Forebears and Bears

Being from New England and more familiar with my family history in this area, I am always a little awed by the fact that my father’s southern and midwest ancestors also served in the Revolutionary War.   My bad.   In fact, there are just as many (if not more) Patriots in this side of the ancestral tree as in the maternal New England branch.   Because of my unfamiliarity with this genealogy I have found these ancestors much more difficult to trace - families moved around often, as opposed to my Cape Cod ancestors who arrived in one town and stayed there forever.  Michael Awalt’s pension application provides the only birth information I have found for him to date but does help to direct my future research.    What follows is some of the great information contained in the pension file for Michael Awalt -- my great great great grandfather on my father’s maternal side.   For clarification here is an image reflecting this branch of the family tree:   In...

Franklin Howes Chase was born 25 January 1843 at Yarmouth, Massachusetts to George Washington Chase and his wife Nancy J. Brooks. Franklin H. died of "organic heart disesase" on 25 January 1903 at Carver, Massachusetts. He is buried at the Ancient Cemetery at Yarmouth. The family of George W. and Nancy J. Chase consists of the  following children: George Washington, born 5 January 1841; Franklin Howes, born 25 Jan 1843; Nancy Jane, born 25 February 1845; Betsey Nickerson, born 15 July 1847; Mary Ann, born 16 October 1849; Timothy Taylor, born 14 December 1851; Lucy Williams, born 21 March 1854; Luella Augusta, born 21 March 1859; and  Juan (Juan later changes his names to Charles), born 20 July 1861.   In 1850, the George W. Chase family is enumerated at Yarmouth; all children are attending school including a Mary F. Baker, age 16.  Mary Baker was the daughter of Coleman Baker and his first wife Sally.  She married Ebenezer Cahoon in 1854.  Mary Freeman Bak...