Handwritten Notes and the Wise Family - Part 2

In the post Handwritten Notes and the Wise Family - Part 1 I reviewed the information that I had previously found on the family of Peter and Christina Wise, whom I thought were the parents of Jacob Wise, my 3rd great-grandfather. Assuming that they are, I came up with a list of Jacob's possible siblings, that I have names for. There are at least five other possible siblings for which we have no names.

William born 1821-22.
John born about 1831.
Hannah born 1826-1831.
Elizabeth born 1837 and died May 24, 1854 ae 17y 4m.
Eliza J. born 1840-41.
Elmira or Emaline, born 1845-46.

In that post I also mentioned some notes my grandmother had written on several pieces of paper that may have shed some light on two of Jacob's siblings, John and Eliza. Those two notes are shown below. They were written in pencil on paper that has now turned yellow. The images have been converted to gray scale and enhanced somewhat to make the writing a bit more legible. Transcriptions follow the images.





=+= beginning of transcription
The first note:
Aunt Lyd Hoffman - Sister of Jacob Wise
her children [rwNote: does the number indicate number of children?]
Effie Wertenburger - Roanoke (2)
Minnie Fluke - Nanken, Ohio (1)
Jennie Mae Gidley - Roanoke (3)
Hoffman (boy)

The second note:
Grandchildren of John Wise, brother of Jacob Wise
Florence Sites, daughter of Minnie, arrow pointing from Florence to "Mansfield"
Jenny Murry
Guy Murry - Mansfield - children of Jenny Murry
Robert Murry (Ashland)
Mrs. Macy Hart - sister of Guy Murry - Ashland, Ohio
Dayton Huffman
Effie Wertenburger (Huffman)
Minnie Fluke (Huffman)
Jenny Mae Gidley (Huffman)
daughters of Aunt Lide Huffman who was a sister of John & Jacob Wise
Wayne Gidley - Roann - son of Jenny Mae Gidley
Children - Helen Huffman daughter of Dayton
See Roan, Ind.
Miami Co.
=+= end of transcription

At first glance, these lists didn't look like they would be of much use. First off Jacob didn't have a sister named Lyd or Lide and Hoffman is a fairly common name. But the married names of her daughters were all somewhat unusual: Wertenburger, Fluke, and Gidley. On the other hand, the Murry (or Murray?) surname could be a problem. Secondly, the second note is somewhat confusing to read. As far as the locations were concerned, Roanoke is in Huntington County and Roan (Roann) is in Wabash County, both in Indiana. References to Ashland probably indicate Ashland County, Ohio and Mansfield is in Richland County, Ohio.

Since I thought the name Dayton Huffman was a bit unusual, that was my first search on Ancestry. There I found an 1870 census record in Pleasant Township, Wabash County, Indiana, page 48. Dayton was listed as a 7 year old in the household of A. W. and Jane Hoffman. A. W. was a 32 year old sawyer with a personal estate valued at $600 and was born in Ohio. Jane was 28 years old and born in Ohio. The rest of the household members were born in Indiana. In addition to Dayton there was 9 year old Minnie, 5 year old Effa and 2 year old Ella. Was this the right family? The wife's name was Jane, not Lyd, Lide or Eliza. But we knew Eliza's middle initial was J., could she be Eliza Jane? And the names of the children were close. Minnie, Dayton, and Effa.

The 1880 census for Roann, Wabash County, page 39, has the family listed: Andrew W. Hoffman is 40 years old and a clerk in a store. His wife, Eliza J., is 35 years old. Daughter Minnie is 17, son Dayton is 16, daughter Effie is 14, daughter Ella is 12, and daughter Jennie is 8 years old. Both Andrew and Eliza J. were born in Ohio and their parents were born in Pennsylvania. The children were all born in Indiana.

The other entries that showed up in the searches for 1900 and beyond are not this Dayton Hoffman. I have not found any additional information on him yet.

A search for Eliza Hoffman showed her and "Anthony" in Roann, Paw Paw Township, Wabash County, page 240a in 1900. Anthony W. Hoffman was born March 1839 in Ohio, was 61 years old and married 39 years. Eliza J., his wife, was born in May 1842, was 58 years old, had been married 39 years, and was the mother of 5 children with all 5 still living. Listed with them was Helen O. Hoffman, an 8 year old granddaughter, born in Indiana in March 1892.

In 1910, Eliza Hoffman is found in Pleasant Township, Wabash County, page 284. She is listed in the household of John Wertenberger as his mother in law. John was a 51 year old farmer, he had been married twice. His wife, Effie, was 42 years old. She had been married once and had no children. Eliza Hoffman, his Mother in Law, was a 65 year old widow. She had 5 children with all 5 living. Also listed in the household was an 18 year old niece, Helen Hoffman, and another niece either 10 or 12 years old. This part of the census record is nearly illegible and the name of this niece was not deciphered.

Eliza didn't show up in the census index for 1920, but a search for John Wertenberger showed that she was living with him. John Wertenberger is a 66 year old farm operator born in Indiana. His wife, Effie, was 52 years old, also born in Indiana. Eliza Hoffman, Mother-in-law, was a 77 year old widow, born in Ohio with parents born in Pennsylvania. Also living with John was his 27 year old niece Helen Hoffman.

Census searches continued with the Wertenberger, Gidley and Fluke surnames, with great success. I won't go into detail with those searches or other website searches but will instead give a summary of Eliza's children. . . in the next post, since this is getting kind of long.