52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  Week #49 theme is "New Horizons".

As our families arrived on the Atlantic Coast, some as early as the 1640s, they must have been anxiously waiting for the view of the new land on the horizon. They were so brave and ready for new experiences. 

Choosing just one of these many early families, I would like to chronicle our Frost family through more than two centuries of seeking "New Horizons."  The immigrant John Frost, our 9th great grandfather, was born 1614 in England. He came first to New York with his father, John, and then to New Haven CT by 1660s.  His son, John, married Mercy Paine there, and was the father of our 7th gt grandfather, Samuel Frost.  (We will find the surname of Paine again in this family line.)  But first, three generations of "Grandpa Samuels" lived in and around New Haven. They would have lived through the struggles of clearing lands and surviving the elements of a new world, including the French and Indian Wars.   Then in 1754, our 4th gt grandfather, Isaac Frost, was born.  His father fought in the Revolutionary War, and they saw the new nation on the horizon.

Soon after the war, a Connecticut investment company made plans to populate the Western Reserve which would include the new city of Cleveland, Ohio.  Isaac and his family would be among the first to make this venture.  In fact, we believe that one of Isaac's sons, Elias, surveyed the plats for the city of Cleveland. Another son, Johnson LymanFrost, our 3rd Gt Grandfather, married Oriana Paine, daughter of Seth Paine (see, I told you that name would show up again). Oriana Paine Frost was the first teacher in the Brecksville, OH area, and her name shows up in streets and institutions. Oriana’s mother, Hannah Nash Paine, descended from a most interesting line including Canada Waite, born in captivity in Canada when her mother was kidnapped by Indians.

Old Isaac, and sons, Elias, and Lyman helped establish the town of Olmstead, OH.  The Frost name is still seen in the area. But even further horizons beckoned, and in 1820, Johnson Lyman and family are found in St. Clair, Michigan. Both Elias and Lyman had studied medicine, and although Lyman was not a doctor, he used his knowledge to assist a doctor there. Then in 1830, he and his family, including our 2 Gt Grandfather; Elias Carlos Frost, have moved further into the frontier to Lacon County Illinois, near Peoria.  As a side note here, while in Lacon County, the Frosts lived about a mile from the Graves family who went west as part of the Donner party.  New horizons were difficult if not impossible to conquer for many in that era.

When the wilds of Iowa opened for settlement, Lyman, whose wife had died in Illinois, took his children, and traveled to Iowa City.  As we look back, it had been 200 years since the first Frost immigrants had arrived in North America, and they had lived in 6 states, always moving westward.  Iowa in the 1840s was a new frontier, with forts and Indian confrontations. Many settlers came with very little furniture and belongings, as they had to travel by wagons pulled by oxen. But Iowa City grew up quickly into an area of businesses, a militia, and academics. The University and debating societies were established by 1847.

It was in Iowa City that our Frosts, Herringtons, Shafers, and McGills came together through marriage. In the 70s, Elias and family, including daughter, Eva, who married Daniel McGill, moved on to the western part of the state. Our grandma, Harriett “Hattie” McGill, and her siblings were born in Audubon County.  According to family lore, farming was difficult due to the weather and the plague of locusts or grasshoppers.  And at one point, the general store in Audubon County, owned by Elias (also called Carlos) was robbed by the "Crooked Creek Gang".

The brother-in-law of Elias (D.P. McGill's foster father), Daniel Shafer, had helped to survey the state line of Nebraska; so Elias and Lucinda, along with the elderly Lyman, moved on to Stuart, Nebraska.  Lyman died there according to the family Bible. His life alone had stretched from Connecticut to Nebraska, and his very interesting personality has been recorded... another story.

After a few years near Keya Paha County, Elias and family moved on west again, to Chadron, Dawes County, Nebraska, around 1888.  The McGills, still in Iowa, headed for the newly opened territory of Oklahoma, with Daniel making the Run of 1889. And Elias also moved his family to Oklahoma, where they lived and died in Perry, Noble County. 

Many descendants and relatives of these Frost families followed their dreams even further west in the U.S.   Their stories include California during the gold rush days and later years, as well as other states. We have so many families who made similar treks, but this is an example of the pioneer spirit…seeking New Horizons.

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  Week #7 Theme - LANDED. 

In 1848, my Gt Gt Grandparents, William Terry and wife, Charlotte Ann Clark Terry, sold their wagon and carriage shop in Deal, County of Kent, England. They set out for the United States, with their 7 children. Family letters say that Charlotte’s marriage to a “tradesman” was frowned upon by her father who was superintendent of the Royal Navy Hospital.  She may have even been disowned.  

The  ship they took was the American Eagle.  It was an American sailing ship that traveled between New York and London from 1846 to 1867, during which period her westbound passages averaged 35 days, her shortest passage being 22 days, her longest 57. 

They sailed from Liverpool and were out 4 or 5 weeks when the captain feared they had yellow fever or smallpox aboard.   The captain turned back to Liverpool, and they were quarantined until given a clean bill of health by port authorities.  One of the children, Amelia, who was about 8 years old at the time, remembered it was a sailing ship and that the voyage took six weeks. She wrote that she saw a man being buried at sea during the voyage. 

They reached New York in 1849, and went first to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Charlotte was traveling for two… as my great grandmother Elizabeth (Lizzie) Terry was born when they reached the town of Milwaukee. William was again in the carriage making business, and they lived next to a livery stable. 

Later they farmed in Illinois, where William and three Terry children died. The widowed Charlotte followed family members to Kansas and then on to Oregon.

In  Kansas, our Lizzie married Samuel Griffin, who had fought as a Union Soldier in the Civil War. In 1891, after Samuel Griffin died, Lizzie and her six children, ages 3 to 17, moved from Kansas to Oklahoma Territory, where she homesteaded a quarter section of land.

Oklahoma Land Run of 1889

The anniversary of the Oklahoma Run of April 22, 1889 is upon us. As children we celebrated by re-enacting the Run, making covered wagons, dressing in long skirts or cowboy garb, packing a lunch and staking our claims on the playground. Being descendants of '89ers, we also went to the parades, picnics, and rodeos on '89ers Day. Grandma Hattie (Harriett Emily McGill Griffin) was a true 89er, having arrived by covered wagon from  Iowa after her father, Daniel Patrick McGill, had staked his claim on that memorable day. Her husband, Charley Griffin's family came in the earliest years of the new Oklahoma Territory, living on land claimed by Uncle Pete Griffin also near Edmond. (see Peter Griffin's story in archives).

To read more on the 1889 Land Rush, follow this link transcribed from 1889 Harper's Weekly Magazine. Note the mention of the train coming from Arkansas City, Kansas. Both of our ancestors, Daniel McGill and Peter Griffin, came on that train. Found this photo on line taken at Arkansas City before the Run. Can you find your Gt Grandpa?

The Santa Fe Tracks veer off to the west when they go through Guthrie, and the land west of Edmond would have looked great from the tracks around Waterloo Rd. So Pete Griffin made his claim and his parents' on the south side of Waterloo Rd. on a creek later called "Bloody Rush" or "Bloody Run" creek, west of the Deer Creek. It is now just "Rush Creek" on maps.