Miller James Brown (ca. 1802-1867) is said to to have built the first saw-mill in Astoria, Fulton County, Illinois. The History of Fulton County details that “The first saw and grist-mill was built by James Brown. Mr. Brown and others ran it for about twelve years, when it fell into the hands of H. L.Continue reading “James Brown | 🪚 Woodworking”
Tag Archives: 1860s
James Brown | Pearse Family Connections
Very little is known about the family of James Brown (ca. 1802-1867) outside of his children and his second wife, Rachel Pearse. (Note on spelling: earlier records typically used a Pearse/Pearce spelling; later records typically used a Pierce spelling) A rough outline of Brown’s life can be reconstructed through census records and his daughter’s obituary.Continue reading “James Brown | Pearse Family Connections”
Henrietta Mariah Van Slyke | Orphan
In 1852, Henrietta’s father, Andrew Van Slyke died. In 1857, her mother. Her eldest sister and her husband moved back to Texas to administer the estate and three siblings were sent to lived with three separate guardians. Guardianship was a legal arrangement to manage the property of those considered unable to manage it themselves, eitherContinue reading “Henrietta Mariah Van Slyke | Orphan”
James Hamilton | Frontier Regiment
Europeans and Euro-Americans designated the Red River as boundary for a long time. The French and Spanish viewed it as dividing line in the 1700s, the US and Spain continued its use as a border in the 1819 Adams-OnÃs Treaty in conjunction with Mexico. The Republic of Texas used it as a boundary. The SouthernContinue reading “James Hamilton | Frontier Regiment”
Rickners | After the War
Southwestern Missouri during the Civil War was burned to the ground by guerrilla warfare. Many civilians left Jasper County after the war due to the intensity of the violence and destruction wrecked by the irregular warfare. When the war was over, “There was not much to return to”, writes Schrantz in his history of theContinue reading “Rickners | After the War”
Nathan B Cook | Casualty of Disease
Nathan B Cook was the second son of Permelia (Baker) Cook Rickner. Permelia had married James H Cook (I) in Washington County, Missouri in 1828. In the 1830 US Federal Census, they were enumerated in Crawford County, Missouri, a neighboring county in Meramec Township, created in 1829 from Gasconade county. Nathan’s father died prior toContinue reading “Nathan B Cook | Casualty of Disease”
Sarah Jane Rickner | Stolen Horse
Sarah Jane Rickner, a daughter of Samuel and Permelia Jane Rickner, was born in Jasper County, Missouri in 1844. Her father had a farm east of Carthage for the better part of the 1850s. Her mother died in the 1850s and her father remarried. Samuel with his new wife set up a homestead in McGheeContinue reading “Sarah Jane Rickner | Stolen Horse”
Moses J Baker | Civil War
Samuel Rickner married Permelia Baker in 1832. Rickner, an immigrant from Switzerland, married into a slave-holdinng family that had migrated to Missouri from Kentucky and who in previous generations had migrated from the Albemarle Sound region of North Carolina, all slave-holding states. In the mid 1830s, the Rickner family and Permelia’s brother, Moses J BakerContinue reading “Moses J Baker | Civil War”
Samuel Rickner | Crawford Seminary
In 1850, Samuel and Jacob Rickner were living in Jasper County, Missouri in the southwest corner of the state, along the border of the Indian Territory that would become the Kansas Territory in 1854 and the state of Kansas in 1861. Samuel was working the land as a farmer. His real estate was valued atContinue reading “Samuel Rickner | Crawford Seminary”
John Walden | Morgan’s Raid
In 1867, William A. Walden posted an Executor’s notice in the Jackson Standard that he had been appointed as the executor of John Walden’s last will and testament. His will was recorded in the Probate Office of Jackson County, where his mother and most of his siblings were residing. He bequeathed “all the interest IContinue reading “John Walden | Morgan’s Raid”
Finding the Yellow Bricks 