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.
