27 Friday Jan 2012
Posted in Brannon Family, Joynes/Joines Family
Tags
Baltimore, baltimore sun, Cedar Hill Cemetery, double murder, funeral, John T. Allen, Lillian Brannon
Jennie Joynes & third husband, John T. AllenContinuing the saga of the murder of John T. Allen
and his son-in-law, Robert Reid.
Baltimore American 10-20-1921
Baltimore Sun, 10-22-1921
30 Friday Dec 2011
Posted in Brannon Family, Joynes/Joines Family
When my grandmother was older, she would tell me some crazy family story and then always end it with these final words, “And don’t tell anybody!” Sometimes I didn’t know what to believe, as Nana had had a stroke and I wasn’t sure if what she was telling me was real or something she dreamed. One of the stories she told me was about how her grandmother’s husband (#3!) was shot and killed on his front steps due to an argument over Nana’s sister, Lil’s boyfriend. I asked my mother if this was a true story and she confirmed that she had never heard such a thing!
Well, you know the detective in me just couldn’t rest until I knew the truth. So, I did some digging. I found some newspaper articles from the Baltimore Sun and the Baltimore American, the first article below published on Oct. 18, 1921, 90 years ago! It reads like an old movie! Click on the article to zoom in if you have trouble reading it.
But first, some of the players in this story:
Lillian Brannon (aka Lillian Allen) – My grandmother’s oldest sister, “Sweet 16″ at the time
Jenny Joynes Allen – Lillian’s grandmother (my great-great grandmother)
John Allen – Grandmother’s 3rd husband
Robert Read – John Allen’s son-in-law
William F. Thompson – the man in love with Lillian
Hershey Small – Lillian’s first love
Jenny Brannon – Lillian’s 14 year old sister
Molly Brannon – my great-grandmother (Lillian & Jenny Brannon’s mother)
STAY TUNED FOR PART II!
07 Monday Mar 2011
It was pointed out to me that I forgot to include Oliver Joynes family group in my post last week. So, I have added it below.
Also, thanks for all of the lovely comments I received regarding the post about my daughter. I enjoyed reminiscing about her birth. Wish I had kept a journal back then.
Well, on to Oliver…
Oliver Norris & Mary Jane Hutchinson Joynes
28 Monday Feb 2011
Tags
"brick walls", Baltimore, Elizabeth Porter, great-granddaughter, Leonard Joynes, Mary Jane Hutchinson, Maryland, Maryland Historical Society, Oliver Joynes, sailmaker, sailmakers
Sailmaker's bench
Today I will tell you about the last sailmaker in my Joynes family, Oliver Joynes, son of Daniel and grandson of Leonard Joynes/Joines. Oliver Norris Joynes was born in Baltimore in January, 1834, according to his military records. “Ollie,” as he was known, was the oldest son of Daniel and Sarah Foos Joynes.
On 22 July 1856, Ollie married Miss Mary Jane Hutchinson, daughter of John and Elizabeth Porter Hutchinson. (Not much is known about Mary Jane or her parents…another one of my brick walls!) Together, Ollie and Mary had 7 children, 6 which lived to adulthood. They were James Washington (Jimmy), Charles Henry (Charlie), William Oliver (Ollie), Ellen Virginia (died in infancy), Mary Jane (Jennie), Sarah Elizabeth (Sadie) and Florence May. The family lived in East Baltimore where Ollie was a sailmaker like his father and grandfather. He, too, turned to awning making for a living, as ships with billowy sails were becoming of thing of the past.
Ollie served his country as a private in the 9th Maryland Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. He and his brothers fought for the Union, although Maryland was a divided state.
The city of Baltimore resembled many progressive Northern cities while the remainder of the state was more agricultural. Although tobacco was becoming less profitable by the Civil War and the number of enslaved African Americans was decreasing by the beginning of the Civil War, the plantation culture still defined Southern and Eastern Maryland. [Source: Maryland Historical Society, A State Divided.]
After the war, and not unlike his father or grandfather, Ollie tried to persuade the government to grant him a disability pension in 1869. His disability, you ask? Well, in his first attempt to receive a pension, he claimed he hurt his left testicle in an accident he had while home on furlough. His account stated, “My injury was, at first, a cut, but now remains as big as a goose egg. Having been granted a furlough, I went home. Upon my return on a freight train, I fell in between the cars and was injured, as above stated, by the breaker attached to the side of the car. This injury occurred on the 25th of April, 1862, near Abbott’s Roll Mill on Canton Ave., in the city of Baltimore.” OUCH!! I wonder what he would think if he knew his 3rd great-granddaughter would be reading about this incident over 140 years later!
Well, Ollie went on to state that he was a sailmaker and now considered himself 3/5 disabled. He didn’t win his case…
Not one to give up, Ollie applied for a pension again in 1883. This time he stated that he became deaf while on duty during the War due to exposure. He seemed so deaf that the justice who took Ollie’s deposition in his case wrote, “This is the deafest man that I have ever undertaken to question for information.” Funny, we never heard it passed down through the family that he was deaf. As a matter of fact, it was said that in later years, he would get into heated arguments about the War with his son-in-law’s Confederate father. I don’t know how an utterly deaf person could do that, do you? But, hey, who knows?? Well, back to the story. So, yes, Ollie won his case and received monthly benefits from $15-$24 until he died in 1912.
There are still many unanswered questions, like, I wonder if he ever had to work again…and I wonder if he could sit for long periods of time??
21 Monday Feb 2011
Tags
Baltimore, Brannaman, Daniel Joynes, Des Moines, descendants, Everest, Joines, Joynes, Leonard Joynes, Meldick, Morejon, Rodgers, Stansbury, Steinkamp
Sailmaker Tools
Last week, I told you a bit about my first confirmed Joynes/Joines ancestor, Leonard. Today, I will tell you about my 4th great-grandfather, Leonard’s son, Daniel.
Daniel Joynes was born in Baltimore, Maryland in September 1810. He, too, was a sailmaker like his father, and raised his family in East Baltimore on N. Eden Street, most likely in one of those long, skinny row houses. Daniel had 4 children with his first wife, the former Sarah “Sally” Foos. Sally’s paternal grandfather was born in Germany, so we have a tad of German blood in our mix. On Sally’s mother’s side, we can find our way back to some of the original colonists in Maryland as stated in my last post.
Daniel and Sally had three sons and a daughter: Oliver Norris, Daniel, Sarah Jane and Elijah Peter. All of the sons fought for the North in the Civil War.
Oliver, my 3rd great-grandfather, was the oldest of the children, born in Baltimore on 18 January 1834. More on his family next week.
Only daughter, Sarah Jane, was born about 1838 in Baltimore and married a man named David C. Wible on 27 Mar 1853. Nothing more is known of her or her family at this time.
Son, Daniel, was also born in Baltimore on 10 July 1840, and married first, Anna Rokes, in Baltimore in 1860. When Daniel married again, he stated on his marriage application that he was a widower. Nothing more is known of this first marriage. His married second wife, Margaret Catherine “Marie” Steinkamp on 22 July 1867 in Baltimore. Sometime after 1870, Daniel and his family headed out West and eventually planted themselves in Iowa where they raised their 7 children: Anna, John, Emma, Marie, Henry, George and Daniel, Jr. Many of Daniel, Sr.’s descendants still live in the Des Moines, Iowa area.
Youngest son, Elijah, was born in April 1846. When he was just 16 years old and working at a broom factory on Calvert Street in Baltimore, became a drummer boy in the 5th Maryland Regiment in January, 1862. He was discharged in October, following a bout of typhoid fever, and received a disability pension. Somehow he made it to Texas where he died. His obituary stated that he died in 1867, at age 21, in Lampasas, Texas, from wounds he received there.
Daniel and Sally didn’t marry until June 22, 1848. Their marriage was delayed for many years due to the fact that it was so difficult for Sally to obtain a divorce from her first husband, James Stansbury. So, Oliver, was born fourteen years before his parents married.
Sally died in September 1850 and two years later, in 1852, Daniel married Mrs. Margaret Brannaman Oler and had 4 more children from that union: Margaret “Maggie”, Mary Elizabeth, Leonard and Frederick “Fred.”
Baltimore, 1850's
Margaret “Maggie” was born in Baltimore about 1854. She married Manuel Morejon, a native Cuban, on 26 May 1873 in Baltimore. The couple had two children: Francisco and Julia. Family legend says that Manuel spoke seven languages and had the title of Marquis.
Mary Elizabeth was born in December 1850 in Baltimore. She married Eugene Margary, a native of Puerto Rico. They also had two children: Eugene, Jr. and Leonard Daniel. After Eugene, Sr. died, Mary remarried a second time to John Meldick. They had one child together: Viola.
Leonard Joynes was born in Dec 1858 in Baltimore. He was married to Ida V. Rodgers on 3 Nov 1880 in Baltimore. Out of this union came two children: William Daniel and Carroll Eugene. Leonard was a Baltimore City policeman.
Frederick “Fred” was born in Baltimore in February 1860. He married Isabelle Everest in Baltimore on 28 April 1881. There were three children born: Mary, Eleanor and Elmer Edgar.
It wasn’t long until sailing ships were being replaced by faster steam ships, and Daniel’s craft as a sailmaker was beginning to slowly fade away. He turned to awning making to continue to make a living to support his family. After his son, Elijah, died, Daniel fought a long court battle to try and acquire Elijah’s pension. He finally won and received $12 per month.
Daniel died in Baltimore on 16 May 1890. Obituary from Baltimore Sun Paper, May 19, 1890 – JOINES-On Friday morning, May 16, DANIEL JOINES, in the 80th year of his age. His funeral will take place on this (Monday) afternoon, at four o’clock, from his late residence, No. 402 North Eden street.
You can find the family group sheets of Daniel’s two families below. The file is in PDF file format, so make sure you have Adobe Acrobat Reader. If not, you can download it here for free.
