Prisoner of War

State of Indiana Warren County SS

Before me the undersigned authority personally appeared Washington M Crawford who being by me first duly sworn says

my age is 46 years.

In the matter of my claim for pension No 170744 my occupation has always been that of a farmer. For five year preceding my enlistment in Co H 2nd NY Cav I worked on a farm for my father in Washington township Warren County Ind except the last year prior to the breaking out of the war I moved to Jordan township and began farming for myself. I continued there until August 3rd 1861, when I enlisted in the army in the above named Co and regiment. I was in all the engagements the regiment was in from the time of its organization until the 22nd day of Sept 1863 when I was taken prisoner in an engagement between Gen Kilpatrick and Gen Stewart near Liberty Mills Va.

The circumstances under which my disability was incurred was hardships of prison life such as being confined with thirty five thousand men on about sixteen acres of ground with insufficient food and no shelter except a government blanket which makes a poor Shade and no shelter from the rain whatever. I passed the winter of 1863 and 1864 in Bell Isle and in March 64 I was taken to Andersonville Ga where I incurred the disability during the summer of 1864. I went from there to Charleston SC and there eighteen days and was then taken to Florence SC where on the 7th of Dec 64 I was paroled in the agreement between two Commissioners to exchange ten thousand sick.

I arrived home in June 1865 and remained on the old homestead with my mother and was treated by Dr Tebbs and Dr Greeley who are both deceased. In 1866 I lived in Jordan township, tried farming and received treatment from Dr Frankeberger who is also deceased. In 1867 I lived in Washington township followed farming and was again treated by Dr Greely. I remained in Washington township until 1871 when I moved to Pike township and followed farming there until 1873 when I again moved to Washington township where I have remained to the present and have been following farming.

I am a constant sufferer with the following troubles: rheumatism, neuralgic, bronchitis, piles and the effects of Scurvy in my feet My treatment since the death of Drs Tebbs of Williamsport Ind, Dr Greely of West Lebanon Ind, and Dr Frankeberger of Jordan has been by Dr Leech who now resides at Crawfordsville Ind, Dr T B Campbell of West Lebanon, Ind and Dr. Osborne of West Lebanon Ind

I have performed manual labor every year since the war except the first year immediately after the war. I have not been able at any time since the war to do a full day’s work from the fact that my feet are so affected that I cannot stand the walking. My mussles also pain me so that I am compelled to stop. I am not able to do more than one fourth as much of any kind of farm work as I could before the war. When I do any heavy work it brings on piles when I am exposed. I suffer with Bronchitus. All the work I do must be done under great difficulties and with great pain. I am frequently confined to the house and sometimes to my bed but I cannot give dates as to time of said confinement. All I can do with any degree of certainty is to oversee the work and do chores.

I have not suffered at any time with any acute disease since my discharge from the Army.

Washington M Crawford

 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7^th day of April 1884 and I certify that I have not interest in the claim this affidavit seeks to establish.

Henry C Johnson, Clk.

Fry Bryant Dep

From the Military and Pension Record File of Washington M. Crawford, obtained via mail from the National Archives and Record Administration.

Tombstone Challenge Accepted

This week’s ‘Saturday Night Genealogy Fun‘ challenge was to figure out how far back a line can be traced thru tombstones. My immediate reaction was that it was probably thru my dad’s CRAWFORD line

There are 4 generations of CRAWFORDs buried in Maple Grove Cemetery, Dodge City, Kansas

• Dad: Eugene Crawford
• Granddad: Leon Russel Crawford
• Great Grandfather: Judson Crawford
• Great Great Grandfather: Washington Marion Crawford (headstone and footstone shown)

My 3rd great grandfather is buried in the West Lebanon cemetery just outside of West Lebanon, Indiana.

My 4th great grandfather is buried in the cemetery at Eaton, Ohio.

Patriots (and Tories)

As we celebrate Independence Day, I began thinking about my ancestors that participated to make today possible.

My great grandmother, Josie Hammond, joined the Daughters of the American Revolution thru her great-grandfather, Jason Hammond. At the time, it was believed that Jason fought for Connecticut. Unfortunately, there are several Jason Hammonds in Connecticut at the time and records make it difficult to know for sure which one served. Thus, my DAR application is thru Jason’s father, Nathaniel Hammond. Nathaniel Hammond didn’t fight for the cause but helped the fight by providing supplies to the troops.

I also have a verifiable revolutionary ancestor on my mother’s side: William Buckles. William served in the Berkeley (Virginia) militia 1778. Other potential revolutionary ancestors include Cheney Ricketts (Pennsylvania), Oliver White (Massachusetts), George Thurston (Rhode Island), George Crandall (New York). With most of my lines going back to colonial New England or Virginia, it is likely that I will discover more patriots as I verify new ancestors.

Besides having numerous patriot ancestors, I have at least one Tory ancestor. My great-great grandmother, Julia Harding, was the daughter of William G. Harding. William Harding migrated to Iowa from New Brunswick, Canada – where Julia was born. The Harding family settled in New Brunswick shortly after the end of the revolutionary war on a land grant from the King. Prior to the revolution, the family was living in the state of New York.

I look forward to discovering more ancestors from this time period – Patriots or Tories.

 

1878 Cattle Drives

In searching for an advertisement enticing settlers into the Dodge City area, I came across the following article discussing the round-up of cattle and the cattle drives during 1878.

The Kansas and Colorado Cattle Drives

[Dodge City Correspondence New York Times]

The Indiana State Sentinel, Wednesday July 10, 1878

Page 7 column 6

[available on Chronicling America]

                The cattle men of the plains are just getting through with their annual ‘round-ups’. For the Arkansas valley and the divide country West Los Animas was the rendezvous; and the scattered cattle for miles along the river and out on the buffalo ranges were gathered to that point. Camps were established, all the leading cattle men, were on hand and the “cow boys” were in their glory. It was the work of only a few hours to “cut out” and separate the cattle and start the herds back to their ranges again. Every animal is known by its brand, so that ownership is easily determined, and those that have drifted miles away during the winter storms and become a part of other herds are picked out in a few minutes, claimed by the owners and started back to the range. It has been a good winter for stock in this valley; no bad storms and plenty of grass. The cattle are in prime condition, and beeves for the early fall market will sell better than the average. By comparing notes among the herders it was found that the range between Fort Lyon and Bent’s Fort – Kit Carson’s old hunting grounds – an uninviting and barren looking section, contains more cattle than any similar area on the plains. Over 75,000 head are figured up.

               As all the heavy stock men and shippers just now seem to be bound for one place – Dodge City – the point at which the ‘drives’ of Texas cattle come up, your correspondent took a train on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad and a seven hours’ ride landed us at midnight in this noisy cattle mart. No one seemed to be asleep at that hour. The station was thronged with swaggering, swearing cow boys and oily confidence men. With some difficulty we rubbed our way through the crowd and followed the porter to the Great Western hotel. Any of our companions that might be bent on sport could need no special beckoning, for in all the billiard halls, concert saloons and keno dens the lamp still held out to burn.

Seen by daylight Dodge City has a better look, though somehow pretty much all the buildings, which are of frame, lurch to the west as if impatient to move on, the effect of high prairie winds. The population cation not be farm from 1,000, though there is a large floating element, increasing rapidly, and a month later, when the cattle are swarming and prices are at high tide, there will be in the town and outskirts as many as 5,000 people. The cattle shipping season gathers traders, speculators, gamblers and all sorts. Through June and July Dodge City will be the liveliest place in the west. The best trails from the pan-handle of Texas strike the railroad and river at this point, if it is outside the ‘dead line’ prescribed by Kansas laws, and offers every facility for large stock transactions. There are in this vicinity about 120,000 head of Texas ‘beeves’ already arrived and ready to be marketed. There are on the trail between Dodge and Cimarron 50,000 more. The last accounts from the south indicate that there are upward of 225,000 head of cattle moving northward from Red river, fully one half of which will take the trail to Dodge City.

             About the 1^st of July the larger shared will have arrived here and the shipping will begin in earnest. There will probably be put on the cars at this station from 30,000 to 40,000 beeves for Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago. The greater share of the cattle that are driven to this point from Texas do not go into eastern markets yet. They will be allowed to feed their way westward and northward, and two months later will appear at stations on the Kansas Pacific and Union Pacific roads further east, some to be shipped to Kansas City and Omaha, but the great bulk remain feeding on the plains until next spring. The cattle “drives” from Texas each year represent a great deal of money, and are in the hands of comparatively few men. The herds of the thirty largest owners will aggregate about 200,000 head.

The several smaller ‘bunches’ will swell the table to between 225,500 and 250,000. Some claim that the number will reach 300,000. About 45,000 are detained for Dodge City, principally for eastern shipment. While a large share of the others enumerated will come by trail to Dodge City, they will be driven up the Arkansas and Purgotoire, or into the pars and over the divide into the Platte valley. A good many will go to the ranges on the Republican. In the past three or four years not all the cattle that have come up from Texas have been marketed, but have been multiplying and increasing in the valleys and along the high ranges. Taking into account the large number of cattle annually driven into the territories and new states of the west and the natural increase of the herds, the cattle trade is, of course, growing into greater magnitude every year. It is a noteworthy fact that the cattle interest of the Rocky mountain region and the plains on the East is receiving large accessions form the west also.

            It was considered somewhat wonderful a few years ago when Texas was credited with 4,000,000 head of cattle. That state was looked upon as our beef supply for years to come, and the great plains at that time counted as absolutely worthless for any purpose, were not even looked upon as even the smallest factor in the matter of supplying the east and Europe with marketable cattle. But a great revolution has taken place even in a short time. The “long horns” still come up every season to be put into market, but the numbers arriving at Kansas City and Chicago from that source are decreasing year by year. The cattle grounds are being transferred to the great buffalo plains and the central portion of the continent with the Pacific states, are becoming the leading producers of beef. An estimate derived from the assessment return gives Colorado 550,000; Wyoming 225,000; Utah, 350,000; Montana 300,000; Washington 2000,000; Oregon 175,000; and California 650,000 cattle. This make a total of nearly 2,750,000 market beeves which will be taken during the next three or four months into the markets east of the Missouri river.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

West Lebanon to Dodge City

The newcomers who arrived last Saturday from West Lebanon state of Indiana are E. Brice, wife and three children; J. H. Crawford, wife and six children; W. P. Armour, wife and two children, J. O’Hara, wife and one child, J. M. Fleming and wife; Joseph Briggs, wife and one child; Thompson Rankins wife and six children; U.R. Rogers, wife and two children; Geo. Jones, wife and two children; Chas. Dickerson and wife; David Wilson and son; David Manford and Charles Brown. They brought with them about twenty-five horses and mules, farming implements and household furniture. They go to work at once on their claims about nine miles north-west of Dodge.

Ford County Globe Republican March 5, 1878, Page 3, Column 3 (Ford County, Kansas)

Military Record FOUND!

When it comes to military records from World War II, the saying ‘Time Heals’ has some merit. During my early days of researching my family history, I was told that my dad’s military file probably didn’t exist. This wasn’t because someone threw it away but because of a fire in the building housing the personnel files. Thus, I had been content with a copy of his discharge record from the Ford County Recorder of Deed’s Office. That was until recently, when I found out some files survived and other files are being reconstructed. Thus, I tried again — AND — received his complete file. I am so thankful that I sought out this record! Below is his military history as outlined by various documents in his file.

Eugene David Crawford passed the Eddy Test and was technically qualified for Radio Technician training in the U.S. Navy on 6 Feb 1945. The Eddy Test was a test given to identify men with the capability and aptitude for being trained as electronics maintenance technicians in the U.S. Navy.

Eugene enlisted in the United States Naval Reserves on 15 Feb 1945 at U.S. Naval Reserve Station in Kansas City, Missouri.  On 15 Feb 1945 at the U.S. Navy Recruiting Station in Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri, he was ordered to active duty without pay and to proceed to home at 512 Avenue ‘G”, Dodge City, Kansas and upon arrival he should consider himself released from active duty to await further orders.

On 16 May 1945, Eugene was received at the U.S. Naval Reserve Station in Dodge City, Ford County, Kansas.  On 17 May 1945, he graduated from Dodge City Senior High School in Dodge City, Ford, County Kansas. He was recalled to active duty on 20 May 1945 at U.S. Naval Reserve Station in Kansas City, Missouri.

Eugene was transferred to the U.S. Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois on 21 May 1945. He reported for active duty on 21 May 1945 at the U.S. Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois. He was granted recruit leave from 9 Jul 1945 to 14 July 1945 at the U.S. Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois.

On July 20, 1945, Eugene was transferred to the Navy Training College for study of pre-radio material at Wright Junior College in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. He was transferred to the Naval Training School (EE & RM) for a course of instructions at U.S. Naval Training Center in Gulfport, Mississippi on 15 Aug 1945. He was discharged from class V-6 US Naval Reserve on 4 Sep 1945. Eugene enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a seaman 1st class radio technician on 5 Sep 1945 at Naval Training Center in Gulfport, Mississippi. He reported for active duty in the U.S. Navy on 5 Sep 1945 in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Eugene was discharged from the U.S. Navy on 23 Oct 1945 for convenience of the government at Naval Training Center in Gulfport, Mississippi. Eugene voluntarily enlisted in Class V6 US Naval Reserve on 23 Oct 1945 in Gulfport, Mississippi. On Jan 4, 1946, he was transferred to the Naval Training Center at Great Lakes, Illinois. (In talking about his military experience, dad said he ‘flunked out’ of radio school. This is somewhat ironic in that Eugene Crawford majored in science in college and spent most of his career teaching science — including physics. As a retiree, Eugene earned his Amateur Radio license.)

On the first of May, 1946, Eugene was transferred to receiving station in Shoemaker, California. Eugene was transferred for duty aboard the USS Oneida (APA-221) under Captain Harry A. Guthrie, U.S. Navy on 20 May 1946. The USS Oneida (APA-221) was a Haskell-class attack transport. He served outside the continental limits of the United States in the Pacific Ocean around Guam and Samar from 1 Jun 1946 to 16 July 1946 aboard the U.S.S. Oneida (APA-221) During this time, the U.S.S. Oneida participated in Operation Magic Carpet, returning veterans to the states. (In talking about his shipboard experience, dad said one of the soldiers being transported home was a former grade school classmate who had moved away from Dodge City.)

On 24 July 1946, Eugene was transferred to the receiving station at Treasure Island in San Francisco, San Francisco County, California. He  received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy as Seaman First Class V-6 USNR on 1 Aug 1946 in Norman, Oklahoma.

 

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Judson Foster Crawford – Josie Winifred Hammond

Judson Foster Crawford was born in April 1866 in Warren County, Indiana. He was the second child born to Washington Marion and Mary (Foster) Crawford. Judson’s father had only been home from the war for a year when Judson was born.

At the age of 14, Judson was living with his parents in Warren County, Indiana. Family tradition says that as a young adult, Judson

• was a cook’s helper on a cattle drive
• worked on a ranch
• worked in a grocery store

Even though these stories are hard to prove, they could all be true. Judson’s uncle, James H. Crawford migrated from Indiana to the Dodge City area where he owned both a ranch and a grocery store. Thus, Judson could have worked for his uncle on the ranch or in town at the store. The 1885 Kansas census indicates that Judson did work in a store since his occupation is listed as clerk.

At the age of 23, Judson went to work for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad in Dodge City.

A little over a year later, he married Josie Winifred Hammond on Christmas Eve in 1890 in Dodge City. Josie was born in Knox County, Illinois in 1874, the daughter of Richmond Fisk and Sarah (Ralston) Hammond. By 1880, the Hammond family was living in Hardin County, Iowa. By 1887, Richmond purchased land in Ford county and moved his family to the Dodge City area.

Judson and Josie welcomed their first child, Bernice Crawford,  in 1892. Having been transferred to Newton, Kansas, their first son, Leon Russel Crawford, was born in 1894. The following year, they were living back in Dodge City when Marion Richmond Crawford was born.

Family stories indicate that the family moved to Oklahoma to live near Josie’s sister. These stories indicate that life was not easy in Oklahoma and that the children almost died. Other than records involving Josie’s sister, Stella Root, the 1900 census is the only source that might support this family tale. The 1900 census indicates that Judson was working as a carpenter — and NOT for the railroad. By 1905, Judson is again working for the railroad.

The family was living in Dodge City in 1900 when a daughter, Helen Marjorie Crawford, joined the family. The youngest son, Hugh Judson Crawford, joined the family in 1902. The youngest daughters, Esther Stella and Lois Elida Crawford were born in 1905 and 1909 in Dodge City.

By 1915, Judson was identified as the night yard master for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. In 1919, he was a member of the AT&SF Joint General Committee. Judson continued working as a switchman for the Santa Fe railroad and retired in 1936.

Judson was active in the community. As a young man, Judson was a member of the fire department and served as the assistant secretary in 1891. At the age of 54, Judson was a school board member for the Dodge City Schools.

Judson and Josie celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1940.

Judson passed away at the age of 82 in Dodge City. He was buried in the family plot in the Maple Grove Cemetery in Dodge City.