Clarks in "Ohio Valley Genealogies"

This is a scan of the listing of my Clark ancestors in Charles Hanna's book "Ohio Valley Genealogies", published in 1900. pp 18-19. I've had a couple of distant cousins request this, so I'm posting it here.

My ancestors here are Roger, James, Joseph, Ingram and Charles G., who was the father of my grandfather.

(Click on images to enlarge)

Geeslins in the US Census

Here are the records of our Geeslin Ancestors that I've found in the US census. Go to the link below to see them. Be sure to scroll over to the right, as there's more information than fits on the page.

Geeslin Census

I've found us from 1850 to 1930. I didn't include the 1930 records, because living members of the family are listed in that one, if you're a close relative I'll send you 1930.

Robert Beheathland

Here's a story for the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown, which we observe this month.

My ancestor Robert Beheathland has the unique distinction of being the only original settler of Jamestown, VA who is known to have left descendants in the New World. He arrived with Captain John Smith on 13 May 1607, some thirteen years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth.

In the list of passengers, he was listed as a "Gentleman". He was a member of the party that accompanied Captain Smith on two visits to chief Powhatan in 1607 and 1608. He died by 1627, we know because by then his wife Mary had remarried.

His daughter Mary married Capt. Thomas Bernard, and they had a daughter named Beheathland Bernard.

She married Major Andrew Gilson, and they had a son, Thomas Gilson.

Thomas married Elizabeth Newton, and they had a daughter named Beheathland Gilson.

She married John Berryman, and they had a son named Gilson Berryman.

Gilson was the great-grandfather of Martha Berryman (Thomas), see the post below, "Gray/Thomas family plot, Woodlawn cemetery, Independence, MO". That makes Robert Beheathland my 11th great-grandfather (due to some intermarriage, he may be in there more than once, depending on which Berryman experts you talk to)

Interestingly, the name Gilson Berryman has come down in the family to the present day, as a first and middle name. It's pronounced "Jill-son" rather than "Gill-son".

Where to find my family tree

Here's where I have my family tree data posted on-line, just copy the link below into your browser.

http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:2341912

This was uploaded several years ago, so it's not as up-to-date as it could be.

This website works pretty well for navigating through the tree, but it's not as handy as having it in a family tree program on your own computer. If you're interested in loading it into genealogy software, let me know and I'll send you the data in a form you can import.

Civil War letter

(click on the letter to enlarge)


This is a letter from James L. Gray to his son James William Thomas Gray, my GG and G-Grandfathers respectively. It has been passed down through my family. On the back it says "Jimmy's Letter"

I understand that James L. Gray served in the Union army in the Civil War, so I am guessing that this is why he was away from home at this time. James was a Northerner from PA, but his wife Harriet was a Southerner, having come from KY, and in fact Jimmy grew up to marry a southern girl who's father was killed on the confederate side.

I find the letter to be readable, so I haven't typed the content here, please let me know if you want a transcript of it, and I'll add it here.

Some of the people mentioned in the letter need some explanation,

Ma is of course Harriet Gray, Jimmy's mother.

Grand Ma and Grand Pa are Harriet's parents, William and Martha Thomas.

The Dear Little Sisters are his sisters Mattie and Eugenia.

Little Gilson is his younger brother, Gilson Berryman Gray.

I don't know who Sammy, Blanchy or Sarah Martha are, possibly friends or cousins.

Jimmy Meador is his step-cousin James Meador Jr. His aunt Henrietta was married to James Meador Sr, but she was his second wife, and not James Jr's mother.

For more on this family, see the previous post.

Gray/Thomas family plot, Woodlawn cemetery, Independence, MO

My GGG-Grandparents, William and Martha (Berryman) Thomas, were early settlers of Independence, MO, just on the other side of metro Kansas City from my home. They are buried there with many other family members.

When I moved to the area, I was sure that they were buried in this cemetery, but I didn't have any information about where the plot was located. I looked all around one day, and must have walked right by the big central stone without seeing it. Once I found the person who was writing the guide book to the cemetery, she was able to point me right to it.

(To see any of the photos larger, just click on it)



This large stone is a recent addition to the plot (in this case, "recent" means "during the 20th century"). At the time that my GG-Grandmother, William's daughter Harriet, passed away in 1916, her oldest son, my G-Grandfather James William Thomas Gray, was living in Colorado, and I'm almost sure that the base of this stone is made of Pikes Peak granite from Colorado, this is an unusual stone color in this cemetery.

Below are closeups of the sides of the stone.

This side lists William and Martha



This side lists their daughter Harriet, my GG-Grandmother, and her husband, James L. Gray, as well as their infant son Ernest C. Gray.



This side lists James and Harriet's daughters, one who died as a teenager and the other as a young wife.



There are also original stones for William, Mattie and Eugenia, shown below, William's is well-preserved for its age. If there were old stones for the others, they are gone, but several "foot stones" with initials are still there.





Harriet's sister, Henrietta Meador. She kept a family bible, of which I have copies. I will publish this in the blog later.



Harriet's brother, Willoughby Mortimer Thomas, his wife Fannie, and their daughter, Eugenia Thomas.

Joseph Clark, Oscar Clark, Albert Clark

This picture is of three of my GG-granduncles, Joseph, Oscar and Albert Clark. I think they are in that order from left to right, at least that's how they are listed on the back. The writing on the back reads

This photo taken Oct. 15th 1895
Joseph Clark born June 4th 1830
Oscar Clark " Mch. 10th 1833
Albert Clark " Jany. 16th 1836
" " " Died May 1896

I know that the other two lived a number of years after this was taken.

Joseph never married, and lived part of the year with Albert in Nebraska, part of the year in their hometown of Cadiz OH with another brother, Ephraim. At least once, he was counted both places in the census!

Oscar settled in Walton, KS.

Albert lived in Burt Co. NE where many other Clark's lived, including all of their brother Ingram's surviving children, and many of Ephraim's children. He is buried at Craig NE. His family moved on to Idaho after his death.

A Nebraska photo collector obtained this photo at a flea market, and was kind enough to send me a scan of it.

Several years ago, I was in touch with a descendant of Oscar, but I have lost touch with her, if you are related to any of these men PLEASE contact me, I can give you a high-res scan that you can print large.