Week 23 – 52 Ancestor Challenge – Curious

After much too long of a break, I’m hoping to finish this project this year. What better way to get “back in the saddle” than a Murder Mystery…..

In 1998, my husband and I took a road trip in hopes of solving the mystery of the murder of one of my great-great-great-grandfathers, Daniel H. Carroll. I know very little about this man and that drives me a bit crazy.

From the 1850 Scott County, Arkansas Census, I know that he was born about 1820 in Kentucky. About 1843 he married Nancy Boultinghouse and they had four children, Sarah Jane in 1844, Francis Marion in 1848, and twins, Thomas Jefferson and Mary Elender Victoria, on 21 Apr 1851. Fourteen days later Daniel was murdered while at work. Thirty-one short years of life and a huge mystery that still remains shrouded 171 years later.

“August 5th A.D 1851

Dear Brothers and Sisters

I gladly imbrace the present opportunity of writing you a few lines….. if you have not heard it I will Now let you know that I lost my husband on the 6th day of last may he was Shot While he was at work about one half Mile from the Mill geting logs in to the Slough his Brother George was with him Tho was some distance from him when he Was Shot. Daniel never Spoke after he was Shot he turned round and fell on his face and lay there till George went about A Half mile to henry Scaggs and back George saw the glemps of some person Run off but could not tell who it was

I can not tell for sertain who it was That done the murder but I believe it was one of the Harras boys under The influence of Jo Tumlinson it is a great loss to me the greatest I could have met with in this world”*

This letter has intrigued me ever since it came into my hands in the late 1980s. I’ve researched, asked everyone I could think of, run down “rabbit holes”, ANYTHING that might possibly shed some light and reveal more information about who Daniel H. Carroll was and who murdered him. Much to my dissatisfaction and disappointment, I’ve found very little.

In 1998, Jerrell and I decided to visit Waldron, Arkansas to see if we could discover more information by being at the source. Waldron is the county seat of Scott County and where Nancy was living when she wrote the letter. My first stop was at the courthouse where I was informed there were no records that far back due to a fire. I later learned that between the departing Union troops burning most of Waldron, Reconstruction and the “Waldron War” (1870-1882), there truly were no records to be found.

Nancy’s letter goes on to speak of more murders –

“I will now inform you that Jo Tumlinson And his Clan is not Satisfied with taking Daniels life they are still seeking more Blood on the 9th day of July all the Men in the neighborhood of Tumlinson Was called out to work the road in the Evening of that day Joe Tumlinson rode up in to the crowd with a gun on his Shoulder and with out any seremony Shot king Bennet and he died in a Few minutes after Tomlinson Rode off To Waldron and gave himself up to The law and was tried before Esqrs Featherston and Gaines and was acquit He is now the great monster of the West”*

From other researchers and sources I’ve learned that Esquires Featherston and Gaines were apparently “cronies” of Joe Tomlinson/Tumlinson. That being the case, it’s not surprising that he was “aquit” for the murder of King Bennet. My researchers mind wants desperately to know, who killed Daniel and why. Where was he buried, who were his parents and what happened to his brother George. I’ve been banging my head against this brick wall for 40 years.

What I can tell you is this –

Daniel was murdered
Nancy moved to Texas with her father, Daniel Boultinghouse prior to 08 Jan 1854 which is when she remarried.
George M Carroll, who was born about 1822 in Kentucky, was in the 1850 and 1860 Scott County, Arkansas Census and then disappears.

I was told by a local historian that it was very common for people to vanish from Scott County. The aftermath of the Civil War and the Waldron War resulted in many murders and disappearances, she said that many people changed their name and moved on.

This may be a mystery I never solve. I’m currently trying to locate a direct male descendent of my Daniel to take a Y-DNA test.

For further information on how “wild and wooly” Scott County was, The History of Scott County Arkansas paints quite the picture.

That which is not written, is lost forever

Whispers from the Past…..

*Excerpts from a letter written by Nancy Boultinghouse Carroll to her brother, Daniel Brown Boultinghouse, and sister, Mahala Boultinghouse Russell, who were living in Georgetown, Williamson, Texas, are quoted in blue italics.

Week 3 – 52 Ancestors Challenge – Longevity – A Long & Winding Road

Definition of Longevity

1 a : a long duration of individual life

b : length of life

2 : long continuance : permanence, durability

At some time during the 1980s, I was visiting with a cousin by phone. Madolyn was somewhat of a legend, a living History and Genealogy of the Williamson and Burnet County, Texas areas. She could pull info out of her memory like you would a computer. It turned out that Madolyn had rescued dozens of documents that were scheduled to be destroyed.

During the course of our conversation, Madolyn told me that she had several marriage licenses that I would be interested in. She named off some aunts and uncles and then mentioned my great-great-grandparents, Eb Smith and Sarah Jane Carroll. Naturally I wanted copies and asked if I paid for the copies, would she be able to make and send them to me.

When the mail arrived a couple of days later, I was excited to see an envelope from Madolyn. I had never once imagined what I would find in that package. There, among the original marriage licenses of several of my maternal great-great-aunts and uncles, was the handwritten license of Eb & Sarah Jane Smith and a note from Madolyn saying, “I kept this safe until I found the right person to give it to.”

On December 20, 1860, Ebenezer Smith married Sarah Jane Carroll, he was 20, she was 16. They were married for 26 years before she passed away. They had 17 children including three sets of twins and a set of quadruplets, who were born in 1876. Sarah was preceded in death by seven of her children.

I can’t imagine how difficult their lives were. I’ve often heard people say that “things were different back then” or that “death was just a part of living”.

At 157 years old, this document is the oldest original document I possess. To say it is prized, is an understatement. To me, this simple, piece of paper symbolizes a family, a father born in 1840, a mother born in 1844, a joining together in 1860 that resulted in a family that lived, loved, and died with their youngest daughter in 1967. How many families can claim to have spanned 127 years within the original family unit?

When I think of Sarah and Eb, I always think of how this family treasure came into my hands. From a courthouse in 1860 to a lover of History in the 1900s to a woman who had gazed at the faces of her great-great-grandparents while listening to their granddaughter, my grandmother, tell about their lives. I look at this simple piece of paper and I am reminded of the countless number who have come before me and those who are yet to be born. They are why I travel the road I do, they are why I am who I am. #52ancestors

That which is not written is lost forever…..

Whispers from the Past…..

Week 2 – 52 Ancestors Challenge – Favorite Photo

When I saw what the prompt was for week two, I had a small panic attack. “How in the world am I going to choose a favorite photo?”

Now, normally that might not be a big deal but, having recently added several thousand photos to my collection….. well, you get the problem.

Fortunately, a cousin made this decision fairly easy for me. Recently I received a message asking if I knew who was in a picture she’d come across while scanning lots of family photos to share. I hate to say that I forgot to answer her, but I did. We were out of town and when we got home first one thing and then another came up. Two weeks later she reminded me about the picture and I determined to stop right then and figure this out. I knew the woman looked familiar but I had never seen this particular photo.

After asking some questions about where she found the photo and if there was anything on the back, the light came on. I immediately pulled up a picture along with the one she was inquiring about and started doing semi transparent overlays. Perfect match.

Nancy Boultinghouse Carroll Letter — Murder of Daniel Carroll

Sarah Jane Carroll, my maternal great-great-grandmother, was born in 1844 in Scott County, Arkansas to Nancy Boultinghouse and Daniel Carroll, she was the oldest of their four children. When Sarah Jane was only six, her daddy was murdered in Scott County. She, her momma, and siblings, moved to Williamson County, Texas, following her grandfather and other family members. At the early age of 16, Sarah Jane married Ebenezer Smith and they had 17 children including three sets of twins and a set of quadruplets. It should come as no surprise that she passed away at the age of 41 when her youngest daughter, Louise, was only two.

For over 55 years, I’ve known her face, I always thought that she had such a serene look about her. Her portrait and that of her husband, Eb, hung in my grandmother’s home until they were passed to me. It was such a pleasant surprise to find that 50 years after her death, we could finally see her face as she looked shortly before she died.

I had often wondered if after giving birth to 17 children and burying seven of them, she would look old beyond her years, somehow haggard. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the serenity of her youth was still present in her eyes. #52ancestors

Whispers from the Past…..