Younger siblings of Eugenia Witty Booth, twins

Originally posted, edited...

Sunday, March 1, 2015

A set of twins who were siblings of Eugenia Witty Booth

Yesterday I introduced to you Laura Dove Witty.
She was actually a twin.

William Wiley Witty has the same birthday on most of his records.

But there is discrepancy on some others.  So though his year of birth is always within a year of the same one, the place is given on some records differently.

So about half the Ancestry listings in families have him born in Marshall Texas on the same birthday as Laura, the other half (out of 10 listings) say he was born earlier in the same month, to the same parents, but in either Missouri or Georgia, these mainly coming from his death certificate and the grave site information.

Now I've got a bit of logic on my side, the Marshall Texas and twin story that I'm presenting today.  His mother gave birth in Marshall 2 years earlier to my great great grandmother, Eugenia.  The kids are all on the first census in 1860 in Subdivision, Hill County, Texas...and there's no mention anywhere that Susan Hoke Witty (their mom) could have gone to Missouri or Georgia.  It's just not logical.  Until proven otherwise, I'm sticking with this direct movement of the family from Alabama, to Marshall (eastern Texas) to Hill County (central Texas)

Unfortunately a lot of his, and his children's records in "Find A Grave" use the earlier March 3, 1854 and Missouri information.

So who was William Wiley Witty?

The 1870 Census of Precinct 1 in Hill County, Texas, taken in July of that year, lists him as 16, while Laura is 17, both born in Texas.  So here he is a year younger than she is. But the 1860 Census had also been taken in July, and there he and Laura were both 6 years old.  One of these records gives his birthday a year off, I think.

But skip ahead to the 1900 census for Precinct 2, Hill County, Texas, taken in June, and here is some interesting information that has been added to the data.  He is married and age 46.  That still has the 1854 birth year, including month of March.  He states he's been married 26 years, making his marriage happen in 1874 to Mary Witty.  They have 10 children at that time, and he owns his own farm.  Mary was born in Georgia in Nov 1854, but William was born in Texas, as well as all their children.

The very same 1900 Census also gives his sister, Laura, a clear birthday as March 1854...though they no longer lived in the same area...so a different census taker was recording it.

So I continue, at this time, to think these siblings were twins.

As I mentioned his wife was Mary, and one source gives her as Molly, and another says Mary Jane Paschal.  I haven't looked into her family beyond the fact that they came from Georgia to Texas.

AND they had at least one set of twin children: Stella and Della.
They not only have the same birthday, but were buried under the same headstone, though one died in 1909 and one in 1926.

I was thinking perhaps a pair of their older siblings were also twins, being sometimes listed as born the same year, but I haven't found any more information on one of them...and some information again gives their dates a year apart.  Both are possibilities.

Mrs. William Witty, Molly, after giving birth to 10 children, lived to 79, dying in 1933.
William, the farmer, predeceased her in 1929, dying at 74.

They had married in Hill County Texas, but lived in Star, Mills County, Texas.  Where is that, you may ask?  Star is a small unincorporated area with agriculture, named after nearby Star Mountain.

From The Texas Historical Association:

The first settlers, (Mills County) like the Indians, subsisted primarily on hunting. A number of the early settlers were German immigrants who toiled, as one put it, in a "place that was a heaven for men and dogs-but hell for women and oxen." Life on the frontier was often precarious; Dick Jenkins and several other early pioneers were killed by Indians. In 1858 Mr. and Mrs. Mose Jackson and two of their children were killed by Indians at Jackson Springs, while two other children were carried into captivity. After a force of settlers routed the Indians at Salt Gap, their pursuers and a company of Texas Rangers recovered the captive Jackson children. In 1862 a band of twenty Comanches raiding for horses was pursued by settlers to the mouth of Pecan Bayou and put to flight after three Indians and one white, O. F. Lindsey, were killed. After Indians killed John Morris, a rancher, settlers pursued them and killed or wounded seven of the twenty-seven raiders. Few of the settlers joined the Confederate Army during the Civil War because their own frontier required protection against the depredations of Indians and outlaws.

During the Civil War and for decades thereafter whites caused settlers more trouble than Indians, as cattle rustlers, horse thieves, murderers, army deserters, and other rogues infested the area. Vigilante committees were formed to deal with criminals, but then these groups degenerated into warring mobs committing criminal acts themselves. A reign of terror followed conflicts between vigilante groups, which broke out in Williams Ranch in 1869. Vigilantes drove out some bad characters, but killed other innocent men; lynchings and assassinations became commonplace. The turbulence lasted until 1897, when the Texas Rangers finally broke up a group of vigilantes who frequently gathered at Buzzard Roost. The first post office in what is now Mills County was established in Williams Ranch in 1877, and the place became a center for the area; between 1881 and 1884 250 people lived there. In 1885 the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway built tracks into the region, stimulating settlement and demands for organization. In 1887 the Texas state legislature carved Mills County from lands formerly assigned to Brown, Comanche, Hamilton, and Lampasas counties. Goldthwaite became the county seat. In 1890 5,493 people lived in Mills County. By that time, the area's agricultural economy was already fairly well-established. The county had 680 farms and ranches, encompassing 142,299 acres, that year.

Sources:Hartal Langford Blackwell, Mills County-The Way it Was (Goldthwaite, Texas: Eagle Press, 1976). Flora Gatlin Bowles, A No Man's Land Becomes a County (Austin: Steck, 1958).

 There are at least 6 graves of Witty's in this Cemetery, very near Star, Texas.  At the information site about the cemetery, it says:

Hurst Ranch Cemetery is in Hamilton County, Texas but has so many Mills County connections from Star, (originally Hamilton County) Mills County, Texas.

Laura Dove Witty Patty

Originally posted on Saturday, February 28, 2015

Eugenia Witty Booth's next younger sister

Laura Dove Witty Patty was born on 29 Mar 1854, in Marshall Texas.  This is where my great great grandmother Eugenia Witty Booth also was born just 2 years earlier.  Then by 1860 the family settled a new area in Hill County, much further west.  Actually their father, Carroll Witty had purchased land and "settlers began moving into the area about 1850, and the community was established in 1857."  I note that the Hillsboro Historic Association doesn't have any records of him...which seems interesting somehow.  (More on Hill County tomorrow when the Witty's family has settled there.)


But let's go back to Marshall, which was founded in 1841 as the seat of Harrison County, in East Texas, and was incorporated in 1843.

Marshall quickly became a major city in the state because of its position as a gateway to Texas; several major stage coach lines and one of the first railroad lines into Texas ran through it. The founding of several colleges, including a number of seminaries, teaching colleges, and incipient universities, earned Marshall the nickname the Athens of Texas, in reference to the ancient Greek city state.Marshall was the first city in Texas to have a telegraph service....by 1854 the local paper had a telegraph link to New Orleans, which gave it quick access to national news. By 1860 Marshall was one of the largest and wealthiest towns in East Texas, with a population estimated at 2,000.  With slavery still prevalent for the major industry, cotton, over half the population were Blacks.

The whole Witty family had still lived in Limestone County, Alabama as of Feb 1850s census.  Carroll Witty probably settled his wife and the younger children in Marshall, by 1852 when Eugenia was born, then took his two oldest sons with him (this is pure speculation on my part) to set up a home in Woodbury, Hill County, Texas.  Then they would all have a place to live on the frontier.

Obviously father Carroll visited the Witty family in Marshall, perhaps for supplies or other reasons, including fathering Laura Dove.

Isn't that a pretty name?

She married like many young women in that time when she was 17.  Her husband was James Riley Patty, born on 14 Oct 1845 in McMinn County, Tennesse.  He had been a Corporal for the 59th  Tennessee Mounted Infantry, Company A, during the Civil War.  So he moved to Texas following the war, and was 26 when he married in 1871 in Hill County, Texas.

The Patty family included 9 children, the last one born in 1890.  The youngest, Eva Laura Fay Patty Herring, lived to be 96, dying in 1987, after having 4 children.

Laura and her husband both died in 1935.  He died first, March 30, and she applied for pension as a Civil War widow in April of that year.  She died on Oct 5.  Her adult son who lived with her, Birch, gave information for the death certificate, saying she was still married.  He had been 50 when the 1930 census was taken, and his 45 year old sister Hettie also still lived with their parents.  Birch was employed as a grocery clerk, but Hettie didn't work outside the home.  These adult children  didn't marry or have children as far as I know.

Edith, who died at 90, their oldest child, also was living with her parents as of 1920, and she was a public school teacher.  By 1930 however she was living as a boarder in Dallas, TX, and was still teaching.  She didn't marry or have children.

Lexie Patty, their 6th child, is on a Sevier County, Tennessee Census in 1930 as a widow, with 3 sons who all have Patty as their last name.  And Lexie is the head of a household which farms, while parents who are listed must be her in-laws, Levi and Sarah Henner.  She also gives her birth as well as that of her parents as being in Tennessee (which wasn't true).  At some point in her life Lexie returned to Hill County Texas, and she died there age 84 in 1968.

Major Riley Patty...the next youngest of their children...what another interesting name!  As a child he was given Major Riley as his name, but later records just show him as Riley.  Perhaps various official persons thought the title should belong to someone who had attained that rank.  He lived from 1885 till 1951, dying at 71 years of age.  In 1940 it is interesting to note, that he lived with his brother Birch, and sisters Hettie and Lexie, in Hillsboro, Hill County Texas.

These were siblings that came back to, or never left, the home of their parents.

William Canal Patty did marry, and had 2 children, then in his fifties became an inmate of the Colorado State Hospital, where he died after 5 years at age 57.  How sad.

Susan Elizabeth Witty Moore and Hill County TX

And more about the Witty family, among many who were pioneers in Texas.

Originally posted on Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Eugenia Witty Booth's youngest sister (Eugenia was my great great grandmother)

Susan E. Witty Moore was born Dec 28, 1856, in Marshall, Texas.  I believe by 1857 her father had started the Subdivision in Hill County that was to be named Woodbury, and in the cemetery many of the Witty family are buried, including Susan. 

By the 1860 census of the Witty family, she is listed (as of July 30 when the census was taken) as being four years old. There was one source (another census) which gave her age such that she would have been born in 1857, but I'm going with 1856 and have changed the Ancestry listing on my tree.

It is nice that the youngest of 9 (or 10) children was named after her mother, Susan Hoke Witty.  

In the 1870 census her family says she is 13 (in agreement with having been born in 1856, because her birthday isn't until Dec. and the census was in July again...thus the question was answered, how old will she be in this year?

The wonderful census of 1900 tells how long people had been married, as well as listing their names and birthdates and the states in which they were born.

In 1877, Susan had married a farmer, James J. Moore, and they lived (in 1900) in Justice Precinct 2, Hill County, Texas with their 14 year old daughter, Edna.  James is listed as having been born in Alabama, as her parents were, though later records suggest he was born in Texas. 

Susan Witty Moore died Sept 10, 1902, in Woodbury, Hill County, Texas, and has a nice big grave marker in the Old Woodbury Cemetery, where many other of the Witty family are buried. 


The "Texas Find A Grave" information gives this information about her:

Children: Edna Mae Moore (1885 - 1916)

Siblings: Martha E Witty Barnes (1846 - 1914) Mary Witty Hughes (1848 - 1876), Laura Dove Witty Patty (1854 - 1935)

Her daughter, Edna, died of tuberculosis in 1916, and her death certificate information was given by her father, J. J. Moore. So I know he lived until that year in June.  Unfortunately I am unable to find much information about James J. Moore.

She may have been only 46 when Susan E. Witty Moore died, but she outlived her sister, my great great grandmother who died at 23 in 1877.

The following was originally posted on Monday, March 2, 2015

Hill County Texas, the root country for Eugenia Witty Booth

I'll just share the photos I've found on line from Hill County, the area where lots of my roots were planted.

In Hill County Texas, there are several sites which factor into my ancestors' homes.
Hillsboro became the site of the Booth family home, but Woodbury was where the Witty's settled.


A couple of the areas of Hill County...including an early pioneer home.

Randle-Turner House, Itasca, Hill County, Texas

A later house in Hill County

Laying of Corner Stone, City Hall Hillsboro, Texas

The Whitty's of Alabama and Texas, John and James in the army

 My great times 2 grandmother was Eugenia Almeda Witty Booth...daughter of Carroll Witty and Susan Hoke Witty.

I wrote a blog about Eugenia HERE, and another one Here.

My gg grandmother had a lot of siblings, most of whom moved to Texas as well, from Alabama.

James J. Witty was just a year younger than John, the oldest of his siblings (which number 10 in all, including one set of twins).  Born in 1845 he was barely old enough to go to the war between the states for the Confederacy with his older brother, John, in 1862.

He didn't serve in the same way however, and was in the cavalry while John was in the infantry.
And he had a surviving widow who eventually applied for his war pension many years after he died.

12th Texas Calvary, W. H. Parsons Regiment , Company "A" of Hill County, TX,

His family had settled in Texas from Alabama, and his father (Carroll Witty) was one of the founders of a community called originally "Subdivision, Hill County, Texas" and later known as Woodbury.

The Hill County Historical Commission tells us: "Woodbury is on Farm Road 309 twelve miles northwest of Hillsboro in north central Hill County. Anglo-American settlers began moving into the area about 1850, and the community was established in 1857, when Carroll Witty, William R. Nunn, and Rev. Thomas Newton McKee purchased property and offered it for sale."

In the 1870 Census for Hill County, TX, James was 25 and living with his parents and listing his occupation as "stock raiser,"  just as he had 10 years previously in the 1860 Census.

James married a woman who was a widow with three children, when he was 39 himself.  Mary Lou Cobb Brooks and James were married Nov 23, 1884.  Her children were William Terrell Brooks (Born: 1859) Mary Elizabeth Brooks Dennis (Born: 1862) and Bert Brooks (Born: 1875).  The date of the marriage was listed on her application for widow's pension, and the location was Shackleford, Texas, where she lived the rest of her life.

Unknown old house, Moran, Shackleford County, Texas

Moran Texas, 1924 looking west.

Shackleford County, Texas is where James spent his later adult life, and where he and his wife are buried, but in different cemeteries.   She's in the Moran Cemetery, also in Shackleford County, and her youngest son Bert Brooks was also buried there. 

Witty Fish and Chip truck, probably a belonging to a later descendant of the Witty family

His death is noted in the Texas Find A Grave site as "J.J. Whitty found dead in his wagon Sept of 1904 on his way home from town, found by Brooksey King (Possible burial place 7 or 8. Thought to have died of a heart attack."  (Jo Ann Farmers Notes)

The cemetery where his remains are located is unique in that it's a ranch cemetery with many unknown cowboys buried there.  It is listed as the Lynch Cemetery.  "The Lynch Cemetery is located 8 miles southeast of Albany near the Ibex Community on FMR 601. The cemetery began in the summer of 1875 as the final resting place of J. A. Leflet, a young cowboy who worked for the Lynch family on what was then called Fairview Ranch. Founders of the ranch, John C. Lynch and his wife Fannie, arrived in this part of Shackelford County in the 1860's after coming to nearby Stephens County with Fannie's family, the Peter Gunsolus family. After Mr. Leflet was buried in 1875, on a rise a quarter of a mile from the Lynch home, other cowboys on the ranch who died were also buried there, most now are unmarked or unknown."

 James J. Witty is listed as a known grave, and has a legible marker there.

Post office, Moran, Shakleford County, Texas

This is an edited post from 2015 HERE.

The following is a revised post from Thursday, February 19, 2015

John C. Witty

He died in 1865, in the county in which he lived according to several census records.

Who was John C. Witty?
My great great grandmother's brother, Great times 2 Uncle John Witty.

My Mother: Mataley Webb Munhall Rogers
Grandmother: Mozelle Miller Webb Munhall
Great grandmother: Eugenia Booth Miller
Great great grandmother: Eugenia Almeda Witty Booth

John was in the Civil War,  Confederate  Regiment, State/Origin: Texas 12th Regiment, Texas Infantry (Young's)  Company:  K  Rank In:  Private   Rank Out:  Private 
1862 enlistment records.

With the great flux of Ancestry records, I find that Kezia and John Witty lived (were born and died) in Yorkshire, England. So that wasn't the one born in Alabama who fought for the Confederacy, but was the one who married Kezia!

John and Kesiah Martha Witty (not in America)
This version of his dates gives him living from 1845-1931.
And being married to Kesiah.

What I do know is that John C. Witty was part of my Great times 2 Grandmother's household, first in Alabama before she had been born, then to Texas, and he's also on the census of the new "subdivision" in Hill County when 16.

This was a young man who joined the 12th Texas Infantry for the Confederate cause.  Some Texans didn't want to fight for the south, and some left and joined Union forces.  It was a terrible conflict with brothers against brothers.  He was only 18 when he enlisted in the military.  And he died in 1865.

Four Miller Daughters

My grandmother's (maternal) family consisted of four girls...

she was Mozelle Booth Miller (before marrying Webb and then Munhall) b. 9 Sept 1897 d. 2 Sept 1960
Her sisters were:
Rowena Eugenia Miller Rogers, b. 23 June 1900 d. 14 Sept 1989
Dorothy Dain Miller Buchanan, b. 24 Aug 1903 d, 11 Dec 1979
Margaret Etha Miller, b. 10 Jan 1909 d. 22 June 1980, who never married.

Christmas 1952, the Miller sisters

Their parents were Charles Herman Miller (posted about yesterday) and Eugenia Almeda Booth Miller (sometimes spelled Almetta) who was born 30 Jan 1873, d. 1 Jan 1936.  They married on 28 Oct 1896 in Hillsboro, Texas.

Eugnia's mother died when she was 2, and her father was killed when she was 6, so she was raised in her grandparents William and Eugenia Booth's home.  Actually it wasn't until 1900, when Charles and Eugenia Miller's second daughter was born, that we know they were living in their own dwelling.

My grandmother Mozelle married Albert "Bud" Webb in 1915, and my mother Mataley Mozelle Webb was born March 26, 1917.  Bud died in 1919.  Mozelle remarried to Frederick Munhall in 1921 or 1924.  Fred died in 1927, not having adopted my mother.  Mozelle spent the rest of her life as a seamstress to support herself.  She was an elegant lady, and her clientele were those who wore high fashions for the bigger events of society in San Antonio.

Mozelle and Mataley Webb Munhall, 1924

Mozelle 1935

Mataley Rogers, Mozelle Munhall in the back, and my little sis, Mary Rogers in front, 1954 St. Louis MO.

I don't have any photos of Rowena Miller, who married Shelton (Robert Shelton) Rogers, a Sgt. during WW I infantry.  They married  in 1927, and had a daughter Patricia Eugenia Rogers, and a son, Robert Jr,. I just found out that Robert Jr. was in the Army from 1951-53.  As far as I know Patsy Jean is still living, having had 4 children and 2 husbands.  Her oldest daughter Leslie, was the one who contacted me about our shared great grandfather Charles Herman Miller.  But I don't know anything more about any of this family at this time. Ancestry doesn't give information on those relations who are still living, usually.

Cousin Patsy Jean Rogers, my mother Mataley, and cousin Bob Rogers 1934.

Great Aunt Dorothy didn't marry until she was 47 years old, to Bennet Hillard "Buck" Buchanan, who had been married before and had 2 grown sons.

 

Dorothy 1926

When Dorothy died in 1979 of lung cancer, she willed her body to scientific study.

Margaret 1927 (but it's possible it was earlier before being put in my mother's album)

Great Aunt Margaret was a favorite of mine, and probably all her nieces and nephews, because she had a young spirit. She taught junior-high school math all her life, until she retired in a small one bedroom apartment in San Antonio.  I know because I visited her with my 2 sons a couple of times, and again later with a boyfriend.  The boyfriend didn't go over too well with her, but she was polite.

I remember hearing how Margaret (and probably her sister Dorothy) would fly to Cuba to gamble back before the embargo...before Castro even.   That wasn't exactly the topic of conversation, but somehow I learned about it while learning to play canasta in the 50s with my grandmother when we visited either in Texas or St. Louis.  There were very few visits, but they did make me feel like I had a family besides the 4 of us in the nuclear family.

I never spent time with Aunt Rowena, though I think I visited at her house at least a couple of times.  I do remember the other three Miller girls liked to drink and smoke.  I especially remember because my teetotler mother was trying to keep my sister and me from being around either the alcohol or continuous cigarettes.  But we enjoyed the stories and the sense that these women liked to have fun.

 Other posts about-
"Grandmommy" Mozelle - HERE
Frederick Munhall - Here, my mother's stepfather
Great Aunt Dorothy - a bit more Here.

Charles Herman Miller 1868-1746

Let's use April to catch up on my mother's family tree, the Booth Family Tree, I call it.

My great-grandfather, who I don't think I ever met (at least nobody told me I did) Charles Herman Miller, is today's topic.

I mentioned him in one of my early posts (2014) about ancestors (Here) and hoped to hear from my cousin Leslie again, but it never happened (yet).  She suggested that he had been a stow-away on a ship from Mecklenburg Germany.
A 2013 post talked about Mecklenburg and his life here. 

I also posted on his birthday Here (2014 post July 18.) showing his application for citizenship which shows his photo as well  He was born somewhere around 1870.

Here's my first birthday post about him...

Thursday, July 18, 2013

"Charley" Charles Herman Miller

My great grandfather:

• Charles Herman Miller (Mueller) 

  B: 18 Jul 1868 

  • Mecklenberg, , Schwerin, Germany  

  D: 7 Nov 1946 

  • San Antonio, Bexar, Texas    

 That's what Ancestry DOT com says about him.
I have searched through lots of immigration records to try to find info about when he arrived in the US.  I think he was pretty young.

A census report of Smithfield, in Bastrop County, Texas in 1910 says the family lived on Neudgins St, (maybe something spelled somewhat like that) number244.  It has Charles listed as head of household, age 41, married 14 years, and all his 4 daughters had been born.

His wife Eugenia Booth Miller was 36 at the time, and the census says her father was born in Illinois and her mother was born in Alabama. (I've honored her on my blog HERE) They were married Oct 28, 1896, according to Ancestry (though I don't see the actual date on the census report, which Ancestry uses as its source.  I think this came from another descendant - cousin?).

It (1910 census) clearly says Charles immigrated to the US in 1865, and that he is a naturalized citizen.  Do you notice any problem yet?

His grave marker says he was born in 1868.  His census record in 1910 says he is 41, which works if the census was taken before his July 18 birthday. And it is dated (by hand on that actual sheet) April 27, 1910. But  this census says he immigrated 3 years before he was born.

OK, there's also a listing of him in the census of 1900, living in Hill County, Texas, which is the home of his wife's family, the Booths.  They have been married 3 years, and have my grandmother already, a 2 year old at that time.  Charley is his listed name, showing that he probably had that as his nickname.  His birth includes the month, July 1868 thus verifying two other sources.  But does it list a date he immigrated?  No, nor how long he's been in the US, nor that he's naturalized.

Another strange listing is how Eugenia has a father now from Indiana, and her mother from Louisiana.  At least Charley's occupation is consistent, a conductor on the railroad.  I can just see him wearing his hat and uniform, and I'd gladly give him my ticket.  Can you say "All Aboard!"   (If this phrase has no meaning for you, you were born too late for the railroad.)

In 1920, another anomaly about Eugenia's parents  (which I can actually correct, but for now I'm just enjoying how they skirted around on these census reports.)  Her father was born in Illinois, but mother was born in Georgia.  And he's a conductor but has no date of immigration given.  The census taker must have gotten tired of asking questions because naturalization is given, but the date of same, or date of immigration are just scribbles...not years.)

Fast forward to 1930 census... (I looked very briefly at a Charley Miller in the census of 1870, who was 2 years old in Texas, but race was black.)  In 1930 Charley was 61, his wife Eugenia is 57, and two of his daughters in their 20's still live at home, in the house pictured below.  (Eugenia's parents are now from Indiana and Alabama,)

And now the immigration date is given as a believable 1871.   He hasn't retired, but is still a passenger conductor.

The 1940 census included Charles Miller, age 71, at the same house.  He no longer lives with my great grandmother, who died in '36, but the two younger daughters are still at home now in their 30's, and my grandmother has moved back as well, now age 42 and twice widowed.  (My mother had married and moved into her own home several years before.)

Has Charles retired at 71? No, and he's listed as a RR Passenger Conductor for Steam M.K.T. Railroad, Co.  He is listed as having complete 4th grade level of school.  2 of his daughters are now seamstresses at home, and the other is a Jr. High School teacher.

After reading this obituary (below) I searched a bit for a sister who was Mrs. Dora Lawnon, but without results. 
The sleuthing about these people will continue! 

Obit: Charles Herman Miller, 78, member of Central Christian Church, died at his home at 111 Davis Court, Thursday, November 7, 1946, He is survived by his daughters, Mrs Mozelle Miller Munhall, Mrs Rowena Miller Rogers, Miss Dorothy D. Miller, and Miss Margaret E. Miller, all of San Antonio; a sister Mrs Dora Lawnon, (my italics) three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.Services will be held Saturday November 9 at 10 am at McCollum Chapel with Dr. Floyd A. Bash officiating. Interment will be at Mission Burial Park under the auspices of San Antonio Lodge No. 1079 A. P. A. A. M.

SOURCE: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=56841312

 

 Miller Family Monument

I never met this great grandfather.  I never heard any stories about him.  Happy Birthday Pop Pop Charley.

Please spend time learning what you can from the elders in your family, now, before they're gone.

William M Traylor, a Revolutionary War soldier

"1776--Rev War: Gen George Washington at Valley Forge was accompanied by Privates William Traylor Sr. and Jr. The army moved to the upper Delaware River.   

"December 23 the VA 5th Volunteers crossed to scout the enemy positions; Dec 24 General Washington made his famous crossing, and was given directions by the scouts, which included William Traylor Sr and Jr. Later, about March 1777, Henry Traylor joined the unit. William Jr. was reported "sick at Trenton." (We have their pay records.) Several Traylors were listed as "patriots," meaning their goods were used by the Revolutionary forces .. either voluntarily contributed, or confiscated with Traylor given a receipt for the goods.

Source:  Title: Histories of LaGrange and Troup County, Georgia; Volumes I and III
Author: Forrest Clark Johnson, III, Publication: Family Tree (1st ed., 1987) Note: Voume I, A History of LaGrange, Georgia 1828-1900 Volume III, Genealogical and Historical Register of Troup County, Georgia Repository: Note: Genealogy Department, W.C. Bradley Memorial Library, Columbus, GA; Georgia Rare Collection, County Historical Case, Troup County Library, LaGrange, GA; JVR Library

----------------------------------

Washington crossing the Delaware at Trenton NJ

William Michael Traylor was Champion Travis Traylor's father. (We looked at his life yesterday) William was my 5th times great grandfather.

William Michael's wife was Priscilla "Nanny" Parkinson Traylor, 1733-1782. William was born 12 June 1733 and lived till 7 Aug 1791. I'm pretty sure they had 11 children. But I don't have a Henry listed...so will search some more to see if he was a brother, uncle or son.

I had another source of William's service in the American Revolution, only to just notice that it is for his son, saying "Jun"-ior, right at the top. Good thing I noticed!

Name	William Traylor Jun
Gender	Male
Military Date	9 Jun 1777
Military Place	Virginia, USA
State or Army Served	Virginia
Regiment	5th Regiment
Rank	Private

When William died in 1791, his youngest children were appointed guardians by the court in 1792, as follows:

Minutes of Inferior Court, Wilkes County, GA 1792-1793, abstract of Page 41, 

Oct 31, 1792, "Edward Traylor, orphan of William Traylor, chooses Randolph Traylor guardian, Mary Traylor chooses John Banks, Frances Traylor chooses James Brookes and he is appointed by the court guardian of Miley Traylor, all orphans of William M. Traylor, dec'd." in Early Records of Georgia, Vol One Wilkes County, Abstracted & Compiled by Grace Davidson, 1932, 

This court abstract is interesting in my finding a new child, Miley, who was too young to even voice her choice of guardian. Randolph was Edward's older brother, who he chose. But I don't know who James Brooks of John Banks might have been, that the girls chose.

William Sr.'s children's ages in 1792?
William Jr. -31 years old (Had also been in the revolution, see above)
Sarah Ann Traylor _____ - 30 years old
Randolph - 28
Hiram - 26
Elizabeth Traylor - 23
Champion - 22
Paschal - 20
Edward - 18
Frances - 14

Miley, unknown. But I'll be looking for her, and who was Mary, when was she born? Two more names that don't show easily on the tree yet.

I've just now looked into the marriages and children of all of Champion's brothers and sisters. Do I have a life outside of Ancestry? Yes (I just went for a walk around the lake as well as dropped by the pharmacy and bought some jelly beans to celebrate Easter with.) The Banks and Brookes were husbands of 2 of the Traylor daughters, so they took their own siblings as guardians.

Questions answered:
A Mary Traylor is listed as being b. 1774, d. 1813, called Polly, never married.
Mildred Milly Traylor was b. March 30, 1782, d. 1850. Since her mother died also in 1782, it's possible the birth was related to her death.

This has been fun to look at all those descendants of a Revolutionary soldier, especially one who fought along with Washington (well, at the same battles some of the time.)

Here's a history of the Virginia 5th Regiment, in case you're interested in these things. It is a different slant on the Virginia 5th involvement at Trenton...saying it "jeopardized Washington's Trenton raid by sending an unauthorized patrol across the Delaware River on Christmas Day."

In December of 1775, the Virginia General Assembly voted to increase the size of the military forces from two regiments to nine regiments. These new regiments were to be comprised of ten companies of sixty men each, three companies to be riflemen and act as light infantry. On December 28, 1775, the Continental Congress requested the Commonwealth of Virginia to furnish six battalions for use by the Continental forces. February 13, 1776 the nine Virginia regiments were accepted by the Continental Congress for Continental service. 

 The Fifth Regiment of the Virginia troops, under the command of William Peachy, along with the Third Regiment was assigned the area between Potowmach and Rappahanoch for security. The Fifth Regiment was then stationed at Richmond Courthouse, where the activities of the Fifth Regiment from March 1776 until July 1776 are covered in the orderly book of the company of Captain George Stubblefield. May 7, 1776, Colonel William Peachey resigned and Colonel Scott was assigned as commander of the regiment. It is unclear as to when the Fifth Regiment marched to join Washington’s forces, although, it is known they were part of Brigadier General Adam Stephen’s Brigade at the Battle of Trenton. Here it is reported that General Stephen jeopardized Washington’s Trenton raid by sending an unauthorized patrol across the Delaware River on Christmas Day. The patrol was led by Captain Richard Anderson of the Fifth Virginia Regiment.

 January 1, 1777, found the Fifth Regiment under Colonel Scott Making up part of an outpost along Five Mile Run on the Trenton - Princeton Road. With the advance of the British from Princeton this outpost retreated in the direction of Trenton, finally reaching the main battle position south of Assumpenk Creek. It is not known hat part the Fifth Regiment played during the Battle of Princeton on January 3,1777. April 1777, saw the Fifth Virginia, under the command of Colonel Josiah Parker, part of General Pete Muhlenburg’s Brigade, consisting of the 1st, 5th, 8th, 9th, and 13th Virginia Regiments. The history of the Fifth Virginia Regiment from the period of April 1777 until December 1777 is reflected in the writings of General Muhlenburg in his orderly book.

In the Battle of Brandywine, 11 September 1777, the Fifth Virginia as a member of Muhlenburg’s Brigade, along with Weeden’s and Nash’s Brigade formed Greene’s Division. The extent of the Fifth’s participation in the Battle is unknown. Likewise, the performance of the regiment, as members of the Muhlenburg’s Brigade, at the Battle of Germantown, 4 October 1777, is also unknown. However, it is known that Muhlenburg led his Brigade in a bayonet attack that penetrated the British Lines and pushed 1000 yards to the rear. In his subsequent retreat to regain Greene’s main body, Colonel Mathew’s 9th Virginia, which lead the advance, was surrounded and captured.

 During the winter of 1777 - 1778, the Fifth Virginia continued to be part of Muhlenburg’s Brigade and encamped with the rest of the Continental Line at Valley Forge.

 Due to the lack of factual information, it is not known whether the Fifth Virginia participated in the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778. Records do show that sometime between May 1778 and July 1778, Colonel Joseph Parker was replaced by Colonel Abraham Buford.

 In September 1778, the Virginia Line was rearranged, by reducing the fifteen regiments to eleven. The reorganization saw the Fifth Virginia Regiment (of 1775) redesignated the Third and the Seventh Virginia becoming the "new" Fifth Regiment. The Commander of the "new" Fifth was Colonel William Russell.

 Little is written about the Fifth Regiment during the winter of 1778 -1779 In the reorganization of the Virginia Line in May 1779, the Fifth Regiment became part of General William Woodford’s Brigade. Following operations in the Northern Colonies, the Virginia troops were ordered south to join General Lincoln in defense of the Southern Colonies. These troops under General’s Woodford and Scott entered Charleston, South Carolina on April 7, 1780. On 12 May 1780, General Lincoln surrendered the city of Charlestown, along with the entire Virginia Line of Continental troops to the British.

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This was shared to Ancestry by Edwin Williams in 2012, but he didn't give his sources.