The family of John Simpson Aldridge Jr.

Well, I thought that the family of John Simpson Aldridge Jr was well documented.  As it turns out, only most of the children are well documented, or at least, the documents for the others haven't been located yet.  However, I've found enough to help us understand a little of the family, even if we can't understand all the dynamics or interactions that this family experienced.  

John Simpson Aldridge Jr is the son of John Simpson and Mary Lakin Aldridge.  He was born February 27, 1798 in Clermont County, Ohio and married Lucinda Wheeler, daughter of Jason Wheeler and his mysterious wife, who may be Patience or Palina, and who may be a Swan, Tracy, Hamblin, or someone else entirely.  There are records showing him as a soldier in the War of 1812 in Ohio, but he would have been pretty young (not yet 16 when the war ended) so I'm not sure we are talking about the same man.  Of course, he could simply have lied about his age, particularly if he had the appearance of a robust young man.  

John and Lucinda were married in 1819 in Clermont County, and stayed there for a few years.  Sometime in the 1820s, probably before 1823, they were in Rush County, Indiana, where they stayed the rest of their lives.  Lucinda died in 1836 and John in 1842.  In their not quite 17 years of marriage, this couple had 10 children, which may have been one reason Lucinda died at such an early age.  I am not absolutely positive about the birth order of some of the children, as there are at least two who likely died as infants or children, and no records have yet been located for them.  

The first child was Darlington Dart, born in 1821, likely in Clermont County, and died in 1859 in Tipton County, Indiana.  He married Leah Folsom, the daughter of Jeremiah and Sally Lock Folsom.  Their children are Mary, Lucinda, Francis, John, Jeremiah, James, Alonzo, Richard, and Harvey.  I will follow this family in my next blog post.  

Eliza, also seen as Elizabeth, was born in 1822.  She married Uriah Bozell, who may have been the son of Henry and either Catherine Ninon Bozell or Lucinda Brandon Bozell.  Their children are John, James, Henry, Eliza, Melinda, Leah, and Sarah.   She died in 1905. 

Joseph was born in 1824, probably in Clermont County, Ohio per his Find a Grave memorial.  He married Susan Stiers, who was the daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Creviston Stiers.  If those names seem familiar, Joseph's uncle, Nathan Aldridge, also married a daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth, as mentioned in my last post about the family of John Simpson and Mary Lakin Aldridge.  Joseph and Susan's children are Marshall, Mary, Dailey, Patience, Ada, and Rhoda.  He died in Rush County in 1903 or 1909; there seems to be conflicting information on his grave stone.

Next born may have been Mary, who seems to have no further record.  It is not unusual for children who were both born and died between census years, to not have left a record in that time period.  All we can say is that she was likely named for her grandmother, Mary Lakin Aldridge.

Jason Lafayette Aldridge was born in 1825 and died in 1888.  He married Rebecca Sapp, the daughter of George and Sarah Canter Sapp.  He spent his adult life in Clermont County, Ohio, for reasons I have not yet determined (were the Sapps family friends from when his parents lived there?), and he was a Civil War veteran.  Jason and Rebecca had no children.  

Next born was Isam Philander, generally known as Philander, in 1829.  He married Nancy Borden, the daughter of William and Rachel Corn Borden.  Sally Lock Folsom, mother in law of Darlington, married a Stafford Borden after the death of her first husband, but I have not yet made a connection between the two Borden families.  Isam's children are Sarah, Lea, Mary, Melissa, James, Sandy, and Charles.  

Ruhamah was born about 1831.  There may or may not be a hint of scandal about her.  She first married, in 1848, Oliver Abernathy, the son of Randall and Rebecca Moore Abernathy.  They had two children, Isaac and Richard.  I have not yet found record of it, but there seems to have been a divorce because in 1868 she married James W. Toler.  The Abernathy boys are living with the Tolers in Illinois, along with Susan Toler, who is one year old in the 1870 census.  The interesting thing that makes me raise one eyebrow, just a little, is that Ruhamah is 10 years older than James.  Also, Oliver died in 1880.  It would be interesting to see the divorce records in the late 1860s, but Oliver seems to have moved frequently so we don't even know which county to search.

Next born, was John Simpson Aldridge III, about 1832.  He married Mary Toler or Toller, so far not further identified.  Their children are Mary, Frank, and Joseph.  John died in 1880 in Rush County, Indiana.

Here we come to another bit of confusion.  Apparently there was a son, Barr E., born in 1835 or 1836.  At least one tree gives his mother as Mary Henderson, and his father as John Simpson Aldridge, Jr, with no supporting documentation.  I could not find any record of Barr, so he may well have lived and died between the census years.  

To further confuse matters, the last known child was Marcellus, born in 1835 and died in 1882.  Some show his middle initial as E, and some say it was B, for Barr.  It's possible that Marcellus and Barr were one and the same person, but I tend to think there were two babies.  I have no idea whether the Mary Henderson idea is correct, but Marcellus is only shown as the son of John and Lucinda.  He married Hester Beaver, the daughter of Elisha and Mary Ann Walker Beaver.  Their children are Frank, Dailey, and Winfield Scott.  

By my count, this gives John and Lucinda 38 children, assuming Barr was real and was the child of John and Lucinda.  Most of the family stayed in central Indiana, so there are still a lot of Aldridge family members nearby.