{"id":11024,"date":"2015-07-10T11:24:03","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T15:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=11024"},"modified":"2018-11-15T14:28:17","modified_gmt":"2018-11-15T19:28:17","slug":"genealogy-surprise-my-ancestors-journal-of-war-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/genealogy-surprise-my-ancestors-journal-of-war-stories.html","title":{"rendered":"Genealogy Surprise: My Ancestor\u2019s Journal of War Stories!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I didn\u2019t expect to find this.
\nMy family is obscure \u2013 generally unknown to history. Sure, their obituaries and marriages made the paper \u2013 and when something unusual happened to them, that made the newspaper too.<\/p>\n

But \u2013 this was quite a find.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Portsmouth Journal of Literature and Politics (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), 30 October 1847, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It turns out that my cousin Jacob Sawyer Robinson (1814-1886), who was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, had enlisted in Col. Alexander Doniphan\u2019s<\/a> Missouri Regiment during the Mexican-American War \u2013 AND he kept a journal.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know he was a soldier in the Mexican-American War.
\nHis journal made its way to the editor of the Portsmouth Journal of Literature and Politics<\/em> and the editor announced that he would be serializing the journal in his newspaper.<\/p>\n

The editor told his readers:<\/p>\n

Although his horse-back sketches may not be so well connected as a journalist under different circumstances might prepare, yet they will be found interesting.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is terrific. What a valuable family history find.
\nMy cousin had joined the military and kept a journal!<\/p>\n

The newspaper started the serialization on New Year\u2019s Day 1848. According to the editor, Jacob Robinson \u201cwas probably the only New-England man in that expedition.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the Wikipedia article on Alexander William Doniphan<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In 1846, at the beginning of the\u00a0Mexican\u2013American War,\u00a0[Col. Alexander] Doniphan was commissioned a Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Missouri Mounted Volunteers, and served in several campaigns, including General\u00a0Stephen W. Kearny\u2019s capture of\u00a0Santa Fe\u00a0and an invasion of northern Mexico (present day northern\u00a0New Mexico).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Photo: Colonel Alexander William Doniphan, between 1844 and 1860. Credit: Mathew Brady; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Northern New Mexico \u2013 Santa Fe \u2013 hey, I lived in that area for several years. Now I really want to read his journal entries.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Portsmouth Journal of Literature and Politics (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), 1 January 1848, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The published excerpts from Robinson\u2019s journal start with his entry on 22 June 1846. When his unit got word that they would be leaving for Santa Fe, they reacted with \u201ca joyous shout [that] rings in [his] memory yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amazing. I don\u2019t know if anyone in my family still has a copy of Robinson\u2019s journal. Until I found these newspaper articles, I did not even know he had kept a journal of his war experiences. Thanks to the old newspapers preserved in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>, now we have it \u2013 we have his story as he wrote it down in his personal journal.<\/p>\n

Genealogy Tip:<\/em><\/strong> Keep digging \u2013 the old newspapers published more than obituaries and wedding announcements. They just might have published your ancestor\u2019s journal from the Mexican-American War!<\/p>\n

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