#52Ancestors-Week 4-Non-Population: Edward E. Adamson

I'm again taking this week's prompt, Non-Population, in a different direction.  In 1876, Missouri did a state census of twenty-eight counties.  Texas County, Missouri was included in that census.  That had been quite exciting news for me since the Adamson family I was researching was from there.

What I found was that the census for Texas County only included six townships.  That was good news for finding Elijah Adamson, but I also needed to find his youngest brother, Edward.  And Edward was not in the six townships that were in the census.  Edward had married the year before the census.  He died in 1879, so that 1876 census would have been the only census taken while he was married.

I don't know how many townships there were in Texas County in 1876, but there are now seventeen townships. Just my luck that they didn't include the one where Edward was living. So I am counting Edward E. Adamson as a victim of a non-population census!

#52Ancestors-Week 33-Family Legend: fishing photo

I have worked on last week's prompt of Family Legend.  I was trying to prove/disprove a story and was unable to do either.  I finally decided to do it simple.  Below is a picture of the Seeber brothers/brother-in-laws.   There is no doubt that they would have told others that they were the greatest fishing group there ever was.

 

#52Ancestors-Week 32-Youngest: Edward E. Adamson 1857-1879

The topic challenge for Week 32 was "Youngest".  Following the week before when the topic was "Oldest", I am writing about Edward E. Adamson, the youngest child of Allen and Elizabeth Saunders Adamson.

Edward E. Adamson was born in about 1857 in Texas County, Missouri to Allen and Elizabeth Saunders Adamson.  He was the youngest of their twelve children.  Edward's mother, Elizabeth, died in about 1858 when Edward was about one year old.  On the 10th of December in 1858, Peter Saunders, Elizabeth's brother, was named guardian for  the seven children who were under the age of fourteen, including Edward.

Texas County Court Records (Volume 2):
"Friday Dec. 10, 1858:
Guardian
It is ordered by the Court that Peter Sanders be appointed Guardian of the person of Josiah, Isaac, Elijah, John Wesley, Catherine, Mary Ann and Edward E. Adamson, miner (?) heirs of Allen and Elizabeth Adamson, Deceased."
 

In both the 1860 and 1870 census' Edward was living with Charles Mitch and Nancy Saunders Hill.  Nancy Hill was the daughter of George Saunders, Elizabeth's brother.

On the 24th of October in 1875, Edward married Martha "Mattie" Eldridge in Texas County, Missouri.  Both were about eighteen years old. I have found no trace of Edward and his wife after their marriage until this newspaper article.

"August 8, 1879
Prosecuting Attorney Geiger, Dr. BF Morgan, Jackson Davis, CM Hill and Beauregard Ross went to the Hamilton neighborhood up the river to disinter the body of a young man named Adamson who committed suicide on account of troubles with his wife.  Foul play is now suspected." 

Apparently, Edward died.  He was about twenty-two years old.  Was he killed or did he commit suicide?  I have not found any listings for him in cemetery records and was told that there are no coroner records available for Texas County for this time period. I have had researchers check newspapers from that area and time period for more information, but none has been found.  I wonder if Edward and Mattie had any children? I have not found any information about his wife, Mattie.  I believe that she married George Morse in 1880, but have not been able to prove that beyond a doubt.

So both the oldest and the youngest of Allen and Elizabeth Saunders Adamson's children lived short lives.  So sad.

#52Ancestors-Week 31-Oldest: Thomas Adamson 1835-1864

Week 31 of #52Ancestor Challenge was "Oldest". Next weeks' challenge is "Youngest". I decided to write about the oldest and the youngest sons of Allen and Elizabeth Sanders Adamson.  So this post is about "Oldest"-the oldest son of Allen and Elizabeth.

Thomas Adamson was born in about 1836 in Illinois.  He was apparently named after Elizabeth's father, Thomas Saunders. 

The family moved from Illinois to Missouri around 1842.  By that time, Thomas had a sister Nancy, and a brother William.  In 1850, the family was living in Crawford County, Missouri. At that time, there were eight children listed in the family.

Around 1858. Thomas' mother, Elizabeth, died.  There were then twelve children in the family.  For an unknown reason, After Thomas' mother died, Thomas' father (Allen) left Missouri and went back to Kentucky to live with his father.  Allen's children were all sent to live with Elizabeth's relatives (mostly her siblings).  Thomas was listed in the 1860 census living with Robert and Margaret Reeves (Margaret was Elizabeth Saunders Adamson's sister). Thomas' sisters, Sarah and Polly, were also living with the Reeves family. Thomas was twenty-five years old in 1860.

When age twenty-seven, Thomas went and enlisted to serve in the War of the Rebellion.  He enlisted on the 1st of February in 1862.  He was originally in the 10th MO Infantry Company C-CSA. In November of 1862, Thomas  joined up with his uncle Peter Saunders' unit (4th MO Cavalry Company E-CSA).  He was listed as a Blacksmith. Thomas was captured on the 24th of September in 1863 in Perry County, Arkansas. In December of 1863, Thomas was listed on the Roll of Prisoners of War and political prisoners received at Gratiot Street Military Prison (in St. Louis, MO).  He was transferred to the Rock Island Illinois Prison on the 18th of January in 1864.

Thomas died while a Prisoner of War at Rock Island, Illinois on the 13th of February in 1864.  He died of Catarrh Fever.  He is buried in the Rock Island Cemetery, Grave #475.  He was about twenty-eight years old.

I have not found any other records regarding Thomas.  It is assumed that he never married.  His life seems very sad to me.  His mother died when he was twenty-two years old, his father left the family, he joined the Confederacy, was captured and died. I wonder if anyone has ever visited his grave. Maybe I should.

#52Ancestors-Week 30-Colorful:Mom

My mom, Pat Murphy Adamson, was certainly the most colorful person I have ever known.  She had a wicked sense of humor, an Irish temper, and, as I discovered as I got older, was one of the kindest persons in the world.  She has been gone for six years now, and I miss her every single day.

#52Ancestors-Week 29-Music: James Ryan

This week's prompt is Music.  Why is this such a difficult one? Oh, perhaps because there is little musical talent known in my family.  However, I always think about one little fact that I saw researching James Ryan.

James was born in about 1833 in Ireland.  It appears that he came to the United States with his brother, John C. Ryan. John married my great-great-great aunt, Johanna Murphy in 1852.  James married my great-great-great aunt, Mary Murphy (Johanna's sister) in Peoria, Illinois in 1854.  I have not found either John or James in the 1850 Census, so they may have arrived about 1851.

James and Mary had a daughter, Maggie, on the 1st of October in 1856, then had daughter, Alice, on the 17th of March in 1858.  On the 12th of September 1859 another daughter, Johanna, arrived.

The 1860 Kickapoo, Peoria, Illinois Census was taken on the 30th of June 1860. James, Mary and daughters, Maggie and Alice, are listed.  Sadly, their infant daughter, Johanna, had died.  The family were living with Mary's parents, James and Alice Murphy.

On the 22nd of August in 1862, James Ryan enlisted in the 108th IL Infantry Company C with his brother-in-law, William H. Murphy. James' rank was  listed as musician.  He was 5'6" tall, had light hair, grey eyes,and a fair complexion. The record also shows that James deserted on 1 October 1862.

James and Mary had a son, Edmund, born to them around 1863.

And that is the last that I know of James Ryan.  Mary remarried around 1865 to James Corrigan.  I suspect that James Ryan enlisted or joined another company and died in the Civil War, but I don't know that to be fact.

Of course, another mystery is: why was James Ryan listed as a musician? What instrument did he play?  I sure would like to learn more about him!

Enlisted

22 August 1862 • Peoria, Peoria County, Illinois

Enlisted in 108th IL Infantry Company C with his brother-in-law, William H. Murphy. James deserted on 1 October 1862. Was listed as a musician.James and Mary Ryan had a son, Edmund, born to them in around 1863.

#52Ancestors-Week 28-Travel-David Erskine Gray

Travel is the prompt for this week, so I decided to write about David Erskine Gray, my great-great-great-grandfather who came to the United States from Scotland.  I had originally thought that he had come over in 1832, as it was written that his son William had.  As I searched for any records of Erskine (as he was called) immigrating, I found the passenger list with him listed!  After all these years searching!

Erskine was born in 1789 in Scotland.  He married Elisabeth Wood in 1819 in Scotland.  Erskine and Elisabeth Gray had five children, with only two of them living until adulthood.  One of the children was my gg-grandfather, David Erskine Gray, and the other was his brother, William Gray.

According to a history, the family left Scotland, landed in New York and went to Chicago where they spent some time, then went on to Indiana.

When I found the Passenger Record, I learned that Erskine, age 42, Elizabeth, age 32, and David, age 11, left Liverpool and arrived in New York on the 23rd of February in 1837.  They traveled on the ship named Emanuel with two boxes.  I can't even imagine how the family could leave with only two boxes of belongings.  What I found interesting is that their son, William, is not listed as a passenger on this ship.  William would have been about sixteen years old in 1837.

I wonder what travel would have been like on a ship across the ocean during the winter.  It must have been brutal.

The family was in Vigo County, Indiana by 1840 where David was listed with his wife and two sons, so somehow son William ended up with them.  How did they even find each other back then?

So this search continues to leave me with questions, but I am thrilled with locating the Passenger List!