Hezekiah Sylvester WILLIAMS, alias STRAW
I am trying to locate any information on my 2x greatgrandfather, Hezekiah Sylvester WILLIAMS, b. 2 Aug 1848, d. 14 Mar 1929. The STRAW connection is below.
I posted this request first to the Ancestry/Rootsweb WILLIAMS and STRAW lists, but no one there had any information on my question at all, so I am hoping that someone here will have some info. But even if no one else has insight for me, I'm setting it down below so some other relative searching in the future can at least easily find the info I obtained.
In honor of Veteran's Day, I looked up my Missouri 2x greatgrandfather Hezekiah Sylvester WILLIAMS (from a branch I haven't started researching deeply yet). The info came from a short family blurb his daughter (my greatgrandmother Carrie WILLIAMS BRANT) wrote.
I thought it was a mistake, but it listed him as Hezekiah S. WILLIAMS, alias Hezekiah STRAW. Well, that's odd, I thought. Went to Footnote . com, found a better copy, and indeed, he is listed separately under STRAW and WILLIAMS, both showing STRAW as the alias. [Civil War Pension Index file on Ancestry . com and Footnote.com.]
Here's what I found: He was in Company H, 19th Regiment, Michigan Infantry. Filed for pension 24 Sep 1879 as invalid (application no. 312125; certificate no. 382, 242); his wife, Rebecca Jane ADDISON WILLIAMS, filed as widow Rebecca J. WILLIAMS on 22 Mar 1929 (application no. 1638295; certificate no. a7-29-29). His date of death is 14 Mar 1929, Butler, Missouri [Footnote . com, image no. 2903466 as STRAW; 2903481 as WILLIAMS; Roll no. 239, NARA T289]
Additional info on his war record: He was a private in the Union Army. [National Park Service. U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 [database on-line], Ancestry . com, film no. M545 roll 41]
He resided in Constantine, Michigan, and enlisted 15 Aug 1864 at the age of 17. "Substitute on 15 Aug 1864. Mustered Out on 20 Jun 1865 at Washington, D.C." [Historical Data Systems, comp. American Civil War Soldiers [database on-line], Ancestry . com] Is it possible that he was too young to enlist and so used an alias? Or could he have "substituted" for a STRAW?
On 2 Aug 1874, he married Rebecca Jane Addison in Bates County, Missouri. [Dodd, Jordan, Liahona Research, comp. Missouri Marriages, 1851-1900 [database on-line], Ancestry . com.] A search in the same database under the name STRAW did not turn up any entries.
Hezekiah had a crippled right knee (from a Civil War injury, I presume). In 1890, he was living in Charlotte Township, Butler, Bates County, Missouri, and listed still as Hezekiah S. WILLIAMS alias STRAW. [1890 Federal Census, special schedule, surviving soldiers, sailors, and marines, and widows, etc.]
My greatgrandmother wrote that he was born and raised in Michigan, but the 1880 Census lists him as a farmer with birthplace as Indiana, with parents both born in Indiana. 1910 and 1920 Federal Census reports list his and his parents' birthplace as Pennsylvania. During these years he was living with wife Rebecca J[ane] in Mount Pleasant, Bates, Missouri. These census reports do not list the STRAW alias. [Ancestry .com. 1910 and 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]
Finally, under the spelling "Hezikah S. Williams," he is buried in the Double Branch Cemetery, 10 miles southeast of Butler, Missouri, with a birth date listed of 2 Aug 1848 and death date of 14 Mar 1929, and notation of Civil War service. [Ancestry . com. [database on-line] Bates County, Missouri [Oakhill Cemetery Butler], Cemetery Records.
The update to my search is that I obtained last week a copy of his death certificate, fully expecting to find his parents listed on it. Instead, his daughter Anna WILLIAMS HILDEBRAND put "don't know" for father's name, mother's name, and birthplaces for either. She listed Pennsylvania as her father's birthplace. This would indicate to me that he may have been an orphan; surely he would have talked about his parents at some point if he had known their names...But his use of STRAW as a surname now makes me wonder if he might have been adopted by a STRAW family that went to Michigan.Or born into a STRAW family, but adopted by a WILLIAMS one. Any thoughts? Any ideas on where to go in Pennsylvania for records on orphans? All information appreciated.
Hopefully,
Allrelated
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Re: Hezekiah Sylvester WILLIAMS, alias STRAW
Lorraine Fletez-Brant 8/09/08