Fort Sumner in New Mexico
may sound familiar to some. It is associated with names such as Billy “The
Kid”, Pat Garrett, and Lucien Maxwell.
The fort was established
31 October 1862 to protect a reservation, which covered about 40 square miles
at Bosque Redondo in New Mexico. Many military officers were against these
plans as, the land allotted for the reservation had a poor water supply and
minimal trees. Congress insisted and the reservation was established.
Fort Sumner is located
160 miles west of Lubbock, Texas on Hwy 60 in New Mexico. The post was named
for General Edwin Vose Sumner. He never saw the fort as he died in 1863 before
it was completed. Sumner was appointed Brigadier General by Abraham Lincoln,
one of only three he appointed and dispatched to the Department of the Pacific
in California. After being recalled back East, General Sumner was in battle in
1862 at the battle of Antietam along with Brigadier General John Sedgwick.
Sumner was promoted to Major General in 1862 and has the distinction of being
the oldest field officer on either side during the Civil War. Commonly referred
to as “Bullhead” earned, according to legend, by a musket ball once hitting him
in the head but instead of penetrating bouncing off. He died in 1863 while visiting his daughter in
Syracuse, New York. Edwin Vose Sumner is my 4th cousin. We share a
great grandfather, William Sumner, who was born in 1605.
Why all this Sumner
chatter? One beautiful summer day in August I was at Fort Sumner with a man I
adored and we were creating amazing memories. We were on our return trip from
Sturgis and had been on his bike on an adventure for a month.
I had been chasing
some Sumner ghosts in Mothers past when I wondered if we were any relation to
the Sumner the Fort was named after so I went hunting for him. I came across 7
great grandfathers and one great grandmother named Sumner and the common link
as I said was William Sumner in 1605. He was born in England and arrived in
America in 1630 settling in Massachusetts. He was a Trustee for the school and
the land it occupied as well as being an officer in the court and a prominent
leader in his church.
Sumner is a sept,
saeptum, or in English it translates to enfolded; as to be part of a fold or
clan of Clan Lindsay who were prominent not only in Scotland but also in
England. The Sumners are absorbed into the Lindsay clan and considered an
integral part of it. The Lindsay clan motto is Endure Fort (Latin) it means
Suffer Bravely or Endure with Strength. Clan septs, like us Sumners have the
right to wear clan tartans and badges and use the clan motto.
The clan badge is a swan
rising from a coronet and can be used by all in the clan including the septs.
I was at a high tea with
Mother on Friday when Patsy said something in the course of conversation that
led mother to ask if she was interested in Genealogy. Patsy shrieked and said “oh
heavens no, no no no! I want to look forward not backwards. I do not want to
know nor do I care! There is nothing for me there, However I do know I descend
from kings.” Really?? I thought. Mother than looked at me, I could see where
she was going to go. She was going to want me to give a line of descendants all
the way to Prince William. The other ladies at the table were somewhat
impressed with Patsy’s statement. I knew if I did what mother wanted Patsy
would have shut her down, dismissed her, rudely left the table or interrupted
her and changed the subject. So, I asked the ladies at the table if they had
heard of the Bondurant Brothers. The bootleggers with the moonshine one Lady
asked with awe. Yes! Those boys are related to Mother. Let the chatter begin.
They were impressed and thrilled and the topic took off in another direction
giving mother the center of attention and creating a lively round of dangerous,
rowdy, relatives.
Glad I have that clan
motto: Endure with Strength!!!!
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