52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 4 "Education"

Esther Louise Johnson in about 1920

 On the 1940 US Census, they asked for each person's Highest Grade of School Completed. For my maternal grandmother, Esther Louise (Johnson) Ogden (1902-1984) the entry is "H3" meaning that she only completed three years of high school. You might wonder why she did not finish high school with only one year to go. Luckily I don't have to wonder because my mother shared her mother's story with me.

In the summer of 1920, after Esther's junior year of high school in Gordon, Sheridan County, Nebraska, her parents, Swedish immigrant Gustav Johnson (1867-1941) and Rosabell (Strayer) Johnson (1872-1955), decided to move their family from Gordon to Henning, Otter Tail County, Minnesota. When my grandmother went to register for high school in Henning, she was told that she would have to complete two years of high school there rather than just the one. Something about a difference in education standards between where she came from and Henning. My grandmother said nuts to that and never enrolled in her new high school.

Several years later she went back to Sheridan County to visit her cousins. A young man there named Emery Ogden was dating one of her cousins. After meeting Esther and getting to know her, he dropped the cousin and began courting Esther. There were married in Rushville, Sheridan County, Nebraska on 19 March 1929. 

Their first daughter Ardis Rosemary Ogden was born in Sheridan County on 20 September 1930. She died only two days later. My grandmother was so frightened by that experience that when it came time for my mom, Shirley Ann Ogden (1931-2014) to be born, Esther went to back to Henning to be with her mother for the birth. That is why my mother was born in Minnesota and not Nebraska where her parents were living. 

Camp Security

Dick Eastman had a post today about the preservation of Camp Security, a Revolutionary War POW camp in York County, PA, just east of the town of York. A recent aerial image of the camp is here. I had read that my 4xgreat-grandfather, Johann Peter Strayer of Dover, York Co., PA had been a POW guard during the Revolutionary War. This article prompted me to investigate if this was the prison camp at which he had served.

A Google search for "peter strayer guard" turned up a Google Newspaper archive article from the Gettysburg Times of 24 Sept 1987. It states "Peter Strayer was in the American Rev. on Capt. Samuel Fuller's payroll, and was a guard at Camp Security, in 1781. Pa. Archives Vol 2 page 810 Sixth Series."

I am so glad that the author of the article, Harold Ditzler, provided a source citation for his assertion. Another Google search led me to a Wikipedia article on the Pennsylvania Archives with a link to the Google Books location for every volume. A few clicks and I was on page 810 of Volume 2 of the Sixth Series, where I found the second page of a muster roll for Sept 1781 listing Peter Strayer, who began serving on 15 Aug 1781.  He is listed as being "on guard" in the "Causualities" [sic] column. The heading of the muster roll on page 809 states that they were guarding "the Convention Prisinon [sic] at Camp Security."

I wanted to cite this book and realized I didn't know how to cite an on-line book. I know how to cite a book and I know how to cite an web site, but this was my first try at citing a book I accessed on-line. Since I had recently downloaded the 2nd edition of "Evidence Explained" from evidenceexplained.com, I popped it open to see what the expert had to say.

Basically what Elizabeth Shown Mills says for Reprints: Image Editions is to cite first the book (without publisher or place of publication), then the location of the image. She gives examples for a book on CD/DVD or on microfilm, but not for a web site. So here is my attempt at a citation regarding my ancestor's service.

Montgomery, Thomas Lynch. 1906. [Muster rolls, etc., 1743-1787], 809-810. Google Books (//http://books.google.com/books?id=ED4OAAAAIAAJ : accessed 15 May 2012.)

 I took the book citation straight from WorldCat, so that has to be right, even if I think it needs to provide information about the series of which it is a volume. I tried to follow the format for citing a website given in EE as best I could. At the very least, it's provides a trail for someone else to verify and evaluate my assertion that Peter Strayer was a guard at Camp Security during the Revolutionary War.

So that's one maternal line fighting for independence and one (Ogden) fighting for the Crown and heading for Canada when they lost.

Tombstone Tuesday: The Johnsons

This is the last set of photos of my great-grandparents' grave markers. Gustaf Adolf and Rosabelle (Strayer) Johnson are buried in Inman Cemetery, Henning, Otter Tail Co., MN.

I've now posted pictures of all the grave sites for my grandparents and great-grandparents. Next week it's on to the great-great-grandparents.

Mystery Monday: Schaeffer Hattrick

What the heck, my last two blog posts have been about my 4th great-grandfather, George Schaeffer, so let's make it a trifecta. I don't have any info on the place and date of his birth, death or marriage to Elizabeth Klinefelder. I do have very exact info on the places and dates of her birth and death. My brother added this couple to our ancestry.com on-line tree, probably using other ancestry.com trees.

I've done a little bit of disorganized searching on ancestry.com looking for relative historical records. I'm finding conflicting info, mostly in Sons of the American Revolution applications. I can find applications for a George Schaeffer, but the maiden name for his wife Elizabeth is different. His son is given as Adam Schaeffer. I have also found applications for an Adam Schaeffer with a wife of Elizabeth Klinefelder. Very confusing.

This is a bigger mystery than I want to get involved with right now. I have more recent questions to work on answering. If I was tackling it, I would start by looking for records for Catherine Schaeffer, my 3rd great-grandmother. A marriage certificate from early 19th century York County, PA might list her parents. York County histories might also have history on the Schaeffer family. There are also church records from Dover, PA           that could provide info on her baptism or marriage. I get the feeling that my German York Co. ancestors are all tied together in the community.

Census Sunday: George Shaeffer 1790 US Census

Yesterday after posting about my Schaeffer line, I decided to do some quick research on my 4th great-grandfather, George Schaeffer. I have his wife, Elizabeth Klinfelder, living in Pennsylvania between 1760 and 1835. His daughter, Catherine Schaeffer, my 3rd great-grandmother, was born in Pennsylvania in 1784. That lead me to surmise that I could probably find George somewhere in Pennsylvania in 1790. I searched the 1790 US Census for a George Schaeffer living in Pennsylvania. I found several, but one was living in Dover, York County, which is where the family of Catherine's husband, Andrew Strayer, comes from. I clinked on the link to view the image and I immediately recognized it. I posted it a couple of weeks ago because John Peter Stayer and his father-in-law appear near the top of the page. About halfway down the page is George Shaffer. 

It will take a lot more research to verify that this is the right George Schaeffer, but his close proximity to future in laws makes me think I've found the right man. Plus his wife was born in York Co., PA. I still have no info on when and where he was born and died, but this is a start.

Census Sunday: 1800 US Census

I was hoping to have a census image to post for the 1800 US Census. I have not been able to locate one though. Last week I posted a 1790 record John Peter Stroher/Strayer. I can't follow up with another of his because he died in 1794.

I haven't been able to locate his widow, Maria Jacobina Stauch, who died in 1823. She may have been living with a relative. My 3rd great-grandfather, her son Andrew Strayer, turned 9 in 1800. That's the only child I've got in my records for them. They had been married for 15 years when Andrew was born, so I'm sure they had more children that Andrew.

Maria Jacobina's father, John George Stauch, died in 1803, so he should be in the 1800 US census somewhere, but I have been unable to locate him, either.

To find the 1800 US  Census records for either my 4th great-grandmother or my 5th great-grandfather, I'll need to find more information on family members with whom they might have been living. I'll add that to my genealogy to do list. If I'm lucky a distant Strayer or Stauch relative who has done this work will contact me and put me on the right track. One can only hope.

Census Sunday: Johan Peter Stroher 1790 US Census

Here is the oldest US Census record I have for any of my ancestors. My 4th great-grandfather is listed as Peter Stroher, second from the top in the left column. Below him is his father-in-law George Stauch, my 5th great-grandfather. My other colonial ancestry lines (Ogdens, etc.) were Loyalists who headed up to Canada after the US won its independence, so they're not in the US census until they come back later for homesteads in South Dakota.

Abraham Strayer's 1889 Civil War Pension Deposition pt. 4

Here is my transcription of page 4 of my g-g-grandfather Abraham Strayer's 1889 deposition regarding his Civil War disability claim. The first two words come from the end of page 3.

I laid//on the brick floor of the Court House there [Jacinto] one night and think I took cold. We were guarding prisoners at the train and I slept on the floor when not on post My diarrhoea got very bad. I was up + about but was running off at the bowels very badly. I was left back with the teams + to guard Co. Theres when the rest marched to Iuka. I was there a week without medical care when a Dr. came back + examined us all + I was sent back. The order was that all who were not able to march 30 miles should be sent back to guard the train to Corinth. We remained there about a week when the teams + all men able for duty were ordered out to the command.

Some surgeon came out to our camp examined the men and ordered me and others who were not fit for duty back to hospital at Corinth. I will state here that I was not able to march back from Jacinto to Corinth and was allowed to ride in one of the wagons. I kept my gun and equipment and in getting down off the wagon (on the second day I think it was) I slipped and fell on the wheel hurting myself down about the groin. I said nothing about it at the time. It hurt me but I thought nothing of it, while at hospital I found a lump there but I said nothing of it and in fact// thought little of it for some little time after the war.

The end of the last sentence comes from page 5.

Between diarrhea and groin injuries, I don't think my ancestor enjoyed his brief time in the service very much.

Abraham Strayer's 1889 Civil War Pension Deposition pt. 3

Here is my transcription of page 3 of my g-g-grandfather Abraham Strayer's 1889 deposition regarding his Civil War disability claim. I've started with the first complete sentence on the page.

I think I had the measles when I was about two years old. I had no sickness before the war.

Dr. Thos Maybury, Pleasant Plain Ia was called once or twice to see different members of the family, but I had no occasion for his services.

Our Co. was organized at Keokuk Iowa, from there we went to St Louis, was there perhaps two months when we went up the Tenn River to Hamburg Tenn and marched from there, to where Gen. Halleck's army was invading Corinth.

The first sickness I had was along the last of June, felt badly + had some fever for three days. One of the surgeons (forget his name) gave me medicine. I then returned to duty again and was with the Co. until a day or two before the Iuka fight. We were camped near Jacinto. We were at Jacinto for a month. I was troubled with the diarrhoea, more or less all the time. I was at Jacinto, bt was generally on duty until a few days before the Army started for Iuka. Three Co's of our Co was at Jacinto for a week guarding prisoners and the out posts about the town.

Abraham's account of the movements of his regiment corresponds with the account from the Civil War Archive.

SERVICE.--Duty at Benton Barracks, Mo., until May 5, 1862. Moved to Hamburg Landing, Tenn., May 5-7. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., May 8-30. Action on Corinth Road May 29. Pursuit to Booneville May 31-June 12. Camp at Clear Creek, near Corinth, until August 15. Expedition to Ripley, Miss., June 27-July 1. Moved to Jacinto August 15, and duty there until October 2. Expedition to Iuka, Miss., September 18-20. Battle of Iuka September 19.

So it was about Sept. 16, 1862 when he left he company because of another bout of illness.

Abraham Strayer's 1889 Civil War Pension Deposition pt. 2

Here is my transcription of the second page of my g-g-grandfather's 1889 deposition in regards to his Civil War disability pension. The first few words of the first sentence are carried over from page 1. I marked the break with a "//". The same for the last two words of the last sentence, which come from the start of page 3.

This page has lots of information about his movements and residences in Iowa between 1858 and 1862. It also mentions several other farmers from the areas where he lived. That information may be useful to someone else.

In the fall of 58 I moved//from Clark Co. Ohio to Pleasant Plain Jefferson Co. Iowa. I was there one month then went to Brighton Washington Co. Iowa remained there two months then went on a farm two miles W of Pleasant Plain was there three years then went back to Brighton and enlisted at that place

The farm I lived on was only 5 miles from Brighton.

Michael Shafer knew me from the time I came to Iowa up to the time of my enlistment. He was a member of same co 

The old neighbors who knew me then are all gone or dead. I went over there three years ago but could find no one.

Seb Johnson 2 m west of Brighton Ia knew me as well as any I can think of. he knew me while I resided in Ohio. Benjamin Andrews now of Oskaloosa, Ia was a near neighbor while on the farm at Pleasant Plain. William Harrison lived on a farm 2 1/2 miles west of Pleasant Plan. I think he is there yet. I did not go over to Pleasant Plain when I was in Iowa.

 These men can tell the examiner who were* there now that knew me before the war.

I was sound and in good physical health at and prior to my enlistment. I was never a fleshy man, but I was that healthy and active, always ready to work, and never had a doctor, before//the war.

The asterisk appears at the end of a line of text and points to a note written vertically in the left-hand margin of this page.

*I was at Pleasant Plain but did not go out to the farm. I could find no one in the town that knew me before the war.

It looks like he remembered afterwards that he had gone to Pleasant Plain when he was in Iowa looking for people who could attest to his health before the war.

Abraham Strayer's 1889 Civil War Pension Deposition

I received a copy of my great-great-grandfather, Abraham Strayer's Civil War disability pension file from the NARA a while back and have finally finished sorting through and organizing it. In 1889, he was trying to get his Civil War disability pension extended. His payments had only covered from his discharge through Sept 1881. He was deposed in his home town of Milan, Rock Island Co, IL on 3 Oct. 1889 by C. C. Horton, a Special Examiner of the Dept. Of the Interior's US Bureau of Pensions. Mr. Horton's handwriting is wonderfully illegible, but I've managed to make my way through the first of ten pages. Here is what it says (as near as I can tell):

My age is 67. I was formerly a farmer, not now able to work.

My P.O. address is Milan, Ill.

I was late pri D, 17th Iowa Vols [He was a private in Co. D of the 17th Iowa Infantry.]

 I enlisted March 17, 1862 and was discharged from the hospital at Keokuk Iowa for disability Jany 28 1863.

No other service.

I claim pension for rheumatism + chronic deirrhoen [sic]. I did apply for  poisoning but I don't know but what I thought to be poisoning was simply the result of rheumatism and deirrhoen [sic]

I was fully swollen in hands, in fact all over. When I came home, a Dr. Pesser of Brighton, Iowa told me I was poisoned. That is all I know about it, and that is why I made that claim. The Dr. did not examine me or treat me, just looked at my hands at a sale. I was also ruptured in service, but I do not know as there is any use in putting in a claim for that, as I did not show it to anyone. I have also been troubled with a trouble about my heart. I can not get my breath at times. All ways have been troubled with shortness of breath since the war.

You can see what I mean about it being tough to read. Here is what the word that I take to be "diarrhea" looks like. 

Even being generous, I cannot give Mr. Horton credit for having spelled that correctly.

More of this soon.

The Civil War

150 years ago today the Civil War started. I may seem a little late for the Civil War Genealogy Challenge, but actually I was way ahead of schedule. I've already posted about my only Civil War veteran ancestor in "Keokuk Civil War Hospital Cornerstone" many, many months ago. 

Abraham Strayer may not have distinguished himself in battle (he may never have actually seen any fighting), but he did volunteer and he did pay with his health in service to his country. 

Keokuk Civil War Hospital Cornerstone

Recently, I have been going through the 147 pages of the Civil War pension file of my great-great-grandfather, Abraham STRAYER (1823-1893). He enlisted in Company D of the 17th Regiment of the Iowa Volunteer Infantry at Brighton, IA on 26-Mar-1862. He was 39 years old. The regiment mustered in on 16-Apr-1862 in Keokuk, IA.

The regiment was on duty at the Benton Barracks, MO until May 5, 1862. They then moved to Hamburg Landing, TN on May 5-7. They participated in the advance on and siege of Corinth, MS from May 8-30. There saw action on Corinth Road on May 29 and were involved in pursuit operations to Booneville, MS from May 31-June 12. They encamped at Clear Creek, near Corinth, until August 15. They undertook an expedition to Ripley, MS from June 27-July 1. They moved their camp to Jacinto, MS on August 15.

I had always assumed that Abraham's disability discharge in Jan. 1863 was do to a wound received in battle. I was sadly mistaken. According to various affadavits, Abraham's legs swelled up from rheumatism and he suffered from chronic diarrhea. He was not the only soldier affected with this problem. According to Union records of 1,739,135 cases, 57,265 Yankee soldiers died of dysentery or diarrhea, compared with 44,238 men dying in battle.

I am still working through transcribing all of the paper work related to Abraham's pension claims so I am not exactly sure when his medical problems began. The general time frame is the Fall of 1862, when the regiment was encamped at Jacinto. I do know that he was admitted to the General Hospital at Mound City, IL on 4-Oct-1862 and was discharged on 23-Oct-1862. He was admitted to the hospital steamer "D.A. January" on 30-Oct-1862 and was thereafter transfered to the General Hospital in Keokuk, IA on 4-Nov-1862. He was discharged from service from the Keokuk hospital on 28-Jan-1863, less than a year after enlisting.

The Civil War Hospital in Keokuk was established in 1862 in the hotel, Estes House, which had been built in 1857. It stood at the corner of 5th and Main. This hospital had 16 wards with more than 1300 beds. The building was razed in 1929, and the cornerstone was removed and brought to the cemetery in memory of those who died in the hospital. The cornerstone is in Section B in the eastern section of the cemetery in a copper case with a glass top.

CORNERSTONE OF THE OLD ESTES HOUSE
FIFTH & MAIN KEOKUK, IOWA
SITE OF ARMY HOSPITAL APRIL 17, 1862 - OCT. 1, 1865
ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF THE SOLDIERS WHO
DIED IN THE OLD GENERAL HOSPITAL AT KEOKUK
AND ARE BURIED IN THE NATIONAL CEMETERY

There are more than 4000 Civil War dead buried in the Keokuk National Cemetery. Luckily, my great-great-grandfather is not one of them. Although he lived for another 30 years after his discharge, he was always sickly, feeble, walked with a cane and had trouble making a living.