House in Harvard, NE... maybe

 

This old photo is 6-1/2" x 4-1/2" mounted on 8" x 10" black cardboard. I have are two of these. This house must have been significant to someone in my family. The corner door makes it somewhat unique. Mom thought that this house belonged to George Lee in Harvard, Nebraska. She wasn't sure. She came into possession of this along with many other old photos that were left with her Mom, those things all coming from my Grandma's Mom, her Grandma or other family members.  

Mom passed away and now I have these old photos and it's up to me to remember what I was told about them and to pass on the details. I only hope my memory is good enough. Each generation loses a little information, like a game of telephone. I may be the last generation to hold onto these old photos.  

George W Lee was the brother of my Great-Great Grandmother, Sarah (Lee) Negley. George Lee's family lived in Harvard and Sarah's family lived not far away in Eldorado, Nebraska. George's family consisted of his wife, Christine (Berkstresser), children Kitty, John and George. A son, Lewis died in infancy. George was a farmer and later a stockman, buying and shipping horses and mules to the southern markets. This old house would suit a stockman.

December Anniversaries in the Family Tree

 

and December trees are brown

December

Bell family ancestors

15th - Benjamin Franklin Spann died 1901, age 74

29th - John Silas Bell died 1878, age 64

McGrath family ancestors

7th - Josiah Foster Negley born 1846 (son of John & Ruth Negley)

8th  - John Negley died 1884 age 76

27th - Ruth (Foster) Negley died 1895, age 87 

31st - Charles Lee died 1861, age about 41

Menke family ancestors

4th - Henry Menke born 1832 

11th - Mary Crosby Fero born 1836 

17th - Caroline Schukky born 1813 

25th - Heinrich Knapp born 1805

Mann family ancestors

20th - Anna (Rich) Gaisford died 1882, age 64 

22nd - John Potter Smith died 1903, age 78

Mattingly family ancestors

Boone family ancestors

 Tunk Spalding family ancestors

27th - Mary Louisa (Abell) Spalding died 1900, age 68

Hutt Spalding family ancestors

2nd - Cora Lula Spalding born 1889 

3rd - Mary Jane Abell born 1817

18th - Ann Melvina (Simms) Spalding died 1911, age 80

November Anniversaries in the Family Tree

 

When November's leaves fall faster...

November

Bell family ancestors

3rd - Martha Eveline Bell born 1842

4th - Martha Eveline Bell died 1928, age 86

McGrath family ancestors

24th - Rachel Jane Simmons born 1841 

26th - Susannah (Case) Lee born 1822 

Menke family ancestors

2nd - Ole Jorgenson & Caroline Magrethe Peterson married 1866

7th - Charles Albert Menke born 1886

19th - Kenneth Charles Menke & Doris Darle Mann married 1938 

28th - Kenneth Charles Menke born 1917 

Mann family ancestors

Mattingly family ancestors

20th - Joseph Hamilton "Ham" Mattingly & Harriet Elizabeth "Lib" Spalding married 1934 

Boone family ancestors

2nd - John G Ballard & Elizabeth Nally married 1814 

Tunk Spalding family ancestors

7th - Joseph T Spalding & Harriett Elizabeth "Bettie" Thomas married 1879

9th - Joseph Abner Abell II & Martha Nancy Mills married 1819 

13th - Robert S Thomas born 1803 

20th - Harriet Elizabeth "Lib" (Spalding) Mattingly born 1911 

26th - Harriett Elizabeth "Bettie" (Thomas) Spalding died 1896, age 37 

? - Mark Theodore Thomas born 1834

Hutt Spalding family ancestors

28th - Elizabeth (Beaven) Luckett died 1850, age 65 

24th - John Hudson "Hutt" Spalding & Mary Susan Isabelle "Belle" Luckett married 1874 

October Anniversaries in the Family Tree

 

for October's golden crown...

October

Bell family ancestors

18th - Benjamin Franklin Spann born 1827 

20th - James Stanley Bell died 1970, age 63

29th - Abner Decker & Mary "Polly" Garner married 1816 

McGrath family ancestors

8th - Arthur Levi McGrath & Sadie Ellen Negley married 1908 

11th - Sarah Maria Matilda (Lee) Negley died 1927, age 78

17th - Arthur Levi McGrath born 1876

25th - Ruth Marie (Smith)(Simmons) Webb died 1863, age about 44 

31st - Charles Lee born 1820 (possibly 1813) 

Menke family ancestors

3rd - Lena M (Jorgenson) Roscoe died 1949, age 91 

18th - Charles Albert Menke & Charlotte Isabelle "Lottie" Roscoe married 1906 

Mann family ancestors

3rd - James Gaisford born 1820 

18th - Clarence Lemuel Mann died 1968, age 90

Mattingly family ancestors

14th - Joseph Hamilton "Ham" Mattingly died 1990, age 81 

Boone family ancestors

2nd - Christopher Boone & Ann Rhodes married 1824 

9th - Walter Boone & Mildred Edelin married 1783

Tunk Spalding family ancestors

10th - Joseph Abner Abell II born 1795

18th - William Thomas "Tunk" Spalding born 1818 

21st - Mary (Fenwick) Abell died 1886 or 1888, age 74 or 76

Hutt Spalding family ancestors

June Anniversaries in the Family Tree

 

When June shows leafy ways...

June

Bell family ancestors

29th - Cicero Bell born 1869 

McGrath family ancestors

14th - Rachel Jane (Simmons) McGrath died 1896, age 54

16th - Charles Lee & Susannah Case married 1845 

18th - Violet Jennivee (McGrath) Bell died 1991, age 73 

19th - Arthur Levi McGrath died 1965, age 88 

24th - John McGrath born 1831? 

Menke family ancestors

Mann family ancestors

2nd - Mary Abigail (Bliss) Smith died 1866, age 36 

8th - Doris Daryle (Mann) Menke born 1920 

18th - Clarence Lemuel Mann born 1878 

Mattingly family ancestors

15th - Gabriel Mattingly born 1777 

Boone family ancestors

 

Tunk Spalding family ancestors

7th - Mary (Fenwick) Abell born 1812

9th - Henrietta (Thompson) Spalding died 1826, age 40

28th - Anna Louisa (Abell) Thomas died 1893, age 55

Hutt Spalding family ancestors

11th - Mary Jane (Abell) Luckett died 1871, age 53 

17th - Henry Luckett & Elizabeth Beaven married 1805 

24th - John Hudson "Hutt" Spalding born 1852 

30th - Mary Elizabeth (Wathen) Simms died 1876, age 74

Henrietta (Thompson) Spalding is the common ancestor of both the "Tunk" and "Hutt" Spalding lines. 

March Anniversaries in the Family Tree

When March blows up her breezes...

 March

Bell family ancestors

17th - Cicero Bell & Allie Spann married 1901  (Cicero also married his first wife Mittie Ramsey on March 17, 1891 and his son with Allie, Edward Bell, was born on March 17, 1905) 

McGrath family ancestors

3rd - Sadie Ellen (Negley) McGrath born 1880 

5th - Sarah Maria Matilda (Lee) Negley born 1849

5th - Josiah Foster Negley & Sarah Maria Matilda Lee married 1871 

Menke family ancestors

6th - William Harlow Roscoe born 1859 

8th - Heinrich Knapp & Caroline Schukky married 1839 

15th - Mary Crosby (Fero) Roscoe died 1923 age 86

24th - Charlotte Isabelle (Roscoe) Menke died 1975 age 87

26th - Kenneth Charles Menke died 2003 age 85

Mann family ancestors

18th - Nancy Jane (Climie) Mann born 1938 

28th - James Gaisford & Anna Rich married 1838 

Mattingly family ancestors

27th - William Alfred Bryant Mattingly born 1850 

Boone family ancestors

 

Tunk Spalding family ancestors

2nd - Robert S Thomas died 1886 age 82

6th - William Thomas "Tunk" Spalding died 1881 age 59

14th - Joseph T Spalding born 1858 

Hutt Spalding family ancestors

19th - Lewis Austin Luckett died 1886 age 77

I Left a Stone Unturned

On a hot summer day in 1998, July 9 to be exact, I visited the Bunker Hill Cemetery in Buda, Illinois to visit the graves of my Third Great Grandparents Charles and Susannah Lee. Notes in some family papers had told me they were there. 

It was getting toward evening when we got to the cemetery. Bunker Hill has only a few hundred graves and sits just north of a little church which I think was still in use at that time. It was the first time I made my family take time while on a vacation to let me do some genealogy work. They were patient (worn out from swimming) and even a little helpful. 

My husband might have found it first, to the left of the entrance only a few rows back under an old cedar tree. It was lying down with Charles' inscription on the up-side. There was just enough light left to read the inscription. I was sure that Susannah's name would be on the other side, but I didn't dare to turn it over. A few years later, someone posted photos on Find A Grave of the stone upright and with Susannah's inscription. Obviously, the photo had been taken years before it was posted and before I was there. 


Susannah died April 24, 1851 after giving birth to their third child, Thomas Jefferson Lee. She left a five-year-old son and two-year-old daughter, my Great Grandmother Sarah. I haven't confirmed any other family members for her, I've found very few records with her name at all.

Thomas died at four months old on September 8.


It was just ten years later when Charles died. I'd love to uncover the cause of his death at only 41. He had one sister that I know of - Hannah Holmes, wife of Lewis. She was also living in Bureau County when both Susannah and Charles died. I assume she helped Charles raise his two children until her death in 1858.

Charles' mother Polly Lee was living with Hannah and her husband in 1850, but I've found no record of her after that. There are some possible leads through DNA for parents of Charles, but finding documentation that confirms anything has been difficult.  I've had no success with what few records I've had time to discover. 

Friday's Faces from the Past - A Closer Look

In September, 2014 I posted this photograph which I thought read "This is Myrtle and Deril". The "da." on the next line I thought might be an abbreviation of "daughter". After looking at it closer, I think my eyes neglected to see a hypen because the name "Derilda" was not familiar to me. That little hyphen made me take another look for Myrtle and her daughter "Derilda".

Still looking in the 1940 census because I thought the picture had been taken around that time based on the printed photograph and the way they were dressed, I found no Myrtle and Derilda. But when I searched other online family trees for a mother/daughter without using any dates, I found a family that has a connection to my ancestors. By the ages of that Myrtle and Derilda, the photo had to have been taken 20 years earlier than I was thinking.

I found a Myrtle Jessie and Helen Derilda who had the last name Hebert. This tree showed Myrtle's maiden name was Pitt. That name was familiar to me. Years ago I had heard from someone named Pitt. Myrtle's father was William Pitt, her mother was Martha Berkstresser. I knew how the Berkstresser name fits into my family tree.

For ease of explanation I'll say this photo was originally given to my Second Great Grandparents, Josiah and Sarah Negley who lived in Eldorado, Nebraska.  Sarah's maiden name was Lee, her brother was George W. Lee. George was married to Christine Berkstresser. Martha and Christine were sisters. So, Myrtle is Sarah Negley's sister-in-law's niece.

The Berkstresser and Negley families had both lived in Bedford County, Pennsylvania before moving first to Bureau County, Illinois, and then the Clay county, Nebraska area. Josiah Negley and Christine Berkstresser were both born in 1846, Martha was about 10 years younger.

Myrtle Jessie Pitt was born in 1894 and Derilda in 1914, so in this picture if Derilda is about 3 years old, Myrtle would be about 23. Between 1900 and 1910, William & Martha Pitt moved from Eldorado, Nebraska to Fergus county, Montana. That is where Derilda was born. Following Helen Derilda Hebert in the online trees, she was shown to have married Robert Chester Holmes and had at least a couple of children. She died in 1968 in Seattle, Washington.

The only explanation I have for the stamp "United Photo Service, LaCrosse, Wisconsin" is that whoever took the photo sent their film there for processing. We used to send our film somewhere to be processed. I remember the fun of getting the pictures back! Sometimes it took from Christmas to the county fair to finish a roll of film. You never knew what would be in that envelope.

Not Susannah, But Maybe Ruth?

Possibly Ruth Smith-Simmons-Webb

In the past I have written two posts about this photo and that my Grandma thought it was a picture of her Great Grandmother Susannah Case Lee. I have edited those posts - Sarah Mariah Matilda Lee and A Little About Charles Lee and Susannah to note that I don't agree with that anymore, I will explain why.

I have had a professional archivist look at the actual photograph and know now that it IS a "Tin Type". The Tin type process was first started in France in 1853, and was patented in the US in 1856. It's not likely that this is a picture of a woman who died in 1851. Grandma's idea was a good one, but she just didn't know.  

Now I'm looking at other possibilities of who this woman could be. Grandma found the picture in her parents, Art & Sadie McGrath's, house so we feel sure this woman would be someone in the family. Grandma thought she was Sadie's maternal Grandmother, Susannah. I have a photo of Sadie's paternal Grandmother and know that it's not her.  But what if she's one of Art's Grandmothers? 

I'm estimating the date of this photo to be around 1860, give or take a few years. The dress style is similar to what I find from the Civil War time period. I think the woman in the photo looks like she may be in her 30's or 40's.  

Ruth Smith was born about 1820 to Jonathan & Rachel Smith in either Maine or Pennsylvania.  She first married Lebius Simmons about 1840. Their oldest daughter, Rachel, is Art McGrath's mother. Four other children were born to Lebius and Ruth - Mary Rosilla, Louisa, William and Ruth Maria. They all lived in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Lebius died sometime between 1852 and 1854. 

In Ritchie County, Virginia on July 1, 1854 Ruth married Cyrus Webb. Cyrus and Ruth had four more children - Milbourn, Jesse, Sarah and Franklin. I have just learned that Ruth died just 10 days after Franklin's birth at about age 43 in 1863.  So could this photo be of Ruth, taken sometime between 1856 and 1863?

When Ruth Webb died, she had six children under 18. Her husband Cyrus died within a few months.  Her two oldest daughters, Rachel and Mary Rosilla were both married, but Mary Rosilla died within a couple of years.  Rachel is likely the one who first had the photo.

Art was the youngest and last child at home, living with his parents in Cozad, Nebraska when Rachel died in 1896. By 1900, Art had moved to Clay County near his oldest sister. He may have taken this photo (and more that I'm working on) with him when he left home.

Just so I cover all the bases, Art's paternal Grandmother, R. (McCarty) McGrath, would have been at least 49 years old in 1860. (I say "R" because that's all I know, but I'm betting it stands for Rebecca.)  She lived in Ireland and as far as I know, she never came to the US. Does this woman look Irish?

All thoughts are welcome and I apologize for creating any confusion. I was clear in my earlier posts that I wasn't sure who the woman in the photo was and I still can't be sure.

A Little About Charles Lee and Susannah Case

EDIT May 31, 2017: Since I wrote this post, I've had the old photo looked at by a professional archivist and have learned that it IS a "Tin Type" photograph. I now highly doubt that this photo can be of Susannah Case. She died in 1851 and Tin Type photography was first used in France in 1853 and patented in the US in 1856. I'll leave my post here as originally written, and I'll be posting an explanation soon.

One of the most difficult branches of my tree is one set of my Third Great Grandparents, Charles Lee and Susannah Case.  According to family notes I found 25 years ago, Charles Lee was born in Dudley, Massachusetts on Halloween in 1813.  I haven't been able to find any verification of his birth or the names of his parents.  Those notes also gave Susannah Case's birth as November 26, 1816 in Belchertown, Massachusetts, but again I can't find any documentation of that.  Books of Vital Records from those areas in that time-frame don't list their birth records. 

Charles Lee

Assumed to be Susannah Case Lee

I remember years ago Grandma showing the photo on the right to my Mom, saying that she wasn't sure but thought the photo was of Susannah.  Grandma's mother was Sadie, Sadie's mother was Sarah and Sarah's mother was Susannah.   Susannah died when Sarah was just two years old, so Grandma felt that Sarah would have had a photo of her mother whom she never knew.  I'm still trying to determine the exact type of photograph and the time frame when this was possibly taken.  No one can say for sure who the woman in this photo is.  

The documentation I have found for Charles begins with the 1840 census from Utica Ward 1, Oneida County, New York.  Charles Lee is listed one line above Lewis Holmes and there are no females listed on the line with Charles and no males listed on the line with Lewis.  Lewis is Charles' brother-in-law, married to his sister Hannah.  Were they living together in one household?  Between the two is a total of 8 grown men, 2 adult women and 1 female child. 

June 16, 1845 at the Whitesboro Presbyterian Church in Whitestown, New York Charles and Susannah were married.  Neither copy here is a great example of documentation with names missing and a smudged copy, but these and more family notes are all I have.  I'm sure the notes are from the bible page directly where it was more clear than this copy. 

Next I found this clipping from June 14, 1846 in the Ottawa (Illinois) Free Trader.  Macon is where Charles Lee's family lived in Illinois, but according to the 1850 census record, their two children were born in New York in 1846 and again in 1849.  Is this the same Charles Lee?  Did he travel back & forth?  

This is the only census that shows Susannah by name - 1850 Bureau County, Illinois.  Their children, George and Sarah are 4 and 1, both born in New York.  They owned $400 worth of real estate.  Also in the 1850 Bureau County, Illinois census, there is a Polly Lee living with Lewis & Hannah Holmes.  It seems likely that she is the mother of Hannah and Charles Lee, but I haven't confirmed that.

The 1860 census shows Charles & kids in the town (or township) of Macon, Bureau Co., Illinois,  The census taker neglected to mark the Occupation, Value of Estate and birthplace columns and others for over half of the page.  Sarah was nearly missed, her name squeezed in between lines.

Charles was an abolitionist and at least once hid a runaway slave in his well.

From "The History of Macon Township"

Susannah and Charles are buried in Bunker Hill cemetery near Buda, Illinois.  I was able to visit their graves in 1998 and their stone had fallen over.  The side with Charles' name was face up, I was sure Susannah's name was on the other side.  After that someone posted a photo (they obviously had taken earlier) of her side of the stone on Find A Grave.   She died from complications from childbirth on April 24, 1851, her children were 5 and 2.  The baby died almost 5 months later.   I would love to know what caused Charles' death at age 48, he died in 1861 on New Years Eve.

How did losing both of her parents by age 13 affect Sarah?  No document can tell me that.  I have these two photos of Sarah late in life.  I know people didn't smile much in old photos, but it makes me wonder.

Wedding Wednesday - Marriages in Bureau Co., IL 1868

Bureau County Republican, March 5, 1868

Marriages for February.

Thomas S. Dexter and Emily F. Anthony

Sherman Stetson and Altie Bundy

James E. Burrow and Sarah J. Walker

Jacob Statler and Katy Albright

Martin V. Hants and Elizabeth A. Stout

Lyman Hazelton and Celestine Decker

John Barney and Martha Humphrey

Mons Ekdahl and Ann C. Mortensen

Henry Linderbland and Christine Pierson

Abm. Hetherington and Agnes E. Bonnell

Franklin Emire and Angeline Anson

Miles Masters and L. A. Rhodes

Havier Berger and Henrietta Guhe

W. A. Sisson and M. C. Foster

Geo. W. Griswold and Hetty Chase

John Schmuck and Anna Kemp

H. P. Brainard and Annie P. Dexter

Henry Eatinger and Orcelia Pelton

Charles Hassler and Philapena Scholl

Wm E. Brown and Hattie C. Booth

George Lee and Christina Berkstresser

John Johnson and Mary L. McElroy

Chas. A. Kellogg and Kate Weeks

John A. Bloom and Hannah A. Peterson

George Burgess and Mary Gaskill

John Ferreter and Jane Doran

Joseph Joder and Mary Zerlein

Albert Bumphery and Elizabeth Parks

Philip Steimle and Catharine Joder

Wedding Wednesday - Bureau County, Illinois Marriages 1871

The Bureau County Republican, April 6, 1871  

Marriages for March, 1871

Jos. J. Johnson, Maiden to Charlotte M. Piper, Maiden.
Wm. Fay, Selby to Mary Rice, Selby.
Abram M. Totten, Piatt Co., to Flora Swayne, Bureau Co.
Chas. M. Bradshaw, Buda to Emma M. Green, N.Y.
C. N. Miller, Iowa to Barbara Stauffer, Iowa.
Albert C. Pardue, Milo, Mary Underwood, Tiskilwa.
Swan Johnson, Princeton to Hattie Gustafson, Princeton.
Alonzo Criswell, Lamoille, to Julie A. Ward, Lamoille.
L. S. Getch, Walnut to Lona L. Welch, Walnut.
Geo. Dennis, Henry Co. to Maggie Anthony, Tiskilwa.
Philip A. Smith, Peoria Co,. to Mary Fisher, Bureau Co.
J. H. Weisenberffer, Hall, to Catherine Dorn, Hall.
A. O. Petrie, Neponset, to Francelia E. Hoskins, Neponset.
Finley McBeth, Neponset to Harriet Swigert, Neponset.
Peter Nelson, Arispie, to Ellen Gustafson, Arispie.
F. M. Triplett, Iowa, to Ada Rollins, Neponset.
Josiah Negley, Macon, to Sarah M. Lee, Macon.
S. C. Frederickson, Lp'rt'n, to Anne C. Harting, Lp'rt'n.
Lysander C. Ward, Missouri, to Lucy Cook, Princeton.
Jos. C. Blaisdell, Milo, to Sarah J. Blessing, Milo.
Joshua Liverpool, Mexico, to Inez Richards, Princeton.
Jos. Bulfer, Bureau, to Kate Becker, Bureau.
W. A. Holroyd, Wyanet, to Ann R. Carter, Wyanet.
Philip Lambi, Ohio, to Engerberg Jepson, Ohio.
Thos. Apghey, Lamoille, to Jane Finley, Lamoille.
Jas. McElvina, Walnut, to Agnes Fuller, Walnut.
August Johnson, Princeton, to Mary Malten, Princt'n.
Martin Dutro, Wyanet, to Amanda Harrison, Wyanet.
John Hocket, Wyanet, to Mary Sturdiman, Wyanet.

Josiah Foster Negley

Josiah was born December 7, 1846 in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.  He is my connection to the Foster family.   In one of my first few posts, The Book that got me Hooked, I explained that a book found in the old trunk in the attic got me started on all of this. Josiah's parents were John and Ruth Foster, Ruth's parents were the focus of "The History of the Foster Family", by D. I. Foster. 

John and Ruth were married September 15, 1836 in Bedford County.  Their children were: 

1. David (1837-1917)
2. George (1839- ? )  died before 1850
3. Susanna (1841-1922)
4. Amon (1842- ? )  died before 1850
5. Catherine  (1843-1870) 
6. Josiah Foster  (1846-1922)
7. John Calvin  (1850-1916)

David married Mary Goodman and Catherine married Charles Dorman in Pennsylvania before they all moved to Illinois.  Susannah married William Kelley in 1870 in Illinois. Josiah married Sarah Lee and John Calvin married Mary Fisher both in 1871 in Bureau County, Illinois.  Sometime between 1871 and 1880, all of the family moved to Decatur County, Iowa where the parents lived the rest of their lives.  John Foster died at age 76 in 1884 and Ruth died in 1895 at age 87.   By 1887 Josiah and Sarah moved on to Clay County, Nebraska where Sarah's brother George Lee had moved to in 1878.  

Eldorado was home to Josiah and Sarah from then on.  Three of their children lived with them into their adult years.  I've heard that the Negleys' front porch was lined with chairs. Here is a great photo of the "town" of Eldorado, about 1910-1915.  You can see the church on the left and the school on the right.  I don't know where the Negley & Miller Station would be from this view, a question to have answered someday.  The writing says "Watching a horse race", with a magnifying glass you can see them at the other end of the road.

Josiah must have suffered a stroke about 1914.  Strokes are very common in this line of the family.  A distant cousin, Clarence Neff, sent me photocopies of a letter that Josiah had sent to his father written on October 3, 1920.  On the top of the first page, written up-side-down is this note: 

"Excuse the bad writing and mistakes as my right side and arm have been partly paralyzed for over 6 years and I am over 74 years of age.  Best wishes to you all, very truly J. F. Negley." 

Josiah was a farmer his entire life.  He served as Justice of the Peace in Eldorado from 1912 until his death in 1922, and then Sarah held that position until 1925, maybe completing his term.  In Eldorado that would not have been a full-time job.  He died on April 15 at age 75.

"Obituary - Josiah F. Negley

Josiah F. Negley, the son of John and Ruth Negley, was born in Bedford Co., Pa., December 7th, 1846 and died at his home in Eldorado, Nebr., April 15, 1922, aged 75 years 4 months and 8 days.

At the age of sixteen he moved with his parents to Bureau Co., IL, where on March 5, 1871 he was married to Sarah M. Lee.  To this union six children were born:  George, Newton, William, Calvin, Alice and Mrs. Sadie McGrath.  Newton died August 8, 1887.  The others with their mother survive him.

Mr. Negley was member of the Church of God of Eldorado and ever tried to walk in the paths of right.  He was a kind husband and father and a true neighbor.

The funeral was held from the Methodist Episcopal church in Eldorado, Monday, April 17.  Rev. B. N. Kunkel in charge.  Interment was made in the Harvard Cemetery."  

Sarah Maria Matilda Lee

EDIT May 31, 2017: Since I wrote this post, I've had the old photo looked at by a professional archivist and have learned that it IS for sure a "Tin Type" photograph. I now highly doubt that this photo can be of Susannah Case. She died in 1851 and Tin Type photography was first used in France in 1853 and patented in the US in 1856. I'll leave my post here as originally written, and I'll be posting an explanation soon.


On March 5, 1849 in Hamilton, Madison County, New York Sarah Maria Matilda Lee was born. Maria is pronounced like "the wind".  She was the second child and first daughter of Charles and Susannah (Case) Lee, her brother George Washington Lee was 3 years older.   Before she was much more than a year, the Lee family moved to Illinois.

On April 24, 1851 in Buda, Illinois, Susannah had a baby boy named Thomas Jefferson. Susannah died that day, Thomas died in September.  George was 5 and Sarah just 2 years old. 

This is a tin-type photo that my Grandma gave to my Mom. Grandma wasn't sure who this photo is of, but she assumed it was Susannah because it would be likely that Sarah would have had a photo of her mother who died when she was so young.  My Grandma was the granddaughter of Sarah. There are no markings on the photo or frame to give any idea of when or where the photo was taken. The tin-type is clipped at the corners to fit into this oval frame.  

“When I was just a little girl”, I liked the Doris Day Show.  Little did I know then that her theme song, “Que Sera, Sera” was from a Hitchcock movie.  I'm a Hitchcock fan.  “The Man Who Knew Too Much” is a great movie!  I won’t give anything away if you haven’t seen it, but there’s a key point in the movie about a name and how it’s used.  Just like in the CASE of having the surname CASE in your family tree.  It can be very tricky Googling or searching message boards and mailing lists for the surname CASE as opposed to every CASE of mistaken identity, or even “just in CASE” scenerio.  All legal CASEs come up, all “in some CASEs”, all “that may be the CASE”, even if someone has information in their briefCASE.  Frustrating.  Trying to find Susannah's parents has been a challenge.  The information I have on her birth came from the old trunk in the attic, but I've never been able to find a document to verify that.

Sarah's father Charles, was widowed at age 38 and just 10 years later he died leaving Sarah and her brother George orphans at ages 15 and 12.  Charles was an abolitionist and is known to have helped an escaped slave by hiding him in his well.  Although I've never heard any hint that Charles died of anything questionable, I'm very curious about how he died at only 48 years old. 

In 1998, I was able to visit the graves of Charles, Susannah and Thomas J Lee in Bunker Hill Cemetery, Buda, Illinois.  The tall stone for Charles was lying on the ground with his name side-up.  I assumed Susannah's name was on the bottom side, but I didn't attempt to flip it. Fortunately, a couple of people were there before the stone fell over and uploaded photos of the stone with her name showing on her findagrave memorial. 

Sarah's brother George served in the Civil War from 1862 to 1866.  Most likely, Sarah lived with her Uncle Lewis Holmes near Buda after her father died.  Lewis had been married to Charles Lee's sister Hannah, but Hannah died in 1858.  In 1870, Sarah was living with George and his wife, Christine.  He married Christine Berkstresser in 1868. 

Sarah married Josiah Negley in 1871 and they moved first to Iowa, then Nebraska where they raised their family.  She served as Justice of the Peace in Eldorado, probably finishing out Josiah's term after he died, from 1922 to 1925.  The only female to ever do so.  

On October 5, 1927, Sarah's granddaughter, Cleo (Negley) Jensen died at age 23, leaving 2 small boys.  Sarah died of a stroke at age 78 just six days later on October 11, 1927.