Saturday Night Fun Where were Ancestors Jan 1, 1864

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:

1)  Determine where your ancestral families were on 1 January 1863 - 150 years ago.

2)  List them, their family members, their birth years, and their residence location (as close as possible).  Do you have a photograph of their residence, and does the residence still exist?  How many do you have in each generation living in January 1863?


1) Well my list will be slightly different as 150 years ago I think works out to January 1, 1864 , and that extra year makes a difference on a couple of my ancestors.

Hans Kristen Mikkelsen (the Mikkel in my blog name comes from this) b. 1837 and his wife Karen Jorgensen b. 1840 were both in  Humble parish, Svendborg county, Denmark

Stanislaus P. Dillingham b. 1835 was still in Dixfield, Maine till after the Civil War. He had bad legs and could not stand long so never served in the Civil War. His bride to be of 1870 Eliza Minerva Hellenbolt b. 1845 was in Rock County Wisconsin I think or maybe moved to Minnesota by 1864.

Robert Forsyth Kelly b. 1855 and his parents Thomas D. Kelly b. 1827 and Margaret Josephine Forsyth b. 1833 were in Danville, Contra Costa County, California after going to California in 1863 by wagon train. In 1865 after Civil War was over they came back to the family home in Ursa, Illinois, by way of Panama, and yes I have a picture of this house. Margaret inherited the house and farm which I always found odd as she was the 5th child and second daughter. Roberts bride Vada Belle Hert was not born yet.

Joseph Hert b 1830 and his wife Sadie Selsor b. 1832 I think were both in Indiana yet.

Daniel Columbus Travis b. 1833 and his bride Mary Elizabeth Travis b. 1833 were both in Illinois I think. Neither one was related as far as I have traced even though they both had the same surname.

Joseph "Joe" Vanderpool b. 1831 and his bride Margaret Loe b. 1837 were both in Mercer County, Missouri in 1863. Joe had recently enlisted in the Union Army, caught the measles and was discharged. So as far as I can tell he was my only Civil War soldier and never got in any battles. He later did apply for a pension but was denied as they said he never served in the army.