Moving around (immigrating!)

  Sepia Saturday 

In thinking of going places for October, I bring back a post from 2013 about an ancestral family which moved quite a bit.

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William T Williams 1824-1898 (originally posted Monday, December 16, 2013)

William T. Williams was born on Dec. 16 1824, in Pulaski County, KY.

His father was Richard Frederick Williams, born in 1792 in Crab Orchard, Lincoln County, KY, who died in 1850 or 1860 in Montgomery County, MO; and his mother was  Nancy Hansford Williams, born in 1796 in KY, who died in 1860 in Montgomery County, MO  (GGG grandfather Richard Frederick Williams had served in the War of 1812.) I'll post more about him soon, going backwards in my ancestry for this family.) Richard F. Williams HERE.

William T. Williams died on 22 Apr 1898 in Weesatche, Goliad, Texas. He was the father of Annie Elizabeth Williams Webb, my great grandmother.

He fought for the US Army in the Civil War, according to war records from Macon County, MO, July 1863-5, when he was 38 years old.  He is listed from the 4th sub-district, "Olio" as residence, and occupation is a merchant.  The original entry was changed later, with a red line through his entry and a remark, "Feb 22, 1865, In US Military Service."  He is not listed as "dead" as is another person on the same page, so it is presumed that he was still in the Army in Feb. 1865.  Everyone on this page is also in 4th Sub-district of Macon County with a name beginning "Wi..."  I can't find any reference to a town called Olio, MO, (though there are rave reviews through Wikipedia of a bar by that name in St. Louis.)

Please note, this post continues below the huge photo, but I wanted you to be able to read it.  (Look in left column for place name Olio.)

He and his wife Dorcas (both born in KY) had settled in Middletown, Montgomery County, MO by 1860 with their children and he listed his occupation as carpenter at that time. His oldest was 12, having been born in MO, putting them there by 1848 at least.  The 6 year old, Margaret, was born in Iowa however.

In the 1850 census 10 years prior to that, he lived in Montgomery County, MO and was a farmer, with 2 children, and now listed as both born in MO.  Their birth dates would place him there by 1845.

Back to the Williams, who both died in Weesatchee, Goliad County, Texas.  How did they get there?  I'd love to know.  The whole family immigrated following the Civil War.  And Annie Elizabeth Williams married there when she was 15, in 1877.

When Annie Elizabeth Williams Webb died in 1942, the death certificate had placed her father, William T. Williams' birth in Iowa.  Isn't it interesting to wonder who gave that information, probably the next of kin, Clara Bell Webb Bruce, her daughter who lived till 1971.

(Note on last placement of his birth in Iowa: 

By the time they all had been living in Texas, it was often difficult to find correct information about grandparents. I checked where Montgomery County MO is located, and it's just west of St. Louis, nowhere near the Iowa border.)

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and also talking about this family in 2012 I said:

I've spent much of this rainy day cleaning things around the house. (Sunday the 23rd Nov.)  Kitty litter (my un-faorite-est) then the 2 aquariums...which is such fun and now my fingers are all wrinkly.  But the chartreuse water is gone and now I have counted the guppies (20 teens, 10 adults) and kept them separated.  The big tank still has my 7 year old angel and some younger but ferocious big fish...oh that's not what I want to write you about.

Today with rain outside, I've happily searched on Ancestry.  Went climbing the tree to my great grandmother's side, the Williams.  She was a relative that my mother probably never knew, because her father had died so young.  The Williams came from Missouri to Texas, and from Kentucky to Missouri.

So I've got all these hints on the Williams tree, all these brothers and sisters about whom I know nothing.

I usually ignore them, but today took the time to look at an interesting name, "Liberty Williams" who was one of the elder brothers to William T. Williams, my great grandmom's dad.  Great times 3 Uncle Liberty.  Liberty and William T were born in Pulaski County, Kentucky.

And their parents were born in the same area as well, both Richard Frederick Williams and his wife Nancy Hansford Williams.  Richard Frederick Williams was born in 1792 in Crab Orchard, Lincoln County, Kentucky,

Richard's father, Frederick Williams probably came from South Carolina, while his mother Cassandra Elizabeth, "Cassiah" Tate Williams came from North Carolina.  They were the pioneers who moved to Kentucky by 1792 when Richard was born.  Their first child had been born in South Carolina in 1787.

And the Frederick and Cassiah Williams family may have moved to Kentucky for a while, but they died in Tennessee, while Richard F. as well as Liberty Williams (and other Williams) moved to Missouri.  And then sometime between the time William T. was 38 and 56 (by 1863) he moved from Missouri to Texas, leaving Liberty in Missouri with all his family!

Farmers all.  They had such a job ahead of them when moving to new territory.

It wasn't just go look at the land, put up a cabin, and sew some seeds right away.  Clear timber.  Find fresh water nearby.  Plow the land.  Bring along some livestock as well, and maybe take a few trips back to sources of seeds, nails, the rest of needed livestock, and hope that everyone stays healthy while each of the people help build whatever buildings were first needed.  Put in a garden, or at least go pick those berries and nuts.  And while waiting for any kind of food to grow, what do you eat?  Not barely enough berries!  (Couldn't resist the pun).  The hunters were out getting deer, squirrel, rabbits, birds and whatever could be shot for food.  Mum would have been taking these carcases and skinning them, or plucking, and cooking over a campfire.

What do you think, campfires were not much different than cooking in a fireplace.  Hauling some iron pots and pans were very important in order to make meals.  Someone was bringing water from a creek or river...every night!  And someone was chopping some logs while the littlest someones just picked up sticks for kindling.

Yes a life that was out in nature.  Sounds idyllic, right?  Not when you think of snakes, cold, rain and many bugs and even heat at other times.

It must have made these very hardy folks, cause William T. lived to be 72.  And his wife, Dorcas White Williams, mother of 8,(6 of whom lived to adulthood) lived to 74 years of age.

I'm so glad I was born when I was.  I get the benefit of medical care and social security rather than an adult child who will care for me in my old age.  AND I get the internet.  I don't know how many of the people in the 1800's could read and write, and certainly it was far fewer in the 1700s.  Those folks were too busy killing their food and cooking it, or growing it and eating and sleeping to bother to write anything, let alone teach the kids how.  Schools were obviously a real boon when towns were formed.  But that's another topic for another day.

Map showing where and when various Williams families settled in Montgomery County, Missouri.