The Hyphen Family Lineage

[Obituary for Clark De Witt, from the Huntington Daily Democrat, 19 Jan 1889, p8; from the newspapers.com website account of the Huntington County Public Library.]

Mr. Clark De Witt, an old resident of this county of, Jackson township, died in the South-eastern part of Kansas on the 10th inst. Lung fever was the cause of death.

[Obituary for Clark DeWitt, from the Girard Press, 17 Jan 1889, p2.]

DEWITT - At Opolis, Kas., January 8th, 1889, of pneumonia, Clark DeWitt, aged 62 years. - Headlight

[The final attribution on the death notice from the Girard Press likely refers to the Pittsburg Headlight, another regional newspaper from the area.]

Note: Researching Clark DeWitt

The DeWitt family has proven to be much more difficult to research than I had originally anticipated - specifically my ancestor Clark DeWitt Sr., father to Rebecca Ann DeWitt (who married Jeremiah W. Smith). Rebecca was known to my family - she lived for some time with her daughter and son-in-law, Rosanna (Smith) and Lewis S. Thomas, and when Rebecca passed away she had several great-grandchildren, including my grandfather (a young boy of four at her passing in 1926).

Initially, the only parentage I had for her came from a few documents given to me by Jane Anne Thomas - in which she knew only Rebecca's father's name (Clark DeWitt) and said in a letter to me (written around 1991) that she knew nothing of the family other than they were tied into past ownership of the land my family presently owned and farmed (at the time of the letter). Jane Anne's files have not yet produced much more information than that, other than to name Clark's wife as Rebecca (in most cases) or Melinda (in one instance), and give a marriage date that was several years after the birth of daughter Rebecca.

My first searches led me to believe there were two different men of very similar age named Clark DeWitt and both living in Indiana within the same time range - one married to Rebecca Hickson in 1859 and the other to Malinda Ogle (or similar) in 1844. There also seemed to be a Civil War veteran's pension on record, though I was not sure to which Clark the pension was paid (if not both).

Looking more closely at US Census records and obituaries (when available) indicated that the records were for one man - married first to Malinda Ogle in 1844 in Delaware Cty, Indiana, and father to four children by her, and married later to Rebecca Hickson (or Hixon) in Huntington Cty, Indiana in 1859 (with whom he would have six more children). He lived in Wells Cty and Huntington Cty, Indiana until sometime after 1860, and then relocated to Kansas, where he lived in Cherokee Cty in 1870 and 1880. He died in 1889, and is buried in Cherokee Cty; though I have not confirmed, his gravestone may have his Civil War service given as a Private in the Indiana Infantry (according to his listing on the FindaGrave.com website).

At this point, I now had enough information to know that his full name was Clark Edward DeWitt Sr., and I had his vital dates and burial location. I had a list of ten children from his two marriages, and at least one census record for his widow Rebecca (living with son Warren DeWitt in 1900). Clark's birthplace was still in question - the earliest US Census record I had for him (1850) gives his birthplace as Virginia, while all the subsequent census records give his birthplace as Indiana. I had no vital dates for either of his wives - in fact, I had no information thus far as to the fate of his first marriage. Sometime between the birth of their youngest son (Lorenzo) in about 1855, and his second marriage (to Rebecca Hickson) in 1859, either Melinda died or she and Clark Sr. divorced.

A visit to the Huntington County Public Library in Indiana turned up a pedigree that included a Lorenzo DeWitt (compiled in 1988 by Edison Earl Dewitt). This pedigree gave Lorenzo's birthdate as 1822 (about two years older than Clark) in Kentucky, and gave his wife as Hanna Ogle (b. 1824 in Virginia), with a marriage date and place of 1841 in Delaware Cty, Indiana. This seemed too close to some of the information I had for Clark Sr. to be coincidental, so I began working with the supposition that Clark Sr. and Lorenzo were brothers, and that they may have married sisters Hanna and Malinda. (Clark Sr.'s oldest son was also named Lorenzo.) On the pedigree, Lorenzo's parents were given as Isaac DeWitt (b. 1792) and Rebecca, surname unknown.

The census listings for Isaac's household showed the family's migrations from Kentucky up through western Indiana (Fountain Cty), then over to eastern Indiana (Allen Cty, Wells Cty, Huntington Cty). These locations and timeframes lined up with the records I could find for Lorenzo, and with the few locations I had for Clark Sr.'s household prior to his move to Kansas (with his second wife). I found no shortage of online pedigrees and genealogies for Isaac that gave Isaac's parentage (as Peter DeWitt, b. 1777 in western Virginia, and wife Mercy) and his birthplace as Montgomery Cty, Kentucky, but none of them included Clark as a son of Isaac. It still seemed likely to me that Clark Sr. was connected to Lorenzo's family, but how was unclear at this point.

A search through the Ancestry.com account at the Oconomowoc Public Library led me to a handful of public family trees, one of which (by user "dondew2281," presumably a Donald DeWitt) includes Clark Sr. but only with his second wife and their children. That tree names Clark Sr.'s parents as Daniel DeWitt (b. 26 Oct 1796 in Mercer or Montgomery Cty, Kentucky , d. 12 Jan 1873 in Huntington Cty, Indiana) and Rebecca Thornburg (b. 28 Mar 1802 in Jefferson City, Jefferson Cty, Tennessee, d. 22 Feb 1875 in Huntington Cty, Indiana). The sources cited by that tree don't show any definitive information tying Clark Sr. to this couple as a son of theirs, but the tree shows that he was one of sixteen children.

Online searches for records for Daniel DeWitt led me to peruse some genealogies and pedigrees to try and determine his parentage, as well as to confirm Clark as one of his sons. Many of these genealogies included some of the better-known sons who were included in various county or regional histories (including Daniel Jr. and Elisha), and one in particularly included an enumeration and review of the census records, attempting to match the children's names to the census record positions (age and gender). The 1830 and 1840 US Census records (Delware Cty, Indiana) each include an otherwise-unnamed son whose age lines up with Clark Sr.'s presumed age. Additionally, most of the published genealogies indicate that Daniel's parents were Peter DeWitt (b. about 1777 in Virginia or West Virginia) and wife Mercy.

Thus far, then, it seems somewhat established that Daniel DeWitt Sr. and Isaac DeWitt were brothers, both Kentucky-born sons of Peter DeWitt (born in Virginia) and his wife Mercy. Assuming my presumption of Clark Sr. as a son of Daniel Sr. is correct, that would make Lorenzo and Clark Sr. first cousins. Once I have done additional research into this avenue, and assuming that research either confirms or at least supports this position, I will likely update my tree accordingly.

Note: The children of Clark Edward DeWitt Sr.

Of the ten children fathered by Clark Sr., I can only fully account for seven of them. Two of his younger sons (from his second marriage), William and Clarence, died at ages fifteen and five, respectively, and are buried in the same cemetery in Kansas in which Clark Sr. is interred. Of his daughters, I can so far account for Sarah, his eldest, Rebecca Ann, my third-great-grandmother, and Belle Zora, a younger daughter from his second marriage. The two other sons from his second marriage, Clark Edward Jr. and Warren Quimby, each married and had children, though I lack vital dates and a confirmed burial location for Clark Jr.; Warren's only son, Lloyd, married and had a son and two daughters, and most of that family are presumed to still live in California (where Warren died).

For his remaining children, both from his first marriage (Elizabeth, Lorenzo) and his second marriage (Rosa), the following are the last records I have found for them to this point.

Elizabeth - 1870 US Census, her father's household in Pleasant View Twp, Cherokee Cty, Kansas; she's also possibly depicted in a photo with siser Rebecca from sometime after 1900 in Pittsburg, Crawford Cty, Kansas, exact date unknown.

Lorenzo - 1920 US Census, his household in Quapaw, Ottawa Cty, Oklahoma; he is also mentioned in sister Rebecca's obituary in 1926 as a surviving family member; his widow is listed in the 1930 US Census living with her sister, so he is presumed to have died prior to 1930.

Rosa - 1870 US Census, her father's household in Pleasant View Twp; presumed to have died before 1880.

Note: Newspaper archives to check for Clark DeWitt

The following is a list of newspapers listed by the Kansas State Historical Society as available on microfilm that may apply to my searches for information on Clark DeWitt. Of note is that Clark lived in Pleasant View Twp, in the northeast corner of the county, and the counties' closest towns or cities to his farm were Weir, Columbus, and Galena. (Baxter Springs, the largest city in the county, was approximately 10-15 miles away, while the city of Joplin (primarily Jasper Cty, Missouri) was nearly the same distance away.) Across the county line to the north was Pittsburg, Crawford Cty, Kansas.

Title Dates Published in County State Reel number
====================================================
Columbus Advocate [1st] 1/5/1888--6/27/1889 Columbus Cherokee KS C 1234
Galena Miner 6/14/1888--2/14/1889 Galena Cherokee KS G 4
Short Creek Republican 11/5/1887--5/25/1889 Galena Cherokee KS G 17
Star and Courier 4/14/1887--8/29/1889 Columbus Cherokee KS C 1282
Weir City Eagle [1st] 11/17/1887--12/27/1888 Weir Cherokee KS W 195
Weir City Eagle [1st] 1/10/1889--1/31/1889 Weir Cherokee KS B 928
Weir City Tribune [1st] 1/13/1887--3/8/1889 Weir Cherokee KS W 3017
Daily Headlight 5/1/1888--11/17/1888 Pittsburg Crawford KS P 443
Cyclone 1/1898--7/1912 Pittsburg Crawford KS P 1294
Pittsburg Headlight [1st: weekly] 8/4/1887--9/12/1889 Pittsburg Crawford KS P 1193
Pittsburg Smelter 1/4/1888--6/28/1889 Pittsburg Crawford KS P 701
Daily Headlight 11/19/1888--4/20/1889 Pittsburg Crawford KS P 444
Pittsburg Kansan 11/10/1898--11/7/1901 Pittsburg Crawford KS P 1209
Cherokee Sentinel On The Border 1/28/1887--3/28/1890 Cherokee Crawford KS C 2056

Note: The reported death date of Clark Edward DeWitt Sr.

The only two records I have found for Clark's death are both short death notices - one from the Girard Press in Kansas, reporting his death date as 8 Jan 1889, and the other from the Huntington Daily Democrat in Indiana, reporting his death as 10 Jan 1889. His headstone, as pictured on the FindaGrave.com website, gives his date of death as 9 Jan 1889.