When Close Enough Is As Close As You Can Get

This post will eventually be a collaboration between myself and my sister-in-law from Days of Our Lives. She and I both love genealogy and like most true genealogist whenever you meet someone, anyone, you always wonder if you're related somewhere back in time. Though she and I have never found any common ancestors we have found some close calls. This post will be about my Rich/Cracks(?) line and her's will be about her Seeley/Foster line because they both lived in Lawrence County, Missouri, during the 1850 census. Her ancestor is listed as household #343 and my family is listed as #345. But more about that later.

For now here is an introduction to all that I can find on my ancestor, John Wesley Rich. When researching ancestors during this time period, I always like to start with the 1850 census because its the first census to list names, birthdates, and birth locations. This information isn't always exact and sometimes we may wrongly assume that a person listed is a child when it could be a niece or nephew but it does give me a place to start.

In 1850 I find John W. Rich living in Spring River Township, Lawrence County, MO with his wife Nancy and the following children: Kilion (my ancestor), Sarah J., Selina (?), William H., Robin, Achilles (?) and John W. Jr.

According to this census John W. Rich was born 1813 in Kentucky and his wife Nancy was born 1815 in Indiana. She lists Indiana as her birth state in all census records except one, the 1880 census, where her birth state is given as Illinois. My ancestor, Killian, whom all records indicate is their oldest, was born about 1837, in Illinois.  1 Aug 1834, in White County, Illinois, you can find a transcribed marriage record for Westly Rich and Nancy Cracks. I've sent off for a copy of the record and am still awaiting its arrival.  I have long suspected that Nancy "Cracks" is actually Creek because of where I find this family in 1840. In the Hamilton County, Illinois, 1840 census, you will find the Wesley Rich family listed a few names above the Abram Creek family. Abram isn't old enough to be Nancy's father but is old enough to be her brother and in later census records also gives his birth state as Indiana.


Since writing the record came in. Well not the record I was hoping for but a record nonetheless, and attached was a post-it letting me know that the marriage record itself is missing or was never returned and all they have now is the index. I'll attach an image of what they sent me. Notice Nancy's name was spelled both C-R-A-C-K-S on the left, and C-R-E-A-C-K-S on the right. Later I'll provide more evidence for why I believe it should've been C-R-E-E-K.



In the 1840 Hamilton County Census we find the Wesley Rich family.

1 male age 5-9; Killian Rich
1 male age 15-19; unknown
1 male 20-29; John Wesley
2 females under 5; Sarah Jane & Selina/Sidney
1 female 20-29; Nancy Creek

As stated above, the family is living in Lawrence County, Missouri in 1850.

Below is an image from  USGenWeb showing the Townships of Lawrence County to give us an idea of where it was my ancestor lived. The 1850 census stated that John Wesley and family lived in Spring River Township, while my SIL's ancestor lived in Mount Pleasant Township. Not as close as I would've imagined considering they were just a few names apart in the census records.

I have also found a land patent from 1859 in Barry County, Missouri where Wesley Rich was given or purchased 80 acres from an Abraham Baker. Barry County sits directly below Lawrence County. And Spring River Township is right on the southern border of Lawrence County. What I find strange is the date. The patent was issued 10 June 1859 but one year later 21 June 1860 this family had left Missouri and were now living in Burnett, TX. Why in the course of one year after receiving 80 acres would you relocate to a place so far and unknown?

Going back once more to the 1850 census we can look at the approximate birth years and birth states of the Rich children to help us understand where this family may have lived.

The oldest child, my ancestor, Killian was born about 1837 in IL. Illinois is consistently given as his birth state in all other census records I have found him in.

The next child is Sarah J. who was born about 1838 in AR. She gives AR has her birth state in 1860 as well but in 1880 Illinois is listed as her birth state and her age is listed as 35 which is about 7 years too young.

If Sarah J. was indeed born in AR around 1838 that fits with a few land and tax records I find for a John W. Rich in Washtington County and Benton County. Which is interesting considering that's where my SIL's SEELY family ends up. But my gut tells me I'm reaching.

In 1836 there is a John Rich listed in the Washington County, AR tax lists and in 1837 there is a John Rich listed in the Benton County, AR territory tax records. In 1857 in Fayetteville Land Office a John W. Rich registers 40 acres. In 1841 a John Rich of Benton County registers 1858 acres in the Fayetteville Land Office.

I've started to understand the importance of geography when it comes to genealogy. It's quite beneficial to understand that boundary lines for townships, counties, cities, and states have changed significantly in the years. And people seemed to travel and move around great distances compared to most of us today. I found the following newspaper article from 1835 pretty interesting while trying to focus on my RICH family and the possibility that they would be in and out of IL, MO, and AR in such short time frames. It mentions Spring River where this family lived in 1850, but where was the state line in 1835?




Here's a great GIF showing how much the US changed over the years.

My John Wesley Rich went by John W. and Wesley interchangeably in all the records I have found for him. I'm not certain if the records found in AR are indeed him, but considering his daughter says she was born there makes it a possibility. I did do a search for any other John Riches living in AR around this time period and found a John Rich living in Osage Township, Benton Co, AR in 1850. According to that census record he was born in 1785 in Virginia. There is also a John Rich listed in the slave schedules of Washington County, AR - Illinois Township. But I haven't found a John W. Rich in any of the earlier AR census records to match the Land Record dated 1857.


Now picking up where I left off with the 1850 census and the birth dates/states of the RICH children. The next child listed is where things get a little tricky, and by tricky I mean frustrating. 

In the 1850 Lawrence County, Missouri, census there is a female child, Selina, born 1840 in IL but in the 1860 census she is not listed with the family but there is now a male child, Sidney, born 1841 in IL who was not listed in the 1850 census. So either the census taker or the person giving information was terribly wrong or there is a Selina and Sidney but they weren't living together in same household during each of the above censuses. Maybe Selina died? Maybe Sidney was a relative and not a child? Keep this Sidney on your mind......

The next child listed is a William H. who is in both the 1850 & 1860 census records. He was born 1842/43 in Missouri. He clearly has an 'H' for his middle initial in BOTH records but later in life his middle initial becomes an 'M'. He names his son William Henry and on his death certificate he says his father was "Wes Rich".

Next up is Robin/Robert who was born in 1844/1847 in Illinois. In 1870 I have found  Robert Ritch with wife Nancy and young son Arvell living in Van Zandt County, TX in dwelling #76 family #84 AND in the same dwelling but family #85 is George and Sidney Rich. Robert's siblings? I think so but their ages are way off from the 1860 census and Sidney who was a male is now female. You tell me.

Then another tricky/frustrating child. In 1850 there's an Achilles who was born 1847 in IL, but in the 1860 census there is no Achilles but a new child named Orvel P who was born 1848 in IL. Another confusing thing about Orvel P is that he later is found as Arville Sexton, but his brother Robert Robin named a son Arville Pool.

The last child listed in the 1850 census was John W. born 1850 in MO. This child will be the subject of an interesting connection later on in this post.

In 1860 new children living with the family are: Jeremiah b. 1852 in MO, Caroline b. 1855 in MO and George W. b. 1859 also in MO which tells me they hadn't lived in Burnett County, TX for very long when the 1860 census was taken.

This family has long been a brick wall with few records or legitimate sources providing consistent details. I have nothing prior to the transcribed marriage record. And very few death dates/locations for the individuals that I can connect. In gearing up for this blog I've been emailing a few people I've found online who are also researching this line and wouldn't you know, I've contacted someone with a possible lead. She descends from a James Rich who was born in about 1816 in KY who married an Elizabeth Creek who was born 1824 in IN, according to the 1850 Alexander, IL, census. She wonders if this is a case of brothers marrying sisters. I think it's worth looking into.

I've decided to use DNA to break through this brick wall and I've pretty much proven that Nancy's maiden name was actually CREEK and that she was a granddaughter of Killion Creek Sr. Last year I had my dad's DNA tested using Ancestry. I linked his results to my tree and filled in my tree to to Killion Creek Sr. After doing that I was able to find that he matches six descendants of Killian Sr via five different children - 2 descendants of Abraham (1783-1859) one descendant of Nancy Creek Webb (1780-1868), one descendant of Susanna Creek Renfrow (1788-1851), one descendant of John Creek (1744-1851) and one descendant of Catherine Creek Sandusky.

Elizabeth Creek who married James Rich is thought to be the daughter of Killian Creek Jr. and Sarah Saxton, Considering that Nancy and John Wesley Rich named a child Killian and another Orville Sexton.  I think its a pretty safe bet to say Nancy and Elizabeth "Betsey" were sisters. I haven't been as successful in finding a solid lead on the Rich side of the tree. ***See Note***

There is another piece of evidence connecting Nancy and Betsey as sisters or James and John Wesley as brothers. This has the potential of getting confusing so bear with me.

John Wesley and Nancy  Rich are listed with the following "children" across the span of the 1850, 1860 & 1880 census ( I place children in quotes because relationships weren't listed until 1880) :

1850 Lawrence County MO:                                
Killian
Sarah Jane
Selina
William H
Robin
Achilles
John Wesley

1860 Burnet County TX:
Sarah J
Sidney (male)
William H
Robert
Orvel P
Wesley
Jeremiah
Caroline
George W

1880 Lamar County TX:
Sarah J (now Cartright - widowed - listed as a daughter - and her birthdate is off by 6+ years)
Elizabeth Cartright - granddaughter
George W - listed as a son
Next page lists several young Sison children listed as sons and daughters may be an error or children of Sarah J by a second marriage.

For now we're going to focus on John Wesley from the 1850/1860 census. Both give his birth date as 1850 and birth state as Missouri.

In Cooke County, TX on 27 Nov 1872 a Westly Rich marries a "Tennie" Lovet, daughter of Samuel and Johanna Lovett. In 1880 this young family is found living in Collin County with a son, 3 year old J. W. Rich.

That may seem unlikely that this is my John Wesley looking at how far Burnet Co is from Cooke County but this family moved and moved a lot! There are tax records placing John Wesley Sr in Milam County Texas in 1867. And Tennesee Lovett's family was in Smith County, TX in 1860 - I'm telling you, people moved a lot more back then; chasing land, work, and sometimes gold.

Case in point...

Remember that James Rich and Betsey Creek that were mentioned earlier? They end up in Santa Cruz California. Betsey dies in 1893 and James remarries a woman by the name of Ruth. In 1900 James and Ruth are living in Mendocino, CA and living with them are a 64 year old Sidney Smith listed as his niece (is this my Sidney Rich?) and an Ephraim Rich listed as his nephew. Sidney Smith says she was born in 1836 in IL and her father was born in TN and her mother IL. Ephraim Rich living with him is listed as a nephew, but his age would nearly have to make him a great nephew. He says he was born in Texas in 1880. A little more searching reveals Ephraim to be the brother of a John Wesley Rich who was born in 1877, also in Texas, and according to my email buddy, cemetery records indicate these two were the children of Wesley and Tennessee Lovette Rich. She was kind enough to send me those and I've attached them below.

There are also several interesting newspaper articles about these brothers. If you happen to have an account with Newspapers.com check the Ukiah Republican Press. Here's one such article for you.



Several online trees place James Rich, 1816 KY/1811 IL as the son of Jeremiah Rich and Sidney Lowery. Is this who my mystery Selina/Sidney 1840/1841 M/F is named after? These trees also say that Jeremiah and Sidney have a son named John who was born in 1828 - that kind of puts a damper on my theory that they could be parents of my John Wesley considering he was born in 1813. I may not know who John Wesley Rich Sr's parents are, but I'm getting closer. *****See Note*****There are so many individuals descending from this line that have inconsistent details from age, birth state, to gender! I'm definitely writing many of their details down in pencil so if I need to change it later I can.

I hope I haven't confused you too much. I know my head is spinning. I also hope that I've been able to give you some facts you didn't previously have or at the very least have pointed you in a general direction if you're looking for your own answers.

Hopefully someone will end up reading this who has some knowledge they can lend me. PLEASE if you're related to anyone mentioned in this post and you think I've made an error or you've tested your DNA or you just want to connect, don't hesitate. I love connecting with family!

If you descend from John Wesley Rich and his wife Nancy, I have created a FB group. You can find it here: Descendants of John Wesley Rich and Nancy Creek

Until next time,
Becky

***Note****: See last posting this I have been searching on AncestryDNA and have confirmed matches to several descendants (6 at this point) of William Alfred Rich and Mary "Polly" Hooker. Considering John Wesley Rich's age - he would be a grandson.