Holbrook: Josiah Whittemore

Josiah Whittemore is something of a mystery. He was born in 1749 to John Whittemore and Lydia Clough.  He married first, in Lunenburgh, Ma, Lucy Snow, on August 9, 1773.  She died in Leominster in 1794.  Secondly he married Martha Parkhurst Rider, widow, in late 1795, also in Leominster.  He had 10 children with his first wife and 4 children with his second wife.  He's listed as being a Revolutionary War veteran, and in August of 1977 marched 180 miles in 9 days with the "Northern Army" on an alarm at Bennington.   

Find a Grave shows his monument at the Phiillipston Center Cemetery in Phillipston, Massachusetts. He is buried next to his second wife, Martha, who died in 1826.  There is also a memorial stone for Lucy at the same cemetery, in basically the same style, but it is unknown where she was buried. 

I don't yet know his church affiliation, or his occupation.  I do know he must have been very busy, with 14 young mouths to feed, although it appears that his oldest children may have been out of the household by the time his youngest children were born.  I have not been able to locate him in a census, unless he was the Josiah Whittemore in West Cambridge, Essex, Massachusetts in 1810 with 15 people in his household. We have no record that he ever lived in that location, so I'm skeptical. 

I chose to write about Josiah because he is representative of so many of our ancestors. We can learn the bare facts about his life, but we don't know how to fill in the dash between 1749-1814.  He apparently kept his name out of the court system, he did his duty when he was called, and he raised a large family. Since this was Massachusetts, it's possible that he was a Congretationalist, perhaps attending the lovely church building shown on the Phillipston, Mass wikipedia page.  I'd love to go to Massachusetts to see what else can be learned about him, but that may never happen.  Meanwhile, we can be glad he existed, because without Josiah Whittemore, we wouldn't be here!

Our line of descent:

Josiah Whittemore-Lucy Snow
Josiah Whittemore-Betsy Foster
Elizabeth Whittermore-Joseph Holbrook
Fremont Holbrook-Phoebe Brown
Loren Holbrook-Etta Stanard
Lois/Gladys/Ray/Howard Holbrook

Beeks, Harshbarger, Holbrook, Allen: So many places, so little time!

Finding the information I'd like to have about our ancestors is hard. Some of our ancestral lines trace back through many counties and over half of the states in the Union.  Each county and each state has little quirks to learn about. Some are similar in how they store records, and some are not.  Here's a rough view of what families were in what states:

Beeks: Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Delaware
Harshbarger: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa
Allen: Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, Iowa, Missouri, Utah, Oregon (also Nevada, California, Florida, Nebraska, Michigan although no "vital records" type events took place there)
Holbrook: Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, Washington, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kansas, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont

Most of these states involve at least three counties each, over differing time periods.  Some counties have multiple families, sometimes from two or more lines.  I still have a lot of brick walls in all of our lines, and it's possible that more states will need to be added to this list. 

Then, there's Nova Scotia, which shows up in the Allen line. 

Once you get back across the ocean, the great majority of our known ancestors came from either England or Germany, although there are some from Wales, from Scotland, and from Ireland.  Going further back would bring in all of the countries of Europe, and further back we can even get into the Middle East. 

What's a family historian with limited budget and no foreign language skills going to do?  I am very grateful for the internet, for the subscriptions I have to some of the main databases, and for the fact that I live near the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne.  Still, I know there are precious finds that can only be found at or near the locations our ancestors live.  So many places, so little time!   

Allen line: James Allen Sr.

James Allen, whom I have designated as "senior" to distinguish him from his son James Allen, and his grandson James Allen, is pretty much a mystery.

He was born about 1735, (I suspect closer to 1733, perhaps even 1730) according to undocumented internet sources, in Goochland County, Va. I haven't found any records to support either the year or the location, but it's as good a guess as any, so I've tentatively put that information in our tree.  I've found four different sets of parents for James, but no documentation for any of them.  He could be the son of William Allen and Mary Ann Owen, or the son of James Allen and Anne Anderson, or the son  of James Allen and Mary Dennis, or the son of James Allen and Lucy Hobson.  All these families have sons named James, in the approximate area of our James, and born in the correct time frame. 

The first thing we know for sure about James is that he was married sometime before December 14, 1755.  That is the date his first (presumably) son was born as noted in the Douglas Register.  His wife was Sarah Crowdas/Cloudas/Crowder (various spellings!), daughter of George Crowdas and Susannah.  George and Susannah lived on the Little Byrd Creek in Goochland County, and James apparently lived in the same general area.

James and Sarah had several children, all born in Goochland County.  Richard was born December 14, 1755; Elizabeth January 6, 1759; Susannah June 4, 1761; Mary May October 16, 1763; George November 29, 1766; James March 28, 1769; William 1772; Martha January 22, 1775; and Sally April 4, 1777.

There are several James Allen's from Goochland County who served in the Revolutionary War. It is possible that one of them was "ours", but not yet proven.

The next real information we have about James is his death. He died in 1801 in Goochland County, having left everything to his widow, Sarah. She died in 1825 and only then was James's will probated.  The actual process took several years due to dealing with heirs in Kentucky (the heirs of James Jr, who had already died but were given James's share).  The chancery court case is 45 pages long and is found on the Library of Virginia website (www.lva.viringia.gov/chancery/case_detail.asp?CFN=075-1834-026).

The body of the will states "My will is that my wife Sarah do possess and enjoy my whole estate furing her natural life or widowhood and after her death or marriage my desire is that my whole estate to be equally divided amonst my children, to wit: Richard Allen, Mary Glass, George Allen, James Allen, William Allen, and Martha Carroll, to them and their heirs forever."  Elizabeth, Sally, and Susannah are not mentioned in the will. I have not tried to trace them but presumably they had already died when the will was written. It was written on July 6, but I can't make out the year (it's either 1800 or 1801).

I have seen references to James described as "planter" so presumably he owned land at the time of his death.  The inventory of his personal property was fairly substantial, but sadly much of the value was due to his owning 5 slaves, each of whom had a high value. They were named Davy, Buck, Gib, Patty and child, and Charlotte.  The estate value was $1925.10, leaving three hundred and twenty dollars and eight five cents for each of the six legatees. 

That is what is known or guessed about James Allen, our ancestor.  I'd love to connect with other people who are researching this man, to talk about the documentation they have that makes them think one of the couples mentioned above is our family,  

Here's our line:

James Allen-Sarah Croudas
James Allen-Tabitha Parrish
Archibald Allen-Margaret Dunn
George Allen-Nancy McCoy
Edward Allen-Edith Knott
Richard Allen(Vernon, Tessora, Corinne, Edith)-Gladys Holbrook

Beeks, Allen, Holbrook lines: Our "royaltrees"

 Although this blog will focus mainly on our ancestors on this side of the Atlantic, this particular post takes us back to the Tudors, the Plantagenets, the Stuarts, the Capets, and numerous other lines of royalty, mostly in the time period prior to 1550. 

Each family mentioned above has numerous connections to royalty.  That really doesn't mean much to us in terms of living our everyday lives, since our claims to any throne were long ago extinguished by marriages, the end of the line for male descent, or revolution of one sort or another.  Knowing that many of the rulers we study in history books are either ancestors or cousins does make history more interesting, though. 

I'm listing here the "gateway immigrant" for each of the main lines I'm tracing.  Of course, once we are back a few generations from the "gateway immigrant", the lines all interconnect so that we are all cousins to the other lines.  There are more immigrant ancestors through other marriages, but those immigrants would be considered our step grandmothers and grandfathers, so I won't list them here.  Also, many in our royal lines were not faithful spouses, so many of our descents are from children born to mistresses. 

Allen line: Peter Bulkeley, Jane Allen
Holbrook line: Anne Lovelace Gorsuch, Edward Raynesford
Beeks: Edward Fitzrandolph  goes back to William I of Scotland

There are the lines approved by Douglas Richardson (Allen and Holbrook lines) and others who are very learned in this type of genealogy.

There are also lines, either not proven to the experts' satisfaction or not considered royalty. For instance, the Allen and Holbrook lines both include Owain Glendower as an ancestor. He was not technically royalty, but he assumed the role of leader of Wales during the early 1400s.  His story is fascinating.

Then there are the "maybes". In the Allen line, Mary Morton Hamilton is shown as the wife of Humphrey Parrish.  Since none of the experts have approved this line yet, I'm thinking it is suspect, but I've shown it on our tree anyway.  It traces back to James II of Scotland and Maria Guelders, who has a fabulous tree herself.  We also have a lot of people with the same surname in the same place at the same time as proven gateway immigrants, but they are not proven. Nicholas Corbin and Elizabeth Kemp (a married couple) are good examples of this.  They came to Maryland from England in 1671. Corbin lines and the Kemp lines from Virginia/Maryland both are traced back to royalty, but as far as I can find, no one has proof that Nicholas and Elizabeth actually fit into these families.  

So far I have been unable to trace any lines to royalty of any of the Harshbarger lines. If they exist, they would likely go back to German rulers of long, long ago. However, we can be reasonably certain that each of us traces back to Charlemagne, which gives all of us a reason to claim that we are "royal pains". 

Harshbarger line: William A Withers, Civil War veteran

As usual, I wish I knew more about this man, but I think it's important to share what I know at this point, always hoping that I will learn more about him "tomorrow".  Most of what I know about William comes from his obituary, which was published in an unnoted Whitley County newspaper.  We know that he died on Saturday, October 5, 1912,  and the obituary was published shortly after that, possibly Monday.  This is what it says.

"WILLIAM A. WITHERS PASSED AWAY SATURDAY MORNING AT THE HOME OF HIS DAUGHTER, MRS. HENRY KEISER, ON THE SOUTH SIDE."

William A Withers civil war veteran and for many years one of the well known residents of west Columbia township, died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Henry Keiser, on Chicago street at 10:15, Saturday morning, after an illness of less than a week's duration.  He had been enjoying good health and last Monday started to Ft. Wayne with a load of potatoes, but before reaching his destination was taken sick, and he was unable to return to this city that night.  Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Keiser went to Wayne and brought him to his home on the south side as it was felt that better care could be given him here than at his home, 3 miles west of town, and every effort was made to restore his health but without success.

The deceased was born in Illinois April 2, 1840, and at the time of his death was 72 years, 6 months, and three days old.  When the war broke out, he enlisted in Co. C, 15th Ohio regiment. After the close of the war he came to this country and June 16, 1867, was united in marride [sic} to Miss Barbara Cook, [note: she was the daughter of Henry and Catherine Whetstone Cook) and to this union four childfren were born two of whom survive. They are Mrs. Henry Keiser, of this city, and William H Withers, of Goshen, who is now employed in Illinois on a dredge.

Mr. Withers was a member of the Church of God in former years but later became a Seven Day Adventist.  He was a member of the G..A.R. and was prompt and regular in attendance of the meetings of that order.

The funeral will occur Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Henry Keiser, on East Chicago Street, Rev. L. A. Luckenbill officiating; interment in the South Park cemetery. The G.A.R. post will have charge of the funeral."

There are so many mysteries here that need further research.  The only William Withers I have found in the 1850 census was a William Withers, son of Joseph and Mary Withers, who is indicated as having been born in Ohio. I haven't yet found him in an 1860 census. In 1870, he says he was born in Ohio, and in 1880, that line is blank (he is William Whithers in that census).  In 1900, his birthplace is listed as United States.  In 1910, he is shown as being born in Ohio.  I think he was probably born in Ohio, and that the obituary is incorrect.  But I'll keep looking! 

As I'm writing this, I realize I don't have his death certificate, which may mention his parents. I will make it a point to get that during the next week.

We do know that his four children were Wilson, born 1869, Willie, born 1871, William H, born 1875, and Della.

If William was the son of Joseph and Mary, who were in the 1850 census in Marion, Iowa, we don't know how it happened that William enlisted in the 15th Ohio Infantry.  We do know that he enlisted August 30, 1861 and was mustered out on September 20, 1864.  The 15th Ohio Infantry was first organized as a three months regiment, but mustered out August 27-31, 1861. It was reorganized at Mansfield, Ohio in September, 1861. Wikipedia has a good listing of the battles this unit was involved in, and they involved very heavy fighting.  No wonder William left at the end of his three year enlistment.  I think it's safe to say the memory of William A Withers should be honored in our family.

Here is the line of descent:

William A Withers-Barbara Cook
William H Withers-Della Kemery
Goldie Withers-Grover Harshbarger
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Margaret Beeks

I've used census records found on Ancestry.com, the Wikipedia article about the 15th Ohio regiment, and the US Civil War Soldiers Records and Profiles found on Ancestry.Com, along with the obituary, for this posting.  I'd love to hear from someone who knows more about William! 

Allen line: The will of Lemuel Dunn

I obtained this will on a trip to Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky a couple of years ago.  I decided to transcribe it because although I've sent it to "cousins" who put it on their Ancestry trees, it is difficult to read. Maybe this will be a bit easier on the eyes:

This is from will book 9, page 234:

Mercer County and state of Kentucky in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty seven_I Lemuel Dunn of the county and state afroresaid do make and order [not sure I have that wording correct] the following to be and remain my last will and testament-that is to say, first of all, I give unto my beloved wife Sarah R Dunn during her life or widowhood the whole of my estate both real and personal to be and received [?] at her disposal by her the said Sarah R Dunn paying to each of my sons and daughters, David C Dunn, William H. H. Dunn, George W Dunn, Margaret J Dunn, Lemuel Dunn, Sally Dunn and Cynthia Dunn fifty dollars as they may become of age-or as much more as the said Sarah R Dunn may think proper to give to the above named. In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand and seal this day  [and?] date above written.  Signed Lemuel Dunn Sr.

Signed in the presence of the following persons:
David G Campbell Martha H Denney
Jane Campbell, Martha Denney senr
Rosannah Campbell, J.H. Hogue

Mercer County [?} September County County Court 1829- The foregoing last will and testament of Lemuel Dunn dec'd was this day produced into court and proven by the oaths of Martha H Denney ...Denny Seniot to subscribing witnesses thereto and ordered to be recorded.
Att: Thomas Allin C.C.

I also have a copy of his inventory, which is about a page long.  There were 8 head of cattle, 4 calves, 5 horses, and what I suppose would be typical farm equipment, plus a considerable number of tools.  This family was not dirt poor, because a wooden clock valued at $25 is listed, which is actually the single most valuable item on the inventory, after the horses ($138) and the waggon and gear ($100).  He also had 12 chairs, (enough to feed his whole family all at once and company, too), a watch, a looking glass, and 50 books valued at $20.  The inventory was ordered on September 18, 1829, and totalled $501.75. Appraisers were James Campbell, Stephen Stone, A.S. Robards and Benj. Curd. 

We don't know much more than this about Lemuel. His son George Washington went to Missouri, read law, and became a judge, and on-line biographies of the judge say that Lemuel's father was Michael Dunn, who fought in the revolution and was of Irish extraction.  We don't know when Lemuel was born. He married Sarah (Sally) Reid Campbell on March 14, 1809 in Madison County, Kentucky. In the record, his name is clearly written as Samuel but we have other documentation proving that this was Lemuel Dunn. We don't know when he was born, or whether this was his first and only marriage.  If he was, say, 25 when he married then he was only 45 when he died, but again, this is speculation. 

Efforts to search for Michael Dunn are ongoing. There was a Michael Dunn from Maryland who married Elizabeth Cheney, daughter of Richard Cheney of Anne Arundel, Md, and went to Wythe County, Va.  I located a Michael Dunn who was in the militia of Montgomery County, Virginia during the Revolution.  There is also a Michael Dunn who died in the battle known as St Clair's Defeat on November 4, 1791, among the 623 soldiers who were killed or captured in that horrible massacre. James Dunn, who may or may not be related, was also killed that day.  These Michael Dunns may be one and the same person, or there may be two or even three Michael Dunns in the same area at the same time, and one might be Lemuel's father.  No proof is known to exist, but we're still looking. 

I would love to learn more about Lemuel, and especially about his mysterious father.  If we find anything definitive, you can bet that we'll be doing the Happy Genealogy Dance! 

Our line is: Lemuel Dunn and Sarah Campbell
Margaret J Dunn and Archibald Allen
George Allen and Nancy McCoy
Edward Allen and Edith Knott  
Richard/Edith/Corinne/Tessora/Vernon Allen

Wilbur Beeks, member of the Michigan Polar Bears

Wilbur Beeks was born in Lagro Township, Wabash County, Indiana on August 8, 1895. His parents were John and Elizabeth Wise Beeks.  He married Gretta Cleo Aldridge November 29, 1914, in St Joseph, Michigan. (Note: I have not yet found documentation for the marriage.  They would have been young: he was 19 and she was not quite 18.)  They had a large family, 16 children in all, of whom eight lived to adulthood.  So far, the story of Wilbur could be the story of many other young men from the area, who married young and spent the rest of their days supporting their families as best they could.

Wilbur, however, had an experience that only a few thousand other people shared, and only a few of those people were from Indiana.  When he was drafted into the Army in World War I, he was one of a few who were "chosen" to join that unit that became known as the Michigan Polar Bears.  Their official name was the 339th Michigan Infantry, and he was in Company K.  All during his training he and the others assumed they were going to France.  However, after the ship left England, the men learned they were going instead to Russia, near Archangel, where a small second front would be opened to distract the Germans from the trench warfare in France and to secure the port for the Allies.  Compamy K, along with the rest of the 339th Infantry, arrived in England in late July, 1918, where they stayed in "English rest camps" for a short time, and they arrived in Russia September 4, 1918.

Wilbur was wounded in action shortly after he arrived, on September 27, 1918, on the north bank of the Emsta River, 3 versts nort of Kodish, Russia. He spent several weeks in the hospital recuperating from a wound to his throat, and eventually rejoined his unit and continued fighting.  Needless to say, the men were cold, wet, and miserable during much of their time there. 

Due to the long winter, political ineptness, and perhaps even forgetfulness, the men of the "Michigan Polar Bears were no returned home after Armistice Day, November 11, 1918. Instead, they fought on, and on, and on, eventually fighting the Bolsheviks while trying to give what little support they could to the White (anti-Communist) Russians.  It took a letter writing campaign from home and a Congressional hearing to put enough pressure on the military to get the troops home.from Russia.  The soldiers were at Camp Ponanezen, near Brent, France by early June, and arrived "home" to a magnificent July 4 welcome in Detroit.  (Most of the men who made up this unit were from Michigan, but there were at least two members of the unit from every state in the union, by design.) Wilbur was "transferred" July 12, 1919, and soon after was back home in Indiana.

The rest of Wilbur's life was more mundane. He and his wife raised their children, and often there were other family members living with them.  They lived outside of Andrews for several years, but moved to Andrews by 1940 so the children could attend the nearby school.  He retired on veteran's disability at about the age of 55, and lived quietly until his sudden death on January 9, 1970.

At the time of his death, he was survived by 7 children, 42 grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren. Many of his grandchildren are grandparents now, so there are probably even great great great grandchildren of Wilbur and Cleo Beeks now. I hope every one of them gets to know this ancestor story, so they can tell it to their children. It is remarkable.

For those who are interested, there was a PBS documentary about this unit called "Voices of a Never Ending Dawn" which may still be available.  Googling "Michigan Polar Bears" will give you a lot of sites related to this unit, and there are even on line diaries from a few of the men who served with the Michigan 339th.  There is a Memorial Day service every year at the White Chapel Memorial Cemetery, Troy, Michigan.  The public is invited to attend this, and it would be a great way to pay tribute to an ancestor.