52 Ancestors: #12 - Elizabeth JOLLETT King

Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued a challenge:  write one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor.  It can be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem – anything that focuses on one ancestor.

James and Nancy Jollett were on a roll with those daughters.  Number 4 was Elizabeth Jollett, born about 1796 in Orange County, Virginia.  The little bit of her life that remains on record can be found in 3 census records, a listing in a marriage register, and a death record.

On May 20, 1822, James signed permission for young Elizabeth to marry Reuben King. Her brother Simeon served as witness and bondsman.

Now Reuben is an enigma.  As unlikely as it sounds, the name “Reuben King” was as popular as John Smith.  A search for the name finds a large number of Civil War records for ol’ Reuben, but it is highly unlikely that they could be THIS Reuben’s records.   He would have been much too old to serve. 

In 1810 there is a Reuben King listed as head of household in Rockingham County.  A marriage record dated 1809 in Rockingham for the union of Reuben to Anna Sipe suggests this is the family.  But that marriage predates the 1822 marriage of Reuben and Elizabeth.  

OK, Elizabeth could be a second wife.  A much younger second wife.  It happened all the time when a widower needed someone to step in and care for his children.

However, there is no evidence that Reuben was widowed or that Elizabeth became stepmother to the large number of children in the King family of 1820.  

In 1830, back in Orange County where Elizabeth’s parents lived, the ages and gender of James’s household suggest there could be a son-in-law and grandchildren there.  But the numbers do not match the 1820 Reuben King family.  Perhaps that family was old enough to be on their own and he was starting over with Elizabeth.  Or this is an entirely different Reuben King.

Sometime after 1830, I believe Reuben King dropped out of the picture either by desertion or death.  In the 1840 Greene County, Virginia census, the ages and gender of the 5 members of the household fit James Jollett (70-80), Elizabeth King and her sister (females 40-50), and their respective daughters (20-30).   No Reuben King in the state of Virginia.

In 1850, Elizabeth King was head of household in Greene County, probably in the house she grew up in, maybe taking over when her father passed away.  Living with her were her daughter Columbia, future son-in-law Thomas Marsh, and a sister and niece.

In 1860, the 76 year old Elizabeth, who could neither read nor write, was living in the household of Thomas Marsh, husband to her daughter Columbia.  Elizabeth now had one grandson whose name appears first as “E T.” 

By 1870, Thomas had moved the family to Rockingham County.  Elizabeth was still with him, Columbia, and the grandson “Elliott.”  Also in the household is someone named Susan Jolliffe.  Even if that is a miss-hearing and misspelling of Jollett, I don’t know who it is.

In 1878, Elizabeth’s death was reported by Frances Jollett who is listed as her granddaughter.  I believe Frances was actually a niece, not a granddaughter since Thomas and Columbia had no other children besides Elliott. 

THREE Generations:

Elizabeth JOLLETT (Abt 1796 Orange County, Virginia – 20 Aug 1878 Rockingham County, Virginia) & Reuben KING 20 May 1822 Orange County, Virginia

1. Columbia Ann KING (1825 – Aft 1902) & Thomas J. MARSH (1816 Orange County, Virginia - 18 May 1898 McGaheysville, Virginia ) 7 Feb 1852 Greene County, Virginia

• Elliott MARSH (29 Mar 1860 Greene County, Virginia – Before 1900)

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

A to Z April Challenge: T is for Tabatha

This is Day 20 of the A to Z April Challenge.  My theme is women with unusual names although I must cheat now and then or I’ll have a name and no story.

is for Tabatha.  I always thought “Tabatha” was a new name invented by the writers of “Bewitched.”  Do you remember Tabatha?  She was the witchy daughter of Samantha and Darrin Stephens.

These little actresses played Tabatha Stephens
on "Bewitched"

So I was surprised to learn we have a VERY OLD Tabatha in the family, specifically Tabatha Jollett of Greene County, Virginia.  Gathering her complete story is difficult.  If her name is on a will, a deed, a marriage or death certificate, I have not found it.  She appears by name in only two census records.  In 1850 Greene County, she is listed as 50 years old, living with Elizabeth (Jollett) King (54), Thomas Marsh (34), Fanny Jollett (28), and Columbia King (25).  No relationships are indicated.

In 1860, Elizabeth was living with Thomas and C.A. Marsh, so it is safe to assume that Columbia was her daughter, and now Thomas was her son-in-law.  “T” (age 63) and “FEA” Jollett (age 39) were on their own in Greene County.  So likely Fanny was Tabatha’s daughter. 

The question then is whether Tabatha was Elizabeth’s unmarried sister with a child out of wedlock or possibly a sister-in-law.  If she had married a Jollett boy, the only candidate would be James Jr. who left in the early 1830s headed for Indiana with his sister Clarissa and brother-in-law John Sampson.  However, James claimed he never married.  But if he deserted his wife and child, he might have lied too.

Looking at the 1830 and 1840 census records for James and Nancy Jollett, Elizabeth’s parents, Tabatha and Fanny could very well have been living in the household.  The numbers fit:

1830 Orange Co, VA Census (part of Orange became Greene in 1838)

Males 
1 15-20 – best guess James Jr.

1 20-30 – best guess Reuben King

1 50-60 - best guess James Jollett

Females 
2 under 5 – best guess Fanny Jollett and Columbia King

2 20-30 – best guess Tabatha Jollett and Elizabeth King  
1 60-70 – best guess  Nancy Jollett

1840 Greene Co, VA Census

Males
1 70-80 – probably James Jollett (listed as James Jolly)

Females
2 40-50 – best guess Elizabeth King and Tabatha Jollett

2 20-30 – best guess Elizabeth’s daughter Columbia King and Tabatha’s daughter Fanny Jollett

Either way, it fits for Tabatha to be a daughter or abandoned daughter-in-law.

Now there is one more piece of weirdness to confound the question:  When Elizabeth King died, her death was reported by “Fanny Jollett, granddaughter.”  That makes no sense at all.  That has to have been a recording error.  Fanny might have been Elizabeth’s niece, but certainly not her granddaughter. 

For more Terrific Tales, Trot on over to the A to Z April Challenge.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.