The Slovak Yankee

Transcription Monday (Amanuensis): Benjamin W. Hurd's Civil War File, Part II

The next two documents are identical affidavits written by Abiah's two living Hurd daughters: Sarah Hurd Grant (1853-1925) and Olive Hurd Pinkham (1851-1934).  Abiah third Hurd daughter Mary had died in 1907.

In the matter of claim for Abiah Sargent, Remar. Widow of Benjamin W. Hurd a 6th Kansas Cav. W.O. 1,157,421, personally came before me, a notary public in and for [Sullivan Co., N.H.], Sarah Hurd Grant, aged 69 years residing at Charlestown, county of Sullivan, state of New Hampshire who being duly sworn, declare in relation to the aforesaid case as follows:  That she is the daughter of Abiah Sargent, former widow of Benjamin W. Hurd and knows that after her father, Benjamin W. Hurd disappeared that her mother did not keep company or did not remarry until her marriage to Samuel Sargent August 8, 1869.  The affiant, her mother and her sister, Olive all believe that Benjamin W. Hurd was dead when their mother married Mr. Sargent and as he has never been heard from she is satisfied that he died before her mother remarried.

She further states that she knows that Samuel Sargent and her mother, Abiah Sargent were never separated nor divorced from each other but lived together continuously to the death of Samuel Sargent August 8, 1 913.  The affiant further states that to the best of her knowledge and belief Samuel Sargent was never in the Army or Navy in any capacity and had he been she is sure she should have known it.  She further declares that she has no interest in said case and is not concerned in it prosecution.

Dated: 9 February 1923

 Olive's affidavit is word for word the same, with the exception that she resided at Westbrook, Cumberland Co., Maine. and was aged 72 years.

 

Research Notebooks

There are two types of researching deja vu's.  The first literally is, have I done this before?  Have I already looked at this book, this microfilm?  The other type is, have I forgotten something?  Did I not look in that book?

Part of being a genealogical researcher that is nice, is the ADD nature of the work.  After researching one branch for a while you drop it and start on another branch.  If you've been working for a while you are probably working on several branches at the same time.  If you're me, you've got all of the branches memorized so that you can research any branch at the drop of the hat.  [Middle age has dulled my sharp edge a bit--so now I need my Iphone with a genealogical app on it for backup--but as of today, just backup].  Part of working on the Wallace family has brought these feelings up since this is probably the third "real" round I've gone with this family.  I was panicked the other day to think that I hadn't looked up Isaac Wallis's death record in the statewide New Hampshire VRs, and only in a book.  He was not in the statewide VRs.  

In 1990 I started keeping a research notebook.  This was an effort to cut down on the deja vu possibilities.  Part of that first notebook is transcriptions of materials.  I hated paying for copies and the digital era had yet to dawn.  The problem is, I kept the notebook in chronological order of my own research.  So it jumps around, family to family and geographic area to area.  I still need to flip through it (usually from beginning to end) to find something or confirm something.  For instance in 1993, I have the transcription of my Holic great-grandparents' passenger list from 1900.  Under that I have the death record of Charles Luther Pinkham.  Next comes the fax number of the town hall in Alma, New Brunswick, Canada.  And so it goes through two large research notebooks.

Much of notebook  #1 got entered in to my genealogy database.  It was painstaking and tedious, but necessary.  The most recent notebook starts in December 2004 so, it is just a listing of research items and whether or not they were completed.  Still and all, for someone who tries to be very organized, I'm amazed at how unorganized my research always seems (to me).  Thus, I'm always in the throes of deja vu.

Why Subscribe To Journals, a Follow-up Post

In January 2009, I noted how many articles had been written in 2008 for ancestors of mine in three national journals.  There were five articles that had "free research" in them.  A quick update:

1. The American Genealogist:  This journal which had been behind in their publication schedule has somewhat caught up, so for the years 2008 and 2009, there were no articles on my direct ancestors, other than the two I contributed myself.  There were, however, four on ancestral uncles or aunts, which I found interesting.

2. The Genealogist: For 2009, also none, except for the ongoing ancestry of Charles II.  However, for those not in the know of this journal, the English origins of Cuthbert Phelps of North Carolina, Michael Towsley of Massachusetts, the Parmiter Family of Pennsylvania and Edward Riggs of Roxbury, Mass. were all given last year.

3. The New England Historical & Genealogical Register: For 2009, also none, but one ancestral uncle.

In addition to these national (and yes, I consider the Register national, because it is the oldest such journal in the U.S.), I subscribe to two state journals which have been doing a great job as well:

4. The New Hampshire Genealogical Record: In 2009, the English origins of two of my ancestors (who were siblings) was given: the Alcocks of Maine (which also included Katherine Alcock, wife of Gregory Belcher of Massachusetts).  I also contributed one article last year.

5. The Maine Genealogist: In 2009, nothing, however, the ongoing series of Portland, Maine marriage intentions is invaluable as are the articles by Priscilla Eaton on early York Co. families, all of which are interrelated to my own.

Of course, in addition to providing new and exciting ancestors, I read all the articles to see how other genealogists prove relationships and read the footnotes to see what sources they use in their citations.  [Yes I know the difference]  I hope all people will subscribe to some of these journals.  If not, insist that your local library do so!

Happy Memorial Day

Probably the best Memorial Day speech was given by Abraham Lincoln at the battlefield at Gettysburg in 1863. It is an irony that Memorial Day would not be an official holiday until three years after Lincoln’s death, but the words he spoke on that gray November day are still unmatched. We cannot consecrate this day. Those heroes and heroines who gave their lives for this country have already consecrated this day. Our duty is to remember them and their sacrifice.

In Flanders Fields by John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row, 

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below. 

We are the Dead. 

Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, 

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. 

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die 

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

Finding a Narrative From a Deed

I love this deed because it provides proof of two relationships and a direct line for three men named Heard.  But what does it say about the life of these men?  If I want to jump the aisle from genealogist to family historian, what can I learn about these people?  

Frederick Heard died at Great Falls, a section of Somersworth, New Hampshire on 31 August 1846 at age 59. [death notice in the Exeter News-Letter of the same date]  That would put Frederick's birth somewhere between 1 September 1786 to 31 August 1787.  That means his father, Jonathan, deeded all his land to Frederick when he was only 21 years old on 18 November 1808.  That seems odd to me.  Frederick would not marry until 28 November 1822.  It is true that Frederick was Jonathan's only son.  However, Jonathan was only about 50 years old in 1808.  He married his wife, Sarah Yeaton on 9 May 1782.  

Note some of the language in the deed.  Jonathan notes the land he bought from his father Reuben in 1804, but never calls him deceased.  It would be typical to say, "my honoured father Reuben Heard, deceased."  So, Reuben was still alive in 1808.  He was born on 9 March 1721/22, so he was 86 years old.  Reuben's wife was still alive as well, as I have identified her as the "old widow Hurd" who died in 1819 at age 92.  So, it seems that to ensure the property's continuance, Jonathan chose to give it to his young son right away.  Why?  Certainly in the 1804 deed, the language is clear that Reuben is giving up his land for life support.  This isn't the case here.

Frederick certainly took care of the farm as a single man from 1808 to 1822.  By that time both of his grandparents had died.  Then we need to look at his mother's dower release of 30 April 1823.  She calls herself the wife of Jonathan Heard, not the widow of Jonathan.  So, both are still living on that date.  They are in their mid-60s then.  However, by the 1830 census, Frederick has left the farm in Rochester and has settled in Somersworth where he is enumerated with his wife and three young sons.  Either his parents had died or had gone to live with one of his sisters.

So, the deed provides proof of these relationships, but I have no clear death dates for Reuben or Jonathan or Sarah.  I also lack one for Frederick's wife, who in her widowhood is found in the 1850 and 1860 censuses, but not thereafter.  

April 24th

The Rev. Joseph Hull was baptized at Crewkerne, Somersetshire, England on 24 April 1596.  He graduated from Oxford University in 1614 with B.A. He married twice, the maiden names of his wives are not known.  He  had seventeen children.  It is no surprise that I descend from three of those children: by his first wife (i) Temperance who married John Bickford; (ii) Elizabeth who married John Heard [from whom I descend twice]; by his second wife (iii) Reuben.  He died at the Isle of Shoals, New Hampshire on 19 November 1665.  He was my 10th great grandfather.

Ernest Fiddler Kinmond was born 24 April 1845 at Aberdeen, Scotland and died at Westbrook, Maine on 17 September 1904. He was my great-great-grandfather.

Warren Thompson Pratt was born 24 April 1913 at Westbrook and died 2 March 1996 at Portland, Maine.  He was my great-uncle.

There are a few more distant "great" uncles and aunts that shared an April 24th birthday.  I'm also sure this is just the tip of the iceberg, but even with all I know about my ancestry, these are the only three guys I link up with.

Yes, today is also my birthday.  I've always liked the numbers: 4-24.  And 24 divided by 4 is 6.  Half of 6 is 3 and then you get my entire birth date 4-24-63.  Which puts me somewhere between 40 and death. [Jerry Herman tribute]

Budget Crunches and Genealogy

We in Boston suffer from an abundance of riches when it comes to libraries and depositories.  We have the oldest state historical society (1791) and the oldest genealogical society (1845).  We have the oldest public school (Boston Latin, 1635) and across the river the oldest university, Harvard (1636) with the oldest university library (1638).  In addition we have the Boston Athenaeum (1807) and the Boston Public Library (1848), surprisingly, the youngest of all these institutions.

The Boston Public Library is going to be suffering from budget cutbacks.  It's no surprise.  My political take on this is below.  However, we have just been told that the newspaper room will be closed.  Not hours shortened, closed.  For good. I was a librarian at Widener Library, the main research library at Harvard from 1996 to 1999.  Students and faculty always asked me why we didn't have long runs of newspapers.  Here's the answer.  From the year 1850 to the present, there was a gentleman's agreement about whom should collect what at these institutions so close together.  I say gentleman because ladies didn't run these institutions until recently.  NEHGS collected all things genealogical.  Try and find something genealogical at either the BPL or Harvard.  The BPL collected all newspapers.  Their collection of Massachusetts newspapers is unparalleled. They also had the rest of the nation's newspapers.  Harvard, nor the NEHGS ever collected such things. There was no need to do so.

True, today much is available on the Internet via subscription databases.  However, the fools who run such databases are pricing themselves out of the market.  Already, most libraries have killed Proquest's major cities newspapers and elect just the New York Times and their local big city newspaper. When the St. Louis newspaper came online, I wanted to use it for genealogical purposes, but no one had it other than St. Louis, because no one could afford to have it. 

Sorry to say that this is the tip of the iceberg.  More cuts are on the way and we are the first to feel it, because, and somewhat rightly, we are of no consequence (we=genealogists).  Libraries will be the first to go.  You can't shut down the police, fire departments, and hospitals.  Schools will be pinched but can't go either.  It's coming because it's second grade mathematics.  In a world where idiots think you can shrink the size of government, cut taxes, and not address a debt the size of Jupiter, it will be a never ending budgetary process of cut, cut, cut.  Because there is no money.  No money.  None.

More political ranting below the fold.  If you are an asshole Tea Party member, please get off my blog now.

False Assumptions

I recently saw the movie 2012.  It drives me crazy when people make false assumptions--some of which are now mainstream.  The Mayans did not predict the end of the world.  Their calendar runs out on December 21, 2012.  That's all.  Just like my current calendar runs out on December 31, 2010.  I'm pretty sure that Staples hasn't predicted the end of the world for January 1, 2011.

"Misinterpretation of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is the basis for a New Age belief that a cataclysm will take place on December 21, 2012. December 21, 2012 is simply the first day of the 14th b'ak'tun."

So how many false assumptions do we make in genealogy?  We make them due to ignorance of the customs of either the time period or the culture (or both).   Assuming spinster means a single woman.  Assuming that a woman wouldn't use a previous married name when remarried, because the first name was of a greater title.  Assuming that all children are mentioned in a will.  Assuming that all deeds have been recorded.  Ages, names, etc. we see things and our brains start clicking off with deductions and ideas.  Can you stop that and take a step back, and re-assess the information stripping out the old assumptions?  Ever tried?

Brick Walls As A Product of Dysfunction

Another theory I have on genealogical brick walls is that they are the product of dysfunctional families.  I define dysfunctional not in the modern psychological sense, but in a genealogical sense that it was a family that differed from the norm: mom and dad with kids who grow up, get married, and mom and dad grow old and die.  Anything that disrupts this norm such as a single parent, being orphaned, or a family life that wasn't great results in a break from the larger family and may lead to two things that impedes genealogy: (i) your line loses touch with the other family members so there is no oral history passed down; (ii) the larger family loses track of this line and it is not included in compiled genealogies.

Tolstoy wrote that every unhappy family was unhappy in its own way.  If you consider all the families from which we descend it's only sensible that they span the Bell Curve of happy to unhappy.  Some of the couples married for love, most didn't.  Some of the families were happy and some weren't. 

Here's two examples and they have affected my research, I feel, tremendously.  My 100% Yankee great-grandfather Burt Hale Pinkham was born in 1881 in Dover, New Hampshire.  His family, and the families of both his parents had real troubles.  His father, George Hale Pinkham 1843-1888, served in the Civil War for its entirety.  Whether the war had an impact or not, he clearly became delusional and violent.  He was committed to the State Asylum where he died.  I've always suspected [and clearly I cannot prove or disprove these theories] that his brothers didn't want anything to do with him.  He had one brother who became a prominent citizen, serving as Free-Will Baptist minister and a representative to the state legislature of New Hampshire.  Despite that, and having no children, when Charles Luther Pinkham died he mentioned none of nieces and nephews.  George was a shoemaker and when he died, he left a widow with four children.  She had no education and took in washing for a living.  So this family was in the lower economic levels.  My great-grandfather only kept connections with his own sisters and somewhat with his mother's family.  However, the Pinkham family connections had  been forever severed.

George's wife was Olive Ann Hurd 1851-1934.  Her father Benjamin Wingate Hurd abandoned their family in 1860.  Ostensibly he went west to work and then served in the Civil War in the cavalry in Kansas.  Benjamin did serve in the Civil War.  He just never returned to Dover, N.H. and had another family in Kansas City.  This left his wife Abiah Russell Learned 1830-1926 in poverty as well.  Leaving a woman in the 19th century was not only immoral, it was criminal.  She could not own property for the most part.  She probably had no education.  And occupations for women were scarce.  She was at the mercy of her own family or her in-laws for help.  And certainly in the 1860 U.S. census, Abiah is living with her mother-in-law and next door to her brother-in-law.  So in two successive generations Abiah and her daughter Olive had to raise their families on their own.  I can't tell you how much respect and awe I have for those two women.  It's probably a large part of why I love trying to figure out female genealogy so much.  Their stories and places in history really need to be told.

Maybe I've read too much Dickens and Austin, but you get the feeling that the branches of the family that had these sort of problems, were pushed to the side.  You can call it the Poor Relatives Syndrome.  In any case, as I've stated the families split and forget each other.  The continuity of tradition is broken. And the relatives in poverty don't have time or resources to worry about their own ancestors or saving records from them to pass on.  Life was the struggle.  Genealogy should never rank high when you need to put food on the table. 

Remarkably you can actually benefit if your ancestors were truly, truly poor.  Pauper records are great to use and have helped me solve some problems for others.  I think my ancestors were those just above that level--subsistence poor, if you will.  In any case, the loss of a parent or any sort of major shake-up in a family probably means trouble for the genealogist 150 or more years later.

Swamp Yankees

Another myth which I bought into was that, because my ancestry on my mother's side is purely New England, it was completely traceable.  People with brick walls were generally those with pioneer ancestry.  Anyone whose ancestry passed through New York State, Vermont, or Pennsylvania during the time period 1750-1850 when the records were abysmal, was truly stuck.  If you could get back to New England you were rewarded with six or seven more generations of ancestors.  That certainly wasn't my problem.  My mother was born in Maine.  My ancestors were always in New England (somewhere).  There were certain branches that took land grants after the French & Indian War and moved to Nova Scotia, but eventually those lines came back to Maine during the nineteenth century.  All in all, my ancestors never moved west of the Connecticut River until my mother moved to New York City in 1959.  I'm not kidding.

It might have been nice if my ancestors were part of the lucrative China Trade or had attended Harvard for generation after generation.  But they didn't.  They were not Boston Brahmins.  They were Swamp Yankees.  For over 300 years, these families have lived in New England eking out their lives in manners from poverty to middle (and in some cases) upper-middle class ranks.  In the early part of colonial New England, land was plentiful (if you had no ethical problem kicking out Native Americans).  Starting after the end of the French & Indian War in 1763, the frontiers of New England opened up and northern New Hampshire and Maine became places to live.  At that time, those who remained farmers settled in Nova Scotia, Newport, Moultonborough, New Durham, N.H., and Weld, Maine.  However, I come from a different sort of New Englander even than that.  If my ancestors were so in love with farming they would have, as thousands did, go west.  That's where the land was.  After a certain amount of time, a farm can only be subdivided so much to support an average family.  One son got the farm and the others had to go elsewhere.

I come from an amazing amount of people who went into trades rather than farming.  I have a few ministers, but mostly blacksmiths, inn and tavern keepers, weavers, carpenters, ship builders, mariners, and shoemakers.  Ship builders are further subdivided into caulkers, block makers, and sail makers.  Thus, my chance at land records is always low.  I never realized how many people rented in the 18th century (and certainly in the 19th century). Without land, there was little need of probate.  You take out probate and land records, and you are so screwed when doing genealogy.  Some of my ancestors did own small farms either in conjuncture with the above trades or as just farmers.  From the time my ancestor John Wilson III (Harvard Class of 1682) to (again) my mother, no one attended college.  A few ancestral uncles did, but no one in my direct lines.  

By 1850, the industrial revolution was starting in New England and certainly by the end of the Civil War, it was in full swing.  My ancestors, rather than farming or moving west, came into cities to work in the various mills.  From the farms and hinterlands of northern New England and Atlantic Canada, suddenly my ancestors were centralized in Hopkinton, Lowell, Haverhill, Mass., Dover, N.H., and Westbrook, Maine.  And there they stayed.  So, in my case, brick walls are not a product of migration, but of poverty (in general).  They just didn't leave records.  Or the records they left are no longer extant.  I can list, even in New England, the largest gaps in records that are known to have been destroyed, much of which affects me including:

• Cumberland Co. Maine Probate to 1920 destroyed
• Barnstable Co. Mass. Deeds to 1825 destroyed
• Moultonborough births and baptisms to 1850 missing
• Dover, N.H. marriages 1719-1762 missing

I will say this for my ancestors and for Swamp Yankees in general: they certainly served their country.  In all my lines, I have Civil War, War of 1812, American Revolution, and French & Indian War soldiers by the busload. They were also religious.  Perhaps too religious--insofar as they were of denominations outside the Puritan church, most notably Quakers and Baptists. This makes finding church records more difficult.  And because they had trades that were largely portable, they moved within New England much more than I first suspected.  You can be a blacksmith or shoemaker anywhere.  

So beware those with New England ancestry.  It isn't all that.