Benjamin Fielder

Written by Frank Fielder
I received these writings in 1990, Frank was living in Modesto, California. Frank died in 1992.

Benjamin F. Fielder
900 17st Apt 909
Modesto, Ca. 95354

Hi Kaye;

I’m afraid we started a little late for most of the Fielder Clan as far as finding out their Progeny for they seemed to scatter like birds from their origin even in the U. S. of A. As I was raised without tv, my Father told us much of the Family Tree when we were bored in the evenings by an old wood fire. I am 81 now but those stories are still fresh in my mind.
John Jason (Jack or Black Jack) as he was called for his face was always black from the forge he worked making wagon wheels or tires for the vehicles he made. You will find this in the Fielder introduction of the Clan. My grandfather was also Jason but Jason Thompson. He was the oldest of the second family whose mother was CAMPBELL. William D was the oldest of the first family . He made the wagons for Jason’s trip to Missouri. Jason had two brothers, Benjamin F. Sam P. and they lived South of Springfield. Ben was younger and didn’t leave Tennessee when Jason and Sam did, but got into some kind of trouble and came on and caught up with Jason and Sam when they were on the road to Missouri. Later Sam died and Ben married Sam’s wife and that brought on more double cousins and ETC, so you see the Fielders was a mixed up group. I was named for Ben and I remember him coming to our house a short time before he died and giving me a silver dollar because I was his namesake. There was other Ben Fielders than me and also Sam and Thompson because they kept the old names. By father was John Spindle. His sons were Thompson, who died at nine years old, and Charles Lee and John Huey and Benjamin F, the youngest.

I’m sorry about the typing I didn’t do much any more.

The Fielders were Fiedlers in Scotland and changed their names in Virginia before the land grant so they only go back on records to Virginia. The Fielders came from England, and of course the Scots had to be different. The Fielders between Nashville and Columbia Tennessee was where my grandfather stayed three years as he came to Missouri. Probably of first family.
There are Fielders here in Modesto, but I don’t know of their origin.

I didn’t write on your pages but you can figure it out with the information I have given you.

Frank Fielder

The Fielders

As I drove along the four lane Highway from Springfield, Missouri to Tulsa I thought of my Father and Mother and how different it must have been for them as they traveled this same way about a hundred years ago.

I had a four lane express-way but they had a one way rutted and rocky road to travel in a wagon. They had three children to take care of and feed when they were hungry. Father had told me of the trip and Mother would always add her side of the story also how she had to climb up and down to get in the wagon and try to keep the kids clean by washing in a tub and hanging the clothes on bushes and they had to stop when they could find good grass for the horses and wood for a fire and they would buy things from the farmers along the way but they were few for most of the county was Indian land. Part of the time they followed the railroad or where the trail led. If the roads were good they might make ten miles a day. Father carried some grain for the horses and also for them, for many times they would have boiled wheat for breakfast which is good food but a little rough. They had a grater which they made corn meal Father tool a piece of tin and punched holes through the tin with a nail so just the point of the nail went through and it would make points on the back side of the tin, he would make a lot of these points, then they could rub ears of corn over these and make corn meal.
I remember father doing this when I was growing up and mother would run out of groceries when he had been out of work for awhile. We usually had a cow around so we would have corn bread and milk for supper and it was very good when you are hungry.

Father and mother was going to Tulsa to see my mothers father who was on fourth Cherokee Indian and had gone there hoping to get Indian land. His mother’s name was Elizabeth Bennett. Her mother had been stolen by the Indians when she was a small girl in Virginia and was taken as a wife by the Chief’s son. They had one daughter and the govt. put through a ruling that the Indians had to give back all white people they had taken to their rightful relatives is they could find them. Elizabeth’s mother wanted to stay with the Indians but they wouldn’t let her so she died of grief and at this time all the Indians were sent to Oklahoma or Florida so Elizabeth married an Englishman at the age of thirteen and they moved to Missouri around Ironton and Aaron Abbott was born to them there. Aaron moved to Rolla and was married and built furniture there for many years. His brand was a circle with three a’s in it. He moved to Tulsa after my grandmother died he married again and his second wife instigated moving there to get Indian land.
After my father moved to Tulsa, he took the now aging Aaron Abbott to Telequah to the Indian headquaters to file for land but the Indians had gone to the river somewhere to catch and dry fish for the winter and no one seemed to know where so they went back to Tulsa and grandfather never filed for land.

The next year, my mother was sick all summer because of the bad water at Tulsa at that time. My father was afraid he would lose her so he took his family back to Missouri, thats were he lived till most of the family was grown then we moved into town in Springfield. We had lived about five miles out of town on east Cherry Street road on my grandfathers old place where he bought soon after he moved from the plantation in Tennessee.

His father, my great grandfather, had gotten a land grant from the government, close to Knoxville, Tennessee. My great grandfather owned slaves before the Civil War. They had to haul their grain over the mountains to the east coast to get it on shops to go the market. I remember my father telling how he went with the wagons once when he was only a boy. How the slaves had to line up the teams and take one wagon at a time over the mountains till they got all the wagons over the top then it was easy going down hill. They had one thing in their favor they made their one wagons as my great grandfather was a blacksmith and Wagon builder in Scotland before he came to America. William D. Fielder I believe was Jack’s oldest son by his first wife and he made the wagons for the trip to Missouri by Jason Thompson, my grandfather.

Jason’s first wife, Alice B. Klinger died in Maury County, Tennnessee. According to my father, John, she died of child birth. Maury County must have been annexed to So. Carolina during the Civil War for it is there now but it used to be in Tennessee.

Jason married Sarah Elizabeth Estes in Maury county on October 2nd 1851 and they moved to Green County, Missouri in 1855. Jason lived in Green County untill his death in 1908. I think the 1855 date is wrong or they live somewhere along the road for three years for John, my father, said he had his ninth birthday the day they crossed the Mississippi River at Cairo Illinois and it seems I read somewhere that they lived somewhere along the road for three years or so.. I have seen pictures of them and their convoy taken somewhere along the road. The picture was of the first vehicle a surrey with an old black driver setting holding the reins so proudly and think my grandmother in the front seat and the wagons behind. They brought two of their old slaves with them a man and the old mammy who had raised Jason from a baby.. The man was their old coachman who died in Springfield not long after they got there and he is buried in Lanston Cemetery east of Springfield and they had to bury him at night for no blacks were allowed to be buried in that cemetery. So he is buried in an unmarked grave. I remember my father showing me the grave.

There is some mix-up in the family records as Jack was married and had seven children and his wife died, he waited three years and married a Mrs. Campbell whose husband had died and left her with seven children then she and Jack had seven children which Jason Thompson was the oldest. so the older part of the family was married and some went to Texas some came to California by the time Jason Thompson was grown. Jason Thompson fought in the war with Mexico and was wounded but not severely. He was in the Cavalry and rode his own horse and brought him back home with him he helped defeat Santa Anna at Monterey and also under Winfield Scott in the Battle for Vera Crux and also Angordo. His enlistment was up and he went back to Tennessee;; He married when he went went to Tennessee but his wife died in childbirth and he stayed single for three and a half years and married again to Sarah Elizabeth Estes.

My father, John, drove ox teams, horses and wagons and saw the automobile come into use and also airplane, and the airplane come into use. When he got back to Missouri from his trip to Oklahoma the money panic of the late 1800 was on so to feed his family he went to Joplin to the lead mines and worked there for close to three years. They were paid in script and had to spend their money at the company store. He made extry money with his team and wagon till someone stole his team and he had no money to buy another team so he sent his family back to Springfield by train and went himself shortly thereafter he lived on his fathers place till his father died then the old farm was cut up and all the children got a part of it. We got thirteen acres on which I grew up. The old farm had started as 320 acres but was sold off into smaller acreages until he only had about 100 acres when he died. My father, John, spent five years clearing the land and growing grain to sell and feed the family Jason Thompson was a musician and never learned to work. When he grew up they had slaves to do the work My father got nothing for his five years work, he was left at home to take care of the five girls as his two brothers left home to work for other people. Grandfather led the music for all the Evangelists that came into the area so he was away from home most of the time so as grandmother had died before her family was grown up John had to be mother and father for girls. He didn’t get married till he was 38 years old but he didn’t waste time he had nine children, I was born when he was 59 years old and I have one sister that is younger than me. He was sixteen years older than mother he lived to be 84 years old and mother lived to be 86 . They are both buried in Lindsay Calif. Cemetary.

The Fielders

In the latter part of the 17 hundreds, things were not so good in Scotland or England where most of their products were sold. The Fiedlers had been wagon builders since there were wagons. Surries, one horse wagons and carts. Now Jason, who was also known as Black Jack; for it seemed his face was always black from the forge where he spent most of his time, was trying to make a decision. Business was not so good and America was calling. Surely they would need wagons over there for the country was opening up in every direction. Wagons would be in demand. He was going to America. Dad could carry on here and he and Sam could get a start there. Sam was his younger brother but also a good tradesman. If they took all the machinery but what Dad needed, they could go into production in a short time. So with dads blessing the arrangements were made. They would ship everything to a good Port in Virginia where they could get supplies shipped directly form England. With much work all was ready. The die was cast the shipping date was set they were going to America.

They were welcomed in America and the demand was great. Wagons, one horse wagons, surreys, carts, everything seemed to be in demand. Their plan had worked they were riding high. In a short time Jack got married but Sam was in no hurry and good women were hard to find.

Years went by and they traded for slaves, for horses and mules for they were as good as cash. Everyone called them Fielders, so they started their Fielder instead of Fiedler and it stuck. Then it happened. The government gave out land grants in the Tennessee valley. This was good fertile land in the Tennessee river bottom so both Sam and Jack signed up for land. Jack got a grant but Sam who was still not married didn’t get one. It made no difference, they were both enthused at going to a new country, of course there were tall tales of good land but they realized it would take a lot of work for the land had to be cleared, there were no roads into it and it was over the mountains from the coast. They would have to ship everything West to the Ohio River then down almost to New Orleans then back up the Tennessee to Knoxville the closest town but still 30 miles from their land.

They would build a road over the mountains. There had to be other people in their condition. But when they went they would have to take everything with them. They found an old dock close to their place and put their slaves, horses and mules on a boat and took them down the coast to the old dock. They sent people ahead to find and cut out a trail over the mountains while they unloaded the boats. all their worldly goods were on those boats so they had to work fast, before the trails were open all the way the mules were loaded and started up the trail. Some had to stay with the materials and machinery or it could be stolen. There were many anxious days but finally it all came together and they had orders for wagons even before they had wagons. They dried and made the wagon axels out of native oak trees they also made their own coke to burn in the forges. Finally the wagons started rolling but it took time for they were all handmade. The land had to be cleared for this they used slaves and a road had to be made to Knoxville. This they did by crossing the river twice. Most of their production went for animals and tools such as axes, saws, mules, horses. They had to have a passable road over the mountains for as the land was cleared the grain had to get to marker supplies had to get in from England the metal for wagon tires for supports on the reaches, leather for harnesses for the mules and horses.

Years went by , Jack now had seven kids and they all worked at something as soon as they were old enough. When Jacks wife was pregnant with their eighth child a new bug attacked the people and Doctors were few and Jacks wife died and so did a lot of other people a Mr. Campbell died and left his wife with seven children. As they were close neighbors, Jack helped her with the place to make a living and after a couple of years they were married. So now the family had fourteen kids. Jacks oldest son, William, was a man now and was taking over a lot of the manufacturing which was going great guns.

Many of the Cambells married in the Fielder family and vice versa. Jack and his second wife started on their second family and his name was Jason Thompson.

Sam decided he had better do something to make his own life so he took off West and the last they heard form him he was in Kansas, west of Kansas City on the Caw river but no one ever found any Fielders in that region.

The Civil War came on , Jack sold their slaves or set them free and divided up the land and many of the kids sold and left for California, Texas and many were never heard from again. Interested people have found many in Texas some of the clan stuck together and settled in Alabama. I was logging in Oregon near Rogue River the town, and found a Fielder Mountain, a Fielder Creek and a Fielder Road. One Fielder was I the phone book and I called him but he was not able to talk to me and died a short time later. He had come there from L. A. to die. Maybe he had been raised there for he died a short time later. My brother , Charles, was up in Washington working on and someone asked him if he was related to the Fielder Indians out on the reservation so maybe Sam got that far West.

When the war with Mexico was on Jason Fielder enlisted I the Army an spent three years in the Calvery and rode his own horse and fought in most of the big battles he served under Winfield Scott. He helped defeat Santa Ana at Monterey, Anagordo and Monterey. Jason Thompson married when he got out of the Army but his wife died in childbirth. He stayed single for three years and married again to Sarah Elizabeth Estes.

John Spindle was their first child. Jim, Sam, and five girls Tennessee, Mary, Ellen, Elizabeth, Emma. Elizabeth died when her family was almost grown and was buried in the Langston Cemetery along with her husband who was Jason Thompson; who was called Thompson. Thompson died in 1908 the year before I was born.

Thompson came to Missouri in 1855 or so for John my father was nine years old when he crossed the Mississippi River on his birthday at Cairo Illinois. John was the father of nine children four boys and five girls:

Thompson died when he was nine.

Leona the oldest girl was the mother of four children. She died at the birth of her fourth child. There was Lillian Neil, Val and Barbetta.

Ellen was the next girl and was the mother of one girl, Betty.

Charles was the father of eight children.

John was the father of one child.

Fannie was the mother of five.

Vera had no children.

Benjamin F. was the father of four.

Laura was the mother of three.

Written by

Benjamin F. Fielder

July 1st 1990.

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