The blog has done one of its intended jobs- it has succeeded at being cousin bait! Our “Mystery Monday: Leonard Broida Artwork” has generated responses from two persons in the Leonard L. Broida line. We now have some beautiful pictures painted by Leonard to share with you.
The above picture is a watercolor, undated.
Notes, Sources, and References:
Thank you to the cousins who have shared the blog and now their family treasures.
Above post corrected 4/17/17 to ‘undated’ rather than having been painted in 1970.
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Original content copyright 2013-2017 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
Taxes seem to follow us everywhere, and they did for our ancestors as well. Whether called an ‘excise tax’ (which was really an ‘income tax’ in this instance) to pay for the Civil War, as in the case of this ancestor, taxes on beloved British tea that would ignite a Revolution, or even going as far back as tributes to the chief of our ancient ancestor’s tribe, it seems we seldom get to keep all our earnings.
Taxes provide a “treasure chest” for our counties, states, and country to take care of infrastructure, provide employees and offices for essential services, etc. The old tax lists are also a treasure chest for family historians.
The life of Alfred Payne (1815-1895) is of interest because he was the brother of Rev. Joseph Hitchcock “J. H.” Payne, the great-grandfather of Dr. Edward A. McMurray. The above tax list from 1864 places Alfred in Fremont, Lake County, Illinois, to which at least two Payne lines migrated. It also tells us a bit about how he made his living. We know from censuses that he was a farmer, but he apparently also manufactured a significant amount of sorghum syrup.
At that time, the government had instituted the first income tax, to help pay for the Civil War. The tax laws were such that if one made $600 or less per year with a particular product, and if the product was produced by the farmer or his family, it would be exempt from duty. Alfred’s sorghum syrup production was more than double that dollar limit, so he was required to pay a 5% tax on the product they manufactured.
Alfred was taxed on 2,200 gallons of sorghum syrup. (It is unknown as to what the time period was for that much production- it may have been his annual production for 1864.) The syrup was valued at $1,320- that would be about $19,000 in today’s money. Most of us today would gladly exchange our tax rates with his 5%, which worked out to $66 in 1864, equivalent to about $960 today. We don’t know Alfred’s specific views on slavery, but most people in the family were staunch abolitionists, as were many in the town of Fremont and the members of the Congregational Church where Alfred was a charter member. So Alfred may not have minded the tax too much, since it was helping to pay for the war to end the cruel institution of slavery.
Alfred Payne is found on the December 1865 tax list as well, this time listed as a manufacturer for 7 months. His tax bill was $5.83. Sadly there is no more detail available, but he could have still been making the sorghum syrup since he was listed as a manufacturer.
In May of 1866, Alfred was listed in Bowen as a “retail dealer” and his tax was $10. Again, that is the only information…
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So just what was Alfred manufacturing, and what was it used for?
Sorghum syrup is made from a plant called Sweet Sorghum— there is a grain sorghum, too, which is not as high in sugars— both originally from Africa. The plant itself looks much like corn, but it can be grown under much drier conditions than corn. In the US today, sorghum is mostly grown in the south, but back in the nineteenth century, it was a common crop in the midwest as well. (Some of today’s farmers in the midwest sow it as a cover crop and winter food for pheasants, so that the hunting—and meat— is good.)
Sorghum almost ready to be harvested in Uganda, via Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Today sorghum is used to produce biofuels, but as in the old days, it is also used for animal feed. The harvested plant is packed tight into silos with little air movement, for anaerobic fermentation. This silage keeps well over the winter when grass is scarce, and is fed to ruminants like cattle and sheep. When made into a syrup, sorghum is used as a sweetener– again, just as in Alfred Payne’s day.
“Grinding sorghum on the farm of J. W. Stooksberry, Anderson County, Tennessee. This land will be inundated by the waters of Norris Dam reservoir.” Image by Tennessee Valley Authority, 25 October 1933, public domain via Wikipedia/NARA. (Click to enlarge.)
The sorghum would be cut down at the end of summer, in September or October, and often juiced right in the field. Alfred Payne likely had some sort of a press for the sorghum on his farm, draft animals to turn the press/juicer, and a large cooker to reduce the sorghum juice down to a thick syrup.
As the stalks of the plant are crushed between the rollers of the press, a bright green juice is extracted. It would be cooked as soon as possible, so stacks of firewood would have been made ready for tending through the day and probably even the night. Boiling for hours would kill most of the bacteria that could spoil the liquid, and the heat would turn the juice into a golden amber colored, thick liquid. It would take about 10 gallons of the fresh juice to make just one gallon of syrup. Alfred and his family and any workers would have harvested quite a number of acres in order to produce 2,200 finished gallons of sorghum syrup. And they would have celebrated the harvest as the syrup cooked, eating and maybe dancing away the long hours of the night.
“Grinding sorghum on the farm of J. W. Stooksberry, Anderson County, Tennessee.” Image by Tennessee Valley Authority, 25 October 1933, public domain via Wikipedia/NARA. (Click to enlarge.)
Sorghum provides minerals that cane sugar and high fructose corn syrups do not, especially if it is minimally processed. Our ancestors used sorghum as a ‘tonic’, and would have used sorghum syrup in pies and cakes, drizzled on their biscuits or rolls, etc. Sorghum has a rich, earthy flavor similar to molasses, though a bit different. If you want to try some, make sure you get 100% sorghum- sometimes they mix it with other products. It is very good over pancakes or biscuits, and really makes excellent cookies, too!
Alfred PAYNE on November 1864 Tax List in Fremont, Lake County, Illinois from U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918, Ancestry.com.
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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
Finding the “Olde Country” home of one of our immigrant ancestors can be challenging, but thrilling when the tedious researching pans out. That was the case with learning that Carrick-on-Suir, in County Tipperary, Ireland, was the home of one of our immigrant ancestors.
Dr. John H. O’Brien’s tombstone indicates that he was born in Carrick-on-Suir, Ireland, in June 1808. Learning a bit about the town is a way for us all to ‘visit’ our ancestral homeplace without leaving the comforts of our home. (Though a trip to Ireland would be delightful!)
The Irish name of Carraig na Siúire means “rock of the Suir.” The town was built on both sides of the River Suir, in County Tipperary, Ireland.
Map of Ireland showing Carrick-on-Suir in County Tipperary. Wikimedia. (Click to enlarge.)
Located in the southeastern part of Ireland, the majority of the town is on the northern side of the river, and is known as Carrig Mór, or ‘Big Rock.’ A smaller section of the town, called Carrig Beg, for “Small Rock,” is situated on the southern side of the river. Although in a river valley, the town nestles up to one mountain, and has a beautiful view of rolling hills and mountains in many directions. (See some of the Google Images linked below, since they are copyrighted.)
Rivers were primary means of transportation for both goods and people for centuries, and the River Suir was no different. A canal towpath ran along the river at one point, and today is used as a riverwalk for recreation. The Suir is a tidal river, which means that even though Carrick-on-Suir is about 50 miles from the coast, the tides raise and lower the waters considerably as the tides come in and go out. (Note high water levels on some of the bridge pictures.) Flooding of the river valley does occur on a regular basis, and probably did more often in the years that the O’Briens lived there, since there was less engineering done to waterways back then. The elevation is only 30 ft. above sea level, and the town has had to build quays to hold back the tidal surge during stormy periods; global warming is a concern with rising sea levels.
The ‘Old Bridge’ at Carraig na Siúire (Carrick-on-Suir), built in 1447. Wikimedia. (Click to enlarge.)
Actually, they did more engineering back in the day than one might think. The town was originally founded on an island, possibly before the year 1247. Sometime in the 1700s, as the town grew and needed more land, small rivers were diverted to add to the buildable land both west and north of the town.
Ormonde Castle, or Caisleán Urmhumhan, in Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary, Ireland. Wikimedia. (Click to enlarge.)
Two castles were built in the town (one in 1315, the second around 1450), and about 100 years later a manor house that was built around two of the old towers. The Manor House and ruins, also known as Ormond Castle, have more recently been renovated and are open for tours. Our John O’Brien would have seen these buildings in a more rustic state, and maybe played among the ruins as a young boy.
Ormonde Castle, or Caisleán Urmhumhan, from Manor House, in Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary, Ireland. Wikimedia. (Click to enlarge.)
As with many places in Ireland, Carrick-on-Suir was prohibited from freedom of religion during much of its more recent history. (“Recent history” to the Brits is after 1500 or so.) The British closed down a Franciscan friary that had been in existence since the 14th century, and persecuted Catholics after Henry VIII began the Church of England. About 80% of the Irish were Catholics in those days, thus for centuries they had been prohibited from education, from owning or renting land, from holding a number of professions, etc. In 1829, ‘Catholic Emancipation’ allowed them freedoms again, but most still lived in poverty due to the laws imposed on their parents and grandparents. (John O’Brien would have been 21 years old then.) During John’s lifetime, the friary, a small church called St. Molleran’s Parish, which is even older, and a newer church, St. Nicholas’ Church, were all active Catholic churches, which was the religion we believe Dr. O’Brien practiced since he is buried in a Catholic cemetery.
The Carrick-on-Suir town clock was built in 1784. Since John was born in 1808, his parents likely were born circa 1780, so it would have kept the time for John and his family. Most of the residents back then were probably not wealthy enough to purchase their own timepiece.
A woollen industry had been developed in Carrick-on-Suir in 1670, and it drew in workers steadily. The wool industry, along with fishing and other river-related businesses that included basketweaving, helped the population to swell to about 11,000 by 1799, just 9 years before our ancestor John O’Brien was born. (Wonder if his father worked in one of these industries?) The British, however, did not want the Irish competing with their own wool industry, so high taxes and levies on wool and other products led to unemployment, poverty, and hunger. Emigration (often forced by the British, especially for those who were poor or convicted of crimes- even of stealing an apple!) to places such as the Americas, Australia, etc. was another result of British rule, and contributed to the depopulating of the area.
John H. O’Brien was one of those who left the town, but he migrated before the Great Famine, often known as “The Potato Famine.” County Tipperary lost 20-30% of its population due to death or emigration by the end of the famine, and in 2006 only had about 6,000 people.
We will detail more about the adult years of Dr. John O’Brien in a future post.
We have not yet been able to find records of John’s family actually in Carrick-on-Suir. There are quite a lot of John O’Briens listed as being born in County Tipperary, but since we do not know the names of his parents, it will be hard to determine exactly which records are for our John H. O’Brien. Perhaps he was born in a different town and then moved to Carrick-on-Suir when very young, so thought he was born there? More research needed.Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images. Click to enlarge images.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
Original content copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright of our blog material.
Carrick (in red), suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh is built around the confluence of three rivers- the Allegheny River in the northeast and the Monongahela River in the southeast flow to form the Ohio River in the northwest portion of this map. Via Wikipedia, courtesy Tom Murphy VII, public domain.
Today started with a genealogical plan to work on Ancestry.com to download GEDCOMs and upload the new Family Tree Software before tomorrow’s midnight deadline for changes in the sync process. One hour, then on to the real life things- that was the goal. Serendipitious things happened instead, however, and the urge to follow my Genealogical Muse took over. I am so glad I followed…
My computer breadcrumb trail has been lost now in all the items I have seen (I know, ‘History’ should show it but it does not always with some pay-wall and other sites), but I somehow ended up with a death certificate on my screen. Knowing that Dr. John H. O’Brien was born at Carrick-on-Suir in Tipperary, Ireland, made the new-to-me fact that his son Charles Anthony O’Brien, Sr. was born in Carrick, Pennsylvania a curious one. Was that a mistake? Charles A. O’Brien, Jr., his son, had completed the death certificate for his father- did he ‘misremember’ his father’s birthplace as his grandfather’s? But it did say “Carrick, Penna.” instead of Carrick, Ireland, and Charles Jr. did get other information correct about the parents of his father.
Hmmm, so of course the G. Muse required that I look up Carrick, PA.
Carrick, Pennsylvania. Wikimedia Commons, CC0-public domain. (Click to enlarge.)
And wow! There on the Wikipedia page was:
In 1853, Dr. John H. O’Brien received permission from the U. S. Postal Service to establish a post office in the area; for his hard work he was given the honor of naming it, and he chose “Carrick” after his home town, Carrick-on-Suir, Ireland.
Oh my, that would be OUR Dr. John H. O’Brien!
Of course, being Wikipedia, a check for accuracy was in order. But it checked out (or else has been copied to many other websites)- see links below. Since the Carrick-Overbrook Historical Society has the same story on their website, I tend to think it is most probably correct. (No success in following the USPS lead- seems there should be a record of a request somewhere.)
So they lived in Carrick, PA in 1853, since he named it and their son was born there that same year. Wanting a Post Office there would suggest that they had been there a while and planned to stay, since he went to all the trouble of an official paperwork request. We will need to focus on that area for further study, especially since we do not have details of the birthplaces of their other children beyond “Pennsylvania.”
1888 Wigman House in Carrick, Pennsylvania. Built the year after John O’Brien died, he may have lived in a similar house built earlier. Via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. (Click to enlarge.)
Dr. O’Brien must have longed for his home in Ireland even after being in the US for over 20 years. Pittsburgh did have a river like where he grew up- actually three of them. Carrick-on-Suir is only 10 feet above sea level, and Pittsburgh, being situated in a large river valley, would have had a similar topographic feel. Both have mountains around, so the area in 1853 must have seemed a bit like home to John. Giving it the name of his home would have made it feel moreso.
The Genealogical Muse helped me strike gold today! It has been hard to find much information on John and Jane (Neel) O’Brien in the early years, and this was a surprising and great find. So remember our Tuesday Tip and follow the Genealogical Muse when you can. And make sure to check out children and siblings- what you find may be just as wonderful!
Notes, Sources, and References:
Death certificate of Charles A. O’Brien, Sr., Commonwealth of PA File No. 97596, Registered No. 546, Pennsylvania Death Certificates 1906-1964, (1928), Ancestry.com.
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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright of our blog material.
After decades of research, a printed mention of the elusive Wiley Anderson Murrell (1806-1885) has finally been found!!
It was a serendipitous find, as I was sorting through emails.
We have a marriage bond plus censuses in Botetourt County, VA, Roseville IL, and Prairie City IA for Wiley A. Murrell, but never a mention in a newspaper or other document found online- until now. We do not know the names of his parents nor siblings. We know nothing about his life before he married at age 28, except that he was born 3 February 1805 per the family bible. And we have not found an obituary. So it has been very frustrating. (Genealogists understand.) Until now.
Sometimes I think I get too many genealogy emails, so have been sorting through to determine which ones duplicate information and can be unsubscribed from, and which have been productive enough to want to keep reading. I decided to go ahead and click on some of the links in the Elephind.com newsletter- I have found some information from their site previously, and it is a genealogy/newspaper search engine so more specific than Google. I am so glad I decided to take the time. They had the Virginia Newspaper Project (VNP) featured, so searching for one of my most elusive ancestors seemed the thing to do late in the evening. (Genealogists understand.) It took a bit of clicking on the VirginiaChronicle.com website- not super easy to use overall, but I got 30 hits using “Murrell” as my search term and setting the date filter to 1787 (their earliest paper) to 1850, when I knew he was already in Illinois.
Skimming down the page, the fourth hit included “Wiley A. Murrell”!! Oh my- I was so excited I could hardly breathe, afraid the words on the screen would go away. (Genealogists understand.) Could this be “our” Wiley? There actually are more Murrells than I ever thought there would be, especially in Virginia, and ‘Wiley’ was apparently a common name- probably short for ‘William.’ So I was hoping against hope that it would be the right man, especially since it was a Richmond, Virginia paper, and we know that after 1832, when he married, he lived about 170 miles away, in Botetourt County.
But there it was:
“Wiley A. Murrell.”
The 12 March 1840 Richmond Enquirer included a list of County Committees appointed at the Democratic State Convention on Feb. 22 1840. There was a Botetourt Central Committee with 12 men listed, and then a “Committee of Vigilance” with ~143 members. Down that list was “Wiley A. Murrell.” That had to be him! Right name, right county, right time period.
Richmond Enquirer, 12 March 1840, Botetourt County, Vol. 36, No. 102, Page 4, Col. 2, via VirginiaChronicle.com. (Click to enlarge.)
Trying to be calm and analytical was hard as I was inspired to do the Genealogy Happy Dance. (Genealogists understand.) I won’t, however, describe that here as one could never ‘unsee’ how pathetic that would be with my 3 left feet.
I knew I needed to be looking at the other names on the committee for familiar names- Elizabeth Shown Mills’ FAN (Friends, Associates, Neighbors) Club, to help me make sure I had the right Wiley. Sure enough, there was a name that clicked- Andrew Obenchain/Obernshain. The name sounded familiar, but at first I could not find it in my tree. Looking at the Honts family information compiled by the late George E. Honts, III, however, I realized that Wiley’s wife, Mary Magdalen (Honts) Murrell, was Andrew’s sister-in-law, as he had married Mary’s sister, Elizabeth B. Honts (1809-1881). So maybe we need to add a “C” to the FAN Club- for “Collateral kin.” (Includes in-laws, cousins, etc. who are not a direct ancestor but related. Not as catchy an acronym though.) There are Coffmans listed on this Botetourt committee too- the mother of Mary and Elizabeth was Catharine (Coffman/Kauffman) Honts (1784-1867).
There is also a “Jas. A. Murrell” listed- perhaps a brother, father, uncle, cousin?
So it is very highly likely that this is the correct Wiley A. Murrell.
Wow. Oh wow. (Genealogists understand.)
So sort your data, emails, papers, etc. on a regular basis, and stay up to date with what is newly available online and in archives. You never know what you will find.
Coming up: more about Wiley A. Murrell and the Committee of Vigilance.
The Descendants of Jacob Hons/John by George E. Honts III, Fincastle, Virginia, 1999. Available only from the Botetourt (VA) Historical Society, https://bothistsoc.wordpress.com.
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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
Original content copyright 2013-2017 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
![“Ormonde Castle – Carrick-on-Suir” by Humphrey Bolton. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ormonde_Castle_-_Carrick-on-Suir.jpg#/media/File:Ormonde_Castle_-_Carrick-on-Suir.jpg](http://"Ormonde%20Castle - Carrick-on-Suir" by Humphrey Bolton. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ormonde_Castle_-_Carrick-on-Suir.jpg#/media/File:Ormonde_Castle_-_Carrick-on-Suir.jpg){kind=link}