the other day i grabbed out my binder that has my family history in it. i am actually working on figuring out exact lineage to some relatives that were in the American Revolution (working on trying to get into Daughters of American Revolution, more for my daughters than for me right now). anyways.. i have discovered that many of my relatives also fought in the civil war, in my family history there just happens to be copies from a diary. not all of it. but i thought i would copy it here as i found it pretty interesting.

from the Diary of Anna Brown Waggoner, not recorded until 1912

"One of my great uncles, John Queen, lived in Boyd County, Kentucky, on the east fork of the Little Sandy river. Our father, John W, went down there to see him, and several of great uncle John Queen's boys were afterward at my father's home. They were typical Kentucky mountaineers. Rather rough but fine looking physically.
Living so near the slave holding states, we were early fimiliar with the trouble that condition of affairs was bringing to our country. Father, though a Virginian by birth, was always opposed to slavery and arguments against the "institution" were part of our daily intellectual fare. We knew the stigma of being called "black abolitionists" but we never doubted the rightousness of our beliefs or our duty to run-away slaves.
When the Civil War broke out every other feeling was drowned in intense patriotism. The young people of this generation (1912) can have no conception of the wild enthusiasm and great desire to be a persona actor in the war that filled almost every heart at the firing upon the flat at Fort Sumter.
The trouble was not to get the volunteers called for, but to stop the men and boys who were unfit for the service, from enlisting. How proudly we saw them march away, our brave boys in the blue and alas! how many of them never returned.
Such dreadful suffering, such agonies of grief and suspense may I pray, never be visited on this country again. For many years after the close of the war, black was the only color worn by our women, old and young and when one thought of all the brave young lives sacrificed and realize there was scarcely a family but had given one or more of its members to be laid away in the distant southland, it is no wonder our hearts turned from bright colors as from an expression of joy we could not feel.
In October 1869, I was married at my father's near Yellowbud, and we came immediately to Illinois where the house and farm were waiting us.
If a bride of today were asked to keep house with as little furniture and as few conveniences as I had, she would probably faint, but I got along all right. My greatest trial was the inevitable hired man, who in those days had to be considered and treated as one of the family. Our hired men were mostly nice young fellows too, and I liked all of htem but there was no family privacy. However as it did not seem to worry my husband I did not allow this to worry me much.

it goes on about her children, one passing, her mother passing, moving to Nebraska.

now if i could find someone that lives in Ohio to track down a few family graves for me!

Dulcie,

That was outstanding. There were other parts of Kentucky where the boys were marching south in gray uniforms. At Gettysburg, I've been a member of the 2nd Maryland twice, one time in blue and one time in gray.

im working on figuring out where things are with this family in regards to me. the lineage ends at 1966.. so im trying to figure just which lineage im actually in and how i get from me.. to them lol.

i have found 4 brothers so far that were in the civil war. i know where at least one is buried, not sure of the others..and im sure there are more. i know there is one that died during training in a fort.. i cant recall which fort though.

the John Queen that is being talked about, the great uncle.. he was born in 1755 and knew General Washington, Wayne and Greene. he was in the Virginia militia for the revolutionary war. (he is only one im trying to lead back to).  John Queens wife was married to Alexander Brown, hes the one I am working on.. hes was in the 6th Va regiment CL for the revolutionary war.

its Alexander Browns grandsons that were in the Civil war.

one of the sons carried a flag in Ohio and as of 1966 it was in the state capitol.

You know Dulcie, as new to the reenacting world as you are and the amount of research you are putting into it, you'll be a stitch counter before you know it.  ;) Ihope your zest for this wears off on others in the mainstream group you are with. Regardless of the level you are in the hobby, we should all be researching our impression and the era whenever we can. keep up the good work!

thanks robert i actually do handstitch any stitches that show on mine or the kiddos clothes someone in our group found out and started making fun of me... i just said im hardcore in a mainstream body lol.

i actually love history (shhh dont tell my old history teachers that). but i have to learn what i want to, you cant force it on me, then it just goes in one ear and out the other.

i am thinking that what i found in my ancestries diary, to write it out into a period correct diary and leaving it out so that others could read it..maybe like a letter to someone.  

Dulcie,

I know there are several Waggoners in the Eastern Ky area. Have you tried to look through genealogy pages in this area? I know that when my family came from Germany they settled in Va. They filtered into Ky in Pike County, then throughout the US. Their aren’t a lot of us compared to Jones or Smiths, so it was easy (yeah!) to trace them. You are in a lot better shape than I was for a while. I then lucked out and it really did get easier from there. Then I was able to get a ton of info on the 16th Ky and found several family members from both sides of the family. Several families from Eastern Ky had members in the 39th Ky Mounted Inf. They do have a yahoo group. I had a pair of brothers, Jacob and William Helvey 2nd Lt. and Sergeant respectively (home cooking or unit elections as Jacob went in as a 2nd Lt and William as a private). Hope this may help some, you can never tell where your Rosetta Stone will appear.


I should add that Henry and William Helvey of the 8th Va Confederate Cav patrolled the area of now W.Va. These cousins were fighting on opposite sides in the same areas!  

--Last edited by Scooby on 2007-08-10 22:16:25 --

Dulcie, you might also check for an LDS Family History Library near you--the volunteer librarians there will help you make the connection from yourself to the 1966 line.

i found the connection. i just had to look further but i did finally find it. whats funny is... i knew my mom had been married before my dad, but not a clue on his name or when. that info was in the binder!!  im talking with my aunt right now, she has a lot of the info i need also. she also has some of the required stuff i need.