Table of Contents -Volume II
CHAPTER 8
Ewing Family Lineage: John-James
There is not much to tell about Elizabeth. She did not leave much in the way of progeny, though she had five children, there were only two grandchildren, and one of those is lost to us. Thankfully we are in touch with a descendant of the other, though he is unable to tell us much about the early ones in this story, he was able to fill in on some later down the line.
Elizabeth was born on the day George Washington turned 57 and the year he became the first president of the United States of America, 22 February 1789. When Elizabeth was born, the Ewing cabin on Stony Creek was a part of Augusta County, Virginia.
She was 12 when the long journey from Stony Creek to George's Creek, Ohio was made in 1801, and she was 20 when her mother died in 1809. Only she and 12 year old Samuel were unmarried at that time and probably the only ones still at home with their father.
Elizabeth did not remain there long. Knowing that most of the Ohio pioneers turned to the next farm over for mates, it is hard to figure out how Elizabeth up in Addison Township met and managed to be courted by Vernon NORTHUP down in Green Township. Marrying out of one's township was most unusual in those days.
But marry they did. The date was 24 December 1812, and Nathaniel GATES, J.P. did the honors.
Vernon's family was originally NORTHRUP, but somewhere along the line his father, Daniel, dropped the second R. Daniel was born in 1738 and served as a sergeant in Col. Archibald
MC CRARY'S regiment out of North Kingston, Rhode Island, during the Revolution. He was married in 1777 in North Kingston to Ann (HAMPTON) COLLINS, widow of Robert COLLINS.
At a very early date, around 1780, the Northups went from Rhode Island to Ohio - Marietta, Washington County - and it was there Vernon was born in 1787. In 1797 the Northups went downstream from Marietta to Gallia County, to settle in Green Township, on the Raccoon Creek, where Northupville came into being.
Vernon and Elizabeth lived in Harrison Township after their marriage in 1812. They are accounted for there in the 1830 census with one daughter 5 to 10, two daughters 10 to 15, and a son under 5. In the 1840 census they were again in Harrison Township with one daughter 20 to 30 and a son 10 to 15.
Vernon's will filed in Gallia County is dated 10 March 1850. It was not entered for probate until 31 January 1853, but he was not accounted for in the Gallia County 1850 census. Elizabeth was, but not Vernon. In 1846 he was in Hamilton County, Illinois, when he sold some property - 40 acres in Harrison, to his grandson, Algernon Sidney BOSTER of Hamilton County.
In Vernon's will of 10 March 1850 he stated he was of
Harrison Township, Gallia County, Ohio, but was not in the 1850 census. Elizabeth at the time of that census was living with her son-in-law, Issac JEFFERS and his new wife, Ellen, also a NORTHUP, but not one of ours.
Vernon apparently died in late 1850 or early 1853, but there is no record of his burial in Harrison Township. His will left one-third of his property to Elizabeth, and one-third to each of his grandsons. "As all of my children, five in number are dead it is impossible for me to make any provisions for them", he wrote.
As with Vernon, there is no record of burial in Harrison of any of their five children, nor of Elizabeth herself. Elizabeth died between 1853 and 1860, age 64 to 71.
ISSUE:
8-1 1. Ann Elizabeth NORTHUP, b. about 1813/1814
8-2 2. Suanna R. NORTHUP, b. 1815/1816
3. Daughter NORTHUP, b. about 1818, d. 1840/1850. Not buried Harrison or Clay Townships.
4. Son NORTHUP, b. about 1825, d. 1840/1849. Not buried Harrison or Clay Townships.
5. Son or daughter NORTHUP, b. ? d. pre 1830. Not buried Harrison or Clay Townships.
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8-1 ANN ELIZABETH NORTHUP
Ewing Family Lineage: Elizabeth-John-James
Ann Elizabeth was one of only two of Elizabeth's children to make it to maturity and even at that she only had one child and died having him.
Ann Elizabeth was born in Harrison Township, Ohio, about 1813 or 1814. Near neighbors to the Northups were members of the Jeffers family, headed by James and Elizabeth (WHITAKER) JEFFERS. The family was from Pittsburgh where a son, Isaac was born 10 January 1810.
Isaac was quite a guy! He was married three times and had six known children by those three wives - plus a set of twins by a non-wife. He was also, according to legend, quite a character. At one time he ran a saloon in Bladensburg, Ohio and when patrons wanted drinks on credit he would write their names on a board above the bar for all to see, thus eliminating any bad debt problems.
Isaac JEFFERS amassed vast real estate holdings through the years. Isaac's first wife's name could not be located, but by her he had at least two sons, Phillip and Moses, born 1833 and 1835. She died when Moses was born.
Elizabeth was 24 or 25 when she and the widower Isaac were married on 16 January 1839, by George NORTHUP, J.P. (Elizabeth's cousin).
Sadly, Elizabeth was not to live out a year of marriage. Like Isaac's first wife, she died giving birth. But fortunately the son lived, and was named James Vernon for his two grandfathers.
If there was a stone marking Elizabeth's resting place it is long gone and no record as to where she lies has been found.
Within two or three years of her death, Isaac married again. His third wife was Ellen NORTHUP, another of Elizabeth's cousins. Isaac and Ellen had three children, Hiram, John and Amanda. By one Mary GILMORE, Isaac also had two children, twins, whom Isaac acknowledged as his, and to whom he gave the same love and care he gave the other six.
In 1850 Isaac and Ellen were in Clay Township with Isaac's six, plus the mother of his former wife, Elizabeth EWING NORTHUP, then 61.
In his later years Isaac apparently became ill and his children went through Gallia County court to enable them to administer his affairs. He died 30 December 1878, age 68 and is buried at Clay Chapel Cemetery, Clay Township, Ohio. His vast estate was divided among his children.
ISSUE:
8-1-1 1. James Vernon JEFFERS, b.1839/1840
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8-1-1 JAMES VERNON JEFFERS
Ewing Family Lineage: Ann Elizabeth-Elizabeth-John-James
James turned out to be a bit of a character too.
He was born in Clay Township, Gallia County, Ohio in 1839, his mother dying in childbirth. He was raised at first by his grandmother, Elizabeth Ewing Northup, and then by his stepmother, Ellen.
He and his cousin, Algernon Sidney BOSTER, the only two survivors of this Northup line, were heirs when their grandfather, Vernon Northup, died in 1853. In 1855, James, age 16, accompanied his eldest half-brother, Phillip JEFFERS, 22 and single, when Phillip departed Gallia County in favor of Vermilion County, Illinois. There is a sketch on Phillip in the VERMILION COUNTY HISTORY of 1887, and one on his son, Arthur H., in a later county history, but no reference to James.
It is hard to imagine what took these two young men, both without families, to Vermilion County to settle down. Adventurous males of that day were going much further afield than Eastern Illinois. The reasonable assumption is that they brought up the rear of a large group from Gallia County, joining the caravan as hands, perhaps, or just going along for the ride.
At any rate they did indeed settle down in Vermilion County, Illinois. Within three years Phillip had married and gotten himself 137 acres near Georgetown.
And then James found Sarah Elizabeth BRADY. They were married in February of 1862 and took up a 19 acre farm adjoining Phillip's.
Sarah was born in Danville, Vermilion County in May 1836. In 1880 her widowed mother, Mary BRADY, 71, was living with them in Georgetown Township.
Though he was the right age, James was not involved in the Civil War. His grandson writes that he was a big man and was called Hoss. He liked to cut wood and sometimes had a group of men working for him.
Well, so far James seems to have led a rather typical life for the times, right? But here is where the "character" part comes in.
For one day in 1881 or 1882, James just took off - and no one in Vermilion ever saw him again. His family thought he went back to Ohio, but later researchers were unable to find a death certificate for him there.
So we will probably never know where this great-great-grandson of James Ewing disappeared to or where he died.
But thank goodness his descendants - or at least one line of them - did not have the wanderlust, and we were able to find Fred A. JEFFERS, a grandson, right there in Vermilion County in 1983 - 128 years after James arrived.
Sarah, a staunch Quaker, did not marry again. She did the best she could to raise her fatherless brood. She had six children, five daughters and a son, Silas. All of the daughters except Anna Laura died young. Sarah bought eight acres from Phillip, which made her "little patch", as her grandson put it, 27 acres.
As time went on, Silas became the head of the Jeffers home, and it was on that 27 acre farm that all nine of his children were born and raised. Except for a brief period, the place was in Jeffers hands until 1980.
Sarah died in 1908 and was buried at Elwood Cemetery, Georgetown, Vermilion County, Illinois
ISSUE:
1. Mary E. JEFFERS, b. 1864, Georgetown, Illinois. One of the daughters named was deceased by 1900, and it was probably Mary. And no doubt she is the one who married a KING and had a daughter, Lena KING, born April 1889, in Indiana and was living with Silas in 1900..
2. Anna Laura JEFFERS, b. 1866, Georgetown, Illinois. Married: Alfred CALHOUN, b. 1859, d. 1944, Georgetown, Vermilion County, Illinois.
8-1-1-3 3. Silas Edward JEFFERS, b. Jan 1869, Georgetown, IL.
5. Daughter JEFFERS
6. Daughter JEFFERS
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8-1-1-3 SILAS EDWARD JEFFERS
Ewing Family Lineage: James-Ann Elizabeth-Elizabeth-John-James
Silas was born in January 1869, he was only 12 or 13 when his father departed for parts unknown and he had to become the man of the house. Still he was 31 before he married. His wife was Rosey May CONRAD, and they were married 18 April 1900 at Georgetown, Vermilion County, Illinois by Reverend Issac AMBROSE.
Rosey was born 18 January 1880 in Eugene, Vermillion County, Indiana which is adjacent to the Illinois county of almost the same name.
The newlyweds lived on at the home James and Sarah had established years before, and there their nine children were born and raised. In the 1900 census, when they had his mother and a niece, Lena KING, 11, living with them, there were no children, but 10 years later six of the nine had made their appearance and were listed in the 1910 census. (Actually, the sixth, was "No Name", that being Fred and he having been born on 14 January 1910).
Silas was only 59 when he died on 20 September 1928. Rosey outlived him by 45 years. She died 12 May 1973 at the age of 93. Both are buried at Georgetown Cemetery.
At some point the old farm fell out of Jeffers hands, but in 1942, Fred bought it for taxes and moved back on it in 1947. He fixed up the house and other buildings and lived there until the spring of 1980 when he sold it and moved into Georgetown.
ISSUE:
1. Ralph JEFFERS, b. 9 Feb 1901, Georgetown, IL, d. 21 Apr 1923, age 22. Buried: Georgetown Cemetery. Married: 7 Dec 1922, Ruth KIRKHART, d. Nov 1923. Buried: Georgetown Cemetery.
2. Alfred JEFFERS,b. 8 Oct 1902, Georgetown, IL, d. 15 Oct 1950. Buried: Georgetown Cemetery. Married: 17 May 1925, Mabel ROBERTS, deceased.
3. Stella JEFFERS, b. 26 Apr 1904, Georgetown, IL. Married: 30 June 1927, Charles DOWERS, deceased .
4. Ruby JEFFERS, b. 3 Feb 1906, Georgetown, IL. Married: 31 Jan 1930, Glen CANADY, deceased.
5. Lucy JEFFERS, b. 31 Jan 1908, Georgetown, IL. Married: 19 May 1937, Elmer YATES.
6. Fred A. JEFFERS, b. 14 Jan 1910, Georgetown, IL. Married: 3 Feb 1931, Valparaiso, Indiana, Dorothy CAUSE/COUSE, b. 3 Feb 1914, Lake Village, Lake County, Indiana. It was Fred who lived on the restored Jeffers farm for 33 years. 1980's resided in Georgetown, Illinois. It was Fred who supplied Jeffers data for this book.
Known issue: (he has five children)
7. Clyde JEFFERS, b. 13 Oct 1911, Georgetown, IL. Married: 12 March 1941, Agnes _____.
8. Silas Leo JEFFERS, b. 28 Nov 1913, Georgetown, IL. Married: August 1938, Olive DICKSON.
9. Sarah JEFFERS, b. 25 Apr 1916, Georgetown, IL. Married: 14 July 1936, Rose LUTHER
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Ewing Family Lineage: Elizabeth-John-James
Susanna, born in 1815 or 1816, apparently also died in childbirth as her sister had. That would have been in 1836, when she was 20 or 21. She was married 20 June 1833 in Gallia County, Ohio to George BOSTER. George was born about 1808 in Virginia and was probably the son of John and Mary (NEBERT) BOSTER, on whom a sketch appears in the 1981 GALLIA COUNTY HISTORY.
Susanna's burial is not noted in the Gallia County cemetery books.
In 1846, George, who had married again, bought 40 acres of land in Harrison Township from his father-in-law, Vernon Northup, who was then of Hamilton County, Illinois. Before long, George himself was in Hamilton County, and that is apparently where he lived the rest of his years. He and his wife, Permelia, born 1822 in Tennessee were in Palo Alto, Hamilton County, in the 1860 census. They were responsible for a large family, with BOSTER descendants there today.
ISSUE:
1. Algernon Sidney BOSTER, b. 1836, Harrison Township. Married: about 1857, Illinois, Elizabeth _____ b. 1840, Illinois. Inherited one-third of his grandfather, Vernon Northup's estate in 1853. 1860 census: Palo Alto, Hamilton County, IL.
Known issue:
1. Susan E. BOSTER, b. 1858, Illinois