Daniel and Lucinda (Tyree) Walling - Beyond 1860

Lucinda Tyree was born in Scott Co., Virginia in 1838. She was the oldest daughter of Jesse and Rosanna (Roberts) Tyree. Her father was the uncle of my maternal 3rd great grandmother, Louisa (Tyree) Wallen. 

Lucinda married Daniel Walling, brother of Louisa's husband Jesse B. Wallen, in Rockcastle Co., Kentucky in 1854. (Wallen and Walling were interchangeable within my early family and I use here the spelling carried on by descendants of these siblings.)

In late 1861, or early 1862, Daniel, Lucinda, and their two sons William and James, left for Indiana along with Daniel's father William II, and his brothers, William III and Isaac, and their families. Eventually, they all came back to Rockcastle Co., Kentucky except for William III and his family.

Daniel and Lucinda had a third son, Daniel W., born shortly after arriving in Indiana. It appears that Daniel Sr. was having an affair with a young woman in Indiana, Nancy McCloud, who gave birth to a son, Connard Walling, in 1871. Daniel and Lucinda then show up in the Rockcastle county tax records in 1872 through 1875. By 1877, Daniel had returned to Indiana to wed Nancy, daughter of George W. and Eunice (Bray) McCloud. By this time young Daniel was about 15 years old and Connard had just turned 6.

In 1880 Lucinda and her two youngest boys turn up in Rawlins Co., Kansas and she is listed as divorced. In undated Rawlins county homestead records she is listed:  Walling, Lucinda - Section NE 20, Twp. 5,  Range 31. In 1885 they are all three listed again in the Rawlins Co., Kansas state census, Jefferson Township. This time, Lucinda is listed as widowed.

Lucinda and Daniel's oldest son, William Jesse, married Kitty Mahala Houston in Rockcastle Co., Kentucky in 1873. Instead of going to Kansas with his mother and siblings, he and Kitty went to Nebraska to live and years later they would move to Wyoming. They had a dozen known children, three born in Kentucky and nine born in Nebraska.

Daniel and Nancy would have a total of 5 children together before Daniel died. His last child was born in 1885 and it is thought that he likely died prior to that birth or shortly after. Death and burial records have not yet been discovered.

Lucinda seems to disappear after that 1885 state census. I have seen a death date and place of 1892 in Kentucky in unsourced research on Ancestry.com, but, as of this date, those researchers seem to be completely unaware of anything about Lucinda or Daniel after 1860; not the move to Indiana, the birth of Daniel W., the out-of-wedlock birth of Connard, the return to Kentucky, nor the split of Lucinda and Daniel or Daniel's return to Indiana and marriage to Nancy. Neither do they know of Lucinda's move with her sons to homestead in Kansas. If they don't know any of these things, where does this death date come from? Ancestry makes it impossible to know who said what first. 

Did Lucinda and her sons construct a sod house like this one?

I wanted to tell Lucinda and Daniel's story just because of how it seems to come to a stop at 1860 everywhere else...just because there was a lot more to their lives, and because pioneer women like Lucinda are fascinating, homesteading on her own with only her two boys...young men at the time. I wish I could know more. Did she and her sons construct a sod house, like so many other homesteaders? Did she, perhaps, remarry, or did she die of hardship and get buried in an unmarked grave? Could she have died in 1892 after moving back home to Kentucky? So many questions I hope to have answered someday!

*Update* Thanks to my distant cousin Nan Harvey, Tyree researcher extraordinaire, I have the source for the 1892 death date for Lucinda Tyree Walling! From "The Tyree Trail With Allied Lines of Adams and Blair" by Ella Rae Wilson Coleman, Gateway Press 1987 " pg. 44: Lucinda Tyree, b. 11 November 1838 in Scott Co., VA., d. 1892, Rockcastle Co., KY, m. in Rockcastle Co., KY on 24 July 1854 David (sic) Wallen.

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GO WEST! Eighteen on a Wagon Train to Texas 1880

I've known for years that all four siblings of my paternal 2nd great grandfather, William M. Wallen, left Kentucky shortly after the 1880 census was taken, but I was never certain of just exactly when they left. I only knew through births and deaths that they were in Texas by 1882. William's siblings were Oliver P., Isaac Newton, Lucy Jane, and Daniel Thomas. These five were the children of Jesse B. and Louisa (Tyree) Wallen.

Interior Journal - 20 Aug 1880

Last year I came across two articles in Kentucky's "Interior Journal" newspaper, that gave me new clues. The first one, dated August 20, 1880, told of the Justice of the Peace in the Skaggs Creek precinct, O. C. Brewer, resigning his official position in contemplation of moving out West. The second article, dated October 1, 1880, was more exciting: "O. C. Brewer and Oliver Wallen with their families, and several others - in all eighteen persons - left here last week for Texas. They will settle in Honey Grove or Paris, others are to follow." So, now I had a very close date, they left the last week of September 1880.

Interior Journal - 1 Oct 1880

To the best of my knowledge, through research, these are the eighteen people that left Rockcastle Co., Kentucky for Texas, grouped by families:

1) Orville C. Brewer and his wife 2) Marinda R. "May" (Bolin) Brewer, daughter of  Orville's former neighbors, George and Phoebe Brewer, who were already living in Cooke Co., Texas.

3) Oliver P. Wallen and wife 4) Mary Jane "Mollie" (Collier) Wallen and their three daughters: 5) Laura Ellen, 6) Lucy A., and 7) Lucinda. Mollie was 7 months pregnant with Sarah E. when she made this trek.

8) Isaac Newton Wallen and wife 9) Mary Frances "Fannie" (Sutton) Wallen and their two sons: 10) Andrew J. and 11) Daniel Thomas. In 1938, Fannie was interviewed about her life in Kentucky, Texas, and Oklahoma and the resulting story became a part of the "Indian Pioneer Papers". That interview can be read here: Pioneers to Indian Territory 1881. That title isn't exactly correct now as we know they left in 1880 and, not only that, they also lived in Texas for 10 years and didn't actually arrive in Indian Territory until 1890. However, the story Fannie tells is an excellent testament to the history, the hardship, and the grit of these early Kentuckians who traveled west by wagon and how some lived after settling at their destination.

12) Lucy Jane (Wallen) Sowder and her second husband, 13) Madison "Mattie" Sowder, and Lucy's two daughters by her first husband, William R. Sutton: 14) Louisa Sutton and 15) Fannie Mae Sutton, and Madison's two sister's: 16) Mary Jane Sowder and 17) Rebecca Sowder. I will write more about this family in my next post.

18) Daniel Thomas "Uncle Tom" Wallen - I wrote about Uncle Tom in this post: Treasure Chest Thursday: From Diamond Came Gold.

These families did not settle in Fannin or Lamar counties as indicated by the Interior Journal's October article; instead they traveled a little farther west and settled in the counties of Denton and Cooke.

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Asylum Patient Saw Platt Kill Tyree 1885

According to other newspaper articles, there was a close eyewitness to this 1885 murder. Yesterday I found it: another newspaper article about the murder of Jesse Tyree, my paternal 3rd great grandmother's brother, and it named the witness and told his story. Anyone who is, or knows an epileptic, knows they are not deranged in any way. Like the victim, this witness was an epileptic and considered a "lunatic", therefore his testimony could not be used in court. I have now accumulated over 30 newspaper articles concerning the murder of this man, Jesse Tyree, who was once a teacher and somehow ended up in the Eastern Kentucky Asylum for the Insane in Lexington, Kentucky.

Morning Herald: March 23, 1897

Morning Herald
March 23, 1897

                  AN ASYLUM PATIENT

WHO CLAIMS HE SAW PLATT KILL TYREE, DANGERIOUSLY ILL.

     Jason Reed, a patient at the asylum, who claims that he was present when Arthur Platt killed Jesse Tyree, is very ill and may die. He was sent to the asylum twenty-five years ago suffering from epilepsy.

     In his testimony before the Coroner's jury, Reed said that he knew Tyree and slept in the same room with him. He said he saw the shooting; that he was standing only a few feet from the victim when the shot was fired; that he saw Platt and Tyree coming from the dining room into the day room, Platt pushing Tyree and finally shoving him into a seat, that he heard Tyree beg for mercy, hear Platt say: "I'll kill you now," pull the pistol and fire; saw Tyree fall to the floor to his face, hear Mike McGlade tell Platt he was going to report the killing; saw Platt pack up his valise and leave hurriedly. His mental affliction will debar him from appearing in the witness stand against Platt.

You can read my original post on this intriguing story by clicking on this link: Jesse Tyree: Murder of a "Lunatic"

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Those Places Thursday: Farm of Wm Walling III 1878

Farmhouse - Hendricks Co., Indiana

This is the farmhouse that sits on the property that my 3rd great granduncle William Walling III owned in 1878. The site is just a little over 2 miles S.E. of Stilesville, Franklin Twp., Hendricks Co., Indiana. Is this the actual house he lived in? Did he build this house? I like to think so. It is certainly an old home and isn't it a beauty with it's new coat of bright yellow paint? (You can click on the photo to enlarge it.) I took this photo on June 3, 2011. I suppose I could end up hearing from someone..."Hey! You have a photo of my house on your blog!". Yeeks!

William III was the son of William Wallen Jr. and Elizabeth Bloomer, and the brother of my 3rd great grandfather, Jesse B. Wallen. Sometime in 1862 William Jr. left Kentucky with two of his sons and their families, those of William III and his wife Nancy (Roberts) Walling and those of Daniel and Lucinda (Tyree) Walling. The Wallens from this family that remained in Kentucky, always spelled their name with an "en" ending. Those that left for Indiana spelled theirs with an "ing" ending.

Excerpt from the People's Guide: Hendricks Co., Indiana

I used The Peoples Guide to Hendricks Co., Indiana, a Franklin Township plat map, and Google Earth to pinpoint this property.  

Sometime before 1885, William and Nancy Walling left Indiana and went to Sumner Co., Kansas and then on to Kay Co., Oklahoma and celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary there in Tonkawa in 1909. See their 50th Anniversary announcement here:

Wordless Wednesday: THE TONKAWA WALLINGS

Daniel and Lucinda came back to Rockcastle Co., Kentucky and divorced a few short years later. Lucinda took the two youngest of their three sons and went to Rawlins Co., Kansas and homesteaded there. Daniel went back to Indiana and married Nancy McCloud, daughter of George W. McCloud, in 1877. Nancy had a son, Conrad, out of wedlock in 1871 and I've always thought he might be Daniel's son. More on this family in a future blog post.

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Sophia Thacker Wallen and Son: The Step Family

My paternal great, great grandmother, Serena (Sutton) Wallen died in 1886 and left 8 children for her husband, William M. Wallen, and his mother, Louisa (Tyree) Wallen, to care for. Serena's parents were both dead by this time, as was William's father.

In the diary of William's oldest son Oliver, my great grandfather, Oliver stated that in February of 1887 his father left their little community in Wabd, Rockcastle Co., Kentucky and went to work for a surveying company in Pineville, Bell Co., Kentucky and then, in 1889, he wrote his father was in Clay Co., Kentucky working for W. W. Duffield, a civil engineer. A bit of research produced several biographies on William Ward Duffield, previously a Civil War General and a Michigan State Senator (1879-1880) who had graduated from Columbia College in New York City in 1843 with a degree in civil engineering. According to Duffield's biography, he was engaged to make important surveys in Kentucky in the counties of Bell, Harlan, Letcher, Leslie, Clay and Perry during the decade from 1884 to 1894, so I think it is safe to say that William was working for W. W. Duffield in Bell Co. in 1887 as well as in Clay Co. in 1889. 

While William was away from his children he would send money home to them for clothing and school. In 1892 William married Sophia "Sofa" Thacker, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Britton) Thacker. Sofa was born in Clay Co. and was the same age as her new step-son Oliver, both having been born in 1870. Sofa already had a son that, I assume, was born out of wedlock, named Brack Thacker. Brack was born in 1885 when his mother was only 15. An article from the Mt. Vernon Signal in the early 1900s suggests Brack's first name may have been Robert.

After William's marriage to Sofa, according to Oliver: "from that time he never helped us any more so Jessee and I had to look after the children".  Unfortunately, he forgets to give Grandma Wallen credit for the huge part I'm sure she played, since all the children were living under her roof. Aunt Myra Sutton, the children's maternal spinster aunt, moved in with them in order to assist in the children's care.

It is unclear exactly when William moved back to Wabd with Sofa and Brack. He was still in Clay Co. in the fall of 1894 when Oliver says his father got the promise of a teaching position for Oliver's brother Jesse at a school "in Clay Co. near where he lived". Oliver's daughter Sula (Wallen) Splitek, my grandaunt, was the first to do research on our family and Sula thought William and Sofa's children were all born in Rockcastle Co. However, Minnie Wallen was born in 1893 so it is very likely she was born in Clay Co. and it's certainly possible her sisters Martha, born in 1895, and Fannie, born in 1897, were born there also. Oliver doesn't mention his father again until January 2, 1900 when he says "Went to Papa's and got a scalding tub...", indicating his father was again living in Wabd. Unless I missed something, even the newspapers don't mention William again until 1902.

William and Sofa had six known children, Minnie b. 1893, Martha b. 1895, Fannie b. 1897, Virginia b. 1900, Samuel b. 1903, and Louise b. 1905. Then, I discovered this year that there was a seventh child. According to the Mt. Vernon Signal, dated February 28, 1902: "The little child of Wm. Wallen died on the 23rd." This doesn't tell us the birth date or the sex of the child and I have found no other record of his/her birth, death or burial. It is my opinion that he/she was very likely born between Virginia and Samuel in 1901 or early 1902.

Oliver only mentions Sophia twice in his diary. On two consecutive days, July 16th and 17th, 1902, when he and his brother Willie were sick: "Papa and Sofa came out." and: "Papa and Sopha went home." He mentions Brack three times in context with doing certain chores together. Never once does he mention the births of his half siblings or the death of the child in 1902. I don't believe the lack of mention was deliberate or that there was any animosity towards his step family and half siblings; in fact, I don't get that impression at all. Oliver simply failed to mention many important life events in his diary.

Oliver and the rest of the family, including his grandmother, aunt, and an orphaned niece, left Wabd, Kentucky and headed for Kempner, Texas in 1905. William and Sofa and their children moved to Beeville, Texas after Sofa's son Brack antagonized a neighbor and got himself shot and killed in 1908. Details of the incident and a brief look into the temperaments of the killer and the victim will be in an upcoming post.

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Amanuensis Monday: The Will of Jesse B. Wallen

Jesse B. "J.B." Wallen was my paternal 3rd great grandfather, son of William and Elizabeth (Bloomer) Wallen and husband of Louisa Tyree. He had barely reached the age of 50 when he died of a "liver complaint". Until this past week I had no idea J.B. had ever left a will and while I've learned nothing new from it's contents, it is certainly an exciting discovery and I find myself once again wishing cousin Charlie Wallen was here to share in my excitement.

Jesse B. Wallen 

 26 Sep 1827 Hawkins Co., TN -  30 Sep 1877 Rockcastle Co., KY

June the 15th day 1877:

Knowing all men by these lives, that I Jessee B. Wallen, am in my right mind and without any persuading wishes to make a Will. I Will everything that belongs to me in the House & out a doors, with the proceeds of the farm, to my wife Lueasy Wallen, with the Exception of a Bay colt & cow & saddle these things I Will to my Son, that is under age, Daniel Thomas Wallen, also, I want my wife to sell off enough of the property to pay my Debts the balance for her to do as she pleases with as long as she remains my Widow, then everything to be divided between her & all the children Equal, Lueasy Wallen, O. P. Wallen, Wm. Wallen, J. N. Wallen, Lucy Sutton, D. T. Wallen. Whereunto I assign my name, 

                                                                                                    Jessee B. Wallen.

Witness

Micajah (his + mark) Brewer

Jasper Francisco

John (his+mark) W. Grider                                                                              

                                                               State of Kentucky

                                                                                                      Rockcastle County

I, David N. Williams, clerk of the Rockcastle County Court, do certify that the foregoing instrument of writing purporting to be the Last Will & Testament of Jessee B. Wallen, Deceased, was at the October Term of said Court 1877, produced in open court by Jasper Francisco one of the Subscribing witnesses thereto and was proven in open Court by the oaths of Jasper Francisco and John W. Grider two of the Subscribing Witnesses thereto who stated that they were present when said Wallen signed & acknowledged said instrument of writing to be his Last Will & Testament and who witnessed said Will & Testament in the presence of the Testator and that Micajah Brewer witnessed the same in their presence & in the presence of the Testator whereupon the Court confirmed the same and ordered the same to Record which is together with this my certificate duly Recorded in my office in Will Book No. 1, Page 199.

Witness my hand this November 20th 1877.

                                                                 David N. Williams C.R.C.C.

Amanuensis - A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

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Sunday's Obituary: Aunt Jane Bloomer

Jane (Payne) Bloomer

b. 14 Oct 1831 d. 1 Dec 1912

More like a death announcement than an obituary...

From the Mount Vernon Signal Newspaper dated Friday 13 Dec 1912

My paternal great grandfather, Oliver Morton Wallen, mentions "Aunt Jane Bloomer" only once in his diary. Jane was his paternal great grandmother's sister-in-law, wife of Nehemiah Bloomer, daughter of Moses and Nancy (Rucker) Payne. This is one time Oliver calls a person by a relationship name that is incorrect. Jane would have been a cousin by marriage, however, I suspect Jane was known to many in the Wabd area as "Aunt", perhaps because of her great age. She was quite likely an important member of our family.

Excerpt from Oliver's diary:

July 7, 1903 – Clurked and worked in the garden. About 9 o’clock P.M. Sarah gave birth to two babies, a girl and a boy. We christened them Sula Susan and Thomas Miller. Grandma Wallen waited on Sarah. J. C. Renner went after her for me. Aunt Jane Bloomer, N. J. Sercy and Carrie Renner were present.  

~Relationships of those mentioned in the above excerpt~

Sarah - Sarah (Davis) Wallen, wife of Oliver Morton Wallen

Sula Susan and Thomas Miller - twin infants of Oliver and Sarah Wallen

Grandma Wallen - Louisa (Tyree) Wallen, Oliver's paternal grandmother

J. C. Renner - John C. Renner

N. J. Sercy - Nancy J. (Payne) Searcy - daughter of Jane's brother John Payne

Carrie Renner - Carrie (Searcy) Renner, wife of J. C. Renner and daughter of N. J. Sercy

I'm not sure what they mean by "died of Paralysis". Jane's death certificate says cause of death was "Congestion of Lungs" with contributory cause as "organic heart trouble". Jane is buried in the Skaggs Creek Cemetery, Wabd, Rockcastle Co., Kentucky.

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Surname Saturday: BLOOMER

England to America

Descendant Chart: Robert Bloomer 1634 to Lisa Wallen 1952

A brief description of each generation from my 9th great grandfather, Robert Bloomer, to my 4th great grandmother, Elizabeth Bloomer Wallen, where the Bloomer line daughters out. 

1) Robert Bloomer b. ca. 1634 in Birmingham, England - Early (mid 1800s) family histories coincide on certain details: Robert was a foundling, adopted in infancy by the Bloomerings. He was kidnapped from the streets of England as a teenager and sold in America into four years of indentured service. Married Rachel ca. 1670. Lived in New York.

2) Robert Bloomer b. bet. 1671-1673 - Miller. Married Elizabeth Sutton (The Sutton lineage is where my father is twice descended from my mother's ancestor, Vincent Rongnion/Runyan). Lived in Rye, Westchester Co., New York. Filed a will on 12 March 1738/39.

3) John Bloomer b. bet. 1705-1710 - Mentioned in Rye, Westchester Co., New York from 1735 to 1740 and was justice of the peace in 1746. He married Berthia Fowler, daughter of John and Mary (Tatum) Fowler.

4) Nehemiah Bloomer b. ca. 1754 - Taylor. Left New York just before the Revolution and is found in Pennsylvania by 1777 and appears in tax records (Pennsylvania Archives, 3rd series p. 53) for Hampton Township in Cumberland Co., NY in 1778. By 1790 Nehemiah was in Wilkes Co., North Carolina. He married Elizabeth Ketcham, of Welsh descent, in New Jersey in 1773.

5) Daniel Bloomer b. ca. 1778 - Married Lucinda. Her maiden name is recorded by some as Defoe and by others as Looney. Neither name has been verified. In May of 1821 Daniel made an entry for 86 1/2 acres on the North Fork of the Clinch River in Hawkins Co., Tennessee. On 30 Nov 1836 Daniel bought 432 acres of land laying on both sides of the North Fork of the Clinch river near Wallen's Bend in the same county. His children are listed in his will.

6) Elizabeth Bloomer b. 12 June 1801 - d. April 1860. Married William Wallen/Walling, Jr. ca. 1820 in Tennessee. Family migrated to Rockcastle Co., Kentucky around 1851. Elizabeth gave birth to 10 children, two boys died as teenagers. This is where the Bloomer line daughters out and becomes Wallen all the way down to me. (click on descendant chart above to enlarge.)

For much more information on the descendants of Robert Bloomer I highly recommend the following book:

Bloomer, Robert John. The Bloomer Family in America, 1655-1988: a History and Genealogical Record of the Bloomer Family. Fountain Valley, CA: R.J. Bloomer, 1988. Print.

Sorry Michael, another "damned Anglish" pedigree in your bloodlines...but at least it's tempered with a wee bit o' Welsh!

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Women's History: Spinster Aunt - Myra Sutton

ELMIRA JANE SUTTON 1849 - 1905

Friend, Mother, Angel

drawing from thegraphicsfairy.com

Elmira Jane was the daughter of Uriah and Euna (Delaney) Sutton, my paternal third great grandparents. She was born about 1849 and was the 9th of 11 known children. Her sister, my great, great grandmother Serena Susan, was the 10th child, born when Elmira was just 2 years old. In his diary, my great grandfather, Oliver Morton Wallen, always referred to his mother's sister as "Aunt Myra".

In May of 1854, when Elmira was about 5 years old, her mother died, and then two of her siblings died shortly after: Mary, 15, died in July and Joseph, 11, died in September. In January of 1858, when Elmira was 9, her oldest sister Sarah married David J. Tyree. The same year in July another older sister, Isabelle, married Logan Sowder. With his two oldest daughters married, Uriah was now in need of a wife and mother for his younger children and so a few months later, in November, he entered into matrimony once again to a young widowed woman named Telitha Clark.

When Elmira's younger sister Serena married my great, great grandfather William M. Wallen in August of 1869, the newly wed couple lived with his parents in Wabd, Kentucky. Elmira's youngest sister Euna, married George C. Lawrence in 1871 and Uriah's spinster sister Mary died in 1874 which left only three in the household so in 1875 William, Serena and their young family went to live with Uriah, Telitha and Elmira on the Sutton farm a short distance away near Maretsburg. 

Uriah died around the first half of 1881 and in the Fall of that year William and Serena moved their family back to Wabd to live with William's mother who had been widowed since 1877. It was about this time that all of William's siblings and their families left for northern Texas and Indian Territory and there was now room at the old home farm for William's growing family. Because Grandma Sutton and Aunt Myra were alone, my great grandfather Oliver (age 11) stayed with them. Aunt Myra never married and it is not yet known when her step-mother Telitha "Grandma Sutton" died. 

Excerpt from Oliver's diary

In 1886 Serena died of Tuberculosis leaving 8 children (5 of them under the age of 10 years) without a mother, so Aunt Myra went to live at Grandma Wallen's house to help take care of the children. Serena's widowed husband, William M. Wallen, remarried 6 years later in 1892 to Sofa Thacker and according to Oliver, Papa "never helped us any mor, so Jessee and I had to look after the children." Oliver was the oldest, about 22, when his father remarried and now he was the head of a fairly large household. Younger brother Jesse Uriah would take on that roll in 1900 after Oliver married.

When Oliver's sister Mary, 23, died of Tuberculosis in 1895 her husband, James Luther Hayes, remarried right away and so Mary's 3-year-old daughter Viola "Ola" went to join her mother's siblings in the household of Grandma Wallen and Aunt Myra. Tuberculosis also took Oliver's sister Louisa, 19, in 1896 and his sister Lucy, 17, in 1901 and it was becoming obvious that he and all his siblings were at some stage of the disease.

Residents of the old home farm in 1900

Oliver married Sarah F. Davis in 1900. In 1901 my grandfather was born and then a set of twins were born in 1903. Oliver's health was starting to deteriorate at a more rapid pace. Aunt Myra would come and stay when he was too sick to do chores. In 1904 it was decided, for health purposes, to remove the family to the drier climate of Texas. Aunt Myra, Jess, Willie and Ola left for Kempner, Lampasas Co., Texas in November of 1904 and the rest of the family were to follow in January. Sadly, before they could sell all their things and make good their plans, sister Sarah, 26, was called to her heavenly home.  After Sarah's burial Oliver's family and Grandma Wallen left to join the others in Kempner. The only remaining Wallen family in Kentucky were Oliver's father William and his new family, and Oliver's sister Ella who had married Johnnie Norton in 1901 and now had 2 small children.

After the family arrived and settled down with the others in Kempner they experienced more sorrow as it was there, in mid-February, just weeks after burying sister Sarah, that Oliver's youngest brother Willie, 20, died. Sadly, just about 6 months later, in the first days of September, Aunt Myra died too. It is not known for sure if Aunt Myra had Tuberculosis or not but I suspect she did. It was estimated that, at the turn of the century, 450 Americans died of TB every day. Aunt Myra's death was a severe blow to the family. Like a mother, she spent her whole life loving and caring for the entire family through childbirth, sickness, poverty, and death. 

These are the entries in Oliver's diary concerning Aunt Myra's death:

Sept. 1 - ...found Aunt Myra very sick and Sarah hardly able to go. Evry thing looks very gloomy.

Sept. 2 - Aunt Myra and Sarah are no better. I am not well and have been on the down grade for 6 wks.

Sept. 3 - Aunt Myra is very bad this morning. Sarah is no better. At home all day. Aunt Myra died at 6 PM. We have lost a good friend. Aunt has been a mother to us. At 10 o'clock PM Bro. Frank Seak handed me $34.60 that had been made up at church to bear Aunts burial expense.

Sept. 4 - I was given enough to make $42.35 on Aunts funeral expense. Beside people brought in flour, coffee, sugar, beef and other things we needed. The people are good and kind to us but I feel discouraged. We have all worked so hard and it seems like we can't enjoy the fruits of our labor. After a short service by Bro. Sparks, a holiness preacher, we laid Aunt to rest beside Bro. Willie at 3 PM. The casket and robe cost $37.00.

(Note: I do not know why Oliver's wife Sarah was sick at this time, but she never contracted Tuberculosis, and neither did his father, his niece Viola Hayes or his grandmother Louisa Tyree Wallen.)

I recently found a very sweet and detailed death announcement for Aunt Myra Sutton in the Mt. Vernon Signal Newspaper dated Friday, September 15, 1905:

We also learn by letter, from O. M. Wallen, that "Aunt" Mira Sutton, who accompanied the Wallen family to Texas last fall, and who had lived with them for nearly half a century, after five days of intense suffering, passed over the river and is now resting under the shade of the tree with Paul and Peter. Her life was certainly that of love, labor and good offices for others. She was never married, but was indeed a mother to the Wallen family. She was and had been, from early life a faithful member of the Baptist Church. Had been badly afflicted for many years which she patiently bore. We now deplore the lonesome condition of aunt Louise Wallen, with whom aunt Mira has lived for the last quarter of a century, but separations must come, and friends must part, but we know from the acquaintance we had with these two good women that their separation will be short and they will join company in that happy home forever. We deeply sympathize for the remaining members of the Wallen family in their sore affliction and deep bereavement, and pray God to give them faith to look beyond this vail of sorrow, to a time of happy reunion. Rev. O. M. doesn't write very encouragingly of his health at this time. He says that Jesse and Little Ola are enjoying better health than they had while in Kentucky. Aunt Louisie was deprived of ministering unto aunt Mira during her last hours of earth; she being in Indian Territory with some of her children.

Kempner Cemetery, Kempner, Lampasas Co., Texas

Aunt Myra and brother Willie are both buried in Kempner Cemetery. As far as I know, neither has a tombstone.

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In The Beginning...... Year 2: What's More Important?

So, which is more important: Genealogy or Family History?

Today begins my second year in documenting our family history through blogging and, although I didn't plan it this way, I find myself back at the true beginning. As I said a year ago in my very first blog post, the Diary of Oliver Morton Wallen, my paternal great grandfather, was what piqued my curiosity about my own ancestors and was what eventually led me to a full blown obsession with finding out all I could about both my and my husband's historical past. This week I once again found myself engulfed in Oliver's diary, or at least the first four short pages of it. As it turns out, because of missing punctuation and what I can only describe as a brain fart on my end, I had overlooked an important clue about the death of Oliver's maternal grandfather and I realized I'd also dismissed someone who was very important in his life and in the life of his family.

It all started this past weekend while I was using Google Earth to explore parts of Rockcastle county in Kentucky where Oliver grew up. I realized that I had thumbtacked the town of Negro Creek as the home of his maternal grandfather, Uriah Sutton. But I noticed on page 1 of Oliver's diary that he said that in 1875 his family moved onto the farm of his grandfather Sutton "1 mile S.W. of Maretsburg" which was quite a distance to the southeast of Negro Creek. I went back to check the 1867 tax record and realized it was the Negro Creek watercourse that was named, not the town. Well, how far did that watercourse run and where to? So, I contacted the man I knew who was most knowledgeable about the area and explained what I needed to know. Jeff Renner told me Oliver was geographically correct. The Negro Creek watercourse ran south of Maretsburg and near there it ended and the Skeggs Creek watercourse began. Great. I moved my thumbtack and flew down to street level approximately one mile S.W. of Maretsburg. At that point there appeared a very old farm. I couldn't see it clearly but my imagination was full. From the air, there were more buildings further back. Was this part of Uriah's farm? Maybe someday I'll know. For now, I dream.

Old farm approximately one mile southwest of Maretsburg, Kentucky
 via Google Earth street view

Oliver was 5 years old (1875) when they moved to Uriah's farm. He was the oldest of three siblings at the time and his mother would have been pregnant with the fourth. Six years and four more children later his father (and I'm not sure what other family members) moved to his paternal grandmother's farm and it was this sentence in the diary that made me realize the error of my ways: "In the folowing Dec. (of 1881) father moved on the farm of Grandma Wallen, the old home farm grandpa having died some time previous to this grandma was alone, and I staid with her."

I felt stupid and elated at the same time. Oliver was talking about two different grandmothers! Yes, there's a lack of punctuation, possibly left out or faded with time, but what I failed to see was that Oliver stayed and his father left. William Wallen, Oliver's father, went to live at his own childhood home with his mother, Louisa Tyree Wallen, aka Grandma Wallen. William's father had been dead about 4 years, therefore I assumed Oliver was talking about his paternal grandfather Jesse B. Wallen when he said "grandpa having died". Before now I'd had no clue as to when Uriah died but he was listed as "disabled" in the 1880 census so I only knew he died between 1880 and 1900. Now that I realize Oliver was talking about two different grandmothers, I know that Uriah died between mid 1880 and the end of 1881. This gives me a much more narrowed timespan for Uriah's death than the 20 year span I had previously.

But, to me, the more important thing I received from that simple little sentence was a wake up to the fact that I'd been putting blood as "all important" and had barely glanced at family history. The grandma that was alone and that Oliver stayed with was Oliver's step-grandmother. I am ashamed to say that, because she is completely unrelated to me, I have dismissed this woman as unimportant for the past 16 years. After I did a timeline I realized that Telitha (Clark) Williams Sutton was the only maternal grandmother Oliver and his siblings ever knew. Uriah's first wife, Euna Delaney Sutton, died the year after her 11th child was born and Uriah married Telitha a little over 4 years later. He was married to Euna 18 years before she died and married to Telitha about 22 years before he died. He and Telitha had no children together and therefore I did not consider her important; not until I read that one sentence and had my eyes opened to who she really was and her place in the family. All I knew was that her first husband, Simeon Williams, was shot and killed the very same month he and Telitha were married, and I knew who Telitha's parents and siblings were. In other words, I knew her bare genealogy. In my opinion, that was a big mistake. Now, at least, Telitha will not be quite so forgotton and those of my family who read my blog will know the importance of her place in our family history. My apologies to Telitha! R.I.P.

And now I'd really like to find out the scoop on the murder of Telitha's first husband. I smell an interesting story!

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Jesse Tyree: Murder of a "Lunatic"

JESSE TYREE 1847 - 1885

Eastern Kentucky Asylum for the Insane - Photo by Waller Overton Bullock, 1898

Jesse Tyree was the younger brother of my third great grandmother, Louisa Tyree Wallen. He was born in Scott Co., Virginia to William and Lucy Osborne Tyree and was 17 years younger than Louisa who married when he was about 2 years old. Jesse's mother died when he was about 4 and the family relocated to Rockcastle Co., Kentucky. When Jesse was about 18 he married Melinda V. Byrd, daughter of James A. and Margaret Kelly Byrd. Together they had three children: James, Florence and Willie.

It is not yet known exactly what happened to Jesse's father William Tyree. William married for the second time to the widow Martha Kilgore Francisco and had one daughter, Ellen, by her and when Martha died he married another widow in 1865, Margaret Castle Yanders. In 1870 Margaret is found living in Pulaski Co., Kentucky under her previous married name and with the children from her first marriage. Also in her household is her newest offspring, Nannie Tyree. At the same time Jesse is found living in Missouri with his wife, two children, his half sister Ellen and a young girl of some relation, Louisa Tyree, who had been living with the family as early as 1860.

Jesse and his family must have returned home from Missouri shortly after 1870 because half sister Ellen married John Watts in Rockcastle Co. in 1875, however, by 1880 Jesse shows up in the Eastern Kentucky Lunatic Asylum in Lexington, Kentucky, listed as an epileptic. They list his previous occupation as "Teacher". His wife and children (by now there was a third child) were all living in Tennessee, each in a separate household but within close proximity of each other.

Eastern Kentucky Lunatic Asylum

In mid December 1885 Jesse was murdered at the asylum by an attendant, Arthur W. Platt, who was trying to force him to come to dinner. When Jesse refused these attempts Platt pulled a loaded gun from his pocket and shot Jesse through the heart. One version of the story says Jesse was pleading piteously for his life. According to one article, 40 inmates witnessed the killing (it is more likely they only heard the gunshot from another room) and apparently some of them came after Platt. Platt briefly alerted another attendant of the incident, packed a valise and fled. He managed to elude arrest for ten years and decided to return home to England where he had family. Platt changed his name to Edward R. Taylor and lived in England for three more years before he decided he liked it better in America. He committed a small crime in order to get arrested and after he was incarcerated he informed Scotland Yard of his warrant in America. Arrangements were made and Platt was finally brought back for trial and was given a light sentence of 4 years in prison. Platt insisted the whole incident was an accident and there were no witnesses still alive to contest his story and even if they had been alive it was doubtful their testimony could be used in court.

After 4 years Platt was given his freedom to resume a normal life. I found no less than 20 newspaper articles on this murder and trial in 6 different Newspapers: Hazelgreen Herald, Morning Herald, New York Times, Mt. Vernon Signal, Kansas Semi-Weekly Capital, and the Omaha World Herald. There is also a lengthy and detailed account entitled "Murder of Jesse Tyree" at kykinfolk.com, contributed by Pam Brinegar.

Jesse Tyree is buried in an unmarked grave in the cemetery of what is now called the Eastern State Hospital.

The many names of Eastern State Hospital:

Fayette Hospital (1817-1822)

Lunatic Asylum (1822-1844)

The Kentucky Lunatic Asylum (1844-1849)

Lunatic Asylum of Kentucky (1850-1852)

The Lunatic Asylum (1850-1852)

The Eastern Lunatic Asylum (1852-1855)

The Eastern Lunatic Asylum of Kentucky (1855-1858)

The Kentucky Eastern Lunatic Asylum (1858-1864)

Eastern Lunatic Asylum (1864-1867)

The Kentucky Eastern Lunatic Asylum (1867-1873)

The First Kentucky Lunatic Asylum (1873-1876)

Eastern Kentucky Lunatic Asylum (1876-1894)

Eastern Kentucky Asylum for the Insane (1894-1912)

Eastern State Hospital (since 1912)

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Tombstone Tuesday: A Final Detail Confirmed!

SARAH TYREE WALLEN

August 25, 1842 - February 15, 1912

Sarah was the sister of my paternal third great grandmother Louisa Tyree Wallen, or "Grandma Wallen" as my great grandfather called her throughout his diary. Back in 2003 my distant cousin Connie sent me copies of notes her grandmother had made...snippets of things that old Grandma Wallen had told her. In those notes Grandma said her sister Sarah had also married a Wallen and had gone to Arkansas to live. Every other detail in those notes has since panned out, except that one...it had to be a mistake!

I didn't think much about it. I knew Sarah had married a Wallen, a distant cousin to my Wallens, and I had already traced her up to 1880...but she lived in Howell Co., Missouri, not Arkansas. Howell Co. is near the border of Missouri and Arkansas so I figured Grandma had just made a small error. James Wallen, Sarah's husband, died in 1867 in Missouri and I suppose when I could not find Sarah in the 1900 census I just assumed she had died there too and I didn't look further for at least 6 or 7 years.

Last week I decided I wanted to renew my efforts on Grandma's siblings and since I hadn't any closure on Sarah, I zoomed in on her.  I did a broad search of the 1900 census for her son Elisha with whom she had been living in 1880. Right away I found the family of Elisha...in Grant Co., Arkansas! And low and behold, Sarah was living with them! When I did more searches on cemetery listings in Grant Co. I quickly found Elisha, his wife Lina, and an infant daughter buried there in the Sheridan Cemetery. They were spelling their name Wallin in the census so that is the spelling I used in the search of the cemeteries. When I didn't find Sarah with them I changed the spelling to Wallen and searched again. There was only one Wallen listed and it was Sarah! (The members of this family were all buried together so I have no idea why the spelling on her tombstone was different.) With this information I did a search on FindAGrave.com and quickly found her memorial and tombstone photo and have used that photo here with the permission of the F.A.G. photo volunteer.

From the birth places of several of Elisha's children it is obvious Sarah had been living in Arkansas for quite some time, long enough to have written many letters to her sister Louisa in Texas. No wonder Grandma Wallen told everyone her sister lived in Arkansas! This may seem like a small detail but it was very exciting to me. It means that every item in those notes has now panned out. Small confirmations to family stories are really rewarding.

Interested persons can find out more on this subject at my companion blog "Genealojournal" by clicking on "Tyree" in the labels.

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Treasure Chest Thursday: Finding a Genealogical Jewel

LOUISA TYREE WALLEN 

b. Feb. 1830 in Scott Co., Virginia - d. circa 1913 in Cooke Co., Texas

Louisa was my paternal 3rd great grandmother, wife of Jesse B. Wallen. She was responsible for raising the younger 7 of her son William's 9 children, with the help of the two oldest, Jesse Uriah and my great grandfather Oliver Morton Wallen, after their mother died. Louisa, "Grandma Wallen", is mentioned regularly in Oliver's diary. Their home had been in Wabd, Rockcastle Co., Kentucky from the early to mid 1850s until 1905 when most of them packed up and headed for Texas. By that time nearly all the children were either grown or had died of Consumption. All 9 siblings eventually perished from that disease (as had their mother) and Louisa would outlive them all with the exception of Jesse U. who died in 1917.

For nearly 15 years I'd tried to prove the parents of Louisa. My dad's first cousin and my closest cohort in genealogical research, Charlie Wallen, never let go of the belief that Louisa was the daughter of David and Rachel Rogers Tyree. I went along with him on that assumption for nearly 10 years until I started digging up new clues that pointed to Louisa as being the oldest child of David and Rachel's son William and his first wife Lucy Osborne. The clues were all over the place but I couldn't convince Charlie. Anyone can read more about those clues here and here at my other blog "Genealojournal" where I tend to muse about things yet unproven. There were more clues too that I discovered in Oliver's diary since writing those notes. None of them said what I needed to know...not quite.

I was obsessed with knowing the truth about Louisa's parentage and I had exhausted all my resources short of making a trip to Scott Co., Virginia or hiring a researcher there. Then, a little over a week ago I was browsing the Rockcastle County newspaper, the Mt. Vernon Signal, and I had decided to do a search on the name of the tiny town of Wabd to see if anything interesting might surface. Now, over the years, I'd done many a search in this newspaper on the surname Wallen, including all the variations in spelling. Many years ago the Signal had been transcribed from microfilm and posted to a genealogy web site by a dedicated genealogist, Cindy Crawford, to whom I will always be humbly grateful. I copied and pasted Cindy's entire transcription to my computer's hard drive (hundreds of pages) and I've been over it dozens of times with a fine toothed comb. In other words, I didn't really expect to find anything monumental on this day, I was just browsing and enjoying reading about all the people of the county that I had come to know over the years.

And suddenly, there it was! Just a dozen little words. My proof. The genealogical jewel that became my gift. I immediately got writer's block..that is, after I spazzed out and danced and babbled and sobbed for a few hours. It was so big I couldn't write about it..I couldn't write about anything. I always thought I'd find the proof of Louisa's ancestry by using my skills. But this wasn't skill at all. It was simply a gift, the perfect gift.

Yesterday I came across this quote by Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings in his comments to Martin Hollick's post "Genealogical Gimme":

"...the record that provides direct evidence of a relationship or fact, might better be called a "genealogy gem" or "genealogy jewel." Often, these are hard to find and, when they are published and made known, then they become a "genealogy gimme." or "genealogy gift."

For whatever reason, this little excerpt gave me what I needed to help me write about my new discovery.

So, what were those few special words I found in the Mt. Vernon Signal?

Well, under the title "WABD" - dated Friday, August 12, 1904, were the words: "Mrs. Louisa Wallen, of Wabd, is visiting her sister, Mrs. John Sowder".  

I froze when I saw it. My heart stopped...and then my mouth flew open..and then I did all that heebee jeebee stuff they call "happy dancing". Every Tyree researcher of this particular Tyree lineage knows who Mrs. John Sowder was. She was Elizabeth Tyree Wallen Sowder, daughter of William and Lucy Osborne Tyree! What a jewel, what a gift! I had been interpreting the clues right all along!

I  just wish cousin Charlie was still alive so I could have the pleasure of saying  (respectfully of course) "I told you Charlie!". 

And I still can't get this newspaper article to come up using "Wallen" as a search word!

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