#17-Sarah's Children?

As mentioned before, an earlier researcher/s have not credited Sarah LaRue Baker with any children. But, those earlier researchers have been wrong in other respects, so what about this one? Sarah married John Baker in 1823. She was 28 years old at her marriage. John Baker was born in 1788 so would have been about 35 years old at their marriage. Consequently, it is reasonable to assume that either of them could have been married prior to their marriage to each other. Therefore either of them, or both of them could have had children prior to their marriage to one another.

The 1820 census for the household of James Larue Sr. seems to have females in it, at least one of which would fit Sarah. Since she had not married John Baker by that time, it is concievable that she would be living in her father's household. Whether she were unmarried, or widowed. There is also an unknown male child in this household born between 1810 and 1820. This could be a child of James Sr. or of one of his children. And could also fit the male child that we find in the household of Sarah and John Baker in 1830. We have not found the census record in 1820 for John Baker at this point, so cannot make any conclusions on him for that time frame.

The 1830 Federal Census for Richland Township, Guernsey County, Ohio, finds Johns household with the adult female who would be Sarah, as the age fits. [Remember, that in early census records, only the head of the household is named. All other persons in that household are simply enumerated as males or females in certain age groups.] There is one male child aged, 10-15 years old, therefore born between 1815 and 1820. And there is one female child aged 5-10 years old, therefore born between 1820 and 1825. Could the female child be Sarah's. Or was she born before the 1823 marriage, and John was a new widower when he married Sarah? Was the male child born 1815-1820 Sarah's, born prior to her marriage to John or was it John's son, from a prior marriage. Or, since the 1830 census was taken after the death of Sarah's father, James Sr., is this Sarah's brother?

The 1840 Federal Census for the same area, was taken shortly before John Baker died in 1841. In his household, there is still the female of the correct age to be Sarah, but no female child who would at this date be aged 15 to 20 years old. There is a male 20-30 years old which fits with the male teenager from the previous census. There is an adult female 20-30 years old, most likely that male's wife. And a male child under 5 years old, so I am going to guess that this young couple living with Sarah and John had a male child. Who are they?

I need to check out probate records for John Baker, Sarah Larue Baker Brown and even James Larue Sr. or Elizabeth to see if I can track down these persons. I am going to propose here that these persons are NOT Sarah's children or James Sr., as they are not mentioned in the estate settlement of Sarah's brother Laban Larue in 1891, when he leaves to all his neices and nephews shares in his estate. But that is not enough evidence to make it convincing, so further research may really establish how these persons are related.

#16-Scratch That Idea.

Since I have no idea of who will in the future read this blog, I cannot limit it to only my direct line. Therefore, as each line of descent from James Sr. & Elizabeth Larue come into the discussion, I will share what I have on that complete line, except for living persons.

Some of you may not find this to your interest. But, I suggest that you read all of it, as the LaRue family moved West, they often kept contact with the family "back home". And often went "home" to visit or had family travel West for a visit.  There is just way to much great history here to ignore any of it.  And since my original plan when I began this family genealogy was to follow all the know descendants of James Sr. & Elizabeth as one part of the project, and to search for their ancestors as the other, it seems best that I report on each line. And with time and increased readership, who knows? we may even find other living descendants of this line.

#15-Generations of LaRues.

James and Elizabeth, until I can find their parents, will be considered the First Generation in our Family. Their children, 10 known persons, will be considered the Second Generation. I am in the process of sharing their names and information at present. The Third Generation contains the names of their children, therefore those will be the grandchildren of James and Elizabeth. I probably will not give all the information I have on these grandchildren, except to maybe state whether they married and had descendants. I may go back to these descendants at a later date and share their information, cause there is some really good stuff.

However, the line of John Jr., who is the son of James Sr., and is my direct line (along with my first cousins) is a line that I will fully explore except for information on living persons.  I am still collecting photographs and hope to share some of them, but am thinking that idea through a little more thoroughly. So back to the next child of James & Elizabeth, one William B. LaRue.

#14-Charity Larue. Second Daughter.

James Sr. and Elizabeth had a second daughter born to them in Virginia, whom they named Charity. Neither her marriage record nor her tombstone give her a middle initial, yet some researchers have assigned a B. as a middle initial to her. We have no references as to whether this was a name handed down. Guess, once we can get the earlier generations on this family we may find out. Charity was born on 16 April 1796. I have not seen a birth record for her, but this is the date that has been passed down from previous researchers. Her tombstone photo is not clear enough to read her death date nor her age at death so as to obtain her birth date. But, the relative who took the photo confirms what it reads for her death date. On numerous census records her birth year is also confirmed as 1796.  

On 29 October 1823, in Guernsey County, Ohio, Charity married John Stuart (sometimes spelled Stewart). He was born in Pennsylvania in 1795. We do not know if either of them were married previously. But, they were of an age that could have put either of them in a previous although short marriage. We first can find this couple on the 1830 Federal Census for Beaver Township, Guernsey County, Ohio. The children in their household are reported as a male child under 5 years old, a male child 5-10 years old and a female child 5 to 10 years old, all of which fits with the known children of this marriage by 1830. So, we have no extra children by previous marriages, so it seems.

It seems that in either 1838 or 1840 (the records are hard to read) John and Charity were both baptised at the Salem Baptist Church in Gibson area, Guernsey County, Ohio. Their eldest child, Elizabeth was baptised at the same church in 1841. The 1840 census for Beaver Township, Guernsey County, Ohio, finds John with his family, which has now added one more son. The 1850 census finds them still in this township and county, and provides the names of his children as Elizabeth J. born in 1824 (probably named for Charity's mother). Next came a son born in 1825, who they named Charles B. (possibly for John's father?), then James L. Stuart born in 1827 (maybe for Charity's father, James LaRue?) and finally, William N. born in 1835 and this is the second time that we see the use of this name in being passed down in this family.

Shortly after the 1850 census, Beaver Township was broken off from Guernsey county and contributed to the makeup of the new Noble County. The family lives here until we see them selling the land and getting a letter of dismissal from the Salem Baptist Church in March 1860 (a means of transferring their church membership) and moving onto Jasper County, Illinois. Their children, all adults moved with them. Only two of their children ever marry. Charles B. Stuart marries Margaret Long, probably in Guernsey County. And, James L. marries a woman named Sara (last name unknown) probably in Noble or Guernsey County. They all move to Illinois.

Charles and James both die just a few years after the move. James L. dies in 1863 and we are not sure whether it was related to the Civil War or not. But his tombstone is found in South Muddy Township, Jasper Co., Illinois in the Trexler Cemetery with the rest of his family. James leaves his widow Sara and two daughters Armintha R. and Caroline M. who both go on to marry and have descendants.

In 1869 Charles B. dies and is buried there also. He leaves his wife, Margaret and children  Mary Jane, Elizabeth Victoria, Jeanette, and a son predeceases him in 1867, Charles William Stuart. The surviving daughters go on to marry and have descendants also.

In 1870, John Stuart, the father dies and is buried in the same cemetery followed by his wife Charity (LaRue) Stuart in 1878. While I have some of these lines followed there is still much to find on them. 

Their daughter Elizabeth I cannot find after 1900. But she is still living at the death of her last sibling, William N. Stuart who dies in 1901 and is buried in this cemetery too. Neither William nor Elizabeth marry, nor leave descendants in this line.

Trexler Cemetery has these Stuart family members buried there, along with some of their children. The cemetery is located in North Muddy township of Jasper County, Illinois.

Hopefully in the near future I can get to this part of Illinois to followup on some research. Not so far North of this county, Charity's younger brother David, moves his family into Clark County. So I could get more on both of these lines with a trip to the area.

#13-Sarah - the First Child.

James and Elizabeth named their first child, Sarah. Why? Was it the name of James' mother? or Elizabeths? or some other beloved family member? At this point, since I can not go back a generation on James and Elizabeth, I cannot be sure. But, what we do know from numerous records was that Sarah is the first known of their children. She was said to have been born in Virginia on 24 May 1794. She was baptised as an adult at the Salem Baptist Church in Guernsey County, Ohio on 3 July 1831. A church was still standing at our trip to the area in 2005, but has been out of use and is boarded up. This building was not the original as some histories report that the church suffered at least 2 fires. This is the cemetery however where most of this family is buried.

Sarah marries as her first husband, one John Baker (also seen written as Barker or Beaker on some records) on 16 Jan 1823 in Guernsey County, Ohio.  We find them on the 1830 census in Richland Township living not far from William and John LaRue Sr..  John Baker's land is in Section 12. Although they were said by earlier researchers to have had no children, on the 1830 census record, it reports that in this household there is one adult male 40-50 years old (therefore born between 1780 and 1790) which fits with what we know of John Baker. And there is one adult female (unnamed)  in the category of 30-40 years old (therefore born between 1790 and 1800) which fits with what we know about Sarah. [Early census records only give the name of the head of household. All others are simply an enumeration within an age group.] What is interesting and confusing is that in this household we also find a young unnamed male, 10-15 years old. This would make him to old to be a child of this marriage. But, could Sarah or John have been married earlier. Since Sarah was only 20 when she married John it is unlikely but not impossible. It is more likely that John had been married earlier and this is his son. But, it could also be some other family member that we do not know about at this point. There is also a young female child in this house, 5-10 years old and this child could have been theirs. We wonder who she is?

John Baker dies in 1841 according to his tombstone in the Salem Baptist Cemetery (the 4 is kind of hard to read in this photo, so just take my word for it and see that the space between the 8 and the 4 does mean that it is a 4 and not a 1.) Although the name is written as Beaker, it is located by the LaRue family stones, so am quite sure that we have the right man. I need to look for his probate records to see whether they mention Sarah or any children.

As her second husband, Sarah marries Micheal Brown on 10 March 1845 in Guernsey County. We know very little about him or this marriage and it warrants investigation to fill out the picture of her life. They are living in 1850 at Washington-Mills Township, Guernsey County and by 1860 are living next the LaRue family members in Richland Township. No children or minors are living in either household.

Sarah dies on 21 September 1865 in Guernsey county and is buried in the front row of the Salem Baptist Church cemetery along with LaRue family members. We do not know what happened to Michael Brown after this date. Her stone does not record either of her married names. It reports her as Sarah,  "daughter of Jas. & E. Larue". Interesting. A search for Micheals Browns records and those for John Baker may shed a little more light on her life, but for now, this is what we know of her.