"I Made A Mistake"

Frederick M. Johnston

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 21 Theme: Military

Generation 8:

My 3rd Great Grandfather

Frederick Miller Johnston

When most people think of the American Civil War, they don't think of Missouri.  As a border state, Missouri was a rough place during the Civil War. Many residents had come to Missouri from the south - places like Tennessee and the Carolinas. European immigrants and migrants from the northeastern US were also flooding into the state. Sentiments ran strong on both sides of the slavery issue. As the U.S. was expanding westward, there was fierce debate over which states would be free.  It truly was a neighbor-against-neighbor situation. While there were some conventional
Civil War battles in Missouri, most of the fighting was guerrilla warfare.

As a Missourian, I expected to find ancestors on both sides of the Civil War, or brothers fighting brothers. I did not expect to find the same man fighting on both sides. Imagine you are a young man living in southern Missouri at this time. You hear rumors long before you see any military activity. You're just a farmer. You're scared. How do you react?

This was the dilemma of Frederick Miller Johnston.

A Common Bond

The NGS Conference 

Experience

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 19 Theme: Nurture

This week I am attending the NGS Family History Conference. I knew coming up with an ancestor to write about this week would be tough. These conferences can be a bit exhausting. They really get those wheels turning in your head!

Conference Information Here

Most of my family and friends just don't get it.
They refrain from teasing me about my hobby to my face (except my husband, of course). They politely listen to my boring stories and don't understand why I'm so excited about finding things that really don't matter to anyone but me. I'm sure they wonder why I use my vacation days to attend a conference. Other than a handful of relatives including my daughter Jennifer, I'm pretty much on my own with this.

I have attended the NGS conference 3 other years, and went to RootsTech in 2018. Wednesday was the first day of the NGS conference in St. Charles, Missouri. I was able to connect with my mom's cousins in the morning, which was great. We're planning to go out for dinner later this week with my sisters. 

For the most part, however, I spent the day by myself. I signed up for lunch and dinner sessions, and ate both meals with strangers. By the end of the day, I realized that I am being nurtured by people I've never met before. 

It is so nice to talk to people about a common interest. At lunch I sat next to a lady who had train robbers in her family tree. Another lady at dinner said her family immigrated to Virginia in the early 18th century and never left that county. She is related to some of her ancestors 4 different ways, which makes for an interesting, but limited, genetic mix. Everyone is genuinely interested in your "boring" stories and you enjoy hearing theirs. It's a great feeling. 

The Danse Macabre

The Teter Family's Horrifying Trip From Virginia to Illinois

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 18 Theme: Road Trip

Generation 13:

My 8th Great Grandmother

Rebecca Henckel Teter

and 

Generation 12:

Abraham Teter (son of Rebecca) and his wife Mary Kittle Teter

My 7th Great Grandparents

Line of Descent:  Rigsby, Kienlen, Aden, Holland, Hartman, Estep, Teter

Hans Holbein, 1549 (public domain)

Death comes for us all. 

I have always been fascinated by the Black Death, which swept across Europe, Asia, and North Africa during the 14th century. This terrible disease killed an estimated 50-60% of the affected population. I can't imagine how our ancestors coped after such an event. After all, we descend from the survivors. 

In 1797, the Teter family, along with about 150 others, left Hardy or Pendleton County, Virginia (now West Virginia) for a better life in Illinois. This is the story of their journey as published in several books and county histories.


Life is fragile, and you never know when skeletons will take you to the dance of death.