Question of the Week: What's an unusual story you've found in your research? [closed]

Question

Have you found any unusual or interesting stories while doing genealogical research? 

Tell us about one of them with an answer below! You could also answer on Facebook or share the question image with friends and family on social media to get them talking. 

Answer 1

In 1796, my 4th Great Grandparents, Jonathan Swaim (1772-1844) and Drucilla Morris Swaim (1773-1834) were married and lived on the William Swaim (1746-1813) Farm that was near the SE corner of Wachovia, near present day Union Cross, NC.  Just inside of Wachovia near the Swaim farm were the adjacent farms of brothers George and Philip Lagenauer.  On 22 October 1805, Philip Lagenauer (1781-1808) married 21 year old Anna Maria “Polly” Clauss (1884-1857).  Philip passed away on 25 June 1808.  In his will Philip left half of his estate to his wife “Mary” and half to his unborn child.  On 11 November 1808, Mary gave birth to Philip Lagenaour Jr (1808-1873).

Next door at brother George Lagenauer’s (1778-1851) farm, he and his wife Anna Catherine Ranck (1783-1848) had four daughters, all of whom married Jonathan & Drucilla Swaim’s sons.  Elizabeth Lagenauer (1806-1848) married Moses Swaim (1802-1843) on 18 May 1825.  Salome Lagenauer (1809-1883) married John Ledford Swaim (1800-1883) on 17 July 1829.  Anna Catherina Lagenauer (1817-1912) married Silas Swaim (1814-1891) on 5 Jan 1840.     William Swaim (1799-1880) married Mary Lagenauer on 24 Feb 1829 according to their marriage records.  And on 10 Aug 1833, William’s twin brother Levi also married a Mary Lagenauer according to their marriage records.  For the past 20 years or so, I have been trying to determine if the Mary Lagenauer that twins William and Levi married, was the same person.  

Recently I discovered the following in the Moravian Archives, Volume VIII, P.4065:  “Aug 11,1833 Married in Friedland, the single Levi Swaim and the single Sr. Maria Lagenauer.”  That clarified the fact that Levi married Anna Maria Lagenauer (1812-1876), the remaining daughter of George and Anna Catherine Lagenauer.  Let’s call her Mary #1. 

Also recently, I finally found another Mary Lagenauer, the aforementioned widow of Philip Lagenauer, Anna Maria “Polly” Clauss/Lagenauer (1884-1857).  It would appear that 29 year old William married 44 year old Anna Maria “Polly” Clauss/Lagenauer (Mary #2) on 24 February 1829, and that they had a son Edmond Swaim born on 12 June 1828.

Levi’s wife Mary Swaim gave birth to my 2nd GGM, Drucilla Swaim (1836-1900) in 1836.  They are shown in the 1840 Federal Census living in the Deep River District, Stokes, North Carolina.  Unfortunately, Levi passed away on 9 September 1843, possibly due to the measles epidemic that hit Wachovia that Fall.

In the 1850 Federal Census for Forsyth County, William Swaim is living with his wife, Mary Swaim (#2), his son Edmond, twin brother Levi’s widow Mary Swaim (#1), and her daughter Drucilla.  On 4 April 1851, Elias R Swaim was born to William and Mary Swaim.  Elias’ Death Certificate states his parents were Levi and Mary Swaim.  Since Levi died in 1843, 8 years before Elias’ birth, it is likely that Elias’ biological father was Levi’s twin William who was living with both Marys in 1850.  Also it is likely that Mary #1, William’s sister in law, was Elias’ mother, as Mary #2 would have been 67 in 1851.  Mary #2 passed away on 23 April 1857, and is listed as Polly Swaim in the Graveyard Register of Friedland Moravian Church, Forsyth County, NC.

In the 1860 Federal Census for the Broadbay District of Forsyth County, we find William living with his son Edmond & family.  No records found for Mary or Elias.

In the 1870 Census for Broadbay, Forsyth, NC, we find Mary Swaim #1 living with daughter Lucilla (Drucilla), son or nephew Elias, and Drucilla’s sons John Henry and Charles, my GGF.  Also we find William-68, still living with son Edmond-42 and family in Abbotts Creek. 

Mary #1 passed in 1876 and William in 1880.  “Annie Marie Swaim” (Mary #1) and William are both buried in Friedland Moravian Graveyard.

BOB SWAIM

9 JUNE 2022

Comments

I have several family members who have duplicate names and marriages as well. Someone prior to myself had gone ahead and added several records of similar names which only confused the issues further. Several months later I believe I have sorted most of the wrong links out, hard for a person to be in 2 states at the same time, so now I'm going back to check each person's information, family history and connection to the next generation. Fascinating, interesting and fun getting to know the people who are our history. Hard work cleaning up and unraveling the mysterys.

Answer 2

A story that I found from a cousin is that my great grand uncle, Charles "Chester" Ford, who was only 14 when the Civil War began, ran off and joined the war. His stepfather, my great grandfather Seth Marvin II, made a trip to where his regiment, the Pennsylvania 103rd was, and he told them how young he was, and Seth dragged Chester back home.

The 103rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment were defeated in the Battle of Plymouth, North Carolina, 17 April 1864 to 20 April 1864; and the subsequent capture and imprisonment of nearly all the Union men that survived.  Most of them were sent as far away as Andersonville, Georgia. At Camp Sumpter in Andersonville many of them died under terrible conditions.

Chester then joined again around his 18th birthday, and he stayed in from 28 Feb to 25 Jun 1865 when the war ended, and Pennsylvania war records show Company E of the 103rd, but Company F is on his headstone. If the story is true that his stepfather, Seth Marvin II, came and brought him home; his stepfather possibly saved him from being killed or possibly going to Andersonville Prison.

Comments

My 2nd great-uncle Jacob Henion was at Andersonville as well.  He wrote Diary and managed to smuggle it out when he was released. 63 were captured and only he and 3 others from those 63 survived.  Jacob was also in the prison on Belle Isle and Libby prison.

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Tabatha, thank you for your comment. My travel partner and I went to Georgia last October. One of the main things we did was to visit the cemetery at Andersonville. They have a very nice museum there. The man that runs the museum acted very surprised that we knew about our ancestors that died there. I am glad to hear that your second great uncle Jacob survived, guess there are not many good stories about the prison.

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Sorry to hear yours didn't make it out.  My ancestor is (Henion-712).

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Tabatha, your second great uncle was a remarkable man, and his story is certainly interesting. You have done a very nice profile for him. I would like to add a Civil War sticker to his profile if it is okay with you.

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I wish I could take credit for the profile but someone else did it.  I just took over managaing it because the group that did it discovered he didn't meet their date cutoff criteria.  Also yes please I would love for you to add that.  Could you also tell me where I can find stickers like that because I have family members that have been in just about every war since befire the Revolutionary War.

Answer 3

My 2x GGF George, his brother John and their father Amaziah my 3x GGF all served in the Civil War. The father was a member of the Iowa 37th Infantry, “the Greybeards,” the only Civil War unit made entirely of men over 45. He was vehemently against slavery and he died for his belief.

Answer 4

This modestly gruesome story took place somewhere on the Chisholm Trail about 1875. It concerns my g grandfather Daniel (Dan) McNicol (McNicol-262) and his son Leon McNicol (McNicol-388). Dan was a member of a crew of four or five men who were driving a herd of cattle north from Texas to a rail head in Kansas.  One of the men badly injured his leg below the knee.  The injury became infected and then gangrenous and the leg had to be amputated below the knee.  There was no doctor anywhere near so Dan did the amputation with only whiskey for anesthesia.  The injured man was dropped off (with a doctor) at the next town the crew came to. Many years later, Leon (my grandfather) was driving with his wife and family in Kansas.  He needed to cash a personal check for what was at the time a relatively large sum, and he was entirely unknown in that town.  Leon spoke to the teller, and the teller spoke to the owner.  The owner came out and, looking at the check, ask Leon if he was any relation to Dan McNicol.  Leon said "Yes, he's my father."  The banker had known the physician who had cleaned up Dan's amateur surgery.  The injured man had recovered. The banker told Leon the story and cashed his check.

Comments

Thank you for the star, Laura.

Answer 5

John Patrick (Oakenfull) Mann (Oakenfull-3) is my second cousin twice removed.  He was born in 1904 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  In 1906 his mother took her children back home to Kent, England. She died later in 1906 (possibly of some disease she had picked up in Brazil).

About 1921 he enlisted in the Royal Navy.  About 1937, while his ship was in port in Australia, he jumped ship, changed his last name to his mother's maiden name, Mann, and changed his age to be 10 years younger.  He married Mary McShane (who already had one child by a US soldier), and had 3 children (Barry, Caroline, and Ian) and adopted the older child.  

He served in WW II in the Australian forces, and was wounded and captured by the Germans. He lost his leg as a result.  He died in 1983 in Australia.

I am missing a lot of details, but it is an unusual story.

Answer 6

A bit tragic. My poor great grandfather, Fred.

First, he lost his firstborn daughter when she was but an infant, but then he had two sons. The boys ("Harry", Fennimore Henry Cooper) and ("Charlie", Charles Gideon Cooper) were still quite young when their mom died when she was 43 or 44. So, no more children with the first wife.

Then, just two years later after losing his wife, the boys were struck and killed by lightning while working in their uncle's apple orchard. They were only ages 8 and 14.

So he lost his first wife, and all of his children he had with her. 4 years later, he remarried and had five more children (one of which was a stillborn). The last child was my grandpa. He died when my grandpa was 21 years old.

[[Cooper-30765|Charles Gideon Cooper (1891-1905)]]

and

[[Cooper-30766|Fennimore Henry Cooper (1896-1905)]]

Answer 7

I think this counts: Charles-Ferdinand de Bourbon had not one, not two, not three, but four children (with four different women) born posthumously after his assassination. Quite a genealogical overachiever...

Comments

Certainly stands out as showing what we are trying to achieve on Wiki ie getting things right.

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That should be on his profile!

Answer 8

Charles Henry Dickinson I (1778–1806) - my paternal grandfather of husband of 2nd great-grandaunt - was killed in a duel in 1806 by future president Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) - husband of aunt of wife of my 1st cousin 6x removed.

I won or lost either way.

Comments

We are all connected!

Some more than others!

Answer 9

Edmund 'Edward' Dear (abt 1635-bef 1696)

Here's a somewhat horrifying story fortunately with a happy ending that I pieced together when composing his biography: Edmund aka Edward Dear(e) is an Irish youth sitting in a pub probably having a pint with the 'gang' when they are joined by some jovial smooth talking English sailors. The evening proceeds well into the night and everyone's happy, happy and more happy until it all gets blurry...The next morning Edmund and some of his pals awake with very fuzzy memories, aching heads and shackles around their ankles. And the most important part: They're in the cargo hold of a ship at sea. Someone comes down into the hold and says Edmund and his pals are cargo...it seems the ship's Captain found a work-around, to the trip's anticipated revenue shortfall, by selling Edmund and his pals to the highest bidder as indentured servants on 7 year contracts. The ship is bound for Boston and Salem, Massachusetts where the colonists are experiencing a severe labor shortage. 

Edmund and a few pals were sold at the Salem colony and there they remained. From what I could tell Edmund's character saw him through the shock of this grossly unfair 'arrangement' because he learned a trade, was granted land at his contract release and his subsequent effort was productive in true New England tradition (admittedly a sink or swim approach). Over his lifetime he amassed a modest but decent size estate with which to provide his daughters with doweries and his son an inheritance. He also appears to have been well liked by the town folk which means his Irish roots were overcome. Any one who has spent time researching the early Salem/Ipswich area knows these colonists were a grumpy, litigious lot. (Then came the Witch trials.) By my way of thinking Edmund turned lemons into lemonade. He was probably blessed with a good head on his shoulders and decent health. These factors could have pushed him through the shock and resentment of being Shanghied. 

Answer 10

This is a tragic and ironic story about my Dad's uncle Raymond, who was born three months after his father's early death. Ray was just 17 when the first World War was nearing its close. With one brother fighting in France, he wanted very much to enlist. His mother, a widow with one son already at risk, refused to give consent.  So instead, he went to work for the Western Maryland Railroad. Less than a year later, and just six weeks after the war ended, Ray lost his life in a gruesome railroad accident.  A transcript of the news article is in his biography.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Linn-660

Comments

Very sad perhaps he would have been safe if he had been allowed  to go to war.

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That is the sad irony of it.  Intending to save him from death, his mother made a decision that put him in a situation that did the opposite.

Answer 11

This story was told by my grandmother.  My father's middle name is the somewhat unusual name of Hutchinson.  The doctor who delivered him was Dr. Sankey Hutchinson.  When he was born, my grandmother told the doctor, "this is going to be the last one" and Dr. Hutchinson said "well you better name him after me".  She said "I wouldn't name a dog Sankey".  So she gave him the middle name of Hutchinson.  The funny thing is that as I was helping to review the 1950 Census in Family Search for the small town of Bladenboro where my father grew up, I found multiple families who had a Hutchinson in their family.  I guess my family wasn't the only one!

Answer 12

[[Burkin-31|William Burkin (1771-1845)]]My maternal GGGreat grandfather traded as a wood broker in the area around Cudham in Kent.  There is a record in Charles Darwin's notes that he purchased timber from Willian when residing at Down House, which is about 2 miles from Cudham.

Answer 13

My ties to the Salem Witch Trials:

I've known for some time that my 8th g grandparents, Joshua and Sara Rea, stood up for and signed a testimony in support of Rebecca Nurse who was hanged as a witch in Salem, MA. They were very bold to stand up against the authorities and the church.

Just recently, I've learned that my 10th g grandmother was Susanna Goody North, who was executed as a witch, and another 8th g grandfather, Orlando Bagley, was the constable of Amsbury who delivered the warrant and drove her to court. 

Susanna quoted scripture during her trial, and Cotton Mather, allowed the trial to continue because "even the devil knows scripture."

Answer 14

My sister found the awful story about our 7th great grandmother, Mary Clarke, Clark-3048, and we have researched it further. In 1655, she was examined in the New Haven Court for her involvement with a known pedophile, John Knight, and a couple other young men. Knight had a record and was hanged. Since Mary had been assaulted multiple times, she was deemed to not sufficiently resist the advances. She was sentenced to be ‘severely whipped.’

As our ancestry suggests, she overcame the misery and humiliation to become a housewife and mother, with children and grandchildren named Mercy.

Hoadley’s 1858 transcription of New Haven court records deemed the details unfit for publication and omitted them. A helpful Connecticut state librarian has sent us photocopies of the original longhand court transcript.

Incidentally, her sister Susan successfully fought off an attacker two years earlier.

Comments

Always amazes me how women are treated throughout history. Truly sad. She must have been very strong to have survived and made a life with a family.

Answer 15

Last year we were shocked to learn the fate of my great-great grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Leonard (abt.1825-1882). After years of trying to find exactly when and where he died, we contacted the county library where he was living according to the 1880 US census (Pipe Creek Township, Madison County, Indiana, United States). A volunteer there found a small clipping from an 1882 edition of the local newspaper that says he apparently died by poisoning from a drink at the county fair:

Answer 16

I found this one out from a cousin in the USA.

My several great grandfather's, Alexander Love, was walking to work with his grandson. He was 64 years old but still working as a miner. At the same time, a man called Matthew Clydesdale had spent the night carousing after attending the local fair the day before. They met at High Drumgelloch in Lanarkshire. Alexander Love, being a pious man, commented on the state of Mr. Clydesdale. They had words which led to fists and Mr. Clydesdale beat Love to death.

Clydesdale was arrested and convicted due to the testimony of the grandson. He was sentenced to hang in Glasgow. This was done swiftly and his body donated to science. The grisly part was, the doctors at the University of Glasgow proceeded to use the body as a re-animation exercise by using electricity. Truly a Frankenstein of a tale.

Comments

This "re-animation" exercise did lead to knowledge of the role of electricity in muscles, which then led to heart defibrillators.

Answer 17

This one is just so convoluted, it took me forever to piece it all together:

Okay, so we have a woman, Ethel Lois (Ferguson aka Marshall) Brehaut. Ethel tended to switch between her LNAB and her stepfather's surname as her maiden name.

Ethel marries a Canadian, Henry Warren Brehaut in 1914, and has two children with him in quick succession. 

Henry dies in April 1918, leaving Ethel and their (very) young children. Henry's brother, Ira Elmer Brehaut, goes to Maine for the burial and must have brought Ethel and the children home to New Brunswick with him, because Ethel and Ira marry in July 1919, and subsequently have two children together. In the 1921 Canada census, Ethel and Ira and the children (two of Henry's, one of Ira's) are residing with Henry and Ira's parents. 

This took upwards of a year to piece together, for a time, I thought Ethel-who-married Henry and was widowed and Ethel-who-married-Ira were different women altogether.

Comments

Was just reading these stories and this one raised my eyebrows for a moment. I recently just finished adding a branch containing a few Brehaut's to my tree but turns out none of these names are connected.

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Jeez, you're from Nova Scotia, wouldn't be surprised if we are related somewhere :P

Hang on.

Edwin Smith Brehaut, son of Thomas and Georgina (McLean) Brehaut married Ellen May Conrad.

Edwin was a brother to Henry and Ira (same parents). So we are distantly connected by marriage.

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Ellen was my 2nd cousin twice removed so the Brehaut's in my tree are Edwin's descendants.

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And Henry and Ethel's daughter, Dorothy, was my great grandmother.

Answer 18

My grandfather, Warren B. Robertson married twin sisters. First to Adelaine in 1904 and then when she died, went back to Kansas from California and married Minnie in 1909 and brought her back to Riverside.

Comments

Thank you, Janet, for sharing this unusual story which at least had a somewhat happy ending, even if a death was involved.

Answer 19

A couple of nights ago, with my usual unimportant insomnia, I started researching a person in the list of errors.  She didn't have a birth or death date.  It took awhile to figure her out, and in the process, I found no information about her mother--anywhere.  Eventually I found her.  She was taken to trial in 1894, judged insane, and carted off to the Kansas State Insane Asylum where she lived from 1894 until her death in 1947.  Since she gave birth to a daughter in 1893, my guess is that she might have had postpartum issues, but who knows?  Details were not given in the newspaper articles I found.  Anyway, if you want to take a look at the preliminary Wikitree profile I made for her, it's online here:  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Kastine-7

Comments

I've found several women who were committed for life to insane asylums.  Treatment? What's that?  Diagnoses?  Non-existent.  Hysteria, probably. It's depressing.

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If you never want to sleep again, read up on the history of lobotomy and clitorectomy. Almost anything was grounds for these surgeries -- if one didn't wish to sleep with one's husband, if one was a lesbian, if one practiced "self-pleasure", or if one was too mouthy and independent. I can't imagine why a woman wouldn't wish to sleep with a husband who'd haul her in to get her brains scrambled or her privates removed if it was convenient for him... such a mystery... we shall never know...

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I have a relative who was committed to an insane asylum. Shortly after that her husband died in a car accident. She was later deemed to be cured, but rules at the time meant you couldn't just check yourself out, somebody had to come and get you.

It's unclear if she knew what happened to her husband (or her children, who were adopted by an aunt-uncle), but her husband's relatives apparently had no interest in getting her out of the asylum. She lived the rest of her life there.

Answer 20

While searching through newspapers for info on my Culp ancestors I always had trouble with the 1925-ish time frame because there were stories about Wilson W. Culp in every paper in the country for a couple years.  I didn't think I was related to him, so the flood of articles was an annoyance for me.  I later learned that I AM related to him, distantly, and also to his wife.  I even have a couple of atDNA matches with his descendants who are 6th cousins or so with me.

Wilson Culp was a preacher who left his wife/cousin and their nine children (with another on the way) and ran off with a young member of his congregation.  The authorties found them and brought them back, and Wilson was taken back in by his wife.  This salacious story caught the attention of the press around the country, and much to their joy the story kept getting worse.

Wilson again ran off with the same girl and was again apprehended.  This time he was sent to jail.  After getting out he ran off with his brother's wife.  They moved to Chicago and had four children, and the newspapers lost interest.