Some Things Get Better

     Yesterday, I wrote about how the grave stone of Elisha had deteriorated in the last decade.  But not everything has gotten worse.  

     My grandmother visited St Gregory Cemetery in Samuels, Kentucky around 1950.  Two pictures survive of her visit. The first shows a row of grave stones of her mother and her maternal grandparents.  In 2005 we visited the same cemetery and happened to take a pictures from a similar position.  In the fifties, the cemetery was overgrown with brush and appears to be in disrepair.  Not so now.  

     By examining the following photos, you can see that the community of St. Gregory Church is now maintaining the cemetery in good condition.  A big THANK YOU for all who help maintain the cemetery from this descendant of at least six direct ancestors who are buried here.

1950 photo of grave of Eliza Jane Gates Blandford in the foreground

Similar view from 2005

The first four graves (seen above) from left to right: Eliza Jane Gates Blandford;
 Eliza's brother, Truman James Gates;
Eliza's parents, Elizabeth Mattingly Gates and William R. Gates.

Here is a wider view of the cemetery in 2005 

Photo taken in 2008 (courtesy of Amanda-findagrave contributor #47289435)

A low-resolution picture of my grandmother, Mary Cathering Blandford Armstrong,
 standing next to the grave of her mother, Eliza Jane Gates Blandford. 

Plus One

      And just like that their family grew by one.  

     The Gates family was one of the first family that I researched.  I had gotten the name of my 2nd great-grandfather, William R. Gates from my Aunt Jane.  From there I started examining the census records.  The 1850 Census was the first to state the names of all members of a household.  In addition to Elisha and Christina, the 1850  Census lists John, L [Elizabeth Louisa], F [ Francis Leo], and M [Martha Ellen] Gates.  The census didn't mention William Raymond Gates but he had married in 1849 and lived nearby. 
     Eventually, I found baptismal records for two additional children, Susanna Emily and James Ferdinand.  I never found James F. in any later records so I might guess that he had died young.
     After those initial records I spent a lot of time trying to prove the connection between William and Elisha.  (That proof showed up in a land deed where Elisha mentions his sons, John G. and William R. Gates.)  Then I began researching Elisha's ancestors and William's descendants.
     Now fast forward several years, after I have found Elisha's ancestors and I have begun research for Christina Ann Summers Gates' parents.  One of the pieces of information that I thought might help was to determine John G. Gates' middle name.  His will didn't help but his will and census records did give me his wife's name.  Yesterday I received an email from my cousin, Rick. He was in Salt Lake City on business and asked if I needed anything from the Family History Library.  While I waited for his answer on John G Gates' marriage record I continued looking to fill in a few missing records. 
    About the time I heard back from Rick on the marriage record (which didn't have his full name) I found another marriage record for Mary Ann Gates and William Sims.  Elisha sign the consent for the marriage.  Mary Ann would have been about 16 years old.  Was this the correct family or some new family group?  
    After evaluating some other documents that I have collected, I have concluded that Mary Ann Gates was an older sister to John and William.
          Mary Ann was the name of Elisha's mother.
          The Simms family lived next door to the Gates family.  
          Mary Ann Sims was a sponsor for the baptism of James Ferdinand.  
          Emily was a sponsor for Mary Ann's child.  
          A daughter with the age of Mary Ann is consistent with data in the 1830 Census.  
    So Elisha and Christina Gates's family just grew by one. 

     

Let No Good Deed Go Unnoticed

     Connecting William R. Gates to his father, Elisha was not easy.  My Aunt Jane had recorded them as father-son but we didn't have any bible records. I am sure that she spent many hours quizzing her mother, Mary Catherine Blandford about her family.  Mary Catherine's parents had died before she married Elmer J. Armstrong. Her grandfather, William R. Gates passed away before she was born but she would have known Elizabeth Mattingly Gates, wife of William.  (Elizabeth Gates lived until 1918.)  So Aunt Jane would have had it on good authority that William was the son of Elisha.  
     William was born on Feb 24, 1822 in Nelson County, Kentucky.  The Kentucky requirement for recording births was enacted in 1852 but this was interrupted by the Civil War.  Recording began again in 1911.  There may be church records but nothing yet. 
     Elisha died intestate so not much luck there.  There are some administrative accounts but they have been no help.
     The first census that list the names of children along with parents occurred in 1850 but William and Elizabeth had been married in 1849 and they were not living in the same household with Elisha. . 
     Because I wanted to know where the Gates' land was located I started to look for some land deeds. And there it was.  
      An 1855 deed states “This Indenture made this 10th day of October in the year 1855 between Elisha Gates of the County of Nelson and Commonwealth of Kentucky of the one part and William R. Gates of the County and Commonwealth aforesaid and John G. Gates of the state of Texas of the other part. Witnesseth. that the said Elisha Gates for and in consideration of the natural love and affection he has the said William R. Gates and John G. Gates his children…” 

Nelson County, Kentucky Deeds  

Book 29 page 345  

FHL Film 483138

     

The Civil War Ended at Samuel's Depot, Nelson County, Kentucky

     On April 10, 1865 Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.  But the war didn’t end on that day.   The last men to surrender did so not too far from where William R. Gates resided. William Gates is the second son of Elisha and Christina Gates and my GG-grandfather.   
     During the Civil War groups of men, not officially connected to the Confederate Army roamed the south and border states, raided flanks of the Union Army and stole provisions from wagons and trains.  Among the groups of Confederate Irregulars were Quantrill’s Raiders. Quantrill’’s Raiders started in Missouri where there were atrocities performed on and by both sides.  They were a quasi-guerilla type of unit that fought as far south as Texas and east into Kentucky and Tennessee.  After the official surrender by Robert E. Lee,  the Partisan Rangers (Quantrill’s Raiders) continued making raids throughout central Kentucky.
     On 10th May 1865 William C. Quantrill and some of his men were ambushed by Union soldiers in the vicinity of Bloomfield, Kentucky.  Bloomfield lay in Nelson County not too far from the Gates’ Cox’s Creek residence.  Quantrill was shot and paralyzed while trying to escape.  He died about a month later.  The remainder of his men continued raiding.  They were eventually surrounded and surrendered to Capt. Young, US Army, at Samuel's Depot, Nelson County, KY, on 26 July 1865.  Supposedly they surrendered on the front porch of the Samuel’s general store¹.  Samuels [Samuel’s Depot] is the location of Saint Gregory’s Catholic Church.  Elisha Gates was one of the founders of the church and was buried in Saint Gregory’s Cemetery.  
    Among those who surrendered that day was Frank James, the older brother of Jesse James.  There was a good possibility that the James brothers knew the Samuel family well because their mother had married Dr. Reuben Samuel after her second husband had died.  
     Also surrendering that day was Alexander “Donnie” Pence.  Donnie remained in Nelson County, married Sarah Isabel Samuel,  and operated a 50-acre farm near Samuel’s Depot fairly close to Saint Gregory’s Church.  He became sheriff of Nelson County in 1871². 
     I would have to believe that William Gates and his daughter, Eliza Jane Gates (my great-grandmother) were very aware of the activities that took place in 1865.  At the very least they probably met Donnie Pence in the next few decades especially since Donnie Pence's wife was born about the same time as Eliza Jane Gates.

1. "1865 - Maker's Mark."

2011. 22 Aug. 2013 <http://www.makersmark.com/wax-museum/history/3-1865>

2. "QUANTRELL'S RAIDERS: story, pictures and information - Fold3.com." 2011. 22 Aug. 2013 <http://www.fold3.com/page/1089_quantrells_raiders/>