52 Ancestors - FAVORITE DISCOVERY: Marsh Mash

One of my favorite discoveries goes back to 2016 when I was participating in Amy Johnson Crow’s 31 Days to Better Genealogy Challenge. I was familiar with Linkpendium, but until she challenged us to try it out, I was skeptical that it would be of any use in my Jollett research. But I am nothing if not obedient.

Half-heartedly I entered a simple search: “Jollett” and “WORLDWIDE.” Most of the hits were census records and blogs that mentioned my blog. However, there was ONE hit that caught my eye: Kanawha County Family Tree Project. Kanawha? I didn’t know of any Jolletts in Kanawha, but there they were.

The family was that of Malinda Jollett and her husband Thomas Marsh. Malinda or Melindy was one of the sisters of my 3X great-grandfather Fielding Jollett. I had been unable to trace them after 1850 in Putnam County. The listing in Linkpendium made it clear why they had remained hidden from me for so long. The name Marsh had morphed into MASH, probably a reflection of the Southern soft-R. The family and other Virginians may have pronounced their name “Mahsh” rather than like something one does to a potato.

 

Buffalo Putnam Co WV
Home of many generations of the Mash and related families
photo courtesy West Virginia Culture Archives

The children in the listing on Linkpendium matched the names I had noted in the 1850 census. At last I knew for sure the family had not been wiped out by Indians as I had begun to think.

The other reason this discovery merits the label “favorite” is that I discovered I have never written about this family. Anymore it seems I have very little NEW information to share. Let me introduce the Marsh or er uh the Mash family:

Malinda/Melindy Jollett (c 1800 Orange Co VA - ) & Thomas Marsh (c 1796 VA - ) married 12 Mar 1822 Orange Co VA

1. James Marsh/Mash (1828 Orange Co VA – 11 Jul 1862 Baltimore MD) & Susan Johnson (c 1823 – 1901) married 7 Jan 1843 Mason Co VA

• Lucy Florence Johnson (22 Jan 1844 Mason Co WV – 11 Jul 1932 Kanawha Co WV) & Henry R. Perry (1838-1897) married 1863 Mason Co WV
• Cornelius Pleasant Johnson or Mash (14 May 1850 Putnam Co VA – a 1900 WV) & Caroline Hundley (c 1852 - ) married 1876 ; & Ella Luella Cook (1851-1913) married 1881 Kanawha Co WV

2. Julia Marsh/Mash (c 1830 VA - ) & John Steele (c 1830 - ) married 4 Jul 1852 Putnam Co VA

• Sarah F. Steel (15 Apr 1854 Putnam Co VA - )
• James T. Steel (15 Sep 1856 Putnam Co VA – 5 Jul 1860 Putnam Co VA)
• Mary Maglin Steel (25 Oct 1858 Putnam Co VA - )
• Abram Lewis Steel (23 May1862 Putnam Co VA – 27 Dec 1945 Putnam Co WV) & Virginia Bell Fowler (May 1867 Putnam Co WV – a 1910 ) married 12 Apr 1885 Putnam Co WV
• William H. Steel (1864 Putnam Co VA -16 Aug 1897 Putnam Co WV) & Miriam Oldaker (c 1868 Putnam Co WV - ) married 25 Dec 1889 Putnam Co WV
• Robert C. Steel (9 Sep 1866 Putnam Co WV – 18 Apr 1952 Putnam Co WV)
• Harry Steel (16 Jul 1871 Putnam Co WV - )

3. William Henry Mash (c 1831 VA –) & Minerva Steele (c 1832 - ) married 3 Jun 1851 Putnam Co VA

• Matilda Mash (8 Mar 1850 Putnam Co VA – 19 Sep 1931 Harrison Co WV) & James D. McMann (c 1832 England - ) married 31 May 1878 Mason Co WV ; married James Winters 14 Oct 1916 Harrison Co WV
• Ann Eliza Mash (c 1855 - )
• William H. Mash (10 Dec 1855 Putnam Co VA – 10 Apr 1927 Putnam Co WV) & Catherine E. Brofferd (Jun 1865 Putnam Co WV – 1906 Putnam Co WV) married 11 Oct 1885 Mason Co WV
• John G. Mash (c 1857 Putnam Co VA - ) & Elvira Hayes Legg (13 Mar 1851 – 13 May 1916 Putnam Co, WV) married 15 Feb 1897 Putnam Co WV
• Malinda E. Mash (c 1862 )
• Nettie E. Mash (c 1866 Putnam Co WV - ) & James A. LeMaster (c 1865 Mason Co WV - ) married 14 Jun 1886 Mason Co WV
• Victoria Jane Mash (20 Apr 1869 Putnam Co WV – 6 Sep 1938 Mason Co, WV) & George W. Holdren (c 1866 Kanawha Co, WV - ) married 25 Aug 1887 Mason Co, WV

4. Joseph Mash (c 1834 Rockingham Co VA - ) & Eliza Jane Steele (c 1829 Kanawha Co VA - ) married 20 Aug 1854 Putnam Co VA

• America Ann Mash (3 Jul 1855 Putnam Co VA – ) & James Madison Eads (c 1854 Greenbrier Co VA - ) married 23 Jun 1876 Putnam Co WV
• Minerva Jane Mash (18 Mar 1858 Putnam Co VA – 16 Sep 1936 Mason Co WV) & Jonathan Fielder (Aug 1852 Putnam Co VA – 9 Feb 1926 Mason Co WV) married 21 Jun 1874 Putnam Co WV
• James M. Mash (c 1865 Putnam Co VA – 19 Nov 1888 Mason Co, WV) & Harriet Emily Crump (1867 Mason Co WV - ) married 27 Jul 1884 Mason Co, WV
• Robert L Mash (29 Jul 1867 Putnam Co WV - )
• Elizabeth Ellen Mash (Feb 1870 Putnam Co WV – 7 Sep 1935 Mason Co WV) & William Franklin LeMaster (12 Sep 1865 Mason Co WV – 10 Sep 1948 Mason Co WV) married 19 Jun 1891 Mason Co WV

5. Mary J. Mash (c 1837 VA – )

6. John G. Mash (c 1839 Rockingham Co VA - a 1872) & Sarah Frances Dodson (c 1841 Mason Co VA - ) married 28 Sep 1859 Putnam Co VA

• Bennet Thomas Mash (26 Aug 1860 Mason Co VA - ) & Barbara Ellen Suttle (c 1859 Putnam Co VA - ) married 17 Mar 1881 Putnam Co WV ; & Margaret Ann Lark (c 1861 Putnam Co VA - ) married 24 Aug 1883

7. Benjamin F. Mash (c 1841 - )

8. Sarah Magdalene Mash (31 Dec 1844 VA – 5 Jul 1930 Putnam Co WV) & Marcellus Cash (c 1841 VA – 19 Dec 1932 Putnam Co WV) married 10 Nov 1861 Putnam Co WV

• Emily J. Cash (28 Jul 1861 Putnam Co VA - ) & Charles Oldaker (Mar 1876 Mason Co WV - ) married 29 Dec 1897 Putnam Co WV
• Sarah Ellen Cash (10 Aug 1866 Mason Co VA – 2 Feb 1938 Putnam Co WV) & Benjamin Thomas Oldaker (Jun 1867 WV – 9 Jan 1932 Putnam Co WV) married 1890 Putnam Co WV
• Virginia Cash (1867 Putnam Co WV – 13 Apr Mason Co WV)
• Lucy Ann Catherine Cash (1869 Mason Co WV - 13 Aug 1902 Mason Co WV) & William Alexander Craig (24 Aug 1864 WV – 6 May 1953 Putnam Co WV) married 18 Oct 1891 Putnam Co WV
• Mary Samantha Cash (Jan 1875 Mason Co WV – a 1910 Putnam Co WV) & Ulysses Grant Ray 7 (Mar 1869 Putnam Co WV – 21 Nov 1950 Kanawha Co WV) Married 5 Mar 1891 Putnam Co WV
• Charles W.  Cash (1876 Putnam Co WV – 15 Dec 1878 Mason Co WV)
• Henry T. Cash (June 1878 Mason Co WV – 31 Dec 1878 Mason Co WV)
• Theodore Cash (12 Apr 1878 Putnam Co WV - 1 Jul 1959 Putnam Co WV) & Miriam Steel OR Oldaker (14 Jul 1868 Putnam Co WV – 14 Sep 1943 Putnam Co WV) married 27 Dec 1898 Putnam Co WV
• Mariah Cash (Sep 1886 Putnam Co WV - ) & Henry Edward McGrew (c 1869 Putnam Co WV - ) married 11 Nov 1900 Putnam Co WV

In tracking just 3 generations, I have already found several things worth exploring and writing about: several Civil War soldiers and casualties, a murder (!), and some confusion about the intermarriages of Mash, Steel, and Oldaker.

Time to get my thinking cap on!

NOTE: Updated 4 May 2020 - removed Thomas Daniel Mash as a child of Thomas and Melinda

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”

Wendy

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