Color me frustrated: Where is the Death Source Citation???

19th century marble sculpture 

My 3^rd great grandfather was James M (possibly for McGraw or McCraw) Combs.  I know where he was born, who his family members were, and a few interesting tid-bit stories about him, but not his death place or date.  Usually this wouldn’t be a big deal except that I have seen a metric ton of death dates out there for him…without a source citation.

Cousin Debby is my Combs family research partner.  She is the one who gave me this date first.  Her information came from other Combs family members, who got it from another Combs family researcher many years ago.   Unfortunately, this gentleman is now gone and no one in that chain is certain on what happened to his research notes.

The family lore that has been passed on to me by these cousin researchers is an interesting one.  In the end they all agree on his death date, but no one can give me a source, preferable one that I can see and read myself.  Below I have outlined the story of James’s life as I know it. Maybe someone out there will be able to help me.  Worth a shot.

James M. Combs was born to Charles Combs and Abigail Reavis Brassfield in 1820 at Surry County, North Carolina.  He was the oldest of 8 children, all but the last 2 born in North Carolina.  Before 1845 a portion of the family moved to Indiana, with the presumption that several of the sons and older daughters stayed in North Carolina with their new families.  From the court house record I know on 23 February 1845 James Combs and Mary Jane Hayden were married in Orange County, Indiana.   Her family had moved to the area from Mercer County, Kentucky shortly before then as well. You can read about her family under the Hayden links on this blog.

From US Federal Census Records I know they resided in the following places:

·         1850 Franklin Township, Owen, Indiana

·         1860 Center, Greene, Indiana

·         1870 Center Greene, Indiana

·         1880 Columbia City, Dubois, Indiana

For a bit of geographic perspective, Orange County is 2 counties southeast of Greene. Owen County is immediately north of GreeneCounty, and Franklin Township is near to the Greene / Owen County line.  Dubois County is a neighbor county to the southwest of Orange County. 

He is listed as a farmer in the Censuses, married only to Mary, and they raised 11 children. As of yet there are very few other records that I have been able to locate on James besides his Civil War Draft Registration (on Ancestry) from June 1863 for the Indiana 7^th.  Then there is a giant hole.

Family lore and legend tells that James, Mary, and several of their children moved from Dubois County, Indiana to Wabash County,Illinois between 1880 and 1885.  From what I have been told James shot someone who was, well, trying to court his wife.  How much of that, if any of it, is true I don’t know.  I have been looking through what I can find on line to prove it since I have not made it back home to search there.  According to the Combs researcher the family moved to Keensburg, Wabash County, Illinois where James died on 23 January 1885.

In August last year I contacted the County Clerk Office in Wabash County.  It was a very nice phone call; they were very friendly and helpful, just in case you need to contact them too.  The clerk searched for any trace of him in the county and called to tell me she couldn’t find any.  She looked though the death records, cemetery listings, probate records, and real estate deeds as well.  I was very disappointed, but at least that is one county court house searched.  While I was on the phone with her after the search was complete she said it is entirely possible that he did die in the county but since his wife was still alive there may not have been a probate as she would have inherited it all.  Also, he may have been buried in a small graveyard or on private property which would mean that he may not have been recorded in their cemetery listing.

Mary Jane abt 1874
Picture thanks to
Cousin Debby

After James’s death Mary moved onto Missouri with 2 of her sons, John Wesley Combs and Daniel Webster Combs.  I have found records for them there and have a picture of her tombstone from Willow Springs, Howell County, Missouri.  I even went so far as to look for James there too, just in case.  No luck.

I will keep looking, digging, and annoying my family with this mystery.  It really bugs me that so many people have latched onto this fact with only the word of others without seeing any evidence.  I would be thrilled even if that evidence was written in a research journal where someone had documented the fact when they found it with all the information on where it was located.  At least it would be something.

IDG Post: Tech blog, twitter and genealogy

Social media has changed the face of the world we live in. Pictures, videos, and instant access to our friends and families thoughts have all made staying in touch a bit easier.  It is scary at times how easy information is passed on, but before you dismiss this new part of life as we know it, let me tell you an easy way that you can embrace a small part of the social media trend for your research.  Have you ever thought about what you can do in 140 characters or less?

Before you dismiss it, and think that Twitter is something those young kids do, I want to tell you how it really is a wonderful networking tool anyone can take advantage of.  Oh, and I promise to let you in on the important lingo too...

At this point, if you are not already using Twitter, I am sure you are asking “how could this benefit me?”  This is a legitimate question, one that I asked myself for years before I created my twitter account a few months ago.  Who in the world would really care what I had to say?  I truly didn’t understand that it is not just about you, the user, but it is a huge networking opportunity and community is what it is all about.

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You can read the rest of this post at the IDG Tech Blog!  Hope to see you over there...

Making discoveries with a family journal

 Persian Column, Perspolis, Iran
Grandpa visited this site

The last few days have seen a whirlwind visit by my h­­usband’s father and step-mother.  They of course came to see the boys, we totally understand grandparents don’t come to see us anymore, but we all had a great time.  There were driving tours of the countryside, way too much food, talking about all manner of subjects, and of course a bit of family history.

I did corner my father-in-law and ask him to go through my grandfather’s journal with me.  He is a metallurgist and rocket scientist (no jokes) and is familiar with what my grandfather did while in the military.  We spent two days going page by page reading and deciphering the journal entries.  I pulled up Google maps and traced his routes through the mountains of Iran.  When we found the entry that simply stated “killed a cinnamon bear. It’s a beauty, about 600 pounds.” I cheered, couldn't help myself. That entry dates the picture I have of him and the bear to 7 April 1957.

It was nice to have someone familiar with military abbreviations and designations sitting there with me.  He helped me figure out key phrases to search the internet with.  This was a fantastic because I gained a lot more information on the operation he was involved with than I ever would have before.

­­My grandfather was involved with the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) Iran.  These men were military advisers who assisted the native military in the country they were sent to.  From his journal I saw that he oversaw training of several different areas of military function and wrote reports for his superiors and the corresponding Iranian officers on how the troops were progressing.  It was entertaining at times, and down right disheartening at others.

In searching for explanations and information I came across several interesting declassified documents from that time frame.  Included in those findings was this report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the review of the Military Assistance Program for Iran.  The review was conducted in November 1957, the month my grandfather left.  You can read the full report here. 

The real shocker was discovering an episode of The Big Picture.  It was a documentary style TV series that ran in the 1950s and early 1960s.  Essentially this was the way the Army kept the American people informed about historic events around the world.  It prided itself on current events and moments that made the Army proud.  In one episode titled “Military Assistance Advisory Group: Iran” Mike Wallace takes the American people to Iran and shows them about this important operation.  If you watch it, notice how the American’s on the ground are decidedly downplayed.

This has been a real adventure the last couple days and I have to admit fascinating too.  Sometime in the near future I will go back through the journal again.  This time cataloging all the names, places, and tid-bits that I can.  These may lead me to further clues about who my grandfather was working with and what he was doing. I love it when I can find family links with historical contexts.  Now I am off to share all this with my history loving oldest child.

IDG Post: Tech review of AboutOne

Many of us have had the duty of going through stacks upon stacks of papers and minutia when a loved one has passed.  The filing cabinets of records, documents, and the flotsam that a person has collected over their life can be a daunting task for those who are left to sort through them.  Worse, is when you have a crisis that calls for an important document which has been conveniently been put away for safe keeping that you can now not locate.  What if there was a program that could help you keep your life, your family, you documents, and your history together in a way that is easy to pass along to the next generation?  Would you jump on it?  I know I have.

AboutOne is an online and mobile application designed to keep you and your family organized all in one place.  As a genealogist I was intrigued by the features that make this an amazing product for keeping a complete and accurate current family history that I could pass on.  Think of it, you can give your descendants a day-to-day view of what your life was like.  It nearly equivalent to finding that elusive family bible or treasured diary we all wish we had access to.

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You can read the rest of this article at the IDG Tech Blog!  Hope to see you over there...

Revelations in the Newspaper

I am still recovering from a nasty virus/cold bug that hit last week and left me with little get up and go and even less of a voice.  So, that means lots of lying about on the couch with my iPad looking for stuff on the internet.  Oh, woes me… hours on end of looking up things on the internet.

John Miller and Mary Neagle

Yesterday I was browsing around the Library of Congress newspaper collection when I stumbled upon an article in the Jasper, Indiana newspaper.  It was a solicitous tale of a young girl running off with a married man in a twist of lies.  Best of all, it looks like it was my 2^nd great grandmother doing the running.  Oh my!

Last year I wrote a small piece about my 2^nd great grandparents, John Miller and Mary Theresa Neagle, and the mystery of their eldest son.  Family lore tells several stories about this boy, a couple of them I mentioned then.  However, here they are again, as they now become relevant to the article I uncovered yesterday.

In no particular order, I was told:

·         Mary had a child out of wedlock as a young girl and her parents essentially bribed John to take her away with her illegitimate child giving him land in another area to farm on.

·         John was the father and her male relative’s tracked him down and dragged him back home.  It took several years to do and the boy was nearly 5 when they were married.

·         John was never kind to this boy and as soon as he could he ran away from home.

·         In the 1930s his son returned to home but none of the family would speak to the man and told him to leave town. He said his father now lived in California and this line of the family never returned home.

Augusta/Agatha Reichter

There is a lot of good gossip, skeletons, and tid-bits there that a person like me finds horribly irresistible.  Plus, things like this always make for really good stories.  Who could pass up investigating and wonder about a mystery like this?

To get us all on the same page, here is a bit of historical and family context for you.  Mary Theresia Negele (spelling from baptism record) was born to Hubert Negele and Augusta Riechter 10 April 1866 and baptized in Celestine, Dubois County, Indiana on 14 April 1866.  She had two older siblings, Theresia Fredericka born in 1855 and August born in 1863.  The family lived in a large community of German immigrants and were prominent farmers and respected members of the community. (The images of her parents shown here are from a cousin who wishes to be unnamed)

Hubert Negle

From the 1880 Census record I know she was living at home, with her parents, in Hall Township, Dubois County, Indiana.  With the loss of the 1890 US Census the next time I catch up with her is in 1900.  By this time she is married to John Miller (they were married in 1889) and they had several children listed: John, August, Albert, Theodore, Agnes, and Frederick.  John, is listed as a step-son.

When I saw this information the first time I thought that I found the answers.  Here is a “step-son” who was born several years before John and Mary were wed, this must be the rumored illegitimate child.  Step-son seemed odd though, especially since the boy had the last name of Miller.  If he was the father, like one of the stories claimed, then why would he list him as step-son?   The boy was gone by the next Census, and I lost track of him.

The church they attended in Celestine has a baptismal record for John.  It shows that John Dominic was baptized on 13 July 1884 to Mary Nagiele, no father listed.  Then, I looked back at the 1900 Census, there was no birthplace for his father listed.  If John Miller was his father, it should have listed Indiana.

1900 US Census Washington Township, Daviess County, Indiana

The mystery stalled there for over a year since I have no one left alive from those days to ask. Then, I found a newspaper article, and my mouth dropped open.  I couldn’t believe what I had found, the possible answer to my questions jumped to light.

The Jasper Weekly Courier

11 April 1884

Page 5

 Runaway Couple

Last Sunday Miss Mary Negle, daughter of Hupert Negle, living near Celestine in Hall Township, was observed by her parents packing a good deal of clothing in a large valise, and upon being questioned by her parents said she was going on Monday to visit at Mr. Scharrer’s, in Bainbridge township, and expected to be gone a week or so.  As she was a young woman of her own head, nearly 20 years old, and accustomed to doing about as she pleased in such matters, no more was thought or said about it that day, and Monday she left on the visit.  Monday Mr. Joseph Schwartzmiller, who is a married man, with children, and at whose house in Celestine Mary had worked a good deal left Celestine about 3 o’clock in the evening and came to Jasper, after which his wife went to Mr. Negle’s to inquire after Mary, and found she had left home.  She then informed Mr. Negle that she had overheard a conversation that made her believe that her husband and Mary had run off together and it dawned upon the parent that he also had seen some suspicious movements, and he immediately mounted his horse and started after the truant couple.  Visiting Scharrer’s he found Mary had not been there at all, and could find no trace of her whereabouts, but found Schwartzmiller at the United States hotel in Jasper, where he spent Monday night, and left his trunk at the hotel.  Negle secured the services of Constable Gutzweiler and they went to Huntingburg Tuesday in search of some clues to the missing twain, with what success we have not learned.  It is said Schwartzmiller’s domestic life has not been as happy as a teacher’s ought to be, and that he has frequently pined for the liberty of single blessedness in the last few months.  As he was a prominent school teacher in that township, and Mary the daughter of a well-to-do farmer, their actions have naturally caused a great deal of comment. 

  

I have a pretty good hunch that Mr. Schwartzmiller and Mary had an affair, she became pregnant, and they tried to run away together.  The article was printed in April and she delivered John in July of the same year.  Of course, he could be completely innocent and was just helping a young girl out of a jam.  There were no further news stories that I could find about the tryst, much to my dismay.  I guess they had moved onto other town gossip.

After I discovered the possible love interest I went back to the Census.  Honestly I wanted to see what information I could dig up on this mystery man.  Maybe I could find something to help narrow down the suspects. In the 1880 Census they are enumerated next to each other.  Joseph Schwartzmiller, 26, school teacher, born in Bavaria was married to Catherine, 23, born in Indiana to parents from Baden.  I didn’t find him in an earlier census, but I did find a woman named Katy who was a widow with two sons, Francis and August.  If this is her, Francis would have been 4 and she would have been pregnant with August when this scandal broke.

1880 US Census Hall Township, Dubois County, Indiana

Well… what do you think?  Since I don’t have a resolution in the newspaper I am left with an assumption, albeit a pretty good one, that Mr. Schwartzmiller is more than likely John’s father.  Do you think I missed anything?  Somewhere else I should look?  Confession: I even tried to find some Ancestry trees to help me, and there was none for this man.  Wonder if his family wanted to erase him.

School's out for summer! Just not for me...

"Snap-the-Whip" [9 boys playing in front of rural schoolhouse]
 Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Summer is officially starting around here the end of this week, and I am starting out with no voice because of a cold like ick.  My kids get out of school Friday and my countdown to when they will go back will begin.  Just kidding…sort of. 

This summer is already filling up pretty quick with family activities, summer camps, and of course research.  I have finally procured a sitter for a couple different weeks.  She has agreed to me leaving my darlings with her while I make it up to NARA and the Library of Congress in DC to do research.  I may even be able to fit in a jaunt to the DAR library and NGS.  Needless to say I have to get cracking on a research list and plan out my visits. 

In other news, I have officially signed up for the September 2013 starting class of the Boston University Certificate in Genealogical Studies.  The excitement is wearing off and the nerves are setting in.  I haven’t been back to “school” in 15 years and I really want to be successful at this.  High hopes and all you know.  I even signed up to be a substitute teacher for next year to help pay for the program.  You know it has to be serious if I would be willing re-enter the work force after 12 years of being at home.

My get “my feet wet in online courses” class has mid-terms this week.  Last week’s module was awesome for the genealogists in the class.  It was an entire section on personal genomics and how the different genetic genealogy testing companies do what they do.  It was like being in a candy store watching the videos and doing the reading.  I just couldn’t get enough.

I am doing okay in the class, not as good as I thought I would, but okay.  While I am doing okay (quiz average of a low B) it is bringing home to me the fact that I really need interaction in some things at a personal level.  There is a discussion forum where I can talk about the problems with fellow students and the staff chimes in only when we are having problems.  I don’t like it, and I think I would prefer to have a staff lead discussion section.  Way too many what ifs and unclear answers which a things that I do not deal well with.

My other take away is that I still stink at math.  Our professor makes a lot of assumptions that we know (remember) formulas from prior biology classes or statistics.  I hate statistics and the fact that I do not have a firm grasp of mathematics is showing through.  Let me restate that, my grasp on advanced algebraic functions, statistics, and calculus has never been solid.  Yes, I can do basic math and know my way around a calculator if I know what formula to use.  Other than that I am beyond lost.  It is because I get all the theory questions correct that I have a B so far in the class.

This class ends the week that my Gen Proof Study group starts up.  8 weeks of discussion and analysis on the Tom Jones book Mastering the Genealogical Proof.  Do you know how excited I am he is one of the instructors for the BU program?  I have skimmed the book once, and it is now sitting on my shelf.  The end of July will be here before I know it and I am just going to have to get over my aversion of writing in books and highlighting stuff.

Oh, you know what this means?! It means a trip to the office supply store in my near future!  Hello, my name is Shannon, and I have an office supply addiction…