Wednesday, November 11, 2015

War of 1812 - Britton Medlin

In honor of Veteran’s Day, I’d like to share the War of 1812 Pension File for Britton Medlin.  Britton Medlin is on our Baldwin/Stewart line.

Several years ago, the Federation of Genealogical Societies started the War of 1812 Pension Digitization Project.  Their goal is to raise money to digitize all of the Pension Records from the War of 1812.  Please consider donating to help preserve this important part of history.  The records will be free to the public and can be found on Fold3.com.

The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and Great Britain and lasted from 1812 to 1815. The United States declared war for several reasons, including trade restrictions brought about by the British war with France.  Most of us remember the War of 1812 for the burning of the White House, penning of our nation’s national anthem "The Star Spangled Banner", and the “Battle of New Orleans.”

This past month while doing some research on my Medlin line, I found the War of 1812 Pension file for Britton Medlin.  Britton Medlin is thought to be the father (or perhaps a much older brother) of our Samuel Medlin and grandfather of Bettie Medlin Stewart.   Note that the Medlin name is often listed as Medley in census and other records.

The earliest record found for Britton Medlin shows him as a 16-25 year old male head of household living with a 16-25 year old female in the 1800 Census for Franklin County, North Carolina.  Britton appears to be a young newlywed with no children yet in the home.  The name of this first wife is unknown.  His probable children by this first marriage are Martha (Patsey) Medlin Richardson, Riley Medlin, and Samuel Medlin.  Sometime around 1804 the Britton Medlin family moved from North Carolina to Tennessee.

Britton Medley was listed on the 1811 White County, Tennessee tax list.  Also on the list were Samuel Medley, Richard Medley, John Medley, and John Medley Jr.

From the pension papers, we learn that Britton joined the Volunteers of the Tennessee Militia on 13 Dec 1812 at Sparta, Tennessee.  He served under Captain William J Smith in the 2nd Regiment of the Tennessee Volunteers commanded by Colonel Thomas Benton.   He served until the 20 April 1813.  

In the pension papers, there is a small piece of yellowed paper that is an honorable discharge by Andrew Jackson stating: "I certify that Britton Medlin enroled himself as a volunteer under the acts of Congress...under my command on a tower to the Natchez country from the 10th of December 1812 to the 20 April 1813 and is hereby discharged.  Andrew Jackson, Major Genl". 
Britton Medlin Discharge
Britton's first wife would have died sometime before 1823, when he was married to Margaret McDole(McDowell) on 18 Nov 1823.  The marriage was performed by Wm J Smith in White County, Tennessee. 

The Britton Medlin family is enumerated in the 1840 Census for DeKalb, Tennessee.  Riley Medly is shown as living next to Britton Medlin.

In April 1844, while working in his fields, Britton Medlin died when a tree limb fell on him.  Riley Medlin's son, John H. Medlin, was working in the field with Britton when the accident happened.  A Nashville newspaper carried the following death notice:
 
Republican Banner; Nashville, TN; Monday, April 14, 1845
In January 1851, Britton’s widow, Margaret Medlin, applied for Bounty Land based on Britton’s service in the War of 1812.  She received 40 acres.  In the 1851 application, Margaret said she was married to Britton Medlin by William J Smith on 18 Nov 1823 in Sparta, White County, Tennessee.  She stated that Britton died on 4th of April 1844.
1851 Bounty Land Application
Again in 1855 when the government passed another bounty land act, Margaret applied for more land.
1855 Application
Then, in 1878 Margaret applied for a Widow's pension.  In this application she gave a different date for her marriage and a different date for her husband’s death.  In the 1878 application, she said she was married in 1814 and that her husband, Britton, died in 1838.  This information differed from the previous 1851 and 1855 applications for bounty land.  

Also in 1878, Britton’s widow, Margaret Medlin, gave the following description of Britton as she thought he looked like when he enlisted.  Make note that she did not marry him until ten years after he had enlisted and served in the war, and did not give the description until 1878, over 30 years after he died.  Supposedly, Britton was 5’10” tall, fair complexion, and had blue or grey eyes.  She thought he was twenty years old at the time he enlisted and that he had been born in North Carolina.  She said he was a farmer.  


The pension board did not like the conflicting information in the different applications.  As an explanation for the mistakes Margaret made in filling out this 1878 application, John H Elrod stated in a separate affidavit that Margaret was "old and forgetful" (in 1878) when she filled out this application.  Of course, since she could not read or write, someone else filled out the application and Margaret just signed her "X".
1878 Application
Because of the discrepancy in the dates Margaret gave for her marriage and death of her husband, she was required to give additional information in the form of affidavits from several witnesses.  John H. Medlin, son of Riley Medlin and most likely grandson of Britton, told of being with Britton Medlin at the time of his death.  And, the clerk of White County, Tennessee submitted an affidavit of the White County marriage record, as shown below:
Marriage Record
Below is John H. Medlin’s January 1880 affidavit and his account of the death of Britton Medlin.  John stated that the "discrepancy of the date of death" by Margaret in the 1878 application was caused by her forgetfulness, and "she being at the time of her application very old and forgetful."  As to Britton's death, John said he was helping to plow the fields when a tree limb fell and killed Britton.  He describes himself as a "good size plowboy" who was 12 years old at the time of Britton's death.  
(Transcription below)
John H Meldin Affidavit - 1
John H Meldin Affidavit - 2

John H Meldin Affidavit - 3
Transcription of above:
State of Tennessee Putnam County, Tennessee On this 12 day of January 1880, before me M J Isbell Clerk County Court of said County, personally appeared Granville C Maxwell, aged 49 years old and John H Medlin aged 48 years old, whose P.O. address is Cookeville, Tenn, are being first sworn depose and say, that they affiants have both been indirectly acquainted with Margaret Medlin, widow of Britton Medlin, who was a soldier in the War of 1812, and have lived near neighbors to her ever since the death of Britton Medlin and they know that she has never remarried that if she had re----marriage, this fact would have become known to affiants. Affiant John H Medlin further states that he was born on the 22 day of May 1831. And was plowing in the field with said Britton Medlin when he was killed by the falling of a tree. That the affiant was at the time of said Britton Medlin’s death 12 year old, was 13 years old on 22 May 1844 after his said Britton Medlin’s death which affiant thinks occurred in April 1844. Affiant thinks that the discrepancy of the date of his death was caused by forgetfulness of Margaret Medlin, she being at the time of her application very old and forgetful. The above is the true state of fact and the true date of his death according to the best recollections of affiant. He knows that he was just a good size plowboy at the time and was 12 years old and the date of his birth as above given. ---that the time is nearly correct and that he Brittan Medlin died about 1844. Affiants both state that they have no interest what so ever in the of said Margaret Medlin’s claim for Pension and that they are not interested in it. G C Maxwell J H Medlin Subscribed and Sworn to before me this 12th day of January 1880 

Margaret Medlin’s Maiden Name
In all of the records, Margaret Medlin gave her maiden name as Margaret McDole. She signed her name with an "X", meaning she did not write and most likely could not read. 

Her name given on the marriage record by the county clerk is Margaret McDowell (see below).  On one paper, McDole was corrected to McDowl. 
"Britton Medlin and Margaret McDowell" written by White County Clerk
After looking at all the records, I believe that although Margaret's maiden name may be McDole, it is most likely McDowell.  There were both McDole and McDowell families in the vicinity where the Medlin's lived and they all seem to use both spellings interchangeably in census records and official records.   One of the main reasons I believe Margaret to be a McDowell, is that I believe she may be the sister or close relative of Elizabeth McDowell who married James Elrod.  Both, K Harrison Elrod and John Elrod, sons of Elizabeth McDowell and James Elrod, were witnesses for Margaret Medlin in the pension papers.  That would make both of them nephews to Margaret and explain why they were both witnesses.

If anyone has additional information on this family, please share.  It would be interesting to see if the descendants of Margaret and Britton Medlin share DNA with the descendants of Elizabeth (McDowell) and James Elrod.

See UPDATE for correct spelling of Margaret Medlin's maiden name and information on her parents.  Click below: 

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

July 14th - Maymie's Birthday

Maymie Pearl Wilson Martin
1905-1993

Maymie's Birth:
On July 13th, 1905 (the day before Maymie was born) Charlie Hatfield took his very pregnant sister, Pearl Wilson, in a wagon to their mother's house.  Pearl's parents, Martin and Nancy Hatfield, lived near the little town of Estelle, Oklahoma.  As Charlie loaded up Pearl in the wagon a storm was moving into the area.  Soon after starting on their journey, they had a tornado following in their path.  Charlie had to stand out on the doubletree of the wagon and whip the horses to out-run the storm.  Luckily the storm veered off in a different direction and they were able to safely arrive at the Hatfield homestead.  Maymie was born early the next morning, at 2:00 am on the 14th of July, 1905. It was a comfort and blessing for Pearl to have her mother (Nancy McNeil Hatfield) help her with the birth of her new baby daughter, who she named Maymie Pearl Wilson.  But the little town of Estelle was not so lucky.  The tornado tore through the town and it was blown away and never rebuilt.
Below is a photo of the log home Maymie's grandparents lived in and where Maymie was born.
Hatfield Home in 1905

Maymie on her 50th Birthday:
This next photo was taken of Maymie on her 50th birthday - July 14th, 1955.  It appears to be taken outside of their Cortez home.
Maymie's 50th Birthday

Maymie would be 110 years old today!  
Happy 110th birthdayπŸŽˆπŸŽ‚πŸŽˆπŸ˜


Sunday, March 15, 2015

Anthony Leffel's Will and Probate, part 3

David Miller Leffel Heirs

Of special interest to the descendants of David Miller Leffel, is page 4 of the Distribution of the Will in the previous post on Anthony Leffel's Will part 2.  Since David Miller Leffel died prior to his father, all of his heirs are mentioned in the will of their grandfather, Anthony Leffel.

Anthony Leffel's Will
Heirs of David M. Leffel
All of David's children moved to Texas except for the oldest son, William Jefferson Leffel, who lived in Miami County, Ohio.  William was given Power of Attorney by his siblings to act in their behalf in the estate of their grandfather.  This created all kinds of documents back and forth between the heirs in Texas and the administrator of the estate in Ohio.  Below is just one example of a receipt found in the probate file.  This receipt shows that "George L. Leffel one of the children of David M. Leffel, deceased late of Texas" received his final distribution of his share of the estate through his brother, William J. Leffel, acting as his attorney in fact.

Prior to finding this probate file, David's daughter, Sarah Ann Leffel had been a mystery.  She was listed in the 1850 Census in Champaign County, Ohio with her parents, but that had been the only record I had of her until she showed up in her grandfather's will.  Once I found her married name, I was able to locate her marriage record in Grayson County, Texas.  The name on her marriage record was different -- Elizabeth S. A. Leffel instead of Sarah Ann Leffel.  Probably one of the reasons she had remained a mystery.
Marriage Record for Sarah Leffel to William S Counts
4 Jun 1860, Grayson County, Texas 
By the time of the final distributions of the estate in 1880, the papers refer to the heirs of Sarah Ann Counts, so that means Sarah had passed away leaving her distribution to her heirs.  And, since she never showed up in any census record as a married woman with her husband and/or children, her family was unknown to present Leffel family researchers until being mentioned as heirs in grandfather Anthony Leffel's will.

Sarah Ann Leffel Counts had three children that are known:  Eliza Jane Counts, Joseph F. Counts, and David Counts.  Because their mother Sarah Ann Leffel Counts and grandfather David Miller Leffel had passed away before the distribution of the estate was completed, each is mentioned in their great-grandfather's probate documents.

In this first document, Eliza J. Quirk (daughter of Sarah Ann Leffel Counts) and J H Quirk her husband appoint an attorney to represent them.

The document below is an affidavit signed by J. G. Quirk of Cooke County, Texas stating that "David Counts...died at the residence of his sister, Mrs. Eliza J. Quirk, in the city of Gainesville, Texas on the 31st day of August 1883... said Counts died without issue." 


In the guardianship document below, Anthony M. Leffel of Hood County, Texas was given guardianship of Joseph F. Counts, a minor.  


Saturday, March 14, 2015

Anthony Leffel's Will and Probate, part 2

Anthony Leffel wrote his will on 16 January 1869 and died one year later on 28 January 1870.   At the time of his death, he was married to his second wife, a widow named Lydia Ann Mayne Harris. Anthony married Lydia in 1851 when he was 60 years old and about 7 months after the death of his wife, Mary Polly Miller.
This post contains the account of the distribution of Anthony Leffel's estate.  There were some disbursements of Anthony Leffel's estate starting in 1871.  After Anthony's widow, Lydia, died in 1879, the remainder of the estate was settled.

Distribution of Estate 1

Distribution of Estate 2

Distribution of Estate 3


Distribution of Estate 4

Distribution of Estate 5

Anthony Leffel's Will, part 3
Anthony Leffel Biographical Sketch

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Anthony Leffel's Will

In 2008, I had the opportunity to visit Springfield, Ohio, where our Leffel family lived.  A cousin on the Leffel side of the family who lived near Cleveland, met me in Springfield.  We spent the afternoon doing research in the Heritage Center.  About 30 minutes before closing time, we located the probate file for our 3rd great-grandfather, Anthony Leffel. It was a large file with probably 100's of pieces of loose papers - will, codicils, receipts, correspondence, etc. We were hurriedly going through trying to copy everything that was of importance - especially pertaining to Anthony's son, our David Miller Leffel's family.

Anthony Leffel wrote his will on 16 January 1869 and died one year later on 28 January 1870.   At the time of his death, he was married to his second wife, a widow named Lydia Ann Mayne Harris. Anthony married Lydia in 1851 when he was 60 years old and about 7 months after the death of his wife, Mary Polly Miller.
Anthony and Mary had been married 40 years when she died 1850.  They were the parents of  10 children, although only four were still living when Anthony's will was probated: Samuel Leffel, Harrison Leffel, Daniel Leffel, and Anthony M Leffel.  Two children, Frederick (1821-1830) and Delialha (1824-1830), died young so there were no offspring.  Four of Anthony's children (Joel Leffel, Rebecca Roller, Eveline Jones, David M. Leffel) died previous to Anthony's will being probated and so their heirs are mentioned in the probate papers.  Our family descends through son, David Miller Leffel.

Below is Anthony's will written on 16 January 1869 and an attached First codicil signed on 24 April 1869.  
Anthony Leffel Will 1

Anthony Leffel Will 2

Anthony Leffel Will 3 plus 1st Codicil
These two pages of Anthony Leffel's will can now be viewed on Ancestry.com and is part of their database: Ohio, Wills and Probate Records. 

This post will be the first of several posts containing information and documents from the probate file for Anthony Leffel.
Anthony Leffel's Will, part 2
Anthony Leffel's Will, part 3
Anthony Leffel Biographical Sketch


Horse Racing - A Family Tradition

I spent a lot of my youth going to the horse races with my family.  Both of my parents' families were involved in racing horses.πŸ‡πŸ‡  And, it seems as if this tradition of horse racing has a long history in our family.

When I was very young, my grandma Maymie was always telling me stories of her Wilson side of the family.  Some of the stories were handed down to her by her father, Charles B Wilson.   Charles told stories to Maymie of his dad, William Wilson, and his brother Bill Wilson, racing horses around Denton County, Texas with their friend named Sam Bass.  Story goes that after William Wilson returned home from the Civil War, he could never settle down to farming and he spent his time gambling, horse racing, and drinking.  And, Charles' brother Bill Wilson was supposedly an outlaw with some of the same habits of gambling, horse racing, and drinking.


And, on the Baldwin side of the family there is the following story written in 1881 about our early Whitley family. The Whitley family were early settlers in Moultrie County, Illinois.  John Whitley was our Grandpa Jess Baldwin's 3rd great-grandpa going back through the Sadler and Lindley family lines.  

"The Whitleys were followers of horse racing and hunting almost to the exclusion of all else. The story was told that the elder Whitley journeyed to Kentucky and purchased a racing filly from a breeder named Dodge and returned here to win almost all the races he entered he in. Thinking to make some easy money, he entered her in a claiming race in which all entrants have a price set before the race and may be claimed afterwards at the price. John set a low price on her thinking to win an easy race and none would claim her. To his dismay she was claimed and to avoid losing her at a give away price, he slipped her out and hid her in a grove of trees north of Mattoon until the search died down. (The grove then became know as the Dodge Grove because the Dodge filly had been hidden there. It is now the Dodge Grove Cemetery.)"   Moultrie County Heritage, Vol. VI, No. 1

One could say horse racing is in our blood.  Perhaps, there is a DNA marker for racing horses.😊

In 1990, when Grandma Baldwin turned 90 years old, the family had a big party for her in Chickasha.  Family came from all over the country to be there for her birthday. After the dinner and party, someone asked grandma what she wanted to do special for her birthday.  Her response was to go to the races.  So the next day, we all went to Remington Park race track in Oklahoma City with Grandma for her 90th birthday celebration.
Mabel (bottom left) at the horse races with family for her 90th birthday celebration.

Here's a photo of me at the horse races in Arizona when I was only three years old.  Satin Charley was my favorite - I loved that horse.  He was very gentle with me and would put his head down low so I could give him big hugs.
L-R: Maymie, Dorsa, Cathy, Verna, Wilbur, LeRoy, Satin Charley

In the photo below, I just helped unload a horse from a horse trailer.  Elmer is standing behind me with another horse.  Not sure what racetrack we were at - maybe at a racetrack in New Mexico.  

Race day was always a family affair, with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.  There are four generations of  family in this next photo taken at San Juan Downs in Farmington, New Mexico.   Grandma Maymie is right in the middle, standing between the red-headed Chad and Aunt Alma Barnes, who is in the red plaid shirt. Maymie loved to go to the horse races!πŸ‡πŸ‡  There are aunts, uncles, and cousins from both sides of the family in this photo -- Joe, Arlene, Muffy & family, etc.


And, here I am in 1986 at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Arizona.  We were with some friends, with my Dad standing in the middle next to me and Terri.  My younger brother, who is holding the horse, was the trainer.   A family friend, Ted Cypert, was also in the photo standing next to my brother.