Tuesday, June 5, 2018

So Far Away ~ 52 Ancestors #22

I am participating in this year's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge from Amy Johnson Crow. Each week has an optional writing prompt and last week's writing prompt was So Far Away.

My brick wall ancestor, third great-grandmother, Susan (Rood) Chapin, had several children. One, my second great-grandmother, Susan Arville (Chapin) Adsit, settled in Chicago, Illinois, dying there in 1906. One of the strategies to break through a brick wall is to research siblings of a known ancestor and I have done some research on Arville's siblings to see if that leads me to Susan (Rood) Chapin's death information (or possibly her parents' names).

One of her sisters continued to move further west and settled in Utah. My third great aunt, Jane Eliza Chapin, was born 14 January 1822, probably in Massachusetts. She married Hiram H. Harrison in Chicago, Illinois, on 4 March 1841. The family was in Wisconsin in 1850 and 1860 (per the U.S. Census) and in Salt Lake City, Utah, by the time of the 1880 U.S. Census. That year, Jane was enumerated in the household of one of her sons. (I have not had luck finding the family in the 1870 U.S. Census.)

Jane was not enumerated in the 1900 U.S. Census (though I did find two of her sons in Salt Lake City). Her death record reported her place of death at the 1900 home of her son, Lester.

Salt Lake County, Utah, "Utah, Salt Lake County Death Records, 1849-1949," p. 158, death 5984, record for Jane E. Harrison, 26 Sep 1901, online images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DTQ9-QKQ?i=320&cc=1459704 ; accessed 29 August 2011).


No. of Death: 5984
No. of Certificate: D.11519
Name: Mrs. Jane E. Harrison
Age: 79 (years), 8 (months), 12 (days) [suggesting a birth date of 14 January 1822, which agrees with the sampler created by her sister]
Place of Death (Street, No.): 6th East 408 S. [where son Lester lived in the 1900 U.S. Census]
Sex: Female
Color: White
Social State: Widow
Occupation: Old Lady [An interesting entry for occupation...]
Birth Place: Mass.
Father's Name: Orson Chapin [actually it was Orramel]
Mother's Name: Susan Rood


Nativity of Father: Mass.
Nativity of Mother: Conn. [The only source that suggests a Connecticut birth for Susan Rood.]
Place of Interment: Mt. Olivet
Date of Interment: 1901 Sep. 28
Date of Death: 1901 Sep. 26
Duration of Illness: -
Cause of Death (Remote): -
Cause of Death (Immediate): Pneumonia
Physician's Name: G. V. Parmelee
Undertaker's Name: S. D. Evans
Resident or Non-Resident: Yes [resident]

She had four sons: Henry (1846-1920), Alfred (1851-1878), Lester (1856-1952), and Wallace (1858-????). Her sister, Susan Arville, who remained in Chicago, had seven children between 1842 and 1860. They lived so far away from each other (over 1,250 miles) for over 20 years; I wonder if they stayed in touch with letters? I wonder if any letters survived? Unfortunately, I don't have any.

3 comments:

  1. Best wishes as you continue to research this line! Have you tried using DNA to help on this brick wall? Just a thought...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. An ongoing project of mine is to identify my known second and third cousins (and ultimately my fourth cousins) to see if they appear in my DNA match lists. So many cousins...so little time...
      Thanks for the comment!

      Delete
  2. I hear you on the so little time. And when I do have the time, I don't have the energy :-(

    ReplyDelete