4/22/13

Tattoos

Think tats are a new invention?  Over the centuries many people groups have chosen to adorn their body for decorative, religious, or social purposes. 

Ancient peoples often adorned their bodies with ritualistic designs to identify themselves, perform some sacred function, or as artistic adornment. 

Native American Tribes

"When he first saw the Wichita of the plains in the early 1860’s, the older women were tattooed with pink and blue zigzag lines and circles as was their ancient custom." The author also saw their language sounded nothing like that of dialects encounter  in the east but did seem similar to a language spoken by a people in Oregon.---History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas: Past and Present (pg. 598) by Orsemus Hills Bentley.  Prisoners/slaves were tattooed, such Olive Oatman, they served to identify members of specific tribal groups, and served as rites of passage.


People of the Pacific
Maori both painted and incised designs to achive a multi-dimensional result on the face and legs. The men of Samoa would tattoo their legs, hips and groin area to give the impression of cloths yet were naked. 

Other
Ancient Chrisitianity advocated for the use of religious tattoos but the rejection of such symbols that reflected pagan or heathen superstititions.

Jewish people usually held to Old Testament restrictions of cutting or marking the flesh, in a manner similar to that required by worshippers of Baal.  By modern times most continued this prohibition, a fact that adds more insult to the Holocaust victims being tattooed in WW2. 

Oklahoma Orphanage Plans Reunion


Here is an invitation for all Former Residents and Staff of St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Bethany, Oklahoma
"Did you hear about the reunion...?"
and St. Joseph’s Children’s Home in Oklahoma City. 

REUNION - SAVE THE DATE - SPEAD THE WORD
A reunion of former residents and staff members of St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Bethany, Oklahoma, and St. Joseph’s Children’s Home in Oklahoma City is being planned for Saturday, June 1, 2013.  Arrangements are pending. 

If you ever lived or worked at the orphanage or children’s home and would like to receive information about this reunion, please mail, e-mail or phone your contact information to Jane Moon, Catholic Charities, 1501 N. Classen Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73106, jmoon@catholiccharitiesok.org, 405-526-2308.

The home was opened in 1912 in Bethany, Oklahoma and later moved to Oklahoma City.

4/16/13

LITTLE GREEN MEN

When did the idea of little men from space first emerge into our consciousness?  Why did it arrive, if not from actual visiting alien craft, and what does it all mean?  Deep probing questions for sure.  

I was amazed to learn that stories of little men can be traced back to reports as early as the 1930's, predating the 1947 Roswell, NM event said to have sparked the idea.

In 1937 in Fontana, California it is reported a group of people on a dark rural road were illumunitated by an "unknown shaft of orange light coming from the sky while walking back from the movies".  Greatly frightened the group ran into a nearby orange grove for cover. Later one of the main witness remembered waking up at night finding his bedroom filled with a subdued light and four or five little figures with big heads and eyes looking at him."   "The figures appeared to be light blue or green gray in color. The figures then would move around and touched him. One night he recalled seeing the little men and a white light would appear at the door accompanied by a tall man (he could not see his features) that appeared to be in charge of the little humanoids. He never felt any fear during the encounters." Source: http://www.ufoinfo.com/humanoid/humanoid1935.shtml     Source: NUFORC.





4/10/13

RATIONING IN TIME OF WAR- WW2 Revisted

From 1941-1945 various commodities were rationed to ensure adequate supplies for the war effort, to stabilize the homefront economy, and to provide a means where every citizen could participate in the national effort. 

Gasoline, sugar, meat, grain, cloth - the list was long for items rationed.
careful planning was involved and collaborative effort in families to plan for meals and life using these stamps.

There were four books used and each had to be applied for (it was the Government, remember?).   

The following show some ration books issued to people living in Oklahoma (Tahlequah) but the process was the same everywhere. 



A look at all the books and the steps invovled at "Rationing During WW2" http://www.waverlyinfo.com/page/3282/Ww-Ii-Memorabilia

WAR RATION BOOK FOUR


This book and the certificate were issues to a 63 year old Minnie Catherine Mulholland, 306 W. Choctaw, Tahlequah, Cherokee Co., Oklahoma. The certificate was issued May5, 1942 via local board #43.

WAR RATIONS

A page of stamps used to dispense food to registered people during World War 2.  The paper looked to be recycled grade.

War Rations - Sugar Ration Book Page



This sugar ration book was used by Donald M. Wyatt, 306 West Choctaw in Tahlequah, Oklahoma during World War Two.

4/8/13

She Was A Most Lively Preacher

Representive image - Public Domain
One of the fundamental elements in any family's evolution is the influence of religion in crafting their traditions, values, and daily life. Like vines, the religious and secular histories are often intertwined. Any attempt to understand the one divorced from the other is often a sure guarantee valuable insights will be lost. Understanding a family's religious history is to understand many of their motivations and subsequent actions with far greater clarity. All of this combines to present a multi-dimensional history of American life.  When a tantalizing suggestion of an early woman preacher in the family - the search took on new meaning.

The spread of Methodism in America parallels the trek of the early pioneers such as Daniel Boone (who cleared the trail into then largely unknown Kentucky in the late 1700's). The early Methodist preachers were not far behind such pioneers. Even before the formal organization of the "American Methodist Church" or the "Methodist Episcopal Church" (1784), there existed an early circuit (a regular route traveled by one minister in order to preach, baptize, and marry) known as the "Holstein Circuit" (Norwood). It covered the area of NE Tennessee, and SW Virginia through which John Terry, son of William, and his wife Esther Brown Terry migrated circa 1790. Other circuits would form, interestingly enough, in Botetourt Co.,Va, in Kentucky, and southern Indiana. All locations into which John Terry and kin were known to have moved.


The "father" of American Methodism, Frances Asbury (1745-1816) traveled some of those same areas of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee on his own circuit journeys of the late 1700's and early 1800's. His journal records that in 1786 he stopped at "Terry's" on the border of Fairfield and Chester Co. Cited, re notes, as "Tar Yard" on some old maps. In 1807 he stopped at "Terry's" in the upper part of Greenville Co., near Marietta. The notes indicate this should not be confused with the Terry at Fork Shoals 20 miles below Greenville in NC. An 1833 letter reporting on ministerial activities noted "...my first efforts were in Botetourt, Holston, and New River Circuits 40 years ago [1793]...I kept up with [information?] Viz. Nathaniel Tery 4 miles distant in the bent of James River. (Clark, Journal and Letters of Francis Asbury, vol 1.;pg. 446,507,374-75,574).


Evidence from several private records reveal that one family, the Terry family of Barry Co., Missouri, were a group that took religion seriously. Some joined the Disciples of Christ, Baptist, and other groups, yet there are intriguing clues that seem to suggest some of these early Terry's had a connection to early American Methodism. Not surprising for a group that at one time could claim a church in every county, yet the details are fascinating and illuminate migration and family stories.   It also fleshes out some of the church history that is spotty at best in that heavily wooded and one time highly isolated region of the Ozarks,

Barbara Terry of Cassville, Barry Co., Missouri, writing to her son John and his wife Lucinda King Reed Terry, Red River County, Texas written November 9, 1877. In concluding the letter she shares some brief news about various other siblings and addes an intriguing sentence...

"Matildy is one of the liveliest preachers we have. She belongs to the North Methodist..."

Matildy was Matilda Terry Ennis was born 5 Jam 1822 in Gibson Co., Indiana to William and Barbara Ennis Terry. She married a cousin, Elisha Ennis in about 1839. His father was Zachariah Ennis an uncle of Barbara.   In 1835 she was baptized and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. This was while the family lived in Madison Co., Arkansas.  It is possible she was a formal "deaconess" but may also have been  merely a very active church woman, but it is interesting to note that in the Holiness Movement of the same period women were taking roles of preaching, ministry and service.  Phoebe Palmer, for example, was one such woman and was part of many revival efforts in the New York period from as early as 1857. This reveals a trend toward greater female participation - and some acceptance of the same - among some groups of Methodists.


Many of the early Terry of the 1840's - 1880's letters reveal people of great faith, living as best they could by their moral convictions and standards. They bear witness of the faith to their relatives, relations, and from their deathbeds. An interest in the church and religious matters was evidenced early as revealed by an 1848 letter of William Terry (1785-1869, son of John), to his son John Terry in Red River Co., Texas:  "...our preacher is not onto circuits again and that brother Standford is presiding elder in place of brother Harrol and that brother Harrol is stationed at Little Rock." According to the North Arkansas Conference, United Methodist Church, Commission on Archives and History, the 13th session of the conference was held in 1848. The event recorded that a John Hormel served the Little Rock Station. A Russell M. Morgan served the Huntsville Church in the Fayetteville district in 1848, and Thomas Stanford was Presiding Elder of the Fayetteville District.

Another interesting thing to note relates to names. William's son Martin is thought by some to have also bear the name Francis; this could relate to the "Swamp Fox" of Revolutionary fame or to the early Methodist leader. There is evidence of naming for both in several lines. A strong point of support may be he named one of his sons Lorenz (or Lorenzo) Dow Terry (1845-1894). Lorenz Dow was a fiery, evangelical preacher and one-time Methodist who crisscrossed the early circuit locales of Tennessee and Kentucky in the early years of the nineteenth century. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that at some point the paths of Terry's and Dow actually intersected.

Certain letters of Martin Terry from the 1850s-1870s reveal a man of strong moral convictions. He comments about the need for prohibition in the Ozarks to curtail the victimization produced in order to create a market for liquer. The problem was the quality of the product sold was often literally deadly and many families were ruined by the death or addictions which resulted. He also had strong political views but that is for another study.

Martin and his brother John married sisters;Mary Ann and Lucinda Reed were children of Joseph Reed, and a transcript of an oral history project interview with a descendent of this same Reed states he was a Methodist minister. Reed went to Red River, Texas in 1839 and with him was John Terry, whose biography includes mention of a long membership in the Methodist Episcopal South Church. [see "Fine Points of History" interview with Juanita Stiles Cornwell of Clarksville (1980) in East Texas University Archives pg.10,104.;Biographical Souvinir of the State of Texas (1880),pg.817,794-5]. Joseph Reed is an interesting study in himself. He is probably a nephew or cousin of a Rev. Joseph Reed/Reid who accompanied the noted Rev. Stephenson into the area of Red River County, Texas between 1817-1820, a time when our Joseph Reed was also in the area.(Steely, Six months from Tennesse, 1982) This other early Reed also came out of Kentucky and Tennesse and resided in Hempstead, Arkansas for a time. He was a slave owning minister, a vocal supporter of the south, and thus part of the split creating the Methodist Episcopal and Methodist Episcopal South prior to the Civil War. Our Reed died in TX in 1839 but from the letters and notations in a family Bible he was in Oklahoma and Indian Territory (Ft. Towson) prior to 1830.
Letters of the 1860's and 1870's mention Methodism in relation to meetings or revivals in areas of their southwest Missouri relatives. Also mentioned are Cumberland Presybeterians (Reed may have been associated with them as well for a time) and Baptists.


The ten year silence between the two Terry brothers during and after the Civil War has been attributed to the devastation and rebuilding of the conflict. The conflict took a heavy toll on the families as both sides contributed family to the cause or lost family as part of the illnesses that followed the troops. It may be, however, that once again religion plays an important role in interpreting the silence as the result of conflicting theological and ideological views. Martin's line in Missorui had clear connections to the North via "Northern Methodist" church membership and John in Texas was connected to the "Methodist Episcopal South". This allegiance reveals that probably the brothers took two different sides in the conflict (and military records seem to support this). The wording of the letter that broke the silence (written by the wives) suggest something beyond disrupted mails was at fault. The letter dated 27 September 1867 reads in part: "I am no politician and take no part in political controversy and I exceedingly regret the unhappy circumstances that has made such a deep and lasting wounds in the minds of those that once was friends and are bound by the nearest and dearest ties of kindred relation." The fact the letter was written by Martin's wife to her sister, and the fact she notes the severing of family ties, seems to pointedly highlight the silence was brought on by more than merely the hardship and grief of war. It may have been caused by differences of deep idealogical and theological significance to the brothers.

John King Terry, Martin's son was married in 1861 in Cassville, Mo by "Methodist minister, Keith Hankins" (County record/Civil war pension record).

There is a persistent story that Martin was a minister as well. No definitive records exist but if he were a Methodist he may have been a lay pastor and records for those individuals were not usually kept at the time. However, the area of the Ozarks where Martin lived was well known as a place difficult to keep ministers and a tradition of lay ministers evolved in many locations, including Barry Co. This may be what is referred to by the oral tradition. [Clark. Ozark Baptizings, hangings, and other diversions, 1984, pg. 78, 98, 147].

Further research may minimize or correct any Terry connections to early Methodism, but at this point the cumulative evidence presents a strong case for the serious consideration of this relationship, no matter how short-lived. It certainly serves to clarify the dominate role that religion played in the areas through which all the Terry lines traveled on their way west to Missorui.


Matilda died 21 August 1904 in Barry Co., Missouri. Significantly, her son, John Wesley Ennis, was a member of the M.E. Church at Oak Dale, Barry Co., Missouri and he officiated at his mother's funeral. In genealogical research, as in law, there is often a call to the authority of a 'perponderance of evidence.'  The mountain of circumstantial evidence grows pretty tall and it is likely that in the region, where churches often went a long time waiting for a new preacher to be appointed there could arise a variety of religious leaders. Including a woman who would be termed a "lively preacher."

4/4/13

AN 1861 AX MURDER CASE


This was submitted by a reader and it certainly does flesh out the scope and history of this most popular form of mayhem in 19th and early 20th century America.


"The Cobb Murders" - Murder of a Family in Maysville, Ky.The Union (Georgetown, OH) July 31, 1861.

One of the most atrocious murders we have ever been called upon to record occurred at a farm house on the Maysville and Orangeburg road, two miles from Maysville, In Mason County, Ky on the 24 inst. The victims were an odd man named Cobb and his two sons - one aged 16, he other about 21 years. Two men, named Charles Collins and ___ Moore, entered Mr. Cobb's house and seizing an ax, entered the room in which the young men slept, and deliberately butchered them. They then entered the bedroom occupied by Mr. And Mrs. Cobb. With a couple of heavily dealt blows upon the head they dispatched Mr. Cobb. They also struck his wife once or twice, and evidently thought they had killed her. - Though very severely wounded, she is likely to recover. Having completed their horrible work of blood, they proceeded to search the house for money, and finding about $200 in a bureau drawer, departed with it.

The object of the murder was booty, as one rullians understood that Mr. Cobb had a large amount of money in his possession at the time. What makes the deed appear still more inhuman is the fact that one of the murderers - Collins - is nearly related to Mr. Cobb.

The original article is located in the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland OH.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky [Indictment for murder] against Charles Collins, Filed on the 26th Day of July 1861.
A True Bill
Witnesses for Commonwealth:
William Deatley
Henry DeAttey
Joseph Spense
Mrs. Cobb - widow
James Hire/Hise
Joseph Spencer
Thursten Foster
Edna Cobb.
Dr. L K Sharpe
Dr. M L Adamsen
Benj Cobb
Thos Deatley
Mrs. Frank Cobb
Stephen Valentine
R. H. Baldwin
Henry Barclay
Cain B. White
Noble Dryden
John Mitchel
Robb Dryden

"If the jury believes from the testimony beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant before the finding of the indictment and in the county of Mason did willfully and with malice aforethought kill and murder Geo. W. Cobb and Elijah Cobb by striking them with an axe, or other heavy weapon, they must find him guilty and if an the whole case the jury have a reasonable doubt of his being proven guilty, they will find him not guilty."

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