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Showing posts with label Angela Raines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Angela Raines. Show all posts

Sunday, December 1, 2024

Last post of 2024

Post by Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines


Image (C) Doris McCraw

So many people don't care. They are caught up in their own world trying to make ends meet or figure out what happened.

This is an age-old story. It happened to our ancestors and to those left behind when their loved ones went off to war.

Over the last year, I've highlighted the stories of those women who were left behind when their husbands went off to serve during the Civil War. Or perhaps they married after the soldiers returned. Regardless, they were dealing with a country trying to heal itself. They were dealing with men who were scarred by what they experienced.

As I've stated before, we need to honor and remember what they dealt with. We have so much we can learn from how they lived their lives.

I will end with a short piece on the second wife of George Washington Castile (Casteel, Casteele). 

Image from Find a Grave

When Euphamia married George she was nineteen. She immediately became a mother to three boys from George's first marriage. The couple went on to have four of their own with two dying in infancy. 

The couple settled in Colorado Springs, where George eventually became a veterinary surgeon.

Euphamia Gillman Castile was born in Iowa in 1861 and died in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1939. She is buried in a separate area from her husband. 

George Washington Castile

What Euphamia and the other women highlighted over this past year experienced, did, and accomplished is something I'm eternally grateful for. Researching and writing about these women gives me a sense of what can be accomplished, and what I and others are capable of when necessary.

So ends the year of looking at the Civil War, the survivors, and their families. Let's see what 2025 may bring.

Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris

 

Sunday, November 3, 2024

A Thank You to Servicewomen

 Post by Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Image (C) Doris McCraw

I'm taking a break from highlighting Civil War Veteran's Wives to say a thank you to servicewomen who have served the country from our beginning to the present day. 

Women have always been involved in service to the country, be it as a wife who holds the family together while their spouse serves away either in combat from the Revolutionary War to today. 

They have also served as ancillary personnel,  be they nurses or doctors. From the beginning women have also served in actual combat.  From disguising themselves as men to serving as themselves.

Mary Edwards Walker - Female Surgeon 
From the American Civil War
Image from Wikipedia

November contains both Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. It is a month to honor and thank those women who have served the Country in so many ways. I say Thank You.

If you missed any of the past posts about the Civil War here is a starting link:

Martha Douglass - A Veteran's Wife, Twice - Prairie Rose Publications

Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris

Sunday, October 6, 2024

Martha J. Douglass

Post (C) by Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Chapel at Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs
Image (C) Doris McCraw

Martha J. Hurd married William T. Douglass in Menard, Illinois on December 17, 1867. She was born on October 21, 1837, in Illinois. This was Martha's second marriage.

On June 3, 1857, Martha J. Harrison married John J. Hurd. in Menard, Illinois. Then in August of 1862, John enlisted for service in the Union Army and mustered out in September of that same year. He served in Company F of the 114th Illinois Infantry. On June 17, 1863, he died in Duckport, Louisiana of 'pernicious fever' according to the records. 

Martha's second husband William T. Douglass was also in the 114th Illinois Infantry but served in Company K. There is a good chance the two men knew each other, at least by name having lived in the same area. John, who was born in 1834 would have been seven years older than William, who was born in 1841.

Image of the Douglass headstone
from Find A Grave

According to the 1900 census, Martha had born four children, however, none had survived. In an article in the newspaper, land owned by the couple was sold in 1878. 

By 1879, the couple were living in Colorado Springs where they remained. Willam died in 1909 and Martha died on December 9, 1911.

For more on the Civil War Veterans and Wives:

William T. Douglass - Western Fictioneers

Private John H. Long - Western Fictioneers

Isabella Long - Prairie Rose Publications 


Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris












Sunday, August 4, 2024

Rose Bartlett - Rasing Children in the New Town of Colorado Springs.


Post by Doris McCraw

writing as Angela Raines


Photo (C) Doris McCraw

In 1900 Rose E. Bartlett celebrated twenty-eight years of marriage to Ephraim C. Bartlett. The couple, who married around 1872-3 were both from Maine and married in that state. At the time of their marriage, Ephraim was thirty and Rose was twenty-one 

It seems Ephraim had returned to Maine from Pueblo, Colorado where he was living in 1873. Rose had started teaching school at age seventeen. However, census records show she left teaching and listed the occupation as a housewife from her marriage forward. You do have to wonder, with her background, what kind of foundation she gave her children as they grew.

Copy of Old Birth Record
from Ancestry

The couple had seven children, five who were alive in the 1900 census. 

Frank Arthur Bartlett, born 1888 in Colorado, who was a music teacher in Colorado Springs in 1911, died in 1962 in California at the age of seventy-four. He served in World War I as a Sergeant.

Guy Roderick Bartlett, born in 1874 in Colorado, died in 1940, in California at the age of sixty-six. He was married but had no children as far as any records show.

George Powers Bartlett, born in 1885 in Colorado, died in 1974 in Colorado. He was married and had three children.

Harvey Lewis Bartlett, born in Colorado in 1879 died in 1920 in Colorado. He was not married.

Frances Lena Bartlett Hill, born in 1875 in Colorado, lived to be ninety-two and was buried in The Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles, California. So far, I've not located a spouse for Frances.

The other listed child of the couple is Alice Dell Bartlett. She was born in 1877 and died in 1879 in Colorado.

Rose Ella Powers Bartlett died in 1919 just four days shy of her sixty-seventh birthday. She is buried with her husband who preceded her in death in 1912. Although they married after the end of the Civil War, they were both from the same area in Maine and Ephraim may have known Rose before he served the duration of the War.

For other stories in this Civil War series, click the links below.

John H Long -73rd Illinois - Western Fictioneers

Isabella Long - Prairie Rose Publications

Sgt. James W. Bell - Western Fictioneers

Martha Lynn Bell - Prairie Rose Publications

Captain Richmon Finch- Western Fictioneers

Sarah Jane Durkee Anderson - Prairie Rose Publications

Esther Walker, Part 2 - Western Fictioneers

Esther Walker - Prairie Rose Publications

Alpheus R. Eastman - Western Fictioneers Blog

Helen Rood Dillon - Prairie Rose Publications Blog

Virginia Strickler - Prairie Rose Publications Blog

Henry C. Davis - Western Fictioneers Blog

Chester H. Dillon - Western Fictioneers Blog


Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris







 

Sunday, July 7, 2024

Isabell Long? Who and Where

Post (C) Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Evergreen Chapel, Evergreen Cemetery
Colorado Springs, CO
Photo (C) Doris McCraw

We know Isabell Long was the wife of a Civil War Veteran. Her headstone stands next to her husband John H Long. From there it gets murky.

Isabell, according to her headstone was born in 1846 and she died in 1836. Marriage records show she married in Tazewell County, Illinois on February 13, 1864. Pekin, founded in the 1820s along the Illinois River, probably was the largest town in that county. Her husband John had mustered out of the service in Sand Prairie, Tazewell County, Illinois in August of 1863.

Using the above information, Isabell was probably living in the vicinity and the couple may have known each other prior to John entering the service in 1862. 

We know Isabell was born in England. Her maiden name was Joyce. While searching through the immigration records, I found an Isabell Joyce who arrived in New York in 1860 with her mother and about seven other siblings. This Isabell was fourteen at the time. However, there is another Isabell Joyce who arrived in New York in 1851. So far, research has not verified which Isabell is the one who married John H. Long.

Image of the possible ship Isabell may have
taken in 1860
From Ancestry.com

The 1910 census stated the couple had been married forty-seven years, and Isabell had born seven children all of who were still alive at that date. Her youngest was eighteen in 1910.

Isabell outlived her husband dying at about the age of ninety. What stories she could have told.

For other stories in this Civil War series, click the links below.

Sgt. James W. Bell - Western Fictioneers

Martha Lynn Bell - Prairie Rose Publications

Captain Richmon Finch- Western Fictioneers

Sarah Jane Durkee Anderson - Prairie Rose Publications

Esther Walker, Part 2 - Western Fictioneers

Esther Walker - Prairie Rose Publications

Alpheus R. Eastman - Western Fictioneers Blog

Helen Rood Dillon - Prairie Rose Publications Blog

Virginia Strickler - Prairie Rose Publications Blog

Henry C. Davis - Western Fictioneers Blog

Chester H. Dillon - Western Fictioneers Blog


Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris







Sunday, June 2, 2024

Martha Ellen Lynn Bell

 Post (C) Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Photo (C) Doris McCraw

This short post is on Martha Lynn Bell.  She was born in Indiana in 1839 to William and Elizabeth Lynn. By 1850 she and her six siblings were living in Keokuk County, Iowa. Her father was a minister.

She married James W. Bell in Keokuk County, Iowa, sometime between May 28 and May 30, 1859. The couple settled in Steady Run, Keokuk County, Iowa.

The couple remained in Keokuk County, Steady Run through 1870. By the 1880 census, the couple and their two daughters were living in Luka, Pratt County, Kansas. 

Possible photo of Martha
from Find A Grave

In 1883 the couple arrived in Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado. During their marriage, other than when James was serving in the Iowa Infantry during the Civil War, she was raising their daughters. The census records always show her as a housewife. James was a carpenter.

Martha passed on March 2, 1892, at fifty-three of pneumonia. 

For those who want to learn more about Keokuk County, Iowa, here is a link to the 1996 Sesquicentennial video: History of Keokuk County, Iowa

For links to past writing on Civil War Veterans and Civil War Wives: 

Captain Richmon Finch- Western Fictioneers

Sarah Jane Durkee Anderson - Prairie Rose Publications

Esther Walker, Part 2 - Western Fictioneers

Esther Walker - Prairie Rose Publications

Alpheus R. Eastman - Western Fictioneers Blog

Helen Rood Dillon - Prairie Rose Publications Blog

Virginia Strickler - Prairie Rose Publications Blog

Henry C. Davis - Western Fictioneers Blog

Chester H. Dillon - Western Fictioneers Blog


Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris







Sunday, May 5, 2024

Sarah Jane Durkee Anderson

Post (C) Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Photo (C) Doris McCraw
Chapel @ Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs, CO.

Sarah Jane Durkee Anderson was born to St. Louis, Missouri banker Dwight Durkee, and Sarah Jane Davis Durkee in March of 1856. This made her, according to the 1972 book, " Five Hundred First Families of America", by Alexander Du Bin, a person of some importance, in terms of her heritage. 

So far, there is not much to be found about Sarah's early life. She was one of probably four children. She married Dr. Boswell P. Andersonm born around 1845, on January 2, 1879, at the Church of Holy Communion (?), in St. Louis. Her parents were in attendance, and according to the records, helped serve as witnesses. The couple settled in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Dr. Anderson was an early doctor in the region and was instrumental in much of the growth of the medical mecca of the area, including a term as the President of the Colorado Medical Society. He served in the CSA as one of Mosby's raiders in the Civil War and carried a bullet for the rest of his life from that conflict.

As the wife of such a prominent person, Sarah took part in charity events, traveled, and raising three of the couple's surviving six children. She was part of a circle of prominent people in the region.

The below article from the March 30, 1912 issue of the Rocky Mountain News illustrates this point.



Her husband passed on August 29, 1919. Sarah lived another twenty-one years, passing on July 10, 1940, at age eighty-six.

Given her background, she was probably comfortable in the circle of people she associated with. However, one does wonder how she fared with such a prominent husband who, according to stories, drank and partied fairly heavily. We can only infer, for no records of writings exist or have been found so far. As a historian, I can only hope.

One thing is certain, Sarah and her husband worked together along with others in the community leaving the conflict that was the Civil War out of their part in the growing community. The history wasn't hidden, it simply was not the most important part of their community involvement.

For links to past writing on Civil War Veterans and Civil War Wives: 

Esther Walker, Part 2 - Western Fictioneers

Esther Walker - Prairie Rose Publications

Alpheus R. Eastman - Western Fictioneers Blog

Helen Rood Dillon - Prairie Rose Publications Blog

Virginia Strickler - Prairie Rose Publications Blog

Henry C. Davis - Western Fictioneers Blog

Chester H. Dillon - Western Fictioneers Blog

For anyone interested, I have a monthly substack newsletter: Thoughts and Tips on History


Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris

  



Sunday, April 7, 2024

Esther Walker - Civil War Wife? - Civil War Nurse

Post by Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Evergreen Chapel, Evergreen Cemetery,
Colorado Springs, CO.
Photo(C) Doris McCraw

This post is unique to the Civil War Veterans/Civil War Wives buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs. Her story also has many blank places that may never be filled, but I hold out hope.

Like the story of many women from this time period, their lives were not documented. Many of their efforts and events weren't written about. Of course, there are exceptions, unfortunately, Esther's story is not the exception.

She came to my attention as the only female amongst the headstones in the GAR section of the cemetery, however, her stone is removed from the cluster of Civil War Veterans. This set up an intriguing puzzle and one that started this journey of her life. As with most of the stories I research it begins with the death and moves around from there.

Esther's birth is sometime between 1837 and 1844 in Ireland according to census records. She immigrated to the United States around 1853 but her name at that time is still hiding.

Next, according to the GAR/s records, Esther was a nurse with the New York 18th Army Corps enlisted on April 23, 1861, and was discharged on December 3, 1864. 

From here the trail gets murky and even more winding. 

In the 1880 census, we find Esther Dayton, the surname of her children, living on Saginaw St. in Flint, Michigan. Her occupation is listed as a dressmaker. She is also a widow. This record was found by backtracking her sons who were living here in Colorado at the time of her death.

Now, here comes the interesting pieces.

In the 1895 census, Esther is in Ireton, Iowa, and has the surname Walker. 1900 census she is living with James Walker in Iowa. According to the census they married in 1871. James was about twenty years older than Esther. 

As you can see, she was in Michigan with her children in 1880 and the name Dayton. Yet, all records indicate Dayton and Walker are both the same person.

I'll continue the story on the Western Fictioneers blog as she is a veteran also.

Other posts in this series: 

Alpheus R. Eastman - Western Fictioneers Blog

Helen Rood Dillon - Prairie Rose Publications Blog

Virginia Strickler - Prairie Rose Publications Blog

Henry C. Davis - Western Fictioneers Blog

Chester H. Dillon - Western Fictioneers Blog

For anyone interested, I have a monthly substack newsletter: Thoughts and Tips on History


Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris