Crawford-Texas-Wright County MO Archives Biographies.....Raffety, Sterman Admiral 'Admel' January 13, 1832 - August 18, 1885 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mo/mofiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Sherri Raffety-Hale sherrihale@hotmail.com October 27, 2008, 5:50 pm Author: Sherri Raffety Hale The Raffety Family Tree Book 2008 by Sherri Raffety Hale Selected transcripts: In 1822, Thompson Raffety (1799-?) and Elizabeth Henly had their first child, William Bluford Raffety (1822-1893). The U.S. and International Marriage Records 1560-1900 shows that Thompson Raffety married Elizabeth Henly in Johnson County, Illinois. They went on to have more children including; Martha L. (1825-?), Parthena (1830-?), Sterman Admiral Raffety (1832-1885) and Jane (1837-?). William, Admiral (or ‘Admel’ as George E. Raffety’s records indicate) and Jane were all born in Kentucky. It’s interesting to note that our ‘Admel Raffety’ has been found on other WorldTree.com family tree list with that exact spelling. However, legal documents including marriage and census information note the full spelling above. Sterman Admiral Raffety (1832-1885) who was born in Kentucky on January 13, 1832, is a 5th generation Raffety, originally Rafferty, in America. It should be noted here that family members generally knew Sterman Admiral Raffety as S. Admel Raffety and some suspected his name might be Samuel Admel Raffety. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 shows his legal name was Sterman Admiral Raffety and his wife’s name Amanda Minnis (1836-?). She was born in Illinois and we know her father was born in Kentucky. She is the first person in our family lineage for which we have a photograph of. In fact, we have two photos of her with her family, one professional and one taken in Joplin, Missouri in 1909. According to the 1880 United States Federal Census, we know that Sterman Admiral and Amanda were farmers in Clinton, Texas County, Missouri. He died on August 13, 1885 in Missouri. It is believed Amanda died August 13, 1883 in Cabool, Texas County, Missouri where they both are buried. Sterman and Amanda had eight children all born in Missouri: John Alexander Raffety (1860-1944); Cynthia Elizabeth Raffety (1863-?); George Washington Raffety who was born December 10, 1865 and died October 21, 1952 in Ralston, Oklahoma; Charles Madison Raffety who was born June 13, 1869, and died October 19, 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee; Mary Ann Raffety who was born November 4, 1869 and died January 1, 1964; James Wesley Raffety who was born August 25, 1872 and died February 11, 1947 in Atchison, Kansas; Andrew Edward Raffety who was born July 24, 1875 and died July 29, 1954 and finally Thomas Franklin Raffety who was born April 3, 1876 and died March 4, 1948 in Watsonville, California. The 1880 U.S. Federal Census record indicates this Raffety family lived in Clinton, Texas County, Missouri at the time. Between the years of 1861-1865, the American Civil War was fought. Based on research, it is believed no one in our direct Raffety family lineage served in the Civil War. A number of factors have been considered including age, where they lived and a review of enlistment records. Based on age, Sterman Admiral Raffety (1832-1885), who was about 30 years old and lived in Missouri at the time of the war, would be at the right age to possibly serve. His father, Thompson Rafferty would have been 62 years old, if he was even still alive at that time. Sterman’s oldest son wasn’t born until 1861, the year the war began. Logically, that leaves Sterman as the only candidate. He and his wife Amanda had three children during the war; Alexander was born in 1861, Cynthia in 1863 and George Washington Raffety on December 10, 1865 and we know that all their children were born in Missouri. Furthermore, only 11 Raffetys enlisted as Union soldiers. Four Raffetys served New York Regiments, one each served Minnesota, Illinois, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. One Raffety was found from Missouri who enlisted as a Confederate. Interestingly he, C. Raffety, of the 4th Regiment was in the unit that was involved in the Battle of Allatoona, in Georgia on October 5, 1864. Lake Allatoona is an area close to where several Raffetys live today. There is no evidence, however, that C. Raffety is directly related to those living near Lake Allatoona, Georgia. It is to be noted that Missouri, Sterman Raffety’s residence, was considered a ‘neutral’ state during the Civil War. However, it was actually a state very much divided as to which side individuals would serve on. Neighbors literally would enlist on opposing sides. Since during this time in our family history, our name was spelled either Raffety or Rafferty, I pulled list of Raffertys serving in the Civil War. Research showed 6 Raffertys from Missouri enlisted in the Civil War. Of those six Raffertys, four were Confederate soldiers and two were Union soldiers. Of the 282 Rafferty enlistments in the Civil War, 43 served in the Confederate Army. It should be noted here that many men enlisted in more than one Regiment during their service, therefore there most likely wasn’t a total of 282 men enlisted, but approximately 187 men who served and or enlisted in more than one Regiment within their own state during the course of their service in the war. All this information leads to the conclusion that no Raffety in our direct lineage served in the Civil War. Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mo/crawford/photos/bios/raffety4nbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mo/crawford/bios/raffety4nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/mofiles/ File size: 5.9 Kb