Diary of James Milo Nosler: Tired of Nebraska and Distracted by "Kissing Bees"

James Milo Nosler (1843-1886), my 3rd great uncle who kept a diary for many years.  He was the youngest brother of my 2nd great grandfather, William "Will" Nosler (1840-1914).  The following is continued from my post "Diary of James Milo Nosler: Time in Nebraska and "Total Defeat".  The following passage is likely in 1859.

James Milo Nosler boarded a riverboat somewhere in Nebraska (I'm assuming Nemaha County) and arrived in St Joseph about 3 am on July 9.  Closeup from Colton's Kansas and Nebraska (1855).

On the 8th of July, having become tired of Nebraska, I boarded a boat and started for Mo., having worked out and got a couple of dollars or so.  This was the last time I saw Wieth [James' brother Wyatt or Wieth Nosler].  I took deck passage to St. Joe, got there about three in the morning with fifty cents in money and about sixty miles from home, but I got me a little something to eat and bravely set out on my journey.  That night I layed on the Jaraini [maybe this meant "train"?] and I reckon dreamed of the Prodigal Son.  The next day resumed my journey, got lost and oh what a time finally got to Mirable but the next four miles was a big thing, however made the [unintelligible], but I had to stop every hundred yards or so and rest my weary legs.  Well here I was, black, ragged, and dirty.  My five acres of corn in Nebraska.  So much for experience.

From St Joseph to Mirabile proved to be a harrowing trip for him.  Closeup from Colton's Kansas and Nebraska (1855).

My father [John Nosler, ] never in his life refused me a good chance to make money when I asked it--but on the other hand often solicited me to tend his farm.  Well, I worked around during the summer and toward fall father wanted me to come home and stay and go to school.  At this I consented.  He got me a good suit of clothes and fixed me up and after we had the corn gathered, I started to school to a splendid teacher by the name of Slocum (?) [the transcriber wasn't sure of the name.  I find a Geo Latimer, a 26-year-old school teacher from Ohio in the 1860 Census in Rockford, Caldwell, Missouri--is this him?] who thought a great deal of me.

Will [James' brother] had in the mean time gone to Neb. and returned, having sold my corn for $25.  Well, I went two or three weeks and was getting along fine when came to be the day they began having those sissy infernal play parties or "kissing bees" in the neighborhood, which soon so completely drew my mind from my studies that I give up the school entirely.  I shall always be a bitter opposer to all such amusements.  Soon after on some frivolous account, I left home and staid at Johns [James' brother John Nosler] the rest of the winter, who by the way had moved to Mo. during the summer previous.

I find a description of these hated "kissing bees" from "Stories of Missouri" by John Roy Musick:  

"A substitute for this sort of amusement [dancing] which was tolerated by the church members was the "social party," "play party," or, as they were sometimes called, "kissing bees."  At these, such games as "Weevilly Wheat," "Sister Phoeby," "We're Marching down to Old Quebec," and "King William," are played for the amusement of the young people. If it was announced that there was to be a dance, "frolic," or "kissing bee" at a house on a certain night, soon after dark the young people would begin to arrive.  They came from all parts of the country, some on foot, some on horseback, and a few, who came from a distance, in wagons. 

The dancing was usually of the rudest sort.  The fiddler sawed away on his cracked instrument all night long on such airs as "Old Dan Tucker," "Zip Coon [now known as Turkey in the Straw"]," "Natches under the Hill," "Rickets," Fisher's Hornpipe," "Sailor's Hornpipe,[the tune is probably most associated with Popeye today]" "Run, Nigger, Run[from the film "12 Years A Slave"]" "Soap Suds," "Great Big Taters in the Sandy Land," and others of like character.  When not engaged in dancing or talking with the girls, the young men usually discussed farming, logging, or clearing off the forest and plowing the land.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Slater

The note we have for this photo of my maternal grandparents says: Anna + Harry Lover's Leap TN 1956.

[Courtesy of Olive-Slater Kennedy]

I'll have to ask Aunt Olive if she knows what took her in-laws to Chattanooga's Rock City that year.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: A Colorful Description of an 1883 Drug-Induced Saloon Brawl In Monticello, Jones, Iowa

Newspaper Archive, Iowa, Monticello, Monticello Express, 1883 Monticello Express, January 4, 1883, Page 3

I think this is a description of one of my 2nd 4 times removed cousins, John Burnight (b 1869) (on my father's father's side), who would have been 14(!) and a Mr. Fahey, of an undetermined age.  There was an Irish Fahey family in Jones County at the time, so I suppose it is apt that Mr. Fahey is being described as "that Celtic devotee of Gambrinus."

A statue of King Gambrinus, in Germany, courtesy of By EPei at German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24456757

The wording of the article reminds me of the smart aleck dialogue from the classic 1993 movie Tombstone, which was peppered with now-obscure historical or mythical references.  The movie characters would be contemporary to John Burnight and the author of the article:

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: David Darling (1761 - 1839), Soldier

[Panoramic view of West Point, New York showing American encampments on the Hudson River, Published in: The American Revolution in drawings and prints; a checklist of 1765-1790 graphics in the Library of Congress / Compiled by Donald H. Cresswell, with a foreword by Sinclair H. Hitchings. Washington. Source: Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C.]

Most of the 58 pages in this maternal 4th great grandfather's file in the National Archives* relate to his widow Mercy Phillips' ten-year struggle to prove that she and David Darling were actually married so she could collect the pension due her.

But David's original declaration is included giving us his story of military service during the Revolution. Note that his surname is spelled Darlin here.

[Revolutionary War Pension, Massachusetts. fold3.com]

Here is my transcription of the above pages:**

Original Declaration

State of New York
Cortland County        on this 2nd 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 aged Seventy one year 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 Service of the united States under the following named officers and and Served as herein Stated 

I enlisted in Menden Woster County in the State of Masachusetts under Capt Luke Hitchcock and I was in Col Sprouts Regiment and General Glovers Brigade and Served at fishkill the fore part 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 Service.

I hereby Relinquish every Claim Whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of the agency of any State

Sworn and Subscribed this                               his
day and year aforesaid                            David + Darlin
                                                                        mark

Supplemental Information, Undated***

I was born in Menden Masachusetts 1761 

I have no Record in my possession of my age but there is a Record of my age in Gouchester in the State of Rhodeisland 

I lived in Menden Masachusetts when called into Service and have lived in Gochester Rhodeisland about twenty four year and Since that in Norwitch New York and for the last twelve years in Virgil New York 

I enlisted
General Washington and General Lee were with the army at west point
I do not Remember the names of any particular Regiment 

I Received a discharge it was Signed by Luke Hitchcock and I have lost it
I am Known to Roswell Craw David Snider Daniel Price and all the inhabitants of the east part of Virgil and Elder Ambrose Burlingame and Gorton Parker

Below is the official brief in David Darlin's pension case summarizing his service. He was awarded $20 per annum, retroactive to March 4, 1831.

[Fold3.com]

[Fold3.com]

And here is the entry recording the David's final pension payment in 1839. He's buried in Virgil Rural Cemetery.

[Fold3.com]

My connection to this ancestor is through my maternal grandmother Anna Delilah Webb (Slater), the daughter of Jesse David Webb whose mother, Mercy Ann Darling, was this David Darling's granddaughter through his son, another David Darling (1805-1895).

*And available for viewing online through fold3.com.
**The grammar, spelling and lack of punctuation are in the original.
***This page doesn't appear to be part of the David's original declaration.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Some Notes on The State Census of Alabama, 1866 on Ancestry

My 3rd great grandfather, Henry Hill Freeman (1815-1887), and his daughter Nancy "Nannie" Elizabeth Freeman (1857-1934), were my last direct ancestors to leave Alabama when they headed out for Texas in 1869.

I'm related to the Freemans through my mother's grandfather, James Chappell Warren Jr, son of Nannie.

Detail of where Henry Hill Freeman lived in Macon County, Alabama, in 1866.  From the Library of Congress: State of Alabama. October. 2nd. 1866.

The last Alabama census that Henry appeared on was 1866 Alabama Census.

Going to the Alabama Department of Archives and History led me to this description from the catalog entry description:

Title: State census, 1866.
Author: Alabama. Secretary of State.
Description: The series consists of 131 volumes organized by county. Four schedules were taken as part of the 1866 state census, but all four schedules may not be available for each county.
Schedule 1 headings include, for the "White Population": Name [of head of household]; Males under 10 years, Males 10 to 20, Males 20 to 30, etc.; Total Males; Females under 10 years, Females 10 to 20, etc., Total Females; Total White population; Soldiers [who had been in the household before the Civil War] killed, died of sickness, or disabled; Insane, Epileptics, idiots.
Schedule 2 enumerates the "Colored Population," listing each household's head and the number of males and females by 10 year groupings (under 10 years, 10 to 20, etc.)
Schedule 3 counts the white population by township and range, listing the name of the head of each household and how many members were male and female in each within the age categories of "under 10 years," "10 to 20," and "Over 20."
Schedule 4 tabulates white population and educational facilities by township and range under the headings: Population, Colleges, number of scholars, Academies, number of scholars, Common schools, number of scholars.

This record set is available on Ancestry, but Ancestry does not make it clear what is included, but instead lumps its description with Alabama censuses from 1820, 1850, 1855, and 1866.  And unfortunately the drop down menu on the right doesn't clear up the fact that the 1866 census had 4 different schedules!  It is not clear to me that schedules 2 and 4 were included on Ancestry's collection.  The navigation certainly does not reflect their existence one way or the other.

I'd also really like to take a look at schedule 4 for information on education.  I'll keep looking!

But back to Henry Hill Freeman.

When I looked up "H H Freeman" on the Ancestry collection it showed him listed four times in Macon for that year.

Why is he listed 4 times in the census?

This proved to be duplicate pages in the actual census, not a mistake on Ancestry's part.  H H Freeman appeared on both Schedule 1 and Schedule 3, and each schedule was written out twice (not sure why).


Schedule 1:

1866 Alabama state census, Macon County, white population, Schedule 1, p 5, dwelling [blank], family [blank], for H. H. Freeman; digital image, Alabama State Census, 1820-1866 (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1576 : accessed 3 May 2016); citing Secretary of State, Alabama, at Alabama Department of Archives and History (SG5,686, Reels 3-17).

1866 Alabama state census, Macon County, white population, Schedule 1, p 50, dwelling [blank], family [blank], for H. H. Freeman; digital image, Alabama State Census, 1820-1866 (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1576 : accessed 3 May 2016); citing Secretary of State, Alabama, at Alabama Department of Archives and History (SG5,686, Reels 3-17).

An interesting aspect of Schedule 1 is that it provides a section at the end that includes losses of each family due to the Civil War, by tallying soldiers who had been killed, died of disease, or were disabled.  Henry Freeman had one son (and my 3rd great granduncle), Thomas "Tom" D Freeman (1846-1862) had died after the Battle of Perryville.  He served in Company H, Forty-fifth Alabama, under Captain Wilson, and was wounded October 12, 1862.  Note that the census showed he died of disease.



Schedule 3:

1866 Alabama state census, Macon County, white population, Schedule 3, Township No. 15, Range 24, p 7?, dwelling [blank], family [blank], for H. H. Freeman; digital image, Alabama State Census, 1820-1866 (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1576 : accessed 3 May 2016); citing Secretary of State, Alabama, at Alabama Department of Archives and History (SG5,686, Reels 3-17).

1866 Alabama state census, Macon County, white population, Schedule 3, Township No. 15, Range 24, p 63, dwelling [blank], family [blank], for H. H. Freeman; digital image, Alabama State Census, 1820-1866 (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1576 : accessed 3 May 2016); citing Secretary of State, Alabama, at Alabama Department of Archives and History (SG5,686, Reels 3-17).

Edited to add:  FindMyPast also carries this record set.  They have this to say about it:

A year after the American Civil War ended in 1865, Alabama conducted this state census to count the population. While state censuses were usually necessary to calculate representation in the state legislature, the state was placed under a military government after the war which lasted until 1868. However, the state government was then returned to local control.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Alta in Japan

In about 1954 Alta joined her husband Pete Norville in Zushi (about an hour south of Tokyo) where he had been transferred by the U.S. Navy. They lived there for three years.

[Alta, second from left. Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

Here's what she had to say* about her stay in Zushi:

"I loved that. We lived in a Japanese house with all Japanese neighbors. Pete sent me to school to learn Japanese. There wasn't any place I couldn't go. I had more Japanese friends than American friends so I saw a different side of Japan. I was the only wife among the Admiral's staff who could speak Japanese," Alta said.

Fortunately some pictures of her house made it to the Slater family photo collection which Aunt Olive has shared with us.

[Alta's house exterior and garden.]

[Alta's Japanese house interior - shoji]

[Alta's Japanese house interior - shoji]

[Alta's Japanese house - kitchen]

[Alta's Japanese house - ofuro, traditional soaking tub]

[Alta's Japanese house - garden]

*Quoted from her 1983 interview in the Casa Grande Dispatch transcribed here.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: Willet Orlando "Richard" or "Dick" Worden (1843 - 1912), Soldier, U.S. - Part 3

On Friday, May 1, 1863, my great great grandfather Dick Worden's 24th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment was part of the Union forces marching toward Port Gibson, having landed unopposed at Bruinsburg on the east bank of the Mississippi River the day before. Grant's final assault on Vicksburg had begun.

[Illus. in: Harper's pictorial history of the Civil War / Alfred H. Guernsey and Henry M. Alden. Chicago : The Puritan Press Co., c1894, v. 2, p. 457. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.]

[Map of the battle-field of Thompson's Hill, Port Gibson showing the positions of the 9th Div., 13th Army Corps commanded by Brig. Gen. P.J. Osterhaus, May 1, 1863. Sketched by F. Tunica, engineer. Julius Bien & Co., Lith., N.Y. (1891-1895).

Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.]

As we've seen, Dick Worden's regiment was part of General John Alexander McClernand's Thirteenth Corps and was commanded by Brigadier General Alvin Peterson Hovey. Here's what a 1903 history of Iowa* has to say about its role that day:

The Twenty-fourth supported artillery at the Battle of Fort Gibson and was here first under fire. Not a man flinched and but six men were lost.

Harper's pictorial history of the Civil War provides us with a more general view of the battle.

After Port Gibson, General Grant decided not to attack Vicksburg from the south, ordering his army to head toward Jackson, Mississippi, via the Old Port Gibson Road.


*History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century (1903). Benjamin F. Gue. Wikisource.



© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.