So, here I am. Just four moths earlier I was born in Urbana, Champaign County, Ohio. That wasn't anything new on my maternal side of the family. In fact I am the eighth generation who was born or lived in this area. My mother wasn't born in this county but she moved here when she was in the 3rd grade and lived here until she was married. When my grandparents moved back to the area there was a passel full of relatives waiting for them; grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Below is my long line of ancestors in the Urbana area: Miles Wilson John Wilson James Russell John D. Wilson William T. Russell Walter Wilson John C. Russell Emma Marie Wilson George Russell Ruth Russell Wavalene Holsinger Ed Adams My Mother was born in 1938, that same year photographers from the Farm Security Administration panned out across America to see how the country was faring through the Great Depression. A photographer stopped in Urbana and took the following pictures of the community during the year my mother was born. My great-grandparents and great-great grandparents resided in the area when these pictures were taken.
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My Great Grandmother, Emma Marie Wilson, died in 1918 at the age of 31. She was born in Champaign County, Ohio in 1886 to Walter Wilson and Anna Abbott. The family farm was located in Concord Township in the northwest part of the county. Marie was born on the same farm as her father and grandfather, so she was the 3rd generation born on the farm. Her great-grandfather John Wilson settled the property when he moved there from Pennsylvania in the 1830s. It's startling for me to think of three generations born in the same place in Ohio by 1886. Marie was the oldest of two daughters. Her sister, Sarah Adria, was born three years later in 1890. I did know my Great Aunt Adria. She gathered with my grandparents during Holidays and special occasions. She died in 1983. But, back to Marie. She married George Russell in 1905. George lived on a farm located just north of the Wilson Homestead in neighboring Harrison Township. The newlywed couple located their own farm adjacent the Russell farm and near the Wilson farm. They had four children, one died at birth. The others, Lloyd was born in 1907, Raymond in 1910, and Ruth in 1916. Ruth is my grandmother. Two years after the above picture was taken Marie died. Ruth was heartbroken that she never knew her mother, because Marie died when Ruth was 2 1/2 years old. Marie's obituary doesn't really provide any insight on the cause of her death. My grandmother shared that her mother died of typhoid. I never really questioned it until I began looking at Campaign County health records and I couldn't find any incidents or outbreak on Typhoid in 1918.
Marie did die during the Influenza Epidemic of 1918. In Dayton, 40 miles to the South reported "During the brunt of the epidemic, from October through December 1918, 657 Dayton residents had died as a result of either influenza or influenza-related pneumonia. Another 44 would die in January 1919. For a city of barely 150,000, these numbers were significant." During the months of October and November Dayton hospitals treated a total of 454 cases of influenza. Marie's death may have been from typhoid, but the timing of her death is too coincidental with the Spanish Influenza Epidemic which hit that part of Ohio hard in October of 1918. In that part of Ohio the closest hospital was Springfield City Hospital located more than 30 miles away. Urbana, the county seat wouldn't get a hospital until Mercy Memorial was built in 1950. Ironically, Marie's mother did have three brothers who were physicians but they were located In Lima, Sidney and Kenton, not within easy distance from George and Marie's farm. Marie's health care was likley in the hands of family and close friends. The death certificate may eventually clear up the entire mystery John D. Wilson was born and died on the family homestead in Concord Township, Champaign County, Ohio. He was born on June 28, 1835 and died on March 13, 1898. He is my 3rd Great grandfather. My ancestral roots back to John through this line: John D. Wilson Walter S. Wilson Marie Wilson, wife of George Russell Ruth Russell, wife of Eugene Holisnger (my grandmother) Wavalene Holsinger (my mother) Ed Adams (me) John was born in Champaign County, Ohio as were the others listed above, with the exception of my mother who was born in Dayton Ohio. However, she spent her formative years growing up in Champaign County, and her summers were spent with her Aunt Adria (Marie's sister) on the old Wilson homestead. John grew up on the home farm in Concord Township. He married Sarah Forry, who was born in Logan County, Ohio. She was the daughter of Rudolph and Sarah Forry, who came from Pennsylvania. John Wilson enlisted during the Civil War for a 100 day service commitment in the 134th Ohio Volunteer Infantry under Capt. Miles Wilson. The company immediately reported to Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio for training. The Military History of Ohio recorded the activities as the 134th Ohio: "Mustered in at Camp Chase, May 6th, 1864, as a Ohio National Guard unit, 867 men, James B. Armstrong colonel; moved for Cumberland, Virginia, via Parkersburg; then to City Point, Virginia, via Washington; engaged in pontooning the river and building roads, June 17th engaged the enemy at Port Walthall, during the assault on Petersburg; loss, two killed, three wounded, June 22d moved to north side James, assigned to Second Brigade, Third Division, Tenth Army Corps; for seventy days entrenching and on picket duty on advanced line toward Richmond; mustered out at Camp Chase, August 31st, 862 men, Colonel Armstrong commanding. " The 134th saw active service in Virginia and around Cincinnati, Ohio. John contracted typhoid fever and he was weakened from its effects. After his marriage, he remained on the homestead, following general farming the rest of his life there. John was a Republican. Actually, he was an active Republican. He and his wife belonged to the Presbyterian Church at Spring Hills, in which he was an elder for many years and active in church all his life. His family consisted of six children, two of whom died in infancy.
Source: The History of Champaign County Ohio, Chicago, W.H. Beers & Co, 1881 |
Russell FamilyAuthor: Ed Adams Archives
August 2014
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