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My own life and my opinions are shared at When I was 69.

REMEMBER: In North America, the month of September 1752 was exceptionally short, skipping 11 days, when the Gregorian Calendar was adapted from the old Julian one, which didn't have leap year days.
Showing posts with label veterans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label veterans. Show all posts

Friday, October 10, 2025

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.

Saturday, November 11, 2023

Ancestor veterans

 Ancestor veterans

 For Veterans Day this year, while wars are raging and innocent civilians are

 dying, let's go back to see some ancestors who survived their battles...starting

 with the Civil War (which wasn't always civil actually).

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On my ancestor's blog, I recently shared about GG Uncle RAG...

Sgt. Richard A. Gee, married to my GG Auntie Fanny Gee, sister of my

 GG grandmother. I can't get used to the new terms of grand aunt and

 grand uncle. Just too old to learn new tricks.

Sergeant Richard A. Gee (Rag = his initials). His wife was Fanny Witty Gee

 (1850-1923) sister of my GG Grandmother Eugenia Witty Booth (1852-875)

 on my mother's side of my family tree,

Richard Albert Gee was a Sergeant in the Confederacy, and thus had a

 veterans grave marker when he died in 1930 at age 96. He entered the

 Civil War in 1861 as a Corporal in Parson's Mounted Volunteers, 12th

 Regiment of Texas Cavalry, Company A. He discharged with the rank

 of Sergeant.

Having survived the Civil War, he lived many more years, and it wasn't until

1927 that he applied for Veterans Benefits. His wife Fanny had died in 1923.

 And Rag only had these benefits until he died in 1930.

One of these men is Richard Albert Gee. I think it's the older looking one. Rag only had
 one brother, John O. Gee, born in 1844, so about 11 years younger than Richard 
(born in 1833!)


Richard Albert "Rag" Gee, (1833-1930)  He's also buried in Covington Cemetery, TX. 

I spoke more about him on my Ancestry site Three Family Trees.

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I have many other ancestors who fought on the Confederate side of that conflict. But let's look at one of the ones who fought for the Union.

William D. James is another GG Grand Uncle, whose wife was a GG Grand Aunt. She was the sister of my GG Grandfather, Capt. Alexander G. Swasey. (Post about him HERE) Her name was Ruth Ann Swasey James. 

They lived in Massachusetts most of their lives, then William took part in the gold rush to California in 1849. They moved to Visalia CA later after the Civil War.

William D. James cir. 1900

There's an interesting story about his enlistment to serve in the Union Army. Apparently he almost got conscripted into the Confederacy in Mobile AL, where he was working.





(NOTE: in the following description the details are about Ruth's father, Captain Alexander Swasey)


A recap of the time of his arriving in California. Apparently his return in 1853 followed his marriage to Ruth Swasey in 1851.

The above article appears in "A Memorial and biographical history of the counties of Fresno, Tulare and Kern, California" published by Ancestry DOT com.

There are a couple of errors in the reporting which I've noticed, but much of it is verified by other records.

His time at the end of the Civil War was not spent in Libby Prison, but as part of a final battle at Fort Stedman, where the following describes his imprisonment:

Imprisonment Date25 Mar 1865
Imprisonment PlaceFort Stedman, Virginia
Muster Out Date26 May 1865
Muster Out InformationMustered Out

So at the end of the battle he was mustered out of the Union Army, where he had been in the infantry and a carpenter. His enlistment was:

Enlistment Date18 May 1861
Enlistment RankPrivate
Muster Date22 May 1861
Muster PlaceMassachusetts
Muster CompanyD
Muster Regiment29th Infantry
Muster Regiment TypeInfantry
Muster InformationEnlisted

The Fort Stedman battle apparently included some soldiers pretending to defect during the night prior to the battle, so as to be inside and disarm their guards at the beginning of hostilities. I read the Wikipedia description but admit to not being able to keep track of which general was on which side.

These Army records state that William Davenport James, was a private in the 36th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry, Company D.

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All descendants of the Swasey line from Alexander G. Swasey Sr. are eligible to join the Daughters (or Sons) of the American Revolution (DAR) according to the lineage book Vol. 086. Again, another veteran, this time of the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Lewellyn James Nickerson was William James' daughter, as described below.



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Lt. Jerathmel Swasey was my Great times 4 grandfather, as shown above. I've posted a bit about him before:

Jerathmel Bowers Swasey 

Birth 10 May 1752 in Somerset, Bristol, MA 

Death 4 Feb 1826 in Somerset, Bristol, MA

married to: Sarah Hellon born: 1752

I don't know that much about Jerathmel.  But Somerset MA became a town in 1790, during his lifetime.  It had been settled as early as 1677 on Shawomet lands.  It is on a river, and was a major seaport.


The Swasey's did have a nautical connection, with his son Alexander G. Swasey "a wood carver by trade but engaged for many years in command of ship to the coast of China."  There are others (probably my relatives) who compiled a publication about the Swasey family.  

"Geneology of the Swasey Family" 1910 by Benjamin Swasey, an ebook that is available on line.

The booklet gives more information on Jerathmel's father which is also of interest. He was also a veteran!

Joseph Swasey, shipwright, Bapt(ized) in Boston, Mass. Aug. 12, 1714; died in Somerset, Mass; bef. 1801; married daughter of Jonathan & Ann Sylvester Bowers, of Swansea, Mass. She was of Spanish descent. (?!!)   Joseph, removed with his family to Salem, where he lived until 1749.  He followed there the trade of hatter.  In that year he bought (in) Swansea of John Palmer, 10 acres of land on Taunton River for which he paid ~1300 O.T.

He put up a set of buildings, including a hat shop, built a wharf & engaged in shipbuilding, floating his craft down to Fall River.  The dwelling house occupied by the family for 3 generations was taken down several years ago.  The old cellar & the broad stone step still remain to mark the site.  The "Swasey burying ground" occupied about an acre of the original lot, upon which are many tombstones that mark the resting place of his descendants.


In 1758-9, he (Joseph Swasey) was a private in his Majesty's service from the Province of Massachusetts, in Capt. Stephen Whipple's Co;  Col. Jonathan Bagley's Regt; for the reduction of Canada.  In 1801, his estate was divided among his heirs which included the widow, sons Jerathmel & Joseph heirs of his son Samuel, & daughter Hannah.

 
323 Main St, Somerset, MA (according to the ebook about the Swaseys)

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In considering Veterans Day today, November 11, 2023, I am also aware of many other relatives and friends who have been active in defending democracy in the United States against various foes. I honor them all today (and every day) though I personally am a pacifist. This is my choice in hoping the world will move someday to being a peaceful place between all peoples, no matter what their background or geography.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

A veteran of the Civil War fromTexas

Samuel James Webb 1827-1877, my mother's great grandfather. Born in Vienna, Dorchester County, Maryland, died in Clinton, Dewitt, Texas

His son was Leroy Francis Webb.



Yes I admit I've used this 1894 photo of roof-sitting friends for my great grandfather Leroy F. Webb before in Sepia Saturday HERE.  But last week I promised to show a sepia photo, rather than my usual more recent ones!

So I will talk about Leroy's father, Samuel J. Webb.  I posted about him a few years ago Here (also a Sepia Saturday link.)

This week's Sepia Saturday prompt photo!

Since everyone (in the US at least) has been celebrating our veterans last week, those who fought and died that we might have freedom, I'm going to consider his fighting for the Confederacy in a losing battle had as much merit as many other soldiers.

He enlisted in 1862 in the Confederacy, in Waul's Legion (Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery) according to US, Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865.  Another record from the same source says he was a private, Company B, in Waul's Texas Legion.

I'm currently reading more about the Siege of Vicksburg which ended on July 4, 1863.  That's because the lists on Wikipedia of the Confederate leaders doesn't include Waul.  Yet they do list him being there under his own biography.  Just curious, because also his biography doesn't list a Company B (in which Samuel J. Webb was listed) But there is a memorial to Waul's Legion in Vicksburg.

Waul's Texas Legion Monument, Vicksburg National Military Park
What I do know is that the north's winning general, U.S. Grant, did not want to keep track of all the prisoners of the Confederate Army following the eventual end of the siege...so he sent most of them home.  Those who weren't sick or injured continued to fight from Alabama.  I don't know whether S. J. went back to Texas at this point or kept fighting. But he was a private both in enlisting and leaving the army.

I'm linking to Sepia Saturday with some new photos I have found since my last posting about my great great grandfather.  This continues to be a process, so more information may come along in the future, about the past!

The house in Vienna MD may have been where Samuel J Webb lived, or perhaps cousins of his...the connection has not yet been found. There seem to be a lot of Webbs in the same area of Maryland, and some of them fought in the Civil War for the Union...most probably his brother Thomas H. Webb.


Handsell or Webb home Viena, MD

"Handsell, also known as the Webb House, is a historic home located at Vienna, Dorchester County, Maryland. It is a late-18th-century Georgian-style manor house. It is a ​1 1⁄2-story brick structure over an English basement. The main facade is five bays wide and has a central entrance containing a double door flanked by windows. Handsell bears the name of a 1665 land grant, which has been in the Webb family since 1892. Handsell was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

I now have a photo of Samuel J. Webb's grave in Clinton, DeWitt County, Texas...with probable dates for birth and death.






His wife's grave, Ellen Ann, wife of S.J. Webb, born Jan 25, 1842, died July 15, 1876