Civil War/ Sorting out Forgeys

I've been using a 7 day free trial for Footnote to try to find some missing Forgeys. I've found some very useful and interesting info. I have tried to assemble complete family groups for the Forgey families who settled in Tennessee. I believe I have identified a grandson , John Forgey, of Andrew Forgey and Margaret Reynolds. I found a John Forgey and Polly listed in New Providence Church records. They disappear from Hawkins County, TN after the 1840 Census. They seemed to have had a large family is 1840. I found a John Forga and Mary Forga family in Marshall County, MS and their family seemed to match the Hawkins County family as far as number of males and females. This family bounced back and forth between Shelby County, TN and nearby Marshall County, MS. Using Footnote I found 3 sons of John and Mary Forgey who served during the Civil War. One son, J. W. Forgey, does not appear on the 1850 Census. I believe that he might be a son of their's anyway? John T. does appear so he is more than likely their son. W. H. also appears to have served; he does not appear with them on the 1850 Census either; but is also more than likely a son of John and Mary.The sons not appearing with John and Mary in 1850 were over twenty years old.

Hope to nail for certain whether this Shelby County, TN family was from Hawkins County, TN. If J. W. Forgey was John and Mary's son, then I may have identified 4 out of the 5 males listed in the 1840 Census?

J. T. Forgey was killed at the Civil War battle of Stone Creek, TN on 31 Dec 1862. The W.H. survived his service. No further info about J. W. during or after the war? Unfortunately no places of birth provided on their Civil War documents.

Made a surprise find in the Civil War records. My ancestor Andrew Forgey's nephew John Forgey, son of Archibald, served as a Farrier in the Civil War. He served in the 5th Tennessee Calvary Company D. Those who served in this Company were from the Clinch River area of TN and VA. They were called the Clinch Mountain Rangers. He died in February 1862. Apparently he was taken from Morristown, TN to his residence Scott County, VA where he died.. John's son Andrew was apparently held prisoner during the Civil War and released in 1865,

Forgey, Forgy, & Forgie etc.

I've been researching the name Forgey and all of it's variations at Genealogy Bank's newspaper collection, and at the Library of Congress's Chronicling America website. I wasn't able to find out exactly which time periods were included in the Genealogy Bank's local newspapers database? A general time period is given for an entire state but not for each local paper. I found a very interesting and helpful entry at the Chronicling America website. Sadly nothing new found at Genealogy Bank. I guess Ancestry.com abandoning it's effort to archive the world's newspapers. Newspapers are a great source I think that is a mistake.

I've also been looking at US Censuses for Virginia and Tennessee again. I have had a great success record when it comes to finding ancestors in the US Census. Finding collateral lines in the south is much more difficult. It could be due to the isolated locations of their homes, and the dislocation due to the Civil War. Also after the Civil War some Confederates may have been unwilling to provide their family info to the US government? 

Scott County, VA Forgeys

This is the Blackwater, VA area. The Rollers and Forgeys worked on an early road to Blackwater Salt Works.

Moving my research for my family history to Scott County, VA. Thought I lost my some of my court record copies. I've been looking for them for the past week, finally stumbled upon them today. So Friday the 13th is my lucky day :). 

Now that I've been able to review these pages again I've developed a new appreciation for them. I have been reading about the history of Scott County, VA, and the Blackwater Salt Works was mentioned. James Forgy is referred to in a court orders regarding the road to the Blackwater Salt Works. It seems that James Forgey Jacob Roller Jr. and Sr., were appointed as overseers of alterations to the Blackwater Road in the year 1826.

I also noticed that in the 1820's Archibald Forgy was living on the North Fork of the Clinch River just like his father-in-law Jacob Roller Sr.

A bounty was paid for killing predatory animals. The Scott County court record below lists Archibald Forgy as killing two wolves under six months old. It's an interesting glimpse into to life in early Scott County :).

My Inzenhof Line

St. Emmerich Ronok Hungary

Before 1999 I had never heard anyone in the family mention Inzenhof, the village of my paternal grandfather's family. My father's parents divorced in the 1940's. My grandmother and her children relocated from Chicago, Illinois to Southern California. My grandfather Rudolph Kapple remained in Illinois. My grandfather Rudolph died when I was very young, and never visited California so I never met him. I've always felt a sense of disappointment because I never met him.  I  felt a close connection to his line of the family. I was told that I looked like one of Rudolph's sisters. I was also told that my surname was likely Jewish and wanted to learn more about that. For many years I questioned my family about the Kapple family origins. No one knew very much at all. My grandmother looked into it at one point and came up with Gratz, Austria as their place of origin. I still wanted to learn more. I wondered what may have happened to relatives during WWII?

I was busy working when I was in my 20's and couldn't pursue genealogy. When I finally got access to the internet in 1999 I began pursuing my interest in the family history. At the local library I stumbled on a genealogy how to book called My Sixteen. The author of the book laid out instructions on tracing immigrant ancestors in a very simple and understandable way. After reading that book I successfully found my family in all the records suggested in the My Sixteen book. Combining all of that with internet research I found out the family was not from Gratz but instead from nearby Inzenhof, Austria. All available records indicate that the family had been Catholic for at least 200 years. I have found nothing to document that they were ever Jewish. 

The histories of Inzenhof and the province of Burgenland are really fascinating. The Burgenland area was very sparsely populated before the 18th century. It also suffered population losses due to war. During the 18th century efforts were made to bring in settlers to this area. It is not known for certain where all of these new settlers came from? Likely many came from the area  around of Gratz?

Until after WWI Burgenland was a German speaking area of Hungary.

Inzenhof WWII War Memorial.
Many of my family names are listed here.

The WWII era really fascinates me. Inzenhof was the location of a slave labor camp. This pdf article makes a brief mention of the camp in Inzenhof,  The Death Marches of Hungarian Jews Through Austria (the first article link on this page). Relations of my family did serve on the German side during WWII. I have not found any records indicating that any relatives were prisoners in the concentration camps.

The Burgenland Bunch published a wonderful diary on the internet regarding a visit of a Burgenland native, then American Citizen, who was visiting her mother and was trapped in the area and unable to return to the US because of the outbreak of the war. Links to the articles An unforgettable visit to the Burgenland Austria and part 2  An unforgettable visit to the Burgenland Austria

It's difficult to get stories about the Inzenhof area during WWII because many documents and newspapers from that era were destroyed. Efforts were made after WWII to hide evidence of crimes. Surviving residents of the area were never willing to share very much info about this time period. I have read stories about Nazis occasionally searching houses, and harassing some Burgenland families.  

The cold war also greatly affected life in Inzenhof. Inzenhof was on the Iron Curtain literally. St. Emmerich Church, the Inzenhof parish church, was located in no man's land during the cold war. The cemetery was located in a mine field. Occasionally someone fleeing communist Hungary would try to cross the minefield into Burgenland. Residents of the area would sometimes risk their lives to retrieve bodies from the minefields. 

Today Inzenhof is a nice middle class area of Austria.  Photos of Inzenhof  today give an impression of a sleepy, rural place. It's hard to envision the chaotic place this was in the past. Peace finally :)!

Inzenhof Austria

What I know, KNOW!

With graves located in Cow Pastures a search line like the one above would be helpful! But I need to locate the Andrew Forgey land before such a search can take place :D.

Here is what I have found in the records describing the land location:

"DEED BOOK 1, Page 133 Deed from NORTH CAROLINA to ANDREW FORGES, No. 78 For and in consideration of the sum of fifty shillings for every hundred acres paid into the Treasury by Andrew Forges, we have granted to him a tract of land containing four hundred acres, lying on Possum Creek in Stanley Valle, beginning on Hugh Crafford's corner in the north side of the valley. Given under my hand and seal this 23rd day of October 1782."

"I do give and bequeath to my son Andrew Forgey, Junior a part of the tract of land I now live on butted and bounded as followeth: Beginning on the main road opposite a cross fence about half way between where I now live and where my son Andrew lives, then along said fence and to continue the course thereof to the back line of said tract. Then with said line to a chestnut corner of said tract. Then along the line dividing my land from a tract whereon Benoni Coldwell now lives to the old road that is nearest to my son Andrew’s fence. Then with said road to the beginning, including the house and plantation whereon my son Andrew now lives."(From Hawkins County, Tennessee Wills)

"Whereas I had given to my son John Forgey another part of said tract and have made him a right to the same which he has since sold to my son James Forgey and has received payment, and I being anxious to secure the said part to James for the considerations above, I do therefore bequeath to James Forgey the said part which is bounded as followeth: Beginning on the road at the place where Andrew Forgey’s began, opposite the before mentioned cross fence, running the course of the same so as to make a straight line across the valley from one line of the grant to the other, and all the land contained in my grant between said line and the line of the tract whereon Benoni Coldwell now lives, and on the opposite side of the above mentioned road from where my son Andrew now lives, including the improvements made by John Forgey whereon Hugh Forgey now lives."(From Hawkins County, Tennessee Wills)

Made A Nice Find

It seems like lately all of my finds are coming from Google Books. I've spent many hours searching but still have not found everything. Plus new books continue to be added. Today I found my likely ancestor Hugh Forgey listed in Most distinguished characters on the American frontier ( By Madge Looney Crane and Phillip L. Crane). . Since I can only get a snippet view I don't have a date or know the exact nature of the document. It appears that Hugh witnessed this certificate assignment.  It looks like Hugh may have signed it? It looks like 17 something may be the date. I tried this with my search and was taken to the page, but still could not see the date. The number 18 used with the name Forgey didn't yield any results.

The Looneys lived in Stanley Valley, Hawkins County TN like the Forgeys. David Looney, who was transferring the assignment of the certicate, owned 600 acres of land in Stanley Vallley.

Reading more snippets from this book I learned about the Squabble State which extended from Virginia into Stanely Valley. Apparently this area was a disputed area. The settlers in the Squabble State sometimes refused to pay taxes. Documents from that era officially refer to the area as the Squabble State. This state line dispute was partially settled in 1802. 

Squabble State as outlined by the Henderson, Walker lines