The Ingalls Inquirer e-newsletter
Vol. 1-10
March, 1984-November, 1993
Published by Arlene Ingalls Schrader
ISSN 1933-7329

Vol. 8, No. 3 - November, 1991

(Cover)

WANTED: Persons willing to share their experience with computer genealogy. This would be a regular feature in the newsletter. For example, what type of equipment do you have, genealogy program, and do you use a modem to hook into on-line systems? How has the computer aided you with your genealogy? May I hear from you on this item, and any others that you would like to see written in the newsletter. It is with your help and contributions that make this newsletter possible.

(Insert) - Relationship Chart - click here

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News from Linda Ingalls Wright, Orlando, Florida

Reprints of The Genealogy and History of the Ingalls Family in America, giving the descendants of Edmund Ingalls who settled at Lynn, MA in 1629, compiled by Charles Burleigh M.D., Malden, MA, originally printed Malden, MA 1903, will be available December 1991. Price per copy $20 which includes postage and handling. Contact Linda Wright.

This is the second reprinting which Linda Wright has sponsored. Our thanks to Linda for her continued support of Ingalls genealogy.

Linda is also very active in compiling the supplement to Charles Burleigh's book which is, as we sometimes say on the farm, is in the oven. Please continue to submit your family group sheets as in the past. There will be a cut-off for the first supplement because of size, costs, etc., but hopefully, there is enough interest in continuing the compilation of Ingalls data to warrant future printings.

Linda and I appreciate your input and advice on this project!

The price of the reprint is very reasonable. I have checked with various booksellers and none can match the cost per book.

BITS & PIECES

That's How I Know
by John D. Engle, Jr.

Does anyone have any information on the writer? Please contact Arlene Schrader.

From DAR Magazine, March 1990: INGALLS, Jacob: b---c1791 m Mary TUCKER Pct MA Correct date of birth: 1715 Correct date of death: a 7-13-1791.

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BITS & PIECES

More from the Sen. John James INGALLS B3357, Kansas files -- He was a prolific writer and one article says, "The late John J. Ingalls was one of the most trenchant satirists Kansas has ever known in a response to the Audubon Society searching the ornithological biographies ... to the jayhawk." Also, it was at Sumner that Ingalls met Jonathan Gardener Lang, a jug fisherman, melon raiser, truck gardener, and habitual drunkard. Ingalls often went out in a boat with Lang when he was running his jug lines in the river. Later Ingalls wrote "Catfish Aristocracy." a carefully prepared description of those who live somewhat precariously in shanty towns along important rivers. Lang was told that he ought to sue Ingalls, but Ingalls appeased the fisherman with a sack of flour and a slab of bacon. Sumner practically disappeared in 1860 when a tornado destroyed a considerable part of the town."

Thank to Maxine Thomas, for the above tidbits.

From Barbara M. Laxton, Auburn NY...she received a gift book of poetry and it contains the following: An award was given by The National Magazine in 1905 to John J. Ingalls for his poem, "Opportunity" published in Heart Throbs, 1905. Poem follows.

From an article from the Fargo Forum, 13 March 1988 re Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, submitted by Dalene Trende, SD... "an old debate, this argument about how much is too much on public lands. On March 1, 1882 in a debate on the floor of the U.S. Senate, John James Ingalls, a Kansas Republican, allowed as how "the best thing that the government could do with the Yellowstone National Park is to survey it and sell it."

The reply came from Missouri Democrat George Graham Vest: "I am not ashamed to say that I shall vote to perpetuate this park to the American people. Its existence answers a great purpose in our national life. There should be to a nation that will have 100 million or 150 million people a park like this as a great breathing place for the national lungs."

OPPORTUNITY.

Master of human destinies am I.
Fame, love, and fortune on my footsteps wait,
Cities and fields I walk; I penetrate
Deserts and seas remote, and, passing by
Hovel, and mart, and palace, soon or late
I knock unbidden once at every gate!
If sleeping wake-if feasting, rise before
I turn away. It is the hour of fate,
And they who follow me reach every state
Mortals desire, and conquer every foe
Save death; but those who doubt or hesitate,
Condemned to failure, penury, and woe,
Seek me in vain and uselessly implore,
I answer not. and I return no more.
John J. Ingalls.

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REUNIONS

INGALLS REUNION - All members of the JACOB INGALLS Family are invited to meet in the Greenville-Norton Hill - United Methodist Church Hall on Route 81, Norton Hill, New York for their 63rd Annual Reunion, on Saturday, October 12 (1991) at 11:00 A.M. Each to furnish toward lunch, except meat, biscuits and butter which will be provided from the General Fund. The Truman Ingalls family will host. Gladys Bettina, sec., Beacon NY. (This notice was received in September so please take note for 1992).

****

OBITUARIES

Obituary of Clara Ingalls, Sheldon, ILL submitted by George Ingalls, Bradley, ILL ..."believe that she is daughter of B. M. Ingall on page 255 of the Burleigh book."

BURTON C. WARD obituary is submitted by Roger Ingalls, Fleming, NY.

Obituary of Mrs. RUTH I. HYDE, PA submitted by Alberta Ingalls, Wellsville, NY.

Clara Ingalls
SHELDON - Clara E. Ingalls, 83, of Sheldon, died Sunday (June 24, 1990) at her home.

Visitation will be at the Knapp Funeral Home in Sheldon from 1 p.m. Tuesday until the services at 2 p.m. The Rev. Harry Elwood will officiate. Eastern Star memorial services will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.

Burial will be in the Sheldon Cemetery.

Memorials may be made for the United Church of Sheldon and for Iroquois Memorial Hospital in Watseka.

The daughter of the late Bradford and Nellie Morgan Ingalls, she was born Dec. 11, 1906, in Sheldon.

Surviving is a niece, Gloria Hassen of Milford.

She was preceded in death by four brothers, Leslie, Howard, Clinton and Clarence.

A active member of the United Church of Sheldon, Miss Ingalls had been a member of the choir, a former Sunday school teacher, a member and past president of the United Methodist Women and of the Ruth Circle.

She had also been a member, past worthy matron and longtime secretary of the former Sheldon chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, she was a past matron of the Kentland, Ind., Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star and a member of the Milford chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. Formerly she had been a member of the Orion Shrine in Kankakee and of the Iroquois Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and a member and past president of the Sheldon Twig.

Miss Ingalls was a retired telephone operator.

****

The Citizen, Auburn, New York

Burton C. Ward

Burton C. Ward, 78, of P.O. Box 261, Montrose, Pa. died Wednesday, June 26, 1991 at the Montrose General Hospital.

Born in Fleming, the son of the late William and Frances (Ingalls) Ward, Mr. Ward was employed as a methods engineer for the Bendix Corporation in South Montrose, Pa.

He was a member of the Dimock Community Church, and a World War II veteran serving with the 17th Airborne in the European Theater. Mr. Ward also was a member of the Sylvan Lodge No. 41 F&AM of Moravia; the Warren Royal Arch Chapter No. 180 of Montrose, Pa. and served as its high priest; the Nazarene Commandary No. 99 of Montrose, Pa., and served as its past commander; a past patron of Montrose Chapter. No. 151 OES of Montrose, Pa.; along with many other Masonic lodges.

Surviving is his wife, Louise (Loper) Ward of Montrose, Pa.; his daughter, Mrs. Terrance (Barbara) Nixon of Arnold, Md.; a brother, Gordon Ward of Moravia, nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by a brother, Allen Ward.

Funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Monday from the Bartron Funeral Home Inc., 74 Church St., Montrose, Pa. with the Rev. Gordon Weightman officiating. Burial will follow at the Montrose Cemetery. Calling hours will be held 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home with a Masonic service at 8 p.m.

***

9-24-91 Olean Times, NY
Mrs. RUTH I. HYDE

GENESEE, Pa. --Mrs. Ruth I. Hyde, 78, of Genesee, formerly of Allentown, N.Y., died Monday (Sept. 23, 1991) shortly after arrival at Charles Cole Memorial Hospital, Coudersport, after being stricken at her home.

Born June 15, 1913, she was a daughter of Oren and Clara Ingalls. On Sept. 4, 1961, in Wellsville, N.Y., she married Clarence J. Hyde, who died July 27, 1991.

Mrs. Hyde had been employed by the former Rockwell’s Department Store in Wellsville until her retirement.

She was a member of the United Methodist Church of Allentown and the former Rebekah Lodge of Wellsville.

Surviving are a son, Ward Guild of Groton, Conn.; three grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by two brothers, Lyle Ingalls and William Ingalls.

There will be no visitation. Funeral Services will be held at the convenience of the family. Burial will be in Chrystal Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to a charity of the donor’s choice.

Arrangements are under direction of the Virgil L. Howard Funeral Home, Shinglehouse.

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From Kathleen M. J. Harmon. Ridgefield Park, NJ:

"I am the gr-gr-grandaughter of David Leeds INGALLS, Jr., and Helena Vasey (as recorded on page 138 of the Ingalls Genealogy in America by Charles Burleigh).

I am also enclosing a letter written by Augusta ODBERT to her sister-in-law Meroe REEVE INGALLS wife of Hiram BAKER INGALLS. August Odbert INGALLS died 13 March 1859 (copy of death as recorded in the Odbert bible is enclosed). Also enclosed is the first page of the Marriage Book given to Augusta ODBERT by her sister on the day she married David Leeds INGALLS, Sr.

David Leeds INGALLS, Jr. was initially raised by his grandfather James ODBERT. It is believed he then moved in with his uncle George ODBERT after George's marriage to Mattie MACE.

Also enclosed is the marriage certificate (copy) of David Leeds INGALLS, Jr. and Helena VASEY. They had two children, one female died at birth or shortly thereafter (this is an unconfirmed family story). The other child was Marion Grace INGALLS. She married Harry Murphy HARMON on October 23, 1920. They had two children Helen HARMON and David INGALLS HARMON. Daniel INGALLS HARMON was my father.

I have additional documentation for the INGALLS/HARMON marriage and offspring should you desire it.

l hope the above and enclosed is of interest to you and your readers. ...I shall look forward to receiving the Ingalls Family Newsletter."

Thank you, Kathleen, for your interest and sharing your family genealogy.

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THIS IS TO CERTIFY

That David L. Ingalls of the State of New York County Renselear (sic) in the Province of ___ Dominion of Canada, and Helen Gertrude Vasey of the Village of Richmond, County of Richmond in the Province of Quebec Dominion of Canada, were by me joined together in the

Bonds of Holy Matrimony

On the twenty fourth day of September in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy eight

In presence of Hattie S. Wales, W. J. McKerley /s/ Henry Edmison, Pres.-Clergyman

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QUERIES

From Lee J. Streepey, Paradise, CA: INGALLS-LORD-CONANT. Mary LORD b 9 Nov 1795 ME m bef 1816 Israel INGALLS b Penobscot ME 25 Dec 1790. "Compendium of Amer Gen - v 4 Virkus" says she is descendant Roger CONANT, Plymouth, MA 1623." Can you help with genealogy to make this connection? Will reimburse postage & copy cost.

INGALLS - FRENCH. Elizabeth FRENCH b abt 1761 m Israel INGALLS b 30 Mar 1760 NH? "Compendium Amer Gen v 4 Virkus" says she is descendant William FRENCH, Cambridge, MA 1625." Can you help with genealogy to make this connection? Will reimburse postage and copy cost. (See Burleigh #5101, page 244)

Lee Streepey writes further: "Based on Virkus notation "descendant of Wm. FRENCH" Betsy b Jan 1762 to Benjamin FRENCH is the only ancestor that will fit. What I need is collaborating information or evidence that Betsey and Elizabeth are the same person - fun detective story!"

"I have considerable genealogy for #5129 Roxinda INGALLS as well as for her siblings and descendants."

Thank you, Lee, for your continued interest!

****

From James T. Kirkland, Chevy Chase, MD: "I have family records that show my lineage as follows: Priscilla (716) daughter of Amos (707, Burleigh Nos) married Levi PAGE 7 Oct 1809 in Wapole, NH. The marriage was performed by D. Chase. She was my g-g-grandmother. The PAGE line is well documented by Charles N. PAGE, 1911, in his History and Genealogy of the Page Family.

My major quest is for information on the wife of Amos INGALLS (707), Ruth STEVENS who I believe was born 7 Apr 1774 in Rindge, NH."

Thank you, James, for your continued interest!

****

From John INGLES, Fenton MI: "I would like to contact my cousins, David INGLES or his sister Janice. They are the children of John and Elsie INGLES and grandchildren of Charles Delbert and Birdie (FRIZELL) INGLES. David and Janice would be in their 40's and were living the Chicago area during the 1950's. John INGLES lived with my grandfather Earl INGLES for a while as a boy."

John Ingles submitted a query in 1989 which I am repeating. Have the parents of Addison INGLES been confirmed?

"In searching for the parents of Addison INGLES I have gathered the following information about members of the INGALLS family in Berkshire Co MA around 1800. The numbers in parenthesis are references to Burleigh which I have added.

From "History of the Town of Cheshire" by Raynor and Petitclerc pub 1885 page 59: "In 1782 Stephen INGALLS (601) came to Cheshire with his parents. He grew up here and his name is often seen. He raised a large family on a farm at the west of Cheshire and his sons and daughters have been among the substantial families of the town. Some of his sons are living on fine farms, some interested in manufacturing, others in buying and selling dairies."

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-continued QUERY article from John C. INGLES-

"From Gazetteer of Berkshire County MA 1725-1885 by Hamilton CHILD. The first part was published in 1866. Page 120: "Samuel INGALLS (82) came to Cheshire from Rehoboth MA in 1786 and located on the farm where David D. INGALLS (1540) now resides, where he died in 1795. He was a man of gigantic stature and great physical strength. He is said to have carried seven and a half bushels of corn at a time, up a flight of stairs. Samuel (238) his son, came to this town with his father, but went to Cooperstown, NY about 1796 and died in 1827. Stephen (601) son of Stephen Jr. (the Jr. is probably misplaced) came from Cooperstown to Cheshire, located on the farm where his son David D. (1540) now resides and reared 15 children, 12 of whom lived to maturity and nine are now living, their average age being 70 years, and eight of whom reside in Berkshire Co. Samuel (1519) was engaged in a manufacturing business in Adams and a son of Samuel is now cashier of the Berkshire National Bank of North Adams."

"I would like to claim Samuel as my ancestor because of the New Ashford record. Addison INGLES was born in New Ashford 1806 according to family Bible. But which Samuel was there in 1810?"

Can anyone assist John with his query?

****

From Irwin and Corene INGALLS, Elgin TX 78621:

"We are still trying to find descendants of Benjamin Franklin INGALLS (2480) living in Soldiers' Home, Los Angles, CA (1903) -- Burleigh.

Benjamin Franklin was son of Otis INGALLS, son of Edmund and Mary (Stockwell) INGALLS. Otis married Betsey STEVENS. He went from Hartford to Eureka WIS where he died 5 Jan 1856."

****

From J. M. Ingalls, Orlando FL: "Need information on James INGALLS and Malinda (Snow) INGALLS. He was born 9 Jan 1802 and she was born 4 April 1809 per our records. We have information that they came from Jefferson County or Genesee County NY in 1835, and that is verified by the Genesee County Michigan land records".

Does anyone have information on their parents, siblings, etc., that can help J. M.?

A few days ago, Charlene and J. M. stopped on their way south from his parents home in northern Michigan. We had a interesting exchange of tales, some successes and the "dead" ends we often run up against in genealogy. They are unable to "place" their line with the Burleigh book.

They have been to New York area searching and looked thru many of the county court records for wills, adoptions, land sales, etc.

Any information on James INGALLS and Malinda (Malinda) SNOW or their ancestors would be appreciated. One or both of them could have been from a town named "Denmark," state unknown.

The following article written by Mrs. C. J. Miller on Hardships of Early Genesee County (MI) Pioneers is about the same James INGALLS.

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The following article was written by Mrs. C. J. MILLER, Kenosha, Wisconsin on the Hardships of Early Genesee County Pioneers Related in Sketch (Written November 29, 1925) about the wilderness 90 years ago.

JAMES INGALLS AND MALINDA SNOW

HARDSHIPS OF EARLY GENESEE CO. PIONEERS RELATED IN SKETCH

Wild Animals Menaced People Who Lived in Wilderness of the Section 50 Years Ago

November 29, 1925

Only 90 years ago Genesee County was practically all wilderness and the place where Pontiac is now located was known better as Piety Hill, according to interesting information on pioneer life written by Mrs. C. J. Miller of Kenosha, Wis., who has just finished a sketch of the hardships that her father and mother, the late Mr. and Mrs. James Ingalls had, who established their home in the Atherton Settlement in 1835.

In the fall of that year her father came from Jefferson Co., N.Y., to Michigan and located 160 acres of land which is now known as the Barret Pierson farm, but which was wilderness then. In the spring of 1836 he disposed of all his property in New York and moved his family, consisting of his mother, Malinda Snow Ingalls, and four children to Michigan.

-Hard Trip Through Wilds-

“On reaching what is now known as Pontiac, then called Piety Hill, he purchased a wagon and yoke of oxen, loading his household effects and family in, and started for the wilds of Genesee County, 60 miles away. Amid the waving of handkerchiefs, and goodbyes from people who thought they would never reach their destination, with ropes tied about the horns of the oxen to guide them, they set out.

“A little way out they encountered their first hardship, with no guide to help them on their way; only blazed trees. Going over a corduroy road with water almost knee-deep for about 20 rods, they had neared the end of the road when my three-year old brother, Benjamin, fell out of the wagon into the water. To the tune of frantic crises from my mother, father pulled him out unhurt; only a good wetting.

“They were supposed to make about 20 miles a day, but fell short of that many miles, it taking them nearly a week to make the 60 miles. On arriving at their destination, they found a man, John Schram, with some of his family of boys, men grown, had settled on their piece of land by mistake, and had cut down enough trees for logs to lay up the body of a log house.

“Mr. Schram desired my father to exchange locations wit him, but Father said no, as he intended making a home there for himself and family, but would return work for the labor that had been done. Our family lived in the wagon until he could get logs cut and a cabin built.

“The cabin was floored with logs split and laid with the split sides up; the floor itself was raised a few feet from the ground. The roof, a low one, was made of poles and bark; the door was a blanket.

-Guarded Against Animals-

“No one dared venture out after night-fall without carrying a brand of fire, on account of wolves, bears, and all kinds of wild animals. For protection within the house they left a space in the corner of the raised chamber floor, in which space father fitted a ladder. After taking the family up to sleep, he drew the ladder up and covered the space with thin split logs.

“The next thing to do was to build a Dutch oven for my mother to do her baking.

“Father had brought a large quantity of apple seeds, cheery pits, and other seeds with him. As soon as he chopped down a tree and made an opening in the forest he would plant some seeds. In five years, the trees began bearing.

“Father who worked both early and late, began felling trees and underbrushing where the house now stands, burned the brush heaps for the ashes, which could be used in making soap.

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-Traded Soap for Necessities-

“There were many wild animals that provided tallow or soap grease. Father would make up three or four barrels of soft soap, and from the deer tallow mother would make many dozens of candles and pans of tallow. He would load up his wagon with soap, large boxes of candles and pans of tallow, and start for Piety Hill, 60 miles away. He would trade his load for flour, meal and groceries. It took him more than a week to make the trip, and there was a happy household on his return. On his first trip father brought a young cow home behind his wagon; she provided butter and milk for the family. He also brought a half-dozen chickens and a pig weighing about 50 pounds.

“Before making his first trip to Piety Hill, father had made a log stable for the oxen and the cow, as they had to be guarded at night from the wild animals. He also built a very high log pen for the pig, thinking that nothing could get at it. Not many nights after the pig was put into the pen, a big black bear climbed into the pen, picked the poor pig up, and took him off into the woods, and amid his cries and squeals, killed him. Father, not having a fire-brand ready, did not dare to venture out after him, but next morning found where he had been killed and partly eaten.

-More Families Move In-

“As the spring advanced, the family had a very good living, with the milk, butter, eggs, and many berries, pumpkins, squash and cucumbers. A number of new families moved in, too; among them were the Athertons, the Chambers, and the Curtises.

“Father labored hard and long clearing his land; he cleared and logged five acres lying to the south of the present location of the house. He also worked at the north side of the house, clearing down to where the Atherton schoolhouse now stands, the first log schoolhouse was built about 15 or 10 rods east on the north side of what is known as the Atherton Road.

“During the fall and winter months father, besides clearing land with his ax and his adze for he was a carpenter by trade, hewed many sap-troughs for the coming spring maple sugar season. On one of his trips to Pontiac he brought home a large iron kettle. With the help of mother and the children, he made many hundreds of pounds of maple sugar, which he took to Pontiac and exchanged for other necessaries of life.

-Lumber For Plank Road-

“The first sawmill was built two miles west and and nearly three quarters of a mile north of them on a little bend of Thread Creek, across on the west side of the road. From this mill the first lumber for the coming plank road was sawed; in time; this road was extended from Saginaw to Pontiac.

"One and one-half miles west of the log schoolhouse on the Atherton Road was a very steep hill known as the sand hill. The women would not ride down, this hill, but would walk. The men would tie a rope at the head of each ox to hold him back from running down the hill.

“One-half mile farther on was the toll-gate, built on the southeast corner of what is now the Grand Blanc Rd., or Dixie Highway; on the west side of the road where the first Durant factory was built, on the farm owned years ago by Horace Boomer.

“Turning to the right from this corner and going directly north for two miles, you come to the place where the first courthouse was built, and later burned; one-half mile north of this, the first dry-goods store was built and operated for many years by James and Henry Henderson. For years, my brother Horace drew merchandise for the Hendersons from Pontiac.

“Three-quarters of a mile west of what is known as the Durant corners, was a little home, built on the south side of the road, and owned by an English family, a father, mother, and a little baby boy. One mile farther west the road turns to the right and goes down a steep hill. As the father and mother were going down this hill with horse and buggy one night, a heavy storm came up, blowing a large

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tree down upon them. All were killed instantly. The baby, left with a neighbor, was raised by her, and was known as Will Carrier. In later years be clerked in a store for Christofer Green; and then studied law. I do not remember what became of him. (Will Carrier Matthews became known as Flint’s globe trotter from his world travels. He died several years ago.)

"Returning to the log schoolhouse. there was a one-acre cemetery on the southwest corner of the roads. The land was owned by Pliny Skinner, my mother has told me. My people lost a little child, the first one being buried there.

"Twenty rods west of the cemetery was Thread Creek, which abounded in fish, principally red-finned mullet and pickerel. I will not try to describe the size of the fish, as my readers would think I was exaggerating, but they were beauties just the same.

-Built First Ice-House-

"West of the creek was Mr. Skinner's home, and one-quarter of a mile farther was the home of the Reverend Orsen Parker, who built the first ice-house in that locality. In later years the farm, a beautiful place, was owned by Mr. George Curtis.

"My father leased the district school board one acre of land on the corner of his farm for the term of 50 years, for the purpose of building a new school house. The school stands there today; a place where many boys and girls received their common-school education.

"Three-quarters of a mile north of the first corner to the west was the first carding mill, built on Thread Creek, and owned and operated by a man named Alexander. "My father died in 1860. The farm was taken over and owned by my two brothers, Benjamin and William, who built an extra house for William and his wife. My brother Benjamin and his family occupied one-half of my mother's house. Mother, my two younger brothers and I occupied the other part of the house my father built when I was two years old. The house still stands, a monument to the early years of hard labor by my father and mother.

In 1861, the beginning of the Civil War, two boys living in the vicinity of Pine Run enlisted and went with the first soldiers, served three years and returned honorably discharged. On their return; they went to the home of one Clark Johnson, attorney for soldiers. He got their pension for them; I do not know how much. They were detained until evening in getting their money. One of the boys thought he recognized the face of a man looking in the window as that of a man called Hall.

Hall saw Mr. Johnson pay the boys their money. When they left the house, someone turned a gun on them and ordered them to give up their money. Being unarmed, they turned it over, and next morning with officers, went to the scene of the robbery and took measurements of the tracks made by the man at the window. A man by the name of Hall was arrested on suspicion, and his boots taken by the officer and locked up in the courthouse as evidence. Then right before his trial was to take place, the courthouse was burned, presumably to destroy the boots, the main evidence against the man that robbed the boys.

Reading in the Flint Journal that the first shovel of earth has been turned for the erection of the new courthouse, I sincerely trust that it may prove a lasting benefit to the people of Genesee County.

MRS. C. J. MILLER
Kenosha, Wisconsin

(Note: This was my great-grandfather’s sister.)

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Josephine Stillmanette (Ingalls) SAWYER, B2210-10, author of the following article was a daughter of Eleazer Stillman INGALLS and Martha Maria PEARSON. She was born 9 March 1857 and married 13 April 1880, Alva Sawyer and resided in Menominee, Michigan.

A recent issue of the Lansing State Journal, 7 October, 1991 issue contained an article by Norris INGALLS, recounting the devastation of 1871 in Michigan. Mrs. Sawyer recalls experiences in Menominee County MI as well as Peshtigo, WI. The inset map shows the areas affected by this fire. The black mark between WI and MI shows where the INGALLS-SAWYER families lived at the time.

The Peshtigo, WI fire loss was 1,182 people died there - 900 more than in Chicago. It stands today as the most deadly fire in U.S. history. The Chicago fire was covered by the media but the outlying areas suffered great loss.

Flames of 1871 in Michigan surpass devastation of Chicago's famous fire

By NORRIS INGELLS
Lansing State Journal

Most of Michigan's west coast and parts of the east coast burned. Here's an an approximate look at the fire area. At least 200 people perished.

Nearly everybody remembers what Mrs. O'Leary's cow did 120 years ago tomorrow.

Only a few Michigan history buffs, however, recall Capt. David Cochran's exploits, even though they were a lot more exciting than kicking over a lantern.

The fact that the flaming lantern may have started the fire that burned most of Chicago to the ground explains why the cow remains more famous than the captain.

But that shouldn't detract from Cochran's heroics.

In the best tradition of yet-to-come Hollywood disaster movies, he crashed his steamer through a flaming bridge to carry terrified residents of Manistee away from the wind-driven inferno that nearly incinerated the northwest Michigan lumber town.

Heroic acts were common on Oct. 8, 1871. A single headline in the Lansing Republican told the story of what may have been one of the most horrible days in the state's history.

"Michigan On Fire!" it proclaimed. And it literally was.

In that lumber-era fall, all the ingredients for a massive disaster were present.

"The summer had been hot and dry. In the cut-over areas, brush (called slashings) was like tinder. Mills, houses and stores in the lumber towns were all made of wood; even the sidewalks were built with boards," wrote historian Willis Dunbar.

Some claim the Michigan fires were set by windborne sparks from Chicago.

From Menominee: The fire left "nothing but blackened forests, farms and dead and wounded bodies in its tracks."

But the Menominee eyewitness noted that nearby Peshtigo, Wis., fared even worse. He was right; 1,182 people died there - 900 more than in Chicago. It stands today as the most deadly fire in U.S. history.

Near Port Huron, a man buried his aged parents, who were too sick to try to reach the lake, in a root house, covering it with earth and leaving only space for air to sustain life.

They were never heard from again.

Many escaped by running to nearby lakes and streams, then standing in water up to their necks for hours –- "in many instances the hair being scorched from their heads."

When the winds finally died down, it was discovered that the flames had left a blackened swath from Lake Michigan to Lake Huron.

In 1881, when another huge forest fire ravaged the Thumb area and killed as many as 280 people, a new organization - the Red Cross - issued its first nationwide appeal to help the victims.

There was no such organization around to aid the sufferers in 1871.

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A PERSONAL REMINISCENCE OF THE BIG FIRE OF 1871

By Josephine Sawyer

MENOMINEE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY NOTES NO. 3

The summer of 1871 was hot and dry. There were frequent forest fires in various parts of the northern states and for weeks before the big fire of October 7th and 8th, the smoke had hung so heavy that the sun looked like a ball of red fire most of the time.

Just when and where the fires started no one can say, but the woods and swamps between Oconto and Peshtigo had burned at intervals, controlled only by occasional rains. These fires were supposed to have caught from the camp fires of the laborers who were building the Chicago and Northwestern railroad track through to Escanaba that year. The culmination began the evening of October 7th. In describing this, I will have to give it from a personal standpoint, as that is the way I remember it.

I think everyone had a feeling of uneasiness and premonition for weeks; to my people, our first alarm came in this way. At that time, my father (E. G. Ingalls) had a water mill on Little River, about five miles from Menominee. He owned much timber there. The place is occupied by farms now, the Sawyer-Goodman farm having most of it. October 7th, being Sunday, most of the crew had come down town, leaving the boarding housekeeper, his wife and two children and about ten men there. The bookkeeper, Mr. Merrill, had spent the day at our home. About 6:30 P.M. my brother, Fred, put the team on a light wagon and accompanied by my younger brother, sister and myself, started to take him back. After passing Frenchtown, we noticed an occasional log burning beside the road. When we reached the turning, about five miles up on the state road, Mr. Merrill told us to go back; he would walk the remaining mile and one-half. There was already a roaring in the air and the sky was lighted up over towards Peshtigo. The smell of smoke was strong before we were half way back; the roaring became loud and the wind came in fierce hot gusts, which fanned the smoldering logs into flames. Often a standing tree took fire. Our horses needed no urging on their way home. Afterward Mr. Merrill told us his experience.

It took him some time to make his way over the logging road to the mill, for the whirling wind had carried the fire to one side and over Marinette and struck the mill and surrounding forest. All of the buildings were on fire when he got there. He hastily got the books from his office and taking the cook’s baby, ran with the rest to the river. He buried the books in the earth on the river bank. The cattle and horses had been turned loose, though one ox fell and was burned on the river bank. Each person had grabbed a pail or something to hold water, and carried it with him. Mr. Merrill said the heat was so intense that the instant they rose out of the water, their clothes caught fire and when they inverted wood buckets of water over their heads, the bottom of the buckets would catch.

As an example of the fierce heat, he said that a bottle on the edge of the bank melted and ran with a hiss into the water near him. One freak of the fire that occurred there we kept at my home as a souvenir. A large iron bean pot stood beside the cook house door. As the hot blast struck, one-half of this melted like lead – the other half remained intact. Late the next day my brother-in-law got a team as far as Frenchtown. From there he had to walk the rest of the way to the mill, over fallen timber and hot ashes. He found them all alive but blind from smoke and heat, and badly blistered, especially the eighteen

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month old baby, which could only be held under water a few minutes at a time. He roped them together, so he could guide them, and, so carrying the children and sometimes, the woman, they stumbled along, helping each other as best they could, often falling over burn logs or burning their feet in hot ashes till they reached Frenchtown. We kept them at our house for two weeks, feeding them like children, until their eyes recovered. The woman and baby died two or three months later.

I would like to make a digression just here, and relate a little incident that occurred. These lumberjacks were of the plain, rough and ready type, some of them noted for general toughness. Father had been financially hard hit, as the fire had ruined his timber, that is, all that could not be immediately cut as the worms would destroy it in a year. His mill was gone, and he couldn’t sell the burnt over logs, as the other companies had all suffered the same way, and must salvage what they could. A month or two after the fire, these lumberjacks came to my father, and offered to work a year for him for their board along if he would rebuild. Stuart Edward White used an incident like this in one of books. I often wondered where he got it.

As I said, the whirling wind carried the fire, now high, now low. Marinette, directly in its path escaped. Only the brush and low growth around the town caught fire, though it kept men busy to control it. Menekaune was caught in one of the whirls of fire. My remembrance is that everything burned, even fences, walks and the sawdust covered streets. The fierce hot wind carried burning a mile and more out into the bay and set fire to sails of ships. Where the fire struck, it was so sudden and fierce that everything caught at once. In one house a woman was in confinement, with the upper part of the house burning. The doctor and neighbor women attended her. As soon as the child was born she was lifted, mattress and all and put into a sawdust cart, not a minute too soon, and carried to safety. Menominee, like Marinette, was rimmed with fire, and Birch Creek, a settlement of about forty families, was entirely burned. The loss of life in the farming village, was in proportion to numbers, as appalling as at Peshtigo. Several families were entirely wiped out; most of them lost one or two members. The survivors found safety in root cellars, holes in the ground and in Birch Creek.

Two girl survivors came to Menominee in 1878. I took my horse and buckboard and we went to visit their old home farm and spent the day wandering through the growth of young poplar and fire weed that always follow a woods fire. The tree trunks were still lying all in one direction like mown hay. These girls told me there were nine in their family. When the fire struck, the father and mother each took a small child and all ran to reach the creek if possible. These little girls, ten and eleven years old, soon began to stumble and fall. The father suddenly threw them both into the water and mud under roots of an overturned tree, telling them to crouch down and stay until he came for them. They alone survived in that family.

MENOMINEE

Our first excitement at home came just after we had returned from Little River Mill, about 9:30, probably. There was a fierce gust of wind and a crash, and Belle Stephenson (Mrs. Joseph Fleshum), who had been spending the day in Marinette came running in and told us their buggy had been blown over into a brush heap, just across the road. (My home was where the Spies Library stands, and the brush heap was on a vacant lot, known in late years as the Walter Hicks
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home). Belle also told us that it was reported in Marinette that Peshtigo was burning and Marinette would likely burn also, as trees were already burning on the edge of the town. Everything seemed to happen all at once after that. The sky south and west was a blaze of light. The fierce whirling hot wind rose and fell, bringing flame to new spots, sometimes rising and leaving a spot of green timber untouched.

Soon people began to drift down from Frenchtown. They said "the jack pines back were burning". We had lived there when we first came to Menominee (1862) and I knew many of them. They camped in our back yard near the bay. I don't know how many there were. I heard my mother say she counted eight little babies on her bed at one time, and children were asleep all over the house. I know we gave bread and coffee to forty or more the next morning. Their homes did not burn and they went back. There were constant alarms. Gilmore's mill down on the point, where the Hoskin-Morainville plant is now, had caught from the Menekaune blaze and was burning. Houses kept catching fire. The women and girls pumped water and men carried wet blankets and covered roofs. This was a common method. Main street, sawdust covered, of course, kept blazing up in spots and we ran with buckets or pitchers, or anything, to stop the spread. I met the late Joseph Fleshum in one of these sorties, though I didn't know it until long after. He had just come off a steamer and was walking up the street, wondering just what he'd got into, when a girl came running towards him with a bedroom water pitcher and a watering can and said, "the shavings under that porch are on fire. Crawl under and put them out." He crawled while I ran to the bay for more water. The house was George Horvaths, on one of the Victory Park lots.

Suddenly the swamp, which stretched from Ogden Avenue to the river and was covered with willows and dry grass (Kirby Street was swamp then) was on fire. The only real good road crossing the swamp was Pengilly street, leading to the mills. The older men and women worked along the edge, the women carrying water, the men throwing up fresh earth. The younger folks pumped and carried water also. There was but one good well on the side of the street where the Lloyd store is now, at the Saxton place, later known as the H. P. Bird place. We pumped it dry twice before morning. It was hot exhausting work. The young boys would lie down a few minutes at a time to rest, then go on -- our dresses and shoes were scorched and burned.

There were many amusing incidents, amusing afterwards, that is. I saw George Horvath, who owned the biggest dry goods store in town, and was building the new house before mentioned, walking up and down main Street, carrying a small gilt mirror in one hand and a blanket on one shoulder. The blanket was folded at first, but later trailed behind him in the dust. A clerk told me afterward that he found the store standing open with all lamps burning.

Mr. Philip Lowenstein had just brought his bride to Menominee. We had a liquor store on Main Street. His clerk found him about half way between his house and store, carefully burying his hammer and a lighted lantern in the ground. Theriault, the beloved old fiddler of our dancing days, had a store also. He buried several cases of cigars and oysters in the sand on the beach, then took his "little fid" and walked up and down the street the rest of the night. I regret to have to record that some of the boys found the buried cases. Theriault never did.

My father's law partner, just recently from down east, had his room over
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Parmenter's store, just below the Richard House. He hastily packed his valuables in his bag, ran swiftly downstairs and threw it into a passing farm wagon--he then came up to my father's house with nothing on his mind apparently. Our neighbors across the street had a valued clock. They hastily dug a hole in the yard and put it in. All holes look alike when covered with sand. They could never afford another clock and came to our house "for the time" for years after. The clock is under the Lloyd's store, somewhere. Most people buried their valuables on the 8th.

One of the big lake steamers had come in about midnight and tied up at Jones dock. Among other things it brought the furniture for Mr. E. L. Parmenter's beautiful new house on what is now called State Street (the home of Mr. F. J. Trudel). About two a.m. I was standing on guard at our gate, the others having gone where they were needed more. It was so light from the glare in the sky, that I could read a newspaper easily. I saw Charley Fairchild coming up the street with a load of furniture and called out: "Why take it to the house? The hills are all on fire back of Kirby Creek (runs through Phinntowm)." He answered "Well, they'll get the insurance if it's in the house, but not if it is on the boat." He told me the boat was being held at the dock for women and children if needed-- some of them fled to it early in the night. It was said that some men wrapped themselves in women's clothes and hid on the boat, but were discovered by Oscar Sexton, the town's official teamster, and a strict conformist to Methodist ideals. It is said that he used strong language as well as the toe of his boot on such cowards. I'm sure his lapse of language was forgiven, for his provocation was great. Had worst come to worst, the boat would have burned at her moorings, for the water in the bay lowered two feet or more under the fierce wind, and heat, and the boat was fast aground when they tried to move next day.

My brother, Charles Ingalls, had personal proof of the lowering of the water in the bay. He was wetting cut cedar posts on my father's Haycreek farm, which ran from the Maynus Nelson farm clear through to the bay, joining John Quimby's land at Poplar Point. It included the marsh and site of the Daley mill. The house was or what was known afterward as the Crawford farm, and still stands, I think. Charlie had a lumber ship anchored off the point and a crew of twelve or fifteen men. Sunday morning (October 7) most of them had come up town. Seven people were left, including the farm keeper's daughter, who had remained to get meals for the men. Then the fire struck the forest and out-buildings, the cattle and horses were turned loose, except one team which Charlie had kept, hoping to get to town or to shore. Charlie begged the men to get into the wagon, but four of them hastily threw some planks over a hole in the ground and crawled in. Some one spoke of the girl. Charlie looked for her and found her in her bed, with the clothes drawn over her head. He grabbed her, quilt and all, and chucked her into the hole as he started for the shore, for the road was already cut off by flame. One of the men in the hole begged him to write their name on a piece of paper and fasten it on a stump near the hole. Charlie headed for water with one man with him; they needed no urging. When a hot gust would come, the cattle and horses, running ahead, would throw themselves down and bury their noses in the sand for a minute or two. The loss of animal life in the forest was terrible that night. Several deer, wolves and a bear were on the edge of the farm yard in the morning; live rabbits ran into the hole with the men and girl. By some freak of wind the house did not burn, though barns, fences, surrounding woods, all did. Charlie said the horses ran into the water until it reached the wagon box. He and the man lay down and went to sleep in the wagon and were awakened when the returning water covered them in the morning.
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PESHTIG0

Many of the incidents relating to the burning of Peshtigo were told me by the late Mrs. Isaac Stephenson of Marinette. She was a young girl living there with her parents and brother at that time. She said "The whole town seemed to be on fire all at once." People ran madly to the river; some sought refuge in cisterns or wells and were smothered there. Nine members of one family were found in their well. Some lingered to save treasured belongings and died in homes. Like most of the people, she with her brother, started for the river. She told him (Tom Burns) to go back and help his father before she fell, exhausted, and would have burned there, but R. M. Hunt, engineer in charge of construction for the C. & N. W. railroad company came along and picked her up and carried her to the river. The scene was terrible. Men were fighting off the crazed horses and cattle to keep them from trampling women and children under water. Their clothes caught fire as they worked.

Mrs. Stephenson told me that she personally knew of seven confinements which took place. Men laid their coats in the mud and ooze at the foot of the bank for the unfortunate women to lie on, and while women were doing what they could for the sufferers, the men carried water and poured over them. Several of the women died, and only three of the babies lived, so far as she knew. So the night passed in terror and pain and grief. In the morning; there was nothing but desolation, no food or shelter for hours. They ate potatoes which were baked in the ground.

Among other incidents I knew about personally was this one. A young Frenchman, Joe Martel, running to the river, saw a little baby lying in the road. He picked it up, carried it into the water and took care of it as well as he could. In the morning the women helped him, but all had their own to care for. The child belonged to a niece of Governor Beebe of Wisconsin. The father and mother died. Governor Beebe provided for the child, also the young man. One incident was related to us by Judge Fred Bartels of Peshtigo. When the fire struck the town, he started for Marinette with his horse and buckboard. On the seat with him was the sister of F. J. Trudel. She had recently married and gone to Peshtigo to live. Her husband and another man sat on the back of the buckboard. There was a wall of fire each side of them and the horse ran of its own accord. Suddenly the two men fell off. The young wife tried to jump off but Mr. Bartels held her. He couldn't stop, for that would have meant the death of all.

At the beginning of the fire a small lumber train, which ran to Peshtigo Harbor, took as many as it could carry down to the harbor. They were safe and soon in communication with outside towns. The train men tried to gat back for another load, but could not.

Of course, people in near by town were not idle. Men from Marinette and Menominee forced their way through burning logs and hot ashes and brought the sufferers to Marinette. Barracks had been hastily built to house them. Governor Beebe had sent Dr. B. T. Phillips up to take charge. The women of the towns were volunteer nurses. We in Menominee helped. We had the Birch Creek refugees and outlying farmers to look after also. From far and near, food and clothing poured in--it continued coming for months.

I asked Mrs. Stephenson once, when I was in her room where she got such an oddly made white petticoat she was putting on. She said "Well, when I got to
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Green Bay, I didn’t have a gown to put on, but I was immediately given thirteen white petticoats. This is one of them.”

After the fire destroyed Birch Creek, it leaped over about ten miles of green forest and burned the beautiful Beech forest near what we call Greenwoods. Several days after the fire, I went with some friends to try and locate some relatives who lived there. I had spent some weeks with them before the fire. We could not get beyond Birch Creek. It was strange to see those great forest trees lying, row after row, as though cut with scythe, their tops pointing towards the north. The trunks of some of these great trees still lie in the birch grove beyond Birch Creek.

The fire burned so deeply into the peat bogs near Cedar River that it was still smoking a year later. At times, during the first winter after smoke came up through the snow. The fire got a good start early in the evening of the 7th of October (1871), but the height of its fury and destruction came the morning of the 8th, between one and five a.m. approximately.

Holland was one of the many Michigan cities destroyed by the 1871 fire. This appeal, preserved in the Michigan Archives, was a plea from the mayor of neighboring Grand Haven seeking aid for the survivors.

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John Tarlton Ingalls, Lutherville writes: "Enclosed are pages from History of St. Mary's County and The Jesuit Missions of St Mary's County. They describe early colonial life in this State's first county and the influence thereon of one Richard INGLE, master and part-owner of the British merchant ship Reformation. Perhaps some of your readers may be knowledgeable enough in English ancestry to identify how this individual may be related to the descendants of Edmund of Lynn. Can anyone answer this query? Please let the editor know so we can print a follow-up story.

INGLE'S RAID

In 1642 two events set the stage for the seizure of the Maryland colony by Richard Ingle and the subjection of the colony to a two-year ordeal referred to by the colonists as the "plundering time." One event was the controversy between England's Anglican King and the Puritan Parliament which erupted into the English Civil War. The other event was seemingly small and unimportant by comparison. It was Governor Leonard Calvert's trip to England to confer with his brother, Lord Baltimore.

The first event placed Lord Baltimore in a precarious position. He was bound to King Charles I by feelings of fidelity and gratitude. He knew that should the King be dethroned the Maryland Charter might be revoked. Lord Baltimore, a Catholic, had learned to cope with the Anglican royalty. He also possessed enough political expertise to foresee that should the Puritan Parliament seize power it behooved him to do nothing to antagonize the future rulers of England -- future controllers of his Maryland Charter. Means of maintaining a neutral position may have been the subject of discussion between Lord Baltimore and his brother and possibly even the reason for Leonard Calvert's trip.

Unfortunately, while Leonard Calvert was in England, an event occurred which created the very crisis centered on the "taking of sides" which the Calverts wanted to avoid. Had Governor Leonard Calvert been present in the colony, he might have handled with his usual political wisdom a situation which Giles Brent, acting governor, obviously bungled.

The crisis centered around one Richard Ingle, master and part owner of the "Reformation," a ship which arrived in Maryland in January, 1643 on a trading voyage. This in itself was not unusual; Ingle had been engaged in the Maryland trade for several years. But during that fateful January, a colonial citizen named William Hardidge, on hearing Ingle's treasonable words against the King, spoken while anchored in his ship near Longworth's Point, home of Thomas Gerard, swore out a warrant for his arrest. Ingle was purported to have said, "The king is no king, nor will I acknowledge him for my king longer than he joines with the ho'rle his house of Parliament. " Ingle was arrested, his ship and its cargo placed under guard of Sheriff Edward Packer. The sequence of events following the arrest, itself hasty and ill-advised, reflects a most uncertain handling of the situation. At a later trial of the principles in the fiasco, Sheriff Packer testified that when Ingle emerged from a meeting with acting Governor Brent, he was accompanied by Councilors Thomas Cornwaleys and James Neale. Packer, "having no prison but his own hands," assumed from what was spoken and from the actions of Cornwaleys and Neale that Ingle should be allowed to board his ship. As a result, Ingle escaped without a formal clearance.

When Giles Brent heard of Ingle's release, a warrant was prepared for his arrest, but it was never signed nor served. However, four St. Mary's countians were arrested for their role in Ingle's escape. Edward Packer lost his position as sheriff, but neither he nor John Hampton was prosecuted. James Neale was suspended from the Council but was later reinstated. Thomas Cornwaleys was made the scapegoat of the incident and was fined 1,000 pounds of tobacco.

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Richard Ingle continued to engage in the England-Maryland commerce, with no apparent ill feelings because of his arrest. But from later remarks voiced in England and from his subsequent "invasion" and plundering of the Maryland colony, it is evident that Ingle had harbored feelings of resentment for his arrest and the seizure of his ship. In September, 1644, Governor Leonard Calvert returned to Maryland. In February, 1645, Richard Ingle, aboard his ship "Reformation," returned to the waters bordering St. Mary's County. By this time Parliament had assumed all real control of the English government, although it still kept up the fiction that its acts were the acts of the King as well as itself. Richard Ingle did not hesitate long in adapting one of Parliament's acts to execute his revenge. Using a letter of marque issued by the Lord High Admiral, Ingle interpreted to suit his own purpose the recent act of Parliament which authorized "any of his Majesties good and loyal subjects to seize and take all ships and vessels with their goods and Company, in or outward bound to or from any place in hostility against the King and Parliament, or that shall have been found to have traded with any of the Inhabitants of such place since their desertion of the King and Parliament..." Ingle seized the Dutch ship "Speagle" at the mouth of St. Inigoes Creek. The Dutch ship offered no resistance, and Ingle installed his mate, John Durford, as commander of the captured ship. Thus in possession of a heavily armed fleet of two, Ingle decided to invade St. Mary's. The colony, unprepared for the unexpected attack, was immediately captured.

Historians disagree on Ingle's motivation. Defenders interpret it as a bold and patriotic fulfillment of Parliament's instructions. Others see it as a fabricated excuse to get revenge on the Marylanders for their earlier arrest of him. But whatever his motivation, Ingle's raid and occupation of the colony resulted in a period of great hardship for most St. Mary's Countians. The property of "papists and malignants" was seized and many of the colonists took refuge in Virginia. Governor Calvert's capture was prevented only by his flight and exile in Virginia. The chapel at St. Mary's City was destroyed, the furnishings stolen, and Father Andrew White, the venerable Jesuit priest, together with Father Thomas Copley, were arrested and transported in chains to England. The remaining Jesuits went into hiding in Virginia where they died under unexplained circumstances.

The colonists were required to take an oath against Lord Baltimore and the King which the Catholics (with only one exception) refused to take. Many of the colonists took refuge in Virginia, and the population of Maryland decreased from approximately 400 to 100 colonists during Ingle's "plundering time. " Recalling the "plundering time" in a 1649 letter to Lord Baltimore, members of the Assembly wrote:

Great and many have been the miseries calamities and other Sufferings which your Poor distressed People Inhabitants of this Province have sustained and undergone here since the beginning of that Heinous Rebellion first put in Practice by that Pirate Ingle and afterward almost for two years continued by his Complices and Confederates in which time most of your Lordships Loyal friends here were spoiled of their whole Estate and sent away as banished persons out of the Province those few that remained were plundered and deprived in a manner of all Livelvhood and subsistence only Breathing under that intollerable Yoke which they were forced to bear . ...

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Thomas Cornwaleys' Cross Manor home was the object of much abuse. Cuthbert Fenwick, in whose care the St. Inigoes property was entrusted, was captured and held prisoner, together with Cornwaleys' servants. Ingle's men "plundered and carryed away all manner of things in it (Cornwaleys' home) pulled down and burnt the pales about it, killed and destroyed all the swine and Goates and killed or mismarked allmost all the Cattle, tooke or dispersed all the Servants, Carryed away a great quantity of Sawn Boards from the pitts, and ript up Some floors in the house. . . " Having confiscated Cornwaleys' home, Ingle's men "dwelt in it Soe long as they please and at their departing took the locks from the doors and the Glass from the windoes.. . "

Thomas Gerard at Longworth (Colton's) Point was another St. Mary's Countians who suffered great loss during the "plundering time. "Ingle also plundered the plantation of Giles Brent on Kent Island, making off with much of the property, some of which belonged to Margaret Brent. The inventory of confiscated property filed by the Brents and Thomas Copley against the "Reformation" in English Admiralty Court included eight servants, a pinnace, livestock, grain, tobacco, furniture, jewelry, silver, and account books and records.

During the "plundering time" the Great Seal of the Province of Maryland was lost. Ingle was charged with the destruction of many of the official records of the Province. The seal was replaced but the lost records were irreplaceable.

During the period of Governor Leonard Calvert's visit to his brother in England and the subsequent invasion of Ingle, William Claiborne seized upon the opportunity to try to regain Kent Island. When Calvert returned to Maryland in September, 1644, he learned about Claiborne's visits to Kent Island for the purpose of stirring up a revolt. Claiborne and a company of his followers had visited Kent Island and considered the advisability of seizing Giles Brent's plantation, but decided against a military coup. When news of that visit reached Calvert, he sent emissaries to Kent Island to investigate what Claiborne had done and to determine if possible what his intentions were.

Toward the end of 1646, Governor Leonard Calvert raised a force of Virginians and fugitive Marylanders (pledging his own and his brother's estate to pay them) and entered St. Mary's City. His force was unresisted. The whole Western Shore at once acknowledged his authority.

Kent Island was not so easily regained. Claiborne, distressed at Governor Calvert's recapture of St. Mary's, went again to Kent Island, making the Brent Mansion his headquarters (Christmas 1646). Claiborne succeeded in stirring Kent Islanders to revolt, but failed to persuade them to forcible capture St. Mary's. However, rebels headquartered at Chicacone made night raids on St. Mary's plantations and broadcast threats against Leonard Calvert's life. To counteract this Claiborne-initiated harassment, Governor Calvert proclaimed an embargo. The embargo forbade communication and contact between St. Mary's Countians and Kent Islanders.

An armed attack on St. Mary's by the Kent Islanders did not materialize. Governor Calvert, ever conciliatory, granted a blanket pardon to all Marylanders who would take the oath of fidelity to Lord Baltimore. Only two exceptions to the blanket pardon were named -- Richard Ingle and John Durford, but even Ingle apparently survived his escapades without punishment.

(Jesuit Missions of St. Mary's County, Maryland story to be continued in next issue.)