Amanuensis Monday - An Autobiography

JONILA SUE GRAVES MCGINLEY

Born on the third day of December in 1934 in Mooreland, Oklahoma was a teacher and 'household executive'.  She loved reading, music and her friends.  Her husband, Pat McGinley was an Engineer with Exxon.  Jonila was the mother of two children, Mark and Patricia, and a grandmother of two, Hillary and Alicia.  

Jonila joined Thousand Oaks Chapter, DAR in June 1991 and was a charter member of Lohman's Ford chapter in Lakeway, Texas when it was chartered on November 14, 1994.  She held the offices of secretary and  historian; as well as literacy and patriotism chairmanships. 

Her chapter published an "Orchid Book" and each member wrote a narrative for that publication.  Jonila wrote:

"I, Jonila was born in Oklahoma and lived there for 34 years.  After marriage to Pat McGinley we lived in the great state of Texas and then the great state of California.  We resided in Australia for 5 years and South Korea for 3 years.  We have a son who is a Professor at Texas Tech and a daughter who is a speech therapist and mother of our two granddaughters."

"I would like to be remembered for my love of life and my willingness to do things for others.  I would like for my descendants to understand that we are responsible for our own actions. I want to pass on the importance of education."

 Jonila lost her battle with cancer on December 19, 2012 in Lakeway, Texas.  She is survived by her husband, Pat; her son, Mark, and daughter, Patricia Clarke; granddaughters Hillary and Alicia; and one brother, David Graves.  A private memorial service will be held in Oklahoma.

I am sorry to say that I never met Jonila.  We talked on the phone for the first time just this past summer.  I was looking for more information on our Graves line and my mother had contacted Jonila on my behalf.  She was very kind and helpful and talked about all the family papers she had received from her father, Jones Graves. She told me she had the original photo of our common ancestor, Elizabeth Fall Holley.  This photo was taken before her death in 1899 and wasn't it the best condition.  I felt very blessed when I received a copy of that photo in the mail a few weeks later.  My hope is to leave a fitting tribute to this wonderful person.

Surname Saturday - Louthan, Red Headed Hero Of Scotland

I inherited a collection of letters written between 1948 and 1961.  The sender was researching his Louthan family.  All of the respondents had the same story and it is revealed they received there information from Ann Eliza Louthan who heard it from her Aunt Polly.  Ann Eliza died in 1925.  Henry Thompson Louthan's daughter, Mary Tyler Louthan was one of the senders.  She eluded to her father having trunks full of letters that she was going through and that he had researched heavily in Virginia for his Louthan ancestors.
Going through these letters while scanning them to a file on my computer, I searched on FamilySearch and Ancestry.com to identify the senders.  I was able to trace back the Louthan line from which the writer descended .  All of the respondents believe that all Louthan descendants are related.  Of course, not one cited any sources other than  "from Ann Eliza from her Aunt Polly."
In 2000, I received a manuscript of the Louthan family.  It contains the original genealogy written by W. B. Louthan of Helena, Tama Co., IA in 1878.

"Family tradition holds the following account of Henry Louthan 1st given by Henry Louthan 1st great grandson John Bowles Louthan to his son Wallace Binkley Louthan on January 3, 1878."

About 1737, Henry Louthan, a red head hero of Scotland, emigrated to America and settled in the stated of Virginia, Fredric County, then one of the British colonies.  He being at that time a single man, but soon afterwords married a damsel of the New World. After the birth of four children, Elisabeth, Margaret, George, Henry, she died. Then he married the second wife, she bore him three girls and six boys.  They settled in Ohio.  The children of the first wife were all above the average size.  Georges weight 250 lbs, Henry 225, and not inclined to corpulency.  They remained many years in Virginia.  Georges family consisted of Walker, Henry, George, John and Mollie.  The two latter remained in Virginia.  The other three moved to Missouria.

The writers of this manuscript question some of the details in this written account.  "The statement that Henry 1 was a red-headed hero of Scotland is unsupported and was once questioned by an Orange County, California genealogy group in one of their publications."  "The Henry Louthan 2nd mentioned as son of Henry Louthan 1st was born some 26 years after Henry Louthan 1st emigrated to America and would clearly be the son of the second wife, not the first. Of course it is not uncommon for their to be more than one child with the same name, especially if the older one died.  Names for Henry 1st wife's have been given as Mary and Nancy.  Nancy being the second.

I set out to place the Louthan head of households in the census across the US beginning with 1790 and going to 1840.  Except for the two in South Carolina in 1790, nothing shows up before 1810, records having being destroyed in Virginia during the Civil War.

Name	Year	State	County	Township
Elijah Lauthins	1790	South Carolina	Spartanburg	Not Stated
John Lauthins	1790	South Carolina	Spartanburg	Not Stated
Richard Louthum	1810	North Carolina	Guilford	Greensboro
Moses Leathen	1810	North Carolina	Orange	Hillsborough
Thomas Louthen	1810	Virginia	Harrison	Not Stated
John Louthan	1810	Virginia	Clarke	Not Stated
John Louthan	1810	Virginia	Frederick	Stephensburg
Henry Louthan	1810	Virginia	Frederick	Berryville
Henry Louthan	1810	Virginia	Frederick	Pughtown
Lucy Louthan	1810	Virginia	Frederick	Not Stated
Henry Louthan	1810	Virginia	Frederick	Eastern District
George B Lothian	1820	New York	New York	Ward 6
Jonathan Louthen	1820	Pennsylvania	Westmoreland	Fairfield
David Louthen	1820	Pennsylvania	Westmoreland	Fairfield
John Louthan	1820	Virginia	Frederick	Eastern District
George Louthan	1820	Virginia	Frederick	Eastern District
Henry Louthan	1820	Virginia	Hampshire	Not Stated
Walker Louthan	1820	Virginia	Hampshire	Not Stated
Henry Louthan	1820	Virginia	Smyth	Not Stated
Thomas Louthen	1820	Virginia	Harrison	Not Stated
John Louthan	1820	Pennsylvania	Beaver	Ohio
An Louthen	1830	Pennsylvania	Beaver	South Beaver
James Louthan	1830	Pennsylvania	Beaver	Ohio
James Lowthen	1830	Pennsylvania	Beaver	South Beaver
Samuel Lowthen	1830	Pennsylvania	Beaver	South Beaver
Jonathan Louthen	1830	Pennsylvania	Westmoreland	Fairfield
David Louthen	1830	Pennsylvania	Westmoreland	Fairfield
Moses Louthen	1830	Pennsylvania	Beaver	Ohio
George Louthan	1830	Ohio	Butler	Hamilton
James H. Louthan	1830	Ohio	Butler	Lemon
Hiram Louthan	1830	Ohio	Columbiana	Hanover
Moses Louthan	1840	Ohio	Columbiana	Hanover
Henry Louthan	1840	Ohio	Columbiana	St. Clair
Moses Louthan	1840	Ohio	Columbiana	Clarkson
Moses Louthan	1840	Ohio	Summit	Green
John Louthan	1840	Ohio	Miami	Elizabeth
George Louthan	1840	Ohio	Wayne	Dover
Mathew R Louthan	1840	Ohio	Lake	Perry
Parker Louthain	1840	Ohio	Shelby	Not Stated
John Louthain	1840	Ohio	Shelby	Not Stated
James Lowthen	1840	Ohio	Wayne	East Union
Margaret Louthen	1840	Tennessee	Claiborne	Not Stated
John Lothen	1840	Tennessee	Hickman	Not Stated
Henry Louthan	1840	Missouri	Shelby	Not Stated
Isaac Lathan	1840	Missouri	Howard	Franklin
Walker Louthan	1840	Missouri	Marion	Liberty
Isaac Lawthian	1840	Missouri	Howard	Not Stated
Bessie Lothin	1840	New York	New York	Ward 10
George B Lothian	1840	New York	New York	Ward 6
Geo Louthan	1840	Indiana	Porter	Not Stated
James Louthain	1840	Indiana	Tippecanoe	Jefferson
John Louthain	1840	Indiana	Tippecanoe	Jefferson
Joseph Louthain	1840	Indiana	Tippecanoe	Wabash
William Louthane	1840	Indiana	Putnam	Not Stated
Absolom Louthan	1840	Illinois	Jo Davies	Pleasant Grove

The Tennessee Louthans are documented in two issues of "Reflections, The Quarterly Newsletter of the Caliborne County Historical Society" summer edition 1987 contributed by Dolores Ham who at that time resided in Orangeburg, SC.  

Much speculation has been made regarding the origin of the Louthan/Louthen families.  There was always talk of an "Irish" connection in my branch of the Louthan family, probably  because of the frequency of redheads!  As I have researched the Louthan family, it seems more likely that the family was a participant in the great Scotch-Irish immigration of the early 18th century.  However, evidence of their residence abroad or of their arrival in America has not yet been found.

...it is sometimes stated that Henry Louthan had two brothers, one of whom stayed in NY and another whose destination is unknown.

The challenge to the Louthan puzzle is handwriting and phonetic spelling in old records.  A lazy 'n' sometimes appears to be an 'r', 'ou' is sometimes written as 'ow' and 'S' is always confused with 'L'.  I had this happen to me when I was in high school.  I had filled out an order form in cursive and the package arrived with my surname spelled Southan.

On FamilySearch I did find indexed records of the surname Louthan in Scotland.  And red hair is a trait I inherited as did my brother.  This far removed from the original immigrant, that trait isn't really a factor to consider since there are red heads in nearly every one of my extended family lines, both maternal and paternal.

Will this puzzle ever be solved??  Hard to say.  This is an example of a One Line Genealogy that ignores all of the other lines and so people are lost along the way.  Records prior to 1810 are difficult to find and presents a challenge to this researcher.   The treasure of an old Bible from that time would be nice to find.

I certainly will not run out of research to conduct on the Louthan surname, in America and in Great Britain.

 

 

Wordless Wednesday - Hoag-Steinmetz Reunion

Taken at Roman Nose State Park, Watonga, Oklahoma.

Madness Monday - He drives me crazy!

I posted about this brick wall last February.  I keep hoping new records will magically pop up.

I decided today to re-visit original documents that I can find online for Hiram B. Louthan.

1. Marriage record: February 27, 1834  Elkrun, Columbiana County, Ohio

    2. 1836 Tax List  Hanover Twp, Columbiana County, Ohio.

   3. 1837 Tax List Hanover Twp., Columbiana County, Ohio.

   4. 1838 Tax List Hanover Twp., Columbiana County, Ohio.

    5. 1840 Federal Census Hanover Twp., Columbiana County, Ohio.

He has lived in Guilford, Hanover Twp., Columbiana County, Ohio for at least four years.  He has three sons; Oliver Perry Louthan b. 30 November 1834, John Cope Louthan b. 28 May 1836 and James Fife Louthan b. 3 July 1838.

Family tradition is he was a blacksmith and was born in Louthan Valley Virginia.  Ok, it is actually Loudon Valley in Virginia and there was a Civil War Battle fought in that area.  There were Louthan's in Virginia but I cannot connect to them.  You will notice there is Moses Louthan next to Hiram in the tax lists.  These two men married sisters, Harriet Matilda Hayes and Catherine Hayes, daughters of Edmund Hayes and Sarah Whitacre.  The big question being tossed around, "Are these men brothers?"  I have seen family trees online that tie them as brothers, but I have not seen proof.  

I decided to look into the middle names of  Hiram's children to see if they connected to him.  Oliver Perry was named after Harriet's brother, William Oliver Perry Hayes who died 8 Sept 1830.  John Cope Louthan may have been named after John Cope who married Phebe Heald in Columbiana County, Ohio in 1833.  In the 1850 Federal Census, Oliver Louthan is residing with John and Pheobe Cope in Wesley, Washington County, Ohio.  James Fife Louthan, I have never found a connection to the Fife family.  

So, that was no help at all.  

In 1841, according to a Bible record, reported to have been owned by Harriet, they had a daughter, Sarah.

Then in 1844, Margaret was born.  Sarah died in 1845, burial place is either Columbiana or Washington County, Ohio.  Hiram is supposed to have died about this same time and place.  I haven't been able to find this information to confirm.

Harriet married William Ormiston 16 Mar 1847 in Washington County, Ohio.  Below is the Intent to Marry image from Marriage Record 1845 - 1851 book microfilmed by FHL.

Harriet's parents had also moved to Washington County.  It is not know if she moved before Hiram's death or after.  Moses Louthan moved on to Illinois and then Kansas.  They settled in Mitchell County, Kansas.  

Hiram's three sons served in the Civil War as did Margaret's husband, Alexander M. Ellis.  Following the Civil War these families, with the exception of Margaret,  migrated to Linn County, Missouri.  Harriet died in Purdin, Linn County, Missouri in 1884.  

I have a lot of information on Hiram's descendants, wish I could solve the mystery of who, what, when and where for Hiram himself.   Moses was born in Pennsylvania and his family is documented in a county history book.  No mention is made of a brother named Hiram.  There are probate record images on FamilySearch.org that I haven't read through completely. https://familysearch.org/search/image/index#uri=https%3A//familysearch.org/records/collection/1992421/waypoints

There isn't an index to the images so it will take a while to browse the thousands of images available for Columbiana and Washington Counties.   Until I have proof of who Hiram's parents were, I will not connect him to Moses.  

This is driving me mad and has been for 30 years!  Somewhere in a dark corner is a file box that holds the key!  If only I could say " Beam me up, Scotty!" and magically land in that corner!

Tombstone Tuesday - Wherefore art thou?

I know she died,  that is obvious.  She is not on any of the online cemetery sites.  Ancestry.com shows she died in 1830.  I found her male descendants tombstones photographed on www.nnygenealogy.com .  They are buried in Giddingsville Cemetery, Jefferson County, NY.  Why isn't she?

This started me thinking..perhaps she was living with a daughter and not a son.  If this is the case, I may be looking in the wrong state or county.  According to the history book I found, she and her spouse moved to Rupert. VT.

This is what I know from Ancestry.com:

Persis 1754 - 1830

Simon 1/24/1752 - aft 1803 

Children:
          Solomon Graves 1781 - 1858
          Simon Graves 1782
          Joseph Graves 1784 - 1866
          Sarah Graves 1786
          Benoni Graves 1788
          Ira Graves 1790 - 1870

From other resources there was also a son named Jesse.  There being only one known daughter, finding her married name is my next step.

From the DAR application the following children are listed, with spouses if known.

Hannah - Elisha Mack, Salmon, Simon Jr, Joseph, Benoni, Ira, Jesse, Sarah, Susan - Townsley, Submitte - John Converse, Electa, David, Persis - Nathan Underhill.

Source for this information is stated as "Graves Family" book  in the library at Fair Haven, Rutland Co., Vermont.   The last child, Persis, was recorded as born 4/01/1804.  Her mother, Persis, would have been 50 years old.  It is unknown when Simon Sr. died nor where.

Starting with the youngest child, Persis Underhill, wife of Nathan.  I found one Nathan Underhill in the 1830 census in Dutchess County, NY.  There is a burial on Find A Grave for a Nathaniel Underhill, but his wife is listed as Hannah Vail.

Checking for Submitte, there is only one John Covers in the 1830 census.  He is living in Charlestown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.  Nothing was found for Submitte or John Converse on Find A Grave for this county in Massachusetts.

This is one of those moments that I wished I liven in New England!  Fair Haven Library: (802)265-8011

I scheduled this to post on 1/08/13 and it didn't post until 1/10/13.  Go figure!

Talented Tuesday - A Family of Quilters

Quilting is a skill passed down in my mother's family.  My grandmother, Mary Steinmetz Hoag, was a quilter out of necessity.  She had 7 children to keep warm.  My mother quilts out of enjoyment.  She made quilts for most of her grandchildren upon their graduation from high school or marriage.  She started this tradition after my children had passed both milestones.  I guess this just goes with being the eldest daughter.  She also makes lap quilts and donates them to a cancer treatment center for children.  She was able to convince her NSDAR chapter to join her in this cause.  Her group makes and donates many quilts each year.  I have helped with many quilts in the passed ten years.  Our community raffled a quilt at their come on home celebration and I joined in making blocks for these quilts.  When my daughter announced her engagement, my mother suggested I make a quilt for their wedding.  I asked my daughter which pattern and colors she preferred.  She requested a Double Wedding Ring in red, gold and black.  So, I set out to the local discount retailer to find the fabrics I needed.  Well, gold wasn't in their selection but I found some yellow fabric in different hues that would work.  The black I found had chickens on it, subtle but chickens, indeed.   She wasn't thrilled with the fabric choices, she was thinking satins.  If you quilt, satin fabric is not what you typically would choose.  It took me many years ( six I believe) to piece the quilt top and one year to hand quilt it.  It turned out to be Queen Size.  She liked it when I finally finished it.  My mother has several quilts that her mother made and this are hanging on the wall in one of her guest rooms.  I enjoy looking at quilts and going to quilt shows.
To say the least, quilters are among the most talented people on earth in my opinion.  I have a very active Pinterest page full of quilts and a folder on my computer just for quilt ideas.  I am a free thinker and do not like to follow directions.  I think of quilts as works of art, left up to the artist to create and the public to enjoy.  I am amazed at what I see other quilters create!  I have to remind myself, I am only limited by my imagination.  I am in awe of the talented ladies who are dedicated to this art!

I set out this fall to clean up the fabric remnants hiding in a dresser drawer.  So, I retrieved them from their hiding place, laid them out on the guest bed and started putting them in groups of coordinating colors.  I told myself, I would have all of that fabric used by New Year's Day.  Ha!

As Christmas approached and with it the grandchildren coming to visit, I had to put away all the fabric that was covering the guest bed.  I thought ahead on this one (I am so proud of myself) I bagged it in coordinating fabrics so I can pull one bag and I am ready to create!

I made one lap quilt this last fall.  I intended to make more but I turned instead to making doll clothes for my granddaughter's new doll.  That was a lot of fun, too.  I plan to make lap quilts this year for the veterans' project in my NSDAR chapter.  My goal is to make one each month...wish me luck because genealogy takes me away from the sewing machine.   What's a quilting genealogist to do!

Mattie Logan - Woman Pioneer?

Twenty years or so ago, I bought a manuscript, "Our Logan Family, 1803-1966".  It was compiled by Ora Ellen Doyle of Greensburg, Kansas (yes, it was devastated by the tornado in 2007).  This manuscript is my starting point when I start looking at a particular line in my Logan and Hedrick families.

The patriarch of the Logan family is Tarlton L. Logan born 7 January 1803 in Tennessee.  This line of Logans removed to Greene County, Missouri where Nancy Logan met and married Thomas Hedrick.  Tarlton had 11 children, born in Tennessee, Mississippi and Missouri. Many of his children moved West into Kansas and later Oklahoma.

One child, Wesley Robert Logan and wife, Elizabeth Milberry Hazelton, settled in Pratt County, Kansas.  They farmed in the Byers area and are buried in the Byers Cemetery.   Wesley and Elizabeth Logan had six children; Alf, Leona, Talton, Townlie, Pearl and Rosa.  Talton married Mattie Semelia Bennett in Mitchell County, Kansas in 1903.  I knew from Ora's book that Talton abandoned his family in 1913.  I decided to search for him again since it has been many years since my last search.

I started with the census so I could track the movement of this family.  I found a big surprise, but first here is the trail:

1. 1905 Kansas State Census -  Pratt County, Kansas - farmer
2. 1910 Federal Census -  Ingalls, Gray County, Kansas - farmer
3. 1912 Oklahoma City Directory lists Talton L Logan salesman for Vulco-Fiberine Co. rooming at the Colonial Hotel.

This is where the trail for Talton ends.  I Googled for the company he worked for and found digital images of The Sentinal Nespaper in Florida  from 1913, according to the newspaper, this company sold wallpaper.  That is all I could find online.

I knew Mattie lived in Colorado.  FamilySearch added a new database of divorce records so I went to FamilySearch and browsed through all the Logan index cards.  I found the index card showing Mattie as the plantiff and Talton as the defendant.  The divorce was granted 03/08/1920 in Elbert County court. This index listed their marriage date as May 28, 1903 in Mitchell County, Kansas. The minor children listed on the index card are: Florice May age 14, Lottie Elizabeth age 12, Elsie Leona age 7 and William Lee age 10. 

I put in a request to see if the divorce decree may be accessed.  I would like to know if it states the last known address for Talton.

I searched for Mattie in the 1920 census.  I found her living on a farm in River Bend, Elbert County, Colorado.  The farm is Owned/Free. She lists herself as widowed.  The census was taken in January and she was still married to Talton. I thought perhaps Talton had bought land in Colorado so  I decided to look for a land patent.  I went to glorecords.blm.gov and found Mattie was granted a patent on 320 acres in 1919 not Talton.  

  According to the manuscript, Mattie remarried in 1929 to Marcellus Hazelton.  I found them in the 1930 census, he is listed at Erneast M. Hazelton.  Both Mattie and Marcellus are buried in Pershing Cemetery, Limon, Lincoln County, Colorado. Mattie and Talton's daughter Rosa Muriel Logan is buried here also.  Her tombstone looks like it is 1918 but the manuscript states 1913.  

I wonder if Talton moved them to Colorado and then disappeared.  If the date on this stone is actually 1913, that sounds like a reasonable argument.  Why did he move them to Colorado and why did he leave? I haven't found any trace of Talton from the time forward nor have I found a burial listing anywhere.  This is a mystery I would love to solve!  I hope to hear from direct descendants of Talton and Mattie Logan who can clear up this mystery.

 Florice Mae Logan married Vernon Edwin Mathews in Denver, CO on Aug. 1, 1922 in front of the J.P.  Both were residents of Elbert County, CO.  He was almost 22 and she was almost 18.  His father was Richard Matthews born in England, came to the US in 1869, naturalized in 1893, a farmer/stockman near Agate, CO.  Vernon died in 1927 and is buried in Pershing Memorial Cemetery.  Florice married (2) James Butler.  Florice died in 1997 ans is buried in Pershing Memorial Cemetery.

Lottie, William and Elsie Leona married and moved to Twin Falls, Idaho by 1940.