Mary OLIN 1809-1872, Canton NY to Norris ILL

After a rather long hiatus from blogging, here is Mary OLIN, born in NY state, married, had 7 children, and died in Norris city in Illinois. Mary is in the RICE line of my children's father's mother, and is their 3rd great-grandmother. I was caught by her surname, thinking it seemed a Scandinavian surname perhaps. The earliest OLIN ancestor I've found in the New England states is John OLIN born about 1675, who at about 14 left his ship at harbour in Rhode Island. He later married Susannah SPENCER, a daughter of one of the original Spencer brother immigrants. Some information came from a useful book titled:

"A Complete Record of the JOHN OLIN FAMILY, the first of that name who came to America in the year A.D. 1678. Containing an account of their settlement and genealogy up to the present time -- 1893. By C.C. OLIN, Historian."

Mary was the second child of Joseph Mitchell OLIN and his first wife, Huldah SMITH [d. 1831]. Joseph and Huldah had been living and married Dec 25, 1806 in Addison Vermont, but moved to Canton New York state shortly after, where their first child, Joseph, was born in 1807. All 11 children appear to have been born in Canton NY. 

In about 1828, Canton NY, Mary OLIN aged about 19 years, married 27 year old farmer, Calvin HEALY, [b.1801], another person whose family had moved from Vermont to northern New York in very early 1800s. Calvin's parents were Jabez HEALY and Grace BAILY. 

Children of Mary OLIN & Calvin HEALY, all born White County, ILL: 
   1.  Arlette M, b 9 Mar 1830 Potsdam NY, d 5 Jan 1890 White Co ILL;
           m. Henry C Rice 30 Jan 1850 White Co ILL; 4 children
   2.  Charlotte Lovina [ancestor] b 18 Mar 1835 OH; m. Joel RICE jr. [bro
           Henry above] 19 Aug 1854 White Co ILL; 5 children known survived.
   3.  George Calvin, b 10 Mar 1836 poss. OH, d. 10 Apr 1887 Iron, White, ILL;
            m. Mary Bryant est 1861; 7 known children
   4.  James Harvey, b 15 Aug 1840 White Co ILL, d 14 Jul 1920 Norris, ILL;
           m. Frances "Fanny" A Veach 26 Dec 1867 White Co ILL; 12 children
   5.  Jerusha Ann "Jenny", b 1844 White Co ILL, d. 3 Feb 1889; m Newton
            Bryant [bro to Mary B above] est 1860; 9 children
   6.  Joseph "Joe" Mitchell, b 26 Nov 1846 White Co ILL, d 7 Nov 1912
            Saline Co, ILL;  m 1867 to Mary R Steele; 6 children
   7.  Henry Gilbert aka Gilbert, b 4 Mar 1849 White Co ILL, d 13 Mar 1881
            Pope Co., ILL; m 1870 to Sarah Ann Crank; 6 children
   8.  Francis E, b 5 Nov 1852, White Co ILL, d 3 Aug 1890 White Co ILL;
           m 1 Mar 1874 ILL to Sarah A Bryant; 9 children.

All eight children were born in White County ILL, likely settling in Norris City - actually a small village, currently under 1400 persons. I have no church details for this family; there are three existing churches at present. 

Mary OLIN died18 Aug 1872 aged 63 years in Norris, White Co., Ill, before her husband, Calvin. She is buried in the Rice Cemetery, in White Co., Ill.  She and Calvin had 8 living children, and in total, 58 grandchildren. However, as is usual, I have no particular personal information about Mary. Hopefully I might find more about her with more specific future research, eg., church records, newspapers, societies, and so on. 

Calvin HEALY, Mary's husband, died aged 80 years, 2 Mar 1881, in Sacramento, White Co., Ill, possibly living with one of his children or grandchildren. He is also buried in the Rice Cemetery, in White Co., Ill, his details on the other side of Mary's stone.

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If these are your ancestors, I am happy to share what little I have on these ancestors. And if there are errors, please do let me know, via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below and I will get back to you either by email or in the Comments. I appreciate the opportunity to correct any issues in these family trees.

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This week's #52Ancestors/52Weeks: Huldah B. SMITH, 1783-1831, New York

For this week's post, I've chosen Huldah B. SMITH, the 3rd great-grandmother of my ex-husband's lines, 4th for our children, 5th great-grandmother for our grandchildren.

Huldah SMITH was born 15 August 1783, in Addison Vermont, of unknown parents. This information was found in several online family trees, as well as on headstones in Olin Cemetery, Canton NY.

As is common with women ancestors, Huldah left very little trace during her rather short life. The marriage card for Vermont marriages lists the bride, groom, date and place, plus the Justice of the Peace, Henry Smith. That makes me wonder if Huldah is a relative of the JP. More clues to use in researching her family in Vermont.


On December 25th, 1806, Huldah married [Deacon] Joseph Mitchell OLIN, son of Caleb OLIN & Freelove MITCHELL. The couple moved shortly afterwards to Canton, St Lawrence county in New York state, where all their 9 children were born. Apparently Joseph was very active in the Canton First Baptist church [see on right], and I would assume his wife would have a supporting role. Many women were quite active in Church events and activities, but not likely to be mentioned by name back in the early 1800s.

Huldah and Joseph had the following children, all born in Canton NY - note the surnames showing marriages to brothers/sisters or cousins:
   1.  Joseph Mitchell [jr.], b. 6 Oct, 1807, d. 11 Oct 1855, bur. Olin Cemetery, Canton NY; m. Jan 1, 1832 to Mary Barrett, 1813-1883
   2.  Mary, ancestor, b. 20 Jan 1809, d. 18 Aug 1872 Norris IL; m. Dec 25,
            1825 to Calvin HEALY, 1807-1881; 7 known children
   3.  George Smith, b. 11 Apr 1811, d. 22 Jun 1906; m. Jan 1, 1833 to Fanny
             M. Barrett, 1815-1893
   4.  Charlotte, b. 18 Jan 1815, d. 22 Oct 1844 Morley, NY; m. Aug 14, 1837
             to Charles E. Barrett, 1811-1892
   5.  Asa W., b. 1 Jan 1818, d. 16 Jan 1865; m. Feb 6, 1838 to Harriet Hila Day,
             1817-1842
   6.  James M., b. 1 Oct 1820; m. Oct 10, 1848 in Hopkinton, NY to Elizabeth
             Abbott
   7.  Elmina, b. 20 May 1822, d. 16 Dec 1887 Minneapolis MN; m. Dec 8, 1840
             to Martin Smith, 1813-1872 Wisconsin
   8.  Sarah, b. 25 Jul 1824, d. Wisconsin; m. Nov 17, 1844 to Edward R. Smith
             1819-1874 Wisconsin
   9.  Daniel Alpheus, b. 3 Jun 1826; m. Jul 5, 1850 in Madrid NY to Sarah S.
             Sweet, 1829-1851 Wisconsin.

As the Territories opened up for land, a number of the younger OLIN married children moved to Illinois and Wisconsin, as seen above. They would have had family moving and settling with them, as the Smiths and Barretts were related. There are several unusual names in this family, such as #7 Elmina, and #9 Daniel Alpheus. I still need to do more research on name patterns in the OLIN family, and I do so wish I could research the SMITH family as well!

Another oddity is that all the boys appear to have middle names, but none of the girls do. Middle names were not particularly common until a bit later in the 1800s.

Huldah died fairly young, aged 48, on Feb 7, 1831, and her headstone slab can still be seen in the OLIN Cemetery in Canton, NY. Next to her slab is a small obelisk marking Joseph's burial place. I have  not seen any records indicating what caused her death.

Joseph married soon after Huldah's death, to Hebsibah "Seba" B. Andrews, [1817-1868]. Again, I have not researched thoroughly for her parents or other family members. Censuses show her born in Vermont, which is where the OLIN family lived.

Hebsibah and Joseph had at least two children:
  10.  Huldah, b. abt 1834 [common to name after deceased]
  11.  Edwin, b. abt 1835

The OLIN/SMITH ancestral couple descend down to early New England immigrant families HEALY [bef 1640] and RICE [1632] families by the 1900s.

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If these are your ancestors, I am happy to share what little I have on these ancestors. And if there are errors, please do let me know, via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below. I appreciate the opportunity to correct any issues in my family trees.

Blogger - or my computer - is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason. If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You truly make my day.

52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES. No. 9, CLOSE TO HOME: The HEALY Sisters

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog, but based on Themes. Last week, it was GOOD DEEDS, which I found a challenge.  This week, the theme is Close to Home.  

The HEALY sisters who married two brothers... not an unusual pairing. I have several similar family pairings.  And they make sense, don't they?  Your families go to the same church, your families live nearby, help each other out, go to school together... There are so many reasons why it is logical to marry into the same families. Here are two sisters who married into my ex-husband's Rice family line.

Originally from Vermont, Calvin HEALY (1801-1881) and Mary OLIN (1809-1872) had 7 known children born in White County, Illinois.   Their near neighbours in the area of Indian Creek, were the RICE family, originally from Vermont and Kentucky states: Abel RICE (1792-1846) and Lydia GHOLSON (1792-1850).  

The RICE family had 11 children, 5 of them boys: Tolliver G. b. 1816, Eliza R. b. 1818, Hulda b. 1819, Martha b. 1820, Sarah M. b. 1821, Allan M. b. 1824, William Emerson b. 1826, Henry C. b 1827, Elizabeth I. b. 1829, Mary Ann b. 1830, Joel b. 1832.  

The HEALY family had 7 children, 3 of them girls: Arletta M. b. 1830, Charlotte L. b. 1835, George Calvin b. 1837, James H. b. 1840, Jerusha Ann b. 1844, Joseph M b. 1847, and Henry Gilbert b. 1849.  

As you can see, the children's ages overlapped.  I can imagine the younger Rice girls Elizabeth & Mary Ann visiting with the Healy girls nearby, maybe after school, and after chores.  Henry and Joel Rice likely hung out with George & James Rice. Picnics together.  Farming chores. Church socials. Their fathers probably did road work together when needed, talking together about their children, the future, standing around together after church. The girls put together their hope chest or dowry chest - a trunk of linens, embroidery and quilts, needed for when they got married. Sitting together in the winter, sewing, planning, dreaming.

Arletta M., the eldest HEALY, married Henry C. Rice on 30 Jan 1850, and had 4 children, 1 boy and 3 girls: Ezra Joel, Ophelia, Marion Janette, and Rutha Roseanna.  

Several years later, the 2nd Healy child, Charlotte L. married the youngest Rice boy, Joel RICE, on 19 Aug 1854.  They had 5 children:  Henry Luther (direct ancestor), Caroline O., Sarah A., Charles, and Mary N.  

Their eldest child, our direct ancestor, Henry Luther RICE, continued to live in Illinois, marrying two wives, with 11 children born.  Eventually he moved to California with his 2nd wife and all the children, where he died in 1934, in Redlands.

If you have any information about the Healy or Rice family, I am happy to hear from you, via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below.

NOTE: My Blogger account is acting up and not allowing me to reply to comments just now. Assume that I am absolutely thrilled you took the time to come by, read the notes, and comment. You make my day!

52 ANCESTORS in 52 WEEKS, #30: Jabez HEALY, 1763-1838

Following the challenge of writing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, issued by Amy Johnson Crow , here is my 30th installment, Jabez HEALY, my ex-husband's 3rd great-grandfather. 

Jabez (or Jabes) HEALY was the 8th child, 5th boy, of parents Joshua HEALY Jr and Sarah NEWELL; Jabez was b. 29 Sep 1763 in Dudley MA. 

At the age of 16 years, Jabez served during the Revolutionary War, while living in Massachusetts [Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution, Vol.7, page 658].  This also states he was 16 years old, 5'6" tall, and had a dark complexion.  So young.  I wonder how his mother felt about her youngest son heading out to battle at that age. According to one story, he lost a leg in the war, and he became a shoemaker.  Click on this link and scroll down the page for more information on the work of a shoemaker in early Vermont.

He married Grace BAILEY 28 Nov 1785; her parents were Joshua Bailey & Abigail Clapp, and Grace was b. 7 Feb 1765 in Hanover MA. 

Jabez and Grace appear to have moved to Shoreham Vermont shortly after they married.  I am having difficulty teasing out their children, which surprised me.  Apparently there was another Jabez Healy (or two or three) and they seemed to be having similarly-named children. Notes about Jabez [public trees, from a family bible] indicate he had up to 11 children with Grace, and more children with the next 2 wives; I do not have their names.  FamilySearch shows a number of Healy family histories I could dig through, as I continue to search other records in both Vermont and New York.

To date I have only two children I am certain of:

1.  Ezra, b. 14 Mar 1790, Shoreham, VT
2. Calvin [ancestor], b. abt 1801, Shoreham VT, m. 29 Dec 1825 to Mary OLIN; 7 children

The 1800 Census of Shoreham VT shows 8 household members, 6 under 16, 2 over 25 [parents].  My big question is to keep searching for names of those young'uns!  Clearly Calvin, the direct line ancestor, had many siblings.  

By 1805, the family had moved from Vermont to Potsdam, New York.  (scroll down for names of early settlers in Potsdam, including Jabes [sic] Healy).  

Jabez' first wife, Grace, died 3 Jul 1811 in Potsdam.  He apparently remarried at least twice more, having more children, but I don't have any details as yet.  He remained in the region, moving to nearby Parishville, where he is found on the 1830 Census, living with one of his married children.  

Jabez died 1 Dec 1838 in Potsdam, New York, and is buried in Grant Cemetery, Potsdam, New York, where his first wife, Grace, is also buried.  The cemetery is also known as South Potsdam Cemetery.

If you have further information, or questions, on this particular Jabez HEALY, do contact me via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below.  I appreciate any corrections or suggestions - this is a work constantly in progress.