Tuesday, 16 September 2008

FitzHenry Footnote

It's fitting that I'm following Jo's post about variants and deviants. I'm being a bit deviant by writing about someone who wasn't a FitzHenry. His mother-in-law, however, was a FitzHenry so I think that counts for something. :-)


Hiriam Cunningham is pictured on the right with his 1st cousin by marriage, Edwin Sawtell FitzHenry. Link to the photo here. Hiriam came into the family by marrying Enoch's granddaughter, Sarah Wilson, in April 1849. Enoch's daughter, Susanna, was Sarah's mother.


We know what happened to Edwin. What happened to Hiriam? Did he survive the Civil War? My research shows that Hiriam died in 1860. However, considering that Edwin Sawtell didn't enlist in the Calvary until August 1861 something doesn't add up. (Hiriam looks pretty good for someone that's supposed to be deceased.) I also can't find any online evidence that either man served in the Civil War. Unless the men pictured in the photograph were going to a costume party, I don't find that credible either.


I've explored the message boards and family trees on Ancestry.com and Hiriam seems to be a bit of a mystery. If anyone has information on Hiriam's fate and family, please stand up and be counted. I would like to make him more than a FitzHenry footnote.


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1 comment:

  1. The soldier in the picture with Sawell is “Francis Riggs Chapman” I have an original copy with their names written on the back.

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