T- The Story of a THIEF

This is a story that has been passed down in my husband's family for many decades.

 It takes place in Ireland in the mid-1600s and involves a man who was caught stealing some sheep. He was then sent to England, where he was caught stealing sheep again and eventually deported to the Colonies. 

Once there, he stole a horse and was subsequently hanged. 

It's unclear what else this ancestor of my husbands may have done to warrant such a severe punishment, but it's been said that some individuals who were caught stealing were branded with the letter "T."

We'll never know for sure if this story is just a story or true. 

S - One Family’s SACRIFICE

 The Chitwood Family

Nancy (1815-1887) and John H Chitwood (1810-1864) of Scott County, Tennessee, had 14 children together. Nancy was my 2nd Grand Aunt. 

John enlisted in Company G of the 2nd Infantry Regiment in October 1861.

On November 6, 1863, during the Battle of Rogersville, John and three of his sons were captured in Rogersville, Tennessee. In their unit, five enlisted soldiers lost their lives, one was injured, 20 officers were captured, and 474 enlisted soldiers were taken as prisoners.

Rogersville was founded by Davy Crockett's grandparents in 1775. During the Civil War in November 1863, the town was the site of a battle between Federal forces who had encamped just outside the town and Confederate troops who invaded. Brigadier General William E. Jones led the Confederate forces, who were able to surprise the Union forces and pursue them across the Holston River into Greene County. The Confederates held the town for the remainder of the war.

During the Civil War, the majority of Union soldiers who were captured were taken to Andersonville, a prison located in Georgia. This prison, which was officially named Camp Sumter, was the largest prison in the South for Union soldiers who had been captured. Unfortunately, the conditions at Andersonville were very unhealthy, and as a result, many of the prisoners died. In total, around 13,000 Union prisoners lost their lives at Andersonville. After the war, the commander of the prison, Captain Henry Wirz (1823-65), was tried, convicted, and executed for committing war crimes.

John D. Chitwood, aged 54, passed away on April 24, 1864, while imprisoned in Andersonville. He was laid to rest at Andersonville Historical Site in Georgia.

Nancy and John had a son named Henry Chitwood (1836-1864), who served in Company G, 2nd Tennessee Infantry, during the Civil War. Henry enlisted on January 8th, 1862 at the age of 25. He fought in the Battle of Rogersville and was eventually taken as a prisoner of war. However, he was later released in a prisoner exchange and sent to Jarvis Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Unfortunately, he passed away in the hospital on July 28th, 1864 due to dysentery.

Daniel M. Chitwood enlisted in Scott County, Tennessee in 1861, and died at the age of 26 on March 19, 1864 at Bell Island Confederate Prison, Richmond  Virginia where he is buried. 

James Harrison Chitwood, born in 1841, joined the Tennessee 2nd Infantry on October 1, 1861. He participated in the Battle of Rogersville and was captured as a prisoner of war. Tragically, he passed away on February 14, 1864, while incarcerated at Bell Island Confederate Prison in Richmond, Virginia. At the time of his death, James was only 23 years old.

During the Civil War, Bell island was used as a prison for Union soldiers. From 1862 to 1865, around 30,000 POWs were held on the island. Unfortunately, as many as 1,000 prisoners died during their captivity, although accounts of the death rate vary. The South claimed that the death rate was low, while the North maintained that it was very high.

In 1864, Peter DeWitt, an Assistant Surgeon at Jarvis Hospital in Baltimore, treated a group of prisoners who had been released from the Belle Isle Prisoner of War camp. He noted that the "great majority" of patients had certain conditions.

"in a semi-state of nudity...laboring under such diseases as chronic diarrhea, phthisis pulmonalis, scurvy, frost bites, general debility caused by starvation, neglect, and exposure. Many of them had partially lost their reason, forgetting even the date of their capture and everything connected with their antecedent history. They resemble, in many respect, patients laboring under cretinism. They were filthy in the extreme, covered in vermin - nearly all were extremely emaciated; so much so that they had to be cared for even like infants"

Andersonville Prison was liberated by the Union Army in May 1865

In fairness, it is worth noting that a Union-run prison for Confederate POWs named "Camp Douglas" was often referred to as "The North's Andersonville." It was the largest Union POW camp. Initially, the Union Army used the camp as a training and organizational facility for volunteer regiments in 1861. However, it became a prisoner-of-war camp in early 1862. The camp was notorious for its abysmal living conditions, which caused a death rate of approximately 15%. Out of the 26,060 prisoners interned over the four years, approximately 4,000 died due to starvation, execution, or exposure.

 "War at the best, is terrible, and this war of ours, in its magnitude and in its duration, is one of the most terrible."

-Abraham Lincoln, 16 June 1864, speech at Philadelphia.

 

R - Dr. Robert Rose - Army Surgeon

I've recently started exploring the new family branch of the family tree - from my mothers side. During my search, I came across Dr. Robert Rose, a surgeon who was born in 1737 in South Hampton, Virginia.

He served in the Revolutionary War with the 1st Continental Light Dragoons, also known as Bland's Horse. The regiment was formed between June and September of 1776 in Williamsburg, Virginia, and was comprised of soldiers from eastern and northern Virginia who served with the Continental Army. The regiment's command structure consisted of a colonel, a lieutenant colonel, and a major, supported by a staff that included a chaplain, a quartermaster, a surgeon and mate, a paymaster, a riding master, a saddler, a trumpet major, an adjutant, and four supernumeraries, which were cadets undergoing training that were used as the colonel's messengers.

The most feared killer in North America at this time was smallpox, which played a critical role in defeating the American invasion of Canada. As a result, Washington implemented a requirement in the winter of 1776–1777 for all new army recruits to undergo inoculation for smallpox before reporting to the army. This requirement was one of the first instances worldwide of that now-common practice. Other diseases including diphtheria, dysentery, malaria, measles, and even scurvy swept through eighteenth-century army camps. Surgery during that time was also primitive, and because microbes and sterilization were not yet understood, those who survived the shock and bleeding risked lethal infections.

During battles, the regimental personnel provided immediate medical care to the wounded soldiers. Once the fighting stopped, the regimental quartermaster would search for the injured using the regiment's fifers and drummers as stretcher-bearers. The hospitals would then conduct long-term treatment with a team of trained medical personnel including physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries. Civilians were also employed as nurses, orderlies, cooks, and other support functions.

Being a battlefield surgeon was a gruesome job.

Here I always thought my dad's side was more interesting. There is so much documentation on this man who would be my 5th great-grandfather - there is still more to find out about him.

Somewhere along the line he bought land and moved to Edgecombe County, North Carolina. 

At this time, not much is known about the years following the war until his death in 1820. He no doubt was still a practicing physician. 

I did find his Last Will and Testament. (copied exactly) 

In the Name of God Amen—I Robert Rose of the County of Edgecomb & State of North Carolina Being of perfect mind & memory—But Calling unto mind the Mortality of my Body & knowing that is appointed for all men once to die, ___ make & ordain this my Last will & Testament----------------

first of all my Just debts to be paid

[left margin of will is cut off on original image]

Item, I give & bequeath unto my Son Reuben Rose Five Shillings

Item, I give & bequeath unto my Daughter Elizabeth Trevathan Wife of Henry Trevathan, Twelve pounds Ten Shillings

Item, I Give and bequeath unto my Daughter Sarah Canady Twenty one pounds Ten Shillings & oneFeather bed &   furniture

Item, and the residue of my Estate to be equally Divided between my sons William Rose Aaron Rose Matthew Rose My Daughters Sarah Canady And Elizabeth Trevathan Equally to be divided Between the five-------------

and I do hereby appoint My Friend Jacob Ing and son William Rose the whole & sole Executors of this my last will & Testament & I do hereby deny all my former wills—ratifying & Confirming this and no other to be my Last will & Testament

In witness wherof I have hereunto set my hand& seal this 29th day May 1816

Robert Rose (his x-mark)

Test

Israel (?) house                                  

Moses Johnson (His x mark)

 

The back of the will:

November Court 1820 Edgecombe County

The within last Will and Testament of Robert Rose decd was exhibited in open Court for Probate and was Duly proven by the oaths of Israel House and Moses Johnston The two subscribing witnesses thereto. And William Rose one of the Executors therein named was at the same time qualified thereto. Ordered that the same be certified and the Will recorded.

Mich Han___

 

"North Carolina, Probate Records, 1735-1970," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-19447-26906-10?cc=1867501&wc=MDR2-RWL:169764201,170981601 : accessed 14 March 2015), Edgecombe > Wills, 1758-1830, Vol. 08 > image 185 of 291; county courthouses, North Carolina.

 

Lastly, I found that he might be buried in Arlington Cemetery according to a document that needs further investigation. I have checked the actual cemetery website and Find-a-grave and other death records and have yet to prove he is buried there - 

Q - San Quentin

 

I can't lay claim to this winner - My stepdaughter asked me to do her family tree and I found her long-lost grandfather. 

He was a Canadian Nationalist who was originally from Ontario. From the 1921 Canadian Census, he was 16 years old. 

In Nov 1921 he came to the USA via the Port of Huron. 

In the 1930 US Census, Max was listed as living in San Francisco and working as a clerk typist in the wholesale industry. He was 25 years old at the time. Unfortunately, he got involved with a bad crowd and was arrested and charged with forgery. Prison records show that he used the aliases, Howard Harris Johnson and Ernest Zottola. 

It's worth noting that many known mobsters had the last name Zottola. 

It's unclear why Max chose to use such a notorious name; perhaps he wasn't very smart. 

Max married this unsuspecting young lady in Los Angeles in 1954, at the age of 36, under the name of Howard Johnson Harris  In June 1955, they had their only child, a daughter. However, the wife eventually found out about Max's lies and filed for divorce. She then moved to San Francisco to raise their daughter. 

It seems that Max didn't learn from his past mistakes and continued to deceive and cheat. My stepdaughter informed me that there was always a lot of secrecy surrounding her mother's family. When I asked her how she felt about it, she simply requested a framed photo of her grandfather. I would feel the same way too!  It is an interesting piece of family history that does not reflect on her or anybody else. 

I must admit, I was a little envious of the intriguing family history, especially the fact that Max had been in San Quentin.