Wednesday, April 12, 2017

G.A.R. Officers Named, 1901, Salamonia, Indiana

Found a snippet of news from the Salamonia Grand Army of the Republic Post from 1901 that shows my paternal great-great grandfather, Luman Walker LeMasters, Jr. was chosen as a ceremonial officer.  Luman had served in Company C, 39th Indiana Infantry, later designated as the 8th Indiana Cavalry. The paper did, however, get his name wrong with the initials L.M. instead of L.W.

G.A.R. Officers

Portland, Ind., Dec. 17 - Henry McLaughlin post, G.A.R. of Salamonia has elected the following officers: Commander, B.F. Harter, Sr., ; vice commander, J.P. Harruff, Jr.,; vice commander, W.A. Caster; surgeon, William Bushman, chaplain, R.B. Whitcre, quarter-master, Adam Burr; officer of the day, Benjamin Arthur; outside guard, L.M. Lemaster.


Muncie Star Press, Muncie, Indiana
December 18, 1901, page 3

Monday, April 10, 2017

George B. Crawford household, 1940, Yuma County, Arizona

Located the 1940 census record of the George B. Crawford household in Yuma County, Arizona.  George was my maternal 6th cousin 3 times removed.  Our common ancestors were John Beals and Sarah Bowater.  George's parents were George Newton Crawford and Mary Elizabeth Birdwell.

1940 U.S. census, Yuma County, Arizona, population schedule, Yuma, enumeration district (ED) 14-8, SD 14-8, sheet 1B, 1011 7th Avenue, household 16, ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 February 2017); National Archives, Washington, D.C..
At the time of the enumeration, George was living in the city of Yuma. The census states that George was renting his home for $10 per month.  George was 42 years old and was born in Texas.  His wife, Emma, was 37 years old and born in Texas.  Their residence in 1935 was the same place.

The record shows that both George and Emma had completed the 6th grade in education. George's occupation was listed as Track Works, S P Railroad [Southern Pacific], while Emma's occupation was listed as Housework in a private home.

Also living in the household were son Jack, age 19, born in Texas, working for Coca Cola delivery; son Elmer, age 17, born in Oklahoma, working as Messenger for Western Union; and son Wayne, age 15, born in Oklahoma, a student.

If you have any additional information or are related to this family, I'd love to hear from you.

Friday, April 07, 2017

Wright Families of Clermont and Brown Counties, Ohio

It has been awhile,but I am working again on the Wright lines in Clermont/Brown Counties, Ohio.

I'm truly doing a 'do-over' on the information I have and am focusing on the FAN club (Friends, Neighbors, Associates) of my George Wright (1780-1853) in order to shore up the connections and understand the relationships between all of the various families.  I've created a spreadsheet to track the connected families, and would like your input.


If you recall, George Wright (1780-1853), was purported to be a son of John & Sarah (Fleming) Wright.  This John is believed to have a brother Robert Wright, who was a Revolutionary War soldier and married to Catherine Applegate.

George Wright is my target ancestor because he is the furthest direct ancestor that I can tie my Wright line to through documented evidence and not just family group sheets and conjecture.

While I have seen information put out on the web and through family group sheets connecting these Wrights to Cambridge, Massachusetts and then on into Scotland, I am re-evaluating and looking for more solid ground to stake that claim.

I have the wills of both George Wright (1780-1853) and Robert Wright (1757-1840) out of Brown County, as well as some land documents and have been extracting names of witnesses, etc. in order to try to tie out the family connections.  In future posts, I plan to examine these individuals and how they are connected to the Wrights.

Through land records, I know that George Wright's mother was named Sarah, but so far have not found a "smoking gun" that gives her maiden name as Fleming.  I'm hoping through an analysis of neighbors and associates I can better track the movement of these families and locate the information.

I hope that this analysis likewise sheds some light on the connections (if any) between these Wrights and the other Wrights in the area.

I’ve thrown out a post on a couple of Facebook message boards for Clermont and Brown counties, hoping that some other researchers would have some information as well.


If you have any additional information or are related to these families, I would love to hear from you.