A Preponderance of the Evidence

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In the previous post, I mentioned I would post more on the 1860 U.S. Census results for the Nihart/Neuhart family.  What drove me to search for this particular census, other than pure documentation, was the fact that in every record I had for Elizabeth and Frederick Nihart's children, the children are listed as having been born in Minnesota.  Since, the earliest record I had at the time was the 1870 U.S. Census for Hutchinson, Mcleod, Minnesota, I assumed the children may have been born there.  So I looked in the 1860 Census for Hutchinson, Mcleod, Minnesota and the family was not there.  I looked twice.  Still not there.

So I decided to peruse every page in the 1860 Census for the county of Mcleod in Minnesota.   The Nihart family was not there under any variation or misspelling of their surname.  There should have been three of them at that point - Husband Frederick, Wife Elizabeth, and firstborn son, August/Augustus.  But they were nowhere to be found in Mcleod.

What county were they in then?

The 1857 Minnesota Census had an answer.  In Township 111, Wabasha County, Minnesota, a "Felk" or "Fretrk" and Elizabeth Newhart were enumerated.  However, was this the correct couple?  If I could only find them in the 1860 census when Augustus would have been enumerated as well!

To make a long story short, I did find this same couple in the 1860 Census in the same town - Township 111, range 11, Wabasha, Minnesota... and there was Augustus, listed as their two year old son!  So I now know the birth place of the Nihart/Neuhart children.

Lowered Confidence in the 1870 U.S. Federal Census
In the 1870 U.S. Census, the Nihart family has moved to Hutchinson, Mcleod County, Minnesota.  Frederick is listed as being of an age that would place his birth in about 1820.  Meanwhile, his wife, Elizabeth, is listed as being seven years younger than her actual years.  Elizabeth was born in December of 1838 according to the 1900 U.S. Census and other records list either 1838 or 1839 for an approximate year of birth.  In the 1870 Census all three of Frederick and Elizabeth's children are enumerated.  Daughter Josephine, however, is enumerated as "Glindelia," a fact which, together with the errors in ages, leads me to suspect the information for this census came from a neighbor and not one of the family members themselves.

In the 1860 Census, I found the family in Wabasha, but not under any variation of the name I would have expected to find them under.  Even using simple pronunciation as a guide.  The family was enumerated under the surname "Neighart."  Husband Frederick was listed as having been born in Prussia, wife Elizabeth as having been born in Bavaria, and son Augustus as having been born in Minnesota.  Frederick's age is listed as 24, Elizabeth's as 20, and Augustus's as 2.  This implies birth years of about 1836 for Frederick, 1840 for Elizabeth, and 1858 for Augustus.

Why the greater trust in the 1860 Census.  A preponderance of the evidence.  For those still living at the time, the 1880 and 1900 U.S. Federal Census lists the same or similar years of birth as those given in the 1860 Census.  Then there are the Civil War  and Civil War Pension Records I found for a "Frederick Neihardt" and his wife Elizabeth.  These records reveal Frederick enlisted in 8th Infantry Regiment of Company K, Minnesota on 20 August 1862 at the age of 25 and was transferred into the Veterans Reserve Corps on 11 April 1864.  Frederick Neihardt - which is how he spelled his name the remainder of his life - survived the war.  The pension records indicate his wife filed for a pension on 21 February 1876 and that Frederick died 22 April 1872 in Hutchinson, Mcleod, Minnesota.

Before his untimely death at the age of 36 in 1872, the Neihardts, as they were now known, had no intentions of leaving Mcleod, Minnesota.  How do I know this?  Frederick Neihardt received a land patent in March of 1871 under the Homestead Act for land in Mcleod County.

It seems a preponderance of the evidence and the Civil War records themselves have come to the rescue in the previous matter of which Frederich Neuhard aboard the ship the Scotland is our Frederich Neuhard.  It would appear that our Frederich Neuhard/Frederich Nihart/Frederick Neihardt was born about 1837, indicating he was the little boy that sailed aboard the Scotland with his family to the port of Baltimore and heading to Pittsburgh.

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Which Berlin?

Berlin, Pennsylvania or Berlin, Germany?  Where was Frederich Nihart/Neuhart born?  Some records indicate Pennsylvania and others Germany.  1820 is a difficult year to find birth records for if you are looking directly for birth records.

Tried the death records and came up empty-handed.  Likely as not, the death records would not have been much help as they are far removed from the event.  Birth information is dependent on the informant.  My ancestor, Josephine Nihart Nussberger always stated her father was born in Germany.  Her brothers waffled on the issue, stating their father was born in either Pennsylvania or Germany.  His own wife waffled on the issue.... Besides, Minnesota is notoriously difficult to search in my humble opinion, which is where Frederich Nihart likely died.  Adding to the difficulty are the endless number of surname variations the Niharts are indexed under!  The 1860 U.S. Federal Census is a prime example of how guessing and imagining surname variations based on how the surname might have sounded to the census enumerator is not always helpful.

More on the 1860 U.S. Federal Census (and the 1857 Minnesota Census) in another post.  For now, my focus is on immigration records.

If Frederich Nihart was born in Germany, then he immigrated at some point in time before he married his wife Elizabeth, who herself immigrated in 1843 at the age of five - according to the 1900 U.S. Census, that is.  If Elizabeth immigrated when she was five years old, then Frederich Nihart immigrated separately and he and Elizabeth were not married in Germany.  Therefore, since Elizabeth and Frederich Nihart were married in about 1857, Frederich Nihart must have immigrated to the United States before 1857... assuming he was born in Germany and not in Pennsylvania.

The Scotland
In 1840 the Scotland set sail from Le Havre for the port of Baltimore, transporting three Frederich Niharts.  Could one of these be the father of Josephine, Augustus, and Frederich Nihart Jr.?  All three Frederich Niharts listed Pittsburgh as their final destination implying that if one of these is the Frederich Nihart we are looking for, this may be where the confusion over where the senior Frederich was born stems from.  He may indeed have spent time living in Pennsylvania after arriving in the United States.

In Germany, the more usual form of the surname is Neuhart or Neuhard.  On the passenger's list, we find it spelled Neuhard or Neuhardt.  In the index, however, the name is listed as Neuhardt for one and Newhard or Newhardt for the other two Frederichs.  On first glance, it would appear one of these Frederichs can be eliminated as a possibility right away -  he is the five year old son of Catharina and Valentin Neuhardt, too young to be the Frederich Neuhart we are looking for.  According to the 1870 U.S. Census, the Frederich Neuhart we are looking for was born about 1820.  However, we have conflicting data in the 1860 census, which reveals a birth year of 1836, which puts five year old Frederich Neuhart back in the running.

The other two Frederich Neuhart's are aged 14 and 20.  The latter, if the 1820 birth year is to be believed, is the most likely candidate.  However, there is no guarantee the birth year implied by the reported age in the 1870 census is accurate.  It may actually be several years off, so that the 14 year old may be the Frederich Neuhart we are looking for.  I have seen early censuses off by ten years or more when it came to the ages of some of my ancestors and I have the actual death and birth records to prove it.  So the Census doesn't really help us narrow it down - it can only suggest possibilities.  Of course, the fourth possibility is that none of the three is the Frederich Neuhart we seek, since the Frederich Neuhart we seek may indeed have been born in Pennsylvania.

For now, however, we assume he was born overseas in Berlin, Germany.  There are plenty of Niharts and Neuharts in Pennsylvania in the early U.S. Censuses, but none in Somerset, Pennsylvania until the 20th century.  There are many in Pittsburgh, starting in the 1820's.  This means Berlin, Somerset, Pennsylvania can be safely ruled out as a place of birth for Frederich Nihart.  The listings of his birth in Pennsylvania are probably in error.  However, while it is easy to dismiss his children's census data indicating their father was born in Pennsylvania, it is not so easy to dismiss the data of censuses in which Frederich Nihart himself took part.  Assuming, of course, it was he who provided the data and not another individual.

The Wisconsin Genealogy Index, Insomnia and Me

Last night I had yet another bout with insomnia.  Benadryl, which I take at night for my allergies, usually knocks me out, but last night it had no effect.  My brain was just too wired and my mind too active.  My mind was racing, in fact, and I couldn't stop it.  So I decided to use my racing brain for good and look into my second great grandmother's surname.  Her name is transcribed in the Wisconsin Genealogy Index as "Josephinne Nihact" and, I had long searched for her surname before stumbling upon the Wisconsin Genealogy Index.

Once I found my second great grandmother's surname in the index, I had a difficult time finding other records for a "Josephinne Nihact."  Googling the Nihact surname I discovered no one with the name, Google suggesting I may have meant Nihat, a Turkish surname.  However, unless I had been lied to all these years, I knew "Josephinne Nihact " was German, as was the man she married, my second great grandfather, Casper Nussberger.

Seriously suspecting the transcription was incorrect, I did a wild card search for Nih* on Ancestry and the Wisconsin Genealogy Index.  I discovered Nihart's living in Pepin, Wisconsin (and other areas of Wisconsin) in both search engines.

My big discovery:  Josephine's last name was Nihart/Neihart/Neuhart (depending on which country's records you are looking at) and her family members consisted of brothers August and Fred, father Fred, mother Elizabeth, stepfather John Guilfoyle and step-siblings John and Elizabeth.

I may have killed two birds with one stone with this discovery.

Why?  Well, great grandmother, Nellie (Butterfield) Nussberger used to tell my mother the family was German, English, Irish and Native American, but so far as I know did not elaborate any further than that.  Josephine Nihart was born in Minnesota and her mother was born in Landau, Germany - which Landau, I am not certain.  John Guilfoyle Sr. was born in Ireland and this may be where grandmother got the idea we were Irish.  A simple misunderstanding of Josephine Nihart's parentage.  Fred Nihart Sr. was born either in Pennsylvania or Berlin, depending on which document you look at, but in any case, his heritage always shows up as German.

On the other hand, Nellie (Butterfield) Nussberger is quoted as saying she is English, Irish, and Native American.  So perhaps that bird hasn't been killed yet.  Unless, of course, she was misquoted, which is a distinct possibility because what you hear in childhood sometimes becomes something altogether different in your adult memories and you get things confused and mixed up, oftentimes downright wrong.

Sad Discovery

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For a while now, I have wondered what became of my 3rd great grandfather's children.  I know what happened to my 2nd great grandfather, George A. Butterfield, after the Civil War.  What I wanted to find out was what happened to the rest of T.A. Butterfield's children.

The first question I decided to answer was "Did any of the other boys go off to war and what were their experiences in the U.S. Civil War?"  The method I decided to employ to answer this question was simple:  proceed one by one, with each of T.A.'s sons, starting with the oldest and working my way down to the youngest son.

In spite of its seeming pedantry, my method led to some emotional discoveries.  In descending birth order, the sons of T.A. Butterfield and Rebecca J. Webb are:  Sherwood/Therwood W., George A., William F., Thaddeus Actford II, Justin Austin, and Marcus.

George A. is my second great grandfather and I know he had served in  the Minnesota cavalry, enlisting initially as a private and being promoted to full corporal.  As I mentioned in the previous post, George A. Butterfield also served as a corporal in the 51st Wisconsin Infantry.

Little did I know, I was about to embark on a sad journey.  The Butterfield family sent three of their boys off to war.  Of the three, only one would return home - my ancestor, George A. Butterfield.

Sherwood W. Butterfield, older brother of George A., enlisted as a private in Company E, 18th Infantry Regiment, Wisconsin, on 25 February 1862.  He was mustered out at Huntsville, Alabama, on 27 April 1864 at the age of 21 - a POW, he had died languishing in a Huntsville prison.  Official records indicate he died of "disease."

The soldiers of the 18th Infantry Regiment had already fought at Shiloh, Corinth, Jackson, Champion's Hill, and Vicksburg by the time Sherwood W. Butterfield was captured.  These soldiers arrived at Huntsville on Christmas Day of 1863 and would remain there until 1 May 1864.  Sherwood W. was among the 45 taken prisoner in the retaking of Huntsville - most of whom would die in southern prisons before the end of the war.  The 18th Infantry Regiment, meanwhile, went on to march to glory with General Sherman...

For his part, William F. Butterfield enlisted as a private in Company K, Wisconsin 36th Infantry on 29 February 1864.  He was mustered out on 18 June 1864 after being killed at the Siege of Petersburg in county Dinwiddie, Virginia.  Having arrived on the 15th of June, the 36th Infantry Regiment participated in Meade's Assaults (June 15-18), also known as the Second Battle of Petersburg.  Petersburg would make possible the fall of Richmond, the entire operation being under the command of Ulysses S. Grant.

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They Served the Same Side

For the briefest of moments, I thought it possible collateral paternal kin and one of my maternal ancestors had served together in the the Wisconsin Infantry during the U.S. Civil War.  I discovered the Civil War military records for Jared Jerry Towers, who married Amanda Wright.  Jared was the father of Jay W. Towers, brother-in-law of my great-grandmother, Ione (Franklin) Wright.  Jared enlisted 17 May 1861 in and was mustered out 21 August 1861 of the 1st Wisconsin Infantry.

My maternal ancestor, George A. Butterfield, had also enlisted, albeit briefly, in the Wisconsin Infantry and the 1st Infantry held a familiar ring to it.  However, upon checking the records, it was clear the two men had no contact with each other during the Civil War.  Towers had enlisted in the 1st Infantry in 1861, while Butterfield had enlisted temporarily in the 51st Infantry in 1865 before returning to the service of his original Minnesota Cavalry unit -  he served as a corporal in both militias.

New Wild Goose Chase Part VI

Children of John Parker
On first inspection, there appear to be missing children of John Parker and his wife, Elizabeth.  There are eight years between the births of John Jr. and Nathaniel Sr.  There are an astonishing twenty years between the births of Nathaniel Sr. and Elizabeth!  Many children could have been born in these gaps of time.  That, in addition to Elizabeth's birth in Spotsylvania, begs the question, "Where were these Parkers from 1700 to 1728?"

I do not have an answer for that question... yet.  I do suspect the so-called known birth years of John Parker's children are either incorrect or John Parker had a wife before Elizabeth.  I also suspect daughter Elizabeth may not have been born in Spotsylvania.  Or, perhaps, all of John and Elizabeth Parker's children were born in Spotsylvania.  John Parker did not purchase land in Hampshire County until 1747, after the births of all his children.  We do not know when or where John Parker married his wife, Elizabeth, whose surname may be either Bond or Taliaferro.

According to William H. Ansel Jr., author of "Fort John Parker" from his book, Frontier Forts Along the Potomac and its Tributaries:

John Parker died in 1760 before the Indian troubles were over.  He left surviving his wife, Elizabeth, who later married Thomas McGuire; four sons, Robert, Richard, Nathaniel and Aaron; two daughters, Elizabeth, who married John Hall, and Catherine, who married William Forman.

Ansel appears to put to rest ideas of additional children... but who is William H. Ansel Jr. and what sort of expertise does he possess?  William H. Ansel Jr. was a historian and former treasurer for the state of West Virginia (23 January 1914-13 December 1988).  He now lies buried in the Springfield Hill Cemetery in Springfield, West Virginia.

New Wild Goose Chase Part V

Will of John Parker
Hampshire County, Colony of Virginia, 11 November 1760, John Parker's will was proven.  Written 28 September 1760, the will stipulated one third of his estate be left to his wife, Elizabeth.  The remainder of the estate was to be divided equally among all his living children and one grandchild, Thomas Parker.  In the probate record sale, Robert, Nathaniel and "Widow" Parker purchased many items.  Robert Parker was executor.  I am assuming grandson Thomas Parker was named because his father had already died by this time.

Of John Parker's male children, all but one were known to be living at the time - John Parker, who was born in 1700.  Nathaniel, Robert, Aaron, and Richard were all alive in 1760, not dying until the last decade of the 18th century or within the first two decades of the 19th.  John Parker's daughter, Elizabeth, born in Spotsylvania, married a John Hall, while younger daughter, Catherine (born 1735), married a William Forman, ruling out one of their children being the Thomas Parker mentioned in the will.  (Clearly, the Thomas Parker mentioned in the John Parker Will is not Thomas D. Parker - the latter had yet to be born in 1760.)

Spotsylvania brings us back to the 1880 U.S. census mentioned in Wild Goose Chase Part I.  What if the informant stated Mary Ann Belle's father had been born in Spotsylvania (or even Pittsylvania) and the enumerator heard Pennsylvania?  Or, perhaps, the informant remembered hearing family members mention Wilson Parker's birth place and heard or wrongly remembered Pennsylvania rather than Pittsylvania or Spotsylvania (both in the Colony of Virginia)?

In my opinion, the DNA evidence hints to such a situation being a very real possibility...