A few years ago my grandmother gave me an old (OLD!) family album with pictures dating back to the mid 1800s. Some of the more recent ones had names on them but most did not. There were also some various odds and ends like newspaper clippings and funeral notices. As I worked my way through the photos and records with the help of Ancestry.com (read my full Ancestry.com review), I was able to identify one picture in particular that was very interesting.
Thanks to the words “Grandmother Brainerd” and the date “1860” on the back of one of the pictures, I was able to find Charity Jaqua Brainerd (1785-1878) in my family tree. For some reason that picture of an old woman at a spinning wheel with her dog really came to life for me when I discovered that she was my 5th great grandmother.
The story could end there and be pretty cool. But it doesn’t.
After continuing to mess around on Ancestry.com for another year, I started filling in more pieces to my family puzzle. All of a sudden one day I had a notice in my account that a photo had been uploaded for someone possibly related to me.
I started looking into the picture more and discovered that the old woman on the horse was Polly Jaqua Henry (1800-1881), the SISTER of my 5th great grandmother Charity. The pictures were likely taken within a couple of years apart and when I look at them closely, I can actually see the resemblance between the sisters. Further investigation into my tree revealed that they were both born in Salisbury, Litchfield, Connecticut, and that at some point their family moved to Ohio, where they were both eventually married and died in Geauga County.
Piecing together what I could find online, I have started putting together a story in my head of what their life must have been like. Leaving Connecticut to move to Ohio would have been a huge undertaking in the early 1800s. Charity was the older sister by 15 years. They both married and were married to their spouses for longer than most people I have ever known. Charity was married 73 years and Polly was married 62 years.
I discovered a story about two of Charity’s grandsons that really brought history to life for me. One of her grandsons, James Taylor left Ohio for the South in the 1800s and joined the Confederate Army. His brother, John Nessy Taylor, stayed behind and eventually joined the Union. In 1861 they engaged in a battle at Dranesville, Virginia, and unknowingly fought brother against brother. John went on to become a close friend of President William McKinley.
Polly’s descendants took on historical significance thanks to her sons. John Newton Henry became a Methodist minister and Doctor who served in the Civil War. Some records indicate that he was at Appomatox when Lee surrendered to Grant. Charles Eugene Henry, sometimes known as Captain Henry of Geauga, was close friends with President James Garfield. He led the advance of Company A during Grant’s siege of Vicksburg.
The Henry family is apparently still well-known in Geauga County, Ohio. They Taylor family went on to prominence in East Liverpool, Ohio. Perhaps that is why the pictures were taken and maintained after all these years? I’m not sure how the picture of Charity ended up being handed down through my side of the family and I don’t even know who uploaded the picture of Polly. But I have greatly appreciated the opportunity to step back into history…my family’s history…and learn more about these two sisters.
I may never meet anyone from that other side of the family, but just putting the two pictures of the sisters together and writing about them makes me feel like they are together again. Both of them left behind children and grandchildren who would become famous in their own rights. It’s almost as if their lives have come back full circle after ending over 100 years ago.
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