Visitors from Arizona, New Mexico, Indiana and Texas
Last week we had visitors from Arizona, New Mexico, Indiana and Texas, in addition to several local researchers.
Gene Moody from Texas was on a genealogy pilgrimage. He had given up hunting in Texas and come to Tennessee. After coming up with nothing there, he had driven on to White County (one could spot him for an out-of-towner because he pronounced Carmi with a short "i"). We couldn't find anything for him which he didn't already have, so he was staying over another day to search probate records at the Courthouse. His query appears below. He would be so grateful if someone could help him. Can you?
SAMUEL R. TAYLOR--Need help. Need any connection of parents or siblings of Samuel R. Taylor, born Dec. 26, 1838 in Rutherford Township, Gibson County, Tenn.; married Hannah Elizabeth SLOAN Sept. 21, 1859. She died in 1862, possibly in White County.
Samuel R. Taylor served in the Civil War from 1861 to 1864, then married Linni Wooten Nov. 2, 1865 in White County. They had Cynthia Ann and Charles R., born in Carmi, then moved to Missouri, where three more children were born: Luther E., M.R. "Dealy" and Samantha Victory Taylor.
Information greatly appreciated.
Gene C. Moody,
PO Box 575,
Waskom, TX 75692.
Phone 1-903-633-2541
The late J. Robert Smith wrote an article on New Haven pioneer life. This first appeared in print in the 1950s. The next few columns will be devoted to reprinting this interesting article.
"How would you like to sit down in the comfort of your home and watch go past the White County pioneers of 140 years ago?
"I have been doing that. For the past few weeks, I have been reading and studying the worn, faded pages of a ledger book from a pioneer New Haven trading post. "It was loaned to me and to the White County Historical Society by Andrew Bosaw of New Haven. The pages are dated New Haven, Ill. from March 1818 through January 1821. Mr. Bosaw found the book 30 years ago when workmen were razing a large building across from his house on Mill Street. It was originally a pioneer store, probably operated by Roswell S. Grant, a shrewd Connecticut Yankee who arrived in New Haven when the settlement was still called Boone's Fort. He renamed the place New Haven in honor of the city in his native Connecticut. "Poking around in the rubbish and debris in the cellar when the building was torn down in 1928, Mr. Bosaw found 13 ancient bottles of wine and two ledgers. One was from Montgomeryville, Ind. dated 1816 and 1817. The other was from New Haven. "Reading the day-by-day entries in the book, one can re-live the pioneer days when Carmi and Evansville were settlements of just a few log houses; Mt. Vernon, Ind. was still called McFadden's Bluff; Shawneetown was reached by a blazed trail or flatboat; Joseph Boone was a leading citizen in New Haven; and Thomas Dagley was a well-established New Haven resident. "While I sat and read this book, I went back to March 26, 1818. Joseph Boone rode in from the Saline wells on a weary horse. He dismounted and unloaded 31/2 bushels of salt. Heaving at the sacks, he carried them into the store, where he received credit in the book for $7. Salt was a precious commodity on the frontier in 1818. Pioneers would ride or walk for days to get salt at the Saline wells or at some distant trading post. When he wanted to make some extra cash, Joseph Boone often went for a load of salt." (To be continued)
We continue to be comfortably busy with letters and visitors to our Genealogy Library. We're open from 11 to 5 on Wednesdays. Come join us.
Posted with permission from
THE CARMI TIMES
and CHARLENE SHIELDS
Return To~~ White County Historical Society Library~~by Charlene Shields
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