Lost Family Treasure

Folded and kept tucked away in the family prayer book, not bigger than the size of his pockets, his marriage certificate was a precious document that reminded him of his commitment to his wife, his family and his community. In 1838, Francis Cohoe was a member of the Society of Friends in Norwich, Ontario, Canada. They were a tight-knit community and members married during their Monthly Meetings after two months of announcing their intentions. 

From the history of the area, we learn that in 1809 Peter Lossing, a member of the Society of Friends from Dutchess County, New York, visited Norwich Township, Canada. In June, 1810, Lossing, with his brother-in-law, Peter DeLong, purchased 15,000 acres of land in this area. That autumn, Lossing brought his family to Upper Canada and early in 1811 settled in Norwich Township. The DeLong family and nine others, principally from Dutchess County, joined Lossing the same year and by 1820, an additional group of about 50 had settled with the tract. Many were Quakers and a frame meeting house, planned in 1812, was erected in 1817. These resourceful pioneers founded one of the most successful Quaker communities in Upper Canada.

The marriage certificate itself is a carefully handwritten document typical of the Society of Friends. It states their names, places of residence, date of their marriage and their wedding vows.

It is a large document, measuring about 14 by 20 inches, parchment, and written in brown ink.. possibly black in 1838. One can see the marks of the folds quite easily.

However, the most amazing thing about this certificate is that both Francis Cohoe and Elizabeth Willson, his wife... signed it... in 1838.

Among the witness signatures were members of the above mentioned Peter Lossing's family and other prominent pioneers of the Norwich Community.

From earlier research, the date was known and documented in the records of the Society of Friends. These very detailed records of their monthly meetings have been indexed and are available in various repositories. Finding or even looking for this document never crossed my mind.

Having been discovered behind some yarn art in 2002 by a distant relative in Canada, it came into my possession in 2009 during a trip to Canada for research. A long and serendipitous route for a piece of Family History to survive, yet alone be in good condition. Francis Cohoe evidently treasured this document and I am lucky that it is now on my wall, carefully preserved for generations to come.

--written originally in the class exercise at SLIG 2014--

Third American Civil War Challenge - I Found Him! The Elusive Ralph Fielding!

My Fielding/Feilding Family has been giving me fits ever since I started working on my family history.  I can only go so far and then the trail goes cold, really cold.

Patrick Fielding marries Ann Croisin (that’s how my mother pronounces it) or Crawson which is on a marriage record in Cuyahoga County, OH for 1837.  Or it could be Crossin, too. They are both born in Ireland, from Census records.

I have not been able to locate the family in 1850, though City Directories show Patrick to be in Columbus, Ohio at the time.

The first time I can find them in Census records is 1860, in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio. 

Patrick Fielding 49, M, Stone Mason, $50, Ireland 3^rd great grandfather.
Ann Fielding 45, F, Ireland
Ralph Fielding, 23, M, Laborer, Ohio
Eliza Fielding, 21, F, Domestic, Ohio
Mary A. Fielding, 14, F, Ohio
James Fielding, 19, M, Broom Maker, Ohio  2^nd great grandfather
Wm Fielding, 12, M, Ohio, attended school
Patrick H. Fielding, 8, M, Ohio, attended school

I’ve dutifully followed as many of the children as possible.  I know James’ line as that is my line.  By 1870, only the youngest two boys are at home and Patrick is still listed as a Stone Mason, in Columbus, Ohio.

I found records of Ann and Patrick's deaths, plus the two boys, William and Patrick Henry in Delaware, Delaware County, OH, where they were last living. Only Patrick Henry has a headstone, though the parents are listed in the same cemetery.

Where is Ralph? I couldn’t find a record of Ralph anywhere.  He has only shown up the one time in the Census. 

A couple of years ago, Ancestry began adding Civil War records…  I figured out the dates and Ralph would have been the right age. So I plug in Ralph and his approximate birth year and that he’s from Ohio.  I’m pretty sure he had to have been born in Cuyahoga County as he is the first child after the wedding date.   What the heck, right? 

Up pops Alfred Fielding, same year, same location… I get a little excited, but there is nothing more to go on except that he died of disease while a POW at Andersonville, GA.  Wow.  He was a private, Company E, 17^th Infantry, US.   

I asked a volunteer to check the files and see if there was anything to tell me who this soldier might belong to, family-wise.  She came back and asked if his mother was Ann, father Patrick.  I said YES!!!!

A couple of weeks later, and a small fee, and I received his file.  Alfred is Ralph! There are letters from him in the file that the family used to prove their claim for his pension.  And he asks about his sisters and brothers as well.   Here is the first one, dated 23 Nov 1862.

There are 3 more letters, but they are faded and will need some enhancement before I can put them up in a Blog or elsewhere.  They are are mostly on the same lines, about being in Murfreesboro and camp life.  This is the only one that describes a battle.

From the War Department record, I learned that he was captured during the Battle at Chickamauga on 21 September 1863.  He was confined at Richmond, Virginia on 29 September 1863.   From there, he was sent to Danville, Virginia on 12 December 1863.  He was admitted to the Hospital at Andersonville, Georgia on 16 Jun 1864, and died 18 July 1864 from disease/diarrhea… a common occurrence at the time. 

From Find-A-Grave:

Andersonville National Cemetery

FIELDING, ALFRED
PVT E 17 US INF
DATE OF DEATH: 07/18/1864
BURIED AT: SITE 3543
-VA

From the pension papers and affidavits included in the file, his father, Patrick, suffered a broken ankle in 1861, which was apparently bad enough that he was unable to continue in his profession as a Stone Mason.  Alfred, being the oldest, was supporting the family as best he could and I’m sure he joined the service in an attempt to increase their income level.

The rest of the file is hard to read through, along with the bad hand-writing, the story that comes out of the pages is devastating.  This family lost both of its main wage-earners during the 1860’s.  The middle brother, James, was also in the Civil War and was injured, drawing a pension as well.  They all moved to Delaware, Delaware County, Ohio in 1876 most likely due to better living conditions on a smaller scale and stayed there until the parents died.  The younger boys stayed in Delaware, one dying in the big flood in 1913 and the other in 1918 during the flu epidemic, never marrying.  James and his family moved back to Columbus, Ohio. I have been unable to locate the girls.

When I started researching my family about 14 years ago, I had no idea I would be able to find information like this, let alone personal letters written by an ancestor!  We are a mobile family and have lost many photographs, letters, diaries, ephemera, etc over the years. Now I have a piece of history back in our family.

COG: There's one in every family!!

An interesting theme to work with for the 100th Edition of Carnival of Genealogy. Who to chose???
I think I will expand on John G Cohoe, born 1847 and died 1943... I have bits and pieces of his life through stories that have been passed on to me.

Though born and raised in Ontario, Canada on one of the family farms, he elected early on in his life to leave the family lands and go out into the world. With a degree (which I have not verified, by the way... hmmm, maybe I should do that!) of mining engineer, his first foray out was to go west to Montana and work some of the small mines there. Then he heard the news about the Comstock Lode in Nevada and proceeded further west. He partnered with a couple of men and staked a valid claim in Virginia City, Nevada. Apparently, his partners were not as respectable and duped him out of his claim and money. That would be the first and last time that he lost money on one of his ventures.

Being somewhat discouraged, he headed back east to Minnesota. The Mesabi Iron Ore mines were just being located and mined. Known there as Capt J G Cohoe, he was very instrumental in discovering one of the larger mines and helped run it for several years... he ended up buying a lot of stock and came out of there a very rich man. According to a cousin, the naming of Virginia City, Minnesota came about due to John G Cohoe's influence. At this time, he also met several important men with whom he stayed in contact throughout his life. As I can't verify these connections.... I will leave it as it stands.

John G Cohoe was married for the first time about 1868 in either Ontario or New York, and had 2 children by his first wife, Elsie. I found evidence of a divorce in 1888 in San Francisco, CA... And Elsie stayed in California with a sister until she died in 1915.
Then it gets tricky as there seem to be 2 other wives from various sources, one of which I have evidence of a death certificate in Memphis, TN. The man got around!
Eventually, he died in Biloxi, Mississippi, while living with his 4th wife, Ella. In Biloxi, he was a charter member of the Biloxi Golf Course and was very active in local politics and businesses, according to several newspaper clippings. Biloxi is on the list as a location for research!

So, why was he a 'one of a kind', the one in every family??? He never followed the norm and was considered somewhat of an outcast by a very conservative family. He left the farm to seek his fortune elsewhere. And he did... but he was a dreamer, a traveler, a salesman, and always seemed to be on an adventure or at the very least, not at home!

One of my cousins has called this the 'dream gene'. And unfortunately, several in our family has this trait. Some have been successful, but sad to say, most have not. It seems like it all started with the illustrious, perhaps notorius? John G Cohoe.

Here's a timeline put together from censuses, voter registrations, etc:
1847 - born in Norwich, Ontario, Canada
1852 - Oxford County, Canada (West)
1868 - approx - Married to Elsie Farrington, probably NY
1870 - Chautauqua, NY - Cheesemaker
1871 - Welland, Ontario, Canada - Farmer (helped bring cheesemaking to Welland)
1880 - Chautauqua, NY - Miner, Silver
1888 - Divorced from Ella, San Francisco, CA
1889 - possible marriage to Elizabeth Sheppard (California)
1890 - Tulare County, CA - Voter Registration
1905 - possible marriage to Elizabeth Crowell (Memphis, TN)
1912 - Elizabeth Crowell Cohoe dies
1914 - Fishing at Long Key Camp in FL - home is listed as Memphis, TN
1916- Marriage to Ella Nichols (Michigan)
1920 - Biloxi, Mississippi - Retired Manufacturer
1930 - Biloxi, Mississippi - Retired Manufacturer
1943 - dies at 96 and is buried in Memphis, TN

Treasure Chest Thursday - 1838 Marriage Certificate

Back in 2002, I believe, a post was made to the Cohoe surname forum about a marriage certificate that had been found stuffed in a piece of framed embroidery. 

The marriage certificate was the original 1838 certificate for my 3rd great grandparents, Francis Cohoe and Elizabeth D Willson.

I was not able to collect it at the time due to distance and I suggested that it be taken to a local museum or archive. I figured that I would never get to see this piece of my own family history as it was too fragile to ship anywhere.

Last summer, 2009, my husband and I decided to take a vacation to Ontario, Canada to do some of my family research and visit the museums and battlefields.

I decided to track down the people who had found the certificate. It took a little digging and a friendly neighbor of theirs, but I located them. I gave them a call to see if they still had the certificate. 

They DID!!! AND they gave it to me. I was totally thrilled to have this piece in my hands.

Since it was held at a Friend's meeting, all the people present signed the certificate, including the newly wedded couple.

I have since had it cleaned and preserved in archival materials, with a copy hanging on my wall.

This is truly a family treasure and I am still amazed that I ended up with this piece...

Wordless Wednesday - John G Cohoe

Picture of John G Cohoe, third from left. His picture was added later, don't know when photo was taken for sure. Only known photo of John G Cohoe. He's my 2 great grandfather.
Andrew Wilson Cohoe 1841-1921, Justus William Cohoe 1844-1907, John G Cohoe 1847-1943, Harriet Cook Cohoe 1839-1934, Daniel Bedell Cohoe 1849-1942, Francis Willson Cohoe 1853-1928