Biography – Patience Anna Marshall (1845-1919)

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Don Taylor

Patience Anna Marshall Dean Roberts (1845-1919)

Roberts/Brown #17

By Don Taylor

Patience Anna Marshall’s childhood appears to be pretty much non-existent. Evidence indicates her father died before she was six years old. She was married at 13 years-old, had a child, possibly two, and was widowed by 18.  She married a second time, while she was still only 18, and was widowed a second time at 41 years of age.

Photo of Patience Anna (Marshall} Roberts

Patience Anna (Marshall} Roberts

Late in life, she lived alone. At 71, she suffered a stroke which left her outdoors, lying in water, overnight, until someone noticed her the following day. After her death, she received no marker—no memorial—to commemorate her life.

List of Grandparents

  • Grand Parent: Bert Allen Roberts
  • 1st Great: Hugh Ellis Roberts
  • 2nd Great: Patience Anna Marshall

Birth

Patience Anna Marshall was born on 30 December 1845.  That is the date she indicated as her birthdate when she wanted an increase in her pension payment in 1917. This date is confirmed by the 1900 census which indicates she was born in December 1845.

I suspect she had a difficult childhood. She first shows up in the 1850 Census.[1] There, six-year-old, Patience is living with her mother, Jane Marshall, and apparently a younger brother of Jane, Thomas Lawson, and his new wife Susanna.  Thomas was 21, but Susanna was only 14; the census indicates that Thomas and Susanna were married in the past year. Jane was 30 and there is no evidence of her husband in that household. One interesting note about the 1850 Census, it indicates that both Patience and her mother were born in Tennessee. In all subsequent records Patience is always shown as having been born in Illinois, however, it is possible that she was born in Tennessee, like her parents. Further research is needed on Jane (Lawson) Marshall to clear up this conflict.

Marriage #1

On 7 August 1859, Patience married Thomas Dean.[2] According to the 1860 Census[3], she and Thomas had been married less than a year and Patience was 17 years old.  In reality, Patience was only 14 years old at the 1960 Census time. She had been only 13 years old when she married Thomas Dean.

Patience Anna (Marshall) Roberts

Patience Anna (Marshall) Roberts

On 3 February 1863, Thomas Dean died at the home of Thomas and Susan (Mendenhall) Lawson at Ewing, IL. [4] This appears to be the same Thomas and Susanna that she was living with during the 1850 census and is likely Patience’s uncle.

Elnora Dean, the only known child of Patience and Thomas was born on 26 March 1863, seven weeks after Thomas’ death.[5]

I did a thorough search looking for Patience and/or Elnora Dean in the 1870 Census records without success. Anyone who found them, I’d love feedback below.

Marriage #2

Meanwhile, Asa Robert’s first wife, Elizabeth Minerva Toney, died on 26 May 1872 leaving Asa a widower with several children[6]. Three months later, on 25 August 1872, Asa and Patience were married in Jefferson County.[7]

Eleven months later, Patience’s first child with Asa, Charles Wilson Roberts, was born.

Rosa Della Roberts was born on 26 May 1875.

Florence Elizabeth Roberts was born on 21 Jan 1880.

The 1880 Census shows none of the children of Asa’s first wife’s family still living with him. Only he, Patience, their children together (Charles, Della, and Florence) and Patience’s daughter from her previous marriage (Elnora Dean) are living in Elk Prairie, Jefferson County, Illinois as a household.[8]

On 2 July 1884, great-grandfather Hugh Ellis Roberts was born. Patience would have been 41 years old.

Asa Roberts died on 5 October 1886 and Patience immediately applied for a widow’s pension and was granted it.  I have several documents from her widow’s pension application that need to be transcribed, (They are difficult to read and may need to be electronically enhanced.) which may shed further light onto Asa and Patience’s lives.

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The 1900 Census finds (Patience) Anna Roberts living with her two youngest children, Florence and Hugh and a granddaughter. Although Florence is listed in the census as single, the granddaughter is Florence’s child, Nellie.[9]

In 1908, Patience’s youngest child, my great-grandfather, Hugh Ellis Roberts died from consumption at the age of 24.[10]

The 1910 Census show the widow Patience A Roberts loving alone. She owned her own farm near Barren, Franklin County, Illinois.[11]

Stroke

The Mt. Vernon Register, dated April 4, 1917, reports a very sad story about Patience Roberts:[12]

“Aunt” Patience Roberts, aged 73 [sic s/b 71] of Ina, who is visiting with the family of James Derrington, [her daughter Rosa Della Roberts Derrington’s home] suffered a stroke of paralysis last Friday evening and the stroke came upon her as she was on her way to the home of a neighbor, about dusk.

She fell heavily to the ground and where she fell there was a sort of a branch and in it considerable water, but fortunately the old lady did not fall on her face and so escaped being drowned.

She was not a great distance from the place where she had started and saw the folks when they went to the barn that evening to milk but could not make an outcry sufficient to attract their attention and she was compelled to lie in the water all night.

The next morning her plight was slightly improved but she could not make herself heard and children playing near the place saw something unusual moving in the depression and it frightened them. They rushed to the house and told their parents what they had discovered and within a very short time kind hands had removed the old lady to more comfortable quarters. Her condition at this time shows much improvement.

In any event, having a stroke and lying in a water puddle all night is a sad event.  It is events like this that remind us of the importance of watching out for our senior citizens. The story also makes me wonder why her daughter, Rosa, didn’t notice that her mother was missing.

Search Military Records - Fold3Death

Patience died on 26 July 1919 in Sesser, Franklin County, Illinois. She was buried on 30 July 1919 at the New Hope Cemetery near Ina, Spring Garden Township, Jefferson County, Illinois.[13] She has no marker.[14]

Future Actions

  • Process/translate Patience Anna Roberts widow pension application and incorporate new information.
  • Search further for Patience and/or her daughter in the 1870 Census.
  • Extend research to second level sources.
  • When I win the lottery, have a marker made and placed to memorialize the life of Patience Anna Marshall, Dean, Roberts.

Thank You

I would like to thank second cousin Chris H. Bailey for sharing his photos, sources, and research regarding Patience Anna Marshall Dean Roberts. Without his sharing, this article would have been much less complete.

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ENDNOTES

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Update: Union Opera Theater – New Philadelphia, Ohio

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Don Taylor

I heard back from the wonderful people at Tuscarawas County Historical Society. Their responses helped my determine exactly where the Union Opera Theater was located, when it closed, and when it was demolished.  (Refer: Donna in New Philadelphia, OH, at the Union Theater – 10 April 1920.) Thank you, Tuscarawas County Historical Society!

Image of Union Opera House.

Union Opera House,
New Philadelphia, Ohio
The Daily Times, May 24, 1957; Page 1

The Union Opera House was located “at [the] rear of Hotel Reeves Building” on Ashwood Lane.  The city directory of 1921 indicates that the Hotel Reeves was at 133-135 North Broadway[i], behind the Tuscarawas County Courthouse.

In 1893, the Sharp Opera House burned and the city was without an entertainment venue until the Union Opera House company was organized and the theater built adjacent to the Sherman House (later the Reeves Hotel.)

The Union Opera House opened on December 9, 1897, with “Pudd’nhead Wilson” with Edwin Mayo in the leading role.

The Union Opera House had a capacity of 1,057 – 502 on the main floor, 230 in the balcony, 300 in the gallery, and 24 in box seats. The US Census indicates that the population of New Philadelphia, OH was 10,718, so the venue could hold nearly 10% of the population of the city. However, the city of Dover is adjacent to New Philadelphia and contributed another 8,000 to the population.

The opera house continued with a mix of live shows until 1925 when it changed over to movies only.

The Union Opera House closed on 26 May 1957. The final bill included Rock Hudson’s movie “Never Say Goodby” and Richard Widmark’s film, “Backlash.”[ii]

In July 1957, the Reeves Realty Co. announced that the Union Opera House would be razed for the installation of an outdoor parking lot for patrons of the Reeves Hotel.

Specifications for the Union Opera House:[iii]

  • Proscenium opening: 32×22 ft
  • Front to back wall: 42 ft
  • Between side walls: 66 ft
  • Apron 5 ft
  • Between fly girders: 43 ft
  • To rigging loft: 40 ft
  • To fly gallery: 23 ft
  • 11 Dressing rooms

Further Research

According to the Julius Cahn Theatrical Guide, there were four newspapers associated New Philadelphia at the time; the “Times,” “Tribune,” the “Democrat,” and the “Reporter” (at Canal Dover). I have been unable to find copies of those papers. Find sources for the three papers and see if they have any articles regarding the show.

Endnotes

[i] Ancestry.Com – U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 – New Philadelphia, Ohio, City Directory, 1921, pages 136 and 219.

[ii] The Daily Times (New Philadelphia, OH); Friday, May 24, 1957, Page 1, “To Close Historic Union Opera House Here Sunday” via Newspapers.com.

[iii] The Julius Cahn – Gus Hill Theatrical Guide (1913-1914) – Page 525 – New Philadelphia.

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Peterson Paternal Project – Biddle-Hall Branch

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Don Taylor

Part Four

Sometimes it just gets easier, but the results are difficult to believe, so you keep making more work for yourself.  That is what happened when I investigated the fourth line of my Peterson Paternal Project.[i]

Samuel Biddle and Mary Margaret Hall – Descendants

I needed to follow the descendants of Samuel and Mary Margaret (Hall) Biddle and see where any male descendants were likely to have been in 1953 when my half-sister Glennis was conceived. I kept looking, and looking, and looking for more children and grandchildren for Samuel and Mary, but just couldn’t find any.  If I had looked at the family trees of other people and believed them when they showed only one child and four grandchildren, I would have saved a lot of time and effort.

biddle-hall-descendants

Descendants of Samuel Biddle and Mary Margaret Hall

Samuel and Mary had four children, however, three of them had no issue. Only their youngest child, Nicholas Boulden Biddle, had children – four of them.  Nicholas’ daughter, Mary Jean, was too young to have had male children old enough to be the biological father of Glennis.  That left Nicholas’ three boys, Richard Wyllys, Brent N, and Samuel Lee to have the potential to be Glennis’ biological father.

First, if any of the three were the biological father, then the relationship would be first cousins rather than second cousins.  The DNA cMs indicated 2nd cousins, not 1st so, this is a very unlikely connection.

Second, all three of them married before 1950.

Third, all three of them were in West Virginia in 1949.

Finally, all three appear to have stayed in West Virginia into the 1950s and none of them show any indications of having left West Virginia in 1953.

Consequently, I don’t believe any of them is a candidate to be Glennis’ biological father.

ENDNOTES

[i] My half-sister Glennis has long wondered who her biological father is. Ancestry DNA provided a clue; she shares 201 centimorgans of DNA across 8 segments with someone.  The shared CM suggests they are second cousins, meaning that she and the other person likely share a great grandparent. The logic is that if I can take all eight of his great-grandparents and follow their descendants, possibly one of them was in the right place at the right time to be Glennis’ father. If so, I will have a very likely candidate to my Glennis’ biological father.

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Website Review – Lost Cousins

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Don Taylor

Tech Tuesday – Lost Cousin

Review by Don Taylor

I recently was listening to a podcast about the UK based service Lost Cousins. I had heard of it before, but I hadn’t given it a try nor had I looked at it for what it might be able to do to help folks in their genealogical research.

The primary purpose of LostCousins.Com is to help you find lost cousins so that you may better collaborate in your genealogical research. Most sites that connect you with other researchers do so based upon name and submitted tree information. This leads to many potential connections but few actual relatives. Consequently, many connections are unlikely to respond to your queries because they are too distant, often related by marriage, sometimes by multiple marriages. Lost Cousins does it a bit different; they focus on the quality of matches to other researchers rather than the quantity of matches. They use key census records as the key to finding cousins. You tag an ancestor in a particular census, on a specific page, with a relationship to you. Another person does the same thing. For example, in the 1880 Census, my 2nd Great-Grandfather is listed.  If the same person on the same page of the census is your ancestor too, then we are related.

Signing up is very easy to do. The site has a free level which doesn’t require you to provide a credit card nor detailed personal information.  You only need to subscribe (pay) if you find a lost cousin that you want to contact. (A subscriber may contact you, but you need to be a subscriber to initiate the first contact.) Even then, the service is very inexpensive (£10 per year).

Although Lost Cousins uses eight specific census records, the majority of users enter data into either the 1881 England & Wales Census or the 1880 US Census. The vast majority of my ancestors were in the United States in 1880, so I began entering my ancestors into the system.  For the 1880 Census, they ask you to enter the Roll / Film number, Page / Sheet number and letter, Surname, Forename, Age, and Relationship to you (typically, “blood relative” or “direct ancestor”).  In my case, into the 1880 US Census, I entered Roll 575, Page 374A, Surname Barber, Forename Frank, Age 40, and Direct Descendant. (Note: I entered “Frank” as he was entered into the census and not “Franklin” as was his actual name.) Then, I entered a second person, Asa Roberts and all was well. Neither of them had any cousin matches, but that was okay. I knew I have lots more ancestors to enter.

After only two entries, I ran into MY problem. I realized, particularly in some of my Family Tree Maker corrupted source entries (see Review and Rant), but also, some of my early entries didn’t have all of the information that I should have entered. Sure, I had enough information to find the record again, Name, Place, and Census Year is sufficient to search and find most entries, but it wasn’t the right information to enter into Lost Cousins. So, I need to go back and clean up some of my Census Record citations. That’s okay; I should clean them up regardless. I  entered other direct ancestors into the system, but so far no matches to cousins.

The eight censuses that Lost Cousins uses are:

  • 1841 England & Wales
  • 1880 United States
  • 1881 Canada
  • 1881 England & Wales
  • 1881 Scotland
  • 1911 England & Wales
  • 1911 Ireland
  • 1940 United States

In the two I entered, I did the “Search for Cousins.” No matches.  I’m not surprised. With only two entries in the 1880 US Census, Lost Cousins suggests I only have a match potential of 0.06%.

There are two ways for me to increase the likelihood of finding a lost cousin. First, I need to enter more of my ancestors from any of the above censuses into their system. Second, more cousins need to register and enter their ancestors into the system. I can take care of the first item, but I need you to help out by you to fulfill the second item. So, if you aren’t registered with Lost Cousins, I encourage you to register. Maybe, we are lost cousins, but if you don’t register we may never know.

The process doesn’t take long, and there is a potential for a big hit. Consequently, I think it is time well spent. The process of adding ancestors brought to my attention the need for me to clean up some of the census citations in my records.  Sigh….

Note:  Lost Cousins also produces a newsletter that registered individuals may subscribe to. Past newsletters are searchable, so registration may not only provide leads on lost cousins but may also provide leads regarding other websites and resources.

Reminder to Self:

  • Never take shortcuts in source citations!

My Future Actions:

  • Clean up my sources for the 1880 US Census, the 1881 England & Wales Census, and the 1881 Canadian Census.
  • Enter remaining ancestors with 1880 or 1881 census entries into Lost Cousins.

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Don’t avoid those Bright Shiny Objects.

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Don Taylor

Brown Research

Bright Shiny Objects - Photo by arbyreed - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Bright Shiney Objects

Photo by Arbyreed (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

 

I’ll admit it; I get diverted from my goals by Bright Shiny Objects (BSOs).  I was working on a problem ancestor of mine, my third great-grandmother, Mary C. LNU (Last Name Unknown), about whom I know very little.

Bio – Mary C. (LNU) Brown (1823-?)

What I think I know:

  • She was born about 1824 in New York.[i]
  • She probably married Barney/Daney Brown about 1841.[ii]
  • In 1850, she was living with her apparent husband, Barney, and two children, William H and Myron O Brown in Saline, Washtenaw County, Michigan.[iii]
  • In 1860, she and her apparent husband, Daney, were living with four children, Henry W, Myron O, Alice C. and David V. Brown in Saline, Washtenaw County, Michigan.[iv]
  • In the 1870 census, it appears that she is living alone.[v] Her son, Henry, was married and making a life with his wife and two children nearby. Not sure where Myron, Alice, or David were. I can’t find them nor their father, Barney/Daney, in the 1870 census either. So, I figured he possibly died in the Civil War. Certainly, I have a lot more research to do to determine if one of the many Browns who fought for the Union was my Barney/Daney Brown.

Newspapers

After I had figured out that I had exhausted my many searching methods on Family Search, Ancestry, and Genealogy in Time (read Google) for Mary, Barney/Daney, and the children, I thought I’d see if there were any newspapers of the area. I like using The Ancestor Hunt to seek out newspapers. I research Michigan enough that I have a bookmark right to Kenneth Mark’s Michigan page in my browser. I click it, then do a {Control/f} to “find” type “Saline” and–Bang–there were three newspapers listed for Saline. One was 1958-2014, outside of my possible range. But two were in the 1800s, both at Central Michigan University. So, off I go (metaphorically speaking).

Digital Michigan Newspapers – It is a “Bright Shiny Object.”

I quickly figured out how to search only the Saline papers and found lots of articles about various Browns, but none that appeared to be about this family unit.  (It might be really helpful if I decide to do a locational surname study.)  But this is a nice site.  I’d just bet I can find some juicy bits of information there – It It looks like it is a BSO!

Newspaper Clipping - Obituary - Janette A. Arnold Wakefield Parsons

Obituary Janette A. Arnold Wakefield Parsons

I went back to my genealogy program (I use Heredis) and selected the people who had any event in Saline in my database – 45 people.  I’ll bet some of these people are in those papers. As I worked through the list, at first I didn’t find articles about lots of them, A tantalizing bit here and there, like Sarah Young had perfect attendance in school in 1881. Then, I hit some really important articles. My 4th great-grandfather, Chester Parsons’ personal property was auctioned off by the administrator of his estate. Awesome detail of what was going up for sale, “12 cows, 16 head young cattle, seven head horses, 52 acres wheat on the ground and a large quantity of farm implements. Eighty acres of timber land is also offered for sale at a bargain.”  Very interesting stuff. I even learned that someone named Daniel Reeves lived on Chester Parson’s farm for six years, including two years while Chester was still alive.[vi] Who was Daniel Reeves and why was he living on the Parson farm?  I also found the obituary for Chester Parson’s second wife, which provided the date he married her, her maiden and widowed names, and her daughter’s names.  Those names might be helpful when I find Chester Parsons’ probate records.

The bottom line is that in a couple hours of investigating this BSO, I learned a couple dozen facts, developed several new avenues of inquiry and had a lot of fun.  I know that I probably should have kept to my research goal: What was Mary C [Brown]’s maiden surname? I still don’t know the answer to that, but I do know lots of new things. So it is okay with me that I diverted to look at the BSOs. The information I found added texture to my understanding of the lives of several ancestors. So, I’m glad I didn’t toss aside that Bright Shiney Object once I knew it wouldn’t answer my research question. I hope you find BSOs you can have fun with also.

Future Actions:

  • Research Mary C. [Brown] and determine her maiden surname, place of birth, death, etc. (Again.)
  • Find the Probate Records for Chester Parsons (1799-1887) – Washtenaw County, Michigan.
  • Determine if Barney/Daney Brown served in the Civil War.
  • Determine if there is a relationship between Daniel Reeves and the Parsons family.
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ENDNOTES

  • [i] The 1850, 1860, and 1870 census records for her are all consistent, 26, 36, and 46 years old respectively.
  • [ii] Their first child, William Henry Brown, was born about 1842 in Michigan.
  • [iii] United States Census, 1850,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF8P-F8S : accessed 23 March 2016), Barney Brown, Saline, Washtenaw, Michigan, United States; citing family 185, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
  • [iv] “United States Census, 1860”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWDZ-DLM : accessed 23 March 2016), Daney Brown, 1860.
  • [v] Year: 1870; Census Place: Saline, Washtenaw, Michigan; Roll: M593_708; Page: 315B; Image: 166772; Family History Library Film: 552207  Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
  • [vi] Saline Observer (Saline, MI) – 1891-12-10, Pg 5, Column 2 (last paragraph) – via Digital Michigan Newspapers; Central Michigan University
.

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