52 Ancestors 2020 – 12 – Popular – Nathaniel Shipman

When I looked at the birthday calendar for this week to find someone who would fit the theme popular, I decided that this was not a popular week to be born, since there were only 5 names listed. The previous week had 11 individuals.

I chose Nathaniel Shipman because I did remember hearing about him when I was researching in the Shipman family. It appears that Nathaniel is rather popular with researchers who have posted family trees on Ancestry.com, since when I entered his name and birthdate in a search of public trees, I discovered he was listed in 331 trees.

The town records for Lyme, Connecticut, show that Nathaniel was born 21 Mar 1791 to Abner and Margery (Avery) Shipman. As 1 of 13 children, he had 10 brothers and 2 sisters. One of his brothers, Elisha, was my 4^th great-grandfather, so Nathaniel was my 4^th great-granduncle.

These records were published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register.

Since he was born after the 1790 census, 1800 is the first one where we can try to identify which one of the “tick marks” he is. The entry for his father Abner at Lyme, Connecticut, has 2 marked in the under 10 column, but there should be 4, so I am not certain if Nathaniel is one of these or not.

Before 1810, Abner and some of his children moved to German Township, Chenango County, New York. It is not clear if Nathaniel went there or not. But it does appear that Nathaniel married Prudence Bogue before 1814 and they and their 2 oldest sons are on the 1820 census in Lyme, New London County, Connecticut.

Then before 1830 Nathaniel and his family moved west to Ashtabula County, Ohio. The 1830 census there for “N Chipman” in Rome Township includes 8 people, matching the ages for Nathaniel's family; he and his wife, 5 sons and 1 daughter: (John, Elias, Amos, Frederick, Isaac and Lois). Then the 1840 census finds Nathaniel and Prudence and the 2 youngest sons, Frederick and Isaac, in nearby Colebrook township. John and Amos were in their own households enumerated on the same page.

Finally in 1850 the census names all the members of the household. But, by this time only one son, Frederick, is still living with his parents. Nathaniel's occupation was shown as a shoemaker and he had real estate valued at $500. I have not yet been able to locate Nathaniel and Prudence in the 1860 census.

According to her tombstone as pictured on the Find A Grave website, Prudence died July 21, 1867, and was buried in North Colebrook Cemetery, at New Lyme, Ashtabula County, Ohio. On the 1870 census Nathaniel, listed as age 78, was living with his son Elias in Richmond Township, still in Ashtabula County. Nathaniel's oldest son, John, had moved to Upshur County, Virginia, before 1860. In 1863 that part of Virginia was included in the new state of West Virginia. While on a visit there in 1873, Nathaniel died at Buckhannon on June 5^th and was buried in Union Cemetery, Kedron, Upshur County, West Virginia.

52 Ancestors 2019 – 3 – Unusual Name – Marsh Chase

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks has assigned the theme for this week as “Unusual Name.” I have chosen to write about my 2^nd gt-grandmother Lucy Jane (Chase) Shipman's brother, Marsh Chase. His name may not be especially unusual, but seemed to be the most unusual of those ancestor's siblings who were born during this week.

Although Marsh's first name is not all that unusual, those who were indexing the census records for him on Ancestry.com were able to achieve some unusual spellings for his name. It 1870 it became Mash. Then in 1900 it was Massh. They called him March in 1910 and also in 1930. But the most unusual one was in 1920 when his name became Moras Charo. But even with these various spellings, I was able to research him through the years.

Marsh was born 170 years ago, 15 January 1849, in Litchfield County, Connecticut. It was most likely that it was in Goshen township, since he was enumerated on the 1850 census there with his parents, Timothy and Lucy Irene (Howe) Chase, and 5 of his 7 older brothers and sisters. Marsh was the baby of the family, being listed as a 1 year old on that census. By 1860 the family was in Lake County, Ohio, and in 1870 they had moved to Mercer County, Illinois.

By 1874 they had moved again, this time to Saline County, Nebraska where Marsh married Mary Tyacke on 28 November. It must have been near that same time when Marsh filed a homestead application for the north ½ of the southwest ¼ of section 8, in township 6 north, range 1 east, because he was awarded his patent for those 80 acres on 30 June 1879. Apparently his father applied at about that time for the south ½ of that same quarter section. But before the required time to receive his patent, Timothy died 5 July 1877 and the patent was issued to his wife, Lucy Chase, on the same date as Marsh. The 1880 census shows Lucy living with Marsh and his family before her death on 10 March, 1882.

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The land ownership map for Saline County in 1900 shows Marsh as the owner of 160 acres which included his and his parents' homesteads. It does have his name spelled correctly. According to the census, Marsh and his family continued to live in Saline County through 1900, then in 1910 and 1920 and 1930 they were in Furnas County, Nebraska. Mary died there 16 September 1919 and Marsh lived with married daughters until his death 16 August 1935.

Marsh was buried in the Edison Cemetery in Furnas County. An obituary was published in The Edison Echo 22 August 1935. It stated that he and Mary had 4 children, but one died as an infant, so he was survived by a son, John Marsh Chase who was living in Juneau Alaska at that time, and 2 daughters: Mrs. Irene Blauvelt and Mrs. Louisa C. Pearson, both of Edison. There were 15 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren. The obituary gave this tribute: He was a kind and loving husband and father and was always thinking of others. His cheerful disposition will be remembered by all who knew him.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 13 – The Old Homestead

The theme for this week is “The Old Homestead.” It was during the Civil War, in May of 1862 when the United States Congress passed the Homestead Act. I believe that 6 of my ancestors chose to use that legislation and gain “free” land: 2 in Oregon, 3 in Kansas and 1 in Nebraska.

So who were my “Homesteaders”? I'll begin with those from Oregon. My 2^nd gt-grandfather, Commodore Perry O'Neal, received a patent dated 30 Jun 1891 for 164.53 acres located adjacent to land he had purchased in 1870. This was about 4 miles west of the town of Creswell in Lane County, Oregon. His son-in-law John Howard Bond, my gt-grandfather, received his patent about a year earlier, 28 May 1890, for 160 acres located about 2 miles northwest of Commodore Perry's land. John sold his land in 1893 and moved across the Cascade Mountains to Gilliam County Oregon where he stayed about 10 years before moving back to the Willamette Valley. Commodore Perry stayed on his land until his death in 1919. He had deeded his land to his 3 sons about 2 months before he died.

In Kansas, my gt-grandfather, Nathan Elias Albertson, received his patent 28 Sep 1893 for 160 acres in McPherson township, Sherman County Kansas. As I noted in a blog post about his homesteading last year, 9 Sep 2017, it was located about 10 miles southwest of the County Seat, Goodland Kansas.¹ Before the 1900 census he had moved to another township in the County, Washington Township, about 2 ½ miles west of the town of Edson Kansas.

Nathan's future daughter-in-law's (Lucie Rachel Smalley) grandfather, my 2^nd gt-grandfather, Joshua Rodney Shipman had a homestead also in Washington Township. His patent was dated 23 Sep 1893 for 159.28 acres, located about 2 ½ miles southwest of the town of Edson.

Lucie's other grandfather, another of my 2^nd gt-grandfathers, John Wilson Smalley received his patent 29 Apr 1893 for 160 acres in Itasca Township, Sherman County, Kansas. This was a mile east of Goodland and so was about 5 miles west of where Nathan lived in Washington Township.

It was one of my 3^rd gt-grandmothers who received the patent to a homestead in Nebraska, Lucy Irene Chase (the mother-in-law to Joshua Rodney Shipman.) Lucy's husband Timothy had originally filed for the homestead, but died in 1877 before it was finalized. She received the patent for 80 acres 30 Jun 1879 as his widow. This land was in Atlanta Township, Saline County Nebraska.

Knowing that some who filed for homesteads did not complete the process, I was glad to discover that at least 6 of my ancestors did the required work and were issued patents. Maybe I should also be thankful to the U.S. Congress for passing such a law so my family had the opportunity to be landowners.

1The blog post about Nathan Elias Albertson's homestead is at:

https://joannesgenealogyresearch.blogspot.com/2017/02/great-grandfatheralbertson-had.html

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 6 – Favorite Name

Today is the last day of week 6 and the theme for this week on 52 Ancestors is “Favorite Name.” Anyone who knows me very well knows that I dislike choosing just one favorite anything. This topic reminded me of the song from the musical Sound of Music, “My Favorite Things.” So I have written a few of my favorite ancestor names which can be sung to the tune of the first section of that song.

     Ich-a-bod Howe--- and Pe-ni-nah Par-ker,

     Je-mi-ma Booth--- and E-li-sha Ship-man,

     And there is Com-mo-dore Per-ry O'-Neal

     These are a few of my fa-vor-ite names.

If you would like to read the posts I did about these ancestors, here are the dates:

     Ichabod Howe – June 5 & 6, 2017

     Peninah Parker – December 26, 2017

     Jemima Booth – January 15, 2018

     Elisha Shipman – April 7, 2017

     Commodore Perry O'Neal – April 14 & 15, 2017

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.

Monday Mystery Photo - #9

Here is the mystery photo for today, 4 Dec 2017

This is an unidentified photo from my father's, (Lester Albertson) collection. I believe it was originally from his mother's photos, Lucie (Smalley) Albertson. Some of the surnames from her family include Smalley, Shipman, Hemphill and Chase. But she also may have collected photos from the Albertson family.

It is a tintype about 2.2 inches by 3.2 inches. I wonder if this little boy had his first haircut.

Death Certificates From the Past – Lafe F and Rosa Ella (Shipman) Smalley

I wrote about Rosa yesterday and had an election document for Lafe on Tuesday. Here are their death certificates from Kansas.

You may notice that part of Lafe's certificate had been typed. I confess I have traced over some of the letters, since they were very hard to read. Rosa's certificate was handwritten, even though it was made 8 years later. Their daughter, Julia Everett, was the informant for both certificates.

Ancestor Birthday – November 29th – Rosa Ella Shipman 1863-1954

Rosa Ella Shipman was my gt-grandmother. She was the youngest of my 8 gt-grandparents, being born 29 Nov 1863, during the middle of the Civil War. I believe she was born in Mercer County, Illinois, although some records give the location as Galesburg, Illinois, which was in a neighboring county.

There is a fairly complete entry for her on my website:

http://www.joanneskelton.com/p2.htm#i31

Rosa was listed along with her father on the 1870 census in Mercer County in the household of her grandfather Timothy Chase. Before 1880 the family moved to Saline County, Nebraska and she was listed there with her parents and brother Timothy on the 1880 census which was taken on June 1st. She was age 16 with the occupation teacher. It was just a month after her 17^th birthday, 29 Dec 1880, when Rosa married Lafayette Pierce Smalley. This photo shared by a cousin was dated Jul 1881 and seems to be the closest to a wedding picture that we have.

It was May of 1882 when her first child, Pierre A. Smalley, was born. Sadly he died when about 15 months old 2 Sep 1883. Six months later her son Ralph was born 16 Mar 1884. Soon after that the family moved to Sherman County Kansas where her oldest daughter, Lucie, was born 5 Aug 1886. Lucie was my grandmother. Rosa's next child, Curtis, was born 21 Dec 1888 and died less than a month later 9 Jan 1889. Then came a succession of children who lived to adulthood: Lake 1890, Celia 1892, Marvin 1896, Julia 1898, and one day before her birthday, 28 Nov 1900, the twins Lauren and Laurene were born.

As I posted in September, Rosa continued to do some teaching. Before the 1930 census, she and her husband, Lafe as he was called, moved from the farm into the town of Goodland. She was listed in that census as a retail merchant in the grocery business.

When I was 10 months old in 1940, my parents, grandparents and I traveled back to Kansas and were able to visit Rosa and Lafe and many other relatives. On 21 Sep 2017 I posted a 4 generation photo taken during that 1940 visit. It was in 1944 when they came to Oregon to visit us and other relatives who had moved from Kansas to Oregon. In December 1945 Rosa and Lafe celebrated their 65^th wedding anniversary and a month later Lafe died 30 Jan 1946.

Rosa lived as a widow for 8 more years. My father took a trip to Kansas mid-summer of 1954 and was able to visit his grandmother. She died a little over a month later, 16 Sep 1954, and was buried in the Goodland Cemetery, Sherman County Kansas.

Monday Mystery Photo - #5

Here is the mystery photo for today, 6 Nov 2017

This is an unidentified photo from my father's, (Lester Albertson) collection. I believe it was originally from his mother's photos, Lucie (Smalley) Albertson. Some of the surnames from her family include Smalley, Shipman, Hemphill and Chase. But she also may have collected photos from the Albertson family.

The image is about 2 inches by 2.62 inches, pasted onto cardboard about 3.75 inches by 5.25 inches. I was unable to find any identification of the photographer.

Monday Mystery Photo - #4

Here is the mystery photo for today, 30 Oct 2017.

This is an unidentified photo from my father's, (Lester Albertson) collection. I believe it was originally from his mother's photos, Lucie (Smalley) Albertson. Some of the surnames from her family include Smalley, Shipman, Hemphill and Chase. But she also may have collected photos from the Albertson family.

The image is about 1.75 inches by 2.5 inches, pasted onto cardboard about 3.5 inches by 5 inches. The photographer was Churchley of Portland, Oregon. Historical records show the photographer at the address printed on the photo from 1900 through 1911.

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.

This Is Grandparents Day

Back in 2013 I wrote about my grandmothers for a booklet of childhood memories, so I will share that today.

While I was growing up I had three grandmas: Grandma Albertson, Grandma Falk and Great-grandma Smalley.

Grandma Lucie Rachel (Smalley) Albertson.

When I was born, my family lived on the farm which was rented by my Grandpa Albertson. Grandpa and Grandma Albertson lived in the bigger house and my folks and I lived in the smaller house. I have some every early memories of going to Grandma's house (just across the yard) and sitting on her lap. When I was about 7 my grandparents moved to Eugene and my family, including my younger brother, moved into the bigger house. Grandpa and Grandma lived on Columbia Street on the eastern side of Eugene. My aunt and uncle lived next door to them. Since Eugene was about 30 miles away we did not visit too often. There were two things I remember about visiting Grandma. She had a large salt and pepper shaker collection. I did enjoy looking at all of them. Eventually I would inherit them after her death and discovered that there were about 150 pair. The second one was that there always seemed to be orange slices in her candy dish and she would let us each have one.

Grandma Florence Edna (Bond) Falk

Grandma Falk lived closer to us, but we still did not visit too often. One of the things that I found fascinating about her house was that when I was young she had a rain barrel next to her back porch. Also she had a pump organ that was kept in a part of the house that generally was closed. Since I started taking piano lessons in the third grade I thought it was really fun to get to try to play the organ. But a special thing at her house was a room, which I remember as being next to the living room, where there was a box of toys. It was there for us to play with when we were visiting Grandma and was kept put away until one of the grandchildren came to visit again.

Great-grandma Rosa Ella (Shipman) Smalley

My Great-grandma Smalley lived in Kansas. When I was about 10 months old my family took a trip to Kansas. I can remember seeing the picture of me with my Great-grandma along with my parents and Albertson grandparents. Also there was a picture with her and two of my second cousins who were about the same age. In 1995 we had a Smalley family reunion in Kansas and I got a picture of me with the same cousins. Great-grandma would write letters to our family and according to one of my first cousins she and great-grandpa came to visit us in Oregon when I was about 5 or 6, but sadly I don't remember that. I do remember that when I was in high school my Dad had to make to trip to Kansas and my great-grandma was still alive. He took a picture of her with his movie camera and I really enjoyed seeing that of her at age ninety. She died a few months later.

Back to School -- Who Was in Grandaunt Lake's Class?

Day before yesterday, 6 Sep 2017, I posted a photo of my gt-grandmother Rosa's school class in Sherman County Kansas in 1897 or 1898. Today I have a photo of my grandmother Lucie Smalley's sister, Lake Smalley with a class she taught in 1908.

The names were provided with only the first name, so I can guess at some of them and am quite confident about the Smalley siblings that Lake had in her class. I did check the 1910 census and the non-Smalley names had a child of approximately the right age with that first name, so my guesses may be accurate also. If anyone can correct me, please do so.

back row: Ollie Kipps, Hattie Shipman, Grace Sigman, Anna Kipps, Lake Smalley, Bessie Kipps, Marvin Smalley.

front row: Lauren Smalley, Julia Smalley, Chester Shipman, Laurene Smalley.

Back to School - Who Was In Gt-grandmother Rosa's Class?

I enjoyed looking at this picture from my father's collection. Gt-grandmother Rosa (Shipman) Smalley was the teacher and I recognized my grandmother, Lucie Smalley, as one of the students. However, someone, I don't remember who, provided names for all those in this photo.

back row: Jay Shipman, Ralph Smalley, Edd Wilson, Rosa Smalley, Ellery Wilson, May Wilson, Cecile Sigman

middle row: Bill Kipps, Arthur Sigman, Frank Sigman, Lucie Smalley, Mart Shipman, Bessie Kipps

front row: Celia Smalley, Clayton Shipman, Gertie Kipps, Lillie Wilson, Lake Smalley

I don't know the date this photo was taken, but can give a guess by knowing when each of the Smalley children was born: Ralph - 1884, Lucie - 1886, Lake - 1890, Celia - 1892. From yesterday's post we know Rosa had a certificate to teach at least from 1894 to 1899. If Celia started school at 6, it would be 1898. But since her mother was the teacher, maybe they let her start at age 5 which would date the photo as 1897. So I think probably 1897 or 1898 is the correct date.

Back to School - Gt-grandmother Rosa Was a School Teacher

My cousin Bob Smalley shared these documents with me over 20 years ago. It's fun to see the "grades" my gt-grandmother Rosa (Shipman) Smalley received when she took the teacher examinations to get her certificate in Sherman County Kansas. There is one issued in 1894, one in 1895 and another in 1897. The third grade certificate lasted 1 year, the second grade ones lasted 2 years.

Rosa's Cousins - James Lester Shipman

James Lester Shipman was another one of Rosa's 1/2 1st cousins, so he was also my 1/2 1st cousin 3 times removed. James was the oldest child of William Lester and Elizabeth (Stewart) Shipman, born 9 Apr 1893 in Michigan. On his World War I registration James reported he was born as Vassar Michigan and on his World War II registration he reported he was born at Caro Michigan. Both of these were in Tuscola County, about 10 miles apart. Maybe he was born on a farm somewhere between them.

At the time of the 1900 census James appeared in the household of his parents as a 7 year old who had attended school. Also in the household was his one sister Gladys, spelled there as Gladdis, and his 65 year old grandmother Hulda Shipman. They were living at Metamora in Lapeer County Michigan. Lapeer was the next county south of Tuscola. His father was working as a farm laborer. By 1910 the family had moved back to Tuscola County, and 17 year old James was shown with his parents and sister in Wells Township. His occupation was farmer, working out. This entry was dated 15 Apr 1910, but he was probably the same 17 year old James Shipman listed in the entry dated 11 May 1910 in Tuscola Township in Tuscola County. There he was 1 of 2 hired men in the household of William Boardman, a dairy farmer. Then it was the next month, 4 Jun 1910 when James L. Shipman married Laura P. Frisbie. James listed his age as 18, (he probably was just 17) and Laura was 17 and had her father's consent. He listed his place of residence as Wilmot, working on a farm.

When he registered for the draft for World War I in 1917, he claimed exemption because he had a wife and 3 children to support. They were living at 779 Coplin in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. Jame was working in real estate for Higgins Real Estate Company. For the 1920 census they appear to have moved down the street for their address was 671 Coplin Ave. James and Laura then had 4 children, 3 daughters: Maxine, Donna and Geraldine and 1 son, Lester James who was 11/12 years old. By now James was working as a mechanic for a motor company.

I have not yet found James in the 1930 census, however I did find Laura as the head of a household living at 14811 Lozier Ave in Detroit. She was marked as divorced. There were now 5 children, with the youngest, Wayne at age 5. The two oldest girls were working, Maxine as a telephone operator and Donna as a cashier for a theater box office. In 1940 Laura was still in Detroit at a different address, working as a hospital maid, with only her youngest son, 15 year old Walter W in the household. On 6 Aug 1942, Laura remarried to Leon W. Livermore. She died in Florida 22 Jan 1986.

James was on the 1940 census in Cortland, DeKalb County, Illinois working as a farm operator. Cortland was a small town as Wikipedia gives the 1940 population as 230. James had remarried to Alice Katherine Klemm 2 Feb 1928 at Oregon, Illinois. They had 2 children, Katherine in 1932 and Alice Marie in 1934. Alice Marie died in 1935 before her 1st birthday. Katherine was in the household in 1940 age 7, along with her 21 year old half-brother, Lester. When James registered for the World War II Draft in 1942, he was living at Maple Park in DeKalb County, but was working at Hammond Indiana for the Pullman Standard Car Manufacturing Company.

It was just a few more years before James died, 10 Jun 1945, at Tinley Park, Cook County, Illinois. He was buried at Saint Marys Catholic Cemetery, Maple Park, DeKalb County, Illinois. His widow Alice, who died in 1969, was also buried there.

Rosa's Cousins - Wendel D. Spaulding

If you have been reading this series about Rosa's Cousins, you may have noticed all those I have already done have been female. So for the next two, which are 1/2 1st cousins to Rosa, I plan to write about some males.

According to the Social Security Death Index, Wendel Spaulding was born 29 May 1903 and died Dec 1965. So he would have died at age 62. He was the son of John and Mary Jane (Shipman) Spaulding. Mary Jane was a half-sister to Rosa's father, Joshua Rodney Shipman. They shared the same father, but different mothers.

Wendel first appeared on a U.S. census in 1910 as a 6 year old with his parents and an uncle (Henry F. Spaulding) in Indianfields Township, Tuscola County, Michigan. Wendel seems to have been a late in life baby as his two older sisters, Nellie and Jennie, were over 20 years older than he was. When Wendel was 16 the 1920 census taken in January showed the family living at 243 East Grant Street in Caro in Tuscola County. Then Caro had a population of about 2700. I find it interesting that I was able to visit the Tuscola County Courthouse which was located in Caro. Wendel's father was working as a driver for a creamery and Wendal's occupation was listed as manager for a creamery station.

Apparently it was the same year, 20 Oct 1920, when Wendel was married for the 1st time to a woman named Ethel. This was shown on a divorce record which was granted 25 Oct 1928 in Saginaw Michigan where Wendel was living then. Saginaw was about 30 miles west of Caro in the next county. There had been no children from this marriage. It was a little over a month later, 1 Dec 1928 when Wendel married Lula E. Miers. The 1930 census showed them living in Saginaw at 2411 Deindorfer Street with one child, Donna M. age 4/12. Here Wendel's occupation was projectionist for the movies. It appears there were more children born to Wendel and Lulu, but it seems that this marriage didn't last because Wendel married again in Steuben County, Indiana 8 Jun 1937 to Irene Bush. Wendel and Irene were on the 1940 census in Saginaw at 1815 State Street, with 2 children in the household, Donna age 10 and Shirley age 7. Then Wendel was working on his own account as an operator of a gas station [and] parking lot. In the 1939 Saginaw city directory he was listed as an auto mechanic and in 1941 it showed filling station. But Wendel and Irene did not stay together either as their divorce was granted 9 Nov 1945.

It was just a little over 20 years later when Wendel died in Dec 1965. He was buried in Pleasanton Township Cemetery in Manistee County, Michigan.

Rosa's Cousins - Jennie Is a Mystery

The Shipman Family History listed one of Rosa's Cousins as Jennie Shipman (Conroy) Kelley. It listed her as a child of Lucy Ann Shipman Conroy who had married Patrick Conroy. Jennie was shown with a birth date of 1864 and a death date of 26 Dec 1926 and a marriage to William H. Kelley 22 May 1880.

I found a digital image of Jennie's death certificate from Michigan. The informant was her husband of 46 years, William Kelly. This certificate showed her parents as John Peters and Helen (unknown). What did this mean? Was Lucy not her mother? In Jennie's obituary, it stated that she died at the home of her uncle, William Shipman. William was Lucy's half-brother. In Lucy's obituary from 1914, it stated that one of her survivors was one daughter, Mrs. Jennie Kelley of Jefferson, Ohio.

What could the census tell me?

Looking at Jennie:

• In 1920 in Gladwin County Michigan Jennie and William had their son Waldo's family and a 92 year old man named John R Peters in their household. The relationship listed for John Peters was none.
• In 1910 in Ashtabula County Ohio the head of the household was their son Willie with his wife, Jennie and William and John P. Peters. Here John (age 82) was listed by Jennie's son as his grandfather.
• In 1900 in Crawford County Pennsylvania the Kelley household was Jennie and William and their 2 children: Wallie and Mabel.
• In 1880 in Ashtabula County Ohio there was a William H. Kelley age 26, single in the household of his parents.
• In 1880 in Ashtabula County Ohio there was a Jennie Peters age 16 in the household of John and Marion H. Peters. She was listed as adopted daughter.
• In 1870 in Ashtabula County Ohio there was a Jane Peters age 6 in the household of John and Helen Peters. The 1870 census did not list relationships.

Looking at Lucy:

• In 1910 in Clare County Michigan Patrick and Lucy were working in a household with their 13 year old son. Lucy was married 19 years, had had 3 children, 2 living. This would make her marriage to Patrick about 1891.
• In 1900 in Clare County Michigan Lucy was Lucy Conroy with Patrick Conroy and a 3 year old son Harry. Lucy was married 14 years and had 1 child. This would change the marriage date to about 1896. I haven't yet found a marriage record.
• In 1880, I haven't found Lucy. I not sure what name to search for.
• In 1870 in Tuscola County Michigan in the household of Joseph Shipman, Lucy's father, was a Lucy Bunsen, age 23. Some family trees have listed a marriage to a Bronson.
• In 1860 in Ashtabula County Ohio in Joseph Shipman's household was Lucy Shipman, age 13 and in 1850 Lucy was 3.

On August 23rd I wrote a post about Rosa's cousin Irene Chase who wrote her a letter in 1877 from Ashtabula County Ohio. In that letter (which I transcribed) Irene mentions visiting Jennie Peters. This very well may be the same Jennie.

Currently my conclusion is that Jennie was Rosa's 1st cousin and my 1st cousin 3 times removed. From the 2 obituaries, she was the daughter of Lucy and an unknown father. Patrick Conroy does not seem probable. Jennie was adopted by John and Helen Peters, whether this was a legal adoption I am not sure. As an old man, John was living with her family.

If anyone has more information I would love to hear about it.

Rosa's Cousins - Carrie Wright

One of Rosa's 1st cousins on her Shipman side of the family was Carrie Wright. So Carrie was my 1st cousin 3 times removed. She was born in Ohio 24 Nov 1864 to Thompson and Philena (Shipman) Wright.

The family moved to Missouri for awhile and Carrie appeared on the 1870 census as a 5 year old with her parents in Mooresville Township, Livingston County, Missouri. By the 1880 census they had moved back to Ohio, to Perry Township, Lake County. Carrie was now 15 and had completed the 8th grade and was working as a school teacher. She now had a younger sister in the household, Ettie, age 9. The census stated that Ettie was attending school. I wonder if Carrie was her teacher. Their uncle James Wright, their father's brother, was also in the household.

Carrie was married to Charles Reed 3 Nov 1896. She and Charles were living with his brother and mother in 1900, still in Perry Township, Lake County. Carrie and Charles' only daughter, Charlene Elsie Reed was born 30 May 1903 and was listed with them on the 1910 census as a 6 year old.

Before the 1920 census Carrie's widowed mother, Philena, came to live with them. Her mother died in Feb 1922, then Charles died in April of that same year. So Carrie and her daughter moved to the city of Painesville before the 1930 census. They were living at 41 Orchard Grove and C. Elsie was working as a stenographer for a health center. They continued to live there in 1935 and for the 1940 census, when Charlene E. was working as a secretary. It was about 2 months after the census was taken in April that Carrie died 29 Jun 1940. She was buried next to her husband in the Evergreen Cemetery in Painesville.

This is the obituary published in the Painesville Telegraph on 2 Jul 1940.

Her daughter Charlene Elsie Reed never married and died 15 May 1990 in Cuyahoga County Ohio and was buried in the Evergreen Cemetery where her parents were buried.

Rosa's Cousins - Shipman Family

For the past 4 days I have written about Rosa's Cousins from her mother's side of the family, the Chases. Next I plan to write about her father's side of the family, the Shipmans.

Her father, Joshua Rodney Shipman, had at least 4 full siblings and 4 half-siblings, as his mother, Mary Carey, died when J. R. was about 15 and his father remarried.

A family history was published in 1962 by the Shipman Historical Society, The Shipman Family in America, compiled by Mrs. Wayne A. Carl (Rita Shipman), Mrs. Egerton Crispin (Angela Shipman), and Mr. & Mrs. William Henry Shipman.

This history shows the following names for those who would have been Rosa's 1st cousins:

Carrie (Wright) Reed

Etta (Wright) Fobes

Ella (Brown) Adams

Jennie Shipman (Conroy) Kelley

Then it lists those who would have been 1/2 1st cousins:

Nellie (Spaulding) Dickinson Wright

Jennie (Spaulding) VanGeisen Howell

Wendell Spaulding

James Lester Shipman

Gladys Anna (Shipman) McDurmon

Alta (Sommerville) Bowling

I plan to choose 4 from these two groups and write about them over the next 4 days. Watch and see who I choose.