Lewis DeMoss (1793- p 1860)

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DeMoss

Lewis DeMoss is believed to be a brother to my 4th-great grandfather William, making him my 4th great-granduncle.

Based on the 1850 and 1860 US Census, he was born circa 1793 in Virginia. He married Mary Cox in 1822 in Fleming County, Kentucky. Lewis was a blacksmith by trade. He and Mary had at least eight children, including John W, Samuel, James, Mary Margaret, Joshua, Martha, Thomas and Milton. In the early 1850s, Lewis and Mary packed up the family and moved to Platte County, Missouri, north of the Kansas City area. Many of their descendants still live in the area today while others are scattered in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Lewis and Mary’s last known location was in 1860 in the Ridgely, Platte County, Missouri area. Ridgely is just south of Edgerton.

At this time, the only thing linking Lewis DeMoss to William DeMoss is the fact that they both were residing in Fleming County, Kentucky as young men.

I do not have any DNA matches for Lewis’s descendants either. While DNA matches aren’t absolutely necessary to prove a link, it would go a long way to bolster the connection.

This Lewis is not to be confused with other Lewis DeMosses.

Lewis C. DeMoss was born in 1794 in Frederick, Virginia. He was the son of Peter DeMoss and Katherine Houseman. He married Hester Clinkenbeard in 1821 in Campbell County, Kentucky which several counties away from Fleming County where my 4th great-grandfather was located. This Lewis remained in Campbell County until his death.

Lewis DeMoss who died in Platte County, Missouri in 1886. The children named in the will for this Lewis do not match those of this blog’s subject. Further investigation would indicate that this Lewis was about twenty years younger as well. There is a slim chance that this Lewis is a son of the elder Lewis, however, no evidence has yet surfaced tying the two men together other than residing in the same county.

NaBloPoMo 2022: William J. DeMoss

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DeMoss

It’s November which means it’s also National Blog Posting Month. The last time I participated in this event was in 2014. My family research has been hit or miss lately and this is the tool I plan to use to get back on track. Researching and blogging my findings, or rather my lack of findings, will be my focus for the month of November.

My initial focus will be on William J. DeMoss, my 4th-great grandfather, and trying to document who his parents are once and for all. I want to go through everything one more time to make sure I haven’t missed anything, then move on to someone else.

So who is William and what do I actually know about him? I actually blogged about William on November 2, 2014, but a few additional details have surfaced, so I will start afresh. According to the 1850 US Census compiled in Reeve Township, Daviess County, Indiana, William was born circa 1803 in Kentucky. His wife’s name was Elizabeth, and they had eight children living with them at that time. William and Elizabeth (nee Lowe) were married in Nicholas County in January 1827, per the marriage bond signed by William and Elizabeth’s father, Isaac Lowe (FHL 000252399).

The 1830 US Census places William and Elizabeth in Fleming County, Kentucky, with two boys under the age of five. In 1840, the family of nine is found in Daviess County, Indiana. By the 1860 US Census, it appears that William is in Steen Township, Knox County, Indiana and living alone. Coincidentally, he is next door to Benjamin and Sarah Lankford. Benjamin’s granddaughter Sarah Winkler would end up marrying William’s grandson Samuel T DeMoss twenty-six years later. Elizabeth is not residing with William. A marriage record filed in Daviess County in March 1862 in Daviess County for William J DeMoss and Elizabeth Miller (FHL 001433574) would imply that William and his first wife had divorced, possibly in the late 1850s.

Soon after his marriage to Elizabeth Miller, foreclosure documents were filed in Daviess County Court on a 40 acre tract of land not far from Dogwood Lake. The small blue pin is in the vicinity of this tract of land. The case was dismissed in January 1863.

William’s whereabouts after 1863 are unknown at this time.

What do I want to know about William? Who are his parents. Most sites/researchers have William’s parents listed as William DeMoss and his wife Polly. Unfortunately, no documentation linking William to this couple has surfaced. A lot of what is out there is conjecture at this point. My next steps will look at those individuals who are believed to be William’s siblings. Tomorrow I will look at Lewis DeMoss.

Re-evaluation

So, it has been almost a month since I posted my last biographical sketch. When I started this project, I didn’t realize the amount of time it would require to do a separate person each and every day. Almost all of the individuals are not from my direct line, but are distant cousins several times removed. In most cases, I had not put much effort into those cousins up to this point in my research. It was taking me two to three hours each night and left little time for other things in my life.

That said, I don’t want to stop this project completely. My go-forward plan is to reduce the frequency to one sketch per week. This should allow me time to work on other parts of my tree during the week as well.

The criteria will be the same. The subject’s birthday must fall in the current week and they must not be alive. Ideally, they should have passed at least fifty years ago. The person should be a blood relative of mine. Since the possible pool for each sketch has increased seven-fold, there should not ever be a need to use a spouse or an in-law.

So here we go…Phase II of my biographical sketch project!

David Ireland Reeve

Tags

Indiana, Ireland, Lemen, Reeve

On June 4, 1834 in Brownstown, Indiana, David Ireland Reeve was born to Joseph Reeve and Sarah Ireland. He was the third child of ten born to the couple. Martha (who died in infancy) and Samuel were born before David. He was followed by Thomas who also died young. The family moved from Jackson County to Daviess County in the mid-1830s, where the remainder of his siblings were born…Louisa, Mary Elizabeth, Sarah, James, Lydia and Lucy. Lucy and James both died in infancy as well.

As a young man, David participated in farming with his father. About 1855, David married Harriet C. Lemon and they made their home in the Edwardsport area. David supported their family by building wagons and through farming. He later would add painter to his resume. He and Harriet raised a large family of eight children…Charles, Joseph (a prominent doctor in Vigo Township), Mary Ellen, Martha, Samuel, George, Robert, and Lillie.

At the age of fifty-four, David was afflicted with a carbuncle. It eventually led to blood poisoning and his death on November 30, 1888. He was buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Edwardsport.

David Ireland Reeve was my 4th great uncle on my dad’s side.

REFERENCES

• United States Census: 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880
• Find a Grave website
• The Sunday Commercial, December 2, 1888.

Nathaniel Bonnell III

Tags

Allen, Bonnell, Crane, New Jersey, Revolutionary War

Nathaniel Bonnell III was born on June 3, 1756 in Passaic County, New Jersey to Captain Nathaniel Bonnell II and Elizabeth Allen. The younger Nathaniel had seven siblings…Abigail, Caleb, Phebe, Jane, Jonathan, Jacob and Elizabeth. After his mother died in 1774, his father remarried and five more children were added to the family…William (who died in infancy), Nancy, Chloe, William II, and Enoch.

Nathaniel was a young man when the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired and like many of his family, he took up arms on behalf of the Colonies. serving under Captain Abraham Lyons in the Continental Army. After the War, Nathaniel married Martha Crane in 1783. Together they had eight children…Philemon, Huldah, Johnathan C., Mary, Jane, Elizabeth, Sarah and Maline.

The Bonnell family was one of the founding families of New Jersey and were instrumental in the development and growth of the area. Nathaniel was a part of that as owner of the sawmill in New Providence. He lived to the age of fifty-seven, perishing on April 15, 1814. He is buried in New Providence, New Jersey.

Nathaniel Bonnell III was my 1st cousin, 8x removed on my dad’s side.

REFERENCES

• Family Records or Genealogies of the first settlers of the Passaic Valley, New Jersey, John Littell, 1852.
• New Jersey Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index
• New Jersey Wills and Probate Records
• Find a Grave website
• Headstone Applications for Military Veterans

William Maxwell

Tags

Indiana, Maxwell, Reagon, Terrell

On June 2, 1877 John Maxwell and Elvira Terrell were blessed with the birth of their first son William. The parents were originally from the Bloomfield, Indiana area, but did live for a bit around 1880 in the Steele Township community in Daviess County before returning to Bloomfield. William had an older sister Sarah and was followed by three brothers: Emery, Ira, and Carl.

William married Laura Reagon on May 6, 1900, likely in Greene County. They were blessed with their first child Zada Bell on December 12th that year. Zada was followed by brothers Charley, Jessie and Glen. A younger sister, Tressie, was born in 1909 however, she perished as a small child from complications due to bronchitis.

William supported his family in the early years doing farm labor. Later, around 1910 he could be found working in the local coal mines. By the mid-1910s he had transitioned to restaurant work.

On May 18, 1916 at a hospital in Indianapolis, William died at the age of thirty-eight from multiple liver abscesses. His wife Laura, with four children to support, remarried later that year.

William Maxwell was my 2nd cousin 3x removed on my dad’s side.

REFERENCES

• United States Census – 1880, 1900, 1910
• Indiana Death Certificates
• Find a Grave website
• Indiana Marriage Index

Roland Rudolph Willard

Tags

Black Hawk War, California, Crawford, Gold Rush, Illinois, Lewis and Clark, McDonald, Missouri, Willard

Roland Rudolph Willard was born June 1, 1816 in St Louis City in what was then the Missouri Territory. His parents were Elinor McDonald and Alexander Hamilton Willard. Alex Willard was the youngest member of the Expedition of Lewis and Clark (1804-1806) which attempted to find a waterway that connected the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Led by Sacagawea, more than one hundred new animals and almost 200 new plants were documented during the first trip that explored the western territories of the United States.

Roland was one of twelve children born to Elinor and Alex. Those that have been identified include: Austin, Alexander II, Eliza, Christiana, Joel, Narcissa, Ellen, Lewis, George, and Nancy. The family lived in Missouri until about 1826 at which time they relocated to the Wisconsin Territory, living in Grant County.

Alex and four of his sons, including Roland, fought in the Black Hawk War. The Black Hawk War was a brief conflict between the United States and the Native Americans residing in the state of Illinois and Michigan Territory. The war lasted from April to August 1832. Other notable figures who also participated in the fighting included Abraham Lincoln, Zachary Taylor, and Jefferson Davis.

For a period of time around 1835, the family lived in Morgan County, Illinois, however, that was brief and they returned to Wisconsin Territory. Roland and his brother-in-law John Crawford purchased land in Iowa County in 1839. Roland sold off his lands in Wisconsin in 1847 and it is believed he, along with his brother Alex and John Crawford, headed west for California during the time of the Gold Rush. Alex and John were in Placerville listed as traders in the 1850 Census.

Roland’s whereabouts are a bit of a mystery until the state census of 1852. He is listed in Sacramento next door to John Crawford and family with the occupation of farmer. Little else can be found about Roland until his sudden death on Jun 11, 1859. He is buried in the Franklin Cemetery. His brother Lewis served as executor of his estate which appeared to be rather extensive. Probate documents indicated that his father Alex was the sole heir to the estate which would indicate that Roland was not married and had no children. However, there is a twelve year old Jackson Willard born in California listed in the 1860 Census with Alex and Elinor. It’s not clear who’s child he is, but some researchers have assigned him as Roland’s son.

Roland Rudolph Willard was my 2nd cousin 5x removed on my dad’s side.

REFERENCES

• United States Census: 1850, 1860
• California State Census, 1852
• Illinois Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1835
• California County Birth, Marriage and Death Records
• California Wills and Probate Records
• US Army Indian Campaign Service Records
• US General Land Office Records
• Find a Grave website
• The Black Hawk War at Wikipedia
• Lewis and Clark Expedition at Wikipedia

Pierre Cardinal

Tags

Canada, Cardinal, Chevalier, Garnier, Matou

On May 31, 1665, Pierre Cardinal was the fifth son of Simon Jean Cardinal and Michelle Garnier born in the Lachine area of Montreal, Canada. He had a total of five brothers and one sister: Jacques, Jean, Gabriel, Etienne, Simon and Cecile. His father died in 1679 and his mother remarried the following year to Jean Chevalier.

Lachine, Montreal, Quebec (map obtained from Google)

Pierre married Marie Matou on September 17, 1685 in Montreal. It is reported that seventeen children were born to this couple.

• Pierre, Jr
• Marie, who died at age fourteen
• Jean Baptiste
• Daniel
• Francois Marie (b. 1693)
• Charles, who died at age fifteen
• Marie Francoise
• Marguerite
• Francoise, (b. 1700) who died in infancy
• Marie Anne Cardinal
• Francois-Marie (b. 1701)
• Angelique, who died in infancy
• Simon
• Gabriel
• Jacques, who died in infancy
• Augustin
• Francoise (b. 1719)

Pierre died at the age of eighty-one on January 13, 1747 in Lachine.

Pierre Cardinal was my 9th great uncle on my mom’s side.

REFERENCES

• Quebec Genealogical Dictionary of Canadian Families (Tanguay Collection)
• Programme de Recherche en Demographie Historique (PRDH)

William Hedrick

Tags

DeMoss, Hedrick, Indiana, Jones, Kentucky, Missouri, West

William Hedrick was born May 30, 1827 in Fleming County, Kentucky to Michael Dungan Hedrick and Elizabeth DeMoss. He had one sister named Amanda.

On September 10, 1850, William married Nancy West in Nicholas County, Kentucky. Their first son, Walter B. was born in Kentucky in 1851. Laura, their only daughter, was born in Indiana in 1854 and the family was found in Howard County in the 1860 Census. By the birth of their son Robert in 1861, the family was back in Nicholas County and had relocated to Fleming County by 1870. The family was still in Kentucky in 1876 when Laura married John Jones. At some point after that it would seem the family would make the journey westward to Cass County, Missouri. Based on birthdates, it’s not likely that everyone traveled together. Laura’s daughter was born in September 1878 in Missouri, but Bruce’s daughter Emma was born the same month in Kentucky. Everyone was in Cass County by 1880.

Unfortunately, William died on May 28, 1880 at the age of fifty-two. He is buried in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery.

William Hedrick was my 1st cousin, 5x removed.

REFERENCES

• United States Census: 1860, 1870, 1880
• Kentucky County Marriages
• Find a Grave website
• Cass County Missouri Obituary Index

Louis Newton Spinning

Tags

Connecticut, New Jersey, Osborne, Spinning, Wood

Louis Newton Spinning was born May 29, 1858 in Summit, New Jersey, the oldest of four children born to Charles Spinning and Martha Osborne. His three siblings were Maurice, Bessie and Harry. The family resided in Summit throughout Louis’s childhood with his father supporting the family as a butcher. When Louis became old enough to be employed, he worked as a bank clerk. He continued in this profession for his entire life.

In 1884, Louis married Caroline Wood, a dressmaker who was born in England. She came to the United States as a girl around 1874. Caroline and Louis made their home in the Newark area. They raised three sons–Harford, Kenneth, and Louis–and a daughter Ethel.

In 1922, Louis’s wife was committed to the New Jersey State Hospital at Greystone Park. She would live out the last fifteen years of her life at this institution. Her cause of death was withheld on her death certificate.

Louis continued on with his career in banking, residing with his youngest brother Harry for a time. In 1940, he was living in the household with his grandchildren Anne and John and their divorced mother Marjorie. He would later move in with his son Louis as his years became even more advanced. The elder Louis left this world on Christmas night, 1952 at his son’s home in Clinton, Connecticut. He was laid to rest in New Jersey.

Louis Newton Spinning was my 4th cousin, 5x removed on my dad’s side.

REFERENCES

• United States Census: 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940
• New Jersey State Census: 1865, 1895, 1905, 1915
• Find a Grave website
• Connecticut Death Index
• New Jersey Death Records