My 2022 Research Year in Review

• January: Blogged about 5 of my ancestors:  John King(1770-1814) James Jakes(1857-1941) Telitha Ann Frizzell Jakes(1858-1920)  David Pittman(1838-1922)  James Polk Acuff(1872-1939)
• February: Looked for my 3rd Gr Grandmother in the 1840 Census & found my 2nd Great Grandfather in the 1840(I'd given up hope of ever locating him)
• March: Researched Wm C Cook's Dyer Co TN neighbors. Started mapping out my Tennie Ferguson Hill research
• April: Found the majority of my folks in the 1950 census within the first week of its release.  Finished up my Jakes/Frizzell Article
• May: Studied the disease outbreaks and mill workers/factory towns and the social aspect of it all in preparation for writing my Cook(e)/King article.
• June: Started writing the Cook(e)/King article.
• July: Finished up my Williamson Co TN--Dist 25 Blog series.  Made a discovery about Gr Uncle John L Cook's wife's ancestry.
• August: Wrote a blog article comparing my siblings, myself and my paternal aunt to a set of 4 siblings(I love making charts)
• September:  Wrote a blog article about DNA comparing myself and my siblings to Descendants of Jabel Putman(Did I mention I love making charts?)  Ordered a copy of the Henry F Hill investigation file from NARA.  Ordered some Union Civil War Pension Files.
• October:  Studied the Hamer sisters and their ancestry--they married Cook brothers(my gr grandfather's brothers)  Worked on pulling information on Tennie, Henry F Hill and George Solifelt into a research notebook 
• November:  Received the copy of the Henry Hill investigation file I ordered from NARA.  
• December:  Finished the outline of the Henry F Hill File.  The George Solifelt Union Civil War Pension File arrived along with his service records and those of Henry F. Hill.  My Jakes/Frizzell Article was published in the TN Genealogical Society's Ansearchin' News Vol. 69 No. 4 Winter 2022.  Was finally able to get the documentation for Mary Ann "Polly", wife of Elisha Luna's surname which for years has been thought to be Lennox because of and index and poor penmanship.  It is Enoch, specifically the Caswell Co NC Enochs who were from Delaware prior to coming to NC.

Overall I feel like 2022 has been one of my better research years.  I look forward to 2023 and hope that it will bring many more research discoveries for us all.  

Mary Ann "Polly" Enoch Luna, daughter of Andrew Enoch(Caswell Co NC)

For any one who is a descendant of Peter Luna(d. 1851--Marshall Co. TN) thru his son Elisha Luna please note that the evidence to support the claim that Mary Ann "Polly",  Elisha's wife's surname of was Enoch and not Lenox/Lennox can be found in image 4 of the 62 images that are the contents of the Estate File of Andrew Enoch of Caswell County, North Carolina dated 1797. Andrew Enoch died about 1791 but the receipt is dated 7 Nov 1808 which is about 4 years after Elisha & Polly married.  The majority of these are receipt files.  I need to look further and see what is recorded in the books for this case. 

This had long been my hypothesis because I was continually seeing the Enoch named used by descendants of Elisha & Polly but never the Lenox/Lennox name.  I was not aware of, nor had I found any evidence to support that until seeing where another researcher had posted about it on the FamilySearch tree.  I began researching in 1990 and at that time there were transcriptions and indexing done that all had Elisha's wife's surname as Lenox or Lennox.  I believe that came from their Sumner Co TN marriage record and from there spread like wildfire. Now if only the correct surname with documentation would spread like wildfire.  

Below is my best shot at a transcription of the receipt from image 4

Rec'd 7th of November 1808 of John Yancy
Two Hundred and seventy seven dollars and
thirty cents It being in full of the legacy 
due from him to Elisha Loony in right
of his wife Polley one of the orphans of 
Andrew Enochs dec'd which I receive by virtue
of a power of attorney from said Loony
It being in full of the legacy due him
in right of his wife one of the heirs of
said dec'd
  
Samuel ( X )Coplinger
Test:
Alex Murphey

Source & Notes:
"North Carolina Estate Files, 1663-1979," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V121-4Q6 : 8 March 2021), Andrew Enoch, 1797; citing Caswell, North Carolina, United States, State Archives, Raleigh; FHL microfilm 1,711,174. 

The surname of Peter Luna was originally Looney/Loony.  The majority of the Lunas who aren't of Mexican or Spanish descent in the SE USA are from the line of Peter Luna although there are a few who do use the old spelling.

FamilySearch links may require log in but registration is free.  

Examining Tennie's Claim That She Is George's Niece

I'm looking at Tennie Hill's claim that she is the niece of George Solifelt and gathering what evidence I have for analysis. Below is a "play by play" of Tennie's correspondence with the Veterans Administration who by 1935 was in charge of Union Pensions.

• Tennie writes to the Veterans Admin to let them know George has died. She asks them to send forms so you can get any pension due to him because she took care of his expenses.  Also included in her correspondence with the VA is a copy of his death notice and a notarized statement from the funeral home showing that she was the one who paid for his funeral expenses..
• Veterans Admin. writes back saying they need a certified Death cert.
• Tennie sends one along with a notarized statement from the minister who preached at George's funeral
• Veterans Admin. sends letter to Notary in error.
• The notary attaches a noted letter explaining that the wife mentioned that George's death record is deceased and that Tennie is his sole surviving heir. (screenshot below)

• Veterans Admin sends letter to Tennie asking her to clarify what the death cert. of George says.  It said he was married and gave his wife's name.  If the wife is a survivor they need to know that as she would be the one who would qualify for any money due him.  If she is deceased they need to have a sworn statement of that with her date of death.
• Tennie returns that letter with a notarized statement typed at the bottom.  (screenshot pg 307)

• Veterans Admin sends a letter to Tennie letting her know that accrued pension is not an asset of his estate and is not payable to heirs and is not liable for the payment of debts but may be paid to reimburse the person who bore the expenses of his last sickness and burial or who is held responsible for the payment thereof only in case he did not leave sufficient assets to meet such expenses or is not survived by widow or a minor child under the age of 16 yrs at the date of his death.  They enclose form for her to use if that is the case.
• Tennie completes the file and sends it back.

KEY STATEMENT FROM Pg. 1 of Reimbursement Application

KEY STATEMENT FROM Pg. 2 of Reimbursement Application

• She is awarded an accrued pension amount of $95 and they note that there is possible additional aid of $150 towards the remaining expenses.  She claimed  $3448 they approved only a certain amount for items of which the $150 possible deduction was subtracted leaving $753.60 I don't see anything on the document that give any indication that they paid anything other than the $95 amount to her and merely suggested she might be able to get $150.  

Let's look at what is being said and compare it to known information.

I tried to make a list of all the possible ways that Tennie might be George's niece but she seems to have explained it in the above snippets from the reimbursement application.....or does she?  Tennie's mother is Susan Carson of Williamson Co TN.  Susan's 1st husband John Ferguson was Tennie's father.  His family was also from Williamson Co TN  I am familiar with both families and that of Susan's 2nd husband(Tennie's stepdad, James Polk Cook)  Tennie is on the census in the household of her Stepdad and her Mom in 1870 and 1880.  Susan Carson was not a sister of George.  If Susan Carson is not Tennie's Mom then the 1/2 sister that Tennie names in her will(and also listed as a survivor in obituary) would not be her half-sister.  That half-sister's father is James Polk Cook.  What we know about George from his early life and that of his Mom, Eliza, and his sister Wilhelmina is that they were all in Pennsylvania up until at least 1870 and that is documented. While Penn is sometimes mistaken for  Tenn(Which does happen in indexing a good bit)that is not what is happening here. Tennie consistently gives her state of birth as 1862 in Tennessee.  George's only sister of record Wilhelmina married in 1870 and is living with her new husband, Henry Walters, and her mom Eliza Solifelt(Saufeld in entry) in Lewiston, Dauphin Co PA.  There are no others in the household with them.

Tennie is the informant on George's death certificate yet she cannot name his parents.  That would be her maternal grandparents and you would have thought she would have at least attempted a guess at their place of birth.

All the evidence I have found, census records, kinships, death certificates, and even her own will, provide clues that suggest that her statement about her being by birth the daughter of George's sister is false.  I believe she claimed to be his niece for several reasons.  There was money to be gained not only from the reimbursement but also she was still drawing her widow's pension and I don't know if she could have continued doing that after she and George left Arkansas and came to Kansas without having some backstory of why she was living with a man. The obituary that she included was one of two obituaries for George and I believe that it was written by Tennie.  I don't claim to know what, if any other relationship existed between George and Tennie, but I am 99.9% certain that they were not uncle and niece by blood.

Sources: 

"United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZ57-SLQ : 29 May 2021), Willamina Walters in entry for Eliza Saufeld, 1870.

George Solifelt(Pvt., Co. E, 20th PA Cav., Civil War), pension application no. 580,089,

certificate no. 950,395, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications, 1861-1934; Civil

War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National

Archives, Washington, D.C.

“Mrs. Tennessee Hill Funeral Tomorrow,” The Iola Register, 12 May 1946, p. 1, col. 3; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 23 Dec 2022).

"Will of Tennessee Hill," File #6782; Allen County Kansas Clerk's Office, Dated 14 Mar 1946. 

"George H Solifelt Standard Certificate of Death," State of Kansas, State Board of Health Division of Vital Statistics, Certificate #8581, DOD 30 Jan 1935, Filed 15 Feb 1935, informant Mrs. Tennie Hill.

"United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD8F-ZLD : 25 October 2022), Tennessee Cook in entry for James Cook, 1870.[Tennie is listed under the Cook surname.  Her half sister Sofie who is listed in her will is also in this census]

"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDQ2-DMM : 15 January 2022), District 10, Bedford Co., Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district 10 , sheet 12D, Household of James P. Cook.

[Tennie is again listed under her Stepdad's surname ]

Finding George in the 1860 US Federal Census

Using George Solifelt's Military Service records(aliases included) I made a timeline of his military service and locations. (See Image below) I did this because it makes it easier to see the big picture and to get a better idea of where he might be around the time of the 1860 Census.   In addition to the information that he enrolled in St. Thomas(Franklin Co.) PA, information in his pension file in a statement from John P Wyant is also helpful.  Wyant says that he has known George since 1850 and that George's father(Ferdinand Solifelt) was in the Mexican-American War with Capt. Charles T Campbell.  After the elder Solifelt's death,  Capt. Campbell adopted George. George was led to believe his name was Sullivan and used that surname up until learning from his Mom his true surname of Solifelt.  

Armed with this information I went searching for a George Sullivan in 1860 Franklin Co PA in the St. Thomas area expanding the area of search outside of St. Thomas as needed.  I first searched for Capt Charles T. Campbell and found him enumerated in St. Thomas but George nor any of his aliases was listed in the household with Capt. Campbell. At this point, George would be around 16 years of age so that is likely not all that uncommon.  I tried searching for people with the given name of George and looking in the results for a surname somewhat close to Sullivan or Solifelt.  Nothing that fit so I did a search for persons with the given name of Theodore and found a Theodore Sallifat age 16.  This is likely George given the information known.  He is living with the Charles and Jane Gillian family as a farm hand and the listing is just 14 entries away from that of Capt. Campbell.

This makes me question what Wyant said about George's surname. However, if you pronounce the two surnames, Sullivan and Solifelt they really aren't that different sounding especially if accents come into play.

I haven't found him in the 1870 census yet but I did find the woman who I believe was his 1st wife with a school age male in her household--both bearing a creative spelling of George's surname.  George should be in the same area and may well be in jail as he had a hearing and was sentenced to a year and 6 months in Eastern State Penitentiary for highway robbery in 1870.  I have a copy of  some of the court documents that were at FamilySearch. .Ancestry has the Eastern State Penitentiary Convict Reception Registers.  The Eastern State inmate registry lists this as his first conviction and under marital status lists him as married with one child.  As complicated as George's story is, that of the first wife and her life is even more complicated and needs a good bit more research.  Her story is one for another day.

When I find his remaining census entries I'll post about them and how they were found. I've also been reading what I can find about Eastern State Penitentiary and Captain Charles Thomas Campbell.

Sources:

George Solifelt(Pvt., Co. E, 20th PA Cav., Civil War), pension application no. 580,089,

certificate no. 950,395, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications, 1861-1934; Civil

War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National

Archives, Washington, D.C. [John P Wyant's statement to Hon. H Clay Evans Com. of Pensions is dated 15 Sep 1897 p 123 &124 in the PDF scans of the 359 page document  Wyant mentions that he has known George since 1850 and lived in the same neighborhood near Capt Campbell and is currently living in Ft Smith Arkansas.]

"United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX5D-VFT : accessed 22 Dec 2022), St. Thomas Twp., Franklin Co., Pennsylvania, p. 57 family #407  line 1, Theodore Sallifat in entry for Chas Gillan, 1860. [Theodore is listed as a Farm Hand.  The Gillian family's entry begins at the bottom of p 56]
 

"United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX5D-V6V : accessed 22 Dec 2022), St. Thomas Twp., Franklin Co., Pennsylvania, p. 55 family #393  line 13, C T Campbell, 1860.

Compiled service record, George H. Solifelt, Pvt, Co. C 1 PA Prov'l Cavalry; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Record Group 94; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Compiled service record, George H. Solifelt, Pvt, Co. E 20 PA Cavalry; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Record Group 94; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Compiled service record, George Sullivan, Pvt, Co. C 2 PA Infantry; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Record Group 94; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Compiled service record, Theodore Sullivan, Pvt, Co. N 126 PA Infantry; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Record Group 94; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Compiled service record, George Sullivan, Bookmark 1387-C-1885, Box No. 3190; Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations, Civil War; Record Group 94; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

"Pennsylvania, U.S., Prison, Reformatory, and Workhouse Records, 1829-1971" database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61173/ : accessed 22 Dec 2022) Eastern State Penitentiary > Convict Reception Registers > 1842 - 1929 > Image 918 of 4522, prisoner #6718, George Solifelt. 

George Solifelt's Pension File: observations from the first 100 pages.

The Union Pension file of George Solifelt that I had on order arrived this week. It is a 359 page PDF.  That is an incredibly large file and as I do for most larger files I will be making an outline/finding aid.  For this size file it is a MUST.  I am reading thru the file first to get an idea of the structure.  

One of the questions I've had in mind since I started researching Tennie, Henry and George was answered.  I'd wondered if Henry and George knew each other because I really had no evidence of overlap as each was a part of Tennie's life at different times given the documents I had.  That is up until page 82 of George's pension file, where Henry is the Notary Public on witnesses statements of George's identity.  In later pages, George also mentions giving a sworn statement which Henry wrote down as he spoke.(dated 14th Jan 1896)  The image below is from the last part of the papers with H F Hill.

George's statement contains a list of places of residence.

1. Little Rock AR
2. Ft Smith AR
3. Lewiston, PA
4. Ft. Smith AR (at present)

Earlier in the files(abt pg 32 of the PDF) He is making a statement which is notarized in Denison, Grayson Co TX dated 5th August 1886. His application for a pension started when he was living in the state of Texas though he didn't mention it in the above list.

Source:  

George Solifelt(Pvt., Co. E, 20th PA Cav., Civil War), pension application no. 580,089,

certificate no. 950,395, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications, 1861-1934; Civil

War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National

Archives, Washington, D.C. [He used the aliases George Sullivan & Theodore Sullivan both of which are noted the Pension Index Cards. He also served in  Co. C 2nd PA Inf., Co. H 126th PA Inf., and Co. C 1st PA Prov. Cav.]  

George Solifelt(Alias Theodore Sullivan)--Book Mark Document

Looked at the Book Mark documents referenced in George Solifelt's Compiled Military Service Record and wanted to understand more about exactly what it was and why it was created.  I found an excellent article at https://twelvekey.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/ngsmagazine2015-01.pdf    
George had two alias that he used.  The information in his Book Mark file contains statements by others who knew him, and who gave sworn statements that George Solifelt & Theodore Sullivan were the same man. He also used the alias George Sullivan. One affidavit in particular contained some really interesting details.  It is a statement given by George Woomer.  

George Woomer said the following:   

I knew George H. Solifelt from his early youth.  We were boys together drove boat together on the Penns. Canal in the year 1862 and before.  in August of 1862 we left our Boats and went to Camp Curtin at Harrisburg PA and enlisted.  I enlisted in Co K 131st P.V. and he enlisted in Co H 126th Rgt P V. I saw him once in the service only.  it was after we went to the front.  Don't know the date but I know he serves in that company and regiment.  I did not then know he enlisted under the name of Theodore Sullivan--I have known him ever since and I know he is the same man who served in that Co. and Rgt.  I did not know he had served as Theodore Sullivan until he told me he gave as a reason for changing his name that he had been bound out when a boy.  I don't know whether he really knew what his name was or not.  I know his mother was Eliza Solifelt but I don't know who his Father was.

I located the FindAGrave entry for George Woomer & his wife.  Their grave is marked with a stone in First Methodist Cemetery, Lewistown, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, USA.

There are 15 other documents within this Book Mark file.  

Source: 

"General Affidavit on George H Solifelt & alias Theodore Sullivan" by George Woomer, 13 July 1896, witnessed by C M Shull, Justice of the Peace, File 1387-C-1885, Box 3190, Enlisted Branch Letters Received, NAID 607910, RG 94, National Archives, Washington DC.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52104825/george-woomer: accessed 08 December 2022), memorial page for Pvt George Woomer (10 Mar 1844–17 Nov 1924), Find a Grave Memorial ID 52104825, citing First Methodist Cemetery, Lewistown, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, USA; Maintained by RN (contributor 50495725).