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All of CJ's boys had middle initial G as did two of his
brothers. They moved to Grayson county in 1853-54 with a bunch of their
married children. CJ's son Spencer G Atkins was a preacher and county judge
there near Sherman. CJ's oldest children stayed in Alabama while he was
in Creek Nation 1846-1854. ------------------ The Southwicks owned the first glass factory in Massachusetts
bay colonies. This was in Salem, about thirty or forty years before the
witch trials. They also own a small farm. As Quakers, they had their own
meetings and and did not go to church. The parents were arrested and jailed
for "not attending church". After a year in jail, their glass factory, home
and farm were all sold at auction for "back taxes". When the auction did
not raise enough to cover even one year's taxes, the two oldest children
were ordered to be sold at auction, too! The 15 year old girl, was given
many lashes for being mouthy. Both kids were sold to a ship bound for the
Caribean, but after a week the ship couldn't get a wind to take it out of
the harbor. The sailors said it was cause God was protecting the children.
So they let the children off, and the she and brother walked to New York
in the middle of winter. (No roads even existed). At Pitt's urging, the
King told Massachusetts to go easier on the Quakers. So her parents were
given a "Christmas Day Amnesty" that is, they were put in an open boat and
told never to return to Massachuesetts. They managed to make it to Shelter
Island, New York (at the end of Long Island), and they died of exposure.
A large stone monument is there. The story of the twins sitting out the battle is much more fantastic
and even better documented. But I am talking of the top of my head, so I'll
try to get you the straight dope. ----- Original Message ----- From: Mark To: eby@ebydesigns.com Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2003 2:30 PM Subject: Whoa on the Atkins! Betty, Well, it gets "curiouser and curiouser." If your Robert Gordon Atkin's brother Albert was a doctor, Mom's got a picture of your Great Uncle Albert. As I recall it is in the Todd Family Bible, a tin type. The strange thing is that beneath the picture is written, "Dr Albert Atkins, HL Todd's cousin." HL is Henry Louis Todd, my gg grandfather. (His mother was Virginia Atkins daughter of Catlett James "CJ "Atkins, who everyone has presumed to be Dr Albert's grandfather.) If they were right, Robert G's grandfather would have been Catlett J Atkins. If your work is correct. Then the enscription could be wrong. Dr Albert Atkins would be the son of Tabitha Casssandra Gaskill Atkins-- the first cousin of HL's wife, Louisa Gaskill Todd. Your Atkins would be not immediately related to to mine. However, a third possibility also exists: HL's Aunt, Martha Todd, also married an Atkins in Alabama. So maybe that's how we fit on the Atkin's side--if at all. So, we're just Gaskill cousins (descended from mirror twins, of course!) and not double cousins at all! Maybe I should be less familiar. (Wink!) I know you are probably chuckling about this mirror twin stuff. I thought it was hilarious--right up till I saw the pictures of them. One has a small right eye, the other a small left eye; one smiles to the west, the other to the east; one was left-handed, one was right. They even parted their hair on opposite sides... not to mention the North South split over the War! By the way, my dad is a twin, too. Mark ---------- From: Mark Betty- It may be a while on the Gedcom File. This is my work address, and I went home to find email at home is broken. Seriously broken. While the business is my own, I am too busy to carry on Genealogy here. In the mean time, I would like to start working on the Atkins connection. Please send me the earliest two generations you have. From my memory: The Gaskills moved from Salem, MA to Rhode Island and married Wightmans (later Whitman) and Arnolds. Yes, Walt and Benedict are descendents) Then they moved to Oweco Co, New York in the mid 1700s. The Wightmans also married into the family of Roger Williams (founder of the Baptist church here is America). Our gggggggggggg grandfather Edward Wightman was the last man burned at the stake in England. There two versions of the story and both are prejudiced. He was accused of heresy. King James the II & VI (the gay guy who had the Bible translated into English) opposed burning at the stake. Willing to intercede, James interviewed Wightman, but found him to be "possessed," or as we would say today: insane. And "insistent" on his heresy. An official view of the inquiry can be found in "Treason Against God," a textbook on heresy. The American or Baptist version comes from the Wightmans who married Roger Williams sister and his granddaughters. According to them Edward Wightman was a Baptist martyr who died, because he claimed a personal relationship to God. The personal relationship idea was mentioned by King James, but the Baptists in England never really claimed him, in part because he was erratic and, well..., maybe crazy. Here's the part everyone agrees with. He was burned at the stake twice! The first time, as the flames licked higher, he repented. The crowd, as was their custom, pulled the burning logs off the fire. The officials would not loose his chains (he was chained to a chair) until he signed a repentance. Which he did. A week later, when the religious court interviewed him, he changed back to unrepentant. The court sentenced him to execution again--with instructions that he not be saved again no matter what he said. This reminds me of many of the Gaskill descendants, stubborn and honest to a fault! Jeff and Frank's grandfather moved to Southern Illinois about 1800 near Mascoutah area. The ruins of his huge wooden house are still standing there. Your story of the twin's reunion is technically not quite right. They saw during the war. The story of the twins at the Battle of Mansfield is best read from the diary of the officer concerned. Actually, you should ask my mom for his name. Anyway, the story is that the a Union officer was struck by a musket ball. When he came to, his aide-de-camp, Frank Gaskill, was dressing his wounds. the Officer noticed all the Confederates in the camp and whispered to his aide-de-camp, "Gaskill, what you doing in a rebel uniform?" The aide answered, "Frank's my brother. I'm Jeff" A truce was called, the officer returned to the Yankees and the twins were allowed to sit out the battle under a white flag. Betty, what do you think they had to say to each other? This fantastic story is part of the reason that the reunion years later was so important to everyone. And to think, most of the time the both lived in Grayson Co, Texas not speaking or meeting. (While you were right about Frank going back to Illinois, but he only stayed a year or two before returning to Texas. The twins came to Texas as surveyors under contract with the Butterfield Overland Stage Company. They laid out a trail for the stage from Arkansas to West Texas. My mother is 79, crippled from polio, and all-but-housebound. She is the keeper of Bibles, photos, and more than 250 big three-ring binders of genealogy. She has an acute mind. And she is the one whose done all the Gaskill work. I'm planning to give you her email. That's how you can get copies of the pictures. Because she has limited energy, and maintains a huge correspondence, I will give you a few ground rules: you should reimburse her for postage, and any fancy or colored laser copies (if you want scanable-quality photos.) And you should know that just getting to her desk is a major effort. She's a "giver" and she cuts off "takers" quickly. She loves genealogy and has a soft spot for all my father's relatives. Your expressions like, "wow", "fantastic", "breathlessly" and "thank you" will also appeal to her. In the mean time, let me see what I can make of your Atkins line. (I have done our Adkins/Atkins lines, not mom.) PS Do you live nearby? I'm in Arlington, Mom and Dad in Bedford. Mark ------------------------- From: To: "Mark " Date: Thursday, January 23, 2003 11:45 PM Hi Mark, First, I live in Sacramento, Ca. I was born in Montague County, Texas... lived in several towns in Texas, Austin, Houstin, San Antonio and Abilene. Then Florida, Germany, the Cajun region of Louisiana before moving here about 15 years ago. Second. It has been difficult tracing the Atkins side since there are so many of them! And many Benjamin Atkins'. Last month I found Benjamin G. Atkins (7 Aug 1824-died 21 Jun 1891 in Dripping Springs, Texas), married to Martha Todd (20 Aug 1828 in Bedford Co., Virginia, died 16 Jun 1911in Lubbock Texas) and a list of BG's children (including Robert Gordon, married to Tabitha Cassandra Gaskill), through a Genealogy.com subscription I'd taken out the same day. I found him in a Purdy Genealogy list. He was just one of the siblings, not a direct line in the information I found, but his father was listed as Edward Atkins and his mother as Elizabeth Purdy. Edward Atkins followed his wife's family to Nova Scotia after the Revolutionary War, where the British gave land to Loyalists, so Benjamin G. was born there, however, he moved to Alabama in time for My g-grandfather, Robert Gordon to be born in the USA. [note: later found that although Beng. G. was correct, Edward and the Purdies weren't] Robert Gordon ( 8 Feb 1862, Birmingham, Al, died 12 november 1940 in Nocona, Texas) moved to Texas after 1880. He married Cassie in Texas. Robert G.'s son was my grandfather Benjamin Paul Atkins, named after his grandfather's on both sides, Benj. G Atkins and Paul Gaskill. This help any? According to my g-aunt Lona Atkins, he still had siblings in Alabama, and she said that Benj. G. was a doctor. Neither she nor my grandfather ever mentioned that Frank lived in Texas. Back in the early seventies, I communicated with the records division of the State of Alabama and they could find no records of Benj. G or of Robert G. Daddy, Robert Leon Atkins, told me that he thought that was because they were mostly of Indian Blood. Your Cousin, Betty Ellen Atkins -------------------- --------------------- To: "Mark " Subject: Re: Whoa on the Atkins! Date: Friday, January 24, 2003 11:56 PM Nope, we are Atkins related, I think. My Atkins line is not verified, as I mention in the list... I can only verify back to Benjamin G. Atkins... the others I have found in other's family tree's... but you know as well as I do that these can't always be trusted. Uncle Albert WAS NOT the son of Cassie Gaskill Atkins, rather her brother-in-law. He had to leave Alabama because he wrote a novel about miscegenation(sp). He moved to San Francisco and his medical office was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. After the earthquake he went to Texas for a visit with his brother and my g-aunt Lona remembered him well. Be familiar, we are, of course, cousins. Haha. I sort of deduced the 'mirror' twin thing. Fascinating. I'm right handed... are you left? Sorry, I'm sitting here laughing. I have NO pictures of my Atkins Grandfather's people. Just of grandpa and his wife and their children. In Fact, I thought I might never find out anything other than what Grandpa and his sister told me. All have passed away, including my father. I put all the Atkins stuff on my site, even though it wasn't verified, hoping someone would come along and correct me... then there was you! Thank you so much. Betty Ellen (AKA E'by) -------------------- -----Original Message-----
From: Jean Dominguez Sent: Friday, January 24, 2003 12:46 PM To: 'eby@ebydesigns.com'; Jean Dominguez Cc: Cassie Tyler; ~HSD~ Subject: RE: Dear Cuz The Frank and Jeff story is particularly interesting
to me right now, as I am once again studying the Civil War (Alice gave me
the Ken Burns Documentary for Christmas and I've been filling in with books
and web browsing).
Anyhoo, just wondering if the "Battle of Mansfield"
referred to here is Mansfield, LA (AKA Pleasant Grove) in April of 1864.
This would make sense as many of the CS troops were Texans. Mansfield was
a decisive victory for the south which turned back the Union "Red River
Campaign".
Now there's another connection to our lives. As
we all know ;) The Red River flows south through Shreveport to Alexandria
and then turns west to feed the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers. At Alexandria
it also feeds the Vermillion River which flows south to the Gulf of Mexico.
Union forces under the command of Maj. Gen. N. Banks (Union Commander of
the Red River Campaign) crossed the Vermillion River one year before the
Battle of Mansfield at the Pinhook Bridge in Vermillionville (and subsequently
destroyed the bridge).
So there you are, we've all been over the Pinhook
Bridge in Vermillionville (now called Lafayette) many times. There's a chance
that Frank Gaskill was too, albeit 120 years earlier.
Jean
------------------------------ From: Mark Jean-- Good going Man! I am all but certain that the Robinson name and the 87th are both correct. BUT I am going from memory. My mom, Kay is the correct person to ask. She has the documents. (Also she refers to them as Paul Jefferson and Elijah Franklin.) Also my mom, Kay, is going to be crazy about Jean's interest! I told you, I almost never give her email address out, but I think Jean could get a super duper magazine article or term paper out of this story. He really should contact her about copies of original source materials. She's loaded with them. Again beware that he must at least offer to pay for copies and mailing. She doesn't do scanning. She is really very generous, but has been abused by researchers. Also she pretty crippled up. --------------- From: Mark From: Betty To: "mark " Date: Monday, January 27, 2003 10:44 PM Correction to last e-mail thought Robert G.'s father might be Robert Benj. I went back and looked at the Purdy file that I found on genealogy.com' family tree site with Benj, G. Atkins, married to Martha Todd plus their children with father Edward... all being in Nova Scotia after the Amer. Rev. Then I re-read all of your correspondence. Since your mother has Atkins pictures, etc. It sorta makes sense that your allegation that Catlett would be the correct father of Benj. G., however, when looking up Catlett's ancestry, I can find no Benj. G. as a son. You also mentioned a Dr. Robert Benj. Atkins.... where does he fit in? My grandpa said that he thought Robert G.'s father might be Robert Benj. but I could find nothing on that. I did find the Benj. G. as a Robert G.'s father in the Purdy file, the only mention I have found online. Convince me that Catlett is one of my ancestors!!! Please. Betty -------------- From: Mark To: ebydesigns@ebydesigns.com Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2003 6:46 PM Subject: Convince you? Well. I can't. I know that Benjamin was a qristmiller born in GA (according to 1880 US census in Kinderhook, Tallapoosa Co). He was born 8 Jul 1824 and died 21 Jan 1891 in Grayson Co, Tx (from both his tombstones.) Catlett and Harriet had 10 children. We only know 4 for certain: Spencer G 1820 Oldest child James G 1835 Martha 1837 Virginia Ann 1839 youngest child Two others I have always included: Benjamin G 1824 Virginia's brother in law (her husband's sister's husband) A G 1826 (Mom believes name is Ambrose) witness at Virginia's wedding And one I am beginning to include: Mary Elizabeth abt 1825- These children match up with the 1830 and 1840 censuses: 1830 Census in Harris Co, GA under C J Atkins shows a family with five children and two slaves. male female children under 5 years 2 1 children 5-10 years 2 adults 30-40 years 1 1 adults 36-55 years 2 In the 1840 Census he is in Macon Co (miss-indexed as CS Atkins) shows a family with 10 children and 2 slaves. male female children 0-5 years 1 children 5-10 years 1 3 children 10-15 years 2 1 adults 15-20 years 1 1 adults 40-50 years 1 1 I've never posted our work on the internet. (Two reasons: we're not sure, and we don't want to confirm our work with our own work reprocessed by others. However, I have found so much of mom's work I there, this is not as important.) I don't know anywhere that lists children for Harriet and Catlett J. I sure would like to get this straight, too. I'll examine the Purdy materials in the next week or two. Our youngest sister, Lizzie, is in from Phoenix for a week. She's staying with mom. I hope that Mom won't start doing the taxes before she starts copying for you, but I can guarantee she won't even read her email until Lizzie leaves. And my youngest son has dibs on this weekend. Both our kids are adopted--so I kind of hide my addiction to genealogy. Finest regards, Mark ------------- Hey Betty, BET YOU THOUGHT I WAS DEAD! I WAS READING YOUR SITE AGAIN AND CAME UP WITH THESE CORRECTIONS: Identical [MIRROR TWINS HAVE IDENTICAL DNA, BUT SINCE THEY CAN BE EASY TO TELL APART, I DON'T THINK THEY ARE CALLED IDENTICAL) twin brother, Frank Gaskill fought in the Union Army, while Jeff fought in the Confederate Army. They did not speak to or see each other until the late 1890's. [I HAVE BEGUN TO DOUBT THIS STATEMENT. FRANK'S DAUGHTER, LOUISE WAS VISITING JEFF'S FAMILY IN 1888 WHEN SHE MET AND MARRIED HENRY LOUIS TODD-JEFF'S ACROSS-THE-ROAD NEIGHBOR AT DRIPPING SPRINGS.] Benjamin Paul Atkins said he was always close to his Grandfather Jeff and that when he was about 9 years old he came into the house, saw his grandfather sitting in his chair, ran across the room to climb onto his lap, just about that time his grandfather walked into the room! He was sitting in Frank's lap, not Jeff's and he couldn't tell the difference in them, they looked so much alike... they wore similar styled clothes, had the exact style beard and hair cut. When the Civil War broke out, Frank went home [ NO, WE THOUGHT THAT THEIR FATHER HAD GIVEN BOTH TWINS LAND AT DRIPPING SPRINGS, BUT IT BEGINS TO APPEAR THAT FRANK MAY NEVER HAVE LIVED IN TEXAS] to join the Illinois Infantry 87th Regiment. Jeff joined a Texas Confederate army. ----- excerpt fro letter from Kay and Mark Todd: "The story of the twins at the Battle of Mansfield is best read from the diary of the officer concerned. The story is that the Union officer was struck by a musket ball. When he came to, his aide-de-camp [THAT'S WHAT ROBINSON CALLED HIM, BUT SINCE ROBINSON WAS IN THE FIRST LOUISIANA, FRANK WAS PROBABLY HIS LIAISON TO THE 87TH ILLINOIS], Frank Gaskill, was dressing his wounds. the Officer noticed all the Confederates in the camp and whispered to his aide-de-camp, "Gaskill, what you doing in a rebel uniform?" The aide answered, "Frank's my brother. I'm Jeff" A truce was called, the officer was returned to the Yankees and the twins were allowed to sit out the battle under a white flag. Betty, what do you think they had to say to each other? This fantastic story is part of the reason that the reunion years later was so important to everyone. And to think, most of the time the both lived in Grayson Co, Texas [THIS IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE, FRANK LIVED IN ILLINOIS.] not speaking or meeting. (While you were right about Frank going back to Illinois, but he only stayed a year or two before returning to Texas. [OOPS-OTHER PEOPLE'S ASSUMPTIONS MUST BE WRONG: FIRST FRANK IS IN ILLINOIS FOR EVERY CENSUS, AND ALL OF HIS CHILDREN WERE BORN THERE. SECOND, IF THEY WERE NOT SPEAKING, THEN WHY WERE THEIR CHILDREN VISITING IN 1888-MAYBE, THEY WERE NEGOTIATNG THE REUNION? OR PERHAPS FRANK WAS WITH THE KIDS ON THAT VISIT, TOO. The twins came to Texas [ACTUALLY IT WAS THEIR FATHER WHO WAS CONTRACTED FOR THE SURVEY, SOME GASKILLS HAVE SAID THE BOYS CAME ALONG] a surveyor under contract with the Butterfield Overland Stage Company. They laid out a trail for the stage from Arkansas to West Texas." [THE FIRST WEST-BOUND TRIP OF THE BUTTERFIELD OVERLAND MAIL ORIGINATED IN TIPTON, MO ON SEPT 16, 1858. YOUR GG GRANDFATHER, JEFF SAID HE ARRIVE ABOUT A YEAR LATER (Oh, by the way, WL Ormsby, a reporter for the New York Herald was on the first trip and described the trip. Mom says one of the stops in AZ or NM was named Gaskill's Station by Butterfield's)] ----- excerpt from the diary of a Union soldier in the 53rd Mass. Infantry: "On the 8th of April the 87th took part in the battle of Sabine Cross Roads, or Mansfield, and was the only Regiment, in that disastrous defeat, that left the field in regimental formation. It stood on the ground while the Nineteenth Corps formed its line of battle behind it. In this battles Colonel H. Robinson, First Louisiana, our Brigade commander, was wounded, and Colonel John M. Crebs, Eighty-seventh Illinois, was placed in command of the Brigade. On the 9th the Regiment was in the battle of Pleasant Hill. On the retreat from Sabine Cross Roads to Alexandria the Eighty-seventh was either in the front, flank or rear of the retreating column, and constantly engaged with the enemy's skirmishers" ---------Excerpt from the book 'Souvenir of Texas' : "P.J. Gaskill was reared in Clinton County, Illinois, where he was born March 9, 1837. He is the son of Joseph and Tabitha (Connda) Gaskill, and is the second of their five children-- Louisa J., P.J., Elijah F., George W., and Henry C.(deceased). The Father, Joseph Gaskill, was a son of Paul of New York, was born in St. Clair County, Illinois, was a farmer and Baptist Preacher, and died in Henry County, Missouri, in November, 1869. Mrs. Tabitha Gaskill was a native of North Carolina and a daughter of Elijjah Connda, who was born in the same state and was of Irish descent. She departed this life in St. Clair County, Illinois, in 1854. October 29, 1859, P.J. Gaskill arrived in Grayson County, Texas, and there he has resided ever since, devoting his time, with the exception of that time spent in the Confederate Army, to the cultivation of a snug farm of 180 acres. March 13, 1862, he enlisted in Alexander's regiment and served west of the Mississippi River. May 9, 1864 he was captured near Simmesport, Louisiana, was taken to New Orleans and held prisoner until August of the same year, when he was exchanged; he then went into active service again and continued until the end of the war. November 22, 1860, Mr. Gaskill married Lucy A. Gooch, daughter of L.Y. Gooch, of North Carolina. This lady bore her husband one child -- Joseph Y. and died September 13, 1865. The following year, on the 22d of February, 1866, Mr. Gaskill married Miss Mary, daughter of John H. Tatum, and to this union have been born nine children, in the following order -- John F., Tabitha C., William H., Walter F., Virginia E., Thomas C., Louisa J., Oscar A. and Benjamin C. (deceased). Mr. Gaskill is a member of the Farmers' Alliance, and, with his wife, of the Missionary Baptist Church." ---- My early suppositions: [GOSH YOU ARE GOOD, GIRL!] P.J. was known as Jeff to family and friends. Since his grandson and grandfather were named Paul, I would surmise that his given name would be Paul, and since it was popular to give second names for ex presidents, his middle name as Jefferson... hence, Paul Jefferson Gaskill. His identical twin, Elijah F., appears to be named after his Maternal grandfather which tends to back my supposition of Paul being named for the Paternal grandfather. Eligah F. was known as Frank to his friends and family, therefore I surmise that his middle name would be Franklin. ...b.atkins LOVE MARK Ok, Ok... I know where the different tribes were
situated... started looking that up before I really got into genealogy!!!!
Grrrrrr.
Got all the way to the end of the message before I
saw there was an attachment. Wow!!! They do look just alike, or just like
one is sitting next to a mirror. Thank you so much. Now, for the
picture of Martha... I will swear to anything you want. Haha, although I have
never seen an Atkins with ears that stuck out. Actually, we Atkins' have very
small ears... totally out of proportion with our big heads!
I have learned to ALWAYS try to verify information
on my own. HEEHEE. I was the one in the family who asked the elders questions
when I was a kid. All the old folks loved me cause I would sit for hours
listening to their stories. I also took notes, but I never thought I would
actually get involved ion genealogy. When I first started about 3 years
ago I took everything at face value and very quickly learned most of what I had
was wrong in one way or another... then cpousins started contacting me and
sharing info and pictures. One cousin is a genealogist and she got me started
doing it properly, instead of taking the easy route.
With the Atkins, I had nothing past RG, however, I
knew I was within the correct main group of Atkins' I'd found online.
That's why I had them listed, but with the disclaimer that nothing was verified
past RG. I found BG a month before I met you.
Today I spent time online looking for Nippers and
most of the names I found were in Granville, along wth some Canadays, but no
real info, just names. I also revisited the Atkins and Todd forums on
Genealogy.com
Your Mom has sent nothing so far.
Have missed contact with you.
love,
Cuz Betty
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