Fourth Generation

62. Jason B. ROOT was born on 16 July 1845 in Springboro, Spring Township, Crawford County, PA.^{1,3,118,122,147,188,189,190} (He was named after a brother of his mother.)

(The birth place of he, Ira and Jane is sometimes listed as Springboro, Crawford County, PA. The 1850 Census sheet lists their home location as "Spring Township" in Crawford County.) He appeared in the census in 1850 in Springboro, Spring Township, Crawford County, PA.¹¹⁸ He appeared in the census in 1860 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.¹²² He was living with his parents and siblings. He was also listed in the household of Webster Kenyon and was working as a "common laborer." Jason served in the military between 1863 and 1866.^{119,125,191,192} when he was drafted into the Union Army to serve in the Civil War.

Gary Griggs has copies of letters to and from his family members in 1864 and 1865, while he was stationed near Baton Rouge, LA. In a letter to his mother dated 14 February 1865, he writes, "We are not paid yet. I shall have coming to me at the end of this month $240. I hope we shall get paid next quarter, but cannot tell whether we shall or not. I wish you would ascertain, or have Ira (his brother), what three or four good village lots would cost in a good situation in Tomah. Also whether the Patrick farm is for sale now or not, but not say anything about as I wrote about it, for persons might think I wished to purchase and therefore ask a larger price." He mentioned earlier in the letter that, "All you have to do to pay for a year's clothing is just to sign your name two or three times." He apparently felt that he was compensated well for serving in the Civil War. He also said, "Sometimes I wonder what I shall do to gain a livelihood when the war closes."

From a web posting about his unit: "A 4TH WISCONSIN CAVALRYMAN'S EXPERIENCE DURING SERVICE IN THE TRANS-MISSISSIPPI THEATER AND AFTER THE CIVIL WAR

From November 22 through December 12, 1864, close to 4,000 troopers, representing 'most of the available cavalry' in the Department of the Gulf, participated in Brigadier General John Wynn Davidson’s Pascagoula Expedition from Baton Rouge to West Pascagoula, Mississippi.

These Federal horse soldiers rode almost 300 miles in 15 days through 'dismal' swamps, blackened bayous, 'tall Georgia Pine forests,' inclement weather and a 'country so poor as to render the transportation of subsistence a matter of necessity.' They crossed four major rivers, 'repaired and rebuilt upwards of 15 bridges, laid miles of corduroy over the swamps of Louisiana and Mississippi' and fended off nightly attacks by the enemy, all with the loss of only 3 men killed, 8 wounded and 13 missing.

Many of the raid’s participants were broken in health when they finally went into camp on Pascagoula Bay during the afternoon of December 12. Jason Root, Company I, 4th Wisconsin Cavalry, was one such trooper.

Jason Root was born on July 16, 1845 in the northwest Pennsylvania town of Springboro. Sometime prior to the onset of the Civil War he and his family moved to Tomah, Wisconsin. On December 13, 1863, the 5’ 9”, hazel eyed, sandy haired, dark complexioned farmer enlisted in Company I, 4th Wisconsin Cavalry. While Root may have harbored patriotic reasons for joining the Union Army, the $300 bounty he was offered--$60 of which he received at the time of his muster--must have served as an additional incentive.

Root was officially mustered into service at Camp Randall in Madison, Wisconsin, on January 20, 1864. He eventually joined the regiment in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in February and was immediately assigned to picket duty on one of the many approaches to Louisiana’s capital.

On June 23, Major General Nathanial Banks ordered the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry to proceed without delay up the Mississippi River to Morganza, Louisiana, 'for duty with the 4th Brigade Cavalry Division.' A few days after the Badgers’ relocation, Root penned a letter to his mother, brother and sisters, 'I arrived here about sunrise . . . We are camped about half mile back from the river on what is said to be the rebel General Morgan’s plantation. There are about 18,000 troops here. It seems to be the general impression that we shall not stay here long. We are going to get horses to mount the whole regiment here. It is a pretty sandy place and consequently very hot . . ..' Root was absent from the regiment the following month in order to serve as an aide to the commander of the Cavalry Division’s 5th Brigade, Colonel Edmund Davis.

During the fall and winter of 1864, the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry participated in three grueling mounted campaigns across north central Louisiana and southern Mississippi and Alabama. These raids, some of which covered hundreds of miles across swamps and bayous, took a physical toll on many horses and men including Jason Root.

'We made a raid in November to Brookhaven [Mississippi],' recalled Jason Root’s bunk mate, William Weed, 'which took us several days and nights – it rained almost continually during this time. We had nothing to shelter us from the storms not even rubber blankets as we were ordered to throw them away. Everything not needed in action and what little rest we did get we had to take on the cold wet ground without a fire in most cases. Mr. Root took a bad cold at the time and complained of pain in the chest and arms. Soon after the above raid we were ordered on another one from Baton Rouge to cut telegraph and Railroad lines north of Mobile . . .. We marched through the swamps of southern Miss. for days and weeks and a good share of the time were wading through mud and mire up to our hips, it being so deep that we could not ride our horses and during this march we experienced some of the worst sleet storms that I ever saw during the latter part of the raid . . .. Sometime in December or the first part of January [1865], Jason Root commenced to complain of pain in his left shoulder and arm and was so bad at times that I had to saddle his horse for him he being unable to use his arms.' Root’s condition, which was eventually diagnosed as 'chronic rheumatism of the shoulder and arm,' would lead to severe disability by his 42nd birthday.

Following the raid to West Pascagoula, Mississippi, Jason Root and the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry returned to Baton Rouge and continued to perform picket and patrol duty in and around the city until March 1865. The regiment was transferred to Colonel Joseph Karge’s 1st Brigade in Carrollton, Louisiana, in late March. A few days later the Badgers found themselves on board a transport bound for Starks Landing, Alabama. Upon its arrival in Alabama, Karge’s brigade and the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry were assigned to General Grierson’s cavalry division. On April 19, Grierson’s command started on a 750-mile ride to Vicksburg, Mississippi. The horse soldiers crisscrossed Alabama twice riding as far east as Georgetown, Georgia, before trotting into Vicksburg, Mississippi, on June 5. Jason Root completed this entire campaign on horseback despite suffering from a growing 'right side inguinal hernia.'

With the war all but over, the Badgers expected to be mustered out and sent home as soon as possible. Their hopes were effectively dashed when they learned that they would be going to Shreveport, Louisiana, and ultimately San Antonio, Texas, as part of the 1st Brigade of General Wesley Merritt’s Cavalry Division. The 4th Wisconsin arrived in San Antonio in August and was promptly posted by company at various forts and towns along the Rio Grande River. The Badgers spent the next 8 months patrolling an area from Eagle Pass to Brownsville, Texas, and they occasionally skirmished with Indians and Emperor Maximilian’s Contra-guerrillas. Root was on detached duty much of this time serving as an orderly at brigade headquarters or the Post Commissary. On May 28, 1866, Jason Root, now a corporal, and the 4th Wisconsin Cavalry were mustered out at Brownsville, Texas.

Immediately after leaving the Army, Root applied for and received a pension of $4/month for 'rheumatism of left shoulder and arm contracted during a march in Louisiana in 1865.' He was married in June the following year to Mary Mason, in Tomah, Wisconsin. Though hampered by a bad shoulder and hernia, Jason managed to sire seven children, 3 boys and 4 girls, with Mary between 1867 and 1876. Some time after the birth of their last child, the Roots moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where an examination by three surgeons earned the 61-year-old Root a pension increase from $17 to $23/month. 'Mr. Root,' the physicians noted, 'is grievously afflicted with rheumatism. Left arm is contracted at the elbow at an angle of about 45 degrees . . . [and] is shrunken. Grip is very weak in it and he states that the amount of pain he has in it is something fierce . . . Heart is very irregular, weak and intermittent . . . Applicant is cyanosed and also has complete right inguinal hernia, tumor 2-1/2 x 3-1/4 inches [that] extends through external ring into the scrotum.'

Mary Root died in 1916. Jason remarried two years later to Mary Barnes in Seattle, Washington. Jason and Mary eventually settled in Anaheim, California, where the former worked as a traveling salesman for “Heinz.” On October 22, 1930, Jason Root died from chronic myocarditis and arteriosclerosis at the age of 85. He is buried in Anaheim Cemetery.

Posted by Michael J. Martin at 2/21/2010, 10:57 AM ¹⁹³ "An agricultural organization was formed by T. Hull, John Crapp, Jason Root and W. C. Hicks." He appeared in the census in 1870 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.¹³⁶ His household was next to that of his mother and his occupation was "Farmer." He appeared in the census in 1875 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.¹³⁷ His household consisted of 3 males and 7 females. Jason appeared in the census in 1880 in Rudolph Township, Wood County, WI.¹⁹⁴ His occupation was listed as "Bookkeeper." He lived in Garland Township, Brown County, SD about 1883.¹⁹⁵ From The History of Brown County, SD: Records show that Elof Fredell filed on a homestead here in 1882, and a year later the following settlers came: Jason B. Roots, John H. Miller, Herman Schliebe, F. G. Logan, L. J. Lawson and George Crock and their families. S. G. Johnson and W. W. McDonald and their wives arrived later. Abigail Mason also came here." He lived at his home in Dickey County, ND about 1892.¹¹⁹ Jason appeared in the census in 1900 in Fargo, Cass County, ND.¹⁹⁶ His household was at 313 8th Street in the 5th Ward and his occupation was listed as "Commercial Tra(veler)." He appeared in the census in 1910 in Mill Creek Precinct, Stevens County, WA.¹⁹⁷ His household was on Mill Creek Road and his occupation was "Bookkeeper, Office." He lived at his home in Millville Township, Stevens County, WA in January 1911.¹⁹⁸ Jason and his first wife, May, signed an affidavit for a Civil War Pension for William D. Weed, in which they stated: "That we and each of us have known William D. Weed and Helen E. Weed since their marriage on Jany 8, 1867. That we have been intimately acquainted with them, having visited them often and kept up a correspondence during the years since they were married, and we both subscribe to the facts that they were legally married on the date above mentioned and lived together as man & wife up to the time of Wm. D. Weed's decease." The stamp on the affidavit was dated Jan 30 1911. ¹⁹⁹ In a post card to Eva (Root) Griggs (a daughter of his younger brother, Ira) and her husband, Sam Griggs, he wrote: "Dear Sam and Eva, Arrived home safely and found all well and ... (unreadable word) visiting. Hope you all keep well. I will go to Oakes the 16th and to ... folks in Dickey County. Then 90 West about Oct 10th to 15th. Shall try to see Irvin. Dolly will be home Friday p.m. My love to you all from Uncle Jason." The identities of "Oakes" and "Dolly" are not known. Jason appeared in the census in 1920 in Anaheim, Orange County, CA.²⁰⁰ His household consisted of Jason and his second wife, Mary. He had moved to California in about 1912. He lived at his home in Anaheim, Orange County, CA in September 1923.^3,201 He appeared in the census in 1930 in Anaheim, Orange County, CA.²⁰² His household consisted of Jason, his second wife, Mary, and a 72-year-old widowed "Servant" named "Ondio" (?) Thompson. Jason died on 22 October 1930 at the age of 85 in Anaheim, Orange County, CA.^1,3,203 He was buried on 24 October 1930 in Anaheim, Orange County, CA.^3,147 in the Anaheim Cemetery.

Jason B. ROOT and May Weighty "Olive" MASON were married on 1 January 1867 in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.^{3,43,130,204,205} May Weighty "Olive" MASON, daughter of Hiram T. MASON and Abigail PARK, was born on 22 January 1845 in East Dundee, Kane County, IL.^{3,115,136,194,206,207,208,209,210} (Her given name was listed as "Weighty" in the 1850 Census and as "Olive" in 1860, but she was listed as "M. W." in the Registration of Marriages Index and the 1900 Census, and as "May W." in the 1870 and 1880 Census'. The Root Family Bible lists her as "W. May."

The name "Olive" may have been given to her at a time because "Oliver" was the name of an uncle, grandfather and great-grandfather in the Mason family.) She appeared in the census in 1850 in New Buffalo Township, Sauk County, WI.¹¹⁵ She appeared in the census in 1860 in Baraboo, Washington Township, Sauk County, WI.²⁰⁸ Olive appeared in the census in 1870 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.¹³⁶ She appeared in the census in 1875 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.¹³⁷ She appeared in the census in 1880 in Rudolph Township, Wood County, WI.¹⁹⁴ Olive lived at her home in Ordway, Brown County, SD between April 1882 and 1900.²¹¹ From the Tomah Journal, article dated April 15, 1882: "Mrs. J. B. Root, for many years a resident of Tomah and vicinity, started Wednesday for Dakota, where her husband had preceded her. They will locate at Ordway, in Brown County, which they intend to make their future home." She appeared in the census in 1900 in Fargo, Cass County, ND.¹⁹⁶ She appeared in the census in 1910 in Mill Creek Precinct, Stevens County, WA.¹⁹⁷ Olive died on 20 September 1916 at the age of 71 in Anaheim, Orange County, CA.^{3,110,206,210} She was buried in Anaheim, Orange County, CA.²¹⁰ in the Anaheim Cemetery.

Jason B. ROOT and May Weighty "Olive" MASON had the following children:

Jason B. ROOT and Mary Catherine JACQUITH were married on 7 February 1918 in Seattle, King County, WA.^3,146,212 Mary Catherine JACQUITH, daughter of John Wood JACQUITH and Mary Cortinus HENDERSON, was born on 9 March 1845 in Cambridge, Washington County, NY.^3,212 She appeared in the census in 1910 in Solon Township, Cortland County, NY.²¹³ She was listed as a Grandmother in the household of Arthur and Pearl Northrup. She appeared in the census in 1920 in Anaheim, Orange County, CA.²⁰⁰ Mary appeared in the census in 1930 in Anaheim, Orange County, CA.²⁰² She died on 22 December 1933 at the age of 88 in Orange County, CA.^3,212