The Hyphen Family Lineage

Note: Researching Sarah Cailey

Most of the data I had initially for the immediate family of George L. Cailey Jr., including his oldest daughter Sarah, came from an online descendancy assembled and published by Matthew Caley. I had not done much to verify this work outside of my own immediate ancestor (George's son Samuel Burdell Caley) until recently. In Matthew's work, he had listed three marriages for Sarah - first to David Orebaugh (vital dates unknown) in 1833, then to James Moberly (b. 1804, d. 11 May 1844) in 1841, and finally to Daniel Macey (vital dates unknown) in 1858. Of those three, Matthew listed children produced by only one of those marriages (two daughters with James Moberly).

In trying to validate this information, I discovered that there may well have been two different women, of similar age, named Sarah Cailey in Highland Cty, Ohio. In the review that follows, I have designated the "first" Sarah Cailey to be the one married to David Orebaugh.

- On 21 Aug 1833, David married to a Sarah or Sally Caley in Highland Cty, Ohio.

- David (age forty-nine, born in Virginia) and Sarah (age fifty, born in Ohio), are listed in the 1860 US Census in Jackson Twp Clermont Cty, Ohio, with five children, ages ranging from eight ot twenty-two (with the eldest being Alfred).

- There is a burial listing for a David Orebaugh on the FindaGrave.com website in Sharon Cemetery, Monterey, Clermont Cty, with a death date in 1862. (This same cemetery has a listing for Sarah Orebaugh, b. 1809, d. 1905.)

- In the 1870 US Census, thirty-two-year-old Alfred Orebaugh is listed as the head of household with two younger siblings, his mother Sarah (age sixty-two), and two boarders, again in Clermont. Sarah's marital status is given as widowed.

- In the 1880 US Census, the household in Clermont is now listed as being only Alfred (age forty-one) and the widow Sarah (age seventy).

This progression of records shows Sarah and David both alive and together for quite a few years after the marriage record for James Moberly; the progression of records for that pair follows here.

- On 17 Jun 1841, James married Sally Caley in Highland Cty, Ohio.

- There is a burial listing on the FindaGrave.com website for a James Mobberly in Fenner Cemetery #1, Hillsboro, Highland Cty, Ohio, b. 1804, d. 11 May 1844; the supplemental information on this listing (and for the listing linked to his wife, Delilah, b. 1809, d. 1839) contains references to information drawn from the book Cemetery Inscriptions of Highland County, Ohio in lieu of photos of the headstones.

- In the 1850 US Census, the listing for the household of Sarah's parents George and Susanna Cailey (with appropriate ages and birthplaces given in the record) in New Market Twp, Highland Cty, Ohio also contains a Sally Moberly, age forty, and Rachel Moberly, age six.

- In the 1860 US Census, sixteen-year-old Rachel Moberly appears once again with her grandparents George and Susanna in a household in Hamer Twp, Highland Cty, Ohio.

The appearance of Rachel and Sarah in records with George and Susanna Cailey strongly indicate that this Sarah, who married James Moberly, is the daughter of George and Susanna; the other Sarah, married to David Orebaugh, may well be kin but would not be their daughter.

As for the third marriage noted by Matthew Caley - to Daniel Macey in 1858 - the following is the progression of records for that woman.

- On 24 Oct 1858, Daniel Macey maried Sarah Mobberly.

- In the 1860 US Census, there is a household in Liberty Twp, Highland Cty, Ohio for Daniel Macie (age fifty, born in Delaware) with Sarah Macie (age forty-eight, born in Ohio), with four children ranging in ages from six to sixteen.

- In the 1870 US Census, that same couple (surname now spelled "Macey") appears in Liberty Twp again (ages given as sixty-two and fifty-five) with the two youngest children (William and Hayes) from the previous listing, now teenagers.

- There is a burial listing for Daniel E. Macy in HIllsboro Cemetery, Hillsboro, Highland Cty on the FindaGrave.com website with vital dates given as b. 1805, d. 3 Jan 1874; the listing includes an image of his death record names his widow Sarah Macy. Also posted on the listing is supplemental information that includes reference to an earlier marriage (to Sarah Jane Gray, m. 31 Dec 1838). It should be noted that there is listing on the same website for Sarah J. Macy in the Old Burying Ground, Greenfield, Highland Cty for Sarah J. Macy, b. 12 Sep 1823, d. 13 Apr 1857; the inscription on the stone still clearly reads "wife of Daniel E. Macy."

- In th 1880 US Census there is a household in Hillsboro, Highland Cty consisting of the widowed "Sallie Macey," age given as sixty, and "William Macey," stepson, age given as twenty-five.

I found it inconvenient that Daniel's first wife bore the same given name as his second wife, and his first wife's very young age (from the burial listing) seemed to indicate that she would have been only fifteen at the time of their marriage in 1838. Reviewing the 1840 US Census listing for Daniel's household in Greenfield, Highland Cty, I found that the oldest woman listed in his household was indeed between the ages of fifteen and twenty, which seems to line up with the age suggested by her vital dates. Likewise, her death in 1857 would have left Daniel with a handful of children, some of them quite young, so it seems unsurprising that he would have remarried not long after her death. Also likewise, it would not be surprising that a teenaged daughter of his second wife might choose to remain with her maternal grandparents rather than join her mother in a household already somewhat crowded with other teenagers and young children, as well.

Summarizing for Sarah, then, I would suggest that Matthew Caley has mistakenly attributed records for two different woman named Sarah Cailey to the daughter of George and Susanna. Their daughter appears to have first married at the age of about thirty-one to James Moberly (or Mobberly) in 1841, and was widowed just a few years later, with only one surviving daughter the product of that marriage.

It seems possible, but not confirmed based on my findings thus far, that this same Sarah remarried some years later to the widower Daniel E. Macy, to be herself widowed a second time on his death in 1871. I will note that I have not found further records for Sarah Moberly after 1850, and following the assumption that she did indeed remarry to Daniel Macy, I have found no further records for Sarah Macy after 1880.

Returning to Sarah's daughter Rachel, I have found no confirmed records for her after 1860. Matthew notes her vital dates and locations as b. 25 Sep 1844 in Highland Cty, Ohio, d. 29 Nov 1929 in Vulcan, Alberta, Canada. He also notes that she married John William White in Highland Cty on 6 Nov 1862, and gives his vital dates and locations as b. 18 Feb 1845 in Highland Cty, Ohio, d. 21 Feb 1900 in Montgomery Cty, Iowa. While I have not found a marriage record to confirm this, I will note that there are several state and federal census records in Iowa for the family of John White with wife Rachel and several children whose names and ages line up with those attributed to Rachel in Matthew's documentation, and even a Canadian federal census in 1911 that puts Rachel with one of her children.

Again, I have not confirmed the connection of this Rachel ot the Cailey family as of yet. Because of this and the lack of confirmation for her mother's possible remarriage, I have included only the marriage to Daniel and the census records with the Cailey family in my database, retaining the other unconfirmed information here in the notes.