So my 4th great grandfather, Andrew Baker, was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Arkansas 14th Infantry during the Civil War. He was discharged May 23rd, 1862 when the regiment was re-organized. As far as I could find for the longest time, that was the end of his documented service. However, two biographical sketches of Andrew's son Felix, including one put together while Andrew was still alive, indicated that Andrew's service did not end after his discharge from the 14th.
In Godspeed Brothers' Reminiscent History of the Ozark Region (1894), Felix's biography, which was made when Andrew was still alive, claimed that Andrew took part in the Battle of Port Hudson. I found a comprehensive list of all the units stationed at Port Hudson through the duration of the war here: http://pth.thehardyparty.com/conf_units_sca.htm. The 14th Arkansas is listed, as it participated in the siege and two engagements at Port Hudson and then surrendered and disbanded there, but Andrew was no long in the unit at that time, so if he was really there as the biography states, then he must have been a part of one of the other units listed. Unfortunately, in searching their rosters, I found no one that matched up with Andrew.
A biography in Fay Hempstead's Historical Review of Arkansas: Its Commerce, Industry, and Modern Affairs, Volume III (1911) goes into even greater detail about Andrew's service. "He was in General Price's army and went on the raid into Missouri, [and] subsequently was detailed to raise a company in Newton County [AR] in support of the losing cause." So after having spent my time mostly scouring Arkansas units for a trace of Andrew, I decided to look at Missouri units a little closer. I had looked through them before briefly, but didn't delve into them much because of my assumption that since he was an officer in the 14th, he likely would be an officer in his new unit. That clearly wasn't a good idea, because once I started looking closely at the Andrew Baker's in Missouri's Civil War service records, I finally found what I was looking for.
I found a service record for a Private Andrew Baker in Jackman's Missouri Cavalry. The only record was a Muster and Descriptive Roll of soldiers paroled at Jacksonport, Arkansas on June 5th, 1865. According to the roll, Andrew Baker was 46 years old, with blue eyes, grey hair, and fair complexion. He was 5'9", a North Carolina native, and enrolled for duty in Searcy County, Arkansas. Well, "my" Andrew's headstone says he was born August 9th, 1820, which based on that would mean in June of 1865 he would be two months shy of 45 years old. However, in July of 1901 when he was re-applying for his Confederate Pension, he said he was 81 years old, which based on his August 9th birth-date would put his year of birth at 1819. Based on that, he would have been two months shy of 46 years old in June of 1865. There are 3 other facts that contribute to my determination that this is indeed "my" Andrew who is a part Jackman's Cavalry.
1. He enlisted in Searcy County, which is adjacent to Newton County where "my" Andrew lived.
2. He was born in North Carolina, just as "my" Andrew Baker was born in North Carolina.
3. I went through all of the 1860 Census for Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas for good measure and could not find another Andrew Baker who fit this description other than "my" Andrew. There was an Andrew Baker born about 1820 living in Linn County, Missouri, but he was born in Kentucky. There was another Andrew Baker born about 1821 living in McDonald County, Missouri, but he was born in Tennessee. And another Andrew Baker born about 1823 living in Nacogdoches County, Texas, but he was born in Tennessee. None of those 3 counties are very near Searcy County, with McDonald County being the closest. And in the entire state of Arkansas for 1860, there were no other Andrew Baker's besides "mine" who were even close to the age of 46. And finally, "my" Andrew Baker was the only Andrew Baker in that aforementioned tri-state area who was born in North Carolina.
So all together, I am thoroughly convinced that this the Andrew Baker in Jackman's Missouri Cavalry is the same Andrew Baker found in the Arkansas 14th Infantry. I've become even more convinced while reading up on Colonel Sidney D. Jackman, to whom the unit belonged. According to his well-sourced Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_D._Jackman), Jackman and his cavalry fought under General Sterling Price, and took part in Price's Raid, which lines up well with Hempstead's description of Andrew's Civil War exploits. So at this point, it would take an overwhelming amount of evidence to the contrary to convince me that the Andrew Baker of Jackman's Missouri Cavalry is not "my" Andrew Baker, and I am very glad to have found another piece in the puzzle of Andrew's life.
Showing posts with label Andrew Baker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Andrew Baker. Show all posts
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
A Precise Look at the Children of Andrew Baker and Mary Polly Hash
I originally wrote this on January 12th, 2012.
The precise number of children Andrew Baker and Mary Polly Hash had has been a confusing and debated subject. Looking at Ancestry and Rootsweb trees, there are many with different names for their children and that have different numbers of children for them. "The Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Jones and Celia Creech of Mouth of Wilson, Grayson County, Virginia" (1998) by Scott C. Jones mirrors this cofusion. He lists as their potential children: Felix S., Nancy L. (or Virginia Letitia (Lettie)), Hannah E., Elizabeth, Eliza, Jane, Levi, Eli, and Willis. However, Nancy and Letitia were 2 separate people, Willis's name was William, and Hannah E., Elizabeth, and Eliza are all the same person. Some trees have implied that Felix and Eli are the same person because there is an "eli" in between the F and X of "Felix", but this is incorrect. Some have said Hannah Elizabeth's name was actually Elizabeth Hannah, but her death certificate clearly says "Hannah Elizabeth". These are just a few of the many problems assoiciated with clarifying the offspring of Andrew Baker and Mary Polly Hash. So to help with the confusion surrounding this family, I am writing out the evidence for others to have.
In the 1900 Census, Mary Hash Baker says that she was the mother of 8 children, 6 of whom were still living. I have concluded these numbers to be perfectly accurate for a number of reasons.
The Barnett-Marks Bible, for which Ella Baker provided information about her aunts and uncles, lists Lizzy [Hannah Elizabeth], Telitha [Virginia], Liza [unknown], and Jane as the sisters of her father, Eli, and lists Felix, Levy, and Will as his brothers; this makes a total of 8 siblings including Eli. I believe the "Liza" is a misspelled "Louisa", and that she and Jane are the two children who died young. In "Reminiscent History Of The Ozark Region" (Goodspeed Brothers, Publishers, Chicago 1894), it says of the children of Andrew and Mary: "They reared a family of six children: F. S.; Elizabeth, wife of E. Pugh, of Boone County; Levi, who is a miller at Bellefonte; Eli makes his home in the Indian Territory; Letitia is the wife of William Cecil, of Harrison, and William is a resident of Oregon. Louisa and another child died when quite young."
The 1860 Census lists all of their children, but all except for Felix's and Eli's, the oldest and youngest children in the family at the time, have their ages listed 2 years younger than they really are. (Nancy is 14 instead of 16, Hannah is 10 instead of 12, Levi is 6 instead of 8, and Letitia is 4 instead of 6.) The household in 1850 has a 0 year old "Jane", and in 1860, an 8 year old "Lea". Since the other children's ages are 2 years off each, I believe it's fair to assume that Lea's was as well (meaning she should have been listed as 10, rather than 8), and so Lea was this "Jane", meaning her name was likely Lea Jane or Jane Lea. This lines up with the number of 8 children listed in the 1900 census and in the "Reminiscent History Of The Ozark Region".
1. Felix (1850 and 1860 Census)
2. Nancy Louisa (1850 and 1860 Census)
3. Hannah Elizabeth (1850 and 1860 Census)
4. Lea Jane (1850 and 1860 Census)
5. Levi (1860 and 1870 Census)
6. Virginia Letitia (1860 and 1870 Census)
7. Eli (1860 and 1870 Census)
8. William (1870 and 1880 Census)
Lastly, this is an excerpt from "Historical Review of Arkansas: Its Commerce, Industry, and Modern Affairs, Volume I" by Fay Hempstead (1911), p.48, as part of a biographical sketch for Felix: "In 1840 [Andrew] married Mary Hash, and all of his children were born in Virginia. His wife was a daughter of William Hash, who lived in Grayson County, Virginia, and answered to the dual calling of miller and farmer. Mrs. Baker passed away in Harrison, Arkansas, in 1898, the mother of Felix S., of this notice: Hannah, who married a Mr. Pugh and makes her home in Joplin, Missouri; Levi, of Marion County, Arkansas; Virginia L., who became the wife of W. H. Cecil and concluded her days in Harrison, Arkansas; and William, of Oregon." I believe Eli was left out of this list because it appears he was a "black sheep" of sorts in the family, or else he had simply lost touch with them after moving to western Oklahoma, but he is mentioned in the 1894 sketch.
The precise number of children Andrew Baker and Mary Polly Hash had has been a confusing and debated subject. Looking at Ancestry and Rootsweb trees, there are many with different names for their children and that have different numbers of children for them. "The Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Jones and Celia Creech of Mouth of Wilson, Grayson County, Virginia" (1998) by Scott C. Jones mirrors this cofusion. He lists as their potential children: Felix S., Nancy L. (or Virginia Letitia (Lettie)), Hannah E., Elizabeth, Eliza, Jane, Levi, Eli, and Willis. However, Nancy and Letitia were 2 separate people, Willis's name was William, and Hannah E., Elizabeth, and Eliza are all the same person. Some trees have implied that Felix and Eli are the same person because there is an "eli" in between the F and X of "Felix", but this is incorrect. Some have said Hannah Elizabeth's name was actually Elizabeth Hannah, but her death certificate clearly says "Hannah Elizabeth". These are just a few of the many problems assoiciated with clarifying the offspring of Andrew Baker and Mary Polly Hash. So to help with the confusion surrounding this family, I am writing out the evidence for others to have.
In the 1900 Census, Mary Hash Baker says that she was the mother of 8 children, 6 of whom were still living. I have concluded these numbers to be perfectly accurate for a number of reasons.
The Barnett-Marks Bible, for which Ella Baker provided information about her aunts and uncles, lists Lizzy [Hannah Elizabeth], Telitha [Virginia], Liza [unknown], and Jane as the sisters of her father, Eli, and lists Felix, Levy, and Will as his brothers; this makes a total of 8 siblings including Eli. I believe the "Liza" is a misspelled "Louisa", and that she and Jane are the two children who died young. In "Reminiscent History Of The Ozark Region" (Goodspeed Brothers, Publishers, Chicago 1894), it says of the children of Andrew and Mary: "They reared a family of six children: F. S.; Elizabeth, wife of E. Pugh, of Boone County; Levi, who is a miller at Bellefonte; Eli makes his home in the Indian Territory; Letitia is the wife of William Cecil, of Harrison, and William is a resident of Oregon. Louisa and another child died when quite young."
The 1860 Census lists all of their children, but all except for Felix's and Eli's, the oldest and youngest children in the family at the time, have their ages listed 2 years younger than they really are. (Nancy is 14 instead of 16, Hannah is 10 instead of 12, Levi is 6 instead of 8, and Letitia is 4 instead of 6.) The household in 1850 has a 0 year old "Jane", and in 1860, an 8 year old "Lea". Since the other children's ages are 2 years off each, I believe it's fair to assume that Lea's was as well (meaning she should have been listed as 10, rather than 8), and so Lea was this "Jane", meaning her name was likely Lea Jane or Jane Lea. This lines up with the number of 8 children listed in the 1900 census and in the "Reminiscent History Of The Ozark Region".
1. Felix (1850 and 1860 Census)
2. Nancy Louisa (1850 and 1860 Census)
3. Hannah Elizabeth (1850 and 1860 Census)
4. Lea Jane (1850 and 1860 Census)
5. Levi (1860 and 1870 Census)
6. Virginia Letitia (1860 and 1870 Census)
7. Eli (1860 and 1870 Census)
8. William (1870 and 1880 Census)
Lastly, this is an excerpt from "Historical Review of Arkansas: Its Commerce, Industry, and Modern Affairs, Volume I" by Fay Hempstead (1911), p.48, as part of a biographical sketch for Felix: "In 1840 [Andrew] married Mary Hash, and all of his children were born in Virginia. His wife was a daughter of William Hash, who lived in Grayson County, Virginia, and answered to the dual calling of miller and farmer. Mrs. Baker passed away in Harrison, Arkansas, in 1898, the mother of Felix S., of this notice: Hannah, who married a Mr. Pugh and makes her home in Joplin, Missouri; Levi, of Marion County, Arkansas; Virginia L., who became the wife of W. H. Cecil and concluded her days in Harrison, Arkansas; and William, of Oregon." I believe Eli was left out of this list because it appears he was a "black sheep" of sorts in the family, or else he had simply lost touch with them after moving to western Oklahoma, but he is mentioned in the 1894 sketch.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)