Writing Progress Check

At the beginning of November I had an ambitious set of stories that I was hoping to cover. I've spent quite a bit of time covering the Civil War pension file of Joseph Jones and new finds from Tennessee. I returned from last week's meetings in Los Angeles to another set of deed records from the Jefferson County Archives, although I'm no closer to pinning down a confirmation of the Joneses in East Tennessee prior to the magic date of 31 December 1796, I feel like I'm getting closer.

Before I cover more information from the pension file, I need to review some other documents. This is going to require a trip to the Library of Congress and National Archives. I'm not sure when I'll have time to do that in the next couple of weeks. I'd like to know more about the case of Captain John Thornhill, and the legal action that went to the Supreme Court and back.

I've wanted to shift focus to introduce the story of the Halter family on my wife's side arriving in the US from Alsace in New Orleans, but this is going to need to wait until December. Her 4th-great-grandfather, Francois Antoine Halter, came to New Orleans in 1832. In 1861, he appears in the New Orleans City Directory as a gardener living at 77 Bartholomew Street. This is located around the corner from the Musician's Village built by Ellis Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr following Hurricane Katrina. Francois was living in New Orleans at a fascinating time in its growth.

In that same City Directory, another Halter, Joseph, was living at 258 Frenchmen Street. That's very close to the present day Frenchmen Hotel. I haven't confirmed if this Joseph was her 3rd-great-grandfather. In August 1861 he married Laura Williams in Vanderburgh County, Indiana.

There's more to the story of Azariah Davis to tell. Azariah's wife (my 6th-great-grandmother), Alice Elsie Van Meter has an interesting story of her own. She is descended from the Van Meter family, which leads to quite extensive research covered by others, describing their journey to America in 1662 and long history before arriving in the New World. Given the amount of information, I'll take my time working up to this.

There are a few more generations of Allmans to highlight, now that the parents of William Allman have been identified. I'm not at a loss for stories to share, either from the past or photos from recent or upcoming meetings.