Continuing where I left off on Blog 12:
"From other researchers they also have the same background of three brothers coming to Virginia. From cousins Jonathan Bedingfield and Monte Davis Payne: 'We were told that three brothers came to Virginia, Sir John, Joseph, and a younger brother. They were the sons of a military man sent to county Cork Ireland. The youngest son left Virginia going to Canada, later going to Scotland where he was made a magistrate, and later a judge. It is believed that John and Joseph were twins, and think they came in the mid 1600's.' Jonathan and Monte said John Davis Bedingfield was named after a family member. We think Nathaniel's father might have been John but we have no proof. Jonathan's aunt said she was almost 100 years old and must have meant grandfather. John Bedingfield lived in Edgefield South Carolina, his will was probated 8 Sept 1794, and he was then a resident of Augusta, GA.
Tuesday 6 Mar. 1764 Nathaniel Bedingfield, wife, three sons, with their four negroes were granted 400 acres of land in Savannah, Ga. The sons were reported to be John, Joseph and Nathaniel. The father was killed by two Creek Indians, and one was caught and killed. The sons went to South Carolina but later returned to Georgia."
There is more info but mostly list names, etc. and until I find out further who James Matthew Bedingfield's father, etc is--then these other names will have more importance. I am sure we are related to one of the brothers just don't know which one. I do know that our James Matthew Bedingfield was born in South Carolina, his father in Georgia (and his mother in South Carolina). One researcher on Ancestry has his father as James Ashley Bedingfield and mother Tabitha Stafford, but I need to verify that. This researcher is probably doubly related to us as he is has the Harris Family Tree. Elizabeth Harris is Moses Blancett's wife.
That is mostly what I know about the Bedingfield's except for names of family members at that time.
Since, I have space on this page and haven't visited one of Truman Blancett's stories in awhile, thought this would be a good time. Wild Bill Hickok was a figure from my youth as far as historical movies, school, etc go. I know some of the shows were just for "show" about him! So, it is kind of fun to know that our family knew him as well as other historical figures at the time, Kit Carson and Buffalo Bill---which at another time I will write about. Patty
By Truman:
"Wild Bill" as I knew him.....
In 1860 my father (Josiah Blancett), brothers and I were keeping the station at Ashpoint, Kan., between Seneca and Marysville, then the raw, western frontier. The town of Seneca was on the Nehama river, eighty miles west of Fort Leavenworth. Marysville was situated on the Big blue river, 125 miles west of the fort.
The mail coach changed mules at our station, and was drawn by six or eight mules, depending on the load.
Mexican mules, such as were used, are not very large, oftimes running with the coach like scared rabbits. They were mean and wild critters and two Mexicans always were at the station to make the change of teams. It was figured it took one Mexican to handle one mule.
Hickok was at our station once a week for about a half hour at a time while mules were being changed, and we would exchange stories of our experiences during the interim, a universal custom at the time. We were both young, he being not more than 20 years old and I, 18. Both of us were trying to raise a mustache "Wild Bill" was taciturn even at that age. He talked little of himself or about others. He was a man of action, not of words.
"Wild Bill" Killed Only One Man Outside Line of Duty.
I never saw him with his feet off of the cash box which was carried under the feet of the mail coach driver. This box was of metal construction, its carrying space equal to about a bushel. The box was the particular trust of the guard and he was under orders to watch it with his life.
Hickok handled a pistol with the speed of lightning. When he wished to emphasize something he had a way of throwing his right or left hand toward you with the trigger finger pointed straight at you. His hands moved with incredible swiftness and I believe he practiced this mannerism with such purpose that it became a part of his nature, and probably resulted in making him the fastest two-gun man of his day.
Hickok was not a wanton killer and used his guns only in line of duty. He had plenty of opportunities to kill oftener than he did, knowing that he could start a graveyard at any time and the government would pay all funeral expenses.
We never knew him to be intoxicated and never knew him to kill but one man except in ling of duty. The exception was a man named McCandless, who kept the Rock Creek station near the Little Blue river. The two got into a trivial dispute, no one knew just what, and Bill drew his gun first. My father and McCandless were friends and were both station keepers.
Hickok Admires Pistol.
One day I returned to the Ashpoint station just as the coach pulled in. I was carrying a mighty good pistol, a Dragon .45 caliber, and as I rode up to the coach I noticed Bill's eyes were directed toward my pistol.
"That's a mighty dangerous looking gun for an innocent looking man" he said asking to examine it.
After looking it over he remarked: "It's a mighty fine gun, but I don't see any notches on the handle."
I told him I hadn't got to that yet, and he said.
"You will get to that before you cross the desert, that is, if you don't get killed before you get into practice."
Anyone who wanted to make the acquaintance of Hickok and would mind their own business and not get too inquisitive would find him a perfect gentleman in every way. In those days he was not known as "Wild Bill," that nickname having become general in the early '70's, at which time I lost sight of him. However, my old friend Dall De Weese, who kept a close watch over the activities of the old-timers, told me Bill was murdered at Deadwood in the Black hills in 1878 by a man named McCall, who walked up behind Hickok in a saloon and shot him in the back of the head. That cowardly shooting is now history.
Train Guards Usually Possessed Great Courage.
Men who contracted to assist the great ox and mule teams that carried supplies across the desert for the firm of Barlo & Saunders, or who worked as guards carrying the mail, had to have the courage to fight to the last ditch in any sort of danger. This type of man was scarce in the frontier days and professional guards were imported from other regions.
Hickok was discovered along the border of Louisiana and Texas. He and his associates were men known for their daring and staying qualities.
Pony express riders who came into prominence later for their great courage generally were selected from among cowpunchers along the Gila river on the Arizona border. These ranch hands were known particularly for their daring exploits among the Indians of that country.
According to the 1860 census the family members that were living in this area at this time were:
Family # 132----Josiah Blancett, he was listed as a hotel keeper his wife, Elizabeth, children Olive, Truman, John and Enos. Family # 133 Wm Van endert and Mary or Mollie (sister). Family # 130, Moses (also listed as a hotel keeper), wife Lucinda ("Monie" Gibson") Children--Marcellus, Ella, Marcella (Marcella becomes our grandmother "Belle" who married Samuel Elbert Koontz)
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