And a big… AHAAAA!

I knew it.. Knew it… K.N.E.W. I.T.!! Yes, I knew it! <---- this is a genealogical happy dance.
 
I have a lot of blog space dedicated to William F. Duncan and his father, George W. Duncan. William filled out that glorious Tennessee Civil War Questionnaire that gave a lot of information and clues to follow. But there is one big.. Huge! Gaping! bit of information he did not put on that questionnaire…. Ready? His Confederate service. I thought it strange his father joined the Confederate Army in 1862 and William joined the Union Army in May of 1864 at the age of 21. So then I thought maybe he did something else those two years but my mind was constantly brought back to that two years difference in their service. So the other night I was checking out what Footnote had by way of War of 1812 records as I might have War of 1812 Veterans. I didn't have any luck, that collection is in its infancy yet so something drew me back to the Civil War record section. It might have been me feeling cocky, I had just found a census record I had been looking for what seems forever. Spelling was off on the surname and a County I would not have looked for them in! Who knew. George W. Duncan and his family were very transient. Something made me take a stab at Confederate records and look for William and I have to say that even if I knew I was looking for him I was still very surprised to find him. The two years that puzzled me makes sense. There are 8 pages to this compiled record of Company Muster Rolls. There won't be a pension record since he defected I have his Union service documentation so will now have to figure out if there is another service file with more information. I am not very good finding records like these, NARA boggles my mind completely. I will be going through the State of NC Archives online catalog and hoping I can find something there. I struck gold there by accident once before over this family!
 
I am a dreamer… I want to know the why's. Dates of battles can be interesting, kind of, I love history but its about the people. What were they thinking, what did this split do to he and his father and how did it affect the rest of their family. Did William keep in touch with his mother after the war was over? His father died a month after he enlisted in the Union Army, they were both in Tennessee, did he know? So many questions that I will probably never have the answers to. To find even the smallest bit of information to give a better understanding to this would be so exciting.
 
The last Muster Roll for William Franklin Duncan in the Confederate Army:

 

A Tale of Two Duncan's and Toss In A Baldwin Too.

I find myself sitting at my desk with three of my ancestor's folders in front of me and trying to put the pieces together. I have to admit that for the first half of my life I was hooked on European history and could care less about American history. I liked it; it was okay but European, the Tudor period, and the intrigue! And sadly, I do know more about Medieval England than I do the Colonies and the States. Or that "was" the case. At the time I didn't know my connections to the War and too, I remember being able to quote that I had ancestors in the Civil War but I still had no investment in it even if I was proud of this fact. Now the investment is there. And maybe at the time, the Civil War, to me, was too recent of history. Until I started to sink into the thrilling world of family genealogist that is. Now, I have the investment and over the past five years I have had a gaining curiosity about the history of the States. This is solely because of my ancestry. I would never have known a thing about Manakin, Virginia, had I not found I am a descendent of William Witt. He is on the Huguenot Society webpage as unproven as a first settler there. I have always been interested in the Revolutionary War but politics, I have to say, bore me to death and that is always a big part of a War. I never tested well in my History classes. Dates, names and places, eh, okay, they are important but I always wanted to know about the people, not just the famous but Joe Smith that no one knew. My thirst for knowledge these days is unquenched. And it is broadening. Two years ago finding the Unit my ancestor in was enough, now I want to learn about that Unit. And, a tiny confession here, I missed the first part of Geneabloggers Blog Talk Radio this past Friday evening so I was listening to the podcast of it today at work and I think I might have gone a little fan girl crazy listening to Angela Walton-Raji. She has such enthusiasm in her voice and her knowledge bank is amazing, when she talks about her specialty topics she promotes that enthusiasm and I will say that sitting at my desk was very hard to do, I wanted to get right home and dive into some research. Thank you, Angela, and I look forward to hearing more of your talks.
 
Also, yesterday, I sat in on Michael Hait's webinar about Researching Your Civil Was Ancestor's and he mentioned a couple scenarios' I might have. One, an ancestor that may have fought for both army's and two, Jane Edwards Duncan was on the 1890 Veteran's Schedule Census and her deceased husband, George Washington Duncan was a Confederate Soldier. In this webinar it was mentioned that usually this Schedule was mainly listing Union and on some occasions Confederate's were found on this Schedule. In this case, lucky me!
 
So now I am revisiting these three men to take another more educated look at them.
 
So, these folders. I have a father and son: George Washington Duncan (father) and William Franklin Duncan (son). And then there is Hugh Wilson Baldwin. George and William were born in North Carolina. The family moved to Tennessee (Washington County in 1860) and it looks like William stayed in Tennessee when the family went back to North Carolina. William was 18 on the 1860 Census in Washington County, Tennessee, and Hugh Wilson Baldwin lived in Tennessee (Bradley County), I am unsure yet where he was born.  
 
So let's start with George and William. In the Civil War Questionnaire that I have for William, he stated George had fought in the Mexican War. I haven't started to research that yet but he said nothing about the Civil War which surprises me. Then comes the confusion about George. I overlooked his service several times because the age of George Duncan was 29 and he couldn't be that young. But then milling through the records at Footnote, I came across his service record and sure enough it was my George Washington Duncan as that file was holding the documentation of his wife applying for his pension. George died in the war of illness in Knoxville, Tennessee. I have yet to find out where he is buried. So either a clerical error was made in his age or that was what he told them. He would have been approximately 39 when he mustered in. The next thing.. George fought for the Confederate Army 29th North Carolina Regiment and William fought for the Union Army 4th Regiment Tennessee Calvary. I am left thinking about these two men and what kind of relationship they might have had. They were both in Washington County Tennessee when the 1860 US Census was taken. What made George go back to North Carolina and muster in? He ended up fighting and dying in Tennessee. And what made William decided to be a Federal serviceman? His Civil War Questionnaire gave no clues to either his relationship with his father or the choices he made. The only thing I see is that he did not mention George being in the Civil War.
 
Then I have Hugh Wilson Baldwin.. My man of two armies. Maybe. I am not yet convinced. First there is the Confederate service record in Co. A, 62nd Tennessee Mounted Infantry (Rowan's Regiment). He was 19 and enrolled in Sweet Water Tennessee, Bradley County. In this he became a prisoner of war at the Battle of Vicksburg and signed a document stating he would not take up arms against the United States of America again. This is dated July 8th, 1863. I have his pension file and it states he enrolled at age 23 the 3rd day of February, 1864 at Charleston, in Co. I 10th regiment of Tennessee Calvary Volunteers. The ages have me a bit hung up and there is no mention of his Confederate service in this file but this file is full of information given by his wife Deborah Louise Cowden Duncan and his friends in affidavits about his failing health once home after the war was over. He died when he was 40. Only one thing will prove any of this for me and that would be finding his signature. I have his signature on the Vicksburg Prisoner of War document. He was already deceased by the time this Pension application was started so I don't have his signature there. I found some documentation on Footnote but no signature there either. So that will be a project finding some other legal document he would have signed.
 
And then a funny coincidence. See the Captain's signature on Hugh's Prisoner of War document below? I about fell off my chair at first thinking my William Duncan signed the same document that Hugh W. did. Wouldn't that be something!? This William Duncan was of an Illinois unit and my William Duncan signs a very bold "William F. Duncan" on every document I have found with his signature. It is always a full signature. That would have been a great family story because of the future. William Franklin Duncan's son, David Washington Duncan, married Hugh Wilson Baldwin's daughter, Carrie Anne Baldwin.

 

 

The Mother Load - Tennessee Historical Committee Civil War Questionnaire

It has taken me forever but I have -finally- transcribed a document I have had a year or two. This is part of my Re-Do project that is taking me way too long. Way too long! So I did it.. I picked up William Franklin Duncan's file to add to the new database exactly what I have as documentation. Once done with this new database project I will then compare it to all the information I "know" and don't have proof for it and I will go find it, then start on the holes! Phew. I am exhausted!

Here is a lesson about letting documents sit too long without transcribing. Can we say missing out on a lot of information??

   

George Washington Duncan and Jane Elizabeth Edwards will be fun to sort out. Looking at dates, he could have been in the Mexican War if I have his birth date right, abt 1820. The death information I have for him from the book "North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865, A Roster" compiled by Weymouth T. Jordan, Jr. has him listed dying at 29 years old during the Civil War. And, truthfully, do you know how many George Washington Duncan's there are? The North Carolina State Archives sent me this tidbit photocopy of George's death when I was tracking down Jane Edwards Duncan pension claim.

   

This is a very long post, my apologies….

 

State of Tennessee

Tennessee Historical Committee

Department of Libraries, Archives and History

John Trotwood Moore, Director

   

NOTE – Should this Questionnaire fall into the hands of one who is not a Veteran of the Civil War, or who did not live during those days, you will confer a favor on this Department by giving it to some Solider who has not received a copy, or return to us.

   

The chief purpose of the following questions is to bring out facts that will be of service in writing a true history of the Old South. Such a history has not been written. By answering these questions you will make a valuable contribution to the history of your State.

In case the space following any question is not sufficient for your answer, you may write your answer on a separate piece of paper. But when this is done, be sure to put the number of the question on the paper on which the answer is written, and number the pages on the paper on which you write your answer.

Read all questions before you answer any of them. After answering the questions here given, if you desire to make additional statements, I would be glad for you to add just as much as you desire.

• State your full name and present post office address: William Franklin Duncan, Tasso Tennessee.
  
• State your age now: I am Eighty years and four months old.
  
• In what State and county were you born? In Ashe now Alleghany County, North Carolina.
  
• Were you a Confederate or Federal soldier? Federal Soldier, Civil War.
  
• Name of your Company? M? 4^th Tenn Cav (B) Number of Regiment? 4^th Regiment Tennessee Cavalry Volunteers. I was credited to Washington County Tennessee.
  
• What was the occupation of your father? Farmer
  
• Give full name of your father: George Washington Duncan Born at Sparta in the County of Ashe now Alleghany State of North Carolina. He lived at in Ashe County, NC and Washington County, Tennessee. Give also any particulars concerning him, as official position, ware services, etc., books written by, etc. He was a farmer and ex Mexican Volunteer Soldier.
  
• Maiden name in full your mother. Jane Elizabeth Edwards. She was the daughter of William Edwards and his wife Nancey Edwards. Who lived at Near Gap Civil, Ashe County, North Carolina.
  
• Remarks on ancestry. Give here any and all facts possible in reference to your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc., not included in the foregoing, as were they lived, offices held, Revolutionery or other war services; what country the family came from to America; first settled, county and State; always giving full names (if possible), and never referring to an ancestor simply as such without giving the name. It is desirable to include every fact possible, and to that end the full and exact record from old Bibles should be appended on separate sheets of this size, thus preserving the facts from loss: (answer) John Duncan great grandfather a soldier of Revolutionary War 1776. John Duncan Grandfather soldier of 1812. George W Duncan father volunteer Mexican War. William Edwards great grandfather an Englishman first settled in New York. William Edwards grand father first settled in Penn and then in N.C. Nancy Edwards and Duncan was from Ireland.
  
• If you owned land or other property at the opening of the war, state what kind of property you owned, and state the value of your property as near as you can: Father owned a farm.
  
• Did you or your parents own slaves? If so, how many? No, did not own slaves.
  
• If your parents owned land, state about how many acres: About 100 acres.
  
• State as near as you can the value of all the property owned by your parents, including land when the war opened: About 100 acres worth $500.00.
  
• What kind of house did your parents occupy. State whether it was a log house or frame house or (can't read)…the number of rooms it had. (Can't read) Country Log House.
  
• As a boy and young man, state what kind of work you did. If you worked on a farm.. (copy blacked out): As a boy I worked on the farm… public and private school… (copy blacked out)
  
• State clearly what kind of work your father did, and what the duties of your mother were. State all kinds of work done in the house as well as you can remember, that is, cooking, spinning, weaving, etc.: Father George W Duncan was a farmer, owned land and mill worked on the farm and run the mill at times. Mother done house work cooking spinning and weaving making our wearing apparel.
  
• Did your parents keep any servants? If so, how many? No slaves, only domestic white girls.
  
• How was honest toil – as plowing, hauling and other sorts of honest work of this class – regarded in your community? Was such work considered respectable and honorable? Yes respectable by every body.
  
• Did the white men of your community generally engage in such work? Yes.
  
• To what extent were there white men in your community leading lives of idleness and having others do their work for them? No idleness was not tolerated.
  
• Did the men who owned slaves mingle freely with those who did not own slaves, or did slaveholders in any way show by their actions that they felt themselves better than respectable, honorable men who did not own slaves? In verriable did associate together as friend and citizens.
  
• At the churches, at the schools, at public gatherings in general, did slave-holders and non-slave-holders mingle on a footing of equality? In verriable so without (can't read) up to 1860.
  
• Was there a friendly feeling between slave-holders and non-slave-holders in your community, or where they antagonistic to each other? Naborly and friends up 1860.
  
• In a political contest in which one candidate owned slaves and the other did not, did the fact that one candidate owned slaves help hire in any winning the contest? I think not.
  
• Were the opportunities good in your community for a poor young man, honest and industrious, to save up enough to buy a small farm or go in business for himself? It was and enough (can't read) person takin advantage of the opportunity.
  
• Were poor, honest, industrious young men, who were ambitious to make something out of themselves, encouraged or discouraged by slaveholders? Every body was encouraged to work and be honest.
  
• What kind of school or schools did you attend? Public schools 3 to 5 months and private schools after public schools expired.
  
• About how long did you go to school altogether? More or less each year to 1860.
  
• How far was it to the nearest school? Four to Five miles.
  
• What school or schools were in operation in your neighborhood? Public and private subscription schools.
  
• Was the school in your community private or public? Public and private.
  
• About how many months in the year did it run? Three to five… months.
  
• Did the boys and girls in your community attend school pretty regularly? They did
  
• Was the teacher of the school you attended a man or woman? Men.
  
• In what year and month and at what place did you enlist in the service of Confederacy or of the Federal Government? I William F Duncan was enlisted for Company M. 4^th Regt Tenn Cavalry United States Army May 6^th 1864 and Credited to Washington County Tenn. I was offered $750.00 to be credited to New York City as substitute for New York.
  
• After enlistment, where was your Company sent first? To Nashville Tennessess to Camp Catleft(?).
  
• How long after enlistment before your Company engaged in battle? Stoneman Raid into Georgia in June or July 1864. Sherman Campaign.
  
• What was the first battle you engaged in? I was on Detached service at a block house guarding a R R Bridge near Decatur Ala. Until Battle of the Gulphen(?) (?) and capture of the 3^rd Tenn Cav
  
• State in your own way your experience in the War from this time on to its close. State where you went after the first battle – what you did, what other battles you engaged in, how long they lasted, what the results were; state how you lived in camp, how you were clothed, how you slept what you had to eat, how you were exposed to cold, hunger and disease. If you were in hospital or in prison, state your experience here.: While on Detached service sergeant in charge of 100 one hundred men having to occupy to Block House contracted fever and bowel trouble and was in a rail road and injured treated in hospital at Nashville Tennessee and AL Jeffersonville Ind(?)
  
• When and where were you discharged? July 12^th 1865 at Nashville Tennessee
  
• Tell something of your trip home: I landed at home in Jonesboro Washington County Tennessee in July 1865.
  
• What kind of work did you take up when you came back home? Work on the farm (?) corn for a nabor for one peck of corn per day.
  
• Give a sketch of your life since the close of Civil War, stating what kind of business you have engaged in, where you have lived, your church relations, etc. If yo have held any office or offices, state what it was. You may state here any other facts connected with your life and experience which has not been brought out by questions.: I began work on the farm farming merch clerking in a county store in Washington County Tennessee I have lived in Bradley County Tennessee 40 years was Census Enumerator in 1890, 1990 and 1910 Justice of the Peace Member of County Court(?) Notary Public for years Depot and express Agent seven years Pension agent or Attorney. Clerk in store and assist Post Master at Tasso Bradley County Tennessee for last ten years up to the present time. A Master Mason Chatatta Lodge F&H M(?wondering if this means Free Mason, David W, his son, and John Foster Duncan, his grandson, were Masons as well -- transcribers comment). Member of the Christian Church,
  
• On a separate sheet give the names of great men you have known or met in your time, and tell some of the circumstances or meeting or incidents in their lives. Also add any further personal reminiscences. (Use all the space you want.): (2 attached sheets but had to do with both of his wives, not this question.)
  
• (can't read this question but it is about the Roster of his company and when people died. I will try to transcribe at another time, there is a lot of black copy to try to read through).
  
• Give here the NAME and POST OFFICE ADDRESS of living Veterans of the Civil War, whether members of your Company of not; whether Tennesseans or from other States: (In this space William writes.. Isn't it fabulous!?) I, William F Duncan Co M 4^th Regt Tennessee Cavalry that is living that I know any thing of at present time. When I left Hospital I was sent to Vicksburg Miss and to New Orleans La there to Fort Barrancus Florida thru to Mobile Ala then marched by (?) to Baton Rouge La then to Nashville Tennessee by boat. Excuse me for taken up so much time, yours very truly, Wm F Duncan, Tasso Tennessee. My own hand writing, age 80 years old.
  

 Attached Sheet 1:

   

Honorable John Trotwood Moore

Director Nashville Tenn

   

1,1 1923 Dear Sir

In reply to yours of (?) date I give you further history of myself after the Civil War. I was 1st Lieut of Co E 2nd Regt NC State Troops and (?) of the Regt and was elected Lieut Colonel of same. I married Martha Jane Hensley Sept 28th, 1865. She was mother of one sone David Washington Duncan borned March 24th 1867. He was a member of lower house of Tennessee Legislature. He was killed by Rail Road train near Cleveland Tennessee March 24th 1922. On his birthday on a crossing. He was stock inspector for Tennessee appointed by Capt Peck and Governor A A Taylor. I am yours truly,

William F Duncan

Tasso Tennessee

 

Attached Sheet 2:

   

Honorable John Trotwood Moore

Nashville Tennessee

   

1, 1 1923 Dear Sir,

   

On March the 12th 1871 I was married to Malissa Christina Briggs she was the mother of Martha E Duncan borned 8, 13 1873 now living John Thomas Duncan born January 21 1877 living William L Duncan 1, 17, 1879 living Marvin D Duncan 11, 22, 1881 died 7, 6, 1902 Isham F Duncan 1, 1, 1884 living. Oscar L Duncan 2, 16, 1886 died at Donelson Tenn 3, 31, 1921 Fredric R Duncan April 8, 1889 died 6, 8, 1890 Evan P Duncan 2, 12, 1892 now living.

 

My wife Malissa Christina Duncan died Nov. 5 1921. Member of the Christian Church

I am yours William F Duncan

Tasso Tennessee

  

Neglect and Paying it Forward - Find a Grave

I have taken a few months off of research. Yet again. What was a couple of weeks has turned into quite a while but I tend to do that with everything I do. I knit like a fiend for a couple of weeks, spin like a fiend for a couple of weeks, research like a fiend for a couple of weeks, rinse and repeat. At one point I thought I should give up a hobby to balance myself out but I have come to accept my "cycle of life".
 
With that comes some guilt. I have gotten some leads from some very nice people. Emails and posts on Ancestry boards and one on this blog even! Blogging, people! If you are not a blogger, you should be. I had no idea what or why I wanted to do a blog but you know, I don't have anything important to say and I am not a teaching type blogger but I have gotten some very significant leads on my research from those Googling my ancestors! And there have been a few inquiries on my Duncan surname and ugh, I feel so bad because last week I wanted to sit at my spinning wheel, not here. One gentleman I let know I haven't been working on my research and was taking a short break, I can just imagine him scratching his head and looking at his other half and saying, "Whatta mean she is taking a break?" Do researchers do that? It boggles the mind.
 
I will say it is the research community on blogs and Facebook that keep me inspired and chomping at the bit to get back at it. I see some very productive people on my Facebook feed and many times sigh and say, "Gosh, come on Lighthouse, let's get moving here already!" Please don't look at my feed, it is all Frontierville. (Hangs her head in shame.)
 
To, my redo project is stalling me. I have posted on this project before. Brand new data base, the only thing going into this database is what I -actually- have as documentable proof in the new data base. I have gotten to the heavy material files and there came the …. Errrch… stall, let's go do something else mode. If I could train myself to even do a half hour a day when I get home from work to get these documents into RM4 and sourced, I would be so much farther ahead. Do I hear a New Year's theme coming? 2011 is going to be "Lets improve a little bit of everything", not a resolution but lifestyle enhancement. I really think I need to clean up the old information before I go for new information so… that is my plan even if it is taking months longer than I expected or allowed myself. I am very distracted by shiny. I need supervision.
 
All is not lost to the research community, however. For the time not spent at this desk researching, and or goofing off online, I have been running about my county as a Find a Grave volunteer. I can't tell you how much joy and pleasure I get from doing this. It is something I do with my 20 year old daughter, she enjoys it just as much and she is very good at finding the headstones we are looking for. I am sure she finds them more than I do. Her friends think I am "cool" because I hang out at cemeteries. College kids think I am cool!! It is good quality time with her and we have fun. We have stories that make us laugh and some day she will look back on these days and remember, and smile, while maybe, just maybe, doing this with her future daughter. And, it is good therapy, when I step into a cemetery on the hunt, the world goes away and family stress can be forgotten for a little while. The holidays this year is turning out to be very difficult so there has been a lot of Find a Graving!

For those of you that might be thinking about doing Find a Grave picture requests, you should! It is fun and a wonderful way to pay it forward. I have had some very nice people collect headstone pictures for me in Tennessee, only one of my original eight requests is still there unfulfilled and you learn the cemeteries in your area.
 
Yesterday we went to a very small cemetery that is no longer taken care of. I couldn't find the stone that was requested and I will report to the requester what I found. It saddened me that a cemetery could be so overgrown and neglected it. It is right behind a house, in some trees and very overgrown with thorn bushes, it is a mess and it shouldn't be that way. The majority of the stones are broken, laying in pieces or no longer readable.

So now after my word purge, I am going to work on the Briggs a bit I think! Woot for research!
 
Current leads:

Delothe "Dolly" Briggs may be the daughter of Frederick Briggs hung in 1789 in Virginia for horse thievery. It could be, I have her birth figured to be about 1785. I have her 1860 census saying she is 75 and her 1870 census were it looks like it says she is 80 so one or the other census is incorrect. I am still looking for more censuses. I have guessed she died in 1885 (per information of another family researcher in my family) but have not found her on the 1880 census as yet. She has been a mystery ancestor of mine and I wish I could have known her. Never married and with 5 children I think it is without looking at my records. How did a woman in the early 1800's not marry like that and what was her life like. I am dying to know.

Elizabeth "Betsey" Stockton. A very nice man from the Stockton family has contacted me with some valuable information. I had a bit of the information but no documentation. This documents my line, always a good thing; she is of the Stockton family of Virginia. They were very wealthy in their time.

And the Duncan clan. I have been contacted by other Duncan researchers also descended from my John Duncan to George Washington Duncan of North Carolina line. There is a reunion every year for ancestors of John Duncan; he had a lot of wives during his time. I have asked my sister to think about it and I think we may plan a trip to NC in 2011 for this reunion, which means, I better get some more work done on this line so I can walk into this reunion sounding like I know what I am doing when it comes to my Duncan's!! :)

Happy Holiday's to you and yours, whatever your Holiday of choice may be!!

Some pictures of that cemetery I mentioned above, Benham Cemetery, Ontario County NY:

 

Find A Grave (Written and never posted - 7/16/10)

Find A Grave (Written and never posted - 7/16/10)

 

I have wanted to volunteer for a long time and finally did. I did this because I was requesting headstones from Tennessee and thought I should "give back", finally. I have often posted on various boards that I would be willing to trod out to snap photos for people. It is an easier way to help out the headstone seekers without daring my sacroiliac joint to inflame with anger. Small hunting projects. So eagerly I have been waiting for my own results, excitingly checking my email daily to find no notice of any head stones there but within a hour of clicking the volunteer button, I had three requests and from the two cemetery's that I am sandwiched between. Seriously, I have a cemetery one road to the north and one road to the south from me. Within walking distance, how cool is that! This morning I fulfilled two of the requests and when the page said the requester would be notified I saw a link for her other requests and popped that open for a peek and wow, she has about 30 requests that have been sitting there for months not claimed by a volunteer! Two I can do for her as they are local to me. And it not one place; Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York (too far for me to travel), Delaware, Vermont and Maryland. Now I am wondering if anyone will pick up my requests for my scattered places in Tennessee (wait until I start on NC and Virginia)! And ugh, I just looked, none of them are claimed!

 

I will have to poke around and see if there is a way I can figure out if there are long standing unclaimed requests for my area for other people. (Never mind, figured it out!)

 

(Update - 9/3/10 and Pennsic in between!) Since then a couple of wonderful people have uploaded pictures of graves from my requested photo's list. And I have visited quite a few cemeteries in my area hunting down that elusive stone for people far away. Also, while I am there for the requested photo, I take pictures of the family members around them and upload them too in case they are useful, since I am there, I am happy to do it. While a few have not turned out to be their people, the stones are there for the next seekers and I feel it is such a worthwhile investment of my time and a way to give back and pay it forward. Genealogists, in my experience, are the nicest kind of people. I have printed a few requests to go find this weekend!

 

Some of the bounty (I asked for 8 stones and have 6 so far, and that was only Tennessee, I have a couple more states!)

 

 David Washing Duncan and Carrie Ann Baldwin Duncan

 

 William Franklin Duncan

 

(some great stuff about Deborah Louise Cowden Baldwin and her husband 

Hugh Wilson Baldwin in the next post!!!!!!)

Catching up - Bad Blogger

That last couple of months has been hit or miss.  I am currently undergoing an issue with Sacroiliac Joint Syndrome.   I hate it, I don't like it.  Pain is an every day thing and that is where I am now, finding a pain management routine that works for me.  Two cortisone shots (that did not work) later I was scheduled for an RPN this morning (it doesn't sound pleasant at all, let me tell you!) but!! my insurance company DENIED the procedure.  Just a very small rant then I am done… This insurance company (and my employer) made a nice program for us.  If we listen/watch a series of videos we get a benefit check back.  So, I saw they had a half dozen virtual blurbs on pain management and watched them all so that I might learn something and every one of them say "Follow up with your doctor, follow their prescribed regimen… blah blah blah"  to turn around and deny my treatment from my Doctor?  It boggles the mind.  Seriously.  So anyway, enough of that, I realize pain is my only  problem, there is no fixing the joint, it is damaged, it is a maintenance thing.  Constant pain is a depressant and some days I don't do a thing because it saps my energy but at the same time, I don't have a serious disease like so many other brave souls fight every day so in that, out of respect, I won't feel sorry for myself.  A bad day of pain is certainly better than a chemo treatment.

What I have been doing….. Certificate in Genealogical Studies-Scottish Records at  National Institute for Genealogical Studies.  I have purchased the basic package of classes so far.  I started the third class this week.  So far I am enjoying it and right now is a lot of back tracking.  I have to do the basic classes for the certificate and already have the basic knowledge though I will say doing a case study in Methodology I was an eye opener.  I clearly think in a different pattern but come to the same conclusions.. eventually.   Riddles frustrate me, the obvious is never my first choice, I have a very complex analytical mind and I always seem to think out before in.  I always blame it on being a Virgo!  Ha!  I wonder if that is why I make people crazy with frustration towards me!  When it comes to sitting down and digging into the research, I am tireless and I will hunt, scratch and scrape until I find what I am looking for.  So in the end I do accomplish what I set out to.  The bulk of the classes I am looking forward to start in December, so I will be juggling three classes I think it is.  That is the one draw back of my program, the Scottish classes are not as often and what I really want to take is really far away.  I have electives to take so in between the Scottish classes I have plenty to keep me busy.  With that though, I am very happy with the content and look forward to earning my Certificate.  I have just started my family line which I am including the Ahnentafel at the end of this post.

I was told my Baldwin's started in Connecticut.  I really want to sit down and bridge that gap from Tennessee to Connecticut but I have a feeling that Virginia is in between.  The last Baldwin I have proof of is William Baldwin, I think his father is Ezekiel Baldwin.  He moved to Tennessee and purchased land there so consider him "penciled in" until I know for sure.  So if this is his father, connecting Virginia to Connecticut would the next step:

Name:	William W Baldwin1–4
Sex:	Male
Individual Facts
Birth	bet 1779 and 1780	Amhearst Co Virginia2
Residence	1830 (about age 51)	Rhea, Tennessee5
Death	28 Jan 1851 (about age 72)	Meigs County Tennessee - Rhea Springs2
Burial		Goodfield Cemetery, 4 miles south of Decutur, Meigs County, Tennessee
Marriages/Children
1. Elizabeth Lutrell (1788-1867)
Marriage	25 Apr 1809 (about age 30)	Knox County Tennessee2
Census (fam)	1840 Census	Meigs County Tennessee - Rhea Springs
Children	Hugh Lawson Baldwin (1809-1890)
	Elizabeth F Baldwin (1812-1889)
	James Churchill Baldwin (1814- )
	Rhonda Ann Baldwin (1816- )
	Sarah C Baldwin (1819- )
	John L Baldwin (1821-1886)
	William Jr Baldwin H (1824- )
	Robert Simeon Baldwin (1826-1875)

Hugh Lawson Baldwin still stumps me and I have he is having way too much fun side stepping my pinning him down!  I do have land records for him, he sold a lot of land during the 1860's so I am thinking he moved on to Texas long before I thought. 

The Duncan's are still a brick wall.  It is assumed my George Washington Duncan is the son of John Duncan of North Carolina.  John may have been in the Revolutionary War, he was there during that time frame, I think.  I also assume he is the Duncan that came over from Scotland.  My family story was that three Duncan brothers came to the Colonies and settled near Bee Log, NC.

I still need to do my Duncan line "re-do" from a prior post.  Starting a brand new data base.  File by file rebuilding the database with DOCUMENTABLE sources.  Then use my second cousins book as a reference and find these documents.  I have an inkling one line might be incorrect.  And I know there have to be others that I can track to the Revolutionary War to supplement them into the DAR.

I heard from a distant relative from my Sheufelt line.  I haven't done any research on my fathers side, my mothers side keeps me very busy.   Bernadine Sheufelt was my paternal grandmother.  This relative and myself share the same great-grandparents and she was so nice and emailed me photographs of them!  I have not sat down and really followed the Ancestry trees for the Sheufelt, it seems many research various branches of Sheufelt/Hubble lines which is where my line goes.  My fathers paternal side already has me in Croatia but… there are not enough hours a day.

And then there are all the non-genealogical things I do… knitting, spinning and garb for the SCA for three people for a Pennsic that is coming at me full steam ahead!

Something I LOVE - Windows Office OneNote.  Type here, upload into blog.

And most importantly - today - HAPPY ROBIN HOOD DAY!  Which is where I am going this morning, to see Robin Hood.  This is epic, I NEVER go to the theatre opening day of anything, I hate it, I don't like crowds, I don't like people I don't know too close to me!  Haha.

And enough, I shut up now… -smile!-  Back to my exam I am procrastinating on with blog posts!

Generation 1

1. Elizabeth Dewar Spalding FENDER-1: born 21 Mar 1909 in District of St. Mary, Dundee, Scotland; died 3 Mar 1984 in Rochester, Monroe, NY.

Generation 2

2. Edward Cummings Alexander FENDER-2: born 19 Jul 1878 in District of St. Andrews, Dundee, Scotland; married 18 Dec 1903 in Dundee, Scotland; died 10 Apr 1952 in Akron, Summit, Ohio.

3. Elizabeth Reid ANDERSON-3: born 11 Apr 1880 in Carnoustie, Scotland; died 31 Jan 1933 in Akron, Summit, Ohio.

Generation 3

4. George FENDER-5: born 20 Dec 1851 in Dundee, Angus, Scotland; married 9 Jun 1871 in District of St. Clement, Dundee; died 9 Nov 1920 in Parish of Liff-Benvie, County of Forfar.

5. Jane Watt ALEXANDER-6: born ca 1852 in Forfarshire, Dundee; died 12 Jan 1915 in Dundee, Angus, Scotland.

6. John ANDERSON-10: born 3 Jun 1855 in Greystone, Parish of Monikie, Forfarshire, Scotland; married 27 Jun 1879 in Dundee, Angus, Scotland.

7. Elizabeth Dewar SPALDING-12: born 17 Oct 1855 in Parish of Monifieth in the County of Forfar.

Generation 4

8. George FENDER-13: born 20 Mar 1817 in Dundee, Angus, Scotland; married 26 Nov 1843 in Dundee, Angus, Scotland.

9. Jean/Jane BEATTS-14: born 18 Feb 1817 in Ferry Port on Craig; died 18 Mar 1898 in District of St. Mary, Dundee, Scotland.

10. Alexander ALEXANDER-24: born 20 May 1820 in Dundee, Angus, Scotland; married 24 Jan 1842 in Dundee, Angus, Scotland.

11. Margaret WATT-25.

13. Margaret ANDERSON-26: born ca 1826 in Brechin, Scotland.

14. James SPALDING-27: born 3 Oct 1827 in Foveran, Aberdeenshire; married 17 Dec 1854 in Monifieth, Scotland.

15. Elizabeth Lamb DEWAR-28: born 17 Jul 1836 in Dundee, Angus, Scotland.

Generation 5

16. George FENDER-50: born ca 1787.

17. Elizabeth SMITH-51: born ca 1791.

18. James BEAT-40: born 24 Sep 1789 in Ferry Port on Craig; married 22 May 1816 in Ferry Port on Craig.

19. Isabel MURRAY-41.

20. Thomas ALEXANDER-38.

21. Elizabeth MILNE-39.

22. Angus or Andrew??? WATT-37.

28. Alexander SPALDING-44.

29. Maria ADAMS-45.

30. David DEWAR-46: married.

31. Helen CUTHILL-47: born 26 May 1804 in Montrose.

Generation 6

36. William BEATT-42: married 23 Jan 1787 in Ferry Port on Craig.

37. Jean GORIE-43.

62. James CUTHILL-48: married.

63. Janet MATHER-49.

Preparer:

Sharon Stevens Lighthouse

Please do not reproduce without my express permission.

s1klight@aol.com

Transcription - G. W. Duncan - Coffin and Grave

I guess my previous post was what I needed to shed my mood. Tonight I decided to look at what I had saved in Footnote and to start transcribing. This file has 12 pages of information. I did find a clue or two in this information. I am seeing very clearly why transcribing is important, especially for a skimmer like me. I can pinpoint Jane Edwards Duncan to Hendersonville, NC in 1862. I will see if there are newspapers from there in any archives.

{Edit:  Oh discrepancy!  I wonder if his age was written down when he mustered in or if he gave the wrong age.  By taking the age of 29 that he was listed as when he died, that places him born abt 1832.  His wife was born 1817 and their son William Franklin was born in 1842.  That would make G.W. 10 years old??  More research to be done.  In the statement below it is mentioned he was 42 at time of death.}

From North Carolina Troops
1861-1865
A Roster

Compiled by Weymouth T Jordan, Jr.
Vol. VII
Infantry

Duncan, George W., Private

Born in Ashe County and resided in Yancey County where he was by occupation a farmer prior to enlisting in Yancey County at age 29, July 26, 1861.  Died n hospital at Knoxville, Tennessee, June 20-27, 1862 of "diarrhoea."

The reference card:

Duncan - G.W.

Co. G. 29th N.C.

(Confederate)

Reference Card

See Manuscript No. 1687 Page …

Coffin and Grave

Dated - July 16 1862

Statement:

I certify that the within named George W Duncan a private of Capt E H Hampton's company (G) 29th Regt NC Troops was born in Ash County in the State of NC.  Age 42 years five feet nine inches high.  Fair complexion blue eyes black hair.  And by occupation a farmer.  Was enlisted by M Chandler at Day Brook in Yancey County in the State of NC on the 26th day of July 1861 to serve one year and died at Knoxville Tennessee in regular hospital of dioreiah on the 27th day of June 1862.  A left the following effect {viz} two suits of clothes, two blankets and 36 dollars in money all of which was hand over to his leagal adminstrator, Jane M Duncan except one suit of clothes which was used in burying him.  Given in duplicate at Beau Station, Tenn this 8th day of July 1862.  E.H. Hampton, Capt.  Comdg Comp 29th Regt, NC Troops.

Auditor/Comptroller Document:

The Confederate States

To George W Duncan, deceased, late Private of Capt.  Hampton  Co G 29th Reg't, North Carolina Troops Dr.

For pay from 1st May the date of which he was last paid by Capt. Neill A 2 M to 27th June, 1862 the date of his Death.

1 month & 17 Days @ $11 per Month		20.90
Commutation for Clothing		20.99
		41.89

Per Certificate of Capt Hampton herewith.

Payable to B. M. Edward (?), Attorney of Jane E Duncan the Widow of said deceased Hendersonville N.C.

Treasury Department

Second Auditor's Office

June 6th 1863

C W Johnson, Clerk.

Comptroller's Office

June 9th, 1863

S.H. Boykin(?), Clerk.

SNGF ~ Good Genealogy Luck

Tonight's Fun Assignment

1) When have you had a dose of good genealogy luck? What document or resource did you find just by happenstance or chance? By being in the right place at the right time? By finding a family history treasure in your family's attic or basement? By finding a helpful document or reference without even looking for it?

2) Tell us about it in Comments to this post, in Comments on Facebook, or in a blog post of your own.

My good luck was posted on this blog entry... an OMG! moment.

George W Duncan had been a hard man to track down and his wife was even worse since his son referred to her as "Miss Edwards" in his civil war applications. She turned out to be Jane Edwards. George was a man that I had spent 20 years off and on poking around trying to find him.

Tired of looking for him I thought I would see if there was any pension information out there for Jane and she lived and died in North Carolina. So I spent a night looking for all of the Duncan men on the North Carolina state archives website and finally thought to look for Jane Edwards. I was so excited when I found her civil war widows pension application so ordered a copy to be sent to me. That seemed all well and good, progress, another document to put to her life on my family tree. She had been difficult for years too and suddenly in a couple of weeks I had figured out who she was AND!! found that line of family history already documented by another family historian!

So mail day! In came the envelope and when I pulled out Jane's information, the WONDERFUL person at the North Carolina Archives thought to put a copy of the page from a book showing George W Duncan's death!! He died in Tennessee, I had been looking in North Carolina for years! It was not expected and it was an important find and solved the mystery of "just was that man the G. W. that went to Texas??" I was so glad that he wasn't!

A Taste of Oral History

I had the most delightful conversation with my mothers cousin last evening. I have a huge family I have never met. My grandfather moved to Akron, Ohio from Tennessee and then my parents moved to Rochester, New York. I grew up away from the extended families. And so, I sometimes feel detached. I am a relative by blood and name but I don't have all the photo's or anecdotes of memories. It is not to say we were not close with our Akron family, I spent a lot of time with cousins on my Grandmother's side growing up but the Tennessee family I know what I see on my pedigree chart. I have some articles and pictures but I don't have the experience with them. My mother went to Tennessee once as a child and while she did form relationships with them it was long distance. It is not like I didn't know any of them, I knew my grandfathers two sisters, Ruth and Bertha, they lived in Akron too. So talking to Patsy was an absolute joy.

I expected it to be business about the DAR and Colonial Dames 17th Century. I am in the process of getting my mother, my sister, my daughter and myself into the DAR and the Colonial Dames 17th Century has been a little more difficult to make contact. She gave me helpful information as to what line I want to take into the Colonial Dames as I am a colateral descendent of Ann Lee who married Thomas Youwell. Her father was Richard Lee, who signed the Declaration of Independence. And so I will try to make contact with them again once I get the DAR buttoned up.

What I ended up with from this phone call was a few stories and a smile that lasted all night long. Listening to her talk of my great grandparents was such a treat and she told me a couple of very short stories about David Washington Duncan and Carrie Ann Baldwin Duncan. Carrie is the blood line that goes back to the Revolutionary War and Colonial times.

David and Carrie were living in Atlanta, Georgia for a time. He was a postman on the railroad and he would pick up mail and sort it to be delivered. When McKinley was elected President of the United States, Atlanta began to celebrate. A man stepped from his hardware store and started banging two cast iron skillets together as noise makers. David looked over and decided he liked those skillets. The next day he went back to the store and bought them for Carrie. One Patsy gave to my mother to pass down through the family since Patsy didn't have grandchildren.

Carrie Baldwin Duncan wanted to die on the same day as her husbands birthday/death date, March 24. For days she laid on her death bed and she kept asking what day it was. Those with her would respond, Monday or the day of the week and she kept asking the date. One day she asked the date, she was told it was March 24th, she smiled and closed her eyes and died. Patsy said that Carrie loved David Duncan more than anything and that they had been a happy couple. I find it ironic that he worked so many years around the rail road and it was on the rail road that he died. His car was hit by a train when he was crossing when on the way to a meeting. Patsy said it was figured he was pressed for time, he was on his way to a cattleman's meeting, and distracted so didn't hear the whistle. Carrie hated slang of any kind, a darn or shucks around her was as good as swearing in her book. I wish I had known her.

After talking about so many other things, we left the phone call with what she likes to bake for Pam when she comes to visit. Pound cake with almond flavoring and cookies. She said to use a chocolate chip cookie recipe and substitute chopped dried bing cherries for the chips, or add both. They sound so good! I will have to make them sometime soon. Today I don't feel so deprived of family stories and I look forward to talking with her again and hearing more of her stories.

Invitation to the Kitchen (Blog Prompt 6)

I remember we would travel to Akron, Ohio from Rochester, New York to visit my grandmother several times during the year. Usually we would go for the major holidays and during the summer time. My grandmother, Elizabeth Fender Duncan, lived with her Step Mother who I have spoken of before in this blog, Grandma Willie. She was legally blind but I remember holding papers right up to her nose to make out letter and I remember her touching the picture of her husband who had passed away every day, also in this blog, Edward Fender. My grandmother was very proper about many things. Linens were to be starched by the laundry; I remember the laundry bag being left by the door of her second floor apartment on West Exchange Street. She liked her linens “crisp.” She rented the entire second floor. There was a kitchen, a breakfast room and a formal dining room which was where we would eat those Sunday dinners that she planned when we were “home”. In my world, “home” was where my grandmother was, she was my everything.

The dining room table was huge, or it seemed so when I was little, and it had high back chairs. The good dishes came out of the china cabinet and the pantry in the breakfast room. I don’t remember the “kitchen” ware ever being on the dining room table but I remember my grandmother’s kitchen dishes. I can see a coffee cup in my minds eye right now, with a crack and a chip out of the lip. I miss her so so much. They were white with brushed green and a person on them I think? Some sort of picture in the center but I can not remember what it was exactly. But I digress. On the dining room table was the china of hers that I own today and china that I cherish because it was hers. We had cloth napkins taken from the drawer of the china cabinet and we had to sit up straight.

We combed our hair and would come to the table nice and clean and while I don’t remember if there was a standard meal, I do know that my grandmother loved a “good cut of meat” and her occasional wee ticky of Scotch. Roast beef I remember. What I do remember most was Grandma Willies “Southern Beans”. Never did a green bean taste better when she snapped fresh beans and simmered them with onion and pork rind. While I make it too today, it has never tasted how she made them so I wonder if there was a secret ingredient or if some things simply can not be duplicated. Grandma Willie’s southern style beans will always taste better simply because it was she that made them. Without her sight she did not do a lot in the kitchen but this was one recipe she could do with her eyes closed.

This blog prompt has brought along some very good memories so I asked my co-workers to answer the prompt too and here are their memories and I will tell you there was a smile in their eyes when they told their stories.

Shirley has a story of what the dog wouldn’t eat! Karen has memories of an Italian home where hospitality was a very big part of Sunday.

Shirley’s Story:

Sunday dinners at our house were usually the biggest meals of the week. We generally ate around 2 pm. The one I remember the most, is when my mom was making new dishes and using
us as the “guinea pigs” as you were. One week, she made a salad that called for mayonnaise. No one would eat it or even try it. She was so proud of it and was hurt because no one would try it. She was so upset she told us the following Sunday she was going to serve hot dogs and French fries! I think she thought she was punishing us, but let me tell you, those were the best tasting hot dogs and French fries I ever remember eating!

Karen’s Story:

Sunday dinner in our family was an event. We usually went to my Grandmother’s house on Sunday for dinner and a visit. As soon as you walked into the house, your senses were overwhelmed by the smell of home made sauce, meatballs and freshly baked Italian bread. There was talking and laughter around the huge table in the dining room, kids running around and playing indoors and out. Though today I’m not so sure if the table was big because it was big or if it was big because I was little. My Grandmother always had a full house on Sunday’s. Not only with family, but also friends would stop in during the course of the day to visit. Her table was always full; I can remember trays of pasta, meatballs, sausage, salad, bread, and antipasto. She would also have wine to offer and coffee or espresso in the pretty little espresso cups after dinner. There were always loafs of fresh Italian bread on the kitchen table cooling, waiting to be cut. That is probably one of my favorite memories – the smell and taste of fresh bread hot and right out of the oven. I don’t think she ever made anything that anyone wouldn’t eat. My Grandmother had a way of making everyone and everything special – she was special.

George W Duncan

I will admit it, I am a hopeless romantic. I will never know the day to day of these couples that I research. I will never know if my great great great grandparents loved each other or were married because it met other needs. I will never know if George looked at Jane Edwards and just knew she was the perfect woman for him. I am sure I will wonder the same on every branch of my family tree. What were they like as man and wife.

George has been hard to track down. I knew he and Jane were not together for long as she is on a few older census' living with one of her sons. I assumed he died but for the life of me could find no mention of him anywhere in North Carolina where she was born, lived and died and where he was born. I did find one census record of a George W, about the same age and in Texas living with a large family of a different name. When I saw this I wondered, "Did he up and leave North Carolina?". Then the questions.. if that is him, did he leave them, did he go to Texas to find a good life for them and tragedy struck so this was never fulfilled. What kind of husband was he really? I didn't want to think that was George but it might be, things happen in life and not always as we like or plan it.

I posted before about finding by accident a widows pension application document that Jane Edwards Duncan had filed. I hoped to find some sort of information on him. The envelope came from the North Carolina Archives and Records Section. In it was a Widow's Claim for Pension for 1885 and a Widow's Application for Pension filed in 1901. These documents gave his service information and that he did fight in the Civil War. Skimming through the documents I realized there was another document with these two. They sent it along and I didn't even know this book was there. It is "North Carolina Troops 1861-1865 A Roster" compiled by Weymouth T. Jordan, Jr. Volume VII Infantry, 22-26th Regiments.

Page 289, Co. G, 29th Regiment N.C. Troops.

"Duncan, George W., Private
Born in Ashe County and resided in Yancey County where he was by occupation a farmer prior to enlisting in Yancey County at age 29, July 26, 1861. Died in hospital at Knoxville, Tennessee, June 20-27, 1862, of "diarrhoea." "

He died so young and in Tennessee which is why I have been having a hard time tracking him down in North Carolina! I was relieved in a way, I am so glad he was not the George W. Duncan found on a census in Texas. While I hate that his wife hardly had a life with him before he was taken away from her, I am glad he didn't up and leave for Texas, never to be seen again. Yes, I am a hopeless romantic...