Julia and George were admitted to the Ogle County Almshouse. The Almshouse Registry lists the reason as “unfit to live at home”. You can also see that George is described as “nuts”.

Samuel Wakenight

Born: 16 DEC 1834 in Boonsboro, Washington County, Maryland

Father: Daniel Wakenight (1792 to 1866)
Mother: Isabell Powell (1798 to 1881)

Spouse: Julia Derr (1853 to 1922)

Married: 12 AUG 1877 in Mt Morris, Ogle County, Illinois

Children:

Jeremiah Wakenight (21 SEP 1878 to 23 SEP 1878)
Albert Wakenight (8 JUL 1882 to 1956)
George Daniel Wakenight (26 AUG 1896 to 23 APR 1982)

Died: 10 OCT 1908 in Pine Creek, Ogle County, Illinois

Timeline:

1850 Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland
1858 Death of brother, John
1860 Pine Creek, Ogle County, Illinois
1863 Enlisted in the Civil War
1866 Death of father, Daniel
1870 Pine Creek, Ogle County, Illinois
1875 Death of sister, Mary
1877 Marriage to Julia
1878 Birth of son, Jeremiah
1878 Death of son, Jeremiah
1880 Pine Creek, Ogle County, Illinois
1881 Death of mother, Isabell
1890 Unknown (the 1890 Census was destroyed in a major fire)
1895 Death of brother, Robert
1900 Pine Creek, Ogle County, Illinois
1908 Death and burial

Occupation: laborer (1850), farm laborer (1860 and 1870), farmer (1880 and 1900)

Records:

1840 to 1880, and 1900 US Census Records
U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865
Illinois Marriages, 1851-1900

Variations of Surname: Weightright

Julia and the Derr Family:

Julia Derr was born on 21 JUL 1853 in Pennsylvania. She died 17 FEB 1922 in Pine Creek, Ogle County, Illinois.

Her father was Samuel Derr. He was born in 1823 in Pennsylvania. It is unknown when he died.

Her mother was Nancy Wolf. She was born in 1829 in Pennsylvania. She died on 13 NOV 1884 in Mount Morris, Ogle County, Illinois.

Julia had six brothers and sisters. They were Jeremiah Derr (1848), Priscilla A Derr (1851), Matilda Derr (1856), Mary E Derr (1859), Fannie Derr (1861), and Samuel Derr (1867). The first four children were born in Pennsylvania. The last three children were born in Maryland.

I found a free digitized book on the Internet Archives website. It is entitled “Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania“. There are four pages (718 to 721) that detail the family history of the Derr family that settled in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.

Julia and Her Sons:

After Samuel’s death in 1908, Albert and George lived with their mother in Pine Creek, Ogle County, Illinois. Neither son ever married.
I thought this odd, so I reviewed the US census records for 1910 and 1920. I discovered that George never worked and could not read or write.

From Sharon Strow’s website, The Descendants of Daniel Wakenight, she noted that on December 31, 1920, Julia and George were admitted to the Ogle County Almshouse. The Almshouse Registry lists the reason as “unfit to live at home”. You can also see from this register that George is described as “nuts”.

In 1922, Julia died at the Ogle County Almshouse. That same year, both Albert and George were found to be “feeble-minded” by the court. A person named M F Davis was awarded conservatorship of the eight acres of land they owned in Pine Creek, Ogle County, Illinois.

I was unable to locate Albert or George on the 1930 US census records. Yet, the 1940 US census record shows they were both residing as inmates of the Ogle County Almshouse in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois.

Their World War II draft cards for the year 1942 also show that they were living at the poor house. A cousin, Mrs. Charles Moore, listed as next of kin. I have not been able to identify this person.

Albert died in 1956, but I do not know where his death occurred. The date most likely came from the headstone in Cedar Hill Cemetery.

George died in 1983 at the Dixon Healthcare Center, Ogle County, Illinois. Sharon Strow provided his obituary on her website.

The Mental Health of Albert and George:

In 1922, Albert was 39 years old when the court declared him to be “feeble-minded”. The US census records show that he worked as a farm laborer for most of his life. George was 25 years old at that time and plainly unable to work.

The term “feeble-minded” was used in the late nineteenth century to describe a person with illnesses or deficiencies of the mind. It was considered the mildest of three stages. Imbecility was the next stage and idiocy was the most severe.

Yet, Albert was able to work. That made me wonder if he did, in fact, have a mental health issue. His mother took care of him and his brother until her death. Could it be that Albert did not know how (or want) to take care of himself?

George, on the other hand, was incapacitated enough not to be able to work. There are many reasons why a person would not be mentally capable of caring for themselves. He may have been born prematurely. He could have had an accident or illness when he was younger.

It could even have been transmitted through genetics. I have found no evidence (or trail) on the Wakenight side of the family that would help answer this question.

I then wondered if it could have been brought into this family through their mother’s side of the family. Do the Derr’s and the Wolf’s have a history of mental illness in their families?

I am not placing blame on any of my ancestors. I am just looking for answers.

Yet, mental health records are very much lacking on most family tree websites. It could be that records were not preserved. It could be that mental illness was considered taboo and not to be talked about outside the family circle. And, before DNA testing became available, there was no way to tell where a genetic trait originated.

Burial Information:

Julia’s death record shows that she was buried in Salem Cemetery.  This graveyard is now called Cedar Hill Cemetery. It is located three miles south of Mt Morris, Ogle County, Illinois.

I searched for this cemetery on the Find A Grave website. It did not have memorials for Julia and Samuel. But, it did have headstone photos for the following people:

  • Samuel’s father and mother, Daniel and Isabell Wakenight
  • Samuel’s two sons, Bert and George Wakenight
  • Infant son of S & J Wakenight (probably son, Jeremiah)
  • Julia’s mother, Nancy Wolf Derr

Based on Julia’s death record entry, I created a memorial for her on Find A Grave. I have requested a photo of the headstone. It may be that she and Samuel were buried without grave markers. Yet, I am sure they are buried close to the others.

Notes:

For more information on this part of the Wakenight family, please visit Sharon Strow’s website, “Descendants of Daniel Wakenight.”

Creating Your Family Tree

Interested in building a great family tree? Remember these important steps:

Look in your photo albums. You may have old pictures that your parents or grandparents gave you. Or, ask them for copies of photos that they have in their possession. Many people will write names and dates on the backs of photographs. Letters, diaries, and family bibles are also excellent sources for births, marriages, and deaths.

Talk to your older relatives to find out about your ancestry. They may relate stories about an ancestor that you can add to your family tree. Family history is usually not found in newspapers. It is more of a verbal memory that is passed down from generation to generation.

Find the right family tree builder that suits your needs. You can choose one that has a paid subscription like Ancestry.com. There are also free sites like FamilySearch.org.

When you start building your family tree, add documentation to your ancestor’s profile. The records can include birth, marriage, death, census, military, city, and county directory listings. Any information that you can find will help create a life story about your ancestor.

If you have a unique surname, like Wakenight, you may find databases on the internet that are useful in your search. I use SurnameDB.com for my English surnames. There are many others on the internet for other countries like Ireland, Italy, and Germany.

Genealogy is the study of a person’s “line of descent.” As you create your family tree, you would typically start with one individual and go “back into time.” You would add their parents, grandparents, and so on. There are also family trees that go “forward into time.” Many of these family trees start with a famous person, such as a president or royalty, and move forward into the present time. The purpose of this type of pedigree is to establish a person’s bloodline to that famous person.

There is no limit on how big your family tree can grow. The blank canvas is there for you to use. Cherish your family history, and it will be there for generations to come!