A Tale of Two Properties, Part 1: John and Alice Hilyard of Muncie, Indiana

 Last July, my intrepid partner in crime DD and I decided to look into our more recent ancestry, closer to home. My great-grandparents, John and Alice (Holtzapple) Hilyard, lived for a time in Muncie, Indiana. They are the featured family on my cover page, and I believe that photo was taken shortly before they moved to Muncie. We still have some family there and met up with local cousin CC to investigate. 

Some years ago, I located an address for John and Alice in a 1913 city directory: 1802 E. 12th Street in Muncie. I ran right over to Google Maps and was disappointed to see this area is a commercial zone with some buildings and parking lots there now. I asked cousin CC about it at the time, and she confirmed the house no longer existed. The red balloon on the right shows the address; I'm leaving in Heekin Park for further reference. Note that 12th Street is now called Memorial Drive. Reminder: click on any image to enlarge it.

Google Maps View of 1802 E. 12th Street Today

I was able to find an ad in a 1912 newspaper showing this property, with 7 rooms, was for rent. 

The Star Press 10 Mar 1912

We can assume they took the house for rent, as the 1913 City Directory is based on the prior year's residents. The directories were printed every two years, and the Hilyards were there again in 1915, 1917, and 1919. During this time period, John Hilyard worked as a carpenter for Ball Bros., famous manufacturer of Ball glass jars.

1913 Muncie City Directory

And that's where I left it. With the house gone, what more could I learn?

Until 2022, when I started to prepare for our trip that is. I thought I should revisit the records and see what I might have missed. Since we were going to be in the county seat, I should look up the deed to this property while we were there. Checking online for information before heading out, I found the Delaware county deeds were already digitized and available for free online! Check out the wonderful Muncie Public Library for more. 

Delaware County, Indiana Deed Book 161 p. 80

Rather than a street address, the deed gives a lot number: Lot 10 in block 56 of Goshorn and Lupton's subdivision. I noticed John and Alice bought the property (the one they had lived in for 4 or 5 years as renters) from the owners for $1 and other consideration. The sellers' names are not familiar to me. I don't know why the Hilyards got the house for a dollar, and this is an area I should explore further.

There are many historical maps available online, so I thought I would look up this specific lot number. I found a great high-resolution map from Ball State University's website and was able to locate lot 10 Block 56, outlined in blue here.

If you compare this to the Google Maps screenshot above, there is a big discrepancy. Using Heekin Park as a reference point, the current location of 1802 is east of the park and on the same street. But at the time the Hilyards lived there, it was west of the park, and a block down!

I dug through my photos and found some pictures I believed to be John and Alice's Muncie home, included here.

John and Alice Hilyard

Seated, Alice Hilyard. Daughter Tessie on far right, son Vaughn standing next to Tessie

Armed with this new information, I set out with cousins DD and CC to do some recognizance work. We cruised up and down the street, parking and peering at the current homes, trying to determine which one was "ours". While we were there, we convinced ourselves it was this one, and that it had been added on to considerably:

Oops, wrong house!

However, after we got home and really thought it over, this house was located on lot 11, right next door to lot 10.

Now we are convinced that the house John and Alice Hilyard is still standing, and looks like this:

Would they mind if we cut some bushes back so we could see the place better??

The east side of the house is totally obscured by bushes and trees, and that is the angle the old photos would have been taken from. But if you imagine it without the front porch, it has the abrupt cut-off of the front as in the old photos. We didn't try to take a lot of photos of this house because were focused on the one next door, but I feel certain this is it based on the old city map, and that the photos I have are of this home.

Current location using Beacon website, courtesy of cousin DD

Lesson here: just because you have an address for a location doesn't mean it translates to the current address. Streets get renamed. Dig a little deeper, find some old maps. Check deeds for more information. 

 

Longstanding Errors: The parents of Edward and William Moore of Orange County, Indiana

It can be a hard blow to find out years of research were wasted on the wrong family. But the feeling that you finally have it right makes it all better again.

For me, it started with a typewritten manuscript about the Moore family that I found at the Orange County [Indiana] Genealogical Society in the 1990s. If it had a cover page, I failed to copy it. I believe it was written in the mid-20th century, and I am sorry to say I do not know who authored it. I am indebted to her for collecting so much information, including many personal stories that would be lost now, and committing them to paper.

However, I believe her link between the first and second generation to be wrong. These are the pages that led me astray:

Initial pages of Moore manuscript

My ancestor was Edward Moore, born 17 Dec 1769 in North Carolina and died 19 Jul 1848 in Parke County, Indiana. He married Pharaba Pearce (26 Jun 1769-18 Aug 1845). Pharaba is the subject of a blog post here, in which I busted the brick wall of her maiden name.

This Edward Moore moved to Indiana along with one of his brothers, William Moore (1754-1832). The above two pages claim that the father of Edward and William was William Moore Sr., who died in Wake County, North Carolina in 1780. I don't know how the author made this connection, whether from the work of others or by William's will, but I took it and ran with it. Researched it for decades, tracing the descendants of William Moore Sr. to Tennessee and North Carolina. It was a wild goose chase. 

When I discovered the maiden name and parents of Pharaba Pearce, I started uncovering information about her husband Edward Moore and who his true parents might be. The first thing that made me question it was this:

Ancestry post by user nikame1

Somehow (thank you Google, I'm sure) this led me to an incredible website called The Wallace Family of Moore County, NC. Don't be deceived, it is not strictly on the Wallace family. It documents many families from the area, including the Moores and Pearces. 

On the Wallace Family website is a family group sheet for the presumed parents of Edward Moore. You can see it here, the family group sheet of Edward Moore and Martha Thompson. What I love about this website is that it has links to actual documents. If you scroll down the page in this link you will find all their documents available right there.

The two pieces of information that convince me these are the right parents for Edward and William Moore of Orange County, Indiana are these:

1. Edward Moore (let's call him Sr.) owned land on Deep River in Moore County, NC. Windsor Pearce, father of Pharaba, also owned land on Deep River, in Randolph County, NC. Deep River spans the two counties, so they were actually fairly close to each other.  Edward Moore Jr. and Pharaba Pearce were likely "neighbors", making a match possible.

2. Edward Moore Sr.'s will lists sons William and Edward, among other children. 

This post is just breaking the surface. I look forward to further research and posts to clarify my findings.

52.8: Heirloom; Cherry Chest of Drawers

This post is part of a project called "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" created by Amy Johnson Crow.

My favorite heirloom is also my biggest.

Moore Family Chest of Drawers

This chest of drawers is made of cherry and is over 200 years old. It sits quietly in the corner of my spare room, waiting for me to come in and admire it from time to time (which I do quite frequently).

I saw a very similar chest on Antiques Roadshow once. According to the appraiser, they are quite common and not of great monetary value. This cherry chest, though, is priceless to me.

Family lore says this chest was made by my Moore ancestors and came with them on a wagon from North Carolina to Indiana. It has been handed down each generation to the oldest male child ever since.

Sounds simple enough, right? Maybe, but look a little more closely.

First, at when and how it was made.  The family that made the trip to Indiana was that of Edward and Pharaba (Pearce) Moore.  I estimate they were married about 1788 in North Carolina, based on the birth of their first child Martha in late 1789. The family moved to Indiana sometime after the birth of their last child Thomas in early 1811, and in time for Edward to appear on the Militia Roster for Harrison County, Indiana Territory in 1812.

The construction of the chest is interesting to my modern eyes. Of course there were no power tools then. The nails are square; each drawer has dovetailed joints.

Square nails and board salvaged from repair work needed on the chest

Closeup of dovetail joint

I admire the craftsmanship for each step of its construction. Did they use stain then? What is the finish? 

The original hardware was removed and replaced by my grandfather, Lee Moore. He was a janitor at Paoli High School and had someone in the wood shop make round wooden pulls for the drawers. I'd love to put the old hardware back in if I had it, but the wooden pulls are now part of the story.

Original hardware removed and filled

"New" wooden pulls replaced the original hardware

So how did this chest, allegedly subject to the rules of primogeniture (passing to the oldest male Moore child), make it to a female named Heverly? Let's follow it.

I traced the male Moore descendants in a previous post.  They are a rare breed indeed. Edward and Pharaba Moore made the trek to Indiana, as stated before, around 1811. They had nine children ranging in age from 22 to about 1. The oldest girl, Martha was newly married but her family came to Indiana as well.

Here's where the family lore breaks down. My next ancestor in line, Edward Windsor Moore, was not actually the oldest male child. He had an older brother John who lived to a ripe old age. So....so much for family lore? I'm not sure what to make of it.

Edward Windsor Moore, subject of many blog posts starting here, was the father of William Bryant Moore. Though he also had an older brother named John, this John died as a boy.  William Bryant Moore holds the title of my shortest-lived ancestor. He died at the age of 20 while working in the newly-constructed Orange County Courthouse.

Orange County Courthouse in Paoli, Indiana
Photo by Vonda Heverly, taken on a research trip in 2016

William Bryant left behind a 17-year old widow, Mary, and 15 month old son, William Braddock Moore. Mary remarried to Henry Pierce Breeden, and they had five children of their own.

Sadly, all six of these children were orphaned when Henry and Mary Breeden died within a few months of each other in 1862. William Braddock Moore was 13, and did not qualify for any of his stepfather's Civil War pension. He seems to have lived for a time on his grandfather Edward Windsor Moore's farm, but I think he had to grow up pretty fast. 

Someone (I would guess his grandfather) took charge of the chest until he established his own house by marrying Martha Ann Tillery in 1870. From there the chest had a mostly uneventful life, traveling to the home of William Braddock Moore's son Fred, to his son Lee, and finally to my uncle Bill.

My uncle Bill has no children. I had heard about the chest over the years and wondered what would happen to it. By this time I was grown and had my own house. My mom asked Bill about the chest, and he agreed I could have it since I was interested in it. 

One small problem:  while Bill was moving, the chest fell off the truck and suffered some minor injuries.  One drawer was busted and the back panel broken. I didn't care; I wanted it anyway!

My father took on the repair job. He had to construct a few new pieces. I believe he used some old yellow poplar to craft them.  He kept all the old pieces, which I hang on to, just because.

Board replaced by my dad

I am a historical re-enactor, and I keep much of my clothing and blankets for this hobby in the chest. It seems fitting that it holds linen and wool, like it did when it was new.  Every time I open the chest, I think of all my ancestors who have opened it, and I feel a connection to them.

52.5: In the Census

This post is part of a project called "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" created by Amy Johnson Crow.

The prompt for this week is "In the Census."  I know in my decades of doing genealogy, there must have been many "aha" moments while squinting at census records on the microfilm readers.  For the life of me, I can't bring any one to mind.

However, I recalled this census record had a lot to offer:

1870 Federal Census Orange County, Indiana
Jackson Township, p. 15
Found on Ancestry.com

I was trying to find my 2nd great-grandmother, Martha Ann Tillery (born 1853) before her marriage to William Braddock Moore. Here she is! Great. But who are all the people with her, and why should I care?

The 1870 census does not state how members of a household are related, so don't make any assumptions.  People with four different surnames with ages spanning several decades are all living together (I'll also note, there is a James A. Dishon age 6 on the following page included as part of this household.)

This record actually represents a family matriarch, Rebecca Hobson, with several of her children and grandchildren living together on the same farm. She was born Rebecca Turner Kearby in 1815 in Kentucky. She married her first husband John Tillery (1810-1854) on March 30, 1833 in Dubois County, Indiana. Living with her in 1870 are three children from this marriage: Martha, Alfred, and Nancy Dishon. Alfred and his wife Catherine have two children at this time. Nancy Dishon was widowed and had four children living there. As of this time, I do not know who the two Lutrel children are.

The widowed Rebecca Kearby Tillery married her second husband, Mark Hobson, on April 24, 1858 in Orange County, Indiana. He died ten years later, leaving her a widow once again. They had one children together, the girl Rachel seen in this census.

So what at first glance looks like a boarding house is actually a pretty solid family unit. But what else can be learned? Don't just look at your family. Check out who is on the page with them, and the pages before and after.

1870 Federal Census Orange County, Indiana
Jackson Township, p. 15
Found on Ancestry.com

You might just find a husband.

The orphaned William Braddock Moore is living right next door, working on the farm of his cousin James A. Moore. I guess this is how he met Martha Ann Tillery; they were married later that year on October 30, 1870 in Orange County, Indiana.

When searching the census records, figure out who everyone in the household is. Check out the families living nearby. A little detective work can uncover a previous generation to investigate.

52.3: Longevity; John Summers

This post is part of a project called "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" created by Amy Johnson Crow.

The prompt this week is longevity. The ancestor that immediately springs to mind is John Summers.  John Summer's provenance is a little sketchy, but I believe him to be my 6th great-grandfather. I have a clipping of unknown origin describing him here:

John Summers at age 112

I was able to locate another article, written after John's death at 116, that mentions him along with others:

Final paragraph: John Summers lived to be 116

This second clipping came from page 2 of The Evening Post, published in New York City on 18 Dec 1833.  This article notes he died in Kentucky; however, I found a census listing in 1820 that I feel sure must be this man living in Delaware County, Indiana:

1820 Federal Census Delaware County, Indiana, entry for John Summers

The census taker noted this about Mr. John Summers: "This man is 114 years old never lost sight or hearing has upward of 400 descendants and has had two wives by each had ten children."

I have a lot more work to do proving the statements about John Summers, but he is an interesting read if nothing else.

52.1: Start! My Great-Uncle Ed

I'm participating in Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" to challenge myself to blog more. Each week she provides a prompt that can be interpreted any way the writer chooses.

Week 1's prompt is "Start". Amy gives a few suggestions as to what this might mean, and I want to talk about the person who got me started in genealogy. He was my great-uncle, Ed Moore.

Ed Moore

I think my first genealogy memory was of a thick manila envelope Ed mailed to my mother around 1980. It was full of what I now know to be pedigree charts and family group sheets. I was captivated from the first glance. I was 10 years old.

There wasn't a whole lot a 10 year old in 1980 could do from a research standpoint. I checked out every genealogy book I could from my town library. I wrote my own charts. I even got bold enough to write some letters to older relatives who are now all gone. 

About a decade later, I was married and far removed from my Indiana family, living on an Air Force base in California. I picked up my genealogy again, and ran with it, thanks to Ed.

I feel like I know so little about him, so I welcome the opportunity to write down the information I do have.  Edward Stewart Moore was born in Paoli, Indiana in 1916. He was the second of a set of twins; his sister Edna was stillborn.  I discovered where his middle name came from by his birth certificate; he was delivered by a Dr. Stewart. He had two older sisters, and an older brother Lee who was my grandfather. There was another son, Robert Clarence, born after Ed, but he died at the age of two from bronchopneumonia, two days before Christmas in 1921. Robert Clarence had always been just a name and two dates to me, but I got to visit Ed once, and asked him about the boy. Even as an old man, he got a little emotional when he talked about "Little Bob".  That really personalized the child in my mind.

Ed went to school in Paoli until 8th grade, which I think was pretty common at the time. My grandfather Lee did the same.

Ed Moore as a boy

In the 1920 and 1930 censuses, Ed lived at home with his parents, Fred and Della Moore. Fred was a laborer at various jobs and Della was a homemaker. By 1940, Ed had moved to Arizona and was working on a dairy farm.

I'm not sure what took him to Arizona (perhaps it was the CCC?), but he spent the rest of his life "out West", ending his days in northern California.

**Added 8 Jan 2018**
After reading this post, my mom (Ed's niece) called her brother. He related that during the Depression Ed and his brother Lee went to join the Army. The Army physical revealed he had tuberculosis, and Ed was told if he didn't move to a different climate he would be dead in six months. The family pooled all their money to buy him a ticket. When he arrived in Arizona, he had $8.00 left to start his new life.
********************

I have from his records that he married Emily May Turner in late 1940. They never had children together, but Emily had a child or children from a previous marriage. My mother said she was a Mormon, and I think this is what sparked Ed's interest in genealogy.

Ed and Emily Moore

When World War II started, Ed enlisted in the Army. I am fortunate enough to have received some of his memorabilia from that time.

Ed Moore in uniform

Ed was a tank commander and achieved the rank of corporal.  I have his shoulder patch from the 16th Armored Division. I know he attended reunions with his unit mates until late in his life. I was unaware until very recently that Ed received the Purple Heart during his time in the war. I learned this when I found his grave marker on findagrave.

Ed Moore and his tank "Beaugeard"

Ed Moore and Crew--Ed center back
Do you know any of these men?

After the war, Ed lived in Phoenix for some years, then in northern California in the Eureka area. At the time of his death in 1997, he lived in Kelseyville.

I met Ed a time or two as a child, though I don't really have any memories of those visits. I did make contact with him in the early 1990s when I was living in southern California and taking a more serious interest in genealogy. His notes were alway terse but friendly.

Letter from my uncle Ed prior to my visit

When I graduated from college, my mom flew out to California, and we made the drive up the state to visit her uncle. Ed was in the very early stages of Alzheimer's; a little forgetful but he still knew he was forgetting. He seemed truly glad to see his brother's daughter and granddaughter, and we had a good visit. He lived in a little trailer on his step-daughter's property that he called his wig-wam. The property had a gate, and he always opened and closed it for the cars coming and going. He struck me as a gentle, humorous, and very tall person (6'2", a full foot taller than me).

I wish I knew him better. Thank you, Ed, for introducing me to this wonderful lifetime hobby!

The Extinction of the Moores

It hit me on my afternoon commute. My Moore line is nearly extinct. I could think of only one living male Moore, and couldn't wait to get home to make sure I was right.

Grave of Edward Windsor Moore in Orleans, Indiana

I blogged earlier about my 4th great-grandparents, Edward Windsor and Susannah Bryant Moore, and their struggle to get a Civil War pension. You can start reading about that here if you like.

The Facts

Edward Windsor Moore was born 17 October 1802 in North Carolina. He married Susannah Bryant (born 25 July 1804 in Lincoln County, Kentucky) on 24 September 1823, in Orange County, Indiana. They lived nearly all their lives in rural Orange County except for a short stint in Kansas which did not agree with them. This couple had thirteen children. You would expect a large number of Moores to come down from them, right?

Well, you would be wrong.

Their children

Edward and Susannah Moore had seven sons. John and Joseph died in early childhood. Bartlett Coffin, their youngest, died tragically at the age of 16 serving as a bugler in the Civil War.

Sons Columbus and David only produced daughters that survived to adulthood.

This leaves only William Bryant Moore (my ancestor), and Edward Windsor Moore II. Both of these men had sons that survived adulthood.

Their grandchildren

Let me address Edward Windsor Moore II first. He died in battle during the Civil War. He has my only "loose end." He had two sons, Nelson and Edward Windsor III. Edward Windsor III is the only one listed as an heir to his grandfather's estate in 1890, meaning Nelson Moore died before this time leaving no heirs. I can find no other records for him beyond this date. If he produced any heirs I haven't yet located them.

Now on to my ancestor, William Bryant Moore. He died at the age of 20, on 10 January 1851. Fortunately he left behind one tiny baby, William Braddock Moore, my great-great grandfather.

Their great-grandchildren

William Braddock Moore was orphaned at the age of 12 when both his mother and stepfather passed away that year.  He married Martha Ann Tillery in 1870, and they reared a large family that included four boys.  Two of them, William and Charley, died in childhood.

Moore Family Portrait about 1900
Back row: Minnie, Nannie, Fred, and Ella
Front row: Ed, William Braddock, Nellie, Martha, and Opal

This left Edward Bryant Moore, who only had daughters, and my great-grandfather Frederick Thomas Moore.

Their great-great grandchildren

Fred Moore married Della Mariah Moore (a great confusion but completely separate line of Moores) in 1899. They had three sons: Lee, Ed, and Robert. Robert died just after his first birthday.

My great-uncle Ed married and helped raise his stepchildren, but never had children of his own. That just leaves my grandfather Lee, who passed away several decades ago.

Their great-great-great grandchild

Lee Moore married Lillian Wilson in in 1936, and had one son, my uncle Bill. In the 215 years since the birth of Edward Windsor Moore, it has come down to this. One man that still carries the Moore yDNA.

My uncle Bill, the last of the Moores

That's what hit me in traffic the other day. Bill is 80 now and has no children.  I immediately asked my mom to talk to him about taking a yDNA test for me, and he graciously agreed. I'm ordering the kit today, and hope that this will help solve some mysteries for me. Moore is a fairly common surname and I'm stuck at Edward Windsor Moore's grandfather William, who died in North Carolina in 1781. I can't figure out where he came from. Perhaps in a few months I'll get some more clues.

My Grandmother's Calendars

Many years ago, my dad gifted me an old trunk from his side of the family, full of old stuff. I looked through it, and treasured what I had in store to look through.

Old Hilyard Family Trunk

I recently was able to move the trunk from an impossible-to-access place in a closet to my bedroom. Opening it, I found my grandmother's old wall calendars. I was aware they were in there, but wasn't sure what to do with them. Seeing their fragile condition, I knew they needed some help.

Disintegrating before our very eyes!

I called over my partner-cousin in genealogy crime, and we went to work. It only took us a few hours to sort and photograph/digitize all the pages. After that, I stored the originals in scrapbooking boxes, labelled in case I need to see them again.

Neatly stored!

Now, all of the calendars are stored on my Google drive, accessible from any computer, any time.

So, what's on the calendars? Reading through them, we compared them to Facebook. Just day-to-day recordings of what my grandmother was doing, who was born, who died, who came to visit. The range? From 1932 to 1976! Some years are missing, but what a treasure. We looked up our birthdays, and there they were. Not only was my birth recorded, but the fact that my grandmother baked bread that day.

There is very little in the way of worldly happenings, but I spotted this entry:

World War II made the calendar

Just picking any page at random:

Look at all the canning she did! She notes it was hot. Remember this--she did all the cooking and canning on a woodstove. No fans, no A/C.  Fifty-four quarts of her own apricots, then she notes that she canned her sister's the next day. On the 14th, they had 42 people to dinner. My mom says she would feed the men, then the women, then the kids. My grandma turned 62 that month. My hat is off to one tough lady.

I see my grandpa had a wreck on the 7th and broke a rib. Later that week his sons mowed and plowed the garden for him. I'll have to ask my dad about that.

Dig around for old calendars and journals, diaries and such. So much rich daily detail in there! It also makes me consider what record I'm leaving.

Right Under Your Nose, or at Least, Your Fingertips!

Dickey Family about 1909
In Back: Cyprian
In Front l to r: Burnie, Jennie, Audrey, Marion, and my grandmother Alys

THANK YOU, Lisa Louise Cooke!

I woke up a little early to noodle around with my genealogy, and saw I had a new Genealogy Gems podcast to listen to (episode 197). As I made the coffee, I was listening to Lisa talk about how she had found the exact marriage date for her great-grandparents, a fact that had eluded her for several years. She had searched in depth, found nothing, and set it aside. She finished the segment by encouraging listeners to try again on a tough problem.

Well, I too had a set of great-grandparents with a mystery marriage. I actually had the date, but I had never been able to find the civil record. I had come to the private conclusion that perhaps a marriage hadn't even taken place...

I was wrong. Following Lisa's advice, I sat down with my coffee and loaded up FamilySearch. I typed in "Marion Dickey" and "Sarah Jane Reck", and clicked on marriages, with the dates from 1890-1900. I didn't specify a location.

Screenshot of FamilySearch showing my great-grandparents' marriage

I was dumbstruck. I had spent a good chunk of 1994 mailing (with stamps) letters (on paper) to nearly a dozen counties where I thought the marriage could have occurred. This couple lived in both western Ohio and eastern Indiana so I concentrated in that area. I included a SASE (you kids even know what that is?) to ensure a reply, and I kept all those. I saw the above record came from Randolph County, Indiana, and I was curious as to whether or not I had tried that one.  Guess what?

"We're sorry. We have no idea what you are talking about."

I had given them the exact date. The exact woman's name. The correct man's surname with what would be a matching middle initial. Seriously?

So, 22 years after receiving word that my great-grandparents were not in the index in Randolph County, Indiana, I present to you their marriage record:

Francis M. Dickey married Jennie Reck on April 3rd, 1896 in Randolph County, Indiana, courtesy of familysearch.org

I found this record in less than one minute, drinking coffee, before 7 a.m. on a work day. How sweet is that? Thanks again to Lisa Louise Cooke for her great podcasts and encouragements!

P.S.: I love this record because my dad told me that Marion (his grandfather) was named after the Revolutionary War figure Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox. I have seen NO records that show his first name being Francis, until today.

I'm doing the happy dance! Now, go looking for something YOU had given up on.

My Family in the Civil War, Part Sixteen: Aftermath

This is the sixteenth in a series on my Civil War ancestors

In these last few posts, I've looked at what effect the Civil War had on just one couple in my family tree. Edward Windsor Moore and Susannah Bryant Moore sent four sons to war. Two died in service, one of disease contracted while serving, and the fourth continued on in the military and moved hundreds of miles away.  The death of their youngest son, Bartlett Cofin Moore, whom they depended on to care for them as they aged, affected the course of the rest of their lives.

Graves of Edward and Susannah Moore from findagrave.com

The Moores had seven sons in total. Two died as children. Bartlett died in the war before having a family of his own. My ancestor, William Bryant Moore, died at age 20 having fathered only one child. This line of Moores comes down to one surviving male, my uncle Bill, who has no children.

Of the other Moore boys, I can trace down to only one other male line. Edward Windsor Moore Jr., who died at the battle of Vicksburg, had a son by the same name. The last record I can find of him is when he received his inheritance from his grandfather Edward Moore's estate in 1890. I have been able to trace no further and do not know if he married and had children.  If he didn't, the Moore line coming down from Edward and Susannah is extinct.

Of course, Edward and Susannah's daughters and granddaughters married and produced many descendants. But the war took its toll on them as well. Six sons-in-law served in the Civil War; one, William Smith Hawhee, died after being wounded at Stone River.  The other five survived: Isaac Newton Breeden, Richard A. Spaulding, Enoch E. Inman, Leonidas Ross Grigsby, and Trusten B. Wilson.

Edward and Susannah lost one grandson that I know of in the war, Edward Windsor Breeden. He contracted measles and died after his return from fighting.

I also traced several nephews of Edward and Susannah Moore affected by the war. Four men died: John A. Moore, Joseph H. Moore, Thomas Tillery, and Thomas Coulter Moore. Two others fought and returned home: Solomon Moore and William Davis Moore.

I'm sure there is more to be uncovered about this family, but I'll end my report on them here. It is reported on the Civil War Trust website that 620,000 men died in the Civil War. Until the Vietnam War, that was more than the number of men lost in all other wars combined. Even now, the total of all other wars stands at about 644,000.  If your family lived in America during the Civil War, it most certainly affected them in some way. Find out how and tell their stories.

My Family in the Civil War, Part Fifteen: "In view of the great age of the parents, I suggest special action."

This is the fifteenth in a series on my Civil War ancestors

Susannah Moore filed her original claim for a dependent mother's pension in 1880. Nearly four years later, this initial claim was denied on the grounds that her husband owned sufficient property to support her. It was referred for special examination.

On March 9, 1885, special examiner V. H. Whitman began looking into the matter, visiting Orleans, Indiana to meet with all the deponents in the case. By March 25th, Mr. Whitman had collected all he needed and sat down to write his report. And write he did. It took him 20 handwritten pages to summarize the case.  He concluded his report with this paragraph:

Conclusion of Special Examiner in Case of Susannah Moore

"I am of the opinion that the claim is a meritorious one and I recommend its admission. In view of the great age of the parents I suggest special action.

                                                                                       Repectfully

                                                                                       V. H. Whitman

                                                                                       Special Examiner"

Mr. Whitman must have pushed the right buttons.  Less than one month from the writing of this letter,  April 23rd, 1885, a certificate was issued to Susannah Moore, granting her a pension in the amount of $8 per month, commencing March 28th, 1865. 

Pension folder sleeve for Susannah Moore's papers

The file does not specifically state it, but I believe she must have been paid in arrears for the prior 20 years. Eight dollars a month for 12 months, times 20 years, yields $1,920. I certainly hope it was the case that she received a check for this amount. 

Her husband Edward Moore passed away one year later, on August 15th, 1886. Susannah continued to receive the $8 per month until her death nearly six years later, on March 12, 1891.

My final post on this family will discuss the far-reaching web of effects the Civil War had on the Moores.