The Mad Genealogist

Confederate Ironclads

• CSS Albemarle, Albemarle type. Sunk by spar torpedo in Roanoke River near Plymouth NC 28 Oct 1864 (0 killed). Raised by Union 21 Apr 1865. Sold to be broken up 15 Oct 1867.
• CSS Arkansas, Arkansas type. Destroyed to prevent capture above Baton Rouge LA 6 Aug 1862. Wreck located in 1981 under a rock levee at Baton Rouge.
• CSS Atlanta. Captured by USS Weehawken and Nahant in Wassaw Sound near Savannah River 17 Jun 1863, taken into Union service; see USS Atlanta.

It is a common misconception that admiralty Court records are limited to cases pertaining to seamen and the vessels that traveled the high seas. While a court with admiralty powers regularly oversaw such matters as seamen’s wages, smuggling, piracy, prize (the confiscation of enemy ships and their cargo during wartime),shipwrecks, salvage, insurance, freight and passenger contracts, bottomry (using a ship as collateral), and contracts between merchants and mariners, they also had civil and criminal jurisdiction over all persons having any relation to maritime transactions, including shipbuilders and dockworkers.

Ironically the first By 1775 African Americans numbered more than 500,000 or roughly 25 percent of the North American population. Of these, only 10 percent were free, the rest subject to slavery or indenture. Nonetheless, many blacks had been at the forefront of political unrest in Massachusetts, and on March 5, 1770, Crispus Attucks was killed at the so called Boston Massacre, becoming the first African American to die for his country. 

By Jake Gibson & Steve Centanni, Published June 17, 2010 on FOXNews.com

ARLINGTON, Va. — Several discarded headstones recently discovered in a creek bed near Arlington National Cemetery have left Department of Defense officials scrambling for answers.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell called the discovery “alarming and concerning.”

Pentagon officials as well as officials at the Arlington National Cemetery had no idea about the existence of the headstones until they were made aware by a Washington Post story.

Click to view/Print Blank US 1790 Census Extract Form

The United States was the first country to call for a regularly held census. The Constitution required that a census of all “Persons…excluding Indians not taxed” be performed to determine the collection of taxes and the appropriation of seats in the House of Representatives. The first nine censuses from 1790 to 1870 were organized under the United States Federal Court system. Each district was assigned a U.S. marshal who hired other marshals to administer the census. Governors were responsible for enumeration in territories.

Sample from US 1790 Census of New Haven County, CT

Can someone please identify this cemetery. Below is the email I received

 Dear Correspondent,
While I was stationed at Fort Chaffee for basic training Oct 3 – 8 Dec, 1956, I remember seeing a cemetery that had a stone arch at the entrance. As I recall, it was located on the South side of the fort. Can you possibly help me to identify this cemetery?
With kind regards,
John T. Gerlosky, CWO W3 USA Retired

Your ancestor may have had a wooden marker that has long since deteriorated. So too, his gravestone may have been destroyed or moved. Probably the bestplace to start would be with the local genealogists in Onondaga County. It may be that his stone has toppled or was vandalized, but that it was read and recorded at some earlier point in history. If this is the case, then the row location may have also been documented and you are well on your way to identifying his grave site.

Below, you will find a chart containing the approximate birth years for age listings on the census. Please remember, that before 1850 the census information on age was vague.

Here is a web site of original Civil War photographs which  are truly amazing.  They were taken in Washington, DC,  Gettysburg, Fairfax & Fredericksburg, VA,  and various other  locations.  Here are the directions for using the web  site.

• Run the cursor over the photograph and the picture.
• Caption will pop up.
• Click  photo to enlarge.

Truly fortunate that so many of these have survived. Probably a million wet plate photos were made during  the civil war on glass plate.  Popular during the war, they  lost their appeal afterwards and so many were sold for the  glass.  Many used in green houses. Over the years the sun  caused the images to disappear.

Spanish efforts to plant missions in Pimeria Alta (Arizona) were abortive well into the 1800s. The Jesuits fell out of favor and were followed by the Franciscans, who fared no better. In 1833 the missions yielded to the Mexican Act of Secularization and succumbed to decay. Only a tiny fraction of vital and historical records are extant. Numerous suggestions for research during the Spanish and Mexican periods are given by Henry Putney Beers in Spanish and Mexican Records of the American Southwest, in chapter 34. For records of modern times, consult either the churches in question or the public library in the location where ancestors were residing. The Arizona Historical Society has a cross-filed catalog on church records in their card catalog.