It is really unclear to me if George Hobbs (1801-1860) had one wife or two. The records and family history make it really difficult to determine the truth. But, here is my logic.
Martin County Heritage, by Hughes, S. J. N., & Martin County Historical Society (N.C.) Published in 1980 has hundreds of articles regarding individuals from Martin County, NC. What is good about these articles is they were written by individuals who had access to family records and often knew the individuals written about.[i]
Article 419 was written by 1st cousin once removed, Hazel Armstrong Valentine. Hazel was born in 1895 and knew the family in North Carolina first hand. Her article sates that “George Hobbs and Eartha W. Gaskins were married 3-29-1836. This is the first entry under “Marriages” in J.A. Hobbs’ Bible.
Another article in the same book, “Article 495 – Hettie Elizabeth Johnson” indicates that Hettie’s mother [Hester Jane Hobbs] was “the daughter of George A. Hobbs and his wife listed as only ‘M’ (born 1809).”
It appears that George died before the 1860 Census as I cannot find him enumerated in that census. Also it appears that all his children are living in different places.
The 1850 Census is clear, George Hobbs, living with 41-year-old M Hobbs, and six Hobbs children.[ii] Although relationships are not given in the 1850 Census, it is clearly a family unit. Being 41 years of age during the 1850 census infers “M” has a birthdate between 2 June 1808 and 1 June 1809. Also, their daughter Sarah F Hobbs was age 14 during the Census. That would infer a birthdate between 2 June 1835 and 1 June 1836. What isn’t clear is that if Eartha Gaskins married George on 3-29-1836 then Sarah came pretty quick after the wedding, within 2 months. Alternately with Sarah being 14 during the 1850 Census, she could have been born as early as 2 June 1835. If that is the there was probably another wife who gave birth to Sarah and that would have to be “M.” But “M” is reported in George’s household in 1850, so “M” couldn’t have been replaced by Eartha, rather, “M” is likely Eartha M Gaskins (“M” instead of W” and was misread.
Name
Born
Married
Notes
Eartha W. Gaskins
3/29/1836
M.
1909
Mother of Hester Jane
I cannot be certain if “M” and Eartha are the same person, but I suspect that they are. I will need to closely analyze the other children and see if I can find any additional facts which will prove my contention either way.
Bio – Eartha W Gaskins, aka “M”
Born: 1809 in North Carolina
Married: 3/29/1838 to George W Hobbs.
1850: Lived with George Hobbs and apparently six children
Sarah F Hobbs (1836-?)
C. S. Hobbs (Edward s) (1840-?)
George Hobbs (1842-1865)
James A Hobbs (1841-1920)
Elizabeth Hobbs (1847-?)
Easter I Hobbs (Hester Jane) (1849-1908)
Future actions
Find death record for Eartha W Hobbs and/or “M” Hobbs.
Trace Birth, marriage, and death records for Sarah, Edward, Elizabeth and Hester.
List of Greats
James Ashley Hobbs M and/or Eartha W Gaskins
ENDNOTES
[i] Hughes, Shelby Jean Nelson. 1980. Martin County heritage. Williamston, N.C.: Martin County Historical Society.
[ii] Source: 1850 Census; George Hobbs – Martin County, North Carolina; Ancestry.Com
When I begin a deep dive on individuals in North Carolina, “Digital North Carolina” is the place that I go. It is one of the best websites that I know of for North Carolina information. The site contains North Carolina specific yearbooks, newspapers, city directories, images and other digital records.
George W. Hobbs (1805-1858) – York Rite Mason
George W. Hobbs is an ancestor that I’ve had difficulty finding his vital data. I’ve long wondered what his death date is. I have been unable to find George in the 1860 Census, although I have found his children dispersed around the country. I do see him enumerated in the 1850 Census, so I’ve long believed that he died sometime between 1850 and 1860. I was wondering if Digital North Carolina could help me pinpoint George’s death.
I searched for George Hobbs and received 477 results in Digital Content and another 75 hits in Newspapers. The system provides the 20 most relevant but I wanted to focus a bit more on my George. Although it is counter-intuitive, if you select “View Entire Result Set.” At the top of the new page is an option for Advanced Search (you don’t see the Advanced Search before then). From the Advanced search page I entered to search for the exact phrase “George Hobbs” and received 12 results; a much more manageable number. Most of the results were Masonic documents.
Symbol of Royal Arch Masons
(York Rite)
There were several “Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of the Ancient York Masons.” Through them, I was able to follow much of George Hobbs’s Masonic Life. I saw him first as a member Orr Lodge, No 104 in Washington, in 1840 and saw him as a member there for several years. Then I found him as a member of the Ancient York Masons, Conoho Lodge, No. 131, in Hamilton. His participation continues with the Conoho Lodge through June 1858. Beginning in 1959 Conoho Lodge failed to submit their annual “return” to the Grand Lodge. I noted they failed to return their information in 1859 and 1860. There were no returns during the Civil War. In 1867, the Conoho Lodge was suspended by the Grand Lodge.
No, the Digital North Carolina records found didn’t answer my question fully about when George Hobbs died, however, it did provide valuable information. I know he was alive when the Conoho Lodge submitted it membership information in June, 1858, which places his death between June 1858 and May 1860. George doesn’t show up in the 1860 Mortality Schedule, so that suggests he died between June 1858 and June 1859.
More importantly, the Digital North Carolina records provided a much clearer of his interests. He was a Mason while he lived in Washington, Beauford County, North Carolina. He maintained his Masonic activities after he moved to Hamilton, Martin County, North Carolina. I also saw learned he had been a Senior Warden and was a member of the York Rite.
Digital North Carolina is on my list of “must-visit” sites whenever I am researching North Carolina ancestors; I hope you add it to your list too.
North Carolina
Digital North Carolina Yearbooks, Newspapers, Images, Memorabilia, City Directories and more.
Appleton is a surname based upon habitation, that is to say based upon where a person lived or came from. If it were Orchard, you would know right off; however, Appleton comes from æppeltun, Old English literally meaning “apple enclosure.”[i]
Geographical
The Appleton is said to come from England. The 1840 Census indicated there were 137 Appleton families in the United States. Fifty of them, or 36%, were living in Massachusetts.[ii]
My Earliest Appleton Ancestors
HERE LYETH BURIED Ye BODY OF COL. SAMUEL APPLETON AGED 70 YEARS DECd MAY Ye 15th 1696 photo by: John Glassford via Find a Grave
My earliest known Appleton ancestor is my 10th great grandfather, Samuel Appleton. Samuel was born 2 Feb 1624 in Waldringfield, Suffolk, England. Some records I have indicate that he was a Junior, so I suppose his father, Samuel Appleton is my earliest known Appleton Ancestor, although I have no information on him, yet. When Samuel (the younger) was ten, his family came to the colonies and settled in Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts. He married Hanna Paine (1627-1656) and had two children, Judith and Samuel. Hanna died and then he married Mary Oliver and had two more children, Isaac and Oliver.[iii] Samuel died on 15 May 1696 in Ipswich, MA. He is buried in the Old Burying Ground in Ipswich. I believe his marker is the oldest marker of a direct ancestor that I know of.
Judith Appleton married Samuel Wolcott (1656-1695) in 1678.[iv] They had nine children, their eldest son, Samuel (1679-1734) is my 8th great grandfather.
My Direct Appleton Ancestors
#6562 – Samuel Appleton (1624-1696) – Generation 13
#3281 – Judith Appleton (1653-1741) – Generation 12
Wolcott – Four Generations – Generations 8 thru 11
Parsons – Two Generations – Generations 6 and 7
Sanford – One Generation – Generation 5
Brown – Two Generations – Generations 3 and 4
My mother – Generation 2
Me – Generation 1
My known relatives.
My records have 364 direct-line descendants identified over sixteen generations, which is 8% of my known Brown/Montran Ancestors.
DNA testing results have, for me, always been something of a mixed bag. In most cases it does a fantastic job of confirming relationships that I have been pretty certain existed. For example, it confirmed that my half-sister, who was put up for adoption, is my half-sister. It also can provide for leads in other lines. For example, when a first cousin popped up on my completely unknown paternal line, it provided the clues as to who my biological father was. I am still confirming that line and I expect a definitive answer in a few weeks.
My feelings of being “Stuck in the Mud”
Front Street, Dawson City, Yukon, 1898
[Public Domain] via Wikipedia Commons
DNA test results have also led me down some dead ends. Researching the results that say “second to fourth cousin” are time-consuming when you don’t have a tree that names a common ancestor. I’ve spent a lot of time stuck on muddy roads looking for the gold that the DNA map indicated was there.
On rare occasions, a DNA match completely changes everything. I originally had my wife test her autosomal DNA looking for clues regarding her paternal line. I traced her paternal line to her 2nd great-grandparents but ran into several brick walls beyond that. I didn’t find anything that got me on the right track. I didn’t look her results for several months until I revisited them this week.
Oh, my. Someone new showed up on the list as “Close Family” – Possibly a first cousin. I thought, “Interesting, I wonder who this is.” The name on the matching account, “Birdsong….” wasn’t an actual name, so I was a bit confused. Ancestry DNA doesn’t let you see the actual matches but, if you click on the individual’s name then click on the little info logo, it will show you the amount of shared DNA. I clicked on it and was startled. It said 1,702 centimorgans shared across 54 DNA segments. Wow. That is the range of an aunt or uncle, niece or nephew, grandchild, or half-sibling. I wondered which of the nieces had their DNA tested. I sent “Birdsong…”, my standard inquiring message via Ancestry Messaging saying that said that she and my wife shared DNA and I was interested in exploring the potential relationship.
I took a break from the computer; I try to take a break every hour or so, and told my wife about my exciting new find. She, who doesn’t do genealogy, much less genetic genealogy, heard me say, “Wawh, wawh, wawh, wawh, DNA, wawh, wawh, wawh, niece, wawh wawh.” It didn’t sink in just how profound a match of over 1700 centimorgans can be.
My wife went back to her atelier and her painting and I went back to my office and my research. I noted that the individual didn’t match with my mother-in-law, so it had to be a match on my wife’s father’s side. Then looked at Birdsong’s family tree on Ancestry. nothing made sense to me. None of the surnames matched my wife’s surnames. Of course, Birdsong’s information was private so I couldn’t get any more information, but I did see information about her mother. I searched the internet and found an obituary. It provided the names of this woman’s children and that included the name for “Birdsong” – Robin. I also knew her father’s name from the obituary so I searched for Robin K____ using her mother and father’s names and found her birth information; she was born in 1947 in Washington DC. Interesting. I knew that my wife’s father lived in Washington DC in the 1940s.
Robin had two siblings, both older and both passed now. I though, oh my, it doesn’t look like an aunt or a niece, could this be a half-sister? Very interesting.
I jotted down the names, dates, and places and then chatted with my wife about my findings. She is so good about listening to me when I find something interesting and is exciting to me. I was telling her about my findings and she said, “Who?” then snatched the notes out of my hand. Apparently, I was mispronouncing the surname. She immediately recognized the names. looked at my notes, saw Robin’s name and her parents’ names and her jaw dropped. She knew the people from when she was a child. “OMG – I know this family.”
My wife was just plain gobsmacked — a half-sister, totally unknown before this. Her mind was totally blown, so blown she could be in a commercial for Jet.Com. It was fun to watch her wander around the house saying, “Wow.”
There is a saying in genetic genealogy, “you should never take a DNA test unless you are sure you want to discover the truth.” There is wisdom in that. In this case, the truth iss there is a half-sister that my wife, her mother, and her siblings knew nothing about. Genetic genealogy can be really fun.
[Note: I anticipate Part 2 of this article to be about my finding my half-sister after searching for nearly 50 years. I am still awaiting DNA confirmation.]
There are very few things in genealogical research as exciting as finding a photograph, painting, or drawing of an ancestor. I was researching David Swayze, one of my wife’s third great grandparents. I was excited. I saw where several people have attached the image to David Swayze (b. 1796). I also saw where someone attached the same photo to another David Swayze (born in the 1600s.) From the clothing the individual in the photo is wearing, it is clear that the photo/ isn’t from the 1600s. Then I thought about whether this is really an image of my David Swayze. David’s uncle was Judge David Swayze. My thoughts immediately went to the two Davids and how the two could be uniquely identified in a photograph. I looked through all the sources for this photo I could find and none of the sources appeared to have any provenance or history with the on-line version of the photo. I have emailed the two individuals that seem to have the first postings of the photo to see if they have any provenance about the photo and/or how they differentiated Judge David Swayze (1762-1838) from David Swayze (1796-1850) – Or David C. Swayze, born circa 1840, for that matter. (I think I know but I don’t want to assume anything.)
My thought is, don’t assume that a photo that is purported to be a particular individual is that individual without provenance or, at least, some kind of identifier information.
DH50 – David Swayze
10 June 1796 – 25 September 1850
David Swayze[i] was born on 10 June 1796 in Morris County, New Jersey[ii]; he died on 25 September 1850 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, aged 54[iii]. He was buried on 29 September 1850 in Kalamazoo at the Mountain Home Cemetery[iv].
He is the first son (second child) of Amos Swayze(1767-1839), aged 29, and Henrietta Chrisfield.
Siblings
It appears that he may have had an older sister, Cornelia. Her birth date is unknown.
1798 – Birth of his sister Elizabeth on 9 June 1798.
1800 – Birth of his sister Jane on 11 June 1800.
1803 – Birth of his sister Alice 9 September 1803.
1806 – Birth of his sister Polly 16 June 1806; Polly died 12 days later on 28 June 1806.
1807 – Death of his eight-year-old sister, Elizabeth in March 1807.
1807 – Birth of his sister Nancy 12 June 1807.
1809 – Celebration for young David, finally after six sisters a brother, Samuel C. was born on 28 August 1809.
1811 – Birth of another sister, Eleanor A., on 9 Dec 1811.
1814 – Birth of an eighth sister, Mary, on 22 Nov 1814.
1817 – Saw the birth of a second brother, Aaron Chrisfield, on 17 Jan 1817.
1817 – Later in 1817, David left home and married,
1819 – Two years later, David’s youngest sister Melinda was born on 9 November 1819.
He had a total of nine sisters and two brothers.
Marriage
1817 – He married[v]Katherine (sometimes Catherine) A D Walter (1794-1868), the daughter of James Walker(1752-1838) and Margaret Ann Swan(?-1804) on 30 January 1817 in Fairfield County, Ohio[vi]. David was 20 and Katherine was 22. The ceremony was performed by David’s uncle, Judge David Swayze.
Ohio Years
I have seen several researchers who have indicated that they moved to Virginia “first.” I have not found any documentative evidence indicating that move. David and Katherine lived in Fairfield County, Ohio before they married in Fairfield County and all their children were born in Ohio, and, I believe, Fairfield County.
Different documents indicate they lived in New Salem[vii], others indicate they lived in Walnut, but always Fairfield County until the family moved north to Kalamazoo, Michigan about 1839 or 1840.
David was one of the founders of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Although his life in Kalamazoo was short, only about 10 years, his impact was felt in many societies, organizations, and village life.
Between 1841 and 1844 he was the Treasurer of the Kalamazoo County Bible Society,[viii]
In 1844 he was a Member of the Kalamazoo Clay Club. That was a Whig organization that supported Henry Clay for president.,[ix] Also in 1844, he was a Trustee for the incorporation of Kalamazoo.,[x]
In 1846 he service the city as the “Overseer of the Poor” for the Village of Kalamazoo,[xi]
His interest in the Kalamazoo County Bible Society continued into 1850 when he was Vice President.,[xii]
Death
Marker – David Swayzee – Died Sept 26 1850 Source: Find-a-Grave Memorial 13791718
David Swayzee died 25 September 1850 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He is buried at Mountain Home Cemetery in Kalamazoo.
Children
The children of David and Katherine were:
· Elizabeth Jane Swayze, born about 1818 in Ohio, died on 25 March 1896 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, aged about 78. She married Isaac Wiseman on 25 March 1840, next she married Rufus Holton Darling on 27 August 1846. She had 6 children: Mary, Abner, Elizabeth, Emily, Eva and Rufus.
· Emily Ann Swayze, born on 21 January 1820 in Ohio, died sometime before 24 January 1908 in Aurora, Kane County, Illinoi). She married Samuel N. Davis on 27 January 1846, next married Samuel McCarty on 15 April 1853. She had 8 children: Lucy, Eva, Sydney, Charles, Edgar, William, Sallie and Jenny.
· Margeretta Swayze, born about 1821 in Ohio, died on 18 October 1823 in Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio, aged about 2. She had no known descendants.
· Angeline Swayze, born about 1824 in Ohio, died at an unknown date. She had no known descendants.
· William D. Swayze, born about 1826 in Ohio, died at an unknown date. He had no known descendants.
· S. B. Swayze, born about 1828. She married, but has no known descendants.
· Theodore P. Swayze, born about 1837 in Fairfield County, Ohio. He had no known descendants.
· Caroline M. Swayze, born about 1838 in Ohio; she died at an unknown date. She had no known descendants.
List of Greats
Rufus Harry Darling (1856-1917_
Elizabeth Jane Swayze (1818-1896) David Swayze (1796-1850) Amos Swayze (1767-1839) Barnabas Swayze Samuel Swayze (Judge) Joseph Swayze John Swayze John Swayze (Before 1600, England)
[Note: Names in italac are anticipated but haven’t been confirmed by me, yet.]
Future Actions
Review Wiseman Family at the Old Church at New Salem for references to David Swayze. ( This book is available on Persi at the Library persi.heritagequestonline.com.)
ENDNOTES
[i] Note: Name: David /Sweezey/, Name: David /Swayzee/, Name: David /Sweezey/, , Name: David /Swayzee/,
[ii] Sources: DAR Genealogical Research Databases – Descendants List / Member: Helen J Roy ;Nat’l # 455124 – Ancestor # A120153 – Daughters of the American Revolution (Internet) – Genealogy of the Swasey Family / 63. Amos Swayze – Pages 183-190 – Don Taylor Files (Other) – Find a Grave / David Swayzee – Memorial# 13791718 – Find-a-Grave (Copy)
[iii] Sources: DAR Genealogical Research Databases – Descendants List / Member: Helen J Roy ;Nat’l # 455124 – Ancestor # A120153 – Daughters of the American Revolution (Internet) – Find a Grave / David Swayzee – Memorial# 13791718 – Find-a-Grave (Copy)
[iv] Source: Genealogy of the Swasey Family / 63. Amos Swayze – Pages 183-190 – Don Taylor Files (Other)
[v] Note: There is a conflict regarding the 1830 Census. Reinvestigate.
[vi] Sources: DAR Genealogical Research Databases – Descendants List / Member: Helen J Roy ;Nat’l # 455124 – Ancestor # A120153 – Daughters of the American Revolution (Internet) – Genealogy of the Swasey Family / 63. Amos Swayze – Pages 183-190 – Don Taylor Files (Other) – Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013 / David Swayze and Catharine Walter, 30 Jan 1817; citing Fairfield, Ohio, United States, reference ; county courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 295,268. – FamilySearch.org (Digitizing)
