July no date

Birthdays:

1865 – William Lawrence in Johnson Co. IL the son of B.T. & Amanda (Morray) Lawrence.  He died 1912 in Wayne Co. IL

1883 – Abraham Colclasure son of John & Laura (Edwards) Colclasure

1888 – Carrie Dove daughter of Miles & Mary (?) Dove

1898 – William Wolfe in Clay Co., IL the son of Lewis & Mary (Fitzgerald) Wolfe.  He died in 1929 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Flora, IL.

Cindy Earl daughter of Charles & Beverly (Talbert) Earl

Anniversaries:

1937 – Ralph Petty & Mabel McWilliams.  Ralph born 1911 in Sumner, IL was the son of Glen & Mattie (Lathrop) Petty.  The couple had two children.  Mabel died in 1987. Ralph died in 1989.

1941 – Howard Robertson & Louella Talbert.  Happy born 1908 in Illinois the son of Charles & Martha (?) Robertson.  Louella born 1913 was the daughter of Wakefield & Ella (Fraim) Talbert.  This was her second marriage .  They didn’t have any children and were divorced before 1960.  Louella died 2008 in Herrin, IL.  We are related to both of them.

July 31st

Birthdays:

James Runyon

1822 – James Runyon son of John & Sarah (Stout) Runyon in Fayette Co. KY

1835 – Abraham Cotterell in Hart Co. KY the husband of Clarinda Lathrop

1866 – Edward Crumbacher son of James & Nancy (Gentle) Crumbacher in Wayne Co. IL.  He married Elizabeth Simmons.  Edward died in 1945 in Jefferson Co. IL and is buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Wayne Co. IL.

1867 – Susan Erkman in White Co. IL the daughter of John & Catherine (Burkhardt) Erkman

1882 – Emily Fitzgerald daughter of William & Emily (Smith) Fitzgerald.  She died Aug. 7, 1882.

August no date

Birthdays:

1633 Ruth Rockwell daughter of William & Susanna (Capen) Rockwell in Dorchester, MA.  She married Christopher Huntington in CT.

1650 Abigail Fitch in Saybrook, CT the daughter of Rev. James & Abigail (Whitefield) Fitch

1667 Anne Lathrop daughter of Samuel & Elizabeth (Scudder) Lathrop in New London, CT.  She married William Hough.  Anne died 1745 in Norwich, CT.

July 30th

Fredericka & Henry Erkman

Birthdays:

1638 - ? Lathrop child of Rev. John & Anna (?) Lathrop in Scituate, MA, probably stillborn or died shortly after birth.

1745 – Irene Janes the daughter of Jonathan & Irene (Bradford) Janes

1845 – Fredericka Probst in Germany the daughter of Andrew & Sophia (?) Probst.  She died 1913 in White Co. IL.

July 29th

Birthdays:

1687 – Lois Royce in Wallingford, CT the daughter of Nathaniel & Sarah (Lathrop) Royce

1877 – James McAllister husband of Alberta Speer

1883 – Cora & Dora Irwin twin daughters of Corbin & Charlotte (Lathrop) Irwin in Wayne Co. IL.  Dora died in 1884. Cora died in 1972 Williston, ND.

B Names

B.F. - probably Benjamin Franklin

Baptist – in honor of John the Baptist
Barbara - foreign.  According to legend St. Barbara was a young woman killed by her father Dioscorus, who was then killed by a bolt of lightning.  She is the patron saint of architects, geologists, stone masons and artillerymen.  17 
Barnabas - son of the prophet

Barnett – probably from a surname, not necessarily in this case

Barney – diminutive of Barnabas, Bernard or Barnaby – 2
Bartholomew - son of Talmai - 3
Basil - king
Bathsha / Bathsheba - daughter of the oath
Baylee - bailiff, steward
Beatrice - blesses, bringer of joy
Becca / Becky - bound, servant of God
Beldora - beautiful gift of God
Bell / Belle - beautful - 3
Ben / Benjamin / Bennie / Benny - son of the South, son of the right hand - 50
Benadam - son of Adam - 2
Benita - blessed
Bennett - blessed - 3
Bernard - brave bear - 7
Bernell - brave bear
Bernice -  brings victory – 10

Bernie – brave bear

Bert – bright – 3

Bertha – bright – 3

Bertie – bright – 2

Berval – not found

Bess / Bessie – my God is an oath or my God is abundance – 4

Beth – my God is an oath or my God is abundance – 4

Bethiah – daughter of Jehovah

Betsy – my God is an oath or my God is abundance

Bettie / Betty – my God is an oath or my God is abundance – 21

Beulah – married – 4

Beverly – near the meadow of beavers – 8

Bezelria – not found, but Bezel is an occupational name for a fine collector – 2

Bill / Billie / Billy – helmet, protection – 16

Birdie – little, birdlike

Blake – dark, dark haired or the opposite, fair, pale

Blanch / Blanche – white, shining – 6

Bluford – not found

Bob / Bobbie / Bobby – bright fame – 13

Boley – not found

Boni / Bonnie – pretty, charming, beautiful – 6

Boyd – blonde

Brad / Bradford / Bradley – treason, broad meadow, broad ford – 5

Brady – spirited

Brandi / Brandy – warm – 2

Brandon – little raven – 5

Braxton – Brocks town

Brayton – from Great Britain

Brenda – sword – 7

Brent – hilltop – 2

Bret / Brett – a Breton – 2

Brian / Bryan – strong one – 12

Briana – strong

Briant – strong

Brice – swift, speckled, son of a nobleman

Bridget – strong – 7

Brooke – brook, stream

Bruce – woods, thick brush – 2

Bruno – brown one

Bryson – nobles son

Buck – male deer, cowboy

Bud – messenger, friend – 5

Buel – one who came from Bueil, field infested by crows

Burdette – a surname used as a first name

Burnett – bear, brown

Burrel / Burrell – reddish, fortified – 2

Burton – town of the fortress

Bushrod – young shrub

Byron – barn or cottage – 2 

July 28th

Birthdays:

1838 – Levi Clark in Lawrence Co. OH the son of Cornelius & Elizabeth (Lambert) Clark.  He died 1912 in Lawrence Co. OH and is buried in Aid Cemetery.

1952 – Alan Leturno son of John & Norma (Lathrop) Leturno in Taylorville, IL.  He died in 1971.

1955 – Cecil Flanigan in Fairfield, IL the son of Cecil & Opal (Shaw) Flanigan.  Butch was a truck driver and died in an accident in Henderson, NC 2001.  He is buried in 2001 Salem-Mateer Cemetery in Wayne Co. IL.

July 27th

Just birthdays today:                                 

1661 – Timothy Loomis son of Deacon John & Elizabeth (Scott) Loomis

1790 – William Carpenter in Fauquier Co. VA son of Benjamin & Elizabeth (McFarland) Carpenter.

Freda Jordan

1824 – Asa Clark son of Cornelius & Elizabeth (Lambert) Clark in Lawrence Co. OH

1910 – Freda Jordan in White Co., IL the daughter of Ernest & Sophia (Erkman) Jordan.  She was named after her grandmother Fredericka (Propst) Erkman.  Freda died 2007 in Vincennes, IN.  She is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Evansville, IN

1961 – Diana Shaw daughter of Verschel & Ruby (Haile) Shaw in Jefferson Co. IL.  She married ? Shields.  They had four children.  She died in Carmi, IL 1993 and is buried in Thomason Cemetery, Wayne City, IL.

David Peel son of Allan & Lillian (Cooper) Peel

July 26th

Birthdays:

1572 – Joan Hanson baptized in England, the daughter of John & Margaret (Gressam) Hanson

1607 – Jacob Perkins baptized the son of Henry & Elizabeth (?) Perkins.  He died in 1609.

1699 – Anne Bradford in Norwich, CT the daughter of Joseph & Anne (Fitch) Bradford

July 25th

Birthdays –

1843 – Cloyd Maulding son of Andrew & Hester (Hopkins) Maulding.  He married Elizabeth Schell.  They had four children.  Cloyd died 1913 in Wayne Co. IL

1906 – Berval Wood daughter of Henry & Minnie (Braddy) Wood born in Wayne Co. IL. She died in 1974 and is buried in Thomason Cemetery, Wayne City, IL

Hazel Dulaney daughter of William & Ida (Lathrop) Dulaney

July 24th

1638 – Sarah Rockwell in Windsor, CT the daughter of William & Susanna (Capen) Rockwell.  She married Walter Gaylord.  Sarah died in 1683.

1660 – Ruth Loomis baptized in Farmington, CT the daughter of Lt. Samuel & Elizabeth (Judd) Loomis.  Ruth married Benjamin Smith.

1713 – Elizabeth Rockwell in Windsor, CT the daughter of Joseph & Elizabeth (Drake) Rockwell

July 23rd

Birthdays:

1694 – Mary Moss in Wallingford, CT the daughter of John & Martha (Lathrop) Moss.

1823 – Matilda Goodnight in Greenville, KY the daughter of Michael & Charlotte (Durall) Goodnight.  She is related to us through both parents.

Donald Shaw son of Verschel & Ruby (Haile) Shaw

July 22nd

Birthdays:

1647 – Sarah Loomis in Windsor, CT the daughter of Joseph & Sarah (Hill) Loomis. She died in 1654 at age 7.

1660 – Elizabeth & Mary Judd the daughters of Sgt. William & Mary (Steele) Judd were baptized.  They were not twins.

July 21st

Many happy returns . . . 

1653 – Esther Gallop in New London, CT the daughter of Captain John &Hannah (Lake) Gallop.  Another record gives her birth as March 24^th of the same year.  Perhaps she was baptized in July. 

1749 – Septimius Avery son of Rev. Ephraim & Deborah (Lathrop) Avery.  He died in 1754 at the age of five.

1863 – Willard Rawson in Stoughton, WI the husband of Mary Miller.  They lived in Harlan, NE and had four children.

July 20th

Birthdays:

1624 – Martha Lake in North Benfleet, England the daughter of John & Margaret (Reade) Lake.

1660 – Esther Prentice wife of Benadam Gallop.

Charles Speer

1673 – Mindwell Loomis daughter of Nathaniel & Elizabeth (More) Loomis in Windsor, CT.

1843 – Charles Speer in Kentucky, the son of Marquis & Susan (Hinkle) Speer.

July 19th

Birthdays:

1837 – Theodore Ellis in Greenville, IL the husband of Nancy Gurley.  He died in Girard, IL in 1915.

1882 – John Erkman the son of Jacob & Fredericka (Probst) Erkman in White Co. Il. 

 

July 18th

Birthdays:

1627 – John Rockwell in England, the son of William & Susanna (Capen) Rockwell.  He died in 1673.

1893 – Elmer Wilkin son of John & Mary (Smith) Wilkin.  He died in 1973.

 

July 17th

Baptisms & Birthdays:

1692 – Hannah Crary baptized the daughter of Peter & Christobel (Gallop) Crary

1716 – Timothy Janes baptized, the son of William & Abigail (Loomis) Janes

1890 – Ruth Hays daughter of John & Magdalena (Dietz) Hays in White Co. IL.

July 16th

Birthdays –

1839 – Martha Lathrop in Cross Plains, IN the daughter of Russell & Cynthia (Powell) Lathrop.  She died 1914 in Illinois.

1869 – Ella Speer the daughter of Charles & Anna (Runyon) Speer

Brick Wall - Draper/Breeden

An ongoing worksheet to take down the brick wall . . . 

Mini-ahnentafel

1.  Louisa Draper 1825-1867, md. Levi Lathrop
2.  Thomas Draper 1788-1872
3. Catharine Harbert ca. 1790-?
4. Thomas Draper ca. 1760-?
5. Priscilla Breeden ca. 1760-?
6. Ebenezer Harbert 1770-1846
7. Mary Magdalena Wallick 1773-1818
8. ? Draper
9. ?
10. ? Breeden

July 15th

Birthdays:

1649 – Joseph Loomis in Windsor, CT the son of Joseph & Sarah (Hill) Loomis.  He died 1715 in Windsor, CT.

1670 – Nehemiah Loomis son of Lt. Samuel & Elizabeth (Judd) Loomis.  He died 1740.

1693 – Nathaniel Lathrop son of Samuel & Hannah (Adgate) Lathrop.  He died in 1774 in Norwich, CT.

July 14th

Birthdays and Baptisms:

1689 – Elizabeth Gallop baptized.  She was the daughter of John & Elizabeth (Harris) Gallop.

1739 – John Avery son of Rev. Ephraim & Deborah (Lathrop) Avery.  He died in 1779.

1787 – James Johnson son of Caspar & Deborah (Adamson) Johnson in Pennsylvania.  He married Anna Strawn.  James died in Pennsylvania in 1870.

July 13th

Birthdays: 

1649 – Ann Crow in Hartford, CT the daughter of John & Elizabeth (Goodwin) Crow

1882 – ? Erkman stillborn daughter of Jacob & Fredericka (Propst) Erkman in White Co. IL

July 12th

Birthdays:

1709 – Lucy Perkins in Norwich, CT daughter of Jabez & Hannah (Lathrop) Perkins.

1824 – Martha Speer daughter of John & Mary (Grove) Speer

1854 – Alice Goss in Richland Co. IL the daughter of George & Hester (Rohosbach) Goss.  She was the third wife of William Dove.

July 11th

1598 – Margaret Reade in Essex, England the daughter of Edmund & Elizabeth (Cooke) Reade.  She married ca. 1616 John Lake in Essex, England.  The couple had eight children before she divorced him for desertion.  Sometime between 1631 and 1635 John Lake's wife, Mrs. Margaret Reade Lake, left him and emigrated with her sisters and their families to New England, taking with her, her two daughters, Ann and Martha Lake.  She left a son in England who never came to America.  For many years she lived in the family of her brother-in-law, Gov. John Winthrop, Jr., at New London, CT, and is mentioned repeatedly in the Winthrop family correspondence. 

Letter from Margaret Reade Lake to Governor Winthrop, 18 Jan. 1661/62:  Might I not be too troublesome to you I would have desired yours to have done me yet courtesy as to have inquired concerning my husband’s death and how he ended his days, as also to have inquired of my cousin Thomas Cooke, whether he knew whether there was anything left me or no . . . I would desire you inquire whether my sister Breadcale [sic] who dwells in Leigh, in Essex, be living.  You may hear of her, if living, at Irongate where boats weekly come from Leigh.

The last decade of her life was spent at Ipswich, Mass., the home of her daughter, Martha Lake Harris, and of her brother-in-law, Deputy Gov. Samuel Symonds.  She died there in 1672.

1812 – Matilda Hinkle daughter of Charles & Susannah (March) Hinkle.  She married Joseph Taylor and she died in 1897.

1890 – Nettie Jones daughter of Isaac & Alice (Goss) Jones born in Wayne Co. IL..  She was the step-daughter of William Dove and died Mt. Vernon, IL in 1970.

1912 – Rebecca Spry daughter of John & Josephine (Summers) Spry

Donna Ledet the daughter of David & Carol (Cornwell) Ledet  

Anniversaries:

1825 – Washington Colclasure & Phoebe Stalcup in Orange Co., IN.  Washington born 1810 in Washington Co. IN the son of Jacob & Elinor (Dennen) Colclasure.  He died there in 1869 .

1880 – John Zeller & Clara Erkman in Enfield, IL.  John, the son of John & Maria (Damm) Zeller was born 1859 in Mt. Vernon, IN.  Clara born 1861 in Mt. Vernon, IN was the daughter of Jacob & Eva (Bechtold) Erkman.  The couple moved to Omaha, IL ca. 1884 and then to Sikeston, MO ca. 1891.  After two years they moved on to East Lake, AR and were in St. Joseph AR by 1897.  By 1899 they were living in St. James AR and moved onto Crawford, WY ca. 1900.  They were in Lovell, WY in 1906 and Basin, where John died in 1907.  The couple had 11 children.  Clara married second George Plummer and third William Fred.  She died 1937 in Lovell, WY.

1931 – Forrest Lathrop & Mildred Shelton in Wayne Co. IL.  Forrest was the son of Joel & Louisa (Dove) Lathrop 1911 in Wayne Co., IL.  He died in 1968 in Wayne Co., IL and is buried in Mt. Zion / Farnsworth Cemetery in Wayne Co. IL.  Mildred Shelton daughter of George & Stella (Rash) Shelton was born 1913 in Wayne Co. IL.  She died Mt. Vernon, IL in 1988.  They had seven children.

Z Names

Zachariah/Zechariah - Jehovah has remembered - 3 
Zadok - righteous, just 
Zalmon - his shade, his image 
Zebedee - abundant portion 
Zebulon - exaltation 
Zella - diminutive of Marcella, young warrior 
Zelphia - frailty
Zephaniah - treasured by God 
Ziggy - to get rid of anger 
Zina - welcoming 
Zula - brilliant 
Zytian - I can't find a meaning for the name.  Zytian Leiuwes married Garrett Dewees in Leeuwarden, Friesland, Netherlands in 1662.

July 10th

1666 – Isaac Loomis son of Joseph & Mary (Chauncey) Loomis in Windsor, CT.

1890 – Nelle Blunk in Effingham Co., IL the wife of William Bryan.  She died in 1986.

1895 – Emma Parks in Ottawa, KS the daughter of George & Minnie (Gale) Parks

1908 – Roy aka Punk Lathrop in Richland Co., IL the son of Edgar & Anna (Materna) Lathrop.  He married Louella Ferguson and they had at least one daughter.  Punk owned and operated the Lathrop Feed Store in Bridgeport, IL.  He died in Bridgeport in 1979.

Marie Lippert daughter of William & Alma (Hongsermeier) Lippert

Duane Peel son of Howard & Hazel (Petty) Peel

Andrew Lathrop son of Albert & Velma (Coil) Lathrop

Dennis Lathrop son of Levi & Muriel (Foster) Lathrop

Gwendolyn Peel daughter of Allan & Lillian (Cooper) Peel

Anniversary –

1889 – Avery Dulaney & Ann Robertson in Wayne Co., IL.  Avery born 1868 in IL was the son of Isaiah & Sarah (Green) Dulaney.  Ann was the daughter of Hudson & Tabitha (Bond) Robertson.

July 9th

Just birthdays today.

1570 - William Loomis baptized Thaxted Church, Thaxted, Essex, England son of John & Dorothy (?) Loomis

1690 – Solomon Moss son of John & Martha (Lathrop) Moss in Wallingford, CT.

1709 – Jacob Hinkle in Daudenzell, Gemany son of Anthony & Maria (Dentzer) Hinkle.  He married Anna (?) ca. 1730.  Jacob was an innkeeper along the Germantown Road in Pennsylvania.  He died 1751. .

Brandon Holler

1830 – Amos Robertson in Lawrence Co. OH the son of David & Rebecca (Clark) Robertson.  He was a doctor.

1912 – Gussie Withrow daughter of Elmer & Alice (Martindale) Withrow in Sallisaw, OK

1931 – Betty Robertson daughter of Grandrill & Leafy (Lawrence) Robertson.  She married Aaron Schermer.  Betty died 1994 in Newton, IL and is buried in Pin Oak Cemetery, Wayne Co. IL.

Brandon  Holler son of Mark & Karen (Newcom) Holler

July 8th

1663 – Ensign Nathaniel Loomis son of Deacon John & Elizabeth (Scott) Loomis.  He died in 1729.

1874 – Reuben Maier the son of Joseph & Clara (Erkman) Maier.  He died in 1952 and is buried in Maple Ridge Cemetery in Carmi, IL.

Louisa Dove

1878 – Louisa Dove in Wayne Co. IL the daughter of William & Nancy (Hunt) Dove.  She died 1946 in Wayne Co. IL.  She is buried in Mt. Zion / Farnsworth Cemetery in Wayne Co. IL.

July 7th

Happy Birthday:

1836 – Thomas Austin in Tennessee the son of Larkin & Sarah (Young) Austin.  He was the husband of Eleanor Robertson.  Thomas died 1908 and is buried in Salem / Mateer Cemetery in Wayne Co., IL.

1851 – Charlotte Lathrop the daughter of Levi & Louisa (Draper) Lathrop in Indiana.  She died 1899 in Lawrence Co. IL.

July 6th

Birthdays:

1692 – Isaac Moss in Wallingford, CT the son of John & Martha (Lathrop) Moss

1946 – George W. Bush in New Haven, CT son of George & Barbara (Pierce) Bush.

1863 – Laura Hamilton in Washington, IN, the wife of Josiah Smith.  She died in Granville, IL 1962.

1914 – Laland Robertson the son of Leonard & Jennie (Beattie) Robertson.  He died in 1978 and is buried in Pin Oak Cemetery, Wayne Co. IL.

1915 – Marion Courtright the son of Stokely & Gladys (Fields) Courtright.  He died 1994.  

Tinlea Webb daughter of Marty & Alicia (Bowman) Webb

Marriages:

1841 – William Draper & Sarah Deemer.  William the son of Thomas & Catherine (Harbert) Draper was born in Virginia in 1824. 

1869 – David Roney & Samantha Lathrop in Richland Co., IL.  Samantha born 1845 in Richland Co. IL was the daughter of Henry & Rachel (Laws) Lathrop.  She died in 1917.

July 5th

1751 – Deborah Avery the daughter of Rev. Ephraim & Deborah (Lathrop) Avery.  She died at age 25 in 1777.

1886 – Mada Fitzgerald the daughter of James & Rebecca (Ward) Fitzgerald.  She married Arthur Burress and died in 1967.

Fourth of July

Patriotic Birthdays:

1691 – John Huntington the son of John & Abigail (Lathrop) Huntington

1692 – Nathaniel Gallop the son of John & Elizabeth (Harris) Gallop

July 3rd

Many happy returns to . . . 

1570 – Isabell Lathrop baptized in Etton, England the son of Thomas & Elizabeth (?) Lathrop.

1621 – Hannah/Ann Lake baptized North Benfleet, England the daughter of John & Margaret (Reade) Lake.  She came to this country with her mother, in the ship Abigail, arriving Oct. 6, 1635, after a passage of ten weeks.  Mrs. Margaret Lake with her daughters Hannah and Martha, accompanied her sister Elizabeth (Read) Winthrop, the new wife of Gov. John Winthrop, Jr., who returned to America in this ship with commissions from Lord's Say, Brook and others.  She left a son in England who never came to America.  Hannah married Capt. John Gallop in 1643 in Boston, MA and moved to Taunton, MA.  In 1651 the family moved to New London, CT and then to Stonington, CT in 1658.  They had at least 10 children.  Capt. John Gallop was born 1616 in England the son of John & Christobel (?) Gallop.  He came to New England on his father’s ship:  John Gallop Sr.  achieved great distinction by piloting in the ship Griffin, a ship of 300 tons, in September 1633, through a new found channel, when she had on board the Rev. John Cotton, the Rev. Thos. Hooker, Rev. Mr. Stone, and other fathers of New England among her two hundred passengers.  Besides these, it is supposed that Mr. Gallop's wife and children were on board.  Capt. John Gallop worked as an Indian interpreter in Connecticut and served as a Connecticut representative from 1665 to 1667.  John was killed in the Narragansett Swamp Fight during King Phillip’s War.

Abraham Clark

born:  Feb. 15, 1726
died: Sept. 15, 1794
buried: Presbyterian Church Cemetery - Rahway, NJ
profession: lawyer

Signer of the Declaration of Independence on July 2nd at age 50.

Abraham Clark had a modest upbringing compared to many other signers.  But for someone who had a lot less to lose over the course of the Revolutionary War, Clark seemed to receive more than his fair share of suffering.

A New Jersey native, Abraham was an only child in a farming family.  He did not receive much formal education, yet, he made the most of his limited access to teachers and books and found work as a local surveyor and resident go to guy for legal advice.  His generosity and solidarity with everyday folk made him exceedingly popular and he soon occupied a variety of public offices.

By 1774, he was firmly entrenched int he patriot movement, serving on the New Jersey committee of safety and attending various revolutionary conventions.  After helping to draft the New Jersey constitution, he was elected as one of the five upstart men who made up the "new" New Jersey delegation that showed up in Philadelphia in June 1776.

Signer and diarist Benjamin Rush once wrote that Clark was "a sensible but cynical man.  He was uncommonly quick sighted in seeing the weakness and defects of public men and measures."  But he was a patriot through and through, and he happily voted for independence.  He signed his name on the Declaration along with the others, no matter how he felt about them.  Clark knew that the signers were getting themselves into, and soon afterward wrote to his friend, Colonel Elias Drayton:  "As to my title, I know not yet whether it will be honorable or dishonorable; the issue of the war must settle it.  Perhaps our Congress will be exalted on a high gallows . . . I assure you, Sir, I see, I feel, the danger we are in."

He knew the danger his family was in as well. Clark had two sons, Aaron and Thomas, captured during the war.  It's believed Thomas was tossed aboard the notoriously rank and barbarous prison ship Jersey.  Prison ships made regular prisons look like the Ritz, and the Jersey was one of the worst.  A veritable of dysentery, small pox, and any other kind of scurrilous contagion of death imaginable, the vessel was like a floating morgue, with scores of prisoners dying and being dumped overboard to clear the rancid decks.  Clark's son Aaron was thrown in a New York dungeon called the Sugar House, and the other prisoners - themselves in dire straights - felt so bad for his condition and lack of nourishment that they reportedly passed him food through a keyhole.  (You know things are going badly for you when starving inmates are poking moldy bread through your keyhole.)  How his sons ultimately fared is sketchy.  Some sources say Congress ordered retaliation that freed Thomas.  Less is known about Aaron's fate.  Other sources maintain that a third son, Andrew, may have also died aboard the Jersey. 

Abraham Clark continued to serve in Congress on and off until the end of the war, at which point he moved to the state legislature.  He attended the Annapolis Convention of 1786, at which representatives of five of the thirteen states gathered to address grievances that had arisen over the cumbersome Articles of Confederation.  Representatives met again at the Federal Convention in 1787 to hammer out a new, improved system of government:  the U.S. Constitution.  Poor health kept Clark from attending, but he opposed the Constitution until the Bill of Rights was added.

In 1787 he returned to the Continental Congress, but he stayed in New Jersey in 1789 to focus on the state's accounts with the federal government.  He capped off his public service as a representative of New Jersey under the new federal government, from 1791 to 1794.  In summer 1794, Clark was watching some men build a bridge on his lands in what is now Roselle, New Jersey when he suddenly felt ill.  Intuiting that he had suffered a bout of severe sunstroke, he staggered to his carriage and got himself home.  There, he was put to bed and died hours later.  He was sixty-eight.

Kiernan, Denise & Joseph D'Agnese.  Signing Their Lives Away:  The Fame and Misfortune of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence, Quirk Books, Philadelphia, 2009.

July 2nd

Happy birthday . . . 

1818 – Benjamin Draper in Dearborn Co. IN the son of Thomas & Catherine (Harbert) Draper.  He died in 1884 in Greensburg, IN.

1868 – Katherine Maier the daughter of Joseph & Clara (Erkman) Maier.  She died in September 1868.

Doris Mick daughter of Rudolph & Anna (Smith) Mick

Irene Lathrop daughter of Forrest & Mildred (Shelton) Lathrop

A single marriage:

1988 - Jimmy Johnson & Ina Williams.  Jimmy born 1957 Fairfield, IL was the son of Guy & Virginia (Laird) Johnson.  He and Ina have four sons. Jimmy was a truck driver. Jimmy died 2004 in Greencastle, IN.  He is buried in Cloverdale Cemetery in Cloverdale, IN.