Thursday, July 29, 2010

Death Announcement: "Charles Newby Is Dead"


CHARLES LEE NEWBY 1868 - 1937


My maternal great grandfather 
Son of John Alby and Mary Louisa Grunden Newby 
Husband of Ida May Trowbridge


Courier Times - Knightstown, Henry Co., Indiana
Saturday, May 8, 1937 (page 1, column 8)

Charles Newby Is Dead
 ___________________

Dunreith Man Dies From Apoplexy at Son's Home.
___________________

(By Special Correspondent.)

     DUNREITH, Ind., May 8, -- Charles Newby, 73, well-known retired farmer who formerly lived north of here, died Friday afternoon at the home of a son, Maurice Newby, in Lowell, Ind., according to word received by friends.
     Mr. Newby's death was sudden, it was understood, although he had been in poor health for some time. A stroke of apoplexy was given as the cause of death.
     In addition to the son, survivors are two daughters, Mrs. Lawrence Runyan of east of Dunreith, and Mrs. Charles Boyer of Knightstown. The body probably will be returned here for funeral services and burial but arrangements were not complete.

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Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Wordless Wednesday: THE TONKAWA WALLINGS


William & Nancy Roberts Walling's Golden Wedding Anniversary Announcement 
Married in Rockcastle County, Kentucky 1859


William was brother to my paternal 3rd great grandfather, Jesse B. Wallen. Nancy was the daughter of Dorcas and Wallen Roberts.

Original wedding announcement was a gift from my cousin Connie Borgren.
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Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Tombstone Tuesday: Joseph Leslie Logsdon 1894-1919


JOSEPH LESLIE LOGSDON 
b. March 22, 1894* - d. July 28, 1919


Husband of Rose Lee Mattingly
My husband's grandfather. Died young, age 26 years.
*Note: birth year on stone is incorrect.
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Monday, July 26, 2010

A Mother's Roots: For Gini (And Me)


Comfort From A Newspaper Clipping

I don't usually post twice in one day but this seems appropriate and timely. I'm not sure where I got this clipping but it's beautiful and comforting. Gini Webb of Ginisology lost her mother just days ago and I lost mine on March 30 of this year. I've written several blogs about my mother, the first one being on Mother's Day a little over a month after she died ("A Bittersweet Mother's Day"). I was my mom's only daughter and I believe that was the same with Gini..both our mother's died of a stroke....and I'm not going to say much more because I'll just get misty-eyed all over again and I won't be able to type! I hope you like this Gini!

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Amanuensis Monday: The Will of Sarah Schmetzer Owen - 1791 - Northampton Co., Pennsylvania



Sarah Schmetzer Owen 1724/25 - 1791




About Amanuensis Monday: John Newmark, who writes the TransylvanianDutch blog started a Monday Blog Theme called "Amanuensis Monday". John defines "amanuensis" as "a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."


Will of Sarah Owen


In the name of God, Amen. I Sarah Owen of Upper Saucon Township in the County of Northampton and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Widow & Relict of David Owen late of the same Place Yeoman Deceased being advanced in Years and Very Infirm in health, but of Sound & disposing mind, Memory & Understanding, praised be God, for the same, and knowing the Mortality of my Body and that it is Appointed for all Man kind once to die, I do make and ordain this to be my last Will and Testament in Manner following (Viz) I Give and Recommend my soul into the hands of Almighty God, my Merciful Creator and Redeemer and my Body to be Buried in a Christian like and decent Manner And Touching such Worldly Estate wherewith it hath pleased God to be bless me in this life, I Give and dispose of the Same in Manner following: I do order & direct that after my Decease all my goods and Effects & Whatsoever was left to my disposal by my late Husband, of what name and denomination they may be, be converted into money by way of Public Vendue which said money so praised by the said Vendue Together with all other Money or Monies which shall then be due and owing to me by Virtue of my said Late Husbands last Will and Testament or otherwise The Same I Give Devise and Bequeath unto my three Grand Children (the Children of my son Thomas Owen Deceased) named Owen Owen, Hanna Owen, & Sarah Owen to be Equally divided Amongst them Part and Share alike, to be put out on Interest and Paid thereon when they Respectively arrive at the age Called twenty One Years, or on the days of their Marriages which of them shall happen first. And if any of my said Described Grand Children should die before they arrive at the said age, or before Married. Then I do so order that the whole shall be the Property of those who shall survive, likewise Equally to be Equally divided amongst them and I do Ordain, Constitute and Appoint my Son Nathan and my Son in law Jonathan Scot to be the sole Executors of this my last will and Testament in trust for the Purpose above mentioned In Witness Whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and Seal the thirteenth day of August, In the Year of Our Lord, One thousand Seven hundred & ninety One.

Signed, Sealed, Established, Pronounced and declared by the said said (sic) Sarah Owen, as signed for her Last Will and Testament in presence of us
Henrich Schaeffer
John Stout


Sarah Schmetzer was born in Pennsylvania and married David Owen about 1740. They were my paternal fifth great grandparents. Their son Nathan married Leah Margaret Hartzell. Nathan and Leah's son James married Nancy Ann Brashears. James and Nancy Ann's son David Brashears Owen married Sarah Samantha Miller. David and Sarah's daughter Mary Ellen Lucretia Owen married Andrew Melvin Townsend and their daughter Iva Illinois "Noy" Townsend married William Jesse Wallen. Noy and William J. were my paternal grandparents.

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Sunday, July 25, 2010

Sentimental Sunday: Seriously Irish


My son Michael takes his Irish ancestry seriously!


He told me the other day he was going to change his last name to McILVOY (his Irish ggggrandmother's maiden name - see my blog: Who The Heck Is Alice?) I gave him my blessing!


He wears the McILVOY* tartan regularly.
*(There are only a handful of Irish surname tartans. This tartan is actually the county ANTRIM tartan, the county in Ireland where Alice was born.) 


His Celtic elbow tattoo


His momma loves him!

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Saturday, July 24, 2010

Surname Saturday: HAYDEN - Parents of Eleanor Logsdon



WILLIAM & CATHERINE ENSEY HAYDEN


Eleanor Hayden was the wife of Joseph (Blackhead) Logsdon, my husband's paternal third great grandfather. For further information on Joseph Logsdon see my blog Amanuensis Monday: The Will of Joseph Logsdon. Eleanor's parents were William and Catherine Ensey Hayden.

A collection of notes on William & Catherine Hayden:


William Hayden and Catherine Ensey were both born in 1754. William was the son of John Hayden who came from St. Mary's Co., Maryland and purchased 164 acres of woodland near Westminster, Maryland called "Friendship Completed" on March 17, 1768. William was one of nine Hayden children and the only son. (1,2,5)

Tax lists show William as the head of a household in 1773.  In 1783, he owned 134 acres of "Friendship Completed" and his household consisted of seven total inhabitants with him being the only adult male.  By 1798, he owned parts of "Friendship Completed" and "Glendorick" and his structures included:

"outhouses, 1 log barn 20 x 40, 1 log stable 20 x 18, 1 log dwelling house 18 x 16, 1 log kitchen 16 x 15, 1 smokehouse 12 x 16, 1 other house 16 x 14, 1 story each." (3)

William Hayden took the "Oath of Fidelity and Support" in Frederick County in 1778.  This oath was required as a pledge of allegiance to the State of Maryland and a renunciation of British rule.  The U.S. Census returns for 1790 show "William Hyden" with four free, white, males under sixteen years of age, and three free, white females. (4) 

William died on January 4, 1802, leaving a will that reads, in part:

"...In the first place it is my will and I do order that sixty four acres of...land of that tract called Glandolick which tract I bought of Stephen Winchester said sixty four acres lying next to Joseph Arnolds and the same to be sold at publick sale and the money arising there from to be applied to my creditors in paying my debts and so much of my personal Estate with what can be spared of the Crop in the Ground as shall pay all my debts and the remaining part of all my Estate real and personal I give and bequeath to my dearly beloved wife Catherine during her natural life to bring up my children untill they come to the age of fifteen years and then to be bound to such Trades as they shall chuse or as my Executors think most proper for them if in case she does not dy nor marry, but if she should either die or marry that then all my Estate Real and personal shall be sold and all my children shall be bound out to treads, but if she should marry that then the money arising therefrom to be divided in the following manner and form that whereas my son John has had to the amount of forty four pounds and my daughter Eleanor has had to the amount of thirty one pound six shillings, it is my will that all the rest of my children shall be made equill with them if there should be enough and if any remains after they are made equill that then it shall be divided equally amongst my wife and all my children...I constitute make and ordain my trusty and beloved friend William Arnold and my well beloved son William Haden my only and sole executors..." (8)

This will became the subject of a lawsuit in 1839 that resulted in the sale and distribution of the Hayden estate.  

Basil Hayden administered the sale of the estate and sold "Glendorick" and part of "John's Pleasant Meadow" to William Ward in 1843 and 134 acres of "Friendship Completed" to Lewis Trumbo for $1800 one year later.  The notices advertising these sales and describing the property read as follows:

"ONE FARM, Containing 134 Acres, more or less, lying on the road leading from Westminster to Washington city, about three quarters of a mile from Westminster.  The improvements upon the said farm, consist of a Log Dwelling House, one story and a half high; Barn and other necessary outhouses; a fine dairy immediately below a Spring of most excellent water.  The convenience of this farm to the county seat, renders it a very desirable situation.  The land is of a very improvable quality and not remote from abundant supplies of limestone.  A few years of husbandlike management would increase its value to double its present rate.  If however, purchasers can be better suited, it will be divided into lots of five and ten acres, and thus sold.  
Also,
A SMALL FARM of about 80 Acres, a short distance below, being about three miles from Westminster and one mile from the Baltimore and Reisterstown turnpike road 2E This farm has no improvements upon it. -- It has, however, all the conveniences which would make it a pleasant residence.  About one third of it is excellent TIMBER, Hickory, Oak, and Chestnut of good quality.  Also, excellent springs of water, &c.  Terms made known on day of the sale.  Basil Hayden, Trustee" (11)

Catherine lived for 35 years without William.  She is listed in the 1810 U.S. Census as the head of a household of three males and three females and the 1837 tax lists enumerate her as owning 134 acres of "Friendship". Catherine passed on in October of that year, at the age of 83.  Her son , Basil, administered her estate and ran the following newspaper ad on January 12, 1838:

"Notice is hereby given that the subscriber of Carroll Co. hath obtained from the Orphan's Court of said county, letters of administration on the personal estate of CATHERINE HAYDEN, late of Carroll Co., deceased.  All persons having claims against said estate are hereby warned to exhibit the same, with the vouchers, to the subscriber, within the time limited by law.  They may otherwise, by law, be excluded from all benefits of said estate.  Those indebted are requested to make immediate payment. Basil Hayden, Adm'r" (10)

Both William and Catherine were buried in St. John's Catholic Cemetery, in Westminster, Carroll Co., Maryland. (5)


SOURCES

(1) "Let's Meet The Old Folks", by J. Hampton Baumgartner, 1944, courtesy of Historical Society of Carroll County.

(2) Little, Millie Albert, The Chronicles of the Little - Lee and Albert - Buckingham Families, Westminster, MD., 1936.

(3) 1773, 1783, 1798, 1837 Tax Lists, Baltimore and Carroll Counties, MD.

(4) 1790 and 1810 U.S. Censuses, Baltimore County, Maryland.

(5) Scharf, John T., A History of Western Maryland, Regional Publishing Co., Baltimore, Maryland, 1968. Originally published in 1882.

(6) Brumbaugh, G. M., Revolutionary Records of Maryland, 1924.

(7) Donnelly, Sister Mary Louise, Rapier, Hayden, and Allied Families of   Colonial Maryland and Kentucky.

(8) Will of William Haden, Baltimore Co., MD, June 30, 1802.

(9) Equity Case #41, "Basil Hayden v. John Hayden," Carroll Co., Maryland 1839.

(10) Westminster Carrolltonian, January 12, 1838.

(11) Westminster Carrolltonian, August 23, 1839, as included in (9)

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Friday, July 23, 2010

Funeral Card Friday: Lawrence E. Runyan



 LAWRENCE E. RUNYAN

born St. Patrick's Day 1893 
died November 23, 1978



My maternal grandfather
son of Robert Noah Runyan and Mary Elizabeth Darling

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Thursday, July 22, 2010

Treasure Chest Thursday: Mom's Watercolors


1993 Florida State Fair Ribbon Winner
Cougar Watercolor


Watercolor Artist: Janet Runyan Wallen (1924 - 2010)

My parents were both artists and two weeks ago Treasure Chest Thursday was about my Dad's wood carvings so this week I thought I'd share a few photos of my mother's watercolors. These are just a few out of hundreds of paintings of my mother's that are now dispersed among family with the exception of those she sold or donated to the Life Enrichment Center for their fund raisers. Mom painted mostly Florida wildlife including marine life, animals, birds, plants and flowers. She won many ribbons and awards over the years and her paintings have been displayed in libraries and hospitals all over the Tampa Bay area. She did not start painting until the late 1980s after she retired from work.




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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Wordless Wednesday: Lowell Grade School Basketball Team 1936-1937



Boys Basketball Team - 1936-1937 School Year
Lowell Grade School, Lowell, Lake Co., Indiana

My maternal granduncle, Morris Henry Newby standing upper row on left
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Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Tombstone Tuesday: Charles Alexander & Josephine Bean Logsdon



CHARLES ALEXANDER LOGSDON  
b. 14 Apr 1856  d. 1 Nov 1938
ANN JOSEPHINE "JOSIE" BEAN LOGSDON  
b. 15 Aug 1858  d. 17 Dec 1907

St. Charles Catholic Cemetery, Marion County, Kentucky

My husband's great grandfather Charles was the son of William B. and Alice McIlvoy Logsdon.  Charles married Ann Josephine "Josie" Bean, the daughter of Ignatius Eulogius "Logan" and Margaret Warren Bean, on September 24, 1878. Children: Mary Alice, Joseph Herman, Josephine "Josie", Mary Agnes (Sister Baptista), Charles Benedict, Joseph Leslie, Margaret Marie, and Mary Lillie. 

Over a dozen years after the death of Josephine, Charles married Mary Genivieve "Jennie" Bickett, a woman nearly 25 years his junior. They had one child, Thomas, who was stillborn on 22 Feb 1922. 

Charles' birth certificate gives his birth year as 1856 instead of 1857 as shown on tombstone.




  
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Monday, July 19, 2010

Amanuensis Monday: James Sherman Martin Writes Own Obituary



James Daniel Sherman Martin
June 27, 1864 - February 12, 1946


About Amanuensis Monday: John Newmark, who writes the TransylvanianDutch blog started a Monday Blog Theme called "Amanuensis Monday". John defines "amanuensis" as "a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

James S. Martin was the brother of my great great grandmother Ursula Ann Martin Davis Burnett. Their parents were James Monroe and Susannah Grabeel Martin. James was married to Sarah Elizabeth Testerman, daughter of John T. and Celia Bloomer Testerman. He and Sarah lived their entire lives in Pulaski Co., Kentucky. The obituary and poem below, written by James himself, was transcribed and copied for me by Kathy Martin, wife of my cousin Larry Martin, great great grandson of James. I have copied Kathy's transcription verbatim.

Obituary of James Sherman Martin

"Aug. 9, 1945 - Obituary of James Sherman Martin son of James M. and Susana Grabeel Martin. Born June 27 1864. Married to Elizzie Testerman March 20th, 1884. Born to the union were five children, two girls and three boys. Susan Ellen now Susan Ellen Lampe. Addie Lewis Oneal. Isaac Bradley, James Thomas, and Charles Ross. Four children living to date, with Isaac Martin departing this life Oct. 27, 1945. 21 grandchildren, 18 living and 3 dead. 27 great grandchildren all living. Met my Lord in full pardon of my sins on the second Monday in Aug. 1882, united with the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church near that date, and was baptised on Brush Creek the following Sunday after uniting with the church by the Rev. John Carmicle. My membership remaining at Mt. Pleasant Church until Dec. 1888, when I moved my membership to Pleasant Hill Church at Woodstock. Have tried to live a christian life for 63 years. Have met with temptations, trials and persecutions on the way. But all praise to my blessed Savior & Lord, by His grace & according to His mercy I have been able to overcome through Him that died for my sins, & arose for my justifications. He has blessed my soul many times with the presence & power of the Holy Spirit & then He has chastised me for my neglect of His work & service. But praise His name, when I like the prodical son, came back to Him, He like a loving Father met and blessed my soul again and now I can only say in my closing days like the Psalmist of old, let everything that hath breath, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord of my soul. My closing testimony to all. J. S. Martin"


A farewell poem for friends 
composed by James a short time after he wrote his obituary

"To my Christian friends anywhere - Aug. 25, 1945

My Christian friends in bond & love
Thru Him who lives & reigns above
Who came to earth His life to give
And shed His blood that we might live

My years to date is eighty one
My race on earth is almost run
My Christian life is sixty three
My wearied soul will soon be free

And then I'll sore to worlds on high
To meet my loved ones in the sky
For e'r I dwell in Heaven above
Where all is joy & peace & love

As promised by His saving grace
We'll see our Savior face to face
And in His love our souls shall rest
And we shall be forever blessed

His nail scarred hand & riven side
As on the cross He bled & died
He gave His life for you & me
And gave His blood to set us free

O, blessed thought O, glorious hope
As thru this world we sadly grope
That in His blood there's power to save
And give us life beyond the grave

And now I pray:
Dear Father hasten that glad day
and free our souls from this lump of clay
and our bodies rest till you bid us rise
to meet our Savior in the skies
When we can meet on Heaven's shore
to feel the sting of death no more
When in His presence there to dwell
to never say no more, farewel
Yours in Christ, J. S. Martin"

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Sunday, July 18, 2010

Sentimental Sunday: Grandbabies At The Beach 2004


Taryn Alexandra and Caleb Austyn 
Summer 2004

Children of my daughter Hallie



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Friday, July 16, 2010

I (Couldn't Possibly) Write Like....



I suppose I'm another sucker for such gimmicks...or is it a gimmick? I dunno. I happened on lindalee's blog I Write Like......who? and I just had to go and give the "Analyzer" a try! But of course, I had to test it several times.

First, I put in most of the text I'd written myself from my blog 1920s Beeville, Texas: Shades of the Klu Klux Klan and was told:


I write like
H. P. Lovecraft
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

From Wikipedia:

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy, and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction.

Great....."weird fiction"! Heh, heh. Whodathunkit?


Then I tried a section from yesterday's Treasure Chest Thursday post and was told I write like the Author James Joyce. Not bad..."an Irish writer and poet, widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century." But then I tried another paragraph from the same blog and was told I write like David Foster Wallace. Huh? Who's that??


I'm really tempted to just keep on testing it to see how many Authors I write like. Personally, I think I just write like ME...according to my mood of the day.


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Thursday, July 15, 2010

Treasure Chest Thursday: From Diamond Came Gold



 UNCLE TOM
My all time favorite Find A Grave discovery

Above photo courtesy of Shalina Thomas

Diamond Cemetery, Stephens County, Oklahoma

Above photo courtesy G. William Whitworth, Jr.

Daniel Thomas (D. T. or Uncle Tom) Wallen was the fifth and last child born to my paternal third great grandparents, Jesse B. and Louisa Tyree Wallen, (born 1861 not 1871 as shown on stone).  He and three of his siblings, Oliver, Isaac, and Lucy left Rockcastle Co., Kentucky around 1882 for Texas and promptly disappeared. That was back fifteen years ago in my research and the Internet was not quite as easy to navigate as it is today and so I preferred staying back in Kentucky where I was comfortable and where my own great, great grandfather William M. Wallen remained until he too left for Texas many years later. I knew these other four would surely turn up sometime in the future, which of course they all did. William was the oldest of the siblings and would probably inherit his parents Kentucky homestead. Of the remaining siblings, D. T. was the youngest, barely 20, and the only one of the four Westward bound that was not married with family. William's son, my great grandfather Oliver Morton Wallen, wrote a few excerpts in his diary concerning his uncle:

1894 - "In March I bought 50 acres of land joining Grandma's farm for $50.00, of D. T. Wallen." 

Jan. 17, 1900 -" Went to papa's, worked some in a new ground. Wrote two letters after dinner, one to D. T. Wallen and one to Guy Griffith.  Jan. 18 - Went to Mt. Vernon. Sent D. T. Wallen $10.00."

And after Oliver also went to Texas:

Aug. 2, 1905 - "...After noon went to Uncle Tom Wallen's rock query 11 N. W. Sanger..."

I didn't think Uncle Tom would even have a marker. After all, he was never married and had no known descendants and much of the time he lived in a tent in the rock quarry where he made a living. So, when I was making a rather broad search of Find A Grave using the Wallen surname, I was stunned to see "D. T. Wallen" in the list I pulled up. "D.T." was the name besides "Uncle Tom" that he was most known by. Of course, I wasn't sure it was really his tombstone until I clicked on his name and saw the cemetery was in Stephens Co. Oklahoma. The birth date was off by 10 years and I never really knew his death date. The State and County were what hit me! Now it all made sense! The thing that threw me off in earlier years was a letter copied for me by my distant cousin Connie Borgren that was to her grandmother from a lady in Gainesville, Texas.

"January 17, 1961
Yes, we knew uncle Tom Wallen since very early childhood.  He came to Texas from Kentucky and was a rock mason.  In fact he lived in a tent in the rock quarry near Clear Creek.  Later Uncle Tom's mother, Grandma Wallen came with her Granddaughter Viola Hays, to live with him.  It was through Viola that I knew them best as I went to school to Viola in the terms 1912-13 and 1913-14.  She married in the spring of '14 and left here.  It must have been either in '13 or '14 that her grandmother passed away for I do remember that she was not here when Viola married.  Uncle Tom built concrete cellars all over this country.  Which still stand as a memorial to him.  Infact we have one here in our yard.  When he got too old to work, he went to live with his niece Mrs. John Anderson in Sulphur, Okla., as you perhaps know. Mrs. E. W. Grundy, Gainesville, Texas"

Now, Mrs. John Anderson (Rebecca Ellen Sowder Anderson, daughter of Lucy Wallen Sowder) did not live in Sulphur and I knew this from the census. She and her family lived in Stephen's Co., Oklahoma for well over 30 years. However, there were other nieces and nephews that lived in Sulphur which is in Murray Co., Oklahoma so I thought Mrs. Grundy was probably mistaken in who the elderly Uncle Tom ended up living with. It turns out it wasn't the person Uncle Tom went to live with, but the county she lived in that Mrs. Grundy was mistaken about! Earlier census data showed his residence as that of Rebecca Anderson's half sister, Louisa Sutton Gregory. Louisa resided in the Texas counties of Denton and Cooke. Those counties were close to the rock quarry which was in the vicinity of Era, Texas northwest of Sanger. Regardless of who he ended up living with, I assumed Uncle Tom would be buried with no marker so, imagine my surprise in finding his tombstone in the Diamond Cemetery in Stephens Co., Oklahoma! My thanks to Jean for adding his memorial to Find A Grave and again for transferring the memorial to me. 

I'd love to find out more about Uncle Tom's rock quarry and I have used Google Earth to try finding it but I was unsuccessful. It could be abandoned by now. There are many rock quarries in the vicinity but none near Era which is almost exactly 11 miles N.W. of Sanger as my great grandfather described. Maybe if I actually went there.......

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Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Tombstone Tuesday: Alice M. Logsdon 1852 - 1872


Alice M. Logsdon Born July 2, 1852 Died Feb. 7, 1872


Daughter of William B. and Alice McIlvoy Logsdon
St. Charles Catholic Cemetery, St. Mary, Marion Co., Kentucky

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Monday, July 12, 2010

Amanuensis Monday: The Will of Nathan Brashears - 1817 - Fairfield Co., Ohio



Nathan Brashears 1769 - 1818




About Amanuensis Monday: John Newmark, who writes the TransylvanianDutch blog started a Monday Blog Theme called "Amanuensis Monday". John defines "amanuensis" as "a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."


1817 Will of Nathan Brashears


December 3rd 1817 In the name of God, Amen. I, Nathan Brashears of Fairfield County, Madison Township, State of Ohio, being weak in body but of sound and perfect mind and memory, blessed be Almighty God for the same, do make and publish this my last will and testament in manner and form following, that is to say, first I give and bequeath unto my loving wife all the lands and tenements which I now possess and am now living on during her widowhood, eleven or twelve acres excepted on the east side of said land with the improvements thereon which I grant the use of to Henrietta Mahoney during her natural life provided she lives on the premises herself and lives unmarried. I further give and bequeath unto my loving wife Elizabeth all my goods and chattels of what ever kind or nature after all my just debts are paid and all funeral expenses paid. I hereby appoint my loving wife Elizabeth sole executor of this my last will and testament hereby evoking all other former wills by me. Made in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this the third day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventeen.
Nathan Brashears

Signed, sealed, published and declared the above named Nathan Brashears to be his last will and testament in the presence of us who have hereunto subscribed our names as witness in the presence of the Testator.
John Lyons
Samuel Friend

HB Furthermore I grant to my loving wife Elizabeth all the privilege of the water belong to the said eleven or twelve acres of land on the east side of said land where I now live given under my hand and seal December 3rd 1817.
Nathan (his mark) Brashears
John Lyons
Samuel Friend

Fairfield County Ohio at a court of common pleas held at Lancaster in and for the county aforesaid on the 23rd day of March 1818 the foregoing past will and testament is proven by John Lyons and Samuel Friend the subscribing witness thereto on which it is ordered to be recorded.
Attest Hugh Boyle Clk


Nathan Brashears was born in 1769 in Frederick Co., Maryland. He married Elizabeth Scheidenhelm. They were my fourth great grandparents. Their daughter Nancy Ann married James Owen. Nancy and James' son David Brashears Owen, married Sarah Samantha Miller. David and Sarah's daughter Mary Ellen Lucretia Owen married Andrew Melvin Townsend who's daughter Iva Illinois "Noy" Townsend married William Jesse Wallen. Noy and William J. were my paternal grandparents.
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