James Myron Wightman

James Myron Wightman and Descendants

 

Generation No. 1

1. Cpt. James Myron Wightman was born October 25, 1833 in Truxton, Cortland Co., NY1, and died August 25, 1876 in Pine Bluff, Jefferson Co., AR1. He was the son of George R. Wightman and Mary Crandall. He married (1) Anna Nixon12 ca. October 1858 in Marshall, Calhoun Co., MI12. She was born ca. 18375, and died ca. July 1859 in Michigan12. He married (2) Fannie Adelle Levy Talley12 August 16, 1865 in Pine Bluff, AR12. She was born ca. 1831 in Ohio2, and died August 10, 1876 in Pine Bluff, Jefferson Co., AR12. She was the daughter of English silversmith Jonas Levy and sister of Ella Celestine Levy, who married James's military friend and business partner Samuel Cambern.

James was helping his father farm the land in Palermo, NY in 1850, when he was only 16 years old. He grew up riding horses in New York state, moving with his family to Galesburg, MI in 1853. After presumably living in Galesburg for a few years, he met and married Anna Nixon of nearby Marshall, Calhoun Co (just east of Battle Creek) in 1858. It is not clear exactly where they settled, but it appears that they were somewhere in the greater Kalamazoo-Battle Creek area. Anna got pregnant soon after their marriage, but the pregnancy did not go well. Probably late in term, she was confined to her bed and eventually died in the summer of 1859. The fetus (or newborn) did not survive the ordeal either. Thus tragedy struck James early in his adult life. Shortly thereafter, probably by 1860, James left Michigan, possibly alone, for the growing state of Missouri (or possibly western Illinois). I have not been able to locate him in the 1860 census.

With the onset of hostilities between the Union and Confederate Armies in April 1861, James quickly volunteered for serviced in the Union Army. His service is summarized here, but is also detailed on my transcription of James Wightman's service record. On August 28, 1861, James mustered into Captain Miller's Company (Company G) of Missouri's Black Hawk Cavalry, formed under the command of Colonel William Bishop in Carthage, IL (westernmost part of the state near Missouri border). He entered as a 1st Sergeant, but was quickly promoted to 2nd Lieutenant (elected) on September 23. The unit was stationed in northeastern Missouri and saw some action in expeditions to Shawnee Mound and Blackwater in central Missouri. In early 1862, the Black Hawk Cavalry was reorganized as the 7th Missouri Cavalry and James' unit became Company F. On Feb 21, 1862, James was in Palmyra, Missouri as a witness for a court-martial, possibly of "suspected secessionists" accused of burning a bridge (Jan 30, 1862 issue of Arkansas True Democrat). After a number of stations, patrols and perhaps small actions, James participated in the Battle of Prairie Grove in Washington Co, AR on Dec 7, 1862. The 453 men of the 7th Missouri Cavalry participated in this large battle that claimed over 2500 causalities, fairly evenly between both sides. The end result was a turning point in the struggle for control of northwestern Arkansas, with the Union coming out (barely) on top. Perhaps as a result to the death or injury of a superior, James was promoted to 1st Lieutenant following the battle and placed in command of a unit in Company C.

In the spring of 1863, Confederate Cavalry General John S. Marmaduke invaded southern Missouri from his base of operations in Arkansas. On April 23, 1863 Brig. General William Vandevar (a Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa) took command of all Union Troops in the area of his command at Pilot Knob, MO (southeastern portion of the state) and named Lieut. James M. Wightman as his Aide-de-Camp who "will be obeyed and respected accordingly." Thus James became the General's personal assistant and secretary. Vandevar and the Union Troops defeated Marmaduke at Cape Girardeau, MO and the Confederate Cavalry began to withdraw on April 27. Vandevar and his 2nd Division confronted Marmaduke when he tried to cross the St. Francis River in Chalk Bluff, Clay Co., Arkansas. The small battle that ensued on May 1-2, 1863 resulted in a few hundred casualties and a tactical Confederate victory. James played important roles in the execution of Vandevar's command during both these engagements before being relieved as Aide-de-Camp on May 24.

On May 28, 1863, immediately following his service as Gen. Vandevar's Aide-de-Camp, James was promoted to Captain by action of Missouri Governor H. H. Gamble, and given command of Company L.

On August 21, 1863, James was taken sick with amebic dysentery and left at Clarenden, AR, while his unit engaged in the Union battles at Little Rock and Bayou Fourche. At the same time, his friend, 1st Lt. Samuel M. Cambern of Co. J (after the war a resident of Parsons, Labette Co, KS), was afflicted with the same illness. They were treated by Dr. William D. Foster, surgeon of the 7th MO Cavalry. Later in the summer or early fall, when both men recovered and were able to return to light duty, they struck up (or continued) a friendship. From December 1863 through April 1864, James was present with his unit, but often sick. In later depositions, Cambern remarked that James often looked and acted quite sick. Physicians confirm that his amebic dysentery had become chronic, morphing into the debilitating form of the disease, which would eventually claim his life. He presumably commanded his company in a series of smaller operations: Princeton, Branchville, Monticello, Steele's Expedition to Camden, Expedition from Pine Bluff to Mt. Elba and Longview, Mt. Elba and pursuit to Big Creek, and Mark's Mills. During the summer of 1864 James was afflicted with what appears to have been an attack of malaria, probably worsened by his chronic dysentery. On Oct 13, 1864 in Pine Bluff, AR (where James was apparently now stationed), surgeon Dr. M.D. Foster recommended James for medical leave. It is unclear if James ever actually took the leave. He mustered out due to expiration of term of service at St. Louis on November 23, 1864.

Following his service, James returned to Pine Bluff and entered into business with his friend and 7th Cavalry comrade, Samuel Cambern. They appear to have run a livery or stable company, since James was later employed as a "teamster" and clearly had great facility with horses.

In June 1865, James was again stricken by a severe bout of diarrhea stemming from his chronic dysentery. He was treated by Dr. E. F. McCameron (or McCammon), an Pine Bluff, AR physician who had served in the Confederate Army during the war. Dr. McCameron would become James' primary physician, treating him repeatedly from August 1873 until James' death in 1876.

On the evening of August 16, 1865, Rev. J. F. Walsh of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Pine Bluff married James and Fannie. Samuel Cambern married Fannie's sister Ella at the same time and place. The four newlyweds lived together under a single roof for two months before Samuel and his bride left Pine Bluff for Indiana that Fall. The two families continued to communicate through letters and visits until James' death.

It is clear from James' pension file that he had two wives, but their names were Anna Nixon and Fannie Talley. Fannie was widowed when James married her. The "Emma Levy" often listed as James's wife in many family histories is probably a mistake. Rather, his second marriage was to Fannie Levy (and she does appear to have had a sister named Emma-- and gave her own daughter that name).

In the summer of 1866, the Wightmans were blessed with the birth of their first children, twin girls, Ione and Minnie. Sadly, Minnie survived only one month before dying. Thus James lost two of his first three children.

About October 1, 1866, James was again felled by his chronic diarrhea and left his young family for some time back home in Galesburg, MI. His sister Hattie (Wightman) Rawson reported that he was constantly taking medicine, eating very little, and very poor health overall. He returned to Pine Bluff in December with Hattie and her husband and infant daughter. The Rawson family stayed with James and his family for eight months before returning to Galesburg in 1867. During that period James was constantly sick and rarely able to work.

In the spring of 1868, James once again returned to Galesburg, presumably with Fannie and Ione, where he stayed until April 1869. Despite the care of his physician father, James' condition worsened: in June 1868 he began passing blood and was entirely incapacitated. What happened next is not completely clear. Emma was born in Memphis, TN in June 1869, suggesting that James and family may have lived there for a time. It is clear that they were back in Pine Bluff by mid-1870.

In 1870, James M. Wightman (J. M. Whitman in the census) was living in Richland Twp. (near what was then Oakland, now Moscow) in Jefferson Co., AR, about 10 miles east of Pine Bluff. He was working as a teamster and had only $600 in personal property. While this was a small sum even by the standards of the time, it was considerably more than his poor farmer neighbors, most of whom were recently-freed African-Americans (James was the the only white head of household in the immediate area). According to the 1870 census, James was illiterate, which seems highly unlikely given that his siblings were literate. Living with James was his wife Fannie, a white woman born in Ohio, Ione (age 4) and newborn Emma. Also living with them was a 15-year old nurse named Leatta Page (white and Arkansas-born) and Caldo Jefferson, an Alabama-born 14-year old of mixed race. His function in the household is not clear from the census; he may have worked a small farm for the Wightman family or helped James maintain animals. Other neighbors included Samuel Franklin and Leon Levy (Fannie's brother), both of whom would later sign affidavits regarding James' three orphaned daughters. Samuel was a friend of Fannie's from before her marriage to James. Leon had possession of the Wightmans' family bible in 1886. It appears that the family may have lived in Little Rock for a short time in late 1870, since their third daughter, Mina Rose, was born there in the last days of December. Whatever the case, it is evident that they were back in Pine Bluff by 1873.

Fannie died, probably suddenly, in August of 1876. I do not know the cause of her death. Within two weeks, James followed her, dying at the age of only 43 in Dr. McCameron's office in Pine Bluff. According to Dr. McCameron, James died due to the "dissolution of contiguity of structures...atrophy of the mucous membranes...ulcers...in the caecum or capret coli, colon, or rectum." Not a pleasant death.

Thus the three girls were suddenly orphaned when they were still quite young. They may have been cared for by member's of Fannie's family or neighbors in Pine Bluff for a time. Ione and Emma, at least, were subsequently placed in the households of their Aunts and Uncles back in Michigan. On June 14, 1880, Probate Court of Michigan in Osceola County appointed James' father Dr. George R. Wightman as the guardian of the three girls. In 1886, they were apparently back living in Pine Bluff, although both Ione and Emma settled as adults back in Wayland, MI a few years later. In 1886, the Wightman family bible was in the possession of Fannie's brother, Leon Levy, suggesting that the Wightman orphans may have lived in the Levy household for a time (although the written record does not state this).

Children of James Wightman are:

 

Generation No. 2

2. Ione Celeste Wightman6 was born July 24, 1866 in Pine Bluff, Jefferson Co., AR7,12, and died October 31, 1923 in Wayland, Allegan Co., MI7. She married William Betterly Hooker6 July 24, 1894 in Wayland, MI6,7, son of William Hooker and Mary Betterly. He was born February 10, 1856 in Leighton Twp., Allegan Co., MI7, and died 1933 in Wayland, Allegan Co., MI7.

Ione was born in or near Pine Bluff, AR, one of twin girls born to James and Fannie Wightman.

After the death of her father, Ione was living in the household of her Uncle Joseph McIlwaine and Aunt Ida (Wightman) McIlwaine in Evart, Osceola Co., MI in 1880. Here, she indicated that she was 14 years old, born in Arkansas of a father who was born in New York and a mother who was born in Arkansas (apparently incorrect since Fannie was born in Ohio).

Ione apparently moved back to Pine Bluff, presumably living with relatives of her mother or friends of her deceased parents. Affidavits by all three Wightman girls and the Pine Bluff postmaster indicate that they were residents of Pine Bluff in 1886.

Ione may have gone to live with her Uncle Myron Rawson and Aunt Hattie (Wightman) Rawson sometime later, given her 1894 marriage to William Hooker of Wayland (where the Rawson's lived).

Ione married hardware merchant William B. Hooker and settled in Wayland. In 1900, William and Ione were living in Wayland just a few houses down the street from Ione's sister Emma and her husband Harry Alges.

About 1906, William and Ione purchased a house at 203 N. Park St. in Wayland, which would serve as the Hooker home base for generations.

In 1920, William and Ione, then 61 and 50 years old, were living in the house they owned in Wayland (on what might have been "Phurst Rd." Living with them was William, Jr. (recently returned from serving in France during WWI) and Francis, and William's new wife, Genevieve. William, Sr. was working as a hardware dealer. Francis was working as a clerk.

According to a family source, Ione was a very petite woman.

In October 1923, Ione was riding in a car with her sister Emma (Wightman) Alges and her daughter-in-law, Tret Hooker (Francis's wife). They were struck by a train or another car not far from their home and Ione was killed. She was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Wayland.

William Hooker's father was born in Vermont, his mother in New York. He worked as a hardware merchant in 1900.

Children of Ione Wightman and William Hooker are:

 

3. Emma B. Wightman6 was born June 1870 in Tennessee8,10,11. She married Harry Alges6 ca. 1892 in Wayland, MI6,8. He was born January 1870 in Michigan8.

In the 1900 census, Emma was listed as born in Arkansas, but all other records indicate this is not correct.

In 1880, Emma, now orphaned, was living with her Uncle George Kirby and Aunt Alice (Wightman) Kirby in Charleston Twp., Kalamazoo Co., MI. Given the place of her marriage, Wayland, MI, I suspect that Emma and her sister Ione went to live with their Uncle Myron Rawson and Aunt Hattie (Wightman) Rawson sometime after 1880.

However, affidavits from 1886 clearly place Emma and her sisters back in Pine Bluff, suggesting that she moved back there and lived with relatives from her mother's side or friends.

In the early 1890's, Emma married druggist Harry Alges (or Ailges). They settled in Wayland, MI, and were living just a few doors down from Emma's married sister, Ione C. Hooker, in 1900. Emma and Harry had at least one child together. Unfortunately, I've not been able to locate them in the 1910 census, however I presume that they were in Wayland.

In 1920, Harry and Emma Alges were living in a house they owned in Wayland at the age of 49 and 48. Harry was still working as a druggist. There were no children living with them, suggesting that had few, if any, surviving children after Myna. I do not know whether Myna was out of the house at this time or had died young.

Emma may have died in the same 1923 automobile accident that killed her sister Ione.

Harry Alge's father was born in Canada and of English parentage. His mother was born in Michigan.

Child of Emma Wightman and Harry Alges is:

  • Myna H.3 Alges, born November 18968. The 1900 census record clearly writes her name "Myna"-- but it might have been "Myra", if that was indeed the name of Emma's "missing" sister.
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    Generation No. 3

    5. William Wightman Hooker was born April 13, 1896 in Wayland, Allegan Co., MI7,8, and died February 14, 1935 in Wayland, Allegan Co., MI7. He married Genevieve Irene Allen February 15, 1919 in Kalamazoo Co., MI7. She was born December 31, 1897 in Kendall, Van Buren Co., MI7,11, and died 1988 in Wayland, Allegan Co., MI7.

    William had blue eyes and dark hair. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I, fighting in France from 1917 through January 1919. He and Genevieve married just after he returned from the war. He attended the Ferris Institute in Big Rapids, MI and worked for the Interurban Company. William died after "running into a tree."

    Genevieve Allen went to Wayland High School and received a two-year teacher's degree from Kalamazoo Normal School in 1918.

    Child of William Hooker and Genevieve Allen are:

  • Richard Francis Hooker, born July 26, 1926 in Michigan7; died March 15, 1970 in Grand Rapids, MI7.
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    James Wightman has numerous living descendants.

     

    Sources

    1. John C. Crandall, Elder John Crandall of Rhode Island and His Descendants, (1949; New Woodstock, NY).

    2. 1870 US Census.

    3. Mary Ross Whitman, George Wightman of Quidnessett, RI and Descendants, (1939, Chicago: Edwards Brothers).

    4. International Genealogical Index, "Electronic."

    5. Family Search Ancestral File, "Electronic," AFN:1K3R-54C.

    6. Wade C. Wightman, The Wightman Ancestry, (1994, Chelsea, MI: Bookcrafters).

    7. A. Watson, Amy Watson's Tree, (rootsweb.com), "Electronic."

    8. 1900 US Census.

    9. Social Security Death Record, "Electronic."

    10. 1880 US Census.

    11. 1920 US Census.

    12. Pension file of Cpt. James M. Wightman, Union Army, Civil War, National Archives.

    13. "The New York Times," New York, NY, Nov 10, 1947 Death Notice.

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