Middlekauff tragedy

I've always believed that if I did enough research I would eventually come across a "skeleton in the closet" or two and such is the case with a recent investigation into the Middlekauff family.

Today's report is not on a direct ancestor, but a brother to a direct ancestor of mine. Ellsworth Douglas Middlekauff was the son of a brother to Rosanna Russell Middlekauff (my ancestor). Rosanna married Elias Finifrock (I recently posted his obituary) and they were my great great grandparents.

Ellsworth was a successful businessman, inventor, and (apparently) a friend of General George Custer. Ellsworth was honored with an entry in a Who's Who edition of 1911 (see first image, above). The entry says that Ellsworth was an early adopter of what has become a more recent trend: saving the wild horses. You can enlarge the Who's Who copy as well as the newspaper copies by clicking (or maybe double clicking) on each of them.

Unfortunately, he also met his demise in 1911, after what must have been an .... interesting.... evening. The remaining three images are snips from an article published in the New York Times on May 18, 1911. May he and his young companion rest in peace.

While this is, no doubt, a sad affair, it's interesting to note the difference in reporting from 1911 to today.

Another aside: Ellsworth was the son of Hiram Middlekauff (the brother of Rosanna, my great great grandmother), and his mother was Elizabeth Poffenberger. I was recently at the Antietam National Battlefield (from the Civil War) in Maryland and walked across the Poffenberger property, now part of the National Battlefield.

I walked right past the Poffenberger barn that is being restored on my way to view the Middlekauff property just north of the Poffenberger's. I still don't know which relatives owned the farm at the time, but that is on my list to determine. I have some photographs I'll soon post from that trip, but they are presently on another computer I don't currently have access to.

I wonder. Is it possible that Hiram Middlekauff and Elizabeth Poffenberger were neighbors on land that was soon to become the infamous Antietam Battlefield?

Link to article on the Poffenberger Farm at Antietam

Here's a link to an article and some photographs discussing the Poffenberger farm and what happened there on September 17, 1862.

http://shaf.org/2008/07/12/the-joseph-poffenberger-farm/

Elias Ringer dead end

I'm still trying to determine who Elias Ringer's (born 1807 in Maryland) parents and/or siblings were. So far... not much luck. I recently discovered a few legal documents relating to Elias Ringer that I hoped might help.

The first is a sale of property from Elias Ringer and and his wife Mary & Samuel Ringer and his wife Eva to Peter Ringer. The sale is for a piece of property consisting of 142 3/4 acres for the price of $2000. It is dated April 9, 1859. I'm guessing that Samuel and Elias were brothers as Samuel was born in 1804 and Elias in 1807 and both married in 1833. However, I haven't been able to confirm that or to find any additional records on Samuel. Hopefully I can unearth an obituary for Samuel one of these days that will help me.

As to who Peter was, I have no idea. I'm guessing a relative of some sort, but who knows? There were several Peter's in the area at the time, but which one was it?

There is another deed of title that shows Elias purchasing 133 1/16 acres of land in 1854 from an Alex Neil for the price of $2,600. I'm wondering if this is the property that was listed in the advertisement that I just posted earlier today? It's about 5 acres short, but possibly he bought up 5 more acres over the 35 years in between the purchase and sale? There is a legal description of the property in the recording, but the copy I have is very difficult to read.

Finally, I have one more deed of sale showing Elias purchased, in 1838, for the sum of $40, from an Emmanuel Titlow, "... one Cow, one Stove and pipe, two beds and bedding, six chairs, one bureau, three hogs. two tables, one silver watch, and one wheelbarrow..." About that time period the newspapers show many people selling much of what they had to "go west." Hopefully he got a good deal!

All in all some good information on who Elias was and what he did in his life, but little to go on that will helped me to understand who his parents and/or siblings were. I'll keep digging...

Sale of Elias Ringer farm in 1881

The following advertisement appeared in the Hagerstown, Maryland Herald and Torchlight newspaper on September 7, 1881. I'm more and more certain that Elias was my great-great-great grandfather and this appears to be an announcement for the sale of his farm

You should be able to click on the newspaper article to supersize it to the point of being able to read it.

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