Historic Relatives of Old west History

[PowderRiverCowboy]

Just curious if anyone was related to anyone know in Old West History ,
My families been in Dakotas since 1860/70's in Black Hills since 1880's Grand Dad knew several local characters  suck as Potato Creek Johnny and you never asked Grandma what she thought about Poker Alice . Grandma taught in a one room school up near the ranch .
 And while being here almost forever I stumbled across something I didnt know  but finding out just how I am related to him . The US Marshal in Yankton SD that Hung Jack McCall was a Marshal JH Burdick , So has to be related . Just have to do some background  Marshal Burdick was a judge then appointed By US Grant to Marshal He had served with Grant at Vicksburg so knew him also 

[Alpo]

There was a woman here a few years back - I don't recall her name -but she was related to everybody. Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Pat Garrett, Bill Hickok, Bill Cody, Chisholm, Kit Carson. Didn't matter. If there was somebody that was vaguely famous in the old west, (s)he was a relative of hers.

[Zeb Gray, #36839]

Had a relative on my mom's side that worked the freight wagons out of the Black Hills.  They ended up in Watford City area.  

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

9 hours ago, Alpo said:

There was a woman here a few years back - I don't recall her name -but she was related to everybody. Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Pat Garrett, Bill Hickok, Bill Cody, Chisholm, Kit Carson. Didn't matter. If there was somebody that was vaguely famous in the old west, (s)he was a relative of hers.

Back in the mid 90s, after "Tombstone" was released, about every third person you met in Cochise County Az. claimed to be some kind of shirttail kin to Wyatt Earp.

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

My great grandfather, Charlie Van Bowen Harley, was a deputy US marshal serving out of Fort Smith, Arkansas when Oklahoma was considered “Indian Territory”.
 

My grandmother, his daughter, gave me his gun belt and a lot of personal effects including the wedding ring he gave to Ella Ophelia McVay when they were married. 
 

My SASS alias is his name. 
 

My given middle name is Harley. Yes, it’s just like country lyric “…where children get grandmother’s maiden names.”

 

My aunt’s great-ish uncle is Kit Carson. The Westcotts donated some of his effects to the museum in Taos. 

[Pulp, SASS#28319]

There were at least three US Deputy Marshalls out of Ft Smith that were McDaniel.  Not sure if any were kin, but I do remember my grandmother mentioning one.  

[DocWard]

To my knowledge, I’m not related to any old west figures, famous or infamous.

[Buckshot Bob]

My grandmother “Roberta” she was called Bobby was a Lee , Lighthorse Harry Lee was her great, great grand father and the father of Robert E Lee , there might be one extra great in there it’s been a long time since I’ve seen the paperwork . Robert was her great uncle . Not exactly the western expansion, but my one claim to fame . If the south would have won I guess I’d of kinda been a Kennedy, not sure that would have been a good thing . Always liked that Hank Jr song if the south would have won we’d have had it made . 

[Alpo]

1 hour ago, Buckshot Bob said:

there might be one extra great in there it’s been a long time since I’ve seen the paperwork

Henry was born in 1756. If he was your grandmother's great-great-grandfather, then he would be your great great great great grandfather. I just checked my family history, and my great great-great-great-grandfather was born in 1760. So if you're around my age, you are probably right.

 

If you are 50 or younger you probably need to add another great.

[Buckshot Bob]

23 minutes ago, Alpo said:

Henry was born in 1756. If he was your grandmother's great-great-grandfather, then he would be your great great great great grandfather. I just checked my family history, and my great great-great-great-grandfather was born in 1760. So if you're around my age, you are probably right.

 

If you are 50 or younger you probably need to add another great.

I just signed up for ancestry.com . They have a nice feature that you can sign up other people as editors so I invited my mom , dad and my one aunt that’s the family historian. Hopefully I’ll get a better picture. I know Henry Lee was married twice and not sure If my grandma is out of the first or second marriage. I’ve always been curious 

Already found yearbook pictures of my dad and pictures of my grandma on my moms side , don’t know how long I’ll stay signed up , but it’s probably worth a couple months 

[Wyatt Earp SASS#1628L]

My uncle did some type of ancestry research a long time ago, found out our family is related to Major Robert Anderson,  the commander of Ft. Sumpter. 

[Wyatt Earp SASS#1628L]

13 hours ago, Alpo said:

There was a woman here a few years back - I don't recall her name -but she was related to everybody. Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Pat Garrett, Bill Hickok, Bill Cody, Chisholm, Kit Carson. Didn't matter. If there was somebody that was vaguely famous in the old west, (s)he was a relative of hers.

That was Melissa Bryan. A real nut job. Got everybody stirred up that she was opening a big ranch/entertainment venue in Arizona.  Promised all kinds of jobs, big name entertainment,  etc. She posted her "resume" that listed barrel racing as her major accomplishment.

Got tossed from other forums claiming to be the ghost of Billy the Kids wife, Abrana.

[DeaconKC]

3 hours ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said:

My great grandfather, Charlie Van Bowen Harley, was a deputy US marshal serving out of Fort Smith, Arkansas when Oklahoma was considered “Indian Territory”.
 

My grandmother, his daughter, gave me his gun belt and a lot of personal effects including the wedding ring he gave to Ella Ophelia McVay when they were married. 
 

My SASS alias is his name. 
 

My given middle name is Harley. Yes, it’s just like country lyric “…where children get grandmother’s maiden names.”

 

My aunt’s great-ish uncle is Kit Carson. The Westcotts donated some of his effects to the museum in Taos. 

Would love to see pics of his gear!

[Utah Bob #35998]

I’m further west than any of my ancestors ever got. 

[Yul Lose]

My step dad, Robert Fulton was the great, great, great, great (I think I got them all) grandson of, you guessed it Robert Fulton the steamboat inventor. When we moved to Creede, Colorado, where he worked as a miner, they gave him Steamboat as an alias. If you’re ever in the underground mining museum in Creede look up on the wall where they have the names of all of the miners from times past and you’ll see his name up there.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

Both of my father's grand fathers were in the Confederate army, one was a scout, the other was an Infantry Sergeant.

 

My mother's grand father rode with Orrin Porter Rockwell, Bill Hickman and others (all were "Avenging Angels" or "Danites"...neither group ever really existed.) against Johnston's army. Another ran a hotel in Cache Junction, Utah and spied on federal officers who were sent there to put down polygamy.

 

One of her Uncles and his son both served as members of the Council of the Twelve in Mormon history.

 

 A lot of my people were in the migration to Deseret (Utah) pulling handcarts and driving teams.

 

They explored and built a huge portion of the American west

 

Quit a number of my ancestors marched with the Mormon Battalion on what was at one time considered the longest military march in American history.

 

Another large number provided labor and supplies to both railroads on their trek to Promontory Point near Corinne and Brigham City, Utah where the famous Golden Spike (and a silver spike as well) were driven to link both oceans together by rail.

 

[J-BAR #18287]

My ancestors on both sides were poor white trash who never knew anyone important.

[Bailey Creek,5759]

I had a relative who died with Reno. He was a scout helping the Doctor in the woods when they attacked the Sioux .

Charliy Reynolds .

My Grand father told a story when he was a kid. His dad told him when he was a lad, his father told stories about doing with his father. 

And taking supplies to the James Gang .

 

 

[PowderRiverCowboy]

10 minutes ago, Bailey Creek,5759 said:

I had a relative who died with Reno. He was a scout helping the Doctor in the woods when they attacked the Sioux .

Charliy Reynolds .

My Grand father told a story when he was a kid. His dad told him when he was a lad, his father told stories about doing with his father. 

And taking supplies to the James Gang .

 

 

My Granddad knew Charles Windolph MOH  stayed here after Little Big Horn lived in Lead and worked at Homestake Mine
He participated in the Black Hills Expedition of 1874 and also the Nez Perce Campaign in 1877. His last re-enlistment was on March 22, 1878. He was awarded the Medal of Honor on October 5, 1878, for his part as a member of the sharpshooters who were protecting the water carriers during the Little Bighorn battle in 1876. The Medal of Honor citation read, “With three comrades, during the entire engagement, courageously held a position that secured water for the command.” He was wounded in the buttock during the hilltop fight on June 25 and returned to duty. He was awarded the Purple Heart for this wounded sustained during the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He was discharged on March 21, 1883, at Fort Meade, Dakota, as the First Sergeant of Company H. After his discharge he was employed by the Homestake Mining Company for 49 years. He resided at 5 Old Abe Street and 614 West Main in Lead, South Dakota. He married Mathilda L. Windolph in 1880. Mathilda died on March 23, 1924 and was buried in the Black Hills National Cemetery, Grave A225. Charles Windolph died on March 11, 1950 and was buried on March 14, 1950 in the Black Hills National Cemetery in Grave A239. He was 5’6” in height with brown hair, brown eyes, and a dark complexion.
 

 

[LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L]

A maternal aunt's family claims to be descendants from the James family.  When questioned, they get vague about details.  

 

 

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

My wife's last name is Schofield. She is a blood line descendent of General Schofield.

OLG 

[El CupAJoe]

Not exactly a relation but an interesting story, the first Judge of Wichita built a castle in Riverside, then he built 3 houses for his 3 daughters, they were the first 4 buildings in the neighborhood.  My in-laws live in one of the houses.  My father in law found a picture down in the city records of Wyatt Erp standing on the porch of one of the 3 houses.  

Riverside Castle - Wichita on the Cheap

[St. Louis Suomi SASS #31905]

Howdy:

 

My 15th great grandfather ate sauerkraut in Saar, Germany in 1549.  Two hundred years later we ate sauerkraut in the US.  Not much changed.  Sauerkraut taste the same where ever you are.  No famous ancestors, just a flock of kraut eaters from the Saar/Lorraine/Palatinate.  I can live with that. :-) And Oh, several Czar hating Finns who escaped to the US.  Good on them.

 

STL Suomi

[Capt. R. Hugh Kidnme]

I come from a long line of losers,

half outlaws, half boozers

I was born with a shotglass in my hand

A little hippie, a little redneck

I'm always a suspect

my bloodlines made me who I am............

 

[DocWard]

Since we're discussing interesting relatives, not simply famous ones, I'll add a bit. For those of you who paid attention to the story we did awhile back titled Trouble Comes to Stone Creek, when Doc Ward is talking about his grandfather, James Ward, that fought at The Battle of Point Pleasant and at Kings Mountain, that would be my 5th Great-Grandfather.

 

On my mother's side, I'm related to Martin Van Buren Bates, known as "The Kentucky Giant." Confederate Captain, and performer with P.T. Barnum, he was reputed to be 7'11", although Guinness claims he was more in the neighborhood of 7'7.5" in height.

[Wyoma]

Thomas Francis Meagher.  Commanding Officer of the Irish Brigade during the Civil War.  I use his picture.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

Hard to express how short times sometimes are, but my dad saw Geronimo...."an old man wearing a top hat and frock coat, riding on the rear deck of a passenger train."  I wish I had paid more attention when he told that story, and many others.

[Buckshot Bob]

7 minutes ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

Hard to express how short times sometimes are, but my dad saw Geronimo...."an old man wearing a top hat and frock coat, riding on the rear deck of a passenger train."  I wish I had paid more attention when he told that story, and many others.

My dad said he was stationed at fort Sill for a short time and there was memorial set up for him there . The thing he recalls about it was they stated how many times he was shot or stabbed in his lifetime. I don’t remember the number he said , but it was a bunch. I wanna say like 60-80 ? 

[Grass Range]

I think I am related to whoever started Kruger National Park in Africa if that means anything.  Just as good a story as some here.

[PowderRiverCowboy]

On 1/13/2022 at 8:17 AM, Buckshot Bob said:

My dad said he was stationed at fort Sill for a short time and there was memorial set up for him there . The thing he recalls about it was they stated how many times he was shot or stabbed in his lifetime. I don’t remember the number he said , but it was a bunch. I wanna say like 60-80 ? 

 I was also at Sill Lots of history there , Base Gen  lives in  Gen Sheridans old house (they do a Christmas night tour and open up many of old places ) From the old Calvary barracks to Church and jail Geronimo been there a few times , The Barracks I stayed in for a couple weeks was the old Hospital where Geronimo died , Hes buried there ( well except his head ) in old Cemetery  

[Modoc]

I have one ancestor who was a Civil Engineer who was at Promontory Point for  the driving of the Golden Spike.  My Wife’s ancestor came to the Black Hills on te Deadwood Stage that is in the Heritage Center in Spearfish SD.  I’m sure that there are other persons of note in our lineage, but can not remember them at this time   

[Lawdog Dago Dom]

Shortcake's side are direct descendants of General William T Sherman. One of her dad's brothers spent a quite a few bucks on that search.

 

On my side I had a great Uncle Dominic, who was my grandfather's brother. He opened a tavern/restaurant in a small coal mining town in central Illinois (early 1900's). He had booze and gambling downstairs, and "hostesses" for private conversations upstairs. Apparently he was quite popular, as the town voted him the next mayor. You could not hold a liquor license and hold elected office back then (might still be true today).

 

Giving up his business to be mayor would be a significant pay cut, so Uncle Dominic resigned as mayor. I don't think his term lasted more than a few hours.

 

I like to remind her that my ancestors were more fun than hers.