Charles Polk II & Delilah Tyler: Patriots on the Frontier

I know it's been a while since I have done an actual ancestor story, so I really hope you enjoy this one. The reason I have been delaying so long is because I've been doing some in depth research on one line thats taking forever...but for this story, I ventured up a line I haven't done any research on and I was pleasantly surprised to find the Polk's and their story. And it's a great story.

WARING: This is one of my longer posts

Charles Polk II  and Delilah Tyler are my 6th great-grandparents on my Grandpa Wilson's side. Charles was born on the 2nd of February, 1745 in Frederick, Maryland. And coincidentally, Delilah was born on February 10th, 1755 in Frederick, Virginia. Two different Fredericks in two different states.

Anyways. Charles' father died when he was real young, leaving his mother and older brother to run their trading post thing-a-ma-jig. When Charles got old enough he left Maryland and was among the first "adventures" into the wild area around the Ohio River. 16 miles north of where Louisville, Kentucky is today. But back then it was all still part of the Virginia wilderness He was a regular ol' Daniel Boone. In fact, he was attempting to settle his area at the same time Daniel Boone was attempting his first settlement in the area as well. And since Charles became a prominent figure in the area, I have no doubts he actually met Daniel Boone.

Lucky for Charles, he did not immediately encounter the violent opposition from Native Americans that Daniel Boone did. Unfortunately for Charles, the Native American/Colonist conflict soon came to a head locally in 1774 when a band of drunk idiots, led by Daniel Greathouse, massacred a group of Native Americans in a needless show of death. This event, as well as the attack on Daniel Boone's settlement by the Delaware and Shawnee tribes, were some of the first events in what we call Lord Dunmore's war. In his book, William Harrison Polk stated "The frontier families would suffer a bloody penalty for Greathouse's infamy."

Charles wrote a sort of testimony down (overseen by a judge) that he sent to Thomas Jefferson, explaining what happened. Thomas Jefferson himself (FREAKIN THOMAS JEFFERSON) actually talks about Charles Polk, and includes his testimony in his "Appendix to the Notes on Virginia, Relative to the Murder of Logan's Family." Published in 1800. You can look at the whole thing here. But here is Charles Polk's entry. Note the publisher spelled his name wrong. Note that they use "f's" as "s's". Also note that Thomas freakin Jefferson said that Charles was a reputable character.

Charles fought under Colonel Andrew Lewis during Lord Dunmore's War, including the Battle of Point Pleasant. Where Daniel Boone also fought. This battle ended the conflict for a time and the Shawnee agreed to let the settlers....settle. After the fighting, Charles married one Delilah Tyler in the winter of 1774. And boy were they in for a ride. They moved down the Ohio River to the area that is now Nelson County, Kentucky. He built his own "station" which was like...a fort/settlement thingy. But nearby was a much better defended "station" called Kincheloe's Station and Polk had his family live there off and on when the "Indian Terror Level" was high and when he was gone fighting.

Charles Polk in the 1776/77 Muster Rolls

For back story, you need to know that Kentucky was the western front of the Revolutionary war. The British thought it would be a grand idea to arm the Native Americans in the wilderness of  Virginia against the settling colonists. Charles, and a lot of the other settlers in the area were not so happy about this. And they, under the command of George Rogers Clark, took up arms against the British AND the Native Americans in the area. Their plan: take back control of the area. Charles Polk was made a captain in the frontier militia, a branch that was considered part of the North Carolina Militia since there wasn't exactly a local one. It's in the records of the North Carolina militia that Charles Polk's service records can be found.

Charles fought locally under George Rogers Clark. And was able to return often to his growing family. A notable event was when he marched with Clark 200 miles, "much of it through freezing floodwaters, in February 1779" to Vincennes, Indiana. There, Clark's quick thinking and devilishly smart trickery led the British forces at Fort Sackville to surrender.

Even after the British surrendered over on the east coast, fighting on the frontier pretty much kept going. During his absence, several other families had settled near Charles. Things were pretty chill until the Battle of Blue Licks in August of 1782 happened. A butt-load of Loyalists and their Native American allies (prbably all really pissed at Cornwallis' surrender 10 months previous in the east) fought with a much small band of Kentucky militi-men. (Charles may or may not have been there, but Daniel Boone was!). The Native's won, and were pretty pumped about it

Clark's march to Vincennes

Well... As the Indians were coming back from the battle, they were so pumped up that they decided to sack Kincheloe's Station...which is where Charles' family was staying while he was gone. The events would come to be known as "Burnt Station." Everything was set on fire, any remaining adult men were killed, and everyone else taken prisoner. Including a very pregnant Delilah Polk (formally Tyler) and her four kids (Including Elizabeth, my 5th great-grandma who was like 5 at the time).

William, the eldest of Charles and Delilah and was also one of the four kids, wrote this all down, and its in his first hand account that I am getting a lot of my information. His account was included in William Harrison Polk's book (Which is owned by the National Archives) and can be found in full on pages 374-389 here.

William said the Indians found out they were the wife and children of Charles, the white chief and decided he would be pretty pissed off they had taken his family. This made them treat them better I guess, and William says their better treatment was the only reason his mother lived through it. They still marched them around 12 miles that day. 12 miles, pregnant, and carrying a kid still under 1. Delilah Tyler was no joke.

At some point on this march William remarked that his mother stopped and demanded something to quench her thirst. They gave all the prisoners some watermelon, but a Mrs Ash refused. This...didn't go over well with the Indian warriors. They took the baby she was carrying and stripped off her clothes. William said "After they had proceeded a short distance we distinctly heard the tomahawk strike her head. She uttered a scream simultaneous with their war-whoop, and all was silent."

"Taken Captive by Indians" by McClurg 1849, rumpored to be
based on Mrs Polk and the events at Burnt Station

They were marched 15 more miles that day until they stopped for the night. Delilah was threatened several times through the night by the Indian warrior who had "claimed her". They were marched two more days, at roughly the same distance. On the third day Delilah slipped. She did not get up, instead waited on the ground for what she assumed would be her immediate execution. She was helped up by the brother of the Indian who claimed her. He was much nicer. He helped her into a canoe and cut off her shoes. William says his mothers toe-nails and a "long portion of her skin" fell off. Which garnered the sympathy of the other Natives in the canoe. The nice Indian helped her wash her feet and rubbed buffalo bone marrow on them. She clung to her youngest daughter, not even one year old, the whole time.

The next day they were split up. Delilah went with one group, along with her two youngest, and her two oldest, William and Elizabeth went with another. They stayed in a Native American Village for some time. Until on September 25th, they got to Detroit and were handed over to the British forces under Colonel De Peyster. He treated them very nice and put them up in a house with some other prisoners. Delilah had her baby on October 27th, but was constantly worrying for William and Elizabeth, whom she had not seen since they split up. Coloner De Peyster sent out scouts and in the following July, they were able to secure Elizabeth and William from the Native Americans and bring them back to their mom in Detroit.

Charles Polk in the 1779/80 Muster Roll

So little did they know that Charles, upon returning to find his family gone, set out after them. He found the body of Mrs Ash, and apparently stopped looking for a time. That winter, Captain Polk, authorized by General George Rogers Clark, led men around to destroy Indian villages and take back any prisoners. Charles never found his family in any of these raids. But they did find out they were being held in Detroit.

Post-war legal stuff prevented Charles from immediately seeking his family. It took him quite a while to get himself a "passport" that allowed him to travel through the Indian territory between Kentucky and Detroit. Finally on October 10th 1783, Charles was reunited with Delilah, over a year since she had been taken prisoner. It wasn't until that December that they made it back to their cabin near Kincheloe's Station (it was spared from the burning). But apparently all of these events were quite costly, and to avoid poverty, Charles had to sell the majority of his property.

They lived in his cabin on that small property in peace for a long time. Delilah died on June 7th, 1797 in childbirth of their 12th child. Charles kept his family together there until his kids started getting married. He served on the Kentucky Legislature from 1806-07. After his term was up, he moved with his sons to Knox, Indiana. In 1816, Charles was elected to represent his county at the convention in Croydon to form the constitution of Indiana. Charles died on October 11, 1823.

Charles Polk original tombstone

Charles Polk new headstone, provided by the
Sons of the American Revolution

The Wilson Tartans

In my last post, I highlighted the Scottish ancestry and clan history of the Haun side of my family, which means it's only reasonable to also do this for the Wilson side. So here goes nothing (Actually here goes something, I actually work hard for some of this family history stuff).

So it is also important to note that I have far less Scottish ancestry on my Wilson side than my Haun side. And I mean FAR less. So much less, that I can't even include a map like I did on the Haun post. Because in my brief research, I only have two ancestor lines who came from Scotland to America. Elizabeth Boyack, Robert McKell, and their respective parents, etc.

As I have said before, I believe my specific Wilson line came from the Willsons of Scotland, who descended from William Gunn. But the lineage past one James Wilson is so debated that one can hardly be sure of anything.

So I guess I can't 100% say I am clan Gunn on my Wilson side.

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Wilson Clans

With all that being said, the Wilson surname can still be claimed under clan Gunn. The laws of the clans aren't exactly clear to me. I don't know if you HAVE to have direct Scottish ancestry of that surname to claim the clan, or if you have that surname, you can just claim the clan. I prefer to go with the explanation found on a Scottish GEnealogy site that says "belonging to a clan is not about the percentage of your blood but about an emotional bond. So if you feel Scottish, welcome to the Scott family"

Clan Gunn

I am just going to copy and paste Clan Gunn from my Haun side. Except I will note that we can claim it through our surname Wilson AND Robinson.

Gunn modern

Clan Gunn is "descendant from the Norse Jarls or Earls of Orkney and from the ancient Celtic Mormaers of Caithness through Ragnhild, daughter of Moddan in Dale, son of Moddan, Mormaer (High Steward) of Caithness, who was killed in 1040, and granddaughter of Saint Rognvald, Jarl of Orkney, who married Gunni, the reputed name-father of the Clan. Gunni was himself a grandson of Sweyn Asleif's-son, the 'Ultimate Viking' and hero of the Orkneyinga Saga."

Now I know that that sounded like you opened a "History of the Empire" book in Skyrim or like some strange-butt scroll in Lord of the Rings but yah...there's some stuff going on in ancient Scotland. If you want to read a lot longer history, you can go here, but here are the highlights.

So this Ragnhild chick inherited a bunch of land, which then went to Gunni's son Snaekoll which means white head, cool name bruh, but he had to forfeit the land because he murdered the Jarl in Orkney, not cool bruh. But Snake-man (As I have taken to call him) did build the first "Castle Gunn" which was like three twigs and some stones on the side of a cliff, but fancy for the time. And that castle was burned down by some angry Norwegians because Snake-man had a fake lighthouse and basically caused a whole boat of them to crash.

Gunn Ancient

Over the next few hundred years the Gunn's gradually lost more and more land to the Keith's and the Sinclair's. Then in the 1400's there was this dude named George Gunn, nickname "Am Braisdeach Mor" which means Big Broochy, and he fought with Clan Kieth in little battles. Most important the Battle at Tayre's Chapel where us Gunns kinda...tricked the Kieth's and then killed them all. Then there was a peace treaty. Then Big Broochy died and his three oldest sons kinda split up. One of his younger sons, William Gunn stayed in Caithness and it is from him we get the Wilson Gunns, which I believe is where my Wilson side came from.

Clan Gunn lives to modern times, though the majority of the clansmen do not have the name Gunn since everyone split up and then like...only had daughters. They meet in Caithness every three years for a big party. I've also included pictures of the Modern and Ancient Gunn Tartans. If you were to buy a Gunn kilt now, might I suggest the Modern one since, hate to break it to ya, we are modern.


Clan Cameron

Pretty much all my relatives already know that we are Clan Cameron. We can claim it through the McKell line.

Cameron Modern

Clan Cameron is "described as ‘fiercer than fierceness itself’, the Clan Cameron is said to be one of the most ancient of Scottish clans." So I guess we are pretty dang fierce. Now apparently it may be one of the oldest clans in Scotland, and as such, the origins aren't exactly clear. The first known clan chief, Donald Dubh, is said to have descended from a fellow by the name of Cambrun of Ballegarno.

At some point the clan chiefs married into a pretty wealthy family and inherited the lands of Lochaber. And if you go by modern boundary lines, that is approximately one butt-ton of land. It's also one of the most stunningly beautiful places in all of Scotland. Also, the cool railroad bridge from Harry Potter is there.

In 1528, King James V of Scotland created the barony of Lochiel and then we had a Captain of Cameron, instead of a chief of Cameron. Why we did not have a Baron of Cameron I do not know. Achnacarry Castle was built by Sir Ewen Cameron as the home for the captain/chiefs of clan Cameron. It's not like...the coolest castle, but hey, a castle is a castle.

Sir Ewen was apparently a big fierce man. He was described as the "Ulysses of the Highlands." And his battle-awesomeness was used to inspire one of Sir Walter Scott's poems. He spent a lot of his time as Captain/chief fighting with the Britains. He is again often described as a "Thorn in Cromwell's side". After Cromwell died, the Camerons feuded with some other clans, notably Clan Macintosh. The Macintosh/Cameron feud was known as the bloodies of the highlands. I expect I shall detail this particular event in a later post.

After that, stuff kind of calmed down for...ever... and modernly one Donald Angus of Lochiel is expected to take over the Captain-ship after his fathers death.

Fife District

So the Boyacks don't belong to a specific clan, but they belong to a Scottish district. That of Fife to be exact. So you can claim the Fife District and wear the Fife tartan.

The district of Fife is on the east side of Scotland. It is believed to be one of the major Pictish Kingdoms called the Kingdom of Fib. As far as I can tell the Picts were basically the ancient Scottish people of that area. I've mentioned them before in an earlier post.

The tartan is technically the Duke of Fife's tartan. That is currently David Carnegie, the 4th Duke of Fife who inherited that title from his father after his death in June of 2015. Technically David is part of the line of succession to the British throne as he is the great-great grandson of Edward VII. Will he ever get the throne? No.



And that's about it for the Wilsons. Using surnames only, and not blood, we could probably claim a few more clans but...these do just fine right?

The Haun Tartans

So recently my uncle Rock asked if I knew which tartan (Scottish kilt pattern) belonged to our family. I thought this would make a great post (since I haven't posted in a while)! Now if you want some in-depth history of tartans, check here, but basically a tartan is "a woolen cloth woven in one of several patterns of plaid, especially of a design associated with a particular Scottish clan."

If you have ever been to the Payson Scottish festival, you may have noticed the section with all the booths dedicated to clans. You may have even searched all the surname boards to try and find YOUR clan. Well, if you're related to me, you don't have to do that because I have already done some research on it. Both sides of my family actually have roots in several clans, so you do have a choice of which tartan you want to sport at the next festival.

Let's start with the Haun side.

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HAUN CLAN'S

Unfortunately, the Haun name is German and is not associated with any Scottish clan. However, despite the fact our last name IS German, us Haun's are quite a bit Scottish. I'd say we are 40% Scottish, 40% English, 10% German, and 10% Other.

I've traced each line to the point where they crossed the ocean and a lot came from Scotland to America. I have ten ancestors on my Haun side who made the trip from Scotland to America at some point in time. I've included a visual aid to show where in Scotland they came from. Now this doesn't mean I only have ten Scottish ancestors, it means ten of my ancestors left Scotland and came to America. The ancestors above them in the trees are also Scottish. Also notice the concentration in the south-east area of Scotland. A lot of those are in the Fife district.

Side Note: while researching this, I actually went further back in my tree than I ever have been on some of these lines. And I found some pretty interesting stuff Im excited to post about....eventually.

Now when you trace all the lines and look up all the surnames, the Haun's can fit into 4 main clans: Clan Gordon, Clan MacDuff, Clan Jardine, and Clan Gunn. You could also use the Fife district tartan which is the Duke of Fife's tartan, but since we aren't direct descendants of the Duke of Fife, I went with the general Fife's, who are included in Clan MacDuff. There are a couple minor clans we could claim, but most of them end up being assimilated by the big clans in the end so I'm going to say that Haun's have the best claims at these four clans.

Let's take a look at each of those individually.


CLAN GUNN

Clan Gunn Modern

We Haun's can claim Clan Gunn through the Monson and Thompson sides of our family. I also can claim Clan Gunn on my moms side too so ultimate Clan Gunn for me. And just so you know, we are the norse-side of the descendant of this clan. Anyways, Clan Gunn is "descendant from the Norse Jarls or Earls of Orkney and from the ancient Celtic Mormaers of Caithness through Ragnhild, daughter of Moddan in Dale, son of Moddan, Mormaer (High Steward) of Caithness, who was killed in 1040, and granddaughter of Saint Rognvald, Jarl of Orkney, who married Gunni, the reputed name-father of the Clan. Gunni was himself a grandson of Sweyn Asleif's-son, the 'Ultimate Viking' and hero of the Orkneyinga Saga."

Now I know that that sounded like you opened a "History of the Empire" book in Skyrim or like some strange-butt scroll in Lord of the Rings but yah...there's some stuff going on in ancient Scotland. If you want to read a lot longer history, you can go here, but here are the highlights.

So this Ragnhild chick inherited a bunch of land, which then went to Gunni's son Snaekoll which means white head, cool name bruh, but he had to forfeit the land because he murdered the Jarl in Orkney, not cool bruh. But Snake-man (As I have taken to call him) did build the first "Castle Gunn" which was like three twigs and some stones on the side of a cliff, but fancy for the time. And that castle was burned down by some angry Norwegians because Snake-man had a fake lighthouse and basically caused a whole boat of them to crash.

Clan Gunn Ancient

Over the next few hundred years the Gunn's gradually lost more and more land to the Keith's and the Sinclair's. Then in the 1400's there was this dude named George Gunn, nickname "Am Braisdeach Mor" which means Big Broochy, and he fought with Clan Kieth in little battles. Most important the Battle at Tayre's Chapel where us Gunns kinda...tricked the Kieth's and then killed them all. Then there was a peace treaty. Then Big Broochy died and his three oldest sons kinda split up. One of his younger sons, William Gunn stayed in Caithness and it is from him we get the Wilson Gunns, which I believe is where my Wilson side came from.

Clan Gunn lives to modern times, though the majority of the clansmen do not have the name Gunn since everyone split up and then like...only had daughters. They meet in Caithness every three years for a big party. I've also included pictures of the Modern and Ancient Gunn Tartans. If you were to buy a Gunn kilt now, might I suggest the Modern one since, hate to break it to ya, we are modern.



CLAN GORDON

Gordon Modern

We Haun's can claim Clan Gordon through the Gardner side of our family. Gordon was a land name in the 1000's. The Baron of Gordon in 1150 was the first recorded person using that name/title.

In 1306ish Sir Adam of Gordon went to Rome to ask the pope to not excommunicate Robert the Bruce (King of the Scots) after he killed Red Comyn in a church. So that's interesting. Sir Alexander Gordon became Earl of Huntly in 1449, they had Huntly Castle. The Gordons went to fight for the King and the Douglas family came and burned their castle, such weenies. The Gordons came back and literally destroyed the Douglas family. Never make a Gordon mad.

With no Douglas' the Gordon family pretty much grew unchecked and basically became royalty. "As the Douglases were removed from all their positions of power, the Gordons grew without challenge. Their near-regal status earned their chiefs the still-used nickname “Cock ‘o the North”"

Gordon Dress Modern

I thought that was funny since Haun means cock/rooster. The Gordon's got so big that they literally avoided the reformation and remained Catholic. That being said, they fought with Mary, Queen of the Scotts and several Gordons were beheaded along with her. After that some weenie took over the Gordon house and a lot of people blame him and the Gordons for Scotland not gaining their independence in their war for independence. He was beheaded after the war.

As far as tartans go, I really like the Gordon ones. Especially the modern and modern dress. If I ever got a kilt or a fly or whatever, I'd probably get it in a Gordon style.





CLAN JARDINE

Jardine Modern

Haun's can claim Clan Jardine through our Jardine line. Also, you could argue that we can claim it through the Gardner line as well, but I think we fit more with the Clan Gordon Gardners than these.

Anywho, the Jardine's made their way to Scotland sometimes during the Norman conquests of the 1000s. It is a French name, and their symbol is an apple blossom. However their motto is "Beware, I am here" Very non-apple-like.

So they settled a place they named Applegirth in Scotland and built Spedlings Tower. Which they had to move from after they starved a dude to death in their dungeon and his ghost haunted them. So they moved across the river and built Jardine Hall. The Jardine's were like the Scottish border patrol. They were constantly fighting off the English. They had their buddies come up from France to help squash those damn Britts.

The Jardine family originally supported Mary, Queen of Scots, until her crazy-butt scandals and then they supported her baby sons right to the throne. And then the Jardine chief married off his daughter the freakin Douglas'. The 4th Baronet of Jardine became a Knight of Malta and remained celibate. The title passed to his brother.

In 1873 Frank Jardine married a Samoan Princess (not even kidding) and moved to Australia. A William Jardine became a Dr and sold opium-based remedies in the Far East during the British Occupation of India.

Currently: "Sir William Jardine, 13th Baronet and 24th Chief, born in 1984, is active in promoting clan activities and is a member of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs."

And they have like the worst tarten.



CLAN MACDUFF

Finally, we Haun's can claim Clan MacDuff through the Fife and Spencer side of our family.

MacDuff Modern

Clan MacDuff is SUPER cool because Shakespeare's MacBeth is based off of MacBeth and his wife Queen Gruoch (AKA Lady MacBeth). Queen Gruoch was the senior representative of clan MacDuff at the time.

Eventually Aedh Canmore became the Earl of Fife. After his death the Fife and Duff title did not return until 1759 with William Duff, who became the Earl of Fife.

"Later Alexander, the sixth Earl of Fife, married the Princess Royal, HRH Louise (daughter of King Edward VII).

The direct line of the ancient house, continued in Wemyss whilst in the northern territories, families of Clan Duff emerged in historical record with no proof of royal descent."

Pretty straightforward clan eh? And the tartan's are decent. A little Christmas-y for my tastes.




And that's the history of the clans that the Haun's can claim. Grab a tartan and party at the next Scottish festival like the informed person you now are!

William Heaps: Cheese Thief

Hopefully you have read my previous post located here. In it I talk about the craziness that went on with the Heaps/Spencer side of my family. I promised I'd elaborate more on the people in there, and here to fulfill my promise...I present William Heaps, the first husband of Mary Cragg. This post will just be on William, since I prefer to group Mary with her second husband. This post will also just be on William because frankly, the guy needs his own post. (Note: if you look him up on familysearch, LJTB-JH9, the photo's they have on there for him are incorrect. They are actually photo's of his grandson.)

William Henry Heaps was born in December of 1809 in Garstang, England. Garstang is a small market town near Lancaster. Around the time that William was born, the town was quite prosperous for being so small. It's on a canal that was used to transport all sorts of stuff, and almost everyone in the town was a trader of some sort. Garstang was famous during the early 1800s for producing the finest quality rope, it was also famous for the "Garstang Cattle and Cheese Fair." It was considered the "crossroads" town between Preston and Lancaster. The ruins of Greenhalgh Castle overlook the town. 

I don't know a lot about his childhood, I know that his father was in the British military and may have been in India at the time of his birth (I expect to learn more about that when I research his father specifically). I also know that the Napoleonic Wars were underway and there were some food shortages going on in Britain. Whatever struggles his childhood held, he still managed to marry Mary Cragg in December of 1831. Mary was also from Garstang. They were together for 7ish years and had 3 confirmed kids, two of which are my grandpas at some point. 

William's entry in an England Criminal Register

And then William decided to be a criminal. On October 18th, 1837 he is charged with Larceny, for the theft of a carriage-load of cheese. (I wonder if he stole it during the Cheese fair eh?). He is tried in Lancashire, England, found guilty, and sentenced to 7 years transportation. Which means he will be banished from England and will be sent to the penal colonies in Australia. Let me just say that being banished from your country for stealing cheese seems....a tad excessive... If you notice on the image of the register I included, several men were charged with receiving stolen goods, which was a consequence of the smuggling problem in Britain brought about by the Napoleonic Wars. Also note the wild difference in sentencing for these criminals. Other dudes who were charged with larceny got like 1 month in prison. But you know...apparently Britain takes it's cheese theft more seriously.

Moving on, William spent about half a year imprisoned on a hulk ship named the "Fortitude" moored at Chatham awaiting his transportation. A hulk ship is a ship that has lived out it's service days and can basically only float now. So England used them as prisons. This image to the left is a UK Prison Hulk Register for the Fortitude. On it you can see William's entry. It lists when and where he was convicted and how he stole cheese. What I love though, is it also lists that he can read (but not write) and that he will be a laborer. I also love that the Gaoler's report on him is that he has "bad habits in prison for poaching" which is where that stealing a deer thing I mentioned in my last post comes from. Also, it was kinda funny to read all the crimes the other people were convicted of, and their respective sentencing. I quite like the man who got 7 years for stealing a duck.

Anyway, he was at some time transported to a ship called the Bengal Merchant and that ship took him all the way to Botany Bay in New South Wales, Australia. He was one of 270 prisoners aboard the ship. The journey took about 4 months. They landed in Botany Bay on July 21, 1838. Now apparently, convict labor in 1800s Australia was really just slang for slavery. People in the area paid and laid claims for workers, essentially buying them. I also tracked down this newspaper article that ran in the Saturday 28 July 1838 Edition of The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. Found here. It's a to-the-editor article and in it some dude is complaining about the shortage of "convict servants" (maybe the reason they are sending a butt-ton of people to Australia for stealing cheese and ducks?) and the problems with allocating the labor. He pleads for the government to implement a "regular and just system of assignment."

Certificate of Freedom

I hope that William didn't go to that guy. But all I really know is that he was assigned to farm labor where presumably he worked until December 11th, 1844 when he was issued his certificate of freedom and became a free man. His certificate also provides a physical description of William. He apparently was 6ft tall and is described as having a "Dark and freckled complexion, dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes." He is also listed as having "eyebrows meeting, mole on right cheek, breast hairy, purple natural mark on the back of left hand, scar on middle finger of left hand, and mark of a boil on right knee" I drew a picture for your visual pleasure. Also, if at any point we try to bring back the descriptive term "breast hairy" I officially give permission to the aliens to blow up Earth.

What a babe

And apparently he gained his freedom, instead of going back to his wife and children (which I looked up, after he got his certificate of freedom, he was legally able to go back to Britain, but nah) he ran off to Pennsylvania where he may or may not (haven't found reliable proof) have married another lady. Mary Cragg told all her kids he died on the boat, she really...lost faith in him real quick. Probably because who wants to say they are married to a dirty cheese thief who got banished from Britain. But he does show up in one Pennsylvania census and he died on February 8th, 1882 in Pennsylvania. So yeah. Class act fella. Idk what his circumstances were for stealing cheese, and he did kinda get screwed by the British justice system (7 years for cheese?) but yeah...still not my most favorite ancestor. But wildly fun to research. And still not as bad as witch hunter guy right?

The Heaps/Spencers: AKA I'm My Own Grandpa

Oh boy let me tell you what a struggle sorting out this side of my family is. This will just be a short post on getting on the connections sorted out, I will post stories about each person/couple in more detail separately later.

I was originally trying to do a story on Joseph Spencer and Mary Cragg, my 4th-great grandparents on my paternal grandmothers side. The first issue is when I noticed Mary Cragg is my 4th-great grandma twice and my 5th-great grandma at one point. Needless to say, I was confused. I started trying to determine if their was an error in my records, or the church records, or an error anywhere! I didn't understand what was going on. But thanks to a buddy in my research group, the US West Genealogy Research Community, we got it sorted and discovered there was no error...just an extremely weird set of events and marriages that let's just say...they didn't travel far from the shallow end of the gene pool.

To understand all of this I have decided to create a visual aid. Prepare for the most amazing Microsoft Paint skills you have ever seen.

Can a girl draw or what? Anyway, the stuff in the black lines is what I want you to look at. Notice that Mary Cragg appears three times. She was married to William Heaps first, and then he stole a deer from the king and ran away, never to be seen again (more on that in a later story). Together they had Henry Heaps and Thomas Heaps.

After William ran away, Mary married Joseph Spencer and he pretty much took in all the kids. So Henry and Thomas are brothers. Henry is my 3rd-great grandpa, Thomas is my 4th-great grandpa. And their step-brother is Joseph Spencer Jr, who is my 3rd-great grandpa. And they all come from Mary Cragg, who as mentioned, is my double 4th-great grandma and my 5th great-grandma. which means that the lines before Mary Crag (i.g. her parents/grandparents/etc) are duplicated three times in my ancestry.

Apparently all the boys got along, because Henry, Thomas, and Joseph Jr. all immigrated to Escalante, Utah together. There Henry had a son named Henry Jr. And Thomas had a daughter named Mary Elizabeth, who had a daughter named Eliza Alice. And Henry Jr. married Eliza Alice, his 1st cousin once removed.

And that's probably why I'm so weird right?

Moses & Prudence Tyler: Witch Hunters & Guardians of Ancient Weapons

I know. That title sounds straight up fiction right? Wrong. It's very much the truth, and let me elaborate in this story on Moses Tyler and Prudence Blake, my 9th great-grandparents on my maternal grandmother Gearldine Robinson Wilson's side.

First off, this story is going to pretty much focused on Moses Tyler. Simply because Prudence apparently wasn't important enough to have her story written down anywhere or her records maintained in as much detail as Moses. Moses played a role, a very small tiny little role, but a role in a major event in American history. So we get a lot more information on him.

Secondly, I would like to inform you that the records for Moses Tyler Sr. have been duplicated and filed under Moses Tyler Jr. in the LDS church research center. They are two different people, and the records for Moses Tyler Jr actually belong to his father, Moses Tyler Sr. The researchers at the center know this, and are working (slowly) to get it sorted. So if you get on Family Search and wonder why nothing makes sense, that's why. It's taken me weeks to get this sorted out. Mostly thanks to the sweet women of the Godfrey Memorial Library in Connecticut who run the AGBI and helped my locate the primary sources for the Tyler line.

But this post is about Moses Tyler Sr. from hence forward.

Andover in 1886, two centuries later and still a small town

Moses was born on February 16, 1641 in Andover, Massachusetts (start the guessing on which major historical event he might have been involved with). Andover was the definition of a sleepy little puritan village in the mid 1600s. The town itself was actually settled the year Moses was born. He grew up in a time when Andover and the surrounding area was pretty much in constant unrest with the local Native Americans. Google King Philip's War.

Moses also unfortunately grew up being raised by his father Job, who one genealogist describes as being "a salty kind of guy who always felt he was getting the short end of the stick and wasn't afraid to exploit the court system, or other means, to try to get his due." Not a good atmosphere to raise your six kids in. And Job's whole attitude rubbed off on Moses big time.

Moses married Prudence (who was born in 1647) on July 6, 1666. I cannot even being to describe what a horrible wedding date that is.  That's a lot of 6's, and it makes it worse when you discover the historical event!!!! These two had kids and stuff. Very Puritan, blue law level Puritan.

And then in 1689, stuff started going downhill real fast in Andover. Prudence died. Moses married a lady named Sarah. Moses was named the quartermaster of Andover, and I kid you not, his official title was "Custodian of Ancient Munitions of War" I hope with all my heart he had the only key to a shed that had like...maces and broadswords. I really don't know what that title means, but I want it. Within the next couple of years he also became constable, and then a leader within his Puritan church. He started buying up land like crazy, and then using the money made from the land to buy more land. Moses became a man, if not THE man, of power in the area.

Witch Thing

Needless to say this made him some enemies. And then in 1692, almost literally, all hell broke loose. If you haven't guessed it already, or you know that date. You would know that this is the time the Salem Witch Crisis was underway. Crazy Puritan fanatics were throwing around accusations of witchcraft like there was no tomorrow. And for the most part, despite the hysteria, the accusations didn't really stick...

...unless you were a man of extreme power who was raised to seek vengeance from anyone that he didn't like. It started with a sickness. Some horrible man's wife got sick and then a whole bunch of other people got ick and instead of blaming...the flu...they blamed witches. And then the accusations started. Moses Tyler accused over 11 of HIS OWN FAMILY as being witches. Sisters, sister-in-laws, nieces, a freaking baby, a mother-in-law, and some cousins. And what's the best way to prove that some witch in the town cursed your wife? Cart down two of those attention-seeking teenage "afflicted" girls from Salem, walk them around town, and whoever they sneeze at is obviously a witch.

Hopestill Tyler's bond for Martha & Hanna

Ok, I don't know exactly how these two girls were supposed to identify a witch in Andover, but one researcher states that "The people accused of witchcraft were ordered to come together at the meeting house in Andover where the Salem girls were being kept. A strange test was conducted. It was believed that if the hand of a witch touched the body of the person whom they had bewitched, that person would immediately become well and could identify the witch. Mr. Barnard blindfolded the accused. The afflicted girls fell into their fits when the accused person came into their presence. Then the hand of the accused was placed on each of the afflicted girls. The girls would immediately come out of their fit and identify the person touching them of being the one who afflicted them. This evidence was enough to cause the arrest of the accused as witches."

Now a lot of those people Moses accused of witchcraft were deemed not guilty...but his poor sister-in-law Martha (also known as Mary) Lovett Tyler and her daughter Hanna arrested. Martha's husband Hopestill Tyler (very manly name) was like...super bummed that his own brother would accuse his wife and daughter of witchcraft. Hopestill, as far as I am able to tell, was a really REALLY nice guy. He tried to have his brother recant his accusation several times.

Martha's Official Confession

But despite his efforts, Martha was shipped up to Salem. Her brother Bridges was allowed to ride with her. Hanna was also taken to Salem, though it is unknown if she traveled with her mother. Bridges reported that he urged his sister to confess the entire ride to Salem. He was pretty sure his sister was a witch too. But Martha refused. And once they got to Salem, she was taken to a room where a Mr. John Emerson stated he would "attempt to beat the devil from her eyes." I don't know how long he beat her, but he must have beat her pretty bad. Because it wasn't until she was near death that she gave up and confessed.

In the written confession filed with the courts as told by another researcher: "Mary (Martha) confessed to making a covenant with the Devil and signed the Devil’s book, promising to serve the Devil as long as she lived. She confessed to being baptized by the Devil and renouncing her former baptism and thus became a witch."

In a later confession to a Rev. Increase Mather (Another horrible Puritan male name, although the dude himself sounds like a decent person), Martha insisted to him that by falsely confessing to being a witch: "She wronged her conscience in so doing, was guilty of a great sin in belying herself & desired to mourn for it so long as she lived." I cannot imagine the length to which Martha was beaten but the Rev. Mather writes; "Her affliction, sorrow, relenting, grief and mourning, exceeds any pen to describe and express the same."

A witch-trial

More horrifying, knowing what Martha went through, is knowing her daughter Hanna was subject to the same type of interrogation. At some point Hanna also confessed and stated that her mother and a couple other ladies were responsible for the sickness that went around. She also renounced her Puritan baptism. She sounded like she cared about her faith significantly less than her mother...anyway...no judgments. The two were imprisoned in Salem to await trial. During this time Hopestill sent in petition after petition to the general court, the governor, and the colonial council begging that his wife and daughter, having confessed, "be released to him so he could care for them until their trial."

Apparently this worked, and Hopestill was allowed to post bond for them, promising they would return at the time of their trial. Martha and Hanna went home until their court date, at which they both recanted their confessions, pleaded not-guilty, and were found not guilty. I assume they went home, hugged Hopestill a lot, and never spoke to Moses again.

Moses' Death Listing

To this day no one knows what grudge would have caused Moses to accuse all those people. One Salem Witches researcher I talked to theorized that it was all part of his power grab since their small Andover church was kind of splitting in two and he wanted to control all of it or one part of it or something. Of all the people he did accuse, only one was found guilty of witchcraft and was subsequently hanged alongside two other Andover residents accused by others.

Prudence (Forget about her yet?) died on March 9th 1689. She was spared the struggle of living with Moses during his accusations phase. Moses married two more times before he died on October 12, 1727 at the age of 86. He is buried in North Andover. He had 10 confirmed children, most of them with Prudence. He was a kind of a horrible person, pretty much every historical reference I consulted during this research trip at least once called him a "scoundrel" at least ten times. But hey, not all of our ancestors can be saints right?

Now, if you want some good reads. I encourage you to check out this, It is a research article on the Tyler Family in duing the Salem Witch Trials. And this, which is a completely insane BOOK on a family reunion where the Tylers all got together in 1900 and signed constitutions and creepy cult-like stuff about how proud they are of their ancestors and somebody wrote some horrible poem things. I don't know. It's weird. And then this, completely unrelated but it came up when I googled "custodian of anceint weapons" and I kinda thought it was interesting. Its a proceedings book from the Royal Artillery Institution.

And that's all for Moses Tyler. Cool story but a no bueno guy.

Robert Gardner and Margaret Calinder: Scots in the West

Visual Aid

With the annual Payson Scottish Festival this weekend, I only thought it appropriate to highlight the story of some of my Scottish ancestors. It is also the Haun's side turn for a story but..I have a ton of Scottish blood through my maternal family, but not a whole lot on my Haun side. So my choices were limited. But I did find Robert and Margaret, and I liked their story quite a bit. They are my 5th great-grandparents on my paternal grandfathers side. Here is their story:

Robert was born on March 12th, 1781 in Houston, Renfrew, Scotland. Margaret was born sometime in January of 1777 in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland. Both pretty small towns at the time.

As far as childhoods go I can't really provide you with much information. I know they both came from pretty poor families. At some point Robert was apprenticed out to learn carpentry. Robert was especially tall for the area apparently, standing at 6'2". Margaret apparently liked tall boys because the two were wed on the 25th of May, 1800 in Lanark, Scotland. From there they moved to a small town called Kilsyth, on the outskirts of Glasgow.

Sterling Castle

In Kilsyth, Robert didn't stay with his apprenticeship. He owned a small farm, and rented a mill. He also worked running a tavern (The Black Bull Inn) and a grocery store. They lived a bit more prosperous than the majority of the people in the area for a time, but unfortunately for him, his tavern became a popular spot for Scottish agitators, people unsatisfied with the government. People who were often rounded up, beheaded, hanged, or shipped off to Botany Bay. While there is no proof that Robert himself was a Scottish rebel, he was accused, and was detained in Stirling Castle for 9 weeks before a judge came. 9 weeks of what we can assume was less than nice treatment with little food, overcrowding, and pee everywhere. The judge sentenced a lot of the men in Stirling Castle to banishment in Australia. However, lucky for us descendants, the man who accused Robert didn't show up to testify against him so Robert was released on lack of evidence.

The Gardner home in Kilsyth

The whole imprisonment thing really irked Robert, and he got fed up with the government. So he made the decision to come to America. In 1822 Robert, his eldest son, and his eldest daughter set sail for...Canada. A whole bunch of Scots were heading there so he must have figured he would too. He meant to save up money and send for Margaret and the rest of his kiddos as soon as he could, but he forgot his wife was a hardcore Scottish woman who didn't need no man to send her money. In 1823 she sold everything: The tavern, the store, the farm, the house, and every possession they could not carry in a few wooden chests. She and the remaining four children crossed the puddle aboard the Buckinghorn.

She did all this, by the way, without writing Robert. But Robert had heard a rumor that a whole bunch of ladies from Kilsyth were on this boat so he WALKED SEVENTY, yes 70, miles to the shore and lo and behold, met his wife.

Now, he told his wife the story of how the previous year he was offered land close to the shore but it was horribly rocky and useless, so he and the two eldest went off into the woods near Dalhousie and built a cabin. They had seeds for potatoes and stuff, but Robert remarked that in the winter "The Scotch whiskey was frozen solid. Either the weather was very cold or the whiskey was very weak."

Robert, Margaret, and their children worked very VERY hard for years. Clearing land by hand, with no oxen or mules. Neighbors had to be relied upon every time help was needed to raise a barn, house, or even a shed. Apparently it still sucked, because in 1835 they moved to Warwick, Ontario. A short jog away from the US border.

Twas here that Margaret heard the teachings of some LDS missionaries. She was determined to be baptized. However, it was the middle of winter and she was quite ill. But she, being the hardcore Scots woman she was, decided to do it anyway. She and her family went down to the lake and cut a hole in the ice. Margaret was baptized in front of a crowd of people. "The people had come to witness her death.  One man declared that if she did not die that night that he would become a Mormon."

Well she didn't die, and she even went on a stroll the next day to find the man and tell him he had to get baptized next. He didn't. What a weenie. I believe all, if not most of their children were baptized. Robert wasn't at that time. But, wanting to please his wife, took their entire family to Nauvoo in 1846, and on to Winter Quarters after that.

"24 Gardners left Canada.  They were assigned to the Edward Hunter company of 100 wagons.  During the journey to the west 3 of the family died, one baby was born.  On October 1, 1847, twenty two members of the Gardner family arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley."

Most of their children fanned out and lived around the Salt Lake Valley. Robert and Margaret settled next to their sons, Archibald and Robert Jr. in an area that is now Gardner Village, a little...park/shop area thing in Mill Creek. Archibald and Robert Jr. had a mill and got quite wealthy. Here Robert grew a garden he was insanely proud of, even cussing out a prominent church official when he came too close to his turnips.

"Robert had been a strong believer ever since he had first heard the Gospel preached in Canada, and he had paid his tithes and offerings for many years but had never joined the church. In 1851 he became very ill,· and thinking he was about to die, he had his folks place him on a stretcher and carry him to the stream.  There, John Borrowman, the man who had taken the Gospel message to them years before, baptized him. He recovered from his illness, was later ordained a High Priest, and received  his temple endowments. Robert was known as a scholarly man. He kept the business accounts for his son, Robert, Jr. until his death. On November 21, 1855 Robert Gardner died at Mill Creek at the age of 74."

Margaret died on April 28th, 1862. She and Robert are buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetary. Their grave is maintained by the Sons and Daughters of Utah Pioneers.

James Boyack & Elizabeth Mealmaker: Sweethearts and Pioneers

Today we have a story from my maternal grandmother's side of the family. My great-great-great-great-great grandparents. Five greats. James and Elizabeth Boyack. Visual aid shows James all the way down to me, with birth years included for the males.

I decided to highlight their story today because it is one of my favorite ancestral stories. James and Elizabeth are the cutest pioneer couple ever. I swear they both came out of Scottish version of Bonanza or Little House on the Prairie. James was the definition of a hardworking, gentlemanly husband, and Elizabeth embodied straight up hardcore female pioneer power. I also share a bit with Elizabeth; the obvious being our names and we both were born on April 30th. 190 years apart. And let's admit it, I also embody straight up hardcore female pioneer power. Put me in a bonnet, give me a wagon, and call Laura my friend because we are heading west!

Ok, actually we are heading to Scotland first. To the county town of Forfar, in Angus, Scotland. Twas here on April 30th, 1805 that Elizabeth Mealmaker was born, and on August 25th, 1805 when James Boyack was born. I know I said in my last post that I was totally moving to Great Snoring in England but Forfar has it beat. One word y'all. Castles.

Forfar is just stunningly beautiful. It is surrounded by the five Angus Glens. Just green rolling hills and waterfalls. The city retains so much old Scottish architecture and has some of the most wonderful churches and chapels I've ever seen. Scattered around are these really cool things called Pictish stones which I highly recommend reading about here. Forfar is also the birthplace of the Forfar Bridie (which I attempted to make, see bottom of post) and Strathmore Bottled Water. Two castles are located near the town, Kinnettles Castle and Glamis Castle. Links: here.

Especially pleasing to me was the discovery that Glamis Castle is considered "One of the most haunted castles in Britain." According to the ever-so reliable source of mysteriousbritain.co.uk and their article on Glamis Castle, there are like 5 ghosts AND there is supposedly this secret room where the hideously deformed son of the 11th Early was bricked up in and he became some sort of monster boy who lives for hundreds of years and eats goats and stuff. And then I discovered that Forfar has this reputation in the 17th century for burning a butt load of witches whose ghosts still haunt the town. Definitely Elisabeth approved.

Not that it has anything to do with the Boyack's, but it's interesting to understand where they come from nonetheless. ANYWAYS...There isn't a whole lot of information on James or Elizabeth's childhood, but I would like to share a story told by their granddaughter, Ida Whiting:

"It happened one day when James was taking out a young girl, by the name of Elizabeth Mealmaker; at a carnival or fair which they gone to. A gypsy fortune teller told him and his sweetheart that they would marry and have a large family, that they would cross the ocean and in their old age they would have a house, land and gold, and eat white bread. As they left the fortune teller’s booth, the girl touched the young man’s arm and said, “What a lee (lie) Jeemmy”. The fortune teller’s words seemed so impossible to them that they laughed about it as they walked away, yet all of it came to pass for them."

ISN'T THAT ADORABLE!!!! Now, Ida also mentions that no one really believed the gypsy teller actually saw the future. But she thinks that maybe that event put a seed in their minds and started a desire to cross the ocean.

In November of 1827, James and Elizabeth got married and moved to a small cottage a bit further south near Dundee, Scotland. Together they had fourteen (yes, fourteen) children. The last two were twins, and they died young of a fever. It is completely unfathomable to me what it took to support 14 kids in 1800s Scotland, and I know James and Elizabeth did not have it easy. James was a foreman, and he was considered pretty well off...but that money spread out amidst 14 kids...still rough. That led to most of the children being sent to work while quite young. Ida says "Some worked on the large farms, or estates, some in the oatmeal and other mills, and one daughter clerked in a candy shop in Dundee." James often worked from sunup to sundown. Ida again says "As he placed his weekly earnings in her hands, he often said, “yours is the hardest part to make this money go around for all of our needs."

Despite all of their hardships, the Boyack's were a highly spiritual family. They attended their parish church regularly for services. They lived plain, but happy for a long time. And then in 1845 James heard the teachings of Elder Hugh Findlay from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was baptized that same year, by that same man. Elizabeth was not so easily convinced, she was not baptized until 1851. Link on early missionary work in Scotland.

Like most Saints in Scotland, they faced some harshness. James and Elizabeth wanted very badly to take their family to America, and to gather to Zion with the church. But transatlantic ship passage for that many people would be unfathomably expensive. They sure tried though. James and Elizabeth sent their son, James Jr., to America to try to earn money for the rest of them. After a few months James Jr. realized there wasn't a chance he would be able to earn that much money, so he signed his family up on the perpetual emigration fund, provided by the LDS church to help bring coverts from Europe to America.


They traveled on a small boat to Liverpool, and then on April 22nd, 1855 they set sail aboard the Samuel Curling for America. I've included a picture of the passenger manifest for the ship with their names (and the name of Margery Waterhouse, the girlfriend of James Jr. who went with the Boyacks to reunite with James Jr. in Utah). Ship life was suckish. They ate the same thing over and over again. Elizabeth had a hard time with laundry, she was a bit of a rebel on board and was "often reprimanded by the crew for hanging her laundry lines in dangerous places". And once one of their sons almost fell overboard and got spanked by a sailor. But they finally landed in New York on May 27th, 1855. From there they took a train and then a steam boat to St. Louis and then another boat to Atchison, Kansas.

On August 4, 1855, the Boyack family started west in the ox team company led by Milo Andrus. They walked most of the way, saving the oxen to pull the wagon. Despite extreme sickeness on the road, the Boyack family all survived and made it to Salt Lake City on October 4th, 1855 where they reunited with James Jr.. They stayed in SLC for a very short time before moving to Palmyra, just west of Spanish Fork. All 5 of James and Elizabeth's daughters were married within a year (Ida says: all to good Scots men). In 1856 they moved the short distance to Spanish Fork.

They lived quite happily, although still plain. Local Native Americans taught James to cultivate corn and how to bring water from the canyon and the lake. James learned to hunt, and often hunted up Spanish Fork Canyon. James played the fiddle, and Elizabeth was quite the singer. Their son Alexander, the only one who didn't wed went missing (never to be seen again) somewhere in the Black Hills, and left James and Elizabeth alone in their home where they lived for several years entertaining grandchildren every chance they got.

When they grew too old to live by themselves, they moved into a room in their daughter Mary's house where they lived out the rest of their days in peace. Elizabeth died in 1886, and James in 1888. They were laid to rest in the Spanish Fork City Cemetery. Since I live so close I decided to go visit and photograph the grave with my mom and brother on July 3rd, 2015.

I also decided I had to make one of these famous "Forfar Bridie's"  which were "invented" during the time the Boyack's lived near Forfar so maybe they had one! And I wanted to taste the kind of food my ancestors might have eaten, so a quick stop at the grocery store on the way home from work and an hour in the kitchen later I whipped up some Bridie's!!!

They were pretty good tasting too. I should note that I used beef, and not the traditional lamb. Because I don't eat lamb. I also didn't soak the meet in beer...because I don't drink beer. And I used half and half instead of beef stock. And I used premade pastry dough because who has the time. But everything else pretty much yes at the recipe found here. Then I brushed it with egg to get the outside crispy and yum. I even got picky eater Riley to eat one and he loved it!!! I will say it's pretty much an old fashioned version of a meatloaf hotpocket. Hooray for traditional Scottish food!!! And thanks for reading!