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

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Email and Elusive Ancestors

My blog has been rather quiet recently. The excuses reasons are numerous: working on house projects, vacationing, helping others with research, writing another Jollett family history book, blah blah blah.

Then an email arrived to spur me back into the ring, but it was not a result of “cousin bait” doing its best to lure new contacts who might share photos and stories about our common ancestor. No, the email was from someone who will remain a stranger. Still, I am grateful for what he had to tell me.

“Ron” and a friend had recently purchased an old box of weaving drafts. They are making it their mission to identify the women that wrote them and learn their story. One of the drafts was signed by Miss Frances Jollette and another by Fannie E. Jollett, same woman. One more was written on reused paper with a note on the back:

While I do not know the circumstances of this transaction, I suspect Henry Sampson
was son of Smith Sampson, who would have been Fannie's cousin.
Smith's mother and Fannie's mother were sisters.

Not surprisingly, when Ron Googled “Frances Jollett,” my blog popped up. What he learned from my blog about Fannie Jollett was not much, just the bare minimum: a year of birth, the name of her mother, and her association with a few family members. No real story. Not even a date of death.

Ron’s email reminded me that I have not thought about Fannie Jollett in quite some time. She has always been just a minor character in the drama of my family tree. Yet she is the star in a minor contradiction that has me puzzled. Let me start from the beginning.

Fannie was born in Orange County, Virginia in 1822, the daughter of Tabatha Jollett. Just going by the tick marks in early census records when only the head of household was named, Tabatha was likely an unmarried daughter of James Jollett and Nancy Walker Jollett. I do not see a spot for an unnamed son who might have married a girl named Tabatha and left her widowed before 1850, so I am sticking with my theory of “unwed daughter.”

In 1850, Tabatha and daughter Fannie were living in the household of Elizabeth Jollett King (daughter of James and Nancy) and her daughter Columbia. By 1860, Tabatha and Fannie were on their own in Greene County even though they seemed to have no visible means of support. If Fannie earned a living as a weaver, she did not declare it in the census. Elizabeth had moved to Rockingham County to live with her daughter who married Thomas Marsh in 1853.

Tabatha apparently died before 1870, so it is no surprise to find Fannie once again in the household of her COUSIN Columbia Marsh along with husband Thomas Marsh and mother Elizabeth King. I emphasize “COUSIN” because in 1878 when Elizabeth King died, Fannie - not Columbia - was the informant. In the record, Fannie claimed she was Elizabeth’s GRANDDAUGHTER.

So there is the minor puzzle. How could Fannie be Columbia’s COUSIN as well as Elizabeth’s GRANDDAUGHTER? I cannot come up with a scenario that makes sense. If Fannie was indeed Elizabeth’s granddaughter, then Tabatha was Elizabeth’s daughter making Columbia Fannie’s aunt, not cousin - unless, Columbia was also Elizabeth’s granddaughter, of course. However, there is no evidence of that being so. If Fannie was indeed Columbia’s cousin, then Tabatha and Elizabeth were sisters (or maybe sisters-in-law). But then why did Fannie claim to be Elizabeth’s granddaughter?

Since Fannie is such a distant relation, the puzzle has not been important to me until now. That email revived my interest in this elusive ancestor. I recalled that some time ago I found a chancery cause at the Library of Virginia in which Peter Haynes sued Fannie Jollett for failure to make payments on property she purchased from him.

It seems that in 1866 Fannie Jollett purchased from Peter Haynes twenty-five acres two miles east of McGaheysville in Rockingham County, Virginia.  She promised to pay in four annual installments, but apparently failed to follow through. Haynes claimed she was wasting the land by selling off the timber thus making the property less valuable. He further claimed that since she was insolvent, the only recourse would be for the Court to seize the property and sell it.

The case became more complicated because Miss Fannie Jollett had sold one-quarter of an acre to a group of men who wished to build a school. While the group did not object to Fannie’s land being sold out from under her, they considered their little purchase from her a good and valid sale.

Fannie did not just roll over. Her answer to Haynes was that she had made some partial payments but did not pay the full amount annually because she learned Haynes did not have a clear title to the property which actually belonged to a man named Mathias Kersh. Kersh was then added to the suit, but the evidence showed that Haynes was on the side of right. He did indeed have a clear title to the property in question.

In 1873 it became clear that Fannie was losing the battle. The question became whether she had paid Haynes anything at all, how much and when, and whether to sell the 24 ¾ acres as one parcel or two. Counsel for the defense brought in Fannie’s COUSIN Columbia Marsh as a witness. Here is part of the deposition:

Question by Def[ense] Counsel.  Do you know of your own knowledge of any payment of money by the Deft [Defendant]  Frances E. Jollett to the Piff [Plaintiff] Peter Haynes on the land mentioned in this cause if so state the amt. of said payment and the time and place it was made.

Ans  In the year 1868 or 1869 I saw Frances E. Jollett  pay said Haynes $40 at her own house.

2 By same  Did Haynes have the bond or bonds with him

Ans  No Sir he did not have them

3 By same  Did Miss Jollet take any receipt for the $40

Ans No Sir

4 By same Was it in the spring summer fall or winter

Ans In the spring

5 By same How many years ago was it

Ans It has been three or four years

and part of the deposition of Fannie Jollett in which she answered the same questions posed to Columbia:

Ans I paid $40 in addition to the credits on those bonds. I paid the $40 either in 1868 or 1869 at my house. I don’t remember which of those years. Mrs. Marsh, her mother who is my aunt, Mr. Haynes & his wife were present when this money was paid. 

Ta da - there it is. In her own words, Fannie confirmed she and Columbia were cousins and that Elizabeth King was Fannie’s aunt.

As for the death record in which it appears Elizabeth King was Fannie’s grandmother, that misstep can be chalked up to any number of reasons from nervousness to old age to clerk’s misunderstanding.

Case closed.

Oh, and if you are wondering, yes, the property was sold at auction. Unfortunately, poor ol’ Peter Haynes did not live to see it, but the property fetched enough to pay his estate and cover the costs of the lawsuit.

From Chancery Causes at Library of Virginia
Rockingham Co 1877-48-C

“Niece or Granddaughter?” is hardly the exciting research question, but in following the advice to chase every clue even if it does not look like a clue, I found an answer and much more.

This is my contribution to the Genealogy Blog Potluck Picnic.

Wendy

© 2017, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.