Table of Contents -Volume III
CHAPTER 15
Ewing Family Lineage: William-James
Poor James. His life was but a brief 30 years and he did not leave us much to say about him. James' wife also died young, 31 year old, so most of this chapter is a recount of the story of their four orphaned offspring.
James joined the family in the little cabin on Swago Creek on 9 December 1793. Swago Creek was a part of Greater Bath County, Virginia at that time. James was born in Bath County, Virginia, though the place of his birth is now Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
James was named after his grandfather, who was still alive at the time of his birth.
James was 16 years old when the Ewings said goodbye to the mountains of West Virginia and headed for a new home on the bend of Raccoon Creek in Huntington Township's Section 11. While his first years there were given over to helping get a farm going in that wooded wilderness, eventually he and his older brother Jonathan could get out and get a job to bring in some money. They chopped wood at Jackson Furnace, 6 or 7 miles east, and they walked all the way each day to do it.
James could also, at this point, give some attention to the daughters of the neighbors around him. There were precious few of those - neighbors or daughters - but it did not matter because he had seen Mary - Polly she was called, MC MILLIN and that was enough for him.
He was 22 and Mary was 17 when they were married 1 August 1816 by Lewis NEWSOM.
We have already met many Mc Millins, progeny of Edward and Sarah (REID) MC MILLIN, who were as early in Huntington Township as the Ewings. Most recently we have met Margaret, an older sister of Mary's who married James' older brother Jonathan, back in Chapter 13. Their marriage came after James and Mary's in time, but earlier in Ewing family order.
Mary was born 6 March 1799 in Ohio.
James is listed among the Huntington Township proprietors in 1819 and 1820. In 1820 he had a house and property valued at $100, two horses and two veal and cattle, but his farm could not be located. It is likely that it was a part of his father's land in Section 11, though he also appears to have owned property in Sections 12 and 14.
James was not mentioned in his father's will, drawn in 1820. In 1823 he was delinquent on taxes for property in Section 12 and in 1827 his heirs paid taxes on land in Sections 11, 12 and 14.
Though James and Mary were childless for four years, when they did start having a family, it was one after another - Esther in 1820, Addison Blair in 1821, Phoebe in 1822 and Rebecca in 1823.
But those four little ones were soon without a father, for James died 4 October 1824, following shortly after his own father, William Sr. The two of them were the first known to have been buried in the Ewing Cemetery, the corner of Thomas Ewing's land in Section 1 given over to a graveyard.
Mary did not have much longer herself. It is not known how or where she and her four little girls were for the next seven years. She may possibly be the "Polly EWING" who married James WALLACE, 10 February 1828 - of the Wallace family, James Ewing's sister Sarah married into.
Mary's death was Christmas Eve 1831 and she is buried with James Ewing as "Mary Ewing, wife of James".
It is believed that the four young Ewing orphans were taken into the home of their uncle on their father's side and their aunt on their mother's side, Jonathan and Margaret (MC MILLIN) EWING. It seems the most likely, considering the relationships and subsequent movements of the two families.
Here is an interesting sidelight regarding three of the children: A.E. EWING records their deaths as Phoebe, 18 June 1876 - Esther, 18 June 1878 - and Addison 18 June 1880.
ISSUE:
15-1 1. Esther M. EWING, b. 1820, Huntington Township, Gallia County, Ohio.
15-2 2. Addison Blair EWING, b. 1821, Huntington Township, Gallia County, Ohio.
15-3 3. Phoebe EWING, b. 1822, Huntington Township, Gallia County, Ohio.
15-4 4. Rebecca N. EWING, b. Oct 1823, Huntington Township, Gallia County, Ohio.
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15-1 ESTHER M. EWING
Ewing Family Lineage: James-William-James
James and Mary had been married four years when they had their first child. Esther M. was born in 1820 in Ewing Country, Huntington Township, Gallia County, Ohio. She was one of the few in William's line to marry into the Holcomb family, as opposed to descendants of Indian John Ewing, who were attracted to Holcombs in droves. Esther's husband was Dr. Ira HOLCOMB, son of Judge John and Chloe (MUDGE) HOLCOMB. They were married 26 February 1837 in Gallia County, Ohio by Hiram WILLCOX, J.P. (see Chapter II)
They made their home in Vinton, where Ira was a physician. They were listed in Huntington Township in the 1840, 1850 and 1860 census. That last year Ira was worth, $1,000 and $350, and all nine of their children were at home.
The 1860s were bad years for Esther. On 24 September 1860 she lost her husband of 23 years. Ira died of consumption. His death was mentioned in the John Ewing HOWELL letters in Chapter 4. There is no stone marking his resting place, but there is an unmarked grave at Glenn Cemetery, Vinton, Ohio, next to stones of two sons, which could be his.
Then in 1863, son Anselm T. HOLCOMB died, age 11 years. And when the Civil War came along, Esther sent two sons off, but only one came home, Calvary having died at Summerville, West Virginia of typhoid.
Not long after the war was over, Esther gave it all up and decided to join her sisters, brother and other relatives in Hancock County, Illinois. When she left for Illinois, her four remaining sons went with her, and possibly her two daughters, though nothing is known of them.
Soon after her arrival near the Mississippi River, she met and married a KNOTT, his first name is not known, but he died within a year of two of the marriage.
So there was Esther, alone again. She should have been in the 1870 Hancock County census, but she was not found. Three of Esther's sons were located in the 1870 Hancock County census.
Esther applied for a pension through her son Calvary's war-related death, but she died before receiving anything. According to the postmaster at Burnside, Illinois and A.E., her death took place 18 June 1878, and at the time she lived "within a half mile of La Crosse, Illinois." She was 58 years old.
ISSUE:
15-1-1 1. Calvary Morris HOLCOMB, b. 1838, Vinton, Ohio.
15-1-2 2. John HOLCOMB, b. 1840, Vinton, Ohio.
3. Mary HOLCOMB, b. 1845, died young, Vinton, Ohio.
4. William Andrew HOLCOMB, b. 1847, Vinton, Ohio. 1870 census: farm laborer with the William HAMRICK family, Section 21, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Iowa.
5. Niles HOLCOMB, b. May 1850, Vinton, Ohio. 1870 census: a harness maker, living in a hotel at Fountain Green, Pilot Grove Township. 1880 census: age 30, at the U.S. Garrison in Stevens County, Washington.
6. Anselm T. HOLCOMB, b. 1852, Vinton, Ohio d. 2 Oct 1863. Buried: Glenn Cemetery, Vinton, Ohio.
7. Ann HOLCOMB, b. 1855, Vinton, Ohio. Apparently died young.
15-1-8 8. Hiram HOLCOMB, b. Dec 1856, Huntington Township, Gallia County, Ohio.
9. Ira HOLCOMB, b. 1859, Huntington Township, Gallia County, Ohio. Apparently died young, not in A.E.'s records.
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Ewing Family Lineage: Esther-James-William-James
A representative in the U.S. House of Representatives from Athens County, Ohio from 1837 to 1843, must have had a special meaning to Ira and Esther. He was Calvary MORRIS and that is what they named their first son who was born in 1838 - Calvary Morris Holcomb.
It is not surprising that he went by his middle name - His name appears differently in so many records. Morris with a G. inserted ahead of the Morris later. Galvey, Calvey and in one place even Cavalry.
In 1860, when the family was still all together, Calvary was at home and listed in the census as a printer, 22. Right after that census was taken, his father died, and that put Calvary in as male head of the family. When the war started in 1861, he was one of the first to sign up - his brother John too. They enlisted for three years at Vinton on 12 August 1861, in good old Company B, 36th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Henry ADNEY.
At the time Calvary was 5 feet 6 1/2 inches tall, dark complexion and hair, with brown eyes. Calvary became a corporal within a very short time. Less than five months after enlistment, Calvary was gone. Typhoid, age 24 years. The 36th was at Summerville, West Virginia, then, which is where government records have him buried. However, there is a stone in his name at Glenn Cemetery, Vinton, Ohio - Indian John's resting place. It could be there in his memory, or perhaps his body was later returned to his home.
His death only added to Esther's feeling that her world was falling apart.
NO ISSUE.
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Ewing Family Lineage: Esther-James-William-James
John, no doubt named for his illustrious grandfather, "Judge" HOLCOMB, came along two years after Calvary. John and Calvary enlisted together when the war started. John was taller than his brother, 5 feet 7 inches, dark in hair, eyes and complexion. The two went down on 12 August 1861 to the Captain's tent on High Street, the main street, in Vinton, Ohio to enlist for three years in Company B, 36th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
John also became a corporal somewhere in his military career. He had served most of his three years when he was discharged at Gallatin, Tennessee on the 25 January 1864 on a surgeon's certificate of disability for secondary syphilis.
But 3 1/2 months later, on 2 May 1864, John enlisted again, this time as a private in Company A of the 140th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served until 3 September 1864, when he was discharged at Gallipolis.
John went back to Vinton, but when his mother opted for Hancock County, Ilinois, he went too. He was found there in the 1870 census, in Pilot Grove Township, a farm laborer with the William HAMRICK family in Section 21, along with his brother William.
The next 30 years of John's life are but shadows. Apparently about 1879, he, and at least brothers, Hiram, and Niles, went out to Oregon to try their luck. It was after their mother's death in 1878 and before 1880. John may have married and had 10 youngsters in that time. The next we know for sure is when he returns to Ohio in 1890. On 2 July 1890 he was a resident of Jackson, Ohio, when he made an attempt to get an increase in his Civil War pension. The word many veterans had then was that if you went back to the scene of the original enlistment, more attention was apt to be paid. John went all the way from Baker County, Oregon to Jackson County, Ohio to see if it would work.
It just so happened that the physician and member of the Pension Board in Jackson was his cousin, Dr. Gilbert Alexander EWING, who wrote the Pension Bureau in Washington D.C., "I have had no personal knowledge of the applicant during the past 25 years."
At that time another cousin, Bradford F. HOLCOMB, was treasurer of the Jackson Pension Board. Bradford was the only one of John's uncle Robert Burgess HOLCOMB's children (half uncle really), to leave New York in favor of Ohio.
On 6 February 1891 John's address was the National Military Home in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio. He was discharged from there on 29 March 1892 and returned to Oregon.
John died 23 April 1893, according to government records, or 25 May 1893, according to cemetery records. He is buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Baker County, and the GAR Post No. 20 planted a flag at his grave.
ISSUE NOT KNOWN
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Ewing Family Lineage: Esther-James-William-James
Hiram was born in December 1856 in Huntington Township, Gallia County, Ohio. He was found in the 1860 and 1900 census reports, but could not be found in between. In the 1860 census he was 3 years old and at home. In the 1900 census he was 43 years old and living at 1606 Third Street, Baker City, Baker County, Oregon. Hiram's wife was Mary, born in May of 1858 in Kansas and they had been married about 15 years. Her sister, Phoebe LONDER and her son were living with them.
In the 1880 census, Hiram's brother, Niles, was at the U.S. Garrison in Stevens County, Washington, not very far from Baker County, Oregon. Baker County, Oregon is where brother John died in 1893. John's is the only Holcomb burial in three volumes of Baker-Umatilla County burials.
KNOWN ISSUE:
1. Ira G. HOLCOMB, b. Nov 1888, Oregon
2. Hiram D. HOLCOMB, b. Dec 1889, Oregon
3. John M. HOLCOMB, b. Aug 1891, Oregon
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Ewing Family Lineage: James-William-James
Born in 1821, Addison was about 3 years old when his father died and 10 years old when orphaned by the death of his mother. It appears that his young years after that were spent with his aunt and uncle, Jonathan and Margaret (MC MILLIN) EWING at Ewington, Gallia County, Ohio. By 1840 when he was 19 years old, he must have been out on his own; at least he was not with them or otherwise accounted for in the 1840 census.
He turned up unexpectedly in the 1850 census out in Van Buren County, Iowa. Maybe he had gone west when Jonathan and his family did. Maybe he continued across the river instead of staying in Hancock County as the Jonathans did, or maybe he had been out to California in the gold fields and back.
At the time of the 1850 census Addison was 29 years old and listed in an assortment of Holcombs, headed by the widow of his second cousin, Samuel R. HOLCOMB, (2-5), son of Indian John's daughter, Susannah (EWING) HOLCOMB, Mrs. Stephen. She was Mary Jane (ROSS) HOLCOMB and she had with her in that 1850 census not only four of her own children, but her late husband's brother, Robert HOLCOMB, who had been out to the gold fields, and the daughters of her husband's sister, Susannah FRIEND, Taphena and America Jane FRIEND.
But Addison did go back to Ohio, for he was married in Gallia County, Ohio on 17 February 1860, when he was 39 years old, to Mary TERRY, 34, 35 or 38, depending upon which census you find her. Mary, born was in Ohio - 1822 to 1826, was the daughter of one of these 1819 taxpayers in Wilkesville Township: Abner, David, Gresham or Paul. There were lots of Terrys (eight) in the 1823 and 1827 tax lists for Gallia and Jackson Counties, most in Wilkesville of Gallia which went to Vinton County, but by 1850 the only Terrys in all Vinton or Gallia County, were Mary and her two brothers, Abner and William, with whom she was listed in Wilkesville Township. William TERRY soon married America Jane EWING (12-1) Addison's cousin, daughter of Thomas EWING.
Shortly after Addison and Mary were married, they returned to the Mississippi River country. In 1860 he was in Hancock County, listed with Addison's sister and family, Rebecca and Jonas ROUSH, farmers of Augusta Township. Addison was down as a laborer, worth - /$75. Although his record was not found, Addison served in the 12th Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. In 1870. Addison was listed as a farmer in Pilot Grove Township, he was down as having $600 in real estate, but no property was found in his name in the 1874 Hancock County atlas.
In 1880 he was listed as near the village of Ferris, which is in Rock Creek Township. At that time he was afflicted with "nervous prostration". He died right after that census was taken on 18 June 1880. Mary was deceased by 1899 when A.E. EWING first began to record the Ewing family.
NO ISSUE
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Ewing Family Lineage: James-William-James
The Ewing-Holcomb combination of genes did not get very far, and the Ewing-Terry combination no where at all. Add a Ewing to a Matthews and you have electricity. Phoebe married another of the great Phineas MATTHEWS' sons and produced a sparkling family that helps keep Hancock County, Illinois and other parts of the country on its toes today. (See Matthews story 5-1)
Phoebe, born in 1822, was married when she was 15 years old by Hiram WILLCOX, J.P., to Elisha MATTHEWS, then 24 years old. It beats me how she managed it across the miles between her Huntington Township and his Cheshire Township. Maybe the other Ewing-Matthews marriages had something to do with it.
Elisha, born 15 March 1813 in Cheshire Township, was the sixth child of Phineas and his first wife, Mary RUSSELL. Two months after the birth of the seventh child, Thomas, on 2 April 1815, Mary died. Of those six full brothers and sisters of Elishas, all but Nancy and Thomas figure in some way in the Ewing story.
As we have learned previously, Phineas married again and again and had two more families. One of the second set, Phineas Jr., son of Abigail NOBLES, married Phoebe's near-and-dear-cousin-almost-sister Fidelia EWING. (13-4)
After their marriage on the 19th November 1837, the newlyweds settled near his father in Cheshire Township. Elisha was head of the household there in the 1840 census. They had five children by 1846, when plans were being made to journey westward, to Illinois. Counted in on the 1846 departure were Phoebe and Elisha, his brother Aaron, who had married Lydia ROUSH, and several of the Aleshire family. (See 13-1)
The group settled first in Fulton County, Illinois, but by 1849 they were in Hancock County, Phoebe and Elisha in LaCrosse, Fountain Green Township. Aaron took up 160 acres in Pilot Grove Township, the southeast quarter of Section 10, where the Aleshires also eventually settled. Before long Elisha moved his family to Pontoosuc Township, Illinois, where he was listed in the 1860 census as a farmer worth $2,200/$700.
But Elisha was a very industrious and enterprising fellow and about 1861 he began operating a stage coach line between Macomb, next door in McDonough County, and Quincy, down in Adams County, and he moved his family into Carthage, Illinois, the county seat. In the 1870 census that is where the family was listed, Elisha a railroad teamster worth $1,400/$500. Part of his job on the stage coach line was to carry the mail and he is down in Hancock County history as one of the first mail carriers out of Carthage.
At the time Elisha settled in Carthage, Illinois, he bought a lot on which was located the old Hancock County court house. In 1921 that lot was still in the possession of his son, Addison.
The only story that has come down about Phoebe was told by her youngest son, George, to his daughter, Lillian MATTHEWS LLOYD, of Virginia Beach, Virginia. This event took place during the Civil War. Not much is told of Southern sympathizers in Illinois, especially in Carthage, but George tell otherwise.
It seems that Phoebe and Elisha had taken a young orphan lad who subsequently joined the Union Army. Home on furlough, the youth met on the street a "leading citizen" of the town, and offered his hand in greeting. Instead of shaking it, the man, whose sympathies lay with the Southerners, spat into it. The lad returned the insult with a blow to the man's face. He then fled, knowing the man would surely seek revenge. The man organized a posse to locate the boy, who had ridden off to hide. His horse finally gave out and he took to the brush. There was gun-play and the boy killed one of the posse. They were out to get him sure, then.
Eventually he was shot and killed. The posse celebrated by getting drunk. They brought the body back to town and put it on display at the town courthouse.
Phoebe heard about it and went to the courthouse, little George accompanying her. She found the boy's body stretched out on a plank between two chairs. When she attempted to wash the body, she was derided by the drunken men. But she persisted and when she was finished she placed a wreath on the body which she had made and brought with her.
The men knocked the wreath off and said they were going to bury him like a fence post - head down and feet up. She placed the wreath on him again, and again they knocked it off.
It was then Phoebe showed what stuff she was made of. She picked up the wreath, placed it on the body, turned to face the men and, taking hold of her scissors which hung on a string from her waist, said, "If you knock it off again, I will stick these scissors into the man who does it and open them up wide before taking them out again!"
The wreath remained.
Unfortunately Lillian could not remember the conclusion of the story her father had told, that is, just what the outcome of the burial was - whether Phoebe's foster son got a decent burial, or the one the men had planned.
Phoebe had 10 children, five daughters and five sons, one of whom died early in life. She was not very old herself, only 54 years old, when she died on the 18th of June 1876.
In the 1880 census, the widower Elisha was living in Carthage, Illinois, only the youngest, son George, still at home.
Elisha died shortly after that census on the 1st of August 1880 when he was 67 years old. He is buried at Barnes Cemetery outside Carthage, south of Moss Ridge Cemetery, where so many others of our family are buried. It is assumed Phoebe is buried with Elisha at Barnes Cemetery, Carthage, Illinois.
ISSUE:
1. Esther Louisa MATTHEWS, b. 1838, Cheshire Township, Gallia County, Ohio. Married: after 1860, J.A. SPANGLER, no issue.
15-3-2 2. Mary Catherine MATTHEWS, b. 1840, Cheshire Township, Gallia County, Ohio.
15-3-3 3. Elizabeth Margaret MATTHEWS, b. 1842, Cheshire Township, Gallia County, Ohio.
15-3-4 4. Cynthia Jeanet MATTHEWS, b. 25 Feb 1845, Cheshire Township, Gallia County, Ohio.
5. Charles Russell MATTHEWS, b. 1846, Cheshire Township, Gallia County, Ohio.
6. Ellen J. MATTHEWS, b. 1850, LaCrosse, Fountain Green Township, Illinois. Married: Samuel FEE, lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as did her brother, Edward for a time.
15-3-7 7. Addison B. (Burns/Ben) MATTHEWS, b. 18 Oct 1851, LaCrosse, Fountain Green Township, Illinois.
15-3-8 8. Edward Phineas MATTHEWS, b. Feb 1854, Hancock County, Illinois.
9. William E. MATTHEWS, b. about 1856/57, died young, not in the 1860 census.
15-3-10 10. George Emmet MATTHEWS, b. 1 Feb 1859, "on a farm near Nauvoo," Illinois .
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15-3-2 MARY CATHERINE MATTHEWS
Ewing Family Lineage: Phoebe-James-William-James
Mary was born in Cheshire Township, Gallia County, Ohio, the year of the census, 1840, but she was born after the census was taken, for only her sister Esther was noted in the records that year.
Mary spent all of her life, after the age of 9, in Hancock County, Illinois. She was married there in 1860 to Dr. Caleb HANCOCK, who was also an Ohio native, born in 1838. Caleb was a brother of Orin HANCOCK who married Mary's younger sister, Elizabeth.
In the 1870 census, Mary and Caleb were listed in Pontoosuc Township and his occupation was given as physician. Caleb did not have any real estate but he was worth $1,500 in personal property. He died in 1883 and Mary just prior to 25 March 1904, the date of her obituary in the Carthage Gazette.
ISSUE:
1. Lillie Mae HANCOCK, b. 1861, Hancock County, Illinois. Married: 1st George ABBOTT, killed in an accident. Married 2nd T. SMITH Married 3rd RANKIN. Lillie Mae was Mae RANKIN of Quincy in 1904 and 1926 at the family reunions. She was a nurse.
Issue:
1. (only). Myrtle SMITH, married: Warren WALTERS. World War I soldier, Resident of Hannibal, Missouri. No issue .
2. Fred L. HANCOCK, born after 1870. Married: Helen HUNT. Resident: Quincy, Illinois, an engineer, he planned and supervised the sewage system for Quincy in the early 1900s. 1920s: resided Denver, Colorado.
No issue but adopted:
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15-3-3 ELIZABETH MARGARET MATTHEWS
Ewing Family Lineage: Phoebe-James-William-James
Elizabeth came along two years after Mary in 1842, in Cheshire Township, Ohio and married Orin HANCOCK, brother of Dr. Caleb HANCOCK who married Mary. They were married about the same time.
In the 1860 census Elizabeth and Orin were listed in Pontoosuc, Illinois, he a farmer worth $100 and in the 1870 census also, this time next to her parents. In the 1880 census they were in Rock Creek Township. Elizabeth died just before the 18th of March 1891, the date of her obituary in the Republican. Orin was not to be found in the 1900 Illinois index - it is assumed he died prior to that.
ISSUE:
1. Mary Ellen HANCOCK, b. 1860. "Ella" she was Miss Ella HANCOCK of Mediapolis, Iowa in 1928 - 68 years old.
2. Charles Edward HANCOCK, b. 1865. Married: Alice Jeanet "Nettie" STEVENSON, b. April 1871, Illinois. 1900 census: Rock Creek Township with a niece, Iva M. BOTTEN, b. Feb 1892, Illinois. Iva, of Adrian, recited an original poem at the 1910 reunion. Charles, of Adrian, was vice-president of the 1911 Ewing reunion in Hancock Co. Illinois.
3. Luther W. HANCOCK, b 1867 d. 1928, Rock Island, IL. Married: Martha Ella , b. May 1872, Indiana. 1900 census: Jacksonville, Morgan Co., Illinois.
Issue per 1900:
1. Walter HANCOCK, b. Dec 1889, Illinois.
2. Ida May HANCOCK, b. Dec 1892, Illinois.
3. Virgil (listed as daughter) HANCOCK, b. mar 1895, Illinois.
4. Albert HANCOCK, b. Aug 1897, Illinois.
5. Son HANCOCK, b. Oct 1899, Illinois.
4. Effie L. HANCOCK, b. 1872, d. young (possibly mother of Iva Botten?)
5. Florence M. HANCOCK, b. 1879. Married: PITT. Resided: Des Moines, Iowa.
And four other HANCOCKS that died in infancy.
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15-3-4 CYNTHIA JEANET MATTHEWS
Ewing Family Lineage Phoebe-James-William-James
Thanks to her granddaughter, Juanita BOOZ, of Schaumburg, Illinois, there is a bit more in the record on Cynthia - who was always called "Jennie," than on her sisters and brothers.
Cynthia was born the 25th of February 1845 in Cheshire Township, near Gallipolis in Gallia County, Ohio. She was only a baby when her parents headed west and 4 years old when they finally arrived in Hancock County, Illinois.
The family lived in Fountain Green and Pontoosuc Townships in Illinois. In the 1860s, when Elisha started operating the McComb-Quincy stage line, they moved into Hancock's principal town and county seat, Carthage.
A merchant in town was one Jacob B. STRADER, who had opened the first general store in Carthage on Buchanan Street and in 1864 had moved into a new place right in the heart of town on the towns square. The new place was a large brick building of his own construction, here he dispensed groceries, feed and grain, also sawed and split fence posts and drain tile. Jacob also helped build the First Methodist Church in Carthage.
Jacob was married in his native state, Virginia, to Virginia-born Susannah SHULTZ. One of their three sons, the eldest, was David Sedric STRADER, born in Upshur County, (now) West Virginia, on 31 January 1848.
About 1866, when the Matthews arrived in Carthage, Illinois, Miss Cynthia Matthews was a very attractive young lady, and it was only natural that the son of Merchant Strader would notice her. And though she was three years older than he was - 22 to his 19 when they were married, David lost his heart, and they eloped to the nearby town of Tennessee, to be married by J. Henry SNYDER, M.V.D., on 16 May 1867.
Such a marriage could not make it, you say? David and Cynthia celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary in 1917, and their 58th in 1925, the year before Cynthia's death.
Most of those 58 years were spent in Carthage, Illinois. At first they lived in Kemundy, Illinois where two of their four sons were born. Importantly there was David's involvement in the business with his father, which was called J.B. STRADER and Son. When Jacob retired at the age of 78 years, David took over and before long his own sons were helping too.
Jacob, who lost his Susannah soon after their arrival in Hancock County, married again, and after his second wife's death made his home with David and Cynthia. Jacob died in 1902 at the age of 80 years.
After several years in the business, David sold the store to a Mr. SHIPMAN. When Mr. Shipman died his son took over the place. Later it was sold. "The last time I was in Carthage," Juanita relates, "the building was still used as a modern market."
After selling out, David entered the insurance business, and had his offices on the second floor over the store he had managed for so long. He owned several houses in and around Carthage, which he rented out, and he had real estate dealings too.
For Cynthia there was her church, her children and later grandchildren - and her home. She was home-loving, an excellent cook and housekeeper. Juanita remembers her as a quiet and caring person.
"My grandparents' home was a large two story place. As a child it seemed enormous to me, having four or five bedrooms up and lots of living room down. I can still see the parlor (used only on holidays or when the minister came to visit) It was carpeted in a rose pattern. There were marble topped tables, a horse hair sofa with velvet covering, pretty lamps, lovely lace curtains. The family Bible rested on a special table with tilted back.
"Large sliding doors separated the parlor from the rest of the house. The sitting room was next, with rockers and more practical furniture well-placed about the room. An organ stood against one wall. The dining room table was large enough to seat a dozen people. The furniture in the dining room was hand-made. A butler's pantry divided the dining room from the kitchen, and food could be passed through from the kitchen, which I remember as very large, with a wood-burning stove. A large pantry held all of the goodies."
Juanita has reason to remember the pantry well. "As a little girl I went into her pantry and got into the brown sugar barrel. Grandma quietly shut and locked the door. I knew crying wouldn't work so I climbed in the clothes basket and fell asleep. I learned my lesson. At Grandma's you asked if you wanted something, and she always gave it to you. She often told this story as I grew up."
In 1919 David and Cynthia decided to retire. They sold their lovely home in Carthage and moved to Quincy where they lived near their son, William.
David did not think much of retirement, so he became manager of the stringed instrument department of Weiler's Music Store in Quincy.
In her later years, Cynthia became quite ill, and it was necessary to get in a housekeeper to take over. Her name was Louise.
Shortly after their 58th wedding anniversary, Cynthia died. The date was 19 February 1926, just six days prior to her 81st birthday.
Louise the housekeeper remained on at the house, but to David that did not look good, so in 1928, he married her, and they had 21 years together. In his 100 years and 100 days, David was married to two wives a total of 79 years.
In 1948 there was a grand celebration for David's 100th birthday. He had at least three cakes made for him. Juanita reports he was "King for a Day." He opened the door and greeted his many guests. He would not sit down. Even at that age he kept up with all of the national and local news. He could type, wrote letters and did almost anything a younger person might do.
David died 12 May 1949.
ISSUE:
1. Edward L. STRADER, b. Oct 1872, Kemundy, Illinois, d. 1939, Carthage, Illinois. Married: 1896, Ann Jeanet ROSENBERRY, b. Mar 1873, Illinois. 1900: Carthage, Illinois, grocery clerk.
Issue:
1. (only). Erma Jane STRADER. Married: George BURNHART, lived, Macomb, IL, no issue.
2. Frank A. STRADER, b. 29 May 1875, Kemundy, Illinois, d. 1940, Carthage, Illinois. Married: Lena L. FOX of Canton, Missouri, b. Sept 1877, Illinois. 1900: clerk in grocery, he later he worked at the Carthage post office, was postmaster at his death.. His funeral was held the day of the Ewing reunion at Burnside, Illinois, 11 August 1940.
Issue:
1. (only). Raymond STRADER, b. 1904, d. 25 Feb 1923, typhoid, age 19, was an excellent sketch artist.
15-3-4-3 3. William Arthur STRADER, b. 20 Dec 1878, Carthage, Illinois.
4. Earl STRADER, b. July 1886, Carthage, Illinois, was in World War II, single.
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15-3-4-3 WILLIAM ARTHUR STRADER
Ewing Family Lineage: Cynthia-Phoebe-James-Willliam-James
William, born in Carthage, Illinois, 20 December 1878 near his grandfather and father's store, J.B. Strader and Son. William did not know much else but the grocery, grain and feed business in his growing up years. Before long he was a part of it, one of his duties in those young years being to deliver orders in the firm's spring wagon. In the 1900 census his occupation was given as: "Clerks groceries."
William and Estella (BARNETT) BOONE of Warsaw, Hancock County, Illinois were married in September 1906. They lived in the beginning near the corner of Buchanan and Walnut in Carthage, next to his uncle, Addison B. MATTHEWS.
In 1914 they moved to Quincy where William worked for Roantree China Company as a salesman. Later he was with Irwin Paper Company. Following this he became manager of the Belasco Theater and worked there for many years, until his health failed and he fell victim to cancer. William died 4 December 1934.
"My dad was not a large man," Juanita said. "In fact, both my brother and I soon reached his height. But what he lacked in size he made up for in his bearing. Always dressed to the hilt - derby hat, spats, etc. He rather reminded me of a beautifully dressed Charlie Chaplin - curly hair, laughing and whistling as he walked up the street."
After William died, Estella worked for a doctor for a while. She married again, after being a widow for 10 years. Her husband, Mr. SAWYER was a wonderful man, Juanita reports, "and we loved him as a father."
Unfortunately he too became ill, and Estella buried two husbands. Estella lived in her own home until two years before her death, when she had a stoke and went to live with her son, Kenneth, until her death 23 July 1972 at the age of 86 years.
ISSUE:
1. Kenneth Darrell STRADER, b. 3 Sept 1907. Married: Dorothy SHIER. 1979: resided Quincy, IL.
15-3-4-3-2 2. Juanita Josephine STRADER, b. 3 Oct 1908, Carthage, Illinois.
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15-3-4-3-2 JUANITA JOSEPHINE STRADER
Ewing Family Lineage: William-Cynthia-Phoebe-James-William-James
Juanita Josephine, who in 1981 lived in Schaumburg, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, was very helpful in getting the Straders into the record. She had done a lot of research on not only the Straders, but her Matthews forbearers too and passed a lot of that research on to me.
Juanita was born in Carthage, Illinois, in the house next to that of her Uncle Ben (Addison B.) and Aunt Emma, who lived on Walnut at Buchanan. "I well remember the boardwalk from Uncle Ben's to our house," Jo, as she is called, wrote me. "As a little girl many hours were spent visiting Uncle Ben and Aunt Emma."
Juanita's parents moved from there to Quincy when Juanita was 6 years old - that would have been in 1914 as she was born 3 October 1908. Somehow Juanita and a childhood playmate, Burdette G. BOOZ, who was also born on Walnut Street, about two blocks from the Strader home, managed to get back together again and they were married about 1926.
They apparently lived in Quincy at first but later moved to Schaumburg and that is where they were living in 1981 - at 935 Sagamore Street, 60194.
ISSUE:
1. Shirley Colleen BOOZ, b. 28 June 1927. Married: Dean HARRINGTON, b. 3 Sept 1927. Resided: Sioux City, Iowa
2. Gerald B. BOOZ, b. 1 July 1938. Married: 1st Kim LEWIS, divorced. Married 2nd June DONOHOE, b. 16 June 1943.
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15-3-7 ADDISON B. (BURNS/BEN) MATTHEWS
Ewing Family Lineage: Phoebe-James-William-James
Addison did not leave any progeny to pass his story down to, but he has such an interesting one to tell that all his kin will want to hear it.
First, about his name. From the Addison B. one would assume that Phoebe had named him for her brother, Addison Blair EWING. But his obituary gives him the name Addison Burns. Yet everyone called him Ben or Uncle Ben.
In a sketch about him in Scofield's 1921 HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY, it says: "One of the faithful, efficient rural free delivery carriers out of Carthage, Addison B. Matthews comes of an old and honored family of Hancock County, and is one of the best known men in this part of the state."
That is just by way of letting you know that Addison seems to have been pretty important in his area, and Emma, his wife, was too.
Addison B. began life at La Crosse, Fountain Green Township, Illinois, on 18 October 1851. After spending time on a farm in Pontoosuc Township, the family moved into Carthage, the county seat, and that is where Addison spent the rest of his life. He attended Carthage Public Schools and Carthage Academy. During his boyhood he suffered from poor health, but as he grew stronger, he learned the printer's trade. Still later he was engaged in a teaming business and in 1881, after his father's death, he and his brother, Edward, established a livery business which they conducted for about 10 years, also carrying on a furniture business at the same time.
Apparently the two brothers were involved in subletting Star Routes in the county and the state during those years. This is covered in more detail in the section under Edward.
In the meantime Addison had married, on 17 September 1876, at the home of the bride's parents in nearby Warsaw, Emma MORRISON. Emma was born in Warsaw on the 8th of February 1857 and was the daughter of Robert and Delilah (SMART) MORRISON, the father being from Baltimore. Emma was a graduate of the high school at Plymouth and the Catholic schools of Dubuque, Iowa. She taught school for about four years before and after she and Addison were married.
The couple made their home in Carthage at the corner of Walnut and Buchanan. In 1891 Addison and Edward built a large brick opera house which they operated jointly for several years. In 1910 Addison bought Edward's interest in the venture, but a month and a half later he sold out. In 1929 the building had been converted into the Marine Bank.
In 1900 something else came into Addison's life - Rural Free Delivery. He was appointed the first carrier out of Carthage. He was given Route 1, a route he served for over 25 years.
Addison's route covered territory familiar to us, having read Chapter 13 - Jonathan Ewing and family country. He started at Carthage each morning at 9:15 and went via Middle Creek east and south to the S.C. POWELL farm, and west and south to Doug ALESHIRE's place, thence via Bently and Duffy School back to Carthage, arriving about 5:00 p.m. The route was 23 miles long and served 160 families. Carriers were paid $500 a year.
What a grand occasion was that arrival of free mail delivery right to the door of every farmer in the area! It prompted Mr. ROB, the correspondent to the Carthage paper to pen these flowing words:
"Rural mail delivery was an accomplished fact here on the 12th of October 1900. For a fortnight previously the entire neighborhood had been in a state of feverish expectancy. We entirely exhausted our supply of stationary and postage stamps to give the enterprise a big boost by way of a starter. We wrote to everyone we knew except Cleveland and we had forgotten his address. We worked hard all day before, setting a post and sawing boards to get our mailbox in readiness and succeeded in transforming a large-size bee hive into a fairly respectable mail box, although we had some misgivings as to its capacity.
"We arose early next morning to note events. As usual Aurora made her appearance in the east, pillowed on a canopy of effulgent glory. The soft winds came up from the south as if to rejoice in this new step in human progress.
"At 12:15 o'clock the well-known physiognomy of Ben Matthews appeared as he turned the corner, and as he approached our mail box we felt as though the millennium had come. The people on the road north of us, who have been putting on airs because of their twice-a-day mail and telephone will perhaps conclude there are others. As for the telephone they are welcome to that. We will not allow a telephone to pass our corner under any circumstances. Mrs. Rob objects. She fears the constant ringing would cause the setting hens to leave their nests, and the wires would draw electricity."
The above was clipped and preserved by Myrtle EWING, aunt of Mable BARBER (13-7-2-9) who found it in her aunt's scrapbook and sent it to me. Mabel added, "This route went past our home place. Ben fed his horse about 1/4 mile east and ate his lunch while we anxiously waited for our mail! Mother often sent us out with a generous piece of pie or cake, and in winter with hot coffee."
Meanwhile back in the house at Walnut and Buchanan, Emma, who had two children but lost both, busied herself with her Methodist Episcopal Church, its various societies and the Sunday School class of Worth White. Emma belonged to the Eastern Star, Rebekahs, Woman Relief Corps, Hancock County Mutual and Court of Honor. She was one of the few working wives of that time in this book. In 1912 Emma joined the sales force of the Boston Store in Carthage, and was still there in 1921.
Addison's after hours were spent with the Masons, Modern Woodmen and Court of Honor. He was a member of the State Guards and was called out on strike duty twice during his service. He was a great reader and had in his library books of history, literature, oratory and Geikie's Life of Christ.
Addison and Emma observed their Golden Wedding Anniversary in 1926.
By Christmas of 1928, Addison, 77, had pretty much retired from active participation in affairs of the city, but Emma, 71, was still going strong. Shortly after New Year's Day, 1929, Addison was stricken with influenza. Emma was his nurse, but it was apparent that Addison was not going to get well. Emma too became ill, but in spite of her own "wretched condition" as the obituary put it, she continued to nurse her husband. Addison died Tuesday evening, 8 January 1929 at 5 o'clock.
Emma was about the house Wednesday, making all funeral arrangements for Addison, but that afternoon went to bed and gradually grew worse. "She closed her eyes to this life at about 11 o'clock Friday morning, 11 January 1929.
Thus the two, who had spent nearly 52 years of their lives together, died within 66 hours of each other. The funeral arrangements Emma had made for Addison turned out to be her own too, and they were buried side by side at Moss Ridge Cemetery outside Carthage, Illinois.
It was 6 degrees below zero as Masonic rites were carried out for Addison at the gravesite.
ISSUE:
1. Lulu MATTHEWS, died in infancy.
2. Arlo MATTHEWS, an invalid from birth, died at the age of 6 years .
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15-3-8 EDWARD PHINEAS MATTHEWS
Ewing Family Lineage: Phoebe-James-William-James
Edward and Addison were 2 1/2 years apart in age and seem to have been close, until Edward moved away. They were in business together from about the time their father died in 1880, until the first decade of the Twentieth Century - in the livery and furniture business and in building and operating the opera house. And they appear to have worked together in setting up Star Routes. Star Routes were mail routes extending from railroad centers to outlying rural communities, a system inaugurated during President Grant's administration and pre-dating Rural Free Delivery by several years - close to 30 years in Hancock County.
The Matthews brothers established such service in Illinois and Missouri, drawing up contracts with carriers in those areas. Edward extended his area to include much of the West and Southwest, from Texas to the Dakotas and out to Colorado. He was in Hancock County in 1900 when his occupation was given as "setting Star Routes" - one time the census got it right!
In the next decade his business took him to Colorado Springs, Colorado, perhaps at the same time as his sister Ellen and her husband, Samuel FEE were there. Between 1921 and 1926 Edward continued west to Los Angeles, California, the end of his journey.
Edward was born in February 1854 in Hancock County, Illinois and was married at Warsaw on 6 October 1881 to Ella CONYERS, born in September of 1864. Edward and Ella had seven children, most of whom ended up in the Los Angeles area with them.
Ella died in Los Angeles on 25 June 1932 and Edward on the 18 of April 1935. Both are buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.
ISSUE:
1. Hazel MATTHEWS, b. Nov 1886, Illinois. Married: HELMUTH.
2. Donald E. MATTHEWS, b. May 1888, Illinois, d. 1908.
3. Junius MATTHEWS, b. June 1890, Illinois.
4. Carol B. MATTHEWS, b. Sept 1895, Illinois.
5. Gracia MATTHEWS, b. Nov 1899, Illinois. Married: PITTMAN.
6. Theodore MATTHEWS, b. after 1900.
7. Melvin MATTHEWS, b. after 1900, d. 1904.
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15-3-10 GEORGE EMMETT MATTHEWS
Ewing Family Lineage: Phoebe-James-William-James
George had a long and full life, and proved to be an exceedingly enterprising, industrious and highly respected person. Among other things he was president of the city council of Portsmouth, Ohio, and served two terms in the Ohio State Legislature.
Three birth dates are given for George. His daughter, Lillian, give his birth date as 28 Dec 1858; a sketch on him says 1 February 1859, and his obituary says he was born 29 December 1859.
There is another discrepancy about his young life from those same three sources. The sketch says, "He was born on a farm near Nauvoo, Pontoosuc Township, Illinois...His father died when he was but 7 years of age, and the family moved into Carthage." The obituary says, "Mr. Matthews' parents died when he was a child and his education was acquired in the largest of schools, the University of Experience." And Lillian says, "Dad's mother died when he was only about 5 years old and he was taken care of by his older sisters in different homes."
Other records show that George's mother died in 1876, when he was about 17 years old, and his father died in 1880 when he was 20 or 21 years old. In the 1870 census George was 12 and at home with both his father and mother, in Carthage, Illinois. In the 1880 census he was 21, and at home with his widowed father, Elisha, again in Carthage.
George went to school in Carthage until he was about 16, and then he rode the mail for his father for a time. But after the death of his mother in 1876, he decided to head out for himself. "He assayed to try the cold world on his own account," as the sketch on him has it. He headed west and had adventures on the trip which some 50 or 55 years later found their way into the Columbus Dispatch (Ohio) on 4 March 1934. It seems he got to talking with a reporter from the Dispatch while he was attending a sportsmen's convention in Columbus, and the reporter, enchanted, took it all down word or word. Thus George's tales of adventure appeared in the paper as if he had written the article himself. One of those adventures follows.
"It was out in the western edge of Kansas, back in the 70s, when I and my partner were going west in a prairie schooner. Everyone was going west in those days, and they would all get into trains of schooners for protection. We had picked up quite a crowd, maybe 50 or 60 men.
"Every man received a number, representing his turn at watch. Where the watch left off one night, it would be taken up by the next number the next night. It was needed, too, for there were Indians and renegade whites, greasers - and tough fellows they were, too.
"Well, there was a young lad and his partner in our train. Just a young fellow he was, and not all there, up above, either. He was strong as an ox, but he just was not all there and I saw it. But he was given his number anyway. I didn't have any number because it was my duty to pick out camp sites. Water holes were few and far between, so some nights we would camp early, and some nights late, depending on our location.
"This night it was the young lad's turn to watch. I had been talking with a couple of miners going back to California. Quiet fellows they were, didn't say much. When I went back to my wagon, I noticed the young lad sitting upon his schooner so I told him he had better get down and walk around a little or he would fall asleep. But he claimed he was alright where he was. So I went to bed.
"Now, I'm a light sleeper, always was. I can stay up all night and all day and then sleep like a cat the next night. I'll wake up at the slightest disturbance. Well, it only seemed as though I had been asleep a minute or so, when suddenly, I awakened. I felt something, couldn't tell what.
"I looked up, and staring down at me from the open flap of the schooner was the worst face I ever saw in my life. It looked like the devil himself, glaring down on me. It was a greaser. I reached for my rifle, and started up after him. His face disappeared and I started out of the wagon. If you have ever tried to get out of a prairie schooner in a hurry, you know that you'll always fall headfirst under the next wagon. That's what I did this time.
"Well, by the time I was firing at him, he had joined six or seven companions and was riding off into the night. I missed them in the darkness and they were gone. But by this time the whole train was awake and in arms. The whole place was in an uproar.
"And when we came to investigate, we found that the young lad had fallen asleep and had slept a couple of hours past the next watch. It was a bad thing, too, because we all might have lost our lives, everyone of us. So the men got together, and decided there would be a trial.
"They had their trial, and they condemned the lad to be hanged. I was against it, for the lad wasn't all there and shouldn't have been given a number in the first place. I didn't want his blood on my head, but the rest of them were strong for it, because they all felt that they might all have been killed because he went to sleep. It was a sort of a law on those wagon trains.
"The lad was crying and carrying on and he asked me to write back home to his mother in Illinois to tell her what happened to him. I told him I would, but do you know, it took us a full hour to find a piece of paper in that whole wagon train. Finally we found an old sack down in one corner of a big chest.
"So they threw a rope over a big dead cottonwood tree, and tightened the hangman's noose around the lad's neck. Then they grabbed the other end of the rope. Just then something snapped within me. You know how it is sometimes, when you make a decision. Something snapped, and I said to myself, 'I won't have that lad's blood on my head, for he isn't all there.' So I raised my rifle to my shoulder and pointed it at the crowd, 50 or 60 of them were there.
"And I said to them, 'The first man of you that pulls on that rope, dies.' And I meant it. But it was a ticklish situation, for there was the high feeling in the crowd, and they were serious about it. I stood my ground and waited, when suddenly I felt an arm come under mine and saw a .45 in a hand under my arm. It was my partner.
"Then I saw that the two California miners were getting up. They had been sitting on a log (spring wagon seat), and they had taken no part in the proceedings. Now, they got up slow-like, and reached into their arm holsters, and each of them was drawing out a .45 in each hand. My partner said, 'Shall I let them have it?' I told hem to wait a minute. I tell you, it was a ticklish situation.
"Finally, they got their guns out and one of them said to me, 'Go ahead, young fellow, and we'll plug the second man that tugs on the ropes.' That was better, I tell you. Now we had five six-shooters and a rifle. That was better.
"The rest of them listened to reason then. So I told the young lad and his partner to pack up and get out of sight, and say, those two set a world's record for hitching up a prairie schooner and getting away. And I never saw either of them again."
That trip took George from Fort Laramie, Wyoming by way of the Snake River in Idaho, north through Canada to Coronation Gulf, which is north of the Arctic Circle, and west to the Yukon and Alaska. He was fur trapping along the way, and on his arrival in Alaska.
He was back in Carthage by 1880, when he appeared in the census with his widowed father, but headed out again after Elisha died, when he was in his early 20s, this time going to Leadville, Colorado. George worked in the lead mines, driving slate and "turned his hand and brain to diverse and sundry employments."
By 1884 his young blood had enough of the life of adventure, and he returned to Carthage. He joined in the livery business with his brothers Addison and Edward, but the challenge he needed was not there.
It turns out that the challenge he needed was back in Ohio, the land of his roots.
George appears to have had contact with a Matthews, first cousin back in Jackson, Ohio. That was Timothy Smith MATTHEWS, son of Elisha's brother, Moses Russell MATTHEWS and his wife, Mary SMITH. By 1886 or 1887, Timothy was a prominent citizen of Jackson and had a thriving business in the heart of Jackson's downtown, a hardware store on Broadway.
George went to Ohio and started to work for his cousin. Timothy was about the same age as his Uncle Elisha and had a daughter who was only six years younger than George. She was Adele Augusta MATTHEWS and she was a very accomplished young lady by the time George got to know her, his first cousin, once removed.
George determined to win her hand. In an effort to improve his lot, he went with a hardware firm located in Portsmouth, the Hibbs Hardware Company. In 1891, George began traveling for that hardware house out of Cleveland. His place in the business world assured, he asked Adele to be his bride - but it was done through the courtesy of Uncle Sam's postal service, for Adele was at the time abroad, studying vocal music for a year in Berlin, Germany.
Adele accepted across the miles. She was due to arrive in the United States on 28 August 1892. George hastened to the coast and met her boat when it arrived.
She had no sooner debarked than he whisked her off to Hoboken, New Jersey, and they were married that very day.
Adele was born in Jackson, Ohio on the 7th of August 1965 to Timothy and his wife, Frances CHAPPELLE, whose ancestors were Huguenots. Adele attended Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio and was an extremely gifted young lady. Through all her years she was deeply involved in music, and gave concerts throughout the state, which meant her absence from home. She was a widely known singer and taught at Galesburg for a while and was a leader of Portsmouth's musical world.
A strange combination - the rough-edged farm boy from Illinois and the cultured lady from Ohio.
George was only in the wholesale hardware business two or three years when he went with the Pearl Barley Company. In 1894 he tried business in Columbus, Ohio for six months, but sold out.
About 1894, George had an accident which caused him a great deal of suffering and meant 18 months on crutches. The sketch of about 1904 on him says - "Most men would have preferred death to what he suffered but George thought of Portsmouth and remembered the family stock he came from, especially the Ewing side, Swago Bill and Indian John, and made up his mind to live and get well and he did."
In September of 1897, George, Adele and their son, Theron, went to Portsmouth and that is where they spent the rest of their years - at 456 Brown Street.
George had irons in several fires - Hibbs Hardware and the Portsmouth Veneer and Paneling Company - as stock holder, director or buyer. He also had an interest in a stone works for it was George who volunteered to provide the memorial marker to Mary Mc Neill EWING beside the grave of her husband at Ewington in 1917 - at cost.
George was extremely interested in his heritage and attended the early Ewing reunions in Ewington - for sure those of 1902, 1903 and 1904 - thus he and at least his two sons are in the reunion picture of 1904. George was the vice-president of the reunion in 1903.
It was only at the turn of the century when he was in his 50s, that George began to realize his potential as a politician. In April 1901, he was elected to the Portsmouth City Council and served as its president for two terms.
On 7 September 1904 this item appeared in the Jackson paper:
"Hon. George Matthews of Portsmouth passed through this city on his way to the Ewing reunion in Gallia County. Mr. Matthews has served acceptably as President of the Council of the River City, and his friends are now booming his candidacy for Mayor to succeed MILSTEAD. Matthews would make a strenuous public official, something very much needed, according to our informants."
George devoted himself for the next dozen or so years to business, but he remained active and vocal in Portsmouth politics, and in 1918 he was nominated as a representative from Scioto County to the Ohio House of Representatives - and was elected and re-elected.
During his two terms in the state house, he was a member of the following committees: Banks and Banking, Conservation of Natural Resources, Constitutional Amendments, Initiative and Referendum, and Corporations. It was through his efforts that Roosevelt Game Preserve was finally established in Scioto County.
George was an ardent sportsman and especially enjoyed hunting. He was an avid reader, which helped him advance his limited education. He spoke fluently and through his life as a salesman and statesman, had many friends and acquaintances throughout the state.
Of his many hobbies, George was most interested in the refinishing of antiques and working with plywood, and he was considered an expert in his work.
George's daughter said of him "He was short, bald and bow-legged, from his years of riding the mail for his father, and had a terrible temper, I'm sorry to say, but he was a man of absolute honestly, courage, loyalty and independence."
George and Adele had five children, one of whom died in infancy. Their eldest, Theron was only a "baby" - his sister's words, when he was put in military school so that Adele could pursue her career as a singer. Her sister Gertrude lived with them and helped look after the younger children.
In the 20s, George somehow got involved in a coal mine at Hazard, Kentucky. He bought an interest and became the company's general manager. He went down to Hazard to take care of the mine's interests and Theron went with him. One Edna WEAVER worked in the commissary and she and Theron fell in love and were married in Greenup, Kentucky on 14 August 1926.
The Depression had not yet come upon the country, but regardless, things were not very good in Kentucky's coal country. The mine folded and George returned to Portsmouth with his family.
On the day he did, 23 November 1928, Adele died.
For the next 15 years George, 67 or 68 at the time of her death, sort of hibernated. His old injury began troubling him and in late June 1943, his right leg was amputated "at which time the new refrigeration anesthesia was used for the first time in Portsmouth."
George did not survive the surgery. He died a week later, on 2 July 1943, 84 or 85 years of age.
George and Adele are buried at Fairmount Cemetery, Jackson, Ohio.
ISSUE:
15-3-10-1 1. Theron Bradford MATTHEWS, b. 21 May 1893, Ohio.
2. Gerald B. MATTHEWS, b. 30 Sept 1898, Portsmouth, Ohio, d. 2 Oct 1918, Jackson County, Ohio - during World War I of influenza, age 20 years. He wore a uniform, but was not in the Ohio Roster - Single, no issue.
15-3-10-3 3. Lillian G. MATTHEWS, b. 9 July 1900, Portsmouth, Ohio.
15-3-10-4 4. Helen Frances MATTHEWS, b. 1 Aug 1901, Portsmouth, Ohio.
5. George MATTHEWS, died in infancy.
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15-3-10-1 THERON BRADFORD MATTHEWS
Ewing Family Lineage: George-Phoebe-James-William-James
Theron, whose nickname was Ting, was born 21 May 1893, in Ohio, before George and Adele had moved to Portsmouth. He probably was born at Jackson or Zanesville, where the Matthews lived in the early years of their marriage. Theron was at home with his parents in Wayne Township, Scioto County in the 1900 census. He apparently was entered in a military school soon after, because his singing mother was away so much. Theron later attended Oberlin College and became a tree surgeon. But Portsmouth was not the place in which to be a tree surgeon, and he gave it up in favor of helping his father at his coal mine in Hazard, Kentucky. A young lady working in the commissary at the mine was Edna WEAVER, born 4 June 1903 in New Boston, Scioto County, Ohio. They fell in love and were married in Greenup, Kentucky on 14 August 1926.
During World War I, Theron helped train soldiers, but he is not listed in Ohio roster.
Theron was only 40 years old when he died 8 November 1933. he is buried at Jackson, Ohio. In 1982 Edna was living at the Hudson House, 610 Fifth Street, Portsmouth, Ohio 45662 and had been a widow for more than 50 years.
NO ISSUE
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Ewing Family Lineage: George-Phoebe-James-William-James
It was a great day when Lillian was contacted, for she brought the George Matthews line down to 1982. And she sent material on her parents from which the preceding sketch was written. Lillian is deeply interested in her ancestry and she and her sister Helen belong to the DAR as a result, under General Israel PUTNAM through the Matthews line.
Lillian, born in Portsmouth, Ohio 9 July 1900, is a widow. Lillian's husband, Francis James LLOYD JR., died 24 July 1980 at Virginia Beach, Virginia. In 1982, she lived in Virginia Beach seven months of the year but had a place in Naples, Florida at 744 Wedge Drive, Apt. 24, 33940, where she spent the other five months. Her son, Francis, who lived in nearby Winter Park, flew up to Virginia Beach about December 1 every year and droves her down to Naples so she could have her car.
Lillian enjoyed walking, swimming - when the weather suited her, reading, writing and a little TV. She also liked to play bridge, but noted that she was losing her friends, either through illness, death or going into retirement homes.
Lillian's husband was born 27 March 1899 at Pocomake, on Maryland's eastern shore. Lillian attended Oberlin College, as did her mother, brother and sister. She and Francis were married 28 June 1928 at Portsmouth, Ohio and lived in at least Portsmouth and Wilmington, Delaware in 1945, before moving to Virginia Beach. They celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary the year Francis died.
ISSUE:
1. Francis James LLOYD III, b. 17 Oct 1929, Portsmouth, Ohio. Married: 16 May 1966, Mary Jane PUDLEWSKI, b. 8 Dec 1935, Buffalo, New York. 1984: resided Winter Park, Florida.
2. Ann Adele LLOYD, b. 6 Sept 1935. Married: 13 June 1959, Henry L. FULTON of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, b. Apr 1935.
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15-3-10-4 HELEN FRANCES MATTHEWS
Ewing Family Lineage: George-Phoebe-James-William-James
There was not many details on Helen's life. She was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, 1 August 1901, attended Oberlin College, and was married 22 June 1931 in Portsmouth, to Alfred D. DUDUIT (pronounced Dood-way). Alfred was born 2 June 1894 in Portsmouth, Ohio.
Helen attended the family tradition, Oberlin College, and they lived most of their married life in Charleston, West Virginia. In the 1973-74 phone book, the address for Alfred D. DUDUIT - the only Duduit in Charleston, was 102 38th S.E. Kanawha City and at Camp Shadyside.
Alfred died 21 February 1981 at Charleston, West Virginia.
ISSUE:
1. Adele Matthews DUDUIT, b. 10 Apr 1932, Charleston, West Virginia. Married: 10 Dec 1951, W. Charles HAGERMAN JR., b. 18 Aug 1927, Belle, West Virginia.
2. Marie Putnam DUDUIT, b. 21 Mar 1937, Charleston, West Virginia. Married: 1 July 1958, Dr. Alberto CAPINPIN, b. 21 Nov 1925, Manila, Philippines.
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Ewing Family Lineage: James-William-James
Rebecca, born 27 October 1823, was not yet a year old when left fatherless and only 8 years old when her mother died. Like her sisters and brother, she apparently was given a home with Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Margaret (MC MILLIN) EWING at Ewington, Ohio.
By the age of 17, Rebecca appears to have left that nest, for she is not accounted for with Jonathan in the 1840 census. Many young women in her position "worked out" in those days, and perhaps that was the case with Rebecca. She might even have been employed over in Cheshire Township, for that is where her future husband lived, and would account for their meeting across two townships.
He was Jonas ROUSH of the Roushes who were early Gallia County settlers, and whose story has been told in a four-volume genealogy published over the years. His parents were Jonas and Elizabeth (WISE) ROUSH, natives of Virginia, and he was born in Cheshire Township 5 September 1825.
That genealogy covers this particular branch of the Ewing family, but not completely, and there are some errors. There is a Roush and Allied Families Association of America, Inc., but only Donald F. ROUSH of New Haven, West Virginia, who took reservations when the Association held its 273rd anniversary reunion in August of 1984 at Gallipolis and Point Pleasant is known.
Rebecca was 23 years old and nearly two years older than Jonas ROUSH when they were married 20 March 1847 in Gallia County by Rev. Charles C. LYBRAND. Witnesses were Nobles and Elisha MATTHEWS.
It is not known where they lived after their marriage, but by 1850 they were in Meigs County's District 98 - Salisbury District. One source says Jonas sold a tannery to raise money to move to Illinois. While he may have had a tannery on the side, in that 1850 census he is down as just "farmer."
It was soon after that census was taken that Jonas and Rebecca began planning their move to the "west." They were not going to Hancock County where others of Rebecca's family and foster family, and Jonas' sister, Lydia, who had married Aaron MATTHEWS were going. They stopped one county short of Hancock County - Schuyler County, abutting Hancock on its southeast corner.
They were in Schuyler County 10 years, but by the time of the 1860 census had moved a few miles west, over the county line into Hancock's Augusta Township. With them in the census that year was Rebecca's brother Addison Blair, but not his bride, Mary.
During the 1860's, Jonas acquired the land which was to be their home for the rest of their lives. That was 120 acres in the southeast quarter of Section 15, Pilot Grove Township, near the Aleshires and Jonas' brother-in-law, Aaron MATTHEWS. The farm and their nine children, one died at the age of 2, kept them occupied for the next 40 or so years. They were content to live a quiet life. In 1897, the year of their Golden Wedding Anniversary, Rebecca united with the Christian Church at Burnside, Illinois.
Somewhere along the line, Jonas was blinded in one eye by a wheat straw.
On 16 December 1903, Jonas went into town and was at Todd's Blacksmith Shop, helping his son-in-law, Sylvanus FURROW, by turning the grindstone for him. He complained of being tired and Sylvanus told him to sit down, which he did, but he soon fell over. Friends in the shop carried him to the nearby home of his granddaughter, Carrie STRAIN. He revived somewhat and walked around a bit, but soon had another stroke and "in about an hour from his first attack, he was a corpse," as his obituary put it.
Jonas was 78 years old at the time of his death. The Carthage paper said of him, "He was kind and gentle in disposition, strictly honest and of that joy of nature which endeared him to all with whom he associated. He was baptized in infancy and has always led an upright Christian life.'
Jonas left, besides Rebecca, six children, 18 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. He was buried at Pilot Grove Cemetery.
Rebecca was 80 at the time of Jonas' death. Apparently the Furrows, daughter Laura and family, moved in with her, for in the 1910 census she was listed as living with them.
A report of the 1910 reunion held in the Salisbury grove, a mile and a half east of Burnside, said that Mrs. Rebecca ROUSH of Burnside was the honored member present, she being 88. "At two different times in the last year, she being feeble, fell and each time broke an arm, just having recovered enough to be present."
The 1911 reunion was held on the 17th of August, this time at the Dickinson Grove, down by Middle Creek. The newspaper account said, "Mrs. Rebecca ROUSH, aged 89 from Burnside, had driven the distance of 15 miles and was on the picnic grounds by 8 a.m., which showed pluck, courage and determination of this pioneer lady to be present with relatives once more."
But that reunion was to be Rebecca's last outing. She became ill on returning home, and never recovered. "Even to the last her illness of about three months was borne with patience," said her obituary. She died 25 November 1911, at the age of 88 years.
Her funeral was held at the house, with Elder KILLION officiating, and she was buried next to Jonas at Pilot Grove Cemetery, Pilot Grove Township, Illinois. The pallbearers were six of her grandsons, Eddie and William WEATHERINGTON, William and Clarence MANNING, John ROUSH and Merlin FURROW.
Rebecca left five children, 18 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
ISSUE:
15-4-1 1. James Downing ROUSH, b. 6 Mar 1848, Gallia or Meigs County, Ohio.
15-4-2 2. Mary Elizabeth ROUSH, b. 20 Nov 1849, Meigs County, Ohio.
15-4-3 3. Addison Blair ROUSH, b. 24 Mar 1852, Schuyler County, Illinois.
15-4-4 4. George Byron ROUSH, b. 9 Dec 1953, Schuyler County, Illinois.
15-4-5 5. Esther Eliza ROUSH, b. 12 Feb 1856, Schuyler County, Illinois.
15-4-6 6. Sarah Louisa ROUSH, b. 4 Apr 1856, Schuyler County, Illinois .
7. John Ira ROUSH, b. 31 Mar 1860, Schuyler or Hancock County, Illinois, d. 12 Feb 1863, Hancock County, Illinois.
15-4-8 8. Anna Maria ROUSH, b. 6 Oct 1863, Hancock County, Illinois.
15-4-9 9. Laura Ellen ROUSH, b. 23 Apr 1868, Hancock County, Illinois.
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15-4-1 JAMES DOWNING ROUSH
Ewing Family Lineage: Rebecca-James-William-James
When James came along on the 6th of March 1848, the Roushes were either in Cheshire Township or Meigs County, Ohio or perhaps even at Ewington. He was only about two when the family trekked westward to Schuyler County, Illinois, and about 12 when they removed to Hancock County.
James was 19 years old when he was married in Hancock County on 1 September 1867 to Mary Ann GRIEST. According to the 1870 and 1880 census Mary Ann was 6 years older than James, born 1842 in either Indiana or Ohio. In 1870 they were living in Pilot Grove Township, Illinois, listed next after his parents. There is no property in James' name in the 1874 atlas. In the 1880 census they were still in Pilot Grove and in the 1900 census as well, only by then Mary Ann had died, and the widower James had with him his daughter Emma ROUSH and her son, Leslie ROUSH.
In 1910, James was 62 years old and quite alone.
James died 17 September 1918 and is buried at Pilot Grove Cemetery, Hancock County, Illinois. It is assumed Mary Ann is buried there also.
ISSUE:
15-4-1-1 1. Mary Louisa ROUSH, b. 13 May 1868, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois.
15-4-1-2 2. Elizabeth Ellen ROUSH, b. 16 Feb 1870, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois.
15-4-1-3 3. Charles Edward ROUSH, b. 29 Mar 1872, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois.
15-4-1-4 4. Carrie Sodema ROUSH, b. 24 Sept 1874, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois.
5. Emma M. ROUSH, b. 6 Jan 1876 d. 1954, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois. Married: 1910, Edward WILSON. 1880 census: not listed with family. 1900 census: only one home with father recorded as single with 1 and 1, Leslie L. ROUSH, b. 12 July 1898, listed as grandson of Jonas. In 1951 she was Mrs. Emma WILSON of Moline, Ill..
Issue:
1. Leslie L. ROUSH, b. 12 July 1898.
2. Lyle WILSON, b. 8 May 1914.
15-4-1-6 6. John A. ROUSH, b. 4 Nov 1878, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois.
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15-4-1-1 MARY LOUISA ROUSH
Ewing Family Lineage: James-Rebecca-James-William-James
James was two months and one week past his 20th birthday when he became the father of Mary Louisa. She was born in Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois on 13 May 1868. Her life was such that she did not stray far from Pilot Grove Township in all her 48 years, for she married a man of the same township, and they lived on his father's old homestead. He was James Frederick SALISBURY, born 5 April 1862 in Illinois, probably right there in Pilot Grove Township. His parents, Solomon and Margaret Elizabeth SALISBURY, had 80 acres in Section 24, which James took over on his father's death, and his son, Arthur, on his death. There was a large, shady grove on the farm and every year in August, tables and chairs would be set up in the grove and that became the site for most of the Ewing reunions.
Mary Louisa and James were married 24 August 1888. Arthur was born the following year and there were two young Salisburys who died in infancy. In 1908, 19 years after Arthur, Ila Eva was born. She was 6 years old when her father died 5 July 1914 at the age of 52 years. Ila Eva was 8 years old when her mother, Mary Louisa died 8 November 1916 of cancer, at the age of 48 years. Ila Eva was raised by her older brother who had, by then, married but was childless.
Both Mary Louisa and James are buried at the McKay Cemetery, Pilot Hill, Hancock County, Illinois.
ISSUE:
1. Arthur Guy SALISBURY, b. 1 July 1889, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois . Married: 1st 24 April 1912, Ada M. PIERCE/PEARCE. Married 2nd Fannie . Arthur was reunion secretary at one time and always sent A.E. EWING notices of them before and the newspaper accounts afterwards. He and Ada were childless, but raised his young orphaned sister. 1984: 95 years old, Macomb, Illinois.
2. Infant SALISBURY
3. Infant SALISBURY
4. Ila Eva SALISBURY, b. 23 Dec 1908. Her father died when she was 6 years old, her mother when she was 8 years old - raised by Arthur and his wife, Ada. Single. 1979: Carthage, Illinois. 1984: Wesley Village Retirement Home, Macomb, IL.
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15-4-1-2 ELIZABETH ELLEN ROUSH
Ewing Family Lineage: James-Rebecca-James-William-James
Elizabeth was born 16 February 1870 in Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois and was 16 years old when she and 26 year old Elijah Allen FRIEND were married 14 August 1886. Elijah, who always went by Allen, was born 18 August 1860, in Kansas, and was the son of Abel and Nancy (COMBS) FRIEND.
In the 1900 census they were living in Pilot Grove Township and Elijah was a section hand for the railroad. Her brother Charles was living with them. At that time they had three children. The youngest, Mary Leota, was 17 years old when along came Ross in 1909!
In the 1910 census, they were found next door in Mc Donough County, but they are believed to have moved back to Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County. Elizabeth died on the 20th or the 23rd of March 1951 at the age of 81 years, and Elijah shortly thereafter at the age of 90 years. Both are buried at Pilot Grove Cemetery, Pilot Grove, Hancock County, Illinois.
ISSUE:
15-4-1-2-1 1. Nancy Viola FRIEND, b. 11 June 1887.
15-4-1-2-2 2. Allen Ray FRIEND, b. 11 Mar 1889.
3. Mary Leota FRIEND, b. 22 June 1891, Iowa(?), deceased by 1951. Married: Walter CHENOWETH. 1910 census: at home, McDonough County, IL. 1928: Adair, Illinois. A.E. EWING gave her address at one time as: Table Grove, Illinois.
Issue:
2. Thelma CHENOWETH Married: 1st R.O. KIRKBRIDE; married 2nd PATTERSON; married 3rd VICE.
Issue:
1. Peggy Lee KIRKBRIDE, the youngest at the 1933 reunion..
3. Elena CHENOWETH Married: Babe HENDRICKS
Issue:
4. Nancy CHENOWETH Married: MORRILL. She was Mrs. Nancy Morrill, alone at the 1933 reunion.
4. Ross FRIEND, b. 12 Mar 1909, probably Mc Donough County, Illinois. Married: Eunice TURNQUIST. 1951: resided Washington, Iowa.
Issue:
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Ewing Family Lineage: Elizabeth-James-Rebecca-James-William-James
Elizabeth and Elijah's first was named Nancy for his mother, Nancy (COMBS) FRIEND. She was born 11 June 1887, probably in Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois. She was 17 years old when she and another Pilot Grove Township resident, French BIDEAUX, were married in 1904. French was his given name, not a nickname.
He was born to Francis and Catherine (WHISTLER) BIDEAUX in October of 1884.
The newlyweds made their home in Pilot Grove Township, near Burnside, Illinois.
French died in 1952 and Nancy married again in November of 1958. Nancy's second husband was Charles CLARK. Nancy died in 1963.
ISSUE:
1. Vivian BIDEAUX, b. 1906, Illinois. Married: 1926, Virgil HULL, a farmer. 1979: Route 1, Burnside, Illinois.
Issue:
1. Velda HULL - Married: Glen WRIGHT
Issue:
1. Alan WRIGHT, Married: Faith SEARS
2. Barry WRIGHT, Married: Joanna JOHNSON
3. Verdin HULL, Married: Allison RUSH
2. Allen Frank BIDEAUX, b. 1909, Illinois. Married: 1st Jean MARSDON; married 2nd Marie GILES. Allen served in World War II from Pilot Grove.
Issue by Jean:
Issue by Marie:
3. Clair BIDEAUX, Married: Elsie WOODSIDE. Lived near Colchester, Illinois
Issue:
1. Lorena BIDEAUX, Married: Larry BECK. Resided: Colchester, Illinois.
2. Alta BIDEAUX, Married: James BLAIR. Resided: Burlington, Iowa.
4. Richard BIDEAUX. Served in World War II from Pilot Grove, Illinois. 1982: only Bideaux in Burnside, Illinois. Married: Geneva SCANLON. No issue.
5. Merville Francis BIDEAUX, d. age 22 days.
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Ewing Family Lineage: Elizabeth-James-Rebecca-James-William-James
There are not many details on Allen Ray, he was born on the 11th of March 1889 and he married Alice SEBREE. What has been learned about him has come from census and reunion reports. In the 1900 and 1910 census he was living at home. At the 1928 reunion he and Alice lived at Campoint, Illinois and in 1933, when they attended the Ewing reunion in Burnside, Illinois, they were from Union, Missouri. Allen Ray and Alice attended the 1937 Ewing reunion and their daughters, Ruth and Connie, were with them. In 1951 they lived at Columbus Junction, Iowa.
ISSUE - exact order is not known:
1. Leatha FRIEND, Married: Vivian CAMPBELL. 1981: resided California.
Issue:
2. Charlene FRIEND, Married and divorced. No issue.
3. Connie FRIEND, Married: Bill JAMORIA
Issue:
4. Ruth FRIEND, Married: John MURPHY
Issue:
5. Beverly FRIEND, Married: Elmer RILES. Had several children, names unknown.
6. Weldon FRIEND, Married: - unknown
Issue:
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Ewing Family Lineage: James-Rebecca-James-William-James
Carrie was born 24 September 1874 and was married in 1894 to Christopher STRAIN, brother of Hannah STRAIN who married Carrie's brother Charles. In the 1900 census Carrie and Christopher were living in Pilot Grove Township and were listed as farmers. In 1903 they were near enough to Todd's blacksmith shop in Burnside, Illinois to have Carrie's grandfather, Jonas ROUSH, taken to their home after he suffered a stroke at the shop.
In 1915 the call was to North Dakota, and the Strains headed out. They settled at Wheatland, which is near Fargo and that is when they lived the rest of their lives. It is unknown when Christopher died, but Carried died in 1970 at the age of 96 years.
ISSUE:
1. Ruth J. STRAIN, b. 23 Jan 1894, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois. Married: PARKINS. 1984: resided Casselton, North Dakota.
2. Eva STRAIN, b. 27 Aug 1895, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois. Married: Orie GIBBONS. Both attended the 1933 Ewing Reunion from Bartonville, Illinois .
3. Glen STRAIN, b. 23 July 1902. 1928: Wheatland, also lived in Buffalo, near Wheatland, Illinois.
4. Mary STRAIN, b. 9 Apr 1907. Married: after 1933, John WOLDAHL. 1933 Ewing reunion: she was Miss Mary Strain of Wheatland. 1984: resided Fargo, North Dakota.
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Ewing Family Lineage: James-Rebecca-James-William-James
John was born 4 November 1878 in Pilot Grove Township, Illinois and was married in 1908 in Dallas City to Sadie WILSON, who may possibly have been a sister to the Edward WILSON who married John's sister Emma in 1910.
Prior to his marriage John was a farm laborer with Walter and Ella THOMPSON in Pilot Grove Township, Illinois, as he was listed in the 1900 census.
In 1928 John was of Dallas City and in 1937 of Moline, Illinois. That year he was at the Ewing reunion with his wife and children Leo, Veldin, Sherrill and Harry Dale ROUSE, who attended with his family.
In 1951 John was still from Moline, Illinois.
ISSUE:
1. Veldin ROUSH, b. 14 July 1909. 1984: Lived in Rock Island, Illinois.
2. Sherrill ROUSH, b. Nov 1911. Died in California.
3. Leo ROUSH, b. 27 April 1914. Lived in California.
4. Harry Dale ROUSH, b. 1916. 1937: at the reunion with wife and daughters from Moline, Illinois. 1984: resided Moline, Illinois.
Issue:
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Ewing Family Lineage: Rebecca-James-William-James
Relationships in the next few pages may get complicated. What we have is two Roush sisters marrying two Manning brothers. So we have descendants who are Ewings and Roushes and Mannings and therefore doubly related. But wait, for another Ewing-Roush marries a Furrow and the Manning brothers are also Furrows through their mother... so there is another double relationship, or is it triple... between those descendants?
Mary Elizabeth, who was born 20 November 1849 in Meigs County, Ohio, was married in Hancock County, Illinois on 1 May 1868 to George MANNING. George, born 4 January 1845 in Allen County, Indiana was the son of James and Caroline (FURROW) MANNING.
Another son of the Mannings, David, married Mary's sister, Anna. Caroline, the mother, was the sister of Jeremiah (JURY) FURROW, she produced Sylvanus FURROW, who married Laura Ellen ROUSH, sister of Mary and Anna.
George MANNING and Mary Elizabeth ROUSH were married in Hancock County and seem to have spent most of their live there in Pilot Grove Township. They had only one child, a son, William J. born in 1877.
Mary Elizabeth died 22 March 1906 at the age of 56 years. and George died 18 February 1910. Both are buried at Pilot Grove Cemetery, Hancock County, Illinois.
ISSUE:
15-4-2-1 1. William James MANNING, b. 27 Feb 1877.
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15-4-2-1 WILLIAM JAMES MANNING
Ewing Family Lineage: Mary-Rebecca-James-William-James
William James was born in Pilot Grove Township, 27 February 1877, a son of George and Mary (ROUSH) MANNING, natives of Indiana and Ohio, respectively, and grandson of James and Caroline (FURROW) MANNING, natives of Indiana and very early settlers of Pilot Grove Township; and Jonas and Rebecca (EWING) ROUSH, natives of Ohio, and also pioneers of Pilot Grove Township.
It seems that in 1900, William was married for a short time to Florence E. MARSH of Knox County, Missouri. For the short period of time that they were married, they lived in Hancock County with his parents on their 50 acre farm. There were no children by this marriage.
On 26 February 1908, William James was married a second time to Freida WEINREICH, born in Mc Lean County, Illinois a daughter of William and Lena (BRAKENSICK) WEINREICH, natives of Ohio - but in the vicinity of Quincy, Illinois.
After attending the Liberty District School, William was involved with railroad construction for the T.P. & W.R. Railroad for six year. The last six months of his employment he was foreman.
After William's marriage to Freida, he moved to Burnside, where he bought a home. He was owner of the Farmers Telephone system, but in 1915 he sold to the Mississippi Valley Telephone Company and went into the auto-livery business.
William and Freida were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. William belonged to the Modern Woodsmen of America. They both belonged to Knights and Ladies of Security - in 1921, he had been clerk since 1911.
In 1928 William and Freida were divorced and William moved to Peoria, Illinois. He got a job with the Chicago Northwestern railroad as a section laborer, which was hard work for a man of approximately 50 year of age.
William died in May of 1943 in Peoria, Illinois and is buried at the Pilot Grove Cemetery, Pilot Grove, Hancock County, Illinois.
ISSUE:
1. Mary Lena MANNING, 1 Aug 1910, Burnside, Illinois. Married: Joseph Anthony COOK, 1 Aug 1938, Kahoka, Missouri.
2. Helen Louise MANNING, b. 25 Apr 1912, Burnside, Illinois. Married: Ernest EDMONDS, 15 Dec 1936.
3. George Robert MANNING, b. 15 Feb 1921/1922, Burnside, Illinois. Married: 20 Oct 1939, Kahoka, Missouri, Genevieve Ruth COOK, b. 19 May 1922.
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Ewing Family Lineage: Rebecca-James-William-James
Addison was obviously named for Rebecca's brother. He was born 24 March 1852 in Schuyler County, Illinois, but spent all of his years after the age of 8 in Hancock County, being in adulthood a farmer in Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois.
Land adjoining that of Jonas in the 1874 atlas, was owned by one E. PERKINS, and beyond that were the 140 acres of J.S. PERKINS. A daughter in one of those households was the Amanda S. PERKINS who Addison married on 11 October 1874. Amanda was born in February of 1858 in Illinois or Kentucky.
Addison and Amanda were childless for 16 years, then in 1890 along came Albert, their only child.
Addison was 10 days short of being 48 years old when he died 14 March 1900. In the census that year Amanda and her young son were still in Pilot Grove Township. There was no Amanda ROUSH in the 1910 index.
Amanda could have been listed with Albert as the head of the household and she was missed, or perhaps, as she was only 42 when Addison died, she married again.
ISSUE:
1. (only). Albert Bruce ROUSH, b. 26 June 1890, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois. Married: 1911, Mary DUGAN. 1928: resided Lewiston, Illinois.
Issue:
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Ewing Family Lineage: Rebecca-James-William-James
George made it three sons for Jonas and Rebecca when he came into their farm home in Schuyler County, Illinois on 9 December 1853. He did most of his growing up in Hancock County, but he did not stay there all of his life as his older brother did. George and his wife, Emma ELLIOTT, remained in Pilot Grove Township for at least 18 years after their marriage on Thanksgiving Day, 1882 - or 18 January 1882 (it has been given both ways). In the first decade of the 20th Century, they moved across the Mississippi River to Lee County, Iowa. George and Emma were found there in the 1910 census, residents of Argyle, where they spent the rest of their years.
The two were at the 1928 and 1933 Ewing reunions in Hancock County. At the 1933 reunion, George was the oldest man at the reunion, being 79 years old at the time. He was 83 when he died in 1937 at Argyle, Lee County, Iowa. He is buried at Sunset Memorial Park, Keokuk, Iowa.
Emma was still alive in either 1946 or 1947, but the date of her death is unknown.
ISSUE:
1. Charles Franklin ROUSH, b. 3 July 1884, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois. Married: 1895, Amanda ARVESTEIN. 1928: lived in Argyle, Lee County, Iowa.
Issue:
2. Jonas Emanuel ROUSH, b. 5 July 1887, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois. Married: Alberta GOON. 1928: lived in Fairfield, county seat of Jefferson County, Iowa - next to Lee County.
Issue:
3. Daisy May ROUSH, b. 9 May 1893, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois. Married: 1914/1915, Fred P. SHARK, b. 1 Mar 1893. 1928: lived in Argyle, Lee County, Iowa.
Issue:
1. Robert Lee SHARK, b. about 1920. Resided: Argyle, Lee County, Iowa.
2. Albert Clare SHARK, b. Jan 1926. Resided: Burlington, Iowa.
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Ewing Family Lineage: Rebecca-James-William-James
Though they did not pay much attention to it at the time, Jonas and Rebecca's fifth shared a birthday with Abraham Lincoln. She was born 12 February 1856 in Schuyler County, and was 4 years old when her parents moved next door into Hancock County, where she spent most of the rest of her 80 years. Her first name was for Rebecca's sister.
Esther was married 18 October 1874 to William J. WEATHERINGTON, who was born 7 February 1849. No further knowledge of the Weatheringtons was located in the 1874 atlas or other records that were checked. William and Esther lived near Burnside, in Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois for many years. They did live in Nebraska from about 1876 to after 1885.
To show how you have to watch the census reports very carefully, in the 1900 census the taker dropped William's name and made Esther the farmer and the head of the household, leading one to assume that William had died. But he was very much alive at that time. William died 20 March 1922 when he was 73 years old. He is buried in Pilot Grove Cemetery, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois.
Esther attended the 1933 Ewing reunion in Hancock County and was the oldest woman, at 77 years, present. She was called Aunt Lide by all who knew her.
She was 80 years old when she died 15 March 1936 at Burnside, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois. She too is buried at Pilot Grove Cemetery with William.
ISSUE:
1. Granville WEATHERINGTON, b. 10 July 1875, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois, 1945. Married: 1902, Bessie MARSHALL. No issue, but adopted her sister's son:
1. Glen BISHOP/WEATHERINGTON, b. 3 May 1911. Married: Maxine JACOBY.
Issue:
1. Janet WEATHERINGTON Married: DICKERSON.
2. Gloria WEATHERINGTON Married: LaVerne BREWSTER.
2. Elizabeth Rebecca WEATHERINGTON, b. 28 Feb 1880, Nebraska, d. 12 Feb 1952. *Elizabeth died 104 years after her mother's birth. Married: 1st 13 Sept 1905, Harvey George DE HAVEN, b. 18 Nov 1887, d. 3 Jan 1907. Married 2nd 1939, N.L. HOCKMAN. No issue.
15-4-5-3 3. William J. WEATHERINGTON JR., b. 28 Apr 1882 in Nebraska.
15-4-5-4 4. Edward WEATHERINGTON, b. 26 May 1885 in Nebraska.
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15-4-5-3 WILLIAM J. WEATHERINGTON JR.
Ewing Family Lineage: Esther-Rebecca-James-William-James
Esther and William were out in Nebraska when their third child put in his appearance on the 28 April 1882. They named him for his father, and he became William J. Weatherington Jr.
William was married in 1905 to Maggie MARSHALL. There were three daughters who died in infancy. It is unknown if their marriage ended in death or divorce. William married again on
24 December 1918, the bride being Bessie BARBE.
ISSUE by Bessie:
1. Carmilee WEATHERINGTON, b. 29 Nov 1920. Married: 16 July 1942, Orville LARSON. 1984: Rural Route, Tennessee, Ill. She supplied the WEATHERINGTON data.
2. Dorothy Winona WEATHERINGTON, b. 9 Dec 1923, d. 6 Feb 1924.
3. Bonnie Gayle WEATHERINGTON, b. 12 Mar 1925. Married: 4 June 1946, George BAILEY.
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Ewing Family Lineage: Esther-Rebecca-James-William-James
Edward's place of birth was Nebraska and the date was 26 May 1885. Some time between then and 1900 the family returned to Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois, where Edward spent the rest of his life.
Edward was married 1 January 1918 to Laura DUFFY.
In his last years Edward lived in a mobil home alongside the home of his daughter, Betty COMSTOCK at Burnside, Hancock County, Illinois. He became ill and was taken to La Harpe Hospital, where he was a patient for several weeks before his death 20 November 1974. He is buried at the Moss Ridge Cemetery, Burnside, Hancock County, Illinois.
ISSUE:
1. Betty Maxine WEATHERINGTON, b. either: 2 June 1923 or 2 Oct 1922. Married: L.C. COMSTOCK. 1984: resided Burnside, Illinois.
2. Edward Eugene WEATHERINGTON, b. 12 May 1926. Married: Marilyn . He served in World War II from Pilot Grove Township. 1979: resided Hancock County.
3. Donald WEATHERINGTON, b. after 1928. Married: Patty BARKER. 1981: Route 1, Burnside, Hancock County, Illinois.
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Ewing Family Lineage: Rebecca-James-William-James
Rebecca and Jonas were still in Schuyler County, Illinois when Sarah came along 4 April 1858, but she was only 2 years old when they moved to Hancock County. Sarah was married on
5 September 1886 to Richard Edwin DAVIS, no doubt some relation to the S.W.P. DAVIS who owned 80 acres in Section 16 of Pilot Grove Township, according to the 1874 atlas, which was next to Section 15, where the Roushes were living.
Sarah and Richard lived in Pilot Grove Township. In 1910 "Ed" was on the Ewing reunion nominating committee. He died in 1926 and Sarah on 14 November 1932 at the age of 74 years. Sarah is buried at Moss Ridge Cemetery, Burnside, Hancock County, Illinois.
ISSUE:
1. (only). Mary Rebecca DAVIS, b. 19 Apr 1891, d. 9 May 1969. Married: 4 Apr 1912, Ira GUNNING. 1928: resided Carthage, Illinois. The Gunnings were at the 1933 Ewing reunion with Bobbie and Edna, it is unknown who Bobbie was.
Issue:
1. Freda Lucille GUNNING, b. 4 Feb 1913. Married: Francis SWANK. 1929: were from Ferris, Illinois when attending the family reunion.
2. Claude GUNNING, b. 12 Sept 1914, d. 28 Jan 1915.
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Ewing Family Lineage: Rebecca-James-William-James
By the time of Anna Marie's birth 6 October 1863, Jonas and Rebecca had moved to Hancock County, Illinois and that is where she lived and where she died at the age of 31 years.
When Anna Marie was 4 years old, her eldest sister, Mary Elizabeth, married George MANNING. George had a brother eight years younger than he, by the name of David Mahlone MANNING. They were the sons of James and Caroline (FURROW) MANNING, who owned several acres in Pilot Grove Township near the Roushes. Anna Marie grew up admiring her brother-in-law, David, who was 10 years older than she - being born 20 September 1853 in Allen County, Indiana. When Anna Marie was the proper and respectable age of 23, the brother-in-law asked her to be his wife, and she said yes.
Anna Marie and David were married in Hancock County on
6 October 1886.
They only had one child, Clarence, and when he was 5 or 6 years old, Anna Marie died. The date of Anna Marie's death was 21 July 1894.
David's unmarried sister, Amanda Jane, came in to make a home for him and to take care of Clarence.
In the 1910 census, David was in Hancock County with only his son, then 21 years old and his daughter-in-law, Susan.
David moved from Hancock County and died in Van Petten, Illinois - two days after his 75th birthday, on 22 September 1938. He is buried at Walnut Cemetery, Whiteside County, Illinois.
ISSUE:
1. (only). Clarence MANNING, b. 31 March 1888 or 30 March 1889, Fountain Green Township, Hancock County, Illinois. Married: 1st about 1908, Susan EWING, b. 1890, Illinois (probably daughter of one of the other Ewings in Hancock County, James Parker was one, no relation to our Ewings. Susan died about 1910 in childbirth. Buried: Pilot Grove Cemetery, Pilot Grove Township. Married: 2nd 30 Dec 1912, Ruby Adeline COBB, b. 10 Mar 1894, d. 13 Nov 1969.
Issue by Ruby:
1. Charles MANNING, b. 1913, d. 26 Nov 1981. Marriage: Virginia DODGE.
Issue:
2. Vionne MANNING Married: 1st Clarence MASON; married 2nd Raymond GROVES.
3. Elmer Lee MANNING Married, but no issue.
4. Laura MANNING Married: KIRTRIGHT No issue
5. Betty MANNING Married: Martin SCHRAPF. 1984: resided Keokuk, Iowa.
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Ewing Family Lineage: Rebecca-James-William-James
Laura Ellen brought up the rest of Jonas and Rebecca's nine. She was born 23 April 1868 after the Roushes had moved from Augusta Township in Hancock County to Pilot Grove Township in Hancock County.
Some other landowners in Pilot Grove were the Furrows. The Furrows have been mentioned before, as Caroline FURROW was the mother of both George and David MANNING who married Laura's sister, Mary and Anna Marie. Caroline's brother was Jeremiah "Jury" FURROW, who had married Sarah FLETCHER. Jury and Sarah had 40 acres in Section 35. One of their sons was Sylvanus Freedom FURROW, born in December 1868 in Hancock County, Illinois. Called Free, he was 20, as Laura was, when they were married 23 December 1888 in Hancock County.
They set up housekeeping in Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois near her parents; in fact, in the 1900 census they were listed next to Jonas and Rebecca. After Jonas died in 1903, they moved in with Rebecca and "Free" became the head of the household. The three of them were together in the 1910 census.
They were reunion goers, and "Free" was frequently called on to play his violin, in company with his sister-in-law, Mrs. Dowd FURROW. In 1910, Laura was reunion treasurer.
Laura was only 50 years old when she died 30 May 1918. Sylvanus remained a widower for 27 years. He died 6 October 1945. Both are buried at Pilot Grove Cemetery, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois.
ISSUE:
1. (only). Merlin Roush? FURROW, b. 12 June 1894, Pilot Grove Township, Hancock County, Illinois, d. 5 Oct 1973, 79 years old. Buried: Moss Ridge Cemetery, Burnside, Illinois. Married: 28 July 1914, Ethel Mae SHIREY, d. 30 July 1961. Lived: Burnside, Illinois.
Issue:
1. Dwayne FURROW, b. 8 Dec 1914. Married: Thelma WHITE. Dwayne served in World War II. 1984: Route 1, Burnside, Illinois. No issue.
2. Eva FURROW, b. 18 Nov 1916. Married: 1st William ENGLAND, deceased. Married 2nd MANNING, divorced. (He had no apparent relation to the other Mannings) No issue.
3. Beulah FURROW, b. 24 July 1918. Married: Clere DUFFY