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

Screen shot of the Stephen & Sarah Wilson family from my Legacy database

Yesterday I wrote about my maternal 3rd great grandaunt, Sarah Gillen.  She was married to Stephen Wilson on 24 May 1872 in Lawrence Co., Ohio.  The couple was married for 44 years, 4 months and 2 days, until his death in 1871.

Stephens’s obituary was published in the Ironton Register on 27 Sep 1871.  The text of this obituary, as well as Sarah’s were shared with me on The Lawrence Register Facebook page.  It’s an active group and many of us in the group have become friends over the past 12+ years. I encourage all of you to join and participate in Facebook groups in areas you are researching.

Text of Stephen Wilson’s obituary

Died--Wilson--Burlington, on the 26th inst. Mr. Steven Wilson, aged about 67 years. Mr. Wilson has been a resident of Burlington, in this county, for more than 34 years and was engaged in merchandising at the same spot where he died. He leaves a large circle of acquaintances, relatives and friends to mourn his departure.

Text of Sarah Gillen Wilson’s obituary

Ironton Register June 20, 1878 Mrs. Sarah Wilson, the mother of Mrs. Jona Morris and Dr. D.C. Wilson died at the residence of the former, last Saturday, in her 70th year. The remains were taken to Burlington for burial.

 Sometimes the published notice of a death contains very little information about the deceased.  These two are examples of that.  While I’m always grateful for anything that gives me confirmation that someone died, I always hope for those obituaries that contain their life story, places the deceased was born, lived and died, all family members names, where the deceased was buried and anything else that helps us in our research.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

MILTARY MONDAY ~ Civil War Pension File–Private John Gillen–Killed in Action 31 Dec 1862 at the Battle of Stones River

SEPIA SATURDAY ~ WAR and PEACE–Corp. Glenn C. Gillen–Killed in Action WW I

A MOTHER’S PILGRIMAGE ~ Bessie Cowen Gillen's visit to the grave of Glenn C. Gillen ~ Killed in action in World War I

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

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

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?



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

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY ~ Isaac Frampton Gillen & Lennie Kite Gillen–Rome Proctorville Cemetery, Lawrence Co. Ohio

Funny how we go back to files we have and turn up new members in our family.  This happened to me today when I was reviewing photos I’d taken during my trip to Lawrence County, Ohio, back in July 2012.  Yup, six years ago.

Maybe it’s just me who is guilty of this…..but.  I have taken several genealogy trips, been to many cemeteries, libraries (including 3 trips to the FHL) and courthouses and come away with hundreds of digital photos.
 
When I get home I very quickly arrange them all in digital folders for review at a later time.

When does that later time occur?  Darn good question I would say.  Sometimes right away and sometimes six years later.

Today I was specifically going through my folder for Rome Proctorville Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio.

At the same time I was reviewing the images on the FindAGrave site for the cemetery.  I wanted to match up memorials with my photos.  If there was already a photo, great.  If not, I could add it.  What I discovered was no memorial for two headstones I’d photographed, Isaac Gillen and Lonnie Gillen.  Isaac was in my database, but with only a birth year. Lennie wasn’t there at all.

Here’s what I discovered today.

Isaac Frampton Gillen is my 2nd cousin 3 times removed and Lennie/Lenie Kite was his wife.

Here is how we are connected via our common ancestors, William Gillen & Rachel Frampton, who are my 4th great grandparents.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)


I’m still researching this couple.  I’ve learned that they were married 15 Oct 1910 in Lawrence Co., Ohio.  I located their marriage record on familysearch.org.
 
You can see we have the couple’s names, ages and their parents names.  I also see a statement from Isaac’s father, K. W. Gillen that he gives consent to the marriage.  I see that Isaac is 20 years old and his soon to be spouse is 22.  Why would they need consent?  Was the age of consent 21 years?  Therefore, making Isaac too young to marry without consent from his parents?  Whatever, the reason it appears, from records, that this couple stayed married at least through the 1956 city directory listing I found.



Isaac worked as a Farmer in every record I’ve located so far.  He served in the Army from 29 Aug 1918 to 19 Dec 1918.  When he registered for the draft in 1917 he was married with one child.  He is listed as tall, medium build, brown hair and brown eyes, with no scars or deformities.

I have located the 1920, 1930 & 1940 census records for this couple.  There is no child listed with them on any of those records.  I’ve conducted an extensive search on both Ancestry.com and Family Search for any record of a birth to this couple and have located nothing. 

The last record I can locate for the couple is a 1956 city directory from Huntington, Cabell, West Virginia.

I have not located their obituaries either on newspapers.com, genealogy bank or a Google search. 

You can visit the memorials I created for them here #190530539 and #190530388.

If you have additional information about this couple or their family, I’d love to hear from you.  Surely there are photos of Isaac and Lennie out there somewhere.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

MY FIRST CIVIL WAR PENSION FILE ~ William Lunsford & his widow Nancy–Lawrence Co., Ohio–What now?

In the 13+ years I’ve been researching, I’ve never ordered or even seen a Civil War Pension File.  Well, I’ve seen images of some of them on various websites, but never seen one in it’s entirety.  And, certainly not for one of my ancestors.  So, this was an exciting moment for me.

I know that they can be full of family connections, history and other important information.
 
In this case it was the Civil War pension file for my 3rd great granduncle, William Lunsford, born 16 Mar 1816 in Mason, Warren, Ohio.  He married Nancy Massie in Sep 1836 in Ohio.  They had 12 known children.  William served in the Civil War from 1861-1864 in Company H, 9th West Virginia Infantry.  William Lunsford died at the National Home for Disabled Soldiers  in Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio on 20 May 1887.  Cause of death – Softening of the brain.

I had located a Pension Index cards several years ago for both William, who applied before his death, and Nancy, who applied after his death.

You can locate indexes to the Civil War Pension files at several websites.  However, the records themselves are not yet scanned and available.

General Index to Pension Files 1861-1934: NARA TO288

United States Civil War Widows and Other Dependents Pension Files, 1861-1934

                                                         Here are the two pension index cards I located:

Because I belong to a Facebook page called The Lawrence Register, I have met many descendants of my ancestors.  It’s an extremely active group.  I’ve been back to Lawrence County, Ohio and met some of those Facebook friends in person.
 
One “cousin” I met was Randy.  We believed we might be related via our Lunsford line.  However, during the many years we have communicated we have pondered an additional marriage for William Lunsford, prior to Nancy Massie.  A recent DNA test by Randy has proven that we have no actual blood connection.  This is the beauty of DNA testing.  It can really assist you in your research, but that’s a discussion for another post.
 
P.S.  Randy and I have decided to remain virtual cousins anyway.

I was more anxious than ever to get the pension file for William Lunsford and discover what it would say about marriages, children etc.

One of my contacts from another Facebook group Detroit Genealogy, has been so busy pulling documents from the National Archives that she has moved from Detroit to Maryland.  She is now closer than ever to the archives.  Her name is Deidre Erin Denton and she can be found at Twisted Twigs on Gnarled Branches Genealogy.  By ordering your pension file from Deidre you save money and time.

The website for ordering pension files directly from the National Archives is Veteran Service Records

I ordered the file through Deidre’s service and was not disappointed.  In fact, I was so happy that I’ve ordered a second file for another ancestor.

This file for William contains 174 pages!!!

What will it tell me?  I can’t wait to find out.
 
STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT POST ABOUT THE PENSION FILE AND WHAT I LEARNED FROM IT

DISLCAIMER – I make no money nor benefit in any way from the work that Deidre Denton does regarding pulling files at the National Archives.  I make no guarantee about her work. The opinons expressed here are strictly my own.

Do you have any pension files for your ancestors?
 
OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

THE CIVIL WAR - HOW OUR COUNTRY DEALT WITH THE AFTERMATH

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY - Civil War Soldier Headstones

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2016   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

FOLLOW UP FRIDAY ~ The PROBABLE reason John Lunsford gave only $5 to his daughter, Nancy Boggs in his will

In my post this past Monday about the probate record for John Lunsford, I questioned why he would give land and/or several hundred dollars to some of his 16 children, and only $5 to his son, William and my direct ancestor, his daughter, Nancy.   You can read my post here. 

Well, YIPPEE!  Thanks to my cousin Randy, I now know the probable reason for the small amount to Nancy.  John had sold, for only $100, several pieces of land to Nancy & her husband, Wm. A. Boggs, in 1852.  That was 6 years prior to the writing of his will.
  
Here is the actual deed, showing the transfer of those parcels of land.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT) 
 


When I first saw this posted on our Lawrence Register Facebook group by my cousin, Randy, I was jumping for joy.  I shared the good news with my brother, John.  He is also a genealogist, and it’s fun for us to go on this journey, with our ancestors, together.  John and I both transcribed the land document.  It’s advantageous to have two people do the transcription because then you can compare and often figure out the difficult to read words.

Below are the transcriptions from both of us.

MY TRANSCRIPTION OF THE DEED

JOHN'S TRANSCRIPTION OF THE DEED

I discovered there was more to this document on a second page and added it to my transcription.  Our versions are very similar.  It looks like John had an easier time reading a couple of the words than I did and I indicated those with underlines.
 
You can access the Lawrence County, Ohio deeds by going to the Lawrence Co. Recorder website - CLICK HERE.  Prior to using the Lawrence County Recorder website you might want to use the index to the deeds, so wonderfully prepared for us by a member of the Lawrence Register Facebook group.  Thank you Martha!  You can access that index HERE

What a wonderful resource those deeds are.

We often don’t find answers as to why our ancestors did one thing or another.  But, in this case, I feel like we have a pretty good idea.  Now, to find out why his son, William, only received $5 in the will.  Is there another land transaction out there?

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

AMANUENSIS MONDAY ~ William Penn Conveys Land to my Ancestor, William Frampton, in 1683

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2016   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY ~ John Russell 1743-1822 ~ Lawrence County, Ohio

PHOTO COURTESY OF ROBERT WISEMAN

John Russell – 15 Dec 1743 to 28 Nov 1822

Age about 79 years

John Russell  is my 3rd great grandaunt’s husband’s father.  Not a blood relation or real close relative.  However, he just happens to be the person I was looking at today in my family tree.  He is buried, along with his wife, Patience, in Russell Cemetery, Aid, Lawrence County, Ohio.

He married first Susannah Day, unknown date, and they had 6 known children: James, John, Lawrence, Rachel, Esther and Elizabeth.  Next he married Patience Piles (15 Feb 1773 to 19 Sep 1852) – to them were born Jemima, Anne, Jane, Armilda, Thomas, Manoah Bostic, Samuel, Jeremiah, Sanders, Francis and James.

It is their son, Thomas, who married my 3rd great grandaunt, Lucinda Boggs.

I have a LOT of ancestors from the Lawrence County, Ohio area.  Many of their descendants are members of The Lawrence Register Facebook page.  We communicate and share information all the time.  They are a wonderful group of people.

 

TIP:  I encourage every researcher to take advantage of the groups on Facebook for the areas where your ancestors lived.  Some are more active than others.  But, you will find connections and very helpful people in most of them.  At least that has been my experience.

Now, time to explore a little more about this Russell family and their descendants.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

A GREAT DISCOVERY - Ask for Help and You Just Might Get It!

MYSTERY MONDAY - Who's Your Daddy?  Brick Wall Post #3 - Rev. Isaac C. Hunter 1798-1842

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2016   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

A GREAT DISCOVERY YESTERDAY–ASK FOR HELP AND YOU MAY GET IT

Yesterday I decided to work on a particular branch of the family, the BOGGS line.  I began by looking at my 2nd great grandmother, Susan Caroline Boggs 1842-1913.  She’s the nearest Boggs to me, so it seemed a good place to begin.  I already know a lot about her, dates of birth & death, burial location, three marriages, nine children etc.  And have documentation for most of that information.

Here is a screen shot of the family.

Family Group Record for James Gillen Hunter

What do you suppose is the first thing I do?

I look over at her husband, my 2nd great grandfather, James Gillen HUNTER and see that I still don’t have a location for his death or his burial. 

I checked the sources I have attached to James and here is what I see.



You can see that my source for his death date is a handwritten family tree from my grandmother, Florence Bowden Milne.  That’s it.  That’s all I have for any reference to his death.  

NOTE:  My grandmother, Florence Bowden Milne, who is mentioned often in this blog, was also a genealogist.  She kept a LOT of records on the family.  We have found very few errors in her records.  She died in 1986.  Wouldn’t she just love to be here now and have all the online resources that we all have?

Here is a screenshot of her reference to James Gillen Hunter on her handwritten family tree.  You can clearly see she recorded his death date as 25 Aug 1884.



After reviewing this information, and for what reason, I don’t know, I clicked on his parents, Rev. Isaac C. Hunter & Emily Gillen.  They are my 3rd great grandparents.  

What do I see when I look at Emily Gillen?  

No date of death or burial location.  

Family Group Record for Emily Gillen

This lack of information on both Emily Gillen & James Gillen Hunter goes back a good 8-9 years.  I have hunted and I have searched, again and again.  Because these are my direct line ancestors it is very important to me to find out as much as I can about them.  

WHAT SHOULD I DO NEXT?  WHAT DID I DO NEXT?

• I looked at all sources I had for Emily Gillen. 

• I reviewed those sources, just like I reviewed the sources for James Gillen Hunter.
• I conducted another search on both Ancestry.com and Family Search.  Nothing new found.
• What I didn’t do were any Google searches.  NOTE:  I should have, and that is a mistake.
• I decide that my next best move is to put this out there to my fellow researchers on a particular Facebook group I belong to.

TIP:  Facebook is a wonderful source for information and collaboration.  If you haven’t yet discovered the value of joining genealogy groups on the site, I urge you to do so.  You can find the groups by doing a search on Facebook for “genealogy,” entering the name of various counties or states you are researching, or find out from other genealogists how they use Facebook to assist their research.  I have been using the site for 6-7 years now for just that purpose.  Should that be a future post on my blog?  How to use Facebook?  Or do all of you already know?  I do know my readers are very smart.

• I belong to several county specific groups on Facebook.  In this case I decided to post my “problem” on The Lawrence Register group (Lawrence County, Ohio) for both James Hunter and Emily Gillen. And on the Boyd County, Kentucky Genealogy & History group for James only, as he was living in that county in 1880.

Here is the post I put on those group pages yesterday.

This post went on The Lawrence Register group page as both James Hunter & Emily Gillen lived in Lawrence County, Ohio at one time or another.

Problem: I need to find a death record and/or burial location for two people that I've been researching for 10 years. I've searched every kind of way on familysearch and Ancestry. No shaky leaves on Ancestry for them either. Hoping maybe someone out there can help. Here's the two that I need:
Emily/Emilia GILLEN born about 1810 in PA died after 1870 (last census I have for her) and she was in Illinois then. She was in Ohio in 1850 & 1860. First married Rev. Isaac C. HUNTER 1828 in Lawr Co. he died, then she married David POPE in 1846 in Columbus, OH (don't know what became of him), then she married Joel STOVER in 1858 in Lawr Co. He died after 1870 - nothing on him after that.

Second person - same problem - can't locate any death or burial records.

James Gillen HUNTER (son of the above Emily & her first husband), he was born 1832 in Ohio and died 25 Aug 1884. Where did he die? Where is he buried? He lived in Lawrence Co and then lastely in Covington, KY.
I've got census records, Civil War Draft Reg., marriage records etc. but no death or burial records for these two. Any suggestions, ideas or help welcome. Thanks in advance.

For the post on the Boyd County, Kentucky site I took out the information about Emily and only posted for James Hunter as he was the one who lived there.

These posts were put on the site at about noon yesterday, 17 Jan 2014.  I immediately began to get remarks from those I have known on the Lawrence Register site for many years.  A couple of people wished me luck.  Always good to know your friends are pulling for you.  But, then, within an hour of my post comes an entry from my cousin, Amy (a 4th cousin, once removed) who lives over in Denmark.  We have never met in person, but have been exchanging information online for several years.  She is a very good researcher and we have enjoyed sharing with one another.

This is what she wrote:
“Emily died on 6 Dec 1887 and is buried in Old Bethel Cemetery, Belmont, Wabash County, Illinois.”

What?  Where did this information come from?  Amy swears she told me this last year, but I don’t remember ever hearing it.  Was I busy at the time?  Did I miss her message?  I don't know.

The next entry from Amy was a link to Interment.net for Old Bethel Cemetery. (How nice was that?)



I immediately went to the site and scrolled down the page to the letter S.  I knew that Emily was married 3 times and her last husband’s name was Joel STOVER.  I certainly had searched under that name many times.  

Lo and behold here is what I found.



Can you see me doing my genealogy happy dance? 



Here is how Emily’s information on the Family View looks now.  Much better, don’t you think?



I still don’t have a death date or burial location for James Gillen Hunter.  But, that doesn’t mean I won’t find it or have someone share it with me.

I have created a memorial on FindAGrave.com for Emily (memorial #123610787) and requested a picture of her headstone, if there is one.

Next, I will try to locate a death certificate or record online, or send for one, so that I can verify the information posted on the cemetery website.

Now you know the story of how I found out when my 3rd great grandmother died and where she is buried.

Oh, and let’s review.  What was my original mission when I started yesterday?

       To research my Boggs line

Isn’t it funny how our paths can go off in a different direction?  Sometimes I feel bad about that and think that I’m not focused enough and should try to stay with my “mission.”  

LESSON LEARNED:  You never know where that other path may lead or what you will find.  As long as it ends with us knowing more about our ancestor than when we started, then it’s all worthwhile.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall