Names used in this post. Most recent birthdate first:
Henry David "Bud" and Corrine Hamaker of Leon, Iowa
Henry David "Dave" (1885-1973) and Juanita Hamaker of Iowa and Nebraska
Hester Ann Hamaker (1869-1956) Iowa, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, and Michigan
Nancy Ann McDowell Hamaker (1850-1933) Tennessee, Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska
George Hamaker (1842-1918) Ohio, Mills Co., Iowa and Cherry Co., Nebraska
Hester Ann McDowell (ca 1819-1879) Tennessee, Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska
I admired Hester McDowell for her courage as she brought her children to safety in Missouri after her husband died in Tennessee . When I found her in the 1850 census, she was living with another family in Campbell Township, Taney County, Missouri. I knew to look there for her because the family Bible owned by Henry David "Bud" Hamaker and his wife, Corrine, said Nancy Ann Mcdowell was born in "Tainey County," Missouri. I had seen the Bible in the Hamaker's home in Leon, Iowa. Bud and Corrine were so gracious to me when I came at Christmas time in 1994.
Nancy Ann was the grandmother of Bud Hamaker. His dad was also a Henry David, who was one of the youngest sons of Nancy Ann McDowell and George Hamaker. Nancy Ann lived on until the 1930s and died in Cherry County, Nebraska. She lived near her son Henry David aka "Dave" Hamaker and his wife, Juanita, so the family Bible went to them after she passed away. Bible records were written in Nancy Ann's handwriting and after her passing, they were written in Juanita Hamaker's writing.
Corrine Hamaker gave me photocopies of the family Bible records. Three of her children were there after Christmas in 1994, and they all helped me study the photographs that had belonged to my great-grandmother, Hester Ann Hamaker. Hester Ann was the older sister of Dave Hamaker. She was one of the eldest in the family, while Dave was one of the youngest. When I was visiting with Bud Hamaker, I was visiting my grandmother's first cousin.
I had the census records from 1850 Campbell Township, Taney County, Missouri sent to me by a researcher in Denver, CO. It took some detective work to find Hester because in the index Hester was listed as "H. McDail." (The writing of the census taker gets looser as you read down the census. By time you get to baby Nancy's name, it looks like her last name is "McSlail"). The census taker had only listed the first initials of residents in Campbell Twp., and I imagine Hester may have pronounced her name as something similar to "McDail."
When I called the local library/genealogy center to see if any one knew the first names in the census, a wonderful gentleman told me a genealogist had identified the first names of as many residents as she could. He emailed me her results. I found out Hester was living with Nathan Bozarth, Nancy Bozarth, Emmeline McDowell, Owen McDowell, James McDowell, and Nancy Ann McDowell.
With more research looking at censuses and other records from 1840-1880, I know that Nancy Bozarth was Hester's younger sister; Nathan Bozarth was her brother-in-law; Tersie Thompson was either her daughter, niece, or her young sister; and the other four were all Hester Ann's children. This completed the first step in my search for Hester Ann's story. I knew who she was living with and the names of her children. I knew her whole family was born in Tennessee, so next I searched for McDowells and McDoles in the census indices for all of Tennessee.
About 2009 I found Hester Ann's death record. Her son, Owen, had moved to Nuckolls County, Nebraska by 1880. He stayed there and raised a family. The coroner must have misunderstood Hester's name and thought it was Esther Ann. She is listed as E.A. McDowell, 61 years old, female, a widow, born in Tennessee, parents born in North Carolina, death caused by debility, and she had lived in the county for 8 years. Ironically, the place where we can find what happened to both John and Hester Ann McDowell is in the Mortality Index. Rest in Peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment