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We have decided to come clean before the DOJ and the MGM and the NFL come chasing us down like the aristocratic commoners we seem to be…or not. Over the months and years, after my stating that Rush Limbaugh and I are first cousins - three times removed. The pathway to the fact is not all that tortuous, nor difficult to understand.
Records are fairly clear, especially if one rakes the millet and sheds the chaff enough times. It is actually rather amazing how much detail can be extracted from county records, census reports, and church documents of rites of passage. Please be aware that this is essentially a posting that is drawn from a mailing to some of my closest friends and relatives. It is especially sent as a charge to my daughter, my son, and my niece…and to a small circle of friends.
That accomplished, we render the information…still imperfect, but becoming "perfecter" as the Southern commentator might comment…because it is interesting in the sense that it is a quick reference of the nature of the Westward Expansion and of the nature of the times before, during, and after the War Between the States.
Records are fairly clear, especially if one rakes the millet and sheds the chaff enough times. It is actually rather amazing how much detail can be extracted from county records, census reports, and church documents of rites of passage. Please be aware that this is essentially a posting that is drawn from a mailing to some of my closest friends and relatives. It is especially sent as a charge to my daughter, my son, and my niece…and to a small circle of friends.
That accomplished, we render the information…still imperfect, but becoming "perfecter" as the Southern commentator might comment…because it is interesting in the sense that it is a quick reference of the nature of the Westward Expansion and of the nature of the times before, during, and after the War Between the States.
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The Letter
(originally sent during the past two days
to a group totalling 14 persons)
(originally sent during the past two days
to a group totalling 14 persons)
Please be aware that this mailing is not to impress anyone, because a person should not build his fame or notoriety upon the shoulders of cousins or upon any form of nepotism. It is simply a response to various questions about the specifics about how Milton, Norman, and I are related to Rush and David Limbaugh as first cousins, three times removed.
What is more interesting than that fairly direct accounting of our ancestry from that German immigrant family, and the very noteworthy George Frederick Limbaugh who was an impressive and interesting fellow by any measure, are the peculiar co-incidences that intertwined the Limbaughs and the Neals. Even more interesting is that Winchester, Franklin County, Tennessee would prove to be a considerable theatre for one significant branch of the Limbaughs and many significant branches of the Neals.
And yes…as many of you know…I am as interested in your provenance as I am in my own. All tales…especially those that are reasonable, substantially accurate, and sincere…are what this writer refers to as "of profound interest".
And yes…as many of you know…I am as interested in your provenance as I am in my own. All tales…especially those that are reasonable, substantially accurate, and sincere…are what this writer refers to as "of profound interest".
This is essentially an updating of other information, mainly designed to inform my two children, my niece, and my nephews of significant portions of their more distant ancestry. During these more recent "hunting expeditions" we accidentally encountered two more Confederate soldiers, one of whom had been killed in action. That changes the loss count to 2 Union (brothers who were my great-uncles), and 6 Confederates.
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George Frederick Limbaugh, the first Limbaugh family member in America, was born in Germany (ancestral roots include Prussia, Saxony, and Bremen ancestors…all contiguous principalities / kingdoms) circa 1727 to Johannes Michael Limbach (b. 1688?) and Marie Listerer (b. 1698?).
Johann Frederick Limbaugh, George Frederich' first-born arrived at Berks County, Pennsylvania as a child in 1753, along with his mother and father and a couple of younger children. Records seem to indicate that he was eight or nine years old.
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| Baron Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben |
The fact that there were so many "Pennsylvania Dutch" (term in especially eastern Pennsylvania at that time for German) soldiers and settlers is one of the reasons Washington called upon the famous German tactician, General von Steuben for assistance. The good Baron served at the level of General Officer for the remainder of the War, and was essentially Washington's Chief of Staff. It is more than a little probable that Major Frederich Johann Limbaugh would have had direct contact with the good Baron and Washington. Limbaugh's militia had served in various Indian disorders, and also during dust-ups with the French.
Frederich Johann Limbaugh…son of George Frederick…left Pennsylvania as a sole heir of the Limbaugh estate. He sold the entire property in Pennsylvania for 1,100 pounds sterling (1783 anno domini)…something like about 2,000,000 American dollars in this time (2018 anno domini). He went first to North Carolina where the clan lived and farmed for a while. This is were one child apparently "ran off" with a Spanish beauty who was also some form of aristocrat (we are being inventive here…she was apparently a very decent girl and apparently Christian (sometimes called David) Limbaugh did well among her family and friends in Florida and Cuba).
Later, Frederich Johann Limbaugh moved on into Tennessee, and settled among my people in what would become Franklin County…and more precisely…the city of Winchester where it was still mainly a log cabin town at that time. His son, Peter, adapted well among the Anglo/Saxon and Cherokee populace in that area of southeastern Tennessee…many Limbaughs were then buried over the years due to Peter's decision to make Franklin County, Tennessee his permanent life home. The name Limbaugh is still alive in that town, and is found in the private Limbaugh estate's cemetery, and other cemeteries down into Alabama and Georgia.
The bulk of the family kept moving on that somewhat moribund French settlement area in what would be known as Southeastern Missouri before many years would pass. As it was, they settled in what would become Louisiana Territory in three years. By 1758, George Frederick Limbaugh had married Anna Catharine Ritter and had six sons: Johannes Frederick Limbaugh, George Frederick Limbaugh II, Peter Limbaugh, Henry Limbaugh, Christian Limbaugh, and Michael Limbaugh. The family settled on the west side of the Mississippi River in an area known as Cape Girardeaux, now in the State of Missouri. Two sons dropped off along the way, including Christian who left the "tribe" in North Carolina, and married a Spanish girl whose father was some kind of titled aristocrat involved with the Spanish government. Christian did well in Cuba and was involved in the making of rum and curing of fine tobaccos.
A Typical Scene in the Winchester and
Estill Springs Area in These Times
Estill Springs Area in These Times
The other "drop out" was Peter Limbaugh listed above as the one who stayed back in the Winchester, Franklin County, Tennessee area. As he arrived with his family, Peter and his brood decided that Franklin County, especially Winchester and Estill Springs and the bottom lands of the Sewanee River was his Promised Land. He cashed out with his inheritance from his grandfather. Supposedly, Frederick Johann Limbaugh kept 50% of the inheritance, and then assigned the remainder in equal shares to the six boys. Seemed fair to all. My brothers Milton and Norman, and your humble servant are descended from this line.
There was another family…Grant by surname…who had a member by the name of Asa. That man came from the more western parts of Tennessee at the time and he was taken by a Limbaugh daughter, named Amelia…(called Millie or Meli by her buddies). Asa Grant, unlike his second cousin, Hiram Ulysses Grant, was an anti-slavery Southerner. Asa married the German girl, in spite of her funny accent…and among other things…put to flight the Stork who would deliver a child by the name of William (Dutch) Grant.
Supposedly William Grant, son of Asa Grant and Amelia Limbaugh, learned German from his mother, and the people marvelled at his bi-lingual capacity. It is from that ability that he was given the life-long nickname of "Dutch".
Both "Dutch" (42 Infantry Regiment, Confederation States Army, 1st Lieutenant) and Asa Grant (4th Tennessee Cavalry, Confederate States Army, Capitan), served, were wounded, and returned to Winchester…Dutch in better shape than his father…who died, finally succumbing to wounds that would not abate caused by the arrogance of the victors and the hideous administration of the Camp Chase POW impoundment in Ohio.
(AS AN ASIDE)
As a child, the name "Billy Grant!!!" called out in housewife shrill, meant, my "Uncle Billy"…or William Grant Neal. That was because William Grant Neal was named for his grandfather William Grant and actually born well out of order due to the fact that he was born in 1941…while his eldest sibling…a sister…my mother…was born in 1915. My mother and Uncle Billy were born so far apart chronologically that "Uncle Billy" would always address my mother as "Mrs. Newton." All of this meant that your Uncle Milton had an uncle (Billy Grant Neal) who was younger than your Uncle Milton. We return now to the original text.
All such verbiage is neither here nor there. Asa Grant was a revered Confederate war hero. He died in 1869 as stated above due to complications from his incarceration at Camp Chase, Ohio, where he had been dumped after being taken from the battlefield as a wounded Confederate officer. His son, William was also a decorated Confederate veteran.
These things carried down, drifting towards the present, because "Dutch" married a girl whose family had a problem staying inside the driving lanes. Lucky for her, there were no marked lanes at that time. But her brothers might have been (we state cautiously) associated with the Donaldson Gang which was associated with the James Boys.
William (Dutch) Grant was not one of those, but his wife was drawn from among them. The fact that William had moved to the eastern side of Tennessee from his father's Lewisburg environs on the western side of Tennessee gave the couple some, perhaps considerable, immunity from the lesser elements of the Donaldson family's weaker members.
In continuing the continuum, William (Dutch) Grant and Sarah Frances (Sallie) Donaldson (3 March 1841 - 12 January 1902) bore out four babies, among them your great-great grandmother Mary Frances Grant (8 November 1865 - 25 April 1916).
The last named lady married a fellow, your great-great grandfather by the name of William Benjamin Franklin Neal (1852 - 1936), one of the youngest Confederate veterans who rode as a Partisan Ranger towards the end of the War…during a period of potential anarchy in the southeastern Tennessee area. Union troops did little to interrupt Union deserters and stragglers from thieving and harassing locals. His father was an ordained Methodist pastor and had two churches in the Winchester community, and had been a chaplain to the Confederate Army…(and attended to Union troops as well)…for the last three years of the War.
William Benjamin Franklin Neal and Mary Frances Grant bore out 12 children, all but the last surviving to adulthood. The antepenultimate child was your Great Grandfather Reginald (Rex) Andrew Neal (1893 - 1973) who married Mamie Hastings Chism (1898 - 1971). These are your father's maternal grandparents, and your Great-Grandparents.
From them came four children, among them the aforementioned William (Billy) Grant Neal, born in 1941 (last born) and your Grandmother (first born) Nola Frances Neal (Newton) (1915 - 1994). Between Billy and Nola the Stork delivered Uncle Donald, (vitae sine mentione) and Reginald (Rex) Andrew Neal (1920 - 1971).
From thence you all can do your aggregations of the Newtons / Neal and Garzas / Garzas…with your own studies…or your mother and I will help you to the degree that we can.
We can suggest that the life and genealogical line of your Granma Mamie Chism (Chisum) (Chisolm)(Chisholm) leads into a morass of western North Carolina, during the earliest part of the 1700s. It was her understanding that her people had come from England in the mid-1600s, landing in Virginia, and gradually farming their way into the Carolinas (similar to Frederick Johann and his little tribe), finally winding up in southeastern Tennessee. Many Chism's with various spellings were found in Texas very shortly after the War Between the States. Mamie "heard tell" of them but never met any of them…ostensibly her brothers? cousins? uncles? Some day we shall figure out the Chism, Chisum, Chisolm, Chisholm thing.
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Descendants of Peter Limbaugh
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| Peter Limbaugh was the third child of Anna Catherina Ritter and George Frederick Limbaugh. There were six children born to Anna and George Frederick Limbaugh: Johannes (John), George Frederick, Peter, Henry, Christian and Michael. Peter and Anna did not come to Bollinger County, Missouri with George Frederick and the rest of the family. They chose to settle in Tennessee. Christian Limbaugh stayed in the North Carolina area and later moved to Florida before Florida became a State. Peter Limbaugh was born 1770 in Pennsylvania and died about 1846 in Franklin County Tennessee. He married Anna Maria Lingle July 28,1791 and the two had eleven children. Anna was born 1772 in North Carolina and died after 1830 in Franklin County Tennessee. Children of Anna Lingle and Peter Limbaugh John A. Limbaugh , Leah Limbaugh, Catherine Limbaugh, Mary Ann (Polly) Limbaugh, Solomon Limbaugh, Peter Limbaugh, Elizabeth Limbaugh, Amelia Limbaugh, Lucy Ann Limbaugh, Sarah E. Limbaugh, and Wilburn Rufus Limbaugh. |
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