The Seventh Wife: 52 Ancestors

Would you marry a man who had buried six wives? In the twenty-first century there are many better choices for women; however, in the years after the Civil War, options were limited, especially for widows. So in 1870, the widowed Susan Ann York Bond took a risk and became the seventh wife of Lindsey Lake.

Susan's life is revealed through an extensive collection of government records: her own Civil War pension file, her son's Civil War pension file, Lindsey Lake's chancery court case file, Illinois land records, and her Eastern Cherokee claims application (rejected).

Susan Ann York was born on April 22, 1834, in Morgan County, Illinois, the youngest child of William York and Elizabeth Kitchens. She was probably born near the community of Meredosia. In the 1860 census of Howard County, Missouri, the census taker wrote that she was born in Louisiana, probably a misunderstanding of her claim to have been born at Meredosia.

Before her 15th birthday, Susan married John H Bond or Bonds. Both spellings are seen in the records. They married in Brown County on December 24, 1848. That date is misinterpreted in the Illinois marriage index online, but is confirmed in the pension files.

Susan and John had six children between 1848 and 1864: William Charles Bond, Mary Ann Virginia Bond, Martha Elizabeth Bond, Sarah Ellen Bond, Thomas G Bond and John James Bond. All the children were born in Illinois except Thomas, who was born in 1862, in Missouri. The 1860 Missouri census shows that John Bond was working as a laborer and owned no land. The family returned to Illinois before the birth of the youngest in 1864.

In the closing months of the Civil War, both John H Bond and his son, William Charles Bond, joined the military in service to the Union forces. John joined the 28th Illinois Volunteer Infantry on March 21, 1865, and died of dysentery on November 1, 1865. The fourteen-year-old Charlie joined the USS Ouachita as a First Class Boy [cabin boy] on August 26, 1864.

Susan found herself widowed at age 31, with six children. She listed her address as living in Cass County, Illinois, with her post office at Meredosia. She applied for a widow and children's pension for the five younger children. She was granted a small monthly sum. As each child reached the age of 16, the monthly payment would be reduced. Susan's remarriage would also stop her portion of the pension.

In the Cass County area lived Lindsey Lake, who was related to Susan by marriage. His sister, Precious Lake, was married to Susan's brother, John York. The York and Lake families had been allied for many years, not only in Illinois, but previously in Indiana. Susan had watched as Lindsey had married wife number five in 1859 and wife number six, Elizabeth, in 1863. At Elizabeth's death in 1869, Lindsey was left with three children born between 1861 and 1866.

Susan and Lindsey married on January 13, 1870, in Morgan County. Susan's older children were living and working in other households in the 1870 census, so probably had been sent out to work before the marriage. The small sums from the pension were certainly not enough to live on. Since Lindsey was financially comfortable, Susan may have seen the marriage as her best option to achieve stability for herself and the younger children.

Susan bore at least two children in her second marriage. A child named Liney Lake was buried at 15 months old. A daughter named Susan Lake was born about 1872 and died before 1907.

Lindsey Lake died on August 19, 1876. His will specified bequests to his minor children, but did not include his adult children. This omission triggered a battle in chancery court over the assets of the estate. Susan asked to have her dower portion of the land set off, but unfortunately the surveyors decided the land could not be divided without harm. Susan lost her bid to keep Lindsey's home as her own. That must have been a crushing blow. Between 1878 and 1889, Susan sold some small parcels of land that either were part of Lindsey's land business or had come to her or her daughter from the estate.

Susan lived with her children after Lindsey's death. She applied for and was granted a resumption of her widow's pension that had been forfeit at her marriage.

She married again on September 3, 1893, at Webb City, Missouri, to a man named Peter Wright. She divorced him ten years later on the basis of his desertion in 1898. Susan again had to petition for her widow's pension.

In 1914, Susan gave a supporting statement for her son's Civil War pension. She listed four living children, having buried the other four. She was living with her youngest son, James, at the time.

Susan lived a long life, dying short of her 83rd birthday. She died on February 26, 1917, at Webb City, Jasper County, Missouri, and was buried in Oronogo Cemetery in Oronogo, Missouri. Her name was inscribed on the grave marker of Lindsey Lake in Beauchamp Cemetery, near Meredosia, but according to her death certificate, she was not buried with him.

Who's Your Daddy Meets 52 Ancestors

How do you measure the accuracy of a census record? It's a snapshot of just one moment in time in your ancestor's life. Is it accurate? If it is earlier than 1880, what relationship does each person have to the head of household?

It's important to put that moment in time into context of your ancestor's entire life. Other records are needed to understand that context. What other records exist and for what locations do they exist? Elizabeth Shown Mills asserts that the most records will be found in the earliest location where you KNOW they lived. For this week's ancestor, that seems to be true.

Who's Your Daddy - Part Four

The Cass County, Illinois, census of 1850 is a record that definitely has to be examined in context. In the Who's Your Daddy series of posts, it has a starring role as an inaccurate record. One man, Israel Lake, gets no love from his descendants, thanks partly to an inaccurate census and largely to some researcher's inaccurate conclusions. This post will look at several records about Israel.

In part two of the series, an obituary proved the parentage of Ellen Lake Williamson,  William Harrison Lake and Jonathan Lake to be Israel Lake and his wife, Margaret Ann Long. Israel and Ann married in Perry County, Indiana, on March 12, 1829. However, that's not his earliest known residence.

The census records of 1860, 1870 and 1880 all show that Israel was born in Pennsylvania about 1809. The 1850 census does not agree. The 1880 census also shows that Israel believed both his parents were born in New Jersey. Working on the assumption that Israel is a son of Aaron Lake of the area around Perry County, there is an 1811 tax list that shows Aaron was living in Breckinridge County, Kentucky. So Israel was born in Pennsylvania, but moved to Kentucky as a very young child. There may be a birth or christening record in Pennsylvania church records, but that is not a location that is known to me.

The next location to look for records is Breckinridge County. There we meet a young man who got into a little bit of trouble, but made it right. As you look at these court records, recall that he married in March of 1829 in Indiana.

At a circuit court began and held for Breckinridge County at the courthouse in the town of Hardinsburg on Monday the 20th day of April 1829 and in the 37th year of the Commonwealth ...

The Commonwealth of Kentucky against Israel Lake and Greenberry Burnett
On an Indictment for an affray
This day came the attorney for the Commonwealth and the Sheriff having returned on the alias summon in this case that it was duly served on the deft. Lake and that the Deft Burnet was not found and the Deft failing to appear. It is ordered that a Capias issue against the Deft Lake with an Indictment that he may be admitted to bail for his appearance in the sum of $50. and that a pluries summon issue against Deft Burnett and that the cause be continued.

(Circuit Court Book 7, Page 437)

July 20th 1829
The Commonwealth of Kentucky against Greenberry Burnett and Israel Lake
On an Indictment for an affray
This day came as well the attorney for the Commonwealth as the Deft Israel Lake and the deft Lake for plea saith that he is not guilty in manner and form as in said bill of Indictment is charged against him and of this he puts himself upon the Country [sic] and the attorney for the commonwealth doth the like. And thereupon this cause is continued until the next court. It is further ordered that a pluries summon issue against the defendant Burnet.

(Circuit Court Book 8, Page 3)

Monday April 19th 1830
The Commonwealth of Kentucky against Israel Lake and Greenberry Burnett
On an Indictment for an affray
This day came the attorney for the Commonwealth and as to the Deft Greenberry Burnett, It is ordered that this cause be Continued and that a pluries summon issue directed to the Sheriff of Hancock [County]
And as to the Deft Israel Lake came a Jury to wit ... [twelve men listed] ... who being elected tried and sworn well and truly to try the issue joined upon their oaths assessed a fine to the Commonwealth of $1.00. It is therefore ordered by the Court that the Deft Israel Lake make this fine to the Commonwealth by the payment of $1.00 and pay the costs and may be taken.

(Circuit Court Book 8, Page 83)

From this series of court records we learn one member of Israel's FAN club: Greenberry Burnett. We also learn that Greenberry resided in (or near) the part of Breckinridge County that was split off to become Hancock County in 1829. It's likely that Israel also had been living in that area at the time of the affray, which must have happened before the county was split.

What records did Israel leave in Hancock County? Israel was never listed in the tax records of either Kentucky County, so he did not live in Kentucky after he turned 21. Some of the records of Hancock county have been destroyed, but there is one court file from April, 1831, that survives in the county archives. It's multiple pages with pieces missing.

On November 29, 1830, Israel Lake filed suit against William Richey, Jr. for trespass, with damages stated as $3000. Called to testify were John Burnett, Elisha Johnston, Mariah Nichols, Philemon Davison, Henry Williams and James Shrader.

Israel had served as a witness for John Burnett and against William Richey, Jr., in a previous court case. Richey had gotten upset and spoken maliciously against Israel, accusing him of perjury. Israel had another complaint against Richey. In the words of the case file:

Afterwards to wit on the day and year aforesaid at the state and circuit aforesaid the said plaintiff was possessed of a leather bag containing $100 in silver marked and being so possessed on the day and year aforesaid at the state and circuit aforesaid casually lost the said bag of dollars out of his possession which said bag of dollars came to the hand and possession of the said defendant by ?? yet the defendant well knowing the said bag of dollars marked as aforesaid to be the proper property of the said plaintiff did not deliver the said bag to said plaintiff but afterward to wit on the __ day of  __ at the state and circuit aforesaid converted the said bag of dollars to his own use wherefore the said plaintiff saith he is injured and hath sustained damage ??? $3000 and therefore he sues.

The jury found for Israel and awarded him $1000. Of course, collecting that sum in 1831 was pretty unlikely.

No other records turned up in a search  of the Hancock County archives and deeds. The 1830 census was in order by the first letter of the last name, so it's not useful for neighborhoods. However, the 1840 census shows Israel's brother, Harrison Lord Lake, living near the Burnetts and Richeys. Since Harrison owned a farm, the exact location can be determined, provided more hints for researching Israel's FAN club.

Israel apparently lived in Perry County, Indiana, as an adult. The early tax books are not in the courthouse in Tell City and an email to the historical society did not return an answer about the location of those tax books. They may have been lost in a flood. However, several records are available in Perry County. The earliest is the 1829 marriage record of Israel and Anna.

The History of Perry County, by Thomas James De La Hunt, published in 1916, has two brief sentences about Israel. Coal Haven, the town that has been replaced by Cannelton, was destroyed by fire in 1839. Israel held property in that area, so it is possible that he and his family were touched by that tragedy. In the chapter on these towns, we learn on page 92 that Israel Lake and his wife hosted Methodist services at their home, "in the river road", before the log school house was used. The chapter also reveals that William Ritchey was tried for arson in 1844 for the destruction of a store in Cannelton. Apparently he made mischief on both sides of the Ohio River.

Page 258 informs us that the pioneer Israel Lake was the original owner of a sawmill at the "extreme upper edge" of Cannelton. The 1861 map reprinted by the historical society shows only one saw mill. The meaning of upper edge is unclear, but in river terms it would be upriver, so that might be the right spot. The saw mill was still operating in 1861, so it is certainly possible.

Hawesville, the county seat of Hancock County, sits directly across the river from Cannelton. Ferries were critical to the trade between the two towns. Israel had a piece of that ferry business for a time. In January of 1842, Israel sold a ferry for $60. The sale was recorded in Perry County in deed book C, pages 243 and 244. The deed, signed by Israel and Ann Lake, and witnessed only by a JP, described the location of the ferry.

... sell unto the said Edwin Cornelus his heirs and assigns a certain ferry, across the Ohio river being opisit [sic] Lot No 26 being a part of school section sixteen belonging to township No seven South of Range No 3 West in said County ...

In November, 1847, Israel paid off a piece of land in the Cannelton area. It was recorded in book D page 71, as lot Number one of school section sixteen in Township seven south of Range three west consisting of 31 acres and a half and 24 poles (31A2R24P). The Perry County auditor deeded it to Israel who had acquired the rights to the land third-hand. One fourth of the price had been paid in advance. Israel paid $521.85 to close the deal.

On page 73 of the same book, a deed names as grantors Israel Lake and Margaret Ann Lake his wife. They quickly sold the same land for $1550 to Hamilton Smith of Jefferson County, Kentucky. The witnesses were JB Maynard and Frederick Boyd.

In  the spring of 1848, Israel appears to have acted as a broker to purchase 100 acres from the land office at Vincennes and sell it to a man from Boston, Samuel M Allen. Four records for those transactions appear in Perry County Deed Book D, pages 139-142. The witness was IC Porter.

Israel Lake was also found in the probate index, but it's not his probate. Probate Order Book D tells us on page 348 that Rosanna (Roxena) Davidson, heir to William R Davidson, asked in 1847 for Israel to be her guardian. The bondsman with Israel was Nicholas Vaughan. The 19-year-old Roxena Davidson married William B Jagars in May, 1848, with the consent of her mother, Emily Davidson. The marriage took place in Hancock County.

These transactions show that Israel was a businessman in the Cannelton community and apparently respected and wealthy enough to serve as a guardian, with a bond, to a teenage girl.

In July, 1848, Israel Lake was a resident of Cass County, Illinois. He purchased 77 acres from his presumed brother, Lindsay Lake, for $150. The deed in book C, page 522, lists buildings as part of the assets transferred. Israel also bought public land from the state of Illinois in June, 1848. The land transactions focus the migration of Israel and Ann to the period between April and June of 1848.

Turning to the earliest census records, how many children did Israel and Ann have? In 1830, in Perry County, they had two teens with them that could not have been their children. They also had a male in the house under the age of 5. If that was their son, I don't have a name and would appreciate input from other researchers.

In 1840, the Lake household of Perry County had nine people:

Males - Under 5:     1
Males - 5 thru 9:     1
Males - 10 thru 14:     1
Males - 20 thru 29:     2
Males - 30 thru 39:     1
Females - 10 thru 14:     1
Females - 20 thru 29:     1
Females - 70 thru 79:     1

The elderly female could be a mother or aunt of either spouse. One male aged 20-39 was Israel and there are two other adult males in the household. That leaves a potential for three sons and a daughter. Jonathan Lake was born in 1831 so he was 9. Allen Lake was born about 1835, so he was likely under 5. The other two children are unknown at this time.

The 1850 census of Cass County is inaccurate. Moving to the 1860 census of Brown County, Illinois,  Ellen was born about 1844, Sarah was born about 1846 and Israel was born about 1849. We also know that William Harrison Lake was born about 1842. The only child born in Illinois was Israel. The others were born in Indiana, according to various census records. There is quite a gap between Allen and William. We have to wonder if there were other children who died or if perhaps there was a series of miscarriages.

The 1870 Cass County census includes a young man named Henry Lake, but he was not a child of Israel and Margaret Ann. He will be discussed in another post. The 1880 Cass County census shows that Ann had died and Israel was living with a grandchild, a son and a daughter-in-law.

Israel bought, sold and farmed land during his years in Illinois. In 1881, a deed was filed in Morgan County, Illinois, with the grantor, Israel Lake, living in Mercer County, Missouri. His descendants claim that he died in 1883 and is buried in Sullivan County, Missouri.

Hopefully these bread crumbs will provide useful clues to Israel Lake researchers and help his descendants give him some love.

Who's Your Daddy - Part Three

Have you ever examined a confusing census record and wished you could go back in time and travel with that census taker? Perhaps there are extra or missing family members. Ages, birthplaces or relationships could be missing or wrong. Even worse, maybe the family is entirely missing in the index or in the microfilm. You'll never know how the census taker got their information. Was it a child, a senile adult, a neighbor or even personal knowledge and assumption?

Additionally, the US census images that we see on microfilm or online are generally not copies of the original census book. There are copies which were hand-copied from the original. When the copies were made, mistakes and shortcuts may have crept in. The copy that was sent to the federal government is usually the one that was filmed. The original book may be in an archive or may have been destroyed. I once had my hands on an original 1880 census book while looking for a court case in the vault of a county courthouse. At the time, I had no idea it was different than the microfilm. I missed my opportunity to examine it.

The 1850 census of Cass County, Illinois, is so full of errors that I try to validate every single piece of information. This post continues looking at the assumed children of Lindsay Lake.

The Mystery Children with Lindsay Lake

The children in the household of Lindsay Lake in 1850 are listed as:

• Precious Moore, 16 (niece)
• Joseph Lake, 14
• Aaron Lake, 10 (female, whoops)
• Jane Lake, 8

The date on the page is December 12, 1850. Did the weather play a part in the errors?

Lindsay had married multiple times. His wives by 1850 were:

• Milly Carter, married  August 28, 1834, Morgan County
• Mary Kinman, married April 23, 1846, Brown County
• Caroline Evans, married October 12, 1848, Brown County
• Mrs. Doratha Hatfield, married December 24, 1850, Cass County 

It is possible that the children listed with the surname Lake should have been listed with a surname of Kinman or Evans. It is also possible that the names and ages of Lindsay's children were just scrambled.

An Amazing 1845 Census

A state census of Illinois was taken in 1845. There are only three counties for which copies survive, one of which is Cass County. This particular census was similar to the 1850 census, as the census taker wrote the initial(s) and surname of each person in the county, along with their age. The other two counties are similar to the 1840 census.

The 1845 Cass County census is a gem. However, you have to study it very carefully, as the females and males were listed on different pages. There were approximately 500 more males than females, so the page with Milly Lake is many pages away from Lindsay Lake. Only by reviewing names before and after can family groups be identified. The Lake and allied families lived along the border of Cass County and Morgan County, so families living in Morgan County, though neighbors, are not included.

The census was completed on October 25, 1845. Females were on left pages and males on right pages. Free white females end on image 65 at Ancestry. The last three images are free white males, non-whites and summary. Look at the top of each page for whether it contains males or females.

Family members can be found on these pages and images:

Lucinda _____ Lake Carter page 112 (image 55)	John? Carter page 116 (image 57)
Angeline Lake "Carter" page 112
Rebecca Lake Hardy page 112	N Hardy page 118 (image 58)
Precious York page 114  (image 56)	John York page 132 (image 65)
Milly Lake page 114	Lindsay Lake page 132

Summary on image 68
Males 2972, Females 2484, non-white 15, total 5471

The Lake family, as shown below, included the following names:
Females: 
M Lake 25 (Milly)
C Lake 6 (Cynthiana born 1837?)
Males:
L Lake 35 (Lindsay)
A Lake 9 (Aaron born 1835)
J Lake 5 (John born 1840)
J Lake 3 (unknown boy)
T Lake 1 (unknown boy)

Comparing the Census Years

Matching the 1845 census to the 1850 census, it appears that the name Joseph (14) in 1850 should be Aaron, while the name Aaron (10, female) should be Cynthiana or John. Child Jane (8) doesn't fit, but could be John.

We need more clarity to sort out the children. The 1855 census is an old style census, so doesn't help. By 1860, the family had gone through many more changes. So let's go beyond the census to a very simple solution.

Probate and Guardianship Answer the Question

There is a guardianship in Cass County that absolutely names the children of Milly Carter. Every child in the 1850 census, if truly a Lake, would have been a child of Milly Carter Lake.

Milly's father, Thomas Carter, had died in 1849. Milly's children, his grandchildren, were among his heirs. Guardianship at that time was about assets, rather than children, so the children needed to have a guardian for the assets they would inherit from their grandfather. The guardianship states that the children "have an interest in an estate not derived from their father".

On March 18, 1850, Lindsay Lake became the legal guardian of the assets of Aaron Lake, Cynthia A Lake and John Lake. The other two children from the 1845 census were not included, so either had died or were not Milly and Lindsay's children. None of the mystery children from the 1850 census were named.

The bondsmen with Lindsay were James Pointer and Jonathan Lake. Jonathan Lake died a few months later and he will be examined in another post. Scaled-down images of the guardianship follow.

This ends the proof case for the children of Lindsay Lake: Aaron, Cynthiana and John were his only surviving children in 1850.

Who's Your Daddy - Part Two

Continuing with the theme of online family tree errors, the best defense is a good offense. Creating well-documented online family trees ourselves is our best defense against errors. This blog is one way to present more complex proof cases than can be done within the limits of the Ancestry trees.

My ancestor, Lindsay Lake of Morgan and Cass Counties, Illinois, has been named as the father of random Lake relatives. In the last post we looked at proving a negative -- who Lindsay's parents were not. This time I'll prove a positive -- the names of the seven children who were heirs of Lindsay Lake and the correct parentage of two women who were not his children.

Not Her Daddy

Two women who have been incorrectly named online as children of Lindsay are Precious Moore, born about 1836, and Ellen Lake, born about 1844.

Precious Moore was enumerated with Lindsay Lake in the 1850 census. Some researchers have assumed she was a married or widowed daughter of Lindsay. She was not. Precious was his ward and probably his niece. It requires only one piece of evidence to determine her parents -- her biography in a county history book. Her father's probate adds context. Her story is told in the blog post Precious Serendipity.

Ellen Lake truly baffles me. I'm not sure why she has been mistaken for a daughter of Lindsay. In the 1860 census of Brown County, Illinois, Ellen is living with her parents, Margaret Ann Long and Israel Lake. She married Richard M Williamson on June 23, 1861, in Cass County. Richard and Ellen acquired land near Lindsay Lake and lived next to several other members of the extended Lake family in Morgan County. The 1870 census shows quite a list of related people living around Lindsay, including the Williamsons.

Ellen Lake Williamson is mentioned in the obituary of her brother, William Harrison Lake. The obituary appeared in the Meredosia Budget on May 20, 1905, and not only states their parentage, but also ties together several branches of the Lake family.

While a small child he was brought by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Israel Lake, to the immediate vicinity of Meredosia ...

He is also survived by one brother, Jonathan Lake of Clayton, and probably one sister, Mrs. Ellen Williamson, is still living. H.L. Lake and Mrs. Lourissa J. Hale of Meredosia are first cousins of the deceased.

Ellen Lake Williamson and her siblings were first cousins to the children of Jesse Lake and Mary Polly Riddle -- children who were raised by Harrison Lord/Laird Lake. That family relationship was explored in the previous post in this series. The addition of this obituary helps to document the relationship of three brothers: Jesse Lake, Israel Lake and Harrison Lord/Laird Lake.

Solved in Chancery Court, not in Probate

Lindsay Lake had a will, but it was not well done. It listed bequests to his minor children, but not his adult children. That omission triggered a court fight among his heirs and generated many pages of Chancery Court records in Morgan County, Illinois. The pages are scrawled and hard to read. However, the heirs were definitively listed in the court filings. There were seven children and a widow, but no other heirs. These are the seven children of Lindsay Lake (1813-1876):

Aaron Lake, 1835-1909, married Sarah Elizabeth Bosseck (my line)
Cynthiana Lake, 1837-1906, married Nathaniel Bert Fanning
John Lindsay Lake, 1840-1896, married Elizabeth C Keller
Josephine Lake, 1861-, married Charles T Kessler
George B McClellan Lake, about 1864-
Isaac H Lake, 1866-1943, married Sarah Slater
Susan A Lake, about 1872-

Following are copies of a few key pages from the Chancery Court case file. As always, I'm happy to share full size copies of this file by email, if you leave a comment with your email address, which will remain private.

Who's Your Daddy - Part One

One of the challenges of online genealogy research is the amount of bad data you'll find in the trees of other researchers. You never make a mistake, right? I will certainly admit to my share of errors. Someone, maybe one of us, makes a mistake or an invalid assumption. That person's tree is copied and the error spreads to other trees. Reaching out to those people gives mixed results, from thank you to no response to a nasty response. Some trees are also abandoned and will never be corrected.

One of my favorite sayings is that the best defense is a good offense. Creating correct trees with ample documentation is the very best offense we have in the war on errors. And of course fixing our own errors is critical.

A few years ago I created a tree for an unknown, probably related, couple whose marriage record was often confused with that of my ancestors. Placing that mini-tree online has begun to bear fruit, as that couple is now being copied into other trees. Hopefully, with two marriage records now showing as hints, tree owners are considering both choices.

Lindsay Lake is one of the people in my tree that has both incorrect parents and incorrect children in online trees. Even in the master tree at Family Search, he has incorrect parentage. The frustrating thing about the error is that it is obvious via simple math.

It's also a case of negative evidence, rather than positive evidence, which is much harder to document with the Ancestry methods. I'll take you on a tour of the evidence as an elaboration for all my cousins.

How Old Were They?

Lindsay was born between 1805 and 1813 in Breckinridge County, Kentucky, and lived as an adult in Cass and Morgan Counties, Illinois. First let's examine census records.

• Illinois state census of 1835: Linzey Lake, age 20-30 (1805-1815)
• Illinois state census of 1845: L. Lake, age 35 (1810)
• Illinois state census of 1855: Lindsay Lake, age 40-50 (1805-1815)
• Illinois state census of 1865: Lindsey Lake, age 50-60 (1805-1815)
• Federal census of 1840: Lindsey Lake (Lark), age 20-30 (1810-1820) 
• Federal census of 1850 (many errors): Lindsey Lake, age 45 (1805) 
• Federal census of 1860: Lindsey Lake, age 47 (1813) 
• Federal census of 1870: Lindsay Lake, age 57 (1813) 

Lindsay Lake's tombstone says he died August 19, 1876, at the age of 63 years, 3 months, 12 days. That is very specific and computes to May 5, 1813. That is the date that I have chosen to use as his birthdate. From the census records, the most likely years are 1810-1813.

Not His Daddy

Lindsay Lake's incorrect parentage is listed as Harrison Lord Lake and Jane Branham. Harrison's name varies from Lord to Laird, with either that name or Harrison being used as his recorded name.

Looking at the marriage record, Harris Lake married Jane Branham on  January 27, 1822, in Perry County, Indiana. There is the first obvious clue that there is a problem. Lindsay was born at least 8 years before that marriage!

Could Lindsay possibly be a child of Harrison Lake by another wife? Harrison was in Hancock (formerly Breckinridge County), Kentucky for two census years, dying in 1848 in Illinois.

• Federal census of 1830: Harrison Lord Lake, age 20-30 (1800-1810)
• Federal census of 1840: Harrison L Lake, age 30-40 (1800-1810)

Even if Harrison was born in 1800, he would have been no more than 13 when Lindsay was born. No, he is in no way Lindsay's father. More likely he is an older brother or cousin.

It's so very easy to stop with the census, but there are many other records to explore. You know that stopping research at the census is a pet peeve of mine. Digging a bit further into the evidence for these men turns up more tidbits to piece together the family.

Harrison Paid Taxes

Kentucky tax rolls are a wonderful source  of information. Examining the tax lists for Breckinridge County and Hancock County show that Laird Lake was first taxed in Breckinridge County in 1821, as a man of 21 years of age, who was also taxed on one horse. This tax roll implies that his birth year was 1799-1800.

In 1826, he was taxed on 37.5 acres of land in the Sandy Branch watershed and in later years the land was listed as being in the Indian Creek watershed. In 1828, he also owned three horses. He was accumulating wealth.

Hancock County was created in 1829, and Harrison's land was part of the change. He was taxed in Hancock County in 1829 and thereafter. In the last year he was taxed in Kentucky, 1845, H.L. Lake held 80 acres in the Indian Creek watershed, valued at 500 dollars. He also had three children between 5 and 16, nine head of cattle and three horses. It is humorous that the tax list did not include whether there was a wife.

Biography

Two family biographies expand the story of Harrison Lake and his family. We find the following in the Portrait and Biographical Album of Morgan and Scott Counties, ILLs.,  (Chapman Brothers, Chicago, 1889).

The biography of Jesse Lake:

A native of Kentucky Mr. Lake was born in Hancock County, July 15, 1825, and is the son of Lord H. and Jane (Branham) Lake, the father a native of Pennsylvania and the mother of Virginia.
...
In 1845, when a young man of twenty years, Mr. Lake emigrated with his parents from Kentucky to Illinois and settled in Cass County, where the father died shortly afterward. Jesse remained with his mother until ready to establish a home of his own, and was married in Cass County, April 9, 1848, to Miss Harriet, daughter of Henry and Patsy (Brown) Phelps. Of this union there were born six children, only two of whom are living -- Isaac and Jesse, Jr. The deceased were Harrison, Henry, Martha and Lindsay.

Mr. Lake came to Morgan County in 1867, and settled upon his present farm where he has since lived.

The biography of Isaac Hale:

Mr. Hale was married in Kentucky, Jan. 9, 1845, to Miss Lurissa J. Lake, who was born in Perry, Ind., but was reared in Kentucky. She was the daughter of Jesse and Mary Lake.

Lurissa Lake is incorrectly presumed by many to be the daughter of Harrison Lord Lake, as he gave consent, as her father, for her marriage in Hancock County. Lurissa was probably Harrison's niece.

Notice that Jesse Lake (the younger) named a son Lindsay, implying a relationship to the subject of this blog post.

Probate

Who do you think was the administrator of Harrison L Lake's Cass County probate in 1848? It was Isaac Hale, his presumed nephew-in-law. Harrison's eldest son, Jesse, was only 23, while Isaac was 25. Lindsay was 35 years old, but was not the administrator, serving as further proof that he was not Harrison's son. Why Isaac Hale was the administrator is certainly a mystery.

County Atlas

According to the Atlas Map of Morgan County, Illinois, 1872, Lindsay Lake came to Morgan County, Illinois, from his birthplace of Breckinridge County, Kentucky, about 1828. That was 17 years before Harrison Lake migrated to join Lindsay and other relatives.

More Census and Probate

Returning to the math of this connection, Lindsay was between 15 and 18 years old when he came to Illinois. There are no men named Lake in the area in the 1830 census. Therefore he came as a hired hand or with a mother or sister who had a different last name. If you've been following the Lake story, you can guess who Lindsay probably lived with in 1830.

Reuben Moore, aged 30-39, had in his household two children under 5, plus one male aged 15-19 and one female aged 15-19. Reuben's wife, Elizabeth Lake, was aged 20-29. When Reuben Moore died in 1840, all the heirs in his probate were minors. Calculating ages indicates that the two oldest children in the household were not Elizabeth's children, but were probably her siblings, Lindsay Lake and Precious Lake.

Obituaries

Lurissa J Lake Hale's brother died in 1906, and had a lengthy obituary in the Meredosia Budget Newspaper - 12 July 1906 -- Vol. I No. 49, Front Page.

Harrison Laird Lake departed this life at the Soldiers Home hospital in Quincy, Ill., at 6:40 o’clock on Thursday evening, June 28, 1906, the immediate cause of his death being given as heart failure.

At the time of his demise, Mr. Lake was 75 years, 5 months, and 28 days old, having been born January 1, 1831 at Hawsville, Hancock County, Kentucky.

When but two years of age his mother was called from family and friends to the great beyond, leaving her two children, the subject of this sketch and the late Mrs. Lourissa J. Hale, then 11 years of age, to the tender care of a near relative, and two years later the father joined the mother on the other shore.

The two orphans continued their home with their relative until January 9, 1843, when the sister became the wife of the late Isaac Hale. 

It's interesting that Harrison Lord Lake (the elder) was called a "near relative", rather than an uncle. This phrase keeps the question open of the exact relationship between the various branches of the Lake family of Morgan and Cass Counties, Illinois.
 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #27 The Amish DNA of Elizabeth Estella Lake Maddox Donnelley

You got it from your mother. I got it from mine. Our mothers got it from their mothers. It's the DNA that powers our cells. It's mitochondrial DNA, or mtDNA for short.

Last year my father and I each had our mtDNA tested by FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA). With his mother's mtDNA, he matched nearly 100 people. I matched only a handful. I was curious as to why my matches were so few.

During the recent attack on Ancestry, I spent some quality time on FTDNA closely studying the tree of my closest match. Following women ancestors can be tough, but I can follow my maternal line back to about 1760. The match also has his line back to the mid-1700s. I could see that our families relate in other ways, but I couldn't see where our match was.

Fortunately, he knew something unique about his maternal line: the branch is Amish and/or Mennonite. No wonder our matches are few. Amish descendants of Amish women won't be doing DNA testing!

My maternal line was Swiss-German Baptist who later became Church of the Brethren. However, it's very possible that pushing back another generation or two may turn up that connection to Amish/Mennonite.

Elizabeth Estella Lake's mother, Sarah Elizabeth Bosseck, was probably raised in the Church of the Brethren. When she married Aaron Lake in Cass County, Illinois, in 1857, she broke the pattern and married outside the Swiss-German community. The Lake family was Methodist in the last half of the 1800s.

Lizzie Lake was born February 11, 1861, the second of ten children. She and her older sister, Nellie, married two brothers. Lizzie married Joseph Allen Maddox and Nellie married George S Maddox.

Lizzie was a bit of an adventurer. She married at 15, while lying that she was 18. It appears that she forged a parent's permission note for Al, who was also underage at 19. They married in his home county of Scott County, Illinois, on June 13, 1876.

The Lake and Maddox families had financial troubles and together joined a wagon train to Kansas in about 1879. The Bosseck family had gone to Kansas earlier and the rest of the family joined them in Wilson County by the time of the 1880 census. Al Maddox doesn't appear in the census with the rest of the family. He was both a miner and a farmer and was likely mining elsewhere.

One of the family stories passed down is that Lizzie and Al would go out driving at night. Al would propose a horse trade in the dark with unsuspecting travelers. Sometimes he would come out ahead and other times behind. They would leave their children in the care of the eldest, Daisy, my great-grandmother. It seems that Al was quite a gambler and scoundrel and Lizzie must have enjoyed the game.

Lizzie and Nellie, their father, Aaron, and their families moved westward to Kingman County, Kansas, leaving behind most of the Bosseck family. When the opening of the Oklahoma Cherokee Strip was announced in 1893, they were living in an ideal spot to plan for and execute a land run. The family story is that Al ran for the land on foot, while Lizzie followed, with the children, in a wagon.

Lizzie and Al built a soddy on their homestead and began the work of cultivating the land and building a permanent house. However, Al battled with tuberculosis and alcoholism through his adult life. He died in 1895, leaving Lizzie with five children and an unfinished house. Aaron Lake is credited with finishing the house for her. She was able to keep the homestead, which Al had wanted to secure for their son, Archie.

On January 7, 1900, Lizzie married Charles Ford Donnelley, a widower with seven children. They had one more child, lucky 13. The photos show the couple, along with their son. Lizzie is also shown with three of her sisters and with her daughter Daisy.

Quick drop page from Mother is a Verb by Krystal Hartley for Digital Scrapper

To care for herself and her family, Lizzie was a milliner and taught the skill to her daughters. She opened a lovely store called Rosedale in Enid, Oklahoma, where the family moved in 1918.

Lizzie died on November 23, 1924, and was buried in Enid Cemetery.