The Battle of Minisink, New York

I have previously written about one of my sixth great grandfathers, James Little. James came to America at the age of thirteen on the ship “The George and Ann” from Ireland. He had quite an adventure when the captain decided to extend the voyage by trickery causing the immigrants and crew to starve because of short rations. See “The Hunger Ship”.

In this story I am going to tell about another James Little and his brother, John. These brothers were the sons of the James Little, the immigrant, who came on the “George and Ann”. They were my fifth Great Grand Uncles. John was born in 1751, and his brother James was born in 1753, in what is now Orange County, New York in or near the village of Goshen. They grew up in a turbulent time, when the colonists were straining to break away from their British masters. John was 24 and James was 22 years old in 1775 and fierce patriots. It should be remembered that their parents left Ireland because of religious principles imposed upon them by the British. With the Battle of Bunker Hill and the first shots fired in what was to become the American Revolutionary War, the Little family responded by enlisting in the local militia which had been formed by a Colonel Allison. John was a captain and James was a private. There is a third Little named Samuel who was in this same regiment but I am not sure of his relationship. All three were killed in the battle at Minisink Ford.

About forty five miles from Goshen was the hamlet of Minisink Ford. "Minisink" once referred to a vast area stretching all the way from Minisink Ford to the Delaware Water Gap. Today the Town of Minisink is located about thirty miles southwest of Minisink Ford. The area is composed of hills and rocky terrain. But with just over two decades of settlement, the Upper Delaware was frontier country in 1779, connected with the outside world only by walking trails and stream courses.

By the summer of 1779, the major fighting in the north was all but completed. Washington’s army had prevailed over the British in the last major engagement at Monmouth, NJ more than a year earlier. The British had retired to New York City and Washington held them in a pseudo-siege from his headquarters at Newburgh, NY.

The British attempted to divert American attention by renewing ties with former allies among the tribes of the still-powerful Iroquois Confederation. A series of raids on outlying American communities was begun as a harassing action. A Mohawk chief, Thayendanega, was the brother-in-law of former British Indian Commissioner Sir William Johnson. Thayendanega, also known as Joseph Brant, or Brandt, was well educated and traveled. He once spoke before the British Parliament. He was a principal leader in the tribe.

In the summer of 1779, Brant led a raiding party, estimated at about 80 Indians and American British sympathizers known as Tories in raids down the Delaware Valley. The raids drove frontier settlers to more populated areas like Port Jervis, then known as Peenpack, and Brant followed, raiding and burning homes on July 20, 1779.

After hotly deliberating the merits of engaging the marauders in combat, Tusten and 149 men – merchants, farmers and clerks, and what historian,James Eldridge Quinlan later described as "some of the principal gentlemen of the county" – set out the next day in pursuit of their quarry.

There is little detail, but what is known is that a party of more than 100 militia pursued the Mohawk chief up into the wilds of the Upper Delaware. The militia caught up at present day Minisink Ford, where a botched ambush split the militia forces.  Ammunition was soon depleted, and the combat was reduced to hand-to-hand, with the Mohawks and Tories getting much the better of it. The militia was routed, and nearly all of those who stayed and fought were killed.

  The remains of those slain on that desolate hilltop in what forever after would be known as the Battle of Minisink were not afforded a proper burial. Quinlan wrote that "for 43 years the bones of those who had been slain on the banks of the Delaware were permitted to molder on the battle ground. But one attempt had been made to gather them, and that was by the widows of the slaughtered men, of whom there were 33 in the Presbyterian congregation of Goshen. They set out for the place of battle on horseback, but finding the journey too hazardous, they hired a man to perform the pious duty, who proved unfaithful and never returned."

   Finally, in 1822, "a committee was appointed to collect the remains and to ascertain the names of the fallen. The committee proceeded to the battle ground, a distance of 46 miles from Goshen, and viewed some of the frightful elevations and descents over which the militia had passed when pursuing the red marauders. The place where the conflict occurred, and the region for several miles around, were carefully examined and the relics of the honored dead gathered with pious care. The remains were taken to Goshen, where they were buried in the presence of 15,000 persons."

A monument was erected to mark the mass grave, upon which was inscribed the names of the 44 men killed in the battle.

Henry Moses Harrold

Henry Moses Harrold, my second great grandfather, was born on 14 Jan 1840 in Zanesville, Muskingum County, Ohio, and was married before the Civil War in 1860 to Catherine E. McFarland there, but subsequently moved to Nelsonville, Athens County, Ohio. Henry was the third child and oldest living son of Richard Herald and his wife Sarah Nash Herald. His first wife, Catherine died in Nelsonville, and is buried in the Fort St. Cemetery in Nelsonville. Catherine died when her youngest child, Violet was less than two years old and his two children, his widowed mother, and he moved to Nelsonville. Two of his brothers, probably John and Charles, had walked over the hills from Zanesville to Nelsonville to get jobs in the coal mines. His brother, George was killed at the battle of Stone's River and Robert would have been much too young to have made such a trip. His mother, Sarah Nash Harrold, moved in with him and cared for his two small children.

When Henry married again, his mother moved in with her son Charles in Nelsonville. (In her will, his mother left Henry one dollar. I don't know why, but wondered if she didn't like Almyra Drake Crain, his second wife and my second great grandmother.)

Shortly after his second marriage to Almyra in December, 1866 home and family and made their way to Kansas where they homesteaded in Kansas. They lived in a soddy there while he farmed. Here their first two children, Hyla and Frank were born. One day while Henry was out working, Almyra came into the soddy where the two babies were sleeping on the bed and saw a rattlesnake on the foot of the bed. She ran out and called Henry, and while he got his gun, she teased the snake with a broom to keep it busy and Henry shot it. Apparently the two children were not hurt, but they must have been rudely awakened.

My mother always said she might have been born in Kansas but for the fact that Henry had a sunstroke and had to return to Ohio. He was never strong after that and it was probably at this time he became a carpenter. But he found this work to hard for his frail health. He was truant officer at the East School building where his daughter, Maud, taught school. Her room was in the old Town House down the hill from the home place and he used to go down and build the fires in the stove before school started and generally kept the room clean.

But he mostly spent his time working on his three acres. He had a huge garden on top of the hill. (It's hard to believe it now, with all the trees there. They must not have been there then.) He raised fruit trees of all kinds (apples, cherries, pears, plums and peaches) on the hillside behind the house. He kept chickens and pigs up near the rocks. The neighbors around the area saved scraps of food for the chickens and pigs. He also had many hives of bees and sold his honey. He had a coal mine in the upper right side of the hill below the rocks and he and his oldest son (Uncle Jim) dug all the coal that was needed to heat the house. So he was pretty self sufficient and didn't need much cash.

He did have one weakness though. He drank upon occasion and one day rode one grandchild's bicycle over the rock wall in front of the house. Almyra said, "The old fool is going to kill himself." But he never did. He died peacefully when quite old.

His oldest daughter, Hyla, never married. His other two daughters (Maud and Dee) were deserted by their husbands, who never supported their children. So they both moved in with their parents, and the six children in the combined families made for a crowded household, but a happy one. No wonder Henry tippled a little. He was a good natured man and was loved by all who knew him. He loved his family and took good care of them both financially and emotionally.

He died at the age of 75 at his home at 510 High Street, Nelsonville, Athens County Ohio on the 25 of January 1918 and is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery just south of Nelsonville.

Twin Trials And Triumphs In Ecuador

There are a limited number of these books left. They would make a great Christmas gift for any member or non-member. All of the proceeds go to an orphanage in Ecuador.  This book is about the twin sons of Bill's cousin, Michelle, who joined us for our adventure in Europe this past summer.  It was written by Bill's aunt, Mary Katzenbach.

The proceeds are used to assist an orphanage in Ecuador.
Twin Trials and Triumphs in Ecuador chronicles stories of twins Matt and Scott Katzenbach, who served missions in adjoining sectors in Ecuador. Mary Katzenbach, an LDS author of both fiction and nonfiction, used e-mails as a major source, along with pertinent historical information that explains why this country is important to the United States.
 
The book is endorsed by Dr. Brent Rich, Staff physician to BYU sports teams and the MTC, who said, “The book is laugh-out-loud funny, but at the same time expresses the deepest emotional elements of these young men,” and Dr. James Knight, Bishop and professor at University of Arizona, who said, “It’s a fun read, and I recommend it enthusiastically.”
 
The books are being sold for $18 and can be purchased by contacting Mary Katzenbach at (480) 759-2575 or mbkatz3@cox.net.

Roy Alexander Morris

Roy Alexander Morris

Written by his daughter, Ruth Louise Morris Blimes.

Helen, Remus, Edith, Pearl, Nell, Clarence, Roy, Carl & Addie

Roy was the first boy and the fifth child of Remus Clark Morris and Addie Frances Bradds.  He lived on a farm with his parents and sisters and had very little formal schooling.  I think he went to the third grade, yet he went to various correspondence schools while he was employed at the Southern Ohio Electric Co. He also loved working crossword puzzles, so he was not lacking in brains.            

Roy Alexander Morris

                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
He  was a handy man who could do plumbing and rebuilt part of the house at 510 High St., Nelsonville, Ohio and could wire a house from scratch.  He and Mom raised a huge garden every year and she kept his nose to the grindstone.  I think he would have liked to take life a little easier, but times were hard and money was scarce.  I don't ever remember a time when we didn't have plenty to eat and nice clothes to wear, even if they were homemade.                                      

Roy as a child

                                                                                                                                   
   I have always thought it was a blessing to be in a small town during the depression.  We raised our own chickens and turkeys, raised vegetables and had fruit trees, had our own bees and except for meat we were pretty self sufficient.  His sister, Pearl, lived on a farm and Dad would help on the farm in exchange for part of a pig and a beef.                      

Marquise & Roy Morris

                                                                                                                                                                  
 I am glad that Dad lived to a ripe old age and had time to go to his "fall-out shelter" up back and snooze on his glider as much as he wanted to.  He had earned it.
He liked to read Western books and had quite a collection of Louis L’Amour paperbacks which he read over and over.  I used to wonder how he could do that, but as I get older I forget the light fiction I read and in a year or two I am ready to read my favorites again.  He loved to hunt and fish.  He didn't hunt much in his later years but never lost his interest in fishing.
I don't think he cared if he caught anything; he just liked the peace and quiet that came with being in a picturesque setting.  I can remember when he brought squirrels or rabbits home and cleaned them up back.  I used to watch him and still remember how bad they smelled.  That may have something to do with my not liking to eat them.  But the real reason was biting into a piece of buckshot.  Ugh!  He lived to be almost 82, dying from liver cancer.    

Roy & Marquise with their grandchildren

                                               

    

To his mom’s words Bill would like to add the following comments.

When I was fifteen I went to live with my grandparents.  I was not a very good student in school and I didn’t get along with my dad.  Grandma and Grandpa offered to take me in to help me with my studies and to bring peace in my parents’ home.  So for my Junior and Senior years in high school I lived with them in Nelsonville, Ohio.  Grandpa loved to take me fishing with him and we also did a lot of gardening in the yard and at a garden spot they rented along the Hocking River above Nelsonville.  I remember one time we were digging potatoes and I would lay my shovel down on the ground when I picked up the potatoes I had uncovered.  Grandpa said he could sure tell I was a “city kid” because a “farm boy” would stick his shovel in the ground upright so he wouldn’t have to bend over to pick it up.  I took this to heart and many years later I would tell my horticulture students this story when they would lay their shovels flat on the ground.

Roy & Marquise

Whenever we were working and Grandpa would do something like pounding his thumb with a hammer, his form of swearing was to say very emphatically, “God bless our Sunday School Teacher”!                                                                

Carl, Edith, Clarence Roy, Sam, Pearl, Addie, Remus & Helen Morris

  Shortly after I graduated Grandpa took me aside and told me that because I had lived with them off and on through my youth, he felt I was like another son but since I wasn’t if there was anything I wanted from him, like any of his belongings or some money, I should ask for it while he was still living because he felt it was only right to leave his estate to his children.  He did help me with some money when I started college at Ohio University and again when I was starting my greenhouse business in Licking County, Ohio after I was married. 

Marquise Elizabeth Goodspeed Morris

Dee Etta Harrold & Marquise Morris

    She was the daughter of William Allen Goodspeed and Dee Etta Harrold.  She was the middle child in a family of seven children; four girls, Helen Marie, Marquise Elizabeth, Mary Virginia, Ruth and three boys, Edwin Harrold, Arthur Allen, and John.  Ruth, Arthur and John all died in early childhood.

      

The following is from the Eulogy given by Ruth Louise Morris Blimes at her mother’s funeral.

     Many things shape our lives and our personalities and I would like you to know a few of the things about our mother that made her the remarkable person she was.  She was born 3 June 1901 in the  house she lived in most of her life.  Her young years were for the most part happy years.  She's told me so many stories that she remembered from her early life.

     Not all lives run smoothly forever though and at the tender age of nine she was to learn this.  When the father she adored deserted his family, she had her first taste of adversity.  Adversity is not an uncommon thing and is no respecter of persons.  In fact, every life has many adversities and disappointments.  They can either make you a stronger person or defeat you.

Mary Goodspeed, Victor Verity & Marquise

     Our mother grew up with cousins who had also been abandoned by their father and her bosom buddy, the girl across the street, was one of a large family who were also abandoned by their father.  (Bill used to remind me of this trait in our family and tell me to mind my P's and Q;s.)
    

510 High St. Nelsonville, Ohio

Her family of five and her two cousins and their mother moved in with the Harrold grandparents at 510 High Street.  They became a happy group and I have listened many times of their escapades and happy times.

     I have a snapshot of a mock wedding that took place when she was about 10.  She was the bride with a lace curtain as a veil and a bunch of wild flowers as her bouquet.  Her cousin, Victor Verity, was the bridegroom and sister, Mary, the bridesmaid who stood with a scowl on her face because she wasn't the bride. 

I've heard the stories of how her grandmother was the family doctor who patched up their cuts and bruises they got from running about on the hills.  So she was a happy person in those days when life was simple and you made your own entertainment.

Marquise age 8

     When she was four years old, living in Kimberly in sight of the grade school, she ran off every day and went to school.  Finally the teacher told her mother to just let her come. She had a phenomenal memory and could still recite poems she had learned in her youth. She had a love of learning that never diminished.
She graduated at sixteen, went to Ohio U. for a year, going back and forth on the streetcar every day.  She got a teaching certificate and by age seventeen she was teaching school at the East School in Nelsonville.
     

Roy & Marquise

She met our Dad and after he came home from the Navy, they married and soon had a young family.  But adversity was not through with her.

     The Great Depression came along.  Some of you remember it and some of you are too young.  I remember some things about it.  Our mother accepted this challenge, this adversity, and became a strong willed person.   She was a hard worker and she managed the dollar a day that dad made in such a way that none of us ever realized we were poor.  By raising a large garden and our own chickens and turkeys and by working for my uncle who had a farm they would get a half of beef or a pig.  We always had plenty to eat.  She made most of our clothes from material that cost about ten cents a yard and made countless quilts and things for the house.

     To succeed in this she had to become a strong willed, determined mother and wife.  This was to affect all of us.  She was sometimes short tempered because we didn't always live up to expectations.  She had neither the time nor energy to waste on disobedient children and I know I got paddled every day whether I needed it or not.  Consequently as I was growing up we didn't always see eye to eye on many things.  But she was a mother who took good care of all of us.

Bob, Marquise, Marilyn, Kenny, Roy & Ruth Morris

     She was the best cook around and I have never tasted a pie as good as the ones she made.  She would go out in the kitchen and bake a couple of pies and while they were cooling she would decide what to cook for our meal.
     She was a good neighbor who willingly sat up all night with the baby next door who had pneumonia so his mother could sleep that she might take care of him the next day.
     She took care of all of us when we had our children and gave us a couple of weeks R & R before we took our babies home.
     She was a good Christian who read and knew her Bible.
     She was honest to a fault and taught us to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.  I remember a song she taught me when I was very young.  It was to the tune of Love Lifted Me.  But the words were "John 3:16, John 3:16, when nothing else can help, John 3:16”.  So I learned that verse very early in life.  "For God so Loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

     To my mom’s words I would like to add the following story. (by Bill Blimes,  Jr)

Grandma on her porch swing.  This is how I remember her.

     When I was fifteen I went to live with my grandparents.  I was not a very good student in school and I didn’t get a long with my dad.  Grandma offered to take me in to help me with my studies and to bring peace in my parents’ home.  So for my Junior and Senior years in high school I lived with them in Nelsonville, Ohio.  I remember having a conversation about Grandma’s first name, Marquise.  She told me that her father had a good friend that was also a mining engineer and he was from Marquise, France.  He named Grandma for this town located in Northern France.  Recently while I was in France I had the opportunity to visit this small village.  It is located a little south of Calais and has a history associated with mining. You can read more about this visit in our blog, “Further Adventures of Bill & Sylvia”.

FAMILY SEARCH ADDS MORE GENEALOGY RECORDS

Deseret News  Published: Sunday, Oct. 2, 2011
FamilySearch has added more than 20 collections in the past month that have more than a million new records or images. Dozens of collections from records around the world have also been updated with thousands of other records.

More than 6.6 million index records were added to Hungary Catholic Church Record, 1636-1895 and more than 2.5 million images were added to New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1925-1942. Another 1.5 million images and more than 800,000 records were added to U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 collection.

Seven collections from Mexico have been updated with more than a million records or images include: Mexico, Durango, Civil Registration, 1861–1995; Mexico, Michoacán, Civil Registration, 1859–1940; Mexico, Chiapas, Civil Registration, 1861–1990; Mexico, Coahuila, Civil Registration, 1861–1998; Mexico, Zacatecas, Civil Registration, 1860–2000; Mexico, México Estado, Civil Registration, 1861–1941 and Mexico, Chihuahua, Civil Registration, 1861–1997.

More than a million browsable images have been added to these five collections: Austria, Seigniorial Records 1537–1888; Chinese Genealogies, 1500–1900; Ecuador, Catholic Church Records, 1565–1996; Peru, Catholic Church Records1687-1992; and Ecuador, Catholic Church Records, 1565–1996.
And at least eight collections from the U.S. have had images and other information added, including: U.S., Illinois, Northern District Naturalization Index, 1840–1950;
U.S., Index to Passenger Arrivals, Atlantic and Gulf Ports, 1820–1874; U.S., Alabama Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861–1865; U.S., Georgia Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861–1865; U.S., Kentucky Civil War Records of Union Soldiers, 1861–1865; U.S., Mississippi Civil War Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861–1865; U.S., North Carolina Civil War Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861–1865; and U.S., Tennessee Civil War Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861–1865.

To search these collections or to volunteer to index, go to FamilySearch.org.

Genealogy Humor

When Bill was a little boy his dad use to sing "I'm My Own Grandpa" to him. Enjoy!

Genealogy: Expanding the Family Tree

This is an interesting article from Deseret News. We are excited to use the "how you are related to famous people" search on familysearch.org. Ancestry.com used to have this feature and we used it to show our family and clients how they are related to presidents and poets.
Genealogy: Expanding the family tree
Published: Monday, Sept. 19, 2011 6:40 p.m. MDT
By Joey Ferguson, Deseret News
It was done already. That's why Sean Sullivan, 57, never did much family history, until the Provo resident discovered he was related to Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain .
Sean Sullivan made the connection on Relative Finder, a Facebook application that uses data from FamilySearch.org to show how users are related to friends and famous people. Since then, he has spent hours, logging 40 hours in one week, digesting ancestor research online.
This year family history viewers have topped 149 million, based on website statistics from Compete.com, as users, typically aged 45 and older, seek out connections to relatives.
More than 100 million records will be made available this year via companies like Salt Lake City-based FamilySearch International, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Provo-based Ancestry.com Inc. and Palo Alto, California-based Archives.com. Part-time ancestral sleuths are turning to the Internet to find their progenitors, with companies trying to keep up with a growing market.
"Stuff keeps changing on FamilySearch almost daily," Sullivan said. "You go back today and look at a family line, you may find it goes back deeper than it was last week, or even yesterday. For some reason I hadn't tapped into it before."
With more interest in the market, there is a scramble to gather content in order to keep up with the growth. This has even led to major partnerships, including FamilySearch partnering with Ancestry to digitize the content in the LDS church's Granite Mountain Records Vault, where only 20 percent of the 4 billion records have been digitized.
Genealogy: Expanding the family tree
Published: Monday, Sept. 19, 2011 6:40 p.m. MDT
By Joey Ferguson, Deseret News

Bedford House Cemetery, Belgium

We visited many World War I cemeteries in France and Belgium. One of the most impressive “small” cemeteries was the one we found as were out driving around in Belgium visiting small villages. It was located in peaceful farmland between Ypres (Ieper) and Armentieres in an area known as the Ypres Salient; a salient is a battlefield feature that projects into enemy territory.

By November 1918 the Ypres Salient was a blasted, desolate wilderness. In four years of concentrated warfare hundreds of thousands of soldiers had fought doggedly over this corner of the Western Front. Thousands had died in four major battles. Daily life in the Sailent’s hostile environment claimed the lives of thousands more. By the time the fighting stopped, more than half a million were dead.
Bedford House, sometimes known as Woodcote House, were the names given by the Army to the Chateau Rosendal, a country mansion set in wooded parkland with moats.

Although it never fell into German hands, the house and the trees were gradually destroyed by shell fire. It was used by field ambulances and as the headquarters of brigades and other fighting units. In time, the property became largely covered by small cemeteries; five enclosures existed at the date of the after the Armistice it was enlarged when 3,324 graves were brought in from other burial grounds and from the battlefields of the Ypres Salient.

Almost two-thirds of the graves are unidentified. Enclosure No. 6 was made in the 1930s from the graves that were continuing to be found on the battlefield of the Ypres Salient. This enclosure also contains Second World War burials, all of them soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force, who died in the defense of the Ypres-Comines canal and railway at the end of May 1940. In all, 5,139 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War are buried or commemorated in the enclosures of Bedford House Cemetery.

We never visited a cemetery that was not well maintained. The grass was always cut and the edges around the stones were well trimmed. All the graves had flowering plants around the tombstones. Sylvia read that flowers that grew in the countries the soldiers were from were planted around the markers so when family members came to visit they would find a little reminder of home. They also planted them so that the deceased soldiers would lie among familiar flowers.

We wandered over the whole cemetery reading tombstones and looking at the flowers and birds. In the center of the site was where the chateau had been located. All that was left was a set of steps leading up to a mound where the house had stood. Off to one side was a wooden door, which lead into a basement that was used as a field station for treating wounded soldiers.

This reads "A Soldier of the Great War Known Only to God".

Adeline Francis Bradds

Recollections by Ruth Morris Blimes
Grandma Morris was the sweetest, kindest person I ever knew. I don't ever remember her saying an unkind word about anyone. I don't think I ever saw her lose her temper. She had that sweet Virginia drawl all of her life and it tickled us to hear her talk. She used to come up to our house to visit and we only had two bedrooms then, so she had to sleep in my twin bed with me. She always made me say my prayers before I went to sleep and we would lie and talk about things in general. I don't remember what we talked about, but I have fond memories of those times. She used to clean out the icebox (we didn't have an electric fridge then,) and she would make a stew out of all the leftovers. It was awful, but we were forced to eat some of it because she said it was a sin to waste good food. I can still see her wending her way up to the barn. I think she did some of the milking, but her main job was in the milk house behind the house. She ran the cream separator and they sold part of the cream. She would wash all the milk buckets and the equipment needed to get the milk ready to sell. She had a hugh fenced in garden where she planted many kinds of vegetables. When you walked out of the back door, it was just across the yard. I remember she had gooseberry bushes growing along the fence and how I delighted to raid them when the gooseberries were half ripe. There was a persimmon tree up over the bank as you started up to the barn. I don't remember ever eating any of them. They weren't good until it frosted and by then we didn't go down as much. I also remember one time all the grandkids were there and we went out past the milkhouse to a hugh sycamore tree and climbed around on the lower limbs. I don't know whose idea it was to starting yelling and screaming, but we did and it was a lot of fun. What was not so funny was the paddlings Bob and I got for scaring our parents. We were the only ones who got paddled. Family reunions were a lot of fun. More food than we could ever eat and more people than you can shake a stick at. Those were good times.

Obituary of Adeline Francis Bradds
"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the good faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness."

Mrs. Addie Frances Morris, the daughter of John and Margaret Bradds, was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, on October 18, 1867. She departed this life June 27, 1946, at her farm home near Athens, Ohio, at the age of 78 years, 8 months and 9 days. She married Remus Clark Morris in February, 1888, and to this union was born eight children, four daughters and four sons. Her husband and an infant son, John, having preceded her in death, the surviving children are: Nell Porter, New York City; Edith Short, Marietta; Pearl Morris, Athens #3; Helen May, Los Angeles, California; Roy Morris, Nelsonville; Clarence Morris, at home; and Carl Morris, Athens #3; fifteen grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and a host of other relatives and friends. She was converted at the age of twelve and lived a faithful and consistent Christian life until her death. Her beautiful life and character will stand out as a memorial to her children and all who came in contact with her. She was always ready with a helping hand and words of sympathy for those in trouble and distress. She was loved by all who knew her and made friends wherever she went. No word can express what she meant to her children, who were ever ready to care for and cheer her declining years. She will be greatly missed, but our loss will be Heaven's Eternal gain.

As her spirit left her body, she opened her eyes, looking straight beyond. What she saw there filled her with joy and satisfied her, for a sweet smile come over her face. And those who had cared for her so faithfully during her long illness, declared they had never seen a sweeter, more peaceful look on any face. She had beheld Heaven's glory. Shad made the crossing.

Sunset and Evening Star
And one clear call for me,
And may there be no moaning at the bar
When I put out to sea.

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound or foam
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

The True Story of the birth of Adeline Francis Bradds
(Contrary to the above obituary, Addie was not the daughter of John and Margaret. Her mother, Margaret Bradds, never married, Handed down from the Bradds family, the tradition says that Frank Bennington was her father. The Bradds farm and the Bennington farm were adjoining according to the 1850 Rockbridge Co. Census.)

Polygamy Wives of George Plant Ward

Wives of Sylvia's great grandfather, George P. Ward

Front: Lorenzo N.Ward, Sennie Dorthea Nielsen, George Plant Ward, Jr., Mary Ellen Ward Williams, Martha Ann Ward Jensen. 2nd Row: Wilford N. Ward, Alice Jane Ward Roylance, Mary Ann Ward Judy, Rosezina Nielsen Ward Cox, Lucy Ann Ward Curtis, Charles Heber Ward, William Albert Ward, 3rd Row: Alfred N. Ward, Clements George Ward, Edmond A. Ward.

George married his first Wife,Sarah Ann Plant, in England. Even though she never left England her name is included on his tombstone in Rexburg, Idaho.
The daughter of Elizabeth Maversley and John Plant; was born September 23, 1824, at
Walton N. Hants, England. She was married to George P. Ward on March 28, 1849, at West Walton, Norfolk, England.

She and her husband first heard the Gospel preached on the first Sunday in January 1851,and they were both baptized in less than three weeks — on January 23, 1851. She must have been a noble, humble, loyal receptive person and ready for the Gospel. There were only sixteen members in their branch including themselves. This indicates that she immediately entered the spirit of the gospel and assumed her share of the responsibilities and received the joy that comes through service
in the work — for the Lord was with them. Another evidence of her loyalty to the gospel and her husband was when he sold his business and became a missionary and spent eight consecutive years doing missionary work and moving frequently. This leaves evidence that a great deal depended upon her, assisting her husband, caring for her family and assuming the greater part of their responsibilities.
She became the mother of four children; one had died, but she left three small children to mourn the loss of a wonderful mother. One of the children only lived two weeks after her death.
She died at Liverpool, England, January 14, 1859. At the time of her death, her husband was presiding over the Liverpool Conference.

George's second wife was Martha Monks.
She was born September 14, 1839, near Bolton, Lanchestershire,
England, the daughter of John Monks and Alice Fletcher. She was married
in England, July 21, 1860, to George P. Ward, taking the two children his
wife Sarah had left motherless to raise.
They emigrated to Utah in 1861 and settled in Wellsville, Utah, where their first child was born. They then moved to Hyrum, Utah, wherethey lived for about fifteen years and where seven children were born to them.

In 1867, her husband married into polygamy to Sennie Dorthea Nielsen; and again in 1874, he married a fourth wife, Jane Ashworth. These two ladies were called Aunt Sennie and Aunt Jane by the children. They all seemed to be very united because both Sennie and Jane assisted Martha with the washing, cleaning, and work in
general.
In 1878 the families moved to Randolph, Utah, and here Martha bore her ninth child.
Within a year all three wives presented their husband with a baby. Their next move was to Meadowville, Utah. Here Martha bore her tenth and last baby. She buried four of her children while they were babies.
In 1884, Jane Ashworth died leaving a family of four children. Her dying request was for Martha to raise her two little girls; ages ten and two. So again, Martha took two stepchildren, making a total of six of her own and four stepchildren.
Hers was not a life of all sunshine and roses. They were in poor circumstances and had large families. She never allowed her stepchildren to call her mamma. ( Maybe this was because she wanted them to remember their own mothers.) The families moved to Salem, Idaho, in the Snake River Valley in 1884. She was a faithful Latter-day Saint and for some time served as the first president of the Relief Society in the Salem Ward. She died May 8, 1899. Most of her children were married at the time of her death.

More about George's third wife, Sennie Dorthea Nielsen.
She was born September 25, 1846, at Bendslev, Hjerring,
Denmark. She was the daughter of Soren Nielsen and Elsie Marie Jensen. She came to America with her father in 1859 after the death of her mother. They settled in Hyrum, Utah, where she grew up. She earned her own living and in her spare time gathered wool from the fences and weeds; washed and corded it and either spun it into yarn or wove it into cloth and made her own clothes and knit her own
stockings.
Girls in those days were taught by the church that they should marry into polygamy. George P. Ward, though 18 years older than she, called at her home and she invited him to have tea with her. George told her he liked lump sugar. At first her father did not like George, but later learned to like him. On August 18, 1867, she became his wife. Twenty years later, because of the trouble concerning polygamy, she was forced to take her family and go into seclusion. Because of this situation she and her family and the two sons of Jane’s that she was raising had to suffer bitter hardships and privations for over five years in Wyoming where they lived at two different towns.
She was the mother of nine children, three of whom died in childhood. She also raised the two small boys of Jane’s after her death. She and Jane were like sisters and got along very well. She later assisted in raising Rosezina’s family after the death of their father. She cared for the children while the mother earned the living for them. She died February 2, 1927, at Newdale, Idaho, at the age of 80 years.

More about George's fourth wife, Jane Ashworth.
She was born October 4, 1853, at Bolton, Lanchestershire, England, the daughter of
Edmond Ashworth and Alice Monks. Little is known of her life. She came from England and married George P. Ward on March 30, 1874, in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah.
During her married life she lived in Hyrum, Randolph, and Meadowville, Utah. She was
the mother of four children; two girls and two boys. She and her husband’s third wife (Aunt Sennie as she was called) were like sisters and worked together helping the second wife, Martha, and also helped each other. When her fifth child was to be born, she took ill. At the time there was a terrible blizzard and they lived miles from any medical aid. Her husband sent some of his older boys on horseback to get help. He told them of the seriousness of his wife and that they must not spare
the horses. They must go as fast as possible and change horses when possible, but to get help. During those hours of her grave illness, she realized her life was in danger and called her family to her. She told her husband to give the two boys to Aunt Sennie and the girls to Aunt Martha. Her girls were 10 and 2 years of age. She asked the oldest girl to promise she would never do anything mean to her little sister. The girls lived with Aunt Martha until the older one was married and then she took the younger one to live with her. Help did not arrive soon enough to save the mother or baby. Jane died without giving birth to her child. She died at Meadowville, Utah. Her husband was too ill to even attend her funeral. Her name is also included on George's tombstone.