Amanuensis Monday: 19 Feb 1814 deed from William Wade and Josiah Wade and Sydney his wife to Joseph Wade

I love this deed because, although it does not lay out what the relationship between these individuals is, it suggests a familial relationship between them. Josiah Wade is almost certainly my 4great-grandfather (the relationship remains unproven), and Sydney was the woman he married in 1809. This marriage was over a decade after the birth of my 3great-grandfather, so she was probably not his mother.

The William Wade in this record probably refers to Josiah Wade's father. Josiah has no known brother named William, and the birth of his son William was still four years away.

Most exciting to me is the presence of the name Joseph Wade, which is the name of my 3great-grandfather, Josiah's probable son. He would have been of an age at this point--about 17 years old--to possibly be investing in his first land. However, this Joseph could also be Josiah's brother of the same name. And the payment of $100 suggests someone with some means. At the age of 17, one might expect a property purchase from his father and grandfather to be more of a token amount. Tracing this property through its sale or inheritance will probably be able to solve the question of which Joseph Wade is the buyer.







[p 103]

Wade to Jos Wade ) This Indenture made this nineteenth day of
February in the year of our Lord one thousand
Eight hundred and fourteen between William Wade and Josiah Wade
and Sydney Wade his wife of the county of Adams and State of Ohio
of one part and Joseph Wade of the county and State aforesaid of the
other part Witnesseth that the said William Wade and Josiah Wade
and Sydney his wife for and in consideration of the sum of one hun-
dred dollars current money of the United States of America to them
in hand paid the receipt whereof they do hearby [sic] acknowledge and for
ever acquit and discharge the said Joseph Wade his heirs Executors
and administrators hath granted bargained sold aliened and con-
firmed and by these presents doth grant bargain sell alien and confirm
unto the said Joseph Wade his heirs and assigns forever all that tract
or parcel of land lying and being in the county of Adams situated on the
East fork of Eagle Creek Beginning at a white oak and hickory a
corner to Arthur McFarland and running thence South forty nine

[p 104]

Degrees West forty two poles to a Stake near a white Walnut
thence South three degrees ten minutes West forty seven poles to a
buckeye and Walnut thence South forty five west forty five poles
to a Sycamore on the bank of the Creek thence north fifty degrees
West one hundred and forty poles to a stone at the state road thence
South forty tow and a half west Sixty Six poles and nine tenths of
a perch to a Stone in the Division line between Robert McDaid
and William Wade thence with said line North thirty minutes West
one hundred and Sixteen poles to a black Walnut north East cor-
ner to said McDaid thence South Eighty Eight degrees East fifty
Eight poles a white oak thence South two degrees West forty two
poles to a white oak thence South Eighty Eight East one hundred
and sixty three poles to the beginning corner together with all im-
provements water courses profits and appurtenances whatsoever to the
said premises belonging or in any wise appertaining and the reversions
remainders and profits thereof and all the estate right title interest pro-
perty claim and demand of them the said William Wade and Josiah
Wade and Sydney his wife of and and to the same to have and to hold
the lands hereby conveyed with all and singular the premises and
every part and parcel thereof with every of the appurtenances unto
the said Joseph Wade his heirs and assigns forever to the only pro-
per use and behoof of him the said Joseph Wade his heirs and assigns
forever and the said William Wade and Josiah Wade and Sydney
his wife for themselves theare [sic] heirs executors and administrators do cove-
nant promise and agree to and with the said Joseph Wade his heirs
and assigns by these presents that the premises before mentioned now are
and forever hereafter shall remain free of and from all former and other
gifts grants bargains sales dowers right and title of dower judments
executions titles troubles charges and incumbrances whatsoever done
or suffered to be done by them the said William Wade and Josiah
Wade and Sydney his wife and theair [sic] heirs all and singular the
premises hereby bargained and sold with the appurtenances unto
the said Joseph Wade his hiers and assigns against them the said
William Wade and Josiah Wade and Sydney and thare [sic] heirs
and all and every other person whatsoever doth and will warrant
and forever defend by these presents In Witness whereof they the
said William Wade and Josiah Wade and Sydney his wife have

 

[p 105]

hereunto set their hands and seals the day first above written
Signed Sealed and delivered in the presents of us ) William Wade (seal)
Edmund Wade, Amos Duncan interlined before ) Josiah Wade (seal)
signed on the fif- ) Sydney her + mark Wade (seal)
teenth line
State of Ohio Adams County Ss
This day personally appeared before me the subscriber a Justice of the
Peace in and for the county aforesaid William Wade and Josiah Wade and
Sydney his wife and acknowledged the within signing and sealing to be
there act and deed for the purpose mentioned also Sydney Wade being sepe-
rate and apart and out of the hearing of her said husband declared that
she relinquished her right of dower to premises therein mentioned freely
and of her own Voluntary will and accord without the coercion or copulsion [sic]
of her husband In testimony wheareof [sic] I have heareunto [sic] set my hand and seale
this 19th day of February 1814 Aaron Moore (seal)
Recorded the 17th day of August 1814
Joseph Darlinton Recorder A.C.

The names of the witnesses are also of interest. Edmund Wade could have been either Josiah Wade's brother or his son; he had both relations of that name. The other witness, Amos Duncan, could have been a father-in-law or a brother-in-law. Sydney Wade's maiden name was Duncan.

Source:

Adams, Ohio, Deeds, 1797-1900, 8: 103-105 (images #72-73 of 549), William Wade and Josiah Wade and Sydney Wade his wife to Joseph Wade, deed, 19 Feb 1814; digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, "Deeds, v. 8-9 1814-1817," FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 5 Aug 2024).

 

Sunday's Obituary: Willis W. Wade

Yikes! Has it really been over a year since I have posted anything to this blog? (Edit: No, I posted something in July.) I suppose I can believe it, as my day job has been increasingly demanding the past few years and, sadly, I can devote less and less time to genealogy. My interest has not waned, but it is seldom now that I can sit down and concentrate on it for the amount of time necessary to create thoughtful blog posts.

I have, however, made many new discoveries over the past couple years. A summer road trip in 2023 took me to the FamilySearch Library and retraced the route my Underwood ancestors traveled through Utah and Idaho. Naturally, I did a fair amount of research along the way. I also took video footage and am slowly working my way through editing it and posting it to my YouTube channel.

FamilySearch's introduction of searching through computer-transcribed handwritten records has yielded some amazing results for me, as well. The project is still in beta testing, but I highly recommend you try it out if you haven't yet. You can access it at https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/

Both of these activities have filled my to-do list with numerous documents to transcribe--in addition to the ones I already had. So perhaps I will keep this blog active for a while with these transcriptions as I slowly make my way through them. Not the most exciting content, perhaps, and bound to be rather disjointed as I jump from branch to branch, but at least it is something to keep my hand in.

Since it is Sunday, I might as well begin with an obituary. This one is for Willis W. Wade, my first cousin three times removed. He was a son of Joseph S. Wade (my great-grandfather Allen C. Wade's brother) and his wife Susan Evins.

Willis W. Wade


LODI, Sept. 9--Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. tomorrow in the Hale & Bawden Funeral Home for Willis W. Wade, 84, retired local farmer, who died yesterday in his home at Rt. 4, Box 98.


Following the rites, graveside services will be conducted in Cherokee Memorial Park under the auspices of the Lodi Masonic Lodge.


Mr. Wade is survived by his wife, Sarah; a son, William J. Wade of Lodi, an officer in the Lodi Masonic Lodge; 2 daughters, Mrs. Bertha Spaulding and Mrs. Edna Brown, both of Ontario, Calif.; a sister, Miss Carrie Wade of Lodi; 2 grandsons and a graddaughter, including Mrs. Lataine Hughes of Turlock; and 5 great grandchildren.


Mr. Wade was the father of the Herbert A. Wade and Mrs. Lottie E. Wilson of Lodi.


A native of Falls City, Neb., Mr. Wade was a member of the Grandfield, Okla., Masonic Lodge and he was a past member of the Lodi Lodge of Odd Fellows.

Source:

"Willis W. Wade," Stockton Record, 9 Sept 1955, p. 15, col. 7; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 18 Feb 2023).

Estate Sale Genealogy

Last Saturday I had the eerie experience of going to what could almost have been my own future estate sale: it was mostly genealogy and classic movies. Sadly for the person who had passed, but happily for me, the genealogical materials were literally being given away. Most of the books were either obsolete or not within my areas of interest, but I did find one book I desired. When I asked the price, they said, "You can have it." In the free box I found a box of old CD-ROMs from Ancestry, Family Tree Maker, and more. Although I suspected they were probably obsolete, I grabbed the whole box to look through at home.

When I got home, as expected, the software CD-ROMs were too old for my operating system, but I discovered that most of the CDs in the box were actually photo CDs, containing many scans from someone's old photo album. And one was actually an audio CD, containing a digitization of a wire recording made in the 1950s!

Well, you know that I can't throw out someone's genealogical documents, especially when there are so many clues to help me connect them to the correct family. Although it did not occur to me until it was too late that I should have taken note of the address of the sale to help identify the former owner of the documents, many of the photos are named, and a few of the CDs even contain family trees. Perhaps (and hopefully!) I will discover that all of these are already shared in places such as the FamilySearch tree, WikiTree, and Geni. If that is the case, I won't need to worry so much. But until I can be sure that they are available to those who have an interest, I will slowly comb through.

Sunday's Obituary: Mr. Mohney

One of my favorite finds during my most recent access to Newspapers.com is also one of the most enigmatic. I am taking liberties in applying the term "obituary" to this article, but... it's my blog and I can do what I want. And I'm dying to write about this one. (No pun intended.)

Clarion County.--A Mr. Mohney, who resided near Reimersburg, was kicked in the stomach by a horse from the effects of which he died in less than twenty-four hours. He was walking along conversing with a person on horseback, when to avoid the worst part of the road he crossed over behind the horse when the animal kicked him. He suffered most excrutiatingly [sic] until death came to his relief. Truly "in the midst of life we are in death."

Why do I find this article so compelling? It doesn't even record Mr. Mohney's first name. It was originally clipped by another user, who titled the clipping "Adam Mohney Death," but I have yet to locate any substantiating documents for that name.

Even so, the article supplies so many intriguing possibilities, and may even be a clue to my most recent brick wall. Most of my family lines can be solidly traced back several generations, but the parents of my great-grandfather John S. Brosius seemingly appeared out of nowhere in 1852. In that year, my great-great-grandfather Adam Brocius purchased 50 acres in South Shenango township, Crawford county, Pennsylvania. Before then, my Brosius line is a mystery.

Adam Brocius' wife is remembered in my family as Margrette Mooney, but the surnames of numerous DNA matches suggest that her surname was actually Mohney. However, I have thus far been unable to discover exactly how she ties into the Mohney family. So the mere coincidence of the surname Mohney is not enough to attract more than cursory interest in this article.

The surname Mohney combined with a kick of a horse causing death is clear reason for interest, though. As I have mentioned in at least one previous post, there is an oral history within the Brosius family of a grandfather dying by being kicked by a mule. Who the grandfather was who died in that way is inconsistent, depending upon the storyteller, sometimes being John S. Brosius himself and sometimes his father Adam Brocius. So it seems entirely possible that the victim wasn't either of them at all, but perhaps the story is a mangled remembrance of the death of Margrette Mohney's father, or at least someone in her line.

Her parentage has not yet been determined, so it could be that this Mr. Mohney is her long-lost father. Naturally, proving such an optimistic hypothesis will take a great deal of additional research, but it gives me a starting place. I am reasonably certain that Adam Brocius and Margrette Mohney moved to South Shenango from elsewhere in Pennsylvania, but both surnames are surprisingly common in that part of the country during the appropriate time period, so any hint of a starting place is greatly appreciated.

Mr. Mohney's death took place in 1858, when Adam and Margrette Brocius would have been a young married couple. No indication of Mr. Mohney's age is given in the article, so it is not impossible that he was of the right age to be Margrette's father. The location of his residence and death is in Clarion county, which is not far from Crawford county, sitting to the southeast, with only Venango county dividing the two. Even in those days, it would have been a reasonable distance to migrate while still remaining near enough to occasionally visit family for special occasions.

So now my task is laid before me. I need to build out Mr. Mohney's family tree, and see if I can discover if he connects in any way to Margrette Mohney. If not her father, perhaps he is her brother or an uncle. Or perhaps this is just another wild goose chase.

Sources:

"Pennsylvania Items: Clarion County," Raftsman's Journal, 6 Jan 1858, p. 2, col. 3; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 18 Feb 2023).

Crawford, Pennsylvania, Deeds Xeroxed by Gloria Brosius and sent to Amber Brosius, John Ralston to Adam Brocius, 30 Nov 1852; Crawford County Office of the Clerk of Courts, Meadville.

Sunday's Obituary: Rosa Fox

Over the past two weeks I have featured my 2great-grandparents, Louis Fox and Cora Jones. This week it seems only fitting to feature their young daughter Rosa, my great-grandmother's sister. Sadly, she died quite young, at the age of only 11. She was a victim of the 1918 influenza epidemic.

The Sun reported Rosa's death the same day that she passed.

Rosy Fox Dead

Elliott, Dec. 12--Rosy Fox, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Fox, died about 1 o'clock this morning from pneumonia, following influenza. Other members of the family who were sick are recovering. The funeral will be late Friday afternoon at 2 o'clock.

I enjoy the fact that they referred to her as "Rosy." It feels so much more personal than Rosa, and I can imagine her friends and acquaintances calling her by that name on an everyday basis. I also find it interesting to learn that other members of the family also came down with the influenza; that is something I might never have otherwise learned.

The following week, the Red Oak Express provided a more comprehensive obituary of Rosa's short life, plus a little more information on the experience of the rest of the family.

WEEKLY LETTER FROM ELLIOTT
Rosa A. Fox Dies of Influenza...

Rosa Adella Fox, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. A. Fox, was born in Montgomery county July 1, 1907. She was called to her reward Dec. 12, 1918, at the age of 11 years. The entire family except her sister Hazel was sick with influenza, Miss Rosa developing a case of pneumonia after a short illness. During her short life she endeared herself to all her associates in school as well as in the bible school and junior work. She was a member of Miss Hazel Collins' class in bible school and under Mrs. R. N. Collins and Mrs. McKee in junior work. She will be greatly missed by the members of these departments. She leaves to mourn her departure her mother, father, three sisters, Mabel, Hazel and Viola, one brother Clyde, besides a number of other relatives and friends. Short services were held at the home Friday afternoon conducted by Rev. J. W. McKee. Interment was in Elliott cemetery.

Right off the bat, Rosa's reported name in this article provided me a small surprise. Here, it was recorded as Rosa Adella Fox. On Find A Grave and the index to "Iowa, County Death Records, 1880-1992" at FamilySearch it is recorded as Rosa Adolla Fox. However, Find A Grave does not cite a source for the middle name, and the photograph of her headstone shows that only a middle initial is inscribed. I have not yet been able to view an original document in the Iowa County Death Record database at FamilySearch, only the index, which could, of course, be subject to transcription errors. Naturally, newspapers are also notorious for misspelling names. Yet, "Adella" is a familiar name, as opposed to "Adolla." At this point, it cannot be determined with certainty which is correct.

Sources:

"Rosy Fox Dead," Sun, 13 Dec 1918, p. 6, col. 2; digital images, Community History Archive (https://redoak.advantage-preservation.com/ : accessed 24 Feb 2023).


"Weekly Letter from Elliott," Red Oak Express, 20 Dec 1918, p. 13, col. 4; digital images, Community History Archive (https://redoak.advantage-preservation.com/ : accessed 24 Feb 2023).


Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8643200/rosa-adolla-fox: accessed 28 March 2023), memorial page for Rosa Adolla Fox (1 Jul 1907–12 Dec 1918), Find a Grave Memorial ID 8643200, citing Hillside Cemetery, Elliott, Montgomery County, Iowa, USA; Maintained by Marty & Harley (contributor 47240226).


"Iowa, County Death Records, 1880-1992," database, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 26 Mar 2023), entry for Rosa Adolla Fox's 1918 death; citing Death, Sherman Township, Montgomery, Iowa, United States, page 193 cn98, offices of county clerk from various counties; FHL microfilm 1,481,703.

Sunday's Obituary: Cora Mae (Jones) Fox

Last week we did my 2great-grandfather, Louis Arthur Fox. Let's stay in that family for a bit and read about his wife, my 2great-grandmother Cora Mae (Jones) Fox, today. These articles are also courtesy of that wonderful Red Oak Community History Archive.

Her obituary appeared in at least two of the local papers, the Red Oak Express and the Sun. First we will hear from the Express.

Services Are Held For Mrs. Louis Fox

ELLIOTT--Funeral services for Mrs. Louis Fox, 77, Elliott community resident since 1897, were held Wednesday, Mar. 31, at the Methodist church here with the Rev. A. Breeling officiating and burial in Hillside cemetery.

She died Sunday, Mar 28, at the hospital in Red Oak, where she had been a patient four weeks.

Cora Jones was born Aug. 12, 1876, in Missouri and moved to Coburg with her parents as a youngster. She was married there in 1897 to Louis Fox, who survives.

Also surviving are three daughters, Mrs. Mable Peck of Elliott, Mrs. Hazel Hoyt of Council Bluffs and Mrs. Viola Leighton of Griswold, son, Clyde, near Stennett; seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Her obituary in the Sun gave much of the same information, but with perhaps a few more details. (And an erroneous middle initial for her husband, Louis Arthur Fox.)

Mrs. Louis Fox Of Elliott Dies

Elliott, March 31--Funeral services were held Wednesday at 2 p. m. at the Methodist church here for Mrs. Louis F. Fox. Rev. A. Breeling officiated at interment was in Hillside cemetery, Elliott.

Cora Jones was born August 12, 1876 in Missouri. When a small child she came with her parents to Coburg and was married there Dec. 19, 1897, to Louis Fox. They have resided in this community since that time. Mrs. Fox has been a patient invalid for a number of years. She died Sunday afternoon at Murphy Memorial hospital where she had been four weeks She is survived by her husband and three daughters and one son as follows: Mrs. Mable Peck, Elliott; Mrs. Viola Leighton, Griswold, Mrs. Hazel Hoyt, Council Bluffs, Clyde Fox, Red Oak. There are seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

As if two obituaries weren't enough, there are a couple further notes in the Sun, mentioning some of the guests at her funeral.

Mr. and Mrs. Lon Sheppard and Dave Morgan were in Elliott to attend the funeral of Mrs. Louis Fox, 77, which was held at the Methodist church Wednesday.

Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Jones attended the funeral of Mrs. Louis Fox in Elliott Wednesday. Services were held at the Methodist church.

Kenneth Jones was Cora's nephew, a son of her brother John Martin Jones. I have not yet identified Lon Sheppard or Dave Morgan. They may have been relatives of some sort, or they may have been friends.

Source:
"Services Are Held For Mrs. Louis Fox," Red Oak Express, 1 Apr 1954, p. 2, col. 1-2; digital images, Community History Archive (https://redoak.advantage-preservation.com/ : accessed 24 Feb 2023).

"Mrs. Louis Fox Of Elliott Dies," Sun, 1 Apr 1954, p. 2, col. 6-7; digital images, Community History Archive (https://redoak.advantage-preservation.com/ : accessed 24 Feb 2023).

"Personals," Sun, 5 Apr 1954, p. 2, col. 1-2; digital images, Community History Archive (https://redoak.advantage-preservation.com/ : accessed 24 Feb 2023).

 

Sunday's Obituary: Louis Arthur Fox

Here's a tip: If you don't already have access to Newspapers.com, make sure to at least get on their mailing list. About once a year they provide free access to the site for an entire three-day weekend, but you can only take advantage of the offer through the link in the email.

A little over a month ago, for President's Day Weekend, the offer appeared. It was an inconvenient time for me; my laptop had just died. And by died, I mean died. I could not get it to turn on. I bought a new one, but my genealogy program with all its tasks was still on the old one. There was no way I was going to miss out on free newspapers, though! I just couldn't be as strategic as I would have liked. My searches would have to be based on the bits and pieces I have in the cloud, and pure, fitful memory. Inevitably, searching this way resulted in finding some things I have found before, but I still made a considerable number of new discoveries.

In the past couple of years since I first began taking advantage of these Newspaper.com weekends, I have developed a process. I clip and download as many relevant articles as I can in the time available, and when the weekend is over I go through the tedious work of transcribing and creating citations. That is what I have been doing every evening in the intervening days.

So anyway, that was a long-winded way of saying that I have a whole new batch of obituaries, and they may be pretty random as to who they are or to which branch of family they belong.

Let's begin with my 2great-grandfather, Louis Arthur Fox. This was my Grandpa Jack's maternal grandfather, and the only grandparent whose name Grandpa Jack was able to tell me. The reason he knew his name, he explained, was that one day when he was visiting, a package arrived that needed to be signed for. Louis Fox had lost an arm, and was holding something in his other arm, so he had Grandpa Jack sign for it. He told him his name and how to spell it.

Incidentally, I also discovered a number of newspaper articles from the time that Louis Fox lost his arm, but I'll save those for another post.

Services at Elliott For Louis Fox, 87

ELLIOTT -- Services were held Wednesday, Dec. 3, for Louis Fox, 87 of Elliott, who died at his home here Monday, Dec. 1.

He was born July 3, 1871, at Lebanon, Ohio, and came to Iowa when he was quite young. He was married to Cora Jones at Coburg in December, 1896. He lived in the Elliott community a number of years as a farmer, retiring in 1943.

Services were held at the Elliott Methodist Church with the Rev. Clarence Landis, officiating.

Survivors are four children, Mrs. Hazel Hoyt of Council Bluffs, Mrs. Viola Leighton of Griswold, Mrs. Mabel Peck and Clyde Fox of Elliott; seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

 I realize as I paste in the citation that this article did not come directly from Newspapers.com. I discovered it as an indirect effect of the Newspapers.com weekend special. Searching for this family and not finding them on that website, I did a search for newspapers from Red Oak, Iowa, and discovered that there is a free website of newspapers for that area! My finds from there and from Newspapers.com are all jumbled up in my head, and will continue to be all jumbled up in the order I present them.

Source:

"Services at Elliott For Louis Fox, 87," Red Oak Express, 4 Dec 1958, p. 2, col. 5; digital images, Community History Archive (https://redoak.advantage-preservation.com/ : accessed 24 Feb 2023).