SNGF: Female Ancestors' Age at Death

This week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (okay, so I’m a day late) from Randy Seaver is to review your pedigree chart and determine the age at death of your female ancestors back at least 5 generations.  You can read about it HERE. 

What’s interesting about this exercise is that I’ve actually given it quite a bit of thought as when my mother died at the age of 84, I thought back to her mother, and her mother, and her mother and I thought they were all about the same age.  It made me realize that I’d really like to go from age 83 to about age 85 and just bypass those ages altogether. 

So an added exercise for me was to identify the ages of those women, in addition to five generations.

My mother, Geraldine (Martin) Levy, died 15 days before her 85th birthday.  So 84 years old.

Her mother, Clara (Fitzgerald) Martin Hunter, died at the age of 84.  Uh-oh.

Geraldine (Martin) Levy & Clara (Fitzgerald) Martin Hunter

 

Clara’s mother, Mabel (McAboy) Fitzgerald, died at the age of 83 years, 5 months.

Mabel (McAboy) Fitzgerald

 

Mabel’s mother, Rebecca (Waller), died at the age of 83 years, 2 months.

 

Rebecca (Waller) McAboy

See?  I’m turning 83 and then poof – I’m gonna be 85! 

Okay, so back to the original exercise.  Some of my math might not look correct as I took into account the age at their last birthday.

Mother
Geraldine (Martin) Levy – 1928-2013 – 84 years

Grandmothers
Clara Maxine (Fitzgerald) Martin Hunter – 1903-1987 – 84 years
Mildred Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy – 1896-1982 – 86 years

Great Grandmothers
Mabel Viola (McAboy) Fitzgerald – 1883-1966 – 83 years
Frances Maria (Brooks) Martin – 1860-1936 – 75 years
Bertha (Schwartz) Gunzendorfer – 1872-1950 – 78 years
Goldie (Benas) Levy – 1864-1926 – 62 years

2nd Great Grandmothers
Rebecca (Waller) McAboy – 1845-1928 – 83 years
Julia (Horgan) Fitzgerald – 1849-1886 – 37 years
Sarah (Miller) Brooks Anderson – 1836-1923 – 86 years
Rebecca (Steen) Schwartz – 1848-1918 – 70 years
Fannie (Goldstein) Gunzendorfer – 1848-1910 – 62 years
Fredericka (Wilzinski) Benas – 1840-1915 – 75 years
Millicent (Moore) Martin – 1827-1884 – 56 years
Unknown ( ) Levy

3rd Great Grandmothers
Rebecca (Parker) Waller – 1814-1845 – 30 years
Margaret (Finley) Miller – 1812-1884 – 72 years
Monima (Williams) Brooks – 1801-1867 – 66 years
Hannah (Plotzkey) Steen – 1828-1909 – 80 years
Margaret (Callahn) Horgan – Unknown
Sarah (Frankel) Goldstein – 1838-1897 – 59 years
Sarah (Mann) McAboy – 1825-1910 – 85 years
Margaret (Cullen) Fitzgerald – Unknown
Amelia (Jackson) Wilzinski – 1816-1902 – 86 years
Elizabeth (McDaniel) Moore – 1808-1867 – 59 years
Tabitha (Rodgers) Martin – 1800-1860 – 60 years
Unknown x 5

The female ancestor to live the longest was Sarah Jane (Miller) Brooks Anderson at 31,586 days.  Sarah’s first husband (and my 2nd great grandfather) was killed in the Battle of Fredericksburg and at one point she moved across country from South Carolina to California – what stories she would have had!

A close runner-up was my grandmother whom I’ve written so much about, Mildred Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy at 31,519 days.  Besides my parents, I probably know more about her than any other ancestor.

The ancestor to live the least amount of time was Rebecca (Parker) Waller, my 3rd great grandmother.  Rebecca died at the age of 30, within days of giving birth to my 2nd great Grandmother, Rebecca (Waller) McAboy.

The average age of the 23 women I know the age for at the time of their death was about 70 years old.

It sure is hard to see how many of these women died at an age younger than I am today.  But I’m not dwelling on that, at least not until I get to be 83 years old!

Ashbel Waller’s will

I last wrote here about Ashbel Waller, my 5th great grandfather and, hopefully, my ticket into Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).  Now I’m digging through things I stashed away a few years ago and am anxious to get back to proving my descendancy so I can complete my DAR application.

Ashbel died 20 Sep 1848 in Butler County, Ohio and the Butler County Records Center was kind enough to send me quite a few documents pertaining to Ashbel’s life and death.

Here is the Record of his Will – I love the old handwriting but it is nearly impossible for these old eyes to read.  Thankfully, ancestry.com members Valerie Williams and Barbara Sparks have transcribed it which makes things a whole lot easier.  I've only included a photo showing a portion of the will but the full transcription follows.

Old Will Book 3 Pg. 257 Butler County Records Center & Archives Hamilton, Ohio

1848, Waller, Ashbell, Sept. 26th
In the name of the Benevolent Father of All:
I, Ashbell Waller of Butler County Ohio do make and publish this my last will and testament.  Item 1st  I direct that all my just debts and journal charges be first paid.  Item 2nd  I direct that my Executor hereafter named pay as soon as he can after my death to my daughter Ruth Thompson two hundred dollars, to my daughter Hannah Myers two hundred dollars, to my daughter Sena Moore two hundred dollars, to my son Alvy Waller two hundred dollars, to my son Salmon Waller two hundred dollars and to my granddaughter Ruth Osborn the sum of two hundred dollars.  If my Estate is not sufficient to pay all the above legacies, then each one is to have an equal proportion of what is above directed to be paid to each of them.  Item 3 The title to my farm in Liberty township is now in litigation in the Supreme Court of Butler County Ohio as a suit validated by me against Zadre W. Turner.  If by the decree in that came the Land would be directed to be recovered to me, then I direct my Executor to sell my said real estate for the purpose of meeting my debts and the above legacies.  But if the Court should merely decree to me the payment of a certain sum of money and leave the title to said land as it now is then the said money is to go towards paying said debts and legacies.  Item 4th  If there is anything left of my Estate either real or personal after paying the above legacies I direct that the whole residue thereof shall be equally divided share and share alike between Alvy Waller, Salmon Waller, Ruth Thompson, Hannah Myers, Sena Moore and Ruth Osborn.  Item 5th  I hereby nominate and appoint Cyrus Osborn to be the Executor of this my last will and testament.

In Witness Whereof I have set my hand and seal this 18th September A.D,. 1848.

A. Waller [seal]

Signed sealed and acknowledged by the testator as and for his last Will and testament in our presence who signed the same as witnesses in his presence and at his request September 18, 1848.

G.T. Bell
R.H. Cook
Otis Brown

A couple of items stand out to me:

1.  The Will was signed 18 Sep 1848 and Ashbel died just two days later.  Was he on his deathbed and dictating this to someone?

2.  At the time of his death, Ashbel was married to Jane Turner.  Was Zadre W. Turner a relative of hers?  Ex-husband?  Brother?  Son?

3.  Cyrus Osborn was the husband of Ruth Waller, daughter of Alvy Waller.

4.  The signature of Ashbel was noted with a [seal].  Was he too sick to sign his name or was he illiterate?

5.  It looks like $200 in 1848 would be worth about $5,500 today.

6.  Who were G.T. Bell, R.H. Cook, and Otis Brown?  All three are new names to me.

The most important question I have – is the fact that Ashbel names Salmon Waller as his son significant documentation for my DAR application?

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - My 16 Great Grandparents

Photo by Tomorrow Never Knows

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Randy Seaver at genea-musings for the Saturday night challenge of listing our 16 great great grandparents.  I've been in a "blog fog" (where I can't think of anything to write about) for the last few weeks and now I have something to blog about.  I will admit it is Sunday night and I'm 24 hours late but I've been out of town this weekend so I get a free pass :-)

The challenge was:

1)  List your 16 great-great-grandparents with their birth, death and marriage data (dates and places).  [Hint - you might use an Ancestral Name List from your software for this.]

2)  Determine the countries (or states) that these ancestors lived in at their birth and at their death.

3)  For extra credit, go make a "Heritage Pie" chart for the country of origin (birth place) for these 16 ancestors. [Hint: you could use the  chart generator from Kid Zone for this.] [Note: Thank you to Sheri Fenley for the "Heritage Pie" chart idea.]

I'm not going for extra credit as I'm too tired and too technically challenged but here goes:

1.  William Warren McAboy:  Born 12 December, 1842 in DeWitt County, Illinois.  Died 12 January, 1925 in Santa Cruz, California.  Married 10 January 1864 in DeWitt County, Illinois to....

2.  Rebecca Moriah Waller:  Born 7 February, 1845 in Warren County, Ohio.  Died 23 October 1928 in Fresno, California.

3.  Matthew Fitzgerald:  Born 10 September 1850 in Ireland.  Died 24 August 1905 in Fresno, California.  Married June 1869 in Derryleagh, Cork, Ireland to....

4.  Julia Horgan:  Born 1849 in Derryleagh, Cork, Ireland.  Died 4 August 1886 in Black, Yolo County, California.

5.  Lewis Saxon Martin:  Born 9 April 1820 in South Carolina.  Died 19 July 1903 in Laurens County, South Carolina.  Married 12 April 1848 in Laurens County, South Carolina (second marriage) to....

6.  Millicent Moore:  Born 6 October 1827 in South Carolina.  Died 3 January 1884 in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.

7.  William J. Brooks:  Born 1835 in South Carolina.  Died 1862 in Fredericksburg, Virgina.  (I need to research this - I just realized he must have died at the battle of Fredericksburg).  Married to.....

8.  Sarah Jane Miller:  Born November 1836 in South Carolina.  Died 30 April 1923 in Fresno, California.

9.  Louis Schwartz:  Born 28 December 1834 in Shildberg, Prussia.  Died 23 May 1893 in Byron Springs, Contra Costa County, California.  Married 15 October 1865 in California to....

10.  Rebecca Steen:  Born 8 February 1848 in Poland.  Died 7 January 1918 in Oakland, California.

11.  Ferdinand Gunzendorfer:  Born 1 August 1838 in Adelsdorf, Bavaria.  Died 20 October 1907 in Montery, California.  Married in 1863 in California to....

12.  Fannie Goldstein:  Born 6 March 1848 in Poland.  Died 22 July 1910 in San Francisco, California.

13.  Benjamin Benas:  Born 26? December, 1826 in Posen, Germany.  Died 17 April 1892 in Vallejo, California.  Married before 1870 in California to....

14.  Fredericka Wilzinski:  Born 20 April 1840 in Prussia or Germany.  Died 14 October 1915 in San Francisco, California.

And that's all I've got.  I do not know the parents of my paternal great grandfather, Herman Levy.  I've hit a bit of a brick wall so I've put them aside.  For now.