I have been working on annotating the Civil War Diary of Betty Herndon Maury, and as an aid to that effort I have been compiling genealogical charts in an effort to identify various people Betty mentions. It is a difficult task, as so many names are repeated through the generations; and Betty sometimes uses the words cousin, aunt, uncle and so on in ways other than those I am familiar with.
Betty several times refers to a Mrs. Hart in Fredericksburg, and I had not been able to figure out who she was until I discovered Betty had given a clue as to her identity: Mrs. Hart was Susan Crutchfield's cousin. Using this clue and the genealogy charts I was finally able to identify Mrs. Hart as Jane Blake (Minor) Hart (1830-1900), wife of William Timothy Hart (1822-1885). Susan's father (Oscar Minor Crutchfield) and Janes mother (Malvina (Crutchfield) Minor) were brother and sister.
Susan, who later married Betty's brother Richard was staying with Jane and William Hart at the time Betty was writing her diary there.
As small a matter as is the identity of Mrs. Hart in the grand scheme of things, it has given me a great sense of satisfaction to be able to pin down her identity. I wish I knew more about her!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
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