TOMBSTONE TUESDAY – Rachel Frampton, my 4th great grandmother

Courtesy of Fran Wheeler, used with permission

This is another story of never giving up and don’t stop looking.

My maternal 4^th great grandmother, Rachel Frampton, died 1 Nov 1855, probably in Lawrence County, Ohio. 

I had never located her place of burial.  I suspected she may have been buried in the same cemetery as her husband, William Gillen, but had no proof of that.  He is buried in Burlington Green Lawn Cemetery in Lawrence Co., Ohio.  I have a total of 43 ancestors buried in this cemetery.  Perhaps more, because there are probably some I haven’t learned of yet.

This is a lovely old cemetery.  I was able to visit back in 2012, but didn’t have the same base of knowledge on these ancestors that I do now.  I found a few headstones in this old cemetery, but not hers.  Was it buried?  Or did I miss it?  I don’t know.  There is no sexton nor any cemetery office to check with.

The entrance to Burlington Green Lawn Cemetery
and a partial view of the grounds

A couple of days ago I received an email saying that one of my edits to a FindAGrave memorial at that same cemetery, had been approved.  When I receive those emails I always check the memorial and make a follow up note in my Legacy program that the edit was completed.

While on the site I decided to check Green Lawn Cemetery (also known as Burlington Green Lawn Cemetery) for any other Gillen’s.  Perhaps I had missed some or there may have been new ones added.

To my complete surprise and delight, up popped a memorial for my Rachel Frampton Gillen.  AND……ta da!  There was a photo of her headstone.

The wonderful volunteer who took the photo and created the memorial also gave permission to use her photo.  I sent her a message thanking her.  Any time a volunteer takes a photo or creates a memorial for my family, I send them a thank you message.

You may visit Rachel’s memorial here #230233403.

She is indeed, buried at the same cemetery as her husband, William Gillen who had died in 1841.

Today’s Tip – Always keep checking back on various websites you use.  New information, documents, photos and in this case, memorials are always being added.

I hope you’ve had similar discoveries and will continue to have more.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2023   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

  

SUNDAY’S OBITUARY ~ Amanda D. Adams (1873-1937) wife of Martin Hunter Gillen of Chesapeake, Ohio

When I decided to write a Sunday’s Obituary post, I thought I would check my Legacy file and see just how many obituaries I had.  How many have I written about?

I was shocked to find that I have 449 obituaries. WOW!  I never thought I’d collected, saved and recorded that many over the years. I didn’t count how many I’d written about because I knew it was not even close to that number.  Guess I better get busy.

I began with the “A’s” and today I’m writing about the wife of a maternal 1st cousin, four times removed, Amanda Adams. My 4th great grandparents, William GILLEN & Rachel FRAMPTON are common ancestors for her husband, Martin Hunter Gillen & myself.

Here is the transcription of her obituary.

MRS. AMANDA GILLEN DIES AT HER HOME IN CHESAPEAKE

  Mrs. Amanda D. Gillen, widow of the late Hunter Gillen and mother of Hugh Gillen of the Ford Motor Sales Company of Chesapeake, died this morning at 11:30 o’clock at her home in Chesapeake.

   Mrs. Gillen had been in failing health for several years but her condition did not become critical until a few days ago. During her illness the members of her family were constantly at her bedside and she received every attention that her loved ones could give but from the first it was apparent that she was making no progress against her illness and the end came this morning.

   Mrs. Gillen was born and spent her entire life in Chesapeake and was widely known through that section of the county. She was a kindly and charitable woman whose principal interests in life were centered in her family and friends and to them she was devotedly faithful. She was a zealous member of the Christian church in Chesapeake.

   Mrs. Gillen was preceded in death by one son, Garland, in 1932 and her husband died in 1935. She is survived by one son, Hugh Gillen and the following brothers and sisters: Mart Adams, Chesapeake; Elizabeth Adams who resided with her; Mrs. Sarah Lake of Huntington and Mrs. Laura Brammer of Bradrick. Four grandchildren also survive: Bobbie, Jerry Taylor, Dilly and Patty Gillen, all of Chesapeake.

  The funeral arrangements had not been completed today and will be announced later. Burial will be in Rome cemetery. Mrs. Gillen’s body will remain at her home and the services will be held there.

 

Amanda D. Adams is the daughter of Joseph Adams & Frances Whitehead. Here’s a blog post I wrote about the Adams family Lawrence County, Ohio SURNAME SATURDAY–Adams of Lawrence County, Ohio 

Amanda was born in Mar 1873 in Lawrence County, Ohio.  When she was 26 years old on 3 Dec 1899, she married Martin Hunter Gillen. Martin who went by his middle name “Hunter” was born Jan 1873, also in Lawrence County, Ohio, to parents Isaac Fisher Gillen & Amy “Emma” Kimball.

Amanda & Hunter had 2 sons, Hugh Loder Gillen & Garland A. Gillen. In 1900, shortly after their marriage, Hunter worked as a dry goods clerk.  By 1930 he was a co-proprietor at a Ford dealership, with his sons.

Amanda & Hunter were married for 35 years prior to his death in 1935. Amanda died two years later on 18 Jan 1937.  That is certainly a nice obituary write up about her.  Sounds like she was beloved by her family and the Chesapeake area.

Both Amanda & Hunter are buried at Rome Proctorville Cemetery in Proctorville, Lawrence, Ohio.  I have been to their gravesites. You can visit their memorials here – Amanda #31015043 and Hunter #66569356

If you find you are connected with this family, I’d love to hear from you.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2021   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SURNAME SATURDAY ~ LUNSFORD–Basil Lunsford & Mahala Taylor’s children– Locating the correct person and adding another child–Here’s what I found

According to Legacy I have 179 people who carry the surname LUNSFORD.  This is a direct line for me.  Nancy Delilah Lunsford (1819-1895), is my maternal 3rd great grandmother.  She married William Allen BOGGS (1815-1899) and they had 5 children.

The Lunsfords were a prolific family and many of them had as many as 16 children.  No surprise that I have lots of them in my database.

Today I want to concentrate on Basil Lunsford & Mahala TAYLOR who married 14 Nov 1872 in Ironton, Lawrence, Ohio.  I have 11 children born to them.  Twins Ada & Ida born 1874, Lillie O. born abt 1878, Arabelle born 1880, Charles Azra born 1882, Dennison born 1884, Pauline born 1887, Baby boy born 1888, Lorena born 1889, Chas. Emmit born 1892 and Hazel born 1894.

(Click on any image to enlarge it)

Basil & Mahala Lunsford's family - Legacy screenshot

Of those 11 children who would be my 2nd cousins 3 times removed, I have not done much research.  Only a few of them have birth and death dates and spouses and children. 

What can I find today?  I will spend an hour online and reviewing the Lawrence County Ohio History book to see what I can learn. Note – This process took me more like 2 hours.

I began with the first children I have born to this couple, Ada, who was born 11 Feb 1874 and had a twin sister, Ida.  I know a lot about her twin, Ida, but nothing about Ada. Did she live to adulthood, marry or have children?

I looked at her hints on Ancestry and located an obituary.  This is for an ADDIE Weaver, maiden name Lunsford, child of Basil & Mahala Lunsford.  Addie could certainly be a nickname for Ada, right?  The parents are correct, as is the maiden name.

TIP – As most of you know beginning your research with an obituary, if it is a complete one, can really help your research efforts.  You can find all kinds of family names and connections. 

In this case, all I had for Ada Lunsford was her date of birth, which I’d located on an Ohio birth register – see this post TREASURE CHEST THURSDAY ~ BIRTH RECORDS (twins) and others on one register page

But…..wait!  This obituary gives a birthdate for Addie as 2 Sep 1876.  The parents names are correct and the place of birth fits with the family information.  But, the birthdate conflicts with the birth record I have for the twins, Ada & Ida, born 11 Feb 1874.  Could the date in the obituary be wrong?  Would there have been two daughters with names so similar?

NOTE – we do find wrong dates on all sorts of records from birth to death to headstones.  Certainly a misprint or wrong information in an obituary is nothing new.  However, with it being the wrong month, day and year I have to investigate.

What do I find, but an 1880 census for Basil & Mahala Lunsford with their children: Twin girls, Ida & Ada, age 6 and ADDIE age 3 along with Lillie age 2 and Arabelle age 7 months. 

This means there was a 12th child born to Basil & Mahala, that I had no record of.  The obituary I’ve located would appear to be for this child, NOT Ada.

This child, Addie, did marry a John Weaver on 31 Jan 1898.  There are many online records for this couple.

Back to square one with Ada.  Let's take a look in Legacy and see if I have any previous research notes.

Yes, I do.  I review my research notes for Ada, dated 27 Oct 2017.  I appears that I had located a marriage record to a Michael G. Keller.  I had noted “is this the correct marriage for her?”  Apparently, I hadn’t followed up on that question.  Let’s investigate.

First – here is the index for the marriage record of Ada Lunsford & Michael Keller on 17 Apr 1897

Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993
Name:    Ada Lunsford
Gender: Female
Marriage Date: 17 Apr 1897
Marriage Place: Lawrence, Ohio, USA
Spouse: Michael G. Keller
Film Number:    000317722

Now let’s try to find them in the 1900 census.  Found it!  Here’s Ada with her husband Mike Keller and two children.

Name:    Mike Keller
Age:    26
Birth Date:    1874
Birthplace:    Ohio, USA
Home in 1900:    Aid, Lawrence, Ohio
Sheet Number:    5
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation:    50
Family Number:    80
Race:    White
Gender:    Male
Relation to Head of House:    Head
Marital status:    Married
Spouse's Name:    Ada Keller
Marriage Year:    1897
Years Married:    3
Father's Birthplace:    Ohio, USA
Mother's Birthplace:    Ohio, USA
Occupation:    Farmer
Can Read:    Yes
Can Write:    Yes
Can Speak English:    Yes
House Owned or Rented:    Rent
Farm or House:    F
Neighbors:    View others on page
Household Members:   
Name    Age
Mike Keller     26
Ada Keller     27
Beatrice Keller       2
Bessie Keller    7/12

Now I’ll follow this family forward and make certain this is our Ada Lunsford. 

1910 census – found

1920 census – found

1930 census – found

1940 census – found (she is widowed and living with her son, Rex)

In all of the above census records (click on them to view on Ancestry), Ada is the wife of Mike Keller and her children are Beatrice, born 1899, Bessie, born Oct 1899 and Rex, born 1908.

Ada Keller is listed as the mother of Rex Keller on his World War II Draft Registration card.

Here is a screenshot of Ada Keller in the Ohio death index.  It's difficult to read this.  But, it says: Keller, Ada, Ironton, County code is 441, Volume 10817, certificate number 62973, month, day and year 10 21 4 (which indicates 21 Oct 1944)

 

And last, I have located the FindAGrave records for both Ada & her husband Mike Keller.  They are both buried in Fairview Baptist Cemetery in Wilgus, Lawrence, Ohio.  Ada’s memorial #95465460 and Mike’s memorial #95465482.

Headstone photos courtesy of Carl Murdock

In conclusion, I believe I have found the records that give an outline of Ada’s life.  It’s nice to know that both she and her twin, Ida, lived well into adulthood, married and had children.

I would very much like to see pictures of twins, Ida & Ada and others from this family. 

If you are descended from or connected to anyone mentioned in this post, please contact me.  I’d love to exchange information.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

MILITARY MONDAY ~ Sgt. Presley Lunsford - Killed in Action during the Civil War – 1864

WEDDING WEDNESDAY ~ Marriage of my 6th great grandparents–William Lunsford & Rebeckah Basye in 1745

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2020   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

WEDNESDAY’S CHILD ~ The stillborn infant daughter of Thomas W. Nichols and his wife Julia Gertrude Gillen - 1889

I found this record yesterday while looking at my Gillen clan.
 
Julia Gertrude Gillen born 20 Oct 1864 in Ohio (probably Lawrence County), was the daughter of Isaac Fisher Gillen and Amy “Emma” Kimball.  She was the 7th child, 4th girl born to this couple.

When Julia was 24 she married Thomas W. Nichols who was about 22 years old.  They married on 17 Jan 1889 in Lawrence County, Ohio.
 
Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993
Name:     Julia G. Gillen
Gender:     Female
Marriage Date:     17 Jan 1889
Marriage Place:     Lawrence, Ohio, USA
Spouse:     Thomas W. Nichols
Film Number:     000317721

The next record I found was a Kentucky Death record for an infant girl who was born 12 Nov 1889.  She was full term, but stillborn.  Her parents are clearly listed as Mrs. Julie G. Nichols and Mr. T. W. Nichols.

 

It must have been devastating for this young, newly married couple to lose, what was probably,  their first child.  We all know the planning, anticipation and joy that goes on when a baby is expected.

The death record says the little girl is buried in Linden Grove Cemetery, Covington, Kenton, Kentucky.  I checked FindAGrave.com and did not locate a memorial, so I created one for her.  You may visit her memorial here #200984175.

View of Linden Grove Cemetery - Photo courtesy of David M. Habben

Very sadly, I’ve discovered that this little infant’s mother, Julia, died just 5 months later on 17 Apr 1890.  She was only 25 years old.  She is buried at Union Hill Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio and her memorial is #17847835.

I have located a probate record naming her husband Thomas as the executor. However, I have not located a death record or obituary. 
Anyone reading this who has knowledge of how Julia died, please get in touch.



Happy hunting
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

AMANUENSIS MONDAY ~ The will of Stephen Wilson of Lawrenc Co., Ohio - 1871

Will of Stephen Wilson

Lawrence County Probate Court Monday October 2^nd AD 1871.

Pleas in the Probate Court in and for the county of Lawrence and State of Ohio, before Peras R. Polley, Judge of said court, at a session thereof, held in Ironton, on the second day of October in the year Eighteen hundred and seventy one.

       Be it remembered that on the second day of October in the year one thousand and eight hundred and seventy one; There was produced in open court, for the Probate, an instrument of writing purporting to be the last will and testament of Stephen Wilson, late of said Lawrence County, deceased, which will reads in the words and figures following:

       In the name of the Benevolent Father of all and State of Ohio, do make and publish this my last will and testament.

Item 1^st It is my will and devise that the store in Burlington, owned by my son John G. Wilson and myself, in equal proportions, and now carried on in the name of S. Wilson & Son, be continued after my death in the same manner that the business is now conducted, and that my wife Sarah Wilson, to own the interest in said store and business owned by me at the time of my death, and shall receive benefits and profits arising from said business in the same manner, and to the same extent that I could were I then living.

Item 2^nd I devise and bequeath to my said son John G. Wilson, the farm with all the privileges and immunities thereto belonging situate immediately above Burlington, and known as the Bryan and Wilson farm containing fourteen and one half acres more or less.

Item 3^rd I devise and bequeath to my son, Robert S. Wilson, the farm of Solada Creek heretofore conveyed to him by John Ballard, now in his possession and known as the Ballard farm containing two hundred acres more or less together with a forty four acre lot adjoining the same and known as the Old Billy McKee place. The last above mentioned devise is made on condition that my said son Robert S. Wilson, will pay to my son DeWit Clinton Wilson the sum of Five hundred dollars within five years from the date probate of this will, without interest. 

 

Item 4^th I devise and bequeath to my said son DeWit Clinton Wilson, one thousand dollars in Bank Stock owned by me in the Second National Bank of Ironton, together with all the recover___ funds belonging thereto with all the accruing profits belonging to and growing out of same.

Item 5^th I devise and bequeath to my daughter Emila Jane Morris, three thousand dollars to be paid by my executor herein after named out of the residue of my estate not herein above devised in instalments of not less than five hundred dollars per annum without interest.

Item 6^th I devise and bequeath to my beloved wife Sarah Wilson all the residue of my estate Real and Personal not hereinbefore devised, after payment of my just debts and funeral expenses to hold as her own property during her natural life; and after her death all of the property and effects both real and personal above devised to my said wife Sarah Wilson, to be equally divided between all my said children, or their heirs and survivors according to the law of the State of Ohio.

Item 7^th I do hereby nominate and appoint my said wife Sarah Wilson, and my said son John G. Wilson, Executors of this my last will and testament hereby authorizing them to compromise, adjust release and discharge, in such manner as they may deem proper, the debts and claims due me.  I do also authorize and empower them, if it shall become necessary in order to pay my debts, to sell by private sale or in such manner and upon such terms of credit or otherwise as they may think proper all or any part of my real estate, leaving the lands herein before devised as the last, and to execute and acknowledge deeds therefor in fee simple.  I do hereby revoke all former wills by me made.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 16^th day of August in the year 1871

Signed and acknowledged by said Stephen Wilson as his last willand testament in our presence, and signed by us in his presence.

Elias Nigh

George W. Thompson

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

SUNDAY’S OBITUARY ~ Following yesterday’s post–Here are the obituaries for Stephen Wilson (1803-1871) and his wife Sarah Gillen Wilson (1808-1878)  

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION