Fantastic Find! US Mexican War Soldiers & Sailors Database

If you've ever researched an ancestor who fought in the Civil War, you're probably familiar with the Soldiers and Sailors Database of the  National Park Service (NPS). Now there's a new source of information for an earlier conflict, the Mexican-American War (1846-1848).*

[B.W. Kilburn Company. (ca. 1873) Monument over the remains of 750 U.S. soldiers, who fell in the valley of Mexico during the Mexican War. Mexico Mexico City, ca. 1873. Littleton, N.H.: Photographed and published by B.W. Kilburn. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2005693423/.]

Last week the NPS and the  Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announced the launch of of the U.S.-Mexican War Soldier & Sailor database:

This online, searchable database contains information for over 85,000 U.S. and Mexican veterans who served in this war. Many records include personal details, such as hair color and occupation. 

The database allows descendants of these soldiers and sailors to connect to their personal history and helps Palo Alto commemorate and tell the stories of those who served. This invaluable research tool benefits genealogists, historians, as well as people who may have never known they are related to a U.S.-Mexican War veteran.

 This project started in 2007. Progress was extremely slow until 2015 when FGS joined forces with the NPS. FGS offered their expertise and numerous volunteers. 

Patricia Rand, the FGS contact, recruited and trained volunteers who spent over 17,000 hours doing the tedious task of inputting data. Their dedication makes it possible for future generations to learn about those who served in the U.S.-Mexican War.**

Although the database is up and running now, the virtual launch will take place at 3:00 pm (Central) on Monday, January 27, 2020 live on-line or in person at the Palo Alto Visitor Center.

I don't have any direct ancestors who were participants but Joshua Butler Walsh, the second husband of my maternal great great grandmother Mercy Ann Darling, was. We know more about Joshua than is listed in this database so I've contacted them (via their link) offering to share our information. I'll let you know how that turns out.


*I learned about this from a post by Judy G. Russell (The Legal Genealogist)
**From the FGS press release dated 14 Jan 2020.

© 2020 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Mercy Ann Darling Webb Walsh's Obituary - 1915

We have my great great grandmother's 1915 obituary thanks to research done by Findagrave's member Gayle Neuhaus, a resident of Winnetoon, Nebraska. Gayle added a transcription of it to Mercy's memorial, adding her source so I was able to locate a scan of the original* from The Creighton Liberal:

[Source: Digital Archives of the Creighton Public Library]

                  Obituary**
   Mrs. Mercy Ann Walsh was born on
the eleventh day of May 1835 at
Harvard, Courtland County, N y
and died Oct. 29, 1915 at Creighton
Nebr being 80 year 5 months and 18
days old
   In 1858 she was married to Abner
Webb of Jones county, Ia. Soon after
their marriage they moved 
to Collen County Texas
where was born to them a son
J.D. Webb who resides in Winnetoon.
When the country was in the throes of
war in the sixties her husband re-
sponded to the call of the South and
laid down his life upon the altar of 
his country.
   In 1864 Miss Webb married Joshua
B Walsh in McKenny Collen county
Texas from which place they moved
to Iowa in 1866. To this union four
children were born all of whom are
still living. Two sons F B. and J
S Walsh reside at Boulder, Colo.
Mrs Kitty May Pierce of Idaho and
Mrs Dr. Hazen of Creighton, Nebr.
During her entire life she has been
very healthy; and knowing she had
lived beyond her allotted time here
on earth she came to Creighton to
spend her last days with her daugh-
ter and also that she might at her
death be buried in the Millerboro
churchyard by the side of her hus
band  Mr Walsh served thorought
the Mexican was for which a pension
was received by his wife. He also 
fought under Gen. Jackson against
the Indians of Florida.
   For forty years Mrs. Walsh was a
member of the Church of God and
was very faithful in and to her reli-
gious beliefs. The funeral services
were held Sunday Oct. 31st at the 
home of Mrs. Hazen, Rev. Joseph
Stanford pastor Methodist Church
officiating  Internment was at Miller-
boro  Six of her grand sons, Claude,
Elmer, and Waymond Hazen;
Herbert Fred and John Webb, acted 
as pall bearers  Thus laid at rest 
a soul that feared God
                --------------
       CARD OF THANKS
   We sincerely desire to thank all our
friends and neighbors for their help
and expressions of sympathy. In the
sorror that has come to us in the
loss of our mother and grandmother.
   Dr. and Mrs. Hazen and family.
   Jess and Nora Webb and family.

This is very exciting because, although bits and pieces of Mercy's life with her first husband have come down to us, this is the closest we've gotten to the story she would have told about herself and her son (and my great grandfather) Jess Webb was one of the sources of the information printed here. Here's a portrait of Mercy that belonged to him:

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy. The handwriting is probably that of my grandmother Anna Delilah Webb Slater.]

Especially interesting is the statement that Mercy and Abner Webb moved to Texas shortly after their 1858 marriage.*** Abner's maternal grandfather Jesse Sill died in November of the previous year, leaving him a bequest of $300; could it have been the expectation of this money that encouraged the couple to relocate? If so, I'm afraid they were to be disappointed because at the time of Jesse Sill's death the country was experiencing a severe economic "panic" and his diminished estate wasn't settled for a very long time.

We've never been able to locate Mercy in the 1860 U.S. Census although we know that Abner was employed as a carpenter by attorney Fred L. Gates**** in Collin County on June 7, 1860 (less than six weeks before his son was born). Several sources has claimed that son Jesse David Webb was born in Galveston but not this obituary.

Although there's no record of Abner's military service (on either side*****) here it's stated clearly that his sympathies were with the Confederacy.

Thanks again Gayle, for finding this and posting it where I could find it.


*Looking at the obituary as printed, it's clear that whoever set the type wasn't particularly skilled and/or didn't proofread it carefully.
**Several corrections are in order: Mercy Darling was born in Harford in Cortland County, NY; McKinney is in Collin County, Texas.
***There's a transcription of a Jones County Marriage Book which lists the date of their marriage as November 6, 1856. Because it's not the original, that date could be an error.
****Gates later rose to the rank of a Captain in the 16th Regiment, Texas Cavalry (Fitzhugh's). Two other regiments included men from McKinney: 6th/15th (Consolidated) Regiment, Texas Volunteers; and 6th Regiment, Texas Cavalry (Wharton, Stone's).
*****I've even seen some claims that Abner served with Sherman on his march through Georgia.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Some Notes on Ephraim Engle's estate records

Ephraim W. Engle, who died in 1863, circled in red, was my 4th great-granduncle by marriage.  His sister-in-law, my 3rd great grandmother Mercy Ann Darling, was married first to Abner Webb (my ancestor) and then Joshua Walsh (in 1864).  It has been assumed that Abner Webb had died by the time she married Walsh, but the April 1865 probate journal entry below mentions Abner Webb.  Jesse Sill Webb was a brother of Abner Webb, and had married Mercy's sister Nancy Adelia. At this point I'm not sure how Eli Gilbert fits in, except that he was a local attorney at law.  Diagram made with LucidChart.

I came across an interesting mention of Abner Webb when while transcribing probate journal entries on the annual settlement in Ephraim W. Engle's estate in Allen County, Kansas.  Was Abner Webb still alive?  It has been assumed that he died sometime during the Civil War, and almost certainly before September 1864 when his wife married her second husband, but now I'm not sure:

Allen County, Kansas, Probate Journals, Vol A, 1858-1871: page 108, "Eli Gilbert Administrator for Ephraim W. Engle deceased", 5 April 1865; FHL microfilm 1412213; digital image, Ancestry.com database "Kansas, Wills and Probate Records, 1803-1987" (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=9065 : 6 March 2018).

page 108 [NOTE: I've bolded the names]
Probate Court
County of Allen

Regular Term 3rd day
April 5th 1865 at o'clock A.M.

Eli Gilbert Administrator for Ephraim W. Engle de-
ceased appeared for annual settlement in said Estate,
The following accounts were presented, widened as requi-
red by law, and allowed by the court, J.S. Webb account
for the sum of Eighty two 20/100 Dollars, J. S. Webb, note against
E.W. Engle dec'd, for the sum of Twenty three Dollars, Tax Receipts
in the year 1861, for the sum of Six Dollars, Redemption
certificate for the sum of Four 85/100 Dollars, John Secrist pre-
sented a Transcript from the District Court of Jones County
Iowa, in the cause entitled John Secrist against Eli Gil
bert administrator for E.W. Engle deceased, Emily Weed, Abner Webb
and J.S. Webb, for the sum of Eighty Seven 40/ Dollars, J.S. Webb
sworn and examined, Whereupon the Court ordered that said
Transcript be filed with the papers of said Estate, for further
consideration.


I'm going to have to mull over what this entry means, in particular to Abner Webb.  There is mention of Jones County, Iowa, which is where I knew the Webbs/Darling/Engle people to be before some of them moved on to Allen County, Kansas Territory (by 1860).  I'll look into what is available on the District Court in Jones County, Iowa.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Anna Segrist (1740 - About 1800)

Thanks to research done by Jeffery Bernstein* we have the baptism record for Anna in the archives of Zurich, Switzerland.

[Source: Staatsarchiv Zurich, added to an ancestry.com profile by Jeffrey Bernstein]

Ten-year-old Anna left for Pennsylvania together with her parents John Segrist (also Sechrist or Sigerist) and Anna Wildberger and her brothers and sisters on the ship "Brotherhood" which arrived in Philadelphia on November 3, 1750.

The Segrist family settled in York County where Anna married Franz Graaf (also known as Francis Grove) and they settled in Shrewsbury Township. I haven't found a marriage record for them but their first child was born in October of 1760 when Anna would have been twenty.

In the early Spring of 1765 Anna's father died without leaving a will and her mother filed a petition with the probate court regarding a division of his estate. She named all her children and Anna was listed as the wife of Francis Grof. In petition filed at the same court term, Anna's oldest brother Jacob sought the clarification of the status of 50 acres of land he considered to not be part of his mother's marriage settlement. He requested a division of the land among himself and his siblings.**

[Another document originally found by Jeffery Bernstein]

Anna and Franz had seven children, 6 boys and one girl, their youngest. My direct ancestor is their fourth son John, born in 1769.

Anna died sometime before June of 1801 when Franz married a widow Catharine Eberhard who survived his death in 1812.

We don't know where either Anna or Franz are buried.

Here's how I'm related to her:

[Ancestry.com]

*He's married to one of my distant cousins through my great great grandmother Mercy Darling's second marriage to Joshua Butler Walsh.
**I don't know the outcome of this petition.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: George Marion Tomlinson (1839 - 1922) Farmer

We're fortunate to have several pictures of this maternal great great grandfather although none of him as a young man so we don't know when he began to sport the short beard we see in all the photos.*

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

The first record we've found for George Tomlinson is in the 1850 U.S. Census when he was 11, still living with his parents Jesse and Catharine (Gaskill) Tomlinson in Madison County, Ohio.

["United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6QL2-JB?cc=1401638&wc=95RW-JW1%3A1031310001%2C1031549001%2C1031403901 : 9 April 2016), Ohio > Madison > Union > image 31 of 40; citing NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).]

The Tomlinson's moved to Washington County, Iowa, in about 1856 and four years later we find George and his 13-year=old brother Albert living with their widowed mother.**  Catharine's occupation is the only one listed, that of Farmer but we can be sure that 21-year-old George was doing his share of the work.

["United States Census, 1860," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9B9V-SXF?cc=1473181&wc=7QXT-G4G%3A1589426666%2C1589422318%2C1589428167 : 24 March 2017), Iowa > Washington > English River Township > image 12 of 34; from "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Population," database, Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com : n.d.); citing NARA microfilm publication M653 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).]

On Christmas Eve of the same year, George married Elizabeth "Betsy" Taylor and their daughter Rufina was born January 3, 1863. When George registered for the Civil War draft six months later*** he was listed as "married" which marks the last time we can assume that Betsy was still alive. Thereafter she disappears completely from the records.

[Ancestry.com. U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Consolidated Lists of Civil War Draft Registrations, 1863-1865. NM-65, entry 172, 620 volumes. NAI: 4213514. Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Bureau (Civil War), Record Group 110. National Archives at Washington D.C.]

Three years later on March 27, 1866, George married Amanda Darling (who happened to be the sister of one of my great great grandmothers Mercy Ann Darling Webb Walsh) in Jones County, Iowa.

In the 1870 U.S. Census record dated as of June 6th, George and his family were living in Greenwood County, Kansas, and had moved there sometime after the September 1869 birth of Albert, the youngest child listed.

[Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.]

By 1880 the Tomlinson household had grown, including several of George's extended family.

[1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29.

National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

Although we don't know exactly when George and Amanda left Kansas for Colorado, this 1893 list of electors who hadn't voted in the recent general election.

[Boulder Daily Camera (Boulder, Boulder County) Monday, December 11, 1893

Page: 3 http://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/]

By 1900 only their daughter May and grandson William (Albert's son) were living with George and Amanda on their farm in Boulder County.

[1900 United States Federal Census. Ancestry.com - Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.:

National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 18]

Mabel (who didn't marry until 1915) was the only other person living with her parents at the time of the 1910 U.S. Census. They're living on a country road in Boulder County.

[1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census,

Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

Finally, in the 1920 U.S. Census, George no longer gives his occupation as a farmer; my 80-year-old great great grandfather and his wife are listed as have "none" in that column.

Amanda died in April of the following year and by that November George's health had declined so he entered the Boulder Sanitarium where he died on August 30, 1922.

[Longmont Ledger, September 8, 1922 .Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection]

George and Amanda are buried in the Niwot Cemetery.


*Here's a group portrait taken at the same time as the the one I extracted George's image from in this post; here's the golden wedding anniversary celebration of  he and his second wife in 1916; and here's a 1918 snapshot of he and his clan returning home from camping.
**Jesse died in 1857.
***The occupation of every man on the page was listed as Farmer.
© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: David Darling (1805- 1895) Farmer

Although this maternal 3X great grandfather was born in Rhode Island, in 1816 his father (also named David*) had relocated the family to central New York State, first living in Chenango County and then moving on to Virgil in Cortland County by 1825. Although we don't have a record of their union, that's probably where the younger David and Polly Gates were married about 1830.

[Map of the counties of Chenango and Cortland, New York : from actual surveys. Philadelphia : Published by A. Pomeroy & S.W. Treat, 1863. Philadelphia : F. Bourquin & Co., Printr., 1863. Source: Library of Congress]

[Map of the counties of Chenango and Cortland, New York : from actual surveys. Philadelphia : Published by A. Pomeroy & S.W. Treat, 1863. Philadelphia : F. Bourquin & Co., Printr., 1863. Source: Library of Congress]

As far as we can tell David and his growing family remained in Cortland County through the 1850 U.S. Census which found them living in Harford, about 7-1/2 miles from Virgil. (My direct ancestor Mercy is enumerated on line 19 and her younger sister Amanda, the second wife of my great great grandfather George Tomlinson, is on line 22.)

["United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DHWR-CB?cc=1401638&wc=95RZ-K66%3A1031313801%2C1033674601%2C1033701601 : 9 April 2016), New York > Cortland > Harford > image 11 of 24; citing NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).]

However, from the 1852 Iowa State Census we learn that the Darlings were now residing in Fairview Township in Jones County.

[Ancestry.com. Iowa, State Census Collection, 1836-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Microfilm of Iowa State Censuses, 1856, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925 as well various special censuses from 1836-1897 obtained from the State Historical Society of Iowa via Heritage Quest.]

David, as head of household, appeared in an 1854 Iowa State Census and the whole family are listed in the 1856 state enumeration.

[Ancestry.com. Iowa, State Census Collection, 1836-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Microfilm of Iowa State Censuses, 1856, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925 as well various special censuses from 1836-1897 obtained from the State Historical Society of Iowa via Heritage Quest.]

Four years later only Amanda was left at home in Fairview with David and Polly.

[Year: 1860; Census Place: Fairview, Jones, Iowa; Roll: M653_328; Page: 593; Image: 585; Family History Library Film: 803328. Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. ]

In Fairview 10 years later David and Polly had been joined by their widowed daughter Lovina and her son George.

[Year: 1870; Census Place: Fairview, Jones, Iowa; Roll: M593_401; Page: 67A; Image: 137; Family History Library Film: 545900. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]

David and Polly were alone in their house in Fairview in the 1880 U.S. Census.

[Year: 1880; Census Place: Fairview, Jones, Iowa; Roll: 348; Family History Film: 1254348; Page: 433B; Enumeration District: 336; Image: 0450. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. All use is subject to the limited use license and other terms and conditions applicable to this site. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

Polly died in 1883, probably in Fairview as she is buried in the Norwich Cemetery in Jones County. In his obituary in Boulder Daily Camera of January 28, 1895, David Darling was described as a resident of Valmont, east of Boulder. (The Mrs. G. M. Tomlinson referred to is his daughter Amanda.) We don't know where he was buried.

[Source: Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC) online]

There's no reason to believe that David ever followed any other occupation than that of a farmer in his lifetime. He was too young to be a soldier in the War of 1812 and too old to actively participate in the Mexican and Civil Wars. His greatest adventure appears to have been the life changes that took him from a childhood in Rhode Island to his last breath in Colorado 90 years later.

[Ancestry.com]

*You can read my posts about David Darling Sr. who was a veteran of the Revolutionary War here and here.

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Olive Baldwin (1778 - 1843)

Olive Baldwin and her husband Joseph Gates (1779-1854) are the parents of my great great great grandmother Mary "Polly" Gates. As you will find if you follow the link to my post about Polly Gates, Olive was added to this line in 2015.*

[Hyde genealogy; or, The descendants,in the female as well as in the male lines, from William Hyde, of Norwich...

by Reuben Hyde Walworth, , 1788-1867. Source: Internet Archive]

Olive was born in Canterbury in Windham County, Connecticut on September 2, 1779. Her parents were Aaron Baldwin and Mehitable Leonard.

She married Joseph around 1794, probably in Windham although I haven't found any online record of their marriage. Their first child was born in 1795--a daughter whose name isn't known.

As always with women before 1850, we have to follow Olive through records in her husband's name. In 1800 according to the federal census they were living in Preston in New London County. Most likely the Dorothy Gates whose name follows Joseph's in the enumeration is his widowed mother.

[Year: 1800; Census Place: Preston, New London, Connecticut; Series: M32; Roll: 3; Page: 708; Image: 220; Family History Library Film: 205620. Ancestry.com. 1800 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Second Census of the United States, 1800. NARA microfilm publication M32 (52 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

Dorothy Gates died in February of 1805 and by September of that year Joseph, Olive and their family were living in Otsego County, New York, where Polly Gates was born. Here's the household in the 1810 U.S. Census for Unadilla.

[Year: 1810; Census Place: Unadilla, Otsego, New York; Roll: 34; Page: 173; Image: 00098; Family History Library Film: 0181388. Ancestry.com. 1810 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Third Census of the United States, 1810. (NARA microfilm publication M252, 71 rolls). Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

[Image from The pioneers of Unadilla village, 1784-1840 by Halsey, Francis Whiting, 1851-1919; Gaius Leonard Halsey, 1819-1891.

Source: Internet Archive.]

By 1820 the Gates family had moved to Virgil in Cortland County, New York.

[1820 U S Census; Census Place: Virgil, Cortland, New York; Page: 621; NARA Roll: M33_66; Image: 341. Ancestry.com. 1820 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fourth Census of the United States, 1820. (NARA microfilm publication M33, 142 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

Olive died in 1843 so this 1840 U.S. Census record is the last official document she's represented in.

[Year: 1840; Census Place: Cortland, New York; Roll: 275; Page: 8; Image: 20; Family History Library Film: 0017184. Ancestry.com. 1840 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Sixth Census of the United States, 1840. (NARA microfilm publication M704, 580 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

Olive Baldwin Gates died on January 6, 1843, and is buried in the Snyder Hill Cemetery in Virgil.

[Created by: Larry Wales; Record added: Apr 04, 2011

Find A Grave Memorial #67882262.

Photo: Larry Wales (#47374334)]

Joseph survived Olive by 11 years. He moved in with Polly and David Darling in Iowa and is buried there in Jones County.



*Credit where credit's due--Christine found this reference. Olive is not a very common given name among my ancestors and I think it's significant that Polly and her husband David Darling named one of their daughters Olive G. Darling (1838-1852). (Note that the Hyde connection is not in my direct line.)

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

David Darling (1761-1839) Applies for 1832 Revolutionary War Pension

My fifth great grandfather David Darling served in the Revolutionary War for 6 months.  In 1832 he went into the Court of Common Pleas in Cortland County to apply for a pension for his service.

Page 5 of David Darlin/Darling's pension file.  Service statement of David Darlin to clerk Samuel Hotchkiss on 2 Oct 1832 (Pvt., Capt Hitchcock, Col Sprout, Massachusetts), pension application file W25519, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files; Publication M804, Record Group 15, National Archives at Washington, DC; digital image, Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/image/1/14437057 : 14 Mar 2017).

State of New YorkCortland CountyOn this 2e day of October personally appeared in open court before the Court of Common Pleas now sitting David Darlin a Resident of Virgil in the County of Cortland and State of New York and aged Seventy one years the 21st of October next who being duly Sworn according to law doth on his oath makes the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed the Seventh June 1832 

That he entered the Servis[sic] of the united States under the following named officers and and[sic] Served as herein Stated 

I enlisted at Menden Woster[sic] County in the State of Massachusetts under Capt Luke Hitchcock and was in Col Sprouts Regiment and General Glovers Brigade and Served at fishkill the fore port of the time and the Rest of the time at west point both in the State of New York and I enlisted for Six months and Served the time out and was discharged at west point I enlisted in September 1777 General Washington and General Lee were both at west point a part of the time. I have no documentary evidence and that I know of no other evidence or person whose testimony I can procure who can testify to my servis
I hereby Relinquish every claim whatsoever 

page 6 of the pension file.

to a pension and annuity except the ???? and declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of the agency of any state
Sworn and Subscribed this day and year aforesaid 

Samuel Hotchkiss Jr(?) Clerk 

his

David x Darlin

mark

Edited to add: My mother had done a post on just this topic last year, but apparently I had to do my own! lol




© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Webb

Ella Irene Webb, my first cousin, three times removed, was born in Allen County, Kansas, on March 29, 1867 and died there of scarlet fever on March 26, 1880, just a few days short of her 13th birthday. 

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

[From the back of the photo we know where it was taken.* Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

She's doubly related to me as her father, Jesse Sill Webb (1826-1923) was the brother of my great great grandfather Abner Webb and her mother Nancy Adelia Darling (1836-1911) was the younger sister of my great great grandmother Mercy Ann Darling.

*You can learn more about Mrs Sarah Latimer here. The three ads for her photo studio are from the Humboldt Union, page 3, March 23, 1878, found at Newspapers.com

[Source: Newpapers.com]

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Walsh/Brown

These two children, whose parents were my second great aunt Catherine May "Kitty" Walsh 1874-1966) and her first husband Peter Louis Brown (1870-1898), are my first cousins, twice removed.

[Frances Ethel Brown (1894-1964), courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

[Charles Peter Brown (1895-1939), courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Tomlinson

Titled simply "Camping 1916" this photo of my maternal great great grandfather 77-year old George Marion Tomlinson (1839-1922) holding the reins of his team with his second wife Amanda Darling (1843-1921) sitting next to him and various family members posed in and around the wagon. They were probably on their way home from Peaceful Valley.*

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

*A while back I posted a similar group photo taken two years later.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Dr. and Mrs Hazen

The couple in this 1915 photo are my 2nd great aunt Emma Ann Walsh (1868-1949) and her husband William Hazen, M.D. (1848-1928). She is the oldest daughter of my great great grandmother Mercy Darling and her second husband Joshua Butler Walsh.

They were married in 1887 in Niobrara, Knox County, Nebraska and lived in Creighton where William had established his medical practice two years earlier. The couple had  five children.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Setting the Record Straight: Iowa, Marriage Records, 1880-1937

I don't always pay much attention to those little green leaves which Ancestry uses to signify a hint but a recent one for my maternal great grandfather Jesse David Webb (1860-1935) caught my eye. When I checked it out, this is what came up:

[Ancestry.com hint for Jesse David Webb]

Since we know that Great Grandfather Jesse married Elnora May Worden not Swiden, it was clear that a mistake had been made. Was the error in the original record or did the person transcribing it mis-read what was there?

Closer inspection leads me to conclude that this is a case of hard-to-read handwriting coupled with careless transcription. What do you think?

Also Richard Worden's wife's maiden name was Groves, not Graves.

Lastly, Jesse's mother's maiden name was Darling (or Darlin) so the original record is wrong.

Great Grandmother Elnora's first cousin Josie (Josephine J.) Alspaugh married traveling salesman Henry Hodges* six days earlier so only two other marriage records separate the cousins. Josie's mother, Caroline Groves, was Elnora's mother Delilah's older sister. Note that in this record, Caroline's maiden name is spelled Graves.

[All images above taken from Iowa State Archives; Des Moines, Iowa; Volume: 328 (Hamilton - Kossuth) Volume : 328 (Hamilton - Kossuth)

Ancestry.com. Iowa, Marriage Records, 1880-1937 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Original data: Iowa Department of Public Health. Iowa Marriage Records, 1880–1922. Textual Records. State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa. Iowa Department of Public Health. Iowa Marriage Records, 1923–37. Microfilm. Record Group 048.

State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa.]

Naturally I added the correct names in Ancestry's index.



© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.