Yesterday, I attended an American Ancestors webinar on Researching War of 1812 Ancestors. You think you know all you can about that war and which of your ancestors/collateral relatives served in it. Then you have an "AHA" moment.
I have Kirtley, Chinn, and Carter war of 1812 ancestors. I have Graves collateral relatives who fought in the war of 1812. Two of whom were massacred/captured at Frenchtown (Monroe, Michigan). Then I found the motherlode.
My ancestor, Dr. John Stearns Percival - my great great great grandfather - was in the War of 1812. That blew me away. I wasn't even looking for him, I just put "Percival" in the search field. I found four pay abstracts for Percival, John S, surg. mate. And he appeared under an alternate spelling of Purcival. Since I knew that my ancestor attended medical lectures at Troy, New York, I had an inkling that these New York pay records could belong to my ancestor.
These records were found on Ancestry. I also have a subscription through Ancestry to Fold3 and thought check there. What I found there proved my hypothesis. I'm just going to post the folder image today since I've not yet transcribed the letters written on his behalf, by his uncle, Dr. John Stearns. Our family has a habit of naming family members for grandparents and other relatives. For instance, John Stearns Percival (below) was named for his maternal grandfather, also Dr. John Stearns. My dad was named for his maternal grandfather, Frank Bowman. This was a totally unexpected, yet beautiful find.
No comments:
Post a Comment