U.S. Battleship Oregon

 

Source

Unwholesome Beef In War

Source

"Before the Army Commission, General Miles makes a futile effort to fasten the scandal of furnishing unwholesome beef to the army upon Secretary Alger."


From The Spanish-American War, By Russell Alexander Alger:

The Millar Family In Ilkley

My great-grandmother's cousin, George Millar, was born (11 February 1861) in Ilkley, England, per his Spanish-American War record.  (The family moved to the United States by 1870). The records below were found via Ancestry.com.

West Yorkshire, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1910 Birth, Marriage, & Death

May 5 

George Son of Andrew & Jane Miller 

Ilkley Wells House Lodge --Gardener

John Snowden, Vicar

England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 Birth, Marriage, & Death

Peter Millar (Moir-Miller on the record), George's brother, was also born in Ilkley (28 June 1863).  His father, Andrew, was still the gardener at Wells House Lodge.

Andrew Millar was a gardener at Ilkley's Wells House Lodge; Charles Darwin was a visitor there in 1859.  Was Andrew Millar there during Mr. Darwin's visit?  I don't know.  

Andrew Millar and Jane Moir/More were married on November 19, 1860, in Inverarity and Methy, Angus, Scotland.  Was Jane an employee at Wells House Lodge before her marriage and is that where she met Andrew?  Probably not, but it's a possibility.

Source

"The ornamental grounds were laid out under the direction of Mr. [Joshua] Major, the celebrated landscape gardener." [Source]

The Spanish-American War And The Family Tree

From the Library of Congress:

Important Dates:

April 25, 1898: The U.S. Congress declares war on Spain.
May 1, 1898: In the first battle between Spanish and American Forces, U.S. Commodore Dewey and his Asiatic squadron defeat the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay in the Philippines.
June 22, 1898: U.S. troops land in Cuba.
July 1, 1898: U.S. forces defeat the Spanish at the Battle of San Juan Heights.
July 3, 1898: U.S. forces destroy the Spanish Fleet off Santiago Bay, Cuba.
July 17, 1898: The Spanish surrender at Santiago.
August 12, 1898: The U.S. and Spain sign the Protocol of Peace, ending hostilities between the two.
December 10, 1898: The Treaty of Paris is signed by representatives from the U.S. and Spain. After extensive debate, the treaty is ratified by the U.S. senate on February 6, 1899. Under the treaty, the U.S. acquires control over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.


Russell A. Alger, who was the Secretary of War at the time, wrote a book about the Spanish-American War:

Russell A. Alger was the son-in-law of Huldana (Squier) Henry; Huldana and my grandkids' ancestor, Wait Squier, were siblings.

My grandmother's cousin, George Millar, was a captain in the Spanish-American War.

General Joe Wheeler And His Alabama Home

We visited the Wheeler home, Pond Springs, on October 26, 2013.  Jim and I were the only two on the tour.

An encounter between author Frances Parkinson Wheeler Keyes and General Joseph Wheeler in Washington, D.C., from my Relatively Fiction blog:

My (Frances Wheeler's) first meeting with General Joseph Wheeler, which took place at the Capitol a few days later, was less disastrous than my meeting with General Miles at the White House...  An aura of grandeur surrounded the names of the men who had fought under the Stars and Bars and who, thirty years later, volunteered to serve under the Stars and Stripes; in the case of Fitzhugh Lee and 'Little Joe' Wheeler this aura became a positive radiance.  The pint-sized cavalry officer---'a diminutive Alabamian of terrific energy'--had had twenty-four horses killed under him during the War Between the States, but undeterred had continued to go galloping onward; the greater the danger the more he seemed to thrive.  Nothing could have been better suited his tastes and talents than the charge on San Juan Hill and, in my eyes, he was the outstanding hero of the Spanish-American War. 

There's a Facebook link here.

Buffalo Soldiers In The Spanish-American War

YouTube has restored Spanish-American War images from the Library Of Congress taken ca 1898 displayed, including the Buffalo Soldiers (screenshot below):

The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum is located in Houston, Texas.

Andrew Millar & Family

Andrew Millar's wife, Jane (More) Millar, was James More's (my great-great grandfather) sister.  James, Cynthia and their children, John F. More, age 18, James Levi More, age 13, Ward B. More, age 11, Charles More, age 8, Addie More, age 5, and Mary More, age 3, were living in Thornville, Lapeer county, Michigan. Also living with the family were Cynthia's mother, Laura (Backus) Richmond, age 60, James' sister and brother-in-law, Jane and Andrew Millar, and the Millar children, George and Peter, who had recently arrived from Great Britain.

(Probably from The) Mining Journal

 Date of Death June 27, 1916

Andrew Millar Is Summoned

Deceased Came To America From Scotland 46 Years Ago

Andrew Millar, 80 years of age and a resident of this community over a long period of years, passed away yesterday shortly before noon at the home of his son, Captain George Millar.  The late Mr. Millar was born in Scotland and came to the United States in 1870.  He lived in Lapeer county and Detroit before locating in the Copper Country.  Announcement of Mr. Millar's death was no surprise as his illness dates over the last two years.  His wife passed away a number of years ago.  The deceased was a member of St. Andrew's society and this organization will attend the funeral.  Funeral arrangements had not been completed yesterday although it has been arranged to lay the remains to rest in Lakeside cemetery Hancock. 

 Andrew Millar, who was former Detroit Mayor Kirkland C. Barker's gardener on Grosse Isle, let his son, Peter, help Mr. Barker and crew as they were preparing for a yacht race in the Detroit River on May 20, 1875. 


Barker's racing yacht "Cora" lay at anchor off Stony Island... Aboard the "Mattie" ...were Mr. Barker, Frederick Dudgeon, Manly Webb... and fourteen-year old Peter Miller, son of Mr. Barker's gardener. The "Mattie" capsized; all were thrown overboard and drowned. Peter's body was found floating off Bois Blanc Island May 31 and buried at Anderdon (now part of Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada) that day. (Grosse Isle book "The Deep Roots - Chapter 'A New Era'"). 

George Millar moved to Houghton county, Michigan (where his father, Andrew, died) and was a fireman at a copper refinery in 1900.  George was a Captain during the Spanish-American War. George was living in Ann Arbor, Michigan, when he died.  He was the last living descendant of Andrew & Jane Millar; George had one child who died as an infant.

Jane (More) Millar probably died in Michigan between 1880 and 1900, although her death record has not been found.  A death record that identified her parents would corroborate that William & Margaret (Norrie) More were both her parents and also the parents of my great-great-grandfather, James More.

Tombstone Tuesday - Hugh Martin

Historic Bethel Cemetery, Kingston, Tennessee:


Hugh Martin
22 Nov 1877
16 Dec 1956
Spanish-American War
Cpl. Co. _
3rd Regiment TN Inf.