This contact with Pam led to correspondence with Larry Chambers. Larry is the son of Eva and her second husband, Raymond Chambers. Larry is a Vietnam Veteran and is an accomplished author having written several books, including a few about his experiences during the Vietnam War. Larry lives in Ojai, California.

Larry Chambers told me of his closest cousin, Donna (Saris) Eye, from Indian Wells, California. Donna is the daughter of Vera Musselman, the second daughter of Uncle Elmer’s. Donna lives close to her mother, who lives in the nearby town of Palm Desert. Both Vera and Donna were excited to hear from me. We were able to share a lot of information and stories about our branches of the Tree, including many old photographs. Vera expressed her sincere regret for not keeping in touch with her family in the Midwest, but I think that it is because of that long time without contact that makes this reunion all the more special.

Upon sending away for, and receiving, the military record for George Franklin Musselman, additional clues were discovered about his life. George F. Musselman served in the Union Army during the Civil War from 1863 to 1865. He was 40 years old, married, and had 5 children at the time. He received a physical and voluntarily enlisted for 3 years ("unless sooner discharged") in the Union Army, on 24 December, 1863 (the day before Christmas, Hmmm?) in Marion or Palmyra, Wayne Co, NY by a recruiting agent out of Auburn, NY. Though the record shows his name spelled as "Musselman" and sometimes "Mussleman", George signed it as George F. "Mufselman". (In old script, "ss" was written to look like "fs")

It appears that George reported for duty on March 19, 1864 in Auburn, NY and was assigned to Co. "A" of the 9th Reg't of the N.Y. Vol. Artillery. His "Muster and Descriptive Roll of a Detachment of U. S. Vols. forwarded" form states that George was a Private and that he was born in Northampton Co., PA, was 40 years old and his occupation was that of a mechanic, having gray eyes and brown hair, light complexion, and a height of 5 feet 6 1/2 inches. He was paid a "bounty" of $60.00 which was credited to an account at "24 Coug Dist, Marion, Wayne Co., NY" of which he was personally advanced $13.00.

George's "Company Muster Roll" form shows that from May 7, 1864 to June of 1865 he was "absent and sick"; and was still being paid about $20 - $40 per month. He arrived in Rochester, NY on July 7, 1864 and was paid $15. On July 11, 1864 a "Requisition for Transportation of U. S. Troops" was submitted to the Erie Railroad at Rochester, NY to take Private George F. Musselman Co. "E" 9th Vol. Artillery from Rochester to Philadelphia, "returning from furlough". At the end of August 1864 he was in a General Hospital, probably in Philadelphia.

George's "Individual Muster-out Roll" form, dated June 16, 1865 in Philadelphia, Pa states that he was paid $120. The remarks read: "Mustered out while in McClellan U.S. Army General Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa, in compliance with directions from War Dept. dated May 3, 1865."

George's "Co. Muster-out Roll" form dated July 6, 1865 in Washington, D.C states - "Joined a recruit. Mustered out of service in hospit at June 16/65 pursuant to telegram A.G.O. (Adjutant General's Office?) May 3, 1865".

The most valuable clue found in this record was his birthplace of Northampton County, Pennsylvania. There were many, many Musselmans who settled and lived in Pennsylvania since the 1700's and a lot of research has already been conducted about them. With this new piece of information, I have found a possible link to about ten more generations of Musselmans, back to Germany and Switzerland during the 1500’s. I have found a husband and wife, Johann and Elizabeth Musselman, from Northampton Co., PA who had six children, including a son named George who would have been a child at the same time as our George Franklin Musselman. I am currently on a quest to find proof for this relationship.

Mom and Dad have been on the road in search of more clues, as well. They discovered land records for George F. and Theodore in Hutchinson and Yankton Counties in South Dakota with references to their being from Mitchell, Davison County, SD. The earliest land record was dated in 1876. Theodore later moved to Union County, SD and then on to Sioux City. His father, George F., later moved to Mitchell and eventually to Chamberlain, SD where he died in 1885.

A more recent discovery was the result of contact with a cousin of mine from my mother’s side of my family. Jake Peters, who is 25 years old and currently lives in Denver, contacted me seeking information about our Fredrickson ancestors. Upon introducing ourselves and exchanging information, Jake did a favor for me and found some Musselman obituaries from local Denver area newspapers.

I told you last year about the "half-cousins" that I discovered after reading the Probate Record for George F. Musselman. At that time, I had tracked down information from California about George William Musselman, George F.’s son from his second marriage to Carrie Donelson. Also at that time, I new that the other son, Joseph Henry Musselman, had died in the Denver area in 1965 but I didn’t know anything of his descendants.

The obituaries that Jake Peters found for me were of Joseph Henry and his wife, Katheryn Ann Rose. These obituaries mentioned Joseph’s son, Donald M. Musselman; and his grandsons, Damon and Raymond Musselman, all from the Denver area. With these names, I was able to obtain their phone numbers and eventually was able to contact Donald and Damon at their jewelry store, "Musselman Jewelers" in downtown Denver. They are very interested in learning more about our Musselman ancestors and I am as anxious to share my information with them as I am to learn more about their family.

His Military Record stated that he was born in Lancaster County, PA which gives me a lead on where to find information about his parents and siblings. The record also stated that he lived in Carroll County, IL at the time of his enlistment which allowed me to zoom in on a particular section of Illinois. I found him and his family nearby in Stephenson County, IL in the 1860 Census, just before the war.

Through the Snyder family, is a connection with a family by the name of Strobel. Fred and Arthur Strobel are mentioned in a newspaper clipping from the Sioux City Journal concerning "Happenings in Leeds" in which they are referred to as "out of town relatives of Theodore Musselman here to attend his funeral today". I was curious for a long time about how they were related to Theodore. As it turns out, Maria Hannah (Snyder) Musselman’s sister, Mary Katherine, married Fred J. Strobel in Elk Point, SD. Fred and his son, Arthur, owned a butcher shop in Elk Point during the turn of this century. Via this Snyder-Strobel relationship, I’ve had correspondence with Mark Strobel of Wausau, WI who is the great, great grandson of Abraham Strobel, Fred’s brother. Although this is a bit of a tangent from our direct lineage, it is always fun to exchange research information.

Mike and I met in Glenwood, Iowa and I showed him around Page and Fremont Counties in Iowa, where our Reid ancestors settled for a while. I enjoyed showing him the farms, houses, and grave sites of our Reid branches.

Mike made an important discovery while in the Kansas City area. He found Census records for Joseph Reid and his family. Joseph was a brother to Henry, John C., William, and Mary Ann. Up until this time, we only knew that he lived in Kansas City. We didn’t know who he married or who his children were.

Additional information about Joseph’s brother, William Reid, was discovered, also. From William’s Civil War Pension Record, it was found that William and his family lived in Muscatine Co., Iowa and later moved to Sibley, Osceola Co., Iowa where he died in 1878. We already knew that his wife, Emma M. Viner, had remarried in Page Co., Iowa to a L.C. Gardner in 1884, but we had no idea what had happened to William.

William Reid was a Private in CO. A, 11th REG., Iowa Infantry Volunteers. He served in several battles including The Battle of Shiloah and The Battle of Atlanta. He was wounded three times and received a pension because of this. He died thirteen years after the war due to complications resulting from his wounds.

One member of the Henry Reid branch of the Tree that I’ve always wondered about was the son of George Sherman Reid, Pearl Morris Reid. Via an Internet contact who is researching Pearl’s wife’s side of the family, the Armstrongs, I was able to find out who his children were(are) and where he lived and died.

With this information, I was able to locate and call one of Pearl’s daughters, Laura Helen (Reid) Blizzard of Tulsa, Oklahoma and I was later contacted by her sisters, Marjorie of Huachuca City, Arizona, and Mary of Broken Arrow, OK. All of them are excited and interested in exchanging information and pictures about their branch of the Reid tree.

 The latest amazing contact that I’ve had is with another Reid cousin, Betty Reid Allen. Betty is the granddaughter of Joseph Hooker Reid. Joseph and William R. Reid were twin brothers. Betty lives here in the Omaha area and has provided me with information about her side of the family and photos of her father, William Emmett Reid.

I’d like to welcome a new contact that I’ve had with a cousin in our Reid family. Carol (Krenik) English is a descendant of John C. Reid and she lives in Maryland. Carol contacted me via email after corresponding with Cousin Brenda (Pahl) Gens, who I met last year, at her home in Madelia, MN.

The search continues for older generations of our Reid family. A new clue that we have to go on is that John Reid’s wife’s maiden name may be "Marks" instead of "Monk" as stated in the death record for his son, Joseph Reid of Kansas City, and the record of John C. Reid’s second marriage in Page Co., Iowa. The record for Henry Reid’s second marriage in Page Co., Iowa stated that his mother’s maiden name was "Monk" and this was the first record that we had found concerning Nancy’s maiden name.