Daniel Haston Family Association

47 – Jesse Haston – A Missouri Pioneer with His Three Wives and 21 Children!

47 - Jesse Haston, Missouri Pioneer With 3 Wives & 21 Children

Part 1 - Until the Civil War

Of Daniel Haston’s sons, Jesse was the most unique in several ways. He was the first son to move west of the Mississippi River. He was a slave owner. He became a wealthy man, by local standards. He had three wives and 21 children. And he was the only son of Daniel who was murdered.

January 2, 1796 – According to Jesse Haston’s tombstone, he was born on this date. If, as I suspect, the 1796 date for Jesse’s birth is correct, he was very probably born south of the Holston River, “opposite Knoxville,” in Knox County, Tennessee.

As the title says, he had three wives and 21 children. No, he wasn’t married to all three of them at the same time. Unfortunately, his first two wives died before he did.

First Wife: Elizabeth Gillentine

Jesse married Elizabeth Gillentine. Nicholas and Jane Elizabeth Terry Gillentine were neighbors to Daniel Haston’s family in the early years of White County. Nicholas Gillentine was a prominent civic leader in White County and a leader in the Big Fork Baptist Church, which was located about one mile from the Daniel Haston homestead.

December 5, 1800 – According to her brother’s (John Gillentine’s) Bible record, Elizabeth was born on this date. Another record by a family researcher gives her date of birth as February 4, 1801, so who knows for sure?

December 12, 1815 – Without stating a source, Howard H. Hasting, Sr. recorded that Jesse married Elizabeth Gillentine on December 12, 1815. If correct, this would have meant Elizabeth was just over 15 years old when she married, which was not uncommon at that time.

Thirteen of Jesse’s 21 children were born to Elizabeth.

Child	Birth	Death
Jane Haston	February 15, 1817
Polly/Mary Haston	October 16, 1818	June 13, 1819
James A. Haston	October 2, 1819	January 1, 1820
Missouriana Haston	December 18, 1820	December 26, 1864
William Asbury Haston	April 10, 1823	August 1893
Abi Alburn Haston	May 6, 1825	April 8, 1917
Nicholas G. Haston	July 27, 1827	September 1, 1857
Ann Eliza Haston	December 5, 1828/29	December 15, 1849
Mandy Melvina Haston	October 1, 1832
Thomas Jefferson Haston	August 6, 1834	1889
Elizabeth Haston	June 30, 1838
Jesse Haston	March 10, 1841	September 1896
Isaac B. Haston	December 27, 1842	September 9, 1890

1818 – The 1894 biographical sketch for Jesse Haston, Jr. (son of the Jesse Haston of this chapter) states that the elder Jesse Haston moved to Missouri from east Tennessee in the year of 1818. With regard to Missouri in 1818, the “when the people of that State had still to live in forts to protect themselves from the Indians” phrase is particularly interesting.[i]

[i] Joaquin Miller, An Illustrated History of The State of Montana, (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1894), 403.

March 31, 1820 – There were two letters for Jesse Haston remaining in the Post Office at Franklin of the Missouri Territory.[i] Franklin is located in the southcentral part of Howard County, approximately 20 miles southeast of Glasgow, Missouri where Jesse later settled. Apparently Jesse was already in Missouri at this time or his folks back home expected him to be there.

[i] “List of Letters,” Missouri Intelligencer (Franklin, Missouri), April 22, 1820, 4.

August 10, 1821 – The area that became Missouri was a part of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty of 1803. On July 4, 1805 it became an organized incorporated territory, the Louisiana Territory. On June 4, 1812 it was renamed the Missouri Territory. Prior to Jesse Haston’s arrival in Missouri, a petition requesting statehood was circulated in Missouri in 1817.

Statehood for Missouri became more difficult than the 1817 Missourian petitioners imagined. By 1820 Missouri had enough inhabitants—more than 70,000—to become a state. A thirteen-county area (including where Jesse lived) of central Missouri came to be called Little Dixie but was more akin to Virginia than the Deep South.[i] The southern influence in Missouri, not only in Little Dixie, complicated the territory’s path to joining the United States. Finally, on August 10, 1821 President Monroe issued the following statement: “The admission of the said State of Missouri into this Union is declared to be complete.”[i]

[i] Meyer, 157.

[i] David Hackett Fischer and James C. Kelly, Bound Away: Virginia and the Westward Movement. (Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2000), 178.

Mexican War, 1846-1848

Missourians took a special interest in the Mexican-American War. Despite the blustering of Missouri Senator Thomas Benton that men from his state could win the Second Seminole War (1835-1842) if only given the chance, 450 of the 600 Missourians in that war deserted or were discharged. Consequently, “the charges of cowardice refused to dissipate and left a permanent stain on the psyche of Missouri manhood.”[i] Missouri men saw the Mexican War as an opportunity to remove that stain and redeem their reputation as brave men.

[i] Patrick W. Naughton, Jr., “Colonel Alexander Doniphan and the 1^st Regiment of the Missouri Mounted Volunteers in the Mexican-American War: A Historical Case Study on the Complexities of Cultures and Conflict in New Mexico.” (Master’s thesis, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2018), 11.

On June 5, 1846, Company G of the 1^st Regiment of Missouri Mounted Volunteers was organized in Fayette, Missouri. They marched to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and arrived there on June 15, 1846. Twenty-year-old William Asbury Haston, Jesse and Elizabeth’s son, was mustered in there for a term of service of 12 months. William served in Company G, a part of Doniphan’s regiment, under Captains Congrave Jackson and H.H. Hughes. When the 1^st Regiment of Missouri Mounted Volunteers mustered at Fort Leavenworth they began training for combat.

Jesson Haston Family Graveyard

February 2, 1847 – Elizabeth (Gillentine), the first wife of Jesse Haston, died on February 2, 1847 in Howard County, Missouri. She is buried in the Haston Cemetery on their farm, near Glasgow, Missouri.

Second Wife: Susan M. Caroline White

Fall of 1847 – With a house full of kids and no mother around for them, Jesse married Susan M. Catherine White. Susan had previously been married to a Mr. White.* She was born July 14, 1809. According to the 1850 census, Susan’s birth occurred in Virginia. A 10-year-old boy, Thomas White, was part of the household at the time of the 1850 census but had not attended school in the previous year, as Jesse’s school-age children had done. Jesse and Susan had three children together, all of which died very young.

Child	Birth	Death
Richard O. Haston	August 1, 1848	March 21, 1850
Wesley Wilber Haston	August 12, 1849	April 11, 1850
Unnamed infant

Before 1850 – Jesse built this house near Glasgow, Missouri sometime before 1850. He lived there until his death and no doubt died there. The house stood until sometime after 2003.

March 9, 1852 – Jesse’s wife, Catherine M.,* died,[i] possibly while giving birth to the unnamed infant, her third child—none of which lived out of infancy. She and her children are buried in the Haston Cemetery on what was Jesse’s farm.

[i] Glasgow Weekly Times (Glasgow, Missouri), March 11, 1852, 2.

Third Wife: Annie Juliet Barnes

February 16, 1854 – Jesse married Annie J. (Juliet) Barnes, who was 21 years old and 36 years younger than Jesse.[i] In 1850, Jesse’s future (third) wife was only 18 years old and living with her parents in Carroll County, Missouri, approximately 60 miles northwest of where Jesse lived.

[i] “Married,” Glasgow Weekly Times (Glasgow, Missouri), February 23, 1854, 2.

In their marriage announcement, Jesse is referred to as “Capt. Jesse Haston.” A couple of his children’s obituaries also refer to him as “Captain.” Apparently, he was or had been a militia captain, a position that was elected by members of the group. Or maybe the title was an honorary one bestowed on him by friends and neighbors—which sometimes happened.

Annie Barnes, the daughter of Steward W. and Anne Barnes, was born in Maryland on February 5, 1832. Jesse had several living children that were older than his new (1832-born) wife. Even at age 57, Jesse was still “making babies”—five of them in the next 10 years and four months. He was 68 years and 10 months old when Annie, his last child, was born.

Child	Birth	Death
Ann Elizabeth Haston	December 1, 1855
Kate Haston	July 9, 1857	December 27, 1875
Ida Lutia Haston	July 21, 1859	December 7, 1926
Lillian Haston	August 20, 1861	November 2, 1946
Any (Annie)* Haston	June 2, 1864	May 8, 1936

March 8, 1855 – Miss Amanda M. Haston, daughter of Jesse and Elizabeth, married Dr. John H. Barnes of Columbia, Missouri.[i]

John was the six-year-older brother of Amanda’s stepmother, Annie Juliet Barnes Haston. At age 24, he was a dentist, as per the 1850 census.[ii] That explains the Dr. prefix to his name. Imagine this: His stepmother-in-law was his younger sister!

[i] “Married,” Glasgow Weekly Times (Glasgow, Missouri), March 15, 1855, 3; Howard County, Missouri Marriage Book 3, 246.

[ii] Year: 1850; Census Place: District 15, Carroll, Missouri; Roll: 395; Page: 16b.

June 1, 1860 – In 1860, Jesse Haston owned $20,000 worth of real estate, plus $17,000 of personal property. He was one of the wealthiest men in his neighborhood.[i]

[i] Year: 1860; Census Place: Chariton, Howard, Missouri; Page: 508.

Missouri was one of the 17 states, plus the District of Columbia, for which a “Slave Schedule” was enumerated as an auxiliary to the 1860 Federal Census.

Jesse owned twelve slaves, which apparently were kept in two slave houses. Two of his young slaves—both age 6 female mulattoes—were fugitives from the state.[i] These 12 slaves were probably considered to be part of Jesse’s $17,000 of personal property. Louise Haston Rice told me in 2010 that when the house Jesse built prior to the Civil War was torn down sometime after 2003, chains and shackles were found in the basement of the old house. I suppose those were for uncooperative slaves.

[i] The National Archives in Washington DC; Washington DC, USA; Eighth Census of the United States 1860; Series Number: M653; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29.

Jesse was the only son of Daniel Haston who was a slaveholder. If Daniel had lived long enough to know his son owned slaves, I think he would not have been pleased with Jesse.

In the following article (#48), you will learn about some significant happenings in the Jesse Haston family: his death by an ambusher’s bullets, some of his sons’ involvement in the Civil War, an attempted sexual assault on his youngest daughter, her brother’s attempt to kill the assailant, his grandson who received a Congressional Medal of Honor, and more.

If you appreciated this article, please share it with others who might also enjoy it.

48 – Jesse Haston – His Family’s Civil War Years and Following

48 - Jesse Haston's Family in the Civil War Years and After

Some Selected Highlights

Some of Daniel Haston’s grandsons and great grandsons joined the Union Army. Others, especially those who remained in Tennessee, chose to suit up in grey. None of the Tennessee Hastons I know of were slave owners. They were probably defending the right of states to decide their own laws and choose their own courses of action. Jesse Haston was the only son of Daniel for which slavery itself was probably a major issue in choosing a side to support.

Howard County, MO in the Heart of "Little Dixie"

Little Dixie was a historic 13- to 17-county region along the Missouri River in central Missouri, United States. Its early European-American settlers were largely migrants from the hemp and tobacco districts of Virginia, and central Kentucky and Tennessee. They brought enslaved African Americans with them or purchased them as workers in the region. Because Southerners settled there first, the pre-Civil War culture of the region was similar to that of the Upper South. -Wikipedia

Consequently, this region was a major hot spot during the Civil War. The Union Army targeted it, Confederate sympathizers tried hard to protect it, and guerilla sniping and raiding was prevalent by enlisted soldiers, militia fighters, and civilian partisans on both sides. As a prominent slave owning family in Howard County, Missouri (the heart of Little Dixie), Jesse and his family paid the price for its choice of loyalties.

Thomas Jefferson Haston

Early in the war (January 26, 1862), Jesse’s son Thomas J. Haston “came in with Mr. M_____ and requested to take oath” – oath of allegiance to the Federal Government. Whether or not T.J. was pressured to swear the oath, we do not know.

I can only speculate about Thomas Jefferson Haston’s oath—which is risky busy for a historian—so please consider my thoughts as nothing but speculation. Knowing what was happening in “Little Dixie” of north-central Missouri in 1861-1862 and Jesse Haston’s pro-slavery bias, I’m guessing that Jesse’s son had participated in anti-Union activities that marked him as an enemy of the United States. As 1862 approached, rumors of the Union Army’s impending harsh orders regarding southern guerillas were beginning to circulate and Thomas Jefferson Haston may have decided to sign the oath rather than risk his life. From what I can tell, it appears that he remained out of trouble for the remainder of the war. He was referred to as Colonel Thomas J. Haston in the latter years of his life, but there is no evidence (that I have seen) to indicate he was in either army, other than an October 16, 1931 widow’s pension application for Federal service that apparently was rejected.

Abi Alburn Haston

Abi appears on the United States Civil War Draft Registration Records for 1863-1865 as being age 38, residing in Morris of Carroll County, Missouri and in Class 2* as a registrant.[i] And as of September 30, 1871, Abi A. Haston appeared on a United States Register of Civil, Military, and Naval Service, stationed in Newman of Jefferson County, Kansas. His salary was $12.[ii] A.A. Haston was identified as a “Trader” on the 1885 Kansas State Census.[iii] I have no record of Abi being a soldier, for either side, during the war, but he may have been a livestock trader for the Union Army.

*Class I was for those aged 20-35 as well as those 36-45 and unmarried. Class II is everyone else that registered.

[i] Record Group: 110, Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Bureau (Civil War); Collection Name: Consolidated Enrollment Lists, 1863-1865 (Civil War Union Draft Records); NAI: 4213514; Archive Volume Number: 3 of 3.

[ii] U.S., Register of Civil, Military, and Naval Service, 1863-1959, Volume 1, 590.

[iii] Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1885 Kansas Territory Census; Roll: KS1885_61; Line: 1.

Battle of Glasgow, Missouri – October 15, 1864

Confederate General Sterling Price, a plantation owner from Keytesville of Chariton County (adjacent to Howard County) and former governor of Missouri, led 12,000 rebel soldiers into Missouri in the fall of 1864. His initial goal was to capture St. Louis, but later perceived that the defenses of that city were too strong. Instead, on September 26-27 he attacked Fort Davidson at Pilot Knob, Missouri—a little fort that protected warehouses of military supplies, iron works in the Arcadia valley, and a train depot at the terminus of the railroad that ran from St. Louis.

After an embarrassing defeat at Pilot Knob, Price moved westward, by-passing the heavily defended Missouri capital, Jefferson City. It was (falsely) rumored that there was a large store of Yankee weapons in the town of Glasgow, so General Price sent General John B. Clark, Jr. with a detachment of approximately 1,800 men to capture Glasgow and some much-needed military supplies.

From the west side of the Missouri River, Confederates began shelling Glasgow, early on the morning of October 15, 1864. A couple of hours later, “1,700 to 2,000 rebels appeared on the south side of Glasgow to confront approximately 650 Union defenders.”[i] After a hard fight, the defenders were driven into the center of town and, finding themselves surrounded, were forced to surrender

[i] “Battle of Glasgow—October 15, 1864—Glasgow, Missouri,” Waymarking, accessed February 3, 2021, https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMC9KP_Battle_of_Glasgow_October_15_1864_Glasgow_Mo.

On October 16, the Confederates rejoined General Price and the main force and moved on towards Kansas City. On or about October 29, Glasgow was re-occupied by pro-Union Missouri militia who proceeded to exact revenge. “The militia executed at least a dozen Southern sympathizers, and burned their homes and businesses.”[i]

[i] Kenneth Westhues, “The Battle of Glasgow Was a Waste, a Small Victory on the Way to Defeat,” accessed February 3, 2021, https://www.kwesthues.com/BatGlsgw1-1410.html.

So, the Battle of Glasgow, Missouri did not end for the citizens of the little town when the southern army moved out. Jesse Haston was one of the unfortunate ones who experienced deadly vengeance from the Yankee army or its sympathizers.

November 8, 1864 – Jesse died in Glasgow, Missouri and was buried on his farm, located about two miles east of Glasgow. Jesse was considered a Southerner during the Civil War. The Northern troops raided his home during the war, taking everything of value, including a number of horses. He went to the Yankee headquarters at Glasgow, talked to them, and they let him have one horse to plow his garden. Members of the Federal state militia* followed him out of town, shot him, and took the horse. He died a few days later and is buried in the cemetery just east of his house.

Jesse, Jr. and Isaac Haston (sons of Jesse, Sr. and Elizabeth) in the Confederate Army

Other than some kind of (possible, but not confirmed) southern sympathizer action on the part of Thomas Jefferson Haston, there is no record of any of Jesse’s children being engaged on behalf of the Confederacy, until after their father was ambushed and murdered by the Union militia. But, in the later months of the war, brothers Jesse, Jr., and Isaac mustered into a battalion of Confederate Sharp Shooters.

June 7, 1865 – Jesse Haston, Sr.’s sons Jesse, [sic, Hayston] Jr.[i] and Isaac[ii] were enrolled in Company C of Searcy’s Battalion of Missouri Confederate Sharp Shooters. They appeared on a roll of prisoners of war, paroled at Alexandria, Louisiana on June 7, 1865. Isaac was a private and his slightly older brother, Jesse, was a corporal.

[i] “Jessee Hayston,” Fold3.com, accessed February 12, 2021, https://www.fold3.com/image/185506005 and /image/185506006.

[ii] “Isaac Haston,” Fold3.com, accessed February 12, 2021, https://www.fold3.com/image/ 185506002 and /image/ 185506003.

Searcy’s Battalion of Sharpshooters was commanded by Col. James Jasper Searcy. Searcy’s former regiment “Searcy’s Regiment Missouri Cavalry,” became under strength so was it dismounted and downgraded to a battalion and renamed. There are very few records for this regiment, but it was formed in early 1865.

December 12, 1888 - Attempted Sexual Assault on Annie Haston

Annie, was the youngest daughter of Jesse Haston.

The event was reported in newspapers across the state. Jesse Haston, Jr., Annie’s brother, chased one of the assailants, Frank Jenkins, and wounded him.[i] Jenkins was sentenced to five years in the state penitentiary. His co-assailant, Ollie Thixton

was lynched on January 20, 1891 in Fayette of Howard County for a similar attempted assault on another woman.[i]

[i] “Lynched at Fayette,” The Sedalia Weekly Bazoo (Sedalia, Missouri), January 27, 1891, 3.

[i] “A Brother’s Vengeance,” The Butler Weekly Times (Butler, Missouri), December 19, 1888, image 7.

1892 - Jesse Haston, Jr. - Nominated for Montana State Treasurer

On the first day of August 1879 at Camp Sheridan Nebraska, Jesse Haston, Jr. entered the employment of the Niobara Cattle Company as a cowboy and the tenderfoot of the outfit and by hard work and always being faithful to the trusts confided to him, in a few years having passed through all the phases of cowboy life and the cattle business he became manager of the company.

Jesse Haston, Jr. ran for Treasurer for the State of Montana in 1892, when Democratic Grover Cleveland defeated Benjamin Harrison for President of the United States. However, the following entire Democratic State ticket was defeated.[i]

[i] “Democratic State Ticket,” Great Falls Tribune (Great Falls, Montana), November 8, 1892, 2.

Obituary of Ann Juliet Barnes Haston

A good woman Has gone to her reward. Last Wednesday afternoon, December 28, her family physician drove into town through the snowstorm and announced to a circle of friends — tried and true — that the end had come and that a long and eventful life had closed. The expressions of regret and grief were mingled with expressions of admiration for her character.

One said — a prominent businessman here — “she was the most conscientious woman I ever knew.” Another said — he is now a banker in the city — “I lived on a farm near Mrs. Haston for years; a better woman never lived. I saw her under all circumstances, and she is a remarkable woman. Yet, another — connected with Pritchett College, who knew her through long years, added this testimony: “She was not only a good woman, but a brave woman — a woman of strong character and brave at heart. Among these familiar friends there was sincere mourning at the announcement of her death.

Dr. Bishop, her pastor, conducted the funeral at the home, some two miles east of Glasgow, on Friday at 11 a.m. Notwithstanding the storm a large concourse of friends were present. The text was: “Thou shalt come to thy grave at a full age, like a shock of corn cometh in his season,” Job 5:26. The pastor spoke of the long life of 72 years which had closed, of the eventful scenes through which that life had passed, of the forty years of widowhood which constituted so large a part of it, and of the fidelity and Christian fortitude which characterized the career now forever closed.

The burial was in the cemetery at the homestead, the services at the grave being conducted by the Rev. Mr. Watts, a neighbor and a valued friend. Mrs. Haston was Miss Ann Juliet Barnes, and was born in Baltimore, Maryland, February 5, 1832. On the 16th of February 1853, she was married to Mr. Jesse Haston. This union brought her the care of two boys, ten and twelve years old, children of Mr. Haston by a former wife. Her own children were six in number, one dying in infancy and one at the age of 18 years.

Her greatest sorrow, the event that wrung her heart most of all, was the death of her husband, who was shot down and mortally wounded on the streets of Glasgow the day after the battle of Glasgow during the civil war and during the disorder incident to that battle. From this shock, though she lived 40 years hereafter, she never recovered.

The four living children of Mrs. Haston are Mrs. A.E. Dandridge, of Nelson, Mo.; Mrs. J.H. Jones of Charleston, West Virginia, Miss Ida Haston and Miss Anie Haston, the two latter being now the sole occupants of the home. To these two in an especial manner the sympathy of the entire community goes out. But in their loneliness and bereavement they have a rich heritage in the memory of their mother and the heartfelt regard of the entire community. “Blessed are the dead, that die in the Lord.” “W.F.B”

As with all of these articles, there is much more to be said about the Jesse Haston family–70+ pages in the more complete (larger) edition of the book that is being written now.

If you appreciated this article, please share it with others who might also enjoy it.

46 – Isaac Haston – Across the Plains in an Oxen-Drawn Wagon – Isaac’s California Years

46 - Isaac Haston - Across the Plains in an Oxen-Drawn Wagon

The California Years

Approximately 2,000 miles – Cave Spring, Missouri to Santa Rosa, California on the Oregon-California Trail

At age 62, most men today are looking forward to retiring, drawing social security, playing golf or fishing, and enjoying their grandkids. I’m not sure if Isaac was looking for another major challenge in his life at that age or not, but when the opportunity presented itself to move to California, he didn’t back down.

The Bear Flag Revolt - First Step to California Statehood

1846 – Mexican General Jose Castro pronounced that foreigners (American settlers) could not own land in California, must leave by 40 days without arms, cattle or horses, tools, or anything they brought with them.[i] Led by Isaac’s Haston former neighbor in Cave Springs, Missouri (and previously in Monroe County, TN, Captain John Grisby, some of these settlers resisted in what became known as the “Bear Flag Revolt.”

[i] Warner, 63.

This short-lived revolt resulted in the establishment of the California Republic. This independent republic lasted for about 25 days, when the American Stars and Stripes replaced the Bear Flag in the town of Sonoma on July 9, 1846. California unofficially became part of the United States.

January 24, 1848 – 1855 (California Gold Rush) – A local scramble for gold began soon after January 24, 1848 when the first nugget was discovered by a carpenter, James Marshall, in a mill race at Coloma on the South Fork of the American River in California. This “ground zero” of the gold region was approximately 36 miles East-northeast of Sacramento and 100 direct miles in about the same direction from Santa Rosa.

In 1852, Fletcher (F.D.) Hastings, son of Isaac and Agnes, “crossed the plains with a party of early gold-hunters seeking the new Eldorado in California.”[i]

[i] “Aged Pioneer Called Home,” The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), October 28, 1919.

By the end of 1854, at least two more of Isaac’s children were in northern California. According to a family story, passed down through Isaac Hasten’s family, Isaac’s son Jesse Axley Haston traveled to northern California with his sister Isabella (Hastings) Grisby and her husband, Benjamin James Grigsby. Benjamin Grisby was the brother of Captain John Grisby, leader of the Bear Flag Revolt.

The Oregon-California Trail

Jesse Axley Haston returned to Missouri, married Susan Smith Baker, and apparently talked his parents into moving to California. “In 1857 Isaac Hastings crossed the plains to California and settled in Bennett Valley, Sonoma County.“[i] All that stood between Isaac in Missouri and the Bennett Valley of Sonoma County, California was about 2,000 miles, rough and treacherous miles in many stretches. Today, that’s 30 hours of driving an automobile or three hours or so by plane. In 1857, the trip in a wagon pulled by mules or oxen took four to six months IF the travelers even made it at all.

[i] Honoria Tuomey, History of Sonoma County, California, Volume II. (San Francisco, CA: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1986), 831.

Unfortunately, we don’t know much about the family journey, other than a statement in a letter from “Uncle” Samuel Perry Hastings to Laurann Coleman: “Robert (son of Agnes and Isaac, about age 20) died on the way to California and was buried at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1857.”

Bennett Valley - Santa Rosa, California

Gold rushers found more than gold when they invaded the Sierra Nevada mountains with their picks and shovels. After the rush subsided, many of the miners began to find farmland in the area to claim, legally or otherwise.

An October 29, 1949 article in Santa Rosa’s newspaper, Press Democrat, summarized the lure of Bennett Valley to ex-gold miners this way: Bennett Valley’s rich soil on the valley floor proper and on the lower rolling slopes of the hills drew settlers speedily. Men and women who came in search of gold in the mines found agricultural gold in the sunshine-drenched valley.[i]

Isaac wasn’t looking for gold in California. He, no doubt, was looking for land, good land, and perhaps a more favorable climate. And he may have been looking to escape the tensions surrounding an impending civil war. He had experienced war up close and very personally as a young man at New Orleans.

April 4, 1857 – For $3,500, Eli Coverdill purchased 180 acres on this date from James N. Bennett and his wife, Catherine A. Bennett.[i] James N. Bennett was the early settler for whom Bennett was named.

[i] Deeds of Sonoma County, California, 1847-1901, Deed Book 9, 613-614. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSPN-B96V-8?cat=613304)

August 5, 1858 – Isaac purchased 180 acres on this date from Eli Coverdill and his wife, Leah, for $6,000.[i] It’s the land Coverdill purchased from James N. Bennett on August 4, 1857. Coverdill flipped the property and made a $2,500 profit in just 16 months.

[i] Deeds of Sonoma County, California, 1847-1901, Deed Book 9, 1861-1862, 195-196. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS52-R9BB-R)

June 15, 1860 – Three of Agnes and Isaac’s sons were living with (or next to) them in California at the time of the 1860 census—Asberry Roten, Hartwell [not Artwell] Green, and Jesse Axley. Isaac’s California real estate was valued at $4,500 and his personal estate was valued at $2,000.

October 15, 1860 – Isaac Hastin was in the Sonoma County Equity Court in the case, Eli Coverdill v. Isaac Hastin, et al [Agnes Hastin].[i]

[i] Sonoma Democrat, Volume III, Number 52, 11 October 1860, 2.

The case related to a promissory note, dated December 28, 1859, for a mortgage in the amount of $3,018.48 for land recorded in Sonoma County, California Book C of mortgages on pages 436-439. The text on this document is extremely dim, unreadable for the most part, but it appears that the Hastins and Coverdills came to some kind of an agreement and the plaintiff (the Coverdills) moved for dismissal of the case and agreed to take a “voluntary_____.”[ii] Sounds like Isaac was not able to make his payment to Coverdill, but they agreed to delay action on that matter, based on some future plan for payment.

[ii] “Eli Coverdill vs. Isaac Hastin and Agnes Hastin,” Seventh Judicial District Court of Sonoma County, California. Old Series, Suit # 331, October 3, 1860 (filed).

September 12-13, 1861 – Isaac Hastin and his wife (Agnes) sold 180 acres to Othniel DeTurk for $2,000.[i] This was the acreage Isaac purchased for $6,000 from Eli and Leah Coverdill three years earlier, August 5, 1858. Coverdill paid $3,500 to James N. Bennett for the same property on August 4, 1857. Were land prices so extremely volatile during those years?

[i] Deeds of Sonoma County, California, 1847-1901, Index to Grantors Book 1, 70. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSV4-WS62?i=72&cat=613304)

September 12, 1861 – Othniel DeTurk (born 1828) was an older brother of Isaac DeTurk (born 1834). Both were born in Berks County, Pennsylvania.[i] Othniel sold the 160 (not 180) acres to Isaac Hasten for $1,000. This was land Othniel purchased for $1,500 from John Lamb on January 16, 1860.* John Lamb held the land under a possession claim that was filed in the office of the Recorder of Sonoma County.[ii]

[i] “Othniel DeTurk,” Find A Grave, accessed October 2, 2020, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28709191/othniel-deturk.

[ii] Deeds of Sonoma County, California, 1847-1901, Deed Book 12, 1861-1862, 195-197. (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS52-R9BB-R?i=102&cat=613304)

Isaac DeTurk turned the land he and his brother acquired from Isaac into a hugely successful wine-producing enterprise.

August 23, 1870 – Isaac created his will at this time. Was his health failing or was he just wisely aware of his mortality in his mid-70s?

In the name of God amen I Isaac Hastings of Bennet Valley Sonoma County California being weak in body, but of sound and disposing mind do make publish and declare this my last will and testament in manner following that is to say.

First I give devise and bequeath to my son Hartwell G. Hastings all the real estate of which I may die possessed.

Second I give devise and bequeath unto my said son Hartwell G. Hastings the following described personal property to wit: One Spring Waggon. One Two horse Waggon. One Bey Mare, Six years old and her Colt about four months old. One bay mare yearling Colt. One gray Mare Six years old. Three Milk cows and three yearling Heifers. One white Steer Calf. Twenty one head of Hays large and small.

Second I give devise and bequeath to the daughter of my Said Son Hartwell G. Hastings by his first wife. Lucida Agness Hastings the following articles of personal property to whit: One black mare Colt four months old. One red Calf. The calf of my red Cow. 1 Feather Bed.

The property given and bequeathed by this will to my said Son Hartwell G. Hastings is given and bequeathed to him Subject to the following express charges to wit: 1st That he shall at my death or as soon there after as may be pay all my debts and funeral expenses. Second. That he shall provide and furnish to my said Wife Agnes, a good and comfortable support and living during her lifetime.

Item I have now, living as far as I am informed, the following children. John Westley Hastings residing in the State of Texas. Samuel Douthard Hastings residing in the State of Missouri, Emily Hastings, wife of Joseph Hastings, DeLay Fletcher Hastings A. R. Hastings, Jesse Axley Hastings and Hartwell G. Hastings residing the State of California and the reason why I have by my will given and devised to my Said Son Hartwell G. Hastings nearly my entire estate is that he has remained at Home with me and constantly aided me in taking care of and improving my property and in providing for the family.

Lastly, I appoint my Said Son Hartwell G. Hastings my Executor, without the necessity of giving bonds. In testimony where I have herein to subscribe my name and affixed my Seal this 23rd day of August 10 D. 1870 Isaac Hastings (His mark) Witness to signature Murray Whallen Seal

Source: Original will on page 277 of Sonoma County, California Wills Book A.

March 27, 1872 – Isaac died on March 27, 1872.

February 25, 1876 – Agnes Haston died about a month shy of four years after Isaac’s death (March 27, 1872). A notation in some loose notes from Jessie Prichard’s files says that “Gr. Grand Mother lived to be 81.” If she was born in 1799, as Jessie Prichard’s notes also indicate, then she would have died in about 1880. But her obituary states that she died on February 25, 1876 at “about 80 years,” so she may have been born in about 1796. [i]

[i] “Died,” Santa Rosa Daily Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), February 28, 1876.

A little more than three months after her death, a memorial service (“funeral”) was conducted for Agnes Hastings in a Methodist Church in Bennett Valley—“at the head of Bennett Valley.”[i]

[i] “Quarterly Meeting,” Sonoma Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), June 3, 1876.

Isaac and Agnes are buried in the Bennett Valley Cemetery, which is located off a private road, just off of Bennett Valley Road on the east side of Santa Rosa, California. There are no headstones for Isaac and Agnes, but there is a cemetery plot map and a cemetery record book that locates their graves. The cemetery book mentions several Hastings plots, including who purchased them and who is buried in them. On page 24, in plot # 249, it is noted as “to whom deeded” = Green Hastings (Hartwell Greene Hastings) and “bodies interred” = “Grandma & Grandpa Hastings.”

Location:
4760 Bennett Valley Road, Santa Rosa, California 95404
GPS; Coordinates: 38.4161987, -122.6619034

"Whatever Happened to the West Coast Sons of Isaac and Agnes"

1880 – Jesse Axley Hastings moved his family to Whitman County, Washington. He died in Rosalia of Whitman County, Washington on July 8, 1908.

June 4, 1889 – Hartwell Greene and Sarah Ann Batten Hastings began their move to Eastern Washington. On June 30, 1955, Elizabeth Ann (Hastings) Davis related the following story (to her granddaughter Laurann Potterf Coleman) about the trip Hartwell Greene and Sarah Ann (Batten) Hastings made with their children from Sonoma County, California to Eastern Washington.

We left the Valley of the Moon (Glen Ellen), California on June 4, 1889, with ten in the party. Two covered wagons, one of which was really a “spring wagon” carrying clothing, bedding, cooking utensils, etc. There were 2 horses pulling each wagon. Besides the 10 people, there was a dog by the name of Dash. He walked physically all the way only to die shortly after reaching Washington. A daughter of Hartwell Green Hastings, by a former marriage, died in California before making the trip. Two of his sons, by his wife Sarah Ann (Batten) Hasting, died in the diphtheria epidemics before the trip north. The first night was spent with a relative, Jim Ward in Napa. Traveled less than twenty miles per day. No particular roads then. Went through Winters, Redding, Red Bluff, Prineville, Bend, Heppner, Walla Walla, Endicott (where Jessie Hasting, Hartwell Green’s brother lived as well as Johnnie Batten, a brother of Sarah Ann.) They had been living in that part of Washington for about fifteen years and had good farms. The Hartwell Greene Hastings’ family continued on to Pine City where they rented a farm and made their home.[i]

[i] Roberta Hester Leatherwood, Hester-Ward-Batten-Davis-Hastings KINFOLK. (Spring Hill, FL: printed by the author, 2009), 84.

Hartwell Green Hasting died on September 16, 1909, in Sunset of Whitman County, Washington, and is buried in the Pine City Cemetery.

November 2, 1901 – Asbury Roten Hastin died in Lake County, California (adjacent to Sonoma County on the northeast of Sonoma) of fibroid phlebitis.

1919 – Fletcher Dilay Hastings, son of Isaac and Agnes, was the only one of the sons of Isaac and Agnes who remained in the Santa Rosa area. He died at age 87 at Hall, near Santa Rosa, California.[i]

[i] “California Deaths and Burials, 1776-2000”, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HKS6-K3MM : 4 February 2020), Fletcher Dealy Hasting, 1919.

The Bear Flag Revolt (3:22 video)

California Gold Rush (8:47 video)

If you appreciated this article, please share it with others who might also enjoy it.

33 – The Rhine River Cruise

33 - The Beautiful and Relaxing Cruise Up the Rhine River

On Monday, June 26, 2023, our Hiestand-Haston Heritage Tour will enjoy a relaxing cruise up a portion of the beautiful Middle Rhine River and see many of the same sights that Henrich Hiestand saw in 1727 when he was on his journey to America. It’s the Grand Finale to a fantastic tour.

In 1727, our ancestor Henrich Hiestand left his family and home in Ibersheim on the Rhineland of what is now Germany and sailed down the Rhine River. He was headed to Rotterdam, Netherlands, then across the English Channel for a stop at the Isle of Cowes in England, in preparation to cross the Atlantic to Philadelphia and experience a whole new kind of life.

The Rhine River has been called the “River of Destiny.“[i] Hundreds of thousands of Swiss and Germans sought their dreamland destinies by floating down the Rhine on barges, from the mid-17th century until the mid-19th century

[i] Charles R. Haller, Across the Atlantic and Beyond: The Migration of German and Swiss Immigrants to America, 239.

Under good river conditions, the trip down the Rhine from Worms to Rotterdam, approximately 375 miles or 600 km, could have taken only six or seven days of actual floating time, at about 2 ½ miles per hour. But there were many toll stations (associated with princedom toll castles) along the way. Maybe as many two dozen or more toll stations were active in the early 1700s, from Worms to Rotterdam. [i] The toll castles belonged to territorial lords or to their authorized vassals.

[i] Haller.

Although we will see many of the same sights that Henrich Hiestand saw, our trip will be much more pleasant–and shorter, and we will be traveling up the river, not down. We can relax in comfortable chairs, enjoy a snack, and not worry about stopping at every castle to play a toll!

When Sharon and I were there on a similar tour in June 1018, we thought the cruise was the perfect ending to a fantastic tour!

Introduction: A River Cruise You Will Never Forget!

2:40 Video

Rhine River Cruise - Sit Back and Enjoy a Relaxing Preview of the Scenes

11:49 Video

Contact Renee Cue (renee@reneecue.com) to express your interest in joining the tour group, or asking for more information.

Share this with Hastons or related family members who might be interested in the June 14-27, 2023 Hiestand-Haston European Heritage Tour.

32 – Worms, Germany – Where Martin Luther Defended His Faith Before Emperor Charles V

32 - Worms, Germany - Where Martin Luther Was Tried

On the afternoon of (Saturday) June 22, 2023, our Hiestand-Haston Heritage Tour group will arrive in the city of Worms (pronounced “Vermz”), Germany – the place where Martin Luther stood before a formal deliberative assembly (“diet”) of leaders from the Holy Roman Empire, led by Emperor Charles V. He was called to defend his Christian beliefs regarding such things his opposition to the doctrine of indulgences (earthly payments for the forgiveness of sins), his belief that salvation comes by God’s grace through faith and not of works, and his commitment to the authority of Holy Scripture over the authority of the Church. Later, he was condemned as a heretic.

From Wikipedia: On April 18, 2021, Luther, saying that he had prayed for long hours and consulted with friends and mediators, presented himself before the Diet. When the counselor put the same questions to him, Luther first apologized that he lacked the etiquette of the court. Then he answered, “They [25 books he had written] are all mine, but as for the second question, they are not all of one sort.” Luther went on to place the writings into three categories: (1) Works which were well received even by his enemies: those he would not reject. (2) Books that attacked the abuses, lies, and desolation of the Christian world and the papacy: those, Luther believed, could not safely be rejected without encouraging abuses to continue. To retract them would be to open the door to further oppression. “If I now recant these, then, I would be doing nothing but strengthening tyranny”. (3) Attacks on individuals: he apologized for the harsh tone of these writings but did not reject the substance of what he taught in them; if he could be shown by Scripture that his writings were in error, Luther continued, he would reject them. Luther concluded by saying:

Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.

Martin Luther

The Monument to Luther and Eleven Other Reformers

We will be staying in a hotel less than a block from the world’s largest reformation monument, which features the statue of Martin Luther and 11 other reformation leades.

1902 Postcard

Plans to build a significant monument to Martin Luther in Worms were already made in the 18th century. In 1856, an association, the Luther-Denkmal-Verein, was formed, which pursued the idea and collected donations from Europe and the Americas. Among the historical topics remembered by the monument are Luther’s Ninety-five Theses of 1517 and his appearance at the Diet of Worms in 1521, where he defended his theses facing Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The main 11 ft high bronze statue of Luther is surrounded by eleven others depicting other reformers, political figures, and personified related towns. The statues are mounted on separate stone plinths on a stepped base, and the overall shape of the monument is intended to resemble a castle, representing Luther’s hymn “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” (A firm castle is our God). -Wikipedia

The monument was unveiled on 25 June 1868 in a ceremony attended by around 20,000 people, including nobility and leading German Protestants.

The Classic Scene of Martin Luther's Defense at the Diet of Worms

(7:11) There are more modern versions of this scene, but none of them equals the drama of this movie clip.

Contact Renee Cue (renee@reneecue.com) to express your interest in joining the tour group, or asking for more information.

Share this with Hastons or related family members who might be interested in the June 14-27, 2023 Hiestand-Haston European Heritage Tour.

31 – Mennonite Church in Ibersheim – Where Our Ancestors Worshipped

31 - Mennonite Church in the Village of Ibersheim, Germany

Our Hiestands' Church Home 350 Years Ago

On Sunday, June 25, 2023, our Hiestand-Haston European Heritage Tour group will worship here, where our ancestors worshiped. Pastor Andreas Kohrn has invited us to join their congregation for the service and to enjoy their annual summer “BBQ Grillfest” after the service!

“The parish of Ibersheim is probably the first and oldest Mennonites parish founded after the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) in the former Palatinate.”

Author Unknown

Jacob Hiestand was one of the earliest ministers in the Ibersheim Mennonite Church. He led the congregation during one of its most difficult times of danger and terror.

Text source: Worms-Ibersheim: A Walking Tour through a Cultural Heritage Village by Dr. Christian Land and Dr. Irene Spille

The church was built as the center of the village in 1836. An older Mennonite church, probably from the early 18th century, stood at the same location. Prior to its construction, church services were held in private homes which had a large room, the so call “Sälchen” (little hall). Because the territorial princes refused to allow them to build a church with a tower and bell, the first Mennonite Church was a plain house with a meeting hall for church services and a schoolroom on the ground floor. A council room was also erected on the upper floor. With the changes in society, it became possible to build a church with a bell tower in 1836. Before acquiring their first bell in 1806 (which is in use even today at the cemetery), a horn was used to call people to church services.

In accordance with the principles of faith, the church is very simple and plain. It is a plastered building in the unadorned style common to Classicism, with a long rectangular layout facing the southeast. The long side of the building is divided by round-arched windows almost as high as the walls. The door to the church entry has a round-arched skylight with the inscription “1836.” The church in Ibersheim is the only Mennonite church in Germany with a bell tower. In 1866, the chimes, comprising two bells, were solemnly dedicated. The only decoration on the bells is the date “1865.” and the inscription “Property of the Mennonite Congregation Ibersheim.”

The church’s interior is a plain hall with two windows on each side. The middle aisle leads directly to the communion table and pulpit, which is placed directly behind it. During the renovation of the church in 2012, the benches on both sides of the room were built after the model of the old benches. In 1972, the former stone communion table was replaced by a wooden one which was designed and created by Fritz Kehr. The table rests on a base made of 7 parts set in a zig-zag form. The altar panels are decorated with the proverb “God be merciful to me. a sinner.” The writing is fragmented into seven parts and is carved out in high Gothic gold-plated letters. The lower part of the church walls is paneled in wood. Rising behind the altar, also in the form of wooden paneling, is a cross, donated in 1936 and as high as the room itself. It is flanked by the letters alpha and omega. The pulpit is mounted on this cross. There is a stairwell to the side of the pulpit leading up to it.

The organ, situated in the very simple west gallery which itself rests on pillars, originates from the earlier church. It was built in 1821 or earlier by the organ builder Philipp Christian Schmidt (from Kirchheimbolanden), who was a student of the organ builder Stumm. It was last restored in 2004. The organ pipes had to be handed over in the First World War. They were replaced in 1921. The classical organ case with its decorations and woodcarvings is comparatively elaborate for this church interior.

On the eastern side, there are two separate rooms, one above the other. Over the years these served various purposes. for example as living spaces for the church servants, as a kindergarten, council room, and up to 1958, as a schoolroom for the first grade to fourth-grade classes. Now they are used by the church congregation exclusively as community or youth areas. For many decades now the church has also been used by the Protestants and Catholics for their church services. The extensive renovation carried out in 2012 ensures that the church can continue to provide a space for shared faith, life, and experiences for years to come.

On the wall of the property at Kirchplatz 2, there is an inscription which is characteristic for the village and life of the first Mennonites in Ibersheim: “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it – Ora et labora – pray and work.”

The Latin wording reminds one that there was once a Latin School in Ibersheim and it is meant to illustrate the education and character of the property owner.

In May of 2017, the Ibersheim Mennonite congregation consisted of 123 members, but only a few of these live in the village itself.[i] Currently, the church building constructed in 1836 is the only church in the village

[i] Andreas Kohrn, personal email to the author, November 11, 2017. Reverend Kohrn was the pastor of the Ibersheim congregation at the time of the email.

May 2020 Cyber-Service in the COVID-19 Era

Share this with Hastons or related family members who might be interested in the June 14-27, 2023 Hiestand-Haston European Heritage Tour.

30 – Our Ancestors’ Little German Village of Refuge – Ibersheim

30 - Our Ancestors' Little German Village of Refuge - Ibersheim

On Sunday, June 25, 2023, our Hiestand-Haston Heritage Tour group will visit this very special place. We have been invited to join the village’s Mennonite Church for their Sunday morning service, be their special guests for an after-church “Grillfest” (BBQ), then take a walking tour through this historic village on the very streets where our ancestors walked many years ago.

The village of Ibersheim is situated on what historically was an unprotected floodplain on the left bank (west of) the Rhine River, just below a sharp northeastward bend in the river, about six miles (12 km) northeast of the center of Worms, Germany.

When the Swiss Mennonites entered the Palatinate after the Thirty Years War, most of them settled in villages. Not only was there a greater chance of freedom from oppression in the villages, as compared to the cities, but the villages were where their superb farming and viticulture skills were needed. If the post-war Palatinate was going to be restored, it would need to begin with the farms and the vineyards. And no group was better prepared for that task than the Swiss Brethren who, for more than 100 years, had been forced to eke out a farm living on shallow-soil of small and steep-mountain farms, high in the Swiss Alps.

There were many villages in the Rhineland where they were needed and welcomed. But the village of Ibersheim (or Ibersheimerhof, as it was then called) stands out as a Palatinate village that became identified as a uniquely Swiss Mennonite community. After the Thirty Years War, Ibersheim was…

a ruined estate with several hofs [farms] some six miles down the Rhine from Worms. Here, for reasons unexplained by historians, there had been latitude for the Mennonites to own land [in the Ibersheim estate] even before the great Electoral Concession [of 1664]. Its meadows and fields lay on either side of the great river, and some crops had to be ferried across.[i]

[i] John L. Ruth, Maintaining the Right Fellowship. (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1984), 43.

Of all the Mennonites worldwide, it has been said that around 10% originate in or around Ibersheim.

Two of the earliest Swiss refugees to settle in Ibersheim were Konrad and Kleiann Hiestand, brother and sister. They were grandchildren of Heinrich and Anna Lutholt Hiestand from Richterswil in Canton Zürich, where Anna was on record as being an Anabaptist. Konrad and Kleiann, who apparently had adopted their grandmother’s faith, left their Swiss home in 1657. Kleiann married Jacob Brubacher, a neighbor she probably grew up with in Richterswil. She and Jacob lived next door to Konrad’s family in Ibersheim.[i]

[i] J. Ross Baughman, Apart from this World. (Edinburgh, VA: Shenandoah History Publishers, 1997), 72.

A special permit of 1661 and a unique concession of 1664, probably indicate how desperate the Elector was for expert farmers and how quickly he became impressed with his new tenants.

In 1683, nineteen years after the 1664 Concession, ten Mennonite men, who were heads of families in Ibersheim, were granted extraordinary rights not enjoyed elsewhere in the Palatinate. Konrad Hiestand (from Richterswil in Canton Zurich, Switzerland) was one of the specially privileged ten.

On the September 10, 1685 Mennonite census for Ibersheim, two Hiestand families were mentioned: Conrad Hiestandt, 5 children and 2 stepchildren and Hennrich Hiestandt, 10 children

The chief bailiff, who was not unfavorably disposed toward Mennonites, reported to the Elector that “Ibersheim Mennonites had changed their temporary state into a state of succession and so that they had a stationary domicile [permanent home] in the head office.” In his December 1685 letter to the Elector, he described these Mennonites in this way:

They bear no arms and weapons, so that they could not be drawn in a committee.
They do not swear an oath.
Concerning their rule to administer the Holy Sacraments (except no baptizing of their children until they come to the age of understanding), mostly living in the order of the Reformed religion (taught by the Catechism of Heidelberg at a good part).
Praying the Lord’s Prayer in the same way.
Elect one of them who lectures their rules to them and gives admonition to them, named “admonisher” because of that.
Everyone has to testify that they act peaceful and calm, living in peace with their neighbors, working diligently and being obedient, true, and constant toward authorities.[i]

[i] “Mennonites at Ibersheim, Germany,” 88.

A Few Scenes from a Walking Tour through the Village of Ibersheim

There's a story behind all of these Ibersheim pictures - you'll hear them on the tour.

All Walking Tour Through the Village of Ibersheim

House Built by a Hiestand Family in 1787

Contact Renee Cue (renee@reneecue.com) to express your interest in joining the tour group, or asking for more information.

Share this with Hastons or related family members who might be interested in the June 14-27, 2023 Hiestand-Haston European Heritage Tour.

45 – Isaac and Agnes Simpson Haston – Missouri Years

45 - Isaac and Agnes Simpson Haston - Missouri Years

Isaac Haston lived the Great American Dream. He left Tennessee landless and broke, moved to Missouri and became a prosperous landowner in just a few years. He deserved it – he fought bravely for our country at the Battle of New Orleans.

At least four of Daniel Haston’s sons and daughters moved to Missouri, as well as a good many of his grandchildren.

Early Middle Tennesseans, especially the second generation from pioneer families, sensed little or no emotional attachment to their state, their town, or their local community. Procurement of good land was much more important to them than attachment to where they grew up, or even close proximity to their nuclear or extended families. By the time the second generation came of legal age, good land in Middle Tennessee was either already claimed and settled or too expensive for start-up families. A pioneer spirit was bred into them, so naturally they loaded their wagons and carts and headed west of the Mississippi River.[i]

[i] John R. Finger, Tennessee Frontiers: Three Regions in Transition. (Bloomington, IN: The University of Indiana Press, 2001), 317-318.

The 518 mile Journey from White Co, TN to Greene Co, MO

With Actual Common Stops Along the Journey

Mouse Over Map Image to Pause Animation

From White County, Tennessee

to Greene County, Missouri

Probably Fall 1836 – Isaac Hasten was one of the first settlers in Cass Township of Greene County, Missouri. The earliest settlers came “at various periods from 1830 to 1837.” In the “First Settlements” section of Chapter XXVIII of The History of Greene County, Missouri, the authors stated, “Isaac Hastings…an emigrant from East Tennessee, settled about a mile east of Cave spring about 1835.”[i] Cave Spring was one of the oldest villages of Greene County.

[i] Holcombe, 710-711; An Illustrated Historical Atlas of Greene County, Missouri, 17.

Note: In early 1836, Isaac had a debt of $40.92 to settle with a local merchant (John Kirklen) in White County, TN. On May 14, 1836, he signed (with “his mark”) an agreement in White County to pay the debt by raising a crop of corn for John Kirkland. If he paid the debt before December 25, 1836, penalties would be voided. Isaac’s debt settlement with John Kirklen in White County, Tennessee, suggests that Isaac probably did not leave Tennessee until the fall of 1836. He probably arrived in Greene County, Missouri before the winter of that year, contrary to some reports that he got there in 1835.

When the first settlements were made in this township the pioneers often shot deer from their own door-yards. Wolves were very plenty and gave the settlers no little trouble by carrying of their sheep and pigs. The usual privations of early settlers and pioneers were borne by those of Cass township.[i]

[i] Holcombe, 712

Early Church Life in the Area Where Isaac & Agnes Settled

Presbyterian: In the summer of 1831 a shed was erected at Cave Springs, and was called Cave Springs camp ground. It was used by all denominations for camp meetings. This shed being too small, it was extended by a brush arbor. The first camp meetings were held the last days of July and the first days of August, in the year 1831. These camp meetings were held annually, and attended by people from a great distance, who came in wagons, carts, on horseback, and on foot. On the 19th of October, 1839, a number of families from East Tennessee founded the Mount Zion Presbyterian Church at Cave Springs.

Methodist: Whether it was intentional or not, Isaac and Agnes settled in the most-Methodist area of southwestern Missouri. There is evidence that Isaac and Agnes were Methodists back in Tennessee. The Morris Mitchell family (in-law family of Lucinda Haston Mitchell, Jacob’s family) arrived in Polk County, Missouri in about 1834 or 1836, only a few months before Isaac claimed land near Cave Spring, 11 or so miles southwest of the Mitchells. The Mitchells established a campground for revival meetings. Morrisville was named for a namesake grandson of Morris Mitchell, Sr. Ten years prior to the establishment of the Mitchell Camp Ground, camp meetings were held in Cave Spring, and the Morris Mitchell clan participated in those meetings soon after they settled in Missouri. No doubt they would have had a lot of interactions with Isaac Haston and his family who lived very near Cave Spring.

The village of Ebenezer, a few miles east of the Haston home at Cave Spring, was one of the strongest centers of frontier Missouri Methodism in that early era. There was a Methodist campground there, a meeting house in 1832 for the Ebenezer Methodist Church, and later a Methodist college. Ebenezer is where Lucinda Haston’s husband, Jacob Mitchell, spent the last years of his life.

Death of the Oldest Son, William Carroll Haston

About 1837 – Isaac’s oldest son, William Carroll Hasten married Nancy Leake not long after the Hastons arrived in Greene County, Missouri. I have no date for his marriage, but let’s assume it was around 1837, when he became 21 years old. William Carroll Hasten married Nancy Leake, who was born in 1815, according to Howard H. Hasting, Sr.^[i] William Carroll and Nancy lived in a one-mile-square section (Section 10) of Greene County, Missouri, adjacent to the section (Section 11) his parents, Isaac and Agnes, lived in.^[ii]

[i] Howard H. Hasting, Sr., “The Daniel Haston Family” (San Antonio: unpublished manuscript, last modified 1980), 10.

[ii] Howard H. Hasting, Sr., 10.

William Carroll died as a young man, approximately 29 years old, in or before August 1845, in Greene County, Missouri. He was buried in the Hastings burial ground. When William Carroll Hasten died, his father Isaac was the administrator of his estate and John Wesley Wadlow (father of Isaac’s son-in-law, Charles E. Wadlow), was one of the securities. Nancy Leake Hasten married William J. Bradley on June 10, 1847, almost two years after the death of William Carroll.

Name Change from Haston to "Hastings"

The spelling of the “Hiestandt” family name morphed down the Daniel Haston family line, but generally ended with “Haston” in Tennessee, especially as Daniel’s family became firmly entrenched in White and Van Buren County. But as Daniel’s grandkids moved west, their names morphed back from “Haston” to a variety of spellings, generally more familiar to English clerks. With the lone exception of Isaac, all of Daniel’s known sons locked in the Haston name, including two of them who moved to Missouri (Jesse and Jeremiah MC).

Isaac apparently was not literate (see his attempt to write his signature, below) and was often dependent on English clerks to spell his name. And a neighboring family in Greene County, Missouri (the John Holloway Hastings family) was from an English-rooted “Hastings” family. Combined, these circumstances may explain why clerks and some members of Isaac’s family spelled Isaac’s surname “Hastings,” even though “Hasten” or “Hastin” spellings were also common for him and his family in Missouri.

1849 – On January 24, 1848, a carpenter by the name of James Marshall was building a sawmill for John Sutter on a river in the Sacramento Valley in Northern California, when he spotted a shiny piece of gold in the river. The word spread quickly, so much so that six months later 4,000 prospectors were looking for gold on the mountain behind Sutter’s land. The following year, 6,000 wagons traveled to California from the Midwest of the United States. By 1853, the easy-to-find gold in the streams and in surface soil had pretty much been found and the rush was over.[i]

[i] Mel Friedman, The California Gold Rush. (New York, NY: Children’s Press, 2010), 7-8, 24, 39, 43.

When prospectors returned home to places like Missouri, a few were wealthy but most came home pretty much the same way they left—poor. But they returned with positive reports about rich farmable lands in the northern California valleys. The California Gold Rush would soon change the destiny of most of the members in Isaac Hastings’ family.

1850 – These people are included in the Isaac Hastings household at the time of the 1850 census (record # 1667): Isaac Hastings (age 53, born in TN), farmer; Agnes (age 52, TN); Samuel D. (age 21, TN); De La Fa [Fletcher Dilay/DeLay Fletcher] (age 18, TN); Asbury (age 17, TN); Jesse (age 15, MO); Robt. D. (age 13, MO); Hartwell G. (age 9, MO).[i]

[i] Year: 1850; Census Place: Cass, Greene, Missouri; Roll: 400; Page: 354A.

1852 – The 1919 obituary for Fletcher Dilay Hasting says that he went to California in 1852 as a part of the gold rush “with a party of early gold-hunters.”

That assertion is confirmed by an 1852 California census, which clearly states that Fletcher Hastings was in Napa County, California in September of 1852. Other members of the family apparently followed him a couple of years later.

1854 – According to a family story, passed down through Isaac Hasten’s family, Isaac’s son Jesse Axley Haston traveled to northern California with his sister Isabella (Hastings) Grisby and her husband, Benjamin James Grigsby, in 1854. Jesse then returned to Missouri and persuaded his father to move to California.[i] Jesse may have returned to Missouri primarily to marry his “back home” girlfriend, Susan Smith Baker, which did occur on December 11, 1856. Another version of the story, given by Jessie Pritchard, says her grandfather Jesse Axley Hastings made his first trip to California in 1851, which would have been in the middle of the Gold Rush years.

[i] Roberta Leatherwood, “Jesse Axley Hastings – Bits ‘n Pieces,” Ancestry.com post, March 12, 2009.

April 2, 1857 – Isaac and Agnes Hasten sold their 333 1/8 acres to Nimrod Ford for $333, one dollar per acre. The deed was filed on August 22, 1857.[i]

[i] Greene County, Missouri Deed Book H, 673.

1857 – “In 1857 Isaac Hastings crossed the plains to California and settled in Bennett valley, Sonoma County, where he acquired one hundred and sixty acres of land, on which he resided until his death….”[i]

[i] Honoria Tuomey, History of Sonoma County, California, Volume II. (San Francisco, CA: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1986), 831.

In the next article, you will learn about Isaac and Agnes Haston’s journey to California and a summary of the family’s years there.

The Two Sons Who Remained in Missouri (and Texas)

John Wesley Hastin

August 5, 1841 – John Wesley Hasten, who was born January 27, 1823 (probably in White County, Tennessee) married Anna Brown on August 5, 1841 in Greene County, Missouri. He acquired land in Dade County and Cedar County, Missouri.

John Wesley Haston, the oldest living son of Isaac and Agnes, was apparently a Confederate sympathizer. As early as 1865, J.W. Haisten was on the Fannin County, Texas tax list with 105 acres.[i] Lots of pro-Confederate Missourians fled to Texas during or after the war to escape Federal guerillas and there are several reasons to believe J.W. Hastin was one who fled.

[i] “Fannin, Texas, United States Records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939F-W6Y2-Z : September 16, 2021), image 1115 of 1238; Texas State Library. Archives Division (Austin, Texas).

Samuel Douthard Hastin

May 20, 1851 – Samuel Douthard Hastin, at age 25, married Sarah Ann Long on May 20, 1851.[i] The ceremony was performed by a Justice of the Peace in Cedar County, Missouri, where Samuel Douthard lived the remainder of his life, about 50 miles northwest of Springfield, Omer, Missouri in Cedar County. Uncle Dow, as he was known, was a stone mason.

[i] Missouri State Archives; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Missouri Marriage Records [Microfilm].

If you appreciated this article, please share it with others who might also enjoy it.

44 – Isaac and Agnes Simpson Haston – Tennessee Years

44 - Isaac Haston - Battle of New Orleans Hero & Much More

Part 1 - His Tennessee Years

Look at the battle map above. Where do you think the battle was the “hottest”? It’s quite obvious if you look at it carefully and think about it. That’s where Isaac Haston and some of his buddies from White County, TN fought bravely and effectively! But more about that later in this article.

Isaac Haston was definitely Daniel’s most adventuresome son. And that’s saying a lot because all six of Daniel’s (known) sons were adventuresome in their own ways. Think about it: Isaac was born in East TN, moved to Middle TN with his father and other family members, then back to East TN after he married, then he led his family to Missouri, then (about 20 years later) crossed the central plains and high and treacherous western mountains in an oxen-drawn wagon with most of his family to a Pacific coastal county in California. His life is such a “big story” it will take three articles to do any significant degree of justice to tell it.

October 17, 1794 – Jessie Prichard, great-granddaughter of Daniel Haston’s son Isaac, stated that Isaac was born on October 17, 1794. That is at least about right and may be right, but census records and other sources contradict with a variety of birth year possibilities.

About May, 1814 – Isaac Haston married Agnes Simpson, probably in the spring of 1814. We don’t know who her parents were, where they married, or exactly when they married. Unfortunately, there is no known existing family Bible record for their family, but a brief biographical record of S.P. Hastings, grandson of Isaac states:

Our subject’s paternal grandfather, Isaac Hastings, was born in Tennessee in 1795 and fought in the War of 1812, enlisting about six months after his marriage, at which time he was eighteen years old and his wife but fourteen. They became the parents of fourteen children. The grandmother, whose maiden name was Agnes Simpson, was born in Tennessee in 1799.

Isaac Haston in the War of 1812 Battle of New Orleans

November 13, 1814 – According to the History of Sonoma County, California, Isaac “fought in the War of 1812.”[i] That fact is clearly verified by documents from the United States National Archives and Records Administration,[ii] but it doesn’t begin to tell the fuller story. Family records and official accounts of the Battle of New Orleans inform us that Isaac and his fellow soldiers fought bravely and his brigade was a major reason Old Hickory’s army won that historic battle.

[i] Honoria Tuomey, History of Sonoma County, California, Volume II. (San Francisco, CA: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1986), 831.

[ii] “Haiston, Isaac, 3^rd Regiment Roulston’s West Tennessee Militia, War of 1812” (Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration).

In August 1814, when it became apparent that the British were planning to attack and capture New Orleans, Secretary of State James Monroe informed Andrew Jackson: “On the militia of Tennessee your principal reliance must be.” A call went out to Tennesseans to join the cause to protect the city that controlled the gateway between the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Isaac and many other of his White County buddies became Tennessee “volunteers,” a moniker that the state of Tennessee has proudly carried ever since that time.

Isaac served in the 3rd Regiment West Tennessee Militia Infantry under Colonel James Raulston in General William Carroll’s division. This regiment existed from November 1814 to May 1815 and included men mostly from Jackson, Sumner, Wilson, Overton, Smith, and White counties—all Middle Tennessee counties. Raulston himself was from the southern end of the Sequatchie Valley on the border between Tennessee and Alabama. Daniel Newman, a citizen of White County, Tennessee, was the captain under whom Isaac served.

“On November 20 [1814] two thousand West [Middle] Tennesseans under the command of William Carroll embarked for New Orleans via the Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers.” They left Nashville on 45 flatboats and arrived at their destination on December 21, a month later.

Of the 6,000 American fighters at New Orleans, 3,500 were Tennessee militiamen. For two and a half weeks, the British and Americans maneuvered and skirmished, culminating in the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815. “Jackson had placed Carroll’s Tennesseans and a small number of Kentuckians at the point in the line where the British attack was heaviest.” They were positioned between Battery #6 and the cypress swamp. See the battlefield map above.

Raulston’s regiment, a part of General William Carroll’s division of 1,414 militiamen, suffered casualties during the December 28, 1814 skirmish and had two of the “handful” of (eight) fatalities in the famous January 8, 1815 battle that thrust Andrew Jackson into national prominence. According to one source, “Colonel Raulston and his Regiment bore the brunt of the British advance in the Battle of New Orleans and out of his Regiment over one hundred men were casualties.”

According to family history recorded by Isaac’s great-granddaughter (Jessie Pritchard), Isaac saw British General Pakenham killed, used chain guns in the war, and fought some after peace was declared.

In his 1871 pension application for his War of 1812 service, Isaac stated that he “fought by General Jackson.” Given the location of his unit in the battle line, it is likely that he did in fact fight near General Jackson.[i]

[i] “Isaac Hastain,” War of 1812 Pension Files, Pension Number 23677 (Fold3 by Ancestry).

Every descendant of Isaac Haston owes it to himself or herself to read a detailed account of the Battle of New Orleans, with the above battle map in mind. It will make you proud to call Isaac Haston your ancestor.

Isaac's Inheritance from His Father, Daniel Haston

David, Joseph, and Isaac, three of Daniel Haston’s sons, were living in White County at the time of Daniel’s death. It seems reasonable to assume that Daniel would have granted 50 acres of his 150 acres tract to each of these local sons. As far as we know, he died intestate. There is no known record of Daniel’s legal transfer of his land to these sons. But subsequent land records seem to support the assumption that Daniel did divide the 150 acres among the three sons, as illustrated in this image.

Move to Hiwassee District in East Tennessee

1824 – Isaac’s name does not appear on the 1824 White County, TN tax list. Apparently, he had moved to the newly-opened Hiwassee District in East TN, with Monroe County being his first living location.

Beginning January 3, 1824 and continuing through that year, an advertisement titled “Valuable Land For Sale. Notice is hereby given ….” ran in the Sparta Review newspaper in Sparta, Tennessee. This “valuable land” was in the Hiwassee District of East Tennessee. The land had been acquired in the “Hiwassee Purchase” from the Cherokee Indians in 1819.

1830 – Apparently, sometime in 1829 Isaac moved his family from Monroe County to McMinn County. Both side-by-side counties, McMinn on the west and Monroe on the east, were part of the Hiwassee District. If Isaac’s family lived in the western part of Monroe County, they may not have moved far to be in McMinn County in and after 1830.

The household of “Isac [sic] Hastings” appeared on the 1830 McMinn County, Tennessee Federal Census.[i] He was “of thirty and under forty” years of age and his wife was “of twenty and under thirty.”

[i] 1830; Census Place: McMinn, Tennessee; Series: M19; Roll: 178; Page: 183; Family History Library Film: 0024536

Settling a Debt in White County, Tennessee

May 14, 1836 – Apparently, Isaac Haston owed John Kirkland (“all of the County of White and State of Tennessee”) a sum of $40.92, while still in White County, Tennessee. In order to secure the debt, Isaac “bargained and sold” one gray horse, one sow, and four pigs, as well as a field of corn that he was tending, or would be tending, on land rented from William Denney.” According to the agreement, if he paid the debt before December 25, 1836, the stated obligations would be voided. The indenture was witnessed by William B. Cummings and Edward Moore on May 14, 1836. Isaac signed with “his mark.”^[i] This transaction indicates that Isaac was probably still in White County in the summer of 1836. It also indicates that he was struggling financially, which may have contributed to his move to Missouri.

[i] White County, Tennessee Deed Book “I,” 445, 448. (TSLA microfilm # 63)

Isaac was to “tend said ground in good farming order and when completed the said Kirklin is to have all of said corn except the rent it is the ground that said Isaac Haston rented from Wm Denny, Sr.” Or Isaac could pay Kirklin the $40.92 he owed. So Isaac was obligated to remain in White County, Tennessee until the corn crop was harvested, if he could not pay the debt with cash. If he did not default on the debt or did not make the payment in cash, he must have remained in Tennessee until late summer or early fall of 1836 before leaving for Missouri.

Children of Isaac and Agnes Simpson Haston

The exact number of children born to Isaac and Agnes is not known for sure. One of Isaac’s grandsons said there were 14, and another sources suggests they may have had as many as 16 children, but the following 12 seem to be fairly certain. Perhaps these are the 12 who survived infancy. For information on these children, I am totally dependent on largely undocumented family records. Although I have tried to be careful about the selection of this information, I cannot vouch for the accuracy of much of it.

1. William Carroll Hastin	7. Fletcher Dilay Hastings (De La Fa)
2. Mary Hastin	8. Sidney Hastin
3. John Wesley Haisten	9. Ashbury Roten Hastin
4. Samuel Douthard Hastin	10. Jesse Axley Hasting*
5. Isabella Ann (Juley Ann) Hastin	11. Robert D. Hastin*
6. Emily J. Hastin	12. Hartwell Greene Hasting*

*Jesse Axley, Robert D., and Hartwell Greene were the only three children born in Missouri, not in Tennessee.

On death records (tombstones, death certificates, or obituaries), the surnames of Isaac’s children were spelled at least four different ways: Haisten, Hastin, Hasting, Hastings. In Missouri, the name was often spelled Hasten, the fifth common spelling of the name in Isaac’s family.

You Really Ought to Watch this Video to Understand Isaac Haston’s Heroic Role in Our Country’s Early History

If you appreciated this article, please share it with others who might also enjoy it.

29 – Swiss Mennonite Cheese Factory

29 - Swiss Emmentaler Cheese Factory

Saturday, June 24, 2023, our Hiestand-Haston Tour Group will visit the world-famous Cheese Factory in the Emmental region of Canton Bern, Switzerland. There are around 2000 groups of tourists, one-third of which are foreigners from around the world, visiting this cheese factory every year.

Swiss cheese is a piece of paradise handed down by the gods, a masterpiece, an object of envy and an ambassador of peace. And now, it’s time to have another piece of cheese. Adieu!

-Indira

Inside the Emmental cheese factory (it’s where the magic happens!)

Source:(newlyswissed.com)

Emmental Cheese Facts

Emmental cheeses have been crafted according to an original recipe that dates back to the 13th century.
Emmental cheese is produced in large, wheel-shaped barrels. Each barrel is marked with a unique code which helps the manufacturer trace the origin of the milk back to the supplier.
Each wheel measures between 80 to 100 centimeters and weighs anywhere from 75 to a 125 kilograms.
The bacteria present in the cheese produce carbon dioxide which is responsible for the varying sizes of holes in the cheese. So, basically, you pay for cheese and for carbon dioxide…

The holes in the Swiss cheese are called the eyes. A variety that does not have eyes is called a blind cheese.
During the first ageing phase, the cheese is matured for six to eight weeks in the boiler room of the cheese factory.
Afterwards, it is moved to the storage cellars for two or four weeks. In the final phase of the maturation, the cheese wheels are stored in cellars of affineurs who regularly turn, groom and check to see if the cheeses are “healthy and happy.”

The youngest cheese is matured for at least four months and is aged in cellars with controlled temperature.
The longer a cheese is stored, the darker its bark becomes.
There have been strict animal welfare laws laid out by the Swiss government dating back to the 1700s. The cows had to have access to fresh green grass and clean drinking water during the day. Also, animal cruelty was not tolerated.
Today, Swiss animal welfare laws are evidently stricter, assuring Emmental cheese consumers nothing but its highest quality.

How Swiss Emmentaler Cheese Is Made

8:00 minutes – Interesting and Informative Video

Share this with Hastons or related family members who might be interested in the June 14-27, 2023 Hiestand-Haston European Heritage Tour.

28 – Trachselwald Castle – Prison Where Anabaptists Suffered and Died

28 - Trachselwald Castle - Where Anabaptists Were Imprisoned

Simply Because They Wanted to Practice New Testament Christianity

A Story and Some Scenes that You May/Should Never Forget

By Don and Joanne Hess Siegrist

Used by permission of authors, Don & Joanne Hess Siegrist

Before the Reformation, all of Switzerland was catholic. After the Reformation, northern and western
Switzerland became Protestant Reformed while central and southern Switzerland remained Catholic even to this day.

The Anabaptist movement began 1525 in Canton Zurich where it was eventually wiped out by 1650. It was in the Canton of Bern that the Anabaptists had the greatest numbers and the longest stretch of history. The state was never able to drive out all the Anabaptists. Presently, there are about 2,500 Swiss Mennonites with about 14 congregations. The congregation in Langnau is the oldest continuous Mennonite congregation in the world. Most of the Swiss Mennonites live near the French border in the Jura Mt region where in the past they were allowed to live with more religious freedom but in a higher, colder elevation less
desirable for crops.

The Anabaptists were a people who stood for their faith despite paying a terrible price at the hands of the government. Since the Emmental is in the Canton of Bern, many of the Emmental Anabaptists were sent to Bern for imprisonment. Bern has a wall with many towers for security and had the authority to declare the death sentence. The deep, fast-flowing Aare River provided a barrier on the other three sides.

The Kafigturm (men’s prison), Frauenturm (women’s prison), Obere Spital (upper hospital), and the Tittlingerturm, were some of the numerous places used as prisons for Anabaptists. Many of the prisons had a torture room infamous for interrogating people under torture to coerce people to recant or reveal their Anabaptist friends and meeting places. We do not know how many Anabaptists ended up in prison for their faith. The city of Bern was infamous for its persecution of the Anabaptists. The Kafigturm is the only prison building still standing. The Blutturm (blood tower) down around the Aare River is thought to have been used for
interrogation under torture.

When we visited the Museum of History in Bern there was this exhibit — The executioner’s mantle in the official colors of Bern, two swords used for execution, and the rack. Interrogation by the rack was the most widely used instrument of torture till the 18th century. The victim’s arms were placed behind their back and roped together at the wrists. Another rope was placed between the wrists to slowly lift the person off their feet with their arms behind their back. A stone weight was attached to the ankles to increase the pain. Shoulders were often dislocated. Fear of the rack was often enough to cause the prisoner to cooperate. The placard on the wall states these two swords were made in Bern 1620. “The sword of execution bears the inscription “Sol deo Gloria.” (To God alone the glory): the executioner acted in the certainty of representing divine justice on earth.” About 40 Anabaptists were known to be sentenced to death in Bern. The men usually executed with the sword and the women drowned in the Aare River.

Trachselwald castle was first built around the late 1200s with additions at later times. We saw this 1654 drawing of the Trachselwald Reformed Church and the castle in the background when we visited the friendly Reformed pastor and his wife in the parsonage.
According to one source, there was a torture chamber that was removed about 1750. I don’t know how many Anabaptists were imprisoned here. There must have quite a few because the persecution lasted over 300 years. Very few windows are on this side of the prison tower. The castle is quite picturesque and appears in good repair. In the past Switzerland had many castles with prison towers and torture rooms. Torture was thought to be the best way to get the truth from a prisoner.

The cold, dark prison tower is about 60 feet high. To walk through this windowless prison cell is somewhat spooky. If you could have visited 2, 3, 4 hundred years ago when the place was full of prisoners, imagine the sights, sounds, and smells. Imagine being locked in here for months. There are about 2-3 cells per floor, probably not more then 10 cells in the entire prison. A very narrow spiral stone stair takes you up to the worst cell.

The Hans Haslibacher homestead is about 4 miles north of the castle. Hans Haslibacher, a prominent early Anabaptist leader in the Emmental, was exiled from Switzerland. 30 years later he returned home to visit his son who remained Reformed. Unfortunately, he was captured again and put in the Trachselwald prison tower. Then sent to Bern where he was tortured and beheaded in 1571 — the last Anabaptist execution in Bern. There is a song about Haslibacher in the Ausbund (Mennonite book which tells stories of the persecution they suffered) which the Amish still sing.

If These Castle Walls Could Talk!

Click on an image to enlarge and activate the slideshow.

We Will Also Visit the New "Paths of Freedom" Exhibit in the Castle

All Mennonite "Paths to Freedom" Exhibit

Photos used by permission of Peter Dettwiler.

Some Good News from Recent Years

3:09 Video

Share this with Hastons or related family members who might be interested in the June 14-27, 2023 Hiestand-Haston European Heritage Tour.

43 – John and Catherine HASTON Austin

42 - John and Catherine HASTON Austin

History, especially genealogical history, is sexist!

OK, I’m pretty much a traditional-minded person and don’t use the word “sexist” in an accusatory way very often. But I must say – genealogical history is sexist, and unfortunately so.

One tradition I wish had caught on 700 years ago in the western world is the tradition of requiring married women to retain their maiden surnames, in the form of double-name surnames. It’s called “double-barrelled surnames.” And I wish those names would have been “heritable” (transmissible from parents to offspring).

Because of (1) the single-surname-adopted-from-the-husband tradition and (2) the male-dominated (or exclusively male) roles in court proceedings, deeds, and other civil documents, it is very difficult to conduct meaningful research on our female ancestors. For example, in the previous article (“Jacob and Lucinda Haston Mitchell“) you saw that there are several key things that can be known about Jacob Mitchell, but Lucinda Haston is largely hidden to us. The same is true with other daughters of Daniel Haston.

Colonel Howard H. Hastings, Sr., an excellent 20th Century Haston family researcher, summarized the life of this daughter of Daniel Haston like this:

For starters, her name was Catherine, not Caroline. In a September 4, 1978 letter from Dave R. and Estelle Haston to Howard H. Hasting, Sr., Dave and/or Estelle told Mr. Hasting that there was a Caroline Haston who married John Austin. That must have been a simple mis-statement on Dave and Estelle’s part, because they lived in White County where Catherine Haston Austin was buried and probably would have known the correct name.

But, other than the confusion regarding her first (given) name, Colonel Hasting (Haston) was right. Catherine’s husband, John Austin, appeared regularly in tax records and frequently in court records, but about all we know about Catherine is that she was John Austin’s second wife and mother of some of his children.

Brief summary of the John Austin family, including what is known of Catherine:

January 6, 1779 – According to one source, John Austin was born in Virginia of English descent.[i] But the 1850 census indicates that North Carolina was his birthplace. So, who knows!? His parents are also unknown to us.

[i] Goodspeed. Tennessee History & Biographies: White County. (1886; reprinted, Signal Mountain, TN: Mountain Press, 1990), 17.

There has been a strong evidence that our John and Nathaniel (Austin) could have been great grandchildren of John and Hannah Austin of Lunenburg County, VA, through a grandson, William, that I am still trying to find traces of after he disappeared from Wythe County, VA about 1793. This record of Austin children, along with their dates of birth, I feel may have been copied from an old family Bible at the time when no one was left on Old Wilderness Road to furnish the names of their parents. So often in those early days, when one was moving away from others of their family, they recorded the names of all their brothers and sisters in their Bible for future proof of their belonging to the family. So far I have failed to find records on any Austin anywhere in this country that did not have plenty of Anderson families in the same vicinity. As to which road across the Allegheny Mountains is referred to is only a guess since it was not stated where they came from or exactly where they went. If it were their entry into Tennessee as we might surmise, then undoubtedly it was the Old Wilderness Road which was cut across the Alleghenies from Grayson County, VA, and this would give strong indications for a connection with the John and Hannah Austin family of Lunenburg County, VA.

Bess Austin Machtley (1905-1980) - Austin Family Historian

Editorial Note: John and his brother, Nathaniel Austin, probably traveled to the Lost Creek community of White County at different times, from different places, by different routes.

June 21, 1802 – John Austin married Rachel Denny,[i] daughter of James and Ester Denny, on this date in Wayne County, Kentucky. Rachel was born in 1784.[ii] Rachel was the sister of William Denney, who married Patsy Burnett on February 10, 1806, in Wayne County, Kentucky.[iii] William Denney was a neighbor of Daniel Haston and his daughter, Jane, married William Carroll Haston, son of David Haston.

[i] Wayne County, Kentucky First Marriage Book (1801-1813); Kentucky Genealogy Trails, “Wayne County, Kentucky Marriage Records,” accessed May 8, 2020, http://genealogytrails.com/ken/wayne/marriages.html.

[ii] Mabel J. Austin Moore, John Austin, Sr. Family, 1779-1999. (Sparta, TN: published by author, 1999), 9.

[iii] Frances Marie Thomas Graves, William Denney Descendants, 1984. (LC #: CS71.D412 1984)

1807 – “John Austin, Sr. and wife Rachel Denny Austin came to Hickory Valley, White County, Tennessee in 1807. His brother Nathaniel came in 1816.”[i] Austin family researchers believe that John and Rachel came to White County, from Wayne County, Kentucky, with Rachel’s brother, William Denney.[ii]

[i] Moore, 3.

[ii] Paul Douglas Austin, ed., 40 Years of the Austin Family Association of Lost Creek. (n.p.: Austin Family Association of Lost Creek, n.d.), 6 (toward the back of the book)

John and Rachel had seven children: William (born May 10, 1803), Jude (born 1805), Tamar “Tamsey”* (born September 7, 1804), Hannah (born between 1806-1810), James M. (born September 22, 1814), Elizabeth (born October 16, 1816), and John Jr. (born November 8, 1818).

*Tamsey Austin married Wiley B. Haston, son of David and Peggy Haston. According to the 1830 census, they had one son of five and under ten years of age and one daughter under five years old. So they probably married prior to 1824.

1811 – John Austin appears on the 1811 White County taxable property and polls list in Captain Richard M. Rotton’s Militia Company with one black poll,* but no mention of land.[i] His brother Nathaniel does not appear on the tax list at this time. Yes, John Austin was a slaveholder, but not on a large scale.

*“All slaves [“black polls”], male and female, between the ages of twelve and fifty were taxed.”[ii]

[i] White County, Tennessee Property and Poll Tax, 1811-1815, 1821-1825. (TSLA Roll #123)

[ii] Tennessee State Library and Archives, “Tennessee Taxation Information and Chart,” accessed May 24, 2020, https://tnsla.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/search/asset/22341/0.

1817 – John Austin now owned 154 acres on the “waters of H. Valley.” He was taxed a total of $2.83 ¼ for one white poll and one black poll. For the first time, John’s brother Nathaniel Austin appeared on a White County tax list for one white poll. He owned 175 acres on “Lost Creek.”[i]

[i] White County, Tennessee Property and Poll Tax, 1816-1818, 37.

About 1818 – Rachel Denny Austin, John’s wife, died about 1818. Rachel was probably the first person buried in the Austin Cemetery on the Nathaniel Haston farm.

About 1819 – Catherine married John Austin, Sr. in approximately 1819 and became the stepmother of Rachel’s seven children. In addition to the children she inherited as stepchildren, in the next 14 years or so Catherine had six children of her own.[i]

[i] Moore, 10-11.

Birth Place and Date for Catherine Haston

Probably Early 1790s

Austin family records assert that Catherine Haston was born on December 25, 1776 in Virginia. But Haston researchers have, to my knowledge, never discovered a specific date of her birth. I have never seen any documentation that supports the December 25, 1776 date. The birth date ranges for Catherine in the 1830 and 1840 census records indicate that she was born between 1791 and 1800. If so, she was born in Tennessee, probably in Washington County or Knox County. That would be consistent with what her oldest son, Pleasant Austin, reported regarding his mother: “She was a native of Tennessee and her entire life was passed in the State.”

Because she had at least two brothers born in the mid-1790s and decline of child-bearing potential occurs when a woman reaching her 40s, I suggest that Catherine was probably born in the early 1790s. Depending on how early in the 1790s she was born, would determine whether she was born in Washington County, Tennessee, Knox County, or somewhere in between.

How Did John Austin Become Acquainted with Catherine Haston?

Where John Austin lived in the Lost Creek community of upper northeast Hickory Valley, White County, TN, was a journey of ten miles to or from the Haston Big Spring Branch. So John Austin was not a close neighbor to Daniel Haston’s family, but the distance wasn’t insurmountable even by horse or foot. Even though the Big Spring Branch (Cummingsville) area was 10 or so “traveling miles” from Lost Creek, there was quite a bit of movement back and forth between the two communities. Lost Creek was considered to be in “upper” Hickory Valley.

But Daniel Haston’s neighbor, William Denny, may have been the key to connecting the widowed John Austin to the single Catherine Haston. Remember – John’s deceased wife (Rachel) was a sister of William Denny.

September 8, 1820 – Pleasant Austin, first son of John and Catherine, married Mary E. Warren on September 14, 1852. He died on July 6, 1900 and is buried in the Old Union Cemetery in White County, Tennessee. The 1850 census indicates that he was 27 years old. His tombstone and published biography[i] say he was born on September 8, 1820.

[i] Goodspeed, 17.

Pleasant Austin - Son of Catherine and John

Pleasant Austin, a prosperous agriculturist of the Second District, was born September 8, 1820, on the farm upon which he now resides. His parents were John and Catherine (Haston) Austin. The father was born January 6, 1779, in Virginia, of English descent. He immigrated to Tennessee at a very early day, where he died February 28, 1858. The mother is thought to have been of Dutch [German-speaking] descent. She was a native of Tennessee and her entire life was passed in the State. Our subject was brought up on the farm, and educated in the school of the vicinity. After attaining his majority he purchased land in the county and farmed about six years. At his father’s death he bought the homestead and moved to it, where he has since resided. He is a substantial, honorable, and worthy citizen. He is interested in the advancement of education and all beneficial enterprises. He is a Democrat. September 14, 1852, he was united in marriage to Mary E., daughter of Bluford and Sarah (Yates) Warren. The father was raised in Halifax, NC and the mother in Halifax, VA. The grandfather Yates lived to the unusual age of one hundred and twelve years. Mrs. Austin was born October 15, 1825, in Tennessee, and is the mother of John W., William Bluford, Robert S., Sarah Alice (wife of Norman Gist, who resides near Sparta), Flora C. (wife of Lewis Akins), James Mc. and Frank P.[i]

[i] Goodspeed, 17.

June 27, 1843 – Catherine Haston Austin died at this time and is buried in the Austin Cemetery in the Lost Creek Community. Other than the births of her children and her home context in the John Austin family, nothing more is known about the life of Catherine.

Austin-Anderson Cemetery

February 27, 1858 – At age 79, John Austin, Sr. died in an accident on his farm. He is buried in the Austin Cemetery in the Lost Creek community.

May 31, 1858 – Mary Ann Todd Austin, third wife and widow of John Austin, was granted a dower (widow’s share of her late husband’s estate) of 142 ¼ acres, which amounted to approximately one-third of John Austin’s land. This included “the late residence of the said John Austin, deceased.” Her land crossed “the road that leads to Sparta” and “the Lost Creek Road.”[i]

[i] White County, Tennessee Estate (Probate) Records, Books A-F (1807-1899). (TSLA microfilm Roll #152)

If you appreciated this article, please share it with others who might also enjoy it.

42 – Jacob and Lucinda Haston Mitchell

42 - Jacob and Lucinda Haston Mitchell

Lucinda Haston - Daughter of Daniel Haston

Jacob Mitchell was the son of Morris and Elizabeth Husong Mitchell (married 1781) who came to Tennessee from Washington County of western Pennsylvania. Morris was a Revolutionary War veteran and a Methodist preacher.

May 1, 1784 – The Morris Mitchell Bible record of births, marriages, and deaths in the Morris Mitchell family indicates Jacob Mitchell was born on this date.

Approximately 1804 (or later) – Although I have never seen the original family record from the Morris Mitchell Bible or even a photocopy of the original record, information on the record is widely known by genealogically inclined descendants of Morris and Elizabeth Mitchell. No date or location of their marriage is given, but the record states that Morris and Elizabeth’s son, Jacob Mitchell, married Loucinda [Lucina] Haston [Hasting]. Loucinda, was a daughter of Daniel Haston.

It was often common in those days for a man to purchase a farm before getting married. Maybe that was the case with Jacob and Lucinda. Some Mitchell family records indicate that their first child, Susan, was born in about 1810. If that is correct, they may have gotten married sometime after Jacob and the Hastons settled in White County and Jacob purchased his 50 acres on the Big Spring Branch, adjacent to Daniel Haston.

August 28, 1807 – On this date, Jacob’s 50 acres tract on the Big Spring Branch was officially located, although it had been “found” a few years earlier. Jacob was 23 years old at this time.

May 14, 1808 – Jacob Mitchell’s 50 acres “on the big spring branch of cane creek of the main caney fork” was surveyed. David Hasting and Isham Bradley were chain carriers.[i]

[i] Tennessee Land Records, RG [Records Group] 50, Box 112, 62, 67.

July 21 & 24, 1818 – Daniel Haston was indicted on July 21, 1818 for his assault on Jacob Mitchell. Daniel was fined fifty cents and the cost of the prosecution on a plea of guilty on July 24, 1818.[i]

[i] White County, Tennessee Minutes of the Court of Common Pleas, July 1818, 209, 227.

The grand Jurors returned into court with the following Bills of Indictments toWit: The State against Daniel Haston for an assault and battery committed upon the body of Jacob Mitchell founded on a presentment of the grand Jury “A true Bill” and again retired to consult further of presentments and Indictments. (July 21, page 209)

State vs. Daniel Hastin – Issd. Friday July 24^th 1818
Indt for A.T.B.
On Prest of Grand Jury This day came as well I.J. Campbell Esqr. as the defendant in his proper person who being arraigned and charged upon the bill of Indictment pleaded guilty thereto and for his trial put himself upon the grace and mercy of the court – It is therefore considered by the court, that the defendant for such his offence make his fine by the payment of fifty cents and the costs of this prosecution. (July 24, page 227)

Makes you wonder – What did Jacob do to cause his 65+-year-old father-in-law to assault him?

February 2, 1822 – Jacob Mitchell sold his 50 acres on Big Spring in White County to Pleasant White for $200, but it was not registered until September 4, 1837, fifteen years later (at which time Jacob Mitchell was not present, but Jacob Stipe vouched for him).[i]

[i] White County, Tennessee Deed Book K (microfilm #63), 257-258.

1830 – Morris Mitchell (Jacob’s father) and several members of his family were living in Roane County, Tennessee.[i] Jacob Mitchell appears on the 1830 census for Regiment 67 of Monroe County, Tennessee,* along with a wife and eight children (four girls and four boys).[ii] Jacob and Lucinda were in the “of 40 and under 50” age category. Jacob would have been about 46 years old. Lucinda would have been born between 1780 and 1790, according to this census.

[i] 1830; Census Place: Roane, Tennessee; Series: M19; Roll: 180; Page: 3; Family History Library Film: 0024538.

[ii] 1830; Census Place: Regiment 67, Monroe, Tennessee; Series: M19; Roll: 175; Page: 84; Family History Library Film: 0024533.

1834 – Morris and Elizabeth Mitchell, and other members of their family, moved from East TN to Polk County, Missouri in about 1834 and a few years following. Morris Mitchell was more than 70 years old at the time of the move! By 1840 there was a large Morris and Elizabeth Mitchell clan in southwestern Missouri.

Regarding Jacob Mitchell, LuAnn Penrod Smith stated, “The majority of the Mitchell family migrated to Missouri c. 1834 and Jacob no doubt went to Missouri, but can’t find him there, either, at least not in Polk County with the rest of the clan.”[i]

[i] LuAnn Penrod Smith, email to Wayne Haston, January 11, 2002.

Based on records of some of Jacob and Lucinda Mitchell’s purported children that we now have access to, it appears that Jacob and Lucinda lived in Washington County, Missouri before he appeared later in Greene County, south of where Jacob’s parents and some of his other family members settled. In the early 19^th century, Washington County, MO had a very active lead and iron mining industry. For example, in “1824 the mines near Potosi [county seat of Washington County] employed nearly 2,000 men, and lead ore sold at $10 per thousand.”[i] Perhaps Jacob worked in the mines before moving further west to Greene County.

[i] Goodspeed, Goodspeed’s Washington County [Missouri] History. (1888; reprinted, Signal Mountain, TN: Mountain Press, 2000), 14.

February 29, 1848 – After Morris Mitchell, Sr. died, the record of his estate settlement indicated that Jacob Mitchell was living in Greene County, Missouri. He purchased a colt, a cow, and a calf.

1850 – According to the 1850 census for the Van Buren Township of Crawford, Arkansas, Jacob Mitchell was living with his son Lorenzo D. Mitchell, a physician. Jacob was 65 years old, had no occupation at the time and was born in Tennessee.

There was no mention of Lucinda on Lorenzo’s census record. It appears that Daniel Haston’s daughter, Lucinda, died between the 1840 and 1850 census.

1860s – During the 1860s, Jacob Mitchell was living in the village of Ebenezer, MO. He made three minor real estate transactions there but seems to disappear before the 1870 census.

Mitchell Family Researchers' Opinions of Jacob Mitchell

Some descendants of Morris Mitchell who spent many years researching the family did not have very positive opinions of Jacob Mitchell. Virginia Mitchell Barry descended from Jacob, through his son Robert D. Mitchell. Virginia spent a “lifetime of research”[i] working on this family. She called Jacob, “this perplexing individual—Jacob Mitchell.” Virginia went on to say:

[i] Virginia Mitchell Barry, email to Wayne Haston, December 31, 2001.

Jacob Mitchell never seems to have owned much. In fact, I can only find property ownership of the 50 acres in White County, TN, and the minor real estate turn-around deal in Greene County when he purchased property from his supposed daughter-in-law and immediately sold it to his supposed grandson. The Morris Mitchell family seems to have all been prosperous go-getters and there is much documentation on most of that family. The only thing they have written about Jacob is that he married Lucinda Haston. If Jacob were an unsuccessful ne’er-do-well and if he were a member of the Morris Mitchell family, it is possible that they considered him an embarrassment and had little to do with him. There is evidence he owed money to several family members.[i]

[i] Virginia Mitchell Barry, email to Wayne Haston, November 10, 2000.

LuAnn Penrod Smith, a descendant of Jacob’s brother, Rev. James and Sarah/Sallie Nave Mitchell, stated, “He (Jacob) must have been a rebel in this family of Methodist ministers!” Morris Mitchell, Sr., a Methodist preacher himself, had three sons and ten grandsons who were Methodist preachers.[i] Jacob Mitchell had a lot to live up to!

[i] Van Hines Mitchell, 3.

If you appreciated this article, please share it with others who might also enjoy it.

Landon Medley Obituary

Landon Medley

October 6, 1949 - September 25, 2021

Whether you knew him personally or not, Landon Medley was a friend to all of us who are interested in researching and studying the history of our Daniel Haston family. Landon lived near the Daniel Haston family place and was steeped in a knowledge of local history–events, places, and people. Some of the Haston-history articles you have read on the Daniel Haston Family Association blog were enriched by input from Landon.

Landon was my go-to source for questions about Van Buren County, TN history. He and I worked on many research projects, including some that will now be put on hold. For example, we were planning for an upcoming Zoom meeting to discuss the history of Van Buren County. Landon was going to be our guest expert for that online session.

Landon Medley will be GREATLY missed by many of us who relied heavily on him for leadership and expertise related to the history of Van Buren and surrounding counties.

Obituary

Landon Darl Medley was born on October 6, 1949, to the late Jessie Lee “Dick” Medley and Dorthay Marie (Hale) Medley. He passed from life on Saturday, September 25, 2021 at St Thomas Midtown in Nashville after a short illness.

Landon was a lifelong resident of Van Buren County and a 1968 graduate of Van Buren High School. Landon retired from Mallory Controls in Sparta TN after more than 30 years of service.

In addition to his parents, Landon was preceded in death sister Martha Christine Whitworth and brother-in-law Lee “Wally” Martin Landon is survived by four sisters: Rosa “Bonnie” Buttrum (Walter) of Sparta, TN, Maggie Mills (Jim) of Spencer, TN, Wanda Martin of Spencer TN, and Judy Brown (Tommy) of Sparta, TN. He is also survived by brother-in-law Caroll McDonald of Doyle TN. Although he did not have any children of his own, Landon was active in the lives of his nieces and nephews: Christi Whitworth, Jessie Buttrum, Jamie Mills Saucier, Thomas Whitworth, Rachel Martin Scarlett, Jerry Buttrum, Edward Martin, Stephanie Clark, Kim Clark Kinnaird, and Katelyn Brown Boysel. And his great-nieces and nephews: Private Noah Sliger United States Army, Andrew Whitworth, Kensley Saucier, Amelia Scarlett, Landon Buttrum, Kathryn Scarlett, Hannah Kinnaird, Lennox Buttrum, Will Whitworth, Michael “Bill” Kinnaird, and Cadence Buttrum. Landon is also survived by Aunts and Uncle: Shella Forsythe (Don) of Sparta, TN, Gail Anderson of Sparta, TN, and Landon C Hale Jr. of Spencer, TN. Several cousins and friends also survive.

Landon dedicated his life to the preservation of history and the environment. He served as Van Buren County Historian for many years. Landon has written several books and journals about the History of Van Buren County. Landon was a founding member of the Van Buren Historical and Heritage Museum. He was always willing to assist anyone with research on their family tree and could recall most details from memory. Landon fought for the environment and the preservation of Fall Creek Falls State Park. He was a founding member of the Friends of Fall Creek Falls and served as president of Save Our Cumberland Mountains.

Landon was also a painter, primitive art designer, and avid fan of the St Louis Cardinals baseball team.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Van Buren County History and Heritage Museum 179 College St. Spencer, TN 38585

If you appreciated this article, please share it with others who might also enjoy it.

26 – The TÃ¤uferversteck – Hiding Place for Anabaptists

25 - The Täuferversteck - "Anabaptist Hiding Place"

Anabaptist hunters were employed in the 18th century. In 1734 two Anabaptist hunters were out and about to catch Christian Siegenthaler in the lower Hälig, Wüthrich zu Häuser, Hans Gerber, called “Stadler”, and David Baumgartner. The Anabaptist yegi were disturbed by the fact that the persecuted “were warned with horns, shooting, Scheyen and similar signs” and were able to flee or hide. In the family house Fankhauser in behind-huts is still under the “Bühni” an Anabaptist hiding place to visit. An unpleasant story happened in autumn 1726. Three Anabaptist hunters wanted to arrest the three Anabaptist women Anni Blaser von Langnau, as well as Elsbeth Schenk and Cathri Hofstetter, the mother and wife of the house owner Hans Baumgartner, in the windbreak above Kröschenbrunnen. This and two of his friends resisted and rightly stated that they were on Lucerne soil. Therefore nothing should be done to women. They made threats against the hunters: They want to show them the March! Baumgartner had pulled the knife, he would rather die before the hunters carry the women away. He and his friends have also uttered “appalling and terrible curses and words” against the Anabaptist hunters. They told the Anabaptist Wüthrich that he was a “bad Gsell, rogue,

The persecution of the Bernese Anabaptists lasted for more than three centuries. The Federal Constitution of 1848 finally brought them freedom of belief and conscience. –Source

The only known hiding place still in existence is the “Täuferversteck” located at the Fankhauser trapdoor leading to the hidden chamber home. Christen Fankhauser built a hidden chamber behind the place in his barn where the family smoked meats to preserve for the winter. There was a trapdoor that led to the room covered by straw. Except for family lore, the hideout was unknown to the public until the current owner’s wife, Regula, decided to research the history of the hideout. She became fascinated and decided to turn her farm into a museum and to open it to the public. Lore has it that because of her research into Anabaptist history, she became convicted and converted to Christianity. –Source

Share this with Hastons or related family members who might be interested in the June 14-27, 2023 Hiestand-Haston European Heritage Tour.

41 – Joseph Haston – Son of Daniel Haston

Joseph Haston - 2nd Son of Daniel

Joseph and David were probably the only two sons of Daniel who were born in Virginia. If we correctly understand the time of Daniel’s departure from Virginia, Joseph would have been three and a half years old when the family moved south. So it’s likely that he had some memories of the journey, and possibly some faint memories of life back in Shenandoah County.

Like David, most of Joseph’s “growing up years” happened in East Tennessee. As the oldest sons, the two of them would have learned early how to hunt and fish to keep the family fed. They would have had to work hard to cut down trees, construct cabins, chop wood for the fireplace, clear ground and till soil for crops, and even be prepared to protect the family from Indian attacks.

All of these early life experiences will forever remain lost to us. But as young adults in Knox County, the men they would become began to emerge. While some of the earlier events in Joseph’s timeline have been covered in previous chapters, here’s an overview of just about everything that I have learned about his life.

Unfortunately, there is less source documentation for Joseph than for Daniel and most of his other sons. Consequently, often I have been forced to rely on “unknown source” information passed down through the family, That information may be properly documented somewhere, but the sources are unknown to me in many cases.

Some Events in the Life of Joseph Haston and His Family

January 9, 1780 – Joseph Haston was born in the midst of the Revolutionary War era. His father, Daniel, was living in Powell’s Fort Valley on the Massanutten Mountain in Shenandoah County, Virginia at the time, so we assume that is where Joseph was born.

The source for Joseph’s birth date is a copy of a family Bible record. Dave R. Haston of Sparta, Tennessee sent the following information to Howard H. Hasting of San Antonio, Texas in a September 4, 1978 letter: “According to a family bible in the possession of Joe Walker of Tennessee Joseph Haston, who was born Jan. 9, 1780, married Sarah Ann Creely, who was born Nov. 7, 1785, and they had a son named James Alford Haston who was born Nov. 25, 1809.”

There’s not room here to tell you about all of Joseph and Sarah’s children. Post a question in the Heritage of Daniel Haston Facebook group or contact me through this site and I’ll tell you what I know about any of their children or put you in touch with someone who knows more about the family.

April 1798 – David (not quite age 21) and Joseph (age 18) were tried for cutting the tails off of two horned cows belonging to Nathaniel Hays, whose fence was apparently insufficient to contain the cows. David Hasting, Daniel Hasting, and John Miller put up a total of $100 in bond money for David and Joseph.

January 1800 – A legal dispute between Samuel Cowan and Joseph Hastings appears to have started at this time. It was settled on April 15, 1801.[i] Daniel, apparently, had leased land from John and Jane Woods, through their agent, James Charles. Joseph Haston broke down a fence which allowed Daniel’s swine to trample down a field (“timothy [hay] lot”). Samuel Cowan took Joseph to court, claiming that it was his field that was trampled, and he sued for $1000. Joseph said that he was just doing what Daniel told him to do. This case clearly indicates that Daniel’s home was on leased land and that Joseph was living with his father. The location of the field was “south of the Holston, opposite Knoxville.”

[i] Samuel Cowan vs. Joseph Hastings, Knox County, Tennessee Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions, Volume 3, 1800-1802, # 1235, 1385, original page 100.

William Charter, James Cunningham, and Sheriff Robert Houston were called upon to witness on behalf of Joseph. George Richards was a witness for Samuel Cowan. Daniel Heastings, Joseph Haston, and David Haston put up the bond of $2000. Joseph and David signed in their own handwriting. Daniel signed with a mark (“x”). Joseph was found not guilty.[i]

[i] Samuel Cowan vs. Joseph Hastings.

November 19, 1802 – Joseph Haston appeared in Guilford County, North Carolina shortly prior to this date. He produced, to the Guilford County Court, a power of attorney document giving him authority to carry out some action for his father (“Dannel Hastons”) in the estate settlement of James Roddey, of “Nox [sic] County” in Tennessee.[i] Chapter 29 contains more background to this James Roddey estate settlement.

[i] Guilford County, North Carolina County Court Minutes, Volume III (November 15, 1802), 227. Microfilm: P. Neg. C.046.30001

About 1806 – The exact date or location of Joseph Haston’s marriage to Sarah Ann Criely/Creely is unknown, but it was probably in or around 1806. According to a page from Dave Rhea Haston’s files, “Sarah Creely King* Haston” was born November 7, 1788.**

July 22, 1806 – The name “Joseph Haston” appeared six signatures above his father, “Dannel Hasstont,” on this petition to form a new country from Jackson County, Tennessee.[i] Joseph’s name was number seventy-nine on the petition, just below his brother-in-law Jacob Mitchell who follows their friend, Isham Bradley.

[i] Legislative Petition # 5-1-1806, “Petition for the Formation of White County from Jackson County, Tennessee.” (Nashville, TN: Tennessee State Library and Archives).

November 25, 1807 – Joseph and Sarah’s first son, James Alford* Haston, was born at this time.[i] *Although records often spell his middle name “Alfred,” it is spelled “Alford” on the Joe Walker Bible record and John Taylor Haston, son of James A. Haston spelled it “Alford” on his 1922 Civil War Questionnaire

[i] Joe Walker family Bible record, in possession of Lemon Graham, copied by Earl Madewell.

James Alford was a prominent civic leader in Van Buren County, serving about 20 years as a Justice of the Peace.[i]

[i] “John Taylor Haston.”

September 20, 1808 – Joseph purchased 50 acres of land in the Third District on the Big Spring Branch, adjacent to Isham Bradley’s 50 acres, as per grant # 550. Like the grants issued to Daniel, Isham Bradley, and Jacob Mitchell, Joseph’s grant was purchased from Thomas Dillon as a part of Dillon’s certificate No. 63. As far as we know, this was the first land Joseph owned, but he wouldn’t own it long.

February 15, 1809 – On the same day that brothers Joseph and David Haston witnessed the Isham Bradley to Charles Mitchell transaction (above) they made a land deal between themselves. For the price of $200, Joseph Hastin sold to David Hastin the 50 acres of land (Grant # 550) that Joseph purchased a few months earlier. The land was adjacent to that of Isham Bradley and Jacob Mitchell. Isham Bradley, Charles Mitchell, and John Miller witnessed the transaction.[i]

Joseph only held this property for about five months.

[i] White County, Tennessee Deed Book B, 1809-1810, 107-109.

1823 – Daniel Hastin, David Hastin, Joseph Hastin, and Isaac Hastin appeared on this “taxable property and polls” list in Captain Parker’s Company. The listing was taken by D. Hasting, Esq. Daniel’s name reappears on this tax roll, but only has 50 acres situated on Cane Creek, as compared to the 150 acres he owned since 1808. Joseph’s total tax was 1.61 3/4. Now Joseph has 70 acres (listed as being on Cane Creek), instead of 20 acres. He was charged tax for one white poll.[i]

[i] White County, Tennessee Property and Poll Tax, 1821-1825, 101. (original books)

The 50 acres added to Joseph’s land was his inheritance from his father, Daniel. It was located between the acreage that David and Isaac received from Daniel.

July 19, 1824 – Joseph Hasting was “this day appointed a constable for the full space and term of two years from the date hereof, and thereupon took the oath to support the constitution of the United States, the State of Tennessee and the oath of office, together with the several oaths prescribed by law, and together with David Hasting and Arthur Parker entered into and acknowledge bond in the sum of two hundred and fifty pounds, conditioned as the law requires.”[i] This appointment was made just about five years prior to Joseph’s death. One would think that Joseph must have appeared to be in good health at this time, in order to be appointed as constable.

[i] White County, Tennessee Court Minutes, 1824-1827, Part 1, 43.

The Role of Constables

Based on English law and practice, constables were an important part of law enforcement in early America. They were, in essence, the “arm of the law” in local communities. Constables were elected for a term of two years.

County courts in Tennessee nominated and appointed one constable for each militia district. A constable was required to be a person of “good character” and to swear an oath that he would, among other things, “arrest all such persons” who rode or went “armed offensively” or that “commit or make any riot, affray, or other breach of the peace,” and “apprehend all felons and rioters or persons riotously assembled.” “If any such offenders shall make resistance with force,” they were ordered to execute and return all lawful precepts” as directed to them “without delay.”

Two constables were required to attend each session of a county or circuit court and were paid $1.00 per day for doing so. They were entitled to receive four per cent commission on all money they collected.[i]

[i] John Haywood, Robert L. Cobbs, James A. Whiteside, Jacob P. Chase, The Statute Laws of the State of Tennessee of a Public and General Nature, Volume 1. (Knoxville, TN: General Assembly of Tennessee, 1831), 47-50.

July 23, 1827 – In his will created on this date, Joseph bequeathed all of his property to Sarah, “for the use of the family and the raising of my small children.” The will was witnessed by William Denny, John S. Parker, and Isham Bradley.[i]

[i] White County, Tennessee Inventories and Wills, 92; White County, Tennessee Inventories and Old Wills, 1831-1840, 152.

Joseph Haston's Will

In the name of God, Amen, I Joseph Haston, of the County of White and State of Tennessee, being weak of body but of sound mind and disposing memory for which I thank God and calling to mind the uncertainty of human life, and being desirous to dispose of all such worldly substance as it has pleased God to bless me with after resigning my soul to God and my body to be buried. I do give and bequeath to my beloved wife, Sarah, all my worldly substance with real and personal, to make use of as she thinks proper for the use of the family and the raising of my small children. So long as she may remain a widow and if she should marry my will and desire is that after my wife taking one third part of all my estate the balance to be equally divided amongst my children to be enjoyed by them and their heirs forever, hereby revoking all other wills, testaments by me herefore made. I witness of I have here unto set my hand and seal this 23rd July 1827. Joseph Haston (seal) Signed, sealed, published and delivered to be my last will and Testament in the present of William Denny, John S. Parker, Isham Bradley State of Tennessee, White Co.

Before 1830 – Apparently, Joseph Haston died shortly prior to the 1830 Federal Census. He is buried in the Big Fork Cemetery very close to where he lived.

November 1859 – Sarah Haston died of croup in November 1859. As could be expected given her age, she had no occupation, profession, or trade. She was ill two days before dying, according to the record.

Yell County, Arkansas

Yell County, Arkansas became a popular settling spot for several of Daniel Haston’s descendants. According to Colonel Howard H. Hasting, a branch of the Haston family (mainly Joseph’s family, but not exclusively) moved to Yell County, Arkansas late in 1879.[i] They mainly settled in the northeast section of Yell County, in and between Danville and Dardanelle, Magazine Township especially.

[i] Hasting, “The Daniel Haston Family,” 32.

Malinda Haston Howard and her family also lived in Magazine Township of Yell County. Her husband William died in 1859 (probably in Tennessee), but Malinda (daughter of Joseph and Sarah Haston) moved to Yell County, Arkansas, and lived there for the remainder of her life.[i]

[i] “Joseph H. Howard,” Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Yell County, Arkansas,” (n.p.: The Southern Publishing Company, 1891). 157.

Joseph and Sarah's Family and the Civil War

William Leonard Dale, Joseph and Sarah's Son-in-Law

Amanda Haston, born in 1831, may have been born shortly after the death of her father. She married William Leonard Dale on March 14, 1858, in White County, Tennessee. William L. Dale was a private in the Confederate Company E of Major Stephen H. Colm’s 1^st Tennessee Infantry Battalion.[i] Company E was comprised of many men from White County, under Captain William M. Simpson.[ii] He enlisted in the Confederate Army on January 4, 1863.

[i] National Park Service. U.S., Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.

[ii] FamilySearch, “1st ( Colm’s ) Tennessee Infantry Battalion,” accessed July 31, 2021, https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/1st_Battalion,_Tennessee_Infantry_(Colms%27)_(20th_Battalion)_(Confederate).

[iii] Fold3, “William L. Dale,” accessed July 31, 2021, https://www.fold3.com/image/68088210; 68088215.

The Federal Army’s siege of Port Hudson (March 21, 1863 – July 9, 1863), a Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, was the longest siege in American military history, 48 days. During the Union Siege of Port Hudson, Confederate soldiers were reduced to eating nearly anything they could get their hands on, including horses, mules, dogs, cats, and even rats. William joined the Federal Army after being taken a prisoner in Port Hudson, Louisiana and was reported by the Confederates to be a deserter on January 21, 1864.[iii]

This leaves me wondering if the bushwhackers were Federal sympathizers who hanged William Leonard Dale because he was trying to desert the Union Army he had joined under pressure or Confederate sympathizers who hanged him because he had joined the Union Army. Either option is possible, since most of his southern Hickory Valley neighbors were passionately pro-Confederacy with several local “sons” in the army, but in 1864 Federal troops were roaming all over White and surrounding counties.

Wiley B. Haston (son of Joseph & Sarah)

Wiley B. Haston, son of James Alford and Lavina King Haston, was mortally wounded in the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky on October 8, 1862 and died the following day.

Willie B. Haston enlisted as a private in the Confederate Company I of the Sixteenth Tennessee Voluntary Infantry Regiment on May 20, 1861 at Camp Harris in Estill Springs of Franklin County, Tennessee. This regiment was made up of volunteers from Warren, Van Buren, White, and surrounding Middle Tennessee Counties.

Approximately 36,000 soldiers fought in the battle—20,000 Union and 16,000 Confederate, with 7,621 total casualties (killed or wounded) in one afternoon. The Sixteenth Tennessee suffered 219 casualties out of 370 engaged—59.2 % (most of any regiment). Willie B. Haston’s company, along with other companies in the Sixteenth, was ordered to charge uphill into the face of two batteries of cannons (one on their right, another on their left) that were firing canister shots (closed tin cylinder typically loosely filled with round lead or iron balls) into their ranks. As it turned out there was also a Wisconsin line of Federals behind a fence between the two batteries.

The Sixteenth Tennessee Regiment fought valiantly in its first major battle and the Confederates eventually captured the knobs defended by the Union Army. But because there were 35,000 Federal troops being held in reserve, General Braxton Bragg ordered his much smaller army to retreat to Tennessee.

Wiley B. Haston’s body was not interred at the battle field as were many others, but was claimed by the family. According to a story passed down through the family, “Burdin Wheeler and John T. Haston [Wiley B.’s brother] brought the body home to Spencer” and it was buried in an unmarked grave beside James A. [his father] in the town cemetery.”[i]

[i] Dwight Haston, email to Dave R. Haston, December 8, 1973.

John Taylor Haston - Prisoner of War

The cavalry took up the rear, and I yet remember seeing John T. Haston in line, and he gave me some rations. John is yet living, and has his wings up, has never sold out for a mess of pottage and never will. If I go to war again, I want John with me.

-Carroll H. Clark’s Diary

John Taylor Haston (April 25, 1844 – January 2, 1923) enlisted in Colonel Murray’s Fourth Tennessee Confederate Cavalry at Chattanooga, Tennessee on June 14, 1862. Six of his Haston relatives joined this unit on the same date—James Hastin, James M. Hastin, John L. Hastin, Miles H. Hastin, Richmond Hastin, William Hastin, and William S. Hastion.[i] They were all in Captain George W. Carter’s Company A.

[i] John C. Rigdon, Historical Sketch and Roster of the Tennessee 4^th Cavalry Regiment (Murray’s). (Cartersville, GA: Eastern Digital Resources, 205), 39.

Like his brother’s (Wiley B. Haston’s) regiment, the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry marched to Kentucky and fought in the Battle of Perryville just 117 days later. John Taylor’s cavalry’s unit fared much better than his brother’s infantry, with only one killed and two wounded.[i]

[i] Rigdon, 17.

On 16 September 16, 1863, while attempting to visit his family, he was captured at Sparta, Tennessee, and sent to the military prison at Louisville, Kentucky. In October 1863, he was transferred to Camp Morton in Indianapolis, Indiana.* Camp Morton has been called a “Den of Misery,” one of the most inhuman northern Civil War prison camps operated by the Union Army.[i]

[i] James R. Hall, Den of Misery: Indiana’s Civil War Prison. (Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Company, 2006).

He was paroled and released on May 22, 1865, which was late in the process of emptying the camp. His prison record shows that he was of dark complexion, with dark hair and eyes and 5 ft. 5 1/2 ins. tall.

If you appreciated this article, please share it with others who might also enjoy it.

25 – Swiss Home of Albert Einstein

25 - The Home of Albert Einstein in Bern, Switzerland

On Friday, June 23, 2023, our Hiestand-Haston Tour group will visit the home where Einstein discovered the theory of relativity.

Albert Einstein lived in Bern from 1903 to 1905 and developed his Theory of Relativity here. The Einstein House gives visitors a chance to see where the great physicist completely revolutionized our understanding of space and time.

Albert Einstein spent part of his life in Bern. He came to the Swiss capital in 1902 and took up a post at the federal patent office. In 1903, he and his wife, Mileva, moved into an apartment in the third floor of Kramgasse 49, in the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Today, the apartment is open to tourists. It is furnished in the style of Einstein’s time and documents the life of the physicist during his years in Bern. This period included 1905 – Einstein’s annus mirabilis (extraordinary year) – which was his most creative period of scientific discovery.

Share this with Hastons or related family members who might be interested in the June 14-27, 2023 Hiestand-Haston European Heritage Tour.

40 – Herbert Clinton Haston – Grandson of Montgomery Greenville Haston

40 - Herbert Clinton Haston, Grandson of Montgomery G. Haston

The 1880 census record for D.L. (David Levander) and Virginia Riddles Haston

A three-year-old boy, by the name of Herbert C. Hemphill, appears “In family” on the 1880 census record of David L. and Virginia Haston. For decades, many people in the Daniel Haston family have wondered about this boy. Who were his parents? How did he end up in the David L. Haston household sometime shortly prior to 1880?

“Clint” as he was generally known, was reared by D.L. and Virginia. He took on the “Haston” family name during his childhood. Clint’s adult life is well documented in public records and by memories passed down through his family. As it has turned out, the identity of his birth parents was also clearly documented, but in a source that remained hidden until August 2021.

Here’s what we now know….

The Birth Father of Clint Haston

In April of 2021, Max Haston (great-grandson of Clint Haston) submitted DNA to FamilyTreeDNA for a Y-DNA test (test to identify male ancestral lineage). Results from the test clearly connected him with a Hemphill family. But initial searches for a Hemphill person living in White County or Van Buren County, Tennessee in the 1870s were futile. Fortunately, there was an active Hemphill family group in FamilyTreeDNA and members of that group were eager to know how Max was connected to them. Brian Hemphill, with whom Max’s DNA most closely matched, reported that his ancestor Samuel Corydon Hemphill moved from Michigan to Bledsoe County, Tennessee in the early 1870s. And there were stories in this Hemphill family of Samuel having illegitimate children. As it turned out, Samuel C. Hemphill lived at Bradden Knob in the western edge of Bledsoe County, less than a mile east of the Van Buren County line (at or near the location of the fire tower that is now inside the Fall Creek Falls State Park). And Van Buren County was where David Levander and Virginia Riddles Haston lived. Bingo! Now there was a clue to work with.

That key clue unlocked a lot of information about Samuel C. Hemphill. He was born in Ohio, but lived in Michigan prior to moving to Bledsoe County, Tennessee. He fought for the Union in the Civil War and was wounded seriously enough at the Battle of Franklin to receive a discharge and a later pension. His first wife died in Michigan and he remarried shortly before moving to Tennessee. Children were being born to his second wife during the same period that Herbert Clinton Hemphill was born. And, even though he lived in the edge of Bledsoe County, he owned land in Van Buren County and had connections with Van Buren County people.

The Birth Mother of Clint Haston

DNA, by itself, cannot determine a connection to a specific ancestor–it can only connect to a general family and an approximate time period. So, two important questions remained to be answered:

Which Hemphill man was the father of Herbert Clinton Hemphill? Was it Samuel C. Hemphill, one of his adult sons–who apparently didn’t live in Tennessee–or another, yet unknown, Hemphill man?
Who was the mother of Herbert Clinton Hemphill? Was she a relative of David L. and Virginia Haston? A neighbor and friend of theirs? Or, just an unconnected unwed mother who needed a family to care for her unplanned baby? Did she die in childbirth or simply wasn’t in a position to keep the baby?

Fortunately, the answer to both of those big questions was located in an obscure Van Buren County court record. In those days, births of illegitimate children were required to be reported to the county court and assurance had to be given that the child would not become the responsibility of the county. That process was discussed in a previous article, “The Mystery of the Mother of Montgomery Greenville Haston.”

Van Buren County Court records for the 1870s have not (as of 2021) been transcribed. So I placed an order at the Tennessee State Library and Archives in Nashville, TN to have the microfilm containing those court records to be digitized. Then, once I received them, I began going through them, one page at a time until I discovered the following March 1878 records:

Note: The mother should have reported this birth more than a year earlier, according to the state law.

The Bond to Bind S.C. Hemphill to Be Responsible for the Child

The Legal Adoption of Herbert Clinton Myers-Hemphill

What happened to Samuel Corydon Hemphill's legal responsibility to rear Clinton, as his own legally-born child? Although I have found no court document that approved the change of guardianship, apparently Hemphill convinced D.L. and Virginia Haston to assume that responsibility--perhaps even paid them to do so. It seems that D.L. and Virginia were not able to have children born to them, so they probably welcomed the opportunity to have a son in their family.

Who Was Josie (Josephine) Myers?

The obvious next question was who was this Josie Myers? There were several branches of a Myers (or Myres or Meyers) family that lived near D.L. and Virginia Haston. But Emily Josephine (Josie) Myers was the daughter of Lansden E. and Jane Easton Hill Myers. According to her grave marker, she was born in 1856, which (slightly) contradicts some census records.

Here’s some more of we know about Josie:

The Myers Cemetery, supposedly founded by Lansden E. Myers, is located about 3 1/2 miles east of where D.L. and Virginia Haston lived. There is evidence to suggest that Lansden E. Myers (father of Josie) and his family may have lived at or near where the cemetery is located. If so, they would have only lived a few (but widely separated) houses up the mountain from D.L. and Virginia Haston.

Josie first married James Madison Steakley in Van Buren County on December 30, 1877, about 15 1/2 months after Clinton Myers/Hemphill was born. When Herbert Clinton Hemphill was living in the D.L. Haston household in 1880, Josie was age 22, the wife of M. Steakley, with a son (William S.) age 9 months. James M. Steakley died July 27, 1887.

Josie Myers Steakley married John William Francisco on March 16, 1889, in Van Buren County. They were living in Bell County, TX before February 1892. Josie and John had three children, in addition to the two (or three) Steakley children born to Josie and James M. Steakley.

John and Josie were buried in the Oplin Cemetery in Callahan, Texas.

But There is Much More to Clint Haston's Story

The addition of Clint Haston to the Daniel Haston family created a Haston branch, off of the Daniel Haston > David Haston > Montgomery Greenville Haston line that has represented the Haston name proudly and nobly.

More about this in a later article.

If you appreciated this article, please share it with others who might also enjoy it.

24 – The City of Bern, Switzerland and the Famous Clock Tower

24 - The World Famous Zytglogge (Clock Tower) in Bern

On Friday, June 23, 2023, our Hiestand-Haston Heritage tour group will watch the famous clock tower turn to a new hour.

Built in the early 13th century as a gate tower for the city’s western fortifications, Zytglogge has served over the years as a guard tower, prison, clock tower, center of urban life and civic memorial. Despite the many renovations it has undergone in its 800 years of existence, Zytglogge is one of Bern’s most recognizable symbols and, along with its 15th-century astronomical clock, a major tourist attraction.

Like any similar clock throughout Europe, the one at Zytglogge has moving pieces that go through a small routine every hour. Father time flips the hourglass, the carpenter strikes the hammer on the bell, and several other small animations make their hourly dance; however, this dance does not start at the top of the hour! In order to see the animations, make sure you arrive at least five minutes before the hour as the dance starts four minutes prior and a crowd will gather. Experience a wonderful example of the Swiss tradition of timekeeping – how often do you see an 800-year-old clock?

Keep in mind that mass transit (buses & streetcars) does not stop during that time so beware of traffic at the intersection. Source

See the Zytglogge (Clock Tower) in Action

Be patient – it takes a few minutes to complete the cycle.

Share this with Hastons or related family members who might be interested in the June 14-27, 2023 Hiestand-Haston European Heritage Tour.

39 – Montgomery G. Haston – His Civic Service and Civil War Experience

39 - M. G. Haston - His Civic Service and Civil War Experience

Montgomery Greenville Haston is one of my most respected early Haston heroes! I want to tell you why.

Montgomery Greenville (M.G. or “Gum”) Haston lived a relatively short life even for his era, only about 45 (or 46) years. When he was about 15 ½ years old, Van Buren County, Tennessee was created. For a few years in the mid-1850s, M.G. moved his young family to Georgia to join members of his father-in-law’s family. But most of his adult life was spent in Van Buren County.

Some unofficial documents give his middle name as “Greenfield.” But the oldest daughter of the former Van Buren County, Sheriff Montgomery G. Haston (1898-1936), stated that her father was named after his grandfather, the M.G. Haston who is the subject of this chapter, and the middle name was definitely “Greenville.”[i]

[i] Dorothy Jean Haston Basham, phone conversation with Jean Ann Haston Hall, June 27, 2020.

He certainly made his impact on that young county, early and often rising to positions of leadership. During his life, he served civically in a variety of roles: Constable in the Van Buren County Fourth and Third districts, Van Buren County Fourth District Justice of Peace, Van Buren County Tax Collector, and Captain in the Home Guard for his district.

M.G. Haston's Early Life

For 100+ years, no one seem to know how he fit into the extended Daniel Haston family. But now we know. In the two previous articles you saw that his mother was almost certainly Mary “Polly” Haston, the 2nd oldest child of David and Peggy Roddy Haston. So he was a grandson of David Haston and a great-grandson of Daniel Haston. He was born two or three years prior to the death of Daniel Haston, so Daniel may have held him but M.G. would probably not have had memories of Daniel Haston.

You also saw that he was an illegitimately born child–a “bastard.” Today, that word is a curse word. In M.G.’s lifetime, it was a nasty “b word” that carried a curse with it.

Under English common law, children born out of lawful wedlock were classed as bastards. In the eyes of the law they had no parents, no kindred, and no ancestors. They were not, then, entitled to a surname except such as they won for themselves by reputation, and they were heirs-in-law of no one. The great majority of them were apprenticed at a tender age to a master and condemned to a lowly existence. Bastards ordinarily assumed the surnames of their birth mothers, but they otherwise suffered all of the common-law disabilities. Bastard children were thus disadvantaged from their birth.

George Stevenson, “Bastardy,” NCpedia

A few years after he was born, his mother married William (“Black Bill”) Lewis and he grew up in that Lewis family, at least part of the time. Can you imagine how his peers, including his Lewis step-siblings, used the “bastard” label against him?!

And to make matters even worse for M.G. Haston, his birth-father was very probably his uncle, Arthur Mitchell, Jr. – the husband of his mother’s sister. Certainly, this must have put him in an awkward situation sometimes within the Haston family.

BUT – historical evidence suggests that he was loved among his Haston relatives, especially his Haston grandparents’ family, the David and Peggy Haston family.

Some Highlights of M.G. Haston's Life

The great majority of them (illegitimate children) were apprenticed at a tender age to a master and condemned to a lowly existence.

M.G. Haston was not like the “great majority” of base-born (common term of that era for illegitimately born children). He would not allow himself to be “condemned to a lowly existence!”

August 4, 1845 – Five months after his assignment to a road crew, Montgomery G. Haston shows up in the Van Buren County Court in August 1845 with a certificate showing that he had been elected as constable of the 4^th district in Van Buren County. While there, he took the oaths for that office. The Fourth District began just east of the Big Spring Branch and David Haston place and included the entire Cane Creek area.

Think about it—he was age 21 or maybe not quite 21 years old and he was elected to be a constable! He must have been a tough dude with a high degree of community ethos! In those days especially, the job of a constable was a tough one. Constables were largely responsible for law and order in their districts. Montgomery must have been well respected in his district and deemed capable of fighting crime and apprehending and arresting criminals.

October 5, 1846 – Montgomery G. Haston was appointed to be an overseer of a crew to open a road from Denny’s still house to the limekiln on the side of the mountain, a second-class road. William Lewis (his stepfather) and David Lewis (his half brother), as well as Isaac Haston, Carrel [sic] Haston, James W. Haston, John Haston, and several others were on Montgomery’s crew—it was a large road crew, more than 20 men. This was quite an assignment for a 22-year-old man, especially with his stepfather, half-brother, and four Haston relatives on his crew.[i] Surely it tells us something about his leadership abilities. David Haston was one of the justices who made this appointment. I can’t help but wonder if David Haston was behind this assignment in order to prove something to some of these men on the crew, as well as build Montgomery’s confidence and self-esteem.

[i] Van Buren County Court Minutes, April 1840-May 1855, 182.

March 27-28, 1847 – On the 27^th of March 1847, M.G. Haston and Rachel Wheeler received their marriage license and were married the next day by David Haston, Justice of the Peace. Rachel Wheeler was born in 1829.[i] Her parents were Burdin (or Burden) and Sally McReynolds Wheeler.

[i] Van Buren County Court Minutes, April 1840-May 1855, page 19 in the marriage records section following page 38 of the 1840 court minutes.

July 5, 1847 – George Wender (or Winder), an orphan boy about 17 years of age, chose M.G. Haston (about age 23) to tutor him, which required a bond. David Haston was serving as a Justice of the Peace for this session.[i]

[i] Van Buren County, Tennessee Court Minutes, April 1840-May 1855, 209.

September 24, 1848 – Birth of David Lavender (D.L.) Haston. M.G. and Rachel’s first child was born at this time.

According to the family Bible, Montgomery and Rachel’s first child was named David L. (Lavender) Haston. We don’t know for sure if M.G. and Rachel’s son was named for David Haston. But when you study the pattern of Haston relationships in his life, the evidence is quite strong that Montgomery and Rachel were honoring David Haston, the father of Mary/Polly Haston, by giving their first son the name David.

If Polly’s illegitimately-born son lived with David and Peggy Haston for the first three years of his life, David would have been Montgomery’s surrogate father in those formative years. And since the boy didn’t have a birth-father who could and would take care of him, David would probably have taken a special interest him, perhaps more so than his other grandsons. And the bonding that would have happened in those first three years would have been tight and permanent, assuming the relationship was as loving as evidence seems to indicate it was in the David Haston family. So it seems only natural that Montgomery and Rachel’s first son would have been named David.

January 2, 1854 – M.G. Haston and David Lewis (probably the half-brother of M.G. Haston), had recently been involved in a brawl: State vs. David Lewis and M.G. Haston (affray). M.G. and David were charged $4.00 (apparently $2.00 each) for the court costs.[i]

[i] Van Buren County Court Minutes, April 1840-May 1855, 442.

After January 1854 to or before November 3, 1858 – M.G. Haston and his family moved to Walker County, GA for a few years. The answer to why he went to Walker County, Georgia is connected to his wife’s family, the Wheelers. Rachel’s father was Birden Wheeler, a brother of John Riley Wheeler who had a mercantile business in the Sequatchie Valley.

John Riley Wheeler, Rachel’s uncle, moved his mercantile business from Bledsoe (soon to become Sequatchie) County, Tennessee to the Cedar Grove community of Walker County, Georgia (south of Chattanooga, TN) at, or about, the same time M.G. moved his family there from Van Buren County. They very possibly traveled together. Maybe M.G. was seeking to make a quick small-fortune as a merchant with Rachel’s Uncle Riley. And as a consolation, there his illegitimate birth would have been unknown—sheltering him from conflicts with his Lewis half-brothers and others.

November 3, 1858 – On November 3 1858 M.G. Haston bought four tracts of land (1,163 acres more or less) from Nathan Durham at a price of $900 in Van Buren County, Tennessee.[i]

[i] Van Buren County, Tennessee Deed Book B, 548-549.

April 2 & 3, 1860 – M.G. Haston was a Justice of the Peace in this April 1860 court term. He presented his commission and was sworn in and entered into the duties of the office.[i]

[i] Van Buren County, Tennessee County Court Minutes, June 1855-December 1860, 376.

October 1, 1860 – M.G. Haston, along with John M. Billingsly and D.P. Myers, was a judge in the 4th district for the 1860 presidential election. This was the election in which Abraham Lincoln was elected, the election that ultimately precipitated the Civil War.[i]

[i] Van Buren County, Tennessee County Court Minutes, June 1855-December 1860, 422.

December 3, 1860 – M.G. Haston and William C. Haston were appointed to lay off and set apart to Nancy Jane Myers, widow of Dillard P. Myers deceased, one year support and report the same to the next term of court.[i]

[i] Van Buren County, Tennessee County Court Minutes, June 1855-December 1860, 432.

NOTE: D.P. Myers was a younger brother of Lansden E. Myers, who was the father of “Josie Myers” that will play an important role in the next article in this series.

June 3 & 4, 1861 – M.G. Haston, one of the Justices of the Peace in this session, was appointed on Tuesday, June 4, as Captain of the Home Guard in the Fourth District of Van Buren County. J.J. Walker was the 1^st Lieutenant and W. Wheeler the 2^nd Lieutenant.[i]

[i] Van Buren County, Tennessee County Court Minutes, January 1861-June 1866, 60, 66.

July 1, 1861 – M.G. Haston was appointed to be the man in the Fourth District to look after the “wives and children of the volunteers now in the service of our country” and report their needs to the chairman of the county court.[i]

[i] Van Buren County, Tennessee County Court Minutes, January 1861-June 1866, 67, 72, 74.

July 2, 1861 – Tennessee Admitted to the Confederacy

April 7, 1862 – William C. Haston, David’s youngest son (and M.G. Haston’s “younger uncle”), was elected as Sheriff, as of March 1, 1862. In this April 7 session, Isaac T. Hastin, Mongumry [sic] G. Hastin, and John J. Walker entered into a couple of bonds as his securities. One bond was priced at $12,000 and there was another for $500.[i] W.C. Haston had previously served as constable in the Third District and Deputy Sheriff for the county.[ii] Being the County Sheriff during the Civil War must have been a hugely challenging job!

[i] Van Buren County, Tennessee County Court Minutes, January 1861-June 1866, 108-109.

[ii] Van Buren County, Tennessee County Court Minutes, January 1861-June 1866, 65.

Apparently in preparation for the impending first Confederate Conscription Act, “This day the Chairman in open court appointed…men, one in each civil district of Van Buren County, to take down in these districts respectively all the able bodied men thence subject to military duty over the age of eighteen and under fifty five years old and report the same immediately to Adjutant General of the State of Tennessee.” W.C. Haston was the appointed man in the Third District and M.G. Haston was appointed for the task in the Fourth District.” Both of these men were well within the age-range specified for the lists.[i]

[i] Van Buren County, Tennessee County Court Minutes, January 1861-June 1866, 110.

Montgomery G. Haston was voted in to fill the office of Revenue Collection (Tax Collector) for two years.

November 3 & 4, 1862 – M.G. Haston was one of the Justices in this term of court. He was appointed to “enroll the Confederates of Van Buren County” in his Fourth District, as were all of the other Justices of the Peace for their districts, including William C. Haston for the Third District.[i]

[i] Van Buren County, Tennessee County Court Minutes, January 1861-June 1866, 132.

March 2, 1863 – M.G. Haston resigned as the Confederate enrolling officer for the Fourth District of Van Buren County. No reason was stated.[i]

[i] Van Buren County, Tennessee County Court Minutes, January 1861-June 1866, 150.

April 6, 1863 – M.G. Haston, Esqr. resigned his office as Justice of the Peace for the Fourth District of Van Buren County. He also resigned from his office of Tax Collector for Van Buren County at the same time. Perhaps it was becoming clear to him that the county government was facing a shutdown. But he did submit a report of lands and lots and their owners, as well as the amount of taxes they had not paid.[i]

[i] Van Buren County, Tennessee County Court Minutes, January 1861-June 1866, 156, 161.

M.G. Haston's Confederate Military Experiences

At the time M.G. Haston resigned his public offices in Van Buren County, he was approaching 40 years of age. He owned more than 1000 acres, was married with a wife and several young kids to feed and care for, and had been fulfilling some key roles in trying to hold the county together during a very difficult time. But Middle Tennessee was on the brink of being overcome by Federal soldiers.

In the spring of 1863, M.G. Haston and other citizens of surrounding counties knew they were facing the possibility of a Federal Army occupation. And they knew what occupation by enemy troops would mean. Pro-southern guerilla fighters–some of whom were nothing more than thieves, robbers, and murderers–were dangerous enough. But a massive occupation by Federal troops would be devastating to farms and their families.

The only thing preventing that occupation was the Army of Tennessee under the leadership of General Braxton Bragg. But Bragg’s army had fought to a draw in Murfreesboro’s Battle of Stone’s River and retreated to take a stand at Tullahoma. Bragg, and all of western Middle Tennessee, were facing the realities of (1) a win at Tullahoma and a forced retreat of the Union Army, or (2) a surrender of south-central Tennessee to a swarming army of enemy soldiers.

M.G. Haston joined Company C of the 35^th Regiment Tennessee Infantry as a private on June 16, 1863.[i] He enrolled in McMinnville for a term of service of three years or the entire war, with Colonel Nixon as his enrolling officer.

[i] “M.G. Haston,” Fold3.com, accessed June 6, 2020, https://www.fold3.com/image/76762118?terms=haston,40.

Tullahoma (TN) Campaign - June 24 - July 3, 1863

After a few days of positioning and fighting in miserable rain, General Bragg chose to retreat to Chattanooga. Much to the disappointment of many of his troops, especially those recruited from southcentral Tennessee, Bragg left businesses, farms, and families (especially pro-Southern families) wholly unprotected.

Immediately, many of the Confederate volunteers from that local area began to desert, to go home to protect their wives, children, and property. The defensive mode became personal to many of them, the dike had burst and the flood of enemy raiders was at hand.

M.G. Haston remained with Bragg and the Army of Tennessee in the retreat to “Tanner’s Station” (Tyner), east of Chattanooga. He reported for the July 17, 1863 muster there. But deserted on July 31.

Some Thoughts About M.G. Haston's Civil War Experience

For a starter, let me say: I do not think M.G. Haston deserted because he was a coward.

The most thorough and best documented book on this topic is More Damning than Slaughter: Desertion in the Confederate Army by Mark A. Weitz.[i] Weitz states: “Studies to date suggest that deserters were not cowards, or at least most of them were not. When it struck, desertion took quality soldiers and undermined good units.”[ii]

[i] Mark A. Weitz, More Damning than Slaughter: Desertion in the Confederate Army. (Lincoln, NE: The University of Nebraska Press, 2005).
[ii] Weitz, xvii.

If you have closely followed the earlier adult life of M.G. Haston, you will likely agree that he was an intelligent, bold, strong, courageous man who did not back down from personal confrontations or common challenges of life.
In 20 years, he climbed more rungs of the civic leadership ladder in Van Buren County than most of his contemporaries ascended in 50 years. No doubt, he turned the “lemons” of his life into “lemonade”—his uphill struggles as a “baseborn” child made him wiser and stronger than he would have been otherwise.
That is why the word “deserted” on his Confederate army record seems so wrong, so uncharacteristic for him. I am not a descendant of M.G. Haston, although we are genealogically connected through David Haston. So as I share my thoughts here, I am not trying to sugar-coat his desertion. But knowing what I know about the events of the war occurring in Middle Tennessee when he enlisted and the longer-term results of those events, I think I may understand what led to his desertion.
With the eastern end of the Confederate defensive line within 30 miles of his home, it is likely he volunteered to help turn back the tide of a Yankee invasion, to protect his family and his farm.

When M.G. Haston enlisted on June 16, 1863, he left many acres of farmland behind—a farm and home broadly exposed at the crossroads of two main roads. He left a wife and six kids at home—David L. (age 15), William Riley (age 12), Mary Jane (age 8), James Birden (age 6), Thomas M. (age 2), Joel M. (age 4 months).

M.G. Haston, like the other Hastons in Tennessee, was not a slave owner. He was not fighting to protect the institution of slavery. He was fighting to protect those things and the people he loved, especially his wife and his children. And when it became necessary to be at home to protect them, that’s what he chose to do.

Death of Montgomery Greenville Haston

December 20, 1869 – Montgomery G. Haston died on this date, a young man of about age 45. The end of Montgomery G. Haston’s life is just as mysterious as its beginning, for those of us more than 150 years removed from his.

July 25, 1914 – Rachel Wheeler Haston died of heart failure and was buried the following day, July 26. The grave adjacent to and north of M.G. Haston’s grave is probably hers.