Ancestry Saturday: 202 Years, And Still Looking

UPDATE:  On April 15, 2016 at the Pennsylvania Archives, I came to be convinced that the George Platt on the Brig Niagara is NOT George F. Platt of Venango County.  A book titled "Officers and Enlisted Men Who Died in the Active Service of the U.S. Navy 1776-1885" contained a George Platt "Lake Erie Squad" dying 11 Jan 1814.  This and the lack of finding proof otherwise has caused me to conclude that George F. Platt, my third great grandfather was not on the Brig Niagara.

It's been my goal to settle the facts enough to reach a conclusion whether the George Platt who was wounded on the Brig Niagara at the Battle of Lake Erie was the same George F. Platt who served with the 132nd Pennsylvania Militia in the War of 1812.

George F. Platt was my third great grandfather.  It would be interesting to make a link.  I wrote my first piece on this in August 2014 and a follow up piece in September 2014.

The 202nd anniversary of the September 10, 1813 battle will come to pass next week, however, and it will remain unsolved.  I'm not done looking though.

The latest evidence came from a War of 1812 expert who responded to my inquiry with a "no" and a "maybe."

The "No" Scenario comes from the muster rolls of the Navy that showed George Platt, the one aboard the Brig Niagara, had mustered into the Navy by June 1813.  One cannot be both mustered in the Navy and mustered in the PA militia at the same time.

Excerpted from "A Description of the Medals of Washington."

Also, the expert concluded that no George Platt shows up on the list of medal recipients from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for those Pennsylvanians who served during the Battle of Lake Erie. 

However, a conversation later, the answer shifted a bit to "maybe."

The "Maybe" Scenario goes something like this:  That George Platt served in the Navy from June 1813 until he was wounded at the Battle of Lake Erie.  He could have mustered out of the Navy after being wounded and, if still able-bodied, was obligated to serve in the Pennsylvania Militia afterward. 

His military record shows his wife indicating he didn't join the Pennsylvania Militia until October 1813.  Plus, the records show him on the muster rolls in January 1814.  

He could have been omitted from the medal winners for service at the Battle of Lake Erie because he wasn't a member of a Pennsylvania Militia at the battle but, instead, with the United States Navy.

In fact, given that we know he was in the Pennsylvania Militia, the fact he didn't receive a medal from the Commonwealth confirms that he was not part of the Militia troops that were at Lake Erie. That could tend to support the idea that he didn't join the Militia until later.

So, there we go.  No firm answer, up or down, yet.

Ancestry Saturday: Length of Lives

Today would have been my Dad's 72nd birthday had he lived this long.

Cancer took him at age 61, but his Platt bloodline was more often likely to live longer.

In fact, only one of the Platt men in his past back to his third great grandfather James Platt lived less.

James Platt was 80 years old in the 1830 Census and one source, the History of Oklahoma, says he lived until age 104.

His son, George lived until 1861 and 75 years. Amos made it to age 83.

It was Royal Platt who died the youngest at 58.

My grandfather, Richard, lived until 76.

The passing of generations, it seems, does not always bring longer lives.

Sunday Review: Ohio Ancestors 2014 Year in Review

A full 11 days into 2015, I'm still looking back at 2014 to help set the stage for my family history research going forward in 2015.  There's a lot more to get done.

I now list 35 Revolutionary War patriots in my kids' bloodline.  That's a growth of eight in 2014.  I don't expect a 20% growth in that list for 2015 though.  Confirming a few more might be nice.

I attended the wedding of my third cousin in December and met some living family members, including a convergence story that's borderline creepy.  Who would think that my third cousin from New York would marry someone who once lived just two doors away from where we live now in Ohio?

I count finding my fourth great grandmother Phebe's house a great find of 2014.  It will be made greater if I can schmooze an invite to see the inside in 2015.

We'll make a point to visit the Catholic church in Somerset, Ohio again in 2015 where my fourth great grand uncle was a priest more than a century and a half ago.  Richard Pius Miles would later become the first bishop of the Diocese of Nashville.  If a family trip takes us near Nashville, we'll even visit his burial location in the basement of the church. 

Whatever our 2015 Summer Vacation destination turns out to be, it will certainly include some family history stopovers.

2014 would have been a less-productive family history research year but for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania releasing their death certificates archive to Ancestry.com.  That lifted Pennsylvania way up on the list of states where family history research is friendly.  These death certificates helped solve some family mysteries and confirm some others.  My sister-in-law and Aunt, by marriage, are two families with Ohio and Pennsylvania roots that have been made easier to research thanks to this action.  Showing them my findings are on my list in 2015.

Not everything was merely electronic in 2014.  I visited the clothing store my great great grandfather owned in Meadville, PA.  It's now a coffee shop and bakery.

There are some regrets. 

I still haven't seen or gotten a copy of the marriage certificate for Andrew Alfred Baker and Beatrice Merz my Aunt mentioned in an email a year ago.  That information sparked a breakthrough that helped me complete my five-generation family tree.  I may have to send her a digital camera with a return envelope to get a copy.  Would that be too direct?

Figuring out once and for all whether the George Platt on the Brig Niagara at the Battle of Lake Erie in September 1813 is the same George F. Platt, my third great grandfather, who served at Lake Erie with the Pennsylvania Militia is a still-unfulfilled quest.  I just recently obtained the National Archives military file for George F. Platt and there's no mention of his service to the Navy in the file.  I'm still searching though.

 

I'm still waiting for some more photos from cousins.  The Bernard Family Reunion yielded one great find, but the promise of more is on my list to get fulfilled in 2015.  I'm really hoping my Cleveland second cousin once removed finds that missing box of photos with my great great grandmother's photo(s) in it too.

 

With my five-generation family tree now complete, the never-ending quest is to go deeper into the family tree.  With less records, less headstones, and less photographs from that sixth generation and backward, that's going to be tougher to accomplish.  That's 2015 in a nutshell.

Ancestry Saturday: Casper The Friendly 4th Great Grandfather?

The Will for Casper Hockenberry mentions only one son, William.  Though many researchers associate my third great grandmother, Mary Ann Hockenberry Platt, with him, Casper's probated Butler County, Pennsylvania will does not.

There's research that claims he did have a daughter. 

Was it Mary Ann, though?

I can't prove it, yet.

Ancestry Saturday: Until Next Battle Anniversary

My goal won't get fulfilled.  Wednesday's 101st anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie will pass without my quest for a firmer sense of a connection met.

Last month, I wrote of my hope of connecting the George Platt listed as a seaman on the Brig Niagra and wounded in the Battle of Lake Erie with my third great grandfather George F. Platt who was in a Pennsylvania Regiment that was deployed at Lake Erie.

I struck out on my quest for records at the historical societies in Venango and Clarion counties. My letter to a fellow Platt researcher has gone unanswered.  I'm awaiting a military file from the National Archives. 

I'm still looking, but it's going to be some future anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie before I fulfill my goal.

UPDATE:  On April 15, 2016 at the Pennsylvania Archives, I came to be convinced that the George Platt on the Brig Niagara is NOT George F. Platt of Venango County.  A book titled "Officers and Enlisted Men Who Died in the Active Service of the U.S. Navy 1776-1885" contained a George Platt "Lake Erie Squad" dying 11 Jan 1814.  This and the lack of finding proof otherwise has caused me to conclude that George F. Platt, my third great grandfather was not on the Brig Niagara.

Ancestry Saturday: Was George F. Platt at the Battle of Lake Erie?

UPDATE:  On April 15, 2016 at the Pennsylvania Archives, I came to be convinced that the George Platt on the Brig Niagara is NOT George F. Platt of Venango County.  A book titled "Officers and Enlisted Men Who Died in the Active Service of the U.S. Navy 1776-1885" contained a George Platt "Lake Erie Squad" dying 11 Jan 1814.  This and the lack of finding proof otherwise has caused me to conclude that George F. Platt, my third great grandfather was not on the Brig Niagara.

The records show George Platt was wounded while a seaman on the Brig Niagra at the Battle of Lake Erie.  With multiple sources, there's little doubt of that fact.

The mystery question is, "Was that George Platt the same George F. Platt who was my third great grandfather?"  There's evidence he may be.  I'm hoping I can find some certainty before the 101st Anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 2014.

Here's what I have:

The 132nd Regiment of the Pennsylvania Militia was among the regiments that were at Lake Erie in the Summer of 1813.  Many of those troops were "federalized" and many ended up on the U.S. fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie.

My third great grandfather, George F. Platt, was a War of 1812 veteran with his known service being with the 132nd Regiment's Second Company of the Pennsylvania Militia.

One pension record, though, states his service started in October 1813.  If that were true, he wasn't at the September 10, 1813 Battle of Lake Erie.  That date, though, was stated by his wife and daughter in affidavit's for his pension in 1868 so being off by one month in service start dates is very possible.

One county history book states that James Platt, brother of George F. Platt, was at the Battle of Lake Erie.  I can't find any James Platt, though, was among the Battle noteworthy seamen.  None of the muster rolls of the ships at the Battle of Lake Erie contain any other matching names to the 132nd Regiment, except that of George Platt.

Then, there's the George Platt who is reported at the Battle of Lake Erie aboard the Niagra.  Several sources confirm that.

But, as of yet, I cannot conclude that George Platt on Niagra was the same George Platt whose son Amos, had a son Royal, who had a son, Richard, who had a son John, and who had a son, Rick, me.

I'm looking.