Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Early maps of East Tennessee
Maps and visuals enhance the experience of family history research. Over the years of researching my East Tennessee ancestors I've found some good maps online. Posting a few here, first from the 1834 Map of East Tennessee, extracted from Charles C Royce's Cherokee Cessions map via TNGenWeb:
Here's an extract from Mathew Carey's 1814 General Atlas showing East Tennessee (and source link):
Women in the Family: Elizabeth Thornhill Jones
My posts so far have centered around fascinating men on my Dad's side, John O'Brien and Robert Thomas Jones Sr. This post highlights Robert's wife, Elizabeth Thornhill Jones. When Robert Sr. and son joined the 5th Infantry and went off to fight in the Mexican War in 1847, Elizabeth stayed behind with their nine children in Jefferson County. She must have been a strong woman, as she lead the household in the 1850 & 1860 Censuses before moving in with her daughter Sarah Melissa Jones Daniel in the 1870 Census.
Elizabeth Thornhill was born in Culpeper, Virginia in 1808 to parents Joseph Thornhill and Sarah Westall. Sometime after Elizabeth was born, her parents moved from Culpeper, Virginia to Jefferson County, Tennessee. She had at least one older brother, Richard Thornhill (22 Oct 1805-15 Dec 1876), and at least two younger brothers John, Alexander, and youngest sister Sarah Jane. I would be interested to know more about the journey from Culpeper to Jefferson County, what it was like for a family between 1810-1819. Culpeper features prominently in my family across several different lines, so I will have quite a few upcoming posts about this part of Northern Virginia.
It is possible their route followed present-day I-81, like this route courtesy of Google Maps:
Once in Jefferson County, Elizabeth's family lived very near the Jones family. I posted previously a copy of the marriage record for Robert and Elizabeth ("Betsy" in the record) dated 20 October 1824. In the 1830 US Census, Robert Jones is listed as head of household next door to Sarah Thornhill, Elizabeth's mother.
It is unclear if Robert Sr. made it back to Jefferson County from Memphis after he mustered out of the 5th Infantry in July 1848, but certainly Elizabeth had to bear the news of her oldest son Robert Jr. drowning at Muscle Shoals, Alabama in December 1847. Elizabeth and children were living near to Robert's parents, Thomas and Nancy Jones, so it is likely she was able to look to them for some support, and to her siblings and their families in Jefferson County. [Update 4 February 2012 - See posts on The Sad Fate of Robert Thomas Jones Part 1, Part 2]
The 1850 Census record in the 13th District of Jefferson County shows the family:
In the 1860 & 1870 Censuses it is noted that Elizabeth could not read or write, although she did have an estate worth $300 in 1860.
The Civil War years brought more difficulty in Jefferson County, and more heartbreak for Elizabeth. Two battles were fought in Jefferson County in December 1863 & January 1864, probably near the Jones & Thornhill homes. Elizabeth's nephew John A Thornhill served as Captain of Company B in the 9th Tennessee Cavalry for the Union. Elizabeth's son, Francis Marion Jones, served in Thornhill's company. Francis deserted the company in Nashville by February 1864 and started walking home to Jefferson County. He was captured by Confederate troops in Jefferson County (probably very close to his home) and held as a prisoner of war. He is buried in Hamblen County, Tennessee in Cedar Grove Cemetery alongside other members of the Thornhill family. On 24 June 1864, John A Thornhill and 16 of his men met a violent end in Jefferson County [I'll have more on this in future posts]. All of this must have been incredibly difficult for a single mother such as Elizabeth.
Elizabeth Thornhill was born in Culpeper, Virginia in 1808 to parents Joseph Thornhill and Sarah Westall. Sometime after Elizabeth was born, her parents moved from Culpeper, Virginia to Jefferson County, Tennessee. She had at least one older brother, Richard Thornhill (22 Oct 1805-15 Dec 1876), and at least two younger brothers John, Alexander, and youngest sister Sarah Jane. I would be interested to know more about the journey from Culpeper to Jefferson County, what it was like for a family between 1810-1819. Culpeper features prominently in my family across several different lines, so I will have quite a few upcoming posts about this part of Northern Virginia.
It is possible their route followed present-day I-81, like this route courtesy of Google Maps:
It is unclear if Robert Sr. made it back to Jefferson County from Memphis after he mustered out of the 5th Infantry in July 1848, but certainly Elizabeth had to bear the news of her oldest son Robert Jr. drowning at Muscle Shoals, Alabama in December 1847. Elizabeth and children were living near to Robert's parents, Thomas and Nancy Jones, so it is likely she was able to look to them for some support, and to her siblings and their families in Jefferson County. [Update 4 February 2012 - See posts on The Sad Fate of Robert Thomas Jones Part 1, Part 2]
The 1850 Census record in the 13th District of Jefferson County shows the family:
The Civil War years brought more difficulty in Jefferson County, and more heartbreak for Elizabeth. Two battles were fought in Jefferson County in December 1863 & January 1864, probably near the Jones & Thornhill homes. Elizabeth's nephew John A Thornhill served as Captain of Company B in the 9th Tennessee Cavalry for the Union. Elizabeth's son, Francis Marion Jones, served in Thornhill's company. Francis deserted the company in Nashville by February 1864 and started walking home to Jefferson County. He was captured by Confederate troops in Jefferson County (probably very close to his home) and held as a prisoner of war. He is buried in Hamblen County, Tennessee in Cedar Grove Cemetery alongside other members of the Thornhill family. On 24 June 1864, John A Thornhill and 16 of his men met a violent end in Jefferson County [I'll have more on this in future posts]. All of this must have been incredibly difficult for a single mother such as Elizabeth.
John O'Brien in the War of 1812 & Battle of Lake Erie
My 3xgreat-grandfather John O'Brien continues to be an interesting character to research. Not only did he live to be 108 years old, but his obituary states that he was a cabin boy in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and "he well remembered the British chagrin over Perry's victory in which the English fleet was destroyed on Lake Erie in September 1813." I thought this was a bit of legend, until this evening finding his War of 1812 Muster Roll on Fold3.com's War of 1812 Service Records for Lake Erie.
The service record states that he entered the Navy as an ordinary seaman on 10 July 1812. He would have been 18 years, 6 months old. He was stationed on the USS Niagara on 2 August 1812, on Lake Erie.
I need to read more about the Lake Erie campaign during the War of 1812 (for future reading see reference material from the Erie Maritime Museum). The USS Niagara features prominently in the lore of the Battle of Lake Erie, in which Commodore Oliver Perry led the US Navy to a decisive battle over the British.
The Erie Maritime Museum has a log of the battle (see http://www.eriemaritimemuseum.org/maritime_museum/History/battle_of_lake_erie/Battle_Log.htm). An interesting site on art of the Battle of Lake Erie can be found at http://www.battleoflakeerieart.com/. An account of the battle written by William W. Dobbins, can be found on Google Books. See History of the Battle of Lake Erie, etc.
John O'Brien continued his service in the US Navy throughout the Erie Campaign. He was on board the USS Somers when it was captured by the British on 12 August 1814 near Fort Erie, Ontario (across the lake from Buffalo, New York). He must have been released or escaped from capture, as he was active in the roll dated 10 April 1815.
I am interested to hear my Dad's take on this discovery, as he has sailed on Lake Erie many times and visited many of the sites that John O'Brien would have seen during the war. I visited Niagara Falls about 8 years ago. John O'Brien may have seen the Falls as well.
At this time, I do not have other records of John O'Brien's adventures at sea after the War of 1812, but he certainly must have had many. His obituary states that he continued as a sailor until returning to America in 1831.
John O'Brien is buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Shelby County, Illinois.
Photo credit for John's headstone goes to Eileen Bridges via Findagrave.com.
The Erie Maritime Museum has a log of the battle (see http://www.eriemaritimemuseum.org/maritime_museum/History/battle_of_lake_erie/Battle_Log.htm). An interesting site on art of the Battle of Lake Erie can be found at http://www.battleoflakeerieart.com/. An account of the battle written by William W. Dobbins, can be found on Google Books. See History of the Battle of Lake Erie, etc.
John O'Brien continued his service in the US Navy throughout the Erie Campaign. He was on board the USS Somers when it was captured by the British on 12 August 1814 near Fort Erie, Ontario (across the lake from Buffalo, New York). He must have been released or escaped from capture, as he was active in the roll dated 10 April 1815.
I am interested to hear my Dad's take on this discovery, as he has sailed on Lake Erie many times and visited many of the sites that John O'Brien would have seen during the war. I visited Niagara Falls about 8 years ago. John O'Brien may have seen the Falls as well.
At this time, I do not have other records of John O'Brien's adventures at sea after the War of 1812, but he certainly must have had many. His obituary states that he continued as a sailor until returning to America in 1831.
John O'Brien is buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Shelby County, Illinois.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Puente Nacional & the Mexican War
By the time the Tennessee 5th Infantry arrived in Mexico in January or February 1848, most of the major battles had ended. They were charged with guarding the Puente Nacional (or National Bridge) on the road from Veracruz to Mexico City. The bridge still exists today (see the Wikipedia entry). It was built in 1806 and originally called the Puente del Rey.
There are quite a few accounts from soldiers who fought at the bridge and traveled through the area. I'm going to link to some of these accounts here in order to keep track of them for reading later.
Service Afloat and Ashore by Lt. Raphael Semmes is worth a full read.
There are quite a few accounts from soldiers who fought at the bridge and traveled through the area. I'm going to link to some of these accounts here in order to keep track of them for reading later.
Service Afloat and Ashore by Lt. Raphael Semmes is worth a full read.
Rootstech next week
I'm not able to travel to the Rootstech Conference next week, but many bloggers will be there and of course, one can follow the Rootstech conference via Twitter. I've added a Rootstech feed to my Flipboard. If you have an iPhone or iPad I highly recommend this free app. This is also a useful tip for other searches you many be interested in following. Just add a feed to Flipboard and you can easily flip through the latest posts. This has seriously changed the way I follow news and events.
The Rootstech week at a glance is posted at http://rootstech.org/schedule, and a list of official bloggers is available at http://rootstech.org/bloggers. The Twitter feed for the conference can also be found at http://twitter.com/#!/search/rootstech. I am hoping to catch some of the sessions remotely.
The Rootstech week at a glance is posted at http://rootstech.org/schedule, and a list of official bloggers is available at http://rootstech.org/bloggers. The Twitter feed for the conference can also be found at http://twitter.com/#!/search/rootstech. I am hoping to catch some of the sessions remotely.
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