52 Ancestors 2020 – 6 – Same Name – Nancy (Hemphill) Hamilton

I realized that during January I had written about “uncles” in my family, so in February I will attempt to write about some of the “aunts.”

Nancy Jane (Hemphill) Hamilton was one of my 2^nd great-grandaunts. She fits in the “Same Name” category because her first name is the same as her grandmother, Nancy (Patton) Milligan, her maiden name is the same as her father as expected, and her married name is the same as her mother's second husband. This happened because Nancy married her step-brother, John C. Hamilton.

But, let's go back to the beginning. Nancy Jane Hemphill was born on 11 Feb 1837 in Adams County, Ohio. She was the oldest child of John and Elizabeth (Milligan) Hemphill. Her father had been married before, so she had step-brothers. Nancy had 5 more siblings before her father died in 1847. So in the 1850 census in Wayne township in Adams County, her mother Elizabeth was the head of household. Nancy's step-brother David, age 25, was in the household and Nancy, who was now 13, and her 5 siblings, Rachel (who was my ancestor), Mary, John, Elizabeth and William.

It was just the next year when Nancy's mother married a widower William M. Hamilton on 14 Jan 1851. Now Nancy acquired 5 more step-siblings. Then as William and Nancy had children Nancy had some half-siblings. But just to make things a little more confusing Nancy married one of William's children from his first marriage, John Campbell Hamilton, on 29 Aug 1855. Then Nancy's youngest half-brother was born the next year, 1856, just 3 months before her first child was born. So Nancy and her mother, who were now both married to men named Hamilton, had been pregnant at the same time. I wonder if all those named Hamilton living there in Adams County ever got confused about their relationships.

 Nancy and John had 10 more children before they would celebrate their 20^th wedding anniversary, including one set of twins. On the 1860, 1870 and 1880 censuses Nancy and her family were living in Oliver Township in Adams County, Ohio. In 1860 three children were in the household. In 1870 the number of children had increased to nine. They were enumerated between their parents William and Elizabeth and Nancy's sister Mary who was married to David Rhodes. There were ten children in their household in 1880, so the census never shows all eleven at once.

It was 12 more years before Nancy died on 1 Nov 1892 at age 55. She was buried in

Locust Grove Cemetery in Franklin Township, Adams County. John was also buried there after his death in 1906