20th Century Church Home Of
Clyde & Evalyn Pollard Lesher & Family
Tracing My
Pollard Lineage
Page Created By: Tim Duffie
20th Century Church Home Of Clyde & Evalyn Pollard Lesher & Family |
Tracing My Page Created By: Tim Duffie
|
My Pollard Credentials
Picture From The
John Benninghoff Family Reunion
Greenville, PA, 1927
|
The John Benninghoff Family Reunion
Greenville, PA, 1927
Our branch of the Pollards married into the family of John Benninghoff when Isaac Haven Pollard married Catherine Benninghoff Howe. The attendees at the "Benninghoff" family reunion were all the direct descendants of John Benninghoff, one of the first oil barons from Oil City, PA, in the 1860s..
John Benninghoff ultimately died in Greenville, PA, hence the family reuinion there in 1927. Our GGrandmother Catherine Howe Pollard, was the granddaughter of John Benninghoff.
Web Site at: Benninghoff Reunion, 1927
Notes By Decade
Click On The Links To See That Decade
1920 / 1910 / 1900 / 1890 / 1880 / 1870 / 1860 / 1850 / 1840 / 1830 / 1820 / 1810 / 1800 / 1790 / 1780 / 1770
Current Status: 15 Jul 2009
On the 1850/60 Census we see that Mary Gilstrap Pollard apparently named her children according to a formula that was used back then:
Moses Pollard, VA, 1820: we don't know what the "G" stands for, but it is consistent throughout our Pollard line: Joseph G.....Moses G.....Isaac G. In this instance, it is possible that Joseph G. Pollard, f/o Isaac G. Pollard, would have named his first son "Moses G" after his father.
Since Isaac G. Pollard stated in the 1900 census that his father was from Virginia, I am currently searching for "Moses G. Pollard", Montgomery County, VA, 1820 census".
UPDATE, JUly 15, 2009: I recently found new information from a rootsweb.com site maintained by Carolyne Gould on which she contends that there is sufficient reason to believe that the parents of Joseph G. Pollard were probably Moses & Nancy Morris Pollard, Amelia County, Virginia.
Tracing back three generations, we find the oldest known Pollard to-date was George Pollard, b 1702.
I now suspect that all the male Pollards included George as their middle name.
After years of research, two primary questions remain unanswered:
In addition to the above mentioned Sara Ester Yoes, who died shortly after Isaac Haven Pollard was born, we have the following:
Source: Michigan City News
Civil War Vet Answers Call
Isaac G. Pollard Dies at South Chicago home; will be buried here.
Issac G. Pollard, a civil war veteran, who had attained the age of 78 years, died from the infirmities of age at his late residence 9324 Yates Avenue, South Chicago, Monday, July 12th, at 5 P.M., following an illness of about four weeks. He was born in Newton Co, MO April 21, 1848, and was for many years a minister. In late years however, he retired from pastoral duties. In 1882 he was married to Louisa A. Freeman in Little Rock ARK, and besides his widow he is survived by three daughters and eight sons, who are
Another daughter, Mrs Gertrude M. Jenkins preceded her father in death some years ago.
Mrs Mary E. Reed of Sasakwa, OK, a sister, and Jesse C. Johnson of Detroit, a Half Brother, also survive. There are 23 Great Grandchildren and six Grand Children.
Mr Pollard was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of this city and for years a member of the William H. Calkins post, GAR, Hammond Indiana. He enlisted from Washington County Arkansas, Oct 10 1863, and was mustered into the United States Army at Cassville MO. He served three years during the civil war in Company L, 2nd regiment, Arkansas Volunteer Cavalry, USA under command of Captain William Bowling and Colonel John E. Phelps. He received his promotion to the rank of corporal Jan 26 1865.
At the close of the war he was discharged honorably, receiving his discharge papers on Aug 20, 1865 after serving in a most active and strenuous capacity. Mr. Pollard was a devoted husband, a kind and loving father, and a man who preferred such deeds and kindness as made for him innumerable friends. He was a man of strong integrity, fair business dealings and possessed a character outstanding among the rest.
A short prayer service will be held from the home of J.H. Pollard, 1013 Elston Street, Thursday afternoon at 1:30 o'clock, followed by funeral services at the First M.E. church at 2 o'clock, conducted by the REV. Frank O. Fraley, the pastor, and REV. D.C. Ford pastor of the First Christian church. Interment will be in the Greenwood Cemetery.
Friends may view the remains at any time at 1013 Elston Street
There are several problems with that statement that he was survived by "Louisa Freeman":
Why would the newspaper obituary, written at the time of his death, list Louisa Freeman as his wife? It's a mystery.
Perhaps a bigger question, why would Audra Irene Pollard Phillips on 10Mar2007 state that Isaac's wife was Louisa Freeman? She even used Louisa's maiden name...not Pollard. She was born about 1915 and would have been 11 when Isaac died.
In favor of the possibility of such a marriage is the statement in the information I received from Rick stating that: "Isaac G. asked to get out of the Methodist Conference just before the divorce was final. He married Elizabeth A. Dillahay in 1883 in Little Rock ARK, and left."
All of that begs the question: who was "Mary L. Pollard"?
Isaac G. Pollard age 32 WM b. MO Clergyman FA VA MO TN
Mary L. Pollard age 20 FW b. AR Keeping House FA NC MO SC
Isaac H. Pollard age 7 WM b. AR At School FA MO MO AR
Sarah A. Pollard age 2 FW b. AR ---- FA MO MO AR
L.M. Laden WM age 27 b. WV Clergyman FA PA MO PA
Note: 2nd wife Mary L. (Hays) Pollard & Isaac Haven Pollard son from first marriage to Sarah Esther Yoes
More evidence that "Eliza" is Elizabeth Dillahay Pollard, not Louisa Freeman is the fact that this census states that Eliza was born in Arkansas. The 1870 census (see 1870) states that Louisa was born in Kentucky. This census also states that Elizabeth's father was born in Kentucky.
Isaac G. Pollard
122 State Street
Hammond, Lake County, Indiana
1920 Census
NOTE: in this census, Isaac G. Pollard states that his father was born in Virginia...no further information given.
This is a major surprise. I never knew that Grandmother Pollard Lesher lived in Indiana as a child. Born in Pennsylvania, but lived in Hammond, Lake County, Indiana, in 1910, less than five miles from our home in Gary, IN, in the late 1950s.
Isaac H. Pollard
214 Wilcox Ave.
Hammond, IN.
1910 Census
NOTE: Isaac listed his occupation as "news"(?), the second word being blotched. I suspect news writer or reporter.
10/Mar/2007: It was confirmed by phone today w/Irene Pollard Phillips that Isaac H. Pollard, her father, was a reporter with the newspaper at this time.
1900 Federal Census Butler Borough, Butler Co, PA.
Phone, 10/Mar/2007: Irene Pollard Phillips, Granddaughter of Isaac G. & Sara Ester Yoes Pollard, confirmed that Sarah Ester Yoes died when Irene's father, Isaac Haven Pollard, was two years old.
On this census Isaac G. Pollard lists his occupation as "clergyman".
The "Eliza" listed in the 1900 Census is Elizabeth Dillahay Pollard, the 16 year old mullatto that Isaac G. Pollard married in 1883. The first child born to Isaac G. & Eliza was Lillian, born in 1883. (See Elizabeth)
Is That Elizabeth or Louisa
Listed As "Eliza" In The
1900 & 1920 Census?
Do The Math!
Phone 10/Mar/2007 w/Audra Irene Pollard Phillips, Granddaughter of Isaac G. Pollard: she does not remember Elizabeth Dillahay Pollard. She remembers Louisa Freeman w/Isaac G. Pollard in the early 1900s.
Since the census we show listing Louisa Freeman was 1870, Little Rock, Pulaski County, AR, and we know that Isaac G. Pollard was associated the Philander Smith College in Little Rock at the time, it stands to reason that this is the right "Louisa Freeman".
It is also interesting that Irene Pollard Phillips did not refer to her as Louisa Pollard...but, rather, as Louisa Freeman, further indication that they were not married.
Note: In 1908 Isaac G. Pollard inquired of the status of Herod P. Johnson’s Pension Status from Butler Co, PA. This is included in Herod Johnson’s Pension Papers from his service during Civil War.
Rick's full reports to me are at:
Veteran's name: Isaac G Pollard
Home in 1890: Fairview, Butler, Pennsylvania
Year enlisted: 1863
Year discharged: 1865
Rank: Corporal
This explains how Isaac H. got to Pennsylvania to meet and marry Catherine "Kitty" Benninghoff Howe.
Carrie Pollard, 1880
It appears from the 1880 Little Rock, AR, census that Isaac G & Mary Gilstrap's daughter Carrie had a son in 1872. His name, William A. Pollard, by an unknown husband. In several census in the 1880s we find, "Carrie Pollard, widow of J."....never with a surname. Repeatedly she is listed as living with her son, William A. Pollard.
Robert & Elizabeth Howe, 1880 Census
Among other interesting items, he (Rick) learned that our Isaac G. Pollard:
POLLARD, ISAAC G.
POLLARD, THOMAS C.
Officially founded in 1877, Philander Smith College is the result of one of the early attempts to make education available to freedmen (former African-American slaves) west of the Mississippi River. The forerunner of the College was Walden Seminary, named in honor of Dr. J. M. Walden, one of the originators and the first Corresponding Secretary of the Freedmen's Aid Society. Miss Helen Perkins served as Principal of the institution during the early years.In 1876, the General Conference of The Methodist Episcopal Church authorized the creation of an annual conference for Negro preachers in the State of Arkansas with the power to promote schools. The new body was named the Little Rock Annual Conference (later the Southwest Annual Conference). In 1877, this annual conference designated Walden Seminary as its official educational institution.
The Seminary was located at Eighth Street and Broadway in the Wesley Chapel Methodist Church. The first Conference Trustees of the new school, elected in 1878, were: Ministers I. G. Pollard, W. O. Emory, G. W. Sams, W. H. Crawford, A. J. Phillips, L. W. Elkins and Laymen A. L. Richmond, William La Porte and Frank Carland.
Philander Smith College has a rich Christian heritage. It has maintained a close relationship with the Church across the years. It acknowledges a definite obligation to The United Methodist Church. The College receives funding from The General Board of Higher Education and Campus Ministry of The United Methodist Church. It is also the only institution in Arkansas affiliated with the United Negro College Fund (UNCF).
Philander Smith College strives to instill the desire to serve in its faculty and students. This desire is at the core of its educational philosophy. Across the years, it has earned the designation as a "College of Service and Distinction."
Isaac G. Pollard age 31
Elizabeth Dillahay age 16Elizabeth was under age. Her mother Mrs Francis Dillahay's consent to the marriage was included in the record. In a publication called Pulaski County Historical Review, Vol 44 Num 2 Published Summer 1996, was an article entitled Interracial Marriages and Cohabitation in Pulaski Co, ARK 1870-1900, by Kelley Metheny. On page 35-36 while discussing interracial marriages, the following passage appeared.
Little Rock claimed center stage for another scandal that highlighted views and concerns of both races. The Reverend Isaac G. Pollard a prominent minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, wed a sixteen year old mullato girl in November 1883. After the ceremony they left for Memphis, and authorities did not discover until later that the girl’s mother and Justice Chamberlin, who performed the ceremony in ignorance of the girls race, expressed opposition to the union. In contrast a black gentleman who knew the couple approved of the marriage and hoped it would set a precedent for personal freedom when choosing a spouse or even a friend.To deny there were outbreaks of violence against mixed couples elsewhere in the state is to ignore the facts, but they were not representative of the entire society and occurred less frequently than many suppose. (Taken from the Arkansas Gazette 6-nov-1883 and 7-nov-1883, and Miscegenation file, Tom Dillard).
Louisa Freeman, 1870
The Grandmother That Audra Irene Pollard Phillips Remembers. Aunt Irene did remember that Louisa was black....supported by this census note. She remembers Louisa teasing Isaac G. Pollard about being white. She was 28 in 1870,
Isaac G. at age 12 at his mother's home for her census:
1860 Federal Census Jasper Twp, Crawford Co, ARK.
Post Office Van Buren ARK
4/5/07: We figured out that the "Jesse C. Pollard" listed s/b Jesse C. Johnson. There is a great deal of mystery surrounding the fact that the widow Mary Gilstrap Pollard married Herod Peter Johnson sometime shortly after Joseph Pollard died. Yet she continued to use the "Pollard" surname, and, in fact, in 1865 claimed she was still a widow when she applied for Moses G. Pollard's Civil War Pension.
Notice, also, Isaac's sister "Lockey", named, no doubt, after their grandmother, Lockey Davis Gilstrap.
Hugh G. or Joseph G.
Letter: 3/17/07
Some of the following information regarding Isaac G. Pollard came from "Rick", a descendant of Mary Gilstrap Pollard Johnson. He uncovered this information as he was researching his side of the "Gilstrap" family which resulted from Mary Gilstrap Pollard's second marriage.
On a genealogy web page there is a debate over whether Isaac G. Pollard's father was "Hugh G. Pollard" or "Joseph G. Pollard". One report I read stated emphatically that it was Joseph G. Pollard, and that he went under the nickname of "Hugh". This report from Rick seems to verify that it was Joseph G. Pollard.
(2) Moses G. Pollard
b. ?-?-1845
Macon Co, MO.
d. 16-oct-1862
Springfield, Green Co, MO.
Buried: Springfield National Cemetery
Springfield, Green Co, MO. (died of Typhoid Fever Civil War)
Note: Source Pension Papers and Civil War Record, State of Arkansas, County of Washington
On this 13th day of June A.D. 1864 personally came before the George W.M. Reid, Clerk of the Circuit Court within and for the County and State, aforesaid, Mary Pollard a resident of Washington Co in the State of Arkansas aged 41 years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on her oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefits of the provisions made by the Act of Congress approved July 14th 1862: That she is the widow of Joseph G. Pollard and mother of Moses G. Pollard who was a Private in Company A commanded by Captain Joshua Dudley in the 1st Regiment of Ark Vol Cav in the war of 1861 who died at Springfield in the State of Missouri on the 18th day of October 1862 from the effects of Typhoid Fever received in the service of the United States.
She further declares that her said son, upon whom she was wholly or in part dependent for support, having left no widow or minor child under sixteen years of age surviving, declarant makes this application for a pension under the above mentioned act, and refers to the evidence filed herewith, and that in the proper department to establish her claim.
Her name was Mary Gilstrap. She also declares that she was married to the said Joseph G. Pollard, deceased, on the 17th day of June A.D., 1843, at Putnam County in the state of Missouri by William Cook, a Justice of the Peace; that there is no public or private record of said marriage, that she cannot procure the evidence of said witnesses, but herewith forwards the best evidence of said marriage which she is now able to procure.
She also declares that she has not in any way been engaged in, or aided or abetted the rebellion in the United States; that she is not in the receipt of a pension under the 2d Section of the Act, nor has she again married since the death of her son, the said Moses G. Pollard and that her post office address is Fayetteville, Washington Co Arkansas.
Mary her X Pollard.
Also personally appeared R.A.W. Mannon and Wesley H. Gilstrap, residents of the County of Washington and the State of Arkansas, persons whom I certify to be respectable and entitled to credit, and who being by me duly sworn say that they were present and saw Mary Pollard sign her mark to the foregoing declaration; and they further swear that they have every reason to believe, from the appearance of the applicant and their acquaintance with her, that she is the identical person she represents herself to be, and that they have no interest in the prosecution of this claim.They further declare, that they have known Mary Pollard the aforementioned applicant, and Joseph G. Pollard, the deceased who was her husband, for the period of 25 years and know that they lived together and cohabitated as man and wife for the period of ten years, and up to the time of death of Joseph G. Pollard, and that they were so reputed in the neighborhood by all that knew them, and so believed by these affiants, and the fact was never called in question to their knowledge by anyone who knew them; and that the said Moses G. Pollard died leaving no widow or minor child under sixteen years of age; and that Mary Pollard the aforementioned applicant has remained a widow ever since the death of her son, the said Moses G. Pollard, upon whom she depended on wholly.
Attest
S.H.HaskinsSignature of Witnesses
M.G. Ferguson
Robert A.W. Mannon (his X mark)
Wesley H. Gilstrap (Signature)Sworn to and subscribed before me this 13th day of June A.D. 1864, I hereby certify that I have no interest, direct or indirect in the prosecution of this claim.
G.W.M. Reid Clerk
Note: First family of Mary Gilstrap Pollard Johnson
Note: See Moses G. Pollard Pension Papers. Emma Johnson Noble indicates that Mary died 1881, shortly after Christmas 1880.
Note: See Obit for Uriah Jacob Jennings, Rev J.G. Pollard officiating. Mary Gilstrap’s husband? Or is this misprint, and Mary’s son I.G. Pollard, half bros to Jesse C. Johnson.
Primarily Surnames CATES, RUTHERFORD, PHILLIPS in the 1850 CENSUS OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, AR [Annotated by Eddene Thompson]
Cane Creek Township1850 CENSUS RESULTS FOR GILSTRAPS IN ARKANSAS JOHNSON CO, AR Pg # Dw # Fa # Names Age Sex B'place 166 168 168 John Gilstrap 31 M NC Adalica 21 F AR Lorenza D 3 M " Urias 3m M " WASHINGTON CO, AR Cove Crk Twp Pg # Dw # Fa # Names Age Sex B'place 51 Isaac Gillstrap 51 M NC Lockey 48 F " Benjamin 16 M " Thomas 14 M " Nancy 12 F " Wesley 7 M " Mary Pollard 28 F " Lockey Pollard 6 F " Moses Pollard 5 M " Mary Pollard 4 F " Isaac Pollard 3 M " Cordella Pollard 6m F "
House #51Gillstrap, Isaac, Age 51, North Carolina
Gillstrap, Lockey, Age 48, Tennessee
Gillstrap, Benj., Age 16, Tennessee
Gillstrap, Thos., Age 14, Tennessee
Gillstrap, Nancy, Age 12, Missouri
Gillstrap, Wesley, Age 7, Missouri
Pollard, Mary, Age 28, Tennessee
Pollard, Lockey, Age 6, Missouri
Pollard, Moses, Age 5, Missouri
Pollard, Mary, Age 4, Missouri
Pollard, Isaac, Age 3, Missouri
Pollard, Cordella, Age 6/12, Missouri
(Rick) One other thing: if you notice on the 1850/60 Census Mary named her children according to a formula that was used back then. I hope I have this correct but I believe this is right:
Moses Pollard, VA, 1820: we don't know what the "G" stands for, but it is consistent throughout our Pollard line: Joseph G.....Moses G.....Isaac G. In this instance, it is possible that Joseph G. Pollard, f/o Isaac G. Pollard, would have named his first son "Moses G" after his father. Since Isaac G. Pollard stated on at least one census that his father was born in Virginia, it is not out of the realm of possibility that the following "Moses G. Pollard, VA" was the f/o our "Joseph G. Pollard". Unfortunately the "Age" column is smudged, so we can't determine his age in 1820.
The previous page of that census lists "Chattam" Pollard, same address.....
Will of Joseph Pollard, dated 2 Aug 1789 Amelia County, Virginia WIll Book 4, page 162
Includes Moses & Isaac Pollard
Genealogy of the Hardiman-Pike Families: large lising of Virginia Pollards.
