52 Ancestors In 52 Weeks: Challenge

6 June 1823 White County, Illinois

As I stepped out of our dwelling, my eyes survey the vastness of the skies. I look across the horizon to predict what the day will bring. Before me lie endless prairies. This way of living is a challenge to womankind. Mother to my 5 year old son Amos and 9 year old daughter Matilda, I face this day alone without benefit of spouse…my Dane died in April. He was a good man, a fearless man, a God-respecting man.

This past week, I went with my stepson to Carmi, which is the county seat. The courthouse is in a cabin. We made our way there so I could settle my Dane’s debts. I was scared and nervous as these matters were foreign to me, but it was necessary to do so. The clerk told us it is called probate, and these affairs needed to be settled. The last matter to be settled in Dane’s name has been completed.

And now, I try to envision the future and all the challenges set before me. The care of my two younguns weighs heavily on me. My grown stepsons will help us with the farming, patrolling for Indians, procurement of food. I dream of evenings spent by the fire as I recite from memory the tales my Dane told of his service to his country in the Second War For Independence (War of 1812)…of the time he was asked by Governor Edwards to form a company to patrol the Indians. I will also recite the tales of how Dane’s father stood with General Washington in that first War for Independence. I will pray that the courage and fortitude these men had will be carried over in the lives of my children, Amos and Matilda.

And so I pledge myself to face these challenges, despite any and all hardships.

~Rhoda (Howell) Boultinghouse

Note: Rhoda Howell Boultinghouse was my third great grandmother. How she faced the challenges of raising her children alone I will never know. After her appearance at the White County Courthouse in 1823, little else is known of her. Her son Amos would follow in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps as he became a veteran of the Civil War. He was a member of the 55th Illinois Infantry.