Category Archives: Genealogy

Samuel Thomas DeMoss

04 Tuesday Nov 2014

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Samuel-Lillian-DeMoss

Thursday of this week marks the anniversaries of the deaths of two men in my direct family tree.  Today I’ll talk about the older of the two–my grandfather Samuel Thomas DeMoss, Sr.

Samuel was the third child of Samuel I. and Blanche (Cox) DeMoss, born February 25, 1918 in probably Knox County, IN.  He had two older sisters, Doris and Frances, and a younger brother William.  The 1920 census has the family living in Taylor Township, Greene County and in Edwardsport in 1930.

Samuel married Lillian Edeine Fielden on April 23, 1937.  They are residing in Edwardsport in the 1940 census.  He is reported having finished 4 years of high school, and Lester Bemis is living with them.  Lester is incorrectly listed as his father-in-law, and I will explain this in more detail on November 25.  Samuel and Edeine went on to have seven children, four of which grew to maturity.  On November 6, 1955, Samuel succumbed to throat cancer, leaving behind a wife and four children.  He is buried in the Edwardsport Town Cemetery.

I don’t know a whole lot more about my grandfather.  My dad was only twelve when he died and no one really talked about him by the time my siblings and cousins were around.  I know that he was a farmer and that his neighbors pitched in to help get that last year’s crop in.  Oddly enough, while visiting my college roommate’s grandparents one afternoon, I discovered her grandfather had been one of those kind enough to help the family in their time of need.

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Taylor Township is in Greene County, IN between Odon and Bloomfield.  The junction of I-69 and US 231 is in Taylor Township.

George Washington Winkler

03 Monday Nov 2014

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George Washington Winkler was one of my third great grandfathers.  He was born March 21, 1843 in Indiana, possibly in Greene County.  The identity of his parents is currently unconfirmed.  There are a few researchers who have linked him to Henry Winkler and Lucy Whitton, but I haven’t yet seen documentation confirming this and have doubts these are his parents.  In 1880, Harriet Murray, 15, is listed in his household as his half-sister.  Backtracking to 1870, Harriet is found with her parents Samuel and Sophia Murray, leading me to believe George’s mother’s name was Sophia.  Unfortunately, a maiden name has not been determined.  George’s whereabouts are unknown prior to his marriage to Josephine Lankford.  He did serve in the War Between the States in the 80th Regiment of the Indiana Infantry, Company C, along with many others scattered about the family tree.

Josephine and George were married in Wheatland in 1861.  They were blessed with the following children:

  • Elisabeth Jane (1862-1926)
  • Sarah Frances (1866-1936)
  • Sophia (1868-1940)
  • George (1871-?)
  • Samuel (1872-1873)
  • William (1874-1948)
  • Charles (1877-1877)
  • Clara Mae (1878-1969)
  • Thomas (1880-1947)
  • Bertha (1884-1961)
  • Maude Nellie (1886-1956)

Sarah, who is my 2nd great grandmother, went on to marry Samuel T. DeMoss who became a prominent businessman in the Edwardsport area.

George lived most of his life in Edwardsport (Vigo Township).  After Josephine died in 1890, he married Katie Bean in Greene County on December 4, 1892.  That marriage didn’t last very long, although how it ended is not readily known since I cannot locate Katie anywhere else.  George then married Mary Emma (Watkins) Bartlett on June 26, 1894 in Knox County. Emma was born in Illinois, possibly Fayette County, about 1849.  She married Milton Bartlett in the late 1860’s and they moved to the Edwardsport area in the mid-1870’s.  He died sometime between 1885 and 1894.

George and Emma, along with several of his children and her youngest daughter Carrie, were residing in the Freelandville area (Widner Township) in 1900. George passed away on December 12, 1909 in Freelandville where he is supposed to be buried.  Mary Emma is listed in subsequent census rolls: 1910 in Widner Township, 1920 in Busseron Township, and 1930 in Oaktown on Hickory Street.  Since she is missing from the 1940 lists, it’s assumed that she died sometime during the 1930’s.

 

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Fayette County Illinois is west of Effingham.

Busseron Township is south of Oaktown, IN.

William DeMoss and Elizabeth Lowe

02 Sunday Nov 2014

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Today’s highlighted family is that of William J. and Elizabeth Lowe DeMoss.  They are my 4th great grandparents on my dad’s side.

Based on 1850 census data, William was born around 1803 in Kentucky.  I have no concrete information on his parents, but he was possibly from the Fleming County area based on information found in other family trees on Ancestry.com.  One researcher names his parents as William and Polly DeMoss, but I haven’t found any documentation supporting this as of yet.

Elizabeth Lowe was born on August 15, 1806 in Kentucky.  It is believed that her parents are Isaac and Margaret McLees Lowe.  It’s also thought that the Lowes were from the Fleming County area.

William and Elizabeth were probably married around  1825, but no marriage records have yet to be located. Based on census records, they were in Fleming Co, KY in 1830 and had moved to Reeve Township, Daviess Co, IN by 1840.  The 1850 census lists the following children belonging to William and Elizabeth.  Based on information in the early census rolls, there may be two more sons older than Elizabeth who had left home by 1850.

  • Elizabeth (b. 1831)
  • Isaac (b. 3-31-1833)
  • John (b. 1836)
  • William (b. 10-3-1837)
  • Democrat (b. 1840)
  • Mary (b. 1841)
  • Squire (b. 5-2-1846)
  • Fleming (b. 1848)

William is hard to find in 1860.  It’s possible he was working as a farm hand in Steen Township, Knox County.  This is plausible since he is listed just before Benjamin Lankford and his family.  Benjamin’s yet unborn granddaughter Sarah Winkler ends up marrying William’s toddler grandson Samuel.  Sam and Sarah are my 2nd great grandparents.  William cannot be found in 1870 census records so it’s possible he passed on sometime during that decade.  My next trip home may include a search of the cemeteries in the Wheatland area.

Elizabeth is missing in the 1860 census, but she shares a headstone with her daughter-in-law Mary Reeve DeMoss (William’s wife) in the Edwardsport Town Cemetery.  Elizabeth’s date of death was July 13, 1864.  Both Isaac and William married Reeve sisters, so it’s not out of the question that Elizabeth was either living nearby or with one of them.

Of William and Elizabeth’s children, further information is available for only a few of them.  As mentioned above, Isaac and William married two sisters and settled in the Edwardsport area.  Both lines are fairly well traced with Isaac being my 3rd great grandfather.  John appears to have stayed in Daviess County with his family for quite a while.  At some point, he and several of his grown sons were living in the Decker, IN area.  Knox County death records have his death listed in the Wheatland area in 1908.  Squire was listed in 1870 living with John in Daviess County and was buried there in 1871.  No information has yet to be located on young Elizabeth, Democrat, Mary, Fleming or their two older brothers.

 

 

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Fleming County, Kentucky is northeast of Lexington.
Reeve Township is in the southeast corner of Daviess County IN, south of Montgomery and Loogootee.
Steen Township is the area around Wheatland, IN and borders Daviess Co.

My Family Tree Project & NaBloPoMo

01 Saturday Nov 2014

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Back in the late 1990s, before I had kids, I really got bit by the genealogy bug.  The internet was in its early stages and databases, like the Social Security Death Index, were starting to pop up.  Bulletin boards could be found on various sites and I was able to connect with others who were distantly connected to my tree.  My dad’s sister had shared quite a bit of information she had compiled, and I eventually got my hands on an extensive piece of work one of my mom’s cousins had put together.

Organizing the data had become easier from when my predecessors had done it.  There were computers and family tree software; unfortunately I switched from Apple to Microsoft in the middle and compatibility was an issue.  I had hard copies of everything, so I was back to square one with data entry. Buggy software didn’t help and, after the arrival of my kids, my research took a backseat for many years.  I attempted to get back at it a few times, but other activities lured me away time and time again.

Every now and again, a niece or nephew has a school project involving the family tree, and my sisters automatically turn to me for help.  I have been wanting to put it all together, combining information from both sides, into one document for them.  My biggest obstacle was keeping it manageable.  Finally, a couple weeks ago, I decided now was the time to put this thing together and I had an epiphany on how I wanted to do it.  A couple days later, WordPress announced NaBloPoMo, and I realized taking the blogging challenge could help me get it all together in one place AND keep me motivated to work on it.

So.  Here I am.  I’m dedicating the month of November to developing the stories about those in my direct line.  Some posts will be lengthy, others not.  If you have information to add, please feel free.