Ancestor birthday, Zachariah Booth Jr, 1721

Happy birthday to a "great times 7" grandfather.

Birth 8 Oct 1721 in Stratford, Fairfield County, CT, USA
Death 17 Sep 1775 in Huntington, Fairfield, Connecticut
Buried in Monroe, Fairfield, CT, in Cutler's Farm and Elm Street Cemetery.

father of Isaac Booth Sr., who was father of Isaac Booth, Jr, father of William Lewis Booth, father of
Richard R. Booth, father of Eugenia Almeta Whitty Booth, mother of Eugenia Almeta Booth Miller, my great grandmother on my mother's side.

I've enjoyed immensely looking at the "Find-A-Grave" sites, which usually include information about other family members, and where they are buried, often not in the same cemetery.

But as usual I'm working with Ancestry to correct silly errors.
Last year I noticed that Zachariah was supposedly involved in a town called Fairfield, Stratford County, CT.
That wasn't correct.  There's a county of Fairfield, no county of Stratford.  There's a town of Fairfield, as well as the county.  So this was a transposing of the town of Stratford, in Fairfield County, CT.

Then the actual cemetery is now in a town called Monroe, and is near the historic site in Shelton (a town name now) called Huntington Center Historic District.  All of which are in Fairfield County, CT.

I enjoyed this evening's pursuit of knowledge...and found an enticing document that talked of a Joseph Booth, who purchased land in NY in 1793 for his son, Orange.  The document wasn't even attached to a Joseph Booth who was alive in 1793, but to an ancestor of Zachariah many generations before.

I don't know which Joseph Booth was the parent of Orange, but I did give the document to this new uncle Orange Booth, though I don't have his father correctly identified yet.  I am pretty sure my ancestor Isaac Booth, Sr. also went to NY about the same time.  So when I look for more information, I may find they were cousins...or perhaps not.

Cousin-making with weddings

Happy ancestor birthday to Annie Elizabeth Williams Webb
born on 20 June, 1862 Columbus, MO,  
Death 8 Jul 1942 in San Antonio, TX
(NOTE: I've edited this post since publishing the link on Sepia Saturday, so the grave photos are now at the end.)

She was the mother of Albert Joe Bud Webb, my grandfather on my mother's side.

I've posted blogs about both Grandma Annie's parents, both born in KY in December, who lived in MO a lot of their lives, then died in Weesatchee, Goliad County, Texas.

Annie Elizabeth Williams married Leroy Frances Webb  at 15 in Weesachee TX.

So a lot of her life is described in my post about him HERE.

I am pretty sure my mother (born in 1917) would have been introduced to this matriarch who lived until the year I was born, actually just a month and a half before.  Surely while her son was alive she saw her granddaughter.  

However I vaguely remember hearing from my mother that she had no contact with her grandmother.  I am pretty sure my grandmother went to her husband's funeral (Bud Webb) and saw her mother-in-law (Annie Williams Webb) there.  My mom's grandfather actually outlived her own father by a couple of years, so the funeral for Bud Webb may have been one of the first in the Webb plot. (Picture at end of this post)

I also remember Mom saying that her grandmother, Annie Elizabeth Williams Webb, had been an heiress to the Woolworth fortune.  And there was some connection with the Little Church Around the Corner in New York City.  I think my mother was bedazzled  by the Barbara Hutton story somehow, the bad girl who got all that money.  She named me Barbara, after all.  Didn't get the qualities of movie star, and certainly never inherited any fortune, but at one time I did have a few men in my life, mmm.


Of little interest to my descendents, unless they somehow find they are cousins to someone named Webb or Cross, Hammerle, Doughty or Meyer, the other children and grandchildren of Annie Webb.

When Grandma Annie's daughter, Marguerite Ellen Webb Carroll (1883-1951) died of a cerebral hemorrhage and hypertension, her sister gave details for the death certificate.  Sister is listed as Mrs. Fred C. Bruce, and her identity was also Clara Bell Webb Bruce (1888-1971).  The Bruces and Carrolls didn't have any children according to Ancestry.

One son outlived Grandma Annie, Thomas Ketch Webb, born 1886 in Weesatche, DeWitt County, Texas, Death 22 Jan 1959, Bexar County, TX.  He married Lenora A. Bilhartz Webb 1896 – 1972 and Ancestry doesn't list any children.

I'm checking Ancestry through all the 6 "surviving to adulthood" Webb children to see if my mother might have had any Webb cousins.  She never talked about them.

Grandma Annie's other children were the three mentioned above and:

James Eugene Webb, who often is listed as J.E. Birth 09 JUN 1878 in Clinton, DeWitt County, Texas Death 10 AUG 1927 in Weesachte, Goliad County Texas. He also died of Cerebral Hemorrhage, and high blood pressure (at age 49), as would his sister Marguerite later.  His death certificate shows he didn't die in Corpus Christi, which is where Ancestry had listed his death.  He was buried in Weesachte Cemetery. He and his wife, Alvina Albrecht Webb (1885-1971) had one daughter, Gladys Webb, b 1908.  Nothing more on Ancestry at this time about Gladys.

John Leroy Webb, Birth 17 MAR 1880 in DeWitt County, Weesatche, TexasDeath 20 FEB 1938

John married Elizabeth Lizzie Hohn Webb (1883-1960), and their children were; Anne Lorraine Webb Cross 1902 – 1949, Hazel Marguerite Webb Doughty Hinds 1908 – 1970, and Pearl Adelle Webb Hammerle 1918 – 2005.  John's death certificate says cause of death was hemorrhage of stomach.  His wife gave the information about him, not knowing where either of his parents had been born.   He was buried in the Mission Burial Park.

L. F. Webb, Jr. 1905-1937. Ancestry doesn't indicate he married or sired any children. (NOTE at the last minute: He did marry, Evelin, and they had a daughter Evelin Webb.)

Pearl Webb married Clarence (Cam) Hamerle (she was daughter of the cowboy John Webb, and she and her husband are buried at Arlington National Cemetery)

So my mother's cousins were Gladys Webb Meyer, Anne Webb Cross, Hazel Webb Doughty Hinds, Evelin Webb and Pearl Webb Hamerle. And it seems most of them were in San Antonio TX also.  And the more I look,  the more information is available about them, their husbands, and their children.   

I'm sharing this post with Sepia Saturday this week HERE.  It may not be exactly on theme of Weddings, but after all, that's how families come together originally and start having a whole new batch of cousins.

a WRONG ratio on this pic made everyone look really fat!

 

Webb family plot, Masonic Garden,, Block 2, Lot 105, San Antonio, Bexar County, TX

Webb marker Mission Burial Park South San Antonio

 

Alexander John Swasey

Happy birthday to an ancestor, who would have been 161 years old today.

Writing says "Alexander John Swasey, the father of Ada and Stella Swasey" Possibly photographed around 1890.

Born in 1853 in South Carolina.  I just discovered new information about his mother.  Her name on his death certificate is listed as Mrs. Tylstra.  More records indicate she was Fannie or Anna J. Tylstra born in Tallahassee, FL.  In the 1910 census A. J. Swasey gave her name as Tilson, from Tallahassee, born in 1810.  The information I just got on Ancestry gives her birth year as 1815, but still Tallahassee.

His father, Captain Alexander Swasey, had his birthday last month and was born in 1812, and I posted a lot about him in the past as he was a Confederate Blockaid Runner.  His birthday link is HERE.

My father's mother's father, Alexander John Swasey (I'm calling him A.J.) was born in Charleston, SC according to his death certificate.  I just discovered he had 3 older sisters, born in 1840, 41, and 49, all born in Florida.  There isn't much information about any of them.

A.J. had various clerical and bookkeeping and sales jobs.  In 1884 he is listed as a Collector in the Rosenberg Bank in Galveston Texas city directory.  His wife's cousin Chauncey G. Sweet is listed with the same occupation, and their residence is listed as the same address at that time.  Many of my Swasey and Phillips ancestors apparently lived together around the corner from each other.

He married Zulieka Granger Phillips in 1882 when he was 29.  She had been an orphan raised in the homes of her mother's sister's families in Galveston, Texas during the Civil War and following.  I don't know how A.J. got to Galveston, TX from Charleston, SC where he was born.  That's where his father died in 1866, following imprisonment during the war.  But the first verifiable record of his being in Galveston is in 1884.

My grandmother, Ada Phillips Swasey lived with her parents until her marriage to George Rogers in Galveston in 1905, a ceremony which was held in their home.


In 1907, A.J. and his wife  moved to Houston TX  and he was a bookkeeper for Kirby Lumber.
By 1910 he was listed as an accountant at that lumber company, with their home on Main Street.

They lived in an apartment called The Savoy in Houston while in 1911, and he was a clerk for an oil company. They are listed in the Houston Directory at the same address until his death from heart failure in 1913.  His wife's cousin Chauncey Sweet took his remains back to Galveston to be buried probably.  Chauncey signed the death certificate Oct. 4, 1913, which lists his occupation as a salesman, to be buried on Oct. 5.

Happy birthday, Isaac Booth, May 16, 1795

Isaac Booth born on 5.16.1795, in Connecticut
died on  8.17.1836, in Green Creek, Sandusky County, Ohio

I've written about him before, as well as his wife, and his parents.  Please feel free to browse.
http://boardwalkbarb.blogspot.com/2013/05/may-ancestors-birthday-isaac-booth.html 

his wife: http://boardwalkbarb.blogspot.com/2013/10/jane-mcelhaney-booth.html

his father: http://boardwalkbarb.blogspot.com/2013/11/isaac-booth-sr-soldier-of-revolution.html

his grandmother: http://boardwalkbarb.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-foremother-from-connecticut.html

and his son William Lewis Booth: http://boardwalkbarb.blogspot.com/2014/02/william-lewis-booth.html

So is there anything new to add?
Let's go checking the stories on Ancestry.com.  Frequently another descendent has found something new to add, so it's always interesting to check.  Remember by the time I go back to the Revolutionary War, there were about 2000 people alive who were to become my ancestors.

Yes, how about his brothers, Legrand Booth (1783-1865) and William Lewis Booth (1797-1864).
So my great grandfather William Lewis Booth (1818-1894) was named after his uncle...that's interesting.  And one of his brothers was named after the other Uncle Legrand.

And would you like to read some juicy gossip about one of those great-uncles?  Actually it's more about his descendents...my cousins.  This is published on Ancestry.

First some background. Uncle Legrand Booth was married twice.  Elizer Lewis Booth (1806-1867) was Legrand's oldest son (from first wife) who married Ann Gooding Booth.  Her brother, Chester Gooding, wrote the following letter to Elliot Lansing Booth (1823-1882) who was Legrand's son by his second wife, Mary.  My half third cousin (a descendent also of William Lewis Booth by his first wife) Cheryl Richardson probably wrote the notes.  (I've added the parentheses with italics)

"Letter written to Elliot Lansing Booth from his bro-in-law, Chester Gooding."

I have no information about the Legrand Booth family except what is contained in a letter dated April 23, 1859, addressed to Elliott Booth by his brother-in-law, Chester Gooding, E. Bloomfield (state not given). I will quote parts of the letter as it mentions places where some of the family lived:

“I will give you an account of your father's family. Your mother died January 8, 1852. The family at the time of her death consisted of your father, (Legrand), (and siblings) Lafayette (Erastus), and Ann Jeanette, Lucius having been married the fall before to Mary Hopkins. After a time your father becoming dissatisfied and uneasy they concluded to break up and leave and your father went to live with (his daughter) Emeline who lived in Lafayette, Indiana, with her second husband, Mr. William Cochrane, having been divorced from Hummer who had left her and run off with a female spirit medium. Mr. Cochrane, being a very wealthy man and a large land holder and not enjoying very good health, Emeline wrote to Lafayette and father to come and live with them. Your father went up in November 1852. He did not like living in Indiana and left there in the following summer and went to Fitchburg, Dane County, Wisconsin, to live with (son) Eli who was married and living there. Your father writes that he likes Wisconsin very much and enjoys excellent good health.

“Lafayette married in Indiana and also left and went to Fitchburg to live. He stayed there until this spring and has now returned to Lafayette and is in the County Clerk's office writing at a salary of ten dollars a week.

(other sons of Legrand)

“Edward is in Joliette, Illinois, and is not married. Lucius moved last fall to Mundy, Genesee County, Michigan. Elizur lives where your father used to live and has as much flesh to carry about as your father ever had. Ann Jeanette is living with us.”

My great grandmother's great grandmother

Julia Ann Holloman Bass Green (Julian?) was born on this day in 1785 in Wayne County, North Carolina, the mother of Col. Richard Bass. Death March 11, 1861 in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana,

What of Julia Ann's Holloman family?

Her father was Thomas Holloman (Holliman) - born in 1740 in Surry, Surry, Virginia, died in 1790 in Raleigh, Wake, North Carolina.  Records on Ancestry.com show he lived in Johnston County, NC in 1784.  These counties (Wayne, Johnston and Wake) are all in close proximity, and several were formed with shifting boundaries of neighboring counties.

Her mother is only known as Emaline, born in 1746.  

Julia Ann is the youngest of 5 children in the family.  

Julia Ann married John Bass on Oct. 8, 1805.  John was born in 1784 in Wayne County, North Carolina, and died in 1822 in Perry, Alabama  

His Bass family were early settlers in VA, with at least one marriage with a Nansemond Indian woman.  I spoke of some of her Bass relations HERE.    Of note is Dr. Andrew Bass (1698-1770) born in Norfolk Independent City, Nansemond County, Virginia, who donated the land for the court house of Waynesborough, Wayne County, NC.  He was the great uncle of Julia Ann's husband, just as a note of interest as to the family's status in the community.  However, history fluctuates a lot in a few generations, so perhaps that's a premature assumption of high standing of the Bass family.

Julia Ann had 8 children.  The family moved to Perry County, Alabama between the births of Elizabeth on 9 Oct 1810 in Wayne County, NC and Molly Ann Moseley Bass on 18 Jun 1811 in Perry, Alabama.  Julia Ann's youngest 4 children were born in Alabama.  

My grandfather's mother's father was Richard Bass, Julia Ann and John Bass's youngest son.
I posted about Richard Bass earlier HERE.  To quote myself:

 His father's estate had a petition against it which gives Richard's birth as 1814.  This date is not corroborated by his census data as well as his grave marker which all reflect an 1819 birth.  So the legal petition in Alabama might have been wrong.  Another source has him born in NC rather than AL.  Wherever he was born, he was the youngest of 8 children of his parents, and his father died when he was very young, and he was raised by a step-father. His mother was Julia Ann Holloman Bass Green.  Father was John Bass, both from Wayne County, NC, which is near where I currently live.  His step-father was Jetson Green, who raised him from when he was around 6 years old.

When John died in 1822 (or maybe earlier) the widow remarried to Jetson Green who petitioned the courts to settle the debts.  The estate was inventoried at which time apparently there were slaves, household goods, land and 7 children. Jetson Green says he'd been married to Julian since 1821.  This is an interesting collection of documents to have survived, dated 1823 to 1830, regarding the debts on John's estate, how the widow needed guardianships for the young children, and another person (last name Holloman) signed Julian's name spelled that way, to one petition or letter.   Julia Ann had two brothers and 2 sisters, and I cannot make out the first name of the signature.
 
Julia Ann was now Mrs. Green, and she didn't stay in Alabama.  There was another westward move to Caldwell Parish, Louisiana where the Jetson Green family lived for the 1840 Census.

By 1850 she lived in Union Parish, LA as head of her own household with an overseer, L. Freeman and his family, but no Green family members listed.  The name Freeman may be that of a freed slave, I would surmise. However, also noted is that on the 1850 Slave census, Mrs. Julia A. Green is listed as owner of  8 slaves, of whom 2 were females over 55 years old. 

At a stated 70 years of age in the 1860 Census, Julia Ann lived with the Barton family (her daughter Elizabeth perhaps?) in Morehouse Parish, LA.  She died there March 11, 1861.

I remember as a teenager learning (in St. Louis, MO) about the Civil War, and that every plantation owner had slaves...which of course was a very bad thing.  Since I knew my family was rooted in the south, I asked my grandfather if he knew anything about the plantations or slavery.  This was in the 1950's when I'm asking about something that he had not experienced in his lifetime.  However, I remember his answer.  He said that when their families realized how bad slavery was, they freed their slaves before the war.

How she traveled around!

That's a bit rhetorical, because I figure she traveled on horseback or in wagons...though possibly she did walk much of her travels through the frontier of the early 19th century.  From Kentucky to Missouri, then Indiana, Illinois and finally Texas, this was a hardy pioneer woman.

Conestoga Wagon

April 13, 1818, Hannah Leak Conn Booth was born in Elks Creek, Shelby County, KY. I number her ancestor (10) back from my grandchildren, so she would be my 4x great grandmother.  Her father was John Thomas Conn, who I spoke about on his birthday April 6, HERE.    

Notice the man on the lazy board, Conestoga Wagons didn't have seats in the front of the wagon as usually thought. The lazy board was where the driver would sit if he didn't want to ride one of the horses or walk.

A farmer's daughter probably, but her father who had been born in VA,  migrated to Kentucky, then Missouri, and finally to Texas where he was buried in Gonzalez County, TX.   Her mother also was born in VA, moved to KY, then MO where she was buried in St. Charles MO. (See Polly Conn's birthday HERE)  

Hannah moved with her parents to MO when she was 8-12 years old (between 1826-30.)  Her mom died in 1833 when Hannah was 14, with 2 older brothers ages 17 and 19, and 5 younger siblings ages 1 to 12.  Hannah as the oldest daughter (at 14) would have suddenly had to take her mother's place in running the family.

Records show her father remarried in 1836 in Salem, Ralls County, MO...but they didn't settle for long there.  The Normans had another child in 1837 born in Gonzalez County, Texas.  So they probably were on the trail while Hannah's step mom was expecting that child.  She had 2 more Norman children in Texas also.


Sometime when Hannah's family moved, either from St. Charles, MO, or from Ralls, MO, she probably moved to live with her mother's older brother, Lemuel Norman, in Indiana.  I don't know if any of the other children moved at the same time, and I'm just guessing about this connection at this time.  She did marry in Indiana, so this might be the link to that geography.  This was my first question about her life, and I don't know that she lived with her uncle as a fact yet.

Uncle Lemuel Norman and his wife, Catherine, lived on one of two headrights of 80 acres each that the US government sold to Lemuel.  This property was in Terre Haute, IN and Crawfordsville, IN in Vigo and Parkes Counties. 

Hannah somehow met William Lewis Booth, an attorney and a widower with 2 small children. They married in Jackson County, Indiana when she was 25, in 1843.  This is a hand written record which even includes the minister's name (available at Ancestry DOT com.)

Not the Booth wedding, but another one in 1850

So we can follow some of her travels with the Booth brothers from there on out.
  
William Booth and his brother Charles M. had   migrated first from western New York state (Farmington, Ontario County) to Indiana and (then in 1849) to Genesee Township, Whiteside, Illinois, to Hempstead, Waller County, Texas, and Hillsboro, Hill County, Texas.  

Present day photos of farm now on Booth homestead, 
"2nd farmhouse north of SW corner of section 22
 on Coleta Rd," Genesee Twp, Whiteside, Illinois

By 1855 William Booth had purchased the land for his home and was living in Hillsboro,Texas. At one point or another he served as a county Judge, and has that title on some of the records.  His obituary actually gives him the title of Colonel, probably an honorific as he was too old to have active duty during the Civil War.

The Booth Family Home, 208 Waco Street, Hillsboro, TX

Hannah and William had 6 children, 4 of whom lived to adulthood.  William and his first wife had had 3 children, 2 of whom lived to adulthood.

Not the Booth family, but one in 1860

Hannah's son, Richard R. Booth was born 23 Sept 1846, in Jackson, Indiana. (He was my great x3 grandfather.  I talk about him HERE.)  

Her second child, Frank, was born in 1848 in Illinois, and died at 19 in Texas.  

The third child, Elizabeth was born in 1850 in Illinois, and died at 15 in Texas.  

Lucinda, "Cinnie" Booth was born in 1854 in Groesbeck, Limestone County, TX and lived to 1920.  

Connie Booth was born next, 1856 in Hillsboro TX, and died there at age 7.  

Annie Booth was born in in the home that still stands in Hillsboro TX, in 1859 and lived until 1948.

Many of the family members seemed to die in January, including Hannah herself, and Frank and Connie and Hannah's mother, Polly.  This was before the days of penicillin.

I think William's family was living in Hempstead, Texas prior to 1880, though he had returned to Hillsboro when he died in 1893. 

Hannah Conn Booth lived until age 64 and died on January 26, 1884 in Hillsboro, TX.

Not Hannah Booth, but an old woman in the 1880s

I am still perusing various grandmother's and relations names to find how she obtained her middle name, Leak. 

I did discover another Hannah Leak Conn who married someone in Texas earlier than when this one moved there, and died before she even lived in Texas.  I wonder if she and my great grand were named after some famous Hannah Leak of the  nineteenth century! 

I am always willing to change my stories as I find original source documents.  Since I can see the hand written marriage certificate in Indiana, I know my great grandmother wasn't the one who married in Texas.  At least I am 99% sure.

John Thomas Conn

This last week I've been posting ancestors in the Norman branch of my family tree.

Coming back down (a bit closer) to John Thomas Conn, who was the husband of Mary Margaret (Polly) Norman Conn...it's his birthday 9 Apr 1790 in Plum Creek, Jefferson, Kentucky,
Death Nov 1844 in Gonzales, Gonzales, Texas.  

Note, Jefferson County is incorrect for his birth county at that time, but may have included Plum Creek at one time, before being merged with the city of Louisville, KY.  I believe it's likely that Plum Creek is a tributary of the Salt River, as is Elk Creek, both in Spencer or Shelby County, KY.  Again counties boundaries and names have changed and the rivers and creeks haven't.

His birthplace in Plum Creek is probably where the home of his parents was located.  His father, Thomas Conn (1765-1835) married his mother, Mildred Ann Conley (1770-1845) in Spencer County, KY probably in 1789.  (Unfortunately one source said they married in 1781 when she would have been 10 years old.  I am so tired of these listings that are perhaps believable once, but not for every generation.)

John Thomas Conn married Mary Margaret (Polly) Norman in 1813, in Elk Creek, Shelby County, KY. 

I recently published a post about John Thomas's wife, Polly HERE, in case you are interested.
Both her parents are buried in Elk Creek Baptist Cemetery.  I showed their tombstones in this blog.
And I went looking for them last December and took some pictures of the area and posted them HERE.

The Elk Creek Baptist Church is the oldest Baptist church in Spencer County  It was organized April 27, 1794.  Current address is: 2670 Elk Creek Road, Taylorsville, KY 40071

John Tomas was the second in a line of children.  Some of them went with him when he started going west and eventually ended up in Gonzalez, Texas. 

The Conn's moved to St. Charles MO, and that's where Polly died in 1833.
John Thomas moved to Ralls County, MO, and remarried to Mary Nancy Taylor.  They then moved to Texas, and continued having children.

One of John Thomas and Polly Conn's daughters, Hannah, apparently settled in Indiana, where she married a widower and they became my great grandparents.  I'm not sure how she ended up in Indiana, and will keep trying to find some records about that chapter of her life. 

John Thomas Conn died in Gonzalez, Texas as did his second wife.  Incidentally Mary Nancy Taylor Conn had also been born in Plum Creek, KY.  

Nancy Taylor Conn

 

 

.

A great Aunt I missed meeting

Annie Lou Gibbs Rogers Wilson b. 3.10.1879 Huntsville, TX, or Willis, Montgomery, Texas,
d. 7.11.1956 Corpus Christi, Nueces, TX (Hitchcock Texas may be where she's buried).  The two birthplaces are because Huntsville is given on her death certificate.  But it also has her father's initials penciled in "incorrectly."  Her father was William Sandford Rogers...not M.T. Rogers. 

My grandfather's sister.  I wonder if I met her when I was little?
I doubt it.

But it's always possible.  Mmm, think back to when I was 7.  Were there some Wilsons we visited?  Or did they visit my grandparents?  Maybe part of my grandfather's 72th birthday.  Well, I'll post pics of that event, and hope one of the people in the crowd might have been his sister.

 

 August 28, 1949 My grandfather, George Elmore Rogers.

The following photos must have survived the fire in my grandparents' home in Fort Worth many years ago.  I think I posted them before...HERE

I just had a go-round with Ancestry, where dear Aunt Annie Lou's husband is listed twice and they won't allow me to merge the listings, saying they are related and it will shift things in my tree.  Darn right, the daughter is listed under one of Patrick Henry Wilson's postings, and there are 3 other children listed under the other husband also Patrick Henry Wilson, and all kids have the same pair of parents.  ARGH.

Anyway, I'm going to send this out there to hope someday I'll get Ancestry straightened out. Nah

William Lewis Booth

• Birth 17 Feb 1818 in Farmington, Ontario County, New York
• Death 24 Feb 1894 in Hillsboro, Hill County, Texas,
• father of Richard Booth (1846-1879, who was murdered as an attorney in Texas, and his life described here.)
• grandfather of Eugenia Booth Miller, (my great-grandmother, her life described HERE.)
• attorney in Hillsboro, TX, founding father of that town.

He lived during the time a man by the name of William Booth started a Salvation Army, and a man named John Wilkes Booth assassinated a president.  Neither of them were related to him, to the best of my knowledge.

I've written a bit in Richard Booth's post (see above link) and about how William and his family with his brother Charles, immigrated from their original homes in NY, through Indiana and Illinois, to finally end up in Hillsboro, Texas.  Here's the family home as it survived into the 1990s.

William Booth Home, 208 N. Waco St, Hillsboro, TX, purchased land on 12 May 1855, (photo 1993)

Here is his obituary, which calls him Col. Booth.  I find it interesting that people who keep these clippings so often neglect to date them, nor say which publication printed it.  Perhaps it was on the back, in 1894.

His second wife, Hanna Conn Booth, had died ten years prior, in 1884.   His brother, Charles Booth would live just 3 more years.  And Lucinda Booth Slocum, his only sister living at this time, was the one mentioned in Minnesota.  She lived until 1906. 

This obituary gives me information that I didn't have before, that his son W.L. Jr was still alive at this time. This son wasn't a true "Jr." as his middle name was Legrand, not Lewis.

His daughter Miss Cinnie Booth was well known in Hillsboro, TX.  His youngest daughter, Annie Booth Attaway, had already given birth to his three grandaughters, two of them were to become my Great-Aunts Alice and Gertie Attaway, and will be honored elsewhere.  I don't think I ever met Aunts Alice and Gertie, but I received beautifully hand embroidered dresses and wrote thank you letters to them (they living in El Paso, me living in St. Louis) in the 1950s.

William Booth was a county judge, at a time when law was difficult to enforce in Texas.

I was very interested to see that he identified himself as a Spiritualist, as well as a republican.  Maybe the former was the reason his burial was presided over by a minister who was from Waco, rather than Hillsboro.  Just guessing.  Spiritualists have often been disdained by more conservative religious groups, and he was the President of the statewide Spiritualist organization.  I wonder if he ever contacted his descendents during a seance.



Texas Find-a-Grave has a picture of the city cemetery in Hillsboro.  I'm interested to read there that he...

was called "Colonel" by the locals, although he would have been too old to fight in the civil war, he was a Texas volunteer serving on the homefront. "

 These are his children and their dates from that source.  Richard R. Booth is not on this list for some reason.

  Charles Thomas Booth (1839 - 1886)
  William LeGrand Booth (1840 - 1906)
  Sarah Jane Booth (1842 - 1842)
(missing, Richard R. Booth)
  Frank Booth (1848 - 1867)
  Elizabeth Booth (1850 - 1865)
  Lucinda Booth (1854 - 1920)
  Conn Booth (1856 - 1864)
  Annie Booth Attaway (1859 - 1948)

His first wife was Mary Ann McManus (1818 – 1842), the mother of his first three children.  He married Hannah Leak Conn (1818 – 1884) in Indiana in 1843, who was mother of his 6 younger children.

 His parents have already been honored on this blog under other posts.  Jane McElhaney Booth,(Here) and Isaac Booth (HERE)

George Washington Rogers

Born in 1820 on 7 Feb, George Washington Rogers is listed in several places in the Rogers Family Bible.  

George Washington Rogers

As I wrote in a past post, the Sevierville, TN Rogers family somehow met and married with the Hiram Gibbs children from Union District, South Carolina. (See my past blog HERE which mentions LUCINDA BENSON GIBBS (1818-1884)  who married George Washington Rogers in 1848 in LA)

George Washington Rogers' sister Nancy Terissa Rogers (b.11.7.1826) married Thomas Gibbs (b. 06 JAN 1812, d. 18 MAY 1872), brother of his wife, Lucinda Gibbs.

The Rogers and Gibbs families traveled west, probably together, stopped in Louisiana to set up homesteads for the Gibbs families, where the marriages took place of Thomas and Nancy in 1847, and George and Lucinda in 1848.  Micajah Rogers (his father) and his family continued to Huntsville Texas.

A bit of record I just found: "Second Lieutenant George W. Rogers was listed in the General Staff of Texas Volunteers, which was received July 1846; discharged Oct.1846. Under Majr General Gov. James Pinkney Henderson, 1st regiment of Texas Mounted Rifle Volunteers - (received June and July, and discharged Sept and Oct 46)"  (Source: http://archive.org/stream/mexicanwarvetera00roba#page/74/mode/2up/search/Rogers)

Certificate my cousin has related to George W. Rogers' veteran status from the Mexican American War

So George W. Rogers fought in the Mexican War as a Texas Volunteer in 1846, 2 years before marrying Lucinda, back in LA.  Their first child, my great grandfather, William Sanford Rogers was born Feb. 9, 1850 in Huntsville, TX (W. Sam according to his son George E Rogers).  So that's the period of time that they moved to Texas.  By this time George W's father, Micajah would have been an elder of 55 years.  But he lived until 1873, another 17-18 years. This active man had leadership in Huntsville, Texas in the early years.

The Rogers Family Bible has an entry in hand writing, then transcribed by typewriter with carbon copies in 1954 by George E. Rogers, Sr. and copied to his 4 sons and their descendents "GEORGE WASHINGTON ROGERS, Son of M.C. & C. Rogers and Lucinda Benson Gibbs, daughter of Hiram and Sabra Gibbs, were married at the residence of Dr. Jasper Gibbs, in Bienville, Parish, Louisiana, by Rev. George W. Baines, Baptist Minister, on Thursday September 14, 1848."

North Portico of the house George Washington Rogers and Lucinda Benson Gibbs built on the 200 acres they purchased from Pleasant Gray in 1844.

George Washington Rogers died 26 Jan 1864, almost 44 years of age..  their children were:
William Sandford Rogers, (1850-1879), 
Laura Terrissa Rogers (1852-1922), 
Alice Luella Rogers Ross (1853-1925), 
George Henry Rogers (1854-1854), 
George Washington Rogers, Jr (1857-1875)
and Jasper Gibbs Rogers (1860-1861.)

More Notes on Colonel GEORGE WASHINGTON ROGERS(1820-1864). SOURCE: http://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/freestone/bios/gwrogers.txt

"G.W. Rogers served in the War in Mexico - under Captain Gillespie; Col. John C. Hays: 1st Regiment Texas Rangers, Gen. Zachary Taylor. He was wounded on
assault on Bishop's Palace, Monterrey, Mexico. His name is on the Gillespie
Monument in Huntsville, Texas. After the battle (from war department 1846) Col. George Washington Rogers lay wounded on battle field all night, during icy
storm. He contracted tuberculosis. After recuperating, he returned to his home
in Gibbsland, LA. Later he married Lucinda Benson Gibbs.

"George Washington Rogers and his wife, Lucinda Benson Gibbs purchased 600 acres of land in Walker county in 1844 from Pleasant Gray and his wife, Hannah.
(This being out of their Headright.) Mr. and Mrs. G.W. Rogers were said to be
the wealthiest family in town and their Greek-Revival style home on University
Avenue was the finest in its heyday. The aristocracy from East Texas were
entertained there. (G.W. Rogers was Huntsville's first Treasurer.) One feature
was a huge ballroom that occupied the southeast wing. In later years, the
house served as the president's mansion for the third president of Austin
College - Rufus Bailey. The house also became the home of H.H. Smith, the
second president of Sam Houston Normal Institute. Other owners made changes in the house, but it has been restored and is still standing today.

"Listed in 1850 Walker County Census as a merchant, 30 years old.

"Died near Cotton Gin, Freestone, Texas. (After remaining in Texas for 2 years,
remains were moved to Mount Lebanon, La., and interred by Mt. Lebanon Masonic Lodge #104.)

The Rogers Family Bible again says:

GEORGE WASHINGTON ROGERS, Son of M. C. & Cyntha Rogers, died near Cotton Jin, Freestone County, Texas Tuesday 26th January 1864 (after remaining in Texas 2 years, remains were removed to mount Lebanon, LA, and interred by Mt. Lebanon Masonic Lodge #104.

Was Lucinda Gibbs Rogers, the widow, living in Gibbsland, where her brother lived? Or was the re-burial for another reason?  Lucinda was buried in Huntsville TX, 20 years after her husband died.  She had 5 children when he died, the youngest 4, the oldest 14. 

Chauncey Granger Sweet, 1865, Chapter I

Born on Feb. 6, 1965, Beaumont, Texas.

In early Galveston, (and Sabine Pass, and Beaumont, Texas) especially through the Civil War, my family was caring for each other, especially the orphaned children.  My grandmother's mother Zulieka and her sister Ada's parents died early during the Civil War.  They may have been raised in the home of their aunts, one of whom was Elizabeth (Lizzie) Granger Sweet.  Lizzie's husband was Sidney Sweet and he died in 1875 leaving her to raise her own children, Chauncey Granger Sweet (10) and his sister Lucy Azalea Sweet (7). T

he other aunt was Lucy Granger Wakeley (or Wakelee) and I believe my great grandmother may have lived with them as well. More information about their lives will come soon.

Chauncey G Sweet was my grandmother's great-Uncle Chauncey.  My grandmother named one of her sons after him, Chauncey Sweet Rogers.  His mother was my grandmother's grandmother's sister.

OK, the fun begins...census searches:

In 1870 Census of Sabine Pass, Texas, Chauncey G. Sweet is part of a family with his father, Sidney J. Sweet, (48) listed as a Tinner, born in MA.  Mother Elizabeth Sweet (36) was also born in MA.

There are 4 children listed, and I only knew of the younger two until this discovery looking at the original documents. Ancestry didn't have them part of their chart yet.  Mary E. is 16 in 1870.  Fanny A. Sweet is 8.  Chauncey G. Sweet was 5, and Lucy A. was 2.  All the children were born in Texas. However, the two elder children must have died fairly young, because they don't appear in later census lists.  However, a girl of 16 could also have married, which was frequently done.  Fanny at 8 is the missing member of that family.

Chauncey G. shows up next in the 1880 Galveston Census.  C.G. Sweet (15) was a clerk and living as a boarder with his Aunt and Uncle Wakely.  At that time Alex (sic) Wakely was a Ships Chandler (age 45) and his wife Lucy (Lizzie's sister) was listed on the census as L.E. at 40.  Also in the household were my great-grandmother Zulieka (21) and her little sister Ada (19).  Mr. Wakeley was actually named Augustus, but it was written wrong on the census sheet.

Also on that census report, C.G. Sweet's father is reported from Mass, as well as his mother who was born in Newburyport, MA.  C.G. was also listed as having been born in Sabine Pass, TX. Other sources say Beaumont.  I just found a photo of a marker for Chauncey's father, Sidney J. Sweet in Sabine Pass, TX.  Here's the picture of the memorial to C.G.'s great aunt, Julia Sweet (Burgett) and Sidney J. Sweet in Sabine Pass, TX.  Unfortunately this marker memorializes several family members who died of yellow fever in 1862.  Julia Sweet Burgett had already lost her first husband, Maj. Sidney A. Sweet, who is included on this marker. He would have been C.G.'s grandfather's brother, I believe. Most of this information came from Texas Find-A-Grave, where the story surrounding that yellow fever epidimic was told.

More in the next Chapter...soon.