Notable Kin: “Wild Bill” Hickok

1. John Doggett m. Alice Brotherton
2. Thomas Daggett m. Hannah Mayhew
3. Thomas Daggett m. Elizabeth Hawes
4. Benjamin Daggett m. Margery Homes
5. Benjamin Daggett m. Elizabeth Hathaway
6. Love Daggett m. Elijah Luce
7. William S. Luce m. Huldah Rogers
8. Alonzo Luce m. Catherine Finley
9. Alonzo Edwin Luce m. Mary Alice Byrd
10. Edna Marie Luce m. Percy Henry Miller
11. Larry Gerald Miller m. Janet Jeanette DeLong
12. James Dean Miller

1. John Doggett m. Alice Brotherton
2. Thomas Daggett m. Hannah Mayhew
3. Jemima Daggett m. Thomas Butler
4. Israel Butler m. Elizabeth Blossom
5. Benjamin Butler m. Susannah (Sarah?) Whiting
6. James Butler m. Unis Kinsley
7. Polly Butler m. William Alonzo Hickok
8. James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok*

* “Calamity Jane” whose real name was Martha Jane Canary who claimed to have married “Wild Bill,” was born May 1, 1852, in Princeton, Mercer County, Missouri the same county as my great grandmother, Mary Alice Byrd who was born there on July 28, 1887.

Review: A Hell Of A Storm

AHell of a Storm: The Battle for Kansas, the End of Compromise, and the Comingof the Civil War

By David S. Brown

With the passage of “An Act to suppress the Slave Trade in the District of Columbia,” on September 20, 1850, the fight for and against slavery seemed to be over. It was the final puzzle piece to be fitted into the Compromise of 1850, with its sister acts finalizing the Texas border, California statehood, establishing a territorial government for Utah, and a stricter Fugitive Slave Act. The debate over slavery still raged, but the United States settled into an uneasy peace. That is until January 4, 1854 when Senator Stephen A. Douglas reported his Kansas-Nebraska bill to the main body of the United States Senate. Stephens’ bill sought to overturn the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and established the idea “popular sovereignty” assigning each new territory the power to decide by a vote of its residents to enter the Union either as a slave state or a free state. After months of debates, the bill was passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives and signed into law on May 30, 1854 by President Franklin Pierce.

David S. Brown explores how the Kansas-Nebraska Act unexpectedly became the greatest miscalculation in American history, dividing North and South, creating the Republican party, and paving the way for the Civil War in his book “A Hell of a Storm: The Battle for Kansas, The End Of Compromise, and the Coming of the Civil War.” Though the subtitle of this book implies a focus on the Kansas-Nebraska act and the events in “Bleeding Kansas,” the narrative does not. The author himself states in interviews that he had always wanted to write something on Henry David Thoreau and the publication of “Walden” in 1854. That same year George Fitzhugh, published his most powerful attack on the philosophical foundations of free society, “Sociology for the South, or, the Failure of Free Society.” In it Fitzhugh was critical of the industrial north & argues for a return to agrarianism as it existed in the South. Taken together with the “Walden,” “Sociology for the South” and the Kansas-Nebraska Act form the framework of Brown’s narrative.

“A Hell of a Storm” often tangentially strays away from the Kansas-Nebraska Act and Bloody Kansas, instead in Brown’s narrative the Kansas-Nebraska Act functions like a stone thrown into the middle Walden Pond and its outward rippling effects.

Among others featured in Brown’s book are Stephen A. Douglas, the “doughfaced” Senator from Illinois and the author of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and his rival both in love and politics, Abraham Lincoln who would go on to be the 16th President of the United States; Ralph Waldo Emerson, the essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century; the author of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” Harriet Beecher Stowe; William Walker, the filibusterer who organized unauthorized military expeditions into Mexico and Central America with the intention of establishing colonies where slavery could flourish; Senator Henry Clay from Kentucky, the “Great Compromiser,” who introduced the failed omnibus bill which Stephen Douglas broke up the bill into its individual parts which were passed by Congress one bill at a time, making the Comprise of 1850; Salmon P. Chase who would go on to become the 23rd Governor of Ohio, United States Senator from Ohio, 25th United States Secretary of the Treasury during the Lincoln Administration, and the 6th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court; Horace Greeley, the neck bearded founder and editor of the New York Tribune; Anthony Burns, a fugitive slave from Virginia whose capture and trial in Boston, and transport back to Virginia, generated wide-scale public outrage in the North and increased support for abolition;  Sojourner Truth; there is a whole chapter dedicated to Martin Delany, who staunchly advocated  African Americans to leave the United States to settle in Central or South America as he feared racism would trump everything in America; Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, wife of founding father Alexander Hamilton who died in 1854; Harriet Tubman; John Brown; Alvan E. Bovay, one of the founders of the Republican Party; who led the crusade to ensure that the Kansas Territory would enter into the United States as a free state; and United States Congressman and abolitionist Joshua R. Giddings.

Given its slightly misleading subtitle I still would absolutely recommend “A Hell of a Storm” to those interested in the antebellum era. It is extremely well researched and written in an easily read narrative.

ISBN 978-1668022818, Scribner, © 2024, Hardcover, 352 pages, Photographs, End Notes & Index. $32.00. To purchase this book click HERE.

Review: Kidnapped at Sea

Kidnappedat Sea: The Civil War Voyage of David Henry

by Andrew Sillen

There are things we know, things we don’t know and things we don’t know that we don’t know. We will never know the experience of David Henry Wight, an illiterate, free, Black, teenaged sailor from Lewes, Delaware, who on October 9, 1862 was kidnapped from the Philadelphia-based packet ship Tonawanda by Raphael Semmes, Captain of the Confederate raider CSS Alabama upon which White was enslaved until he perished during its duel with the USS Kearsarge off the coast of Cherbourg, France on June 19, 1864.

David Henry White left few written records to document his short time on Earth. And yet Dr. Andrew Sillen, a visiting research scholar in the department of anthropology at Rutgers University, has written an unconventional biography of White. Much like Sebastian Junger was able to tell the story of the Andrea Gail in his book “The Perfect Storm,” Sillen too, tells the story of David Henry White, not by his own narrative, but by the narratives of those around him, and thus by piecing together their narratives he is able to create a narrative of White’s life by the preponderance of evidence, even without a personal narrative viewpoint.

By comparing and contrasting differing narrative views, Sillen disposes of false narratives put forth by Raphel Semmes and other secondary sources who claimed that White was a contented slave, and creates a solid narrative that flows from White’s humble beginnings to his untimely death.

“Kidnapped At Sea” is well researched and well written in an easily readable style. I would highly recommend it for students of the American Civil War, slavery and maritime history.

ISBN 978-1421449517, Johns Hopkins University Press, © 2024, Hardcover, 352 pages, Photographs, Maps, Illustrations, Tables, End Notes, Bibliography & Index. $32.95. To purchase this book click HERE.

Review: The North Star

The North Star: Canada and the Civil War Plots Against Lincoln

by Julian Sher

When most people think about Canada’s participation in the American Civil War they naturally conclude that America’s northern neighbor served as a haven for fugitive slaves and nothing else. The truth is a much more complicated and nuanced story; Canadians either directly or indirectly participated on both sides of the conflict.

Award-winning journalist and author Julian Sher relates the true history of the Canadian involvement in the war the tore the United States apart in his book “The North Star: Canada and the Civil War Plots Against the Union.

Among those covered in “The North Star” are: George Taylor Denison III, who was an enthusiastic supporter of the Confederate cause who bankrolled Confederate operations and opened his mansion to their agents; Anderson Ruffin Abbott, the first Black Canadian to be licensed as a physician who joined the Union Army; Sarah Emma Edmonds, a New Brunswick woman who disguised herself as a man named Franklin Flint Thompson and enlisted in Company F of the 2nd Michigan Infantry and served with the Union Army as a field nurse and later a spy who travelled into enemy territory to gather information, requiring her to come up with many disguises; and Edward P. Doherty who formed and led the detachment of soldiers that captured and killed John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln.

“The North Star” is well researched and written, Sher’s narrative is easily read and engaging and highlights many aspects Canadian participation in the American Civil War of which many Americans and Canadians remain simply ignorant.

ISBN 978-1039000292, Knopf Canada, © 2023, Hardcover, 480 pages, Photographs, Sources and End Notes, & Index. $28.00. To purchase this book click HERE.

Witches In The Family: Rebecca Nurse, Mary Esty & Sarah Cloyce

My line of descent from Rebecca (Towne) Nurse:

1. William Towne m. Joanna Blessing
2. Rebecca Towne¹ m. Francis Nurse
3. Samuel Nurse m. Mary Smith
4. Rebecka Nurse m. Jonathan Kinney
5. Eunice Kenney m. Aaron Gleason
6. Thomas Gleason m. Sarah Streeter
7. Thomas Gleason m. Mary Mellen
8. Aaron Gleason m. Eunice Kenney
9. Henry Gleason m. Hannah (--?--)
10. Amasa Gleason m. Aner Griffith
11. Emmett Gleason m. Mary Foster
12. Marcus S. Gleason m. Angeline "Anna" Thrasher
13. Edith Lillian Gleason m. David William DeLong
14. Leonard Everett DeLong m. Gladys Lucille Hall
15. Darrell DeLong m. Betty Jean Osborn
16. Janet Jeanette DeLong m. Larry Gerald Miller
17. James Dean Miller

1. William Towne m. Joanna Blessing
2. Mary Towne² m. Isaac Esty

1. William Towne m. Joanna Blessing
2. Sarah Towne³ m. Peter Cloyce

_______________

¹  Accused of witchcraft and executed by hanging on July 19, 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts.

² Accused of witchcraft and executed by hanging on September 22, 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts.

³ Accused of witchcraft, held without bail and released after the  witch trials were ended by Governor Phips in 1693.

My Mayflower Ancestors

1. John Tilley* m. Joan Hurst*
2. Elizabeth Tilley* m. John Howland*
3. Desire Howland m. John Gorham
4. Desire Gorham m. John Hawes
5. Elizabeth Hawes m. Thomas Daggett
6. Benjamin Daggett m. Margery Homes
7. Benjamin Daggett m. Elizabeth Hathaway
8. Love Dagget m. Elijah Luce
9. William S. Luce m. Huldah Rogers
10. Alonzo Luce m. Catherine Finley
11. Alonzo E. Luce m. Mary Alice Byrd
12. Edna Luce m. Percy Miller
13. Larry Miller m. Janet DeLong
14. James D. Miller

1. Richard Warren* m. Elizabeth (--?--)
2. Sarah Warren m. John Cooke
3. Sarah Cooke m. Arthur Hathaway
4. John Hathaway m. Patience Hunnewell
5. Benjamin Hathaway m. Elizabeth Richmond
6. Elizabeth Hathaway m. Benjamin Daggett
7. Love Dagget m. Elijah Luce
8. William S. Luce m. Huldah Rogers
9. Alonzo Luce m. Catherine Finley
10. Alonzo E. Luce m. Mary Alice Byrd
11. Edna Luce m. Percy Miller
12. Larry Miller m. Janet DeLong
13. James D. Miller

1. Francis Cooke* m. Hester le Mahieu
2. John Cooke* m. Sarah Warren
3. Sarah Cooke m. Arthur Hathaway
4. John Hathaway m. Patience Hunnewell
5. Benjamin Hathaway m. Elizabeth Richmond
6. Elizabeth Hathaway m. Benjamin Daggett
7. Love Dagget m. Elijah Luce
8. William S. Luce m. Huldah Rogers
9. Alonzo Luce m. Catherine Finley
10. Alonzo E. Luce m. Mary Alice Byrd
11. Edna Luce m. Percy Miller
12. Larry Miller m. Janet DeLong
13. James D. Miller

1. Thomas Rogers* m. Elsgen (--?--)
2. Joseph Rogers* m. Hannah (--?--)
3. John Rogers m. Elizabeth Twining
4. John Rogers m. Priscilla Hamblin
5. Ebenezer Rogers m. Hannah Cooke
6. Joshua Rogers m. Elizabeth Cole
7. Joshua Rogers m. Mercy Higgins
8. Richard Rogers m. Thankful Cahoon
9. Huldah Rogers m. William S. Luce
10. Alonzo Luce m. Catherine Finley
11. Alonzo E. Luce m. Mary Alice Byrd
12. Edna Luce m. Percy Miller
13. Larry Miller m. Janet DeLong
14. James D. Miller

1. Stephen Hopkins* m. (--?--)
2. Giles Hopkins* m. Catherine Wheldon
3. Deborah Hopkins m. Josiah Cooke
4. Richard Cooke m. Hannah (pos. Smith?)
5. Hannah Cooke m. Ebenezer Rogers
6. Joshua Rogers m. Elizabeth Cole
7. Joshua Rogers m. Mercy Higgins
8. Richard Rogers m. Thankful Cahoon
9. Huldah Rogers m. William S. Luce
10. Alonzo Luce m. Catherine Finley
11. Alonzo E. Luce m. Mary Alice Byrd
12. Edna Luce m. Percy Miller
13. Larry Miller m. Janet DeLong
14. James D. Miller

1. William Brewster* m. Mary (--?--)*
2. Patience Brewster m Thomas Prence
3. Rebecca Prence m. Edmund Freeman, Jr.
4. Rebecca Freeman m. Ezra Perry, Jr.
5. Mary Perry m. Isaac Bumpas
6. Deborah Bumpas m. Uriah Savery
7. Isaac Savery m. Deliverance Clifton
8. Isaac Savery m. (--?--)
9. Eloisa Matilda Savery m. Allen Thrasher
10. Angelina Thrasher m. Marcus S. Gleason
11. Edith L. Gleason m. David W. DeLong
12. Leonard DeLong m. Gladys Hall
13. Darrell Delong m. Betty Osborn
14. Janet DeLong m. Larry Miller
15. James D. Miller

1. Isaac Allerton* m. Mary Norris*
2. Mary Allerton* m. Thomas Cushman
3. Eleazer Cushman m. Elizabeth Coombs
4. John Cushman m. Joanna Pratt
5. Charles Cushman m. Mary Harvey
6. Isaac Cushman m. Lois (--?--)
7. Sibilla Cushman m. Asa Walker
8. Lois Walker m. Noah Stevens
9. Lois Stevens m. Henry L. Hatch
10. Eunice E. Hatch m. Ephraim H. Low
11. Edna Ann Low m. Grover C. Osborn
12. Betty J. Osborn m. Darrell A. DeLong
13. Janet J. DeLong m. Larry G. Miller
14. James D. Miller

1. Degory Priest* m. Sarah Allerton (Sister Mayflower Passenger of Isaac Allerton)
2. Sarah Priest m. John Coombs
3. John Coombs m. Elizabeth Royall
4. Elizabeth Coombs M. Eleazer Cushman
5. John Cushman m. Joanna Pratt
6. Charles Cushman m. Mary Harvey
7. Isaac Cushman m. Lois (--?--)
8. Sibilla Cushman m. Asa Walker
9. Lois Walker m. Noah Stevens
10. Lois Stevens m. Henry L. Hatch
11. Eunice E. Hatch m. Ephraim H. Low
12. Edna Ann Low m. Grover C. Osborn
13. Betty J. Osborn m. Darrell A. DeLong
14. Janet J. DeLong m. Larry G. Miller
15. James D. Miller

* = Mayflower Passengers

Gladys DeLong Dies Thursday

Funeral Services were held Monday, April 1, for Gladys Lucille DeLong, 68, who died at the Clarke County Public Hospital on Thursday, March 28, 1974. The Rev. George V. Neal conducted the 2 p.m. funeral from the Webster-Kale Funeral Home in Osceola. Interment was in Maple Hill Cemetery, Osceola.

Gladys Lucille Delong was born February 22, 1906, in Decatur County, Iowa, daughter of Roy Hall and Mary Sales Hall. She attended schools in Weldon and was married to Leonard D. [sic] (Peck) Delong in Ottumwa on October 1, 1927. Four children were born to this union.

She was a life time resident of this area and worked as a cashier at the Osceola Hy-Vee Store. She was affiliated with the Christian church.

Survivors include son Darrell DeLong and wife, Betty of Osceola; daughter Alice June Mason and husband Danny of Osceola; son, Richard DeLong and wife, Louella of Osceola; and daughter Dixie Lee Binns and husband John of Osceola; 14 grand children; eight great grandchildren; one sister Bess McLain of Osceola; three brothers Ralph Hall of Waterloo; Robert Hall of State Center and Olin Hall of Washington D. C.

She was preceded in death by her parents; two brothers, Neil and Burdette; and one sister in infancy.

—Published in the Osceola Tribune, Osceola, Clarke County, Iowa on Tuesday, April 2nd, 1974, p. 8

Roy Earnest Hall: Obituary

Roy Earnest Hall, son of Ed and Flora Nell Hall, was born August 8, 1882, near Weldon and departed this life March 1, 1956 in Des Moines, at the age of 73 years, 6 months and 7 days.

On August 10, 1902, he was united in marriage to Mary Sales of Leon. To this union eight children were born.

He was preceded in death by his wife in 1951, an infant daughter in 1911, his father, mother, three sisters and two brothers. He leaves to cherish his memory five sons and two daughters: Burdette Hall of Glidden, Mrs. Gladys DeLong and Mrs. Bess McLain of Osceola, Ralph Hall of Tama; Neil Hall of Des Moines; Robert Hall of Williams, and Olin Hall of Sioux Falls, So. Dakota. Also nineteen grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, an aunt, Della Keeler of Osceola, and other relatives and friends.

With the exception of a few years spent in New Mexico and Oklahoma, Roy lived in Clarke and Decatur Counties as a farmer and auctioneer.

He was a most devoted father and grandfather, and will be sadly missed in the family circle.

Funeral services were held at Leon Friday, March 9 at 2:00 p.m. from the Stewart funeral home with Rev. Cecil Murrow of Des Moines and Rev. Geo. Lam of Leon officiating. Burial was in the Leon cemetery.

—Published in the Osceola Sentinel, Osceola, Clarke County, Iowa on Thursday, March 15th, 1956, p. 8

Harry Claude Hall: Obituary

Harry Claude Hall, Oldest son of Mr. and Mrs. E. P. Hall was born Sept. 8, 1880 in Decatur county, Iowa, and departed this life at his home in Lucas, Jan. 21, 1954, at the age of 73 years, 4 months and 13 days.

His boyhood days were spent on a farm near Van Wert. He then went to Oklahoma and New Mexico where he remained a number of years. He was united in marriage to Essie Wells on June 3, 1903, in Catoosa, Okla., and most of their married life was spent in Lucas, Iowa. He was a member of the Christian church in Weldon.

He was preceded in death by his father and mother, three sisters and one brother. Besides the sorrowing wife, he leaves to mourn their loss one brother Roy Hall of Osceola and several nieces and nephews.

During the years of his active life he made many friends over the county and was respected as an honest, upright citizen. He will be sincerely missed by all who knew him.

Pallbearers were Ralph Hall, Nell Hall, Burdette Hall, Morris Keeler, Wayne Keeler and Bob Hall.

Funeral services were held at the Lucas Presbyterian church Sunday, Jan. 24, at 2 p.m. They were conducted by Rev. A. E. Beals, assisted by Rev. Cecil Morrow of Des Moines. Burial was in the Green Bay Cemetery in Clarke county.

—Published in the Osceola Sentinel, Osceola, Clarke County, Iowa on Thursday, January 28th, 1954, p. 2