Resolved Myths & Mysteries

KIMBALL S. EDWARDS
FOUND!
(Sort of....)
June 10, 2012

Kimball Edwards (or K.S. Edwards, as it seems he went by) was the father of my 3x great grandfather, Clark Edwards (and at least four other children), and husband of Olive Abbey (see below) and Delia Loomis-Backus. 

Kimball was an interesting fellow.  From the best I can tell, he was born in Burlington, Chittendon, Vermont on 02 Jun 1802 (I suspect to Ambrose Edwards and Sarah Bennett, although I've yet to be able to verify that).  He lived in Vermont and New York and somehow ended up in Ohio, where he did a four-year stint in the Ohio State Penetentiary for forgery.  He ultimately ended up in Wisconsin, bouncing around between Dodge, Monroe and Clark Counties. 

I've hunted Kimball from one end of Wisconsin to the other, always coming up empty handed.  After years of searching, I miraculously tripped upon a notice in the Dodge County Citizen (20 Jan 1887, page 3) regarding his death.  (Please don't ask me how I found it -- I have no idea and couldn't do it again for love or money). 


I know that Kimball lived in Beaver Dam in 1863, but why a death record in that newspaper 25 years later?  And who placed it? From what I can tell, once he left Beaver Dam he lived out the rest of his life in Monroe and Clark Counties.  Interestingly, I've since searched the Neillsville (which Humbird is near) newspapers for the period surrounding his death and found no information on his death, at all.  I've also since checked both Monroe and Clark Counties for probate records, to no avail.

While we were in La Crosse, we swung up to Clark County and did some cemetery walking in search of Kimball's final resting place.  We never did find it.  We did, however, find the gravesite of Kimball's second wife, Delia.  She's buried in the Mentor Cemetery, in Humbird, Wisconsin.  Interesting that she's buried under her first married name, "Backus." 

So, we still haven't found where Kimball is buried, but at least we know when he died -- 11 Jan 1887, in Humbird, Clark, Wisconsin.  Maybe at some point we'll get lucky and a cemetery walker will come upon his grave and share it with us.  Kimball deserves that.

OLIVE ABBEY EDWARDS
FOUND!
June 10, 2012

I recently had a very productive trip to La Crosse, Wisconsin, on the hunt for information on Olive (Abbey) Edwards.  Olive (my 4x great grandmother) had always been a mystery to me and I was determined to find out what I could about her.  According to the "Abbe-Abbey Genealogy, in Memory of John Abbe and His Descendents," by Cleveland Abbe, Olive had died on Nov. 7 (or 9) in La Crosse, Wisconsin. 

Interestingly, Olive and her husband, Kimball Edwards, divorced prior to 1853, when Kimball married his second wife, Delia, in New York.  Apparently, most of the family migrated to Wisconsin, including Olive (long after the divorce -- She was still in Skaneateles, New York in the 1860 census). Two of Kimball's & Olive's daughters (Mary Jane and Eliza) lived in La Crosse, as did Olive's sister, (also Eliza).   

To make a (very) long story short, I finally found Olive.  It turns out she died 07 Nov 1868, in La Crosse, and is buried next to her daughter, Mary Jane Listman, and very near her other daughter, Eliza Bell, in the Oak Grove Cemetery in La Crosse, Wisconsin.  It was very touching to find her final resting place and be able to give her her place in history.  My guess is that she didn't have an easy life. 

We also visited the gravesite of Olive's sister, Eliza Abbey Chase, who is buried in the Pruett Family Cemetery. 


DATE OF DEATH FOUND FOR
WILLIAM CASH, REVOLUTIONARY WAR VETERAN
August 29, 2010

This information has always been a big mystery in the family lore.  DAR records list William's year of death as 1855.  Esther Powell's Belmont County Cemetery book lists it as 1830.  Who is one to believe?  Well, believe this....... William Cash died on December 31, 1848.


Belmont Chronicle, January 5, 1849

Now, how old William actually was when he died remains a bit of a mystery.  According to his death notice, he was 98 years old (God love him!).  However, his Revolutionary War pension records say that he was born in 1756, making him 92.  Either way, that's pretty impressive longevity.

I looked through the paper for additional information, but found nothing.  There were other newspapers in the area at the time.  I'm hoping to get my hands on them to see if there's additional information in another publication. 

Sadly, we may never know if William is actually buried in the Lloydsville Cemetery, as documented in Esther Powell's book.  My husband, son and I walked that cemetery when we were in Ohio and found no headstones for William and Keziah Cash.  Sadly, the little country cemetery is in a horrible state of disrepair and there are missing and broken headstones throughout it. 



WILLIAM CASH THE MARINER -- NOT SO MUCH

I grew up believing that our Cash line descended from William the Mariner (supposedly, the first Cash who came to the United States) from Salem, Massachusetts. Judging by on-line trees, many others believe the same thing.

However, while researching John Cash and Ann Shaw in Maryland, I found an obscure genealogical document called the Register of Maryland's Heraldic Families that mentioned a John Cash who married to Mary Dawson. The name caught my eye because is it known that our line had several named "Dawson Cash" in it.

I pursued this clue and found that in 1729, a man named Edward Dawson left 50 acres of a tract of land called "Dawson's Mill Land" to his grandson -- "I give and bequeath unto my son, Edward Dawson, and to his heires forever, all that plantation whereon he now lives and the land belonging to the same called Mill land, containing two hundred and fourteen acres, except fifty acres wch I give to my grandson, John Cash, son of John Cash, dec’d, to him and his heires forever....."

This led me to research Edward Dawson. In short, Edward had a daughter named Mary Dawson. In his Will, Edward also leaves 5 shillings to "Mary Traqueer, wife of Alexander Traqueer."  Records show that Mary (Dawson) Cash married Alexander Traquair (I've seen various spellings) in December 1727, after John Cash's death.  This proves that John Cash was married to Mary Dawson, daughter of Edward Dawson.

John Cash and Mary Dawson had seven children -- Mary, Dawson, John, Ruth, Rachel, Caleb, and Ann.

Moving forward, I obtained the Will of John Cash (the John Cash previously thought to be the son of Richard Cash and Abigail Davis) who married Ann Shaw. It was dated December 15, 1793 and proved March 18, 1794. In it, he states -- "It is my will that my dear and loving wife Ann Cash shall have and enjoy the plantation whereon I now dwell with all the land thereunto belonging as also fifteen and three quarters acres, which I bought of Mr. Hopkins, and all the appurtenances thereunto belonging during her natural life to have and to hold the same without molestation or hindrance of any person whatsoever. And after her death then I give the whole of the said land and premises, that is to say, the whole of this my land whereon I now dwell, together with the fifteen acres and three quarters of an acre as also fifty acres of land lying on Rock creek in the same county of Montgomery, being part of a tract of land, Dawson’s Mill land, all three of which several parcels of land with the appurtenances to them belonging."

Following his death, the family sold off the Mill Land: 
Liber G: 436-438

Thomas Owen Williams from Ann Cash, John Cash, William Cash, Jonathan Cash and Isaiah Cash, all of Montgomery County, for £87..10, parcel known as Mill Land, or Dawson's Mill Land, containing 50 acres. Left by the will of Edward Dawson, 15 December 1729, to his grandson, John Cash, who is now deceased, and by his will, 15 December 1793, made over to parties herein. Signed by Ann Cash, John Cash, William Cash, Rezin Cash, Jonathan Cash and Isaiah Cash, before J. Holmes and Greenberry Howard. Acknowledged, and Ann Cash, wife of John Cash, deceased, and Margery Cash, Keziah Cash and Sarah Cash, wives of John Cash, William Cash and Jonathan Cash, all relinquished dower rights.

This proves that the John Cash who married Ann Shaw was the son of John Cash and Mary Dawson. 

With this evidence, the line of the Cash Family is as follows:

Generation 1: John Cash married Mary Dawson.
Generation 2: John Cash married Ann Shaw.
Generation 3: William Cash married Keziah "Cassie" Nicholls.
And so on and so forth.

So, the link to William Cash the Mariner is broken. I've tried seven ways to Sunday to link John Cash (who married Mary Dawson) to the Salem Cashes and can't do it. The Salem Cashes are well documented.

I don't know where the original assertion that "our" John Cash was the son of Richard Cash (who was the grandson William the Mariner) came from and I have been unable to find anything that can substantiate a link between the two families.

At this point I consider this myth BUSTED.

However, it does lead to a new mystery...... Who was this original John Cash and where did he come from? See the "Ongoing Mysteries" page for more information.


RICHARD SEARS' PARENTAGE -- DON'T BELIEVE IT!

Per The Sears Family Association:

No one has yet proven who the Ancestors of Richard Sares (Sears) the Pilgrim, of Plymouth Colony were. Please don't fall into the trap promulgated by Mr H G Somerby that John Bourchier Sears(Sayer) is Richard's father. It has not been proven that Richard had a daughter Mary who married a Worden (Werden) and neither has it been proven that a Knyvet Sears was a son of Richard. In fact much work has been done to disprove the existence of Knyvet!