Week 15 – 2020: Fire #52Ancestors — Making Sense of it All

Every genealogist knows about the roadblock caused by “burned counties.” Apparently, this phrase first came into use for Virginia research where many county courthouses were burned during the Civil War.[1] Courthouses hold key genealogical records including birth, marriage, and death certificates, probate records, land records, and more. When researching your ancestors who lived in burned counties, your strategy has to focus on substitute and alternative records, such as newspapers, legislative petitions, and censuses.[2]

Virginia wasn’t the only state in the U.S. to be affected by burned courthouses (and by “burned” we include courthouses destroyed by floods, wars, tornados, etc.). A particularly vexing situation in my research involves Montgomery County, Missouri. That courthouse was damaged by fire during the Civil War and later razed.[3] The courthouse burned again in 1901 destroying what they had left.[4]

My husband’s 2nd great-grandmother, Margaret A. Nunnelly, was born about 1839 in Montgomery County. The family tradition held that Margaret’s first husband was James McWeeney, an Irishman. Because the courthouse had been burned, direct evidence of that marriage was destroyed. Hmm. So now what? A couple of census records provide some evidence of James and Margaret’s marriage.

First, the 1860 U.S. census shows that twenty-one-year-old Margaret living with her father, mother, siblings and her one-month-old daughter in High Hill, Missouri (Montgomery County).[5] Two things on that record are particularly helpful: Margaret and her daughter Louisa’s last name is shown as “McWany” and Margaret is shown to have been married “within the year.” Yay for those random bits on census records! Further, beginning with the 1900 U.S. census, Louisa’s father’s birthplace is identified as Ireland. In fact, the 1930 U.S. census taker wrote “Doublin” for his birthplace.[6]

Do these records prove that James was Irish and that he married Margaret? Well, I’d say “probably” but by no means absolutely.

It always bothered me that I couldn’t find anything more on James – other than what would have been in the courthouse. No immigration records, no burial records, no military records. Nada. And rats.

I continued on with my research on Margaret and the rest of the family. Married twice more, Margaret wound up living in Arkansas. Like his predecessors, her third husband William H. Walker, predeceased Margaret.[7] Because of William’s service in the Civil War, Margaret filed for a widow’s pension. It took me a while to get that pension record since there had been twoWilliam H. Walkers who served in the Civil War from Illinois and the National Archives initially sent me the wrong file. Once I got the correct file, I was in for quite a surprise.

William had previously applied for and obtained a pension relating to his service and in order to obtain her widow’s pension, Margaret had to prove that she was, in-fact, his rightful widow. Because she had been married before, she had to provide evidence that she and William were properly married, i.e. that her prior husbands were dead or divorced. As a consequence, the pension file contains several affidavits relating to Margaret’s marriage to James and his subsequent death.

· Margaret’s sister, Mary C. (Nunnelly) Blankenship stated that she was present in the spring of 1859 when Margaret married James “McWinney or MacWinney” by William H. Pace, a justice of the peace for Montgomery County.

· Ninian M. Edwards and his wife Lucy (also from Montgomery County) stated that they met James in 1856 and that he boarded at their house, that Margaret and James separated shortly after they wed and that James died in 1861 or 1862 and was buried at the Jonesburg Cemetery.

· Mary J. Miller of High Hill recited some of the same basic facts, but added that she thought James had come to the Montgomery County area as a part of the crew that built the North Missouri Railroad. Also present at Margaret and James’ wedding she had heard that James died in 1861 or 1862.[8]

Well, I’ll be. You never know where you will find “stuff.”

Of course, I am diligently trying to verify what these folks swore to. Thus far, no luck, but if this exercise taught me anything it’s keep going and maintain a positive attitude!

[1] "Burned Counties Research." FamilySearch Wiki, rev. 21:41, 8 April 2019 (https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/index.php?title=Burned_Counties_Research&oldid=3538350).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Missouri Counties and Historical Facts,” Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (https://raogk.org/counties/missouri/ : accessed 15 April 2020).

[4] Ibid.

[5] 1860 U.S. census, Montgomery County, Missouri, population scheduled, High Hill, p. 38 (penned), dwelling 208, family 208, Thomas W. Nunelly; image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 April 2020); NARA microfilm publication M653, roll not noted.

[6] Don’t mind me – I’m gonna break the “rules” and only cite the 1930 census. 1930 U.S. census, Delaware County, Oklahoma, Beaty Township, p. 101, enumeration district (ED) 10, sheet 9A, dwelling 179, family 182, O.P. Baty; image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 April 2020); NARA microfilm publication T626, roll not noted.

[7] Find A Grave, database with images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 15 April 2020), memorial 32111916. W. H. Walker (28 Sep 1838 – 3 Oct 1893), Mount McCurry Cemetery, Rudy, Arkansas; gravestone photograph by Frances Allen Titsworth.

[8] “General Affidavits” of Mary C. Blankenship (30 Dec 1896), Ninian M. Edwards (29 Jan 1897), Lucy A. Edwards (29 Jan 1897) and Mary J. Miller (6 Feb 1897), widow’s pension application no. 585,072, certificate no. 457,189; service of William H. Walker (Pvt./Corp, Co. H, 10th Ill. Cav, Civil War); digital images, Federal Military Pension File, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Top row: Lee Baty, Olive Baty, Frank Scholler, Don Baty, Inex (Baty) Scholler, Nancy/May Baty. Bottom Row: James Baty, Louisa (McWeeney) Baty, and O. P. Baty.