Week 32: Small #52 Ancestors
Sometimes a small but overlooked piece of information can change everything.
I have been working on this blog for some weeks now. I know, I know – I am late and way behind our fearless leader, Amy Johnson Crow. I’ve had serious writers-block all summer.
Any-who, I was looking into the Elliott and Field families who are ancestors of my husband with the intention of writing about them when I got caught down a rabbit-hole. I kept coming across Lewis J. Field and I just couldn’t figure out how he fit in with the family. I knew that he had to connect somehow since he settled in Effingham County, Illinois near all the other Fields and Elliotts I knew were ancestors. Yet, for the life of me, I just couldn’t make the connection.
As with anything that seems impossible, the advice is always to tackle it like you would eat an elephant: one bite at a time.
I started with Lewis and dove into his life. I discovered that in 1866 his daughter, Mary Frances Field married Thomas Jefferson Dunn, a grandson of Elijah Elliott, who I knew was my husband’s fourth great-grandfather. While that is an Elliott-Field connection, it is just not the one I was looking for. You see, it was actually Lewis’ father Ambrose who initially settled in Illinois so the family connection had to pre-date Mary and Thomas’ marriage.
Since the family connection was clear with Thomas and Mary, I started with them and worked my way back, building that family tree brick by brick:
· Mary Frances Field was the daughter of Lewis J. Field, MD and Frances T. Conrey.[1]
· Lewis J. Field, MD, was the son of Ambrose Field and Elizabeth Reeder.[2]
· Ambrose Field was likely the son of Thomas Field and Lydia Lawrence.
· Thomas Field was the son of John Field and Margaret Pearl, my husband’s fifth great-grandparents.
Bingo!
Not as easy as it looks. You see, I never had Thomas as a son for John and Margaret in my family tree nor any of his descendants until yesterday.
Here’s what I think I learned about Thomas:
Thomas was born about 1770 (plus or minus) in Virginia but only think this because I found a marriage record for him in Fauquier County, VA, dated 1793.[3] But how do I know this is the correct Thomas since the marriage bond does not name his father or mother? [As I have noted before, the biggest trap inexperience (and experienced) researchers fall into is “the name’s the same.” Meaning “this must be my ancestor because it is the same name.” Yeah, not so much.] I did some collateral research and found that the probable sisters of Thomas (Polly and Elander aka “Nelly”) were married in 1793 and 1798, respectively, in Fauquier County and Polly’s marriage return identifies her father as John.[4]
Okay that makes sense, but is it enough?
Of course not.
Then I “discovered” a document that I already had that closed this loop. Silly me.
Several years ago (maybe more like “many”) I grabbed a document from another Field tree that mentioned John Field, his wife Margaret and some of their children. I didn’t pay much attention to it at the time – it must have been one of those days when I wasn’t too terribly focused (“Squirrel!”). Going back to it now made me slap my forehead. This small and overlooked document turned out to be just one page of many that provided a wealth of information and tied Thomas to my husband’s ancestors.
Long story short: For some reason that I have yet to discover, John and Margaret Field wound up being indebted to a Mary Howell for $420. Their son-in-law Thomas Power (Polly’s husband) and son William acted as sureties and John and Margaret sold all of their personal property to Thomas and William for $1,000.[5] However, because they had used real estate bequeathed to Margaret by her father to buy that personal property, they needed to list all of their heirs.[6]
Hot dog!
Not only did these documents confirm that Margaret’s father was William Pearl, but it named all their living children, including the elusive Thomas. And to think I had ignored this small piece of paper when it opened so many doors for me.
SMDH
[1] Edgar County, Illinois, Marriage Register A:168, Lewis J. Fields and Frances Conrey, 3 February 1842; digital image, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.com : accessed 24 August 2020), FHL microfilm 4,661,387, image 697 of 737.
1860 U.S. census, Effingham County, Illinois, population schedule, Township 6 Range 6E, p. 1107 (penned), dwelling 1145, family 1148, L.J. Field; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 August 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll not noted.
[2] Effingham County, Illinois, Marriage Register 1:113, Louis J. Fields and Hannah Wooley, 11 Jan 1885; digital image, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.com : accessed 24 August 2020), FHL microfilm 4,661,378, image 121 of 513.
[3] Fauquier County, Virginia, Marriage Bonds and Returns, No. 1, 1759-1800, page 404, marriage bond for Thomas Fields and Lydia Lawrence, 25 November 1793; digital image, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.com : accessed 24 August 2020), FHL microfilm 7,578,972, image 232 of 688.
[4] Fauquier County, Virginia, Marriage Bonds and Returns, No. 1, 1759-1800, page 397, marriage bond for Thomas Power and Polly Field, 9 September 1793; digital image, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.com : accessed 24 August 2020), FHL microfilm 7,578,972, image 228 of 688. Fauquier County, Virginia, Marriage Bonds and Returns, No. 2, 1795-1805, page 144, marriage bond for Henry Henderson and Nelly Fields, 31 October 1798; digital image, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.com : accessed 24 August 2020), FHL microfilm 7,578,972, image 338 of 688.
[5] Including two slaves named Ralph and Minna.
[6] Bracken County, Kentucky, Deed Book C:346-7, Thomas Power and William Field agreement with John Field, 8 December 1804; digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.com : accessed 24 August 2020), FHL microfilm 7,900,758 images 200-01 of 604. Bracken County, Kentucky, Deed Book C:350-1, Thomas Power and William Field agreement with John Field, 8 December 1804; digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.com : accessed 24 August 2020), FHL microfilm 7,900,758 images 202-3 of 604.
Lewis J. Field, MD. William Henry Perrin, ed., History of Effingham County, Illinois (Illustrated) (Chicago: O.L. Basken & Co., 1883), 171; digital image, Google Books (http://play.google.com : accessed 25 August 2020).