This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: DeFRATE Classification: Lookup Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/4NB.2ACI/84.1 Message Board Post: I found a few items, but not necessarily what you were looking for. I did discover that the surname of "DeFrate" is quite rare, and thus it is easier to research. CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS & PENSION INDEX: DeFRATE, Edwin Distinguised Service: DISTINGUISHED SERVICE Side Served: Union State Served: New York Unit Numbers: 1598, 1598, 1958 Widow: DeFRATE, Ella Minor: (illegible), Frederick P. Invalid: 03 June 1884, Application No. 514635, Montana Widow: 28 ___, 1896, Application No. 566739, Montana Minor: 24 Nov 1896, Application No 643994, Montana Service Record: Enlisted as a Private in Company D, 91st Infantry Regiment Enlistment Date: 22 November 1861 Re-Enlistment Date: 01 Jan 1864 Mustered Out: 03 July 1865 in Washington, D.C. (The transcription above is a combination of information from two sources. Source Information: Military Records of Individual Civil War Soldiers, Provo, UT. Database online from Ancestry.com). ---------------------------- 1870 U.S. Federal Census; Wyoming; Laramie County; City of Cheyenne; Roll: M 593_1748; Page: 426; Image: 142. Enumeration took place on 11 Jun 1870. DeFRATE, Edwin; male; white; 26 years of age; hotel keeper; born in New York. DeFRATE, Etzel; male; white; 26 years of age; hotel keeper; born in New York. DeFRATE, Thair/Thais/Thain (?), female; white; housekeeper; birthplace illegible. ---------------------------------- "The Helena Daily Independent" Published at Helena, Lewis & Clark County, Montana Wednesday, June 8, 1938 Page 6: PIONEER RESIDENT OF MONTANA TAKEN BY DEATH SUNDAY. Columbus [Stillwater County], June 7. --- Mrs. R. L. Potter, 77, who came to Montana from Michigan in 1882 and had been a resident of the state continuously since that time, died at her home near Columbus Sunday morning after an extended illness caused by cancer. With her first husband, Edwin DeFrate, and children, she settled at Fort Maginnis [on the Blackfeet Reservation], 40 miles northeast of Lewistown [Fergus County], in the spring of 1882, where Mr. DeFrate was a barber for a year. A boom at the mining camp at Maiden [Fergus County] drew the family there in 1883 and in the spring of the following year they went to Lewistown to reside. She was one of the first four white women to settle in what is now the Fergus county seat. The family later went to Philbrook, in western Fergus county, where [they] operated a hotel for a year and then drifted back to Lewistown. Restlessness, which typified the spirit of the early days, next took the DeFrates to the silver mining camp near Nyhart [Madison County]where in 1892 Mr. DeFrate died. Four children were born to that union. On May 18, 1895, Mrs. DeFrate married Mr. Potter in Great Falls [Cascade County]. He owned and operated a harness shop at Belt [Cascade County] until 1899 and then purchased a similar business in Utica [Judith Basin County]. The family moved to Columbus in 1902 and has lived here since. Mr. Potter is at present custodian of the Stillwater county courthouse. The Potters had four children. Mrs. Potter was a member of the Congregational church, the Eastern Start and Royal Neighbors. Besides her husband, she is survived by a daughter, Stella Potter of Columbus, and three sons, Milo Potter of Ketchikan, Alaska, Roy Potter of Billings, Earl Potter of Los Angeles, Calif., and several children by her former marriage. ----------------------------- To obtain a copy of Death Certificates, you will need to contact the Clerk & Recorder of the county in which they died. These are very inexpensive, about $3.00 plus postage. You can find the above noted counties on the following MTGenWeb County Rootsweb site. Click on the County and then you should be able to find the address and phone number of the appropriate Clerk & Recorder: The death certificates generally specify where the deceased was born, birthdate, date and place of death, maiden name of mother, parents' birthplaces, funeral parlor and place of burial. http://www.rootsweb.com/~mtgenweb/countytbl.html I recommend that you obtain Edwin's Civil War Pension papers, as they usually have a wealth of genealogical information, including birthdates, wedding dates and places, and name and ages of children, etc. I have obtained these papers for 3 of my ancestors and found them to be well worth the cost. A specific form has to be completed, and then submitted to NARA in Washington D.C. It can take up to 6 months to receive the pension papers, but the wait is usually well worth it. Below are two site with more information: http://www.archives.gov/research_room/genealogy/military/civil_war_records.html http://www.oz.net/~cyndihow/pensions.htm I found Etzel Gordon DeFrate buried in the Custer County Memorial Cemetery. He died on 24 Feb 1886 (I presume he was Edwin's brother). Just type in "DeFrate" and then choose "Montana." http://www.interment.net/ I believe that Ella DeFrate-Potter's real given name was Eloise and this is how I found her listed in the MONTANA DEATH INDEX 1907-1953: POTTER, Eloise Died: 04 Jun 1938 at 77 Index #: 1041 -------------------------------------- Although it costs a little more, you can obtain copies of Death Certificates by contacting the Montana Dept. of Vital Statistics whose address can be found at the following site: http://www.vitalrec.com/mt.html --------------------------------------- NOTE: The transcription of the above records has been provided as a courtesy only, as I am not related to, nor do I have any personal knowledge of, the DeFrate family.