Monday, June 5, 2023

Rev. Alexander M. Sullens


Rev. Alexander M. Sullens (1830-1905)  = Christian (Campbellite; Disciples of Christ) Minister. Union Soldier in Civil War.
Alexander, born in Mill Springs, Wayne county, Kentucky on Oct 15, the third of thirteen, to John (1804-1883) and Malinda (Thompson) Sullens (1805-1867), emigrated from Kentucky to Miller county, Missouri where his brother was born the following year. Alexander's grandparents were Peter & Mary (Carson) Sullens, Sr. Alexander's first cousin, Judge John H. Sullens of Adrian, Bates County, MO.,  born in Kentucky the year before he was, was elected to both circuit court and as a Missouri state legislator. As a victim of the Burnt District, John, along with other representatives, asked the editor of the St. Louis Republican paper to publish George Caleb Bingham's letter concerning General Thomas Ewing's Order No. 11.
Alexander married Martha (1831-1914), daughter of Abraham and Nancy Ritter on May 19, 1849 in Cole County, MO and to this union six children were born -- William Jasper  (1850-1829); John Thomas (1852-1935); Mary E. (b.1857); George Washington (1859-1896); Ezra L. (1861-1930); and Lewis Pinkney "Pink" Sullens (1867-1945). Their son, William, played a fiddle and it is said that he could play all night and not play the same song twice. William's son, Loyd Carl would accompany his father on his banjo.
Alexander pastored the Spring Garden Christian Church, the mother church of all the Disciples of Christ churches in Miller County. The church was organized in 1840 and two church houses were built in the northwest corner of the present day cemetery in 1845 and 1870. When his granddaughter, Cora Lee (1875-1955), daughter of William Jasper and Nannie C. (Scrivner) (1857-1901) Sullens, married William Thornton Rush (1874-1954), son of James M. (1826-1892) & Theresa Jane (Loveall) Rush (1835-1909), on March 30, 1902,  he officiated at their wedding ceremony.

 More to Read:
1.) Bingham: Fighting Artist. By Lew Larkin. School of the Ozarks Press, Point Lookout, MO. 1971. P. 293.
2.) The History of Cass and Bates Counties, Missouri. St. Joseph, Mo. National Historical Company, 1883. p. 1299-1300. Repository: Midwest Genealogy Center, Independence, MO, www.mymcpl.org
3.) Miller County, MO. Marriages, Bk. E. P. 137 By A. M. Sullins.
4.) The Rush Report. Compiled by Gaynelle Jenkins Moore with research assistance by David W. Rush. Historical Data Services, Glens Falls, NY; 2003. Internet Archive
5.) Peter Sullens and Mary Carson and Two Hundred Years of Descendants. By Maude Sullens Hoffman. Printed by J.W. Brown. 1971.
6.) A Photo of William Jasper & Loyd Sullens playing their instruments.
8.) Findagrave Memorial  # 61286760 and Find A Grave Memorial # 60413035


Places to Visit:
1.) Spring Garden Cemetery, AA Hwy & Binkley Road (north of 54 Hwy), Spring Garden, Miller County, MO. 

Alexander Sullen's Civil War Tombstone
Spring Garden, MO. cemetery

Certificate that came with Civil War tombstone
signed by US President

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Martin White 2015 Presentation and Query




Elder Martin White's Biography (off-site)

Presentation Praise (off-site)


Although I presented the White's family story in Lincoln, Logan County, Illinois in May 2015, I'm continuing to dig for more information on Martin, Kiturah, and their children, so I still have a request for my cousins -- I am completing my grandmother's research on my 3rd great-grandparents because I am a promise-keeper and I have found much new information that she was not able to obtain during her own research because 1.) she was collecting as much as she could on all the descendants which was a huge undertaking in the days before the internet and 2.) the information was just not available to her or her assistants, even though she traveled to Kentucky where he was born, to Illinois, Kansas and the Missouri border area where he eventually died. She even corresponded by letter with many cousins, most of whom have passed away by now.

Unfortunately, the records that my grandmother copied or received during her family research were burned. The only thing I had in the beginning of my research on Martin & Kiturah was their story preserved in the red White book that my Grandmother published in 1983.  

I'm seeking two things especially, but as with any story, there are always more things I want to know about my 3rd great-grandparents. The two things I would like to have especially is a photograph of Martin and Kiturah (Kitty, Katie). Grandma was able to obtain photographs of some of their children and grandchildren which was eventually published in her genealogy. There are many photographs out there of Abraham Lincoln, so they lived during the time when photographs were possible, but I'm not sure if they ever had their photograph taken or if anyone ever drew or painted their portraits. 


The other thing I would like to have are samples of Martin's handwriting. Do you have any letters or documents with his signature that's been handed down in your family that is not from the internet, that you would be willing to photocopy or scan to share with me? I need family samples to verify what I have found on the internet. If you have either thing, please leave a comment for me in the comment section below. I moderate all comments before I publish them, so if you have personal information such as an email or a home address in your comment, it will not be published -- it's safe with me. However, if you wish to be counted as a member of the family, it would be best to make two comments -- one for me to keep containing your personal information and one to publish here.

I have been approached by people wanting to sell records to me pertaining to Martin White. As to that, I am NOT interested. So don't even bother trying to scam me. 

You would make my day if you have either requested item or another personal object of Martin's such as his Bible, his hymnal, a ministerial logbook or church minutes from Liberty Mosquito, Elk Fork or Pleasant Gap Primitive Baptist churches, sermons, his pulpit or powder horn or something of Kiturah's like a handwritten recipe, a list of Bible family records, her favorite Bible verse, a hand-crafted object and so forth.  These may be added to my family tree on Ancestry. Thank you in advance!

More to Read:

Click on the label "White" at the bottom of this post for information about other White descendants that I have written about or included in other posts. 

Written by Dolores J. Rush. 

Family History Funnies

 



A girlfriend sent me this cartoon, knowing my interest in family history.
I just had to share with you all, since you are perhaps a relative! smile!






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Nuts in the Cemetery

On the outskirts of a small town, there was a big, old pecan tree just inside the cemetery fence. One day, two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts. "One for you, one for me, one for you, one for me, " said one boy. Several dropped and rolled down toward the fence. 

Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard, 'One for you, one for me, one for you, one for me!' He just knew what it was. He jumped back on his bike and rode off. Just around the bend he met an old man with a cane, hobbling along. 

'Come here quick,' said the boy, 'you won't believe what I heard! Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetery dividing up the souls!' 

The man said, 'Beat it kid, can't you see it's hard for me to walk.' When the boy insisted though, the man hobbled slowly to the cemetery. Standing by the fence they heard, 'One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me.' The old man whispered, 'Boy, you've been tellin' me the truth. Let's see if we can see the Lord.'

Shaking with fear, they peered through the fence, yet were still unable to see anything. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of the Lord. 

At last they heard, 'One for you, one for me. That's all. Now let's go get those nuts by the fence and we'll be done.'

They say the old man had the lead for a good half-mile before the kid on the bike passed him.

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and a few favorites gathered from Pinterest
















Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Tornado Alley


My head swiveled to the left after a sixth grader behind me yelled, "Tornado! There's a tornado!" As a first grader, that black ominous long snaky thing tearing up the ground, still several miles away, terrified, yet fascinated me and I was rooted to my seat. But not for long. Our pale-faced bus driver went into immediate action, stopping the bus at the next bus stop and pulling children out of their seats, urging them to quickly exit the bus into the waiting arms of a mother who had come for her children. We ran for her house, fighting the wind and rain that began to pelt us, stinging our heads and legs, and diving into her basement. I remember, as I sat there on the dusty basement floor with all the other children, while the two adults peeked out of her windows from time to time, I prayed "God save us." The Lord's listened to a terrified little girl's prayers, he put down his hand of protection and the tornado, when it was within a mile of our bus, turned south and lifted. (1966).

That was a close call. There have been other close calls as we live in Tornado Alley, a section of the Midwest known for rip snortin' bad weather in the spring. In 1957, there was a particularly bad one remembered by citizens who lived here then which wiped out a large portion of south Kansas City in an area known as Ruskin Heights, a newly built suburb for returning veterans and their families. My parents didn't move to the Kansas City area until a year after the terrible tragedy occurred. 

Ruskin Heights has been rebuilt. In fact, you wouldn't even know the area had been devastated by such a terrible calamity today, but there is a memorial on the main road which reminds us of that day as we drive by.


Ruskin Heights Tornado Memorial

In perpetual memory of those residents of Ruskin Heights who, having lost even the most precious of life's blessings in the tragedy that struck this community May 20, 1957, found the will and spiritual strength to here build anew. This memorial is dedicated to those who lost their lives that night and, in so doing, gave to this community the high resolve to perpetuate that which they helped to build. Dedicated May 18, 1958.

More to Read & Watch:
Caught Ever After, Children of the Ruskin Heights Tornado. By Carolyn Glenn Brewer. Amazon. 
Caught In the Path: A Tornado's Fury, A Community's Rebirth.  By Carolyn Glenn Brewer. Amazon.