The Slovak Yankee

Brick Walls As a Product of Multi-State Hopping

My ancestry is very different from Michael's.  It is rare that I have even two different states listed for birth/marriage/death of an individual.  In fact, I can only find one that has three: Benjamin Wingate Hurd 1824-1904, born in N.H., married in Mass. and died in Kansas.  And he's the one who ran away.

Michael on the other hand has all this pioneer ancestry and all he has are triple-baggers.  Starting with his grandparents you find:

4. William Lynn Clark, b. Kansas, m. Oklahoma, d. Virginia

5. Ruth Berrigan, b. Wisconsin, m. Oklahoma, d. Maryland

6. John Wesley Ridpath b. Missouri, m. Oklahoma, d. California

7. Nell Carmon, b. m. Oklahoma, d. California [exception]

8. Charles Chester Clark, b. Ohio, m. Kansas, d. Oklahoma

9. Alice May Morrow, b. Missouri, m. Kansas, d. Oklahoma

10. Edmund Berrigan, b. New York, m. Michigan, d. Oklahoma

11. Johanna Morrissey, b. Penn., m. Michigan, d. Oklahoma

12. Daniel Burton Ridpath, b. Iowa, m. Missouri, d. Texas

13. Vida Hamlin Clarkson, b. Wisconsin, m. Missouri, d. Texas

14. James M. Carmon, b. Missouri, m. Texas or Oklahoma, d. Oklahoma

15. Elizabeth Hall, b. Missouri, m. Texas or Oklahoma, d. Oklahoma

So, as you can see three of his four grandparents and all of his great-grandparents fit into this category.

20 and 21. Dennis Berrigan and Mary Haberlin: b. Ireland, m. New York, d. Michigan

22 and 23. William J. Morrissey and Bridget Cashin, b. Ireland, m. New York, d. Penn.

24. John Wesley Ridpath b. Virginia, m. Indiana, d. Missouri

25. Duranda Straughn, b. Kentucky, m. Indiana, d. Missouri

27. Julia Berkley Brown, b. Illinois, m. Kansas, d. Arkansas

28. George Joshua Carmon, b. Indiana, m. Missouri, d. Oklahoma

29. Mary Jane Cox, b. Illinois, m. Missouri, d. Texas

30. Andrew Jackson Hall, b. Tenn., m. Missouri, d. Oklahoma

31. Mary Jane Bench, b. Indiana, m. Missouri, d. Oklahoma

Amazingly, I can continue on.  And these are all the ones I found.  At this point, I can either connect them to the east coast family or they become brick walls themselves or in the following generation [not counting the Irish which are their own problem].   No. 24's mother can't be traced; No. 25's mother can't be traced; up to now No. 26's father couldn't be traced, but I think I have a line on him; No. 28's mother can't be traced; and nos. 29, 30, and 31 are their own brick walls.  [No. 31's father is known, mother is not known and his ancestry can't be traced readily.]

In the cases where I can trace them it is because there is a Clark, Morrow, Clarkson, Berkley, Carman, Ridpath and Straughn secondary genealogy already done.  All I had to do was verify the information.  And even then, wives for these people cannot be traced readily in one or more generations back.  And remember most of these records are held at the county level and not the state, so you need to be much more precise in your research.  Lastly, some of these people were four and five state baggers who lived in states where they didn't have a b/m/d but you can see them in censuses.  That's a lot of movement for people who lived (on average) from 1800 to 1930.

Madness Monday: Mary Jane (Cox) Carman ca. 1830-after 1880

Mary Jane is one of the two great-greats for Michael who has no known parents.  This is partly her fault for marrying prior to the 1850 U.S. census where she first appears with her husband rather than her parents at the delicate age of 20 born in Illinois [1850 U.S. Federal Census for Dade County, Missouri, District No. 25].  She is there with her husband George Carmon and part of his father's family [Joshua and Susannah (Bailey) Carman].  By 1860, this couple had moved to Collin County, Texas, Precinct No. 3 and Mary is listed as age 30, birthplace unknown. [1860 U.S. Federal Census for Collin County, Texas, Page 97].  This family falls out of the 1870 census, or I can't locate them.  Their youngest son, born in 1869, claims that he was born in Indian Territory, i.e. Oklahoma.  Perhaps the family was living there and there is no census for the "Indian Territory."  In 1880, they are back in Texas this time in Grayson County, she age 50, born in Illinois, with a father born in North Carolina and a mother born in Tennessee. [1880 U.S. Census Texas, E.D. 13, Page 22]  And that's all the records it seems she generated that I have found to date.

Her husband died in Oklahoma on 18 November 1897.  This is from his gravestone record at Falls Cemetery, Cleveland County, Oklahoma.  He is buried with his son, Michael's great-grandfather, but his wife is not there.  She is not living with that son in the 1900 census.  

So, we have no vital records for her at all.  She married probably in 1849 or early 1850 either in Dade County, Missouri, or somewhere close by.  It is there I would start.  We know her maiden name from the death records of two of her children.  There are about 15-20 men named Cox living in Missouri, born in North Carolina in the 1850 census who could be potential fathers.  

This is an easily solvable problem if one could only do a broad search across geographical areas.  But then, of course, if it were that easy, it wouldn't be genealogy.

Michael's Double Greats

This is a list of Michael's double greats.  I have all his paternal triple greats, but need more work on two of his maternal great-great (which are starred).

16 Michael Ryan CLARK. Born on 11 Feb 1820 in Lewis Township, Brown Co., Ohio. Michael Ryan died in Leavenworth County, Kansas, on 18 Nov 1871; he was 51. Occupation: Farmer/Remittance Man. abt 1843 when Michael Ryan was 22, he married Jane L. WELLS in Ohio.

17 Jane L. WELLS. Born on 27 Jul 1822 in Brown County, Ohio. Jane L. died in Linwood, Kansas, on 13 May 1893; she was 70. Buried in Reno Cemetery.

18 William Lindsey MORROW. Born on 26 Apr 1831 in Jefferson County, Tennessee.²⁴ William Lindsey died in Leavenworth, Kansas, on 16 May 1874; he was 43. Occupation: Merchant/Farmer. On 10 Dec 1854 when William Lindsey was 23, he married Sarah Ann GLENN in Obion County, Tennessee.²⁵

19 Sarah Ann GLENN. Born on 20 Mar 1836 in Sumner County, Tennessee. Sarah Ann died in Cedar Rapids, Nebraska, on 17 Apr 1909; she was 73.²⁶ Buried in Cedar Rapids, Nebraska.

20 Dennis BERRIGAN. Born on 20 Oct 1834 in Ireland. Dennis died in Courtland Twnshp, Kent, Michigan, on 13 Mar 1912; he was 77.²⁷ Buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Harvard, MI. Occupation: Farmer. On 5 Oct 1862 when Dennis was 27, he married Mary HABERLIN in Canandaguia, Ontario, New York.¹⁵

21 Mary HABERLIN. Born on 1 Jan 1835 in Ireland. Mary died in Harvard, Michigan, on 8 Jul 1916; she was 81. Buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Harvard, MI.

22 William J. MORRISSEY. Born on 26 Jun 1831 in New Ross, Wexford, Ireland.¹⁸ William J. died in Steelton, Pennsylvania, on 21 Aug 1916; he was 85.^18,28 Buried in Mt. Cavalry Cemetery, Harrisburg, PA. Occupation: Steelworker. On 5 Apr 1864 when William J. was 32, he married Bridget CASHIN in Canandaigua, Ontario, New York.^18,15

23 Bridget CASHIN. Born on 14 Dec 1841 in Rosbercon, Kilkenny, Ireland.^29,30 Bridget died in Steelton, Pennsylvania, on 2 Mar 1910; she was 68.²⁹ Buried in Cathedral Cemetery.

24 John Wesley RIDPATH. Born on 31 May 1821 in Montgomery County, Virginia. John Wesley died in Topeka, Kansas, on 23 Mar 1907; he was 85. Buried in Kansas City, Missouri. Occupation: Postmaster/Farmer. On 27 Oct 1841 when John Wesley was 20, he married Duranda STRAUGHN in Green Castle, Putnam, Indiana.³¹

25 Duranda STRAUGHN. Born on 30 May 1822 in Shelby County, Kentucky. Duranda died in Independence, Missouri, on 27 Dec 1888; she was 66.³²

26 Charles CLARKSON Jr. Born in 1839 in Pennsylvania. Charles died aft 1874; he was 35. Occupation: Lawyer.  On 19 Oct 1863 when Charles was 24, he married Julia Berkley BROWN in Leavenworth, Kansas.³³ They were divorced.

27 Julia Berkley BROWN. Born on 11 Sep 1844 in Pekin, Tazewell, Illinois. Julia Berkley died in Sulphur Springs, Arkansas, on 9 Sep 1917; she was 72.³⁴ Buried on 10 Sep 1917 in Odd Fellows Cemetery, Gravette, Arkansas. Occupation: Lawyer.

28 George Joshua CARMON. Born on 22 Aug 1829 in Indiana.³⁵ George Joshua died in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, on 18 Nov 1897; he was 68.³⁵ bef 1850 when George Joshua was 20, he married Mary Jane COX.

 *29 Mary Jane COX. Born abt 1830 in Illinois. Mary Jane died aft 1880; she was 50.

 *30 Andrew Jackson HALL. Born abt 1830 in Tennessee. Andrew Jackson died in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, on 30 May 1900; he was 70.³⁶ Buried in Falls Cemetery, Cleveland Co., OK. Occupation: Butcher; Gunsmith. On 12 May 1853 when Andrew Jackson was 23, he married Mary Jane BENCH in Laclede, Missouri.³⁷

 31 Mary Jane BENCH. Born in 1834 in Bartholomew County, Indiana. Mary Jane died aft 1910; she was 76.

Sources after the jump:

Dr. William Isaac Irvine Morrow 1802-1875

I was intrigued by the current postings at Progenealogists on who is and who is not Native American.  Michael's family had no such tradition about being part Indian, but they do come from Oklahoma.  Both his parents were born there, and he even has a real "Sooner" in his background.  Michael and his parents did not know much about their family histories until I started nosing around in it.  They are not part Cherokee, but their ancestors did walk The Trail of Tears.

William Morrow, whose full name is in the title, was born on 25 November 1802 in Jefferson County, Tennessee, the son of  David and Priscilla (Doherty) Morrow.  He married there on 27 June 1826 to Lavinia Lea Jarnagin, the daughter of Chesley and Martha (Barton) Jarnagin.  All these four families; Morrow, Doherty, Jarnagin, and Barton, were influential in their day, either founding early Tennessee or fighting in the American Revolution.   In any case, William became a physician and was the doctor for the Cherokees on the Trail of Tears and kept a diary of the event. There is a decent write-up on the Internet for this couple (#11).  Their third son, William Lindsay Morrow, was Michael's great-great-grandfather.  We may have a photo of him [i.e., William I.I. Morrow], but it is only identified as "grandfather Morrow."