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Return to Chapter B-4 Proceed to Chapter B-6
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TWO: BURNS(ES) AND HEDGES(ES)
"SFA" stands for the Smith Family Archives, assembled and transcribed over many years by Leanna Lois Claudia Smith, daughter of Alonzo; her great-nieces Mellie Morris Smith (daughter of Herbert Gustavus) and Gertrude Fairchild Smith (daughter of Maurice Leigh); and great-great-niece Mildred Aileen Nash (neé Mellie Agnes Smith: daughter of Francis See).
"DCB" stands for correspondence with David Coulon Burns, webmaster of the RootsWeb megasite ~burns/dcb—who cautions that the designations Sr., Jr., and III used below and in later chapters were not likely to have been used by any of the fathers/sons sharing a first name (except for King George). In most cases the present author has tried to indicate this with [square brackets].
B-5 The
Ohio Hedgeses
● Almost Impassable
When we left husband and wife (and second cousins) Jonas Hedges and Elizabeth Robinson at the end of Chapter B-2, it was 1818 and they were migrating to Ohio. Let us take a look at their new home.
The land west of the Appalachians and north of the Ohio River can be considered America's first frontier. After the Iroquois Confederation drove out the Algonquians in the mid-17th Century, it was uninhabited for many years; then European colonization of Pennsylvania sent the Delaware and Shawnee Indians westward into the Ohio Country, starting in the 1720s. Trading rivalries between these tribes, the Iroquois, and the Europeans led to the French and Indian War of the 1750s. Britain emerged triumphant, but George III's Royal Proclamation of 1763 forbade colonists from settling on Native American land—at least until the western boundary could be extended in an "orderly" manner, such as by the the 1768‑70 treaties that opened up the future West Virginia and Kentucky. Following the Revolution, Great Britain ceded all claims to the Ohio Country (though maintaining a presence there for three more decades). The new United States government created the Northwest Territory in 1787, but migration there would be hampered by the British and Indians till after the War of 1812.
In 1788, John Cleves Symmes (a former Continental Congressman from New Jersey) and his company purchased the "Land Between the Miamis"—i.e. the Great and Little Miami Rivers. The rest of southwestern and west-central Ohio was reserved as the Virginia Military District, to provide Revolutionary veterans with land grants as payment for their military service. (Click here to see a Wikipedia map of the district, with future counties overlaid.) Ohio was admitted as the 17th state in 1803.
Joseph Van Meter [Jr.], grandson of Abraham Van Meter [Sr.] and Ruth Hedges—click here for more—was the first in Fine Lineage's Extended Family to come to Ohio, arriving as early as 1796 in what would become Highland County. According to ~vm/smyth page 106: "While they were living in this county Joseph was wounded by the Indians. The Indians surrounded a squad of white men in a block house on the west side of the Ohio River and fired through the door, the ball cutting a gash across the top of Joseph’s head." (Perhaps as a result, Joseph would later move his family to Indiana.)
The next of the early Ohioans was Joshua Hedges [Jr.]'s family—click here for more—whose story is taken by ~gbnf/I3490 from the History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties:
Joshua Hedges, with his wife, and eleven children, came into the country in 1804. They came with team and wagon from Berkeley County Virginia, their native place, to Brownsville, Pennsylvania, a town on the Monongahela River. There they loaded everything on to a flat-boat, and traveled thus to Marietta, and thence by wagon, over the rough and almost impassable roads, to Zanesville. Their household goods, which were packed in eight or nine large trunks, were left at Marietta, to be shipped up the Muskingum. The shipping agent neglected to send them for several weeks, leaving them exposed to the weather, and the goods were utterly destroyed. The family went to Lancaster in Fairfield County, where they made a temporary location, arriving the seventeen[th] day of May, of the above year. Mr. Hedges died there the same summer, and in the fall the family came to Walnut. They put up a cabin on section nine, which, with other lands, the father had entered, and moved into it on Christmas day. In 1812, Mrs. Hedges married Henry Dreisbach, of Pickaway Township, and moved with him to Bloomfield, where they kept a tavern.
(So it goes.) Isaac Evans [Jr.], cousin of Lany Burns's mother Isabella—click here for more—was living in Ohio's Champaign County no later than 1812. Lindsey Marshall, uncle of Jane Marshall Burns—click here for more—brought his family to Highland County by 1814. Jacob Shartle [Sr.] and Alcinda "Elcy" Burns, daughter of Lany and William Burns [Jr.]—click here for more—arrived in Montgomery County in 1816. And then in 1818 came the second cousins Jonas and Elizabeth Robinson Hedges.
● Children of Second Cousins
Click on the thumbnail to the left to see an 1875 map of Champaign County;
click here to see a Wikipedia map. Having relocated
to Champaign's Urbana Township, Jonas Hedges:
was a remarkably successful business man, and his first purchase of 160 acres was added to until he was owner of 900 acres prior to his death. He served in the war of 1812, and was a pensioner at the time of his death. He built the first house on Sec. 11, Urbana Township, and this tract is still in possession of our subject [son Emory Hedges]... Jonas was a prominent local politician in his day, and was one of the first to espouse the principles of the Republican party in this county. He was one of the originators of the "Know-Nothing " party, and was the third enrolling his name on their roster. He was largely engaged in the settling of estates, in which he gave universal satisfaction. He was a remarkable mathematician, although not having a collegiate education, and was largely endowed with a spirit of enterprise, being foremost in anything looking toward moral and social advancement. Having a cool head and being a close observer of matters pertaining to the business interests of the neighborhood, his judgment could always be relied on, and he seldom made a mistake. His death was greatly felt in the locality in which he lived so long.±
We have two differing accounts of Jonas and Elizabeth's children. The first version, giving them eleven, is taken from ~hedges/aqwg05 and /aqwg11, with a few addenda from the 1881 History of Champaign quoted above (and viewable in full at ~history/champaign):
* Mary Tabb Hedges: born Oct. 23, 1813 in Berkeley County VA; received a college education; died before 1881 (there is an undated marker for "Mary T. Hedges" in Clark County OH's Mumper Cemetery, as per ~mumper)
* Anna Hedges: born Apr. 4, 1816 in Berkeley County VA; died Sep. 6, 1825 in Champaign County OH
* Joseph Hedges: born May 27, 1817 in Berkeley County VA; in 1840 married Leah Vance (born 1821) in Champaign County OH; had seven children†; died before 1881
* Elizabeth Hedges: born Nov. 21, 1818 in Champaign County OH; received a college education; married first Nelson Miller (1807-1837/38) in 1836/37 and had one child; then married Joseph C. Hamilton (1805-1872) in 1840 and had five more children‡; was living on her Champaign County farm in 1881
* Alexander Robinson Hedges: born Dec. 31, 1821 (of whom see more below)
* Hamilton Jefferson Hedges: born Oct. 3, 1824 in Champaign County OH ; in 1847 married Ruth Gerard (1826-1890); had seven or eight children§; lost an arm in an accident prior to the Civil War, but was an active organizer of troops; was Assessor of Urbana Township for at least sixteen years ("and during all this time no complaints have been made"); died Sep. 8, 1904 in Columbus OH
* Newton Hedges: born Sep. 6, 1826 in Champaign County OH; in 1849 married Elizabeth Todd (born 1820); had eight children††; died Feb. 3, 1871 in Champaign County OH
* Elvira Hedges: born Sep. 4, 1828 in Champaign County OH; died there Nov. 25, 1833
* Samuel R. Hedges: born Nov. 7, 1829 in Champaign County OH; married Mary J. Robinson (born 1825); died Dec. 20, 1903 in Champaign County OH
* James Robinson Hedges: born Oct. 21, 1831 in Champaign County OH; received a college education; in 1856 married Mary Lavina Hamilton (1836-1862) and had two children‡‡, then married Lydia Huffman in 1866; was living in New York in 1881; died in June 1909
* Emory Hedges: born Jan. 1, 1833 in Champaign County OH; in 1857 married Nancy J. Ganier (born 1836); had seven children§§; served in the military during the Civil War, "principally engaged in doing guard duty on the Appomattox and James Rivers"; was a farmer in 1881; died Jan. 12, 1892 in Champaign County OH
~champaign/d0005 presents a variant lineup. Here Jonas and Elizabeth marry in 1811 (in "Berkley" County) and have a dozen children, although the first entry appears to be a transposed duplicate. Addenda comes from ~mumper:
* Jefferson H. Hedges: no other info
* Anna I. Hedges: born Apr. 4, 1816 in Clark County OH; died there Sep. 6, 1825; was buried in Mumper Cemetery ("9 yrs, 5 mos, 2 days / dau. J & E")
* Elizabeth Hedges: born 1817 in Champaign County OH; married first Nelson Miller (1799-"1836") in 1837 and had one child; then in 1840 married Joseph C. Hamilton (1804-1872) and had a second child‡; died c.1889
* Joseph Hedges: born 1817; in 1840 married Leah Vance in Champaign County OH; had seven children†; died after 1860
* Alexander R. Hedges: born 1820 (of whom see more below)
* Eliza Jane Hedges: born April 16, 1821 in Champaign County OH; died Jan. 31, 1826 in Clark County OH; was buried in Mumper Cemetery ("4 yrs, 9 mos, 15 days / dau. J & E")
* Hamilton J. Hedges: born 1825 in Champaign County OH; in 1847 married Ruth Ellen Garard (born 1826); had seven children§; died after 1880
* Newton Hedges: born Sep. 6, 1826 in Champaign County OH; in 1849 married Eliza Todd (born 1819); had seven children††; died Jan. 28, 1871 in Clay City, Illinois
* Samuel T. Hedges: born Nov. [day?] 1829 in Champaign County OH; married firstly Paulina [surname?] c.1854 and had one child, James Hedges [born 1855, married Mary (surname?) in 1894, had two children]; Samuel T. married twice more, to Sarah "Sallie" McCreary in 1858 and Mary Jane Flago in 1869; died after 1900
* Elvira Hedges: born Sep. 4, 1830 in Champaign County OH; died Nov. 25, 1833 in Clark County OH; was buried in Mumper Cemetery
* James R. Hedges: born 1831 in Champaign County OH; married Mary Lavina Hamilton and had one child‡‡; then after 1862 married Lydia Huffman; died after 1860
* Emory Hedges: born June 1, 1833 in Champaign County OH; in 1857 married Nancy J. Ganier; had nine children§§
The two sources agree that Elizabeth Robinson Hedges died in 1834—on October 8th, according to ~champaign/d0005 and findagrave.com. She was buried in Mumper Cemetery (located in Clark County's Moorefield Township, just north of Springfield and just south of Urbana); her marker reads "41 yrs, 4 mos, 12 days / wife of J. Hedges."
Jonas Hedges then married Rebecca Robinson (born 1800: any relation to Elizabeth?) on Nov. 3, 1835. He wrote his will on Oct. 8, 1853 and died Apr. 2, 1864; his marker at Mumper Cemetery indicates Jonas was aged "74 yrs, 3 mos" at death.
He lived long enough to see the county interlaced with railroads, and the forests disappear, and in their stead appear beautiful fields of waving grain. The best years of their lives had been given to the development of this county, and too much honor cannot be given to the pioneers who reared families of noble sons and daughters to perpetuate their names, who are possessed of the same spirit of enterprise that characterized their ancestry.±
(Presumably the best years of the Hedgeses's lives had been given—not the beautiful fields of waving grain's.)
● Alexander and Ellen
A posthumous introduction to the head of our particular Ohio Hedges household can be found on page 654 of the same 1881 History of Champaign County:
ALEXANDER R. HEDGES, deceased.
This worthy representative of the name died Dec. 29, 1873, and his wife, Ellen (Morris) Hedges, in February of the same year. They left a family of children, nine in number; their names are, respectively, Elizabeth A., Pearl I., Edward O., Rebecca C., Franklin J., Mary A., Deborah E., Martha E. and Frederick M.; they all reside in the county except one—Pearl I. Hedges—who is in the drug business at Piqua. There are seven living on the old homestead. Three are married at this time. The father, Alexander, was quite a prominent man in his day, being Justice of the Peace, and for many years was a member of the school board. He was one of the originators of the agricultural society at Urbana, and from its organization until his death was one of its Directors. He was a member of the National Guards, and a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years, being one of the most prominent officials. He reared his children in the faith of his fathers, and the example set by him has done much to give them that straightforward business character for which the Hedges family are noted. At the time of his death, he owned 185 acres of land.±
Alexander Robinson Hedges, the fifth child of Jonas Hedges and Elizabeth Robinson, was born in either 1820 (according to ~champaign/d0005 and /d0033) or on Dec. 31, 1821 (as per ~hedges/aqwg05 and /aqwg11); findagrave.com says Dec. 31, 1822. On May 8, 1845 Alexander married Ellen Morris (born Oct. 7, 1825 in Champaign County). Curiously, neither the SFA nor other sources have anything to say about Ellen's family, though one of Ellen's two granddaughters would be given the middle name "Morris."
Alexander and Ellen had nine children, all born in Champaign County OH. Their rosters in ~champaign/d0033 and ~hedges/aqwg11 differ slightly, with the list below collating the two with additional info from findagrave.com:
* Elizabeth Ann "Lizzie" Hedges: born
Mar. 3, 1846; lived in Urbana OH (as official head of household) in 1880; died
Sep. 2, 1898; buried in Oakdale Cemetery (Section 61—Lot 1)
* Pearl I. Hedges
aka Pearl J. Hedges: (a son) born 1848; married Louise S. "Lou"
Fee on Dec. 11, 1873; died when?
"Lordy!" said F.S. Smith's wife Ada Louise
in 1984, "I had completely forgotten [Pearl]. Never saw him—only pictures.
He and his wife Louise (usually called Lou) lived in Piqua [Ohio] and I'm almost
positive he was a dentist there. [A] watch I have had engraved on the
back: 'Mrs. L.F. Hedges, Piqua, Ohio 1923"—[it] is a gold Elgin and naturally
doesn't run anymore—ha!"
* Edward O. Hedges: born 1851; married
Mary Carrie Dunlap
(born 1856 in Pennsylvania: daughter of William Dunlap and Elizabeth
Skiles) on May 23, 1878; was living in Urbana OH next door to his sisters in 1880; died when?
* Rebecca Caroline Hedges: born Mar. 26, 1853; married Daniel
Mordecai Evans (1849-1920: son of William Strode Evans and Eliza
Roberts) on Feb. 7, 1878; moved to Ottawa, LaSalle County, Illinois by 1920;
died Dec. 28, 1927—but Oakdale records says she "was removed from Moorefield
Cemetery in Clark County and buried in Oakdale Cemetery in 1924" (as per
findagrave.com)
Rebecca and Daniel had a daughter
Mary Elizabeth Evans (born Mar. 25, 1889) who married William Ryan and died 1942 in Dayton,
LaSalle County IL
* Jonas Franklin "Frank" Hedges (aka Franklin Jonas Hedges):
born Aug. 28, 1855; was single and living with his siblings in Urbana in 1900;
died Nov. 11, 1910 in Columbus OH; buried in Urbana's Oakdale Cemetery (Section
61—Lot 1)
* Mary Augusta "Mollie" Hedges: born Feb. 9, 1858; of whom see more below
* Deborah Ellen "Debbie" Hedges (aka "Deborah B.
Hedges"): born Oct. 27, 1860; of whom see more in
Chapter S-4
* Alice Martha Hedges (aka "Martha E. Hedges"): born June
23, 1863; of whom see more
below
* Frederick M. "Fred" Hedges: born Aug. 23,
1866; was single and living with his siblings in 1900; died Jan. 12, 1901; buried in Urbana's Oakdale Cemetery
(Section 61—Lot 1)
These nine sisters and brothers would have only two known children among them,
and no known grandchildren. Ellen Morris Hedges died Feb. 21, 1873 (her
gravestone inscription saying aged 47y,
4m, 1d); Alexander Robinson Hedges followed on Dec. 29, 1873.
● The Aunties
Deborah Hedges's story continues in Chapter S-4; here let us say that after she died in 1887, her daughter Mellie Morris Smith was raised by two of Deborah's sisters.
Mary Augusta Hedges ("Aunt Mamie") and Alice Martha Hedges ("Aunt Alice") shared the old family home at 436 South Main Street in Urbana OH. A few houses away at 422 South Main lived their good friends (and eventual family connections) the Dixon family; of whom more in Chapter B-6. In the photo to the right (taken in Urbana on June 22, 1915) Aunts Mamie and Alice are standing behind Mellie Morris and her brother Francis See.
Ada Louise Smith on the Aunties: "[Mamie] worked in the Hitt & Fuller Department (selling material for making clothing) for many years! She was a fabulous cook—the two sisters entertained often in the lovely old home—Mamie preparing and serving the food—Aunt Alice, the perfect hostess... A delightful place to visit... Alice and Mamie [were] two perfect 'maiden ladies' (unmarried)—so Alice's marriage to Ed Earsom really surprised everyone!!"
● The Earsoms and Saxbes (Saxbys)
On
Feb. 22, 1913 Alice Hedges married Edward Mason Earsom, a widower.
He was born Apr. [day?] 1857 in Champaign County OH, the youngest of five
children of Robert R. Earsom (born 1810) and Deborah McLain
(c.1818-1867). Around 1880 Ed Earsom married Flora Vance Stone
(1859-1910) and had two children:
* Harry Stone Earsom: born Sep. 16, 1883; married Ruth Eacott Thackery (born 1892) on June 10, 1910; died Feb. 5, 1940 in Champaign County OH
* Mary M. Earsom: born June 1899 (of whom more below)
Ada Louise "never could understand why at fifty Aunt Alice married—he was so entirely different from her—a farmer—gruff voice—'rough around the edges.'" F.S. Smith's daughter Mellie would say "Ed Earsom half scared me. He always said a table blessing—[I] never did understand what it was he said." Ed and his young teen daughter Mary moved in with the Hedges sisters, but Mary "never fit in too well... a relief to all when she married and moved to Detroit." (In this photo taken at 436 S. Main in 1921, F.S. Smith and Mary Earsom sit in front of Aunts Alice Earsom and Mamie Hedges; F.S.'s three-year-old daughter Mellie is at right with her namesake aunt.)
Mary Earsom married Howard Saxby; they had a son Richard (Dick) Saxby. As Ada Louise recalled, "there was a squabble of some kind in the Saxbe (Saxby) family at one time!—a part separated... from the rest and changed the spelling of the last name." ~dowling, a comprehensive Saxbe webgen, includes Howard Saxbe who was born in September 1896 and living in Urbana in 1900. Howard's father Martin B. Saxbe (1855-1920) had an older brother William B. Saxbe (1839-1934) who lived in Champaign County's Goshen Township, east of Urbana. William's son Bart Rockwell Saxbe (1882-c.1972) married Faye Henry Carey in 1912 and fathered William Bart Saxbe (born 1916 in Goshen Township's Mechanicburg) who would serve in the U.S. Senate 1969-74, then as Attorney General 1974-75 and Ambassador to India 1975-77.
It
would appear that Mary's husband Howard may have been the one who changed his
surname's spelling
to Saxby. Mary in fact appears as "Mrs. H.M.
Saxbe" in an address book kept by F.S. Smith starting in 1923. On one
occasion before her death in 1984, Mary phoned Ada Louise's son-in-law George Ehrlich while he
was attending a Detroit convention of the Society of Architectural Historians.
At the time of Mary's call, George was meeting with two ladies (neither his
wife) in his motel suite. According to Ada
Louise, if George's caller had known this, "Mary would've broadcast it all over Michigan!!"
Notes
± History of Champaign County, Ohio (Chicago: W.R. Beers & Co., 1881), p. 653-654; viewable at ~history/champaign.
†
Joseph
Hedges
The seven children of Joseph Hedges and Leah Vance (all born in
Champaign County OH) were:
Rebecca Jane Hedges
(born 1841; had an unnamed daughter in Union Township in 1867; then was in the
County Infirmary for two months in 1872 after having twins Charles Hedges
and Minnie Hedges [who were in the Infirmary for three months]; in 1880
was living with the David Powell family, and in 1900 with her uncle Samuel
[Hedges?]; no other clues have been found concerning her life or children)
Jonas Hedges aka
John Hedges (born 1843/44; no other info)
Elizabeth Hedges (born
1845/46; no other info)
Sarah Hedges (born
1848/49; no other info)
Ephraim V. Hedges (born
1851/52; was living with uncle Emory Hedges in 1870 ["age 17"] and 1880 ["age
25"])
Samuel Jonas Hedges (born
1854/55; no other info)
Dorsey Hedges (born 1850
[as per ~hedges/aqwg11] or 1860 [as per ~champaign/d0005, which
says the 1860 census shows "age 4m"]; no other info)
‡
Elizabeth Hedges
The children of Elizabeth
Hedges were:
by Nelson Miller:
Robert Nelson Miller aka
Robert M. Miller (born 1838 in Champaign County
OH; married Lydia E. Furrow (1844-1929) in 1861; no children; was working
in 1870
as an auctioneer, and in 1881 as Deputy Sheriff of Champaign County OH;
died there in 1914)
by Joseph C. Hamilton:
Virginia H. Hamilton (born 1841/42; married
David William Todd in 1863; had two children; died 1869 in Champaign County
OH) and Rebecca Ellen Hamilton (1847-1848;
does not appear in ~champaign/d0005), plus three other children who died in
infancy
§
Hamilton Jefferson Hedges
The eight children of Hamilton Jefferson Hedges
and Ruth Ellen Garard/Gerard/Gearard (all born in
Champaign County OH) were:
Emily Jane Hedges
aka Emma G. Hedges (born 1849; married
Thomas D. Fuller c.1872; had five children; died after 1900)
Jonas A. Hedges
(born 1850/51; married Carrie Laughlin in 1879)
James J. Hedges
(born 1855/57; was living with parents in 1881; died 1926 in Champaign County and
was buried in Urbana's Oakdale Cemetery)
Nancy E. Hedges aka
Nannie E. Hedges (born 1859; living with
parents in 1881; died 1909 in Champaign County and was buried in Urbana's
Oakdale Cemetery)
[son] Hedges
(1863-1866)
Minnie Grant Hedges
(born 1864/68, died 1868)
[child] Hedges
(the third to die in infancy, according to ~history/champaign)
George Robert Hedges
aka George P. Hedges (born 1870; was living with
parents in 1881)
††
Newton Hedges
The eight children of Newton Hedges and Elizabeth Todd (all born in
Champaign County OH) were:
Elvina J. Hedges
(born 1849/50; no other info)
Jonas Wilson Hedges
(born 1851; died 1877 in Champaign County and was buried in Urbana's Oakdale
Cemetery)
Sarah R. Hedges
(born 1853/54; no other info)
Elizabeth Virginia Hedges
(born 1854/55; married Samuel Shellabarger in 1882)
Mary T.
Hedges (born 1856/57; married William A. Robison in 1878; had
five children; died 1930 in Champaign County and was buried in Urbana's Oakdale
Cemetery)
Rebecca E. Hedges
(born 1859; no other info)
David Oscar Hedges
(born 1862; married Effie Jane Michael in 1890; had four children; died
1944; does not appear in ~champaign/d0005)
Addison Hedges (no
info; appears in ~hedges/aqwg11; possibly the same as ~champaign/d0005's
[son] Hedges who was born 1866)
‡‡
James Robinson Hedges
The two children of James
Robinson Hedges and Mary Lavina Hamilton were:
Charles M. Hedges
(born 1859/60 in Champaign County OH)
Mertland McLain Hedges
(born when?; "one of the wealthiest men in Hamilton County, Tennessee"; had two
children by his first unnamed wife, then married Emeline Roberts)
[~hedges/aqwg11 lists two sons; ~champaign/d0005
shows only one,
"Charles Mertland McLain Hedges," but offers no info other than an 1859
birthyear; ~history/champaign says "They have only one son living—Merklin
McLain, who
resides in Springfield"]
§§
Emory Hedges
The nine children of Emory Hedges
and Nancy J. Ganier/Gaines/Gainer (all born in
Champaign County OH) were:
Jonas Henry Hedges
(born 1858; in 1881 "has been engaged in teaching, but as yet has chosen no
profession" [~history/champaign])
Nellie Hedges aka
Nettie Hedges (born 1859; died before 1870;
does not appear in ~hedges/aqwg11)
Rebecca Ellen Hedges
(born 1859/60; was alive in 1881)
Wilbur Robinson Hedges
aka Wilber R. Hedges (born 1862; had three
children; was living with them and his father but no spouse in 1900; died 1940
in Champaign County OH)
Robert W. Hedges
(born 1862; not included among the living in 1881; does not appear in
~hedges/aqwg11)
Marland Cookman Hedges
aka Marley C. Hedges aka
Marlay Hedges (born 1866/68; died 1916 in
Champaign County OH)
Mary Elizabeth Hedges
(born 1870; was alive in 1881)
James Ganier Hedges
(born 1873; died before 1880; called [son] Hedges
by ~champaign/d0005)
Anna Louise "Annie" Hedges
(born 1878; was alive in 1881)
● While southeastern Ohio shares the rugged
Appalachian Plateau with West Virginia, southwestern Ohio is lowland
plains—exemplified in the name of Champaign County.
● ~history/champaign supplies biographies for both Emory and
Hamilton Hedges. These indicate their father Jonas was born in 1789 and
married Elizabeth Robinson in 1811. Emory is said to have married Nancy J.
"Gainer" rather than Ganier/Gaines, and Hamilton's wife is called "Ruth E. Gearard"
rather than Gerard/Garard.
●
Alexander R. Hedges owned "a set (6) of Alphabet Plates which were used as a
method of teaching children their A.B.C.'s plus Benjamin Franklin's Proverbs.
[These were] brought to Ohio when [the Hedges] moved [from Virginia]."
Eventually the set was inherited by Deborah's daughter Mellie
Morris Smith, who in turn gave them to her half-brother F.S. and wife Ada Louise.
● In ancestry.com's 1860 census for Champaign County OH, Alexander R.
Hedges (aged 37) lives with "Elen" (aged 34), Elizabeth A. (aged 14), Pearl J.
(aged 12), Edward O. (aged 9), "Rebeca C." (aged 7), Jonas F. (aged 5), and
Mary A. (aged 2). By 1880 Alexander and Ellen had both died, while
Pearl and Rebecca had left home; eldest child Elizabeth (as "Lizzie," aged 34)
was head of the household, living with brother/farm laborer Frank (aged 25),
Mary (aged 21), "Debbie" (aged 19), "Allice" (aged 16), and Fred M. (aged 13).
Next door lived brother/farmer Edward O. (aged 29) with wife Mary C. (aged 23)
and farm laborer Frank White (aged 17).
● The Notes on Alexander R. Hedges's nieces and nephews are an
amalgamation of ~hedges/aqwg11 and ~champaign/d0005 (each of which
has unique insights and blind spots) plus addenda from ~history/champaign.
● The SFA lists the Hedges address as "346" South Union, but one captioned
photo and F.S. Smith's address book confirms "436" was correct.
● Aunt Mamie died May 24, 1934; Ed Earsom on Sep. 2, 1945; and
Aunt Alice on July 23, 1949. Their story will resume in niece Mellie's Chapter S-5.
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