Still looking for Susannah

For the longest time, I poked through census trying to find Margaret. She was Susannah and James’s oldest daughter and seemed to me like the most logical one that Susannah could be living with after James died. I looked at all the Margaret’s who were born in Ohio in 1831. All the Margaret’s in Allen County, Wells County, Huntington County, Whitley County and Steuben and Adams Counties in 1870’s and 1880’s wondering where she could have disappeared.

Eventually I moved on to the next daughter, Sarah Elizabeth. It took some time but using the same technique I had used to look for Margaret, I found Sarah Elizabeth. First I looked at all the marriage records and then looked for those families in census records. Sure enough there she was in the 1870 census.  She had married Robert F Hood on March 26, 1861 just after the 1860 census. She would settle in Whitley County with Robert and they would begin their family.

Robert Hood came from England with his family on October 14th, 1848 arriving in New York on November 4th, 1848. Robert became an American Citizen in 1852 along with his father and several of his older siblings. He lived in the Fort Wayne area until 1858 when he moved to Columbia City, Indiana.  He studied as a journeyman in a wagon shop own by the local Blacksmith and his family. He would eventually own his own Wagon shop where he faithfully conducted business for forty five years.

Robert and Sarah Hood had three sons. Robert Hood was born in 1862. James A Hood was born in June 20, 1863 but he died in August of 1863. John William Hood was born in 1869. In the 1870 Federal Census, I am able to locate Robert, Sarah and the two surviving children. Sarah Elizabeth died on Jan 13, 1875.

The inscription at the base of Susan's Stone is for James A Hood who died as an infant. Susan inscription is on the oval plaque.

By 1880, Robert has remarried. He married Mary J. Hilderbrand on January 12, 1876 according to the marriage records for Columbia City, Whitley County, Indiana. In the 1880 Federal Census, we find that he is listed with his new wife Mary J and the two surviving son’s, Robert and John William.

Susannah was not found living with Sarah Elizabeth at any time. Nor did I find her nearby. So my search was productive because I found Sarah but I am still searching for Susannah. We will have more to come on this family in the furture.

Tombstone Tuesday - On Thursday - October 29, 2009

Tuesday got away from me so we have Tuesday’s Tombstone …on Thursday this week.

I found some more Metal tombstones last week. They were found at a Transfiguration Catholic Cemetery in Lake County, Illinois. This is the grave of Daniel Whalen. He died November 21, 1855 at the age of 52 years old. I was hoping to find more information about this couple but I do not find anything. I will continue to investigate. The original stone indicated that he was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1803. Many of the people buried in the cemetery are from Ireland. These metal tombstones were not manufactured until the 1870’s so I can assume that his wife, Mary had this monument placed after his death or at the time of her death. She was Mary Wadding who died at age 60 on March 10, 1881. These are such beautiful monuments.

Daniel Whalen orginal tombstone from 1855
 

Daniel Whalen metal monument placed some time later - on the right

The back side of monument has Mary Wadding listed as Daniel's wife.

Where, oh where has Susannah gone?

I have looked for her everywhere. Susannah was born the seventh child and the third daughter of Martin and Polly (Welch) Overly in around 1811. I say that because in Census records I would find a different birth year for each record. So I decided to settle on the year that the Overly / Oberlin researchers show for her birth year. Thankfully, there was extensive Overly / Oberlin research done prior to my family history project. Some time I will do a blog on the Overly Oberlin family and the brothers who arrived here from Germany.

It is believed that Susannah was born in Ohio. She married James Smith in Darke County, Ohio on December 9, 1830. They would remain in Darke County until about 1847. They would leave Ohio heading northwest to Fort Wayne Indiana with several other young adventurous families from Ohio. It is likely that they we in search of land new opportunities. A previous Blog “Branching out from here…” cover the move to Fort Wayne with the other Ohio Families.

James Smith and several of the Smith children are buried in the Cemetery at Nine Mile Indiana. Susannah’s name is listed on the tombstone but there is no record of her death or burial with the cemetery. I just can not find her. She is listed in the 1870 census and she is living with several of her children with others living near by. By the 1880 census, she is no where to be found.

So I decided to search for her daughters and there families in hopes of finding her living with them. Up to this point I had not found many of the daughters because Susannah had mislead me to believe that the daughters’ were still living at home in 1860. The first daughter I found was Mary Ann. She had married Jonathan Kimble on October 20, 1853 according to the marriage records for Allen County Indiana. Mary Ann and her family would settle near Camp Charlotte, in Pickaway County Ohio by the 1860 census. She has had four children by 1860. Listed in the Federal Census are the following children; Jacob (1854), Susannah (1855), James (1858) and Mary Ann born in 1859. Also listed with them is Amos Kimble (age 20) and Margaret Waters (age 16). By the 1870 Census, Jonathan Kimble and his new wife Sarah Jane (Maples) Kimble are living next to the newly widowed Susannah Smith with one son, James Kimble. By 1880, Susannah is gone and so is Jonathan Kimble. I do find Smith children who are in the area. I would assume that if Susannah were still alive she would be living with one of them.

Mary Ann, the first wife of Jonathan, is one of the Smith children buried at Nine Mile, Indiana with her dad. She died in 1863 five years before James. Mary Ann and her daughter, Susannah are buried together. Mary Ann’s daughter is named after her Grandmother. Jacob and Mary Ann Kimble, children of Jonathan and Mary Ann seemed to have died prior to the death of their mother but so far I am unable to find them also. I keep looking for them in Ohio.

And I keep looking for Susannah. I looked to see if she remarried. I looked for her with her children. I looked for her in Indiana and in Ohio. I looked for her with Overlys', with Kimbles’ and with Smiths’. I keep the search going because I know that she is patiently waiting for me to find her. I am certain that she is giving me clues that I have just not found yet. She remains a "needle in my haystack".