Dodging the Draft

Earlier this year, Episode 5 of season 10 of Finding Your Roots aired, and I was given new insights into the origin of my Haussler line. In that episode Bob Odenkirk was shown a military record for his ancestor who was from the Bas-Rhin area of Alsace, France. That got my attention because that’s where my ancestor, Francis Haussler, was born. The ancestor in the show was born in 1790 and served in Napoleon’s army. I immediately realized Francis’ father was born in 1792 in France, most likely in Alsace since he was a German-speaker, and wondered if he also served in Napoleon’s army? Eventually I came around to wondering if that was why the Hausslers immigrated to the US?

Cue montage music over a bunch of research into French military conscription, arrondissements, cantons and communes, and familysearch.org records for the area. The big hurdle was discovering that Kuttolsheim, the commune (civil township) where Francis was born, wasn’t always in the same arrondissement and canton that it is today. Those administrative divisions got modified over time. The other issue was that the available records didn’t cover the time period when the father, Ferdinand aka Frederick, was the correct age for conscription.

Then I realized something else was true about this family. Francis’ brother Leonard was born in 26 Apr 1820 in France. This date comes from his registration for the Civil War draft.¹

There was the equivalent of draft records for the year 1840 that listed all the males born in 1820. After spending time looking in records for Savern arrondissement where Kuttolsheim is located now and not finding it where it should be, my gut told me to look in Strasbourg arrondissement, where it had been in the earlier part of the 20th century. 519 images later, this appeared on my screen (cropped):

Registres militaires et tableaux de recensement, 1817-1856, Conscrits Strasbourg, 1840,FHL# 1165989, img 519

This is why researching genealogy is so much fun. The high that comes from finding a gold nugget after panning for hours makes it all worthwhile. The willingness to look at every page of that reel of digitized microfilm came from knowing that families move around. There was no expectation of finding Leonard in Kuttolsheim in 1840. The record was found in the list for the (1840) canton Cruchtersheim and the commune Schnersheim…3 miles from Kuttolsheim.

Google Maps

The draft registration record for Leonard provides a great deal of information. The obvious thing is the birth date, which lines up with the date in the Civil War registration, proving it is the same man. The 1.2. under his name indicates he could read and write. The birth place of Kuttolsheim is key. Leonard was born in Kuttolsheim in 1820 and Francis was born in the same place in 1824. Given how small that commune is, even today, makes the case that they were brothers and that Andrew, the middle son, was probably born in the same place in 1823. The next column was for the occupation of the parents. Ferdinand is shown as a sellier, which translates to skilled tradesman or saddler. And the mother, Barbe Lochner (!!!) appears to be keeping house. Learning the mother’s name is a gift from the genealogy gods.

There was one more important detail on the next image after Leonard’s registration: the date the record was created: 10 Jan 1841. What happened next?

Six months later, on 23 Jun 1841, the vessel Rose arrived at the Port of New York.² On board were Ferdinand, Leonard and Maria, aged 16 with their seven trunks.

After searching various databases I am comfortable saying that Ferdinand did not serve in Napoleon’s army. Still, it would have been impossible not to know how disruptive such service was to the lives of his contemporaries. Who could blame him for seeing the 1840 conscription registration as a wake-up call that the lives of his sons might be similarly disrupted? As a reason to immigrate to America, it holds up pretty well.

1. U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865, Illinois, Sangamon Co, Vol 5 of 6, ancestry ↩︎
2. Passenger lists of vessels arriving at New York, 1820-1897 ; index to passenger lists of vessels arriving in New York, 1820-1846 Passenger Lists 11 May 1841-28 Jun 1841, image 697, familysearch ↩︎

Relocating for Work

I have been having the best time with the new full text search engine that Familysearch is testing. Using Artificial Intelligence, the search engine ‘reads’ handwritten text in the document categories they’ve made available: probate and deeds. This is so much better than an index because the tool identifies all the names in a document, making it possible to discover a mention of a relative in a place no one would ever think to look. In this case in an annual probate administration report for someone else unrelated to my family.

In the October term of 1860 the record was made in the Woodford County, Illinois Probate records, 1846-1863 on page 329 of an accounting by the guardian of Aurelius Edgar Felter, minor heir of deceased Jacob Felter. The guardian, John C. Harvey, asked for and presumably got permission to be credited for building a house, most likely to generate additional rental income, on a farm owned by the orphan Aurelius Edgar Felter.

For context, Woodford County is about 130 miles southwest of Chicago. The lumber most likely would have been ordered by a dealer and brought to Secor, Illinois by rail. Secor, like so many small rural towns in America, owed their existence to the presence of the railroad. The orphan, Aurelius Felter, was aged 3 in the 1860 census for Greene Township, Woodford Co, IL and living in the household of William A. Jennings. On that same census page was the household of Stephen Cummins, who provided lodging for the house carpenter.

Woodford County, Illinois Probate records, 1846-1863, pg. 330

C H Slemmer is my great-great-grandfather on my mother’s paternal side. Here he is in the 1860 Census living as a boarder in Secor, Il, age 23, carpenter, born in Pennsylvania.

Greene Township was directly north of Palestine Township, where Secor is located, a distance of a few miles. Still, Charles was given board to live near the property where the house was being built. The obvious questions like was he a contractor who hired sub-contractors, or how long did it take come to mind. The real question for me is this: was this the reason Charles H. Slemmer moved to Secor, Illinois? I knew he was a carpenter, but he married the daughter of a furniture maker. I always thought that was the kind of carpentry he practiced. It never occurred to me that he built houses. For a fast-growing small town, someone who knew how to build houses would be far more useful than someone who could turn furniture legs on a lathe.

And why Secor? Was he in Chicago and get hired to accompany the lumber with the promise of work? Did he respond to an ad in a Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania newspaper? Did he have a few bucks in his pocket and he wanted to see how far west he could afford to go? It wasn’t love because his wife-to-be was only eleven-years-old in 1860. His five brothers went west, too, but only as far as Ohio and Indiana, so it wasn’t family. Whatever the reason, he liked what he saw because in 1866 he married the nubile Miss Caroline Haussler, settled down, had a son, and he died in Secor in 1903. In the 1870 census Charles’ real property was valued at $3,500. Thanks to Familysearch’s new AI tech, I can make an educated guess that Charles built the house where they were living.

Kin or Coincidence?

Fourteen years ago an Ancestry user posted a comment on my profile for Magdalena Dietz, who married Francis Haussler, positing the possibility that their ancestor, Margarethe Dietz, might be a sister. From that comment I learned that Margarethe was also born in Spielberg, Germany and had moved from New York City to the small town of Secor, Illinois about the same time as Magdalena. Tempting, right?

The good news is that the Illinois, Death and Stillbirth Index, 1916-1947 (Ancestry) for all three of the surviving children born to the couple Gottlieb Becker and Margarethe Dietz confirms she had the same maiden name as Magdalena.

The earliest record I can confidently attribute to Margarethe is the 1855 New York Census where the couple was enumerated on 17 Jul 1855. The question in the column to the left of occupation asks “Years resident in this city or town”. From this I surmised Gottlieb came to America in 1845 (supported by his obituary) and Margaretha came to America in 1850.

The New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, Ancestry, has two possibilities for Margarethe: one for 13 Apr 1850 where the age is a fragment, and the other for 5 Jul 1850 where the age is 21. Her tombstone gives a birth date of 26 Oct 1831. She should have still been 18 on either of those arrivals. Honestly, I’m not confident about either of those passenger lists because the part of the age that can be seen on the first one is most definitely not an eight. For the sake of argument, accept that Margarethe did arrive in 1850…then why isn’t she living with Magdalena when she was enumerated on the 13th of August?¹ For the option of kin to work, Margarethe should have arrived later than 13 Aug 1850. That’s not out of the realm of possible.

Magdalena, on the other hand had been in the US for 12 years in 1855. What I can’t pin down is how old she was in 1843 when she would have arrived because she maddeningly kept changing her age. If I had to guess, I’d say the earliest record, her marriage record, was the correct one; Magdalena was a year younger than Francis b. 1824, rather than three years older.

Gottlieb Becker’s obituary (The Weekly Pantagraph, 23 Jun 1916) revealed that he married Margarethe in 1854, came to Secor, Illinois in 1857, moved to El Paso, Illinois in 1890 and that he was a member of the Methodist Evangelical Church. Francis Haussler opened a furniture store and was the undertaker in Secor in 1858.² Unfortunately the Becker family wasn’t enumerated in 1860 or 1870. Both families appear as neighbors in the 1880 census in Secor.

Other facts to consider: Margarethe named one of her sons Edmund and a daughter Lidia Caroline; two of her grandsons have the middle name Edmund. Magdalena named a daughter Adeline Caroline and one of her grandsons was named Edmund. Margarethe’s oldest son John was an undertaker (like Francis). Alas there are no DNA matches.

At the very least they were neighbors who may or may not have met in NYC. Really good friends who bonded over what they had in common? Entirely possible. Cousins? There’s no way to rule that out. Sisters? Squishy but not impossible. I’d feel better about calling them siblings if there were any DNA matches. Until that changes, I’m sticking with coincidence.

1. 1850 Census, New York, Ward 6, New York, New York, pg. 213A ↩︎
2. Secor Centennial Book 1857-1957, pg. 113, familysearch ↩︎

Marrying Up

My lack of interest in why my ancestors immigrated to America remains constant. I have, however, begun to be curious about how they managed once they got here.

For no particular reason, I started with Gerd Heinrich Kuck, my 2x great-grandfather. I remember the response I got from my 1st cousin when I shared that image of him was, “Yikes.” He was a stern and somewhat forbidding looking fellow.

Gerd Heinrich Kuck (aka Henry) was born 22 Jul 1834 to unmarried parents (married in 1836), Ahlert Kuck and Anna Margarethe Cordes. Henry had a younger brother Herman, born 31 Jan 1839. On 10 Nov 1861, Henry married Helene Margarethe Catherine Winter who was born 14 Jan 1841. All in the general area of today’s Rastede north of Oldenburg. (Family records)

On 14 Mar 1871 the Deutschland arrived in New York City from Bremen, Germany, about a two week voyage. In steerage were Herman and wife Helene; Heinrich (Henry) and his wife Helene and their six children, Elise b. 1863, Heinrich b. 1864, Helene b. 1866, Johanna b. 1867, Henrike b. 1869 and Johann 2 months-old. (New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, ancestry) The easiest and fastest way to get to their destination, Atchison County in Missouri (directly north of Holt County) would have been by train, which would have taken another week to ten days. Sadly on 19 Apr 1872 Henry’s wife Helene died leaving Henry, aged 38, with a few children to raise.

Two and half years later, on 28 Feb 1875, Henry married the widow Katherine Borchers (b. 22 Jul 1833, Hanover) in Holt County, Missouri. (Missouri Synod, U.S., Lutheran Church records, 1851-1972, ancestry) Henry was 41 and Katherine was 42 and about 7 months pregnant with their daughter Helena, who died at 18 months. Four of Henry’s children survived to adulthood: Elise, Richard, Henrike and Johann. Katherine had five children survive: Rosa, Matilda, Louisa, Henry and Fred (aka Fritz).

Missouri, U.S., State Census Collection, 1844-1881, ancestry, 1876, Township 63, pg. 359

Census records do not paint a clear picture of this blended family. Missing in 1876 are Henrike age 7 and Johann age 5 of Henry. Katherine’s oldest daughters Rosa and Matilda were married. Louisa age 15 and Henry age 11 were not enumerated. In 1880, still in Holt County, Elise is a servant in another household, Richard and Ricke are living with Henry and Katherine. Louisa, Fritz, and the now deceased Rosa’s children Anna and Henry are also in the household. Katherine’s son Henry is living in Fremont County, Iowa with his uncle, G.A.D. Schweer. Still no sign of Johann who would be 9.

I gave up trying to understand why various children weren’t enumerated and moved on to what level of financial success Henry might have enjoyed, not thinking for a moment that his ability to sustain his escape poverty would be tied to his second wife’s connections.

Katherine’s immigrant experience was significantly different from Henry’s. Her obituary gives an enlightening account of the journey.

At the age of eight years she, in the company of her mother and step-father, Andrew Buck, crossed the Atlantic and after a stormy voyage of eight weeks landed at New Orleans, from whence, by steamboat, they came up the Mississippi river to St. Louis and from there followed the Missouri up to Weston, Mo., where they purchased a farming outfit and by ox team came out into the wilderness, stopping at Hemme’s Landing near the present site of Corning, Holt county, Missouri. Here they pitched their tent on August 8th, 1841.

Holt County Sentinel, Fri, Jan 28, 1916, pg. 2

Unlike when Henry came to America on a steamship in two weeks, Katherine and her relations came to America under mast, specifically on a Barque in two months.

New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., Passenger Lists, 1813-1963, ancestry

It isn’t abundantly obvious looking at this passenger list that Cath^a Danker age 7 is the right person. Based on the other individuals on the list, I’m now convinced this is the correct person. The date the ship left Hamburg lines up. All the people in that red box ended up in Holt County, Missouri. Heinrich Danker, age 5, died 20 Aug 1917 in Holt County. His death certificate names his father Henry Danker and his mother Rebecca Buck.

There is Andrew Buck living with his step-daughter Katherine, next door to his likely sister Rebecca Buck and her husband Henry and son Henry Jr. Katherine and Henry Jr. grew up together, sharing the immigrant and settler experience in tandem. That friendship would serve Katherine well throughout her lifetime.

Where that connection benefit my family was when Henry and Katherine financed a previous purchase of 60 (40 plus 20) acres in Holt County on March 1st, 1876 from Henry A Dankers Jr. for $1,400. (Holt County, Missouri Deed Book 29, page 381, familysearch) They used a type of financing called a Deed of Trust (similar to a mortgage), where the title to the property was held in trust by a third party until the loan was paid off. That third party was Diedrich Schweer, aka G.A.D. Schweer of Fremont County, Iowa…Katherine’s son-in-law.

Pay $23+ an acre for land and are cash poor? How better to secure funds for livestock, feed, equipment, etc. than to borrow it from your wife’s well-off childhood friend using the land as collateral held in trust by your wife’s son-in-law? Revisiting the 1876 census, the family had five horses, 18 head of cattle, 31 hogs, 2000 bushels of wheat and 200 bushels of oats. Not too shabby for someone who had only been in this country for five years. The loan was paid off by 2 Dec 1887 and the land was released from trust. (Holt County, Missouri Deed Book 61 pg. 102)

I Have Questions

Apparently the best way for me to accurately examine records from my own family is to write about someone. Then there is that feeling when some of what I’m examining doesn’t add up. I was going to start writing about one of my more interesting ancestors, Jonathan Sanborn Basford and his wife Guly Martha Allen, but got sidetracked looking at the records of Jonathan’s parents, Jonathan and Phebe. Jonathan, yes…Phebe…I’m not so sure now.

Jonathan Sanborn Basford’s tombstone shows his birth date is 8 Jun 1811; his Black Hawk War pension application gave his birth place as Georgia, Franklin Co, Vermont. His middle name Sanborn and a statement about his father being Jonathan Basford comes from a mention in the History of Edgar County, Illinois, Chicago: W. Le Baron Jr. & Co., 1879, pg. 490, ancestry.com.

The 1810 census for Georgia, Franklin, Vermont shows Jonathan Basford at the bottom of page 293A between the subtotal and total (not transcribed on ancestry); the family composition is:

1 male < 10
1 male 16-25
1 male 26-44
1 female 26-44

In the 1820 census for Vigo County, Indiana, pg. 186, the family looks like this:

2 male < 10
1 male 10-15
1 male 26-44
1 female < 10
1 female 10-15

No adult female was enumerated. Until now I have always accepted the conclusions of previous research because it seemed to have been so well documented with citations and transcriptions. One thing that jumps out at me is that there are two females named Phebe missing from these records.

The 1810 census is missing a female < 10: Phebe Basford born about 1807 in Vermont who married Samuel Jones.

History and Genealogy of the Family of Thomas Noble, of Westfield, Massachusetts, Boltwood, L, Hartford CT, 1878.

Enumerator error? Maybe. The family was shoehorned into the record as something of an afterthought. There is a 10-15 female in 1820 who could be Phebe born in 1807. The bigger question is why is there no adult female in the household in Vigo County, Indiana in 1820? And what happened to the female 26-44 from the 1810 census?

For the sake of this post, I’m comfortable agreeing that the following are children of Jonathan Basford b. 1780 in New Hampshire:

Phebe Basford b. 1807 in Vermont
Joshua Kilbourn S Basford b. 1810 in Vermont
Jonathan Sanborn Basford b. 1811 in Vermont
Levisa J Basford b. 1813 in Vermont
Benjamin S Basford, b. 1817 in New York
Lydia Delia S Basford b. 1823 in Vigo County, Indiana

Everyone assumed that Phebe N. was the mother of all these children. I had blindly assigned her the surname Sanborn for research purposes. Now I’m questioning whether or not she’s even my ancestor. Phebe appeared in the 1850 census, born circa 1782 in Massachusetts, living with Lydia and Lydia’s family in District 19, Edgar County, Illinois, pg. 165B. Edgar County, Illinois Deed Book 1, page 177 has a deed where Jonathan Basford and his wife Phebe N. sold land to George Harding dated 3 Mar 1829. That is basically all that is known about her. Is Phebe the mother of any of Jonathan’s children?

This is normally where I would turn to the autosomal DNA results, but those only help if there are parents and siblings. Although in my matches there are descendants of the daughter Phebe who match a descendant of the daughter Lydia. I’m tempted to say all the children have at least on parent in common, probably Jonathan. My uncle, however, has some intriguing matches among the descendants of Jonathan to people who have Sanborns from Rockingham County, New Hampshire in their trees. I’m toying with the idea that Sanborn might have been the maiden name of Jonathan’s mother, Lydia. Jonathan’s father Benjamin was born in Rockingham County, New Hampshire. As an experiment, I’ve removed Sanborn from Phebe and placed it with Lydia; it opens up a new avenue of research.

One last question that is bugging me, and I haven’t seen anyone ask it before: Why was Jonathan’s son Benjamin born in New York? I double-checked and all Benjamin’s records support New York as a birth place. There might not be an answer, but I’m definitely looking at this family differently. And now I don’t feel comfortable saying Phebe is the mother of Jonathan Sanborn Basford.

Six Generations

This all began as a result of binge-watching the last four seasons of Finding Your Roots. For a couple years now I have almost exclusively worked on other people’s trees and not my own, but watching those episodes made me wonder if there might be an interesting story to tell about my family. Well, be careful what you wish for.

My genealogy hobby is basically a niche practice focused on finding provable patriots from the Revolutionary War. Researching immigrants, a common theme on the show, seemed like a logical place to start. All of my great-grandmothers were either immigrants or first generation Americans. Perusing the records I had accumulated led me to conclude that economic opportunity and escaping poverty was the driving force for all of those post Civil War ancestors to travel to the new world. They are really good at making that sound compelling on TV, but sorry…next.

Let’s look for the earliest provable ancestor to come to America. Keyword: provable. As in not that pesky one generational connection that can’t be proven back to the Mayflower. Shake the magic Ancestry tree to see what falls out. I have a William Goodhue who came from England to Essex County, Massachusetts some time in the 1630’s and Robert Houston who came to Virginia some time in the 1650’s. Colonial New England has never held any appeal for me. I have written about Robert’s widow, Grace, before…okay, why not?

Once again I am going to rely on the scholarly work of The Houstons of the Eastern Shore: Some Descendants of Robert Houston c. 1633-1694 by William Robert Montgomery Houston, MD (1996) for the details of Robert’s appearance on the Eastern Shore. “In America, as the first record of a member of the Houston family, Robert Houston’s name appears 27 November 1652 in a claim for 500 acres in Northampton County, Virginia, by Edward Revell.” Robert was Scottish according to a court case in 1658, and in 1659 in a deposition Robert stated he was 26 years-old. I can confidently say that Robert was born about 1633 in Scotland and immigrated to America no later than age 19. He did pretty well for himself.

Robert Houston was my 9th great-grandfather. He named his eldest son in his Will, probated 25 Apr 1694, as John, my 8th great-grandfather (Maryland, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1777, ancestry.com). In the Will is found this line: I have given unto my son John Houston a girl called Mary who is now in his possession and has been ever since she was twelve month old which said negro I have freely given as a gift.

*Blink* What? It goes downhill from there. Later in the document Robert wrote: “Item I give unto my daughter Grace Benston three ewes, three weathers and the first live child which my negro Betty shall happen to bear to be received by my said daughter when it is weanable….” I’m guessing weanable is twelve months old. The next live child (male or female) that Betty might have was to go to Robert’s son Thomas when it was weanable. Betty was willed to the son Joseph along with all her subsequent increase. The son Benjamin was bequeathed “one negro boy called Dick”.

Based on information in the book I’m referencing, Dick would have been born about 1675…one hundred years before the Revolutionary War began and 18 years-old when Robert died. Mary may have been quite young as well. Some of Robert and Grace’s children were still in their minority, too. Apparently Betty’s first child was a daughter born about 1696, who was then given to Grace Benston in 1697. Teenager Betty’s first two children were predestined to be torn from her breast and given to another family to raise. That’s something you do to a cow, not a human being. Betty wouldn’t be allowed to have her own children in the same household until she produced a third child. Dick was set free and given a horse and saddle by virtue of the Will (on Ancestry) of Benjamin Houston, proven in 1734. Dick would have been about 59.

My 8th great-grandfather, John Houston, gave his estate to his children while he was alive, which made it difficult to determine if he had slaves since there was no Will. The lineage, then, was traced through the inheritance by his son James of two parcels of land called Scotts Lott and Langton. I do have one document for him from Worcester County, Maryland Deed Book A pages 238-9. It is a deed of gift to his daughter and son-in-law Rachel and William Brittingham where John Houston gives three slaves: Ross, Nimrod and Harry. Rachel and William turn around and immediately gift Nimrod to their daughter Rebecca, Ross to daughter Lavina and Harry to daughter Suffiah. Starting to look like a family tradition.

My 7th great-grandfather, James Houston, did leave a Will (Worcester Co WB 4, pg 111-13 probated 3 Mar 1772) where he named my 6th great-grandfather, John Houston, and my 5th great-grandfather, Levi Houston. To John, and after his decease to Levi was left the parcel of land called Chestnut Ridge, and one ‘negro man named Jack’, and then several other slaves to James’ other children. Three generations in one document keeping the tradition alive.

Levi Houston and his family moved from Maryland to Kentucky about 1812 but not without incident. A few years ago when I was in record collection mode I came across this amazing document where the heirs of Levi Houston had given Power of Attorney to John Schoolfield (Worcester Co MD Liber AW folios 139-42) in 1830, six years after Levi’s probate. The document tells a story about two slaves, Peter, who ran away from Levi before the move to Kentucky, and Grace who ran away during the move to Kentucky. Peter, aged 41 (b. 1789) and still living in Maryland, was able to purchase his freedom for $100. Grace disappeared in Pittsburgh, a launching point for traveling down the Ohio River to Kentucky. From the tenor of the document it appeared Levi had been pretty upset about losing Grace not only for her value but for the value he placed on any children she would bear. That might be due, in part, to it becoming illegal to import slaves in 1808. John Schoolfield was authorized to try to find Grace (something Levi had failed to do in his lifetime) and do whatever was legally necessary to get her and any children she might have had in the eighteen-year interim back, then sell Grace and her children to recoup the value. If Levi hadn’t found Grace from 1812 to 1824, it was unlikely John Schoolfield would have had any greater success locating her in 1830.

Levi Houston’s Will was proven 22 Mar 1824 (Bracken Co KY Order Book B pg 146, familysearch). He gave land to his sons James and Joseph. To his daughter Sally Secrist he gave a girl named Gin/Jane, already in her possession; his daughter Nancy Dix a boy named Bob, also already in her possession; to his daughter Betsy Woods (my 5th great-grandmother) was given a woman named Priscilla and her daughter Sarah; to his son John a girl named Silvy and her brother Friendship. Levi’s servant, Nehemiah, was to serve 15 years after the date of the Will ( 13 Apr 1822) and the profits of his labor was to be divided between the daughters, after which Nehemiah was to be set free.

Then there is this from Bracken County KY Will Book C, page 121

These are receipts for the sale at public auction of the people mentioned in Levi’s Will…respectfully submitted on Christmas Day…charming.

I’m still working out the details and understanding of what these receipts indicate. I do know that Elizabeth and William Woods were already living across the river in Clermont County, Ohio at the time, then moved to Edgar County, Illinois about 1830. There is no sign of Priscilla or Sarah in their household.

I don’t even understand how someone can think it’s okay to litter, much less rip a child from its mother’s breast to give away like livestock, or keep another human in bondage, grow up around them, then sell them to someone else! Dehumanizing people and exploiting them for free labor is a powerful drug.

What struck me about all this is how long it had been going on and how ingrained it was in this family. Six generations, spanning approximately 150 years from when Robert switched from indentured servants to slaves up to the point where Elizabeth allowed a woman and her daughter to be sold to someone else like it was nothing. AND it would be another forty years before the system would end in this country. From Grace Houston, widow of Robert to Grace the runaway slave; that’s some set of bookends.

Grace, where ever you ended up, I hope you had a full life with lots of fat children who grew up free and proud and have descendants walking this earth as a testament to your bravery.