Gummy's birthday

A repost from 2014...This week I'm looking at the Ada Swasey Rogers family tree.

Ada Phillips Swasey Rogers

Birth: Feb 23, 1886 in San Marcos, Hays, Texas, USA

Death: DEC 2 1964 in Houston, Texas

My paternal grandmother.  A woman of strength, leadership, wisdom and healing.  She was a second generation Christian Science Practitioner. She raised 4 sons to adulthood, after losing her first son and then her only daughter as children.  

I first posted about her last year HERE. 

She lived through the no-name tragic hurricane of Galveston in 1900 just five years before she got married.  Her husband was a bit of a card and made her look overly serious when they were socializing, at least from a granddaughter's (mine) point of view.

I don't know what reason her birth was so far from her family home in Galveston since San Marcos is about 200 miles away, and I know of no relatives there.  Her mother Zulieka Phillips Swasey had lost her own mother when she was a young girl, and been raised by two living aunts, Lizzie and Lucy, though both were living in Galveston as far as I know.  Ada did spend her youth in Galveston, so probably didn't spend much time in San Marcos.
  

Ada Phillips Sawesy says on this photo of herself: "This picture was taken when I was very sick, but later was healed in C.S. (Christian Science) 1888."

 

This may have been taken at the same time as the following, done by the same studio in Galveston.

When she was 14, the 1900 Census was taken on June 7 in Galveston, and she is listed as part of a household which was headed by her Great Uncle Chauncey Sweet. She and her sister and her parents are listed with their ages.  I've mentioned before how that terrible storm killed about 6000 people in September that year.  

But wait a minute!  The 1900 Census taken on June 12 shows her living with her parents and sister in their own home.  So this whole family got counted twice, and interestingly enough, these were different wards in Galveston.

Galveston was not at all a sleepy little vacation spot at that time.  It was a boom town, with shipping coming through bringing southeast Texas goods from all over the world, and exporting many crops, including cotton.  The train service had also begun in the last few years, thus linking the rest of the west to this port.

Her wedding on  June 6, 1905 was written with detail in the society column of the Galveston Times.  The couple spent their honeymoon in Denver.   She was 19, and her husband George E. Rogers, Sr. was 27.  Mrs. McCall and Mrs. King of Houston attended, aunts of the bride, according to the society write-up.  I haven't figured out exactly who they were, but will be looking for them on her tree.

The first 5 of their children were born in the house my grandfather built, and the youngest was born after they moved to Fort Worth.
  

1909  July, Elmore age 3, Alexander age 9 months. (NOTE: this same photo has been labeled differently in another source, calling the baby James, and the boy in the background as George, in Fort Worth.)

 Gummy and my father, George Junior or Juney as it was said with the Texas accent.

We called her Gummy.  She probably had lost some of her teeth by the time my oldest cousin was beginning to talk and gave her that name.  I never really noticed, but she did wear dentures many years later.

After about 10-13 years they moved from Fort Worth to San Antonio, where my father and mother went to the same high school.  After they married they moved to Dallas where I was born, and about that time Gummy and Poppy moved to Houston, where they lived the rest of their lives.
  
I admired Gummy and had a correspondence which was limited mainly by my own youth.  She had a sensible connection in my life, though I can see how my mother would be at odds with her at times.  Early on, according to the photo albums at least, my mother was embraced by the Rogers family even before she and my father became "romantically involved."  This could only be the romance that religion offered my mother, since Gummy was a Christian Science practitioner, and my mother was very interested in learning about it.  Or perhaps it was being around all the young men in my father's family.

But back to Gummy, I moved back to Texas as a young married woman, and visited her after having my first son.  I enjoyed her politics, which were not the same as mine.  She had lost her husband the year I graduated from high school, and I had not been close to him so didn't feel that made any difference in my life.  Of course it made a big difference in her life.  But as a twenty something mother, I wasn't at all aware of end-of-life considerations.

I was glad to have contact with her at the end of her life.   

 My mother and her mother-in-law, with whom she had a love-hate relationship.  Two strong women, but my mother learned a lot from Gummy.  She was the same age as the daughter that the Rogers family lost as a child.  My mother also became enamored with Christian Science which she studied and practiced the rest of her life in almost religious addiction.  I believe she also learned many homemaking skills from Gummy..

A very proud moment for my grandmother, being the second reader (of 2 who lead each Sunday service) for the Christian Science Church in Houston.

 Ada Rogers on right and her sister Stella Swasey Winslow on left.

My grandmother lived to see my first son as a 6-months old baby.  I drove from Corpus Christi and visited her home and we shared Thanksgiving dinner together, and that night she became ill.  I was worried, but had no way to help her, and the baby also demanded my attention. I also  was quite naive' with my own Christian Science up-bringing, so that I knew very little about medical problems and normal treatment for indigestion or anything that most people take for granted.  She continued to moan constantly, but would only take help through prayer and a "practical nurse," who wasn't hired for several days to only give her comfort, no medical care.
  
As my grandmother declined with an unknown illness, I had to move away from her home and stay with cousins after a night or two without sleep.  I drove back to Corpus Christi again, after going to her house and saying goodbye, for what I hoped was just the end of our visit.  But I had to return with my husband a short time later for her funeral.   She wasn't the first person I loved that died, but it was the first time I went to a viewing.  That was a big mistake, because that body in the coffin didn't have much resemblance to the lively strong woman I loved.

I thought long and hard about whether to include this last chapter of her life here.  But her difficulty letting go of life seemed as much a part of our relationship as our enjoyment of sharing talk about cooking, plants, children and current events.  I remember how much she didn't like Kennedy, who had died just the year before close to Thanksgiving.  I don't remember what she thought of LBJ, but at least he was a Texan.

Gummy had 4 granddaughters around, myself and my sister, and my older two cousins who had lost their father and then their mother remarried.  So Claudette and Sandra virtually lived at my grandparents during some of that time.  After my father and mother moved to St. Louis, there was correspondence, and sharing of photographs, and some rare visits.  I had 4 other cousins who lived in Wisconsin, and have recently made contact with a couple of them, thanks to this new ancestry interest.

This post is part of my father's mother, 

Ada Swasey Rogers Family Tree. 

The photo shows her mother, 

my great grandmother,

Zulieka Granger Swasey as a young woman.

Launcelot Granger Sr and Launcelot Granger Jr.

 This week I'm concentrating on the Ada Swasey Rogers family tree

Launcelot Granger Sr
1609–1687

Birth 1609 - Shellington, Bedfordshire, England

 
Death 17 FEB 1687  Bedfordshire, England

Some ancestry trees have his mother - Grace as a Micimac Indian from Acadia, Nova Scotia, Canada. His father was John Granger of Befordshire, England. There is a passenger list of the Saint-Jehan, the ship that brought French settlers to Acadia in 1636, containing someone by the name of Granger. But that is much later than he was born.

More information is available for his son, who I've added Jr. to his name to differentiate.

A repost from 2018...

( Lancelot Granger's (Jr.) First Home Kent's Island, Newbury, Mss, Built A.D. 1653

Lancelot Granger Jr

1637–1689

Birth 25 JUNE 1637 • Shillington, Bedfordshire, England

Death 3 SEP 1689 • Suffield, Hartford County, Connecticut

Lancelot had a lot of interesting stories told about his life, which must have been handed down through the generations, as he's my 6th great grandfather.  He's also the father of Captain John Grainger.

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Lancelot was kidnapped...

Launcelot was kidnapped at the age of 12 or 14, from his mother (his father being dead) in the "west country" of England, and brought as a cabin boy on shipboard to Plymouth Plantation. There he was appenticed for two years to pay for his passage.

Launcelot's First Home at Kent's Island, Newbury MA was built in 1651. He moved there with his wife in 1653/54. It stood until 1888. Kent's Island is a rocky island of about 200 acres.

[According to James N Granger as reported to him by Sarah Granger Harmon (1731-1830)]. 

 --------------------------------

A brief history of ...

Launcelot Granger, the son of Launcelot Granger of Shellington, England, came to America from England about 1648.  He settled in Ipswich, Mass.  It is thought that he returned to his home in England to settle his mother's estate, returning to Newbury with the financial means to marry and build a home.  He then removed to Newbury, Mass. in the Massachusetts Bay colony.  On January 04, 1653/54, Launcelot married Joanna Adams, the daughter of  Puritans, Robert Adams and Eleanor Wilmot Adams.   Launcelot and Joanna lived at Kents Island, Newbury, Mass., where they had eleven children.  These children were John, George, Robert, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Dorothy, Hannah, Samuel, Mary, Abraham and Thomas.

In 1674, they removed to Suffield, Conn., where they were allotted land, living in a house on High Street.  He was land measurer in Suffield for several years, and held other public offices.

In 1676, Launcelot was wounded by the Indians in King Philip's War,  receiving a ball in his leg, which he carried for life.  Launcelot Granger died on September 3, 1689 in Suffield, Conn.

TheGrangerFamily originally shared this on 14 May 2013 to Ancestry

Sources: 
Launcelot Granger of Newbury Mass., and Suffield, Conn., by James N. Granger, 1893 
Documentary History of Suffield.  Second Period, 1682-1715, by Hez. S. Sheldon, 1882 
Chart of Roger Granger's Descendants, H. H. Granger, M. D., January 1, 1907.

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Old Center Cemetery-Suffield, Connecticut

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A second brief history...

Launcelot and Joanna lived in Newbury Mass & Suffield CT .
This is a short version of the story which was passed down through the generations. He was born in England, but may have been of Scottish descent. After his father died, he was kidnapped and taken on a ship bound for Plymouth, MA. where he was made cabin boy. When he arrived in the USA he was sold (apprenticed) for 2 years to pay for his passage. He was about 12 - 14 years old when he was taken.

Once he was released from his service, he made a trip back to England to try to reclaim his inheriatance as he was firstborn. Walking on his way from the ship to his home, he met with theives who attempted to steal what little he had with him. They both had swords. He told them if they intended to rob him they would have to kill him first. He fought them off with his quarter-staff. He killed one and the other ran away. In the next town he confessed to the magistrate, and they released him.

When he arrived at his home he found his younger brother had already claimed his inheritance for himself, and he was not pleased to see Launcelot. He must have returned with some of the fortune though, since when he came back to the USA he was living quite comfortably.

He married a Puritan named Joanna Adams, daughter of Robert Adams. Puritans frowned upon anyone marrying someone like Launcelot who was of a different faith, so he must have been very well to do. They overlooked the fact that a person was not a Puritan if they had riches.

After marrying, Launcelot leased a very desirable property - Kents Island . They had a very nice home there. They lived there for 20 years, from 1654 to 1674, and raised their children there.

Around that time Rev Parker was making life in Newburyport very uncomfortable for anyone who was not a "freeman." Launcelot is believed not to have been a "freeman" since he was not a Puritan, and only Puritans were allowed to be "freemen". That's when they made the move to Suffield, CT, where he was the given the position of Land Measurer.

"Launcelot was a man of great resolution; was of full medium height and stockily built."

Source : Launcelot Granger of Newbury, MA and Suffield, CT, by James Nathaniel Granger (Lockwood and Brainard, 1893).

He was one of the first settlers of Suffield, Ct. and all the Grangers that lived there in the early years were his descendants. One of those descendants was Gideon Granger , who was Postmaster General.
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Excerpt 3: Launcelot Granger of Newbury, Mass., and Suffield, Conn.: A Genealogical History (1893)

Blogger's note:
 According to the Ancestry trees, Lancelot's father, Lancelot Sr, lived till 1687, and his mother lived till 1677.  And Lancelot was the younger son, with his brother Alexander being 7 years older than he was.  So some of the details of these wonderful stories might be a bit of embellishment. 

"Cemetery in Suffield, Mass, where Launcelot and Granger descendants are buried. SDN Marks the general area where Launcelot Granger is believed to have been buried in 1689." I don't know the identity of SDN.

Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families on the States of Masaschusetts
Volume III, pp 2084-

Granger
The earliest mention of the surname Granger in England is in the Roll of Battle Abbey, 1066.  The word Grange is of French origin and was applied in England to the farm house or homestead, and the bailiff who presided over a farm was called Ate Grange, and afterwards, Granger.  There are several crests know to have been borne by the Granger family, the most common being a dexter arm couped and embowed, in hand three wheat ears all proper.  The Grangers of Staffordshire born: a griffin passant; and the Essex family born; a dexter arm bearing a portcullis.
  I.  Launcelot Granger, immigrant ancestor, came from England to New England, was a resident of Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1648.  There is a tradition conerning him which appears in several diffent branches of the family thus giving the story some measure of probablity.  The story is as follows:  "Launcelot Granger was born in the west of England, and when a lad of twelve or fourteen years of age, he was stolen from his mother (his father being dead), and brought to Plymouth, Masachusetts, where he was sold (apprenticed) to serve two years for his passage.  He had served on ship as a cabin boy.  He afterward married a lady named Adams, and settled east of Boston, where he lived until two children had been born.  Being the eldest of his family, he returned to England to obtain his inheritance.
On the way from the place where he landed to his mother's house, to which he travelled on foot, he had to pass through an uninhabited country, and just before night, stopped at a little cottage.  The old man of the house told him that frequent robberies had been committed on the road a short distance ahead, and advised him to put up for the night.  But, not knowing but what he would be in as much danger at the cottage as on the road and being in haste he determined to proceed.  After he had advanced some distance into the woods he perceived by light of the moon a man step into the road before him and  moved on slowly until a second one joined him.  When he came up to them they demanded his monty.  He told them he had but one crown, which was barely sufficient to pay his expenses to his friends, who lived at some distance.  They, however, told him he must give up his money or they would take his life.  He replied that if they got his money they must fight for it, on which they attacked him with their swords, while he defended himself with his quarter staff.  With the butt end of this he knocked down one and dispatched him and the other ran away.  When he arrived at the next village he made an oath before a magistrate to what he had done, and was suffered to proceed on his journey.  The inhabitants of the village found the man who was slain to be one of their "honest" citizens.
When he arrived at his mother's house he found his younger brother to be in possession of the estate, and very much displeased to see him, and, it is supposed, hired assassins to dispatch him.  He walked out with them under the pretense of viewing hte farm, and when behind a piece of woods, they attacked him with their swords, but he defended himself so manfully with his quarter staff that he killed two of them and the other fled.  He returned and made known what he had done to the magistrates, who upon investigation, acquitted him of all blame.  Meeting, however, with difficulties in obtaining his inheritance, he abandoned it and returned to America.  Launcelot was a man of great resolution, was of full medium height and stockily built.
Launcelot Granger removed from Ipswich to Newbury at the time of his marriage in 1654 and leased the farm of Stephen Kent on Kent's Island.  The site of his house there may still be seen.  The house was torn down in 1884.  About 1674 he removed to Suffield, Connecticut, and on September 14 of that year (1674), received a grant of sixty acres, and forty acres each for his two sons.  He did not settle there permanently, however, until after the Indian hostilities were over, and in 1678 he was living on High Street.  During King Philip's war he lived at the stockade in Westfield.  Rev. Mr. Taylor in a narrative regarding the Indian fight at Westfield, October 27, 1675, says that a Mr. Granger was seriously wounded in the leg.  There is scarcely any doubt that it was Launcelot Granger, as the circumstances is well authenticated by the family.  He lived in Suffield until his death in 1689.  A large maple tree which was planted by him still stands in front of the site of his house, and is known at the present itme as the "Launcelot Granger Tree".  He was a prominent man in the town and served as land measurer for several terms.  He died September 3, 1689, and was buried in the graveyard which was opposite the meeting house on High street.  He married, January 4, 1653-54, Joanna Adams, born in England in 1634, died 1701 in Suffield, daughter of Robert and Eleanor Adams.
Children born at Newbury:
  1. John, born January 15, 1754-55
  2. Thomas; married Mindwell Taylor; died March 14, 1729-30
  3. George, born November 28, 1658; married Lydia Younglove
  4. Robert; died unmarried, August 8, 1709
  5. Mary; married John Burbank, Jr.
  6. Elizabeth, born March 13, 1662; married Vicary Sikes; died March 30, 1692
  7. Dorothy, born February 17, 1665; married Dr. Robert Old
  8. Rebecca; married Joseph Woolcot.; died July 27, 1693
  9. Samuel, born August 2, 1668; married Esther Hanchett; died April 22, 1721
10. Hannah; married Thomas Taylor; died September 9, 1729
11. Abraham, born April 7, 1673; married (1) Hannah Hanchett; (2) Hannah...
"Genealogical and personal memoirs Relating to the families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts." MaryGraingerHarper http://archive.org/stream/genealogicaland00cuttgoog/genealogicaland00cuttgoog_djvu.txt  

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Some History of the Granger Family

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It reads: THE GRANGER MAPLE. Planted by Launcelot Granger, who died 1689

. "An unremembered Past Broods like a presence 'mid the long gray boughs Of this old tree, which has outlived so long The flitting generations of mankind." 

Planted 1674, it was removed in 1922. Suffield, CT.  It lived 248 Years

 

 

 

This post is part of my father's mother, 

Ada Swasey Rogers Family Tree. 

The photo shows her mother, 

my great grandmother,

Zulieka Granger Swasey as a young woman.

Grissell and Capt. Nathaniel Sylvester 7gg of Shelter Island, NY

 repost from Mar 15, 2018

This week I'm focusing on my family tree of my gandmother, Ada Swasey Rogers, many of whose ancestors came from New England prior to settling in Texas.

First, what is Shelter Island?  Where? New York State.   

Shelter island is at far right (East) end of Long Island

Shelter Island at eastern end of Long Island

On Ancestry Capt. Nathaniel Sylvester (my 7 times great grandfather) is listed as being born in 1610 in London City, Middlesex, England and dying on 13 Jun 1680 in Sylvester Manor, Shelter Island, Suffolk County, New York.  In the Wikipedia quotation below, his birth was in Rotterdam, where he later did business in shipping.

His wife was Grissell Brinley Sylvester (born 16 Jan 1635 in Datchet, Buckinghamshire, England and died 13 Jun 1687 at Sylvester Island, Suffolk, New York)  

signature of Grissell Brinley Sylvester

  

Datchet Mead and Datchet Ferry in 1686 with Windsor Castle in the background

Where Grissell Brinley Sylvester was born: 

Datchet (Buckinghamshire, England) is a village on the River Thames, England. which developed because of its close proximity to Windsor and the ferry service which connected it to the main London road across the River Thames.

Dachet Village center

When Grissell was 17, she married Captain Sylvester, in 1652 on Shelter Island, NY.

* Quote from Wikipedia on Shelter Island

In 1651 the island [was sold] to a group of Barbados sugar merchants for 1,600 pounds of sugar. Nathaniel Sylvester (1610–1680), one of the merchants, was the island’s first white settler. He was among a number of English merchants who had lived and worked in Rotterdam (where he was born) before going to Barbados. His connections there and with the Netherlands helped him establish a far-flung trading enterprise. On March 23, 1652, he made the purchase official by agreement with Youghco (called Pogatticut), the sachem of the Manhanset tribe. The other owners, Sylvester’s brother Constant, and Thomas Middleton, never came to Long Island. In 1673 Nathaniel Sylvester claimed ownership of Shelter Island, Fishers Island, and other parts of Long Island.^[3] By that time the Manhansett had declined in number and power.^[4]

In 1652 Sylvester constructed a house on the island for his 17-year-old bride, Grissel (also spelled Grizzel)^[4] Brinley from London. Her mother was Anna (Wase) Brinley and her father Thomas Brinley had been an auditor in the court of King Charles I. With the Revolution he had lost his position; Grissel had gone to the colony with her older sister Anne, who had married William Coddington, the governor of the Rhode Island colony.^[4]Archeological research in the 21st century has revealed there may have been two early house complexes. The Sylvesters had eleven surviving children. The more elaborate manor house, which survives today, was built in 1733 by a Sylvester grandson.

The Sylvester estate was developed as a large provisioning plantation. It raised food crops, as well as livestock for slaughter, sending casks of preserved meats and other supplies to Barbados. Labor was provided by a multicultural force of American Indians, enslaved Africans and English indentured servants. Sylvester and his associates were part of the Triangle Trade between the American colonies (including the Caribbean), Africa and England. His descendants continued to use slaves on the plantation into the 19th century. An estimated 200 blacks are buried at the Negro Burying Ground on the North Peninsula.^[4]

The Sylvesters gave shelter to many persecuted Quakers. Sylvester Manor stands today, just off New York State Route 114, and is controlled by Sylvester descendants. All but about 24 acres of the original thousands of acres have gone into other hands.^[4]

Following the death in 1680 of Nathaniel Sylvester, Shelter Island was divided between his two sons, Giles and Nathaniel II. In 1695, William Nicoll, a resident of Islip, bought from Giles the area now called Mashomack Nature Preserve. Three years later, in 1698, another newcomer, George Havens, bought 1,000 acres (4.0 km²) from Nathaniel II. This parcel comprises what today is the Center; it stretched south to South Ferry and west to West Neck Creek. Over time these estates and parcels were split and divided by marriage and purchase, so that by the early 18th century, 20 families lived on Shelter Island. By order of the Provincial Government, the Town of Shelter Island was established in 1730.

Photo of the Sylvester Manor as it is today. It was inhabited by family members for 12 generations, from 1652 (not this house structure, but the original family home.)

Sylvester Manor as rebuilt in 1737, as it looks today (2016?)  These windows have the ability to go up from the bottom or down from the top.

Ann Sylvester was daughter of Nathaniel and Grissell. Ann married Jonathan Bower, and their home looks like this (below)...also still standing. Their home was the first built in Somerset, MA in 1723, not on Shelter Island. (Another descendant has said this wasn't the home built by Jonathan Bower after all. We shall learn eventually.)

These are incredible windows!

Obviously the window with the air conditioner is newer, but I notice the one with diamond panes below it swings out to the side, of the older part of the home.

This post is part of my father's mother, 

Ada Swasey Rogers Family Tree. 

The photo shows her mother, 

my great grandmother,

Zulieka Granger Swasey as a young woman.

Sharing with Sepia Saturday this week.

Mary C. Phillips Gainer 3gg, and some west Georgia history

A repost in this week's focus on the Ada Swasey Rogers family ancestors

Born Feb 27 1803 (probably Georgia)

Death 2 OCTOBER 1866 • Spurger, Tyler County, TX

Mary Phillips Gainer in Fort Gaines GA 

Some of my direct ancestors were in Fort Gaines, Early County, GA. They were Mary C. Phillips Gainer, her two sons, and her second husband, Samuel Gainer.  Looking again at their lives just before the Civil War and whatever can be found during and afterwards...today I consider the US Census of 1850.

We know Mary Phillips Gainer's birth year of 1803, and her sons: Marion Phillips, born in 1823, and William Philllips Jr. born in 1832.

Before he died as a Confederate Soldier during the Civil War, William Phillips Jr had two daughters. One of these daughters became my great-grandmother.

There are quite a few William Phillips' in Georgia in the 19th century, but by looking closely at birth years, I have determined one of them was the father William and one the son.  I've added the sufix Sr. and Jr. to their names for my own clarification.

Mary C. Phillips married in 1841 to her second husband, Samuel Gainer (a lawyer as stated occupation on the census.) 

They lived in the town limits of Fort Gaines.  How do I know this? A neighbor listed 2 away from their household on the census is General John Dill. 

General John Dill had been the farsighted man (with his mercantile partner) who purchased all the lots that became Fort Gaines.  His home still stands..  There is a very interesting story associated with how he built this home, having married a widow who had been captured by Indians.  Elizabeth Stewart Dill lived with the Indians 4 months before being "recaptured" by American troops.  The "story" says she collected paper money while she had been captive, that the Indians didn't know its value, and following her return and then marrying John Dill, they built their beautiful home.

John Dill house 

DILL HOUSE ~ John Dill (1788-1856) of S.C., military aide to Gen. Gaines, commander of Fort Gaines, and leading pioneer citizen, is said to have built this, “the finest home on the frontier,” with money his wife had saved while a captive of the Indians. Hoarding and hiding paper money, which her captors discarded after raids, she took it with her when she fled to freedom. The original part of the house, now a hotel, contains elaborate mantles and intricate carvings. Gen. Dill established a mercantile business with his partner, John W. Sutlive, in 1821. He added a tannery, one of the finest harness and shoe businesses in the South, a brick kiln, and cotton warehouses to his interests. He and his wife are buried in a cemetery on Carroll Street. 

Later General Dill's partnership dissolved.  The "tall tale" about her windfall during her Indian capture continues as seen in the paragraph quoted above. Toward the end of his life, General Dill tried to establish a lottery, which contributed to his losing his long term business partner.  General Dill apparently lost everything and became empoverished before he died in 1856, all his properties being auctioned by the sheriff.according to land records.

This information as posted in Ancestry, is from a 1986 letter from a Fort Gaines attorney, with sources of various books. He and others have published evidence that the Indians by the 1830s had been trading for a long time with Europeans and knew the value of paper money, thus exposing the paper money windfall legend as bogus.

US Census, 1850, Early County, GA

Which brings me back to the Dill House and the census of 1850. My ancestors, the Gaines/Phillips household were listed as family number 16, while the Dills were number 18, with just a single (unmarried) farmer between them as number 17 (or across the street.)

Great great grandpa William Phillips Jr. was just 18 at that time, and listed as a student.  His older brother Marion was 27 and his occupation was merchant. I'm not sure what the following values represent in the column named "Real Estate." Marion has 1000.  And his step father Samuel Gainer has 4975.  But look at General John Dill. He lists 10,000. I would guess this was before the fall of the Dill empire.

A question did occur to me, if the story about the Indians and paper money is false, how did the Dills obtain the money to build that beautiful house?  I'm thinking a man who did so much real estate wheeling and dealing, and who promoted lotteries, might have obtained the money in another way, which might not have been as colorful, or perhaps was more colorful.

I am trying to give the history as accurately as possible, but my own viewpoints will come through some of the time.  I am grateful to the historic society of Fort Gaines for having placed many historic markers about the town to provide much of the information I share with you here.

Sources: 
Letter from P.C. King, Jr, Attorney, Fort Gaines, Georgia dated Feb. 27, 1986, to Ms. Thelma Stevens of Barnwell, Alberta Canada following a telephone inquiry by her, in which he lists his sources. He also talks about how the legend of Mrs. Elizabeth Stewart Dill and the Indians was being used to help sell the house when it was in need of rennovation.

Fort Gaines and Environs, by Mr. P. C. King, published 1976

The Legend of Mrs. John Dill, Builder of Fort Gaines Dill House, by Mrs. Elizabeth King Folger, (sister of P.C. King.)

******************************************* 

Here's the post for Mary C. Gainer's birthday last year.

There's a family with William Phillips in Early County, GA in the 1830 census:

Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9	1 (Uncle Marion b. 1823?)
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29	1 (Head or?)
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39	1 (Head ?)
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5	1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14	1
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29	1 (Wife)

And yes, they also had slaves.
This William Phillips is the father of William Jr. who married Mary Hull Granger from Massachusetts when they met in Galveston Texas in 1855...on my grandmother, Ada Phillips Swasey Rogers family tree.  I blogged about Uncle Marion a few years ago Here,

I just have searched a bit more for info on Ancestry about William Phillips Sr. and found that indeed he died around 1836, and Mary C. Phillips was administrator for his estate probated from 1837-38.  She was very adept at counting the value of everything her husband had left. And since the probate records are in Early County, GA, it is clear that the census of the family in 1830 must be the same one.

And I told some of the story of Mary Granger and William Phillips Jr. here.  and here and HERE.  
and Here about some pre-Civil War and post-Civil War correspondence.
And this is my post about William Phillips Jr. during the Civil War.

But back to Mary C. Phillips Gainer.  The C. might stand for her maiden name which is still unknown.

The 1860 census suggests her birth year as 1804...which is still possible.

Mary C. Phillips Gainer died Oct 2, 1866, and Samuel Gainer, died June 11, 1867, buried in Spurger Hill Cemetery, Tyler County, Texas. Their daughter-in-law, Mary Granger Phillips who died in 1860, is also buried there. Uncle Marion Phillipa lived until 1907 and is buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Woodville, Tyler TX.

In 1841, Jan 5, Mary C. is listed on a marriage license to Samuel Gainer.  Their wedding was Jan. 7.  He had been married previously also, in 1838, but doesn't have a female living in his household in the 1840 census.  At that time he lived with 2 young men (20-29) and was probably the elder of the household (40-49).  It also states "Persons Employed in Learned Professional - Engineers 2."

It is listed that Samuel Gainer had been born in North Carolina, in 1896.  I have no further information on his family of origin.  But I do know he was considered a Judge in Georgia.

In 1850 the Early County Georgia census says (though it transcribed his name as Griner)

Samuel Gainer	54 occupation Lawyer, born NC
May C Gainer	47 born Ga
William Phillips	18
Marion Phillips	27

There is no mention of a daughter...though one later appeared to the family following the Civil War, and claimed to be William and Marion's sister, Ghidora Phillips, born around 1841.  I have a copy of a letter she wrote asking for aid. This birth date was after Grandpa William Phillips had died about 1836, and before Grandma Mary Phillips married Samuel Gainer in 1841. So maybe she was older, or had another mother but had been Willliam Sr.'s child our of wedlock? Many possibilities exist, but following the war there were definitely a lot of lost people and families due to the deaths of soldiers.

That 1850 census is also the one that led me to understand that the Gainer/Phillips family lived in the town of Fort Gaines, Early County, GA

By 1860, the Phillips/Gainer family lived in Woodville, Tyler County, Texas.

W Phillips	27 y.o. farmer (William JR) worth:640 real estate
M H Phillips	27 wife (Mary Hull)
M G Phillips	2 female (daughter, Zulieka Granger Phillips)
Sam Gainer	65 Farmer worth: 5000 real estate
M C Gainer	56 (Mary C)
C A Mills      14 male (?)

So I don't have any further information on Mary C.'s family of origin, nor of William Phillips Sr.  It's one of those branches that doesn't go any further back.  

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Here's the background post on 

Fort Gaines GA 

Blog posted Sunday, January 15, 2017

The Queen City loaded with bales of cotton, near a covered bridge, Chattahoochee River at Fort Gaines

History lesson about Fort Gaines Georgia:

Located in southwest Georgia, on the Chattahoochee River in Fort Gaines was a smallish city where cotton had been shipped down river to the Gulf of Mexico prior to the Civil War. There were three forts built at that location, with the earliest having been a frontier fort to protect settlers from Indians. (The Indian culture had been established in that area for 2000 years, and included building the Kolomoki Mounds nearby.) 

The First Fort:  Fort Gaines was established in 1816 by order of Gen. Edmund P. Gaines, commander of a large district, who used this as his headquarters. Containing two blockhouses, the 100-foot square fort was enclosed by a stockade eight feet high. During 1817, when Indians were active in the area, settlers look refuge in the fort, garrisoned by Federal troops under Gen. John Dill.  (Incidentally, a 100-foot square is 100 feet on each side, not 10 feet which brings a 100-square foot size.)

  

The Fort at Fort Gaines, and to the right, the railing overlooking the Chatahoochee River/ 

Frontier village restoration at Fort Gaines GA

The Second Fort: In May of 1836 the 88th Regiment of the Georgia Militia built a small fort in anticipation of an attack by the Creek Indians. The Steamer Georgian had arrived crowded with women and children fleeing from the Indian uprising at Roanoke upriver. The Steamer, Anna Calhoun was pressed for 5,000 pounds of bacon and 8 barrels of flour in order to feed the refugees and militia. 

The uprising was quelled before the fighting reached Fort Gaines. This was one of the last major insurgences of the Creeks before their removal to the West by Andrew Jackson. That was also known as the Trail of Tears.

Two Covered Bridges

 A covered bridge near The Queen City loaded with bales of cotton

Coheelee Creek Covered Bridge, Early County GA

These are 2 different bridges, based on the height over the water surface.  And the Queen City paddlewheeler (Steamer) is probably in the Chattahoochee River, not a creek! Early County later was divided into other counties, and Fort Gaines now is the county seat of Clay County.

There's an interesting video HERE about an old house (Toll House) that still exists, near where the original covered bridge crossed over the Chattahoochee River.  I found a few good pictures of the Toll House, but they are copyrighted, so go here to see them.

Fort Gaines GA now has a dam across the Chattahoochee River, forming a big lake of course.

(The other Fort Gaines that I found in my brief search, is in Mobile Bay, Alabama...and was part of the big battle of Mobile Bay in the Civil War.  This wasn't the same Fort Gaines at all.)

Map of Fort Gaines, GA today

This document (below) of 1858 shows Mary Gainer was well educated, and could write a legal document, where she gave her 15 year old slave, Frances, to her granddaughter Zulieka Phillips who was born in Fort Gaines GA, but her parents lived in Texas.  Her parents were William Phillips and Mary Granger Phillips, my great times two grandparents. Zulieka was my great grandmother. Though I have no correspondence about the slave, Frances, I am glad that she was freed following the Civil War, while she was still young enough to start a new life.

 

This post is part of my father's mother, 

Ada Swasey Rogers Family Tree. 

The photo shows her mother, 

my great grandmother,

Zulieka Granger Swasey as a young woman.