A Great Resource…

A few days ago, I became aware of a fabulous new resource for the researcher in the Lewiston-Clarkston area and nearby environs.  There are a lot of newspapers that have been uploaded to Google News Archive so this applies to a lot of other areas as well.  If you go to http://news.google.com/newspapers# and look for your newspaper – you might be surprised what you will find!

Now I have spent a lot of time down at Lewis Clark State College, here in Lewiston, Idaho looking at the microfilm of the Lewiston Morning Tribune looking for obituaries or other types of news stories.  I didn't really hope that my local newspaper would be available in the near future – but after an email from Jill Nock of the Twin River Genealogical Society, I found out that my local newspaper was online which is available at http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=BtfE7wd9KvMC .  Now, this isn't a perfect system, there are a lot of issues that aren't available yet, but the archive starts on January 2, 1900 and runs through the 2000’s and they are in black and white.  You might wonder at some of the usefulness of the archive.

I was wandering around a little bit and looked at the issue from late January 1944 and found the obituary of my step grandfather’s grandmother.  I knew that she died in Oregon and didn't really expect to find much, but there in black and white was her obituary.  It gave me a piece of information that I had always been curious about.  Mary Crumpacker was originally married to Jesse Green Shearer and he died in 1888.  I never knew what the cause of his death was…because he was a young man.  According to the obituary posted for Mary Crumpacker Earl (Thomas Perrin Earl was her second husband) Jesse Shearer died of pneumonia.  Now, I most likely would not have been able to obtain a death record because of the time period and without a lot more research and time I don’t have, I might not have found that Jesse Shearer had died of pneumonia.  There are lots of interesting tidbits in these old obituaries.

Then I decided to try out the search engine and typed in Ora + Gage to see what I would find.  I knew that my great grandparents might have several entries in the local newspaper.  I was pleased with some of the information that I located….and it wasn't just only in my local paper.  It searched all of the newspaper archives.  I found announcements of when their sons were home on leave during Korea and National Guard service.  I found an article about my great uncle’s first marriage.  I loved these marriage articles from the early 1950’s – they mention all types of details such as what the bride’s maid of honor was wearing and how the mothers of the groom and bride are dressed.  I assumed that one my uncle’s brothers was his best man…but I never would have guessed that it was one of his older brothers.  Right below that article was another announcement of my father’s teacher who was widowed while he had her as a teacher and her remarriage.  In fact, her son ended up as part of the family when he married my cousin. 

I foresee many happy hours looking through these archives and am excited by what I may find.  With my little clipping program in Windows 7, I can save these images and attach them to my genealogy database with very little effort on my part.  Sounds like a win – win situation for me!

Shearers out of Ashe Co., NC

I’ve always researched the Shearer family out of curiosity.  My step grandfather has been gone for over 20 years and while I can’t share the information with him, I do the research in honor of him.  My grandpa Gwen did not have an easy childhood or easy life.  His father was a harsh individual who could be quite cruel so there was little in his childhood to rejoice about.  Gwen’s mother, Nettie, did her best to protect her sons and give them the love that they needed and all three of her sons loved and took care of their mother for her entire long life.  When you look deeper into the family history, there are some interesting similarities between my grandmother and step grandfather’s family history.

Grandpa Gwen’s father was Floyd David Shearer who was born in Pataha, Garfield Co., WA on 1 Sep 1881 to Jesse Green Shearer and Mary Crumpacker.  There were three children in his family, but the youngest died at the young age of two.  Jesse Green Shearer died at the age of 33 years old in what I presume might have been a sickness or farming accident.   Since he died 29 Jan 1888, I lean more towards the sickness.  Mary remarried about year later to Thomas Perrin Earl and had five more children with him.  Jesse Green Shearer was one of 17 children.  His father, Joel Sturges Shearer, was married four times to Mary Farmer on 11 Aug 1840, then Emily Jane Tyler on 11 Aug 1849, then Mary Boling on 23 Nov 1854 and lastly to Luvisa Elkins on 23 Oct 1862.  All but his last wife preceded him in death.  Joel was born on 11 Mar 1823 in Ashe Co., NC to William Shearer and Anna Reece.  I found this to be a very interesting similarity to my grandmother’s family.  Her grandfather, John Dula Dollar was also born in Ashe Co., NC.  Ashe Co., NC today has a population of about 28,000 people and is by no means a base for a large population, but I continue to be surprised at how many families seem to originate from this area.

William Shearer and Anna Reece left Ashe Co., NC sometime before 1850 as they are in Page Co., IA.  They live out the rest of their lives there, but their son Joel still has some places to go.  Joel marries Mary Farmer probably in Ashe Co., NC but they leave fairly soon after their marriage for Nodaway Co., MO where their first two children are born and Mary dies in 1848.  Joel must have taken his two children to stay near his parents, because he married Emily Jane Tyler in Page Co., IA in 1849.  There they have 5 children in five years and as Emily Jane Tyler dies about the same time as her youngest son, I presume that she might have died either in childbirth or shortly thereafter.  Joel marries another woman about 6 months later, Mary Boling in Nodaway Co., MO.  If you look at a map, Nodaway Co., MO and Page Co., IA are neighboring counties in different states.  Mary Boling also has four children in a short amount of time.  She dies in 1862.  Joel marries a widow,  Luvisa Elkins Bridgewater for the last time in 1862 in Pottawattmie Co., IA.  By 1865, they are heading west with their large family.

 

Joel Shearer’s family is located in 1870 in Forest Grove, Washington Co., OR.  In 1880 he is at Columbia, Washington Territory.  Most likely, this last location is actually around what is today, Garfield Co., WA near present day Pomeroy.    Joel Sturges Shearer died on 16 Aug 1890 at Pataha, Garfield Co., WA and is buried at the Pataha Flat cemetery located just above Pomeroy on the hill. 

There is still a lot of research that has to be done on this family…I don’t spend a lot time on them, but every once in while I go through and find new data and add new information to the family.  I doubt that my grandparents knew that their families came out of the same small county in North Carolina.  I think if they had known, they would have spent more time visiting the area.  I know they were there in 1957 visiting family because my mother remembered it.  Grandpa Gwen probably had no idea that his great grandfather was born there and his ancestors had lived there for a few generations.

Cassandra - Oregon Trail Pioneer

I always knew growing up that my grandfather had a fascination with Native American history and western history.  I don’t think he ever knew all that much about his family beyond his more current relations.   I think he was interested in learning about his family heritage…but he had no one to ask to provide him with information – he certainly would have been thrilled to learn about his great grandmother’s trek across the country along the Oregon Trail.

Cassandra Arrasmith was born on 20 Aug 1823 in Bourbon Co., KY to John Richard Arrasmith and Nancy Wood.  Cassandra’s family moved to Missouri and she met and married William Crumpacker on 21 Dec 1843 in Linn, Osage Co., MO.  William and Cassandra were the parents of 11 children born between 1845 and 1862.  William Crumpacker died on 3 Mar 1862 leaving his widow pregnant with the youngest two children, who were twins.  It is unknown what William died of…he was 44 years old and probably died in Chillicothe, Livingston Co., MO where his youngest children were born, although he was recorded in Sullivan Co., MO in the 1850 and 1860 census.

Cassandra’s oldest son was 17 years old and while I’m sure some of her 11 children were no longer alive – she must have had to make a difficult decision.  Her husband died in March and she had the twin girls in July of that year.  Looking at history, it is easy to see that the Civil War was wreaking havoc on the country and perhaps she had no other recourse other than to leave for a new life.  Whatever caused her to make the decision, she packed up her family and headed west on the Oregon Trail.  I believe the family left Missouri about 1864.  Her oldest son, Henry married a Rachel Frazier on 13 Jan 1864 in Sullivan Co., MO.  Their oldest child was born on 11 October 1864 in Boise, ID then the Washington territory. So Cassandra and her family probably packed their wagon and headed west in the spring of 1864.

When I first started researching Cassandra, just about everyone had her killed on the Oregon Trail.  Evidently their wagon train was attacked on route and she was injured badly enough that some thought she had died. From what I have read, Cassandra drove her own team even though she was still nursing her twins.  She must have been quite a woman – traveling towards a new home with no knowledge of what she was to face on the journey or even what her destination would be like.  I believe that I have read that some of her family (her mother’s relatives) came west about the same time – so perhaps there was comfort in numbers.

The family arrived in Washington State in late 1864 perhaps in Pomeroy, WA but most likely in the Walla Walla, WA area.  According to some researchers, Cassandra married a B. F. Newland on December 21, 1843 probably around Walla Walla.  She then married Schuyler Woolery on 6 Mar 1876 in Columbia Co., WA.  I’m not real sure if she stayed married to these men or left them and moved on.  However, I do know that she is recorded with her youngest children in the 1870 census in Walla Walla, WA territory under her own name, and also in 1880 is recorded as Mrs. C. Crumpacker.  I know that she married John Lewis Tewalt in 1889 and she herself is buried at the Pataha Flat or Schoolhouse cemetery near Pomeroy, Garfield Co., OR. 

Cassandra Arrasmith Crumpacker Tewalt's grave

Pataha Flat Cemetery, near Pomeroy, WA.

While there is still plenty of mystery surrounding Cassandra’s life from the time she left Missouri in 1864 until her death in 1893, I find Cassandra an interesting puzzle.  If nothing else she was a survivor – she survived being left as a widow with eleven children – traveled across the United States to make a new life for herself and lived to see her children marry and have children of her own.  She is someone that I wish my grandfather would have known about…he would have liked her and admired her!