Guardianship

I don't know much about my 3rd great-grandfather, Isaac Joseph Ogle, the son of Revolutionary War hero Rev. Benjamin Ogle and his wife Jane Garrison.  Isaac was born in the county of St. Clair in the Northwest Territory¹ about 1793.  Illinois didn't become a state until December 3, 1818.  Isaac was married to Priscilla Badgley and died in 1841 in Belleville, St. Clair Co., Illinois.

It seems that by 1845 the children of Isaac and Priscilla Ogle required a guardian.

According to the Illinois Revised Statutes in 1845, "Courts of probate in their respective counties, shall admit orphan minors, above the age of fourteen years, the father being dead, to make a choice of guardians, and appoint guardians for such as are under the age of fourteen years." ²

A guardian was appointed by the courts to supervise Isaac's five minor children,  Benjamin, Lucy, Abraham B, William, and Isaac Ogle.³

William Porter was appointed guardian of the five children on 15 Mar 1845

A sixth child, Samuel Kinney Ogle, my 2nd great-grandfather, was over the age of 14 so he was able to "choose" his guardian. Samuel chose William Porter on 14 Mar 1846.⁴

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¹ "Blue Book of the State of Illinois, complied and published by James A. Rose, Secretary of State, Springfield, Illinois 1905.  Illinois State Journal Co., State Printers, 1906. Referencing "Territorial Records of the Northwest Territory, St. Clair Papers, Volume 2, page 165.  St. Clair County was one of the earliest Illinois counties formed while still in the Northwest Territory.

² Revised Statutes State of Illinois, held in the Years, A.D., 1844-'5, prepared by M. Brayman. William Walters, printer 1845, Chapter XLVII. Guardian and Ward, p 265.

³ "Illinois Letters of Guardianship 1836-1849, Book B #128. March 15, 1845.  Film held at the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD), Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois.

⁴ Illinois Letters of Guardianship 1836-1849, Book B #161. March 14, 1846.  Film held at the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD), Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois.

Timing is Everything!

My paternal grandfather, Warren Davis Wood, was a railroad man.  He was an engineer on the Santa Fe Coast Lines Railroad.  I had been trying to research RR information on him for a few years with no luck.  All I knew was that Warren was enumerated in the 1910 census as living in Thayer, Missouri as a married 28 year old with the occupation of a Locomotive Fireman¹ and I also had this picture.

 Warren D. Wood (center)

My breakthrough came when a cousin of mine mentioned that she had a box of memorabilia and asked if I would be interested in it.  She was able to share with me some of the records I had been searching for for so long.  What timing!  As genealogists, we know that sometimes treasures can be found if you wait long enough.

This Locomotive Firemen traveling card is dated Dec. 31, 1904 and references a Lodge and the Frisco System.  It states that he was employed as a fireman for 2 years and three months and was a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen's union for 1 year and 7 months.

I also found that on June 11,1920 he became certified as a Locomotive Engineer on the Santa Fe Coast Lines.

  

But the cards that I treasure most are the Engineer watch certifications from 1935 and 1936.   The pink card is a record of the watch cleaning, explaining that watches must be cleaned within 15 months of exact date last cleaned.  The blue card details testing the watch for accuracy every 15 days noting in seconds if it ran fast or slow.

Yes, Timing is Everything!
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¹ "United States Census, 1910"  Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. W.D. Wood household,Year: 1910; Census Place: Thayer, Oregon, Missouri; Roll: T624_804; Page: 16A; Enumeration District: 130; Image: 329