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.

Mary Smith Cook and Her Family

Mary Smith Cook was one of the sisters of my 3rd Great Grandmother, Ruth Smith Simmons Webb.  They were just a few years apart, numbers five and six of Jonathan and Rachel Smith's 10 children.  About 1846, Mary was married to Mathias Cook.  After some quick searching, I have found some things about Mary Cook and her family.  

In the 1850 census, the sisters and their families are living next to each other in Cool Spring Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  Mathias and Mary had two children, daughter Mary, age 3 and an as yet unnamed son, age 1.  

In 1860, the Cook family was in Ritchie County, Virginia (now West Virginia).  That is where in 1854 Mary's sister Ruth married Cyrus Webb after the death of her first husband.  In the census shown below, Mary's daughter Mariah was born in Pennsylvania and Martha was born in Virginia, so they had moved there between 1853 and 1856.  They were probably there for Ruth's wedding.  Ruth & Cyrus Webb moved to Fulton County, Illinois about 1858.  Ritchie County may have been the last place that the two sisters saw each other and may be where Mary was living when Ruth died.

          Mathias, 41, Blacksmith, born N York 

          Mary, 32 born N Hampshire

          Mary P, 12, born PA

          Matthias W, 10, born PA

          Mariah J, 7, born PA

          Martha S, 4, born VA

          Melissa R, 2, born VA 

Ten years later, the Cook family shows up in York, Noble County, Indiana.  Mathias is no longer a Blacksmith, but a farmer.  Wife Mary is 43, the kids are all ten years older with four additional children - Mason, 10; Miranda, 7; Mosell, 4 and Edith, 2.  

It's interesting here - I think the name Mosell could be Rosella as I found in the 1885 census.  At age 4, she was born very near the time that Mary's niece Rosella Simmons Davee (who was probably named after her father's sister) died in Illinois. 

By 1880 they all moved once again to Rock Creek Township, Saunders County, Nebraska.  That would be about 200 miles east of where Ruth's oldest daughter Rachel, my Great Great Grandma, would moved to about 1886.  Matthias was now 63 and Mary, 52.  The older girls and Mason were not with the family, but Washington, "Maridy", Mosella, and Edith were there. 

The Nebraska State census in 1885 below shows them still living in Rock Creek Township.  Edith, listed as Lenora, Rosell and M. W. are there.  Also a John Hedkins, 27 from Virginia is with them.

Family Search has a database of some Nebraska marriage records (definitely not all for the time period it covers).  I found marriage records that could be for five of the daughters of Mathias and Mary: 

Mariah J. Cook married John J Ingram, January 11, 1872 in Lancaster Co., NE

Mary P. Cook married Thomas Hoover, September 15, 1874 in Lancaster Co., NE
Martha Cook married William Misner, January 1, 1876 in Saunders Co., NE
Melissa R. Cook married Levi Mayfield, March 14, 1880 in Saunders Co., NE 

Miranda married James W. Cheever, June 29, 1881 in Saunders Co., NE

I have not been able to find anything on the death or burial for either Mathias or Mary Cook.  The Saunders County GenWeb page has some cemetery listings and for Mt Zion Cemetery there is one listing for Cook.  "Munson J. dau of M & M Cook, d. 10 SEP 1876 15 Y 11 mo 7 days".   Going by the age that should be the son Mason, not a "dau.", so it may be a different Cook family.

At Findagrave.com, I've found possible memorials.  One for Washington Cook, buried in Potter Field, Omaha, died July 23, 1924.  That memorial has a note "Family: Mrs. Martha Misner.", but they are not linked.  William and Martha are buried in Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln.  Martha died September 18, 1926 and William August 17, 1911.

That's all I've found on the Cook family and won't search for more unless I run across something.  Maybe next spring I can go to the Mt Zion Cemetery and see if there are some other Cook graves not mentioned in that listing.  If you are a descendant of Mathias and Mary, please leave a comment! 

Evidence of the Existence of Ruth Smith Simmons Webb

In the past 20 years, I've worked to find all the information that I can for my 3rd Great Grandmother Ruth Smith Simmons Webb.  I have no birth record, no marriage record (for her marriage to my 3rd Great Grandfather Lebius Simmons) and no death record.   My evidence of the existence of Ruth consists of...


1)  1850 Mercer County, Pennsylvania census
I found this while searching for my Great Great Grandmother Rachel (as I wrote about here.)   Ruth is the 30-year-old mother of four children.  Later I learned that the Cook family listed just before Lebius Simmons is related to Ruth, the mother Mary Cook is her sister.

#986/1000 Lebius Simons, 25, M, Carpenter, born PA 
Ruth Simons, 30, F, born PA   
Rachel Simons, 8, F, born PA, attended school   
Rosilla Simons, 6, F, born PA, attended school   
Loisa Simons, 4, F, born PA, attended school   
Wm Simons, 1, M, born PA

2)  1854 Marriage record from Ritchie County, Virginia
Thanks to a fellow researcher I found this record.  Peggy Johnson contacted me after seeing a post about that family above that I had put on the Mercer County, Pennsylvania GENWEB site.  She was researching the family of Jonathan and Rachel (Simmons) Smith and thought we might have a connection.  Peggy told me about this marriage record which was online.  

1/11 Cyrus R. Webb, farmer, age 25, b. Harrison Co., VA, son of James and Bridgett Webb; m. Ruth Simmons, widow, age 28, b. Mercer Co., PA, dau. of Jonathan Smith; 1 July 1854, by Thomas Stinchcomb. 

3)  1860 Fulton County, Illinois census
I'm listing my evidence here in chronological order, but I had found this census record before I knew about the marriage record from 1854.  This census listing had me wondering when I first found it, but the marriage record seems to confirm it's the same Ruth.  Something had happened to Lebius.  Mary Simmons listed here is Rosilla in 1850, Loisa is missing and another daughter was born since 1850.  Levi Smith is Ruth's brother.  

#813/892 Syrus Webb, 30, M, Farmer, Personal Estate 100, born Virginia   
Ruth Webb, 32, F, born Maine   
Uriah Webb, 5, M, born Virginia   
Jesse Webb, 2, M, born Illinois   
Mary Simmons, 16, F, born Pennsylvania, attended school   
William Simmons, 10, M, born Pennsylvania, attended school   
Ruth Simmons, 8, F, born Pennsylvania, attended school   
Levi Smith, 19, M, Farm hand, born Pennsylvania

   

4)  1866 Will of Jonathan Smith, dated April 18th with a codicil dated February 9th, 1867
Peggy had told me that Ruth was apparently deceased by the date of this Will as her inheritance goes to her "heirs".  I ordered a copy of it from the County Clerk in Davis County, Iowa.  A kind woman from the local genealogy society made the copies for me, but I was a little disappointed by the fact that my copy of this page was cut off at the bottom just as you see here.  I would love to know what the line that got cut off says.

And there is yet due in legacy
To John Smith's Heirs $5.00"
" Ruth Webb's Heirs  5.00

In my last post, I transcribed a page of the Petition for Guardianship of Cyrus Webb's children.   There is no evidence of Ruth in this petition because she is never mentioned.  Four children are listed, Milburn U (I believe Uriah from the 1860 census), Jesse, Sarah and Franklin.  Ruth had two more children since 1860, making a total of 9 children.  Her Simmons children are not mentioned in this petition.  In 1864, her son William Simmons was 15 and his sister Ruth was only 12.  They were orphaned sometime between 1864 and 1866, and young Ruth married at age 16 in 1868.   

One final piece of evidence:
5)  1932 Daughter Ruth Simmons Pettit's death record
Ruth Pettit, the young Ruth Simmons in the 1860 census, is buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Sterling, Colorado.  

PETTIT, RUTH SIMMONS, 18 MAR 1852, WV, 1 DEC 1932, H-WILLIAM, P-LIBBIONS SIMMONS and MARIA SMITH 

In 1850 Ruth was 30 years old born in Pennsylvania, in 1854 she was 28, then in 1860 she was 32 years old born in Maine.  Where do I start looking for a birth record?  Mercer County has no birth or death records before 1893.  

Her first marriage to Lebius Simmons would be the marriage record I need, as together they are my 3rd Great Grandparents.  Most likely they were married in Pennsylvania.  The Mercer County Genealogical Society did not have their marriage record.  

Ruth's death most likely occurred in Fulton County, Illinois and I have tried every possible source I've run across to find her death date and/or burial place with no success.

This Simmons line is one that would connect me to a Revolutionary War Patriot named Libbeus Simmons, but there is very little documentation I can find to satisfy the DAR.  This evidence of the existence of Ruth may not be enough.  

Rachel Simmons vs Rachel McGrath: The Jury Is Still Deliberating...

How many coincidences does it take to make a fact?

For as long as I've been doing this family history research, I have been looking for the parents of Rachel Jane Simmons McGrath.  Rachel died in 1896, too early in Nebraska for a death certificate at either local or state level.  I have found several snippets of information for her, but not a document that connects a little girl to a married woman.  I present my case... 

Exhibit A.  Rachel's obituary says she was born November 24, 1841.  No parents names given.  

She married John McGrath in 1858, but no exact date or location is given.  Grace Methodist Church in Cozad, Nebraska no longer exists and apparently neither do the records.  Locally no one knows what happened to them, and at Wesleyan University where Methodist records are housed from old Methodist churches throughout the state, there are very few records from Grace.  I searched myself.  

Family notes had her born in Pennsylvania.  No exact location, just Pennsylvania.  I haven't learned the trick to getting a birth certificate from Pennsylvania if there is one.  

Exhibit B.  The 1850 Mercer County, PA census.  In 1999, I searched for all Rachel Simmons' from the Family Tree Maker CD of Pennsylvania census records.  The closest one I found was in this family:

Father Lebius, Mother Ruth, Rachel is 8 years old, Rosilla 6, Louisa 4 and William 1.  Now to find a record that proves this little girl is the woman who married John McGrath.

Exhibit C.  In the old trunk in the attic was an obituary for John & Rachel's daughter Mary Rebecca Smith which gives some details on their married life.  Rebecca was born February 12, 1859 and...

"At the age of 10 years she moved with her parents to Bradford, Stark Co., IL and with her parents at the age of 16 years, moved to Henry, Marshal Co., IL.  On July 28, 1880, she was united in marriage to William Dixon Smith, at Henry, Marshal Co., IL, and started house keeping on a farm near Whitefield Corners, IL, where they resided until they moved to a farm near Eldorado, Clay Co., NE, where they made their home for 35 years living in Stockham since then.  Mr. Smith passed away May 8th 1935."

Exhibit D.  The 1860 Fulton County, Illinois census record.  John & "Jane" are in Buckhart Township with one-year-old daughter Rebecca.  I have tried to get a marriage record in Fulton County, but was told there was none.  I've also requested searches in nearby counties with no luck.

Exhibit E.  Also in Buckhart Twp just 6 households away is the family of Cyrus and Ruth Webb with 3 Simmons children, Mary 16, William 10, and Ruth 8.

Interesting, but I was unsure of this family until 2007 when I learned from fellow researcher Peggy Johnson that Ruth Webb here was formerly Mrs. Lebius Simmons.  Peggy told me about...

Exhibit F.  The marriage record of Cyrus Webb and Ruth Simmons from the "Register of Marriages 1853-1862, Ritchie County, West Virginia", Courtesy of the Ritchie County Historical Society Newsletter, July/August, 1974 Vol. 2 No. 4.  (I found this online originally, but the page is no longer up).    

"1/11 Cyrus R. WEBB, farmer, age 25, b. Harrison Co., VA, son of James & Bridgett Webb; m. Ruth SIMMONS, widow, age 28, b. Mercer Co., PA, dau of Jonathan Smith; 1 July 1854, by Thomas Stinchcomb."   

So what happened to Lebius?  But this clarifies Exhibit E.  Ruth is remarried and has more children.

Exhibit G.  A newspaper clipping that came to me from Lilly Martin Sahiounie just this year.  We had "met" through the Simmons message list years ago and have corresponded a lot on this family.  Her ancestor Rosilla Mills is the sister of Lebius Simmons AND she has a son named Lebbeus.  (Note the name Rosilla in the 1850 census.)  The newspaper clipping she shared with me, which I almost dismissed, is from 1913 and mentions "Mrs. R. M. Pettit, Cozad, Neb".  Lilly had to point out to me who the "R" was!  Young Ruth Simmons, daughter of Lebius & Ruth, married a man named Pettit.  The Illinois Marriage Index shows "William H Pettit married Ruth Maria Simonons" Oct. 4, 1868. I would have never found it with that spelling! Through census records and Find A Grave, I followed Ruth to her grave in Sterling, Colorado.  In 1900 she was living in Callaway, Nebraska very near the homesteaded land of John McGrath and 30 miles from Cozad where Rachel had died in 1896. 

Exhibit H.  A very kind soul answered a request I posted on Rootsweb Message Board for Logan County, Colorado asking for information on Ruth Pettit in Sterling where she died. He answered my post with a cemetery survey - including a .jpg copy - that shows Ruth's parents were Lebius & Maria Simmons.  Not quite how I have her name, but too close to dismiss.

This is the evidence I have.  I rest my case.

Would the jurors of "12 Angry Men" be able to conclude based on this evidence that the little girl in 1850 Mercer County, PA is the same person as the married woman in 1860 Fulton County, IL?  Is it enough to convince Juror #3 that they are one and the same Rachel?  Is it just coincidence that by 1860 Cyrus and Ruth Webb moved to Fulton County, Illinois where Rachel McGrath also lived?  It is just coincidence that Ruth Pettit married in Stark County, Illinois where Rachel McGrath lived at that time and then moved to Callaway, Nebraska just 30 miles from Cozad where Rachel McGrath died?

What other documents in a persons life might mention the place of their marriage?  Will I ever find it in writing who Rachel McGrath's parents were for sure?  I dream of finding a diary or family bible that belonged to Rachel or maybe her mother Ruth or even sister Ruth in some old trunk in an attic.

I have several documents for John McGrath who will be the subject of my next post. None of them have the answer.

This is a Solomon Butcher photograph of the McGrath homestead cropped in close to Rachel & John.  My mom has this photo.

It seems wrong to have a favorite person among people I've never even met, but I can't help but have a little extra compassion for Rachel.  Her father died before she was 13, he was only about 34. Her young sister Louisa may have died before the age of 14.  Her sister Mary Rosilla got married in 1861 to James Jackson Davee, had 2 children and died between 1864 and 1866 at about age 22. Her mother Ruth died before 1866 at about 46 years old.  Rachel herself lost 2 children in the 1860's and she only lived to be 54.  I have never found death dates or locations for any of them.  I can't help but feel for her losses.

Thank you for hearing my case.  Let me know how you vote!