Memorial Day

Memorial Day was officially established as a national holiday in 1971, although celebrating the day actually began soon after the civil war. Memorial Day is designated as a day to remember the men and women who gave their lives in the service of their country, whereas Veteran's Day is designed to honor all veteran's, dead or alive. Today I remember members of my family that made the ultimate sacrifice.

2nd Lieutenant Jesse C. Turnage
Co. D, 51st Enrolled Missouri Militia
Civil War
Killed 18 July 1864



Sgt. James Smith Trabue
356th Infantry Regiment
89th Infantry Division
World War I
Killed 11 November 1918



TEC 5 Warren Edward Kuhn
814th Tank Destroyer Battalion
World War II
Killed 17 March 1945

A quest for immortality?

Allegory of immortality by Giulio Romano

Today I was watching one of my favorite television programs: Craft in America. It is a series on PBS that explores craft, craft artisans and craft techniques across America. This particular episode delved in to the message artisans try to convey through their work and featured glass artist Beth Lipman of Wisconsin, among others. I was extremely taken by one comment Lipman made. She described how creating art allowed her to try to reach immortality.

At first I was taken aback...immortality? That is rather pompous. But then I took a moment to really think about the idea. Immortality does not only refer to lasting fame, but also to unending existence. Isn't that what genealogists work toward every day? Perhaps not consciously, but by trying to trace our family and preparing products for sharing with our living relatives we not only create a type of immortality for ourselves, but bring our ancestors out of obscurity with their own form of life after death.

My great-aunt Bruna McGuire, was a family historian. She co-authored at least two books about our family lines and also wrote a weekly newspaper column for the local Lexington, Missouri newspaper. Would I have ever really known Aunt Bruna without her genealogy interests? I may have seen photos of her, but I would not have really known her. Proof positive that she lives on...even though she passed forty years ago.

So I am officially on a quest for immortality. I pledge to do my best to bring my ancestors their own bit of unending existence and perhaps a little for myself as well.

Surname Saturday - Megonnigil

A few days ago I wrote about the myriad of ways to spell the surname: Megonnigil. There are so many things that have grown to become the bane of my genealogical existence, but I truly think this name is at or near the top. In an effort to spread the word on this family, and hopefully break down a wall or two, I will share what I know of this line.

Colonel Henderson Megonnigil, bugler, 6th Cavalry Regiment, MSM

I am connected to the Megonnigil line through my 3rd-great grandmother, Lucinda Megonnigil. She was born in Camden, Ray County, Missouri in 1851 and married James Madison Thomas October 23, 1870. Lucinda died January 26, 1912 in the same town she was born in and I was able to link her to her parents through her death certificate. They are listed as Colonel H. Megonnigil and Mary Akers.

I have only been able to find a little bit on Colonel and Mary. In 1850, 1860 and 1870, Colonel and Mary lived in Ray County, Missouri, Jackson County, Missouri and then Ray County, Missouri, respectively. Colonel is listed as born in Illinois. He also served in the Civil War as a bugler for the Union in the 6th Regiment Calvary Missouri State Militia. It appears he served for the entire war with this unit. I also found record of him as a prisoner of war at Roseville, Arkansas, but that is not substantiated. He may have also fought in the Mexican War.

Colonel and Mary Megonnigil had six children that I am aware of: Lucinda (1851), Mary Isabel (1854), Elizabeth (1857), Annie (1864), John Nelson (1866) and Malinda (1869).

John Nelson and Fannie (Clevenger) Megonnigil

The 1870 census is the last record I find of either Colonel or his wife, Mary. I have located a few of their children on the 1880 census and the younger ones are living with their siblings or boarding with other families, which leads me to believe that both Colonel and Mary are dead prior to 1880. I have found several trees online that link Colonel to Eli Megonnigil, also living in Ray County, Missouri, as his father. I have found no documents linking Colonel to Eli, although with such a unique name I am sure they are related somehow.

So what is next? Perhaps I need to "back door" my research and learn more about Eli Megonnigil to see if I can find a link back to Colonel. I could also contact the county clerk and request any probate records they may have for either individual, though I am not certain of any death dates. The surname continues to rankle me!

Photos courtesy of the Smith and Cooley Tree.

Follow Friday - Missouri Digital Heritage

I do not keep it a secret that I hail from the best state in the union: Missouri. It is a wonderful state for so many reasons, but today I highlight the wonders of Missouri genealogy research. A website that has been crucial in the research of my Missouri ancestors is Missouri Digital Heritage, a collaborative initiative led by the Missouri Secretary of State to expand the amount of online information regarding the history of Missouri.

The site has often been lauded in Family Tree Magazine's Top 100 websites and for good reason. It is most often referenced for it's database of Missouri death certificates from 1910-1960, but there are so many other great resources on the site that it is hard to choose some to highlight. I have found many a veteran ancestor in their Missouri Soldier’s Database: War of 1812 - WWI and the site currently explores the history of Missouri in the Civil War with links to collections, research guides and lesson plans. I also found an interesting link to the process behind preserving the Dred Scott papers, a good read for anyone interested in preserving documents.

There are legal documents, maps, newspapers, naturalization records...the list goes on and on. If you have ancestors that even stepped in Missouri at some point, I would hazard a guess that you could find them at the Missouri Digital History site. In short, it's good to be from Missouri.

How do you spell that?

Ancestry.com has this neat little function on their homepage entitled Recent Member Connect Activity. I both love and hate this function. I love it because it brings to my attention new research options and reminds me to check out lines I have neglected. I hate it because it only compounds my genealogy ADD. A couple of days ago I saw that another user had added files for the Megonnigil family. Alas, I went to my own Megonnigil line, which I don't have much information for, and was reminded why I had neglected them. How do you spell that? Let me count the ways:

Colonel H. Megonnigil, courtesy
Smith and Cooley Tree

Megonnigil
Megonnigal
Megonnigle
McGonigle
McGonigal

Mugonnigil

McGonnigal

McGunigil
McGunnigale
MeGonnigial
McGunnegle
McGunigal

I have two spellings of the name in my own tree! I will have to be very motivated to break through this wall.

The burden of leadership...and fatherhood - Military Monday

I just learned yesterday that John Hankins, my fourth great grandfather on my mother's side, was a civil war veteran. Military research is one of my favorite aspects of genealogy and I thought I had tracked down all of my veteran relatives, but somehow John slipped through. He was a Union captain assigned to the 51st Enrolled Missouri Militia. The 51st E.M.M. spent the war in the counties of Caroll, Ray, Livingston and Lafayette. The unit participated in several large skirmishes, but were mostly concerned with containing the antics of the Missouri Bushwackers, or guerrilla units. One of the Soldiers in Cpt. Hankin's unit was 2nd Lieutenant Jesse C. Turnage, another 4th great grandfather, that was murdered by bushwackers in 1864.

I noticed that John Hankins was fairly old, 47, at the time of the war so I began to wonder...were his sons enlisted as well? It turns out that two of his sons were in the war: Thomas, aged, 23 and Daniel, aged 21. His sons were assigned to Cpt. Hankins' Company; their father was their company commander. A war command puts a lot of pressure on an individual, much of which is the knowledge that the lives of others, to some extent, are in your hands. I can not fathom the extra burden of having your children be among that number as well. The idea of telling your child to storm a hill or charge the enemy is difficult to swallow. But perhaps John Hankins would have rather had his sons near him, where he could keep a watchful eye over them.

All three of the Hankins men survived the war but I imagine that John Hankins walked away a different man...perhaps walking an inch or two taller for having seen his family through it all.

President "O'Bama" tracks his roots

I came across a news story today that mentions Barack Obama's visit to Ireland which will include a visit to the village of his Irish ancestors. I'm sure all kinds of cousins will come out of the woodwork. Read the article here.

The actual trip is described in this article.