Monday, January 02, 2012

The Wiseley - Wiseley wedding.

BUT SHE IS YOUR COUSIN...!!
Bright Cemetery east of Findlay, Ohio where some of the pioneer Wiseleys are buried
(Corrections made Jan 20, 2012)
    "I'm my own grandpa" was a popular country song several years ago (1947)  and tells of a guy who marries  a widow woman and..oh never mind. It is just too confusing.  If you really want to know how that worked out just do a web search for it and you will find the lyrics and maybe listen to Ray Stevens sing it for you.  If you never heard of it, by all means go find the lyrics. It will give you a good chuckle.  I think I understand it, but everytime I try to explain it, I get confused and have to give up. 
    People who are trying to trace their family origins can become almost as confused when they are confronted with marriages between people who have the same last name. It gets even more interesting when they are also cousins.
    Such is the case with the March 19th, 1863 Wiseley- Wiseley wedding. That was when Henry H Wiseley married the lovely Lorraine Lurany Wiseley. Were they related?  Yes, some kind of cousins, as they each shared the same set of great grandparents. 
     This line of Wiseleys are from what I call the "Lancaster" line. The earliest person we have definitive information about is John Wiseley who came to Lancaster, OH from Lancaster, PA between 1797 and 1800.
      His descendants have spread across the United States like dust in the wind.  But let us concentrate on how two of them found each other in a place that was over a hundred miles from their southern Ohio origins.
     First we should learn where their origins were. That part is easy because all the "Lancaster" Wiseleys roots are from Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio. 

William's headstone in Coffman Cemetery
 just west of Carroll, Ohio
Many of the earliest Wiseleys from Ohio lived near the small village of Carroll, about 8 miles northwest of Lancaster.  John moved his five children (William P, Edward, James, George and Anne) to this wilderness area sometime around 1800 or a little earlier. They most likely traveled the Zanes Trace which was not completed until 1797.  
      John's son William married Rachel Tomlinson while in the Carroll area in 1801.  They would have two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary before Rachel died of Milk Sickness in 1806.   
         After Rachel's death William married Sarah Cole on Dec 3, 1807. They would have several children;  Allen, Jesse, Harriet, George, Ruth, Nancy, Emily, Rachel, and Sarah.  
         Allen would marry Amelia Bright, who was born on the same day that he was.  Allen moved north about 100 miles in a near wilderness area which is today Findlay, Ohio.  Soon other Wiseleys and Brights would live in the same area. Many of them are buried in Bright cemetery a few miles east of Findlay.

Allen and Amelia Wiseley headstone
in Bright cemetery east of Findlay, OH.
See enlarged picture below

      Allen was a very successful farmer who acquired 3000 acres of rich Ohio Farm land and was involved in several businesses as well as being justice of the peace for several years.
      They (Allen and Amelia)  also had several children; William Patterson (named after Allen's father William P,) America, Sarah, Lorrainne, George, Edward Bright, (named after Allen's Uncle George and Uncle Edward) and Daniel Small. 
     Their daughter Lorainne Wiseley is the lady who married Henry H. Wiseley.

        Her great Grandfather was the John who had moved from Pennsylvania to Lancaster, Ohio.  The same John was also Great Grandfather to Henry H. In addition to Lorraine's grandfather William, John and his wife had 4 other children,  James,  Edward,  George and Ann.  
    Edward (John's son)  and Leah would have several children  Jesse was one of them.  Jesse married Keziah (a popular name at that time)  and they would have Henry H. who married his 3rd cousin Lorainne.  ( My writing is about as confusing as the Song "I'm My Own Grandpa")
       Let me make it easier for you. Here is their ancestry.
       Lorainne's ancestors  - Allen (dad) -  William (Grandpa) and John (the shared G Grandpa).
       Henry H.'s  ancestors  - Jesse (Dad) - Edward (Grandpa) - and John (the shared G Grandpa) 
.




A remarkable find. Edward's headstone in Coffman Cemetery.  You can make out enough of his name to know it is Leah's husband, Edward, my GGG Grandfather.


      Edward married  Leah Tomlinson (Rachel Tomlinson's sister?).  They had 15 children.  One of their children was named Jesse.    








Leah Wiseley's headstone with her
great, great, great, Grandson.  (Me)
(Cute little guy, isn't he)
Jessie and Keziah (Gilmore) were married and moved to the
Findlay area and had 7 children,
one them being Henry  H.
Wiseley groom to Lorainne Wiseley.
The 1880 Census lists Henry, his wife Lorainne and 5 children.  Elvira (listed as Almeda on the 1870 census)  Milton C., Amelia S. , Eldon Scott, and David M.
     Henry and Lorainne would stay in the area and farm. Henry would pass away on September 29th, 1918. His wife Lorainne would follow him a little over a year later on October 4th, 1919.

The 3 pictures below are different sides of Jesse and Keziah's headstone in Bright cemetery.


  
      It gets difficult to keep people straight, partly because they named so many children after other kinfolk.  I hope this effort to explain how two Wiseleys that were married to each other were related.  If you are confused just read it over a time or two and as you become familiar with the names it will become clearer. 
     I have spent  hours trying to determine if  two identical names are the same person or two or more different people.   In the case of Allen, the rich farmer, his name was so well thought of that I have a family tree that has an Allen Wiseley in every generation from the mid 1800's right down to the present.  Even the middle initial is the same!  Working on that line of Wiseley's is enough to make me throw up my hands and go for a walk some days.  


infant children of Jesse and Keziah.
  

    Thank you for taking time to follow my blog. The time I invest in research is well worth the effort. First because I enjoy it and secondly because over 60 people  have contacted me to explain how they are related to the Wiseley family name.  Several have sent me copies of their family tree.  Today's blog is the result of one of those contacts. Don, from Ft Wayne, Indiana, sent me a copy of his family tree and this unusual marriage was noted.  Henry and Lorainne were his Great Grandparents on his mothers side. It has been an interesting study to trace the people involved. 
      If you are interested in the Wiseley Surname please drop me an Email with any questions or additional family information.  Your comments on the Wiseley family are always welcome as are any suggestions for future blogs.  I respond to every Email I receive. 
      davidwiseley@gmail.com