escape unharmed even though her office building was destroyed. In addition, her home in Oakland was also destroyed and all of her possessions were lost. This was probably a terrifying time; it would have been difficult to find food or water and in the immediate aftermath there were many riots and looting and the mayor gave an order for military and law enforcement to "shoot to kill" anyone engaging in those activities. Somehow, Ada navigated her way through the rubble of city to the Presidio, where she assembled with other survivors. For the next three weeks, Ada lived as a homeless refugee on the grounds of the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/prsf/learn/historyculture/1906-earthquake-relief-efforts.htm">Presidio</a> - where she probably lived in a shared tent and received food and water supplied by the US military. </div>
<br />
Six days after the disaster, Ada was finally able to notify her family in Oregon that she was alive and safe. Three weeks later, she was eventually able to evacuate out of the city and went to Medford, Oregon to stay with her sister. Others were not so lucky, especially if they did not have relatives they could stay with or money they could access (most banks were not able to disperse money because their funds were still locked in fire-proof vaults that had to completely cool before opening). Somewhere between 220,000 and 300,000 people were made homeless as a result of the tragedy and two years later, many refugees were still living in camps in the city. A majority of the homeless population though evacuated out of the city and fled as refugees to other cities (most to San Jose and Los Angeles) where they were supported in camps similar to those in San Francisco. <br />
<br />
In spite of the magnitude of destruction, the city was relatively efficient at supporting the refugees and rebuilding the city. At the time, many government officials downplayed the extent of the disaster - with the intent of appealing to potential investors, which seems to have been successful. Many insurance companies went bankrupt as a result of payouts from the disaster (mostly due to fire claims, earthquake damage was - and still is - not covered by most insurance policies). The disaster also received worldwide attention and the effort was also aided by relief support from around the world - and received funds from the federal US government, from foreign governments and from private companies and individuals. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1g5zMDN-RDc/WLhlI10Y3LI/AAAAAAAAAlM/AribX2Cp5lwyyVhkDb9j0GmXFZoFKz5_QCLcB/s1600/adacjones.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1g5zMDN-RDc/WLhlI10Y3LI/AAAAAAAAAlM/AribX2Cp5lwyyVhkDb9j0GmXFZoFKz5_QCLcB/s320/adacjones.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Short newspaper article about Ada in the <br />
<em>Medford Mail Tribune</em>, May 18, 1906</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="border-image: none;">
After spending about a month with her sister, Ada realized that she needed to find a job and a place to live. During the summer of 1906, she briefly moved to Grants Pass, Oregon and then to Roseburg, Oregon; where she accepted temporary work. Then in August 1906, she moved by herself to Seattle, where she had finally found a permanent job. In Seattle, she worked for the Caldwell Brothers Company, which manufactured and sold machinery - including urban water systems - perhaps they helped with the reconstruction effort in San Francisco. (Her office was in Pioneer Square, across the street from where I currently work). <br />
<br />
She lived in Seattle for four months until she heard from her old employer - Fulton Iron Works - in San Francisco. They were rebuilding their company and wanted her to come back to her old job to be a part of the effort. In December 1906, after being away for 7 months, Ada moved back to San Francisco. She moved downtown to an apartment at Haight and Buchanan that had probably just been built. She continued working as a stenographer for the Fulton Iron Works, which as an iron supplier and manufacturer was probably heavily involved in the reconstruction efforts. It must have been exciting to have been living and working among those that were rebuilding the city. </div>
<br />
<div style="border-image: none;">
Ada continued living in the city until she died there in 1933. </div>
<div style="border-image: none;">
<br />
What I appreciate about history are the very important lessons we can learn from those who have come before us. In this case, the threat of a similarly destructive earthquake is quite real. Everyone who could be effected by one (from individuals to corporations and governments) should take the risks seriously and have a plan not just for surviving the disaster but for surviving and rebuilding in the subsequent weeks, months or years. Ada's example is one for the average person to emulate. She survived the disaster, fled to the correct or safe location for refugees, evacuated out of the city as soon as she could, found her support network and quickly set about pulling herself "up by her bootstraps" and finding work. And instead of abandoning her city, she came back and was a part of its rebuilding effort. </div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-74007889135395072012017-02-14T16:51:00.000-08:002017-02-21T06:59:37.449-08:00Seduction and Founding of the Mormon ChurchOn this Valentine's Day, I thought it fitting to write a post that is - sort of - about love. This explores a simple act of sexual seduction that apparently occurred almost 200 years ago in Pennsylvania. However, as we will see, it directly involved my family as well as the founding of the Mormon Church. In 1829, Joseph Smith (the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) supposedly seduced Eliza Winters, who was the teenage half-sister of my great-great-great-great-grandfather Joseph Winters. Eliza also happened to be his wife's friend and a close relative by marriage. This happened exactly when Joseph was in the process of writing the Book of Mormon and founding the new church. The supposed act likely had an effect in shaping his views on polygamy, Mormon doctrine and the reputation of Mormons in general.<br />
<br />
Although much of the below narrative is conjecture, it also seems to shows historical precedent for the negative treatment (revictimization and character assassination) of female victims of sexual abuse by men in power, which unfortunately still happens to this day.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<u>Joseph Smith</u><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nw7YvmhrAYQ/WKOUx1fNBKI/AAAAAAAAAjs/-WEDJc9bAG4cdGc2ffXrwozPqArE-cXTACLcB/s1600/LeviLewis11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nw7YvmhrAYQ/WKOUx1fNBKI/AAAAAAAAAjs/-WEDJc9bAG4cdGc2ffXrwozPqArE-cXTACLcB/s320/LeviLewis11.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excerpt from 1834 book <u>Mormonism Unvailed</u>, which is <br />
the only direct evidence of the supposed scandal between<br />
Joseph Smith and Eliza Winters</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</h2>
<div style="border-image: none;">
<div style="border-image: none;">
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith">Joseph Smith</a> is well known as the founder of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latter_Day_Saint_movement">Latter Day Saint churches</a> (i.e. the Mormon Church) and was known as a prophet by his followers. During the 1820s though, Smith was relatively unknown; he claimed to have religious visions and supported himself by literally digging for treasure. <br />
<br />
In 1827, he was married to Emma Hale and moved with her to her hometown of Harmony, Pennsylvania. It was at that same time that Joseph retrieved the infamous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_plates">golden plates</a> and began transcribing them. The transcription process, which resulted in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Mormon">Book of Mormon</a>, took place between 1827 and 1830. Joseph was a close friend during this time with Martin Harris, who apparently helped him transcribe the plates. (Note that Martin Harris' wife Lucy Harris had a prominent role in songs about the history of Mormonism on the TV show South Park, in which she is lauded as "Lucy Harris, smart smart smart smart" for her skepticism of the whole thing. In reality, Lucy Harris soon separated from her husband because of their disagreements over Joseph Smith and the plates.)<br />
<br />
In May 1829, the Smith family moved away from Harmony. In 1830, the Mormon church was officially founded and a fascinating historical/religious movement began. Joseph had quite a colorful life until he was murdered in 1844. Later the Mormon movement was headed by Brigham Young and resulted in the founding of Salt Lake City and Utah.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="border-image: none;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<h2>
<u>Eliza Winters</u></h2>
<br />
In 1827, Eliza Winters was a 15-year old girl who lived with her mother and stepfather (Phebe and Joseph McKune) and siblings, in Harmony, Pennsylvania. She had recently moved to the area when her mother had remarried after her first husband, Eliza's father, had died. Eliza's ancestors were from New England (some of her ancestors were documented passengers on the Mayflower in 1620). At the time of the incident, Eliza's half-brother <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/winters.html#josephc">Joseph Winters</a> (my great-great-great-great-grandfather) was recently married and living in nearby Cannonsville, New York. <br />
<br />
Although the existing sources are far from definitive, it seems clear that <em>something</em> inappropriate happened between Joseph Smith and Eliza Winters. We do know that Eliza was the close friend of Joseph's wife Emma. Apparently Eliza "was often at Smith's home and much in Mrs. Smith's company. The young women were on very intimate terms, and very many times did Mrs. Smith tell her young friend about the finding of the "golden plates" or the "golden bible"" (3). At the time, Eliza's family were literally next-door neighbors of the Smiths (2). In addition to being a friend and neighbor, Eliza Winters was also related to them by marriage. Eliza's stepsister Nancy McKune was married to Emma's brother Isaac Hale. It was in this situation that Eliza was frequently in their house that Joseph "attempted" to seduce Eliza Winters. Apparently, Levi Lewis (Emma's cousin) was close to Joseph Smith and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Harris_(Latter_Day_Saints)">Martin Harris</a>. He said that he overheard Smith and Harris talking about trying to seduce Eliza Winters in which they also said that "adultery was no crime" and that Harris specifically said he "did not blame" Joseph for trying to seduce her. Levi made this allegation which appeared in a newspaper article and a book against Mormonism in 1834 (1). Note that Eliza was also related to Levi Lewis: his sister was married to Eliza's stepbrother.<br />
<br />
The inference is that Joseph Smith made inappropriate sexual advances to Eliza Winters, but that "nothing happened". The date of the incident(s) in question is unknown, but would have occurred sometime between 1827 and 1829 (when Eliza was between 15 and 17). The best guess is that the incident occurred in early 1829, when the Smith family moved away. Regardless of what happened, Eliza was frequently in the Smith household (along with vocal critic Lucy Harris) and would have been an indirect witness to Smith writing the Book of Mormon and establishing the church. <br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<u>Aftermath - Smith</u></h2>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/EmmaHSmith3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/EmmaHSmith3.jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma Hale Smith - the wife of Joseph Smith <br />
and apparently the close personal friend of Eliza <br />
Winters. She apparently did not know about or <br />
approve of her husband's sexual behavior or <br />
polygamy - after his death she became an anti-polygamy<br />
activist in the Mormon church</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="border-image: none;">
Although the 1829 incident might have been unremarkable or innocent, it appeared to establish a pattern. Based on this and later accusations, Joseph Smith might have been something of a sexual predator. Eliza's story was the first in a series of 12 known (but unproven) allegations of sexual misconduct between 1829 and 1841 by Joseph Smith against various young women that lived in towns where he lived and preached. </div>
<br />
It is also interesting that the Mormon church's views about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormonism_and_polygamy">polygamy</a> were developing at the same time that Joseph was engaging in apparent inappropriate sexual activity with other women. Joseph had been married since 1827, but had apparently began teaching a polygamy doctrine by 1831 and eventually became a polygamist himself. According to some sources, Joseph had at least 27 wives during his lifetime, in addition to his legal wife Emma.<br />
<br />
After his death, the leaders of the Mormon Church used evidence of Smith's polygamy to establish the practice officially as part of church doctrine. Interestingly though, Joseph's own family (his first wife and his son) refuted the claims that he was a polygamist and were publicly against the practice for the duration of their lives.<br />
<br />
Since Eliza Winters was possibly the first known recipient of Joseph's supposed extramarital sexual advances, perhaps his experience with her was what whetted his appetite enough to seek out adulterous relationships with other women and eventually establish a church that accepted the practice of polygamy.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<u>Aftermath - Winters</u></h2>
<br />
Eliza Winters continued living with her family in Harmony, Pennsylvania. In 1838, Eliza served as a witness when her stepfather wrote his will; she was then one of the only children still left in the home. Sometime between 1838 and 1840, she was married and lived in the area until her death in 1899 at the age of 87 (4). It is quite interesting that (much like the other allegations against Smith) the Eliza Winters-Joseph Smith scandal has been dismissed by many Mormon historians based on lack of evidence and the suggestion that Eliza Winters was a promiscuous girl with low morals and because she was apparently silent on the subject. Many have dismissed the allegation entirely as propaganda meant to disparage the reputation of Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church. However, just because the evidence is inconclusive - there is nothing to suggest that it did <em>not</em> happen. Why would she have been specifically named by a third party relative in an allegation against Smith if there was not some basis to the claim? <br />
<br />
In 1832, Martin Harris (the same man apparently overheard talking with Joseph Smith about trying to seduce Eliza) publicly accused Eliza of having an illegitimate child. Eliza responded by suing Harris for slander because his words "render her infamous and scandalous among her neighbors", but she lost the case (5). During the court proceedings (against Harris), Eliza made no mention of the seduction attempt by Joseph Smith. This has led many to conclude that the seduction attempt by Smith didn't happen because she didn't mention it (<em>even though it would have been irrelevant to the slander case against Harris</em>). It is possible that Eliza did have an illegitimate child, but it is also quite possible that (regardless of whether it was true or not) the "bastard child" allegation was an intentional attempt by Harris and Smith to damage her reputation and thus credibility. It's worth noting that at the time, Joseph Smith was subject to a variety of unrelated criminal charges and was increasingly in the public eye; and it would have been in their best interest to remove character witnesses that could be used against him. <br />
<br />
Decades later, Eliza was interviewed with Sallie McKune (her step-brother's widow) by a reporter to gather derogatory statements against Joseph Smith (and the Mormon Church) by people who had known him in his youth. During the interview, they were both quoted as saying "Joe Smith never made a convert at Susquehanna, and also that his father-in-law became so incensed by his conduct that he threatened to shoot him if he ever returned" (2), but apparently made no reference to any sexual misconduct or seduction attempt. Again, this omission has been used by historians as evidence that the scandal never happened. But perhaps Eliza had learned the "lesson" she had been taught years earlier by Martin Harris, and didn't want to damage her reputation by bringing up the sordid past - especially if she was a willing participant in the event <em>and</em> if she was in the interview with her sister-in-law. (And as described below under sources, above is the <em>only</em> known statement that Eliza made during her interview.)<br />
<br />
It is interesting that even today, historians are not in agreement on this incident and Joseph Smith still has many apologists. One such <a href="http://en.fairmormon.org/Polygamy_book/Early_womanizer">recent writer</a> wrote that Eliza lost her 1832 slander lawsuit "likely because she had no good character to sully" and that "it seems far more likely that Eliza was known for her low morals." (He basing this off no more evidence described above and the fact that she lost her slander lawsuit. To me, it's not surprising that she lost her case. The court system - especially 184 years ago - would <em>not</em> have necessarily been on the side of a 20-year old single woman suing a 50-year old wealthy, well-respected man. The only other known record which speaks to Eliza's character or conduct is her 1899 obituary which simply stated that she was "well known and highly esteemed" (4).) It's also interesting to note that when Eliza married in her late 20's, she was considerably older than any of her 6 sisters were when they married. Perhaps she did have a damaged reputation that made it more difficult to find a husband (she eventually married the brother of her sister's husband) or perhaps she was just simply more independent. Being a middle child in a very large family (she had 7 full siblings, 4 half siblings and 8 step siblings) it would have been understandable if she was a little rebellious or independent. <br />
<br />
My Winters family lived in New York and apparently did not have much contact with their relatives in Pennsylvania - including Eliza Winters. The story of the Joseph Smith scandal had not been passed down in the Winters family. To me, that suggests that the story is plausible - if indeed Eliza Winters was involved in the scandal, it would have been damaging to her reputation (and to her family) to even talk about it. <br />
<br />
Sources:<br />
<br />
1. Affidavit of Levi Lewis, March 20, 1834, which appeared in: 1) <em>Susquehanna Register and Northern Pennsylvanian</em>, May 1, 1834 and 2) Howe, Eber D. <u>Mormonism Unvailed: Or, A Faithful Account of That Singular Imposition and Delusion From Its Rise to the Present Time</u>. Painesville, OH; 1834. <br />
<br />
2. Article "The Early Mormons" in <em>Broome Republican</em>, Binghamton, New York, July 28, 1880. [This is what other sources refer to as the interview in which Eliza does not mention the seduction attempt. However, the source is only a newspaper article which briefly mentions that Eliza was present at an interview with Sallie McKune (her sister-in-law) and that she corroborated a brief statement by made by Sallie. It is far from a transcription of an interview with Eliza.]<br />
<br />
3. Stocker, Rhamathus M. <u>Centennial History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania.</u> Philadelphia, R.T. Peck & Co., 1887.<br />
<br />
4. Obituary of Eliza Squires, <em>Tri-Weekly Journal</em>, May 2, 1899<br />
<br />
5. Case file (slander) of Eliza Winters vs. Martin Harris, Court of Common Pleas, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, 1833. "Harris, M."Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-39679727792971481092016-11-02T07:23:00.000-07:002016-11-16T07:28:40.773-08:00National Security Violations, Murder Cover-Ups, Secret Families and Corruption<span style="font-family: "calibri";">If someone mentions genealogy, you probably imagine a family tree filled with the names of people who lived hundreds of years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me though, genealogy is story-gathering and detective work - it is the compilation of qualitative information about peoples' lives, rather than just names and dates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every person has a story and all of them are
interesting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
like to uncover the truth, which is sometimes sensitive and unsavory. Everything
about our ancestors – the good and the bad – has shaped who we are today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their stories deserve to be heard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gipP9vM9oWw/WBkEE6javzI/AAAAAAAAAh4/1Y2x7SZ9Zl0a6lPD5T6aF3ipI1fDuKS8gCLcB/s1600/BenT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gipP9vM9oWw/WBkEE6javzI/AAAAAAAAAh4/1Y2x7SZ9Zl0a6lPD5T6aF3ipI1fDuKS8gCLcB/s320/BenT.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben Plymale <br />
official Boeing portrait, early 1960s</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">My maternal grandfather – Ben Plymale – was a fascinating
man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He died before I was born, so I
never got to meet him myself or hear his stories first-hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, my family did talk about him and I
listened when they were talking – he was brilliant and successful and also a
little eccentric and abrasive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Years
ago, when I began looking into my family history I began asking questions and
doing my own research.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realized that
there was much more to my grandfather’s story than I had ever heard – some of
it was purposefully not discussed by my family but much of it was information that
nobody even knew about.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In many ways, my grandfather’s life was typical or
unremarkable – he had a wholesome upbringing, he was a WWII veteran, he went to
college, regularly attended church, had a family, had friends, was financially
successful, had a 30-year career with Boeing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was his career with Boeing though that brought about most of the
events that will be discussed in this post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His brilliance and aptitude allowed him to advance steadily in the
company; he was a low-level executive by the 1960s and a vice president by the
1970s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also his rise in ranks in
the company and specialization in defense systems (specifically ballistic
missiles) that allowed him to be highly involved with something he was
passionate about: politics and the Republican Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had a position as a deputy secretary of
defense in the Pentagon under Richard Nixon and remained active in Boeing-US
government relations throughout the 1970s. His ultimate achievement occurred
when he was hired by Ronald Reagan during his campaign for
president in 1980 and worked for him into 1981.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was while working on Reagan’s team that he wrote Reagan’s original
defense spending budget.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of his technical
and political expertise and level of involvement with defense spending planning,
my grandfather was indirectly responsible for much of the US
military-industrial complex that happened during the 1970s and 1980s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That in itself is a little mind-blowing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(During the Reagan presidency, the US was
apparently spending more than $30 million dollars <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">an hour</i> on defense.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It was during my grandfather’s time as a Boeing executive
and Pentagon official that he also became involved with several scandals
including: having a secret family, (supposedly) helping to cover up a murder
and being involved with a national security breach by stealing a top-secret Pentagon
record intended for the President and destroying evidence and impeding official
investigations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps there was even
more that we will never know about.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<hr />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">Background</span><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q1pSspL4e34/WBihBqrtYRI/AAAAAAAAAhI/NHDhmwDbxhUh2RPCl70ALrdpy6xmDUU0gCLcB/s1600/Plymales_1950_sixmonths.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q1pSspL4e34/WBihBqrtYRI/AAAAAAAAAhI/NHDhmwDbxhUh2RPCl70ALrdpy6xmDUU0gCLcB/s400/Plymales_1950_sixmonths.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben with my grandmother and their first child, 1950</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Ben Plymale was born in 1926 in Oregon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His father died when he was a baby, and his
mother raised him and his sister by herself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As a result of his upbringing, Ben apparently had a somewhat lonely and
independent childhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many have
speculated that this brought about much of his later behavior – including his
sometimes rough, sarcastic and abrasive behavior towards others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a gifted child: was in the Boy Scouts,
took piano lessons, and excelled in school; winning awards for perfect
attendance, penmanship and fingerprinting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was also a curious and gifted child – he liked to take apart
electrical objects just so that he could see how they work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was during his youth though that he
exhibited some of his future tendencies to do whatever he wanted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In high school, he was enrolled in an ROTC
program, but was kicked out because of a cheating scandal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also frequently got in trouble as a youth
for petty crimes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">After high school, he entered the Navy at the tail end of
World War II and served for 2 years, and was primarily stationed on Guam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He returned to Oregon and attended the
University of Portland where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Physics
and Mathematics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The same month, he
married my grandmother and they moved to Seattle where he began attending
graduate school at the University of Washington.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1950, he quit graduate school to accept
a job offer working as an engineer for Boeing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was during his first ten years with Boeing that he helped to develop
the Minuteman missile program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Ben was a brilliant engineer and “a pioneer in radar,
missile guidance and multiple war-head technology” and frequently authored technical
works about the subject.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> His first research paper ("Nutation of a Free Gyro Subjected to an Impulse") was published in 1955. </span>Apparently fellow
executives “turned to him for advice on budgets and research, praising him as
Boeing’s resident Buddha of strategic thinking.” He “could cut through
technical bullshit in a matter of seconds.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His aptitude and reputation enabled his meteoric rise to power within
Boeing.</span><br />
<hr />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">Secret Family</span><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In the mid-1960s, my grandparents had been married for over
15 years and had a family of four children and lived together in a house in the
Mount Baker neighborhood in Seattle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They had known each other since high school and apparently had a relatively
happy marriage. They had also helped support each other through difficult
times, including the death of two children as babies and financial strain in
the early years of marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
during the 1960s though that Ben began to stray from the marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a manager at Boeing, Ben had his own
secretary and soon began to have an affair with her – a young woman who I will
call “Margaret”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things became more
complicated though when she got pregnant, in early 1964.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their daughter was born in October 1964.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jVfqVvK0UyE/WBicXvw2atI/AAAAAAAAAgk/BZARyHeWVEMdrvsXgYoLCwssvG-pfn3-wCLcB/s1600/SeattleTimes-1-8-1966.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jVfqVvK0UyE/WBicXvw2atI/AAAAAAAAAgk/BZARyHeWVEMdrvsXgYoLCwssvG-pfn3-wCLcB/s320/SeattleTimes-1-8-1966.JPG" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">newspaper article about the car accident that brought <br />
Ben's secret family out into the open, January 1966</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Because of her pregnancy, Margaret quit her job at Boeing.
Ben began supporting her
and the child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to her, she had
no idea he was married [although I don’t know how that’s possible] and
considered herself his wife in all but name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because he was gone so often for his job, he was able to keep his
two families secret from one another, and spent time with both of
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My grandmother and my mom and her
siblings had no idea that anything was going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Meanwhile, after Margaret quit her job as his secretary, Ben
began having an affair with her replacement – Susan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coincidentally, Susan and Margaret knew each
other – they had grown up together in a small town in Montana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow though, he was able to
compartmentalize his life and was able to keep his wife and two girlfriends
secret from each other – for a little while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then the s**t hit the fan in January 1966.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ben and Susan attended a late night party
together and decided to drive home after perhaps having a little too much to
drink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were in a serious car accident
late that night on January 8, 1966.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily,
nobody was seriously injured but they were both hospitalized and an article about the
escapade somehow made the newspaper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It was as a result of the car accident that all three women
found out about each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story is
that the EMTs and the hospitals assumed that Susan was his wife, and was thus
Mrs. Plymale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When my grandmother and
Margaret were informed of the accident, they both rushed to the hospital and
both introduced themselves as Mrs. Plymale [Margaret considered herself his
wife]. After some confusion at the hospital, they all apparently found out what
was going on and my grandfather’s infidelities came out in the open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My heartbroken grandmother made the decision
to file for divorce – it was eventually finalized in January 1968. Ben decided to
marry his girlfriend from the car accident, Susan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He and Susan were married 6 days after his
divorce was finalized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They remained
married until his death.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Although my grandmother found out everything, they managed
to keep the secret family from their children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My mom and her siblings had no idea they had a half-sister until Ben
died and his obituary mentioned the other mystery child.</span><br />
<hr />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">Murder Cover-Up?</span><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WY0rn4O7Utk/WBicKs1-C-I/AAAAAAAAAgg/1kaeXyxvSLwGAx7QDtAjcHRAWLaRPD6qwCLcB/s1600/SeattleTimes-5-9-1968.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WY0rn4O7Utk/WBicKs1-C-I/AAAAAAAAAgg/1kaeXyxvSLwGAx7QDtAjcHRAWLaRPD6qwCLcB/s320/SeattleTimes-5-9-1968.JPG" width="181" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">newspaper article about the death<br />
of Mary Lou Paisley, May 1968</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Ben’s best friend was Melvyn Paisley, a colleague and fellow
executive at Boeing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the late 1960s,
Melvyn lived on a farm in Kent, Washington and was married to his second wife,
a younger woman named Mary Lou who enjoyed painting as a hobby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then on May 8, 1968, Mary Lou’s dead body was
discovered in their home in suspicious circumstances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was found in the bathroom, lying face
down and her head was surrounded by towels laced with carbon tetrachloride, a
toxic cleaning fluid that she used to clean her paint brushes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story that Melvyn gave was that she had
gotten drunk and she took sleeping pills the night before and then accidentally
asphyxiated herself with the cleaning fluid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There was a police investigation and an investigation by the
coroner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her death was officially ruled
an accident and the matter was officially dropped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Despite the cause of death ruling, the matter was not
dropped entirely; mostly because Mary Lou’s sister didn't believe the official version of events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It became clear that there was more to
the story, and the possibility of a cover-up and a murder became plausible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Twenty years later, when Melvyn
was being investigated for separate corruption charges while working in the
Pentagon, the case was reopened by King County.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It became clear that there were many inconsistencies and inaccuracies
with the autopsy report, including the fact that the report found no traces of alcohol or sleeping pills in her system and the fact that the coroner who
performed the report also worked for Boeing and somehow kept the report from
review by his boss, the head coroner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There was also the revelation that not long before her death, Mary Lou
had discovered or speculated that Melvyn was having an affair and had hired a private
investigator to follow her husband.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Seven
months later, Melvyn married the woman he was having an affair with.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Also damning was that – according to phone records – after
Melvyn discovered his wife’s body, the police was not the first number he
called.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first number he called was
his attorney and the second was his best friend, Ben Plymale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then that morning, my grandfather’s wife
Susan went over to their house to clean it before the county authorities
arrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Susan apparently cleaned or
threw away what the investigators assumed was vital evidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That afternoon the investigators also noted
that a fire was burning in the fireplace, which they remarked as unusual
because it was May and not cold outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The inference was that some evidence was probably incinerated in the
fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Although the investigation was reopened in 1988, no
additional charges were ever filed and Mary Lou’s death still remains
classified as an accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
given the circumstantial evidence, it is likely that there was more to the story. Was Mary Lou Paisley was murdered? If so, my grandfather and his wife were directly involved with covering up the
crime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interestingly, for decades after
the fact, the case of Mary Lou Paisley was used an example by the King County
Sheriff’s Office as an example of how <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i>
to investigate a crime scene.</span><br />
<hr />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">National Security Scandal</span><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KwmZ5h35Lfw/WBicu4uJOyI/AAAAAAAAAgo/8lyGgGV68w4KxTcg-t-7msF9SWOc_tKygCEw/s1600/SeattleTimes-3-8-1979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KwmZ5h35Lfw/WBicu4uJOyI/AAAAAAAAAgo/8lyGgGV68w4KxTcg-t-7msF9SWOc_tKygCEw/s400/SeattleTimes-3-8-1979.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">part of a 1979 newspaper article about the national security breach<br />
that Ben was involved in</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Ben Plymale was highly independent and often did exactly what he
wanted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had what others described as
a rather “cavalier view of the law”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This became more of an issue for him when his job became even more high
profile and he had access to more privileged information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ben worked in the Pentagon as a deputy
secretary of defense for strategic weapons from 1968 to 1972.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that ended, he returned to his Boeing
VP job in Seattle, but he retained his government contacts and sources, and his
top-secret security clearance at the Pentagon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He remained a political player and often served as Boeing’s liaison with
the US government as a sort of lobbyist/consultant and had “a reputation as an
ingenious salesman and consummate power broker in Washington, D.C.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was especially adept at getting
information from the Pentagon that could be used to Boeing’s advantage;
especially information about which programs were likely to fare best in the
Pentagon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had “unrestricted access to
the Pentagon’s innermost secrets, from confidential budget projections to
top-secret performance reports on specific weapons.” Eventually this is what
got him in trouble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In March 1978, Ben got his hands on a top-secret memo about US
missile operations that was intended for the President.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of the process to get the memo to Boeing
was transmitting it over a telephone fax line; which was especially dangerous
because apparently the Soviets were at the time routinely monitoring US
telephone lines to and from US-defense contractors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In this case, it was Ben’s own boastfulness that got him in
trouble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a meeting with a Pentagon
official who helped draft the memo, he discussed the memo in such great detail
that it immediately set off red flags.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An
investigation was opened and Ben and five others were investigated for the
national security breach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In addition to the breach itself, Ben and others were also
implicated in trying to cover up the crime and impede official
investigations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Specifically, Ben was
implicated in lying, destroying evidence, planting fake evidence, and not
cooperating with investigators.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Amazingly, there were no formal charges ever filed and nobody
was ever prosecuted for what was surely criminal activity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My grandfather though did lose his security clearance and was demoted
from his job at Boeing (although they eventually gave him his old job back and reinstated
his security clearance).</span><br />
<hr />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><u>Politics</u></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q5XydLiiTkA/WBier5gyafI/AAAAAAAAAgw/wvQ_VzHOVS89z4fJMhmZ2AMfM32bHfruwCEw/s1600/dicks-plymale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q5XydLiiTkA/WBier5gyafI/AAAAAAAAAgw/wvQ_VzHOVS89z4fJMhmZ2AMfM32bHfruwCEw/s400/dicks-plymale.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben (right) meeting with newly-elected Congressman Norm Dicks (left)<br />
and another Boeing executive (center), 1977</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Ben was a staunch Republican and remained involved with
Boeing-US relations, even after his security breach scandal in 1978.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In spite of his past, he remained a key nationwide
expert in strategic defense systems and many relied on his expertise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then after the presidential election of 1980,
Ben was hired by Ronald Reagan’s team to work on the transition team and later for
his administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was specifically
hired by Reagan to identify where additional defense dollars should go. According
to some, Reagan’s decision to hire my grandfather was a perfect example of many
of the ethical problems with the Reagan presidency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were also other examples of how my grandfather
was involved with corruption at Boeing and at the Pentagon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> For example</span>, in 1977 a former Boeing
employee came to Ben with evidence that other employees were using Boeing funds
for prostitution and other illegal activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ben purposefully turned a blind eye to this information, destroyed the
evidence given to him, and took no action to root out the corruption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">From 1980 to 1981, Ben took a leave from Boeing to work
on Reagan’s transition team as the deputy head at the Defense Department [Pentagon].<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His primary role during that time was as
co-chairman of Reagan's Defense Budget Committee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ben’s crowning achievement during that time was writing Reagan’s
original defense budget.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then in early
1981, to Ben’s disappointment, he was not chosen to continue serving on
Reagan’s administration and he returned home to Boeing where he was once again
appointed as a Boeing vice president.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
was in that role when he died several months later.</span><br />
<hr />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Careless Health and Dramatic Death</span></u></span><br />
<u><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><o:p></o:p></span></u><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Ben was something of a hedonist and did not take care of his
own health.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a notoriously heavy
drinker and a chain smoker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During his
DC days, he was often known for meeting colleagues for what he called a “gin
lunch”, when he would drink 4 or 5 glasses of gin before going back to his
office to work on some report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His habits
caught up with him as he suffered from a heart attack and contracted lung
cancer. Yet Ben was persistent and successful at most everything he did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He stopped drinking, started eating healthy
and began jogging regularly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
having one of his lungs removed, he had also beaten lung cancer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">One of Ben’s greatest passions was fishing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In August 1981, Ben went on a fishing trip to
rural British Columbia, Canada.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In true
form to his cavalier attitude towards life, he neglected to take his required
oxygen supplies with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His single lung began filling with fluid and he realized he was dying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a dramatic helicopter ride, he died on
the steps of the tiny hospital in Bella Bella, BC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was 55 years old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Some have speculated that if Ben had not died when he did, he
would have eventually wound up in prison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Later during the 1980s, much of the corruption in the Pentagon came to
light and many were eventually prosecuted – including his close friend and
coworker Melvyn Paisley who served 4 years in prison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">As mentioned above, Ben died before I was born, but my
family frequently talked about him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
family though did not know about or pay attention to the more notorious parts
of his life, instead focusing on him as a family man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In late 1989, when I was entering
kindergarten, my grandfather’s Boeing records were being subpoenaed and reviewed by a
federal grand jury investigation into Pentagon corruption.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Much of the above comes from the 1995 book <u>When the Pentagon Was For Sale</u> by Andy Pasztor, in which Ben features prominently. </span>Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-91031318079522906832016-04-28T09:50:00.001-07:002016-04-28T09:57:07.452-07:00Crazy Cat Lady<span style="font-family: "calibri";">As a cat owner, I get a lot of flack from other people - most of whom are dog owners. So when I found out about this particular person I am related to, I couldn't help but laugh. Doris Bryant was something of a (crazy) cat lady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps more than that though, she was THE
cat lady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I just happen to be
related to her. As a divorcée living in New York City, she was one of the world's leading cat experts in the mid-Twentieth Century. </span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m2Gne6KcNrI/VyDV41_rDaI/AAAAAAAAAd0/91ddIbfKOhoiIxuntYKt6rRSU9QYtGgHwCLcB/s1600/DorisBryant%25601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m2Gne6KcNrI/VyDV41_rDaI/AAAAAAAAAd0/91ddIbfKOhoiIxuntYKt6rRSU9QYtGgHwCLcB/s640/DorisBryant%25601.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doris from her 1915 yearbook at Franklin High School in Seattle. And one of her prize-winning Siamese cats, Mee Zee, from a 1932 newspaper article. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Doris was the second cousin of my maternal grandfather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Her grandmother, Lucinda Merriman Prather,
was the sister of my great-great-grandfather, <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/merriman.html#georgef">George Merriman</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doris was born in 1896 in Ohio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was raised in Montana. After her mother
died when she was 9, she moved to Seattle to live with relatives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She attended Annie Wright School in Tacoma
and then Franklin High School in Seattle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After high school, she continued living by herself in Seattle (she lived
in an apartment at Olive and Harvard on Capitol Hill) and worked as a
stenographer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually though, she grew
tired of Seattle and decided to move on to a bigger city. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In about 1920, Doris moved by herself to Manhattan, New
York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There, she married Willard
McHargue in 1921.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doris and Willard
lived together in Greenwich Village in Manhattan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout the 1920s, they were quite wealthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Willard was a vice president of an
advertising agency in New York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
during that time as a wealthy housewife that Doris became involved with her
hobby that developed into her passion: cats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She quickly became a breeder of
Siamese cats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">As Doris became more and more obsessed with her cats, she
realized that although there were plenty of dog toys and supplies, there were
none specifically for cats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So she set
about making her own cats toys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Eventually, there became a demand for her cat toys and she decided to
open a cat shop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was while this was
happening that the Stock Market Crash of 1929 hit and the Great Depression
began.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her husband quickly lost his lucrative
job and Doris’ cat shop began supporting their family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (In addition, her husband began creating small pastry cups filled with hamburger meat that he sold to speakeasies during Prohibition). </span>The financial issues must have put a strain
on their marriage and they were soon divorced.<br /><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QaE7mQpzf54/VyDWYaFVblI/AAAAAAAAAd4/rpEJU5GPWGE5RPnLQS7uLPNlwsMVaUraQCLcB/s1600/DorisBryantbook.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QaE7mQpzf54/VyDWYaFVblI/AAAAAAAAAd4/rpEJU5GPWGE5RPnLQS7uLPNlwsMVaUraQCLcB/s400/DorisBryantbook.JPG" width="293" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the editions (1953) of one of her books. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">After her divorce (when she was about 36), Doris reverted to
her maiden name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She continued living by
herself (with her cats) in Greenwich Village in Manhattan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily, her cat business
became very successful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She first began
selling cats toys and supplies (including imitation snakes, balls made out of
cellophane wrap, scratching posts, catnip balls, litter pans, etc.).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually though, she also realized that the
market was also woefully lacking in cat medicines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She worked with a local veterinarian, Dr.
Louis Camuti, to develop the world’s first known cat medicines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doris sold all of Dr. Camuti’s medicines in
her store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had a symbiotic
relationship where they referred customers to each other’s businesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was apparently the only cats-only
veterinarian in the country and she had the only cat drug store in the
country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Others suggested she had the only cat shop in the world. </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Doris’ shop – called <em>Doris Bryant’s Emporium</em> – in Greenwich
Village was very successful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because it
was so unique, she apparently had customers across the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She did much of her business by mail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually, Doris put her self-promoted
expertise to use and decided to write books about cat care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her first book was published in 1936.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She eventually wrote and published at least
three more books; all of which went through several revisions. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Doris operated her cat shop in Greenwich Village for over 30 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the
1960s, Doris was acknowledged as a veterinarian herself, even though she had
never been educated as a veterinarian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br />Over the years of her cat business, Doris had many famous customers. They included Clare Luce (US congresswoman and writer), Selena Royale (actress), Beth Merrill (actress), Sophie Kerr (writer), and Doris Duke (socialite/heiress). Perhaps her most famous customer though was Ernest Hemingway, who was a noted cat lover. Apparently Ernest kept one of Doris' cat care books next to his bed and read from it every night. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AdyuKpgA9D4/VyJAqV-qg1I/AAAAAAAAAek/L_RT8VlNfwcJuRSoyeHTlTRcCm8Lm8UBwCLcB/s1600/1935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AdyuKpgA9D4/VyJAqV-qg1I/AAAAAAAAAek/L_RT8VlNfwcJuRSoyeHTlTRcCm8Lm8UBwCLcB/s400/1935.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excerpt from a 1935 newspaper article discussing <br />Doris' shop and cat advice</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In 1936, Doris had 5 cats of her own (in her apartment in Greenwich Village) - coincidentally the same amount of cats I've had before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> She died in 1978. </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />In 1980, her old colleague Dr. Camuti wrote the following description of her:</span></span><blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Doris was always very pale. Her skin had the look of alabaster to it. She seemed like a delicate statue come to life. In fact, she resembled - at least, to me - the large ceramic Siamese cat that stood in her pet-supply shop window. But there was nothing of the cold statute about Doris Bryant. She was a warm, outgoing person and a bit of a character. Cat lovers came to her from all over the city, and she usually was very helpful to a customer. But if someone came in that she didn't take to, Doris had no hesitation throwing him out. "That's not for you," she'd say, or more bluntly, "You don't like cats well enough, get out!"</span></span></blockquote>
Some excerpts from Doris' 1944 book <u>The Care and Handling of Cats, A Manual for Modern Cat Owners</u> (the same book kept on Hemingway's nightstand):<br />
<blockquote>
"Getting a certain kind of pet because it is pedigreed or is a smart breed at the moment is the worst possible reason; we should get our pets because we love them - not to exploit them."<br />
<br />
"A cat refuses to flatter and he is never servile. He is capable of deep devotion, but his devotion depends upon his approval; his utter lack of flattery makes his devotion something worth cherishing."<br />
<br />
"Some cats have become so vicious that it was necessary to have them put to sleep. This is deplorable, since it was not their fault that they developed as they did, but rather the fault of the people who mismanaged them."<br />
<br />
"Cats are not suitable pets for children and most cats are not happy in households where they are children."<br />
<br />
"When a woman has a well-loved cat, there is no reason for disposing of it just because she has a baby."<br />
<br />
"Any two cats living together will have their little quarrels, or one may temporarily be annoyed with the other. People have their differences of opinion too, and cats are little people."<br />
<br />
"If your cat "will not do a single thing you want him to" you should be ashamed to admit it; the fault lies in the way the cat has been handled - by you, or by previous owners."<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p>
</div>
</blockquote>
Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-61872502816613080342015-03-22T19:21:00.000-07:002015-04-17T07:43:04.605-07:00Women's History MonthMarch is Women's History Month - a fitting time to honor the women in my family tree. When I started researching my family tree, I did not know anything about the lives or accomplishments of my ancestors. Researching these real people has been fulfilling to me as I’ve learned about the fascinating lives of those who have come before me. They were a part of history, and also helped to shape who I am today. <br />
<br />
This post focuses on just a few of the women in my family tree who had remarkable aspects of their lives. But, all women in my family tree deserve to be honored. All of these women were daughters, were wives, were mothers; they all lost something; they all persevered and they all lived. They all deserve a 'high five'. Unfortunately, even in my own family tree the lives of my female ancestors are overshadowed by their male counterparts. For many of my female ancestors, I don't know much about them except their names and who they happened to be related to.<br />
<br />
Today, all women should be honored and attention should be paid to continued gender inequality around the world. But I also want to draw attention to some of the struggles and strength of women throughout history and within my own family tree.
<br />
<br />
<b>Josephine Martin (1845-1899)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t5DOkMFQ71c/Twnpm5yxYbI/AAAAAAAAAGo/RxeROZIgOLw/s1600/JosephinePlymale3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t5DOkMFQ71c/Twnpm5yxYbI/AAAAAAAAAGo/RxeROZIgOLw/s1600/JosephinePlymale3.jpg" height="320" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josephine Martin, c. 1870s</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</b><br />
<br />
My great-great-grandmother <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/martin.html#josephinel">Josephine Martin</a> was a fascinating woman and accomplished more in her short life than most people do in their lifetime. First and foremost, she was a wife and mother of 12 children. She was also a very active Women's Suffrage activist. Additionally, she was a Temperance activist; she was politically active and ran for political office; she worked as a committee clerk for the state legislature with her daughters; she was a school teacher; she worked as a buggy driver; she was a newspaper journalist; she was a popular speech giver; she was a farmer. She had much energy and strength of character to accomplish so many things, while also raising her large family. She was not meek or subservient and in her time went against her father, her husband, her pastor and her community; but still maintained respect and dignity.
In her lifetime, she was described as "sharper than lightning". <br />
<br />
In addition to her accomplishments, she also went through tragedy. One of her children died as a baby during an epidemic. In 1888, her house burned down in the middle of the night and the whole family escaped unharmed, but lost all of their possessions. Her contemporaries remarked that she had maintained a cheery disposition throughout the rest of her life until her death at the age of 54 - "she was always ready with a pleasant or witty expression under the most irritating circumstances". Much more about her life is in an earlier post - <a href="http://ryanwadleigh.blogspot.com/2012/01/pioneer-feminist.html">Pioneer Feminist</a>. <br />
<br />
<strong>Artinecia Riddle (1830-1917)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ggytEicfnoo/VQ80-tMJVRI/AAAAAAAAAck/93JoEoz0JNY/s1600/ArtineciaMerriman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ggytEicfnoo/VQ80-tMJVRI/AAAAAAAAAck/93JoEoz0JNY/s1600/ArtineciaMerriman.jpg" height="320" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artinecia Riddle, c. 1880</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</strong><br />
<br />
My great-great-great-grandmother <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/riddle.html#artinecia">Artinecia Riddle</a> was a courageous woman and a sturdy pioneer. She was married young but was widowed at the age of 20. In 1851, she left behind everything she knew and crossed the Oregon Trail as a 20-year old widow with her infant son. During her crossing on the Trail, she performed a surgical operation on a man that had been shot because there was no one in the train with any surgical or medical skill. She settled in the frontier of southern Oregon and soon remarried and had 15 more children. As opposed to other white settlers, Artinecia and her family became friendly and close to the local Native Americans and they were also fluent in the Chinook dialect that they spoke. In 1855, war broke out between the whites and the local Indians. Artinecia was hired by the government to work as an interpreter between the military and the local tribes. She fulfilled this role with bravery while living in a military camp between 1855 and 1856.<br />
<br />
She continued living in southern Oregon and thrived as a farmer, while raising her 16 children. Her second husband died in 1877, and the 47-year old widow continued to run the family farm and raise her children on her own. During the 1870s, she was also documented as being a supporter and activist (a "staunch coworker") of the Women's Suffrage movement. <br />
<br />
In old age (in about 1914), she was filmed and appeared in a silent movie made to promote the Rogue River Valley of southern Oregon, where she lived. Her movie was presented at the Pan-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. <strong><br /></strong><br />
<strong>Abigail Tilton (1842-1929)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V7evXxnsmao/VQ2FifsiIII/AAAAAAAAAbw/A1stA0DSM8k/s1600/Abbie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V7evXxnsmao/VQ2FifsiIII/AAAAAAAAAbw/A1stA0DSM8k/s1600/Abbie.jpg" height="320" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abigail Tilton, 1858</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</strong><br />
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My great-great-great-grandmother <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/tilton.html#abigailr">Abigail Tilton</a> was the daughter of a Baptist minister and was one of the oldest children in a very large family. When she was 15, her mother died in childbirth. Until her father remarried two years later, Abigail was the oldest woman in the household and was instrumental in caring for her 9 younger siblings. Although her family did not have much money, her father wanted all of his children to have excellent educations. After her public school education was over, Abigail attended two different seminary schools. She then worked for about 4 years as a school teacher. <br />
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She was married at the age of 22 and then focused on raising her family. One of her children, Helen, had a mental illness and Abigail devoted herself to caring for her daughter for the remainder of her life, until she died at the age of 86.
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<strong>Patricia Bixby (1928-2008)</strong><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-STSLV_1VA2Q/VQ2GeTQ6DcI/AAAAAAAAAb8/sE7CLPcguEQ/s1600/PatriciaBixby2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-STSLV_1VA2Q/VQ2GeTQ6DcI/AAAAAAAAAb8/sE7CLPcguEQ/s1600/PatriciaBixby2.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patricia Bixby, 1946</td></tr>
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My grandmother <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/bixby.html#patriciaj">Patricia Bixby</a> was a strong woman and a great source of inspiration to me. After high school, she worked as a secretary. She married my grandfather at the age of 20 and continued working for 2 years to support her husband while he was in graduate school. She then quit her job to raise her children and devoted her time on her family. Sadly, after nearly 20 years of marriage she discovered that her husband had been unfaithful to her and was having an affair with another woman. <br />
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After an emotionally tumultuous time, she made the difficult decision to divorce her husband and start her life anew. After the divorce was finalized in 1968, she took a course and went back to work as a secretary. She continued working and supporting herself until she retired at 60.
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Patricia had her share of tragedy and sadness in her life. Two of her children died as babies and two more children died as relatively young adults. Her only brother died when she was 16, all of her other siblings predeceased her, and she lost her marriage through adultery. In spite of what she went through, she was one of the most positive people I have ever known and continued to have an infectious smile and inner joy that radiated to those around her. Even on her death bed she was continuing to smile at those around her. Her simple strength has been a major source of inspiration to me in my life. <br />
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<strong>Maxamillia Bouseman (1808-1868)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bVUHJR7qJdE/VQ70T3z2DEI/AAAAAAAAAcU/km6kEeCiL34/s1600/MaxamilliaBRiddle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bVUHJR7qJdE/VQ70T3z2DEI/AAAAAAAAAcU/km6kEeCiL34/s1600/MaxamilliaBRiddle.jpg" height="320" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maxamillia Bouseman, c. 1850</td></tr>
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My great-great-great-great-grandmother <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/bouseman.html#maxamillia">Maxamillia Bouseman</a> was born in Ohio and later lived in Illinois. She married young and had ten children. Then in 1851, she and her family left their life behind and moved over the Oregon Trail. In Oregon, they lived in a frontier environment. She and her family became quite friendly with the local Native Americans that lived near them. She and her family also became well versed in the language that they spoke. The tribe also had their own names for her and her family. Maxamillia was called "Mulagolan" (which meant “mother”). <br />
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Sadly, the harmony in the area did not last as conflicts arose between the Indians and other white settlers. By 1855, it had culminated into war. In late 1855, after the war had just begun, Maxamillia left by herself on horseback to visit the tribal encampment and plead with them to not go to war. Many of the other settlers asked her not to go, fearing for her safety. But she insisted that she would not be harmed and she went anyway. Later, after the war was in full swing, some soldiers arrived at her home and told her she would probably not be safe at home. She lost patience and responded to them: “<em>You gentlemen seem to forget that those two boys back there are lying dead through your incompetence, and as to leaving my home again, all I ask of you is to leave my boys with me, and we will take care of ourselves</em>.”
She then remained with her children in their home in spite of the wartime concerns. <br />
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<strong>Baefje Pieters (c. 1620-1680s)</strong><br />
<strong><br /></strong>Baefje Peters was from Amsterdam, Netherlands and migrated to New Amsterdam (now New York City), when she was young. She was married in 1641 and raised a family of at least two children. They later moved to Beverwijck (now Albany), New York. During her marriage, Baefje was apparently the primary breadwinner for her family. She owned and operated a tavern in Beverwijck, while her husband had no occupation. <br />
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Baefje's first husband died and she remarried during the 1670s. Sadly, her second husband was apparently abusive and a drunk. Fortunately, in 1679 she took it upon herself to leave the situation and separated from her husband. Three years later, he repented and agreed in court to not mistreat her anymore and would avoid drunkenness in the future. <br />
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<strong>Rachel Field (1780-1851)</strong><br />
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My ancestor <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/willits.html#levi">Rachel Field</a> was born in 1780 in Pennsylvania. She was raised as a Quaker. Rachel married Levi Willits in 1797, when she was 17. At the time, she was disowned from her faith for marrying Levi, who was not a Quaker. I do not know anything about her marriage. But I can only speculate that because she risked being disowned she had married for love (or at least by her own choice), as opposed to many of her contemporaries. <br />
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Rachel had 9 children. She and her family later lived in Ohio and Indiana. Her husband died in 1827 and she remarried to William Kirlin, who survived her. Rachel died in 1851 at the age of 71.<br />
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<strong>Marye Du Trieux (1617-c. 1670s)</strong><br />
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My ancestor Marye Du Trieux was a pioneer of New York City and was also one of this nation's first female business owners. As a child, in about 1624, She moved to New Amsterdam (now New York City) from Amsterdam. Marye married twice and had 8 children. She was first acknowledged as owning and operating a tavern in 1644. She continued operating her tavern for at least 20 more years and also worked as a trader.<br />
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More about her life is in an earlier post - <a href="http://ryanwadleigh.blogspot.com/2013_08_01_archive.html">banishment and an illegitimate child</a><br />
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<strong>Marie Bradley (1881-1973)</strong><br />
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Although not a direct ancestor, Marie Bradley had a fascinating life. Marie was the first cousin of my great-grandmother Vera Merriman. She was a child labor activist.<br />
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Marie was raised in southern Oregon but decided that she wanted to pursue a higher education. She eventually attained her bachelors and masters degrees. She put herself through college by teaching school. Then she quickly turned her attention to investigation and activism in the child labor issue. In 1907, she moved to Washington, DC and was hired by the US Bureau of Labor, where she worked as a special agent to investigate working conditions for children and women. During most of that time she investigated the glass industry, where children aged 6-10 often worked 10-12 hour days. <br />
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Marie later married a fellow child labor investigator and remained active in labor causes for most of her adulthood. <br />
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<strong>Martha Woodson (1795-1859)</strong><br />
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My great-great-great-great-grandmother <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/woodson.html#martham">Martha Woodson</a> was born in 1795 in Virginia. She married her first husband, Anthony Jones, in 1809 when she was only 13 years old and he was 28. They had 4 children were together and were married until he died in 1824, leaving her a 28-year old widow. Martha remained unmarried for 7 years, continuing to raise her children. <br />
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Then in 1831, Martha remarried. She was 35 years old and her new husband, Archibald Fletcher, was 19 years old - 16 years her junior. In fact, Martha's new husband was the same age as her oldest son Albert Jones. I assume that this arrangement must have been a little odd and maybe even scandalous. But I also hope that marrying a much younger man was a result of her own independence and her own choice in a husband.<br />
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<strong>Sarah Crenshaw (c. 1761-1846)</strong><br />
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My great-great-great-great-great-grandmother <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/wallace.html#john">Sarah Crenshaw</a> was born in about 1761 in Virginia. She was married to John Wallace in 1780 when she was 19. Surviving records suggest that her marriage caused something of a scandal and was not approved of by her father. Although we don't know why, we can assume that her marriage was her own choice and hopefully because of love. <br />
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I don't know much about the life of Sarah. She had 11 children and remained married to John Wallace for 65 years. Their youngest daughter Harriet Wallace suffered from a disease that made her crippled from the age of 5. Apparently she was crippled in her feet, legs, hands and arms and was not capable of walking or standing. Still, Sarah continued to raise and nurture their daughter. In 1821, Sarah wrote a letter in which she tenderly described an illness that Harriet was suffering from and how she tried to coordinate Harriet being able to travel to visit relatives. Harriet was at that time 23 years old, and it is the last reference to her being alive. She probably died not long after.<br />
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In about 1835, when Sarah was in her 70s, their house burned to the ground and the family managed to escape unharmed, but they lost all of their belongings.<br />
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<strong>Sarah Dearborn (1778-1864)</strong><br />
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My ancestor <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/dearborn.html#sarah">Sarah Dearborn</a> spent all of her life in New Hampshire. She married at 21 and had 12 children. In her life, Sarah displayed independence from her husband by having different religious views and attending a different church. Her husband, Josiah Tilton, was a member of the Baptist Christian denomination. Sarah, on the other hand, was a member of the Congregational denomination. They disagreed on account of minor differences between the denominations, and attended different churches. Sarah's independence made an impression on her children. Her son remarked that while her husband Josiah was "sometimes disagreeable", Sarah was "amiable and easy tempered". Her son also noted that she was an accomplished singer with a "powerful voice and high pitch". He also described her as "a woman of great executive ability, physical force, clear, strong mind and naturally high tempered yet pleasant". <br />
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<strong>Lydia Dunham (1836-1869)</strong><br />
My great-great-great-grandmother <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/dunham.html#lydiae">Lydia Dunham</a> was born and raised in Indiana, but moved to Iowa with her family as a teenager. She was married on her 19th birthday to Irvin Thurston, a doctor. They moved to Minnesota, where she remained for the rest of her life. She had 5 daughters.<br />
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Unfortunately, I don't know much about Lydia. In 1862, her husband enlisted as a surgeon in the Civil War. Until he was discharged three years later in 1865, she remained behind in Minnesota to manage their farm and raise their daughters. She was reunited with her husband, but continued to experience loss. In 1867, their 8-year old daughter Cora died from an illness - which must have been tragic for the family. Sadly, in spite of being married to a doctor, Lydia suffered from consumption (tuberculosis) and she died in 1869, at the age of 33 - her daughters were then 12, 10, 5 and 1. Afterward, the family was in a difficult situation and Irvin feared that he would have to split up the family and send his daughters to various relatives, because he could not care for them by himself. Fortunately, Lydia's elderly mother Vashti Dunham sent Irvin a letter giving him her blessing to remarry so that the family could remain intact. Irvin eventually did remarry and was able to keep his family together.<br />
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Although I don't know much about Lydia's personality or life, I do know that she must have been an accomplished horseback rider. In 1865, she won the award for Best Lady Equestrianship at the county fair. <br />
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<strong>Christina "Dora" Lilienthal (1834-1921)</strong><br />
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My great-great-great-grandmother <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/lilienthal.html#christinam">Christina Lilienthal</a> was born in northern Germany. As a young woman, she left her family and moved by herself to Denmark where she married and began raising a family. Although they were relatively comfortable in Denmark, the situation became uncertain for her family when Prussia gained control of the area and began drafting all available men into the army. In 1871, her husband Christian Kling suddenly fled to America to avoid being conscripted into the Prussian army.<br />
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Christina must have been in a difficult situation, having been abandoned by her husband. She had 5 young children aged between infancy and 10 years. She spent the next year in Denmark, but eventually decided to follow her husband to America. In 1872, they left their home forever and went by ship to England. They made their way to Liverpool, England and boarded a ship named "City of New York", bound for the US. They arrived in New York City in October 1872. It must have been difficult for her to have made this journey with only her 5 young children, with no knowledge of the languages or the customs of the countries that they passed through. <br />
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Eventually, Christina reunited with her husband. They then moved out west to Iowa and then Minnesota, where they remained. When Christina and her children made the trip over the Atlantic Ocean in 1872, they were the last of my ancestors to have moved to America from their homelands.<br />
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<strong>Susan Sthreshley (1774-1846)</strong><br />
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Susan Sthreshley was not my direct ancestor, but she was the sister of my ancestor William Sthreshley. Susan spent her life in Virginia and Kentucky. She married Daniel Preston in her youth. They had no children; although she helped to raise her orphaned niece. Susan and her husband were wealthy, and owned slaves.<br />
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Susan's husband predeceased her and she continued managing her home in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Susan wrote her will in 1844 and died in 1846. Susan's will was interesting because she left none of her estate or property to her family or relatives. Instead, she left all of her property to her slaves and to her church. She also directed that her slaves be freed and allowed to move to Liberia, Africa if they desired. Although she unfortunately did not free her slaves during her lifetime, Susan's directions in her will reflect a strength and independence of character to do exactly as she wished. <br />
<br />Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-21765838479541021252014-05-11T12:48:00.003-07:002014-05-11T19:49:51.652-07:00Mother's DayEnjoy this short collection of photos of mother's in my family tree with their children.<br />
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Happy Mother's Day!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JEfy84JftuA/U2_A081DpnI/AAAAAAAAATE/ClhbcmYSd8M/s1600/SOHS+21071+Merriman+Family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JEfy84JftuA/U2_A081DpnI/AAAAAAAAATE/ClhbcmYSd8M/s1600/SOHS+21071+Merriman+Family.jpg" height="484" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-great-great-grandmother <b>Artinecia Riddle Merriman</b> with 10 of her 16 children, circa 1890, Medford, Oregon.<br />
Left to right: Auletta Merriman Harvey, Lucinda Merriman Prather, Will Merriman, George Merriman (my great-great<br />
grandfather, Effie Merriman Hill, Artinecia Riddle Merriman, Isabel Merriman Fronk, Isaac Merriman, Josephine <br />
Merriman Beek, Marie Merriman Bennett, Laura Merriman Bradley</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pqedEcJQlnQ/U2_BC41uEhI/AAAAAAAAATM/alBBHdQqwzo/s1600/JuliaBixbyandson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pqedEcJQlnQ/U2_BC41uEhI/AAAAAAAAATM/alBBHdQqwzo/s1600/JuliaBixbyandson.jpg" height="640" width="378" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-great-grandmother <b>Julia Thurston Bixby</b> with her son Neil, <br />
my great-grandfather, circa 1917, Salem, Oregon</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kO9RY0ZBafM/U2_BdWUZG-I/AAAAAAAAATU/vSUM3-gX0kk/s1600/MerrimanGirls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kO9RY0ZBafM/U2_BdWUZG-I/AAAAAAAAATU/vSUM3-gX0kk/s1600/MerrimanGirls.jpg" height="640" width="466" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-great-grandmother <b>Mary Murray Merriman</b> with three of her daughters: <br />
l to r: Blanche, Mollie and Vera (my great-grandmother). Circa 1918, Medford, Oregon</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g_NrcTPflH0/U2_C4Hm-epI/AAAAAAAAAT4/gXu7uFvSKQk/s1600/Moe3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g_NrcTPflH0/U2_C4Hm-epI/AAAAAAAAAT4/gXu7uFvSKQk/s1600/Moe3.jpg" height="640" width="494" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-grandmother <b>Louetha Jones Brown</b> and my grandmother Bettye, circa 1926, Helena, Arkansas</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x3bvq-_f91E/U2_StODRBxI/AAAAAAAAAVo/r0kP_Cnjbvk/s1600/1938_2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x3bvq-_f91E/U2_StODRBxI/AAAAAAAAAVo/r0kP_Cnjbvk/s1600/1938_2.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-grandmother <b>Louetha Jones Brown</b> and my grandmother Bettye, circa 1938, Indianapolis, Indiana</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a6eQr-eiZ3c/U2_CAU3IewI/AAAAAAAAATk/7tL6Za8L22I/s1600/1940.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a6eQr-eiZ3c/U2_CAU3IewI/AAAAAAAAATk/7tL6Za8L22I/s1600/1940.jpg" height="640" width="366" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-grandmother <b>Louise Custer Wadleigh</b> and my <br />
grandfather Paul, c. 1940, Indianapolis, Indiana</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aszEzGZG390/U2_CVyw4eJI/AAAAAAAAATw/pi3Qgm1KMjA/s1600/Hoffman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aszEzGZG390/U2_CVyw4eJI/AAAAAAAAATw/pi3Qgm1KMjA/s1600/Hoffman.jpg" height="467" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-great-grandmother <b>Christina Kling Hoffman</b> and her four children:<br />
l to r: Ernest, Bertha (my great-grandmother), Dora and Howard, circa 1940, <br />
Mankato, Minnesota<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MLmtH-OMMwY/U2_C4BzsMlI/AAAAAAAAAT8/gL1LGusw_P4/s1600/1942.jpg" height="640" width="435" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-grandmother <b>Bertha Hoffman Bixby</b> and my grandmother <b><br />Patricia</b>, circa 1940, Mankato, Minnesota</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LS5wYTq_470/U2_C5dEa5MI/AAAAAAAAAUU/-GnVIZUFtS4/s1600/Wadleighs1952_2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LS5wYTq_470/U2_C5dEa5MI/AAAAAAAAAUU/-GnVIZUFtS4/s1600/Wadleighs1952_2.jpg" height="640" width="638" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandmother <b>Bettye Brown Wadleigh</b> and her children, l to r: Mark, Randy, Karen, 1952, Indianapolis, Indiana</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JRccZDeuPFo/U2_QMh53ljI/AAAAAAAAAVY/2xfsOyGZrBE/s1600/Plymales1953.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JRccZDeuPFo/U2_QMh53ljI/AAAAAAAAAVY/2xfsOyGZrBE/s1600/Plymales1953.jpg" height="640" width="354" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandmother <b>Patricia Bixby Plymale</b> and my uncle George, <br />
1953, Seattle, Washington</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FBC43hR8_4s/U2_QrmWVHGI/AAAAAAAAAVg/QX-gUc2v_Jg/s1600/Plymalesonwater.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FBC43hR8_4s/U2_QrmWVHGI/AAAAAAAAAVg/QX-gUc2v_Jg/s1600/Plymalesonwater.jpg" height="618" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandmother Patricia Bixby Plymale and her four children: Catherine, Deane, Barbara, George<br />
circa 1963, Port Angeles, Washington</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jQwjHubjD5w/U2_EY_aFxEI/AAAAAAAAAUs/K0xz15HCKFo/s1600/RandyMoe1964.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jQwjHubjD5w/U2_EY_aFxEI/AAAAAAAAAUs/K0xz15HCKFo/s1600/RandyMoe1964.jpg" height="640" width="634" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandmother <b>Bettye Brown Wadleigh</b> (Staley) and my Dad, 1964</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pIiLVP_tdow/U3A2kH-QqFI/AAAAAAAAAWM/6kA7m-EkB-s/s1600/Wadleighs3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pIiLVP_tdow/U3A2kH-QqFI/AAAAAAAAAWM/6kA7m-EkB-s/s1600/Wadleighs3.jpg" height="640" width="630" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandmother Bettye Brown Wadleigh, her eldest child, Karen, and eldest grandchild, Lisa 1969</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sHt9rrNciqU/U2_C4aXQ8jI/AAAAAAAAAUc/519GSjO6Maw/s1600/PandB1967.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sHt9rrNciqU/U2_C4aXQ8jI/AAAAAAAAAUc/519GSjO6Maw/s1600/PandB1967.jpg" height="468" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandmother Patricia Bixby Plymale and my mother Barbara, 1967</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bmc-OtSkQhA/U2_C5I1vwqI/AAAAAAAAAUM/COY84vX0rMw/s1600/Wadleighc1985.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bmc-OtSkQhA/U2_C5I1vwqI/AAAAAAAAAUM/COY84vX0rMw/s1600/Wadleighc1985.jpg" height="483" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My mom and I, circa 1985, Federal Way, Washington</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zf5C1TtghL8/U2_N7LzH_PI/AAAAAAAAAVI/kyBtNfzSEQ8/s1600/BarbandCarmen1995.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zf5C1TtghL8/U2_N7LzH_PI/AAAAAAAAAVI/kyBtNfzSEQ8/s1600/BarbandCarmen1995.jpg" height="640" width="430" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My mom and my sister Carmen, 1995, Kent, Washington</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KDNroG2M3TI/U2_NlfE9RXI/AAAAAAAAAVA/2Fpdjyl3F8w/s1600/551122_669285749008_511608173_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KDNroG2M3TI/U2_NlfE9RXI/AAAAAAAAAVA/2Fpdjyl3F8w/s1600/551122_669285749008_511608173_n.jpg" height="640" width="536" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My mom and three of her kids, 2012, <br />
Boston, Massachusetts</td></tr>
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Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-86360443116964976852014-04-02T08:25:00.000-07:002014-04-02T11:03:30.534-07:00The Oregon Trail<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Oregontrail_1907.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Oregontrail_1907.jpg" height="140" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1907 map showing the main route of the Oregon Trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As a child, I was fascinated by historical stories of explorers, adventurers and pioneers. In particular, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Trail">Oregon Trail</a> was a topic that I was especially obsessed with. I have fond memories of playing the Oregon Trail video game as well as other Oregon Trail games and activities in school.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At the time, I had no idea that many of my ancestors had actually traveled on the Oregon Trail and had their own stories about their long journeys into the wilderness. Specifically, 13 of direct ancestors traveled on the Oregon Trail in five different crossings between 1843 and 1852. In total, at least 57 family members made the trip in the same 5 trips. (All of these people were ancestors and relatives of my maternal grandfather Ben Plymale.) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This blog post explores these Oregon Trail journeys and the stories that have survived about them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Deaths</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The majority of my family safely traveled the Oregon Trail and arrived to their destinations with little or no incident. There were a few family members though who died during or as a result of their journeys:</span><br />
<ul>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In about April 1852, my great-great-great-grandfather's first wife, <b>Mary Lewis Merriman</b>, died of an unknown illness somewhere in what is now Kansas - and was buried by the trail's side. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In about August 1852, my great-great-great-grandfather's infant son <b>Joseph W. Merriman</b> died in northern California after drinking cow milk that was contaminated by poisonous wild parsnips. He went into convulsions and died within hours. He was buried by the trail's side. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In October 1852, my great-great-great-great-grandfather <b>Gabriel Plymale</b> and his son <b>Anderville Plymale</b> both contracted typhoid fever after drinking contaminated water at Goose Lake in northern California. They died within two months of arriving in Oregon. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Injuries</b></span><br />
<ul>
<li>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sometime in late summer 1851, while the train was somewhere in Nevada, my great-great-great-great-grandparents' 6-year old son <b>John B. Riddle</b> fell from a moving wagon and was run over by the front wheel but was pulled to safety before being run over by the rear wheel. He was briefly unconscious, but made a full recovery. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Other </b></span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In 1851, the wagon train that the Riddle family was traveling in was attacked by Indians and one of the men in the train was shot in the arm. My great-great-great-grandmother <b>Artinecia Riddle Chapman</b> performed a minor surgical operation by removing bone fragments from the wound. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From 1843-1844, my great-great-great-grandfather <b>William J. Martin</b> went on an expedition to Oregon and California with the explorer John Fremont. The reports created during the trip were said to be responsible for the Mormons choosing Utah as a place of settlement.<b><br /></b></span></li>
</ul>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Artifacts</b><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are two quilts from the Riddle family that they brought with them over the Oregon Trail in 1851. There is also a "ginger jar" brought by the Plymale family in 1852. These items are held by the Southern Oregon Historical Society in Medford, Oregon. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <b>Diaries/Stories</b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.oregonpioneers.com/constant.htm">Brief Review of the Life of Isaac Constant</a> - Transcription of an interview (c. 1890s) with Lavinia Constant Robinson who was 18 years old when she crossed the Oregon Trail in 1852 <i>(Lavinia was the niece of my great-great-great-grandfather William Merriman)</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t2p56bk28;view=1up;seq=5">Early Days in Oregon</a> - Series of articles written by George W. Riddle in 1920, recounting his family's journey on the Oregon Trail in 1851 and subsequent pioneer life <i>(George was the brother of my great-great-great-grandmother Artinecia Merriman)</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://id.mind.net/~truwe/tina/theunknown.html">The Unknown</a> - Article written by William J. Plymale (date unknown) regarding an 1852 Oregon Trail journey<b> </b><i>(William Plymale was my great-great-grandfather)</i><b><br /></b></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>1843 - Martin</b></span>
<br />
<blockquote>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-baIxWw1xm8A/UzhV9iA6p9I/AAAAAAAAASk/azBGeme49cM/s1600/WilliamMartin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-baIxWw1xm8A/UzhV9iA6p9I/AAAAAAAAASk/azBGeme49cM/s1600/WilliamMartin.jpg" height="400" width="280" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My great-great-great-grandfather <b>William Martin</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">of Missouri. He went on an expedition to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Oregon and California in 1843. He later moved to Oregon </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">with his family in 1846.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(courtesy Douglas County Museum)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In 1843, my great-great-great-grandfather <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/martin.html#williamj">William J. Martin</a> was 28-years old and lived in western Missouri. He was married and had one young daughter. He had worked as a farmer, tavern keeper and ferry boat operator and was also a wounded war veteran. We can assume that he was restless with a drive for adventure. For unknown reasons, he decided to leave his family and go on an exploratory expedition to the west coast. It must have been especially difficult for his young wife Harriet, who was left alone with their child and the very real possibility that he might never return.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The spring that year was very late and so the departure of the train was delayed. The party finally left Missouri on May 22, 1843. The train traveled west until June 8, 1843, when the captain - Peter Burnett - resigned. William Martin was then elected captain in his place. At that time, the wagon train split in two. William Martin continued as captain of the smaller group - with 72 wagons and 175 men. During his tenure as captain, William apparently had trouble controlling many of the younger men in the group. <i>(It was probably because of these problems that William declined serving as captain when he made the same trip 3 years later)</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When the train reached the Rocky Mountains (probably in what is now Wyoming), William was remembered for killing an animal that was described as a "rare carnivorous animal, much like a hyena" (probably a wolverine). Somewhere in Idaho, William joined with a group of men traveling to California. At this point, it is not clear what route or schedule they took to get there - but they probably traveled through Idaho, eastern Oregon and northern California. Eventually, William arrived at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutter%27s_Fort">Sutter's Fort</a>, California (in modern Sacramento) in early 1844. William spent 6 weeks at Sutter's Fort. Then in March 1844, William joined with the explorer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Fr%C3%A9mont">John Fremont</a> in an expedition back east. (The city of Fremont, California and Seattle's Fremont neighborhood are both named after this explorer). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Fremont expedition left Sacramento in March 1844 and traveled south through the San Joaquin Valley of California. At about what is now Bakersfield, California they turned east into Nevada and went through what is now Las Vegas. From there, they traveled north through Utah and met up with the traditional Oregon Trail in Wyoming. They then traveled east through Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas. They arrived back home in Missouri in August 1844 and William rejoined his family. Some of the reports created on this expedition were said to be responsible for the Mormons choosing Utah as a place of settlement. <br /><br />References:<br /><br />Bakken, Lavola J. "William Jennings Martin."<i> The Umpqua Trapper, 13(4)</i>. Douglas County Historical Society, Roseburg, OR, 1977.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Obituary of William Martin, <i>The Plaindealer</i>, Roseburg, OR, Apr. 29, 1901<br /> </span></blockquote>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1846 - Martin</b><br />
<blockquote>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kHnyaS_IQck/UzUR93ljBoI/AAAAAAAAARs/fxVPSSufn8k/s1600/WmMartinLetter1846.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kHnyaS_IQck/UzUR93ljBoI/AAAAAAAAARs/fxVPSSufn8k/s1600/WmMartinLetter1846.jpg" height="640" width="323" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Letter written by William Martin in 1846 advising other emigrants</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">on how to prepare for the Oregon Trail. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Transcribed and published in <u>Overland in 1846, Volume 2</u>.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After visiting Oregon and California in 1843-1844, <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/martin.html#williamj">William J. Martin</a> quickly realized that he wanted to move out west permanently. In addition to deciding to move with his wife and children; he was able to convince many of his relatives to move as well. In 1845, his brother and sister migrated over the Oregon Trail with their families. The other members of the family (including William) decided to wait an additional year. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">William and his family were busy preparing for the move between 1845 and 1846. In January 1846, William wrote a letter - which was published in the St. Joseph Gazette newspaper - advising other emigrants on how to prepare for the journey. During the last months before departure, many of William's friends tried to convince him to be Captain of the wagon train. He declined the offer though, because it entailed "much responsibility and little honor." Although William initially declined serving as captain, he unofficially traveled in a leadership capacity and was called captain anyway. His family's wagons were often in the lead of the wagon train. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Martin family that traveled in 1846 included about 17 members: William Martin (31), his wife Harriet Martin (29); their daughters Catherine (4), Frances (10 months) and <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/martin.html#josephinel">Josephine</a> (my great-great-grandmother - 10 months); his mother-in-law Catherine Crobarger (68); his parents Zadock Martin (57) and Susannah Martin (about 58); his brother Frank Martin (34) and sister-in-law Lucretia Martin (18). The family also probably traveled with William's paternal cousin Franklin Martin (22) as well as his maternal cousin Milton Brown (31) and Milton's wife Christina Brown and their four children: Mary, Susan, James and Frances Brown. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The family left their homes near Platte City, Missouri (near what is now Kansas City) in early April 1846. We do not know much about this particular wagon train's crossing - it must have been relatively uneventful. They apparently traveled north from their homes and left from St. Joseph, Missouri on about April 10, 1846. Their wagon train was quite large, with over 100 wagons and 600 people. Over the duration of the crossing - the train split off into different groups at least two times. From St. Joseph, they traveled west through what is now Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and finally into Oregon. They were at Fort Laramie, Wyoming on June 10, 1846. On June 23, 1846, an observer came across the Martin wagon train when it was crossing the North Platte River, in central Wyoming, and made the following observation: "we had the pleasant sight of beholding the valy (sic) to a greate (sic) distance dotted with peopl (sic) horses cattle wagons and tents their being 30 wagons all buisily (sic) engaged in the crossing the river which was found to not be fordable with the poor material they had to make rafts of it took two trips to carry over one wagon with its lading." Another observer mentioned finding the Martin train at Red Butte, Wyoming and that they were "travelling (sic) on cheerily, having met with few impediments to their journey."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The train arrived in northern Oregon on September 15, 1846 and the family quickly moved to Yamhill County, Oregon (southwest of what is now Portland), where William's brother Hardin had settled the year before. Eventually, the family dispersed and moved elsewhere. My ancestor William Martin moved with his family to southern Oregon; where they remained.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">References:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Morgan, Dale. <u>Overland In 1846: Diaries and Letters of the California-Oregon Trail. Volume 1</u>. Talisman Press, Georgetown, CA, 1963.<br /><br />Morgan, Dale. <u>Overland In 1846: Diaries and Letters of the California-Oregon Trail. Volume 2.</u> Talisman Press, Georgetown, CA, 1963.<br /><br /><u>Genealogical Material in Oregon Donation Land Claims, Volume III</u>.<br /><br />Bakken, Lavola J. "William Jennings Martin."<i> The Umpqua Trapper, 13(4)</i>. Douglas County Historical Society, Roseburg, OR, 1977. </span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>1851 - Riddle</b></span><br />
<blockquote>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F9FFsCVxNhw/UzhO5xq3eXI/AAAAAAAAAR8/5l6V-gPEQHs/s1600/WilliamAndMaxamilliaRiddle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F9FFsCVxNhw/UzhO5xq3eXI/AAAAAAAAAR8/5l6V-gPEQHs/s1600/WilliamAndMaxamilliaRiddle.JPG" height="400" width="276" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My ancestors <b>William and Maxamillia Riddle</b> photographed at </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">about the time that they migrated over the Oregon Trail, in 1851</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(courtesy Douglas County Museum)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In 1850, my great-great-great-great-grandparents, <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/riddle.html#williamh">William H. Riddle</a> and <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/bouseman.html#maxamillia">Maxamillia Bouseman Riddle</a>, lived on a corn farm near Springfield,
Illinois.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the summer of 1850, one of
their neighbors - Isaac Constant - returned from a trip to Oregon and
began inspiring his neighbors to move out west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He brought tales of fertile farming, mild climates and gold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Riddle family quickly decided to sell
their 200-acre farm and move out west on the Oregon Trail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The family spent the winter of 1850-1851
preparing for their trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>William and
Maxamillia decided to make the trip with their 7 unmarried children (Isabella, William, George, Abner, John, Anna and Tobias), Maxamillia's half-sister (Lucinda McGill), and an orphaned niece (Ann Hall).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At the time, William and Maxamillia’s two eldest children (Jane and Artinecia) were
already married.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jane and her husband (Thomas Wilson) decided to
remain in Illinois, but Artinecia and her husband (James Chapman) decided to make the trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, sometime in the early months of 1851 - while still in the planning stages – James Chapman died
suddenly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His 20-year old widow <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/riddle.html#artinecia">Artinecia Chapman</a> (my great-great-great-grandmother) had to bury her dead husband and continue preparations to leave with her 1-year old son, John Chapman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> As she bluntly said in 1915: "There was nothing left for me to do but come along with my folks." </span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Fortunately, the details of their journey have been written down for posterity. In 1920, William and Maxamillia's son George Riddle (who was 11 years old at the time of the journey) wrote a series of articles about his family's journey on the trail and subsequent pioneer life in Oregon. His articles were compiled and published in a book, <a href="http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t2p56bk28;view=1up;seq=5">Early Days in Oregon</a>, which is available online. </span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">In about 1914, the Riddles' daughter Artinecia appeared in a silent movie. She was filmed being interviewed about early pioneer life in Oregon. The movie - Grace's Visit to the Rogue River Valley - was produced to promote southern Oregon at the Pan-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OZFIMJtSbgQ/UzhVR8NnoBI/AAAAAAAAASc/3ulwd-3oo7s/s1600/IMG_20111223_200203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OZFIMJtSbgQ/UzhVR8NnoBI/AAAAAAAAASc/3ulwd-3oo7s/s1600/IMG_20111223_200203.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This quilt was made by Maxamillia Riddle and brought<br />
over the Oregon Trail with her family in 1851. The quilt<br />
is currently in the Southern Oregon Historical Society<br />
(photo courtesy Chris Meinicke)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><br />
After months of preparation, the family left their home near Springfield on about April 10,
1851.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The family's train included three wagons (one belonging to their daughter Artinecia), each drawn by six oxen; and one large carriage, drawn by four horses. From Springfield, they traveled directly west - going through Illinois before crossing into northern Missouri. While traveling through Missouri, the family apparently had their first glimpse of slavery, which was legal there. They then crossed over into what is now Iowa and reached Council Bluffs. The train was then slightly delayed due to flooding on the Missouri River. They then crossed into "Indian territory" and their first camp was in what is now Omaha, Nebraska. When camped there, they were raided by Indians - who stole some of their cattle. William Riddle rode after the Indians to retake the cattle, but could not find them. Sadly, when William Riddle was fording across Papio Creek (near Omaha), his beloved horse named "Puss" fell in and drowned. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From Omaha, the family traveled west along the Platte River, through what is now the state of Nebraska. Then near what is now Columbus, Nebraska - they joined with another wagon train that was coming from Iowa. Most of their journey at this part of the trail seemed relatively uneventful. As George Riddle put it, "Our greatest annoyances were mosquitoes and buffalo gnats." When the wagon train was near Fort Laramie (in Wyoming), they passed a large group of Sioux Indians. Instead of being hostile though, the Indians forbid the white travelers to approach because they were afraid of smallpox and other diseases they might have been carrying. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On July 4, 1851, the wagon train reached Independence Rock, in central Wyoming. Independence Rock was one of the best known landmarks on the Oregon Trail - and marked the halfway point. Not long after this point, an unknown factor caused the oxen in their train to stampede, which resulted in one overturned wagon - but no injuries. The train then crossed into Idaho and reached the fork of the California and Oregon Trails at Soda Springs. The family had previously made the decision to take the California Trail and thus enter Oregon from the south. The wagon train split in two and the train proceeding south on the California Trail (including the Riddles) only consisted of "twelve wagons and about twenty men" (and an unknown number of women and children). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From Soda Springs, the train traveled southwest, through Idaho and into Nevada. George Riddle mentioned that they traveled within one hundred miles of the Mormon settlement of Salt Lake City, but that they encountered no Mormons on their journey. From this point though, they apparently had frequent interactions with the local Indians. At one point, there was an armed confrontation in which shots were fired from both sides, but no one was injured (except for a woman who fell from her horse). </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/7HZvoQ2vGaQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Clip from the 1915 silent movie "Grace's Visit to the Rogue River Valley" <br />featuring my great-great-great-grandmother<br />Artinecia Merriman being interviewed about pioneer life</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The next incident during the trip was when they were near the
Humboldt River at what is now Winnemucca in northern Nevada.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At that time, there was an armed confrontation between the local Indians
and one man (John Welch) who was driving the wagon that was then in the lead of the
train.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His wagon was fired on by the
Indians and John Welch was shot in the arm and resulting in shattered bones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since there was nobody in the
wagon train that had any surgical or medical skill, my great-great-great-grandmother
Artinecia Chapman (then aged 20) was called on to perform a basic operation and dress the wound (she had to feel for and extract shattered bones
from the wound).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> According to George Riddle, "I witnessed the operation and it made such an impression on my mind that at times I can visualize the operation. My sister Artinecia, was a brave girl." The man made a full recovery.</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Another incident also occurred in northern Nevada.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the train was moving, William and
Maxamillia’s son John Riddle (aged 6) fell from the moving wagon and was run
over by the front wheel, but was pulled to safety before the rear wheel hit
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was unconscious for some time,
but made a full recovery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/riddlephotos/RiddleCabin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/riddlephotos/RiddleCabin.jpg" height="316" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The simple log house that the Riddle family built in Douglas County, Oregon in </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1852, soon after arriving on the Oregon Trail</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(Courtesy Southern Oregon Historical Society)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Then at Black Rock Desert, in northwest Nevada, they turned off the California Trail and onto the Applegate Trail - which would take them north into Oregon. From there, the route was especially treacherous as they traveled in many miles of desert, with no water. There, they were able to witness the evidence of previous wagon train crossings in which animals died or they had to abandon items. "We were seldom out of the sight of the carcasses of dead cattle" and "all along the road were abandoned wagons, household goods of every description. Here would be a cook stove, further on a plow, then the remains of a feather bed." <i>The following year, the wagon train containing the Merriman and Constant families (described below) claimed to have found an abandoned wagon in this area belonging to a Mr. Riddle. The Riddle family did describe abandoning their carriage - but that was along the Platte River (in Nebraska or Wyoming) - and not in Nevada.</i> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When the party was still in Nevada, they uncovered two abandoned fifty gallon barrels - one filled with whiskey and the other with brandy. The emigrants made the decision to take the alcohol with them. The train then arrived in northern California and made its way north. At Tule Lake, they had a nonviolent confrontation with the local Indians (the following year, a wagon train was massacred at this very location and it came to be known as "Bloody Point"). From there, they traveled into Oregon and continued to make their way north. By this time, the family's food supplies were almost gone, but they were fortunate to come across pack trains who sold them some food.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">They arrived at Canyonville, Oregon on September 20, 1851.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Most of the wagon train continued on to northern Oregon, but the Riddles decided to stay there. They went nearby to the Cow Creek Valley and claimed a 320-acre farm there. They are credited as being the first white settlers of in the Cow Creek Valley. At that time, the Riddle family were among a very small group of white settlers in all of southern Oregon. Apparently, their nearest neighbor was 8 miles away and there were only 3 other houses in 25 square miles. Apparently, my great-great-great-grandmother Artinecia (then 20) and her sister Isabella (then 18) were not happy about this. According to George "This seemed out of the world to my two older sisters and I remember there were tears and wailings that we have left Illinois and endured all of the hardships of the plains to settle down in a place where they would never see anyone and never have any neighbors."</span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The small city of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riddle,_Oregon" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Riddle, Oregon</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (platted by their son John in the 1880s) was named after their family. </span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">References:</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Riddle, George W. <u>Early Days in Oregon</u>. South Umpqua Historical Society, Canyonville, OR, 1993 (written in 1920).<br /><br />Transcript of interview with Artinecia Merriman, <i>Oregon Journal</i>, Sep. 19, 1915.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><u>Genealogical Material in Oregon Donation Land Claims, Volume III</u>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>1852 - Merriman</b></span><br />
<blockquote>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UE727TQJqI4/UzhSgz5lx0I/AAAAAAAAASU/Pc53ZWofxqo/s1600/WHMerriman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UE727TQJqI4/UzhSgz5lx0I/AAAAAAAAASU/Pc53ZWofxqo/s1600/WHMerriman.jpg" height="400" width="268" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">William Merriman crossed the Oregon Trail</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">in 1852, but his wife and son both died during</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">the journey</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(courtesy Douglas County Museum)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In 1852, my great-great-great-grandfather <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/merriman.html#williamh">William H. Merriman</a>
was a 27-year old carpenter who lived with his wife and two children near
Springfield, in central Illinois.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1850,
William’s brother-in-law Isaac Constant returned to Illinois from a trip he had taken to Oregon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He began telling his neighbors
and relatives about the charms of the Oregon Territory and began inspiring them to move out
west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One family that he convinced to pack up and move was that of his brother-in-law, William Merriman.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">William and his family - which included his wife Mary and their two small children, Auletta (3) and Joseph (infant) - decided to make the trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Also coming was Isaac Constant, his wife Lucinda Merriman Constant, and their 6 children: Lavinia, Thomas, Elizabeth, Julia, Margery and Alice. All of the other Merriman family relatives (including 5 siblings of William and Lucinda and many nieces, nephews and cousins) decided to remain in Illinois.</span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Luckily, we have many details of this particular Oregon Trail journey. Many years later (during the 1890s), the details of the crossing were written down by Thomas Robinson who interviewed his mother </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Lavinia Constant Robinson (William Merriman's niece, who was 18 at the time of the journey) about her experiences on the trail. Lavinia's story, <a href="http://www.oregonpioneers.com/constant.htm">A Brief Review of the Life of Isaac Constant</a>, can be read online.</span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><br />
The
family left Springfield on March 2, 1852.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From there, they traveled by wagon to St. Louis, Missouri, where they
spent a few days with a relative who lived there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They then
boarded a boat and traveled on the Missouri River from St. Louis to
Independence (near what is now Kansas City).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The group then spent a few weeks in Independence, preparing for the
wagon train.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During this time, Isaac
Constant was elected Captain of the wagon train.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The family left Independence in the early days
of April 1852, and the train was off!<o:p></o:p></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><br />
Sadly, William Merriman’s wife Mary was very sick with an unknown illness when the
journey began.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She died at the first
stop after leaving Independence, somewhere in what is now eastern Kansas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had to send back to Independence for a
casket to bury her in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is probably
buried somewhere by the trail’s side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The situation must have been especially tragic for William.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His wife was now dead and he had two very
young children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His baby, Joseph, was so
young that he was still nursing at the time of his mother’s death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To keep the baby alive, William fed him milk
from one of the cows in the train.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The wagon train continued on the Oregon Trail; going through
what is now Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming and into Idaho.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Near Fort Hall, Idaho (near what is now Pocatello), the
train split in two; one trail going west towards northern Oregon and one
trail going southwest towards California and southern Oregon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Merrimans and Constants continued on the
southern trail (also known as the California Trail).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From there, they traveled through Nevada and
then took the Applegate Trail into northern California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the
family stopped at Goose Lake (border between Oregon and California); the cow
that was providing milk for William’s baby Joseph had eaten some wild parsnips
(which are poisonous).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After drinking
the milk, the baby sadly went into convulsions and died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the whole trip, the only deaths in
their wagon train were William’s wife and son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At some point during the trip, Indians attacked their train and stole two of their mules and ate them. <br /><br />
The train then entered Oregon and arrived at its destination
in what is now Jacksonville, Oregon on September 21, 1852.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>William did not remain in Jacksonville for long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He left his 3-year old daughter in the care
of his sister Lucinda and proceeded about 80 miles north to what became Douglas
County, Oregon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There, he began to court
a young widow named Artinecia Chapman (they had known each other when they lived in Illinois).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had migrated from Illinois with her
infant son, parents and siblings the previous year (see above).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They married in February 1853 and settled
briefly near her parents in Douglas County, Oregon before moving permanently in Jackson County, Oregon in 1857. They had a large family - 15 children in addition to their 2 children from previous marriages. Merriman Road between Medford and Central Point is named for their family.</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><br />
Isaac Constant and his family settled on a land claim in the valley northeast of Jacksonville. Eventually the town (and later city) of Central Point sprang up around their home - and they are considered by many to have been the founders of Central Point.<br /><br />References:<br /><br />"A Brief Review of the Life of Isaac Constant." Written by Thomas M. Robinson from an interview with his mother, Lavinia Constant Robinson, c. 1890s. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Obituary of Julia Owen, Central Point American, Jan. 9, 1936, Pg. 1 </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><u>Genealogical Material in Oregon Donation Land Claims, Volume III</u>.</span></blockquote>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1852 - Plymale</b><br />
<blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xeNfT5zitYg/UzwrF0tYVrI/AAAAAAAAAS0/qEc_ajrHjWM/s1600/SarahZigler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xeNfT5zitYg/UzwrF0tYVrI/AAAAAAAAAS0/qEc_ajrHjWM/s1600/SarahZigler.jpg" height="400" width="233" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sarah Plymale was 12 years old when she crossed<br />
the Oregon Trail with her family. Later, she and her <br />
sisters were among the only eligible females in <br />
Jacksonville, Oregon (there mostly being gold miners)<br />
(courtesy Southern Oregon Historical Society)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the late 1840s, my great-great-great-grandparents <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/plymale.html#gabriel">Gabriel Plymale</a>
and <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/hatfield.html#marya">Polly Hatfield Plymale</a> lived with their family near Galesburg, in northwest Illinois.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were farmers and also involved in the
lumber trade; requiring biannual trips to Chicago, Illinois.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1848 or 1849, Gabriel’s brother James
Plymale left his home and went to California to mine for gold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>James was successful in locating gold in
California; but was attacked and robbed on his way back east – resulting in the
loss of all of his gold and apparently one of his arms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Despite this, his experience had apparently given his brother Gabriel
the desire for adventure and “gold fever”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Eventually, Gabriel and Polly made the decision to abandon their life in
Illinois and try their luck mining for gold on the west coast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When gold was discovered in what is now
Jacksonville in southern Oregon in late 1851, they quickly made the decision to move
there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Plymales left their Illinois home in the spring of
1852.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their party included 15 family
members; 47-year old Gabriel and 48-year old Polly; their 9 unmarried children:
Anderville<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(21), Francis (19), Elizabeth
(17), <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/plymale.html#williamj">William</a> (my great-great-grandfather - 15), Sebastian (13), Sarah (11), Narrissa (10), Mary (8), and
Emma (4).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also coming in the train was
their eldest daughter Minerva <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(22), her
husband Robert Armstrong (25) and their two children: Marcus (3) and Mary
(1).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EcTWlDpWI0c/UzhROMH1KwI/AAAAAAAAASI/zwf18t-CKi8/s1600/PlymaleBuzanGingerJar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EcTWlDpWI0c/UzhROMH1KwI/AAAAAAAAASI/zwf18t-CKi8/s1600/PlymaleBuzanGingerJar.jpg" height="400" width="340" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My great-great-great-grandmother <b>Polly Plymale</b> brought this<br /> "ginger jar" with the family during</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> their trip over the Oregon<br />Trail in 1852. She gave it as a wedding gift in 1867</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(courtesy Southern Oregon Historical Society)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We know little about this particular Oregon Trail migration
– other than that they came by the California and Applegate Trails (which would have taken them
through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, northern
California and finally into Oregon).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
one point in their journey, there was some kind of commotion which caused the oxen in the train
to stampede.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Plymales’ 1-year old
granddaughter Mary Armstrong fell from the moving wagon but was saved from
death by her mother who grabbed her leg and pulled her to safety.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Eventually, in the fall of 1852, they had reached northern
California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The train stopped at Goose
Lake (on the border between California and Oregon), and Gabriel and his oldest
son Anderville made the fatal mistake of drinking from the lake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point, they were out of supplies and
then made a slight detour for Yreka, California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They then continued on their journey and
arrived at their destination (now Jacksonville, Oregon) on October 13 or 14,
1852.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The family settled briefly in
makeshift housing in the mining town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although
they had reached their destination, it was not an easy time for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gabriel and Anderville had both contracted
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoid_fever">typhoid fever</a> from drinking contaminated water at Goose Lake – and they were soon on their death beds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gabriel
died first, on November 14 (just one month after arriving) and his son
Anderville died one month later, on December 22.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Plymales were now in a difficult situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Polly Plymale had uprooted her life and her
family to follow her husband’s dreams of mining for gold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now her husband and eldest son were dead, she
was in a strange place and had no way to support her family of 9 children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They remained in their camp in Jacksonville throughout the winter of 1852-1853.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During this time, she apparently decided to
make the most of her situation and remain in the area to do what she knew best: farm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the spring of 1853, the
family went into the valley east of Jacksonville and claimed a farm of 320
acres.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The family built a house and soon cultivated a successful ranch on their land claim. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/images/GabrielPlymale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/images/GabrielPlymale.jpg" height="400" width="241" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Gabriel Plymale</b>'s headstone in the historic </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jacksonville Cemetery - the oldest one in the<br />cemetery. He died exactly one month after <br />arriving on the Oregon Trail from Illinois, leaving his<br />widow alone in a strange place to care for their children</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The <a href="http://plymalecottage.com/">Plymale Cottage</a> in Jacksonville (built in 1868) is named
after the family of Polly’s son William Plymale, who lived in the house with his family between 1890
and 1904.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Many years after their emigration, Polly's son William Plymale wrote an article called <a href="http://id.mind.net/~truwe/tina/theunknown.html">"The Unknown"</a> which described an incident in an 1852 Oregon Trail migration. Although he doesn't explicitly describe being on the train, it was most likely the wagon train that the Plymales traveled in (he was then 15 years old). Most of the article described an incident where a wagon train traveling ahead of them was ambushed and attacked by Indians near Tule Lake, in northern California. When they arrived at the location a day or two later, it was a scene of bloody carnage and they had </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">nothing to do but bury the dead and proceed on their way. They were escorted by a military guard who had come too late to save the earlier train from attack.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">References:<br /><br />Plymale, John F. <u>The Plymale Family in America</u>. Commercial Printing & Lithographic Co., Inc., Huntington, WV, 1967.<br /><br /><u>Genealogical Material in Oregon Donation Land Claims, Vol. III</u>. 1962<u><br /></u></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"History of the Zigler-Plymale Families." Written in 1964 by Claud A. Zigler (grandson of Gabriel and Polly Plymale).<br /><br />Tombstone inscriptions, Jacksonville Cemetery, Jacksonville, Oregon</span></div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Other:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>1845 - Martin and Knighton</b></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As described above, In 1844 William Martin returned to Missouri from an expedition trip to Oregon and California and began trying to convince his family and relatives to move out west. He was able to convince his brother Hardin Martin and his sister Elizabeth Knighton to move out west first with their families. Hardin and Elizabeth were able to get everything in order to leave in 1845. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The wagon train they traveled in included 293 people in 66 different wagons. It started from St. Joseph, Missouri sometime in April or May 1845. Hardin Martin was the lieutenant of the wagon train company. In the party included Hardin Martin, his wife Eveline Martin, his nephew William Martin, sister Elizabeth Knighton; her husband Henry Knighton and their daughters Josephine and Lascelle Knighton. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The family safely arrived in northern Oregon in the fall of 1845. Elizabeth Knighton and her family remained in Oregon City, Oregon. Hardin Martin though moved to rural Yamhill County, Oregon. The following year, a wagon train arrived from Missouri which included their parents, two of their brothers, and various other relatives. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>1848 - Brodie</b></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In 1848, <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/brodie.html#lodowick">Lodowick Brodie</a> was a 48-year old farmer who lived with his family in Missouri. He had a wife and at least 7 children at home. <i>(Lodowick Brodie was the brother of my great-great-great-great-grandfather David Brodie of Clarksville, Tennessee).</i> When gold was discovered in California in 1848, he decided to leave his family and go west in search of gold. Apparently, "circumstances of embarrassing nature" compelled to him to leave his family (perhaps he had very bad financial problems). The details of his journey to California are unknown. Sometime in 1850 though, he decided to return east to his family. Instead of going overland, he decided to make the trip by sea. He left by ship from San Francisco and then traveled south to the Isthmus of Panama, and then by ship north through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. The destination was probably New Orleans, and then up the Mississippi River back home. Unfortunately, he never made it home. Lodowick died of illness in November 1850, while at sea. Conflicting sources suggest he died either on the Pacific Ocean and or in the Gulf of Mexico. He was buried at sea.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>1871 - Murray</b></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In 1871, my great-great-great-grandparents <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/murray.html#james">James Murray</a> and <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/barklow.html#floraa">Flora Bartlow Murray</a> lived with their children on a farm in northern Illinois. For unknown reasons, they decided to move to Oregon. They were probably following the example of some relatives who had moved to Oregon previously. The Murrays did not technically travel on the Oregon Trail. Since their move was so (relatively) late, they were able to take advantage of the Transcontinental Railroad that had been completed in 1869. The family left their home in northern Illinois and made their way west. They made the journey by train from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Francisco, California. That span of the journey would have taken about 7 days (much quicker than the 5 or 6 months it would have taken in a wagon train).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In San Francisco, the Murrays boarded a ship to take them to Portland, Oregon. During the sea crossing, there was such a violent storm off the Oregon Coast that their boat nearly sank. Apparently, it was so traumatic that during the storm "some were just shouting, some were cursing and some was praying and some was singing." The storm subsided though and the family made it safely to Portland. From Portland, they acquired a wagon and team of oxen and made the journey by land south from Portland to what is now Medford, in southern Oregon. There, they purchased a farm where James and Flora remained until their deaths. The location of their original farmhouse is now the site of a Walmart. </span></blockquote>
Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-45703646562787113272014-01-26T14:38:00.000-08:002014-01-31T09:43:54.045-08:00My family and their carsThis post is a short gallery of my ancestors and their motor vehicles. Anyone have any additional photos to contribute?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RxEs5cMlDXY/UuV4ygtzf9I/AAAAAAAAAQ0/CJah1DeW-yk/s1600/Verainvehicle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RxEs5cMlDXY/UuV4ygtzf9I/AAAAAAAAAQ0/CJah1DeW-yk/s1600/Verainvehicle.JPG" height="354" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-grandmother Vera Merriman and her boyfriend in a car, mid-1910s, southern Oregon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YW1-BEjl3G4/UuV4uofJLiI/AAAAAAAAAQE/L08J6YlzINM/s1600/OFWadleighcar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YW1-BEjl3G4/UuV4uofJLiI/AAAAAAAAAQE/L08J6YlzINM/s1600/OFWadleighcar.jpg" height="640" width="422" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-grandfather Odin Wadleigh and his car, apparently changing a tire. Probably early 1920s, Indiana</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T4JQOYN9OKE/UuV4xussZ_I/AAAAAAAAAQs/uqmPNVisLEE/s1600/VVM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T4JQOYN9OKE/UuV4xussZ_I/AAAAAAAAAQs/uqmPNVisLEE/s1600/VVM.jpg" height="456" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-grandmother Vera Merriman and her car, early 1920s, southern Oregon. Engraving vehicles with the owners initials (V.V.M. for Vera Vivian Merriman) was apparently popular in that time period.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BVap01G9gbI/UuV4t5_0BzI/AAAAAAAAAQI/xApNQLB8CoE/s1600/Moe3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BVap01G9gbI/UuV4t5_0BzI/AAAAAAAAAQI/xApNQLB8CoE/s1600/Moe3.jpg" height="292" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandmother Bettye Brown and my great-grandmother Louetha Jones Brown, probably 1925 or 1926 in Arkansas</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q8O76E7IKVE/UuV4ubgKnnI/AAAAAAAAAQA/Byxzf1XXMMs/s1600/Moe6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q8O76E7IKVE/UuV4ubgKnnI/AAAAAAAAAQA/Byxzf1XXMMs/s1600/Moe6.jpg" height="336" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandmother Bettye Brown in front of the family car, early 1930s</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iuHPYu1as5Q/UuV4t2JUTnI/AAAAAAAAAP0/tPfJhgSTx5c/s1600/Brownsc1936.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iuHPYu1as5Q/UuV4t2JUTnI/AAAAAAAAAP0/tPfJhgSTx5c/s1600/Brownsc1936.jpg" height="380" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandmother Bettye Brown and great-grandmother Louetha Jones Brown, mid-1930s (1936 Buick)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WdJ-rNuE3a0/UuV4uJ1-dLI/AAAAAAAAAP4/bstTapjTKMs/s1600/BenPlymale_car_1952.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WdJ-rNuE3a0/UuV4uJ1-dLI/AAAAAAAAAP4/bstTapjTKMs/s1600/BenPlymale_car_1952.jpg" height="640" width="386" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandfather Ben Plymale with the family car (1949 Buick Super 8) in 1952, Seattle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8ktHyj31eCk/UuV4wShY7oI/AAAAAAAAAQg/hAJVhH9pRSk/s1600/Wadleighscar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8ktHyj31eCk/UuV4wShY7oI/AAAAAAAAAQg/hAJVhH9pRSk/s1600/Wadleighscar.jpg" height="634" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wadleighs in their 1953 Ford Crestline convertible in Long Beach, CA, in1953. Left to right: Bettye Brown Wadleigh, Randy Wadleigh, Louise Custer Wadleigh, Mark Wadleigh, Karen Wadleigh</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JB4rNpxnVbk/UuV4vdM6EsI/AAAAAAAAAQY/HDoPhiilzjo/s1600/RandycarCalifornia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JB4rNpxnVbk/UuV4vdM6EsI/AAAAAAAAAQY/HDoPhiilzjo/s1600/RandycarCalifornia.jpg" height="630" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My dad Randy Wadleigh in front of the family car (1959 Chevrolet Impala Station Wagon), circa 1962 on the California coast</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-46320124975221696722013-10-14T22:10:00.001-07:002013-10-14T22:10:11.195-07:00Christopher Columbus ... Brown<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/brownphotos3/CCBrownFamily.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/brownphotos3/CCBrownFamily.jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">C.C. Brown in about 1925 with his second wife <br />Dayse and daughter Dorothy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When my great-great-great-grandparents <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/brown.html#williamr">William</a> and <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/stephens.html#amanda">Amanda</a> Brown had their second son in February 1862, they were influenced enough by what they knew of history to name their child after the infamous explorer Christopher Columbus.
<br />
<br />
My great-great-grandfather <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/brown.html#christopherc">Christopher Columbus Brown</a> was born on February 8, 1862 on his parents’ farm on McAdoo Creek in Montgomery County, Tennessee. This farm was in a rural area southeast of the city of Clarksville. Both of his parents came from relatively humble origins and were of Scottish and German heritage. <br />
<br />
Although he was named after the explorer, he rarely went by his name. As a youth, he went by the name Columbus but as an adult was either called “Lum” or “C.C.” He attended a local school as a child and afterwards began working on the family tobacco farm. Although Columbus had relatively simple origins, he quickly availed himself and became quite successful. Eventually he went into a tobacco business with his father and brothers called Brown Bros. Later, he joined with a man named James Adams and operated a tobacco factory under the firm Adams and Brown. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/brownphotos3/GeorgiaCBrown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/brownphotos3/GeorgiaCBrown.jpg" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">C.C.'s first wife Georgia Current (my great-great-grandmother)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Columbus quickly gained financial success from his tobacco farming. He continued to enlarge his tobacco farming enterprise and became a large landowner in Montgomery County. Eventually, he turned his success to the financial industry. In about 1903, he helped to found the First Trust and Savings Bank of Clarksville and served as its vice president for about 35 years.
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/brownhouses/BrownHome1920s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/brownhouses/BrownHome1920s.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">C.C. Brown's house in Clarksville, TN that he purchased in 1902 and that<br />burned down in 1927.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Even though he had attained financial success and was quite wealthy, Columbus did much for his community. Many people remembered that he was very kind and generous to the local poor; often buying groceries for them or paying their rent. One year he apparently financed several hundred poor farm families who could not get assistance anywhere else. He was apparently a jovial man who had a good sense of humor and was often known to tease people.
<br /><br />In 1894, Columbus married a young woman from the city of Clarksville named <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/current.html#georgia">Georgia Current</a>. They apparently had a happy marriage and he was devoted to her. Together, they had three children: Pauline, Irl and Newell (my great-grandfather). Sadly, Georgia died in 1910 from a short bout with pneumonia, leaving three teenage children. Then in 1914, he remarried to Dayse Dalton, by whom he had one more child: Dorothy. <br /><br />C.C. and his family first lived on a farmhouse in Montgomery County. Then in 1901, they decided to leave Tennessee and moved to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duarte,_California">Duarte, California</a> (near Los Angeles). For whatever reason, they did not like California and returned to Tennessee the following year. In 1902, C.C. purchased a beautiful plantation home near Clarksville where he lived with his family. Sadly, the house burned to the ground in 1927 while he and his wife and daughter were eating breakfast. After this, they rebuilt a house on the same location where the family continued to live. That house – at 1410 Golf Club Lane in Clarksville – is today part of the <a href="http://www.clarksvillecpc.com/">Cumberland Presbyterian Church</a>.
<br /><br />C.C. was still living in the house when in early October 1938, he suffered a stroke and fell in his bathroom, receiving a wound to the head. He never recovered and died on October 10, 1938 at the age of 76.
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/brownphotos/Browns2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/brownphotos/Browns2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">C.C. Brown, his granddaughter Bettye Brown (my grandmother) and his wife<br />Dayse in about 1935</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-10934340389632635162013-08-08T22:22:00.000-07:002013-08-09T09:24:58.073-07:00banishment and an illegitimate childMy ancestor, <strong>Marye Du Trieux</strong>, was a fascinating woman. The surviving records indicate that she <br />
had a colorful life and was a strong and energetic woman. One researcher has summarized her life as "a woman of much enterprise, of considerable shrewdness and business ability and of some education--a woman of such persistent and daring courage as became the mother of pioneers."<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r5SBFHWMj6A/UgR9UbB9vZI/AAAAAAAAAPk/oxKqX9K3PJk/s1600/MNY95336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="338" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r5SBFHWMj6A/UgR9UbB9vZI/AAAAAAAAAPk/oxKqX9K3PJk/s400/MNY95336.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1644 map of New Amsterdam, which shows the locations of Marye's <br />
tavern and her father's land, both along the East River<br />
Courtesy Museum of the City of New York</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<strong>Original Settler of New York City</strong><br />
<blockquote>
Marye was born in about 1617 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Her parents (Philipppe Du Trieux and Jacquemyne Noiret) were French Huguenots who had come from the area that is now the border between France and Belgium. To escape religious persecution, they fled to Amsterdam where they were married in 1615. The family lived in both Amsterdam and Leyden/Leiden, before leaving Europe permanently. In 1624, they traveled across the Atlantic Ocean in the ship "Nieu Nederlandt" (New Netherland) and settled at New Amsterdam, in what is now Manhattan, New York City. Marye and her family were among the earliest pioneers and settlers of what is now New York City.<br />
<br />
Marye was raised in New Amsterdam, where her father was the Court Messenger (basically a sheriff or marshall) for New Netherlands. They lived in a house on what is now Beaver Street on the southern tip of Manhattan. Her father also owned a large chunk of land on the East River, where the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge now sits. Pioneer life in New Amsterdam was not glamorous, as the settlers were frequently subject to a variety of hardships. Sometime between 1649 and 1653, her father was murdered and some sources indicate that he was killed by Indians. </blockquote>
<br />
<strong>Pioneer Businesswoman</strong><br />
<blockquote>
Aside from being a pioneer settler of New York City, Marye was also one of its earliest female business owners. For most of her adulthood, Marye was a tavern keeper. She continued to own and operate her tavern, even after being married to two different husbands. Marye is first acknowledged as a tavern keeper when her tavern was shown on a 1644 map of New Amsterdam. She was then a 27-year old married woman with at least three children. Marye's tavern was on the east side of the southern tip of Manhattan, on what is now Maiden Lane. She continued to operate her tavern until at least the 1660s.<br />
<br />
In addition to running her tavern, Marye also worked as a trader with her first husband Cornelis.</blockquote>
<br />
<strong>Banishment</strong><br />
<blockquote>
The surviving records infer that Marye kept quite a rowdy tavern in New Amsterdam. As early as 1646, she was frequently in trouble for how she ran her business. Some of her offenses included selling liquor after hours (9 pm), selling liquor during prayers, selling liquor without a license and selling liquor to Indians. The authorities had finally had enough and in 1664, Marye was fined and banished from New Amsterdam. It is not known if she ever returned. She asked for remission of her sentence and for leave to move to Fort Orange (Albany). She eventually moved to Schenectady, New York, where several of her children had settled. She died there at an unknown date. Later, after her death, several of her family members were wounded or killed during the Schenectady Massacre of 1690.</blockquote>
<strong>Illegitimate Child</strong><br />
<blockquote>
Marye was married twice. She married her first husband, Cornelis Volkertsen Viele sometime before 1642, when she was in her early 20s. Cornelis was a trader and tavern keeper, and she continued to do business on her own after their marriage. In 1650, after the death of Cornelis, Marye married her second husband Jan Peek. (The city of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peekskill,_New_York">Peekskill, New York</a> was named after him.) Jan had died sometime prior to 1664, when she was banished from Manhattan. Marye had four known children by her first husband and four known children by her second husband. <br />
<br />
Additionally, we have record that Marye had an another child that was born illegitimately by neither of her husbands. In a 1642 court record, a man named Pieter Wolfersen Van Couwenhoven acknowledged paternity of a daughter named Aeltje that he had with Marye Du Trieux. In the document, he agreed to raise the child as his own. Interestingly, both Pieter and Marye happened to be married to other people. At the time, Marye was married to Cornelis Viele and had one son by him, who was born in 1640. Pieter had a wife named Hester who he married in 1640, but they did not yet have any children.<br />
<br />
It is not clear whether Pieter and Marye's child Aeltje was the result of an affair or whether the child was born out of wedlock <i>before</i> either of them were married. Interestingly, I also happen to descend from Pieter Van Couwenhoven through his marriage to Hester.</blockquote>
My descent from Marye Du Trieux:<br />
<blockquote>
Marye Du Trieux md. Cornelius Volkertsen Viele<br />
- Cornelis Cornelisen Viele md. Suster Bouts<br />
-- Jannetje Viele md. Johannes Dyckman<br />
--- Maryke Dyckman md. Lourens Knickerbocker<br />
---- Maritjen Knickerbocker md. Ruloff White<br />
----- Jane White md. Thomas Butler<br />
------ Hannah Butler md. Peter Thurston<br />
------- Reuben Harris Thurston md. Mary Brooks<br />
-------- Irvin H. Thurston md. Lydia Dunham<br />
--------- Julia M. Thurston md. Henry W. Bixby<br />
---------- Neil F. Bixby md. Bertha Hoffman<br />
----------- Patricia J. Bixby md. Ben T. Plymale<br />
------------ Barbara A. Plymale md. Randy Wadleigh<br />
------------- Ryan J. Wadleigh</blockquote>
My descent from Pieter Van Couwenhoven:<br />
<blockquote>
Pieter Wolfersen Van Couwenhoven md. Hester Simons<br />
- Annetje Pieterse Van Couwenhoven md. Anders Olaffson Stille<br/>
-- Jacob Stilely md. Rebecca Springer<br />
--- Jonathan Stilley md. Magdalena Vandever<br />
---- Jacob Stilley md. Anne French<br />
----- Rebecca Stilley md. John Bouseman<br />
------ Maxamillia Bouseman md. William H. Riddle<br />
------- Artinecia Riddle md. William H. Merriman<br />
-------- George F. Merriman md. Mary E. Murray<br />
--------- Vera V. Merriman md. Benjamin H. Plymale<br />
---------- Ben T. Plymale md. Patricia J. Bixby<br />
----------- Barbara A. Plymale md. Randy Wadleigh<br />
------------ Ryan J. Wadleigh</blockquote>Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-44121694497158402112013-07-13T10:59:00.001-07:002013-07-15T15:11:29.691-07:00a secret marriage?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EYOG1a6em8A/UdxQLuSn0AI/AAAAAAAAAO0/NmdhlknYCdU/s1600/OscarSWadleigh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EYOG1a6em8A/UdxQLuSn0AI/AAAAAAAAAO0/NmdhlknYCdU/s640/OscarSWadleigh.jpg" height="640" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-great-grandfather Oscar Wadleigh in 1887</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Through the course of my research, I have
discovered that my great-great-grandfather Oscar Wadleigh had what was
apparently a secret relationship (and possible marriage) with a woman other
than his wife. This post explores that connection and the paths I have taken to
discover it.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Oscar Wadleigh </h2>
<blockquote>
My great-great-grandfather <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/wadleigh.html#oscars">Oscar S. Wadleigh</a> was born in 1865 in Sanbornton,
New Hampshire. As a young adult in the early 1880s, he left his hometown and
moved to Boston, Massachusetts where he began working as a traveling salesman. In about 1885 he moved to Franklin, New York. It was while living there that he met and
became engaged to a woman named <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/winters.html#charlottef">Charlotte Winters</a> who lived in the nearby village
of Cannonsville, New York where she worked in her father's general store. They
were married in 1887 and afterwards moved to Buffalo, New York where they began
to raise a family. They had two sons: Odin and Gerald. They lived in several locations in New York state until
1912, when they moved to New York City, where they lived first in Brooklyn and then in Queens. Oscar was a prominent and successful book publisher, and was a founder
and executive of several publishing companies.<br />
<br />
Oscar and Charlotte were married from 1887 until her death in 1924. According
to the story handed down in the family, Oscar remained a widower until his own
death just 8 years later in 1932. In reality though, there was much more to the
story.</blockquote>
<h2>
The Mystery Relationship </h2>
<blockquote>
The first clue was the 1930 census. In the federal census of that year, there
were two different Oscar Wadleighs enumerated in households in New York City.
In one, a 63-year old named Oscar S. Wadleigh was living in the household of
his son Gerald in Queens. His marital status was listed as widowed. In the
other, a 58-year old Oscar S. Wadleigh was enumerated in a household in the
Bronx. He was married to Lucy Wadleigh and they lived with Lucy's sister
Victoria Michelin. Despite the similarities, I figured that it was a
coincidence and did not think about it any further.<br />
<br />
It was only after doing further research and collecting additional records that
I began to suspect that these two Oscar Wadleighs were actually the same man.
In the 1925 state census, Oscar was also enumerated twice; with his son Gerald
in Queens and with this woman named Lucy in the Bronx. In city directories
between 1925 and 1931, Oscar was variously listed either in Queens or in Bronx.<br />
<br />
Finally, I received Oscar's 1932 death certificate in which Lucy Wadleigh was
clearly listed as his wife. Then in Oscar's 1932 probate records, Lucy was
listed as his wife and Gerald and Odin were listed as his sons. Clearly then,
our Oscar Wadleigh was married to Lucy at the time of his death. Why then was
no mention of Lucy ever made in any information passed down to Wadleigh descendants?
Why was Oscar enumerated separately in two different censuses? Why was he
listed as a widower in his son's household? Why was there no mention of a
surviving spouse in any of his four obituaries? Additionally, after extensive
research I have been unable to find any proof that Oscar and Lucy were ever
actually married.<br />
<br />
According to the censuses and city directories, Oscar and Lucy began living
together in about 1924, not long after the death of Charlotte in February
1924. They were apparently married at about this time, but there is no record that they were married in New York City or in any of the surrounding areas. Perhaps they eloped and married elsewhere. Or maybe it was a common-law marriage. There is nothing especially remarkable about a man getting remarried after the death of his first wife, until I realized that there was even more to the story.
<br />
<br />
The situation became complicated even further when I discovered that in 1915
(long before the death of his wife Charlotte), Oscar purchased a vacant lot in
the Bronx from Lucy. It shows that Oscar and Lucy knew each other during the
lifetime of his wife and must have had some sort of relationship before Charlotte's death. The fact that Oscar and Lucy began living together (and were perhaps
married) soon after Charlotte's death seems to show indecent haste.
The situation may have been entirely innocent, but if that was the case then
why the apparent secrecy about the relationship? And why was their relationship
not acknowledged by Oscar's children? One possible explanation is that Oscar
was having an affair with this woman during the lifetime of his wife.<br />
<br />
Another twist is that when Oscar and Charlotte moved to Queens in 1914, their
house was purchased only by Charlotte and remained solely in her name until her
death in 1924. Although there could have been many different reasons for this
arrangement, I can't help but speculate why this happened. Charlotte had
inherited some money from her father who died in 1911, but there is no reason
that Oscar could not have been put on title to the house even if she was
responsible for financing it. Perhaps Charlotte was aware of the possible
affair(s) and wanted to secure the house for herself (and her sons) in case her
husband divorced her or she died.<br />
<br />
When Oscar purchased the vacant lot from Lucy in November 1915, he listed his address as his old apartment in Brooklyn, rather than the house that his wife Charlotte purchased in Queens in April 1914. This may be an indication that Oscar and Charlotte were briefly separated during the mid-1910s, even though the 1915 census and city directories indicated that they lived together (in Queens).</blockquote>
<h2>
The Other Woman: Lucia Michelin </h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QRf1BWjFCEM/UdxSd1miGkI/AAAAAAAAAPE/V320TN57WOI/s1600/AntonioMichelin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QRf1BWjFCEM/UdxSd1miGkI/AAAAAAAAAPE/V320TN57WOI/s400/AntonioMichelin.JPG" height="400" width="262" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lucy's brother Antonio Michelin from his 1921 passport application</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote>
<b>Lucia Margarita Michelin</b> was born in 1878 in Vicenza (near Venice) in northern
Italy. In 1902, at the age of 24, Lucia came by herself to America. She lived
briefly in Pennsylvania before settling in Manhattan in New York City in 1903.
Within the next 4 years, three of her younger siblings (Antonio, Rosina and
Victoria) came over from Italy and joined her there. They lived in several
different apartments in Manhattan before moving to the Bronx in about 1911.
After moving to America, Lucia usually went by the English version of her name: Lucy.<br />
<br />
I have not been able to locate any photographs of Lucy. The only description is from her naturalization paperwork in which she indicated in 1918 that she was 5'5", weighed 150 pounds, had brown hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion. I do though have a photograph of her brother Antonio (right), taken from his passport application.<br />
<br />
Throughout her adulthood, Lucy always worked in the garment industry. Her
occupation has been listed as: silk spinner, designer and embroiderer. Her
sister Rosina moved back to Italy, but her remaining siblings Victoria and
Antonio continued to live with her. Other than Lucy's possible
marriage to Oscar, none of them ever married or had any children. In 1911, Lucy
purchased a vacant lot of land in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx that she subsequently sold to Oscar
Wadleigh in 1915. Why did either of them own this land? Did they know each
other before their 1915 real estate transaction? As early as 1900, while Oscar
still lived with his family in upstate New York, he frequently came to New York
City on business trips. Perhaps he originally met Lucy (or other women) on one
of these business trips.</blockquote>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2aFB4S6_D1s/UeGTvOiwyjI/AAAAAAAAAPY/vYlpTJWKbdo/s1600/LuciaAndOdin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2aFB4S6_D1s/UeGTvOiwyjI/AAAAAAAAAPY/vYlpTJWKbdo/s400/LuciaAndOdin.jpg" height="142" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The signatures of Lucia and her stepson Odin in 1932, signing the<br />
administration of Oscar's estate over to her other stepson Gerald.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2>
Aftermath </h2>
<blockquote>
When Oscar died in 1932, Lucy received one-third of his life insurance policy, which amounted to about
$425 (the other thirds going to his sons). At that time, she also signed the
administration of his estate over to her stepson Gerald Wadleigh, who
subsequently inherited the rest of Oscar's property including the house
purchased by Charlotte in 1914. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
After the estate was settled, she and her siblings returned to Italy, where they lived for a few years during the mid-1930s. They returned to the Bronx before 1939 and remained there. Lucia continued working as an embroiderer. She never remarried and used the last name Wadleigh until her death. She died of
natural causes in 1957, at the age of 78.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
It is entirely possible that Oscar's sons simply didn't approve of their
father's choice in a wife or didn't approve of any woman who would replace
their mother. The sad reality is that it would have been unusual for an Anglo-Saxon professional like Oscar to have been in a relationship
with an Italian immigrant. Perhaps simple ethnic prejudice was
the cause of the lack of acceptance by his family. It is also possible that
Oscar somehow kept his relationship a secret and his sons didn't even know
about her until his death.<br />
<br />
One suggestion was that because Lucy was an Italian immigrant, Oscar may have
married her (or pretend to marry her) to assist her in gaining citizenship.
This possibility was ruled out though because Lucy became a US citizen on her
own in 1922.<br />
<br />
After all this research, there is really more questions than answers. What we
do know is that after the death of his wife in 1924, Oscar began living with
Lucy Michelin and that they considered themselves married. They knew each other
since at least 1915, but the circumstances of their relationship are not known.
After Oscar's death in 1932, Lucy was not acknowledged as his wife, except
under strictly legal circumstances, and she was effectively forgotten by his
family. What then was the extent of Oscar and Lucy's relationship? A true love
story? Or something else?<br />
<br />
Perhaps surviving records from Lucy's family might shed some light on this
mystery. Unfortunately, her sister Victoria had died in 1941 and her brother
Antonio returned to Italy where he died in 1958. At the time, the only
surviving relatives were two nephews who lived in Italy. Perhaps they, or their
descendants, may have some information or knowledge about this relationship. </blockquote>
Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-32908196481482865352013-07-04T15:41:00.001-07:002013-07-04T15:41:06.678-07:00silent film actress: Rhea Mitchell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HCkSmyPidEQ/UdX0_tCi1SI/AAAAAAAAAOM/lqYp_kajFBw/s550/RheaMitchell1915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HCkSmyPidEQ/UdX0_tCi1SI/AAAAAAAAAOM/lqYp_kajFBw/s320/RheaMitchell1915.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhea_Mitchell">Rhea Mitchell</a> was born in 1890 in Portland, Oregon. Her mother, Lillie Ross Mitchell, was the first cousin of my great-grandfather Ben Plymale of Medford, Oregon. Rhea's grandmother, Elizabeth Plymale Ross, was the sister of my great-great-grandfather <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/plymale.html#williamj">William Plymale</a>.<br /><br />
<h2>
Early Life</h2>
<blockquote>
Rhea Mitchell was raised in Portland, Oregon, the only child of Willis and Lillie Mitchell. Her father worked as a local shipping clerk to support the family. In his spare time though, he volunteered as a stage hand at a local theater. It was because of this early exposure that Rhea ultimately became involved with theater and acting. Rhea's talents were soon noticed by her father's boss George Baker, the manager of the Baker Stock Company in Portland. In 1907, at the age of 17, she was given her first role in a local theater production. Over the next several years, she continued acting with the Baker Stock Company in Portland, quickly going form minor to leading roles in the performances. Her success and popularity soon prompted her boss to send her to act in theater companies in other cities. Between 1911 and 1913, she lived and acted in Spokane, Washington; Seattle, Washington; Vancouver, BC; and San Francisco, California. During this time period, she also switched from traditional theater performances to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaudeville">vaudeville</a> acts in the Orpheum Circuit. It was while acting in Vancouver, BC that she was apparently discovered by movie scouts. <br />
</blockquote>
<h2>
Silent Movie Actress</h2>
<blockquote>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oedx06nOQUo/UdX1FB9yI6I/AAAAAAAAAOU/lGiK07ddXz8/s615/RheaMitchell_TheGoat_1918.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oedx06nOQUo/UdX1FB9yI6I/AAAAAAAAAOU/lGiK07ddXz8/s400/RheaMitchell_TheGoat_1918.jpg" width="311" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rhea Mitchell and costar Fred Stone in the 1918 film "The Goat"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Although Rhea loved stage acting, her dream was to act in the movies. Luckily for her, she was quickly discovered and signed by a movie studio, the New York Motion Picture Company. In 1913, she moved to Los Angeles and began her long career as a Hollywood film actress. The height of Rhea's popularity was during the 1910s, when she was frequently the lead role in variety of silent movies. She frequently appeared in Westerns opposite leading man, William S. Hart. Rhea continued acting in films up until her final role in 1952, spanning a career of nearly 40 years. Unfortunately, we do not know exactly how many films she appeared in; partly because many of the early ones have been lost and she was not credited in all of the movies she appeared in. Estimates range from 64 to over 100. <br /><br />Surviving records infer that life as an actress during the 1910s was perhaps not as glamorous as it now is. In a letter that she wrote in 1914, she indicated that she often had to ride on horseback to movie sets that were not accessible by vehicle. During this time period, she had to commute from her apartment in Hollywood to the movie studio which was then located on the ocean in the Santa Ynez Canyon in Santa Monica, which at the time was very remote. (The movie studio in Santa Monica became known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_H._Ince#Inceville_-_The_First_Modern_Studio">Inceville</a>.) She indicated in her letter that her workdays often lasted 12 hours. She wrote "I have a cunning apartment, and loads of nice acquaintances whom I scarcely have time to bow to, I'm so busy. and when I'm not busy, I'm sleeping. Sometimes I just fall into bed, dead tired from climbing hills or being pursued through gullies." During this time period, she gained the nickname "little stunt girl", because of her willingness to attempt thrilling scenes that other actresses avoided. In her 1914 letter, she complained about having to "drown herself" in a stream in January during filming.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x3FdXx2V6qU/UdX1SEJIMyI/AAAAAAAAAOc/PuOesg780hw/s745/May281916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="310" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x3FdXx2V6qU/UdX1SEJIMyI/AAAAAAAAAOc/PuOesg780hw/s400/May281916.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1916 newspaper advertisement for one of Rhea's movies</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In her letter, Rhea indicated that while she was happy being a film actress, she missed acting on stage. In particular she missed performing in front of an audience and being given flowers. Because of this, she often returned to act on stage during her career as a film actress. Rhea's popularity lessened in 1919, when she was replaced in a film by a younger woman. In that same year, she sued her producer for $55,000 for breach of contract. In the suit, she claimed that she had only been paid $10,000 over the course of two years for a three year contract. <br /><br />Even though Rhea's film roles lessened, she continued to act. She also put her attention to writing. In the late 1920s she worked as a scenarist (screenwriter) on a variety of films. In a 1928 article, she explained that screenwriting was difficult and dissuaded "wannabe" writers from attempting it. She explained; "It is ridiculous to say that every person is a potential author. The very drivel most amateurs write would prove it. And "having an urge" to write is by no means the equivalent of an ability to write."<br />
</blockquote>
<h2>
Her Murder</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OiS8YKLE8CY/UdX1b6OEPfI/AAAAAAAAAOk/pCl1dgCCvTA/s400/On+the+night+stage1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OiS8YKLE8CY/UdX1b6OEPfI/AAAAAAAAAOk/pCl1dgCCvTA/s320/On+the+night+stage1.jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rhea Mitchell in the 1915 film "On the Night Stage"</td></tr>
</tbody></table><blockquote>Rhea Mitchell was never married and spent the rest of her life living in a variety of apartments in Los Angeles. After the death of her mother in 1943, she lived alone. After the end of her film career in the early 1950s, she supplemented her income by managing apartment buildings. On September 17, 1957, her dead body was discovered in the dressing room of her apartment in the La Brea neighborhood of Los Angeles, having been strangled by the sash of her blue silk robe. Initially, police feared that her death was connected to a serial-killer strangler in the Los Angeles area. Since her windows and doors were locked though, it was assumed that she knew her killer and let him/her into her apartment. <br /><br />After the discovery, police questioned the buildings' two janitors, who were the last known people to see her alive. One of the janitors, Sonnie Hartford, failed a lie detector test and was immediately booked on suspicion of murder. At first he denied everything but eventually confessed to the murder. He at first explained that he did not know why he did it, and elaborated: "I liked her. She was a very decent woman." After more time had passed though, he explained that he had made an obscene remark to her (or "complimentary" in his words) which offended her. He then killed her so that she wouldn't tell the owner of the building. During the course of the investigation it was revealed that Sonnie was on probation for a robbery conviction. Eventually, in February 1958, Sonnie pled guilty to second degree murder. It is not known what his sentence was or what eventually happened to him. Interestingly, newspaper articles from Los Angeles during the murder investigation expressed fears that the incident would incite further racial unrest because Sonnie Hartford happened to be African American.<br /><br />Rhea Mitchell was 66 years old at the time of the murder. She is buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. Since Rhea was never married and was an only child, she had no close relatives. Her closest relatives were some cousins who lived in Seattle, who were questioned after her death. As an adult, Rhea often went by the nickname "Ginger."</blockquote>Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-26804894932718125962013-06-26T10:34:00.000-07:002016-05-25T08:01:38.962-07:00Seattle History<div style="border: currentColor;">
I have always lived in or near Seattle, Washington. Although Seattle is my hometown, my ancestors have only been living here since the 1940s. Still, I have a variety of family connections and relatives that have been involved with the history of the city since the 1800s. This post explores some of those connections.<br />
<br /></div>
<h2>
Mayor of Seattle</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="border: currentColor;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zq6aDGVhxzw/Uckp9sJW-XI/AAAAAAAAANQ/DFca1-eVTGk/s1600/FirstStreetCar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zq6aDGVhxzw/Uckp9sJW-XI/AAAAAAAAANQ/DFca1-eVTGk/s400/FirstStreetCar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border: currentColor; text-align: center;"><div style="border: currentColor;">
The inaugural ride of Seattle's first street car in 1884, shown here at Yesler</div>
and Occidental. My relative Lascelle Struve, wife of mayor Henry Struve<br />
<div style="border: currentColor;">
is one of the passengers in the car.</div>
Courtesy University of Washington Libraries Special Collections</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
My relative* Henry Struve was the mayor of Seattle between 1882 and 1884. Henry was a lawyer and politician who moved to Seattle with his family in 1879. (*Henry's wife, Lascelle Knighton Struve was the first cousin of my great-great-grandmother <a href="http://ryanwadleigh.blogspot.com/2012/01/pioneer-feminist.html">Josephine Martin Plymale</a>. Both women were granddaughters of <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/martin.html#zadock2">Zadock and Susannah Martin</a>.)<br />
<br />
Henry Struve was an influential citizen of Seattle and had many appointments, duties and activities that helped to shape the history of the city during its early years. Henry was quite interested in education and served as regent of the Territorial University (later University of Washington). Between 1884 and 1887, he was director of the public schools for Seattle. <br />
<br />
<div style="border: currentColor;">
He was also highly interested in public transportation and the development of infrastructure and roads in the city. During his term as mayor, he oversaw over $500,000 in improvements to the city, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regrading_in_Seattle">regrading the streets</a>. He also helped to develop the city's first cable car system (Seattle Street Railway), which ran from downtown Seattle to the Madison Valley. When the cable car first opened in 1884, his wife Lascelle was on the inaugural ride. </div>
<br />
<div style="border: currentColor;">
Henry operated a private law practice in Seattle, where he represented many big clients, including railroad companies. He also helped to develop banks and insurance companies in Seattle. He and his family were living in Seattle during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Seattle_fire">great fire of 1889</a>, but escaped unharmed. The Home Insurance Company, which he co-founded, paid out large sums in claims due to damage from the fire. The Struve family first lived in a house at 2nd and Pine in downtown Seattle (just two blocks from what is now the Pike Place Market). Later, during the late 1890s, they moved to a house on First Hill. </div>
<br />
<h2 style="border: currentColor;">
Georgetown</h2>
<div style="border: currentColor;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border: currentColor; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WaEU9JDLJ5Y/Uckn39HRpSI/AAAAAAAAAM4/SnqWlERE7E0/s1600/EffieBellinger1887.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WaEU9JDLJ5Y/Uckn39HRpSI/AAAAAAAAAM4/SnqWlERE7E0/s400/EffieBellinger1887.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border: currentColor; text-align: center;">Effie Merriman Bellinger in 1887, a pioneer settler and <br />
business owner of Georgetown, Seattle<br />
Photo courtesy Southern Oregon Historical Society</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="border: currentColor;">
In about 1898, my great-great-great-aunt Effie Merriman Bellinger moved by herself to Georgetown, Washington (now a part of Seattle). Effie was a recently divorced dressmaker who had previously lived in Oregon. I don't know why she moved by herself to Georgetown, but she probably wanted to start a new life after her divorce. At the time, Georgetown was a small but growing town on the Duwamish River, just south of Seattle. The town was originally called Duwamish, after the river adjacent to it. In 1890, it was renamed Georgetown, after the son of the town's developer. In 1904, Georgetown incorporated as an independent city. The main impetus behind the movement to incorporate was lobbying of saloon and brewery owners who did not want to lose the right to manufacture or sell liquor if they remained unincorporated. Georgetown was an independent city from 1904 until 1910, when it was annexed by Seattle.</div>
<br />
<div style="border: currentColor;">
When Effie Bellinger moved to Georgetown in about 1898, she opened up a dressmaking parlor in the town center, being one of its pioneer business owners. She did not remain single for long and was soon married to Joseph Hill, a street car conductor. Later, Joseph worked for many decades as a Deputy King County Sheriff. Effie lived for more than 50 years in a house in the center of Georgetown, at Bailey Street and Carleton Avenue. Their house was only a block away from the King County Hospital (precursor to Harborview Hospital on First Hill). Their house was also very close to the Duwamish River, before the river was straightened in 1913 and the course of the river changed. Their house was eventually torn down and the site is now covered by an onramp to I-5. </div>
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In 1903, another great-great-great aunt Josephine Merriman Beek also moved to Georgetown, to be closer to her sister Effie. Josephine's husband John Beek was elected City Clerk of Georgetown in 1904 and remained in that position until the city was annexed in 1910. John was quite involved with city business and the growth of the region during that time period. In 1909, the city passed an ordinance that closed saloons at 1:00 a.m. (they were previously allowed to remain open 24 hours a day). It is suggested that John Beek's activities as City Clerk might have been partially responsible for the citizens electing to annex to Seattle in 1910. In late 1909, it had become apparent that John had doctored the city's financial records. Since John ran unopposed for his position as City Clerk, there were newspaper campaigns that called on the citizens to vote for annexation as the only way to get John out of office.</div>
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The Beek family lived in a house just east of Georgetown on Beacon Hill. In 1915, they sold their house and moved to north Seattle. John later worked for many years as an accountant for the city of Seattle.<br />
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<h2>
Boeing</h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SfaxJOosoes/UckpawZv0qI/AAAAAAAAANI/XaQLNsuBiEM/s1600/PlymaleBoeing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SfaxJOosoes/UckpawZv0qI/AAAAAAAAANI/XaQLNsuBiEM/s400/PlymaleBoeing.JPG" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border: currentColor; text-align: center;">from the 1973 Boeing Annual Report<br />
Courtesy University of Washington Libraries <br />
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Special Collections</div>
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In 1948, my maternal grandparents Ben and Patricia Plymale moved to Seattle from Portland, Oregon. They were married in June 1948, and after spending their honeymoon in San Francisco, they moved immediately to Seattle so that Ben could attend graduate school. Between 1948 and 1951, Ben and Patricia lived in an apartment in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of north Seattle (the Phinney Apartments). While living there, Ben attended graduate school at the nearby University of Washington and Patricia worked as a secretary at the Sand Point Naval Air Station on Lake Washington. </div>
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In 1950, Ben quit graduate school to accept a job offer as an engineer at Boeing Company. Because Ben was now working at the Boeing plant in south Seattle, they decided to move. Between 1951 and 1953, they lived in an apartment in the Rainier Beach neighborhood of south Seattle (now the Lake Washington Apartments). In 1953, they purchased a house in the Mount Baker neighborhood of south Seattle, which the family owned for 30 years. Later, after their divorce, Ben lived in the Seward Park neighborhood and Patricia lived in the Madison Park neighborhood.</div>
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Except for a brief stint (1968-1972) working in the Pentagon as an Assistant Director to the Secretary of Defense, Ben remained employed by Boeing from 1950 until his death in 1981. He began his career as an engineer, but his brilliance allowed him to advance quickly within the company and he quickly became a company executive and an authority of strategic space systems. He was one of the managers who developed the Minuteman missile program. From 1972 to 1981, Ben was a vice president of Boeing. During his time as vice president, he managed the Space and Ballistic Missile Group, the company's marketing program, and the 757 and 767 airplane system integrations. </div>
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The city of Seattle owed much of its growth to the Boeing Company, which helped to revitalize the economy after World War II and became a major local employer. It could be argued then that Ben's high level of involvement with the company had an indirect, but major impact on the history of the city. </div>
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<h2>
Baseball </h2>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PBp_up7fEd8/Ucn6RWPj47I/AAAAAAAAAN8/fvIWbMfjKfA/s1600/SeattleDailyTimes_6-4-1908.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PBp_up7fEd8/Ucn6RWPj47I/AAAAAAAAAN8/fvIWbMfjKfA/s400/SeattleDailyTimes_6-4-1908.JPG" width="400" xya="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-great-great-uncle John Beek providing his input on why the Seattle<br />
baseball team (then the Seattle Turks) always seemed to lose their games.<br />
From a June 4, 1908 edition of the <i>Seattle Daily Times</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I have never been interested in professional sports or identified with my city's sports teams. Still, professional teams seem to be a source of much pride and cohesion for many American cities. When doing my research, I cannot help but notice how much this hasn't really changed over the years. The city of Seattle has had a baseball team since 1890. The names of Seattle's baseball team has changed over the years and has included: Seattles, Seattle Braves, Seattle Siwashes, Seattle Turks, Seattle Giants, Seattle Rainiers, Seattle Indians, Seattle Rainiers (again), Seattle Angels, Seattle Pilots and finally the Seattle Mariners. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lCS42FEYf38/UcnV47UKEII/AAAAAAAAANs/d-fQZyYyIUI/s1600/1912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lCS42FEYf38/UcnV47UKEII/AAAAAAAAANs/d-fQZyYyIUI/s400/1912.JPG" width="400" xya="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portion of the 1912 Baist map of Seattle showing the location of the Band Box <br />
Park, which was used by Seattle's baseball teams between 1907 and 1913. <br />
The area shown in this map now includes the Yesler Terrace Housing<br />
Projects, the Bailey Gatzert Elementary School, the King County Archives<br />
and the Juvenile Detention Center<br />
Courtesy pauldorpat.com</td></tr>
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Prior to 1913, Seattle had no official stadium for its baseball team. Before that though (between 1907 and 1913), they did play at a baseball park in the Central Area neighborhood of Seattle known as "Band Box Park". Although that baseball park is long gone, it just happens to have been at the site of my previous workplace, the King County Archives, at 12th and Yesler. Coincidentally, this location also happens to be in the recorded subdivision of Struve's Addition (named after the family of my relative, mayor Henry Struve). Band Box Park was constructed at the same time (as a sister project) as the Pike Place Market.<br />
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Band Box Park was succeeded by Dugdale Field in 1913, followed in 1938 by Sicks' Stadium. Sicks' Stadium (at Rainier and McClellan) was Seattle's baseball stadium for 38 years, before the Kingdome and Safeco Field. </div>
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</h2>
Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-48529705327449709922012-10-20T16:06:00.000-07:002012-10-20T16:06:48.346-07:00Genealogy and Politics<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NzhOUEPIj3g/UIMl3vEdBhI/AAAAAAAAAMY/M_lAKJ6UzoE/s1600/GeorgeFMerriman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NzhOUEPIj3g/UIMl3vEdBhI/AAAAAAAAAMY/M_lAKJ6UzoE/s320/GeorgeFMerriman.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">George Merriman in 1899</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As a matter of self-preservation and diplomacy, I avoid contributing to any discussion about politics. I am presenting the issue here though to highlight genealogy research being used for an unusual purpose.<br />
<br />
Recently, one of my cousins sent me a <a href="http://oregonrepublicanleague.blogspot.com/2006/11/oregon-republican-league-bridging_14.html">link</a> she came across regarding my great-great-grandfather, <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/merriman.html#georgef">George Merriman</a> of Medford, Oregon. At first glance, the page seemed typical and unremarkable; it contained a short biography from an 1896 publication and a basic chart showing his descendants. Further browsing though revealed that this information was essentially published for propaganda purposes for a political party.<br />
<br />
The page in question is on a blog titled <a href="http://oregonrepublicanleague.blogspot.com/">Oregon Republican League</a>, which describes itself as "dedicated to building a Republican majority in the state of Oregon, through directed issues research/review, outreach and social service projects." The included biography of my great-great-grandfather was actually from a Republican publication which described George's involvement with the Republican party in the 1880s and 1890s. The information about my ancestor was published in 2006 as part of a "Bridging the Generations Project", along with hundreds of other posts including biographies and genealogies of Oregon Republican politicians from the 1890s. <br />
<br />
The implicit purpose of the project was to inspire current generations of Oregonians to associate with the Republican party because their ancestors happened to be relatively prominent Republican politicians. This is a seemingly creative and innovative method of attempting to gain supporters and members of a particular political party. Admittedly, the blog post is 6 years old and the "project" seems to have been effectively abandoned, with no activity on the blog for at least 2 years. Also, it is not clear how, if at all, the blog and its efforts were related to or endorsed by the official Oregon Republican Party. Research at the Oregon Secretary of State reveals that the Oregon Republican League was officially incorporated in 2004, but has since become inactive.<br />
<br />
Aside from whether this effort had any connection to the official Republican Party, it makes me wonder whether the use of genealogy research would actually be effective in gaining support for any political purpose. A major flaw in the logic is that political party platforms and ideologies change over time, and the Republican Party of the 1890s is not quite what it is today. (Another great-great-grandparent of mine from the same time period, <a href="http://ryanwadleigh.blogspot.com/2012/01/pioneer-feminist.html">Josephine Plymale</a>, was a staunch Republican who also happened to be quite progressive and something of a militant feminist.) Additionally, although a person might find it interesting that a particular ancestor happened to be a politician, would that do anything to actually sway their own political ideologies? As a genealogist, I personally resent my family tree being perverted and used by any political party for their own purposes. At least the blog project did not include the names or identitities of living individuals. <br />
<br />
My great-great-grandfather George Merriman was a founding settler of the city of Medford, Oregon. He was a lifelong blacksmith who owned his own business for many years and raised a family of 7 children. George was definitely a staunch Republican, and although he rarely held political office, he was involved with the party in many ways. He was a member of at least five Republican conventions in the 1880s and 1890s; he was elected as trustee for the city of Oakland, Oregon; he served on the city council of Medford, Oregon; and was involved with a number of other related committees and clubs. In 1892, he ran for the position of Jackson County Sheriff, but was defeated by a small majority. In 1895, he was almost appointed as the warden for the Oregon State Penitentiary. Between 1900 and 1904, he served as Postmaster for the city of Medford. His personal passion and interest was in educational matters, serving on the school board of Medford and was also a founder and director of the city's first college, Medford Business College. Aside from a passion for education, we do not know much about George's specific political ideologies. Perhaps a clue to his ideologies is a strangely-worded statement from a 1912 biography: "He has sought not alone his good but also that of the public." Also, from a 1904 biography: "While not seeking recognition himself he has earnestly helped his deserving friends, and by no means confined himself to any one party in offering help."Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-77795627410509280442012-08-05T13:15:00.001-07:002012-08-05T18:10:37.479-07:00ChildrenWhat follows is a variety of photos of children in family tree, ranging in dates from the 1860s to the 1980s. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kCW4I76qbu4/UB7I67fcNzI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/w5GU3M2s_Mw/s1600/1867_SOHS+5683+Lucinda+and+Mollie+Merriman.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kCW4I76qbu4/UB7I67fcNzI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/w5GU3M2s_Mw/s640/1867_SOHS+5683+Lucinda+and+Mollie+Merriman.tiff" width="401" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two of my great-great-grandfather <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/merriman.html#georgef">George Merriman</a>'s sisters: Lucinda <br />
Merriman (left) and Mollie Merriman (right), circa 1867, Jacksonville, Oregon.<br />
Courtesy Southern Oregon Historical Society<br />
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</tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MhmpcwsN4c8/UB7JMtanZ2I/AAAAAAAAAKI/XBdyD3IAAXo/s1600/1870_Oscarchild.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MhmpcwsN4c8/UB7JMtanZ2I/AAAAAAAAAKI/XBdyD3IAAXo/s640/1870_Oscarchild.jpg" width="476" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-great-grandfather <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/wadleigh.html#oscars">Oscar Wadleigh</a> at about 5 years old, circa 1870. He is <br />
sporting what was apparently fashionable dress for little boys. Sanbornton, New Hampshire.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dkMOxnu0dhw/UB7JfpSugqI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/tmxPQV4D_7Q/s1600/1875_MaryJHalliburton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dkMOxnu0dhw/UB7JfpSugqI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/tmxPQV4D_7Q/s640/1875_MaryJHalliburton.jpg" width="388" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mary J. Halliburton, the niece of my great-great-great-grandmother <br />
Elizabeth Halliburton Current. Photo taken in about 1875 in <br />
Clarksville, Tennessee. Mary died from yellow fever in 1878 at the<br />
age of 9 along with all of her siblings.<br />
Photo from Barbara Wentz via findagrave.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YTWZGqypQAM/UB7J1Mc4UhI/AAAAAAAAAKY/bwm8wriVAwE/s1600/1888_Merrimankids_c1888.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YTWZGqypQAM/UB7J1Mc4UhI/AAAAAAAAAKY/bwm8wriVAwE/s640/1888_Merrimankids_c1888.jpg" width="438" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three of my great-grandmother <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/merriman.html#verav">Vera Merriman</a>'s siblings: Thomas Merriman <br />
(left), George Merriman (middle) and May Merriman (right). <br />
Photo taken circa 1888, Medford, Oregon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wUQwDqmXtJU/UB7KbA5JlOI/AAAAAAAAAKg/dtl72Yp8mrg/s1600/1892_SOHS+21072+Mary+and+Emmaline+Plymale+ca+1892.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wUQwDqmXtJU/UB7KbA5JlOI/AAAAAAAAAKg/dtl72Yp8mrg/s640/1892_SOHS+21072+Mary+and+Emmaline+Plymale+ca+1892.tiff" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two of my great-grandfather <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/plymale.html#benjaminh">Benjamin Plymale</a>'s sisters: Marie Plymale (left) <br />
and Emaline Plymale (right), circa 1893, Jacksonville, Oregon.<br />
Courtesy Southern Oregon Historical Society.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c3NoOoaSAZA/UB7KsiOf_GI/AAAAAAAAAKs/wNXnadMVFSU/s1600/1900_NeilBixbyBaby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c3NoOoaSAZA/UB7KsiOf_GI/AAAAAAAAAKs/wNXnadMVFSU/s640/1900_NeilBixbyBaby.jpg" width="436" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-grandfather <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/bixby.html#neilf">Neil Bixby</a>, circa 1898, Garden City, Minnesota.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RpO2Xbbj63o/UB7LOt2OuMI/AAAAAAAAAK0/-hnkNFG-zXU/s1600/1910_TheodoreWinthropRuth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RpO2Xbbj63o/UB7LOt2OuMI/AAAAAAAAAK0/-hnkNFG-zXU/s640/1910_TheodoreWinthropRuth.jpg" width="442" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three children of Fred Wadleigh, my great-great-grandfather's brother: Theodore<br />
Wadleigh (left), Ruth Wadleigh (center), Winthrop Wadleigh <br />
(right), circa 1906, Milford, New Hampshire.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bcceuYcOQHk/UB7MGZGBJvI/AAAAAAAAAK8/-4mFCIahhfs/s1600/1920_04-15-2012+095551AM8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bcceuYcOQHk/UB7MGZGBJvI/AAAAAAAAAK8/-4mFCIahhfs/s640/1920_04-15-2012+095551AM8.JPG" width="354" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My great-grandfather's niece Arline Bixby, circa 1918, Minnesota.<br />
Courtesy Debra McEachern.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-24yx6m4O1-s/UB7MT7GvDPI/AAAAAAAAALE/2DJl-CuxET8/s1600/1920_HarryandEric.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-24yx6m4O1-s/UB7MT7GvDPI/AAAAAAAAALE/2DJl-CuxET8/s640/1920_HarryandEric.jpg" width="374" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandfather's brother Eric Wadleigh (right) and his cousin <br />
Harry Dragoo (left), circa 1922, Indianapolis, Indiana.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rdcMxSVBSts/UB7Ml0RkT3I/AAAAAAAAALM/wsR9s90YOm8/s1600/1928_Bixbychildrencirca1928.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="458" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rdcMxSVBSts/UB7Ml0RkT3I/AAAAAAAAALM/wsR9s90YOm8/s640/1928_Bixbychildrencirca1928.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left to right: Keith Bixby (my grandmother's cousin), Evelyn Bixby (my grandmother's sister), <br />
Shirley Bixby (my grandmother's sister), Deane Bixby (my grandmother's brother), <br />
circa 1928, Portland, Oregon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1PEimHZffdw/UB7NP3JbTSI/AAAAAAAAALU/x-yBf6unptw/s1600/1930_Moe7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1PEimHZffdw/UB7NP3JbTSI/AAAAAAAAALU/x-yBf6unptw/s640/1930_Moe7.jpg" width="404" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandmother Bettye Brown, circa 1930, unknown location.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2QvfklVsCDE/UB7NdxcjJII/AAAAAAAAALc/k17dt3x6u_I/s1600/1933_Wadleighchild_tricycle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2QvfklVsCDE/UB7NdxcjJII/AAAAAAAAALc/k17dt3x6u_I/s640/1933_Wadleighchild_tricycle.jpg" width="376" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandfather Paul Wadleigh, circa 1933, Indianapolis, Indiana.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Eg3dkOPXa90/UB7NkpM2oKI/AAAAAAAAALk/HAZQpTnkXdM/s1600/1933_Bixbychildren1930s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Eg3dkOPXa90/UB7NkpM2oKI/AAAAAAAAALk/HAZQpTnkXdM/s640/1933_Bixbychildren1930s.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandmother Patricia Bixby (bottom right) and her siblings (Evelyn, Shirley and Deane, in back) and cousins<br />
(Keith and Dennis Bixby, front), circa 1933, Portland, Oregon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eHKwOYzKwMk/UB7OKaO0SHI/AAAAAAAAALs/HbP7UIhWqQ0/s1600/1956_PlymaleBrown1956.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="386" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eHKwOYzKwMk/UB7OKaO0SHI/AAAAAAAAALs/HbP7UIhWqQ0/s640/1956_PlymaleBrown1956.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My mom's birthday in 1956, Seattle, Washington. Left to right: George Plymale, Margaret Brown,<br />
Tracy Brown, Barbara Plymale, Catherine Plymale.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_6CcGGe0q58/UB7OU10UYxI/AAAAAAAAAL0/G2Pl6OCfrts/s1600/1959_Wadleighxmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="622" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_6CcGGe0q58/UB7OU10UYxI/AAAAAAAAAL0/G2Pl6OCfrts/s640/1959_Wadleighxmas.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My dad and his siblings and cousins at their grandparents' house for Christmas, apparently making a gingerbread house, <br />
late 1950's, Indianapolis, Indiana. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p4KARvLhVb8/UB7OlU_MzFI/AAAAAAAAAL8/zmzygUZp9Vg/s1600/1981_PlymaleWilks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="462" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p4KARvLhVb8/UB7OlU_MzFI/AAAAAAAAAL8/zmzygUZp9Vg/s640/1981_PlymaleWilks.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My cousins Deana Plymale and Ira Wilks, 1981, Woodinville, Washington.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-11158188316359175892012-06-17T11:42:00.001-07:002012-09-02T11:03:53.795-07:00an inventor in the family<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nO6HVN0VTig/T94UMnjRF1I/AAAAAAAAAJc/HHQGNlMf0oQ/s1600/invention.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nO6HVN0VTig/T94UMnjRF1I/AAAAAAAAAJc/HHQGNlMf0oQ/s400/invention.JPG" width="302" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The actual design figures for Hugh's sawing machine, <br />
from Patent #136,216<br />
(courtesy US Patent Office)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>My great-great-great-grandfather <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/current.html#hugha">Hugh Current</a> was born in 1832 in central North Carolina and came from a relatively poor family. Sometime between 1850 and 1857, Hugh moved by himself out west and settled in Clarksville, Tennessee. There he married Elizabeth Halliburton in 1859, the eldest daughter of a wealthy plantation owner.<br />
<br />
Hugh was sometimes a farmer, but it seems that his primary vocation and skills were in woodworking. In 1860 he was described as a carpenter. In 1873 or 1874, Hugh moved with his family from their rural farm to a house in the city of Clarksville. There, Hugh opened up a chair making business where he devoted himself to making quality hand-made chairs for his customers. His speciality was rocking chairs. Hugh owned and operated his chair making business in Clarksville for at least seven years, and probably longer. At some point after his chair making enterprise, Hugh also owned and operated a printing supply business. In old age, after having outlived two of his wives and separating from his third, Hugh became a minister in the Universalist church. Current Street in Clarksville was named after him and his family.<br />
<br />
Prior to opening his chair making business, Hugh put his innovative mind to use and decide to invent something. The date and origin of the actual invention is unknown. Eventually though, Hugh created designs and specifications for his invention and submitted it to the US Patent Office. His patent (#136,216) was then issued on February 25, 1873 and is permanently on file with the Patent Office. Hugh's invention is titled "Improvement in Sawing-Machines." The machine is a free-standing apparatus with conveyor belts and circular saws. The anticipated use of the machine was to take large "cord-wood" and cut it quickly and neatly into three pieces that would be the appropriate size for wood or cook stoves. The entire patent can be viewed <a href="http://www.google.com/patents/US136216.pdf">online</a>.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-56cUg-OE_bY/T94Uh8pPBhI/AAAAAAAAAJk/HAwKwXfYxfE/s1600/HughAndMargaret.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-56cUg-OE_bY/T94Uh8pPBhI/AAAAAAAAAJk/HAwKwXfYxfE/s400/HughAndMargaret.jpg" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hugh Current and his second wife Margaret, <br />
in about 1880.<br />
(courtesy Jim Long)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Although the patent was issued, the Patent Office has no record that the machine was ever produced. We must assume though that Hugh at least produced a prototype machine and probably others for friends and customers in Clarksville. Interestingly, Hugh's 1873 patent was cited in the research of a 1990 "cherry splitter" patent, which employed a similar overall design to split cherries.<br />
<br />
The invention of a firewood sawing machine perhaps seems a little odd. I cannot help but draw a comparison to Disney's <em>Beauty and the Beast</em>, in which Belle's father's invention is also a machine to chop firewood (although the design is completely different). The invention story did not appear in any of the original stories and was an element added by Disney. Was Hugh viewed as odd by his children and contemporaries just like Maurice?<br />
<br />
My descent from Hugh:<br />
Hugh A. Current md. Elizabeth G. Halliburton<br />
- Georgia Current md. Christopher C. Brown<br />
-- Newell B. Brown md. Louetha Jones<br />
--- Bettye B. Brown md. Paul C. Wadleigh<br />
---- Randy Wadleigh md. Barbara Plymale<br />
----- Ryan Wadleigh<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TojO7eV2tsQ/T94UslECZvI/AAAAAAAAAJs/K4LUcDcMk3o/s1600/HACurrent_9-25-1875_Pg4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TojO7eV2tsQ/T94UslECZvI/AAAAAAAAAJs/K4LUcDcMk3o/s400/HACurrent_9-25-1875_Pg4.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">newspaper advertisement for Hugh's<br />
chair making business<br />
(from Sep. 25, 1875 edition of the <br />
<em>Clarksville Weekly Chronicle</em>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-76682098354572898772012-05-28T11:47:00.000-07:002012-05-28T11:47:12.351-07:00military glamour shotsOn this Memorial Day holiday, I am honoring my ancestors and their siblings that had military service. Following is photographs of them:<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>World War II</strong></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dEGNWpsHBWk/T8O1LNw6IjI/AAAAAAAAAIM/EfqaKEEJQrY/s1600/PaulCWadleigh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dEGNWpsHBWk/T8O1LNw6IjI/AAAAAAAAAIM/EfqaKEEJQrY/s640/PaulCWadleigh.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>My paternal grandfather Paul C. Wadleigh (1925-2007)<br />
</strong>Paul served in the Navy during WWII as a mine sweeper in the Pacific Theater. <br />
He later served in the Korean War before being discharged in 1954 as a lieutenant.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G-SOGOdRK-Y/T8O19jJ_4JI/AAAAAAAAAIU/lSizm2MTPZ8/s1600/EricJWadleigh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G-SOGOdRK-Y/T8O19jJ_4JI/AAAAAAAAAIU/lSizm2MTPZ8/s640/EricJWadleigh.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>My grandfather's oldest brother Eric J. Wadleigh (1916-2011)<br />
</strong>Eric was a member of the 72nd Field Artillery Regiment of the Army during World <br />
War II. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NHbLJlYilG4/T8O2WlumJ7I/AAAAAAAAAIc/Hm6YtXoQ00g/s1600/GeraldMWadleigh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NHbLJlYilG4/T8O2WlumJ7I/AAAAAAAAAIc/Hm6YtXoQ00g/s640/GeraldMWadleigh.jpg" width="488" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>My grandfather's middle brother Gerald M. Wadleigh (1920-1984)<br />
</strong>Gerald was a lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps during World War II, serving in <br />
Germany and England. He was discharged in 1946. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3TIFApEHiIo/T8O2fm_btJI/AAAAAAAAAIk/Wm0jabslRVk/s1600/BenPlymale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3TIFApEHiIo/T8O2fm_btJI/AAAAAAAAAIk/Wm0jabslRVk/s640/BenPlymale.jpg" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>My maternal grandfather Ben T. Plymale (1926-1981)</strong><br />
Ben was in the ROTC during high school and then served in the Navy between 1944<br />
and 1946. During his service, he was based primarily on Guam.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K_HBHt6NiB0/T8O2tilAzoI/AAAAAAAAAIs/Os3XZUjFN7Y/s1600/DeaneBixby2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K_HBHt6NiB0/T8O2tilAzoI/AAAAAAAAAIs/Os3XZUjFN7Y/s640/DeaneBixby2.jpg" width="443" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>My maternal grandmother's only brother Deane F. Bixby (1921-1944)</strong><br />
Deane was a lieutenant in an engineer battalion of the Army between 1942 and 1944,<br />
serving in Europe on two separate deployments. At the end of his second deployment<br />
he was in charge of mine-sweeping and road clearing so that tanks could proceed.<br />
Somewhere in Germany in December 1944 he was personally inspecting a road in spite<br />
of machine-gun fire when he was killed by an enemy bullet. His heroism apparently<br />
saved the lives of his men behind him and allowed them to capture 28 German soldiers.<br />
He was awarded a posthumous Bronze Star.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">World War I</span></strong><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fSNwt6tkxuw/T8O4ScaSm0I/AAAAAAAAAI0/DtaMcVk_9fY/s1600/GeraldTWadleigh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fSNwt6tkxuw/T8O4ScaSm0I/AAAAAAAAAI0/DtaMcVk_9fY/s640/GeraldTWadleigh.jpg" width="299" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>My great-grandfather's brother Gerald T. Wadleigh (1893-1983)</strong><br />
Gerald served in the Navy during World War I.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_o_MQrOGBy0/T8O4nbVm30I/AAAAAAAAAI8/tEiOeGSnlG8/s1600/BenHPlymale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_o_MQrOGBy0/T8O4nbVm30I/AAAAAAAAAI8/tEiOeGSnlG8/s640/BenHPlymale.jpg" width="392" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>My great-grandfather Benjamin H. Plymale (1888-1929)<br />
</strong>Benjamin served as a Mess Sergeant in the Army during World War I between <br />
1917 and 1919. He served in Europe, with the majority of time spent in France. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ad_Kifv5Ar8/T8O4tTRi2_I/AAAAAAAAAJE/iuO0wIT3dcA/s1600/NeilBixby_1910s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ad_Kifv5Ar8/T8O4tTRi2_I/AAAAAAAAAJE/iuO0wIT3dcA/s640/NeilBixby_1910s.jpg" width="380" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>My great-grandfather Neil F. Bixby (1893-1985)<br />
</strong>Neil served in the Army during World War I from 1917 to 1919, being<br />
stationed in Europe. He later worked as a civilian for the Army <br />
Corps of Engineers for over 30 years.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Civil War</span></strong><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-otOOVq7g87g/T8O5P9LOojI/AAAAAAAAAJM/lw83nTym5_8/s1600/IrvinThurston.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-otOOVq7g87g/T8O5P9LOojI/AAAAAAAAAJM/lw83nTym5_8/s640/IrvinThurston.jpg" width="564" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>My great-great-great-grandfather Irvin H. Thurston (1828-1887)<br />
</strong>Irvin was a physician by profession, so he served in the Union Army between 1862 and 1865, <br />
first as an assistant surgeon and then as a full surgeon in the 8th Minnesota Infantry.<br />
With his regiment, he served in Minnesota, Tennessee and North Carolina.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-8861865490248605532012-05-21T18:47:00.001-07:002012-05-24T14:36:47.193-07:00Manslaughter!Proper genealogical research aims at uncovering the truth about our ancestors, however unsavory that truth may be. One such example of moral failings was in 1655 when my distant ancestors Robert and Susannah Latham were responsible for the death of their 14-year old servant.<br />
<br />
In 1655, Robert and Susannah Latham were a young couple living in the town of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth,_Massachusetts">Plymouth</a> in Plymouth Colony, in what is now Massachusetts. They had been married for about six years and had about four or five young children. Both Robert and Susannah came from Puritan families that were among the original settlers of the Plymouth Colony. Susannah's mother, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Chilton">Mary Chilton</a>, was a passenger on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower">Mayflower</a>, and said to be the first white woman to set foot on Plymouth Rock. <br />
<br />
Robert and Susannah were not wealthy, but by the winter of 1654-1655 they did have a servant named John Walker. John Walker was at the time about 14 years old and was perhaps an indentured servant. On January 15, 1654/1655, John Walker died while in the custody of his "master", Robert Latham. His body was subsequently brought before a coroner's jury. The inspection found that John's body was covered with bruises, slashes and open sores and showed evidence of being frozen. When questioned, Robert admitted to whipping the boy, including the day he died. A witness also testified that at one time John was made to carry a log that was much heavier than him and when it fell on top of him, he was whipped by his master until he got up. The investigation revealed that John was also not given sufficient food, clothing or lodgings. John was "put forth in the extremity of cold", and thus died. The inference then is that poor John literally froze to death, his death being exacerbated by starvation, mistreatment and physical injuries.<br />
<br />
Upon these findings, Robert Latham was arrested and was indicted for "fellonious cruelty." At the next meeting of the court, Robert was found guilty of "manslaughter by chaunc medley." ("chance-medley" was an old legal term used to describe unintentional killing, but usually in terms of self defense) During the proceedings, Robert asked for mercy in his punishment. He was sentenced to be "burned in the hand" and all of his goods were to be confiscated by the court. This was a rather light sentence given that the punishment for murder was execution. The wording of his guilty verdict though implied that the jury did not believe that Robert intended for John to die, thus he was not deserving of the full punishment for murder.<br />
<br />
Although Robert was convicted and sentenced for John's death, it became clear that his wife Susannah was also indirectly responsible for John's death. The inference is that although Susannah might not have physically harmed John, both Robert and Susannah had colluded with each other about the treatment, and that Susannah did nothing to help him. On June 6, 1655, Susannah was brought before the court and arraigned for cruelty. She was never prosecuted for the crime and eventually the matter was dropped entirely in 1658, leaving her a free woman.<br />
<br />
Robert and Susannah's oldest daughter Mercy Latham was my ancestor. During the murder and subsequent trial of her father, Mercy was just 4-years old. It must have been made on a strange impression on young Mercy to possibly be witness to a murder and to have known that her own parents were responsible for the death of an innocent person.<br />
<br />
My descent from Robert and Susannah:<br />
<br />
Robert Latham md. Susannah Winslow<br />
- Mercy Latham md. Isaac Harris<br />
--- Desire Harris md. John Kingman<br />
---- Deliverance Kingman md. Ebenezer Orcutt<br />
----- Samuel Orcutt md. Susanna Bates<br />
------ Keziah Orcutt md. Jesse Worrick<br />
------- Hannah Worrick md. Thaddeus Bixby<br />
-------- Henry A. Bixby md. Mary Palfrey<br />
--------- Henry W. Bixby md. Julia M. Thurston<br />
---------- Neil F. Bixby md. Bertha Hoffman<br />
----------- Patricia J. Bixby md. Ben T. Plymale<br />
------------ Barbara Plymale md. Randy Wadleigh<br />
------------- Ryan Wadleigh<br />
<br />
Sources:<br />
1. <u>Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England. Court Orders. Vol. III. 1651-1661</u>. Boston, William White Printer, 1855. <br />
2. Walker, J.B.R. <u>Memorial of the Walkers of the Old Plymouth Colony</u>. Northampton, Metcalfe & Co., 1861.<br />
3. Savage, James. <u>A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England</u>. Boston, Little, Brown & Co., 1860.<br />
4. Stratton, Eugene A. <u>Plymouth Colony. Its History & People. 1620-1691</u>. Salt Lake City, 1986.Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-77353711920040742912012-05-09T11:58:00.003-07:002012-05-09T20:01:37.016-07:00The Queen's American Ancestors<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aPXQNQAgB58/T6fd0kNSoHI/AAAAAAAAAHw/6Psx2etEOmk/s1600/colonelaugustinewarner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aPXQNQAgB58/T6fd0kNSoHI/AAAAAAAAAHw/6Psx2etEOmk/s320/colonelaugustinewarner.jpg" width="257" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Augustine Warner Jr. The original portrait was <br />
apparently destroyed in a fire. This is probably<br />
the copy of the portrait that was made and is now<br />
held by the George Washington Foundation</td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_II">Queen Elizabeth II</a> of the United Kingdom has a family tree that is filled with the royalty and nobility of Europe. It might surprising then to learn that the Queen actually has American ancestors. Ironically enough, these same American forebears are also shared by George Washington, the old nemesis of the British. My family also descends from these same common ancestors of Queen Elizabeth II and George Washington.<br />
<br />
The most recent common ancestors of Queen Elizabeth, George Washington and myself were <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_Warner,_Jr.">Augustine Warner Jr</a> and his wife Mildred Reade of colonial Virginia. Both Augustine and Mildred were born in the early 1640s in Virginia. Their parents had migrated to Virginia from England (although Mildred's mother was at least half French). Mildred Reade also has proven direct descent from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_III_of_England">King Edward III</a> of England through her paternal grandmother. Mildred's great-uncle Sir Francis Windebank was Secretary of State under King Charles II. <br />
<br />
Augustine Warner was born in 1642 or 1643 in Virginia. In 1658, at about the age of 16, he was sent to England where he was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School in London. After finishing his education, he returned to Virginia where he married Mildred Reade, the daughter of a prominent Virginian landowner. They lived together on a Virginian estate given to them by Mildred's father until 1674 when Augustine inherited his family's estate - Warner Hall - from his father. The land containing Warner Hall had originally been granted to Augustine's father in 1642 and the plantation house was built sometime after this date. The estate is located in Gloucester County, Virginia on the Severn River, off of Chesapeake Bay.<br />
<br />
Augustine was prominent in Virginia politics during his adulthood. He served in the House of Burgesses from 1666 to 1677 and was its Speaker on two separate occasions. He later served on the Governor's Council from 1677 to 1681. Augustine was also closely involved with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon%27s_Rebellion">Bacon's Rebellion</a> of 1676-1677, being a supporter of Governor Berkeley. During the crisis, the rebels managed to seize Warner Hall, damaging the house in the process.<br />
<br />
After the death of Augustine Warner in 1681, his widow Mildred and their children continued to live at Warner Hall. Apparently, after Augustine's death Mildred was left with custody of a large amount of arms and ammunition (perhaps left behind during Bacon's Rebellion) and she refused to give them up until they were taken from her by force. The couple had three known sons, but all three died without producing children. The surviving heirs of Augustine and Mildred Warner were thus their three daughters: Elizabeth Warner Lewis (my ancestor), Mildred Warner Washington Gale (George Washington's ancestor) and Mary Warner Smith (Queen Elizabeth's ancestor).<br />
<br />
Elizabeth Warner married John Lewis and inherited Warner Hall from her brother George in about 1702 and lived there until her death in 1720. She was my direct ancestor. Another of her direct descendants was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meriwether_Lewis">Meriwether Lewis</a>, of Lewis and Clark fame.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HH8c4Uwgfg0/T6ffauiclRI/AAAAAAAAAH4/cPXdO2Ic0A8/s1600/media_restore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HH8c4Uwgfg0/T6ffauiclRI/AAAAAAAAAH4/cPXdO2Ic0A8/s320/media_restore.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A current photo of Warner Hall in Gloucester County, <br />
Virginia, from the Inn at Warner Hall's website</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Mildred Warner was married first to Lawrence Washington and second to George Gale. In 1700, she moved with her second husband to England, where she died soon after. Mildred is the grandmother of George Washington.<br />
<br />
Mary Warner married John Smith and settled in Gloucester County, Virginia. Their daughter Mildred Smith married Robert Porteus and moved to England in 1720. Their descendants later intermarried with the English gentry and nobility. Eventually, their descendant Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon married George VI of England, making them ancestors of Queen Elizabeth. <br />
<br />
Warner Hall stayed in the family for about 200 years, being passed down to descendants of Elizabeth Warner Lewis. Eventually, the plantation was sold to an unrelated family in the 1830s. Unfortunately, the estate suffered at least two devastating fires that destroyed the original 17th Century home. The owners then rebuilt a colonial-style mansion on the original foundation, and it is still standing to this day. Warner Hall is currently a bed & breakfast (<a href="http://www.warnerhall.com/index.asp">Inn at Warner Hall</a>) and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Although the actual house dates from the 19th Century, there are numerous outbuildings and the family cemetery which survive from earlier times.<br />
<br />
In 1957, Queen Elizabeth II made a trip to the United States and Virginia to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. During he trip, she visited Warner Hall and placed a wreath on the grave of her ancestor Augustine Warner. During the trip she was also given a gift of a copy of a portrait of Augustine Warner. In England, Warner Hall is apparently known as the "home of the Queen's American ancestors." During her 1957 trip, Elizabeth was quoted in a speech saying: "Yes, I am proud of my American ancestry and of the part they played in the war that we fought against us."<br />
<br />
My relationship to Meriwether Lewis, George Washington and Queen Elizabeth II:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UMfB-kU_tys/T6fgOQHdOqI/AAAAAAAAAIA/7oTM_OddroQ/s1600/Warner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UMfB-kU_tys/T6fgOQHdOqI/AAAAAAAAAIA/7oTM_OddroQ/s640/Warner.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sources:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1. Tyler, Lyon G. <u>Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Volume I.</u> Lewis Historical Publishing Co., New York, 1915.</div>2. Sorley, Merrow E. <u>Lewis of Warner Hall, The History of a Family</u>. self published, 1935. <br />
3. McAllister, John M. and Tandy, Lura B. <u>Genealogies of the Lewis and Kindred Families</u>. E. W. Stephens Publishing Co., Columbia, Missouri, 1906.<br />
4. Bolitho, Hector. "The Queen's American Ancestors", unknown date. Retrieved from <a href="http://www.bigballoonmusic.com/goddardreagan/TheQueensAmericanAncestors.htm">http://www.bigballoonmusic.com/goddardreagan/TheQueensAmericanAncestors.htm</a><br />
5. "Augustine Warner, Jr.", in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, retrieved from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_Warner,_Jr">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_Warner,_Jr</a>.<br />
6. "Just a little bit of history" at Inn at Warner Hall, retrieved from <a href="http://www.warnerhall.com/bed-and-breakfast-virginia-history.asp">http://www.warnerhall.com/bed-and-breakfast-virginia-history.asp</a><br />
7. Tombstone inscriptions, Warner Hall Cemetery, Warner Hall, Gloucester Co., Virginia<br />
8. Hudgins, William H. "The Queen Visits Soil of Her American Ancestors", <u>Richmond Times-Dispatch</u>, October 17, 1957Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-47607348737276370332012-04-01T11:53:00.000-07:002013-11-28T12:27:15.936-08:00a thief in the family<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ewC4rDEkVnw/T3FGiPScKtI/AAAAAAAAAHk/9XhNb5--udA/s1600/kirlinletter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ewC4rDEkVnw/T3FGiPScKtI/AAAAAAAAAHk/9XhNb5--udA/s400/kirlinletter.JPG" width="342" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the portion of the letter William Kirlin wrote in 1851<br />
describing the theft by Vashti Dunham</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In 1851 my great-great-great-great-grandmother <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/willits.html#vashti">Vashti Willits Dunham</a> was living in Centerville, Indiana. She was 42-years old and was married with a family of seven children. Vashti was the daughter of Levi Willits and Rachel Field, both from Quaker families. Vashti was born in Ohio but as a child moved to Indiana with her family. In 1828, her father Levi Willits died and her mother later remarried to William Kirlin.<br />
<br />
Vashti's mother Rachel Field Willits Kirlin died on March 10, 1851 at the age of 71. She left a surviving husband, William Kirlin, and many grown children and grandchildren. As part of the distribution of her effects, it was decided that all of Rachel's clothing and personal items would be divided equally between her three daughters (Mary, Sarah and Vashti) and her three daughters-in-law (Polly, Sarah J., and Sarah A.).<br />
<br />
At the time, only four of the women - including Vashti - lived nearby. They met at their stepfather's house and divided the clothing equally in six ways. Each of them took their share home and left two piles for the women who lived out of state. My ancestor Vashti then devised a plan to get her hands on more of the clothing. She found out that a neighbor was coincidentally about to travel to where her brother James and his wife Sarah were living in Illinois. She went back to her stepfather's house and told him that if he gave her one of the piles of clothing, she would then give it to the neighbor so that it could get safely to her sister-in-law in Illinois. William agreed to the plan and gave Vashti the clothing intended for his step daughter-in-law. <br />
<br />
Then, while the clothing was in her custody,Vashti stole some items before giving them to her neighbor. Apparently one of the things she had stolen was an expensive shawl that William Kirklin had given as a gift to his wife Rachel. Apparently, he had paid $10.00 for it (or about $280.00 in today's money). <br />
<br />
William Kirlin found out about the theft and then wrote a letter on May 3, 1851 to his stepson James Willits explaining what had happened and that he knew Vashti was a thief. He then included an inventory of what he knew had been in the pile (a gold watch, a plaid dress, another dress, a silk apron, a white cape, gloves and other items that he did not remember), so if there was anything else missing, he knew who to blame. William then asked James if he wanted him to confront Vashti about it or just let it go. It is unknown what eventually happened with the issue. Interestingly though, when James and Sarah's first daughter was born in 1854, they named her Vashti after the sister who had apparently stolen from them. <br />
<br />
Vashti and her family did not remain in the area for long. A few years after the incident, she and her family moved out west to Iowa. She later lived in Kansas and Missouri. Despite her apparent theft and possible strife with her stepfather and siblings, she appears to have been very close to her children. All of her children survived to have children of their own. Sadly, during the 1860s four of her adult children suffered from untimely deaths leaving a large network of parentless grandchildren. We have three letters that Vashti wrote in 1870-1871 to her son-in-law Irvin Thurston in Minnesota after the death of her daughter Lydia from consumption (tuberculosis). In these letters she expressed much sympathy to Irvin and his four young daughters (including my great-great-grandmother Julia, then 5 years old). She expressed interest in doing what she could from afar (she sent the girls each a pair of stockings that she had made) and also gave Irvin her blessing to remarry so that the family would not have to be separated. <br />
<br />
Sometime during the 1860s, her elderly-husband John Dunham moved by himself to New Mexico to be a silver miner. She never saw him again. They both died during the early 1870s. <br />
<br />
My decent from Vashti:<br />
<br />
Rachel Field md. 1st. Levi Willits md. 2nd. William Kirlin<br />
- Vashti Willits md. John Dunham<br />
-- Lydia Dunham md. Irvin Thurston<br />
--- Julia Thurston md. Henry Bixby<br />
---- Neil Bixby md. Bertha Hoffman<br />
----- Patricia Bixby md. Ben Plymale<br />
------ Barbara Plymale md. Randy Wadleigh<br />
------- Ryan WadleighRyan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-60836896644556896442012-02-19T16:55:00.000-08:002012-02-19T16:56:06.734-08:00into the mind of a teenager ... 100 years ago<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MzKEuMEurCw/T0GW07HSBsI/AAAAAAAAAHA/fKi1yts4Mn0/s1600/OdinWadleighhighschool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MzKEuMEurCw/T0GW07HSBsI/AAAAAAAAAHA/fKi1yts4Mn0/s400/OdinWadleighhighschool.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Odin in 1906, from his high school year book</td></tr>
</tbody></table>My great-grandfather <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/wadleigh.html#odinf">Odin Wadleigh</a> was born in 1888 in Cannonsville, New York. He spent his youth in Buffalo, Deposit and Binghamton, New York. He kept a diary for the entire year 1906, which has been passed down in the family and survives as a priceless heirloom.<br />
<br />
The diary was written when he was 17 and 18 years old. It describes - among other things - the end of his senior year in high school, applying to college, moving away for his first job, his relationship with his girlfriend and his appendicitis.<br />
<br />
If interested, you can read the entire <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/diary.html">diary</a> on my website.<br />
<br />
The following are some excerpts from his diary:<br />
<br />
On his girlfriend Eva ...<br />
<blockquote>January 17, 1906: "This noon I went over to speak with Eva and she did not speak. I felt pretty much put out and was mad for a while."</blockquote><blockquote>February 11, 1906: "Eva is as prim as ever. I wish she would come down just a little and let me kiss or hug her just once. I don't see what harm it would do for I am no stranger to her."</blockquote><blockquote>February 14, 1906: "I as usual acted up and Eva was rather disgusted."</blockquote><blockquote>March 2, 1906: "I wrote a note to Eva and apologized for my conduct. She would not answer. I was on the anxious seat all day for E is too good a girl to lose."<br />
<br />
July 28, 1906: "Eva was a little cross all the morning. In the PM, I plagued her until she cried. Then she was mad the rest of the day. So was I. It was mostly my fault anyway."<br />
<br />
December 25, 1906: "I cuddled Eva some and teased (and stole) 4 dandy kisses. I like Eva better all the time. I could love her if I don't already."<br />
<br />
(Odin and Eva continued to date until they were married 6 years later in 1912. They had two sons, Eric and Gerald. Sadly, Eva committed suicide in 1921.)</blockquote>On high school ...<br />
<blockquote>February 19, 1906: "Studied like all, all day long and went to bed with a raging headache."<br />
<br />
March 9, 1906: "We had a trig review and although I knew the proofs perfectly, I hurried so I only got 71. It made me mad."<br />
<br />
June 22, 1906: "Graduation exercises this evening. They went off fine. Got my diploma and now I am an alumnus."<br />
<br />
(In his senior year of high school Odin took English, Trigonometry, German, Chemistry and History. In his diary he mainly mentioned his Trigonometry and German classes.)</blockquote><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kyIncw_SC60/T0GXBAZQzaI/AAAAAAAAAHI/brQUf98oZk0/s1600/IMG_0004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="347" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kyIncw_SC60/T0GXBAZQzaI/AAAAAAAAAHI/brQUf98oZk0/s400/IMG_0004.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Odin, Eva (center) and an unknown friend, in about 1912.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>On applying to college ...<br />
<blockquote>February 9, 1906: "I got a letter from Cornell in which I found that I can not enter with my present subjects. So I decided to give up Cornell and work for Syracuse. Between my disappointment and my temper I had no dinner nor breakfast."<br />
<br />
June 28, 1906: "Well I got a letter from Syracuse this a.m. which said my scholarship was not good for engineering. It broke me all up. I could not work all day."<br />
<br />
(Although Odin did not get into Cornell University or Syracuse University, he did not give up. He eventually attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn where he graduated in 1910 with a degree in electrical engineering.)</blockquote>On working ...<br />
<blockquote>August 31, 1906: "Went down to the G. E. Works. Mr. Whimple gave me a place in the testing room at $7 a week to start with. I am much pleased. There were about 100 waiting for a job."<br />
<br />
September 14, 1906: "Got my first pay from G.E. today, $5.57. After paying my board I had $1.25 left, $2.00 on hand, making $3.75."<br />
<br />
September 17, 1906: "Worked until 9:30 today and got 15 hrs."<br />
<br />
(Odin worked for General Electric for about two years. He then moved to New York City and worked as an engineer for a railway company. Then in 1912 he moved to Indianapolis and became an engineer for the Sanborn Electric Company, and eventually became its president.)</blockquote>On family ...<br />
<blockquote>September 1, 1906: "After supper Mother and I went out shopping and got some things for me. This is the last time we will poke around together. I kinda hate to go."<br />
<br />
September 3, 1906: "Mother, Gerald and I had a little cry together. Father went to the train with me." </blockquote><blockquote>(Gerald was his little brother. Odin was moving to Schenectady for his new job.)</blockquote>On visiting relatives ...<br />
<blockquote>February 17, 1906: "We are all glad Inez has gone. Benjamin Franklin said fish and visitors stink in 3 days. He got it right."</blockquote><blockquote>(Inez was his aunt from New Hampshire.)</blockquote>On current events ...<br />
<blockquote>April 18, 1906: "There was a terrible earthquake in San Francisco this A.M. It killed 3,000 persons and destroyed many buildings. Fire broke out and because the water works and pipes were destroyed, could not be stopped. They are having an awful time. We do not know all about it yet."</blockquote>On food ...<br />
<blockquote>February 24, 1906: "Had some grape fruit for breakfast, the first I ever ate."<br />
<br />
July 31, 1906: "Menu for the day. Breakfast: sliced bananas and cream. fried eggs. coffee. Supper: boiled potatoes, cold ham, black berries, lettuce, ice coffee, bread.</blockquote>On quitting smoking ...<br />
<blockquote>June 30, 1906: "Eva would not tell me to stop smoking, but said she wished I would. I will smoke once more and quit for as long as I can."<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ri_28U634mc/T0GXOJQWPYI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/eo5Gu2Ohzu8/s1600/DiaryPage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ri_28U634mc/T0GXOJQWPYI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/eo5Gu2Ohzu8/s400/DiaryPage.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">one of the pages from Odin's diary<br />
on his 18th birthday</td></tr>
</tbody></table></blockquote><blockquote>July 6, 1906: "Stop smoking makes my head ache."</blockquote>On losing his temper ...<br />
<blockquote>March 10, 1906: "I have become so in the last six months that if I am beat or bested or disappointed in any way it makes me mad. It is foolish I know but I am trying to overcome it."<br />
<br />
</blockquote>On an appendicitis ...<br />
<blockquote>January 20, 1906: "About two AM I awoke with terrible cramps in my stomach. Nothing did any good and I was in agony the rest of the night. About 9 mother sent for the doctor. He gave me two hypodermics of morphine. I went to sleep and slept till 2 in the PM. When I woke I felt fine and the pain was gone."<br />
<br />
November 26, 1906: "Sometime in the night my old ache back back to me and it is the worst yet. I had Dr MacDuval and he called it appendicitis and recommended an operation as soon as I was able."<br />
<br />
December 2, 1906: "Had a little pain in my side. It scared me so I had to come home. Said good bye to Eva because I may never see her again."<br />
<br />
December 4, 1906: "This morning Dr. Beardsley gave me chloroform and I did not know anymore until 11:30. The operation was over and I was very sick to my stomach, which pained me very much due to the ether gas."</blockquote>Ryan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-36292486172250653972012-01-09T18:41:00.002-08:002022-02-24T12:18:03.955-08:00pioneer feminist<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t5DOkMFQ71c/Twnpm5yxYbI/AAAAAAAAAGo/RxeROZIgOLw/s1600/JosephinePlymale3.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t5DOkMFQ71c/Twnpm5yxYbI/AAAAAAAAAGo/RxeROZIgOLw/s400/JosephinePlymale3.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josephine Martin Plymale in about the 1870s, at the<br />
time she was most active as a Women's Suffrage Activist.<br />
Photo courtesy Southern Oregon Historical Society</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My great-great-grandmother <a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/martin.html#josephinel">Josephine Martin</a> was a fascinating woman and an early feminist. She was born in 1845 in Missouri and crossed the Oregon Trail with her family in 1846, spending the formative age of 10 months to 15 months living in a covered wagon. The family settled in Oregon where they lived in Lafayette (1846-1851), Winchester (1851-1859), Roseburg (1859-1861) and Myrtle Creek (1861-1862). In about 1862 (at about 17 years old), Josephine left her family and moved to Jacksonville, Oregon, where she became a school teacher. She also lived briefly in Josephine County, Oregon. She was married to William Plymale in 1863. They lived on a farm in what is now Medford, Oregon from 1863 to 1875. Between 1875 and her death in 1899, they lived in Jacksonville, Oregon.<br />
<br />
Josephine "Josie" was first and foremost a wife and mother of 12 children. She was also a Women's Suffrage activist, a Temperance activist, a newspaper writer and journalist, a noted speech giver, a candidate for political office, an orchardist, a farmer's advocate, a school teacher, a member of various civic organizations, and a town clerk employee.<br />
<br />
<b>Women's Suffrage Activist</b><br />
<blockquote>
Josephine was documented as being an activist of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_suffrage">Women's Suffrage</a> movement, but her specific contributions are not known. In 1875, she was elected as a vice president of the Oregon State Women Suffrage Assocation. In 1879, she was described as "one of the most active workers in the Women Suffrage field whom we have met anywhere." At some point during the 1870s, Josephine had acquired use of her church (Methodist) for use as a meeting for women's suffrage activists, but was later locked out by her pastor who got wind of the scheme. Later, a scene was described where Josephine and her husband were too afraid to leave their house because of a violent mob in the street that was protesting against women's rights. Most of Josephine's involvement in the women's suffrage movement probably took place in the 1870s, when the movement began to gain momentum in Oregon. Women did not gain the right to vote in Oregon until 1912, many years after Josephine had died.<br />
<br />
Josephine was also an activist of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperance_movement">Temperance</a> movement, which was against the excessive consumption of alcohol. In 1885 and 1886 she was treasurer of the local branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. In 1885 she was described as having "always been an active and able advocate of the temperance cause." Apparently, the Temperance and Women's Suffrage movements went hand-in-hand during that time period. Ironically, her husband had at one time been given a license to sell liquor.<br />
<br />
Her later actions also show that Josephine was a dedicated advocate for farmers, journalists and educators.</blockquote>
<b>Politics</b><br />
<blockquote>
Josephine was born into, and married into, families that were heavily involved in politics in Oregon. Her father, William Martin, served as representative in the Oregon Provision Legislature from 1848-1850 and then as a representative in the Oregon Territorial Legislature from 1850-1852. Later, he had the political offices of Indian Service Agent (early 1850s) and Receiver of the Land Office (1856-1861). Josephine's husband, William Plymale, was an elected member of the House of Representatives of the Oregon State Legislature from 1874-1875. He also had the political office of Jackson County Surveyor (1865-1873), Deputy County Clerk (1860s-1880s), and Justice of the Peace (1880s-1904).<br />
<br />
The surviving records infer that Josephine held the opposite political values of both her father and her husband. Through most of her adulthood, her father and husband were Democrats whereas Josephine was a Republican (which tended to be the more liberal and progressive party of the time). In August 1888, Josephine named her youngest son after Benjamin Harrison, a Republican who was elected president of the United States three months later.<br />
<br />
In 1892, Josephine entered the candidacy under the Republican ticket for election as Jackson County Recorder. Apparently, the suggestion that she would consider running for office was unprecedented. In a newspaper article, her candidacy declaration was responded to with: "That is right, Sister Plymale; if you never ask for an office you will never be refused one." Unfortunately, she dropped out of the race or was denied inclusion by her own party. In May 1892, the Republican Part of Jackson County instead officially nominated her nephew, Robert Armstrong, for that position (Robert later lost the election). <br />
<br />
In 1893, Josephine was a committee clerk for the legislative assembly of the Oregon State Legislature in Salem. Later, in 1895, she again traveled to the State Legislative Assembly in Salem where she "was employed in the senate chamber" and brought her two youngest daughters, Emma and Marie, with her.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
In 1898, Josephine performed the duties (copying records) of the Town Clerk of Jacksonville, while the clerk was absent. As part of that job, she became a notary. </blockquote>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jj0rWyWTarc/TwnqOzmkIJI/AAAAAAAAAGw/3JY2Aeld7Ek/s1600/JosephinePlymale1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jj0rWyWTarc/TwnqOzmkIJI/AAAAAAAAAGw/3JY2Aeld7Ek/s400/JosephinePlymale1.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josephine Martin Plymale, c. 1880s<br />
Photo courtesy Southern Oregon Historical Society</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Journalism and Writing</b><br />
<blockquote>
Most sources agree that Josephine was a gifted writer. She put her talent to use as a journalist. From the 1870s until the late 1890s, Josephine was a correspondent and writer for at least two newspapers: the <em>Ashland Tidings</em> (in Ashland, Oregon) and the <em>Oregonian</em> (still the major newspaper of Portland, Oregon). Her newspaper writing that I have seen includes editorials and obituaries. In 1885, she was hired as an editorial writer for <em>The Prohibition Star</em> newspaper. She was also a vice president of the Oregon Press Association and a member of the National Press Association. Her dedication to the newspaper industry must have rubbed off on her family because two of her sons (William and Louis) also became journalists and worked for newspapers.<br />
<br />
Aside from her journalism, Josephine was also a gifted writer in other ways. She did a large amount of freelance work; writing essays and tributes. </blockquote>
<b>Public Speaker</b><br />
<blockquote>
Josephine has been described in contemporary records as a noted speech giver and public speaker. A few of her documented speeches are: In 1875 she gave the inaugural address to the Grange in Jacksonville. In 1877, she gave the annual address to the Siskiyou County Agricultural society in Yreka, California. In 1879, she gave a reading at a meeting of the Teacher's Institute in Jacksonville. In 1880, she gave a speech at the Legion of Honor in Jacksonville. In 1896, she gave the Occasional Address at the reunion of the Oregon Pioneer Association.</blockquote>
<b>Farming</b><br />
<blockquote>
Josephine was raised on farms for the entirety of her childhood and youth. When she married William Plymale in 1863, she immediately moved with him to his family's farm and ranch. Southern Oregon is famous for its fruits (notably pears) and the Plymales had some kind of fruit orchard along with their stock farm and ranch. On the family farm, we can assume that her husband was the better stock raiser while Josephine was the better orchardist. Although they only farmed for about 12 years, Josephine remained a lifelong advocate of farmers and agriculture.<br />
<br />
Josephine was a faithful member of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_National_Grange_of_the_Order_of_Patrons_of_Husbandry">the Grange</a> and the Jackson County Agricultural Society. At various times she was publicly thanked for delivering pears to fellow citizens.</blockquote>
<b>Other Involvements</b><br />
<blockquote>
Josephine was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church. She was also a dedicated member of various civic organizations including the Madrona Lodge Order of the Eastern Star (female version of the Masons) and the Ruth Rebekah Lodge (female version of the I.O.O.F. - the "Odd Fellows"). Josephine was especially prominent in the Rebekah Lodge, and served as its General Secretary, which required her to travel throughout Oregon state. In 1890, she was elected as a delegate to the organization's national convention in Topeka, Kansas; but it is unknown if she made the trip. Additionally, she was a member of the Southern Oregon Pioneer Association and the Oregon Pioneer Association.<br />
<br />
For a short time period in her youth (from about 1862 to about 1863), she taught school in Jacksonville. Although she only taught for a short time period, the stint must have made its mark on her students, because more than 30 years later she was said to have "rendered very valuable service to the young people who were growing up around her."<br />
<br />
In 1875, when Josephine and her family moved to Jacksonville, Oregon, they took over the Excelsior Livery Stable business, located in the city center (the business has previously been owned and operated by William's brother Sebastian Plymale). They successfully operated the business for about 15 years, where they provided transportation for fellow citizens by driving and renting out horses and buggies to paying customers. Josephine assisted with this business enterprise and must have been quite good with horses. She herself even drove horse teams for clients on occasion. She was described on one occasion by a customer as a "gallant lady pilot proving efficient and successful at her business."</blockquote>
<b>Tragedies</b><br />
<blockquote>
In the summer of 1882, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlet_fever">scarlet fever</a> epidemic struck the area and three of Josephine's children were infected with the dangerous disease. Sadly, her youngest son, McDonough, aged 17 months, died from the dreaded disease, but her other children recovered.<br />
<br />
In Jacksonville, Josephine and her family lived next to a furniture factory. At 3:30 am on September 18, 1888, a fire erupted in the furniture factory and soon engulfed the Plymales' home and it burned to the ground. Josephine and her large family (which included one-month old baby Benjamin) managed to escape in the middle of the night with only the clothes on their back. After this, they purchased a house across the street that had been owned by the owner of the furniture factory.<br />
<br />
The surviving sources suggest that despite all of Josephine and William's civic involvement and accomplishments, they were never very wealthy and suffered from financial hardship. When her husband William died in 1904, their house was nearly repossessed because of nonpayment of their mortgage.<br />
<br />
Josephine became ill in December 1898 and suffered from an undocumented illness (a "complication of diseases") for 6 months until her death on June 16, 1899, at the age of 54. Her illness was described as "weeks and months of the most intense suffering."</blockquote>
<b>Personality</b><br />
<blockquote>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/plymalehouses/PlymaleCottage.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="http://www.ryanwadleigh.com/plymalehouses/PlymaleCottage.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Plymale Cottage in Jacksonville, Oregon, where<br />
Josephine lived from 1890 to 1899.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Clearly, Josephine must have possessed a high amount of energy, motivation, passion and courage. She defied the standards of her day which required women to be meek and subservient. In her time, she went up against her father, her husband, her pastor and her community, while still managing to maintain respect and dignity.<br />
<br />
In spite of all of her above achievements, Josephine was first and foremost a wife and mother. Surely, the domestic duties of a housewife and mother of 12 children required huge amounts of energy and devotion. She and her husband were also dedicated to the education of all of their children. Even though they were Methodists, they sent their children to Catholic school, which they considered to be the best school in town. At least 6 of their children eventually went to college.<br />
<br />
In 1884, when her mother died, Josephine paid for a headstone for her mother's grave, even though her father and most of her siblings lived much closer than she did.<br />
<br />
Josephine must have had a fiery and charismatic personality. In 1879 she was described as "sharper than lightning." Descriptions at her death in 1899 included; "she was always ready with a pleasant or witty expression under the most irritating circumstances," "the vexations incident to rearing a large family never soured her naturally cheerful disposition," "she was always indulgent and affectionate," and "she had a kind word for every child that she met." In spite of all that, she was described by her granddaughter (who was born many years after she died) as merely "a bad mother." She must not have been too bad of a mother though, because three different granddaughters were named after her. </blockquote>
My descent from Josephine:<br />
Josephine L. Martin md. William J. Plymale<br />
- Benjamin H. Plymale md. Vera V. Merriman<br />
-- Ben T. Plymale md. Patricia J. Bixby<br />
--- Barbara Plymale md. Randy Wadleigh<br />
---- Ryan WadleighRyan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353402782804250053.post-45330731204675641012011-12-23T16:26:00.000-08:002016-05-25T07:34:27.281-07:00the leaning tower of ... Norwich<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-98EsaftwRAo/TvTizSV4_JI/AAAAAAAAAGc/Of1HiMpn95M/s1600/229671-14210-800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-98EsaftwRAo/TvTizSV4_JI/AAAAAAAAAGc/Of1HiMpn95M/s320/229671-14210-800.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Augustine Steward House in Norwich <br />
(built c. 1530). From British Listed<br />
Building's website.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My ancestor, Augustine Steward, was a three-time mayor of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwich">Norwich, England</a>. His house, built in the early 1500's is still standing to this day. <br />
<br />
Augustine Steward was born in about 1491 in Norwich, Norfolkshire. He was the son of Geoffrey Steward, an alderman and merchant grocer, who died in 1504, when Augustine was about 13. Augustine's mother Cecily remarried to a wealthy merchant named John Clerk. She later traded under her own registered merchant's mark as Cecily Clerk.<br />
<br />
Augustine Steward became a successful merchant and grocer in Norwich. The house where he lived in Norwich is still standing to this day. Some sources indicate the house was built in 1530, yet other sources suggest that he was actually born in the house (in about 1491). Perhaps he was born in a structure that stood at that location, but it was later torn down and replaced in 1530 by the structure which can be seen today. Apparently because of its uneven foundation, the house has shifted over its 500 years and is noticeably leaning. It has since been used as a butcher's shop, a broker's shop, an antique dealer's shop, a bookshop and a coffee house. It is said to be haunted by a 1578 plague victim known as the "Lady in Grey."<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.norwichblackfriars.co.uk/assets/Uploads/Site-Images/_resampled/ResizedImage448600-augustinesteward.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.norwichblackfriars.co.uk/assets/Uploads/Site-Images/_resampled/ResizedImage448600-augustinesteward.jpg" height="320" width="229" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Augustine Steward's portrait from the<br />
Norwich Civic Portrait Collection</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Augustine was the mayor of Norwich in 1534, 1546 and 1556 and sheriff in 1526. He was also a Norwich councillor from 1522 to 1525, an alderman from 1526 to 1570, M.P. (member of parliament) in 1542 and a Burgess in Parliament in 1547. In 1540, Augustine purchased the monastery of Black Friar's Church (St. Andrew's Hall) for the city of Norwich. <br />
<br />
In 1549, Augustine was instrumental in leading peace negotiations during <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kett's_Rebellion">Kett's Rebellion</a>. He had been appointed deputy mayor during the uprising. During the rebellion, Augustine also entertained and housed the King's representative, the Marquis of Northumberland (William Parr, brother of Henry VIII's wife Katherine Parr). The house was also used by the Earl of Warwick as a base from which to squash the rebellion.<br />
<br />
In addition to his own service as mayor of Norwich, Augustine's stepfather John Clerk was also a mayor of Norwich. Additionally, his son-in-law Thomas Sotherton (also my ancestor) was a Norwich mayor, as well as Thomas' father Nicholas Sotherton and various other Norwich men connected by marriage. Augustine died in 1571.<br />
<br />
<br />
My descent from Augustine:<br />
<br />
Augustine Steward md. Elizabeth Read<br />
- Elizabeth Steward md. Thomas Sotherton<br />
-- Augustine Sotherton md. Ann Peck<br />
--- Elizabeth Sotherton md. Thomas Warner<br />
---- Augustine Warner md. Mary Towneley<br />
----- Augustine Warner md. Mildred Reade<br />
------ Elizabeth Warner md. John Lewis<br />
------- Charles Lewis md. Mary Howell<br />
-------- Anne Lewis md. Edmund Taylor<br />
--------- Mary Taylor md. John Brodie<br />
---------- David Brodie md. Susan M. Sthreshley<br />
----------- Ethalinda E. Brodie md. Thomas A. Jones<br />
------------ Thomas A. Jones md. Lee P. Whitlock<br />
------------- Louetha Jones md. Newell B. Brown<br />
-------------- Bettye B. Brown md. Paul C. Wadleigh<br />
--------------- Randy Wadleigh md. Barbara Plymale<br />
---------------- Ryan WadleighRyan Wadleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17517193393982599329noreply@blogger.com0