Court Cases

For one who's frequently confused about the legal system, the course "History and the Law" has been a challenge. I am trying to learn all that I can for my next midterm & processing documents that I have already seen.

John Buck signed an indenture with his (uncle?) Moses Donaldson. Tonight, I found the meaning in Bouvier's Legal Dictionary (1856):

INDENTURE, conveyancing. An instrument of writing containing a conveyance or contract between two or more persons, usually indented or cut unevenly, or in and out, on the top or, side.
2. Formerly it was common to make two instruments exactly alike, and it was then usual to write both on the same parchment, with some words or letters written between them, through which the parchment was cut, either in a straight or indented line, in such a manner as to leave one-half of the word on one part, and half on the other. The instrument usually commences with these words, "This indenture," which were not formerly sufficient, unless the parchment or paper was actually indented to make an indenture 5 Co. 20; but now, if the form of indenting the parchment be wanting, it may be supplied by being done in court, this being mere form. Besides, it would be exceedingly difficult with even the most perfect instruments, to out parchment or paper without indenting it. Vide Bac. Ab. Leases, &c. E 2; Com. Dig. Fait, C, and note d; Litt. sec. 370; Co. Litt. 143 b, 229 a; Cruise, Dig t. 32, c. 1, s. 24; 2 Bl. Com. 294; 1 Sess. Cas. 222.

I haven't checked to see if there was really an indenture on the land records.

Writing a Narrative History

I have taken two different classes that have required taking lots of little facts and details and translating them into a narrative biography. The process that I learned makes it "simple" to take anyone's facts and make a story.

• (Before the first step): Talk to living descendants. What stories do your family members already know about an individual?
• The first step for me in writing a simple biography is to check for an obituary that gives dates and details about an individual's life and values. Also, perhaps someone has already written a short biography about the person. Check with family members and societies for these records (Daughters of the Utah Pioneers for example).
• Next, trace each individual in the family through the census records until his or her death -- as far as is reasonable. I record everything on a family group sheet and/or in a timeline. Many times the solutions to family mysteries are found in tracing their children.
• Then, check county or state vital records for births, marriages, and deaths. Once again everything is recorded and analyzed.
• Find a map that shows the area at the time of the person's life. David Rumsey Historical Maps has wonderful resources.
• Check out local and county histories for each area the person lived. Many books have become free of copyright restrictions and are now posted online. Archive.org and books.familysearch.org are two sites with many historical publications. For example, I could search for "Franklin County Ohio" and come up with several books.
• If you haven't already, make a simple timeline to see how events and people fit together. This was an especially useful tool in my great-grandma Helen's life. 

Dorothy, York, Helen, baby Donald, and Harold Donald Martin (from previous marriage)
1929

• Helen (Keeler) Martin lived in Lewiston, Idaho with her husband York Martin. On 17 July 1929, she gave birth do a baby Donald. He lived for about five months and then died on 15 Dec 1929 of marasmus (a form of malnutrition). Meanwhile, York Martin became ill with liver cancer and passed away on 3 Jan 1930. Talk about major life stressors! Grandma Helen gave birth, struggled with a sick infant and husband, and then lost both of them in about two weeks. York was allowed to go home for Christmas before he died; Grandma Peggy was conceived during this visit and born nine months later. (Yay!) Before making the timeline, I did not know how each individual event played together in the story of Helen's life.
• Look for major events that happened during your ancestor's life. What about the Civil War? the Great Depression? Read in the local and county histories for ways that events affected your ancestor.
• Lastly, if your ancestors were part of early Mormon pioneer history, check out the links in the sidebar for amazing resources. 

Once I began writing the first history, I found the amount of information overwhelming. The Door County Library digitized many early newspapers, so it was possible to view many details about the lives of family members. I had to decide how long I wanted the story and what information to include. 

Please note that I don't like feelings put into stories. If I don't know that John Doe smiled when he looked around his farm, I don't want to write it. Once I read "The Secret Life of a Developing Country (Ours)," I realized that my values and thought process is very different from someone several hundred years earlier.

John McDermott and Family

by Jenna C. Smith

            John and Margaret (Rourke) McDermott left Ireland during the great potato famine. Beginning in 1845, a fungus ruined Ireland’s potato crop. A few days after the potatoes were harvested, they turned into a slimy, black rotten mass. Diseases caused by malnutrition spread throughout Ireland. Irish Catholics, including the McDermotts, were at a disadvantage because they were prohibited from purchasing land or having a profession. Many rented small, five-acre plots of land from absentee landlords.[1]  Within five years, the Irish population was reduced by twenty-five percent due to death and emigration. The McDermotts immigrated to Canada in 1847.^[2]  The family included John, Margaret, and three sons, Patrick, John, and Michael, when they appeared in Catholic Church records in Quebec.[3]

John McDermott and Margaret Rourke

Patrick McDermott born 17 Mar 1842 in Ireland

John McDermott born 1845 in Ireland

Michael McDermott born 15 June 1846 in County Leitrim, Ireland

Francis (Frank) McDermott born 24 Mar 1849 near Melbourne, Quebec

Mary McDermott born 20 Apr 1851 near Leeds, Ontario, Canada

Annie McDermott born 21 June 1854 in Ontario, Canada

John McDermott and Mary Neagle

Bryan McDermott born 2 Mar 1856 near Stratford, Ontario

Thomas McDermott born 11 July 1857 near Waterloo, Ontario

Catherine “Kitty” McDermott born 15 Mar 1859 in Ontario Canada

Joseph McDermott born 11 Jul 1862 near Kinkora, Ontario

Margaret “Maggie” McDermott born 4 Mar 1864 near Kinkora, Ontario

The 1851 Canadian census shows John living in Melbourne, Sherbrooke County, Quebec with his wife, Margaret, and children Patrick, John, Michael, Francis, and baby Mary. The family reported their religion as Roman Catholic, and John is working as a laborer.^[4]  The family moved from Quebec to Ontario between 1849 and 1851.  John and Margaret had one more child, Annie, in Ontario before Margaret died in Canada,[5] probably from disease or childbirth. She was only about thirty-five years old when she died, leaving John with six young children ranging in age from a baby to age thirteen.

John soon married Mary Neagle, who was also born in Ireland. They had five children Bryan, Thomas, Catherine (Kitty), Joseph, and Margaret. By 1862, John and Mary lived in a one-story log home in Perth, Ontario, Canada West with seven children.^[6] Sometimes, large families would hire their children out to have fewer mouths to feed and to provide additional income to the family. By 1862, Michael and John Jr. were living away from home. Michael eventually became a blacksmith, so he was probably working somewhere as an apprentice. John Jr. was living with James Madden’s family in Perth.^[7]  The Maddens, McDermotts, and Madoches would eventually be neighbors in Wisconsin, and Maggie McDermott married Jerry Madden.

John’s second wife, Mary, died and was buried in Port Huron, likely between spring 1865 and 1867 when the family moved to Wisconsin.[8] Mary Neagle McDermott was in her late forties when she died.

John never remarried but continued working as a farmer and raising the children with everyone working together. The McDermotts were enumerated in Forestville, Door County, in the 1870 and 1875 census years. In the 1870 census, John is listed as a farmer who is unable to read or write. Mary and her siblings attended school.[9]

John McDermott went through the process to become a United States citizen. He immigrated to the United States, arriving at Port Huron, Saint Clair County, Michigan in May 1864. Four years later, he made a declaration of intention at the circuit court of St. Clair County, Michigan on 30 Apr 1868. He applied for final citizenship in Door County circuit court on 17 Feb 1874 stating that he had lived in the state of Wisconsin for at least one year and the United States for five years.^[10]

John McDermott purchased one hundred twenty acres in section 11 and section 14 of Forestville on 20 Nov 1875 under the 1862 Homestead Act.[11] The land was swampy and “poor” according to surveyors, with swamps, two streams, and hemlock, cedar, sugar, and birch trees. John owned land of his own, never to be taken from him or his heirs, and he made certain of the land staying in the family in his will when he wrote,

“It is one of the conditions of this will that said Bryan McDermott is not to or shall not during his lifetime sell, dispose of, or convey my said homestead, herein described, to any person except to some one of his brothers or sisters, or to some one of his half brothers or half sisters.”[12]

Mary Anne McDermott was born into poverty in Quebec, Canada and moved with her family to Ontario, Canada while still a toddler. Her mother died when she was about four years old. Her father remarried and had five more children. The blended family moved to the United States when Mary was about thirteen years old. Her stepmother died in the mid- to late-1870s while the family was still living in Port Huron, Michigan. Her father, John, next moved the family to Door County, Wisconsin where Mary spent the next ten years attending school and caring for her family.

  

In June 1880, John McDermott was living in the Forestville Township with six of his eleven children and listed as a farmer.[13] The census taker noted that John had consumption or tuberculosis. “Tuberculosis seemed to consume people from within with its symptoms of bloody cough, fever, pallor, and long relentless wasting.”^[14] The disease was prevalent in Europe in the 1800s, causing one of every seven deaths. The disease needs dark, damp, and poorly ventilated facilities to be transmitted. At least ninety percent of people who were infected with the disease did not develop symptoms. The disease spread easily when an infected individual coughed, sneezed, or talked and could lie dormant for decades before flaring up and killing the victim.

John McDermott died in 1880 from tuberculosis. At least two of the youngest McDermott children died from tuberculosis. Kitty McDermott Schraw died in 1901. Joseph McDermott died in 1922. Perhaps, Mary Neagle died from the disease.

Because of the long, slow wasting nature of tuberculosis, John had time to leave a will and detailed life story for his obituary. John McDermott died at home about two months after the census on Sunday, August 15, 1880 at the age of about 65 years. He was buried in the Catholic cemetery in Algoma, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin.^[15]

“On Sunday evening, 15 Aug 1880 John McDermott died at his home at about 65 years. He was born in County Leitrim, Ireland and immigrated to Canada in 1847 where he remained for several years. He immigrated to Port Huron, Michigan in the spring of 1865 and stayed there for two years. His second wife, Mary, was buried in Port Huron. He immigrated to Wisconsin in about 1868 and lived in Forestville until his death. Seven of his ten children were single when he died.”[16]

John McDermott’s last will and testament was written 17 June 1880 in Forestville, Door County, just a few days after the census taker visited. Bryan McDermott, the oldest son of John with Mary Neagle, submitted the last will and testament of John McDermott in court on 2 Nov 1880.^[17] John arranged the payment of all of his debts and bequeathed his homestead to his son, Bryan McDermott. Additionally, Michael, Ann, Thomas, Catherine, Joseph, and Margaret McDermott were to each receive a sum of fifty dollars each, one child each year getting fifty dollars, starting with the oldest. A restriction was added that Bryan McDermott could not in his lifetime “encumber” the property for any amount more than one hundred dollars.[18] Plat maps from later years show that several of John’s children owned portions of the property.[19]

[1] Digital History, “The Irish Potato Famine,” http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/irish_potato_famine.cfm : site updated 19 Oct 2013,

^[2] “Deaths, McDermott,” Weekly Expositor Independent, 26 Oct 1888.

[3] Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967. Ancestry.com: accessed 18 Oct 2013.

^[4] 1851 Census of Canada East, Melbourne, Sherbrooke, Canada East; district 11, page 21 (printed), John McDermott family; digital images, Ancestry.com, :accessed 8 May 2013.

[5] “Deaths, McDermott,” ibid.

^[6] 1861 Census Canada. Ellice Township, Perth, Ontario; ED 3, 46, lines 38-46, John McDermott family; digital images, Ancestry.com: accessed 8 May 2013.

^[7] Ibid, ED 3, 28, lines 29-31, James Madden family; digital images, Ancestry.com :accessed 9 May 2013.

[8] “Deaths, McDermott,” ibid.

[9] 1870 US Census, Door County, Wisconsin, population schedule, p 20 (stamped), lines 1-8, digital images, Ancestry.com : accessed 2 Sep 2013.

^[10]“Wisconsin, Door County, Petitions for Naturalization 1893-1903,” vol. 1 p 85. https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-30059-5612-7?cc=2046887&wc=MMB6-VVG:262014055 accessed 5 Aug 2013.

[11] Wisconsin, General Land Office Records, Bureau of Land Management, US Department of the Interior. www.glorecords.blm.gov. Entry for John McDermott. Volume 178, 380.

[12] McDermott, John. Last Will and Testament. Probate file in my possession from Registrar of Probate, Door County, Wisconsin.

.

[13] 1880 US Census, Door County, Wisconsin, population schedule, index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MN4R-4VZ : accessed 05 Sep 2013), John McDermott 1880. Forestville, Door, Wisconsin.

^[14]Rudy Schmidt, “Rudy's List of Archaic Medical Terms: Consumption,” Antiquus Morbus, http://www.antiquusmorbus.com/english/englishc.htm :accessed 19 Oct 2013.

^[15] “Local Jottings,” Algoma Record Herald, 26 Aug 1880.

[16] “Deaths, McDermott,” ibid.

^[17] “Legal,” Door County Advocate, 14 Oct 1880, 3.

[18] Door County, Wisconsin Probate File, copies from Registrar in Probate. Eugene Madoche and John McDermott.

[19] Randall and Williams, Illustrated atlas of Door County, Wisconsin, Randall and Williams, 1899, Union and Clay Banks, http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.IllAtlasDoorCo : accessed 19 Oct 2013; Hixson, W. W. & Co. Plat Book of Door County, Wisconsin. (Wisconsin: W.W. Hixson & Co, 1923) http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.PlatBookDoor23 : accessed 19 Oct 2013.

Timelines Help Sort Things Out

I wish I had time to learn & to research as much as I desire. I have learned so much in the past few years about more thorough research & about finding the rest of the story.

I am about halfway through with History 317: Americans and the Law. I bounce back & forth between being annoyed that so much material is about legal stuff and being perplexed by the legal complexities of the research. Over the past week I have transcribed a lot of court and land documents for the Buck family in Pickaway County, Ohio. I was very confused until I started writing events down in a timeline. [Note: I don't like to line item every detail in RootsMagic because I don't like the cluttered family group sheet at the end.] The time line helped make a little sense of John Buck's tumultuous young adult life.

• In 1811 John Buck agreed to be an apprentice to John Gill to learn how to be a house carpenter. Within six months, he broke his contract & went off to parts unknown. (War of 1812) He was ordered to pay John Gill $     .
• John Buck served in the War of 1812. He was present at the surrender of General Hull at Detroit in August 1812 & was out until at least 25 Oct 1812.
• John Buck was "firmly bound to Moses Donaldson" for $260 & certain other "estate administrators" in March 1813. He promised to pay it back by 1st July 1814 or to give up his share of the land in Walnut Township. The indenture was filed 5 July 1814, hinting that perhaps John Buck did not pay the money back on time.
• John Buck served with Captain McElwain's company from 28 April 1813 to 16 July 1813.
• In February 1814 the court case continued about the covenant breaking with John Gill.
• From 16 Feb 1814 to 16 June 1814, John Buck served with Captain Luther Shepherd's company. [I do not know if he loved the cause that the US was fighting for or if he was just trying to avoid all of his legal troubles.]
• On 4 Sep 1815, William Williamson, John Hedges/Hodges, and Moses Donaldson were held & firmly bound for $300. William Williamson was appointed the guardian of Jane Buck (age10) and Polly Buck (age 8). [Perhaps Anne Buck Sr died, leaving the girls in need of a guardian.]
• In early 1815, John Buck again served in the military.
• In July 1817 John Buck did "unlawfully make an assault [on] Rebecca Birchum then and there unlawfully shake beat wound and [?] hit to the great damage of her." 
• In September 1817 a jury heard charges in the assault and battery charge. If I understand the documents correctly, John was in jail until at least February 1819.
• In 1817 Joseph Buck Jr and Anne his wife made an indenture with Moses Donaldson for $100. The land was originally purchased in 1805 by Joseph Buck Sr and Anne his wife. (Maybe I should call them Anne Buck Jr and Anne Buck Sr.) Anne Jr had to agree to the indenture.
• What on earth is an indenture?!
• On 9 Aug 1819 John Buck and Barbary his wife and Elizabeth Buck made an indenture with Moses Donaldson for $200. The deed noted that Joseph Buck was the father and father-in-law of the said parties. Was Elizabeth Buck Joseph's daughter or daughter-in-law? Would inheritance laws have passed portions of property to the wife or just to the direct descendant?
• On 12 June 1820 Joseph Buck (Jr) made an indenture with Moses Donaldson for $150.
• On 16 May 1826 Mary Buck signed an indenture with Rosannah Donaldson for $122.50. 
• On 7 May 1836 Marian Donaldson and John Hughes were bound to Zachariah Pritchett for $700. Marian was a minor & sold her 1/6th undivided part of the land. She was one of the heirs of M.A. Donaldson.
• On 20 Dec 1839 Mary Ann Donaldson made a contract with Zachariah Prichet for $339.33.

I still have a lot more questions than answers, but sifting through court, land, and military records have painted a picture of John Buck.

And for a bonus here are a few links to family history sites:

Family Search Labs - changes that may be coming to FamilySearch - https://labs.familysearch.org/

ThinkGenealogy research process map - http://www.thinkgenealogy.com/map/ - includes a link to a slideshow with lots of examples.

FamilySearch - lots of videos and mini-lessons about where to go from here including basic search strategies - https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/United_States_Basic_Search_Strategies - I know a lot of this stuff but when I get bogged down in the middle of a project (NOW!!) it helps to build a road map.

Inferential Genealogy

As I continue working and learning about family history, I keep feeling like I know less and less. I learn a little more and realize what I lack frequently. I want to keep learning, but I would like to do it more efficiently.

I recently watched a video that opened my eyes to the power of streaming video & *free* online learning. The course description says,

This class explains how family historians can accurately deduce ancestors’ identities and many aspects of their lives by digging below “surface information” in genealogical records and combining information from several sources. Useful in many situations, inferential methodology is especially helpful where records do not state relationships.

Here's the link to the lecture: https://familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/inferential-genealogy/251

The episode took quite a while to watch, but I learned so much!

1. Start with a focused research goal.
• My current research objective: Locate the parents and siblings of John Buck who married Barbara Buck in Franklin County, Ohio in 1813.
2. Search broadly - You don't want to miss any important information. Look at every possible record & take each person from birth to death.
• Location: Don't look at just one county or location. Expand the search to surrounding areas. John Buck lived in Pickaway County, Ohio at the time of his death, but Pickaway County was created from Franklin County (and others) in 1810.
• Time: Expand to one generation before and after the ancestor. It takes a lot of research to establish one relationship. Moses Donaldson married Rosy Buck, Franklin County, 17 Oct 1805. Is Rosy Joseph's sister? Land records for John Buck and his siblings involve Moses Donaldson from 1814-1820, which include statements about John's father Joseph Buck as well as administrators in the probate case. It is not a proven relationship, but it definitely seems more likely given the time, place, and continuing relationship.
• Associates: Often the key info is in a record listing someone else. Ancestor could be mentioned in friends' or neighbors' records. Extend beyond the person & surname of interest - any of their records could include information. Also, collect information on every person with the surname in the localities. Only later will the relationships become clear & you will save time by not having to go re-examine the records. 
• PROBATE & LAND RECORDS are crucial to establishing relationships. Every piece of land needs to be followed all the way through. Every probate document and court document needs to be seen. Remember too that children were often omitted from a will. Early vital records and census records did not report relationships. But several land documents that I have for John Buck include the phrase "my father, Joseph Buck" and "my wife, Barbary Buck". I am still waiting for probate records from Franklin County at the Ohio State Genealogical Society for Joseph Buck's probate to learn more.
3. Understand the records. What is the jurisdiction (city, county, state) and the time period that your ancestor lived in? Which records are available? What can you find in each record? One of the most insightful comments I heard on a recent video had to do with the person having to be "of age" so being able to calculate when they turned 21 by when they showed up in legal documents. 

• Joseph Buck bought Congress Lands at public auction in 1805. Searching the Pickaway County land records showed a completed purchase in 1815 (ten years later). The official records are likely at the National Archives in Chicago with Chillicothe Land Office Records or at the FHL in Salt Lake City in a book someone wrote about these records.

1. Correlate evidence - Make a timeline to help put events into perspective. 
• Also, compare & contrast the information that is presented in each record. Is one record more reliable than the other? A death certificate is a primary source for the death date and place and burial information. However, the information may not be as reliable for the person's birth place or parents names. 
• John Buck's son, Henry Buck, was a veteran of the Mexican War and the Civil War. He was discharged because he became partially blind & deaf. One record from the National Soldier's Home said that he was a widow. Henry Buck was married to Lavinia Philips in 1846, but she is never in the census records. Perhaps she died before 1850 or left while Henry was away at the Mexican War. His obituary states that he was single or never married. The marriage record and his report to the National Soldier's Home are more reliable than an article written by a newspaper reporter at the end of his life.
2. Write down the results you have gained/discovered. Some of this is knowledge that no other living person knows. We have an obligation to share our logic and conclusions with others in writing.