Author Topic: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.  (Read 53381 times)

Dusevoir

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #45 on: January 25, 2011, 07:51:52 AM »
Uneven, you are welcome!

I saw your amazing blog.  I noticed Hunt is a surname in your family.  I have a R. Wayne Hunt in my DNA matches.  Ring a bell?  Here are the surnames he listed......

    * Hunt
    * Wilks
    * Riley
    * Ashlock
    * Williford
    * Gilmer
    * Moore
    * McCullar
    * Holcomb
    * Magee
    * Box
    * Green
    * Wheeler
    * Talley
    * Thomas
    * Light
    * Morris
    * Doss
    * Willson
    * Brooks
    * Price
    * Haile
    * Bagley
    * Cook
    * Wilkins
    * Hurt
    * Nix
    * Gibson
Old Genealogists never die - they just lose their census.

Dusevoir

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #46 on: January 25, 2011, 08:25:47 AM »
Uneven........here is the 1860 Indiana census for all Levi Thompsons.

[attachment deleted by admin]
Old Genealogists never die - they just lose their census.

uneven

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #47 on: January 25, 2011, 09:27:44 PM »
You've got him, he's the first guy on the list (misspelled in the census of course!)

In 1860, I've got him nailed because he appears with his wife and some of the children.

In 1850 I'm having particular trouble because there are few Levi's in the area but none that seem to be born in the 1834 - 1836 range. I'll take another look at that census list though, maybe I can weed out a few other Levi's from the 1850 and compare and contrast to find him.

mike
Mike Thompson from Michigan..then Indiana..then Pennsylvania and further...probably somewhere there are sheep. Call me Legion for I am many.

uneven

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #48 on: January 25, 2011, 09:48:15 PM »
I notice there are many more Levi Thompsons in 1860. I also see that one of the Levi's I consider most often 1831 from washington, washington, Indiana stays through the emergence of my Levi Thompson, but another Levi Thompson listed as 1829 in 1850 from washington, washington, seems to  disappear.

I think my Levi married Rosa around 1855. There is no record (I've found out) because of a courthouse fire, but given the age of his first daughter, 1855 is a good bet. Rosa is a lifelong resident of this part of Indiana. She's in VanBuren (where Levi shows in 1860) in 1850.

Levi sometimes lists Indiana as his birthplace and sometimes he's got Pennsylvania assigned. I wish I had some idea of the names of his parents.
Mike Thompson from Michigan..then Indiana..then Pennsylvania and further...probably somewhere there are sheep. Call me Legion for I am many.

Stirling Thompson

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #49 on: January 27, 2011, 01:02:02 PM »
Mike,
I'm not sure you want to totally disregard your James as possibly being Levi. I have come across a couple of instances in my own searches where it appears (for whatever reason) that an individual has swapped first and middle names from one census to the next. It is very frustrating but as Mary says keep slogging away at it. Best of luck!
Stu
Semper Fidelis! Semper Familia!
Stu

uneven

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #50 on: January 27, 2011, 08:32:30 PM »
Thanks Stu.

I really do like that record. Even without the connection to Mary Hughes it sure does have some good signs. Like the names Mary and James and the birth date and proximity to his future wife in the next township over. I've also had several of my relatives use middle names on census records.  I have many suspicions that my Levi Thompson is really "Some Name" Levi Thompson. If you're James Thompson, you may want to go by your middle name so people know which one you are. I've also seen the census dates be horribly wrong. In the case of Albert Thompson, 8 years off.

I am really happy to be as far as I am.
Mike Thompson from Michigan..then Indiana..then Pennsylvania and further...probably somewhere there are sheep. Call me Legion for I am many.

uneven

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #51 on: January 28, 2011, 05:31:28 AM »
Now a gripe about ancestry.com.

Because of people using middle names as first names or completely fabricated names and aliases, searching for military records on ancestry.com can be really hard.

For instance, I've found many records for Levi Thompson from Alexandria, but I've searched several indexes in the Volunteer homes for disabled veterans and seen that they are indexed on legal name only. When I look at the actual record it of a Thompson say John Thompson like the index, but it will also say "Alias Richard Payne". The alias is not in the index. Obviously Richard Payne spilled the beans that he's John Thompson when he got to the home, but that alternate information is not in the index.

Imagine you're in the Payne family now looking for your ancestor, you'll never find him searching on name.

The other frustrating thing about this particular index is that it doesn't have the regiment or company information indexed. So I can't really just look at all the entries from the 34th indiana infantry. Because I've been going through looking at records of everyone with a surname that starts with T, I see all these things and while I'm thinking about the poor Payne family that will never find Richard I have to wonder how many people have seen John Knowlton alias Levi Thompson 34th indiana infantry?
Mike Thompson from Michigan..then Indiana..then Pennsylvania and further...probably somewhere there are sheep. Call me Legion for I am many.

Dusevoir

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #52 on: January 28, 2011, 03:11:11 PM »
A story about James L. Thompson in Washington County, Indiana 1880.

Darn middle names!

[attachment deleted by admin]
Old Genealogists never die - they just lose their census.

uneven

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #53 on: January 28, 2011, 03:25:36 PM »
Thanks Dusevoir! looks like another one bites the dust!
Mike Thompson from Michigan..then Indiana..then Pennsylvania and further...probably somewhere there are sheep. Call me Legion for I am many.

Mary

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #54 on: January 29, 2011, 08:54:59 AM »
Here is a complete roster of the 34th Indiana --- Levi is on page 119.

http://www.civilwarindex.com/armyin/soldiers/34th_in_infantry_soldiers.pdf

And here is the regiment history  http://www.civilwarindex.com/armyin/34th_in_infantry.html
« Last Edit: January 29, 2011, 08:56:55 AM by Mary »

Dusevoir

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #55 on: January 29, 2011, 05:48:07 PM »
Mary, That's a great website!  I don't believe I have ever seen it. 
Old Genealogists never die - they just lose their census.

uneven

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #56 on: January 29, 2011, 08:07:39 PM »
Thanks Mary! Once again, awesome stuff. I think proving his disability was so hard for him because he mustered out normally in 66. From his pension it seems like he received and injury to his leg on the march home and it ulcerated later.

At least in my branch of the family tree we have a high incidence of type 2 Diabetes. My Grandfather, Dad and I all had or have it. When he talks about a leg ulcerating and not healing it hits close to home. It must have eventually healed but terribly, as he says he was "quite lame" and in 1890 in Hopewell Mercer Ohio his disability is listed as "Stiff Leg".

I wonder if I can get his service record from the military. Something different than the pension record. I'd like to know how he got to Hopewell Ohio in 1890, what was there? I've looked at some maps. There is a union cemetery, but the town doesn't seem to be that large. In fact the union cemetery appears to be on a crossroads in the middle of nowhere.

My heart sunk a little today. I spent the afternoon looking through every cemetery listing in the madison county cemetery web site. They have a lot of great listings of pioneer cemeteries and I was able to find Rosa's dad James' grave (with picture!). Unfortunately, I also found out that the Alexandria Cemetery is a parking lot. It was destroyed and paved over. No one knows who is buried there.

Later relatives are buried in Oddfellows cemetery, but since I'm not finding Levi and Rosa there, I wonder if they are actually in that parking lot.

Mike Thompson from Michigan..then Indiana..then Pennsylvania and further...probably somewhere there are sheep. Call me Legion for I am many.