Bombshell!

Cousin David dropped a bombshell on me the other day. He says that my gg grandmother Hobb (nee Elizabeth Parsons) was married before she married my gg grandfather. We knew he had been married before, but I didn't know that she was married before as well. I have a copy of her marriage certificate to James, she was married in 1863 in Missouri and was married using her maiden name, which probably isn't all that unusual. And I should have noticed the two daughters living with James & Elizabeth in the 1870 census, who were older than they should have been for an 1863 marriage. I knew one was the daughter of a previous marriage for James (who had actually been married two times before), I'm not sure that "Nydia/Lydia" ever registered with me, although looking at my genealogy program, I see I do not have her listed as one of their children.

Which brings up another question--one of many: GG grandma Elizabeth was from England, came to America when she was 9 years old and settled in Illinois with her parents, according to her obituary. She married in Missouri. I have not been able to find her parents thus far, in either Illinois or Missouri. Of course, a lot can happen in the 10 years between censuses that may miss documentation, but I wonder if gg grandma Elizabeth came to Missouri alone, or with a family. I find an Elizabeth of the right age and birthplace in Kane Co. IL in 1860, enumerated with a 41-year old Thomas Parsons. He is certainly old enough to be the father of a 17 year old. Thirty-year old Eliza probably isn't Elizabeth's mother, especially since there's a gap between Elizabeth and the next child--a pretty good-sized gap. Second wife? But I have been unable to find anyone thus far in Missouri (Clark Co.) who matches up.

And I have not been able to find a marriage record for Elizabeth and any Fife in Illinois, which is where they were supposed to have been married. The state of Illinois has a marriage index online, transcribed, so prone to errors, and someone could have miss-transcribed their names, or missed them altogether.

Nydia Fite is the daughter of Elizabeth and her first husband, reportedly Albert Fite. She only appears on the one census as a child, as she married Luman Washington Quinn in 1879 in Iowa (found the marriage on a marriage index). So in 1880 she is in Des Moines IA with her husband. The next Federal census is 1900, and the family is in Saginaw, Michigan. So is Elizabeth--listed as mother-in-law to Luman. Elizabeth is also listed back in Missouri in a son's household. If she was visiting, she stuck around until 1920, although I suppose she could have gone back and forth, since she made the journey there in the first place. In 1910 and 1920 she is still living with Nydia, in Chicago, although in 1920 Luman has died and Nydia has remarried. Nydia died in 1922, and Elizabeth moved back to Kansas, living with her oldest daughter she had with James, my great grandmother, Sarah Hobb Rathbun. Elizabeth died the following year.

So many questions, still looking for answers.

1. How did Elizabeth happen to come to Missouri? Did she travel alone or with family? What happened to her family?
2. How did Nydia get from Missouri to Iowa to marry? How did she meet Luman Quinn? Was he in Missouri? Did Nydia travel alone to Iowa?

I still have more places to look. Iowa has a pretty good state census, I hope to find them in the 1885 census, if they haven't already moved to Michigan by then. Perhaps Luman will be found in an 1875 census, if there is one.

At least we know where a couple of odd names in the family come from. My grandfather Rathbun had a sister named Nydia. And one of James & Elizabeth's sons name was James Luman, although I believe he went by Luman.