Thompson Vandergrift's father was Samuel Vandergrift who is my 4th great grandfather.
(as always, you may click on the photo for a larger view)
Turns out that John Thompson Hart's father has a very tragic end as well.
I had supposed that because Samuel died just a couple years after his son was shot and killed that that might have had something to do with Samuel's death. How difficult for a father to lose his son. I wondered how exactly Samuel died and now I know.
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| The Pittsburgh Gazette, 28 DEC 1863, page 3 |
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| Pittsburgh Daily Commercial, 30 SEP 1863, page 3 |
I tried to find the original article detailing Samuel's death in The Pittsburgh Gazette but sadly I cannot find a copy of their December 26th issue. We now know that at the age of 69, Samuel was partially deaf and blind. It does sound as if there may have been some question as to whether this was truly an accident or not.
Samuel's wife Nancy Robb Vandergrift lived 26 more years after her husband's death.
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| Pittsburgh Daily Post, 04 JAN 1890, page 11 |
My great great grandmother was Mary Vandergrift Schaffer. I am trying to verify who her parents were. I cannot find official documents that link her to Samuel & Nancy. Did you find birth, death or probate records that confirm who her parents were? Janna (Schaffer) Cox jannas5469@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteHi Janna. I am a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and my great grandmother, Mary's granddaughter Elmore Holtzman Whelan was a member as well. I was able to use her application to prove that Mary was born to Samuel and Nancy. I will email you just in case you don't see this.
ReplyDeleteHad time to look through my notes and, before I had applied to DAR, I had this in my notes:
ReplyDeleteTaken from her father's biography in
Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri: a compendium of history and biography for ready reference.
"a large measure of the credit for which he was accustomed to award to the wise counsel and judicious management of his wife, whose maiden name was Mary A. E. Vandergrift, and who inherited the virtues and talents of the well known Vandergrift family of Pittsburg, of which she was a member."
I also noted that her sister was named Elmore. She died in 1874 and her granddaughter (my great grandmother) was also named Elmore in 1885.