Praeteritum
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Gallery
  • Services, Fees, FAQs
  • Contact
  • Links

Mullin' Marrow & Ponderin' Pith

A genealogical blog of reflections about my family history and my experiences as a genealogist.

The 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps

2/15/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Yes, Bicycle Corps.

Stationed at Fort Missoula in Montana, the 25th rode into a few months of quasi-limelight in 1897:  they accomplished their incredible feat; they were praised, and almost simultaneously relegated to obscurity as the Spanish American War and the Klondike Gold Rush became the focus of the times.

Modern day thought is that the troopers of the 25th were just “doing their job.” The experimental ride was no different than quelling Indian uprisings in the West or coming to the aid of the rough riders at El-Caney during the Spanish-American War in Cuba. Those twenty-two men were just doing their job.

We presume a lot in the modern day.

We don’t know what those men thought.

We don’t even know who all of them were.

Their leader was 2nd Lieutenant James A. Moss from Louisiana who graduated at the bottom of his class at West Point.

James Kenney, a South Carolinian, was the post surgeon who did his best to keep the detachment healthy on the mission.

Edward Boos, the only civilian, was a newspaper reporter from the Daily Missoulian and avid cyclist who went along to document the historic event.

Of the twenty other enlisted men, Mingo Saunders was the first sergeant, William Haynes and Abram Martin were lance corporals and the mechanic was Private John Findley. Privates Elwood Forman, William Haynes, Frank L. Johnson and William Proctor and bugler Elias Johnson are the only other names I could find. Eleven men, over half of the unit, remain unknown.

What was the feat they accomplished? 

They rode bicycles from Fort Missoula, Montana to St. Louis, Missouri. They rode over the continental divide in Montana in driving snow and slush up to their boot tops. In Wyoming, they encountered drifts of hailstones eight feet high. They braved Nebraska’s 110 degree heat and survived alkali poisoning. Averaging over 55 miles per day, and six miles per hour, they covered 1900 miles on specially made Spaulding bicycles weighing 32 pounds each. The addition of gear pushed the weight of each bicycle to about 60 pounds. A detailed list of what each trooper carried  on his bicycle can be found at Mike Higgins’ website. Forty one days after their departure from Fort Missoula, they were escorted into St. Louis by over a thousand cycling enthusiasts from the Associated Cycling Clubs of St. Louis.

Having completed such an epic journey, how can we not know who half these people were?


Simple, the 9th and 10th Cavalry and 24th and 25th Infantry were Buffalo Soldiers.

"Colored Regulars." 

​Below is a selection of clippings from Newspapers.com which chronicle their accomplishment. A PBS video link about these amazing men follows.

​More history they didn’t teach in school.
Picture
The Onaga Herald, Onaga, Kansas, 20 May 1897, page 3, column 5.
Picture
Los Angeles Herald, Los Angeles, California, 30 June 1897, page 2, column 5.
Picture
The Topeka Daily Capital, Topeka, Kansas, 6 July 1897, page 6, column 2.
Picture
The Daily Tribune, Salt Lake City, Utah, 7 July 1897, page 2, column 8.
Picture
Hutchinson Gazette, Hutchinson, Kansas, 15 Jul 1897, page 1, column 5.
Picture
The Leavenworth Times, Leavenworth, Kansas,17 July 1897, page 1, column 3.
Picture
The Nebraska State Journal, Lincoln, Nebraska, 26 July 1897, page 1, column 7.
Watch the PBS video, ​"The Bicycle Corps: America's Black Army On Wheels" (2000).

The Historical Museum of Fort Missoula has more information and pictures about the Bicycle Corps.
0 Comments

The Lexington Standard

2/7/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
While conducting a bit of personal research on “Colored Newspapers” from back in the day, I stumbled upon a newspaper from Lexington, Kentucky.

The Lexington Standard was a weekly four-page African-American newspaper published from 1892 until 1912. Not many issues survive, but the ones that do paint a vivid picture of the opinions of the times. Learn about the fascinating history of The Standard at "Chronicling America," the Library of Congress' collection of historic American Newspapers
​
The prideful alumni in me decided this Berea College ad from the 27 January 1900 edition of The Lexington Standard
should be part of this week’s post. My transcription follows.
Picture
Berea College

EFFACING
            SECTIONAL
                        LINES
            674 STUDENTS
FROM 22 STATES

            An Unsectarian Settlement of College Students

From good Kentucky families, and from the North, with Normal and
Industrial work which reaches all classes.  Location and management
make a student’s expenses very reasonable.  For particulars address
 
            Geo T Fairchild, LL D., Secretary, Berea, Ky.



I found this glimpse into Lexington’s past through the opinions of the black people of that time to be extremely interesting. Religious matters, happenings in other states, and much political opinion filled the four pages along with ads and rail schedules. In the “City and Vicinity” section, I learned that “George DePrad is not a Frenchman” and more about Henry Davis and his family than I needed to know!
Picture
Look into historical newspapers from your burg. They are loaded with valuable information and are likely to provide you with a chuckle!  
​

Images courtesy Library of Congress: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025729/1900-01-27/ed-1/seq-3/
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025729/1900-01-27/ed-1/seq-1/
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025729/1900-01-27/ed-1/seq-3/
0 Comments

We’re Related! Or ARE We?!

2/2/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Ancestry.com‘s latest app, We’re Related is getting mixed reviews. 

Ancestry invites you to “meet” the app and proceeds to introduce it to you as you scroll down.

The first graphic is a picture of Elvis Presley on a smartphone screen, the caption invites you to “Discover if your friends or favorite celebrities are family.”
​
The next graphic is a huge screen-wide close up of a dazed-looking Marilyn Monroe; this caption is about “boast-worthy connections” We’re Related can show you.
Picture
The third graphic explains how the app uses your Facebook account to find your relatives.  I’ll let that sink in for a minute.

Scrolling on, the next graphic is everyone’s favorite, George Washington. You are told how you can share your newly-found famous relative with the world via Facebook, Snapchat or WhatsApp.

The fifth and final graphic is Louis Armstrong. Here, Ancestry takes a moment to brag about their millions and billions and millions of trees, connections and profiles.   
​

Picture
Image courtesy Library of Congress
Picture
Image courtesy Library of Congress
The app, released in October of 2016, surely must be for entertainment purposes only?!  It isn’t on Ancestry’s website under “iOS & Android Apps.”  Only the Ancestry App, Shoebox and Find a Grave are listed there. 

Because the new app apparently uses family trees from its website to help make connections, it really shouldn’t be taken seriously. So many of those trees have no source documents to substantiate the claims they make. 

Reviewers at the App Store pretty much either love it or hate it.  There are lots of people who are clearly using it for entertainment value and that’s cool.  I am worried for the ones who are all googly-eyed about seeing the names of their grandparents for the first time or how they are related to this famous person or that famous person. They are “totally recommending” this app for people who want to find their roots.  *sigh*

I have not personally used the app and will not download it for a couple of reasons. I don’t need/want anything accessing my The Facebook.  I don’t want anyone else’s corrupted misinformation connected to me or my information in any form or fashion. 

I understand Ancestry’s attempt to get younger people interested in and promoting genealogy via social media.  But this isn’t genealogy.  In my opinion, this app is genealogy in its lowest form—Facebook entertainment.  Don’t get me wrong, I like a good Facebook meme just as much as the next genealogist.  I'm simply tired of hearing people say, when they find out I am a professional genealogist, “Oh yeah, we’ve traced our tree all the way back to King George.” 

I smile and nod, while in my head I’m saying, “No you haven’t.”

A shaky leaf dumped in with a bunch of other shaky leaves. That’s why you think you’re “all the way back to King George.”

You probably aren’t related.

​App store and Facebook icon images courtesy Wikimedia Commons
0 Comments
    Cynthia Maharrey
    Born and raised in a small town in West Virginia before the turn of the century, Cynthia has always been fascinated by the intricacies that make up her own family history.  As a result, she has been researching and studying it since the late 1900's.
    Memberships

    -Association of Professional Genealogists
    -African American Genealogical Group of Kentucky
    -Kentucky Genealogical Society
    ​-Kentucky Historical Society
    -Greenbrier County (West Virginia) Historical Society
    -Monroe County (West Virginia) Historical Society

    Archives

    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    February 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014

    RSS Feed

    Return to Home Page
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.