Inspirational Message

Inspirational Message

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Mapping Railroad Migration Routes for Louthan Family

Using the maps found on David Rumsey Map Collections
I plotted the possible route that my Louthan ancestors could have taken from Columbiana County, Ohio to Linn County, MO.  I used four maps:
Ohio
I marked the locations they lived in with yellow.  The railroad routes are followed with a color that stands out. The Louthan family is first found in Beaver County, PA across the state line from Columbiana County. After(?) the death of Hiram Louthan the family left Colubiana County. The father of his wife (Harriett) Edmund Hayes moved to Washington County, Ohio.  I do not know if he moved first and Harriett followed or if Hiram in fact moved to Washington County before his death.  Hiram was in the 1840 census and earlier tax lists but I haven't been able to find him since 1840 in Columbiana or Washington County.  I also do not have clarification on his burial. Harriett, now Ormiston, and three of her four children show up in Washington County, OH in the household of William Ormiston in the 1850 Census. The eldest son, Oliver Louthan is living with the Cope family. I believe Harriett's sister or niece  married a Cope. After the Civil War, William Harriett and their children along John and Anna Jane Haddow Louthan and Oliver and Elizabeth Vernon Louthan moved to Linn County Missouri.  They crossed Indiana and Illinois to get there. 
They could have crossed Indiana as shown on this map.

And then across Illinois as shown on this map 

 They moved to Northern Missouri so I chose Hannibal as the destination to cross the Mississippi River. The railroad does go to Linn County.  I stopped marking their path here because family lore states they took a covered wagon from Linn County to Barber County, Kansas. The map below doesn't have roads on it only shows waterways. I would need to do a lot more research to figure out how long this journey would have taken.  I rode a steam engine on vacation and learned they travel 10 -20 mph.  Taking into account they followed the rivers and streams so they could take on water, the routes were not straight.
Kansas and Missouri 1869 map: 




This map from 1884 shows the railroads and roads across Missouri.  John and his second wife, Mary Ann Hale Louthan, left Missouri about this time. Anna Jane died in 1881 and is buried at Purdin, MO. John and Mary's first child died and is buried in Mumford Cemetery, Barber County, Kansas. I am not aware of the route they took across Missouri into Kansas.

They resided in Barber County until the Land Run into Oklahoma Territory. There they homesteaded in Major County where many descendants still reside. John and Anna Jane had three children survive to adulthood while he and Mary had nine children survive to adulthood.

It could also be that the Louthan family traveled by covered wagon from Ohio to Missouri. Or perhaps on the waterways of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. I need to research these other travel options. 

There is always more to learn and placing my ancestors into the context of history brings them into perspective.







 

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