It’s comforting to know I have cousins in positions of power in case I should ever need them. Gary Dusenberg, my 2nd cousin, 1x removed, was recently appointed by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon to the (Missouri) Board of Parole and Probation. Although his appointment is subject to Senate approval, I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t pass with flying colors. Twenty-six years as a Missouri state trooper, a Vietnam veteran and four terms in the Missouri House of Representatives – frankly, who’d make a better candidate?

Should I ever need to leverage the fact that we share DNA, however, that means something has truly run amok in my life in Missouri. But, I still like having him in my back pocket just in case. Things might just get out of hand when I am back in Missouri next week for the holidays.

The Independence Examiner posted this story online but I have no idea when or who wrote it. Gary’s appointment was interrupted several times by annoying pop-up ads for hemorrhoid cream, a credit card offer and the latest news in the world of erectile dysfunction. I kind of gave up on trying to read the story but think I got the gist of it.

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 2nd cousin, 1x removed
Common ancestors: Gary’s great grandparents, Henry Simon and Friederieke (Duewel) Duesenberg, are my 2nd great grandparents

There are four historic roadside markers in Cecil County, Maryland associated with members of the Veazey family. The first of these I discussed in a earlier post – that of the original homestead. The other three I present here for the first time. Since you’re reading this post, I assume you can read the signs, too. I’ll let them speak for themsevles. Note that anyone mentioned in the signs with “Veazey” appearing somewhere in their name is a distant cousin of the Tranthams who are most likely reading this blog.

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relations: Distant cousins of varying lengths
Common ancestors: John and Martha (Broccus) Veazey, my 8th great grandparents

“Trainum” is the latest potential variation of the Trentham surname I’ve stumbled upon. (I am only going to use quotation marks once so bear with me.)

A Jeremiah Trantham, who was living in Williamson County, Tennessee in the early 1800s and about the same time as my ancestor, Martin Trantham, shows up in some documents as Jeremiah Trainum (and Tranthum and Tranum). I have no idea how we might be related (and that frustrates me to no end) but I decided to pull back the covers a bit anyway.

In June of 1814, Jeremiah Tranthum or Tranum is listed as the bondsman for a happily wedded couple. In October of the same year, Jeremiah Trantham was appointed constable. A bond of $1,250 was secured by Cornelius Wilson who is relevant to this tale and some other bloke who is not. Jeremiah Trantham apparently fulfilled his duties faithfully for at least nine months because he’s still a constable in July of 1815 as recorded in surviving court documents.

A few years earlier in 1810 a Jeremiah Tranum married the daughter of the aforementioned Cornelius Wilson. I suspect father-in-law Cornelius wanted his daughter’s husband to have a good paying job and he was willing to fork over some money to make sure that that happened. Jeremiah and his wife Elizabeth (Wilson) appear to have had at least two children – one of whom was named Cornelius Wilson Trainum.

With Cornelius Wilson (the son) the Trainum spelling of the last name finally stuck. Born about 1810, he shows up in the 1850 census of neighboring Maury County as “C. W. Trainum”.

I have to be open to the possibility that Trainum was the correct spelling of Jeremiah’s last name from the beginning and somehow it was erroneously recorded as Trantham and Tranthum. Big somehow. That said, Jeremiah’s Trainum descendants are still around today. I am just waiting for one of them to donate some saliva and show up on Ancestry.com.

When that happens, Jeremiah Whatever-His-Last-Name-Was will make a repeat appearance on this here blog!

References:
Wells, C. (1994). Williamson County, Tennessee Circuit Court Minutes, July 1812-October 1815. Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, Inc.
Whitley, E. R. (1982) Marriages of Williamson County, Tennessee 1804-1850. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc.

Christian Winter has been on my radar screen for quite a while. I suspected we were related for the longest time but couldn’t quite connect the dots. Although he lived in Iowa, he frequently visited his cousins who lived in Warren County, Missouri. The people he visited, as reported in the Warrenton Banner, were cousins to my ancestors so there had to be connection. It did not help matters that his mother’s maiden name was also Winter. Had it not been for a flurry of research activities this weekend and a breakthrough finally, I might have been tempted to (snow)flake out. In the end, it turns out that he is indeed my 1st cousin, 4x removed and the nephew of my 3rd great grandmother, Dorothea (Winter) Biesemeyer. Perseverance paid off.

I refused to give up on him because Christian invented things in his spare time. He has a few patents to his name – things I recognized instantly when I saw them. One of them was a “new and improved” climbing harness used by linemen to shimmy up poles. His design was patented June 5, 1917. So, the next time you see someone using one of these things you’ll be thinking about Christian and thanking me for not giving up! Who knew?

I “borrowed” these images that I found on Google:

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 1st cousin, 4x removed
Common ancestors: Christian’s grandparents, Anton and Catharina (Bracht) Winter, are my 4th great grandparents

One of the first things you learn when you begin to study genealogy is this: just because it is carved in stone doesn’t mean it is correct. This cautionary tip, which was meant to encourage researchers to check multiple sources, forewarns of the dangers of simply accepting birth and death dates as they appear on grave markers. After all, as many writers have pointed out, the best person for the job of proofing the dates was likely unavailable when the hammer and chisel came out of the toolbox. But, surely, my ancestors, who were highly-intelligent beings would not have made this type of mistake about their own parents. Wishful thinking.

Marie (Brömstrup) Wessel, my 3rd great grandmother, is buried in the city cemetery outside of Warrenton, Missouri. Carved in stone is the year of her birth: 1809. It is prominently displayed, well-preserved and wrong.

“Maria” was born in Hagenburg, Germany to parents Caspar and Catharina Maria (Schöpper) Brömstrup on February 6. 1811. She was baptized 11 days later under the watchful gaze of godparents Margarethe Brömstrup, Margarethe Gerdemann and Johann Wessling. All of this is captured, of course, in church records that have survived. This same Maria, born February 6, 1811, married Wilhelm Wessel in 1839 as was captured in their marriage record.

People lie about their ages all the time. So I am trying to decide if it’s better or worse that she died “older” than she actually was. Frankly, I doubt that Granny Maria cares. Either way, this mistake is a bit permanent methinks.

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 3rd great grandmother
Common ancestors: Maria’s parents, Caspar and Catharina Maria (Schöpper) Brömstrup, are my 4th great grandparents

Betsy (Martinleer) Trantham, my 6th great grandmother, had but one child and reportedly lived to be 154 years old. Tales of her mythic longevity (because that’s what it is) continued to be retold in newspapers across the country long after her death in 1834. But in 1884, her great great grandson, Lewis Peach, finally decided to set the record straight. In his letter to the American newspaper, he stated adamantly that Betsy had many children, not one, and that she was only 149 years old when she died. Unfortunately, I firmly believe Lewis was a bit misguided in suggesting Betsy died at such an advanced age. I have to cut him a bit of slack, though, because it was her advanced age that kept her name in the newspapers. And it was probably a matter of pride that he counted himself among her many descendants. So why wouldn’t he want he want to help perpetuate the myth?

Notwithstanding the old age nonsense, the rest of Lewis’ letter provides genealogical gemstones. In it, he identifies Betsy’s “other” children. They are the “other” children because they are not my ancestor, Martin Trantham, who is named along with:

• Rachel, who married Lawrence Burns;
• Parmelia, who married Charles Gray;
• Elizabeth, who married Luke Harp;
• Robert, who died in Arkansas; and,
• Charles, who died in Alabama.

Lewis also identifies two of Betsy’s grandchildren – Robert Happ and Sally Gray – and a great grandson, Mark Gray. Of Betsy’s son, Martin, Lewis writes that he fought in the American Revolution. Strangely, he does not identify him as “my grandfather” which he would have been. But, I digress.

Every descendant of Martin Trantham on Ancestry.com has Betsy Trantham in their family tree – all 154 years of her. But I’ve yet to come across a single descendant of her daughters Rachel Burns, Parmelia Gray and Elizabeth Happ. This strikes me as very odd. Where are they? Did they really exist? So, as a side project, I’ve decided to try and find them and figure out why none of their descendants trace their lineage back to Betsy. Perhaps Lewis was misguided about that, too. We’ll see.

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 6th great grandmother
Common ancestors: Betsy’s parents, John and Barbary (Blocker) Martinleer, who were 300 years old when Betsy was born, are my 7th great grandparents

Reference:
Lewis Peach’s letter was reprinted in:
Knight, J. K. (1980). Obituaries from Tennessee Newspapers 1851-1899. Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, Inc.

When my paternal grandfather’s father moved his family from Tennessee to Texas in the early 1900s, my paternal grandmother’s German cousins were there to greet them. Anton Heinrich Dreyer, my 1st cousin, 5x removed, immigrated to America with his wife and children in 1842. Arriving in Galveston aboard the sea-faring vessel Francisco, Anton and his pioneering family made their way first to Columbus, Texas before settling finally in Oakland, Texas. In the “old country”, Anton had manufactured tobacco. Thus, farming tobacco and producing cigars in his “chosen country” was a logical choice of professions. Anton was reportedly one of the first tobacco farmers where he resided.

Anton’s oldest son, Henry, served two years as a Texas Ranger battling the Comanches. (A German Texas Ranger and distant cousin? Genealogy doesn’t get any better than this!) When the Civil War started, Henry and his younger brother, Hermann, joined the Confederate ranks. After the war, honorably-discharged Henry returned home where he became a prominent business man and sawmill operator. Dreyer, Texas, which is located an hour and thirty minutes east of San Antonio was named after him. According to the Texas State Historical Association’s website, Dreyer, or Dryer, reached its peak population of 100 in 1940. By 2000, it had dropped to 20.

Okay, so Dreyer, Texas isn’t exactly a thriving metropolis. But it’s still pretty cool that it bears the name of my distant cousin. And speaking of names, although I cannot say with certainty I suspect that Henry’s father, Anton Heinrich, was named after his uncle and my ancestor, Anton Heinrich Winter.

Until recently, I had always associated Texas with my Trantham ancestors. Of course, that has changed now that I know that Texas is a bit Dreyer.

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 1st cousin, 5x removed
Common ancestors: Anton’s grandparents, Johann Heinrich and Anne Catherine (Brand) Winter, are my 5th great grandparents

Reference:
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hnd59
Johnson, F.W. (1916). A History of Texas and Texans (Vol.3). Chicago: The American Historical Society.

Andrew Ward, the author of River Run Red: The Fort Pillow Massacre In The American Civil War, devoted a paragraph of his book to Milas M. Deason, my 3rd great grand uncle. The son of John R. and Lydia Ann Deason, Milas (or Miles) was a Union soldier in the Tennessee Calvary and a bugler.

Western Tennessee, where Milas was born, had aligned itself with the Unionists of the North. On April 24, 1864, Confederate troops, led by a former “slave trader” stormed Fort Pillow where Milas was stationed in Tennessee. Escaping the carnage that ensued, Milas left his severely outnumbered comrades behind to face imprisonment or death. Many of the Union soldiers stationed here were former slaves who were summarily executed (allegedly) by the Confederates instead of being taken as prisoners of war. According to the author, more than 60 black soldiers who survived were forced back into slavery. The acceptable “code of conduct” between the two warring parties had been violated. While unquestionably tragic, the “massacre” at Fort Pillow remains controversial 150 years later.

Milas apparently returned to the fort after the Confederate soldiers had left. During a later scouting mission, he disappeared and was never seen or heard from again. His bugle was found hanging from a tree and he was officially declared a deserter by the Army. However, thirteen years after the events at Fort Pillow, Confederate veterans – witnesses – came forth and testified that Milas had not deserted but had been caught and executed by guerillas.

In the notes section at the end of his book, the author provided the names of these witnesses. One of them was “Benjamin M. Tuberville“.

I immediately recognized the last name and was a bit stunned because of its implication. Milas’ mother was born Lydia Ann Turbeville. While I have not yet confirmed Benjamin’s identify, it is highly possible that he witnessed the execution of his relative who fought for the opposing side.

I contacted the author who graciously sent me photocopies of Milas’ pension records – the source of his information. A tale of despair and heartbreak unfolds in these documents as Lydia, who never accepted the Army’s conclusion that her son had deserted, tried desperately to claim his pension. The Post Master of Gleeson, Tennessee, who apparently was asked by officials in Washington to provide an unbiased and local account of the events, wrote in his response:

“Mrs. Deason and Husband are very poor people, both old and feeble. The old Gentleman not able to labor for maintenance, nor having been for several years, no Physical disability, except old age and general disability. Milas M. Deason, their Son, was never married, consequently left no widow, or minors surviving him, his only means of contributing to his support was by his labor whilst at home. I do not think he ever sent his mother any money whilst absent in the Army.”  

I do not know if Lydia’s plight was successful. The author did not photocopy everything in Milas’ files, but he has kindly helped me order a complete set from the National Archives for my own records. When I receive the files, I’ll likely update this post.

I am deeply grateful to the author, Andrew Ward, for including Milas’ story in his book and for his assistance. He opened a window that enabled me to get a rare, and now treasured, look into the lives of my ancestors.

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 3rd great grand uncle
Common ancestors: Milas’ parents, John R. and Lydia (Turbeville) Deason, are my 4th great grandparents. His sister, Rebecca (Deason) Trantham, is my 3rd great grandmother.

Reference:
Ward, A. (2005). River Run Red: The Fort Pillow Massacre In The American Civil War. New York: Penguin Books.