Matrilineal Monday: Mary Beedle Smiley, The Rest of the Story

By "Meyer" [Public domain], Wikimedia Commons

As mentioned in a previous post, Mary Beedle Smiley had been widowed in 1863 following the death of her husband George W Smiley.  Mary Beedle and George W Smiley had married in 1860, and the newlyweds were recorded in the 1860 census as living in Lafayette, Story County, Iowa; Mary was 17 and George 20 at the time.  This meant that when Mary was widowed in 1863, she was only 20 years old.  Surely, there was a lot of life still ahead for this young widow, but it took some digging to find it.

The writer whose initial contact started my interest in Mary had mentioned that Mary and George W Smiley had a daughter Ida.  Ida Smiley turned out to be a key to locating Mary and finding more about Mary's later life.  Ida Smiley and a sister Sarah Smiley were listed in the 1870 census as living in Woodcock, Crawford County, Pennsylvania.  The two Smiley girls were in the household of Orrin A Cole and a 27 year old Mary A Cole.  Perhaps these were George and Mary's daughters, living with their mother Mary Beedle Smiley who had remarried. 

Crawford County, Pennsylvania, is a long way from Story County, Iowa, but Crawford County was the home of George W Smiley and his parents before George moved to Iowa with some of his siblings in the late 1850s.  Perhaps Mary and her daughters had moved to Pennsylvania to be near George's now widowed mother, Susan Birch Smiley.  There she could have met Orrin A Cole and later married him.  It was a possibility but one that definitely needed research to prove or disprove.

Looking back at my family tree I saw I already had an Orrin A Cole listed.  Orrin, however, was listed with a verified source as being the husband of Anna Smiley who also was the sister of George W Smiley.(1)  It was beginning to look as if widowed Mary Smiley had married her brother-in-law Orrin A Cole.  Several message board posts on GenForum and Ancestry seemed to suggest that had been the case.

It took looking at George W Smiley's pension file on fold3.com to get the whole story.(2)  The 160 page file provided a lot of information about the lives of George, Mary, their daughters Ida and Sarah, and Orrin A Cole.  The second image in this lengthy file let me know I had the right folder.  Then, the reading and note taking began.  

"Civil War Widow's Pension, George W. Smiley"
source: http://www.fold3.com/image/236382773/

Soon after I started reading George Smiley's pension file, I saw that I needed to put dates, events, and locations into a timeline in order for all the information to be clearer.  Information came from many sources: the Civil War pension application records, depositions from Mary and others, marriage records, death records, and various affidavits, all of which provided insight into Mary's life.

To see Mary's story , I had to look first at that of Orrin A Cole.  As I had found previously, Orrin Cole had married Anna Smiley, George W Smiley's sister, in 1861, and the couple lived in Crawford County, Pennsylvania.  Anna died in September 1862 soon after the birth of twin boys.  Following Anna's death, Orrin A Cole continued to live near his family in Crawford County, Pennsylvania.  

At this point, the pension files provided the rest of the story.  In 1864, some months after the death of George W Smiley, Mary Beedle Smiley and her two daughters moved to Crawford, Pennsylvania where she lived with her mother-in-law for about two years.  Later, in 1866, Mary and her daughters returned to Iowa where they lived with Mary's parents.

On 21 Jun 1867, Mary married her widowed brother-in-law Orrin A Cole in Marshal County, Iowa.  Mary and Orrin then moved back to Crawford, Pennsylvania where they lived for the next seven years.  Then, in 1874, Mary, Orrin, and all of their children returned to Story County, Iowa.  The Cole family, except for the few years they lived on a claim in Sheridan, Nebraska, remained in Story, Iowa until they moved to neighboring Boone, Iowa about 1901.  

One interesting fact concerned the relationship between John Cole who was Orrin's father and Mary Smiley's two daughters.  During the period after Mary and Orrin married, John Cole was named guardian of Ida and Sarah Smiley for the purpose of obtaining and administering a veteran's pension for the minor children.  By law, this pension stopped the day of each girl's sixteenth birthday.

Mary, Orrin, and the Smiley girls remained in Iowa for a number of years.  Ida was the first Smiley daughter to marry, marrying Lewis Christian Baldus on 27 Nov 1882 in Story, Iowa.(3)  On 20 Oct 1885, sister Sarah married A A Fruman in Story, Iowa.(4)  

Then Mary's life changed once again on 20 Oct 1911 when her second husband Orrin died following a farm accident.  Soon afterwards Congress approved pensions for remarried widows of Civil War Veterans; that was Mary's status.  Mary first applied for a pension for a remarried widow a few years following the death of Orrin Cole, but this first application was denied.  She eventually filed a second application, this time was several supporting letters from an Iowa Congressman.  This time, 1917, Mary received approval for a remarried widow's pension.

In the end, Mary Beedle Smiley Cole had nine children and helped raise Orrin Cole's twin sons.  She outlived both of her husbands and at least one of her children.  The way she persisted in trying to secure a widow's pension showed her drive and tenacity as she never gave up.  My fold3.com subscription more than paid for itself as it provided me with the chance to learn more about an interesting woman and her life.

(1) "U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900," Database. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2014.
(2) "Application for Widow's Pension" for Mary A Smiley in file of George W Smiley, Digital Images. Fold3. www.fold3.com : 2014, citing NARA Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Widows and Other Veterans of the Army and Navy Who Served Mainly in the Civil War and the War With Spain, compiled 1861-1934.
(3) "Iowa County Marriages, 1838-1934,: Database. FamilySearch.com. http://www.familysearch.com : 2014.
(4) Ibid, "Sarah Smiley".

Matrilineal Monday : Louises Everywhere

"Kudzu, the Vine That Ate the South"
photo by Kid Doc One on flickr

While trying to tie up some loose ends related to my Great Aunt Mary Louise Vaughan, I discovered that the name Louise was an extremely popular name in her extended family.  The name kept popping up, spreading along the branches of the family tree like kudzu vine so prevalent all over the south.

Mary Louise Vaughan (Louise 1) married Walter Dallis between 1943 and 1944.  Although they had courted for a number of years, they did not marry until Louise was in her mid-50s and Walter in his mid-60s.  The bachelor Walter had always lived in the family home with his parents, later caring for his widowed mother Louiza Leslie Dallis (Louise 2).  Louiza Leslie and her husband Leslie W. Dallis (those two Leslies are another story) had six children including a daughter Louise Dallis (Louise 3).  That meant that for a number of years in this small, central Georgia town, there were two ladies named Louise Dallis, mother and daughter.  Furthermore, my Great Uncle Walter Dallis, at various times, had a mother, a sister, and finally a wife, all named Louise Dallis.

Spreading out a little further, Walter's sister Louise Dallis (Louise 3) married Emery Robert Park prior to 1920.  Turns out that Emery Park's step-mother was named, you guessed it, Louize (Louise 4).  So, Louise Dallis Park had a mother and a mother-in-law both, sharing her name of Louise, and there were two women named Louise Park, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Looking further into the Dallis family was an interesting experience, my first time searching without a direct blood relation being involved.  I first started exploring these Louises by checking some of the "shaking leaves" showing up in Ancestry and Family Tree Maker hints.   Quickly I discovered that Louise 1, 2, or 3 would show up as a hint for one of the other Louises.  The more I explored, the more interesting it became, especially as I learned that two of the Dallis brothers married two of the Leslie sisters, yet another story.  Hopefully, you like your in-laws in a family such as this.  

Through the years, I have seen many wonderfully original and creative names among my students.  Maybe the uniqueness of their names 100 years from now will help future genealogists who will be exploring their family trees.  Meanwhile, I will keep my eyes open for any other Louise tucked away in this branch of the family tree.

Matrilineal Monday : Getting to Know "Aunt Thank"

Thankful Caroline Hammond Gaston
photo courtesy of Audley D. Gaston

My mother's family always referred to Thankful Caroline Hammond, my second Great Grand Aunt, as "Aunt Thank".  All I remembered hearing about her was that my Grandmother, Gertrude Thankful Andrews, was named after her, that Aunt Thank had no children, and "Aunt Thank" was the Andrews' family nickname for her.

All of this changed recently when I received an e-mail from a fourth cousin whose relative had married Aunt Thank.  This relative had looked at my tree posted on Ancestry.com and contacted me about our mutual relatives.  We exchanged some information and stories, and now, thanks to a new cousin, I know a lot more about an interesting woman.

One story shared by my cousin was that Aunt Thank had an eye infection as a young child that left her very sensitive to light for the rest of her life.  Yet, even with this physical problem, Thankful was able to teach school for some years.  Before her marriage in 1862, Thankful lived with her parents while she was teaching at the local school in Sadsbury, Pennsylvania.(1)  Later, Thankful and her husband, Athelston Gaston, were living in Franklin, Iowa, with one of her sisters, and Thankful was once again teaching school.(2)  Apparently her vision problems did not prohibit her from teaching.

I had always heard that Aunt Thank had no children, but I have since learned through my new cousin that Thankful and Athelston Gaston had a daughter, Alma, who died at the age of two.  The cemetery where Alma is buried has apparently suffered the effects of time, so  I'm grateful to the volunteer who walked the cemetery in 1998 and recorded all the markers visible at that time.  The recorded information about Alma's marker reads "11 3/4" arch-top marble [headstone] : SACRED to THE MEMORY OF ALMA Dearly cherished child of ATHELSTON & THANKFUL GASTON, departed this life Dec 5, 1864, AGED 2 Yrs 7 Ms & 15 Ds" (3)

Apparently Thankful and Athelston opened their doors several times to care for children after Alma's death.  The 1880 census indicated an adopted daughter named Emma living with the family.(4)  Additional information about Emma has been virtually impossible to find; perhaps 8-year old Emma was actually a relative who lived with them for a while.  One more thing now on my to-do list.

In 1900, their 22-year old niece Grace Hamlin [Hammond] lived with them while attending college in their hometown of Meadville, Pennsylvania.(5)  Grace was the youngest child of Thankful's brother Thomas Benton Hammond who had died some years before.

Every so often, you stumble upon something unexpected.  Thankful, her brothers and sisters, had grown up in Rushford, New York.  According to a local history of the area, Thankful and all of her siblings had been involved in the Spiritualist Movement.  Thankful was even considered to be medium!(6)  Stumbling across this tidbit sent me Googling to learn more about this movement from the mid 1800s.

It can be difficult to have an accurate picture of someone from the past, but several things point to Thankful having been a special person in the Hammond family.  My mother never knew Aunt Thank, being born years after Aunt Thank died, but she always knew of Aunt Thank and had mentioned  Aunt Thank to me on a number of occasions.  More importantly, Aunt Thank must have had a number of fine qualities for my Great Grandmother Ruth Edith Hammond Andrews to name my grandmother, her first born, after her aunt, Thankful Caroline Hammond.  

Now that I've learned more about her, Thankful's quaint name is certainly a lot more interesting for me.

(1) Pennsylvania, Crawford, Sadsbury, p.826 [stamped], dwelling 246, family 24-, John Hammond [and family], accessed 1 Mar 2013, citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 1100.
(2) Iowa, Story, Franklin,  p. 60 [stamped] L W Sibley [and family] dwelling 124, family 125; http://ancestry.com : accessed 2 Mar 2013, citing NARA microfilm M593, roll 420.
(3) Yoset, Thomas L. "The Barber Cemetery" in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, (http://crawfordcopa.com/cemeteries/barber.html : accessed 10 Mar 2013).
(4) Pennsylvania, Crawford County, Fallowfield, ED 98, p. 152A [stamped] A Gaston [and family] dwelling 10, family 12; http://ancestry.com : accessed 2 Mar 2013, citing Family History Film #1255119, image 0517.
(5) Pennsylvania, Crawford, Meadville, ED 27, p 17A [written], dwelling 366, family 407, Athelston Gaston [and family], accessed 2 Mar 2013; citing Family History Library microfilm #1241399.
(6) Gilbert, Helen  Josephine White, ed., Rushford and Rushford People. Rushford, New York : Chautauqua Print Shop, 1910, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : accessed 10 Mar 2013).

Matrilineal Monday: What's In A Name?

Kari Belle Myren, ca 1898

Lately, I've been trying to learn more about my Great Grandmother Kari Belle Myren.  Sure I can find her listed in a number of records, but each record seems to have her listed with a different name.  Depending on where I looked, she is listed as Carie, Carrie, Cary, Karen, Kari, or Karie for her first name and Belle, Myren, Pederson, Peterson, Petterson, Siem, Sivertsdatter, or Syversdatter as her last name.  Such are the ways of an Norwegian ancestor!

A self-published family history, Overli-Belle-Siem Family by Marion Myhre Chappelle, lists my Great Grandmother as Kari Belle Siem, the daughter of Syver Hanson (Overli) Belle.  To me, my Great Grandmother will always be Kari since that was the way my mother spelled her Grandmother's name.  Below is a quick look at how Kari is listed in various records.  This variety of names is part of why it sometimes takes a while to locate information about Kari.

• 1853    Norway, Baptism Record, Lesja Parish              Karie Sivertsdatter
• 1865    Norway, Census, Lesja Parish                            Cari Syversdatter
• 1868    Norway, Confirmation Record, Lesja Parish       Kari Belle
• 1885    Dakota Territory Census                                    Cary Petterson (now married)
• 1900    U.S. Federal Census                                          Karie Myren (same husband)
• 1910    U.S. Federal Census                                          Kari Myren
• 1915    Census of North Dakota                                     Carrie Myren

Kari's variety of names reflects her Norwegian birth.  Born in Norway in the mid 1850s, her name reflected the patronymic naming custom used at that time.  Simply put, a child's last name was determined by the father's name and the sex of the child.  Kari's grandfather's first name was Hans and her father was Syver, Han's son, so her father was known as Syver Hanson.  Because her father's first name was Syver, Kari's last name was a form of Syver's daughter, sometimes written as Sivertsdatter or Syversdatter.  All of Kari's sisters had the surname of Sivertsdatter/Syversdatter; all of her brothers were Sivertson/Syverson.  At least this made it easy to know who the father of a child was.

Another part of Kari's name was Belle or Siem, names of two farms that had been owned by Kari's father through the years.  The farm name became attached to Syver Hanson's name and to the names of his children, like Kari.  This helped to distinguish between the Syver Hanson family who lived on the Belle farm and another Syver Hanson family who lived elsewhere.  The Belle as part of Kari's name also suggests that the family might have been living on the Belle farm when her name was recorded as Kari Belle in 1868.

These Norwegian naming conventions took a while to click with me,  but once I grasped the concepts, it has been helpful  in tracing the family back through generations.  A person's name often has clues as to a parent's or grandparent's first name, and the names can also point to where the family lived.  To help us all, FamilySearch.org has a clear explanation of these Norwegian naming customs here.

Final interesting name fact about Kari.  About 1881 in North Dakota, Kari married another Norwegian immigrant, my Great Grandfather Peter Peterson Myren (you got it, Peter, son of Peter, from the Myren farm).   Of their nine children, only one had a name drawn from generations of family back in Norway.  New country, new ways, new names.