Katherine "Katie" M. Fox-a sad story

Katherine "Katie" M. Fox was born in July of 1874 in Illinois, probably in Peoria, Illinois.  She was the daughter of William and Mary Smyth Fox.  She was the fifth of six children in the family.  

The first child, Rosanna was born in 1865 and lived for fifteen days.  The next year, a brother, Patrick, was born.  He died when he was ten years old in July of 1876.  A sister, Rosa, was born about 1870, and another sister, Mary Elizabeth, was born around 1872.  Mary Elizabeth also died in 1876 in June.  Katie was born in 1874, and then her brother William was born in October of 1876.   In August of 1878, Mary Smyth Fox was godmother to her sister's child, the son of William and Elizabeth Smyth Murphy. William and Elizabeth Murphy were my great-great-grandparents. Sadly, the next month on the 25th of September 1878, Mary Smyth Fox died, leaving her husband William with three young children.

In 1880, William Fox was listed as living in Iroquois County, Illinois working on a farm where one of my Murphy families was living.  His three children were listed in the Peoria County Illinois 1880 census as boarders at the "Bradley Hospital", which was run by religious sisters.  The children were listed as:

Rosa age 10
Katie age 6
William age 4

The children's father, William Fox, was listed as still living in Iroquois County, Illinois in 1882 in his pension papers.  From Peoria City Directories, William Fox was listed as living in Peoria, Illinois in 1891 and 1894.  There is no indication of where his children were.

14 April 1894 Application to Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Home-Quincy IL: in the application, William stated that he owned no property and worked as a laborer.  He reported that he had no wife and one child living, a daughter, 19 years. That he "desires that Katie Fox of Peoria be notified of his illness or death", and that in case of death, his personal effects be sent to Katie Fox 303 Butler St. at Peoria. (her aunt and uncle's address-Peter and Rosa Smith Hill).

From the Peoria Illinois City Directories, I  found:
1895-a Miss Kate Fox listed as "cook H.G. Hirt, r. 222 First ave."
1896-a Miss Catherine Fox listed as "domestic at 208 Randolph".
1897-a Miss Katie Fox listed as a "domestic at 419 Fredonia ave."

Again, in 1897 in William's pension papers "Kattie", age twenty-three was referred to as William's only living child.

William Fox, Katie's father, died in May of 1898 in Peoria, Illinois. From papers received from the Soldier's Home records:

23 May 1898-letter sent to Mr. E.L.Higgins: "Dear Sir: A card was received from you asking the cause and date of the death of my father, William Fox.  Heart failure was the cause, and date Monday evening at 5:30 May 16, 1898. Yours truly, Katie M. Fox, 303 Butler St., Peoria, IL."

18 June 1898-note in papers from the Soldier's Home on William: "Died on furlough at Peoria May 16, 1898.  All papers sent Katie M. Fox-4757 Kenwood Ave Chicago".

So, did Katie live in Peoria or Chicago?

There are a few more references to Katherine Fox in Peoria over the next few years.  Are these Katie?

In the 1900 Peoria, Peoria County IL Census at 430 Main St.is listed a Katherine Fox, age 25, working as a servant in the household of Thomas Goodman.

The last possible listings I have found of Katie are in the 1910 and 1911 Peoria Illinois City Directories where a Miss Katherine Fox is listed as a domestic at 807 Jackson.

The problem is Katie or Katherine Fox is a fairly common name.  Did she remain in Peoria, or did she live in Chicago?  Did she ever marry?  With all of her family (parents and siblings) dead by the time she was twenty-four, what became of Katie?  After the reference to living at her aunt and uncle's address in 1897, she was never located in records at that address or with any of the family after that.  I checked the Illinois Death and Stillborn Records 1916-1947 and did not find her listed.  Did she die before 1916?  Or did she live past 1947?  Katie's siblings who died before her mother had died were buried in the Kickapoo Cemetery, as was her mother.  What became of Katie's sister Rosa and her brother William?

So many questions left unanswered about this family.  I always find it strange when I find that families do not take in children of their families who are orphaned.  Of course, there are always many good reasons why it is not possible, but I still am surprised.  Katie's mother had twelve siblings who lived after she had died.  Could no one have taken in these three children?  I would love to know the story!!!

Shirt-tail Relatives

It was probably about 1959 and I was ten years old when I first heard the term “shirt-tail relative”.I was trying to figure out why Jo O’Meara and her daughter, Ginny, were invited to almost all of our family holiday celebrations. I asked my grandmother exactly who the O’Meara family was.At first she told me that they were old family friends, but as I questioned her, she said that they were “shirt-tail relatives" to my grandfather and that the relationship went way back to Ireland and no one really knew what the relationship was. That was interesting, but that was the extent of the conversation. 

 Flash forward to about 1994 when I began to get interested in genealogy. Sadly, all of my older relatives on my maternal side had already passed away. Such a hard lesson to learn…find out all you can from your family while they are still here! Anyway, I could not find a connection to the O’Meara family. I knew that Jo O’Meara had been my great-grandmother’s (Kitty Murphy) best friend. Ginny O’Meara had been close friends with my grandfather, his sister, and his first cousin. I had pictures of all of them together throughout the years. My great-grandfather’s parents had died when he was a young child and he was raised by his older sister. It was her daughter who was so close to Ginny O’Meara. So it seemed that the connection was somehow through my Murphy family (my great-grandfather was Edward R. Murphy).

                                           Picture of Kitty Murphy and Johanna Ryan OMeara

                                                                            1946

 Researching my Murphy family, I learned that my great-great-great grandmother was Alice Reed Murphy. As I continued to research the family, I kept coming across the name “Peter Reed” associated with my Murphy relatives. I also was finding connections with both my Murphy family and the Peter Reed family with the Nicholas Reed Heneberry family in Peoria, Illinois. And I learned that Nicholas Reed Heneberry’s mother was a Reed. I did fairly extensive research on the Peter Reed family but did not find a proven connection to my Murphy family, other than Peter Reed being godfather to different Murphy members, etc. And Peter Reed was from County Kilkenny, which is where my Murphy family originated. As had the Nicholas Heneberry family. 

I had found census readings on Peter Reed and learned that he had ten children. (One of them had married my great-great-grandmother’s brother.) Peter Reed’s oldest child, Margaret “Maggie” Reed married David Charles Ryan in 1878. They had ten children. It wasn’t until I returned to my interest in learning who Jo O’Meara was that I thought to send for her death certificate. Oh, my. Her parents were David C. and Margaret Reed Ryan. Peter Reed was Jo O’Meara’s grandfather.

 Have I made absolute proof of the relationship between my Murphy family and the Peter Reed family? Nope. But the connections seem too close to be just coincidence. My best speculation at this point based on dates of birth is that Alice Reed’s father was brother to Nicholas Heneberry’s mother. (Alice born about 1801, Nicholas born 1807). Peter Reed was born in 1832. My best guess there is that his father was Alice Reed’s brother. So, if you are still with me here…that would mean that Johanna Ryan O’Meara was my great-grandfather’s second cousin once removed. Wow! Talk about strong, long-lasting connections through time and space. The families came to Peoria, Illinois from Ireland around 1850, and up until Ginny O’Meara died in 1978, the families remained close. That gives me a rather nice warm feeling! 

It also makes me wonder if Ginny O'Meara had married and had children, would the close connection have continued? I like to think that it would have. Below are a couple of definitions that I found for “Shirt-tail relatives”: http://wordmama.com/content/added-def.asp?word=shirttail+relative: very distant relative by marriage or a family friend that one claims with honorary status the same as a close, well-liked relative. And from http://funwithenglishblog.com/2012/01/shirttail-relative/ A shirttail relative is someone who is either a relative by marriage, distantly related (say, a third cousin), or a family friend who is an honourary “relative”. 

 Well, by the time I got interested in finding out about these families, I guess they fit the definition of shirt-tail relatives. But they sure didn’t back in the 1800’s!!!

Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947

Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947 are fairly new records on Ancestry.com. Part of the description of the records is “Index entries derived from digital copies of original records.” I have been finding this Index to be invaluable in my research lately.Below is taken from the Ancestry.com site describing what is in the Index records:

 

"While details may vary based on information required on the original and whether the form was filled out completely, entries in this index may list name,gender,race/ethnicity,birth date,birthplace,age,occupation,residence,street address,marital status,spouse,date of death,place of death,place of burial,date of burial,cemetery name,father’s name and birthplace,mother’s name and birthplace,FHL film number The FHL film number refers to a microfilm copy of the source held by the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah."

 This is a wealth of information! Below is an example of how I have been able to use the Index in my research.

 This Index helped me to identify information about two brothers that I was doing research on. The Index helped to identify one person as belonging to the family I was researching and identified the other as not being the son that I was searching for. 

 Patrick Bennett and Anna Smyth married in 1862 in Peoria County, Illinois. They are listed in the 1870 Peoria Illinois census with the following children: James, Rosa, Elizabeth, and Thomas. I have not been able to locate the family in 1880 records. I found Patrick in 1900 living in a retirement home. His wife, Anna, had died in 1892.

 I had not been able to find records on any of the children, other than there had been a child, Kate, who was born and died in 1871 and was buried with her mother. Searching for the oldest child, James Bennett, I found the Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index and there was a listing for a James Bennett. His parents were listed as Patrick Bennett and Anna Smith. I had found who I was looking for! Now I had birth, death, and burial information along with the fact that he was single, and worked at a restaurant. It also showed where his parents were born. I had found census records for Thomas Bennett who was born in 1868, which matched the 1870 census information that I had for Thomas Bennett born to Patrick and Anna Bennett. I found further census records and a marriage record for him. He even lived on Smith St. in Peoria, the same street where Patrick Bennett was living in 1900. However, when I searched his records in the Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, his parents were listed as Theodore and Catherine Bennett. Not a match at all. Of course, I was disappointed, but also so glad that I had the information so that I was not putting out wrong information about Thomas Bennett.

 If you have ancestors from Illinois, be sure to check out this resource. Because the Index begins in 1916, it includes people who could have been born as early as 1816 (if they lived to 100!), so don't let the parameters of the dates stop you from searching!

Hannah Kennison, daughter of John Kennison

Last week I wrote about James A. Ferrel, whose parents were James and Hannah Kennison Ferrel. I decided to renew my search to learn more about Hannah Kennison. This has been a difficult search because Hannah married James Ferrel in 1789, had four known children and then she died between 1795 and 1800. There are few records for women that early. I have worked on this off and on over the years but have never found anything that was promising-just the names of John Kennison and Abraham Kennison in Jefferson County Kentucky tax lists during 1789, which is when Hannah and James married, also in Jefferson County, Kentucky. 

 So with my renewed search I found a court record of John Kinnison of Jefferson County Kentucky in April 1788, appointing his friend Abraham Wells of Nelson County as his attorney. John and Abraham Kennison were listed in the 1789 tax list for Jefferson County, Kentucky. I searched for some census records and found the following: 1810 Jefferson County Kentucky Census: John Kinnerson 1 male under 10, 1 female under 10, 1 male 16-25, 2 females 16-25, 1 male over 45,1 female 26-44, and 1 female over 45. This is the earliest census reading that I have found in Jefferson County for the name Kennison (or close versions to that). 

While searching the Family Search website, I came across Kentucky Marriages, 1785-1979. I searched for Kennison in Jefferson County and found the following: 

 Hannah Kennison married James Terral in 1789 parent: Jno. 

Kennison Sarah Kennison married James Adams 

 Isaac Kennison married Ann Buniss 1792 

 Jermious Kinnison married Elizabeth Cox May 1796 

 Temperance Kennison married George Rice 8 Mar 1802 

 Amelia Kennison married John Plaster 29 Jul 1802 parent: John Kennison 

 Nancy Kennison married Elijah Cochrane 15 Jun 1815 parent: John Kennison 

 This was a huge find! The record gave Hannah’s father’s name! Her father was John Kennison! (Notice that James Ferrel’s name was listed incorrectly-if I was only searching for James Ferrel I would never have found this record!). My first assumption was that Amelia and Nancy were sisters to Hannah, since their father is also listed as John Kennison. But I need to keep in mind that Hannah may have had a brother named John who could be the father of some of the above-named. For now, I have them listed as sisters of Hannah, but more proof is needed. 

 John Plaster (married to Amelia Kennison) is listed in the 1810 and 1820 censuses of Jefferson County, Kentucky. It appears that he had about four sons and four daughters, based on those census readings. 

 Elijah and Nancy Kennison Cochran are listed in the 1850 Jefferson County, Kentucky census: 1850 Jefferson County, Kentucky Census: Elijah Cochran 66 VA Nancy 49 KY Nancy 16 KY Rice 15 KY Temperance Burk 27 KY 

 This census reading leads me to believe that Rice Cochran may have been named after George Rice, who married Temperance Kennison in 1802. My guess is that the Temperance Burk listed in the census reading is the daughter of Elijah and Nancy Kennison Cochran. And this leads me to believe that Temperance Kennison Rice was probably also a sister to Hannah Kennison. Temperance Rice is listed in the 1850 Jefferson County Kentucky census as age 63, born in Virginia, and living alone.

 Interestingly enough, I have also seen an undocumented listing of marriage of Amelia Kennison Rice marrying John Plaster. So there is the possibility that Amelia was married to a Rice before she married John Plaster. I have not been able to locate any records on the other Kennison's listed in the above marriages. That needs to be an ongoing search. 

 I am quite happy to have learned what I have with this renewed search: Hannah Kennison's father was John Kennison, and she had two possible sisters-Amelia and Nancy. It also appears that Temperance Kennison may have been a sister to Hannah. 

 Hannah Kennison married James Ferrel in Jefferson County, Kentucky 3 August 1789 and they had four known children: 

 1)Unknown male Ferrel who married Sophia Reagan. They had one known child: John James Ferrel, born in 1822 in Indiana. 

 2)Samuel Ferrel who married Eleanor Graham in 1824 in Vigo County, Indiana 

 3)Andrew Ferrel who married Susannah Colyear in 1813 in Franklin County, Indiana. Andrew is listed in the 1820 and 1830 census’ for Vigo County, Indiana and appears that he had five daughters

 4)James A. Ferrel, was born in 1795 in Lexington,Kentucky. He married Martha Dickerson in 1814 in Butler County, Ohio. They eventually settled in Vigo County Indiana and had thirteen known children. (these are my great-great-great-great-grandparents) 

 It appears that Hannah died between 1795 and 1800. It is not known where Hannah died. James Ferrel remarried in July of 1800. He married Rosanna Ray in Hamilton County, Ohio. Hannah’s four children were all under the age of ten when she died, so Rosanna immediately became a stepmother to those four children. James and Rosanna went on to have seven more children. The family was living in Vigo County Indiana by 1820. I am fascinated by this family and will continue to look for more information on the Kennison family. Hopefully, over time I will have some updates for this search!

James A. Ferrel-Soldier, Reverend, Farmer, Husband, Father

I chose James Ferrel as my first of the year history because of the obituary written about him that has been passed down through the family No one knows where it came from, but my guess is that it was written and published through the Methodist church. Perhaps they had a publication that it was published in. Since he died in 1864, it would have been a very old publication.

James A. Ferrel was born on 4 April 1795 in Lexington Kentucky to James and Hannah Kinnison Ferrel. It appears that he was the youngest of their four known children. His father later married Rosanna Ray and they had seven children. James A. Ferrel served in the War of 1812. He enlisted in Butler County, Ohio in December of 1813 and was discharged 1 February 1814 as a teamster under Jenkins in either the Kentucky or Ohio Militia. Later that year, in Butler County Ohio on the 15th of August in 1814, James married Martha “Patsy” Dickerson, daughter of Walter and Penelope Heaton Dickerson. The first three of James and Martha’s children were born in Ohio. Eleanor was born in 1815, Mary was born in 1817 and Elizabeth was born in 1818, all in Butler County, Ohio. Before 1820, the family, along with James’ father and siblings, had moved to Vigo County, Indiana. The fourth child, James, was born in 1820 in Vigo County, Indiana. The family of James Ferrel is listed in the 1820 Vigo County Indiana census, showing one son under age ten and three daughters under age ten.The next two children of James and Martha are recorded as having been born in Butler County, Ohio, indicating that the family had moved back there after 1820. Martha Ann was born in 1822 and Walter Dickerson Ferrel was born in 1824, both in Butler County, Ohio.The History of Vigo County states that “Walter was born in Ohio where his parents resided until 1825 when they returned to Vigo county”. Upon the family’s return to Vigo County, Indiana, daughter Nancy was born in 1826, and daughter Sarah Ann“ Polly” was born in 1828. A piece from "When Terra Haute Was Young" a series of articles from the Terre Haute Tribune by A.R.Markle, Volume I about taxes showed that "James Ferrill, Jr. had 127 acres just east of Riley and a horse;" (1828).

According to family tradition passed down, James was a Methodist preacher who traveled around on horseback. From Methodist records found, this seems to be accurate. James Ferrel Jr. is listed as attending the 2nd Quarterly Meeting Conference for Carlisle Circuit held at the house of John Jackson on the 31st day of January 1829. James was listed in the 1830 Vigo County Indiana Census with two sons and six daughters. James’ brothers, William and George are listed as living close to the family. The next ten years brought more children: Cynthia Ann was born in 1830, but sadly she died in 1833, the same year that Rose Ann was born. Daniel Dickerson was born in 1836, and Lurina “Lou” was born in 1839. James was listed as present at the Terre Haute Circuit held at Pleasant Hill Schoolhouse on April 22nd, 1837, and at the Terre Haute Circuit held at Herringtons neighborhood, on September 16th, 1837. James is listed as present at the Terre Haute Circuit held at Pleasant Hill Schoolhouse in February 1838 and at the Camp Ground on the 28th of July 1838. He was listed as present for Terre Haute Circuit on the 6th day of October 1838. James’ son Daniel died in October of 1838. 

In the Minutes of the fourth quarterly Conference of Terre Haute Circuit held at Mount Pleasant Meetinghouse on the 28th of September 1839, James Ferrel was

 

“severally examined, approved and their license renewed except George W. Creel his license were not renewed.....except H. D. Lee who was released by his Consent. JAMES FERREL was appointed Circuit Steward in place of H.D Lee........Infants Baptised: Lovina Ferrel...none;

 The 1840 Vigo County Indiana Census shows two sons and five daughters with the James Ferrel family. In 1843 William Henry Harrison Clay Ferrel (my great-great grandfather) was born, the last child of James and Martha Ferrel. James was listed as present at the Terre Haute Circuit held in the house of Samuel Hull on the 26th day of June 1841 and at the quarterly meeting conference for Terre Haute Circuit Indiana conference held in the Union meetinghouse Otter Creek on the 4th of September 1841. Minutes of the first quarterly meeting conference held at Bethel meetinghouse on December 28th, 1841 state that James Ferrel’s license was approved and renewed, and James Ferrel was released from his Stewardship. 

 The 1850 Riley Township, Vigo County Indiana Census shows James and Martha (listed with the surname “Feurl”) with children Rose Ann, Lurina, and William. James is listed as a farmer. In 1851, daughters Nancy and Elizabeth died, daughter Martha Ann died in 1857, and then in 1859, daughter Eleanor died. All four daughters were married when they died. Three of the daughters left young children. 

In 1860, James and Martha are still listed in Riley Township and James is listed as a farmer. Lurina (listed as “Norma”) and William are living with them, as is granddaughter Martha Sanders. Estelle “Bess” Elizabeth Ferrel, granddaughter to James and Martha, wrote in a letter that James Ferrel

 

“...died Jan. 10, 1864. The war was on at this time and he wanted to see his son, so he went down South and they had a visit together and that was the last, for he died soon after."

 The "son" is William HH Ferrel, who was serving in the Civil War at the time. James was sixty-nine when he died. From an obituary handed down (source unknown): 

FERRIL-James Ferrel was born April 4, 1795 near Lexington,KY.At the age of two years his parents removed to Warren co., O. where he was married by Rev. J. Sirange to Miss Martha Dickerson, Aug. 16,1814, and where he resided till 1820. The same year he removed to Vigo co., Ia, and was instrumental in causing to be held the first religious meeting in the county.He was a classleader six years, and was then licensed to exhort, and continued to act as a faithful Christian in both these capacities till his death, Jan. 10, 1864.During his sickness he was heard to say that he never expected to die, but that he expected the breath would leave his body and he would exchange worlds; that he was at peace with his God and that his only desire to live was to see how this rebellion terminated, and to see his two sons who are in the army. He had great confidence that the Lord was with him and that he would die in grace, for which he had so long prayed. His loss is not only felt as a parent and citizen, but as a Christian and patriot, and will long be remembered and revered as such. JNO. CASMEL"(name unclear) 

 James and Martha are buried at Dickerson Cemetery in Terre Haute, Indiana. James and Martha had thirteen children; six of the children died before James. Martha died in 1877, at age seventy-nine.

Another New Year

I just looked at my blogging over the past year...only 3 posts.  That is disgraceful!  And what is funny, is that after about 17 years of doing genealogy, I still spend about an hour a day working on genealogy!  So, it's not as if I am slacking off there!  I really am going to try to do better.

Looking over the past year, there were some good finds, good contacts made and, in general, I have felt quite good about how my research has been going.  One of the best things that I did in 2011 is to go to my first genealogy workshop.  It was held in Springfield, Illinois (in September, I believe) and was a day put on by Ancestry.com.  It was very affordable and since Springfield is only about 90 miles away, I took the opportunity and drove myself there.  Yes, I attended it all by myself!  And I had a great time!  It was interesting...I have used Ancestry.com for years and there was still much for me to learn, or at least, review. I also enjoyed visiting the different vendors set up there.  The day was well worth my effort.  I will be watching for more workshops to attend.  I just wish that I had a genealogy friend to share it all with!

I also contacted GenSmarts to see about getting it on my computer.  I had purchased it a number of years ago and when I got my new computer two years ago, I forgot to have it put on.  The people I contacted were extremely helpful and I had no problem getting it back on. 

Now I am thinking about this new year and what I would like to accomplish in genealogy terms.

Today I updated to RootsMagic 5, so I will be spending some time exploring that, seeing what is new and different.  I also installed Personal Historian and will see if I find it helpful or not.

I make it a habit to check Ancestry.com at least every other day, both to check the Recent Activity and to check on Hints.  Both have been invaluable to my researching.  I also plan to start using GenSmart to help with my research.

One of my goals for 2012 is to edit my Sources in RootsMagic.  When I began doing genealogy, I was not as good about how I listed sources as I would have liked and now I find myself constantly correcting them when I am entering information.  A couple of things that I am working on with that is editing duplicate sources and editing how I listed places.  Early on I would list a source as Peoria, Peoria Co., IL".  Now that drives me crazy.  I want it all spelled out as: "Peoria, Peoria County, Illinois".  So that is going to take some time to get it all corrected.

I also want to keep up better with checking my Problem List in RootsMagic.  I spent a lot of time working on correcting all of it last year, so I want to periodically check it and not let the list get too overwhelming again.

I know that these goals sound like kind of mindless maintenance tasks (and they are to some extent), but I try to be mindful of when someday (hopefully in the far, far distant) someone else will be taking over my database.  I want it to be in good working order!

I had lunch with a friend several weeks ago who was enthusiastically encouraging me to publish some of my family history in order to give it to the appropriate local libraries.  That is playing around in the back of my mind.

Meanwhile, I am going to try hard to keep better track of what I am doing and writing more about my genealogical activities in this blog.  I know that I often get good ideas from other when I read other blogs and hopefully, I can help someone else also!