Shake Those Branches

 John B. Cline was in many ways a mystery.  No one knows who his parents were or where they came from.  Family lore has it that John's father was wanted for murder and escaped prosecution by fleeing from the "north".  Whatever that means!  He also changed his name from "Miller" to Cline"  The story has been told that he was from Dutch origin.  However, no one I have tested on that line has any Dutch ancestry.  So that could be a lie or John simply had no idea.  In various census records John tells the census workers that his father was either from Tennessee or just from the US. (being very vague)  His mother was listed as either being born in Arkansas or Tennessee.   So it is anyone's guess what the true story is.    John Cline John was born on October 4, 1846 and in various censuses he gives either Mississippi or Missouri as his place of birth.  I lean more to Missouri.   We have no idea if he had any broth...

    Box Elder picture from "Wood Magazine"  My newspaper research of Christ Miller has been quite fruitful.  I have unearthed more information than I could have ever dreamed.   Some ancestors are a little more elusive than others and I appreciate  those that used the newspapers for various reasons.   My recent discovery is that not only was Grandpa Miller a farmer, but he was involved in various other enterprises during his time in Iowa.   He placed several ads in the Jewell Record in 1899 and 1900 as an agent for the Des Moines Nursery Company .  Even though the Des Moines Nursery Company sold various types of trees, every ad that he placed in the newspaper were for Box Elder trees.  I wondered what made him choose Box Elder trees over other varieties to sell?     Jewell Record Newspaper 1899 and 1900        Some quick research into Box Elder trees show that they are quick growing trees and like wet s...

During his time in Iowa, Christ Miller had a small farm just west of the town of Jewell, Iowa.  The farm was located in section 25 of Hamilton Township in Hamilton County and he owned around 120 acres.         The Non Population Schedule of 1880 gives us a clue into the make up of his farm.  The non population schedule shows that he was renting the land.  This is either wrong or he eventually bought the land at a later date, since there are records showing that he sold it in the mid 1890's.  This schedule collects data on what the farmer had or did for the year 1879.  Grandpa Miller had 36 acres in tilled land and 15 acres in meadow. His farm equipment was valued at 275.00 dollars and livestock valued at 486.00 dollars.  He paid out 165.00 dollars in labor cost for work done on the farm and this laborer/s worked for 52 weeks.  His gross income for 1879 was 745.00 dollars.  He also had 30 acres in hay.  He grew 30 acre...