#21-2020. Tombstone-Wimsett Tombstone

#21-2020. Tombstone. Wimsett Tombstone in Columbus Montana cemetery

Wimsett Memorial 

 Stephen and Sarah Wimsett are my husband, Leroy’s great great grandparents.

Stephen Wimsett and his wife, Sarah, emigrated to the United States from England in 1871.  He settled first in Michigan but headed west to Beaverhead County, Montana and finally settling in Stillwater County, Montana in 1886.  Stephen gained citizenship in 1889.   He received a homestead patent on 20 April 1892.  

Sarah died on 9 December 1905.  She is buried at the Mountain View Cemetery at Columbus Montana.  When her husband Stephen died on 14 March 1920.  The headstones marking their graves are plain.  But the family memorial tombstone is unique.  It is likely that Stephen created the tombstone memorial for his wife.  

A newspaper article on the sandstone headstone from the Billings (MT) Gazette of 2 June 2013.

Tales from the tombs

Gravesites offer glimpse into difficulty of early Montana life

…………..At the southwest corner of the town of Columbus sits the Mountain View Cemetery, filled with the graves of the towns earliest residents and on one side dotted with its newer ones. Many of them date to the early 1900s, as the town of Columbus began to grow. While there are more than 100 graves in the cemetery, about 30 of them stand out.  Made from sandstone blocks pulled from a quarry north of town, the 31 grave markers are intricately carved logs and trees and were all created in the first 20 years of the 1900s.  They range in size from a few feet to more than 12 feet tall, but all feature exacting detail in a very similar style. Most are either carvings of several stacked logs with a partially unrolled scroll bearing the name of the deceased or an upright dead tree trunk adorned with items such as anchors or clasped hands.  According to the National Register of Historic Places, all of them were most likely created by one of two skilled Italian stone masons in the area, either Michael Jacobs or Pasqual Petosa.  Jacobs managed the nearby quarry and eventually opened a monument business while Petosa worked at the quarry, likely stockpiling sandstone blocks, which he used to open his own monument company. While the log-and-tree-style tombstones can be found elsewhere in the United States, the Columbus cemetery has the highest concentration of them anywhere in Montana.  The 12-foot-tall stump carved for the Wimsett family is also the oldest of the three large free-standing markers.  "The earliest is the 1903 Wimsett tree stump, a massive and ornate marker that was carved in Columbus and later exhibited at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair," the historic register said. "...At about 12 feet in height with it's impressive array of carvings, the Wimsett tree stump appears overwhelming yet fragile within the cemetery."None of the sandstone carvings date past the 1920s, when both Jacobs and Petosa passed away, although their work can be found in other cemeteries through the state, including in the nearby Nye, Absarokee and Red Lodge cemeteries……..

Read more:

(https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/gravesites-offer-glimpse-into-difficulty-of-early-montana-life/article_d9bcf64e-6e71-5045-b6df-3745b3cebacf.html 

: viewed 19 May 2020)

#20-2020 Travel From France to Nova Scotia in 1752

#20-2020  Travel  From France to Nova Scotia in 1752

Travel by our ancestors was not always easy.  It is hard to imagine traveling in the 1700’s, the 1800’s and even the 1900’s.  It is amazing how mobile people were.  And why would people travel to a foreign country?  The majority of time it was due to economics, political or religious motives that encouraged or forced travel.

My 5th great grandfather, George Fredric Fainot traveled from France to Nova Scotia in 1752 aboard the "Sally".  Family information in the Shaffner Bible provided the information to research George Friedrich Fainot.  He was 24 years old, a gunsmith and originally from Montbeliard, France.  

George boarded The "Sally" which left Rotterdam (Netherlands) on 30 May 1752 with 258 passengers.  The Captain was John Robinson who died on the voyage.  It arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia between 26 August and 6 September 1752 with 218 passengers.  The passengers could not disembark until the 26th of September 1752 because of the sickness or housing for the passengers.  

As with many emigrations, a recruiter was involved.  The recruiter may have received money for each person recruited.

From the recruiter (John Dick) of Foreign Protestants for the England Board of Trade:

Emigration in 1751:

Immediately I started preparing for the next year. I had six agents recruiting in Germany, Switzerland and France. I procured passports from the King of Prussia and from the Netherlands to speed up my recruits’ transport down the Rhine. I also made improvements to the shipping arrangements. I had ventilators installed on the ships. And I made changes to the food carried on the ships to make it more suitable for people unused to eating salt meat. I made sure that extra water was carried. Still, it is expected that some people will die before reaching Halifax, as the journey is long - as much as three months - and arduous. We can only try to minimize the loss. 

(http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/edu/ViewLoitLo.do;jsessionid=427D39AC9AF41E233AB6A4507508ADE4?method=preview&lang=EN&id=12560 : viewed 16 May 2020)

I could not find a picture of "Sally", but one very similar, the "Gale".

George lived in Nova Scotia and married Francisca Menico (Menegaux) in 1753.  About 1756 they moved to New York, and five year later moving to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Can you imagine spending three and half (3 1/2) months on this ship?  Can you imagine the stormy seas and waves?  Can you imagine the food?  Can you imagine the conditions, the smell and hope of survival?  Can you imagine seeing land?

And the recruits boarded a ship knowing the conditions.  

#19 Service. Helen Lloyd Shaffner

#19 Service.  Helen Lloyd Shaffner

“Service is the price I pay for the spot I occupy”

 These words were spoken by my mother, Helen Lloyd Shaffner, when honored in 1984 as Women of the Year in Dillon, Montana.

Helen was born 14 August 1924 in Waitsburg, Washington where her great great grandparents had settled in 1859.  Her mother, Mary Caroline Summers and George Marvin Lloyd had married in 1918.  

Graduating from high school in 1942, Helen went off to college at Washington State College in Pullman, Washington.  Helen made her first scrapbook in 1933, continuing her scrapbooking with a scrapbook of her first year of college.   Scrapbooks and keeping family history began early in her life.

Helen joined the Pi Kappa Delta sorority and graduated with a degree in sociology in 1946. But along the way, she met a student in veterinary medicine from Dillon, Montana.  They say opposites attract and I believe this to be true.  Don was born to a ranching family, grew up herding sheep, loved animals, work and had served in WWII.  Helen was born to a farming family but had allergies to animals, hated horses (bucked or fell off one), played the piano and sewed.  When they married in 1946 and she visited Dillon, Montana during the Labor Day weekend, she was shocked to see people drinking liquor as well as probably other various things that might have occurred during the “famous weekend”.  

They moved to Dillon in 1949 after Don graduated from Veterinary School as he was anxious to get back to his beloved Beaverhead County.  Life as a veterinarian was varied from day to day and the county was large with lots of cattle; so Don was often gone for hours and maybe not around much during calving season.  Helen found her niche in Dillon.  

 As her daughters grew and became involved Helen was right there to volunteer, from serving as troop leader in Girl Scouts, serving as President of the local PTA and also finding time to serve on the Presbyterian church session.  Helen served as Presbyterian church organist (and backup organist) for over 40 years. She last played for church on Mother's Day, 14 May 1995.  She always found time to play for a wedding or a funeral.  The first wedding that she played for was in 1945 in Waitsburg!  She thought her daughters needed to play the piano so she began teaching them, which progressed to her teaching piano to many others.  As a member of the community she served as a member of the Barrett Hospital Auxiliary.  She also served as a member and officer of in the local chapter of P.E.O.; as well at the Cattlewomen’s group (former Cowbelles).  When Dillon formed a Community Orchestra, Helen joined and played the timpani, an instrument she had played in college.  

She was Don’s partner in life, always supporting him.  As a partner in the Veterinary Hospital, Helen was also the bookkeeper.  Supporting her husband meant that she also was a member of the Montana Veterinary Medical Association Auxiliary, and served as President.  Don was involved in the Inter-Mountain Veterinary Association so naturally Helen joined their auxiliary and served as President.  The next step was then serving as the national secretary for the American Veterinary Medical Association Auxiliary in 1964.  

Don & Helen

1986

Supporting her daughters meant that Helen rode the ski bus every Saturday while they took lessons at Rainy Mountain (Maverick Mountain).  Somehow she had learned that kids were unruly on the bus & kids were being teased, which made it hard for the bus driver to concentrate on driving snowy roads.  Helen stepped up to serve! 

Don came home one day and decided that there was a girl at a ranch, over 60 miles from Dillon that needed a place to live during the week while attending high school.  Why of course; Helen stepped up to help and provided a room.   Since Helen was often alone with 2 small girls, it was perfect.  The girls got an older “sister”, Helen got some help but more important Helen provided a home for others.  Over the years 3 girls attended school, and lived with the Shaffner’s.  Helen never thought twice about helping out.

The "Bonus" daughters, 1996 at Don & Helen's 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration

Lynn, Elaine and Heidi 

And then her husband realized his dream of owning a ranch.   Now Helen added the job of bookkeeper for the ranch and providing saddlebag lunches for riders, meals for branding crews and hauling lunches to the crew trailing cattle.  

Helen's knack for hauling food is legendary! 

 Sometimes it was 60 miles to find the crew!

She always had plenty of food, no one ever went hungry!

It must have a large gathering, look at the steaks!

Helen was also manning the BBQ grill at the ranch.

When you own a ranch, horses are involved.  Helen did not like horses.

This is the only picture of her on a horse!

As a woman who had lived through World War II, Helen was thrifty.  Her sewing talents included sewing clothes for her daughters, remaking clothes from others, as well as quilts. 

Living through hard times, Helen was very compassionate.  She served her community in so many ways.  One of which was food.  Food was one of Helen’s best talents.  She made sure that there was food on the table for every meal, homemade.  She was always cooking or baking; cookies, pies for the freezer.  We had a salad my sister and I dubbed the “dead salad” because whenever it appeared on the counter or refrigerator, we asked who died.  Helen was always taking food to a family who had had a death.  Don’s father ate dinner with them for 20+ years.  Living to 103 years old, when he could no longer drive, Helen took food to him.  Helen always included others at her dinner table, often sharing with a couple of widowed men who helped Don.  Holiday dinner tables were often shared with friends in the community that had no family to gather with.

Helen Lloyd Shaffner more than paid for the spot she occupied.

“Service is the price I pay for the spot I occupy”

Happy Mother's Day in heaven, Mom!

#18. Where there's a Will. John McHenry Jasper

#18. Where there's a Will.  Or Not!

John McHenry Jasper


John McHenry Jasper, my 3rd Great Grandfather, has been a mystery to me.  Although the family kept scraps of paper on everything and everybody as well as numerous stories, John was not documented other than he died in 9 August 1845 in Whitesville, Missouri.

He was married to Mary "Polly" Heath in Kentucky and they had migrated  to Missouri in 1841.  When he died, he left a widow and eight children; the oldest was Elizabeth at age 16 and the youngest was Minerva at age 14 months.

There is no family information as to where he was buried.  It was in 1854 that Polly's son, Andrew
came back from Oregon and took his mother, her spinster sister Lois and the remaining siblings (Gilla, Lois, William, Thomas & Minerva) west to Oregon.

So when one is interested, one has to research!

The first information discovered was the Letter of Administration given to Thomas P. Jasper to administrator the estate since John McHenry Jasper died intestate.  His son, Thomas P. Jasper was 9 years old at the time so he couldn't be the administrator.  Although some people have attributed the administration of the estate to the son, it was obvious he was too young.  Further research led to a Thomas P. Jasper, living in the 1850 census at Platte, Andrew County, Missouri.  He was 35 years old at that time.  In the 1850 census, Mary Jasper and her 6 children were living in Tremont, Buchanan County, Missouri.  All of this information was found at Ancestry.com.

Further research at Familysearch.org led to the probate records of Andrew County, Missouri.  These records were not indexed, so I flipped through 43 images for the details of the probate.

Even though John Jasper died without a will, his estate was intestate, and probated.  Thomas P. Jasper was appointed as the administrator of the estate and thus had to follow the laws of the Andrew County, Missouri.

One of the tasks of an administrator is to make an inventory of the estate.  From this information there is a certificate of preemption for land. Which meant as settler he had the right to purchase public lands at a federally set price.  The land description is provided:  the Northwest quarter of Section 26 in township 6 of Range 34.  There was also a day book of accounts for smithing from February 25th to August 9, 1845.  The family story is that he died August 9, 1845; no further proof has been found.

Smithing...he was a blacksmith!  That information was new to me.  The inventory list includes blacksmith tools, guns, a shot pouch, a cary plow, drawing chains and hames, one red steer, one white cow, one red heifer, one brindle yearling heifer, one black cow and calf, one yoke of oxen, one lot of hemp.  But there were also debts; one from William Heath given on 25 May 1842 for $15.50 at six percent (6%) interest.  Who is he?   There is also a promissory note due A. C. Jasper dated 5th October 1847 for A. C. Jasper.  (I have yet to figure out who A. C. Jasper is).

The inventory also includes who he owed money to as well as who had not yet paid him for smithing.

The inventory tidbit was the sale of the land.  There is receipt signed by Mary Jasper on the 21st of January 1848 which states that she received from Thomas P. Jasper thirty dollars ($30) in part of my dower of said estate. (Since women could not own property, the dower right was the right of a non-owner spouse in real property). There is also a paper selling the property to William Combest for $100.75 in March of 1847.  (William Combest was married to John Jasper's sister, Gilla Ann Jasper)
Some of the money had to be used to pay off the debts.  Mary did receive money after the sale of the cattle and guns.

 I have transcribed most of it but follow the money does need to be finished!  Besides figure out who is A. C. Jasper.  The note from William Heath is also interesting since he died in 1829, is the note from her brother?  She did have a brother by that name.

Needless to say, I need to do further research on John Jasper's estate.