When my brothers Mel and Jim died, I inherited two guns that had come down in our family from my grandfather, Chauncey. Family anecdote had it that he acquired them from his step-father, William S. Ingalls, who was a U.S. Marshal, sheriff or deputy sheriff in Nevada in the late 19th Century. Our curiousity about "The Younger William S.," as he eventually became known to us, launched us on a genealogical investigation that continues to this day.
There were more than a few disappointments along the way, to be sure. For one, we discovered that there WAS a Nevada sheriff by the name of William Ingalls, but he was no relation to us. In fact, we discovered that our William was a Union veteran of the Civil War who spent most of that experience in the hospital suffering from respiratory illness. He eventually moved to Nevada, probably for health reasons, but we may never find out exactly when because of a great tragedy. The entire 1890 U.S. Census was destroyed by fire!
Although there were disappointments, there were numerous successes as well. We solved the mystery of why Chauncey, who was born an Ingalls, had the same last name as his second step-father. (Chauncey was born out of wedlock and took his mother's last name, Ingalls. After her first husband died, Chauncey's mother married her cousin, William S. Ingalls.)
Another success was connecting with a fourth cousin, Alida Craighead of Sacramento, who is a direct descendant of The Younger William S., and who's aunt was the mystery relative I remember going with my dad and mom to visit in Truckee in about 1960.
We also acquired a great treasure -- a family Bible originally owned by The Elder William S., my great great great grandfather, who was born in New York in 1791.
One of our greatest successes was the discovery that The Elder William S.'s father, James, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The pension application filed by James' widow, Abigail, proved to be a storehouse of additional information, leading to our current belief that James and his brother, Samuel, were born in Massachusetts in the 1760s.
Where our family came from prior to James is still unknown. Our quest to solve this and other mysteries goes in spurts, as time and interest dictate. We hope someday to extend the knowledge of our lineage. But if we don't, maybe our children will take up the cause.
Or maybe you will.
Paul Ingalls
E-mail me at crapgame@sonic.net if you would like to contact me about my genealogy, or about this web site. This web site updated 15 Jul 2003 by Family Matters® genealogy software, Version 4.20e1. This page is a pane in a frames-oriented web site. If you see only this page, and not the frames, click here. To go to the top of this page, click here.