Sunday, April 22, 2018

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – A Storm in Kansas



Susan Wisemore married Washington Chapman on 1 March 1846 in Jasper County, Illinois.[i] Washington was a farmer until his death probably in 1865-1866. The 1870 census shows widowed Susan Chapman in Granville, Jasper, Ill with Jefferson 15, Louisa 11, Sarah 9, Elizabeth 7, Charles 6, and Ira 4.[ii]

On 23 Jan 1872[iii] Susan Wisemore Chapman married William Myers in Jasper County and by 1880, the family had moved to Phillips County, Kansas.

In 1880 Sarah is married to Thomas Whitmarsh and the mother of Stella Whitmarsh.[iv] Thomas is a farmer in Glenwood Township.

In 1885, the family had grown to include son Fredrick Nelson and they were still in Glenwood Township.[v]

On Friday, 29 April 1885, Sarah hooked up a team of horses to the wagon and with her un-named infant traveled to Republican City, Kansas to meet her husband, Thomas, who had been in Iowa on business for a week. Arriving in Republican City, Sarah found that Thomas had already left for home with a neighbor. Unfortunately, as she attempted to cross Crow Creek, the water rose and swept the team away, capsizing the wagon. Sarah Chapman Whitmarsh’s body was recovered but not the body of her infant child.

Sarah Whitmarsh was survived by her husband, Thomas, and children Stella and Frederick.

Thomas returned to Jasper County, Illinois with his children. Thomas married again and had additional children.

Stella married John Ferguson of Willow Hill and was a loving step-mother to his two children in addition to loving her own two children. Stella Whitmarsh Ferguson died in 1972 and is buried in Mound Cemetery in Hunt City, Jasper County, Illinois.[vi]

She has always been fondly remembered as “Grandma Dolly” by her numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.



[i] Ancestry.com. Illinois, Compiled Marriages, 1790-1860 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
[ii] Census Place: Granville, Jasper, Illinois; Roll: M593_232; Page: 283B; Family History Library Film: 545731
[iii] Ancestry.com. Illinois, Marriage Index, 1860-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
[iv] 1880; Census Place: Glenwood, Phillips, Kansas; Roll: 393; Page: 83C; Enumeration District: 227
[v] Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1885 Kansas Territory Census; Roll: KS1885_106; Line: 1
[vi] Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

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