The Founding of the Homeplace
The Hugh Truesdale Family Story
From the short story collection:
Part V:
Centennial Family Bios
Hugh
Truesdale Family Story
This Hugh Truesdale Family Story was written for the
American Centennial by Alex McDonald. It is based on information shared by members
and descendants of Hugh and Victoria Truesdale’s family, one of the four
founding families of the settlement in 1833 of the valley now known as Oak
Creek Township.
Hugh came as a young man to become a farmer. He had
rejected his father’s offer to work in his mill on the Big Piney River. He came
to the Oak Creek valley in the late spring along with the Patton, Baldridge and
McDonald families.
Hugh married Victoria Patton, when she reached age 16,
and he was 21, in the fall of 1833. They were the parents of 3 children: Jane,
Lewis, and Nellie
Victoria worked with her mother in the General Store
Hugh began with 160 acres of good farm land. He worked
another 160 owned by his father-in-law, Jake Patton and eventually bought it at
‘reasonable’ ‘family’ price.
Hugh was an enlightened and efficient farmer. He
learned the value of mules on this land at an early stage of his farming
career. He leveraged his Patton connection (to breed and raise mules), and
‘hired’ several others (with Patton share-crop arrangements) to assist with his
enterprises.
When the war came, he became a civilian contractor
with the army, supplying mules, training and related useful services.
Following the war, he and Victoria split their time
between interests in the valley and in their adopted home near Jefferson City.
Hugh Truesdale (1812- )
married on 1 Sep 1818
Victoria Patton (1 Sep 1818- )
They had children:
Jane Truesdale (1837- )
Lewis Truesdale (15 Jun 1843-)
Nellie Truesdale (1850- )
Jane Truesdale (1837- )
married in Jun 1859
Daniel McDonald (1838- )
They had one son:
William McDonald (31 Jan 1864- )
Jane Truesdale received a secondary education at the
Davis Academy for Girls in Jefferson City, in the early 1850s. She lived with
her Truesdale grandparents while in school. In June of 1859 she married Daniel
McDonald.
Daniel worked with his father on the McDonald farm in
the early years and also assisted his older brother, Harry, with his freight
business. Daniel joined the union army along side Lewis Truesdale when the war
broke out.
Jane and Daniel had a son, William, in 1864.
Lewis Truesdale married Caroline McDonald (Harry and
Sarah’s oldest daughter) during the war. Before the war, both Lewis and
Caroline had attended secondary school in the Jefferson City area before
returning to Oak Springs.
Lewis worked for his father and grandfather before the
war. When war broke out, Lewis joined his grandfather’s regiment, eventually
earning the rank of Captain. As the regiment was being formed, Lewis was an
active recruiter for the Patton regiment.
Upon return to the valley, Lewis and Caroline had
first a son, James (Jimmie), and then a daughter, Myrtle.
Lewis led the immediate recovery and continuation of
the Patton-Truesdale interests following the period of the war, in Oak Springs
and the Oak Creek Valley. Lewis and Caroline were instrumental in the creation
of the first subscription school in the valley.
Nellie pursued a normal education and became the first
teacher for the Oak Springs subscription school.
To be continued... next Friday.
Now in Print Edition and on Kindle, as well. Kindleunlimited read for free.
May we each have a Homeplace, if only in our hearts!
Dr. Bill ;-)
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