52 ancestors- Theory in Progress

The prompt was for 52 Ancestor in 52 Days was Theory in Progress.

One of my brick walls involves Jane Marie Devault Hoyt, my great great grandmother.  So, I was looking at my great grandfather's name of Reason Teagard Hoyt, Jane's son.  Teagard is unusual middle name unless it referred to a mother maiden last name being Teagard or Jane's mother's maiden name. My brick wall is that I don't know who Jane's parents are. I think Teagard is the shortened version of Teegarden or Teagarden. 

I am related to Teagarden's, but I can find no connection between Devaults (Devolts) and the Teagarden's so far. 

my great grandfather Reason Hoyt

was Rachel Teagarden Virgin great great grandson

I don't know if this "theory" holds water because Jane's guardian was George Teagarden Virgin. His mother was a Teagarden. Is that why she chose Tegard as a middle name? I think Reason was after Rezin Virgin who was a son of Rachel Teagarden Virgin.

It is interesting to see what names are repeated. Frequently you see names used over and over. I know my own son has a nickname for Reason for his middle name. We specifically chose it to honor Reason.

It appears that Jane's sons and daughters carry some family names

Hiram - Jane's brother Hiram

Alanson - after William's father

James Mitchell - after William's brother James Mitchell, Civil War POW

Sarah - after Williams's mother Sarah

Bullet Pencil - 52 Ancestors

I have been routinely searching Ebay looking for items from places where my ancestors have lived. I have searched many places. Recently I searched Cumberland, Iowa.  I found a bullet pencil with my Great Uncle Hilary Herman Hoyt's corn shelling business. I decided to purchase.  

Hilary Herbert Hoyt was born Valentine's Day 1893 to James "Jim" Mitchell Hoyt and Clara Ferguson. Hilary was the oldest son and second born. He grew up in Cass County, Iowa. He married Velma Liston on Jan 6, 1914. * Velma and her sister both married Hoyt's. Marvel's husband, Delbert Devere "Dee" and Hilary were 1st cousins. Together Velma and Hilary they had one daughter Thora Nadine born April 13, 1914. Hilary was a farmer and later had a specialty corn shelling business and grain hauling business. The bullet pencil is an advertising pencil. Hilary would die September 21, 1978. Hilary was 85 years old. Hilary and Velma are buried in Newlon's Grove.

I did meet my Great Hilary.  I visited Hilary's and Velma's house. I remember the there was a door to the stairs for the 2nd floor in their house.  I also thought it was weird that they had peanut butter on their toast for breakfast. Hilary was missing some fingers on one hand from a woodworking accident? Granted I was probably only 5 or 6 years old.  It is funny what we remember.   I have many more memories of my Great Aunt Velma.

52 Ancestors - We don't talk about it

 I am joining Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks. The topic is "we don't talk about it"

When I started doing genealogy, I never thought one of my ancestors would have a criminal past. Then I discovered an ancestor with a record.

 I did eventually ask my mother about this ancestor, and she had heard nothing of their criminal past. This has led me to a journey of discovery trying to understand what exactly happened. The newspapers of the time sensationalized the crime. I have spent a lot of hours researching what happened. It wasn't as black and white as the papers of the time indicated.  

Reason T Hoyt was born to William and Jane Hoyt.  He was the youngest son and 8th child out of 9. He was born with a harelip aka cleft palate. In 1900 he was living on the family farm near Cumberland Iowa with his brother Lance and family. He was convicted of manslaughter and sent to Ft Madison Prison for a term of 6 years. His friend Bode "Robert" Brown was also convicted of manslaughter to serve a term of 8 years. Both were paroled early due to large number of letters received by the governor. In Reason's case, a petition of 185 names of the citizens of Cumberland and vicinity and large number of personal letters. Reason sentence was suspended on May 15, 1902. Robert "Bode" Brown sentence was suspended on October 19, 1903.

I also struggled with whether I should share this at all. The sad thing is what happened to this victim is not really all that different in this day and age. I can honestly say through my research all the parties involved were just trying to do the right thing. However, a 15-year girl died because of their actions. I have decided not to go into the specifics of what happened right now.  Time was served and the two convicted of the crime went on to live productive law-abiding lives. 

The victim was a Miss Hattie Spies. She came from a large family.  She was born to Elizabeth "Katie" and Lewis Spies. Her father, Lewis, immigrated from Germany. She was hired out to work at a farm. She liked to go to barn dances and carriage rides.  She sounded like a very typical 15-year-old girl of the time. Hattie died September 8, 1900. As reported by the paper her funeral was large one with the procession from the home to the cemetery was over a mile long. I don't want her story to be lost to history.  

Telling this story in a way that is fair and detailed was one of my genealogy goals for this year.

Dead People Files - Revolutionary Ancestors Part 2

In honor of Veteran's Day, I decided to highlight two of my Revolutionary ancestors. I have 2 ancestors on my Hoyt/Liston tree who Revolutionary War Soldiers. One I have written about before was Basil Prather but not his Revolutionary War service. Part 1 of my Revolutionary ancestors is here.

Rachel Gaither married Thomas W Prather. Rachel and Thomas Prather are my 5th Great Grandparents. Both of their fathers were Revolutionary War Soldiers.  Rachel's father, John Gaither was a captain of Montgomery County Maryland Militia. Thomas's father was Basil Prather who was part of the North Carolina Milita.  Basil and John are my 6th Great Grandfather. Below is some brief biographical information.

Interesting Fact

You have 128 -5th Great Grandparents.

You have 256 - 6th Great Grandparents

Captain John Gaither V1

 

Captain John Gaither was born in Anne Arundel County, Maryland in 1740 to John Gaither and Anne Ruley. John married Anne Jacobs who was born in 1740s also in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.  They married most likely in 1761.  Their first child, Jeremiah Gaither was born 7 Sept 1762 in Maryland. 

John Gaither was a Lt of Flying Camp and Captain of Montgomery Co, Maryland Militia. He served as a Captain and Patriot. He was enlisted by Thomas Mayo.

**** I am having trouble proving this and even in DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) has a warning that this doesn't have collaborative information.  To make matters more complicated there are quite a few John Gaither's in the time period.

Basil William Prather

Basil Prather and his twin brother Baruch William Prather served during the Revolutionary War in the North Caroline Militia. Basil served in the Army as a Private under General Gates. He was in the Battle of Camden where he took a rifle ball to the knee on Aug 16, 1780. He was to limp the rest of his life. The Battle of Camden was a win for the British. General Gates troops were suffering from dysentery and this majorly depleted General Gates troops.  Over 2,000 Patriots died in this battle. More info about the Battle of Camden.

Basil was born in Maryland to Aaron and Jane Prather in Maryland and moved west after the war. Basil lived in several states eventually residing in Utica Township, Indiana near what is now Watson, Indiana. When Basil moved here Indiana was not a state but part of the Northwest Territory.  Basil died at age 79 - Oct 7, 1822.

*** Basil has a DAR record

52 Ancestors - Newest Discovery

I have been participating in Amy Johnson Crow's writing about 52 ancestors in 52 weeks.  The prompt was newest discovery.

Well, I had decided on something completely different to share then I intended. I went to a Genealogy program at the library, and we were playing around with the nearest relative feature in the Family Search app. I matched as a 10th cousin once removed with one of the people.  Our common relative was Zaccheus Gould. Zaccheus Gould is my 9th Great Grandfather. I don't know how accurate my family search tree is compared to my ancestry tree which doesn't go back as far.  It was a fun exercise. Below is a little summary of Zaccheus Gould.

Zaccheus Gould was born in 1589 in Hertfordshire England. He married Phebe Deacon in England April 1617. It is unclear exactly when Zaccheus arrived in British Colonial America.  He arrived in America with his wife and 5 children. It is speculated around 1638.  Zaccheus bought land from his brother in 1639. He never became a freeman of the colony because he wouldn't join the Puritan church. However, he did take the oath of fidelity in 1651. His son, John, also became a freeman in 1665. 

By User:Magicpiano - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18777298

Zaccheus Gould House

Zaccheus had some incidents regarding nonattendance at required Sunday worship and creating a disturbance at public worship. He was also fined 3 pounds for entertaining Quakers. Zaccheus was admonished and paid a fine. His nephew, Daniel Gould, was an admitted Quaker who was charged and convicted. He had to depart the colony after receiving 30 lashes.  Zaccheus died in 1688.  He is buried near the town meeting house. At the time of his death, he was one of the largest landholders in the area. He had 3000 acres in the area which was Rowley Village and later Boxford Massachusetts.

some research links

Geni

Zaccheus Gould House Wiki

The Family of Zaccheus Gould of Topsfield - archive.org

Telling Stories -This blogger this is also her 9th great grandfather as well.

52 Ancestors - Brick Wall

 I have written about various brick walls I have in my genealogy - Geneva Mae Wolfe

My current one is Jane Marie Devolt (Devault) Hoyt.  I do not know who her parents are. I actually know a bit about her teenage years through the census records(1850). I found a land bounty that I believe is for her brother, Abraham Johnson Devolt who died 1846 a causality in the Mexican American War.  The land bounty lists his only heirs as his brothers and sisters - Lewis, Jesse, Sarah Clifford, James Hiram, and Jane. George Virgin is listed as the Guardian of the infants (minors) James, Hiram, and Jane

These are facts below

In the 1850 census, Jane is found in the census living in the household of Kinsey and Eliza Virgin. (my 3rd great grandparents) in Ohio. This household is a mixture of relatives living together.  I cannot tie her to the Virgin household as a relative. Interesting her purported older brother Hiram Devault and older sister, Sarah Clifford, lived with another Virgin relative, George Virgin. Yes, the same George who died by mixing up his colic medicine and vermin poison. This same George who is listed as the guardian of in the Land bounty. Jane is listed as age 14 in the census.

1855 (July 5) married William Hoyt in Mason Illinois.

Jane's married life is fairly well documented in Census records.  Jane and William Hoyt had 7 children - 4 boys and 3 girls.

Jane died February 4, 1894, in Cass County, Iowa where she and her husband homesteaded.  She was only 55 years old. William Hoyt would live until 1898.

What I have researched

I have researched the various siblings all seem to have limited information if none at all. I have read the entire land bounty.  I do find it interesting the Virgin family connection but after much research I can't connect the Devault's )Devolt's to the Virgin's .  The lack of mother and father seem to be a common denominator. Other than the census records, there is no death certificate and she does not appear in the local newspaper that I can find. 

Dead People Files Project - Women's History Month

I thought because March was Women's History Month, I would highlight my Great Grandmother's.  Why generally the census categorized these women as housewives. There were much more than that. I thought they might have more commonalities. I have not met any of these ladies. Only one was alive when I was born.

Some facts about this group of great grandmothers. Three of them died in their 60's. My Great Grandmother Mollie Hoyt lived until 91.  

3 of these Great Grandmother's had 3 children leaving only one having 2 children.

Below are my Great Grandmother's listed.

Delight Baldwin Lendman 

* The blurb on this card above is a bit misleading. She died in Lancaster Ohio, but her service was in Detroit Michigan, and she was buried in Indiana.  

Burnelle "Nell" Eva Crutcher Ross

Bettie and Burnelle

Lulu Pearl Howard Liston

more information

Joseph Liston, Marvel Hoyt, Lulu Liston, and Devere Hoyt

Mollie Hoyt Hoyt

**** all the blurbs on the name cards are taken from the lifestory feature in Ancestry. The cards are made in Project Life. 

Dead People Files Project

I have started a new tradition of choosing a birthday project or a yearlong project. Last year was 50 sunsets and sunrises.  I decided this year to choose a genealogy project.  I am calling it the Dead People Files. 

Goals

Research 13 ancestors and present that information on the blog. I will be using some of the 52 ancestors in 52-week writing prompts. Below is the start of the ancestors that I will for sure be researching. (4/15)

    Lulu Pearl Howard Liston (Hoyt/Liston Tree)

    John Lendman (Lendman Tree)

    Eliza Greene Perkins Doane (Hoyt/Liston Tree)

    John Christian Brenneman (Hoyt/Liston)

    Ida Shadwell Lendman (Lendman)

Do a DNA test on myself - I am interested in learning more about this

Improve my genealogy research - I plan on reading some genealogy books that are from the required reading list from the BYU and Boston University Genealogy programs. I think a good goal would be at least 3 books

Do one genealogy field trip? I think this might be open to interpretation

find a better way to share or present my genealogy research 

write better genealogy stories.

scan more photos and become more proficient in this