SAMUEL OLMSTED
By Doreen Dolleman
I wasn’t too sure I would be able to write an article for this newsletter after an unexpected turn of events following the Christmas holidays. I had a ruptured appendix with complications that dragged on for weeks, and rendered me pathetically useless! My husband knew I was in bad shape when I didn’t have the energy to even turn on my computer and check my email! However, once I began to feel a little better, my recovery was almost overnight! Now I am back on the computer and busy with my research. I had planned on finishing up my series on the children of Jabez and Miriam Olmstead with an article on Abigail Olmstead Case. It is almost completed, but I am now having second thoughts. Another researcher, Susan Goss Johnston, who is a descendant of Abigail and Aaron Case, has done a wonderful job of compiling information on this family and I am thinking she would write a much more informed article on the subject than myself. Another reason for procrastinating is that I have been busy exchanging information with 4 descendants of the Samuel Olmsted family and have become so intrigued with the findings that I can barely concentrate on anything else at the moment. So I have decided to share the very interesting details of this family.
Samuel Olmsted was briefly mentioned in my 7th article, about Jedediah Olmsted, son of Jeremiah and Elizabeth Litten Olmsted. Samuel was the oldest son of Jedediah Olmsted Jr. and his wife Olive. Olive may have been a daughter of Samuel Waterhouse of Hampton, Washington County, New York. I will briefly outline the known records of Samuel.
1. Samuel was born 13 March 1800. Some family data gives his birthplace as Scipio, Cayuga County, NY, but there are no records to verify this. His father, Jedediah JR, signed a petition for land in Grenville County, Ontario in September of 1800 and stated that he had been a resident of the county for 3 months. This seems to verify that Samuel was born somewhere in NY before his parents’ arrival in Ontario.
2. He first appeared in the 1 May 1802 census of Grenville County, Ontario, taken for the townships of Wolford, Oxford, Montague and Marlborough. He was 2 years old and was living with his parents Jedediah 25, Olive 17, and his brother Henry, 4 months.
3. In 1803 his cousins, 6-year-old Lorana Olmsted and 3-year-old twins Hetty (Mehitable) and Thankful Olmsted were living with Samuel’s family after the death of their father Israel Olmsted (brother of Jedediah JR). Israel’s wife Elizabeth Haskins Olmsted had remarried that same year to Solomon Edmunds.
4. In 1804 Jedediah, Olive, Samuel and Henry were enumerated in Marlborough Township, immediately neighboring the Gideon Olmstead and Richard Olmstead families (cousins of Jedediah).
5. In 1805 Jedediah, 28, Olive, 22, Samuel, 5, Henry, 3, and William, 2, were enumerated in Oxford Township immediately next to the Daniel and Elizabeth (Olmsted) Bullis family. Elizabeth Bullis was a cousin of Jedediah. This was the last time that Jedediah’s family was listed in the early Grenville census records.
6. Jedediah Olmsted was in the 1810 Riga, Genessee County, New York census (now Monroe County). The family consisted of four boys under the age of 10, one boy aged 10-15 (Samuel), one male 16-25 and one male 26-44 (Jedediah). There was only one female in the family, 26-44. This was either Olive or Jedediah’s second wife, Mary Bullard.
7. Samuel’s first marriage was to Lydia Hollis sometime before 1821, place unknown. This wife is named in the Olmsted "Red Book", but there are no further details.
8. On 4 Dec. 1822 he married Rebecca Campbell Thompson in Jefferson County, Indiana. She was born in 1808 in Halifax, Massachusetts and was the daughter of Eliab and Sophia Thompson. Samuel and Rebecca had 4 children: Julia, Samuel, Benjamin Buck and Mary.
9. “The Historical Sketch of Johnson County” (Indiana) states that Samuel Umpstead moved into the township of Blue River in 1822.
10. In the 1830 census Samuel Umstard was in Franklin Township, Johnson County, Indiana, with two males under 5, one male 10-15, one male 15-20, one male 30-40, one female 5-10, and one female 20-30.
11. In 1838 Samuel left Rebecca, taking sons Samuel T. and Benjamin B. with him. Rebecca was granted custody of daughter Mary and received an annual alimony of $50.
12. In 1840 Samuel was in Edgar County, Illinois. His household consisted of two males under 5, two males 10-15, one male 20-30, one male 30-40, and one female 20-30 (Mary Carroll).
13. In 1841 the divorce of Samuel and Rebecca Olmstead was finalized in Johnson County, Indiana.
14. Samuel Olmsted married Mary Carroll on 16 Oct. 1841 in Edgar County, Illinois. This is so far the only marriage record of Samuel’s found. Mary was the daughter of Henry and Sarah Doan Carroll of Kentucky. She died in April or May of 1850. They had eight children and three were born between 1835 to 1840, during the years he was still married to Rebecca. They were James Marion, George, Barnwell, Amanda, Sarah, Ollie (probably Olive), Love, and Hezekiah.
15. Samuel Olmsted purchased land in Shoal Creek Twp, Cumberland County, IL in 1845 and 1846.
16. Samuel married Mary Elizabeth Davis around May of 1850, three weeks after the death of his wife Mary Carroll.
17. In 1850 Samuel was living in Geenup, Cumberland County, Illinois with wife Mary Davis and children James, George, Barnwell, Manday (Amanda), Sarah, Ollie and Love. He was a farmer. His divorced wife Rebecca and daughter Mary were missing in the 1850 census.
18. In November of 1851, Samuel’s wife, Mary Davis Olmsted, was convicted of manslaughter in the death of his 5-year-old daughter Ollie and sentenced to 2 years in the Illinois State prison. Samuel was also charged, but was acquitted.
19. In 1853 Samuel purchased land in Bond County, IL.
20. After Mary Davis Olmsted’s prison term she returned to Samuel. Their two children were Malinda and John Wesley. Mary died in 1857 (the same year her son John was born).
21. In 1858 Samuel remarried his second wife, Rebecca Thompson Olmsted in Bond County, IL. Their son Benjamin Buck Olmsted (he was a JP) performed the ceremony.
22. Samuel died 12 October 1860 in Bond County. An Affidavit of Decease and Names of Heirs states: “Rebecca Olmsted being duly sworn deposes and says that Samuel Olmsted late of the County of Bond and state of Illinois, is dead, and that he died on or about the twelfth day of Oct. AD 1860 and that his personal estate will probably amount to $500. That said Samuel Olmsted left at the time of his decease Rebecca Olmsted his widow, and Benjamin, Sally, Malinda and John Olmsted and Mary Bowles his children and heirs of Samuel and Julia Ann his deceased son and daughter. Sworn on 10 Nov. 1860 and signed by Rebecca and John Olmsted.” Samuel and Rebecca were missing in the 1860 census, as were all their minor children.
23. Widow Rebecca Olmsted married Solomon Starnes (Sterns) 24 Sep. 1863 in Bond Co. They are listed in the 1870 census, living in McCord, Bond Co. Rebecca’s 18-year-old granddaughter Julia Carroll is with them.
The following is a brief outline of Samuel’s 14 known children:
1. Julia T. was born 18 Oct 1823 in Indiana. She married a William Bryant, who was from New Liberty, MO, on 14 Feb. 1839 in Johnson Co, IN. Julia died before the 1860 census.
2. Samuel T. was born 20 Jan. 1826 in Johnson County, Indiana. He married Jemima (Jane) Owens 9 Jan. 1845 in IL. His children were Benjamin Buchanan 1845-1921(married Mary Gallion, Francis Crowder, Sarah Cook, and Effie Cooper), Mary Ann 1848 (married Hiram Enloe and Thomas Duncan), and William H 1850. In 1850 this family was living in Hurricane, Cumberland County, IL and Samuel was a farmer. He died before the 1860 census.
3. Benjamin Buck was born 6 Aug. 1828 in Columbus, Bartholomew Co, IN. He married the widow Adeline Bright McGaha 28 April 1850 in Cumberland County, IL Benjamin was stepfather to her daughter Evaline. Adeline died 2 May 1857 when her clothing caught fire while cooking over an open fire. They had two children, Rebecca Almira, born 1851 (married James Newell Wilson), and Anselm Johnson, born 1854 (married Charity Hill, Jenny Wood and Mary Eveland). Benjamin married Lydia Shores (daughter of King and Elizabeth Shores of Pennsylvanis) 8 Aug. 1858, recorded in Coles County. They had two children; Ella C. and Franklin Ashbury- both died in infancy. In the 1860 census he lived in Johnstown, Cumberland Co, IL. By 1870 he was in Cottonwood, Cumberland Co and resided there the remainder of his life. Benjamin served in the Civil War in the 123rd IL Infantry. He was a blacksmith, postmaster, merchant and justice of the peace in Johnstown, Cumberland Co, IL. He died 23 April 1905 and is buried in Janesville Cemetery, Mattoon. His widow Lydia remained in Cottonwood. It is interesting to note that in the 1920 census, at 82 years of age, she was living with Willis and Julia Carroll (Mary Olmsted’s daughter) Shores. Lydia was Willis’ only aunt. She died 28 Feb. 1920.
4. Mary was born 9 Jan. 1831 in Indiana. She married Hezekiah Carroll in 1855 and lived for a short time in Missouri. She may have been divorced as by 1860 (Hezekiah was still in Missouri) was married to Benjamin Boles (Bowles) and was living with him in Greenup, Cumberland County, IL. There were four children in their household, including Mary’s daughter Julia (Carroll). Twenty-year-old Barnwell Olmstead, bother of Mary also lived with them. Daughter Julia Carroll married Willis Shores, nephew of Lydia Shores Olmsted (wife of Benjamin Buck Olmsted).
5. James Marion was born 5 April 1835 in Johnson County, IN. He married Emily Alice Tofflemire 24 Dec. 1856 in New Buffalo, Berrien County, Michigan. Their children were Charles 1858-1914 (married Annie Meyers, Gladys Gard), Effie 1860-1865, Hattie 1862-1864, Rosa 1866-1933 (married Hans J. Markward, William Betz), Nettie 1868-1871, and William 1871 (married Bertha Finch). In 1850 James was with his father and family in Greenup, IL. In 1860 he was a laborer in Berrien Co, MI. He served in the Civil War in Co. B, Reg. 123 IL. In 1870 he was a blacksmith in Lincoln Twp, Berrien Co. In 1880 he was a farmer in Prairie Precinct, Phelps Co, Nebraska. He sold his land in NE in 1888. In the 1900 census he was once again in Stevensville, Lincoln Twp, Berrien Co, MI and was a blacksmith. He died 6 April 1912 in Stevensville, MI.
6. George W. was born 1 Aug 1839 in Indiana and died in 1864 according to family records. He married Clarissa Walls in 1859 in Bond Co, IL. They had at least two children: Sarah L. and Jemima. Clarissa remarried 22 May 1870, Madison Co, IL to Francis Larkin. In the 1870 census they were living in McCord, Bond Co, IL.
7. Barnwell was born 19 Dec. 1840 in Edgar Co, IL. He married Minerva Reeder 3 Aug. 1859, second Jerusha Chissel 2 Dec. 1864 and third Elizabeth (maiden name unknown) about 1888. Barnwell was living with his father Samuel in 1850 and with his sister Mary Boles in Greenup, Cumberland Co, IL in 1860. Barnwell served in the Civil War in E 76 IN Calvary and S 41 IN Infantry. He is missing in 1870. In 1880 he was a blacksmith in Reedy District, Roane Co, W. Virginia with no wife present, a son J.J. 13, and 11- year- old daughter Geneva. Both children were born in IL. In 1900 “Barney” was still in Reedy District with a wife Elizabeth of 12 years, 16-year-old daughter Hattie, 15-year-old son Harry and 11 -year- old son Barney. The 2 oldest children were born in Ohio and must have been Elizabeth’s from a former marriage. Barnwell’s son J.J. (James) was a blacksmith in Grant district in Pleasants Co, WV with his wife Lizzie Briggs and daughter Lillian. By the 1910 census the Barnwell family had moved to New Cumberland town, Hancock Co, WV. Stepson Harry and his wife and children were living in the household as was son Barnwell S. (Barney). By 1920 Barnwell and Elizabeth were in E. Liverpool City, Columbiana Co, OH with Harry and family and Barney and family (wife Elizabeth and son Charles) all in the same household. Both sons worked in a porcelain factory. Son James was a blacksmith in Akron, OH in 1920. Barnwell died sometime around 1923 as his wife Elizabeth applied for a widow’s Civil War pension that year in Ohio. Son James died in 1944 and was buried in St. Mary’s, Pleasants Co, WV with his wife and daughter.
8. Amanda was born in 1842 in IL. She was enumerated as Manday in the 1850 census with her father Samuel and family in Greenup, Cumberland Co, IL. Nothing more is known.
9. Sarah Ann was born 27 March 1844 in IL. She married a William Thompson 21 Dec. 1863 in Coles Co, IL. Sarah was the only one of Samuel and Mary Carroll Olmsted’s children named as an heir in Samuel’s death/estate papers in 1860.
10. Ollie (probably Olive after Samuel’s mother) was born in 1845 and died in 1850. She was enumerated with her father Samuel and family in the 1850 Greenup, Cumberland Co, IL census. The tragic story of her death was in an Illinois newspaper in Nov. 1851 and is included in this newsletter.
11. Love A. was born around 1847 in IL. The only record of this female child was in the 1850 Greenup, Cumberland Co, IL census. She was 3 years old and living with her father Samuel and stepmother Mary Davis Olmsted.
12. Hezekiah – This son’s birth is unknown. He was mentioned in family records, was not in the 1850 census and it is uncertain if he actually was a child of Samuel’s.
13. Malinda was also mentioned in family records as a child of Samuel and Mary Davis Olmsted. There is no record of her birth and she does not appear in census records. She was named as an heir in the death/estate papers of Samuel Olmsted in 1860.
14. John Wesley was born 10 Dec. 1857 in IL. He was the son of Samuel and Mary Davis Olmsted, born after her return from prison. Family records give Mary's death year as 1857, so it would appear that she might have died in childbirth or shortly thereafter. John was missing in the 1860 census, but was mentioned as an heir in his father’s death/estate papers that same year. John was sent to live with his Aunt Sarah (sister of Mary Davis) and her husband William McElhaney and was in their household in the 1870 census of Woodbury Twp, Cumberland Co, IL. He married Phananda Graham, daughter of William and Cala Sawyer Graham, 2 September 1876 in Sullivan, IL. They lived in East Nelson, Moultrie Co, IL by the 1880 census and had returned to Cumberland County by 1900, residing in Spring Point Twp. John and his son Emory had a store in the small town of Roslyn and Phananda was the postmistress. In the 1910 and 1920 census the family was in East Nelson Twp, Moultrie County. Emory was the proprietor of a hardware store in Mattoon, Coles County and after the death of Phananda in 1928, John lived in a small house on the back of Emory’s property. John died 27 January 1943. He and Phananda were buried in Graham Chapel Cemetery. Their children were Charles Emory 1878-1935 (married Ida Tanner), Cala Mary Pearl 1890-1970 (married Esau Feller), Malden Leroy 1892- 1931 (married Emma), Francis Ellery 1896 (married Eugenia), and William Lawson who died as an infant. John was a farmer.
This family has been both fascinating and frustrating to research. I have never found one with so many of its members missing year after year in census records. I have had so much wonderful help in writing this article and give special thanks to Fame Arent, Doris Wynn, Brenda Berry and Thomas Dill for all the information and photos that they generously shared! Working together we made great progress in filling in many of the missing pieces needed to make a more detailed record of this family line. I also thank Danean Mitchell for finding the article on Ollie Olmsted’s death.
ILLINOIS JOURNAL
Springfield:
Wednesday Morning, November 5, 1851.
Horrible Cruelty of a Step Mother. --- The Illinois State Democrat furnishes a synopsis of the evidence given in the trial of Samuel Olmstead and Polly, his wife, upon a charge of manslaughter, committed upon the person of a little girl only five years of age, the daughter of Olmstead by a former wife. A more revolting series of barbarities has never before come to knowledge, and, we hope, never will again.
It appears that Olmstead married again in about three weeks after the death of his first wife - at which time Olley, the child alluded to was about five years old, and remarkably sprightly and healthy. This was about eighteen months ago. Soon after the marriage the new wife confined the little girl in the kitchen; and there kept her most of the time tied, and without fire. In this situation she was forced to remain up to the time of her death; having no food allowed her except half a pint of coffee or milk and a piece of cold corn bread each day. No bed was allowed her in any weather further than a singe scanty quilt.
This fiendish woman often amused herself by beating the child in the most outrageous manner; and one occasion compelled another child to choke her until she was black in the face. She continually forced her to eat rotten fruit and vegetables of various kinds, together with other filth, which it would not be seemly for us to describe. Sometimes she would fasten the little creature under the kitchen floor and leave her there for hours. Other details were given, which are to shocking for publication. The poor little sufferer often wished herself dead. On one occasion she escaped from the kitchen and was seen trying to climb a pole which stood in the yard. Upon being asked where she was going, she replied that she was going up to the other world to see her mother. The heartless step-mother ordered her down with curses, and the trembling little creature fell, in her weakness, her head striking against the side of the house. The chapter of merciless inflictions upon a helpless child was at last terminated by the sufferer’s being poisoned to death with opium, given her in large quantities by her diabolical persecutor.
The jury found the woman guilty of manslaughter, and she was sentenced to two years service in the State’s Prison. Her husband was acquitted. He, it seems, sometimes remonstrate with his wife for her cruelty but never had the courage to arrest it