So Close! Missouri Stalcup Updates

In my never-ending quest to find any photos or primary documents for our family tree, I've found a few interesting things recently. One is a picture of Louisa Stalcup Gollehon from ~1890 in Shelbina, Missouri. Louisa was a sister of my g-g-grandfather Issac Stalcup. I found this picture courtesy of a Mr. Larry Smiser who had some information on a webpage of his concerning this part of his family tree. Not quite a direct family member - but really close! Louisa is seated in front, and that is her husband William T. Gollehon next to her. The picture is also on Mr. Smiser's webpage and lists the children in the picture, too. I know there must be similar type photos of our Stalcup's out there somewhere! At least this gives an idea of what folks wore from that area around 1890. The Gollehon's lived close to the Stalcup's in Virginia, and apparently moved to Missouri with the Stalcup's and others that show up in both Viriginia and Missouri. From Plat Maps and land holdings in Missouri, one can see Gollehon's and Stalcup's close together throughout Monroe and Shelby Counties.

The next bit of recent discovery I have to report is a copy of a handwritten document from 1841 that was a petition for road improvements and placement in parts of Monroe and Shelby counties in Missouri. This comes courtesy of a research request I made of a manuscript collection at the University of Missouri. It is hard to read, but you can almost pick up on what seems to be a hint of drama and fighting amongst some others in the region. It is very hard to see without making the picture large and squinting, but there are four Stalcup signatures at the bottom of the document. A William Stallcup, and Isaac, Sampson and William Stalcup. Isaac, Sampson, and William were brothers of John Stalcup - my g-g-g-grandfather. Not quite sure who the William Stallcup is - but I'm working on that (Stalcop's who made it to Viriginia ended up with a name change to Stallcup, so he is probably an uncle to Isaac, Sampson and William). From the web page link in the above paragraph, you can see highlighted land plots that were owned by these Stalcup's! The other really cool thing here is that another signature - Larkin Harris - is the father-in-law to John's son (and my g-g-grandfather) Isaac! And the Harris family was from the same neck of the woods in Virginia, too! One can just imagine the wagon train of pioneers from SW Viriginia that came together to this spot in Missouri in the 1830's.

Some Predmore Photos

Thank you so much to Sally Lowing for sending along copies of some Predmore family photographs, as well as a copy of Joseph Predmore and Elizabeth Trainor's marriage certificate - it was really appreciated! And thanks to my Mom for letting Sally know what I have been up to with the family history.

Anyway, the photo below is a picture of my Grandfather Joe, his sisters Virginia, Eleanor and Betty, and his parents, Joseph and Elizabeth. They lived in Pittsburgh, PA, and according to Sally, the picture is from about 1915. To get you up to speed on Sally's connection - her mother was Eleanor. Sally's older sister Patricia lives in Michigan (and Sally lives in Chicago).

Here is the other picture that Sally sent, that shows an older Joe, with Eleanor and his Mom and Dad, and an unnamed "Little Rascals" looking dog!

Super Old-school Stalcop!

Todays blog is about a Stalcop ancestor who married a priest and got her portrait painted in the early 1700's by the first professionally trained artist to arrive in Delaware. And we're not talking some starving-artist-in-the-mall, either! Christinia Stalcop Bjork (1686-1720) was the daughter of Peter Stalcop, who was a son of the first Stalcop, Johan Anderson Stalcop. If you check the family tree link on the right hand side of the blog page, you'll see that Peter is my Dad's great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather! ANYWAY, Christina married the Reverend Ericus Bjork, pastor of the Old Swedes Church in the area that is now Wilmington, Delaware. I've read accounts that mention the Stalcop family being a big financial supporter of the Old Swedes Church, and evidently they also found other ways to support the church, too! Go, Christina! So enjoy the very cool and very old portrait of Christinia Stalcop, one of our ancestors! And while you're at it, you can enjoy reading more about these portraits at this link.

Obituary for Isaac Stalcup

This is a copy of the probate and obituary for Isaac Stalcup. The obituary appeared in the Paris Mercury (newspaper from Paris, MO) on April 15th, 1881. I think I can offically blame Isaac for the genes that cause my body to reject Taco Bell!

Missouri Stalcups

Here are some pictures pertaining to our Stalcup ancestors from Missouri. Zach's dad is me, my dad is Robert, his dad was Chester, Chester's dad was Robert Lee, and Robert Lee's dad was Isaac Stalcup (11/8/1826-4/15/1881). Isaac was born in southwestern Virginia in Smyth County. Based on what I know about where his grandfather Peter Stephen Stalcup is buried (St. Clair Bottom, VA), and where his mother Rachel Gollehon was from (Seven Mile Ford, VA), I'm guessing that he was from the Chilowie, VA area. Isaac's parents were John and Rachel Stalcup. John was born in 1794 in Smyth County, VA, and died 10/18/1868 in Clay Twp, Monroe County, MO. Rachel was born 6/5/1804 in Seven Mile Ford, VA, and died 10/2/1881 in Clay Twp, Monroe County, VA.

Isaac was married twice - and his wives were sisters! Isaac married Virginia A. Harris on 3/22/1854 in Clay Twp, Monroe County, MO. They had 4 children (John, Margaret, Infant who died at 2 months, and Sarah). Virginia passed away from a fever she had for 8 weeks on 9/16/1859. Issac then married Virginia's sister Mary E. Harris on 4/7/1861. They had 5 children (Laura, Arminta, Robert Lee, Isaac F., and Charles). Mary passed away on 7/11/1896.

The common thread on this post is that all of these people are buried at Spencer Chapel Cemetery in Clay Twp, Monroe Co, MO. And the pictures of their gravestones are included below. They were kindly provided by Mr. Wayne Meyer of Hartsburg, MO. He is a Harris descendant, and has a lot of Monroe County, MO information/connections. He was kind enough to answer a query that I posted on a Monroe County Genweb site.

Katie's Dad

Here's a picture of Kate's Dad, James Reinhold. For those of you who don't know which one he is, take a guess... No idea? I'll give you a clue - he looks like he's upset that he wasn't cast as the Austrian kid-turned-bad in the "Sound of Music" ("You are 16, going on 17" anyone?). That's right - he's front and center! Not sure when this was taken, or exactly which sibling is who, but it is from Macomb, MI, on the northern edge of the suburban Detroit area.

While we are on the subject of Katie's Dad, his grandparents Frederick and Mary Reinhold came to America in 1892 aboard the steamship "Rhaetia." They were from Madsaw, Mecklenburg, Prussia (Germany), and set sail from Cuxhaven, Germany. They arrived in New York City at Ellis Island on 11/28/1892. Frederick had been in the German Imperial Army under Kaiser Wilhelm II. The picture isn't of Frederick, but gives an idea what the uniform/spiked helmet looked like. I have no details on what transpired when Frederick, Anna, and family arrived to America, but it does appear that they moved to Macomb, MI not too long after checking in to Ellis Island. The pictures are of the Rhaetia, and a copy of the ships manifest showing Frederick and Maria as passengers. You can read more about the "Rhaetia" by clicking here. Jim - or "Mr. Wonderful" as his wife calls him - told me that he remembers his grandpa walking every Sunday morning to his wife Mary's grave and bringing flowers and straightening up. Mary passed away in 1932, and Frederick in 1958.

Greetings!

Welcome to the Stalcup Family Tree! Started for our son Zach, it has grown and grown and grown and is now quite the tree! I will begin to add family-specific genealogy items in this blog starting soon, but for now, you can get your family tree fix by visiting this link.