This is my second year working on this year-long
prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week
in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I have enjoyed writing
about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.
His parents did not approve of the marriage.
Amos Gorrell, Jr. married the former Catherine
Elizabeth (Shotts) Sayre on 6 February 1866.[1]
They secretly traveled into Chillicothe (Ross County, Ohio), were married by the Methodist-Episcopal
minister, Rev. Mr. Creighton, and then returned to their respective homes
without telling anyone.[2]
The reason is unknown. Perhaps it was because
she was a Civil War widow with a six-year-old boy. The Shotts family lived in
the same vicinity. Amos’ brother, Joseph married Catherine’s sister, Eliza
Shotts two months later.[3]
So the reason was unlikely that the Gorrell family did not care for the Shotts
family.
Anyway, by the end of the month, they decided to
go to Missouri.[4]
In his diary, he gave details about their
journey. They left their homes in Huntington Township of Ross County south toward Waverly by wagon.
There they got a boat to Portsmouth by going down the Ohio & Erie Canal.
This canal was very important as it connected the Ohio River to Lake Erie at
Cleveland.
 |
| typical canal boat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_Ohio_Canals |
 |
| Beginning of the trip to Portsmouth, then on to Cincinnati http://my.ohio.voyager.net/~lstevens/canal/canalmap.html |
Once in Portsmouth, they traveled on the Ohio
River to Cincinnati, however, they could not get another boat to St. Louis as
planned. Instead, they took a train on the Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad
to East St. Louis and then traveled across the Mississippi River to St. Louis.
 |
| Cincinnati to St. Louis on the Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh,_Cincinnati,_Chicago_and_St._Louis_Railroad |
After spending the night in St. Louis, they took
a Pacific Railroad train to California, Missouri. From there they continued to
Tipton, where it took a couple of weeks to find a place to live.
 |
| St. Louis to Tipton, Missouri via California, Missouri https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Atlantic_%26_Pacific_Railroad_Map.jpg |
Amos and Catherine had a long life together,
raising six children plus her son from the previous marriage. They are both
buried in Old Lamine Cemetery in Blackwater, Cooper County, Missouri.
[1] Ross
County, Ohio, Marriages, v. I, p. 63, Amos Gorrell to Catherine E Sayer, 1866, FHL
film 281641.
[2] Amos
Gorrell, “Diary of Amos Gorrell, Jr, January 1, 1866-August 23, 1866,” entry
Feb 6th 1866.
[3] Ross
County, Ohio, Marriages, v. I, p. 77, Joseph W Gorrell to Eliza Alice Shotts, 1866,
FHL film 281641.
[4] Amos
Gorrell, “Diary of Amos Gorrell, Jr, January 1, 1866-August 23, 1866,” entry
Feb 26th 1866.
Copyright © 2019 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.
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