Salisia Fox's parents

Salisia Fox (born around 1859 in Illinois) was born after her mother died. Which leaves me to believe that I have the wrong person for her mother, and probably for her father as well.

Salisia appears in only one record I've found so far: the 1860 census. In this census, Salisia (age 1) is living with Samuel Fox (age 64). Her mother Dorothy is not in the record, and I have other records indicating she had passed away in 1854, 6 years prior.

Other Fox's in the household include Jarusha (F 35), Ransom (F 22), Michael (M 18), and Mary (F 17). Perhaps one of these Fox's is one of her parents. Or perhaps the parents are not living in the household.

Samuel Fox	M	64	N H
Jarusha Fox	F	35	N Y
Ransom Fox	F	22	Ohio
Michael Fox	M	18	Ohio
Salisia A Fox	F	1	Ill
Geo W Calder	M	8	N Y
Peter Calder	M	6	Ill
Mary L Fox	F	17	Ohio

So far, I have not been able to find Salisia in other records.
For next time: search for a birth record for Salisia Fox, hoping her parents are listed.

Laurel Keith/Fox/Thompson

We're on a quest to figure out who is Edward Samuel Fox's wife.
His death record states that his wife's first name is Laurel.
His 1930 Census states that he is divorced.

We found some records of a Laurel Keith that look like they might be the right person. Here's why:
A 1920 Census lists Edward S Fox living with his wife Laurel Fox and step-daughter Letha Keith.

Looking for Laurel and Letha in other records gives us the following information:
A 1910 Census lists Laurel Keith and Letha Keith, living with her grandmother Eliza Burke and her likely-uncle Harry Burke. Laurel is widowed, suggesting she was married to a Mr. Keith, the father of Letha Keith.
As we said earlier, the 1920 Census lists Laurel Fox and Letha Keith living with Laurel's husband Edward S Fox. This suggests Laurel remarried after being widowed, and Letha kept her birth lastname.
In the 1930 Census, we find Laurel Thompson with Letha Keith, this time with Laurel married to Henry Thompson. In the census, he was 58 years old and his first marriage was at age 58, suggesting the couple had been married less than a year. Laurel was 46 years old in this census, and her first marriage was at age 22, affirming that her first marriage was around age 24. Her daughter Letha is 23 years old in this census, which matches up.
There's a marriage record in 1934 between Letha Keith and Earl Gundelach.

In the 1940 Census, Laura Thompson is living with Earl Gundelach, Letha Gundelach, and baby Earl Gundelach. Laura is widowed at this point. Letha is married and has taken on the last name of Gundelach.

In the Social security death index, Letha Gundelach is listed as having been born 2 Feb 1907, died April 1986 in Illinois. Note that she died with the last name of Gundelach.

Letha and Earl G. Gundelach share a headstone in the Clarendon Hills Cemetery. 

Next time: look up information on:

The Burkes (in 1910 census. Is Laurel's maiden name Burke?)

Mr. Keith (Laurel's first husband, who passed away by 1910)

Henry Thompson (1930 spouse)

Earl Gundelach (Letha Keith's husband)

Viola Smith: Amasa's mystery daughter?

Amasa Smith (1820-1885) and his wife Charity Ann have several children listed in census records. These include Amasa Jay (1857), Luella Audentia (1859), Addie Cordelia (1860), Etta (1866), William A (1870), Charles Avery (1872), Archie (1875), and Ernest Leroy (1868).

However, family records indicate there may have been an oldest daughter named Viola, born around 1853 in Minnesota. 

I have not found any records of her birth or residence with the family.

Did she actually exist? 

Did she die young?


Update: I found her in an 1865 state census record. So she was actually living with the family and could have been a daughter. 

The Box

We worked through some of the files in the big box of family history. Last time we worked on the Smiths, and this time we went through the Carleys and the rest of the Smiths.
There is nothing to indicate whether Amasa (Samuel) Smith's wife Anne C is Charity Ann Fox or not.
Next time we should start with the Sanford (John Herman) folder.

In addition to the info listed in the previous posts, NFS is also missing Amasa J's brother William A, b. Aug. 1870, and Isadora Dougherty's second marriage to Lester Leonard. Also, Andrew Jackson Dougherty's son Isaac's marriage to Anna Evans.

Smith and Carley Family Stories

This information comes from the Stitt family bible, or stories my mother was told when she copied the names from it, about August Carley's family and Amasa Smith's family

Augustus Carley died in Portland, buried in ID
Violet (his wife) died on farm, buried in Nez Perce or Craigmont.
For information on their children, see the previous post.
Augustus Carley had 2 sisters: Celosky (or Loskie) and Eunice, and a half brother Willis. His father beat him, so left with a man when he was 8 years old and headed west.
Celosky later came west with her family. Her husband died but she continued on, settling (in Idaho?). She built her own log cabin, shot buffalo herself. Glen Allen Vaughn had the buffalo hair mattress that was hers, following Earl Carley's death.

Matt (Madison) Smith married numerous times. Died in GA. Wife buried him in someone else's Smith family plot in a cemetery there.

Madison had four children: Bernice, Leona, Nova, and ?. Bernice took care of Earl Smith when he had heart trouble. She later died in a car accident.
Charlotte, Harrison, Oleta, and Alexander Hale Smith did not have children.
Noel Curtis had four children: Marvel, Earl, Glen, Violet.

Smith Marriage Record

The information for Amasa J Smith and Dora Dougherty's marriage is confirmed as what we had: 29 Feb, 1880. No new information was on the record.
Witnesses were Mrs. Jennie Miller and something A Smith (I couldn't read the first name). I'm attaching the scanned image (2 versions)

10-4-2010: Apparently I never got the file uploaded because it was in pdf format, which blogger won't take. I'm publishing this post from last May, and if I find the file I'll try to remember to attach it.

Amasa Jay Smith

We have Amasa Jay's death certificate, which has the following information:

b. May 17, 1857 in Minnesota

d. September 29, 1911 in Spokane, Spokane, Washington

buried October 1, 1911

parents: Amasa Smith b. New York; Ann Fox b. New Hampshire

survived by wife

was a minister (title: Rev.)

Marriage Records

Laura and I found these on microfilm a while ago, but since blogger won't take pdf we couldn't post them as originally scanned. It took me a while to get around to posting them.

The first record is for Amasa J Smith and Dora Dougherty, married in Watonwan County, Minnesota, 29 February 1880 (the original record said March but this was crossed out more recently).

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The second record is for William Nelson and Sally Carley, married in Vernon, Indiana, 22 August 1839.

Smith Marriage Record

I am ordering microfilm number 1638096 to confirm our recorded marriage information for Amasa Jay Smith and his wife Dora/Isidor in St. James, Watonwan, MN on 29 Feb 1880. Hopefully it will also have information on her real name, her parents, and birth info.

Laura found her on someone else's family tree with rather suspect information, but listing her parents and Gerard A. Dougherty and Mary Harding, who were married in Hancock county, Illinois on July 3, 1856. They appear in 1880 in a Keen, IL census with an 18 year old daughter Deora. This could possibly be her, but not likely, since we see her in a MN census that same year already married to Amasa Jay and with a brother named Jack, who doesn't appear as a son of Gerard.

Smith Censuses

These are the censuses mentioned in the last post.

Smiths

Looking for census records of the other side of the family, I found the smiths in Minnesota in 1900:
Minnesota > Hennepin > Minneapolis Ward 4
Amasa Smith (b May 1857 in MN) had been married to Isidor (b Oct 1861 in IA) for 20 years. Of their 7 children, 6 were living, all still at home. The children were Madison J (son b Oct 1885), Charlotte V (b Nov 1887), Harrison L (b Aug 1889), Oleta (daughter b May 1890), Noel C (b Apr 1894) and Attalee H (son b Apr 1898).
They were living in a rented home, and Amasa was working as a "Yard Master," presumably for the railroad. All but the youngest child was in school. Amasa's father was born in NY and his mother in NH; Isidor's parents were both from Ohio.

Amasa J also appears in 1910, this time in Spokane, WA (Spokane Ward 1). With him are wife Dora, daughter Leta (19), and sons Noel (16) and Hale (11). He was working for the railroad. Lots of other Smiths appear on the same page, so there may be family nearby.

In 1880 Jay Smith (23) and his wife Dora (19) are living in Saint James, Watonwan, Minnesota. Jack Dougherty (16), a brother (to Dora) is living with them, working on the trains.

In 1870, Jay Smith (12) is living in Butternut Valley, Blue Earth, Minnesota with his parents Amasa Smith (50, from NY) and Anna C (35, from NH). Amasa is a Farmer. Jay has three sisters and a brother: Ella (10), Cordelia (6), Etta (4), and Ernest (2).

The older Amasa Smith (Amasa J's father), was living in Waverly, Martin, Minnesota in 1880. His household consisted of himself (60), his wife Anna C (45), daughters Luella A (21), Ada C (19), and Ella M (14), and sons Ernest L (12), William A (10), Charles A (8), and Archie H (5).
Amasa was still farming--his parents were both from NY, and Anna's were both from NH.

In 1900 there are two widowed Ann C Smiths from NY of the right age, both living in NY at the time--one in Catskill and one in Canisteo. None from NH show up. More searching necessary.

~~~
There is a good candidate for Dora's parents living in MN, with the information below, but there are a lot of Dougherty families living in IA with birthplace OH, so more comparison is necessary.

Isaiah (49) and Ruth (43), both born in OH (Ruth's parents from VA and CT), have a large household: son Lucius (23), daughter-in-law Frances E (23) and grandson James J; daughters Acalda (13), Effie (9), and Katy (3); and sons Jarvis (20) Daniel (11), and Edgar (7). *my pairing of Frances with Lucius is just guesswork--she is listed after Jarvis, and her son is at the very end.

I had trouble finding Dora or her brother Jack in 1870