James Yeazel is the Husband of my 3rd Great Aunt. As I was searching the Littler side of the family though and was just wondering through the names, I came across the settlement of his estate. Within the papers were forms to hand over the work to an administrator. – In this case two people gave permission with one being his widow.
What I especially found interesting though was that everything was to be appraised and a set amount was to be set aside for the widow – enough to live on for 1 year from the looks of it. Then I assume the rest would be dealt with. In this case the amount in the estate was less than the amount normally handed to the widow for 1 years expenses, so the widow received everything. I also found it interesting that the Value of Property allowed to the widow included the sewing machine.
I’m now curious to search the Illinois Wills site to see who else I can find!
When looking up family history I keep running into family with the same name. The most recent is Edwin Littler. Edwin Littler is my g-grandfather a few generations ago – Mary Ann Littler (wife of Edward Corbly)’s father – his son is also Edwin Littler. 
In Stearns Cemetery is the tombstone for Edwin Littler with no birth or death information. It does include information about Civil War Service though.
Edwin Littler (the son) – 1843-1862 can be found in the Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Roll Database .
Edwin is listed as being in the 125th Il US Infantry which matches his tombstone. He joined August 11,1882, mustered September 3, 1862 and was declared dead on November 25, 1862 at Bowling Green, KY. It includes that he was 19, with black hair, light complexion, dark eyes, and was 5’8″.
Not knowing a lot about the battles in the civil war I am lost as far as cause of death. According to a civil war driving tour write up:
By late 1861, Bowling Green became the heart of the Confederacy’s efforts in Kentucky. The new year brought serious worries to the Confederate occupation force. A Union victory at Mill Springs in Eastern Kentucky, on January 19, 1862, and General Grant’s victories at Forts Henry and Donelson to the west, made Bowling Green untenable for the Confederates. Union General Don Carlos Buell advanced his Army of the Ohio southward from the Green River. Under the command of General Ormsby Mitchel, Bowling Green was bombarded from across the Barren River. The Confederate army evacuated the city, and by mid-February 1862, the city fell into Union hands. Federal troops controlled Bowling Green and Kentucky for the rest of the war. By 1864, there was a vigorous effort by the federal government to recruit and enlist slaves in Kentucky. Bowling Green and seven other military camps were designated to receive and protect those recruits. Source
This makes me wonder if there was a push in November by the Confederate army to take back Bowling Green, or possibly Edwin was sent out with troops to take more ground and wounded in battle – returned to Bowling Green for care and to ultimately pass away.
Edwin’s father, also being named Edwin was more difficult to find in history. He had moved from Ohio, bringing the young Edwin as a child, and set up residence in Vermilion County. Some database records have him recorded as Edward also, making identification a more difficult task. Currently I’ve identified Edwin the father in the 1840 and the 1850 census files.
Verifying that ancestors with the same name and place can be difficult. When in doubt I have been linking information to both individuals and editing later. Not the most ideal, but definitely helpful to keep from losing information. Original sources are critical also.
I always wonder when I find information about infants that died and what the circumstances were. My ancestor Edward Corbly that I have been researching had an interesting case in his history. My ancestor, his daughter Julia was the only surviving daughter. In the family bible though is listed a set of twins, interesting and conflicting information is found after that. With children that died as babies or toddlers, often only family anecdotal information, or gravestones are available.
The bible looked to me as if the twins were born on September 4, 1860 and passing out of this life on September 4, 1862. I normally would have assumed that they died in childbirth if i wasn’t for the 2 year gap (exactly 2 years for both making it very confusing). For twins to die on their birthdate, and both on the same day seems highly unusual. My g-grandmother then was born in 1863.
To add to the confusion, someone that has added the gravestones (no pictures) to FindaGrave, has added Edwin as d. 9/4/1862 and Ella d. 9/4/1892. This is in Tomlinson Cemetery in Illinois (Champaign County). There are no other records of Ella, including in the 1870 census, so I’m sure that the death date from her tombstone is a typo, with the family bible verifying this. This is still a family mystery that is lost to time.
Interestingly enough family lore has it that Julia went on to have a stillborn baby that was then buried in the copse of trees by the road on the old Eldridge homestead – land that went on to belong to my parents. The story is that the baby was wrapped in a baby blanket and buried shortly after being stillborn.
Later I did do more research and after realizing that Ella and Edwin’s parents got married in 1861 I looked very closely at the birth date. I’m now sure it’s really 1862. Stillbirth explains the mystery.
My Uncle Frank was always full of stories… surprisingly none ever were things ‘he did’. His favorite comment was ‘I don’t know if the statute of limitations is up on that yet.’ My mother would tell stories of my uncle making moonshine and having my grandfather drive a decoy car while another car with a false backseat would take the ‘good stuff’. There was also a story about my uncles breaking my grandfather out of the westville jail by pulling the side off of the jail. I may have to ask my mother for more details about that. I don’t remember ever hearing why he was there or what happened after.
The story that was told the most though involved how my uncle ended in the military, how my uncle Ralph got TB and passed away, and a barn in Grape Creep. From my memory the story goes that my uncles were disagreeing with someone and it ended with them deciding to burn his barn down. As frequently happens they were caught and brought before a judge. My uncle Frank and my uncle Ralph were given the choice of the military or jail. (I was never completely clear why my grandfather wasn’t involved) I haven’t found the actual record from the courts or documentation of the fire yet, but I have documentation of my uncle Frank in the military in Feb 1943 (Sggt E5) and my uncle Ralph’s death May 18, 1943. My mother retells the stories of my uncle Ralph being found sitting under a tree and how he had been released from jail to die after getting TB in jail. My grandmother and grandfather were living in a small ‘building’ put together by my grandmother’s brothers at the site of the mine my grandfather and his brothers were mining. At the time my mother wasn’t even 3 years old yet and was sleeping in a drawer my grandmother had pulled out of a dresser.
My grandfather’s death was just one month later when he drown while swimming on Flag Day (June 14, 1943). My grandmother moved home to live with her mother shortly after and my uncle Frank was left as the only brother left. (They did have a sister Maude that survived until the year 2000)
My uncle Frank survived until the year 2004 and after the military had went on to sell manufactured homes on the property that his father originally owned. His stories though were always interesting. One even included riding a motorcycle across a beam where a bridge had been located. When hearing his stories you can almost picture all the old shows with ‘good ole boys’ running through the country. Even the name Hawbuck, Illinois sounds like a place where ‘good ole boys’ will be running around.
My great grandfather had guns that belonged to Wild Bill Hickok and to Buffalo Bill Cody (as well as a hundred others). Elmer McArdle would perform shows until he died in a fire in 1951. Elmer would ride in the Westville Illinois parade every year and my mother has stories about her childhood visiting him.
Elmer McArdle
Elmer McArdle Article upon Death.
My uncles would tell stories about him trying to teach them to sharp shoot. He would set up a bell with iron rings in front of it. My grandfather and uncles would have to shoot through the ring and hit the bell. My uncles being the pranksters they were, would set it up to hit the bell from the side making it look like they hit it – making it impossible for my grandfather. My grandfather and uncles were serious trouble makers. Stories include them breaking out of jail, stealing a billy club from a police officer, and running off from a dentist without paying…. My uncles ended up burning down a barn and one was sent to the army (Frank) while the other went to jail (Ralph). Ralph ended up dying of tuberculosis a short time later.
Elmer McArdle, April 15, 1916
Stories also include my great grandfather having a collection of clocks throughout his house, my uncles and grandfather would sneak in and reset the clocks when he was out.
When Elmer passed away he was found in the ashes from the fire that destroyed his home and his gun collection. At the time he was over 80 years old and still living on his own in Hawbuck.
There is so much talk about gun violence anymore, I am brought back to the memory of sometimes a gun is just a piece of history.
My family has a ‘family reunion’ every year. It’s basically a family party with extra people…. and we do have a BIG family. The party has moved around to different houses throughout the years and been hosted by different people… The earliest I remember were at my grandfather’s pond, then on to my Uncle Franks, my cousin Buddy’s, my Aunt Margaret’s, and on to my cousin Don’s.
Who comes to the events also changes and as time 
goes on we have gained and lost family members. This year though I caught myself having to ask my mother more and more to identify people (and I am afraid to admit, she had trouble on several). I still know the family that I grew up with, and I so want my kids to know their kids, but as time goes on and we meet once a year – it becomes harder and harder to keep up.
I should also mention that for us the trip is 6 hours each way, always now on a Sunday during a weekend after school starts up here in Kentucky. The longest we can stay and still get home for bed time is about 1 or 2 hours. This last year I literally had to run from a conversation as I saw my husband and son heading to the car to leave without me (I’m 98% sure they wouldn’t have).
I remember one of my children replying that it wasn’t a big deal to miss a family trip as he wasn’t familiar with the people we were visiting. To me these family are only distant in location….. I so want my children to have that close tie to family, yet with miles between us all, how do you maintain that?
As I was home the other day I was discussing with my brother the many reasons why we were lucky to have made it through childhood. It’s funny though, my husband talks about people smoking on his bus on the way to school, but that would have NEVER happened on our bus. On the other hand, kids driving themselves to school as soon as they hit their 16th birthday was pretty common. – Mostly because farm kids started driving as soon as they could see over the dash board. I still remember the rules: If you see another car, pull over and park. If they hit you parked it’s their fault, if you are moving it’s your fault – child, no license, driving by yourself. My parents would have me follow to take an extra vehicle to the field, my aunt would have me drop her at the mushroom patch, and my dad would just let us practice.
Childhood though also included rides such as getting in the front bucket of the tractor and 
my dad spinning us around while he made the bucket go up and down. We would climb grain bins into the air and jump into corn and beans that were drying. Learned to swim by being thrown into a pond (at least doggie paddle). We started hunting as soon as we were old enough to hold the gun to shoot. Mini bikes, horses, and in our case odd animals that my dad collected were all part of childhood.
I remember cold days snowmobiling on a frozen river racing after my father (my dad would make us get off for the really steep hills and he would ride our snowmobile up), skating on frozen ponds where railroad tracks had been removed, and even playing in old railroad equipment that had been left buried on the earth by the removed tracks through a field my parents bought.
One of the dangers of growing up on a farm is getting lost in a field…. Surprisingly I don’t remember anyone I know getting lost, but I do remember wondering into fields when I desperately wanted to pee – and remembering the stories. I always wondered how it happened that anyone older could get lost in a field and die knowing the layout of most field in rows.
One story that my brother and I discussed though was my dad chasing down one of our deer that escaped (with antlers). He chased it up and down the field in an old scout, and then wrestled it back into the pin. My brother remembered looking out to see the deer with my dad pinned against a propane tank. My dad apparently always said he would have been gored if the deer wasn’t worn out from running back and forth down the field.
As the question is raised time and time again recently I am brought back to the question I asked previously (http://myrootsrundeep.info/separation-of-church-and-state)…..
In history the United States was founded based on separation of Church and State. A large part of the reasons for the country involved people leaving England because the King of England was forcing his religion on the people within the country. Ultimately a new country was founded to allow for that freedom and to protect those rights it was expressly written into the constitution that the people were free to choose. (And this means choose what religion they believe in without being forced to follow anther’s beliefs. ) To ensure this freedom the government. To gain these rights the people went to war with the King of England and fought for our freedom.
To ensure that these rights were maintained and separation of church and state occurred – some states put in place laws that no ministers could serve office. My ancestor being the first minister thrown out of office as a minister because of this. We currently have people making the news making the argument that – People that don’t follow their religious beliefs can just go to another county (if you read country hear we can just go back over 200 years)….
I too am really getting tired of hearing the said person’s name and hearing her all over the news. I’ve even seen opinion pages comparing her to Rosa Parks (The page said let Christians move to the front of the bus)…. The author obvious knows nothing about Rosa Parks history….. 1. he
r seat was in the colored section in the front of the bus. 2. she didn’t give up her seat because she was tired – it had nothing to do with moving from the back of the bus to the front. The segregation case was Brown vs. the Board of Education and involved school busing to the ‘white schools’.
I do want to quit hearing this in the news, but I also want everyone to have equal rights under the law. The current case going on isn’t a case of someone being forced not to practice her own religion – it’s a case of someone trying to force others to practice her religion.
Whatever you believe in…. I think everyone should agree that kindness to strangers and treat others and you would like them to treat you should play into this. I can’t think of one person I know that would say they haven’t done something at one point of another that they would do differently if doing it again.
There are things that they don’t tell you about Dementia…. Like the fact that a dementia home can decide they are refusing to keep a resident any longer. Really they aren’t supposed to do that. But it happens, and it happened to us, recently. Some of the behaviors of dementia are things a lot of people don’t talk about, but they apparently can make some homes throw up their hands and give up. When you’ve never dealt with this before there isn’t a book on what to then do with your parent, who you turn to for help, where you find a new home for them – and believe me at that point you are totally confused, upset, and in a lot of cases embarrassed. In our case we were dealing with a nurse that had an attitude also that didn’t really help.
For us the final straw was my father being dropped at an emergency room with the nurse at the dementia ward of the nursing home saying they refused to take him back. To top all this off they had included lots of things on his papers that made other nursing homes afraid to take him in. The social worker at the hospital tried to help by calling a few places, my mother called everywhere close, and my dad stayed in the hospital waiting for 6 days. Not knowing what to do we finally called nursing homes and dementia wards at a further distance away. We were lucky and found a place 1 1/2 hours away (and I have to say they definitely seem to know what they are doing a lot more than the first place!). Besides calling other nursing homes I tried other leads, we had been eliminated from the VA because all my father’s active duty was ACDUTRA which apparently disqualified him., so I started calling all the organizations with fancy names that included long term care in their names.
The Association of Long Term Care Nurses for Illinois (or something similar) was nice enough to point me to the Department of Public Health. It turns out, you are required to be given 30 days notice before being turned out of a nursing home and they have a group you can complain too. It may not come to anything, but at least I felt better having someone listen.
I just have my mothers stories but the new dementia ward my father is at seems to care more. The nurses are always seem to be with my dad when my mother visits, there haven’t been all the calls saying he has fallen when he escaped notice anymore. They put a bed alarm on him to make sure he doesn’t fall at night (this is something the first place said was illegal to do????)
The thing though that brought me to tears was when they brought my dad the phone and dialed my mother when he was concerned about her safety. It reminded me of the times when my mother and I would be somewhere and my dad would call to tell us that they were having a storm and we needed to find a place to stay so that we would be safe. – Forget the fact that he was in Illinois and we were in Arkansas at the time, he wanted to be sure we were safe. That was a few years ago and now having them show the care to help him call to ease his mind really made me feel that was the right place for him…. BUT I also was able to see a small glimpse of my dad again. Some of the old thought processes were there. It may not be a lot, but at least it’s something.
Visiting my family this weekend, a trip to the nursing home to see my dad was part of the visit. Now that my youngest has started school, and living 6 hours from the rest of my family I’m stuck with just weekends to come and help out. I’ve been lucky that my mother is still able to take care of herself as much as she is. This trip my husband and youngest came with and we got to attend a Jurrasic Quest event also. My youngest was super excited about that.
My dad has still been having issues at the nursing home and we’ve been dealing with – is there another place to put him? Surprisingly my mother was told that the nursing home he is in has a five star rating and so he needs to move so that they don’t loose their rating. I’ve been surprised with the number of times they call and tell us that he has fallen. The stories they tell give the impression that despite being unable to walk without assistance when anyone is watching – he appears to be a super quick ninja the rest of the time and get to places and then fall down when they aren’t looking. He is on their list to always be watched yet in the last two days he has fallen twice – and once last week so badly that he has fractured his hand…
While in to visit (Before the last two times he has fallen), we noticed on Sunday that he is now dragging his left foot behind him when he walks with a walker. It appeared obvious to me that he has had a stroke again. The nurse when questioned, said that he has been like that as long as she has known him, but also mentioned that she only works every other weekend. I realized that means that this was the first weekend she had ever seen my dad, as he just moved to that section.
My dad’s medicine seems to be making him pretty tired all the time. It’s pretty sad to see, but even with all that we can see small glimmers of my dad. Strokes do change behavior and physical characteristics. Seeing my dad drag his leg, and unable to stay awake to carry on a conversation reminds me that we have moved from the stage where my parents were caretakers to the next step where my brother and I move up to care for our parents (and our kids).
