52 Ancestors #12: Eliza Jane Bailey Tate (1851-1926) – in which I come to a realization!

Eliza Jane Bailey was born on July 16, 1851 to John  (~1816 - 1958) and Maria(Williams) Bailey (~1816- after 1900). She is my 2nd-great grand-aunt, sister to my 2nd-great-grandfather Edward C. Bailey. In 1950 her parents lived in Mifflin County PA and her father was a blacksmith. She was the 5th child (the first after the 1950 census) of eight, and the third of four daughters. Her siblings were John W.  (abt 1843-1864), Anna Mary (abt 1845 - ?bef 1860?), Lydia Maria (abt 1847 - ?), EdwardCarleton (1849-1926), Richard Howard (abt 1853-1935), James A (1855-?), and Rebecca Ella (abt 1858 – 1926).

Jackson Township Huntingdon PA (approx 1870)

She first showed up on a federal census in 1860 in Jackson Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, with her mother, her sisters Lydia and Rebecca Ella, and her brother James; she was 10. In or about 1868 she married Mordecai M. Tate also of Huntingdon County, PA. She was about 17 and he was about 19 (which means he probably lied about his age to get into the Union Army, in February 1864. He was wounded at Cold Harbor VA on June 3, 1864 and mustered out a couple months later). In the 1870 census he said he was a carpenter; in later years, he identified himself as a salesman (1880) and as a wagon-maker (1900). Eliza kept house and did all the cooking and home-making chores.

The couple had five children:  Eleanor Tate (1868-1941), Cora (Tate) Stewart  (1871 – aft 1941), Howard J (1874 - aft 1941), Maud A (1875 - ?), and Alabama C (1877- aft 1941). She and Mordecai lived their entire married life in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. She was visited by family. Her sister Lydia was visiting when the 1870 census was taken, and her brother James was boarding with the family when the 1900 census, as was Maria Hober (85). This has led me to postulate that Maria Hober/Huber is her & James’ mother. Remember, James and Ella were living with Samuel and “Mariah” Huber in 1870. It makes more sense that their mother married Samuel Huber than it does that they were placed with two unrelated people at the ages of 14 and 12. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before.

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Detail of 1900 Census, Modecai  & Eliza J. Tate household

In 1910, when Mordecai is 65 and Eliza is 62, Mordecai indicated on the census that he had his own income. He may be referring to the military pension he applied for in 1907; if so, as a corporal, he received $8.00 a month. Their daughter, Eleanor, is living with them, in the home at the time. In 1920, Eliza (70) and Mordecai (72), share their home with their daughters Eleanor, who was a nurse in a private home, and Alabama, an artist. Both women remain single.

Eliza died in 1926 at age 75. I don’t know the exact date she died. I did note that three of the original Bailey siblings died that year: Eliza, Ella, and Edward. Her husband, Mordecai, outlived her, as in the 1930 census, he is 80 and living with their daughters  Eleanor  (61), and Alabama (52) ,who is now a nurse. He died at age 88, in 1935. Both he and Eliza are buried in the McAlevys White Church Presbyterian Cemetery.

I'd like to find more detail about Eliza's life

I'd also like to find more details to explain why Eliza's mother was listed as a boarder in Eliza's home  in the 1900 census.

I'd also like to know when she died and why.

[Sources: Federal censuses 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920; http://www.pa-roots.com/pacw/infantry/45th/45thcoc.html; History of the 45th regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer by Allen Diehl Albert. Grit Publishing Co., Williamsport PA 1912.; http://pacivilwar150.com/ThroughPeople/Soldiers/HistoricalOverview]

52 Ancestors: #9 James A. Bailey (1855 - ?), Man of Mystery

Posted with permission of Christina Inman
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This post is my 9th in Amy Johnson Crow's challenge to write about 52 Ancestors in 52 weekls. For more details about the challenge and a weekly roundup of all those posts of those participating in the challenge, click on the badge over on the right margin.

James A Bailey was my maternal grandfather's mother's father's youngest brother, or, one of my maternal 2nd-great-grand-uncle's: brother of Edward C. Bailey  and Rebecca Ella Bailey. He has been a man of mystery for me. For the longest time my only proof that he existed has been my great-grandmother's notes, which say, in pertinent part, "Papa also had a brother James who bred "fine" Kentucky horses....Papa's brother Jim never married. He liked to make money and was very nice looking."  And in the batch of photographs sent to me by my newly discovered cousin was this
this photograph (which says on the back: "Uncle Jim, Papa's brother, Oil Well Man, also a breeder of fine Kentucky horses").

I'm glad that I spent last week tracking down his sisters as I doubt that I would have found as much as I have about him without knowing about their lives, in general. One thing I found answered a question I'd been unable to answer when I did Ella's story last week, but in answering that question, it opened up so many more!

James A. Bailey was the fourth and youngest son of John and Maria Bailey; his only younger sibling was Rebecca Ella (known as "Ella"). He was born in December 1855 and his younger sister was born in 1858. I first found him on the 1860 census with his mother and three of his sisters, Lydia, Eliza Jane, and Ella, living in Jackson Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. I don't know where his father* or any of his brothers are that year. Although I do know that at least two of his brothers will serve in the Civil War in the next few years, and the oldest will die in it.

When I wrote about Ella I told you that I'd lost her until she married her husband in 1881, but I found both James and Ella in the 1870 Census, mainly because they were together and the ages were appropriate.  James and Ella are living in the home of Samuel Huber, 55, a tailor, and his wife, Mariah, also 55, and their son, William, who is 16, still in Jackson Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. James, although only 14, and the son are listed as "laborer" and Ellie as "at home". Does this mean that both their parents are dead? I haven't been able to find out yet.**

James next appears in the 1880 Census at age 23, in Bradford City, McKean County, Pennsylvania.  He is a boarder in the home of S.R. (32) and Naomi Hershman (29). Both men drill oil wells for a living.

As we all know the 1890 Census doesn't exist, and I next found him in the 1900 Census, when he was 44 and still single. He was listed as a boarder in the home of  his sister Eliza Jane (48) and her husband Mordecai Tate (50) and their two daughters Maud, age 25, and Alabama [poor girl!], age 22, in Jackson Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Mordecai is a wagon-maker and James still identifies himself as an oil well driller.

And that is the last I've been able to find him so far. I've not found anything about breeding horses either. I sort of surmise that he has died by 1926 as Edward's obituary lists only one surviving sibling: Richard. But then, they could have lost track of him too. I am continuing to look but that's all I have as of this posting. If you know anything about James A. Bailey, or anyone in my blog, I would love to hear from you!

[*UPDATE: I have since found out that James' father died in 1858, per his mother's request for a pension based on his brother John's Union Army service, See Mariah/Maria William Bailey Huber's story.
**UPDATE: I don't know why it took me so long to figure this out: in 1870, James and Ella are living with their Mother and her new husband, Samuel Huber. See Mariah's story, above link, and Eliza Jane's story.]  

I plan:
to look in Kentucky
to trace the Huber family a bit to see if I can determine whether they are related to John or Maria (Williams) Bailey
to check whether there are archived newspapers for Huntingdon County during the relevant time periods.

52 Ancestors: Ancestor #2 John Snyder 1854-1925

John Snyder, 1854-1925, was my 2nd great grandfather

I have less information on this ancestor than the one I wrote about last week.  As far as I can tell to date, no one has included his bio in a book.  ; )  On, the other hand, I am lucky enough to have a copy of some hand-written recollections of family by his daughter-in-law, Pearl Pauline Bailey (my great grand-mother, wife of John's son Philip A. Snyder). Thus far, her recollections of various family members in her family tree and that of her husband, have proven to be largely, but not entirely, accurate (or at least sometimes confusing), and a hand-drawn (on one sheet of paper) family tree which is drawn in a way that indicates the person drawing it tended to believe the viewer already knew these people as many names are incomplete (it's a help for verifying the record X I'm looking at refers to the right family). 

John Snyder was born in Pennsylvania on or about August 15, 1854, to John and Hannah Snyder, according to his obituary; however, the obituary is slightly inaccurate as his mother's name was Margaretha Pink. [My posts on my third great-grandparents: Johannes Schneider (see HERE) and Margaretha Pink  (see HERE2).]  John was christened Johannes Schneider on November 3, 1854 in the Second Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chambersburg, PA.  Some of my research indicates his parents were born in Pennsylvania, but more of it indicates they were born in Germany. John always told the census taker they were born in Germany and my great --grandmother's notes say his father was born ne near Stuttgart and his mother's father, Philip, was born in "Dumstart" but does not indicate where John's mother was born. Hannah’s maiden name was Pink (my great-grandmother’s notes say that her name was originally Pinkstein but that she dropped the “stein”, and that she may have been Jewish. GGM’s notes say that after she dropped the “stein” they laughed about her being named “Pink”).

So far I have nothing on his life with his birth family, other than he had three sisters and two brothers, according to GGM's tree.  They were Deenie (married name Buess or Buse), Elizabeth (married name Hines), Mary (married name Keckly), Ben, Charles, and John. [Charles is not listed in the obituary and may have predeceased John, if he existed; the others are listed as surviving John in his obituary.]

The first record I have of John is from when he married Catharine Snyder (daughter of Philip Snyder/Snider/Schneider, 1831-1909, and Hannah Essinger, 1834-1898), in Hancock County OH. I have a copy of their marriage license (bottom right of picture), but it contains little information, other than their names and that it was applied for on October 4, 1875, and they were  married on October 21, 1875, by minister A. W. P. Wilson.  I wonder if  it has been reconstructed after a fire in the courthouse? Or whether they eloped?

For the first few years of their marriage John was a farmer in Wyandot County, Ohio. The 1880 Census places them in Jackson Township, Wyandot County (Wyandot County is adjacent to Hancock County). They had a 3 year old daughter, Mary (born approx. 1877) and a 1 year old daughter Delly (born approx. 1879). It also says that John cannot read or write but Catherine can.

In 1882, Philip, my great grandfather was born, and in 1884 his brother George was born.  1984 was a year of major changes for the family, in that Delly died, and the family moved to Findlay,OH. I’m don’t know which occurred first but I imagine that the family may have moved back to Hancock county so that Catharine would be closer to her family for comfort after  her 15 year old daughter died.  

It’s also possible they could have moved back to allow Catherine to help care for elderly parents.  At the time of the 1990 Census, Catherine’s widowed father, Philip, 69, was living with them. My great grandfather, Philip, 17, also still lived at home, but his older sister, Mary, no longer lived with them – she had married Marion M. Greer in 1895. John worked as a saw mill hand, was renting their home, and had learned to read and write. I like to imagine that Catherine helped him learn to read and write over the course of their marriage.  

By the time of the 1920 Census, John owned their home at 301 East Main Cross Street in Findlay.  At 65, he was still "working out" as a laborer, paid by wages and not salaried. In 1925, at age 71, John still worked as a laborer. On November 3, 1925, he was working in a potato field near Arcadia OH for Mart Sausser, when he died suddenly of heart trouble. He had been in poor health for several years. He was a member of the Evangelical Church in Findlay and was buried in Arlington Cemetery in Hancock County, Ohio.

[Sources: Second Evangelical Lutheran Church records Chambersburg, PA, Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records,  Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; U.S. Census for 1880, 1900,and 1920; Obituary, John Snyder, "Dies Suddenly While Working", Findlay Morning Republican, 4 November 1925, p. 7 (Newspaperarchive.com);"Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8FZ-73X : accessed 14 Jan 2014), John Snyder and Catharine Snyder, 21 Oct 1875; citing Hancock, Ohio, United States, reference Vol-6 P-239 #183; FHL microfilm 1299132; "Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X63H-8LT : accessed 14 Jan 2014), John Snyder, 03 Nov 1925; citing Washington Twp., Hancock, Ohio, reference fn 63938; FHL microfilm 1992764; Notes written by my great grand-mother, Pearl Pauline Bailey.]