#52 Ancestor Challenge 2019 Week 3, Sappington Family

#52 Ancestor Challenge 2019 Week # 3
Prompt: Unusual Name

My Sappington Family

The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde

            All Sappingtons in the US descend from Nataniel Sappington, who was first found in Maryland in 1695.   It is such an unusual name I hired Heritage Consulting to research the parentage.  The following report comes from Raquel Lindaas, President of Heritage Consulting.  The search for Nathaniel Sappington’s parents continues.  This time the research was divided into two investigative fronts, Colonial Virginia and Britain.  Historic English church and court records were searched in British archives by Paul Blake, and early colonial histories of Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware were searched by Renee Furgeson.  This report will focus on Renee Furgeson’s findings.   The British findings will be presented under a different cover.  The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde

Valuable information was found in this session to geographically map the families of Sappington and Sapp in the 1700s.  It is necessary to learn about communities and families in America to verify family connections in England.  The same society of extended families usually migrated as groups. Both families were found on the Delmarva Peninsula within a fifty-mile radius.  The Delmarva Peninsula is surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay on the west and the Delaware Bay on the east. It is occupied by the state of Delaware, as well as portions of Maryland and Virginia.   It was a cradle for the beginnings of Middle and Southern States colonization.  The families that settled these communities can be defined as to nativity by scholars that have researched their journals, charters, and court recordings.  The origins of the English colonists can often be identified by learning about the towns they settled.  The naming patterns of the counties, cities, rivers, and inlets often reflect a specific area of their homeland.  

The land these settlers obtained came from charters issued by monarchs to land speculators, known as the headright system. This was a grant of land given to anyone willing to cross the Atlantic Ocean and help populate the colonies. These men were granted land if they would pay for the transportation costs of laborers or indentured servants to work the land.  The land grants consisted of 50 acres per person transported.  Headrights for Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware helped populate the thirteen British colonies.  These grants were found for both the Sapp and Sappington families. Clues are given, and discoveries revealed will be explained and plotted on maps in the following report.

This report will build upon the course outlined in the previous report of January 2011.  A search began in published abstracts of records for the original shires of Virginia and led on a trail up the Delmarva Peninsula into Delaware and Maryland.  The Sappington and Sapp communities of the 1700s will be defined. This report will be divided into three sections. First, the findings on the Sapp families of Virginia and Delaware will be explained; next, the Sappingtons of Maryland will be documented; then, the information will be brought together, connected, and mapped in conclusion.  This total picture will assist with any future research in England.

Sapp families of Virginia and Delaware

                  Land grant records are a prime resource for finding early colonists of Virginia. A standard published work that holds abstracts of the calendars for these recordings is Cavaliers and Pioneers: A Calendar of Virginia Land Grants, 1623-1800.  This work was searched, and there is no recording for the surname Sapp, but there are recordings for Elizabeth Sope, which could be a mistranscription of the name. In 1672, five thousand acres in Accomack County between Great and Little Matomikin Creek, owned by Captain Edmund Scarburgh, were apportioned, and tracts of land were granted to Elizabeth Sope. She also received land from Captain John Armstead in Gloucester County, Kingstone Parish.[1]  Then in 1674, nine hundred acres in Middlesex County on a branch of Perrot’s Creek under the care of Thomas Lowe were divided into tracts, and a portion was granted to Elizabeth Sope.[2]  These tracts of land are located at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay with access to major shipping ports.  It is very unusual for a woman to accumulate this much land. 

A John Sop received an apportionment of the land from the six hundred ninety-nine acres owned by John Taylor in Northumberland County on the Wicomico Swamp in 1666. He also acquired land in Gloucester County from William Collaine Jr.[3]   Northampton and Gloucester County are on the western side of the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.  These findings of land grants for those with surnames similar to Sapp may prove valuable as research proceeds.

                  No other references to the Sope, Sop, or Sapp name were found in compiled Virginia colonial registers. The name Sapp was taken northward in a radial search of Delaware history books and registers.  An estate settlement was found for John Newell, who died before August of 1764.  His niece Rachel Newell was the wife of Henry Sapp. John Newell was the brother of William Newell, who was Rachel’s father.  In this same document, John was referred to as the guardian of Rachel.[4]  His tract of land was in the Mispillion Hundred in Delaware.  Delaware did not divide legal jurisdictions into counties at that time but instead used the practice of England.  These governmental districts were called “hundreds,” which are an area capable of producing one hundred men for military duty.[5]  (See a map of Delaware Hundreds, Figure No. 1)  This Henry Sapp, husband of Rachel, was the third generation of Henry Sapps living in the Mispillion Hundred.  A will left by his great-grandfather Henry Sapp I in 1743 named his male heirs as Henry, James, Benjamin, John, and Edward.   His daughters, titled under their married names, were Johannah Bradley, Anne Thistlewood, and unmarried Elizabeth Sapp.[6]  In 1750 William Sapp, bachelor of Duck Creek [Hundred] in Delaware, left his worldly goods to brother Isaac and sister Esther Sap.[7]  Isaac Sapp was called a yeoman in this will.  A yeoman is a farmer who owned his plot of land, not one who leased.  Duck Creek is north of Murderkill Hundred. It was also very interesting to find that in 1787, Elijah Dill and his wife Sarah of Kent County, Delaware, sold land to George Cubbage called “Sapps Folly,” this land is in the Murderkill Hundred bordering Mispillion.  The relationship of these tracts of land can be understood by viewing the map of Delaware Hundreds. (See Fig. No. 1)[8]  Members of the Sapp family were in Delaware on the Delmarva peninsula by the year 1743.  No land entries were verified before this year.

Now that the Sapp settlements were verified, it was necessary to define where these families might have originated.  The history of Delaware has a very tumultuous struggle of powers for a claim of this land before 1700.  In 1629, Peter Minuit of the New Netherlands West Indies Company claimed the land. Later in about 1637, Minuit had a falling out with the Dutch and turned his business ventures to the Swedes.  He led a group of Swedes on a voyage to the Delaware River in 1638.[9]  In 1655 Peter Stuyvesant led a Dutch expedition to the Delaware River and forcibly ended the Swedish colony and claimed it for the Dutch. A Swedish governor, Johan Rising,[10]fighting to regain power, sent a letter in July 1655 to all who had gone to Maryland and Virginia to return. Residents who returned were given free land by the Swedes.  This enforces the premise of the migration path from Virginia to Delaware.

In 1664 the Dutch were forcibly removed by the English, and James, Duke of York, brother of King Charles II, outfitted an expedition to settle the area.[11]  William Penn inherited James, Duke of York’s claims.  When Penn arrived in America, he wanted an outlet to the sea from his new province, so he claimed land in the lower counties of Delaware.  He sponsored ships from England, bringing persecuted Quakers who, with him, were escaping to practice their religion of love and tolerance for all and were hostile to formal doctrine and creeds.  They settled all along the Delaware coast, including the hundreds of Duck Creek, Murderkill, and Mispillion. 

Ship manifests for a few of these Quaker voyages remain.  The earliest passenger list that has been reconstructed is from the ship “Welcome,” which William Penn directed himself into the Delaware harbor in 1682.[12]    There was no recording of a family with the surname of Sapp or Sappington on this ship. These families were from England, and most immigrants came from Sussex, Surrey, or Middlesex.  Their counties of nativity would fit the areas where Sapp family probates were found in the previous report.   The possibility of the Sapp family converting to Quakerism was considered, so church records for Quaker movements were sought.  The Quaker or “Friends” religion kept excellent meeting records, including removal records when a member moved from England to America, with the county of origin.  Meeting records for Duck Creek and Murderkill Hundred is available and were searched for the years 1698-1800.[13]  There was no Quaker meeting documentation for the Sapp family.

A land area on the east side of Delaware called the “Milford Neck” juts into the Delaware Bay and includes the Mispillion Hundred.  A history of Mildford Neck states that:

 “The early settlers of Milford Neck were mostly of English origin . . . in large measure from the eastern shore of Maryland and Virginia and brought with them their manners and customs as well as their slaves. The early settlers are Bowman, Clark, Davis, Emerson, Hall, Fisher, Minors, Molleston, Manlove, Smith, and Young.[14]

The Sapp family living on this land in 1743 would have known these names as members of their community. Any record that includes family names could verify communities coming to America together.

                  

Sappington's of Maryland

The earliest record found for Nathaniel Sappington was a tax list of the Spesutie Hundred for 1695 in “Old Baltimore,” Maryland. The Spesutie Hundred was established as a governmental division or “township” on Spesutie Island in about 1650.[15]  The tract encompassed an island named Spesutie Island, named after Colonel Nathaniel Utie (a Virginian), who purchased the island in the 1650s.[16]  This hundred was a political division in the original settlement of “Old Baltimore County.” The territory of the Spesutie Hundred became a legally recognized political unit in Baltimore County in 1693.[17]  The geographic description was a tract midway of the Bush River Neck near the coast from Church Creek down the eastern side of that river.[18]  This area was also the port of entry for the territory and became the governmental seat, with the first court held here in 1661.  Baltimore County at this time encompassed Harford, Cecil, and Kent counties, so all tax record accounts were held here.[19]  Thus, Nathaniel was probably not living on the island but sent his taxes to the county seat.

                  Early settlers of this Spesutia island community were identified in a local county history written by Wright.  He noted that George Goldsmith arrived in 1659, William Palmer in 1673, James Philips in 1672, Edward Boothby in 1695, Colonel George Wells in 1678, the Reverend John Yeo in 1681 and Garrett Fitzgerald in 1682.[20]  There was no arrival noted for a Sappington.  The land entries for Nathaniel were found in Cecil County, across the Chesapeake Bay from Spesutia.  In 1715 he was settled near the Sassafras River in a tract called Dayley’s Desire, where he purchased one hundred acres in exchange for 6,000 pounds of tobacco he had grown on the land.[21]  This area is marked and located in Old Baltimore City.   (See Figure No.2).   He purchased the land from Thomas Smith. Nathaniel’s name was also written in the church vestry book of the St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church of Cecil in 1701. A rebuilt structure from the foundation of this original church stands in Earlville, Maryland, today. 

This area was governed by several magistrates appointed by the British Crown during this decade.  As the country developed along the waterfronts, there was constant commerce exchange between Virginia and Maryland.  Kent County, Maryland’s first governor in 1674, was appointed by the Legislative Assembly of Virginia.[22]  These facts can be correlated to understanding Nathaniel Sappington’s community origins. Nathaniel lived in a community that mirrored English life, as did the Virginian culture.  His Episcopal convictions were nourished, and the land entry of 1715 defines his occupation as a planter.[23]  The tobacco crops introduced in Virginia were carried up the banks and inlets of the Chesapeake Bay.   The origin of many of these planters of Virginia and Maryland has been defined in work by David Hackett Fischer as coming from the south and west of England.[24]  This would include the counties of Surrey, Kent, Middlesex, and Essex, the same as for the origins of the Sapp family.  A map can now be outlined for both the Sapp and Sappington families in North America from 1693 to 1773.

Conclusion

                  Nathaniel Sappington’s home in the American colonies can be mapped along the banks of the Sassafras River on a small coastal plain between the inlets of the Chesapeake Bay.  The tract was known as Dayley’s Desire and was in the original County of Old Baltimore, later divided into Cecil and Kent, Maryland.  He purchased his land in 1715 from Thomas Smith with money earned from planting and harvesting tobacco, which means he lived on this land at least one year before the harvest. His occupation as a planter does not verify that he actually worked the ground, as most planters in the south were overseers with slave labor.  He, or his father Nathaniel, lived within the County of Old Baltimore before 1693.   He attended church at the Saint Stephens Episcopal Church.  The Sassafras River was used to approximate his home on the map.  The facts about his life open an understanding of his socioeconomic status and religion in England.  He knew how to manage a plantation and produce crops to sustain his family.  His land can now be defined in relation to the Sapp community on the same peninsula. 

The Sapp family of Delaware was documented as living in the Mispillion Hundred.  A Henry Sapp lived here before 1743 as an abstract of his will was found in a Delaware colonial history.  He had a family of five sons and three daughters that lived in this area for three generations as Henry Sapp III married Rachel Newell in 1764.  William Sapp, a bachelor, lived in the Duck Creek Hundred of Delaware until he died in about 1750. He left his personal estate to Isaac Sapp, his brother.  Isaac was noted to be a yeoman or farmer.  Both the Sappingtons and Sapps probably owned and worked plantations with tobacco crops.  By 1787 a parcel of land in Murderkill Hundred, which borders Mispillion, was dubbed the name Sapps Folly.  Other community surnames for this early settlement were Bowman, Clark, Davis, Emerson, Hall Fisher, Minors, Molleston, Manlove, Smith, Young, and Harrington, as brought forth in local history.  These surnames are all English.  

With the details of these two families well-substantiated, the relationship of their homes on the Delmarva Peninsula can be recognized.  A historical map was located for the area.  It was found online in a digitized format from a collection at the University of Maryland Archives.  This map of 1685 for the upper bay of the Delmarva Peninsula shows the site of Old Baltimore County, Cecil County, Maryland, and the Duck Creek, Murder Creek and Mispillion Creek Hundred. (See Figure No. 3)[25]The Sassafras River was labeled as Turkey’s Creek on this map. The map is not drawn to scale, but the close relationship of the Cecil County, Maryland Sappingtons to the Delaware Sapps can easily be visualized.  The Mason Dixon line that separated the two states was not drawn until 1763.  The borders were fluid, and residents easily traveled in and out of the counties.

In summary, a definite link between the Sappington and Sapp families cannot be substantiated by vital record documents, but they did live near one another. Both families shared common occupations, backgrounds and could have both come from Virginia.  The English research findings should be weighed against the details validated in their lives on the Delmarva Peninsula.  The additional names found from land grants and community histories should be correlated with names found on records in England.  The estimated arrival dates for both families can be derived from the years noted on the land grants and wills.  Vital elements about this family history are now clear and provide an open link that waits to be joined with parents in England.

Renee Furgeson, Professional Genealogist

Heritage Consulting

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[1]Nell Marion Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers: A Calendar of Virginia Land Grants, 1623-1800(Originally published, Richmond, Virginia: Dietz Print Co. 1929)  Patent book Abstracts: V. 4 pp 155-157 (See Ref. No. 2)

[2]Nell Marion Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers: A Calendar of Virginia Land Grants, 1623-1800V. 3 pp 147-149 (See Ref. No. 1)

[3]Nell Marion Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants. Indexed by Claudia B. Grundman. (Originally published Richmond, Virginia: Dietz Print Co. 1929)  Virginia State Library Richmond, 1977.  pp 49, 361. (See Ref. No. 3)

[4]F. Edward Wright, Colonial Families of Delaware V. 1(Westminster Maryland: Willow Bend Books, 1998, Lewes, Delaware: Colonial roots, c2006) pp vi, 29. (See Ref. No 4&5)

[5]C. Milton Wright, Our Harford Heritage: A History of Harford County, Maryland(Glen Burnie, Maryland : French-Bray Printing Co., 1980, c1967) pp 72-73.  (See Ref. No. 22)

[6]F. Edward Wright, Colonial Families of Delaware V. 2(Westminster Maryland: Willow Bend Books, 1998, Lewes, Delaware: Colonial roots, c2006) P 159-161. (See Ref. No. 6)

[7]Wright, Colonial Families of Delaware V. 2p. 159.  (See Ref. No. 6)

[8]Map of Delaware Hundreds, Colonial Kent County(Online historical maps, Delaware Historical Society http://www.hsdorg/dhe/images/map) (See Ref. No.  23)

[9]John Thomas Scharf, History of Delaware, 1609-1888(Tuscon, Arizona: W.C. Cox Co. 1974) p 31.

[10]Scharf, History of Delaware, 1609-1888, p 55.

[11]Scharf, History of Delaware, 1609-1888, P. 81.  

[12]Joe Beine, The Ship Welcome of William Penn's Fleet, Reconstructed Ship Passenger List: Deal to Pennsylvania, 1682 (online database genealogybranches.com, posted 2010) http://www.genealogybranches.comAccessed 5 May 2011.  (See Ref. No. 26)

[13]Society of Friends, Murderkill Monthly Meetings and Duck Creek Monthly Meeting of Friends Having United Under the Name of Camden Monthly Meeting. (Original records in Friends Historical Library in Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania) (Microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1949) Microfilm 6321.

[14]L. Roland Beebe, Milford Neck: a Short History(Dover, Delaware: Dover Litho Printing, 1990) p 70.  (See Ref. No. 24)

[15]C. Milton Wright, Our Harford Heritage: A History of Harford County, Maryland(Glen Burnie, Maryland: French-Bray Printing Co., 1980, c1967) pp 72-73.  (See Ref. No. 20)

[16]Sappingtons of America, 1695-1995, Personal publication held in the Historical Society of Cecil County, Maryland under Sappington.  Miscellaneous Documents.  The Historical Society of Cecil County.  (See Ref. No. 18)

[17]C. Milton Wright, Our Harford Heritage: A History of Harford County, Maryland (Glen Burnie, Maryland: French-Bray Printing Co., 1980, c1967)  pp 19-21  (See Ref. No. 20)

[18]C. Milton Wright: Our Harford Heritage: A History of Harford County, Maryland (Glen Burnie, Maryland: French-Bray Printing Co., 1980, c1967) pp 19-21  (See Ref. No. 20)

[19]John Thomas Scharf, History of Baltimore City and County from the Earliest Period to the Present Day; Including Biographical Sketches of Their Representative Men (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: L.H. Everts, 1881) p 42.

[20]C. Milton Wright, Our Harford Heritage: A History of Harford County, Maryland(Glen Burnie, Maryland: French-Bray Printing Co., 1980, c1967 pp 19-21.  (See Ref. No. 21)

[21]June D. Brown, Abstracts of Cecil County, Maryland Land Records, 1673-1751(Westminster, Maryland: Family Line, 1998) P 104, 162.  (See Ref. No. 10)

[22]George A. Hanson, Old Kent: The Eastern Shore of Maryland(Baltimore, Maryland: Regional Publishing Company, 1967) p. 1. (See Ref. No. 14)

[23]June D. Brown, Abstracts of Cecil County, Maryland Land Records, 1673-1751(Westminster, Maryland: Family Line, 1998) P 104, 162.  (See Ref. No. 10)

[24]David Hackett Fischer, Albion's Seed(New York City, New York: Oxford University Press, 1989) pp 236-238.

[25]Historical Digitized Maps, University of Maryland Archives (University of Maryland Libraries, map of Virginia and Maryland, 1685, Call# CMD/VA 029, 2008) http://libraries.umd.edu/uploadedimages/librariesumdedu/Maryland_Maps/Maps.  Accessed 28 March 2011.  (See Ref. No. 15)

#52 Ancestor Challenge 2019- Week 2, Birthing Parents

#52 Ancestors Challenge 2019 - Week #2 
Prompt: Challenge

Birthing Parents

The  Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde

Finding ancestors is always challenging for genealogists, but helping adoptees find their birth parents is a greater one.  Most adoption records are sealed.  Adoptions are usually shrouded in secrecy.  The rights of the birth parents, who wish not to be found, is considered inviolable.  The rights of the adoptive parents, who do not wish their adopted children to be discovered, is even more sacred.  The rights of adoptees have not been validated until recently, and only a few states recognize the adoptee's rights.  Yet, most adoptees want to know, “Who am I?” 

As a pastor, I hear the stories and validate the pain of those adoptees longing to know from whence they came, despite having had good homes with loving adoptive parents.  I have been fortunate to assist several adoptees in finding birth mothers, and on rare occasions, I have been able to find a biological father.  One of the most rewarding discoveries was finding birth parents that eventually married each other. That is rare!  The couple went on to have three sons, but they never forgot their baby girl, that had been adopted!  When their biological only daughter found them, a joyful reunion became like all Christmases and birthdays rolled into one.   

After retirement from the ministry, I turned my genealogy hobby into a profession.  I do still hear adoptee stories that invoke my compassion to help birth the birth parents.  

T's story is just one such challenge.  She is a delightful woman I have known since she was a teenager; T was adopted in 1950 at four months through a branch of Lutheran Social Services into a loving family.  After she had raised a family, T wanted to find her biological roots; she had completed DNA testing with 23 and Me.  I encouraged her to test with Family Tree DNA and Ancestry.  I uploaded her raw results to the third-party tool, GEDmatch.com. We had all of the bases covered.  

The Ancestry site produced a first cousin match to descendants of an Italian immigrant, Pasquale Baratta, from Omaha, Nebraska.  1920 U.S. Federal Census, records show Pasquale Baratta was born 1 Feb. 1902 in Vinchiaturo, Campobasso, Molise, Italy and emigrated to the United States in 1919. On  3 August 1924, in Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska,  Pasquale married Louise Baratta, born 26 January 1909 in Italy; she emigrated in 1922; they may have been cousins because they share the same surname. 

Louise and Pasquale “Patsy” are enumerated in the 1930 U.S. Federal Census, Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska, living at 3501 30^thAvenue in a home valued at $1800.00. They were naturalized citizens, able to read and write.  He was a laborer working for the railroad.

Pasquale “Patsy” and Louise Baratta had six children, four sons and two daughters.  One son died shortly after birth.  Determining which of the five remaining children was the biological parent was a challenge; Autosomal DNA does not tell us if a match is to a female or a male.  The oldest son, John’s descendant, is a first cousin to Trudy, eliminating John as a possibility to be Trudy’s biological father. The youngest two sons, Joe and Frank, were eliminated because of their young ages in 1950.   We focused on the oldest daughter, Delores, born in 1931, and the second oldest son, James Joseph, born 30 January 1929, who died in 2010, as the only two probable choices for biological parents.  The youngest daughter, Rosemary, was born in 1937, but she was too young to have been her birth mother.  Rosemary is the only surviving child. Trudy bears a resemblance to a photo of Rosemary.

A Christmas present arrived in December 2018 when Ancestry provided a very close first cousin match to a woman who had indeed given a baby daughter up for adoption; the baby girl was named Patsy.  Evidently, James was unaware of the pregnancy.  He was married as well.  

#52 Ancestors Challenge 2019 - Week 1, First Farm

#52 Ancestors Challenge 2019 - Week #1
Prompt:  First

 The First Forde Farm

The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde

It was a stellar day on the Fourth of July, 1965.  The Forde family, four kids, and their parents were wild with excitement, clamoring to ride past the new farm; the contract was signed on purchasing their first home, a 100-acre farm 2.5 miles southwest of Elk Horn, Iowa.  Twelve pairs of eyeballs were wide-eyed,  taking in rich, green fields, cheery red farm buildings:  a corn crib, large barn, machine shed, chicken house, a fine masonry hog house, and the charming Cape Cod brick house that would become home with the arrival of March first, 1966.  But this was the Fourth of July, not Sunday; on this day, they opted to ask the sellers, Andrew and Elsie Soll, if they could walk the corn fields.  Stan held two-year-old Jon high in the air, and Cynthia and the girls held onto Scott. The air was excited as they traipsed down the rows of knee-high corn. 

Every Sunday after church for several months after that, Stan, Cynthia, Roxanne, Julie, Scott, and Jon stopped at the Dairy Queen and drove very, very, very slowly past the farm.  The slow Sunday drive past the farm continued most Sundays for an additional nine months until the moving day arrived on March first, 1966. The Solls had purchased the farm in 1964 and quickly listed it for sale in the spring of 1965 because Mrs. Soll wasn’t happy with the move. The land contract for the one hundred acre farm was signed in June of 1965 with a whopping $14,500 down payment on the $38,500 purchase price. Mr. Soll had seller’s remorse, and he wanted out of the sale by offering a significant cash incentive. The Fordes turned the offer down. Hence, Mr. Soll wasn’t willing to move one day ahead of the March closing date.  The Dairy Queen sold a lot of ice cream cones on Sundays. 

The big day arrived, March first, 1966, and the Forde Family moved. Wanda Wines, a neighbor whose parents built the charming 1600-square-foot home, and Cynthia, with their respective station wagons, moved most of the contents of the Forde’s rental property to the new house.  The heavy furniture and appliances were moved that evening, but not in time to cook dinner. 

Roxanne remembers Grandpa and Grandma Forde fed them cereal for dinner. The children undoubtedly thought it was the best-tasting cereal ever.  Jon remembers the new cookie jar, a fat monk, with the inscription, “Thou Shalt Not Steal,” was filled with cookies just for the occasion.  And that wood-grained toilet brush looked mighty grand! 

It is not too surprising that the family of six, plus grandparents, discovered 1600 square feet, including the unfinished basement, was too small. Plans were made to buy a mobile home for the grandparents so they could live on the farm and help with farming.  By May of 1966, a perfect trailer home was found, which helped the space shortage.  Gradually, the basement rooms were paneled, and needed closets were built. Julie’s bedroom was the small former fruit room next to the furnace. The large open space was divided, creating a bedroom for Scott and a laundry room.   Jon and Roxanne had the upstairs bedrooms, and closets and drawers were built into the eaves in each room.  For four years, it was still crowded, but powerful memories were made!  And then there was Paul!  A new baby was born in January of 1969.  Jon joined Scott in the basement bedroom while a crib was set up in the upstairs west bedroom.  

Every square inch of space was utilized, including the furnace room turned into an office. It was extremely crowded.  Now what?   with a farm, you don't just sell the farm and move to a bigger house! While an addition was sorely needed, finances did not support any such plan.   The company’s road construction projects ground to a halt. Cynthia raised purebred dogs to help with finances, but the airlines had a long strike, and puppies could not be shipped for months.  Finally, in 1974, it was determined to sell some of the lands and build a three-story addition on the west side of the house. 

Memories of the First Forde Farm to be continued by the Forde Children.

#52 Ancestor Challenge, Week 52, Resolution is a Miller Gene

#52 Ancestor Weeks Challenge, Week # 52
Prompt: Resolution

Resolve is a Miller Gene

 The  Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde

Resolution(noun) is a firm decision to do or not do something. 

By the winter of 1864-65 Arkansas had lost 10,000 sons in the War Between the States; it was the worst disaster in its history from which it never recovered.  One by one, except one, the Miller sons returned home to Arkansas. The news of the War was forever grim and grimmer; and every day the John Miller family resolutely awaited news of the fate of the remaining son, the first-born, James Monroe Miller.  Where could he be? 

Five years earlier, the John and Nancy Miller family along with their son James, and his wife, Elizabeth Catherine (nee Killian), with three children, William Samuel ‘Quillan’, Nancy Elizabeth, and the newborn, John ‘Nelson,’ sold their properties in Rising Fawn, Dade County, Georgia.  They likely traveled north into Tennessee, then west on the Long Trail and the Butterfield Overland Mail Trail to move to Texas.  No doubt, the beautiful Ouachita Mountains of Western Arkansas felt like home because they determined to stay in Polk County, Arkansas and not continue on to Texas.   

The Millers settled near Dallas, Arkansas, an unincorporated town that had an abundance of wild game and rich timber resources.  They bought small farms and grew subsistence crops and cotton.  

 War came to Arkansas.  The state seceded from the Union, 6 May 1861.  Arkansas lawmakers voted 65-5 to be the ninth of 11 Southern states to join the Confederate States of America.  The Millers, although they were not slave owners, supported the Cause and enlisted;  John Thornton Miller returned to Dade County to enlist.  Joseph Wilson Miller and George Russell Miller had not yet left Dade County, and they enlisted there;  William Anderson Miller and James Monroe Miller enlisted in Arkansas.  James enlisted as 3^rdlieutenant with Williams Arkansas Cavalry; he was fighting in the War when his fourth child, Robert Morgan Miller was born 14 March 1863.  

By the winter of 1864-65, Arkansas was defeated.  James Monroe Miller, father, and husband, had not returned home.  His wife, 30-year-old, Elizabeth Catherine born 11 April 1834, decided to find him herself.  Enlisting the aid of her 26-year-old sister-in-law, Mary Jane Miller, the duo set off on horseback to find James, leaving the children in the care of James’ parents.

We don’t know where Elizabeth and Mary Jane searched.  We don’t know how far they traveled, who fed them, or where they stayed.  We only know the winter was harsh.  Elizabeth and Mary Jane returned home when Elizabeth became ill with pneumonia and tuberculosis.   21 March 1865, Elizabeth died, apparently not knowing James was dead.

Only later did the family learn that James Monroe Miller had died the previous October in Johnson Island Prison Camp near Sandusky, Ohio.  According to an email to Cynthia Forde,  (25 November 2004) from Edith Benson, James' grave number is 194. The source is the Ohio Genealogical Society complied by the Franklin County Chapter of the Confederate Cemeteries in Ohio.  

And that would be the tragic end of their story except for the resolution of James Miller’s fourth child, Robert Morgan Miller, whose life was indeed well lived. 

OBITUARIES

Robert Morgan Miller was born at Dallas, Arkansas, March 14, 1863. His father, a soldier in the confederate army, died a year later, and his mother died from hardships of the Civil War.

He came to Montana in 1884 with a trail herd from Texas and he engaged in ranching which occupation he followed nearly all his life except for a few years when he worked on construction work for the Great Northern Railway, and at lumbering near Helena.  He was married to Josephine Evans of Highwood in 1901, and to this union were born three children, Robert, Nelson, and Gladys now Mrs. Wm. Harmon, these with 10 grandchildren survive.

They came to Bainville in 1903.  and lived on a ranch at Red Banks Creek most of the time and part of the time in town. He was esteemed by all who knew him, and he devoted much attention to the education of his children.  Of an active disposition, he kept busy even with the advancing years and never considered himself retired.  During the past month his health failed rapidly and just before the final crisis he went to Helena to the home of his son Robert for the medical attention where he passed away June 30, 1937, aged 75 years three months and 16 days. His passing comes as a distinct loss to his family and also to the larger circle of his friends and acquaintances by whom he was universally loved and respected.  He was a regular attendant of the Methodist church and was deeply interested in Bible Study and the things of the spiritual life.

Funeral Services were held at the Harmon Home on Sunday afternoon, conducted by Rev. F. W. Age of the Methodist Church who spoke on the subject, "Light at Evening."  A quartette composed of Mrs. Chas. Johnson, and others.  At his personal request, he was laid to rest in a private burial lot on the Harmon Ranch SE of town where he was laid to rest beside the body of his grandchild, Lauren Harmon who died of drowning three years to the day of his funeral.

Bob Miller Dies in Helena at Home of Son

Mr. Miller was known and esteemed by a great many friends, not only in Roosevelt County but in all parts of the state where he had resided during the last half-century.

Robert Morgan Miller was born 14 March1863 in Dallas, Arkansas, the fourth and youngest child of his parents.  His father, James Monroe Miller, a 3rd Lieutenant in Williamson's Arkansas Cavalry in the Confederate Army died in captivity at Johnson's Island near Sandusky, Ohio 1 October 1864; his mother, Elizabeth Killian Miller died of pneumonia and tuberculosis 24 February 1865 just before Robert turned two, without knowing of the death of her husband.

Robert was raised by his grandparents, John and Nancy Miller, and his Aunt Mary Jane until his sister Nancy married the Reverend John Wesley Vantrease in 1871. Nannie took him with her to her new home, and he lived with them until he was 15.  At age 15, he went to Texas and worked there on a ranch.  At age 21 he came up the Chisholm Trail with the first herd of the O (Circle) Ranch cattle outfit to come to Montana.  Some of the old ranch buildings, where the town of Circle now stands, and which he helped to build are still in use.  He was later employed on the construction of the Great Northern Railroad through Montana and then worked for a while in the woods near Helena.

About 1899 or 1900 he homesteaded in upper Sand Coulee, Montana near Evans Post Office. There, he met and married Josephine Evans of Lower Highwood March 17, 1901.  In 1903, he traded his farm for cattle, and with his family, drove them to Culbertson.   He worked for a year or so for J.S. Day, across the Missouri River from Culbertson, then he and his wife filed on 'desert' claims on Red Bank Creek 10 miles northeast of what is now Bainville.

The first winter most of the cattle died and he turned to farm with somewhat primitive equipment.  Later, he mostly raised horses.  He resided on the ranch for 35 years, in a constant battle with drought and debt. He died 1 July 1937, while visiting at the home of his son, Robert, in Helena, Montana

(Written by his son, Robert E. Miller, father of Gladys "Dinah" Miller Tillotson)

The History of Johnson’s Island 

Johnson's Island was a Union prison for Confederate officers during the American Civil War. It was located in Sandusky Bay of Lake Erie, near Sandusky, Ohio. The prison was built on this island for several reasons. Because of the island's isolated location, it would be very difficult for prisoners to escape. At the same time, the island was near several important Ohio cities and lines of road, rail and water transportation. It was relatively easy to acquire building supplies to construct the prison, as well as to secure food to feed the inmates.

Federal officials intended to house nearly three thousand prisoners at any one time. Twelve buildings housed the prison population, while a thirteenth structure served as a camp hospital. Each building was approximately 130 feet by twenty-four feet and was two stories high. Several latrines and two mess halls were built for the prisoners. A sutler's store also operated within the prison camp and sold items to the prisoners. Some prisoners received money from family members and friends. Additional buildings associated with the prison were built on the island, but they were located outside of the confines of the prison camp. These structures included barracks for the 128^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, who served as guards for most of the war. Other buildings included various barns, stables, and an arsenal. There were at least two forts - Forts Johnson and Hill. 

The prison at Johnson's Island opened in April 1862. It continued to house prisoners until September 1865. Estimates vary on the number of prisoners who spent time at Johnson's Island, but it is likely at least ten thousand men spent time there. Of those men, approximately three hundred died at the camp. Most of these men died from diseases common in military camps during the Civil War. Additional men perished trying to escape from the camp or from the harsh winters on Lake Erie. While life was hard at Johnson's Island, it is important to note that the conditions here were better than those at other Northern and Southern military prisons were. One of the main reasons for this was the type of prisoners -- officers -- housed there. Many of these men came from wealthier backgrounds and received financial assistance from their loved ones. Northern officials also believed officers were deserving of kinder treatment than enlisted men because of the officers' standing in society. Federal officials removed Johnson's Island's original warden, former Sandusky mayor William Pierson, for abusing prisoners in January 1864.

Conditions at Camp Chase, a military prison in Columbus, Ohio, deteriorated greatly once Confederate officers were sent to Johnson's Island. The death rate was significantly higher at Camp Chase than at Johnson's Island..

The Johnson's Island prison was the site for one of the most elaborately planned prison escape attempts of the Civil War. Confederate Captains Charles Cole and John Yates Beall hoped to free the prisoners at Johnson's Island. They then would form an army from these inmates and travel to Columbus to free the prisoners at Camp Chase. After freeing these men, this newly formed Confederate army would operate across Ohio and create havoc in the heart of the North. The planners believed that Northern officials would have to dispatch Union soldiers currently operating in the Confederacy to deal with this new threat. With fewer soldiers now facing them, Confederate forces might be able to defeat the Northern armies in the South.

The plan began during the early summer of 1864 when Charles Cole arrived in Sandusky. He was working as a representative of the Mount Hope Oil Company of Pennsylvania. Cole used this position to win the trust of some of Sandusky's prominent residents and a number of Union army officers. Cole succeeded in having ten Confederates enlisted in the 128^th Ohio Infantry. These ten men were stationed at Johnson's Island and would assist in the plot. John Beall and a group of Confederates would seize control of the Philo Parsons, a passenger steamship operating on Lake Erie. Beall would sail the Philo Parsons to Sandusky Bay, where the Confederates onboard would sail beside Michigan, the only Union gunboat on Lake Erie. The Confederates would jump to the Union vessel and secure control of it. With Southerners in control of the Michigan, Cole, and Beall were certain that the Northern guards at Johnson's Island would immediately surrender. 

On September 19, 1864, Beall and twenty-five men seized control of the Philo Parsons. The men then headed the ship towards Sandusky Bay. They anchored the ship outside of the bay and waited for a signal from Cole. Cole had planned a dinner party on board Michigan for the ship's officers on September 20. He and a few other men planned to drug the officers. Before Cole could carry out his plot, an officer from Johnson's Island arrived with an arrest warrant. A telegram had arrived earlier that day ordering Cole's arrest for spying. On the same evening on the Philo Parsons, seventeen of Beall's men staged a mutiny and forced Beall to abandon his plan. Cole remained in prison for the duration of the war, while Beall was executed for spying for the Confederacy on February 24, 1865. As a result of this plot, Union officers ordered the construction of Forts Johnson and Hill during the winter of 1864-1865.

Following the Civil War, federal officials sold the prison's buildings and land. Most of the island became farmland. By the 1950s, Johnson's Island became a residential community and a popular vacation spot.

#52 Ancestors 52 Weeks – Challenge Week 51, Nice to Prove She was a Jarrett!

Nice to Prove She was a Jarrett

 The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde-Beatty

Being nice pays.  I learned it doesn’t pay to argue when another genealogist believes they are absolutely right.  It was nice to prove my ancestor was indeed a Jarrett and not lose a relationship..  

Many years ago, while researching my 5^thgreat grandmother, Rebecca Jarrett Sappington, a discussion arose with another researcher over Rebecca’s parentage; Rebecca Jarrett Sappington was not named in Frederick “Fadda” Jarrett’s will.  Fadda had a son named Jesse Jarrett, who left a widow named Rebecca. The other researcher was convinced that Rebecca was Jesse Jarrett’s widow, Rebecca Bell Jarrett, who had remarried Richard Sappington, the administrator of Fadda’s will.  Richard was named as a legatee.  Fadda’s sons and daughters were supposedly named in the will, except Rebecca Sappington. 

I was a newby genealogist and did not argue.  Instead, I continued researching. And I learned what happened to Rebecca/Rebeckah Bell Jarrett/Jarrett from another researcher who was a descendant of that couple. 

From researcher and descendant of Rebeckah Bell Jarratt and Jesse Jarratt, Thomas Parson:

Rebeckah Bell was the daughter of The Rev. James Bell and Mildred Robinson. She was born on 14 December 1762 in Sussex County, Virginia. She married Jesse Jarratt (sp.) on 17 February 1780, the son of Fadda Jarratt and Martha Ivey. Rebeckah was widowed in 1781. Jesse Jarratt named their unborn child in his will dated 1781.  James Bell Jarratt was born in 1781.

Rebeckah Bell remarried on August 21, 1783, to John Crew Robinson. (Sussex County Marriage Records.) Rebeckah died before 1875.   I would imagine Rebeckah Bell Jarratt Robinson died in Greensville County because her second husband, John Crew Robinson, was a resident there and a teacher at the time.  It seems he married three times and lived to be 106 years old.  I have read the copies of the court guardianship, and they seem to be connected to the Bell family, so I would imagine they raised James Bell Jarratt.

Thomas W  Parson IV

Box  242

Jarratt Virginia 23867

My research continues documenting sources:

Rebecca Jarrett was born on December 11, 1765, at the beginning of the American Revolution.  She was born to Frederick "Fadda' Jarrett and his wife, Martha Ivey, out of a possible 11 children in Surry/Sussex County, Virginia. The family migrated to Wilkes County, Georgia about 1783 when Cherokee land opened to  

On her twentieth birthday, she married Richard Sappington on December 11, 1785, probably in Wilkes County, Georgia. Richard and Rebecca had 12 or 13 children.  The family moved from Kettle Creek in Wilkes County to Henry County, Georgia, where they are both buried.  Richard died in 1838, and Rebecca in August of 1848.

Richard Sappington purchased and sold a great deal of property in Wilkes County, Georgia and in Henry County, Georgia; some of the deed listings are included in the timeline to assist the reader to follow the migration from Wilkes County to Henry County. 

Richard Sappington

July 25, 1763 - Friday, Richard Sappington was born in  Anne Arundel County, Maryland to John Sappington Jr. and Ann Everett.

1763: Richard Sappington's father died—John Sappington, Jr.

17 October 1765:

Maryland Hall of Records filed in Anne Arundel County, in 1765, Prerogative Court, Box 5, fld. 14  "17 October 1765 - John Sappington of Anne Arundel County, deceased made a deed of gift to his son, Richard.

Gleanings from Maryland News Papers: 1727-1775 by Robert Barnes, 1976.

Annapolis, Maryland Gazette

1764: Richard’s Mother remarried—"Ann, mother of Richard and his three siblings, married Nicholas Ridgely of Baltimore, Maryland."

(Gleanings from Maryland News Papers: 1727-1775 by Robert Barnes, 1976. Annapolis, Maryland Gazette).

11 March 1773: Estate settlement for John Sappington, Jr.

John  Richard, and Margaret executors.  John Sappington, Jr. was the first-born son of John Sappington, Sr. and his wife, the former Sarah Sherbert of Anne Arundel County, Virginia. John Jr. was born into this world on February 6, 1734; he departed on February 13, in the Year of Our Lord, 1765.  John was thirty-one years and one week. John was the 2nd great-grandson of Nathaniel Sappington, the immigrant.  Citations: From Linda Starr, a descendant of The Rev. Joshua Starr, on July 3, 2000.

11 December 1785 Sunday, Richard Sappington, Marriage, Richard was 22 years, 4 months and 19 days.  Source: Bible Records of William Jarrett Sappington

18 December 1787: Birth—Caleb Sappington, son.

14 November 1788: Deed—Purchase 99 acres on Kettle Creek

21 March 1789: Birth Daughter, Margaret “Peggy” Sappington

10 October 1790: Birth Daughter—Nancy Jarrett Sappington

22 July 1792: Birth Daughter—Mary Elizabeth Sappington

2 December 1803: Birth Son—Henry Thomas Sappington

29 February 1804: Death of Richard’s mother, Ann Everett Sappington Ridgely in Baltimore, Maryland  Ridgely exocusus from Anne Arundel Gentry., Vol. III,.

Nicholas Ridgely, one of the children of William and Mary (Orrick) Ridgely, was born about 1743 in Anne Arundel County.  By the will of his father in 1780, his legacy was negligible, but at that time it is believed that he was established in Baltimore Town. Before September 8, 1767, he married Anne, the widow of John Sappington, with at least two children: Anne and Caleb. On the foregoing date they filed an account with the court reporting an inventory appraised a #163/4/6 and after all obligations against the estate were met, a balance of #161/14/11 remained for the heirs.  Richard Sappington and Thomas Sappington were sureties for the administrators.

6 June 1805: Birth Son—Richard Thadeus Sappington

10 September 1806: Birth Daughter—Sarah Jarrett Sappington

28 Dec. 1814: Estate Settlement of Fadda Jarrett. Early Records of Georgia: Wilkes County Deed Book "OO" Sales for 28 December 1814, Estate settlement of Fadda Jarrett: Richard Sappington, two slaves, 1 negro boy Daniel, 1 Negro boy Sealy.

27  December 1815: Administrator Weaver Estate

Deed Book CCC, 1815-1819, Wilkes County, Georgia; microcopy RH 406-7; Georgia Archives, Morrow, Georgia

1820 U.S. Federal Census, Wilkes County, Georgia,

Richard Sappington.

Ancestry.com 1820 U.S. Federal Census online. Provo, Utah; MyFamily.com, Inc., 2004. Original data; the United States, 1820 United States Federal Census, M33, 142 rolls.  National Archives and Records Administrations, Washington, D.C.

Photocopied from microfilm of original and appears transcribed elsewhere in this report.

1837 Tax Digest, Henry County, Georgia; microcopy RHS 21-22; Georgia Archives, Morrow, Georgia.

Capt Posey District - Knob

Richard Sappington, overage, 0 polls, 11 slaves, 212 acres land, 2nd & 3rd quality land, lot 184,11th Dt, waters of South River, Henry Co

40 acres 3rd class land, Cherokee Co [gold lot]

40 acres, 3rd class land, lot 340 2nd Dt, sec 1, Cherokee Co [gold lot]

John Sappington, Rev. Soldier, overage, 0 poll, 0 slaves, 160 acres, 3rd class land, lot 229, 10th Dt

Notes: By John Sappington’s entry is the notation that he was a Revolutionary War soldier.  Both John and Richard Sappington were over the age of 60 and therefore paid no poll tax.  In 1837 Richard Sappington still had the 2-40 acre lots that he won in the 1832 Gold Lottery.

20 May 1837: Richard's Letter to Brother, Caleb Sappington in Maryland, thanks to Claire Sappington Schmidt. 

8 January 1838 Monday, Richard Sappington died at the age of 74 years, five months and 17 days.

Documentation Marriage:

a.).)Faddy Jarrett transferred ownership of a Negro girl, Lucy, "unto my son in law, Richard Sappington," dated 21 November. 1793. County of Wilkes, Georgia, reference:Will Book Volume  KK, Box 33, Georgia Archives.

b.) Links II, by Elizabeth Ramsey: p. 244: Henry County settlement of Richard's estate: Record books 'H', p. 532 and 'J', p.  145-147. Richard was the administrator of Fadda Jarrett's estate and a legatee. p. 271, "Transfer of sale of the personal estate of John Weaver, widower of Elizabeth Weaver (nee Jarrett).  It states that "Richard Sappington, brother-in-law of John Weaver, made a return on the personal estate of John Weaver for $1,987.00 and three tracts of land."   (Copies of original documents attached)

c.) Early Records of Georgia, Vol I & II, Wilkes County Will Book 1818 - 1819 p.86

Notes for William Partridge:  Executors, signed 31 Jan 1814. Probated 7 July 1817, Richard Sappington, Rebecca Sappington, James Rutledge, Testato,  listed as Testator. to the will of  William Partridge.

d.)Bankston Cousins 1656-1996, by Anne Martin Haigler, Hardbound, Inc. 737A, N. Highway 67, Florissant, Missouri, 63031

e.) Looking Back II, Edwin Donovan Kuykendall 1985, Vol, II;    A copy is in the Dallas, Tx.  library, and the East Point, Georgia. Archives.  Volume 2 tells about the Sappingtons of Maryland & Georgia. "Descendants of Richard Sappington b. July 25, 1763, Md. moved to Wilkes County, Georgia about 1787/88 married Rebecca Jarrett.) on pg 156 ---" sets forth an abstract of a will signed 31 Jan. 1814 by William Partridge, probated, 1817, and shows witnesses to that will were Richard Sappington, Rebecca Sappington, and James Rutledge.  Other documents have shown, hereinafter, in this chapter, identify Richard Sappington's widow as Rebecca Sappington, following his death in 1838 in Henry Co, Georgia.  I, therefore, have concluded Richard's wife, before her marriage, was Rebecca Jarrett, daughter of Fadde."

8 January 1838: Death Richard Sappington

Deed Book H (1834-1839), pages 532-533, Henry County, Georgia; microcopy RHS 623-4; Georgia Archives, Morrow, Georgia.

Early Records of Georgia. Wills and Deeds, Georgia, Henry County:  Richard Sappington Estate Settlement: 12 February 1838

Know all men by these present that I, Rebecca Sappington, widow of Richard Sappington, late of the county and state aforesaid deceased, and Caleb Sappington and Timothy Collins of the county of Walton, Henry Sappington of county of Monroe, William J. Sappington of the county of Troup, Thaddeus Sappington of county of Newton, William R. Williams of the county of Lumpkin, and  Thomas Albert of the county of Henry and all of the state aforesaid being lawful legatees of the estate of said Richard Sappington,  deceased, for divers good causes and considerations we here unto moving have made ordained and appointed and by these presents do make ordain and appoint John Albert of the county of Henry and State of Georgia and Richard T. Sappington of the county of Newton and state aforesaid and legatees of said estate our true and lawful attorneys for us and in our names and for our own proper use and benefit to sell and dispose of absolutely and in fee simple all and singular the goods, chattels, lands and tenements both real and personal belonging or appertaining to the estate of said Richard Sappington deceased at public our cry on the premises of said deceased.  In the county of Henry and commencing on the 13th day of February, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, then continuing from day to day until all is sold to the highest bidder as may be agreed upon. Then to make equal distribution of the remaining balances among legatees of such notes as ten remain.  In witness, we here of the said, Rebecca Sappington, Caleb Sappington, Timothy Collins, Henry Sappington, William J. Sappington, Thaddeus Sappington, William R. Williams, Thomas Albert, have hereunto set our hands and seals this the 12th day of February 1838.

Witness; Wiley E. Wood  Signed:

Widow: Rebecca Jarrett Sappington

Caleb Sappington (married Martha Bankston)

Timothy Collins  (m. Rebecca Sappington)

Henry Thomas Sappington (m. Sarah Owens)

William Jarrett Sappington (m. Martha Hardwick Starr)

Thaddeus Sappington (m. Jerely Turner

William R, Williams (m. Elizabeth Sappington)

Thomas Albert (m. Sarah Sappington)

3 January 1839: Land Sale to Family

It was so very nice to prove Rebecca Jarrett Sappington was the daughter of Fadda Jarrett and Martha Ivey!  And the other genealogist was impressed with my work. Being Nice Pays!