Will Abstract : Lewis Bland (1870) Shelby County, Ohio

Shelby County Ohio Will Abstracts Book 2 1869-1881, Shelby County Genealogical Society, Sidney, Ohio, 1999

page 24 LEWIS BLAND  9 Apr 1866  21 Apr 1870 (A-1872)

Of Jackson Tp.  Mentions wife (not named); son Geo. W. BLAND; dau Jane CLATON; the heirs of son Rolla BLAND; step sons Wm. F. & David SMITH.  Wit. William A. JONES John N.W. KIRTLEY 

Located this will abstract of Lewis Bland while at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne recently.  Lewis was the husband of Martha Lemasters (1799-1844), who was the daughter of Jacob and Hannah (____) Lemasters, making Lewis my paternal 3rd-great granduncle.

The will was dated April 9, 1866 and probated April 21, 1870.  I don't have an exact date of death for Lewis, but it must have been before April 21.  

The naming of at least three children George W., Jane and Rolla will give me more potential relatives to search.  I've not looked into the Bland family to trace the line forward.  They might have more information on my early Lemasters.  Apparently Lewis did remarry after Martha's death.  My sources say Lewis was born in 1799 in Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky.  He is buried in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Jackson Center, Shelby County, Ohio.

Notice that the Claton surname comes back up again, this Jane (Bland) Claton might have been married to a member of the Claton family who married into the Lemasters as well.

I will be looking online at FamilySearch for the original records to see what else I can find about this probate file.

Petition of Rueben Claton, Shelby County, Ohio, 1853

While searching at the Allen County Public Library's Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne on Sunday, I started digging into some of the published books on the stacks relating to Shelby County, Ohio.  I was looking for some more evidence to confirm my theories about what happened to the widow Hannah Lemasters, widow of Lemuel Quin Lemasters.

In the book, "Complete Record of Land Sales : Probate Court - Shelby County, Ohio, 1852-1862" compiled by Gladys Dearduff and published in 1997 by the Shelby County Genealogical Society, I located the following :

1853 Nov 5 LIMUEL Q. LEMASTER estate.  Petition by Rueben CLATON, grdn of minor heirs: Martha, Eljwah & Jacob LEMASTER. Dower rights to Hannah CLATON.  Apprs: Abraham STOUT, Jesse LOW & Peter SHEPLEY.  Land : part of S 1/2 SE 1/4 Sec 33 T2 R73 (ca 40 acres) ; sold 16 Feb 1854 to Wm. HOBBY.

Though I need to dig into the actual probate records (which are online at FamilySearch), this snippet tells my that the Hannah Lemasters whose marriage I located in Shelby County to Ruben Claton on June 1, 1851 was the widow of Lemuel Quin Lemasters.  This land sale record was protecting her dower rights (rights she brought into the marriage) and names the minor children of Hannah & Lemuel, even if they did mangle the spellings.  The children were Martha, Elgiva and Jacob.

I'm so used to alternative spellings for Lemaster/Lemasters and now I'm pretty sure that Claton is an alternative spelling for Clayton.

The book was located in the stacks with a call letter of Gc 977.101 Sh4sL

Marriage Record: Hannah Lemasters to Ruben Claton, Shelby County, Ohio, 1851

"Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1997," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XZZQ-85C : accessed 17 Nov 2014), Ruben Claton and Hannah Lemasters, 01 Jun 1851; citing Shelby, Ohio, United States, reference vo13 p261 No3; county courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 562858.

The State of Ohio, Shelby County, S.S.

I certify that I have this day solemnized the marriage of Ruben Claton with Hannah Lemasters.

Witness my hand this 1 day of June A.D. 1851.

V. Guerin, Minister.

----

Located this marriage record of Hannah Lemasters and Ruben Claton (Clayton?) on June 1, 1851 in Shelby County, Ohio.  This was one of the various Lemaster marriage records found in the county on FamilySearch.

I believe that this Hannah is the widow of Lemuel Quin Lemasters, who died in June 1843 in Shelby County.  Lemuel was the son of Jacob and Hannah (---) Lemasters.  I believe Ruben's surname is Clayton.  

I've been doing some digging in probate records in Shelby County, and am pretty sure that this is Lemuel's widow based on the records I've found.  More to come.