Friday, November 14, 2014

The Founding of the Homeplace - The Hugh Truesdale Family Story


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 ;-)

No comments:

Post a Comment