Person Page - 46

Father: not yet identified.
Mother: not yet identified.

Birth date: not yet determined
Birth place: not yet determined.

Father: George Harris
Mother: Martha Ann Bowers

Birth date: about 1855 (based on age at death of 27 years, 9 months, 2 days)
Birth place: Marshall County, Illinois.^2,3 It has also been reported that John was born in Virginia.⁴

John married Clara Isabelle Courtright on 25 December 1876 in Schuyler County, Missouri. Their Christmas marriage took place at the residence of the bride's father. Interestingly, the record gives the bride's name as Isabell Courtwright - the only time I have seen her use her middle name.⁵

John died from typhoid fever on 25 August 1883 in Schuyler County, Missouri.⁶ He was interred in the Myers Cemetery, Queen City, Schuyler County, Missouri.^7,8

Father: not yet identified
Mother: not yet identified

Birth date: 21 May 1859
Birth place: Schuyler County, Missouri.^2,3,4

Clara's first marriage was to John H. Harris, son of George Harris and Martha Ann Bowers, on 25 December 1876 in Schuyler County, Missouri. Their Christmas marriage took place at the residence of the bride's father. Interestingly, the record gives the bride's name as Isabell Courtwright - the only time I have seen her use her middle name.⁵

Clara became a widow at age 24 when John died on 25 August 1883. It would have been an especially tough time as she was pregnant with their fifth child⁶ who would be born 4 months and 12 days later in January.^7,8

Father: John H. Harris
Mother: Clara Isabelle Courtright

Birth date: 21 August 1879
Birth place: Queen City, Schuyler County, Missouri.^1,2,3 It has also been reported that Boyd was born at Lancaster, Schuyler County, Missouri.⁴

Boyd married Lena Holtz on 9 November 1906 at Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa.^5,3

On 6 April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany and officially entered World War I. Every male living within the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 45 was required to register for the draft during one of three separate registration periods. The third registration was held on 12 September 1918 for men aged 18 to 21 and 31 to 45. At age 39, Boyd registered in Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa, and was described as follows: medium height and build, brown eyes, black hair.⁶

As of 12 September 1918, when he registered for the draft, Boyd was employed as a farmer by L. J. Andrews, R.R. #6, Des Moines, Iowa,⁶ and was living at R.R. #6, Des Moines, Iowa.⁶

Father: William Clemens "Clem" McGary
Mother: Ella May Dakan

Birth date: 26 August 1885
Birth place: Marshall County, West Virginia.²

Father: Charles Littleton
Mother: Rachel Reese

Birth date: reportedly 1 February 1841. Although I have not found a birth record for Isabella; this date comes from the record of her death in Illinois.²

In contrast, the 1900 U.S. census reported that her birth was in February 1845.³ The year of her birth is not supported by any of the federal census enumerations, as her age is not given consistently considering the decade span of each census. By the same token, she was 18 years old when she got married per the marriage record - yet she would have been 19 years old if 1841 is correct and only 15 years old if 1845 is correct.⁴ At this point, I have opted to accept the date from her death record as it is closer to being supported by the 1850 census in which her reported age of 8 years may very well have been given by one of her parents. (She would have actually been 9 years old on the official date of that census, but a one year difference in age is within the realm of reason.)⁵

Birth place: Ohio^6,3,2 or Virginia.^5,4,7
Trying to pin down her birth location has proven impossible so far. As you read this next part, remember that in the 1840's, the Ohio River was the boundary between Ohio and Virginia, meaning that Ohio County, Virginia, was only a bridge away from the state of Ohio. Marshall County had been formed from the southern end of Ohio County in 1835; and both of those counties were in the western part of Virginia that would become West Virginia in 1863.

Getting back to where Isabella was born, the most commonly found place in census records is Ohio, but in 1850 when she was a young child with her parents, Virginia is given as her birthplace. I have not yet found her in the 1860 census, but in 1870 when she is married and living in Illinois, Virginia is once again given as her birthplace. After that, the census records show Ohio. From what I can tell so far, it seems that Isabella's parents lived in (West) Virginia, so that would give credence to her birth being in Virginia. Yet her siblings were born in Ohio, which raises the question of whether her birthplace might simply have been recorded incorrectly on some census forms.

Isabella was married in Marshall County, and the marriage record filed there lists Ohio County, Virginia, as her place of birth. (I suppose it would be possible that if a clerk was told that a birthplace was Ohio, they might assume the county rather than the state.) On the other hand the record of Isabella's death says she was born in Ohio. I had also looked at various records for her children, and generally found the state of Ohio as the birthplace of their mother. It was interesting that the death record of son Robert gave Isabella's birthplace as Bellaire, Ohio ... a town across the Ohio River from Ohio/Marshall Counties.

Bottom line ... I would normally accept Virginia as being correct based on the fact that it appears with events closest to her time of birth. Yet Ohio appears in so many records, it leaves me perplexed and on the fence as to which one is right. If you can answer this question, I would love to hear from you!

Spellings of her first name include Isabella,^1,7 Isabelle,⁵ and Isabel.^4,6

Photograph of Isabella (Littleton) Harris. Date taken: unknown. Location: unknown. Click on camera to view full (or larger) image than the one shown here, then use your browser's back button to return to this page.⁸

Isabella married John W. Harris, son of Benjamin Harris and Nancy Agnes Campbell, on 28 June 1860 in Marshall County, Virginia. W. R. Howe certified that he united them in marriage.⁴

As of 1865, Isabella and John lived at Fairbury, Livingston County, Illinois.¹

Photograph of Isabella with John A. Harris. Date taken: unknown. Location: Fairbury, Livingston County, Illinois. Click on camera to view image, then use your browser's back button to return here.⁹

At age 77, Isabella died on 24 August 1918 at Indian Grove, Fairbury, Livingston County, Illinois.² She was interred on 27 August 1918 in the Fairbury, Livingston County, Illinois.²

Father: James Mundle
Mother: Mary Jane Aston

Birth date: about 1857
Birth place: Virginia.¹

Father: Burnice Clark
Mother: Lena M. Shaw

Birth date: 19 October 1938
Birth place: Moundsville, Marshall County, West Virginia.¹

At age 72, Samuel died on 16 August 2011.¹

Father: not yet identified
Mother: not yet identified

Birth date: 7 October 1899
Birth place: Marshall County, West Virginia.^1,2

Commonly known by her middle name as her name appears as Marie Robinson Clark as the informant identified on her husband's death certificate.³

Ida married Anderson "Andy" Clark, son of Samuel E. Clark and Margaret A. Shimp, on 16 September 1922 at Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia. L. S. Grose, Pastor of the Zane St. M. E. Church, certified that he united them in marriage.¹

At age 67, Ida died on 16 June 1967.²