Carnival of Genealogy: 106 Years in America--And More!

One ancestor I'm really trying to learn more about is my great-great-grandfather William ("Billie") Sanford. He was born in 1809 in Virginia and died in 1916 in Texas at the age of 106! A book I read says that he is the oldest person buried in the "colored" section of the Old City Cemetery in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas. (170 Years of Cemetery Records in Milam County, Texas, by N.H. Holman).

William Sanford was born a slave in a part of Virginia that is now West Virginia. He either was born as, or later became, the property of the James Sanford family. The Sanfords moved to Williamson County, Tennessee some time before 1820. James Sanford died in 1849; his son, Reuben, had died in 1846. Reuben's widow, Mary Wood Sanford, relocated her children and her slaves to Milam County, Texas in 1854. Those slaves included Billie Sanford. At some point in Texas, he married Emily Scott from North Carolina and they had four daughters, one of whom was my great-grandmother, Betty Sanford.

On Billie's death certificate (below), the term "old age" is mentioned not less than three times!

William Sanford's death certificate
(click to enlarge)

There's some longevity on my mother's side of the family as well.

William Henry Long, my mother's uncle, was born on March 21, 1889 and died on August 26, 1990, at age 101, in Kansas City, Missouri. The 1930 census says he was a truck driver.

Christina Alta Long Neal, sister of William Henry Long, was born on April 2, 1898, and died on September 14, 2000, at age 102, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Tina and Will's sister, Rosetta Bell Long, was nearly a centenarian. She was born on May 28, 1900 and died on March 17, 1994, at age 93, in Kansas City, Missouri. "Rosie" never married but had a companion of over 50 years. I don't know much about him, except that his name was "RJ." After working in a laundry all of her life, Aunt Rosie retired at age 65. She taught herself to play the piano, and at age 68, she was ordained a minister by the Metropolitan Spiritual Church of Christ. She was pastor of Good Shepherd Spiritual Church in Kansas City for more than 20 years.

To her, age really was just a state of mind.

New Midwest Genealogy Center Opens

The Kansas City Star reports that the ribbon-cutting and dedication of the new Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence, Missouri, was held today. As regular readers know, that's right in the heart of my maternal homelands. I'm quite eager to visit on my next trip back! But, until I can see it in person and blog about it, here's the next best thing:

Black History Month: Black Catholics in America

I have obliquely alluded, in this space, to the fact that I am of the Roman Catholic faith. This may come as a surprise to a lot of folks, some of whom believe a black Catholic is rarer than a campfire at the North Pole. Frequently, when people learn that I'm a Catholic, they say, "When did you convert?" Well, in my case, I didn't convert--I'm a so-called "cradle Catholic." But I will admit that I'm just a second generation Catholic.

I come from a maternal line that has a lot of Baptist preachers. Most prominent of these would be my great-grandfather, James William Long (1866-1945). He was a deacon at Kansas City's renowned Paseo Baptist Church before becoming pastor of Sunrise Baptist Church. My mother's uncle, Henry Willie Gines (1903-1980) was a Baptist preacher as was his son, Frank William Gines (1935-1999). My aunt, Delorise Gines, has a ministry that grew out of her participation at Paseo.

So how did I end up Catholic? Well, the earthly answer goes like this: my grandmother, Annie Florida Corrine Long, had a stormy relationship with her father, the aforementioned Rev. James William Long. I don't know all the details, but I'm sure it was not helped by her desire to be a dancer in Kansas City's vaudeville revues. When she left her parents' house in the 1920's, she became a dancer and never opened a Bible nor set foot in a church (except for weddings and funerals) ever again. Her children, including my mother, grew up "unchurched," for the most part.

But, as a teenager, my mother had three close friends, who, in today's vernacular, "hung out" together. They took turns going to each other's churches. One girl was Baptist, one Methodist, and one Catholic. As a result of these friendships, my mother eventually became very active in the Methodist church. She was a leader in a statewide Methodist teen group. Even while she did this, my mother continued to attend her other friends' churches and continued to study religion on her own. Ultimately, for reasons personal to her, my mother at age 16 became a Catholic.

Meanwhile, in Texas, my father was having religious experiences of his own. I don't know of any clergy on my father's side and I don't really know of any specific religious preferences in his family (with one exception). But because the Depression-era schools in Aransas County, Texas, refused to educate black children, the first school my father attended was a Catholic grade school. This evidently made an impression on him and he, too, became a Catholic as a teenager.

When my parents met in college, their Catholicism was something they had in common.

As I grew up, the only other black Catholic family I knew of was that of my paternal great-uncle, Herman Walker (1906-2002). And I don't think he was born a Catholic; rather I think he converted when he met and married his wife Ida, a French Creole Catholic from Louisiana. But he was a devout Catholic. His funeral program noted that he had attended St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Houston for sixty-six years and that he was a member of The Knights of Columbus and the Holy Name Society.

Despite their apparent invisibility, black Catholics have played important roles in the Church in America due originally and derivatively to the nation's French and Spanish heritages. In fact, the first blacks in America were Catholics. They helped settle America's oldest European-established city, St Augustine, Florida, in 1565.

Over the next few posts, we'll tell the stories of significant African-American Catholics.

One More Name . . .

I've just discovered a Kansas City cousin named Dorothy Long Gunn (1916-1998). She would be my mother's first cousin, both of them being granddaughters of James William Long (1866-1945).

Where Was Your Family in 1908?

Lisa, who has the energy to write several interesting blogs, posed the question, "Where was your family in 1908?" on, appropriately enough, her 100 Years in America blog.

A century ago, neither of my paternal grandparents had been born yet, although one, my grandmother Jessie Beatrice Bowie, was just a year away. Her parents, my great-grandparents, Hattie Bryant and Elias Bowie, Sr., had recently met and were living in San Antonio, Texas. Hattie's and Elias' parents were also in Texas. Guy Bryant and Maria Martin lived in Rockport, Aransas County, Texas, in 1908. Guy was a butcher. John Wesley Bowie and Amanda McCray made their home in the east Texas town of Longview in Gregg County. They lived at 114 Morgan Street and 63 year old John did "odd jobs."

My other paternal great-grandparents, Otis Manson and Bettie Sanford, lived on a farm near Rockdale, Milam County, Texas. My great-great-grandmother, Matilda Manson, lived near them. Bettie's father, Billie Sanford, a 98 year old former slave, was still alive, also in Milam County. Billie would live to be 106 years old.

My maternal grandfather, Eddie Gines, was 10 years old and lived with his parents, Richard William Gines and Sylvia LeJay, at 1540 Ashton Street, Shreveport, Louisiana. Great-grandpa Dick was a fireman at Shreveport's electric powerhouse. I know nothing of Dick's parents. Sylvia's parents were Lewis LeJay and Syntrilla Brayboy. By 1908, Lewis had probably passed away. Syntrilla, however, still lived in De Soto Parish, Louisiana, not far from where she had been held in slavery.

My maternal grandmother, Annie Florida Corrine Long, was six years old and lived with her parents, James William Long and Mary Elizabeth Johnson. Their house was at 2711 Wyoming Street, on the west side of Kansas City, Missouri. Great-grandpa James was a Baptist preacher and in 1908 was the pastor at Kansas City's Sunrise Baptist Church. His parents, Richard and Pauline Long, were deceased. My great-great-grandfather, Zeke Johnson, was still alive and well in Kansas City. My great-great-grandmother, Sarah Gilbert, may have been alive in 1908, but this is not certain. Zeke's father, Dan Carpenter, was alive at age 83, in Clay County, Missouri, just north of Kansas City. He died at age 95. There is some evidence that Zeke's mother, Harriet Mitchell, was alive and living in Johnson County, Kansas, but this is not certain. She would be about 83 years old as well.

In 1908, none of these ancestors could have foreseen me and life as it is today.

The Elusive Sarah Gilbert

I've blogged quite a lot about Sarah Gilbert Johnson, wife of Ezekiel Johnson, and my great-great-grandmother. She appears in the marriage records of Clay County, Missouri, at the time of her marriage to Grandpa Zeke and in the 1880 census for Kansas City, Missouri. Then she appears of record no more.

I've been over and over the available materials. Indeed, a key purpose of my big research trip to Missouri this past summer was to find more on Sarah Gilbert. I found nothing new. I talked to several cousins descended from Zeke and Sarah Johnson, but none knew anything about Sarah.

Here's what I know about her: she and Zeke Johnson were married in Clay County, Missouri, on September 5, 1867. On the 1880 census, her age is given as 31. If that's true, she would have been born in about 1849. Her children are listed as Henry, 11; Mary, 10; Richard, 8; Ambrose, 6; Robert, 4; and Mattie, 1. I've since discovered that Mary (my great-grandmother) was in fact the oldest and not Henry. "Ambrose" was actually named Amos. I have death certificates for Mary, Richard, Amos, and Robert. Of Henry and Mattie, I know nothing beyond the 1880 census data. [Actually, the problem with Henry is that "Henry Johnson" is such a common name. I have identified some records that are "possibly" the "right" Henry Johnson].

Grandpa Zeke died in 1933. But in 1920, he was living with Richard and listed as widowed. So Sarah must have died before 1920. Noting that there seems to be no death certificate for her in Missouri's excellent 1910-1956 death certificate database, one might surmise that she died before 1910. This is a situation in which an 1890 census would be a great help. Her last child seems to be Mattie, born in 1879. She would have been just thirty years old. Perhaps then she died between 1880 and 1920.

There is one other strange thing that appears concerning Sarah Gilbert Johnson. There is a death certificate for one Robert Franklin Johnson who died on May 17, 1955. One might presume that this would be Sarah and Zeke's son, Robert, who according to the 1880 census, was born in about 1876. But the birth date on the death certificate is November 23, 1891. And the mother's maiden name is given as "Sarah Agnes Lewis."

The place of death on the Robert Franklin Johnson death certificate is given as "2444 Chestnut Avenue" in Kansas City, Missouri. On May 17, 1955, that house would have been occupied by my great aunt Rosetta Bell Long, and perhaps my grandmother, Annie Florida Corrine Long and her daughter, my aunt Delorise Gines. Rosie and Flo Long were sisters and the granddaughters of Zeke and Sarah. In May, 1955, Grandma Flo would have been 53 years old, and Aunt Rosie would have been 55 years old. And indeed, the informant is stated to be "Rose Long" of 2444 Chestnut Avenue.

But why did Aunt Rosie get Robert's birth date wrong by 15 years? And who is "Sarah Agnes Lewis"?

Yesterday, Lorine McGinnis Schulze blogged about the potential inaccuracies of primary records. She gives the (actual) example of a 17 year old informant who may have been confused by the questions asked by the official making out a death certificate. But Aunt Rosie was a mature, educated and experienced woman. How could she have made these mistakes?

The week before Robert Franklin Johnson died, my grandfather, William Edward Gines died. Could Aunt Rosie confused some of his information with that of her uncle? The informant on my grandfather's death certificate was "Harry Gines" [most likely his brother Henry]. Harry got everything right. My grandfather was born on August 10, 1898, and his mother was Sylvia LeJay [which is misspelled "LaJay" on the death certificate]. None of this information is similar to Robert's.

So what happened here? How did Sarah Gilbert manage to elude me once more?

Be Still My Heart! A Genealogical Conference in the Heartland!

I have been to exactly one genealogical conference in my life. I really wasn't sure that I had much to offer on the topic of genealogical conferences. Over the years, I've read what others have had to say about conferences. I especially agree with the oft-stated desire that conferences make their syllabi available on CD's to save trees and make carrying easier. Based on the one conference I've been to and having reviewed potential conferences, I wish there could be more time or different scheduling so my favorite sessions didn't overlap. And if one can't travel for some reason or another, how about webcasts of major conferences?

On that last issue, as a lawyer, I've sometimes attended continuing legal education seminars that are nationally webcast. As for the social interaction aspect, various law schools around the country "host" (in the social sense, not the techie sense) the webcast as if they were actually hosting the seminar. So how about this: a national conference is webcast to local genealogical societies?! Seems like a potential win-win for all.

Last spring, I was quite excited by the possibility of attending the Conference in the States & Family History Fair of the National Genealogical Society. I'm a member of NGS. The Conference last year was held in Richmond, Virginia. The venue afforded opportunities to mark the 400th anniversary of the first colony in Virginia as well as the 225th anniversary of the Battle of Yorktown (which was the previous October).

The sessions and speakers at the NGS conference seemed very interesting and struck me as the most exciting conference lineup I had ever seen. But alas, I had already planned the Big Train Trip to Missouri, so time and finances conspired to keep me away from Richmond.

My perception has been that a lot of the big conferences are held on either Coast or in major cities. I understand the practical reasons for that. But how about a really major conference in mid-America?

Imagine my thrill when I signed into the NGS page not long ago and discovered that next year's NGS Conference in the States & Family History Fair will be in Kansas City!

I've just been to Kansas City on my research trip this year, but I'm ready to go back next spring! Kansas City is a very affordable city and there's a lot happening there. I can't wait!

The clever parking garage across from the Kansas City (Mo.) Public Library

Centenarians

Yesterday, we reported here the death of Brooke Astor, the former Roberta Brooke Russell, at age 105. I noticed also yesterday that the world's oldest person, 114 year-old Yone Minagawa, had died in Japan.

According to the Census Bureau, in the year 2000, the United States had 50,454 persons over the age of 100, out of a total population of 281,421,906. I couldn't find a breakdown by gender, but we all have a pretty good idea who's got the edge!

There are several centenarians on my family tree.

William Sanford was born in 1809 in Virginia and died at age 106 in 1916 in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas.

William Henry Long was born on March 21, 1889 and died on August 26, 1990, at age 101, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Christina Alta Long Neal, sister of William Henry Long, was born on April 2, 1898, and died on September 14, 2000, at age 102, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Tina and Will's sister, Rosetta Bell Long, was nearly a centenarian. She was born on May 28, 1900 and died on March 17, 1994, at age 93, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Once Again, "There Are No Easy Cases in Genealogy"

A key objective of the trip to Missouri had been to further identify Sarah Gilbert Johnson, the presumed wife of my great-great-grandfather Ezekiel Johnson. Unfortunately, I made no progress at all on this issue and it continues to frustrate me. I would have to say that this is my leading research objective right now.

So I had begun to write a post called "A Research Trip Failure," this afternoon when, as these things will, something unforeseen occurred. To understand where I am now (since this afternoon) on Sarah Gilbert Johnson, we have retrace my steps on this relative's history.

Perhaps 45 years ago, my mother told me that her grandmother's mother was an Indian. My mother did not know her great-grandmother's name or anything else about her. I didn't really think any more about the matter for the next four decades. About four years ago, my mother's sister, my Aunt Delorise Gines, published a family history calendar which identified our Indian forebear as "Sarah Gibson." At that point, I took up my current interest in genealogy.

I searched for sometime for "Sarah Gibson" without success. Then one day, I came across the Clay County (Mo.) marriage records for 1867. There, "Ezekil" Johnson and Sarah Gilbert were listed as being married on September 5, 1867. I then focused on the surname Gilbert. I could not find a Sarah Gilbert who really matched the person I believed I was looking for. I came across Ezekiel Johnson's death certificate and it listed Sarah Gilbert as his predeceased spouse. Gradually, over the years, I learned the names of some of Zeke and Sarah's children. I acquired some of their death certificates which also listed Sarah Gilbert as their mother. I became comfortable with the surname "Gilbert."

Nonetheless, I still could not find any individual information on Sarah Gilbert. I found a family in Clay County that conceivably could be her siblings, but the probative evidence was thin. Then, most recently, I found a family in Kansas that, again, conceivably, could be her parents. There are some reasonable theories and assumptions that support this idea, but again, the probative evidence is skimpy.

So my idea was that being on the ground in Missouri might be useful to this pursuit. For a number of reasons, it did not prove useful. Morosely, I began to write the story of my failure. Then I thought, let's take one last shot at this. I began to go through the Missouri Death Certificate Index to examine every person who could be Sarah Gilbert Johnson and every person who could be one of her children.

I came across a death certificate for one Robert Franklin Johnson who died in Kansas City in May, 1955. This man had been born in 1893. I almost skipped over him because I had already (I thought) positively identified a Robert Johnson, born 1876, as the son of Zeke and Sarah. What brought me up short was the address on the death certificate: 2444 Chestnut Avenue. At various times, my grandmother, my great-aunts, my mother and some of her siblings all had lived in that block of Chestnut Avenue. I knew 2444 as the house of my great-aunt Rosie [Rosetta Bell Long,1898-1994].

Looking closer at the death certificate, I noted that Rose Long was listed as the informant. Aunt Rosie would surely know the right information. The father's name was given as "Ezekell" Johnson and the mother's name was given as . . . Sarah Agnes Lewis!

I immediately called Aunt Dee. She said she recalled that "Uncle Rob" had lived in Aunt Rosie's house for awhile and had died there--about a week after her father had died. But she had never heard the name "Lewis" in our family tree.

With this strange turn of events, I went to work looking for plausible Lewises in the census records. And there, things got weirder! In the 1860 census for Wyandotte County, Kansas (the present-day Kansas City, Kansas), there is a 35 year-old Jane Lewis living with 22 year old Eliza Grezinger and 2 year old Sarah Lewis. Both Jane and Eliza are said to have been born in Ohio; Sarah is a native of Kansas. Then the shocker: both Eliza and Sarah are listed as Indians!

I can't find this people anywhere else so far. We know that this Sarah is too young to be the wife of Zeke Johnson.

So am I onto something new or on another wild goose chase?

There are no easy cases . . . .

A Kansas City Follies Girl, c. 1920

Annie Florida Corrine Long

She later was known as Florida C. Gines, my grandmother.




Coming Up: Research Trips--The "Don't-Overs"

A Couple of Uploads from Photo Grrl

Right: Our author takes a stroll off the train during a lenghty stop at Albuquerque.



















Left: Craig at St Louis Public Library, 7/23/07










Left: Kansas City Union Station, 7/19/07

We're in Kansas City!

We made the trip from St Louis to Kansas City in record time this afternoon with the GeneaBlogie staff photographer (aka Photo Grrl) at the wheel of a 2007 Pontiac Firebird Grand Am. Photo Grrl went to college in Leavenworth, Kansas, several decades ago and is well-familiar with all the speed enforcement agencies between KC and St Louis. On this trip, she showed she still has the right stuff as she evaded every trap the local yokels, county mounties, and state smokies could devise.

Though tired out by the hypersonic journey, we had dinner with Aunt Delorise Gines and made plans for research adventures in northwest Missouri. We'll be heading out to several cemeteries, to the Clay County Archives, the KCMO and KCKS public libraries, and one or two other places. We'll be scanning Aunt Dee's extensive collection of photographs and funeral programs. On Saturday, we'll have a mini-family reunion of sorts.

GeneaBlogie's Mid-Summer Project!

Over the last four or five weeks, I've teased a bit about some great project that's on its way. Well, the teasing is over and our great project has begun! Here it is: we are headed to Missouri on a major research trip . . . but the deal is we are going via Amtrak and for the first time ever there will be live genea-blogging from on board several Amtrak trains! By the time many of you read this (probably Monday a.m.), we expect to be settling in on Amtrak's Coast Starlight enroute from San Jose, California, to Los Angeles. We will overnight in L.A., then on Tuesday evening board Amtrak's Southwest Chief headed from Los Angeles for Kansas City. We'll arrive in Kansas City on Thursday morning. After brief lay-over, we head for St Louis on Amtrak's Anne Rutledge. We'll spend several days in eastern Missouri and southern Illinois, with planned excursions to Ste Genevieve, Missouri, and Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, among other places.

We'll head back to Kansas City to research in Clay County, Platte County, and Jackson County in Missouri, and Wyandotte County and Johnson County in Kansas. Then it's back home the way we came.

We'll be uploading photos (and may be video) all along the way.

As I said, we'll be posting from aboard the train!

I hope you'll join us!

Mom's Diamond Jubilee

Mom & Dad, 2003


This week, my mother will celebrate her 75th birthday. Seems like just yesterday we were marking her mother's 75th birthday. That was 1977 and my mother then was younger (by almost a decade) than I am now. How does that happen? Tick, tock! Tick, tock!

Mom was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Her father, Eddie Gines, had come there from Shreveport in about 1920; for what reason, I do not know. Her mother, Annie Florida Corrine Long, was a native of Kansas City. Mom was one of seven children, four of whom survive.

Mom had red hair as a child, a fact which lately I've come to regard as a genealogical clue. Her mother reportedly said that no black child had any business with red hair, and therefore combed Mom's hair with coffee every day in the hope that it would turn black. Mom still has red hair seventy-five years later and my sister was born with red hair.
I never had the impression of my mother as "bookish," but she did go to college at age 16, and majoring in education. graduated at age 20. She met my father during their college years (she was a junior when he was a freshman). And speaking of "bookish," the story goes that when he asked her to a basketball game for their first date, she brought a book and spent the whole game reading it! Fortunately for me, that did not keep them from continuing to date and eventually marry.

Mom, Dad, Future Genealogist, and Grandmother (Jessie Beatrice Bowie), 1955

My parents live in California now, far from where either of them was raised. I doubt that as a child or even as a young adult, my mother ever foresaw living in California. I'm not sure what her dreams were as an adolescent. I do know that she gave up a postgraduate fellowship to become a wife and mother.

I can see my mother dressed as the archetypal 1950s housewife. My father was an Army officer; she was in the Officers Wives Club--a much-maligned institution by the late 1960s and 1970s. We went to Mass every Sunday and every Holy Day of Obligation; Mom was in the Ladies' Soldality. She took an active interest in our schooling and was in the PTA. She stood for propriety, integrity, good manners, and respect for others.

But at the same time, I never saw Mom as a June Cleaver or a Stepford Wife. She was fiercely protective of her brood; indeed, there were sometimes battles to be fought for us at a time when kids our age were being shut out of public school or being blown up by domestic terrorists at Sunday school.

My earliest recollection of my mother involves a tornado. We lived in Jefferson City, Missouri. Mom was hanging laundry on the clothesline in the back and I was sitting on a step at the back door. The winds picked up suddenly and the sky turned green. Mom hurriedly took the wash down said we had to get inside. Then I next recall us living at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Mom was pregnant with my sister. She was sweeping the floor when she began coughing violently. I didn't know what to do. As she bent over double in pain, the lady next door came over. Mom was taken to the hospital where it was discovered that she had coughed so hard that she had broken a rib.

We went to Germany in 1958 on the same troop ship as one recently drafted Private Elvis Aaron Presley. Mom appears in a photograph taken on the ship which appears on the back of one of Elvis' first post-Army albums. In Germany, Elvis was extremely popular. One day, a young German man appeared at our apartment and asked if we had any pictures of Elvis. Mom said, "No," and began n to close the door. The young man now demanded a picture of Elvis and punctuated his demand by pulling a knife. Mom forced the door closed with all of her weight (perhaps 110 pounds); locked it and called the police.

I've never seen my mother take a drink of alcohol, although she maintains a supply in the house for guests. I saw my mother smoke a cigarette just once. And the circumstances were strange. We lived in Albuquerque then and the lady who lived next door (and is now likely deceased) smoked like a chimney. One spring day, when I was about twelve, I came home from school to find Mom and the neighbor lady sitting in the front yard in lawn chairs. Each was smoking a cigarette. I was shocked to see Mom with a cigarette in her hand. I said, "Mom, what are you doing?" She said, "I am smoking. Would you like to try it?" I hesitated, and then said, "Okay." She handed me the cigarette and told me to draw the smoke into my lungs. I tried to do so and ended up coughing my head off. Mom asked, "What do you think?" I said, "it's awful!" She said, "That's right, so don't ever do it again." That was the only time I had a cigarette and the first and last time I ever saw my mother with a cigarette.

In 1965, my father got orders to go to Korea. It was what the Army calls an "unaccompanied tour." That meant that we would stay in Albuquerque during his year Korea. Mom would do the job of two parents. She made it look effortless all the while making sure we thought of and wrote to our father often. Again, in 1968, Dad got orders to go to Vietnam for one year. And again, Mom had to be two parents. I can't imagine this is easy for any mother, but it must be particularly difficult f or a woman with three adolescent boys with typical adolescent boy interests.

Mom has a great sense of humor. That's a good thing for her children who occasionally make fun of her Midwestern accent! She has certain favorite sayings. ("That's wrong; that's wrong as two left feet!"). And of course we knew we were in real trouble when she called us by our full names! She cried with us when our first pet, parakeet named Billie Boy, died suddenly.

My mother probably wouldn't in the first instance describe herself as an animal lover. But the facts may prove it. In 1966, when he was back from Korea, Dad one night found a a jet black Persian kitten under his car. Mom said we could keep the kitten just until we found the real owner. She made it clear that the cat wasn't staying. Seventeen years later, my mother called me at my Air Force base in Britain to tell me that Topcat had passed away. When my grandmother's husband passed away, leaving their dog King homeless, Mom welcomed him to her house. When my brother was sent to Germany by the Army, Mom took it in his dog, Tiger and ended up keeping him until the dog died away six years later.

Today, my mother still works a forty hour a week job. She's a Eucharistic minister at her church. (It is a bit of an adjustment for a pre-Vatican II Catholic boy such as my self to get used to taking communion from his mother!). She takes pride in the accomplishments of her children and grandchildren.

So this week, we'll celebrate Mom's Jubilee, knowing that no celebration can possibly convey the joy we feel and the joy we've always felt at being lucky enough to have her as our mother.

Today is "Zeke Johnson" Day

A week from this Thursday, which would be June 14, 2007, is the 160th anniversary of the birth of my great-great-grandfather, Ezekiel Johnson. I've written about him before (here, here, and here). For awhile, he was one of my very difficult brickwalls. And then one day, a sudden breakthrough gave me some special insight into his origins and at the same time raised more questions. I've been trying to solve some of those questions.

In genealogy, it never hurts to go over ground that may have been plowed once or twice before. I was exploring various databases for "Ezekiel Johnson" or "Zeke Johnson," when I found buried treasure! I'm so thrilled about this that I hereby declare today to be "Zeke Johnson Day" at GeneaBlogie.

What I found were Grandpa Zeke's military records in a database labeled "U.S. Colored Troops Compiled Military Records." I realized that I had looked here before for "Ezekiel" but not for "Zeke," which is how the records were indexed. These records contain a lot of information.

A key element of these records is a card which is transcribed as follows:

18 | USCT

Zeke Johnson,
Co. D, 18 Reg't US Col'd Inf
Appears on
Company Descriptive Book
of the organization named above.

Description
Age 17 years; height 5 feet 4 inches
Complexion Black
Eyes Black Hair Black
Where Born Missouri
Occupation Farmer

Enlistment
When July 23, 1864
Where Kansas City
By Whom Capt Hall; term 3 years
Remarks: Battle of Sand Mountain,
Ala.; Jan 29, '85

That document tells me several things I did not know: that he was a short man (his granddaughter and great-granddaughter are in miniature as well). He enlisted at age 17.

Another significant document is this one:

Click on image to enlarge
Image Copyright (c) The Generations Network, Inc. Used in accordance with Limited Use License

Now we know quite bit more about Ezekiel Johnson, to wit:

Born in Clay County in 1847, Zeke Johnson was in 1864 the slave of one Henry Wilhite. In May, 1864, he "left" Wilhite and in July, 1864, in Kansas City, he enlisted in the 18th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry. He received a bounty7y of $300 for enlisting. In September 1864, he joined the regiment at Benton Barracks near St Louis.

The regiment moved to Nashville in November 1864 and participated in the Battle of Nashville in December of 1864. They then moved on into Alabama, fighting the Battle f Sand Mountain in January 1865 and then remaining in Alabama until February 1865. Moving to Tennessee next, the 18th remained there until being reassigned to Huntsville, Alabama in 1866. The unit was mustered out at Huntsville in February 1866. Zeke Johnson was present for duty at all of these times except part of August 1864 and Sept-Oct 1864 when he was hospitalized for diarrhea

When he was mustered out, Zeke Johnson was entitled to keep his musket and "accoutrements." He owed the Government $21.54 for clothing, but the Government still owed him $100 as part of his bounty.

We don't know exactly what Grandpa Zeke did immediately after leaving the Army, but we know that on September 5, 1867, he married Sarah Gilbert back in Clay County. In the late 1880's, the Kansas City directory showed him residing at 2544 Cherry and working as a carpenter for Standard Implement Co.

And what of his erstwhile master, Henry Wilhite? He joined the Confederate Army, but beyond that, we don't know any more about him.

I had never known the name of Zeke's slave-owning family until I saw it in these records. This knowledge will advance my research significantly. For reasons that I've written about before, I don't think Wilhite was Zeke's original or only master. I think Zeke is the 3 year old male shown in the ownership of Emmons Johnson on the 1850 slave schedule. We need to find some transaction between Emmons Johnson and Henry Wilhite.

Ezekiel Johnson died on August 8, 1933, having lived long enough to see his great-granddaughter, my mother.

The U.S. Colored Troops Military Service Records are on Ancestry.com as part of their Military collection. Curiously, they are not part of the Civil War collection. The records are from the National Archives, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780's-1917, Record Group 94.
The use we made of these records here illustrates the value of such records to the family historian. Of course, the National Archives has available similar records for military personnel of all races. Check this page for pre-World War I records.

The Wrong Longs?

The discovery of my great-grandfather's death certificate has raised a number of issues, the first of which is that I may have been researching the wrong family as my great-grandfather's parents and siblings. How could that happen? Easy. Just watch this. My great-grandfather's name was James William Long. I assumed for my initial research purposes that he was born in Kansas City, Missouri. I assumed that because credible witnesses told me that he had lived in KCMO "all of his life." My grandmother, his daughter Annie Florida Corrine Long, was born in Kansas City and left there only twice (to come visit her daughter, my mother). This assumption was furthered by the enumeration of James Long in the 1900 census, which gives his birthplace as "Missouri." [How do I know that this is the right James Long? Well, his wife is stated to be "Mary E." and I can verify from other primary sources--like the marriage license itself--that James W. Long and Mary E. Johnson of approximately the same ages were married in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1888. The children listed are also verifiable from other sources]. My James Long doesn't seem to be on the 1880 census. But, ah, here on the 1870 census for Kansas City, is a James Long of the right age, 4 years old. He lives with his parents, James and Nancy. Now that mother's name doesn't seem to fit some other research, but, oh well, first names and middle names are frequently interchanged in census records. His siblings are Charlie, Fred, Hannah, and Rebecca. My Aunt Delorise (my mother's younger sister) had told me that she didn't know her grandfather's father's name. She had heard him referred to as "Old Man." She thought his mother's name was "Pauline," or something like that. She wasn't sure. And she wasn't sure of his siblings' names. So the James Long on the 1870 census--the only one who matches what I'm looking for in KCMO--must be the one I'm looking for. Right? Well, James William Long's death certificate says he was born in Shawnee, Kansas. The informant is his daughter, Christina Long Neal, a generation older than Delorise. So let's look at the 1870 census for Shawnee, Kansas. And there is a James Long of the right age, 4 years old. His parents apparently are Richard and Palinay (Pauline?) Long. His apparent siblings are Joseph, John, Regetha, and Eliza. But wait a sec, this says he was born in Missouri! So which Long family should I be researching? As I once said here, paraphrasing my former neurologist, "There are no easy cases in genealogy."

Preparing for A Research Trip

I've mentioned that the Summer 2007 Research Trip might be to Northwest Missouri. At the moment, the matter of such a trip is on hold for a variety of reasons; however, I thought it would be a useful exercise. My maternal Gines ancestors moved to Kansas City from Shreveport about a hundred years ago. Some might be found in Kansas. So here's what I would do.

1. Review and organize notes relevant to Northwest Missouri families (Gines, Long, Johnson, Gilbert).

2. Set research goals and priorities (e.g., find parents of Sarah Gilbert Johnson)

3. Use FHL Catalog as a guide to potential resources.

4. Identify, contact local genealogical, historical societies; document repositories, records offices.

I do this to make sure they know I coming as well. And I also use it as any opportunity to confirm hours, policies, extent of holdings.

Clay County Archives and Historical Library
Tel.: 816-781-3611
210 E Franklin, Liberty, MO 64068
Mailing Address
P. O. Box 99, Liberty, MO 64069
General Information: info@claycountyarchives.org

Platte County Historical & Genealogical Society, Inc.,
P. O. Box 103, Platte City, MO 64079-0103

Museum Address: Ben Ferrel Platte County Museum, 220 Ferrel Street, Platte City, MO 64079
Tel.: 816-431-5121
rootswebcom/~mopchgs

Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society
129 W Lexington Ave, Mezzanine
Independence, MO 64050
(816) 461-1897, Ext. 305

Jackson County Courthouse
415 E. 12th Street, 2nd floor
Kansas City, Missouri 64106
(816) 881-3242
(816) 881-3234 fax

Independence Office
200 S. Main
Independence, Missouri 64050
(816) 881-1626
(816) 881-4473 fax

Platte County Clerk's Office
415 Third St., Suite 30
Platte City, MO 64079
Phone: (816) 858-2232

Kansas City Public Library
14 West 10th Street
Kansas City, MO 64105

Mid-Continent Public Library
Genealogy and Local History
317 W. 24 Highway
Independence, MO 64050-2747
Phone 816-252-7228
Mon - Thur 9-9, Fri 9-6, Sat 9-5


Kansas City, Kansas Public Library,
625 Minnesota Ave.,
Kansas City, KS 66101.

Kansas State Historical Society
6425 SW 6th Ave
Topeka, KS 66615
(785) 272-8681


Unified Government Clerk
701 N 7th St, Suite 323
Kansas City, KS 6610
913-573-5260

5. Determine locations of potential resources. Match resources to locations.

6. Contact repositories, libraries, etc to confirm addresses, resources, hours, and policies.

7. Contact cousins and let them know travel plans

8. Check to see if there are any Random Acts.


Other than making the travel arrangements, what else should I be doing?

Kansas: Rise Above the Noise and Confusion . . .

Back in cyber-Kansas today, I run into a couple of intriguing issues. To understand them, we need to go back a little bit. Harriet Mitchell Sometime ago, we were looking for the parents of Ezekiel Johnson. And we found a death certificate which listed his parents as Dan Carpenter and Harriet Mitchell. We subsequently discovered that Dan Carpenter was a prominent businessman and civic leader in northwest Missouri. He was married to Martha Pauline Gash. His biographers state unanimously that Dan Carpenter and Martha Gash had no children. Harriet Mitchell, we surmised by strong circumstantial evidence, was a slave born in Mason County, Kentucky. Our strong circumstantial evidence also points to Harriet Mitchell having been owned by Nathaniel Emmons Johnson, a native of Mason County, Kentucky, who migrated to Clay County, Missouri. We know that Clay County was a center of pro-slavery sentiment in Missouri, and that a number of slaves escaped from Clay County to neighboring Wyandotte County, Kansas, by crossing the Missouri River. Wyandotte County was a battleground county in the struggle for the heart and soul of Kansas in the 1850's, and the Civil War. The towns of Wyandotte, Delaware City,and Kansas City were key areas in Wyandotte County. These are now all part of the Kansas City-Wyandotte County Unified Government. Well, in 1895, Harriet Mitchell turns up in Delaware City, Wyandotte County, according to the Kansas State Census. This Harriet Mitchell is 71 years old, the age that Ezekiel Johnson's mother would be. In her household are Mary Long, 38; Thomas Long, 40; Henry Long, 5; Fredrick Long, 7; Lottie Long, 12; Birtie Long, 10; and Blanche Long, 2. Then, in the 1900 federal census, Harriet Mitchell, now 75, is in the same place with Lottie Long, 16; Bertha Long, 15; Alfred Long, 12; Henry Long, 10; Ora Long, 7; and Janet Long, 4. What's interesting is that these children are described as her grandchildren. What makes this interesting is that we know Harriet Mitchell's granddaughter [daughter of Ezekiel Johnson] Mary Elizabeth Johnson, married James William Long. But we've never seen these children before and we can't seem to connect them to the Long family to which we are related. In 1910 we find 85 year old Harriet Mitchell in Kansas City, Kansas, described as "grandmother" to Ora Long, Henry Long, and Mary Strother, who is married to John Strother. Harriet Mitchell's birthplace is given as Kentucky on all of the census records. So we may have opened a very interesting box of mysteries or it may be nothing relevant. Clearly, it means more work ahead!

Quindaro, Kansas

A few days ago we reviewed our Fifth Grade history about the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and its de facto repeal with the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. These two pieces of legislation effectively turned Kansas into the first battlefield of the Civil War long before the secession of the Southern states. People on both sides of the slavery question poured into Kansas to influence elections in that state.

To say that feelings ran high understates the matter. In Clay County, Missouri, just across the river from Kansas, pro-slavery gangs launched raids into Kansas to terrorize and intimidate the "free-staters." Organizations such as the "Platte County Self-Defense Association" were formed in Missouri as newspapers in Jackson, Platte, Clay, counties editorialized that Missouri should "do its duty" to prevent another free state entering the Union. One source says that a "tidal wave of political hysteria swept over western Missouri." In a notorious incident at Parksville, Missouri, G.S. Park and W.J. Patterson, editors of the abolitionist journal the Luminary, were threatened with drowning and their press destroyed. "And if they go to Kansas to reside," said one agitator, "we pledge our honor as men to follow and hang them whenever we can take them.

The frenzy in Missouri was matched in Kansas. Abolitionists arrived in large numbers from Northern and Northeastern states. Violence broke out between the two groups.

Meanwhile, slaves sought to escape to Kansas. However, this was not necessarily a good idea. The newly established towns of Atchison, Leavenworth, and Delaware City were virtually closed to free-stater and abolitionist. As a result, the free-staters sought to establish a safe haven on the Missouri River below Kansas City. The haven became the town of Quindaro.

Much of the land in the area was owned by Abelard Guthrie from Ohio. He was married to a Wyandot Indian named Quindaro, who used her influence with the tribe to acquire even more land. Guthrie named the town for his wife [who was also known as Nancy]. The town was located directly across the river from Parksville, Missouri.

Quindaro [the town] grew rapidly through 1857 and had promise of becoming the largest town in Kansas. It was an abolitionist stronghold and a stop on the Underground Railroad. This letter describes some of the abolitionist activity.

Kansas City and Leavenworth grew very rapidly and soon eclipsed Quindaro as major cities in Kansas. By the 1870's, most people had moved away from Quindaro. The town had a brief resurgence when Freedmen's University (later called Western University) was found there. But eventually, Kansas City (Kansas) overtook Quindaro.

Today, Quindaro is a section of Kansas City, Kansas, hard by the Missouri River. A statue of John Brown stands at North 27th and Sewell streets.

Quindaro's importance as the first free port and Underground Railroad stop in Kansas cannot be underestimated.

Genealogical Research Note: When looking for black individuals in Western Missouri in the late 1800s, don't forget Quindaro, Kansas! (Regrettably, Ancestry.com has it transcribed as "Quindave" in some places).

Sarah Gilbert Johnson: A Trip to Kansas, A Step Forward

One of the most elusive of all my ancestors is Sarah Gilbert Johnson. Here's what I know about her: according to the marriage records of Clay County, Missouri, she married Ezekiel Johnson in September 1867. She appears only in the 1880 census of Jackson County [Kansas City], Missouri. There her age is given as 31 years old. Her birthplace is said to be Missouri. It appears that her father's birthplace originally was written down as "U.S." and then stricken through and corrected to read "Mo." Her mother's birthplace is listed as "U.S."

The 1920 census of Jackson County describes Zeke Johnson as widowed, so Sarah apparently died before 1920. I can't find a death certificate for her in the excellent Missouri State Archives.

For awhile, I knew so little about her that I believed her surname was "Gibson." I asked Aunt Delorise about her and she said, "I don't know . . . that's back when someone was an Indian." The story has circulated for decades in the family that Sarah Gilbert was an Indian. That's never been substantiated in any way.

In trying to find Sarah Gilbert Johnson, I've concentrated on Clay County, Missouri. There are several reasons for this. First, that's where she was married. Second, her husband Ezekiel Johnson lived for awhile.

Clay County was a complex place to reside in the mid-1800's. It was known as "Little Dixie" because a lot of Southerners lived there with slaves. Many of these people came from Kentucky, which may explain why the county was named for Kentucky Congressman Henry Clay. There seems to have been a virtual "sister county" relationship between Clay County, Missouri, and Mason County, Kentucky. Just to the southwest of Clay County, across the Missouri River, is Wyandotte County, Kansas (which under a unified government, is now also Kansas City, Kansas.)

Kansas was not a slave territory--indeed, Kansas was a hotbed of abolitionist activity. Slaves were known to escape Missouri by simply wading a cross the Missouri river. So perhaps it would make sense to look for Sarah Gilbert's original family in Kansas.

First, however, a couple of preliminary matters: I think for the purpose of this research, we should assume that Sarah Gilbert was not an Indian. And I think before we cross the river, we should check the slave schedules for Missouri.

The 1850 slave schedule show just one Gilbert in northwest Missouri. That's Abel Gilbert of Weston, Platte County, Missouri. Platte County is adjacent to Clay County on the north and also is just across the Missouri from Kansas. Abel Gilbert has one slave, an 18 year old female. We note this fact; we also casually note that Abel is from Kentucky's wife's name is Hannah. We now move on to Kansas.

On the 1880 census in Wyandotte County, we find William Gilbert, age 52; his wife, Hannah, age 55; and their daughter, Magdalen, age 10. William and Hannah are from Kentucky.

On the 1900 census in Wyandotte County, Hannah Gilbert is the head of a household; William seems to have passed away during the intervening two decades. Hannah is described as widowed at age 67; she is said to be fro Missouri. She lives with a daughter, Mary Perkins, who is 49 years old, and two boarders, Charles Frye and Rada Frye, whose father is said to be from Kentucky.

The 1895 Kansas state census shows Kentucky-born Hannah Gilbert, 65 years old. The 1905 Kansas state census enumerated Hannah Gilbert, 73, from Kentucky, with Mary Perkins, 48.

The other Kansas state censuses tell an interesting tale:

1865
Peace Gilbert 38 M M Labor Ky
Hannah " 38 F B Domest. Ky
Mary F. " 14 F B Mo
Lourella " 13 F B "
Anna " 2 F B "


1875

Wm Gilbert 60 M B Labor Ky Mo (where from to Kansas
Hannah J do 60 F " do
WH do 28 M " Laborer do
Mary Perkins 21 F " servant do
MA Gilbert 7 " " Kansas
Maggie do 3 " ' do
Mimi Read 94 " " Kentucky Kentucky


I'm inclined to believe that Hannah Gilbert was born around 1832 0r 1833. In any event, she would have been old enough to have been Sarah Gilbert's mother. I think we have a good working hypothesis that this may be Sarah Gilbert's original family. The rest of the hypothesis is that the family came to Missouri with slaveowners from Kentucky and at some point, made their way to Kansas from northwest Missouri.

But where is Sarah Gilbert herself? Well, by the time of the 1870 federal census, she was married to Ezekiel Johnson. By the time of the 1865 Kansas state census, she may have been living with the Johnson family in Missouri.

In any event, this is a step forward; now let's work with the hypothesis and see where we get.

UPDATE (4/1/07, 6:35 am PDT): I've just examined the 1870 census and found the family discussed above listed as "Gelbert." The family is enumerated as follows:

Isaac Gelbert, 53, Laborer, Kentucky
Hannah J., 58, Keeping house, Kentucky
Mary Perkins, 20, Cook, Kentucky
Luella Gelbert, 19, Servant, Missouri
Elbella, 5, Kansas
Minta Ann, 1, Kansas

The family in 1870 is found in Quindaro, Kansas. According to historian and law professor Harriet C. Frazier, Quindaro was "a haven for runaway slaves from places such as Platte County, Missouri." Runaway and Freed Missouri Slaves and Those Who Helped Them, 1783-1865 (McFarland & C0., 2004), p. 147. Professor Frazier also notes that Quindaro, once a town of 5,000 persons, hosted a stop on the Underground Railroad. Runaway and Freed Missouri Slaves, at 176. Today, Quindaro has been overtaken by the city of Kansas City, Kansas. In her book, Professor Frazier includes a photograph of a statue of John Brown at 27th and Sewell streets in the section of Kansas City, Kansas, that once was Quindaro.