Hannah Elizabeth Gandy was not Insane

In a 1921 report by the Attorney General, Hannah E. Crosthwaite is recorded as an as indigent confined person at an insane Hospital. Hannah was confined and had been for over 7 years. 

Hannah Elizabeth Gandy was born 8 May 1856 in New Jersey to Nathaniel Osborn Gandy and Sarah (Mick) Gandy his wife. Hannah was their first child. By 1870 her father has moved the family to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and there Hannah met and married James R. Crosthwaite. 

Hannah was a dress maker and in July 1896 when her husband passed Hannah supported herself with dressmaking and by bringing in Boarders to her home. 

By 1911 Hannah is diagnosed with general paralysis of the insane also known as general paresis, or paralytic dementia.  It is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder with decreased mental function due to a disease. There is an inflammation of the brain similar to meningitis which then causes the brain to shrink and is a late stage of syphilis.  None of this was discovered until the late 1880s. Before it was just assumed people had a "desolate character". In 1913 it became a diagnosis and it was not until after World War II that penicillin was used to treat syphilis. But that was too late for Hannah she passed 16 March 1919 while an inmate at The State Lunatic Hospital at Norristown in Norristown Pennsylvania. 

State Lunatic Hospital at Norristown

                                         

Charles Lewis Pearis - Mercer County Influencer

Apparently there was a little trouble in town and the Pearis Boys were once again involved in it. 
Okay, maybe there are not exactly boys but they are in the thick of things and constantly bailing each other out of it. George borrowed money he failed to pay back and lands in court due to a warrant. His brother Samuel bails him out. Charles borrows money and fails to pay it back as he is standing in court his brother George bails him out. The courts and Sheriff must have been very familiar with these men. 

This is about my Very Great Uncle, Charles Lewis Pearis. He is the son of George Pearis and Rebecca Clay and was born 15 July 1789 in Giles County, Virginia. His father was a Veteran of the Revolution. 

In 1823 Charles signs a petition along with several other Virginia residents who live on the far reaches of several other counties. Their complaint is that the county seats of these counties are located at a distance of 70 miles for most and as far as 120 miles away for others. The terrain is treacherous, mountainous and difficult to travel in winter. They are petitioning to have another county created in their neck of the woods from the 4 counties they live in. 

In February of 1824 Charles and his brother borrow money and sign a note promising to pay it back on 1 December 1824. They are hauled before a judge by the Sheriff in September of 1825 for non payment of the loan. 

Margaret Carper Peck catches his eye and on 6 April 1829 he marries her. A year later in April of 1830 their daughter Electra is born. Charles is granted 9 acres of land where the Black Lick Creek joins the Big Bluestone River in 1829. 

In 1837 the section of Giles County where Charles and his family live become Mercer County and Charles is a commissioner for Mercer county Schools. The County seat is Princeton and Captain William Smith gives land to the city to build a Courthouse. He also lays out 40 lots to be sold around the courthouse. Charles buys a lot for $80.00

Sometime before 1860 Charles passes. His name is on the burial memorial stone at Clay Memorial Park in Bluestone, Mercer County.

Sarah Starr - Presidential Very Great Grandmother

Sarah Starr was born in Killingly Connecticut on 28 November 1760 to Comfort Starr II and Judith (Cooper) Starr his wife.  Killingly was a small township in the Northeastern corner of Connecticut and was established in 1708.  It was owned by the colony of Connecticut and not by any business or individual for plating. Her father was 

On 10 July 1768 her sister Abigail, herself and her brothers Comfort and Pearly were baptized in the Thompson Congregational Church in Thompson Connecticut were they lived.  Thompson, named for Sir Robert Thompson is in the Northern most part of Connecticut. 

On 15 January 1777 Vermont was declared a free and independent State and later that year Comfort Starr II moved his family from Thompson to Guilford Vermont.  Here she met Jabez Franklin and they were married.  Her first child Luther is born in March of 1780. Sarah's father Comfort Starr II is the Captain of  the Militia for Guilford Vermont which included with her husband Jabez Franklin and her brother Pearly Starr. 

Her son Luther Starr marries Priscilla Pinney in 1799. In 1811 they give birth to Abigail Starr but neither  Sarah nor Priscilla will know her as Sarah passes 20 August 1805 and Priscilla, Abigail's mother dies shortly after her birth. Abigail Franklin eventually marries Hiram D. Moor and births a daughter, Victoria Josephine Moor who marries John Calvin Coolidge. Victoria and John Coolidge give birth to a son on 4 July 1872 they name John Calvin Coolidge II. They call him Calvin.  In 1923 John Calvin Coolidge II, my 9th cousin 1x removed becomes the 30th President of the United States. 

                                     Portrait of Calvin Coolidge, 1931 by DeWitt McClellan Lockman

Luke Dillon - My Irish Ghost

This is the kind of Ghost story that keeps me amused, tales around the campfire alive and some hunters of their family Ghosts perplexed. There is nothing I can prove of this glorious Ghost however, he was (maybe) my 8th Very Great Grandfather, Luke Dillon. 

Luke was born in Kilkenny in Southeast Ireland in 1691. He was said to have had red hair and was a weaver by trade. He married a girl named Susannah Garrett in 1710 and Hannah was born soon after. In 1713 Luke, his wife, their young daughter and infant son, Daniel who was born at sea arrived in Nantucket.  

1717 we find Luke Dillon and Susannah as weavers in Pennsylvania with their own shop. They have had another son and Susannah is pregnant again. 

 In the late winter of 1717 Luke had spent the day at a mill about 5 miles away and even stopped at a local pub to toss back a few ale with friends. To ward off the cold he made sure his flask was filled before he mounted his horse for the long ride back. 

Luke's horse arrives home alone. A search of the area revealed no sign of Luke that night. The next few days of searching by his family, neighbors and friends uncovered no traces of Luke. The night of his disappearance there had been a blizzard and the snow was deep. About 6 weeks after his disappearance when the snow had melted another search was made for Luke.  His body was found. He was sitting on the ground, his flask in his hand perfectly preserved by the frozen snow that had covered him. Some say he got off his horse to sit a spell and take a drink. Others speculated he fell from his horse and as his horse ran off he just sat there and had a drink as he froze to death. 

This story is told several ways and has been the topic of heated debate. Some say it is not true and that Luke never existed. Some say he was poor others say he was the 4th son of a Noble family. 

This is just one of my Ghosts.  

Philip Clarke - Colonial Rebel

Philip Clarke was in  America  as early as 1677.  He lived in St. Mary's County where he met Hanna MacKall and married her. Philip was an attorney by trade and a member of the General Assembly of Maryland. 

In 1691 he is a member of the Provincial Court. 1696 he was a member of the Court of Chancery. 

2 April 1698 Philip Clarke was tasked to draw up and write Oaths for some of the officers and the Grand Jury of the Assembly. 

Sometime around October 1698 Philip finds himself in Prison the charges unclear to the House of Delegates he belongs to. They dramatically petition His Excellency Frances Nicholson (Representative of the King)  for his release questioning the rumors of capias ad satisfaciendum of 6,000 lbs of tobacco due to the King. His fellow delegates can find no authorization for the arrest, or detainment of Philip.  They examine other precedents and can find no other case where a man who sits on the Assembly is detained except for treason or threat of disturbing the peace of the kingdom. The reply from Nicholson after berating the Assembly for their extravagant humour and displeasure assures them that Philip was convicted by a Grand Jury and found guilty of "Raising a great disturbance within the Province". Nicholson replies that the Speaker of the House shall come to them and show them proof of the conviction. He then threatens the rest of the delegates telling them that if anyone attempts to free Philip or even speak about freeing him will themselves be labeled a rebel against the King. 

The charges are read to the House by the Speaker and then explained again to Philip who is still in jail. Philip understandably has a melt down and screams that he can speak more sensibly than any other man in the House, he makes derogatory comments, disparaging remarks and claims manage the offensive House all much better than they are currently doing,  The Speaker returns the comments made by Philip to Nicholson who quickly dispatches back a statement quoting Philip and asking how they could want someone in their House who would ridicule and abuse them this way. Suggesting he make the trial and Philips comments all public.  

Toward the end of October Nicholson is questioning why he has not heard of the meetings of the House of Delegates. He is told that meetings cannot be held without all members present and that since Philip is jailed they are unable to meet. The House members are accused of putting the entire country in jeopardy. Nicholson defends his position claiming he is vindicating the honor of the King's government and they should find another delegate to represent St. Mary's County. 

In November members of the Grand Jury, members of the court, 20 Burgesses, and members of council petitioned Nicholson to release Philip who they felt deserved punishment but not his wife and children.  Nicholson made a display of telling Philip that the charges and jail time were not personal and that he would grant him no relief because Philip had spread scandalous and false reports claiming he had proof that he was wrongly imprisoned. 

Philip is actually first charged for a being a conspirator with John Coode against Nicholson who was the Governor of Maryland at this time. He had led a division of the House against Nicholson while a House member. It was rumored that Nicholson retaliated with false accusations against Philip and brought him to court using these false charges. Philip was dismissed from all court proceedings for infusing the peoples heads with thought that the government of this country was ruled by tyrannical men who did not dispense with justice equally. 

Philip spent 6 months in jail and in the summer of 1699 he passes. 

Matilda Patton George - Inn Keeper's Wife

Matilda Patton George was my 1st cousin 4x removed. Her mother was Eleanor Howe Pearis my very Great Aunt who married Thomas Jefferson George. Matilda was born in Tazewell County, Virginia on 22 November 1825 she was one of seven children. She lived in Mercer County, Virginia on a farm with her parents and siblings in 1850. 

In 1856 Matilda, at the age of 30, met Lewis Bledsoe Austin. He was a widower with 4 children still living at home. They married on the 9th of September and moved to his farm near Elk Creek, Grayson County, Virginia. Matilda and her husband had 7 children. 

Lewis Bledsoe Austin

Legend has it that Lewis packed up Matilda and their children into a covered wagon and headed west. In Corrine, Utah they turned north and stopped in Radersburg for a time before moving one more time to Jefferson City. 

On 11 June 1874 there is an article in the Daily Independent Newspaper out of Helena, Montana about Mr. George, that would be Albert Gallatin Pendelton George, (Matilda's brother) Mr. Bratty, Mr. MacFarland, and Mr. Austin (Matilda's Husband) investing, building, and updating a canal from the swamp lands of Crow Creek bringing in enough water to work the mines. Crow Creek flows into the Missouri River south of Helena, Montana and east of Jefferson City.

In 1880 Matilda's husband is mentioned in the Daily Independent again as being the proprietor of a popular hotel, The Emerson Hotel. The 1880 census has them living in Jefferson City, Jefferson County, Montana and Lewis occupation as Inn Keeper. 

                                Jefferson City Montana ca1895. The Emerson Hotel was a two story building.
While at the home of her daughter Lucy Victoria Austin Wilcox in Centerville, Montana on 15 January 1894 Matilda passed. 4 months later Lewis, Matilda's husband also passed.

Elias Keyes - Werewolf

Elias Keyes, my very Great Uncle was born in Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts on 20 May 1643. His father was Robert and his mother Sarah. In 1645 Robert Keyes moved his family to Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts roughly 14 miles east. The journey would have taken about 6 hours. The settlement and town was established September 1639.

Wooden barrels and casks of all sizes were used extensively for many things in Colonial. In 1664 when Elias asked for wood and timber, a building and hoop poles he was granted them and Sudbury had their own cooper shop and no longer needed to import them from Boston or other villages. 

On 11 September 1665 Elias married Sarah Blanchard. They had 5 children, 4 sons and a daughter.  Their son, Elias Keyes II drowned in June of 1690 when his canoe tipped over while he was on the Merrimac River near Chelmsford. The river was running fast and the wind was high on this tragic summer day. Another man tried to rescue him but drowned also.

                Merrimac river

In another attempt to drive away the English and other settlers Pokunoket tribe leader, Chief Metacom otherwise known as King Phillip gathered the warriors and leaders of other Tribes and led a rebellion that lasted 14 months (1675-1676) and destroyed 12 settlements. In what became known as the Sudbury Fight toward the end of the war and included the settlement of Sudbury, and what is now Wayland and Maynard most of the real estate property and personal property of the settlers was either stolen or destroyed by King Philip and his army. The Sudbury town records show that Elias claimed a loss valuing 60 pounds from fire and plunder. 

By 1680 Elias wife Sarah had married a man named John Maynard and there is no further information on Elias. It is assumed he passed in 1679. 

In Sudbury in 1679 an increase in the "Wolf Bounty" of 10 shillings was granted. It seems that shortly after King Philips War an increase in the wildlife population brought with it an increase in the wolf population. The bounty that was suspended in 1646 granted 10 shillings per wolf and was reinstated. The increase of 10 more shillings was for the presentation of a wolf head to the town constable. 

There is no death notice or any other proof of death for Elias. Could he have been attacked and killed by wolves. Was he accidentally shot or killed by another person out for the "Wolf Bounty".  


Or ... 



was Elias a werewolf and killed by a hunter. 

Masa Branch Southwick - Scientific America

Masa Branch Southwick, my Very Great Uncle was named after his Mother's father, Amasa Branch.  Masa was born 5 April 1801 in Orwell, Addison, Vermont. When he was 13 his mother passed and at age 14 he was sent off to apprentice with Plinty Moore as a carder of wool. He learned about dying the fabric, weaving the fabric, and all the machine used in the cloth making. At the age of 17 he was sent by his employer Judge Moore to Chambly, La Vallée-du-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada to oversee the Mill that the family owned. He was later made a partner with Judge Moore at a new Mill they opened in Mont St. Hilaire, Quebec, Canada. After Judge Moore passed Masa bought the Mill and married Eliza Andres. They had 2 daughters one dying days after her birth and the other after a year. In 1832 Masa brought apple seed to the area and started an orchard. 

He wrote the following poem about his home.

A DREAM OF HOME
Home! Home! At last I've found thee!
Thou dearest spot on earth:
Each nook and tree around thee
And e'en the rough old hearth.
Are dearer now than ever.
Since far from thee and thine
I've roamed o'er hill and river;
O! There's no home like mine! -M.B.S.

In 1841 there was a horrific tragedy at the mill. A woman and her sister had come to see her husband when one their skirts got tangled in a machine. The sister tried to save her but failed to do so and ended up becoming trapped and killed in the same machine herself. 

In 1856 Masa patented a machine used in preparing vegetables, notably potatoes for preservation. It also worked for squash and pumpkins. 

In 1861 he invented and patented a Tow Cleaner used in the threshing of flax, hemp and fibers used in cloth making. He made improvements to existing machines for the manufacturing of flax and food preservation. He obtained numerous other patents in England, Canada and America. Masa sent samples of the preserved meats, fruits and vegetables created by his inventions to the Paris Exposition and won a Bronze Medal. He was awarded a Silver Medal in Canada. He was made an honorary Member of the Mechanics Institute in Montreal in 1854. He ran his numerous businesses for more than 75 years, held a commission for the local courts, held a local office and was a Major in the Canadian Militia for which he received many honors. 
1871 Masa's Flax Break invention is mentioned and written about in Scientific America. 
In 1869 Masa has a stroke which debilitated him and in 1879 he passed. 

He was extremely creative, inventive and well liked in his community and considered a fair and honest business man.  

George Nicklaus Flack - Butcher of Lexington Market

George Nicklaus Flack came to America in 1850 from Saxony Germany he is my very Great Uncle. He was 17 when he arrived in Baltimore. In 1855 he met the lovely Justina Meister  from Bayern Germany. They were married on 14 October 1855 at St. Alphonsus Church in Baltimore. He was a Butcher by trade as was his brother Henry. He owned stall number 57 in the Lexington Market. 

                            Lexington Market circa 1903

The Lexington Market is the oldest Market in America and was founded in 1782 when General John Eager Howard donated a portion of his families pasture land near Baltimore to be used as a Market. The Market was named Lexington Market as tribute to the the first battle of the American Revolution in Lexington. The market opened at 2:00 A.M. with a bell and closed with a bell at noon. He also had a stall at Centre Market in Baltimore. 

                                                                      Centre Market, from Fielding Lucas, Picture of Baltimore

George was very involved with his church even serving as an escort/pall bearer at the funeral of the Reverend  William B. Bartlett in 1900. Reverend William was the Pastor at St. Ana's Catholic Church. 

George passed on 11 April 1900.  On 16 November 1900 his stall in Lexington Market was sold at Public Auction. 

Garland Tolbert Gerald - Gaine's Mill Battle

Garland Tolbert Gerald was in Texas by 14 February 1848, his father having planted 1,950 seed cotton and  enough corn for 50 bushels. This was reported in the Democratic Telegraph and Texas Register newspaper. The report comes from farmers in Montgomery County in the Uplands. The 1850 census has the Gerald family living in Walker County but it does not say where. 

Garland Tolbert Gerald is my 1st cousin 4x removed.  His mother is Juliet Trigg Pearis a direct ancestor and his father is Garland Sims Gerald. Prior to about 1840 their last name was spelled Jarrell. Most of the clan has kept the Jarrell spelling my branch kept the Gerald spelling. 

1860 finds Garland T. in Giles County, Virginia near the village of Staffordsville. He is day labor for his brother William who is a farm tenant. He lives with his brother William and family on the farm.  He is 24 and was born in Giles County, Virginia in July 1837. 

On 25 July 1861 Garland enlists in Company H, Virginia 8th Calvary Regiment.  This Regiment was organized for about a year with nine companies. Then in May 1862 it was reorganized. On 28 April 1862 Garland is assigned to Company E, 19th Infantry Regiment, Virginia in Yorktown Virginia.  They are known as the "Piedmont Guards". 

The  7 Days Battle broke out on 24 June 1862 and lasted about 7 days. 

                                Gaines’ Mill - June 27, 1862 4:00-4:30pm

BATTLE MAP | American Battlefield Trust's map of the Battle of Gaines’ Mill, Virginia on June 27, 1862

 27 June 1862 the companies lined up and faced off with the Federal troops. This was about to be the largest assault of the Civil War  and Company E of the 19th Infantry, part of the 16 Brigades called to the location were there with Garland Tolbert Gerald among them.  A little over 57,000 Confederate Troops were involved in what became the second bloodiest Battle of the Civil War. 

                                      Battle of Gaines' Mill by Alfred Waud

The Battle at Gaines Mill. 1,483 men were killed, 108 went missing or were captured and 6,402 were wounded including Garland Tolbert Gerald. He was wounded by a barrage of "grapeshot" which inflicted multiple wounds but tore up his lower left leg so tremendously it had to be amputated. 

Garland meets the Widow Jane Hallett and falls in love. He marries her on 2 February 1875. Their daughter Louisa Pearis Gerald is born in March of 1877. 

In 1900 Garland, his wife Jane and daughter, Louisa Pearis Gerald are living on a farm near Jeffersonville in Tazewell County, Virginia and he is farming. 1910 census shows that his wife Jane claims she has had 0 births and 0 children. I have not found much evidence of their daughter Louisa except for an excerpt in a newspaper from May 1900 where she and her father are shopping. 

In August of 1911 Garland Tolbert Gerald put notice in the Tazewell Republican newspaper that he was going to run for Constable of the Jeffersonville Magisterial District.  

After a lingering illness Garland passes on 19 April 1916 and is buried at Concord Church Cemetery in Tazewell County. 

Ebeneezer Parsons - Death at Northfield

Remember Mary Bliss, the witch? I told her story back in December. She had 12 children and this is the tale of her son Ebeneezer Parsons. He is my 1st cousin 9x removed which means we share a grandfather and are separated by 9 generations. 

He was born in May 1655 in Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. He is Mary's fifth child and the first European male child to be born in Northampton.  

In a battle in Northfield on 2 September  1675 he is wounded and dies on the battlefield. He was only 20. The superstitious and small minded people of the village of Northampton declared that this was GOD punishing Mary for her dealings and familiarity with the Devil.

In the early morning hours of 2 September 1675 a vast army of Indians surrounded the settlement of Northfield and patiently waited for them to begin the days chores. While the men were engaged in their fields and the women occupied with daily chores and children the attack on Northfield occurred. 8 men were killed in that first battle. Ebeneezer Parsons was among them. 

Aaron Charles Cheuvront - Flat Bottom Boat

Around 1838 Aaron Charles Cheuvront, and his family left their home in Lewis County Virginia and boarded a flatboat floating the Monongahela, West Fork and  Ohio Rivers. 

                         Artist, Alfred R. Waud

They floated to Ravenswood until they came to the Sandy Creek and headed up the creek. They took the Left Fork of Sandy Creek and ended up at their new home off Drift Run near Nesselroad Run and Lockhart. He traveled with 3 of his brothers, his sister Priscilla, her husband and all the children. The older boys of the families drove the cattle and other livestock across country to the homestead. 

By 1840 Aaron has settled in and is farming. He has one son still living with him and his wife Sarah (Richards).  She passes in 1841 and Aaron marries a woman named Matilda. He is 68 years old in 1850, still farming and his widowed daughter Elizabeth Maddox, her 5 children and Matilda are all in the home. 

Aaron must have brought enough equipment from his old homestead in Lewis County when he moved to Jackson County to care for all his farm and his brother and sister's farm and home blacksmith needs.  He was the first blacksmith in the Lockhart area.

On 9 February 1863 Aaron Charles Cheuvront, my Very Great Grandfather dies and is buried in the Maddox Cemetery in Lockhart, Jackson County, West Virginia. 

Spencer D. Pennell - Ghost of Bidwell Bar

Spencer D. Pennell was born 30 January 1825 to Joseph D. Pennell and his wife the former Miss Davis. When Spencer was about 5 his mother passed away and Joseph married Phoebe Stockman. Spencer was born in Canandaigua in Ontario, New York. The name Canandaigua comes from the Seneca word Kanandarque which translates to "the chosen place". The town is located at the northern end of Lake Canandaigua where springs of burning natural gas were recorded by Robert de la Salle when he explored in 1669.

I can find nothing else on Spencer until his death in Bidwell, Butte County, California.  

Bidwell Bar, a gold mining camp in Butte County was located at the end of the California Trail and was founded by John Bidwell in 1848. John Bidwell who was 21 and Captain John Bartleson  were the first to put together an emigration attempt with a wagon train heading out from Missouri and ending in California in 1841. There were 60 members in this group of travelers and the trip took 5 months and covered 2,008 miles of desert, dry lake basin and mountains. Half of the group changed their minds at Sheep Rock, Idaho and took the Oregon Trail. The rest all made their way to California with no maps and no guides. Everyone survived the trip. 

In 1842 Bidwell turned his diary of the journey over to a publishing company and many future emigrants and travelers would use the book as a guide. Was Spencer part of the first group of travelers or was he inspired by reading the book. Maybe he was tempted by the gold found at his hero's mining camp, Bidwell Bar and took off for riches and adventure with Bidwell's Diary Book in hand. 

On 4 July 1848 John Bidwell discovered gold on the Middle Fork of Feather River. By 1851 Bidwell had a population of about 2000 which warranted a post office and made it the County Seat for Butte County. By 1853 the population had soared to over 3,000. On 2 August 1854 a fire broke out in the town and most of it was destroyed. 

UNION HOUSE BIDWELL BAR CA. A fire destroyed the first Union House (also known as Fitzgerald House) August 2 1854 along with most of the town.

My 2nd cousin, Spencer D. Pennell died on 22 August 1854. Just 20 days after the start of the fire. Did he die from injuries he received as a result of the fire. 

Nathanael Chapman - Son of Saybrook

Nathanael Chapman was the youngest son of Robert and Ann (Bliss) Chapman. He was born 16 February 1653 in Saybrook Connecticut.  This is just 5 years after the burning of Fort Saybrook in the winter of 1648. The Saybrook colony was established in 1635 and is one of the oldest in New England. Robert Chapman, Nathanael's father is among the first settlers of Saybrook. 

In 1681 Nathanael marries Mary Collins and their first child, a son is born. He is also named Nathanael but dies when he is about 5 months old. Their next child is also a son and they name him Nathanael. Daniel and John are born later. In August of 1695 Mary dies and Nathanael is left with 3 young boys. He marries Hannah Bates in 1698 three daughters and 2 sons come from their union. 

Nathanael calls himself a husbandman in his will and he did own vast amounts of farmland all over the area. He had land along the Oyster River, Hagar's Creek, the seaside, land in the town of Hebron, 75 acres at and along Deep River and Pattaconk Creek. 35 acres at Clapboard Hill, 22 acres at Cook's Hill, land at Treacle Hill, and 85 acres near an old iron mine. He had plats of land in the original sectioned off Oyster River Quarter. He owned 2 oxen, 22 cows, 4 horses, and 60 sheep. He owned a cart, a harrow, a plow and all the harness and yokes.  A loom and everything necessary to weave wool into cloth.  He also had many beds and much furniture in his home along with a sword, small gun and ammunition.  The inventory of his estate at the probate of his will is amazing. 

He was very active in the church and became a highly respected and loved Deacon of the church. He was involved in local politics. On 5 April 1726 Nathanel Chapman passes away. 

Ghost Traces: Argyle R. Burton - Oklahoma Rancher

Ghost Traces: Argyle R. Burton - Oklahoma Rancher: Argyle R. Burton was born to Ophelia (Gerald) Burton on 11 October 1867. By 1870 he is living with his mom in a house where she is a Domes...

Argyle R. Burton - Oklahoma Rancher

Argyle R. Burton was born to Ophelia (Gerald) Burton on 11 October 1867. By 1870 he is living with his mom in a house where she is a Domestic Servant.  A few years later he is in Kansas and marries Cecilia Brazzeal and they have a son Roy. A few years later Argyle marries Myrtle Arnold. I can find no trace of Cecilia after the marriage date but Roy is still with him. 

Argyle is my 2nd cousin and his name has been misspelled and pronounced so many ways.  In 1870 it is Igala, 1875 A. Burton, in 1900 he is Guy, in 1940 he is A.R. Burton. On a marriage certificate he is Gayle R. Burton while on another marriage certificate he is Guyle R. Burton and G.R. Burton. Later in life he seemed to settle on A.R. Burton. By 1914 he is living near Bartlesville in Washington County, Oklahoma which is on the edge of Osage Reservation. His 1900 census actually has his address as Osage and Kaw Indian Reservation. He first settled on Bird Creek in Osage Territory later moving to farm land southwest of Bartlesville. 

Argyle is a farmer and cattleman enlarging his farm continuously for years. He is known for adapting the latest and newest farming technologies and equipment. He has vast orchards and a keen knowledge of animal husbandry with extensive cattle and horse herds and buys the best pedigreed sows for breeding pigs.

There are 17 oil wells on his property and he receives royalties from these wells. In 1929 Argyle takes out a loan from the bank to purchase cattle. In 1930 at the start of the Great Depression in the midst of the Oklahoma Dust storms the bank calls in the loan. Argyle cannot repay the loan at that time so he gives the bank over 1400 acres in payment. That land was purchased from the bank in 1938 and became the Hughes Ranch. 

Argyle died in June 1955 and is buried in White Rose Cemetery.