1850 US Federal Census for Washington Township, Morgan County, Indiana, page 27 Elizabeth Harden is listed first in Dwelling/Family 378.
One never knows what might be found in a census or other old document. This reference to an Elizabeth Harden (no relation to us) is found on page 27 of the Washington Twp., Morgan Co., Indiana 1850 US Federal Census. (Only every 2-page spread is numbered, and this was on left side of ‘page’ 27.)
Elizabeth appears to be the head of household, and was listed as a “Farmerist”- not just a “Farmer” like the men on the page were termed. The value of her real estate was $400, similar to another family on the page but much less than others.
Today the term “Farmerist” is used as a blend of “farmer” and “activist” but it has also been used to describe the large group of farmers in a culture. I have never seen the term before, and definitely not in reference to a woman who might have been farming. It would be interesting to see if this census taker called other women in this situation a “farmerist” as well.
Likely Elizabeth is a widow and owns the land, with children and possibly grandchildren and daughter-in-law living with her. This is all conjecture and research for someone in that line to pursue, of course.
Anyway, a lot of women had to assume “men’s” duties when their husbands died or left them, whether for something temporary like going off to the Gold Rush to make a fortune and return, or whether the men just left and were never seen again. It is interesting to see that the name of the occupation changed here probably because she was a woman- hoping it was not meant in a derogatory way.
Notes, Sources, and References:
1850 US Federal Census for Washington Township, Morgan County, Indiana, page 27, Dwelling/Family 378: Elizabeth Harden.
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Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
Shared headstone of Jane (SALYERS) ROBERTS (1806-1880) and her husband John S. ROBERTS, in West Fork Baptist Church Cemetery, Ripley County, Indiana. These photos were taken for the author in the 1990s.
The headstone for Jane (Salyers) Roberts is shared with her husband, John S. Roberts. Jane’s side reads:
JANE
Wife of
JOHN S.
ROBERTS
BORN
Oct. 3. 1806
Died
Mar. 7, 1880
Aged
73 yrs 5 [mos?]
[?? d?]
Detail, headstone of Jane (SALYERS) ROBERTS (1806-1880) in West Fork Baptist Church Cemetery, Ripley County, Indiana. These photos were taken for the author in the 1990s.
Notes, Sources, and References:
Photos taken for the author in the 1990s. The child is the cute grandson of the photographer, and not related- as far as we know.
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Original content copyright 2013-2017 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
Sorting out men named Charles Steward/Stewart who may be related to our ancestor Rose (Steward/Stewart) Roberts is challenging since we are back to the early 1800s and even late 1700s, and records are scarce and not very informative at times. Add in the fact that these folks migrated multiple times, living in at least 3 states, and we have some detailed work to do.
Because of the time period, we decided to see if Charles may have been a Revolutionary War soldier, as there might be some records from that service. Following are some summaries of a few of those records, and how they could relate to the Charles Stewart of interest to Roberts descendants.
Charles Stewart, Jefferson County, Indiana
Pension Roll of 1835, Vol. IV, 3 Indiana, Jefferson County
Private, Pennsylvania Continental Line; Age 73 but unknown what date they completed the roll.
Placed on Pension Roll 19 Nov 1832, with pension commencing 4 Mar 1831 (all others on page have same notation and were put on roll in 1832 or 1833; probably received back pay) $80 annual allowance, $240 received
Of the 20 men listed in Jefferson County, 2, including Charles, served in the Pennsylvania Continental Line, and 2 served in other PA units. Eleven of the men served in Virginia units, and 5 from N. or S. Carolina.
A Charles Stewart is found in the 1820 Jefferson County, Indiana US Federal Census.
Research Note: Search for Charles Stewart in Pennsylvania about 1776
Served as a Private, 1st Regiment Virginia Line, also a Marine under Capt. Gabriel Jones, Col. George Gibson
b. 1759 Virginia, d. 4 Feb 1845 in Ripley Co., Indiana
Pension Number *S16261, Ancestor #A135172
Resided Spotsylvania Co., Virginia, spouse Ann X, child Charles Stewart and his wife Mary A. Beckley
The above is from the DAR application available on the website for free.
Research Note: 1) Purchase one of these DAR applications, possibly getting oldest as later applications may have cited it; not always good research in early documents, however, so we must use the information as clues, rather than fact, and verify them. 2) Research Beckley family as there is a Beckley-Christie-Roberts family connection- see “Sorting Saturday: Which Charles Stewart?” http://heritageramblings.net/2017/12/09/sorting-saturday-which-charles-stewart/
In 1936, a Mrs. Iva Hisle of Madison, Indiana, wrote to the Pension Office requesting information about Charles Stewart who was pensioned in 1832 while living in Indiana. A.D. Hiller, who worked for the office, replied to her concerning pension S. 16261. He stated,
“The date and place of birth of this soldier are not given, nor are the names of his parents stated.”
Mr. Hiller continued with more information:
“Charles Steward (as the name is found in the claim), while residing in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, enlisted in 1775 and marched down to Hobbs Hole under Lieutenant Stubblefield, and there went into the marine service and served eighteen months. He enlisted December 20, 1776, for three years, served in Captain Gabriel Jones’ company, Colonel George Gibson’s Virginia Regiment, was furloughed, May 17, 1779 on account of sickness.”
The pension was approved on 13 August 1833. Charles was 73 years old and living in Ripley County, Indiana, per the Pension Office.
In 1810, a Charles Stewart was listed in the US Federal Census in Bedford, VA. There was 1 male 45+ yrs old, 1 female 45+, and 15 slaves. A Nathaniel Stewart, Thomas Stewart, and a Louis(? hard to read) Stewart are listed on the same pages.
In 1830, Charles Stewart of Bedford, VA is listed in the US Federal Census, 1 male 40-49, 1 male 70-79, 1 female 70-79, and 20 male and female slaves of various ages- including 2 females 55-99. This is likely the same Charles as the 1810 listing. (There is also a Charles Stewart listed in Switzerland, Indiana, and Montgomery, Indiana, in 1830.)
Research Notes: 1) The 1810 and 1830 censuses for Bedford VA are probably not our guy since we know he was in Kentucky after the war when he signed the Stewart-Roberts marriage bond. He could have just been visiting, however… 2) Purchase the actual pension file. 3) Research Virginia for this Charles. 3) Review and compare 1830 censuses for each of these men named Charles, trying to find the date the census was completed.
Charles Stewart, Indiana, Ledger of Pay for Pension
A Charles Stewart was listed on the Indian Ledger Rolls for Revolutionary War Pensions. He is noted as dying 6 Feb 1845, but unsure what remaining notation states. See both images in post, and there is a center section that indicates pay continuously between the above months.
Research Notes: 1) Identify remaining notation; 2) Determine what the numbers mean in the columns- is that the day of the month paid? Or actual pay amount? One document stated $80 annually which would be almost $7/month.
Some of the family records state that the Roberts family was from Maryland, so Cousin Jon looked on Fold3 for a pension from a Charles Stewart from Maryland, on the off chance they may have known each other before the war and later migrated together. There is a Charles Stewart who enlisted in Georgetown, Maryland on 15 August 1776. His pension number is S.15656, and he was granted 100 acres of bounty land on Warrant No. 457, issued 12 April 1809. He later was allowed pension on 22 June 1818 when he was 65 years old and living in Scott County, Kentucky. His wife was Mary M. Stewart, age 50 in 1820. Charles died December 1834, actual date and place not included. He had no widow to receive his pension but he did have one child, Ann, who was married to Robert F. Nicholson in 1851. This information is from A. D. Hiller in response to Lucy P.S. Thompson of Brooklyn, NY. The letter was dated 17 Mar 1939.
Research Note: 1) Determine where the Kentucky land was from Bounty Land Grant. 20 This person is a reach as far as being “our” Charles since there does not seem to be an Indiana connection, although he could have stayed in KY when Edward and Rosy (Stewart) Roberts migrated north.
Revolutionary War Pension, Indiana– https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/1116/T718_7-0384?pid=21564&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll
Fold3, a pay site, for pension research and letters from the Pension Office.
Special thanks to Cousin Jon Roberts who has done a lot of this research!
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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
Original content copyright 2013-2017 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
Trying to find the parents of Rosy STEWART, who married Edward ROBERTS, has been challenging. Her marriage bond to Edward was signed by a “Charles STEWARD” (she was also listed as “Steward”) but we cannot just infer that he was her father- if her father was no longer living or not living in that area, etc., her brother, an uncle, etc. might represent her in a legal proceeding. (Being female she could not represent herself.) So researching Charles Stewart, to see if he was Rosy’s father or another relation, has been one of our avenues of research. It has been frustrating thus far. He has a common name, and there are so few available records for that time and place. And then there was their migration… so three states at least, and the time period of each migration has not yet been determined.
Right now it seems that there may have been two Charles Stewarts in Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana that could possibly be our man of interest. Differentiating them or proving they are the same man has been challenging.
The above census was taken in 1820 in Jefferson County, Indiana, a place where Rosy lived at one point. But which Charles Stewart is this? Looking at other persons on the census page, we noticed an Isaac CHRISTIE. Isaac’s daughter Sarah CHRISTIE married William ROBERTS, son of John S. ROBERTS and Jane SAYLOR/SALYERS. So this might be the Charles Stewart who is related to our family.
We still need more evidence though…
What do you think?
Notes, Sources, and References:
1820 U S Census; Census Place: Jefferson, Indiana; Page: 292; NARA Roll: M33_13; Image: 337; taken 7 Aug 1820.
Rosy (STEWART) ROBERTS (1775-after 26 Dec 1826); Edward ROBERTS (abt 1775- bef 3 May 1830); Isaac CHRISTIE (1798-1865); Sarah (CHRISTIE) ROBERTS (1829-1912); William ROBERTS (1827-1891); John S. ROBERTS (1805-1875) and Jane (SAYLOR/SALYERS) ROBERTS (1806-1880).
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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
Original content copyright 2013-2017 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
Excerpt from John S. ROBERTS- Will, page 1. From Indiana Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999, Ancestry.com and previously from Ripley County, Indiana.
Having a the will of an ancestor is indeed a treasure, especially for those of us who had mostly poor ancestors who did not own anything or couldn’t afford a lawyer, or ancestors who lived in counties that were burned, flooded, or for whatever reason, the will has been lost. The words of a will can tell us so much, and then some if we read between the lines.
The excerpt above is a good example. A husband usually provided for his wife to live on the farm or otherwise have a home and a little money. In this will John S. Roberts not only provided for his wife, Jane (Salyers) Roberts, but also for the natural life of their son David Roberts. He even appointed his Executor, his son Edward Roberts, to be Guardian for David. This suggests that there was something concerning about David, as he had younger siblings that were not mentioned in the will in the same way.
A look at the censuses gives us some clues as to why David would need care for the rest of his life. In 1860, his younger siblings were attending school, but David was not. He was 14 years old, but not listed with an occupation like his older brothers who were still living at home. By 1870, at age 24, it looks like the census taker wrote “works farm” under the occupation heading. In 1880, the census was taken on 7 June 1880, and David was listed in the home of his sister Quintilla Roberts and her husband, David Mitchell. Under the heading “Sick” he is listed as an “idiot” and there is a tick mark in the column for “idiotic.” David was with his sister’s family instead of on the family farm because their mother, Jane (Salyers) Roberts, had died just three months before, on 7 March 1880. David later died on 27 Sep 1892 at the age of 45.
The will specifies that John had property in both Jefferson and Ripley Counties of Indiana, which explains why he lists “rents” as part of the income of his estate. It also explains why there are some records in his name in Jefferson County, as well as Ripley County.
It is interesting that John S. Roberts listed a Jeremiah Roberts as his friend, along with Thomas S. Mitchell. Is this his son Jeremiah (1837-1918, and a doctor)? Or a cousin Jeremiah Roberts? Or an unrelated Jeremiah Roberts? (Roberts is a common name.) More research to do… But we do know that Thomas S. Mitchell was the father-in-law of Quintilla Roberts, John’s youngest, who married Daniel K. Mitchell.
Stovall Wilkins was a witness to the will. We do not know any relationship with Stovall- was he just a friend or actually related by blood?
John S. Roberts very specifically provided a mechanism or two to keep his children from fighting over his legacy once he was gone. First, he left one cow and one featherbed to each child who had not yet received one from him. Edward Roberts, Jeremiah Roberts, Henry Roberts, and Quintilla Roberts each received these inheritances “in order to make them equal with my other children that has had these things given them.”
Once Jane and David had passed away, John’s property was to be evenly divided among his remaining children- all ten of them, with one being the Executor.
John may have foreseen some trouble, so his second method was basically a ‘binding arbitration’:
“And lastly my express will and meaning is And I do hereby order and appoint, that if any difference dispute, questions or controversy shall be moved, arise or happen, concerning any Gift, bequest, matter or thing in this my will given and bequeathed, expressed or contained, that no suit or suits in law or equity or otherwise shall be brought or commenced, or prosecuted for and concerning the same but the same shall be referred wholly to the award, order and determination of my friends Thomas S Mitchell and Jeremiah Roberts both the State of Indiana one of Jefferson & one of Ripley County and what they shall order or direct or determine therein, shall be binding and conclusive to all and every person and persons therein concerned.”
So he had a friend in each county that he owned property, to try to make his bequests fair.
We do know, however, that Edward Roberts resigned as Executor. No reason is given in the surviving paperwork- was it a personal issue, too much work (settling a large estate can be complicated and time consuming, and this one went on for years), too hard to be fair, or was there a lot of squabbling over the will between siblings? We probably will not find the reason, but there is more to come in upcoming posts about the inventory and probate of John S. Roberts.
Notes, Sources, and References:
Special thanks to our cousin Jon Roberts for his transcription and work on these documents.
Wills; Author: Indiana. Probate Court (Jefferson County); Probate Place: Jefferson, Indiana. Will Records, Vol B, 1872-1884Source Information: Ancestry.com. Indiana, Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.Original data: Indiana County, District and Probate Courts. A copy of the will was received from this office around 1989.
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We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
Original content copyright 2013-2017 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted.Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.
