2017 TOP TEN POSTS–What did the readers find the most helpful or interesting? Let’s find out

It’s convenient that Blogger keeps track of our blog statistics for us.  As a blogger, it let’s you know how many people are actually interested in what you’re writing.  After all, most of us write our blog posts to share with others.
 
As of this date the All Time Pageviews for my blog are 439,601.  I’m very grateful to everyone who takes time to read what I write about.
 
WHAT WERE THE MOST POPULAR POSTS THIS YEAR?

HERE ARE THE TOP TEN, IN ORDER:
(You may click on the link to read any of the posts)

#1 – How I’m Keeping Track of DNA Correspondence
#2 – Tuesday’s Tip – Using the Master Location List in Legacy 8
#3 – A Headstone Lost for 256 Years – Now Found – The story of 9 year old Betty Clark (1752-1761)
#4 – 2017 Family Tree Progress Report
#5 – Treasure Chest Thursday – Birth Records (twins) and others on one register page
#6 – Military Monday – Have you looked at the 2nd page of your ancestor’s World War II Draft Registration?
#7 – Tuesday’s Tip – Have you documented everything?  Take another look at those closest to you
#8 – Military Monday – Civil War Pension File for Corp. John E. Hunter (1842-1870)
#9 – Doleri or Doten? Why It Is So Important That We View Actual Records and Not Just Transcripts
#10 - Tombstone Tuesday – Aboyne Parish Kirkyard in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Are there any surprises in the top ten?  Maybe just #10 about the Aboyne Parish Kirkyard.  Having a post about DNA come in as #1 is no surprise.  The genealogy community is currently and has been for a while now, intrigued and involved in genetic research.  I don’t see that changing any time soon.
 
The goal for my blog for the coming year is for me to write most posts.  I slowed down considerably this past summer as I was so involved in looking for the biological parents of my daughter-in-law, it took up much of my time.  BUT…..it was successful!!!

If you are a blogger, I’d love to hear what posts your readers found most interesting.

Again, thanks to all my readers.  I hope I’ll keep you coming back during 2018.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2017   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

2017 FAMILY TREE PROGRESS REPORT ~ By the numbers–How many new people? How many new events and sources?

This report will cover three years, as I just realized I haven’t run a year end progress report since 2014.  Where does the time go?
 
So, what has changed in the past three years 2015, 2016 and 2017?  Let’s find out.

This is a topic that was first shared on Randy Seaver’s blog Genea-Musings.   It’s all about the statistics or numbers in your database.

If you use Legacy you can read my post from January 2014 about how to find your statistics. The method has not changed. Click here http://www.michiganfamilytrails.com/2014/01/how-to-find-your-family-statistics-in.html

One of the things I am interested in is how am I doing on my source citations?  Am I still consistently citing sources?  Or have I slacked off?
 
To accomplish this I divide the number of Citations by the Number of Individuals and come up with a percentage.

I have the previous numbers from the 2014 report and they are here.



Dividing 9719 by 4363 I come up with 222.75% citations per person.  That’s a very good number and means that for many people in my database I have more than one citation.  I’m sure for some people I don’t have any, but that’s a subject for another time.

Now let’s compare that to the end of the year report for 2017.

Since I did not run this report for 2015 or 2016, it will be interesting to see how the numbers have changed over a three year period.

These numbers tell me that I’ve made good progress over the past three years.  First let’s look at the statistic for percentage of citations per individual.  Dividing 11960 by 5374 we get 222.55% citations per person.  That’s so very close to the number back at the end of 2014. Only a difference of  – .2%.
 
What that tells me is that I haven’t been slacking off when it comes to citing my sources.  I’ve continued at a steady pace.

Now let’s look at the rest of the numbers.  How have I progressed in three years?
 

Looks like I’ve made good progress in all areas.  Even if we divide the “difference” totals by 3 (for the number of years represented), I’m still happy with my progress.

How do you keep track of your progress?  For me, it’s not just about the number of new people I’ve added because that’s always going to go up.  But, those other statistics that tell me I’m continuing to build my tree – more unique surnames, more master locations, more master sources.

This just means I have more ancestors to write about and a whole lot more cousins to find.

Here’s to a productive 2018 for every one of us.  Whatever our goals are.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2017   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

ON THIS DAY ~ It’s Christmas Day, December 25th–Who in our family was born, married or died on this date?

First of all I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.  May your day be filled with family, friends, love and joy.  Here's a Christmas toast to all those who came before us.

I thought today I would highlight those in our family tree who had a significant event occur on December 25th.  Let’s take a look at the births, marriages and deaths that occurred on this date and who they are in our family.

Note:  I use Legacy to create these kinds of list.  Go to the Search tab>Find>Detailed Search and enter your criteria. I always use the option “contains” under How to Look so that I get all the hits.  If you use “Exact” you might not get them all, if something was entered differently than your “what to look for” entry.

BIRTHS

ADAMS, Harry A. 25 Dec 1887 in Armada, Macomb, MI – Distant relation via marriage

BEAMS, George W. 25 Dec 1805 in Kentucky – 1st cousin 5x removed wife’s father

BOGGS, Anthony Bowen 25 Dec 1832 in Frankford, Greenbrier, VA – 1st cousin 4x removed

COOPER, Jacob 25 Dec 1793 in Albany, NY – 4th great grandfather

DOLLER, John 25 Dec 1859 in Dansig, Germany – my husband’s great grandfather

FLOWER, Gordon W. 25 Dec 1864 in Michigan – 1st cousin 3x removed

LINDSAY, Mary Jane 25 Dec 1888 in Detroit, Wayne, MI – 1st cousin twice removed

McNICHOL, Allan E. 25 Dec 1891 in Windsor, Essex, Ontario, Canada – husband of my grandaunt

SILER, Jesse R. 25 Dec 1830 unknown place – great granduncle’s wife’s grandfather

STATEN, Salina W. 25 Dec 1860 in Virginia – wife of 1st cousin 4x removed

MARRIAGES

BOGGS, Anthony Bowen 25 Dec 1856 in Lawrence Co., OH to Lamenda CHRISTIAN – he got married on his 24th birthday (see entry above)

CLARK, Clara E. 25 Dec 1900 in Clinton Co., OH to Charles E. LUNSFORD –  4th cousin 4x removed

FRAMPTON, John M. 25 Dec 1872 in Pittsfield, Pike, IL to Amatha WHITTAKER –  1st cousin 5x removed

DEATHS

GRANGER, Mary L. 25 Dec 1922 in Detroit, Wayne, MI – 1st cousin 3x removed husband’s mother

KING, William J. 25 Dec 1940 in Huntington, Cabell, WV – husband of my great grandaunt

UNDERWOOD, Elizabeth 25 Dec 1757 in Ahsford, Windham, CT – my husband’s 6th great grandfather’s second wife

Having a birth or marriage on a major holiday such as Christmas, can certainly add to the festivities and joy of the day.  However, when deaths occur it can be a sad reminder each year.  Hopefully, the memory of those who did die on this date will bring smiles to their family.

The earliest event date we have in this list is the 1757 death of Elizabeth Underwood who married Theophilus Clark 24 Feb 1718 in Reading, Colonial Massachusetts.  Elizabeth lived to be 81 years old and is buried in the Old Ashford Cemetery, Ashford, Windham, Connecticut.  You may visit her memorial here #32043125

The most recent event in the lists above is also a death.  The death of William James King.  He was born 8 Jul 1856 in Maryland and married my greataunt, Ada Emily Hunter on 26 Nov 1884 in Lawrence Co., Ohio.  They were married for 56 years prior to his death and had 6 children.

 

Here are photos of William James King and his wife Ada Emily Hunter.

That’s all for today.  I hope you all are had a joyous holiday.

OTHER CHRISTMAS POSTS FROM YEARS PAST

Season Greetings to All My Readers

Christmas Then & Now with Family & Friends

Merry Christmas 2015 - What are Your Christmas Memories?

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2017 Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

The i4GG Conference in San Diego is over for this year ~ here’s a quick take away–What a GREAT 2 days!!

Screenshots from i4GG website used with permission

I was fortunate to be able to attend my second i4GG Conference this past weekend.  What does i4GG stand for?  Institute for Genetic Genealogy.

This was the second year for the conference.  It is put on by CeCe Moore and her group DNA Detectives.  It was a sold out two day event held at the Sheraton Hotel in Mission Valley, here in San Diego, CA.

Each day there were 10 classes to choose from.  The classes are geared for Beginner/ Intermediate or Advanced or a combination of two.  And some are for all levels
.
I’ve placed a red X next to the classes I attended.

Here are the classes offered on Saturday

X Opening Keynote, CeCe Moore
X The Limitations of Cousin Matching, Blaine Bettinger – Beginner/Intermediate
What’s New at Gedmatch – 2017, Kitty Cooper – Beginner/Intermediate
X Creating and Utilizing Genetic Networks In Your Research CeCe Moore – Intermediate
X Power Tools for the Genetic Genealogist, Angie Bush – Sponsored by AncestryProGenealogists – Intermediate/Advanced
X Science the Heck out of Your DNA: Using Hypotheses and Probability to Solve Genealogical Questions, Leah Larkin – Intermediate/Advanced
Furthering Your Research With Living DNA, Katie Welka – Living DNA – All Levels
X Tips and Tricks from the Genetic Genealogy Trenches, Carol Isbister Rolnick – Beginner/Intermediate
Your (very) Extended Family Tree, Oron Navon – MyHeritageDNA – All levels
Lineage Societies and DNA, Katherine Borges – All levels
Examining Your Matches at the “Big 3,” Michelle Trostler – Beginning

I learn something from each and every class that I attend.  Maybe it will be just that one thing you learn that allows you to advance your research or break down that brick wall.

For me on this day, it was the class about Creating and Utilizing Genetic Networks by CeCe Moore and Tips and Tricks from Genetic Genealogy Trenches by Carol Isbister Rolnick that hit home and gave me new ideas.  Not to take away from the other classes, they were good too.  But, what we learn will always depend on where we are in our particular journey.

I went home tired after the first day with my head full of new ideas.  But, I went right back for the Sunday sessions.

Here are the list of classes offered on Sunday 

Identifying the Man Known as Paul Fronczak through DNA Detective Work, CeCe Moore, Carol Rolnick and Michelle Trostler – All levels
What’s New at Family Tree DNA?, Jim Brewster – Family Tree DNA – All levels
DNA Successes In–And Despite Of—Endogamy, Lara Diamond – Intermediate
How DNA Testing Works: The Science Behind Your DNA Results, Ben Wilson – AncestryDNA – All levels
X Using DNAGedcom’s GWorks, Rob Warthen – DNAGedcom – All levels
Tracing Your DNA Across the Ages with 23andMe, Hilary Vance – 23andMe – All levels
X Breaking Down Genealogical Brick Walls with AncestryDNA, CeCe Moore – All levels
Jewish DNA: Beyond Ashkenazi, Schelly Talalay Dardashti – All levels
X Visual Phasing How-To, Blaine Bettinger – Intermediate/Advanced
The Priest and the Choir Girl: Searching for Family in an Endogamous Population, Kathleen Fernandes – Advanced
Closing Keynote - Genetic Genealogy Year in Review 2017, Blaine Bettinger

The three classes I attended on Sunday were just as good as Saturday. 
With one exception being the Visual Phasing-How To by Blaine Bettinger. That class wasn’t just good, it blew my mind.  Why?

Because this particular procedure allows us to use DNA from a set of 3 siblings (even half siblings can be used in some cases) to extract those sections on the chromosomes that belong to our individual/paternal or maternal GRANDPARENT(s)!

Yes, I said GRANDPARENTS.  How many of you, like me, have no way to test your grandparents?  Many of us don’t even have parents we can test.  In my case, I was fortunate enough to be able to test my Mom, who lived to be 91.  But, my Dad has been gone for decades.
 
If we can extract or determine what portions of our DNA belonged to our grandparent or grandparents, then we are getting two more generations back, allowing many more possible matches.

I certainly haven’t tried this out yet and cannot explain it.  I’ll leave that to the professionals.  But, if you’re interested I would encourage you to purchase the video presentations that will be available from this conference.  There are so many that will be helpful to you.  Here again is a link to the Institute for Genetic Genealogy website. I don’t know when the videos will be available.  Last year it took a couple of months.

Please note:  I get no remuneration or benefit from mentioning the i4GG website or conference.  I’m just an excited blogger sharing information with my readers.

I can’t wait to get started so I’ll end here.  If I have news to share (new finds) from all of this, you’ll be hearing from me.  Now go and test all those family members near and far.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

How DNA Led Me To Change My Husband's Direct Line - Flynn or Cupps?

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl
Copyright ©  2010-2017 Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

WEDDING WEDNESDAY ~ William “Bill” Lindsay & his many wives–the story of my Granduncle Bill

Marriage index for Wm. Lindsay & Gertrude Watson - 1912 - Canada

Marriage register for William Lindsay & Vera Allen - 1919 - Detroit, Michigan

Marriage license & record for William Lindsay & Vera Kidd - 1928 - Lucas Co., Ohio

William Lindsay is my paternal granduncle

William Lindsay was the youngest child born to William Wallace Lindsay (1859-1931) and Elizabeth “Bessie” Fitzcharles (1864-1914).  He is a brother to my paternal grandmother, Marie Wallace Lindsay.

 

My grandmother always spoke fondly of her brother “Bill.”  He was alive well into my 20’s, but I never recall meeting him.  If I did, it would have been when I was a young child living in Detroit.  Bill had three older sisters; Ellen (1887-1927), Marie (1888-1970) and Bessie (1892-1971).  The family grew up in Detroit, Michigan.

Here he is as a little boy, with his parents & sisters.  He isn’t officially a Jr., but the photo has been labeled that way for clarity.

 

Bill is reported to have been married several times.  I am in touch with my cousins who are descended from his sister Bessie and another cousin, one generation removed.  Several of us are genealogists and we have put together a picture of Bill’s life as best we can.

He was born in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan probably in 1894 (the exact month & day varies depending on the record).  I have the following records to document his life:

1900 U.S. census – age 5, living with his parents and siblings in Detroit

1910 U.S. census – age, 15, living with his father in Detroit and working as a Packer

Question I asked myself – why are Bill and his father, William enumerated without any other family members?  I think I know the answer, based on my research.  I located Bill’s mother (William’s wife) working as a Housekeeper just north of Detroit, in Mt. Clemens, Macomb, Michigan.  She is enumerated as Mrs. Elizabeth Lindsay.  Just two years later a divorce was finalized between William Lindsay and his wife Elizabeth.  They must have separated by the time the 1910 census was taken.  He filed for the divorce on the grounds of “cruelty.”  The divorce was granted on 18 May 1912.  I have the divorce record and published it in another blog post.  You can read about it here 52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS ~ Week #3–My great grandfather–William Wallace Lindsay 1859-1931 (a bit of a mystery)

Now back to Bill.  He married Gertrude May Watson 10 Feb 1912 in Windsor, Essex, Ontario, Canada.  Gertrude was born in Canada 8 Aug 1895 and immigrated to the United States in 1909.  I have no idea how Bill & Gertrude met each other.  However, their son, William Harold Lindsay was born 3 months after their marriage on 10 May 1912 in Detroit, Michigan.

Interesting note about this family of Lindsay siblings.  Ellen was the oldest and she married her husband James Frederick Pickard in Detroit in 1906.  ALL three of the other siblings, Marie, Bessie and Bill married their spouses in Canada.  I wonder if there were laws in place in the United States or Michigan in particular, that influenced their decision to marry in Canada? 

Why is this significant?  If you take a look at the marriage records of those three siblings and compare them to the births of children or the status of the sibling getting married, there are some details that stand out.  Such as: children born within a time frame considerably less than 9 months (two of the siblings, Marie and Bill).  And for Bessie, she listed herself as a Spinster for her second marriage, when in fact, she was still married to her first husband.  We have the documents for all of this information.  Certainly a colorful group.  My cousin Paula often speaks of her grandma Bessie being a bit wild.

When you find facts, like those listed above, about your family, don’t let it bother you.  People are people and history is history.  What we uncover are just the facts and most of it will not change relationships we have formed or memories we share.

1916 - Gertrude and Bill divorced just four years after their marriage on 4 Dec 1916.  Bill is listed in the Detroit City Directory in 1916 as again living with his father, William and working as a Chauffeur.

1917 – I have a World War I Draft Registration Card for Bill.  He lists himself as single, working as an Auto Driver for Detroit Public Works and having a child, age 5.  That must be his son, William Harold Lindsay, born in 1912.

1919 – Bill married for a second time to Vera Violet Allen (1902-1991) on 23 Sep 1919.  They were married in Detroit.  I believe there was a son born to this couple in 1927.  Robert Lindsay.  I have not researched little Robert since 2010, so I have no further information on him.

1920 – Bill and his wife Vera are actually living with my grandparents and my Dad on Lothrop Ave. in Detroit.  He was a taxi driver at this time.

1928 – Bill and his wife, Vera, divorce on 19 Jul 1928 in Detroit.

1928 – Less than a month after his divorce from Vera Allen Lindsay, Bill marries for a 3rd time, to another Vera.  This time Vera Kidd who also went by the name Matilda.  On the marriage record for this couple Bill states he has never been married.  I guess those first two wives don’t count.  His parents names are correct on this marriage record as is other vital information for him, so I have no doubt it’s him.

1930 – Bill and “Matilda” are living in Detroit, renting a home and he works as a Repair Foreman for automobiles.  No children are listed in the residence.  His children must be living with one of the other wives.

1940 – I have not been able to locate William “Bill” Lindsay in the 1940 federal census.

1942 – Bill is registered in the World War II Draft Registration – he is living at 8589 Mendota in Detroit.  He is 47 yrs. old, born in Detroit on 5 Jul 1894.  He is working for the Civil Service Commission/City of Detroit/Div. of Motor Transportation.  His physical description if 5’6”, 155 pounds, blue eyes, brown hair and light complexion, no scars.

1948 – Bill and his 3rd wife, Matilda Vera obtain a divorce, granted on 23 Oct 1948 in Detroit, Michigan.

1950’s – By the mid 1950’s Bill has either remarried or has a girlfriend named Alice Marie Penn.  They can be seen at the dining table at the home of Everett & Mary Hockster.  Also at this table are Bill’s sister Bessie and Everett & Mary’s daughters Betty & Paula.

Going around this table from left to right – Paula Hockster, Betty Hockster, Mary Ortell Hockster, Alice Penn Lindsay, William “Bill” Lindsay, Bessie Lindsay Hockster (Bill’s sister) and Everett Hockster – Detroit, Michigan

 

I find no other public records for William “Bill” Lindsay until his death on 10 Apr 1976 in New Port Richey, Pasco, Florida.

In researching this blog post I located both a death notice and an obituary for Bill.  The obituary states that he had moved to Florida 24 years prior to his death, which would have been 1952.  He was apparently a member of the Baptist church and the BPOE 2284 of New Port Richey, Florida.  I also notice there is no mention of his two sons, only of his nephews, which would be Everett Hockster and my father, Harry Norman Gould.

 

 

My question – What does BPOE stand for.  I figured it was some sort of organization.  I Googled it and found this definition: “Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. ... The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order founded in 1868 originally as a social club in New York City.” 

I haven’t yet located a marriage record for Bill’s 4th and final wife, Alice Marie Penn, but I’ll keep on looking.  She died on 21 Jul 2001, 25 years after him.  They are buried together at Meadowlawn Memorial Gardens in New Port Richey, Pasco, Florida.  You can visit their memorials here: Bill #33361388 and Alice #33361389.

Here, used with permission from David England is their headstone.

Conclusion – It seems that Bill finally settled down with one woman, Alice, his fourth wife.  There are family rumors that he had more than four wives, but I have no evidence of that.  I hope he was happy in those last 25 or so years of his life.  I do wonder why his sons, William and Robert weren’t mentioned in his obituary.  I’ve heard from one family member that his son William didn’t like him and spoke poorly of him.  The reasons for that may forever remain unknown to us.  Those that are gone take their secrets with them to the grave.  I do know that my grandmother, Marie Lindsay Gould always spoke with love when talking about her brother Bill.

If you are related to anyone mentioned in this story, please contact me, I’d love to hear from you.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl 

Copyright ©  2010-2017   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

MILITARY MONDAY ~ Civil War Pension File for Corporal John E. Hunter (1842-1870)

John E. Hunter

Son of Rev. Isaac C. Hunter and Emily Gillen

I have been researching the Hunter family for 15 years.  During that time I was able to learn about 3 of the 5 children born to Rev. Isaac C. Hunter and his wife Emily Gillen.  Both John E. Hunter and his sister Martha remained a mystery. 

• Where did they go? 
• Did they live to adulthood? 
• Did they marry and if so to whom?
• When did they die and where are they buried?

Enter DNA testing.  I was contacted on October 12th this year, by a Hunter descendant  who matched me via Ancestry.  

“You came up as a DNA match for me . Would you be interested in linking family trees? I am related to Hunter & Frampton.”

Through this one contact I was able to obtain information about the life of my maternal 2nd great granduncle, John E. Hunter.

Thankfully he had one son who lived to pass on his genes.  You can read about this DNA discovery on my blog post When Contact from a DNA Cousin Leads to Great New Information

I learned that John E. Hunter enlisted in the Union Army, as a Private, on 2 Oct 1861, in Ohio.¹  He enlisted in Company H, Ohio 6th Cavalry Regiment.  He was mustered out on 28 Oct 1864.  I ordered his Civil War Pension File from Twisted Twigs on Gnarled Branches Genealogy.  Please click on the link to this website, found in the right hand column to learn more.

Here is what I learned from the pension file.

During his time of service he was both wounded and captured as a prisoner of war.

When I receive a pension file the first thing I do is save it to my computer under the appropriate surname and military file.  Once that is done I read through the entire file page by page.  Then at my next convenience I begin going through the pension file page by page and making notes of what I find and extracting the pages containing that information.

 

In this case Private Hunter’s file was 111 pages long.  Here are some of  the pages I extracted from the file.

TIP: You can read through these pension files several times and you will catch something you missed just about every time.  Today I realized I hadn’t caught the middle name of John E. Hunter – it’s Elwell.  AND…..even more important, the middle name of his wife, Lottie R. Miller.  Her middle name is READ.  I don’t have a maiden name for Lottie’s mother and this could be a lead.

Cover page and page 4 – I love seeing the old tattered pages such as the cover page.  On page four I’ve underlined important items such as where John was born, his age at discharge, his physical description – 5 ft. 6 1/2 inches, light complexion, blue eyes and dark hair, and his occupation – carpenter.  You can’t beat that for personal information on your ancestor.

 

Page 9 -  It’s a letter from John’s son, Heber Elwell Hunter. The letter was written to the Bureau of Pensions on 23 Jun 1935.  In it Heber is asking for a copy of the certificate of birth contained in the pension file.  He apparently needs it for an annuity insurance application.  He probably had no other record of his own birth.

Again I’ve underlined and indicated the items of interest on this page.  Private Hunter’s full name – John Elwell Hunter, Lottie’s full name, the exact date of birth of Heber E. Hunter – 12 Sep 1868 and the exact location of his birth – Louisville, Clay, Illinois.  Along with that you have Heber’s signature and his mailing address at this point in his life.

And page 63 – which is signed by Private Hunter’s widow Lottie and gives her exact date an place of birth.

 

Page 78 - This is a page giving reference to his being a prisoner of war and that he was wounded.

There were many affidavits/depositions given during the application process for a pension.  Many of these are from family members, long time friends, doctors or people who served with the soldier.  They can provide valuable information regarding relationships, living conditions, places of residence, medical conditions etc.  One other thing I like about these affidavits is the signatures of those deposed.  I enjoy collecting signatures of my ancestors.  Here are a few from this pension file.

Isaac C. Hunter - brother of John

Emma Seed - half sister of John

Lottie R. Hunter - widow of John

 It appears from statements made in his file, that John worked at various jobs after his military discharge. At one point he fell off of a building while doing work with his stepfather.  He worked as a clerk in a drug store for a short time and also apparently went to New Orleans, Louisiana to work for his brother Isaac Hunter, who was a Riverboat Captain.

He sustained a gunshot wound to the shoulder while serving in the Army. This is said to have left him with a lot of pain and related issues such as asthma attacks and palpitations.

 

John E. Hunter died while staying at his brother’s home in Shreveport, Caddo, Louisiana on 15 Nov 1870.  His cause of death was listed as “acute fatal pneumonia.”  He was 28 years old at the time of his death.

Other than the birth of his son in 1868, it sure sounds like life was rough for this brave young man when he came home from the war.

Information in the pension file tells us that his widow who was only 24 years old when John died, never remarried.  She lived until 1922 and was 76 at the time of her death.  For 52 years she lived as the widow of her Civil War soldier.  I would sure love to have a photo of either one of these two ancestors.

If you believe you are related to anyone mentioned in this blog post, please contact me, I’d love to hear from you.

Sources: 1. U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl 

Copyright ©  2010-2017 Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION