Oh, Henry! What a mess!

Looks like Henry was already in trouble before he married Tennie Ferguson. The document below is a scan of a letter from the Dept. of the Interior asking Henry to verify his address.  He had written from Ozark, Arkansas which was not the address they had on file for him.  

From the 13th paper in the Henry F Hill Investigation Case File:

There are some pretty strong statements about Henry.  I've included a few below.

W T Brooks -Storekeeper-Gauger (Logan, AR) Mar 3 1885

To Hon. Wm W Dudley Comsr of Pensions Washington DC (Begins on Pg 10 of Case File)

I have just filled out blank for Mr. Samuel Highland, that he recd from the pension office.  I am no atty nor have I any interest in the claim more than that I think all disabled soldiers should be provided for and I am confident this is a deserving claimant and think he would long since have recd his pension if he had not fallen into the hand of one Hill that represented himself as a claim agent.  Hill I know to be utterly worthless as the Records of the U.S. Court at Ft. Smith this state will show.  It is a pity that such men are allowed to butcher up deserving men's claims.

Please give this matter attention until you find that I am mistaken in thinking Highland deserves a pension

T C Moore --Dept Clk Circuit Court Franklin Co(Ozark, AR) Dec 16 1888

To Hon Jno C Black Comsr of Pensions Washington DC(Begins on Pg 15 of Case File)

We would not have written upon this subject were it not for the fact that we wish to place ourselves right with you as far this man Hill we are more than willing that he should make any charge against which he deems proper for this acts are attributable more to his combined cupidity and ignorance than to other consideration and the record of the federal court at Ft Smith might throw some light upon his character.

J. A. McAfee- Special Examiner (Fort Smith, AR) May 6 1898

To Hon. H Clay Evans Commissioner of Pensions Washington DC (Begins on Pg 30 of Case File)

I have the honor to call attention to the irregular and illegal practice of one H. F. Hill an attorney and notary of this city, more particularly described in report in claim of Moritz Kagin No. 332.869 transmitted herewith in the above described claim.

The certificate held by this pensioner shows service in Co M 12 Regt KY Vol Cav but he denies such service and the above named attorney evidently found his name in the Adjutants Reports and claimed for all in sight. This book is his stock in trade and if a soldier does not know his service he selects one to fit the name. 

The pensioner states that H F Hill was more interested in the pension than the solder and induced him to apply and prosecuted the claim for a consideration.

(continuing on further down the page)

The attorney H F Hill is supported by the ignorant pension claimant who believes him to be versed in law and rules of practice when in fact , he is ignorant, careless and without principle or fear of law.

he admits that he regularly executes forty or more vouchers in this reckless manner notwithstanding the fact that he has been warned and instructed time and again and he has not yet awakened to the fact that he has violated any law and seems disposed to vary from the beaten path.

After he failed to answer to the charges against him, Henry was disbarred as a pension claim attorney on August 18, 1898. It appears he continued as a Notary Public. 

Source:  Case File of Henry F. Hill(Archive Catalog https://catalog.archives.gov/id/147050790); Case Files of Attorneys, Agents, Pensioners, and Others Relating to the Prosecution of Pension Claims and the Investigation of Fraudulent Practices, ca. 1862-1933;Veterans Administration. (7/21/1930 - 3/15/1989),(Most Recent) Department of the Interior. Bureau of Pensions. 1849-1930 (Predecessor) Veterans Administration. Bureau of Pensions. Law Division. (7/21/1930 - 7/1/1931) (Predecessor)Record Group 15 (RG 15); National Archives Building, Washington, DC (NAB).

A few observations on the Henry F Hill Case File

In a previous blog post I mentioned that I would be ordering documents pertaining to Henry F Hill. Henry was the 2nd husband of Tennie Ferguson Hill. Tennie is the step daughter of my great granduncle James Polk Cook(1836-1888). The copy of the file detailing an investigation into the practices of Henry F Hill pension attorney/agent was ordered from NARA on September 8th and arrived yesterday(Nov 12th). It contains 95 pages. I read thru some of it last night and will be doing an outline of what is covered on each page hopefully this week. This is the same process I used with the copies of the TN Supreme Court Cases I'd ordered from TN State Library and Archives. My outline for the papers from Williams vs. Putman has been a great help when I need to find a specific item in the file. So yes...pretty much a finding aid. 😀

The dates on the papers cover the time period from 1883-1902 as given in the archives catalog entry.  The handwriting runs the gamut from beautiful penmanship to "chicken scratch" as shown in the images below.

 




While Henry F Hill's reputation was recorded as good here(Fort Smith?) it was noted as bad in Ozark.  This was repeated throughout the file.  I haven't yet received the pension file but I will post an update when it's received and I've had time to look over it.

Source:
Case File of Henry F. Hill(Archive Catalog https://catalog.archives.gov/id/147050790); Case Files of Attorneys, Agents, Pensioners, and Others Relating to the Prosecution of Pension Claims and the Investigation of Fraudulent Practices, ca. 1862-1933;Veterans Administration. (7/21/1930 - 3/15/1989),(Most Recent) Department of the Interior. Bureau of Pensions. 1849-1930 (Predecessor) Veterans Administration. Bureau of Pensions. Law Division. (7/21/1930 - 7/1/1931) (Predecessor)Record Group 15 (RG 15); National Archives Building, Washington, DC (NAB).

Updated Rules for Issuing TN Marriage License(1939)

In March of 1939, the spread of venereal disease was becoming a major health issue--especially syphilis and its side effects.  Tennessee passed requirements that must be met before a marriage license could be issued.  While searching for a marriage from a few years before that time period, I found that the paperwork explaining the requirements were microfilmed along with the marriage records.  This didn't go into effect until July of 1941.  The snippet below from the pages contains the dates.  More information on the requirements and exemptions can be found in the scans of the paper which was tucked in the Rutherford Co TN marriage books and can be read here(You'll need to log in to FamilySearch but registration is free.) 

I did a search of "syphilis outbreak" in the newspapers for Tennessee during the time period from 1930-1945 and found it mentioned many times.  One in particular, the 23 Sep 1941 edition of The Tennessean on page 4 gave some pretty alarming statistics.  Broadening the search to cover the country rather than just Tennessee showed this outbreak was happening all across the USA during that same time period.

Source:

"Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-893X-18H5?cc=1619127 : accessed 7 Nov 2022), Rutherford > Marriage records, 1936-1939, vol 14-15 > image 311 of 665; citing Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville and county clerk offices from various counties.

“Mens Sana in Corpore Sano,” The Tennessean, 23 Sep 1941, p. 4, col. 2; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 7 Nov 2022).

Mrs. Ruth King Bond (1891-1914)--Dau of Richard Nance King and Parrie Cook

Mrs. Ruth King Bond (1891-1914)--Daughter of Richard Nance King and Parry Cook King

• Age 23 
• Born 16th May 1891 in Rover, Bedford Co., Tennessee
• Died 30th Apr 1914 at Britton OK
• Lived at Eagleville until age 9(1900)
• Moved to Triune in 1900
• Later to Murfreesboro.
• Married Mr. Dan Bond 11 Dec 1909
• Moved to OK in 1910.
• Mr. Bond died in Jan 1914
• She came to Britton after being widowed to live with her brother Mace King
• Her health rapidly declined
• Survivors:
• 3 year old daughter, Maud
• Sister--Eula King
• Brothers, Mace King and Joe King
• Converted and joined Missionary Baptist Church at Elmer OK in 1911

Source:  Above information from the obituary than ran in the Britton Weekly Sentinel(Britton, OK) 7th May 1914 which can be viewed in digital format at Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112143371/obituary-of-ruth-king/

Additional information:

Ruth's sister, Eula brought Maud back to Tennessee to live with Ella Cook Martin.  Ella was Parry Cook King's sister who had raised Ruth after Parry's death.  She also raised Maud.  Eula returned to OK and died a short time later.  Ruth, Eula and Dan all died of tuberculosis and are all buried somewhere in Britton OK.

Source Additional information from Charlotte Ralston whose source on this line was Maud Bond Hailey Thomas.

I did find Ruth's listed at FindAGrave in Britton Cemetery however it looks like it was added from her death notice and their is no picture of a stone.  I don't know who would have records of the cemetery.  There is a Stone monument that contains some history of the cemetery located here at FindAGrave.  

From the ok3explore.health.ok.gov website:
Earliest OK death record is 1908 however, vital records weren't required by law until 1917.

This is Ruth's pedigree She, her full siblings and her descendants are kin to me  thru the King line, Cook line with an additional line of the Putmans.  You can get a visual of it by looking at the Thruline icons(the gray ones)

Greenfield, Weakley Co. Tennessee--July 1886

In a blog post from August 10th I mentioned Tennessee Delayed Birth Records and the county court orders in the supporting evidence section of those records. If you are researching people who were born between 1880 and 1900 the birthplace information can be very insightful. Given the 20 year census gap caused by the loss of the 1890 census this information really helps when you don't find your folks in their usual location. I was looking at the children of Richard Nance King and his 1st wife, Parrie Elizabeth Cook. Richard is the younger brother of my great grandmother Jane Bell King Cook and Parrie is the niece of my great grandfather William Green Cook(Jane's husband).  I am using the MyTreeTags™ tool in my tree at Ancestry to note that there is a double relationship with their descendants.

In finding the TN Delayed Birth Record for their son, Joseph Knox King, I discovered that the family, or at least Parrie was in Greenfield, Weakley Co TN at the time of Joseph's birth(11 July 1886.)  His maternal Aunt Ella Cook Martin gave a statement that she knew when he was born.  She was 15 at the time of his birth.  His delayed birth record also lists the Cook Family Bible as supporting evidence.  I wish it would have mentioned who had possession of the bible at that time(Aug of 1942) and which Cook bible.

It's somewhat amusing that the instructions along the side say to "Use Typewriter or write plainly with unfading ink" but doesn't mention not to use fading ink for typing. 😃

A Visual Representation of my Pedigree Using Puzzilla

I hadn't used Puzzilla in awhile and someone had mentioned it in a group I'm in so I thought I would check it out again.  The site works in conjunction with FamilySearch  and I used it to get a visual representation of where my tree needs work.  They offer premium services but I just use the free basic service. I did have to make some corrections as the FS One Tree did not have some lines and had others that were errors.  For this chart I focused on the 2nd & 3rd Greats in my tree and most of those have birth years between 1750 and early 1800s.  I did a screen capture and used editing software to identify the areas where I need more research.  I was aware of these areas but it is nice to see them represented in a single image file.   

Cook:  YDNA tested to the Y700 level Most closely match descendants of Shem Cook out of Granville Co NC who descend thru his son James.  We could also match the other sons I just have not seen tests from descendants of them and there is no easy way to find out if someone with a line of descent from them has tested unless they are using WikiTree and marking it there.

Pittman:  YDNA tested to the Y700 level Within the project we are Group B Pittmans which are sort into the East Coast USA and Essex Co, UK Group

Curvin:   I'm not sure if anyone has attempted much research on as it's a female line from SC prior to TN and some folks just find that scary.  I did see some among my atDNA matches at Ancestry so there might be some opportunities there.

Hale:  I really need to work on this line.  I think maybe one of my cousins who is a direct male has tested at 23&me and I might be able to do a little comparison with those in the Hale YDNA project.  There is much family lore on this side but this is the group that hid from the census taker during the reconstruction years.