Connections – At the Library – Safleys

Next week's theme for 52 Ancestors is At the Library. Yesterday, 25 January 2019, I was working at the local (Cottage Grove Oregon) genealogical society library on my regular Friday shift. During the time when no patrons were there to help, I decided to work on my project for our society's displays coming up this summer and fall.

We are choosing various members of our community to research and create a display about. I had chosen the J. I. Jones family because my husband and I at one time owned the house called the J. I. Jones house and I had already done some research on that family. One of the items I had collected was a manuscript written in 1976 about the Jones family done by Lillian Lewis Coffman, a niece of J. I. Jones. On page 20 Mrs. Coffman stated that the only descendants of C. H. Jones (J. I. Jones' father) who were then living in Cottage Grove were her sister, Lela Ward, Lela's daughter Mildred (Mrs. Cecil Safley) and a grandson.

The Safley name drew my attention. When I first started to work at the local museum, my supervisor was Isabelle (Safley) Gates Woolcott. Do you suppose she was connected to the Jones family? But I also knew that one of my second cousins, Kathleen Albertson, had married a Safley from Cottage Grove and they were said not to be related to Isabelle. So did I have a connection to the Jones family through that cousin​?

Thankfully our society has drawers and drawers of file folders of clippings about our local families filed by surname. So I checked the Safley file folder. After reading a number of obituaries and other clippings I discovered that Kathleen's father-in-law, Rodney Safley, was a brother to Cecil Safley who was married to a Jones' descendant. So one of my relatives on my father's side of the family does have a connection to the Jones' family as her children have cousins who are descendants of C. H. Jones.

But as I continued reading I saw another name I recognized. Rodney and Cecil's father, Joseph Safley, died in March of 1944. The newspaper included names of out-of-town relatives who had come to his funeral. Among this listing was Joseph's sister, Mrs. Margaret Meadows and her three sons and their families, who lived in Florence, Oregon. One of these sons was Williams Meadows. His wife was Beverly Isom, my second cousin once removed on my mother's side of the family, so her children would be my third cousins. But these children also have cousins who are descendants of C. H. Jones, because their father, Wm Meadows would have been a first cousin to Cecil who was married to Mildred, a Jones' descendant.

Thus, although I am not actually related to the Jones family, I have some cousins on both sides of my family who are and I can claim a connection.

Quaker Cousins - Lydia Caroline (Hartley) Mendenhall

Another one of the 1st cousins of my gt-grandmother, Mary Magdalene (Hockett) Albertson, was Lydia Caroline Hartley, the daughter of Rebecca's brother, Norton Daniel Hartley. I find it interesting that Rebecca named her oldest son Norton and her daughter who was just 2 years older than Mary Magdalene she named Lydia Caroline. So my gt-grandmother had a 1st cousin named Lydia as well as a sister named Lydia. Lydia Hartley was my 1st cousin 3 times removed.

Cousin Lydia was born 15 Jan 1846 in Preble County Ohio to Norton Daniel and Deborah Ann (Jones) Hartley. Lydia was the 6th of 12 children. They family had moved to Indiana by 1852 and then to Iowa by 1855. The family was listed in Cedar Township, Lee County, Iowa on the 1856 Iowa state census and the 1860 and 1870 US census. Lydia was listed as Lydia in 1856 and 1860 and as Caroline in 1870. Also in the 1870 household was E. Mendenhall, a 20 year old farm laborer. Mendenhall was a well known Quaker name.

It was the next year, 8 Jan 1871, when Lydia Caroline Hartley married Evin Mendenhall. They soon moved to Kansas as their oldest daughter was born there in December of 1872. They were listed on the 1880 census in Crawford Township, Cherokee County Kansas and she was back to Lydia again. The family was found on the 1900 census in Harrison Township, Franklin County Kansas, with their 7 living children, 5 girls and 2 boys. Franklin County is almost to the eastern edge of Kansas and my gt-grandmother lived in Sherman County Kansas which is at the western edge. The Mendenhalls were still in Franklin County on the 1910 census. Lydia Caroline was listed as Line or Lina. Two unmarried daughters were still living with them. Lydia died there 15 Apr 1916 and was buried in Highland Cemetery, Ottawa, Franklin County, Kansas. Her husband Evin died in 1922 and was buried in the same Cemetery and they have a double gravestone.

Ancestor Birthday - June 1st - Elizabeth Kent 1667 - 1748

There were two 8th great-grandmothers born on June 1, so since Rebecca Law was born 12 years before Elizabeth Kent, Elizabeth had to take 2nd place. However, I did write about Elizabeth before when I discussed which Elizabeth had married Samuel Nicholson. (See post of 9 Jan 2017)

I still believe that my 8th great-grandmother, the wife of Samuel Nicholson and the mother of my ancestor Abigail Nicholson, was Elizabeth Kent, born 1 Jun 1667, the daughter of Thomas and Ann Kent, and also the widow of William Charles.

Most researchers agree that Elizabeth Kent, daughter of Thomas and Ann, did marry William Charles on 8 Nov 1683. She would have been 16 years old. William and Elizabeth had a daughter Jane born 1 Oct 1685. Then William died between 4 Apr 1687 when he made his will and 23 Sep 1687 when the will was probated. William named his wife "Elezabath Charles" and his daughter Jane Charles in his will as well as his brother John and other legacies.

Then the question is, who did the widow Elizabeth Charles marry? I believe it was the Quaker Samuel Nicholson who did marry an Elizabeth Charles 6, 10m, 16[88?] as recorded in Gwen Boyer Bjorkman's book of Quaker Marriage Certificates in northeastern North Carolina (pg 85). In Weynette Parks Haun book of transcriptions of Perquimans Precinct Births, Marriages, Deaths and Flesh Marks 1659-1820 she lists their marriage 16 Dec 1688. Since this was the time for the old style calendar, December was the 10th month. One of the reasons why I believe this was Elizabeth Kent was that 2 of the witnesses for that marriage were Mary Kent and Hannah Kent, the only mention of any Kents in Bjorkman's book.

So, if this Elizabeth is my ancestor, who were her children? The Perquimans birth records show that Samuel and his wife Elizabeth had at least 4 daughters: Abigail, Hannah, Jane and Elizabeth. There were probably a few more. This may indicate that Elizabeth's daughter, Jane Charles, had died before this Jane was born in 1694. I haven't been able to find any further records for the Jane Charles born in 1685.

Elizabeth became a widow again when Samuel died 28 Mar 1728. He had made his will a few days before he died and gave to his wife "Elizabarth" "my whole estate during her life." It was then to go to his daughter Elizabeth Anderson. He also gave a bequest to his daughter, Sarah Nicholson.

Apparently Elizabeth then married for a 3rd time to widower Zachariah Nixon. And again she became a widow when he died in 1739. Elizabeth left a will, dated 19 Mar 1747/48 and probated January Court 1748. (This should probably be 1748/49) She named her son-in-law John Anderson and daughters Elizabeth Anderson and Sarah Jones, as well as grandchildren and others.

Elizabeth has been difficult to research and I am certainly not 100% sure that I am correct about which Elizabeth is my ancestor. But at the moment this is my belief about her.

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Quaker Cousins - Anna (Albertson) Callen

My mother's middle name was Anna, so I like that name. Anna (Albertson) Callen was another one of Nathan Elias Albertson's 1st cousins so she was my 1st cousin 3 times removed. Anna's parents were George A. and Nancy (Jones) Albertson. George had come with his parents and other family members to Hardin County Iowa in about 1855. It was in 1862 when he married Nancy Jones. They had at least 6 children and Anna was in the middle, born 24 Jul 1870. Before Anna's next sister Sarah was born, the family moved northwest to Wright County Iowa. The youngest child was Bertha born in 1875 and she died in 1876. By the 1880 census the family had moved again and George and Nancy and their 5 children were living in the southeast part of Iowa in Keokuk County. Anna was now 9 years old and was marked as attending school.

During this time period the family was not staying in one place. Apparently they had moved a little to the southeast to Appanoose County Iowa where Anna's mother died 17 Dec 1882 and was buried at Iconium Cemetery. Anna would have been just 12 when this happened. The 1885 census showed that they had moved again one county farther north, to Monroe County where George and Anna spent the rest of their lives.

At age 19, Anna A. Albertson married Sherman A. Callen on 8 Oct 1889 there in Monroe County Iowa. The 1900 census shows Sherman as a farmer with his wife Annie and 4 children plus Anna's father, George. Anna reported that she had 4 children, all living. However by 1910 she noted that she had 7 children, 6 living. By this time the oldest child Fred was 19 and working as a farm laborer. The other 5 children were all girls: Bessie, Veva, Retta, Lyda and Nita.

That October would have been a sad month for the family as Anna died 18 Oct 1910 and then the youngest daughter not yet 2 years old died 27 Oct 1910. Anna was buried back in Appanoose County in Iconium Cemetery where her mother was. I find it particularly sad when a woman died when the children were still young. I expect that the oldest daughter Bessie at 18, helped her father care for the 3 younger girls. I know that it is hard on a parent when their child dies before them, so 76 year old George had to endure that. George himself died 6 Jan 1912 and was taken back to Appanoose County to be buried by Nancy.

I checked the 1920 census because I was interested in what was happening with Sherman and the girls. Fred had married in 1918 and was living back in Appanoose County. Sherman was still in Monroe County and was working as a laborer on a farm. Two of the girls, Vera and Retta were working as salesladies in a grocery store. I didn't continue to follow this family, but I did see that both Sherman and Bessie were buried in the Iconium Cemetery where Anna and her parents were buried.

  

Looking at Samuel Nicholson's Land Records

In the early days of settlement in northeastern North Carolina where Samuel Nicholson came to live, the "Lord Proprietors" wanted to encourage settlement of their colony, so they gave land to new settlers, usually 50 acres each. If you brought someone there you also got 50 acres for bringing them.

Since the Nicholson family came around 1670, Samuel, who was born in 1665, would have still been a small child at the time. But it took almost another 25 years before they received the patent for their land, and by then, Samuel's parents had died, so as the oldest son, he received the land. There is a notice in Feb 1693/94 that six rights were certified: Christopher Nichols, Hannah his wife, Deliverance Sutton Saml. Nicholson, _____Symons, Hannah Nicolson. In that same month it was recorded that Samuel assigned one of the rights to Hannah Gosby, which was the married name of his sister Hannah Nicholson. Then in April 1694 Willm Jones proved a right for himself, then assigned it to Saml. Nicholson. So Samuel ended up with six rights, and did receive a patent for 300 acres.

Weynette Parks Haun transcribed the description in her book, Old Albemarle County North Carolina Book of Land Warrants and Surveys 1681-1706:

"begining at a beech by the side of Suttons Creek Swamp thence west twenty three degrs. North a hundred and fifty pole to a beech then North forty four degrs East three hundred and fifty poles to an oake, then East twenty three degrees South a hundred and Sixty poles to another beech by the sd. Swamp then down the sd. Swamp by various courses to the first station."

There is a map included in the back of History of Perquimans County North Carolina, by Ellen Goode Winslow. It shows where many of the original patents were and Samuel's name is on the map. It appears to be on the east side of the Perquimans River across from the current county seat, Hertford. When I visited Perquimans County in 1996, we stopped in Hertford and looked across the river. Maybe, just maybe, I was gazing at the land once owned by my ancestor.

Busey School Was in the News in the 1920s

Yesterday (12 Feb 2017) I posted a photo of the students at Busey School in 1923. Busey School, District 44, was located about three miles north of Harrisburg, Oregon. Because Harrisburg is located between the cities of Eugene and Albany, I was able to find some mentions of the school in both Eugene and Albany newspapers.

In February 1923, eight months before the photo, Busey dedicated a new school building with a community supper and some outside speakers, including Mrs. Edna Geer, the Linn County School Superintendent. It had cost more than $2000, covered by interest-bearing warrants. The article concluded with a new fact for me. My grandfather, J. A. Falk, was a member of the school board. A month after the photo was taken, in November of 1923, a newspaper reported that the pupils "enjoyed a Hallowe'én frolic that evening. The ghost, witch and jack o'lantern featured."

The papers usually noted who the teachers were at the school:

1922-23 -- Miss Bess Jones

1923-24 -- Miss Jennie Reed

1924-25 -- Miss Mildred or Margaret Martin

1928-29 -- Mrs. Vernita Cooley

It was in May 1925 when the results of the Linn County Dental Essay Contest were announced. The winner of the division for 5th & 6th grades in rural districts was my aunt, Lois Falk, a sixth grader. The paper announced in June 1925 that District 44 had one student who had passed the 8th grade examination on the first try and so graduated: my mother, Wilma Falk.

The next spring in April of 1926, Busey School children entertained their parents with an Easter program. They also enjoyed the new volleyball and flag there, which they had earned by selling pencils. At the last day of school in May of 1926 the Lake Creek and Busey schools celebrated together at the Busey school grounds.

In June of 1927, four of the students from the photo graduated from the 8th grade: Lois Falk, Samuel Brock, Merle Cook and Ralph Wilbert. June of 1929 reported that two students from Busey had passed the 8th grade exam: Helen Cook and George Hargett. So together with the newspapers and the photo you can put faces with some of the names.