I have been researching the different surnames in my family since I was fourteen or fifteen years old.
My maiden name is Persinger. My father, Ernest Clyde Persinger, had one aunt living, Mary Persinger Cleek, at the time I was growing up. I use to go to her apartment and spend the weekends with her in Kingsport. She had a picture of her father, Thaddeaus Preston Persinger, with his second wife, Frances Compton, and his children by his first wife, Molly Dykes, hanging on her wall.
Thaddeaus was tall, thin and had a black handle bar mustache. Aunt Mary Cleek told me Thaddeaus’s mother was Ann Conkin and she had married the second time to Lewis Crawford, November 1868, and had five children by him. I ask who was Thaddeaus’s father. Either she did not know or she did not want to say. I never found out.
My father would take us around to visit with the Crawfords and he would tell us "they are half first-cousins".
I decided to find out how. I found Thaddeaus’s marriage record in Gate City, VA. He had listed his father as "W.A. Persinger". I ask my grandmother, Dona Simpson Persinger, who was W.A. She said she did not know, "besides we ain’t Persingers we are Smiths raised by a Persinger".
I went to the archives at ETSU. I looked for any Persingers with the first name starting with "W". I found a Company Muster Roll showing William Persinger enrolled August 31, 1862 into the 5th Reg’t East Tenn. Inf., Company K. at Camp Morgan for a period of three years. The Company Muster Roll said William died August 13, 1863 at Carthage, Tennessee.
The death date was a few years before Thaddeaus was born. I thought Thaddeaus’s birth date may have been off. I sent for the pension record and indicated I wanted the whole file. Washington Archives told me there was eighty pages to the file. I sent the required money and anxiously waited for the file to come in.
When the file finally arrived, I was thrilled. This file is a rare glimpse into the atmosphere in Sullivan County at this time. It speaks volumes about what we were dealing with shortly after the Civil War. The file is a testimony of one woman’s struggle with herself, death, child bearing, and her own existence in a semi-puritan community.
I have studied this file and often find myself wondering what I would have done, if I was in Ann’s shoes. I can imagine being a young woman, recently married, in love with my husband only to have him traipse off to a war I did not understand and get himself killed. I imagined finding myself alone, unloved at a time when a woman’s place in society is determined by the man who is taking care of her.
Ann Conkin was born ca 1840. I believe she was the daughter of John Conkin born 1810 and Sarah Watts born 1812.
William Persinger was born ca 1836 in Virginia. I believe he was the son of Henry Persinger born 1806 in Virginia and Nancy Carnes born 1814 in Virginia.
Lewis Crawford was born 1848 in Tennessee.
When you read this file, please do not judge those involved. It was a time of intense hate, jealously and desperation. Many neighbors were envious of those who did receive pension. I have another file where neighbors had complained the widow was running a brothel. After the investigation, it was revealed the neighbors were jealous because the widow was receiving a pension off two Civil War Soldiers.
After reading this file, I realized "we ain’t Persingers, but Smiths". William did not have any children, but I inherited his name, Persinger. It is a proud name and one that should be honored. William gave the ultimate sacrifice, his life, fighting for what he believed in. Biologically, William is not my great great grandfather. Spiritually, he is. I have researched the Persinger surname and hope to find as much as I can about it.
Ann Conkin Persinger Crawford was a beautiful woman. There is a picture of her and Lewis Crawford, on page 33, in the SULLIVAN COUNTY TENNESSEE PICTORIAL HISTORY, published by the Sullivan County Genealogical Society. She has a dark brooding look on her face. Her dark hair is parted in the middle and pulled back from her face. I wonder what she was thinking when the picture was taken.
Someone asked me recently what would I do if I found out something terrible about one of my ancestors. I told them there was nothing revealed which would bother me. Besides, the Federal Government had labeled my great great grandmother a "Strumpet".
I have indexed the names of those mentioned in the file with some notes beside the names. If you know these people and have information about them, please let me know.
Enjoy!
Introduction | Index | Pages 1-15 | Pages 16-30 | Pages 31-45 | Pages 46-62
Created 19 Feb 2000
