Parents' of Cora Ginest Lamont from the previous blog post are Antonia and Margaret
Antonia Before Marriage (1842-1870)
Oral family history and limited documentation indicate Antonia was born in France or a French possession country. There is a family story describing that he was born in a village just outside of Marseilles, France. Since Antonia's obituary states that he was born in Algeria, France 15 Mar 1842, he may have been born in what is now Algeria, which was in French possession until about 1962.
Stories, passed from generation to generation, consistently report that to avoid compulsory military service, Antonia left Algeria / France when he was in his teens. Antonia may have worked on ships, including pirate ships, before reaching America. It is unclear when or where he arrived. His obituary describes him leaving his place of birth at the age of seventeen.
Civil War Years
His youngest son, Edward, obituary and Antonia's gravestone indicate that he served in the Civil War as a member of Company A, 11th Regiment, Connecticut Infantry. This unit was formed 24 Oct 1861 and dissolved in 1865. Family stories tell of Antonia being captured and placed in Andersonville Prison in Georgia. It says of him, and other individuals escaped and stayed in enemy territory until after the war ended. While on the run, they hid in the daytime and traveled at night, living on whatever they could find or steal. He never returned to his unit for fear of being recaptured and imprisoned.
The Kansas, Enrollment of Civil War Veterans, 1889 was found with two entries for Antonia. The first entry describes him as a private in Company A, 11th Regiment, Connecticut Infantry. It further lists him as a substitute, wounded in the loin, and prisoner of war at Anderson Prison for eight months. The second entry shows him in Company B, 5th Regiment, Missouri Infantry. Additionally, it describes him as a volunteer regular and prisoner of war at Alden Prison.
Antonia wanted to collect military pension for his Civil War service. He was not able to qualify, because of being discharged dishonorably for desertion from the military. In hopes to prove this an error, Antonia requested the War Department - Records and Pensions to remove desertion from his military records. He made this request 30 Jan 1890 with Company A, 11th Regiment, Connecticut Infantry (114946) and 21 Feb 1890 with the Company B, 5th Regiment, Missouri (134473). Later, Antonia requested this 14 Dec 1897 with the Company A, 11th Regiment, Connecticut Infantry (501728). After these three failed attempts, Antonia worked with US Rep. Edwin Ridgley from the Kansas 3rd District to remove desertion and update to honorable discharge in his military records. US Rep. Ridgley presented house bill no. 6138 before the 55th congress-2nd session 8 January 1898. The bill requested the removal of the desertion charge against Antone Gineste, alias John Burthong. It was moved to the Committee on Military Affairs 78. No other information found.
The 1915 Kansas State Census list Antonia as dishonorable discharged, so it is believed that HR 6138 was not successful. Jul 2000, his sons, Charles La Due Ginest and Leo Antonia Gineste both describe Antonia telling he served in the military under an assumed name.
Family stories say in approximately 1868, Antonia, a slightly built man and an apparent heavy user of alcohol, settled in Wamego, Pottawatomie, Kansas. It was here that Antonia met Margaret Elizabeth Rollins, his first wife.
Margaret Before Marriage (1854-1870)
Margaret Rollins birth information described in the family bible, census, and Kansas Death Certificate all are different. The best conclusion is she was born on 27 Dec 1854 in Fulton County, Illinois. As an infant, Margaret, and her family moved to Washington, Lucas, Iowa, based on the 1856 Iowa State Census. By 1860 the family was living on a farm in Hermon, Chestnut, Knox, Illinois, described in the 1860 Federal Census. The family struggled to survive with her father, David, away serving in the Civil War as a Union soldier from Feb 1862 to Mar 1865. During 1966, Margaret and her family moved to Wamego, Pottawatomie, Kansas, based on her obituary. They settled on eighty acres near Center, Pottawatomie, Kansas, and Margaret’s father filed a homestead claim Nov 1868. It was not long before Margaret met Antonia Gineste, a French immigrant, and Civil War veteran eleven years older than her.
Antonia and Margaret Marriage (1870-1893)
Antonia Gineste married Margaret Rollins on 13 Apr 1870. Judge James Lyth Huggins performed the ceremony in Wamego. They made their home in Wamego where Antonia worked as a teamster based on the 1875 Kansas State Census. A teamster was a person who drove a team of draft animals, usually drawn by oxen, horses, or mules to deliver goods, a modern-day truck driver. Antonia was a 27-year-old French immigrant, and Margaret was 16 years old. They had three children while living Wamego, Mattie, died as infant; Cora Ann in 1872; William in 1875.
Moran Years
Family stories describe them moving to the Moran area of Osage, Allen, Kansas during 1877. They may have rented the farm they later bought three and a half miles north and one mile east of Moran. They had two additional sons, Charles La Due in 1882 and Edward Everett in 1886. Antonia and Margaret purchased an 80-acre farm 13 Apr 1885 for $320 from the Southern Kansas Railroad. The property was located at the east half of the Southeast Quarter of Section 12 (1618 4200th Street) in the Moran, Kansas. It is unknown where they were living between 1877 and 1885.
Antonia and Margaret Separation (1892)
Family stories tell Margaret leaving Antonia early 1893. She and her son, Edward, moved to Topeka, Shawnee, Kansas where her daughter, Cora, was residing and working in a hotel. Margaret did housework and took in laundry for railroad men and others. Wages were 50 cents per day. Her son, Edward, carried messages between salesmen and hotel maids and selling newspapers on the street. He would also dance a jig for tips. He was often able to make more money than his mother. Another son, William, also moved to the Shawnee county area, but Charles stayed with Antonia.
Antonia Files for Divorce (1893)
After Margaret and Antonia separated, Antonia filed for divorce at the Allen County Kansas Courthouse 5 Dec 1893. The divorce petition describes their property, including five horses, two colts, one cow, one calf, thirteen hogs, and 300 bushels of corn. It shows cause for divorce as follows, Margaret left home Mar 1893; committed adultery since 1884; failed to perform household duties; failed to assist in caring for, clothing, educating, and comforting the family; violently assaulted, kicked, and abused Antonia; striking him with an iron poker; cursing, swearing, and threatening his life. All of this has been going on for eight or nine years, the divorce petition says. Margaret was summoned by the Allen County sheriff 5 Dec 1893, now living in Topeka, Kansas. The sheriff was not able to locate Margaret after searching until 24 January 1894.
Margaret Files for Divorce (1893)
While Antonia was filing for divorce, Margaret was doing the same. The Topeka Daily Capital newspaper shows Margaret Gineste filed for divorce 16 Dec 1893 at the Shawnee County Kansas Courthouse. The records found at the courthouse were unreadable because of document quality. Later, 23 Mar 1894, Antonia canceled his divorce petition, based on the announcement in the Iola Register newspaper. It is assumed that Margaret's divorce petition was final in late Mar 1894, based on Antonia canceling his divorce request.
4 Apr 1894, Margaret Gineste transferred her ownership of the farm, located at the east half of the Southeast Quarter of Section 12 (1618 4200th Street) in the Moran, Kansas to Antonia via a Quick Claim Deed for $1 as a single woman. The 1895 Kansas Agriculture Census for Osage, Kansas shows Antonia and son Charles living on the farm. It describes the property having 93 acres with 50 acres under cultivation, 73 acres fenced with 30 rods of stone, and 320 rods of wire fencing. The cash value of the farm and improvements listed as $1,000 and machinery valued at $20.00. Crops included corn, oats, sorghum, and flax. Livestock was five horses, a milk cow, and 17 swine.
It was not long before both Antonia and Margaret met someone and remarried.
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