Family History Challenge - Day 10

 

This one is another ancestry dot com success story. My mother-in-law is the young woman seated here by her adoptive parents. As the family story goes, she was adopted by her maternal aunt and her husband after she was removed from her parents' home due to domestic violence. She had a pretty happy childhood, but she always had one regret -- she had a younger brother that she never heard from again.

I posted this story on ancestry dot com, and sometime later, someone responded with "the rest of the story," as Paul Harvey used to say. 

 

Samuel Wells Samuels: I am writing this assuming that you are related somehow to Sue Sanford. I believe (and have yet to research) that Samuel Sanford was adopted by Archibald Ellsworth, whom Harriet Coglizer got together with after she probably left her husband. I am making this assumption because my fiance is the grandson of Samuel Wells Ellsworth, who's mother was Harriet Coglizer and who's father was Archie Ellsworth. I hope this helps! I'm glad you posted this story, it cleared things up for my search as well.

 

It's so amazing how we can collaborate with people we've never even met to solve these family history mysteries.

 

Family History Challenge - Day 9

 

 

My great grandfather, John Young Smith - the one who made the same trip to Texas twice, first to witness a wedding and later to get married himself - was a building contractor, and apparently a fine one. When Park County, Wyoming was established in 1911, one of the first orders of business was to build a courthouse. John Young Smith was the contractor on that building, shown below. It took about a year to build and cost $45,000. The clock tower was added later. Isn't this a fine example of early 20th century design and construction?

 

Photo Credit: Richie Diesterheft from Chicago, IL, USA - Park County Court House Cody, WY via Wikipedia

Family History Challenge - Day 8

 

 

 

Someone uploaded this very interesting biographical sketch into ancestry dot com. I thought it was fascinating. Note that the article has been edited - the original is very long. [It's still long, so just imagine.]

BTW: This is the homestead/farm that my grandparents lost in 1936 when the banks failed during the Great Depression.

 

WILLIAM W. HIGGINBOTHAM resides about six miles north from Hartline and was born in Wayne county, Kentucky, on February 13, 1848. His parents were J. and Priscilla A. (Cullum) Higginbotham, natives of Kentucky. The common schools of Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri contributed to the education of our subject and in 1881, he crossed the plains with two teams of horses and mules, to Oregon, settling in Union county. In 1885, he came to Douglas county, Washington, and took up a homestead where he now resides. To this he has added a quarter section that adjoins his place. The whole estate is under cultivation and supplied with all the improvements needed on a first-class grain and stock farm. He gave his attention to general farming and stock raising and although he landed here with but forty dollars cash and a team and wagon, he is now one of the prosperous and leading men of the section. He has some fine bands of cattle and horses and in addition to his farm, has other property. Mr. Higginbotham has five sisters and brothers..... 

 

In Linn county, Missouri, on September 2, 1875, Mr. Higginbotham married Miss Maggie [Gier,]... whose father now resides with our subject. Mrs. Higginbotham was born in Linn county, Missouri, on May 21, 1857 and has one brother and five sisters...., 

 

To Mr. and Mrs. Higginbotham five sons and five daughters have been born.... 

 

Mr. Higginbotham was raised in the faith of the Christian church and he and his wife are now members of the Salvation Army, which has the local headquarters at Spokane. They are substantial people and have the respect and confidence of all. 

 

[Transcribed from "An Illustrated History of The Big Bend Country, embracing Lincoln, Douglas, Adams and Franklin counties, State of Washington", Western Historical Publishing Co., 1904]