The Unforgotten -- Benton Q. Williams

 A week or so ago, while digging in and searching for surnames belonging to my husband's ancestors in the Miami Record - Herald, I came across one that mentioned his 2nd great grandmother, Mrs. Eliza Sneary of Commerce. She was named as the next of kin and was to receive a memorial certificate in honor of a soldier who had died inWW1. 

Miami Record-Herald 20 Feb 1920

From Eliza's obituary, I knew that she had three sons that preceded her in death. They were listed by name as: Lorenzo Dow, William Sherman, and Ben Q.

The Houston Herald 8 March 1934

I have never found Lorenzo or William in the census records, but Ben Q. Had been in both the 1900 census as 'Binnie' and then 1910 as Benton. I went to Fold3 and began searching for military records. I came up empty on Lorenzo and William and even when I put in Benton. Then finally, I tried the name written in her obituary; Ben Q.  and found his burial card. It states that he was a private in Co F, 16th Infantry. His cause of death was K/A. His date of death was 4 Oct 1918. 

He was temporarily buried in plot 5 at Chatel-Chehery where he had fallen in battle. Coordinates were even given for his plot. 

 He was then disinterred and reburied 9 June 1919, in Grave #44, Sec. 26, Plot 3. at Argonne American Cemetery. 

The emergency address on file was for Lizza Sneary (Mother) at Western Grove, Arkansas. She was notified on 12 May 1919

 *Western Grove, AR was also given as their residence in Eliza's MIL's obituary*

Ben's grave marker was a cross. Another contact listed was his brother Martin in Commerce, Oklahoma. 

His body was once again disinterred 16 July 1921 and prepared for shipment. It arrived at the European port of Antwerp in Belgium. From there it was shipped on the Wheaton to Hoboken, NJ on 6 Aug 1921. It arrived two weeks later. From there it was shipped to Miami, Oklahoma on 28 Sept 1921. It arrived four days later 2 Oct 1921.

I was also able to find an article mentioning Benton's reburial at the G.A.R. Cemetery in Miami. 

Joplin Globe 4 Oct 1921

I searched the G.A.R cemetery on Find A Grave and was unable to find him listed so I created a memorial for him there, using a few of the images above. 

In all of my research, this is the first WW1 casualty of war I've found in my family as well as my husbands. I will say that one month after Ben's death, my great grandfather boarded the RMS Aquitania headed for France. How different things might have been, had he been called up just a month or two earlier. .

I hope in the years that follow that you'll remember Ben Q. Williams and the countless others who were lost to the Great War. Many of those young men and women were so young they were unmarried and without children of their own. It would be easy for them to be forgotten in just a generation or two. 

I also encourage you to click any of the links highlighted in this post, especially about the USAT Wheaton both here and above.

Until next time, 
Becky

Mattie Dillahunty -- A Staunch Democrat and Hard Worker!

Today I want to write briefly about my step mother's maternal great grandmother, Mattie Minerva Dillahunty Moore Cravy. I've written a bit about her first husband and children here.

Mattie must have been a strong woman. She endured so much loss in her 94 years on this earth. She buried her parents, siblings, two husbands, and six of her eight children.

When I think back to her story, I think about a post I once read on Facebook about our inner crone.

IN PRAISE OF THE INNER CRONE!

OK, we all know about the "inner child", right? The innocent being who still lives inside of us, who needs and deserves love and care, and whom we sometimes have to channel in order to learn self-compassion?

I'm a big fan of the notion of the inner child. It can be a really healing construct. Once, when I was going through a particularly dark season of self-loathing, I taped a sweet photo of myself (age 2) on my mirror, and taught myself that any harm I did to me, I also did to HER. It made me kinder and more tender to myself. Imagining other people's inner children makes me kinder and more tender to them.

So the Inner Child is a good thing.

These days, though, I spend less time thinking about my Inner Child lately, and more time focused on my INNER CRONE — the old lady who lives inside me, whom I hope to someday be.

Because she's a serious bad-ass.

The really old ladies always are bad-asses. I'm talking about the real survivors. The women who have been through everything already, so nothing scares them anymore. The ones who have already watched the world fight itself nearly to death a dozen times over. The ones who have buried their dreams and their loved ones and lived through it. The ones who have suffered pain and lived through it, and who have had their innocence challenged by ten thousand appalling assaults...and who lived through all of it.

The world is a frightening place. But you simply cannot frighten The True Crone.

Some might consider the word "crone" to be derogatory, but I don't in the least. I honor it. The crone is a classic character from myth and folklore, and she often the bearer of great wisdom and supernatural power. She is sometimes a guardian to the underworld. She has tremendous vision, even if she is blind. She has no fear of death, which means: NO FEAR.

I keep a wall of photos of some of my favorite crones, for inspiration. The photo below is of a Ukrainian Babushka who lives in (get this) Chernobyl. There are a group of such women — all tough elderly peasants — who have all recently moved back to the radioactive area around Chernobyl.

You know why they live there? Because they like it.

They like Chernobyl because that's where they came from. They are natural-born farmers. They hated being refugees.They resented being shunted off their land after the catastrophe. They hated living in the shabby and crime-infiltrated and stress-inducing government housing in the city, and they much prefer the independence of living off the land in the most contaminated nuclear site on earth. They have formed a stupendously resilient retirement community there, in what some would call the world's most terrifying landscape.

Is it safe? Of course not. Or, whatever. After 90 years of hard living, what does "safe" even mean? They drink the water. These women plant vegetables in that radioactive soil and eat them. They butcher the wild pigs that scavenge around the old nuclear power plant, and eat them, too. Their point is: "We are old. What do have to fear from radioactivity? At this age? Who cares?"

All they want is their freedom. So they take care of themselves and each other. They cut and haul their own wood. They make their own vodka. They get together and drink and laugh about the hardships of World War II and the evils of the Stalin years. They laugh about everything, then they go outside and butcher another radioactive boar and make sausage out of him.

I would put these women in a Bad-Ass Contest against any cocky young alleged Bad Ass you've got going, and I guarantee you — the Chernobyl crones would win, hands down.

We live in a society that romanticizes youth. We live in a culture where youth is considered a real accomplishment. You look at a seriously powerful classic crone like the woman in this photo and you see foolish we are — to imagine that the young offer much for us to aspire to, or learn from. No wisdom like the wisdom of survival. No equanimity like the equanimity of somebody who plants a garden right on top of a nuclear disaster and gets on with it.

So these days, when my Inner Child gets all fluttery with the panic of living, I just ask myself: " WWMICD?"

"What Would My Inner Crone Do?"

Ask yourself that same question. See what she tells you.

One thing I can promise you she will never say? She will never say: "WORRY.

She will more likely tell you this: "ENDURE."

Hang in there, all you future awesome crones!

Who better to imagine than one of your ancestors? So for my sister, and stepmom, I hope when you read about Mattie, and if you ever fall on difficult times,  you picture her as your inner crone. As you go through the life, I hope you are able to endure with all the strength of those who have gone before you.

Mattie was born in Sebastian County, AR 9 September 1886/87. She was the 7th child born to Mr. Adolphous Dillahunty and Emily P. Williams. She married James Walter Moore in June of 1902 and they lived in and around Greenwood, Sebastian County, Arkansas, for about 20 years before moving to Webber Falls, Muskogee, OK. Mattie experienced a lot of personal loss in the 1930's burying her husband and several children. She ended up living in Tulare, CA with her sons Adolphus, Leon and Clyde by 1935. After living in California for about 5 years she remarried a man by the name of Mose Pierce Cravy around 1941.

Once again in looking for answers as to who Mattie's first mother and father-in-law might have been, I ran across a few articles, some even includes Mattie's picture! I wasn't able to find the answers I was looking for as far as who Walter Moore's parents were, but I did think the articles below were very interesting.

Tulare Advance Register 07 Nov 1978

Tulare Advance Register 4 Nov 1980

Tulare Advance 6 July 1982

I hope you guys enjoy the articles and if you need to enlarge them, you should be able to click the caption below each article to be taken to the file where there is a ZOOM option.


Until next time,
Becky

One Town; One Year; Three Siblings?

A few weeks ago I wrote briefly about my Step-mom's great grandfather, James Walter Moore, here. James who seems to have gone by Walter, was born during that tricky time frame that will sometimes leave a person disconnected from their parents in your typical records; the early 1880's. Due the the missing 1890 census several individuals born in the early 80's will have grown up and married by the time the 1900 census rolls around. That is the case for Walter. According to his WW1 draft registration, he was born 09 Feb 1883.

According to all census records, he was born in the great state of Texas. I have never found any other Moores living next to Walter. So who were his parents? (I finally solved the mystery -- click here to find out.) At this point in time I still don't have an answer for that question but I do believe I have found two siblings.

James Walter Moore married Miss Mattie Dillahunty 03 June 1902 in Sebastian County, Arkansas. Below is their marriage license and I want  you to notice a couple things. 1) The town Walter is living in. 2) The name of the man who performed their marriage. 3) The date(s)





Walter Moore was from the town of Burnville. Their license is dated May 1902, though they weren't married for a full month later. They were married by N A Martin the local JP.

Since I was having such trouble finding any connections in the census records, I decided to try my hand and marriage records. Surely Walter wasn't an only child. So when I searched the Sebastian County Marriage records for anyone with the last name Moore that was living in Burnville, I got two hits.

1). Another Dillahunty/Moore marriage -- This one from Feb of the same year, between Mattie's older brother Henry Thomas Dillahunty and Miss Nettie Moore from Burnsville. Married again by Mr. N A Martin, JP.

If you go to the census records after their marriage you will see that Nettie was born in Texas as well, 18 Nov 1880. Her full name is Mary Annette Moore.

2) Next a Miss Susie Moore of Burnville marries Mr W. L. Martin in Aug of 1902. Census records indicate she was also born in Texas in they year 1886; W. L. is William Lester Martin the son of Noah A Martin, JP



In trying to find out more about the Moores I have scoured newspaper articles to no avail; only finding one article from 1904 about a scam involving feather beds and a salesman that swindled the town of Burnville, including N A Martin and Mattie and Henry's mother Mrs. Emily Dillahunty.

From there I have gone to land record maps, in hopes of finding a Moore family living in the Burnville area. I have created a picture with pushpins where related families land is located. It can be a bit difficult to see soto get a different perspective you can view this map of orginal land owners here. Keep in mind the names will not be the same for everyone. Mrs L (should have been an E) P Dillahunty on the pushpin map will be Adolphus (her husband) on the original map, for instance.

I have found one. One. W G Moore (Yellow pushpin) who acquired his land in April of 1890 but I have not found him in a census. There is also an Austin and Jeremiah Moore but their land is located in sections 33 & 34 closer to Milltown than Burnville

Red -- Mrs. Emily P Dillahunty -- Mattie and Henry's mother
Blue -- J B Williams -- Emily's brother
Green -- R F Cottingham -- Emily and J B's sister Mary's brother-in-law
Purple -- N A Martin (Noah Armstrong Martin) the Justice of Peace and father-in-law of Susie Moore
 


If anyone knows more information about the Moore siblings, I would love to hear it. Especially if you know who their parents were.

Until next time,
Becky

W is for Written Words

This past week I was fortunate enough to have been given several family documents and letters to go through and scan. My maternal grandfather's first cousin, on his mother's side, brought over an old Family Bible with the copyright date of 1903, an original marriage license from 1893 and several letters and pictures. All belonging to the John Thomas and Lou Elmer (Reynolds) Bynum family. Today I want to share with you one of the letters and add a little bit of perspective into the time frame.

Sidney, Kinchen, John Thomoas, Lou Elmer, baby Grace. about 1903

According to the family Bible, J T and Lou had seven children. The children who are the main topic of this post will be Sidney and his younger sister, Grace, aka Mrs. Herbert A Williams.

Sidney was born on Christmas Eve in 1895 and registered for the draft 5 June 1917.

While carefully looking through the pile of old papers that were lying on my grandparents' kitchen table, I came across this tiny, yellowed, wrinkled envelope postmarked Nov 6 1918 with the address: Base Hospital Ward 12, Camp Pike, AR and it peeked my interest.

Folded and laid inside the worn envelope is a 4 page letter Sidney had written to his sister Grace. It's dated 11-5-18 and begins Mr and Mrs Hurbert Williams....

At the date of his letter Sidney was still single. Grace and Herbert had been married for a little over two years. She married at the very young age of 15. They had a young one year old son named Norman Onis Williams. He had celebrated his first birthday in Aug.

Nearly one month to the day after this letter was written, Herbert would die of pneumonia on December 5, 1918. Then tragically, three months later, Grace would die from wounds sustained when her dress caught fire from the open fire place in the home. She died several days later due to the burns March 3, 1919

At the start of this post, I had only intended to include Sidney's letter, but I think I'll close with an undated letter from Grace to her mother. I can infer the date is between Aug of 1917 and before the winter of 1918 because she mentions her son and the fact that the weather is hot.

Here is Grace's letter.

 

I am so grateful that Stanley and Frances were kind enough to share these treasures with me. It's my hope that they will now live on and be discovered by some direct line descendants of Sidney and Grace.

Until Next Time,

Becky

I was recently given a couple photo post cards that I wanted to include here in this post. No dates but the back of the card on the left says "From Sidney to Mama" "Sidney and K L Bynum". I believe Kinchen is sitting and Sidney is standing. Also - I believe the card on the right to be Sidney on the right with his leg flung over possibly his brother-in-law Herbert Williams. But there is no writing at all on this card. This is just a 'best guess' Herbert married Sidney and Kinchen's little sister Grace in 1916. He was 19. She was 15.

John R. Garner, DNA, A Nephew And an Unkown Man

Sometime ago I wrote about my 3rd great grandfather, John Middleton Nall and in the process I was able to figure out who his wife's family was. I had been searching for years and the answer was right under my nose.

I'll give a brief  recap. John Middleton Nall married a Mary Jane Garner on 6 Aug 1857, in Rusk County. In John Middleton's civil war pension application it was signed by a J J Garner and T L Nix. J J Garner was John Josiah Garner b. 1836 in GA who married a Mary A Nix.  T L Nix was Mary A Nix's half-sibling Thomas Little Nix. b. 1842 in GA. After searching the 1850 census I was able found the John R. Garner family living in the next county over, Panola County. Head of household was Jno R. Garner b. 1818 GA, Elizabeth b. 1820 GA, Josiah b. 1837 GA, Mary b. 1840 GA, Ann b. 1842 AL, John b. 1846 TX and Wiley b. 1849 TX.

This is Mary Jane Garner/Nall's family. DNA verifies it. Most of her siblings are well documented but her parents are a different story. This blog post will be my attempt at piecing together the information I have in hopes of finding something new and also hoping other John R. Garner descendants will see it so that together we can find some answers. I had my Dad's DNA tested and its linked on Ancestry. He matches the descendants of several of Mary Jane's siblings. Specifically John Josiah, Ann Eliza, Andrew Jackson and Sophrona Catherine Garner.

Let me begin with the 1850 census. This tells me the approximate age and birthplace so that I can begin searching for an earlier census. Keeping in mind that all censuses earlier than 1850 only list the head of household and age ranges. If the oldest two children were born between 1836-1840 in GA that tells me that this family should be somewhere in the state of Georgia during the 1840 census. A quick search gives me a John R Garner family living in  District 788, Heard County, Georgia. There is one male child under the age of 5 - that will be Josiah, one male between the ages of 20-30 - that will be John R. , and one female in the same age range - that will be his wife Elizabeth. Also living in the same district and county is a William M. Garner.

Going off of Josiah's birth date (1818) we can assume that John and Elizabeth were married about 1835; give or take a few years. Heard County Georgia is right on the Georgia/Alabama line so both states should be searched. There are a few options but none that I'm certain are them. Quite a few online trees say that her maiden name was Rosser/Russer and there is a marriage record for a John Garner Jr. married 1839 in Henry County Georgia. I don't believe this to be them. First, the marriage is after the birth of Josiah and second, it seems that this marriage can be attributed to a John H. Garner who died in 1911 and is buried in Burnet, Texas. There is one marriage record that I think is worth looking into and that is of a J "G" Garner and an A E Harbin who were married 17 July 1832 in Hall County, Georgia. The only image of this record that I have found seems to have been hand transcribed much later in time. I wonder if the "G" could've been an "R". And Elizabeth's middle initial is given as A in at least one record. For now this piece of the puzzle will have to remain unsolved.

Sometime in the late 1840's John and his family migrated to Texas. He can be found in the Tax Rolls of Shelby County, TX, for the year 1846 as well as a William Garner. Are they brothers?  In the next county over in Panola you can find John's land record here. They even include his signature from 1851. He claimed 320 acres of land that was situated on the Irons Bayou, a tributary of the Sabine River, about 5 1/2 miles North of Carthage.




I was actually able to find a map that has his name showing exactly where his land was located.

In the above land record you will find that John dies not long after his claim on the land and it then becomes the property of his heirs.


In the Texas Probate Records, 1800-1990, of Panola County  you can find in Final Records Book C page 609 and Minutes Book B page 333 records pertaining to John R Garner's Estate. Two names will come up. Thomas J. Garner who is referred to as a nephew, and is applying to be the administrator of John's estate. and a John W (?) Williams that objects and wishes himself to be the administrator.

There is no Thomas J. Garner in any census records for Panola or surrounding counties in the years 1850 or 1860. So this leaves me searching elsewhere for his connection to John. After John R. Garner dies, his widow, Elizabeth, marries an Irishman by the name of Thomas Shannon in 1858. They have one son named John Thomas "Jack" Shannon. I find his name a bit odd considering he has a half sibling named John Thomas Garner, but maybe that's why he went by "Jack"? Elizabeth then marries another Irishman named Cornelius 'Neal' Logue in 1866. Now all of this was going on during the Civil War. So I turn to Fold3 to browse their records hoping for some clue that will help in my search. In the same unit as Neal Logue, the 28th Calvary Randal's Regiment, there is a service record for both a T J Garner and a T L Garner. No identifiable information is given.

Then there's Mr. John Williams. Before writing this post, I had only searched and found a match in census records. But now, after reading through John R. Garner's land records I found that John K(?) Williams  and Mills L. Higgins signed as witnesses, testifying that John had indeed lived and made improvements on his land for at least 3 years.

Is there a connection to John with these men other than grit and determination to settle a new land? Were they just neighbors?

Mills Higgins dies in 1860 from pneumonia. He was born about 1813 in KY and married Martha Helen Young in Marshall County AL.

John K Williams was born about 1823 in KY, serves in the CSA during the Civil War and dies in 1898

I  have great difficulty finding much for a John W Williams other than one tax record for the year 1846 in Panola County, Texas.

I've never been able to find any record for John's widow Elizabeth after her marriage to Neal Logue. She and her son "Jack" Shannon aren't listed in the 1870 census. If it is the same man, there is a Cornelius Logue enumerated in the neighboring county of Cherokee, but Elizabeth and Jack aren't with him. He is living with the Odum family.

At this point, I think I will try researching more on the nephew Thomas J Garner from the Estate records. He may be able to point me to his parents, which in turn may provide clues to John's earlier history.

Until next week,
Becky