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Tag Archives: Cardinal

Uncovering Family History: Discoveries in Virginia and Beyond

22 Sunday Feb 2026

Posted by suzieg1969 in Genealogy, Revolutionary War, UPDATES

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ancestry, Cardinal, Cox, DeMoss, family-history, Frederick County, Genealogy, Hampshire County, Virginia, West Virginia

A couple interesting developments happened this week. About a month ago, I found a newspaper article from 1934 stating documentation about Colonel Isaac Cox had been donated to Transylvania University since he had been an early trustee of the institution. I wrote to them to see if they had said documents. I received a response back from their Archivist and Special Collections Librarian this week. She thanked me for the newspaper article, but stated the documents are no longer in possession of the university. She was kind enough to suggest some other repositories which may have received the documents at a later date. After thinking on it, they could have also made their way to the Filson Club since Rogers Clark Thruston was such a big deal there. She did provide me with a link to a book available online that listed Isaac as a trustee up until 1788 when he was listed as “resigned”. It was surprising, because the date of his resignation was just after the date his estate was entered into probate. At any rate, I have additional places to visit when I make a research trip to Kentucky, at some yet undetermined date.

The second cool thing that happened this week was discovering a YouTube video made by a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution titled “The Legend of Jean Marie Cardinal“. Cardinal is my grandmother’s maiden name so I was excited to check it out. It is well done and I highly recommend it. I won’t give away any spoilers, but as it turns out Jean Marie is my eighth cousin 2 times removed.


As I planned last week, I am working through Evelyn Adams’ “Coxes of Cox Creek” and her cited references. The focus of the narrative is Isaac’s family since they solely were the ones who migrated to Kentucky and established Cox’s Station. There is some information on Gabriel and Friend Cox who are postulated to be brothers of the older Isaac, sometimes labeled as “Isaac the Immigrant”. There are documents putting the three men in the same locations which would lend to that theory. Individual family units did not relocate by themselves during that era. They moved in larger groups, if for nothing else safety reasons. Also, there seems to be some commonality with names of children.

I felt it was important for historical accuracy to identify the state at the time the events took place, not the current day state. West Virginia did not separate from Virginia until 1863.

For Gabriel Cox (c1718-1778), I have located the following documents:

  • Recorded land survey report dated January 30, 1762 in Hampshire County, Virginia.
  • A series of land transfer deeds from June 9, 1767 in Hampshire County, Virginia, identifying Eleanor as Gabriel’s wife.
  • A list of men who took and subscribed to the Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity to the Commonwealth of Virginia on October 6, 1777, in Ohio County, Virginia, included Gabriel Cox and his three sons–David Cox, Israel Cox, and Peter Cox.
  • His Last Will and Testament dated June 6, 1778 from Ohio County, Virginia.
  • The Administrator’s Document dated August 3, 1778 in Ohio County, Virginia. This names Eleanor, the widow, and Israel, his son. This document also narrows down when Gabriel died.
  • The estate inventory dated February 24, 1779, in Ohio County, Virginia.

I also had some scheduled library time this week and focused first on the Hampshire County, (West) Virginia records available.

  • A rather useful book I had at my disposal is Early Records: Hampshire County, Virginia, a compilation by Clara McCormack Sage ad Laura Sage Jones that was originally published in 1939. It was reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Company in 1969 and later again in 1976. It is basically an index of early records. There were several land transfers involving Cox family members as well as several entries where a Cox individual served as a witness. The original has been digitized and is on the FamilySearch website. It is restricted from downloading.

Moving on to Frederick County, Virginia books, I found some limited information in the following book:

  • Frederick County, Virginia: Settlement and Some First Families of Back Creek Valley 1730-1830, by Wilmer L Kerns. There was mention of Friend Cox in George Washington’s papers from 1756. Unfortunately, the papers of our first president are not available digitally. There is a copy of the volume I need at the Arizona State University Library. If I am feeling adventurous, I might take a trip across town to check it out.

Interestingly, I also checked for possible DeMosses in both counties while I was at it. Several entries suggested that DeMosses lived in the same general area that the Coxes did.

There are many books on Virginia in general that I still need to check. I can leave that for a future library day. I will continue checking Ms. Adams’ citations to better understand the conclusions she has drawn. I think I am finished for this week.


Error resolution. The last available update: I have 4903 errors in the tree–382 possible duplicates, 4074 with no documents, 447 other errors.

  • A distant cousin needing sources. Gotta love the California Birth Index! I was also able to find sources for a couple siblings as well.
  • A husband of a distant cousin needed a first name and a source. He was a second husband and luckily I found their marriage record.
  • The last error to clear up was a repeat that I had already resolved. She was a twin who died at age 10 in 1918. While the newspaper did not say, I have to wonder if it wasn’t from the Spanish flu. Kansas death certificates are not available online, so I likely will never know. I was able to narrow down when a sibling died using several of the family obituaries.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,092 people
End of Week: 27,135 people
Change = +43 persons
Tasks for coming week:

  • Continue research on Isaac Cox, “The Immigrant” and his wife Susannah Tomlinson.
  • Review Coxes of Cox Creek
  • Run newspaper search, especially for articles recounting local history
  • Review the Cox package of information from Sweden
  • Look for documents in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky

Family photos

13 Saturday Jan 2024

Posted by suzieg1969 in 52 Ancestors, Genealogy, Photographs

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#52Ancestors, Cardinal, Thompson

This week’s prompt for the 52 Ancestors Challenge is “favorite photo”. Nearly fifteen years ago, before my grandmother’s Alzheimer’s got too bad, she handed my uncle Bill a large box of pictures. She said it was all the pictures she had collected over the years. He scanned them into the computer and gifted her an electronic picture frame for Christmas with all the photos stored in it. He said there were between 500 and 600 photos in that box. In 2015, my grandmother passed away. As Bill sorted through drawers and closets, he found more pictures. Over the course of the following three years, he scanned an additional 700 to 800 pictures. He then organized all 1300 pictures and gifted them to me and my sisters. When this challenge came up, I decided to pick a photo from his collection.

My maternal grandmother, Dorothy Cardinal Keller, was born in 1925, and she had two sisters and four brothers. She was fifth in the birth order. Each year during the summer, there would be the Thompson Family Reunion held at the local park in the town were I was born and raised. Thompson was my great-grandmother’s maiden name. I don’t remember too much about the reunions except there were always lots of people I didn’t really know and lots of food–fried chicken, potato salad and deviled eggs. I do recall that Grandma’s siblings who lived out of town would make an effort to come to the reunions.

I have selected two photos for this challenge. One from 1953 and one from 1989. Both pictures feature all seven Cardinal siblings.

This picture was taken in 1953 in Vincennes, Indiana. It might have been taken at my grandparents house, although I am not sure. From left to right, Morris Cardinal, Marlin “Buck” Cardinal, Virginia Cardinal Dye, Dorothy Cardinal Keller, Norma Cardinal Sheley, Wayne Cardinal, and Don Cardinal.

This picture was taken in the summer of 1989 in Vincennes, Indiana, during a family reunion. This particular year, it was not held at the park but at a family member’s house. It may have been Norma’s but I’m not 100% certain of that. Front row, Dorothy, Virginia and Norma. Back row, Don, Buck, Morris and Wayne. This was one of the last pictures of the siblings as Don, the oldest, passed away in 1993.

Pierre Cardinal

31 Sunday May 2020

Posted by suzieg1969 in Genealogy

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Canada, Cardinal, Chevalier, Garnier, Matou

On May 31, 1665, Pierre Cardinal was the fifth son of Simon Jean Cardinal and Michelle Garnier born in the Lachine area of Montreal, Canada. He had a total of five brothers and one sister: Jacques, Jean, Gabriel, Etienne, Simon and Cecile. His father died in 1679 and his mother remarried the following year to Jean Chevalier.

Lachine, Montreal, Quebec (map obtained from Google)

Pierre married Marie Matou on September 17, 1685 in Montreal. It is reported that seventeen children were born to this couple.

  • Pierre, Jr
  • Marie, who died at age fourteen
  • Jean Baptiste
  • Daniel
  • Francois Marie (b. 1693)
  • Charles, who died at age fifteen
  • Marie Francoise
  • Marguerite
  • Francoise, (b. 1700) who died in infancy
  • Marie Anne Cardinal
  • Francois-Marie (b. 1701)
  • Angelique, who died in infancy
  • Simon
  • Gabriel
  • Jacques, who died in infancy
  • Augustin
  • Francoise (b. 1719)

Pierre died at the age of eighty-one on January 13, 1747 in Lachine.

Pierre Cardinal was my 9th great uncle on my mom’s side.

REFERENCES

  • Quebec Genealogical Dictionary of Canadian Families (Tanguay Collection)
  • Programme de Recherche en Demographie Historique (PRDH)

Mary Emma Cardinal

22 Friday May 2020

Posted by suzieg1969 in Genealogy

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Cardinal, Illinois, Indiana, McGaughey, White

Mary Emma Cardinal was born May 22, 1874 in Knox County, Indiana to Franklin Cardinal and Mary Henrietta White.  She had three older siblings: William J, Eliza, and Charles.  Her family lived in Johnson Township near Decker where they worked the family farm.  It is believed that she went by her middle name Emma.

On August 18, 1892, Emma married Henry McGaughey across the river in Lawrence County, Illinois.  They made their home in Johnson Township were Henry farmed the land.  They had at least five children, four of which have been identified:  Jeremiah, Levi, Florence, and Lorene.

In 1904, typhoid fever was nearing epidemic levels in cities such as New York City.  Rural areas, such as Knox County, were not immune to the bacterial infection.  There were regular reports in the local paper of citizens, both old and young, who succumbed to the disease.  Unfortunately, the McGaughey family was hard hit by the bacteria in 1904.  Young Florence at the tender age of seven, died in September.  Emma fell victim on November 2, 1904 and eleven year old Jeremiah followed five days later.  All three are buried in the City Cemetery.

 

Mary Emma Cardinal was my 2nd cousin, 4 times removed on my mom’s side.

REFERENCES

  • United States Census: 1880, 1900
  • Indiana Death Certificates
  • Illinois Statewide Marriage Index
  • Find A Grave website

Jean Baptiste Cardinal

19 Tuesday May 2020

Posted by suzieg1969 in Genealogy

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Cardinal, Duguay, Indiana, Maillet, Quebec, Revolutionary War

Jean Baptiste Cardinal was born on May 19, 1728 to Jeanne Duguay and Jacques Jean-Baptiste Cardinal,  and was baptized at the Basilique Notre-Dame in Montreal. He was one of nine children which included two sisters named Jeanne, and brothers named Jacques, Joseph, Nicolas, Jean-Baptiste, Pierre and Charles.

On April 8, 1755 in Detroit, Jean Baptiste married Marie-Anne Maillet.  Their first two children, Jeanne-Marie and Marie-Anne, are believed to have been born in Canada.  At some point between 1758 and 1761, the family migrated southward and settled at Fort Vincennes.  Four more children were born to the couple over the next decade: Jacques, Genevieve, Jean-Baptiste, and Celeste.

Fort Vincennes played a pivotal part in the battles on the western front of the Revolutionary War.  The fort changed hands several times between the British forces, which were based in Detroit, and the American forces who made allies of the French Canadians who lived in the area.  Jean Baptiste supported the cause against the British by signing the Oath of Allegiance to Vincennes in 1778 and fighting in the militia under George Rogers Clark.  In 1780,  it is believed that Jean Baptiste marched with Augustin de la Balme in an attempt to take Detroit.  Along the way, La Balme took an unoccupied British and Indian trading post near present day Fort Wayne, Indiana.  When his expected reinforcements did not show up, he took some of his men to capture another post along the Eel River.  The local Indians were unhappy with the outsiders intruding and attacked.  After a lengthy battle, most of the men, include Jean Baptiste Cardinal, perished along the Eel River.

 

Jean Baptiste Cardinal was my 7th great-uncle on my mom’s side.

REFERENCES

  • Canadian Genealogy Index
  • Quebec Vital Church Records (Drouin Collection)
  • Quebec, Genealogical Dictionary of Canadian Families (Tanguay Collection)
  • “De La Balme’s Defeat” – Revolutionary War and Beyond website

Charles Cardinal

17 Sunday May 2020

Posted by suzieg1969 in Genealogy

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Cardinal, Cesar, Deniau, Massiot, Quebec

Charles Cardinal was one of at least 5 children born to Pierre Cardinal and Madeleine Cesar.  He came into this world on May 17, 1718 at Lachine, Quebec, Canada.  He had at least two brothers, Jean Baptiste and Francois, and two sisters, Marie Angelique and Marie Joseph.

Charles was married twice. His first wife was Marie Catherine Deniau and they were married on January 19, 1750 in Lachine.   No children have been identified from this union and it is likely Marie Catherine perished just a few short years after their marriage.

Charles married his second wife Susanne Amable Massiot on 20 January 1755 in Lachine.  To this marriage was born at least six daughters and one son: Suzanne-Catherine, Charles, Marie, Marie-Josephe, Suzanne, Marguerite, and Archange.  Suzanne-Catherine and Marguerite both died as infants and Marie-Josephe perished at the age of ten.

Charles is thought to have died himself in or around 1770, although documentation has not yet been located.

Charles Cardinal

Charles Cardinal was my 2nd cousin 8x removed.

REFERENCES

  • Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection)
  • Quebec, Genealogical Dictionary of Canadian Familes (Tanguay Collection)

Minnie Myrtle Cardinal

18 Saturday Apr 2020

Posted by suzieg1969 in Genealogy

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Cardinal, Carey, Connell, Higgins, Wheeler

Minnie Myrtle Cardinal was one of the six children born to William Jerome Cardinal and Mary Frances Connell who lived to adulthood.  She was born April 18, 1885 in Knox County, Indiana, and had four sisters–Effie May, Florence, Gertrude and Laura–and a brother named Everett.  The family resided in the southwest portion of the county near Decker until the late 1890s, at which time they moved across the river to the community of Billett in Lawrence County, Illinois.

Around 1901, Minnie met and married James Joseph Wheeler, son of Bill Wheeler and Sarah Carey, who was originally from the St Thomas area in Knox County.  They started their family in the Billett area with the births of daughters Allie and Flossie.  By 1907, they returned to Johnson Township where Willard and Sylvia Irene were born.  James supported the family as a farm laborer.  They remained in Indiana for a few more years, however, the family returned to the Billett/Lawrenceville area by the time Leo was born in 1914.  Leo was followed by brother Herbert in 1920 and sister Dorothy in 1923. As many others in Lawrenceville did, James worked in the local oil refinery.

As 1930 approached, the children grew into adults and started to leave home.  Allie married and Willard moved to California where he worked in a variety of occupations.  During the 1930s, Flossie and Sylvia married.  James retired from the refinery, however, he left Minnie a widow in 1938.   In 1940, Minnie, Herbert and Dorothy were living in a boarding house in Lawrenceville and Herbert was working for the WPA.  With the start of World War II, both Herbert and Leo were drafted.  Unfortunately, Leo did not make it home.  He was attached to the Armored Forces Tank Units and suffered extensive injuries from artillery shrapnel in May 1944.  He did not survive.

Minnie remarried at some point in the 1940s to Frank Higgins.  They resided in Sumner and later Lawrenceville. She died on November 11, 1949 after suffering from a brief illness.

Minnie Cardinal

Minnie Cardinal Wheeler Higgins was my 3rd cousin 3x removed on my mother’s side.

 

REFERENCES

  • United States Census, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940
  • Find A Grave website
  • Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index
  • United States WWII Draft Cards
  • United State WWII Hospital Admission Card Files
  • Indiana Birth Certificates
  • Vincennes Sun Commercial, November 13, 1949

How Abraham Lincoln found his way into my family tree…

13 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by suzieg1969 in Famous People, Genealogy

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Butler, Cardinal, DeMoss, Herring, Keller, Lincoln, Thompson, Williams

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln is the 1st cousin 3x removed of the husband of my 1st great grand aunt

As I expected, and predicted, I have wandered off on a tangent or two as I try to put together my family’s history.  Probably my most interesting tangent so far is the one that led me to the Lincoln family.  It’s not a direct link between me and the 16th President of the United States, but a wild and crazy path that winds through the Ohio River Valley.

It’s probably not that surprising that a connection was made to Lincolns.  Anyone who grew up in Knox County, Indiana should be more than aware of the fact that Abraham’s family supposedly passed through our community in 1830 as the family moved from Spencer County, Indiana to Illinois.  There’s a historical marker on the Illinois side of the Memorial Bridge stating this very fact.  Not to mention that many an Indiana fourth grader has visited the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Spencer County during a class field trip, including myself.

Abraham’s family tree is fairly well known and can be viewed at Archives.com.  His parents were Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks.  Thomas’s parents were Abraham Lincoln and Bathsheba Herring.  This is what set off the alarms in my head since my Lincoln tangent includes Bathsheba Herring Lincoln.  It’s a rather unusual name and one most won’t easily forget.

So what is the path that goes from me to Mr. Lincoln?  As I mentioned earlier, it’s not a direct path and we have no common blood relatives.  The connection is through a marriage and many purists will discount the claim based solely on that.  Regardless, I think it’s cool that I could even make a connection to anyone, let alone one of the greatest leaders of our country.

Without further adieu, here’s the relationship path:

  1. Me
  2. my mother – Phyllis Keller DeMoss
  3. my grandmother – Dorothy Cardinal Keller
  4. my great-grandmother – Ethel Thompson Cardinal
  5. my great-great grandparents – Frank & Sarah (Butler) Thompson
  6. my great-grand aunt – Edith Thompson Williams
  7. my great-grand uncle (Edith’s husband) – Everett Williams
  8. Everett’s mother – Mary E Lincoln Williams
  9. Everett’s grandfather – Benjamin Lincoln
  10. Everett’s great-grandfather – Thomas Lincoln
  11. Everett’s great-great-grandfather – Josiah Lincoln
  12. Everett’s 3rd great grandparents – Abraham Linkhorn and Bathsheba (Herring) Lincoln (who are also Abraham Lincoln’s grandparents)
  13. Abraham’s father – Thomas Lincoln
  14. Abraham Lincoln

So there you have it.  My 5 seconds of greatness.

John Frank Thompson and Sarah Hannah Butler

06 Saturday Dec 2014

Posted by suzieg1969 in Genealogy

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Beamon, Butler, Cardinal, Newcomb, Roderick, Steffy, Thompson, Williams

John Frank Thompson and Sarah Hannah Butler are my 2nd great grandparents.  Frank was born to Robert C. and Sarah (Roderick) Thompson on October 19, 1872 in Knox County.  Sarah, also known as Sadie, was born to Eli and Amanda (Newcomb) Butler on October 4, 1875 in Indiana.  They were married on June 7, 1894 in Knox County.  They lived their lives together in Johnson Township where Frank farmed.  Frank and Sarah had four daughters together: Ethel, Edith, Pearl, and Gertrude.

Ethel (1895-1949) married August Cardinal in 1915.  They had seven children: Donald, Virginia, Marlin, Norma, Dorothy, Morris, and Wayne.  Ethel was my great-grandmother.

Edith (1896-1991) married Everett Williams in 1916.  They lived in Knox County until about 1936 when they moved to Owensville in Gibson County.  They had eight children: Kenneth, Inez, Marvin, Eldon, Max, Everett, Billy, and Bobbie.

Pearl (1902-1997) married Cleatus Beamon sometime around 1924.  They lived in Vincennes and had nine children, including a pair of twins:  Frank, Erma, Dorothy, Mary, Harry, Betty, Paul, Dale, and Pearl.

Gertrude (1906-2001) married Ewing Steffy around 1928.  Ewing farmed and they lived a time with his parents in Palmyra Township, which is essentially in the middle of the county between Vincennes, Wheatland, Bruceville, and Monroe City.  They did not have any children prior to 1940 and no one was listed in Gertrude’s obituary.  After Ewing died, Gertrude lived in Vincennes, just down the alley from my grandmother.  She would mention often about going to check on Aunt Gerty.

In January 1937, the Ohio River Valley suffered massive flooding.  This included the rivers that feed into the Ohio, such as the White River and the Wabash River which both border southern Knox County.  Johnson Township borders the White River and the area does sit in a known flood plain.  It was reported that levies were breached impacting the local residents.  Sarah died on January 22, 1937 at Good Samaritan Hospital.  The newspaper did not specify the cause of death, but there is always the possibility that it was related to the weather or the flooding.  The paper did say her body was returned to the Thompson home in Rural Johnson Township, so it’s possible they were not affected adversely by the flooding after all.

On January 26, 1939, Frank died of tuberculosis which he had been suffering from for a number of years.  He had been a patient at the Hillcrest Hospital which over the years served as a quarantine facility for various infectious diseases, especially tuberculosis.  With the advances of modern medicine, the hospital closed in 1971.  The building still stands and is thought to be haunted.

Marriage Announcement: Thompson-Williams

04 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by suzieg1969 in Newspapers

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Cardinal, Thompson, Williams

Now that I’m working on my mother’s family which is mainly from southern Knox County, use of the online archives for the Vincennes papers is more relevant.  While looking for information on my 2nd great grandfather, John Franklin Thompson, I came across the following announcement for marriage license applications.

“Everett Williams, farmer, of this county, son of Louis Williams, farmer, of this county, and Miss Ethel Thompson, of this county, daughter of Frank Thompson, farmer, of this county.”  [The Vincennes Commercial, January 14, 1916, page 2.]

Okay, so what? you say.  The wrong daughter is named.  Ethel, my great-grandmother, was already married to August Cardinal when this was printed.  It should have read Edith, her younger sister.  Edith and Everett were indeed married the day before on January 13, 1916.

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