Monthly Archives: January 2011

You Paid HOW Much?: amanuensis monday

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The mottled paper, the size of a place-mat, is folded in half, then half again, then half again.  Carefully penned on its outer face is a succinct description of the document’s contents:


In 1841 John P Minor paid $5250, lawful money of Virginia, for 350 acres of land in Harrison County, (West) Virginia.  According to the website Measuring Worth this sum was the equivalent of 133,000 lawful 2009 dollars.  But consider this.  As measured by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita index, this sum is the equivalent of $2.5 million dollars.  Not many folks in 1841 or 2009 could afford to pay that much money for 350 acres, and this measure of worth gives us a clue that John P. Minor was not only a man of means, but also a man of some considerable economic power.  James P. Wilson and his wife Rowena were all the richer for JP’s interest in their land.

THIS INDENTURE made this 19th day of October in the year of our Lord Eighteen hundred and forty-one, between James P. Wilson and Rowena his wife of the County of Harrison and State of Virginia of the one part, and John P. Miner of the county of Green and State of Pennsylvania of the other part: Witnesseth that the said James P. Wilson and Rowena his wife, for and in consideration of the sum of five thousand two-hundred and fifty dollars lawful money of Virginia, to them in hand paid, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledge have granted, bargained, sold, aliened, en???? released and confirmed and by these presents do grant, bargain, sell alien, enf???off, release and confirm unto the said John P. Miner his heirs and assigns forever all that certain tract or piece of Land with its appurtenances lying and being in the said County of Harrison on Simpsons Creek, and Bounded as follows, to wit Beginning at an Ash and Dogwood corner to the original survey made for William Lowther, and running thence N34 1/2*E25 1/2 poles to a stone (bearing S69*E 16 Links from a chesnut (sic) oak) Thence Leaving the original line N62*W76 1/4 poles to a Stone, Thence S48 W25 poles crossing Limestone Run three times to a stone.  Thence down said run S42 1/3 W62 poles crossing said run Seven times to a Stone by a Stump thence S241/2W14 poles crossing said run to a Hickory on the westerly bank thereof.Thence S34 1/2 W29 1/2 poles crossing said run twice to a Limestone.  Thence S40 1/2 W 15 poles to a Hickory.  Thence S 64*W27 poles crossing said run to a whiteoak (sic) Thence S28 1/2 W 12 poles to a Pin oak. S 20 W36 4/10 poles to a stump.  S 62 3/4 W17 poles to a stump.  N 62* W11 poles and 4 links to a stone, S 70 3/4 W 10 poles to a Stake, (crossing said run twice) near said Creek, Thence up the same S10 W24 poles crossing said run, near its mouth to a Sugar tree, one of the original corners of said Lowther Survey, also a corner to land belonging to Salomon Holland, thence with two of said Hollands lines N 81* E 22 poles.  Thence S 28E 76 poles to a Stake on the Bank of said Simpsons Creek.  Thence up the same with the meanders thereof N 76 1/2 E 61 poles .  S 76 E 18 1/2 poles, crossing a drain, S 52 E 15 poles crossing Stouts Run, S 25 E 22 1/2 poles, S 5* E 16 poles.  S 8 1/2 W 29 poles, S 4 E 7 poles to a water Beech at teh mouth of a small drain, Thence leaving said Creek S 69 E 21 1/2 poles to a stake, S 79 E 26 poles to a n Ash and Dogwood, Thence N 57 1/2 E 94 poles to a Stake by a road, thence N 31 W 24 1/4 poles to a Black Walnut and dead white oak, corner to ladn belonging to Aaron Lodge, Thence with two of his Lines N 1/4 E 75 poles crossing said Stouts run to a Hickory Thence N 7 1/3 W 170 poles to the Beginning containing three hundred and fifty acres.  To have and to hold the above described tract or piece of Land with the appurtenances to the said John P. Miner his heirs and assigns to and for the only proper use and behoof of the said John P. Miner his heirs and assigns forever: And the said James P. Wilson and Rowena his wife for themselves their heirs do hereby covenant to and with the said John P. Miner his heirs and assigns that they will forever warrant and defend the above described tract or piece of Land to the said John P. Miner his heirs and assigns froever against all persons and claims whatsoever.  In Testimony whereof the aforesaid James P. Wilson and Rowena his wife have hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year first above written.

Joseph Winter and Benjamin Stout, Justices of the Peace in the County of Harrison, Virginia witnessed the sellers’ signatures on the 19th day of October 1841.

Thus John P. Minor, of Greene County, Pennsylvania, acquired this parcel, known in my family as the “Lowther Land”, that would later be deeded to his two eldest boys, Abia and Robert Minor.  Why was the fifty year old cattle dealer interested in this particular tract of land?  Further documents reveal some answers; stay tuned.


 

BRADFORD the Immigrant: surname saturday

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The Bradford man from whom I am descended came to the United States in the mid-1770s.  He is thought to have been born around 1745 in the area of Yorkshire, England.  What forces drove him to leave his family and what resources permitted his passage are subjects of conjecture.  His military service to his adopted country is not.

This man is my Bradford Immigrant.  By collating Federal Census data, an Ancestral Register Report by Doug Kreis and a family history shared by Ray Jackson I can connect my grandmother, Kerma Pauline Bradford Minor, to this English-American, John Bradford, Senior.

 

CHECKING IN ON MY PROMISES

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One month ago, I sat still long enough to listen to my self.  I wanted my family research and blog writing to feel focused and invigorating, not so scattered and exhausting.  I organized my thoughts by participating in the 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy Challenge:

Think about the goals you want to accomplish next year and write them down. What research steps do you want to take? What records would you like to find? Think about the brick walls you’d like knocked down. What things haven’t you done yet and why not?

I created 10 resolutions, guidelines, hopes, dreams–promises to my self.

PROMISES, PROMISES–REVISITED

How am I doing with all that?  Well, the answer is complicated.

I promise to make three genealogical fieldtrips.  FIELDTRIP!!!  YAY!

  1. A road trip to Allegany County, New York, to explore Whitesville, Rushford and Alfred–towns in which my great-great grandparents Ira and Serena Sayles lived and taught.
  2. A visit to Washington, DC where I will lose myself in the National Archives and Library of Congress and the Smithsonian for more records on the Sayles.
  3. Another road trip to Boydton, Virginia, to locate the Dodson Cemetery and to access Mecklenburg County deeds, probate documents and wills for the Sayles and Dodsons.

My field trips are not likely to be realized until the snow stops falling and I am alright with that.

I promise to attend the Writer’s Workshop in Jackson, Wyoming and visit my brother and his wife on the side. :)

Plans are in the works!  Dates have been sibling and husband approved.  Onward!

I promise to pass my Ancestor Approved Award forward, creating a list of 10 things I have learned while being my family’s Teller and awarding the AAA to 10 more genealogy blogs that have great content.

I have begun to read and follow other genealogy blogs; my RSS feed is up to 7.  Unfortunately, even that limited reading comes at a cost in time that I find hard to justify daily.  I DO feel much more connected to a larger community, and that provides impetus to keep trying to fulfill this promise.

I promise to roll in technology like my dogs roll in fresh grass, becoming proficient in PollDaddy, Snag It, WordPress, Footnote, and anything else that strikes me as being super cool and relevant to creating digital and print family stories.

A++++ for effort and accomplishment on this promise! for this is what I do instead of reading other folks’ blogs.  I am particularly focused on Snag It, WordPress and Footnote.

I promise to make an editorial calendar for my blog!!!

OH, Yeah.  Have I done this. But I don’t have time to do all that I planned out!!! So this promise has created an ENORMOUS problem for me.  Time for a rephrase!  I will stop the surname research and the posting to Surname Saturday.  I got REALLY off target with this process.  I don’t regret it all; the meandering led me to an incredible distant relative.  I am not able to keep up the pace and do what I feel passionately drawn to, however.  Whew….it feels good to get that off my mind.  :)  Now I can redo my editorial calendar.

 

I promise to keep annotating and cataloging the incredible mother lode of primary documents I am privileged to care for.

This task was suffering from my editorial calendar dilemma, but I have been plugging away at it.  I have had to realize that annotating and cataloging is not satisfying unless it leads to understanding and sharing the stories that emerge.  All of this takes more time than I could have ever imagined.  So this promise is a work in progress.

I promise to finish my Civil War Course, David Blight lectures downloaded from Open Yale Courses.

Another casualty of my editorial calendar!  This task is essential to understanding my Minor Papers and the story-weaving of Sayles, Dodsons, Stricklands and Minors–which is promise ten: I promise to sketch out the stories of how the Sayles and the Dodsons, the Stricklands and the Minors were intertwined by the events of the Civil War and its aftermath.

Promises, promises.

Checking in has made me focus on what is working–and what is not even close to working. Overall though the promises are focusing my attention and driving my energy into wonderful places. As Mr. Bacharach said,

Promises, promises, my kind of promises, can lead to joy and hope and love!

HELP! I Need Somebody!: wordless wednesday

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"2nd row 3rd from right"

Help, I need somebody,

Help, not just anybody,

Help, you know I need someone, help!

~~the Beatles

Found among my grandmother’s treasures, this photograph presented a family mystery. Where is this taken? What oaths bound these men together?   Who is “2nd row, 3rd from right?”

HELP!

Clues emerged–just since the New Year–from my Kerma Bradford surname research.  My Roahrig connection, Doug Kreis of Zanesville, Ohio, became my Bradford connection from Zanesville, Ohio.  Opening that PDF , I quickly scanned the Register Report for new information.  This passage from an obituary for Amaziah George Bradford, Adamsville Register, Adamsville, Ohio, dated October 1928 grabbed my attention:

Several years ago Mr Bradford had conducted a confectionery store in West Lafayette and was later employed in the enameling plant in that village. Mr Bradford had been a member of the Odd fellows Lodge in West Lafayette for several years. He was a member of the M E Church. He had been a resident of West Lafayette for 30 years.

The Odd Fellows Lodge leapt off the screen, grabbed me by the neck and dragged me to the box of Kerma treasures.  The photo is mounted on a hard cardboard, with no identification other than those words of inscription.  Directed to that man in the second row–third from the right–I compared his face to that of Kerma’s brother, Carlos Bradford.

Carlos Leroy Bradford

The resemblance is striking!

Square face. Cleft in chin. This guy is a Bradford.

The words Odd Fellow Lodge became google keywords over the course of the next couple of days.  Armed with the research I went back to the photo and found identification staring me in the face.


I believe I have an image of my grandmother Kerma’s grandfather Amzi Bradford!!!

I Need Somebody! Not just anybody!

My detective work continues to turn this hunch into a solid, positive identification.  The hats, mustaches, suits and shoes of these men offer clues as to the date this gathering took place.  The building’s windows and door moldings may hold clues as to where the photograph was shot.  If I could confirm either of those facts, then I could–with much greater certainty– state that I do, indeed, have an image of my great-great-grandfather Bradford.  This is where I need help, and not just from anybody!  Photo detectives: can you shed some light on these lingering questions?  Do you have sources you could recommend for a novice photograph historian?  Leave your ideas in the comments–I look forward to hearing from you!

Touching the Future–A Grandfather’s Bequest: amanuensis monday

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[Author's Note: As any parent knows, shooing kids into adulthood requires a balancing of priorities.  While securing one's own home and finances, you also strive to secure a promising future for your children.  We pay for health insurance, cover education costs, loan cash for car payments, and extend a bit of mad money whenever possible--as long as we don't leave ourselves bankrupt and unable to manage our dotage.  John Pearson (Pierson) Minor and his wife, Isabela McClelland, of Greene County, Pennsylvania were no exceptions.  These parents accomplished this tricky balancing act by serving as their family's private bankers, lending money and holding the mortgages on land in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Illinois, Iowa, and Ohio.  For cattle dealers and farmers in the first half of the 19th century, securing land was the ticket to securing a child's good future; the means by which a young man/woman could become a self-sufficient, productive member of society.  This transcription continues a cascade of posts in which I will share the notes, mortgages and letters that record the helping hand extended to John's eldest children,  Robert and Abia, the two boys by his first marriage to Hannah McClelland.]

In the last post we were introduced to a piece of land in Harrison County, Virginia.  In 1849 John and Isabella were prepared to deed this land to the brothers, Abia (a- bye-ya) and Robert, in exchange for title to land that the boys had inherited from their grandfather, Robert McClelland.  This un-executed deed serves as a keystone document from which we will jump back into time.

Abia and Robert  Became Landowners

A will would be nice, but the 1849 document will have to suffice.  It states that “their share of a tract of land will,d to them the said Abia and Robert Minor by Robert McClelland deceased” is accepted as payment for the “Wilson Land” in Harrison County.  When did they first become landowners?  At the time of their grandfather’s death.  When did Robert McClelland die?  I do have a document to narrow the timeframe.

In the Orphans Court of Green County at June Term 1834

And now June 11th 1834 an notice of the Court grant a Rule upon the heirs and legal Representatives of Robert McClelland deceased to be and appear at an orphans Court when held at Waynesburgh in and for said County on the third Monday of September next and accept or refute the real estate of said decedent at the valuation there of or shuo (show) county why the same shall ???? sold.

The smudge in the lower left corner, when held just right in great light, revealed an embossed Seal of the County Greene.  Inscribed on the note’s exterior were the words–

March Term 1833           Order upon the H????? of Robt McClelland, dec’d

It would appear then from this Orphans Court decree that Robert McClelland died after the court met in 1832 but before the March Term in 1833.  The will must have stipulated that a tract of land be divided among his children, and among grandchildren if the child was deceased.  This grandfather’s bequest secured a bit of future for a 17 year old Abia and 15 year old Robert.  For whatever reason the young men chose to begin adulthood on the Wilson Land, using their inheritance as collateral.

Our next transcription will uncover how John P. Minor acquired the Wilson Land of Harrison County.