Tombstone Tuesday: Keziah and her Beau Go West to Look for Gold

It's another cold, blustery day outside, which makes it perfect to stroll through some old cemeteries.

Today, I found the tombstone of Daniel Howe SIMMONS (1829-1922) in River View Cemetery in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon.  This confused me for a moment as his death certificate indicates burial at the IOOF Greenwood Cemetery.  First question is:  what is IOOF?  The IOOF is the Odd Fellows Organization that was founded with the thought of giving aid to those who need it without needing recognition, in addition to other beliefs.

Apparently, they had quite the following out west and had burial spots for their members.  Both Daniel, and his wife, Keziah KLINGENSMITH (1823-1907), are buried in their cemeteries--  and in two different states.  Daniel resides in Oregon while Keziah passed away while the couple lived in San Diego, CA in 1907.  Keziah was also buried in an IOOF cemetery, although a headstone for her has not yet appeared for me to find.

Daniel Howe Simmons

Daniel was an active member of the Sons of the American Revolution and his bio at Findagrave indicates he was the only (I'm guessing first) member to be buried in Oregon.  I found it interesting that his stone includes the information that his dad, my grandpa, served in the American Revolution.  Well, yeppers, he did.  Daniel was a young teenager when his dad passed in 1843 in Wheeling, WV.

I don't why, but Daniel, along with his mother and siblings, move to Cincinnati, Hamilton, OH, before the 1850 census.  Daniel's bride was from western PA, and attempts to find her in the 1850 census in either locale have not been fruitful.  Sigh.  Their marriage is recorded in 1852 in Hamilton Co, OH.

Daniel and his new bride, Keziah, went to the Pacific Coast in 1852 to search for gold.  Alas, while he never struck it rich, his family ties to the American Revolution and to the growth of early America are pure gold.

Rest sweetly, Uncle Daniel.

Ahh, genealogy.  Just gotta wonder how Daniel got the middle name of HOWE?  Did his dad know him?

©2017  AS Eldredge

Sources:
Findagrave:  River View Cemetery, Portland, Multnomah, OR
Photo credit:  FriendsofRiverView
Death Certificate for Daniel H Simmons
Obituary of Keziah Simmons

Transcription Tuesday

It's Tuesday and a great day to volunteer to preserve the past!  For my part today, instead of Tombstone Tuesday, I will start my Transcription Tuesday!  Many, many history groups and genealogy societies are always on the prowl of new transcribers.  You may remember the Old Pittsburgh Newspaper Project I ran starting back in 2010.  If not, that's ok, because there are still plenty of opportunities to join right in on other ongoing projects.

The group I joined today as a community transcriber is Papers of the War Department, 1784-1800.  The group has had volunteer transcribers for 70 months---   so a little less than 6 years.

Why am I interested in helping this group?  They have letters.  They have letters written to my uncle. They have letters about my uncle.  They have scraps of information which may lead me on another quest!

Why is this so important?  There was a fire in the office where a majority of these letters were in November 1800.  Early American history..poof!  Gone in a flash!  As the War Department was a major consumer of the government funding in its day, it is appropriate for us all to see how we can help preserve the past today.

If you have a name of interest, or an interest in Indians, American Troops, Court Martials, etc, just log on in and see what is available to see.  Or better yet--volunteer!

Papers of the War Department Search

Or in my case, just enter in two of my uncles' names, sit back and enjoy.

Ahh, genealogy.  Reliving the past one letter at a time on that road to the White House.

©2017  AS Eldredge

Sources:

http://wardepartmentpapers.org/index.php

Tombstone Tuesday: Finally! Visiting Grandma 199 Years After Her Passing

Look fellow genealogy family seekers!  It's Grandma!  She's alive!  No, wait...her legacy is alive!

Catharine DALLY SALTER SIMMONS is resting in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, DC.  Her tombstone provides the important clue that leads us to her birth year as about 1742!  

I knew she passed away while living at her son, William, house in 1818, as the family gathered for the final disposition of the will of John SIMMONS (d.1795).  But, now, I can see her!

Catharine Dally Salter Simmons, Rock Creek Cemetery

Catharine Dally, my 5th great grandma!

Catharine was the daughter of Hendrick DALLY and Sarah GIFFORD.  Catharine's brother, Gifford DALLY, was the first elected doorkeeper of the first, second and third US Congress (1789-1795).

Catharine was first married to William SALTER, a ship's surgeon, in 1756 at Trinity Church in NYC. The young widow then married a second time in 1758 at Trinity Church in NYC, John SIMMONS the innkeeper.  Their tavern was a two story building located at 63 Wall St, and was directly across from Federal Hall, where our nation's first President was inaugurated.

History books tells us that WASHINGTON ate this tavern before Evacuation Day.

Catharine's sister, Elizabeth, was married to Samuel FRAUNCES, owner of Fraunces Tavern in NYC and the steward at George WASHINGTON's home after the American Revolution.

Catharine and John Simmons (d. 1795 NYC) had six children.

William SIMMONS (1759-1825)
John SIMMONS (1761-1843)
James SIMMONS (abt 1763-1809)
David P SIMMONS (abt 1770-1830)
Stephen Gifford SIMMONS (1780-1830)
Catharine C SIMMONS (1784-1821)

To learn more:

William SIMMONS, Government Accountant
Samuel FRAUNCES

Ahh, genealogy.  Remembering my grandma.  Acknowledging her ties to early America.  Now to get all those wanna-be grandchildren to realize she did not give birth to their grandpa in 1747 at the ripe old age of 5 and her parents did not go to England from NJ to give birth to her and then return to America for the rest of the children!

©2017  AS Eldredge

Sources:

https://www2.gwu.edu/~ffcp/exhibit/p4/p4_4text.html
Photo credit:  Krista AQ & Tommy Thompson
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=139011049
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=wallstreetjohn&id=I42

Tombstone Tuesday: Ustick? Is That You? You, PA 149th You

Part 2 in the series You, PA 149th You

Ustick ROTHROCK, Lewistown, Mifflin, PA

Ustick ROTHROCK.  Now, that's a name not to forget.  Ustick caught my attention when it was first seen in the February 1863 letter written by Frank C DORRINGTON of Co. D of the PA 149th.  In the letter, cousin Frank encloses a picture taken with some buds in Washington, DC, as the regiment was on duty in defense of Washington, DC.

ROTHROCK b. 1836 was son of Joseph and Mary ROTHROCK.  His father, Joseph, was a stage driver and is found in the 1850 in Lewistown, Mifflin, PA.  Life carried on and then war broke out in America.  Ustick, a blacksmith at the time of his enlistment in August 1862, according to his wife's pension application in his name, volunteered.

ROTHROCK was the bugler for Co. D of the PA 149th Bucktails.  In addition, he was a sharpshooter who performed his duty well.  In the history of the regiment by John Nesbit, ROTHROCK escaped the war without wounds or sickness.

From Nesbit's book on the History of the Regiment

After he mustered out with the regiment in 1865, he settle into normal life.  He married Margaret SMITH and had three children; Cora b. 1875, Florence b. 1879 and Grace b. 1884.

Somehow, I am convinced the injuries he suffered were unseen by the general public.  As we of today know, the atrocities of war can lead to lasting issues such as depression, nightmares and end in suicide.  ROTHROCK was at Gettyburg for that fateful battle as well as all the other battles the regiment saw action.  He witnessed many of his friends fall and perish on the battlefield.  Some estimates say up to around 75% of the regiment fell in battle.  Did he have survivor's guilt?  Could he just not shake the images of the past when Americans fought and killed Americans?  He had a good job.  He had a home.  He had his demons of the past.

Did his demons lead to the label of lunatic for the last 26 years of his life?  After a two month complaint of acting insane, he was declared insane and confined to the Hospital for the Insane at his inquisition.  Even in the inquisition papers, it refers to ROTHROCK as "the lunatic."  It saddens me that we won't know the truth, although I suspect he had PTSD.

Corporal Ustick ROTHROCK passed away November 29, 1916.  While he appears to have had a sudden stroke, he also had the official diagnosis of manic depressive psychosis.

Why am I looking at him?  The 1863 letter of cousin Frank states he had a picture made with him and four others.  Looking at the picture, I see the bugle in the hands of PA 149th soldier number one.  It corresponds with Frank's words  " No 1 Ustic ROTHROCK, our bugler, No 2 Dave PHILLIPS, No 3 Boy MAY, 4 I.B. MOMYER, 5 Sam PHILLIPS, No 6 your humble servant."

Is this the picture of these men?  Look at the features of man number one and the later picture of Ustick.  The eyebrows, cheeks and nose are similar.  Could it be?

Ahh, genealogy.  The sands of time pass after war, but the memories are forever.  Would he have been able to live with his demons if he had stayed in Pittsburgh after the war and been able to talk with his comrades?  Rest in peace, Ustick.
And thanks to all veterans of America.





Part 1 of the series:  Military Monday: Frank?  Is That You? You 149th Bucktail You 

 Sources:
http://genitalesga.blogspot.com/search/label/dorrington
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/149th-pa-at-gettysburg.90596/
Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
http://mv.ancestry.com/viewer/e834e51f-974c-4d4f-87a1-1435be2fadf4/28945733/12351776261
Nesbit, John W. General history of Company D, 149th Pennsylvania volunteers: and personal sketches of the members University of Pittsburgh, University Library System., Digital Research Library.
http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?type=simple;c=pitttext;cc=pitttext;idno=00hc08553m;q1=rothrock;submit=Go;didno=00hc08553m;rgn=full%20text;view=image;seq=0001;node=00hc08553m%3A1
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=rothrock&GSfn=ustick&GSby=1836&GSbyrel=in&GSdy=1916&GSdyrel=in&GSst=40&GScnty=2284&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=52104503&df=all&

©2016 ASEldredge

Can I Have a Tombstone Tuesday?

The life of a family mystery seeker.  Always looking, sometimes finding....

Could I have found the final resting place of William HAMILTON. the first husband?

I have known that my 2g aunt was married twice. You see, her niece told me so.  First, to a William HAMILTON who the 1880 census tells us he was age 67, thus his birth year is about 1813.  The 1880 census also tells us William and Martha HAMILTON are living in Sewickly, Allegheny PA.

Martha is the much younger second (assumed) wife.

This William HAMILTON (1813-1893) is buried at the Blackburn United Methodist Church Cemetery in Sewickly, Allegheny, PA, with his first ( I am assuming here) wife, Mary STEVENS (1818-1871).

Is this the right William HAMILTON?  Circumstantial right now, but the 1860 census has Martha living with her mother in the same general little area as William and his family. Picture this:  William's wife dies in 1871.  Martha and her William are married by the 1880 census.

This William dies in 1893, conveniently after the birth of Martha's niece in 1891.  This niece is named for her Aunt Martha HAMILTON since Martha had no children of her own.

Martha's next appearance is in 1901 when she remarries Daniel BULFORD (1839-1909) after the 1897 death of his first wife, Margaret.

The perplexing question is: Is this the right William HAMILTON? Or is there another one tucked away in Allegheny County?

Ahh, genealogy.  Always hoping the final answer is one stone away.


Sources:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=75772545

©2016 ASEldredge