went west

Eliza Frey b. 1823

/ Kirstin Miller

Eliza Frey, my 2nd great grandma on RoostMagic tree.

Eliza was born around 1823 probably in Pennsylvania, and married Jonathan Cable by 1846. Their first son John was born March 22, 1847 in Somerset, Pennsylvania. In 1850 Eliza age 37, husband Jonathan age 44, and sons John age 2 and infant Chancey appear in the 1850 US Census of Jefferson, Greene County, Wisconsin. Eliza Frey has few records, in family history this is known as a “brick wall”.  Eliza’s birthdate, birthplace and place and date of death are unknown or estimated. She’s on the 1850 census and mentioned on son John’s death record and daughter Violet’s marriage record.

screenshot

Sources

  • US Federal census 1850

Joseph Connable b. 1782

/ Kirstin Miller
Joseph Connable b. 1782 3rd great uncle to Faber Miller who married Gladys Cable.

Connable, Joseph

Joseph was born in Bernardston Massachusetts to John Connable and first wife Amey Edwards. Joseph married Mary Polly Maxwell and was a farmer. In 1813 his dad died and Jospeh inherited the estate and became guardian to his younger siblings. In 1837 Joseph, his wife and his brother Samuel moved to Xenia, Ohio where they spent the rest of their lives and farmed. Joseph believed strongly in 2 things: drinking alcohol was wrong and owning slaves was a sin.  And he was somewhat famous for his gardening skills, “published in the Franklin Herald of Nov .12, 1816: An English mammoth turnip was raised by Joseph Connable of Bernardston measuring forty-six inches round the middle and weighed thirty pounds with top and twenty-three pounds without top.”

Obed Gaines b. 1793

/ Kirstin Miller

Obed Gaines 4th great grandfather on RootsMagic tree

Obed Gaines was born May 3, 1793 in Guilford, Vermont to Joseph and Abigail Tubbs Gaines. He married Leydia Connable on August 10, 1815 probably in Bernardston, Massachusetts, 15 miles from Guilford and by 1820 they were living in Cazenovia, Madison, New York, 250 miles from Guilford. The family probably farmed and they moved a lot.

Headstone Gaines, ObedIn 1826 Obed and family were in Painesville, Ohio, 1831  in White Pigeon, Michigan, 1838 in Eden, Indiana. By the 1850s Obed and Leydia were in Bremer County, Iowa where sons Obed Jr and William were living. Obed was a widow in 1854, he lived with his sons and their families until March 5, 1877 when he died. He is buried at Willow Lawn Cemetery in Plainfield Iowa. The tall headstone has fallen over so it lies on the grassy ground the inscription reads:  At Rest.

Obed Gaines (1793 – 1877)
William Newcomb Gaines (1825 – 1907)
Mary Ella Gaines (1855 – 1917)
William Miller (1879 – 1949)
Faber W Miller (1905 – 1957) m. Gladys Cable (1913 – 1991)

Sources
Iowa, Cemetery Records, 1662-1999, Original data: Works Project Administration (WPA, the New Deal, Great Depression, FDR). Graves Registration Project. Washington, D.C. $ source on Ancestry.

Vermont, Vital Records, 1720-1908 individual index cards at FamilySearch.org  Free registration, log in required. This is a great collaborative site where everyone shares the same tree. Obed’s page here

Find A Grave  completely unverified but a good source for connecting families.

Leydia Gaines b. 1820

/ Kirstin Miller

Leydia Gaines (Lyda on headstone) 4th great aunt on RootsMagic tree

Leydia was named after her mother Leydia Connable and was a triplet with Obed and Abigail Gaines, all born July 24, 1820 in Cazenovia, New York south of Syracuse. The Gaines family moved to Plainsville, Ohio about 1826, then to Concord Ohio in 1828, to White Pigeon, Michigan by 1831 and Eden, Indiana by 1838. Leydia married first Alexander Berry on July 21, 1839 in LaGrange Indiana, she was a widow by 1842 so probably traveled with her parents and children to Barclay, Iowa near Dunkerton where she married John Ramsey and they had 6 children. Leydia died February 20, 1884 and is buried in Old Barclay, or High Point Cemetery. Leydia’s headstone shows a hand holding a book, maybe that book is Bible or the book of life with her good deeds recorded.

Leydia Gaines 1820-1824 sister of William Newcomb Gaines 1825-1907
Mary Ella Gaines 1855 – 1917
William Earl Miller 1879 – 1949
Faber W Miller (1905 – 1957) m. Gladys Cable 1913-1991

Sources

Volume 1 page 85, John Cunnabell and his descendants, Genealogical memoir of the Cunnabell, Conable or Connable family. At HathiTrust

“4 Lydia Gaines, b. July 24, 1820, in Cazenovia, N. Y.; m. (1) in Lima, Ind., 1839, Alexander Berry, b. Nov. 29, 1810, d. Feb. 15, 1842; m (2) in 1844, John F. Ramsey. They reside in High Point, Decatur Co., la., where she d. Feb. 20, 1884. Children by Mr. Berry: 1 Mary, 2 Lydia Anna; by Mr. Ramsey: 3 John Foster, 4 John Gaines, 5 Harriet L., 6 Almond J., 7 Alma J.”

Gravestone Symbolism at Grave Addiction

Find a Grave Find A Grave, database and images, memorial page for Lyda Ramsey, Memorial 6179163. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6179163

Benjamin Swain b. 1813

/ Kirstin Miller

Benjamin Paul Swain 4th great grandfather

Benjamin Swain on RoostMagic tree

Benjamin Swain was born about 1813 and married Polly Ann Howard about 1833 maybe in Indiana. By 1835 they were pioneer residents in Lake, Illinois and lived south of Pettibone’s Creek (which some say should have been named Swain Creek). In 1840 Benjamin was appointed Collector (of taxes). In 1844 he purchased land, 61 acres at about $1.25 per acre.

He and Polly had at least 4 children. Benjamin died at age 34 not sure of the cause, he had a will ready. Polly was the executor. She married 2nd Jacob Montgomery, then moved from Illinois to Floyd County, Iowa where daughter Sarah Ann Swain met then married William Newcomb Gaines.

About Benjamin P Swain: “This man was one of the few Americans among the pioneers, and was known to his neighbors as “Yankee” Swain. He was a big, powerful man, of commanding personality, and was respected by the whole community.” Page 463 A History of Lake County, Illinois at HathiTrust bottom of the page .

Pleasant Miller b. 1835

/ Kirstin Miller

Pleasant Miller, 2nd great uncle on RootsMagic tree

Pleasant was born December 7, 1835 in Indiana, the second child of Jacob and Sarah Davis Miller probably both of Virginia. Pleasant was named after his mom’s dad: Pleasant Davis. In 1850 Pleasant was 15 and attended school with his 4 brothers and 2 sisters. By 1860, age 25 Pleasant was in northern California and almost surely part of the Gold Rush. By 1870 he was in Montana. He mined in Cedar Junction, Deer Lodge, then finally in Butte, Silver Bow, Montana. Butte was a boom town and long ago known as ‘the richest hill in the world’ because of it’s minerals, especially copper in the 1880s. Pleasant worked at the Dakota, Colorado and Ophir Mines.He lived the longest stretch in a cabin south of the city in Butte. Pleasant lived to age 75 and stayed single. Red Leggat, friend, probably also a miner, is the informant on Pleasant’s death record of September 19, 1910. Pleasant is buried at Moriah Cemetery in Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana.

An 1884 map at Library of Congress shows Butte  on one of the cutest maps ever created, Bird’s eye view of Butte-City, Montana, county seat of Silver Bow Co..

screenshot 2

Sources

  • Montana county births and deaths 1840 – 2004 at FamilySearch
  • Bird’s eye view of Butte-City, Montana, county seat of Silver Bow Co., 1884 at Library of Congress
  • U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 at Ancestry
  • 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900 US Census at Ancestry

William Flood b. 1829

/ Kirstin Miller

William Flood 3rd great grandfather .

William was born in Vermont, 1829, no information on his parents. He was in Iowa by 1852 and in Butler County, Iowa by 1856 when he married Delia Angell. The 1880 census shows the Flood and Stewart families as neighbors. In 1916 the families were connected when Philippa (Flood) Mockford and Harve (Stewart) Speedy married.

The 1880 Agricultural Census shows some of the Flood family’s farm property and production

  • The farm had 10 acres of mown grasslands, 20 acres of hay, 95 acres of tilled land, 25 acres of meadow and 5 acres of woodland.
  • Total farm value $2400, machinery value $200, livestock value $726.
  • Livestock included 7 horses, 4 cows, 32 pigs and 40 chickens.
  • The farm produced 200 lbs of butter and 100 eggs.
  • Crops included 80 acres of Indian corn producing 200 bushels, 4 acres of oats producing 60 bushels, 7 acres of wheat producing 80 bushels, 2 acres of apple trees, 20 bearing trees producing 15 bushels of apples.
  • Forest products were 15 cords of wood cut.

William was also a blacksmith and passed the trade on to his son George. And he was in the Civil War Union Army 32nd Regiment Iowa Infantry Company E, a soldier promoted to Private, then Corporal.

Of the Iowa 32nd, ‘There was probably not another infantry command subjected to such an experience as the Thirty-second Iowa Infantry. They marched and kept up with a cavalry division for over four hundred miles. No troops displayed greater heroism during the War of the Rebellion.’ http://bit.ly/2DFBpJy Volume 5 page 57 of Roster And Record of Iowa Soldiers In the War of the Rebellion.

William Flood b.1829, father of Matilda Flood b.1858, mother of Philippa Flood Mockford b.1891, mother of Elizabeth Speedy b.1917 m. Stanley Roose b.1915

Jonathan Cable b. 1807

/ Kirstin Miller

Jonathan Cable, my 2nd great grandfather on RootsMagic tree.

Jonathan Cable was born in Pennsylvania around 1807 and married Eliza Frey around 1840 in Somerset, Pennsylvania. By 1850 Jonathan, Eliza and their sons John and Chancey lived in southeast Wisconsin. Jonathan was a millwright. He and Eliza had another son, William and 2 daughters Sarah and Violet. When Eliza died in 1857, Jonathan married Charlotte Knapp.

By 1865 the Cable family lived and farmed in Pleasant Grove, Iowa where records show Jonathan paid taxes on a watch and a melodeon- like an accordion. In 1867 Jonathan and his family were part of the first Methodist congregation in Pleasant Grove, with a pastor visiting the town every 2 weeks or so. Jonathan built the second blacksmith shop in Pleasant Grove, still standing but not used in 1882.

Jonathan and son William’s land is in the 1895 Floyd County Plat Book: Jonathan owned 80 acres and William owned 160 acres of farmland. The 1870 agricultural census shows Jonathan’s farm with 69 acres of improved land, 16 acres of woodland, 2 horses, 5 milch cows, 4 working oxen, 12 swine. The farm produced 436 bushels of spring wheat, 200 bushels of Indian corn 354 bushels of oats, 20 bushels of Irish potatoes, 700 pounds of butter, and 17 tons of hay.

In 1885 Jonathan, Charlotte and William Cable lived on their Pleasant Grove farm with Charlotte’s dad William Knapp, a soldier in the Civil War. Jonathan’s death date and place are unknown. 

Sources:

  • Volume 2 pages 840 and 843, History of Floyd County, Iowa: Chicago: Inter-state publishing co., 1882, at HathiTrust.
  • 1870 Pleasant Grove, Floyd County Iowa, Iowa Non-Population Census Schedules, 1850-1880 at FamilySearch.
  • 1885 Pleasant Grove, Floyd County Iowa State Census at Ancestry
  • 1895 Pleasant Grove Township in Plat Book of Floyd County, Iowa at Iowa Digital Library, U of I Libraries.

Violetta Cable b. 1857

/ Kirstin Miller

Cable, Violet obituary 1942Violetta Cable, great grand aunt on RootsMagic tree

Violetta was born April 11, 1857 in Wisconsin to Jonathan Cable, her mom was probably Eliza Frey. Violetta was the youngest of 5 kids with 3 brothers and a sister. By 1870 Violetta was 13 and living with her family in Pleasant Grove, Iowa. She lived on a farm in Pleasant Grove until about 1884 when she was a postmaster in Cable, Minnesota. This is noted on Wikipedia and also in a book: Minnesota Place Names by Upham.

Violetta took in her niece and nephews: Ethel Towslee, Chauncey and Leonard Cable all lived with her at different times in Chicago, Minnesota and Seattle. Violetta married Charles Anderson in 1908 in Seattle. She was 51 he was 39, Charles died in 1927, they didn’t have children. As a widow Violetta lived with her brother William’s widow, Mary Fries Cable in Des Moines, Iowa. Violetta died in Des Moines April 6, 1942 and is buried in the Pleasant Grove, Iowa cemetery, headstone not yet located, probably near her brother William.

Sources

Esther Young b. 1830

/ Kirstin Miller

Esther Miller 3rd great grandmother on RootsMagic tree.

Esther Young was probably born in Stark County, Ohio January 20, 1830. No info on her parents. Her parents were Michael and Mary Young both born in Pennsylvania. Esther married Peter Miller around 1851 on June 3, 1849 and they had their first child William L Miller in August, 1852. Esther had 5 more sons and her 7th child, a daughter: Lillie May Miller.

By 1860 the family was living in Bremer County, Iowa. They farmed and the children attended school. In 1880 Esther and Peter were neighbors to their son William and his wife Fiana Druckenbrod. In 1885 their neighbors were the Baileys, future in laws, their daughter Lillie would marry the youngest Bailey son, George. Imagine Esther’s day to day life in 1860: infants and toddlers, diapers, clothes, winter coats, laundry, food, baking, toothaches, crops, horses, livestock, snow, summer heat, having a bath; how in the world. There is very little info on Esther. Esther was in the local Waverly newspaper at different times for events including relatives visiting in Waverly, Iowa, Esther visiting Stark County, Ohio and winning a ‘medal for the first spring chickens this season having had a clutch of ten hatched Feb 9th” 1891. 

Esther died on February 10, 1898, about at age 68 and is buried at Andrews Cemetery near Waverly, Iowa.

Sources