What happened to "them"?

English: View into Depot Town in Ypsilanti, MI, from the Cross St bridge over the Huron River, looking down Cross Street to the River St intersection and beyond. This was taken in October 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I knew something had happened to them. At first I thought the "them" was made up of three, then after finding the youngest of the "them" alive and well as a married adult, I sighed with relief.

Only 2 of "them" missing.

I've written about the name "Alice" being used in my family before. My Gran and her mother, my "Boo", were both named Alice, and I have some cousins named Alice as well. So when I traced back Boo's father, Daniel Rook Vaughan, to the 1850 census and found him with his parents, Benjamin Brown & Susanna Vaughan, and his 2 sisters, Prudence and Alice, I thought to myself, "Huh. So this is the Alice whom everyone is named after." {The Alice who my daughter wishes I had named her after.} {And Vyla's -- one of my Boo's younger sisters -- middle name is Prudence.}

By the 1860 census, part of the family seems to fall off the grid. Daniel is living with his grandmother, Margaret Barbara Rook, a couple of aunts, and an uncle there in Ypsilanti. His older sister Prudence is living across the border in Ohio with a family that seemingly has no connection to her {I've looked. But don't you go look because I'm not done trying to figure it out. I'm stubborn like that.}, but she's about 18 miles from her uncle, her father's brother -- Harmon Vaughan.

No Benjamin. No Susanna. No Alice.

Or so I thought. I did some census voodoo and traced all of the people named Alice I could find born in Michigan in about March of 1850 with a mother born in New York and a father born in Canada. {On the 1850 census, they list her age in months.} And I found one who seemed to move around a bit because she was married to a preacher -- an aptly named man by the name of Almond Parsons --  who must have traveled a circuit of some kind in lower Michigan where Ypsilanti is located. After skippity-doo-dahing across southern Michigan, they settle in Kalamazoo, Michigan {which is almost as fun to say as Ypsilanti, Washtenaw, Michigan where Alice was born}. Finally, she is found in the 1940 census living with her daughter Nellie and family at the age of 90, and Alice Barbara Parsons passes away 4 years later in 1944. I did discover her and the Reverend's other child as well, but I'll save that story for another day. {I'm evil like that.}

So I found Alice. {Of course, that begs the question, "Who was this Alice named after?" A relative, a friend, a pet cat? I'll keep my suspicions to myself for now.}

But what happened to Benjamin Brown & Susanna (Rook) Vaughan -- Prudence's, Daniel's, and Alice's parents? I consulted The History of Ypsilanti by Harvey C. Colburn at The Clayton {Amy Coffin's nickname for the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research}, and in it I found the Hawkins family mentioned. This was an important clue because my fourth great-grandfather's second wife in Ypsilanti was a Hester A. Hawkins and they live near a Hawkins family in Ypsilanti in a couple of censuses. {And Ypsilanti is a wee town -- then and now.} I then found a John Vaughan mentioned in the book as a vestry member and as a sexton for St. Luke's Episcopal Church there in Ypsilanti which is still open today. {In fact, I started following the church's Facebook Page because there's something about following your 4th great grandparent's church on Facebook, especially since I'm Episcopalian too.}

Finding a John Vaughan mentioned as a member of the Episcopalian Church was another important clue because I had already found Benjamin's baptismal record near Iberville, Quebec in Anglican records in Caldwell's Manor (Foucault) and Christie's Manor (Noyan) naming his parents as John T. & Prudence (Brown) Vaughan. I knew my John had been an Anglican/Episcopalian. Had he remained in the same denomination after they immigrated to America?

So I emailed St. Luke's and asked where their church records for the 1800s were archived, and they said they were located at the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan. So I had a look-see at their website and found, at the time, all lookups needed to be in person. Then I checked the catalog on FamilySearch.org, but they hadn't been filmed. So I put it off, and then picked the trail back up when I decided to apply for Daughter's of the American Revolution membership and United Empire Loyalist membership through Daniel's maternal and paternal lines, respectively. At the same time. {There's just something about a Civil War musician's mother's line being a Patriot line and his father's line being a Loyalist line, no?}

I thought perhaps I'd need to hire someone to go through those church records because I couldn't figure out how to convince my family that a family vacation to Michigan was a fabulous idea. They tend to like the Gulf Coast beaches in the summer. Go figure.

But then I checked FamilySearch.org again -- about two years later -- and found they'd been filmed. Well, at least the parish records containing baptisms, confirmations, burials, etc., had been filmed. The vestry minutes have not been filmed. But a girl can't be picky, right? {And all of  this is why I don't really think I have too many research brick walls. Many times -- for one reason or another -- I just haven't looked everywhere yet.}

So I ordered/rented the film for St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Ypsilanti, Michigan from the FHL {Family History Library} and had it sent to my local library, MCML, {My nickname for the Montgomery County Memorial Library System.}, which recently became an affiliate of the FHL. 

Had my 4th great grandfather, John T. Vaughan, been on the vestry at St. Luke's? Had he and his family worshiped there? Had Daniel been baptized there? More importantly, would I finally have my answers to what happened to my 3rd great grandparents, Benjamin Brown & Susanna (Rook) Vaughan?

Would my answers be on that microfilm roll tucked in a little white box?

Would I find out what happened to "them"?

~Caroline

Note: Sources available upon request because if you think we're related, then contact me and we'll figure it out together. My email is up at the top of this blog page sort of on the right side in the Nav Bar.

What Thanksgiving Looks Like

Remember the episode of Friends where Joey gets the turkey stuck on head, and Phoebe tries to help him get it off. Then Monica walks in & freaks out. Has that ever happened at one your family's Thanksgiving Dinners?
 

Or maybe it looks a little more like this:

I know my family's Thanksgivings varied from year-to-year.  No, no one wore the turkey on their head [O.K.  maybe they drank a little Wild Turkey, but definitely no turkeys on the head...]  Most years ours resembled the picture above, but we are an Aggie family.  My dad, brother, and I are all graduates of Texas A&M University.  When I say I'm an Aggie, I mean I bleed maroon [our colors are maroon and white].  It's a way of life.  Anyways, our rival here is that "other" school in Texas, and as per a longstanding tradition we have usually played them in football on Thanksgiving Day.  I and my family have spent many a Thanksgiving on the road on our way to the football game and eaten dinner at a hotel buffet.  Now, let me just say that as the person who always had to set the table "just so," and was also in charge of helping with the dishes, I cannot express enough what an awesome idea the Thanksgiving Day buffet at a hotel is.  No, there are no leftovers, but truth be told, there are only so many meals one can stomach in a row that involve turkey.  Admit it, at some point in the weekend [if you aren't a vegetarian], your body "screams" for beef.  [Well, at least mine does.]  So, we didn't always have that traditional Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving meal, but we were together giving thanks for all the blessings that we had.  And really, that was our family tradition at Thanksgiving.

What Is the Tradition?

This got me to thinking about what the tradition of Thanksgiving really is.  Most would say pilgrims and Native Americans were the ones who started the tradition.  Well, if they had a meal together and they gave thanks for it, they certainly didn't call it "Thanksgiving."  The term "Thanksgiving" wasn't coined until 1863 when Lincoln, on the encouragement from Sarah Josepha Hale ~a magazine editor~ and her readership, signed a Proclamation making Thanksgiving a federally observed holiday.  He did so in hopes of unifying a divided country in the midst of the Civil War.  That first Thanksgiving in 1863 was not really officially celebrated by the troops.  There were some who did what they could with what they had wherever they were.  When I first read this I immediately thought of my own ancestors that I knew had been in the Civil War.  So, I looked them up to see where they were exactly when they may have celebrated the first Thanksgiving as a federal holiday.  After all, it became a federal holiday for them.  I already knew where their families were, but where were my Civil War soldier ancestors on Thanksgiving Day in 1863?  A Thanksgiving meant to ease the suffering of all who were involved in the war ~ those fighting, those being fought, and those being fought for. 

Look 'Em Up

I did this by looking up my ancestors in Ancestry.com's, Civil War Research Database.  It has a link to the regiment and company that they served in.  The regimental history is in chronological order and includes the movement of the regiment and companies as well as the battles they engaged in.  This can give you an idea of where they were at particular times.  I have quite a few Civil War ancestors, but to give an example, my 2nd great-grandfather was a musician in the Civil War for Company G, Michigan 1st Infantry Regiment [Union], having stretched the truth by 2 years when he signed up indicating he was 17years old when he was only 15 years old.  According to the regimental history, Daniel [when he was actually 17yo] and his regiment arrived in Gettysburg 2 Jul 1863, and they were heavily involved in the Battle of Gettysburg as well as many squirmishes and fighting in the surrounding areas until Feb 1864.  Doesn't exactly give me where he was Thanksgiving Day, 28 Nov 1863, but it gives me an idea that if he did celebrate it, it wasn't much of a celebration.  I'm pretty sure, though, he was giving thanks that he was still alive after the Battle of Gettysburg, unlike so many of his fellow soldiers.

An Appeal For Thanks

Then in 1864, under the direction of the Union League Club of New York City, many donations came from all over in abundance, and the Union troops were fed a Thanksgiving meal in the middle of a war that had grown weary. Here was part of the Union League Club's public appeal for donations:

"We desire in the twenty-fourth day of November there should be no soldier in the Army of the Potomac, the James, the Shenandoah, and no sailor in the North Atlantic Squadron who does not receive tangible evidence that those for whom he is periling his life, remember him..."

Captain George F. Noyes from General Phil Sheridan's Army of Shenandoah had this to say about the 1864 Thanksgiving feast:

"The want of proper appliances compelled most of the men to broil or stew their turkeys, but everyone seemed fully satisfied, and appreciated the significance of the sympathetic thank-offering of the loyal North.  One soldier said to me, "It isn't the turkey, but the idea we care for,' and he thus struck the keynote of the whole festival."

My, How Things Have Changed, But the Sentiment Remains the Same
In contrast, today's troops are fed in a whole different way on Thanksgiving.  Take a look at how we give thanks to our soldiers today for their unfailing service and unselfish sacrifice on our behalf: 

So on this Thanksgiving I have many blessings to be thankful for, but I'd also like to say thank you to all of our troops who keep us free and safe, and to their loved ones who sacrifice their families for our families.  May God bless you all for the sacrifices that you make on our behalf.  May we always remember and never forget all that you do for us:

Credits and Sources: 
Friends Thanksgiving 1992. Digitial Video. Qukez, 2008. You Tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJY6L52RhUs : 2009.

Kurtz, Nick., narrator. Thanksgiving in Iraq. Digital Video. AirForceDJ, 2007. You Tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqFlrwzhFM4 : 2009.
Thanksgiving. cpmsglife, 2006. You Tube. Digital Video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reDiz5nkxK8 : 2009.

Peacock, Tom and Roxanne. "Thanksgiving 1863-1864." Civil War Reenacting and Cooking Blog, 15 Nov 2009. http://civilwarcooking.blogspot.com/2009/11/thanksgiving-1863-1864.html : 2009.

Thanksgiving Over There - The Civil War. Pilgrim Hall Museum. http://www.pilgrimhall.org/thot-cw.htm : 2009.

United States Pennsylvania Lancster County Neffsville. FSA/OWI Black-and-White Negatives. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thanksgiving_grace_1942.jpg : 2009.

National Park Service. U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, online <http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/>, acquired 2007. http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?ti=0&indiv=try&db=nps_civilwarsoldiers&h=3777104 : 2009.

Historical Data Systems, comp.. American Civil War Regiments[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Data compiled by Historical Data Systems of Kingston, MA. http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?ti=0&indiv=try&db=hdsregiment&h=3986 : 2009

"I Have Believed...Impossible Things..."

"'Who are YOU?' said the Caterpillar.

This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation.  Alice replied, rather shyly, 'I--I hardly know, sir just at present-- at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.'" [Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 5 by Lewis Carroll]

I went to a little private elementary school in the small town that I'm from in Texas.  We wore red plaid jumper uniforms over white blouses with Peter Pan collars, and to top it off, black and white saddle shoes

with knee high socks.  It was a pretty good little school, and for the most part I was a good student.  However, every once and a while my Irish leperchaun would come out, and I'd get into some trouble.  [Hard to believe, I know.]  Many of these times I'd end up in the corner staring at the brick wall that was painted white.  [By the way, I like that decorative effect...]  Anyway, there was this built-in bookshelf that contained a large set of books.  Well, being the good student that I am [sarcasm], I became bored and decided to look inside one of these books.  To my surprise, there was an inscription that read "Donated by Mary Alice Truitt Blacketer".  The handwriting looked like my Gran's, but the only name I recognized was Blacketer...This was the first time that I ever saw her full name in print.  [You mean her name wasn't Gran Blacketer?]  As I've mentioned before Gran was Catholic.  So, of course, her first name was Mary.  [This is a joke for those of us who keep finding so many Mary's in our research.]    But  Alice?  Truitt?  Of course, later I asked her about the name Truitt, and she replied, "Dear [my Gran always started a story with this endearment], I am a Truitt.  It's my maiden name and Blacketer is my married name."  During the rest of her lifetime, I heard her mention this several times, and she'd always say it with a declaration of assurance..."I am a Truitt, " as if that explained everything.  [In my research later, I did find out what that meant...a story for another time.]  The name that has captured my interest right now is Alice.

"'Curiouser and curiouser!' cried Alice"[from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, Chapter 2]

Not only is my Gran named Mary Alice, so is her mother, my Boo.  I even have a second cousin named Mary Alice.  Hmm...Just where does this name come from?  I never really thought much about it until I started researching my Boo's father [my great-great grandfather, Daniel Rook(e) Vaughn.  I wasn't looking for it, but I may have found the answer, but of course it's opened up some more questions...

"The White Rabbit put on his spectacles.  'Where should I begin, please your Majesty?' he asked.  'Begin at the beginning,' the King said gravely, 'and go on till you come to the end: then stop.'" [Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Chapter 12]

Daniel Rook(e) Vaughn was born in Ypsilanti, Washtenaw Co., Michigan in 11 Nov 1847.  The very first avenue of research on him was, of course, the U.S. Federal Population Census Schedule [accessed through Heritage Quest and Ancestry.com].  I found him and his family in 1850 in Ypsilanti, Washtenaw Co., Michigan .  His father was B.H. Vaughn 29yo  born in Canada, and his mother was Susanna 28yo born in New York.  They had 3 children: Prudence (5yo), Daniel (3yo), and last [but certainly not least] was Alice (under 1yo).  So then I looked to the 1860 census, and I was able to find Daniel, but he was living with a family by the name of Rook(e), who I have since found out were his grandmother, aunt, uncle, and his aunt's future husband on his mom's side.  Though I performed many searches, there was no sign of his family from 1850.  It was if they had fallen down a hole...

"Down, down, down.  Would the fall NEVER come to an end? 'I wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time?' she said aloud.  'I must be getting near the centre of the earth'..." [Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Chapter 1]

I have since found Daniel's older sister Prudence.  She was living with a family by the name of Ogden in Shelby Co., Ohio [I'm pretty sure.], but I've lost her from there [possibly due to marriage, death, or moving out of the country].  As for the rest of the family, I have searched high, and I have searched low.  In looking at the history of the wee township of Ypsilanti, I did discover that there was a terrible fire in 1851 in the town proper.  However, there were no casualties mentioned -- just damages.  [Alexander Winchell, History of Washtenaw County, Michigan:... (Chicago: C.C. Chapman & Co., 1881), 1121. accessed through Heritage Quest Online].  So, I'm left with a missing family.  Were Benjamin, Susanna, and "baby" Alice casualties of the fire of 1851 in Ypsilanti?  Or did they succumb to some sort of disease?

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to, " said the Cat.

"I don't much care where--" said Alice.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.

"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation.

"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Chapter 6]

I'm not sure what happened to Daniel's family.  I don't know why, but I always think of Daniel's sister as "my" Alice.  Maybe because she was so young...  The one thing that I know for sure is that I will never rest until I find "my" little Alice, for she has been on her adventure in her wonderland for far too long.  There have been three women named after her in my family [I think ;)], and it's about time that we found her.

Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said : "one can't believe impossible things."

"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen.  "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day.  Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

[Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, Chapter 5]

[Note: All of the above quotes and original illustrations are from Lenny's Alice in Wonderland site.  The color illustrations are from Wikipedia.  All items are in the public domain due to copyright expiration.]

Caroline