====== James M. Hiteshew (1839-1902) ======

==== Birth ====
James M. Hiteshew (JM) was born 29.Jan.1839, likely in Frederick, Frederick County MD, where census records indicate his family was living in 1840 and where his parents married in 1828.  His parents were Daniel Hiteshew and Virginia Louise Grey.

==== Middle Name? ====
There is both mystery and confusion regarding JM's middle name and initial.  When written in longhand, the letter "M" can be mistaken for "W" or "H" and this is probably the source of confusion. The combined evidence of all available records indicates that "M" was in fact his middle initial, but no known records spell out the middle name.  Some family trees show "James Mills" as the name of both JM and his oldest son. Others show JM as "James Michael," which is also the name given to one of JM's great-grandsons.
((James Michael Marshall was the son of Turley Marshall and Catherine Ruth Hiteshew (daughter of JM's son William T. Hiteshew) ))

==== Early Life ====
JM's father had been born in Maryland rather than in the Pennsylvania area where his immigrant ancestors had first settled.  German immigrants and their descendants in Pennsylvania had been attracted to Frederick County, Maryland by the opportunity to purchase good farmland on reasonable terms.  A history of Frederick County notes that JM's father had been "a farmer in early manhood." So JM and his family may have been living on a farm when the 1840 Federal Census shows them in Frederick, Frederick County, MD.  That may have changed when the family moved to Middletown, Frederick County, MD, where census records show them residing in 1850.  At any rate, neither JM nor any of his siblings were in an agricultural occupation as adults.

==== Marriage ====
On 10.Apr.1859, James M. Hiteshew married Virgina Louise Grey. The marriage took place in Cumberland, Allegany, MD at the Lutheran Church with Rev. R. J. Weddell officiating. I have no information about how JM and Virginia met. It seems likely that JM had moved to Cumberland sometime after his father's death in 1853, but his acquaintance with Virginia may have begun earlier in Frederick.
/*
The date of the marriage and the name of the minister are from the image of a newspaper clipping posted on the Find-a-Grave page for Virginia Grey (www.findagrave.com/memorial/170066312/virginia_louise-hiteshew).  The association of Rev. Weddell with St. Paul's Lutheran Church is described on a page of the German Marylander's website (https://www.germanmarylanders.org/churches/st-paul-s-lutheran-cumberland) and the page captured in a screenshot.
*/
/* There is a record of marriage registration on 9.April.1859 for James Hitchens (sic) and Virginia Grey.  The event place seems to have been updated from Event Place (Original): Allegany, Maryland, United States to Event Place: Zihlman, Allegany, Maryland, United States.  The record was found via Family Search (Collection Information: Maryland County Marriages, 1658-1940.  Citation: "Maryland County Marriages, 1658-1940", __FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q297-XYMY:Sun Mar 10 09:33:15 UTC 2024), Entry for James Hitchens and Virginia Grey, 09 Apr 1859."
*/
==== Education and Work ====
In keeping with the views of their church, the descendants of Lutheran immigrants who came to the United States in the 1700s and 1800s valued education.  JM probably received some kind of formal education, perhaps at a church school.  This may have focused on religious instruction and vocational training, but learning to read and write would have been considered important.

At some point between 1850 and 1858, JM appears to have moved to Cumberland, MD.  At the time, Cumberland provided opportunities for a young man who might be looking for work to help support a widowed mother and younger siblings.  You can learn more about what was happening in Cumberland at that time from the Wikipedia article [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Cumberland,_Maryland|History of Cumberland, Maryland]] and the National Park Service article [[https://www.nps.gov/choh/learn/historyculture/thecanalarrivesincumberland.htm|The Canal Arrives in Cumberland]], but the key takeaway is that the opening of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal between Cumberland and tidewater Maryland in 1850 was a major event. The canal and the B&O railroad line transformed the local economy and created many new jobs.
/*
"In the administration of Thomas Jefferson, the first United States highway was begun for the opening of the west. Called the National Road, it started at the base of the hill on which Emmanuel stands and eventually ran to Vandalia, IL (then the State Capital). In the early 19th Century, then, Cumberland was the jumping off place for countless Conestoga wagon trains heading off to settle Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and beyond. By the 1840’s, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, begun along the Potomac at Georgetown, had reached it’s terminus. So had the first railroad west, the Baltimore and Ohio that ran from Baltimore to Cumberland. Cumberland was a boomtown, literally the transportation hub of the Northeast United States." --[[https://emmanuelparishofmd.org/history/]].  See also [[https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=256766]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_and_Ohio_Railroad]]
*/

/* On FamilySearch found a record for marriage registration on April 9 (day before actual marriage) showing event place as Zihlman, Allegany, MD. Zihlman was a coal mining company town where housing for miners and their families began in the 1850s.  See https://coalcampusa.com/westmd/george/allagany-mines-maryland/allagany-mines-maryland.htm 
*/

JM may have started out in Cumberland as a boatyard laborer. Then, after serving in the Union Army for three years (as noted below), he may have worked his way up to owning and operating a canal boat.  The 1860 census shows him working as a laborer owning no property of value, while the 1870 census shows him engaged in boating and owning real estate valued at $1000 (along with personal property valued at $100).

City directories provide further information about residence and employment, showing that JM worked at various jobs between 1870 and 1890.  These included saloon keeper, weight-master at a rolling mill, book agent, plasterer, and police officer.  He then became a constable and continued in that role.
/*
City directories provide further information about residence and employment:
  * The Daily New Directory of the City of Cumberland, 1876: Hiteshew, James, saloon, Wineow; h 29 S. Liberty
  * Cumberland, Maryland, City Directory, 1884: James M. Hiteshew, weight-master, h Wine nr Old Town rd
    * Hiteshew, Daniel, catcher, Rolling Mill
    * Hiteshew, Wm T, lab, Rolling Mill
  * ibid, 1890: Hiteshew James M. book agent, h 40 Wine
    * Hiteshew, William T, plasterer, h 40 Wine
  * MISLABLED IN ANCESTRY.COM (see image 76) ibid, 1893: Hiteshew, James M, constable 40 Wine
  * ibid, 1901: Hiteshew, James M. constable, h 40 Wine.
    * Hiteshew, Laura V, bds 40 Wine
    * Hiteshew, Wardlaw M, tinwrk, h 65 Oldtown rd.
  * ibid, 1902: Hiteshew, James M, h 40 Wine
    * Hiteshew, Wardlow, M. lab h Arch nr Oldtown rd.
  * ibid, 1913: Hiteshew, Virginia (wid James), h 40 Wine
    * Hiteshew, Laura V, dressmkr 62 Williams, res same.
    * Hiteshew, Wardlaw McG, tinwkr, h 20 Arch.
*/

/*
The 23.Dec.1897 edition of Evening Times (Cumbeland, MD) reported that Mr. James Hiteshew appeared as a witness for the defense in the trial of State vs. Piedmont Pulp mill. The article says only that he told about pollution in Will's creek.  However, other information in the article suggests that James testimony may have supported the argument that matter found in the Potomac River at Cumberland may have come from sources other than the pulp mill.
*/

==== Civil War - Union Army Service ===
JM enlisted in the Union Army on August 27, 1861 and joined Company E, Second Infantry Regiment, Potomac Home Brigade, Maryland Volunteers at the rank of private.  This regiment engaged with the Confederate Army on multiple occasions while protecting critical transportation infrastructure (railways, bridges, rivers, canals). They also participated in the Gettysburg campaign.  JM served in the Union Army for three years and was discharged on September 29, 1864. Military records show his rank as corporal at the time of his discharge. An obituary refers to him as a sergeant, but it seems to have been a common practice for communities use this kind of rank inflation to convey their esteem.
((History and roster of Maryland volunteers, war of 1861-5.
1898, Press of Guggenheimer, Weil & co.  [[https://archive.org/details/historyrosterofm01mary/page/541/mode/1up?view=theater|View online]]))

==== Religious Affiliation ====

Records indicate JM and Virginia Louise were married "by Pastor R. J. Weddell in the Lutheran Church." There was more than one Lutheran church in Cumberland at the time, but Rev. Weddell was affiliated in what came to be referred to as St. Paul's Lutheran Church, but which may have been known at the time as "Christ's Church" or "Christ's English Lutheran Church."
((Article on the website of German Marylanders: [[https://www.germanmarylanders.org/churches/st-paul-s-lutheran-cumberland|St. Paul's Lutheran Cumberland]].  See also [[https://www.stpaulcumberland.org/history.html|the church website]].  An informative article previously posted on the National Park Service website can be found via the WaybackMachine: [[https://web.archive.org/web/20210529044704/https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/cumberland/twn.htm]]  (The original URL for the article was https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/cumberland/twn.htm and there is a capture of that from 29.May.2021.) ))

At some point, JM and Virgina Louise appear to have changed their religious affiliation. An obituary for JM posted on Find-A-Grave notes that his funeral took place at the Kingsley Methodist-Episcopal Church, with Rev. A. H. Zimmerman officiating.
((The Kingsley Methodist Church was in the historic Rolling Mill District of Cumberland.  As of 2016, the church building was the site of the non-denominational Friendship Haven Church. For more information on the historic church and its activities, see the Preservation Maryland article [[https://www.preservationmaryland.org/cumberland-rolling-mill-kingsley-church/|Discover Historic Rolling Mill: Kingsley Methodist Church]]. For a better understanding of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the late 1800s, see Wikipedia article [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodist_Episcopal_Church|Methodist Episcopal Church]]. (NOTE: The website of the present-day Kingsley United Methodist Church has no information about the history of the church or congregation, so it's not clear how it relates to the historic church with a similar name.) ))
  JM and his wife Virginia are buried in Cumberland's Rose Hill Cemetery, which is the cemetery for Emmanuel Parish of the Episcopal Church.
(( [[https://emmanuelparishofmd.org/rose-hill/|Rose Hill Cemetery]] ))

==== From Saloon Keeper to Prohibition Party Delegate ====
In 1876, it seems that JM was involved in running a saloon.  Ten years later, in the 14.Sep.1886 edition of The News (Frederick, MD) we find this report:
<well>
The Prohibition party mass meeting will take place at 8 o'clock in Junior Hall.  The object of the meeting is to ratify the congressional nominations of the party.  The meeting will be addressed by J. L. Thomas of Cumberland, Thos. J. Peddicord, of Oakland, and others.  A part of the hall will be reserved for ladies.  The delegates appointed from Allegany county to this convention are O. H. Bruce, G. W. Spangler, Jas. Banbatyne, Josiah Eyler, Alex, Adam, J. L. Thomas and James Hiteshew.  Messrs. Thomas and Hiteshew will attend.
</well>

==== Death ====
James M. Hiteshew died at age 63 on 13.Oct.1902 in Cumberland, Allegany, MD.  His grave is in Rose Hill Cemetery, Cumberland, Allegany, MD.

=== Obituaries ===
<WRAP>
From the 13.Oct.1902 edition of The Evening Times (Cumberland, MD):
<well>
Mr. James Hiteshew, a well known citizen, died this morning at 2 o'clock in his residence on Wineow Street, aged 69[sic] years.  The deceased was an ex-constable and also served on the police force at one time.

He was a union veteran and was a member of the Grand Army Post of this city.  He is survived by a wife and four grown children.

The funeral will take place at 2:30 Wednesday afternoon from Kingsley M.D. Church, Rev. A.H. Zimmerman officiating.  The funeral will be in charge of Undertaker Stein.
</well>
From the 24.Oct.1902 edition of The Citizen (Frederick, MD):
<well>
James M. Hiteshew died on the 13th instant[sic] at his home in Cumberland, of paralysis, aged 63 years.  Deceased was a brother of Captain P. L. Hiteshew and Mrs. George Railing, of this city.
</well>
</WRAP>
/*
The Evening Times, Cumberland, MD Vol. XLIII No. 126, Tuesday, May 28, 1907 has an article re Decoration Day activities and grave decorations to honor dead Civil War veterans.  The list of those buried at Rose Hill cemetery includes James H. Hiteshew. The list of those buried at the German Lutheran cemetery includes M. Himmler and J. Himmler
*/
==== Children ====
** James M. Hiteshew + Virgina Louise Grey **
{{page>surname:hiteshew:1804_daniel:daniel_01_susan:1839_james_m:james_01_virginia&noheader}}
/*
— (May be incomplete) —

  * James M(ills?) Hiteshew (b. 1858, d. 1862)
  * Mary Ellen Hiteshew (b. 1860) m. Charles D. Hager
  * Daniel Conrad Hiteshew (b. 1863)
  * Laura Virginia Hiteshew (b. 1865)
  * Josephine Hiteshew (b. 1866, d. 1866)
  * [[surname:hiteshew:1804_daniel:daniel_01_susan:1838_james_m:james_01_virginia:1868_william_thomas|William Thomas Hiteshew]] (b. 1868) m. Anna Emelia Himmler
  * ?George Funderburg Hiteshew (b. 1872)
  * Phillip Leander Hiteshew (b. 1872, d. 1872)
  * [[surname:hiteshew:1804_daniel:daniel_01_susan:1838_james_m:james_01_virginia:1875_wardlaw_mcgill|Wardlaw McGill Hiteshew]] (b. 1875) m. Elizabeth Turner
*/
----
==== Footnotes ====
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~~REFNOTES~~
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