Mystery of the Ashmore Family

I have a little mystery for you.  It begins with a broken tombstone for Margaret Ashmore in Smithland Cemetery in Livingston County.  There is no birth date and where the death date should be, the stone is broken. Previous recordings, however,  give the death date as 11 June 1849.[1]

Margaret

Infant

daughter of

Rob. & Rachel

Ashmore

If this death date is correct, one would think her parents, or at least her mother, was in Smithland on that date.  

Maybe. But no Ashmore is found on the Livingston County Tax Lists for 1849  or 1850  or 1851  or 1852. So, where were Robert and Rachel Ashmore, the parents of little Margaret?

R. [Rachel?] Ashmore, age 25, and G.A. Ashmore, age 1, are found on the 1850 Mercer County, New Jersey census living in the town of Princeton in a household  headed by William Williamson, age 24.  By the way, Robert Asmore [sic] married Rachel Williamson 6 January 1844 in Somerset County, New Jersey. [2] So, if Rachel was living with some of her relatives in 1850, where was Robert and who was G.A. Ashmore, age 1?

It appears that Robert Ashmore enlisted in the Army on 20 July 1849.[3] He was described as age 28 with grey eyes, brown hair, stood 5 feet 9 inches tall, was born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey and was a millwright.  On the 16th of May 1851, he deserted. That is the last record found on Robert Ashmore.

On the 1860 Hunterdon County, New Jersey census, Rachel Ashmore, age 37, and George Ann Ashmore, age 11, were living in the household of Jacob and Anna Williamson in the town of Lambertville. So, it appears that Rachel had a daughter, George Ann, who was born about 1849 in Missouri. Was she a twin to Margaret?  Was Margaret also born in Missouri and, if so, why was she buried in Smithland, Kentucky?

Rachel and George Ann didn't stay in New Jersey. By 1869 they are living in - where else - Smithland, Kentucky. On the 16th of September of 1869, Miss Georgiana Ashmore married Charles S. Delay.

Original Marriage License and Certificate 1869

Livingston County Clerk's Office

Smithland, Kentucky

The newlyweds and the mother in law, Rachel, moved to Cairo, Illinois, where they are found on the 1870 census. Rachel died 1 August 1872 at the age of 49 years. Services were held at the M.E. Church in Cairo and her remains were taken to Smithland, Kentucky for interment.[4]  My hunch is she is buried without a tombstone beside little Margaret.

Charles Delay and wife Georgia (Ashmore) moved to Scott County, Missouri, where they can be found on the 1880 census in the town of Sylvania with their children, Georgie, Harry, Daisy and Charlie. Georgia Ashmore Delay died at Parker's Station, Missouri on the evening of 21 March 1881. Her remains were taken to Beech Grove Cemetery in Cairo, Illinois for burial.

There ends the saga of the Ashmore family. What was their original connection to Smithland, Kentucky?  What drew them back to Smithland time after time?

Every person has a story to tell. I just wish some of them would speak a little louder.

---

[1] "The Old Cemetery at Smithland, Kentucky," The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Vol. 41 (1943)

by Mrs. Verna Presnell McChesney and Livingston County, Kentucky Cemeteries 1738-1976 by Livingston County, Kentucky Homemaker Clubs, 1977 have the same death date for Margaret Ashmore.

[2] U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-1989, Ancestry.com, accessed 6 February 2017.

[3] U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914, Ancestry.com, accessed 16 February 2017.

[4] "Died," The Cairo Bulletin, Friday, 2 August 1872, p. 4

Published 26 April 2017, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Life Story Told in Obituary

Old newspapers with wonderful obituaries rank high on my list of favorite things. Wonderful obituaries are the ones that give details of the decedent's life that you might not know from just searching public records. The following obituary for Mrs. Harriet Williamson  falls into the category of Wonderful. Although Mrs. Williamson lived in Cairo, Alexander County, Illinois, she was a former resident of Livingston County, Kentucky and, thus, her obituary appeared in the Paducah Sun on 9 February 1905.

Death At Cairo
Mrs. Harriet Williamson, Formerly of Smithland
Her Husband Formerly Owned the Boat Store at Cairo and was a Prominent Man

Cairo, Ill., Feb. 9 - Mrs. Harriet Williamson, aged 74 years, died yesterday afternoon at 5:15 o'clock at her home, 611 Washington avenue, after an illness of more than a year with a complication of diseases.

Mrs. Williamson was born in Hopkinsville, Ky., September 4, 1830. Her maiden name was  Wood. On October 7, 1845, she married John B. Smith, of Smithland, Ky. He died February 6, 1855. On May 11, 1856, she was united in marriage to Capt. G.D. Williamson at Smithland, where they resided until 1859 when he came to Cairo and established the boat store on Ohio street in partnership with the late E.P. Haynes. The latter retired from the business in the early 70s and Capt. Williamson conducted the business until his death in 1893. Mrs. Williamson came to Cairo in 1860.

The deceased is survived by two brothers, W.T. Wood of Bloomington, Ill., and R.G. Wood if Whiting, Kan.; a step-daughter, Mrs. Walton W. Wright, of Memphis, and an adopted daughter, Mrs. Fred E. Allen of Fort Dodge, Ia.

A remarkable coincidence in the life of Mrs. Williamson and her second husband was that the first husband of the former died on the same day as the first wife of the latter. Funeral services were conducted over the remains of both in the old church at Smithland where they were both married. One sermon was preached over the remains of both and they were laid to rest in the same burial ground.

According to Kentucky Vital Statistics (Livingston County), 1855, John B. Smith, first husband of Harriet Wood Smith, died of consumption at the age of 32. The first wife of George D. Williamson was Mina McCawley, daughter of James McCawley of Smithland. She was age 29 when she died. John B. Smith has a tombstone in Smithland Cemetery, but Mina McCawley Williamson has no tombstone.

Published 24 October 2013, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog,  http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Tombstone Tuesday - John H. Wood

John H. Wood
Born
April 4, 1793
Died
Aug. 13, 1858

Buried Smithland Cemetery, Livingston County, Kentucky. Tombstone photographed 1 July 2009.

The name of John H. Wood's first wife is unknown, but we know that he married Mrs. Mary Phillips in 1842 Livingston County. For information on their marriage contract, see Marriage Contract

John H. and Mary Wood appear on the 1850 Livingston County census. John died just a few years later of consumption, according to Livingston County Vital Statistics (Deaths, 1858). He was born in South Carolina; his mother was listed as Nancy and his father was not named.

John left a will recorded in Livingston County Will Book B, page 183, dated 12 April 1858 and probated 5 September 1858. Named in his will are children William L. Wood, Sophia Burnham, Harriet Williamson (wife of George D. Williamson)and Richard G. Wood. George D. Williamson was named as executor of the will.

Published 4 September 2012, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog,  http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/