Category: Waters

X Is for…X (his mark)

X Is for…X (his mark)

Posted on by spuddled

Today I’m revisiting one of my favorite ancestors. He’s a favorite because he has one of the best names — Nimrod Canterbury Murphy — and also because his life had interesting parallels to that of Abraham Lincoln. My 4G-grandfather, he was born in about 1809 in Kentucky.1 By 1830 he had moved to Morgan County, Illinois; on 24 June of that year he married Cassandra Waters in Jacksonville. Between 1831 and 1832 he (like Lincoln) served in the Black Hawk War.2 In 1840 he was living in Carlinville, Macoupin County, Illinois, but by 1850 he had moved to Gentry County, Missouri. Also like Lincoln, he met an untimely death, though I’m pretty sure he was not assassinated. Nimrod died 11 September 1860 in Allendale, Missouri, at the age of 51.3 He and Cassandra had a family of 13 children; after Nimrod’s death Cassandra returned to Illinois, dying in Morgan County in June 1896. She is supposedly buried in Pisgah’s Union Cemetery; I have seen her parents’ grave there in person but have never found Cassandra’s.

Of particular interest for today’s post and the “X” theme is a deed dating to March 1853. Both Nimrod and Cassandra signed this deed with their marks, which is consistent with the 1850 census which noted that neither could read or write. Two years later, Nimrod and Cassandra sold another parcel of land to a Charles Mattox for $55, but I’ll focus my transcription skills on just the first document (call it laziness):

This indenture, made and entered into this Twenty Third day of March One Thousand
Eight hundred and fifty three, between Nimrod C. Murphy and Casander Murphy his
wife, of the County of Gentry, in the State of Missouri, of the one part, and Joel R. Allen of
the County of Gentry and State of Missouri of the other part, witnesseth: –
That the said Nimrod C. Murphy and Casander his wife, for and in consideration of the
Sum of Twenty Five Dollars in hand paid by the said Joel R. Allen the receipt whereof is
hereby acknowledged, have granted , bargained, and sold and by these presents do grant, bar-
gain, sell and convey unto the said Joel R. Allen his heirs and assigns the following des-
cribed tracts, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the County of Gentry in
the State of Missouri, to wit: –
The South East fourth of the South East quarter of Section Twenty Eight in Township Sixty Six,
of Range Thirty.
To Have and to Hold, the above described premises, together with all and singular the ap-
purtenances thereunto belonging, or in anywise appertaining unto the said Joel R. Allen, his heirs
and assigns forever: and the said Nimrod C. Murphy and Casander his wife for their heirs,
executors, administrators and assigns covenant to and with the said Joel R. Allen, his heirs
and assigns that they will warrant and defend the title in and to said premises against
the lawful claim or claims of all persons whomsoever.
In testimony whereof the said Nimrod C. Murphy and Casander his wife, have hereunto set their
hands and seals the day and year first above written.
Nimrod his X mark C Murphy Seal
Casander her X mark Murphy Seal

At the bottom of this document is a further notice that Nimrod and “Casander” appeared before the local Justice of the Peace to file the deed. As was customary, additional steps were taken to ensure that Cassandra was willingly giving up her rights to the land as well: “The said Casander Murphy, being by the undersigned first made acquainted with the contents of the foregoing instrument of writing, on an examination separate and apart from her said husband, acknowledged that she executed the same, and relinquished her Dower in the real Estate therein mentioned, freely and without compulsion or undue influence of her husband.”

  1. Jay Sweeney, Ancestors of Cassandra Waters. ↩︎
  2. Ed. by Ellen M. Whitney, The Black Hawk War 1831-1832, vol. I (n.p: 1970, n.d), 67-68, 364. ↩︎
  3. Jay Sweeney, Ancestors of Cassandra Waters. ↩︎
“whereas Joseph Waters…died”: The Death of Joseph Waters

“whereas Joseph Waters…died”: The Death of Joseph Waters

Posted on by spuddled
Joseph and Celah Waters Gravestone
Pisgah, Illinois

This week we remember another death, though there is nothing gruesome about this one. It appears to have been just your standard tragic loss of a husband, father, and grandfather. Joseph Waters, my 5G-grandfather, was born 4 January 1773, possibly in Baltimore, possibly in Amherst County, Virginia. He was the son of Isaac and Kitty (Hawker) Waters.

His early history is a bit murky, but on 27 November 1798 he married Celah Sweeney in Stanford (Lincoln County), Kentucky. Celah was the daughter of Moses and Elizabeth (Johnson) Sweeney; Moses’s burial plot features in an earlier blog post here. In 1806, Casey County was formed from a portion of Lincoln County, and it was in Casey County that Joseph’s household was enumerated in 1810 and 1820. Between 1823 and 1824 Joseph served as the sheriff of Casey County; he is recorded as being in attendance at the monthly court sessions held at the courthouse in Liberty, the county seat. This would seem to suggest some level of importance in the community.

About 1825, however, Joseph and his family moved to Morgan County, Illinois. On 1 May 1826, according to records from the General Land Office, Joseph completed the purchase of 80 acres of land in Morgan County. His household was enumerated in that county in 1830 and 1840. During their marriage, Joseph and Celah had a large number of children, possibly as many as fifteen. The eldest I have found was Polly, born in 1799 and died in 1805, and the youngest was Charles W., born in 1825 and living until 1896. Celah herself was born in 1782, which would make her 16 and 43 when her eldest and youngest children were born if this information is accurate. Between Polly and Charles, the following children were born: William, Daniel, Isaac, Zachariah, Elizabeth, John, Martha, Cassandra, Nathan, Milley, Sarah O., Frances, and Margaret. Cassandra, my 4G-grandmother, married my favorite-named ancestor, Nimrod Canterbury Murphy, in 1830.

On 19 February 1842, Joseph Waters executed his Last Will and Testament. Within it he bequeathed his wife “Celia” all his land and farming equipment, along with $40, furniture, and two horses. Everything else was to be sold and the money loaned out at interest, though if his widow preferred to leave the land, she could receive $400 instead. Joseph also included a provision that if his youngest son Charles stayed with and cared for his mother until her death, he would receive “one bay horse colt.” The will also prevented his children from selling their interest in the property until after their mother’s death and granted Celah all the same rights Joseph had had, other than cutting or selling timber. His son Zachariah was named executor.

Twenty-seven days later, the witnesses to the execution of Joseph’s will appeared in court in Jacksonville, Morgan County, were “duly sworn,” and confirmed that Joseph was now deceased. The court proceedings also noted that Zachariah would be required to complete an inventory of his father’s estate, and the probate judge authorized Zachariah to move forward with his duties as executor. One portion of the probate documentation reads “Know ye, that whereas Joseph Waters of the County of Morgan and state of Illinois, died on or about the 10th day of March A.D. 1842…”

Joseph’s widow Celah outlived him by only a few years. She died in Morgan County on 18 September 1845. The two are buried in the Union Baptist Church Cemetery in the unincorporated community of Pisgah, Morgan County, Illinois. I have visited this cemetery and seen their headstone in person. At the time of Celah’s death, their youngest son Charles was only 19; he would not marry until 1847. It seems likely he did remain with his mother until her death and, presumably, received the “bay horse colt” bequeathed to him in his father’s will.

Thriller Thursday – Death by Musket

Posted on by agnette

Any family history will have its share of tragedies. One of ours was that of Polly Waters, eldest child of Joseph and Celah (Sweeney) Waters, my 5G-grandparents. Polly was born 28 August 1799 in Lincoln County, Kentucky; thirteen or fourteen more children would follow later. I have limited information on William Waters, so it’s possible he may be the same individual as the youngest, Charles W., born 25 November 1825.

Sometime between 1803 and 1812 the family moved from Lincoln to Casey County; it was there my 4G-grandmother, Cassandra, was born in January 1814. She would never know her eldest sister, however. Sources for the date differ, but according to both the Waters GenCircles database and the research of Jay Sweeney, on either 26 September 1805 or 20 September 1808, young Polly was shot and killed when her mother attempted to start a fire using a musket, and the weapon misfired. Was this a common means of starting fires? My quick Google search didn’t help answer this question, so I’ll need to do further research. Regardless, one can only imagine Cassandra’s horror and grief as well as that of the rest of the family. Polly, aged either six or nine, was buried somewhere in Kentucky. Shortly after the birth of the last Waters child, the family moved to Morgan County, Illinois. There, in Pisgah, Joseph and Celah would eventually be buried, many miles from their first lost child.

Those Places Thursday – Pisgah, Illinois

Posted on by agnette

There is nothing better than a genealogical pilgrimage. I try to squeeze in one (or several) any time I travel.  So what if it makes a trip hours (or days) longer than it would have been otherwise? Every summer we return to Fairbury, Illinois to visit relatives, and we usually manage to fit an extra side trip in there somewhere as well.  We made one such trip  four years ago to Pisgah, Illinois. Essentially a wide spot in the road and a grain elevator, Pisgah nevertheless was the location of genealogical events in the lives of 24 family members, including 21 burials. Union Baptist Church once stood near Pisgah and Highway 104. The church was torn down between 1971 and 1972, but the adjoining cemetery, founded in 1830, remains.

Among the 21 family members buried here are Joseph and Celah (Sweeney) Waters, my 5G-grandparents. According to the Find-a-Grave website, Joseph actually owned 80 acres adjacent to the cemetery, and descendants continue to live there.  Joseph, son of Isaac and Kitty (Hawker) Waters, was born January 4, 1773 in Montgomery County, Maryland. He married Celah Sweeney, daughter of Moses and Elizabeth (Johnson) Sweeney on November 27, 1798 in Stanford, Kentucky. Celah was born June 2, 1782 in Amherst County, Virginia. Joseph and Celah had some 15 children between 1799 and 1825, and both died in Morgan County, Illinois – Joseph on March 10, 1842, and Celah on September 18, 1845. Their daughter Cassandra (Waters) Murphy, my 4G-grandmother, is supposedly buried in this cemetery as well, though we did not succeed in finding her headstone on our pilgrimage. Maybe next time.

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Surname Saturday – Nimrod Canterbury Murphy

Posted on by agnette

You have to love a name like Nimrod Canterbury Murphy, but to date, my information on our Murphy branch of the family is limited.  Nimrod was born about 1809 in Kentucky. On June 24, 1830 in Jacksonville, Illinois, he married Cassandra Waters. Between 1831 and 1832 he served in the Black Hawk War.  In 1840 he is enumerated in census records in Carlinville, Illinois, and in 1850 in Gentry County, Missouri. He and Cassandra (born probably January 8-9, 1814 in Casey County, Kentucky) had 13 children: Lucinda, Joseph, Celia C., Margaret, Richard, Elizabeth, Nimrod, Paulina, W. Jackson, James Henry, Louisa, Greenill, and William Waters. Nimrod died September 11, 1860 in Allendale, Missouri, and is buried either there or in Morgan County, Illinois.

Cassandra lived nearly 40 years more. In 1860 she is enumerated in Washington, Missouri, listed as a weaver. In 1880 she is living in Franklin, Illinois. She died June 3 or 4, 1896 in either Murrayville or Pisgah, Illinois, and is buried in Pisgah’s Union Cemetery.

Nimrod and Cassandra’s daughter Celia, born May 16, 1842 in Illinois, married John H. Davis sometime between 1857 and 1860 and moved to West Union, Iowa.  They would remain in Iowa; according to the 1910 census Celia had given birth to 12 children, only 5 of whom were still living.  Their oldest child, Lucinda Blanche Davis, was born March 16, 1859 in Allenville, Missouri, and married Wellington David Wilson.  Lucinda and Wellington’s son Carl Ozro, was my grandma Blanche Wilson’s father.