Saturday, April 24, 2021

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Tell Us About One of Your Elusive Ancestors

 Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!


Here is your assignment, should you decide to accept it (you ARE reading this, so I assume that you really want to play along - cue the Mission Impossible music!):

1)  We all have "elusive ancestors" that we cannot find a name for, or one that absolutely eludes us, but we know some details about their spouse and/or children.

2)  Tell us about one of them - how are you related?  What do you know about them? Where did they live? etc.


3)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook Status post.  
Please leave a link in a comment to this post.

Here's mine:

One of my most elusive ancestors is the first wife of my 4th great-grandfather, Cornelius Feather (1777-1853).  She was born before 1785, perhaps in Connecticut, and died before 1830, probably in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  She married Cornelius Feather before 1804, perhaps in Trumbull County, Ohio.  He was born in 1777 in Washington County, Pennsylvania, the son of Stephen and --?-- (--?--) Feather, and died 1 April 1853 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  They had four known children:

i. Sarah Feather, born 07 June 1804 in Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio; died 09 April 1848 in Perry, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. She married Heinrich/Henry  Carringer   before 1825 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania; born 06 June 1800 in Sandy Creek, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, the son of Martin and Maria Magdalena (Hoax) Carringer, and died 20 April 1879 in Columbus City, Louisa County, Iowa.  They had sons named David, George, Cornelius, Henry, and Harvey, and daughters named Eliza, Mary, Sarah, Louisa and Matilda.

 ii. John Feather, born 4 April 1806 in Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio, died 22 April 1878 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  He married Phebe Condit on 11 September 1828 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  She was born 14 February 1809 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of David and Rachel (Ross) Condit, and died 21 June 1891 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  They had sons named Ira, William, Cornelius, David, Stephen, Hiram, John and George, and daughters named Mary Rachel and Nancy.

iii. George Feather, born 1808 in Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio; died 1890 in Mercer County, PA. He married Mary Keelan before 1840 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  She was born about 1812 in Pennsylvania, the daughter of William and Abbie (Partridge) Keelan, and died about 1855 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  They had sons named Joseph, Cornelius, George, William and Samuel, and daughters Mary and Silveretta.

iv. Mary Ann Feather, born about 1815 in Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio, died before 1855 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  She married (1) Charles Milner (1798-????) before 1835 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, and they had children Esther and Cornelius.   

NOTES: 

The name of the wife of Cornelius Feather is not known. The only clue about her birthplace is the 1880 US Census record of her son, George Feather, which says his mother was born in Connecticut.  With a first child born in 1806, a birth date of about 1785 is an estimate.

Cornelius Feather settled in Warren township, Trumbull County, Ohio. He appears in the 1804 through 1810 tax records of Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio.

He moved to Mercer County, Pennsylvania in about 1823, settling in what is now Otter Creek township. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, voted the Democratic ticket, and served in the War of 1812. 

In the 1830 US census for Mercer County, Pennsylvania, the Cornelius Feathers household resided in Salem township. The household included one male aged 20-30 (George?), one male aged 50-60 (Cornelius), one female aged 10-15 (Mary Ann), one female aged 20-30 and one female aged 30-40. 

In the 1840 US census, the Cornelius Feather family resided in New Lyme township, Ashtabula County, Ohio. The household included one male aged 60-70 (Cornelius), one female aged 0-5, one female aged 5-10, one female aged 30-40 and one female aged 40-50.

In the 1850 US census, this family resided in Salem township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. The household included:

* Cornelius Feather -- age 73, male, a farmer, $1000 in real property, born NY
* Mary Feather -- age 58, female, born PA

The age of Mary Feather in the 1850 census record (age 58, born about 1792), and of the oldest female in the 1830 (age 30 to 40) and 1840 census records (age 40 to 50), imply that Mary (and the oldest female) is not the mother of Sarah Feather (born in 1804), John (born about 1806), or George (born about 1808) but may be the mother of Mary Ann (born about 1815).  Mary may have been married before to an unknown first husband.


I have several DNA match clusters on AncestryDNA and MyHeritageDNA for which I have not been able to identify a known common ancestor.  My guess is that one of those clusters is for my elusive ancestor, --?-- (--?--) Feather, wife of Cornelius Feather.  That may be how I solve this puzzle in time.

Alternatively, I need to search for records in eastern Ohio or western Pennsylvania for her parents willing property or selling land to --?-- Feather.

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Copyright (c) 2021, Randall J. Seaver

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4 comments:

Janice M. Sellers said...

I really should work more on this ancestor.

http://www.ancestraldiscoveries.com/2021/04/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-tell-us.html

Linda Stufflebean said...

It was difficult choosing just one. https://emptybranchesonthefamilytree.com/2021/04/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-139/

Linda Stufflebean said...

Randy, Other than investigating the FAN club, DNA might be your only route for finding Cornelius's wife's name. Have you looked at the FAN club in Trumbull County, OH? Were there other Feather family members also living there? 1804 is pretty early in OH records, too. Another stumbling block.

Lisa S. Gorrell said...

Here is mine:

https://mytrailsintothepast.blogspot.com/2021/04/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-tell-us.html