One Name Place Study: Perry Townsend of Groveport

Previously I wrote about the success of finding a relative by using the One Name Place Study method.  Let's continue investigating the remaining Townsends in the 1880 US Census for Franklin County, Ohio. There are four left.

As you'll remember, I am in the process of investigating the Townsends of Franklin County, Ohio in an effort to find relatives of William James Townsend who was born around 1842 in Franklin County, Ohio.

The first of the final four is Perry Townsend born about 1855 in Ohio, with parents originally from Ohio.  Perry is working as a farm laborer.


Perry Townsend Groveport Ohio
Perry Townsend, 1880 US Census, Groveport, Franklin County, Ohio

Perry's household includes his wife Jane, also born around 1885. She's 25 years old and is keeping the house. Her parents are originally from Maryland and Ohio.

In investigating Perry, I could not find records with the name Jane again as a wife. I found spouses named Minerva J Selles, Jennie Townsend, and Louella Lindsay. I finally discovered a Minerva Jane Sallee in the death record for a son named Walter Perry Townsend. This piece of evidence helped me connect the variations of Minervas, Jennies & Jane into one person as I was quite confident Walter was Perry's son. Thus, Perry and Jane of the 1880 US Census had two children:

  • Lille May Townsend b 1883
  • Walter Perry Townsend b. 1887 

I believe that Perry married two women, Minerva J Sallee and Louella Lindsay. Minerva seems to have died between 1900 - 1910. Perry appears to have married Louella (Pickens) Lindsay in 1908 and started a second batch of children. His children from his first wife were married before he remarried and started having children with Louella. 

Now that I have taken Perry forward from the 1880 US Census, I wish to find him going backward.
I found a Perry Townsend in the home of Catherine Helsel in Hamilton, Franklin County, Ohio. Perry is 6 years-old. The instructions for the enumerator placed a significant order to the way the names appear on this census. Perry and the older Townsend named Milby aren't children of Catherine and her likely deceased husband who sired Elias Helsel. However, Catherine could be a relative (aunt, or some such) to Milby and Perry, and that's why they were taken in.

My spidey senses are thinking there is a strong possibility that Perry born in 1855 might be the brother of William born in 1842. William does not appear to be in any Townsend home in the 1860s and 1870s. Something may have happened to his parents and all of his siblings were scattered throughout the county for their support.

By the way... Groveport, Franklin County, Ohio and Hamilton, Franklin County, Ohio are roughly 11 miles apart! If only I had an 1880 plat map of sorts to show Perry and William's land/homes.

So, I'm still in the realm of inferential genealogy, but this is looking promising.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Mother's Day Lura Long

Image
When I think of mothers on my family tree, Lura Smith tops the list of those I look forward to meeting in the afterlife. She is the adopted mother of my Grannie,  Louise Eleanor Long .  Grannie adored Lura. Lura was married to Harry Howard Long (1883-1937). The couple married in Columbus, Ohio on Jun 19, 1907. They were unable to have children and finally adopted their first child in 1916. In May 1920, a baby girl was born in Columbus, Ohio to an unwed mother. The mother died of preeclampsia. This baby girl would become my grandmother. Upon her mother's death, Baby Anderson became a ward of the State of Ohio Welfare Department. She had a caseworker, Ethel Huffman Ackerman, who wanted to place Baby Anderson in the home of Harry Long. The caseworker was a friend and classmate (at Ohio State) of Harry's sister Elizabeth Long. As Elizabeth retells the story, Ethel received Baby Anderson's birth mother's history and felt that Harry and Lura were just the parent
Read more

Mystery Monday: Which Karlsberger married Charles Stahl?

Image
Genealogy is kind of addicting. Sometimes, I get rather lost in the branches. As such, I run into mysteries that I can't seem to solve from the top down. I figured the genealogy community is awesome and may have ways to help me solve a mystery. Otherwise, perhaps a Karlsberger from Franklin County, Ohio might stumble upon my blog and help me solve this problem. My potential 3rd great-grand uncle George Paul Karlsberger was born on 10 August 1825 in Bavaria. Another researcher suggested his connection to my 3rd great-grandmother Anna Magaretha Karlsberger who married Christian or Christopher Hoppe. Margaretha was born 29 February 1824. There are no definitive records linking George and Margaretha. And Margaretha's parents were not recorded, though parents for George were suggested. As you can see, I am about to head down a twig on the tree that might be gnarled, or legitimate. George Karlsberger had six children born in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio to his wife Maria Elizabeth
Read more

One Name Place Study: George Townsend of Columbus Ohio

Image
It's once again time to investigate the Townsends of Franklin County , Ohio in an effort to find relatives of William James Townsend who was born around 1842 in Franklin County, Ohio. The next individual listed 1880 US Census is George A Townsend. George indicates in this census that he was born around 1840 in New York. His parents are also listed as from New York and he says he was a merchant. Other household members are Louisa Townsend born around 1840 in New York (parents also from New York).  They have a son Charles W Townsend, who is about 11 in their home. Charles was apparently born in New York as well. At quick glance, this does not appear as close a relation as I would like to see. William was born in Ohio and several records place his parents from Maryland. George and William are around the same age so the different birth places would rule out the possibility of being brothers. Could they be distant relatives? I continued to research George and found him in the 7
Read more