Great Expectations (Our trip to West Virginia)

     The DeHart family was my focus for many posts in April and May of 2016.  On May 2, I started a series about my aunt and uncle's trip from Oregon to West Virginia in the summer of 1988. They went by motorhome in search of the original DeHart property and DeHart cemetery near Union, West Virginia.  My aunt kept a journal of that trip, and I shared their adventure from her perspective in the following posts: A Dream Come True,  This is all DeHart Land, Civil War Country, Another Try, Success, and lastly Should I Go?
      Should I Go? asked the question if I should follow in my aunt's footsteps. After all, my husband and I were going to Ohio the third week of June for a small family reunion of his siblings.  Union, West Virginia appeared to only be about four hours away from our Ohio destination. At first we thought of going after our Ohio stay, but luckily we decided to go before. (The horrible flood in West Virginia occurred on the same day we would have arrived).
       We started our side trip in Charleston, West Virginia.  It is a beautiful city with the Capitol building topped with a gold plated dome.  We enjoyed the lovely vistas of a state billed as "Almost Heaven". I just might have to agree that it is. 
      We left our hotel early and drove on the turnpike going south until we came to Beckley, West Virginia. We were able to turn east on Interstate Highway 64 toward Lewisburg and Highway 219.  This is where our trek began to diverge from my aunt's. She says, "... the Interstate didn't open until the 15th of July so they told us the highway we should take was #3.

       The 1988 map shows Highway 64 under construction and gives a good look at the winding little highway #3. She gives a good description of this drive in A Dream Come True.  We did not have to endure those ups and downs, curves and switchbacks, and fences coming up to the road. Instead, we had a scenic drive to Lewisburg on the Interstate. Life was good.
     Lewisburg seemed like a charming little town. This quaint little burg was obviously filled with history, but we had no time to stop.  We headed south to Union.
     I was counting down the miles, (about 20 of them), enjoying the views and breathlessly anticipating the opportunity to experience Union, West Virginia where my great-grandmother was born and oldest known DeHart ancestor, 4th great-grandfather, Abraham, had obtained his deed from 1824.  Abraham's son, Samuel and his wife Sophia raised their family around Union.  At least six of their sons were confederate soldiers including our direct line from George Jackson DeHart, father of my great-grandmother, Emma Susan DeHart Borden. I actually knew my great-grandmother. To see where the DeHarts and especially my great-grandmother had lived was a dream come true just as my aunt had said.


      The first thing we saw upon entering Union on the north side of town was a memorial to the Confederate Soldiers of Monroe County. I couldn't wait to stop. My aunt's pictures and mine are almost identical.


1988- My uncle standing at the opening.

2016- It looks like more white fence has been added.

 

Just to prove I was there.



(to be continued) 

Dehart Children (continued)...finally

December 11, 2015 I wrote about the children of George Jackson DeHart (1835-1916) and his first wife, Sarah Frances Skaggs ( 1845-1885). They are my great-great grandparents.  This post can be re-read at The DeHart Children.  The first five children: James Floyd (1861-1920), Fletcher C. (1865-1867), Virginia Alice (1866-1950), Oto C. (1867-1969), and Emma Susan.
 
Emma Susan, child number 5, is my direct line. She was born in 1869 and died in 1956 at age 87 which incidentally is the age her grandson, Vern (my dad), was at death.  She was featured in the post Emma Susan DeHart Borden published April 19, 2016.

Of George and Sarah's nine children, I have told what I know about the first five and promised to finish the telling of the others.
James Floyd
Fletcher
Virginia Alice
Oto
Emma
...
Daniel
William
George
Mae
...And from his second marriage
John Cavet
Mary Carolina


FINALLY, I am ready to finish.
 
I have been studying about George Jackson DeHart, his siblings, his parents (Samuel and Sophia), his Civil War soldier brothers, as well as his grandfather, Abraham, a revolutionary soldier. It has captured me, but I need to finish the summary of his immediate family.

It appears that the family moved west shortly after Emma Susan was born in 1869. The 1870 census states they lived in Township 5, Range 9, Madison, Illinois. The post office is listed as Upper Alton. If you are familiar with the area, you see that they lived near St. Louis on the east side of the Mississippi River.

By December 21, 1871, the family lived in or near Danvers, Illinois. Danvers is not far from Bloomington.  There their next child was born.

# 6. Daniel B Dehart (1871-1877)

# 7. William LeRoy Dehart (1875-1876)

     One thing about all these babies is that we can follow the moves of George and Sarah across the prairie. William was born in Grant City, Iowa.

Emma Susan was about eight when her brother, Daniel, died. Undoubtedly, she also witnessed the birth and death of her brother, William. He was part of her life from when she was 6 to 8. What a sad childhood for this little girl.

Child # 8 George Frank DeHart (1882-1965)
Child # 9 Elizabeth Mae DeHart (1883-1974)

Click on the Elizabeth Mae DeHart link above to read more about her.

Baby Mae was only about 2 when her mother died. Her older sister, Emma Susan, was about 16 so was probably a big help along with Alice, age 19.

George remarried Miss Sarah Caroline Corey in 1888. They had two children, John Cavet (1888- ) and Mary Carolina DeHart (1891-1918).  It was for the health of Mary Carolina that the DeHarts moved to Texas.

There is still a lot to learn about the DeHarts. My aunt Bonnie, granddaughter of Emma Susan, was a very active genealogist specifically interested in her grandmother's history. She took a trip from her home in Oregon to Monroe County, West Virginia in 1988 to discover where Emma Susan DeHart was born.

Next, I will be sharing her journal from that trip

          

    

DeHart

The surname DeHart has always been one of my favorite ancestral names. Who knows why or why we have these types of preferences or maybe I am the only one. I knew a few names from this family before doing much research.  My understanding was that Abraham DeHart started our line in this country and fought in the Revolutionary War. It is through him that many relatives have obtained the proper documentation for membership in Daughters of the American Revolution. It has been suggested that he may have even come to the colonies with Lafayette. Family lore is such fun.
 
Proving or disproving is not on my current to do list. However, I am curious about the DeHart Lineage. It is generally accepted that Abraham was married to Christina Ensninger. I say generally accepted because after surfing around on the web, I found a site for the DeHart Family.  I find that there might be some debate on this. I will need to continue my research.  However, for now, I wish to share the information I found on a family group sheet written by the great granddaughter of George Jackson DeHart (my 2nd great grandfather. I will italicize the name of George Jackson DeHart in the rest of this writing to clarify that he is my direct ancestor.

     This group sheet starts with the son of Abraham, Samuel DeHart born in 1807 in Monroe County, West Virginia.  He died in 1882 after spending his whole life in the state of West Virginia where he lived close to his father, Abraham DeHart.  Samuel married Sophia Spade in 1829. 

Samuel and Sopia Spade DeHart had 10 children. I have added their statistics to my Legacy Database, but do not intend to detail that information in my Cousins post at this time. I will share their names and birthdates however. Isaac (1830), William Calahill (1833), Catharine (1842),  George Jackson (1835), John L. (1837), Corneluis L. (1838), Michael Alexander (1840), James Robert (1843), Mary S. (1846), and Joseph (not sure of birthdate)

I found a few interesting pieces of information about these individuals. Isaac married Minerva Susan Skaggs, William C. married Elizabeth M. Skaggs, and George Jackson married Sarah Francis Skaggs. I assume these Skaggs girls were sisters, but I have yet to investigate.

All of Samuel and Sophia's children were born in Monroe County, West Virginia.

Isaac, William C. and George Jackson all moved to Iowa at some point in time. George Jackson DeHart went on to Texas eventually.

Isaac, William C., George Jackson, John L., Michael Alexander, and James Robert were all confederate soldiers in the Civil War.

James Robert DeHart and his brother, Michael Alexander DeHart enlisted on the same day, April 17, 1862. John L. DeHart enlisted April 30, 1862. William C. also joined in 1862 although I have not found the exact date.  Great, Great, Great Grandma Sophia must have felt a profound sorrow with at least six of her sons gone to fight for the south.

Investigating war records is not a part of genealogy that I have researched much. I have found that each young DeHart brother took the amnesty oath when the war came to its end. I look forward to finding out more about these Civil War soldiers, the sons of Samuel and Sophia DeHart, my 3rd great grandparents.

Pay Attention to Me!

Occasionally, I read that our ancestors call out to us. I am starting to believe this. Recently, I was talking about my great- grandmother, Emma Susan DeHart Borden. Then, while sorting papers (yes, I sort papers a lot). I came across a pile of copies that I was given after the death of my dad's sister, Darlene. These copies of genealogy research had actually originated with yet another deceased sister of my dad.  This was not the ancestral line I had planned to work on in the near future, but there was information calling to be absorbed.

I decided this might be a good time to enter this information into my genealogy database. Immediately, I discovered a problem. George Jackson DeHart, father of Emma Susan, was born in Union, Monroe County, West Virginia. In 1835, this area was Virginia. I have attended many genealogy meetings that have talked about how boundary lines changed and a particular place has changed from one state to another or one county to another. Too bad I didn't listen a little better. Another mistake I found had to do with the county name. The correct county was Monroe County. The town was Union, but I have many family papers that list Union as a county. Thank goodness for my clever software program that alerted me to the fact that there is no Union County in West Virginia and never has been. It is so easy to make mistakes like these. We each need to check each others work carefully.

Today I have continued to input genealogical data on the children of George Jackson DeHart, my 2X great grandfather. He lived in Lake City, Iowa for a good long while and established a stellar reputation. I found a book with a wonderful article written about him that will be the subject of a future Friday Feature. As I entered these names and dates, I realized I needed to contact the Genealogical Society of Calhoun County and go on a little hunt. So much I don't know. So much to discover.

Family Tree for those interested (and who wouldn't be)

George Jackson DeHart - father of
     Emma Susan DeHart Borden - mother of
          Nina Frances Borden Wright - mother of
                Vern William Wright - father of
                        Margaret Ann Wright Tolsdorf - mother of
                               Two children
                                      Five grandchildren