Well, I'm my lunch hour today I searched through several newspaper databases for PA newspapers and came up with:
"A gruesome discovery was made by Lewis Seely near Brookland last Wednesday evening when he found the remains of his brother. Thomas, at a farm on a by-road toward Ulysses one and a half miles from Brookland. The boy of the man, who had ended his life apparently some days before, was found in a chair where he had placed a gund between his feet and shot himself through the head. He was about 30 years of age and no cause for self-destruction is known. He had been lving alone on the farm for some time. Deceased is survived by his father, who is employed in Syracuse, and several brothers."
I was a little "bummed out" as this is totally contrary to what my "great-uncle Ted's" story about being shot in the back, etc.
Then I came across the attached articles regarding a William Heath in the PA newspapers. I found it very strange that these would be in a PA newspaper but it could be our William Heath all the same - will run some more queries this weekend. It's interesting and ties in with our family folk lore......
Thursday, April 24, 2008
March 28, 2008 - Jane Heath Crandall
Attached is pictures of William A. Heath's sister Elizabeth Jane Heath who married Oscar Crandall. She lived from 1847-1897. She went by the name of Jane during her life. For awhile my family would get confused with the two Jane Heaths.
Tonie has many more pictures of the Heath family that she will be emailing me in the next few weeks.
An interesting note: Oscar Crandall married Maria Gardner White in 1900 after the death of his 1st wife Jane. Maria was the maternal grandmother of Emaline Amidon Heath. Oscar Crandall is what links George & Emaline's family together and probably a factor in getting them together.
Also Oscar Crandall's father Allington Alfonso Crandall was a Civil War Hero who was captured and sent to Andersonville then successfully escaped with two other union soldiers from Andersonville. This might be the Andersonville connection. Both Oscar Crandall and George Heath recounted this tale several times to family and friends so it would be plausible that the Seeley's have heard this story many years back and might now get it confused with William Heath's civil war record.
Below is William Heath's family.Children of Nehemiah Park Heath and Catherine Ardley are:
i. William A. Heath, b. 19 Nov 1843, Ulysses, Potter County, Pennsylvania, d. 25 Oct 1903, Ulysses, Potter County, Pennsylvania.
ii. Lorenzo Heath, b. 1845, Potter County, Pennsylvania, d. 1916, Potter County, Pennsylvania.
iii. Elizabeth Jane Heath, b. 1847, Potter County, Pennsylvania, d. 1897, Potter County, Pennsylvania.
iv. Frank Heath, b. 1856, Potter County, Pennsylvania, d. 1933, Potter County, Pennsylvania.
March 28, 2008 - Heath Family Pictures
My mother's cousin Tonie scanned and sent me some pictures on the Heath family.
I have attached a picture of William A. Heath, and another with his family including Jane Shay, George, William Jr., & Jim Heath as children.
The third is of Frank Heath, brother to William Heath.When the Heath & Seeley children were young circa 1910s-1920s, they would go down to Heath Hollow in Ulysses to visit their great uncle Frank who still lived there. He was a Bee Keeper and would make pancakes with fresh honey for the Heath & Seeley children.
Albert wrote about this account in his notes to his daughter before he passed away. As I get more pictures, I will pass them on.
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Thank you soo much for these pictures. I can't wait to share them with my sister and family!
March 26, 2008 - William Lorow - Grandson of Thomas and Nancy Owens on 1930 Census
I just had a few minutes at work today while I was eating my lunch. I was looking for descendants of the grandson listed on the 1930 census.
'lo and behold -- there's an Addie May Amidon -- do you think this might be related to George's wife?
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I think Addie May Amidon probably is related to Emaline Amidon Heath. All of the Amidon's in the general area of Potter Co., Steuben Co., or Allegany Co., are all related. They are descended from Abel Amidon & Cynthia Harmon who came to Onondaga County, New York in the 1790's. Abel was the first Amidon in the area. Emaline is the great-great granddaughter of Abel & Cynthia. She had lots of 1st, 2nd and 3rd cousins in the area with the same last name. Emaline was the only child of her parents so she wouldn't have any siblings with the name Amidon.
I am waiting to receive the obit of Nancy Shay Owens to see what it might mention of her parents and Missouri connection.
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I will check out a few of the family trees online and see if any of the names match up.
Also, I found some of my old Zip disks and have transferred some of my files over to this computer. I just realized that:
Cora Lewis married Herbert Seeley (Ira's father)
Cora's Father was Ephraim Lewis
Orael Seeley (Herbert's sister) married William Allison Bassett the son of Orrin Reed Bassett and Zerua Lewis (sister of Ephraim Lewis)
...it's taken me several hours tonight to figure out Orael married Cora's nephew.....cousin....I give up...
On that note, I'm going to stop for the night. I've attached a couple of new pictures for you. One of Ira -- one of Katherine with Ted (Ira's brother) and one of Ira and Kate's children.
'lo and behold -- there's an Addie May Amidon -- do you think this might be related to George's wife?
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I think Addie May Amidon probably is related to Emaline Amidon Heath. All of the Amidon's in the general area of Potter Co., Steuben Co., or Allegany Co., are all related. They are descended from Abel Amidon & Cynthia Harmon who came to Onondaga County, New York in the 1790's. Abel was the first Amidon in the area. Emaline is the great-great granddaughter of Abel & Cynthia. She had lots of 1st, 2nd and 3rd cousins in the area with the same last name. Emaline was the only child of her parents so she wouldn't have any siblings with the name Amidon.
I am waiting to receive the obit of Nancy Shay Owens to see what it might mention of her parents and Missouri connection.
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I will check out a few of the family trees online and see if any of the names match up.
Also, I found some of my old Zip disks and have transferred some of my files over to this computer. I just realized that:
Cora Lewis married Herbert Seeley (Ira's father)
Cora's Father was Ephraim Lewis
Orael Seeley (Herbert's sister) married William Allison Bassett the son of Orrin Reed Bassett and Zerua Lewis (sister of Ephraim Lewis)
...it's taken me several hours tonight to figure out Orael married Cora's nephew.....cousin....I give up...
On that note, I'm going to stop for the night. I've attached a couple of new pictures for you. One of Ira -- one of Katherine with Ted (Ira's brother) and one of Ira and Kate's children.
March 21, 2008 - Nancy Shay Owens
I looked up the cemetery records for Jane Owens in Eulalia Cemetery in Coudersport, Potter Co., PA. OWENS, Nancy Shay spouse of Thomas J. born 11-3-1865 died 12-16-1944 Section H OWENS, Thomas J. spouse of Nancy S born 10-16-1863 died 7-19-1935 Section HI will be contacting the Potter County Historical Society to have them send me an obituary on Nancy Shay Owens. She is only 1 year 3 weeks older than Jane Shay Heath. Being so close in age it makes sense that when Thomas & Nancy relocated to Potter County, Jane came along with them.
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We know that Stephen Peal left MO and return to the Carolinas where he is buried.
I had come across some family trees on Ancestry listing the Jane and Joseph Rutledge but didn't connect until I saw the MO marriage certificates.
2 other interesting marriage certificates were included in the search: Mrs Nancy Owens married a JW Nichols and a Mrs. Mary J Worley married a JW Brasley on 15 Mar 1883 in Jasper MO...initially I thought this could be both our Nancy and Mary Shays but then located the census records in PA for Thomas and Nancy.
I'm not sure how this marriage to Rutledge plays in with the James Shay you located in Kansas.
I did notice a Owens in Shinglehouse PA but it was late and I didn't check it out.
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We know that Stephen Peal left MO and return to the Carolinas where he is buried.
I had come across some family trees on Ancestry listing the Jane and Joseph Rutledge but didn't connect until I saw the MO marriage certificates.
2 other interesting marriage certificates were included in the search: Mrs Nancy Owens married a JW Nichols and a Mrs. Mary J Worley married a JW Brasley on 15 Mar 1883 in Jasper MO...initially I thought this could be both our Nancy and Mary Shays but then located the census records in PA for Thomas and Nancy.
I'm not sure how this marriage to Rutledge plays in with the James Shay you located in Kansas.
I did notice a Owens in Shinglehouse PA but it was late and I didn't check it out.
March 20, 2008 - Nancy Shay Marriage Certificate/Jane Shay Peal Marriage Certificate
I've attached 3 marriage certificates from Scott County:
1) Nancy S Shay to Thomas Owan (Owens) - 9/26/1880
2) Mrs. Rebecca Jane Shay to Mr. Joseph E. Rutledge - 28 Jan 1872
3) Mrs. Rebecca Jane Shay to Stephen Peal 26 Jan 1879
Also, I've attached a couple of Census reports from Potter County that list a Nancy and Thomas Owens In Potter County in 1910, 1920 and 1930.
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Nancy Shay that married Thomas Owens has to be the same Nancy that is the sister of our Jane Shay Heath. That would explain how Jane came to live in Potter County. I don't think the 1880 census of John & Nancy Owens are related because the birthplaces do not match up with Thomas and Nancy that appear in later census in Potter County. Also Jane's sister Nancy was still living with with the Withow/Peals in Sandywoods in Jun 1880 census, 3 months before a marriage to Thomas Owens would have taken place.
This Joseph Rutledge who married Rebecca Peal is a mystery. I didn't realize Rebecca was married 3 times. I don't think they had any children that survived if they had any together. Rebecca's death certificate from 1947 lists her widowed twice. We know that Rebecca was widowed from James Shay but has to be divorced from either Joseph Ruthledge or Stephen Peal.
The 1900 census says 4 children were born to Rebecca but 2 children were deceased. The surviving two children are accounted for.
I also find interesting is that the Nancy Owens wife of Thomas Owens in Potter County seems to have been born in Missouri with a father born in New York? and a mother born in Kentucky. This once again makes Nancy a fit to Jane's sister but leaves an interesting question to ponder. Was James Shay born in Ohio or New York. Obviously there might be a New York connection in there somewhere but also the Shay family that was living in Sweden Township in Potter County in the late 1800's were all from New York.
I have seen the that on many occasions the census listed my great grandmother Emeline's mother as having been born in Pennsylvania when she was born in New York. We always need to take census with a grain of salt.
Next job is to look into the descendants of Thomas & Nancy Shay Owens. They probably still have descendants living in Potter County to this day. Perhaps someone may have info or may know more about the Native American branch. Thanks for the info.
1) Nancy S Shay to Thomas Owan (Owens) - 9/26/1880
2) Mrs. Rebecca Jane Shay to Mr. Joseph E. Rutledge - 28 Jan 1872
3) Mrs. Rebecca Jane Shay to Stephen Peal 26 Jan 1879
Also, I've attached a couple of Census reports from Potter County that list a Nancy and Thomas Owens In Potter County in 1910, 1920 and 1930.
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Nancy Shay that married Thomas Owens has to be the same Nancy that is the sister of our Jane Shay Heath. That would explain how Jane came to live in Potter County. I don't think the 1880 census of John & Nancy Owens are related because the birthplaces do not match up with Thomas and Nancy that appear in later census in Potter County. Also Jane's sister Nancy was still living with with the Withow/Peals in Sandywoods in Jun 1880 census, 3 months before a marriage to Thomas Owens would have taken place.
This Joseph Rutledge who married Rebecca Peal is a mystery. I didn't realize Rebecca was married 3 times. I don't think they had any children that survived if they had any together. Rebecca's death certificate from 1947 lists her widowed twice. We know that Rebecca was widowed from James Shay but has to be divorced from either Joseph Ruthledge or Stephen Peal.
The 1900 census says 4 children were born to Rebecca but 2 children were deceased. The surviving two children are accounted for.
I also find interesting is that the Nancy Owens wife of Thomas Owens in Potter County seems to have been born in Missouri with a father born in New York? and a mother born in Kentucky. This once again makes Nancy a fit to Jane's sister but leaves an interesting question to ponder. Was James Shay born in Ohio or New York. Obviously there might be a New York connection in there somewhere but also the Shay family that was living in Sweden Township in Potter County in the late 1800's were all from New York.
I have seen the that on many occasions the census listed my great grandmother Emeline's mother as having been born in Pennsylvania when she was born in New York. We always need to take census with a grain of salt.
Next job is to look into the descendants of Thomas & Nancy Shay Owens. They probably still have descendants living in Potter County to this day. Perhaps someone may have info or may know more about the Native American branch. Thanks for the info.
March 12, 2008 - Oriel Seeley
Oriel Seeley was the sister of Ira Seeley - I've attached her picture again for you. She was married several times -- I mistakenly thought she was married to a Bassett. But according to the picture - James was her first husband, then a Benson, Manny and then Dingman. Oriel died in the 1960s in Onondaga County. She was living in Tully, NY with her husband Howard Dingman.
There's also 2 Marys that were Ira's Aunts I will try to trace these 2 Aunt's. I remembered too that Ira's brother Henry had a daughter named "Mary" that was mentally disabled - I know wonder who his wife was and if this Mary was actually "deaf and dumb".
I will get back to you soon.
There's also 2 Marys that were Ira's Aunts I will try to trace these 2 Aunt's. I remembered too that Ira's brother Henry had a daughter named "Mary" that was mentally disabled - I know wonder who his wife was and if this Mary was actually "deaf and dumb".
I will get back to you soon.
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I assume that Oriel Seeley & Jim Heath were divorced then if both survived till the 1960's. Even though the 1930 census lists Jim as widowed...that would happen in many instances when the person was actually divorced. Census records could be misleading. Jim didn't marry Zella Smith until he was in his 40's. I wonder how your grandparents took the divorce. Oriel being the sister of Ira and Jim being the brother of Kate. Could have made an awkward situation. I will call the court house and get a date for both of Jim's marriages. Also I will see when your grandparents were married. George Heath & Emaline Amidon married in July of 1913. The other marriages probably took place near that time also. Since Ira's brother Tim went with your father and Georgie's brother out to the Ozark Mountains then maybe the Aunt Mary is a Seeley connection and not a Shay/Heath connection. I guess after tracing the "Aunt Marys" we will use process of elimination. I will probably visit my sister who attends grad school in Washington DC and make a trip to the archives myself. I think the pension records could prove very resourceful.
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