Wade family from Kentucky to Ohio, part 3

Note: This series of posts deals extensively with the historical animosity between Native Americans and white settlers. Although the point of view of the Native Americans is underrepresented and deserves better recognition, my ancestors happened to be white settlers. Unfortunately, they participated in the historical travesties perpetrated against Native Americans. However, since this is a genealogical blog, it is primarily told from my ancestors' point of view, with an attempt to be sympathetic to both sides. The term "Indian" is used in reference to the indigenous peoples (when the nation or tribe is unknown) because it was the term most often used at the time, and because I have recently been informed that it is still the preferred term in many native cultures. I am not an expert in the subject, and humbly apologize if anyone finds it offensive. 

 

 

Nathaniel Massie, destined to become an important figure in the lives of the Wade family, had been making expeditions into the Virginia Military District north of the Ohio River (now part of the state of Ohio) to locate and survey lands since the year 1788. This land, part of the Northwest Territory, had been reserved by the state of Virginia to disperse among veterans of the Revolutionary War. The recipients of land warrants employed locators and surveyors like Massie to identify and claim the property for them. These lands were deep in the territory of the Shawnee, who had already experienced the injustice of misrepresented treaties and were determined, under the leadership of Tecumseh, to fight back. The white settlers and the American government, however, considered the treaties binding, and the explorations of surveyors perfectly legal. Because of the danger inherent in these expeditions, the surveyors were often rewarded liberally by their clients, often with a portion of the land itself. In this way, Nathaniel Massie stood to amass substantial land holdings.

On 10 Aug 1790, an Act of Congress passed “An Act to enable the officers and soldiers of the Virginia Line on Continental Establishment to obtain titles to certain lands lying northwest of the River Ohio, between the Little Miami and Sciota,” which opened up the Virginia Military District. Massie recognized opportunity. He knew that there would soon be high demand for his skills, but he also recognized that he and his crew could easily be annihilated by the Shawnee as they explored. He resolved to build a fort and settlement on the north side of the river as a base for his survey crews. "A settlement on the north bank would not only serve as a haven for the survey crews, it would also be a show of force to the Shawnee," Stephen Kelley explains in his article "The Founding of Manchester... Massie's Station."

After much deliberation and discussion, Massie decided to build his fort at a well known landmark of the Ohio River, known as Three Islands. These islands were located about ten miles upriver from Limestone and Washington, and the area was notorious for Indian ambush. "The river channels were narrow around the islands and proved a perfect place for the Shawnee to strike out into the river in their rapid-moving bark canoes and overtake the slower flatboats of the whites," says Kelley. Therefore the location would be ideal not only in its nearness to the lands needing surveying, but also in preventing further depredations on settlers traveling down the river.

To this end, Massie began advertising in Kentucky for families to join him. He offered one in-lot, one out-lot, and one hundred acres of land near the new town to each of the first twenty-five families to sign on with him. In return, they had to agree to help build a fort and man it for a period of two years. The contract was written and signed in the town of Washington, and four of the Wade men signed it. The patriarch of the family, William Wade, along with his sons Josiah, Zephaniah, and George all put their names to the paper.

 

Manchester Island 1 as seen from Manchester Island 2, the two islands that remain today of "Three Islands"
Photographed by Michael Schramm, USFWS
Public domain

 

 
Work on the new town apparently began by November of 1790, because the contract stipulated that the men make it their "permanent seat of residence" by December first. Beginning the station in the winter was strategic; Massie knew that the Indians seldom attacked during the coldest months, being much more occupied with simply surviving.

John McDonald, who actually lived in the fort as a child, says that Massie's group "went to work with spirit. Cabins were raised, and by the middle of March 1791, the whole town was enclosed with strong pickets, firmly fixed in the ground, with block houses at each angle for defence." The place was dubbed Massie's station, and is the site of present-day Manchester, Ohio. It was the first permanent white settlement anywhere in the Virginia Military District, and the fourth in what would later become the state of Ohio.

Building the station was only the beginning of the work to be done. Once the fort was defensible, "the whole population went to work, and cleared the lower of the Three Islands, and planted it in corn. The island was very rich, and produced heavy crops," remembers McDonald.

Nor did Massie forget his purpose in establishing the station. He continued to venture into the lands within a reasonable distance of the fort in order to survey them. On these expeditions, he was accompanied by a company of men. McDonald describes the process:

Three assistant surveyors, with himself making the fourth, were generally engaged at the same time in making surveys. To each surveyor was attached six men, which made a mess of seven. Every man had his prescribed duty to perform. Their operations were conducted in this manner:--In front went the hunter, who kept in advance of the surveyor two or three hundred yards, looking for game, and prepared to give notice should any danger from Indians threaten. Then following after the surveyor, the two chain-men, marker, and pack-horse men with the baggage, who always kept near each other, to be prepared for defence in case of attack. Lastly, two or three hundred yards in the rear, came a man, called the spy, whose duty it was to keep on the back trail, and look out lest the party in advance might be pursued and attacked by surprise. Each man (the surveyor not excepted) carried his rifle, his blanket, and such other articles as he might stand in need of. On the pack-horse was carried the cooking utensils, and such provisions as could be conveniently taken. Nothing like bread was thought of. Some salt was taken, to be used sparingly. For subsistence, they depended alone on the game which the woods afforded, procured by their unerring rifles. (pp. 44-45)

Despite the precautions, these expeditions did not always go as planned. In April 1791, one group was surprised by some Indians arriving in a pair of bark canoes. The surveying crew fled, but one of them, by the name of Israel Donalson, tripped and was captured. Although he managed to escape after about a month and make his way back to the white settlements, and later penned an account of his adventure, such a conclusion was not the norm.

This incident did not deter Massie in his efforts to survey the district. He enlisted help from many of the men at the station, including at least three of the Wades. The History of Warren County, Ohio records that a certain property in Hamilton Township was "Surveyed October 6, 1792, by Nathaniel Massie; Josiah Wade and Matthew Hart, chain carriers; Thomas Massie, marker."

Shortly thereafter, "During the winter of 1792-3, Massie ... employed two men, Joseph Williams and one of the Wades, to accompany him to explore the valley of Paint creek, and part of the Scioto country," stated John McDonald in his Biographical Sketches. Unfortunately, I have thus far been unable to determine which Wade accompanied Massie on this exploration. The survey mentioned above, in Hamilton Township, cannot have been part of this expedition. That was located in present-day Warren County, which is not near Paint creek or the Scioto country. Of course, this does not necessarily mean that Josiah Wade was not the Wade in question; only that the Hamilton Township survey does not prove that it was him.

Alternatively, the mystery Wade could potentially be Zephaniah, the subject of my first post on this family. In Portrait and Biographical Record of the Scioto Valley, Ohio, it is reported that Zephaniah "bought 100 acres or more from Massie, paying Massie by assisting him in surveying lands in various parts of Adams, Highland and Ross counties, as chain carrier and marker." It is a vague statement, but at least it confirms that Zephaniah was present on some of the surveys. Perhaps the Paint creek trip was one of them.

Finally, Jean Wallis records in her article "Putting ‘Hillsborough’ on the map" that Lot number 2513 in Highland County "was surveyed April-May 1795 by Nathaniel Massie, deputy surveyor. Chain carriers were Benjamin Massie and Joseph Wade, the marker was George Edgington." This brings a third Wade brother into the mix.

Therefore, we know from these sources that Josiah, Zephaniah, and Joseph all took part in Massie's surveying expeditions. Josiah and Zephaniah were two of those who had initially signed Massie's contract, and Joseph was a younger brother. He would have been only about fourteen years old when settlement at Massie's Station was begun, but, since his father and three of his older brothers had all joined up, it seems likely that Joseph would have been there from the beginning as well--or at least from when the men felt that their station was secure enough to bring their families. 

 

 

Sources:

 

Morten Carlisle, "Buckeye Station: Built by Nathaniel Massie in 1797," Ohio History Journal 40 (Jan 1931); digital images, Ohio History Connection (www.ohiohistory.org/ : accessed 8 Apr 2021) 1-22. 

 

Curran, A. F., "Israel Donalson, Maysville's First School Teacher: His Thrilling Escape From the Indians," The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 15 (May 1917); digital images, JSTOR (https://www.jstor.org/ : accessed 24 Jan 2021) 51-62.  

 

Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers, A History of Adams County, Ohio From its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time Including Character Sketches of the Prominent Persons Identified with the First Century of the County's Growth and Containing Numerous Engravings and Illustrations  (West Union, Ohio: E. B. Stivers, 1900).

The History of Warren County, Ohio: Containing a History of the County; Its Townships, Towns; General and Local Statistics; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; History of the Northwest Territory; History of Ohio, Map of Warren County, Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, Etc., Etc. (Chicago: W.H. Beers & Company, 1882),  605. 

 

Stephen Kelley, "The Founding of Manchester... Massie's Station," Ohio Southland 3 (Issue #2 1991); digital images, Adams County Public Library, Biblioboard Open Access (https://library.biblioboard.com/anthology/e552f221-42f0-4b9b-963d-32739ee859fd : accessed 24 Jan 2021) 19-25.

 

John McDonald, Biographical Sketches of General Nathaniel Massie, General Duncan McArthur, Captain William Wells, and General Simon Kenton: Who Were Early Settlers in the Western Country  (Dayton, Ohio: D. Osborn & Son, 1852).  

Portrait and Biographical Record of the Scioto Valley, Ohio  (Chicago, Illinois: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1894),  346.  

 

Jean Wallis, "Putting ‘Hillsborough’ on the map," Times-Gazette, 28 Sept 2016, online archives (https://www.timesgazette.com/news/10602/putting-hillsborough-on-the-map : accessed 4 Dec 2022).  

Wade family from Kentucky to Ohio, part 2

Note: This series of posts deals extensively with the historical animosity between Native Americans and white settlers. Although the point of view of the Native Americans is underrepresented and deserves better recognition, my ancestors happened to be white settlers. Unfortunately, they participated in the historical travesties perpetrated against Native Americans. However, since this is a genealogical blog, it is primarily told from my ancestors' point of view, with an attempt to be sympathetic to both sides. The term "Indian" is used in reference to the indigenous peoples (when the nation or tribe is unknown) because it was the term most often used at the time, and because I have recently been informed that it is still the preferred term in many native cultures. I am not an expert in the subject, and humbly apologize if anyone finds it offensive. Although quoting racial slurs has been avoided as much as possible, one case of calling the Indians "savages" has been included in this post because of the strength of argument intended in the original. It is not intended to convey any approval of the offensive language.

 

 

Mefford's Fort, a cabin built in Washington, Kentucky, in 1787 from the planks of a flatboat.
Greg Hume, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The settlement of Limestone stood at the mouth of Limestone Creek where it emptied into the Ohio River and formed a natural harbor. It was located at the bison ford across the Ohio River, north of  the town of Washington, and the name was often applied to all of the larger area, including Washington. Today it is the site of the city of Maysville, Kentucky, although at the time of this narrative it was still part of the vast Virginia frontier.  After becoming a byword in the 1770s, Limestone was seeing a resurgence in settlement following Lord Dunmore's War and the American Revolution, both of which had bitterly set Indian against white settler. 

Near Limestone, frontiersman Simon Kenton had established a "station" in 1784, and there is confusion between various sources whether Limestone and Kenton's station were one and the same or whether they were separate fortifications. In either case, it seems the settlement originally consisted of a stockade of cabins adjoining one another, with a blockhouse on the corner, ready to welcome and afford protection to incoming settlers.

In addition to these shared habitations, settlers were beginning to erect individual cabins on their own personal claims, which could be a risky venture. As G. Glenn Clift, in his History of Maysville and Mason County, explains, "Barring the doors at night was not enough for these isolated dwellings. In the morning, the head of the house first climbed a ladder, always leaning against the left side of the door, and looked through the cracks for Indians.” He goes on to inform the reader that it was considered a “habit” of the Indians “to secrete themselves near the door and pounce suddenly on the unsuspecting pioneer as he greeted the sun.” (p. 49)

Even so, a mere two years later, in 1786, the population around Kenton's station had grown so much as to be considered a village, and a petition was written to the Assembly of Virginia to establish it as a town. Permission was granted, and the town was named Washington after the Revolutionary War hero George Washington, still three years away from becoming the nation's first President. As such, it was the first town of many that would eventually be named in his honor. According to a local tradition, which may be apocryphal, it was given the name of Washington in the hopes of one day becoming the nation's capital. The new town of Washington's nine trustees, "authorized to make such rules and orders for the regular building therein... and to settle and determine all disputes about the bounds of the said lots," included famed frontiersman Daniel Boone, who had recently opened his trading post and tavern on the Ohio River waterfront.

Washington and the larger area, still known as Limestone, were located at the time within Bourbon county, Virginia, and the county seat was a good forty miles distant. "To attend any form of court proceeding," Clift writes, "necessitated a long, dangerous journey to the seat of government." The petition to grant the settlers a town had been successful, so, riding on the coattails of their success, they soon sent another petition, this time for a division of the county. In this petition they dwelt on the difficulties of the journey, such as "the Intervention of a Mountainous tract of Barren Land running down on each side of the main branch of Licking Creek that cannot be inhabited," and the likelihood of being "surprised and murdered by the savages who frequently infest such places." This petition, however, met with opposition from elsewhere in the county and it took two more petitions and another year before a division of the county would finally be granted.

The third (and finally successful) petition, dated 25 Oct 1787 according to the Library of Virginia website Virginia Memories, contains nearly three pages of signatures, each page divided into three columns, and the petitioners are said to all "live in the Limestone Settlements near the Ohio River." One of these names is Josiah Wade. This is the earliest confirmed date of a member of the Wade family in Limestone.

Josiah Wade was a young man at this time, about 22 years of age. Perhaps he was the first of his family to arrive in the Limestone Settlements, or perhaps his family arrived with him and simply didn't sign the petition. At any rate, the family soon made their appearance. His mother had recently died, but his father William, at least five brothers--Zephaniah, George, Edmond, Joseph, and John--and at least three sisters--Margaret, Mary, and Abbie--are likely to have made their home in the settlement. Josiah himself may have been starting a family at this point; his probable son Joseph was born circa 1787. The exact location of the Wade family's residence is unknown at this time, but sources tend to place them somewhere in or near Washington.

Also in the area of Washington lived a surveyor named Nathaniel Massie, who would prove to be an important figure in the lives of the Wade family. 

Sources:

Bourbon, Virginia, Legislative Petitions Digital Collection, Accession Number 36121, Box 287, Folder 62, Inhabitants of Bourbon County: Petition (Division of County/New County), 25 Oct 1787; digital images, Library of Virginia, Virginia Memory (www.virginiamemory.com : accessed 10 Jan 2021).

David I. Bushnell, Jr, "Daniel Boone at Limestone, 1786-1787." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 25 (Jan 1917); digital images, JSTOR (https://www.jstor.org/ : accessed 15 Jan 2021) 1-11.

G. Glenn Clift, History of Maysville and Mason County  (Lexington, Kentucky: Transylvania Printing Co., 1936), vol. 1.

Allan W. Eckert, That Dark and Bloody River: Chronicles of the Ohio River Valley  (New York: Bantam Books, 1995),  180. 

Neal O. Hammon and James Russell Harris, "Daniel Boone the Businessman: Revising the Myth of Failure," The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 112 (Winter 2014); digital images, JSTOR (https://www.jstor.org/ : accessed 30 Dec 2020) 5-50.

Stephen Kelley, "The Founding of Manchester... Massie's Station," Ohio Southland 3 (Issue #2 1991); digital images, Adams County Public Library, Biblioboard Open Access (https://library.biblioboard.com/anthology/e552f221-42f0-4b9b-963d-32739ee859fd : accessed 24 Jan 2021) 19-25.

John McDonald, Biographical Sketches of General Nathaniel Massie, General Duncan McArthur, Captain William Wells, and General Simon Kenton: Who Were Early Settlers in the Western Country  (Dayton, Ohio: D. Osborn & Son, 1852).

James Rood Robertson M.A.Ph.D., Petitions of the Early Inhabitants of Kentucky to the General Assembly of Virginia 1769 to 1792  (Louisville, Kentucky: John P. Morton & Company, 1914). 

Eleanor Duncan Wood, "Limestone, A Gateway of Pioneer Kentucky," Register of Kentucky State Historical Society 28 (April 1930); digital images, JSTOR (https://www.jstor.org/ : accessed 14 Jan 2021) 151-154.

Wade family from Kentucky to Ohio, part 1

Note: This series of posts deals extensively with the historical animosity between Native Americans and white settlers. Although the point of view of the Native Americans is underrepresented and deserves better recognition, my ancestors happened to be white settlers. Unfortunately, they participated in the historical travesties perpetrated against Native Americans. However, since this is a genealogical blog, it is primarily told from my ancestors' point of view, with an attempt to be sympathetic to both sides. The term "Indian" is used in reference to the indigenous peoples (when the nation or tribe is unknown) because it was the term most often used at the time, and because I have recently been informed that it is still the preferred term in many native cultures. I am not an expert in the subject, and humbly apologize if anyone finds it offensive.

Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Come all ye brisk young fellows who have a mind to roam

All in some foreign country, a long way from home,

All in some foreign country, along with me to go,

And we'll settle on the banks of the lovely Ohio.

We'll settle on the banks of the lovely Ohio.

-American folk song

Zephaniah Wade and Nehemiah Stites, both youths of about eighteen years old, along with Stites' dog, were traveling on foot along the old Buffalo Trace. They were somewhere along the eight mile stretch between the settlement of Mayslick and the town of Washington. The Buffalo Trace had been beaten down from centuries of American bison pounding through the bluegrass and canebrake from their ford on the Ohio River to the salt licks in the interior of Kentucky. These were not narrow game trails; in some places they reached fifteen feet wide and were rutted six feet deep, especially around the licks. The buffalo traces had been adopted as roads first by the Native Americans and later by the white settlers, and now settlements were popping up along them, taking advantage of the plentiful wild game seeking salt. Mayslick was one of these settlements, and Nehemiah Stites was one of the pioneers there. Zephaniah Wade resided in or around the town of Washington. 

The sources differ somewhat in the reason for Wade and Stites' journey. Allan W. Eckert in his book That Dark and Bloody River claims that they had been hunting on the North Fork Licking River, but Stites' cousin Mary Covalt Jone says in her journal that only Wade had been hunting; Stites was returning to Washington, where he was employed, from Mayslick, where he was "making a settlement," when he met up with Wade along the trail. 

In any case, Zephaniah's brother Joseph Wade later recalled that "because of the danger posed by marauding Indian bands, the two young men were not on the trail but traveling through the woods close by." A couple of Indians were in the area, spotted the pair of youths, and fired on them. Stites was instantly killed, "shot right through the breast over one shoulder & out the back" according to Jone. She goes on to say that "his dog stayed to defend him." Meanwhile, Zephaniah fled. His brother said that he "ran to a nearby tress, climbed part way up, and spied one of his attackers. Upon taking careful aim, he fired his rifle, wounding the Indian," whereupon the second Indian gave chase. At this point, Zephaniah took cover, either "behind a large root of a blown down tree" or "behind a bank." Jone adds that he could hear Stites' dog from his hiding place. Once he felt safe from pursuit, he hurried back to Washington, "barefoot but uninjured" (Eckert). He reported the death of Nehemiah Stites, and a company of men went out to retrieve his body and track the Indians. The body was retrieved, but the Indians got away. However, Joseph Wade adds, "they found an overcoat that had been worn by the Indian Wade had shot. They reported the overcoat had two bullet holes in it and had apparently been thrown off after the Indian was wounded."

The Kentucky Gazette of 21 Mar 1789 gives an account that took place the previous week which sounds remarkably similar to this one: "We are informed that on saturday the fourteenth instant, the Indians killed a man and wounded another, on the road from Lexington to Limestone, near May's lick... It is said they were pursued by about forty men who were determined to know to what place they belong." It is the same road, near Mayslick (May's lick), and the same number of white men mentioned, with one killed. The only detail disagreeing with the accounts of Zephaniah's experience is that the other man was wounded, while Zephaniah apparently escaped injury. Since no names are given in the Gazette, it remains uncertain whether this indeed refers to the same incident, but it is quite possible that it does. If it does, it provides an exact date for the event. The other sources are a bit hazy on the date. Eckert gives a date in the spring of 1787, but his source is not explicitly stated and is likely to be found somewhere within one of the many manuscript collections he cites for the chapter. Jone recollects the event as happening sometime around late 1788 or early 1789, but the recollection was not written at the time of the event. The latest date, the fall of 1789, is given by Joseph Wade, whose 1863 retelling of the story is summarized in an article by Stephen Kelley.

The story, whenever it occurred, also includes two postscripts. Mary Covalt Jone, who, as you will recall, was a cousin of Nehemiah Stites, concludes that "the dog followed me many a day after that." It is easy to envision the heartbroken dog pining for its master. However, Allan W. Eckert (or his source, whoever it may be) opts for a more amusing epilogue:

Back at Washington and Limestone word of the attack was quickly going the rounds, though in some tellings the dead man was confused with his friend.

At the small tavern in Limestone, where Wade dropped in after the expedition returned, he was greeted with handshakes and cheers, and one of their neighbors gripped Wade's shoulders and commented relievedly, "Why, Zeph, we heard you was killed."

"Y'know," Wade replied dryly, "I heard that, too, but decided it was a lie."

The "small tavern in Limestone," incidentally, was at this time run by a man with a name very familiar to most Americans. His name was Daniel Boone.

 

 

Sources:

David I. Bushnell, Jr, "Daniel Boone at Limestone, 1786-1787." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 25 (Jan 1917); digital images, JSTOR (https://www.jstor.org/ : accessed 15 Jan 2021) 1-11.

G. Glenn Clift, History of Maysville and Mason County  (Lexington, Kentucky: Transylvania Printing Co., 1936), vol. 1. 

Don Corbly, Pastor John Corbly and his neighbors in Greene Township  (N.p.: Lulu.com, 2011).

Allan W. Eckert, That Dark and Bloody River: Chronicles of the Ohio River Valley  (New York: Bantam Books, 1995),  180. 

Neal O. Hammon and James Russell Harris, "Daniel Boone the Businessman: Revising the Myth of Failure," The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 112 (Winter 2014); digital images, JSTOR (https://www.jstor.org/ : accessed 30 Dec 2020) 5-50.

Stephen Kelley, "Lore, Legends & Landmarks of Old Adams," The People's Defender, online archives (http://peoplesdefender.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=129868&SectionID=36&SubSectionID=360&S=1 : accessed 19 May 2012). No longer accessible.

"Lexington, March 18, 1789," Kentucky Gazette, 21 Mar 1789, p. 2, col. 2; digital images, Lexington Public Library (https://www.lexpublib.org/digital-archives : accessed 8 Jan 2021), Kentucky Gazette 1787-1840.

52 Ancestors Week 11: Luck

A horse and buggy in 1909
On the road, 1909 by Fylkesarkivet i Vestland, on Flickr. No known copyright restrictions.

When I saw that this week's prompt was "Luck," the first thought that leapt to mind was of a certain newspaper report about an incident involving my great-grandma Cora's brother, Buchanan Wade, whom my Uncle Lowell (and probably the rest of the kids) called "Uncle Buck." But no, I reasoned, I have told that story too many times; it has featured in my Instagram feed and in my WikiTree comments. Surely I have written about it on my blog as well. A search of my blog posts, however, revealed that the story has yet to be told here, so I am free to share it this week!

Upon reading the article, you will discover that the phrase "leapt to mind" was something of a pun...

Horse Falls 30 Feet; Lands In Tree-Top and Wasn't Hurt
   It is said that a cat has nine lives but now it is believed that a horse belonging to Buck Wade has all the cats in catdom beaten a mile. Mr. Wade's horse jumped over the guard rails on the big fill by the ice plant Tuesday morning, fell fully thirty feet into the top of a tree and apparently was none the worse for its thrilling adventure.
   Mr. Wade was driving east along the north side of the fill when an approaching auto frightened his animal. The horse whirled to the guard rail and Mr. Wade leaped for his life, landing safely on the road side. But the horse went on and landed with the buggy on top of it in a tree at the bottom of the creek below. How it escaped instant death is a miracle. Probably such a thing could never happen again without fatal results either to the horse or its driver.
   Men in the vicinity rushed to the scene and got the horse out as quickly as they could. The animal walked away just a little stiff in some of its joints but otherwise apparently safe and sound. The buggy fared much worse, being torn all to pieces.

It seems that both Uncle Buck and his horse had plenty of luck that day. Only the buggy did not share in their good fortune.

The article does not state what make of auto was involved, but this Firestone-Columbus automobile (in this case, chauffering presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan) was one of the vehicles on American roads at the time.
Unknown author / Public domain

Citation:

"Horse Falls 30 Feet; Lands In Tree-Top and Wasn't Hurt," Sedan Times-Star, 25 Nov 1909, p. 1, col. 5-6; digital images, America's GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 15 Aug 2011), Historical Newspapers. 

52 Ancestors Week 10: Strong Woman

Katie Sandwina, "The Lady Hercules," lifting three men
Bain News Service / Public domain

It is incredibly difficult to narrow down the topic of "Strong Woman" to a single woman in my family. In just one generation--that of my great-grandparents--it is impossible to decide. There is Great-Grandma Flora (Amos) Underwood, who left England with her husband and infant son, to travel across the ocean on a journey to America, knowing she would never see her home in England again. She left a comfortable middle-class life for the unknown world of the western U.S., living almost a pioneer existence and learning the skills along the way.

There is Great-Grandma Cora (Wade) Brosius, who raised a family of six boys and one girl in Kansas, married to a man nearly twenty years older than she was. When he died and left her with four children who were still quite young, she packed those children into a car and the five of them drove across the country to the Pacific Northwest to begin their new lives.

There is Great-Grandma Mary (Craig) Stroesser, who grew up in "the Bottoms" in Omaha, a neighborhood marked by its shanty houses and poverty, and frequently flooded by the nearby Missouri River. She went on to marry and give birth to thirteen children, suffering post-partum depression after many of them according to family lore, and suffering also the deaths of three of her sons. Although Grandma Rose, her daughter, had a strained relationship with her, it seems clear that Great-Grandma Mary was battling her own demons.

Then there is Great-Grandma Hazel (Fox) Hoyt, who, according to family lore, graduated valedictorian. Unlike my other great-grandmothers, she began to work outside the home during WWII, and continued to work after the war was over. She was a shipping clerk at Dehner Boot Company until her retirement. She was also the only great-grandmother whose lifetime overlapped my own.

Truly, I believe that you could pluck almost any woman off my family tree and, looking at her life and circumstances, come to find that she deserves the appellation of a "Strong Woman."

52 Ancestors Week 2: Challenge

The prompt for Week 2 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge this year was "Challenge."

Of all the many challenges our forebears faced, perhaps one of the worst was war. Thanks to the advent of photography, the United States' Civil War immediately conjures up images of dead soldiers strewn across silent battlefields. These grim scenes were only the aftermath of brutal fighting, the likes of which few of us have seen.

I have several Civil War soldiers in my various family lines, all of which must have faced any number of challenges I shall never know. Undoubtedly, these challenges did not end with the war, as they all had to piece their lives back together and cope with the changes wrought by the conflict. Much of this will forever remain undocumented, and, with the passage of time and its consequent loss of oral history, undocumentable. However, my great-great-grandfather Allen C. Wade's ongoing struggle was to some extent recorded. Thanks to a cousin who long ago sent me a nice, fat packet of paperwork, I can tell his story.

He enlisted in the Nebraska militia during the Civil War. According to his own report, he was in Company B of the 2nd Regiment, 2nd Brigade. On 20 Oct 1864, “his horse fell down pitching him forward to the ground and breaking bone in left wrist at same time producing left Scrotal Hernia.”(Ouch!) One assumes he would have received medical aid of some sort before returning to his duties, although no records have yet been found containing these details. He was discharged from the service a little less than a week after the conclusion of the war.

Robert Furnas, colonel of the 2nd Regiment Nebraska Cavalry
JustHopeIcanHelp at English Wikipedia [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The preceding information all came from his pension file. I have not yet found documentation, apart from his own claims, for Allen's service in the 2nd Regiment, and most online sources don't even acknowledge that there was a 2nd Regiment militia. There are indications here and there, however, that it may have existed. Additionally, it is unclear whether Allen would have served in the militia infantry or cavalry. The fact that he fell from his horse suggests the cavalry, but the 2nd Cavalry does appear online, and he does not appear in any published roster. Unfortunately, finding the records that prove Allen's service, if they exist, will require archival searching in Nebraska, which is not exactly a day-trip drive for me. For my present purposes I will accept Allen's word regarding his service, although I must admit I have reservations.

Twenty-seven years after his injury, he was still feeling the effects.On 19 March 1891, while residing in Lone Elm Township, Anderson county, Kansas, he appeared before a Justice of the Peace to swear to his injury and "that since having ‘Lea Grippe’ he is not able to do a days work + the last named disease he had about one year ago + That he is not addicted nor ever was to any vicious habits that would produce the above named diseases." (I can't help but chuckle at the "vicious habits" bit.)

Later that same year, his pension still unresolved, he relocated to Sedan, Chautauqua county, Kansas. According to the local newspaper, he "purchased the McNight place lying west of the city. This is one of the best suburban places in the city." On 30 June 1892, his neighbor Alva Russell swore "That he knows of his own personal knowledge that said Allen C. Wade organized Co ‘B’ 2^nd Regiment 2^nd Brigade Nebraska Militia in the year 1864 and that he was in the service of the United States for more than 90 days in the war of the Rebellion." Although I have not yet verified my supposition, I am reasonably certain that this Alva Russell was the same Alva Russell who was Allen's brother-in-law as well as a cousin of Allen's wife Angeline.

Evidently the War Department had the same difficulty I had in locating Allen's regiment. On 3 March 1893, it informed him “It does not appear from the records of this office that such an organization as Co B 2' Reg’t 2' Brig Nebr Militia was mustered into the service of the United States.” By 1899, the Bureau of Pensions flatly rejected his claim “on the ground that the records of the War Department show that you were not in the military service of the United States as alleged.”

One can almost hear the frustration and anger in Allen's reply:

Mr Evans what departement was in if iwaente in the ware departement whate did the govnere comition mee for what rite had he to call mee in to serves whoes serves was in it was in the teritory of Nebraska an it belonged to the united states ihave my commition an all the testamony requeired they have falde to share my nam thare iff the govneres nam ante good whoes name is good

Since his spelling and lack of punctuation can make his reply difficult to read, here is a corrected transcription:

Mr. Evans, what department was I in if I wasn't in the War Department? What did the governor commission me for? What right had he to call me into service? Whose service was I in? It was in the territory of Nebraska and it belonged to the United States. I have my commission and all the testimony required. They have failed to share my name there. If the governor's name ain't good, whose name is good? 

 

Sadly, Allen passed away just a few days over a year later. His obituary stated that "For some time Mr. Wade had been confined to his bed and was very feeble."

Sources:

I am currently working from notes taken from the xeroxed copies of the pension file sent to me by my cousin, and do not have access to the papers themselves, which have not yet been scanned. Neither have I yet written source citations for them. I will return to this post at a later time, when I again have access to those papers, and cite that source.

Entry for Allen C. Wade, image #459 of 828; "Enrollment of Ex-Soldiers and Sailors, their Widows and Orphans, 1889"; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., "Kansas, Enrollment of Civil War Veterans, 1889," Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Dec 2016). 

"Of Local and General Interest," Freeman's Lance, 4 Dec 1891, p. 1, col. 2; digital images, America's GenealogyBank (www. : accessed 15 Aug 2011), Historical Newspapers.

[Obituary of A. C. Wade] Sedan Lance, 8 Feb 1900, p. 5, col. 3; digital images, America's GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 15 Aug 2011), Historical Newspapers. 

Scipio WADE’s wife

One of my favorite characters to research in the WADE family is Scipio WADE, not because he was particularly interesting, but because of his name. In a family with a common name like WADE, what a boon it is to find someone with an unusual first name like Scipio!

Scipio WADE was the oldest child of Joseph S. WADE—the younger brother of my great-great grandfather Allen C. WADE, whom I have so often mentioned, and about whom I have promised to write a post. That is a promise I have yet to make good, but I still hope to at some point.

This weekend I decided to again take a look at Scipio and see if I could find anything new. After a few relatively unexciting discoveries (mostly city directories), I took another look at my gedcom file. Although he spent most of his life in California with his sister Carrie, he had been married at one time.

For his wife, Margaret McADAMS, I had only and birth date and a death date, in addition to the marriage date. I wondered if I could find a little information if I were to search the newspapers around the time of her death. According to my information, which had come from Findagrave and an old Rootsweb board, she had died in Kincaid, Anderson, Kansas on 29 Apr 1896. So I went to GenealogyBank and typed in “Wade” in the surname field, “1896” in the date field, and checked “Kansas” for the state to search. It wasn’t long before I found an intriguing article.

Trimmed from the original at GenealogyBank

Mrs. Wade, Mrs. Cloyes and her son Joe went down in the Cherokee nation below Bartlesville to pick black berries. As they started back Sunday they drove into the river that was up and it was too deep for them. They started to float down stream and Mrs. Wade was drowned. Mrs. Cloyes got hold of one of the horses and got out all right. Joe also swam out all right. The last seen of Mrs. Wade she was holding to one of the wheels of the hack. The body had not been found at the last report.

The “Mrs. Wade” of this article is not mentioned by full name, so it is uncertain whether she is Mrs. Scipio WADE or another WADE. Her companions give no assistance, as the name “Cloyes” is new to me. The date of this newspaper is 2 July 1896, a Thursday. Assuming that the “Sunday” mentioned in the article is the most recent Sunday, the date of the drowning would have been 28 June 1896, almost fully two months after the death date I had recorded for Scipio’s wife. The 29 Apr 1896 I had recorded would have been a Wednesday. However, both of my sources for her death date were secondary at best; it is possible they were mistaken. Also, newspapers are not always entirely accurate, and the “Sunday” referred to is not clear. The location is also problematic. However, it can easily be explained by the fact that she is buried in Kincaid, Anderson, Kansas. Perhaps the person recording her death simply assumed she died where she was buried. With all these uncertainties, I can neither confirm or disprove that this Mrs. WADE is Margaret.

Another article continued the story.

Trimmed from the original at GenealogyBank

Mrs. Wade who was drowned in Big Caney in the Territory was found three days after. Her body was found nearly a mile from where she was drowned.

If she had drowned on 28 June 1896, her body would have been found 1 July 1896, a day before the previous article had been published. The news simply did not reach the newpaper in time for publication. Unfortunately, this second article gives no further information useful toward the identification of this Mrs. WADE. Perhaps Scipio WADE’s wife drowned on her way home from picking blackberries in Oklahoma, or perhaps it was another unfortunate Mrs. WADE. Only more research will tell.

Sources:

Alohawahine75@aol.com. “[IOWA] McAdams's Family.” IOWA-L Archives. Rootsweb, 18 Mar. 2003. Web.

“Chautauqua Local Items,” Sedan Lance, 2 July 1896, p. 3, col. 5; digital images, America’s GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 10 Jan 2015), Historical Newspapers. 
 

“Chautauqua Local Items,” Sedan Lance, 9 July 1896, p. 2, col. 5; digital images, America’s GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 10 Jan 2015), Historical Newspapers.

Find A Grave, “Find A Grave,” database and images, Find A Grave (www.findagrave.com : accessed 10 Jan 2015); Margaret McAdams Wade (Memorial #86839890); Record added 15 Mar 2012 by N. Dale Talkington.

Searching for the family of Angeline EVANS

Angeline (EVANS) WADE, surrounded by her husband and children

She was part Injun, see. Us kids was close to Grandma. And when she’d get through eating, she had a clay pipe and a little sack of tobacco. And she’d get up and go out in the backyard under a big old oak tree... 

-Ormond Brosius, Aug 1979

That is the only oral history about Angeline (EVANS) WADE that has been passed down to my generation. I have heard it all my life, but have yet to see any documentation to support the idea that my great-great grandmother had any Native American heritage.

After years of vain search, I finally stumbled upon a clue that led to the probable discovery of her antecedents.

Up to that point, I had a half-dozen census records, a marriage record, a xeroxed page from the Family Bible (which has, unfortunately, since been misplaced), and a family group sheet from a cousin. The only clue to her parents contained in these records was the recording of her maiden name: EVANS. Her birth was variously given as Kentucky, Indiana, or Illinois. In one place, her first name was recorded as Evangeline, and in another simply as Anna. She also appeared as Angelina or just A. Given all those possibilities—and the commonness of the names—searching for her by name in the three possible states of her birth was not very effective. I was at a dead end.

Here I must pause and give thanks to the good people at GenealogyBank, for scanning the Sedan, Kansas newspapers and putting them online, and to my local library, for having a subscription to said service. For it was in the Sedan Times-Star that I found the article that gave me the first clue. On page four of the 6 Jan 1910 edition, to be precise:

Dr. and Mrs. M.T. Evans gave a very enjoyable Christmas dinner entertaining Mrs. Angeline Wade, D.K. Wade, Miss Artie Evans and Mr. and Mrs. A. Evans. All are relatives and the occasion was a very pleasant one.

I almost hate to admit it, but this was the first time it had occurred to me that Angeline might have some relatives of her own nearby. I knew that the area was full of her husband Allen’s relations, so I had figured they went with his family to Kansas, leaving hers behind. But here was proof that some of hers had come, too!

The question, of course, was how they were related to one another. D.K. Wade, I knew, was Angeline’s son, and a very little research showed that Dr. M.T. Evans and Artie Evans were siblings, their parents being Mr. and Mrs. A. Evans, who turned out to be Alfred and Matilda EVANS.

I found an obituary for Alfred EVANS on page four of the 3 Nov 1910 Sedan Lance:

Obituary of Mr. Evans

A Long and Useful Life Was Ended Here Last Week.

Alfred Evans, one of the pioneers of Sedan, died October 26, 1910, at his home in Sedan, after an illness of several weeks, the cause of his death being old age and heart trouble.

He was one of the good men of Sedan, having no enemies and esteemed by all who knew him. Quiet, unassuming, always attending strictly to his own concerns, and never interfering with others in matters in which he was not concerned, his whole life was an exemplary one. He was a devoted member of the Christian church, and when not prevented by sickness, or some unavoidable occurrence was always in his place at the church services.

He was born in Indiana, principally raised in Kentucky, and when 18 years of age moved with his parents to Illinois, and in 1865, he moved to Nebraska. He removed to Kansas and to Sedan in 1873, where he lived till the date of his death.

He had been a member of the church for forty-two years, and was one of the most consistent and faithful members of the congregation.

At the time of his death he was 77 years, 5 months and 22 days old. He had always been a hard working man, industrious, sober and a peaceable citizen.

The funeral services were held at the residence in Sedan Oct. 28 at 10 o'clock, conducted by the Rev. J.D. McBrian, and the funeral sermon was delivered from second Timothy, 4th chapters, 6th, 7th and 8th verses. A large number of the people of the community accompanied the remains to Greenwood cemetery where the body was buried.

He leaves a widow and three children surviving him: the children being Dr. M.T. Evans of Sedan, Mrs. Laura Waters of Elk City, and Miss Artie Evans of Macon, Missouri.

Although this obituary does not explicitly state the relationship between Alfred and Angeline, it is a valuable document. I already had Angeline’s birth date: 8 Sept 1834; and with a little math, I arrived at a birth date of 4 May 1833 for Alfred. The two are clearly around the same age. Perhaps they were brother and sister? The movements described in the article align with Angeline’s three claimed birth places and would explain the confusion of whoever reported her place of birth to the census in the various years. Furthermore, according to the obit, Alfred moved to Nebraska in 1865 and Kansas in 1873. This also roughly coincides with Angeline’s movements. I continued combing the newspapers for clues.

Alfred EVANS appeared in another obituary, surprisingly not belonging to one of his immediate family. Rather, it belonged to a Mrs. Henrietta DAVIS:

Mrs. Davis Dead.

Mrs. Henrietta Davis, wife of M. V. Davis, died at the home of the family at Leeds Sunday, August 2. Her death followed a sudden attack of sickness lasting three or four days. The funeral was held Monday, short service being held at the grave by Rev. J. I. Smallwood. The remains were buried in Greenwood cemetery.

Mrs Davis was well know in Sedan where the family has lived for many years, Mr. Davis, during most of the time being engaged in the blacksmith business. Several months ago he took charge of the blacksmith shop at Leeds and moved to that place.

Mrs. Davis was a half sister of Alfred Evans of Sedan and had other distant relatives here. Two sons and a daughter are left to mourn the loss of a kind and loving mother, namely Mrs. Clayton McGill and Nelson and Ben Davis, all of Sedan.

Here was an explicit statement of relationship between Henrietta DAVIS and Alfred EVANS! If Alfred EVANS was Angeline’s brother and Henrietta was his half-sister, then clearly Henrietta was also Angeline’s half-sister. (One of the times when the mathematical property of transitivity applies to human relations!) However, Angeline also was living in Sedan, and Henrietta’s obituary, apart from her immediate family, mentions only Alfred and “other distant relatives.” If she had more than one sibling in the town, it seems odd that her obituary would mention only one by name.

Another previously unknown relative popped up in two brief items in the Sedan Times-Star, both in June of 1910:

Mrs. A.C. Wade went to Niotaze Monday to visit her niece, Mrs. Anna Kilpatrick.

and

Mrs. A.C. Wade of Sedan is visiting her niece, Mrs. Kilpatrick.

Since I already had a pretty extensive family tree drawn up for her husband, Allen WADE, I knew that this was not a niece by marriage. It had to be a niece from Angeline’s side of the family. Figuring that she must, therefore, have been born an EVANS, I was quickly able to discover a marriage record for an Anna J. EVANS and a William K. KILPATRICK, who were married on 24 Nov 1902.

Anna KILPATRICK was residing in the 1905 Kansas state census in the home of Dick M. and Henrietta DAVIS. This census unfortunately does not identify relationships within a household, but the evidence tying together the various members of the EVANS family was mounting.

Even more exciting, on the line just below Anna KILPATRICK was an Ella EVANS. Looking at other census records of the DAVIS household, Ella also appeared (as Ella B. DAVIS) in 1900, listed as a “neice,” and in 1895 as Ella IVANS. I also found a newpaper article announcing her marriage in 1909:

Ziegler—Evans.

William Ziegler of Dewey, Okla., and Miss Allie B. Evans of Niotaze were married here Saturday at the home of Alfred Evans. Rev. Cummings officiated and only relatives were present. The young couple will make their home at Dewey.

Their marriage license is reported on the same page:

William Ziegler, Dewey........25

Ollie B. Evans, Niotaze........18

When I looked up their marriage record, her name was recorded, probably more accurately, as Ella B. EVANS. The marriage record I found was a secondary source: a list of all the marriages listed in Book J of the county clerk’s marriage certificate books. Often I am able to use the transcribed record books at this Kansas Trails website as a starting point, and look up the original document on FamilySearch, but in this case, the marriage record books at FamilySearch only go up through 1906. So until I am able to view the original, this secondary source will have to suffice.

Ella and her husband William ZIEGLER appear in the 1920 census living in Neodesha Twp, Wilson, Kansas. What is most enlightening about this census record is that the household also contains a father-in-law. Alva EVANS, we learn from this, is Ella’s father. Since Ella is Henrietta DAVIS’ and Alfred EVANS’ niece, and her father shares the EVANS surname, Alva EVANS must be a brother to Henrietta and Alfred. But I still didn’t know if I could extend that relationship to Angeline (EVANS) WADE.

I found the answer when I found Alva EVANS in the 1885 Kansas census. He appears with his wife, Lottie, and daughters Myrtle and Annie. The circumstances all added up to this Annie EVANS being Anna J. (EVANS) KILPATRICK. Therefore, she and Ella were sisters. Plus, since she had been explicitly identified as Angeline’s niece, her father must have been Angeline’s brother. I doubt if this line of reasoning would quite stand up to the Genealogical Proof Standard (I haven’t managed to get my hands on the BCC GenealogicalStandards Manual yet), but it is reasonably satisfactory for the time being.

So I now had a list of four siblings to look for in a household. Henrietta had been identified as a half-sister, but was she a daughter of the same father, therefore having the surname EVANS, or by the same mother, therefore with an unknown surname? That question was easy to solve. The “Nebraska, Marriages, 1855-1995” index at FamilySearch included a marriage for Martin V. DAVIS and Henrietta E. EVANS on 5 Jan 1868. She was an EVANS.

Finding the proper family in a census turned out to be much more challenging than I had anticipated. When all was said and done, I had come up with only two good possibilities, neither of which contained all four children. The first was the 1850 household of James EVANS in Wayne, Clinton, Ohio, and the second was the 1860 household of David P. EVANS in Mt. Auburn, Christian, Illinois.

The James EVANS household caught my attention first, because it contained an Alfred, an Angeline, and a Henryetta. Their ages didn’t match up perfectly with the ages I had, but they were fairly close. Comparison with Alfred’s obituary created problem, though. This family was in Ohio, while his obituary placed them in Kentucky at this point in time. The birth places for the children, when compared to the birth places I had on record, also didn’t seem quite right.

Tracing the James EVANS family farther forward in time revealed more inconsistencies, and eventually proved that this was not my EVANS family.

I moved on to the David P. EVANS household. By the time of this census, Angeline and Alfred were both married, so of the four known children, this household contained only Henrietta and Alva. But their ages and birth places did make sense. Moreover, this family was living in Christian county, Illinois, and both Angeline and Alfred had married in Christian county just a few years before.

However, I could not trace this family in the census records in either direction. It seemed that David P. WADE had somehow managed to be enumerated in only a single census in his entire life. I knew, though, that Angeline, Alfred, and Henrietta had all made their way to Richardson county, Nebraska by 1870, so I focused my search there. Richardson county genealogy has only a small presence on the internet, which rather hampered my efforts, and continues to hamper them, but I was able to make some discoveries.

The David P. EVANS household of 1860 included, in addition to Henrietta and Alva, three other children: Polly A, Bluford, and one that is indexed as Aurinda J, but on personal inspection, the “Aurinda” might also be read “Amanda.”

In the 1880 census I found an Amanda J. EVANS, identified as a sister-in-law, residing with the family of Joshua KINSEY in Falls City, Richardson county. Joshua’s wife is Mary A. KINSEY. Amanda and Mary’s ages and birthplaces fit perfectly to make the Amanda J. EVANS of 1880 coincide with the Aurinda F. EVANS of 1860 and the Mary A. KINSEY of 1880 coincide with the Polly A. EVANS of 1860. (Most genealogists know that “Polly” was a common nickname for “Mary.”)

Returning to the “Nebraska, Marriages, 1855-1995” index at FamilySearch, I found a record for the marriage of Joshua KINSEY and Mary Ann EVANS on 25 Sept 1870. The 1880 household also contained a stepson named Townley B. RAMSEY, which would seem to imply that Mary had previously been married to a RAMSEY, but I was unable to find a record for such a marriage in Nebraska. In the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, however, I found an 1865 marriage for a Mary EVANS and a William RAMEY in Piatt county, which is not immediately adjacent to, but not far from, Christian county. The date fits Mary’s age and Townley’s birth well. It’s not conclusive, but it is a possibility.

The 1885 Nebraska census finds this family still in Falls City. Amanda is no longer living with them, and, as one would expect, the oldest child has moved out and a younger one has been born. Most interesting to me, though, is that the stepson is now named as Bluford RANEY. Presumably the B in Townley B. RAMSEY stood for Bluford. This is more circumstantial evidence for this family being the family of the Polly EVANS in David P. EVANS’ 1860 household. The coincidence of the name Bluford helps to suggest a family relationship. Incidentally, I have been unable to trace with any certainty Mary’s brother, the Bluford EVANS who appeared in 1860.

I could not trace Mary (EVANS) KINSEY any farther forward. I have seen some assertions that she next married an Ephraim STANDIFORD, but have found no evidence to prove the two Marys to be the same person.

Likewise, Amanda disappears after 1880, Bluford disappears after 1860, and the later records I have found for Henrietta, Alva, Alfred, and Angeline have shed no light on the matter of their parents. Therefore, it was time to again try to work my way backwards. I had already searched the census indices and discovered nil. In the “Indiana, Marriage Collection, 1800-1941” on Ancestry I found a marriage record for a David P. EVANS and Rosana PENNELL in Harrison county, Indiana. If this were the right couple, the date of marriage—30 July 1840—matched up correctly to make Angeline and Alfred children from an earlier marriage and Henrietta and Alva their stepsiblings. (You can view the original document here.)

For a while, this was as far as I got. I included my findings in my Ancestry tree, and then moved on to another branch of the family. A few months ago I revisited this branch and found that another Ancestry member had been able to take it farther. Janine Eller Porter had pulled together and compiled a large number of sources. Her compiled research pointed me to a number of primary records, some of which can be viewed on FamilySearch. I am still in the process of accessing and evaluating these records, so I am not yet ready to lay it all before you. The research is still greatly circumstantial, but the circumstances are piling atop one another so neatly that it is rather convincing.

I will not go into much detail, but I will tell you that it seems that David P. EVANS’ first wife, Alfred and Angeline’s mother, was Rosana PENNELL’s older sister Elizabeth. Their parents were John PENNELL and Amelia HUNTER, and it may be possible to trace even farther back. The parents of David P. EVANS remain a mystery.

Citations and Selected Sources:

1850 U.S. census, Clinton, Ohio, population schedule, p. 394B, dwelling 1065, family 1065, Household of James Evans; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Mar 2012); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll M432_668.

1860 U.S. census, Bates, Missouri, population schedule, Spruce Township, p. 158 or 206, dwelling 1090, family 1100, Household of Alen C. Wade; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 Oct 2007); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll M653_607.

1860 U.S. census, Christian, Illinois, population schedule, Mount Auburn, p. 244, dwelling 1862, family 1755, Household of David P. Evans; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 Jul 2013); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll M653_161.

1870 U.S. census, Richardson, Nebraska, population schedule, Salem, p. 5 (handwritten) or 113 (stamped), dwelling 35, family 36, Household of Allen C. Wade; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Dec 2006); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M593, roll M593_832.

1880 U.S. census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Summit, enumeration district (ED) 076, p. 3 (handwritten) or 400 (stamped), dwelling 42, family 42, Household of Allen S. Wade; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 11 Nov 2006); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 375.

1880 U.S. census, Richardson, Nebraska, population schedule, Falls City, enumeration district (ED) 314, p. 12 (handritten) and 430 (stamped), dwelling 117, family 119, Family of Joshua Kinsey residing in the George W. Battreall household; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 Jul 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 754.

1885 Kansas state census, Elk, Kansas, population schedule, Elk Falls, p. 15, dwelling 1, family 1, line 1-4, Household of Alva R. Evans; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Feb 2014); citing Roll KS1885_43; Microfilm reels K-1 – K-146, Kansas State Historical Society.

1895 Kansas state census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Sedan, p. 3 (handwritten), dwelling 5, family 5, line 18-19, Household of A. C. Wade; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Mar 2012); citing Roll v115_17; Microfilm reels K-1 – K-169, Kansas State Historical Society.

1895 Kansas state census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Sedan, p. 6, dwelling 4, family 4, line 18-23, Household of D. M. Davis; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Feb 2014); citing Microfilm reels K-1 – K-169, Kansas State Historical Society.

1900 U.S. census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Sedan, enumeration district (ED) 11, sheet 6B, p. 292 (handwritten), dwelling 115, family 116, Household of Dick M. Davis; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Feb 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 473.

1900 U.S. census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Sedan, enumeration district (ED) 0011, sheet 14, p. 108 (stamped), dwelling 295, family 298, Household of John S. Brosius; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Oct 2006); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 473.

1905 Kansas state census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Sedan, p. 55, dwelling 2, family 2, line 6-10, Household of Buchanan Wade; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Feb 2014); citing Microfilm reels K-1 - K-181, Kansas State Historical Society.

1905 Kansas state census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Sedan, p. 66, dwelling 8, family 8, line 22-26, Household of Dick M. Davis; digital images, Ancestry, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 Mar 2012); citing Microfilm reels K-1 - K-181, Kansas State Historical Society.

1910 U.S. census, Chautauqua, Kansas, population schedule, Sedan, enumeration district (ED) 10, sheet 8A, p. 223 (stamped), dwelling 124, family 125, Angeline Wade; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Feb 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll T624_433.

1920 U.S. census, Wilson, Kansas, population schedule, Neodesha, enumeration district (ED) 235, sheet 3A, p. 220 (stamped), dwelling 53, family 55, Household of W. M. Ziegler; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Feb 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T625, roll T625_554.

“Billie and Smoke”: a recording of family reminiscing during the visit of Ormond “Smoke” Brosius and Billie Gardner to Portland, Oregon, in Aug 1979; recorded by “Sugar” Brosius at the home of Vinis and Aileen Brosius, cassette tape and partial transcription in the possession of Amber Brosius.

Clerk of the District Court. Chautauqua County, Kansas. Marriage Records, Book J. 9 Jan 1909-12 Mar 1914. Chautauqua County Marriage Records. Kansas Trails, 2011. Web. 19 March 2012. <http://ksgennet.org/ks/cq/marr/cqmarrj.html>.

“County News: Niotaze.” Sedan Times-Star 16 June 1910:5. America’s GenealogyBank. NewsBank Inc. Web. Accessed 15 Aug 2011.

“General News.” Sedan Times-Star 9 June 1910:5. America’s GenealogyBank. NewsBank Inc. Web. Accessed 15 Aug 2011.

Illinois State Archives and the Illinois State Genealogical Society, “Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900,” database, Cyber Drive Illinois (http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com : accessed 13 Jul 2014), entry for the 1865 marriage of William Ramey and Mary Evans; citing original county clerks' marriage records.

Illinois State Archives and the Illinois State Genealogical Society, “Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900,” database, Cyber Drive Illinois (http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com : accessed 13 Jul 2014), entry for the 1857 marriage of Alfred Ivins and Matilda Hollingsworth; citing original county clerks' marriage records.

“Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XXLD-RZP : accessed 13 Jul 2014), David P Evans and Rosanna Pennell, 30 Jul 1840; citing Harrison County; FHL microfilm 001404750.

Jordan Dodd and Liahona Research, comp., “Illinois, Marriages, 1851-1900,” database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Feb 2014), entry for marriage of Alfred Ivins and Matilda Hollingsworth, 31 Dec 1856; Film # 0987611.

Jordan Dodd and Liahona Research, comp., “Illinois, Marriages, 1851-1900,” database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 Feb 2014), entry for the marriage of Allen C. Wade and Angeline Evans, 22 Sept 1855; Film # 0987611.

“Kansas, County Marriages, 1855-1911.” Index and Images FamilySearch. [https://www.familysearch.org]: accessed 19 Nov 2011. Entry for William K. Kilpatrick and Anna J. Evans, married 24 Nov 1902; citing Marriage records, Chautauqua, Marriage licenses, 1902-1906, image 45.

“Marriage License.” Sedan Lance 19 Mar 1909:1. America’s GenealogyBank. NewsBank Inc. Web. Accessed 12 July 2014.

“Mrs. Davis Dead.” Sedan Lance 7 Aug 1908:1. America’s GenealogyBank. NewsBank Inc. Web. Accessed 20 Nov 2011.

“Nebraska, Marriages, 1855-1995,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X583-12B : accessed 13 Jul 2014), Joshua Kinsey and Mary Ann Evans, 25 Sep 1870; citing Richardson, Nebraska, reference cn448; FHL microfilm 1705172.

“Nebraska, Marriages, 1855-1995,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X583-B4T : accessed 12 Jul 2014), Martin V. Davis and Henrietta E. Evans, 05 Jan 1868; citing Richardson, Nebraska, reference cn252; FHL microfilm 1705172.

“Obituary of Mr. Evans.” Sedan Times-Star 3 Nov 1910:4. America’s GenealogyBank. NewsBank Inc. Web. Accessed 20 Nov 2011.

“Social Affairs.” Sedan Times-Star 6 Jan 1910:4. America’s GenealogyBank. NewsBank Inc. Web. Accessed 15 Aug 2011.

Works Progress Administration; Jordan Dodd, Liahona Research, "Indiana, Marriage Collection, 1800-1941," database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Feb 2014), entry for David P. Evans and Rosanna Pennell, married 30 July 1840.

“Ziegler—Evans.” Sedan Lance 19 Mar 1909:1. America’s GenealogyBank. NewsBank Inc. Web. Accessed 12 July 2014.