RESEARCH FINDINGS
Please accept my apologies for the lateness of this month’s
newsletter. We have just returned from
the New Mexico Bankers’ Legislative trip to Washington, D.C. Though I have been to our nation’s capitol a
number of times before, this was the first time that my family has come
along. We had a wonderful trip, and had
good visits with our legislators; Senators Domenici and Bingaman,
Representatives Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce (with whom we also had dinner
on our last evening there). We didn’t
spend very much time with Senator Domenici as he was in Appropriation Committee
meetings most of the day and was leaving that evening for the Pope’s funeral services.
We ate very well, traveled on the Metro and saw many of the great sights
(including the Smithsonian, the cherry blossoms, the Memorials, the “International Spy Museum”,
the zoo, the Supreme Court, and the Senate in session). In between all of our sightseeing and
meetings with the American Bankers Association (ABA), the Chairman of the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Reserve and Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), I of course had to find a little bit of
time to visit the National Archives and look up a few Civil War pension
files.
I had twenty-four pension files pulled (both on my father’s
and mother’s lines) and am going to summarize highlights from some of those of
my father’s side.
The following are descendants of James and Temperance
Babcock (parents of Susan who married 1) Ira L. Kingsley, 3) Asa Crandall and
possibly 2) Simeon Kingsley; and their daughter Betsy who married Samuel
Wiser):
Frederick Cites, member of Company E, 81st Indiana
Infantry (was married to Harriet Swift, daughter of Erastus and Cynthia
(Kingsley) Swift. Cynthia was the
daughter of Simeon and Susannah Kingsley). Frederick
died of disease the 29th January 1863 in the Camp
Hospital near Murfreesboro, TN. After his death, Harriet married Henry Sites
(possibly a brother of Frederick), 18th
October 1864 in Harrison County,
IN. Apparently, Harriet died very shortly after
the wedding as the records state that she passed away in the month of October
1864. She had had two children with
Frederick, Henry Clay Cites, born 28th September 1861, (Gustavus A.
Marsh was appointed guardian 23rd February 1867), and Henrietta E.
Cites, born 17th January 1863, who died 3rd July 1864.
Jacob Eyer, member of Company D, 21st
Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company G, of the 74th Indiana
Infantry and Company G, of the 56th Illinois Infantry Regiment-Mechanics’
Fusileers (was married to Augusta R. Kingsley, daughter of William D. and Mary
Jane (Fenner) Kingsley. William D. was
the son of Ira L. and Susan (Babcock) Kingsley). Jacob passed away the 15th July
1893. Augusta
passed away the 24th of January 1932 in Long Beach, CA,
of influenza followed by pneumonia. She
was buried at Inglewood
Park Cemetery. Her daughter, Sylvia M. Wood asked for help
with the funeral expenses as her husband was unemployed at the time.
Ira L. Kingsley, member of the Unassigned Company of
the 1st Michigan Cavalry (was the son of William D. and Mary Jane
(Fenner) Kingsley, sister of Augusta R. Kingsley Eyer above). Ira L. Kingsley’s middle name was Lawson. I would guess that this could be the surname
of his grandfather’s (Ira L. Kingsley) mother.
Ira had been married to Caroline Haight, who died about 1879. Ira died January 17, 1913 at the home of
Norman S. Kingsley (his brother) in Sand Lake, Kent County, Michigan.
Norman Sylvester Kingsley, a member of Companies A
and E of the 1st Michigan Cavalry (was a brother to Ira Kingsley and
Augusta R. Kingsley Eyer above). Norman
married a second time later in life. He
was 74 at the time and married Ruth J. Phillips, born Ruth J. Lucas, age
79. They were married 29th
September 1919 in Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan and lived together about two
months. A nasty divorce occurred, Ruth
in her own words claimed, “that for some time the soldier had been morose and
ugly because this claimant could not come to his way of thinking relative to
the Adventist Religion. That she never
refused to allow him to observe the Sabbath on Saturday, nor did she refuse to
go to his church, and did go to church with him. That he persisted and insisted
upon her giving up her faith, and of taking up the Adventist church. That she could not conscientiously take up
such belief, and that he was constantly angry because she could not. That she always kept away from religious
discussions, but that the soldier refused to allow her to offer blessing at the
table because he said she was not an advent, wherefore was not a Christian and
if she was not a Christian she could not offer blessing. That on the day of their separation and for a
week or so previous to that he had become more perturbed about this religious
question, and made life more disagreeable for this claimant. That on the morning of their separation, she
asked him to work in the garden, but he refused to do so, and went away and did
not return until after the dinner hour when he came in and ate food that she
had prepared, went upstairs and got his valise and packed it, came down and
said he was going to leave her and left; never giving any logical excuse or
attempting to make any arrangement relative to her support.”
William Lovell, member of Company E, 81st
Indiana Infantry (was the son of Joseph
and Chloe (Kingsley) Lovell. Chloe was
the daughter of Simeon and Susannah Kingsley).
William and Rachel Lopp were married the 11th of January 1866
at Valley City, Indiana.
William died 19th Jul 1904, and had the following children,
Laura R. Richards, nee Lovell, born Aug. 2, 1868, Sarah E. Lovell, born Nov. 5,
1870, Clara A. Carroll nee Lovell, born Apr. 2, 1872 and Mary V. Lovell, born
Dec. 3, 1877.
Eland P. Osgood, member of Company B, 12th
Michigan Infantry (was married to Ione Isadora Jane Bishop; she was the
daughter of Clarinda Babcock Bishop and granddaughter of Perry (Peregrine) P.
and Philanda (Phila) (Fox) Babcock. Perry
was the son of James and Temperance (Decker) Babcock). Eland was born Feb. 15, 1840 at Battle Creek, MI and died
Aug. 23, 1923 at Long Beach,
CA. Eland and Ione were married May 12, 1860 in Hagar Township,
Berrien County, Michigan.
Ione died Aug. 15, 1909.
Eland and Ione lived in Coloma,
MI (3 years); Lucas,
MO (4 years); Sterling,
CO (2 years); Sidney,
NE (37 years) and Long Beach, CA
(until his death). Their children; Cora
Belle Osgood Fitch, born May 17, 1861, Clyde G. Osgood, born Jan. 20, 1868,
Otis M. Osgood, born about June 19, 1871, Millard S. Osgood, born September 26,
1875.
(to be continued in next month’s newsletter.)
OBITUARIES
Please
accept our condolences to those who recently lost family members.
Syracuse, NY Post Standard, 1 Mar 2005; February 27,
2005; June A. Kemp, 74, of Parish, NY. She was born in Syracuse,
NY and died Sunday in Edgewater, Florida.
She was a postal clerk working in the Parish Post Office. She was a graduate of
A.P.W. High School in 1948. She was predeceased
by her first husband, Harrison Brockett who died in 1965 and her second
husband, Albert Kemp (ancestry to Benjamin Wiser-Albert’s father-Albert
DeWitt Morse, his stepfather was Bert Arnold Kemp, Simeon DeWitt Morse, Joseph
C. Morse, Alithea Wiser Morse, Benjamin Wiser) who died in 1980. Survivors:
one daughter, Martha Brockett, West Monroe, NY; two sons, Thomas Brockett,
Edgewater, FL, Stewart Brockett, Cleveland, NY; two grandchildren, Christopher
Hall, Parish, Kaycee Brockett, Cleveland; one great-grandson, Jeremy Hall,
Parish; one brother, Hadwen Jenkins, Auburn; three stepchildren, Bonnie Cramer,
Parish, Connie Kemp, Hawaii, Albert Kemp, Jr., Arizona. Services: 10 a.m.
Friday from the Harter Funeral Home, Parish, NY. Spring burial will be in Pleasant Lawn Cemetery,
Parish, NY. Friends may call 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home, 2983 W. Main St., Parish,
NY.
Marshfield, WI News-Herald, Saturday, 12 Feb
2005; Arlyn Paul "Whitey" Ritter Sr. (ancestry to Benjamin
Wiser-his mother, Alice Mae Adams Ritter, Louis Eli Edwin Adams, Byron (Lewis)
Sidney Adams, Temperance M. Wiser Adams, Samuel Wiser, Benjamin Wiser), age
71, of Granton, died Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2005, at the Tomah Veterans Hospital in
Tomah. A memorial service will be held
at 1:00 p.m., Monday, Feb. 14, 2005, at Zion Evangelical
Lutheran Church
in Granton. Military rites will be
accorded by the Neillsville Veterans Council.
Arlyn's family will greet friends from noon to service time Monday at
the church. Gesche Funeral Home is
assisting the family with arrangements.
Arlyn was born June 27, 1933, in Neillsville to Paul and Alice (Adams) Ritter. He
entered the military on July 7, 1950, and served until he was discharged on
Dec. 14, 1954. He married Patricia N.
Bender on Oct. 16, 1954. Arlyn is
survived by his wife, Patricia; one son Arlyn Paul (Deborah) Ritter Jr.,
Granton; 13 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren; his brothers and
sisters, Pauline (Blaine) McCray, Withee, Wi., Merlyn Ritter, Owen, WI., Victor
(Eileen) Ritter, Unity, Wi., Alice Bender, Owen, WI., Alfreida (Troy) Austin,
Abbotsford, WI., Glen Ritter, Owen, WI., and Pearl Darge, Spencer, WI.
POSTSCRIPT
Thanks
for any suggestions in regards to our family newsletter. Please contact me at 
or at 6 Baton Rouge, Roswell,
NM 88201, or at (505) 623-2534.
