William Mackinder Genn of Texas & Oklahoma USA d. 1920

This fellow led quite a life.  He was born in Quadring Lincolnshire in 1844 to Denton Genn (last post).  There are various stories about how and when he emigrated, most of which appear to be conjecture, but in  1862 he took ship on the "Neptune" with the Bloodworth family (his cousins by marriage) aged 18.  For some reason he is not indexed on Ancestry and he went out as "Gen" mistranscribed as coming from Ireland, but it is him. It is likely that he was in part influenced in his decision by the presence of his Uncle Charles Genn in Wisconsin, and may not at the time of their emigration have known of his illness - Charles died in December 1862 - see post of 16th September 2015.

He arrived in New York.  It became apparent in 2024 that both William and the Bloodworths settled in Winfield, New York State, a small place of some 1500 souls in the Census of 1870 and only about 2000 now.. When next we hear of William  he was enlisting in New York into the newly raised 152nd Regiment of the New York Volunteer Infantry, part of the Union Army during the course of the American Civil War.  The information as to the regiment came from Nathan (see comment below) who had researched William and has access to his war medals.  In 2024 I came across the digitized Roster for the regiment and extracted William's record.  You can see below that he enlisted in Winfield. 

 This regiment (see it's banner below) had William serve for the next three years, save for a few weeks when he deserted to the cavalry (it is thought he may have got tired of walking !) before being returned. 

 He was involved in some 13 battles/actions, including most notably perhaps the Battle of the Wilderness.  One of his comrades from the regiment is also shown below.  

 William was discharged from the Army in 1865.  He was discharged in Virginia, at Munson's Hill, which had been the subject of a well known action in the Civil War in 1861.

                                     Munson's Hill in 1864 or so

 In 2023 I heard from a correspondent (who shall remain anonymous - some readers may not like what I am going to say) who told me (and it is clearly correct) that he then returned to Winfield and had a brief relationship in 1865/1866 with his first cousin by marriage Mary Bloodworth and got her pregnant (see post on the Genns of Oregon of 23rd April 2021)  We do not know the full story, merely that he clearly did - that Mary adopted the name Genn (there is no evidence that they married) and that William had some input into the naming of his son as it was named after his deceased brother John Thomas.  The relationship broke down.

We also know that at some point he travelled to Chicago, where in 1867  (the year that John Thomas was born in New York State) he married Edith Wright, an Englishwoman whose step father's name was Pogmore and she married under that name.

After the period of the Civil War the American government was anxious to promote settlement of some of the newly annexed regions and gave financial assistance.  William most likely took advantage of those and he and Edith headed for Kansas (by 1869) soon afterwards settling in Texas where he established himself as a Farmer. 

The couple had a good number of children, Frank being born in Kansas but the others in Texas. Edith unfortunately died in May 1877 when Charlie was three weeks old,  buried at Ennis, Ellis County Texas.

In October 1879 William remarried, a widow of the name of Harriet Elizabeth Palmer Vaughan (nee Herndon), who had two teenage sons at home: John and Rufus.  Harriet carne from Illinois and met William while visiting her married daughters who lived locally.  Harriet was some years older than William and the couple had no further children.

                                      William and Harriet in 1879

Harriet died in 1910.  William Mackinder Genn died in 1920 and is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Ardmore, Oklahoma.

       George, Frank, William Jnr (rear) William Mackinder and Margaret Genn

William and Edith had five children

Franklin -  Frank was a stockman/cowboy  in Texas.  He married and had a son and daughter.  There are liivng descendants through the latter. 

George - a farmer and grocery store owner.  Likely named after his great uncle George Genn (see post of 25th August 2015). Married twice and had nine children  There are many descendants today.

William - married and had five children.  Descendants alive today.

Charlie - likely named after his great uncle Charles Genn.  Married and had two children. 

Margaret - married and descendants alive today I believe

Acknowledgement -  I have corresponded with many descendants of this family, and am particularly grateful to Dorothy Wylodene "Dene" Nall Morgan, a descendant of Harriet through her first marriage who did a lot of work with Dr Herb Brown in producing the book on the American Genn family.