Oct. 20, 2007
Notes from Bernie Lindsey:

 Amanda A. B. Ammons was the wife of Benjamin F. Lindsey, son of Joseph B. Lindsey (b.1807, d. 1883). I believe that Benjamin died on March 16,1878, approximately five years after they were married. Clinton County, Illinois started keeping track of deaths only 3 months before this date. County records include a Benjamin F. Linsey (I believe a misspelling), and the record indicates this person was 39 years, 11 months, 17 days when they passed on March 16, 1878, and that they had been in Illinois for 13 years, coinciding with the end of the Civil War. The record also indicates they were born in Georgia. We believe that Benjamin was born in 1838, so this death record information is consistent. Alabama census records indicate that Benjamin was born in Georgia. The Ammons family was located in Clinton County. These facts lead me to believe that the death record for Benjamin F. Linsey is in fact the son of Joseph B Lindsey.

Clinton County records include the marriage of Amanda A. B. Lindsey to W. K. (Wingate K. I believe) Lewis on March 19, 1879. The letter from John G. Lindsey she received, dated October 12, 1879, indicates that she had multiple children. It is understandable that a young woman with children would re-marry rather quickly. The letter from John G Lindsey expresses a desire to see her children, because her husband "was all the brother that I had that seemed like a brother". This is clearly past tense, and I believe he is referring to Amanda's husband Benjamin Lindsey, but goes on to write in the next sentence of the letter that he would like for her and her husband (new, I believe), to come visit. The 1886 letter refers to her in writing as Amanda A. B. Lewis.  

Benjamin and Amanda Lindsey had a son, Joseph B Lindsey (b. December 9, 1874; d. June 14, 1945), my GG Grandfather. He only had his father a very short time, and was apparently raised by W. K. Lewis and Amanda. The 1865 will of Jackson Ammons refers to one of his daughters as Mandy, and we believe this was Amanda.  

The two letters from John G. Lindsey, passed down from Amanda, to Joseph B. Lindsey, then to Harry L. Lindsey, have provided valuable information that is helping to piece together this part of the Lindsey family; however, more valuable is the personal nature and feel that the words provide. You get a sense of the common language of the time, written by a farmer, and the interest in providing a family member with an update on the "Connection". In the 1879 letter, you can almost feel the pain of the reference to recovering from the Civil War in Alabama, but at the same time, the optimism of the upcoming crop, and the sense of joy after seeing photos of the "beautiful babes", whom he has never seen in person. Documents like this provide so much more than government records.