Courting: The Courtship and Marriage of Amos Gorrell, Jr. and Catherine E. Sayre in Ross County, Ohio

Amos Gorrell, Jr. and Catherine E. Sayre were married on 6 February 1866 in Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio and, following their ceremony, returned to their respective homes.[1] The day started out “cold and cloudy in the morning” but “clears up about 10 o’clock.”[2] These words have come from the diaries kept by Amos Gorrell, Jr. Copies of the diaries dating from 1862 to 1872 have been transcribed and handed down to Amos Gorrell’s grandchildren. The story of the courtship between Amos and Catherine, who lived not far from each other in Huntington Township, Ohio, in a community called Hooppole, can be found in the 1865 and 1866 diaries.

Amos Gorrell, Jr. was born 12 February 1837 in Beaver County, Pennsylvania to Amos Gorrell, Sr. and Leah Wollam.[3] The family, including his younger brother, Joseph, moved to Ohio in 1843, first settling in Jackson and then in Ross County.[4]

Catherine Elizabeth Shotts was born 18 February 1835 in Ross County to Daniel Shotts and Mary Ann Bishop.[5] The Bishops had settled in Ohio about 1805 and the Shotts about 1810.[6] Catherine and Lemuel Sayre were married on 14 January 1857.[7] Lemuel, born about 1835 in Virginia, enlisted on 10 September 1861 in Company B of the Ohio 63rd, and died 9 May 1862 at Hamburg, Tennessee.[8]

Amos also served in the Civil War and returned to Ohio on the 12 November 1864.[9] Between that time and his marriage to Catherine, his diary noted that he courted several different women. His courtship with the women often included having “private chats.” He mentioned the first private chat with Catherine E. Sayer on 26 February 1865, approximately one year before their marriage. In the next six months, he also had “private chats” with Miss M. A. Lenox, Dorcus Toops, Lib Caldwell, and Edith Huggins. He corresponded and visited often with Miss M. A. Lenox.

On 3 June 1865, he had one of his private chats with Cate (he referred to Catherine in the diaries by CES, Catherine E. Sayer, Mrs. Catherine E. Sayer, CE Sayer, and Cate) and wrote:

“Cate comes to the yard fence with me. And we have a short privet chat and I (???) her. First time in my life. Promise to come back to seer in three weeks."

What was his first time—holding hands, a kiss, or perhaps more?  The next day he made a visit with Miss M. A. Lenox and promised to visit again in four weeks. The next mention of a private chat with Cate was on 18 June and then he visited Miss M. A. Lenox on 2 July where he “had a private chat &c for the first time in my life with her.” He promised to come back.

Amos had a private chat with Mollie Toops and Dorucs Briant, the school teacher, on 4 July. With two private chats on the same day, I was beginning to suspect that “private chats” were little more than the opportunity to speak alone with a woman. With the addition of “&c” added to the private chats, then something more had happened—holding hands or a stolen kiss. But there were notations at the ends of the journals stating they were recopied into new books by his wife. So if the “&c” meant more than simple hand holding or kissing, would he have allowed her to recopy them?

On 30 July 1865, he broke up with Miss M. A. Lenox and saw only CES, though later in September he sent a letter to Miss Lenox. By November his entries listed visits and privates chats with only CES. These visits increased in frequency in December and January, and on 7 January 1866, he wrote that they discussed “M- - y - - g” which was surely to mean marrying.  On 15 January he made a notation about his brother Joe:

"Jos & I make a Settlement. Provided I leave, he is to have all of our property, Except my horse and is to pay me $100. And him keep the old folks their lifetime and get all their property at their death."   

Here he had made a preparation before being married.      

The entry for 6 February 1866, the day they married, was one of the longest. Cate was not ready when Amos arrived at the Shottses. Catherine lived with her parents, Daniel and Mary Ann (Bishop) Shotts after her first husband, Lemuel J. Sayre, was killed in the war in Tennessee. Their one surviving son, May Mansfield Sayre, was never mentioned in the diary before Amos and Cate’s wedding.

The couple traveled to Chillicothe, the county seat, on horseback and arrived in town at ten o’clock a.m. Amos listed all of their activities and the cost to him:

American House (Watsonburger & Reaf Proprietors) to put up horses & order dinner, 80 cents

Put shoes on Cate’s mare, 90 cents

Clothing store for a pair of pants, $6

Probate Judge for (marriage) license, 85 cents

Public Square for kid gloves, $2, silk gloves $1.35, gold wedding ring $3.50, gold brestpin $5.

Purchase a hymn book as a gift for Elisa A Shotts, $1.30

They planned to marry at Valey House, but it cost $5 to rent the use of the parlor for a few minutes. He was “not willing to pay so much.” So, they went to the Methodist-Episcopal Church parsonage on Second street. The Reverend Mr. Creighton married them in the presence of his wife and Miss Sumers. Amos wrote that expenses for the day were “a few cents over $27.” They started for home and ate with the Shottses. He then left his wife at her parents' and went home. He wrote, “My Father and Mother are opposed to the match and we have done all on the Sly, not letting them know it.”

Amos spent the next night with his wife and continued to do so for next few days. He wrote, “A few of the neighborhood begins to find we are married.” He then told his parents on Saturday, 10 February.  His diary did not record the reaction that his parents had.

By 26 February, he noted that he and Catherine “have concluded to go to Missouri.” He never gave a reason, but if his parents disapproved of the arrangement, then perhaps this could have been what prompted the move, or perhaps they saw opportunity in Missouri. Before they left, Amos went into town with James Toops, who had acted as a bondsman, in order for Amos to be a guardian for May M. Sayer. “Mr. Shotts and James Toops signs bond with me.” He and Catherine planned to leave for Missouri on Tuesday, 6 March.

The travel to Missouri was interesting. He wrote that they traveled to Wavery by wagon to get the boat to Portsmouth (down the Ohio & Erie Canal), arriving the next day. Then continued on to Cincinnati (via the Ohio River) where they could not get another boat to St. Louis. They traveled instead by train on the Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad. They ferried to St. Louis (across the Mississippi River) and after spending the night, took the Pacific Railroad to the town of California, Missouri. They continued on to Tipton, where it took a couple of weeks to find a place to live.

Amos and Catherine lived a long life together and had six children, all born in Missouri. Catherine died 22 September 1918.[10] Amos died nearly ten years later, on 31 March 1928, in Blackwater, Cooper County, Missouri.[11] They were both buried in the Old Lamine Cemetery in Blackwater.[12]

This is an excerpt from a similarly titled piece, previously published in the California Genealogical Society’s California Nugget, published Spring 2013.

#52Ancestors-Week 8: Courting

This is my fifth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe. I 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.

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[1] “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1614804), Ross > Marriage records 1865-1875, vol I-K > image 94 of 416, p. 69, Amos Gorrell to Catharine E Sayer, 1866; citing FHL digital film 4256209.

[2] "Diary of Amos Gorrell, Jr.;" January 1, 1866 - August 23, 1866,” entry for February 6th 1866, Gorrell Family Collection, held by Lisa S. Gorrell. These diaries were handwritten in small books and Amos filled one in about six-month increments. The author’s father-in-law, George Gorrell, inherited two volumes. All volumes have been transcribed and typed. The typed versions for Aug - Dec 1865 and Jan - Aug 23, 1866 were consulted for this piece. Further references to diary entries will not be footnoted.

[3] William Foreman Johnson, History of Cooper County, Missouri, (Topeka, Kansas: Historical Publishing Co., 1919, p. 788.

[4] Johnson, History of Cooper County, p. 788. Also 1850 U. S. census, Jackson County, Ohio, Scioto Twp., p. 360b, household 198, family 203, Amos Gorrell. Also 1860 U. S. census, Ross County, Ohio, Huntington Twp., p. 433b, household 341, Amos Gorrell.

[5] Death Certificate for Katherine Elizabeth Gorrell, 1918, certificate 29020, digital images, Missouri Digital Heritage (http://www.sos.mo.gov : accessed 8 April 2008); citing Missouri State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.  Amos Gorrell was the informant.

[6] Daniel Shotts’ youngest sister, Susanna, was born in Ohio in 1811. Mary Ann Bishop was the first child of Frederick Bishop and Susanna Cress to be born in Ohio in 1806.

[7] "Ohio County Marriages 1789-1994," database and digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org), Ross County Marriage records 1852 - 1864, vol G - H1, p. 237, Sayre-Shotts, citing FHL film 0281640.

[8] 1860 U. S. census, Ross County, Ohio, p. 418, household 95, Lemuel J. Sayers, age 24. “American Civil War Soldiers,” Lemuel Sayre, database, Ancestry.

[9] Amos Gorrell, “Diary of Amos Gorrell, Jr., August - Dec 1864,” entry for 12 November 1864.

[10] Death Certificate for Katherine Elizabeth Gorrell, #29020, digital images, Missouri Digital Heritage (http://www.sos.mo.gov : accessed 8 April 2008); citing Missouri State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.  

[11] Death Certificate for Amos Gorrell, #8317, Missouri Digital Heritage (http://www.sos.mo.gov : accessed 8 April 2008); citing Missouri State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.

[12] Tombstone marker of Catherine E. and Amos Gorrell, LaMine Cemetery, Blackwater, Cooper County, Missouri, photo taken by Lisa S. Gorrell, May 1988.

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