1788 Marriage Bond For David Foreman and Elizabeth Horine.

American colonists brought the practice of marriage bonds with them from England. Dating back to the 14th century, the Church of England allowed couples to marry by license, but most couples married by banns. The public reading of banns in the church was done for three weeks, asking if anyone knew a reason the couple shouldn’t marry. Those seeking privacy for their marriage or wanting to hurry it up could obtain a license instead. But to marry by license, the couple were obliged to pay a fee and fill out a marriage allegation and bond.

Marriage bonds were usually filed with the bride’s county of residence. The marriage usually took place a day or a few days after the date on the bond. The certificate was not always returned after the marriage.

The best translation I can give you for the document shown above is:

Know all men by these presents that we, David Foreman and Michael Horine are held and firmly bound unto his Excellency the Governor of Virginia in the sum of Fifty pounds current money. To which payment well and truly to be made, ambient to the said Governor and his successor we bind our selves our Heirs (emblem – executors and administrators). Jointly and severally firmly by these presents sealed with our seals and dated this 18th day of April 1788. The Condition of the above obligation is such that whereas there is a marriage shortly intended between the above bound David Foreman and Elizabeth Horine for which a license has issued. Now if there be no lawful cause to obstruct the said marriage then this obligation to be void or else to Remain in full force.

Explanations:

1st line: David Foreman – groom, aged 33; Michael Horine aged 38 – brother of Elizabeth (Eli) Horine aged 25. The parents had died before the immigration to the colonies of Michael, George, Jacob, Barbara and Elizabeth Horine.

2nd line: ‘Excellency the Governor of Virginia’; The Colony of Virginia (Commenwealth of Virginia) entered the colonies in 1624 and became the 10th state to the union June 25, 1788, the year of the marriage bond. The existing settlements in nine counties that developed in Virginia’s Kentucky County, including Lincoln County, became the state of Kentucky in 1792. During all of these major changes Lincoln County was partitioned in 1785. The new county became Mercer County. The first census in 1790 shows David Foreman a citizen of Mercer County. Thus the pledge to “Excellency the Governor of Virginia’ and marriage bond in Lincoln County and not Mercer County. The term ‘current money’ is pretty clear!

3rd line: The explanation in the 2nd line best reveals why ‘ambient to the said Governor and his successors’ was used to make legal the activities during the formation of the state of Kentucky during this major change in history.

In 1788, Lincoln County, Kentucky, like other areas at that time, would have utilized marriage bonds as part of the marriage process. A marriage bond was a type of surety bond. It essentially served as a guarantee that there were no legal impediments such as being underage or already married, to the intended marriage.

Additional research has made clear why Virginia wanted to separate from the land that became Kentucky. The mountain ranges! Access was impossible. Then came Daniel Boone. He made the road through the mountains. I encourage you to read about the history of Kentucky, it is very exciting!

*This research was supported by findings of Diana Elder, AG and Nicole Dyer, mother and daughter professional genealogists and the original documents for the Marriage Bond and Marriage License available on FamilySearch.

Missouri Founding Farms

I was searching for information on Michael Horine the other day. He is the older brother of Elizabeth Horine Foreman, my immigrant 4th great grandmother. I knew Michael had left Kentucky and settled in Missouri and I knew he died in Missouri. This is what I found:

To celebrate Missouri’s bicentennial, Missouri Farm Bureau partnered with University of Missouri Extension. They also collaborated with the University of Missouri’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. Their goal was to find farms. Farms that have been in continuous operation within one family since before Missouri’s statehood.

As part of the Century Farm program in 2021, we recognized a special category of 30 Founding Farms. These are Century Farms that have been in the same family continuously since 1821 or earlier.

Even before the declaration of statehood, farmers were tilling the soil. They harvested trees and floated lumber down our great rivers. This helped build the communities that were taking root on the far western edge of the new nation’s frontier.

From those first farm settlements to today’s enterprising operations, our state’s proud agricultural, ranching, and entrepreneurial traditions are alive. Farm families have been essential to Missouri’s growth. They have also contributed significantly to our nation’s development.

Notice the block marked with yellow, The Horine Homestead, 1803. This farm is still owned and operated by the Horine family. Guess that’s worth taking a drive to go see in this Show Me state!

2023 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – OOP’S

Often times I go off track. It costs me a lot of time. The latest off track adventure was the story of John Coll and his two sons Emmet and Burke Coll.

The names of about 20 Franciscan Sisters at St. Clare’s Orphanage were listed on an extracted page of the 1900 census for Arapahoe County. The orphanage was at 951, 50th St. in what is now Denver. (Denver became a county in 1904) The list of children was in a mixed order by age and alphabet. What caught my eye was Emmet Coll age 3 and Burke Coll age 1. What was their story? Where were their parents?

I switched to Ancestry and entered the name of Burke Coll. His date of birth is Oct 25 1898. I got a hit, and 2 days later, I have the answers to my questions.

John Joseph Coll was an inventor and miner. Born in 1863 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. In the 1885 Iowa census at age 21 he was living as a boarder in the Tyron household. John married Sarah C. Tyron, 14 is 1885 in Keokuk, Lee County, Iowa. Sarah was 17 years old. They moved to Colorado and in 1896 Emmet Coll was born and in 1898 Thomas Burke Coll was born. Sarah Tyron heads for California and I found her death date in Los Angeles in 1958. Meanwhile, John age 37, marries 17 year old Maude Exline in Lyons, Boulder County, Colorado on March 11, 1900. The 1900 census shows the boys, Emmet and Burke, in the orphanage. John and Maude lived at 908 13th Street in Denver.

Late in 1904, John and Maude moved with their 2 boys to Hot Springs, South Dakota. In Hot Springs, daughter Mary was born. Another son, James Joseph Coll, was also born there. John became a part owner of the Totem in Deadwood, South Dakota. His occupation is still listed as Miner and Inventor.

By 1910 the family is living in Lovelock, Nevada. John is 47, Mary (Maude) is 27, The children are Emmet 13, Thomas Burke 11, Mary M. 4 and James Joseph 1. John and Maude divorce, she marries someone named Carlberg and moves to California. John at age 78 is living with his daughter Mary’s family in Sparks, Nevada.

THE BOYS

Emmet Coll dropped out of school. In 1914, at age 18, he is a hobo. He travels the rails in California with a gang of 7 other men. In Alameda, California, they got drunk and during a fight Emmet stabs K. C. Kid (Kansas City Kid) an itinerant whose body was found hacked in a winery near Livermore August 2, 1914. Emmet is arrested for “Murd 1st Deg.” He admits to the horrible deed. He is sentenced to life at Folsom prison near Sacramento. The judge made clear the convict had no remorse. The judge tried to contact Emmet’s father but received no response. Inmate #9242 was 5’6″, fair, gray eyes and brown hair. The 1920, 1930 and 1940 census show Emmet is indeed in Folsom prison. I couldn’t find him in the 1950 census. I am not sure if prison inmates were part of the census or a special “institution” section. The photo below is from the Inmate Photographs and Mug Book.

Second child Thomas Burke Coll was born on 25 Oct 1898 in Denver. He moves with the family to Hot Springs, South Dakota in 1904. The South Dakota 1905 census shows Burke as 6 years old. By 1910 the family is in Lovelock, Nevada and Burke is 11. The WWI registration puts Burke in Aurora, Illinois as a farmer. In 1919, he is in Sparks, Nevada working for the railroad as a supplyman. The 1920 census shows Burke in Reno, Nevada, working as a Stone Keeper for the railroad, age 21. By 1927 he marries Vera Magee in Denver. The two head to Detroit where Burke gets a job at the Detroit Truck Plant.

In 1935, Vera files for divorce from 37 year old Thomas Burke Coll for extreme and repeated cruelty. They have no children.

1942 he registers for the WWII draft. He is described as medium height, medium color, 150 lbs and 5’8″.

He did re-marry, a lady named Sarah Wrangham. Social Security records indicate he died in November of 1964. Doesn’t say where.

The younger half sister of these two boys was Mary. She married and had several children. She settled in Sparks, Nevada, and died at age 52 of cirrhosis of the liver. Never found anything on the last child James Joseph Coll. Ran out of time. Two days was enough of this sad story.

Ancestry provides information on others researching this tree. But, most people had less information than I did for them. Spelling of the name Coll, Call and Cole seemed to be where people stopped looking.

Everyone has a story, good or bad. I sure hope someone from the Coll family puts this all together and finds a happy ending. I’m thinking the boys would have been better off in the orphanage.

Need to stop going off track!

2023 – 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Out Of Place

Someone is out of place in the 1860 census in Fulton, Rock County, Wisconsin. I don’t know if it is Edwin R. Squires or Mary Salina (Kenyon) Squires. (My Great, Great Grandparents on my mother’s side).

Mary Salina is listed as a Squires which would make them married. I don’t have a marriage certificate from Wisconsin but other census records show marriage as 1858 or 1860. Obviously a task for me is to get the right date for their marriage.

In 1860 Salina Squires is listed in the household of John Robertson. I have never found a connection between the Robertsons from Scotland and the Squires or Kenyons. But there on the Robertson farm is Salina Squires age 19 with 6 month old baby Charlotte.

The 1860 census was taken on the 19th of June for both Edwin and Mary Salina (Kenyon) Squires. She was just visiting the Robertson’s on that day of the census. The 1860 census does not show the relationship to the head of household as in other census records. It also does not distinguish between married and single.

Another sticking point for me is the listing of Andrew Sisson in the John Robertson household. Andrew is 11 years old. He is the son of Euphemia Sisson, who was widowed just prior to the census of 1860. Euphemia is the sister of Sabrina (Scofield) Squires, Edwin’s mother. It might be safe to assume that Andrew was taken in by the Robertson household. His father had died, and he would be a laborer for the Robertson family.

Edwin Squires shares the 1860 census page with many relatives of his mother, Sabrina (Scofield) Squires. Euphemia Sisson is sister to Sabrina, Anna Wheeler is sister to Sabrina. Their parents Levi and Charity Scofield are on this page also Sabrina’s brother, John Scofield is on this same page. That means they all lived “next door” or at least “next farm” to each other.

In 1862 Edwin left Wisconsin to join the union army and served in the Civil War until 1865. Mary Salina (Kenyon) Squires and Edwin are listed in the 1870 census with their children. Their children are Hattie (Charlotte) and Ira (should read Iva). Mary Ivadine Squires was known to our grandmother as “aunt Ivy.”

You can understand my confusion with who was with who and at what time. I leave it to my imagination.

Another interesting point is in 1892. Edwin and Mary Salina lived in Colorado Springs. Mary filed for a government pension because Edwin was an invalid. His invalidity was a result of his service in the Civil War. She also filed a petition for pension in 1906 when Edwin died.

2023 – 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Favorite Photo

My favorite photo.

What in the world is this about?

I have had this photo for about 20 years. I know it is from my husbands paternal ancestors who were Jewish, immigrating from Russia to St. Louis, Missouri in the 1880’s. There is no writing, watermarks or identification on this photo and no living relatives to provide information.

On Facebook I use a site focused on Jewish research ‘Tracing The Tribe’. When I shared this photo, I asked them several questions. One question was if there is a possibility that a particular event would cause a man to dress like this. Is there any symbolic clues in this photo? Is it possible to date this photo from the clothing?

Someone was thoughtful enough to colorize the photo.

The combined assistance from over 70 responses from people interested in this photo included 1) A man dressed for the Purim celebration. 2) A carnival or board walk photo and 3) Possible entertainment using cross dressing which was used in the late 1880’s and 1890’s.

I did not understand the justification for the Purim celebration. I am not Jewish and do not understand what happens for Purim.

I agree with those who suggested this was a painted station. You would place your head in a circle and a photograph was taken. The St. Louis World Fair was in 1904 in the time period for this dated dressing style.

Many of the buildings used for exhibitions at the fair were not completed by the time it opened. Thus, the planners provided a large venue for ‘boardwalk’ type entertaining, food, and drink.

I checked with the well liked ‘tineye.com’ site and received no match.

Several messages from members of Tracing The Tribe described similar photos in their family history photo collections.

I don’t have a good answer. It sure was fun sharing this photo with members of Tracing The Tribe. I received so many thoughtful responses from all over the world.

2023 – 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – ‘I’d Like To Meet – Zeruah Wallace Squires

I’d like to meet . . .

Zeruah Wallace Squires, born 27 May 1778 in Connecticut; died 27 Aug 1867.

Zeruah Wallace Squires

TREE: Me>Evelyn Grace Hancock Stalter>Mary Frances Foreman Hancock>Grace Irene Squires Foreman>Edwin R. Squires>Levi Squires> Zeruah Wallace Squires wife of Ebenezer Warner Squires.

It took me years to find the mother of Levi Squires. He was an early settler of Porter, Rock County, Wisconsin.

The first clue I found was her headstone in the Fassett Cemetery in Edgerton, Wisconsin. This is the city where her grandson Edwin Squires and his family lived. But without her maiden name it was very difficult to find more clues. As more records were added to Ancestry I found the connection. Her parents were Richard Wallace and Bathsheba Rich. Her name was spelled differently on many of the research sources. Sometimes it was Zuruah, or Zaruah, sometimes Zurvia, and sometimes Surriah. I settled for the name on her headstone which is Zeruah.

I knew her husband, Ebenezer Warner Squires died in 1855. The Federal census for 1850 shows Ebenezer and Zeruah in Caldwell, Warren County, New York. They were living with their 34-year-old son, also named Ebenezer Warner Squires (identified as Warner). He was with his wife Mariah and their 3 small children. To get more information to find her in the 1860 census I followed her son Warner Squires. Turns out she shows up living with he and his family in Anoka, Minnesota. Zeruah was 82 years old in 1860. She died in 1867 at age 89. I know she is buried in Edgerton, Wisconsin. Yet, I don’t know for sure if she died in Minnesota or Wisconsin. These little things bother me intensely.

I would like to meet her to ask about her life. She was born in 1778 in Connecticut, during the Revolutionary War. Did her father take the family to Vermont to avoid the travesty of the war? Did he lose his farm in Connecticut during the war? Did he have to take the family to Vermont for their safety? Did she know she was a direct descendant of a Mayflower passenger?

Did she meet Ebenezer Warner Squires in Vermont? His family was there because his father, Gideon Squires, was a Loyalist. They lost their farm in Connecticut. The family then went to Vermont. After the war the Squires settled in Glens Falls, New York. Zeruah and Ebenezer were married in Caldwell, Warren County, New York. They appeared to live there longer than any other location.

What was it like to watch the new world develop and be a part of what became the United States? Even in the mid to late 1800’s she did a lot of traveling. Connecticut to Vermont, Vermont to New York. New York to Minnesota. How difficult was it to leave one home and go west to search for a new home? What did she cherish the most. How often did she see her children and grandchildren. Even though Warner and Levi were brothers Warner was in Minnesota and Levi was in Wisconsin.

So many questions, maybe some day one of the Squires descendants will find the answers.

Comments

https://www.ancestrycdn.com/aps-pub/live/2022092075050966/pub-storage.html?v=2022092075050966

The Antecedent Ascendent

Grace E. Stalter and Grace E. Stalter

When Grace E. Stalter was born on August 24, 1899, in Stony Point, New York, her father, Jacob, was 45. Her mother, Sarah, was 34 (my paternal great grandparents). Grace had five brothers and four sisters. She died as a child on 22 Oct 1910. She was 11 years old. She died from typhoid fever when the family lived in Sunny Slope, Oklahoma. Her mother Sarah died a week earlier on 15 Oct 1910 of typhoid fever. Grace and Sarah are buried in Bristow, Oklahoma.

Grace Evelyn Hancock was born on January 31, 1925, in Arvada, Colorado. Her father, Bernard, was 21 at the time. Her mother, Mary Frances, was 19. She married Jerry Frimpter Stalter on 20 Aug 1944, thus becoming Grace E. Stalter, my mother. They had four children together. She died on January 2, 2001, in Englewood, Colorado, at the age of 75, and is buried in Denver, Colorado.

Henry Clay Hancock

Henry Clay Hancock

Henry Clay Hancock was born 20 October, 1842 in Newark, Licking County, Ohio, making tomorrow his 180th birthday. He died 12 Jan 1912 in Narka, Republic County, Kansas. Narka was a small town, about 1700 people in 1901, about 40 people live there now. I connected with my 4th cousin Cynthia Bever Wilson to learn more about the Hancock family. She has a lot of photos and has been very generous in sharing her research. Henry Clay is 2nd great grandfather to Cynthia and to me.

Henry married Theresa Jane Frary on 25 February 1869 near Chillicothe, Illinois.

Theresa Jane Frary on the right, her sister on the left.

From Cynthia Bever Wilson “My second great grandmother Theresa Frary was born in Peoria County, Illinois, on March 22, 1849. She was born in a log cabin. She taught school before she married Henry Clay Hancock on February 25, 1869 near Chillocothe, Illinois. She loved to dance, though she forbade her daughter to do so! Her husband was not her first love. A boy slipped a ring on her finger before he went off to the Civil War. She promised to wait for him. Sadly, he was one of those who was never to return. The ring was still on her finger when she died and it was worn to a mere thread of gold. She had 7 children and she died November 16, 1932 in Narka, Kansas.“

In 1901, Henry’s name is in the Roll of Honor for the Republic County’s Corn Jamboree. According to Isaac O. Savage, author of ‘A History of Republic County, Kansas‘ published in 1901, Henry joined hundreds of local businesses. These businesses and farmers united to support the greatest affair of the kind ever held in the state. By doing so, he contributed to the pleasure and enjoyment of his fellow citizens. Thousands of them attended over the two days. Henry’s contribution included donating ‘yellow dent corn’ from his Albion township farm.

Theresa and Henry Clay Hancock

When Henry died in 1912, his youngest son James Rosser or ‘Ross’ lived with his mother. Ross died in 1929. The 1930 census shows Theresa stayed in Narka but died in 1932.

Her son Nathan Brink Hancock, father of my grandfather Bernard Hancock lived in Lincoln, Nebraska. ‘Brink’ as he was called, had remarried after Lulu Brace requested a divorce in 1910, to Anna J. Becker. They had a son Leland Merle, born in 1919 and died in 2006 in Lincoln, Nebraska. My research indicates Leland Hancock has two sons.

What makes me sad is that neither Henry Clay Hancock nor Theresa Hancock ever new their grandson Bernard Hancock. It wasn’t for lack of trying. Brink came to Colorado to find Lulu Hancock when she filed for divorce. He did not find her according to a sister of Brink. I’m sure they would have been proud of their grandson, Brink’s son, if they had known him.

Henry Clay Hancock

Bernard And Frances Hancock Centennial Wedding Anniversary – 100 Years September 29, 1922 – September 29, 2022

Bernard Floyd Hancock and Mary Frances Foreman were married on September 29, 1922. They are better known to me and my cousins as Grandpa and Grandma Hancock. A Justice of the Peace married them in Jefferson County, Colorado. The photo on the right in the middle row below is their 50th wedding anniversary photo. It appeared in the daily newspaper in Denver, Colorado.

“Happy Anniversary!”

We love you and we miss you. You are forever in our heart and soul.

The Name That Sticks In Your Brain

I use Ancestry almost every day to check hints for new information. My Ancestry Tree has just over 8000 ancestors, their photos and stories. I don’t put all my ancestors in the tree, only those that are directly ‘blood’ related. If a 4x Great Grandmother had 12 children, I only include the child that is ‘my line’. Sometimes I look at the profiles and facts of siblings. I do this only to clarify information. I check if they were really colorful people and would make a good story!

Since I first began collecting all this information the name Fanny Jane Raymond has stuck in my mind. Fanny Jane Raymond is actually my 3x Great Grandmother. On my father’s side. He only spoke about his father and mother. I really didn’t know anything about these early New Yorker’s.

Ancestry recently sent me new hints for Fanny Jane Raymond, the name I can’t forget, yet knew nothing about. Ancestry acquires all kinds of data bases so this didn’t really surprise me until I started looking through the hints. Again the names were the clue for me.

So this is how the branch develops:

Me, Jerry Frimpter Stalter > Perry Hunt Stalter > Sara Jane Frimpter > Margaret Coe > Fannie Jane Raymond> Henry Uriah Raymond > Capt. Uriah Raymond > James Raymond > Elizabeth Christophers > John Christophers > Elizabeth Brewster > Jonathan Brewster > and William Brewster IV.

When the name appears 3 times or more you start noticing the pattern. Raymond, Christophers and Brewster started ringing bells. It turns out the Brewsters are the “William Brewster” Elder, ‘Father’ of the Mayflower Puritans, also their first Governor.

William Brewster IV was born in 1566 in England. He organized a group of separatists from the Church of James I, which had become very Catholic. They worshiped in Williams home. William tried to flee to Leiden, Holland but was caught and imprisoned. He spent a good deal of time and a lot of money to gain his freedom. Afterward, he continued his journey to Holland. In Holland, he organized other separatists to hire the Mayflower for a trip to the New World.

So this makes the 3rd Mayflower ancestor in my family. George Soule on the Squires family side and James Chilton on the Hancock/Brace side. Now the Stalter’s have William Brewster. Google William Brewster. Learn more about the Mayflower and what they went through from the signing of the Compact. Discover the changes that split the Puritans in their early history in New England.

As in most cultures the difference of opinion about governance and religion is an ever changing atmosphere. William Bradford and William Brewster disagreed on many policies. Roger Williams (also in my family tree) then came along. He led a group of the Pilgrim Puritans to a new colony. They wanted to live a life less managed by religion and law.

Then there were the native Indians. Initially, they were friendly. But, they were later cheated by the immigrants. As a result, many conflicts arose, and deaths were prominent in the family around 1678.

So look for more stories about the Brewster’s and others that were so important to our history. I know I can find some interesting things these next few months.

Oh, Fannie Jane Raymond died August 15, 1900. Just found that info today. Do you think this is a sign?