My top ten genealogical mysteries
Every genealogist has “mysteries”—aka as
“brick walls,” but I prefer “mysteries” since they are really just puzzles that
need to be solved, rather than brick walls I keep beating my head against! So I
thought I might make a list of my top ten. Perhaps that will help clarify what
I need to work on next. So here goes:
(1) Whatever happened to John Hastings? My
third-great-grandfather appears in the 1850 census of Marion co. IN, and then
disappears. The family story (not from my direct family, but from a much older
distant cousin with whom I corresponded some years ago) is that his wife, Mary
Ann (Wheeler) Hastings, died in 1852, and that John left and was never heard
from again. This cousin said she always had the sense that he had abandoned his
family, but she wondered if perhaps he had gone in search of land or some
better opportunity, and then something happened to him and his family was never
notified. In any event, in the 1860 census his younger children were “farmed
out” to relatives. A couple of them lived with their oldest brother, my
great-great-grandfather Oliver Perry Hastings; a couple more lived with their
uncle Harvey Wheeler. So obviously John was “gone” by that time (maybe dead,
maybe disappeared). What ever became of John Hastings?
(2) What was John L. Johnson’s war record? My
great-great-grandfather fought for the Confederate army. A resident of Franklin
and/or Crawford co. AR, he never returned from the war. Family tradition is
that he died in Texas, “on the Red River,” as he was returning from Arkansas
after the war. Some years ago a descendant of his brother William T. Barry
Johnson told me that his grandfather possessed an old cannon ball or shell of
some kind that had resulted in his brother losing his foot as he was returning
home from the war. I have tried for years to find John L. Johnson’s civil war
service record, but without success. I’ve looked at service records for various
other men who were his neighbors in Arkansas, trying to get clues as to what
unit he might have served in. My assumption is that it would be a unit that
served on the Western front, since he allegedly died in Texas, and there were
some Northwest Arkansas units that did serve in Texas. But I’ve not been able
to find any with a John Johnson who seems to be my ancestor. Where did he
serve, and how did he die?
(3)
Who
was August Anderson’s father? My great-grandfather, born Per Gustaf Anderson in
Nykil, Östergötland, Sweden, was an out-of-wedlock child. The family story is
that his mother and her family were tenant farmers, and his biological father
was the “son of the landowner”—one of those stories that may or may not have
some basis in fact! As he grew, he was the “spittin’ image” of his biological
father, and when he was 10 the paternal grandparents paid the maternal
grandparents to take him to America and eliminate the embarrassment. I’ve
inspected the Swedish parish records, thinking there might be some clue as to
his parentage—especially since it seemed to be “known” in the community. But I’ve
found nothing. Who was his father?
(4)
When
did August Anderson come to America, and where did he land? The story about him
being brought by his grandparents seems to be confirmed by the fact that the
boy and his grandparents are listed in the Swedish parish records as leaving
for North America in 1870, but I’ve not found any records indicating their
arrival in America. My great-aunt said there was a connection to Pennsylvania
before they settled in Nebraska; does that just mean perhaps they landed in
Philadelphia rather than New York? I really want to find their immigration
records.
(5)
Who
was Frances (Elliott) Johnson’s father? My great-great-grandmother was Frances
Jane Elliott who married John L. Johnson. The records suggest that her mother
was Elizabeth Elliott, and family tradition says that Elizabeth’s maiden name
was Booker. But who was Elizabeth’s husband? She seems to have been unmarried
(presumably widowed) fairly early, as she is a landowner in Franklin co. AR and
appears in the 1840 census under her own name. Who was Mr. Elliott, and what
became of him?
(6)
When
and where did Peter Likins and Mary Alfont marry? My great-great-grandparents
were married about 1848, according to the 1900 census. But where, and precisely
when? I think it is quite likely that they were married in Madison co. IN, and
unfortunately one of those courthouse fires destroyed the marriage records from
that period. Can I ever find confirmation of that, and perhaps some indication
of the actual date?
(7)
What
became of cousin Bobby? My grandmother’s first cousin, Robert George “Bobby”
Jones, moved, according to my grandmother, from Indiana to Florida, where he
became a gem cutter. I have found a Bob Jones in the 1935 state census of Dade
co. who is listed as a jeweler, and then another listing in the 1940 census. He
is single in both listings. But then the trail goes cold. What became of him?
Did he ever marry and have children?
(8)
Where
did Jason Wheeler come from? My 3rd-great-grandfather, Jason
Wheeler, was born in 1765. He seems to have raised his family in Herkimer co.
and Chenango co. NY, and then settled in Marion co. IN, where he died. But
where was he born? I suspect that he came from Vermont, where there seem to be
a lot of Wheelers; but I haven’t found anything that definitively ties him to
Vermont. Is that, in fact, where he was born? If not, where?
(9)
What
became of Joseph Street? My third-great-grandfather Joseph Street was born in
VA ca 1782, and then followed a common westward trek to North Carolina,
Tennessee, and finally Arkansas. His wife, Margaret (Carmichael) Street, and
one of their sons, Thomas Street, are buried in Madison co. AR. An old
genealogy of the Street family suggests that Joseph emigrated to Oregon and
died there, but I have found no record of him after the early 1850s in Madison
county. Did he really go to Oregon? When and where did he die?
(10) What happened to the other Hastings
children? In the family of my 3rd-great-grandparents, John and Mary
Ann (Wheeler) Hastings, in 1850 there are nine children. I’ve worked hard at
tracing them, but there are still some holes. There is a “Wesley Hastings”
listed, though the census says this was a girl; and a boy William Hastings, and
a girl Almira Hastings. None of these have I found after 1850. Then there is James
H. Hastings; I have followed him a good ways, and I know he married Amanda
Meyer in Polk co. OR in 1872. But in the 1900 census, he is not living in the
household with Amanda and their children, yet she is still listed as “married.”
The 1910 census shows the same thing. Then in 1920 and 1930, Amanda is listed
as “widowed.” No sight of James after 1880. What became of him?
That’s my top ten mysteries!
Maybe by this time next year at least one of them will be solved.
