lived on a farm

Mehitable Angell b. 1800

/ Kirstin Miller

Mehitable Angell 6th great aunt on RootsMagic tree.
Mehitable was born January 31, 1800 in Johnston, Rhode Island to Israel and Susannah Luther Angell. Israel Angell’s life is documented because he was a Colonel in the American Revolution and he and General George Washington wrote letters back and forth. Israel also explored the west from August 4 to October 9, 1788. The ‘west’ only went as far as Ohio, Israel kept a journal of his travels, these are published in Rhode Island History magazine of January and April, 1963. Israel’s kids would have heard stories of his western travels. Only 2 of his 17 kids moved west: Mehitable and her younger brother Henry.

Mehitable married William Wilkinson. Henry married William’s sister Eliza Wilkinson and they all moved across the country, first stop Hennepin, Illinois where they were on the 1850 census. Henry and his family stayed there in Illinois. Mehitable and her family went 200 miles further west to Jefferson Township in Buchanan County, Iowa where they were on the 1856 Iowa census. When the Wilkinson’s set up their home it would have been on acres and acres of prairie- Iowa was 80% tall grass prairie in 1850. Mehitable’s family farmed, she and William had four children they stayed there in Jefferson Township. Mehitable was a widow the last 12 years of her life and lived with her son and family. She is buried in Spring Creek Cemetery. The address is LaPorte City, Iowa and it’s surrounded by cornfields on three sides, I 380 is on the 4th side. From the cemetery a person can see the interstate. From the interstate in certain seasons a person can see the cemetery.
Headstone Mahetebel Wilkinson wife of W B Wilkinson

Mehitable Angell is probably the reason Delia and Charles Angell ended up in Iowa. When Delia’s mom died in 1847 her dad Dexter went to New York where his dad and brothers were. Delia and Charles stayed in Indiana with their older sister, then left for Iowa. Delia stayed with Charles and his family until she married and had a daughter Matilda Flood, who had a daughter Philippa Mockford who had a daughter Elizabeth Speedy.

Sources

  • Iowa census 1856, Buchanan, Jefferson at Ancestry
  • Angell Family Bible, typed up sheet. Rhode Island Births and Christenings, 1600-1914 database at FamilySearch

Oliver Angell b. 1717

/ Kirstin Miller

Oliver Angell 7th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

Oliver was born February 20, 1717, the 2nd of Hope and Lydia Olney Angell’s 7 children. On June 13, 1740 Oliver and Naomi Smith were married by Reverend Josiah Cotton in Providence, Rhode Island. Oliver and Naomi farmed and raised 7 children in Providence. Oliver was also a ‘cooper’ he made barrels, baskets and casks; a carpenter and a shoemaker.


Oliver died on April 1, 1799, his wife Naomi died December 3, 1799 and their grand daughter Adah died October 9, 1799. These 3 Angells and 16 others are buried in the Rhode Island Hist. Cemetery North Providence #8, also known as the Hope Angell Lot, or the Oliver Angell Lot. This tiny cemetery has 19 burials, was originally on Angell farmland and is now in a residential area between two houses. If you’re related to Elizabeth Speedy Roose, you’re related to 17 of the 19 buried there, all but Smith Angell’s 2 wives.


Oliver Angell has an obituary posted on his Find a Grave Memorial:  Obituary — Providence Gazette, April 6,1799, p. 2: At North-Providence, on the 1st inst. Mr. Oliver Angell, in the 83d year of his age, who sustained an unblemished character. As a citizen he was firm in the support of government; as a husband he was kind and affectionate; as a parent he taught his children the love of virtue in their early years, and by his example daily set before them, shewed that he had himself experienced the happy effects. Few who lived to his advanced age could say, as he did, that he was never sued at law, nor sued any person, but lived in peace with them all.


The 19 burials in the Hope and/or Oliver Angell Lot 1,2 Oliver and Naomi Smith Angell, 3 Ruth Angell daughter 4, 5 Elisha Angell, son and his wife Anna Fenner 6, 7, 8, 9 – Elisha’s son Fenner Angell, Fenner’s wife Mary Smith Angell, their son Zachariah Angell, Elisha’s 2nd wife Mary Dean Angell. 10, 11, 12, Hope Angell son and his wife Avis Olney, their daughter Adah.  13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 – Hope’s son Smith Angell, Smith’s wife Freelove Harris, their daughters Asenath and Minerva, their sons Horace Lafayette, Thomas and Zalmon.

Sources

Martha Bliss b. 1622

/ Kirstin Miller

Martha Bliss 9th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Martha was born in Daventry, England December of 1622. Her dad was Thomas, her mom Dorothy Wheatley Bliss. The Bliss family went to America around 1640, they lived in Plymouth Colony. In 1646 Martha married Nicholas Ide -this marriage is probable, has been and is debated. There’s no record of the marriage or even a record of the last name of Nicholas’s wife, but it’s probable and likely that these 2 married and had at least 10 children. Martha was called to testify in court when Elizabeth Walker, a child, was found drowned in a river by 2 boys who ran to tell Martha. All involved had to testify in court and the child’s drowning was judged an accident. The Ide and Walker families were close, husbands served on committees, children probably played together.

Court record: Rehoboth, the seauenth of August, 1664. Wee, whose names are subscribed heerto, doe heerby signify to all psons whom it may conserne, that Elizabeth Walker, the daughter of Phillip Walker, of the towne of Rehoboth, was accedentally drowned ; shee, being sent to scoole, was found alsoe accedentally in the riuer first by two youthes and they makeing knowne the same to two wemen, the wife of Nicholas Jyde and the wife of Roger Annadowne, and then to Wiliam Sabine, whoe forth with came and drew her out of the water, as hee saith. From the testimony of the afor specifyed psons, together with other concurring cercomstances, wee, the subscribers, conceiue that the child, which was two yeares and an halfe old, before specifyed, came accedentally to her end.

Sources

Clementina Benight b. 1800

/ Kirstin Miller

Clementina Benight 4th great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Clementina was born on February 20, 1800 in northern New York state. Her family moved to Prairieton, Vigo County, Indiana where she married Dexter Angell on May 10, 1820. Clementina and Dexter had 4 children and they farmed in Prairieton for awhile.

The 1820 US census shows Clementina and Dexter together in Prairieton, Clementina’s dad and brothers close by. The 1830 census places them in Providence, Rhode Island on the east side of the river. On the 1840 census, Clementina is back in Prairieton, she is head of household, with her children. (1840 census clementina is 10th from bottom on list.) Clementine’s dad Joseph and a brother are neighbors. The 1840 census shows Dexter stayed in Providence.

Benight, Clementina headstone

Clementina Angell headstone 1847 or so.

Clementina died around 1847 and is buried in New Harmony Cemetery in Prairieton. Her Find a Grave memorial includes a photo and text of the headstone inscription, too faded to read in the photo: Wife of Dexter Angell Aged 47 Years. Clementina’s daughter Delia Angell named her 3rd daughter Clementina.

Sources

Sarah Cable b. 1854

/ Kirstin Miller

Sarah Cable 2nd great aunt on RootsMagic tree

Sarah Cable was born December 1854 near Dane, Wisconsin to Jonathan and Charlotte Knapp Cable. She had three brothers, Chancey, John, William and a sister Violetta. The Cable family moved from Wisconsin to Pleasant Grove, Iowa by 1865 when Sarah’s dad Jonathan paid taxes on a melodeon. If they had a melodeon in their home (not common in 1865) they probably had lots of music and dances. The melodeon could have been a ‘rocking’ or a parlor type.

Cable, Sarah 1876 marriage

Sarah married Horace Towslee July 29, 1876 in Floyd County. Horace and Sarah had one daughter, Ethel. In 1880 they were in Wisconsin with John and Chancey Cable in a boarding house where the men worked the railroad and Sarah ran the household. Sarah was in St Paul in 1893, a widow and dressmaker with her daughter Ethel age 5 and her sister Violetta. In 1900 Sarah lived in Chicago with her sister Violetta and her nephew Chauncey son of John Cable. Sarah was a dressmaker, Violetta a stenographer and Chauncey was 9 years old and in school. They lived at 384 Paulina St. in ‘West Town’ Chicago. Today and maybe in 1900 the ‘L’ -began in 1892- is/was right overhead.

In 1910 Sarah was in Seattle and lived with Violetta and Violetta’s husband and nephew Leonard Cable. Sarah’s brother Chancey was also in Seattle, his 1910 will papers show his siblings. Sarah was in Skagit, Washington, north of Seattle, at her death in 1912.

Sources

  • U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, 1893 St Paul, Minnesota at Ancestry
  • Iowa County Marriages 1838-1934 at FamilySearch.org
  • Washington, Wills and Probate Records, 1851-1970 at Ancestry
  • Melodeons at Wikipedia 

Harm Henrichs b. 1877

/ Kirstin Miller

Harm Siebelt Henrichs 3rd great uncle on RootsMagic tree.

Harm was born on July 1, 1877 in Aurich, Lower Saxony, Germany. With his 8 brothers and sisters, mom Maria and dad Henrich he sailed to America and arrived in Baltimore on March 18, 1885. The US 1900 census shows the Henrichs family in Ripley Township, Butler County Iowa. Harm and his siblings Fred, Tena and Mattie are living with Henrich and Maria, the older children have started families of their own in Butler County.

The 1930 census of Jefferson Township in Butler County shows Harm, his wife Jennie and their 2 kids living on their own farm. Harms’s sisters are neighbors: William and Tena Henrichs Jacobs, Enno and Annie Henrichs Frerichs, John and Marie Henrichs Stoppelmoor, Harry and Flora Henrichs Endleman. Harm’s bothers John and Fred lived close by in Ripley and West Point townships. They all lived on farms. They built houses, barns, shelters for their livestock, chicken houses; cleared and laid out crop fields.

Ebenezer Lutheran Church Butler Center, Iowa

They also built a church: Ebenezer Lutheran Church, no longer around. The photo is from the book Mission in a Mile by Henry Freese, 2002. Harm is 4th from left. Left to right: Ben Jasper, Harry Endelmann- brother in law, Frank Reints, Harm Henrichs, Rigt Ooster, Enno Frerichs -brother in law and grandpa of Stanley Roose, dad of Mary Frerichs Roose. Stopping work to snap a photo probably took a lot of convincing on the photographer’s part. The photo doesn’t have a date, it’s probably around 1905

The 1940 census shows Harm was still farming, age 62, with Jennie. Their daughter Anna is 2 farms away, married to Addo Janssen with one son Robert. Their son Henry is in Jefferson Township, married to Delma DeBower.

Sources

  • Mission in a Mile by Henry Freese, 2002, page 152. A Building Project with text: Ben Jasper, Harry Endelmann, Frank Reints, Harm Henrichs, Rigt Ooster, Enno Frerichs. Author’s permission to post photo. More on this book.
  • US Census 1900, 1930, 1940 at Ancestry and FamilySearch
  • Maryland Baltimore passenger lists index 1820-1897 at FamilySearch

Elizabeth Harter Bair b. 1836

/ Kirstin Miller

Elizabeth Bair 3rd great grandma on RootsMagic

Elizabeth was born in July, 1836 in Plain Township, Stark, Ohio. She was the oldest child of George and Margaret Bowman Harter. Elizabeth’s middle name ‘Harter’ was her maternal grandmother’s maiden name. Both the Harter and Bair families were pioneers in Plain, Elizabeth’s great grandparents some of the first settlers.

Bair, Elizabeth and family 1850 census

1850 Plain Township, Ohio census, Elizabeth Bair and family

On the 1850 census Elizabeth is 13. The Bair family is on page 45 of 53. The 53 pages with 20 or fewer person on each page contain Elizabeth’s future husband’s Druckenbrod family, the Henry Miller family, future in laws of granddaughter Fianna and lots of ancestors: Miller, Bair, Harter, Druckenbrod, Malone, Kryder and Shuler families. Also in laws by marriage: Grubb, Essig, Troxel, Christ, and Bishop families. And no relation: Kissinger, Trump and Pence families too, all in this tiny township with population at 896 people in 1820 then 2277 people in 1850.

Population in Plain Township, Ohio from 1855 map

Population from 1820-1850

Elizabeth married Samuel Druckenbrod around 1854. They lived on a farm, and had 12 children. Elizabeth was 24 when the Civil War started. 320,000 Ohio men were drafted in to the war which was covered in the local newspapers: Stark County Democrat and Stark County Republican.  Elizabeth could have read Mrs. Samuel Stover’s eyewitness account of ‘the march of Lee’s rebel army into Pennsylvania; also of the retreat of the remnant of said army to the Potomac’ in the Republican and details of the battle in the Democrat.

Sources

John Speedy b. 1825

/ Kirstin Miller

John Speedy 3rd great uncle on RootsMagic tree

John was the 2nd son of Thomas and Elizabeth Glenn Speedy, the older brother of Manford Speedy. John was born in 1825 in Jefferson County, Ohio. He grew up on a farm. On March 8, 1855 he married Jane Foulks, a sister of his his older brother Thomas’s wife. John and Jane farmed and had 4 kids. The 1850 US agricultural census shows John Speedy’s farm: 40 acres of improved land, 18  acres of unimproved, $1650 cash value of farm, $ 85 cash value of machinery,  2 horses, 5 cows,13 sheep, 5 pigs, $ 250 value of livestock; produced 200 bushels of wheat, 300 bushels of Indian corn,  200 bushels of oats, 158 lb. of wool, 20 lb. of Irish potatoes, 200 lb. of butter, 2 tons of hay.

In 1863 John was 38 and was drafted or signed up for the Civil War. He fought with the Ohio 157th Infantry Company K, he was a Private. The 157th Infantry reported to Columbus, Ohio for duty on May 15, 1864, one of the’ Hundred Days’ Men’. The infantry went from Columbus, Ohio to Baltimore then on to guard Fort Delaware on the Delaware River south of Philadelphia. A Major Eames wrote, “Our journey from Columbus to Baltimore was tedious but full of interest. All along the route we were saluted with cheers and smiles and waving of handkerchiefs and flags from early dawn to long after sunset. Never in all my campaigning have I seen anything to compare with those manifestations of rejoicing for the promptness of the 100 day men of Ohio”. At Fort Delaware the soldiers were guarding Confederate prisoners of war. When not on duty John probably watched ships sailing and fished. “The heavy shipping traffic on the Delaware River was a source of fascination to the farm boys from Ohio, who would sit and watch the steamers, side-wheelers, ironclads and fishing boats for hours”. Fort Delaware is where John died. He and 9 others died from disease. 

Speedy, John in 157th Ohio Infantry

John Speedy, 157th Ohio Company K

Sources

 

 

Polly Ann Howard b. 1813

/ Kirstin Miller

Polly Howard 4th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

Polly was born on October 17, 1813 in Indiana, not yet a state. Her mom Phoebe was from Kentucky and her dad Elbert from Georgia. Polly was the only sister with four brothers. In 1833 Polly married Benjamin Swain. By 1837 Benjamin, Polly and Polly’s parents and brothers were in Lake, Illinois. In Lake, IL Benjamin was known as Yankee Swain- the only resident not recently from England, Germany, Ireland, Poland, etc. Polly and Benjamin had 4 children. Polly was suddenly a widow in 1847.
In 1849 she married Jacob Montgomery he was also a widow. The 1850 census showed Jacob, Polly and their kids. Next door were Charles and William, Jacob’s sons from his first marriage. Polly’s dad and brothers were also nearby, married with families. By 1855 Polly Howard Swain Montgomery with Jacob, his kids, her kids, their kids, Polly’s dad and her Howard brothers, they all moved to Floyd County, Iowa where they owned land. And they attended church, the Howardville Church is still right there today. Polly’s dad Elbert held services in his home as the church was being built. A couple sources state Howardville or Howard Grove Township is named for the Howards.

Polly, 45, and her brother Sanders, 36, both died in 1858 and are buried in Howardville Cemetery.

Howard, Polly headstone closeup

Polly Howard Swain Montgomery headstone closeup

Sources

Samuel Hill b. 1652

/ Kirstin Miller

Samuel Hill 8th great grandpa on RoostMagic tree.

Samuel was born in 1652 in Malden, Massachusetts son of Joesph Hill and second wife Hannah Smith. Samuel’s dad Joseph, was well known in Malden: a lawyer, town rep, deputy etc. Samuel fought in King Philips war between 1675-79 in Captain Brocklebank’s command and may have been a sergeant. In Newbury, Massachusetts on the coast, about 40 miles northeast of Malden, Samuel married Abigail Wheeler on May 20, 1679.

Hills, Samuel and Abigail Wheeler marriage 1679

Samuel Hill and Abigail Wheeler marriage 1679

Samuel and Abigail stayed in Newbury and had more than 10 children. On August 5, 1732 Samuel was 80 years old and wrote his will. ‘Weak in body but of perfect mind and memory, the mortality of my body … give and command my soul to the hands of God that give it’.  Samuel’s will mentioned his widow Abigail and  listed his children. His inventory included silver, books, armor, pewter, earthenware, Indian and English corn, barrels and casks and cooper’s tools to make barrels and casks. Samuel is buried in Bridge Street Cemetery in Newbury, Massachusetts, his headstone is still there.

Sources