Samuel G. Dickey: Civil War Soldier

Samuel G. Dickey was born 9 November 1840 in Neshannock, Mercer, Pennsylvania.  He was born to David Lawson Dickey and Nancy Agnes Love.  The Dickey family moved from Pennsylvania to Iowa between 1850 and 1852.  In the 1850 census they are living in Neshannock, Pennsylvania but by 1852 they are in the Iowa State Census living in Bellevue, Jackson, Iowa.  (I am always so happy to have Iowa family as the Iowa State Census is a wonderful thing!)  The family continues to live in Bellevue and is found in subsequent census records including 1860.

On 18 August 1862 Samuel enlists in Company K of the 31st regiment of Iowa Infantry.  I was so excited to find another Civil War ancestor that I immediately sent for his pension records.  Hoping that they would assist in filling in the holes that I had on this man and his family.  That they did.  The marriage date was listed so that I could find that information and when his pension stopped due to his death.  This assisted me in finding his death date later in my story.  He went to many different states as can be seen by visiting Iowa Gen Web site that provides a historical sketch of his regiment.  This information at http://iagenweb.org/civilwar/books/logan/mil515.htm was taken from The Roster and Record of Iowa Troops in the Rebellion, Vol. 3 By Guy Logan.   On 27 June 1865 he was discharged at Louisville, Kentucky.

In his pension papers he states that he has chronic bronchitis which he incurred at Arkansas in the month of January 1863.  He further states that it was aggravated by hardships and exposure while at Young's Point near Vicksburg along with being at Butler Canal and Lookout Mountain.  In further reading the pension file it seems that he endured many nights of rain and snow while on guard duty.


On 16 October 1866 Samuel marries Margaret Boone in Jackson County, Iowa.

                                          Received 13 December 1994 from Clerk of District Court, Jackson County, Iowa.  License #878.


Margaret Boone was born in October of 1845 in Jackson County, Iowa.  She is the daughter of Urbain Paul Boone and Mary D. Lawless.  Urbain is the grandson of George Boone who is the brother to Daniel Boone.  (That is a story for another day!)  Margaret and Samuel move to Scotch Grove, Jones, Iowa by 1870.  By 1870 they have Cora Alfreda born in 1867 and Mary Anna born in 1869 (Mary Anna is my ancestor.)  They did not stay long in Jones County but instead moved on to Greene County and are living in Kendrick, Greene, Iowa in the 1880 census.  By this time they have added Don A born in 1872, Lawson David born in 1873, Trinvella born in 1876 and Venna Estella born in 1880.  Sad news hit also as Trinvella dies in 1878.  In 1885 they are living in Glidden, Carroll, Iowa and by this time their last child has been born Charles Henderson in 1882.  However once again sad news hits the family as Margaret dies 7 July 1884.  She and Trinvella are buried in the Dillavou Cemetery, Ralston, Greene, Iowa.  Sadly it seems her tombstone is now gone but luckily I had taken a picture of it when I was there many years ago.

Samuel remains in Glidden until at least 1900.  After that he seemed to be lost.  Lost until I received his pension papers that said he was last paid on 4 January 1907 and was dropped because of death 27 March 1907.  The clue I needed.  I then began searching everywhere to find him.  Some genealogy angel was watching over me as I finally found him in Oregon City, Clackamas, Oregon.  An obituary stating that he had died at his daughter's home.  He had moved out there six years before.

Some day I will locate his burial place and find the tombstone.  It is just a matter of time before my genealogy angel comes back to help me!

My Big Discovery

I went to NGS 2012 in Ohio and had a great time!  Not only were there some great lectures to attend but the vendor area is always a new experience.  It took a couple of days to get through it and then of course I had to go back and check things out a couple more times in case I missed anything.

The great find though was the Bureau of Land Management booth.  There I met Patricia Tyler who is the Branch Chief for the General Land Office Records.  They have a great site that you all need to visit.  It is http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/.  When you get there you click on Land Patents and it takes you to a new screen.  At that screen you can put in your ancestor's name.  Being a descendant of the Boone family the first person I always try is my Urbain P. Boone.  Patricia put the name in and lo and behold a record popped up.

If you want to see for yourself here is the link http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/results/default.aspx?searchCriteria=type=patent|st=IA|cty=|ln=boone|fn=urbain|sp=true|sw=true|sadv=false

The record shows various information about the transaction.  It shows the names involved in the land, the legal description of the land etc.  There is an Accession Number that shows up in light blue and you click on it and wonderful things continue to happen!!!

It tells you that the Document is a Military Warrant (in this case) where the land was, the date it was issued, what land office and also includes an Act that was the authority (in this case the Scrip Warrant Act of 1850).  In a later session I learned more about the fact that I have to look these up and understand each Act (as there were many Acts regarding military service and land).

Once again if you want to see it for yourself here it is the link http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=0625-215&docClass=MW&sid=x03rdn20.04o

You get more information than you know what to do with!  But Patricia took my hand and guided me through it all.  See if you click on the patent image you get a wonderful document!  The best part was that they printed it off right there for me and put a nice red seal on it.  (Well I had to come back and get it because I was late for the next session!)

Here is what it looks like....



If you read the certificate it states that Urbain P. Boone, Sergeant in Captain Ford's Company, United States Rangers, Black Hawk War.  It is a Military Warrant.  Patricia explained he received this land for his service.  She next told me I should get his file from the National Archives because when they received land they had a certificate that they had to turn in.

The great thing was I went to my hotel room that night and found another Military Warrant for Lydia Truesdell widow of Solomon Truesdell, Private in Captain Noble's Company, New York Militia, War of 1812.  The great thing about this file is that Patricia states she would have to show proof of their marriage and I DO NOT have proof and have been unsuccessful in finding any!!!  So this would be a huge find!  As in a major happy dance coming for all to see!

This is a to be continued blog for once I have all the Land Entry Files from NARA I will write more about each of these finds!

So for now I will just keep remembering the family as I know them!!!