Fearless Females - Giving Birth at Sea - Travis Line

William G. Travis was the first in our branch of the Travis family to be born in—well, therein lies the problem.  William was born at sea during his parents’ emigration from the “Old Country" in 1774.   

One can only imagine what childbirth at sea was like for his mother, Mary (maiden name unknown).  Infant mortality and death during childbirth were not altogether uncommon in the late eighteenth century.  Lack of sanitation must certainly have contributed to the death toll even under the best of circumstances.  But what would childbirth on board an eighteenth-century ship have been like? 

·         How available was fresh water?  clean cloths? soap? 

·         Would cloths have been boiled in the ship’s galley kitchen in, say, the middle of the night?

·         Was a midwife available?

·         If not, who would have assisted in the childbirth? 

·         How much privacy did a child-bearing woman have in such close quarters?

·         How sanitary was the bedding after a family had been at sea for weeks?

·         How would a new mother launder the baby’s soiled clothing?

·         If infection set in, how would it have been treated? 

·         Where would the newborn sleep?

In addition to the physical and medical aspects of childbirth at sea, there are questions about the emotional, social, political, and religous aspects of bringing a child into the world.

 

·         How would a baby’s crying have affected other passengers? 

·         Little Will was actually Mary’s fourth child.  Would the children’s father (William A. Travis) have attended to their needs from the time of Will’s mid-Atlantic birth to the arrival of the ship in the New World?

·         How would the parents have seen to religious practices regarding, say, infant baptism (which is practiced by Presbyterians, the religion of Will’s parents)? 

·         Given the fact that sea voyages from the British Isles to America took about three months in that time period, one also wonders what urgency could have prompted the parents to set sail when the mother was relatively close to her “lying in”?

·         Will was born just two years before the American Revolution, and political tensions were already high.  Would full rights of citizenship (including what was called “the king’s protection”) have been extended to British subjects not born on British soil? 

The questions roll on and on.  As a mother and grandmother myself, I have great respect for Mary Travis, my fifth great-grandmother, and all the other women who gave birth during their passage to the New World.

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© Eileen Cunningham, 2013

Mappy Monday - Garrison, Kansas? - Gard Line



Woman of the times as
shown in the
University of Colorado
Yearbook, 1920
 

When I was researching my great-aunt, Rena Alice Travis (1893-1972), I had the pleasure of coming across a little gem that I had never heard of before.  In order to understand my "flabberghast-ation," you will first need to know a little about Rena's independence.  Though unusual for her time and era, Rena never married.  She had been engaged as a young woman, but her fiancé drowned in a boating accident.  Having lost the love of her life, she resolved never to marry, which meant, of course, that she needed to find a way to support herself. 

Now, Rena had been born in Reilly, Kansas, which is in Nemaha County—in the northeast quadrant of the state.  Nemaha County is north of and contiguous to Pottawatomie County, where Rena appears in the 1905 Kansas State Census records at the age of 11, residing with her parents in Green Township.  So, as far as I knew, Rena had left her home in Green Township and moved, at some point in time, to Los Angeles, California, where she worked as a bookkeeper for many years.

So, you can imagine how surprised I was when a Google search turned up a Rena Alice Travis at the University of Colorado for summer courses in the academic year 1920-21.  This seemed too amazing for me, and I thought it just had to be someone with the same name.  After all, Pottawatomie County, Kansas, is immediately adjacent to Riley County, where Kansas State University is located.  Why would Rena leave her family and go all the way to Colorado to school when she could live much closer to home by attending classes at at K-State (or, Kansas State Agricultural College, as it was known at the time)?

So, I dug further, and when I reached p. 367 of the University of Colorado Catalogue, 1920-21—lo and behold!—there it was: Rena Alice Travis of Garrison, Kansas.  But where on earth is Garrison, Kansas?  I’ve lived in Kansas all my life and am very familiar with Riley and Pottawatomie Counties (at least, I thought I was); but I had never heard of the town of Garrison.  So, maybe by some statistical improbability there were two Rena Alice Travises in Kansas in 1920, and the other one--from some other, far away county--had gone to CU for the summer.  It could happen, right?

So, I made an Internet search for Garrison, Kansas, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a map of Pottawatomie County, Kansas, showing Garrison as the westernmost town in the county.  A bit more digging turned up this description: "Garrison, a village of Pottawatomie county, is located in Green township. . . . [emphasis mine]."  Well, now we were down to a statistical impossibility.  This was my Rena--and no other! 

Hooray for the great little website, Lost Kansas Communities! They really made my day.

Sources:

Blackmar, Frank, ed. “Garrison.”  Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History. Blue Skyways Library.  May 2002.  Web.  17 Mar. 2013.  <http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/1912/g/garrison.html >

Gent, Frank.  Lost Kansas Communities.  Chapman Center for Rural Studies.  Kansas State University.  2011.  Web. 17 Mar. 2013.  <http://lostkscommunities.omeka.net/items/show/44>

University of Colorado Catalogue, Summer 1920-21, p. 367.  Google Books.  n.d.  Web.  17 Mar.
2013
<http://books.google.com/books?id=YHvOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA3&dq=University+of+Colorado+Catalogue+1920-1921+%22+%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Yn1GUYTnKqii2AXn_oCQCw&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=University%20of%20Colorado%20Catalogue%201920-1921%20%22%20%22&f=true>

© Eileen Cunningham, 2013

St. Patrick's Day - Out of Ulster - Gard Line

William Gamble was born in 1770 in Ulster. Cavan County was one of three Irish counties which are now in the Republic of Ireland but originally part of Ulster. Ulster was an ancient kingdom now largely coterminous with Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom and a separate country from the Republic of Ireland.

Gamble died in Ohio, USA, in 1845. Is it possible that William Gamble moved his family from Ireland during the political upheaval that occurred there in the late eighteenth century?

The long and troubled history of relations between England and Ireland (bound up inevitably with Protestant and Roman Catholic conflicts) resulted in a number of bloody uprisings against English rule in Ireland, a period known in history as the Rebellion of 1798. These uprisings were inspired by both the American Revolution, begun in 1776, and the French Revolution, begun in 1789.

The English, motivated by a desire to restore order in Ireland and concern over the French involvement in the Irish Rebellion, drove for a closer political union between Ireland and England, resulting in the Act of Union of 1800. Though County Cavan seems not to have been a center of the rebellion, one still must wonder if the turmoil in the country served as the impetus to send the Gambles to America in search of a fresh start.

Image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ulster_counties.svg

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© Eileen Cunningham, 2013

Thriller Thursday - The Roark Massacre - Sanford Line

James Roark was a first-generation American of Irish descent born in Virginia in 1740.  Marrying in about 1764, he and his wife built a log cabin and started their family in Tazewell County, Virginia.  Their home was at the gap of the dividing ridge between the Clinch and Sandy Rivers where Dry Fork Road passes through.  Today this is at the intersection of State Routes 631 and 637 (see link to map below).  This spot came to be called Roark’s Gap, no doubt in memory of what happened to the Roarks on March 18, 1780.

The harsh winter had not yet snapped in the Baptist Valley of southwest Virginia, and the ground was covered with snow.  Indian predations had been halted since the previous summer when the neighboring Evans family had been massacred by the Shawnee, so James had probably become secure in the relative tranquility of the area.  Because of the long, hard winter, even those pioneers who had livestock were finding that little meat was still available, so James was compelled to set out that morning with his two older sons to hunt for their provisions. 

 However, as Robert Burns once wrote, “The best laid plans of mice and men gang oft agley,” and so it was that Thursday morning.  Upon their return, the three hunters discovered that, contrary to their expectations, the Shawnee were, in fact, on the move again in the area, and the worst imaginable disaster had taken place.  In their attack on the Roark home, the Indians had killed and scalped Mrs. Roark and all of her small children.  The best account of the incident indicates that seven children were killed, though names are not provided.  It was originally stated that the Roarks’ baby girl had survived, but, if so, she is thought to have died soon after as there is no further written record of this child. 

Today we probably cannot even begin to imagine how a man could dig eight graves in frozen mountain ground and bury his family and his hopes.  Too distraught to remain living in the cabin where the massacre had occurred, Roark built another home on a strip of land he owned somewhat nearer the river, but "settling" was really no longer an option for him.   Much like Lewis Wetzel, "Dark Hero of the Ohio" (left), Roark and his oldest son, John, devoted themselves to revenge and involved themselves in a number of fights with the Shawnee and other tribes until they were killed in an encounter at Harman’s Station in Block House Bottom of (then) Floyd County, Kentucky.

The fate of Roark’s eleven-year-old son Timothy is told in a separate narrative entitled “Timothy Roark’s Escape from the Shawnee,” The Kith and Kin Chronicles, 16 March 2013.

http://geneabloggers.com

 Sources:

“Baptist Valley Maps.” <http://virginia.hometownlocator.com/maps/feature-map,ftc,1,fid,1481449,n,baptist%20valley.cfm>  

“Michael K. Hendrix Family.” 27 Mar 2005  Web.  16 Mar. 2013. <http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mhendrix&id=I02149>

 Pendleton, William Cecil.  History of Tazewell County and Southwest Virginia:1748-1920.  Web. 16 March 2013.  http://books.google.com/books?id=KNEz0vNWJG4C&pg=PA231&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

Truman, Timothy.  Image of Lewis Wetzel, Indian Fighter.  "Lewis Wetzel, Dark Hero of the Ohio." Archiving Early America.  1997.  Web.  17 Mar. 2013.  Used with permission. <http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/spring97/wetzel.html>  

Vanderlyn, John.  The Death of Jane McCrea.  1804.  11 Mar. 2013.  Web.  17 Mar. 2013.  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_McCrea>


© Eileen Cunningham, 2013

Timothy Roark's Escape from the Shawnee - Sanford Line

James Roark, who lost most of his family to an Indian massacre on March 18, 1780, suffered twice at the hands of the Shawnee.  When his family was attacked that day, 11-year-old Timothy Roark, it is said, had fought back with a toy hatchet and, for his bravery, was spared.  Whether that is the reason or not, young Timothy was kidnapped at age 11 and remained with the Indians until he finally contrived a means of escape some years later. 

Though some have speculated that Timothy was taken at a later date, it is just as easy to reckon that he was captured on March 18, and living to tell the tale, was probably the person who later reported the story of the boy and his toy hatchet; otherwise, how would it have become known?

Over the time he was among the Shawnee, he must have conceived countless plans as to how he could escape.  Transport out of the area would have been key to a successful escape, and the plan Timothy eventually used involved a horse and a canoe.  Having earned the trust of the Indians, he was sometimes left unescorted, and one day he managed to slip away from them. 

Not willing to leave behind two girls who had been in captivity with him, he managed to take them as well.  One account of their story states, “They rode horseback to the river where Timothy had hidden a canoe, and by paddling furiously, they made their escape.”  By then, he must have known the area like the back of his hand, and he managed to make it back to the white settlements in the region, reuniting Sarah Bolen and her younger sister Lucy with their families.

But that is not the end of the story.  By 1798, Timothy had married Sarah Bolen, and their first son was born that year in October.  They settled in at Cave Spring in Claiborne County, Tennessee, where they raised their thirteen children and lived, it is hoped, as happily ever after as everyone in a Currier and Ives painting. 

Sources:

Currier and Ives.  A Home in the Wilderness.  http://currierandives.net/AHomeInTheWilderness/

“Michael K. Hendrix Family.” 27 Mar. 2005.  Web. 16 Mar 2013.  <http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=mhendrix&id=I02149 >

Pendleton, William Cecil.  History of Tazewell County and Southwest Virginia:1748-1920.  Web.
16 Mar. 2013.  http://books.google.com/books?id=KNEz0vNWJG4C&pg=PA231&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false >
Yates Publishing.  U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database online].  Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2004.



© Eileen Cunningham, 2013

Mappy Monday - Where Is Bottom Station, Kentucky? - Cunningham Line

On Ancestry.com, Bottom Station, Kentucky, is frequently identified as the place of death for James Roark (1740-1792) and his son John (1769-1792), while others list the location as Harman’s Station.  From what I can tell, these are one and the same place.  In this case, the term Bottom is a geographical term referring to low-lying alluvial land adjacent to a river, while the word Station denotes a stopping place for travelers.

 Some confusion is caused by the fact that Bottom Station is said to be in Floyd County, while Harman’s Station is in Johnson County.  However, this can be explained by the fact that in 1792 when Roark died fighting the Indians at “Bottom Station,” Johnson County had not yet been formed.  Thus, Floyd County would be the county of the station’s location (below left).[i]

 As one source puts it, in 1750, Matthias Harman and others from the first white settlement in North Carolina “established a hunting station and built a large cabin of logs, prior to the Sandy Creek Voyage, on the identical spot which afterwards became the site of their blockhouse”[ii]  Since white settlements were few and far between, Harman’s Station became a gathering place for hunters, traders, and other whites who passed through the region.  An article hosted by Rootsweb, refers to the location as “Harmon Station in Historic Block House Bottom" (above right)[iii]  It is easy enough to see how the terminology can become confusing.

 Harman’s Station is well known for its part in the 1789 captivity narrative of Jenny Wiley.  Mrs. Wiley, while her husband was away, was attacked by Indians who slaughtered her children and took her into captivity.  After eleven months, Mrs. Wiley managed to escape from the Indians and is said to have clung to (or straddled) a sizable tree branch as it floated down the river.  At Harman’s Station, which was on John’s Creek, she was rescued, but not without a fight between her rescuers and the Indians who were pursuing her.  Four years later, the situation had not improved much, and James Roark and his son Timothy died fighting Indians at Harman’s Station.

The accompanying hand-drawn map (above right) depicts Harman’s Station on Jones Creek with a red rectangle near the bottom of the map.[iv]  The handwriting says, “Block house built by Harman and Auxier.” It is east and across the river from Paintsville, Kentucky.

 

---

[i] http://www.thefullwiki.org/Johnson_County,_Kentucky

 

[ii] Connelley, William Elsey.  Eastern Kentucky papers; the founding of Harman's Station, with an Account of the Indian Captivity of Mrs. Jennie Wiley and the Exploration and Settlement of the Big Sandy Valley in the Virginias and Kentucky. NY: Torch, 1910. Web.  15 Mar. 2013. <http://www.archive.org/stream/easternkentuckyp00conn/easternkentuckyp00conn_djvu.txt >

 

[iii]22 Nov. 2009. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. <http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kyjchs/harmonstation.html>  Image used with permission.

 

[iv] This map was drawn in 1851 by Marion Tevis Burris and titled "In Memory of Home." Burris was born August 28, 1828, on John's Creek. Apr. 2009.  Web.  16 Mar. 2013. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kycarter/maps/1851_map of_Johns_Creek.htm



© Eileen Cunningham, 2013

 

Shopping Saturday - “Trader” Hughes – Lanham Line

In the mid-1600s, Captain John Rice Hughes, a Welshman known in the area simply as “Trader” Hughes, established a trading post at Jamestown, Virginia, in order to trade primarily with the Powhatan Indians in the area.  It has been said that if the Jamestown colony had not been trading with the Native Americans in the area, they would not have survived their first winter.  But how did trade benefit the Indians?

            The Powhatans, a confederacy of thirty Algonquin-speaking tribes, highly prized copper, but at that time, they were at war with the Monacan and Mannahoac tribes, who mined copper in the Lake Superior region.  Thus, the Powhatans were motivated to find an alternative source.

            In 1580, at the time of the Roanoke colony, the English had become aware of the value of copper to the Powhatans and, in subsequent trips, brought sheets of copper from England for the express purpose of establishing trade.

            Why did the Powhatans value copper so greatly?  Considering copper to be rare and beautiful (the way many cultures look at gold), they used copper to make jewelry—both necklaces and bracelets—and, accordingly, to signify the elite status of the copper-bedecked warrior (see above). Copper was also used in religious practices and in burials.  The famous John Smith of Jamestown recorded the brisk nature of the trade, thus, “For a copper kettle, the Powhatans will sell you a whole countrey [sic]” (Mallios and Emmett).

            Another commodity of interest to the natives was blue beads.  Heather A. Lapham of the University of Virginia tells the story well.  When John Smith and others from Jamestown met with Powhatan to trade for corn, they became aware of Chief Powhatan’s great interest in the blue beads the English had with them.  Though the beads did not have great value in the eyes of the Europeans, the Powhatans prized them for use in their religious rituals.  Smith noted the chief swapped “a pound or two of blew beads” [sic] for “2 to 300 bushels of corne” [sic], proving the maxim that rarity increases the value of a commodity. 

The Powhatans would also trade pelts and, in addition to corn, foodstuffs such as squash and beans  [“Monacan Indians”].

“Trader” Hughes set up his trading post near the spot where Virginia’s Routes 130 and 29 meet today.  In the course of his contacts with the Powhatans, he met and married one of the daughters of Chief Opechancanough.  A sister of Pocahontas, Nicketti Mangopeesomon (“She-Sweeps-the-Dew-from-the-Flowers”) eventually gave birth to a baby girl (Mary Elizabeth) in Jamestown in 1650, and she, in her turn,  married Nathaniel Davis, another trader.  The son of Nathaniel and Mary Elizabeth continued the “family business,” so to speak, and he is known in the records as Robert “the Trader” Davis.

As we know from the history books, the Powhatans and the Europeans had their share of confrontations.  Interestingly, though, it is also said that Chief Opechancanough made sure that the Hughes and Davis men received protection from any violence in the region.

Sources:

Land, Deborah.  “Trading Post at Otter Creek.”  Ancestry.com.

<http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/24721487/person/1564921675/media/1?pgnum=1&pg=0&pgpl=pid%7cpgNum>.

 

Lapham, Heather A.  “More Than ‘A Few Blew Beads’: The Glass and Stone Beads from Jamestown Rediscovery’s 1994-1997 Excavations.” The Journal of the Jamestown Rediscovery Center.  Vol. 1.  Jan. 2001.  Web.  9 Mar. 20013.  <http:// www.apva.org/resource/jjrc/vol1/lapham.pdf>.

 

Mallios, Seth, and Shane Emmitt.  “Demand, Supply, and Elasticity in the Copper Trade at Early Jamestown.  The Journal of the Jamestown Rediscovery Center.  Vol. 2. Jan. 2004.  Web.  9 Mar. 20013.  <http://www.apva.org/resource/jjrc/vol2/mallios_low.pdf>.

 

“The Monacan Indians of Virginia.”  Monacan Indian Nation.  2003.  Web.  9 Mar. 2013.

            <http://www.monacannation.com/history.shtml>.

 

“Powhatan.”  Encyclopedia Britannica.  Web. 9 Mar. 2013.  <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/473423/Powhatan>.

 

Images:

“The Demise of Copper’s Trading Power.”  Historic Jamestown.  n. d. Web.  9 Mar. 2013.

 

World Exposition.  2013.  Web.  9 Mar. 2013.  http://www.worldexhibition.org/worldexpo/1907-hampton-roads/

© Eileen Cunningham, 2013

 

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