52 Ancestors – Week 187

By Don Taylor

Nimrod, an Old Testament character who was the great-grandson of Noah, is a fairly unusual name, so I figured I’d be able to follow him easily – No such luck. I found him in the 1860 Census with the surname Lustre, in the 1870 and 1880 Censuses with the surname Lister, but have been unsuccessful finding him in either the 1850 Census or the 1900 Census. Here is what I have found so far.

Roberts-Brown 2017 – Ancestor #22

List of Grandparents

• Paternal Grandmother: Essie Pansy Barnes
• 1^st Great-Grandmother: Maranda A. Lister
• 2^nd Great-Grandfather: Nimrod Lister
• 3^rd Great-Grandfather: ??William Lister ??

Nimrod Lister (c. 1826-c. 1900)

I am sure he was born in Ohio. Every record points to his Ohio birth.  However, every census record I have found him in suggests a different birth year.

• 1860 Census – Age 34, Ohio – Suggests 1825-1826.
• 1870 Census – Age 43, Ohio – Suggests 1826-1827.
• 1880 Census – Age 55, Ohio – Suggests 1824-1825.

I have settled upon “circa 1826” as his birth year.

Childhood

One researcher suggests he is the oldest of four children and his siblings were:

• Sarah born c. 1831
• William M. born c. 1836
• James M. born c. 1840

I have not been successful in confirming any of these individuals as being Nimrod’s siblings.

Marriage

Nimrod’s marriage to Malinda Evans on 17 March 1854 is possibly the key to learning more about Nimrod’s earlier life.  It indicates that both Nimrod and Malinda were from Pickaway County, Ohio.  If we look at Pickaway County during the 1850s there were Lister/Lester families living there. we find a William who married a Leah Adkins. In 1850, 30-year-old Leah is living in the household of Barzilla Adkins with an apparent daughter Elizabeth Lester.  I suspect that sometime before 1850, Nimrod’s father, William, died. The widow, Leah, then moved in with a sibling and her mother.  I also suspect that the rest of the children were farmed out to several locations and may have been reported with different surnames than Lister.  This is still conjecture but fits what I am seeing. I need to do substantial research into the Lister’s of Pickaway County.

Adulthood

I believe Nimrod and Malinda had eight children. Namely:

Child                                      Born                         Where

• James M Lister                 Bet. 1853-1855        Ohio.
• Nancy A Lister                 Bet. 1855-1857         Ohio.
• Charles C Lister               Bet. Dec 1859-May 1860     Indiana.
• Eliza J Lister                     Abt. 1861                   Indiana.
• Charlotte Lister               Abt. 1865                   Indiana.
• Marada A Lister          27 Feb 1867           New Lebanon, Sullivan County, Indiana.
• William Lemuel Lister   Bet. 1868-1870      Indiana.
• Sarah F Lister                   Abt 1872                    Indiana

1860 – Nimrod is a farm laborer living in Turman Township, Sullivan County Indiana (Graysville Post Office).  With him is Malinda, and presumably three children of theirs, James, M, Nancy A, and Charles C. ages 6, 4, and 5/12 respectively.[i]

1870 – Nimrod is a farmer with real estate valued at $660.  Malinda is keeping house. Living with them are seven [of their] children. James M., Nancy A., Charles C., and Eliza J., were 15, 13, 10, and 8 respectively; they were all attending school. James is also working the farm. Additionally, Charlotte, Marandy A., and William L are at home and are ages 4, 3, and 1 respectively.[ii] (Sarah is born in 1872.)

1880 – Nimrod is still a farmer. He indicates that his father was born in Maryland and his mother was born in Pennsylvania. Living with him are his wife, two sons, James and William, and two daughters, Miranda and Sarah. 25-year-old James is a huxter who had been unemployed for 4 months. The three younger children all attended school.[iii]

Stories

According to Thomas J. Wolfe, in The History of Sullivan County, Indiana, pages 235 & 236, “Nimrod and Malinda (Evans) Lister, both natives of Ohio, who came to Sullivan county. They were married in Ohio, and came to this county in the autumn of 1859. The father [Nimrod presumably] worked in a woolen mill in his early life, but after moving to this county followed farming.”[iv]

Death

Thomas J. Wolfe also indicates that Nimrod and Malinda had died before his book, The History of Sullivan County, Indiana was published in 1909.[v] Likewise, it appears that Nimrod died in January, 1900, before the 1900 Census was taken but I haven’t been able to confirm it. There was a Nimrod Lester who born in Ohio in 1831, died in February 1900, and is buried in Tippecanoe County, however, none of the other “Lester” surnamed individuals are familiar to my Nimrod Lister. I believe this to be a different Nimrod.

Further Actions / Follow-up

• Follow-up on all of Nimrod and Melinda’s children to find more about their lives.
• Do a surname focused study of Lister/Lester/Leister/Lustre in Pickaway County, Ohio.

Endnotes:

[i] 1860 Census (FS) (NARA), Family Search, 1860 Census – Nimrod Lustre [Lister] – Turman Township, Sullivan, Indiana – Page 140, Line 36. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4NV-DFM.
[ii] 1870 Census (FS), Family Search, Nimrod Lister – Indiana, Sullivan, Turman, Page 12, Line 24. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX6Z-4N3.
[iii] 1880 Census (FS), Nimrod Lister – Indiana, Sullivan, Gill Township, ED 329, Page 5, Line 18. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHSF-ZKC.
[iv] Wolfe, Thomas J., History of Sullivan County, Indiana, A, Files (Personal), Pages 234-236. A history of Sullivan County, Indiana, closing of the first century’s history of the county, and showing the growth of its people, institutions, industries and wealth. New York: The Lewis Pub. Co.
[v] Ibid.