Some thoughts on the family of my 5th generation great grandfather, Sherman Thomas Johnson.
Lydia B. Ferris (1837-1929) is the second wife of Sherman Thomas Johnson (1798-1880). They married in 1870 when Lydia was 31. Sherman's brother Clark Johnson's (1813-1892) first wife Polly Ferris (abt 1815-1849) died at the age of 34, when Lydia was only about 12 years old. I am curious how these two ladies are related. My current theory is that Polly is Lydia's aunt. I think Polly is the sister of Lydia's father Joseph Ferris (1812-1864). Joseph Ferris is the son of John Ferris (1787-1869) and Mary Salome Zerbe (1787-1867) and I think Polly is thier daughter or niece.
Additionally, Sherman and Clark both had two wives, and between the two of them fathered 22 children (of only six were boys, Clark only had one son, and nine daughters). I am not sure why this intreagues me so much, perhaps because I have a blended family of children, and it is interesting to know that it has been happening thoughout the ages (though not through a product of divorce).
Dawn T. sent me a list of deeds issued in Hinckley, Medina, OH in November that I was just able to process today. this family is listed in numerous places, but the one worth noting for this topic is that Lydia as grantor on behalf of her husband Sherman sold a piece of property to James N. Mattingly for $4576.25. This was signed on April 18, 1880 and in today's terms this amounts to $105,028.56. They were living in Almira, Benzie, MI at the time. Considering Sherman died shortly after, it would appear, at least currently, that Lydia was not left in dire straits, even though she had five children under the age of 10.
A Cluster-Based Research Family Genealogy Blog
Showing posts with label Johnson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Johnson. Show all posts
Friday, February 8, 2013
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Isreal Alden and Hannah Johnson
The ancestral line that people are probably most interested about in my family is the one that traces us back to John Alden and Pricsilla Mullins of the Mayflower. John and Pricsilla Alden were my 10th generation great-grandparents. I have learned more about history and humanity through the genealogy of this line that I can share in my lifetime. There are thousands of people researching the Alden lines, and so I thought I would branch out and work on the wives (grandmothers).
My most recent work has been on the Hannah Johnson (1824 – 1908) line. She was married to Isreal Timothy Alden (1824 – 1892). This couple spent the latter part of their life in Iowa, and my great-grandmother, Iva Ann Kretsinger (1893 – 1967), was born in Iowa while my young great-great-grandparents Eldridge Ulysses Kretsinger (1871 – 1955) and Lottie Mae Knodle (1872 – 1954) (Hannah's grandson and his wife) were working on the Alden farm following Isreal's death.
I have written a lengthy biographical sketch about Hannah's father, Sherman Thomas Johnson (1798 – 1880) that I am reserving for publication at some point. Sherman has been a mystery for some 20 years, due to his popular last name it was unclear if he was indeed Hannah's father.
A Story of Discovery:
Enter the 1910 Federal Census. I randomly pulled up this census in front of my class (in 2011), where I was teaching how to read one. I had never looked at it before because "I knew this family and all of their records" etc. I noticed that there were two boys listed as "1st-cousin-in-laws" to Samuel Kretsinger, essentially making them the foster brothers of Eldridge. The adopted children have never been mentioned anywhere except for the 1910 and then following 1920 census. These brothers turned out to be Johnson decendents.
These boys were the children of Cora Anna McKee (1869 – 1908) and she was the first cousin of Phoebe Ann Alden. When Cora died, her children were spread between two families of relatives in the Lincoln County, MN area. Eventually it came out that Cora's mother was Elizabeth Johnson, sister of Hannah, and they both were mentioned in various biographical sketches, and other sources. I was able to track these details back to to Sherman, and considering that Hannah's first child is Abner Sherman Alden (named after the fathers on both sides of the family) it really began to fit nicely together.
I have been agressively working with a cousin who seems to have found Sherman's father's will, and really is putting to rest some of the outstanding issues. I hope to get to the will soon, when we get the house finished and I can spread out a bit more...
My most recent work has been on the Hannah Johnson (1824 – 1908) line. She was married to Isreal Timothy Alden (1824 – 1892). This couple spent the latter part of their life in Iowa, and my great-grandmother, Iva Ann Kretsinger (1893 – 1967), was born in Iowa while my young great-great-grandparents Eldridge Ulysses Kretsinger (1871 – 1955) and Lottie Mae Knodle (1872 – 1954) (Hannah's grandson and his wife) were working on the Alden farm following Isreal's death.
I have written a lengthy biographical sketch about Hannah's father, Sherman Thomas Johnson (1798 – 1880) that I am reserving for publication at some point. Sherman has been a mystery for some 20 years, due to his popular last name it was unclear if he was indeed Hannah's father.
A Story of Discovery:
Enter the 1910 Federal Census. I randomly pulled up this census in front of my class (in 2011), where I was teaching how to read one. I had never looked at it before because "I knew this family and all of their records" etc. I noticed that there were two boys listed as "1st-cousin-in-laws" to Samuel Kretsinger, essentially making them the foster brothers of Eldridge. The adopted children have never been mentioned anywhere except for the 1910 and then following 1920 census. These brothers turned out to be Johnson decendents.
These boys were the children of Cora Anna McKee (1869 – 1908) and she was the first cousin of Phoebe Ann Alden. When Cora died, her children were spread between two families of relatives in the Lincoln County, MN area. Eventually it came out that Cora's mother was Elizabeth Johnson, sister of Hannah, and they both were mentioned in various biographical sketches, and other sources. I was able to track these details back to to Sherman, and considering that Hannah's first child is Abner Sherman Alden (named after the fathers on both sides of the family) it really began to fit nicely together.
I have been agressively working with a cousin who seems to have found Sherman's father's will, and really is putting to rest some of the outstanding issues. I hope to get to the will soon, when we get the house finished and I can spread out a bit more...
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