Surname Saturday – Addie Flock and Frank Tharp

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about finding Caroline Flock in the Enid City Directories at Ancestry.com.  At the time, Caroline was living with her second daughter, Addie Tharp.  I have since done some research into Addie and her life. I was amazed how much I was able to find in a short amount of time about my great-great-grand aunt.

Addie was born Adeline Martha Flock November 5, 1863 in Iowa.  She is enumerated with her parents as Martha in the 1870 and 1880 federal census.  The 1875 Kansas census lists her as “A.”  She is then listed as Addie in the 1885 Kansas census.

I have not found out the exact date but at some point Addie moved to Oregon in the late 1890’s.  I have found the 1900 Federal Census record for Addie’s brother, Pearl.  His son, John F., was born in Oregon in 1899.  It is a very possible that Addie traveled to Oregon with Pearl and his wife, Mary.  Addie married Frank Tharp December 19, 1897 in Albany, Benton, Oregon.

Flock Tharp Marriage

The 1900 Federal Census finds Frank and Addie living in Fairmont Precinct, Benton, Oregon with Frank’s two daughters from a previous marriage.  I believe from a photo I found on Ancestry.com of the family that Addie is Frank’s third wife.

Tharp Frank 1900 census

Frank and Addie farmed in the same area for some time.  They are found again in the Fairmount Precinct in the 1910 and 1920 census.  In the picture below, the enumeration district is pretty much everything west of the Willamette River.  It is just north of Corvallis, Oregon.

Fairmont Precinct

Addie and Frank were married for 23 years when Frank passed away on March 1, 1920 in Albany, Linn, Oregon.  He was buried in the cemetery there.

Tharp, Frank Tombstone

Addie is next found living with her mother in Oklahoma in the 1926 Enid City Directory.  I do not know how soon after Frank’s death that she moved East.  It must have been a very different trip traveling to Oklahoma in the 1920’s then traveling to Oregon thirty years earlier.

Tharp Addie 1930 census

Addie stayed in Enid, Oklahoma after her mother’s death.  She passed away October 3, 1953 and was buried in the same cemetery as her mother.

Tharp, Addie Tombstone

Treasure Chest Thursday – Jane (Berry) Ramsey

I am back again for another set of documents from my Ancestry.com shoebox.  This week I will be focusing on Jane Ramsey.  She is one of the few 4th great grandmothers I have identified on my family tree.

Ramsey line

 

I had two documents that had been saved to my shoebox.  This was a first round of searches after identifying Jane Berry as the mother of Amner Caroline Ramsey.  I made the connection from A. Caroline’s death certificate.  The first saved item was the Ramsey family in the Iowa State Census in 1856.  They were enumerated in Washington Township, Appanoose County, Iowa with the last name Ramsay.  (A common name variation)  Jane is listed second on the list just under her husband Joseph.  She is 52 at the time.  Also listed are most of her children: Robert, Sarah, Caroline, Joseph, and William.

The 1856 Iowa State census is fascinating because it has many questions about the land the families were working.  The Ramsey family was living on 140 acres.  Sixty of these acres were improved land for farming.  They harvested 100 bushels of spring wheat, 300 bushels of oats, and 1000 bushels of corn the prior year.  They also sold 24 hogs for $75 and 7 cattle for $45.

Ramsey Family 1856

 

The second item in my Ancestry shoebox was the 1870 US Federal Census Mortality Schedule.  Jane died the same year as the census so she was listed in the mortality schedule with more information.

Ramsey Jane Mortality schedule

 

Jane Ramsey passed away 18 march 1870 in Washington Township, Appanoose County, Iowa.  Her husband is found in the 1870 census living with his son Robert a few short months after Jane’s death.

A bonus of saving these records to my computer is that I noticed in the right hand column of the image reader a list of suggested records on Ancestry.com.  One of the suggestions was an entry at www.FindAGrave.com.  I checked it out and it seems to be my Jane.  I have saved the information to my computer.  I have also contacted the person who maintains the memorial because I think we may be distantly related.

I checked my digital files and found that I already had the 1850 and 1860 federal census enumerations for the Ramsey family.  I need to make a research plan for this family.  There is a lot of information that I do not know about them.

Mappy Monday – The Many Moves Of The Flock Family

Matthias Flock is my 4th great grandfather.  (me->my mom->Roberta Mitchell->Opal Strickler->Effie Flock->John Flock->Matthias Flock).  He was born about 1813 in New Jersey.  He died between 1860-1870 in either Appanoose County, Iowa or York County, Nebraska.  He married Margaret Fankboner in 1835 in Tuscarawas, Ohio.  I have documented 11 children born between 1835 and 1860.

One of the things that really sticks out to me about this family is how much they moved during their lifetime.  I created a timeline in excel to get a better idea of when and where the family lived.  As they moved from place to place, they seemed to leave a couple of kids behind in each location. (Not Literally! The kids would stay in a town after they married.)

Using the information I had gathered in the excel sheet, I created a google map to get a better visual idea of how the Flock family moved around the United States.  First they moved west, then South.

The excel sheet was pretty long so here is a quick snap shot of the family’s moves:

about 1813 – Matthias Flock is born in New Jersey
about 1815 – Margaret Fankboner is born in Pennsylvania
1835 – Matthias and Margaret marry in Tuscarawas County, Ohio
1835-1850 – The Flock’s live in Tuscarawas, Ohio as seven of their children are born
1850-1854 – The Flock’s live in Coles County, Ohio and have 2 more children
1855-1865? – The Flock’s live in Appanoose County, Iowa and have their last child
1865?- 1878? – Margaret now a widow, lives in York County, Nebraska.  One of her son’s remainded behind in Iowa and did not make this move.
1878-1884?  – Margaret moves in with son John and his family in Washington County, Kansas.  She has left another couple of sons in York, Iowa.
1884- 1904 – Margaret is no longer living with John.  She is found again in 1904 in the Cemetery in Ringwood, Oklahoma.  One of her sons, Charles, is also buried there with his family.  It is possible that she lived her last years in Oklahoma with him. An interesting note is that another son, John, died in Enid, Oklahoma.  Enid and Ringwood are only 21 miles apart.  For this family, that is a small distance.

When my ancestors moved in the mid and late 1800’s, they were definitely part of America’s great Western Expansion.  I took a look at the BLM website to search for any land patents.  I was amazed to see that most of Matthias and Margaret’s sons applied for patents in Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.  I will have to spend some time learning more about the Homestead Act of 1862 and my ancestors roll in populating the west.