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By SHARON TATE MOODY, Tribune correspondent

Published: December 30, 2007

"George Bushong" wobbles to the front of the room, leaning heavily on his gnarled walking stick. He speaks to the audience in a trembling yet passionate voice to tell the story of his life in the 1800s.

His words and appearance make it easy for the audience to feel as if they are in Putman, Ohio, in 1880 instead of at a South Bay Genealogy Society meeting in the SouthShore Public Library in Ruskin.

The man in front of them isn't really George Bushong, of course. It's his third great-grandson, Damon Hosteller, who has spent 10 years finding, reading and understanding hundreds of documents relating to five generations of his family.

Genealogists use the term "third great-grandson" to describe a great-great-great grandson.
Hosteller plays his distant grandfather so convincingly that he can transfix audiences into believing they are seeing George. His portrayal also shows how finding rich details through genealogical research brings an ancestor's story to life.

Here is George's story, told through his third great-grandson: George was an ordinary farmer, whose father, John, came through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky about 1779 and served with Gen. George Rogers Clark in the Revolutionary War. John obtained 400 acres of land, where George and his family raised tobacco.

He was a teenager when his parents and extended family left Kentucky for Chillicothe, Ohio. They followed the old Indian Warrior Trail. It was hard traveling: The road was rough and covered with tree roots, on which their wagons get stuck.

On the journey, George dreamed of proving that he was a man by fighting any Indians that the family encountered. Instead he was assigned to care for the cattle and horses.

"My grandmother was with us and she was always happy and I didn't see how she could be so happy when the trip was so hard," George said. "Then she told me how she and her husband had come through the Cumberland Gap on foot as a young couple because there were no roads for wagons - this trip to Chillicothe was easy in comparison, and that's why she was so happy."

In 1809, George said, he married Lydia Rush. "It was the happiest day of my life," he told the audience. "She died 30 years ago 1864 - it was the saddest day of my life." They had seven children. "I outlived them all," he said, hanging his head briefly.

In 1812, the British invaded the United States from Canada and started what George's family called the Second War of Independence. George joined the army in 1813 and headed to Fort Meggs, Ohio, with his unit. "We got as far as Sandusky and learned that the British had skedaddled, so we went back home - I only served 31 days in that war."

Years later, said George, "Mr. Lincoln's War didn't touch Putnam County - the papers didn't even cover the war."

"But in 1864 a dashing young major came to town, offering $600 to any man who would sign up for the war. My son John was 43 then, but he signed up and off he went to Ringgold, Georgia, with Company K of the 14th Ohio Volunteers."

While waiting to march with Sherman to Atlanta and to the sea, John got diphtheria. He went first to a military hospital and then got a 30-day furlough. He went home to Ohio on a train. Then it was a three-day drive in a buckboard from the train station to the Bushong home.

"We don't know if it was the buckboard ride that did it, but 24 hours after he got home he died," George said. Only six months later, George's wife died.

Once the story was over, Hosteller talked about how he learned so much about his grandfather's life. He said he never would have found crucial information by relying solely on the Internet. To get the whole story, genealogists need to go to the courthouses where their ancestors' records are stored and the regions where they lived, he said.

"Basic documents will only get you a man's birth, marriage and death information," he told the audience. "You have to go deeper to find the real person and you have to study history to understand why people did the things they did."
Hosteller said one of his greatest finds was at the National Archives. He discovered George's application for a military pension based on serving 31 days in the War of 1812. Damon said the file contained 54 letters that George wrote trying to convince the government that he deserved the $8-per-month pension, even though the 1874 law which granted pensions to 1812 war veterans required 60 days of service.

Then Hosteller slipped back into character to portray George, who never gave up in fighting for his pension. "They told me I didn't qualify but I kept writing for three years ... One time I sent them 10 cents to read the letter and another time I sent a stamp so they'd answer me. In 1890, they decided to pay me."
Hosteller said reading those persistent letters became the key in getting to know his grandfather from another century.

He discovered the details that pieced together the story of his ancestor, including personality traits. There was this nugget: George had even demanded back pay, which amounted to $674. He died before convincing the government to send it.

Sharon Tate Moody is certified by the Board for Certification of Genealogists. Send genealogy questions and event announcements to her in care of BayLife, The Tampa Tribune, 200 S. Parker St., Tampa FL 33606, or stmoody0720@mac.com. She regrets that she i

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