Category Archives: Uncategorized

Over eight years ago, I wrote the first post on this site. It began as a way of updating and correcting information in an ancestral book I wrote for my family. Over those years, I dug deep into family history, traveled to old homelands, met some wonderful people, and had some amazing experiences. I, likewise, wrote The Maggie Chronicles, four books loosely based on some of those people and experiences, both present and past.

But all good things must end, and with the coming of April, this site will be no more. So, if there is anything here that, for any reason, you would like to keep, be sure to copy it into your records now. And if you do, please remember—verify, verify, verify.

I’ve had some interesting comments from people over the years. I went on a nostalgic tour of them today. Most were from people researching their family history and wondering about any common connections. Interestingly, very few came from my grandmother’s line of Ison and Morris(s), who came out of Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri. A few comments had to do with the Payne family out of Connecticut and Vermont. The majority of the comments came from those researching the Huston, Oswalt, and Croy families, who came together in Londonderry (originally Cumberland Valley) Township in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Then, of course, there is Ohio, a state now dear to my heart, where most of the Bedford crew (along with the Paynes) congregated.

While some few lingered where they landed, most set their sights on other horizons. The story of these families, I discovered, was a story of change, of new adventures, of moving on. And so it is with me. I thank everyone who joined me on this venture, piqued my interest, and led me to consider other ways of seeing. My new horizon is a quiet one, walking a singular path, enjoying my place and my family, face-to-face. And as I move on, I wish you each a new year and life to match the horizons you set. 

Over the last two weeks, I watched the mailbox, expecting for an envelope from Rockbridge Circuit Court containing the marriage bond records of Thomas H. Morris and Malinda Salling Morris. I knew they held the name of Malinda’s father, Peter Salling (see previous posting), but I hoped it would provide me with the identity of Thomas H. Morris’s parents. The Virginia marriage bonds often are a family affair. The envelope came. No luck.

Next step, analyze all the information I have collected to see what it revealed. I had two goals: determine the parentage and pinpoint the date Thomas H. and Malinda moved to Missouri. Here is what I did.

1. Organize all marriage information into a table.
2. Organize census information by year for Rockbridge County, VA, Ralls and Chariton (Howard) County, MO 1810-1840
3. Compare it with miscellaneous information gathered from written histories and Chancery documents.

What did I discover?

1. As yet, the parentage of Thomas H. Morris is unknown, but I suspect it is John Morris, likely son of Thomas Morris and Elizabeth. My rational: 3 1810 records show a male of Thomas’s age (about 12). Two of those men were children of Mark Morris: William and David. (Note: there are other scenarios, based on naming patterns. I do not know who Mark’s parents were, though likely Thomas and Elizabeth.
2. They moved to Missouri between 1841 and October 1849.Thomas H. appears on the 1850 census for Howard County, Missouri. A careful reading of the 1841 Chancery records for Malinda’s father Peter shows he was present at the proceedings while Malinda’s brother, John Adam was not there. Lucinda Morris, daughter of Thomas H. and Malinda, married Congrave Warden in Howard County, 1849.

In 1778, when Rockbridge County formed, two families of note owned tithable land in the county, both near the Rock Bridge formation that gave the county its name. George Salling (Salley, Sally) owned two plots and Thomas Morris owned one. These pioneers and their wives populated the county with many children. I focused on George in the last post. Now let’s look at Thomas.

Thomas Morris, from an analysis of marriage bonds and Chancery records, had eleven children: Benjamin, John, Joseph, George, Margaret (Peggy), Agatha, Nancy Elizabeth, Mary, Sarah, and Elijah. Mark may also be one of their children. Oddly, I found no Thomas of the appropriate age. It is from this family, somehow, that Thomas H. sprung.

A glutton for detail? Find my analysis here.morris-analysis

Nehemiah Smedley House, Williamstown, MA “…whence on one occasion they adjourned to the house of Nehemiah Smedley…were..John Smedley, Ephraim Selye, Samuel Payn” The place of founder’s meetings from 1763 (then West Hoosac) when voting on the necessities of bridges, the outline of lots, and, of course, money to “Sport the Gospel”. (From Origins of Williamstown Pg 464)

This week I’ve focused on the cleanup and reorganization of the family sheets for the ancestors who lived in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. This includes family names Payne, Little, Grimes, Carnes, and Williams. The New England reward for family historians is the wealth of church and town records; the draw back is the dearth of tax and land records. Most of what appears in these sheets is based on church and town records. Find them here. new-haven-family-sheets-2017 And if the Payne family descendants interest you, check out more posts by hitting the link to the Payne family found to the left of the post on my website.

As always, the impact of place intrigues me, so I put together a brief outline of the migratory pattern (or lack thereof) of these families. I found it particularly interesting because some of these people are the fictitious characters for my just finished book and the one percolating in my mind.

• 1635-1785 New Haven Colony/Connecticut was home to the William Payne, Richard Little/Joan Walker, Thomas Carnes, John Payne/Mary Little, and William Payne/Ester Carnes families
• 1645-1712 Hartford, Wethersfield, Connecticut was home to the Henry Grimes, Josheph Grimes, Abraham William/Eunice Boardman Families
• Before 1739 Goshen, Connecticut became the first major migration destination when Christoper Grimes/Abigail Williams move northwest from Wethersfield, CT
• The two families centered in New Haven and Wethersfield joined when Samuel Payne of New Haven and Abigail Grimes born in Wethersfield, now living in Goshen married. They moved often:
  • 1758 “the nine partners” in Dutchess County, New York just west of Goshen, CT
  • 1761 back to New Haven for the birth of a child while Samuel negotiated a purchase in
  • June, 1761 in Williamstown, Massachusetts
  • Between 1773 and 1778 moved to Bennington County, Vermont (then disputed country)
  • 1790-1800 lived in Panton, Addison County, Vermont
  • After 1810 likely moved to Ohio with sons Zerah and Amasa

I always considered the moves of Christoper Grimes’s family to Goshen, CT. I was wrong. Christoper brought his family to Goshen at its formation by 1739 and according to the History of the Town of Goshen, 1897 by Rev. Hubbard, “…there was no road open either north or west in in 1745; but all was forest…” (Pg 57)

Samuel Payne’s moves to Williamstown and Bennington County were equally adventuresome. The map below shows the country at the time of Lt. General Burgoyne’s campaign in the country during his Revolutionary War campaign of 1777, the time of the Battle of Bennington.(From the Library of Congress by William Faden pub. 1780. It would not allow me to crop but look closely and find Williamstown and Bennington near the bottom left of the map.)

View near Wills Creek

As my New Year’s Resolution promised, I am working to “Be open to what I don’t know, accept when I don’t know it, and make sure I admit it, because what I don’t know opens me to discovery and growth.” I’ve gone through my Wills Creek, Pennsylvania ancestry and updated my tree and family sheets for that section only. It includes family of patriarchs and matriarchs Alexander Huston, Mary and Sarah Huston. Jacob Croy, Jacob Oswalt Sr and Jr, and Susanna Oswalt and Andrew Croy. You can find them here.western-pa-family-sheet-2017

I’ve been pointed in my level of confidence, I hope. If I have no documentation for a relationship, I indicate “Unknown.”If I calculated dates based on tax records, I say so. Any dates derived from census information either are noted as “about” with a ~ or “between” using <>. After applying for the First Ohio Families and Civil War Families, and having some very astute individuals asking for documentation that I couldn’t produce, I am VERY cautious. Of course there is always doubt…ie “My best conclusion with evidence at hand.” History is always a little uncertain. This is my best attempt.

Some new information surfaced and old information came into focus during the process. I found the gravesite of Rebecca Johnson, Clark County, Ohio daughter of Jacob and Mary Huston. file:///Users/user/Desktop/Rebecca%20Johnston%20(1773%20-%201841)%20-%20Find%20A%20Grave%20Memorial.webarchive Also found the newspaper article in the Glenville Democrat path finder about Peter Waggoner and Sarah Oswalt of Jacob Oswalt, Jr.  A great resource for that family, found in Ancestry.com. I also reworked all my information on the HUSTON family in Wills Creek. You can access that spreadsheet here.the-huston-family-in-western-pennsylvania

As I redo family sheets, I am eliminating my old family book narrative as it holds errors, and I plan to redo it—someday. Meanwhile my goal is to go through every set of family sheets and reorganize the pages to make room for a page devoted to my historical fiction where facts are a springboard into imaginary worlds.

After welcoming six boys into their family, Andrew and Susannah (Oswalt) Croy (my 3x great grandparents) finally held a girl child. Mary Croy (named for her grandmother, Mary Huston Croy) was born sometime in 1813 in Carroll County, Ohio.[i] She married Robert Russell of Monroe Township on 20 January 1835.[ii] His father owned a farm near DellRoy, Ohio (spelled variously Del Roy and DelRoy, in records) from about 1812.[iii] Mary joined Robert in Monroe Township and they farmed next door to his brother Matthew until their deaths, Mary on 11 June 1871 and Robert on 29 March 1890.[iv] His obituary appears here.[v]

An April 2 entry in the same paper indicated he died of “La grippe”

Matthew Russell married Mary’s sister Margaret, the only other daughter of Andrew and Susannah. He followed her to White Eyes Township in Coshocton County after Andrew took his family there in 1839. He married her in that county on 18 August 1840.[vi] She returned with him to live next to her sister on Matthew and Robert’s family farm. They lived on the farm until their deaths, she on 29 November 1895[vii] and he on 29 August 1881.[viii] When he died he left a probate record, transcribed in part here.

“I give and bequeath to Margaret Russel my beloved wife all my property personal and Real Estate to have and hold during her natural life time including all notes and claims with privaledge [sic]to sell od said stock and grain from time to time as she may decide best to do and apply the money to pay the Debts as they become due and to keeping the farms in repair paying the taxes that may become due from time to time and all other claims…When my wife Margaret Russel has become deceased Then all of said property Real and personal that Remains to be Sold and divided…sealed this 23^rd day of August A.D. 1884 Matthew [his mark] Russel”

The will detailed how moneys would be divided amongst his children based on moneys already lent. The children listed, all of Dell Roy included Jackson Russell, Mary Dutenhaver, Amanda J Trushel, Susan Allen, John Russell, and William Russell whom he requested continue to live with Margaret to assist in the maintenance of the farm.[ix] Andrew and Susannah turned to these two families in their final years, moving to live with them after 1856.[x]

[i] Russell, Mary, Record of Deaths, Probate Court, in and for Carroll County, State of Ohio, 1872; housed in Carroll County Genealogical Society, PO Box 36, Carrollton, OH, pg 36, #98.7. (Note: the only official document I have found that lists Andrew and Susannah as the parents of any of their children.) and Russell Gravestones, St. Luke Cemetery, Monroe Township, DelRoy, Ohio; Row 4 #27 (Note: Often a gravestone in this cemetery is sited as that of Mary Russel of Matthew Russel. It is not. The gravestone marks an infant death of Mary and Robert’s child.)

[ii] Robert Russell/Mary Croy, Marriage record v 1 July 1833- Aug 1849 LP 343, housed in Carroll County Genealogical Society, PO Box 36, Carrollton, OH pg 38

[iii] Matthew Russell obituary, Carroll Chronicle, 2 September 1881; housed in Carroll County Genealogical Society, PO Box 36, Carrollton, OH, Pg 35.

[iv] See i

[v] Robert Russell obituary, Carroll Chronicle, 9 April 1890; housed in Carroll County Genealogical Society, PO Box 36, Carrollton, OH.

[vi] See iii and “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-22512-84212-63?cc=1614804 : 15 July 2014), Coshocton > Marriage licenses 1837-1854 > image 27 of 71; county courthouses, Ohio.

[vii] Russell Gravestones, St. Luke Cemetery, Monroe Township, DelRoy, Ohio; Row 4 #27

[viii] Ibid and Russell, Matthew, Record of Deaths, Probate Court, in and for Carroll County, State of Ohio, 1872; housed in Carroll County Genealogical Society, PO Box 36, Carrollton, OH, pg 98, #131.

[ix] Matthew Russell, recorded 24 September 1881, Carroll county, Ohio Wills and Estates, Probate Record G pg 120 Packet 3252.

[x] Deed: Andrew Croy to David Reed; Coshocton County Deed Book, V 31, Pg 754; Coshocton County Records Office, Coshocton, OH.

As I prepare for the last leg of my Ohio travels, down to the banks of the Ohio in Washington County, one truth holds. Like an invisible fifth sense or a magnetic force, my desire to connect to family, place and history has rendered a wealth of now-time, and very human, connections. Ohio abounds with warm, generous people who love their history and work to preserve it. I have attracted them to me with uncanny genealogical serendipity.

When I attended the banquet where I was inducted into the Society of Civil War Families of Ohio, what uncanny coincidence made me sit next to a woman who had an ancestor who both served in the 36^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and was wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek and transferred to the same hospital in Baltimore, Maryland as mine? At the same banquet, after the induction ceremony, a second woman came up to me and said, “We need to talk.” Deb Root Shell, a generous, friendly example of Ohio hospitality, had Washington County, Ohio ancestors and, over a week of e-mails, provided invaluable suggestions, encouragement, and shared knowledge. (She is a writer and amazing researcher in her own right, with an important book and transcription project in the works. More on that, and maybe a guest blog later.) Sure, those connections are logical. I was at a Genealogy conference focusing on Ohio. But how about this.

After a hilarious interaction at Canal Lewisville, where I took pictures at the cemetery, and photographed the lots where my grandfather’s paternal grandparents lived, only to have a man run out shirtless in his pajama bottoms because he thought I was taking pictures for a foreclosure (long story…yes I got permission but from the wrong person), I drove, with a little zigging and zagging, to Oak Grove Cemetery, located on a backroad in White Eyes Township.

I was a little wary due to my previous encounter. It was right on someone’s farm. Music from a radio drifted out of a large work shed, so I walked up and peeked in. No one was there, not that I could see, and a big “No Trespassing” sign was stuck to the window, so I went back to take pictures. When a tall, lanky man ambled over, I worried. But, no need. We talked for a good 40 minutes about the history of the area. He loved his farm and the history of the place, and maintained the small cemetery, even apologizing for the condition of the well-maintained little place. (More on that when I get back and write out the details of what I found.)

Finally, the amazing story of the picture at the top of the page. I next set out to find the actual site of the saw and gristmill of Andrew Croy, my 3x great-grandfather. I knew the section, range, and township. I also knew it was a mile beyond Fresno, Ohio. (Yes, for my local followers, they have a Fresno. But it is a quaint little burg, not a city like ours.) I drove the back, winding, and undulating road to where I thought it was. Then, unsure, I pulled off…lost? A man pulled up next to me in a pickup truck. I felt more confident after my last experience, that is if it is possible feel confidently lost. I got out of the car and went up to explain. As I did a look came over him. He turned his head to the side.

“Follow me to my house,” he said. It turns out he owned the property on which the mill of Andrew Croy had stood. He invited me in. We shared. His wife had passed from cancer two years before, and he lived alone. We got in his “buggy,” a 4 x 4 Kubota, and he took me to the site he suspected the mill had been, now confirmed by my information. He showed me the barn, built in 1872. He had moved it from the road and renewed the foundation, saving out and including the old foundation date markers. It would have cost him less to just tear it down and build another, but… The Amish quilt marker on the barn was a duplicate of one of his ancestor’s quilts. Then he sent me off with a pint of his home rendered maple syrup. I don’t know how I will get it home, but I will. And I will write. Because now is as important as then.