John Spracklin’s Estate: Sale Bill

John’s personal possessions were sold at auction and the Sale Bill was reviewed on March 23, 1863.

The State of Ohio, Knox County

This day personally came T.F. Cole, Administrator of the estate of John Spracklin deceased, who being duly worn deposes and say that the written inventory hereunto attached is in all respect just and true and contains a true statement of all the estate and property of the deceased which has come to his knowledge being assets & co. and particularly of all money, bank bills or other circulating medium belonging to the deceased, and all just claims of the deceased against affiant or other persons according to the best of his knowledge.

T.F. Cole

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 23^rd day of March A.D. 1863.

T.V. Parke, Probate Judge

Portion of the Sale Bill

Source:  Sale Bill Estate Record: Vol. J., pg. 103 FHL #1294319

BILL OF SALE

The State of Ohio, Knox County

Be it remembered that heretofore to wit on the 23^rd day of March A.D. 1863, T.F. Cole, Administrator of the Estate of John Spracklin late of said County, deceased, filed in the office of the Probate Court of said county a Bill of Sale of the personal property of said deceased which said “Bill of Sale” read in the words and figures following to wit:

SALE Bill

Estate of John Spracklin, deceased

A Bill of the property sold by T.F. Cole, Administrator of the state of John Spracklin late of Knox County, deceased at Public Vendue (auction):

A list of the items sold, the amount paid for such, and who the buyers were – see attached list:

The State of Ohio, Knox County

This day personally came T.F. Cole, Administrator of the estate of John Spracklin deceased, who being duly sworn according to law deposes and said that the annexed Sale Bill is in all respects correct to the best of his knowledge and belief.  T.F. Cole

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 23^rd Day of March A.D. 1863

T.V. Parke, Probate Judge

Here is my crude version of the Sale Bill and you will see it is several pages long.  It is very interesting to me to see the names listed who purchased items.

No. of Item	Description as Inventoried	Value as Inventoried	To whom sold	Paid
1	1 Bwetch,3 Coverlets, 1 quilt	3.50	Drusilla Spracklin	4.00
2	Coverlids	5.00	Richard Kenner	5.00
3	Tables	.50	D. Spracklin & Henry Glancy	.25 and .50
4	Lantern Or Northon ____Flat Iron	.30	D. Spracklin	.15
5	Knives, Forks, Table & Ten Spoons	.60	D. Spracklin	.75
6	Table cloth	.62.5	D. Spracklin	1.75
7	Queensware	.62.5	R. Kenner	1.25
8	Glassware	1.00	D. Spracklin	.65
9	& Wooden ___Chop Knife	.20	D. Spracklin	.35
10.	Table 2 flange	.45	R. Peril	.30
11	Clock	.23	D. Spracklin P. Peril	.21
12	Set of Chairs No. 1	1.00	Henry Glancy D. Spracklin	.85
13	Set of Chairs No. 2 Rocking Chair	1.00	John Keller Henry Glancy	1.70
14	Ch	1.00	John Keller	.10
15	O Bureau contents to	1.00	D. Spracklin	1.05
16	Contents of Drawer No. 1	1.00	Henry Glancy	.50
17	Contents of Drawer No. 2	1.50	R. Kenner	2.20
18	Contents of Drawer No.3	.12.5	H. Slack	.20
19	Apple Parer	10.00	J. Brokaw
20.	2 bed pillows without ____		John Brokaw	.25
	12 pillows		A.F. Mitchell	.46
	12 pillows
PAGE 105
49	Old Wash Machine & Contents	.25	R. Kenner	.20
50	Godale	.10	R. Kenner	.05
51	Barrels	.50	J. Brokaw	.60
89	Forks &	1.25	J. Hardesty	.75
	Bar		W. Dunham	.60
	Do Do		W. Dunham	.23
90	Wheat thrasher in Barn	50.00	J. Fronche 10 Bs	11.90
			D. Spracklin Do	12.00
			R. Hulse balances	12.00
			As of 12/100 prs buchels	14.72
91	Flax Stram	5.00	H.E. Slack	2.00
92	Flax Stram	2.00	F. Hulse	2.00
52	Cider Barrel	.20	S. Fletcher	.75
53	Grindstone, Frame & Rick	1.00	C. Wolfe	.75
54	Pozts	.50	R. Kenner	.30
55	3 Kettles	.25	S Cochran	.55
56	Bee’s & Hive	6.00
	One Hive		J. Keller	1.65
	One Hive		J. Wunderhall	4.08
	One Hive		C. Wolfe	6.50
57	Tub	.25	P.D. Jones	.25
58	Seta hay	12.00	D. Spracklin	12.00
59	Black Cow	10.00	D. Cochran	10.12.5
60	Second Cow	10.00	C. Coneat	14.00
61	Heifers	8.00	W. Allen	7.00
62	Sheep First Choice	66.00	J. Wolfe	63.25
	Sheep Second Choice		J. Wolfe	46.20
63	Bay Filly	41.50	W. Hyatt	66.00
64	Brown Filly	35.00	O.  Cotton	51.00
65	Gray Filly	35.00	W. Phillips	42.25
66	Wagon No. 1	2.00	H. Slack or C. Griffin	1.00
67	One Horse Wagon	16.00	J. Scarboro	11.25
68	Two Horse Wagon	60.00	J. Yokam	55.00
69	Plow	1.75	W. Allen	.25
70	Shovel Plow	1.75	O. Shirtles	2.00
71	Shovel Plow	1.75	W. Allen	2.40
72	Harrow	5.00	H. Bricker	3.90
73	Long Log Chain	1.50	W. Allen	2.00
74	Short Log Chain	1.25	A. Bricker	2.03
75	Broken Log Chain	.37.5	W. Allen	.45
76	Black Mare	65.00	W. Kenner	83.00
77	Sorel Mare	35.00	Jon Cochran	38.00
78	Five Calves	20.00	C. Wolfe	15.50
79	Nine Hogs	20.25	J. Scarboro	25.85
80	Sow & Pigs	9.00	M. Lyon	11.44
81	Bales wheat	15.00	R. Kenner 78C per Brd
82	½ Wheat in West Field	20.00	W. Allen	12.00
83	Corn in Shack	12.50	W. Allen 12 shock @25cts	3.00
PAGE 106
			W. Allen 12 Shocks @ 32 cts	2.64
			Iac Bochure 24 @ 22.	5.28
	Match	4.00	H. Glancy 12 do @ 22.
84	Wheel Barrow	2.50	Jon Coe	2.50
85	Saddle Harness & Collar	.50	Noah Meilick	.46
86	Buggy Harness	3.00	Jon Coe	7.55
87	Timonthy Seed	2.50	Wolfe & Phillips	12.50
88	Cradle & 2 Scythes	1.00	Allen, Sherman & McKustry	2.25

page 106 Vol. J

The State of Ohio Knox County fs)

This day personally came T.F. Cole Administrator of the estate of John Spracklin deceased who being dully sworn according to law de____says that the _____Sale Bill is in all respect correct to the best of his knowledge. T.F. Cole.

Sworn to an subscribed before me this 23 day of March A.D. 1863                 T.V. Parke Probate Judge

So in the course of one day of work at the courthouse, T.F. Cole presented the inventory and appraisal of the personal property of John Spracklin deceased and followed it up with the itemized Sale Bill to various members of the family and friends.

Apparently bee hives were a big deal back in 1863.  This inventory and bill of sale seems leaning towards farm equipment what happened to all of Lydia’s things?  She died 12 years earlier in 1851 just before a lot of the children left for Iowa?

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John & Lydia Spracklin: The Land In Liberty Twp., Knox Co., Ohio 1839

In the year 1839, John Spracklin bought and sold land in Knox County, Ohio.

Lydia Spracklin appears on this deed to a Wm. Stevens.  The witnesses are Joseph Shaw, JP and Wine Rood.

7X

John Spracklin of the Co. of Knox in the State of Ohio

Wm. Stevens county and state aforesaid

Mar 7, 1839; Rec. Dec 11, 1839

#314047 LDS; Deeds v. V-W 1839-1941

V, pg. 213-214

Deed – ($180) see description below.

John & Lydia signed this deed. States Lydia is John’s wife.  Witnesses:  Joseph Shaw JP and Wine Rood

(Note:  Grantee index does not have same info as individual deed vols. V., pg. 3 pg. 133, 213 #314028) Nothing found on pg. 3 of Deed vol.

7.  …certain parcel or tract of land lying and being in the second quarter of the sixth township and fourteenth Range of the United States Military Lands in the County of Knox and State of Ohio, which tract or parcel of fifty acres of land is bounded and described as follows viz beginning at the Northeast corner of said tract of land Thence west twenty four chains Thence South twenty chains 33 1/3 links Thence East twenty four chains Thence north twenty Chains 33 1/3 links to the place of beginning…

This is a copy in the court clerk books and not original, but it is still great to see Lydia participate.

Stevens sells to John and Lydia Spracklin with Wine Rood witnessing 1839 page 2

One of the witnesses above was a Wine Rood and then something very curious happens on 13 May, 1839.  John Spracklin buys land from Wine Rood.

6X

Wine Rood of the Co. of Knox in State of Ohio

John Spracklin

May 13, 1839;Rec. Oct 21 1839, Appeared June 1, 1839.

#314047 LDS, Deeds v. V-W, 1839-1941

V, pg. 135 & 136

Indenture ($600) see description below

Witnesses were John (X his mark) Kellar and Joseph Shaw J.P as well.

(Note:  Grantee index does not have same info as individual deed vols. V., pg. 3 pg. 133, 213 #314028)

  …that parcel of land lying and being in the county of Knox and State of Ohio and more particularly described as follows to wit situate lying and being in the fourteenth range sixth township and second quarter of the United States Military lands and containing fifty acres be the same more or less-bounded as follow beginning at the Northwest Corner of said lot and on the line of William Hoggs? Land thence east twenty four chains thence south twenty chains 83 1/3 links thence west twenty four chains thence north twenty chains back to the place of beginning and is bounded on the north by lands of Cyrus Howett? thence by lands owed by James Thatcher?.  To have and hold the said lands with all the privileges…..

Wine Rood sells land to John Spracklin 1839

Who is this Wine Rood?  He cannot be the one that immigrated with John Spracklin to Washington Co., Ohio in 1817, because that Wine Rood, husband of Ann (Andrews) Rood, died in 1823 in Washington Co., Ohio.  He had a son Wine Rood Jr. could it be him?  John would have known him as a child.

There is no grave record for the son Wine Rood Jr. in Washington County that I know about, he is not buried with the family in Mound Cemetery.  Various online family trees have a Wine Rood dying in Wyandot Co., Ohio in 1870.  There is a Wine Rood buried in Burkes Cemetery on Find A Grave but there isn’t much detail.

An interesting biography of a George Rood in the History of Wyandot Co., Ohio 1884 appears on page 727:

http://archive.org/details/historyofwyandot00legg

This article states that this Wine Rood is the son of Ann and Wine Rood who immigrated in 1817.  It also mentions that his father had land in Marion and Hardin Counties. Apparently I have more research to do in those deeds under the R’s. I think it is the son.

George Rood bio, History of Wyandot

Another interesting item about this deed between John Spracklin and Wine Rood (JR) is that a witness is named  John Kellar.  Is this the John Kellar that I seek who is the father of Elizabeth Keller, first wife of Daniel D. Spracklin, son of John and Lydia Spracklin?

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John and Lydia Spracklin settle on Solomon Goss Land in Knox Co., Ohio

John and Lydia settled on the land in Knox County, Ohio, purchased by Solomon Goss, Lydia’s father, from Zaccheus Biggs on 28 July 1802.

Mr. Biggs has a patent for land for Knox County at the BLM Land website as well as many others. On the patent it states that he obtained the land, “4000 acres, appropriated for satisfying Warrant for Military Service.”  The Biggs family was very busy in Ohio buying and selling land.  They were not the only ones.

The link below to the BLM will take you to the search page.  I used in my search, Ohio, Knox Co., and “Biggs.”  This search will get you to the patent Biggs had for Knox County.  It showed up at the bottom of the search page.  If you just search for Zaccheus Biggs you might not get the one you want.  Also be aware that they spell the name most creatively especially the first name in many abstracts and documents.

The Biggs Patent before Solomon Goss

http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx#searchByTypeIndex=0&searchTabIndex=0

Title Transfer:  3/20/1800

Land Office:  Ohio,

Authority:  June 1, 1796 United Brethren Warrant (1 Stat.480)

Survey:  Ohio

Acres:  4000

Accession/Serial Nr.: OH2100

BLM Serial Nr.: OH No S/N

Sec. 2, Twp. 6-N, Range 14-W, US Military Survey, OH, Knox 2nd quarter of Township

There is a deed at the Washington County Historical Society in Marietta in the stacks in books. It is down the hall and around the corner.  This society was given a great many records from their county courthouse so you may have to check with them for older records.

Zaccheus Biggs is selling 450 acres of land to Solomon Goss in 1802.  The deed is very hard to read and of course the book contained only a copy of the original deed handwritten by the court clerk. It was very faint in certain parts of the document where the ink had faded.

Zacch* Biggs)

Deed)

Sol. Gofs) 

Know all men by these presents that I Zaccheus Biggs of Jefferson County in the Northwest Territory, Esquire. For and in consideration of the sum of Four hundred and fifty dollars to me paid in hand before the ensealing hereof, by Solomon Gofs of the County of Washington in said Territory, husbandmen, the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge and myself therewith contented and satisfied, I do hereby give grant bargain sell and convey unto the said Solomon Gofs his heirs and asfsigns forever a certain tract or parcel of land lying and situate in the County of Fairfield in the Territory aforesaid containing four hundred and Fifty acres, bounded and butted as follows viz:  beginning at a post at the Northeast corner of Section Number Two in the Sixth Township of the fourteenth range of the United States, Military Lands ___ called, thence [west ] Seventy two chains [courfing a small branch of Owl Creek  thirty Links upside of a post, thence south sixty two chains & thirty links to a post Thence east Seventy two chains to a post thence North Sixty ___ chains __________to place of beginning.  To have and to hold the gr____and bargain premises with the privileges and appurtenances thereof to him the said Solomon Gofs, his heirs and asfigns forever as of Fee Simple and ____ said Zaccheus Biggs _____any heirs, executors and administrators.  Covenant with the said Solomon Gofs his heirs and asfigns that I ____lawfully Seized is free of the premises that they are free from all impediments _____ that I will so warrant and _____the same.  To the said Solomon Gofs his heirs and asfigns forever, against the lawful claims and _______of all persons claiming __________________.

In witnefs whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal the 28^th day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred & two.  Signed and sealed by Zac’hs Biggs

Singed Sealed & delivered in the present of ___Rufus Putnam and So____Putnam

Washington County __ Personally appeared this twenty eight day of July, Eighteen hundred & two Z___ Biggs signer and sealer to the witnessed Instrument and acknowledged it to be his act & deed Before me.

____Rufus Putnam Justice of the Peace.

412 Washington County __ January 15, 1803 __________is a true copy and text Dudley [Headbridge] Rec’d

Page 1 of the Zaccheus Biggs deed of Land to Solomon Goss 1802

In 2007, I was traveling in the northern part of Ohio.  I had attended the FGS (Federation of Genealogical Societies) conference in Fort Wayne were the Allen County Library is located.  After that conference I headed east to Ohio which is about two hours to get to Kenton, Ohio and then another hour to Mt. Vernon, Ohio.  I couldn’t pass it up.  Knox County was part of Fairfield County till it broke off after this deed was written and recorded in March 1, 1808.

The Recorder of Deeds in Knox County is in the Records Center and they had this huge map of Knox County dated 1847.  Yes, before three of the townships were annexed to Morrow County which was established in 1848.  I purchased the large map for $5.00.  I do not know if they are still selling them?

The Knox County Genealogical Society is in the basement.  If you visit stop by.  Their hours are limited so check their website.

The deeds are on the main floor and the court records are in the basement of the Records Center near the genealogical society.

This website is for all government offices in Ohio so be careful if you start exploring, they do have a map to the location, I have identified Knox for you:   http://www.ohiorecorders.com/knox.html

Knox County Records Center, Ohio, Go here for the Records for Knox Co, Ohio

Lovely Courthouse but it is not where the records are!

Here is a portion of that map featuring the townships of Liberty and Bloomfield Twps. Remember South Bloomfield was part of Knox in 1847 but became part of Morrow County in 1848.  The area in yellow highlights the Spracklin land and a little more.

Knox County before Morrow is formed 1847

NOTE:  This map is not only important for Spracklin Research but for anyone who had family in Knox Co., Ohio in 1847.  This is also important to me for my John and Mary Keller research. The parents of Elizabeth Keller who married Daniel D. Spracklin a son of John and Lydia Spracklin.

Interesting stuff:  In the past I have mentioned Rufus Putnam and the deed above is signed by a Rufus Putnam. He was a Justice of the Peace in Washington County.  I visited his land in North Brookfield, Massachusetts where he lived before he left for Marietta, Ohio.  I visited Campus Martius and viewed the house that he lived in.  They had it indoors inside the museum to preserve it.  The land office building is outside this museum.  He knew the Goss family.  He knew Capt. Philip Goss and Judith and probably Philip Goss and Keziah Cooley.

Try this link to his papers at the Marietta College Library Special Collections.  Who knows you might get luckier than me and find something about your family.  Click on the finding aid to see all the people he interacted with in his life.  Does the name Timothy Pickering mean anything to Goss researchers.  Also try the search engine.  Enjoy.

http://drc.library.marietta.edu/handle/2374.MARIETTA/428

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John and Lydia Spracklin’s Life in Knox County, Ohio

In the last post, I used the tax and census records of Washington County, Ohio to get close to figuring out when Lydia stopped paying taxes in Washington County on the land in Knox County and came to conclusion that it happened about 1820.

Solomon Goss, her father, was on his own again on the land in Fearing Twp. in 1821.  Daniel Goss, the son and brother, appeared on the same page or not, depending on the year.  Solomon Goss (Jr) doesn’t appear till 1826. Solomon Goss (Jr) was to inherit the land.  I refer you to the post on the will of  Solomon Goss, dated December 2, 2012:  The Will of Solomon Goss 1810!

In the last post, I presented a study of the early years of the Solomon Goss family using the U.S. Census and Ohio Tax records at Ancestry.com and Familysearch.org.  This is the post dated March 14, 2013:  John and Lydia (Goss) Spracklin Migrate to Knox Co., Ohio!

The post dated March 6, 2013:  Lydia and John Andrews Spracklin Family, I shared a summary of the their children.  In that post I presented the 1830, 1840 U.S. Census and several Tax Records for Ohio 1825 and 1835.

Let’s revisit these and review them again with additional information:

1825 Ohio Tax Duplicate record

Index of the Ohio 1825 Tax Duplicate. 

pg. 36 –
Sylvanus Cook WN (Wayne) C 13 (There are several columns of Cooks listed pg. 36-37.);
pg 64 Beder Goss PG (Portage) C 45;
Daniel Goss KX (Knox) N 20;
Daniel Goss WS (Washington) N 59;
David Goss MN (Medina) N* 32;
David Goss PG (Portage) C* 44;
George Goss – See Fricker (maybe Pricker), John;
Henry Goss HC (Hocking) A 4;
John Goss PG (Portage) C* 44;
Levi Goss KX (Knox) N 19;
Martin Goss HC (Hocking) C 4,
Mary Goss KX (Knox) N 20;
Solomon Goss WS (Washington) N 59;
pg. 44 there are 8 Delano names but no Stephen;
pg. 89 there are many Kellar/Keller names listed, there are 10 John Kellers noted. One is listed in Keller, John MO (Monroe) C 20;
pg. 155 is listed a Spraelin, John KX (Knox) C 49.

Index of the Ohio 1825 Tax duplicate, compiled by Gerald M. Petty, 1981, FHLBook#977.1 R42 p. FHL#1597666.  

We do find John Spracklin in the 1830 U.S. Federal Census in Liberty Twp. which I presented below. There is a woman between the ages of 30-40 living with him.  I believe that it is reflecting three of their children:  Mary 6, Peter 4, and Solomon Goss is 2 years.

John Spracklin is listed as head 4th down from top. This is a statistical census and does not give the names of the family members living with him but it does give age ranges for male and female.

NOTE:  The comments following the numbers are my speculations, if you disagree that is okay with me.  Please comment if you have any thoughts.

Free White Persons – Males:
under age of 5 – lists 3  - Mary, Peter, Solomon Goss?
10-14 – lists 1  -  Ida?
20-29 – lists 1 – I do not know who this might be
40-49 – lists 1 – John himself, age 35?
Females:
5 to 9 – lists 1 - Ida?
30-39 – lists 1 – This is probably Lydia, age 34?

Under 20:  5

20 – 49:  3

Total:  8

Total of All – (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored): 8

1830 Peter and John Spracklin Appear

There is a listing for a Peter Spracklin in the 1830 U.S. Census living in Liberty Twp., Ohio. Peter is on the first line.   John Spracklin  is on the 4th line down.

Is this Peter the father or Peter the son?  Well I believe it is the father before he moves to Hardin County, Ohio and settles there.  The Peter who is John’s younger brother is living in Kensington, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania in 1830 with 11 people and will later migrate to Trenton, New Jersey.

I will post in the future about Peter and Elizabeth’s children. My focus is on John and Lydia then each one of their children. Here is a quick list of Peter and Elizabeth’s family:  John, Sarah, Mary, Elizabeth, Parmelia, Anna, Peter, Alfred and George.

Peter Spracklin (SR), 1830 U.S. Census Liberty Twp., Knox. Co., Ohio

Males: 
Males 15-19: 2 - George is in this age group.  Alfred would be 22 years old so he doesn’t fit? So who is the 2nd child?

Males 50-59: 1 – Peter Spracklin the father

Females

Females 50-59: 1 – Elizabeth Spracklin the mother

Under 20: 2

Total Free White:  4

All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored): 4

Source: 1830 U.S. Federal Census, Liberty Twp., Knox Co., Ohio, pg. 251, Roll #M19_134, Film#0337945, Image 505, Ancestry.com.  Peter Spracklin pg. 251, NARA #M19, Roll #134, FHL #0337945.  Peter Spracklin – Kensington, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Page 236, NARA M19, Roll #157, FHL #0020631.

Index of the Ohio 1835 Tax Duplicate Record has this information:

Sylvanus Cook WNESGC C 17;
Daniel Goss WSHBLP C* 25; 
David Goss PRTRND C 209; – Ebenezer Goss’ son living in Portage Co., Ohio
John Keller KNXWNE 7 235;  
Spracklin, John KNXLBR C* 161.

Source: Index of the Ohio 1835 Tax duplicate, compiled by Gerald M. Petty, 1987, FHLBook#977.1 R42 pg. 

I did  tax record research at the Ohio Historical Society on my trip in 2011 and found John Spracklin in Liberty Twp., in 1835, 1836, 1837.  When you look at the Tax Record films you get more detail.  There are two pages to these tax records.   This photo is page 1 and only a portion.

John Spracklin 1835 Tax Record

Caution:  These films were very difficult to read,  I was having trouble keeping the years correct.  I reviewed the film twice but still I am not happy with my recording of the data.  I would like to go back.

The most important part is the land description and it is the same one for all tax records for this time period for John Spracklin.  He adds more land in 1837 as he accumulates more.

1835 Tax Record:  John Spracklin, No. 18 Liberty, R 14, T6, Qtr. 2, E pt 3, 050 acres, value 075. 2nd line Lot 2, 100 acres, 2.2.5 – 2nd page 161 covers the taxes for a total of 0.63.8.

1836 Tax Record –  No. 18, Liberty Twp., Knox Co., Ohio, R14, T 6, Qtr 2, E pt 3, 050 acres, 075 value, R14, T6, 2, lot 2, 100 acres, 2.2.5 value, 2nd page 143 total taxes: 0.84.6.

1837: John Spracklin, R14, T6, qtr 2 E pt 3, 050 acre, 075 value, 2nd line R14 T6, qtr 2, 2, 100 acres, 225 value. 3rd line R14, T6, qtr 2, E pt 1, 050, 075, pg. 150 total tax 1st line 0.84.3, 2nd 2.53.1, 3rd line total tax 7.31.2

Source:  Ohio Historical Society – Tax duplicates (microform) 1809-1814, 1816-1838 Film #GR2532 1835-1837.

1840 Census, Liberty Twp., Knox Co., Ohio. Again this is statistical and only shows number of males and females living in the house, John is the 9th from the bottom of the page.

Males:
5-10 lists 1
10-15 lists 2
30-40 lists 1
40-50 lists 1 - John Spracklin about age 45?

Females:
under 5 – lists 1
5-10 lists 1
15-20 lists 1
40-50 lists 1 - Lydia about age 44?

Source: John Spracklin, 1840 U.S. Federal Census, Liberty Township, Knox Co., Ohio, Roll 406, Page 241, Image 486, FHL#0029169, Ancestry.com.  

In 1850 we finally get to a census that tells us something about the family.

Sadly this is the only census we see Lydia listed in.  She will die very soon in January of 1851.

Try searching using this spelling, “Spacklin,” to find him on Ancestry.com.

John Spacklin age 55, no occupation given, born in England
Lydia Spacklin, age 54, no occupation given, born in Ohio
Mary Spacklin, age 26, no occupation given, born in Ohio
Peter Spacklin age 24, Farmer, born in Ohio
Solomon Spacklin, age 21, blacksmith born in Ohio
*Daniel Spacklin, age 20, farmer, born in Ohio
Olive Spacklin, age 19, no occupation, born in Ohio
John, age 15, no occupation, born in Ohio
Lydia, age 12, no occupation, born in Ohio

Source: John Spacklin (Spacklin) Family, 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Liberty Twp., Knox Co., Ohio, No.84, 157, #79, [9] of Sept. 1850. L. V. Parke, NARA Roll M432_700, page. 79A, Image 682, Ancestry.com Image 28 browsing in Knox Co., Liberty Twp. 

So we know that John and Lydia (Goss) Spracklin migrated and settled on the land in Knox County, Ohio about 1820-1821 and raised their family.  The land in Knox County was bequeathed to Lydia in 1815 by her father Solomon Goss in a deed.  This land was to be bought and sold among the Spracklins, Goss and those families that married into these families.  The land was sold after the death of John in 1862 in deeds and in his estate papers.  More to come on John and Lydia (Goss) Spracklin.

*My 2nd great grandfather.

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John and Lydia (Goss) Spracklin Migrate to Knox Co., Ohio!

If you can’t use census you can try to see what the tax records tell you and study both comparing them.  Trying to find ancestors in early Ohio 1787 to 1840 is not easy.  I know because I have been studying Spracklin, Delano, Keller and other surnames to try and find family.

When did Lydia and John Spracklin migrate from Washington County, Ohio to Knox County, Ohio and settle on the land that her father Solomon Goss bequeath to his children?

During my trip to Ohio in August-September of 2011, I spent time at the Washington County Library Local History and Genealogy Annex where the genealogical library is located and staffed by volunteers of the Washington County Genealogical Society, who are members of the Ohio Genealogical Society.  These are great archives to visit and learn about for Ohio research.

Washing Co. Library Annex

They had original Treasurer’s duplicate journals for Washington County on a shelf under the window for access from 1810 to beyond 1836.

Treasurer’s  Duplicate Books

In these books were listings for taxes paid by Solomon Goss and his children. I did not have  a great deal of time so I did a rather poor job of photographing the pages of these books.

Much to my relief and saving me from my slovenly ways, the Family History Library, Familysearch.org has Ohio Tax Records for only a selected group of counties in Ohio:  Ashtabula, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Guernsey, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Monroe, Trumbull, Washington (other), and Washington, Waterford Township.  They say they are about 17% complete.

An example of the Treasurer  Duplicate book pages

The photograph above is an example of the Treasurer’s Duplicates and the page is from the damaged book in between 1810 and 1825 in the picture of the books above. It is the brown looking item between these two larger books.

So I spent several hours studying what they had at Ancestry.com and online at Familysearch.org including the images.  Here are a few sources I used in preparation for my trip to Ohio in 2011, I am sure there are more.  (See Familysearch wiki on Ohio Taxation for more ideas – under Ohio Links on right side of this blog)

Sources:

1. “Early Ohio Tax Records,” compiled by Esther Weygandt Powers, Akron, Ohio 1971.  I found it at the Seattle Public Library.  Google Books has a copy but it doesn’t have all the pages for it is only a preview.  Fortunately it worked for me and the book is readily available to photocopy.

2. World Vital Records has this as well “Early Ohio Tax Record: Reprinted with The Index to Early Ohio Tax Records.”  If you have a subscription to this online archive go check it out.  It is possible that your local genealogical society has access for members.

3. If you try Ancestry.com you may find some of the tax lists mixed in with the early U.S. Federal Census because some did not survive for 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, so they used them to fill in for the missing U.S. Census.  If you do not have a subscription see your local library for a card.

State Census Records by Ann S. Lainhart is a good source for what census, state, federal and territorial were done for a given state like Ohio.  Worldcat had 929 hits for all 6 editions and at least 6 in my area.

William Dollarhide has a two volume set of books on Census and how to find them.  Census Substitute & State Census Records…” Volume 1 – Eastern States and Volume 2 – Western States, 2008, with Foreword by Leland K. Meitzler.

4. The Ohio Historical Society has Tax duplicates from 1806-1810 and 1809-1814, 1816-1838 on film at the historical society. If you go to their home page scroll down and click on the Archives/Library.  I was there in 2011 and looked at several of those films.  FHL films are from the Ohio Historical Society.

Caution:  They are rather difficult to read and not well identified by the years so you must take your time and take notes and copy carefully.  I had to do it twice to make sure I was recording the years correctly.  The research I did was on Spracklin, Delano and Keller surnames.

http://collections.ohiohistory.org/starweb/l.skca-catalog/servlet.starweb

5. Familysearch.org has “Tax Records of Ohio, 1801-1814 a series of microfilm.  They also have “Index of the Ohio 1825 and 1835 Tax duplicate,” in book form compiled by Gerald M. Petty, 1981, FHL Book #977.1R42, there is an 1812 version on 5 films.

This is a copy of one of the Familysearch tax records and only a piece of it.

1816 Portion of the tax record page showing the Goss Family

Here is the study I did this week trying to learn more about the movements of the Goss family.

Bon’s Census and Tax List Study of Solomon Goss, his children:  Elizabeth, Noah, Mary, Solomon Jr., Daniel, Levi, Lydia 1800 to 1832.  Please be aware that I did my best to be accurate.  I might have made a few mistakes it was tedious to do.

Year	Location	Source	Description	Detail of names
1800 U.S. Federal Census	Marietta Twp., Washington Co., Ohio	1800 U.S. Census at Ancestry.com – NARA	Number of male inhabitants age of 21. This is a name list	Solomon Goss
1801	Adams Twp., Wash Co., Ohio	Ohio Tax Records 1800-1850 Familysearch.org	DF #4022412 Image#00026 GS Film#945761	Solomon Goss
1802	Meritown Twp., Wash Co. Ohio	Ohio Tax Records 1800-1850 Familysearch.org	DF #4022412 Image#00066 GS Film#945761	Solomon Goss
1803 – August,	Washington Co., Ohio	US Territorial Census Wash Co., Ohio 1790-1890 – NARA Roll M1804, Roll 1 Ancestry.com	Hard to read list of male inhabitants and nothing else	Solomon Goss
1809	Fearing Twp., Washington Co.,	Ohio Census 1790-1890 Ancestry.com	Tax List	Solomon Goss
1810	No. Twp. Listed Wash Co., Ohio	Ohio Census 1790-1890 Ancestry.com	Tax List No US Census for Ohio	Solomon Goss
1816	Big Run, Fearing, Wash Co., and Knox Co., Ohio	Ohio Tax Records 1800-1850 Familysearch.org	DF#4021667 Image#00058 GS Film #522501	Daniel (Belpre), Solomon SR (Fearing), Noah, Levi, Mary, Lydia, (Knox)

Here is the  1816 Tax Record.  Go to the chart above for the source information.  Solomon is the only one on Duck Creek while the children are all taxes for Knox Co., land.

Daniel Goss, Belpre, 
Acres in original tract: 4000
No. of Lot: 2
Luxury or Allotment: U.S. Military Lands
Situated R, T, S: 14, 6, 2
Quarter
City of: 100
Part or Corner Taxed: Undivided part of 450 acres N.E. corner
County: Knox
Original proprietors: Zaccheus Biggs
Tax D, O: 1, 50

Solomon Goss
Acres in original tract: 100
No. of Lot: 82
Luxury or Allotment: Duck Creek
Situated R, T, S: 8, 3, 18
Quarter
City of: 100
Part or Comer Taxed: 
County: Washington 
Original proprietors: Moses Williamson
Tax D, O : 1, 50

For Noah Goss, Levi Goss, Mary Goss, Lydia Goss
Acres in original tract: 4000
No. of Lot: 2
Luxury or Allotment: U.S. Military Lands
Situated R, T, S: 14, 6, 2
Quarter
City of: 100 acres for Noah, and Levi, 50 acres for Mary and Lydia
Part or Corner Taxed: Undivided part of 450 acres N.E. corner
County: Knox
Original proprietors: Zacheus Biggs
Tax D, O: 1, 50 for Noah and Levi only O 75 for Mary and Lydia

My study continues:

1817	Belpre Twp, Fearing, Wash Co. and Knox Co., Ohio	Ohio Tax Records 1800-1850 Familysearch.org	DF#4021667 Image#00195 GS Film #522501	Solomon SR (Fearing), Noah, Levi, Mary, Lydia, (Knox)Daniel Gofs, Belpre
1818	Unknown, Wash Co., Ohio County Land	Ohio Tax Records 1800-1850 Familysearch.org	DF#4021667 Image#00334 GS Film #522501	Solomon SR (Fearing), Levi, Mary, Lydia, (Knox)Daniel Goss
1819	Duck Creek, Wash. Co. County Land	Ohio Tax Records 1800-1850 Familysearch.org	DF#4021667 Image#00475 GS Film #522501	Solomon SR (Fearing), Levi, Mary, Lydia, (Knox)
1820 U.S. Census	Fearing, Wash Co., Ohio	U.S. Federal Census Aug 7, 1820 Ancestry.com	NARA Film M33_95, Image 233	See Below – Soloman Goss

The 1817 and 1818 Tax Records are almost exactly identical to the 1816 except in 1818 Noah disappears. So I skip to the 1819 Tax Record. Noah is gone from the 1819 record as well.

See my post dated November 15, 2011 – Noah Goss, A Mystery! I talk about the deeds of his acquiring the land in Knox Co., Ohio from his father and the sale which was about two month apart.

Solomon Goss
Acres in original tract: 100
No. of Lot: 82
Luxury or Allotment: Duck Creek
Situated R, T, S: 8, 3, 18
Quarter
City of: 100
Part or Corner Taxed:
County: Washington
Original proprietors: Moses Williamson
Tax D, O : 1, 50

For Levi Goss, Mary Goss, Lydia Goss (Noah is no longer listed and Daniel Goss does not appear till 1821 in the Belpre documents).
Acres in original tract: 4000
No. of Lot: 2
Luxury or Allotment: U.S. Military Lands
Situated R, T, S: 14, 6, 2
Quarter
City of: 100 acres for Noah, and Levi, 50 acres for Mary and Lydia
Part or Corner Taxed: Undivided part of 450 acres N.E. corner
County: Knox
Original proprietors: Zacheus Biggs
Tax D, O: 1, 50 for Noah and Levi only O 75 for Mary and Lydia

 Let’s take a look at the 1820 U.S. Census for Washington Co., Ohio

1820 US Federal  Census August 7, 1820  Soloman Goss

NOTE:  Elizabeth is married to Andrew Lake so she is not at home, Noah is about 38 years old, Mary is about 35 years old, Solomon Goss (Jr)  inherits the land in Fearing and married in 1812 to Polly Devol, Daniel lives in Belpre and is married to Lydia in 1813, Levi Goss is in New York or Ontario, Canada.  He was in the War of 1812.  He is about 27 years old.  See my posts about these children of Solomon Goss.

My notes:  The male sections are not as detailed as the females so it makes it hard to figure out who they might be.  Here I try seeing who might fit the numbers.  What do you think?

Free White Persons

Males 16 thru 25: 1 – John Spracklin 24 years old

Males 45 and over:  1 – Solomon himself?

Females under 10: 1

Females 16 to 25: 2 –  Lydia is 24 years old, who is the 2nd female?

Females 26 thru 44: 1 – Mary is 35 years old

Females 45 and over: 1  Olive Scott Goss – maybe, I think she had died before 1810 because she is not in Solomon’s will nor in the deeds records for the land in Knox Co. that he gives to his children.  So who could this be?

Foreigners not Naturalized:  1 – John Spracklin

Engaged in Agriculture: 2

Under 16: 1

Over 25: 3

Total Free White persons: 7

Total White, Slaves, Colored: 7

Maybe that is John Spracklin the one who is not Naturalized and that is why we don’t find him in the 1820 Census?

1821 Additional years: 1821,1822, 1823, 1824, 1825, 1826, 1827, 1828, 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, 1834, 1835, 1836, 1838, 1840, 1842, 1843 1844, 1845, 1846, 1847, 1848, 1849, 1850	Belpre, Wash Co., Ohio	Ohio Tax Records 1800-1850 Familysearch.org	DF#4021667Image #00620GS Film #522501	Daniel Goss Belpre with new lands in Belpre
1821	E. Side, Wash Co., Ohio	Ohio Tax Records 1800-1850 Familysearch.org	DF#4021667Image #00621GS Film #522501	Solomon Goss
1822	Unknown, Wash Co., Ohio County Land	Ohio Tax Records 1800-1850 Familysearch.org	DF#4021668Image#00065GS Film #522502	Solomon Goss
1823	Unknown, Wash Co., Ohio County Land	Ohio Tax Records 1800-1850 Familysearch.org	DF#4021668Image #00220GS Film #522502	Solomon Goss SR and Daniel Goss
1824	Unknown Wash Co., Ohio	Ohio Tax Records 1800-1850 Familysearch.org	DF#4021668Image #00383GS Film #522502	Solomon Goss SR and Daniel Goss
1825	Unknown, Wash Co., Ohio	Ohio Tax Records 1800-1850 Familysearch.org	DF#4021668Image #00550GS Film #522502	Solomon Goss SR and Daniel Goss

The rest of the children disappear after the 1820 U.S. Census and Daniel Goss continues through many years and eventually we see that Daniel moves to Belpre and is no longer listed with the Knox Co., lands.  Each of the children:  Elizabeth, Noah, Mary, Daniel, Levi sell their lands to someone else or a family member.  Lydia is the only one that keeps her 50 acres of the Knox Co. lands.

I have written posts on each of these children and I refer you to them for further details, see the Categories on the right side of this blog under SURNAMES – Goss, under Solomon Goss and you will find his children.

Here is the 1821 Tax Record for Washington Co., Ohio, Solomon is listed alone on the page.

E. Side, Washington, Ohio County Land,
Solomon Goss Duck Creek
Acres in the lot: 100
No. of Lot: 82
Situated R, T, S: 8, 3
Quantity&Rate 3: 100
Part or Allotment: 100 Duck Creek
Original Proprietors: Moses Williamson
State Tax: .50 cents
Road Tax: .25 cents
Total 75
Delinq
Remarks:

Daniel and Solomon appear on the same page but their land descriptions are very different for the 1824 Tax Record:

County Land,
Daniel Goss, Belpre,
Acres in the lot: 101 79/100
No. of Lot: 48
Situated R, T, S: 10, 1, 19.20
Quantity&Rate 3: 4
Part or Allotment:
Original proprietors: A. Coburn (Is this Asa Coburn his brother Solomon Goss (Jr.) with Polly’s family?
State Tax: 22
Road Tax: 1
Total 3 2
Delinq
Remarks:

Solomon Goss
Acres in the lot: 100
No. of Lot: 82
Situated R, T, S: 8, 3
Quantity&Rate 3: 100
Part or Allotment: 100 Duck Creek
Original Proprietors: M. Williamson
State Tax: .56
Road Tax: .25 cents
Total .81
Delinq

1826 (2)	Fearing Twp., Wash Co., Ohio Personal Property	Ohio Tax Records 1800-1850 Familysearch.org	DF#4021679 Image #00103 & 00081 GS Film #534813	Solomon Goss Jr.
1827 (2)	Fearing Twp., Wash Co. Ohio,	Ohio Tax Records 1800-1850Familysearch.org	DF#4021679Image #00409 & 00430 GS Film #534813 Ref 66 & 84	Solomon Goss Jr.
1829	Fearing Twp., Wash Co., Ohio	Ohio Tax Records 1800-1850Familysearch.org	DF#4021669 Image#00070 GS Film: 522845	Solomon Goss Jr.
1830	Fearing Twp., Wash Co., Ohio	Ohio Tax Records 1800-1850Familysearch.org	DF#4021669 Image#00367 GS Film: #522845	Solomon Goss Jr.
1832	Fearing Twp., Wash Co., Ohio	Ohio Tax Records1800-1850Familysearch.org	DF#4021670 Image#00084 GS Film: #522846	Solomon Goss

In the above chart we see the shift taking place.  Solomon Goss dies in 1825 and his son Solomon Goss (Jr) moves onto the land in Fearing Twp., stays there till about 1832 and sells the land and moves to Hardin Co., Ohio.  Daniel and Elizabeth are the only children that stay behind in Washington Co., Ohio. I have written several posts about Solomon Goss (Jr) and his family.  See the categories to the right under Surnames – Goss.

 Tax record for 1826:

Solomon Goss Junior
Acres 100
Lot 82
R T Sec: 8, 3, 18
[Aoof] 100/80
Horses
Part or allotment D.Cr.
Original proprietor M. Williamson
State Tax 16.0
County Tax 40.0
Road Tax 4.0
Town Tax 24.0
Total 84.0
Remarks

It is going to be wonderful when all these Ohio tax records are indexed and the images uploaded.  I am looking forward to Morrow, Knox, Franklin and several other counties to review for these records. So go and check out the Familysearch Ohio Tax records, remember they are only 17% complete.

When I copied my census/tax study to this post it squished and moved things around.  Here is a PDF of my Census Tax Record Study all in one:  CensusTaxStudyWashCoOhioEarly1800s

 

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Other Family Lines – A Temporary Hiatus!

Sometimes I think the Goss, Spracklin, Delano, Keller and other families of my dad’s mother’s family are always taking up my time, after all they had very large families and married into other old New England lines.

Alas, it is not totally true.  I do spend time on other lines.

I am going to have to take a break with this blog while I put my energies in to finding ancestors on my parents’ other family lines.   I was looking at some future planned posts for this blog and I really want to make sure I do them justice.  So I think it would be best to take a break and focus on my pending adventures.

You see my father’s father’s side of the family came from Canada and it was that side that married into the Barclays of Pine River which features Amarilla my dad’s grandmother.  She is the link to the Spracklins, Goss, Kellers and Delanos and all the other old families of New England.

My mother’s has deep roots in Canada.  The Boardman’s came from England after 1850. The McMurray’s came from Scotland to England a little before and then both families settled in New Brunswick.   The Brown side, my mother’s mother’s family, came from Ireland about 1830 and settled in Ontario.

Yes, I am aware that there are Spracklins in New Foundland and other parts of Canada.  The Goss name shows up in records.  Lately I have seen tons of the Keller name and ”Barkleys” in Ontario.  “So much to do so little time!”

Actually the trip to Canada will be in three parts.  The first part will take place soon.  I will visit British Columbia to learn about my mother’s mother’s Brown family.  Later I will travel to eastern Ontario and western Quebec to try to find the origins of my McDonald’s. I will visit Hastings County where the Browns had settled in the early years.  The third part is in the works.

Someday I will map all this migration out.  It will be my own “Great Migration.”  It follows the history of the settlement of both the United States and Canada, from the Atlantic all the way to the Pacific Ocean.  So I have been researching in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, oh yes a little on the Yukon for over ten years.

This trip will cover my Macdonell, MacDonell, McDonald, McDonnald, McDonell, MacDonald side, and all its variations.  My dad said it was “MacDonald.”   His siblings and father used “McDonald.”

I will write about my journey mainly in this blog:

The Man Who Lived Airplanes: http://macdonellfamily.wordpress.com

The following blog is my mom’s side and it will cover my visit to British Columbia and Hastings County, Ontario and the time I will spend there digging into the Brown family.

Boardman’s and Browns of Winnipeg, A Canadian Story:  http://boardmanbrown.wordpress.com/

I will let you know which blog to go to so you can follow along.  I want to keep the research and travel with the appropriate line and blog.

Come and join me even though they may not be your family, I would love to have you along!

There are several choices to participate and contact me, either on this blog or the others, now and in the future.

1. You can click “follow” and it will send you a notice of any updates.  It usually shows up on the right side of a post sort of like a hover link.
2. You can make a comment on a post.  Just click on ”Leave a comment.”  I will try to get back as quick as I can but when I travel it can be a challenge.  All comments are approved by me first.
3. You can subscribe and I am the only one who knows who you are.  See the box on the right of the blog, along the side bar.
4. You can go to the ”The Compiler and More” page on the top of the blog first blog and scroll to the bottom before the “Share List” stuff and find my Gmail – cut and paste that into your email browser.  There are other suggestions to find me on that page.  The second blog you will find similar information in the “About and More!”
5. Click “Like.”   To find this box click on Leave a comment” and it is hidden there.

There will be a surprise that is of some interest to the subject of this blog.  One country’s hero is another’s villain?  Hint:  I suggest you buff up on your Wyoming Massacre history.

NOTE:  I will return to resume posting to finish up the children of Solomon and Olive Goss, after my trips. I have Levi, Lydia and David left to do.  After the children, I will start digging deeper into the Goss, Spracklin, Keller and Delano lines.

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Reflecting On My Travels!

It has been a busy year.  I have traveled to Massachusetts and Connecticut in search of Goss history and just recently finished the trip to Ohio again in search of more Goss history.  I am very pleased that my trips have been of great help to others and I hope that it will open doors to their research. I have made several friends and contacts along the way and I am grateful for their help and their willingness to share that knowledge. 

My trip binders for Ohio are organized and I can now get the research sourced.  I had accumulated too much and had to make two binders for this trip.  As I work my way through it will be consolidated.

Ohio Trip Binders

I enjoyed both my adventures and really like Massachusetts.  I also like Connecticut but find some aspects of it a bit odd like their genealogical rules about accessing records.  I like being able to get someplace quickly and these two states qualify.  I found Ohio very different from my concept of that state.  It was pretty and reminded me of home.  It was not as industrial as I had expected but then I was not really in the bigger towns except Columbus and only brushing by Cleveland and Akron.  

The goal of this blog is to discuss the genealogy of Solomon Goss and his ancestors in the Goss family and the allied families that my line connects to such as Spracklin, Delano, Keller, Barclay and more.  It is now time to turn to a more involved and detail study of these families which covers what I do know, what I have learned from my travels and what I still don’t know!  I have more cemetery photographs to share from both trips and will be getting to that soon. 

Come join me!  There are several ways to contribute.  You can subscribe to this blog and receive copies of the newly published posts, leave a comment, and click the “like” for this post. If you have a great deal of information to share I am open to having you being a contributing author.  You can also contact me is through the Compiler page at the top of this blog.  

If you would like to visit other blogs of mine check out the right side of this blog and the “Blogs I Like” section.  There is method to the madness of several blogs and there will be some cross posting and references to my other blogs.  The Goss connect to the Spracklins and the Spracklins connect to the Kellers which leads to the Delanos.  The Spracklins also connect to the Barclays and the Barclay’s connect to the McDonald/MacDonalds. 

The header photograph is of the Ohio River in Marietta and every time I look at it my heart jumps with joy or I pause and marvel that I finally visited that area of Ohio. 

As an end to my trip to Ohio but the beginning of more posts to follow, I leave you with a few more visions of Ohio!

The Ohio River at Marietta

 

 

 

The Muskingum River

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Fredericktown, Ankenytown and OGS, again!

Forest Cemetery Entrance

John Keller and Mary Ann Delano married in Fredericktown.  I had wanted to visit the historical society and tried to contact them but the phone numbers on the website are not correct and out of date or the people did not respond to my inquiry.  I tried email and finally got a message from the President who was not very helpful and told me to Google my names!  I was also told they are only open on the 2nd Sunday so I missed them by a few days.  I reviewed their website and realized that was my error.  Did he offer an appointment, no.  I am sorry, I try to be positive about a repository but this is not a good thing.  Here is the link and I suggest you start real early to see if you can arrange some kind of visitation if you truly wish to dig into their holdings.  The building looked very interesting.

Fredericktown Historical Society

I wanted to see Fredericktown so I went up there and toured around.   I stopped at the Forest Cemetery and found the Keller tombstone I was looking for within minutes.  Sometimes it just works out like that. HA! Fredericktown was not like I had imagined but more industrial.  Of course I did not do much investigating and seemed to be on small hills.  There is another old cemetery in the town and I didn’t stop at the library but I did drive by. 

After my visit to Fredericktown I headed up to Ankenytown to see the Owl Creek Cemetery.  Now this is a United Brethren cemetery and not Methodist.  There are Kellers buried there and I wanted to see the graves and stones.  I am trying to separate out Kellers into family groups in Knox and Morrow to see if I cannot break through the deadend on John Keller’s origins. I believe this group of Keller’s had come from Germany and settled about the mid 1820′s. So they are probably not John’s family but you never know! I have other research going but this is one idea.  I expected to drive awhile to get there but I was there in no time from Fredericktown.   In our time, using a car, it is easy to get around but back then it took them much longer to get to a location.  However, Fredericktown was the bigger town back in the early 1800′s with Mount Vernon taking over later on. 

Owl Creek Cemetery

I was told by a man at the Morrow County Genealogical Society that it was very hard to find parents in early Knox county or Ohio? I have seen written publications attempting to do just this with the Keller name.  He may be right but I am remaining open. If you have John Keller and Mary Delano origins we need to rally together to figure this out!  Contact me on this blog by leaving a comment or find me through the Compiler information by clicking the tab above.  I am willing to offer you authorship of a post or posts to this blog with your theories and your name for full acknowledgement of your efforts.   I have discussed this issue of John Keller’s origins with a cousin who is equally obsessed as I am about it. She has a sharp eye for details and has studied the early census.  More on they mysteries of John Keller’s origins in future posts.

My next goal was to revisit the Ohio Genealogical Society (OGS).  I decided take the opportunity while still near and in Ohio to visit them a second time.  They are not that far away in Bellville from Mount Vernon.  Just remember to turn left onto Hwy 97 off Hwy 13 in the center of the town of Bellville. If you come by Interstate 71 take exit 165 and turn south and drive past the Dutch Heritage Restaurant. OGS comes up on the right!  This time I grabbed a sandwich and settled in.  

Go and visit this archive if you can.  The OGS’s new facilities are wonderful and they have everything organized to make it easy to access.  It kinda reminds me of the DAR library in the arrangement and style.  The staff and volunteers are very helpful and friendly.  My goal was to study First Families to see if I could find any John Keller or other surname information connections. 

Ohio Genealogical Society Stacks

About 4 pm I headed south to the Columbus Airport to pick up my hubby who was joining me for the final week in Ohio.  I was not looking forward to driving on the freeways near Columbus.  It was rush hour so the timing was not good and I got off at the Ohio Historical Society (OHS) exit and waited at the McDonald’s there till I heard from my hubby.  The exit was 17th Ave E, making it easy to spot the OHS building if you come by the freeway.  

To get to the airport I took a different drive through the eastern streets and it was interesting to see another part of Columbus, Ohio.  Stelzer Avenue is pretty easy to negotiate and goes right by the entrance to the airport.  Car rentals are located in the parking garage with their offices on a lower floor.  I parked in the parking area one floor up – there is long and short-term parking in the garage.  I wanted to sign up my husband so he could drive the rental car.  My timing was not bad and I waited a short time in the baggage claim area.  

We left the airport and Columbus by heading east on Hwy 16 back to Granville then north to Mount Vernon.  I had visited the Old Colony Burial Ground cemetery the past Saturday but I was struggling with fatigue.  I felt I had not done a good job and I was helping a cousin with her research.  So I wanted to go back and find a grave I had missed.  Well, we arrived in the dark!! 

The Old  Colony Burial cemetery, in Granville in Ohio,  is partially situated on a steep hill and is a good size.  On the side of the shed on the lower area is a map of the tombstones and a list of names encased in glass.  I had trouble with glare and thought I could redo my photos and my hubby could also try.  It was too dark to do anything.  Fortunately, my hubby brought a small flashlight.  He used that to highlight the tombstone I had missed.  He found it using the map and highlighting that with the flashlight and taking a picture.  His Olympus digital camera is very good and in some ways does better than my Sony Cybershot.  He took a picture of the map so he could figure out where the stone was.  Now cemeteries close at dusk, so we were pushing it.   Also it is not safe to walk in a cemetery in the dark (very dark no extra lighting) for you can trip and this was a steep hill to the stones up from the shed.  We took our time and made careful steps.

I was glad to get the stone and location of it but my plan was not that good.  I was pushing the limits here and I am telling you about this as a warning.  When you go on a trip you can get yourself into a “pickle” by pushing too hard!   The center of  Granville was busy with the night activities and couples were walking around.  This is a city not a small town like the one in Massachusetts.  

I usually don’t drive in the dark but I am proud of me for doing so.  I took Hwy 661 up to Mount Vernon and because I had experience driving it in the daylight I was okay and I had my hubby with me.  Just remember things do look different in the dark!  We made good time and were soon back in Mount Vernon and headed to the condo in Apple Valley.

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Mt. Vernon County Seat – Knox Co., Ohio

 I visited Mt. Vernon from August 26 to September 2, 2011.  I am home now but I will continue to post highlights about the trip and archives that I visited and hopefully it will assist you in your research in these areas of Ohio.

Records Annex, Knox County, Ohio

Mt. Vernon is the county seat for Knox County, Ohio.  The courthouse is located just down from the Records Annex  at 117 High Street in Mount Vernon (Hwy 36) and not far from the round-about in the center of Mt. Vernon.   The Recorder’s office (for deeds) is on the floor when you enter through the main door.  The Record Center is in the basement.  I suggest you visit both for court documents such as probates, court records and more.  The clerks are all helpful and very nice.  The Recorders office has the indexes and books right out there for you to access.  The first index to 1843 contains a listing of old deeds.  I asked the clerk behind the counter and was told they go all the way back in the first book to 1803.  They will let you take photographs. 

Deed Index, Knox County, Ohio

I  tried to dig deep into early Knox County history looking for Kellers, Delano, Askins and more.  I have already studied the Spracklins and associated surnames of the children so I am confident I have them covered.  I decided this time to emphasize the other surnames. 

The Knox County History and Genealogical Society is also located at 117 High Street  in a room in the basement area right across from the Records Center office.  They have updated their website so you might want to check it out.   They are very small but I noticed that there was change from my last visit and they had been busy.  They have an obituary file, family histories, have books and more.  They are also very helpful.  Hours are short so check the website.  They are in the process of updating the cemetery books done by R. DeLauder so keep and eye out because they will make them even better.  Unfortunately they have to rebuild the database because the company that printed the books went out of business.  They could use volunteer help. 

Public Library of Mount Vernon & Knox County

The Mt. Vernon Public Library  (Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County) is located on Sugar Street and Mulberry St.  There is parking in the back of the library.  You can enter on Sugar (a narrow ramp up to the parking) or try Mulbery which is one way going south.  I visited the History room in the Mount Vernon Library which is heavy on Knox County sources.  They also have Mount Vernon newspapers on microfilm, family histories, city directories, school yearbooks and more.  It is worth a visit.  I spent two hours one day and another hour on another day at the library checking sources for obituary readings, plat maps and more. 

History Room of Library, Mt. Vernon, Ohio

The Mound Cemetery, one of the oldest in Knox County, is just north of the public library and even if you don’t have family buried there I suggest you visit it.  It is amazing, for there are a lot of huge, I mean huge, monuments in this cemetery.  I was overwhelmed by it.  You know me, I have seen a lot of cemeteries on my travels but this was awesome.  So once again get a map from the Delauder publications (Knox county books) so you can find the graves you are interested in and that may still be a challenge.  I will feature this cemetery in another post in the future. There are Kellers buried in Mound Cemetery.

Overview - Mound Cemetery, Mt. Vernon, Ohio

My recommendations are that if you want to do genealogical research in Knox County then you need to visit the Knox County Historical Society, Knox County History and Genealogical Society, the Mount Vernon Public Library and the Courthouse Annex and include the Morrow County Genealogical Library Annex as well.  Each has sources to offer and is worth a little of your time.  Now they might duplicate what each other has but because of the short hours of some of these respositories you may have to revisit a book or source and you will find it at one or the other location. 

I would like to encourage those of you with Knox and Morrow County roots, including the surrounding counties,  to submit some form of our family history:  copy of a bible, chart, booklet, reports to the historical society and genealogical societies.  It is really needed!!!!  I would also like to encourage you to volunteer your help if you live in the area or join as a member and learn about the people who built this State of Ohio.

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Mt. Gilead County Seat of Morrow County, Ohio – Est. 1848

Morrow County was in the title of my last post but I didn’t really mention it.  It stands on its own even though it is right next door to Knox and a portion was part of Knox.  

Morrow County was created from four other counties.  Bloomfield township was part of Knox County and is now South Bloomfield.  Morrow was established in 1848 but apparently it takes time to create a county and it was formally a county by 1849.  Where are the records?  Well the volunteer at the Morrow County Genealogical Society Library told me that the original books are still at the courthouse in Knox County.  So if you are researching ancestors from 1803 to 1848 you will need to include Knox in your Morrow County research on your list to study both counties and there records or other counties that were parents of Morrow like:  Richland, Delaware, Knox and Delaware.   I asked several times about records and whether they had been moved to the new county but it was not a clear cut answer so check the parent counties as well. 

Mt. Gilead Center round-about

I visited Mt. Gilead on August 30th a Tuesday during my trip.  The center of Mt. Gilead has an obelisk in the center yet it is still a lovely town.  I found it easy to drive from Mt. Vernon up Hwy 13 and then turned left onto Hwy 95 heading west to Mt. Gilead.  Mt. Gilead is the county seat of Morrow County.  The road took me through Chesterville where I stopped at the Maple Grove Cemetery to search out a Keller Monument.  I found the Keller tombstone in the far back area to the right.  Maple Grove is huge with this very large brick entrance which you cannot miss.  They do have a map on the board at the entrance but the writing is very tiny so bring your magnifier. 

Morrow County Genealogical Library Annex

After parking in the back of the Genealogical Library Annex in Mt. Gilead, I discovered that the Morrow County Genealogical Library Annex was open a bit earlier than 10 am so that was cool.  I spent a great time studying their family histories, Morrow County sources, and other county information.  There was a Sells/Lacy book that was new (not there in 2007) and I found Harriet Keller who married John Lacy in this book but not their children.  This is a very nice library with a nice collection and publications.  I found several obituaries one for Martha (Kees) Keller and another for Peter Keller.  Not all the newspapers in their collection are on microfilm.  A lot of the same publications and information is at this library that I had found for Knox so it made it nice for double checking something if I wanted. I like one stop shopping.  I tried to find the burial location of Harrison and Amarilla (Keller) Barr but they were not showing up in Crawford County information.  I did find some of their children?  More on this in a future post.

Morrow County Library Annex - next door to Main Library

After I finished up at the genealogical library I headed to Sames and Cook for lunch and had French Onion soup and homemade cherry pie which was delicious.  They are located on the main street in Mt. Gilead.  They are on Facebook so click the link on the name.  The proprietor wanted me to sign their guest book because I had come a long way.   They had the most wonderful tin ceiling.

Sames & Cook Restaurant (A little fuzzy)

Well, I got lost and headed west instead of east back to Mt. Vernon and couldn’t figure out why I was entering Marion County.  Giggle…I finally righted myself.  I seem to do that when I get tired.  I found the Rivercliff Cemetery tucked in off Center Street at the west end of town.  It is huge.  I was again looking for Keller monuments and found one this time with no writing on it.  However there were two tombstones in front of it about 3 feet or more?  This is a very big cemetery and you need a map which I found in a cemetery publication.  

On the way back from Mt. Gilead I turned south on Hwy 314 in Chesterville and headed south to Hwy 229.  I wanted to take a picture of the area that was John and Mary Keller’s land and John and Lydia Spracklin’s land.  I found John Keller’s off of Hwy 194 down to the Keller Road which was unmarked but a deadend.  I might be slightly to north but it is the general area for John and Mary’s land. 

John and Mary Keller's land approximately!

John Spracklins land was more tricky.  I east and back up Cochran off Hwy 229 and about the middle before the Wayne Township sign I took several photos.  Green Valley Cemetery is in Wayne Township while John and Lydia’s land is just on the border of Liberty and Wayne townships. 

Wayne Township Sign - Cochran Road

 

 

John and Lydia Spracklin's Land - approximately!

I will share my findings for Maple Grove and Rivercliff in a future post with more photos.  I am on the trail of Keller’s trying to see if I cannot figure out who John Keller’s parents are and collecting more information.  I was told by a man doing research at the Morrow County Genealogical Society Library that finding parents in the early 1800′s in Ohio was very hard to do?  Sigh!

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