Census Archives - Ahnentafel

Tag: Census

P Is for…Prolific

Posted on April 20, 2025June 29, 2025 by spuddled

Today we’re exploring the life of Absalom Davis (my second cousin 5 times removed) and his wife Polina S. W. Davis (also my second cousin 5 times removed), who raised a family of 16 children. Absalom and Polina were first cousins; his mother Sarah and her mother Hannah were sisters, the daughters of Joshua Gifford and Content (Davis) Davis. Joshua and Content were also related; they were half first cousins twice removed.

Absalom was born 9 December 1809 in Harrison County in what would become West Virginia. Polina was born 8 December 1811 (or possibly 8 February 1811) in Virginia (again, probably what is now West Virginia). On 9 October 1828 the two were married, and 10 months later had their first child. I’ve been able to find at least somewhat detailed information on all the children but one. Of Worthington Davis the only mention I’ve seen is in the obituary of his sister Penelope that appeared in the Seventh Day Baptist Church’s Sabbath Recorder newsletter of 20 January 1919, where he is listed as one of the siblings who predeceased her.

The astute will notice that this listing only adds up to a total of 15 children, not 16. And it’s true that I have an Elen Murry Davis in my records, noted as born 4 April 1853, but I no longer recall where I obtained this information. The perils of not recording one’s sources from the very beginning…

The first U.S. census in which all members of a household are listed by name is the 1850 census. That year Absalom and his family were enumerated in Doddridge County, (now West) Virginia. Absalom was listed as a farmer with real estate worth $300. He was 41 and listed as being born in Virginia and able to read and write. The rest of the household consisted of: Polina, 38; Charlotte, 20; Theadore, 19; “Julian,” 17; Zacharias, 15; Elvira, 14; Donmanuel, 12; Anderson G., 9; Elijah, 8; Elkana, 6; Sylvanus, 3; and Penelopy, 1.¹

In 1860 the family was still in Doddridge County, but the census taker unhelpfully listed everyone just by intials: A, P.S.W., D, A.G., E, E, S, V, P, J.W., and E. Inexplicably, V[andelee] and P[enelope] are out of order, as Vandelee is listed as 10, and Penelope as 12. “J.W.” is James W., and the final household member, “E. Davis,” is listed as 30 years old, so it’s unclear who this individual is.²

By 1870 many of Absalom and Polina’s children had left to start families of their own; in that year the couple, living in Grant Twp., Doddridge County, were 60 and 58 years old respectively and had real estate valued at $2945 and personal estate valued at $300. Only Vandelee, 19; and James W., 14 still lived at home, along with a “common laborer” named Edmund Maxwell. Elijah, his wife, and 3 children, were living at the next farm over.³

Ten years later James W. was still living with his parents, along with his wife Martha, whom he had married within the past year. The household was enumerated in the New Milton District of Doddridge County.⁴ Eight years later Absalom died at age 78. His death was attributed to pneumonia and dropsy.

West Virginia Division of Culture and History, West Virginia Vital Research Records.

Polina would outlive Absalom by almost 13 years, long enough to appear in one additional census without him, not counting the lost 1890 census. In 1900 Polina was in Greenbrier, Doddridge County, living with her granddaughter Lovie (daughter of Anderson G.) and Lovie’s husband James McCuen, who was a mail carrier. Lovie and James had been married less than a year.⁵

The following year Polina died at age 89. She and Absalom are buried in the Greenbrier Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery in Doddridge County. According to the Find a Grave website, there are a total of 126 Davises buried in this cemetery; these include Absalom and Polina’s children Anderson G., Elijah, James W., Theodore, Charlotte, and Penelope. Surprisingly, of the 16 Davis children, at least thirteen lived long enough to reach adulthood and marry. Quite a feat for that time and place. At least in this instance, cousins marrying cousins doesn’t seem to have hindered them much.

The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: District 13, Doddridge, Virginia; Roll: 942; Page: 25b ↩︎
The National Archives in Washington D.C.; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M653; Residence Date: 1860; Home in 1860: Doddridge, Virginia; Roll: M653_1342; Page: 450; Family History Library Film: 805342 ↩︎
Year: 1870; Census Place: Grant, Doddridge, West Virginia; Roll: M593_1686; Page: 22A ↩︎
Year: 1880; Census Place: New Milton, Doddridge, West Virginia; Roll: 1401; Page: 417c; Enumeration District: 124 ↩︎
Year: 1900; Census Place: Greenbrier, Doddridge, West Virginia; Roll: 1757; Page: 4; Enumeration District: 0022 ↩︎

Native Confusion: the Birth of Jacob Emil Schmidt

Posted on October 20, 2024June 29, 2025 by spuddled

On this day in 1887, my first cousin 3 times removed, Jacob Emil Schmidt, was born in Butten, Alsace-Lorraine. He was one of eleven children born to Christian and Sophie (Stock) Schmidt. Christian’s younger sister Christine was the second wife of our immigrant ancestor Jacob Hoffmann. It appears that Christine was the only one of her siblings to emigrate to America, though a number of the children of the next generation (including Jacob Schmidt) did choose to leave Alsace-Lorraine for the U.S., most of them settling in Illinois.

Jacob emigrated around 1911-1914, and on 30 June 1916 he married Louise Mae Rocke in Peoria. Jacob’s World War I draft registration notes that he had started the process of becoming a U.S. citizen and was currently employed as a plasterer in Cissna Park, Illinois. He had also served 2 years in the military in Germany (Alsace-Lorraine belonged to Germany from 1871-1920). He was described as of medium height and build, slightly balding with brown hair and eyes.

In the 1920 census Jacob and Louise were enumerated in Pigeon Grove Township, Iroquois County, Illinois. Jacob was continuing his work as a plasterer. By 1930 the family was in Cissna Park proper (or perhaps the boundaries had changed), and Jacob and Louise had been joined by three children: Oliver, 9; Iva Jean, 6; and Betty Mae, 1. This census notes that Jacob is now a naturalized citizen, though his official naturalization papers include a date of 25 June 1921. Not much had changed for the family by 1940; they were still in Cissna Park, with “Jake Schmidt” working as a masonry contractor, and with all three children still at home.

In 1948 Iva Jean was given in marriage by Jacob to Richard Krug at the Schmidt home. Betty and Oliver were the only attendants. There were 40 guests at the ceremony and one hundred at the reception afterward. The following year Louise died at the age of 58, having been ill for several weeks.

The year after that Jacob was enumerated in the 1950 census, a lodger with the Wayne Seigle family in Cissna Park. On 22 December of that same year, Jacob died in Lake View Hospital in Danville, Illinois. His obituary provides some interesting details about the end of Jacob’s life, though confusingly it refers to him as a “native of Cissna Park” while later noting that he was born 20 October 1887 in Alsace-Lorraine.

One would think that with Louise dying in 1949 and Jacob in 1950, his final year might have been a quiet one. But Jacob’s obituary states that he had retired a year prior to his death and gone back to his home in France. He had only returned to Illinois on 30 September 1950 but was in the process of building a new home for himself. Some four weeks before his death he became ill, eventually dying of coronary thrombosis. He was buried in the Apostolic Christian Cemetery in Cissna Park alongside Louise. Jacob’s three children were still living at that time, but of his 10 brothers and sisters, only three sisters survived him, and two of those were still living in France. One hopes he was able to visit with both in that final trip to his native land.

A Trip to the West: The Marriage of Esther Bauer and William Yergler

Posted on October 6, 2024June 29, 2025 by spuddled

Today we remember Esther Matilda Bauer and William Yergler, who were married on this day in 1926 in Paxton, Illinois. Esther was my half first cousin once removed as well as my first cousin three times removed. She was the daughter of Marie (Hoffmann) Bauer, who was the daughter of our immigrant ancestor Jacob Hoffmann and his first wife, Anna Meyer. Marie’s sister Catherine was my 2G-grandmother, and her half-brother Paul was my great-grandfather.

Esther was the sixth of nine children born to Marie and George Bauer. She was born on 11 June 1902 in Cissna Park, Illinois. In the 1910 census, “Ester” is enumerated with her parents and siblings in Pigeon Grove Township, Iroquois County, Illinois. Her father was 47 and her mother 40. Her mother is noted as having given birth to 8 children, of whom 7 were then living. The child George and Mary had lost was their son Elmer Ernest Bauer, who lived from18 February – 25 September 1894. The other children in the household in 1910 were Alline E., 17; Earnest E., 15; Charley G., 13; Edna A., 10; Leona M., 6; and Harry W., 3. By the 1920 census, still in Pigeon Grove, George and Mary’s last child had joined the household: Arthur, 5.

George Bauer died in Cissna Park on 25 August 1924, and two years later Esther married William Yergler, son of William and Marie E. (Mangold) Yergler. William, Jr., was 2 1/2 years younger than his bride. An article about the wedding appeared in the 7 October 1926 issue of The Paxton (Illinois) Register. It notes they were married at the Christian parsonage at 11 a.m. on 6 October by the Reverend O. R. Keller. The article also states that “Immediately after the wedding the bridal couple left on a trip to the west” and would reside near Cissna Park once they returned.

The year following their wedding, Esther gave birth to a son who, sadly, lived only one day. This event would surely have brought back painful memories for Esther’s mother Marie. The next year Esther had another son, Wallace “Wally” Yergler. Three years later Harry Gene followed, then Mary Ann in 1933 (six months after the death of Mary Ann’s grandmother Marie), and Arthur in 1936.

The family (then just William, Esther, and Wallace, along with a boarder named David Rocke) is enumerated in the 1930 census in Ash Grove Township, Iroquois County, where William is a farmer. In 1940 they are still in Ash Grove, where they are renting their home for $10 a month. In that year the household consisted of William, Esther, Wallace, Harry, Mary Ann, Arthur, and a hired hand named Roy Kennedy. This census notes that William had gone through one year of high school, and Esther had completed the 8th grade. The family still resides together by 1950, though they no longer have a hired hand or boarder with them; Wallace and Harry are now listed as farm helpers.

Two years later Mary Ann, then 18, married Lowell Rassi on 31 August 1952 at the Cissna Park Apostolic Christian Church. Thirteen days after that, Esther Bauer Yergler passed away at age 50. An article in The Gridley (Illinois) Advance on 18 September 1952 notes simply that “Mrs. Yergler passed away suddenly on Saturday morning” and lists those relatives and friends who attended her funeral at Cissna Park. Esther is buried in the Cissna Park Cemetery, as is the infant son she had lost 25 years earlier.

Chambers Schoolteacher: the Birth of Alma Montgomery

Posted on August 18, 2024June 29, 2025 by spuddled

On this day in 1892, Alma M. Montgomery, my second cousin twice removed, was born in Clinton County, Ohio. She was the daughter of Samuel Lincoln and Bessie E. (Deniston) Montgomery, the granddaughter of David and Lydia A. (Agnew) Montgomery, and the great-granddaughter of William and Mary Ann (Extell) Montgomery.

Alma’s sister Florence was about 18 months older and was also born in Clinton County, but she was already deceased by the time of the 1900 census when the family was enumerated in Union Township, Warren County, and Bessie was listed as having given birth to two children, of whom one was still living. Samuel and Bessie had been married for ten years, and Samuel’s occupation was listed as farmer.

In 1910 the small family was still in Warren County but now in Salem Township. Alma was seventeen and still attending school. Her father, listed now as “Lincoln S. Montgomery,” notes his occupation as partner in a corn creamery.

By 1920 the family had moved to Lebanon, Ohio (still in Warren County). Samuel is listed as owning the home where they are living at 414 E Silver Street, and he is now employed in a real estate office. This home, built in 1917, still stands. Alma is now employed as well, as a teacher in the public schools. Also living with the family was a “boarder,” Edward Deniston, aged 54. Edward was Bessie’s brother, as evidenced by his 1939 obituary, which noted he died at her home after a year’s illness.

The Cleveland, Ohio City Directory of 1922 lists Alma as a teacher at the Chambers School at 1857 E 75th. There is no longer any school located at this address, though there is a Chambers Elementary at a different address in East Cleveland.

I have yet to locate Alma in the 1930 census; in that year Samuel, Bessie, and Edward are still living at 414 E Silver Street, but Alma is not living with them. Samuel is continuing to work in real estate. By 1940, though, we can find Alma once more. At age 48 she is a lodger with Hatty Mosher and Hatty’s daughter Merle at 1874 Maywood Road in South Euclid, Ohio. The three are listed as having lived in the same house for the past five years. This house was built in 1931 and still stands as well, though it was renovated in 1972 according to Redfin. The census notes that Alma had completed four years of college and was continuing to work as a public schoolteacher.

In 1944 Alma’s father died. His obituary in the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News notes that he had a heart attack while shaving at his home. He was 83. The obituary further notes that his wife had preceded him in death “several years ago.” Six years later Hattie Mosher, Merle Mosher, and Alma Montgomery are still residing at 1874 Maywood. Alma’s occupation is listed as elementary teacher for the city schools. The census indicates she had worked 45 hours in the previous week.

With another eight years to wait before the release of the 1960 census, I have to rely on other sources for information on the rest of Alma’s life. In May 1954 an article appeared in the East Cleveland Leader noting that Alma would be retiring from her teaching career in June. Even this article is less than helpful, as it references “Miss Montgomery, who has taught at Chambers Elementary School since 19??….” The article does state that she came to East Cleveland from Norwalk and had graduated from both Wilmington College and Miami University. At the time of her retirement Alma would have been 61.

I haven’t been able to locate any other information on Alma over the next 24 years. Then on 27 October 1978, a brief notice appeared in The Cincinnati Post, stating that her funeral services had been held that day at the Oswald Funeral Home. Her address was given as 713-A Maple Court, Lebanon. She had been a member of the Lebanon United Methodist Church, and she had died on 25 October at Kettering Hospital in Kettering. Alma is buried at the Otterbein-Shaker Cemetery in Otterbein, Ohio. Dad and I had planned a trip to Ohio last summer to traipse through cemeteries and had to postpone it. Maybe another year we’ll manage a pilgrimage and pay our respects to Alma.

Death in Iowa: the Drowning of Leolin Van Horn

Posted on June 30, 2024June 29, 2025 by spuddled

*Des Moines Tribune-Capital*,
1 July 1929

Today is the anniversary of another sad death in family history. This time the deceased is Leolin Van Horn, my fifth cousin once removed. He was the son of Lewis Alexander and Mary Aldie (Knight) Van Horn and was born 26 October 1907 in Tama County, Iowa. Leolin’s mother was the granddaughter of Mary “Polly” (Davis) Knight, a descendant of William “Bottom Billy” Davis, who has appeared in this blog in the past.

Leolin was one of 10 children born to Lewis and Aldie, though by 1910 two of the children had passed away. In that year’s 1910 census, 2-year-old Leolin appears with his parents and siblings in Carlton, Iowa. The family was still in Carlton in 1920, the household consisting then of Lewis and Alda; Lewis’s mother Mary (then 81 years old); and children Orel, Leolin, and Alvin. Lewis would die on 12 June 1924 at age 63, followed by Leolin five years later.

According to the Des Moines Tribune-Capital of 1 July 1929 (a Monday), the previous weekend had been a tragic one for many across the state. Twelve individuals had died in various incidents in Iowa: five in automobile accidents, four in drownings, and two by suicide. The article then goes on to detail each of the twelve deaths. Regarding Leolin, it is noted that he was swimming with three companions near LeGrand; exactly what happened is not clear, but one of the friends rescued the two others but was unable to save Leolin. His death certificate notes that he died of “drowning or possibly heart failure” at 4:10 p.m. He was 21 years old and working as a butter maker.

A letter uploaded to Leolin’s Find a Grave memorial, written by Zelma Peterson, who appears to have been the older sister of the companion who was unable to save Leolin, tells of the effects the tragedy had not only on Leolin’s own family but those of the others involved in the incident. Leolin is buried at Garwin Union Cemetery in Garwin, Iowa.

Another loss would take place less than a year later when Leolin’s older sister Martha Inez died in Janesville, Wisconsin, at age 36. She had married her fourth cousin Luen Lippincott in either 1914 or 1915, and they had had three children together. Her cause of death is unclear, but must have been a sad blow coming so soon after the loss of Leolin.

Aldie herself died unexpectedly 14 years later at age 77. She had been visiting Janesville and was preparing to return home to Iowa when she passed away. Her body was taken back to Iowa where she was interred at Garwin Union Cemetery. The other Van Horn family members lived on for quite some time; the next of the siblings to die was Frank, in 1964. Most of the others lived into the 1970s, and the youngest would not pass away until 1991.

How Old Is Old?: The Death of Hannah Davis Doak

Posted on June 16, 2024June 29, 2025 by spuddled

Today we remember the death 146 years ago of Hannah Davis, my fourth great-grandaunt. Interestingly, she is one of 15 individuals named Hannah Davis in my family tree. Her younger brother, Cornelius, was my fourth great-grandfather. They were two of the children of Joseph S. and Hannah (Sutton) Davis.

Hannah was born about 1801-1802 in what would become West Virginia. On, 8 September 1819 in Harrison County, (West) Virginia, she married James Doak, a Pennsylvania native. In 1850 (the first census which listed each household member by name), James and Hannah “Doke” were enumerated in Doddridge County, along with presumed children Marion, 15; Catharine, 7; and Alexander, 4. Sadly, in the “Condition” column next to Marion’s name is written simply “Insane.” Living in the next dwelling over is James and Hannah’s 26-year-old son, Davis “Doke” and his new wife Rachel.

In 1860, still in Doddridge County, James and Hannah Doak are listed with children Katharine, Alex, and Marion. Again using the terminology of the time, Marion is listed as “Idiotic.” James died on 18 May 1866 in Doddridge County, West Virginia. He was about 66 years old. The 1870 census shows the widowed Hannah living with her son Alexander, now 24 and married. He and his wife Charlotte had added a new baby, Loverna, to the family the previous September. Marion, still labeled “Idiot,” is living in the household with them as well. The census also notes that Marion is unable to read or write.

Eight years later, on 16 June 1878, Hannah Doak passed away in Doddridge County. Her West Virginia death record, inconveniently unable to be displayed or downloaded at the moment due to some weird technological gremlins, lists her cause of death as “old age.” She was approximately 77. Sorry, Dad!

I have yet to determine what became of poor Marion after Hannah’s death; perhaps he died sometime between 1870 and 1880. In any case, I did not see him in any of his siblings’ households in those later years. James and Hannah’s youngest child, Alexander, lived until 1920, dying in West Union, West Virginia; he is buried in the Arnolds Creek Cemetery in Greenwood. The Find a Grave website notes that Alexander and Rachel had at least five children: baby “Levernia” from the 1870 census; Walter, who died at age 4 from fever; Gilbert; James W.; and a second Walter. At his own death, Alexander was 74; his widow Charlotte survived until 1930, dying at age EIGHTY. “Old age,” indeed.

Pekin Girl Dead: The Sad Death of Margaret Lowry

Posted on March 31, 2024June 29, 2025 by spuddled

Next year I’ll try to intersperse some more cheerful events in with all the dark ones. This one is about as grim as they come (and on Easter Sunday, no less). Margaret Lowry (or Marguerite Lowrey, or Margaret Lowery; sources differ), my sixth cousin three times removed, was born 11 January 1903 in Manito, Illinois, and died 99 years ago today in Spring Lake, Illinois. She is one of my paternal Illinois relatives, for the record; I have them on both sides. She was the daughter of John Clayton and Josephine West (Golden) Lowry. One of at least 8 children, Margaret’s was only one of several tragedies that befell the Lowry family. Her eldest sister Bessie died in 1919 at age 31; I haven’t been able to determine her cause of death. Then her brother George W. died in 1921 at age 29; his story would make its own blog post, as he and his wife (or possibly not his wife) died in a double suicide (or possibly a murder-suicide) when the house was filled with gas as one or both of them slept.

Margaret herself first appears in the 1910 census in Manito. Her father’s occupation is listed as cranesman on a dredge boat. He is 43 years old. Her mother appears as “Josie,” 38, married for 22 years and with 8 children, all of whom at that time were still living. Several of the older children had left home already; the remainder of the household consisted of Addie, 11; Marguerite, 7; and Blakesley, 2.

By 1920 the family had moved to Spring Lake, Illinois, and the household occupants had shifted again. John is now an electrical engineer at a pumping station; his wife is listed by her full name of Josephine; and living with them are sons George W., 27; Walter J., 24; Margaret H., 17; Blakesley G., 12; and a granddaughter, Mable J. Dwyer, 5.

Within a couple of years of this census enumeration, it appears that Margaret’s health took a turn for the worse. The newspaper articles telling of her death note that she had been in ill health “for several years” prior to 1925, and that she had been a patient at the Oak Knoll sanatorium near Mackinaw for a year. Interestingly, this is the same institution where William Jay Claton’s widow Magdalena would later find employment as a cook.

A few months before her death Margaret came home from the sanatorium but was still unwell; I wish I had more specific details about her illness. Whatever it was, it must have been too much for Margaret, as her ill health was determined to be the cause of what came next, according to an article that appeared in the Bloomington, Illinois Pantagraph on 1 April 1925. The day before, Margaret’s mother, along with three of her sisters and a brother all left home to travel to the Pekin Hospital to visit a sick grandchild there. Margaret’s father John also left home at 1:00 for his responsibilities at the pumping station where he was still employed. When he came home at 5:00 he found Margaret dead in the bedroom from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A coroner’s inquest was held, which is, presumably, where the official cause of Margaret’s despondency was determined to be her ill health. Two days later Margaret was buried in the Spring Lake Township Cemetery; she was 22.

I am, as always, struck by the thought of how hard it must have been for Margaret’s parents to go on after losing a third child. Josephine would die in 1932 and John in 1934; their daughter Addie outlived them but herself died at age 48. Most of the remaining Lowry children lived relatively long lives, mercifully: Jesse died at 81, Walter at 79, and “Blakesley,” or Blake Golden Lowry, at least made it to 62, though his wife died at 39 when the car in which she was riding crashed into a gasoline truck.

That is a lot of sorrow for one family. I have no words of my own to make any of it make sense. But it is Easter Sunday, and while that does not take away the pain the Lowry family endured, it can at least give consolation and hope in the face of tragedy.

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

Posted on March 10, 2024June 29, 2025 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.

Sympathy Saturday – Manhattan (the Kansas One)

Posted on May 17, 2014June 29, 2025 by agnette

My mom and I attended the National Genealogical Society‘s annual conference last week. I’d never been before – what a great experience! I’m now determined to bring some semblance of organization to not only my genealogy files and records, but also to my genealogical searches. So now my genealogy tasks are threefold:

Continue the never-ending census project (tracing all families in the “easy” censuses, from 1850-1940)
Share my various findings through this blog
Select one mystery or problem, and focus on trying to solve that in a structured and organized way

First mystery? Trying to trace the elusive Montgomery family’s origins in this country (or at least back another generation from William Montgomery, my 3G-grandfather, born 1802).

With this aim in mind I’ve been focusing more on those Montgomery connections, so Joseph (William’s son and my 3G-uncle) seems a logical topic for today’s post. Joseph S. Montgomery was born in August 1847 in Ohio, son of William and Mary Ann (Extell) Montgomery. He was the eighth of thirteen children and on New Year’s Eve in 1874, he married Sarah Ann Achor. Joseph, Sarah, and their first child, Viola, then five years old, appear in the 1880 census, enumerated in Clarke, Clinton County, Ohio.

By 1900 the family had moved to Liberty Township, Geary County, Kansas. Viola is no longer in the household, but two new children are listed – J.W., a son born in February 1882 in Ohio; and Vellah, a daughter born in August 1886 in Kansas. In 1910 and 1920, J.W. is not with the family, but Joseph, Sarah, and Vellah continue to live in the same household. Sarah died in 1923; by 1940 Vellah, unmarried, is listed as head of the household in Lawrence, with Joseph enumerated as her 92-year-old father. He would live six more years, dying in 1946 at nearly 99 years of age. Vellah lived to be 87, dying in April 1974. Joseph, Sarah, and Vellah are all buried together in Sunset Cemetery in Manhattan, Kansas.

Census Sunday – 1900: Where Was I?

Posted on July 14, 2013July 17, 2022 by agnette

Genealogy puts one in direct connection with times and places long gone. It can be interesting to look back and imagine oneself in a generation other than the current one. Where would I have been in, say, 1900?

None of my grandparents were alive yet in 1900; Grandpa Montgomery would be born the following year. His parents, Charles William and Laura Maud (Walker) Montgomery, were living in Holdrege, Nebraska (Grandpa’s birthplace) that year, with their other six children: Myrtle, Mamie, Bessie, Alta, Walter, and John (Ward). Charles was working as a butcher and was 39 years old; Laura, 37. The children were 16, 13, 11, 10, 2, and 7 months old. Charles and Laura had been married for 17 years.

Carl Wilson, father of Grandma Montgomery, turned 15 in 1900. In that year’s census he appears in Lincoln, Nebraska, a boarder and farm laborer in the home of Jonas and Maggie Misler (maybe…the handwriting is difficult to decipher).

It would be seven years before Carl would marry Sophie Roberg. Three years his senior, Sophie was also “working out” in 1900. She can be found in Shell Creek, Nebraska, a housekeeper in the household of Mons Knudson, a 43-year-old widower with six children between the ages of fourteen and two. His mother, 76 years old, lived in the household as well.

Paul Hoffmann, Grandpa Hoffmann’s father, was 22 years old in 1900, the eldest child still living at home on the farm in Fountain Creek, Illinois; he would marry two years later. Paul and his parents, Jacob (age 63) and Christine (age 50), are listed as having emigrated to America in 1883. Christine had given birth to 7 children, of whom 6 were still living. In addition to Paul, those still at home were Andrew, 16; Maggie, 11; Sammie, 8; and Louisa, 6. Paul and Andrew have “farm laborer” listed as their occupation; the other children were attending school.

Paul’s future wife, Emma Slagel, was 20 years old and living at home with her parents in Indian Grove Township, Livingston County, Illinois. Samuel Slagel, then 50, and Mary, 45, had been married for 24 years. Mary had given birth to 4 children, three still living (and all at home): Emma, along with brothers Daniel (22) and Joseph (18). Also living with them was Mary’s niece, Lena Demler, twelve years old.

In 1900, Grandma Hoffmann’s father was still using the old German spelling of his name. He appears as “Albert C Schwing,” in Ash Grove, Iroquois County, Illinois. Another farming family, his parents were Albert, Sr., age 40, and “Kathrine,” age 38. They had been married for 16 years, and Catherine had given birth to 10 children, all still living, and all still at home: Martha, 15; Charles, 14; Lena, 12; Albert C., 11; Soloma, 9; Joseph, 7; Katey, 6; Anna, 3; Harry, 2; and Paul, 3 months. A further three children would eventually be born to the family.

The final and youngest of these ancestors, Lena Hunkler, was seven years old and living in Washington, Illinois. Her parents, George J. (age 37) and Mary (age 40), had been married for 13 years, and George is listed as a farmer. All five children are at home: Bertha is 13 and listed as Berty (?). Matilda is 11; John G. is 8; “Lenie,” 7; and Hulda, 4. All but Hulda had attended school in the previous year.

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