52 Ancestors 2020 – 20 – Travel – Elizabeth (Frazier) Emry

Thinking about the topic Travel, many of my ancestors and relatives tended to move fairly frequently. Of the 7 aunts and uncles on the birthday calendar for this week Elizabeth (Frazier) Emry showed a fair amount of traveling since she was born in one state, was married in another and then died in yet another state. So she was the chosen one.

Elizabeth & Travis Emry

Courtesy of Stan Galloway

Elizabeth was my 3^rd great-grandaunt, the sister of my 3^rd great-grandmother, Sarah (Frazier) Hockett. Elizabeth was the child of Francis Frazier and Elizabeth Stanley, born 15 May 1795 in Randolph County, North Carolina. I have already written about her youngest brother, Francis Henry Frazier, and posted it 15 Mar 2020 on my blog. He was born after 1800 so does not appear on the 1800 census. But it is probable that Elizabeth was one of the females under 10 in the household of Francis Frazer in neighboring Guilford County, North Carolina.

It was in 1810 that the Frazier family moved to Highland County, Ohio. Ohio does not have a 1810 census available so we can't verify this by the census. But the Quaker Fairfield Monthly Meeting recorded that the Fraziers were received from the Center Monthly Meeting in North Carolina. It was in December of 1812 when the Clear Creek Monthly Meeting in Clinton County, Ohio, was set off from Fairfield Meeting.

Elizabeth with her mother and sisters Ann & Susannah were received on certificate at New Garden Monthly Meeting in Wayne County, Indiana on 22 Mar 1817 from Clear Creek Monthly Meeting.

Not only did Elizabeth travel to different places, her name traveled also. Naturally her name changed from Frazier to Adcock when she married Travis Adcock 27 Aug 1818, at New Garden Meeting House. Travis had been married previously. He had married 7 Dec 1814 to Susannah Moorman, who died in childbirth 22 Jul 1816. It was 21 Sep 1816 when Travis was received on request at the New Garden Monthly Meeting. His land was in Randolph County near the border with Wayne County. He and Elizabeth were listed on the 1820 census in Wayne Township, Randolph County, with their oldest child, Susannah. The patent on 160 acres was granted in June 1821, after their next child James was born in February. Travis and Elizabeth were charter members of the Cherry Grove Monthly Meeting in Randolph County, which had been set off from New Garden in 1821.

Before the 1830 census 4 more children were born, Rachel, Sarah, Gideon and Archelaus. Since the census shows only a total of 5 children it is likely that Gideon, who was born in 1826, had died before the time of the census. There were 3 more children born in the early 1830s, Thomas, David and Rebecca. Then the 1834-35 session of the Indiana Legislature made a change in Elizabeth's name. The Cherry Grove minutes 8 Aug 1835 noted “the name of Travis Adcock & Elizabeth his wife & their children Susanna, James, Rachel, Sarah, Archeleus, Thomas Frazier, David & Rebecca all residence[sic] of Randolph County be and they are hereby changed and the said Travis and Elizabeth shall be known by the name of Travis and Elizabeth Emery and their said children.” It was a little less than 3 years later when Travis requested a transfer of membership for his family to Vermillion Monthly Meeting in Illinois. This was actually the method used by the group of Quakers who were moving from Indiana to Iowa Territory. So it was the Travis Emery family, later changed to Emry, who were charter members of Salem Monthly Meeting in Henry County, the first Quaker Monthly Meeting west of the Mississippi River. The land patent issued to Travis Emry for 243.26 acres of land in Henry County was dated 1 Dec 1841. The map shows it was located about half way between Mt. Pleasant and Salem.

The year before Iowa became a state in 1846, Elizabeth and her family traveled again, transferring from Salem Monthly Meeting to Pleasant Plain Monthly Meeting in Jefferson County, Iowa. Travis received land patents in Jefferson County: 40 acres in 1847, 80 acres and 40 acres in 1848, for a total of 160 acres.

Elizabeth's traveling days seem to be over after she arrived in Jefferson County. She can be found on the 1850 census at age 55 in Penn township with her husband (indexed by Ancestry.com as Fravais Emery) and the 4 younger children. Her son James was living next door with his family, so she would have been able to visit those 4 grandchildren quite frequently. By 1860 she and Travis are “empty-nesters” but their youngest son David and his family are next door. Elizabeth was widowed 31 Jan 1866 when Travis died and was buried at the Walnut Creek Friends Cemetery in Penn Township there in Jefferson County. In 1870, at age 75, she was living with her son David and his wife and 8 children. It was the next year when Elizabeth died on 23 Jul 1871 and was buried in the same cemetery as her husband.

I have enjoyed following the travels of Elizabeth and her family from North Carolina to Ohio, then Indiana and finally to Iowa, with her name as Frazier, then Adcock and ending as Emry

52 Ancestors 2020 – 15 – Fire – James Curtis Smalley

52 Ancestors 2020 – 15 – Fire – James Curtis Smalley

In considering who to choose for the theme “fire” I looked at the “aunts and uncles birthdays” for this week and tried to find someone who might fit this theme. It was a little bit of a stretch, but I finally decided to write about James Curtis Smalley. James was born in Adams County, Ohio, which had a rather disastrous courthouse fire in 1910. Of course James had moved away many years before the fire.

James Curtis Smalley was born 11 Apr 1862, the 4^th child of John Wilson and Rachel Ann (Hemphill) Smalley, during the time of the Civil War. His father enlisted in the Union Army on 14 Oct 1861, after James was conceived. Then, according to John's pension file, he was classified as absent without leave (AWOL) from 6 Feb 1862 until 3 Aug 1863 when he was arrested and placed in confinement until 31 Dec 1863. Thus his father may have been home when James was born. John then served until his discharge 28 Oct 1864 when he returned home.

The family moved farther north before the 1870 census where they were enumerated on the census in Clinton County, Ohio. There were at least 2 moves during the next ten years as they went to Illinois in about 1872 and then to Nebraska in 1879. James' youngest sister, Rosa, was born in Nebraska in June, bringing his number of siblings up to 12: Mary, Lafe, David, William, Isaac, Saber, Eliza, John, Joseph, Martha, Fred and Rosa. But sadly it was just a few months later, in Sep 1879, James' younger 13 year old brother Isaac died of typhoid fever.

The 1880 census shows their family in Saline County Nebraska. The family suffered another death as James' 18 year old sister, Saber, died in Dec 1885. It was about 1887 when the family moved again, this time southwesterly, as they went to Sherman County, Kansas. Both James and his father John settled on homesteads in Itaska Township, about 1 mile east of the County seat of Goodland, and received their patents in 1893.

But before proving up on his homestead, on 26 Nov 1889, James married 15 year old Stella Coffman, known as Stella Deatherage, as she was the adopted daughter of Charles and Eliza Deatherage. Their first child, a daughter, Iseal Fay, was born 20 Aug 1890. About 2 years later their first son was born, Earl Weaver. In 1894 the local Goodland newspaper listed James as a constable in Itasca Township.

It was in 1895 that Russell Ray was born, which was after James had been issued his patent. They may have moved south by then as they do not appear on the 1895 Kansas state census. Raymond Henry was born in Oklahoma in Aug 1897. Then death came to their young family when Russell Ray died in Jan 1898. He was buried at Cimarron Valley Cemetery in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma. James and Stella and their 3 older children were listed on the 1900 census in Woods County, Oklahoma. They were probably there when Martha was born in Nov 1900, Bertha in Jun 1902 and Gilbert in Jul 1904. Again I found James mentioned in a Goodland newspaper in 1906, when it related the sad news that his 18 month old son had died of pneumonia. The family was apparently visiting in the area, staying at his sister Rosa's home. 1906 was also the year when James' name is included on the land ownership map of Township 21N, Range 10W on the southeast ¼ of section 24 in Woods County.

But the family did not stay in Oklahoma, for in the 1910 census they were shown in

Hemphill County, Texas, with 6 children in the household, which included Florence Frances who had been born in Texas in Nov 1908. James must have had wandering feet for the family was back in Oklahoma in Sickles Township in Caddo County by the 1920 census. Also in the household was their daughter Florence and Ninetta who probably was born about 1911.

Sometime in the next 10 years James and Stella made their biggest move, when they went west to California. They were enumerated on the 1930 census in Highland Township in San Berdardino County next to their youngest daughter, now married.

So from his birth in Ohio, then to Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, James

died in Highland California 7 Dec 1936. He was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernadino. Stella was also buried in that cemetery when she died about 30 years later in 1966.

52 Ancestors 2020 – 11 – Luck – Francis Henry Frazier

I was having a hard time deciding who to write about with the theme “Luck” so I wrote down the 11 names for this week found on my aunts and uncles birthday calendar and cut them apart. Then I put them in a small bucket and drew out one. Francis Henry Frazier was the “lucky” one, so I am writing about him. He was the youngest brother of my 3rd gt-grandmother Sarah (Frazier) Hockett, so he was my 3rd gt-granduncle.

The following information has been posted about him on my genealogy website:

https://www.joanneskelton.com/p57.htm#i1421

“Francis Henry Frazier was born on 12 March 1804 in Guilford County, North Carolina. He was the son of Francis Frazier and Elizabeth Stanley. On the 29th day of the 9th month 1810 (29 September 1810), at Fairfield Monthly Meeting in Highland County, Ohio, he was received on certificate from Center Monthly Meeting, North Carolina with his father Francis Frazier.

He married Eunice Beard at Lynn Meeting House in Randolph County, Indiana, on 14 August 1823. Francis died in 1845.”

So what more can I discover about him. At least I should try to find out where he died and if he and Eunice had any children. If he really is lucky, I will be able to find out these things as well as even more.

Looking at Quaker records:

Since my website mentions “Monthly Meetings,” that indicates that Francis Henry was a part of the Quaker church. Although the Fraziers were a part of Fairfield Monthly Meeting in Highland County, Ohio, the marriage records for 3 of Francis Henry's older siblings list his parents as residents of Clinton County, Ohio. Fairfield Meeting was in the Leesburg area, which is in Fairfield Township at the northern edge of Highland County, adjoining Clinton County, so this seems reasonable.

In 1812 the Clear Creek Monthly Meeting in Clinton County was set off from Fairfield Meeting and apparently the Fraziers became members there. In 1815 the family began to move farther west. Francis Henry was included with his father and mother and 3 older sisters when they were granted a certificate on 14 Dec 1816 to the New Garden Monthly Meeting, in Wayne County Indiana. The New Garden records show they arrived in March of 1817.

It was the 5^th month of 1821 when Cherry Grove Monthly Meeting near Lynn in Washington Township, Randolph County, Indiana, was set off from the New Garden Meeting. Again members of the Frazier family were included in the newer meeting. You may notice that when Francis Henry married Eunice Beard in 1823, it was at the Lynn meeting house. This was a part of the Cherry Grove meeting.

The family continued to move west, a few years after father Francis died in 1830. In the 11^th month (November) of 1838 when our Francis and family were granted a certificate to Vermillion Monthly Meeting in Illinois. This was for the transition to Iowa. They were received at Salem Monthly Meeting in Henry County, Iowa Territory in the 2^nd month 1839 from Cherry Grove, endorsed by Vermillion Monthly Meeting.

The Salem Monthly Meeting records show the following children for Francis and Eunice: Hannah born 1829, Ann born 1832, Asa born 1834, Cyrus born 1837, Elizabeth born 1840 and Mary born 1842. On Find A Grave, one more child is listed: Elva Jane born in 1845.

Looking at Probate records:

Since one of my goals was to determine where Francis died, I decided to check his last known residence, Henry County, Iowa. Many of the Henry County probate records have been digitized and placed online at Ancestry.Com so even if they were not indexed I still could browse the records. I chose to look at Volume B, which was supposed to include records from 1843 to 1849, because the death date I had found was 1845. After looking through the records of 1845 and not finding him, I realized there might be an index in the back of the record book. There was an index and Francis was listed in the F section. It included a recorded copy of his will, appraisal of property and sale bill. His will was dated the 4^th day of the 3^rd month in 1846 (March 4^th) and it was entered into probate the 23^rd of April 1846, so Francis died between March 4^th and April 23^rd in 1846, not in 1845 as I previously thought. The probate papers have left the date of his death blank. Now I know that Francis died in Henry County, Iowa Territory, because Iowa did not become a state until 28 Dec 1846.

Looking at Census records:

It is said that census research is the backbone of American genealogy, so I cannot leave that out. Francis Henry was born in 1804, which would make 1810 the first census where he would appear.

A search for his father, Francis Frazier, in North Carolina in the 1810 census produced no results. Since they were in Ohio by September of 1810 I should search for them there except there is no census available for Ohio in 1810. T.L.C. Genealogy published a book titled The 1812 Census of Ohio, which was compiled from tax lists. There were 2 Frazers and 1 Frazier in Clinton County, but none were Francis. Maybe he did not own land.

By 1820 I believe that Francis Henry was the 10-15 year old male in the household of Francis Frazier in Wayne Township, Randolph County, Indiana. 

The 1830 census in Greensfork Township, Randolph County, Indiana has two Francis Frazier Seniors in it, on adjacent pages, 36 and 37. It is most likely that Francis on page 37 is the first cousin of our Francis Henry. He was the son of James Frazier. I expect that our Francis Henry and his wife Eunice were the 20 to 29 year old male and female on page 36 in the household of his parents, the male and female aged 60 through 69. There was also a listing for a male and female under 5. From a Quaker record after Francis Henry and family moved to Iowa, it would be probable that the female was Hannah born in 1829. However that record does not show a male of the correct age. Possibly there was a male child born between Francis Henry's marriage in 1823 and Hannah's birth in 1829 and he died before they moved to Iowa.

There is a census record for Henry County, Iowa Territory, in 1840. Francis Frazier is there with 7 members of the household. I would designate the male 30 through 39 as Francis, the female 30 through 39 as Eunice, the males under 5 as Asa and Cyrus, the female 10 through 14 as Hannah, the female 5 through 9 as Ann and the female under 5 as Elizabeth. Mary and Elva Jane were not born yet.

I did go ahead and check for the family in 1850, even though Francis has already died. Eunice as the head of household and the 4 younger children were still in Henry County in Tippecanoe Township.

I am glad that Uncle Francis was the “lucky” individual because I have really enjoyed all the research in various records: Quaker, probate and census.

52 Ancestors 2019 – 1 – First – Isaac S. Smalley

First

Again in 2019 I am attempting to write about family using the themes from 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks by Amy Johnson Crow. In 2018 I did write, using a little over a third of the suggested topics. This year I am planning to write about an ancestor's sibling whose birthday was during the week and who I could connect to the theme for the week.

The first theme in 2019 is “First.” I have chosen Isaac S. Smalley, a younger brother of my great-grandfather, Lafayette Pierce Smalley.

Isaac was born on the first day of the first month (January) in 1866, in Adams County, Ohio, the son of John Wilson and Rachel Ann (Hemphill) Smalley. Isaac was not their first son, but he was the first child born after John W. was discharged from the Union Army at Chattanooga, Tennessee, 28 Oct 1864.

It was while Isaac was still a baby the family moved north into Clinton County, Ohio. They were still living there in 1870 when the census was taken. But somehow Isaac was mixed up with his brother James so Isaac was shown as 8 years old. It was about 1872 when the family headed west and settled in Illinois. Then in 1879 they moved farther west to Saline County, Nebraska and sadly, it was there on 15 September 1879 when Isaac died of typhoid fever, the first child of John and Rachel to die. He was buried in Atlanta Cemetery in Saline County. In about 1886 the rest of his family moved again to Sherman County, Kansas.

You can see a photo of his gravestone on the Find a Grave website:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57452459/isaac-s-smalley

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 5 – Lafe Smalley

Lafe Smalley abt 1910

Today is the last day of week 5 and the theme for this week on 52 Ancestors is “In the Census.” I wrote about my gt-grandfather, Lafayette Pierce “Lafe” Smalley on his birthday on 21 Sep 2017 and noted that he probably was listed on more censuses than any other of my ancestors, 8 U.S. Census and 5 state census, for a total of 13. So here is a chart showing them.

Year	Type	Name	Age	Town/Twp	County	State
1860	US	Lafayette P. Smalley	1	Oliver Twp	Adams	Ohio
1870	US	Lafayette Smalley	12	Greene Twp	Clinton	Ohio
1880	US	Lafayette Smawley	21	Turkey Creek Twp	Saline	Nebraska
1885	State	S. F. Smally	26	Atlanta Twp	Saline	Nebraska
1895	State	L. F. Smalley	37	Washington Twp	Sherman	Kansas
1900	US	Lafayette Smalley	41	Washington Twp	Sherman	Kansas
1905	State	L. F. Smalley	46	Washington Twp	Sherman	Kansas
1910	US	L. S. Smalley	51	Washington Twp	Sherman	Kansas
1915	State	L. F. Smalley	56	Washington Twp	Sherman	Kansas
1920	US	Lafe F. Smalley	61	Washington Twp	Sherman	Kansas
1925	State	L. F. Smalley	66	Goodland	Sherman	Kansas
1930	US	Lafayette F. Smalley	71	Goodland	Sherman	Kansas
1940	US	Lafe Smalley	81	Goodland	Sherman	Kansas

He was born in Adams County Ohio 21 Sep 1858 and died in Goodland, Sherman County Kansas 30 Jan 1946. He married Rosa Ella Shipman 29 Dec 1880 in Saline County Nebraska. She appeared on all the censuses after that with him.

Ancestor Birthday - September 21 - Lafayette Pierce Smalley 1858 - 1946

Lafayette Pierce Smalley was my gt-grandfather, born 21 Sep 1858 in Adams County, Ohio. He was the son of John Wilson and Rachel Ann (Hemphill) Smalley. I have written about him more than once during the past year. I generally use the name Lafe for him.

He was included in most of the census series which I did in July. When I looked again at his census listings, I found that he has probably the most listings where I found him in a census than any other of my ancestors. He was in 8 U.S. Censuses: 1860 in Adams County Ohio; 1870 in Clinton County Ohio; 1880 in Saline County Nebraska; 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940 in Sherman County Kansas. Plus he was in 5 State Censuses: 1885 in Saline County Nebraska and 1895, 1905, 1915, and 1925 in Sherman County Kansas. That totals 13 times I have found him in a census listing. His wife Rosa Ella Shipman would tie him, except she was born after 1860, so was only in 7 U.S. Censuses. She was in all 5 State Censuses with him and was probably in the 1865 census in Mercer County Illinois with her parents, but that census did not name the members of the household, but only gave a count, so I can't be positive it was her.

I have posted a couple of photos of him as an individual (11 Jul 2017) one where he was with his parents and siblings (6 Aug 2017) one where he was with his wife and children (7 Aug 2017) and another with family when he was visiting in Oregon in 1944 (7Aug 2017).

I did find a photo that I had not previously posted. It was taken in 1940 when some of the Oregon family visited back in Kansas. It is a 4 generation photo: back row, Lester (Lafe's grandson) and Wilma (Falk) Albertson, O. J. and Lucie (Smalley) (Lafe's daughter) Albertson; front row, Lafe Smalley, Joanne Albertson (Lafe's gt-granddaughter) and Rosa Ella (Shipman) Smalley.

Ancestor Birthday - January 26th - John W. Smalley 1832-1914

John Wilson Smalley was my 2nd great-grandfather. If you check my website you will find quite a lot of information about him:

http://www.joanneskelton.com/p16.htm#i379

It shows his birth as 26 Jan 1932 in Adams County, Ohio and his marriage to Rachel Hemphill 26 Apr 1856. His obituary notes his service in the Civil War from 1861-1864. The listed censuses show he was in Adams County, Ohio in 1860; in Clinton County, Ohio in 1870; in Saline County, Nebraska in 1880; and by 1895 he was in Sherman County, Kansas. He continued living there through 1900, 1905 and 1910 before his death 2 Jul 1914, which is marked on his gravestone in Goodland Cemetery, Goodland, Sherman County, Kansas.

What more can I write about him? Next week I plan to write more about his Civil War service. Now I'd like to share some of the difficulties in determining a birth year before official registrations. Ancestry's Red Book, edited by Alice Eichholz, Revised Edition, 1992, page 523, states: "Ohio enacted a statute in 1856-57 that required birth, death, and marriage registration, a law that was generally disregarded." But even if obeyed it would be over 20 years too late to help our situation.

John's death certificate, gravestone and obituary all give his birth year as 1832. But even his obituary creates a contradiction as it states he was 27 in 1861 and 30 in 1864, which equates to an 1834 birth. His marriage record of 1856 shows his age as 23, so this equals an 1833 birth.
Then when you check each census entry, which are not known for exact correctness, you find:

1850 age 14 = 1836

1860 age 26 = 1834

1870 age 37 = 1833

1880 age 47 = 1833

1895 age 67 = 1838

1900 age 68 = 1832

1905 age 74 = 1831

1910 age 74 = 1836

In his military pension records he was not a lot more consistent. In his application from 1890 he gave his age as 57 which equals 1833, but then in 1909 his age is given as 77, so this pushes his birth year back to 1832.

So how do I know when he was born? I don't. I can't see that I will ever know for sure, but I have chosen to use the date that the family was using at the end of his life: 1832.