The Hyphen Family Lineage

Note: The marriages and children of Samuel Forst

Most of the initial information I had for Samuel, his wives, and his children came from the files and writings of Jane Anne Thomas - notably the article she'd written on his father (David Forst) for the text Huntington County, Indiana History & Families 1834-1993, along with a handwritten family list penned by her mother Mary Alice (Bayha) Thomas many years ago, in which Mary Alice enumerated the siblings and children of Samuel's brother George Washington Forst and George's wife Henrietta Miller (Mary Alice's great-grandparents). I had further supplemented this information with a biographical article on Harmon Kaylor (husband of Samuel's daughter Eliza) from the 1887 text History of Huntington County, Indiana.

Jane Anne had little information on Samuel and his family other than to state that he had married Elizabeth Miller, a sister of Henrietta's, and that the couple had at least one child - Eliza (Forst) Kaylor being the only one that Jane Anne documented in her writings. Mary Alice had written (in the aforementioned list of Forst and Miller siblings) that Samuel had married twice - first to Elizabeth, and then to an unnamed woman. She further listed his children as Eliza and an unnamed son from the first marriage, and five children from the second marriage; in the order she had written, they were named Cassie, Clinton, Clara, Elmer, and Cora.

I've since found three US Census records for Samuel's household (1850, 1870, and 1880), his marriage record to his second wife in July of 1850, and a mixed collection of records for his children leading to a somewhat-incomplete picture of his family and his descendancy. I have found enough information to speculate on his first wife, but not to confirm the details of her life, along with an indication that he had at least nine children between the two marriages. I do have some question as to the information I've found for his children, as some of the presumed birthdates are simply too close together suggesting either that the information is erroneous or that a few of his children may have potentially been adopted.

Samuel's first wife, Elizabeth Miller, was the German-born daughter of John and Henrietta Miller. She is believed to have been about the same age as Samuel, born in the early-to-mid 1820s, but this is unconfirmed. Her first child, John, was born about 1847, suggesting she and Samuel married sometime around 1845 or 1846, and her second child, Eliza, was born in early 1849. Elizabeth died sometime after the birth of Eliza, as Samuel remarried about sixteen months later. I would not find it surprising to discover Elizabeth had died from complications in childbirth with her second child, but it may also have been one of many routine illnesses that were common at the time. She's believed to have died in 1849, or possibly early 1850.

Samuel's second wife, Ohio-born Elizabeth Sell, was several years younger and would give him at least seven children before Samuel's death in 1888. Elizabeth would survive him by over two decades, spending at least some of those years living with her son Clinton and his family.

Of Samuel's children, the following is what information I've found.

- John, son of Elizabeth Miller, is found only in the 1850 US Census listing for Samuel's household, and may be the unnamed son from Mary Alice's notes. His absence from the household in in 1870 doesn't necessarily indicate his death at a young age, as he would have been in his early twenties and it seems possible he may have simply taken on his own life and livelihood.

- Eliza, daughter of Elizabeth Miller, is absent from her father's household in the 1850 US Census, instead living with her grandparents David and Mary (Schlosser) Forst some distance away from her father and older brother. She was counted in her grandparents' household again in the 1860 US Census, and in May of 1867 she married Harmon Kaylor, with whom she would have seven children prior to her death in 1909.

- Lovina Forst, first child of Elizabeth Sell, is found in her father's household in the 1870 US Census; she does not appear in Mary Alice's notes nor in Jane Anne's writings. There is a marriage record for her from early 1875 in Whitley Cty, Indiana, to David Judd, and the two of them went on to have at least seven children - the first few born in Indiana, and the remainder in Michigan, where the family moved after 1880. The vital dates I have for her are from her gravestone and a Michigan death record.

- Emma Catherine is listed in her father's household in 1870, and there is a marriage record for her in early 1879 to William Winters Glassley, with whom she would have four children prior to her death in 1924. Her husband would survive her by nearly twenty years, and is named in the obituary for one of Emma's younger brothers. Mary Alice does not seem to have noted Emma Catherine, unless this was the daughter she named "Cassie" in her notes (perhaps having misunderstood a nickname or the surname). The vital dates I have are taken from her listing on FindaGrave.com, where the photo of the stone shows only the years inscribed.

- Clinton is noted on Mary Alice's list, and is found in his father's household in both 1870 and 1880. There is a marriage record for him in June of 1889, and the vital dates I have are pulled from his listing on FindaGrave.com (without photo). He had two sons with his wife Lydia Nichols.

- Ellen Clarice appears to be named "Clara" in Mary Alice's list, as she's given this nickname in her younger brother's obituary and appears to be listed by that name in the 1880 US Census listing for her father's household. (In 1870 she was listed as "Ellen C.") The vital dates I have are drawn from her Illinois death record, which also names her spouse and parents. I've not found any marriage record or burial listing for her, nor any Census record that applies to her after 1880. I have no information on whether she had any children at this time.

- Elmer is listed in his father's household for both 1870 and 1880, and he's named in Mary Alice's note. The vital dates I have are from his FindaGrave.com listing, though the photo of the stone included in the listing is not of sufficient quality to be able to read the inscription for dates or other information. I've found no marriage record for Elmer, nor any indication that he had children; he appears to have died at age twenty-two, which is young enough he may well have been unmarried.

- Cora appears in her father's household in both 1870 and 1880, and there is a listing with vital dates (but no photo) on FindaGrave.com, which is the only information I've found for her so far. If the dates are correct, she died just before turning twenty-four, and I've found no marriage record or indication she had children, either.

- Charles Seymour is listed in his father's household in both 1870 and 1880, and his vital dates are taken from his listing on FindaGrave.com, where the photo of his stone shows only the years but is accompanied by his obituary which gives significantly more information, including the names of his parents and widow. (His most recent marriage record confirms his birthdate.) His marital history seems to include at least one divorce (and the details given in his obituary don't quite line up with the records I've found), but his final marriage, to the widow Emma (Rudicel) Shearer, lasted until his death over twenty years later. No children are named as survivors in his obituary, with only a sister (Clara), a brother-in-law (William Glassley, husband of Emma), and nephews named in addition to his widow.

Samuel himself was born in Ohio and resident in Crawford Cty for some years during his first marriage and the early years of his second, and appears to have moved his family to Indiana sometime between the birth of Clinton (in late 1859) and Ellen (mid-1862). This transitional time may be why I have not found the family in the 1860 US Census as of yet.

The birthdates I have for his children are somewhat confusingly close together in some instances, and lead to some question as to the accuracy of the information I have or to whether they are actually Samuel's biological children (and may be adopted instead). The following list compares their birthdates and the sources from which those dates are taken.

John -> about 1847 (US Census of 1850)
Eliza -> 22 Feb 1849 (History of Huntington County, Indiana, 1887)
Lavina -> 1853 (FindaGrave.com listing with photo)
Emma Catherine -> 1858 (FindaGrave.com listing with photo)
Clinton -> 17 Nov 1859 (FindaGrave.com listing without photo)
Ellen Clarice -> 17 May 1862 (Illinois death record)
Elmer -> 9 Mar 1862 (FindaGrave listing with unclear photo)
Cora -> 9 Jun 1865 (FindaGrave.com listing without photo)
Charles Seymour -> 3 Aug 1869 (marriage record, obituary)

The question really seems to revolve around Ellen Clarice ("Clara") and Elmer, as both the 1870 and 1880 US Census records report Elmer as a year younger than Clinton, and Clara as a year younger than Elmer, with a presumed birth order of Clinton, Elmer, and Clara. I'm uncertain as to whether the Illinois death record is inaccurate, or whether Elmer's birthdate as given on FindaGrave.com is the source of the mistake. I would find it likely that he was born in March of 1861 (not 1862), as that would space the siblings correctly. There is the added possibility that one or more of the children are not biological members of the family and are adopted, but I've found no indication of that as of yet. For now, I've presumed this to be an error somewhere in the information available.

Of Samuel's children, I have confirmed that at least four of them (Eliza, Lovina, Emma, Clinton) had children, and the indications strongly suggest that at least three of them (Elmer, Cora, Charles Seymour) had none. For the remaining two (John, Clara), I've not found enough information to know at this point.