Military History, Paternal Line

The following are direct grandparents

Franklin Alonzo Dunbar
Franklin Dunbar was born 11 August 1838 in Brighton, Ohio. He lived in Ohio until enlisting in the military to fight for the Union in the American Civil War on October 9, 1861 with the 9th Illinois Cavalry. He served as a corporal and discharged from service on October 11, 1864. He worked as a farmer and married Lourina Anna Self sometime before 1870.

According to census records they lived in Gallatin City, Montana Territory for some time, later relocating to Texas where most of their children were born. The family later settled in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1911, Franklin Dunbar entered the Disabled Veterans home in Leavenworth, Kansas after having a stroke that left him hemiplegic. He died at that home in 1913.

U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers Website, 1866-1938. Pub. 2007. Provo, UT, USA

Franklin Alonzo Dunbar on the far right with son John on the left and daughter Ethel next to him. Hired hands are in the back and names unknown.

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Military History, Maternal Line, The American Revolution

Peter Fore (likely born Pierre Faure) 7th Great Grandfather Peter Fore was born in 1706 Manakin Town, a Huguenot settlement in what became Powhatan County, Virginia, the son of Mary and Pierre. His story is so interesting that more than his military record will be relayed here. He married Marie Godwin and was willed land by his father in neighboring Goochland County (about 300 acres). According to the will, Peter already lived on that land before his father's death. For reasons unknown, Peter sold his son Joseph the land in 1778 and moved to Prince Edward County onto 130 acres of land. At 73 years old, he moved with some his younger children to Martin's Station in what was then Kentucky County, Virginia (now Kentucky state). He settled on the banks of Stoner Creek during the winter of 1779-1780. Peter, despite his age, was on the muster roll of Captain Gatliff's company at Martin's Station at the time of an attack by local Natives that had sided with the Britis...

Meet an Ancestor, Frank Dunbar

Meet an ancestor. I have been busy going back through my roots, correcting errors. Sometimes the paperwork on a persons life has them stationary - they were born on a farm and lived on a farm and died on a farm and do not get me wrong it is admirable but ....it is so hard to tell much about them as a person. Here is an exception to the rule: Meet Frank Dunbar. A man who lived in 5 different states or territories and did many different things in his 74 years. He is my 2nd great grandfather. Franklin A. Dunbar was born on August 11, 1838, in Brighton, Ohio, to Hosea and Sally Eaton Dunbar. He was a solider for the Union Army in the American Civil War and enlisted October 9, 1861 in Chicago as a private. He mustered out as a Corporal having served with Company G, 9th Illinois Cavalry Regiment until Oct 11, 1864. He married (Lourena) Anna Self sometime before 1870. Together they had seven children and at least 5 lived to adulthood. In 1870 he and Anna were living in the Montana terr...

How this all started.

In 2005 I joined Ancestry. But that is not how my interest (nay occasional obsession) with my family roots began. My father used to tell me family lore when we were spending time together in my youth, which seemed gravely important to me at the time. That he would take me aside and tell me family tales really grabbed my attention and are some of my dearest memories with him. And I suppose growing up in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C., I had the impression of history being all around me. Not just the museums and historic sites but the experience of going there, multiple times and getting to know these places. The Clara Barton House, Old Town Alexandria, the streets of Georgetown, Arlington Cemetery, and countless battlefields. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting a place and then reading every biography I could get my hand on regarding the people who lived there or helped shape a moment in time in that place. I still do. As I have researched and uncovered our act...

Tales and Tidbits about This American Family Tree

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