First Family Certificate

 

This certificate is awarded to Michael G. Slocum......in recognition of this family's contribution to the development of the State of Nebraska for more than 100 years.

 

William Alexander Hall

Richardson, Nebraska

2 October 1864

#1198

 

 

The first of about seven certificates I'm working on.  Mike and I have a long lineage of

First Nebraska Pioneer Families

Photo Thursday

One of my 'successes' when at the Nebraska State Historical Society Research Room last week was discovering that I could look in available cemetary books and find which cemetary an ancestor is buried in.  Mike's 4th great grandfather Aquilla/Equillar HALL was a mystery because he was not buried in the same cemetary as the 'other' HALL's at Palmyra, Nebraska.  Since we now had the name of the Cemetary, Prosper, we could surely find it.  Seems that the Cemetary is also known as Mound Cemetry, Porter, Richardson County, Nebraska.  The location is about 5 miles east of Humboldt, Nebraska.

The cemetary contains burials that were very old and some that were new.  The bonus was the church standing across the road from the cemetary called Prosper Church.  Long abandonded yet stately, the church where Mike's 4th great-grandfather worshiped our Father God in earnest, was filled with hay, horribly vandilized, but still very beautiful.  More on that in my Tuesday Trivia post.  Why is it when searching your family history that the solving of one puzzle leads to the search of yet another puzzel?



Equillar HALL was buried in the same area with his daughter Marcia who married James Shue.  Before coming to Nebraska from Illinois Equillar married widow THOMPSON (her maiden name was ROBINSON) who came with several children, one of them being Nancy Jane THOMPSON.  Three years later Nancy Jane became the wife of Equillar's son, William Alexandar HALL.

Equillar and widow Thompson had two children.  She died shortly after the second daughter was born.  William and Nancy came to Nebraska in 1864 and Equillar and his two young daughters (Marcia was 18 at the time) followed them in 1866, buying land and living next to the younger HALL family in Richardson County, Nebraska west of Stella. 

It appears that Marcia HALL SHUE cared for the aging Equillar, with her husband James and his father James. At the advanced age of 86 years Equillar went home to be with his Heavenly Father in 1880 and was buried at the Prosper Cemetry across from the church where he spent many a Sunday worshiping his God.

Equillar Hall

b. 1796 in Kentucky d. 11 Mar 1880 in Nebraska

The Stone Reads:

Sacred

to the memory of

Equillar Hall

Who departed this life

Mar 11, 1880

Aged 86 years

He died as he lived, a Christian.

Dear is the spot where Christians sleep

And sweet are the strains that Angels pour

O, Why should we in anguish weep

They are not lost but gone before

Equillar is buried between James Shue and Marcia Shue.  Next to Marcia is James' father James.  Next to the elder James is the grave of what appears to be two children but could be the grave of Equillar's other daughter, Anna, who married the elder James Shue (another case of my mother-in-law is also my sister).  The stone is very old and barely readable.  I wish we would have taken more time to decipher the stone.  Looks like it means another trip.................awe, the life of a family genealogist.

Tuesday Trivia

Prosper Church and the Prosper (Mound) Cemetery

The Prosper Presbyterian Church is located deep in the center of Richardson County, Nebraska about 6 miles southwest of Stella or 5 miles northeast of Humboldt in an area the locals had once hoped would be the town of Prosper. The land is laced with streams beds lined with trees, the farm ground is some of the best in the state. 



We were looking for the grave of our Equillar Hall, Mike's 4th Great-Grandfather who was said to have been a real gem of a man and well liked by all who met him.  Back in Illinois he was a Justis of the Peace with dark hair and eyes of the lightest blue in color.  He was the father of our William Alexandar "Alex" Hall by his first wife Rhoda O'Bannion.

As we came up on the location of the cemetery we were given what we genealogists call a BONUS!

The original church attached to the cemetery stood across the road.  Lonely in the adjacent corn field, the church was in great disrepair and had been used for storage of hay for a good many years.  It had been raped repeatedly by vandals.

Stately she stood.  We couldn't resist going inside just to stand in the room where Mike's great-grandfather stood to worship our God and Father.  We felt blessed and sure that this saint of a man had prayed for the generations to come after him that they would know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and indeed Mike and I fulfill that description even though we came to this revelation later than we had hoped (our late-20's).

The light was perfect and I found myself wishing that my Daughter-in-law, Kandi, was behind my camera instead of myself, but the camera was clicking as I shot a few pictures of this grand old church.

Monday Moments

FOOTSTEPS BEING REMODELED

I started this BLOG just this last April but I'm remodeling it already!!! Not a good sign.  The pages on the top are all being redone so that the information there can remain static and easily accessable.....by me!  I'll be working on it this week as I take breaks from the huge mountain of sewing for birthday gifts for July.  July seems to be a popular month for birthdays in our family.

A NEBRASKA FIRST FAMILY

Today I feel like I've cleared a hurdle but can't get over the other side.  I've sent in the paperwork to get my first FIRST FAMILY certificate, that of William Alexander HALL.  I hope I did the application correctly and the proof work is correct.  I guess we'll see and I'll know what to do for the next certificate.  Why can't I get over the other side? 

I really want to start another family but I just can't seem to quit.  The more I uncover the more I want to know.  It doesn't help that as a 'history buff' the time period happens to be one of my favorites so I want to dig and dig.  I was ready to go to another family but this family draws me.

William's father for one.  I guess I can use him (Equillar HALL) as another FIRST FAMILY sense he came before 1867 to Nebraska after William with his two younger daughters.  I'll have to go to Falls City to the county seat courthouse for Richardson County, NE for that one.  I'll have to pull his deed for his first property for my proof citation.  Not a really big deal since I have everything after it already.

Then there's the timeline for this family.  It needs to be created.  I'm so curious. What was it like in Morgan Co, Illinois before they left for Nebraska and why did Equillar (Aquilla) leave the Bluegrass country of Kentucky to go to Illinois in the first place?  Who was Equillar's father?  That has never been discovered.....but really........this is out of my promise of sticking with five generations back until those are finished.  Darn, so much fun......

ANCESTRIAL DNA

My ancestrial DNA is in the mail and I can't wait to see the results since a half cousin (we have the same grandfather) did his and discovered that he is a close match to Hebrew Levite.  My grandfather and his mother and father had to leave Germany because of persecussion in the mid 1800's but we were never told what that was.  Now we're pretty sure that it was because he and his mother and father were Jewish.  WOW, it's a real shock, but at the same time I'm not surprised.  Since ancestry.com now has a DNA test that can reach even through my DNA to discover my grandfathers roots I'm anticipating the results will be the same and the excitement is killing me!  The test went in the mail today so I should have the results in the next couple of weeks.

Planning a Trip to The Nebraska Historical Society

Yesterday I had a successful trip to the Nebraska Historical Society, 15th & P in Lincoln, Nebraska inspite of very little time and being totally unprepared. I had only made one other trip to the Historical Society and that was a couple of years ago. There are several things you have to remember about going there plus I'm going to give you some hints on how to prepare beforehand for your trip.

1. You cannot take large notebooks, or purses into the room. There are lockers, but they cost you a quarter to leave your things and get a key.
2. You cannot take a pen into the room. There are plenty of pencils available for your use.
3. You will have to sign in when you enter the room which is at the end of the hallway on your right.
4. When you leave please leave a few dollars in the box to help keep this wonderful resource up and running.

Helpful Hints to Make the Best Use of Your Trip

1. You will be using the 'Reference Room'. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday 10-4 BUT if you are new and think you might need help then don't go on Saturday. There are plenty of restaurants in the area but you can always take your lunch and go to your car for it's consumption.
2. There are usually 2-3 people on staff helping you do research during the hours the room is open.  They used to close for an hour at noon but they did away with that recently.  Please don't be afraid to ask questions, they are there to help.
3. You can take a laptop computer and a small notebook and/or a file folder to help you with your search.
4. Copies are 15 cents to 50 cents so bring change for the machines.  I keep a coin purse for that purpose and make sure it is full. 
5. You'll need money for parking meters also.  Time is 90 minutes per meter 75 cent plug.  Plugging the meter is frowned upon so you may have to move your car a few times so keep your keys and license in your pocket so you don't have to replug the locker with another quarter.
6. Make a Plan - Perhaps you'll search Obits or look through newspapers.  Maybe you'll spend the day searching through the County and State history books for information.  What I do is make a list of the things I want to know about each family while I'm on the trip, type it up and put it in a file folder.
7. Whether it's your first or fourth time at the Research Room don't be afraid to ask for a tour of the room so you get a feel of what kind of information is available.

On This Trip

1. I found the last bit of information, with the source, for the application for my first "First Family" certificate (William & Nancy Hall) that will be mailed tomorrow.
2. I knew that William's father Equilla was buried in some obscure cemetary in Richardson County.  Instead of looking all over the county in one cemetary and another I searched the county books, found him in the list and the cemetary he is buried in.  This weekend we'll go there on a picture taking trip.

All in all successful for a 60 minute search. That's all the time I had for the day.  I had to ask for help because the information in #1 was NOT in the County History book but an old Nebraska History Book.  I would not have known about the book unless I asked for help.  They are very used to helping genealogists.

My next trip in a few weeks will be an all day trip with a planned lunch with one of my daughters.