Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Roulette

Coiurtesy of Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings comes another edition of Saturday Night Genealogy Fun!

It's Saturday Night again - time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

1) What year was your paternal grandfather born?  Divide this number by 100 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel"). Who is that person?

3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."

4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook status or a Google Stream post, or as a comment on this blog post.

5) If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then spin the wheel again - pick a grandmother, or yourself, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, or even your children!

Here's mine:  

1) My paternal grandfather was Estel Elmer Dillman, and he was officially born 21 Dec 1908.  I say 'officially' because some sources list different, earlier years.  Same for his brother Orville.  This is likely because a bad family situation caused the two oldest boys to 'grow up' faster to enlist in the Navy early, which both did.  So, 1908/100=19.08, which rounds to 19.  This is my roulette number.

2) Person #19 on my list is Mary Olive Gleason, and I have almost no information on her. 

3) She was born on 19 Sep 1863 in Crawford County, Indiana.  She married Abraham Wiseman on 3 Jan 1878 (yes, very young!), and she died on 24 Mar 1938 in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky.  Those three facts are all I have on Mary.

Did you try this roulette experiment?  How did yours come out?


This and all other articles on this blog are © copyright 2011 by Daniel G. Dillman

Mappy Monday - Michael Dillman

I've posted previously about my ancestor Michael Dillman.  He was the first of the Dillman line born in the United States.  He lived most of his life in Crawford County, Indiana.  At one point, he was employed as a land agent there.  I have found three land patents granted to Michael:

Names

Patentee: MICHAEL DILLMAN
Warrantee: WILLIAM PHILIPS
Military Rank: MAJOR
 
Survey

State: INDIANA
Acres: 40
Metes/Bounds: No
 
Title Transfer

Issue Date: 11/1/1854
Land Office: Jeffersonville
Cancelled: No
U.S. Reservations: No
Mineral Reservations: No
Authority: September 28, 1850: ScripWarrant Act of 1850 (9 Stat. 520)
 
Document Numbers

Document Nr.: 82954
Accession/Serial Nr.: MW-0838-126

Aliquot
Parts        Sec./Block Township Range Fract.Section Meridian State Counties   Survey Nr.
NWNW    34/            2-S           1-E      No                 2nd PM   IN    Crawford   

The first one here looks to be in the nature of a military service grant, though I have yet to locate any records of Michael serving in any military capacity.  The other two grants show no indication of any military connection:

Names
Patentee: MICHAEL DILLMAN

  Survey

State: INDIANA
Acres: 38.7
Metes/Bounds: No
 
Title Transfer

Issue Date: 1/3/1855
Land Office: Jeffersonville
Cancelled: No
U.S. Reservations: No
Mineral Reservations: No
Authority: April 24, 1820: Sale-Cash Entry (3 Stat. 566)
 
  Document Numbers

Document Nr.: 23916
Accession/Serial Nr.: IN2950__.220
BLM Serial Nr.: IN NO S/N
 
Aliquot
Parts         Sec./Block Township Range Fract.Section  Meridian State Counties    Survey Nr.
SWNW      3/                 3-S             1-E       No                   2nd PM    IN      Crawford   



and:


Names

Patentee: MICHAEL DILLMAN
 
Survey

State: INDIANA
Acres: 39.1
Metes/Bounds: No
 
Title Transfer

Issue Date: 1/3/1855
Land Office: Jeffersonville
Cancelled: No
U.S. Reservations: No
Mineral Reservations: No
Authority: April 24, 1820: Sale-Cash Entry (3 Stat. 566)
 
Document Numbers

Document Nr.: 23975
Accession/Serial Nr.: IN2950__.275
BLM Serial Nr.: IN NO S/N
 
Aliquot
Parts       Sec./Block  Township  Range Fract.Section Meridian State Counties  Survey Nr.
NENE     3/                3-S            1-E     No                  2nd PM  IN     Crawford   



I've taken the relevant section of the USGS topographical map for the area and marked the above land areas on it:

USGS Topographical map. Part of Crawford County, Indiana.

The areas marked in yellow are the approximate locations of the patents.  Note in the lower right, south of Curby, there is a mark for Dillman Church.  The church is still there, and across the road to the west is a small blue oblong.  This is Dillman Cemetery, where Michael and many of my other Dillman ancestors are buried.  Next time I visit the area, I will take this map and try to see what's on those parcels of land now.

Surname Saturday - Straugh(a)n

I'm attempting to do a better job of crediting others where they provide data or inspire me.  I've neglected to credit the sources of the memes I've been using.  Here's the one for Saturdays:  

Surname Saturday – create a post in which you discuss a surname and mention its origins, its geographical location(s) and how it fits into your genealogy research. Surname Saturday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

This Saturday's surname is Straugh(a)n.  I've seen it with and without the 'a', more often with than without.  I tend to include the 'a' when I use it, and will continue to do so here.  That said, my surname should be Straughan!

If you've been following my previous blog entries, you will have noted Peter and Elizabeth Dillman, who had (among others) a daughter named Jemimah Hattie Dillman.  She was born 03 Aug 1866, married John W. Straughan on 12 Feb 1885, and died young on 26 Apr 1886, shortly after giving birth to my paternal great-grandfather, Clyde.  Around that time, John abandoned them.  After Jemimah died, her parents Peter & Elizabeth adopted Clyde, and he was raised as a Dillman with the Dillman surname.  On Clyde Taylor's Social Security application, he listed his surname as Dillman, and his parents as Peter & Elizabeth.  For some reason he also gave his middle name as 'Pabler'.  As I mentioned in other posts, Clyde is pivotal in my paternal line, being my great-grandfather.

John W. Straughan was an older man.  Much older.  He was born 05 Feb 1819, which makes him significantly older than Jemimah's father, Peter, who was born 05 Dec 1833.  In fact, John W. Straughan and Peter Dillman both served in the Civil War in the 144th Indiana Infantry, Company D, together.  There's something pretty odd going on here, but the story is pretty well hidden or forgotten.

Family history notes claim that John was a cruel man, and beat Jemimah.  Was he responsible for her death?  Why did he marry Jemimah, who was almost 50 years younger, was it a shotgun wedding?  Did he leave before Clyde was born, or was he unable to deal with being a single parent when Jemimah died?  I don't have answers to these questions, but would dearly love to know!

The modern twist on this is that my family has been Dillman, but the DNA testing (Y chromosome) should show us as Straughan, which makes it difficult to link us with other Dillmans.  I am part of the Dillman Family Association, which is involved in DNA testing to link family groups, but I have held off on testing in part due to the fact that those Y chromosome tests will likely fail to link us. 

I have not yet found a death location or date for John W. Straughan.  However, he is buried in Dillman Cemetery in a plot very near Jemimah.  The cemetery is near Curby, Crawford County, Indiana.  In that same section of Dillman Cemetery is another gravestone, for Lucy J. Straughan, wife of John W. Straughan!  Her death date is shown on the stone as Sep, 13, 1883, aged 27 Ys.9M.9D which shows her as being yet another much younger wife of John, who died early.  As Lucy died before John married Jemimah, it makes me wonder if Jemimah knew anything about John's history?  How could she not, that area of Crawford County is rural, and the sort of place where everyone knew everyone else's business!  But if Peter knew, why would he have allowed his daughter to marry a potential abuser? 

I really wonder if we have a criminal abuser on our hands!  So many questions!  I know there's more to the story here, if only I can find it...

Have any odd stories in your history?  How have you solved the mysteries?  I'd love to get ideas, post them in the comments below!

Surname Saturday - Dillman

I realize I covered the Dillman name in my first Surname Saturday, but I wanted to try it in the style that Randy Seaver of  Genea-Musings does.  I'm not following his whole countdown process, just doing this one post.  Here goes:

My ancestral line back through seven generations is as follows:

1. Daniel G. Dillman.

2. Dana E. Dillman (Living)
3. Eva L. Williams (Living)

4. Estel E. Dillman (1908 - 1982)
5. Alta May Day (1910 - 1992)

8. Clyde Taylor Dillman (1886 - 1967)
9. Arminthia Belle Wiseman (1886 - 1920)

16. Peter Dillman (1833 - 1899)
17. Elizabeth D. Landiss (1834 - 1908)

32. Michael Dillman (1810 - 1879)
33. Cynthia Batman (1809 - 1878)

55. Johann Michael Dillmann (1755 - 1821)
56. Maria Elisabeth Eva Legrand (abt. 1760 - bef. 1830)

I should note that there is a missing level in here as #8 Clyde Taylor Dillman is actually the grandson of #16 Peter Dillman through his daughter  Jemimah Hattie Dillman and her husband John Straughan as noted in this Tombstone Tuesday post.  It's complicated, and I'll do my best to lay out the details when I cover Clyde Taylor Dillman down the road.

This method does have the advantage of presenting the lineage and some timing for the surname.  My original method planned to do one level per post, and that has the disadvantage of only seeing the line in one-level snapshots, but has the added advantage of presenting much more detail on each level.  I think I prefer the added detail of doing one level per post.  Now that I've presented the line as a whole, I will continue with the more detailed posting.

Michael Dillman was born in Ohio on 28 Dec 1810, and died 13 Jun 1879 in Crawford County, Indiana of rheumatism.  He is buried in Dillman Cemetary, Curby, Crawford County, Indiana (Row 9 Plot 4) and his tombstone was featured in an earlier Tombstone Tuesday alongside his wife, Cynthia (Cyntha) Batman.  Cynthia was born 20 Feb 1809 in Harrison County, Indiana and died 16 Jan 1878 in Crawford County, Indiana.  The two were married on 08 Oct 1831 in Harrison County, Indiana.  More details about Michael is in the aforementioned Tombstone Tuesday post.

Tombstone Tuesday - Jemimah Hattie Dillman

Tombstone of Jemimah Hattie Dillman, Dillman Cemetery, Curby, Crawford County, Indiana

Today's Tombstone Tuesday subject is Jemimah Hattie Dillman, daughter of Peter & Elizabeth Dillman, subjects of a previous Tombstone Tuesday.  Jemimah (also spelled Jemima, Gemina) was the seventh child of ten (plus one adoption I'll discuss later).  She's my direct ancestor.  The gravestone shown above reads as follows: Jemimah H. Dillman, Dau of Peter and Elizabeth b Aug 3, 1866, d Apr 26 1886, 19 yrs, 8 mths, 23 days.

Documentation of  Jemimah is sketchy.  I have notes pertaining to a spouse named William Wiseman, but no record I have found.  I've even seen some other researchers' data showing five children for this marriage, but the children are NOT from that marriage as I have them documented from another marriage entirely.  Other notes (and some documentation) show her marriage to John Straughan on 12 Feb 1885 in Crawford, Indiana when she was 19 years old.  She had one child, Clyde Taylor Straughan, and died soon thereafter, possibly from complications of childbirth.  Family lore has it that John Straughan was much older than Jemimah, and a cruel man, so it's possible there was some abuse there that ended up in her death?  I have no documentation to show cause of death yet.  In any case, John Straughan shortly made himself scarce, and little Clyde Taylor was adopted by his mother's parents, Peter & Elizabeth Dillman.  This explains the Dillman surname coming down to me instead of Straughan.  I mentioned Clyde Taylor in an earlier post, and I'm sure he'll come up again and again.  He's a pivotal figure in my tree.

Tombstone Tuesday - Arminthea "Belle" Wiseman

Arminthia Belle Dillman grave marker in Walnut Ridge Cemetery, Jeffersonville, Clark County, Indiana.

 This tombstone belongs to my paternal great-grandmother, Arminthea "Belle" Wiseman.  She was born in April of 1886 in Leavenworth, Crawford County, Indiana and died 01 Feb 1920 in Jeffersonville, Clark County, Indiana.  She married Clyde Taylor Straughan nee Dillman on 14 Aug 1904 in Crawford County, Indiana.  She is buried in Walnut Ridge Cemetery, Jeffersonville, Indiana, in the Old Singles section, Row I, Grave 1.  The grave site sits right next to the roadway through the cemetery.

Cheap aggregate material is showing heavy weathering and wear.

You can see from this image of the top of the stone that it is a cheap aggregate stone, not a carved stone, which indicates it was done as inexpensively as possible.  Weather has not been kind to the stone as you can also see.  Rubbing it causes particles to come off.  It also has lichen or moss on most surfaces and is very difficult to read.

Belle shows up on the 1900 US Federal Census:

Name: Belle Wiseman
Titles:
Residence: Ohio Township, Crawford, Indiana
Birth Date: Apr 1886
Birthplace: Indiana
Relationship to Head-of-Household: Daughter
Spouse Name:
Spouse Titles:
Spouse Birth Place:
Father Name: Abe Wiseman
Father Titles:
Father Birthplace: Indiana
Mother Name: Mary O Wiseman
Mother Titles:
Mother Birthplace: Indiana
Race or Color (expanded): White
Head-of-household Name: Abe Wiseman
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Single
Years Married:
Estimated Marriage Year:
Mother How Many Children:
Number Living Children:
Immigration Year:
Enumeration District: 0028
Sheet Number and Letter: 6A
Household ID: 104
Reference Number: 38
GSU Film Number: 1240365
Image Number: 00125
Collection: United States Census, 1900

She has two sons after the 1900 Census.  Orville Wayne Dillman is reportedly born 03 Jan 1902.  I say reportedly because Arminthia's wedding date is 14 Aug 1904, and there is no record or family lore of Orville being born out of wedlock.  Also, Orville left home early to join the Navy, and may very well have fudged his birthdate to be allowed to enlist.   Estel Elmer Dillman is born 21 Dec 1908.  Estel's middle name in old family records and on at least one census is given as Ottes, but I always knew him, and many other records as well show his middle name as Elmer.  This family had some issues, and I don't have good information on why the name may have been changed.  Unfortunately, Estel, my grandfather, died on 06 Nov 1982, so I can no longer ask him.

She also appears in the 1910 Census:

Name: Belle Dillman
Birthplace: Indiana
Relationship to Head of Household: Wife
Residence: South Ellensburg, Kittitas, Washington
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Female
Immigration Year:
Father's Birthplace: Indiana
Mother's Birthplace: Indiana
Family Number: 50
Page Number: 3
Collection: United States Census, 1910

Arminthia Belle (Wiseman) Dillman circa 1910

At this point she's been married to Clyde Taylor Straughan nee' Dillman for almost six years.  She's moved to Kittitas, Washington and is pregnant with her third child, Clyde Landis Dillman.  She won't stay in Washington very long as her fourth child Howard Carter Dillman will be born back in Leavenworth, Crawford County, Indiana.  I have no indications of why she went to Washington, or what happened there to cause her to return to Indiana.  Her final living child, daughter Reva Dillman, was born 19 Sep 1916 in Harrison County, Indiana.  Another daughter was either stillborn or died very early in infancy.

At some point near 1920, Clyde Taylor abandons his family and moves across the river to Louisville, Kentucky.  As far as I can tell, he will stay there the rest of his life, and die there in January 1967.  Clyde Taylor has some issues, and I will deal with him more fully in another post.  In any case, Belle Dillman appears one last time in the 1920 US Census, which is surprising with her death coming in early February of 1920.

Name: Belle Dillman
Residence: , Clark, Indiana
Estimated Birth Year: 1886
Age: 34
Birthplace: Indiana
Relationship to Head of Household: Wife
Gender: Female
Race: White
Marital Status: Married
Father's Birthplace: Indiana
Mother's Birthplace: Indiana
Film Number: 1820425
Digital Folder Number: 4300600
Image Number: 00329
Sheet Number: 3
Collection: United States Census, 1920

By this point, Orville Wayne is enlisted in the Navy.  Belle dies in February and Clyde abandons the remainder of his family, who are fostered with Belle's relatives.  Again, fodder for another post, but clearly a very interesting family!

Tombstone Tuesday - Peter & Elizabeth Dillman

Peter Dillman (b. 05 Dec 1833, d. 01 Oct 1899) married Elizabeth D. Landiss (b. 06 Mar 1834, d. 02 Jun 1908) on 06 Oct 1853 in Crawford County, Indiana.  Peter was the third child of Michael & Cynthia Dillman (subjects of a previous Tombstone Tuesday) and had eight siblings.  Peter and Elizabeth are one of my main anchor couples, as they seem to be the focal point of a number of family connections.  Peter was well known, being employed as a Land Agent and farmer in Crawford County.  He also was a charter member of the Grantsburg, Indiana Independent Order of Foresters Lodge #407 in 1873, where he received honors as the lodge's Grand Master in 1874.  I have found Peter on the 1850, 1870 and 1880 censuses in Jennings Township, Crawford County, Indiana.  At the end of his life, Peter moved to Wabash County, Illinois, where his death was recorded in 1899.  Elizabeth remained in Illinois, living with their daughter Cynthia Jane and grandson Clyde.  Clyde is an interesting figure about whom I will go into more detail in future posts.  Elizabeth, Cynthia and Clyde appear on the 1900 Census in Mount Carmel, Wabash County, Illinois.  Peter and Elizabeth are both buried at this marker in Dillman Cemetery near Curby, Crawford County, Indiana.

Peter Dillman served in the Union Army during the Civil War.  This little military tombstone sits next to Peter & Elizabeth's large granite marker.  Peter served in the 144th Indiana Infantry Regiment, Company D.  Many other men from the area also served in this company.  They primarily served on guard duty late in the war, being away from Indiana part of 1864 and 1865 until the end of the war.  Peter received a pension from this service, and after his Death, Elizabeth received a widow's pension as well.

Sidelines and Surnames

As I've mentioned, my primary interest is my paternal line of Dillmans who lived in Crawford County, Indiana for a long while between 1810 or so and 1950-ish.  Some distant cousins may still live there, I have not yet reached the point where I'm able to keep up with all of the living relations.  However, like everyone else, I have other lines of interest, many in places other than where my main line lived. 

For instance, my maternal line is Williams, based out of various parts of Louisiana including East Feliciana Parish.  This line is giving me some trouble, as some of those Williams ancestors liked to move around a lot without leaving much paper trail to track them down.  Mostly this was economically driven, a need to find employment leading them to distant cities.  Compounding my difficulties, these folks were so busy trying to make a living that they really didn't put any focus on family history, further reducing any trails they might have left.  Other Louisiana surnames I'm researching are McMurry, Dark, Gaar, Sandel, McQueen, Booker and Higginbotham, mostly from the Winn Parish area around Winfield and Sikes.  The McMurry line actually leads to Arkansas, where it brick walls pretty quickly.

As I've hit these brick walls, and gradually added to what I know about my active lines, I have found time to research my spouse's lines as well.  That way I can pass on to my children both sides of their ancestry. Her lines also consist of people too busy living and unconcerned with the past to keep many detailed records.  Most of her living ancestors are not very interested in family history at all, but will assist by answering questions when I ask.  As they get older, it's sometimes interesting for them to think back over their lives to remember places they lived and worked, people they knew and relatives who have died.  I will be discussing those lines in future posts.

I've found it helpful on both sides to utilize a 50 Questions quiz about personal history that each person can answer at their leisure and as they are willing.  Some of the questions are about ancestors and relatives, while others are about lifestyles in the past, and personal experiences.  I strongly recommend you develop or find one of these and use it to interview relatives at your earliest opportunity.  You never know when something will happen that will deprive you of the opportunity to interview someone forever!

On a side note, as I've been getting this blog up and running I'm finding a lot of things I would like to implement, but there are so many it will take some time to get it all done.  Please let me know what you would like to see added so I know what to work on first!  And if you're using a feed reader, please check out the Subscribe button on the right.