I Have to Admit I'm Confused

In the previous post I discussed how my ggg-grandfather, William E. Probert, was awarded 640 acres of land in exchange for his six months of service in the Texas War of Independence from Mexico.  What I don't understand is why he received an additional 640 acres from the State of Texas.  According to the certificate, it also was in exchange for his service.

Update: If you ever have the opportunity to talk with someone from the Texas General Land Office, I hope you are as fortunate as I am.  Today, "John" explained to me that William E. had actually signed on for another six months. He was, therefore, entitled to two land grants of 640 acres each. Apparently he sold the first one but kept the second one, reflected below.  However, he didn't have it for long.  This certificate was approved on May 13, 1853 and we know he was dead by February 8, 1854 (per the first-class headright that will be discussed in the next post).

Texas Land Grant
Approved May 13, 1853

A search of the newspapers of the time provides at least one clue. In the Texas State Gazette, (Austin, Texas), Vol. 4, No. 23, Ed. 1, Saturday, January 22, 1853, the original certificate was lost.  A representative of the Land Office explained to me that the procedure in this case was for an attorney to post this in the newspaper and then apply for a duplicate certificate if there was no response to the ad in the time period specified in the law. 

From December 4, 1852 until May 13, 1853, the process really moved quickly. The survey that was included in the documents stated: 

The State of Texas Milan Land District Survey No. 6 for Wm. E. Probert of 640 acres in Bell County on Cowhouse Creek about 32 miles above fort Gates being the quantity of land to which he is entitled by virtue of Bounty Certificate No. 1266.

The survey was verified as "correct" on April 28, 1853 and was patented by May 13, 1853.  There is no evidence, however, that Wm. E. Probert ever did anything with the land.  In fact, the patent was delivered to N.C. Raymond, probably an attorney representing Wm. E. Probert. 


The land issues were clearly not over as you will see in the next post.

Texas Land Records - An Education

I was SO excited when I received copies of land records in the name of William E. Probert from the Texas Land Office.  Understanding them was a whole different matter.

If you can believe it, anyone who served in the War for Texas Independence from Mexico was given 320 acres for every three months of service.  My ggg-grandfather was given 640 acres for his six-month participation as a "fife major."  If you look carefully at this certificate, William E. Probert was given 640 acres for his service by the REPUBLIC OF TEXAS (remember, Texas was its own country).  What's interesting about this certificate is that it was immediately "assigned" to Henry Kesler. In speaking to the fine people in the Texas General Land Office, I found out that the assignee was either someone William immediately sold the Bounty Grant to or an attorney representing his interests. He did not hire a survey or identify land he wanted. He did not keep the property.

So here is the procedure:

1. Get a "certificate" issued by the government of the Republic or State of Texas. The certificate entitles the grantee to a certain number of acres of land in the unallocated public domain. These certificates could be sold or transferred.
2. The second step was to hire a surveyor to identify the land that the certificate holder wanted to claim. After they survey was completed, the results of the survey would be submitted to the local land office to assure that there were no other claims on the land.  If not, on to Step 3.
3. Pay a fee to get the land patented.  At this point the land is transferred from the government to the private sector. The whole process can take several years.

A representative of the Texas General Land Office told me that many grantees immediately turned around and sold the certificate.  At the time, land meant nothing.  One hundred dollars meant a lot.  Our William immediately "assigned" this certificate to Henry Kesler. Henry either purchased the certificate outright or was an attorney representing W. E.'s interests.

This certificate was issued in February of 1838 in Houston.  The land was granted for Trinity County and was finally patented January 21, 1842 -- a period of four years. No land for the Proberts.  But wait -- there's more . . .

Why Would He Do It?

I've had a great time over the past couple of weeks researching my ggg-grandfather, William E. Probert.  The best information I have so far, is that he immigrated from Wales.  There is a debate as to whether or not he has "Irish" roots. In the process, I found out that the name "Probert" in the Welsh tradition frequently means "son of Robert."  Reminds me of my Jones maiden name, which often meant "son of John."

William and his wife Mary had five children.  The first, Thomas, was born in 1824 and the last, William, was born in 1835.  Three girls, Nancy, Mary Ann, and Sarah Elizabeth, were born in the middle, with Sarah only living for 18 months.

Picture of a Civil War Fife Major
Photo Credit: http://www.ohiocivilwar150.org/

My 2012 sensibilities do not allow me to comprehend why William E. Probert, the head of the family, would leave his family in the spring of 1836, to be a "Fife Major" in the War for Texas Independence. His wife, Mary, would somehow have to manage with a newborn and three other children on her own. So here are some facts:

• At the time of William's departure from Lexington, he was 46 years old.
• He was working as a tailor. 
• I don't know how dangerous it was to be a "fife major".
• I can only speculate about his motives, but maybe he wanted adventure and the hope for land should they succeed.

Thankfully, the State of Texas appears to have wonderful archives.  I was able to go to their site and search items saved from the "Republic of Texas."  Imagine my excitement when a search on "Probert" turned up several documents that discussed William's service in the War for Texas Independence.

https://www.tsl.state.tx.us/apps/arc/repclaims/

For William, just getting to Texas proved to be a challenge. According to this document:

Said Probert came with us to New Orleans and was left there in consequence of sickness. Came on to the Army in Captain Sovereign's company and then joined our company which was his (original?).

He made a commitment for six months of service and received an Honorable Discharge. What was most interesting to me was that the record included a personal description of W. E. Probert.

Transcription: To all whom it may concern, know ye that W.E. Probert, Fife Major of Captain Love's Company of Volunteers 1st Regiment 1st Brigade was enrolled on the 4th day of June one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six to serve six months and is hereby discharged from the Army of Texas. Said Probert is five foot six and a half inches high, forty-six years of age, complexion fair, gray eyes, occupation when enrolled Jailor. Given this day of December 1836.

So now I know he only committed to six months of service. I guess his wife, Mary, could survive that commitment if the rewards for service were enticing enough.  That is, if he returned home.  But the evidence doesn't suggest that . . .

War of Texas Independence

Recently I revisited a family line that I'd left dormant for a while. I offered to try to help my cousin, Barbara Pharo, document members of her family that would qualify for the Hamilton County Century Families lineage recognition.  Thomas H. Probert is our common gg-grandfather.

Gathering the required documents led me to try to "prove" that William E. Probert is his father.  We have substantial evidence, but nothing that would yet qualify as "proof."

What an adventure! I searched for the Probert surname on the kentuckiana digital library site. This site has many digitized Kentucky newspapers.  One of the results puzzled me.

Kentucky Gazette, Lexington, Kentucky, July 25, 1836

The first shock was seeing W.E. Probert, my ggg-grandfather, on a list dating back to 1836. The second surprise was reading that the list was for Texas Emigrants:  "The following are the names of those Texas emigrants, under the command of Col. Wilson, who left New Orleans for Texas." What?

I "remember the Alamo", but I was at a loss as to why 100+ Lexingtonians would volunteer for service in the War for Texas Independence.  And so a new area of research opened up. For those of you who, like me, are not entirely up on your Texas history, here is a brief timeline:

• 1821 - Mexico gains independence from Mexico.

• 1821-34 There is increasing tension between the citizens of Mexico and the ever-increasing anglo population.

• 1834 - General Santa Anna, dictator of Mexico, changes laws to the detriment of immigrants.

• 1835-36 Texans declare independence from Mexico.

• 1836 - Texans sign a peace treaty with Mexico and establish the "Republic of Texas." Sam Houston becomes the first president of the Republic.

• 1845 - United States President Polk signs papers allowing the Republic of Texas to be annexed to the United States.

• 1861 - Texas joins the Confederate States of America.

• 1866 - Texas rejoins the United States following the end of the Civil War.

I had questions.  The answers surprised me.  

Next post: What I learned about W.E. Probert's service in the War of Texas Independence.

My Cousin, Steve Hansen

I am the oldest of 25 grandchildren on my maternal side of the family.  On June 10th, we lost the first cousin of this generation.  Steve bravely fought a very-rare form of thyroid cancer. He lived a little over a year after a heroic effort.  I can't say it any better than his family did.

Why I Can't Grow Roses . . .

Three Bucks in My Backyard

It's Mother's Day 2012!  I'm happily recovering at home from the National Genealogical Society Conference that was held in Cincinnati this year.  I stayed in a downtown hotel with my cousin, Barbara Pharo, and had the opportunity to meet several of the bloggers I follow in person.  It was a great week!

At 4:30, I decided it was time for a glass of wine. Imagine my surprise when I looked out my kitchen window and saw three bucks staring back at me!  Over the years, I've tried to grow roses, only to come out and see that they have been nicely nibbled by the deer that frequent our neighborhood, but not typically so early in the day.

They patiently waited for me to switch out lenses so I could capture them close up.  It's hard to be mad at them when they are standing there so majestically checking them out.  Unfortunately, I opened the storm door to get a picture that did not include the screen. At that point, our little poodle Zippy, decided to take them on. Here is a picture of one of them trying to make a hasty exit.

Departing

Zippy meets Andrew

Needless to say, it's a good thing that the deer ran away as Zippy ran out of the door to take them on.  He does look ferocious, doesn't he? Happy Mother's Day to all.

Vonderheide Wyoming Home

Home of August and Anna Vonderheide (1920-1925)
Village of Wyoming, Hamilton County, Ohio

I've always been fascinated by this house.  Research has shown that my great-grandfather, August Vonderheide, moved into it sometime in 1920.  It is the residence listed in the phone book as their home from 1920-25.  It makes sense that they would have wanted to move into a bigger home at this time because it coincides with the marriages and the starting of new families, all of whom initially lived there.

My grandmother and grandfather, Virginia Vonderheide and Roy Ryan, celebrate their wedding day there on September 1, 1921.  Virginia's brother, Val, also moved in with his wife, Clara Wheeler about that time. My mother, Virginia, and Val's daughter, Dolly, were born while living in that home.

I've always cherished my grandparent's wedding pictures. I recently upgraded my photo-editing software to Photoshop Elements 10 and decided to try my hand at layering these treasurers over the one picture I have of the home.  Here are the results:

Roy Ryan and Virginia Vonderheide Courting

Wedding Guests:  Top Row: Ray Ryan, Virginia VDH, Roy Ryan, August VDH, Anna VDH, Rose Gross Ryan, Clara, Emma Woermann, Victor Becker, Ed Woermann, Julius Gross, Henry and Joe VDH  Bottom Row: Florence Ryan, Josie Turner, Aunt Sophie, Ceal VDH, Emma Huff and Woermann Children

Wedding Day:  Virginia and Roy, September 7, 1921

Of course, their marriage led to the inevitable birth of my mother, Virginia, on July 17, 1922.  Here she is pictured on the porch with her father and grandparents.

Anna, Virginia (baby), Roy, August 

I'd love to show you what the house looks like in 2012.  The address of this home is 416 Springfield Pike, Wyoming, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati with many large, stately, restored homes). However, in the 1960s, this property was combined with a couple of others and torn down. Replacing it is a very sterile, uninteresting building that houses the Wyoming Board of Education.

Current home of the Wyoming Board of Education

I want to acknowledge my Vonderheide cousins who had a copy of the house in their collection and made it available to me.

Update:  A reader suggested that I combine pictures 2, 4 and 5.  What a great suggestion!  From right to left I now have my grandparents courting, getting married, and their first-born child, my mother.  Love it!

Easter 2012

We were missing a few "Joneses" at Easter this year.  A couple of our college-aged nieces did not have spring break coincide with Easter.  One of our families had all of the stars align and decided to take a family vacation down in Florida.  But there were still 20 adults and six children under six.  We had the pleasure of introducing our newest grandson to his extended family. Tom and Linda graciously agreed to host us.

Easter fell on my brother Dan's birthday this year, so he was treated to the traditional Jones family happy birthday song.  We really sounded great, if I have to say so myself.  I'm going to let the pictures tell the story.

Liz, Andrew, Roland and Ian

Ian hunts for Easter eggs

Pictured:  Liz, Andrew, Ian, Roland and Mae

Tom, John, Roland, Mae and Ian (Robin)

Melissa, Mae, Linda, John, Easter Bunny (Tom)

Dan's Birthday

And back at home, Andrew and Zippy meet . . .

I hope all of you had a wonderful Easter!

1940 Census - I Said I Wouldn't Do It!

1940 Census Documents

As all genealogists know, the 1940 Census was released to the public on April 2nd.  Volunteers will be working diligently over the next few months to create an index so that it is searchable by name.  Until then, you must have a pretty good idea of where your ancestors were living in 1940 so you can identify the Enumeration District.  You can then scan through the digital images in an effort to find your ancestors.

I knew my ancestors were living at the same address as 1940 as they did in 1930.  After all, it was the Great Depression, and I think most people were happy to be able to survive in their same home.  I knew there were a few pieces of information I'd not collected previously, such as their annual salary, home value and years of education completed.  But I even had a pretty good idea of that information.

After reading that the National Archives reported that there were 37 million "hits" in the first 24 hours, I just had to see what I was missing.  The first thing that surprised me was the clarity of the digital images. The second thing was the ease with which I was able to find my relatives without having done my homework and researched their Enumeration District.

So what new information did I get?  Not much.  I was surprised to see in print that the highest level of education among all four of my grandparents was 9th Grade.  Both grandfathers only had the opportunity to attend school through 7th Grade.  Both grandparents owned homes worth between $6000 and $6700.  One had an annual salary of $1600 and the other a salary of $1900.  All of their children were staying in school longer.

The biggest surprise was discovering that my Great-grandfather, August Vonderheide, had already sold his home and moved in with his son's family.  Even my aunt was under the impression that he still was living in his large home in 1940.  It had been sold to a dentist and his much younger wife who shared the home with a live-in servant.

It was fun finding my husband, soon-to-be 76 years old, in the Census.  His parents were having a more difficult time.They were paying rent of $15 and had an annual salary of $926. He had graduated from high school, but according to my husband, his father was also going to school.

I'm sure I'll find myself scanning through more of the Census when I'm bored with whatever is on television.  I guess I'm glad I gave in and checked it out.  I'll be interested in reading about the really surprising discoveries I'm sure some of my genealogist friends will make about their families.  In ten years, I'll get to see what the 1950 Census has to say about me.

Joys, Challenges and Lessons Learned

When I think back about the things that had the biggest impact upon who I am now, getting married and divorced ranks up near the top.  I went to an all girls high school and wanted to be a nun -- hard to believe now.  I think it really had a lot to do with my strong sense of social justice and a true desire to serve.  But it also got me in trouble.  I was socially awkward, had no desire to date (what would be the point) and really didn't feel comfortable initiating conversations with men.

It didn't take me long to realize that I wasn't going to be a nun.  I fell in love with my Spanish professor, new feelings I didn't know how to handle. Shortly after Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon, I was back at home without a real plan.  Of course, I continued going to college, able to pay as I went by working as a cashier at Krogers.  Working and going to school left me little time for socializing.  There was no such thing as a football game or dance.

I joined a support group, trying to get a handle on who I was, and met the man who would one day become my husband.  After five years, we did marry, build a home and have our daughter. We were divorced 3 1/2 years later and I was now a single parent of a one-year old living in an apartment.  Everything I thought I knew changed during this time.  In three years of counseling, I really, for the first time, got in touch with who I was, my values, and ended up much stronger in the end.  The worst experience of my life probably had the biggest impact on who I am now.  It was a good thing.

I was a teacher, not so much by choice, but by expectation.  It was a time when most women had three career paths:  business (usually in a support position), education or nursing.  Of the three, I luckily chose the "right" one for me.  Teaching was the most rewarding and most challenging career I could have imagined.  The occupation gave me a lot of flexibility.  Over the years I taught 5th-6th grade math/science, became an Assistant Principal and Supervisor, worked as an Evaluator and ended my last seven years where I began -- teaching.  After 30 years, I cobbled together a second career that included managing a science program, working for Miami University organizing science workshops for teachers, and working for the State of Ohio with online courses designed to assist teachers in incorporating technology in their classrooms.  That's where I learned to blog.

It's amazing to me that I've neglected to mention my health.  I've certainly had my share of issues.  At the age of 39, I developed ulcerative colitis -- a serious illness that dominated the next 12 years of my life.  I've also had six orthopedic surgeries and have both hips and knees replaced.  One of my replaced knees became infected two years post-surgery and had to be removed.  They literally "glued" the top of my leg to the bottom while I underwent 12 weeks of self-administered IV antibiotics.  My reward for surviving this -- a second knee replacement.  A few years ago I had a hip replacement.  My femur fractured two weeks later.  Reward for this was a second hip replacement with a much longer rod and screws and ties.  So what is amazing is that I literally feel blessed because I've had good health insurance and can do most of what I want to do.  These issues don't dominate my life now, although they have played a significant role in my adult life. This probably explains why health-care related issues so concern me.

Next month, I will be 63 years old.  I feel like I know who I am and what my values are. I have a wonderful husband, daughter, son-in-law and two beautiful grandsons.  I live comfortably.  I've had the opportunity to travel. My biggest concerns are the instability we see in the world as well as world-wide financial instability. I  also am concerned about the ever-increasing disparity in income in our country and the poverty so prevalent around the world.  I wonder if we are naively on the edge of a Third World War and do not recognize it.  I hate the attitude that teachers and other public sector employees are somehow a drag on everyone else and unworthy of adequate compensation. I wish for everyone else that they have the opportunities I have had -- never being hungry, never without health-care, never without the love and support of my family, and never without adequate income.  

Have you got me figured out?  Let me just say that there are still a few "sticky notes" that are hidden under the pile.  After all, I feel like I've still got a few good years before my story will end.  I have to leave you with a few questions.