Friday, November 30, 2018

THOSE DISTANT COUSINS ~ Colonel Samuel Camp Johnson, Jr. & Rachel Z. Frampton–of Lawrence County, Ohio 1800’s

Johnson Frampton screenshot

Sometimes I enjoy researching and learning about my distant cousins.  In this case I was researching another line of my Frampton family, my 4th great granduncle Martin Frampton and his wife, Sarah Mann.  This couple had 12 known children from 1819 to 1841.  Sarah Jane, Barbara Ann, Mary Ann, Elizabeth Isabel, Rachel Zanetta, Martin Mann, William G., Jane, James Robert, Caroline Gertrude, Isaac Gillen and Lucinda Alice.

Today I’ll be talking about Rachel Zanetta Frampton who married Colonel Samuel Camp Johnson, Jr. on 20 Feb 1848 in Chesapeake, Lawrence, Ohio.1

Rachel is my 1st cousin, 5 times removed.
 
According to the obituary published in the Ironton Register, 15 Oct 1885 for Col. Johnson, he was born in Durham, Connecticut on 2 Feb 1820.  He came to Lawrence County when he was a young man.  He is said to have served as County Commissioner, Representative in the Legislature and Member of the State Board of Equalization.

Ironton Register
JOHNSON, SAMUEL C. COLONEL I.R. OCT. 15, 1885
Col. Samuel C. Johnson died at the house of a farmer, 18 miles from Columbia, Tenn., where he happened to be while engaged in looking up ore lands for a Birmingham furnace company. . . . His son Fred, who had seen him 10 days before . . . Col. Johnson was born in Durham, Conn., Feb'y 2, 1820; moved to Western Reserve when a mere child, and came to this county when a young man; living in this region - - at the Rock, at Burlington, at Ironton, on Symmes Creek, in Huntington. He at times held the position of County Commissioner, Representative in the Legislature, and Member of the State Board of Equalization. He had ten brothers and sisters, nine of whom are living; one brother (Sherman) is dead. Eight were at the funeral: T. N. and F. L. Johnson of Portsmouth; Orin Johnson, of Ashland; Seliman Johnson, of St. Louis; Mrs. G. A. Knight, of Cincinnati; Mrs. Amelia Johnson, of South Point; Mrs. Turner Kemp, of Whitwell; Mrs. Eba, of Catlettsburg. But one living, Mrs. Wright, of Kingville, O., was absent from the funeral. The deceased leaves a wife and six children to suffer the grief.


NOTE:  The Ironton Register contains hundreds if not thousands of articles about the families in southern Ohio.  It is not available on any of the newspaper websites.  However, you can find some of the articles on The Lawrence Register website and also obtain assistance on the Facebook page for Lawrence Register, which is very active.

Colonel Johnson registered during the Civil War draft registration in 1863.  I don’t, however, find a record of any service. How did he come to have the title of Colonel?  Is that one of those titles that sometimes was assigned or attached to a particular person as a nickname?

Johnson_Samuel CW draft

In the 1860 census, Colonel Johnson was working as a Farmer.  I have not located the family, yet, in the 1870 census.  By 1880 he was a Hotel Keeper.

I do notice that in the 1860 census, there are 3 of Rachel’s family members living with her family.  Her mother, Sarah Mann Frampton, age 61, who was widowed in 1856 when her husband, Martin Frampton committed suicide by hanging.  It is said that Martin had gone blind and that may have been the cause of his despair, he was only 68 yrs. old.
 
Also living with Colonel Johnson & Rachel and five of their children were Rachel’s sister, Alice, age 20 (she later married Joseph Sylvester Stewart) and Rachel’s brother, James Robert, age 26.  James Robert is enumerated as “blind” in this 1860 census.  His occupation – broom maker.  James Robert did eventually marry and have 8 children.  I wondered if other census records would indicate he was blind?  I found that the 1900 census also indicates this condition.  He obviously didn’t let it slow him down from living his life.  Was he born blind or did he have a condition or accident that caused it?  That is subject for another blog post.

Of Rachel and Colonel Johnson’s 7 children his obituary states that 6 of them lived to adulthood.  Their first child, Lucius Martin Johnson died at age 4 yrs 9 mos. when he was run over by a 4 horse wagon, near his grandfather, Martin Frampton’s place.  This must have been very sad for his family.  His two other siblings, Frank and Jessie would have been about 3 and 1 at the time of the accident.
  
Here’s the excerpt from the Ironton Register

JOHNSON, LUCIUS MARTIN I.R. OCT. 06, 1853
Sad Accident - A little son of S. C. Johnson, of Hecla Furnace., aged about 5 years, was instantly killed last Friday, being run over by a 4 horse wagon, near the residence of his grandfather, Martin Frampton, at the Mouth of Symmes Creek . . . son of S. C. and R. Z. Johnson; aged 4y 9m 21d.


Colonel Samuel Johnson died at age 65 on 6 Oct 1885 in Columbia, Maury, Tennessee.  He was apparently on a trip to look for ore lands for a Birmingham Furnace Company.  He died at the house of a farmer. Was he taken suddenly ill?  Did he have a stroke or heart attack?  I have not been able to locate his death certificate, so I don’t know his cause of death.

You may visit the FindAGrave memorial for Colonel Samuel C. Johnson here #111492790.

According to her FindAGrave headstone, Rachel died in 1897.  She and Samuel are both buried at Woodland Cemetery, Ironton, Lawrence, Ohio.  Again, I have not death certificate or record for her.  You may visit her memorial here #111492893

Sources: 1 - Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, film number 000317716 and U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900

I will continue to research this family as the Frampton’s are a direct line for me.  If you are related to any of them, in particular this couple, I’d love to hear from you.  Leave me a comment or send me an email.  You can see my contact information at the top of my blog under the “contact me” tab, or click here.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl


Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

WEDDING WEDNESDAY ~ I’ve finally located the image of my 2nd great grandmother’s third marriage–Susan Caroline Boggs (1842-1913)

 wedding bells_thumb[5][5]

Susan Caroline Boggs Hunter Cresse

marriage to Lewis/Louis A. Hankins

14 Apr 1909, Jefferson Co., Indiana

My maternal 2nd great grandmother married 3 times.  First to James Gillen Hunter (1832- appox. 1894) on 29 Aug 1859 in Lawrence Co., Ohio.  She was only 17 yrs. old when she married him.  They were married until his death in about 1894.  Together they had 9 children: Myra, Clyde, Lenorah, Ada, Estelle, Florence (my great grandmother), Raphael, Grace & Daisy.  James worked as a Carpenter according to census and city directory listings.  It couldn’t have been easy raising 9 children all born about 2 years apart.

Here is the record of their marriage1

BOGGS_Susan marriage to James Hunter_1859

After James’ death Susan married William Lewis Cresse (Oct 1938-May 1906) on 26 Oct 1897 in Logansport, Cass, Indiana.  Susan is 55 years old at the time of this marriage.  By this time it seems that all of Susan & James’ children were out of the house and either married or living elsewhere.  In the 1900 census Susan & her second husband William can be found in Delphi, Carroll, Indiana with his son, Charles, age 26 living with them.  William was a Farmer.

The marriage of William Cresse & Susan C. Hunter is indexed2 and available on both Ancestry & Family Search.  At the time I located the index in Jul 2010, there was no image.  I thought I’d check again today.  No luck!  The image is only available at the Family History Library.

HUNTER_CRESSEmarriage film

Sadly, on 5 May 1906, William Cresse died just 8 1/2 years after they were married.   His cause of death was Gangrene & necrosis of upper jaw/septic infection from a tooth extraction.3 

Susan was now 63 years old and alone again.  Somewhere along the way she met and married her 3rd and final husband, Lewis A. Hankins (1850-1927) on 14 Apr 1909 in Jefferson Co., Indiana.  The marriage only lasted until her death four years later in 1913.

Up until yesterday I had only an index referring to their marriage. By locating the image and not just the index, I can take a look at details myself.  The index I located had the date and place of the marriage, bride & grooms name’s, each of their birthplaces and the FHL film number. 

But, look at the additional and valuable information available on the image4.  Both of their dates of birth, their parent’s names and how many times they’ve been married.  This just gives us further evidence/sources for the story of their lives.

BOGGS_Susan C_marriage to Lewis A Hankins_1909_Indiana 

To put a face to a name, here is a photo of Susan Caroline Boggs,  This headshot was cropped from a group photo.

BOGGS_Susan C_cropped from 1907 photo

If you are connected to any of the ancestors mentioned in this blog post, I’d love to hear from you.  Let’s exchange information.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

TREASURE CHEST THURSDAY ~ Transit Permit for the remains of Wm. A. Boggs (1815-1899) – My 3rd great grandfather

DID MY ANCESTOR DO TIME IN SING SING PRISON? - Susan C. Boggs brother-in-law

Sources: 1 - Ohio, Record of Marriages, 1790-1950, Book 6, no. 1526, film no. 317717, digital image no. 4922498, image no. 90: page 132, Hunter-Boggs, 1859; digital images(www.familysearch.org : accessed 4 Mar 2012);

2 - Indiana - Marriage Collection, 1800-1941," database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 Jul 2010), entry for the marriage of William L. Crosse to Susie C. Hunter; citing Indiana Marriage Collection, 1800-1941, book 16, page 470. Cit. Date: 20 Jul 2010; Name: William L Crosse Spouse Name: Susie C Hunter Marriage Date: 26 Oct 1897 Marriage County: Cass Source Title 1: Cass County, Indiana Source Title 2: Index to Marriage Record 1850-1920 Inclusive Volume Source Title 3: W. P. A. Original Record Located: County Clerk's O Book: 16 OS Page: 470

3 - Indiana Death Index, 1882-1920," database, Family Search (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1947977 : accessed 19 Jun 2018), entry for the death of William Cresse; citing Indiana Death Index, 1882-1920. Rec. Date: 19 Jun 2018.  Cit. Date: 19 Jun 2018; Name:    William L. Creese Event Type:    Death Event Date:    05 May 1906Event Place:    Delphi, Indiana Age:    66Birth Year (Estimated):    1840Gender:    Male Race:    Affiliate Repository Place:    City Health Office, Delphi Source Reference:    The source of this record is the book H-14 on page within the series produced by the Indiana Works Progress Administration; Citing this Record. Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Death Certificates; Year: 1906; Roll: 02, Roll Number: 02.  I also have the image for this record.

4 - Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Death Certificates; Year: 1906; Roll: 02, https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=60716

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

Sunday, November 18, 2018

SUNDAY’S OBITUARYS ~ Henry Croft & Sarah McTaggart Croft–1930 and 1944, Michigan

CROFT_Henry_Obit_TheTimesHerald_21 Jul 1930_pg 5  Croft_Sarah_obit
Today I’m featuring Henry & Sarah Croft.  They are the 2nd great grandparents of my two half nieces.  The Croft’s are direct ancestors of my father’s first wife, Elaine Croft, whom he married in 1936.  My Dad & Elaine had two daughters together (my half sisters, Norlaine & Virginia).

I took another look at the Croft family this week after being contacted by a DNA match to my half niece.  This match believed he was connected via the Croft/Sinclair line and I wanted to help out.

Elaine Croft was the daughter of Alexander Croft and his wife Rachel Sinclair.  Up to this point, I had never gone back further on the Croft line.

I was able to connect Alexander Croft to his parents Henry Croft and Sarah McTaggart.  I was able to locate their marriage record, obituaries, census records and take them back one more generation.
Henry was born 16 Jun 1857 in Ontario, Canada to Peter Croft and Whilemina Young.  He came to the U.S. from Canada, as a young man and his family settled in Michigan.
 
Sarah McTaggart was born 7 Aug 18561 in Govan, Lanarkshire, Scotland.  She came to the area when she was 6 yrs. old.  She married Henry Croft 21 Dec 18822 in Cass, Tuscola, Michigan.
Henry and his family were pioneers in Sheridan Township, Michigan.  Henry was a farmer.

Those towns are located in what is called the thumb of the state of Michigan. 
michigan map  bad axe mi map
Henry & Sarah are both buried in the McTaggart Cemetery in Bad Axe, Huron, Michigan.  You may visit their memorials here, Henry #3612367 and Sarah #36123371.

This post is dedicated to my two half sisters, Norlaine Gould Rankhorn (1942-2001) and Virginia Gould Corbett (1945-2005).  I didn’t meet them til I was in my 30’s and wish we’d had more time together.

Sources: 1. Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950; 2. Michigan, County Marriage Records, 1822-1940

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

Friday, November 16, 2018

ANCESTORS IN THE NEWS ~ Gillen & Brother furniture business 1850’s-1860’s Ohio

Gillen & brother

Today I located several references to Gillen & Brother furniture business on Newspapers.com.  The business is also called Gillen Brother in some of the ads.

These ads were taken out in the Spirit of the Times newspaper in Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio.  This is consistent with where by Gillens lived during that time.

Martin Gillen is my maternal 3rd great granduncle, son of William Gillen & Rachel Frampton.

I know that Martin Gillen (1811-1879) was enumerated as a Furniture Dealer in the 1870 census.  He and his wife Sarah were living in Ironton, Ohio at that time.  Going back to the previous census records; in 1850 Martin & his wife Sarah were living in Upper Township, Lawrence Co., Ohio.  Sadly, his occupation is not listed on that census.  In the 1860 census in Ironton, Lawrence Co., Ohio, Martin is enumerated as a Furniture Merchant.

Copy of GILLEN & Brother cabinets_SpiritoftheTimes_IrontonOH_22 Feb 1853_pg 3
Ad from Feb 1853
Copy centered of GILLEN_and Brother_Messrs_SpiritoftheTimes_13 Sep 1853_pg 2
Ad from Sep1853
Although I don’t see the name of the owner of the Gillen & Brother furniture business in the ads, I am concluding that it was Martin.  Ironton wasn’t that big during those years. 
The question is, was he in business with one of his brothers or not?
  • John, his older brother (1804-1880) was always listed as a Farmer.
  • Isaac F., his younger brother (1823-1907) was also listed as a Farmer in 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880.
  • That leaves Martin’s younger brother Capt. Elijah Fisher Gillen (1822-1896). In 1850 Elijah is listed as a Merchant (what kind of merchant?).  The 1860 census lists him as a Clerk and he’s living in Ironton, Ohio.  In 1870 no occupation is listed and in 1880, Elijah is listed as a Bookkeeper.
Conclusion:  It’s possible that Martin was in business or associated with his brother, Elijah, at some point.  I need to locate business licenses or other newspaper articles that would shed some light on this question.

Martin’s obituary does say he was in the furniture business and retired from it 10 years prior to his death in 1879.

I’d love to hear from you if you are connected to this family.  Or, if you have any further information on the articles I’ve mentioned or the Gillen Furniture Business in Ironton.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

TUESDAY’S TIP–Didn’t find that record in the newspaper? Here’s how to look a little deeper...

This morning I was looking for an obituary on my 2nd great grandaunt’s husband, John R. Tibbits.  He died 3 Oct 1903 in Port Huron, St. Clair, Michigan.

I went to the newspapers.com website and entered his name “John Tibbits” and the year 1903 along with the state, Michigan.

The only two records that showed up were an estate hearing notice and a list of those who had died.  No obituary.

Here’s the results of my first search. 
(Click on any image to enlarge it)
John R Tibbits search results

Here’s the hearing notice.
John R Tibbits estate hearing_annot

This is good information, but I wanted more.

Was there an obituary published?  If so, why isn’t it coming up in my search?

We all know that broad searches result in more hits.  I could narrow it down to the exact month and year.  But, I decided to look for this obituary by going directly to the newspaper itself.  I happen to know that this was then a small newspaper, not like a big city paper with dozens of pages.

I brought up the image that took me directly to the page with the notice of his estate hearing.  The green arrows indicate the entry for John Tibbits.  The red arrow shows you the name of the newspaper, date and page number.

John R Tibbits hearing page annot

The next thing I did was click on the name of the newspaper, to take me directly to that publication.
 
Daily Herald selection annot

Since I had information that John Tibbits died on 3 Oct 1903, I didn’t want that exact date.  Obituaries are usually published a day or several days later.  In this case, there was no option for 4 Oct 1903 (perhaps that day of the publication hasn’t been scanned yet). 
So, I selected 5 Oct 1903.  LOOK!  Only 6 pages!

Daily Herald pages

Such a small newspaper, so let’s begin with page 1.  Although, I generally wouldn’t expect obituaries to appear on the first page.
  
ALWAYS EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!

Right there on page 1, about half way down, in column 5 is a section titled OBITUARY

05 Oct 1903, 1 - The Daily Herald at Newspapers_annot

Would I find John Tibbits’ obituary in that article?  Yes!

Copy (2) of 05 Oct 1903, 1 - The Daily Herald at Newspapers

Here’s a readable close up of John’s obituary.

TIBBITS_John R_obit_cropped_5 Oct 1903_MI

Now we have a little more information than we got from the death notice, which only gave his name and age.  Or, the estate hearing notice, which only gave his name and the date of the hearing in 1903.

I know that John’s wife, Olive Parmelia Hart Tibbits did outlive him (she died in 1915).  And I know that he is buried in Armada, Macomb, Michigan at Rose Hill Cemetery, FindAGrave #32188509.  I’ve been to that cemetery and taken photos of headstones, including his.

REMEMBER – Just because you don’t find what you’re looking for on your first or second or tenth try, doesn’t mean it’s not there.  Try to think of others ways you can search. 

I hope this tip has been helpful.  I’d love to hear how you may have located a record by thinking outside the box.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

THOSE PLACED THURSDAY - Armada, Michigan & Rose Hill Cemetery

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl
Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

Sunday, November 4, 2018

SUNDAY’S OBITUARY ~ Thomas W. Davis (1873-1952) –husband of Gladys Olive Grout

DAVIS_Thomas W_obit_13 Apr 1952_SanDiegoUnion_CA
Published in the San Diego Union 13 Apr 1952, page 9

I’m always surprised when I find a San Diego connection among my ancestors.  Over the years, I’ve found the majority of them stayed in the Midwest or on the east coast.

This week I located the obituary of Thomas W. Davis, who was living in San Diego at the time of his death.

TRANSCRIPTION:  
Thomas W. Davis
Funeral services will be held at 2 tomorrow afternoon in La Jolla Mortuary under auspices of La Jolla Masonic Lodge for Thomas W. Davis, 79, retired railroad agent and telegraph operator.  He died yesterday at his home, 844 Archer St., Pacific Beach.
For more than 50 years he was employed by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.  He was a member of the Order of Railroad Trainmen and the Masonic Lodge.
Survivors include his wife, Gladys Davis, a brother and a niece both of Cuyahoga Falls, O.  Burial will be in the family plot in Mount Hope Cemetery.


Thomas was married to Gladys Olive Grout, daughter of Bradley B. Grout and Nellie E. Tibbits. This makes Gladys my 2nd cousin twice removed.  I had located her death record, also in San Diego and that lead me to search for the death record and obituary for her husband Thomas.

Thomas was born 21 Dec 1873 in Glencoe, Belmont, Ohio to Samuel Davis & Mary Jane Warren.  He spent over 50 years working for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, as an agent and telegraph operator.  I find that Thomas and Gladys were still living in Ohio in the 1940 census.  There move to San Diego took place between then and his death in 1952.
 
It looks like they came west after his retirement?  The address given in the obituary is 844 Archer St., in Pacific Beach (a community here in San Diego).  It must have been quite a change for he and Gladys, having lived in the colder climates all their lives.  I hope they enjoyed it here.

Using Google maps you can see they were living just a few blocks from the ocean.  Having been in the area many times, I can attest to how beautiful it is.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)
844 Archer st map
Screenshot courtesy of Google Maps©
844 Archer st
Screenshot courtesy of Google Maps©
I looked in the city directory listings for San Diego and the first listing for Thomas & Gladys is in 1950.  They were living at the same address on Archer St.
 
On Genealogy Bank I ran the address, 844 Archer and found an article about Thomas having been struck by a car on 23 Feb 1951.  He was a pedestrian and sustained critical head and internal injuries.  I wonder if the injuries he sustained had anything to do with his death the following year?  I don’t have his death certificate, so I don’t have a specific cause of death, at this time.

Here’s the article:

DAVIS_Thos struck by car
Published in the San Diego Union 24 Feb 1951, page 6


































Gladys stayed in their home on Archer St. for a few years, but later moved to different addresses nearby, according to city directory listings.  She died in San Diego 25 Nov 1985 at the age of 93.

Thomas and Gladys are both buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery here in San Diego.  Thomas #112364040 and Gladys #112364020.

All four of my husband’s grandparents are buried at the same cemetery, so I’ve been there a time or two.  Next time I go, I’ll have to visit the Davis gravesites.  There are no headstone photos on FindAGrave, so I wonder if they have headstones or not?  Perhaps they just need to be photographed.  I have submitted a photo request as well as some edits to enhance their memorials.
 
If you are related to the Davis or Grout family, I’d love to hear from you. 

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl
Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION