Monday Is for Mothers: Aunt Ann?

I believe the woman in this portrait from my great grandmother's photo album is Elizabeth Anna Worden Peregoy (1839-1887) because there's a note that says "Aunt Ann" and she's the only relative that I know of who could be called that. If I'm right she's one of my maternal third great aunts--her brother Dick Worden* is my great great grandfather.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

Originally born in New York State, she moved to Iowa with her parents in the early 1850s and married Stephen W. Peregoy (1836-1883) in Brown Township, Linn County, in 1862.

Stephen enlisted in Company G, Iowa 4th Infantry Regiment just after the birth of their second child C.J.** in 1864 in Fairview, Jones County and served about seven months before he was mustered out on May 31, 1865.***

By the 1870 federal census the Peregoy family, with the addition two more children, were living in Richmond Township, in Ray County, Missouri. Ten years later they had moved on to Bourbon County, Kansas, with their five surviving children.***

Records indicate that Stephen died in Fairview in 1883 and his wife survived him by almost five years, although we don't know the exact date or place she died.



*I've written about my ancestor's Civil War experiences on this blog, starting here.
**We only know his initials and C.J. died in 1867.
***Given that date and that he was in Washington DC at the time, it's very likely that he had marched in the Grand Review of the Armies a week earlier.
****Their daughter Rachel, born in 1866 died at the age of 11.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Mary Delaney Groves Joslin Perego (1833 - 1920)

This third great aunt's given name seems to have been Magdalena, but she's always referred to as Mary Delaney which sounds like an Irish surname and confused me at first because her parents were Frederick Groves and Leah Bixler.*

This 1920 piece about her first vote gives us a good overview of her life:

[Page  1 of The Anamosa Eureka, published in Anamosa, Iowa on Thursday, November 11th, 1920.

Source: Jones County Genealogicl Society Digital Library]

The article refers to her "rather feeble health" and she died just six weeks later on December 24, 1920.



*However if you sound it out, you can see how Magdalena could be transposed into Mary Delaney.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Rosie Joslin McGowan & Ed McGowan

Emma Rosettabelle Joslin, better known as Rosa or Rosie, is one of my maternal first cousins, three times removed. She was born in Fairview Township in Jones County, Iowa, in 1871 and married Edward Calvin McGowan (1870-1949) there in 1890 which is probably when this portrait was taken.

[Scanned photo taken from album owned by Hilda Maxine (Ellison) Willison

found on Ancestry.com]

Here's Rosie's 1943 obituary in the Anamosa Journal from the Digital Archives of the Jones County Library:

[The Anamosa  Journal,  Thursday, December 9, 1943, page 4]

And here's how we're related:

[Ancestry.com]

*We had found a portrait of Rosie taken when she was a baby in my great great grandmother's photo album during our scanning session in 2011:

[Rosa Joslyn, cousin of Nora Webb, from Floral Album of Webb family photos,

courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Emma Maria Worden (1861 - 1939)

While working on last Friday's post I realized that we have a portrait of young Emma that hasn't been shared here. It was probably taken in Jones County, Iowa, sometime before her marriage to Madison Monroe Kuder in 1884.

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

This picture from my great grandmother Elnora Worden Webb's photo album that we scanned during the epic session with Cousin Sue and her husband Bob at her mother's house in 2011.




© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Rosie, Winnie, Polly & Lula

Fortunately someone noted the full names of this quartet so we don't have to guess who's who:
                       Rosie McGowan nee Joslin (my first cousin, three times removed)
                                Winnie McGowan Northrup (Rosie's sister-in-law)
                              Polly Worden Joslin (my third great aunt)
                                  Lula Northrup (presumably Winnie's daughter)

[Posted to her ancestry.com public tree by jeanandorf (who's not related to me

but manages two DNA tests of distant Worden cousins]

The location isn't mentioned but it's almost certainly in Jones County, Iowa.

I've posted pictures of Polly before that were shared with my by another cousin.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Mercy Ann Darling Webb Walsh's Obituary - 1915

We have my great great grandmother's 1915 obituary thanks to research done by Findagrave's member Gayle Neuhaus, a resident of Winnetoon, Nebraska. Gayle added a transcription of it to Mercy's memorial, adding her source so I was able to locate a scan of the original* from The Creighton Liberal:

[Source: Digital Archives of the Creighton Public Library]

                  Obituary**
   Mrs. Mercy Ann Walsh was born on
the eleventh day of May 1835 at
Harvard, Courtland County, N y
and died Oct. 29, 1915 at Creighton
Nebr being 80 year 5 months and 18
days old
   In 1858 she was married to Abner
Webb of Jones county, Ia. Soon after
their marriage they moved 
to Collen County Texas
where was born to them a son
J.D. Webb who resides in Winnetoon.
When the country was in the throes of
war in the sixties her husband re-
sponded to the call of the South and
laid down his life upon the altar of 
his country.
   In 1864 Miss Webb married Joshua
B Walsh in McKenny Collen county
Texas from which place they moved
to Iowa in 1866. To this union four
children were born all of whom are
still living. Two sons F B. and J
S Walsh reside at Boulder, Colo.
Mrs Kitty May Pierce of Idaho and
Mrs Dr. Hazen of Creighton, Nebr.
During her entire life she has been
very healthy; and knowing she had
lived beyond her allotted time here
on earth she came to Creighton to
spend her last days with her daugh-
ter and also that she might at her
death be buried in the Millerboro
churchyard by the side of her hus
band  Mr Walsh served thorought
the Mexican was for which a pension
was received by his wife. He also 
fought under Gen. Jackson against
the Indians of Florida.
   For forty years Mrs. Walsh was a
member of the Church of God and
was very faithful in and to her reli-
gious beliefs. The funeral services
were held Sunday Oct. 31st at the 
home of Mrs. Hazen, Rev. Joseph
Stanford pastor Methodist Church
officiating  Internment was at Miller-
boro  Six of her grand sons, Claude,
Elmer, and Waymond Hazen;
Herbert Fred and John Webb, acted 
as pall bearers  Thus laid at rest 
a soul that feared God
                --------------
       CARD OF THANKS
   We sincerely desire to thank all our
friends and neighbors for their help
and expressions of sympathy. In the
sorror that has come to us in the
loss of our mother and grandmother.
   Dr. and Mrs. Hazen and family.
   Jess and Nora Webb and family.

This is very exciting because, although bits and pieces of Mercy's life with her first husband have come down to us, this is the closest we've gotten to the story she would have told about herself and her son (and my great grandfather) Jess Webb was one of the sources of the information printed here. Here's a portrait of Mercy that belonged to him:

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy. The handwriting is probably that of my grandmother Anna Delilah Webb Slater.]

Especially interesting is the statement that Mercy and Abner Webb moved to Texas shortly after their 1858 marriage.*** Abner's maternal grandfather Jesse Sill died in November of the previous year, leaving him a bequest of $300; could it have been the expectation of this money that encouraged the couple to relocate? If so, I'm afraid they were to be disappointed because at the time of Jesse Sill's death the country was experiencing a severe economic "panic" and his diminished estate wasn't settled for a very long time.

We've never been able to locate Mercy in the 1860 U.S. Census although we know that Abner was employed as a carpenter by attorney Fred L. Gates**** in Collin County on June 7, 1860 (less than six weeks before his son was born). Several sources has claimed that son Jesse David Webb was born in Galveston but not this obituary.

Although there's no record of Abner's military service (on either side*****) here it's stated clearly that his sympathies were with the Confederacy.

Thanks again Gayle, for finding this and posting it where I could find it.


*Looking at the obituary as printed, it's clear that whoever set the type wasn't particularly skilled and/or didn't proofread it carefully.
**Several corrections are in order: Mercy Darling was born in Harford in Cortland County, NY; McKinney is in Collin County, Texas.
***There's a transcription of a Jones County Marriage Book which lists the date of their marriage as November 6, 1856. Because it's not the original, that date could be an error.
****Gates later rose to the rank of a Captain in the 16th Regiment, Texas Cavalry (Fitzhugh's). Two other regiments included men from McKinney: 6th/15th (Consolidated) Regiment, Texas Volunteers; and 6th Regiment, Texas Cavalry (Wharton, Stone's).
*****I've even seen some claims that Abner served with Sherman on his march through Georgia.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Perego/Newhard

The couple in these photos are my 1st cousin 3X removed Ida M. Perego (1867-1959) and her husband Marcus James Newhard (1865-1950) who were married in Jones County, Iowa, on January 26, 1885.*

[From the public Ancestry.com tree of Dmacness]

[From the public Ancestry.com tree of Dmacness]

Here's how Ida is related to me:

[Ancestry.com]

*The infant in the first photo is their son DeVere Eugene Newhard (1885-1929)


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Delilah "Delia" Grove (1845 - 1925) Iowa Census Records, Ancestry vs. FamilySearch

When I looked at what I had written about this maternal great great grandmother in 2014 I found that I hadn't included entries for her (and her husband Richard Worden) from various Iowa State Census records.

While that omission may have because I didn't think it important to add those records for a couple who remained in the same location (Jones County) from their arrival there by the 1850 U.S. Census until their deaths* it also could have been, at least in the case of the 1915 state census, because of the poor quality of the image provided by Ancestry.

[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.]

I had forgotten that when a record appears in two separate websites, it's useful to check both databases because what I found at FamilySearch is obviously the from the same source but is much easier to read.

["Iowa State Census, 1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-8926-ZVY9?cc=2240483&wc=QSZP-HZ9%3A1291580202%2C1291585001 : 5 October 2016), Jones > Tasker, Mrs. Minnie-Zumbrunnen, Peter > image 1958 of 2374; Iowa State Historical Department, Des Moines.]

Inspired by that I decided to look at another Iowa census, this time for 1905 to see if there was a difference. What showed up via Ancestry was an index of the enumeration but not the individual cards for both of them.

[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.]

The records on FamilySearch have been indexed and I located Delliah's card (#585) but a search for Richard Worden (#584) produced nothing. The cards in this file are not in numerical or alphabetical order (either by surname or township) so there's no clue to where his is.

["Iowa State Census, 1905," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9ZV-BWXH?cc=2126961&wc=QDRZ-TC3%3A1589972866 : 23 August 2016), 007486409 > image 3127 of 3956; State Historical Department, Des Moines.]

Although her given name is spelled Delliah in both these censuses, that's not the way it was recorded in other records. I honestly don't know which spelling she preferred.

Here's how she's related to me.

[Ancestry.com]

*1912 for Richard and 1925 for Delilah.



© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: David Darling (1805- 1895) Farmer

Although this maternal 3X great grandfather was born in Rhode Island, in 1816 his father (also named David*) had relocated the family to central New York State, first living in Chenango County and then moving on to Virgil in Cortland County by 1825. Although we don't have a record of their union, that's probably where the younger David and Polly Gates were married about 1830.

[Map of the counties of Chenango and Cortland, New York : from actual surveys. Philadelphia : Published by A. Pomeroy & S.W. Treat, 1863. Philadelphia : F. Bourquin & Co., Printr., 1863. Source: Library of Congress]

[Map of the counties of Chenango and Cortland, New York : from actual surveys. Philadelphia : Published by A. Pomeroy & S.W. Treat, 1863. Philadelphia : F. Bourquin & Co., Printr., 1863. Source: Library of Congress]

As far as we can tell David and his growing family remained in Cortland County through the 1850 U.S. Census which found them living in Harford, about 7-1/2 miles from Virgil. (My direct ancestor Mercy is enumerated on line 19 and her younger sister Amanda, the second wife of my great great grandfather George Tomlinson, is on line 22.)

["United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DHWR-CB?cc=1401638&wc=95RZ-K66%3A1031313801%2C1033674601%2C1033701601 : 9 April 2016), New York > Cortland > Harford > image 11 of 24; citing NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).]

However, from the 1852 Iowa State Census we learn that the Darlings were now residing in Fairview Township in Jones County.

[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.]

David, as head of household, appeared in an 1854 Iowa State Census and the whole family are listed in the 1856 state enumeration.

[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.]

Four years later only Amanda was left at home in Fairview with David and Polly.

[Year: 1860; Census Place: Fairview, Jones, Iowa; Roll: M653_328; Page: 593; Image: 585; Family History Library Film: 803328. 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. ]

In Fairview 10 years later David and Polly had been joined by their widowed daughter Lovina and her son George.

[Year: 1870; Census Place: Fairview, Jones, Iowa; Roll: M593_401; Page: 67A; Image: 137; Family History Library Film: 545900. 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.]

David and Polly were alone in their house in Fairview in the 1880 U.S. Census.

[Year: 1880; Census Place: Fairview, Jones, Iowa; Roll: 348; Family History Film: 1254348; Page: 433B; Enumeration District: 336; Image: 0450. 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.]

Polly died in 1883, probably in Fairview as she is buried in the Norwich Cemetery in Jones County. In his obituary in Boulder Daily Camera of January 28, 1895, David Darling was described as a resident of Valmont, east of Boulder. (The Mrs. G. M. Tomlinson referred to is his daughter Amanda.) We don't know where he was buried.

[Source: Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC) online]

There's no reason to believe that David ever followed any other occupation than that of a farmer in his lifetime. He was too young to be a soldier in the War of 1812 and too old to actively participate in the Mexican and Civil Wars. His greatest adventure appears to have been the life changes that took him from a childhood in Rhode Island to his last breath in Colorado 90 years later.

[Ancestry.com]

*You can read my posts about David Darling Sr. who was a veteran of the Revolutionary War here and here.

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Groves

The young man in this photograph is my maternal third great uncle Levi Groves (1856-1891), who appears to have lived his entire life in Jones County, Iowa. His parents were my third great grandparents Frederick Groves* (1812-1882) and Leah Bixler (1813-1900) who were originally from Maryland but met and married in Ohio, finally moving to Iowa in about 1846. There is no evidence that Levi ever married and he's buried in Forest Hill Cemetery.

[The Anamosa Eureka, Thursday, July 2, 1891.

Source: Digital Archives of Jones County Genealogical Society. ]

[Both images above courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

*Some records list his name as Grove. His ancestors first appeared in mid-18th century Pennsylvania with an German-speaking immigrant who came from Raffz, Zurich, Switzerland.surnamed Grof or Graf.



© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Fantastic Find and Hat Tip: Jones County Newspaper Archive

In this week's email The Weekly Geologist from the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Assistant Editor Valerie Beaudrault spotlights The Anamosa Library & Learning Center's digitized archive of Jones County, Iowa, newspapers from 1856-2011. As the Library points out, "Jones County is one of the few counties in Iowa to have the entire county's holdings scanned." Best of all, access is free.

[Anamosa Library & Learning Center]

A search in GenealogyBank's database holdings shows only the Anamosa Eureka so there may be more information to be gleaned from this source about my Worden and Webb lines.

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.