52 Ancestors - Week 22

AT THE CEMETERY

Collins-Francis Gravestone, Metairie Cemetery
New Orleans, Louisiana

Who is Capt. Aleck McVay and what is he doing in my Grandma Booksh's grave?

Sometimes when you do cemetery research you find as many questions as answers. When I found this photo on findagrave.com I recognized the names of Emma Louise Chalfant Collins, my 2nd Great-Grandmother, and Emma Francis Booksh, my paternal Grandmother. I knew that Charles Alfred Francis and Anna Belle Collins Francis were my Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother and that John McCaleb Francis was their son. But I had never heard any family mention of Captain McVay.

It didn't take long to find his obituaty at Genealogy Bank. It was on page 3 of the New Orleans Times-Picayune on Friday, March 05, 1897:

CAPTAIN ALEXANDER Mc VAY

Death of a Veteran Steamboatman and Soldier

   Captain Alexander McVay, another of the old river men, made his last trip yesterday and is now receiving the reward which comes to all men when their limit has expired. Captain McVay was a man of sixty-five years, and was one of the best known men on the river from Cincinnati to New Orleans, and while his death was not a surprise to those who were intimately acquainted with him, it was nevertheless a shock for they did not think that the end was so near. He had been a victim of Bright's disease for a long time, but about two weeks ago was forced to take to his bed, from which he never arose, dying peacefully yesterday morning at 6 o'clock, at his residence, 1523 Washington avenue. 

   Captain McVay was born in Florida about sixty-five years ago, and began his river career when quite a young man, plying as clerk on the Mohican, Cherokee, Choctaw and Time steamboats, which at that time were running from the Tennessee river to New Orleans. In 1850 he became clerk of the Louisville and New Orleans packet Fanny Buillit, and a few months later was engaged on the New Orleans and Vicksburg and Bayou Sara trades, and has served as clerk or captain on such boats as the Robert E. Lee, Ed. Richardson, J. M. White, Thompson Dean, Natchez, Pargoud, and other great packets which are no longer seen on the river. His last service was as clerk of the Bayou Sara packet Saint John, on which he served as clerk up to a few weeks ago. He was a man who exercised great care in his work, and ranked as one of the best and most popular on the river.

   He also saw some war service, enlisting in the Army of the Tennessee and serving under General Joe Johnston.

  He was married to Miss Belle Chalfant, a niece of John Chalfant New, the famous Indianapolis editor, who was consul general to London under the Harrison administration. Mrs. McVay's immediate family resided in Point Coupee parish. She survives her devoted husband.

   The funeral took place yesterday afternon at 4 o'clock, the services being conducted in St. Paul's church, of which he was a devout member. The flags of all the steamboats in port were at half mast ysterday in honor to his memory.

   The pallbearers were: Captains J. R. Woods, Frank Beck, M. N. Wood, P. J. O'Reilly, J. C. Libano and John H. Hanes.

*******

  Captain McVay's wife, Isabella "Belle" Chalfant, was my 2nd Great Grand Aunt, sister of my 2nd Great Grandmother, Emma Louise Chalfant Collins. Belle was born about 1844 in Amite County, Mississippi, daughter of Nathaniel Chalfant and Drucilla Caroline Burrows. The family later moved to China Grove Plantation in Pointe Coupee, Louisiana. She and Alex McVay were married 27 April 1866 in Warren County, Mississippi. After Alex died Belle remarried Harry M. Isaacson on 17 July 1901 in New Orleans. She died 1 March 1922 in New Orleans at age 78.

    The John Chalfant New mentioned in the obituary was the husband of her father's sister, Maria Chalfant.

52 Ancestors - Week 21

BRICK WALL

Palmer-Tisdale House, New Bern, North Carolina

There are many Brick Walls in my family tree research. This one is more of a Brick Maze. My 4th Great Grandfather, William Tisdale, has an extensive biography and is documented in at least two books. Unfortunately his wife is not documented. The only credible mention of her is this quote:

  Tisdale & his wife Elizabeth are honored by the Daughters of the American Revolution for patriotic service in North Carolina: Comm of Safety; Justice of Craven County 1777; Delegate NC Provincial Congress 1775; Judge of Admiralty Port of Beaufort, 1777; Maker of the Great Seal of the State           Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ ) "Record of William Tisdale." Ancestor #A129769

My main source of information for the Tisdale family is a book by Rosa D. Tisdale Meet the Tisdales; Descendants of John Tisdale of Taunton, Mass. 1634-1980  1981, Gateway Press, Inc. Baltimore.

I first came across this book by accident while doing research with my mother in the Biloxi, Miss. library. We were looking for information on her Begue family when this book literally jumped off the shelf and fell open at my feet. It's 787 pages tracing the descendants of John Tisdale and Sarah Walker is a thoroughly researched work. I forever thank Rosa Tisdale for her diligent research and for having had 100 copies of the book printed and distributing them to libraries where she learned there were Tisdale descendants.

In her own words she describes the project:

     I have combed the Library of Congress, the Library of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the National Archives in Washingtoon , D.C. for information about the Tisdales. The Eva Brook Donley Museum, The Brantford Library and the New Brunswick Museum in Canada contributed material about Joshua's United Empire Loyalist descendants and the Old Colony Historical Museum of Taunton, Massachusetts, sold me a copy of Samuel Trrescott Tisdale's manuscript "Tisdale Family Genealogy." All volumes of the New England Historical and Genealogic Register and the fourteen volumes of the Dedham Historical Register were searched as well as all published volumes of Vital Records for early Massachusetts towns. Published genealogies of many families related to the Tisdales were also consulted. Pertinent references not readily available are listed as footnotes in the text.

William Tisdale is covered on pages 184-186 of Rosa's book. She found no marriage record and says "...He was married and had three children, but at present nothing is known about his wife."

I visited New Bern, North Carolina, several years ago while my husband and I were on an RV trip up the East Coast. I had recently learned that my 3rd Great Grandfather, Nathan Tisdale, was born in New Bern and when I saw the name on the map we decided to stop and check it out. A trip to the Historical Society there led me to the book A History of New Bern and Craven County. While talking to the cashier I told her that I had found my ancestors, Nathan and William Tisdale, mentioned in the book. She said, "Oh, Yes. Both their houses are still standing and on the National Register. Nathan's house is around the corner and William's is a few blocks over there." I was completely floored. Needless to say we stayed a few days longer and explored the place thoroughly. The museum had even more information, but there was no mention of William's wife's name.

Unfortunately someone has put information on the Family Search website naming his wife as Sarah Isbell. I do not believe this is accurate, even though they list five births between 1773 and 1788 with William Tisdell and Sarah Isbell as parents. The 1772 marriage date listed and the birth dates are all after our William Tisdale had left Connecticut and moved to live with his Uncle Antipas Tisdale in New Bern, North Carolina. His three children, including my ancestor, were born before this marriage date. All of the events for Sarah Isbell are in Connecticut including her 1742 birth and 1836 death and burial, while all of the events for William Tisdale after 1767 are in New Bern and are well documented.

Here's a short list of what we know about William:

Born    1734 May 29 in Lebanon, Connecticut Colony

Baptized    1734 June 2, First Congregational Church, Lebanon, Connecticut

Education    1755 Attended Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Residence    1767 Antipas Tisdale is listed in New Bern Tax List, 2 white males [Antipas and William]; 1769  Listed with Antipas Tisdale in early NC census

Son Nathan born     c1766 New Bern, NC

Two daughters born c 1768 and c1770

William was a lawyer, silversmith, watchmaker and jeweler and was involved in local affairs.

 Grand Juror    1771 February

Assembly Attendance    1771 December

Committee of Correspondence, 1775 May 6

Named Justice of the Peace, Craven County, NC    1775 March

Appointed Judge, Court of Admiralty for For Beaufort, NC    1775 April

Bought Palmer-Tisdale House  1776

Accused of taking goods unlawfully, bribery and corruption    1777

Appointed to cut and engrave the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina 1778

Appointed as Coommisioner to supervise printing of bills of credit for New Bern

Suspended as Judge of Admiralty Court 1781

Resigned as Justice of the Peace for Cravel County  1784

Elected to House of Commons as Representative of New Bern  1785

List of Taxables for Craven County, Carriage, 2 white males [Wm and son Nathan] 1785

1790 Census,  Craven County, NC     1 male over 16, 1 male under 16 (William and Nathan)  3 females, [wife and 2 daughters], 3 slaves

Died 1797 March 15, New Bern, NC

Buried Christ Church Cemetery, later re-interred in new family plot, Cedar Grove Cemetery

So I am still exploring this Brick Maze, looking for my elusive 4th Great Grandmother Elizabeth.

52 Ancestors - Week 20

BEARDED

Benjamin Franklin Tisdale 1823-1876

In all the family photos there are many with moustaches and sideburns but very few with beards. This Carte de Visite photo is of Great Great Grandfather Benjamin Franklin Tisdale and was taken about 1870. It's hard to tell how much of the beard is hair and how much is a stain on the photo.

B. F. Tisdale, which is how he is most often referred to, was born 19 March 1823 in New Bern, North Carolina to Nathan Tisdale and his second wife Mary "Polly" Wade.  He was the last of their nine children. His family moved to Alabama in 1830.  A letter from Mrs. Nancy Lee Tisdale Lawson says, "In 1830 Nathan Tisdale purchased a small plantation on the Tombigbee River in Alabama to which he travelled by caravan with a lot of other families." The deed was recorded in Marengo County Deed Book B-344 on 25 January 1832 and it appears the property was bought by his mother-in-law, Charlotte Wade, for her daughter, Mary Wade.

In 1833 the family is living in Mobile, Alabama. On 25 August 1846 B. F. married Maria M. Pike in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She died in September 1849.  On July 29 1851 B. F. married Eliza Helen Pratt, also in Baton Rouge. Their first child, Mary Bernice, was born in Baton Rouge in 1853. By 1855 they were living in New Orleans where their second child, Arabella Maria, was born. B. F. is listed as an Accountant in the New Orleans City Directory, living at 26 Old Levee Street from 1855 to 1857. In 1859 they were living at 2 Bienville Street. Eight more children were born in New Orleans between 1857 and 1874: Florence Helen, born in 1857 and died in 1858, Benjamin Franklin Jr. and a deceased twin born in 1860, William Pratt Tisdale in 1861, Olivia South Carolina in 1864, Robert Rafael in 1866, Marion Eugene in 1871, and Charles Harry in 1874.

B. F.'s oldest brother, Joseph Wade Tisdale, had been living in New Orleans since 1842 and brother Nathan O. J. Tisdale had lived there since 1850.

The Civil War and occupation of New Orleans disrupted the life of the family.  B. F. Tisdale's service record says he enlisted as a PRivate in Company B of the Confederate Guards Regiment, Louisiana Militia, on March 8, 1862. His brother-in-law, Marion Pratt, joined the same regiment and they were among those "transferred by Gov. Thomas O. Moore to Major General Mansfield Lovell, C.S.A., for local defense of the City of New Orleans." (Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Louisiana, NARA M320, 586957, Record Group 109, Roll 0376, familysearch.org, accessed 9/13/2014)     

The story has come down in the family that B. F. Tisdale had a drinking problem which caused Eliza to take the children and move to her parents' home in Baton Rouge. Many of the letters that my great grandmother Belle Tisdale Booksh saved are from that period. In 1876 he was living in Kushla, Alabama, just north of Mobile, with his sister Mary Eliza and her husband, Jacob Magee. B. F. Tisdale  died there 16 June 1876 at the home of his physician, Dr. James Grace.  

For more detailed information on B. F. Tisdale see my  blog Belle's Letters at belletisdale.blogspot.com

52 Ancestors - Week 19

BALD    

The only bald ancestor I could find among my photos is my Great Grandfather Sam Booksh.  He was born on the 4th of July in 1853 in Grosse Tete, Louisiana.

Samuel Walker Booksh

What he is lacking on the top of his head he makes up for with his moustache. He looks fairly serious in this photo taken circa 1920 when he was about 70 years old, but my Grandpa Booksh said he had a great sense of humor. I've heard enough stories to feel like I knew him. 

His parents were Charles Booksh and  Mary Eliza Elizabeth Leonard. Sam was the eigth of  ten children. The family shows up in the 1860 U.S. Census in Iberville, Parish, Louisiana. The value of their property is $37,500.

Sam was 8 years old when the Civil War broke out. His oldest brother Charles Edouard and several cousins went off to fight. Besides the upheaval of the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Booksh family also suffeered through the Great Flood of 1867. Also in 1867 Eliza filed suit against her husband because he had "willfully and without regard expended $6,992 of her prenuptial monies." The Booksh plantation and other properties were sold and the family broke up.

By 1870 Eliza was living in Iberville Parish and her husband Charles and the children, including Samuel, were living in East Baton Rouge Parish in three adjoining houses on the property of Sam's brother Edgar ( Joseph Edgard Booksh). The census lists Charles Booksh in Dwelling 422. In Dwelling 423 are Clayborn 24, Geore W. 19, Samuel 17, Eliza 15, Frederic 12, Erae 21 [Erefile, wife of Claiiborn] and Charles 2 [Son of Claiborn and Erefile]. Unfortunately all are indexed with the surname Eli who was the House Keeper Lucien Eli, making them very difficult to find. The next dwelling is 424 and there we find Edgar Booksh 27 [Joseph Edgard] and his wife Cramea 27 [Delia] and their 3 children, James 4, Carie 2 and Anie 1. 

This was probably when Sam met Arabella Maria Tisdale who was living with her grandparents William and Bernice Pratt.  Sam gave Belle this photo in 1875.

Samuel Walker Booksh 1875

On 23 April 1878 Sam and Belle were married in St. Joseph's Church in Baton Rouge. 

By 1880 the Booksh family had reunited and the census lists Sam and Belle living with Charles Booksh, age 72, and his wife Eliza Elizabeth Booksh, age 60 in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Alsoo living with the family are four grandchildren: Elisa Mary 22, and her and her brother Charles C. 19, (children of Sam's oldest brother, Charles Edourd, as well as Mary Eliza [Maimie David] 3 and S. B. [Seth Booksh] David 4, children of Sam's sister Lizzie who died in 1878. (For a discussion of this census entry see my belletisdale.blogspot.com post of April 29, 2018.)

It wasn't long before Sam and Belle started their own family. On March 1881 their first son, Samuel Walker Booksh Jr. was born. Second son Charles Leonard was born in 1883, Wilton Tisdale (my grandfather) was born in 1886, and daughter Arabella Geuinevere was born in 1889. 

Sam was elected Registrar of Voters in East Baton Rouge Parish on 10 October 1892. Sometime before 11895 the family moved to New Orleans and Sam is listed in the 1895 City Directory at 815 St. Andrew Street, working as a Watchman at the Custom House.

In 1900 the family is listed in the City Directory at 1365 Constance St. and in 1910 at 1311 St. Mary Street and in 1920 at 1831 Bayou Road.

Sam died 3 November 1930 at age 77 and was buried in the Girod St. Cemetery in New Orleans. Belle Tisdale Booksh died 30 March 1934.

52 Ancestors - Week 17

DNA

This week has been full of things I Must Do and not enough time for what I Wanna Do. But I did get a start on this week's topic, DNA. 

Many years ago I had my DNA tested with National Geographic's Genographic Project. I am mitochondrial haplogroup HV which is passed down from the maternal line. I had my maternal line back to my great great great grandmother Mary Elilzabeth Obermeyer, born February 1802 in Alfhausen, Hannover, now part of Germany. 

Her daughter was Bernardina Harmeyer, born 30 August 1824 in Alfhausen, Hannover. She was my immigrant ancestor and came to New Orleans on the ship John Carver on 19 June 1848. Her full name turned out to be Helena Caterina Bernardina Harmeyer and in most records she is recorded as Dina. By strange coincidence I named my daughter Dina. Great great grandmother Dina married Peter Hardeway, a ships  carpenter from Copenhagen, Denmark, on 16 May 1850 in Algiers, Orleans Parish, Louisiana. I wrote about her and her many surname variants back on September 20, 2020 in my verazgenealogy.blogspot.com post about her daughter and my Great Grandmother Anna Hattaway Gonzales. 

While researching her and her parents for this blog post I was able to add a lot of information to her parents and grandparents. 

Thanks to more German church records published on the Family Search website I now know that her father was Johan Friedrich Anton Harmeyer (also spelled Haarmeijer), born 25 Oct. 1798 and died 29 May 1872. Her mother was Maria Elisabeth Obermeyer (also spelled Obermeijer), born Feb 1802 and died 28 Dec 1835. Her paternal grandparents were Herman Heinrich Harmeyer, 1753-1820, and Maria Anna Revermann (1755-1831). I haven't found her maternal grandparents yet.

It was Maria Elisabeth Obermeyer who passed on her haplogroup HV mtDNA to Dina Harmeyer Hardeway and then to my great grandmother Anna Hardeway/Hattaway Gonzales.

52 Ancestors - Week 16

 SHOULD BE A MOVIE

There are dozens of stories in my family tree that should be made into movies...including the story about gunslinger Joel Collins that I posted in Week 11. Some of these stories I have already written about in my Belle's Letters blog.  There are also a lot of stories from my mother's Begue family that I have written about in my book Mama's Family: The Mostly True Story of the Begue Family of Louisiana and Mississippi. There are several stories in my Witherspoon branch including a first person account by my ancestor's older brother of the boat trip that brought the entire family from Ireland to South Carolina. But for this week's theme I decided to go farther back in time, and farther out on a limb, on my Booksh branch.

Anne Coudray Leonard (1709-1776)

My Fifth Great Grandmother, Anne Coudray, was one of the survivors of the Natchez Massacre. I had found her in the traditional genealogical way of going back in time one family at a time, mostly through Catholic Church records in Louisiana. One day when I was doing research in Vero Beach, Florida, at the Indian River County library I discovered the story of her involvement in the Natchez Massacre.

As background here is the short version of a very long story taken from Wikipedia:

 The Natchez Massacre was an attack by the native Natchez people on French colonists near present-day Natchez, Mississippi, on November 29, 1729. The French had lived along side the Natchez people in the Louisiana colony for more than a decade, mostly conducting peaceful trade and occasionally intermarrying. A new French colonial commandant, Sieur de Chepart, arrived and upset the delicate balance, demanding that the Natchez give up their main village for his plantation near Fort Rosalie. The Natchez planned and carried out an attack on the fort and homesteads and killed about 230 French soldiers and colonists. Some of the colonists escaped and fled to New Orleans while about 30 women were held captive in the fort. After weeks-long negotiations for the release of the remaining captives the Natchez slipped away during the night. The surviving women were brought to New Orleans and placed under the protection of the Ursuline nuns while they arranged matches with soldiers and male colonists who needed wives.

There have been many books written on the Natchez Massacre including Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand's 1827 epic Les Natchez, incorporating his earlier best-selling novellas into a longer narrative. Chateaubriand saw the Natchez Massacre as the defining moment in the history of the Louisiana colony, a position consistent with the views of other 18th-century historians, such as Le Page du Pratz and Dumont de Montigny.

One of the most recent books about the Natchez Massacre is  The True Story of Pierre and Marie Mayeaux by Kenneth Myers published in 2017. It is definitely worth a read.

In The Louisiana Historical Quarterly Vol. 1 No. 3 January 1918, p.126-127 there is a list of "those killed at the time that the massacre was begun." In the list of 183 total killed are:

"17.   Chartier - Julien, from Burgundy, his wife and child, came to the concession of Mr. de Koly"

Anne Coudray was the wife of Julien Chartier.  We don't know what happened to their child and assume it was one of the victims.  On 11 July 1730 Anne was married to widower Jean Baptiste Leonard. According to their marriage record at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans she was a "native of Plouanne [Prouasne?] diocese of St. Malo, Brittany, France." Her parents were Francois Coudray and Gillet Gautier. She was born c1709. (Estimated from her age 67 at death in 1776.)

Her new husband Jean Baptiste Leonard was a "native of Liege, our parishioner, widower of Marie Paulus." There is a Leonard listed among the  Natchez dead as #23. "Leonard - Gascon, came to the concession of Mr. Law) but we don't know if he was related. We do have many other ancestors that were among the John Law settlers in Louisiana.

There is a 7 April 1721 listing for Jean Baptiste Leonard, his wife and 4 children listed on the Venus bound for Louisiana from L'Orient [Belgium], a soldier-worker of the company. [Company of the Indies]. He is listed as a gardener in December 1721. L'Orient was the port from which the John Law German settlers departed in 1721.

Anne and Jean Baptiste had three children, Marie Francoise, Jean Baptiste, and Louis. It was Louis that is our ancestor. He married Marie Anne Dardenne in 1764 at the St. Louis Cathedral. They had 8 children including Honore Leonard (1771-1861), who fought in the Battle of New Orleans and was the oldest ancestor that the family had memories of. All of these records are in the Sacremental Records of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Jean Baptiste Leonard died 9 March 1757 at about age 66.  Anne Coudray Leonard died 1 October 1776 at age 67.

52 Ancestors Week 15

SOLITUDE

Olivia South Carolina Tisdale
1864-1929

   

  I had already decided to write about Great Aunt Olivia South Carolina Tisdale called "Aunt Lee." On the day I started writing there was a piece in the On This Day in History column that confirmed my decision.

     It said: On April 11, 1898 President McKinley asked Congress for authorization to end fighting in Cuba between rebels and Spanish forces.

     The continuation of that story on history.state.gov/ milestones/1866-1898 spanish-american-war adds that on April 20 Congress passed a joint resolution that acknowledged Cuban independence and authorized McKinley to use whatever military measures deemed necessary to guarantee Cuba's independence.

     Spain rejected the U.S. ultimatum and severed diplomatic relations. McKinley implemented a naval blockade of Cuba on April 22 and issued a call for 125,000 military volunteers the next day. Spain declared war on the U.S. and Congress voted to go to war against Spain on April 25.    

     It wasn't just soldiers that were off to Cuba. Great Aunt Lee was a nurse and she went to Cuba, too, with the American Red Cross.

     Olivia South Carolina Tisdale was born 8 February 1864 in New Orleans, the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Tisdale and Eliza Helen Pratt. She never married and was an independent woman supporting herself as a nurse. I ended up with her red velvet photo album full of photos of family and friends.  One of the photos was of a soldier she met during her time in Cuba.

Cabinet Card Photos of Ira Roberts and Leonard Sisman
in Aunt Lee's album

     Leonard Sisman wrote a touching message on the back of his photo. 

  Like a plank of driftwood tossed o'er the watery main

  another plank encounters, meets touches and parts again

  and so on drifting ever o'er life's tempestuous sea,

  we meet part and [illegible] parting eternally

                                      Very Truly Yours

                                        Leonard Sisman

                                              2 US Vol Inf.

                                                         Cuba

     It wasn't a very long war but it had big consequences. At the behest of the Spanish Government a cease-fire was signed on August 12, 1898 amd the war officially ended four months later when the U.S. and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. Besides guaranteeing the independence of Cuba, the treaty also forced Spain to cede Guam and Puerto Rico to the U.S and agree to sell the Philippines to the U.S. The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty on February 6, 1899 by a margin of one vote.

Aunt Lee returned to New Orleans and continued her life as a nurse. She often told her niece Belle, also known as Vera, about her experiences in Cuba. Her nephew and my grandfather,Wilton T. Booksh Sr., often visited Cuba where he worked on sugar plantations as a sugar chemist. He even sent back a photo postcard of the 1911 raising of the Battleship Maine which was sunk by a mine in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898 and played a role in starting the war. 

Aunt Lee died on  21 February 1929 in New Orleans and is buried in the family plot in the Magnolia Cemetery in Baton Rouge.