Laird and Harris

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Permalink Reply by Kathryn Brannigan Walizer on May 3, 2011 at 11:00am

ID: I28029 Name: Samuel Harris Laird Surname: Laird Given Name: Samuel Harris Sex: M Birth: 12 Nov 1806 in Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania Death: 1870 in Freeport, Stephenson Co., Illinois _UID: DB9151D8FBFB424D93194E55B6DD41E82508 Change Date: 17 Mar 2003 at 16:28:19

Father: Samuel Thomas Laird 20 Feb 1769 in Carlisle, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania
Mother: Jane Elizabeth Montgomery b: 17 Jul 1768 in Georgetown, Pennsylvania

Marriage 1 Elizabeth Boude Clingan b: 14 Jun 1814 in Pennsylvania
Married: 15 Nov 1836 in Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania

When Samuel's parents died when he was about 12 and he went to live with cousin Laird Harris's family. Henry Haines's parents died and he went there also. They became life long friends. They moved to Illinois after the Harris's died and raised their families. The children then moved on to Nebraska.


Samuel Laird was a prominent citizen in Illinois. He has had military training and volunteered for service in the war with Mexico, becoming colonel of a cavalry regiment. He was a strong supporter of Abraham Lincoln and was deputized to escort Lincoln to Freeport for one of his famous debates with Stephen Douglas. Samuel drove four white horses in tandem, hitched to a high-seated carryall on which he sat with Lincoln. The two were dressed in long-tailed coats and high silk hats.
When the Civil War came along, Thomas Laird, the oldest son of Samuel and Elizabeth Laird, enlisted Oct. 8, 1861, in company G, 46th Illinois Infantry, and served with distinction. He saved the life of his commanding officer and was promoted to first lieutenant. He was discharged Feb. 2, 1866. Laird Haines also served in the Union Army.
Samuel Laird and his wife died shortly after the Civil War and their family of six grown children felt the Laird homestead in Illinois was too small to support the six of them. Webster Co., Nebraska, had just opened up for homesteading and there were large tracts of unclaimed land available.
Thomas and James Laird left home on election day, November 8, 1870, to scout the land, taking the train to Fort Kearney, Nebraska. On arriving, they learned of Indian unrest in the area to the southwest that they has planned to scout, so they bought a pony to carry their supplies and headed southeast instead. They walked for three days before reaching the settlement of Spring Ranch. The friendly people there helped them find a claim on Oak Creek in the northeast corner of Webster County. The two young men built a dugout in which they lived for the next six weeks.
Their brothers, Will and Rob, joined them in their dugout home on January 1, 1891, along with Henry Haines' son John. John and the two Laird brothers traveled in a covered wagon containing household goods, taking about twenty five days for the trip. The five bachelors were the only inhabitants of Oak Creek during that winter, though occasionally hunters came through. Will and Rob brought their fiddles for entertainment. It was said that they could play all night for dances held later in the different homesteader's homes without repeating a single number.
In the spring, Will returned to Illinois to settle up the estate. He and the youngest brother, Paschal, brought the farm equipment and household goods back to Nebraska, a long and tedious trip. Their sister, Mary, was to remain in Illinois until a suitable dwelling was built; but she grew impatient, took a train to Grand Island, hired a rig there, and arrived at the Laird claim shortly after Will and Paschal. Tom and Will returned to Freeport later that year to marry their fiancees, Mary Bell and Margaret Murdaugh. Margaret's sister Mary, a teacher, was later to marry Jimmie Laird. Rob and Paschal were also to marry sisters, Ellen and Elizabeth Leetsch.
The four eldest Laird brothers homesteaded in Section 2, and Paschal in Section 14 of the Oak Creek Precinct(Township 4 North, Range 9 West) Webster County. Laird Howard Haines moved to the Oak Creek Precinct



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Permalink Reply by Angela Kraft on May 3, 2011 at 6:07pm

In reply to your question about editing, I do works of fiction for self-published authors.

 

Have you a list of the various resources you have researched? I would be very interested in looking into some of them. I appreciate all you have typed up and shared, but feel bad that you are just handing over your research to me. Don't get me wrong, I fully appreciate it! Perhaps you could mail me copies of what you have, and I can send a small fee to cover expenses? Also, as I mentioned before, I would be happy to collaborate with you in anyway I can. If you'd like, you can directly email me at leavesofheritage at yahoo dot com.

 

Thanks so much for the info and help!

Permalink Reply by Sarah Stanley Galarza on May 3, 2011 at 4:26pm

Thank you for the information.  I will keep looking.

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