52 Weeks Challenge...6 Sons & 6 Daughters=12 Twigs To Family Tree

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Week 12  ~ prompt ~ 12

Marley Brothers

Sons of Elisha S. and Mary J. Marley

Brothers of Great Grandmother Martha J. Marley Carroll

      As with most large families of the late 1800's and early 1900's it was not unusual to have 12 or more children.  Certainly there was no test to reveal the gender of a child before it's birth. 

     Imagine my 2x great grandfather's pleasure at the delivery of  his sons, "Thank you Lord for another namesake son and farm hand.  My 2x great grandmother, on the other hand, was obviously thankful for having a supply of hand-me-down suits and grateful for her five daughters to help with laundry and cooking for her hearty boys.

     I am thankful for this photo of my 2x Great Uncles from my Great Grandmothers Photo Album for the Branch and Twigs it added to my Dad's maternal family tree.

Pittman Sisters

Daughters of William H. and Louisa Walker Pittman

Nieces of Great Grandfather George W. Pittman

     William Howell Pittman was a Veteran of the Civil War serving as a Lieutenant in the Georgia First Regiment Infantry.  He and my Great Grandfather George Washington were Volunteer Soliders in the Confederacy, and after the War the Veteran Brothers headed West.  Both found their way to West Texas.  George Washington settled in Ward County where the Sixth Generation of his decendents reside today.  William Howell settled in Eastland County where he and Louisa raised Six Daughters.

     This 'Branch and Twigs' on my Dad's paternal family tree produced a plethora of research information dating back to Colonial America and the Revolutionary War.  It revealed the incredible journey of my Pittman ancestors' settlement in Georgia after the Revolution through the Civil War and their migration West to Texas and New Mexico.

     These 6 sons and 6 daughters and their descendants have made a Family Tree filled with  more Cousin Twigs and Leaves than I will ever be able to count.

 

52 Ancestors Challenge...Week 8...Three Generations of Family Photos

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Week 8  ~ prompt ~ Family Photo

    
My 3x great grandfather J.M. Leatherwood.  Pictured here with six of his seven adult children. 
     The seventh not pictured was my 2x great grandmother M.J. Leatherwood Marley (family photo below)
     J.M. Leatherwood was a veteran of the Civil War attached to CSA Elmore's 20th Regiment, Texas Infantry.
      He was born in 1833 in Spartanburg, South Carolina and died at age 80 in  Jack County, Texas.
     Known as one of the early Pioneers in that County, his descendants continue to live and farm his original homestead.
     HERE is a post of his early settlement days in Jacksboro, Jack County, Texas.
      My 2x great grandparents and 8 of their 9 children.  Not pictured my great grandmother Martha Jane Marley Carroll (family photo below).  Mary Josephine was born in 1856 in Benton, Alabama and died at age 68 in O'Donnel, Texas.  Elisha S. was born in 1849 in Wilksboro, North Carolina.  He ran away from home at a young age...his whereabouts unknown to his North Carolina family until 1914 when he corresponded with his sister...HERE is that story.
     Elisha and Josephine's children pictured in the portrait have all been profiled and their stories told as a result of their sister's, my great grandmother, Martha Jane's Photo Album...HERE is the Album.  The Marley Family Bible is a treasured heirloom and is in the possession of a Marley great grandson....HERE is the Bible post.

My great grandparents and three of their four children in 1900.  Their fourth child, Mary Ella was born in 1902.  My grandmother Stella, oddly enough, is not one of the children in dresses, but the baby in her mother's lap.  Great Uncles Othello Elisha and Mert Douglas are boys standing beside their father Stephen Bennett Carroll.  This Family Portrait was and continues to be the most important and significant photo in researching and establishing my father's maternal family tree.
     Great Grandfather S.B. Carroll died in 1903 leaving his wife to raise four young children.  At the time of his death they lived in Jacksboro, Jack County, Texas, near her grandfather Leatherwood and parents Elisha and Josephine Marley.  Shortly thereafter, Martha Jane and her children followed the Marley's to Borden County, Texas, where they established a cotton farm.
      Once again, Martha Jane's Photo Album led the way to finding S.B. Carroll's family in Tennessee with one photo in which she had written a name.  That story HERE.

 Sadly, that is the last of Studio Family Portraits.  Fortunately, there are a few Kodak snapshots like this 'Four Generations' photo of my great grandmother Martha Jane, my grandmother Stella, my Dad, myself and two sisters.  It is the last photo I have of Martha Jane. 
     If not for her and 'The Album', our Family Tree would be bare of my Dad's Maternal Branches and Generations of Family Photos.

Sepia Saturday...Family Doubles & 1920's Photo Restoration

     Sepia Saturday457's  'Oh la la etalage'...or as we say in Texas 'Oh la la window display' didn't bring to mind any photos or ancestors/relatives that spoke any more French than Oh la la!
     However, the mannequins on pedestals, and their 1920's style clothes and hairdo reminded me of a Sepia photo of my grandmother's sister and my grandfather's brother.
      On closer inspection of the Oh la la etalage, the reflection of the trees and landscape sealed my decision to Show and Tell their Sisters to Brothers marriage story.
      That sounds kinda incestuous, huh?  So hang with me and I'll sort it out for you.  Here goes.  My grandmother Stella had a younger sister Mary Ella.  My grandfather Chappo had a younger brother Cobb.  Mary Ella married her sister's husbands brother and Cobb married his brother's wife's sister.  Got it? 
     That made Mary Ella and Cobb my Dad's Double Aunt and Uncle and all their children Double Cousins who looked more like siblings.

     This photo of Mary Ella and Cobb taken around 1920 must have been a favorite of her mother, my great grandmother Martha Jane.  It looked like it had been handled often with it's worn and torn corners.  Here's where the landscape reflection in the 'Oh la la etalage' prompt photo reminded me of the restoration I did for Mary Ella and Cobb's picture.  After enhancing and lifting shadows out of Cobbs face to discover the goggle's, I've often wondered if there was a motorcycle just out of the picture.

Double Cousin Servicemen about 1946

Navy son of Chappo and Stella.....Air Force son of Cobb and Mary Ella

   

52 Ancestors Challenge...Week 6...Heart~Breaking Down Brick Walls

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Week 6 ~ prompt ~ Surprise

 When one is raised knowing  aunts, uncles, cousins and in my case one grandparent, the sudden influx of a family history can not only be a surprise, but also shocking and heartbreaking.   That is how it was with my Great Grandmother Martha Jane.

     In 52 Ancestors Week 4 she was the person 'I'd Like To Meet'.  After inheriting her 1890's Photo Album and discovering my Dad's maternal family history, there were so many surprises I could...and have...written scores of posts. 

      Still, through all the research, all the photo identifications and stories about each and every person I could make connections to...Martha Jane's life after the release of the 1940 Census was a mystery. 

     Nothing, not a clue as to her whereabouts or when she died.  Not knowing when she died and where she was buried was more than a brick wall...it was heartbreaking.

     I so wanted for her to Rest In Peace along with her ancestors, her Marley parents and siblings, her sons and daughters and their loved ones.  After all, if not for the love, care and savings she put into the Album, I could not have shared our amazing family history with her descendants for generations to come.

      The mystery began to unravel and a few bricks began to crumble with the discovery of the old couple in the picture on the left.  Found in my Mother's Shoebox Album and marked on the back, "Willard's grandmother and old man 1953'.  The story was they had been living together for many years and it was assumed they never married as she never changed her name or used his last name on any legal papers or personal identification.
      Imagine not only my surprise, but also my distress in learning that I had spent countless hours...even years...searching for a great grandmother who did marry the old man and whose last name was used on her application to a sanitarium and subsequently on her death certificate issued by the sanitarium.
      Finally, I could identify the couples photo on the right that was found tucked under another photo in the back of Martha Jane's Old Photo Album.  Her wedding photo from 1942.  Date confirmed and documented from ancestry.com once I knew her last married name.

This was the last photo of Martha Jane and her daughters, my Great Aunt and Grandmother.  Several months after, her daughters committed her to a State Sanitarium Hospital.
     It was a matter of putting two and two together, gleaning land holding records, and the sanitarium death certificate records.  It all added up to the unfortunate and saddest tearing down of a brick wall encountered in all of my family history research.
      The circumstances of her being committed are understandable as the daughters could not care for their mother who was diagnosed with senile psychosis...known today as alzheimers.
      As it turned out, the 'Old Man' and Martha Jane had been taking care of each other for several years with both of their mental health declining.
     The 'Old Man' died a year or so after he and Martha Jane were separated.  He died in the Texas Home for Confederate Men.
     Martha Jane lived 8 years in the State Hospital.  She died of heart and renal failure at age 86 as stated on the death certificate along with the contributing condition of senile psychosis.

She was buried at the State Hospitals cemetery along side her sister. 

Yes, another Heart~Breaking Down Brick Walls.

Sepia Saturday...Gentleman Stetson Hat Tipper

     Sepia Saturday 455 had me wondering where in my family photos I would come up with anyone that would remotely fit the photo prompt.      

     The film aspect sure didn't work as none, nada, not one of my Texas ancestors/relatives/folks made it to Hollywood. 

   However, they were big fans of Western Movies and my Dad could have been a stand in for one of his favorites, John Wayne. 

     I could have used him as a 'Hat Tipper', but that black Stetson was a far cry from the film strip's Dapper Dude's hat.  So how about their attire?  Nope, Dudes and Cowboys aren't comparable.  Just imagine them switching hats or belts or boots.  Give a thought to them switching from a sidewalk to a cow patty pasture.  Guess I'll have to let that angle for a post...Go!

     Oh wait!  I do have a photo of a great uncle who made it to California, had a Dude friend, could dance in a chorus line, and was a gentleman hat tipper.
     Here's how I know he made it to California.  His first runaway from home happened in October 1908.  It didn't end well as he was picked up by the Sheriff who recognized the mule he was riding.
      Delsey belonged to Sheriff Christopher's father-in-law and the 'Wanted Poster' was the spittin' image of the 10 year old rider...the father-in-laws grandson.
       So, it was back to the farm, pickin' cotton and waiting for the next chance to head West and a life of exciting adventure.  It wasn't long until he hired out as farm labor cotton picker and worked his way to California. 
      He stayed in touch with his mother by letters with postmarks from across the southwestern states up the west coast and eventually from Canada.

     After that adventure he embarked on the next adventure... driving a team of mules pulling a covered wagon. 

     Destination...Ward County, Texas, where his mother, my widowed great grandmother, had acquired a parcel of land to homestead. 

     And homestead he did...several times across Texas and New Mexico with his final resting place back to that first homestead where all who knew him agreed with his headstone inscription.

     For sure, he was an example to his nephew, my Dad, as a seeker of adventure, a hard worker, and a gentleman Stetson Hat Tipper.

52 Ancestors Challenge...Week 5...Microfiching At The Library

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Week 5 ~ prompt ~ At The Library

     Many hours were spent 'At The Library' researching our Family Tree.  Notes were written on backs of junk mail, notebook paper, envelopes and slips of paper.  Letters were written revealing bits and pieces of information found 'At The Library'. 

     All by my Aunt Irene.  

     Her hours of note taking in libraries and the inquiries from Genealogical Societies from Georgia to Texas have given me an abundance of information on which to build our Family Tree in the Technologically Advanced Genealogy Community of the Twenty-First Century.

     So, after many hours of  21st Century Technology and Online research, I was back to Irene's 20th Century research center...'At The Library'...looking for a step-great grandmother revealed through online Civil War research, and a death certificate.  Irene's research gave no clues that her widowed grandfather had a second wife much less how their union led to a generation of double grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. 

Look who I found Microfiching 'At The Library'. 

FORT STOCKTON PIONEER August 23, 1918
DIED
Mrs. G.W. Pittman, of Grandfalls, who only recently had come here for medical treatment, died very suddenly from organic heart trouble, at the Riggs Hotel, Saturday evening August 16th.

The remains were prepared for burial by Undertaker W.H. Bird, after which they were taken to Grandfalls, Sunday afternoon and interred in the cemetery at that place. 

The funeral services were conducted by Reverand M.O. Williams, pastor of the Methodist Church, of which church the deceased was a devoted member.
A husband and two children, who reside in Grandfalls, are left to mourn her loss.

Obituary for Mrs. George Washington Pittman...Nancy Anne Carey Forkner Pittman.  Born...April 23, 1854 in Monroe County Tennessee to John E. Carey and Ellen M. McAllister.   Died...August 16th, 1918 at the age of 64 in Fort Stockton, Pecos County, Texas.  Survived by husband George Washington Pittman and two children....who turned out to be granddaughters. This I knew from the 1910 Census that listed Maime 4 years and Tillie 1 year, and who at the time of Nancy's death would have been 12 and 9 years of age.  Who and where was the Mother of these two granddaughters?   Why weren't Nancy's SIX children she reported as having given birth to in the 1900 Census, listed as surviving her or preceeding her in death?   Questions for another 52 Ancestors Week.

        For now, the 'At The Library' Obituary Revelations!!

     The Riggs Hotel where Nancy died had a special place in my life, too.  As a former member of the Fort Stockton Historical Society and Board Member of the Annie Riggs Museum, I spent many hours there.  What a special moment it was for me when I read that my Great Grandfather and Step-Great Grandmother had stayed there exactly 95 years ago to the day that I Microfiched the Obituary!  I could hardly wait to get back to Fort Stockton and the Annie Riggs Museum to find their Signatures in the August 1918 Registry.

The remains were prepared for burial by Undertaker W.H. Bird, after which they were taken to

Grandfalls, Sunday afternoon and interred in the cemetery at that place. 

That place being the Tamarisk Cemetery.  Another Special Moment to realize that another of my Pittman Texas Ancestors can now be officially laid to rest with other Family Members including George Washington Pittman's Grandsons and Great Grandsons.

Rest in Heavenly Peace

Nancy Anne Carey Forkner Pittman

April 23, 1854 - August 16, 1918

You are fondly remembered in the Pittman Family Tree and History

as documented in Tracks of My Texas Ancestors.

WordlessWed...Portraits, Pearls and Palmyra

Portrait of Great Aunt Wardie Bell

Vintage Pearls

Portrait of 2xGreat Aunt Palmyra 

52 Ancestors Challenge...Week 4...All Children Brown Eyed

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Week 3 ~ prompt ~ I'd Like To Meet

I'd Like To Meet my Great Grandmother Martha Jane Marley Carroll....Again!

     We met for the first and last time when I was 10 years old.  At that time I barely knew who I was, much less who she was or who her daughter was.  The only three people I knew for sure were my Dad and two sisters.
     Here we posed for a '4 Generations' family photo of my Dad's maternal side of the family.  And, like the photo, all knowledge of my Great Grandmother, Grandmother and their family histories were forgotten. 
     The picture went to a 'Shoebox Album' and the maternal grandmothers were never a topic of conversation with my Dad.  He was raised by his Father and had only siblings as a connection to his mother.
      Connections to Dad's paternal family history was limited to my grandfather, aunts, uncles and cousins.  It seemed our Family Tree was a sapling with only two branches.

Imagine my utter astonishment as the recipient and keeper of Great Grandmother Martha Jane Marley Carroll's Photo Album.  If my Dad had any knowledge of his maternal family history he never spoke of it, and ironically, by the time it came to me, I could no longer share it with him or ask questions.  And boy howdy, did I have questions.

     As shown in the photo above, The Album made it's way to me, as it turns out, through both his maternal and paternal family lines.  It's complicated!
     It seems the two families merged with the marriage of Carroll daughters to Pittman brothers.  Making a whole bunch of Double Cousins and a Family Tree that resembles a twisted Texas Mesquite tree. One whose roots run back to The American Revolution and The Civil War to spread it's branches from Georgia, through Tennessee and through out Texas.
     With 'The Album' I earned my Genealogist, Family Historian, Photo Detective, and Sherlock-Sue degree. 
     Not a single photo, newspaper clipping, scrap of paper in The Album had an inkling of identification. 
     The Album itself was deteriorating, but most of the pictures from the late 1890's through the early 1900's were in good condition. 
     Only one gave a hint as to whom The Album belonged.  Only one hinted as to where these people came from.  Only one would begin an amazing journey through my Dad's maternal and paternal history.

A few photos still unidentified, a few questions unanswered, but one thing I now know...

...from whom my Sister inherited her brown eyes!

Sepia Saturday...Bull Durham, Camels and Matches

     Sepia Saturday 453 photo prompt is somewhat of a challenge for me with it's three story store front, Players cigarette advertisement, overhead wires, and barely visible clothes line. 
     My first thought was a picture of my grandmother's house whose backyard clothes line ran along the back of a feed store. 
     Can you imagine hanging out clothes and instead of sunny, blue skies and a fresh smelling breeze, the view is a huge tobacco ad plastered on the building that blocked the sun, and the breeze smelled like chicken feed.
     I couldn't find the picture in my files, so on to the next thought.

    My Dad's lifelong addiction to cigarettes and cigars. 
     He started smoking at the young age of ten and probably smoked grapevines and his Dad's Bull Durham tobacco.  

My Grandfather Chappo fishing and smoking.

     I know about that since, also at an early age, I was an expert at holding the paper in a half tube, tapping in the tobacco, pulling the Bull Durham string held between my teeth, rolling the papered tobacco, licking the glued paper edge, and lastly...twisting the ends just right.  

     That was an important last step to not only to keep the tobacco from spilling out, but to keep my grandfather from lighting a torch that had the potential to set his eyebrows on fire.
      I have no clue about Players Cigarettes, but I have first hand knowledge and experience with Camel Cigarettes.  Camels were my Dads brand of choice. 
      Lordy, those stunk, and as a young tobacco expert, I figured the stink came from the same ingredient found in Bull Dung Durham.  I could not imagine smoking Camel or Bull poop, so smoking behind the barn with my brother was limited to Mother's filtered Winston cigarettes.
      It only took a few puffs of choking, coughing and burning eyes for me to quit.  I think Mother did the same...she quit, too.  Now, my brother persevered, mostly because he liked matches. 

His young smoking days ended in a barn fire.

52 Ancestors Challenge...Week 3...John, Jane and Othello

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Week 3 ~ prompt ~ Unusual Names

Dear John, John, John, John, John,+ Ten More.
Dear Jane, Jane, Jane, Jane, Jane, + Fifteen More.

      Not an unusual name, I know, but it seemed my Dad's Family Tree branches were full of nests that hatched boys named John and girls named Jane.
      Since the First John Pittman born in America in 1726, John, obviously, was held in high esteem and followed the tradition in the naming of 'First Born Sons' who are destined to be called Junior.
      From Colonial John through Civil War John, the Pittman John's led the nation as the Number One Given Guys Name.  This trend continued through the 1920's.  During these Trend Setting years, William ran a close second in the US and in our 'Tree' with Eleven Williams. 
     True to Trend, James, George, Robert, Charles, Joseph, Frank, Henry and Thomas were 'Tree Toppers' as well as 'Chart Toppers ' across the nation.

 Also, not an unusual girls name, never mind that Jane as a Given  Name, only made Number Twenty-Two on the All Time Popularity List.
     Jane The First, Jane Calvert Leatherwood 1746-1764, believed in the 'Family Namesake' tradition.   Her son's were John, William, James, George, and Thomas.  She named two of her daughters after herself or possibly her mother...one was Jane and the other Janey.
  Jane The First in 'Our Tree' was the Direct Ancestor and 4XGreat Grandmother of her namesake Martha Jane Marley Carroll, my Great Grandmother.  Who so broke with naming traditions, that all the ancestor John's and Jane's were likely rolling in their graves.

     So begins the 'Unusual Names' in my Family Trees with Martha Jane's first born son Othello Elisha.  Now Elisha was her father's first name...that was easy to trace, but Othello...not a single one to be found.  

     Her second son Merrett Douglas, though not an unusual name, was the only son declared by a Census Taker as Male.  Othello's name was entered as Othella and declared to be a Female.  An honest mistake I'm sure...especially since both boys were wearing dresses. 
No doubting their gender in later years...Othello (sitting) and brother 'Mert', my Great Uncles, are likely rolling in their graves to this day over the only photo taken with their father in 1901...and them in dresses.  Their father died in 1903.

As to the name Othello.

I seriously doubt my Great Grandmother Janey was a reader of Shakespeare,

and I know for sure he is not an ancestor...

unless he fell far from the nest.

52 Ancestors Challenge...Week 2...Challenged Grandfather

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Week 2 prompt ~ Challenge

C.C. Pittman in 1944 at age 68

      Born in 1875, the third child of a father who returned home to Georgia at the end of the Civil War in 1865. The word 'Challenge' should have been one of the 'C's' in his name.  Had it been, it would have been a foresight to the challenges he would face in his future.
      Given names in that era were most often passed down from a parent, a family member or in grandfather's case, a historical figure or a place.  Columbus Chappell was named for both. 
      Columbus for Columbus County, Georgia, which was named in honor of Christopher Columbus.  Columbus County was significant to his name in that he was the 3x great grandson of a Revolutionary War soldier pioneer and settler of Columbus County located on the Chattahoochee River.  A Ferry on the Chattahoochee was established and named after his ancestor grandfather.
     Through out his life he was known as C.C. Pittman or Chapo.  Perhaps his historical named father, George Washington Pittman, who new the challenges of being named for a well known historical figure, gave him his nickname of Chapo.  However, the name Columbus may have been a foresight into the challenges he would face in the expeditions he would make from Georgia to Texas.




G.W. Pittman in late 1890's

     One of the greatest challenges after migrating to Texas was establishing a life in desolate West Texas.  Chapo traveled there in a covered wagon and joined his father as a dirt farmer.  Having lost all land holdings in Georgia to Reconstruction Taxation and the death of their mother prompted the long and arduous journey to Texas.  G.W. arrived in Ward County, Texas in 1898 at age 55.  His son Chapo followed several years later at age 34 and single.
      The challenges of making a life for oneself as a dirt farmer and being 41 years old in a town where there were few single women, was in itself a challenge.  However, in 1916 Chapo wed 16 year old Estella Carroll in 1916.
     Estella 'Stella' was the daughter of a pioneer widow woman who also arrived in Ward County in a covered wagon with her four children to establish a Homestead.
     Oddly enough, the widow woman herself was two years younger than her son-in-law Chapo. 
     In those days, it was not unheard of for younger women to marry older men especially in areas where there were few single women.


Willard C. Pittman at age 7

      Chapo and Estella had six children between 1917 and 1927.  My Dad was the youngest, and when he was 7 years old his parents divorced.   Perhaps it was the age difference along with the hard living conditions, but for whatever reason she left her 6 children for Chapo to raise.
     Then began perhaps the most significant challenge of Chapo's life...ensuring there would be a next generation.  My father's older sibling sisters helped raise him until they left home to marry.  One older brother joined the Army, leaving Dad and his two years older brother for Chapo to raise.
     Now well into his 60's and more the age of a grandfather than a father, the two boys pretty much raised themselves and became a challenge not only to their aging father, but to their teachers and friends who took to the two boys.
     As soon as he was of age the older brother known as MD joined the Army.  A few years later at age 17, my Dad, Willard, joined the Navy.  Chapo's last child challenge had come to an end.  But his life challenges were not over...they came in the form of grandchildren.  One in particular became his most loved challenge...his grandson, T.W.

Chapo holding grandson T.W. and son Willard C. in 1951

Thank-you Columbus Chappell for taking on the 'Challenges' in your life.

If not for you I would not be me, and one who loves a 'Challenge'.

SepiaSaturday...My Grandmother's Fur Coat

It's been awhile for Sepia Saturday to make a Saturday post here on CollectInTexas Gal.  However, in this coming New Year with a renewed interest in my Family History Blogs, it's back. 


For this first Saturday in January the 'Photo Prompt' features a model wearing the latest style of winter wear from coat, to gloves, to heels.  Notice, as well, the two boys. 


They appear to be not quite so well fitted in their perhaps hand-me-down over coats, baggy short pants and sagging socks.  Just guessing, but I'd bet this photo shoot picture did not make the cut for the models coat advertisement.


But, look, it made it's way to Flickr and now to CollectInTexas Gal and my Grandmother's Fur Coat.

In 1952 my Grandmother Estella from Anchorage, Alaska, came to Texas primarily to visit her Texas children and grandchildren...and probably to get away from the Alaska winter.  It had been close to thirty years since she had been to Texas in January, so it was only natural that she arrived in her accustomed Alaska attire including a 'Fur Coat' the likes of which we had never seen.

Everyone took turns modeling the 'Fur Coat', including my Dad.  In the high style of Texas, he donned his Stetson, tucked grandmothers clutch purse under his arm and stepped up on a platform in his Tony Lama Boots for the 'Fur Coat' photo shoot.  Then it was my Mother's turn.  As an Iowa born and raised girl, wearing the 'Fur Coat' was second nature, and posing as a model quite natural...even though it was probably closer to Texas' 65 to 70 degrees than Alaska's whatever below.

As for the style in Texas' January winter wear...you can see it didn't take long for the 'Fur Coat' to be stored in the trunk...of my Dad's Nash Rambler.  Pictured here in our winter wear are:  myself (5yrs), brother (4yrs), our Mom, Great Aunt Mary Ella, Grandmother Stella and Aunt Betty. 

I wish I'd gotten to model Grandmother's Fur Coat!

Wanted-Laundress...Must Have Tubs,Scrub Board and Rough Hands

 Living so near to Fort Richardson in Jacksboro, Texas, it's possible some of my Leatherwood ancestors could have answered the call for a Laundress'...for sure they would have had tubs, soap and scrub boards.  As explained in the picture...beginning early in the war nearly every army had a least one laundress per 20 men.  They were generally women trying to support themselves or were traveling with a male family member. 

Qualifications:  Your attire will be work clothes, traditionally a long plain skirt and blouse with sleeves rolled up, no hoops, nothing fancy, hair netted or braided, plain skirt and blouse, very little underpinnings, full coverage apron, large bonnet (slatted or full brimmed) for weather protection.  Wear flat shoes, no long fingernails, and try to roughen up your hands.

It was not surprising to see the collection of Flatirons at Fort Richardson's kitchen and laundry room displays, after all they were certainly made to last...like forever.  Made of cast iron and heated on the top of a cast iron stove, the laundress need two...one to iron with while the other heated on the stove.  Flatirons were also called Sad Irons as they were heavy, weighing about 15 lb., were hard to move and often heated unevenly resulting in hot handles.

Padded handles, heavy rags and wood were used to alleviate some of the heat and burns to users.  In the 1870's a detachable, spring loaded handle was invented by an American woman who no doubt was tired of being burned, exhausted from tandem lifting, re-heating, and stoking the cast iron stove.

My 2x Great Grandmother Mary Josephine certainly had the right attire for a Fort Richardson laundress.  I imagine, however, she was too busy keeping up with her own laundry for nine children, husband and self.  I am sure had she applied she definitely would qualify...no 'trying' to roughen up hands...that was a given!

Fort Richardson and Salt Creek Prairie

On May 18, 1871, on a hill overlooking Salt Creek Prairie, 20 miles west of Fort Richardson, a Kiowa war party waited for suitable victims on the *well-travelled road below.  After permitting a small military troop to pass unaware, the Kiowas attacked a government contractor's wagon train.  Seven teamsters were killed in the foray, but one escaped and alerted the military at Fort Richardson.

At the post, General William Tecumseh Sherman, who that day had crossed Salt Creek Prairie on an inspection tour of the frontier, ordered immediate reprisal.

In 1869 Sherman was appointed Commanding General of the United States Army by President Grant.  General Sherman devoted much of his time as Commanding General to the Western and Plains states safe settlement through the continuation of the Indian Wars.  Thus the reason for his presence at Salt Creek Prairie and Fort Richardson in Jacksboro, Jack County, Texas.

It is unlikely he made mention of Salt Creek Prairie or Fort Richardson in his memoirs published four years later in 1875, however, it was historically significant for Fort Richardson and the people of Jacksboro, Texas, including my 3x Great Grandfather, John Moore Leatherwood.

John Moore Leatherwood was 37 years old, a veteran of the 20th Regiment Texas Volunteer Infantry Confederate Civil War and living within a few miles of Salt Creek Prairie when General Sherman made his crossing and tour of Fort Richardson.

At the time John and Martha Ann Caroline Pearson had seven children including my 2xGreat Grandmother Mary Josephine.  Their eighth child, Minnie Lee, was less than four months old on that fateful Salt Creek Prairie Kiowa attack.

General Sherman's tour and subsequent action in May 1871 is well documented at Fort Richardson's Museum.  He, of course, moved on to complete his tour as Commanding General of the United States Army under President Grant.  On the other hand, my Leatherwood Ancestors remained in Jacksboro, Jack County, Texas, and their descendants are citizens there today. 

John Moore, his wife Martha Caroline and six of their eleven children are buried at Salt Creek Cemetery on the corner of Salt Creek Road and Dark Corner Road.  Yes, the same *well traveled road General William T. Sherman rode to Fort Richardson, and where seven teamsters lost their lives on May 18, 1871.

 

I love Texas History!  Don't you?

Irish Birth Blessed with Health, Dreams, Kindness and Featherbed

A few years ago I spit in a tube and sent it off to a DNA project on ancestry.com.  What a surprise to find out I am 29% Irish.  As they say in ancestry.com ads, "I had no idea". 

Really, 29% is a wee bit more than 'A Wee Bit Irish', and again to quote the 'Ad'..."I wanted to know more". 

The search began on my ancestry DNA Story with two family names.  Both from my father's maternal line.

It starts with my Great Grandmother Martha Jane Marley Carroll and her Mother, Mary Josephine Leatherwood Marley.  Neither of the names Carroll or Leatherwood to my ear had a ring of Irish.  As it turns out the Leatherwood line lead through at least five great grandmothers maiden names to reach an Irish descendent.  That's the 'Wee Bit Irish' DNA accounting.

Carroll, which is my father's middle name and the last name of his grandfather Stephen Bennett Carroll, lead to a 'Whole Lot More Irish'. 

William I. Carroll immigrated to the Virginia colonies with his parents. His father Thomas Edward Carroll died when William was 9 years old.  Records in ancestry.com state he married Elizabeth Spencer, daughter of neighbors William and Elizabeth Spencer in 1748.

The first records of William and Elizabeth show he leased two hundred acres of land with a payment agreement of 630 pounds of tobacco over a period of three years.  With that he became a tobacco farmer committed to a three year lease in Fairfax County, Virginia.

William and Elizabeth's son Thomas Carroll was born July 16, 1753, in Goochland, Virginia.  According to records and a yearly timeline, the family migrated to North Carolina around 1755.  Along the Catawba River, during the years of 1755 - 1763, the French and Indian War drove hundreds of settlers out of the area.  The Carroll family ultimately settled in Granville County, North Carolina, about 100 miles from the hostile Indian territory.

In 1762 William is listed in the Taxable's for the Bare Swamp District in Granville County.  Over a period of years, that county changed districts and county's several times, and in 1780 became part of Franklin County, North Carolina.  It is thought that William and his family resided there for about 20 years where he owned 240 acres of tobacco farm land.  Changes in county boundaries  made for difficulties in tracking land and counties, but the Carroll family were lastly recorded in Granville County.

William and Elizabeth Spencer Carroll had at least 9 children...all named in his 'Will'.  Of the five daughters and 4 sons, my direct descendant and 5th Great Grandfather Thomas received a small inheritance of 5 pounds in cash. The largest part of Williams estate went first to his wife Elizabeth until her death or remarrying, and upon either of those instances, son Jesse was to inherit the 240 acre plantation and his heirs forever. 

As for Thomas, along with his 5 pounds in cash and upon the death/marrying of his mother he stood to inherit a Featherbed.  Why only 5 pounds in cash to my Great 5x Grandfather Thomas...perhaps could be related to an Irish Birthday Blessing.

Telling Williams story in honor of Saint Patrick's Day 2018 seems a 'Wee Bit' incomplete without knowing his exact month and day of birth.  Therefore, I invoke my 'Fact to Fiction Writers License' and declare his birth month as March and his birth day as the 17th.  How else could it be for someone born in Limerick, Ireland?

Irish Birthday Blessing

May you live a long life full of gladness and health.

With a pocket full of gold as the least of your wealth.

May the dreams you hold dearest be those which come true.

May the kindness you spread, keep returning to you.
 

Happy 287th Birthday 6th Great Grandfather William Carroll.

Thank you 5th Great Grandfather Thomas Carroll for your long life,
your less than a pocket full of gold, the dreams you held dear,
 the kindness you spread and a Featherbed.
If not for you I would not be me.