My Trails into the Past

A new month and a new surname to study. I’ll start with Amos Gorrell Jr., then move to his father, Amos Gorrell, Sr., and lastly Amos’ father, James Gorrell. I will attempt to locate information about Amos Sr’s wife, Leah Wollam, and James’ wife, Sarah Mullholland. Like months before, I’ll work through the documents I already have, then search for more. Amos Jr’s wife, Catharine Shotts will be researched in a later month. Amos Gorrell, Jr. My husband’s great-grandfather, Amos Gorrell, was the son of Amos Gorrell, Sr. and Leah Wollam. He was born on 12 February 1837 in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, perhaps in Ohio Township, where his father was living in 1840. [1] However, Amos stated later in life that he was born in Beaver Falls, which was not in Ohio Township. [2] His parents moved to Ohio and first settled in Scioto Township in Jackson County, where he attended school with his younger brother, Joseph. [3] Later they moved to Ross County. On 25 December 1858, Amos and Joseph pur...

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. I smiled when I saw "brick walls" as the theme for this week. This is going to be a difficult topic because I have many brick walls (as many of us do). I can just open up my RootsMagic database program and check out any line, and there will be a missing parent at the end. Some of my lines, I’d like to keep my research close to hand and not spill it out just yet, in case I wish to write articles about my findings, especially those that were difficult to solve with indirect or negative evidence. However there  are other lines that I can probably share and perhaps this blog post will help. Someone out there might have a clue to help me, or actually have the answer. The third great-grandfather o...

We began the search for David Shotts’ estate records from a newspaper notice submitted by the administrator, Daniel Shotts asking for debtors to pay up and anyone with debts against the estate to come forward. The complete story about the notice is here . Because the notice was found in the newspaper, the probate records were searched for David Shotts. In the Testamentary Docket, the index gave two pages for David Shotts. [1] Index for Testamentary Docket showing David Shotts, decd. So on page 180, there was a summary of what happened when Daniel Shotts came to the October Term 1825 term on the 14 October 1825. “On motion and it appearing to the satisfaction of the court that the widow has relinquished her right of administering. Ordered that Letters of administration be granted unto Daniel Shotts on the estate of David Shotts decd on his being qualified and giving bond and security to the satisfaction of the court whereupon the said Daniel Sho...

In the 27 October 1825 issue of the Scioto Gazette , a newspaper published in Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio, there was a notice put in by the administrator, Daniel Shotts for the estate of David Shotts, late of Huntington Township in Ross County. [1] Scioto (Chillicothe, Ohio) Gazette, 27 Oct 1825, p. 3 The administrator of the estate was responsible for collecting any debts owed to the estate and any debts that the estate owed to someone. This newspaper ad, that was likely in several consecutive issues, was asking that anyone who has a claim against the estate to “present them within one year” and that those who do owe money to the estate were “requested to make immediate payment.” This is also a clue to me that there should be probate records concerning this estate. So on to FamilySearch.org to search for a probate record for David Shotts around 1825 in Ross County, Ohio. The records are online there but are browse only records.  David Shotts was my daught...

Daniel Shotts and Mary Ann Bishop were my children’s third great-grandparents on their father’s side. On 28 March 1831, Daniel Shotts married Mary Ann Bishop in Ross County, Ohio. [1] They had obtained their license on the 19th of March and were married nine days later by Pleasant Thurman. 1831 Ross Co., Ohio Marriage Daniel Shotts & Mary Ann Bishop So what can be learned from this record? There were no other records with Pleasant Thurman listed on the same page. Some of the marriages on the page did identify if the officiant, perhaps as M.G. (Minister of the Gospel) or even by identifying the church. So was Pleasant Thurman a minister? He could also have been a justice of the peace. Searching in Ross County records on Ancestry.com, I found Pleasant Thurman living in the area in the 1820, 1830, 1840, and 1850 censuses. The 1850 census for Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio, gave no occupation. He was sixty-six years old. [2] In an abstract of death notices from ne...