If you’ve been following my blog, you’ve probably read my last two posts about my great, great grandmother’s brother, Ephraim, who killed his sister’s abusive husband, Nathan L Buchanan. (The posts are “A Reason for Murder” & “Sister to Asylum; Brother to Jail.”) One of the newspaper articles I shared explains that Bennett was moved to a different county’s jail “to escape the vengeance of a mob which was supposed to be organized for the purpose of lynching him.” (In case you haven’t read the other articles and the family story that was passed down, Nathan L Buchanan was abusing his...
As I mentioned yesterday in “A Reason for Murder“, I had spent hours trying to find another newspaper article about my great, great grandmother’s brother, Ephraim Bennett, murdering his brother-in-law, Nathan L Buchannan, in 1893. As I concluded the post, I went back to newspapers.com and tried again. And, this time I got a hit! I don’t know if I tried different search terms or not. I narrowed it to “Missouri” newspapers and set the year to 1893. And then I searched for “Bennett” and “murdered.” Anyway, I have a lot more information now! A Terrible Crime, The Springfield Democrat,...
The day I discovered my great, great grandmother’s brother, Ephraim Bennett (abt 1841-?), had been convicted of 2nd degree murder, I hoped it was for a ‘good’ reason. I had recently watched two episodes of “Who Do You Think You Are?” Cynthia Nixon had discovered her female ancestor had killed her abusive husband after he told her she wouldn’t see another sunset. Maybe she could have ran away with her two young children or gotten to safety in some other way, but this was better than Jesse Taylor’s discovery that his ancestor probably killed his aunt over an inheritance! About...
Randy posts a weekly Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge over at Genea-Musings. Tonight’s challenge is about your August genealogical “finds.” Here are the rules… Did you do some genealogy research during August 2014? Did you find a great record or story pertaining to an ancestor or family member? Tell us about the BEST genea-prize (“record”) you found during August 2014. What was it, where did you find it, and how does it help advance your research? Share your genea-prize in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook or Google+ post. NOTE: If you...
As genealogists, we come across some really interesting items that don’t directly relate to our family tree. I decided to start a series called “Not My Family” Friday where I can share some of these amazing finds. If you’d like to join along, please post a link to your post! I’d love to see what you’ve found! I’ve written four previous posts about the “notorious Brawdy family” which was our class project at GRIP this summer. We uncovered some amazing newspaper articles! Family members were accused of larceny, assault, running a “bawdy” house (brothel), and even murder! The article I’m...
Randy has posted another Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge. This week we are looking at Sarah’s in our database with ‘last names unknown’ or LNU. I’m going to summarize the rules this time: Basically, search your database and see how many females you have with the first name of “Sarah” where you don’t know the last name. Then, do a little research and see if you can discover her maiden name. If you don’t have any Sarah’s, feel free to use a different first name. Then, post your findings! So, here goes! I have two Sarah’s, but they are such...
I recently wrote two posts about two men whom I thought were brothers of my great, great grandmother, Elizabeth Bennett (1849-1914). The first was titled “Doing Time in the Missouri State Penitentiary” and the second was “Skeletons in the Closet: Rapist & Murderer.” I had uncovered some prison records which seemed to be her brothers. I hired a researcher in Missouri and received a package from her last night. The man who was found guilty of 2nd degree murder is actually Elizabeth’s brother. It’s a fascinating story that I’m still researching. But, the man who committed “assault to rape” was...
William Porter Dickson enlisted in September of 1861 to fight as a Confederate soldier in the Civil War. In the supplement to his 1911 Civil War Questionnaire he listed eight battles in which his company, Company D of the 12th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, took place. I am going to learn more about his company’s role in the Civil War by researching these eight battles. from William Porter Dickson’s 1911 Questionnaire The second battle listed on William Porter Dickson’s 1911 Questionnaire is the Battle of Shiloh. Approximately 100,000 soldiers met in Shiloh, Tennessee as they fought over the train depot at...
William Porter Dickson enlisted in September of 1861 to fight as a Confederate soldier in the Civil War. In the supplement to his 1911 Civil War Questionnaire he listed eight battles in which his company, Company D of the 12th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, took place. I am going to learn more about his company’s role in the Civil War by researching these eight battles. from William Porter Dickson’s 1911 Questionnaire Battle #1: The Battle of Belmont, November 7, 1861 Map of the Battle of Belmont (Image from Wikipedia – public domain) This battle is important as it was the first...
I didn’t enjoy history class when I was growing up and have only grown to appreciate it in the past decade or so. Now, I love watching war movies and visiting war sites. But, I was really confused as I read over a 1911 Civil War Questionnaire today. This one is for a brother of my great, great grandfather, James B Dickson (1840-1902). James didn’t live long enough to participate in some questionnaires that went out for the 50th anniversary of the start of the war, but two of his brothers did. Photo of Pointe du Hoc from our visit...
