All My Ancestors

Everything’s up to date in Kansas City, y’know.

It really is a great conference. I’ve spent some of the time working in the OHS booth which is great fun–I love discussing their Oklahoma relatives with folks.

So far, my best find came from the goodie bag with a copy of Everton’s Genealogical Helper inside. There’s a very small 1″ ad at the back of the magazine, advertising a CD version of the May-Keith Families of Arkansas by John Schlaud. Cousin Kitty and I have been trying for ages to reach this man to see if we could buy a paper copy. And here’s the new phone number and email. The Helper may have just earned another subscription.

Yippeee.

I’ve always heard of genealogists finding their family while searching for something else. In my 25 years, plus or minus, of searching this has never happened to me.

But yesterday it did!

I was researching a family that was in Vinita, Indian Territory, very early. (For Oklahoma, that means prior to statehood in 1907, which, in the scheme of things, really isn’t all that early.) I did not find that family, but while scanning through the C’s in the index, my eyes fell on Ball, Simson.

Simpson Ball is part of my Ball family I’ve written about before–they started in New York City (late 1700s) and ended up in Arkansas (late 1800s) via Iowa. Simpson is the oldest son of Dr. and Mrs. Ball–2 of his brothers perished in an ill-fated wagon train west.

I knew Simpson had married twice–first to Martha Jane Perkins but I didn’t know who his second wife was. From an interview with a descendant, I knew he had at least two daughters with this second wife–Eula and Hallie.

I’d sort of lost track of Simpson after the 1870 census where I’d found him in Carroll County, Missouri, until I found him in 1900, living in Sevier County, Arkansas, with his son Cyrus. His father had done some business in Montgomery County, Kansas in 1871, and I suspect Simpson was there, too. However, I cannot find Simpson on the 1880 census.

So, I was very excited to see an index entry that might be “my” Simpson. The index I was searching is to non-Cherokee persons who are in the Cherokee Nation in 1890 under permit. The index lists only the heads of household, and although the name was Simson rather than Simpson, I felt like this was probably my guy. When I pulled out the microfilm, sure enough, there he was.

On the actual census, it looks like to me that Simpson’s second wife’s name is Martha as well. I’m assuming the 35 year old female listed right under his name is his second wife. I know Clay is from his first marriage, so I believe the 4th entry, which looks also like Simson, age 12, is the first child with his second wife.

I can’t yet confirm the rest of children as his–they could also be grandchildren because I don’t know their names for sure. But I’ll keep looking.

This census was taken, as the title implies, of people who were in the Cherokee Nation, but who were not Cherokee Indians. To be there lawfully, they had to have a permit. Those who were not there legally, and there were plenty of those, were called “Intruders.” (Sharron Standifer Ashton has a terrific set of books called “Indians and Intruders” in which she abstracts mentions of intruders in Indian Territory.) Evidently, Simpson came legally, came in September 1889, and is working livestock for Ed Carey. Now I have to find out what all this means–who is Ed Carey and does a copy of the permit or application for the permit exist? Delaware County in the Cherokee Nation is the northeastern-most part of Indian Territory–it shares its west border with Benton County, Arkansas, which is where his parents were on the 1880 census.

In the meantime, I’m glad to have finally found some relatives in the Indian Territory.

I was starting to think I was the only person in Oklahoma who never had family there.

For me, I guess serendipity just takes a little longer.

This version of the Carnival of Genealogy asks which 4 ancestors I would invite for dinner, whether we would meet in my time or theirs, and what I would tell them. I can’t hope for my version to be as clever as The Genealogue’s conversation over pizza rolls, but I’ve chosen 4 of my ancestors that I have some questions for. We’ll meet in “my” time and it probably won’t be all that enjoyable an event for them as I plan to quiz them hard!

Jonathan Osborne (c 1771 NC-1826 NC) 3rd great-grandfather
Jonathan’s father Christopher is my brickwall–the family brickwall for over 50 years. I just want to know where he came from and why he didn’t leave deeper tracks. My theory is that if I talk to Jonathan rather than his father Christopher I can find out more about the succeeding generation as well as the preceding one–conservation of resources, don’t y’know? Christopher

I want to know if Jonathan’s brother Christopher had children in his first marriage. I want to know why this Christopher’s mother-in-law, Mary Stutts Furr, disinherited her daughter, Catherine, his wife–did it have anything to do with Christopher’s first marriage or that in 1818 he moved to Alabama with other families to start Valley Creek Presbyterian Church in Dallas County, Alabama?

I want to know if Jonathan and Christopher had another sibling born after their father’s death in 1789–their father says something in his will about his belief that his wife might be pregnant. I also want to know who all his sisters married–there are names like Brown and Smith and Polk among Jonathan’s brothers-in-law and I want to know first names, marriage dates, and where this tribe ended up. Not too much to ask, do you think?

Delilah Jackson Landrum (1780 SC-1870 TX)4th great-grandmother
I’ve written about Delilah before. I first wanted to know here when I read my great Aunt Marge’s memoirs. She was writing about going to a youth camp where there were racial tensions. She was very much for accepting everyone, regardless of color or creed. She was discussing this with her father and he tells her, “You are very much like my Grandmother Delilah.” I found that statement fascinating because as far as I knew, her father, born and reared in Texas, did not have contact with his Grandmother Delilah who lived in Tennessee. On the other hand, she did spend her later years in East Texas with her youngest daughter, so perhaps he did know her. I love her self-possession when she refused to join the frenzy at the revival as I wrote about here. I have lots of questions about her Jackson family back in South Carolina, and I particularly want to know about the “Dutch fan” that her father left her in his 1817 Union County, South Carolina, will.

William Green Ball (1806 NYC-1881 IA) 4th great-grandfather

Dr. Ball is chosen as another bridge between generations. I definitely want to know more about his father–even though he was a young boy when his father died, he must know about his origins, and those of his mother. His parents were married in Baltimore, I think, in 1797, and then his father was a shipwright in New York City. After the death of his father, his mother and family moved to Clark County, Indiana and then some went on to Delaware County, Ohio. His sisters married well–one married twice, first to the district attorney and state congressman, and then to another attorney who was a national congressman. What was the basis of these sorts of alliances? And I also want to know what kind of medical training Dr. Ball went through–I believe he did that while he was living in Indiana, but who was his mentor and how did he come to that profession?

What can Dr. Ball tell me about his wife’s family? Why did they move from Tennessee to Indiana? Who was the minister, John M. Dickey, who appeared on so many of their records? How did his being an abolitionist fit in with their own beliefs?

It was Dr. Ball and his wife who reared their granddaughter Martha Jane after her father was killed enroute to “the West” and then her mother died shortly thereafter. How did they learn of their sons’ deaths? What were the circumstances under which those two sons were moving? Did Dr.and Mrs. Ball plan to join them in the west?

And, finally, what was the impetus for this man to move from New York City to Indiana to Missouri to Iowa to Kansas to Arkansas and then back to Iowa?

Sarah Ann Davis Anderton (1841 AL-1915 OK) Great-great grandmother
I don’t know very much about my Anderton and Davis lines from Alabama. There were about a zillion Anderton families in Marshall County and most of them were named John or James. I believe I have the right line back to a James Anderton, b. Virginia about 1760. This is not work I’ve done myself, but I believe it’s probably correct.

I don’t even have all of Sarah Ann and her husband James’ children all documented. Some of the older daughters stayed in Alabama when they came to Oklahoma after the Civil War. I always have questions about what makes a family move that far to an area that must be unfamiliar to them, not to mention what would possess them to move to the Oklahoma panhandle, aka “No Man’s Land.” Their granddaughter, my grandmother, told me that they did logging back in Alabama–they floated the logs down the river. That kind of work was certainly not a big draw here in Oklahoma. I suppose it was the opening of the land that drew them. They were still in Alabama on the 1900 census, but by 1910, they had “proved up” on their land in Beaver County, Oklahoma. I have their homestead files and they worked hard.

I found this picture of them in a county history, she’s on the left and he’s on the right. One reason she is dear to me is that she doesn’t appear to be “dainty.” And doesn’t he look like the stereotypical Civil War vet?

Sarah Ann is buried out in Blue Mound Cemetery in Beaver County, Oklahoma.

My grandmother told me she really wanted to go back to Alabama but she died before that could happen. Her husband James got his Civil War pension here in Oklahoma– he’d served in the artillery back in Alabama. He was approved and apparently went back to Alabama. Years ago, I sent for his death certificate only to be told that it could not be located. Then a few years ago, I was at Samford Institute in Birmingham, Alabama with some friends. The husband of that group was going out to do some research and I told him if her ran across a tombstone for James Anderton, to be sure to let me know. Amazingly enough, he did. He’s been my genealogical hero ever since. James evidently died in March 1918 and he’s buried in Cochran Cemetery.

Anyway, I have lots of questions for Sarah. Her mother’s maiden name was Campbell–another name I haven’t pursued due to the overwhelming amount of info and my lack of familiarity with records in that part of the country. Her father left all of his 1868 estate, 1450 acres, to his youngest son, Joseph Montgomery Davis, with the proviso that he care for the oldest son, William B. Davis. What were the circumstances that required this sort of care? The will did not stand and the estate was eventually equally divided among the widow and 8 children, including Sarah.

So those are the folks I want to interview, two from the maternal and two from the paternal. I want them to know how much I’ve enjoyed learning more about them and how much I honor their lives and their sacrifices. It’s not surprising that I’ve already written about some of these folks–their lives and times are the targets of some of my greatest curiosity.

I don’t know yet what we’ll have to eat, but I’ll definitely cook. I’ll bet those grandmothers could use the rest.

This is Martha Jane’s aunt Mary, sister of her father John Washington Ball.

and here is another photo of her, which looks like it was taken about the same time.

I think she looks like her father’s daughter. And I also think these photos were taken around the same time. Mary died sometime between 1885 and 1890 at the age of 40 - 45. Her last child was born in 1885 and I don’t know if her death was related to childbirth.

Do you think she looks older here? I need lots more work in the styles and ways of earlier times as portrayed in photographs. I would have guessed she was at least 60 here, and I don’t know if it’s that her life was hard so she does look older or if the styles made women look older, or both.

Mary was likely born in Missouri, though I don’t know where. I believe her family went there from Clark County Indiana about 1842 and then was in Warren County Iowa by 1845. Some of the census records say she was born in Missouri, and I keep finding scraps of info about the “Dr. Ball family” who came to Warren County from Missouri. My initial searches of Wm. Green Ball’s land records did not indicate where he was in Missouri, but then again, when I was looking, I didn’t know he’d been there.

So that’s a lesson learned–I’ll have to go back now and look at those records again to see if there’s a hint of their location in Missouri. They might be in his Indiana records or they might be in the Iowa records–I just know that I’ve used land records before to track down the former residence of a person. Or to prove that the two men in separate counties are the same person. This happened with Dr. Ball himself–I did find records in Iowa of him having been in Montgomery County, Kansas. When these sorts of moves are in between census years and are stays of only 3-4 years, land records are one of the best ways to track them. Deeds will say something like, “Wm G. Ball of Benton County, Arkansas, formerly of this county. . .” in Montgomery County, or perhaps he’s sold the land after he left the county so it’s registered also in Benton County. You have to be a detective, and that’s the addictive part for me.

Martha Jane Ball Cromwell’s grave is unmarked. I feel fortunate to know her resting place because of a trip I took to California in 19??. I took my parents out there to visit my brother who then lived in Fresno, but we also visited Auntie in Buena Park. As in any worthwhile family visit, we went to Olive Lawn to see her mother’s grave, my great-grandmother Roxy Grace Cromwell Anderton. Then we drove to Rosemead to see where Roxy Grace’s mother, Martha Jane Ball Cromwell was buried in Savannah Memorial Park, aka El Monte.

Martha Jane, born 1858 in Iowa, survived the attack on the wagon train that killed her father and uncle in 1862, went on to Nevada with her mother who shortly remarried and then died, and by 1870 was back in Iowa to be reared by her grandparents, William G. and Elizabeth Charlton Ball in Warren County, Iowa. She subsequently moved to Arkansas, married Daniel W. Cromwell, reared 8 children in Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Sometime after Daniel’s death in 1925, Martha Jane went to California where some of her children were living. [Daniel is buried in a country cemetery named Blue Mound in Beaver County, Oklahoma. His grave is marked by the funeral home marker set in concrete. You can see it here.]

Her grave is not marked. No other family members are buried in this cemetery. I have since confirmed with the Southern California Genealogical Society that this is the site of Martha Jane’s burial. You can see the placement of her grave on a map I’ve posted with her entry on the family website at www.allmyancestors.com. And I’ve finally made a call to Valley Monument Company in neighboring San Gabriel to see what it would cost to put a marker on her grave. Here’s what I found–we can order a small (12″ x 24″) dark gray or black granite marker for $260. The cemetery’s setting fee 4 years ago was $100–the person I spoke with is checking to see if it’s gone up. So for probably less than $400, we can mark her grave. What do you think?

It’s been almost 70 years since Martha Jane died. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if by the 70^th anniversary of her death on 21 April 2008 we could have a marker in place? You can use Paypal to make a donation using the button below or I will most definitely accept personal checks, money orders and particularly cold, hard cash. I’ll keep a running total available so you can see how close we are to reaching the goal. Please, if you are one of Martha Jane’s descendants, consider helping with a small donation to mark Martha Jane’s resting place.

For more information about using Paypal (it’s free), check out this link.

Today I received this in the mail. Remember I posted about this great-grandmother who some sources say died in St. Louis. I still don’t know if this is she, but this column is from the St. Louis Post, from 22 January 1897, p. 3. St. Louis Public Library sent an invoice for $1.25, which, of course, I will pay. But I would like to have a copy of the beginning of the column–note that it says this is continued from page one. There might be a bit more information about the permits or there might not be, but it would be worth another $1.25 for me to know. Or, perhaps this newspaper is available through my GenealogyBank subscription. I’ll check.

The age for this person is right as is the name, but there were lots of Cromwells and lots of Elizabeths. I checked Rudy’s List of Archaic Medical Terms, aka Antiquus Morbus, to see what was meant by “chronic enteritis.” It appears to be a inflammation of the intestine, particularly the small intestine.

To be continued . . .

I have some old information, gleaned from a query published in an old copy of the Benton County Pioneer (Benton Co., AR) that one of my 3rd great-grandmothers died in a hospital in St. Louis.

Last night I was surfing around looking at death records that are available online* and came across the St. Louis Library site. They have indexed and uploaded several years of death notices and obituaries from the the St. Louis Post Dispatch. The sparsely documented information I have on Elizabeth Mary May Cromwell, c1840-1897, indicates that the date of her death would be included in the index.

This is the entry for Elizabeth Cromwell in the 1897 entries: Cromwell, Elizabeth *1/22 p3

I know some of the Missouri death certificates are online, but when I checked, the dates do not include 1897.

So, next, I noticed that there were St. Louis City death records available, tagged “requires payment,” for 1850-1908. I know that this usually means the records are available through Ancestry.com and I have a subscription. So I checked that site as well.

Sure enough, there was an Elizabeth Cromwell who died in St. Louis in 1897.

St. Louis City Death Records, 1850-1908
about Elizabeth Cromwell

My information, probably gleaned from census records, indicates the Elizabeth Cromwell who was my 3rd great-grandmother was born in Illinois or Arkansas. The Ancestry.com record states that this Elizabeth Cromwell was born in Missouri. On its own, I don’t consider that strong enough evidence to discard this as a possibility. Nor do I consider it strong enough evidence to prove this is the person I am seeking. Lots more work needs to be done. Other areas to investigate include the “Female Hospital” where she died. Is this a hospital that is still in existence in some form? In my experience, hospital records are not very easily located so I’ll try some other avenues first. It appears that her body went to the Anatomical Board–does this mean it was her or her family’s choice that she be a subject for medical research? What was behind this decision?

So far, I have emailed the library to see if additional information is available from the newspaper entry. It may be that the record in Ancestry has extracted all there is. I also need to go back and see if I can locate the original query. (Back in the “olden days” of genealogy, we had to send in our questions to genealogical publications in the areas where our relatives had lived, wait for the queries to be published, and then wait even longer to see if anyone answered. And this wasn’t even my query so I don’t know the outcome.)

I have no idea why a woman from Benton County, Arkansas, would go to St. Louis to the hospital. It may have been the place that northwestern Arkansans went for major medical help. I’m not familiar with that place in those times. It may be that one of her children or another relative was living in St. Louis, or nearby, and she was living in that household. Her husband had died in 1885, so perhaps she’d moved from Benton County. I haven’t uncovered any relatives who lived in St. Louis, but neither have I been very diligent about this line.

More research to do.

*Joe Beine is one of my genealogical heroes with his Online Searchable Death Indexes in the USA. Isn’t this a great resource?