Tag Archives: Fenton

An Ancestor with an Alias

When I learned that George Hiram Thoma of Garnavillo, Clayton County, Iowa used an alias as a young man, it took me by surprise. He was born to Fred and Matilda (Hammond) Thoma in 1880,¹ and the state census indicates that he remained in his home county in northeastern Iowa at least until 1895.² At some point thereafter, according to family lore, George left home and bicycled across Iowa. Whether he went by bicycle or not, it was said that his move may have been spurred on by his poor relationship with his father.³

George Hiram Thoma, seated left, with an unidentified young man, ca. 1900; digital image 2013, privately held by Melanie Frick, 2014.

Records place George across the state in northwestern Iowa on 23 March 1902, at which time, using the name George A. Neilson, he married Anna Leota Fenton in Ashton, Osceola County, Iowa.⁴ This was no trick of penmanship or recorder’s error; three affidavits, written by George, his mother, and his younger brother, were attached to the marriage document decades later, each attesting to the fact that George A. Neilson and George Hiram Thoma were one and the same person.⁵ It is worth noting that George still named his correct place of birth and even the correct names of his parents on the original marriage document, with the exception, of course, of assigning the Neilson surname to them as well.⁶ Evidently, he was not prepared or had no reason to invent an elaborate backstory regarding his origins.

None of the affidavits, however, explained why George had married under an assumed name.⁷ One has to wonder whether his wife even knew what she was getting into! Prior to his marriage, I suspect that he might be found in the 1900 U.S. census as George Thoma, a clerk in Belden, Cedar County, Nebraska. Notably, he boarded with a family by the name of Nelson, and a Nielsen also resided in the household.⁸ Although this may or may not be the correct George Thoma, we do know that within weeks of his marriage, he moved to Center, Knox County, Nebraska, where he was an employee of the Edwards and Bradford Lumber Company.⁹

Within a few years of his marriage, George relocated with his family to Sioux City, Woodbury County, Iowa. There, his daughter’s birth was recorded with the surname Neilson,¹⁰ and according to the city directories, George continued to use his assumed name at least until 1909.¹¹ I have been unable to locate the family in the 1910 U.S. census – they had likely left Sioux City by that time to return to Nebraska, where they moved from place to place for the next decade. However, they had certainly reverted to the use of the Thoma surname no later than World War I.¹²

Was this alias purely symbolic, in order to emphasize George’s separation from his father, or, perhaps, the ties that he forged with another family? Or was it part of an effort to hide, whether from his father, from love, or from the law? This is one family mystery that I would love to solve!

Continue reading →

Military Monday: A Civil War Compiled Service Record

8 Replies

In honor of Veteran’s Day, I thought I would share the Compiled Military Service Record (CMSR) of my one and only direct ancestor who served in the Civil War, namely John Fenton of Company M of the 3rd Illinois U.S. Cavalry.¹

John Fenton, of Bole, Nottinghamshire, England,² came to America with his wife and children before 1850.³ They settled first in Summit County, Ohio,⁴ and later lived in Montgomery County, Illinois. By the time the Civil War rolled around, John was a widower with four children between the ages of nine and eighteen: Sarah Alice, Harriet, John, and George W. Fenton.⁵

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

On 14 September 1861, John enlisted as a Private in Company M of the 3rd Illinois U.S. Cavalry in Pana, Christian, Illinois, for a term of three years. He was now forty-six years old – no longer a young man, he would have been nearly fifty before his term of service was complete. John stood at 5 feet 9 inches tall, and had a dark complexion, black hair, and hazel eyes.⁶

As of 1860, John had made his living as a farm laborer, boarding with three of his children in the household of another family.⁷ One of his daughters boarded with a family in the next county.⁸ Perhaps, being that John was apparently a horseman, a three-year stint in the cavalry seemed to be as good of an option as any in terms of bringing in steady pay. John’s daughters were old enough to look after their younger brothers, and perhaps – hopefully – there were friends or relatives willing to take them in while he served. The pension file submitted by his minor son, decades later, may answer some of these lingering questions.⁹

John’s service was relatively short lived. Soon after his enlistment, the Regiment made its way to Missouri; John spent time on prisoners’ guard in Rolla, and may have seen action at the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas. In late April of 1862, John left the site of Pea Ridge with the train of wounded, arriving in the hospital in Lebanon, Laclede, Missouri. After a lingering illness, it was there that he died of typhoid fever on 7 July 1862 at the age of forty-seven.¹⁰ Although John was initially buried at Lebanon, his grave was likely unmarked and his body may since have been exhumed and reburied the National Cemetery in Springfield, Missouri.¹¹

How can you obtain your ancestor’s Compiled Military Service Record (CMSR)? I acquired John Fenton’s CMSR in person at the National Archives in 2011, when I still lived near Washington, D.C. It was a definitely an experience to be able to view and photograph the original document at my leisure; although the National Archives can seem intimidating, I was able to place my request without any problems and there were plenty of staff members and volunteers willing to point me in the right direction as needed. If you don’t find yourself there anytime soon, and if the CMSR that you seek isn’t available online or on microfilm at a local branch of the National Archives, you can still request a copy for a fee, using information located in indexes online. The online ordering system is easy to use – just be prepared to wait for your record to arrive in the mail!

SOURCES
¹ Compiled service record, John Fenton, Pvt. Co. M, 3 Illinois Inf.; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
² Compiled military service record, John Fenton, Pvt. Co. M, 3 Ill. Inf., Civil War, RG 94, NA-Washington.
³ 1850 U.S. census, Summit County, Ohio, population schedule, Stow, p. 931 (penned), dwelling 33, family 52, John Fenton; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 November 2013), citing National Archives microfilm M432, roll 732.
⁴ 1850 U.S. census, Summit Co., Oh., pop. sch., Stow, p. 931 (penned), dwell. 33, fam. 52, John Fenton.
⁵ 1860 U.S. census, Montgomery County, Illinois, population schedule, Audubon Post Office, p. 319 (penned), dwelling 2284, family 2287, John Fenton; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 November 2013), citing National Archives microfilm M653, roll 214.
⁶ Compiled military service record, John Fenton, Pvt. Co. M, 3 Ill. Inf., Civil War, RG 94, NA-Washington.
⁷ 1860 U.S. census, Montgomery Co., Ill., pop. sch., Audubon P.O., p. 319 (penned), dwell. 2284, fam. 2287, John Fenton.
⁸ 1860 U.S. census, Christian County, Illinois, population schedule, Pana, p. 319 (penned), dwelling 574, family 5114, Harriet Fenton; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 November 2013), citing National Archives microfilm M653, roll 161.
⁹ “U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934,” digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 November 2013); John Fenton (Co. M, 3rd Ill. Inf.) index card; imaged from General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, T288 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives [n.d.]), roll 150.
¹⁰ Compiled military service record, John Fenton, Pvt. Co. M, 3 Ill. Inf., Civil War, RG 94, NA-Washington.
¹¹ “Union Soldiers Buried at Lebanon, Missouri 1862-1865,” Judy’s Stuff (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~judysstuff/burials/Lebanon.htm : accessed 11 November 2013).

A Hand-Colored Photograph

5 Replies

My great-grandmother kept this hand-colored photograph of her mother in a small, red velvet frame on her writing desk. Anna Leota Fenton of Ashton, Osceola County, Iowa married in the spring of 1902 when she was twenty-two years old.¹ She may have had her photograph taken at the time of her marriage.

Anna Leota (Fenton) Thoma photograph, ca. 1902, Ashton, Iowa; digital image 2001, privately held by Melanie Frick, 2013.

Anna Leota Fenton, who typically went by her middle name or the nickname “Ota,” poses demurely in this photograph. The hand-colored copy comes with no suggestions as to the photographer or the original medium, but it seems to have been a typical portrait of the day. Did Leota request that the photograph be colored, or was this arranged later by her daughter?

The photograph has been colored in a way that looks quite natural.² Leota’s eyes are blue-green, and her hair a light brown. Her dress has been colored a deep mauve or soft burgundy, perhaps the original color of the dress, perhaps not, and she wears a matching ribbon in her hair. There is a small gold-colored brooch at the side of her throat.

Leota’s hairstyle is one that was popular at the turn of the twentieth century. It is full and soft around her face, with a tendril or two escaping, and it is fastened in a high bun in the back. Although few details of her dress can be seen in this head-and-shoulders pose, her dress does have a high collar to the chin and full sleeves. The bodice appears to be “pouched” with soft vertical pleats.³

How do you feel about colorized photographs? This week, I read here about the Subreddit page History in Color, which features historical photographs colorized by both amateurs and professionals. Some of them are really beautiful, making scenes from the Civil War or the Great Depression look like they took place yesterday. These photographs could be great for engagement in the classroom – some students might relate more to history if all of the pictures weren’t in black and white!

SOURCES
¹ “News of Osceola County,” Sibley (Iowa) Gazette, 27 March 1902, p. 8, col. 1.
² Maureen A. Taylor, Family Photo Detective (Cincinnati: Family Tree Books, 2013), 62.
³ Taylor, Family Photo Detective, 112.

A Sad Accident: The Death of George W. Fenton

8 Replies

George W. Fenton of Saline County, Kansas, was a young father of three when he was accidentally shot and killed by his brother-in-law on 9 October 1880.¹

Saline County, Kansas, “Marriage Affidavits, 1873-1879,” p. 43-44, George W. Fenton and Sarah Hall marriage, 11 June 1873; digital images, FamilySearch, “Kansas, County Marriages, 1855-1911,” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 September 2013).

George, the American-born son of English immigrants, was raised in Ohio and Illinois and was orphaned around the age of ten. He ventured to Kansas as a young man, no doubt seeking opportunity and adventure on this new frontier. In 1873, at the age of twenty-two, George married Sarah Ellen Hall, who was barely sixteen, though she claimed to be a year older.² They settled near her mother and siblings by Gypsum Creek in Saline County, Kansas, and it was there that they raised three daughters: Minnie Bell, Alpha Doretta, and Anna Leota Fenton.³

The tenth of October 1880 was a Saturday. Farm chores were put aside for the afternoon, as George, Sarah, and their young daughters gathered at Sarah’s mother’s home with a crowd of neighbors and kin. Perhaps they were celebrating a successful harvest, or perhaps it was simply a good time to enjoy the early autumn weather, to catch up, and to let the children play.

Also in attendance that afternoon was Sarah’s elder brother, Elithan Davis “Bud” Hall, who fell between Sarah and George in age, and no doubt thought well of George as he, as Sarah’s oldest living male relative, had granted permission for their marriage seven years before.⁴He and George were talking of hunting when he reached for the double-barreled shotgun behind the door, teasing his nieces Bell, six, and Alpha, four, that he was going to shoot their dog. His niece Leota, at seven months old, was still too young to play along, as was Bud’s own daughter, Gracie, just over a year.⁵ As Bud raised his shotgun in jest, however, presuming it to be unloaded, it discharged – sending a bullet straight above George’s heart.⁶

George was mortally wounded, and lived only an hour more on that fateful October afternoon. His death was ruled purely accidental at the inquest held two days later, when five witnesses testified in front of a jury. The Salina Herald headlined the incident as a “Sad Accident,” and added, “The thing to be condemned [is] the careless handling of firearms.”⁶The Journal (Salina), detailed, “Hall is nearly distracted over the result of his carelessness. The brothers-in-law were the best of friends – no trouble ever having occurred between them.” The frequency of such accidents was noted with sorrow, and it was questioned, “Will people never learn better?”⁷

George W. Fenton was buried at McQuary’s Graveyard on Gypsum Creek.⁸

SOURCES
¹Saline County, Kansas, Coroner’s Records, “Fenton, George,” filed 10 October 1880; database, Smoky Valley Genealogical Society, “Saline County, Kansas Coroner’s Records” (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kssvgs/ : accessed 18 September 2013).
²Saline County, Kansas, “Marriage Affidavits, 1873-1879,” p. 43-44, George W. Fenton and Sarah Hall marriage, 11 June 1873; digital images, FamilySearch, “Kansas, County Marriages, 1855-1911,” (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 September 2013).
³1880 U.S. census, Saline County, Kansas, population schedule, Eureka Township, enumeration district (ED) 300, p. 204 (stamped), dwelling 102, family 110, George W. Fenton; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 September 2013), citing National Archives microfilm publication T9, roll 396.
⁴Saline County, Kansas, “Marriage Affidavits, 1873-1879,” p. 43-44, George W. Fenton and Sarah Hall marriage (1873).
⁵1880 U.S. census, Saline County, Kansas, population schedule, Gypsum Township, enumeration district (ED) 300, p. 12 (handwritten), dwelling 82, family 90, Elithan D. Hall; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 September 2013), citing National Archives microfilm publication T9, roll 396.
⁶“Sad Accident,” The Salina Herald (Salina, Kansas), 16 October 1880, copy of newspaper clipping privately held by Melanie Frick, 2013.
⁷“A Sad Accident, The Journal (Salina, Kansas), 14 October 1880, copy of newspaper clipping privately held by Melanie Frick, 2013.
⁸“Sad Accident,” The Salina Herald (Salina, Kansas), 16 October 1880.