It's another Saturday, so it's time for another surname study. This week we'll take a look at another line where I only know of one person with the surname. Today's surname is Cranston, as in Margaret Cranston of Ireland.
Showing posts with label Meharry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Meharry. Show all posts
October 2010 research trip report
Early in October, I made a genealogical research trip to central Illinois and eastern Indiana. The goal of the trip was to view some pertinent records in a university archive and then to visit one of the family graveyards - after all, what better activity is there for the haunting month of October?
The short story is that the trip was a success. Now to tell you the longer story...
Wordless Wednesday - research trip teaser
I made a quick genealogy research trip over the weekend. I'm still working through the data, but here's a teaser of one location I visited...
Surname Saturday: Beach
Okay, time to alternate back to one of the lines on my side of the family. This week, we will look at one of the most heavily researched lines in my family. It connects back to some of the earliest settlers of Massachusetts Colony and continues all the way to close family members who are still living today. There are quite a few researchers looking into this line from the early-1800s back to the 1600s, possibly due to the line's connection to Sir Winston Churchill (yes, that Winston Churchill), so this will be a fairly long post with nine generations listed, but there seems to be one universal stumbling block when we go back far enough.
Not so Wordless Wednesday - who are these people?
The wordless part of this Wordless Wednesday post is that most of the people in this photograph aren't talking to me. I know who a few of these people were (read more to see them), but who were the rest?The haunted house
We've all heard the phrase "skeletons in the closet" referring to some scandalous fact that a family doesn't necessarily want shared with the rest of the world. Well, a few generations back in my family, there was a real skeleton in the attic.
Another location named for my ancestors
The Meharry family line, of which I am descended from Alexander "Red" Meharry III (1763-1813), left their mark in a few place names in western Indiana. I've known about the Meharry Cemetery in Wingate, Indiana, where many of this family is buried, for a while now. Since I'm actively researching this family, I've been looking around recently at other history references that deal with this part of the state. Here's a fun tidbit from the History of Montgomery County (published in 1881) about another place that carries the family name:
Satellite view of Coal Creek in western Montgomery County, Indiana, a little north of Wingate. View Larger Map
There's a 1916 obituary for Charles W. Meharry published in the Crawfordsville Review that mentions the "widely known Meharry family of Western Indiana" held a number of annual family reunions at Meharry's Grove, placing it on the border between Montgomery and Fountain Counties, which would place it on the western edge of Montgomery County. But, I have yet to find a map that shows this location more precisely. Looking at current satellite images of the area, there are a few areas surrounding Coal Creek that look like they have not been farmed. I suspect that Meharry Grove was a parcel of farm land that was once owned by the family, and that Meharry Grove was an unofficial name for the farm. But again, I don't have any proof of this yet.
Meharry Grove
If there is one spot in Montgomery county more celebrated than another (and there certainly is), that spot is Meharry Grove. Located on Coal creek, one and a half miles north of Pleasant Hill, a high and beautifully shaded place, it has been the favorite campground for over thirty years. The grounds contain about forty acres, a large number of seats are provided, and water is plentiful. Here it has not been an uncommon occurrence for thousands of happy faces to congregate. The eminent divines, Cyrus Nutt, Pres. Berry, Bishop Bowman, Dr. Brenton, have preached to immense audiences. Here was held a mammoth temperance rally about 1875, addressed by the "Broad Ax," or M. D. Chance. Here too, have ex-Gov. Col. Robert Hawley, of Centennial fame, Gov. S. M. Cullom, of Illinois, Hon. G. S. Orth, Judge T. F. Davidson, and other renowned statesmen, proclaimed American principles to vast concourses of people. In all these gatherings the prevailing characteristic has been good order and universal enjoyment.
Satellite view of Coal Creek in western Montgomery County, Indiana, a little north of Wingate. View Larger Map
There's a 1916 obituary for Charles W. Meharry published in the Crawfordsville Review that mentions the "widely known Meharry family of Western Indiana" held a number of annual family reunions at Meharry's Grove, placing it on the border between Montgomery and Fountain Counties, which would place it on the western edge of Montgomery County. But, I have yet to find a map that shows this location more precisely. Looking at current satellite images of the area, there are a few areas surrounding Coal Creek that look like they have not been farmed. I suspect that Meharry Grove was a parcel of farm land that was once owned by the family, and that Meharry Grove was an unofficial name for the farm. But again, I don't have any proof of this yet.
Finding the stones
As I was working through reviewing some of my genealogy records over the weekend, I thought I'd take a quick look at a site that I had been to long ago to see if there was any new information that might be of interest. There was, and plenty of it.
The site in question is Find A Grave. Basically, it's a database of gravesites and cemeteries showing memorial pages for more than 35 million grave records (that number is according to the bullet points on the site's front page). Most of the people that I was looking for weren't particularly famous outside of the family, but I had a few successes this week.
Since I'd been looking at my Beach family line with the census records described earlier, I figured that would be a good place to start. I opened the site's search form and put "Beach" for the surname, then filled in the fields for the "Cemetery in" dropdown lists as "United States" then "Indiana" and "Montgomery County." Most of the records that came up in the search were direct relatives while a couple of them weren't yet listed in my own database. Also, many of the records had photographs of the tombstones and their inscriptions. I had most of the information that was mentioned on these pages already in my database, but a few of them did help fill in some years and dates that I was missing. The grave marker photos also helped to add some color to my database, my favorite so far being the memorial stone for Nathan Beach and Mary Meharry, my 3rd great grandparents.
There is of course one strong caveat to the information on Find A Grave. The website is not run by any governmental or civic authority. It is run by individuals and allows contributions from the public to add content to the information displayed there. Also, as much as we would like them to be, gravestones can have errors on them too. Therefore, this website is definitely not a primary resource. So, while I will take down information that I find there, I'll still keep looking for more resources to back up the data and further prove what I have in my own database.
The site in question is Find A Grave. Basically, it's a database of gravesites and cemeteries showing memorial pages for more than 35 million grave records (that number is according to the bullet points on the site's front page). Most of the people that I was looking for weren't particularly famous outside of the family, but I had a few successes this week.
Since I'd been looking at my Beach family line with the census records described earlier, I figured that would be a good place to start. I opened the site's search form and put "Beach" for the surname, then filled in the fields for the "Cemetery in" dropdown lists as "United States" then "Indiana" and "Montgomery County." Most of the records that came up in the search were direct relatives while a couple of them weren't yet listed in my own database. Also, many of the records had photographs of the tombstones and their inscriptions. I had most of the information that was mentioned on these pages already in my database, but a few of them did help fill in some years and dates that I was missing. The grave marker photos also helped to add some color to my database, my favorite so far being the memorial stone for Nathan Beach and Mary Meharry, my 3rd great grandparents.
There is of course one strong caveat to the information on Find A Grave. The website is not run by any governmental or civic authority. It is run by individuals and allows contributions from the public to add content to the information displayed there. Also, as much as we would like them to be, gravestones can have errors on them too. Therefore, this website is definitely not a primary resource. So, while I will take down information that I find there, I'll still keep looking for more resources to back up the data and further prove what I have in my own database.
Black Sheep Sunday - A letter from a prominent lawyer
A few years ago, one of my relatives sent me a photocopy of a letter that was sent to Thomas Meharry on April 21, 1857. Thomas Meharry was my 3rd great granduncle. The little notes above the original words were written on the copy of this letter that was sent to me and not on the original.
In case your knowledge of mid 19th century penmanship is a little fuzzy, here's a transcription:
From what I can tell in a quick web search, this letter was a reply to one sent by Thomas on 6 April 1857. Thomas had purchased some land at auction near Danville, Illinois, on 24 November 1855, but there were two pre-emptions filed against this land on 17 August 1855, and one of those pre-emptions was trying to claim it. Thomas wrote to Lincoln to see if he would take the case and what he would charge for bringing the case to trial.
In case your knowledge of mid 19th century penmanship is a little fuzzy, here's a transcription:
Urbana, Ill., April 21, 1857Yes, that's the same A. Lincoln that went on to be sworn in as President of the United States on 4 March 1861.
Thomas Meharry, Esq.
Dear sir
Owing to absence from home your letter of the 6th. was received only two days ago. The land in question, as I suppose, is the two dollar and a half land, and my opinion is that there can be no lawful preemptions on those lands, based on a settlement made after, the allotment of those lands, in 1852 or 3 I think. If I am right in this opinion, your entry is valid, and you can recover the land. I suppose yours, and your brother's adversary, are in possession; and if so, I would advise suits in Ejectment to be brought in the U. S. court, at Springfield. I can not tell in advance what fee I would charge, because I can not know the amount of trouble I may have. If the pre-emptioners have had patents issued to them, the cases, as I think, can still be managed, but they will be a good deal more troublesome.
If you conclude to have suits brought, & to engage me to bring them, call and see me at Springfield, from the 5th. to 10th. of May, at which time you will probably find me at home. I mention this, because I am absent a good deal.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln
From what I can tell in a quick web search, this letter was a reply to one sent by Thomas on 6 April 1857. Thomas had purchased some land at auction near Danville, Illinois, on 24 November 1855, but there were two pre-emptions filed against this land on 17 August 1855, and one of those pre-emptions was trying to claim it. Thomas wrote to Lincoln to see if he would take the case and what he would charge for bringing the case to trial.
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