James Summers of Delaware

In the late 1700s, James Summers, a free Black man living in Kent Co, Delaware, entered into a relationship with Judea (also “Jada), a woman enslaved by the Lowber family in Murderkill Hundred (see map at end). They are said by some to have been married; however, marriage by a slave was usually forbidden. Whether James Summers and Judea were legally married or not, Judea took the last name "Summers" and the relationship lasted throughout their lives.

Slaves were seldom shown with a last name, but Peter’s will stated “I give and Bequeath to
Catharine Duhadaway . . a Negro girl named ruth summers . . .”

In 1794 Peter Lowber died, and his will freed Judea. But the will did not free the two children of James and Judea, Ruth and Thomas, who were born into slavery because their mother was a slave. According to the will, 4-year-old Ruth was given to Peter's sister Catharine Duhadaway, to be enslaved until Ruth was 21 years old, at which time she should be freed. The will makes no mention of 2-year-old Thomas, who, needing a mother’s care, was probably given by Peter Lowber's heirs  to James and Judea Summers, but was not officially freed.

Manumission document, Delaware Public Archives

When Catharine Duhadaway died in Maryland, her possessions, including Ruth, became available for distribution. James must have purchased Ruth, by payment or labor, because on 14 October 1797, James signed with his mark a document to free both his children. John Lowber, Peter's grandson, signed the manumission document as a witness. The document states

I the said James Summers for divers Considerations me especially moving do Manumit, Liberate and set at full Liberty . . .my affectionate Children, namely Thomas Summers who is now age about five years, and Ruth Summers aged Seven years . . . that they the said Thomas Summers and Ruth Summers liberated as afores^d shall from and immediately after the date on these presents enjoy their Freedom as Other Free Citizens Can or ought to do.

Today there are over 300 descendants of James and Judea Summers (Photo from a Delaware Day 2020 film, Delaware Historic and Cultural Affairs).

In Delaware, Hundreds were essentially townships. “Murderkill” is believed
to have come from the Dutch “moeder kille,” meaning “mother creek.”

And who was James Summers? At the time he signed the manumission document, he was living in Murderkill Hundred, just north of Mispillion Hundred, where the descendants of Thomas Sr. and Rosanna Summers lived (see In The Beginning). And in 1800 James was actually living in Mispillion Hundred. Given his name, it is not unlikely that James Summers, who was probably born somewhere around 1760, was a child of one of Thomas Sr’s four sons—Thomas Jr, John, William, or Joseph. These, their spouses, and their children were the only Summerses (yes, that is the plural of Summers) living in all of Kent Co around this time. Born in 1749, Joseph would have probably been too young, but the other three sons, who are known to have been living in Mispillion Hundred in the 1750s and 1760s, could have fathered James with an enslaved woman, though admittedly the Summers were not known to own slaves. No records, however, exist showing this, and autosomal DNA evidence is very unlikely to provide proof. Thomas Summers’s known descendants living today are likely seven or more generations removed from any of Thomas’s children, and an autosomal DNA match probability would be well under 1 percent. yDNA could provide proof or disproof if DNA results become available for male-line descendants of both James and Thomas Sr. Are there volunteers out there?

The Delaware Summers Haplogroup

 

I wish to acknowledge a contribution to Summers family history made by my wife’s distant cousin Katharyne Jane (Silva) Belew. Katharyne has determined the likely yDNA haplogroup for at least a portion of the Summers line originated in 1700s Delaware by Thomas Summers Sr. And Katharyne did it without a drop of Summers yDNA in her genes, since only males can carry the y chromosome. A y haplogroup is a group of lineages defined by unique genetic markers present on the y-chromosome. Since only the males carry yDNA, this haplogroup follows the Summers name (in the absence of adoptions, name changes, etc.) back to the distant past. This haplogroup could even date from the time before surnames existed.

To determine the Delaware Summers haplogroup, Katharyne cleverly found six men with the surname "Summers" who had  autosomal DNA matches with her and who had a known y haplogroup. Five of the six had the I-S1954 haplogroup, and, thus, this is likely the haplogroup for the Delaware Summers. That the five individuals are 3rd or 4th cousins to each other, except two who are father and son, and are all descended from Thomas Summers of Franklin Co, Illinois (c1784-1864), indicates that Thomas of Illinois, grandson of Thomas of Delaware, had this haplogroup. (Thanks to Katharyne for pointing this out.) And if Thomas of Illinois had this haplogroup, his grandfather, Thomas of Delaware, could have also had it.

Haplogroup I-S1954, also known as Haplogroup I-M170 (Y Chromosome Consortium long-form label), appears be Germanic. “Germanic?” you may say. How can this be when Thomas Summers, the progenitor of the Delaware Summers, probably came from Britain? But you have to remember, the English are largely Germanic. The first people to be called “English” were the Anglo-Saxons, a group of closely related Germanic tribes.

Thus, while probably British in origin, the paternal Delaware Summers line is Germanic. Interesting, but not surprising.

Thomas’s Children

As many as twenty-nine children have been claimed for Thomas (born c1784) and Priscilla (born c1780) Summers, of Franklin Co, Illinois, in some of the numerous trees appearing on the internet (almost 1700 trees total on Ancestry alone). The problem is that not a single reliable record is provided for any of the named children, only other trees. Based on birthplace, birth year, association with other people, and residence, I have come up with thirteen reasonable candidates. All of these are commonly designated by others as Thomas’s children. And descendants of all of these show autosomal DNA matches with a known descendant of Thomas and Priscilla. Of course, since most or all of the 19^th-century Franklin Co Summerses were related, autosomal DNA provides rather poor evidence.

Reliable records (i.e., records other than trees) showing the names of children of Thomas and Priscilla are unknown except for a single item that has been ignored or overlooked—the Affidavit of Decease form in Thomas’s Franklin County probate file. That record names only William, Harper, Alexander, Thomas, and B. P. (Braxton Parrish) as his children. Perhaps James was omitted because he was the signatory. John’s name is struck out, as might be expected since he was likely deceased by the date of Thomas’s death. And there appears to have been a “Samuel,” who’s name is also struck out but about whom nothing is known. Missing are Robert, Noah, Nancy, Joseph, and Peter, all good candidates for being Thomas’s children, candidates who were still living at the time of his death. Are these five people (six if we include James) not Thomas’s children? A huge number of family historians believe otherwise. And the 1830 census indicates that Thomas had many more children (possibly twelve) than just the six (including crossed-out John) listed in the Affidavit of Death. But all may not have been his. He could have taken in children from deceased relatives. And, of course, many children may have died before being named in later records. As one Illinois historian has written, on the 19^th-century Illinois frontier

Death was a constant, if unwelcome, companion.

Affidavit of Decease with names of children for Thomas Summers. Missing are Robert, Noah, Nancy, Joseph, Peter, and James
(Patricia Terwilliger collection.)

Among the missing five, Joseph is the only one who served in the Civil War (despite erroneous claims made for others based on name only) and he has a National Archives pension file that has now been obtained in hopes that it would reveal his origins. It didn't. It did provide his date of death (28 Jan 1896 near Greenbrier, Arkansas), some highly variable dates of birth (c1818, calculated from ages in various documents), and details on his military service and married life, but it provided nothing about who his parents may have been.

We are stuck. Is the Affidavit of Death correct, and if so who were the parents of Robert, Noah, Nancy, Joseph, and Peter Summers? We even have doubts about James. And our doubts increase when we find that a pension application affidavit by James Summers states that Noah Summers, who fought in the Black Hawk War, was his brother. If Noah was not a son of Thomas, neither was James. But, on the other hand, why would someone other than a son, of which Thomas had many, be a signatory?

If any of you would like a free no-strings-attached copy of Joseph Summers's  National Archive file just click on the link below. You don’t need the Dropbox app. If you get a "Log in or Sign Up" message just ignore it. Press the download button at the top right of the web page. You will then get (another) "Log in or Sign Up" message. Just click "Or continue with dropdown only" at the bottom of that message. You need not log in or sign up. It is not necessary to be a Dropbox user. Leave a comment or send me an email if you have problems.

Pension File Download

Sleuthing Again

On 29 Dec 1869, Mary E. Summers married Ezra K. Gilchrist in Franklin Co, Illinois. Ezra, a Vermont (or possibly, New Hampshire)-born Civil War vet who kept a saloon in the village of Sneak Out, died soon afterward, on 18 Jan 1873 in Parrish, Illinois, quite likely as a result of medical problems incurred during his military service. On 9 May 1864 at the battle of Buzzard Roost in Whitfield County, Georgia, he had been wounded in the right foot, which caused serious deformity. He became increasingly lame until he was discharged. Possibly as a result of the injury, the treatment, or hospital stays, he developed chronic diarrhea, which resulted in his death. He and Mary had a single child, William Gilchrist, who appears to have died very young, possibly as an infant.

James and Mary Duckworth Family (Ancestry). Children from left to right:
Herbert, Orvil, Richard, James Lawrence, and Robert.

On 10 Aug 1873 in Franklin Co, the widowed Mary Gilchrist married James H. Duckworth, son of Moses Duckworth and Cassander A. Summers, and brother of John Wilson Duckworth, who achieve notoriety owing to his KKK connection (The Summers Clan Klan).

We know a lot about Mary’s husbands, Ezra and James, but we face a great mystery in Mary, herself. She was know to have been born around 1847, but three Mary E. Summers of Franklin Co, Illinois, all first cousins, fit that description: Mary E., daughter of Harper and Phebe (Swafford) Summers; Mary Elizabeth, daughter of William K. and Elizabeth (Whittington) Summers; and Mary E., daughter of John K. (often given the name “John Edward” with no evidence except other trees) and Elizabeth (Larken) Summers. Other possibilities can be ruled out by age or proven histories.

Family historians have made guesses over the years, mostly the daughter of Harper and Phebe, but none provide proof or even evidence other than the name. In an attempt to find proof I ordered the Civil War Pension file for Ezra Gilchrist in hopes that something could be found there. It looks like proof has been found. The massive file includes a 23 Mar 1897 deposition from a George W. Summers stating that he is the brother of Mary Summers Gilchrist Duckworth. George stated that he was 67 years old (born c1830) and that he lived in Macedonia, Illinois.

Only one of our candidates had a brother George born anywhere near 1830 and that was Mary E. Summers, daughter of John K. and Elizabeth (Larken) Summers, whose brother was George W., born c1832.

One little problem remains. Neither the 1880 census nor the 1900 census show a George Summers of the required age living in Hamilton or Franklin county even though in 1897 George gave Macedonia, which straddles both counties, as his address. But George could have moved there after 1880 and could have died by 1900. He was 67 years old at the time of the deposition and was not living in a healthy area. In an article in the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Professor Ronald R. Stockton has stated

It is hard to imagine how profoundly difficult it was to survive on the nineteenth-century Illinois frontier. In many cases the soil was unbroken, the swamps were not drained, diseases were rampant, and medical care was scarce or non-existent. Death was a constant, if unwelcome, companion.

Would you like to get a copy of the entire Ezra Gilchrist file? You may find something I missed. To get a copy just click on the link below. You don’t need the Dropbox app. If you get a "Log in or Sign Up" message just ignore it. Press the download button at the top of the web page. You will then get (another) "Log in or Sign Up" message. Just click "Or continue with dropdown only" at the bottom of that message. You need not log in or sign up. It is not necessary to be a Dropbox user. Leave a comment or send me an email if you have problems. 

Ezra Gilchrist Narional Archive File, Download

 

Mid, Part 3

Eventually Mid found the perfect mate, Leo Newman. Mildred’s brother Dale likely introduced the couple. Dale met Leo in 1932 under extraordinary circumstances, as we will see in a future blog. Mid and Leo were married on 24 Sep 1966 in Imperial, Missouri, with Mid’s sister Marguerite Taylor and her husband, Kelley, as attendants. Born 2 Aug 1908 in St. Louis to Jewish Hungarian emigrants, Joseph and Theresa Fox Newman, Leo had been previously married, around 1941 in St. Louis, to Lillian Mae Doyle Bryan, a divorcee with three children. Leo had no children of his own and he and Lillian were divorced in the late 1950s. 

"To Mary Frances and Barbara . . .from their 'Uncle' Leo the Lion"
Given to the daughters of Mid's brother Dale, c1955.

Like Mid, Leo was a marcher to a different beat. In 1932 Leo had navigated a homebuilt houseboat down the Mississippi River in an extraordinary adventure to gather material for a planned book. Then following a stint as a highly successful amateur wrestler, Leo became a professional. Between 1931 and 1965. during the golden age of wresting, “Leo the Lion Newman” fought in 997 matches, often bringing a lion into the ring with him. In 1953, at the height of his fame, he took another trip down the Mississippi on his boat the African Queen with a pet lion, Rex, who he wrestled at sandbars. The purpose of the trip was to search for “something tangible that will help me steer a true course in the events of my future life when I reach journey's end.”

“Best Wishes from Leo and Rex to Dale and Eloise Summers.”
Given to Leo’s brother-in-law and his wife. 

Leo’s wrestling career and life almost ended when, on 25 May 1957, an automobile in which he was riding struck a bridge and went over a steep emankment near Springfield, Missouri, when the driver fell asleep. Years later, on 26 Feb 1963, Leo was awarded $91,558 in a suit against the driver after claiming that he was unable to wrestle because of the injuries. In fact, though his number of bouts decreased, Leo’s last known wrestling match, a tag team competition, occurred in Lincoln, Nebraska, on 18 Aug 1965, well after the accident. But, of course, professional wrestling is a scripted stunt show, though injuries are not unlikely.

By the time he and Mildred were married, Leo had become a well-known wrestling manager and promoter. And he was also a prolific writer, though he never made a dime from that talent. Between 1933 and 1984 Leo authored at least sixty letters printed by Missouri newspapers. The letters, on a range of topics, with an emphasis on animal cruelty, antimilitarism, and nature, were highly intellectual and often poetic. It was probably his literary proficiency that attracted Mildred. It was a marriage of literati.

Leo and Mildred lived out their married life as owners and operators of Love N' Kare Boarding Kennels near Imperial, Missouri. Their business was located in what, at one time, had been a hunting club, something that would have been an abomination to the Newmans. Although established as a business to look after dogs, Love N' Kare was, in fact, primarily a shelter for Leo and Mid’s pets. In 1971 the couple cared for forty dogs, sixty-five cats, half a dozen goats, cows, horses, ducks, doves, and one raccoon. In addition to the extensive menagerie, a 1973 visit found a massive in-home library for the couple’s literary pursuits, a telescope for checking the neighborhood and searching for animals, a notebook listing the names of fifty-four cats (the count at the time), and widespread Christmas decorations that were displayed throughout the year.

Mildred passed away at age 64 on 22 Jan 1976 in St. Louis, and was buried in New Lorimier Cemetery, Cape Girardeau, alongside her parents and other relatives. Leo wrote a memorial that could have easily been for him:

Missie Newman loved all of God's creatures; the birds of the air and the animals of the earth looked to her as their great and unfailing provider. Homeless stray cats and dogs found in her a devoted friend that bestowed upon them life and happiness with a love that transcended all that was human and mortal.

Missie was one of those extremely rare persons that brought out the inherent good in all people. Everyone to her was special and precious. Strangers opened their hearts to her without reservation, knowing instinctively that her concern was genuine, unaffected, and sincere. Her plants and flowers because of their rapport, flourished with the touch of her hand. and now, as she quietly lies in the eternal stillness of earth, the goodness and compassion she bestowed upon others remains her everlasting memorial. No words have ever been coined that can adequately probe the profundity and depth of a grief without end, or, lessen the intensity of sorrow for a life that has returned whence it came. Missie's thoughts and reading embraced everything from the nebula to a stone and her concern and devotion to humane endeavors was never ending and tireless. For a grief stricken husband she was the epitome of all that made life worth living. She now belongs to the ages - for time without end . . and the friend and protector of homeless creatures will surely dwell in the halls of mercy at the right hand of God forevermore . .

Leo lived another sixteen years, dying at his home in Imperial on 5 Aug 1992. He was laid to rest in Shepherd Hills Cemetery, Barnhart, Missouri, with a lion on his marker.

Neither Leo nor Mid had children of their own. Animals were their children.

Mid, Part 2

Mid in her St. Louis dress shop, 1940. (St. Louis Star-Times, 29 Oct 1940.)

Cape Girardeau was too limiting for someone with Mid’s avant-garde outlook and after graduating from Southeast Missouri State Teachers College, she moved to St. Louis, where she was living in 1935 and working as a dressmaker. But she was not just any old dressmaker. By 1940, she was renowned for her flair with color and drape. She even designed the flight hostess’s uniform for Chicago and Southern Air Lines, which had set up headquarters in St. Louis.

Mid designed the C&S uniforms (postcard).

Mildred was not good at choosing men. Her first marriage had failed, and the man she lived with in St. Louis was, according to relatives, highly questionable. But, as we will see next time, she found a perfect mate. Another marcher to a different beat.

Mid, Part 1

If a man does not keep pace with his companions,

perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.

                                     Henry David Thoreau, 1854

Going from Delaware through North Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas, we finally get this branch of the Summers family to Wittenberg, Missouri. It was in Wittenberg that John William and Verne Cumi (Crabtree) Summers raised five kids: Mildred ("Mid"), Dale ("Bob"), Marguerite ("Pugs"), John Jr. ("Pete"), and Michael ("Mike").

The three oldest, Mid, Marguerite, and Dale, in Wittenberg, c1919.

Mildred (“Mid,” “Missy”) was the oldest, the most fascinating, and likely the most cerebral of those kids. Flouting tradition, she was a composite of Isadora Duncan, Gertrude Stein, and Gloria Steinem, and a mixed blessing to her parents.

Born Mildred Katherine Summers on the first day of 1912 in Arkansas, probably in Boynton, where her folks were living at the time, Mid (whose nickname may have come from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”) spent most of her childhood in Missouri along the Mississippi, first in Illmo (now part of Scott City), then in Wittenberg, and finally in Cape Girardeau, where in 1924 she was at the Southeast Missouri State Teachers College, probably attending a university-run grade school used to train teachers. Wittenberg had limited educational facilities and no high school at all. She eventually became a college student at Southeast Missouri, where she was a member of the 1934 junior class.

University of Tulsa Yearbook, 1936.

Mildred was attending Southeast Missouri when she married Woodrow Neubeck Estel on 14 Aug 1931 in Benton, Missouri. “Woody” was a renowned student athlete at Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville, Missouri. Rather young at the time, the two decided to live apart and keep the marriage secret until they finished school. Born 6 Mar 1913 in Altenburg, Missouri, just four miles from Wittenberg, Woodrow was still in high school and would not graduate until the following spring. In March 1934, Woodrow, who had by then moved to Oklahoma, where he continued his athletic achievements at the University of Tulsa, attempted to have the marriage annulled. He claimed that the couple were minors at the time of the marriage and had not obtained the consent of their parents. The annulment was refused, but may have been granted later. On 27 Mar 1938, Woodrow married Vera Arthuryne Trout in Holdenville, Oklahoma. 

At this point, however, another marriage was not on Mid’s mind. She had other ambitions.

Who was Tillman Andrew/William Downs?

William Downs and Tilman Andrew lived near each other

We have concluded that Tillman Andrew of southern Illinois and William Downs of the Massachusetts 3rd Volunteer Cavalry were one and the same person, ? [See Sleuthing] but who was that person? Was he born “Tilman Andrew” or was he born “William Downs”? Which was the alias? Might they both be aliases? [Hope not!] The name “Tillman/Tilman/Tilghman Andrew/Andrews is relatively rare. With limited research one can eliminate, one by one. all individuals in the 1850 and/or 1860 censuses with one of those names and having an age corresponding to a birth year anywhere around 1844. On the other hand, several William Downs/Downes prove to be candidates.

The most likely is William, son of William and Caroline Downs, who was living in Sussex Co, Delaware, in 1850. Born in Maryland around 1844, the younger William cannot be located after 1850. Of course he could have died, but he also could have joined the Army and then changed his name. His Maryland birthplace matches that claimed by Tillman in federal censuses, and his Delaware childhood could explain the listing of Delaware as William’s birthplace in at least one Army record and as the father’s birthplace in some census records for the Andrews children. And there is a final indicator. Living in the same county as the William and Caroline Downs family was Tilman D. Andrew, born c1845. Tilman’s family lived in Northwest Fork Hundred and William’s family lived in Broad Creek Hundred, two townships (essentially what they were) only fifteen or so miles apart. William Downs may have chosen the name of a childhood acquaintance as an alias. 

The parentage of William Downs of Sussex Co, Delaware, and possibly of Tillman Andrew of White Co and Franklin Co, Illinois, is shown below. No documented research and few contemporary records are found for the family, which limited census data indicate may have been illiterate, fragmented, and low-income. And the father’s surname is said by some to have actually been “Thomas.” But that is just the sort of family that might include someone ready to take on an alias. Further investigation of this obscure family is a job for a better detective than I am, or at least one with a lot of time on their hands. Perhaps some of you Tillman descendants would like to take it on. And perhaps one of you male Tillman descendants with the name “Andrews” would like to take a yDNA test to confirm (or negate) “Downs” as the original family name. Don’t hesitate to contact me to discuss this.

Let’s end the Tillman saga with a bang.

In Nebraska, in the later part of the 19^th century lived Frank Allison, a Civil War veteran who had served in the Indiana Infantry. In 1890, Frank applied for a pension. Take a look at his pension index card and that for Tillman Andrews. See any similarity?

That’s right. Both show William W. Downs/Downes as an alias! Extensive research shows no connection with our Tillman.  But what are the odds?

Well that’s it for Tillman. Without yDNA results, we may never be certain whether Tillman’s descendants are Andrewses or Downses. But I must admit that I lean towards Tillman who married Lucinda Russel being a Downs, specifically the son of William and Caroline Downs of Maryland and Delaware.

Sleuthing

John Cozart’s 1895 application to the Bureau of Pensions for Tillman Andrew’s minor children kicked off an extensive investigation. The Bureau requested documentation that Tillman and Lucinda had legally married, that the children were theirs, that Cozart was the children’s guardian, that the children’s birthdates were correct, that Tillman was dead, that Lucinda's other marriages really occurred, and that Tillman Andrew and William W. Downs were the same person. Here, our primary interest is the last—evidence showing Tillman and William to be one and the same. Of course at least one bureaucrat had already made that conclusion since Lucinda received William’s arrears of Army pay as his widow on 25 Oct 1895, before the minor’s pension investigation had even begun.

On 12 Nov 1895 John Cozart, Lucinda’s third husband, received Franklin County court letters of guardianship for the two youngest of Tillman’s children, Nora and Anna Andrews. Within days, on 25 Nov 1895, Cozart filed for minor’s pensions for the two girls based on Tillman’s Civil War service. Nora and Anna Mae were the only two of Tillman and Lucinda’s six children eligible. The others were too old. The Pension Act of 14 July 1862 made Civil War pensions available to widows, children under 16 years of age, and disabled veterans. Widows who remarried, as Lucinda had, were no longer eligible. Evidence that Tillman served under the name “William Downs/Downes” (both names are seen) was provided by affidavits of four men: George T. Russell, B. F. Russell, John B. Flanigan, and A. U. Whiffin. All four claimed that they had personally known Tillman Andrews and that he told them that he had served during the Civil War in Co. A of the 3rd Massachusetts Cavalry under the name William Downs.

One witness, George Russell, claimed that in 1886 or 1887 he saw Tillman apply for bounty, stating that his military name was William Downes and that he had served in Company A, Massachusetts 3rd Cavalry. Of course, being illiterate, George could not have possibly read what was in Tillman’s application. Moreover, a bounty request makes no sense. Bounty lands were not awarded to Civil War veterans and William had already received his enlistment bounty. But even if misconstrued, an application like that would show that authorities knew of Tillman’s alias well before his death in 1892.

There are some suspicions about the affidavits of the four men. First, three of the witnesses were related to Lucinda, Tillman’s widow. Two were her brothers Benjamin Franklin Russell and George Thomas Russell and one was the husband of her first cousin Julia A. Russell. A daughter of both a Russell and a Funkhouser, Julia was Lucinda’s cousin by two different paths. And the family was obviously looking out for Lucinda. George Russell stated that his sister “owns 80 acres . . all very thin poor land” and that she had debts including an $85 mortgage on her property.

George and Benjamin, questionable                   A clean bill for John B.         

Of course, one would expect information about a person to best come from relatives. And British-born Whiffin had no known connection with Lucinda. But one must also be concerned about the characters of the witnesses. George was said to be “not verry good” and his brother B. F., only “some better.” On the other hand, John Flanigan was said to be “of good standing” and truthful.

Another concern is that the depositions of the four witnesses are too consistent. What are the odds that any of them would have remembered the exact name of the unit in which Tillman served from conversations at least ten years earlier? The consistency indicates that the witnesses had exchanged information before giving depositions. But that might be expected even if all was factual.

Eventually, probably in 1897, the claim was abandoned. The pursuit, which was complicated, time-consuming, and expensive, may have ended with Lucinda’s death and thus Cozart’s loss of interest. Besides, pensions would end when the girls reached sixteen. Nevertheless, despite some bothersome points, one must conclude from the investigation that

Tillman Andrews and William W. Downs were indeed the same person.

But who was that person? Our next blog will (hopefully) conclude with that. And don't hesitate to comment. Someday all of this will go into a book.

William Downs

It has arrived! The National Archives file for the Civil War pension application by John Cozart for support of Tillman Andrew’s offspring is here. And additional records for the Civil War veteran William Downs/Downes (both spellings are seen in documents and are used by me) have been obtained from Fold3. Perhaps we can begin to answer the question—Were Tillman and William the same person? [See The Mysterious Tillman.]

Enlistment.

Let’s first look at what we know about William's military stint.

In Holyoke, Massachusetts, on 22 June 1864, at age 21 (born c1843), William Downs, said to be born in Delaware, enlisted in the Union Army for three years. For signing up he received $25 of a $100 enlistment bounty, with $75 to be paid at a later date, plus $13 for one-month’s pay in advance. Bounties were given out to attract recruits by both the Union and the Confederacy. The original enlistment document shows that William Downs, like Tillman, was illiterate.

On 21 June 1865, after exactly one-year’s service as a private in Company A of the 3^rd Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry, William went AWOL in St. Louis, Missouri, while the regiment was enroute from Winchester, Massachusetts, to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where the 3rd Regiment was mustered out 28 Sep 1865. Might he have believed that he had only enlisted for one year?  The Enrollment Act of 3 March 1863 specified a bounty of $300 for 3-year enlistments, but William had been awarded only $100. Then, a month after going AWOL, William was declared a deserter. During the Civil War, desertion was rampant. Out of a little more than 2 million men, the Union Army had over 200,000 deserters, with some estimates going as high as 280,000. Ten percent or more of Union soldiers deserted! But despite the large numbers (or because of them), punishment could be severe with jailtime or even execution. That threat could certainly have caused the missing William to adopt an alias ("Tillman Andrew"?). 

On 5 Jul 1884, the U.S. 48th Congress passed a bill removing the charge of desertion for volunteer soldiers who had served until 1 May 1865 and had served for six months or more prior to that date. William's AWOL and desertion charges were removed and his discharge date was officially made 21 June 1865, the date he went missing.

AWOL, desertion                                             But all was forgiven

Someone decided Lucinda was William’s widow.

    On 25 Oct 1895, Lucinda Andrews, widow of “Wm. W. Downes,” received his arrears of pay to include the discharge date of 21 June 1865. We do not know the date she claimed the money, nor why the record shows her as “Lucinda Andrews,” not “Lucinda Summers” or “Lucinda Cozart.” Perhaps she applied for the settlement when she believed Tillman to be dead, but before she married James Jordan Summers. Death would have been difficult to "prove," explaining a long waiting period.

The payment record states “claim was allowed on satisfactory evidence of claimants heirs wife and soldier’s celibacy.” The phrase “soldier’s celibacy,” seen in a few other Civil War pension records, may mean that that William had no other wives who could be claimants. That there was “satisfactory evidence” that Lucinda was the widow of William W. Downes is startling. She received the back pay a month before 25 Nov 1895, the date that her third husband, John Cozart, applied for support of Tillman’s children. Nearly all the large file obtained from the National Archives concerns Cozart’s claim and documents the extensive investigation to prove that William Downs and Tillman Andrew were the same person, that Tillman was dead, that Tillman was actually Lucinda’s husband, etc. And that investigation was done after someone in Washington had already decided that Lucinda was William’s widow. But records of that inquiry (if there was one) have yet to be found.

The next blog will look at the investigation in support of Cozart’s claim for child support. In the meantime, if any of you would like a free no-strings-attached copy of the National Archive file just click on the link below. You don’t need the Dropbox app. If you get a "Log in or Sign Up" message just ignore it. Press the download button at the top right of the web page. You will then get (another) "Log in or Sign Up" message. Just click "Or continue with dropdown only" at the bottom of that message. You need not log in or sign up. It is not necessary to be a Dropbox user. Leave a comment or send me an email if you have problems.

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The Crabtrees: O What a Tangled Web

On 5 Feb 1911 at (more likely, near) the tiny community of Asherville, just south of Puxico in Stoddard Co, Missouri, John William Summers Sr and Verne Cumi Crabtree were joined in marriage. We know a lot about the Summers, but what of the Crabtrees?

The Crabtree family poses a difficult problem since few contemporary records are found for earlier members. “Betsey” (Betty Lou Jenkins Summers), wife of Michael Franklin Summers, son of Verne Cumi, “inherited” genealogical notes and trees from Verne Cumi, who had a great interest in the subject. And Betsey passed much of it on to me following the deaths of her husband and mother-in-law. Normally, I do not trust unsourced family history information, but I am making an exception in this case, at least for relatives closely related to Verne. Certainly, information on her parents, siblings, and probably grandparents, should be relatively trustworthy. Verne’s data on her great grandparents and further back, however, are more questionable.

John Adam and Talitha (Dillard) Crabtree, c1911.

John Adam Crabtree and Talitha Cumi Dillard, who married on 22 Dec 1870 in Gallatin Co, Illinois, are the forebearers of the Stoddard Co Crabtrees, at least those of interest to us. John Adam was born 28 Feb 1851 in Crittenden Co, Kentucky, to Timothy Franklin and Mary Ann (Lamb) Crabtree, their second and final child. A daughter, Rachel Ann, had been born earlier, 20 Jul 1849, also in Kentucky. It is claimed that John was born in Weston, a small Crittenden Co community on the Ohio River, and he may well have been born at that site. But the community was not officially “Weston” until 1877. Prior to that it was “Westonburg,” and even that name dates from just 1859, when the post office was established.

Rachel Ann Crabtree

Mary Ann Lamb

Timothy died on 24 Sep 1852, when Rachel was a little over age three and John was only a year and a half. His widowed mother married again, with Stephen  Boutwell Dillard, also widowed, on 3 Mar 1857 in Gallatin Co, Illinois, just across the river from what would one day be Weston, Kentucky, and then a little north.

And how did Mary Ann meet Stephen? It was easy. Stephen’s first wife, who died in 1850, was Anna Lamb, Mary Ann’s cousin. One day, Mary Ann’s son, John Adam, would marry Stephen Dillard’s grandniece, Talitha Cumi, daughter of Charles Dillard. Charles was Stephen Boutwell Dillard’s nephew and he was also Stephen’s first cousin once removed, through the Boutwell’s. Adding to the multiple connections, there is very strong evidence, though no absolute proof, that before he married Talitha, John Crabtree had an illegitimate daughter, Ava/Avery, with his stepsister Rachel Elizabeth Dillard. And as a final contribution to the tangle, Rachel Elizabeth’s second husband (her first was W. F. Philips) was James Madison Lamb, who was likely a brother of Mary Ann Lamb. (It was also James Madison’s second marriage.) Confused? Of course you are. I am. So let’s see if a diagram helps.

Well, I'm afraid the drawing is of little help. But we could have made things worse. In Gallatin Co, at least seven different Beans married at least seven different Dillards, all related to Rosa Bean and the four Dillards shown above. And there were even more Lamb/Dillard marriages, with a few Lamb/Bean marriages. Can you imagine cramming those connections into this diagram?

Wilson Family Cemetery Crittenden Co, Kentucky (Find A Grave).

From her first marriage, Mary Ann Lamb Crabtree Dillard had only two children, John Adam and Rachel Ann, but she had six children from her second, though some died young. Following the death of her second husband on 12 Jul 1876, Mary Ann, a progenitor of our Crabtree line, moved to Crittenden Co, Kentucky, where she was probably born and where Timothy Crabtree was likely buried. She died 18 Jan 1908 near Weston and was laid to rest in the Wilson Family Cemetery near Bells Mines, Crittenden Co, where she had lived out her life. It is a mystery, then, that Stephen Boutwell Dillard is buried in Rock Hill Cemetery, Stoddard Co, Missouri, the state where he likely died. Did Stephen and Mary Ann live there for a while?  Perhaps they went there with Stephen's nephew Charles Dillard and his wife Rosa Bean, Talitha Cumi's parents, since those two are also buried in the same cemetery as Stephen. Or perhaps with Mary Ann's daughter and son-in-law, Talitha Cumi and John Adam Dillard, who lived out their married life in Stoddard Co. And they may have all gone together. But that is the subject of a future blog.

Genesis: Puxico

Puxico, c1900.

In 1848 not a single mile of railroad track could be found in the entire state of Missouri. The following year saw the chartering of its first railway, the Pacific, which opened five miles of track from St. Louis to Cheltenham in 1852. Off to a promising start, Missouri railroad construction soon slowed down due to the panic of 1857 and was stopped completely by the Civil War.

During the war, the Missouri's Bootheel region, where the Andrews and John William Summers would one day settle, was the home of Confederate sympathizers and guerilla bands, which Union forces tried to dislodge. The ensuing battles, often occurring in muddy swamps and swollen streams, were neighbor against neighbor, and kin against kin, with atrocities committed by both sides. The Battle of Mingo Swamp, which occurred on 4 Feb 1863 just north of Puxico, was the bloodiest battle in Southeast Missouri. Family feuds between combatants continued for decades after the war.

1907 Timetable (St. Louis Mercantile Library).

Missouri railroad construction took off again in 1865, at war’s end, and became rampant in the Bootheel area, a region of productive timberlands used for railroad ties and barrel staves. In 1883, Louis Houck, a railroad entrepreneur, extended his Cape Girardeau Southwestern Railroad through the swamps from what is today the town of Advance to Puxico. The following year, Puxico was incorporated as a village. Its position in the center of the timber industry of T.J. Moss, a large tie contractor, made it an important railroad stop. By 1888, Moss, who had acquired 40,000 acres of Stoddard timberland, became the largest tie contractor in Missouri. In 1902 the Cape Girardeau Southwestern Railroad and other lines were sold to the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway Company (the “Frisco”). And then John William Summers arrived in Stoddard County with some Andrews half-siblings.

Frisco Station, Puxico, c1902.

By 1910, 20-year-old John Summers had a room in a Puxico boarding house, about five miles north of Asherville, where his half-brother Lewis Andrews was living. John had moved to Puxico after getting a job as a laborer with the Frisco Railroad.

Another person associated with the Frisco in 1910 was Cass B Crabtree, who was working as an express shipping manager, while living with his mother and father on a farm outside town. Not a Frisco employee, Cass used the railroad for his express deliveries. Born with the name “Carson Lee,” he took the name “Cass B,” for unknown reasons, and treated the “B” not an initial, but as his middle name. His signature was sometimes written with quotation marks around the “B” to show it was not an initial, and it was even entered on some official documents that way. According to family members, that caused no end of confusion to record keepers.

Signature on WW I draft registration.

John and Cass met, either due to their railroad connection or because Crabtree and Andrews family members were neighbors in the Asherville area. According to descendants, John was invited by Cass to have dinner with his family. And at that dinner, John Summers met Cass’s sister Verne Cumi Crabtree. You can guess what happened next.

Verne Cumi and John William Summers, 1911.

On 3 Feb 1911 Verne and John obtained a marriage license in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and were married two days later in Asherville, which both had listed as their home. Verne’s brother, John Henry Crabtree, a farmer and Baptist minister, may have conducted the wedding. John Henry lived near the Andrews and officiated at many “Asherville” weddings, including those of his brothers Cass B on Crabtree 6 Aug 1911, the same year his sister Verne was married, Charles Dillard Crabtree, and George Franklin Crabtree. Actually John Henry’s home, a mile or two north of the tiny community, was used for at least some of his “Asherville” weddings.

John H. Crabtree lived near Asherville
and Lewis Andrews (Plat book, 1930).

Verne and John William lived only briefly as a married couple in Stoddard Co. By August of 1911 John was working as a Frisco station agent in Boynton, Arkansas. Quite a jump from laborer to agent. But that is a future chapter in our saga.