Work in Progress: Brevet Captain Ketchum in color pencil

A color pencil portrait of Captain William Scott Ketchum of the US Army 6th Infantry as he would have looked in the late 1840s while serving garrison duty on the Great Plains at Fort Gibson and Fort Laramie.

A Page from the General's Pocket Diary / Evidence in a Murder Trial

 

 

 

On June 24, 1871, retired Major General William Scott Ketchum and his close friend Eliza C. W. Chubb of the Treasury Department left Washington D.C. by train to Baltimore to pay a visit to Mrs. Elizabeth G. Wharton before she left to go on a lengthy tour of Europe later that summer. Mrs. Wharton was the widowed wife of Henry W. Wharton, a fellow army officer of the 6th Infantry and good friend of General Ketchum's from his days on frontier duty in Nebraska, Kansas, and Wyoming. Mrs. Chubb had also known Mrs. Wharton for more than twenty years at this time.

 

That evening at the residence of Mrs. Wharton, The General, Mrs. Chubb, and another guest by the name of Mr. Van Ness were offered a cool glass of milk punch as a refreshment after dinner. Soon, after consuming the drink, the General became extremely ill and retired to his upstairs room prepared by Mrs. Wharton. After three days of agonizing pain, vomiting, and delirium, General Ketchum had died. It must be noted that Mr. Van Ness also had mysteriously fallen ill, but not to the level of severity as had General Ketchum. 

 

Mrs. Wharton was charged with the poisoning death of William Scott Ketchum and was put on trial later that year. It is speculated that Ketchum had caught wind of Mrs. Wharton's plan to tour Europe and wanted to collect a debt of $2,600 that she owed him. If she had money for an extravagant vacation, it would stand to reason that she should be able to pay back the money she owed General Ketchum.

 

During the trial which devolved into a competition of expert medical witnesses on both the prosecution's and defense's side, the General's son, Charles Leavenworth Ketchum was asked to testify about his knowledge of money owed to his father by Mrs. Wharton. He produced the pocket diary used by his father to track monetary income and expenditures that he kept in his pocket. It was a pocket diary published in 1863 that he had not used with great regularity until it would appear in 1870 by the entries written within. The testimony was called by the prosecution since Mrs. Wharton had been accused of going through General Ketchum's overcoat and vest as he lay ill in her house and removed and destroyed the signed note that stated she owed him for the loan of $2,600. She overlooked the pocket diary it would seem.

 

Below is a page from the pocket diary of General Ketchum that Charles Leavenworth Ketchum used in his testimony for the prosecution against Mrs. Wharton. On the right hand page is seen interest owed by Charles Leavenworth Ketchum for $69.00 and "E.G.W." (Elizabeth G. Wharton) for $130.00. Doing some simple arithmetic, you can see that $130.00 would be 5% interest on the $2,600 that he loaned to Mrs. Wharton. She paid only the interest while never paying back the principal amount of the loan.

 

It was in a way rather exciting for me to leaf through this diary of William Scott Ketchum's which had been kept in a box for the past 145 years knowing that with the exception of only my 2x great grandfather, Charles Leavenworth Ketchum, and possibly one or two other family members, none in my family were ever aware of its relevance to his death and the trial of Mrs. Wharton. It will remain a family treasure for years to come.

 

I will cover the trial of Mrs. Wharton in the future.

 

 

 

General Ketchum's Pocket Diary

 

 

Pages from inside William Scott Ketchum's Pocket Diary
from January of 1871.



Civil War era photo of General William Scott Ketchum

General Ketchum's Cup (one of them anyway)

One of a larger set of three remaining monogrammed silver cups that once belonged to Brigadier General William Scott Ketchum. I speculate there may have been a set of four at one time.  I believe them to be made of "coin silver" and monogrammed, of course,  with the initials "WSK." They look to be well used. I can only wonder when he used them, where he used them, and what he may have poured into them. With whom did he share a drink with and what did they discuss? They have been kept in the family's possession since his untimely death in 1871.

Henry Atwood: Aviation Pioneer

While going through an old photo album of my grandmother's, I found this postcard of a nicely dressed man standing upon a slightly modified Wright B Flyer with "Atwood At Nyack, N.Y." printed in the lower right corner. Some quick online research yielded the name, "Henry Nelson Atwood" (November 15, 1883 – July 14, 1967) and information about the Boston native's record setting flight from St. Louis to New York City in August of 1911. On August 24th, the eleventh day of his journey, Atwood was flying at approximately 800 feet above the Hudson River toward New York City when he developed engine trouble and began to lose altitude near Nyack, New York. He searched for a suitable place to land and decided to touch down in a meadow on the estate of Mr.W. D. Davies. Upon landing, Atwood examined the engine and quickly diagnosed the problem as a burned out engine rod. He acquired an automobile and drove the roughly 25 mile distance to New York to purchase a replacement part. He returned in the afternoon with the part and his mechanic, R. F. Lemat, made the repair late the same day. By the next morning he was ready to resume the journey. All he needed was a favorable breeze. Due to the hilly terrain of the meadow and the presence of many trees, he needed a light easterly wind to help him rise above the trees at the edge of the meadow. On the morning of the 25th, the winds were indeed favorable. To a crowd of about one hundred curious onlookers, Atwood loudly proclaimed, "New York or bust!" before opening up the throttle. The biplane lifted in time to clear the trees and the Boston aviator was on his way.

In the photo you may notice the cylindrical form on which Atwood stands. This is one of two pontoons that Atwood fabricated and attached to the Wright B Flyer. They were to be useful in keeping the plane afloat should he have to land in water.

My grandmother spent summers at a house in Nyack and was very possibly familiar with the Davies family or at least they may have lived nearby. On the back of the post card the words "Part of Mrs. Davies' Estate 1911" are written. My grandmother was 16 years old in 1911. An event such as this would have surely captured the imagination of many at that time.

*Addendum:

9/20/2015

The house my grandmother visited in Nyack, New York was, in fact, the home of the Davies. I have found photos in one of her old albums to prove it. The rather large and imposing home along the Hudson was named 'Belle Crest.'

My grandmother, Edna Montgomery, (front left) on the steps of
'Belle Crest' with the Davies family and
their dogs ca., 1916.

Postcard of the Davies' home in Nyack, New York.
The house was 62' wide x 50' deep made of mountain stone
and lumber. Built upon the old Green estate.

My Grandmother, Edna Montgomery, on the
front lawn of the Davies' home,
'Belle Crest' ca., 1916

A Pen & Ink Sketch: Something new for me to try

Recently completed sketch:

Soldier of the US 25th Regiment of Infantry

War of 1812, Niagara Frontier

Pen and Ink on 11" x 17" smooth Bristol

Civil War Officer's Kepi Once Worn by a Family Ancestor

 

 

 

 

While searching for information online regarding my 3x great grandfather, William Scott Ketchum, I came across this kepi which was once owned and worn by him during the Civil War. It was for sale on eBay for the astronomical sum of $3,900.00! I would love to reclaim this artifact, but the price asked for is much too high for me. Hopefully a collector who can appreciate it will purchase it and care for it properly. I would love to hold it in my hands and inspect it. I have seen photos of WSK in uniform, but until now, I had no idea of what type of hat he may have worn. Should I ever get around to illustrating him, this photo should come in very handy for reference.

 

Photo credit: Motorcycle-Memories.com

Research Yields Paydirt!

 

 

From time to time I will find a few hours to sit at the computer and do some web based sleuthing on the subject of the military careers of my ancestors, the Ketchums.  Many times I have come up empty handed or I do make a discovery, only to find out after double checking that I have made an errant connection. Today I made a discovery that I found to be very exciting. I discovered that William Scott Ketchum's younger brother James, who was also a West Point grad and a lieutenant in the US Army during the Second Seminole War, was more engaged in military action than had been previously thought. Not much has been documented regarding his service other than placing him at specific posts at a specific point of time and the fact that he ultimately resigned his commission under cloudy circumstances and that he committed suicide in a most horrible way weeks later in June of 1844. Today I found him mentioned in a correspondence within a book written in 1847 describing his part as a co-commander of an expeditionary force of both USMC troops and two companies of US Army artillery that ascended the Caloosahatchee River eastward to Lake Okeechobee, Florida in November of 1841. I am searching out more details to further verify the story. Until now, I could only speculate that his role as US Army officer had been one more of a clerical nature and not a tactical one. He came to command the artillery portion of the expedition due to his superior officer, Captain M. Burke, 3d Artillery, US Army falling ill leaving him unable to continue the expedition. He passed command down to Lt. James M. Ketchum, the most senior officer under him.