(Not a) Nickname

When I was researching my Pearsons in Pulaski County, Illinois, I ran into many issues with what people were named vs. how they identified themselves/how other people referred to them.  For example, my great great grandmother was Emma Katherine.  However, depending on the document, she was E.K., Emma K., Kate E., Catherine, and a plethora of other derivations/variations of her first and middle names.  The same went for her children.  Peyton Eric was usually Eric or P.E., and Daniel Benton was often Ben, sometimes D.B. - and once, Benjamin. Thus, I assumed naming/nicknaming conventions would be similar for Emma's daughter, Nettie M.  

Nettie has been the topic of many posts on this blog, and I doubt this will be the last time she is mentioned.  Well, I looked at the name 'Nettie' and thought, "I highly doubt that's her given name.  I bet it's a nickname for something."  But what?  The internet offered more possibilities than I was expecting. Antoinette, Nanette, Annette, and Jeannette were the most popular suggestions, and I tried all of them and more while looking for Nettie's 1920 census.  I still haven't found it... 

Similarly, I wondered if I might find her under her middle name as was typical of her brothers, Ben and Eric, and sometimes her mother, Kate.  Unfortunately, I had only the middle initial to go on.  Fortunately, it was an 'M,' and I thought to myself that it was very likely that her middle name was Marie.  Oh, how foolish of me to think the simplest answer was the correct answer.  Searching for Marie N. and other such combinations yielded just as little as trying recognized names that typically used Nettie as a nickname.

A few months ago, after much fruitless searching in all other areas, Cuzzin Heather decided to try her luck by requesting the death certificate for one 'Nettie Miller' who had died in Illinois in 1968. It was possible it was "my" Nettie, even though Walter Miller was only her 3rd (possibly 4th) husband, and there were at least two more after him. Imagine my surprise when the following arrived: 

Son: Joseph Miller ✅

Parents: George Pearson and Catherine Green ✅

Legal name: Nettie...Mabel???

Nowhere in this line or any other connected to it have I found another Mabel.

So, in the end, I learned at least two valuable lessons.

1. Don't assume that naming/nicknaming conventions apply to everyone in a given family.  

2. Occam's Razor apparently doesn't apply to genealogy.

Oh, and 3, don't assume government records are most likely to be correct.  The SSDI indicated Nettie's date of death was June 15th, but that was actually the date she was buried.

Long story short - Nettie was NOT her nickname.

2024 #52Ancestors, Week 29: Automobiles

Ah, the automobile.  We use it for mundane tasks like driving to work, hauling landscaping materials, and toting groceries.  Today, though, I'd like to declare my appreciation for this fine piece of technology that allows me to visit ancestral places with relative ease.  Without an automobile, how likely is it that I would have visited West Virginia and the spot where Colonel John Field lost his life?  Not likely!  Or the cemetery with the monument to the now non-existent town of Wilmington, Kentucky - a place where John Field purchased land with the hope of residing in the new county seat?  Nope, probably wouldn't have made the trek to visit that place either.  Over the last several years, I have enlisted the trusty family steed to take me to various areas of genealogical importance, so today, I pay homage to...the automobile.

In August of 2014, my sister's automobile took us to Pulaski County, Illinois.  Here, I learned where my ggg grandparents were buried and was able to visit the stone of my gg grandparents.  G.W.'s missing date of death has since been rectified.

Then I took a long hiatus from lengthy travels because I became a mom, but in July of 2022, I was back in the driver's seat to southern Illinois.  This time, we were on the hunt for another ggg grandparent, Thomas Green (the above Emma K.'s father).  We found him in Anna Cemetery.

I have visited Thomas one other time since then. 

The next month, I drove across the Ohio River to make the aforementioned trip to Kentucky to locate a cemetery with a couple amusing headstones.

It was in this town that John Field (my 4x great grandfather), purchased 3 lots of land in January 1827 with the intention of building in what was supposed to be the McCracken County Seat. I doubt it happened. When Wilmington flooded in 1832, only a jail, courthouse, and six houses had been completed.  Now, there is no Wilmington - just a couple of commemorative monuments in Wilmington Road Cemetery.

In June of 2023, I took my brand new automobile to Minnesota.  This time, though, I wasn't looking for a dead person.  I was visiting my "Cuzzin Heather" in person for the first time.  This was the only genealogy-related trip for last summer, but it was well worth the drive!

In June of this year, we took a whirlwind road trip through the states of Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky.  While in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, my daughter and husband were anxious to visit the Mothman statue and museum, but I had genealogy on the brain.  Just down the road from the cryptid tourist traps was Tu-Endie-Wei State Park, a sort of cemetery/historical marker for the Battle of Point Pleasant that occurred in 1774.  At this battle, sometimes recognized as the first of the Revolutionary War, my ancestor, Colonel John Field, died.  He was buried with other soldiers of rank at The Magazine.

Just a few days ago, we returned from a trip to southern Missouri.  For the first time, I was able to visit Hayti - the place where Great Uncle Horace perished.

The site of the former Keystone Building which was partially destroyed by a fire in 1941.  Horace and Commissioner Houston H. Buckley died in the fire.

And then, I went to visit Horace's final resting place.  It took some sleuthing and posting in various Facebook groups, but I was able to determine where the now-defunct cemetery is located.

County Poor Farm #2 was/is located just off the intersection of 412 and Highway Z next to the Pemiscot County Special School District administrative building.  The district superintendent was outside when I pulled up, and he gave me permission to walk the empty field.  I said a few words, left a note and some flowers, and felt a great sense of peace at finally being able to "Find Horace."  Thank you, automobiles, for your assistance.

2024 #52Ancestors, Week 28: Trains

Trains?!  Trains, you say?!  Well, my family has a long, proud history of being involved with the railroad - thought not necessarily in a positive way.  The inspiration for this blog, Horace Pearson, lost both of his legs (completely - they were amputated just below the hips) in a train accident when he was 8 eight years old.  His father, my great great grandfather, worked for the Illinois Central Round House in Mounds, Illinois.  He managed to keep all of his limbs.

Horace's sister, Nettie Pearson, married a man by the name of Roy Hudson.  She married a lot of men, but I digress...  Nettie and Roy were married in Caruthersville, Missouri, in November of 1915.  Not long after, in January of 1916, Roy (after evidently having a bit too much to drink) attempted to hitch a ride on a northbound Frisco train.  All he accomplished was losing his leg.  The amputation occurred just below the knee.

The Democrat Argus, 11 Jan. 1916, p. 1.

On the other side of my mother's family, Nils Wedberg also ended up under a train.  He lost one leg at the knee, but he was able to get a prosthetic.  Believe it or not, he lost the prosthetic in another train-related accident.  

You have to keep a sense of humor about these things, though.  I've now made it a point to take a picture under any train that isn't in danger of moving.

Me, in Paducah, Kentucky, by the Flood Wall Murals

Heather (who also has her fair share of train-severed limbs) and I in Duluth, Minnesota, at the Duluth Scenic Railway Museum

2024 #52Ancestors, Week 23: Health

Back to the Pearsons for this week.  Let's talk about heart problems.

William Pearson and family (spouse and children) all died from various heart ailments.  While William and his wife, Flora, lived into their seventies, their children were not as fortunate.

William, who died at 76 (roughly - his date of birth varies from 1878-1883), died from arteriosclerosis, commonly described as the hardening of the arteries.  Considering that he died in 1960, and the average life expectancy in the United States was 76 years in 2021, William had a pretty good run. 

His wife, Flora (Deven) Pearson, died at 70 from anteroseptal myocardial infarction (ASMI).  Contributing factors included a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) and a superior mesenteric artery (SMA) embolism.  For you non-medical people (of which I'm one), let me try to break that down.  ASMI is a type of heart attack commonly caused by the rupturing of plaque in the arteries.  CVA is a disruption of blood flow to the brain - a stroke.  An SMA embolism is when a clot breaks free of the heart, and the blockage cuts off blood flow to part of the intestine.  So, it sounds like some plaque broke loose in Flora's arteries.  The traveling plaque caused a heart attack, a stroke, and impaired blood flow to the intestines.

That's a lot of heart issues for two people, and unfortunately, heart problems are often hereditary.  In fact, Flora's mother died from mitral regurgitation (MR) - a heart valve disease, and Flora's father died from chronic myocarditis. William and Flora proved that heart problems don't necessarily mean an abbreviated lifespan, but that would not be the case for Dolores and Theodore, their children, neither one of which lived past the age of 17.

Dolores died in 1928 of chronic endocarditis and myocarditis (sound familiar?).  Basically, she suffered from inflammation of the heart.  Genetics can play a role in endocarditis, and looking at her parents' (and grandparents') death certificates, it seems likely this was the case for Dolores. She was just 16 when she died.

Her brother, Theodore, died in 1930 from acute endocarditis.  Whereas Dolores's ailment was chronic, Theodore experienced a sudden onset of heart inflammation.  It's difficult to read the handwriting, but it looks like Theodore was first seen for this illness on April 26th, and he died on May 8th, aged 17.

As previously stated, I do not work in the medical field, so if I got any of this wrong, please let me know!

2024 #52Ancestors, Week 18: Love, Marriage, and Divorce

Something that you hear frequently is that "divorces just weren't that common back in the day."  As I have researched various family lines, I have found this to be distinctly untrue.  I tried to come up with a unique spin for Week 18's Love and Marriage prompt, but it just seems to make the most sense to link to some of my previous posts where love leads to marriage...and then to divorce.

Nettie M. Pearson (divorced in approximately 1915, 1916, 1917, 1933, 1939, and 1945)
Nettie wins the prize for marriages/divorces with a grand total of six husbands. The link above only mentions five of them, but I have recently uncovered a marriage to Ansel Gus Hursey in May of 1917. This brief marriage occurs between her marriages to Roy Hudson and Walter Miller. While I do not have divorce documentation for each marriage, I do have divorce dates for "The Two Walters." I also know that none of these marriages ended due to the death of the husband.

Jennie Grace Terpinitz (divorced in 1936 and 1941)

Jennie was a highly educated and independent woman, but she was married three times and divorced at least twice. As I don't know what happened to her after she returned from World War II, it is possible her third marriage ended in divorce as well.

Dora Isabelle Green (divorced in approximately 1882 and again before 1895)
This sister to my great great grandmother was married and divorced twice, and her third marriage ended with the death of her husband.

Ann Elizabeth Echols (divorced in 1869)
My great great great grandmother is my earliest documented divorce. She and Thomas Green divorced in 1869 after she could no longer handle the changes in his personality caused by his Civil War service.

And if you're looking for a divorce record, I recommend checking out Dade County, Florida.

2024 #52Ancestors, Week 17: Revolutionary War

Before reading this post, you might want to take a look at some other war-related posts on this blog:

2023 #52Ancestors, Week 45: War and Peace 

GGG Grandfather Thomas Green fought in the Civil War.

Nobody Knows About Jennie Grace (Terpinitz) Lambert Amey Johnson

Thomas Green's granddaughter enlisted in the WACS during WWII.

For one of last year's #52Ancestors posts, I wrote about the longevity of the name Thomas Pearson.  One of the Thomas Pearsons in question fought in the Revolutionary War.  This particular Thomas Pearson, my GGGGG grandfather (and son of my GGGGGG grandfather, also Thomas Pearson) was born in Yorkshire, England, but records indicate that he emigrated from England in 1774, and by 1776 he was fighting for his new country's freedom. 

Pearson was at the Battle of Waxhaws, also known as Buford's Massacre.  Here, Buford's 3rd Virginia Detachment (somewhere between 350-380 Virginians) was decimated by Banastre Tarleton's forces.  It was not much of a battle with the Patriots managing only a single volley before they were overcome by the British troops.  Survivors of the battle also reported that the British even massacred men who were in the act of surrendering.  Casualties (including killed, wounded, and missing/captured) totaled 316 for the Patriots.  The British lost only 17.  Thomas Pearson was among the wounded and was also captured.  On one Sons of the American Revolution Membership Application, it states, "Prisoner till May, 1783.  Thomas Pearson received 13 wounds; this and imprisonment brought on temporary derangement."

Thomas Pearson's last pension affidavit (November 1834) reads as follows: "Whereas it is represented to the General Assembly, that Thos Pearson, a soldier in the revolutionary war, belonging to the VA Line on continental establishment, and attached to the regiment commanded by Col. Abraham Buford, received  in an action with the British troops, fought in SC in the month of May 1780, sundry wounds in his head and arms, which have rendered him, in his present advanced stage of life, (being sixty two years of age.) incapable of maintaining himself by labour."  Thomas Pearson died 29 September 1835.

Sources:

"Buford's Massacre Site," South Carolina Department of Archives and History, www.nationalregister.sc.gov/lancaster/S10817729019/index.htm.  Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.

"Waxhaws," Battlefields.org, American Battlefield Trust, www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/waxhaws. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.

#52Ancestors, Week 50: You Wouldn't Believe It

I feel like I've written any number of posts that might fall under this particular theme.  When trying to describe the stories of Horace and Nettie to one of my students, he stared unbelievingly at me and said, "That is literally stranger than fiction." 😆  I can't say as I disagree with his assessment.

One phenomenon that I found particularly surprising when researching the Pearsons of Pulaski County was how common divorces actually were.  Nowadays, people like to say "divorces didn't happen back then like they do today," but I am here to tell you that's not true. 

Let's take my great great great grandmother, Ann (Echols) Green Pearson, for instance.  In 1869, she divorced my great great great grandfather, Thomas Green.  In Thomas's Civil War pension paperwork, there is an affidavit from Ann that reads, in part, "After he came from the army, he got to drinking pretty hard, and that is the reason we separated."  A quick search on divorce laws in Illinois revealed that Illinois passed its first divorce laws in 1819 and that Abraham Lincoln frequently represented divorce litigants!  Aside from the typical grounds for divorce (cruelty, adultery, and abandonment), habitual drunkenness was also considered an acceptable reason to file.  It is interesting to note that, unlike other states, Illinois granted divorces to women and frequently awarded them custody of minor children.  In the 1870 census, Ann listed her daughters, Emma Kate and Dora, as living with her.  Thomas listed Dora as living with him, so it's uncertain what the custody agreement was.

Ann's case and reasoning seems fairly cut and dry, but let's take a look at her daughter, Emma Kate.  Emma Kate, born in 1855, married her step-brother, John Winston Pearson, in 1874.  Based on their children's birth places, it seems that John and Emma Kate went to Virginia at the beginning of their marriage (John's father was a native Virginian).  By the mid-century, Virginia's divorce laws were becoming more liberal. Starting in 1853, grounds for absolute divorce in Virginia were "adultery, impotency, confinement in penitentiary, conviction of an infamous offense prior to marriage, willful desertion for five years, pregnancy of the wife at the time of the marriage by a person other than the husband, and a wife working as a prostitute prior to marriage without the knowledge of the husband." Like Illinois, Virginia also granted divorces to women. Still, my guess is that when John and Emma Kate decided to divorce, they returned to Illinois.  At any rate, by 1883, both of them had remarried - Emma Kate to my great great grandfather (and John's cousin) George William Pearson, and John to Zana Coble.  Again, it is uncertain what the custody arrangement was.  In the 1900 census, William and Rosa Pearson (John's children) are listed as living with Emma Kate.  However, another 1900 census lists William as living with John Winston.

And then, of course, we have Emma Kate's youngest daughter, Nettie, for whom divorce seemed to be a hobby.  No documents exist (that I have found) for her first two marriages, but as her first two husbands were from Illinois, I imagine divorces were procured there - most likely in 1915 and late 1917/early 1918.  She also maintained custody of the son she had with her first husband.  Nettie's next two marriages were dissolved in the state of Michigan.  Both times, her husbands charged her with cruelty.  Walter Miller divorced her in 1933, and Walter Reed divorced her in 1939.  She next married a man by the name of Johnson, and while I haven't found definitive proof, all signs point to another Michigan divorce before 1950.

So, we have three generations of women, living from 1839-1968.  Between the three of them, they were divorced a total of seven times.

Sources:

"The History of No-Fault Divorce in Illinois," Nottage and Ward, 17 Apr. 2020, www.nottageandward.com/blog/divorce/the-history-of-no-fault-divorce-in-illinois/.  Accessed 15 Dec. 2023.

Riley, Glenda. "Legislative Divorce in Virginia, 1803-1850," Journal of the Early Republic, vol. 11, no. 1, 1991, pp. 51-67, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3123311. Accessed 15 Dec. 2023.

#52Ancestors, Week 48: Trouble Finds Joseph

Several blog posts back, I wrote that my newest discovery was that Pierson McClure/Joseph Marion Miller was in the merchant marines.  At the time, I had not received his file, so I didn't have much more to report.  I finally received his merchant marine file a few weeks ago, and while I would have liked it to contain a bit more personal information, I did discover a few interesting items about my first cousin, twice removed.  First, I was incredibly pleased to find a photo included with the file.  I showed the picture to my mother, and her first response was, "He kinda looks like a troublemaker."  See for yourself.

Based on his file (and other information I was able to locate as a result of his file), he certainly experienced his fair share of trouble - self-inflicted and otherwise.

In December 1940, while working aboard the steamship Arthur Orr, Joseph was apparently injured during an assault.  The alleged perpetrator was Charles Finley MacLeod (alias James Ross Mallory). The paperwork did not indicate the nature of the injury Joseph received, but it did note that in June 1944 Joseph intended to take action against the Canadian Atlantic Transit Steamship Company.  There is no further documentation concerning the assault or the case, but the fact that Joseph intended to take action against the company makes me think the injury must have been significant. 

Another item of interest in the file is that, in December 1944, Joseph was the victim of a house fire.  Purportedly, his seaman's papers were destroyed in the fire, and in 1946, the Coast Guard asked for his documentation, and Joseph could not supply it.  It seems that trouble was following Joseph.

Then, in 1948, Joseph makes some of his own trouble.  He is living with his mother, Nettie Pearson, in Mattoon, Illinois.  While living there, he gets into an altercation with his neighbor.  Article follows: 

Mattoon Journal Gazette - June 28, 1948

An address in his merchant marine file helped me to confirm this is my Joseph Miller, and I was floored to discover he was blind!  Now, obviously, you can't work on a shipping vessel and be blind, so I surmise that whatever happened in December 1940 eventually led to this disability.  The last line of the article also suggests that Joseph might have been legally blind, but not totally blind.  Otherwise, I imagine running, finding a rock, and managing to hit someone with said rock would be difficult. 

Finally, in 1968,  trouble finds him once again - this time in East St. Louis.  

The Belleville News - Democrat - April 15, 1968

Unfortunately for Joseph, he really did seem to be a magnet for trouble.  8 cents wasn't much (equivalent to about 70 cents today), so he was probably targeted because of his blindness.  

Although I have made significant progress on him since receiving his file, I do not have any information on him after 1968.  I'm slightly afraid to find out how he met his end...

#52Ancestors, Week 47: This Ancestor Stayed Home (for a while)

I know I've spent a lot of time talking about Horace Pearson on this blog, but here's something a little different.

For November, I am participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and I chose to try my hand at historical fiction.  I have taken what I know about Pulaski County, Horace's family, and Horace's accident, and I have attempted to weave them into a story.  For this week's theme (This Ancestor Stayed Home), I am including an excerpt from a chapter I have titled "Learning to Live."  It is my attempt to imagine Horace's life immediately following the amputation of his legs.  As I envision it, Horace wasn't willing to spend the rest of his life 'staying home,' so he found a way to get around. (If I actually ever get this book published, you can just consider this a sneak peek.)

One day, a couple months after Horace’s accident, he fell out of bed as he was leaning over to pick up a glass of water from the bedside table.  Amazingly, the loud thump did not alert anyone in the household as to his predicament, and he wasn’t about to call for help.  He calmly surveyed his surroundings, but nothing revealed itself as particularly helpful to his situation.  Still, he refused to call out for assistance.  Carefully yet determinedly, he righted himself and swung what was left of his legs in front of him.  To be honest, that wasn’t too difficult.  He had lost the legs below the hips and was now used to scooting around on his behind. Undignified, to be sure, but he had a more pressing problem.  How did he get himself back into the bed?  He couldn’t climb with his legs, but could he use his arms instead?

He turned and grasped the bedframe with both hands and took a deep breath.  Grunting with exertion, he hoisted himself upright at the edge of the bed.  So far, so good, but now what?  He could see over it, but how did he get back into it?  The answer presented itself in the form of the headboard.  If he could grab hold of it, he could pull himself back up onto the bed.  In spite of the early spring cold, sweat was pouring from the little boy’s forehead.  He reached out, firmly grasped the railing of the headboard and pulled himself hand-over-hand until he fell onto the bed.  Just as he achieved his goal, the door to the room opened.

“Horace!  What are you doing?  What happened?!”

“I just fell out of bed, Mom,” Horace explained in exasperation.

“How did you get back up?” Emma Kate asked in amazement.

“With my arms,” Horace stated, as if that was all the explanation that was necessary.

Emma Kate wasn’t sure how to respond.  She didn’t know if she was more angry at him for not asking for help, or if she was more thrilled at the possibility of his actual physical independence.  Horace studied her face, waiting for her reaction.  To say that his mother’s response to his injury and convalescence had been an emotional rollercoaster would not have been an exaggeration. Finally, she reached for a cloth and wiped the sweat of exertion from his forehead.  “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.  You’ve always been determined to do things your own way.  What can I do to help you?”

And that’s how it started.  As far as Horace was concerned, all he needed to do was find a way to boost his arm strength, and he would be that much closer to being able to function without help.  He started slowly.  He would lie on his back and press pieces of cast iron toward the ceiling.  Then, still holding the cast iron, he would spread his arms and slowly fold them back toward his chest.  Next, he would sit up, hold the weights in front of him, and bend his arms toward his face.  He knew he needed to strengthen all of it.

After months of this sort of training, Horace decided to try something.  He didn’t tell anyone about his plan, but one day he took advantage of an empty house, lowered himself to the floor, lifted what was left of his lower torso off the floor, and walked - with his hands - into the kitchen.  He hoisted himself onto a short stool by the fire and waited.  After a few minutes, Nettie and Cora came in from collecting eggs.  Nettie dropped her basket of eggs on the floor and raced toward her brother. “Orris!” she screamed.

At the sound of her daughter’s exclamation, Emma Kate came running from the garden, anticipating the worst.  She stopped short in the doorway when she saw Nettie hanging from Horace’s neck in obvious delight. Horace grinned at her over his little sister’s shoulder.  “I did it my way, Mom.  You don’t have to worry about me anymore.”

**************************************

Over the next several months, Emma Kate and her children worked to find a less demanding method of mobility for Horace.  Walking on his hands sufficed for short distances, but it was cumbersome, and splinters were almost a certainty.  When Ben and Eric went to school, they enlisted the assistance of their classmates; neighbors offered suggestions and donations, and finally, the Pearson siblings created a prototype.  

Ben and Eric cut a plank of wood while Cora sewed a seat cushion.  Nettie helped her to stuff it.  A neighbor had given the family an old set of unusable roller skates.  The straps had long since deteriorated, but the wheels were salvageable.  Ben attached them to the square piece of wood he and Eric had measured and cut, and Cora and Nettie attached the newly sown cushion to the platform.  That evening, when George returned from work, he discovered Horace wheeling across the kitchen floor, laughing uproariously as he chased his brothers and sisters.  

#52Ancestors, Week 46, These Ancestors Went to Market

For the Pearsons of Franklin County, Virginia, livelihoods depended on what they could sell at the market.  The collection of family letters, Letters to Raintree County, tells the tale of solid profits but also disappointing yields, purchases and sales, economic woes, and the general anxiety that comes from making a living off the land.

The first letter in the book is from Thomas and Elizabeth Pearson to their son-in-law and daughter, Aaron and Nancy Ballard.  It is filled with references to crops and land sales.  At one point, the writer notes, "I wished to send you...money but got disappointed in getting the money of Hairston.  He has not paid me all for the vegetables yet...Crops are very excellent for this country..."  The notes regarding this letter explain that the man Thomas used to market his crops was slow in his payment.  This precluded Thomas from sending Aaron and Nancy as much money as he would have liked.  Later in the letter, Thomas talks about a relative who laments about "a great drought in their neighborhood" and that their "crops were very sorry."  Weather was unpredictable, and that could be the difference between a tidy profit or a significant loss.

In response to Thomas and Elizabeth's letter, Aaron and Nancy write to tell of their bounty.  "Corn is worth $2 for barrel...pork from $4 to $5 and the tobacco is selling very well and everything in proportion and if the...whigs will let the tariff alone I believe they will remain pretty much the same.  As Benjamin Franklin once observed, "Nothing is certain but death and taxes," and here, the Ballards are concerned with the latter. They are selling their corn, pork, and tobacco and hoping that the tariffs won't eat into their profits.

Nancy's brother, Benjamin, who had moved to Nicholas, Virginia, praises the "fine healthy country" that is "a great place for raising stock that will always sell well."  In his letter to his sister, he boasts, "Stock is high at this time, calves is worth from five to ten dollars, other cattle in proportion, horses is very high."  Other than hoping that the letter finds his family well, these are almost the first words of the communication.  It is clear Benjamin feels taking his livestock to market will be profitable this year.

Nancy's sister, Katherine Mason, writes about another common concern for those who sell their crops at market.  "Crops is fine here now.  Rain in abundance.  Wheat is good as we ever saw it, Oats is better...but there is so much rain it looks like they will...spoil."  These people were at the mercy of the weather.  Sometimes their crops wilted or burned from the heat, and sometimes they rotted from too much precipitation.  Selling at market meant keeping a constant eye on the condition of the crops.

Finally, there were years when it didn't matter if the crops were healthy or if the stock bred well.  Sometimes the economy simply couldn't support it. In 1859, Joseph Williams writes to Katherine Ballard and notes that "our crops here last year was very sorry." The compiler's notes indicate not only an economic depression in 1858 but also a decline in international demand.

While "going to market" could be exciting, it could also be frustrating or downright demoralizing.  Based on these letters, the only events that seemed to take precedence over the news of the market were births, deaths, and marriages.

#52Ancestors #Week45 - War & Peace

 Every Veteran's Day, my Heart Swells with pride regarding all of my favorite veterans. It's some kind of serendipity that "Week 45" is for war and peace, as 1945 was the year that both of my grandfathers began their peacetime lives, after several years of war.

My ancestors "served" in the Indian wars that marked the colonialism of this continent. One is lauded on a memorial at the Battle of Point Pleasant, which frankly I wish that they'd reinscribe with the names of the indigenous individuals that were slaughtered for their land. While most of my more recent ancestors served on the side of the Union, Benjamin Everett Pearson, previously recorded, served on the side of the Lost Cause. I do wonder where his perspectives might lie today. 

There were a few distant cousins that served during the Great War, mostly adult cousins of my Grams Hazel Greenwell Chamberlain from Missouri, and one of my grandfather's relatives from Wisconsin who was killed in France.

My Grandfathers were good yet complicated men, as most humans are. 

My Irish Grandfather (Army and Army Air Corp) tried to enlist in the Wisconsin National guard at 17, but his mother sent word that he was underage and he was sent home, only to reenlist when he came of age. He did many trainings in the south and in Wisconsin and South Dakota, later being sent to England where he participated in the rescue of civilians at the Freckleton Air Disaster, and towed gliders during the D-Day operations. Later, in days that he rarely mentioned, and then only if asked, he served as guard detail for the higher command as they inspected the liberated camps. One of his photos, a large pile of shoes in Dachau. Grandpa's brother Jim was also in Europe, and their sister, Aunt Sally, served later and worked for a time at the Pentagon.

My Iowa grandfather (Army) enlisted after Pearl Harbor and was stationed briefly in North Carolina with his brother Jack prior to being sent to England for a time, then departed by ship across the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy several days into the D-Day operation. He watched as the ship on the approach next to his hit a mine and exploded, as far as he knew killing all aboard. The men he served with made it across France and into Germany and were within a day or two of Berlin when Allied victory was declared. 

During Vietnam, my dad and later my mom both enlisted in the U.S Air Force. Their gorgeous engagement photo shows them both in their dress uniforms (They were very young, and divorced when I was 6). Neither of them served overseas, Mom because she married and was soon pregnant with me, and Dad because he had minor health issues that likely would no longer affect his service as they did then, although he lost many friends who were sent. My mom's brother followed Grandpa in the Wisconsin Air National Guard, and my dad's sister married a serviceman, living in Germany long enough for my cousin to be born there.

Later I married my husband, who served 22 years honorably in both the Army, later transferring to the Air National Guard. He is an Iraqi Vet (2006-07). Through the decades of his service, it's not a small thing to say that although I don't qualify on paper, I too have served in my own way, as have oour children. I will never forget the way our daughter saluted him as he departed down the jetway.

There are so many others. My husband's brother, USMC. My husband's uncles and one grandfather, my cousin Pat. Please know that if you are a veteran and are reading this, you are appreciated.

#52Ancestors, Week 43, Dig a Little Deeper

What is something I had to dig a little deeper than usual to find?  How about...EVERYTHING?! Okay, maybe that's a little dramatic, but sometimes I definitely feel like I dig and dig and dig and never find anything worthwhile.  I've written about many of these experiences on this very blog.

Where was Nettie Pearson between 1945 and her death in 1968?  I've tried tracking her son (he disappears, too), inquiring with the St. Clair County Historical Society (St. Clair County is her last residence listed on the Social Security Death Index), and looking for any variation of her numerous names (Nettie M. Pearson McClure Hudson Miller Reed Johnson), all to no avail.  Neither my mother nor my aunts and uncle were even aware of her existence, so I am currently waiting on her son's merchant marines records in the hopes that I may find a clue to her whereabouts as well as more information to flesh out his lean biography.

The additional list of ancestors who just seem to disappear into the ether without a trace is a lengthy one: Leona (Green) Terpinitz, Jennie Grace (Terpinitz) Lambert Amey Johnson, Thomas J. Pearson, John Field and his son, William Field, just to name a few.  For the last three, it seems unlikely I will ever find a date of death.  Even if there were death records, they were almost certainly lost in fires or floods or perhaps thrown away by a descendant who didn't care to know about the past.  It is likely the best I will be able to do is approximate a year of death based on last known records. The possibility of finding a complete family Bible is a pipe dream.

Speaking of Bibles, anyone happen to have one lying around for the Green family of New York, Rhode Island, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois? No?  How about a suggestion as to another way to determine Thomas Green's parents?  No obituary, death record, or even Civil War pension file has revealed the answer.  The lone sister I have been able to confirm, Louisiana (Green) Adams, has been of no help.  She lived a long time and had many children and a lengthy obituary.  The obituary gives no clues, and the death certificate is, as of yet, undiscovered.

How was Emma Katherine Green already a Pearson when she married George William Pearson?  Well, I did manage to unearth the truth of that one through deductive reasoning. Pearson children born well before her marriage to George, the marriage of her divorced mother to a Pearson, and various records for her children - individually, they prove little, but if you put the pieces together, you come to the conclusion that she was married to her stepdad's son, John Winston Pearson, before marrying my great great grandfather, George William Pearson.  Sounds like an episode of Maury or Jerry Springer, if you ask me...

I could probably go on forever, but I won't.  If you've read this far, don't take my frustration as an indication that I don't enjoy digging.  I certainly do, but if I'm going to dig every which way but up, I'd like to eventually hit pay dirt.  These "adventures in genealogy" don't always lead to success, but if it's important, you'll keep on digging anyway.

#52Ancestors, Week 41: Genealogical Travels

The last two summers, my family has taken a variety of road trips.  My husband and daughter more or less leave me to plan them, so while I'm researching possible destinations, I keep in mind each of our requirements.

My husband - local distillery

My daughter - something outdoorsy (hiking, bird watching, etc.)

Me - genealogical quest 

The first two requirements are usually fairly easily fulfilled.  Mine is slightly less so, but I still accomplish it more often than not.

It all started, though, with a road trip with my mother and sister to Pulaski County, Illinois, in August 2014.  We didn't have much of a plan other than trying to find some relatives' resting places and then possibly rifling through some documents at the courthouse.  I believe Cuzzin Heather is writing about her stay in a hotel in Ullin (I think it might be the only hotel in Pulaski County), but we opted to stay in Metropolis - the home of Superman - which is just east of Pulaski County in Massac County.  We didn't know it when we booked the hotel, but it was still a relevant place to stay when it came to our family.  The hotel sat right on the Ohio River which our ancestors had to cross when they made their way from Kentucky.

Railroad bridge across the Ohio River - both the river and the railroad were a part of our family for generations

Our first goal was to locate the headstone of Emma Kate and George William Pearson, my great great grandparents.  Thanks to FindaGrave, we knew what cemetery they were in, and we had a general idea of their location.  Considering the size of the cemetery, we found them fairly quickly.

George and Emma's headstone in August 2014

You'll notice that George's date of death is missing.  We assume that's because Emma Kate pre-deceased him by 10 years, so there was no one to remind the children to take care of his headstone. 😂 My mother and I eventually contacted Bell Monument Company (which services the tristate area of Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri), and after 85+ years, George finally has his date of death on his headstone. 

We next attempted to locate my great great great grandparents in Pearson Cemetery.  Being a family cemetery on land that used to belong to the Pearsons, it was not not marked. We stopped at the courthouse to get an exact location, and they suggested we call a local woman who specializes in the genealogy of the area. Lucky for us, she also happened to live on the land my 3x great grandparents once owned!  We met up with her 'by the dead tree near the old church' (I love how locals navigate), and she took us around the property.  Unfortunately, what's left of Pearson Cemetery now circles an old tree in a cornfield.  The corn was high, so we couldn't get to the headstones, but she did eventually send me pictures of the stones that remained.  I’ve written about some of those stones here.

The tree and cornfield in question

It was a successful trip, and I had plans for returning to Pulaski County in the not-too-distant future.  The next year, though, my daughter was born, and that put a wrench in any leisurely traveling plans for a while.

Fast forward to the summer of 2022.  Having lost 3 of our pets in the course of 5 months (January-May), we decided to honor them by taking various road trips over the course of the summer.  In late July, we took a trip to Carbondale, Illinois.  My husband went to school there, but it also happens to be within 'spitting distance' of Anna, Illinois, and that is where Emma Kate Pearson's father (another great great great grandfather) is buried.  My husband stopped at a local distillery, my daughter got to go hiking at Giant City, and then they humored my 'dead people' obsession, and we went looking for Thomas Green.  Once again, thanks to the magic of FindaGrave, we located our objective quickly (which is very fortunate.  Have you ever been to southern Illinois mid-July?!).

Thomas Green - Civil War soldier, 11th Illinois Infantry

We've been back a time or two, and, the last time, my husband entered the satellite location on Google Maps.  We also left Thomas some local lavender.  I'd like to think he enjoyed it.

On this same trip, we went to Fort Massac State Park in Metropolis.  We mostly went because it was free and right on the river, but it may be that it was also genealogically related.

"George Rogers Clark arrived at Fort Massac on July 30, 1778, with about 175 men..."

Cuzzin Heather and I have been working on this on and off, and we believe we are related to George Rogers Clark through our Field line.  There is quite a bit of conflicting information on this, so we are not yet confident enough to make the claim.  

My little family took another trip a few weeks later, and our destination was primarily Paducah, Kentucky.  We found two distilleries for my husband and a nature center for my daughter.  My genealogical quest was related to Wilmington Cemetery.  I've already written about that, so follow the link if you're interested (PLEASE BE INTERESTED).

This past summer (2023), one of my genealogical adventures included meeting Cuzzin Heather in the flesh!  (Don't worry - distilleries and nature preserves were also visited.)  

Genealogy isn't for everyone, but I am lucky that my family indulges what they find to be a strange hobby.  Of course, my husband is always much more amenable after we've stopped at a distillery or two!  My daughter groans about Mom looking for "dead people" and sarcastically asks if we're going to stop at every cemetery we pass.  *whispers*  Sometimes...it's tempting.

#52Ancestors, Week 40: Longevity - Thomas Pearson

In spite of what the title might indicate, I'm not going to discuss the long life of any one Thomas Pearson.  Instead, I thought it might be interesting to look at the longevity of the name, not the specific person.  Starting with Thomas Pearson, born in England some time in the late 1600s/early 1700s, the name Thomas Pearson appeared in eight successive generations.

I have not been able to track back any farther than 7th great grandfather Thomas (we shall call him Thomas #1), so there may be (and I suspect there were) Thomas Pearsons who came before him.  This particular Thomas married Esther Jackson.  I do not yet have an entire roster of their children, but in Yorkshire, England, in 1722, they had a son whom they named Thomas Pearson (Thomas #2).

According to a Sons of the American Revolution membership application, Thomas #2 married Effie Hutchinson in 1752. The Pearson family was still residing in England, so Thomas #3 was born in 1755 in Yorkshire, England, like his father Thomas (#2) before him.

Thomas #3 moved to the United States in 1774.  In 1782, he married Elizabeth Palmer in Virginia.  They resided in Virginia for the rest of their lives.  On March 21st, 1783, in Franklin County, Virginia, they welcomed Thomas Pearson #4 into the world.  

In 1806, Thomas #4 married Elizabeth Hickman in Bedford County, Virginia. They went on to have at least 10 sons and daughters between 1807 and 1829.  Their eldest son, born in 1807, was named Peyton, but a Thomas inevitably came along.  Thomas Pearson #5 was born February 20th, 1819, in Franklin County, Virginia.  Unfortunately, this is where the direct line of Thomas Pearsons ends.  Thomas #5 died when he was 8 years old, in July 1827.

Older brother, Peyton, named his first son Thomas.  Peyton's brother, Joseph (my direct ancestor), also named one of his sons Thomas, as did the youngest brother, Benjamin (Cuzzin Heather's direct ancestor).  So, a Thomas #6 was born in 1831 (Peyton's son), 1849 (Benjamin's son), and 1862 (Joseph's son) respectively.  

It does not appear that Peyton's Thomas #6 passed on the family moniker.  Joseph's Thomas #6 married, but we have only ever been able to confirm that he had a single daughter.  Benjamin's son, though, married Nancy Cecil in 1877, and their Thomas #7 was born September 7th, 1890, in Virginia.

Thomas #7 married Eulalia Merchant some time before 1920.  On August 10th, 1920, Eulalia gave birth to twins in Roswell, New Mexico: Claiborne John Pearson and Thomas Pearson #8.  Thomas #8 married Ruth Yadon in 1945.  Since their children are still living (according to various trees on Ancestry), I am unable to confirm if Thomas Pearson #9 exists.  Whether or not the name was passed to a 9th generation, it is an impressive longevity.  I fully expect there were Thomases before Thomas #1.  I just have yet to find them.

Generations:
#1: Thomas Pearson (~1700 - ?)
#2: Thomas Pearson (1722 - ?)
#3: Thomas Pearson (1753 - 1835)
#4: Thomas Pearson (1783-1870)
#5: Thomas Pearson (1819 - 1827)
#6: Thomas Pearson (1831 - 1909), Thomas Pearson (1849 - 1917), and Thomas Pearson (1862 - ?)
#7: Thomas Pearson (1890 - 1967)
#8: Thomas Pearson (1920 - 1996)

#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, 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, 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.