The Search for this Over is Over

I've really been fortunate lately with the discoveries I've made in adding details to my collateral families.  I've been remiss to write about many of them.

One that I discovered yesterday related to my paternal 2nd-great grandaunt, Amanda Matilda SHERRICK, daughter of David and Susan (JACOBS) SHERRICK.  Until yesterday, I knew that she was born about 1844 in Ohio from the 1870 census of Ashland County, Ohio, and that she had been married to ________ OVER from her father's obituary, where she was referred to as Tilda OVER of Burbank, Ohio.  Not a lot to work with.

A quick search of Ancestry.com gave me a few possible clues, one of which being the 1880 census of Wayne County, Ohio, which showed a Jacob & Matilda OVER in the right place (Burbank), but I didn't want to jump to the conclusion that this was the right family until I found some other evidence.  This Jacob & Matilda had the following family in 1880 : son Melvin, aged 12; daughter Emanda, aged 9; daughter Stella, aged 6; son George, aged 4; and daughter Eldora, aged 2.  

A quick Google search for the combination of "Jacob Over Matilda" brought several hits, one of which was the archived OH-FOOTSTEPS mailing list on Rootsweb.  In a January 30, 2008 email entitled 'Oh-Wayne Co. Cemetery (Burbank Cemetery) was a partial listing of burials in that cemetery.  Among the names were 'Over Jacob W 1839 1909 h/o Matilda Over' and 'Over Matilda Sherrick 1845 1924 w/o Jacob Over'.  Looking really good now, I decided to see if anyone had posted a photograph of their tombstones at the Find A Grave website.

Sure enough, there were listings in the Burbank Cemetery in Wayne County, Ohio for Jacob & Matilda, as well as other Over family members.  According to the description of the cemetery, the cemetery is located south of the Medina/Wayne County line, in Congress Township.  Congress Township is where members of Susan (JACOBS) SHERRICK's family were from.  

The listing for Matilda (SHERRICK) OVER including a copy of her obituary, confirming that she was the daughter of David and Susan SHERRICK (or SHERICK, as the obituary spelled it).  Also included was the fact that her husband, Jacob, was a Civil War vet.  The kind soul who added the scan of the obituary even was kind enough to source it as being from the October 3, 1924 Medina County Gazette - and listed a link to the Medina County District Library!

So know I know that Amanda Matilda SHERRICK was born August 18, 1845 in Ashland County, Ohio and died September 10, 1924 in Lodi, Medina County, Ohio.  She married to Jacob OVER on January 29, 1865.  Unfortunately, the obituary doesn't list her surviving children by name, but with Jacob's name - I can now dig into the census and see who else I can find.

Family Milestones: January 9th

My maternal 4th-great grandmother, Hannah MILLS, was born on this date in 1833 in Morgan County, Indiana.  Hannah was the daughter of Henry and Hannah (WOODWARD) MILLS.   Hannah married August 11, 1855 in Monrovia, Morgan County, Indiana to Isaac S. POE, son of John W. and Elizabeth (RAINS) POE.  Isaac was born August 20, 1830 in Chatham County, North Carolina.  He served in Company E, 12th Indiana Infantry during the Civil War.  After the war, they moved to Norton County, Kansas.  They had 7 children.  Isaac died November 20, 1909 in Norton, Norton County, Kansas.  Hannah died March 9, 1914 in Norton, Norton County, Kansas.

52 Weeks To Better Genealogy - Challenge # 1

Amy Coffin at WeTree is challenging us again with weekly genealogy prompts to improve our genealogy research.  This week's challenge is : 

 

Go to your local public library branch. Make a note of the genealogy books in the collection that may help you gain research knowledge. Don’t forget to check the shelves in both the non-fiction section and the reference section. If you do not already have a library card, take the time to get one. If you have a genealogy blog, write about what you find in your library’s genealogy collection.

Well, I've already blown it with this week's challenge - I could blame the snowy weather, but really I procrastinated until it was too late and then the snow hit.  So, I didn't make it into the local library, but I did find an interesting database they have online.

The Marion Public Library does have a really nice genealogy section, with a good selection of books not only from local sources but also quite a bit from other regions.  I've been there a few times, and will try to return in the near future to write up a blog post.  Today I want to highlight their database section.


Recently I discovered that they have put together a local genealogy database where I was surprised to find some information about distant relatives.  Although most of my direct family was not in the Grant County area, there were enough collateral lines that crossed paths here that I was able to find mention of their obituaries in the local paper, and with my wife's family records of marriages and cemetery records.

The records are very straightforward and easy to search.  Once you enter the database, you have the option to do wildcard searches and specify what type of records you are looking for.  I was surprised at the number of LEMASTER records that I was able to pull up in this database, some going back to the 1930s.  I thought that most of them would be far distance relatives, but I actually discovered the marriage of a 2nd cousin who was from Jay County took place over here.

Using this handy database, I was able to fill in some blanks on my wife's family and create a 'to-do' list of obituaries, etc. to copy the next time that I'm at this library.