E. MOORE is an old and highly respected citizen of Cowley county, Kansas, where he has successfulIy tilled the soil since the spring of 1875. He now has a fine home in Silver Creek township on the northwest quarter of section 4, township 31, range 6, east. He was born February 25, 1826, is a native of Burke county, North Carolina, and a son of William and Martha (Norton) Moore.
     William Moore was of Scotch extraction, and a man of considerable prominence wherever he resided. He served as justice of the peace many times, and was a stanch Whig. He died in 1870, aged seventy years. Martha Norton, who was nicknamed "Patsy," was born in South Carolina, was wedded to Mr. Moore in North Carolina, and passed from this life in 1885, aged eighty years. They were the parents of the following children: Nancy, deceased; Green M., of North Carolina; Lucinda and Louisa; twins, of North Carolina; F. E.; Jasper, of North Carolina; Agnes; Jennie and Martha, deceased; and La Fayette, of North Carolina.
     F. E. Moore was a lad of five years when his parents moved to Haywood county, North Carolina, where he was reared and schooled. When the Civil War broke out, he was compelled to enlist in Company I, 62nd Regiment of North Carolina (Confederate), but his sympathies had always been with the Union, as he was opposed to slavery. He was finally taken prisoner and confined at Camp Douglas, Chicago, for eighteen months. After this captivity, he accepted the amnesty offered by the government, and returned home before the cessation of hostilities. He remained in North Carolina a few years, and then came west to Platte county, Missouri, where he spent three years in farming, and thence moved to Cowley county, Kansas, in the spring of '1875. He had a number of horses, and drove through with his family. He located on 107 acres, in Silver Creek township, in section 4, township 31, range 6,east, which had been deeded to Messrs. Sparr and Elkins. About 32 acres had been broken, and a small claim house had been built. The fine grove of trees and the orchard were set out by Mr. Moore. He lived in the claim house until 1880, when he built his present fine stone house, which is 30 by 18 feet, in dimensions. His granary, barn and other outbuildings were erected as they were needed. In former years his crop was mostly wheat, but of late he raises all kinds of grain, and devotes much time to breeding Poland-China hogs and Shorthorn cattle: He has good wells, I4 feet in depth, supplying plenty of water, and the greater part of his farm is watered by a branch of Timber Creek. Of late years Mr. Moore has let his son, William W., operate the farm. Mr. Moore is highly esteemed by his neighbors, and throughout the community is regarded as a man of high principles.
     F. E. Moore was married, in 1852, to Emily Clark Harbin, a daughter of J. W. and Rosa (Smith) Harbin, who Were the parents of three children, namely: Florentina, who is the wife of A. H. Robinson, of North Carolina; Emily Clark, Mr. Moore's wife, who was born, in 1829, in Haywood county, North Carolina, although her parents were from South Carolina; and Oliver Newton, who died at Cumberland Gap during the Civil War. Mr. Moore and his wife have four children, as follows: William W., who lives near his father's place, married Miss Higgins, and has two children,-Arthur and Blanche; Martha R. (Provence), who lives in Ness county, Kansas, and has four children,-Mary, Ollie, Hettie and Lulu; Ida E. (Elkins), who has three children,-Emma, Clyde, and Frances; and Mary J. (McClurg), who has three children, Walter, Emma and Ivea. Politically, Mr. Moore is a Republican; in religious views, he is a Methodist. Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Moore accompany this sketch.

(Written for the Hiqqins Family Reunion, Cambridge, Kansas
July 30, 1967)

by Mary Maude Higgins Pease

Dear You-all higgins, Thorps, Pitts, Carrs, Harrises and so on. I'm only sorry I can't include the Browns in this, but I don't have the records of Uncle Alf's family.

As you all know, live been collecting data on the Higgins family for years.  Until now, however, I have made no attempt to put my findings in order, deferring the task in the hopes that I would someday find that elusive ancestor, the father of Josiah and through him succeed in tracing the family back to the arrival of the first ancestor to America. I have a hunch who Josiah's father might be, but I am not sure... nor do I know where he, in turn, came from, so our known ancestry begins with Josiah Higgins, who came to Howard County, Missouri, in 1810 or 1812... well over 150 years ago.

I think the Higginses are Scotch-Irish. There are the Scots who emigrated to America in the nearly 1700s from North Ireland, where they had lived for nearly 100 years after leaving Scotland because of religious persecution. In fact, the Scots left Scotland for North Ireland about the time the Pilgrims left England for America, and for precisely the same reason. They lived to themselves in North Ireland., having no relations whatever with the Irish to the south of them who were, of course, Catholic. To be Scotch-Irish is a heritage of which to be proud; they have earned more medals of Honor and citations for bravery than any other ethnic group in America.

The mainstream of Scotch-Irish immigrants to this country entered by way of Pennsylvania and from there quickly spread to Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, where our first known ancestor lived and, presumably, was born.

Josiah Higgins, born in 1782, was quite possibly the son of Philemon Higgins, a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Philemon, as some of you will remember, is a family name, and his age and probable place or residence indicate he could easily be Josiah's father but precise proof is lacking.  Philemon was a private in Doherty's Regiment of Militia from territory south of the Ohio River and his name appears under the heading "of a detachment of Infantry under the command of George Doherty, Requ., for the protection ,of the frontiers southwest of the Ohio." Part of this territory was, of course, what now is Tennessee.

Whether Josiah was Philemon's son may never be know; Josiah and his decedents however, are clearly recorded, as is Josiah's wife.. Barbara Smelser, born in 1779 to John Smelser and Catherine Higgins who, quite probably, was one of Josiah's relatives for marriages between cousins were common in the South.  John Smelser was the son of Jacob Smelser, a German immigrant. There are many references to the Smelser family in Tennessee and Missouri records, all indicating that they were a solid and industrious family.(So there was good German blood in our family mixture long before .the Browns joined us. Alf's father, I've been told, bore the fine old German name or Braun, but as many people persisted in spelling it Brown he finally declared, "All right.. let it be BROWN!" And Brown its been ever since.)

Josiah and Barbara Higgins, with possibly two small children, left Tennessee in 1810 with several other families in an immigrant company commanded by Colonel Sarshell Cooper. They were joined by families from Madison County, Kentucky, among whom were the Thorps, the Witts, the Harrises, the Greggs, and the Nolands. The company headed west. And by 1812 settled in Boone1s Lick County Missouri, part or which was to become what now is Howard bounty. The families lived in frontier forts for protection against the Indians, each fort being composed or a series or connecting log houses, forming a protective enclosure where the livestock could be kept. They organized their own militia company and elected Sarshell Cooper their captain. Josiah Higgins and William and John Thorp were privates.

The Higgins family Jived in this community until 1837 when Platte County was organized. They, and many of their Howard County neighbors, moved on to the new county... always seeking a new frontier to tame. Josiah was elected Justice of the Peace. Barbara died in 1840, and Josiah in 1841. They were buried on their farm in Pettis Township, Platte County, Flat stone alabs mark their graves. They had nine children: Philemon (our ancestor), Josiah, Harmon, Jackson, William, Susan, Jacob, John, and Margaret (Peggy).

Philemon was born either in 1810 in Tennessee or in 1812 in Missouri...the record is not clear. He was very tall for his time--6' 3". He apparently was unusual in another respect: he was a college graduate.At least, so the record states, but which coI1ege will probably never be known, as, to quote the record further, "the cow ate his diploma." Philemon married Lucinda Witt in 1836.

A lot of the gaiety in our family may have come from this union with the Witts, a French Huguenot family from Virginia. Lucinda was the daughter of Littleberry Witt and Fanny Hughes, and the granddaughter of WiI1iam Witt, a soldier in the Revolutionary War. William's parents were John Witt, who was born in 1710 in Powhatan, Virginia, and his wife Lucy Littleberry, from whom, as you now can see, came "Uncle Berry's" name.(Until he died, my father, Bud always thought that his uncle's name was "little Barry" rather than Littleberry Higgins!) John Witt's father was William Witt, a Huguenot from France who came to Virginia in 1699 with a band of Huegonots who were escaping Catholic persecution. They were the settlers of Manakintown, not far from Richmond, Virginia. Through this first William Witt, we all are eligible for membership in an interesting and most exclusive organization known as the "Huguenot Society of the Founders of Manakintown, Virginia." For that matter, we all are eligible for membership in S.A.R. or D.A.R., Cotonial Dames, or the Huguenot Society through both William and other Revolutionary and Colonial ancestors.

Thirteen years after Philemon Higgins married Lucinda Witt, he succumbed to the "itchy foot" tendency W1ich marks the family to this day. Outfitting a wagon train, he joined the 49ers on the long overland journey to California and the gold fields, packing his family along. The adventure cost him dearly he found no gold, used up all his resources, which were considerable, and lost his wife enroute home, leaving her body in an unmarked grave somewhere along the trail.

There is a story connected-with Philemon's trip which bears repeating. When he sold out to go West, Philemon freed his slaves. One of the young male slaves wished to accompany him to California, and when Philemon refused to take him along, hid in the wagon train and went anyway. Before reaching the gold fields, however, the negro died. Many years later, Philemon's son, Grandpa William Wallace Higgins, met a negro at an old soldier's reunion and in the course of their conversation discovered that he was talking to the son of his father's former slave, who until that moment had never known what had happened to his father.

Philemon died in 1887. His place of burial is unknown, but one of the several farms he owned is in what now is Siloam Springs, Arkansas. His children were: Sarah (m. William Moble), Josiah, Littleberry (m. Aurora Brink, Benjamin Franklin (Frank) (M. Ellen brink}, William Wallace (m. Joanna Thorp), and Jacob.

William Wallace Higgins, my grandfather, was born April 23, 1846, in Parkvi11e, Missouri. He married Joanna Thorp on December 25, 1868. Aunt Francis wrote so charmingly about Wil1iam Wallace and Joanna that further mention here is unnecessary, as I presume you all have a copy of her story.

Through Joanna, however, comes a Virginia heritage we all can take great pride. Joanna's grandfather, Josiah Thorp, was one of the Kentuckians who joined Josiah Higgins and his Tennessee neighbors on the trek from Missouri in 1810-1812. He was a native of Albemarle County, Virgi,lia, and the descendent of Thorps who go back to the earliest days of historic Williamsburg, Virginia. The first Thorps lie under large granite grave covers in the churchyard of Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg. Their names and the dates of their births and deaths can still be read on these grave stones, and brass plates mark their pew inside the historic old church. Every time George Washington attended services in that church, where he occupied a front pew, he and Martha walked right past those graves and, who knows, perhaps paused to read the legends thereon... for in the days the Washingtons attended Bruton Parish the Thorps had been at rest by the front entrance for more than 100 years! Through the Thorps we are descendents; of the Carrs, the Harrises, the Hollidays and the Grubbs...all fine old families of the South.

Grandmother Joanna, whose father Josiah married Mary Carr, was unnamed for at least the first six months of her life, according to the census of 1850 which
reads:

Probably "girl" was unnamed because papa Josiah had joined the gold rush before her arrival and had not yet returned. The "Margaret-Carr" undoubtedly was Mary's widowed mother.

The children of William Wallace and Joanna Thorp Higgins were: Mary, Arthur Otto (Bud), Clifton Riley (Clif), Aurora (Aurie), Pleasant Clyde (Plez), Jackson (Jack), Everett Wallace (EV), Bessie, and Annabelle.

This brings us down to now. It traces the Higgins line back to 1782, the Smelsers to a somewhat earlier date; the Witts to 1699 and the Thorps to even earlier than that. But of equal weight are the genes we have inherited from other names: Carr, Claiborne, Gardiner, Glenn, Grubb, Harris, Holliday, Hughes, Hearne and Waters. Someday, perhaps, I can tell you about them.

God love you all!

This story was written by "one of the sisters-in-law". It is a story told by remembrances and discussions of the people she knew. I believe it was written by Aunt Frances Higgins, wife of Uncle Jack. It is hand-written in long-hand, but in places it is sorta confusing, so I decided to type it, so you could read it leisurely and enjoy. She didn't put paragraph makings in it, so I will write it as she wrote it. Bobbie

This story begins in Buchannon Co. Mo. in the year 1850 in a small log cabin on the banks of the tumultuous Missouri river, where Josiah and Mary Thorpe lived with their family. For many days they had debated the wisdom of him crossing the great plains of America to go to Calif to prospect for gold. At last it was decided he should go. But when? In April the Higgins wagon train was to start. The last of May a smaller train was to depart from Atchinson, Kansas. They argued the pro and con of this trip when to start? As Mary was expecting the usual 2 year visit from the stork in May (those days we did not have planned families). It was God's will.
Mary won that Josiah was to go in April with the Higgins wagon train that was the larger of the two; therefore was much better protected with the very best of scouts and the militia. In this wagon train was one William Wallace Higgins, age 4. In due time Mary was delivered of one tiny, blue-eyed baby girl, henceforth to be known as Joanna. She was 18 months old before her father knew about her at all. News did not travel in minutes in those days, and then mostly by word of mouth, and if one was prospecting in the hills for gold it was days and weeks before he came back to the settlements.
Joanna was seven years old when her father came back from Calif Older and wiser but without any of the fabulous gold to bring back to a patient Mary. For many days after his return to his home, Joanna always call him "That Man." Time in those days marched on just as it does now. Joanna romped and played with her brothers and sisters. Just a tiny blue-eyed girl. Then came rumors of a civil war. Boys that one played with today were gone tomorrow. Unrest, turmoil and worry was in the heart of man those days.
Then to add to their sorrow, bushwhackers began their raids of destruction and ambush killings until it was not safe for peace-loving and God-fearing folks to stay in Mo. So one dark stormy night, rain coming down in torrents, with lightening their only guide, they packed what few things they could carry in their arms left their home and what livestock they owned and crossed the greedy, grasping Missouri river at flood stage on a frail raft. From Mo. with its unrest. Into kindly sunny Kansas that gently folded them into her loving arms a refuge to all whom sought comfort from the ravages of war torn states.
In the mean time our Wallace had grown to manhood, after crossing the plains in a prairie schooner, then home on the boat on which his mother and her small baby passed away. His father Phillemon Higgins prevailed upon the captain to put in at a small island and bury them rather than have them buried at sea, just where that tiny island is no man knows. But God in his infinite wisdom knows and not one of his children shall be lost. Wallace experienced things that we in our hot house existance highly educated state would know would ruin our children. Their nerves would not stand the strain of being quite for hours, being in hiding for hours on end but obedience in those trying times ment life not only to them but to all. Wallace served in the civil war enlisting in Co A, 6th Kans Vol. Cav, was mustered out at DuValts Bluff, Ark July 18-1865. He then became anxious to see the state of his birth. Mo. to look at old land marks and fish in streams he had known in early life. Our Joanna saw him pass their home, a handsome 6 ft lad with coal black hair and laughing grey eyes. She wondered just how she could meet this handsome boy and be lady like about it. "No wolf whistle in those days." On day as Wallace rode the trail his horse became frightened and ran away runninto a rail fence cutting & bruising his limb. Joanna father brought him into the home to dress and care for the injury. Which was so bad, he had to stay in the Thorp's home for some days. From this meeting the romance marrying of William Wallace Higgins, 21 and Joanna Thorpe, 17, Dec. 25-1867. Theirs was a home wedding. They had no hot house flowers. No white vail or white satin, just a union of love. To this union 11 children were born. They went to keep house in a small one room log cabin where Alvin was born the following September, just as indian summer was at its best; he stayed with these parents not quite one year when he was called to his heavenly home. He was born on Chief Johnny Cake's gov. holdings in Wyandotte Co, Kansas. Wallace tried to buy this land. But $80 for 40 acres of land was goo great a debt for these youngsters to sholder, their first crop on the ground was flax, then im March 1870 Sister Mary came to bless the union, she was born in the same one room log cabin. They lived in this house untill Mar 1871, when Wallace and Joanna decided to move farther west in Kansas. They made a record trip from Wyandotte Ks. to 3 mi. S of what is now Atlanta Kansas in 16 days with an ox team, a distance that never before had been made in less than 20 days some times more. No high ways, no read markings with just a trail, their trust in God, a good driver with an instinct of direction & a natural ability to read the sun, moon & stars. Wallace and Joanna had no clock, no watch, their only means to start fire, a flint. Their only possession were their prairie schooner & oxen, 1 iron skillet, an iron teakettle that was used as coffee pot too, some bacon, a small amount of white flour, some corn meal, salt and soda, and brown sugar. They depended on the wild game for the greater part of their food. Joanna used sour dough for her bread, which was always corn pone or biscuits. Bud was born on this claim they staked 3 mi So of Atlanta in Nov. 1871, as far as is known he was the first white make child born in what is now Cowley Co Kans. Joanna delivered this too in a small 1 room log house with out the aid of Dr. nurse or sterile operating room. Just two good friends & neighbors Liz Freeman & Grandma Sphar, who rode two and one half miles on a mule bare back in one of the worst blizzards that has ever been know at this time of the year, they assisted nature the best they knew how, still they had no stove or lamps, depended on the fireplace for heat as well as light. Then the year 1872, they moved back to Bucannon Co. MO. where Joanna's parents lived, here Frankie was born in another log house in Feb, 1873-that summer they went to the Cherokee Nation, then in the late fall of that same year they came back to Mo. Wallace had the idea that if he went west he could soon be rich. He wanted to go to Idaho. But Joanna wanted to stay in Kans. But in the late spring about June 1874, it is believed, he went to Idaho in the saw tooth mts. In Aug of that year Joanna buried little Frankie. Her great faith in her God susustained her in the hours of sorrow. It wasn't untill the late summer of the next year, 1875, that she knew just where her husband was. In May, 1876, Joanna started to Idaho via train and stage coach with 2 small children, Mary and Arthur better known as Bud, from Atchison Kansas to Salt Lake City Utah they were on the train 6 days and nights. No pullman for them, just a plain day coach; then by stage coach to Rocky Bar Idaho; these were trying times with two small children. Every ten miles horses were changed & every 30 miles stages and drivers were changed. Half wild horses were roped & hitched to this heavy lumbering, swaying coach, that boasted of no springs only raw hide straps with what little give they had as steel could not stand the rough trails of those days. They forded streams. She rode miles & miles this one tiny woman & two small children with rough miners gamblers & at last this weary journey of eleven days came to an end. The family was reunited again after more than two years. Wallace had found plenty of claims to stake, but no gold. He was working at this time in a saw mill in summer & in winter he carried the mail from Atlanta Idaho to Rocky Bar a distance of 25 miles which took three days on skyes. The indians were on the war path at this time but in winter with deep snows there wasn't as much danger of attact as in warm weather It was this winter of 76 & 77 that Mary and Bud learned to ski, Wallace made them skis like his own; they were much longer than Bud or Mary was tall. Again the family was living in a one room log cabin snuggled back in the Mt. Side, there were 2 half windows, one on each side & 1 door in the end of the cabin with heavy planks to guard against an indian attact, with peep holes to see and shoot thru. The small windows were even with the ground. Then in 1877 Cliff came to live with this family; he came high, but came he did over 10000 ft above sea level. Again a child was born without the aid of med science. In the spring of this year a bear had been raiding the camp for food. The lumber men a tough bunch of fellows decided it would be fun to get the bear drunk, so they rolled the mollasses barrel out of the cabin by the door & put in a quanity of whiskey. Sure enough in the morning Mr. Bear was down drunk; as he began to sober up the men took turns boxing with him, but later in the day as the effects of the alcohol began to leave him he got to rough so Wallace shot him. I believe Everette has a claw now from this bear. That summer the indians were on the war path. Mary & Bud were allowed to play out doors only if they stayed close enough to the windows that Joanna could reach out and grab them thru the window if she saw or heard any unusual noise, or if the mill whistle blew at an unusual time. One day about noon the whistle gave the alarm. Without stopping to see what the cause was, in came two badly frightened children, right thru the windows up went heavy boards, door closed and barred, then it was time to look thru peep holes to see the mill completely surrounded with indians in all their glory of war paint & feathered head dress. They were quited down and left, but not entirely peaceful, so again Wallace & Joanna decided to come back to Kansas. She made the long trip again alone but this time in a hostile indian country with three children & one a small baby. Just the day before they started again across the plain the stage had been attack by indians all had been killed, scalped & burned. Joanna told about the ruins still smoldering & smoking at one stop for a change of horses. An indian chief put his head in the door & said "Me want papoose." But just as he reached, with a whoop & sudden lurch coach & passengers started on so Cliff came on home with a badly frightened family.
Wallace stayed to sell some oxen they owned & to try & collect some $800.00 he had coming in wages from one Clifton Riley, the mill owner. These wages were never collected; later Wallace came on after a narrow escape from indians. Then in April 1880 Sister Aura was born another tiny blue eyed baby girl in a log cabin 3 mi south of what is now Atlanta Kansas, over looking the fertile valley of timber creek with its abundance of fish, deer & antelope, roamed these beautiful rolling plains, with now & then a small herd of buffalo, prairie chickens, wild turkey & quail were pentiful. Squirrel played in the
trees & made excellent targets for Wallace rifle. In Aug of this year again Wallace and Joanna loaded their prairie schooner, with their pots & pans & 4 small children & moved back to Mo where in 1882 Plesant Clyde came to keep little sister Sura company & sing to her. He wasn't so good as a baby sitter though, for in May of 1774, Cliff, Aura and Plez were bitten by a mad dog. Big sister Mary & Wallace took these children 45 mi in a spring wagon to a mad stone, at that time thought to be a sure cure for rabbies. But in Jan of this year 1884, Jack, not to be left out of the good times & fun this family was enjoying arrived to make fun of & for them. He too was born in the same log house that Plez was born in but glory be this was a mansion. It had 3 rooms down stairs & an up stairs too. It was a slave owners home. The old slave quarters were still standing and bore the marks of bushwhackers bullets, then in the fall of this year, the family decided to move back to Cowley County, Kansas, where in 1886, Everette Wallace was born; again the family was living in a small log cabin 10x12 ft, but this fine dwelling boasted an attic, of course one coulsn't stand up here as the roof was so very low. But it was a fine place to put beds on the floor and store sleepy children. But downstairs they had 2 beds and a trundle bed, the other household furnishings were: I tiny cook stove, small home made table, benches that were put under the table between meals, a few strt (sp) chairs. Goods boxes served as cupboards and built-ins, and remember this was all in this 10x12 room. The cooking utensils and dishes were: 2 cast iron dinner pots, 1 cast iron skillet, I bread pan and two pie tins, some tin cups for the children, 6 plates, cups and saucers, 3 or 4 small bowls, steel knives and forks (polished each day with wood ashes. This was a must for Joanna's knives and forks-must shine and sparkle like silver) 6 plates, sister Mary remembers that this was plenty for that was all that could sit at the tiny table at once. Mary was now doing her share of caring for this family of plutocrats (they owned a sewing machine). Big sister did all the sewing while Joanna knitted all the sox & stockings. All their clothes were home made from underware to suits and o'coats. They did all their washing on the board, with water heated in an iron boiler, they used home made lye soap (lye made by saving the wood ashes and pouring water over these) they were put in what they called a lye hopper and kept dry untill spring when the lye was made.  Then in the early spring of 1887, the family moved again to the Cherokee nation spent the summer, still searching for the pot of gold at the end of the rain bow. There in the Cherokee Nation is the only time and place that anyone can remember Jack being able to run fast as Bud, and throw a rock as far. That fall they moved back to Kansas to staySunny Kansas. It gets into the blood untill its almost impossible to desert her, and how far the distance one may roam she is never entirely forgotten. Authors note: have you noticed all this family has been born in log houses to date? Would that account for so many block heads?
Then in June 1889 Sister Bessie came to make her home with this happy family she too was born in Cowley Co. Kans on a beautiful little knoll, not far from where Sister aura was born. By this time one had roads to travel, some were trails across the beautiful rolling plains and up and down beautiful tree studded bluffs that his part of Kansas is noted for. The family now had much more room, 3 of them; a big kitchen of stone 16x 12, a tiny bedroom, and the main part of the house was 12x18 ft. built of lumber Wallace had helped cut and saw all (except the floors which were of hewn oak) this house was black walnut, the shingles Wallace did make with a frow and were called shakes, they were about 4 to 6 inches wide and 18 to 10 inches long and were called shakes. Later Bro. Jack owned this farm and tore down this building. All studding was hand hewn of black walnut with some pegs to put it together, all nails were all square cut of iron.
In April 1892 Annabel arrived to play with sister Bessie. She was born in a rock dug out with one half tucked back in the hill side to shelter them from the blasts of the cold north blizzards. It, too, look out over the beautiful hills and fertile acres of Timber Creek. She came in time to see the miles and miles of covered wagons on the trail, to make the run into Cherokee Strip. So each year these Brothers and Sisters gather to pay homage to a wonderful heritage, of a family brought up to honor thy father and mother, to respect the rights of others, to Love God and Thy Neighbor as thyself

One of the sister-in-law,
Frances Brooking Higgins

William was an 18-year-old bugler for the Union army. He and his older brother, Josiah, were in the Battle of Prairie Grove in Arkansas 1862 attached to the 6th Kansas Cavalry, Company A. He and some other soldiers were resting by a big tree when a shell carne whizzing at them. It hit the tree. William Wallace was in that exact spot, only on the other side of the tree. He claimed the tree saved his life. He dug the shell out from the tree, and it is now framed and hanging on my wall. (Janet Emery Hayes.)

While in Prairie Grove, his detachment became surrounded by the enemy. Nearby was a home which held some women who were Union sympathizers. The ladies gave a big party for the Confederate soldiers and got them kind of drunk, and the Union men were able to slip out of the trap.

At one time during the war, Higgins acted as a scout for the Union army.  His only encounter with the enemy that he ever mentioned was with a bushwhacker. He said he kept the boots and horse; we assume he killed the owner.

While fighting in Arkansas, the Union: soldiers had to forage for their food. One day a detachment of soldiers, including the two Higgins brothers, stopped at a farm house. They knew the family were Confederate people, but they ordered the farm women to cook them some food.
There was nothing else for them to do but comply, so the women fixed up a big batch of stew -- only they put rat poison in it.

William and Josiah were not the pushy type, so they were among the last to the table. However, before they were able to eat, the ones who had eaten first started dropping dead. The women were accused of poisoning the soldiers and they admitted to putting arsenic in the food. The leaders decided to hang them
then and there, and strung up the two women, a mother and daughter.

As a young boy, Bud Higgins loved that story and would always ask what did the women do. when they were being hung. father would never tell-him, but his Uncle Jo said, Oh, they just jerked a little bit."

William Wallace was mustered out of the army at 'DuValls Bluff,
Arkansas on July 18, 1865, and he returned to Parkville, Missouri where he met and married Joanna Thorpe (2) on Christmas day, 1868.

He and his family moved to Kansas, then back to Missouri, then to the Cherokee nation (Oklahoma), back to Missouri, then William decided to go to Idaho. He was a true Higgins with the inherited itchy foot.

He joined a group and with three yoke of oxen headed for the Sawtooth-Mountains of Idaho in 1874.
Joanna followed him later by train and stagecoach with her two small children, Mary and
Arthur Otto Higgins. William worked at a saw mill while staking claims, hoping vainly, like his father, to find gold. He also carried the mail to the few settlers in the Sun Valley area. He made himself (and his two children) snow shoes so that he could

From the earliest times it was customary for warrior chieftains to disp1ay on the battlefield some emblem distinctive of themselves or of their family or tribe. These insignia were usually arbitrary, changeable at the whim or will of the chief; they were not necessarily symbolic nor were they always hereditary.

However, the introduction of armor in the twelfth century made the bearing of such definite distinguishing marks a military necessity. Since the helmet usually covered the face, and body was encased in armor, it became essential for the knight to wear on his shield some appropriate colors or markings by which in the melee of battle he might he plainly recognized by friend and foe alike. During a campaign or at the tournament these differentiating emblems often appeared also on the helmet crest and the lance pennon as well as on the shield. Hence the entire device, was referred to as a "crest". Regularly they were woven into the surcoat, a garment worn over the armor on ceremonial occasions, and at times to protect the armor and its wearer from the blazing heat of the sun. This practice gave rise to the term, "coat of arms".

When the knight appeared in full panoply at a tournament, an official called a herald, announced to the spectators his identity and usually described for them his insignia. This identification was called "blazoning the arms". In time the whole art of identifying the arms, the interpretation and application of the rules and customs that governed the adoption, designing and registration of armorial bearings came to be called "heraldry".

Certain heraldic devices when originally chosen by their wearers, were meant to symbolize some attribute associated with the knight or the family. For the most part, however, the original meanings of the symbol have been lost. In the vast majority of cases, the designs appearing on coats of arms were chosen merely as differentiating marks, and carry with them no special significance, historical or other. At the present time, the interpretation, if any is attempted or given by authorities, is at best traditional.

Your family crest, however, is more than an interesting memorial of a colorful past. It enshrines something of the best traditions on which our civilization is built, and, even in our matter-of-fact day, can provide an incentive to preserve our heritage.

Higgins or O'Higgins is the anglicized form of the Gaelic name O'h.Ui-gin, which means the Descendant of Uige. The word Uige signifies "knowledge: or "ingenuity".

The family originated as an offshoot of the O'Neills of the midlands of lreland, and, through them. Trace their ancestry bock to King Nial of the Nine Hostages, A. D. 379. The Higgins clan spread westwards :\s far as County Sligo where they held large estates until diposessed by Cromwell.

     -Guillaume (William) Witt came to America with his wife from Pays d'Aunis La Rochelle, France. A Hugenot emigrant, he came to the new country I 1699 and became one of the founders of Manakin, Virginia.

     The name "Wiit" or "Witte" is a Flemish noun meaning "white" as given in the Dictionare Etymologique des noms de famille et pronoms de France by Albert Dauzat, Libraire Larousse, Paris, France, 1951. The name was probably "de Witt" or "de Witte" in the French form.

     Charles Witt, the son of Guillaume, lived in Halifax County, Virginia. His will,1 probated in 1782, reads as follows:

     In the name of God amen, I Charles Witt of the County of Halifax be indisposed in body but of perfect mind of memory praised be God for the same, Do make constitute and ordain this and none other to be my last will and testament, in manner of form following. Item, I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Sarah Kirby one shilling sterling to her and her heirs. Item, I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Lavinia Sullins, one shilling sterling to her and her heirs. Item, I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Mary Jonaken (Jarnigan), one shilling sterling to her and her heirs. Item, I give and bequeath unto my son Elijah Witt, one shilling sterling to him and his heirs. Item, I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Charity Witt after the death or marriage of my said wife, one cow or two pounds current money to her and her heirs assings forever. Item, I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Nelly Witt after the death or marriage of my said wife, one cow or two pounds current money to her and her heirs forever. Item, I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Lyddie Witt after the death or marriage of my said wife, one cow or two pounds current money to her and her heirs forever. Item, I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Rhoda Witt after the death or marriage of my said wife, one cow or two pounds current money to her and her heirs forever. Item, I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Susanna Witt after the death or marriage of my said wife, one cow or two pounds current money to her and her heirs forever.
     Item, I give and bequeath unto my son Calab Witt, one horse or mare to the value of five pounds also fifteen pounds of current money which said beast and money he shall have when he comes of age to be given to him and his heirs forever. Item, I lend unto my well beloved wife Lavinia Witt during her natural life or widowhood the land and plantation whereon I now dwell.

     1 listed in will book 1, page 414, Halifax County, Virginia.
Note: Original spellings used in documents.

     Guillaume (William) Witt, French Huguenot, and the will of his son Charles. Just to show you how wills wee written in 1782. A cow or two doesn't seen to be a big gift Here in 2008.

On March 15th my brother Eve came and picked me up. We went to Atlanta where Bessie, Blanche, and Jack were ready and waiting to go with us on our sentimental journey.

My brothers and sisters from Cliff down had attended school in Latham, Kansas. I was six years old when I attended my first term of school there about seventy years ago.

Jack and Eve especially knew and remembered so many people, there and Bessie did also. I remembered a lot of names and people, but not as well as they did.

We lived on a farm south of Latham when I was five years old, and we had a lot of happy memories of that home. Later we moved to town where I entered first grade in the fall.

We left Atlanta about 9:30. We went first to the home of an old school mate of Eve's and Jack's. I remembered him only from a school picture I had seen. We really went back in the sticks before we came to his run-down shack. He came out to meet us and remembered Jack, Eve, and Bessie but didn't seem to remember me. He was 80 or past.

In the yard sleeping in the sun was an old coon dog that didn't even raise his head as we drove the car near him. The boys remembered when the old man had raised and sold hunting dogs for a good price. He said he was too old now to hunt and that the old dog was the last one he had. He said that it was like himself, toothless and too tired to look up when anyone drove in the yard. The had a long visit about the people they once knew and things they used to do.

We drove back to Latham where we had a very good dinner at a small cafe which used to be part of the old store building where Bud clerked before he was married. Opposite this cafe was a small, boarded-up barber shop where Eve had his first hair cut. Near-by was an old livery stable which I hear may be moved to Winfield and placed in their museum later.

While we were in the cafe, several old timers came to talk to us. Jack knew several, as he had seen them several times during the years since we left there.

After dinner we drove around town and saw many of the homes where friends and neighbors used to live. Some of the homes were still in use, some were boarded up, and with some, all that remained were foundations. Some had been replaced by new houses.

Jack and Eve knew where all the old neighbors lived and told many interesting things about them. We saw the spot where Marcus and Mary Haskell lived (Lucy's parents). We saw also the homes of Frank and Geo. Haskell.

From there we headed south and west out of town where we hoped to find the old home where we all lived when I was five years old. We knew the house was gone these many years, and the farm had been a pasture for nearly 70 years. We drove through gates and over gullies until we could go no further by car. Jack, Eve, and I started waling. Bessie and Blanche stayed in the car. We walked over a quarter of a mile when the boys stopped and said, "This is the spot where our house stood." I could see nothing but dead grass and rocks, but the boys soon found a small part of the foundation and finally the large flat rock which served as a step to our kitchen door.

Jack poked around with his cane, and Eve and I lifted flat stones and finally found several pieces of broken china with pink flowers. I also found some pieces of a large stone jar and part of the handle. We used to use many of such jars to put our meat down in brine, to make pickles and for many other uses. I felt sure they had belonged to my mother. I could hardly describe my feelings as I stood, after 70 years, in the spot where we all lived and had such happy memories.

Eve walked to the creek and found the old ford which we crossed to get to town. He remembered a willow tree that grew on the bank as we drove down to the creek bed. He broke off a green branch and gave it to Bessie. She has it planted in her yard in Atlanta.  Just east of our old home was the home of Geo. Fuller, where he took Aura as a bride.

We left there and drove to the cemetery where we spent some time looking up the graves of so many people we had known. We saw the graves of Mr. and Mrs. Haskell and Geo. I could hardly believe my eyes when I read that they were born in 1830 and 1831. That would be thirty years before the Civil War. From there we went to see an old bachelor who is an antique dealer. He had five full rooms of antiques and also several other buildings. There were many very old things from several countries. They were all very interesting but not as exciting as the pieces of an old brown jar which I held in my hand.

Well, we came on home from there. We were all tired but I felt as if I had stepped out of a strange and exciting story book.

We are going again some day to see another place where we lived when I was seven and eight. Maybe there will be nothing but part of a foundation and memories.

There's been a change in Grandma, we've noticed her of late. She's always reading history or jotting down some date. She's tracking back the family, we'll all have pedigrees. Oh, Grandma's got a hobby - she's climbing the FAMILY TREE.

She wanders through the graveyard in search of date and name, The rich, the poor, the in-between, all sleeping there the same. She pauses now and then to rest, fanned by a gentle breeze, That blows above the Fathers of all our FAMILY TREES.

At last she's nearly finished and we are each exposed, Life will be the same again, this we all supposed. Grandma will cook and sew, serve cookies with our tea. We'll all be fat, just as before the wretched FAMILY TREE.

Sad to relate, the preacher called and visited for a spell. We talked about the Gospel, and other things as well. The heathen folk, the poor and then - 'twas fate, it had to be, Somehow the conversation turned to Grandma and the FAMILY TREE.

Bessie, Eve, Aura, Jack, Annabelle June 1961

THE HIGGINS GIRLS

Mary, Bessie, Aura, Annabelle

Mary, Annabelle, Cliff

Annabelle, Bessie, Eve, Jack, Aurelia, Bud, Mary

Some of you will recognize the ones I have ? on