Chapter 8 - Hammond/Tubbs Family History

Lebbeus Hammond
Revolutionary War Soldier &
Indian Fighter

Lebbeus Hammond is my great (x5)grandfather on my grandmother’s side of the family. Great grandpa Lebbeus was without any doubt one of the most interesting of my ancestors. His family was among America’s earliest pioneer families. Lebbeus fought in the American Revolutionary War along side his father, his grandfather, his brother, his father-in-law and brother-in-law, and his friends and neighbors. They fought for their land; they fought against the weather and against disease, and they fought the British and the Indians. As you will soon see, we are fortunate that Lebbeus Hammond survived these many hardships. This is his story.

Lebbeus Hammond was born in 1754 in the Town of New London, Connecticut. His great-great-grand grandfather Thomas Hammond, Jr. had emigrated from England to America with his parents, brothers and sisters in 1636. Lebbeus’s father and grandfather had lived and worked their farm in the New London area since the early 1700s. By the time that Lebbeus Hammond was born, his family had lived in America for 118 years.

In 1753, an association was formed in Connecticut, called the Susquehanna (Land) Company, the object of which was to plant a colony in the Wyoming Valley (on the Susquehanna River near the present day City of Wilkes-Barrie, Pennsylvania), a region claimed by Connecticut by virtue of an ancient but somewhat questionable Charter granted to it by the English Crown in the 1600s. As it goes, this same land was also claimed by Pennsylvania under a Charter granted to William Penn. This dispute over the land was to lead later to numerous small battles between these two factions until it was finally settled in the courts in 1800.

In February 1769, the Susquehanna Company finally sent its first group of forty Connecticut settlers into the Wyoming Valley. They were followed in the spring of 1769 by another two hundred families and over the next few years the tiny settlement more than doubled its population of Connecticut borne Yankees. It was sometime during this period of 1769 to 1773 that the entire Hammond family immigrated to the Wyoming Valley in northeastern Pennsylvania. The fertile farm land in the valley was expansive and available and obviously attractive to a farming family from Connecticut where new farm land was becoming scarce and unaffordable. Unfortunately, the Pennsylvanians who lived primarily in southeastern Pennsylvania from Philadelphia to Lancaster County, were very upset with Connecticut’s claim to what they considered was their land. What resulted was a series of armed conflicts between the two groups lasting from 1770 until the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. This period of armed skirmishes is referred to by historians as the Pennanite-Yankee Wars. While there were no major battles fought during this period, it is likely that Lebbeus Hammond’s father and his father-in-law, Lebbeus Tubbs, were involved in some of these skirmishes. They were of course, farmers fighting as militia to protect their land. They were not trained military personnel. The outbreak of the Revolutionary War put a stop to everything, as the people and governments of both colonies had matters of much greater importance to attend to than disputes about inconsiderable settlements.

In 1776, at the start of the Revolutionary War, Lebbeus Hammond was only twenty-two years old. He was married to Lucy (Polly) Tubbs who was four years his junior. They had one child, Polly, who was about eight years old. Lucy’s father, Lebbeus Tubbs (age 46), her brothers, Samuel (age 21) and Lebbeus, Jr. (age 14), and her grandfather, Samuel Tubbs (age 77) were farmers in the Wyoming Valley. Lebbeus Hammond’s father, Amariah (age 57), also lived and farmed in the valley with his family as did Lebbeus’s two brothers, Dudley (age 19) and Jason (age 9.) They were all to be involved in the Revolutionary War and it was to change their lives forever.

At first, the war seemed to be of little consequence to this Wyoming Valley community that now numbered nearly three thousand. They were united in thought and action in their support of the new Continental Congress, but at first it seemed that the war would pass them by. However, by the end of 1776, companies of able bodied men in the community were being formed and sent to join other troops on the Connecticut line fighting with General Washington. From what I have been able to determine, none of the Hammond’s or Tubbs’ joined these troop companies that were sent out of the area in late 1776. There is evidence that Lebbeus Tubbs, Jr. eventually fought with the Connecticut militia, although it seems unlikely that he enlisted as early as 1776 at the age of only 14. The departure of the two companies of able bodied men, a total of 162 men, left the community almost defenseless. Suspicion and fear of Tories in the area now forced the community to start building defensive forts in the various Wyoming Valley communities along the river. Forty Fort, named after the original forty settlers, was strengthened and enlarged during this period. This was to be the fort in which the settlers of Wyoming Valley were to retire in the event of an attack.

In the summer of 1777, the Indians of the Tribes of the Six Nations receded from their agreement of neutrality and joined into the service of the forces of the King to fight against the Americans. This was a serious matter for the people living in the Valley of Wyoming. They were isolated on the western border of the colonies only miles from Indian country. Indians had been a problem for the Americans in the area long before the founding of this Connecticut colony. The early settlers had after all, chased the Indians away from their ancestral lands and the tribes were ready to raise the war-cry, and satiate their appetites for vengeance, rapine and blood. With the start of the war and the combining of the British and the Indians forces, the threat to their community was real and imminent. The Seneca Indians, the most dreaded of the Iroquois Tribes, were massed in force in an area in what is now part of Elmira, New York along the Chemung River. In June of 1778, the Indians were joined by a force of British troops and Tories from Fort Niagara, and together they proceeded to make their way down the Susquehanna River towards Wyoming. These troops consisted of around 400 British troops and Tories and around 500 Indians.

Aware of the advance of the invaders the Wyoming citizens prepared for the worst. A militia was quickly gathered consisting of every available man possible, including grandfathers, their aged sons and teenage boys, and even some women. Most of the able bodied men were away fighting with Washington. These troops mustered at Forty Fort along with the women, the small children, and the disabled. Lebbeus Hammond along with his brothers, his father, and his uncle were privates in this small untrained militia. Lt. Lebbeus Tubbs, Hammond’s father-in-law and his eldest son, Samuel, were also in the militia. Lebbeus Tubbs’ elderly father and all of the family wives and children were in the fort. In total, the Wyoming troops numbered approximately four hundred. The British and Indians outnumbered them by more than 2 to 1.

On July 3, 1778 at about 4:00 PM the two forces met for battle two miles north of the fort. It was a foolish decision on the part of the Wyoming militia to engage in battle rather than negotiate a surrender. The actual battle lasted about one half hour at which time the militia retreated and then panicked in a mad race for their lives. The Indians outflanking the militia, raced in with a furious fervor and tomahawked and scalped the men of the militia using the skills learned from many years of warrioring. The killing went on for hours. Lebbeus Hammond’s father and uncle were killed on the battlefield. Lt. Lebbeus Tubbs and his son were fortunate to escape as were the brothers of Libbeus Hammond. Private Lebbeus however, was captured after dark with a dozen other men and dragged to an area that would go down in the history books as “Bloody Rock.” There under the supervision of a mad half-breed Indian woman named Queen Esther, sister of Catherine Montour, (daughter of a French officer and an Indian women), the slaughter began. Using a maul and tomahawk alternately as she passed around the ring, singing the death-song, she deliberately dashed out the brains of her helpless victims in consecutive order.

Fortunately for all of us as descendants of the young Lebbeus Hammond, seeing that there was no hope, Lebbeus and a friend shook off the Indians who held them, and, with a desperate spring, like wild deer they fled into the woods and safety. The Indians pursued them immediately but after a long chase they were able to hide in the brush and shake their pursuers. Lebbeus Hammond was slightly wounded during his miraculous escape.

The Battle of Wyoming and the massacre that followed was a disaster for the Americans. Of the 400 Americans that were engaged on the battlefield, more than 75% were killed or wounded. The British officially reported that they suffered casualties of only three deaths and eight wounded. The British troops and Indians then focused their attention on Fort Forty. With no choice, the fort surrendered the next day on July 4, 1778. The women, children, and old men were stripped of supplies and weapons and forced to leave the fort. They fled in panic into the nearby mountains. Unfortunately, without supplies and shelter, many of the women and children perished, as did Lebbeus Tubbs’ elderly father. The Indians meanwhile plundered and burned the entire community. On July 8, 1778, the British army and most of the Indians retired from the area and slowly thereafter the survivors returned. Lebbeus was reunited with his wife and child and the other survivors of what historians later referred to as the Wyoming Massacre.

In the middle of the summer of 1779, General John Sullivan marching with almost half of General Washington’s army, invaded the Finger Lakes region of New York State and destroyed all of the major Indian villages in the area including the village of Catherine Montour, sister of our mad half-breed Indian queen. Her village was in the area of what is now the Village of Montour Falls, located a few miles south of the present day Watkins Glen, New York. The village is named in her honor as is the nearby creek (Catherine Creek) and the surrounding valley (Catherine Valley). There is no record of Lebbeus Hammond’s involvement in this campaign, although I have no doubt that he would have taken great pleasure in the destruction of her Indian village. General Sullivan’s army was to have continued on and attached Fort Niagara, however the plans were changed and the army returned through Pennsylvania to rejoin with the troops of General Washington.

Unfortunately, our tale of Lebbeus Hammond’s encounters with Indians is not over. He was to face one more trial.

On March 27, 1780, only two years after his escape from the Bloody Rock incident, our Lebbeus Hammond was once again captured near his home by marauding Indians. Shortly after he was captured, tied down, and left alone, the Indians returned with two more prisoners, a Thomas Bennet and his young son, Andrew. Their prospects now were anything but agreeable. They traveled north with their capturers for three days being provided with little to nothing to eat. They were heavily burdened with the luggage belonging to the Indians. They were worn out and resigned to give up and die. At night, they were “pappoosed,” or tied down with poles laid across them with an Indian at either end. At midnight of the third night, after all but one of the six Indians had fallen asleep, Bennet was untied, claiming he was sick and needed to relieve himself. While he was left alone he was able to snatch a war-spear and hide it under his long, great coat. At one o’clock, all of the Indians got up and untied Lebbeus and young Andrew to allow them to relieve themselves as well. Two hours later, all of the Indians but one had fallen back asleep. The three prisoners were left untied and guarded only by one tired Indian. What occurred next lasted less than two minutes. Thomas Bennet drove the war-spear into their Indian guard. Lebbeus grabbed a nearby ax, and buried the head of the ax in the brain of the closest Indian. He then turned around and with another blow drove the ax into the side of the neck of a third Indian. Young Andrew killed a fourth Indian, and Thomas skillfully flung a tomahawk forty feet into the back of one of the two remaining fleeing Indians. One Indian escaped and he was able to alert only a few hours later other members of his Indian party. They immediately started up a chase to recapture their escaped prisoners. Fortunately, Thomas Bennet was a skilled woodsman and four days later, being constantly chased through the mountains by their pursuers, they returned to their Wyoming settlement and safety. The Bennets and Lebbeus Hammond became instant heroes. Not only was Lebbeus already well-known for his exploits at Bloody Rock, he had again escaped death at the hands of Indians. His reputation as an Indian fighter was assured.

Seven years later in 1787, Lebbeus Hammond and his family and the Tubbs family left the Wyoming Valley. Their old enemy, the unfriendly Pennanites, had moved into Wyoming in large numbers. There were land claim problems. It was time again to move on. They traveled northwest up the Susquehanna River headed for a new wilderness frontier in the valley of the Chemung River. They finally stopped and settled down in an area now know as Southport, located just south of Elmira, New York. History records them as the pioneer families in the area. Lebbeus Hammond had finally found his home and he was to remain in Southport for the rest of his life. He died on July 12, 1826. His wife Lucy, died on April 17, 1844. They are buried side by side in the Fitzsimmons Cemetery in Southport, New York. We visited their graves on August 22, 2005. Lebbeus’s grave was barely legible. There was however, a metal plaque next to his gravestone that clearly identified our grandfather Lebbeus Hammond as a veteran of the American Revolution.

The Hammonds daughter, Mary (“Polly”), married John Sly who also was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Their grand-daughter, Mary Catherine Sly, married Charles Henry Spaulding. In turn, their great-great-grand-daughter, Helen Spaulding, married my grandfather, Charles S. Baker. The Slys, the Spauldings, and my grandfather, Charles S. Baker, are all buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York. And that is family history.

Chapter 7 - The Mahar/Stephen Family

Immigration
Migration (immigration) has been a natural occurrence in the human race since the development of Man in Africa some 200,000 years ago. Were it not for Man’s inherent desires to move-on when faced with climatic, political, economic, religious and other pressures mankind like the zebra, would still be isolated in Africa. Instead, Man migrated out of Africa, first to the Near East some 60,000 years ago, then Asia and Australia 50,000 years ago, followed by Europe and Central Asia 35,000 years ago, and finally, the Americas some 10,000 years ago. Man’s instinctive behavior to migrate when faced with adversarial pressures is as strong today as it was 60,000 years ago. It is unlikely for example, that a 700 mile wall on the Mexico / US border will deter illegal Mexican immigration into the United States. Man’s instinctive behavior to improve his conditions through migration is simply too strong to be deterred by a wall. If a border wall is constructed, we might speculate that two hundred years from now the Mexico / US border wall will be as famous as other walls built to prevent human migration, namely the Great Wall of China, Hadrian’s Wall, and the Berlin Wall. In the end however, since migration is virtually impossible to stop, it is best simply to make the migration process controlled and orderly. Time will tell if this occurs.

The history of our family is a history of the early immigration into North America. It began first in 1619 with the landing of Edward Spaulding in Jamestown, Virginia followed a few years later in 1623 with the arrival of Francis Sprague in Plymouth, Massachusetts. In the two decades following, thousands of English settlers migrated to New England including dozens of our family’s ancestors. Despite the fact that they faced a dangerous sea voyage crossing the Atlantic and at best primitive conditions in the New World, the pressure to migrate was so strong that they overcome their fears. In 1625, the first of our Dutch ancestors landed in New York. They too were seeking better living conditions than they faced in the Old World. In the late 1600s, the religious persecution of the Protestant Huguenots in France forced thousands of Huguenots to immigrate to the Americas. Many of these Huguenot immigrants including some of our ancestors, eventually settled in 1712 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In these examples and countless others, the pressure of human migration was and is of epoch importance to the history of our country for other than the forced migration of the slaves, the unfettered free migration of our early American settlers was a powerful factor in the development of the social order of our population and of our government.

Other than my mother’s father’ side of the family, the Pattersons, who entered the United State from Scotland via Canada in the early 1900s, the migration of our ancestors on the Baker side of the family was pretty well over by the early 1700s. On the other hand, the migration of Kathleen Mahar’s ancestors did not begin until the mid-1800s. Kathleen and I were married on May 9, 1969. This chapter is the story of her family’s history.

Human settlement in Ireland began around 8000 BC when the island’s first inhabitants emigrated from Britain. St. Patrick and other Christian missionaries arrived in the mid-fifth century and by 600 AD Christianity had pretty well replaced the indigenous pagan religions. Since this beginning, Christianity has played a major role in Ireland’s history and culture. The majority of the Irish population is Catholic. In 1536, King Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church in Rome and established the Anglican Church of England. While the English, the Welsh, and the Scots accepted this new Protestantism, most of the Irish remained Catholic. This fact determined the Irish relationship with the British state for the next 400 years and for almost that entire period of time until the Irish Free State was established in 1922, the Irish people were excluded from power in their own country. To compound the problem, after the failed Irish rebellion against the English in 1641, the English as punishment confiscated almost all of the land of the Irish Catholics and gave the land to British settlers. Subsequently, the native Irish inhabitants were relegated to the position of being renters on their own land, a condition that resulted in severe Irish antagonism towards England.

To make matters worse yet, the climate in Ireland was inconsistent which resulted in periodic crop failures. Two very cold winters in 1740 and 1741 led directly to the first Great Irish Famine which killed almost 400,000 people. The only food that they had to eat was food grown on their rented farms. As rents rose and crops failed as they frequently did, the Irish had no way to pay off the rent and many tenants ended up being evicted from their farms. They had no other skills other than farming which meant no work, little food, and constant fighting and killing of Irish against Irish. The population in Ireland had grown to eight million by 1845 and too many people were poor and starving. The land simply could not support the size of the population. Understandably, these conditions that started in the early 1800s precipitated migration out of Ireland. However, the worst was yet to come.

In 1845, one of the greatest tragedies of the 19th century began. A cold wet summer in Ireland caused almost the entire crop of potatoes to rot. Since the potato was almost the sole subsistence of millions of Irish peasants, this disaster pushed the population over the edge of starvation. Poor houses were overwhelmed and soup kitchens could not feed all of the hungry. Hundreds of thousands died, orphans wandered motherless, and then cholera and typhus pulled many of the half-living into mass graves. Almost one million people died of starvation and disease within the next five years during which the crop harvests remained undependable. As expected the great potato famine touched off a mass migration out of Ireland. Altogether, almost 3.5 million Irishmen entered the United States between 1820 and 1880 including most of Kathleen’s Irish-American ancestors.

In 1848, Kathleen’s paternal great grandfather Patrick Burke (1838-1911), at the age of only ten years old boarded a sailing ship in Liverpool, England bound for the United States. We assume that Patrick’s father, Michael Burke (1797-1894), and maybe some of his brothers and sisters accompanied Patrick. There is no record however, of his mother and we note that his father is buried alone without Patrick’s mother in St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Barker, New York. She may have already died before the ship left for New York. Patrick Burke was one of the lucky ones.[The US Census records show that Michael Burke was living with his wife Catherine in both 1860 as well as in 1870.  Catherine died in 1875 and in the 1880 US Census we find Michael living with his son Patrick and Patrick's family.  We want to thank Judith Pettit for pointing out that Michael's wife and Patrick's mother did indeed immigrate with her family from Ireland]. Not only was he able to leave Ireland during the worst of the Potato Famine, he was also fortunate not to have been trapped in the Irish slums of New York City in the mid-1850s as were so may of his countrymen. His father and his family may have had the necessary money that allowed them to travel from New York City to Western New York State most likely traveling by barge through the Erie Barge Canal. They may also have known friends or had family members that preceded them to the farming community near Lockport, New York.

Around 1865, Patrick married Anna Degnan. Patrick was 27 and Anna was only 16. Anna was born in the United States to Irish-born parents who most likely immigrated to the United States in the mid-1840s (sometime before Anna’s 1849 birth). It is probable that they like the Burkes were escaping the horrible conditions in Ireland. Together Anna and Patrick had seven children including Rose Anne Burke, Kathleen’s paternal grandmother, who was born in August of 1882, the youngest of the children. Patrick Burke died at the age of 73. His wife Anna died three years later at the age of 65. They are buried together in St. Patrick’s Cemetery not far from the farm in Niagara County where they raised their children and spent most of their adult lives.

Kathleen’s other paternal great grandfather, Thomas C. Mahar was born in Ireland in 1842 and at the young age of eight he boarded a ship bound for America. We have no clear evidence that he traveled with his parents or other relatives, although it is seems unlikely that at the age of eight he traveled alone on a ship in the year 1850. In these years the sailing ships leaving England for the United States were over crowded with Irish packed together in steerage areas of the ship that had previously been reserved for cargo. These quarters were only five feet high and they were lined with two tiers of bunks. These were not cruise ships. The passengers were required to bring on board and cook their own food for the 4 to 10 week trip across the Atlanta. Sanitary facilities on board were almost non-existent. A rough voyage which was not uncommon in the North Atlanta, added to their unbearable conditions. It is estimated that upwards of 10 to 15% of the passengers died during the voyage as the close quarters and unsanitary conditions were perfect breeding grounds for diseases. It is understandable that the media started referring to these ships as “coffin ships”. It must have been quite a sight watching the ragged and filthy immigrants disembark the ships in the American ports. These are the conditions that the young Thomas surely faced during his 1850 passage.

In St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Barker, New York where Thomas C. Mahar and his wife are buried there are more than 50 gravestones bearing the family name of “Mahar”. Two of these individuals, Thomas Mahar (1809-1904) and his wife Ann Carroll Mahar (1823-1907) are both of an age that suggest that they are the parents of Thomas C. although if Ann Carroll is Thomas C’s mother, she was only 15 years old when he was born. Furthermore, the proximity of their graves to Thomas C’s grave would further support this assumption that these are his parents. In any case, it seems doubtful that an eight year old boy would be sent out on a crowded ship alone despite the fact that a survey of a typical ship’s manifest in the mid-1800s shows that the predominate passengers were young males, teenagers through their early 30s. I believe that the evidence suggests that Thomas and Ann Carroll Mahar were Kathleen’s great-great grandparents. [Again thanks to Judith Pettit we have learned that Thomas C. Mahar's parents were Daniel Mahar (1821-1893) and Elizabeth Carroll (1821-1895).  Judith obtained a copy of Thomas C Mahar's death certificate wherein Daniel was listed as his father. We then noted that Thomas and Bridget named their oldest son Daniel and their oldest daughter Elizabeth both of whom were undoubtedly named for their grandparents.] 

In 1869, Thomas C. Mahar married Bridget Halvey. He was 27; she was 21. We know very little about Bridget other than she listed herself in the 1900s US Census as having been born in Ireland. There are no other Halveys buried in the St. Patrick’s Cemetery therefore we have no information as to when and with whom she may have traveled in her voyage to the United States. Obviously she came to this county sometime after 1848, the year of her Irish birth and before she was 21, her age at her marriage. Together Bridget and Thomas C. had nine children including their second youngest child and Kathleen’s grandfather, Thomas Patrick Mahar, who was born in 1888. Thomas C Mahar spent his adult life working his farm on Checkered Tavern Road in Hartland, NewYork. He died at the age of 75 in 1917. His wife died at the age of 82 in 1930.

Kathleen’s grandparents on her father’s side were Thomas Patrick Mahar (1888-1964), son of Thomas C. and Bridget, and Rose Anne Burke (1882-1952), daughter of Patrick Burke and Anna Degnan. They were married around 1909 when Thomas P. was 21 and Rose Ann was 27. Together they had three sons including Kathleen’s father, Charles Henry Mahar, their second oldest son who was born on September 1, 1912 at the farm home on Checkered Tavern Road in Hartland, NY. Thomas Patrick worked on the farm with his father and later with his oldest son, Emmet, until he was in his 40s. For the remaining 15 years of his working career he was employed as a salesman for a farm feed and supply business located near their home in Olcott, New York. Rose Anne died in 1952 at the age of 70. Thomas Patrick died in 1964 at the age of 76. They are buried together in St. Patrick’s Cemetery.

Kathleen’s father, Charles Henry Mahar was born in 1912, the second oldest of the three sons of Thomas Patrick and Rose Anne. Until he was around 25 years old, he helped out around the family farm at which time following the outbreak of World War II he joined the U.S. Army and served for a short term of duty as a Private First Class. He left the military in 1942 and returned to his parent’s home in Olcott, NY. He then went to work as a house painter eventually joining the Painter’s Union in Niagara Falls in mid-1943. In June of 1943 he met Kathleen’s mother, Mary Agnes Stephen and in October of that same year they married. They had two daughters while living in Olcott, Rosemary, born in 1947, and Kathleen, born in 1948. They later relocated to Niagara Falls. Charles Henry worked as a union painter and later as a union electrician for most of his working career. In the late 1960s, Charles and Mary Agnes were divorced after having been separated for a number of years. Charles moved in the 1960s to Cattarugas County, NY. In the early 1970s, he suffered a massive heart attack. While he eventually physically recovered from the effects of the heart attack, he never completely recovered from the emotional impact. Undoubtedly the stress was too much for him for in 1974, Charles committed suicide near his Machias, NY home. He was buried next to his parents in St. Patrick’s Cemetery.

Kathleen’s maternal great grandfather, William Stephen (adjacent photograph), was born in Aberdeen, Scotland on October 23, 1864. He married Mary Anne Wilson in the mid-1880s and together they had eight children all of whom were born in Scotland including Kathleen’s grandfather William Stephen who was born on May 10, 1889. [In June 2007, I discovered what I believe to be the names of William's parents and Kathleen's great-great grandparents, Arthur Stephen and Margaret Anderson. Arthur was born around 1818 in Rayne, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (per the 1871 Scotland Census) and Margaret was born in 1820. The young son William is listed along with five other children. The reason that I concluded that Arthur and Margaret are William's parents other than the concurrance of the ages is that William named one of his children Arthur and another, Margaret. Arthur Stephen was a farm overseer at the Culter estate near Peterculter, Aberdeenshire for many years and also had an auctioneering business in the north of Scotland. One other observation worth noting. The family tradition is that the Stephens are related to Sir George Stephen (1829-1921) the noted Canadian railroad tycoon. I have never found any evidence to support this tradition, however family traditions carry a lot of weight and it is entirely possible that Sir George Stephen may have been an uncle or cousin of our Stephen family] The photograph of William Stephen (Sr) was taken in the late 1870s when he was around twelve years old. The fact that his family could afford to have a photograph taken of their son who is well dressed in the photo, tells us that the family were probably not poor farmers. When they finally emigrated to America in 1906, their reasons for leaving Scotland were far different than the reasons that the Burkes and the Mahars left Ireland in 1848 and 1850 respectively. Furthermore, the entire family traveled together, the eight children and the two parents, which would have cost substantially more than paid by the Irish on the sailing ships in the mid-1880s. [In November of 2008 I received an e-mail from Charlene, a descendant of Alexander Stephen (1810-1874), a brother of Arthur Stephen (1818-1900). She confirmed that Arthur Stephen and Margaret Anderson are the parents of William Stephen and Kathleen's great, great grandparents. She also indicated that some of William and Margaret Stephen's children arrived at Ellis Island in 1912 and not as a family together in 1906 as I originally assumed. Subsequent research on my part determined the following: William Stephen arrived on the ship Parthenia in Quebec on October 16, 1907. He may have been traveling with his son William Jr. Both of their names appear in a border crossing between Canada and the USA at Buffalo in March of 1910. William's wife, Mary Ann, arrived from Scotland and disembarked at Ellis Island on June 10, 1912. Their son James disembarked at Ellis Island on January 2, 1912, and their son Arthur arrived on September 28, 1912. Sons William, James, and Arthur all listed themselves as gardeners. For whatever reason, probably money, the family did not travel together on the same ship. William Stephen (Sr.) listed himself as living in Port Colborne, Ontario in 1910. I was also provided the names of Arthur Stephen's parents who were George Stephen (baptized on Sept 17, 1776 at Bonnyton, Rayne Parish, Aberdeenshire) and Margaret Jaffery. The Stephen family had been tenant farmers at Bonnyton for quite a few generations.] We believe that William Stephen (Sr) was probably a landscaper in Scotland as was his son, and he relocated to Canada to improve his employment opportunities. William Stephen (Sr) died in 1930 at the age of 68. His wife Mary Anne died in 1943 at the age of 80. They are buried together in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada.

Kathleen’s maternal grandfather, William Stephen (Jr) was living in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada probably with his parents, when he met and married a young Irish girl, Mary Agnes Walsh from Sligo, Ireland sometime around 1914.[A Border Crossing record dated 3 April 1918 shows that William Stephen with his wife and three children crossed from Buffalo, New York to Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada apparently with the intent of permanently moving to Canada.  The records shows them to be "Settlers" and they paid a fee of $350. We have no idea why they moved although it may have been for employment purposes.  He was listed as a "Gardener." We know that sometime after Agnes Walsh Stephen died in childbirth in Fort Erie in 1920, William and his three children returned to New York State.] He was 25 when they were married. She was 24. We know very little about Mary Agnes Walsh’s parents other than they were both born in Ireland, her father’s name was John James Walsh, and her mother’s maiden name was McCarthy and they probably emigrated from Ireland with their daughter, Mary Agnes Walsh, sometime around 1900. They had three other children after the birth of Mary Agnes.

The first child of William Stephen and Mary Agnes Walsh was Mary Agnes Stephen, Kathleen’s mother, (photograph to right) and she was born in 1915 in Buffalo, New York. She was followed by the birth of two other children, Florence and John, who were also born in Buffalo. In February 1920, Mary Agnes the mother, then only 29 years old died while giving birth to twin boys. She was buried in St Joseph’s Cemetery in Fort Erie, Ontario. [In 2009 I located information on the death of Agnes Stephen that contradicts some of what I wrote above. First her parents are listed as John Walsh and Anna Butts both born in Ireland. Secondly, only one baby was born (not twins) and the baby died at birth on February 16th, 1920. His mother Agnes died a day later on February 17th. Agnes and William Stephen were listed as living in Port Erie, Ontario at the time of her death.] Her oldest daughter, Kathleen’s mother, was only 4-1/2 years old when her mother died. After the death of his wife, William moved to Olean, New York where he continued his employment as a landscaper. He later remarried and had three more children. Two years before his death on May 4, 1948, also Kathleen’s birth date, he became an American citizen. He was only 59 when he died.

When Mary Agnes died, William believed that he was not in a position to take care of his three young children all under the age of five, and he sent them off to live with relatives. Kathleen’s mother, Mary Agnes, was sent to live with her grandparents William and Mary Anne, in Fort Erie. She lived with them until she was six and then moved to live with her Aunt Anne, her father’s sister, in Hamburg, New York. Aunt Anne divorced when Mary Agnes was ten, and Mary Agnes moved once again, this time back to her father’s home in Weston Mill’s, New York. At this point her father had remarried. When Mary Agnes was still a young 16 years old she moved out of her father’s home and went to work in Olean, New York. She later moved to Niagara Falls where at the age of 28 she met and married Charles Henry Mahar. At this time (2006), Kathleen’s mother is 91 and lives in Atlanta, Georgia near her daughter and Kathleen’s older sister, Rosemary. She is still in good health.

That said, we end the chapter of Kathleen’s family as we know it. The family represents the best of the immigrants that immigrated to the Americas in the later part of the 19th Century and the early part of the 20th Century. They were honest hardworking people and they accepted the risk of leaving their country and their family behind to start a new life in a new country. For their bravery we shall be forever grateful.

Chapter 6 - The Ferree Family

Marie Warenbuer Ferree, my great (x8) grandmother, was a remarkable woman. She rose above her personal hardships of losing her home, religious persecution, and the death of her husband, to lead her children from religious persecution in her French homeland, to Germany, to Holland, to England, and ultimately to America. Her story is one of courage and determination. Historians, referring to Marie Ferree as Madame Ferree, tell us that her name is still remembered and venerated in the neighborhood of Paradise, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

When Marie Warenbuer was born in 1653, France was in a religious turmoil. The country was unofficially ruled by the Catholic Church; however the Protestant Reformation begun by Martin Luther about 1517 had spread rapidly in France. The followers of this new “reformed religion”, later to be called French Huguenots, included many of the French nobility and wealthy merchants including the Ferree family. This frightened the Catholic Church hierarchy and the French government and soon they were accusing the new Protestants of heresy. In 1536 a General Edict was issued urging the extermination of the Huguenots. This ignited what is called the War of Religions in France and serious persecution of the Huguenots followed. It is estimated that over 8,000 Huguenots were murdered during this period. Sadly, the attempt to exterminate the Huguenots had the full blessing of the Pope in Rome. Finally Henry IV, King of France, signed the Edict of Nantes in 1598 which brought an end to The Wars of Religion. Unfortunately, King Henry IV was murdered in 1610 and the persecution resumed in even greater earnest. In 1685, King Louis XIV, Henry’s successor, made it official by revoking the Edict of Nantes which had granted a degree of religious tolerance of the Huguenots.

Our Marie Warenbuer was born in Picardy, France in 1653. At the age of 22 in the year 1675 she married Daniel Ferree and together they moved into his home along the Rhine River in Lindau in Bavaria, now part of West Germany, but then part of France. Daniel Ferree was descended from a Huguenot (Protestant) family of French nobility. The founder of the Ferree family was one Robert Ferre des Ferris who in 1265 was confirmed to a huge estate in Lower Normandy, therein gaining him nobility status. Daniel, born in 1647, like his fathers before him, was to become a prosperous silk manufacturer. Their first child, Daniel Jr., was born in 1676. Five additional children were born to the family over the next ten years. During most of this period which followed the original Edict of Nantes, this French Protestant family lived in relative peace with their Catholic neighbors, despite being in a minority position in a predominately Catholic country. As previously stated, in 1685 Louis XIV, King of France, revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had previously granted religious freedom. The Ferree family now faced a major change in their lives.

Louis XIV immediately ordered soldiers to all French towns and villages to kill the Protestants and confiscate their property. Fearing for their lives Daniel and Marie Ferree and their children escaped to Strasbourg, Germany and later to Steinweiler in the German Palatine. Unfortunately, Daniel died a few years later (maybe as late as 1707), leaving Marie and her six children though reasonable well-off, alone to fend for themselves. Although they were allowed to live in the Palatinate, there was always the danger of invasion by the armies of France and the possibility of being put to death for their religious beliefs.

In 1707, Queen Anne of England issued a proclamation inviting the suffering Huguenots to come to England for colonization in America. In early 1708, Madame Ferree with her now married son, Daniel, and her other single children, immigrated to England via Holland. Upon their arrival in London, Madame Ferree, now somewhat well known for her outspoken beliefs, visited William Penn, to whom she made known her situation. William Penn was well-known at the time as being a member of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, and for his efforts to found a new colony in America. He had chartered the colony with new liberties such as the guaranteed right to a free and fair trial by jury, freedom of religion, freedom from unjust imprisonment, and free elections. These were rather novel ideas at the time, however they were ideas that later greatly influenced our founding fathers when they wrote the Constitution. William Penn became deeply interested in the sad story of Marie Warenbuer’s misfortunes, and the next day he introduced her to Queen Anne, Sovereign of England. Queen Anne, herself a strong independent woman, was intrigued by Madame Ferree’s strong willed determination and granted her, her family and fellow Huguenots, English citizenship, permission to colonize in America, and a promise of substantial aid. Subsequently, William Penn granted her 2,300 acres of land which she was to obtain upon her settlement in Pennsylvania. Madam Ferree with her family, set sail to America on October 15, 1708 on the ship “The Globe” and arrived in New York on December 31, 1708. [Some sources have her following her family on a later ship]. Madame Ferree and her family initially waited in a Huguenot colony at Esopus (now Kingston), up the Hudson River from New York while her property in Pennsylvania was being surveyed. Then in 1710, word came that the survey had been completed and the family traveled to Philadelphia. In mid-summer of 1712 they traveled west out of Philadelphia to the Pequea Valley in what is now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. When they arrived in the valley, they were no other white people in the area. Fortunately, the Paquaw Indians, who lived in the area and had sold their land to William Penn, proved to be friendly. There the Ferree family settled, divided the land among the family, and lived in general prosperity as farmers on fertile land for many generations.

Marie Warenbuer Ferree and her family were among the first 5000 of 150,000 Huguenots to immigrate to America and she is credited with being the founder of the Pequea Valley, Pennsylvania Huguenot colony in 1712. She died only a few years later at the age of sixty-three in 1716, and she is buried in a cemetery on property that she had donated in what was later to be known as Ferree Graveyard and is now referred to as Carpenter’s Graveyard. This cemetery is located about one half mile south of the Village of Paradise in Lancaster County. It is believed that all Ferree descendants in America are descended from Marie Ferree. Clearly, had not been for Madame Ferree’s determination and the attention that she drew to her family’s plight, she would not have met with William Penn, she would not have had an audience with the Queen of England, she would not have been granted thousands of acres of fertile farm land in Pennsylvania, immigrated to America, and she would not have become the matriarch of the Ferree family in this country. She was a special person in our family’s history.

Daniel Ferree, the son of Marie and Daniel Ferree, was born in 1677 in France and in 1701 he married Anna Maria Leininger in Germany. Their son Andrew, our great (x6) grandfather, was born in Bavaria, Germany in 1701 and immigrated to America with his grandmother and parents in 1708. His son David was born in 1725 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and married Mary LeFevre, who herself was a great granddaughter of Marie and Daniel Ferree. Their child, David, our great (x4) grandfather was born in 1772 in Lancaster County and married Mary Baker (no known relationship to other Baker family tree). Their son, Dillen Baker Ferree, was born in 1796 and married Elizabeth Dewees in 1819. Their son, David Dewees Ferree (in photograph), our great (x2) grandfather, was born in 1826, also in Lancaster County. He married Mary Rebecca Hutchinson (in photograph) and on March 17, 1866 she gave birth to her second son, my great grandfather, Eugene Hutchinson Ferree, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

David Dewees Ferree died sometime before 1880, for in the 1880 U.S. Census, his 14 year old son Eugene was listed as living with his older brother and his mother, Mary Rebecca Hutchinson, in the Village of Cayuga, New York located on the east shore at the north end of Cayuga Lake in Central New York State. David Dewees Ferree was not listed as living with his family in the 1880 Census nor is he buried with his family in the family plot in this small village. I assume that he must have died young, perhaps in his mid-40s, and his wife and children following his death moved to the Village of Cayuga so that she and her children could be close to her parents. [In November 2008, I was sent a photograph of the gravestone of David Dewees Ferree that states the date of his death as May 20, 1869. His grave and the graves of his parents and other Ferree relatives is located behind the St John's Episcopal Church in the town of Compass, in West Caln Township, Lancaster County, PA. The photograph of his grave was sent courtesy of Deb Martin-Plugh.] Mary Rebecca was the daughter of Mosely Hutchinson (1795-1861), a prominent area public figure and large landowner in Cayuga, and Elizabeth Boardman Hall (1801-1877). Both of her parents trace their ancestry back to the early 1600s in this country. The Ferrees per the 1880 Census were living in the Hutchinson home which even today is referred to as the “Hutchinson Homestead” and noted with an historic landmark.

My great grandfather, Eugene Hutchinson Ferree (in photograph), attended Cornell University from 1886-1887. Cornell is located in Ithaca, New York at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake about 30 miles south of his Village of Cayuga home. In 1890, Eugene married Marian Coapman in St. Luke’s Episcopal Church located only a few blocks from his mother’s home. Unfortunately, we know very little about Marian Coapman, where she lived, her parents, and so forth. There are a number of Coapmans buried in Cayuga although none of them appear to be Marian’s parents. Most likely her parents lived in a village not far from Cayuga and it is possible that Eugene met Marian while he attended Cornell University. [Since I wrote this chapter in 2006, I have done extensive research on the Coapman family and their story is covered in Chapter 19 of this family tree blog.] Eugene and Marian had three children while living in Cayuga. Their youngest child was born in December 1895. Marian died in 1896 possible due to complications from the childbirth. She is buried in Cayuga, New York alongside her husband who outlived her by 56 years. He never remarried. My mother, Marian Coapman Patterson, was named after her grandmother.

Sometime later, probably after his mother’s death in 1901, Eugene moved his family to Lockport, New York. In the 1930 U.S. Census, great grandfather Ferree is listed as living with his youngest daughter, Marian Ferree, in Lockport. His two other daughters had married before 1930. Eugene became a prominent business man in Lockport, owning and operating a leather goods factory that bore his name, E.H. Ferree Co. He died in 1952 at the age of 86. His daughter, Florence Ferree, married my grandfather, Douglas Patterson. Eugene Ferree, Florence Ferree, and Douglas Patterson are covered in other family history chapters, specifically the chapter titled “Mother” and the chapter titled “The Patterson Family’.

Chapter 5 - The Patterson Family

In February of 2009 I received an e-mail from my third cousin, George Patterson, who is also a descendant of John "Jock" Patterson. He provided me with information that required me to make a few corrections to the dates in this Patterson family history specifically as they relate to the year of Jock Patterson's birth which I previously listed incorrectly as 1829 instead of 1822. He also sent me exciting new information about Jock Patterson's role in the North-West Rebellion that took place in Canada's western territories in the year 1885. The below narrative has been adjusted according and it is with great pleasure that I offer George Patterson our thanks for participating in our history of the Patterson family.

As far as I can determine, I have only one direct ancestor that fought in a foreign war and for that matter, fought in any wars other than the American Revolution. That person was John Patterson, my great-great grandfather, who was born in 1822 in Paisley, Scotland. When John was in his 20s he enlisted in the 42nd Highland Regiment, a regiment that was later to become the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment and referred to informally thereafter as the “Black Watch.” Even at the time of his enlistment in the early 1850s (he would have been 28 in 1850), the 42nd Highlanders were famous for their battle prowess and bravery. The regiment was originally formed in 1725 as a British military unit to stop the fighting among the Scottish Clans. Since its inception this kilted regiment has been utilized in almost every war involving the British including the American Revolutionary War and most recently, the War in Iraq. When John Patterson enlisted, the 42nd Highlanders had been engaged earlier in the decade in the Napoleonic Wars and at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Clearly John Patterson must have had an adventurous spirit to have enlisted in such an illustrious military unit. No doubt the fact that the 42nd Highlanders were renowned for their Pipe and Drum Corp which had been formed during the Napoleonic Wars and used to “play their regiment into battle” influenced his decision. John was a skilled bagpiper. I am assuming that he was already a proficient bagpiper before he joined the regiment, although it is possible, if he enlisted at an early age, the military may have taught him the bagpipes. Considering how well he played in 1855 as reported later, I suspect that he learned to play the bagpipes before he joined the 42nd Highlanders.

Early in 1853, John Patterson along with his regiment and over 50,000 other British troops embarked on ships headed for the Crimea thus beginning Britain’s entry into what is now known as the Crimean War. While the Crimean War is an important event in world history, it is not well known to Americans primarily because our country was not involved. The war is described only briefly in history books in American schools. Considering that the war involved the British, the French, the Ottoman Empire, and the Russians as the combatants, and also considering that almost 300,000 people including civilians died as a result of the war, it probably justifies offering more than a page or two in our history books. I am not going to try and makeup for the short comings of our history books, however to fully understand what John Patterson experienced, it is necessary to briefly outline what he faced.

In the first half of the 1800s the Ottoman Empire consisted loosely of the Balkan Peninsula, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, the other Arab countries in this area, and the “Holy Lands”. Their control over their empire was weak and on the decline. Russia during this period controlled the land on the north side of the Black Sea, including the peninsula of Crimea. In order for Russia to gain a warm-water access for their navy which was harbored in the Black Sea at the City of Sebastopol, through to the Mediterranean Sea, the Russians needed to control the narrow straights, including one by the City of Constantinople in Turkey, that lead from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Russia to achieve its goal initiated a series of political negotiations and military moves that had as its intended result, gaining control over the Ottoman Empire. Turkey was angered by the Russian activities and they finally declared war on Russia in March of 1853. Meanwhile the French and the British not wanting Russia to gain control in the area and knowing full well that Turkey was too weak to defend itself alone, sent troops via their fleets into the conflict area and allied with Turkey. In March of 1854, both France and Great Britain declared war on Russia thus formally beginning the Crimean War.

The war lasted from early 1854 until the end of 1855. It consisted of two major battles, the Battle of Alma in which the Black Watch participated, and the Battle of Balaclava, which included the infamous “Charge of the Light Brigade”, plus a few other skirmishes, and the siege and ultimate capture of the City of Sebastopol on the Crimean Peninsula. It was the Siege at Sebastopol that resulted in the majority of the deaths in the Crimean War. As far as we know, John Patterson was in the Crimean War from the beginning through to the end. Based on a newspaper article published in the Nova Scotia Times in 1885, where it was reported that “his [bagpipe] music cheered his comrades on the slopes of Sebastopol” we know that John was at the Siege of Sebastopol. We also know that the British, the French, the other Allied troops, and the Russians were subjected to deplorable human suffering during the siege. It is estimated that during the war and the siege which itself lasted a full year, the British troops consisting of around 50,000 men, lost 2,755 men killed in action, 2,019 dead from battle wounds, and an astounding 16,323 dead from disease. Death statistics for the French and Russian troops were no better. We know that the 42nd Highland Brigade did not participate directly in any of the battles. We do know that John Patterson faced a far greater danger than being killed in battle. Death from disease and exposure claimed many more deaths. Fortunately for his descendents, he survived.

The Crimean War is noted for a number of important issues in world and British history. First, it is considered to be the first large-scale “world war” wherein multiple nations were engaged. Secondly, the military tactics utilized were a precursor of what to expect in subsequent wars including the American Civil War and World War I. The allies at the siege of Sebastopol employed the uses of trenches for the first time in military history. The use of the glorious cavalry charge against infantry, a tactic successfully utilized in previous wars, was shown to be fallible against well placed canons. Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote his famous poem The Charge of the Light Brigade shortly after the Battle of Balaclava wherein he memorialized a suicidal British cavalry charge against a heavily armed Russian position:

All in the Valley of Death
Rode the six Hundred:
‘Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns’ he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Of the 637 mounted participants in the charge, 247 were killed or wounded in a matter of minutes. This incident along with other military blunders on the part of the military leadership in the Crimean War finally convinced the English Parliament once and for all that the British military custom of “selling” their higher military ranks to wealthy English nobility rather than promoting men from the ranks based on ability, needed change. Despite this system being in place for hundreds of years, it had finally proven to be an ineffective way to run a modern war and the system was changed shortly after the end of the war.

Another serious failure on the part of the British leadership resulted from their impulsiveness to go to war without making the proper preparations. Unfortunately the war was not won in the short period of time anticipated. The siege of Sebastopol lasted through the winter of 1854-55 and almost criminally, the troops had been sent to war without adequate provisions including clothes and shelters to survive in winter conditions. Thousands died as a result of this military incompetence. Furthermore, the British military system had never developed a system for handling large quantities of sick and wounded. There were almost no doctors, there were inadequate supplies of medicine, there were no nurses, few wagons and stretchers bearers to handle the wounded (other than a few poorly trained bagpipers, perhaps even our John Patterson, who were enlisted to help out), and no hospital tents or structures. It is hard to imagine this lack of caring. Fortunately, for the first time in warfare, the British press sent war correspondents to the battle front and they reported back to their newspapers and the British people of the terrible conditions in the Crimea and of the scandalous treatment and misery and suffering of the British troops. Despite the obvious public outcry that followed, it took private funding and the heroic efforts of Florence Nightingale to organize a nursing team to be sent to war front. This one change, nursing as a vocation for women, was perhaps the most positive result of the Crimean War.

Somehow through all of this, my great-great grandfather survived.

The gentleman in the above photo with the bagpipes is John “Jock” Patterson, my great, great grandfather on my mother’s side of the family. The three young boys are his sons William, Charles, and John. John Patterson sitting on the far right in the photograph is my great grandfather. The photograph is a copy of an original photograph on tin type taken around 1864-5, probably in Halifax or Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Jock Patterson retired from the military after the Crimean War and shortly thereafter emigrated to Nova Scotia, Canada, where he met his wife, my great, great grandmother, Margaret Leonard. Margaret was born in Ireland in 1835 and she died in 1889. Together they had nine children, including my great grandfather, John Riddle Patterson, who was born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia around 1857. Jock Patterson died in 1892 and with his wife is buried in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. For most of his life Jock Patterson was noted as a skilled piper. From the same 1885 newspaper article previously quoted, it further reads: ”Reports from Winnipeg state that the Halifax Battalion have gone into quarters at the skating rink there. During the long and tedious march over the melting ice of Lake Superior, officers and men had no sleep, but not a man fell out. In the ranks are old soldiers who have seen duty in various parts of the world. Among them is Jock Patterson, the piper from Dartmouth. His performances on the bagpipes at the Winnipeg camp are said to be inimitable.” John Patterson was 62 years old when this was written. He died at the age of 70 in the year 1892.

The following three paragraphs were added in February of 2009 based on new information received from George Patterson:

The 1885 article in the Halifax newspaper quoted above failed to mention why Jock Patterson and the Halifax Battalion marched across Lake Superior and were camped at Winnipeg. Apparently my lack of knowledge of Canadian history failed to trigger my usual inquisitive nature to question why in heavens name a battalion of soldiers from Halifax were so far from home. Unfortunately as a result, I missed an important milestone in the life of John Patterson, his participation in the North-West Rebellion that took place in the Canadian western territories in the year 1885.

In the late 1800s in both the western parts of the United States and Canada there was an "Indian problem", at least in the eyes of the political and military leaders of both countries. The Native American Indians on the other hand considered the gradual loss of their land and their hunting grounds to the flood of new settlers to be a white man problem and as a result they rebelled against the intrusion. The most famous of the conflicts between the Native Americans and the United States military occurred at the Battle of the Little Big Horn (also known as Custer's Last Stand) in 1876 and the Wounded Knee Massacre that took place in 1890. The most famous conflict in the Canadian west was the North-West Rebellion and while the root cause of this rebellion was similar in nature to its counterparts in the United States, the details of the conflicts were substantially different. At the Battle of the Little Big Horn over 1,000 Indians attacked and annihilated 268 soldiers in about one hour of fighting. At the Wounded Knee Massacre around 500 soldiers made a surprise attack on an Indian village and in less than one hour they machine gunned to death 200 men, women, and children. The North-West Rebellion on the other hand consisted of a number of different and smaller conflicts over the period between March 26, 1885 and May 12, 1885. The combatants consisted on one side of Native American Indians most of whom at the time were living on reservations who had combined forces with another group of half-breed Indian farmers called Metis. Their total strength was around 1,000. They faced a Canadian military that at full strength numbered over 10,000 composed primarily of short term enlisted soldiers, militia, and police. The troops were rushed westward on the Canadian Pacific Railway that at the time was still under construction requiring the troops to march at least part of the way. Most of the military battalions were from Ontario, although there were two battalions from Quebec and one from Nova Scotia. This huge force that had been dispatched in a very short period of time quickly defeated the greatly outnumbered rebel forces, and they arrested and imprisioned the rebel leaders many of whom were tried for treason, found guilty, and subsequently hanged. The Canadian government's quick and decisive response was probably responsible for the small number of total casualties and the short duration of the rebellion. Their actions however, did little to settle the legitimate complaints of the native peoples and it took decades for these Native Americans of western Canada to recover politically and emotionally from their defeat in 1885. But for most Canadians, the victory in the west was a great triumph and the participating soldiers were honored with metals, and heaped with praise by their contempories for their bravery.
In March of 1885, when John "Jock" Riddle Patterson enlisted in the Halifax Provisional Battalion he was 62 years old. We know his exact age because he informed a Canadian Census taker in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia on April 27, 1891 that he was 69 years old. This would have made him 62 years old in 1885. However, when Jock enlisted he reported his age as being only 58, a small fib perhaps but probably a necessary one for him to be considered for enlistment. His experience in the Crimean War and his skill as a piper was no doubt the reason he was accepted although even at the age of 58 he was pretty old for a soldier who faced the possibility of being sent into battle. We have to believe that Jock was thrilled with the opportunity of re-living his experences in the Crimean and traveling with some of his old army buddies. His battalion shipped out by train shortly following his enlistment. He left behind however, his wife Margaret and four or five of his children that were still living at home and he did not return home for at least four months. It is hard to imagine how his family survived on his meager wages in the military and Jock during his life had not been known to be a wealthy man. His occupation in the 1891 Census was listed as a "coal measurer". It appears that Jock Patterson may have been a colorful figure on the plains of Saskatchewan for an artist named George Craig photographed Jock Patterson in his kilts and holding his bagpipes and from this photograph he reproduced his vision of Jock in his oil painting a copy of which is shown to the left. The original painting currently resides at the Dartmouth Heritage Museum in Darmouth, Nova Scotia. I suspect that Jock had many more tales to tell his family and friends of his new experiences in the Canadian west.

I know very little about my great grandfather John Riddle Patterson other than what he looked like when he was young (in the Scottish kilts photograph) and what he looked like in his mid-60s. The adjacent photograph taken in the early 1920s shows Great Grandfather Patterson with his grandchildren. On his lap is my Aunt Anne; to his left is my mother, Marian, and to his right is my Uncle Gene. This photo was taken at his son’s home, my grandfather Douglas Ross Patterson, in Lockport, New York. My great grandfather Patterson died in 1927. I do not know the location of his burial site although I assume that he is buried in Nova Scotia with other members of the Patterson family. Great Grandfather Patterson (John) married Mary Savage in Nova Scotia around 1880 and together they had six children including my grandfather, Douglas Patterson. Mary Savage’s father, Thomas Savage, was born in Sligo, Ireland in 1825. His wife, Eliza West, my great grandmother, was born in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. She died in 1931. Thomas emigrated to Nova Scotia sometime in the mid to late 1840s, probably with his parents and probably, like so many other Irish at the time, to escape the famine conditions in Ireland. The background cause of Irish migration to America is further covered in Chapter 6 Immigration.
It is possible although not confirmed, that John Riddle Patterson may have moved at some point to Lockport, New York from Nova Scotia. This assumption is based solely on my knowledge that some of his children were living in the Lockport area in the 1950s. I remember clearly my Grandfather’s brother, Roy Patterson (“Uncle Roy”), and while I do not have memory of others in my grandfather’s immediate family, I do recall frequent mention of my great aunts, Ethel and Mabel, Grandfather’s sisters. On the other hand, John and Mary Patterson are not buried with their two sons in Lockport thus leading to the conclusion that they are buried in Nova Scotia.
The photograph of my grandfather, Douglas Ross Patterson, was taken in the early 1920s when my grandfather was in his 30s. He was definitely a good looking man. I am not going to repeat a lot of the basic biographical information about my grandfather since it is recorded in Chapter 9 Mother. It must suffice for me to recall in this chapter my grandfather’s qualities that made him such a highly respected individual all of his life.

As a young man he was a gifted athlete. My mother related to me a story of when she was young she watched her father with her younger bother, Gene, on his father’s shoulders leaping off a bridge in Lockport into the Erie Barge Canal, a drop that must have been a good 15 feet. The purpose of the jump was a publicity stunt to raise money for the Boy Scouts. Douglas was a champion swimmer and obviously a fearless jumper. Young son Gene made it though the ordeal and he must have trusted his father. I recall a photograph of grandfather as a young man surrounded by all of his metals and trophies. For a number of years in the 1940s grandfather sponsored a son and son-in-laws spring weekend up at the cottage on Crane Lake. Besides fishing and drinking beer each spring, grandfather held a horseshoe contest with all the young men. As the story goes, he never lost at horseshoes. I recall playing horseshoes with grandfather when I was in my late teens. He was in his 70s at that point and he still beat me.

Much of grandfather’s success in business was due to his gregarious personality and his ability to communicate. Undoubtedly he had the gift of gab for he was an outstanding salesman for the E.H. Ferree Company, a small leathergoods factory in Lockport, New York, owned by his father-in-law, Eugene H. Ferree, my great grandfather. Several years ago I came across a humorous story involving my grandfather and the leather goods factory. One of E.H. Ferree’s largest customers for their leather wallets was the Woolworth stores. In 1938, my grandfather thought it would be a great way to promote his product if the company inserted small sample social security cards in each wallet sold by Woolworth. The sample cards were half the size of the real social security cards that had been issued only a few years earlier by the federal government. The sample card was printed in red and contained the word “specimen” printed across its face. Grandfather thought that it would be a clever and humorous idea if he had the actual social security number of his secretary printed on the card. His joke however, ultimately backfired. Many of the purchasers of the wallet adapted his secretary’s social security number as their own. In the peak year of 1943, 5,755 people were using grandfather’s secretary’s Social Security Number. The Social Security Administration acted to eliminate the problem by voiding the number and publicizing that the number was invalid. Nevertheless, the number continued to be used for many years. In all, over 40,000 people reported this as their SSN and as late as 1977, twelve people were still found to be using the social security numbers printed on the sample card found in each of the E.H. Ferree wallets sold by Woolworth. No doubt this confirms the power of advertising. My grandfather must have found it all quite amusing although I am sure that publicly he was very apologetic.

Whenever our family gathered when I was young and it was often, my grandfather was always the life of the party. He was clearly the head of the family and obviously respected. For many years on Christmas day, Grandfather and Grandmother held a family Christmas party in Lockport, New York. The parties were held in banquet halls outside their home due to the large number of their children and grand children in attendance. By the late 1960s, there must have been at least seventy-five relatives in attendance all drinking and dining in the same room. Our son Charles, born in November, 1969, attended at the age of one month the last of my grandfather’s great Christmas parties.

Grandfather and Grandmother (Blanche, his second wife) were moved to a nursing home in the early 1970s. Even here Grandfather continued to be the man-in-charge. Our sons’ Charles and Geoffrey, visited their great grandfather at the nursing home around 1975. Even though we were not sure that Grandfather recognized that they were his great grandsons, he insisted on showing them around the nursing home and introducing them to all of the resident older ladies, many of whom were lying almost unconscious in their beds and quite oblivious of their visitors. It was his job nevertheless as the gregarious leader, to show his grandchildren around. He was quite a guy. It is too bad that our boys never really knew their great grandfather.

Douglas Ross Patterson died on April 13, 1979. I recall a large funeral procession that followed his body to his final resting place in the Cold Springs Cemetery in Lockport, New York. He rests next to our Grandmother Florence Ferree Patterson and his brother Roy and his wife, Blanche. Grandfather always thought big even when planning for his eventual death. According to the caretaker at the Cold Springs Cemetery, there is room in the Patterson family plot for at least ten more family members. Anyone interested?

Chapter 4 - The Spaulding Family

In our bookshelf in our Florida home is a copy of Mark Twain’s book “Life on the Mississippi” published in 1883. On the inside cover there is a label indicating that the book was part of the “H.C. Spaulding Library”. Henry C. Spaulding was my great grandfather, father of my grandmother, Helen Spaulding (Baker). His Mark Twain book and its label inspired this family history chapter on the Spaulding family.

The Spaulding (Spalding) surname appears quite early in English history. The name was derived from the ancient Saxon town of Spalding in Lincolnshire, England and the name Spalding literally means in Latin: “the tribe who live at the shoulder (of marsh land)” which is an apt description of the land occupied by the early Spalding tribes. The first written record mentioning Spalding was in a Charter issued in 716 AD. In the Doomsday Book, a census prepared for William the Conqueror after 1066, Spalding and the Spalding Manor is recorded (then spelled “Spallinge”). The first referenced Spalding individual was a Ralph de Spalding who was granted a property deed in 1273. In 1327, a William de Spalding, a wool merchant was elected to Parliament. By the time of the birth on September 13, 1596 of Edward Spalding, the first Spalding to emigrate to the New World, descendants of the earliest Spalding tribe had been living in England for over 600 years.

Early in the spring of 1619 Edward Spaulding boarded a ship in London that sailed for the Jamestown Colony in Virginia. On board the ship with Edward was Sir George Yeardly, the new governor of the Virginia Colony and around 100 other settlers mostly male. To pay the cost of his voyage, Edward signed himself on as an indentured servant, an obligation that would require him to provide seven years free service to the Virginia Company who had sponsored the voyage and the Jamestown colony. Exactly why Edward elected to risk his life on the voyage and the hardships in the New World is unknown. He did not fit the typical profile of an indentured servant described by one source as composed primarily of “orphaned apprentices.” Men were being sent to the new colony to provide the labor to produce goods that could then be shipped back to England to help pay for the colony’s expenses and provide profits to the investors. While Edward’s mother Anne had died of child birth in 1603, his father Willfred Spalding, had remarried and was still alive at the age of 49 and working in the cloth trade in Cornhill near the town of Spalding in Lincolnshire, England. Perhaps Edward was an adventurer or maybe he just felt down on his luck. Either way he was only 23 years and he must have considered trying his luck in the New World to be a viable option.

Edward Spalding disembarked in Jamestown in May of 1619 approximately one year before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Even at this early date, Jamestown was a fairly well developed colony. The original Virginia Company explorers had landed on Jamestown Island on the banks of the James River about 60 miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on May 14, 1607. Much like the early years in Plymouth Colony, the population of Jamestown was initially decimated by disease, famine, and continuing attacks by Indians. After a particularly bad winter in 1609 described in accounts as a “starving time,” the ranks of the original 214 settlers had been reduced to only 60. Fortunately and as a result of some excellent leadership, the Jamestown colony survived and even to some extent prospered. In 1617 the tobacco plant was introduced and due to the favorable soil and climate conditions in Virginia, the plant was easily grown. Soon almost everyone was planting tobacco and within a few years the demand for tobacco in England had increased dramatically. By the time Edward Spalding arrived, there were more than 1,000 colonists living and working in Jamestown. Most of them were males which meant that the population growth of the colony depended almost entirely on new immigration. Slavery was introduced in Jamestown in the year of 1620.

In 1620, eleven ships arrived carrying 1,260 new settlers including married couples with children and 150 single women. As would be expected, the demand for the single women by the single men greatly outstripped the supply. The colony’s leaders perhaps to cool the demand, elected to sell the women by charging a fee of 120 pounds of tobacco to acquire a new wife. It is recorded that Edward Spalding elected to obtain a wife in this manner from the selection of women who were described as “agreeable persons, young and incorrupt.” This would seem to be a most helpful description. Apparently the union was successful for in 1623 it is further recorded in the “Virginia Colonist Record” in a List of the Living in the “Corporation” that Edward Spalding with his wife, son and daughter lived in the Jamestown colony.

Life in Jamestown was still not idyllic. In 1622, an Indian uprising resulted in the death of over 300 colonists, and disease was still taking an enormous toil on the population. One contemporary commentary on Edward Spalding stated that he finally departed Jamestown “after losing two young families.” Whether or not this is true can not be confirmed, however it does appear that when he relocated to Massachusetts sometime in the late 1620s he did so without children and possibly without a wife. No doubt conditions in Jamestown were too much for him to bare. By 1627 he had completed the terms of his indentureship and he must have concluded that there were better opportunities in Massachusetts.

Whether or not Edward’s marriage to Margaret Elliot took place in Virginia or in Massachusetts we do not know. By 1630 his name first appeared in the Braintree (Quincy), Massachusetts’ public records and on November 16, 1633 it is recorded that a son was born to Edward and Margaret. Their son John, is our great (x9) grandfather and the first Spalding born in America who survived to adulthood, and had children. Edward and Margaret were to have two sons and a daughter before Margaret’s death in August of 1640. In May of 1640 Edward was made a “freeman” which meant that he was a member of an established church and therefore could be chosen a magistrate or serve on a jury. In August of 1640 Edward remarried and was to have with his new wife Rachel, six additional children. In October 1645, Edward with nineteen other petitioners were granted 10,000 acres of land to establish the town of Chelmsford, Massachusetts. In 1654 and 1656, and again in 1660 and 1661 he was chosen a selectman in Chelmsford. He is also listed in the Chelmsford records as being a surveyor in 1663 and again in 1663. Edward Spalding died on February 26, 1670 and he is buried in Chelmsford, the town that he helped establish many years earlier.

The great (x5) grandson of Edward Spalding was my great-great-great grandfather Henry Clinton Spaulding. The Spaulding family had moved in the course of the seven generations following Edward from Chelmsford, Massachusetts to Connecticut, then to Vermont, and finally to Elmira, New York. On December 30, 1840, Henry Clinton Spaulding married Clara A. Wisner. He was 28 years old; she was 18. Together they had three children: Charles Henry Spaulding, my great-great grandfather, born in 1841, Alice Wisner Spaulding born in 1847, and Clara Louise Spaulding born in 1849. Henry operated a successful lumber business in Elmira and by the standards of the day for Elmira was considered a wealthy businessman. The family lived in a large Victorian home in an upscale neighborhood and as befitting their status they employed live-in servants to help with their daily needs.

One of Alice and Clara Spaulding’s close neighborhood friends when they were young was Olivia (Livy) Langdon, daughter of Olivia and Jervis Langdon. Jervis Langdon owned coal mines in Pennsylvania and operated coal distribution businesses in several cities. The Langdons were a leading family in Elmira. They had wealth and a splendid mansion that occupied including its grounds an entire city block. The young girls would play parlor games together, read books to each other, and participate in other activities one might expect from well-bred girls in this Victorian age. On the other hand, Livy’s younger brother, Charlie, was less restrained and was considered by his parents a “lackluster student and incipient drunkard.” As a consequence, his parents sent him on a European cruise hoping that it would provide him a degree of education and curb his drinking. While on the cruise, Charlie formed a friendship with a young reporter, Samuel Clemens, who using the pseudonym of Mark Twain, was sending dispatches back to his newspaper in America reporting on his adventures. Charlie apparently showed a photograph of his sister Livy to his friend, and according to Mark Train in his later years, he fell in love with Livy immediately.

After a long courtship, Samuel Clemens and Olivia Langdon were married on February 2, 1870. He was 35, she was 25. The large wedding held at the Langdon home was attended by the entire Spaulding family. Clara Spaulding was to remain a close friend of Livy and Sam Clemens for the rest of their lives. Initially, the Clemens moved to Buffalo, New York where they owned a home and a newspaper business that had been purchased as a wedding gift for Sam and Livy by her parents. When Livy got seriously ill following the birth of her first son in November 1870, it was Clara Spaulding who made the trip from Elmira to Buffalo to help her friend in her time of need. Jervis Langdon died in late 1870 leaving his daughter a wealthy woman.

In May of 1873, the Clemens traveling with their second child (the first had died), and Clara Spaulding, embarked on a ship bound for England. They remained in England until November of the same year. While in England, Livy conceived a third child, a daughter, who was born in June 1874, whom they named Clara, after our great-great aunt, Clara Spaulding. The adjacent photograph was probably taken around 1873. The women holding the baby is Clara Spaulding. Olivia Clemens is sitting to her left and Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) is standing in the background.

On November 6, 1877, Alice Spaulding, Clara’s sister married Charles E. Rapelea. Along with relatives and many other quests at their wedding were Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Clemens. As an aside, Charles Rapelea was undoubtedly a descendant of Joris Rapelje who came to the New World with his wife in 1624, (and the subject of another chapter.) The silver serving bowl engraved with the name “Alice” shown in the adjacent photograph, may have been a wedding gift to the new bridal couple. It is fun to speculate that the gift may have been given to the new couple by Samuel Clemens and his wife. The silver bowl is presently at our home in Florida.

On April 11, 1878, Sam and Livy, their two children, and their close friend, Clara Spaulding, departed once again on a ship bound for Europe. This time they traveled for sixteen months visiting Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Belgium, Netherlands, and England, finally returning home in late August of 1879.

On September 2, 1886 at the home of her parents, Henry “Harry” and Clarissa Spaulding, Clara Spaulding married John B. Stanchfield, a young Elmira attorney. She was 37 years old when she married. He husband was seven years her junior. Not surprisingly, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Clemens attended the wedding along with their two daughters, Susan and Clara. Clara and her new husband were to remain close friends of the Clemens for the rest of their lives. In fact, John Stanchfield was to occasionally represent Samuel Clemens in certain legal matters almost up to the year of Samuel's death in 1910. In the 1910 U.S. Census the Stanchfields were found living on Pine Street in New York City. Occupying their home were John and Clara, their two children, Alice, age 22 and John Jr., age 20, and their six servants. Obviously John had built a successful legal practice.

Clara never lost her love of traveling to Europe. Her name and her husband’s name are included in passenger lists on ships arriving from England in years 1913, 1914, and 1920. Her husband died in 1921. Even following his death she continued to visit Europe each summer as she is found on passenger lists in the years 1924, 1926, 1929, and 1931. She was 82 years old when she made her last voyage.

Olivia Langdon Clemens died in 1902 while vacationing in Europe. Samuel Clemens passed away on April 21, 1910. They are buried in the Langdon Family Plot in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York. Less than 100 yards away from the Clemens in the Woodland Cemetery are buried many members of the Spalding family including my great-great grandparents Charles Henry Spaulding and his wife Mary Catherine Sly, who by the way is the great granddaughter of Lebbeus Hammond who is covered in an earlier family history chapter. Also buried with the Spaulding family is my grandmother, Helen Spaulding and her husband, my grandfather, Charles S. Baker.

Mark Twain and his wife lived in Buffalo, New York until 1871 and after selling their Buffalo home and newspaper business, they moved to a new home in Hartford, Connecticut where they were to reside for the remainder of their lives. Twain complained however, that he was constantly interrupted in his writing at their Hartford home. Fortunately, they were invited by Livy’s older sister, Susan, to spend their summers at her home in Elmira, New York which they were to do each year for almost twenty years. It was at this summer retreat in Elmira where Mark Twain penned his most famous books including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and in 1883, Life on the Mississippi.

Clara Spaulding’s nephew, Henry C. Spaulding, my great grandfather purchased or was gifted a first edition copy of Life on the Mississippi probably in 1883. He was 20 years old at the time and he would have undoubtedly met the Clemens. When Henry died, the book was passed down to his daughter, my grandmother, Helen Spaulding (photograph). She married my grandfather Charles S. Baker and when he died, while living with my parents at their home on Lewiston Road in Niagara Falls, the book was passed down to my father.

I was always fascinated by all of the old books on the shelves in our family home on Lewiston Road. It seemed to me at the time in the early 1950s, that most of these old books were never touched and never read. I remember asking my father why all the old books. He told me that many of the books had belonged to his parents and his grandparents and that when they had died they passed to him. My father was especially proud of what he believed was a first edition copy of Mark Twain’s “Life on the Mississippi.” He went on to tell me that Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel L. Clemens, lived for a time in Elmira, New York and knew some of our relatives. I was only twelve or so at the time of our conversation and none of this meant much to me. I doubt I knew the meaning of a “first edition.” Nevertheless, I never forgot this conversation. Forty-five years later, and a year or so before my father’s death, I found Mark Twain’s old book on one of the bookshelves in my father’s Lewiston, New York home and I reminded my father of our conversation many years earlier. Once again he repeated that he thought the book was a first edition. We both agreed however, that if it was a first edition, it probably was not worth much, as the book was in very bad shape. The binding was broken and the pages were loose. I told him that I liked old books and therefore was pleased when he offered it to me. I then carefully packed the book in my suitcase and several days later proudly placed the old book on our bookshelf in our Savannah home.

In November of 2004, I came across an advertisement in the Fort Myers’ newspaper posted by a company that claimed to specialize in restoring old books. I immediately thought of Mark Twain’s “Life on the Mississippi”. A day later I meet with Mr. John A. Ravenhill, President of Davall & Chown in his small cluttered office in downtown Fort Myers, Florida. Mr. Ravenhill was an Englishman, 67 years old, who according to him had been binding and restoring books since he was fourteen years old. He showed me some of his book restoration work, and it was truly wonderful. The man had the skills. I then showed him the copy of “Life on the Mississippi.” While the inside cover of the book stated that it was printed and published in 1883 by James R. Osgood and Company and further stated “Copyright, 1883, by Samuel L. Clemens,” it also stated that it was “Copyright, 1874 and 1875, by H.O. Houghton and Company.” It was Mr. Ravenhill’s opinion that the book was not a first edition as obviously the Houghton published book preceded the Osgood publication. This was of course, very disappointing but I was even more disappointed by Mr. Ravenhill’s quotation of $375.00 to restore the book. I left his office still carrying the book.

I was determined upon returning home from my visit with Mr.Havenhill to do a little more research on the internet before giving up entirely on my copy of “Life on the Mississippi.” What I learned after searching the web for several hours confirmed my father’s believe that his copy of the book was indeed a first edition, at least a first edition of the American publication of the book. The book was published five days early in London, however the American publication by James R. Osgood and Company is generally recognized as the more valuable “First Edition” despite the fact that there were fewer copies of the book printed in England. I also learned that parts of the book were published in a seven part serial in the Atlantic Monthly, a magazine published by H.O. Houghton & Company. This explains the 1874 and 1875 copyright dates printed in the 1883 James R. Osgood & Company copy of the book. It also turns out that H.O. Houghton & Company and James R. Osgood and Company were one and the same company as the two companies had merged in 1878.

It is very difficult to determine the value of our copy of Mark Twain’s “Life on the Mississippi.” There are many first edition copies of the book for sale on the internet including four copies on eBay (as of November 7, 2004.) The value of the book depends on its condition and whether or not it was the first printing (“first stage”) of the book or subsequent printings. It turns out that our copy of the book was the first printing of the first edition of the book, a fact that greatly increases its value. This was determined by noting that the illustration of the hotel shown on page 443 of the book was mislabeled as the St. Louis Hotel. In the second printing this was corrected to list the hotel as the St Charles Hotel. Furthermore, in the first printing of the first edition the illustration of Mark Twain’s head on page 441 was shown surrounded in flames. The flames were deleted in the second and subsequent printings. Our copy lists the hotel as the St Louis Hotel and shows the flames surrounding the illustration of Mark Twain. It does appear that the retail value of the book even in its present condition could be at least $400.00. The most valuable copy I found listed on the internet was selling for $3,500.

The value of the book however, is a truly secondary consideration as to whether or not the book is worth restoring. The fact that our ancestors were friends of Samuel Clemens and his wife and the fact that the book was written by Clemens while residing in Elmira, adds a sentimental value to our first edition, first stage (print) of “Life on the Mississippi that is far more to our family than its monetary value. As of December 24, 2006, the book has not been restored.