Thursday, March 28, 2013

Samuel Crockett, Jr and Jane Steele are another set of my fifth-great grandparents.  Samuel is also one of my recently-verifed-by-DAR patriots.  The Virginia Publick Claims published by Abercrombie & Slatten indicates that Samuel "furnished supplies" to support the war effort, which counts as patriotic service.
Samuel Crockett was born 11 February 1740 in Baltimore County, Maryland.  He was the son of Samuel Crockett and Esther Thompson.  In 1757, he married Jane Steele.  Jane was born in 1737 in Prince Edward County, Virginia, and died in 1775 in Sullivan County, Tennessee.  Her husband outlived her by 20 years, dying in 1795.  I think he married a second time after Jane died.

I am descended from Samuel & Jane through their daughter, Margaret Crockett, who married John Ingles.  Margaret & John were from Wythe County, Virginia.  John's father, William Ingles, is another of my patriots.  I have talked about him before--he is more well known as the husband of Mary Draper Ingles. 

The maps below highlight Prince Edward County, Virginia, and Sullivan County, Tennessee.  Keeping in mind that northern Tennessee falls under Virginia's western counties, they didn't migrate as far as it sounds.  And if the next generation was in Wythe County, that's not that far away either.




Saturday, March 9, 2013


My Dad took these two pictures about 1947 or 1948 when he was stationed in Japan after World War II.  He was with the Counterintelligence Corps in the U.S. Army.  The story as I remember it was that he happened to be at the train station when Emperor Hirohito arrived.  Dad seized the opportunity and took these two shots of the Emperor. 

I have seen these pictures all my life, but thought I would post them now because I just saw the movie Emperor last night.  I wish I could ask my Dad more about what he remembers about the Emperor while he was there. 

I did talk to my Mom, who joined my Dad in Japan and lived there from about 1947 to 1949.  She remembers that the Army headquarters was located close to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.  But she spent very little time in Tokyo--only one night.  So she didn't see much there. Mom says that Dad took these pictures before she joined him in Japan.  And she believes he was on duty at the time.

Mom also remembers Japanese people sleeping in the train stations because they had no where else to go.  And she said many towns had large areas that were destroyed.  Also, on a couple of train rides, they went through an area that had been hit by the atomic bomb and it was very devastated.  I assume she is referring to Hiroshima, because it is on the way to Yamaguchi and Fukuoka--two of the places they lived.