Skip to main content

Conclusion to: The Mystery of Samuel Keach Windley

The response to my query arrived seven days ago...but because I have been so busy with other things, I just now found what I was looking for. Thanks to Victor Jones, Jr. at the Kellenberger Room, I now have the obituary for Samuel Keach Windley, who had testified on behalf of Isaac Carter's Civil War Pension Application.

I say the mystery is solved...perhaps only so far as to give a glimpse of who he became following the war. Below is a transcription of his obituary. You will note that a further mystery is about to unfold...but most likely will remain a mystery unless anyone privy to the results of a coroner's inquest released information in another location. Take a look...

Foul Play Suspected
Samuel Keach Windley, a negro
Baptist preacher residing in Rei-
zensteinville, died early yesterday
morning.
It appears that Samuel found his
life in a compromising position a
short while ago; and since that time
he has been failing in health, until
his death. It was suspected that
the deceased had been foully dealt
with, and therefore the coroner was
summoned.
The coroner has impaneled his
[j]ury and taken preliminary steps in
the matter. A further investigation
will take this morning at 10
o'clock.
(Windley, Samuel Keach. 10/30/1896. New Bern Daily Journal, page 4, column 1)

Victor states that the next day's newspaper is missing. The Weekly for that week survives, but the news evidently was pushed out by the election returns for the 1896 Presidential election.

 My next step is to look up information related to Reizensteinville, the Jewish section located in the Five Points area.
Labels:

Comments

  1. Andrea KelleherJanuary 4, 2013 at 7:10 AM

    Victor is awesome at the Kellenberger Room! So thankful he's there. He's been extremely helpful with my research.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cheri Hudson PasseyJanuary 10, 2013 at 7:39 PM

    Debra, I nominated you for the Wonderful Team Member Leadership Award. This is to thank you for reading my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Andrea KelleherJanuary 13, 2013 at 9:44 AM

    I wanted to let you know that I nominated you for a Team Member Readership Award. Thank you for following me on my genealogy journey! :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Honoring our Ancestors: Free Black Patriots of the Revolutionary War

When I was first contacted last October to assist in some research for a member of the DAR who was looking for the burial ground of her ancestor, Isaac Carter, I had no idea it would lead to such a wonderful tribute--with full honors--to our free black ancestors of Craven County, North Carolina. Nor would I have guessed that I would be meeting together with Ms. Maria William Cole, National Vice Chairman Insignia, of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, and a host of other dignitaries, from the highest officials of the SAR to state and local political and community service leaders, to pay tribute to these patriots. The turnout exceeded my expectation when this event proceeded on a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon, with close to a hundred and fifty people or more, seated on folding chairs under three canopy tents. The microphone cable lay along the wet grass and soon died out, and we, the speakers, were asked to use our "mother's voices" to make o
7 comments
Read more

How Family History Writing Forces Us to Dig DEEPER

February is Family History Writing Month During the month of February, I went on hiatus from the Civil War Pension File of Isaac Carter in order to participate in the Family History Writing Challenge. My goal was quite ambitious, but I did succeed in setting up the framework of the family history memoir, and wrote a rough draft of the opening scenes. The memoir focuses on a promise I had made to our Cousin Hattie Carter Becton in an interview, following the the 2009 George Family Reunion in North Harlowe, North Carolina. In case you missed the Challenge, you can find the posts here . The site was developed especially for writing challenges, beginning with this year's; so, you may want to go back to the first posts in the archive. March was memoir reading, research & development month Last month I continued working on the writing, but also began focusing on webinars and YouTube videos related to writing memoir. Two really great sites are National Association of Memoir Writ
8 comments
Read more

Those Places Thursday -- Robert Livingston House, Little River, SC

In July of 2008 we attended the Prince Livingston Family Reunion in Wampee, Horry County, South Carolina (my husband's maternal family). During our down time we decided to take a drive through Little River where the plantation owner, Robert Livingston, had once lived.  We inquired at the Visitor Center, and learned that the Robert Livingston House had been preserved as an historical landmark. The brochure we received listed several different sites that interested us, but the Livingston House was our first destination.  We drove along Highway 17S and drove past the turn off for Lakeside Drive. At the next light we turned around and headed back down the highway until we came to the street. About two-thirds of the way down the road we saw a sign along the roadside: 19th Century Victorian Home for Sale. Was that the house? The number on the mail box was 4441. That's it! We got out of the car and looked around only to find that the owner was at home, and he was in the process
Post a Comment
Read more