The Civil War Wiseley's

Please forgive the long interval since my last blog. We finally got away for a long needed vacation and went to Springfield, Illinois to see the Lincoln Presidential library and Museum.  I was able to spend a day in the research library and learned some very interesting things about the Civil War and the Wiseley name. Perhaps the oddest thing was a new way to spell Wisely.  I found an entry for a Wisly. First time I have seen that variation of the name.
     I was able to collect several names of Wiseley's that served in the Civil War and what unit they were in. The reading makes you want to go and find out what their unit did, what battles they fought and anything else you could learn. So, here are the Wiseley's that served in the civil war.

      One of the first books i grabbed looked promising. But state after state I could find no Wiseley's had served in the union army. Here are the states from

Janet B Hewett – Roster of Union Soldiers .

 Mo, KS, AR, NC, TX, AL, FL, GA, MS. 

No Union soldiers were listed from these states!!

I was sure i had traced Wiseley's in some of these states until it dawned on me these were all southern states and of course there would be no "Yankees" serving from these states.

     Then i began to discover states where we did have a Wiseley representative in the service. 

    

PENNSYLVANIA                Jacob H. Wisley 2^nd Hvy Art

Only one name from Pennsylvania??  I guess they had moved west or died or something. Maybe Pennsylvania Wiseley's were Like my 5G-Uncle Francis. He was enrolled in the Malitia in 1780-90. I have several records that list him as having paid fines for missing Muster. At first I thought he was a slacker who just was careless about showing up. Then I learned Francis was a Quaker and they did not believe in war. So he was fined and paid the fine, but apparently never made the annual muster.

    Still it seemed odd that there were so few from Pennsylvania.

 A search of the New England states yielded no one. Maine, New Hampshire, Masachussetts, Vermont, Rhode island.  No Wisely's from any of these states.

Then came New York and it was a different story.

NEW YORK

Luke T. Wiseley – 83^rd Inf Co C

John  Wisely – 38^th Inf Co B

John Wisly – 182 Inf Co A

Note the three different spellings of Wiseley or Wisely or even a new one, Wisly

New Jersey, Maryland, Deleware, the District of Columbia also had no one serve named Wisely.   And the western states were very thinly populated and no one named Wiseley was from those states either. 

None were found in  Nevada Washington Oregon  Arizona Dakota Utah Nebraska New Mexico California Colorado Michigan Conneticut Vermont, Maryland Minesota  or Iowa.

But Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois had several

OHIO

Nathan L. Wiseley – 187^th Inf

John G Wisely – 15^th Inf (3 mnths-1861) Co K

John G Wisely  (John) – 20^th inf Co F

Nathan L Wisely (Nathan) 20^th Inf Co F

Nathan L Wisely – 193 Inf Co D

John W Wisley – 45^th Inf Co G

ILLINOIS-

Daniel A. Wiseley – 3^rd Cav Co F

James Wisely – 139^th Inf Co K.

James (or James A.) Wisley – 151 Inf Co G

INDIANA

George Wiseley – 1^st hvy art Co D

James Wiseley – 6^th Cav Co F

Jordan Wisely – 133 inf Co K

Jordan Wisely – 145 AInf Co E

Samual H. Wisely – 149^th Inf Co D.

Jordan Wisley – 117^th Co E

 

BUT THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST OF MEN WHO SERVED IN THE CIVIL WAR.

We have to list the confederates as well.

CONFEDERATE TROOPS FROM "Roster of Confederate Troops" published 1996 by Janet B Hewett.

D A Wisely – MO- Cav 3^rd Regt –St Guard – Co A 1^st Lt

Isaac N. Wisely – VA Mil Wythe City

.

J R Wiseley – Va Mil – Wythe City

Michael Wisely – VA 19^th Inf

Mike Wisely – VA Mil – Wythe City

Daniel Wisley – MO5th Cav Co A Sgt

James P. Wisley – VA45th Inf co Joel Wisley – VA 29^th Inf Co B

Joel S. Wisley – VA 45^th Inf Co B

William Wisely – TX 34^th Cav Co C.

But there were others I had not expected to find.  It just never dawned on me there would be black Wiseley's but here they are. There must have been several US units of Colored Soldiers.

COLORED TROOPS

George Wisely US 47^th Col’d Inf Co I

Riall Wisely – US 18^th Col’d Inf 

I don't know much about these last two.  Perhaps they took the name Wiseley from a slave Master at some time.


But there were even more Wiseley's who served in the Civil War. I have no explanation for how we had Wiseley's serving in this unit but here it is.

 
  A Wisely – 1^st chickesaw Inf Wallace’s Company B

 James Wisely – 1^st Chickesaw Inf Wallace’s Co B

1ST CHICKESAW??   Indians named Wiseley??  I need to do more research on this unit to see if the Wiselys mentioned here are Union soldiers assigned to the 1st Chickesaw or if James and A were actually Indians. 

This blog has raised more questions than it has answered.  Hopefully it has gotten your attention enough to make you wonder about the family history.  Who knows maybe one of these soldiers was your great great grampa??


Next time I will try to get back to Oakwood and finish up that story.

The Wiseley Store in Oakwood, OH

"Oakwood-Past and Present"
by Jeanne Bennett Calvert
Oakwood, OH

In 2005 I was doing research at the State Library in Columbus Ohio when I found a book entitled "Oakwood, Ohio - Past and Present."  It contained several references to Wiseley.  I knew I had to go there.  A few months later I was in Ft Wayne, IN at the fantastic Allen County Library. If you have any interest in Genealogy you simply must visit there at least once. I have been there several times, usually for a week each time.


"What...you never ordered a large coffee before?"



    Oakwood is only about 35 miles east of Ft Wayne so I took a day and headed over there. One of my first stops was at the local cafe for a quick cup of coffee. While in this nice little cafe I asked if there were any Wiseley's around. Before I left they had called the Mayor, a local historian and the Lady who wrote the book. Saying it was a friendly town is an understatement. Before leaving town I spent several hours in the village clerks office where the old record books were kept in the city council meeting room. She told me she had to leave for an appointment but I was welcome to stay there. she would lock up and just make sure I closed the door when I left.

     I mentioned there was a Wiseley store in this town. In 1875 Allen Newton and Electious Wisely opened a general store. The Nickel Plate Railroad came to town in 1881. With timber mills, flour mills, a wooden hoop factory, the Nickel Plate hotel, a Doctor, drug store, and a two story brick school built in 1884 the town prospered.

      In the next clip you will see that in 1889 there were two wisely's running stores.  Just click on the pictures to enlarge them for easier reading. The back arrow will bring you back here.

In her wonderful book on Oakwood the author included a lot of the daily events from town council meetings and other sources so it reads almost like a diary. We can trace the store and what was happening pretty easily just from these entries. Read the following clips and you won't have any trouble following the events. from 1875 to about 1918.

     The note below is from May 1913

Some of the entries are oddly interestng because they show life in a simpler time in the country.  I have selected a few to give you the flavor of the times in 1913-1920.  Perhaps your kids or grandkids should see some of these. 
                            Gas was a little cheaper

and before Dixie cups or styrafoam cups were invented

And they were willing to provide for people who were out of work.

It was a very different time. In the early years of the 20th century the question of Women voting was still up for grabs, boys in grade school and high school began to wear overalls. Telephones, automobiles and electric lights were just arriving in smaller midwest towns. Oakwood had numerous experiences with  measles, flu, diptherea  and other diseases that were so contagious they caused churches to cancel meetings and the mayor to outlaw people waiting in the post office for mail to be sorted.  Dr's, dentists and eye doctors were only in town once or twice a month, unless they set up a practice in the village.  Roads and travel were nearly impossible in wet weather.  Right after WWI tanks that were touring the state didn't make it to Oakwood because they kept getting stuck in mudholes. Now that is a bad road! 

      But even in a small Ohio town there were Wiseleys who have left some interesting clues to who they were and how they lived.  Here we have the Wiseley store. . It is behind the pole with all the wires on it.  The two fellows who started it we learn are brothers and both named Wiseley

Here we see the brothers arrived in Oakwood in 1874 and went into partnership in opening a store in 1875.  Where did they come from? Who were they related to? 

By 1885 Oakwood seemed to have just about everything a town could want.

Here we learn that the Wiseley brothers store was one of three dry goods stores.  In another part of the book we learn that there was more than one Wiseley store

Here we learn that Allen Newton was actually Allen Newton Wiseley.  When they dissolved the partnership A N Wiseley kept the location but changed it to a grocery store. Electus moved across the street and continued in the dry goods business.  Well, until his stored burned in 1899. 

Six years after his brothers store burned A N Wiseley sold the original store.  I don't know what happened to Allen N Wiseley after he sold. 

Poor Electious  (proper spelling)  still had some problems in his future. The March 1913 flood that nearly wiped out the town left his building standing. The Auglaize river is just west of town. When it flooded it nearly ruined the city. The entire downtown area was flooded with five foot deep water. Several structures either floated away or collapsed as their foundations were eroded.  Buildings behind Electus Wiseley's store floated away. The post office next door to Electus collapsed.

     In Aug 1918 there is an entry that says CC Wiseley closed the store founded by his father and Uncle. But it doesn't say which of the brothers was his Father. I do not know what happened to Electious after the store closed. or do I know who CC Wiseley is or what happened to him. IN our next blog we will look more closely at some of the town records that list a number of Wiseleys and look for more clues to link Oakwood Wiseley's to one of the lines of Wiseley's that passed through this area.  As is often the case, there are no Wiseley's living in or near Oakwood today. No one I spoke with can even remember any Wiseley's from the area. But they do know there was a Wiseley store at one time and can point you to the grass covered part of the small downtown park where it once stood.

NOTE: The old time pictures and text were taken from the book "Oakwood, Ohio-Past and Present" by Jeanne Bennett Calvert Copyright 1996.  A copy of the  book can be obtained from the author by writing to Oakwood, OH.  The town is small enough a letter with her name on it and the Oakwood post office would most likely reach her. You could call Dolly Shishler at 419-594-3352. She works in the office for the Village of Oakwood and could give you information on how to obtain the book.







Wytheville #4 - descendants you may know.

    Looking at lists of names is interesting if you are curious about your ancestors. Otherwise lists of names can bore you to tears. Unfortunately this is one of those blogs which will be very interesting to a few folks but just names to others. 
     For those who think they may be related to the Wytheville Wisely group here are some names of descendants who you may have heard of. They are mostly from the mid 1900's and may be your grandfather, Uncle etc.  If you find a name here that you recognize please get in touch with me and I can give you the entire family tree from Frederick Wisely on down.
    OK at the risk of boring most of you to tears lets start.
           **********************************************    
 One of the family trees i have starts with Frederick and follows the line through his son Peter. Scanning over the information it appears that they stayed in the Wytheville area until the mid 1800's. Here are the names of those who made it into the 1900's.
    Joel Soloman Wisely died in Indianapolis, IN 1937 (This date seems suspicious as it would make him 110 when he died.)
     George W Wisely died in 1961 in Jackson Co, IL
      He married Ruby May Holt who died in 1964

      Harvey H Wisely (son of George) died 1977 (Jackson Co, IL) in  Carbondale, IL looks like the county seat of Jackson Co.
      One of Harvey H Wisely's sons , Harvey E Wisely made it to Texas and died in 1983 in Kerville, TX.  Harvey E and his wife Elsie had some kids - Barbara Ann, Wanda Lee and James E Wisely - who may still be living. 
       Barbara married Joseph Hidlebaugh in Indiana.
       Wanda Lee married Doug Snyder and had children in Kerrville, TX
        James E married Carol Ann Wise and had a bunch of kids.
There are many more names and dates in this family tree. Hopefully you may recognize a relative named here. Or you may have a relative who lives near Carbondale, IN or Kerrville, TX. (Kerrville is about 50 miles North west of San Antonio)
          **************************************************

Another family tree follows more children and contains more information but only lists people into the mid 1800's. The geographical locations may help you decide if there is some connection geographically with the Wisely's listed in that family tree. Again just contact me and I will gladly share whatever information i have. 
     It seems a number of Peters children left early for Indiana. (Peter was brother to the Daniel in Wytheville 3) Several children moved to Monroe Co, IN in the Bloomfield area.  There are numerous entries for Monroe County, IN. That is where Michael Wiseley headed in 1887 after being arrested for stabbing a guy and was nearly lynched.
     One of Daniels kids  (Daniel Jr) wound up in central Missouri, Howard Co. 
     One of Daniels nephews (also named Daniel) died in Lamar County,TX. 
     And we have a James Wisely (Grandson of Peter-old Daniels Brother) who moved to Ray County, MO-(about 30 miles northeast of Kansas city) He had a bunch of kids and gave them unique names.  Wythe, Virginia, George Washington, Hatfield, McCullough, Elkanah, Joseph, Leftridge, Minnie, Flora and Grover.  Yep all first names. The youngest died about 1953, so you may have heard of one of thse old timers.
      If you know kinfolk who lived near Bloomfield, IN, Liberty, MO,  Carbondale, IL, Kerrville and Paris, TX. you may just be part of this family line.  Hope a few people have been helped with this tedious reading blog.  The next blog will be more fun. We will start tracing a new line of Wiseley's and learn more about the Scotch-Irish people.
         
    

Wytheville #3 - Daniel - lust, arson & murder

     First off, Daniel did not murder anyone nor was he the arsonist. I doubt he did much lusting after other women. Having ten kids probably kept him busy. 

    First we should identify which Daniel we are discussing. This Daniel was the son of Frederick Wisely and Elizabeth (Kaler). As we previously mentioned he must have been a significant person as his brother and two of his children would name their kids Daniel. There was even a Daniel Jr. but he was not born until 1796 and most of what we will discuss happened around that time period so we are not talking about Daniel Jr.

     So far I have not been able to verify when Daniel and Elizabeth were married. Some information copied from a family Bible has a date of 1791, but I question that because their first two children, Elizabeth and Barbara were born in May 1788 and July 1789. If they had been having children before marriage Daniel would probably not have turned in  Alexander and Tabitha as recorded in the end of this court recording of April 14, 1796. Note the problems they had even then. Card playing for money, contractors not fixing county roads, someone trying to vote twice, another contractor not keeping city streets in repair and then Daniel turning in those lusting cohabitators. (Shocking)

      

I doubt Daniel was living with Elizabeth prior to being married. Since I have not located any verifiable source for their marriage date let's put it prior to the birth of their first child, Elizabeth, May 06, 1788. Daniel would have been 25 then so that seems about right. 
      Daniel owned property. Hundreds of acres and was also in business with his neighbor Kegley.  Court records about roads refer to Wisely's Shop. There is a wonderful old hand drawn map on the wall of the Kegley Library on the campus of Wytheville Community College.  It locates Daniels house (by name) just west of Wytheville on the Stage Road. 

      The house was still standing in 1937 when the WPA did a historical report on buildings in Wytheville.  There is an extended report of each room and where the stairs were and what kind of railing and chair rails the house had. If that is of any interest to anyone I will be happy to share it with you.
    As i have read and reread the available documents I am learning a couple things. First that much of the information people gather is suspect. There are several instances where people have just "assumed" something which the records show to be untrue. Secondly I am pleasantly surprised that the Wytheville community was small enough that nearly everyone knew each other.  the Wisely's were friends, neighbors, relatives by marriage or business partners with a lot of people who were not named Wisely. For instance One of Daniels neighbors, Edward Murphy, was busy buying land. The first mention of Edward is in 1782 on a tax record.  We know his wife was named Bridget from a property deal in 1792. Later he bought 350 acres next to Daniel Wisely and became his neighbor.
      But poor Edward had his problems. In June 1798 he was found in contempt of court and spent some time in the public stocks. In December of 1798 the court ordered him to pay 10 pounds annual child support to Polly Phipps.  After that his luck ran out and he was murdered March 16, 1800. The court blamed a woman, Sarah Smith, for "sundry mortal bruises with malice aforethought".  Sarah Smith was licensed to run a tavern in Wytheville. After a court trial where she and several witnesses were questioned, she was acquitted. 
       I wonder what realy happened. Did Edward make a move on Sarah and she beat the hell out of him? Maybe Sarah got him drunk and Abigale beat on him.  Was Sarah found innocent because Edward "desrved it"?  There must have been a really interesting story buried in there somewhere.
       The custom of the time was that neighbors would take inventory of a persons goods to settle the will. Daniel Wisely and some other neighbors (William Finley, James Finley and William Phipps) inventoried his estate. They listed everything down to a frying pan and ten spoons.
        After his death his estate was sued in 1803 for fifty acres he "sold" a fellow who did not have a deed. In 1809 his son Edward Jr. left the area. Daniel had some interesting neighbors alright!
        But Daniel was a lot closer to the arson in town. A "Negro boy slave" named Henry, belonging to a business man named Hay was sold. Henry was not happy about it and wanted revenge so he set fire to Hay's lumber store. They put him in jail and tried to get him to confess. They even had a local carpenter come and measure him for a coffin to scare him into confessing. The case was eventually dropped and they arrested a slave named Cyrus, who was owned by Daniel Wisely.  Cyrus was implicated in the arson of Hays home, and another house in addition to the Lumber house. For some reason they did not prosecute Cyrus but bond him out on good behavior. Daniel Wisely told them to leave Cyrus in jail until he was sold out of the commonwealth.
      An intersting note is that the city of Evansham was nearly burned to the ground about this same time from arson fires set by slaves. When they rebuilt the town they renamed it Wytheville.
      In our next blog we will trace Daniel and some of his relatives into the present. You might want to check Wytheville #4 to see if you are descended from these pioneering folks in Virginia.