George Solifelt-- Court Martial file May 1867

I've read the file of the court-martial of George Solifelt of Co. A, Permanent Party.  See the summary following my list of key points and further research.

I cannot be certain that this is the same George Solifelt who died in Iola, Kansas.

• This court martial happens during a time in which I've not accounted for him elsewhere.
• He could have re-enlisted, since a soldier's life was all he knew.
• Drinking was what got him in trouble in his previous court-martial
• The location is not too far from the area in which he lived.
• Why would he not mention this service(Company "A," Permanent Party)? 
• The file mentions him as George W Solifelt in several instances. He has used a W, H, and T as his middle initial in some records, so I can't use that as weight to say this is or isn't him.
• I don't recognize the names of other associates of George in this file. 

Questions and items to research

• Was the 1st court-martial sentence actually carried out? He would have served 2 years at Fort Delaware unless that could have been reduced. It was recommended that it be considered more of an indiscretion. 
• Cross-check with other known associates
• Find the records for Co. A Permanent Party
• Records for Fort Delaware(1865-1867)
• Records for Fort Wood(1866-1867)

Lots of questions and lots more research!

Summary:

Private George Solifelt, Company "A," Permanent Party.

Charge:  "Violation of the 45th Article of War"

Specification--In this, that he, Private George Solifelt, Company "A, "Permanent Party, at Fort Wood, Bedloe's Island, N.Y.H., being a member of the guard detailed to take charge of a prisoner, to conduct to the General Court Martial in New York city, on or about the 3d day of May, 1867, did become so drunk as to be totally unfit to perform his duty.

This at or near New York City on or about the 3d day of May, 1867.

Plea
To the specification, "Not Guilty"
To the charge, "Not Guilty"

Finding and Sentence
The Court, after mature deliberation on the evidence adduced, finds the accused, Private George Solifelt, Company "A, "Permanent Party--

Of the specification, "Guilty"
Of the charge, "Guilty"

And does therefore sentence him, Private George Solifelt, Company "A, "Permanent Party, " To be confined, under charge of the guard, for one(1) month, and to march daily, Sundays, excepted, n front of the guard house every alternate hour from reveille to retreat, carrying a weight of twenty-four (24) pounds."

Source:  Court Martial Case Files, OO-2280; Record Group 153; Records of the Office of the Judge Advocate General(Army); National Archives, Washington, DC. [Cases tried by General Court Martial "At New York City", Headquarters, Dept of the East, Philadelphia, PA, 31 May 1867. Private George W Solifelt, Permanent Party, Company A]

Cooks Mentioned in Franklin Co. NC Court Minutes(March 1811)

Found mention of William Cook and Pope Cook in the Franklin County, North Carolina Court Minutes of March 1811.  

Minutes of March Court 1811, p 58

Ordered that Atha Thomas be appointed overseer
of the road from Billy's Creek to Chavis Road, and
that he keep the same in repair with the hands
of William and Pope Cook, William and Willie
Winston, James York, William, and Jesse Winston and
his own.

Is this William Pope Cook and his presumed father William Cook of Shem Cooke's line?  I don't know, but it is exciting to see these names together.

Source: 
Franklin County, North Carolina Court Minutes 1805-1820(film), Book 1810-1813, p 58, Road Work order for overseer Atha Thomas; images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:37SQ-29XD-M79 : accessed 19 May 2025) IGN 4779165, Image 189 of 813. [Mentions William and Pope Cook.]

David V. Putnam - Patent No. 327018 - Car-Coupling(1885)

My search for David V Putnam(1831-1905) in Full-Text search returned a newspaper listing of persons who had been granted a patent.  David is the son of William Putman and his wife, Anna.  

Newspaper Article Text:

Tennessee Patents.
Patents were granted yesterday to the following named Tennesseans:
John Johnson, Memphis, shovel;
Samuel Killebrew, Brownsville, hame fastener;
Jacob D. McKenney and T.W. Brown, Chattanooga, cartridge loader;
David V. Putnam, Nolansville, car-coupling;
Charles W. Taylor, Gallatin, hand motion for sewing machines.

"Tennessee Patents" Nashville Banner(Tennessee), 30 September 1885, Vol 10, No 148, p 4, col 4; images, Ancestry(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHK-Q3R9-YV4W : accessed 7 May 2025) IGN 8966262, Image 752 of 756.

Using the information from the paper, I went looking for an entry for David V Putnam

in the Patent Records on Ancestry.  Below is the first paragraph of the patent description.

David V. Putnam, of Nolensville, Tennessee
Car-Coupling.
Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 327,018 dated September 29, 1885.
Application filed August 11, 1884.


To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, David V. Putnam, a
citizen of the United States, residing at No
lensville, in the county of Williamson, and
State of Tennessee have invented a new and
valuable Improvement in Car-Couplers, of
which the following is a full, clear, and exact
description, reference being made to the an-
nexed drawings, making a part of this speci-
fication, and to the letters of reference marked
thereon.

There is a copy of the drawing and the full patent on Ancestry.com

"U.S., Patent and Trademark Office Patents", 1790–1909, David V. Putnam, Patent No. 327,018 (1885), Car-Coupling; database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1314/images/31082_18853270-18001 : accessed 7 May 2025), images 55–57 of 332; citing United States Patent and Trademark Office, USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database (http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html : 2008).

The Troubled Life of Kate Pruner

The tale of Kate Pruner—where do I start? 

I believe she was the daughter of William Pruner and Elizabeth Parsons. Her story takes place in the Pennsylvania counties of Mifflin & Dauphin. My research into George Solifelt led me to her. She and George likely married around 1861. George enlisted for three months in April 1861, so they may have met and married during his first enlistment. He enlisted a total of three times, using aliases during the first two: George Sullivan and Theodore Sullivan.

By June 1868, Kate petitioned for divorce in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. This initiated a divorce by publication, with notices running through December. The notice instructed George to appear on the third Monday in January at the Harrisburg Court of Common Pleas. No record of the court’s ruling has been found—yet.

Image created using ChatGPT

In June 1870, Kate appeared in Mayor’s Court for keeping a bawdy and disorderly house.  The following year, she was arrested on a drunk and disorderly charge. By 1873, her name was turning up frequently in similar reports. One article referred to her as a demi-rep (a woman of doubtful reputation) who had “imbibed too much benzine.” She continued to appear in newspapers for related offenses, and in June 1889, she was actually convicted of keeping a bawdy house.  She used several aliases, including:

• Kate Cunningham
• Kate Kerns
• Kate Tippery

Kate appears to have a son named George—possibly born during her marriage to George Solifelt.  He is enumerated with her in 1870. It’s unclear whether this is the same son mentioned, though not by name, in one of the accounts of her death and news about people who had inquired about her estate. The elder George served time in Eastern & Western Penitentiary for highway robbery  1870-1871) I have not found Kate in the 1880 or 1900 census records.

Her death drew attention in newspapers across the country because it was so odd. The article below is a transcription of one that ran in the Wilkes-Barre Times.

HARRISBURG.—Two women, who had been dead in their home for 48 hours, were found Friday night by the police. They were Mrs. Annie Bear, 73 years old, and Mrs. Kate Soliffet, aged 68 years. The women lived together, and the last seen of them alive was on Wednesday night when they closed the house. Friday evening the neighbors notified the police of the women’s absence and the door was broken in. Mrs. Solifelt was found dead in bed from the effect of an overdose of morphia. Mrs. Bear was found partly dressed on a chair, sitting by a window on the second floor. The theory is that Mrs. Soliffet died first, and that Mrs. Bear’s death was caused by heart disease as the result of sudden fright over her companion’s death.

Source: “Pennsylvania Briefs,” Wilkes-Barre Times, 30 Nov 1901, p. 4, col. 4; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/wilkes-barre-times-death-of-kate-solifel/171673558/ : accessed 4 May 2025).

Did her divorce get finalized? I’m not sure. George remarried in 1893 to a woman named Mary or Mollie while he was living in the south(Arkansas, Mississippi, & Texas). He and Mary were enumerated in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, in the 1900 census—a year before Kate’s death. George had returned to Pennsylvania to resolve an issue with his U.S. Civil War pension. Ironically, he wrote to the Office of the Register of Wills protesting any will filed and claiming to be Kate’s husband. If true, then he was also a bigamist.

I still haven’t found Kate’s death certificate, but one of the accounts of her death said she was to be buried in the Paxtang Cemetery in Dauphin County, PA, on May 2nd, 1901. A FindAGrave entry was created for her with a misspelling of Solifelt, but when I contacted the cemetery, they could not find her in the records. Her grave was likely never marked. I would also like to locate the court proceedings from her divorce and her entries in the 1880 and 1900 censuses. 

Stories like Kate’s remind us that while we often refer to the past as "the good old days," the truth is more complicated. There were still tragedies, heartbreak, pain, and greed. In many ways, the struggles people faced then are not so different from those we face now.

1939 Dean Family Reunion--Bedford County TN

Dean Reunion Sunday.

Mr. and Mrs. Dewey Henry were
hosts of the Dean reunion Sunday at
their home. The guests carried din-
ner and with the hosts portion of the
dinner it was served on the lawn at
noon picnic style. Those in attend-
ance were Mr. and Mrs. H. P. Dean
and daughters, Helen, Peggy Ann
and son, H. P. Jr., of Chicago, Mr.
and Mrs. H. M. Rives and son from
Birmingham, Ala., Mr. and Mrs. T.
C. Dean of Goldsboro, N. C., Mr. and
Mrs. W. B. Jakes and children of Old
Hickory, Miss Florence Nelson of
Nashville, Mr. and Mrs. T. L. Lee
and daughters of Manchester, Mr. and
Mrs. J. H. Jenkins and children, Mrs.
Emanda Moore and children, Mr. and
Mrs. J. B. Morton and Eldridge Mor-
ton, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Morton and
daughter and Jim Snelling of War-
trace; Mr. and Mrs. Henry Clark and
Mr. and Mrs. Lester Neal of Shelby
ville; Mrs. Maude Shriver and sons,
Roy Hazel, Charles and Sam Shriver
of Chicago, Ill. Jim Morton of War-
trace offered the invocation at the
dinner.

Source:  

"Dean Reunion Sunday," Bedford County Times(Shelbyville,Tennessee), 7 Jul 1939, Vol 53, No 64, p 5, col 3; image, FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-13TS-YGH9 : accessed 2 May 2025), IGN 008992178, image 511 of 989. 

Most of the attendees are descendants of Pleasant A. Dean(1840-1913) & Nannie Nelson(1865-1925)

There also seems to be a concentrated number of railroad workers among them.  Will & Georgia hosted the Dean Family Reunion in 1941.

Wm B & Georgia Dean Jakes

Mr. & Mrs. Dewey Henry

Dewey L. Henry & wife, Jimmie Frances Dean Henry

Mr. & Mrs. H. P Dean and daughters

This is Herbert Pleasant Dean and Virgie Ann McAdams Dean, along with their children Helen Dean, Peggy Ann Dean, and Herbert P Dean Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. H.M. Rives and son

This is Harry M Rives and  Salena Catherine Dean Rives. I'm not sure which son, though it would seem that it is likely to be one of the two youngest who are not yet married- John Herbert Rives or Harry Clayton Rives.  Joe Ernest Rives is married

Mr. & Mrs. T. C. Dean

Thomas Clayton Dean & wife Alice Lurline Prather Dean.

Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Jakes and children

William Bryan Jakes & Georgia Dean, and their son William Bryan Jakes and daughter Lula Pauline Jakes

Miss Florence Nelson

I haven't figured out her connection yet but think it's likely through Nannie Nelson Dean.

Mr and Mrs. T. L. Lee and daughters

I believe this is Thomas Logan Lee and his wife Maggie Ragan. and their Daughters : Catherine and Jo-Ann

Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Jenkins and children

James H Jenkins & Eva Dean Jenkins

Mrs. Amanda Jenkins Moore and her children

Amanda is the married daughter of James & Eva Dean Jenkins.  Their children are Mary, Bobby, Dorothy, and James

Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Morton and Eldridge Morton

James Robert "Bob" Morton and Lady Bell Koonce with son Eldridge Morton/

Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Morton and daughter 

Ralph is the younger son of J.B. & Lady Bell  Koonce Morton.  Husband of Hazel Appleby. Ralph & Hazel's daughter is Dorothy Morton.

Jim Snelling

Unsure which Jim Snelling this was, but both were descendants of Lemuel Snelling and Sarah King.  Lemuel and Sarah were Pleasant's maternal Grandparents.

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Clark 

Henry Harris Clark and wife, Josephine Merritt Clark

Mr. and Mrs. Lester Neal

Lester and Lorena Henry Neal

Mrs. Maude Shriver and sons, Roy, Charles, and Sam Shriver & Hazel 

Maude McAdams Shriver, sister of Virgie Ann McAdams Dean(wife of  Herbert Pleasant Dean)

Daughter Hazel's name was included in the middle of the listing of the sons in the article.

SNGF--My 3rd Cousin DNA matches Descendants of 2nd Grandparents

 The Saturday Night Genealogy Fun from Randy Seaver's Genea-Musings

1)  How many autosomal DNA matches do you have descended from your eight 2nd-great-grandparents (they would be your third cousins)?  Do you know how they are related to you?  Have you corresponded with them?  Why are your numbers high or low?

2)  Share the number of your autosomal DNA matches for each of your 2GGP, and answer my questions above.

My 3rd Cousin Descendants of my Great Grandparents

I've got a lot of matches that descend from my 2nd Grandparents, but they are not all my 3rd cousins. My parents were both the next-to-youngest ones in their family, and although I am the oldest of 5, my parents didn't have children until Dad was almost 40 and Mom was almost 30.  Because of this, I have many 3C1R, 3C2R, 3C3R, and 2C1R who are descendants of my 3rd Great Grandparents. For the purpose of this exercise, I have included only the 3C from Thrulines in the first list from Ancestry.  The 2nd List from Ancestry results lists ALL of the Descendants in Thrulines(there are many more not included in the Thrulines total because they have private trees). I have also included to the right of each couple the number of matches I have marked with a DOT for that couple.

Ancestry

3C
13  William C Cook(1811-1882) & Elizabeth Putman1813-1880)
5   William B King(1819-1901) & Eliza J Manire(1818-1896) 
1   George Jakes(1820-aft 1882) & Catherine Morrow(1830- aft 1882) 
7   David Frizzell(1808-1870) & Rebecca Manley(1818-1862) 

26 Paternal 3C

2  Elisa Luna(1825-1889) & Keziah Rigsby(1832-1909) 
30   David Pitman(1838-1922) & Mary D F Adcock(1842-1902)  
1   William Leon Acuff(1842-1898) & Sarah McElroy(1847-1925)  
3   William P Hale(1849-1926) & Nancy A Hitchcock(1840-1887) 

36 Maternal 3C

Thrulines Descendents(includes 2C1R & 3C1R, 3C2R, 3C3R) ---Dot Sort Filter
[40] William C Cook(1811-1882) & Elizabeth Putman1813-1880) Dot Filter-216
[42] William B King(1819-1901) & Eliza J Manire(1818-1896) Dot Filter-406
[19] George Jakes(1820-aft 1882) & Catherine Morrow(1830- aft 1882) Dot Filter- 95
[57] David Frizzell(1808-1870) & Rebecca Manley(1818-1862) Dot Filter-279

[63] Elisha Luna(1825-1889) & Keziah Rigsby(1832-1909) Dot Filter-102
[106] David Pitman(1838-1922) & Mary D F Adcock(1842-1902) Dot Filter-285
[21] William Leon Acuff(1842-1898) & Sarah McElroy(1847-1925) Dot Filter-81
[23] William P Hale(1849-1926) & Nancy A Hitchcock(1840-1887) Dot Filter-74

MyHeritage

3C
0  William C Cook(1811-1882) & Elizabeth Putman1813-1880)
3   William B King(1819-1901) & Eliza J Manire(1818-1896) 
0   George Jakes(1820-aft 1882) & Catherine Morrow(1830- aft 1882) 
1  David Frizzell(1808-1870) & Rebecca Manley(1818-1862) 

4 Paternal 3C

0  Elisha Luna(1825-1889) & Keziah Rigsby(1832-1909) 
2   David Pitman(1838-1922) & Mary D F Adcock(1842-1902)  
0   William Leon Acuff(1842-1898) & Sarah McElroy(1847-1925)  
0   William P Hale(1849-1926) & Nancy A Hitchcock(1840-1887) 

2 Maternal 3C

FamilyTreeDNA

3C
0  William C Cook(1811-1882) & Elizabeth Putman1813-1880)
2  William B King(1819-1901) & Eliza J Manire(1818-1896) 
0   George Jakes(1820-aft 1882) & Catherine Morrow(1830- aft 1882) 
0  David Frizzell(1808-1870) & Rebecca Manley(1818-1862) 

2 Paternal 3C

0  Elisha Luna(1825-1889) & Keziah Rigsby(1832-1909) 
1   David Pitman(1838-1922) & Mary D F Adcock(1842-1902)  
0   William Leon Acuff(1842-1898) & Sarah McElroy(1847-1925)  
0   William P Hale(1849-1926) & Nancy A Hitchcock(1840-1887) 

1 Maternal 3C

Conclusions:

I have more autosomal matches at Ancestry, and 62 Total 3rd Cousins. There are a lot of 3rd Cousins who are 1, 2, and even 3 generations removed from me as well, because of the way generations fall in my family. All of my 2nd Great Grandparents were farmers. Most had larger families, with one exception in my paternal(Jakes & Morrow) and one in my maternal(Acuff & McElroy)

I have 6 total 3rd-cousin matches at MyHeritage.  I have a few 2C1R, and 3rd cousins of different generations there as well as more distant matches.  I use the dots to sort there, which helps some.

I have very few 3rd-cousin matches at FamilyTreeDNA.  I do have a number of 2C1R there as well as more distant cousins.  I have corresponded with many of my 3rd cousins who are on my list at Ancestry.