A Tale of Two Benoni/Benona Graves

Researching my Graves line from Vermont I found Ira Graves in Ellisburgh, Jefferson Co., NY in 1850 enumerated with his wife Polly (Mary) nee Decker.  His children were listed as Lydia, Gilbert (my 2nd great grandfather), Jones, Mariet, Abigal, Benona, Jane, Lynette (Nettie).  Polly's mother, Sarah Decker, is enumerated with them.   Curious about Benona's line I searched for him and  I found a Benona six years older and born in Illinois.  This Benona went to Iowa where he married Almyra Day 30 March 1865 and where he was mustered into the Civil War joining the infantry Regiment 11 Company C Iowa.  He moved his family to Hayes. McPerson County, KS in time for the 1880 census. In 1900 they are in Sumner Twp, Woods Co., OK.  Their two youngest children, Charley and Laura were married in Garfield Co., OK. At this point, I thought perhaps I had the correct line since Gilbert Graves came to Barber County, KS and then on to Dewey County, OK in the Land Run.  However, I then found Benoni age 30 in the 1870 census still in Ellisburgh, NY with his mother, Mary, age 67, and his sister, Nettie, age 25.  This made me even more curious about who was this other Benona/Benoni.  I checked the 1850 census again and found Benona age 16 in Joshua, Fulton Co., IL living with Jesse Graves age 58 born in VT, Lucinda age 52 born in VT and Elias age 13 born in IL. This line went from Vermont>Illinois>Iowa>Kansas> Oklahoma. My line went from Vermont>NewYork>Kansas>Oklahoma. While they took different paths, I wonder if Jesse could be a brother to Ira?  Both have sons name Benona.  A genealogical mystery to solve!

First Born Thy Name is Bud

Interesting correspondence with other Louthan/Ormiston/Palmer descendants revealed the naming tradition whereby the first born male is nicknamed 'Bud'.  I knew it was a tradition in the Louthan line but didn't know the reasoning as to who received the moniker.  I learned today, that the collateral lines of Ormiston and Palmer also continued this tradition.  Makes me wonder if it came from the Hayes line.  Harriett Hayes had a sister Catherine.  They married Louthan men.  Harriett's husband, Hiram, passed away and she then married an Ormiston.  Ormistons married Palmers.  Both Moses and Hiram had grandsons nicknamed Bud. I would really like to learn to whom the first 'Bud' nicknames were given.  Were the grandsons of these two men the first?

Louthan-Ellis Cousins!

I found a new cousin!  Searching on www.findagrave.com for Hiram Louthan (my brick-wall!) I found a grave positing with a photo of him.  I have a copy of this photo in my possession and was surprised to see it posted.  I contacted the poster of the photo.  The copy I have of the photo came from a Louthan in  Oklahoma. My grandparents did not have this photo in their old Bible, so I don't have an original nor a source for the photo. I sent an email to this cousin to exchange information on our individual lines.  He is descended from Margret (nee Louthan) Ellis, sister to my 2nd Great Grandfather, John Cope Louthan.  I found he has first cousins living in the same area of the country that I live in even though he is on the West Coast.  With the information he sent me, I now need to focus my search on Hiram in Washington County, OH instead of Columbiana County, OH.  Hiram is supposed to have died in 1845 around the same time his youngest child, Sarah, died.  I knew his widow remarried in 1847 in Barlow, Washington, OH but didn't know if Hiram died before she left Columbiana County or if they went to Washington County together.  I need to find a complete transcription of the Barlow Cemetery.  I have seen published on the Net that Hiram's parents were Mary Hamilton and John Louthan of PA.  No proof available I can find and the history of Beaver Co., PA doesn't list Hiram as one of their progeny. Also, family lore states Hiram was born in Loudoun Valley Virginia.  Again, no proof.  The Louthan line is prolific to say the least.  One man tried his best to sort them out and I have a copy of his manuscript with each line enumerated.  He does not connect my Hiram to any of the other Louthan lines.  I am hoping my new found cousin has some original source documents!

Louthan Brick Wall

There are many Louthan lines in the US and I have tried unsuccessfully for nearly 30 years to break down my brick wall.  Here is what I found in original sources.

Hiram B Louthan married Harriett Matilda Hayes 27 February 1834 at Elk Run, Columbiana County, OH by the Rev Thomas Whitacre.

Hiram is listed in the Tax List for Gillford, Hanover Twp, Columbiana County, OH for 1836, 1837 and 1838.  Listed next to him is Moses Louthan in all three lists.  In 1838, these men are  added to the tax list: Samuel Louthan and another Moses Louthan.  It could be Moses Louthan owned property in two different locations so this could be the same person.

Hiram B Louthan is listed in the 1840 census in Columbiana County, OH page 42 film M704.

Harriet Matilda Louthan married William Ormiston 16 March 1846 at Barlow, Washington County, OH.


The Moses Louthan I have in my information married Catherine Hayes (Harriett's sister) about 1826.



A distant cousin has the family pages from Harriet's Bible and gave me some information.  She was very secretive as she wanted to publish a book.  This was many years ago and I have never heard of a book in publication.  According to the family pages, the children known are James Fife, Oliver Perry, John Cope, Margaret and Sarah.  Sarah died in 1845 but I have never found her burial location.  I have the descendants of these children located down through the 1930 census. I need to connect Hiram to his family.  One theory is that he is a brother to the Moses Louthan who married Catherine.  That Moses came from Pennsylvania and the family is well documented in the history books.


Can you help me knock down this brick wall?

Have you transcribed an original source document to share?

My current project for IA GenWeb is transcribing the 1900 Census for Lucas County.  I can transcribe one sheet in about an hour depending on how difficult it is to read the handwriting.  I am really picky!  If I cannot figure out the letters, I insert * in its place.  I use Excel and created the census form myself.
7/10/12
Using Excel was way too heavy and bogged down the browser when loading the census pages.  I downloaded Edit Pad lite and created an HTML template that works much better.

Did you discover something new about an ancestor? Where did you find it?

I love reading old newspapers, when I can find them.  I always print the images and list the reference on the back of the copy.

Researching for more information on a family with whom my spouses grandfather lived following the death of his mother, I found a death notice in their local newspaper.  The mother died in Jackson County, Missouri and her sister lived in Adair County, Iowa.  So happy to find this information!

Genealogy Tools on the Internet

 I love nothing better than finding free stuff on the Internet!
Here are my faves!

• https://www.familysearch.org/
• http://www.genealogysearch.org/free/clipart.html 
• http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/index.shtml
• http://www.vertex42.com/  Scroll down to a link to genealogy research.  The article has a link to a pedigree chart  created as an Excel spreadsheet.

You can follow me on Pinterest!

• http://pinterest.com/granniekate/ancestry-search/

Have you found something you would like to share??