While I was in Michigan in May 1997, Kent Armstrong gave me several years' worth of back issues to the Twenty-Fourth Telegraph, the newsletter of the 24th Michigan Reenactors. Well, I found so much information on that trip that it's taken me quite awhile to assimilate all of it. One of the interesting items was an article that was reprinted from a Detroit-area newspaper.
There were two brothers in the 24th Michigan, James and Barney Litogot. James was killed at Fredericksburg. Barney was wounded at Gettysburg, but survived the war. They were orphans. Their mother died in childbirth and their father fell off a roof and broke his neck. Their sister Mary was adopted and raised by the O'Hearn family. In 1861 she married William Ford of Dearborn. Their first child was stillborn. Their second son was born in 1863, and was named after his uncle Henry. That's right -- Henry Ford had two uncles in the Regiment.
An archaeology friend of mine, Diane Dismukes, has been helping out with the site. She has been gracious enough to type the George C. Gordon Letters, Lucius Shattuck Letters, Winfield Scott Safford Letters, Nelson S. Pooler Memoirs as well as a great deal more which I hope to eventually have permission to use. She has done all of this work for me out of the goodness of her heart. She has also been very encouraging and has helped to keep my interest level very high. I am very indebted to her.
As is our habit, we get together about once per week and talk, work on my site or her site, and then go get dinner and/or a few beers. On this particular evening we went to a little Mexican restaurant for fajitas and Cerveza. I thought the story of the Litogot brothers was pretty cool, so while we were out having dinner I told Diane the story....
She about fell off her chair... She did cough up a little beer. Her paternal grandfather was a poor coal miner in Kentucky. His boss was supposed to go to a union meeting or conference in Detroit, but something came up. He asked Diane's paternal grandfather to go in his place. While there, this young man met an attractive young lady and fell in love. After he returned to Kentucky he got one of his friends to write love letters to her (Diane's grandfather was illiterate). Eventually he proposed and the girl accepted. He traveled to Michigan and the two were married. They returned to Kentucky where Effie was shocked to discover that Mr. Clayton was NOT a manager, was dirt poor, and lived in a shack. When her family discovered that, family history says they disowned her, because that was far below their station... The couple had two children, but Effie was unhappy and "took to her bed." Effie Ford died at a young age. Diane's grandmother, you see, was Henry Ford's niece !!!
So Diane, who has spent many hours helping with this project, turns out to be a descendant of the 24th Michigan!!!
I am really, really amazed every time I think about this...
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