52 Ancestors: #48 - Peter WYANT

Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued a challenge:  write one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor.  It can be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem – anything that focuses on one ancestor.

My 4X great grandfather Peter WYANT certainly had an interesting introduction to life in the colony of Virginia.  He was born around 1763 in Germany and came to the British colonies as a Hessian soldier.  The Hessians, so named for the Hesse region in Germany, were hired by the British to fight against the colonists in their war for independence. 

Peter was captured after the Battle of Saratoga, but he managed to escape from the American guards in February of 1781 when the prisoners were being marched from their prison barracks near Charlottesville to the Shenandoah Valley.  Some family stories also say that he had changed his way of thinking and actually sided with the Americans.  At any rate, he managed to settle safely in Albemarle County where he married Mary BURRAS. 

Peter and Mary began their rather large family in Albemarle, but later they moved into nearby Rockingham County in an area known as Beldor.  This community sits just below the Skyline Drive. 

from Google Maps

Satellite view of Beldor Road

Wyant house is the structure in the middle of the image in the deep curve.  The house is no longer standing.  The spring house is the small grey structure in the lower center, below the house. 

The Wyant homeplace stood as late as October of 2013 when it burned to the ground.  However, the springhouse still stands.  During recent renovations, names and dates from the 1700s were found on the inside logs.

Wyant springhouse
photo courtesy of Jan Hensley

While “Wyant” is the spelling my line uses, there are numerous variations including a similar “Wiant” and “Wynant” as well as more German spellings including Weigandt, Weigant, Weyhant, Weygant, and Weiggert.

THREE GENERATIONS:

Peter WYANT ( 1763 Germany – Nov 1838 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Mary BURRAS ( 1767 Germany – About 1840 Rockingham Co, VA ) 1782 Albemarle Co, VA

1. Catherine WYANT ( 1785 Albemarle Co, VA – 1839 ) & David CONLEY (1781 Rockingham Co, VA – 1812 Rockingham Co, VA )  20 Mar 1804 Albemarle Co, VA

2. Elizabeth WYANT ( 1787 Albemarle Co, VA  – 27 Nov 1872 Walkers Creek, Giles, VA ) & John MEADOWS  (1775 – 1848 Giles Co, VA )  18 Mar 1806 Albemarle Co, VA

3. Susannah WYANT ( 1789 Albemarle Co, VA – 1870 Greene Co, VA ) & Thomas SHIFFLETT (1784 – 01 Feb 1881 Greene Co, VA )  13 Feb 1807 Rockingham Co, VA

4. Mary WYANT ( 1790 Albemarle Co, VA – 01 Nov 1839 Rockingham Co, VA ) & James MEADOWS (1786 Rockingham Co, VA – 1844 Rockingham Co, VA )  22 Jun 1809 Albemarle Co, VA

5. JOHN WYANT ( 02 Feb 1795 Albemarle Co, VA – 04 Jan 1880 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Elizabeth Moyer BAUGHER  (12 Sep 1795 Rockingham Co, VA – 03 Apr 1878 Rockingham Co, VA ) 11 Mar 1818 Rockingham Co, VA

6. Peter Burras WYANT ( 31 May 1796 Albemarle Co, VA – 28 Oct 1886 Talcott, Summers, WV ) & Sarah “Sallie” MEADOWS (13 Jul 1805 Monroe Co, VA – 22 Jan 1881 Summers, WV )  25 May 1821 Monroe Co, VA now WV

7. Frederick WYANT ( 1797 Albemarle Co, VA – 1875 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Elizabeth BURNS (1810 – 23 Sep 1868 Rockingham Co, VA )   01 Apr 1838

8. Frances “Fannie” WYANT ( 1799 Albemarle Co, VA – After 1880 ) & Leonard DAVIS JR.  (1795 Albemarle Co, VA – Before 1840 Rockingham Co, VA  ) 21 Mar 1820 Orange, VA

• Mitchell DAVIS ( 4 Sep 1820 Rockingham Co, VA - 22 Apr 1892 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Martha Ann WILLSON (10 Jun 1832 Rockbridge Co, VA - 1 Dec 1905 Rockingham Co, VA )24 Aug 1846 Rockbridge, Virginia
• William Franklin DAVIS ( 1822 Rockingham Co, VA - 1905 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Ardena J. WYANT ( 1828 Virginia – 1890 Virginia) 23 Dec 1844 Albemarle, VA
• Elijah DAVIS ( Dec 1825 Rockingham Co, VA - After 1900 ) & Barbara Ann SHIFLETT ( June 1827 - )
• Mary Ann DAVIS ( 1828 Rockingham Co, VA - After 1900 ) & Joseph WOOD ( 1836 Rockingham Co, VA – 1870 Rockingham Co, VA)  27 Sep 1858 Rockingham Co, VA ; common law wife to George HERRING
• Rebecca Ann DAVIS  (1833 Greene Co, VA -  15 Aug 1922 in Yancy, VA) & James K. CRAWFORD (22 Jan 1845 – 7 Sep 1921 Yancy, VA) 7 Feb 1878 Rockingham Co, VA
• Sarah F. DAVIS ( Feb 1834 Rockingham Co, VA -  2 Feb 1913 Rockingham Co, VA)

9. William WYANT ( 10 Jul 1800 Rockingham Co, VA – 03 Aug 1897 Rockingham Co, VA )

10. Nancy WYANT ( 1802 Rockingham Co, VA – 27 Nov 1872 Monroe, WV ) & Timothy CONNELL (1802 – 1864 )  07 Mar 1822 Rockingham Co, VA

11. Millie WYANT ( 02 May 1803 Rockingham Co, VA – 29 Apr 1880 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Edmund SHIFLETT  (05 May 1798 Rockingham Co, VA – About 1850 Rockingham Co, VA ) 13 Sep 1822 Rockingham Co, VA

12. David WYANT ( 20 Sep 1805 Rockingham Co, VA – 14 Jul 1882 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Elizabeth LAWSON (20 Jun 1805 Rockingham Co, VA – 06 Feb 1890 Rockingham Co, VA )  05 Dec 1826 Rockingham Co, VA

13. Ann WYANT ( 1806 Rockingham Co, VA – 01 Apr 1862 Upshur, WV ) & Obediah CRAWFORD (1806 Rockingham Co, VA – 10 Dec 1877 Upshur , WV )  16 Jun 1825 Rockingham Co, VA

SOURCE:

Moore, Robert. "A Family's Historical Memory... of a Hessian Ancestor."Cenantuas Blog. N.p., 31 Aug. 2008. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <https://cenantua.wordpress.com/2008/08/31/a-familys-historical-memory-of-a-hessian-ancestor/>.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Behind the Magic

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday photo of a parade float takes me back to the summer of 1995 when we took a family vacation to Disney World.  No one does a parade quite like Disney.  Nothing stops a Disney parade either, not even a technical problem, and certainly not rain.

Here comes the Geni

We spent this particular rainy day at MGM Hollywood Studios.  As luck would have it, we were right on time for Aladdin’s Royal Caravan welcoming Prince Ali into the city of Agrabah.  The spectacle of colorful costumes, fire-eaters, snake charmers, acrobats, dancers, and musicians did not disappoint. 

Even the most discouraged guest bedecked in a plastic emergency poncho couldn’t help but smile at all the animated floats.

Geni in a bathtub

Abu

The “Prince Ali” theme song built to a crescendo upon the arrival of Prince Ali and Princess Jasmine.

Prince Ali and Princess Jasmine

But all that paled compared to that singular moment when I caught a glimpse behind the magic.

The famous spitting camels

Do you see it?

Two giant camels were being driven through the streets by twenty serfs with swinging legs.  And then I saw it.  In the third row was one honest-to-goodness real live human being disguised like the other nineteen fiberglass characters.  The moment I saw him, it struck my funny bone and I couldn’t control my laughter. 

And he saw me too.  He looked right at me, cocking his head and shrugging his shoulders as if to say, “Yeah, I know I look silly.”

But that’s not the end of it.

Don’t you hate when people cut THROUGH a parade to get to the other side?  Some pushy parents and two kids in their matching yellow Disney ponchos couldn’t wait.  They just had to cross in front of the giant camels.  That’s when my buddy driving the camel float gave me a knowing nod and pressed the button sending a strong shot of camel spit onto the offending family.

Disney justice.

For more festivals and parades, follow the crowd to Sepia Saturday.  But watch out for spitting camels.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Wordless Wednesday: Gone to the Dogs #20

Wordless Wednesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks family historians to create a post in which the main focus is a photograph or image.

My 2X great-grandfather James Franklin Jollett
his wife Eliza and their dog before 1930

This is probably the oldest dog photo in my collection.

Enough of this.  I’m dog tired.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors: #47 - William JORDAN

Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued a challenge:  write one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor.  It can be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem – anything that focuses on one ancestor.

My 4X great-grandfather William JORDAN was born in 1760 near the Schuylkill River, about six miles from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  When he was 13, his family moved to Augusta County, Virginia.  He moved to nearby Albemarle County about 1783.  He said so himself in his 1832 application for a pension based on his service in the Revolutionary War.

While living in Augusta County, William was drafted into the militia in May 1779.  He served for about three months as a private in Captain William Kincaid’s company.  His first experience in battle was in a campaign against the Indians along the Monongahela River.  By itself, it was a minor skirmish, but it was significant as part of a much larger effort to seize British outposts in what is now the Midwest. 

Map of Battle of Cowpens
from wikimedia commons

From October 1780 to February 1781 he was a private in the company of Captain Patrick Buchanan.  They fought in the Battle of Cowpens, which has been deemed the turning point in the war.  Not only did the colonists finally see the possibility of victory but also the British suddenly felt the possibility of defeat.  William received a written discharge at Guilford Court House in North Carolina, but it was destroyed when his house burned. 

William returned home to Augusta County and married a girl named Mary.  They were just newlyweds when once again he was drafted into the militia.  Beginning May 1781 William served three months as a sergeant with the Commissary Guard in Captain Givens’ company in Colonel Cameron’s regiment.  William was in the Battle of Hotwater and Jamestown, among the last battles prior to the siege of Yorktown.  Coincidentally, my 4X great-grandfather Leonard Davis was also in those battles.  I wonder if they knew one another.

Afterwards, William was transferred into Captain William Findley’s company in Colonel Vance’s regiment.  He was assigned to march with his company to the siege of Yorktown; however, perhaps fortunately, he became sick with ague (a malaria-type illness marked by regular intervals of fever and shivering) and was subsequently furloughed, never to return to service.  By the time he got out of the hospital, the war was over.

The pension application contains no reference to his wife or children.  However, men with whom he served remembered him and vouched for his service.  Local clergy, neighbors, and justice of the peace likewise affirmed his upstanding character.  Apparently William had made several attempts to secure his pension.  In a final plea dated 1833, the justice of the peace said this:

from pension application

He is now very old and exceedingly infirm and poor, he has here said all that he can conscientiously say and hopes that this last appeal to a Country for which he fought will not be disregarded. 

THREE GENERATIONS:

William JORDAN  ( 1761 Philadelphia, PA – After 1850 ) & Mary UNKNOWN

1. Nancy C. JORDAN ( 1806 Albemarle Co, VA – Aug 1860 Rockbridge Co, VA) & William Shelton HARRIS  (10 Jun 1810 Albemarle Co, VA – 25 Apr 1894 Miami Co, OH)  28 Jan 1833 Albemarle Co, VA

• John E. HARRIS ( 1834 Virginia – ) & Ann E. UNKNOWN ( 1832 – )
• William Edward HARRIS ( 1836 Virginia – 1875 )
• James R. HARRIS ( 1840 Virginia – 1865 )
• Henry C. HARRIS ( 06 Apr 1845 Virginia –  19 Aug 1926 Springfield, Clark, OH )
• Theophilus Daniel HARRIS ( 1848 Virginia – 1917 Clark, OH )
• Lucy Ann E. C. HARRIS ( Sep 1852 Virginia – 26 May 1906 Springfield, Clark, OH ) & James Madison BERRY (12 Aug 1846 Page Co, VA – 11 Nov 1919 Springfield, Clark, OH )  26 Jul 1868 Rockingham Co, VA

2. Early B. JORDAN ( 1812 Albemarle Co, VA – ) & Lucy UNKNOWN

3. Susan JORDAN ( 1814 Albemarle Co, VA – 28 Feb 1882 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Isaac SHIPLETT  ( May 1807 Albemarle Co, VA – Jan 1862 Albemarle Co, VA ) 24 Oct 1836 Albemarle, VA

• Philip Penelton SHIPLETT ( 29 Oct 1837 Albemarle Co, VA – 16 Mar 1919 Rockingham Co, VA ) &  Jennetta Ann DOVEL ( 17 Jan 1841 Rockingham Co, VA  – 24 Mar 1922 Rockingham Co, VA )  13 Dec 1859
• Octavius SHIPLETT ( 1841 Albemarle Co, VA – 03 Jul 1863 Gettysburg, PA )
• Lycennius H. SHIPLETT ( 1844 Albemarle Co, VA – 16 Mar 1919 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Emily J. “Ginny” BRUCE  17 Dec 1867 Albemarle, VA
• Comaia Clarissa SHIPLETT ( 1847 Albemarle, VA –  03 Sep 1894 ) & John Wesley LONG ( 1847 – )  25 Jul 1867  Albemarle, VA
• Segourney F. SHIFLETT ( 1851 Rockingham Co, VA – 09 Feb 1926 Washington DC ) & George Harvey EPPARD  (Sep 1839 Rockingham Co, VA – 13 Jan 1917 Rockingham Co, VA )  28 May 1870 Rockingham Co, VA
• M. E. SHIPLETT ( 1854 – )
• George SHIPLETT ( 1856 – )

4. Clarissa JORDAN ( 21 Feb 1817 Albemarle Co, VA – 07 Jan 1889 Hamilton, Decatur, IO) & John MAY (1808 Virginia – 08 Sep 1873 Decatur, IO )  07 Apr 1836 Albemarle Co, VA

• Ann MAY ( 1836 Virginia – )
• George MAY   ( 1838 Virginia – )      
• John MAY  ( 1841 Virginia – )          
• James MAY  ( 1843 Virginia – )               
• Mary MAY  ( 1846 Indiana – )                   
• Newton MAY  ( 1848 Indiana – )                                       
• Alfred B. MAY  ( 1850 Indiana – )                                           
• Lucy M. MAY   ( 1852 Indiana – )
• Sarah MAY ( 1856 Decatur, IO – )

Source:

Pension Application of William Jordan (Age 72), 2 October 1832; for service of William Jordan (Pvt., Cpt. Kincaid and Cpt. Buchanan; Sgt., Cpt. Givens, Revolutionary War); Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, compiled ca. 1800-ca 1912, documenting the period ca. 1775 - ca. 1900; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.; digital images, "Revolutionary War Pensions," Fold3.com (www.fold3.com : accessed 16 November 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication M804.

 © 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: The Kitchen Set

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt shows a family with mother surrounded by her three children and their toys.  Now there’s a familiar sight!  While there is no tree in the photo, the scene reminds me of Christmas morning. 

Christmas 1964
You wash; I'll dry.
(And that's how it is, even today!)

I grew up when imaginative play for girls included a baby doll and carriage, tea sets, a pink metal ironing board, and a kitchen set.  When Santa brought my sister a kitchen set in 1964, I joined right in pretending to wash little plastic dishes and put away boxes of play food, despite the difference in our age.  After all, it was my duty to instruct my little sister on the proper way to do those things.

So when my girls came along, I looked forward to the day they could have a kitchen set.  Of course, like most great toys, “some assembly is required.”  On Christmas Eve, two geniuses decided to wait for the girls to go to bed before breaking open the box.

Santa's Helpers 2:00 AM
Barry and Cam 1984

Barry and Cam, my sister’s husband, sat on the floor drinking beer, reading directions, drinking beer, looking for parts, drinking beer, assembling and unassembling and reassembling into the wee hours.  Who would have thought it would take so long?  When they were finished, they still had a bag of nuts and bolts and screws left over.


Nevertheless, the kitchen set held up well for many years.  The last time I saw it, this red gingham-check kitchen was a key component in imaginative play at a preschool.

Visit Sepia Saturday to see what others have assembled.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

Wordless Wednesday: Gone to the Dogs #19

Wordless Wednesday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks family historians to create a post in which the main focus is a photograph or image.

My cousin Bobbie and me and one of her dogs
either Punky or Chunky - I can never remember
1960 Shenandoah, Virginia

Counting down the number of photos of dogs in my collection

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

FGS Ambassador: Plan Ahead for FGS 2015

4 full days.  11 hours a day.  23 Tracks.  43 speakers.  97 sessions plus another 6 for an additional cost during lunch.  Then add an Exhibit Hall with wall to wall vendors showcasing their genealogy goodies.  On top of that, just steps away is the Family History Library with the largest collection of genealogy resources in the world.  How does someone attending the combined conference of Federation of Genealogical Societies and Roots Tech in February do it all?

Easy Answer:  Don’t even try. 

When I attended the National Genealogical Society Conference in Richmond this past May, I sat in on a session every single hour my first day.  The second day, I was already dragging.  The result?  I skipped out on sessions that could have been very worthwhile opting instead for an icy diet Pepsi and a stroll through the Exhibit Hall.  I vowed that I would be better prepared to be a GOOD conference attendee the next time.

PLANNING MY TIME

I think that attending 1 or 2 sessions in the morning and 1 or 2 in the afternoon would be plenty for a day.  The rest of the day I would check out the Exhibit Hall more slowly and thoughtfully than I did in Richmond.  I’d actually stop and look at the books instead of thinking, “Oh ok more books.  Yeah. Yeah.  I wonder what’s over there on the other side.” 

I’d also set aside a day to visit the Family History Library.  Whether I should devote a full day or just half day, I don’t know. 

PLANNING MY SESSIONS

In deciding which sessions to attend, my gut feeling is to say, “Focus on a particular track” and attend just those.  That would be fairly easy for me to do with the upcoming FGS Conference because there are some tracks that don’t pertain to my research, such as Missionaries & Settlers and Ethnic Groups in the West.  I’m not a society leader, so I could easily eliminate The 21^st Century Geneological Society, Recruiting & Engaging, Society Leaders & Visionaries, and Benefits & Projects. 

Since I am weak in technology, I would use this conference to focus on sessions in the Technology track as well as those under Modern Access to Vintage Resources.  As confused as I am about DNA, I’d want to be sure to schedule that as well.

MY IDEAL SCHEDULE

Wednesday:  This is Society Day, so most of the sessions hold little interest for me.  This would be a good day for the Family History Library and a lot of browsing in the Exhibit Hall.  But since Lisa Louise Cooke has a class at 10:45 called “How the Genealogist Can Remember Everything with Evernote,” I could shop in the Exhibit Hall in the morning, take this class, and then head to the library in the afternoon.

Thursday: 

11:00 – “Researching Your War of 1812 Ancestor” presented by Craig Scott.  He’s a dynamic presenter, very funny too.  His presentation in Richmond on the Militia made me a fan, and I’ve done a lot of research on my Revolutionary War ancestors since then.

1:30 –  “Bridging the Gap: Tracing US Ancestors Between 1780 and 1840” presented by Joshua Taylor.  He’s a mover and shaker in the genealogy world, so this is a MUST ATTEND for me.  

3:00 –  Possibly I’d attend “Documenting Your Family Heirlooms” presented by Jennifer Alford.  I THINK I know how, but I’m interested in what methods I might have overlooked.

4:30 – “After You’re Gone: Future Proofing Your Genealogy Research” presented by Thomas MacEntee.  It’s THOMAS.  Of course, I would attend this one and sit up front.  It’s THOMAS, after all.  Helloooo.

Friday:

10:30 – “Gentleman Judges: Justices of the Peace.”  Two good reasons to attend this session are that I have several JPs in my family tree AND it’s presented by Judy Russell.  You know her – the Legal Genealogist.   ‘nuff said

4:00 – “Love and Loss in the Family Album: A Recipe for Finding the Truth” presented by Maureen Taylor. It’s the Photo Detective!  She will be presenting a case study, which teaches by example.  I really like that approach.

Saturday:

This is a big technology day, so now it’s more difficult to decide.

10:30 – Mark Lowe will present “Comparing Records With Vintage Tools and High Tech Resources.”

1:00 –  CeCe Moore is the expert on how DNA and genealogy work together, so her presentation would be a MUST for me:  “The Power of DNA: Introduction to Genetic Genealogy.”

2:30 – One of the FGS and Roots Tech combined sessions “Nifty & Powerful Technologies for Genealogical Analysis & Documentation” might be too techy and too tricky for me, but I do want to know what possibilities exist to enhance my research.

4:00 – Another FGS/Roots Tech presentation concerns the latest happenings at Family Tree DNA:  “5 Fun New Ways to Improve Your Genealogical Research.”  Since I’m participating in a couple of DNA tests through FTDNA, I’d like to learn more.

If you’re even thinking about going to the conference in February, study the program schedule available on the FGS website.  A conference this big can be overwhelming.  It’s smart to plan, but be warned:  a dynamic speaker, a conversation with a vendor, or a meet-up with another blogger or distant cousin can take you in a different direction.  Of course, that could be a good thing too.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.