Manford Byron Speedy b. 1838

/ Kirstin Miller

Manford Speedy b.1838 on RootsMagic tree

Manford Byron Speedy was born March 18, 1838 in Island Creek, Jefferson County Ohio. His dad William Speedy and mom Elizabeth Glenn were both from Pennsylvania. MAnford lived on a farm with his parents and 5 brothers.  

In 1856, age 18, Manford left Ohio for Shell Rock, Iowa. In 1864 he married Ann Eliza Coats and they had three children. Typhoid fever takes Ann and the youngest daughter’s life around 1869. In 1870 Manford had a farm where he lived with his Coats in-laws, his father William and his and Ann’s children. In 1874 Manford married Elizabeth Stewart and they had 5 children.

The 1870 Agricultural Census shows Manford’s farm production: 160 total acres, 120 acres tilled, 14 acres of grassland, 3/4 acre of potatoes, 3 acres of apple trees. He had 8 milk cows, produced 700 lbs of butter, had 8 other cows with 4 calves dropped, 112 swine and 50 poultry. This poultry produced 250 dozen eggs for the year. 5 cord of wood were also produced.

Manford was known as MB and considered a noble pioneer in the Shell Rock and Allison areas of Butler County, Iowa. He was involved in local politics, he was a sheriff, farmer, general store owner and livestock buyer. Manford ran for Sheriff and was elected in 1877, newspaper articles document the race and who ‘should be made the victim of slander and abuse this fall.’  In September 1877 Manford was endorsed in the local newspaper, a ’tower of strength’. In October 1877 Manford ‘called’ not on the phone but in person at the newspaper offices ‘MB Speedy one of the straight men on the straight Republican ticket for Butler county called last Saturday and exchanged ideas with us on the political topics of the day. Glad to see him’.

So, Manford had a lot going on. Then in 1903 when he was 64 years old, a telephone was delivered to his home. “Our telephone exchange has enlarged somewhat recently, new ‘phones being put in the residence of M.B. Speedy, H.C. Parsons and E.J. Davis.” This was such a big deal it was posted in the local newspaper.

Sources

Daniel and Rebecca Rhodes Power Williams marry 1676

/ Kirstin Miller

Daniel is the second son of Roger Williams, Roger is credited with founding Rhode Island when banished from Massachusetts because of radical religious beliefs. Rebecca Rhodes is the daughter of Joanna Arnold and Zachariah Rhodes, she first married Nicholas Power (he may have died at sea) she married second Daniel.

When they married around December 1, 1676 King Philips War was just ending. Dated entries in Volume 8 of The early records of the town of Providence, trace the end of the war, understood by most to be the deadliest war of the colonies.  From the preface, “The period succeeding the time embraced in the last named volume was one of disaster to the town, for the Indian War which had raged with varying success throughout the New England Colonies was then brought within the confines of Rhode Island. During a part of this period, previous to March, 28, 1676, and for some time thereafter the town was practically deserted, its business well nigh suspended and a portion of it destroyed by the ravages of the Indians. The townsmen however carried on such governmental affairs as were actually necessary, and during this time Roger Williams held the office of Town Clerk.”

Daniel and Rebecca’s wedding is recorded (Volume 8, page 15)

Dan: Williams & ye Widow Rebekah Power were married ye 2 of 10th ye first Mariage since God mercifully restored ye Towne of Prouidence.

So this could be the most real wedding story ever. “Our town was completely destroyed by war, people fled or were killed until only about 30 remained. We persevered, made a commitment and married.”

In this same Volume 8 Daniel’s brother Providence (page 14) is credited with rescuing his mom and maybe the town?

by Gods Providence it seasonably came to pass ye Providence Williams brought up his mother from Newport in his sloop and cleared ye towne by his vessel of all ye Indians to ye great peace and Content of all ye Inhabitants

Source:

Providence (R.I.). Record Commissioners. The Early Records of the Town of Providence, V. I-XXI … Providence: Snow & Farnham, city printers, 1892 (there are assorted editions of this ebook)

Skelton was a weak link, now disconnected b. 1584

/ Kirstin Miller

Update summer 2017. The Skelton family through Elizabeth Marsh/March was a weak link, now the family is disconnected, it’s false that Thomas Olney married Elizabeth Marsh daughter of John Marsh, The Ancestry of Emily Jane Angell, disproves this.

Samuel Skelton 12th great grandfather (Olneys and Angells) was born in about 1584 to a religious family, his father William was rector in Coningsby, Lincolnshire, England. Samuel attended Clare College at Cambridge earning an MA in 1615. Skelton was friendly with John Endecott, first Govr of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. John convinced Samuel to join him in the New World. Samuel, his wife Susannah Travis and their children sailed on the George, arriving in Salem on June 23, 1629.  The Skelton family received benefits to make their travels and life in the New World more appealing, this included land and this 2 page list of stuff, pages 239-40 of Every day life in the Massachusetts bay colony by Dow at HathiTrust

The church in Salem was a pretty official Church of England church, Samuel became the pastor and carried on. Until January 1, 1630. The Anglican Book of Common Prayer was removed from the services and the Salem church became “the second independent Congregational church in New England”.  This new Salem church, for a few years, united the beliefs of the Pilgrims and Puritans. Skelton died in 1634. His assistant Roger Williams (10th great grandfather) took his spot.

Roger had serious issues with

  • the Church of England
  • taking land –in the name of God- from the people already living on the land
  • the King of England
  • governments and religions co-mingling
  • oaths of allegiance

Williams was eventually tried and convicted in Salem for dangerous ideas then escaped in the night from Massachusetts and created his own colony: Providence.

Sources

Samuel Skelton at Wikipedia

Dow, George Francis, 1868-1936. Every Day Life In the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Boston: The Society for the preservation of New England antiquities, 1935.

John Parrish b. 1640

/ Kirstin Miller

John Parrish 11th great grandpa on RootsMagic tree

John was born in 1640 probably near Braintree, Massachusetts. He first married Hannah Jewell, she died before 1685 when John married Mary Waddell. John and Mary were active in Groton, John holding many elected positions: selectman, town council, surveyor, constable.

  • 1669: Original proprietor in Groton, granted 5 acres of land
  • 1676 Mar 13: The couple lived in Groton when it was destroyed by Indian wars
  • 1677: John was on the committee to rebuild after the town evacuated then returned months later. The record from October 12, 1677, Pages 52, 53, The Early Records of Groton, Massachusetts: 1662-1707 at HathiTrust, “This is the last record of any meeting held before the destruction of the town by the Indians, March 13, 1676. The inhabitants then were compelled to forsake their homes, and did not return until the spring of 1678. …that those present would go up in the spring following, and begin to repair our habitations again… which agreement he signed”.
  • 1685 John received 10 acres of land in Groton. After rebuilding the town, John and probably Mary, both played a big part in getting a pastor and church to Groton.
  • 1691 Dec 21, “At the same day thay did apoint and by uoat daclare that sd Josiah parkar and sar John parish & Wiliam longly & sam James parkar should go down & fach up som meet parson to preach to us & the town is to bare the charg”.
  • 1692 March 21, “Groton at a genaral town meting legally warned the town did then by uoat datannan that thay would giue to master hancock the full som of sixtey pound one fourth part siluer for a yers salarey for Preaching in order to ordnation in dew time and the other three parts in pay corn or prouishon at comon pays and mr hancocock bored himself:  John Parish was chosen to dascors with mr hancock to see if he wil acs apt of the towns profr”.

groton-first-parish-meeting-house

Sources
Groton (Mass. : Town). The Early Records of Groton, Massachusetts: 1662-1707. Groton: [Town of Groton], 1880.

Parish, Roswell. New England Parish Families: Descendants of John Parish of Groton, Mass, And Preston…  Rutland, Vt.: The Tuttle Publishing Company, inc, 1938.

And some $ Ancestry sources, Marriages, North American Families.

Alice Ashton b. 1617

/ Kirstin Miller

Alice Ashton 10th great grandmother maternal, sailed from St Albans, England to Virginia in 1635, she was about 20. At HathiTrust a list of passengers, “x? Aug 1635 Theis underwritten names are to be transported to Virginea, imbarqued in the Safety, John Graunt Mr, almost 3 pages of names, Alice Ashton 20.” These lists are published in a book: The original lists of persons of quality, emigrants, religious exiles, political rebels, serving men sold for a term of years, apprentices, children stolen, maidens pressed, and others, who went from Great Britain to the American plantations, 1600-1700. With their ages, the localities where they formerly lived in the mother country, the names of the ships in which they embarked, and other interesting particulars. From mss. preserved in the State Paper Dept. of Her Majesty’s Public Record Office, England, by John Hotten  published in 1832. That’s the actual title, generally shortened to The original lists of persons of quality, which is kind of worse.

Anyway Alice is sailing, she is the only Ashton on The Safety.

  • 1635 April Alice’s sister Mary Ashton 10th great grandmother, sailed with her husband Thomas Olney, and kids: Thomas age 1, Epenetus an infant. The Olneys left St Albans, England on the Planter 2 Apr 1635, then arrived in New England maybe mid May of 1635.
  • 1635 June on the ship with Alice “a trunk and a desk, which my mother gave to me”
  • 1635 August Alice probably joins her sister Mary’s family in colonial Massachusetts.
  • 1635 October In Providence is Thomas Angell who escaped with Roger Williams and 4 others in a canoe in the dark of night 08 Oct 1635.
  • 1637 Thomas Olney is a freeman and holds several Civil positions. He is also a baptist and associated with Roger Williams so is banished from Massachusetts.
  • 1638 Olneys and Ashtons follow Williams to Providence.
  • 1646 Thomas Angell and Alice marry
  • 1668 Angells and Olneys are some of the original settlers of Rhode Island and founders, members of the First Baptist Church.

Alice and Thomas Angell have eight children and long lives in Providence. They die in the same year 1694, Alice age 77, Thomas age 78. Alice Ashton Angell writes her will  and gives the trunk and desk which sailed with her from St. Albans to her namesake daughter Alice Angell who is 45 and married to Eleazer Whipple. Eleazer and Alice Angell Whipple may have had 10 children. They lived and died in Providence, Alice lived to age 94. Both are buried in the Whipple Mowry Cemetery also known as Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Lincoln 15.

Snapshot from page 75 The Providence oath of allegiance and its signers, 1651-2 at HathiTrust

ashton-alice-will

Ashton Angell, Alice will 1694

Sources

The Providence oath of allegiance and its signers, 1651-2 by Bowen, Richard LeBaron page 75 at HathiTrust

The Original Lists of Persons of Quality: Emigrants by Hotten, John Camden page 123 at HathiTrust.

Valley Forge 1777

/ Kirstin Miller

Six days away from the anniversary of George Washington’s Continental Army arrival at Valley Forge PA, Wikipedia page. At least two ancestors were at Valley Forge during the December 19, 1777–June 18, 1778 encampment: William Newcomb 5th great grandfather paternal and Colonel Israel Angell 6th great grandfather maternal. The National Parks Service sponsors the Annual March In of the Continental Army Commemoration with guided walks, music from the Colonial Revelers, and more. This event is dependent on the weather.

General Washington was criticized for choosing Valley Forge because it left parts of the country unprotected. The general replied … “furiously”

I can assure those Gentlemen that it is a much easier and less distressing thing to draw remonstrances in a comfortable room by a good fire side than to occupy a cold bleak hill and sleep under frost and Snow without Clothes or Blankets; however, although they seem to have little feeling for the naked, and distressed Soldier, I feel superabundantly for them, and from my Soul pity those miseries, [which], it is neither in my power to relieve or prevent.

Martha Washington supported her husband and the troops. She visited Valley Forge and set up sewing circles for the camp followers, that’s women and children encamped with the soldiers, helping with laundry, uniforms and emotional support.

Ruth Cable b. 1890

/ Kirstin Miller

Ruth Cable, daughter of William Cable and first wife Nellie Stroud. Ruth was born in 1890 in Pleasant Valley township near Greene, Iowa. She lived on a farm with her dad and mom, younger sister Nora and older brother Leonard. School age Ruth and Leonard won school awards for perfect attendance- an accomplishment when a journey to country school was not as simple as hopping in a car and driving along paved roads. From the Marble Rock Journal 1904 Feb 4: Pupils neither tardy or absent: Leonard and Ruth Cable.

On March 21, 1908, ruth took a buggy to town for some shopping. She was at the Bucholz store in Greene, Iowa (Bucholz, owned by Bucholz and Dralle this store is still there as Dralle’s- they’re on Facebook). In the Iowa (Greene) Recorder of March 25, 1908 Ruth Cable leaves a message:

“Parcel Misplaced. A parcel containing a dark blue skirt and iron lead belt buckle with garnet setting was placed in wrong buggy last Saturday evening. Finder please leave at Bucholz store and receive liberal reward.” 

A few months after the missing parcel, William and Nellie were divorcing, all covered in the local newspapers. Their divorce was not friendly, accusations were made on both sides. The mom Nellie went  to Kansas City. Nora married, Leonard moved around the country. Ruth was a lodger in Waterloo, Iowa 1910, a store clerk at the Golden Rule. She married Walter Thomas in 1913, he died in 1920. Ruth married married Harold Lindberg in 1921. In 1926 Ruth and Harold of Ohio attended William Cable’s funeral in Greene, Iowa. Ruth’s last record is a 1927 Columbus, Ohio city directory. Harold Lindberg died in San Bernardino, California in 1961. Ruth’s death date and place are unknown.

Sources

Charles Angell b. 1825

/ Kirstin Miller

Charles Angell, my 3rd great uncle on RootsMagic tree

Charles Angell was born in Utica, New York to Dexter Angell and Clementine Benight. He grew up in Prairieton, Indiana and by 1845 he was in Illinois where he married Eleanor Black on April 2. They had eight children and were farmers in Illinois then in Butler County, Iowa near Clarksville.

The 1870 US agricultural census shows Charles owned a 120 acre farm, valued at $4800. He had 4 horses, 5 milk cows, 5 other cows, 41 sheep and 17 swine. The farm produced 240 bushels of wheat, 350 of Indian corn and 180 of oats. 146 pounds of wool, 30 pounds of potatoes, 150 pounds of butter, 40 bales of hay and 40 gallons of molasses were also recorded.

Sources

  • U.S. Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1870; Butler, Iowa; -at Ancestry
  • New York, Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999 Wills, 1792-1922at Ancestry

Citations are road maps

/ Kirstin Miller

At Evidence Explained Elizabeth Shown Mills’s website

Every time we use a source, we want to create a citation that helps us. We’re not trying to satisfy Miss Thistlebottom so she won’t give us a D-minus. We’re creating a citation that will give us the directions we need. Page numbers in books, file numbers for documents, distinctions between editions—or between versions imaged by multiple online providers … all of these are not roadside weeds to annoy us. They are mile markers that keep us headed in the right direction.

Most helpful. I’ve been looking into using Source Templates in FTM3, “these source templates are based on the Quick Check models defined in the book Evidence Explained”. I’ve edited 1790, 1800, 1810 and 1820 census source templates from Ancestry default, which I believe is ‘blank’ to source template: census; then category: digital images; then template: population schedule. ‘Digital images’ reverts to microfilm, can’t change it which seems odd.

Also odd once I’ve changed the source template there is absolutely no way to go back to ‘blank’. There is a way to further edit the more detailed source, but not in FTM- on Ancestry.com in the Edit Source space. I’ve put this on hold.

Mac Family Tree and RootsMagic also have ways to further classify sources.

Elizabeth Salome Myers b. 1842

/ Kirstin Miller

Elizabeth Salome (Sally) Myers married Henry F Stewart, 1st cousin 4 times removed, in about 1867. In the midst of the Civil War, Sally was a teacher in Gettysburg, PA. Most in Gettysburg understood the war could come closer to their homes, the Confederate Army was close by at Antietam. On July 1 of 1863  school was out for the summer and the battles began in Gettysburg. Sally was 21 and instantly became a nurse to the wounded and dying soldiers.

Alexander Stewart of the 109th Pennsylvania Volunteers was Sally’s first patient. She asked the soldier what he needed, he answered nothing. He understood he was going to die. Maybe Sally helped Alexander write a last letter to his family, she did this for many soldiers. Alexander’s family met Sally when they came to Gettysburg to pick up their son’s corpse. The Stewart family thanked Sally for all she had done. Later that summer Sally had a letter form Alexander’s brother Henry. Henry Stewart was a minister, he and Sally kept in touch. Eventually Henry and his mom moved to Gettysburg. Henry and Sally continued their friendship and then married.

Parts of Sally’s story are here at Civil War Sources and here at GettysburgTimes.com. I’ve just ordered Sally’s Gettysburg diary The Ties of the Past, on Ebay, thank you SeattleGoodwillBooks.

Stewart, Salome M, and Sarah S. Rodgers. The Ties of the Past: The Gettysburg Diaries of Salome Myers Stewart, 1854-1922. Gettysburg, PA: Thomas Publications, 1996. Print.