Search for the Death Date of Nathan Thomas Beals

My maternal 3GGF, Nathan Thomas BEALS, is buried at the Cicero Cemetery, Cicero, Hamilton County, Indiana along with his wife, Elizabeth.  A photograph of the tombstone can be found at the FindAGrave.com website.

The tombstone states he was born in 1857 and died in 1915.  Other sources state that his date of birth was February 17, 1856 in Westfield, Hamilton County, Indiana.  The 1900 census lists February 1856 as his date a birth.

When I first started working on genealogy many years ago, I entered his place of death as Hamilton County, Indiana.  After all, he was buried there, right?  That was back when I naively thought that everyone was buried right where they died.

In attempting to document and make corrections to my data, I had run into a problem when I could not locate Nathan's death in Hamilton County, Indiana.  I knew he was living in Jackson Township, Hamilton County, Indiana in the 1910 census, so at least I thought I knew he was in Indiana at the time of his death.

An interesting clue showed up in the obituary of his father, John T. BEALS, in 1917.  In that obituary, my Nathan was referred to as "the late Nathan T. of Leola, Ark."

What in the world was he doing in Arkansas?  There is another mystery to solve.

Last week, I contacted my brother, who works for the Hamilton County, Indiana Health Department, to see if he knew who I should contact at the Cicero Cemetery in hopes that they had records of the exact burial date.  With an exact burial date, I hoped I could locate an obituary in the newspaper.

My brother gave me the name of the sexton of the cemetery, Mr. Wills, and I called him yesterday.  He was very polite, but I was a bit disheartened when he told me they had burial records back to 1927, and only some of it was computerized.  I gave him the dates of Nathan and his wife, who died in 1935, hoping that he would be able to locate something.


A few hours later, I received a phone call with Mr. Wills with great news!  They did have a date for Nathan of February 16, 1915.  Now I have something to go by.  Not sure if this is the death date or the burial date, but the other dates for Beals family members that Mr. Wills gave me match death dates.  


Now when I head to the library, I only have a couple of dates to search for an obituary instead of 365 days in 1915. Stay tuned for the results.

Family Milestones: February 1st

My maternal 5th-great grandaunt, Sarah JACOBS, was born on this date in 1789 in Virginia.  Sarah was the daughter of William and Sibell (LITTELL) JACOBS, and the younger sister of my James Thomas JACOBS.  Sarah married February 27, 1812 in Adams County, Ohio to Valentine SHELDON.  I do not have dates of birth and death for Valentine.  Sarah died December 26, 1839 in Brown County, Ohio.  Nothing further known at this time.

Clara (Moulton) Metzner (1843-1899)

Clara (MOULTON) METZNER (1843-1899) was my paternal 2nd-great grandmother.  The origin of this MOULTON line have not yet been determined.

The following facts about Clara's life are known:

• Birth: She was born September 1843 in Licking County, Ohio, the daughter of Albert and Emeline (PHILBRICK) MOULTON.
• Census: 1860 - She appears in the Lydia MOULTON household in St. Albans Township, Licking County, Ohio.
• Marriage: She married John Adam METZNER on November 13, 1864 in Jay County, Indiana.
• Death: She died July 2, 1899 in Westchester, Jay County, Indiana.
• Burial: She is buried at the Mt. Zion Cemetery, Jay County, Indiana.

The following facts need further research and/or documentation to complete my reseach:

• Census: 1850 - need to locate her in the 1850 census, should be in Licking County, Ohio.
• Census: 1870 - need to locate her in the 1870 census, should be in Noble Township, Jay County, Indiana.
• Census: 1880 - need to locate her in the 1880 census, should be in Noble Township, Jay County, Indiana.
• Death: Need to obtain a copy of her death certificate from the Jay County, Indiana health Department.
• Obituary: Need to obtain a copy of her obituary from the local newspaper.

Ancestry of Clara (MOULTON) METZNER (1843-1899), Ahnentafel # 23 in my ancestry:


Ahnentafel # 46: Albert MOULTON (1819-1864?); Rutland Co., VT>California?


Ahnentafel # 92: Selah MOULTON (1790-1848); Rutland Co., VT>Licking Co., OH


Ahnentafel # 184: John MOULTON (1755-c1808); Hartford Co., CT>Rutland Co., VT


Ahnentafel # 368: Samuel MOULTON (c1730-     ).


Related blog posts:

• Marriage: John Adam METZNER to Clara MOULTON