The Long Road To A Homestead

Posted on September 27, 2024September 28, 2024 by FHadmin

Arthur Reid Thomson was only 16 years of age when he boarded a ship for America. His grandfather, he claimed, was sending him to his uncle in New York. However, he never arrived at his uncle’s doorstep. Had he, his road to a homestead would have taken a very different path.

Canada

It was May 1843 when Arthur arrived in Quebec, Canada. It is hard to imagine what was going through his mind during his journey and upon seeing a whole new land, which was so vast in comparison to his homeland of Scotland. He was truly alone, as he had sailed without his brother Alexander “Sandy”, his sister Genia and her husband, or his grandparents. And, his parents were long deceased. He stated that he wrote letters home, but received no response. Thus, he was truly alone in a vast new country.

His only support came from friends, supposedly of the name Hutchinson. He apparently spent time in Montreal, Canada with them. However, he did not put down roots there. Instead, he traveled on. He may have traveled to Rochester, New York. This was likely before he immigrated to the United States in 1847, since it is much closer to Montreal than it is to Detroit, where he crossed when immigrating.

Immigration

Exactly where Arthur traveled in those early days in the Americas isn’t 100% clear. It is said that he may have come to Nebraska about the time Nebraska City became the first city to be incorporated in Nebraska Territory. However, other accounts seem to leave out this early journey to Nebraska.

Marriage

It would be 12 years before Arthur would settle down enough to marry Margaret Ronald. Margaret, who was about 10 years Arthur’s junior, was also an immigrant from Scotland, having arrived in the United States in 1856. At 7:00 p.m. on May 9, 1859, they married at the home of Andrew Christy in Berlin, Wisconsin. However, they would not make Wisconsin their home for long.

Nebraska Territory Here We Come

1860

Within a few months, Arthur and Margaret moved to Nebraska City. In February 1860, their first child was born in their new hometown. Only a couple of months later, Margaret’s father died in Nebraska. Life would continue to be busy the following month as a major fire broke out in Nebraska City.

Fighting the fire was complicated by the lack of fire-fighting equipment and a shortage of water. The city was ravaged and approximately 40 buildings in and near the business district were destroyed. Fortunately, Arthur and Margaret’s home was spared.

The following year the city formed its first fire-fighting company. It was one step in recovering from the fire. The fact that the city didn’t have competition and it was in the perfect location contributed to its quick recovery.

Property Ownership

During their time in Nebraska City, Arthur and Margaret ran The Western House, which is where the Grand Hotel was later located. However, they did not initially own any property with Arthur having only $300 in personal property and Margaret having $50 in personal property in 1860. The first property purchased was by Margaret in 1862.

At that time she bought lot 2 of block 44 of the Prairie City Addition (18^th & Central). Why it was purchased by Margaret and not Arthur is unknown. It is also unclear if they lived on the property, which Margaret held until 1872 when she sold it to her sister Mary Thorne. The sale was witnessed by their brothers John and Robert Ronald.

Mary had come from Wisconsin to Nebraska City by covered wagon. She worked at the Grand Hotel to support herself. There she had met James Thorne, her third husband.

Steam Wagon Road

In the spring of 1863, Arthur and Margaret left the comforts of city life for life on the prairie. They lived in a dugout near Wallen Ridge on the Steam Wagon Road. The prior year, a special election had been held to fund the road and associated bridges.

The family called this location Nebraska City Ranch. However, it is unclear why they gave it that name as it was not near Nebraska City. Instead, it was halfway between Nebraska City and Lincoln, which was originally named Lancaster. The location was a freighters’ inn. It had a grocery, post office, and a place for travelers to rest themselves and their horses/oxen.

The post office was unnamed until Margaret’s brother Robert Ronald approached the government asking that they name it Paisley after the hometown of the Ronald family in Scotland. It received the name Paisley in 1869. About the same time Paisley School #6 and Paisley Church came into existence. However, a town never sprung up in the location. Although the school and church continued on for some time, the post office closed in 1872.

While living here, Arthur sometimes worked in Nebraska City, returning home only on the weekends.

Obtaining A Homestead

Property Improvements

On January 8, 1863, prior to their move to the dugout on Steam Wagon Road, Arthur filed a homestead application with the Nebraska City Land Office. It was the seventeenth application filed in the county.

As soon as they moved to the dugout, Arthur began improving his future homestead, which was about ¾ mile from the dugout. By the following year, he had constructed a 12 ft. by 16 ft. log cabin and broken ground for crops on the land he hoped to one day call his own.

The Log Cabin

The log cabin provided only basic accommodations of the prairie. All the small openings, along with the chimney, were filled with a mixture of straw and clay. The roof of the log cabin was composed of clay on top of sod on top of pieces of wood on top of rafters. The floor was dirt at first, but later covered with wood. A small window provided daylight. Additionally, the interior had been whitewashed, which got on anything and anyone that touched it.

The fanciest feature of the cabin was its one-way locking door. It had a bar that latched into a slot. The bar had a string attached. When someone wanted to open the door from the outside, they simply pulled the string and it would move the bar and open the door. However, if the family wanted to lock the door, they could simply pull the string inside and no one could get in. However, that meant that they could only lock the door when they were inside.

The family moved to the homestead property as soon as they could as they had to live there continuously for five years and improve the land before they could obtain ownership of it.

Arthur worked hard for this land, building a frame house to replace the log cabin, plowed and planted many acres of land, adding a shed, granary, cellar, corn crib, pens for animals, and more.

More Property

In 1864, Margaret purchased 3 1/2 acres of land along Steam Wagon Road for $21.30. The land was in the S.W. of the N.W. of N.E. quarter of Section 32. This property was described as “lying South of the Creek, and East of a certain cotton wood tree, (and the Steam Wagon Road).” This land is likely where the dugout was located although I am not yet entirely sure.

In 1868, Arthur purchased at a sale the S. E. 1/4 of the S.W. 1/4 of Section 19 and the N.E. 1/4 of the N.W. 1/4 of Section 30 (This section number is from a text version of a legal document. I think this should be Section 29 per the map shown). The land had outstanding taxes for several prior years and the sale amount of $38.43 was to cover the taxes owed and other fees.

Thomson property in 1917 (green). Paisley Church and Paisley School shown with blue dots.

Where Are The Deeds?

Homestead Deed

In 1869, Arthur wrote to the land office in Washington, D.C. regarding obtaining the deed to the homestead. In the letter, he wrote,

“Now seeing that I have now half starved myself and family to put improvements on the place which I now have 70 acres of land under the plow and a pasture fenced for my stock, a good house and other out buildings, and a grove of young timber planted out. If I being a citizen of the United States has to lose it, I presume I might have got my deed from the land office at the time if I had given them money that they asked from me which I thought did not belong to them.” (Some grammar changes were made for readability.)

It appears that there was some question over why they had not moved immediately to the property. In response to those questions, Arthur and his brothers-in-law John Ronald and Robert Ronald made three points.

Arthur had to work for others as he didn’t initially have means to support his family and for what was needed to improve the land.
While he worked away, Arthur claimed that he could not leave his family on the homestead out of concern for their safety from Native Americans. Note: Arthur was friendly with some of the local “Indians.” However, bands of unfriendly “Indians” sometimes came through the area, including onto the homestead. When this occurred, Arthur and the family would hide from them.
He was informed by the land office that if he began improvements that he wasn’t required to immediately occupy the land, but that he should do so as soon as he could.

Deed to Purchased Property

Now, all he could do was wait for a response from the government. In the meantime, Arthur provided the sales receipt for the additional property he had purchased to the country treasurer in order to get a deed to the property. It is unclear exactly what occurred. However, again, he waited.

Getting The Deeds

In July 1870, everything started coming together. The county determined that Arthur was the rightful owner to the property he had purchased. This included acceptance of the certificate of purchase and ensuring taxation and all other legal laws, including proper advertising of the land for sale, had been followed.

In addition, the government accepted Arthur’s response to their concern about him not moving immediately to the homestead. And, Arthur finally secured the deed, to the homestead. He paid $200 for the E 1/2 S.E., 1/4 Section 19 and the N 1/2 of NE 1/4 of Section 30 in Township 9, Range 10 East containing 160 acres at $1.25 per acre.

Finally, Arthur had a homestead that he could call his own – 27 years after he left Scotland. By this time, he had a 14 ft. x 17 ft. frame house with bedrooms over the main room. A few years later, Arthur added a kitchen followed by two additional bedrooms. In 1893, the house was completely remodeled. As a result, it was an 8-room house with a basement.

Arthur died on Christmas Day in 1913. He dearly loved his home and family and his advice was “Live right and do right.” (Taken from family notes.)

The Double Helix & Genealogy

Posted on September 17, 2024 by FHadmin

What if DNA hadn’t been discovered ? Similarly, what if the United States was like some other countries that prohibited or severely limited DNA testing ? The lack of DNA evidence would definitely change my research. There are relatives that I likely would not have found and stories that would be lost.

DNA & Genetic Genealogy

We take the knowledge of DNA for granted as it was discovered more than 150 years ago. DNA testing for paternity was developed in the 1980s. By comparison, genetic genealogy is a relatively new field. As such, many misconceptions exist about DNA, DNA testing, and genetic genealogy. Before I jump into what I have found using genetic genealogy, I thought I would address the top seven common misconceptions I regularly see expressed.

Misconception: Testing Anywhere Automatically Matches Anybody

>Complaint: “I tested and I don’t see a match to X.”

>Response: “Did they test with the same company?”

>Answer: “No.”

A DNA match will not show up to someone that hasn’t tested with the same company. So, if you are looking for a specific person (e.g. someone’s child that was adopted), you may not find them. This is why it is recommended that people looking for someone specific test on multiple sites and upload to any that allow it.

Misconception: DNA Results Should Tell Me Who My parent/grandparent is

>Complaint: “The results don’t tell me . . . “

>Related Question: “How can it tell me I am related to an ancestor as they never took a DNA test?”

You can determine your parent or grandparent without them testing IF their descendants or other relatives have tested. However, in most cases, it requires research. The more distant the match; the more work that will be required to find the answer (and this includes a lot of traditional research).

Misconception: You Will Have Many Matches With Your Surname

Because you don’t see your surname among your top matches does NOT mean that you were adopted or the product of an affair. It is not uncommon to find few if any people in your top matches that have your surname.

Misconception: Gender Matters With Autosomal DNA

Question: “Should I have my male cousin test? Will that give me a better match to my dad’s family?”

When using autosomal DNA (E.g. Ancestry.com) it does not matter if you are male or female. In other words, two males will not necessarily match better than a male and a female. However, having multiple people test is very useful, particularly if you are looking for someone several generations back.

Misconception: Testing Company Labels Are Gospel

The labels assigned by the companies are not always how you relate to the person. With the exception of self, parent/child, and sibling labels, which are generally accurate, the other labels are a guess of the relationship. It is important to use dnapainter.com or other reliable source to determine the possible relationships to the match.

Misconception: Ethnicities are 100% Accurate and DNA Inherits Evenly

DNA is not this cut and dried. Each person matches approximately 50% of each parent, but not exactly 50-50. When they have children, there is no guarantee what portion of their DNA the child will get. Hence, the smaller the amount of DNA shared is, the wider the range of potential relationships. In addition, companies are still evolving their data sets and algorithms for these computations. Additionally, each company has different data sets and different algorithms. It is far from settled technology. So, look for it to continue to change.

Misconception: DNA Results Can Be Flawed

The most important rule is that DNA does not lie. Tests may be inadvertently switched by the user or the results may be misinterpreted, but the companies don’t just “get it wrong.” The chances of a test getting switched in the company’s lab is extremely small. And, no, matching mom’s side and not dad’s side is not an error by the company.

My Research

A majority of my personal DNA research has been focused on solving the question of “Who were Lemuel McCracken’s parents?” Lemuel is my great-great grandfather. Thus, this is a complex problem to solve. And, given the genetic distance, proving who his parents are even with extensive genetic and traditional genealogy may not be possible. However, a lot has been learned and many new relatives identified along the way.

Close Relatives Identified

I have determined that 18 DNA matches are descendants of Lemuel and his first wife Sarah Dufer. 59 matches (including myself) descend from Lemuel and our great-great grandmother Louisiana (Mateer) (Badgley) McCracken. And, I have identified 11 DNA matches that descend from Louisiana (Matteer) (Badgley) McCracken through her first marriage. This is a total of 88 cousins this branch of the family that have done DNA testing.

Most are fourth cousins or closer with a few with relationships beyond that. However, it is important to remember that those through other marriages are half relationships. Thus, they generally share a smaller amount of DNA with us.

In identifying these relatives, I found numerous that I did not know existed. Some of them I would have eventually found via the paper trail although research of living people can be challenging. However, others might have been extremely difficult or impossible without genetic genealogy. Some have been placed at the appropriate location in my tree.

Others are still under investigation and are not included in the numbers listed. One example is a sister and brother that have ties to Girard, Kansas. I have been able to determine that they are descendants of Andrew Johnson and Rosa Isabella (Ellis) McCracken. Also, using DNA, I have been able to eliminate certain sons of Andrew and Rosa as their potential grandfather.

Confirming Louisiana’s Name

DNA matches have also provided evidence confirming Louisiana’s maiden name as Matteer. This is important as her name was shown as several different names on different documents. We have matches to 18 direct descendants of her father Mathias Matteer. Additionally, many others have been identified to the Matteer family in general.

Search For Lemuel’s Parents

The search for Lemuel’s parents has consumed hundreds (ok, thousands) of hours. Like most cases, it is a mix of genetic genealogy and traditional genealogy. So little was known about him prior to his marriage to my great-great grandmother Louisiana (Matteer) (Badgley) McCracken that I began to think a space ship just dropped him off in Iowa one day in the early 1850s.

I didn’t even have a specific place to look for records as his location of birth was listed as both Ohio and Pennsylvania. And, nothing more specific was given anywhere. So, I asked as many people as possible to test. It was very useful having results for a lot of people, as some of them matched one family a lot more than another did.

As, a result of efforts to date, Lemuel appears to be the son of a Ms. McCracken and a Mr. Peppard. These two families were first identified with autosomal DNA using primarily ancestry.com, but also on other sites.

McCracken

In the McCracken family, I have been able to determine that Lemuel is likely the son or grandson of James McCracken and Rachel Kelly. To determine this I have found 35 DNA matches that trace directly to James and Rachel. I have also found 20 matches that go back to Julia Ann (McCracken) Byers and 9 to Rachel (McCracken) Lytle . Both women lived in the same county where James lived at the time Lemuel was born. My hypothesis is that they are daughters of his son Thomas, who was deceased prior to Lemuel’s birth.

Additionally, I have found 9 matches to Henry McCracken who raised his family several counties away (referred to as “Henry of Ohio” so as not to be confused with Lemuel’s son Henry). I have also been of the belief that he was also a son of Thomas as it was specified in James’ will that Thomas had sons Henry and William that were underage. A William was also found living in the area where Henry lived.

Assuming Lemuel’s mother was a McCracken, she is the daughter of one of James and Rachel’s daughters or granddaughters. Some of them can be eliminated because they were married and they had children at intervals that would make it impossible or unlikely that they are his mother. A more detailed analysis will be included in a later article.

Peppard

Autosomal data shows a large group of DNA matches to descendants of Jonathan Peppard and his wife Elizabeth Gilmore. To break it down, we match 43 descendants of their son John, 6 of their son William, 21 of their daughter Rebecca, 10 of their son Francis, 26 of their daughter Phoebe, and 14 descendants of their son David. This is a total of 120 DNA matches that have been directly connected to this couple using traditional genealogy.

One of their sons (John, William, Francis, David, and Isaac) would seem to be Lemuel’s father unless there is an unknown son of John. The latter cannot be ruled out yet.

The greatest number of matches are to John. However, numbers of matches alone isn’t meaningful as it depends on the size of families how people many tested, how much shared DNA they have with the tests that I use for research, and whether I can connect them to the tree. It is very possible that if I am able to connect the many outstanding matches that the numbers will shift significantly. In addition, some members of John’s family came to Kansas. Thus, some of these descendants may be the result of mixing with other families that relate to us. That is yet to be determined.

I determined that our surname likely should be Peppard by adding the results of Y-DNA to autosomal DNA research. Without the autosomal DNA, I might think the Peppard was an anomaly and McCracken was the actual surname. However, since the autosomal DNA shows a strong match to both family names and Peppard shows up as a Y-DNA match, it is seems highly likely that Lemuel’s father was a Peppard. Now, it is possible that a McCracken is the parent of a Peppard, but I will explain in the next section how new data shows that to be extremely unlikely.

Throw In a Monkey Wrench

New Y-DNA Match

A recent new Y-DNA match led to new questions. This new match has the last name of Bailey. Talking with a member of the family, I learned that the family was in Vermont and one man served in the Union Army during the Civil War. During that interval, he was stationed at Ft. Riley. There he married and had a son. After the war, the family moved to Oregon and then Canada.

The new match made me wonder how the Bailey family fit into the picture. I questioned if we were all part of the Bailey family. Or, were they both McCrackens? What exactly was going on?

The first thing I did was dig into autosomal DNA looking for matches to descendants of the Bailey family in question. To date, I have identified 18 Bailey DNA matches that I have been able to trace. All of them trace to the son that was born in Kansas. Whether this means anything specific or not is still to be determined.

The Bailey DNA matches also match many of our Peppard DNA matches, but not to McCracken DNA matches in James and Rachel (Kelly) McCracken’s known family. Many of them matched through John Peppard’s sons Thomas and Samuel. Of interest is the fact that those two were both in Kansas by 1859. Given that we have DNA matches across several of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Gilmore) Peppard’s children, it appears that the Baileys are a subset of the Peppards and not the other way around. For the Peppards that we match to be Bailey’s, the connection would have had to had occurred prior to 1744 and likely even earlier. Given the localization of the Bailey DNA matches and the amount of DNA shared, it seems a Peppard must have fathered a Bailey sometime in the 1800s.

Heny of Ohio And The Peppard Family

During this investigation, I discovered that Henry of Ohio’s descendants are similar to us in that they match Bailey DNA matches, Peppard DNA matches, and McCracken DNA matches. This led me to again examine if the Peppard family had a stronger connection to the McCracken family than I realized. To date, none has been found. And, Henry of Ohio’s descendants do not appear to be closer DNA matches to Lemuel’s descendants than James and Rachel (Kelly) McCracken’s descendants. Thus, I am currently scratching my head on this topic.

McCracken-Peppard Relationships As Of September 2024

The above diagram attempts to give a visual of what I believe I am seeing in the DNA relationships between the various McCracken and Peppard lines. All groups have DNA matches not related to the other groups. However, it was not possible to demonstrate that in the diagram. Thus, this diagram simply shows groups that share DNA matches with other groups.

Also, I included Rachel and Julia Ann as a part of James and Rachel’s family. This is not proven; however, it seems highly likely based on DNA matches. Note that so far I have not identified matches between Henry and Rachel or Julia Ann.

Future DNA Research

Who Were Arthur Reid Thomson’s parents?

Arthur Thomson arrived in Canada from Scotland as a teenage orphan. He then immigrated to the United States. We have bits and pieces of stories about his life in Scotland. However, no one has been able to confirm his parents’ names or that of the grandfather with whom he supposedly lived. He is Rod’s great-great grandfather. Thus, the same generationally as Lemuel is to me. However, additional complications may be encountered since he was born in Scotland and his parents died some time before he left Scotland.

Who Were Roger Ellis’ Parents?

Many Ellis families lived in the areas of Kentucky and Indiana where Roger Ellis, my 4^th great grandfather lived. However, he claimed to be born in Pennsylvania while many of the others claimed to have been born in Virginia. I have done some research into Washington County, Pennsylvania as various pieces of data lend to that area being a possible location for his family. Some people have identified a man that they believe is his father. However, this appears to be based on them living in a similar area – not on a paper trail.

I have started some basic genetic genealogy work on this project. However, the Lemuel project keeps pulling me away from this one. Additionally, given the number of generations and the fact that Ellis is a common name, it is unclear how fruitful this project will be.

Which Thomas Marshall is the grandfather of Elizabeth Brown Donaldson?

Elizabeth Brown Donaldson claimed to be relation to Chief Justice John Marshall. The paper trail is a bit broken. One researcher who focuses on the Marshall family, connected what he believes to be the family line. However, there was one specific relationship that he could not prove. Additionally, a woman has been in touch with me who is using DNA to solve this question. However, it is a big question that will require a lot of work. Again, this is challenging as it is looking for the parent of a 4^th great grandparent and there were at least 3 different family lines, including that of John Marshall, in the same county in the early 1800s.

Did any of Martha (Johnson) Peelle’s siblings have children?

This project is looking for descendants of siblings of my great-great grandmother. The scenario is that there were supposedly eight children in the family. The parents died a couple years apart. Martha’s oldest brother and her youngest sister are known. Both lived in Iowa and visited her in their later years. Both of them married, however, neither of them had any known biological children. The fate of the other five children is unknown.

Can DNA Solve These Problems?

DNA can help find evidence and point us toward a solution. However, the Lemuel project and the other future projects are huge problems. I have already made great progress on Lemuel’s story with families, locations, and more. I fully believe that I can narrow down the answers to any of these projects using a combination of DNA results, traditional genealogy, lots of hard work, and a bit of luck. Proving that the answers are correct is a whole other animal.

DNA image by Sinousxl via pixabay.com

One Church, So Much Family History

Posted on August 7, 2024August 8, 2024 by FHadmin

Churches provide a space where anyone is free to wander in and join the congregation. They also often provide space for activities – some church actives, some for the community, and some for specific families. In addition, the church records often contain a wealth of genealogical information.

History With Churches

Both my husband’s family and my family have extensive relationships with churches of various denominations. A few years ago, we had the opportunity to attend the 250^th Anniversary of Old Pine Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is rich in both American history and the history of my husband’s family.

Rod’s ancestors signed the call for Reverend Duffield in the early days of the Old Pine and his 7^th great grandfather was the first sexton of the church. However, as family members died and moved west, the association with the church ended. Read more about Old Pine.

Chartering A Church

The association with the Palmyra Presbyterian Church in Palmyra, Nebraska, however, has lasted the entire time the church has been in existence. And, next year, the church will celebrate its 150^th Anniversary. The main celebration planned for May 4, 2025 with other events throughout the year.

The association with the church began when my husband’s 3^rd great grandmother Mary (Gourley) Ronald, his great-great grandparents Arthur Reid and Margaret (Ronald) Thomson, and Margaret’s brother William B. Ronald became charter members. They made up one third of the charter members of the small church.

Roles in the Church

Members of the family are still active in the church today. Over the many decades, members of the family have served as church officials, teachers, participated in women’s groups, participated in Bible School, been elders, etc. For instance, George Thomson served as an elder and in 1941 Arthur Klinefelter “Art” Thomson was a member of the church board.

Music is also an important aspect of a Presbyterian Church. Local music teachers provided recitals at times in the church. In 1937, Alma Thomson was one of the students who performed in the recital. Arthur K. Thomson’s wife Verna (Wall) Thomson was also known to sing at church events. In more recent years, Emma (Bremer) Faulkner sang in the church choir. However, I am sure many others in the family were involved in providing music for the church throughout the years.

Life Events

Funerals

When asking a family member recently about who in the family that had passed had their funeral held at the Palmyra Presbyterian Church, the answer was, “Everyone!” Well, that was an exaggeration, but was on the right track.

Of the charter members, funerals were held in the Palmyra Presbyterian Church for Arthur Reid Thomson and his wife Margaret. It likely that Mary Ronald’s funeral was also held there as she died at their home. However, given that she died before 1900, it is also possible that the funeral was held in the home. William B. Ronald died at York, Nebraska and was buried there.

Over the years, various family members funerals were held at the Palmyra Presbyterian Church. Just a few in the following generation include Arthur Reid and Margaret (Ronald) Thomson’s children: Mary A (Thomson) Orrison, and Herbert James Thomson. Additionally, Flora Marion Bunten, granddaughter of Mary Ronald through Mary’s daughter Jane Ronald and her husband William Bunten had her funeral at the church.

In the next generation, a few whose funerals were held at the church include: George Thomson, Alexander Thomson, and Arthur K Thomson. Funerals of family members continue to occur in later generations. For instance, Sandra (Thomson) Stickney, and Sandra’s grandson Alexander Thomson.

Judge Sharpless Klinefelter’s funeral was held at the church only days after his 100^th birthday party was held there. In addition, there were funerals for those who married into the family. A few of the spouses are: Blanche (Klinefelter) Thomson, Donna (Van Allen) Thomson, Verna (Wall) Thomson, and Kenneth Leith (husband of Virginia Thomson).

Members of the family also served as pall bearers and in other capacities for many other funerals for family, friends, and neighbors.

Marriages & Baptisms

Palmyra Presbyterian Church was also the scene of many happier occasions, such as, marriages and baptisms.

Thomson-Bremer Wedding with parents of the couple

In the early days, many of the marriages were held in the bride’s home. However, over time marriages in the church have become more common. Some of the weddings at Palmyra Presbyterian Church include my husband’s parents: James Thomson and Janice Helm; his sister: Jackie Thomson & Duane Bremer, and his niece: Emma Bremer and Zachary Faulkner. His aunt Rachele also married in the church as did Georgia Faye Thomson, daughter of George and Viola (Lanning) Thomson.

Rachele (Thomson) Newbury’s children Clayton Johnson and Paul Johnson were just two of the many family members baptized in the church.

My husband’s mother’s family, although not living in Palmyra, even had a marriage at the church when Arlin Reuter, a cousin, married Lucy Ann Ikenberry, a local woman, at the church in 1963.

A portion of an article about the 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration of George and Jessie (Bunten) Lanning. Source: Lincoln Journal Star, Feb. 11, 1951.

Other Events & Celebrations

The church was a gathering spot. As such, it was used not only for church events, but also for family and community events. One of most unusual events was a lard making demonstration. That wasn’t something I would expect at a church.

More traditional events that have been held at the church are the 50^th wedding anniversary celebration for George and Jessie (Bunten) Lanning, which was celebrated with 150 people. Their marriage was likely a much smaller event being held at the Bunten homestead in 1901. A reception for my husband and me was even held at the church after we married in my home state.

Birthdays or other family celebrations were also held at the church. Besides Judge Klinefelter’s birthday party, a 65^th birthday and retirement party was held for Janice Thomson in the basement of the church for both family and community members.

Likewise, church functions sometimes took place at one of the Thomson residences. For instance, in 1898, the Sunday School Picnic was held in Arthur Reid Thomson’s grove.

Have info about the Palmyra Presbyterian Church?

If you have information about the history of the Palmyra Presbyterian Church or know of descendants of any of the charter members (especially those not related to this particular family), please share with the 150th Anniversary celebration planning committee. Do so by contacting Jackie Thomson-Bremer. If you don’t have her contact info, contact me.

Charter Members

Mary DeCou

W J Dougall

Emma Dougall

William Dunlap

Jane Dunlap

Robert Dunlap

Moriah McGonigal

Elsie Smith

Mary (Gourley) Ronald

William B. Ronald

Margaret (Ronald) Thomson

Arthur Reid Thomson

Autos of Yesteryear

Posted on July 15, 2024July 16, 2024 by FHadmin

This is a collection of images of cars various families have owned going back into the 1960s and earlier. Not nearly all the cars that were owned are included mainly because many were not photographed. Some cars have interesting stories. For others, I know very little. If you can identify the make and model of any of the cars that aren’t identified, have corrections to the make/model of any cars, or have additional stories about them, please contact me.

Car on Fire

Inez L. Pellett’s car with Elma (Pellett) McCracken, Inez Pellett, and Ruby Pellett

This Chevy was Aunt Inez Pellett’s first car. I remember riding in it and climbing into the backseat as it was a two-door. At some point, Inez decided to get another car, probably to have four doors. So, she negotiated a deal to sell it to Roy Mosley (his wife was the famous Mrs. Mosley, who taught at Hiattville).

Before the transaction had been completed, Dad was doing some work on the car. I am not sure what happened, but there was a fire and the fire department was called. They talked to Dad about what happened and never bothered to ask who owned the car. So, it was reported in the newspaper that Dad’s car had a fire.

When Roy Mosley found out, he called Dad. He offered to let Dad borrow the car he was buying until Dad could get his fixed. Little did he know that he was offering Dad the very car that had a fire.

Family Reunion

Portions of the McCracken family gathered for a family reunion in 1953 at Lincoln Park in Pittsburg, Kansas. Anyone able to name all the people in the photo?

Multiple of their cars can be seen. Not sure where the rest of the cars are hiding.

Thomson Cars

These are old cars at Hebert and Blanche (Klinefelter) Thomson’s farm.

Car Models

Dee (McCracken) Burnam and Ruthe (McCracken) McCarty posing on Dad’s car sometime in the 1950s.

Thomas-Pellett Auto

This was found among my photos from Mom’s family. I assume this is from the Thomas family, but it is possible that it is from the Pellett family.

White Walls

Max and Betty Barton are standing by their “get-away” car when they married. Max’s 1956 Buick had great white walls. And, if you look close you can see the word “married” written on the side of the car. While living at Dave Workman’s farm, which was about a mile from our house, Their kids, Mitzi and Tony, learned to drive in that very car. The year was 1970/71 and the kids were at the ripe old ages of 8/9 and 11/12. According to Mitzi, they learned to drive over the rocks, cactus and rattlesnakes in the drought ridden pasture. Max always planned to fully restore the car, but that never happened. However, Tony’s family still owns the car and perhaps one day they will restore it to its original beauty. (Mitzi [Barton] Hutcherson contributed to this story.)

Suicide Door

Verda (Thomas) Eastwood is standing beside a car with an open suicide door.

1953 Chevy

Rambler

Desoto

1925 Chevy

This is Herbert and Blanche (Klinefelter) Thomson and their family. The photo was taken in 1928 and as you can see their 1925 Chevy was just as much a part of the photo as the family. It really makes you wonder why the photographer didn’t just focus on the family or have the family stand closer to the car.

This was likely taken near Stettler, Alberta, Canada, as the family traveled there in the summer of 1928.

1930 Plymouth

Joe and Nellie (Peelle) McCracken had a 1930 Plymouth when WWII started. This photo would be three or so years earlier. I am assuming that is the car in this photo. If anyone knows differently, please let me know.

The entire family did not often all ride in the car at one time, but it did happen. Of course, I should say, “In or on the car.” As I understand it, Don and Dad rode on the front fenders. Meanwhile, Dewey and Howard rode on the running boards. That left only eight people to squeeze inside, assuming they had no extras.

Another Car Prop

Inez Pellett and I assume her nephew Glen Pellett pose with a car in the 1950s. The front grill looks a bit like it might eat you for lunch.

Wittmer Car

This car is believed to have belonged to the Wittmer family in Rod’s Klinefelter line.

Bumper Test

Great Uncle Dewey C. “Doc” McCracken, his great-nephew Larry Linke, and his nephew Roger McCracken test out the bumper of a car.

Thomson’s Ner-A-Car

Advertizing agency for Ner-A-Car (I don’t know), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

When Judge S. Klinefelter was living in Florida, he sent his grandsons (Alexander, Arthur, Alfred, George, & Reid Thomson) a Ner-A-Car, which is an early motorcycle. The ad describes it as a a two-wheeler and also an auto.

The photograph above shows George Ackermann taking a spin on the Thomson’s Ner-A-Car when Herbert & Blanche were in Stettler, Alberta, Canada.

Dean Thomson came into possession of the family’s Ner-A-Car. In the early 1980’s, he sold it. He told me that he regretted not keeping it.

Car On The Field

Looks like this car is almost on the pitcher’s mound. That adds a bit more excitement when you have to play around a car. Here I thought it was bad enough that they had to try to avoid rocks, cacti, and cow pies when playing cow pasture baseball.

Wedding Day

Attendants at Marvin and Edna (Lobmeyer) Pellett’s wedding in 1948.

Sears Car

This car is thought to be a Sears car approximately 1911 or earlier. The family is thought to be related to the Wittmer family in Rod’s Klinefelter line.

Shift, Dad, Shift

I think that is Don McCracken’s Dodge behind his sons Vance and Sky. The interesting thing about this car isn’t the car itself. Instead, it is Don, the absent-minded professor, and his driving habits. Before the boys were as old as shown in the picture, they learned to remind their dad to shift.

One Ball Team, One Car

Dad is carrying the bats and it looks like the entire team is going to pile into that old convertible (or topless).

Uncle Pat?

I seem to recall Dad saying that this is Uncle Passco “Pat” Peelle with his car. Anyone know for sure?

A Lonesome Car

This car with its white walls is sitting all alone. It is from the Thomas-Pellett collection.

The Passing Of A Storyteller

Posted on June 18, 2024 by FHadmin

Sometimes the timing is just perfect. So, when an upcoming prompt is about a storyteller and a storyteller passes, you are required by the laws of coincidence to write about that person.

A Man of Many Roles

Dean Ackermann Thomson born near Palmyra, Nebraska on September 24, 1940 to Alfred Ackermann and Helen Esther (Caddy) Thomson passed from this life on May 31, 2024. He took each of the roles that he played during his life very seriously. He put energy into being a husband, father, grandfather, etc. Included among his roles was that of family historian and storyteller.

Family History

I am not sure exactly how many notebooks Dean had filled with information related to his and his wife Elida Esther (Angulo) Thomson’s families. However, I do know that they can cover the dining room when all (or at least most) of them are out. Of course, there are also the countless emails and files that I am sure he had. Personally, I have over a thousand email streams with him that I saved. So, I can imagine how many he shared with all the family members and researchers with whom he connected. And, he also had information on ancestry.com.

Dean’s family information, however, did not simply include names, places, and dates. It also included supporting information, stories from family and others in the area, stories he had written of what he believe it would have been like, and more.

Mary Peebles and Rod Thomson standing next to the Hurry/McGinley family plot in the Old Pine Church graveyard during the church’s 250th Anniversary celebration. Something that occurred only because Dean made connections.

Connections

For Dean, part of creating a story was making connections. Some of those came in the form of connecting with other researchers and historians. He also liked to connect researchers with other researchers. Dean often suggested that I contact someone. It could be someone who sent him information, someone whose name was associated with something he had found, or someone with the “right” name. He loved to engage others in researching new (and old) things he found and clearly believed in teamwork to get the job done.

It was his connection to Mary Peebles, a distant cousin that was researching the McGinley and Hurrie/Hurry families, that resulted in Mary and I working together on those family lines. Coincidentally, we found that we lived only five miles or so apart and that made it easy to meet and work on genealogy.

In addition, Dean was in contact with Ronn Shaffer, the historian at Old Pine Church at the time. This led to the opportunity for Rod, Mary, Mary’s husband, and I to attend the 250^th Anniversary celebration for Old Pine Church in Philadelphia, PA. Rod and Mary’s direct ancestors attended this church and are buried in the church graveyard. William Hurrie/Hurry, who is a direct ancestor and who rang the Liberty Bell to signal that the Declaration of Independence had been sign, was also the first sexton of the church. The church has lots of history and family ties. Yet, it likely wouldn’t have happened if Dean hadn’t made the connections.

Looking For the Story

In a similar vein, Dean did not limit his research to recent generations or his direct family line. He didn’t care how long ago the person lived or whether they were a direct ancestor or not. If they had an interesting story, he was interested. He would even look for connections to interesting stories.

For example, over 15 years ago, Dean found a poem titled The Ronalds Of The Bennals. It had been written by Robert Burns in 1780. Of course, he immediately began to wonder if his Ronald family line whose earliest confirmed ancestor is Thomas Ronald of Scotland was related to the family that was the subject of the poem.

He wasn’t sure how to prove the relationship. As far as I know, he never determined if there was a connection or not. The story was still worth relating as it was something that *might be* and he was okay with including the maybes.

Connecting Stories and Events

The other aspect of connecting that created Dean’s stories was connecting stories, events, incidents, and odd facts to people in the family tree. Dean was great at making associations and looking to see if it was possible that something might be true.

We often discussed and sometimes debated whether a story was true or whether a connection was accurate. Sometimes it was a debate about a major and important detail for the family history and other times it was simply trying to iron out the details.

One such discussion occurred over the father of Joshua Brooks, Dean’s 5^th great grandfather. We were looking at various men in the area as the father of Joshua. He was focused on William Brooks who married a woman named Elizabeth. I asked him, “Why William?” His response was “Because William loved Elizabeth?? Because Joshua needs a father? I don’t know.”

Stories

Dean loved to share the facts he found no matter how big or small. If the facts made a story that was even better. He always had his own perspective and shared that with you, too. It was never a bunch of raw facts. That said, he was always quick to let you know and adjust the story if he found information that contradicted his assumptions or a fact from a less reliable source.

Often he would send me an article or a tidbit about a name I had never heard before. Or, sometimes it would simply be “What do you know about some person in a story he had found ?” I found myself more often than not, asking how the person was connected to the family. Then, he would send me more of the story. He usually knew how they fit in the family or had a theory about how they might connect and what the story might mean. It was like he put feelers out to see if there was interest before he went to the trouble of writing up the story.

I believe his story telling was a way for him to verbalize (or write) what he was thinking. It allowed him to better piece things together to create a fuller story. This is also one of the things he loved about traveling or researching locations. It added dimension to the stories and helped him prove his assumptions.

Publications

Source: Local newspaper, unknown issue and date.

Besides stories that he shared or added to his genealogy records, Dean wrote or co-wrote a booklet on the Thomson family, a booklet on the Caddy family (his mom’s side), and the book Ring Papa Ring!: The Story of an American Family.

Dean would have liked to have co-authored at least one other book. Last summer, he messaged me telling me to drop everything and write a book about Arthur Reid Thomson. He thought the story could cover him being an orphan, immigrating to Canada and then to the United States. His history as a woodsman, carpenter, farmer, and pioneer, he believed would all add together to make a good story and that he felt it really needed to be told. Dean suggested that I “tear apart all the family stories we have and weave a good true tale.” He thought he could assist with the details. He felt it could be done in six months if we focused solely on it. I am not sure what spawned the request, but within a short time he told me to never mind.

It makes me wonder how many other people may have gotten a similar request. Dean really, really wanted the stories and the history preserved.

Influence

Dean clearly made an impression on his children and grandchildren with his storytelling and love of history. Whether it is genetic or his day-to-day influence isn’t clear. I am sure a case can be made for both. I know that he wanted everyone to love the stories just as much as he did. It wasn’t just researching the family that became his legacy . . . It was telling the stories to anyone and everyone that would listen.

And, Now . . .

Dean has left several us to continue on with the family research. My last email from him was only 10 days before he passed. He just couldn’t let genealogy go even when he was being called home. Now, what is he doing?

Well, the pastor officiating my mom’s service nearly 20 years ago gave me a perspective on the afterlife that was different than any I had encountered. He said that she not only was with her loved ones who had passed, but also that she was doing what she loved most while living.

When I consider who Dean is with and what he is doing, I know that he is with his wife Elida, who was truly the love of his life. That showed as he beamed when he spoke of her. He is also visiting and reminiscing with other members of his close family. But guaranteed, he is finding time to look up his ancestors and all the branches out from his direct line. He is intently listening to their stories. If his version of their life differs from the story as they tell it, he is likely sharing his version of their life story while smiling and laughing at the truths that had escaped.