Sunday, August 29, 2010

John Abe...The Unknown John 10-022

     The (3)1850 Census for Mineral County, West Virginia lists the Nicholas Abe Family. Nicholas and Lacy Ann have four children listed; Adam, Philip, Frederick and John.
     There are enough inaccuracies that makes me have my doubts that the recorded information was collected first hand.
     1. The family's last name is spelled wrong ("Hoppy" instead of Abe).
     2. Nicholas and Lacy Ann's ages are off by one year. This is not usually a concern in itself but when combined with the other discrepancies they can't be dismissed.
     3. The two older children, Adam and Philip are listed wrong. The census lists Adam first and then Philip. In reality Philip is the older son.
     4. The last notable item concerns the son "John". All other census records list a John H. Abe who's birth cannot be completely confirmed. What is confusing is that the "John H." is listed in most census records as born "after" his sister Mary Catherine. Mary Catherine was not born till 1851. We don't know at this time if these two Johns are one and the same or if the "1850 Census John Abe" was another child who died young. Birth, death and burial records for a John Abe born in 1849 or 1850 have not been found.
     We will explore John H. Abe in a later post.

Frederick Abe 10-021

Frederick Abe and Catherine (Logsdon) Abe

   This Frederick Abe is the second of three found in the second and third generations of the Abe Family. This Frederick was born in 1848 and spent a good portion of his life on the Abe home place that was located on the Old Furnace Road. His name is found in all of the census records from (3)(4)(9)(21)(24)(37)(38)1850 through 1920. Along with his brothers, he helped his father, Nicholas, to farm the home place. The property had been passed down to his father, from his grandfather, John Adam Abe.
     Frederick was twelve or thirteen years of age when the Civil War broke out and he never entered the fight as his two older brothers did.
     On (44)October 12, 1871, at the age of 23, he married Catherine Logsdon. From the information on her (13)headstone her birth is calculated to be October 24, 1851. I cannot find any definite records on her or her family. Her (41)death record is nearly unreadable but it looks like her parents are Thomas and Ann Logsdon. There was a Catherine Logsdon living in Allegany County, Maryland in 1870 and working as a "domestic" but I am not sure at this time if it is the same person. She gave birth to 4 children: Mary Ann, Frank Thomas, Nimrod and Martha Ellen. Frank Thomas lived just over two months and is buried at the Abe Cemetery. Catherine died on (13)(39)February 28, 1877, twenty five days after Martha Ellen’s birth on February 3. The child died at seven months of age on (13)September 4, 1877. She also is buried in the (13)Abe Cemetery.
     Two years later in about (24)1879, Frederick remarried to Lucinda Spangler. Her (43)death certificate says she was born on August 16, 1847. The original (6)"Abe Family Heritage" says that they were on a farm on Knobley Mountain but I have no records to prove exactly where they lived. The (21)1880 Census shows them living a considerable distance from the Abe Farm. The Abe Farm is on Page #9 Dwelling #69. Frederick and Lucinda are listed on Page #22 Dwelling #165. This was probably on a farm along what is now Route 28. Lucinda had been married before and had at least one child. The (21)1880 census lists a son Albert R. Spangler with the family. Her (43)death certificate and (41)death record say her father was Joseph Dennison and mother listed as "don't know". In the (25)1900 Census Joseph Dennison is living with his granddaughter Lillie M. (Abe) Baldwin. Three children were born to Frederick and Lucinda; Lillie M., Hiram Nolan and Jacob.The last child, Jacob, died at the age of six years. It is not known what happened to Albert Spangler. He was living with the Frederick Abe Family until at least (37)1910 but he is gone from the (38)1920 Census.
     In 1894, when his father passed away, Frederick received half of the farm by his (8)father’s will. The (24)1900 Census lists both he and his brother Jacob sharing the farm. By the (45)1910 Census his brother Jacob is shown living away from the farm. The location is very possibly the farm that "Gustus Abe", his uncle, used to own where the Old Furnace Church now stands. More on this later when we talk about Jacob Abe.
     The last census record where he was recorded was in (38)1920 and he is still living and working on the farm.
     Frederick died on  (40)(41)(42)February 24, 1929 and was buried at the (13)Abe Cemetery. His (42)death certificate says he was living in Dixie, WV (now Wiley Ford, WV) at the time. The cause of death was "La Grippe" (influenza).
     Lucinda died on (43)December 23 of 1929. Cause of death is listed as "Chronic Myocarditis" (inflammation of the muscular tissues of the heart). The (43)death certificate says she was buried on December 25, 1929 (Christmas Day). Her burial was at the (13)Abe Cemetery. One final note, there is one confusing tidbit about her death place. The (41)Mineral County, West Virginia Death Records and her (43)death certificate say she died in Wiley Ford, West Virginia but for some reason the death certificate was issued by the State of Maryland.

Friday, August 6, 2010

John Adam Abe.....Family Man - (part 3) 10-020


     It has now been nearly eight years since the death of his second wife Martha Jane. John Adam is still living and farming at Little Cacapon, WV (near Paw Paw, WV).
     The (74)Hampshire County, WV marriage records show that on November 24, 1897 he applied for a marriage license and the following day married Sarah Margaret Sowers from near Levels, WV. She was the daughter of James H. Sowers and Rachel (Shickle) Sowers. There seems to be some discrepancy about her birth date. The (70)1900 Census lists her birth as June 1853. The marriage record says she is age 43 at that time which would make her birth as 1854. Her headstone also lists her birth year as 1854. Her death certificate says she was born on June 10, 1852.
     The 1900 Census for Hampshire County, WV shows Adam and Sarah still on the farm. Adam's children (by Martha Jane), Virginia Lee, Henry Nicholas, Sophie Jane and Harvey Eugene are still at home.
     The 1910 Census has the family back in Mineral County, WV on Knobley Road (Route 28). This was near the city limits of Ridgeley, WV. Virginia Lee (listed here as Jennie L.) is the only child left at home.
     Four years later John Adam died (1914). No actual birth or death records have been found. His headstone at the Abe Cemetery is the only record of his death that I have found.
     Sarah Margaret at some point moved back to Hampshire County, WV to live with her sister Martha S. (Sowers) Hott. The 1920 Census also lists Martha's son, Harvey J. along with Sarah and Martha's mother, Rachel Sowers. All three women are listed as widowed.
     On July 24, 1925, Sarah died of tuberculosis. She was buried in the Malick Cemetery near Augusta, WV.

Monday, August 2, 2010

John Adam Abe.....Family Man - (part 2) 10-019


     With the death of his wife, Margaret, Adam may not have had any other choice then to return home to the farm. He would need some help with the three growing girls while he worked.
     The (17)1880 Census for the Frankfort District of Mineral County, WV lists his wife as Martha J. Abe and they have a child of their own, Virginia L. Abe (7 months old). A record at the Allegany County Courthouse in Cumberland, Maryland shows Adam married Martha Jane Moreland on (50)October 3, 1876. The person performing the ceremony was (51)Rev. W. H. Reed. Rev. Reed was a pastor of the Kingsley M. E. Chapel (South Cumberland) from March 1876 to March 1877.
     Scouring through Mineral County, West Virginia birth and death records have turned up a few bits of information. Virginia Lee was not the first child for Adam and Martha as recorded in the (17)1880 Census. An unnamed child is listed as born in (13)July 1877 and died on July 19, 1877. A second child (82)(83)Martha E. is found in the death records as deceased in 1878. The day of death is unreadable. Does this name sound familiar? If you remember, Adams first child by his first wife Margaret was named Martha Ellen. This won't be the last time the name is used and sadly, none of the three Martha E. named children lived to be a year old.


 John Adam and Martha Jane (Moreland) Abe


     I cannot say with absolute certainty who Martha Jane's parents are. The (13)Abe Family Heritage says that she was the daughter of George H. Moreland. The (84)1870 Census for Hampshire County, WV shows a George H. living at Forks of Cacapon, WV that is a possibly her father. No wife is listed. He is listed with one son and four daughters. One daughter, Martha J., is fifteen years of age which would be about the correct age. There are a number of George Morelands living in Hampshire and Mineral Counties so further research is needed to confirm this record.
     With the birth of the unnamed child in 1877, it would seem that Adam remarried within two years after the death of his first wife Margaret (Fulk). Also, all the above records point to the family living in Mineral County, WV. In (17)1880 he is shown as a farmer in Mineral County, WV and no longer working for the railroad. The area of residence seems to be along what is now Route 28 and near the Old Furnace Road. There are four children listed there: Lacy Ann, Isaac Franklin, Amanda Melvina (all from Adam's first marriage) and Virginia Lee who is seven months old. I am told that this Route 28 was called "Knobley Road" back then.
     The above "unnamed" child and Martha E. are buried at the (13)Abe Cemetery in the Adam and Martha Jane plot. The names are inscribed on the monument for John Adam and Martha Jane. The "unnamed" child is listed on the headstone as "Our Babe". The headstone lists the above child, Martha E., as Ella M. We can't be certain which is correct. Also buried there is another child Emma, that was born and died in 1881. No other birth or death records have been found for her.
     The (17)1880 Census for Mineral County, WV shows John Adam and Martha living somewhere along Route 28 near the intersection of the Old Furnace Road. Augustus Abe is listed at dwelling #116 which was at the intersection of Old Furnace Road and Route 28. John Adam is listed at dwelling #110. Their children listed here are Lacy Ann, Isaac Franklin, Amanda Melvina and Virginia Lee.
     Census records leave a gap of information between 1880 and 1900. The 1890 records were almost entirely destroyed in 1921 by a fire in the basement of the Commerce Building in Washington D.C.
     The (70)1900 Census places his residence in the Gore District of Hampshire County, WV. I don't have copies of his land record but John Adam had a farm in the Little Cacapon area for a number of years. In the book, (62)"A History of the Church of the Brethren in the First District of West Virginia", by Foster Melvin Bittinger (Page 78 "Old Furnace"), there is a mention of John Adam having a farm there in February 1896. The (17)1880 Census lists him in Mineral County, West Virginia. The (187)death record for the infant child "Emma" says she was born and died in Maryland but the record was recorded in Hampshire County, West Virginia. It is possible that this is the time period (1880-1881) that John Adam purchased the farm there.
      Almost no information is available for Martha Jane. Her headstone says she was born in 1854 and died in 1890. She is buried at the (13)Abe Cemetery on the Old Furnace Road near Short Gap, WV. No birth or death record has been found for her.

                                                  ------- Part 3 to follow -------