Month: August 2021

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Ghostly Encounter

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I love uncovering the stories that are embedded in the lives of our ancestors. This one comes from a history of the Webb family of White County, Tennessee written by Charles C. Webb. It involves Washington Webb (born 1813). He was the first cousin of my niece’s husband (6 times removed).

“Washington was not afraid of anything except ghosts. It seems that on most Saturday evenings, Washington would walk a few miles to visit with Wayman Webb. He would come after dark and would leave after midnight.

His grandchildren learned of his fear of ghosts. On one Saturday evening they took a white sheet and went down the road and scared him as he was passing by. The boys ran through the woods and were back in the house when Washington arrived out of breath. He began telling of how he could not get away from the ghost when the boys laughed. He knew what had happened and stated that the next time anyone tried to scare him that they would get bullets. The boys did not have the nerve to try the prank again.

Sometime later, Washington arrived on a Saturday evening and calmly stated that someone had tried to scare him and that they would find the body down the road in a fence row.

At first the boys were not impressed, then they decided to take a lantern and investigate. In a zig-zag rail fence on a neighbor’s farm, they found a white jersey cow with several bullet holes in her. She was only guilty of grazing in the moonlight and raising her head above the fence to look at Washington as he passed.

Washington paid for the cow, but no one ever tried to scare him after that.”

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of film, videotapes, audio recordings, photos, negatives, and slides. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit our website.

Half-Breed

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The only thing I really knew about “half-breeds” was the 1973 song by Cher which, to be honest, did not paint the prettiest of pictures. But I was able to add to my understanding of what the French-Canadians call Métis when I found a relative that could be counted among them.

Claude “Old War” Caron, the 3rd great grandfather of my daughter-in-law’s great grand aunt, was born in 1710 to a French Canadian fur trader and a Abnaki Indian woman. This was hardly unusual at the time. Relations between the French settlers and native Indians was quite common, in fact encouraged, as a natural dependency formed between the two cultures.

Claude elected to live among his mother’s people, married a Menominee woman named Wau Pe Se Sui (“The Wild Potato”) and eventually became a Menominee chief. They bore sons who became chiefs of their own clans within the Menominee tribe. Iometah became chief of the bear clan; Chawanon became chief of the buffalo clan; and Tomah, the most “famous” of the Carons, was the chief of the prairie chicken clan.

The Menominee Indian Tribe dates back some 10,000 years and, at the beginning of the treaty era, occupied a land mass of around 10 million acres. This was continually reduced as they entered into a series of seven treaties with the United States government until they were left with only 235,000 acres today.

In the 1950s, the US Congress attempted to deprive the Menominee people of their cultural identity by removing federal recognition of their tribe. A long and difficult grassroots movement ensued which was eventually successful by the passing the Menominee Restoration Act in 1973 which restored their status.

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of film, videotapes, audio recordings, photos, negatives, and slides. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit our website.

Battle of Kings Mountain

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The year was 1780. American patriots were still reeling from the siege of Charleston in May, followed by a defeat at the Battle of Camden a few months later. British general Cornwallis was on the march through the Carolinas. To protect his flank, he commanded Major Patrick Ferguson to move into North Carolina while, at the same time, recruit men that would fight with his loyalist militia. Ferguson did not count on the response he received from the Overmountain Men.

These were the hale and hearty residents of the Carolina backcountry and Appalachian mountain range who, upon hearing the threats of Ferguson who was “ordering” them to cross the mountain and take the oath of allegiance to the King or else be destroyed with fire and sword, faced the challenge head on. 

The plan was simple, attack Ferguson’s fortified position which was located on a rocky hilltop called King’s Mountain a few miles from the South Carolina border. With the instructions not to wait for word of command but rather let each man be his own officer; to shout like hell and fight like devils, the Americans assaulted the hill from all sides. The battle lasted 65 minutes and ended when Ferguson was killed and his men surrendered.

Colonel William Campbell commanded the Washington County militia from Virginia and one of his company leaders was Capt. William Bowen. Bowen was taken ill before the battle and the command of his company fell upon his brother, Lt. Rees Bowen.  Rees, a champion prize fighter described as a “giant in size and strength,” was the 6th great grandfather of my niece’s husband. He was said to have had an aversion to the patriot practice of firing from behind trees and rocks. “Never shall it be said that I sought safety by hiding my person or dodging from a Briton or a Tory who opposed me in the field.” It may have led to his death as he became a casualty of that battle, taking a rifle ball to the chest.

Thomas Jefferson, commenting on the victory, called it “the turn of the tide of success.” Theodore Roosevelt said this “brilliant victory was the turning point for the American Revolution.” President Herbert Hoover ranked the importance of the battle aside Lexington, Bunker Hill, Trenton and Yorktown.

The Battle of King’s Mountain was one of the few major battles of the Revolution fought entirely by fellow countrymen. Loyalists vs patriots. No formal British troops were involved except for Ferguson himself.

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of film, videotape, audio recordings, photos, negatives and slides. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit our website.

Golden-Tongued Orator

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Today’s blog is about the son of a man who was on our family tree for all of eleven days.

Temple Lea Houston was the son of Sam Houston (who we wrote about previously). But his father died when he was only three so he had no memory of the man. Still, the shadow of the great Texas leader loomed large. Temple vowed to be remembered not as the son of Sam Houston but on his own merits. He succeeded.

He was extremely skilled in two specific areas: He was a gifted orator which led him to a career as a lawyer, and he was deadly quick with a six-shooter which kept him alive when his first skill made him enemies.

He is best remembered for his unusual defenses during what should have been open and shut cases for the prosecution.  In one, where a young cowboy had stolen a horse and killed its owner, Temple argued that, since the deceased was a well-known gunslinger, his client had no choice but to draw and fire first. It was a matter of self-preservation. He then demonstrated how quickly a gunfighter can act by whipping his gun from beneath his cloak and firing it into the ceiling. Pandemonium ensued. The judge ducked beneath his bench, spectators dived out the window, and the jurors rushed from the room. He then quickly called for a mistrial as the jury was not sequestered. It was granted.

In his most famous case, that of Minnie Stacey, a known prostitute who was accused of plying her trade, Temple was at the courthouse when the unrepresented Stacey’s case was called. He offered his services on the spot and after conferring with her for ten minutes announced that he was ready to proceed. Instead of presenting evidence of her innocence (there wasn’t any), he instead launched into a 30 minute extemporaneous speech about the sad life of his newly acquired client. One newspaper described it as “the most remarkable, the most spellbinding, heart-rending tearjerker ever to come from the mouth of man.” Everyone was moved to tears including the judge, the prosecutor, and the defendant. 

Temple ended his argument with “The Master, while on Earth, though he spoke in wrath and rebuke to kings and rulers, never reproached any of such women as Minnie Stacey; one he forgave, the other he acquitted. Do as your Master did. Tell her to go in peace.” Minnie was acquitted in minutes and Temple’s  speech, copied word for word by the court stenographer, was framed and is now hanging in the Library of Congress where it is still studied by law students today as one of the finest examples of extemporaneous speaking in the English language.

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of film, videotape, audio recordings, photos, negatives, and slides. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit our website.

Steamboat John

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In school I was taught certain historical facts:  Thomas Edison invented the light bulb; Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin; and Robert Fulton invented the steamboat. What I wasn’t taught was that there might be another story… one that involved an ancestor.

John Fitch was born in 1743 and raised in what some have called an unhappy home life. He followed that some twenty years later with an unhappy marriage before becoming what might be best described as “a wanderer.”  He abandoned his wife and child and with limited formal education, became a self-taught watchmaker, turned gunsmith when the American revolution required that skill. His alignment with the revolutionary forces led to his property being destroyed by the British. He wandered a bit more and after being captured by Indians and enduring a year-long imprisonment, he found himself penniless in Warminster Pennsylvania. It was here he first began developing the idea of a steam powered engine. The year was 1782.

He built prototypes, found and lost investors, and even though his designs and resulting vessels proved mechanically successful, he never managed to generate enough financial “steam” to propel his ideas forward. Having hit a brick wall in the US, he traveled to France and Britain to try to to raise capital there but returned dejected and distraught.

He died in 1798, thinking himself a failure. As he wrote in his journal, “ The day will come when some more powerful man will get fame and riches from my invention; but nobody will believe that poor John Fitch can do anything worthy of attention.” That “some more powerful man” he prophesied about was Robert Fulton who, in 1807, would revolutionize river traffic by introducing a steamboat (the Clermont) that took passengers some 300 miles along the Hudson.

A legislative committee ruled in 1817 that Fulton’s ship was identical to the designs that were patented by Fitch back in 1791.  It was learned that, in 1793 while in France, Fulton was given access to Fitch’s designs as well as the time to study them. John Fitch, the true “inventor” of the steamboat, is the third cousin to my sons (seven times removed). 

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of film, videotapes, audio recordings, photos, negatives and slides. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit our website.

Unlucky in Love

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I remember learning about Sam Houston in school. President of Texas, instrumental in securing Texas independence through his defeat of Mexican leader Santa Anna in the Battle of San Jacinto; namesake of the fourth largest city in America. But all that might never have occurred… due to a failed marriage which involved my 3rd great grand-aunt.

In 1829, Houston was the 36 year old governor of Tennessee. He decided to court 19 year old Eliza Allen (my ancestor). Her family, aristocratic as they were, believed Houston would make a great catch for the young girl so they encouraged the union. The resulting marriage lasted only eleven weeks. Neither Eliza nor Sam ever publicly talked about the reason for the separation although rumors ran rampant because Houston did not just leave the marriage…he resigned his office of governor and went into seclusion, living among the Cherokees for three years. He even took a Cherokee woman as wife, despite not having received a divorce from Eliza.

As for her, she returned to her family. Besides never talking about her failed marriage, she instructed that upon her death, all letters and images of her should be burned in an attempt to keep the past hidden from public view.

However, the family stories still exist. One in particular tells a tale that, had it played out differently, might have had a devastating effect on the future of our nation.

When Houston fled the marriage and Tennessee, Eliza’s brother and another family member reportedly went after him to defend her honor by killing him if need be. Supposedly, they caught up to him in Clarksville but when they confronted him, he gave such an impassioned plea that he did no ill to Eliza nor did she to him, they decided to let him continue his way into Indian territory.

Whatever Houston said was enough to spare a life that would go onto to help galvanize a nation. Houston eventually decided to leave the Cherokee (and his Indian wife) to resume public life in Texas. A divorce between Sam Houston and Eliza Allen was finally arranged in 1840 and both parties were able to legally marry others and have children. But the details of their eleven week marriage and why it failed remains buried with them.

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of film, videotape, audio recordings, photos, negatives, and slides. for more information call 352-735-8550 or visit our website.  

A Ghost Story

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I’ve never been much interested in ghost stories. In fact, the fascination they bring to others is something of a mystery to me. Of course, that was before I found that I have an ancestor who is a central figure in one.

General “Mad” Anthony Wayne, the third great grandfather of the wife of my grand-uncle was a Revolutionary soldier. He was instrumental in keeping the Northwest Territory a part of the fast developing United States of America.

His ghost story comes as a result of his unfortunate demise. After winning decisive battles in the west and negotiating a treaty with the Indian natives, thus enabling Ohio to join the Union, Mad Anthony Wayne succumbed to an infection brought on by gout. He died at a fort in Erie Pennsylvania. Some thirteen years after his death, his son was sent to reclaim the body and bring it to the family home in Chester County.

Upon exhuming the remains, they were shocked to find the body in a far better condition than expected after spending thirteen years in the ground. Knowing that it would be unwise to try and transport a semi-decomposed body in the small cart they had, they rendered the corpse. This meant they boiled the flesh from the bones, a not uncommon occurrence in those days. They gathered the freshly cleansed bones, poured the rest back into the original burial site and set out for Chester County. But as the legend goes, the bones, being loosely packed, were jostled free along the bumpy journey. The result being that not all the bones made it to the final resting place.

Some locals swear that on every January 1st (Anthony Wayne’s birthday) he rises from his grave in Erie, not at all happy to have been strewn haphazardly throughout the countryside. He reportedly rides along Route 322 leading to Chester County astride his horse Nancy in search of his missing bones.  

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of film, videotapes, audio recordings, photos, negatives, and slides. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit our website.

Tinker, Tailor, Indian Spy

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Manassah Coyle, born 1756 in Ireland, came to America at a young age and settled in colonial Pennsylvania. As a teen, he began offering his services to help the cause for American Independence. 

After substituting in Capt. Samuel Patton’s company and later Capt. William Houston’s company for short intervals, he headed west and was attached to Capt. William Perry’s command as an Indian spy and scout. In 1781 he volunteered to go down the Ohio River as part of Col. Lochry’s company in Gen. Clark’s expedition against the Indians. On the 24th of August, 1781, having reached the mouth of the Big Miami on the Ohio, they were attacked by a large body of Indians led by Joseph Brant, a Mohawk military leader. 

In Coyle’s later statements, he believes that every one of his party were killed or made prisoner. It became known as Lochry’s Massacre and was such a decisive defeat that it led to the cancellation of Gen Clark’s campaign. As for Coyle, he was captured and taken through the wilderness to Detroit. Once there, he and other prisoners were turned over to the British who stationed them on an island in the St. Lawrence River just above Montreal.

Coyle escaped but was quickly recaptured and taken to a prison in Montreal. Four months later, he escaped again and this time successfully avoided recapture. Traveling through the wilderness for about 300 miles, surviving on nothing but roots and berries, he came across inhabitants who informed him that he was approximately another 900 miles from his home in Westmoreland County Pennsylvania. He made that journey, avoiding both British and Indian fighters, to arrive home in December of 1782. He married, had children and eventually became my 5th great-grandfather.

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of film, videotape, audio recordings, photos, negatives, and slides. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit our website.

Snoopy in Space

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In the late 60s, following the tragic fire that killed the three crew members of Apollo 1, NASA administrators were searching for a way to bring heightened awareness to the importance of the thousands of team members who worked behind the scenes to send a relatively few men into space. It was decided to have the astronauts themselves present a special commendation pin to those they desired to recognize and honor. 

Al Chop, Director of Public Relations for the Manned Spacecraft Center, is the one who came up with the idea to make Charles Schultz’s beloved beagle Snoopy as the “face” of the award. The cartoonist happily agreed after being told that Snoopy would one day make it to the moon. He drew the image of Snoopy in a space suit complete with helmet, scarf and gear box and offered its use to NASA at no cost. It was from this picture the silver pin was cast. Adding to its appeal, it is said that the pins, before they are awarded, are first sent into space and returned. In 1969, NASA kept their promise to Schultz, naming the lunar module of the Apollo 10 mission after the cartoon character. Snoopy did indeed get to the moon.

The first Silver Snoopy awards were presented in 1968 to some of the team members who worked on the LTA-8 project, a precursor to the lunar module. Among them was Oliver Henry Wall, uncle to my brother-in-law. Wall worked at the Kennedy Space Center for thirty years on both the Apollo and Shuttle programs. His pin was presented to him by astronaut Dick Scobee. The accompanying award certificate reads, “In appreciation for professionalism, dedication and outstanding support that greatly enhanced space flight safety and mission success.”

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of film, videotape, audio recordings, photos, negatives, and slides. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit our website.