JANUARY 1998 NEWSLETTER
Well, we are starting our 9th year of Newsletters. I am very pleased with the work we have done in 9 years. I am about to the point we stop sending out Newsletters via the U.S. mail since everyone can access our newsletters via the Internet. Almost everybody knows someone who can access the Internet for them if they can not access it themselves. That person could print a copy or two for other family members who have no access abilities.
Almost every library in the U.S. has Internet capabilities and anyone can go there, access our web site and print a copy of our newsletter. This would save us about $75 per month in photocopy, paper, envelope and stamp costs. That is money we could use for research. Glen and Cleo Spencer have done more than their share to mail this out every month. I can not thank them enough for the work they have done.
I hope that you all appreciate the work Nathan Mower is doing by keeping up the internet site. There is a charge for having this web site that he is paying and anyone who wants to e-mail him and get his address can access him from the Internet Mower web site. You could then send him a little money to help finance the site. I'm sure he would appreciate that.
Trudy Schenk is working hard on the Brill connection. I agree with her that we have narrowed the area down to close proximity. I am sending her an additional $2400 which will finance another week of research in Germany. After we have done all that we can do by letter writing, the only thing we can do is to go on site in Germany to search the records. We currently have an $1800 balance with her. She used $3400 for research here in America and abroad in Germany during the summer and fall. That has been paid and as I said we have an $1800 balance. This work never could be financed without 100+ Mower related families sending in some contributions and I thank you very much for that.
We currently have a lady in Sweden working on the Amelia Augusta Mower line and some of you are financing that research. That researcher has been sent $600 and she is currently into the Swedish records and I expect a report soon from her. Maybe even before this newsletter must be sent.
I had an opportunity this summer of going to the Ogden Temple to do some work for my deceased brother-in-law and his relatives. That has become one of the choice experiences of my life, which I can not relate here. Never doubt that we are involved in a great work which is being actively monitored by our ancestors.
The day will come when we are privileged to meet those we have labored for. By my current calculations we completed work for 1,721 ancestors in 1997 bringing the total completed since 1989 to 18,243 baptisms and endowments completed. We did 1,854 in 1996, which is 133 more than we did this year. I suppose the decrease in numbers is in some way related to the change in the Provo Temple. Our work has been slowed at Provo because of the difficulty for family members to get a name to do when they attend the temple. Since you can no longer get a family file name at the temple when you go, you have to bring it with you which is slowing the work down to very slow levels. I would say we are somewhat reduced of what we use to do at that temple.
We have finished the Brill file except for the latest that Trudy has found. We are finishing the Geissinger file and should finish with it this year. We still have names available for those of you intersted in doing temple work.
I believe that the new system will eventually go world-wide and that will virtually shut us down for family file names, so we are trying to get all done that we can get done before that happens. It may be that we will need to submit names to the patron file after the system goes world-wide or we won't get the work done.
Names were recently sent to Seattle, Washington D.C., St. George, Idaho Falls, Ogden, Los Angeles. Let me know the status of Salt Lake, Jordan River, or other temples. If when you go to the temple you would pick up the cards completed and ask for any old temple submission 3 1/2 inch disks, I would appreciate it. I could use some more disks.
Continuation of Charles Geissinger military history in the Revolutionary War:
Starting on 6 June, Thompson dropped down the river in bateaux to a point 10 miles from his objective. Moving by water again the next night, he landed at 3 o'clock the morning of the 8th about 3 miles away. Here he left 250 men to guard the boats and started forward with the regiments of Arthur St. Clair, William Irvine, William Maxwell, and Anthony Wayne. Trouble started with their guide Antoine Gautier, misled them, perhaps intentionally. Instead of getting onto the river road while their advance would be covered by darkness, they spent hours floundering in a swamp that exhausted the troops. When they did reach the river road, shortly before dawn, they were soon driven back into the swamp by fire from three enemy vessels.
It was 8 o'clock when the first of them spotted a clearing near Three Rivers. Here Anthony Wayne led 200 men in an attack that routed a superior force, and Thompson followed with the rest of his command to continue the pursuit. But the Americans then hit a line of entrenchments manned by vastly superior forces and covered by guns from the river. Probably not aware of the odds, Thompson attacked and was repulsed. With a misguided but admirable courage, he tried to organize another attempt, but his command was too scattered, and nothing more than an irregular patter of musketry could be delivered. Then the inevitable retreat started.
Carleton could have cut off and capture the entire force, but he did not want to be burdened with the prisoners. The boat guard escaped with their bateaux, and the rest of the American force was driven into the swamps. Breaking up into small groups, they were stalked by Indians, ambushed by Canadian irregulars, almost devoured by mosquitoes, and worn down by hunger and their struggles through the most horrid swamps. the last of the 1,100 survivors straggled into Sorel the evening of 11 June.
Carleton ended up despite himself, with 236 prisoners, including Thompson. Total American loses including the above were about 400. The British lost eight killed and nine wounded.
Colonel Richard Butler 1743-1791
Richard Butler was a Continental officer born in Ireland, who lived in Pennsylvania. He was one of 5 brothers who fought as officers in the Revolutionary War. He would be the commanding officer who signed the discharge of Charles Geissinger from the army.
In 1775 he was made an Indian agent but soon entered active military service: he was commissioned Capt. 2d Pennsylvania Battalion on 5 Jan 1776. and promoted to Maj. of the 8th Pennsylvania Continental Regiment on 20 July . On the 12th of March 1777, he became Lt. Colonel of this regiment with date of rank from 28 Sept. 1776. He commanded the 8th Pennsylvania at Bound Brook, M.J. on 13 Apr 1777. Joining Morgan's Riflemen in the spring, he took part of the battles around Saratoga in Oct. 1777. He is shown as commander of the 9th Pennsylvania from 7 Jun 1777 until 17 Jan 1781 but led provisional units at various times during this period. Butler's men, presumably the 8th Pennsylvania, got the better of a skirmish above Kings Bridge on 30 Sep 1778. He led the 2d Regiment of Wayne's light infantry brigade at Stony Point on 16 Jul 1779.
During the mutiny of the Pennsylvania Line in Jan. 1781, he and William Butler accompanied Wayne to Princeton to negotiate with the mutineers; since the latter refused to let any other officers deal with them, this can be construed as a mark of distinction.
In the reorganization of 17 Jan 1781, Butler took command of the 5th Pennsylvania which became part of Wayne's Light Infantry that joined Lafayette in June 1781. He led the attack on Simcoe at Spencer's Tavern, Virginia on 26 June and took part in the engagement at Green Spring on July 6th. In the siege of Yorktown he led the 2d Pennsylvania Battalion of Wayne's Brigade in Steuben's Division. After the surrender of Cornwallis he marched with Wayne to the Carolinas and subsequently into Georgia. Butler commanded the 3rd Pennsylvania from 1 July to 3 Nov 1783 and on 30 Sept. of that year was breveted Brigadier General. After the war, Butler was part of a miliatry expedition against the Miami Indians, and he was mortally wounded in the battle of 4 Nov 1791.
Thanks to all who supported us in 1997.