This person is my { } great grandparent or

Elizabeth Stewart b. 1852

/ Kirstin Miller

Elizabeth Stewart, my 2nd great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Elizabeth Stewart was born on January 15, 1852 the youngest child of William and Elizabeth Crooks Stewart. She grew up on a farm in Crawford County, Pennsylvania then in 1860 Elizabeth and her family had moved to Jefferson, Wisconsin. In 1870 Elizabeth was in Shell Rock, Iowa and 18 years old. There on July 4, 1873 she married Manford Speedy, he was a widow with 2 kids. Together Elizabeth and Manford had 7 kids, 3 died at a young age. Elizabeth, Manford and kids lived on a 160 acre farm that included lots of livestock, 14 acres of grassland, 3 acres of apple trees and 10 acres of forest.

Elizabeth belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church. On the 1895 census her family has 3 religions, Elizabeth is a Methodist, Manford a Baptist, daughters Eva and Ethel Congregationalists. By 1905 Elizabeth and family had moved from their farm to nearby Allison, Iowa. Her oldest step daughter Annette was married and in Springbrook, Wisconsin, stepson Oscar was in Stockton, California, two daughters Eva and Ethel and 2 sons Harve and Ernest lived at home.

Elizabeth had health problems in her later years and died in 1905, she was 53 and the cause of death was ‘rheumatism’. Elizabeth’s funeral was at the Methodist Episcopal Church, “The funeral was conducted from the Methodist church with a verse from Corinthians selected by Mrs. Speedy:

“For now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face”. Bible verse: 1 Corinthians 13:12 (King James Version) For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

Sources

  • Clarksville (Iowa) Star, 1872-2017 1904 Nov 16 page 4 of 8 column 2, 3. Death of Mrs. Speedy
  • 1880 US Agricultural Census at Ancestry
  • 1860 United States Federal Census at Ancestry
  • 1895 Iowa census at FamilySearch
  • Iowa county marriages 1838-1934 at FamilySearch
  • Iowa death records 1904-1951 at FamilySearch

Samuel Druckenbrod b. 1833

/ Kirstin Miller

Samuel Druckenbrod 3rd great grandpa on RootsMagic tree.

Samuel was born in Pennsylvania on May 6, 1833. He was baptized July 14, 1834 in the German Lutheran church at Warwick, PA. Samuel’s great grandpa Matthias was probably the first of his family in America, arriving in the early 1700s during upheaval in Germany and William Penn’s German communities in Pennsylvania. By 1850 his family had moved west to Plain City in Stark County, Ohio.

Samuel married Elizabeth Harter Bair in Stark in 1854. Samuel and Elizabeth had 12 kids and they stayed in Stark, Ohio, they were farmers. On the 1900 US census Samuel and Elizabeth are still farmers. Their son Ivy recorded this census, his name is at the top as ‘enumerator’. In the future Ivy would be superintendent of the Stark County Infirmary. Daughter Fianna Druckenbrod is the only child to move from Ohio. Fianna moved to Bremer County, Iowa with her husband William L. Miller, also from Stark, Ohio, grandparents of Faber Miller.

Samuel was a widow in 1902 and he died on February 14, 1905. At his death his home was in Stark, Ohio, he was on a visit to Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 35 miles north, where his two daughters Lidia Druckenbrod Crist and Adeline Druckenbrod Miller were living with their families. The area in the 1800 and 1900s provided “recreation for urban dwellers … the Valley Railway became another way to escape urban industrial life”. The Cuyahoga Valley National Park was established in 2000 and has 100 waterfalls, trails, 250 species of birds and more.

Sources

 

Enno Frerichs b. 1865

/ Kirstin Miller

Enno Henry Frerichs, my 2nd great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

Enno Frerichs was born January 6, 1865 in East Frisia, Lower Saxony, Germany. Enno was 18 years old when he sailed to America in October, 1883 with his family: dad Casjen, mom Kunna, brother Gerd, sisters Entje and Hilka and older sister Yevkea and her husband Joost Reents. The shipped was named America, it left from Bremen, Germany and landed in Baltimore, Maryland. The passenger list shows their destination was Iowa. Yevkea and Joost had one piece of luggage, the Frerichs family had 4.

Frerichs arrival 1883

Arrival in Baltimore. Iowa was their destination.

Probably through a network of German immigrants and friendly strangers, Enno and family made their way from Baltimore to Butler County, Iowa- 1000 miles total. Imagine that journey. The Frerichs family set up their home in Jefferson Township, between Allison and Parkersburg, Iowa. They cleared land, built houses, barns, fences, planted gardens and fields and their community of German Americans built a church, Ebenezer Lutheran Church.

Frerichs, Enno and Annie

Enno and Annie Hinrichs Frerichs

Enno married Annie Henrichs on May 26, 1890 in the Ebenezer Lutheran Church. 50 years into the future on May 30, 1940 Annie and Enno celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with family and friends. Enno and Annie’s 10 kids attended, all were in the area, furthest away was daughter Martina, married to Hobart Vance,  they lived in Dallas County, Iowa.

Enno died in 1944 and is buried in Butler Center Cemetery, very near where Ebenezer Lutheran Church used to be.

Sources

Mary Ella Gaines b. 1855

/ Kirstin Miller

Mary Ella Gaines, my 2nd great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Gaines, Mary Ella photoMary Ella was born June 3, 1855 in Bremer County, Iowa to William Gaines of New York and Sarah Swain of Illinois. Mary Ella grew up near Janesville, Iowa. She was the oldest of 8 brothers and sisters, three siblings died young. At age 23 Mary Ella married James Miller on November 13, 1878, in Waverly, Iowa. They had 2 boys William and James and the family farmed in Bremer and Butler counties in Iowa. The 1895 Iowa census shows Mary Ella, her husband, her 2 sons, her dad William Gaines, her niece Clara and James’s brother Jacob Miller living in the house. The 1900 US census has Mary Ella, her husband and 2 sons, James’s brother Jacob and another niece Jeanette Gaines. Both nieces were daughters of Mary Ella’s brother William and wife Virginia Gaines from Minnesota.

Lewis and Clark expo 1905Mary Ella’s dad, a brother and 2 sisters moved west to Junction City, Oregon about 50 miles south of Portland. In 1905 Mary Ella and James visited Junction City and attended the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland. The Expo lasted 4 months, had more than 1 million visitors and took close to 3 years to build.

Mary Ella was an artist, and one of her paintings survives. According to a note written by her grandson, “The pond was on their farm near Janesville, Iowa. The tree leaning over the pond was a Honey Tree (partially hollow with bee hives in it).”

Sources

George Parkhurst b. 1588

/ Kirstin Miller

George Parkhurst 11th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

George Parkhurst was born in 1588 in Ipswich, England. He married Phebe Lette and they had 9 children. Their daughter Phebe was baptized, “1612 Pheby Parkhurst the daughter of George Parkhurst of the Key Parish and fo Phebe his wiffe 29 November”. This church, St Mary at the Quay (Key), is Quay Place now, their website has a timeline featuring George and Phebe Leete Parkhurst’s 1610 marriage, about 30 years after Queen Elizabeth’s 2nd visit to the church. In 1948 the church was officially closed, then remodeled and reopened as Quay Place. Quay Place has a Facebook page with photos of the remodel. https://quayplace.co.uk/quay-place-history/quay-place-history-timeline/.

George was mentioned in his dad’s will of 1610. “The will of John Parkhurst of the parish of Saynte Marye Keye in the town of Ipswich co. Suffolk, clothier 29 Mar 1610. To son George Parkhurst all shopstuff, all my implements of trade as a shearman, all my books of what title and print, and all the rest of my goods and stock, movables and immovables.”

Watertown mapBy 1642 George had left Ipswich, England and was in Massachusetts. He was a freeman on May 10 1643 in Boston. George’s first wife Phebe could have arrived with him or could have died in England, it’s unknown. George remarried in Massachusetts and he and 2nd wife had a few more children. His 2nd wife was Elizabeth the widow of John Simson. Both George and John were original English land owners in Watertown. On the map of Watertown, they’re neighbors, No. 12 right in between Strawberry Hill and the Meeting House. George has land at the top right too, No 16 above Sherman’s Pond

On June 13, 1655 George sold his last piece of land in America land, his 2nd wife and younger children were back in England, George joined them. George died and was buried June 18, 1675. He was buried at St Lawrence Church about 1 mile from St Mary at the Quay church. St Lawrence Church built in is also still there and now a restaurant, public center. Ipswich has lots of medieval churches.

Sources

John Jones b. 1594

/ Kirstin Miller

John Jones 10th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

John Jones was born in 1594, in England. A minster, on December 19, 1613 he was ordained as Deacon of Peterboro and by 1619 he was the minster at Abbot’s Ripton in Cambridgeshire, England. In 1630 the courts removed John for not following rites and rituals of the Church of England. In 1635 John and family left England for America. They sailed with another minister Peter Bulkeley- also a Miller ancestor, John and Peter’s children married in Connecticut in 1640.Jones, John suspended

Jones and BulkeleyOn 6 April 1637 the church of Concord ‘kept a day of humiliation, chose Mr Bulkeley teacher and Mr. Jones pastor’. In August 1637 John and other minsters held an Ecclesiastical Council- they worked on their new religion: beliefs, requirements, practices in the new world. In 1644 another council was held and this time Peter Bulkeley and John Jones split- they couldn’t agree so John Jones and family left Concord and went to Fairfield Connecticut where John was the 1st pastor of the Congregational Church of Fairfield. John and Peter’s kids were married by this time, Peter’s son Thomas, married to Sarah Jones, Thomas and Sarah Jones Bulkeley went with John, to Fairfield.

John Jones as minister in Fairfield is shown in a book, Prime Ancient Society of Fairfield, Connecticut, summarized: ‘It is Lord’s Day. Sabbath hush pervades the air. At nine o’clock the drum summons the people, the meeting-house is a plain low structure, as people enter the men go to one side women go to the other. The children are put under the care of the tithing-man. Mr. Jones begins the service with a long prayer, then a longer sermon, a short prayer and the benediction. A brief intermission at noon then the afternoon service. At close of service people walked home and devoted their hours to the reading of the Bible and religious conversation in the family. The minister was expected to be vigilant, observant, energetic in respect to the innumerable details of town affairs. He had a sort of censorship in respect to matters of public import. His influences were far reaching’.

John Jones died and was buried in 1664. His burial place is in Old Burying Ground Cemetery in Fairfield, CT, about 10 miles north of the Long Island sound. His original headstone is long gone, there’s a monument added in recent times.

Sources

Martha Angell b. 1747

/ Kirstin Miller

Martha Angell 6th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Martha was born February 13, 1747 in Providence, Rhode island. Her parents were Stephen and Martha Olney Angell. Both the Angell and Olney families were original (white, English) settlers in Providence. Martha’s 2nd great grandpas Thomas Angell, Thomas Olney, John Whipple and great grandpa Roger Williams all signed the 1640 Providence Agreement and were all on the 1636 original census.

Martha married Israel Angell, a distant cousin February 20, 1765 and they had 11 kids. Israel fought in the American Revolution from 1775 until 1781, Martha was 28 when Israel first left for war. From digital book Israel Angell Colonel of the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment, at HathiTrust. “Martha conducted all their home affairs bravely and well, in Colonel Angell’s diaries, “tarried at my house to-day, and found all well”. Therefore, while we consider the character of Israel Angell let us not forget the sweet and enduring influence of Martha, his capable and patriotic wife, who throughout the term of his service in the Army, safeguarded their home and children with unswerving devotion to her family and her country”. Martha died in 1793 at age 46. Her mom died the same year at age 86. Martha and Israel were buried in their family cemetery, on their farm then in 1918 their burial site was moved to the North Burial Ground Cemetery in Providence.

After Martha’s death Israel Angell married 2 more times and had 5 more kids, father to 16 total, he lived to age 91. Israel and Martha’s son Asa married Cynthia Hill from another family of original English settlers in Massachusetts. Asa and Cynthia’s son Dexter had a daughter Delia who ended up in Butler County, Iowa near Mehitable Angell who was Israel and 2nd wife’s daughter. Delia was the grandma of Philippa Mockford Speedy, mom of Elizabeth Speedy Roose.

Sources

David Dewey b. 1721

/ Kirstin Miller

David Dewey 7th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

David Dewey was born January 3, 1721 in Stonington, Connecticut. His parents were Jabez and Deborah York Dewey. This Dewey family includes Admiral George Dewey, 1837-1917, as a distant cousin, so the family is documented in published sources. This David’s 2nd great grandpa, Thomas, was the original American ancestor, he arrived in 1631 or so. David was the 4th generation of Deweys born in America.

David and his brother Jabez both joined and were baptized on July 5, 1741- in their 20s. They joined the First Congregational Church, known as The Road. The church was the 1st in Stonington, organized in 1674, it still stands in the same location with a newer building after a fire in 1829. The plain Puritan design, beams and box style pews were built in to the new building. The church doors open to the front of the church so walking in a person faces the whole congregation.

First church Stonington

On September 28, 1741 David married Deborah Tracy in the same Stonington church. David and Deborah had 7 daughters and 4 sons. Three sons were in the Revolutionary War: David Jr was a minuteman, Jabez was in the Battle of Harlem Heights and Christopher was the fife-major in the War of 1812. 

David’s granddaughter Sarah married John Connable, their daughter Leydia Connable and husband Obed Gaines moved west all the way to Iowa where their granddaughter Mary Ella Gaines married James Miller, grandpa of Faber Miller, husband to Gladys Cable.

Sources

Elizabeth Crooks b. 1810

/ Kirstin Miller

Elizabeth Crooks 3rd great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Elizabeth was born in Pennsylvania on May 3 1810, the daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Jeffrey Crooks. Elizabeth’s mom died when she was 7 and her dad remarried. In 1830, Elizabeth married William Stewart, also of Pennsylvania. They lived in French Creek, PA 30 miles east of Lake Erie, on the western edge of Pennsylvania. Elizabeth’s dad died in 1849 and in his will he named each of his children, Elizabeth and her sisters each inherited $100.

On the 1850 census Elizabeth was still in French Creek, Pennsylvania on a farm, she and William Stewart had 6 kids, ages 2 to 17 years old. On the 1860 census Elizabeth and family have moved 500 miles west to Jefferson, Green County Wisconsin. On the 1870 US census Elizabeth had moved 200 miles further west to Shell Rock, Butler County, Iowa. Elizabeth was 60, her husband William 65. Their 2 younger children James 24 and Elizabeth 18 were in the home, James and William farmed. Elizabeth was a widow in 1874 and on the 1880 census was living with daughter Elizabeth who had married Manford Speedy and their family. They all lived near Allison, Iowa.

Elizabeth Crooks died September 26, 1887 and had an obituary in the local newspaper, “Shell Rock, Mrs. Elizabeth Stewart, mother of J.W. and William Stewart of this place, died at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. M.B. Speedy at Allison, Monday evening, September 26th, at the ripe old age of 77 years, 4 months, and 23 days. She was buried in the cemetery at this place on the following Wednesday”. She is buried at Riverside Cemetery in Shell Rock, Iowa.

Sources

Jacob Miller b. 1808

/ Kirstin Miller

Jacob Miller, my 3rd great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

Jacob was born in 1808 in Virginia, not much is proven about his childhood or parents. On April 18, 1833 in Jackson, Ohio he married Sarah Davis, also from Virginia. Sarah’s siblings were in Jackson too. Jacob and Sarah had their first child in Ohio then moved to Elkhart, Indiana and had 9 more kids. On the 1840 and 1850 US censuses, Jacob and his family farmed in Baugo Township, 50 miles east of Lake Michigan, near Elkhart and South Bend, Indiana. In 1850, Jacob and Sarah’s oldest daughter Mary married Moses Mitchell. Moses and his family were from New York, neighbors to the Millers. Mary and Moses moved to Chickasaw County, Iowa after their marriage. 

Jacob died in 1854 at age 46 and there’s a pretty good chance he was hit by a train after a night of drinking. The Peru (Indiana) Wabash Valley Olio newspaper of January 13, 1854 shows detail.

This newspaper of Miami County, Indiana named intoxication, “the scourge of mankind”, as the cause of death. In 1854 the temperance movement was pretty well established in America. Maine passed the first prohibition law in 1847. The movement blamed immigrants and industrialization, big cities and alcohol for the moral decline spreading across the country.

At Jacob’s death, his widow Sarah, with 8 kids still at home, decided to move 400 miles west to Iowa, where her daughter Mary Mitchell and family lived. Jacob and Sarah’s kids set up homes in California, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon and Washington.

Sources

  • 1850 US Census at FamilySearch
  • Public Ancestry photo “LanceL_Ferris originally shared this 24 Dec 2013”.
  • Newspaper Archive, Cedar Rapids Public Library, Peru (Indiana) Wabash Valley Olio 1854 Jan 13