Day 53: Bennett, IA

It was an interesting night last night at the campground outside of Cascade.  There were several dozen RVs parked at campsites there, many of which had ATVs parked next to them (most of which were covered by tarps).  But we didn't see one other person in the campground, nor did we see any sign of any tow vehicles.  It was odd, but also nice to have the place seemingly to ourselves.

Circa 1930s silo constructed of limestone blocks at Cascade, IA.

It has warmed up a bit and become a bit more humid, though it has been overcast most of the day.  The winds continued to be against us, but they were fair enough that they didn't affect our progress as much as they had the past few days.  And the rolling hills no longer seem as steep as those we experienced over the past few days.

One of our leapfrogging stops today was Oxford Junction.  It was interesting in that the City Hall is located in an old two-pump DX gas station.  But perhaps more interesting was the fact that within two blocks there were two other old two-pump gas station buildings!  They certainly give the impression that Oxford Junction was at one time an important crossroads (it is located on the old Lincoln Highway, which I believe was the first transcontinental US Highway).

Oxford Junction, IA city hall.

We are camped at Bennett Campground, which is by far the best bargain that we have come across for a campsite with power and water - $10 per night (and that seems to include a free supply of campfire wood)!  The vault toilets are in reasonably good condition, but the one downside is that this is perhaps the buggiest place we've stayed at.

The main culprit is a tiny black flying insect.  The bites aren't bad, but there are a lot of these little guys.  DEET doesn't deter them, so we've tried some Lemon Eucalyptus spray, which seems to at least make things better.  We've set up our bug shelter for now, but later we'll need to see whether or not the spray is sufficient to allow us to enjoy a campfire tonight.

So we finally are barely within range of AT&T for our mifi (one bar of 4G coverage) and are now a couple dozen miles from Muscatine, which sits on the Mississippi River across from Illinois.  It will be a major resupply and laundry point, and it will be my first opportunity to explore part of my family history.

SOME TENTATIVE CHINN GENEALOGY
My great grandmother was Irene Margaret (Chinn) Adams.  There are clear public records that her grandfather was Chichester Chinn (b. 1803, d. 1848).

There also is a history of the Glassell family which documents several families with ties to many of the early presidents of the United States.  It includes a considerable genealogy of Rawleigh Chinn (b. 1684, d. 1741), husband of Esther Ball.  One of their sons was Chichester C. Chinn, husband of Agatha Thornton.  There seem to be adequate records to prove that they had a son named Thomas Thornton Chinn, who married Jennet Scott (a descendant, I believe, of the grandfather of Sir Walter Scott, author of Ivanhoe).

It is thought that Thomas Thornton Chinn was the father of Thomas Scott Chinn, who is believed to have been the father of our Chichester Chinn (d. 1848).

Family lore has it that Thomas Scott Chinn died in Muscatine, IA in the late 1850s and was buried at Ferry Cemetery.  Unfortunately, the cemetery was wiped out in a flood, and the courthouse burned down in 1864 (there are conflicting accounts as to how many, if any, records survived the latter tragedy).  So the goal tomorrow will be to search for probate or land records that prove when Thomas Scott Chinn died and who his children were.

One of Chichester's sons was James Scudder Chinn (Irene Chinn's father).  His obituary is where it is stated that our line of Chinns is related to Sir Walter Scott.  It also states that his mother was Sally Jackson, in whose veins "ran the same blood that made the famous Andrew Jackson the general."  It doesn't state that she was a direct descendant of Andrew Jackson (which isn't possible, as President Andrew Jackson never had any children of his own), and he was an orphan, so any connection would have been to his grandfather or an earlier generation.  At least one family history researcher feels the reference should have been to General Stonewall Jackson, but information found at the website of Virginia Military Institute fails to show an obvious connection to either Stonewall Jackson or his ancestors.  So that is yet another puzzle to solve, if sufficient facts ever present themselves.

If this Chinn line can be proven back to Rawleigh Chinn, then I am a first cousin (eight times removed) to President George Washington (woo-hoo!).  This is the only "blue blood" line in our family tree.  So while it is nice to have a connection to someone famous, it is our only family line known to have owned significant numbers of slaves and to have been the recipients of lots of royal land grants.  The other family lines were of more humble origins.