Monday, February 28, 2011

Unanswered Questions

Margaret Taylor and Alexander Morain Shoemaker married on 29 October 1835 in Pendleton, Kentucky. They appear on the Quincy, Adams, Illinois census in 1840.[1] Between those two dates, there is some conflicting information as to the timing and whereabouts of their moves.

[1]
On 16 July 1836 their first child, Sarah Ann was born. She died 10 months later on 24 May 1837. These are dates from New Family Search, with both Illinois and Kentucky recorded as the birthplace. I do not have documentation on these dates yet, but it is likely they were obtained from Margaret Taylor herself, as she was involved in church and temple work until she died in 1906.

Alexander Morain Shoemaker's obituary states they moved from Kentucky to Illinois "shortly after marriage...where he heard the gospel and was baptized into the Church."[2] This is likely where the birthplace of Illinois came from.
[2]
Daughter, Margaret Eliza Shoemaker, says her father told her they were in Missouri at the time the Saints were being mobbed. It was there they first heard the gospel.[3] The Taylor were in Platte County, Missouri at the time of the 1840 census. [4]
[4]
[1 male under 5 (Mark born 1837); 2 males 5 to 9 (Heber born 1832 and Samuel born 1830); 1 male 10 to 14 (John born 1826); 1 male 15 to 19 (Joseph H. born 1824); 1 male 20 to 29 (James born 1820, married in 1841 in Platte Co., MO); 1 male 40 to 49 (joseph born 1796); 1 female 30 to 39 (Nancy born about 1804). Note Margaret born 181 was married, Rebecca, born 1822, was likely married, Mary Ann died in 1838 and Nancy Jane died in 1833.]

Margaret's brother, James Taylor, was married to Martha Petty in Pettis Township, Platte County, Missouri in 18 Nov 1841.[5] Both these facts back Margaret Eliza Shoemaker's statement that Alexander and Margaret moved to Missouri before moving on to Illinois.

[5]
Taking all this into consideration, it is likely Sarah Ann was born and died in Kentucky. Another possibility is they moved to Missouri before Sarah Ann was born or perhaps before she died.

At the present time, my research is focusing on Mid-Atlantic States research with Margaret's grandfather, Adam Holiday Taylor in Pennsylvania. In April I begin a class on Midwest U.S. research. I hope to find a few more details on these and other discrepancies during that time.


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1 1840 U.S. Census, Quincy, Adams, Illinois, population schedule, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing NARA publication M704, record group 29, roll 54, page 52, no. 4, family 17, accessed 9 November 2009.
2 Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah), microfilm publication, 30 reels, vol. 21 (7 Feb. 1872-29 Jan. 1872), 15 May 1872, page 212, column 1, first entry, FHL US/CAN Film 26,593.
3 Margaret Eliza [Shoemaker] Clement, life history dictated to Belva Watson, sometime between 1920 and 1929; typescript privately held by Alta Clement Willis, her granddaughter, 2011.
4 1840 U.S. Census, Platte County, Missouri, population schedule, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing NARA microfilm publication M704, record group 29, roll 228, page 103, accessed 7 December 2009.
5 "Missouri Marriage Records," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), accessed November 2009.

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