08 November 2013

Don't Know Much About History

Title: Ferguson, John
Uploaded to: John Ferguson
Born 23 Mar 1650 in Gargunnock, Stirlingshire, ,Scotland,
Died 19 Mar 1717 in Cherry Walk, Essex, Virginia, United States,
Buried Elmwood Cemetery, Waterloo, Black Hawk, Iowa
Attached to: 65 other trees
Looking through the first 20 trees that had this photo attached 3 were private. Of the other 17 only one had a different John Ferguson who might actually be the person buried in this plot.

JNO. FERGUSON
CO. F
12TH ILL. INF.

What conflict prior to 1717 would warrant a U.S. military gravestone and an American flag?

Thanks to Kristin for the link to the gravestone photo ;-)
If you have a photo to suggest please send a link to buwtree(at)gmail(dot)com.


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4 comments:

  1. That is not just any U.S. military gravestone; it's a Civil War gravestone.

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  2. And not just a Civil War gravestone, an *Illinois* Infantry stone. Illinois didn't exist as a state until over 100 years after Mr. Ferguson's death.

    Also, pretty sure there are few to zero gravestones in Iowa dating back to the early 18th century--especially in modern cemeteries like this one--but I realize that sort of deductive reasoning is asking a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Especially love your use of "Queen Julie"...it is how I feel most of the time when I see these things.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It continues to amaze me that so many people who profess to be interested in genealogy/family history seem to have absolutely no interest in learning about the world their ancestors lived in. I'm not a snob (I hope!), and I'm not saying that everyone needs to run out and earn a Ph.D. in history (the market is glutted already!!) . . .but, if I come across a clue that tells me that my ancestor served in a particular war, or participated in a specific migration, then that's all the incentive I need to learn as much as I can about those events. That's what makes this so fun, and as Emily's comment illustrates, even a little research can pay big dividends in terms of avoiding errors.

    ReplyDelete