E. Bixler was head of household in Frederick County, Maryland in the 1810 U.S. Census and Leah, the daughter of Emanuel and Elisabeth Bixler, was baptized at Evangelisch Lutherischen Gemeinde Jerusalems Kirch in what is now Carroll County, Maryland, in 1815 when she was about two years old. There is some reason to think that her family may have been Mennonites or Anabaptists, in which case that baptismal record would be unlikely to be hers because neither group believes in infant baptism.
By the 1820 U.S. Census, Emanuel Bixler's family had moved to Brecknock Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and ten years later the Bixlers were living in Fawn Township in York County. A near neighbor was John Groves Jr., the rest of whose family was living in Hopewell Township to the west of Fawn. In 1832, two years later, Leah married his brother Frederick in Wayne County, Ohio, although we don't know how they happened to be there at that time.
The 1840 U.S. Census places the young Grove ** family in Richland Township in Fairfield County, Ohio.
[Ancestry.com. 1840 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Sixth Census of the United States, 1840. (NARA microfilm publication M704, 580 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]
Frederick, Leah and their children moved to Fairview Township in Jones County, Iowa, sometime in 1846.** Because the 1850 Federal Census is the first one to list all members of a household by name, that's where we first see a record for their daughter Delilah, aged five.***
[Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]
[Ancestry.com. Iowa, State Census Collection, 1836-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Microfilm of Iowa State Censuses, 1856, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925 as well various special censuses from 1836-1897 obtained from the State Historical Society of Iowa via Heritage Quest.]
And Jones County is where Leah and Frederick lived the rest of their lives, as shown by successive census records.
[Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]
[Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]
[Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. All use is subject to the limited use license and other terms and conditions applicable to this site. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]
Frederick died in 1882 at the age of 70 after suffering internal injuries from a bad fall and the 1885 Iowa State Census shows Leah as a widow living with her sons Levi and Jefferson, who is listed as "Disabled."
[Ancestry.com. Iowa, State Census Collection, 1836-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Microfilm of Iowa State Censuses, 1856, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925 as well various special censuses from 1836-1897 obtained from the State Historical Society of Iowa via Heritage Quest.]
"After a lingering sickness with that dread disease, consumption, Jefferson Groves died at his home in Strawberry Hill on Sunday, May 20th, 1894, at 1 o'clock a. m. He was one of twelve children, all of whom grew to years of maturity, and eight of whom, together with his father, preceded him to the grave, all with one exception, dying of the same disease. Three sisters survive, Mrs. Perrigo, Mrs. Worden and another, together with the aged mother. He was born August 21, l864 and was 29 years 3 months and 11 days old at the time of his death. The funeral services were conducted by Rev. A. U. Ballard, of the Baptist church, at Forest Chapel, where the remains were interred. Messrs. Ellis, Hartman, Keedick, Mirick and Strite acted as pall bearers. The sympathies of a wide circle cf friends go out to the aged mother who there followed the last of five sons to the grave. Husband and four daughters are also gone before, making her life a peculiarly sorrowful one."Since the 1890 U.S. Census was almost completely destroyed, the next record we have for Leah is in the 1900 Federal Census dated June 5th when she is listed as Mrs. F.G. Groves, living alone in a rented house. We're not sure who her neighbor William Groves is but we do know that her oldest daughter Mary (Mrs Perego) was living nearby.
[Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.]
The Anamosa Eureka for December 27, 1900, published her obituary on page 5, some of which is even true:
[Source:The Anamosa Eureka, December 27, 1900 p.5.]
What did the obituary get wrong? Well, first of all, she didn't arrive in Iowa in 1838 as the 1840 U.S. Census shows the family still residing in Ohio and according to the 1856 Iowa State Census they had come there ten years earlier. Then there's the fact that her marriage was recorded in Ohio in 1832 and her first child was born the next year. It's unusual that the obituary begins with her maiden name, although they do name her as Mrs. Groves later in the piece.
The Biblical text for her funeral service is taken from the Twenty-Third Psalm:
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."*1850 and 1900
**Their anglicized surname, originally Grof or Graff from Switzerland, appears as Grove or Groves interchangeably.
***According to the 1856 Iowa State Census
****My great great grandmother, Delilah Grove Worden.
*****Since there are census records for Jefferson beginning in 1860, it's clear that the Eureka got his birth year wrong.
© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.
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