Veterans' Day: The Story Behind An Old Grave

Hola everyone.  A serious family illness situation has been occupying my time and sucking up most of my energy for some time now.  But I wanted to post this in honor of our veterans, those living and those who are no longer with us.

On a lovely autumn day about six weeks ago (it's hard to keep track of the time these days, they all seem to blend into each other in non-ending exhaustion, duty and worry) I met a couple of friends whom I used to work with years ago, and we had lunch.  Afterwards, one of the friends and I took a ride to the Veterans' cemetery at Wood (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) where her father, a WWII vet, and her mother, are buried.

It is a beautiful, serene and tranquil place in the midst of a busy city, unfortunately intersected by an eight lane expressway that goes right past Miller Park (baseball park)!  But even that monstrosity cannot disrupt the peace one feels amid the acres of carefully tended grass, trimmed around the gravestones, and trees turning reds, yellows, and oranges against a cloudless bright crisp blue sky.

My friend showed me her parents' graves, and we paid homage.  Then we took a slow walk through the neatly arranged rows of gravestones, lined up like soldiers in formation.  It was truly moving.  We stopped along our way to read the names on the stones.  Some stones were so worn we could no longer make out any details.  I learned that the Veterans Administration does have a program to replace worn out gravestones with new ones, but due to budget cuts much of that program has been ground to a halt.  How sad!

One gravestone, in particular, caught my attention.  My friend snapped a few photos of it with her cell phone:

  This is the grave of Private Abraham Bailey, who served in Captain William Richardson's Co. of the Pennsylvania Militia in the War of 1812.  He died on May 31, 1884.

We wondered:  What was a man who served in the Pennsylvania Militia doing buried in a Veterans' cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin?  Had he moved here after the War of 1812, perhaps when Wisconsin was a newly opened territory, or perhaps when Wisconsin became a state in 1848?  The mystery intrigued us.  Who was this man, buried in the oldest grave in this section (at least of the stones we could read).

We talked about checking to see if we could find out more.  Both of us have accounts at Ancestry.com.  So, after I go home, I got to work.  Later my friend and I emailed back and forth to share our findings.

This is what we learned about Abraham Bailey, who served in the War of 1812 on behalf of the United States.

Abraham (also known as Abram B.) Bailey, was born on March 30, 1795 (or 1796) in Pennsylvania, where he lived for most of his life before relocating, near the end of his long life, to the Veterans' Home and Hospital at Wood, Wisconsin, in 1882.  He died at Wood at the age of 88 years, and he was buried there.

Abraham served in the Pennsylvania Militia between September 18, 1814 to December 15, 1814, when the war ended.  Before and after the war, he made his living as a stone mason.

On September 20, 1837 in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Abraham married Martha Gaskill Seaman, the daughter of Theophila Gaskill and Nathaniel Seaman.  Martha was born in Pennsylvania (or possibly in New York), on September 7, 1801 and she died on December 22, 1881.

At some point after 1850 or 1855, Abraham received a warrant from the U.S. Government for "bounty land" as a result of his service in the War of 1812.  I don't know where the land was located, but it appears, judging from the notation in the upper right hand corner on the document below, that he received rights to 160 acres:

Bounty land was typically land in "the public domain" which at the time meant territory in lands acquired by the United States government for settlement and expansion, such as the Louisiana Territory.  For example, some 5 million acres were set aside as bounty land in Illinois territory before it became a state.  It doesn't appear that Abraham Bailey moved to begin a new homestead on his bounty land; more likely, he sold his land warrant for cash to either an outright purchaser or a land speculator.

I found the couple in the United States Census Records for 1850 (Delaware County, PA), 1860 (Chester County, PA), 1870 (Chester County, PA) and 1880 (Burlington County, NJ).  No children were listed on any of these census records.  Martha and Abraham had no children as far as I was able to determine.  I could find no records but that does not prove there were no children born to the couple, who may have been born but died in the times between the U.S. Censuses.

We know these few bare facts, but we know nothing of the man, the woman, the couple, their lives together.  What did they look like?  What were they like?  Were they happy?

Abraham Bailey's record from the Veterans' Home and Hospital is on the right.  A life reduced to a few sentences:

In the midst of WWII, Abraham Bailey's gravestone at Wood was replaced in 1942 - the document above is the replacement request.

Private Abraham Bailey, on behalf of a grateful nation, my friend Ann and I salute you, and all those who served and are serving their country. Thank you.

Americans Honor Military Families by Cutting Food Aid

In honor of Veterans' Day -- gee thanks, Republicans, and shame shame on you:

DoD: 5,000 Military Families Losing Food Stamps

Jul 13, 2013

Military.com| by Richard Sisk

 

The House action that stripped food stamp funding from a massive farm bill would threaten vital assistance for about 5,000 military families, mostly from the junior enlisted ranks, Pentagon officials said Friday.

A Department of Agriculture report last year showed that more than 5,000 of the 48 million Americans receiving Supplementary Nutritional Assistance Program (food stamps) listed their employment status as "active duty military," the Pentagon officials said.

"Military members who receive SNAP tend to be made up of members in junior pay grades with larger than average household sizes," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen, a Defense Department spokesman.

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From The New York Times letters to the Editor:

Military Families and Food Stamps

Published: September 24, 2013

 

Regarding “Free to be hungry” (Sept. 24): Although I often share Paul Krugman’s views on many issues, he omitted a key point in his column. Military families receive food stamps — about $100 million this year. Alarmingly, this year has seen a massive increase in the number of military families seeking assistance. One might say that $100 million is a very small fraction of the total cuts in the food stamp program and that it will affect only a small number of military families. I would reply that even one current service member, one veteran or one disabled hero from Iraq, Vietnam or Afghanistan is one too many.

      

So when Paul Ryan of the House Budget Committee says, as Mr. Krugman reported, that the safety net is “a hammock that lulls able-bodied people to lives of dependency and complacency,” I would counter that it is his congressional salary and his security that has lulled him into a sense of arrogance and insensitivity.

      

Peter Ripley, Tokyo

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Opposing Views
Veterans Nationwide Hit By Food Stamp Cuts, 5,000 Active Military Families Also Hurt By Benefit Rollback

By Jonathan Vankin, Mon, November 04, 2013

 

While some congressmembers are repeatedly quoted deriding and ridiculing people in need of assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), more commonly called food stamps, the cuts that went into effect Friday will hit military veterans in every state, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, an independent, non-profit fiscal research group.

The food stamp cuts would also slam the families of 5,000 active-duty servicemembers, the Department of Defense said in July.

“Military members who receive SNAP tend to be made up of members in junior pay grades with larger than average household sizes," Defense Department spokesperson Navy Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen told the web site Military.com.

Military pay at the junior levels is so low that such families must use food stamps, but generally are able to forego the assistance once the servicemember in the household receives a promotion, Christensen said.

In 2012, just under $100 million in food stamps were spent at military commissaries. That trend is rising, with $53 million already used at commissaries in the first six months of 2013.

According to the CBPP report, the states with the highest number of military veterans who receive SNAP assistance are Florida, with 109,500 and Texas with 105,700. No state has fewer than 2,200 veterans needing food assistance, with most states showing numbers in the five-figure range.

“Veterans who participate in SNAP tend to be young, but their ages range widely,” the CNPP said in a statement. “57 percent of the veterans in our analysis are under age 30, while 9 percent are aged 60 or older.”

Veterans on food stamps cover the gamut of wars, going back to those who served in World War II, as well as in peacetime.

During the recent government shutdown, Republicans in congress vociferously supported veterans who attempted to gain access to then-closed war memorial sites.

“Our veterans should be above political games,” said Texas Senator Ted Cruz at a rally in support of the veterans who wanted to visit memorial sites during the shutdown.
One Republican congressmember, Rep. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, recently responded to a constituent’s question about the food stamp cuts by saying, “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.”

Oklahoma Republican Rep. Markwayne Miller also covered the food stamp topic at a meeting with his constituents in August. He characterized food stamp use, based on his observations at a local supermarket, as “fraud. Absolute 100 percent, all of it is fraud."

Honoring Our Veterans

Hola everyone!

Today is Veterans' Day in the United States, a federal (national) holiday in remembrance of the men and women who have served in our armed forces.

In the course of researching and recording my family's history, I discovered that my family have a record of American service that goes back all the way to the Revolutionary War (the War for Independence). 

There were, of course, those fighting Forsyths!  I've posted about them here and at my other blog, Maison Newton.  Three brothers from Granard, County Longford, Ireland enlisted in the British Infantry in October 1813 at Monmouth and fought in the Napoleonic Wars, and after that war ended their various regiments served in Canada.  John Forsyth and James Forsyth mustered out at the completion of their "bare term", and settled in upper New York state. My direct ancestor, Andrew "the Soldier" Forsyth (as I call him), also evidently mustered out of the British Army at the completion of his "bare term" (around 10 years) sometime in 1823 and in 1830 he enlisted in the United States Calvary, where he continued to serve until being wounded in the Mexican War in the 1843.  He died in 1861, months before the outbreak of the Civil War.

Andrew the Soldier's sons, Andrew Jr. and Jerome, both served in the U.S. Calvary in the "band," being enlisted by Andrew the Soldier initially when he entered the U.S. Calvary.  Think of the players of fife, horn and drum with the flag bearers of the Revolutionary War -- an image of the battered, bandaged and weary musicians and flag bearer bravely accompanying the troops into battle.  Often the "band" members were not even teenagers.  This tradition continued all the way through the Civil War, and sometimes encompassed large orchestras accompanying troops to the battlefield and playing while the fighting went on all around them!  I was utterly astounded when I read about this practice. 

Uncle Andrew Jr. served several terms in the "band"  but retired from the military after he moved to the family homestead near Green Bay, Wisconsin and got married. (Andrew the Soldier had bought acres of land near Green Bay, Wisconsin in the early 1830s, and the clan settled there, except for Aunt Josephine once she was married). 

This photo is from the Barlament family, descendants of Benjamin Forsyth, the youngest son
of Uncle Andrew Forsyth, Jr. and Ann McGinnis.  Date unknown.  This is Uncle with his
three surviving daughters: Josephine born 1845; Catharine born 1848; and Amanda born 1849.
 Matilda, born 1847, died in 1854 at the age of 7.  My direct ancestor, Jerome Forsyth, Uncle Andrew, Jr.'s
brother, also had a daughter named Matilda, who grew up to marry Edward Belanger, Jr.  Matilda and
Edward were the parents of Ida Belanger, who married Frank Chester Newton, and became
the parents of Francis John Newton, my dad. 

My direct ancestor, Jerome Forsyth, continued to serve in the military as a band member and, near the end of the Civil War, as band captain for one of the Wisconsin regiments, a singular honor.  He was wounded in the Civil War, recovered, and went back to his duties.  Aunt Josephine Forsyth, the youngest and only female sibling of the three offspring of Andrew the Soldier, married military men, her first when she was only 14, and was widowed - three times.  She followed the drum including accompanying husband #2 to the Mexican War and, after he died from complications of wounds received, a year or so later she married Michael "Smith" (Schmidt), perhaps a close acquaintance, a hero of the Mexican War who had retired from the military and set up a smithy in Green Bay.  Two of Aunt Josephine's sons fought in the Civil War.

Uncle Andrew, Jr. lost a son, Jerome (repeated use of family names gets confusing), in the Civil War. Jerome son of Uncle Andrew, Jr. (who, in turn, is the son of Andrew the Soldier) enlisted in the Wisconsin Militia, 12th Regiment Infantry, Company H, as a private, at Green Bay, Wisconsin on 10 Feb 1861, and mustered in 02 Oct 1861.  He died during an outbreak of an unspecified disease at Fort Leavenworth on March 30, 1862 at the age of 19.

Jerome Forsyth, my direct ancestor (son of Andrew the Soldier), had two sons who fought in the Civil War: Andrew (Andre) Henry Nelson Forsyth (I believe the Nelson was in honor of the famous British naval hero Admiral Nelson, who was created a peer of the British Empire for his service to the Crown), and George Forsyth.  Andrew/Andre Forsyth had an arm amputated as a result of a wound or wounds incurred in the war.  As far as I can tell, George Forsyth was not wounded.  I believe it may be George Forsyth upon whom an old family story is based about a soldier sneaking home during the Civil War to rest and get "fattened up" before going back to battle.  The family "hid" him in a hay loft in one of the barns until he recovered. Okay, I don't know how much of that is true - it was a story that my dad told several times when we were very young, as told to him by Matilda Forsyth(e) (dad's grandmother).  Yep, George Forsyth was AWOL, but as I learned by reading articles about the Civil War, this was not an uncommon occurrence at the time; soldiers would skip out and then report back to their old regiments months later and carry on as if nothing had happened!

Although I have not yet done follow-through research, there are records indicating that one or more of the sons of James Forsyth and John Forsyth (Andrew the Soldier's older brothers) also served in the Civil War.

It is not only the Fighting Forsyths, however, who served their country in the military service.

It is in the Bailey family line where ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War appear.  Laura Ruth Bailey was my paternal great-grandmother.  She married David Villeneuve, who changed his surname to Newton sometime either before or after he emigrated from Prescott, Ontario, Canada to the Marinette area in northeastern Wisconsin in 1881.  I have just begun my research into the Bailey family line, having spent years working almost exclusively on my French-Canadian ancestors on dad's side of the family and my Polish ancestors on mom's side of the family.  Perhaps I may learn enough to establish that I am eligible for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, har!

Laura Ruth Bailey and my great-grandfather, David Antoine Villeneuve/Newton, had a large family, among whom was my paternal grandfather, Frank Chester Newton.  Grandpa Newton served in WWI, as did his brothers, Uncle Fred (Frederick Albert) Newton and Uncle Leonard Newton. 

My dad, Francis John Newton, WWII.

As regular readers here may already know, my dad, Francis John Newton, served in WWII and received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.  He achieved the rank of Sergeant and was honorably discharged on 27 Jan 1946 at Camp Grant, Illinois.  He served in the U.S. Army,  63rd Armored Infantry Battalion, 11th Armored Division in Europe from September 1944 to August 1945.  He was a squad leader of a group of 12 riflemen.  He was wounded in action in Belgium on 5 Jan 1945.  He also suffered severe frostbite on his feet, a condition he never claimed for and which caused him much pain in his later years.

Dad would have loved to go on one of the Honor Flights to tour the Veterans' Memorials in Washington, D.C., but he died in early November, 2002, years before the Honor Flights began.  Dad's funeral was featured in an article in the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel in November, 2002, that talked about the increasing number of WWII vets who were dying and the shortage of live bugle players who could play "Taps" at veterans' funerals.  I've posted about dad's service and veterans several times (some posts below):

May 28, 2012:  Memorial Day
June 1, 2009:  [President] Obama Goes to Bat for the Queen
November 11, 2007:  Some Thoughts This Veterans' Day
November 7, 2010:  The Top Secret "Rosies" of World War II

To all who have served our country in military roles (in uniform or not), today we honor you.  Let us never forget your sacrifices and what we owe to you and to your families.

Some Thoughts This Veterans' Day

My dad died on November 3, 2002. His memorial at the Veterans' Cemetery in Union Grove, Wisconsin, was a feature story for Veterans' Day that year in the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel. Here is a photo from the article. My mother, one of my sisters (arm around mom) and one of my brothers are sitting in the front row. I'm third from the left in the second row (wiping my eyes).

As I've gotten older I've gotten more sentimental, darlings; and since the death of my dad this day of remembrance is particularly poignant for me because now it is forever associated with my dad's death. Looking at that photograph brings back all the emotions of that time, and I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes.

But that's not a bad thing. It's good to remember, to reflect on those who have served us, those we love, those we lost, those who are in the armed forces now, some of whom are coming home, and the joy that will bring to their loved ones. There's a story in today's Journal/Sentinel about the mother of a promising young chessplayer who is coming home, she may arrive today, from Germany, where she has served as a nurse to our service people wounded in the Middle East:

Chess whiz making right moves
Posted: Nov. 10, 2007

by Laurel Walker

For someone with nerves of steel, a fire in his belly and the ability to perceive what is not yet there, 11-year-old Brian Dennis seems remarkably like any other fun-loving kid.

As a matter of fact, it is those characteristics that make him such a whiz at chess. But it is the enjoyment of the game that keeps him playing.

"It's fun, and it's not (about) luck like most other board games," said Brian, a sixth-grader who had just wrapped up another practice with his teammates from Hamilton High School. He works at it.

Chess coach Tim Moeller, who invited Brian to join the team after he watched him play and win school tournaments at Lannon Elementary School for several years, paid him a high compliment.

"No one's going to want to play this kid by the time he's a senior in high school," he said. Brian's that good already, and more importantly, getting better all the time.

"No one's going to want to play this kid by the time he's a senior in high school," he said. Brian's that good already, and more importantly, getting better all the time.

Since there are no age limits for high school team members in the Scenic Moraine Chess Association, made up of eight public and two private high schools in the region, the Hamilton team includes three Templeton Middle School students - a sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grader - among its 16 members. Brian is the youngest.

"If you can reach the board, you can play," said Moeller, a chemistry and physics teacher and engineer.

Brian doesn't just reach the board. He stands tall.

Chess has filled some of the gap left over the past year while his mother, Capt. Pamela Dennis, a Naval Reserve nurse, was called to active duty overseas, said his dad, also named Brian Dennis.

She spent her tour in Landstuhl, Germany, where soldiers injured in the Middle East war zone were sent and assessed for either a return to duty or treatment back in the United States.

News that she had to leave in October 2006 made him sad and scared, her son said. But on this Veterans Day, Brian and his younger sister, Brianna, 9, have their mom back.

She finished her stint and returned to the U.S. last week. She was expected home last night.

In the meantime he's had to step up around their Sussex house, watching his younger sister and helping with household chores.

At the same time, he's driven himself to excel in chess and has kept his mom up to date through her daily phone calls and conversations by Web camera.

She was able to surprise him with a visit last May in Nashville, Tenn., when he made his first appearance in the U.S. Chess Federation's national tournament.

He still kept his focus enough to come away with a third place finish. He won six of seven games and tied one, so a computer that gave weight to wins based on the toughness of opponents settled the tiebreakers and gave Brian a third-place finish among 394 elementary school players.

Brian also competes in the Wisconsin Scholastic Chess Federation, which coordinates chess tournaments at schools in the state. He was last year's fifth-grade champion at the state tournament.

This season, just under way, he's taken second place at several tournaments. (Lannon Elementary School is sponsoring a chess tournament at Hamilton High School Dec. 15 for kindergarten through 12th-grade players, beginners to expert. Check out http://www.wisconsinscholasticchess.org/ for information.)

"Brian has a passion for playing chess, but a greater enthusiasm for understanding the game," said the senior Brian Dennis. "It's neat to watch him and his chess friends dissecting games after they are played at tournaments. There is a genuine willingness to help each other become better players as they comment on opportunities missed or impressive moves that were made."

That's exactly what makes Brian stand out from a lot of young chess players, said Alex Schwartz, 17, a Hamilton senior and the best rated player on the high school team.

He and teammate, Ben Helm, also 17, have each played chess for 12 years and they are among teammates who mentor young players at Lannon Elementary School. They've watched Brian play - and given him pointers - for a few years now.

"Give him two years," Schwartz said. "He'll kill me. He has a passion for it. The kid studies it like Mr. Moeller (the coach) studies physics."

Helm likens Brian's enthusiasm to a person who loves to read and devours books. "He absorbs the books like a sponge" and then applies what he learns to the next game.

Like many players who excel, Brian keeps written track of every play he and his opponent make so he can study the moves after the game and figure out what he did right and what he could have done better.

In the high school competition, only the top 10 players compete - the rest play exhibitions - and Brian is on the cusp of moving his ranking into the upper tier. High school conference competitions are still a month off.

Chess is becoming increasingly popular, which in an age when kids can get pre-occupied with video games and television is encouraging, indeed. Registered players with the U.S. Chess Federation have more than quadrupled, to about 45,000, since 1990, and organized chess programs are springing up at more elementary and middle schools.

Coach Moeller said that while Brian Dennis is outstanding for his age, it is increasingly common to see young players excel.

The highest-ranked high school team player in New Berlin, for example, is an eighth grader, he said, and some kids Brian's age beyond Wisconsin are working to become chess masters.

Brian said he started playing chess in third grade when, bored during recess, a friend taught him the game. Third-grade teacher Laureanna Raymond-Duvernell runs a chess club at Lannon Elementary School and he signed up. He taught his dad to play so he'd have a ready made opponent, but Brian Dennis, the dad, said his son is already in a different league.

"It's a great strategy game," said Raymond-Duvernell. "It forces you to plan ahead, to make decisions and to live with those decisions."

In other words, the kinds of skills that can be particularly useful in life.

Chess has helped him focus more on his school work, too, Brian said, and he's much better in math than he used to be.

He remembers when he first learned to play and would concentrate so hard on the chess pieces and the potential moves that his head would hurt. "The brain gets used to it after awhile," he said.

And better for it, I'm certain.