Ancestor Birthday - September 16 - Lucy Irene Howe - 1811- 1882

Yesterday I wrote about an ancestor who lived in Wallingford, Connecticut, Jeremiah Howe. Today it is his 2nd gt-granddaughter, who was my 3rd gt-grandmother, that I intend to write about, Lucy Irene Howe. Lucy didn't live in Wallingford. She was born in the town of Cornwall, Litchfield County, Connecticut, 16 Sep 1811 to Ichabod and Irene (Scovill) Howe.

Lucy was just 2 years old when her mother Irene died. Irene died just a few days after her father. She was listed in his will, so Lucy was entitled to that inheritance from her grandfather and her father filed papers with the probate court to be appointed guardian for her. It was there I learned who her parents were and so gained a large number of Connecticut relatives. Lucy had an older sister and 2 older brothers. Her father remarried sometime before the 1820 census, so she grew up with a step-mother.

Lucy married Timothy Chase on New Years Eve, 31 Dec 1832, in Cornwall. She and Timothy had 8 children, 3 girls and 5 boys. The family did not stay put. They were in Sharon, Connecticut in the 1840 census and were in Goshen, Connecticut for the 1850 census. Then they moved to Ohio and were in Leroy township Lake County in the 1860 census. But they didn't stay in Ohio and were in Illinois in Rivoli township, Mercer County for the 1870 census. There was at least one more move to Nebraska. Her husband had settled on homestead land in Atlanta Township, Saline County, but died 5 Jul 1877 before finishing his claim, so it was patented to Lucy, as his widow. Lucy was living with her youngest son and his family on the 1880 census there in Nebraska. She died 10 Mar 1882 and we believe both she and Timothy, her husband, were buried in Atlanta Cemetery, Atlanta Township, Saline County, Nebraska.

Ancestor Birthday - Stephen Scovill[e] - 1706

The 20th of August 1706 was the date my 6th gt-grandfather Stephen Scovill[e], the son of Stephen & Sarah (Champion) Scovill[e], was born in the town of Lyme Connecticut as recorded in the Barbour Collection.

Sometime before 1729 Stephen moved to the town of Haddam Connecticut, which was just north of Lyme. It apparently was in the eastern section which became East Haddam in 1734 because the Barbour Collection listed East Haddam as the location of his marriage to Rebecca Millard 16 Jan 1729 (most likely 1728/29). It then listed 10 children born to Stephen and Rebecca.

A family history for the Scovells compiled by Jennie M. (Scoville) Holley and Homer Worthington Brainard in 1941 listed 11 children: Stephen, Samuel, Rebecca, Sarah, Timothy, Henry, Srah, Elizabeth, Hannah, Irene and Stephen.

You may have noticed that some of the names appeared twice. The first Sarah died at age 5 months, so the next daughter burn about 6 years later was also given the name Sarah. Sadly the 2nd Sarah died at age 7. The oldest son was named Stephen. He died unmarried at the age of 22. About 3 months after the older Stephen died, a baby boy was born into the family, the youngest child, and he was named Stephen. He turned out to be my 5th gt-grandfather.

I didn't find a copy of Stephen's original will, but the family history by Holley and Brainard gave a summary of the will. It was dated 13 Apr 1778 and proved at Colchester 7 Mar 1780. So probably Stephen died between those 2 dates.

Ancestor Birthday - June 17th - Timothy Chase 1812 - 1877

Timothy Chase was one of my 3rd great-grandfathers. Although I have listed his father as Charles Chase on my website, I am not completely confident that is correct. It is based on a statement made in a local history from Nebraska in an article about Luman Chase, one of Timothy's sons. Since it is likely that Luman provided the information and Charles would have been his grandfather it does have some credibility. But I haven't found any other documentation for this relationship. If there are any Chase cousins reading this and you have some other source for this, please let me know.

Timothy's birthdate of 17 Jun 1812 has been calculated from his stated age at his death. The county where Timothy was born is still uncertain. In the 1850, 1860 and 1870 censuses his birthplace was reported as New York. But that is not very precise.

It was the last day of 1832, 31 December, when Timothy married Lucy Irene Howe, the daughter of Ichabod and Irene (Scovill) Howe, in Cornwall Township, Litchfield County, Connecticut. On the 1840 census the family was in Sharon Township which adjoined Cornwall on the west side. Then by 1850 they were in Goshen Township, which joined Cornwall on the east side.

Timothy was one of my "moving" ancestors. He and the family left Connecticut and were in Leroy Township in Lake County Ohio by the 1860 census. In 1870 the family was living in Illinois in Rivoli Township in Mercer County. Then they moved to Saline County Nebraska where Timothy died on 5 Jul 1877. He was buried in Atlanta Cemetery in Atlanta Township in Saline County. Apparently Timothy had made an application for a homestead there in Saline County because 2 years after he died on 30 Jun 1879 a patent for 80 acres was issued to Lucy I. Chase, widow of Timothy C. Chase, deceased. It was almost 3 years later when Lucy died, 10 Mar 1882. She was also buried in Atlanta Cemetery.

Timothy and Lucy had 8 children who appear to have inherited the "moving" gene. They all died in different counties:

• Sarah = Ashtabula County, Ohio
• Crawford = Cherokee County, Kansas
• Wells Morgan = Clay County, Nebraska
• Lucy Jane = Sherman County, Kansas
• Ralph = Lake County, Ohio
• Emily = Harper County, Oklahoma
• Luman = Spokane County, Washington
• Marsh = Furnas County, Nebraska.

Ancestor Birthday - June 5 - Ichabod Howe - 1769-1857

Litchfield County, Connecticut

It seems so fitting that my 4th great-grandfather, Ichabod Howe, lived at Cornwall Hollow in the town of Cornwall, Litchfield County, Connecticut. He was the son of John Howe and John's second wife, Lydia Norton. John married his first wife, Mary Wadhams, in 1756 and they had 4 children before Mary died in 1765. So Ichabod had 4 older half-siblings as he was growing up. John's 2 marriages and the births of the 4 older children were recorded in Goshen vital records. The Howe Genealogies published in 1929 state that the family moved to Canaan Connecticut in 1766, apparently after John and Lydia's marriage 15 Apr 1766. Ichabod was born on 5 Jun 1769, the 2nd of 7 children born to Lydia. At least 3 of these children died young.

Ichabod was in the town of Cornwall by the 1800 census. The censuses before 1850 only name the head of household and give numbers for the various age categories, so it is difficult to know who the members of the household were. Tomorrow (6 Jun 2017) I will plan to write about some of my conclusions about the census entries for Ichabod's family.

As his father did, Ichabod also had two wives. His first wife, Irene Scovill, died in 1813 and his second wife, Lucy ? , died in 1841. Both are buried in the Cornwall Hollow Cemetery. I have not found a record for Ichabod's burial after his death 30 Apr 1857.

The town meeting minutes for Cornwall mention Ichabod Howe as one of the surveyors of highways in 1803, 1811, 1821 and 1822. In Theodore S. Gold's book of Historical Records of the Town of Cornwall..., there is a section on ecclesiastical history. Ichabod was named as one of those "brought into this fold of Christ" in a revival held in 1795. By 1822 he was listed as one of the deacons on the committee "to settle difficulties between brothers." In a historical address given in 1865, the following was written about him as one of the prominent laymen of the church: "Ichabod Howe will be remembered as a man of Pauline gentleness, and Christlike spirit of self-sacrifice for his brother's good. To a life of rectitude and consecration he added a very fitting closing chapter, by giving himself almost wholly to visitation of the parish and prayerful lay-labors for the conversion of men to his dear Lord. He died in 1857." It makes me feel good that he had this good reputation.

Sarah Was Named in Stephen's Will

Yesterday, March 8th, I wrote about Sarah Champion, my 7th great-grandmother. She had married Stephen Scoville in 1705 and apparently they were happily married until Stephen died in 1752. They had ten children and nine of them lived to be married, so Sarah would have been a grandmother a number of times. There are over 40 named in the Scovell genealogy.

I was pleased to see how Stephen included Sarah in his will of 1752. Quoting from it as published in the Scovell genealogy. "Unto my Beloved wife Sarah Schoval I do give and bequeath the use of my House and Lands and Tenements During her Remaining my widow......to be understood that she keep sundry moveables as she shall judge needful for Her to keeping House so long as she lives." I checked the dictionary for the word moveables and found it is just as it says, capable of being moved, but often used for wares, especially furniture.

The genealogy also gave a transcription from the inventory of Stephen's estate. I really enjoyed reading the furniture and housekeeping utensils included. Wouldn't they be what

Sarah had been using? Here are a few of what was listed: 

Great chair, 2 small chairs, 1 brass kettle, 1 pewter quart, 

2 pint basons, 1 pewter platter, 5 pewter spoons, 1 wine

 glass, 1 earthen platter, 4 wooden dishes, 6 wooden plates, 1 iron skillet, 5 pairs of knitting needles, 1 churn, 1 iron pot and hooks, frying pan, 2 sheets and a tablecloth, 1 linen sheet, 1 flannel blanket, 6 coverlets.

It is fun to think that Sarah shared a craft with me, as we both have knitted.

Ancestor Birthday - Sarah Champion - 8 March 1687/88

Sarah Champion was a 7th great-grandmother of mine. She was born in March of 1687/88. I have found her in two older genealogies: the Champion genealogy first published in 1891 and the Scovell genealogy first published in 1941. They both give her birthdate as March 8th. However the Barbour collection of Connecticut vital records shows her birthdate as March 3rd. They all agree that she was born in Lyme Connecticut to Thomas and Hannah (Brockway) Champion.

I was hoping that the Champion genealogy, which I was able to download from archives.org, would give me more information about Sarah than just her parents, date of birth and who she married. Wrong. Most of the female descendants in this book only have those facts. So I looked elsewhere.

Sarah married Stephen Scoville 4 Nov 1705, probably in East Haddam, Connecticut, since that is where their children were born. It was in the Scovell genealogy where I found a little more about Sarah. In discussing the church membership for Stephen, the authors note that "Mrs. Sarah Scoville was admitted to full communion in the First Church of East Haddam Dec. 19, 1731". It was about 1742 when there was a church at Hadlyme and she became a member of it.

Sarah was named as Stephen's wife in his will and I plan to write more about that tomorrow. Again with women in these very early days, I have not yet found death information for her.

Ancestor Birthday - January 4th - Stephen Scovill[e] 1751/52-1813

I'll admit it. I made a mistake. When I entered the information in my database about my 5th great-grandfather Stephen Scovill, I failed to enter the day in January of 1751/52 that he was born. So my birthday calendar just said January and I missed him back on the 4th. Now it's time to make the correction and give him his post only 24 days late.

Stephen's birth is entered in the records at East Haddam, Connecticut, on 4 Jan 1751 [1751-52], son of Stephen and Rebeckah (Millard) Scoville. He was their second son named Stephen. The first was born 19 Sep 1729 and died 19 Sep 1751, so when this son was born a little over 3 months later, they named him Stephen.

It is believed that Stephen married his cousin Mary Scoville. (A Scovell family history gives a rather detailed explanation of this conclusion)¹ From his will of 1813 he had at least 4 children.

His death on 27 Jan 1813 at Cornwall, Connecticut, was reported in the Hartford, Connecticut, newspaper Connecticut Courant on 2 Mar 1813. There were 5 others there as well as one from Salisbury, who all died from the "prevailing epidemic." Doing a Google search, it appears that New England had suffered from a "spotted fever epidemic" in the spring seasons of 1812 and 1813. It was later called "malignant fever" and is believed to be what is now known as cerebro-spinal-meningitis.

Since my 4th great-grandmother, Irene (Scovill) Howe, also died in this epidemic a few days after her father, it meant that Irene's children would receive her inheritance. It was in those probate records I found my 3rd great-grandmother as a child and it identified both her parents and grandparents for me.

I am sad that both Stephen and his daughter Irene died in the epidemic, but at least the fact that their deaths were so close together created probate records which helped me put the family together.

1Jennie M. (Scoville) Holley and Homer Worthington Brainard, compilers, Arthur Scovell and His Descendants in America 1660-1900 (Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing Company, 1941). page 41

Mapping Monday - Cornwall, Connecticut

My 3rd great grandmother, Lucy Irene Howe, was born in the town [I would probably describe it as a township] of Cornwall, Litchfield County, Connecticut in 1811.

I was so excited when I found a record showing that she was the daughter of Ichabod Howe and Irene Scoville. I suddenly had a new number of New England relatives. 

But when I found that Ichabod Howe lived in the northeast section of Cornell, at Cornwall Hollow, I was ready to celebrate Halloween.