Charley Hedrick OR Charles H Hedrick - Finding Proof

The first time I saw the name Charley Hedrick was in the 1880 census for Greene County, Missouri when I was following my great great grandfather from his birth in 1853 in Greene County, Missouri to his death in Major County, Oklahoma in 1913.

Charley was listed as brother along with a girl Satola listed as sister.  Now, did this mean brother and sister to the head of household (my great great grandfather) or each other?  I did some research on Ancestry.com for Charley Hedrick born in Missouri about 1865.  I found  Charley H Hedrick whose age varies through the census and decided to see where the trail would lead me.

 1880 Census Pond Creek Twp, Greene County, Missouri 24 June 1880.
Charley is 15 born in Missouri, both parents are born in Tennessee (same as the head of household).

I found a marriage record for Charles H Hedrick of Henry County, Missouri over the age of 21 married Kate Smock of Lafayette County, Missouri over the age of 18 on the 28th of November 1895.

In 1900, I cannot find Charley or Charles H Hedrick.

In 1910, I find Charley and Kate M Hedrick in Henrietta, Richmond Twp, Ray County, Missouri.  They have two children Carmel E and James T.  I got a little excited since my 3rd great grandfather is James Thomas Hedrick, the mystery man of this line.

In 1920,  Charley H Hedrick, age 56 and wife Mary K age 49 are still living in Henrietta.  Their children are still in the household; Elizabeth C age 22 and James T age 17.  Elizabeth is the Deputy Postmaster and James is the Assistant Deputy Postmaster.

In 1930, Charles H Hedrick, age 68 and Mary Katherine age 60 are still living in Henrietta along with their son James T age 27.  James is now a laborer on his father's farm.

Mary Katherine Smock Hedrick died 11 May 1938.  Her son, James T. Hedrick is the informant and gives this information:

Born March 19, 1871 in Saline County, Missouri.   Father is James F. Smock born in Mercer County, KY.  Mother is Betty Campbell born in Jassamine County, KY.  Burial is Lexington, Missouri.

In 1940, C. H. Hedrick, age 78 and widowed is still in Henrietta and Jas T age 37 is living with him.  Both are listed as farmers.

Charles Henry Hedrick died 17 May 1945.  His son, James T. Hedrick was the informant and gave the following information:

Born 10 Sept 1861 in Ray County, Missouri.  And that Charles had lived his entire life in Henrietta.  States his father was Tipton Hedrick born in Tennessee and his mother was Emaline Mullinex birthplace unknown.  Burial is in Lexington, Missouri.

I found memorials for both Charles and Mary Katherine Hedrick on FindAGrave.com in the Machpelah Cememtery, Lexington, Lafayette County, Missouri.

James Tipton Hedrick  died in 1986 and is buried in the Richmond Cemetery in Ray County, Missouri.

This is when my bubble was burst!  Darn, Tipton not Thomas?  I have tried to find a Tipton Hedrick in the census and I cannot.  So, I did find a Charley H Hedrick son of Jacob and Pauline Hedrick in the 1870 Census in Harrisonville, Cass County, Missouri.  Here is that information:

Jacob age 45 born in Tennessee, Pauline age 33 born in Tennessee, Martha age 12 born in Missouri, Jacob A age 10 born in Missouri, Charles H age 8 born in Missouri, Sarah E age 5 born in Missouri, John age 4 born in Missouri and James age 5/12 born in Missouri.

Cass County borders Henry County (the place of marriage for Charles and Mary) on the North.

I revisited the 1880 Census at Ancestry searching for Jacob Hedrick.  I found the family, including Charles H Hedrick age 17.  Two years older than the Charley Hedrick I am seeking.

Here is the information from the 1880 Census for Charles H Hedrick:

Jacob T Hedrick age 52 , Teamster, born in Tennessee as were his parents;  Emmeline, age 40 born in Indiana; Nannie age 20, daughter, born in Missouri; J Asberry age 18, son, Teamster, born in Missouri; Charles H age 17, son, Peddling, born in Missouri; Jennie age 15, daughter, born in Missouri; Mary Josephine age 13, daughter, born in Missouri; John R age 11, son, born in Missouri; Eliza age 7, daughter, born in Missouri; and Harry J age 5, son, born in Missouri.

They are residing in Decatur, Macon County, Illinois and the census is date 10 June. Jacob Tipton Hedrick, well that solves the Tipton mystery!  Could Emmeline and Pauline be the same person.  The age is off a few years and the place of birth is different.   In the 1900 census, a Jacob and Emeline Hedrick are in Cowley County, Kansas.  The ages are off and so are the places of birth.  A daughter age 20 (Fannie G) is living with them.

While this didn't prove the Charley Hedrick I was looking for, the documents I did find straightened out some details for Charles Henry Hedrick that were incorrect on his death certificate.

The search continues for Charley and Satola Hedrick, brother and sister.

 

Madness Monday - Fathering Children For 38 Years?

According to the will of Richard Gregory from 1765 in part:

In the name of God I Richard Gregory of Hereford Township in the county of Berks, yeoman, being weak in body but of sound memory, praised be God, and putting to mind human mortality I make and publish my last will and testament in manner following: Viz:........My sons, John, David, &  Richard have already got each of them their full shares from me.  And to my son Andrew I give and devise one half of all my lands I possess for himself his heirs and assigns forever......And to my younger sons Jacob, George and Christian I give and devise one half of all my lands I possess in equal share unto each of them....if any of them should die intestate without issue the surviving two shall equally inherit the portion of the deceased..it is further my will that the said my younger sons be out out to a good trade each of them in due time.

This part is significant in that the older sons are of legal age but the younger ones are not.  Christian was born in 1762.  There are records of guardianship in the Orphans Court records with the last one in 1779 about the time Christian would be approaching 18 years of age.

The will goes on to name daughters; Mary wife of John Jones, Elizabeth wife of George Mack, Judith late the wife of John Roads, Anna the wife of Joseph Betty, Margaretha the wife of Jacob Foige, and Elizabeth Kurtz.  "And to my younger daughters, Sarah and Hannah."

15 children in all, five of them minors.  The first child is recorded as born in 1724.  The only wife on record was name Margaretha Bixby.

An interesting fact, Christian Gregory signed his name in German Script.  It is thought this line came from Holland.

The madness:  I believe that Richard must have had two wives.  I have tried to find BMD records in either Philadelphia or Berks counties for this time period.  My guess is they have not been digitized nor transcribed to any extent.  Place of burial is not known by me either.  Did Margaretha remarry after his death?   I found a website by another researcher, Charles Gates, http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/g/a/t/Charles-E-Gates-TX/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0302.html. Charles has posted everything I have that was in a manuscript put together by Loran Gregory's sister after his (Loran's) death several years ago.  The  references are included on this website. This site also contains a broken link, www.berksregofwills.com and references FTM CD  209.  The only date on his site is updated June 15, 2006 on the home page.

I plan to track down his sources as well as what is written in the manuscript and prove or disprove the information I have found on Richard Gregory.  My husband's line is through the youngest son, Christian who is buried in Union County, Illinois in 1842.  I may have far less hair by the time I get this line straightened out!

If you have suggestions, please post a comment below.  All assistance is appreciated!

Thankful Thursday - Sharing Research

I have been a member of NSDAR since 2003.  My cousin and I joined at the same time in the same chapter.  MY aunt, her cousin, had been a member since the early 1970s and had tried for some time to get us to join.  We all joined under the patriot, Henry Hatevil Fall.  This was the line that had been proven by my aunt/ her cousin.  There were many clues to other family lines in her research.  I started researching to expand on this information after the two of us joined NSDAR.  I discovered other patriots that could be added to our membership as supplementals.  I found Joel Higley, Stephen Cushing, James Mitchell, and recently Simon Graves.  All of these were in the database at www.dar.org.  I have other ancestors who lived in America at the time of the revolution so I keep my eyes open to other possible patriots.  A few months ago, I found Joseph Holly/Holley.  His son, Numon Holly/Holley married Elizabeth Fall, daughter of Henry Hatevil Fall.  Joseph is not in the NSDAR database.  I was fortunate that his widow filed for a pension and in the pension it names their children who are living at that time, Numon being one of them.  I went to www.fold3.com and hit the jackpot.  The pension file was 32 pages with all of the details needed to prove another line.  I also found his service record.  I then obtained Numon's will, which names my great great grandmother as his daughter.  I am still gathering other proofs before I submit a supplemental application.  I have always shared my findings, not only with my cousin who is a member of NSDAR, but will all of my cousins.  For Christmas this year, my cousin gave me a subscription to Ancestry.com.  I feel overwhelmed by her generosity and I am very thankful that she thought me worthy of such a gift.

I am a firm believer is sharing original source documents for the benefit of all.   This is the reason I work as a volunteer for the IA GenWeb project as the County Coordinator for Lucas County.  My main purpose here is to transcribe original records.  I hope with my subscription to Ancestry that I will find some documents that I can transcribe for those Lucas County researchers.

I will keep on searching to expand our genealogy and perhaps I will find more patriots for us!