Roberts Family, Murrell Family, Daniel Family (Click for Family Tree)

The trip from Warren County, Illinois, to Jasper County, Iowa, was approximately 175 miles for the Roberts, Daniel, and Murrell families via covered wagon. Although Google maps states it would take 54 hours to walk that far today (and less than 3 hours to drive it in a car), traveling with a heavy covered wagon that holds 1,250-2,500 pounds plus having cattle, swine, elderly folks and children, etc. would have made the trip longer.

A covered wagon, pulled by up to eight horses or a dozen oxen, could travel 10-20 miles per day, depending on the terrain. Since the midwest is mostly rolling hills in that area of northern Illinois and eastern Iowa and there are no mountains to cross, we can hope that it only took the families about 9 days to make the trip, if they could make 20 miles per day. If they could only make 10 miles per day, however, it would take 18 days to get to Jasper County.

But that was just the travel time.

Many wagon trains did not travel on the Sabbath, and accidents with required repairs could slow down the trip as well. The families would have needed to cross the Mississippi River too, which could have delayed them in waiting for a ferry, especially if the weather was bad or the river was flooded, too icy, etc. Since the population of Iowa increased by about 70% between 1860 and 1880, there might have been quite a lot of other families making the trek west, further delaying their access to a ferry. (They could probably not have taken the wagons across without a ferry, even though they would have used tar to waterproof the wooden sides and bottom of the wagon- the Mississippi was/is just too large and powerful a river. If it was iced up, however, they could have traveled across in the wagons, hoping the ice was thick enough to hold the weight.)

Illness, lame horses or oxen, a need to procure food, tools, or even a new wagon wheel, could slow down the travelers. If a lot of things went wrong, their trip could have taken three weeks to a month- a long time to be living out of a 18′ long, 11′ high, 4′ wide covered wagon!

Most of those traveling would have walked the whole way, if they physically could. Children and the elderly would have ridden in the wagon for safety and because they would not be able to keep up at times. The wooden and metal wheels used on the wagons over the jarring roads was so uncomfortable and bone-shaking, however, that most of the adults would have preferred the long walk instead of riding.

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The three families made it to Jasper County, Iowa, sometime in 1868, despite all the potential for problems.

The land and community in Jasper County, Iowa, must have suited the Murrell, Daniel, and Roberts families, as they stayed, bought land, and put down roots. Margaret Ann Hemphill and Robert Woodson Daniel were blessed with another child, Lily G. Daniel, in 1872, who survived childhood, and who eventually married George W. Walker (1872-1961).

The satisfaction  felt by the new Iowa immigrants about their new life may have influenced Ann Elisy Murrell (daughter of Wiley and Mary) and her husband, Aaron Brown (1846-1894), to move west. Ann and Aaron stayed in Warren County, Illinois, until sometime between the birth of their son William Brown in 1875 and son George Brown in 1878; they then headed to Jasper County, Iowa. It must have been a wonderful reunion!

Most of the persons mentioned in this series of articles lived out the rest of their lives in Jasper County, and are buried there, in the rich black soils of the prairie.

Jasper County, Iowa, is definitely full of “homeplaces” for the Roberts, Daniel, and Murrell families.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. “Conestoga Wagon” entry on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conestoga_wagon
2. Google Maps
3. Family stories of Edith (Roberts) [McMurray] Luck, and obituaries.

 

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Sometimes the small ephemera left by a person can be so personal that it makes me sentimental about them and the sweet times we had together. Seeing the handwriting, seeing who is important in her life, and just noting that this was information that she thought was important enough to pass on, touches my heart. Edith (Roberts) (McMurray) Luck is a big part of why I love family history so much, so this find made me very sentimental about the times she talked about her family, and drove us all over the county to visit her cousins and elderly relatives. There was only one of the new-fangled copiers in town, and family members would not allow us to take their treasures, so my sister and I copied obituaries, letters, etc., by hand, using a purple Flair pen (the coolest thing to come out of the 60s). There are precious documents that were shared that hot Iowa summer, items that would have been lost forever had we not transcribed them in the 1960s.

Here is a transcription and some details about the persons she listed:

Grandpa Daniels  [Robert Woodson Daniels- Edith’s maternal grandfather] March 21-1862

enlisted Rocklimogen W. Vir

5’8″

Light complexion- Light hair   Grey eyes

discharged fm USA [United States Army] March 25-1865

was 23 years

Born May 26-1843

Died June 20-1922  79 years

 

Grandma Daniels [Margaret Ann Hemphill Daniels- Edith’s maternal grandmother]

Marg A.

Born Sept 25- 1839

died Dec 19- 1915   76 years

 

George Roberts [George Anthony Roberts, Edith’s father]

Born Nov 18 -1861        78 years

died April 18 -1939          5 months

0 days

 

Ella V. Daniels [Ella Viola (Daniels) Roberts, Edith’s beloved mother]

Born Oct 29 1866        55 yrs- 3 mo- 18 days

Died Jan 17 1922        56 yrs.

 

Georgie Roberts [Edith’s brother, George Anthony Roberts, Jr.]  June 30 1965 [death date]    76 [years]   -1889 [birth year]

 

Ethel Robison  [Edith’s sister, Ethel Gay Roberts, married to Bert Robison]  Jan 28 1969 [death date]  78 [years]  1891 [birth year]

 

Winnie Carson [Edith’s first cousin- Winnie Viola Walker was the daughter of Lily G. (Daniels) Walker, Edith’s mother’s sister, and married Archibald Carson (1892-1982)]   June 1997 [June 1897 was when Winnie was born- an error in Edith’s notes]

 

Hilma Stines  [Edith’s first cousin and sister of Winnie Viola Walker, both daughters of Lily G. (Daniels) Walker, Edith’s mother’s sister; married Ruben M. Stines.] Ap. 1900 [birth date either April 1900 or approximately 1900; census calculation indicates about 1902 for birth.]

 

Mrs. Annie Hunniball   [Eliza Ann Fletcher, a close friend and neighbor of Edith as an adult. Annie was born 18 Dec 1880 in Timworth, Suffolk, England, and married Albert John Hunniball (1877-1965); they never had children. As a young woman, Annie worked in one of the palaces of the British Queen.] Died 7.45 PM.

1971  Tues Jan 26- Buried

Thurs Jan 28

 

As I was typing out these names and dates, I thought it somewhat ironic that Edith would have used a page from her address book that had a place for a phone number, since telephones were unknown when some of these persons were born. But then, maybe it was not so ironic, since the lifetimes of these folks spanned a simpler time, leading up to the use of the telephone and even the automobile in the early 1900s. By 1914, the US had the most telephones per capita of any country, so even Margaret Ann (Hemphill) Daniels may have seen or used a telephone before her death in 1915, depending on when it was introduced to their rural area. What an amazing time period to have lived, from the late 1830s until the nineteen-teens and twenties. The changes in technology were just astounding during that time span.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1) Family treasure chest.

 

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Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

 

We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, 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.

Actually, the title of this post is a misnomer, as we do not have a funeral card for Margaret Ann Hemphill Daniel. We do, however, have an obituary, which is even better. And I wanted this to get posted to the Geneabloggers Pinterest site so am using the prompt, to help others find this information.

The small county of Pike, along the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, must have been a wild and beautiful place in 1839, when Margaret Ann Hemphill was born. Prairie, bluff, and the eternal river that provided food, transportation of crops and goods, as well as people, would have been a part of everyday life for the Hemphill family.

Margaret was the third of ten children of Elizabeth Carson Turner (1811-1882) and David Houston Hemphill (1810-1882). David was a native of South Carolina, and Elizabeth had been born in Illinois, so they may have met during David’s migration or in Missouri. Their first child, Rebecca Jane, was born in Missouri per most references, so they were in Pike County by May of 1836. By 1850, ten year-old Margaret Ann’s father was listed in the US Federal Census as a farmer with $3200 in real estate (more than many adjoining farmers); many others on that census page were from South Carolina too.

In the 1860 US Federal census, Margaret was twenty-one and still living with her parents and siblings. Interestingly, Margaret and her older brother Joseph and younger brother John are listed as having some personal estate: Joseph, a farm laborer, has $140, Margaret noted as a Domestic (like her mother) has $125, and John, also a farm laborer, has $100- could this be an inheritance, as the younger children did not have any values listed? Their father was again listed as a farmer, but with $800 in personal value, nothing listed for real estate.

The Civil War was particularly hard on those who lived in Missouri- it was a border state and sympathies could be found for both sides. Many battles and skirmishes took place in Missouri, and family farms were raided for whatever foods, blankets, and other comforts the troops from either side could grab, leaving less for the citizens of the area.

Meanwhile, Robert Woodson “R.W.” Daniel, a native of Rockbridge County, Virginia who had been born 26 May 1843, had migrated to Pike County with his parents when just two years old. In 1862, he enlisted in Co. C., 3rd Regiment, Missouri State Military Cavalry for a term of 3 years. (More about RW in another post.) Less than a year after being discharged, RW and Margaret married on 16 Jan 1866 in Pike County, Missouri.

Their first daughter, Ella V. Daniel, was born in October of that year.

Soon after their marriage they migrated to Warren County, Illinois, along with his parents, Charles M. Daniel (1819-1875) and Elizabeth Thomas (1817-1885). Their first daughter, Ella V. Daniel, was born in October of that year, in Young America, Warren County, Illinois. Two sons were born: John W. Daniel, in 1868, Charles H. Daniel in 1869, plus another child of unknown sex born about 1870; all three died in infancy.

The family lived in Warren County for about five years, where they met the John S. Roberts family. The Robertses, including John’s wife Elizabeth Ann Murrell Roberts, came to visit after daughter Ella was born, and brought their five year-old son, George A. Roberts (1861-1939). George would marry their daughter Ella V. years later, in 1885.

A number of Warren County families decided to migrate to Jasper County, Iowa, including the Roberts and Daniel families. The Roberts family migrated about 1868; it is unknown if the families migrated together, but RW and Margaret Ann Daniel were in Jasper County by the 05 Aug 1870 US Federal Census.

Margaret had one more child, Lily G. Daniel, in 1872. Lily thankfully survived into adulthood, married, and had two daughters. (Winnie V. Walker, called “Cousin Winnie” by Edith Roberts, and Hilma L. Walker.)

RW and Margaret lived on the farm and worked the land through 1900, and then moved to Des Moines, Iowa, by the 1910 Census. They apparently moved back to Prairie City in 1915, due to Margaret’s illness and need for family to help nurse her. Margaret died 19 Dec 1915 at age 76.

Their daughter Ella V. Daniel Roberts passed away 17 Jan 1922 at the young age of 55. Robert Woodson Daniel died just five months later, on 20 Jun 1922 at age 79.

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Margaret Ann Hemphill Daniel- Obituary. Prairie City News, Prairie City, Iowa, 23 Dec 1915. Volume 41, Number 52, Page 1, Column 1. Original newspaper- the whole paper!- in author’s possession. This scan is from long ago- hence not optimal quality, sorry. I need to put a rescan on my list of Genealogy To-Do items.

2) Beautiful old map of 1836 Missouri, 3 years before Margaret Ann was born: http://www.mapofus.org/_maps/atlas/1836-MO.html

3) Margaret’s obit states that she was a member of the “W.R.C.” This was the ‘Woman’s Relief Corps’ which was a group that was formed to help Civil War veterans and their widows and children.

4) Interestingly, the Missouri marriage records state Margaret’s name as “Mrs. Margaret E. Hemphill.” Entries for other brides, though in a different hand, are very clearly “Miss” so it is unknown if Margaret was previously married to a Hemphill, instead of that being her maiden name, or if it was a clerical error. (Hopefully the latter or a lot of researchers have wrong information.) Margaret A. Hemphill is listed in the family of David H. Hemphill and Elizabeth C. Turner, so hopefully it was just an error. Adding to Genealogy To-Do list…

5) Margaret Ann Hemphill Daniel Find A Grave Memorial #76668654– http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSvcid=210058&GRid=76668654&

6) Hemphill-Daniel Marriage Record- Ancestry.com. Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007. Original data: Missouri Marriage Records. Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives. Microfilm.

 

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Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

 

We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, 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.