Thursday, December 25, 2014
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
52 Ancestors - John William Landers - Greenbacker
Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small issued the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Each week focus on one ancestor and post something about him or her.
Me - My Mom - Ruby Alberta Belknap - Bessie Beatrice Landers - James Robert Landers - John William Landers
My third great grandfather John William Landers probably had a great impact on his granddaughter, Bessie Landers and her brother, Fred and sister, Ruby. In the 1900 census, John and his wife Mary have their three grandchildren living with them on a farm in Mercer County, Illinois. John is stated as being 70 and Mary as 67. They have had eight children of their own, four of them alive in 1900. John is listed as a farmer and his grandson, Fred, is listed as a farm laborer. He owns the farm, but it's mortgaged. The children's father James R. Landers is living in a house in Aledo, Mercer, Illinois with his 2nd wife and their four children.
To find out a little more about John W. Landers, there is a little biography in the book "The History of Mercer County" published in 1882.
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| John W. Landers |
I wasn't sure what a greenbacker was. But after I read a couple of websites, I learned that it was a political party active between 1874 and 1889. It was named after the green currency used during the civil war. The party had some modern views about income tax, eight hour work days, and women rights to vote. Not sure what it means that he was religiously a liberal.
John W. Landers and Mary Humbert's marriage can be found on the website FamilySearch. On March 21, 1853 they were issued a marriage license in Fountain County, Indiana. They were married three days later on March 24 by Thomas Lyons J.P. They were married for 56 years.
John died in Abingdon, Mercer, Illinois on April 22, 1909. He's buried in the Keithsburg Greenmound Cemetery in Keithsburg, Mercer, Illinois. His wife Mary lives till 1924 and buried beside him.
More about the Landers family:
52 Ancestors - Bessie Beatrice Landers (Belknap) his granddaughter
Sources:
Monday, December 1, 2014
52 Ancestors - Andrew Danskine Aitken - Not Forgotten
Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small issued the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Each week focus on one ancestor and post something about him or her. I've not posted for a while and I'm quite far behind. I was going to post this last month. But I figure even if I can post a few more stories it's better than nothing.
While searching for information on Danskine family members, I came across some information on Andrew Danskine Aitken. He happens to be my 1st cousin twice removed. He would have been my great grandmother's (Elizabeth Danskine) nephew. Andrew was born in Airdire, Lanarkshire, Scotland on July 15, 1882 to Elizabeth's sister, Janet and Janet's husband,(John Aitken). He may have been named after his uncle Andrew Danskine who was a grocer and spirit merchant. Andrew never got to meet the uncle he was named after, as Andrew the grocer died at the age of 27 years old in 1875. Andrew grew up in a family of boys. He had two older step brothers William and James Danskine, an older brother John, and two younger brothers (Robert and Thomas Russell). Andrew was a young man of 25 when his aunt, Elizabeth and her family immigrated to Canada in 1907.
The sad part of discovering Andrew was that he was one of the fallen soldiers of World War I. He was killed in action on August 4th, 1916 in Egypt and is listed on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website as buried in the Kantara War Memoial Cemetery. He was a Second Lieutenant with the Royal Engineers, Lowland Field Company. Andrew, also, has a memorial at the New Monkland Cemetery in Airdrie, Scotland.
Andrew was not only a solider, but he was an architect and teacher.
ANDREW DANSKINE AITKEN
A.R.I.B.A.
Second Lient. L.D.R.E
Killed in Action in Egypt
4th August 1916 Aged 34 Years
There is a biography and a photo of Andrew on the Dictionary of Scottish Architects website.
More on the Danskine family:
Sunday's Obituary - James Danskin his great grandfather
Source:
Airdrie, Lanark, Statutory Births 1855-2013, birth of Andrew Danskine Aitken; digital image, ScotlandsPeople (http://scotlandspeople.gov.uk/: 12 November 2014); 651/01 0317.
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