Researching Elizabeth as a Cousin

This is the second part of this article that I am repeating. I posted the first part yesterday, 9 Jun 2017.

When beginning my research in the 1980's, a cousin shared information that Elizabeth Stillwell was the daughter of William Stillwell and Martha ?. One of the members of the Cottage Grove Genealogical Society, Frances Quinn, a Stillwell descendant, was researching that family. She was willing to share some of her files with me. Among those papers was one which stated: Estate of William Stillwell, settled Apr 6, 1852, Jeff. Co. Heirs: John; James; Elizabeth, wife of George Bond; Jane, wife of Peter Wycoff; Polly, wife of Seth Whipple Hayes; Nancy; William; Joseph; Marian (Maria?). Petition asking for appointment of referees to set apart dower etc. Martha Stillwell vs heirs of William Stillwell June 19 & 25, 1851, first admitted. Apparently this paper had been supplied to the Stillwell Family Organization by a descendant of Polly and Seth Whipple Hayes, (Seth is also my 2^nd great-granduncle.)

Since Elizabeth was said to be born in Kentucky I did a search on Ancestry's Kentucky Marriages 1802-1850 database for William Stil*, which found a William Stilwell who married Lelia Bond on 19 Sep 1820 in Henry County, Kentucky and a William Stillwell who married Selia Bond on 21 Sep 1820 in Shelby County, Kentucky. A cousin sent a copy of the marriage bond from Henry County and it stated that Lelia Bond was the daughter of Solomon Bond. Solomon Bond was also the father of John Bond, George's father. Was this William Stillwell the father of Elizabeth? Were George and Elizabeth cousins? Checking the Kentucky Marriages database again I discovered that there was only one marriage for a Stil*well in Henry County, but there were 17 in Shelby County between 1798 and 1825.

I chose to do some census research. Since William, Elizabeth's father, died in Jefferson County, Iowa in about 1851, I checked the 1850 census. The index done by Ancestry has many errors (for which I have now submitted some corrections.) There was only one Stillwell family in Jefferson County, Iowa in the 1850 census. William was shown as age 56 (birthdate about 1794) born in Kentucky. Also in the household were Martha age 48, born in Pennsylvania; Stephen age 22, born in Kentucky; Jane age 20, born in Indiana; Nancy age 16, born in Indiana; Wm age 13, born in Illinois; Joseph age 11, born in Illinois; Maria age 8, born in Iowa. Peter Wykoff, the future husband of Jane, was also living in their household.

Since John, James, Elizabeth and Polly who were listed on the estate paper were not in this household, I then checked for a marriage previous to 1850. Also, since the birthplaces of the children in 1850 census were Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, the family apparently lived in all those places. It would appear they moved to Indiana between 1828 and 1830, then to Illinois between 1834 and 1837, and on to Iowa before 1842. The Iowa Marriages to 1850 database showed a marriage between Seth W. Hays and Polly Bond Stillwell in 1849 in Jefferson County, Iowa. The Illinois Marriages to 1850 database showed marriages in Edgar County for the following Stil(l)wells: George W. Bond to Elizabeth Stilwell in February 1838, William Stillwell to Martha Kirkpatrick in September 1841, Levi Houston to Ann B. Stilwell in September 1841 and John Stilwell to Mary Mathews in November 1844.

Since the son William was only 13 in 1850 the William who was married in 1841 seems to have been the father. Martha was the name of his wife in 1850, so this makes sense. Family researchers have posted the following information about Martha. Her maiden name was Hays and she was born in Pennsylvania. She married William Kirkpatrick about 1816. They moved to Edgar County, Illinois about 1828 and William Kirkpatrick died there in 1838 and she married William Stillwell in 1841. As the daughter Maria was born about 1842, she appears to be the only child from this marriage. Therefore all the other children would be from William's first marriage.

I believe that the William who is in Jefferson County, Iowa in 1850 is the same William who married the daughter of Solomon Bond in Henry/Shelby County, Kentucky in 1820. There is a William Stillwell in the 1840 census of Edgar County, Illinois and also one in the 1830 census of Montgomery County, Indiana. Debbie Monsive helped me with research in Montgomery County, Indiana, with a biographical sketch of a Stillwell living there whose father, Jeremiah Stillwell, had come from Shelby County, Kentucky, in 1826. It is my belief that Jeremiah and William are brothers, both sons of a John Stillwell who was living in Shelby County in 1820.

Another reason for this belief is that Polly Stillwell, the wife of Seth Whipple Hayes, had the middle name Bond, as shown on their marriage record.

But finally in October of 2010, I found another document. Ancestry had posted the U.S. Special Census on Deaf Family Marriages and Hearing Relatives, 1888-1895. Since Elizabeth's daughter, Sarah, was deaf and had married a deaf man, she was included on this Special Census. One of the questions to be answered by the wife was: Were your parents related before marriage? Sarah answered Yes. Then the form continued: If so, what relationship? Sarah answered 1^st cousins.

Aunt Elizabeth was a 1^st cousin to her husband, so also a 1^st cousin to his brother, my 2^nd great-grandfather, therefore she was my 1^st cousin four times removed.