Strange Paths to the American Civil War

The search for our relatives can take us to places that are strange and unusual, places that we never thought we would go.  I have embarked on such a journey trying to find the brother of my paternal ggg grandfather.

Samuel Halls Senior seemed normal enough at first.  His greatest mystery was that of who his wife was, and when they married.  Nothing out of the usual for someone who married about160 years ago.  But in my search for who his wife was I also started looking for wills and obituaries, for both him and his brothers.  I found the wills of his brothers, but I still have not found Sam's will.  I found the obituary of Sam's brothers, and I found the obituary of Sam too.

Finding the obituary solved one mystery, maybe, the maiden name of his wife, which was Godbolt.  Sadly, it opened the door to still greater mysteries about Sam.  In his obituary there was a line, During the Civil War, in the United States, he went there and reported the incidents to the British Government.

This was a revelation.  There was nothing to indicate that Sam had ever been involved with the military in any way, or with the government, either in Canada or in England.  The only connection that I could find between Sam and the military was that his nephew's wife's brother (Henry Borbridge) was a Captain in the 6th Hussars down in St Thomas, in Elgin county, Ontario.  Sam and his nephew (Samuel Pollard Halls) both lived in Elimville at the time of the Civil War.

Regardless of what I could, or can, find about Sam' connection to the military, where else could I look?  So began my search for British observers of the American Civil War, and it quickly became apparent that it could be a long search.

So what have I found? Many pictures of observers from various countries, including the British Empire.  This one, taken by James F. Gibson during the Peninsular Campaign in 1862.  It is titled Yorktown, Va., vicinity. English Officers at Camp Winfield Scott.

Only three of the individuals have been identified.  Charles Fletcher,seated on the far right, and Edward Neville, seated third from the right.  S.L. Arny is standing on the far right.  You can find it at the Library of Congress.

Fletcher, Neville, and Arny, among others, can also be see in the following picture.  This one is titled Prince De Joinville and Friends, at Camp Winfield Scott, Near Yorktown, May 1862.

Edward Neville is standing with his hand on Edward Fletcher's shoulder.  Who are the others?
The names given with the photo information are on the Library of Congress website.  Hopefully I have everyone on the right place.

The order appears to be, from left to right, standing, T. Anderson Esq., Lt Col Neville, Major A.J. Pearson, Comte de Paris (Philippe d'Orleans), G. Sheffield.

Seated on camp stools, left to right, are Lt Col Fletcher, Prince de Joinville (Francois d'Orleans), Gen Stewart van Vliet.

Seated on the ground, left to right S.L. Arny, Duc de Chartres (Robert d'Orleans)

So where does this leave me?  Reading to increase my knowledge of the Civil War, both modern analyses and source materials written at the time. Looking up pictures of General McClellan's staff, among others.  Eventually visiting the Library and Archives of Canada to see what they might have.

And who knows.  Maybe the writer of the obit got it wrong, and Sam was was a soldier.  Or maybe Sam was never there.

The Ongoing Story of Samuel Halls Jr.

Slowly the veil draws away on Samuel Halls Jr.  I have written about Sam before in this blog.  That he was a high flier amongst Chicago society and builders.  That he married Drucilla Brisco, and that sometime around 1912 his life began to come apart, so much so that by 1920 he is living in Chicago, and widowed according to the Census.  Meanwhile his wife Drucilla is alive and well in Portland, Oregon, and she's widowed too!!

A few days ago I received a picture of Sam, and what a picture.  It was taken at New Year, 1928.  Sam is dressed to the nines, and hanging over his shoulder (literally) is a sweet young thing, who is pretty well dressed herself.  Sam looks, for lack of a better word, smug.  He is obviously a pretty happy man, and so is his companion.

Th inscription at the bottom reads, "From Unice and Cousin Sam to J.P.H."  J.P.H. was John Philip Halls, who lived in Beloit, Wisconsin.  So the question became, who was Unice.  So I did some searching and came up with a newspaper article from the Appleton Post Crescent, dated March 29, 1929.  It read, "Sam Halls and Miss Eunice Eisentraut of Chicago ... arrived here [Sugar Bush, Wisconsin] Saturday to spend the weekend in the AA Eisentraut home."  It seems vastly unlikely that Unice/Eunice could be anyone else other than Miss Eisentraut.  A little more digging indicated that Anson A. Eisentraut did have a daughter Eunice, who had been born in 1905.

Almost exactly one year after the article was written in the Post Crescent, Sam was dead (April 1, 1930).  One expects that Eunice was upset, she and Sam had been together from at least New Year's 1928, probably longer judging by the inscription.

But Sam still has more in store for us.  His death certificate indicated that his place of death was Crystal Lake, McHenry County, Illinois - and that the name of his wife was Becky.

Where are the Pictures

Once again Samuel Halls Jnr. is on my mind.

He is listed every year in the Chicago Blue Book between roughly 1890 and 1905.  His name and biography appear in Industrial Chicago published in 1891.  He regularly has classified ads in the Chicago Tribune listing houses he has for sale.  He was president of the Thistle Cycling Club for at least one year, and was involved in lobbying for a cycling track in another year.  He was involved in local politics.  He was arrested for fraud about 1912, and that story appeared in papers in both Chicago and California!!

So why can't I find any pictures?  Somewhere, someone, some court, or some newspaper archive, must have pictures.

And one day, I'll find them.

The Mysterious Samuel Halls Jnr.

Well, I knew something was strange about Samuel Halls. I now have the first inklings of what might be going on. I found a story in the Chicago Tribune dated Feb 5th, 1912. The story headline reads:

Accused of Farm Swindle.
Samuel Halls Arrested on Charge of Mis-
using Money Given Him for
Canteloupe Scheme

The story then goes on to say that he was charged embezzling $6,128, and that he was released on $6,000 bail.

Happily I have contacts in Chicago who will try and track down what happened with the police and in the courts. Perhaps it will shed light on why his wife and son moved to the other side of the United States.

Stay tuned.

The Mysterious Samuel Halls and his More Mysterious Son Samuel Halls

The family of Samuel Halls is one of the most interesting, if not the most interesting, branch of the family that I have found.

Samuel Snr. was an observer for the British government during the American Civil War. He lived a long time, 85 years. His brothers were well known in the area where they all lived. And then this is where it starts to get odd. I have only found one reference to him in the local papers, besides his obituary, and that is a brief mention of him being an MC for the local Orange Lodge. I cannot find any marriage record for him and his wife. I cannot find any death record or place of burial for his wife. He died in the local House of Refuge (a combination of old age home and home for the unwell). His Ontario death record lists his nationality as Irish! He had no will, or at least none that I could find.

For the most part his children moved to the United States, in and around Chicago. His son Samuel Jnr. became a mover in high society in Chicago, living in the right neighbourhoods, being socially active. He was a highly successful builder. Sometime between 1910 and 1920 it all came apart. He appears to have been estranged from his wife and children. The 1920 census lists both of them, each claiming to be widowed. She was in Portland living with their son Allen Samuel Halls, he was in Chicago, apparently living in an apartment or boarding house. He died in 1930 in Crystal Lake, Illinois. Samuel has a will, but it has been misfiled, so like his father, we have no record of the final disposition of his effects.

There are no pictures that I have been able to find of either Samuel Snr. or Samuel Jnr.

All in all, very frustrating. Why can I not find pictures? How likely is it that the wills of both father and son would be un-findable? What happened to Samuel Jnr. that made it all fall apart? Why would Samuel Jnr. and his wife and son be estranged from each other? If Samuel and his wife were estranged from each other, why are they buried next to each other in Chicago?

Lots of questions and no answers. Stay tuned for more.