Uriah Lamon

Earlier this month I wrote about the quilt made by Ursula Fellme Muck in the Indiana State Museum. Before I write about the Muck and Fellme families in Harrison County, Indiana, I need to work forward and write about the Lamon family of my 2nd-great-grandfather Uriah Lamon and my great-grandmother Blanche Lamon.

Uriah Lamon

Uriah was born in June 1854 in Harrison County, Indiana. He was the son of David Detrick Lamon and Permelia Smith.

In 1870, Uriah is in the household of his parents, David and Permelia, in Scott Township, Harrison County, Indiana.

Sometime between 1870 and 1880, Uriah moved from Harrison County to Gibson County. In 1880, Uriah appears as a laborer in the household of J.W. Emmerson in Montgomery Township, Gibson County, Indiana.

Uriah married Anna L Smith in Gibson County, Indiana on 9 November 1884. Uriah and Anna had at least the following children:

1. Blanche Lamon, born 1887
2. James Herman Lamon, born 1889
3. George Edwin Lamon, born 1893

Interestingly, the Lamon family show up in McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee in the 1900 US Census. Uriah is listed as a farmer. I'm not sure why the family went to McMinnville, but they did not stay in Tennessee.

By 1910, Uriah and Anna had returned to Fort Branch, Gibson County, Indiana, to live with Anna's father Jesse Smith.

In the 1920 Census, Uriah and Anna were living on Walnut Street in Fort Branch.

I have not yet found Uriah in the 1930 or 1940 Census. I do know that he died in 1945 and is buried in Gibson County. An old photo of Uriah and Anna's tombstone is below.

Fort Delaware, August 1863

149 years ago this month, my third-great-grandfather Joseph Thomas Jones and his brother-in-law William Gilbert Daniel were prisoners of war, held with 8,000-12,000 other men at Fort Delaware following their capture at the Battle of Big Black River on 17 May 1863. They were at this camp between 15 June and 20 September 1863.

Fort Delaware is located on Pea Patch Island, between New Jersey and Delaware in the middle of the Delaware River. The prisoners referred to this as "Devil's Half Acre".

Source: Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/de0498/

Source: Fort Delaware by Seth Eastman, US Senate (see link)

The painting above comes from the US Senate page, http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Painting_33_00012.htm. This dates between 1870-1875.

Joseph and William both survived the ordeal and returned to their families in Tennessee. Joseph migrated with them to Indiana before returning to farm in Jefferson County, Tennessee. 

Prison Conditions

In Brian Temple's The Union Prison at Fort Delaware: A Perfect Hell on Earth, he describes the conditions at Pea Patch Island in July and August 1863 as "the heat could be so intense that there were days where 'men by the hundreds are seen sweltering on their backs, fairly gasping for breath, like fish dying on a sand beach.'" The men there faced poor water and food conditions, often resorting to eating rats.

The following correspondence comes from War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (see Google Books):

Joseph and William were in the group of prisoners transferred from Fort Delaware to Point Lookout in September 1863. Detail on Point Lookout will be provided in a future post.

Update - I've corrected this post to note that Joseph was not alone as a prisoner of war, he was with his brother-in-law, William. This may be one of the reasons that they both survived through 3 months at Fort Delaware and almost 5 months at Point Lookout before they were set free.

Sepia Saturday - Antonio Campuzano

I have corrected my earlier entries after fellow Campuzano researcher Pat Rosas sent me a copy of Antonio Campuzano's photo. In earlier posts, I had speculated that Antonio was the brother of my 2nd-great-grandfather Vicente Campuzano. Well, we're convinced the two are related, just not as brothers. Below is a photo of Antonio P. Campuzano, barber of Tempe, Arizona.

Source: Pat Rosas, photo of Antonio Campuzano

Antonio and Vicente were in the same circle of Sonoran & Latin American immigrants who were active in the growth of Tempe & Phoenix during the early decades of the 20th Century. On the petition to incorporate Glendale, Arizona, posted on 14 July, one can see the signatories included Pedro Garcia de la Lama, founder of Liga Protectora Latina, among others who formed the mutual aid society.

In the 1913 City Directory for Phoenix, Antonio appears on the same page as another Campuzano, confirmed by Pat as her grandfather, Gregorio Portillo Campuzano. He was a blacksmith, born 16 November 1877.

Phoenix City Directory, 1913

In the 1912 City Directory, Gregorio is listed, but not Antonio. Antonio is listed in the 1903 Phoenix City Directory with wife, as a barber at 25 S. 2nd Street.

It is great to have a photo of Antonio and resolve the mystery over whether he was a brother to Vicente Campuzano. There's more work to be done to connect these families. Thanks to Pat for the photo and the information.

Friday Photo - Cloud Forest

Photo by Patrick L Jones - Selvatura Park, Costa Rica, March 2012

Recalling Present Family History and How Much to Share

In looking back at the bits of records and information that I pour over to try get a better understanding about the time and experiences of family in this history gathering journey, I am reminded not to overlook things that are more current to present day that may be interesting to my kids, or their kids and so on. I have done this through photos or on occasion recalling an experience such as a layover in Paris or watching my Dad's boat building class in Indiana, as examples.

With many of these stories, things that may be interesting are too recent, and need some passage of time before I am able to write about them in a sufficient way. There are stories that simply involve crossing paths with a person of varying degrees of fame, with interactions that may have left no impression on that person but resonated with me for one reason or another.

The challenge is what and how much to make public. I haven't hesitated write in detail in this blog on members of the family, distant and present. And I don't exactly hide my contact details either. But it is something I've thought about. Ultimately, this is a vehicle to share and to make stories from the past and present available, to family and non-family alike.

Now that I am in the habit of writing or posting something almost daily on the blog, this is a reminder to periodically capture stories that are more current, even if those are stored in another format or place. From time to time, those impressions may end up here, to provide context to photos or of a particular situation.

I've been writing here for 8 months and don't plan to stop any time soon. There are a lot of stories to tell. I am mindful that this is public, and that I'm certainly not the only one in the family. Reading about family history impacts people in different ways. In February I wrote about making our own history every day. I still believe that. As with other social outlets, such as Facebook, one applies a filter. What to preserve and pass down, and in what form?