GALESBURG, KNOX COUNTY, ILLINOIS, AND BEYOND

Frances Weidenhamer Jagger’s brother John Chancey Weidenhamer (Civil War veteran of Sherman’s March to the Sea) moved from Adams County to Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois to work for the Burlington railroad, thus starting a huge railroading involvement of these families. Soon other brothers did the same, and the whole Weidenhamer clan made the move. James and Frances Weidenhamer Jagger relocated to Galesburg in 1885, where later that year they moved into a house built for them by Frances’ father. They lived the rest of their lives there. James Jagger worked as a laborer for the railroad. James and Frances and 2 kids were photographed in Galesburg about 1886 (?), and this photo of “an unknown family” was held by an e-mail correspondent, a descendant of John Chancy Weidenhamer.
My grandmother Edna Una Jagger (pictured) was born in Galesburg on March 1, 1887. In 1888, Jessie and Amelia Jagger Hallas moved from Batley, West Yorkshire, to live in Galesburg. Amelia was James Jagger’s first cousin. In 1888-1890, a registered voter in Chicago was Squire Jagger, born in Delaware; this was almost certainly the son of Will Jagger (brother of our James Jagger). Squire Jagger has not been located in any subsequent document.

By then there was quite a spread in ages of the James and Frances Jagger kids. Edna’s sister Mary Alice “May” Jagger married in 1890 Silas William McCreary, so that May married into a generation older than the other kids. Silas McCreary was a brother of Emma Jane McCreary, wife of Joseph Pierce Muffley. It was Joe’s and Emma’s son Albert Muffley who eventually married Edna Jagger. Confused? Silas and May were called Cuz-Unc and Cuz-Aunt.




The lives of Albert and Edna Muffley (pictured on the left) will be discussed in the Muffley Blog. Edna’s siblings and cousins were numerous, and they had a club “Ums-O-Wees”. Albert had a tee shirt labeled, “Ums-O-Wees Motorcycle Club”.

In 1891, Edna Jagger’s sister Martha Elizabeth “Mattie” Jagger sailed to England and stayed with kin for a year. Then she sailed back from Liverpool to New York, arriving on May 21, 1892. She also visited kin in Pennsylvania: James Jagger’s brother Will had lost a wife, remarried, and had kids by both wives. Will’s daughter Lizzie Jagger Snyder and family moved to Joliet Illinois, where they lived awhile, from about 1902. When they came from Pennsylvania, they were met at Union Station in Chicago by Edna’s sisters Allie and Bess. Later, Bess visited the Pennsylvania Jaggers. Charles and; Lizzie Jagger Snyder have descendants currently living in New York State.

Albert Muffley 1944

There is a story which Edna Jagger Muffley told to her grand-daughter Karren Muffley Cassavant. "Gramma Edna's Grandfather [John Jacob Weidenhamer III]...had a team of big horses named Nip and Dexter. Dexter was the larger of the two and very powerful. One day he was down town [probably Galesburg] and one of the trolleys had derailed. There were men there with teams of horses trying to get it righted but with no avail. Her grandfather said that if he were a betting man he would wager that Dexter could pull it on by himself. They jumped on that and sure enough Dexter did pull it back into place by himself. Then grandfather said he would take payment on what his horse had done, not winnings in a wager. Oh, and another thing about this team of horses. Dexter had a very bad disposition and kicked one of Gramma's brothers (in the head I think). At any rate there was blood everywhere. Grandfather went in to 'break the news gently' to Gramma's mother [Frances Weidenhamer Jagger] but he forgot to change his bloody clothes first and scared her badly. I don't think this story involved a real a tragedy of any kind. I wish I could remember which brother was kicked."

In 1898, the American battleship Maine was sunk at Cuba, triggering the Spanish-American War. In Galesburg, newspaper boy Lee Jagger (brother of Edna) spread the news. My grandfather Albert Lindstrom was a soldier in that war, but that is another story. My great-grandfather Joe Muffley (future father-in-law of Edna Jagger Muffley) tried to enlist, but was not considered stout enough. He was, however, stout enough to live to be over 100.

Meanwhile, back in West Yorkshire in the 1901 census, a number of Hardyman kin can be found. James Jagger’s first cousin Hannah Hardyman was then living at 5-7 Manor Drive in Halifax, as head of a household of relatives. I have photographed this place. Sometime in the early 1900s, the Aaron family opened a second shop: A1 Cash Boot Store, in Woolmarkets, Halifax. I have a photo of a print from Woolmarkets.

Edna Jagger and Albert Muffley eloped in 1906 (see Muffley Blog). Edna left from Galesburg, and Albert from Quincy. They married in Monmouth. A newspaper covering the story phoned the Jagger household for the story. That phone call was the first that Edna’s parents knew of the event.
Edna’s brother Lee Forrest Jagger had begun railroad work in Galesburg with various station duties. In July, 1907, Lee moved to McCook, Nebraska. His cousin Jesse Roy Weidenhamer of McCook helped Lee secure a job as brakeman for the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad. In 1913, Lee Jagger of McCook married Edna Sabin Glaze. Years later, Conductor Lee Jagger helped a nephew secure a brakeman job in McCook: Robert Pierce Muffley (my father - pictured here lower right when he was a brakeman for the Beverly Local).