Who Was Franky's Father? Part 2: Another Will

In my last post, I shared how a Princess Anne County, Virginia, 1791 marriage record provided evidence that Willoughby Randolph's wife, Franky, was likely the daughter of William Thornton. Another document I've discovered is the 1794 will of William Thornton of the same county. It lists his "daughter Franke Randolph" along with other children. This will provides additional evidence that William Thornton was Franky's father.

Lee County, Virginia, "Virginia, Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1983," "Will Book, Vol. 2,
1795-1807," will of William Thornton,  signed 18 December 1794, page 3 [page numbering inconsistant];
database,  image 307, ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 March 2018).

Family members listed in William Thornton's will:

• daughter Franke Randolph
• daughter Betty
• daughter Polley Spier
• son William
• son Freddrick
• wife Salley Thornton
• daughter Cloye [Chloe?]

Sadly, four slaves were also mentioned:

• negro woman called Fan
• negro woman Dinea
• negro girl called Hanner [Hannah?]
• negro boy Charles

Lee County, Virginia, "Virginia, Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1983," "Will Book, Vol. 2,
1795-1807," will of William Thornton,  signed 18 December 1794, page 3 [page numbering inconsistant];
database,  image 308, ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 March 2018).

Land mentioned:

• "to my son William Fifty acors Land that I bought of Berry"
• "to my son Freddrick Fifty achors of land that I bought of Kinner Collens"

Interestingly, two of the three witness were females:

• Tho[ma]s Holstead
• Betty Coath [her mark]
• Keziah Chappel [her mark]

All of these people and pieces of land need to be further researched. And, I'm making progress on my Virginia research!

Who Was Franky's Father? Part 1: A Marriage Record

Virginian Willoughby Randolph (1765-1822) mentions his wife, Franky, twice in his will. On many Ancestry trees, Franky's maiden name is listed as Thornton and her father's name as William Thornton. But, I have not found anyone who documents these relationships.

Willoughby and Franky's first child, William Randolph (my 4th great grandfather), was born on 4 November 1792 in Virginia. Willoughby and Franky were likely married around 1792.

Ancestry.com > Virginia, Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1983 > Princess
Anne County > Index to Wills and Marriages, 1754-1799 > image 2192,
1791 marriage of Willoughby Randolph and Frankey Cummings.

I found this card stating that Willoughby Randolph and Frankey Cummings had married on 28 December 1791 in Princess Anne, Virginia. Based on date and place, this appears to be the correct couple. But, Frankey's surname says Cummings, not Thornton. If the other trees are correct, was Frankey previously married?

Wingo, Elizabeth B., Marriages of Princess Anne County, Virginia : [1749-1821]
(Norfolk, Virginia: E. B. Wingo publisher, 1961, 84; digital image, Internet
Archive (https://www.archive.org : accessed 16 Marcy 2018).

Last night I came across another record. This is a marriage index, so I will try to get the original. But, it quite clearly states that Frankey Cummings was the daughter of William Thornton "who consents for her." Apparently this was Frankey's second marriage. Martin Cummings, listed as a surety for the marriage, was likely a relative of Frankey's previous husband.

There is only one Willoughby Randolph listed in the 1800 U.S. census. This "Willobough" Randoph was enumerated in Surry County, North Carolina, which is very close to Lee County, Virginia where Willoughby is living a few years later. Therefore, I conclude that Willoughby Randolph's wife, Frankey, was the daughter of William Thornton.

An 1822 Will Opens New Doors (Part 1)

When my Great Aunt Beulah first introduced me to genealogy twenty years ago, I was an eager student. While researching our Randolph family, I quickly discovered a tree which took our family back several generations. I excitedly showed her my work...and she explained that was NOT the right way to do genealogy. She taught me I couldn't just accept unsourced information from other people's trees. Instead, I needed to rely on actual documents.

Lee County, Virginia, "Virginia, Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1983," "Will Book, Vol. 3,
1800-1832,"  will of Willoughby Randolph, signed 16 February 1822, unpaged, cover;
database, image 73, ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 March 2018).

I quickly "trimmed" those people from my tree, and I am thankful she taught me that lesson so early in my genealogy pursuit. However, I've also pretty much avoided researching my Randolph family.

A few days ago, though, I found an image of my 5x great grandfather's 1822 Lee County, Virginia, will on Ancestry. It provided me with wonderful information including a child I did not have on my tree. The beautifully "misspelled" words, though spelling wasn't standardized at that time, and seeing his wife's name, "Franky," really touched me. And, now I have many other records I need to pursue and people I need to research.

Lee County, Virginia, "Virginia, Wills and Probate Records, 1652-1983," "Will Book, Vol. 3,
1800-1832," will of Willoughby Randolph, signed 16 February 1822, unpaged, first page;
database,  image 74, ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 March 2018).

I'm going to share this three-page will, one page at a time, along with my transcription. I will put the names of any people and relationships who are mentioned in bold print.

If you are related to the Randolph family or anyone listed in this document, or if you have any corrections or information which might be useful to me, please contact me so we can talk! You can leave a comment or email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net

In the name of god Aman I Willoughby Rando

-lph of the State of Virginia and County of Lee being

weak in body and sick and of disposing mind &

Memory and in perfect sences thanks be to god for

the same I do here in Make and ordain this to be

My last Will and testament --------------------------------

I tom I give and bequeath unto my wife Franky

Randolph a childs part of all my moveable

Estat to her and her heirs for ever also all the

Corn pork and bacon and fat for this Insewing year

I tom I give and bequeath unto my son William Randolph

one hundred & ten acres of land being on the south

side of Wallings Ridge it being the land and plantation where

James Muncey & Jeremiah [C or B]en? now lives to him and his heirs

forever also one hundred acres of land settled by head

write in panted [painted?] Valey state of tenesee haukens County

to him and his [heirs inserted] forever ---------------------------------

I tom I give and bequeath unto my son Thornton

Randolph the west End of the tract of land whare on

he now lives from Joseph Brooks line south of wallings

Ridge Comeing down the Road and branch lead to James

Burtons sink[?] of branch and leaveing out that spring of water

at the head of the low gap[?] going to Mulberry and when the

line comes down said branch untell it gets to a sugar Camt[?] hollow

to leave said Road to the west so as to take in the house and

lot with the little orchard and two springs by the house and

along the foot of the stoney hill in the paster to my line

and James Burtons to him and his heirs forever -------------------

Note: Hawkins County, Tennessee and Lee County, Virginia shared part of a border.

An Unusual Name: Freelove "Lovey" Randolph (Fearless Female Day 3)

As part of Women's History Month, Lisa Alzo has created 31 blogging prompts which you can find on her blog, The Accidental Genealogist. If you're participating in the Fearless Females blogging challenge this month, let me know & I'll hop over & read your posts!

March 3rd prompt: Do you share a first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern. If not, then list the most unique or unusual female first name you've come across in your family tree.

My Big Sister & Me

Origins of My Name

Before I was born, my sister's best friend was a girl named Dana. My mother loved that name, and since they moved shortly before I was born, they decided to name me Dana! As far as my middle name, they just liked the way it sounded together. (And, so do I!)

Most Unusual Female Name on My Tree

Last year, when I did the Fearless Female posts, I only got through Day 3. So, I did do a post about female names. For the "most unusual" female name, I had chosen my 3rd great grandmother, Ellender Bookout. So, this year I thought I'd choose another unusual name...

Freelove "Lovey" Randolph (1794-1882) is the daughter of my 5th great grandparents, Willoughby James Randolph (1765-1822) and Frances "Frankey" Thornton (1772-1848), which are kind of unusual names in themselves. Their son, William (1792-1867) is my 4th great grandfather, and a very common name. But, Willoughby and Frankey had a two other children with unusual names: one was a son named Thornton, obviously named for his mother's maiden name, and another son was named Brooks.

I also have another Freelove in my tree. This Freelove is an aunt of Lovey's father, Willoughby Randolph. She was born about 1745 and died in 1785.

Mrs. "Lovey" Howell from Gillian's Island (image from Wikipedia)

On Gilligan's Island Mr. Howell calls his wife, "Lovey." I always thought that was just a term of endearment. But, Wikipedia says her name was  Lovell and that's where she got her nickname, "Lovey."

Family Lore: Related to Pocahontas

My great aunt, Beulah (Peters) Brewer, got me interested in genealogy about 18 years ago. One of our ancestral lines are the Randolph's of Virginia. Here's the story she emailed me of what got her interested in learning more about her family:

Myrtle Mae (Coppenbarger) Peters painting
Probably the photo taken for the newspaper

James Madison Randolph is the reason that I started doing genealogy. Mother had a copy of the paper that had his obituary in it, and his part took up about four pages. It was one of the smaller papers. Mother started doing oil paintings when she was in her late 70's, and the paper came out to take her picture and then they wanted some of her background history. She was so proud, and when she showed it to me, I asked her why she had them put all the Randolph data down? It had been handed down by word of mouth for generations and you couldn't convince any one of them that it wasn't so. In Lee County, Virginia, they still tend to believe it.

Image of Pocahontas from Wikipedia

So, what did the family believe for generations? That we were related to Pocahontas.

Just last week I came across a typed copy of the obituary of James Madison Randolph my great grandmother probably showed her daughter, Beulah. (I found it on De Witt County's Rootsweb.) Besides being related to Pocahontas, it states our family is related to a handful of other prominent people! Wouldn't that be neat? However, my great aunt said that her finding showed that, though we are descended from the Randolph family of Virginia, we aren't a part of the more famous Randolph family of Virginia. Here's the wonderfully lengthy obituary:

Dated April 8, 1927; Paper: Unknown

JAMES MADISON RANDOLPH PIONEER OF THIS COMMUNITY. 

Laid to Rest Under Sheltering Branches of Ancestral Oaks in Randolph Cemetery.

The subject of this sketch, James Madison RANDOLPH, was born June 27, 1846 in Logan county, Illinois, on the old homestead which had been taken from the government about two years before by his father. He was the oldest son of Willoughby H. and Louvicy (BARR) RANDOLPH, and the Randolph family of three brothers- James, Brooks, and William RANDOLPH had emigrated to Illinois from Virginia ,a sixteen years previous, before the winter of the big, snow in 1830. William RANDOLPH was his grandfather and James RANDOLPH was the father of J. S. RANDOLPH, better known as "Shelt". While he and "Shelt" were thus second cousins, yet all their lives and until the death of J. S. Randolph a number of years ago, their association was almost that of brothers, instead of distant cousins. He was thus one of the few remaining pioneers of the first generation and with advancing years took delight in recounting experiences of his boyhood. He told of one occasion of starting to Clinton with a load of grain and two yoke of oxen and having a serious breakdown on the present site of Kenney. He was married to Elizabeth G. JETT on December 30, 1871 who survives him. Seven children were born to this union; G. A. RANDOLPH, of Richmond, Va., R. J. RANDOLPH, of Kenney; Jett and John RANDOLPH, Mrs. Mack CARLLEY and Mrs. A. P. ROBERTSON, of Tulsa, Okla. One daughter, Grace, died at age of five. Two sisters, Mrs. Emma HILDRETH, and Mrs. Mary FORREST are living, both residing On Pacific Coast, and there are ten grandchildren. Always a deep student and constructive thinker, he spent the years 1865 and 1866 at Shurtleff college, Alton, Ill., and but for several years of weak eyesight from an epidemic of eye trouble, he would have graduated as a civil engineer and made this his life work. Generous with his family, tolerant of the opinions of others and yet with firm convictions of his own, his life showed continually the workings of a well balanced and orderly mind. Baptized in the Christian church at Kenney, following a revival in 1888, he talked freely in his last illness of the state of his soul and said he was prepared to meet his God. In all the trials of life, in withstanding the "Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune,"' he showed the iron determination of his forbears who stood at Crecy and Agincourt.

In the summer of 1923, he visited his son, G. A. Randolph at Richmond, Va., and took great delight in looking up the site of the home of his ancestor, William Randolph, of Turkey Island, and in visiting the monument of the Indian Princess, Pocahontas, at Jamestown Island, from whom he was descended. On a boat trip down the historic James, the captain, on learning his name and ancestry, showed pleasure in pointing out the sites of the homes of the Randolphs in this locality, so aptly called the "Cradle of the Republic."

Among his relatives were, John RANDOLPH, of Roanoke, Peyton RANDOLPH, President of the First Continental Congress, and Edmund RANDOLPH, Governor of Virginia and First Attorney General of the United states. Thomas JEFFERSON, Chief Justice MARSHALL, General Robert E. LEE and Carter H. HARRISON of Chicago were kinsmen, their mothers being Randolph's. After being in remarkably good health for a man of his years, the final illness came in January and he passed away at his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma on March 26. The remains were brought to Kenney to the home of his sister-in-law, Mrs. Sabra BUCHANAN.

Funeral arrangements on March 28 were handled by R. B. PULLEN and the services were at the Christian church in charge of Rev. O. P. WRIGHT, who is an old friend of the family. He delivered a most feeling discourse. A quartet composed of C. A. TROWBRIDGE, Ned WARRICK, H. K. CANTRELL, and E. *. HOGGARD, rendered appropriate selection with Miss Nina WARRICK at the piano. The pall bearers were four grandsons James HOMER, Ross and Harry RANDOLPH and two nephews, Roy and Ralph BUCHANAN. Services at the cemetery were conducted by Kenney Lodge I.O.O.F. of which he had been a member nearly 50 years.

Under the sheltering branches of the ancestral oaks of his grandfather Randolph's farm where he had wandered happily with his cousins, Levi and Whitney REGAN and Frank and Josiah COPPENBARGER, all that was mortal of James Madison Randolph was laid to rest. 

Do we share common ancestors? If so, I'd love to hear from you! Please leave a comment or contact me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your Best Genea-Prize in August 2014

Randy posts a weekly Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge over at Genea-Musings. Tonight's challenge is about your August genealogical "finds." Here are the rules...

1. Did you do some genealogy research during August 2014? Did you find a great record or story pertaining to an ancestor or family member?
2. Tell us about the BEST genea-prize ("record") you found during August 2014. What was it, where did you find it, and how does it help advance your research?
3. Share your genea-prize in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook or Google+ post. 
4. NOTE: If you didn't find one in August, tell us about a recent genea-prize from another month.

So, here goes!

The past 4 or 5 weeks have been incredible for me as far as genealogical finds. But, I decided to chose the newspaper notices for Lena Tremlett's estate as my "Best Genea-Prize in August 2014." I already posted about this prize, but I will add a bit about how I found it and how it helps to advance my genealogical knowledge of my family.

After returning from GRIP in Pennsylvania, I thought I'd try one of the sites that Debbie Mieszala had shared with us in her newspapers class: Chronicling America. I typed in one of my more unusual surnames, Coppenbarger, and came up with only a handful of hits. One of the hits had a long lists of names and I recognized quite a few of them.

Order of Publication, Weekly Graphic, Kirksville, Missouri, 16 Mar 1888,
page 1, column 6, newspapers.com (accessed 06 Sep 2014)

It took some work but I finally realized these notices were concerning the estate of Lena (Randolph) Tremlett, a daughter of William Randolph & Matilda Kearns/Keeran. She didn't have any children, so the land was being distributed between her remaining siblings and the  nieces and nephews of deceased siblings and all of their spouses.

Although I blogged about this 'find' before, I thought I'd include a list of those family members here. The last 6 people I couldn't fit into my tree... UNTIL I was writing this post! (I discovered they were 3 sisters & their spouses - additional children of one of Lena's siblings which I hadn't discovered before.) Now, I have placed all of these people on my tree! Blogging helps!!! And, it's wonderful to have this additional 'proof' that my tree for this family is correct!

Here's the list and how they are related to Lena's parents, William Randolph & Matilda Kearns/Keeran:

• A. J. Randolph (Adoniram Judson) (1839-1895), son of William & Matilda 
• W. H. Randolph (Willoughby Harrison) (1820-1899), son of William & Matilda
• J. H. Randolph (Jehu H) (1828-1900), son of William & Matilda
• Matilda (Randolph) Hukill (1833-1898), daughter of William & Matilda
• Charles B. Hukill, son-in-law of William & Matilda
• Kendall B(rooks) Randolph, granddaughter of William & Matilda through their deceased son, Moses (1834-1862)
• Francis W(ayland) Randolph, grandson of William & Matilda through their deceased son, Moses (1834-1862)
• Joseph M Canary (1848-?), grandson-in-law of William & Matilda through their deceased son, Moses (1834-1862)
• Ella (Randolph) Canary (1858-?), granddaughter of William & Matilda through their deceased son, Moses (1834-1862)
• Tazwell Merrill (abt 1848-?), grandson-in-law of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Lovina "Love" Matilda Randolph (1816-1880)
• Susan (Allsup) Merrill (1850-?), granddaughter of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Lovina "Love" Matilda Randolph (1816-1880)
• William Heckman (1844-?), grandson-in-law of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Lovina "Love" Matilda Randolph (1816-1880)
• Mary (Allsup) Heckman (1852-?), granddaughter of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Lovina "Love" Matilda Randolph (1816-1880)
• Thomas Allsup (abt 1861-?), grandson of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Lovina "Love" Matilda Randolph (1816-1880)
• George N Daughtery, Jr (1839-?), grandson of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Mary "Polly" Randolph (1818-1885)
• Joseph [Josiah] R Coppenbarger (1844-1934), grandson of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Lovina "Love" Matilda Randolph (1816-1880)
• William Coppenbarger (1846-1921), grandson of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Lovina "Love" Matilda Randolph (1816-1880)
• Robert Barnett (1843-1912), grandson-in-law of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Lovina "Love" Matilda Randolph (1816-1880)
• Matilda C (Coppenbarger) Barnett (1848-1899), granddaughter of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Lovina "Love" Matilda Randolph (1816-1880)
• Ulyses G Burton (1865-1949), grandson of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Lovina "Love" Matilda Randolph (1816-1880)
• John [Joseph] Eninger (1855-1950), grandson-in-law of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Lovina "Love" Matilda Randolph (1816-1880)
• Vina [Louvina] (Burton) Eninger (1857-1932), granddaughter of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Lovina "Love" Matilda Randolph (1816-1880)
• Levi T Regan (1842-1933), grandson of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Sarah Randolph (1822-1862)
• William W Regan (1845-?), grandson of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Sarah Randolph (1822-1862)
• Milton R Regan (1860-1928), grandson of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Sarah Randolph (1822-1862)
• Daniel [Daniel] Hunter (1851-?), grandson-in-law of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Sarah Randolph (1822-1862)
• Lena (Regan) Hunter (1852-1943), granddaughter of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Sarah Randolph (1822-1862)
• John Howard (1846-?), grandson-in-law of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Sarah Randolph (1822-1862)
• Martha (Regan) Howard (1850-?), granddaughter of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Sarah Randolph (1822-1862)
• Nathan Foreman (1841-1912), grandson-in-law of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Sarah Randolph (1822-1862)
• Louisa A (Regan) Foreman (1855-1892), granddaughter of William & Matilda through their deceased daughter, Sarah Randolph (1822-1862)

Do we share common ancestors? If so, I'd love to talk! Please leave a comment or email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net

Divorce & Death (Learning about Lena, Part 2)

As I discussed in Part 1 about Lena, I found that the land being sold and partitioned between 32 members of my family originally belonged to Lena R. Tremlett. But, I've never heard of Lena. I decided to search for her on Ancestry and see what I could find.

When I searched for Lena R. Tremlett in Missouri, I came up with 4 good hits - 3 death records and an 1880 census.

1880 Census - St Louis - John Tremlett is 3rd person - Lena Randolph Tremlett is 4th
people below John & Lena are boarders

The 1880 census is for John Tremlett, who appears to be running a hotel & whose occupation is listed as rooms provider (unsure of second word), and Lena Randolph Tremlett! Randolph is the last name of the parents/grandparents (William & Matilda) of those 32 family members! This Lena was born about 1832 in Virginia. This fits with one of the children of William & Matilda - Selina "Lena" Randolph! But, I had her married to a Noah Herman Smith, though I have no documentation. Perhaps this is a second marriage? Or perhaps she was never married to Noah Herman Smith.

Next, I looked at the three death records for Lena each showing she died in May of 1887. The records show she died of nephritis and was born in DeWitt County, Illinois. I think she was actually born in Virginia, but she grew up in DeWitt County.

Next, I Googled "Lena R Tremlett" and was surprised to uncover another article about her on Newspaper Abstracts. This was published in March of 1887 and it was for the filing of a divorce! It sounds like a pretty nasty divorce, too.

The last thing I uncovered was through Mocavo. It is a judicial index from 1887 in St. Louis so it is probably the divorce case file. (The case number is 16305; microfilm reel C38388.) She died only two months after filing for divorce, so I'm really interested in that case file. I'm going to hire someone in St. Louis to look up that file for me.

Here's the article about Lena filing for divorce which was in the "St Louis Dispatch Post" on March 31, 1887. The transcript was contributed by Gigimo.

A divorce suit was filed late last evening in the Circuit Court by Mrs. Lena R TREMLETT against John TREMLETT of the Hotel Belvedere, Washington Ave. They were married in May, 1879, and lived together until last October. Mrs. TREMLETT makes serious allegations against her husband, charging him with conduct rendering her position intolerable. She accuses him of heaping shocking indignities upon her at various times, making false accusations against her and acting in the most violent manner. She alleges that her husband was unduly intimate with a female servant and that he caressed another woman in her presence. He also took the part of a young woman who had assaulted his wife. Mrs. TREMLETT further charges that her husband transferred his affections to another woman and that he tried to get rid of his wife by filing a suit for a divorce which he subsequently withdrew being unable to furnish proof of the allegations contained in the petition. When the separation took place he said that he was going to Florida. Mrs. TREMLETT asks for alimony, alleging that her husband is possessed of $30,000 worth of property.

I actually found an image of the Belvedere Hotel; it was pretty amazing looking! But, did Lena's husband keep the hotel because she died before the divorce was finalized? And, did he actually own this hotel? In the 1900 census, I found a John Tremlett who was born in England the right year and is running a hotel, but other details don't make sense. What happened to Lena's husband, John? And did the divorce actually happen? Are there records from when John filed for divorce? Did he remarry? And, was Lena married to Noah Herman Smith?

Another big question now that I see Lena was married in 1879 is: why did she get 5 pieces of land conveyed to her in 1879 from the Queen's and the Hammett's, people I've never heard of?

1883 City Directory for St. Louis found on Fold3

Update: On Fold3, I found an 1883 city directory for St. Louis showing John Tremlett was proprietor of the beautiful Hotel Belvedere at 1230 Washington Av.

Source: 1880 U.S. Federal Census, Saint Louis (independent city), Missouri, Enumeration District #12, printed page #224A, dwelling 159, John Tremlett household, online images, Ancestry.com <http://www.ancestry.com>, accessed 20 Jul 2014, citing Family History Film #1254717.

Do we share common ancestors? I'd love to talk! Please write me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net

Newspaper Article Lists 32 Family Members! (Learning about Lena, Part 1)

In my GRIP Intermediate Genealogy course last week, Debbie Mieszala discussed Chronicling America in her class about newspaper research. I decided to do a search for one of my more unusual surnames, Coppenbarger, and I got an interesting hit. I found an article that listed not only my Coppenbarger's, but also some Randolph's and other names I recognized. I still haven't tracked down all of the names, but I have done enough to realize that they are children and grandchildren of my fourth great grandparents, William Randolph (1792 in VA - 1867 in IL) & Matilda Kearns/Keeran (1796 in NC - 1863 in IL).

Weekly Graphic, 14 Dec 1888

The article was a "Sheriff's Sale in Partition" as a result of an Adair County, Missouri court case. It described the land that was to be sold and then stated the proceeds would be divided among the parties. But, whose land was this? The parents/grandparents, William & Matilda Randolph, had died over 20 years before this. And, why are four of their children plaintiffs against the rest of the family?

Weekly Graphic, 09 Mar 1888

I was able to answer these questions when I looked at a second article I found on Chronicling America. This article was an "Order of Publication" and it states that it is being published to notify the defendants, a long list of whom live out of state, that the "Plaintiffs have commenced a suit against them and others in this court, the object and general nature of which is to obtain a decree to partition in the following described real estate situated in the city of St. Louis, state of Missouri, and the county of Adair, state of Missouri to wit..." So, some of the family members wanted to sale the land and divide the profits.

As to the question of whose land was being sold, the property had belonged to Lena R. Tremlett. There are four pieces of land which were "the same land conveyed to said Lena R. Tremlett (alias Line R. Tremlett) by Agnes P. Queen and Benj. F. Queen July 28th 1879." And, there's a fifth piece of land which was "the same land conveyed to Lena R. Tremlett, alias Lina R. Tremlett, by Benjamin Hammett and wife, June 14th, 1879..."

I've never heard of Lena R. Tremlett; Benj. F & Agnes P. Queen; and Benjamin Hammett & his wife. Who are these people? And, why are the proceeds of this land going to my family members? I begin to find some answers in "Lena, Part 2."

Sources:

• "Sheriff's Sale in Partition," Weekly Graphic, Kirksville, Missouri, 14 December 1888, page 2, column 5. Chronicling America. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89066097/1888-12-14/ed-1/seq-2/>, accessed 30 July 2014.
• "Order of Publication," Weekly Graphic, Kirksville, Missouri, 09 March 1888, page 1, column 6. Chronicling America. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89066097/1888-03-09/ed-1/seq-1/>, accessed 30 July 2014.

Do we share common ancestors? I'd love to talk! Please write me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net

Neighbor Nuptials: HistoryGeo Puts Neighbors On the Map

Who did your early ancestors marry? Of course, it was often their neighbors! Last week I learned about HistoryGeo through a Genealogy Guys podcast (#263) and was able to visually see that my Coppenbarger & Randolph ancestors of De Witt County, Illinois were neighbors!

HistoryGeo's First Landowners Project contains nearly 8 million original landowners in a single map. You can search for landowners by surname or by location. My Coppenbarger & Randolph ancestors were early settlers in De Witt County, Illinois (then Macon County) under the Land Act of 1820. Basically, this land act required cash instead of credit for land purchases. It also dropped the price of an acre from $1.65 to $1.25 and tract size from 160 to 80 acres. This land was available for purchase in the Northwest Territories (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota) & Missouri. These lower prices ($100 for 80 acres versus $264 for 160 acres) encouraged many settlers to move West, including my two families from Virginia.

1833 U.S. Land Office Record for Jacob Coppenbarger then in Macon County now in De Witt County, Illinois
(from ancestry.com)

HistoryGeo doesn't just show you a map with names and the year of purchase. If you click on a specific piece of land you can see the following:

• the names of all warantees & patentees
• the patent date
• the accession (I don't know what this field is)
• location
• township
• range
• section
• aliquot
• meridian
• authority (for example, mine shows it's from the Land Act of 1820)
• longitude
• latitude

You can also click on the following links:

• "View U.S. County Boundary History"
• "View this Spot in Google Maps"
• "View BLM Source"
• "View BLM Document"

Unfortunately, the BLM website (Bureau of Land Management) doesn't seem to be working today so I can't share any specifics from there. I know when I looked at a document the other day, it was the same as the above document I found on Ancestry.com. But, there might be more records available.

A few other things I noted about the Coppenbarger & Randolph families while on HistoryGeo's maps:

• I found that the two families owned a lot of land! (most of my ancestors were fairly poor, but this branch might be an exception)
• I found other 'neighbors' who my family intermarried with - like Elisha Butler
• I found the Randolph Cemetery which was located on Elisha Butler's land (there is also a cemetery 'search' button for these maps!)

One note: most of the First Landowners are from the west coast and central United States, not from the colonies. I counted entries for 30 of the 50 states. So, it really depends on where your ancestors lived as to whether or not you'll find this site very useful at this time.

Next up: I'll explore the Antique Maps Collections!

Do we share common ancestors? I'd love to talk! Please write me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net