#52Ancestors, Week 39: Surprise! We're related! ...Again.

Initially, Cuzzin Heather and I met through our Pearson connection.  Her great great great grandmother was Elizabeth (Pearson) Chamberlain, and my great great grandfather was George William Pearson.  Their parents were Joseph Allen Pearson and Nancy Ann (Fields) Pearson, which makes Heather and I *checks notes* 4th cousins, once removed.

Together (and separately), we combed the records of Pulaski, Alexander, and occasionally Union County, Illinois.  Anything one of us found on the Pearson line would be of help to the other.  Frequently, we would help each other out even when it came to non-Pearson relations (or so we thought).  I don't remember exactly how we discovered our double connection, but I believe it had to do with my great great great grandmother, Ann Elizabeth (Echols) Green Pearson, and went something like this:

I was researching Ann's first husband, Thomas Green.  I wasn't getting very far with him - with a surname like Green, that's not surprising - so I enlisted Heather's assistance.  Would she, I asked, help me look for a divorce record for Ann and Thomas?  Naturally, she inquired as to the maiden name of his wife. "Ann Elizabeth Echols," I typed.  And then I watched as those three little dots indicated Heather was typing a reply.  "Echols?" she responded. "I have one of those!"

What my lovely Cuzzin Rachel didn’t include in the above becomes my segue into this week’s post. I am also descended from Mary Jane Pearson, slightly younger 1st cousin of Elizabeth, and the daughter of Joseph’s brother Benjamin.

Mary Jane appears to have come to Illinois with her father shortly after her step-mother’s death in Virginia. Once in Illinois, Benjamin married Ann Elizabeth Echols (see above), and Mary Jane married William Alexander Hughes a few weeks before Christmas, in a double wedding ceremony with John W. Pearson and Emma Kate Green (John and Mary Jane were siblings, and Emma Kate was Ann Elizabeth's daughter). Yes, John was marrying his new step-sister. Not that uncommon, at all. Is your head spinning yet?  It gets even more entangled, because Mary Jane Person Hughes’ brand new mother-in-law was Martha Echols Hughes, cousin to Ann Elizabeth!

I believe that after these discoveries came the Christmas that Cuzzin Rachel made me a laminated diagram showing our relationship to one another - we have joked that we need to divide “4th cousin” in half. Going back one additional generation, Martha’s father (John) and Ann’s grandfather (Jesse) are brothers and very early settlers of Illinois, a third brother involved in the early politics of the Southern Illinois counties. We are reasonably certain that these brothers descend from a family in Georgia with some very well-documented history, but we haven't (yet) been able to attach Jesse or John to the appropriate parents.

The frequent intermarrying of southern Illinois families makes it quite possible that we may find we are related in more ways than these two!  We'll be sure to keep you posted.  In the meantime, click to read more about some of the key players in this story: Thomas Green and George William Pearson, Joseph and Benjamin Pearson, Nancy Ann Fields, and Ann Elizabeth Echols.

#52Ancestors #Week38 - Lillie Faces Adversity

My Great Aunt Lillie was named after her father's surviving sister, who lived in Indiana, unlikely to ever have met one another. Since I've discovered through DNA that Gramps was not the biological son of the man who raised him, I've wondered the same about his sister, who was closest to his own age. In fact, the actual dates of their birth are suspect, as they are recorded in various records as follows:

Clyde, born October 1903 in Illinois

Lillie, born January 1904 in Illinois.

What I suspect isx more likely, since the siblings are enumerated as age 18 and age 16 in the 1920 Census, is that Lillie was likely born in January 1905, making her 15.  Everyone else in the family is listed with an incorrect age that year asa well, so this actually makes the most sense.

In 1920, she is the youngest in the household of her parents, with 2 older brothers and she has not attended school in the past year, nor is she working. 

She was born to parents who appear to have been quite religious later in life but Lillie was 3 months pregnant when she married James Hollis Chandler in Kennett, Missouri, and lived there long enough to deliver her two eldest children. Her daughter was named for her grandmother Chamberlain and Lillie's new sister in-law, Hazel, and two years later she named her son Arthur Lee.  He was called Lee all his life, which was both his grandmother's middle name and the name of another Chamberlain uncle assumed to have died in childhood, as there is no trace of him after age 2 (1900 Census). The Chandler's 4rd child, also a son, was unnamed and only lived 12 hours. He is likely buried near his Grandmother Chandler in Bethlehem Cemetery near Whiteville, Tennessee.

Between Albert Lee's birth in 1928 and the 1940 Census (which places the family in rural Hardeman County, Tennessee in 1935) there is no sign of the Chandler family except for a very small news clipping from August 1934. It seems the Hollis (then age 36) and a neighbor, Ben Deaton (age 28) had a dispute about the incoming corn crop, corn that Hollis may have been tending, but the land he lived on was rented from the Deatons. Ben pulled a knife, and Hollis shot Ben. Hollis was held in the county jail, and Lillie was home with the children, knowing that Ben's widow was about to give birth (a son was born to Mrs. Deaton 3 weeks after her husband's death). That area of Hardeman County remains very rural, and it isn't difficult to imagine both families attending the same church. Hollis was bound over for trial just over a year after the event. He may have been home at some point during that year, but I can't fathom how he might have secured bond, or how Lillie would have supported herself and three children alone. Adding to the list of her woes, this was the middle of the Great Depression, in the South!

Hollis Chandler was known to have been married two other times in addition to Lillie, also possibly having a common law marriage, possibly without divorcing Lillie. Family stories paint him as a ne'er do well who frequently lived with his daughter. He had fathered 2 other children with his 1st wife, and possibly one other daughter later in life. In 1940, he is with Lillie and their children and working in "private business" as a wood peddler. No one in the household is listed as having more than a handful of years of education. To say that Lillie had "inconsistency" in her life would have been an understatement. 

During World War II, surely Lillie would have been more than thankful that her oldest son was too young to serve, but also could have badly used the money he might have send home. Flossie had begun to work as a waitress, and appears to have continued to live at home well into her 30's. When he reached maturity, Lee went north to Wisconsin and stayed with his Uncle Clyde and Aunt Hazel. Lee married and remained in Wisconsin.

Also during the war, Albert and Florence Chamberlain left their land in Barry County, Missouri and moved in to Lillie's home in Jackson, Tennessee. Lillie now had elderly parents, an adult daughter, a son far away, 4 other young children (the youngest an infant) and a husband who seems to have come and gone. Her parents didn't live with them long. Albert was out for his evening walk and was struck by a train (I wish I were joking), and Florence passed away two years later. With the death of their parents, CLyde made his only known trip to Tennessee. Without knowing how brother and sister got along, I hope their reunion brought each of them some pleasure at a sad time. 

In 1955, the Chandlers received a tax easement / eminent domain on .04 acres. Based on where they are known to have lived, this could have been for street improvements at what was rapidly becoming "in town" versus the edge of town. I hope eminent domain portion of this transaction benefitted the family.

In 1962, Lillie became ill with cancer and passed away in June 1963 at age 60. She had a handful of grandchildren, and her funeral was a religious one. I don't have any photos that include Lillie, and efforts to reach her grandchildren have been less than successful. 

#52Ancestors #Week37 - Prosperity is Where You Find It

Joyce, Bud, Polly, Mary and Catherine 
My Great Grandparents were certainly prosperous in family - within 7 Years of marriage, they had produced 5 children, Gramps had built the family a brand-new house, and the rest of Gram's family from Missouri had just moved in down the block. I believe that house was also built by Gramps and his brother in law.

In 1930, that little house on what (then) was the edge of the city was valued at a whopping $1500 (today's $27,500, which will scarcely buy a car anymore, let alone a house). I spent some time in that house as a child, and it wasn't a matchbox, but the kitchen certainly was no more than a handful of square feet. Gramps and Grams lived there for more than 50 years and took in both extended family over the years and added on and moved in their daughter's family. To say that their family bond was tight would be minimizing their bond. My grandmother was the oldest of the five sisters, and they were called (or called themselves) "The Dolls of Dahle Street" and their brothers were adored and adoring. Certainly, none of them were perfect or lived a life of perfection, but to be among them, any of them, was to be loved.

My Grandmother often told stories of lean times, about how the living room was bare when she was a child, about how the only furniture was the pot-bellied stove, even about a fire at home when she was 9 that burned the Christmas presents. But she also talked about his parents and siblings with affection, about her aunt and grandmother with longing, and added stories and anecdotes about stringing popcorn, singing songs like "You Are My Sunshine" and "How Much is That Doggy in the Window." I've learned about pulling taffy at home, and about how Uncle Harry raised rabbits in the yard.

An actual quote, that Gramma said to me many, many times (I was extraordinarily blessed, I had her until I was 50!) was this "We may not have had any money, but we had each other."  It was an excellent lesson. Because Grandma had been wealthy, so am I.

#52Ancestors, Week 38: Adversity

I don't think anyone goes through life without facing adversity of one kind or another.  I have already written a fair number of blog posts about ancestors who have suffered significant misfortunes.  Horace overcame the greatest adversity when he had to adjust to a life without legs.  Obviously, there is no need to write about him again, but perhaps we can take a look at Horace's sister, Cora.  She hasn't seen any time on my blog yet.

Cora was born September 28, 1887, in Pulaski County, Illinois.  She married Bailey Harrell Arter in September 1908, and they moved up near Chicago not long after. Cora's first child, Nellie Ruth, was born in 1909, and two sons, Charles Pearson and Bailey Harrell, followed in 1911 and 1913.  Up to this point, any adversity Cora had faced was likely fairly typical.  Even the death of her mother on March 13, 1917, is something she would have expected to encounter.  Based on newspaper clippings, Cora made the trip downstate to attend her mother's funeral which occurred on March 14th.

The Cairo Bulletin - 15 March 1917

By May of 1917, though, an unforeseen adversity arrived in the form of scarlet fever, a bacterial childhood illness most common in those 5-15 years old.  Both Charles and Bailey were diagnosed with it on May 19th. Neither the vaccine nor antibiotics would be available until the mid-1920s.  As a result, the boys likely suffered from fever, chills, headaches, and vomiting, and there was little that Cora would have been able to do to help. Charles lost his battle on May 21st, and two days later on May 23rd, Bailey also succumbed to the disease.

Cora was left with only her oldest child, Nellie.  Even though Cora was young at 29, she didn't have any more children.  I can only imagine the hole left in her life after the deaths, in rapid succession, of her mother and her two sons, Charles and Bailey.  I have little additional information on Cora beyond her death in 1945, so it's unknown how she handled this adversity, but it's certainly one no parent expects to face.

#52Ancestors, Week 37: What is Prosperity?

I have been pondering this prompt for the better part of a week.  How does one determine prosperity?  If I wanted to be boring, I could give you the dictionary definition: a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition, especially in financial respects; good fortune.  But what does that actually mean?  Flourishing or thriving for someone who has lived his/her life in poverty is probably easily defined - food on the table, clothes to wear, and a roof overhead.  However, this certainly wouldn't be prosperity for someone used to caviar and champagne.  I guess if I had to offer my own definition for prosperity, it would be just one word - comfort.  

Is your home large enough to house all occupants?  Do you never worry where you're going to get your next meal?  Are your children appropriately attired for all seasons?  When an appliance breaks, is it merely an unfortunate inconvenience and not a major financial crisis?  At the end of a hard day's work, can you forget your worries for a few hours, and spend some well-earned time with your healthy family?  Essentially, are you comfortable? If you can answer yes to these, I think it's safe to say you're prosperous.  That's my definition, at any rate, and I feel like Thomas (1783-1870) and Elizabeth (1788-1881) Pearson and family are prime examples.

Thomas and Elizabeth Pearson's family were mostly Virginian farmers, and thanks to some well-preserved letters, we see how they determined prosperity in the early 19th century.  In one of the earliest preserved letters (1835) from Thomas and Elizabeth to daughter, Nancy Ballard, the parents suggest, "Come to the country and winter with us if you can.  The cholera has never been nearer than Lynchburg for certain."  It seems the parents are comfortably situated and would like nothing better than to have Nancy's family visit for the winter.  Also, they make sure to tell Nancy that the cholera has not reached their area.  Later, in an 1849 letter, Thomas and Elizabeth open another letter to Nancy by saying, "I write you a few lines we are all well at present hoping that you and your family are enjoying the same blessing."  Being "well" or healthy was indicative of prosperity.  Those without regular food or shelter were rarely in good health.  Almost all letters between the Pearson family members open with some variation of the assertion of good health and a hope of similar blessings on the receiving end.

Another 1849 letter from Peyton Pearson (Thomas and Elizabeth's son) to sister Nancy asserts, "I have 20 hogs in the pen...30 outhogs and 25 head of sheep...and 900 acres of land that I have a good right to and I don't owe a cent for it...my children, Thomas Peter was about 18 years old the 5th of this month...Martha Elizabeth was 16 years old 2nd of September last, and Katherine Mary is 11 years old last May."  Prosperous, indeed! It sounds like Peyton has a fine collection of livestock and plenty of property to house them.  This means more than enough food for his family, and he'll receive money from the stock he can sell. Moreover, he doesn't owe anything on his land, and most importantly, he has healthy children who stand to inherit his property and wealth.

Nancy and Aaron Ballard receive similar news from Nancy's youngest brother, Benjamin, in 1853.  He has just moved to Nicholas, Virginia, and he writes, "I have purchased 300 acres of land...with about 40 acres of improvements with a good comfortable dwelling."  Benjamin is prosperous enough to purchase significant acreage and a 'comfortable dwelling.' It would seem he and I have similar ideas about what prosperity means.

Finally, if you've read our previous post on Benjamin and Joseph Pearson, you know that Joseph moved to Illinois before the Civil War to seek out his own version of prosperity - presumably in a place less tenuously situated than his home state of Virginia.  When he found it in the comparative safety of southern Illinois, he encouraged Benjamin to join him.  Not only that, but in an 1870 letter to Nancy, he suggests his niece send a likeness of herself because he has "a charming beau picked out for her. His name is Henry Coble...very good looking amiable and of the best young fellows in the world...he has bought [a] 40 acre track joining mine." Joseph tries his hardest to spread his prosperity to his nearest and dearest. 

So, there you have it.  The Pearsons enjoyed comparatively good health, were financially sound (though by no means rich), and were able to enjoy the company of their families.  By my definition, they were awash in prosperity!

All quoted letters from:

Cash, James B. Letters to Raintree County, Virtualbookworm.com Publishing, 2010.

#52Ancestors #Week36 - Tradesmen

*stone wall, Derbyshire

I had to dig a little sideways for some tradesman, for as I stated to an acquaintance earlier this week, I come from sturdy farm stock, as probably greater than 90% of my forebears worked their own or someone else's farm for a living.  There are noted exceptions in my Dutch great-grandfather's line - they were shoemakers, both of traditional shoes and wooden klompen.

Back to my Gramps Clyde Chamberlain's birthplace and his biological father: Harry Edgar Coleson, unacknowledged father of Clyde, was also a farmer, however his father Lester (who somehow appears not to have stuck around to know or raise his son, certainly not past infancy) did work in the trades for some time.  The 1880 census lists him as "working in the hinge works" in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, which is not terribly far from Pittsburgh. This record is difficult to read. Later he is employed as a foreman (factory supervisor, perhaps?) at the streetcar company, and even later at the same streetcar company as "watchman, age 79!

His father, Ulysses Coleson, is enumerated in both 1850 and 1860 (Pennsylvania and Illinois, respectively) as a stone mason in construction. Stonemasonry is one of the oldest professions, stonework comprising the most ancient of structures. As the 4th son of his parents, though his father in turn was far from wealthy, he may have needed to learn a trade to support himself, as he wouldn't have been the primary inheritor of his family's farmland or finances under traditional inheritance practices of the day. 

I certainly haven't researched this branch of my family nearly as thoroughly as I need to (as covered in previous posts, the Colesons were something of a surprise), but now I have a reason to be more curious. Perhaps stone masonry was something handed down through the generations.  Before Ulysses were Thomas, then Samuel, and before that Thomas John Coleson from Derbyshire. Wouldn't it be wonderful to discover a medieval stone structure in ENgland built by a forebear?

#52Ancestors, Week 36: Working a Trade

Once again, I have fallen behind.  Who would have thought the start of the school year would have set me back?! 😏  For the week of Labor Day, our challenge was to consider those who worked in the trades.  Honestly, I wasn't sure what all that encompassed, so I went to everyone's best friend - Google. "A skilled trade is any occupation that requires a particular skill set, knowledge, or ability. It is usually a hands-on job."  Based on this definition, I would argue most men of older generations would be considered tradesmen.  For this post, I thought I would focus on 3 generations of men all born in the 1800s: Thomas J. Green, George William Pearson, and Horace Irwin Pearson.  These men were all related to each other, but their trades were very different.  

Thomas J. Green (1827-1898) was a blacksmith.  Knowing this helped me to follow him through 2 marriages and identify him in Civil War records.  The 1860 census was the first documentation I found that indicated Thomas was a blacksmith. Interestingly, "by 1860, the United States census recorded 7,504 blacksmith workshops and 15,720 workers employed within them. It also listed blacksmithing as the fourth most popular trade after lumber milling, flour milling, and shoemaking."  Thomas had chosen a popular profession. Blacksmithing was particularly important in the mid-1800s because blacksmiths produced nails (at the breakneck speed of approximately one per minute).  Unlike today's commercially produced nails, these nails were quite expensive.

Thomas utilized his trade during his time in the Civil War where he served as a blacksmith in the 11th Illinois Infantry.  Unfortunately, his Civil War pension file seems to indicate Thomas suffered damage to his eyes as a result of his trade.  An acquaintance of his, William Richardson, related the following: "[Thomas's] eyes looked weak and red.  He was shoeing horses and mules for the train...they discharged him from the train because he could not see to work...He always had shoeing...after night."  Described as a strong, healthy man before his enlistment, working long hours around a hot fire late into the night eventually took its toll. His first wife, Ann Echols, recounted that he returned from the war a changed man, and this is what ultimately lead to their divorce in 1869.

After his divorce from Ann and marriage to Harriet Youngblood, Thomas still listed himself as a blacksmith on the 1870 and 1880 censuses.  If I had to guess, I would say he shod horses and worked on plows and other farming implements in rural Union County, Illinois. I don't know what effect his war-time injuries had on his ability to earn a living.  I only know that, in 1879, he applied for a pension on the grounds of disability, and that pension was eventually granted.  (It might also be worth mentioning that, by this time, industrialization and mechanization had caused a fall-off in the popularity of the blacksmith trade.)

Thomas's son-in-law, George William Pearson (1858-1927), worked on the railroad. The railroad was a popular trade in George's area due to the Illinois Central railroad that ran from Chicago to Cairo, Illinois.  The trade seemed to be ever-evolving.  With every census, George was employed by the railroad, but the job description was always different.  In 1900, he was simply listed as a railroad laborer.  Perhaps he started out building railroads and worked his way up to a more specialized position?  By 1910, he was a loan inspector of railroad goods.  In 1920, he was a car repairer on the railroad.  This is also the occupation listed in the Deaths and Stillbirths Index.  Regardless of the position, "I've Been Working on the Railroad" would have been an appropriate song for George.  Unfortunately, it is likely his line of work led to his youngest son's accident in 1903. 

George's son, Horace Irwin Pearson (1894-1941), lost both his legs in a railroad accident. There is no way of knowing exactly what transpired, but the accident happened near Mounds where George was employed by the Illinois Central railroad.  It seems reasonable to assume Horace was on the way to visit his father.  Whether or not this was the case, Horace probably would have felt comfortable around the railroad, and perhaps this false sense of security led to his tumble from the freight train.

What trade is available to a double-amputee?  Door-to-door salesman doesn't immediately come to mind, but that is how Horace ended up supporting himself. Some might argue that a door-to-door salesman doesn't qualify as a tradesman.  What training do you need?  Is it really necessary to have knowledge or ability?  Perhaps you don't need training, but I would argue the other two are necessary.  Horace would have needed knowledge of his products and also knowledge of his clientele.  As far as ability, he had to be able to convince people they needed his products if he hoped to make a sale.

In 1910, Horace was still living at home with no listed occupation.  I have been unable to locate a 1920 census for him, but I am hopeful that I will eventually be able to make a positive identification by matching him to his line of work.  In 1930, Horace is listed as a canvasser of notions.  A quick search of 'notions' suggests he might have been selling tools necessary for sewing.  By the time of his death in 1941, an article concerning his demise said he sold pencils, shoe strings, and other miscellaneous items, and that he got around by using a platform mounted on roller skates.

From blacksmithing to railroads to selling items door-to-door, these men plied a trade in order to support themselves/their families - an admirable trait at any point in history.

Sources:

1. "The Life of a Blacksmith in the 1800s," Working the Flame, workingtheflame.com/blacksmith-life-1800s/. Accessed 10 Sep. 2023.

2. "Illinois Central Railroad," SCRC Virtual Museum at Southern Illinois University's Morris Library, scrcexhibits.omeka.net/exhibits/show/sihistory/poststatehood/icrr. Accessed 10 Sep. 2023.