..."the men ever born are also my brothers, and the women my sisters..."

Still feeling the Spirit of '76 from a previous post, this time I'm going to focus on another maternal fifth great-grandfather and Revolutionary War ancestor, Jesse Toliver (1756 - 4 Mar 1838), although his career is not quite as stellar as Capt Samuel Cherry's.

Jesse Toliver began his career as a volunteer Private, under (then) Capt William Lenoir, going after the Cherokee Indians in the North Carolina region who were allied with the British. In his own words, "we burnt and destroyed the Indian towns & huts that we found … had no fighting as the Indians fled when we came into the nation." What a pity.

Once the war against the British began in earnest, Jesse Toliver, under now-General Lenoir, marched to Catawba, North Carolina, where, according to his Revolutionary War pension request, "[W]e saw the dead lying on the field the torys was defeated and we were marched home after being out in service two months." On the next campaign, "We pursued the Torys as they retreated until they joined the British Army near Kings Mountain under one [Major Patrick] Ferguson. The time that I served in this trip was one month and a half. We were then marched back home."

Jesse's third tour of duty was at the Battle of King's Mountain, North Carolina. Once again, he missed the fighting. "[W]e marched from Wilkes County up the Yadkin River to Johns River … all that had horses went on & left the foot men … The Battle was fought before the foot men arrived as I was one of them." They met the army coming back from the battle, and Jesse accompanied the prisoners to Salem as a guard. There he "stayed until my three months was out and then returned home." While at Kings Mountain Nat'l Military Park last summer, I saw a list of the names of the participants of the battle. Jesse's name (along with that of his brother, Moses) was mentioned in a footnote indicating names of those who arrived the day after the historic battle of 7 October 1780.


Smiling, before I learned my ancestor was a day late for the battle.

During his final tour of duty, Private Toliver marched with Lenoir's company to the Haw River in Orange County, North Carolina, where they spied on British General Charles Cornwallis' army, then after five months "we marched home." At the very end of the war, Jesse finally saw some action "pursuing small portions of Torys." Apparently, he also collected livestock from draft-dodgers.

Jesse Toliver's war record, while not terribly illustrious, is not the most interesting thing about him, at least according to me. (Although, in April 1834, he was able to secure an annual veteran's pension of fifty-five dollars for his military service, a nice stipend for time spent primarily in marching.) What is interesting--again, and perhaps, uniquely to me--is that I am also descended from his sister Lucy Toliver (23 May 1768 - 1832), making me that most unusual thing, a Double Toliver. Which brought me (and brings me) to the 9th Annual Toliver Family Reunion, held in the hills of Morehead, Kentucky in 2011. 

Here's a little story that should make you sigh
About two ancestral folk:
Let us call them Lucy "X" and Jesse "Y,"
Though their last name is no joke.

About two years ago, when I was just beginning to delve seriously into  genealogy, I found (in notes from my Grandmother Brown that she had sent me over thirty-five years earlier) that I had an ancestor named Rebecca Tolliver, who married David Conway, or possibly Conley, believed to be from Ireland. Though well-intentioned, Grandma's information was mostly inaccurate. Using Ancestry.com, I found Rebecca Tolliver and her husband, a Conley from Indiana, not the Emerald Isle (although, to be fair, his Conley great-grandparents had emigrated from Ireland, probably of Scottish or English descent). And although I was able to discover more about Rebecca Tolliver's ancestors, I was stuck on David Conway/ley. Using Google, I discovered the Tolliver Family website, which had some useful information, and contacted the undisputed doyenne of all things Tolliver, Emma Lee T, who, with her husband (ironically, the actual Tolliver descendant), live just a few hours from me. She gave me some useful hints, and from her I was able to learn that David's father had the alliterative, unlikely, and--I believed--unusual name of Constantine Conley. So that was settled.

Until, Ancestry-ing away until nearly dawn, becoming more and more baffled but determined, I discovered that there were two, contemporaneous Constantine Conleys, both circling each other geographically, but only one being a forebear of mine. Of course, this was further complicated by the fact that--having already firmly established Conley and not -way, mind you--the last name was spelled alternately as Conley, Connelly, Conelly, Connely, and, occasionally, [illegible]. And my Constantine Conley married one of the daughters of Lucy Tolliver, Jesse's sister.

Over that brick wall, I further learned from Emma Lee that there was a Tolliver family cemetery in Allegheny County, North Carolina, and since S and I were already planning a Road Trip to South Carolina to see a living (!) relative of his, this seemed the perfect opportunity. The cemetery was really just a family plot on private property, on the Virginia/North Carolina border; Emma Lee recommended we call ahead, which we tried, to no avail. Nonetheless, we persevered, wending our way through tiny mountain roads, and after passing it twice, we finally found the turn off. Once there, we declined to drive across the rickety-looking wooden bridge over a deep ravine, and cautiously walked across.

On the other side, we looked about briefly, but were not able to find the cemetery. An ominous-looking dog on a neighboring property hastened our search. That and the fact that we were clearly trespassing in a region where I'm sure gun ownership was a non-issue. Subsequently I found out that although the site has been restored and cleaned up in the last few years by fellow Tolliver descendants, there are still many unknown graves, and that it was unlikely my direct ancestors were buried there.

A few months later I received an email from Emma Lee letting me know about an upcoming Tolliver family reunion, to be held just a couple hours south of us. Why not! The reunion was a well-attended annual affair, over a long weekend, and included--beyond the meeting of distant relatives--lectures, a driving tour of local sites of family relevance, silent auction, and talent show. Not having an abundance of stories or photos to share, I felt that at the very least, I could come up with something for the talent show: perhaps a sophisticated little cabaret number to Stephen Sondheim's "The Story of Lucy and Jessie" (how conveniently apt, no?), from Follies, with new lyrics of my own devising. Words in hand, I was unable to find a karaoke recording of the tune, nor sheet music, although admittedly, I did not look that hard, although one could hardly consider stage fright to be the cause. Why push myself forward, I said to myself; be an observer. Consider this trip a case of cultural anthropolgy.

Now Lucy had fertility
Along with the ability:
To raise fourteen young kiddies was her fate…
Jesse and his brother Mose
Put on their redcoat-fighting clothes,
But somehow always got there a day late!

My creative impulses dammed (dimmed? damned?) in that direction, I decided to at least make myself a t-shirt with my Double Toliverhood family tree emblazened on it. If nothing else, it might be a nice ice-breaker. We also took some bags of home-made dog treats for the silent auction.

Arriving at the hotel, nestled in the Kentucky hills, we were almost instantly greeted by the gracious Emma Lee ("everyone in the south has two names") herself, who began tracing my lineage down the front of my shirt with her forefinger, from nipple to--nearly--navel, her daughter calling her off just in  time: "Mom, there is someone in that shirt!" After getting settled in our room, it was off across the parking lot to the Ponderosa Steakhouse, where it was soon apparent why the all-you-can-eat buffet was the clear favorite. We sat with two of Emma Lee's daughters, who were extemely witty, and had just the right amount of perspective to find the whole thing fun.

Next we headed to the Carl Perkins Community Center (named after a former member of the House of Representatives, not the rockabilly genius one might suspect being honored in this neck of the woods), as Emma Lee was taking the stage to make introductions ("Where is Robert? Robert, would you please stand up and show everyone your marvellous shirt?" So much for the anonymous observer....) and outline the weekend's events. Then followed the Talent Show.

Two Tolliver tots tunelessly sang "Jesus Loves Me," a Tolliver teen with an electric guitar fumbled through "Jailhouse Rock" (perhaps he had not gotten the word on which Perkins was sheltering us...), and an elderly toothless Tolliver ended his set with an encore, putting aside his guitar to sing an "acapulco" version of his most-requested hymn. One can only imagine what kind of reaction my snappy showtune would have provoked.

Afterward, we perused the Silent Auction tables (crocheted dish towels, religious plaques, Avon products, and two bags of peaches) before a guest speaker (who would be leaving us shortly, as his Masonic Lodge was having an election this same weekend) gave a brief talk about the (in)famous Rowan County War, also known as the Tolliver-Martin (or Martin-Tolliver, depending on which side you favor) Feud, the bloodiest in Kentucky history, with at least 22 confirmed casualties. Thus ended the first day.

Tol-i-ver
(With two "Ls" if you prefer)
But never Taliaferro, "T" then "A,"
We know that's wrong, due to the DNA.

An odd combination of walkers and laptops, the Toliver matriarchs (for they mostly seem to be eager elderly women dragging along grudging husbands) may be half-deaf, but they are completely fluent in terms like "mitochondrial" and "haplogroups," and can parse the difference between a sixth cousin and a mere fifth cousin once removed faster than most of us can remember our own birthday. We met up with them back at the Perkins Center the next afternoon, after spending the morning on a driving/walking tour of many of the Tolliver sites around the area.

Note the Double Toliver t-shirt.

(A perhaps coincidental side note: my mother's first, short-lived marriage was to a Martin. Did the feud perhaps live on?)

Everone having gotten settled in, Emma Lee once again took the stage for greetings ("Is Robert here? Did everyone have a chance to see his wonderful shirt? Robert, stand up for a minute"), announcements (apparently, a sixth Toliver brother was recently discovered), and to break us up into smaller groups, based on which Toliver we were descended from. Interestingly, I was the only one present representing either Lucy (despite the fourteen children) or Jesse (who merely fathered ten), so I got to sit with the children of Moses. So to speak. A continuing point of discussion in every group was just from whom all these Tolliver clans were descended; like Capt Samuel Cherry, the identity of the Tolliver's parents were another long-time brick wall that has defeated many researchers.

If Lucy and Jesse would just name their dad,
I could show you some folk who would finally feel real gla-ad!

No new evidence being found, the silent auction results tallied (our dog treats did well), and the day drawing to a close, it was time for the reunion--for this year, at least--to come to an end. All in all, I couldn't have enjoyed myself more.

1. Jesse Toliver married Frances "Frankie"                1. Lucy Toliver (23 May 1768 - 1832) mar-
Stamper (14 Feb 1767 - 6 Jan 1854), daughter           ried William Maxwell (1765 -1832), son
of Jonathan Brooks Stamper and Rachel                     of John Maxwell and Eleanor Marcus, in
Parks, on 8 October 1782, in Wilkes County,             1786, in North Carolina.
North Carolina.  

2. Jacob Tolliver (26 Jul 1799 - bef Oct 1854)            2. Elizabeth "Betsy" Maxwell (1801 - 25 Sep
married Susannah Isom (abt 1804 - aft 1860),           1850) married Constantine Connelly (4 Sep
daughter of John Isom and Rebecca Cole, on             1800 - abt 1844), son of John Conley and
27 Dec 1821 in Grayson County, Virginia.                  Catherine Miller, on 12 Jul 1823, in Lawrence
                                                                              County, Indiana.

3. Rebecca Toliver (abt 1823 - 1869)   married       3. David Conley (abt 1822 - aft 1880) on 5 Mar 1846, in Clay County, Illinois. Sharing the same great-grandparents (the unknown parents of Lucy and Jesse), they are second cousins.

4. Sarah Jane Conley (Nov 1857 - aft Oct 1933) married William Edwin Kinman (Mar 1858 - 13 Jun 1925), son of William Kinman and Sarah R Moore, on 13 Nov 1875, in Redwood County, Minnesota.

5. Cora Mabel Kinman (4 Sep 1876 - 22 Aug 1958) married Clarence Edgar Brown (1 Dec 1878 - 21 Aug 1937), son of Silas W Brown and Malinda J Carter, on 16 Sep 1903.

6. Dana Earl Brown (26 Jan 1910 - 10 Sep 1984) married Myrna Margaret Severin (6 Nov 1907 - 12 Jun 1997), daughter of John Jacob "Jack" Severin and Isabelle "Belle" Runser, on 21 Oct 1933, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

7 Beverly Alane Brown (8 Aug 1934 - 7 Mar 2010) married [Living] Burnett, son of Leroy Stanley Burnett and Hazel Lucille Erickson, on 4 Mar 1961, in Long Beach, California.

8. Your humble blogger.

"making a fetich of the first rock"

It has been too long since my last post, also timed to a national holiday. Since then, there have been family visits (always nice to spend time with living relatives), a vacation, and a career change. There are two longer posts nearly ready for publication, but  I wanted to get this up, brief as it is, reminded by a newly found (albeit distant) cousin--thanks, Heather!

Through Ella Swarts (1862 -1899), a paternal 2x great grandmother, I am descended from four Mayflower families. Her maternal great-great grandparents, Amaziah Doty (1756 – 1833) and his wife Bethiah Hamlin (1758 – 1830) provide the links.

Amaziah’s father was Ebenezer Doty, and through his paternal line we can claim three of those Mayflower folks: Edward Doty, a paternal great-great grandfather; Francis Cooke, father of another paternal great-great grandfather (Jacob Cooke); and Stephen Hopkins, father of a paternal great-great grandmother (Damaris Hopkins, wife of Jacob Cooke).

Edward Doty (? – 1655, one of my 11x great grandfathers) was one of two indentured servants to Stephen Hopkins, below. Once at Plymouth, he was known as a trouble –maker, involved in numerous disputes and lawsuits in the new colony, which he usually lost. He probably took great joy in the fact that his son married the granddaughter of his former master.

Francis Cooke (1583 – 1663, a 12X great grandfather) was an actual Pilgrim Separatist. His wife’s sister married Jan Lano, whose son Philippe De Lannoy was the progenitor of the Delano family in the U.S. Besides us, other descendants of Stephen Hopkins include Grandma Moses, Orson Welles, and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.

Stephen Hopkins (about 1582 – 1644, also a 12x great grandfather) was not a Pilgrim, but was hired by them to assist in governing the new colony; as such, he was one of the signers of the “Mayflower Compact.” Hopkins was shipwrecked off Bermuda in an earlier expedition, and spent time with the Jamestown colony prior to his boarding the Mayflower. It is believed that his shipwreck experience was the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Tempest. The Hopkins are considered one of the First Families of Virginia.

Amaziah Doty’s wife, Bethiah Hamlin connects us to the last of our Mayflower quartet: John Howland (? - 1672, a 10x great grandfather). Howland was another indentured servant (to John Carver, the first governor of the Plymouth Colony), but became a freeman after Carver’s death. The Howlands had ten children, and founded one of the three most prolific Mayflower progenies. Alongside us, their other descendants include Franklin D Roosevelt, George Bush, Sarah Palin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Brigham Young, and Humphrey Bogart. Others we may count as more distant cousins are Winston Churchill, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford, all of whom are descendants of John Howland’s brother Arnold.

Happy Thanksgiving!


Edward Doty and Faith Clarke
John Doty and Elizabeth Cooke
John Doty and Mehitable Nelson
John Doty and Lydia Dunham
Ebeneezer Doty and Mercy Whiton
Amaziah Doty and Bethiah Hamlin
Stephen S Doty and Polly Holmes
Alma Holmes Doty and Stephen Addison Davenport
Henrietta Davenport and Charles Swarts
Ella Swarts and Charles A Burnett
Alfred Nathaniel Burnett and Jennie Arleta Eaton (great grandparents)

Francis Cooke and Hester Mathieu
Jacob Cooke and Damaris Hopkins
Elizabeth Cooke and John Doty... (see above)

also

Francis Cooke and Hester Mahieu
Jacob Cooke and Damaris Hopkins
Mary Cooke and John Rickard
Johanna Rickard and Elisha Whiton
Mercy Whiton and Ebeneezer Doty... (see above)

Stephen Hopkins and Elizabeth Fisher
Damaris Hopkins and Jacob Cooke... (see above)

John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley
Joseph Howland and Elizabeth Southworth
Mercy Howland and Joseph Hamlin'
Southworth Hamlin and Tabitha Atkins
Bethiah Hamlin and Amaziah Doty... (see above)

"the fourth of Seven-month, (what salutes of cannons and small arms!)"

This week beginning with Independence Day, it seemed apt to feature one of my ancestors, a maternal fifth great-grandfather, who fought in the Revolutionary War: Capt Samuel Cherry (15 May 1756 - 27 Oct 1825).

TO THE MEMORY OF CAPT SAMUEL CHERRY

(by his friend Benjamin Coe)

The hero is gone, and deeply lamented

The hero who fought by the side of the brave,

The hero who served in the fields that were tented,

For victory, or an honorable grave.

The hero is gone, but his mem’ry for ages

Will live in the land where freedom is revered.

While history stands recorded in pages,

While the rights of his country are ever revered.

The hero is gone, never returning,

Few are not left to tell us his story.

Tears of the warriors in bitterness burning

Will fall on the vet’ran companion in glory.

The hero is gone, his seasons of glory,

His springs, his summers and autumns are ended.

In the winter of age, with a heart that was heavy

He left us with freedom and liberty blended.

Benjamin Coe, author of this poem, famously avoided duty in the Revolutionary War by sending one of his slaves, Cudjo, in his place. Cudjo, who said he descended from African royalty--perhaps an early example of genealogical wishful thinking--received high honors, as one of many slaves who served in the war. Benjamin Coe's brother, Moses Coe, is a direct ancestor of former President George W. Bush. Anyway....

Samuel Cherry was born in Londonderry; this much we know--but which Londonderry? Opinion is divided between those who believe he was born in Londonderry, Ireland, and those who believe he was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire. His birthplace, as well as who his parents were, are apparently lost to history, despite several generations of researchers trying to find out. Perhaps we will never know.

We do know that he was in what was to become the United States by age eighteen, for on 23 April 1775, he enlisted in (then) Capt George Reid's Company (1st New Hampshire Regiment) after the Lexington Alarm. Samuel Cherry fought at Bunker Hill, and participated in the assault on Quebec, Canada.

On 8 November 1776, he was commissioned Lieutenant in Capt James Carr's regiment, 2nd New Hampshire company, under the command of Col Nathan Hale.

In 1777, Samuel Cherry played a prominent role in the Battle of Bemis' Heights, and the Battle of Freeman's Farm (both Saratoga). On 2 December of that year, he was commissioned Captain Lieutenant, 2nd New Hampshire Regiment, under (now) Col Reid.  Also that year, he found time to marry Ann Wallace (23 Feb 1754 - 24 Jun 1812), of Londonderry, New Hampshire. (Although some sources call her Frances Isobelle Wallace, I have never seen documentation for this.)

Nuptials over, in 1778 Samuel Cherry participated in the Battle of Monmouth. Through 1779, he was a member of General George Sullivan's Indian Expedition through Pennsylvania and western New York. (General Sullivan would later become the father-in-law of Samuel Cherry's wife's cousin.) On 10 October 1779, Samuel Cherry became the father of the first of his eleven children, Samuel Cherry Jr (who later married a Delano), and a few weeks later, on 30 November 1779, he was commissioned Captain in the 2nd New Hampshire.



A re-enactment group as "Capt Cherry's Outfit."



Capt Cherry was present at Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown on 19 October 1781 (a month before his second child, Susan, was born) and retired from the military in January 1783, to resume his civilian career, farming.

Some time before 1800, the Cherry family left Londonderry and moved to Paris, New York. Having been granted two hundred acres in the area as part of his pension, in 1810 he moved to the newly formed town of New Haven, Oswego, New York, where he was appointed one of the first Justices.

Capt Samuel Cherry died, widowed and living with one of his sons, in near poverty on 27 October 1825, and was buried in New Haven Cemetery.

Photograph by Bill Starck.

The Cherry family continued to fight for liberty. Descendants of Capt Cherry fought in the War of 1812, and gave their lives in the Civil War.  Another Samuel, Samuel Alonzo Cherry (16 Dec 1811 - 27 Apr 1897), grandson of Capt Cherry (and one of my third great-granduncles), was a significant member of the Underground Railroad, whose home was a "station" in Marysville, Ohio.

Through my relation to Capt Cherry, I am able to join the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR).


1. Samuel Cherry married Ann Wallace, daughter of John Wallace and Janet Steele.

2. John Wallace Cherry (27 May 1788 - 10 Feb 1857) married Clarissa Adams (31 Jan 1791 - 7 Feb 1872), parents unknown, on 11 Oct 1808 in Paris, Oneida, New York.

3. Mary Ann Cherry (17 Dec 1813 - 11 Nov 1853) married Frederick Dillazone Ketchum (6 Apr 1811 - 21 Jan 1888), son of Elisha Ketchum and ?, on 13 Feb 1835, in Huron, Erie, Ohio.

4. Caroline Clarissa Ketchum (30 Sep 1848 - 7 Feb 1920) married Phillip Jacob Runser (30 May 1845 - 22 Mar 1921), son on Philippe Jacob Runser and Anna Marie Brunner, on 13 Feb 1871, in Black River Falls, Jackson, Wisconsin.

5. Isabelle "Belle" Runser (21 Oct 1881 - 30 Mar 1960) married John Jacob "Jack" Severin (11Jul 1878 - 2 Jan 1965), son of Jacob S Severin and Anna Margaretha Tiedjens, on 13 Feb 1903, probably in South Dakota.

6. Myrna Margaret Severin (6 Nov 1907 - 12 Jan 1997) married Dana Earl Brown (26 Jan 1910 - 10 Sep 1984), son of Clarence Edgar Brown and Cora Mabel Kinman, on 21 Oct 1933, in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota.

7. Beverly Alane Brown (8 Aug 1934 - 7 Mar 2010) married [Living] Burnett, son of Leroy Stanley Burnett and Hazel Lucille Erickson, on 4 Mar 1961, in Long Beach, Los Angeles, California.

8. Your humble blogger.

"the effect upon me of my early life"

Last time, I wrote about people to whom I am distantly connected, and ended by mentioning Calvin Coolidge, with whom I seem to have nothing in common, except perhaps a love of dogs. Anyway....

Someone to whom I am closely related--and happily have a great deal in common with--is my maternal grandfather, Dana Earl Brown (26 Jan 1910 - 10 Sep 1984).

Dana Earl Brown c 1928

Googling his name reveals just one fact: he was an occasional lyricist, with three songs registered for copyright with the Library of Congress, all from 1939: Free, White, and 21, (music by Don Rodricks); I'll Never Let You Go (also with Rodricks, who has two other copyrights in 1934); and No  Shadows, (music by Harold Harvey). Aside from the potentially creepy nature of their titles, I have not been able to learn anything else about these songs, or Grandpa's collaborators. (Although there are at least three other Harold Harveys: one an early twentieth century lesser English painter; another a Hershey, Pennsylvania oncologist; and the last a sex offender and death row inmate in Florida. Harold Harvey was the occasional pseudonym of trumpeter Harry James, but I think they must have been different people.) Don Rodricks did provide the words for the song Treasure Island, (music by George Rex, 1938).

I have not been able to locate copies of these songs, but at least one was a (very) minor success; I have a royalty check for $1.58 from Davis and Schwegler. They are a mostly forgotten  music company, notable only for releasing early recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio. In the All Music Guide Review they are referred to as "a sleazy little fly-by-night outfit that soon went bankrupt."

The Internet not offering much, I am happy that there is a great amount of Grandpa Dana's life documented in photos, clippings, and letters that he saved, which I have been looking through with tremendous enjoyment.

He was born 26 January, 1910 in Grand Forks, North Dakota, to Clarence Edgar Brown (1 Dec 1878 - 21 Aug 1937) and Coral Mabel Kinman (4 Sep 1876 - 22 Aug 1958). He was their second child, the first, Rex Hugh Brown (born 1 Jun 1905) dying at less than a year old. At the time of Dana's birth, his father was an Insurance Manager, a job he probably got from his father-in-law, William Edwin Kinman (Mar 1858 - 13 Jun 1925), who had a long career in that field. Clarence Brown changed jobs often, at other times being a clerk, salesman in a department store, and an advertising man for a printing company. This peripatetic approach to employment was something he would pass along to his son.

The Browns moved, first to Moorhead Minnesota, where another boy was added to the family: Ray Edgar Brown (2 Jul 1914 - 10 May 1980), then on to Minneapolis after 1915, where they finally stayed. Grandpa Dana attended Bryant Junior High, where he was Class President and served as Sports Editor of "the Bryant Times," then Central High School, where he was active in tennis, basketball (breaking his collar bone in the process), and glee club, graduating in 1927. Around that time as well, he formed a musical duo with his best friend, Cliff Nash, performing at local amateur nights as "the Kinky Kids." One hopes the name was due to their curly hair, and not the material....

Sometime in the late 'twenties, the Browns moved back to Moorhead, Minnesota, and Grandpa Dana began attending Wheaton College (in Illinois), where he lettered in football and tennis, and again wrote for the school paper, offering up everything from hard reporting to groan-inducing jokes as filler. He also came in second place in the school talent show, with a poem called "Beauty." He did not graduate, returning to Moorhead by 1930, where he began courses with the Minnesota College of Law night school, to mixed results. Like his father, it seems he did not know what he wanted, or could not stick to one thing for very long, although the seeds of many of his life-long interests were already apparent: sports, writing, music, civic involvement, and bad jokes.

In January 1930, Grandpa received the following reply, from New Scotland Yard, London S.W. 1:

"Madam,
With reference to your letter of the 13th December, I am directed by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis to inform you that he regrets that he is unable to offer you an appointment in the Force, nor is he in a position to advise you as to any other employment in this country for which you may be suitable.
I am, Madam,
Your obedient Servant,
[signed] H G Gilbert"

Clearly the chaps at Scotland Yard  couldn't have been that good as detectives if they mistook Grandpa Dana for a woman. Although he must have attempted to clarify things, as there is another rejection dated just three weeks later, pointedly addressing him as "Sir." Although they have his name as E. Dana Brown.

In May 1931, he received the following reply, from O. O. McIntyre, nationally known for his "New York Night and Day" daily syndicated column (reaching fifteen million readers as his peak), and a former publicist of Florenz Ziegfeld:

"Sorry, I already have a most satisfactory chauffeur. But, here's hoping you make a good columnist."

The brevity is not surprising, as McIntyre reportedly received three thousand letters a week from his fans (and--apparently--aspiring potential employees). McIntyre handled his correspondence and other writing from his bed, beginning after breakfast and continuing until early evening, always with the curtains drawn. He claimed he disliked sunshine.

Anyway. 1931 was a busy, if restless, year for Grandpa.  He was the Managing Editor and contributor to the newly-formed "Fargo [North Dakota] News," a weekly newspaper serving the Fargo-Moorhead area. He was a Committeeman for Troop 39 of the Boy Scouts of America. He regularly submitted poems and song lyrics to places as diverse as "Christian Business" magazine and DeSylva, Brown & Henderson, the successful song publishers. With titles like "Longing," "Song of Melancholy," "Consolation," (from a woman's point of view and submitted as Diane E. Brown!), and "Lady Bugs & Dreams," it is perhaps not surprising that he received numerous rejections. Is it too much to think that the titles suggest his own unhappiness?

Also in 1931, he took a lengthy road trip to Hollywood, California, with another friend, Fred Cook, where they lived for two months before returning home. Although Grandpa kept an entertaining journal of their trip (including roadside tennis games while waiting for help with the inevitable breakdowns; numerous detours; and picking up an apparently never-quite-sober minister in Texas, who rode with them as far as Taos, New Mexico, before vanishing in the night...), he never explains his motives for going west, or what prompted his return.

At any rate, by late 1931, he had a job with the Strutwear Knitting Company, in accounting. Hardly the place for a man with big dreams. But there was more going on... and I will let Grandpa tell it in his own words, in a poem he wrote for my grandmother on their twenty-fifth anniversary:

The place was Minneapolis,
The time was '33.
A minister named Porter
Stood there with you and me.

And, as I slipped that flimsy ring
Upon your shaking hand,
There was no "Great Depression"
For we were feeling grand.

I didn't miss a day of work,
We needed every buck,
Just meeting you in '32
Was my best stroke of luck!

We didn't have much money,
So, we spent more time in bed
Than might have been the custom
If we'd been rich, instead.

So, it really wasn't surprising
That late in '34
We had our little Beverly
To fondle and adore.

And then, in 1935
We took our biggest journey
I chugged to San Leandro
With Beverly, and "Myrnie."

"Myrnie" was Myrna Margaret Severin (6 Nov 1907 - 12 Jun 1997), youngest of three daughters of John Jacob "Jack" Severin (11 Jul 1878 - 2 Jan 1965) and Isabelle "Belle" Runser (21 Oct 1881 - 30 Mar 1960). Grandma Myrna was born in Redfield, South Dakota, and by 1932 was living and teaching (having received a degree from Moorhead State Teachers College) in Fargo. I would love to know how my grandparents met; perhaps one clue is that Grandma's high school diploma recognizes her four years of literary study. Did they meet at a poetry reading? Had she seen something of his in the "Fargo News"?  It was a brisk courtship, as they were married the next year, on October 21, 1933, in the home of Grandpa's aunt and uncle, by the aforementioned Rev. Porter, a retired Presbyterian minister.

In 1934, my mother was born, and the following year led to another change in the Brown household. According to Elizabeth Faue, in the "Minneapolis Labor Review:"

In the summer of 1935, Farmer- Labor Party member Oscar Hawkins marveled at the happenings in Minneapolis. Everywhere, discontented workers brought the labor movement to life. Even the Strutwear Company, the public enemy of labor unions, was faced with a strike. As Hawkins reported, “the Strutwear Knitting Works had a sudden and lively strike ten days ago — still on. It is so hard to get the straight of the various conditions. The employers tell the newspapers their story... Stories of the workers are different.”

Although I have no record of my grandfather's participation--or not--in the strike, I do know his reaction: the Browns packed up and moved to northern California. The lived first in San Leandro, then San Francisco, where their second child, my uncle Bruce, was born, then Daly City, and finally, Oakland.

628 Hillside Blvd, Daly City, Ca
My great-grandparents, Belle & Jack Severin, with my mother and uncle.

Grandpa Dana's jobs were just as numerous:

I worked in hosiery awhile,
Then sold it on the road....
...
The old man sold potato chips,
This followed frozen food.
And then worked on the waterfront,
In a six month's interlude.

A purser with United
I was in '43.
we flew the South Pacific
Till it saw enough of me.

Then, into business for ourselves
With Kenny and with Lee,
In looking back it seems quite odd
We chose a grocery.

The grocery, G & M Grocery, on Foothill Blvd in Oakland, was a joint venture with Walter Rensch, and two relatives: John J Severin, and Kenneth E Richards, Grandpa's father-in-law and brother-in-law, respectively. I have not been able to discover what connection Rensch had to our family, except that he was a neighbor of my grandparents. There was also a pharmacy, Kay Dee Drug Stores, in Alameda owned by the foursome. In 1948, the grocery was sold entirely to Rensch, and Grandpa Dana and Kenny became the co-partners in Kay Dee.

Of course, it wasn't all work in the '40s. Grandpa was also a volunteer Civil Defense Warden, an award-winning member ("Trophies too, by gosh. That guy Dana!") of the East Oakland Racing Pigeon Club (he also raised pheasants and mandarin ducks), President of the East Bay Merchants Association and member of the Elmhurst Lions Club, and an amateur actor with the Oakland Community Players, appearing in such productions as "Date with Judy," "Goodbye Again," and as "the male lead in the psychological comedy-drama 'Guest in the House.'"

Note the autograph of Shirley Temple Agar [her then-husband] on the OCP card.

From a review by Harold Peterson, under the headline "Dana Brown Steals Show":

As a rule we do not like theatre drunks. They either overdraw their roles into messy caricature or underplay badly. However, Harvey Wilson, as acted by Dana Brown proved the exception. Mr. Brown pulled out all stops without overdoing the role and practically walked away with the second act.

DEB, standing on right,  and his supporting cast.

Yet despite all this activity, he is still thinking bigger: there is a reply from the Royal Siamese Embassy from 1948, referring his request to conduct some kind of business endeavor in Siam to another office. Whether through "partner complications," disappointment with his Siamese scheme, or just having been bitten by the acting bug and hoping to make it in Hollywood (as actor? songwriter? something!), the Browns uprooted--for the last time--and headed south, to Long Beach, California.

To be continued....

"other births will bring us richness and variety"

My last two postings--although not by design--ended up featuring members of my extended family, collateral line folks who are not direct ancestors. This week--for no good reason, but it is my blog--I will continue that theme. When I began my genealogical research, I focused primarily on my mother's side of the family, and due to a lack of information about her father's side, turned more to her mother. This made sense, too, as my grandmother and her two sisters (and their descendants) were the core of the relatives I know well, the people I still see at holidays and other family gatherings. Delving into the Severin sisters and their ancestry, I got as far back as Thomas Steele (1683? - 22 Feb 1748) and his wife, Martha Morrison (1686 - 22 Oct 1759), seventh great-grandparents, who were the first arrivals (in 1718) in the New World of this part of my family.

Through the Steele descendants, I am related--albeit distantly--to a number of prominent people and families. Of course, Thomas and Martha had six children, and something like thirty-two grandchildren, and the entire US population in--say--1750 was just over one million people, all living on the eastern seaboard, so the odds are in my favor. I certainly can't claim any of these eminent personages' distinctions for my own, but at least I can say that I found their connections to my own flesh and blood. Here are three such people, in chronological order:


First up is Sarah Putnam (28 Nov 1708 - 13 Apr 1802), who married Joseph Steele (1706 - 23 Feb 1788), sixth great-grand uncle, on 2 August 1737, in Middleton, Essex, Massachusetts. He was one of those six children noted above; his older sister Janet Steele (1703 - after 1754) is my forebear. Sarah was part of the noted Putnam family of colonial New England. Her grandfather Edward Putnam, and his brother, Thomas, were accusers in the Salem witch trials; Arthur Miller used Thomas Putnam as the principle villain in The Crucible. Other notable Putnams include Israel Putnam, a General in the Revolutionary War; George Palmer Putnam,who founded the eponymous publishing house; and his grandson, George P Putnam, best known for marrying Amelia Earhart.

John Sullivan (17  Feb 1740 - 23 Jan 1795), was the father of Lydia Sullivan (17 Mar 1763 - 9 Apr 1842), who married Jonathon Steele (3 Sep 1760 - 3 Sep 1824), first cousin, seven times removed, on 17 January 1788, probably in New Hampshire. Jonathon Steele was the son of David Steele (30 Jan 1727 - 19 Jul 1809), another of Thomas and Martha's children. John Sullivan was a delegate to the Continental Congress. After the establishment of the federal government, George Washington nominated Sullivan as the first District Judge of New Hampshire, a post for which he was confirmed. Sullivan also served as Governor of New Hampshire three times. His most notable achievement, however, may have been that he is purported to have fired the first shot in the Revolutionary War; he was later made a General. There are counties named after Sullivan in five states.

Abigail Delano (10 May 1785 - 24 Jun 1869), married Samuel  Cherry (10 Oct 1779 - 10 Oct 1822), fourth great-grand uncle, in 1803, in New York. Samuel Cherry was the older brother of another of my forebears, John Wallace Cherry (27 May 1788 - 10 Feb 1857). Abigail was a descendant of Jonathan Delano, whose other descendants include presidents Ulysses S Grant and Calvin Coolidge, Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the "Little House on the Prairie" series, and astronaut Alan B Shephard. Jonathan Delano's father was Philippe de Lannoy (or de La Noye), the progenitor of all Delano families in the United States, so yes,  Franklin Delano Roosevelt is also a member of this illustrious family.

To point out once more what a small, interconnected world it was, especially in the earliest years of America, I would like to point out that I am also related--collaterally, of course!--to the Delanos through my paternal side, via Francis Cooke (? - 7 Apr 1663), an eleventh great-grandfather; Cooke was Jonathan Delano's grand-uncle by marriage. The aforementioned Calvin Coolidge is also connected to me paternally by marriage. Certainly there is no shared DNA between my discursive self and the famously terse Coolidge, who, when told at dinner that his dining partner had bet she could get more than two words out of Coolidge, replied "You lose."

"I play not marches for accepted victors only"

Growing up, when we learned about various American battles in grade-school history, I always felt gypped somehow, because none of my ancestors served in any of those wars. A lot of the other kids could tell stories about someone who had fought in World War II, or more sadly, perhaps a father or mother serving in Vietnam as we spoke. In my family, the men's ages never synced up with either of the World Wars, Korea, nor Vietnam. Of course, now, I realize how fortunate we were.


I remembered this the other day, flipping channels past yet another Civil War documentary--the first wave of who knows how many--as we begin  the sesquicentennial of our bloodiest conflict. Now, knowing more about my family, and a good deal more about American history--apologies to Ms Walters (second grade), et al--I can claim some veterans among my ancestors and relations, although we have to go back to the Civil War to find them.


First up, I must mention David Conley (about 1822 - after 1880), maternal third great-grandfather, a farmer who registered for the draft in Richland County, Illinois in July 1863, but never served. He was forty-one years old, after all.



David Conley appears on the fourth line.



Dwight Eaton (4 Dec 1839 - 6 Jun 1925), a paternal third great-grandfather, enlisted as a Private, on 14  November 1864, in the Wisconsin 17th Infantry, Company E. His service included General Sherman's March to the Sea from Atlanta, Georgia; the Chattanooga Campaign, Tennessee; the Carolinas Campaign, and the battle of Goldsboro, North Carolina. His outfit also participated in the "Grand Review" of the Armies that occurred in Washington, DC, on 23-24 May, 1865, a tremendous parade and celebration of the end of the war. Within a few weeks, on 14 June 1865, the regiment was disbanded, with losses of two hundred and twenty-one soldiers from a total of just under two thousand. Eaton returned to home life, farming in Wisconsin, and later Minnesota, until his death sixty years later.


A photo of The Grand Review by Mathew Brady.
The Capitol is visible in the background.



Silas W Brown (1836 - 20 Nov 1893), maternal second great-grandfather, had a longer military career than Dwight Eaton's: he served three years, from 20 August 1861 until 23 August 1864. He enlisted as a Private in Company D (the Dowagiac Light Infantry), 6th Infantry Regiment Michigan, upon its inception.The regiment served primarily on the Mississippi River and along the Gulf of Mexico, and based on its excellent service record, was converted from Infantry to Heavy Artillery in July 1863. Many of the regiment's excursions were considered extremely dangerous, and it received commendation for its gallantry and daring. From a beginning with just nine hundred and forty-four soldiers, it reached a high of almost two thousand. Of those, five hundred and fifteen men were killed, and another three hundred and twenty-seven discharged due to severe wounds. Fortunately, Silas W Brown was among the little over fifty percent who survived unharmed. In 1865, he moved to Missouri (perhaps due to his having seen it during the war?) and married Malinda J Carter (30 Jan 1849 - 8 Jan 1924). They lived briefly in Colorado (he is listed on the 1880 Census as a prospector!), then returned to Missouri, where he died in 1893.


The only extant flag of the Michigan 6th Infantry.




My final Civil War relation was not lucky enough to survive: William Hopkins Cherry, third great-grand uncle. An older brother, James Morgan Cherry (11 Jul 1821 - 30 Dec 1898),  and a younger brother, Charles Henry Cherry (7 Jun 1837 - before 1910), both registered for the draft but do not appear to have served.

William Hopkins Cherry enlisted as a Private in Company E, Ohio 63rd Infantry Regiment on 28 August, 1862. He was promoted to Full 2nd Lieutenant on 24 September 1862, then again to Full 1st Lieutenant on 1 June 1863. Most of his time was spent in northern Alabama and Tennessee. He died in a railroad accident near Waverly, Tennessee, while on detached duty with the Engineer Corps. He was returned home to Delaware County, Ohio, where he was buried. Today, there is a re-enactment group honoring the Ohio 63rd.



Was this the recruiting poster that William Hopkins Cherry saw?


William Hopkins CHERRY was born 8 October 1823, in New Haven, Oswego, New York, to John Wallace Cherry (27 May 1788 - 10 Feb 1857) and Clarissa Adams (31 Jan 1791 - 7 Feb 1872), the seventh of their nine children. The family moved to central Ohio sometime in the 1840s, and on 24 December 1849 William Hopkins Cherry married Susan Elizabeth Kirtland (Oct 1826 - 15 Sep 1918), daughter of Hezekiah Lord Kirtland and Elizabeth Haywood McNair. Their wedding was reported in the Sandusky Democratic Mirror of 8 Jan 1850. In the U S Federal Census of that year, the Cherrys were living in Delaware, Ohio, neighbors to the family of Rutherford B Hayes, a Delaware native. Willam Hopkins Cherry's occupation is listed as clothier, and he lived next door to his brother Samuel Alonzo Cherry, also a clothier. The William Hopkins Cherrys had two boarders, both tailors. By 1860, the Cherrys had moved to Huron, Ohio; the boarders were gone, replaced by the Cherrys' two children: John Wallace Cherry and Clara A[dams?] Cherry, named for William's parents. (The family lived just two doors down from the Wilber family, who have as their boarder the eleven year old Caroline Clarissa Ketchum, his deceased sister's daughter.) After William Hopkins Cherry's death in 1864, his wife never remarried (perhaps because she was financially secure from an inheritance of one thousand dollars she had received from her grandfather in 1843, to say nothing of her military widow's pension), eventually moving to Michigan to live with their son, where she died in 1918.


The Cherry family marker, Oak Grove Cemetery, Delaware, Ohio.
 W H Cherry, along with his parents and five other relatives, is buried here.
Requiescat in pace.



"All are written to me, and I must get what the writing means"

In my last post, I wrote about one of my paternal fourth great-grandfathers, Stephen Addison Davenport, and quoted from letters he wrote during his trip west to the California gold rush. But where did that information come from? From the archives of the Genealogical Forum of Oregon, who had a carbon of a thirty-eight page type-written report from the 1970s by Chandler Davenport Fairbanks, which he had transcribed in 1935 from hand-written research on file in the Library of the New England Genealogical Society Building in Boston, originally made by Bennett F Davenport, a distant cousin, in the 1870s. I had the easy job: I found it on Google. The picture of the Salem Company document? Google. The clipping from The Kenosha Democrat? Ancestry.com.


The musical Avenue Q has a song titled "The Internet is for Porn." While I make no comment on that, I can confirm that the Internet certainly is for genealogy.


Since beginning my family research, I have primarily used Ancestry.com, although vigilant verification of all member-supplied information is essential. But marvellous as Ancestry is, it is not the only source. There are any number of websites, blogs and forums out there, that, with patience and an intrinsic love of puzzle-solving, can yield all kinds of useful information. Besides Google, which is invaluable, through the Internet I have located and corresponded with distant cousins who have offered help over some "brick walls", and received aid from volunteers on numerous websites.


Two particular favorite sites are the Rutherford B Hayes Presidential Center, which has an astonishing amount of information on Ohio history, combined with an easy-to-use database, and Find A Grave. Find A Grave is a free site, run collectively by volunteers around the country, who list cemetery inhabitants, and provide photos (when possible) on request. From kind Find A Grave members, I have been sent photos of the headstones of numerous relatives, including Southworth Hamlin (paternal seventh great-grandfather, and another of those people with wonderful names)

and Mary Phillips (paternal seventh great-grandmother).

Her name might not be so evocative, but I love the verse on her headstone (although even Google has not yet yielded what it is from, if anything):

Human nature drops a tear / And mourns her absent friend /

But virtue God-like interferes / And cries her soul yet lives.

With all of this data at my fingertips, it is hard to imagine how anyone could have successfully created a family tree before the internet. Travelling--either to a local genealogy library, if available, or to relevant county courthouses, if possible--and, more likely, the US Mail were the only real resources. I like to imagine that two of my ancestors were able to assist at least a few of those earlier researchers. Both Leroy Stanley Burnett (31 Aug 1910 - 11 May 1980), my paternal grandfather, and William Edwin Kinman (Mar 1858 - 13 Jun 1925), a maternal second great-grandfather, were postmasters at one time, in Hewitt and Morgan, Minnesota, respectively.


Grandpa Burnett's Postmaster Appointment


Before the internet, researchers checked out those county courthouses for vital records, and when they could find copies of the US Federal Census--jackpot!--they were able to get even more information. One of my relations, Thomas Francis Kinman (31 Dec 1877 - aft 1940), a maternal great-grand uncle (the son of Postmaster Kinman mentioned above), was actually a census enumerator in 1900; he was the guy who went door to door asking all the questions, and writing down the responses. It's no wonder that his family was the first one on the page!



If only all the Census enumerators had such nice penmanship!


Thomas Kinman did not rest on his laurels after 1900, nor did he remain a teacher, as shown above. Using--what else?--Google, I was able to discover that he was listed in the Nebraska Hall of Fame for 1940, Hall County edition. Here's the listing, in full:

KINMAN, THOMAS FRANCIS Auto Dealer; b Redwood Co, Minn Dec 31, 1877; s of William E Kinman-Sarah J Conley; ed Redwood Minn HS; Southern Minn Normal & Bus Coll; m Bertha J Matz June 24, 1908 Roscoe S D; s Richard E; d Vada M, Jean F, Wilma L, Betty L; 1904-05 Jerauld Co atty, Lane S D; 1905-08 asst cash & cash in bank, Lane S D; 1908-10 bank owner; 1915-17 owner Chevrolet Agcy Mitchell S D; 1917-20 special representative for Chevrolet Motor Co at Minneapolis Minn; 1920-22 mgr retail store at Omaha, 1922-25 special representative at Des Moines Ia, 1925-27 asst zone mgr at Omaha, 1927-30 zone mgr at Fargo N D; 1930-32 zone mgr at Omaha; 1932-34 asst mgr B O P Motor Co, Omaha; 1934- owner Central Chevrolet Motor Co. Grand Island; C of C; Liederkranz Soc; Riverside Country Club; Woodland Country Club; AF&AM 231; Scot Rite, Yankton S D; Shrine, Aberdeen S D; Gun Club; hobbies, golf, fishing, hunting; off 121 E 2nd; res 1906 W Koenig, Grand Island.


Which just shows that not everything on the internet, whether genealogical or not, is that interesting. (Although I do take a delight in the fact that he had daughters named Betty and Wilma....) And despite the fact that Thomas Francis Kinman and I may not have a lot in common, we are family.

This week's post dedicated to someone with whom I do have more in common,

 the first known genealogist in my family:

 

Bennett Franklin Davenport, MD, (28 May 1845 - 2 Jun 1927), paternal fifth cousin, six times removed, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Charles and Joan Fullerton (Hagar) Davenport. He received degrees from both Harvard and Columbia universities (1867, 1871). Besides being a prominent genealogist and historian, he was also professor of chemistry at Massachuetts College of Pharmacy (1879 - 86); served as Analyst for the Massachusetts State Board of Health, Lunacy, & Charity (1882 - 92) and as Coroner for Suffolk County (1875 -77), and was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1893; published in The American Druggist, Harvard Register ("Recent Progress in Pharmaceutical Preparations"), and The Analyst (Royal Society of Chemistry, Great Britain), among many others; and was a noted authority on butter. In Forty Centuries of Ink (David N Carvalho, 2007), he is credited as having modified a formula for ink in 1900 that was subsequently used as the official ink of record in the state of Massachusetts, and, in 1901 (with the addition of "unnamed blue coloring material"), adopted by the US Treasury Department. His wife, Annie Emmeline Coolidge (6 Sep 1848 - 5 Mar 1934), daughter of John Coolidge and Martha Jane Sturtevant, was a cousin to President Calvin Coolidge.