Sunday's Obituary: Sarah Samantha (Miller) Owen

Sarah Owen was my paternal great, great grandmother. 

A descendant chart can be seen by clicking this link

Obituary taken from the Fayette County Genealogical and Historical Society publication:
"Fayette Facts" Vol. 31, No. 2, pg. 30 at the Evans Public Library in Vandalia, Illinois.

           "OWEN, Sarah Samantha b 18 May 1839 Holmes Co., OH died at her home 4 May 1927 age 88y 1m 16ds. She was the dau of Benjamin and Elizabeth MILLER and came to this county at age 6. She m 30 Dec 1858 David B. OWEN and they were parents of 7 children - George Winfield, Ben McClellan, James and David B., Roxana E. DURBIN, Mrs. Dellas SIMPKINS and Lucretia TOWNSEND who died 7 Nov 1905. Her husband died 5 Oct 1919. Also surviving with the 6 children were 2 sisters, Mrs. Talitha ROBERTS of St. Elmo, Selecta OWEN, Aurora, MO and bro Ayres OWEN, 15 grandchildren, 37 great-grandchildren. Burial was in Fairview Cem. Vandalia Union 12 May 1927."

[A correction to the above obituary: "Selecta" should be "Electa".]

Click here to see the tombstone of Sarah and her husband, 

Rev. David Brashears Owen

SHARE

Tombstone Tuesday: George Hartzell & Lucinda Ralston Owen

GEORGE HARTZELL OWEN 1822 - 1884

LUCINDA (RALSTON) OWEN 1828 - 1906

Fairview Cemetery, St. Elmo, Fayette Co., Illinois

George was the son of James and Nancy Ann (Brashears) Owen. George's middle name is from his paternal grandmother, Leah (Hartzell) Owen, wife of Nathan Owen. George was the brother of my paternal great, great grandfather David Brashears Owen. George and Lucinda were original members of Fairview Church in Avena Township established in 1866. They had 11 children: John Wilson, Lawrence (died in infancy), James Franklin, Laura Alice, Mary, Lucy Ellen, Charles Oscar, Sarah Elizabeth, Joseph Brinton, George Ralston, and David William.

Tombstone photo courtesy of Find A Grave contributor Gary Feezel

SHARE

Tombstone Tuesday: Andrew M. And Mary E. L. Owen Townsend

ANDREW MELVIN TOWNSEND 1872 - 1947

MARY ELLEN LUCRETIA OWEN 1871 - 1905

My paternal great grandparents

Fairview Cemetery, St. Elmo Township, Fayette Co., Illinois

My great grandmother Mary Ellen Townsend died when she was about 35 years old, just about two weeks before Thanksgiving in 1905. Nelson, her fifth child was still an infant. He had been born the previous Summer. Great grandfather Andrew, a farmer, was unable to work and care for a baby along with four other young children so he adopted little Nelson out to Mary Ellen's brother Ben. Ben and his wife Sarah had three young girls who were likely tickled pink to help their parents raise a little brother. Andrew remarried sometime before 1910 to a woman named Lena who'd been married twice before and who had three young sons, one from her first marriage and two from the second. The family story is that the new wife did not treat Andrew's children very well and the marriage did not last. Andrew remained single after that and not much is known about his life. He is found boarding with the Porter family in Moultrie Co., Illinois in 1920 and with the Wright family in the same county in 1930. His occupation was Farm Laborer on each census. On his death certificate his residence is listed as Tower Hill in Shelby Co., Illinois and the informant listed was his daughter Gladys Townsend Dial, my grandmother's sister who also lived in Tower Hill. It is believed Andrew was living with Gladys and her husband Ross at the time of his death.

Tombstone photo courtesy of Find A Grave contributor Gary Feezel

SHARE

Finding Granduncle Nelson: Another Find A Grave Favorite Find

NELSON A. TOWNSEND 1905 - 1980

My paternal granduncle, son of Andrew Melvin & Mary Ellen Lucretia Owen Townsend
Fairview Cemetery, Fayette Co., Illinois

Nelson's mother died when Nelson was about five months old. His father, probably feeling he could not care for a such a young baby, adopted Nelson out to his wife's brother, Benjamin McClelland Owen and his wife Sarah Josephine Sapp. This was the story told to me by my cousin Sharon Gerth and later the story was confirmed when I found Nelson living with his aunt and uncle in Fayette Co., Illinois in the 1910 and 1920 census. The Townsends had lived in Fayette Co., for several generations.

Nelson had four older siblings, one was my grandmother Illinois "Noy" Townsend Wallen. She was four and a half years old when her mother died. My dad had stories about his mother's siblings, all except Nelson. Cousin Sharon didn't know much about Nelson either and she lived with my grandmother for a good many years so maybe my grandmother lost track of her brother. Could it have been because he grew up in his Uncle's household? I feel certain there must be a story behind this apparent lack of relationship although it could be that Nelson simply found work away from family and was unable to return home often.

Over the years I had been unable to discover much information on Nelson. Did he marry, have children? Cousin Sharon thought he married someone named "Ann". I did find  an "Andrew N." Townsend in Cooke Co., Illinois in the 1930 census which showed a man of his age and birth place as married to "Helen" and with two young boys. Parents birth places were right. And I'd fully expect the "A" initial of his middle name to be "Andrew" after his father, but nothing concrete there.

Years ago, I found a listing in the Social Security Death Index that I thought might be Nelson, but this man was in Buckner, Jackson Co., Missouri when he died and so I wasn't sure. I kept the information in my notes, just in case.

Well, just yesterday I was filling in information on my Townsend Family listed on FindAGrave.com and was in the middle of adding their pages to the virtual cemetery I'd created for them when, to my surprise, I suddenly noticed Nelson's name among the few listings of Townsends in the Fairview Cemetery. It wasn't there before! I checked the date: August 2010! A new listing! Apparently when I put in a request for someone to photograph the tombstones of my great grandparents (which I knew were there because of listings with the Fayette County Genealogical & Historical Society in Vandalia, IL) the same guy that filled that request, also photographed Nelson's tombstone which was a later burial and would not have been included in the historical listing! The dates on the stone confirmed the SSDI listing for Buckner, MO. so now I have Nelson's exact dates of birth and death and I know where he was last living. Oh, and another surprising clue, Nelson was also a Mason according to the symbol on his tombstone!

I still don't know if Nelson had a family so there's more work to be done. I envy young genealogists who have living grandparents. All the times I tell myself I should have started this "way back when"....shoulda, coulda, woulda......

Tombstone photo courtesy of Find A Grave contributor Gary Feezel

SHARE