The Hyphen Family Lineage

Note: Researching Malinda Ogle

Finding any information on Malinda, first wife of Clark DeWitt Sr. and mother of his four oldest children, has been somewhat difficult. After the initial online searches and reviewing the files from Jane Anne Thomas, I had mostly confirmed her name, approximate birth year (1827), and presumed birth place (Virginia), but not much else. Additionally, I did not have any confirmed information as of yet for her parentage, though I suspected that she was a sister of Hannah Ogle (daughter of David Ogle) based on information I had found in the files of the Huntington Cty (Indiana) Public Library on Hannah and her husband Lorenzo DeWitt (a man I believed to be a cousin of Clark DeWitt).

Thanks to the efforts of Mark DeWitt, a fellow descendant of Clark Sr., I was pointed to the Delaware Cty (Indiana) Library's website and archive portal, where he had found a will for David Ogle that names as beneficiaries the four children of his daughter Malinda DeWitt ("decd - Virg"). Those names - Sarah, Rebecca, Elizabeth, and Lorenzo - line up with the known names of the oldest four children of Clark DeWitt Sr. Additionally, the will goes on to name other beneficiaries, in addition to David's wife Nancy, including his daughter Hannah (Ogle) DeWitt (who appears to have married Lorenzo DeWitt, cousin to Malinda's husband Clark Sr.), sons Canaan and Elijah Ogle, and the heirs of both his daughter Elizabeth Ogle ("decd - Virg," married name and surnames of the children not given) and his son James Ogle.

The location and date of Malinda's death is otherwise unknown, beyond the possible reference to Virginia in her father's will. As of the 1850 US Census, she and husband Clark were living in Union Twp, Wells Cty, Indiana, likely very near where I grew up. Their youngest child, son Lorenzo, was born in 1855, with subsequent US Census records (through at least 1880) giving his birthplace as Indiana. Clark remarried (to Rebecca Hickson) in Huntington Cty, Indiana in 1859, suggesting that Malinda died sometime in the years between.

What would bring her to Virginia (when I have yet to discover any indication that Clark or her children went with her) at the time of her death is unknown, nor is it confirmed that this is where she died. I have found no record of her death, and I have not yet found where she may be buried. It seems that the bulk of her family - her father, her siblings, and her husband's family - were all living in Indiana at about the time of her death. It is possible that she still had living family in Virginia at the time, perhaps grandparents or other relatives. It would be interesting to know whether her death was connected to her sister Elizabeth's, as that might help bring to light the date and location along with the cause.