Sunday's Obituary - Arianna Sparks Councill

Arianna Councill was the daughter of Samuel Sparks and Susan Godwin, both of Queen Anne's County, Maryland. She was married to John Wesley Councill. The couple lived in Queen Anne's County, Maryland for many years, but later moved to Baltimore. I haven't been able to locate an obituary for her, but a death notice was published in the Baltimore Sun on December 19, 1929. The notice is available on Newspapers.com.

COUNCILL -- On December 16, 1929, ARIANNA, age 65 years, beloved wife of the late John W. Councill. Funeral from her late residence, 749 East McCabe avenue, Govans, on Thursday afternoon at 2 o'clock. Interment Baltimore Cemetery. 

Sunday's Obituary is a prompt developed by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here.

Sunday's Obituary - John Shawler

This obituary was published in the Celina (Ohio) Advocate on August 11, 1906 and is available on the Coldwater Library site.

  John J. Shawler was born August 20, 1829, near Pittsburg, Pa. He left Pennsylvania at the age of four years with his parents, coming to this state where he resided until his decease. He departed this life at noon of July 30, 1906, aged 76 years, 11 months and 10 days.
  Deceased was married to Trian Matson October 21, 1868. To this union were born seven children, six sons and one daughter. He was a volunteer of Co. E. 59th Ohio regiment, serving until the close of the war. His life of many years was spent in hard labor caring for his family, to which he was sincerely devoted. Although the family and friends feel the deepest regret at losing a faithful husband and father, as also an old comrade and friend, yet they are wholly submissive to God's will. The last words he was heard to utter were praises to his Heavenly Father. May the Lord bless and comfort the bereaved family and grant them all a home in the Father's house.
  The funeral was conducted by Rev. J. L. Buyer of the Evangelical church. Interment was at Hopewell cemetery.

John was the brother-in-law of my 2x great-grandparents Timothy and Mary Matson Creeden. His wife's name is normally spelled as a variation on Terressa, Teresa or Trina and their last name was sometimes spelled Sholler or Shaller. In 1887, Timothy leased 10 acres of his property in Hopewell to John Shawler. After Timothy's death in 1899, Mary and her children moved to the town of Celina, but Mary may have continued to lease the property in Hopewell to the Shawlers.

Sunday's Obituary is a prompt developed by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here.

Sunday's Obituary - John Creedan

The Coldwater Library of Mercer County, Ohio provides online access to several local newspapers from the early 1900s to 2018. This obituary of John Creedan was published in the Coldwater Chronicle on December 21, 1923. 

I was excited to find this since it's the first time I've seen anything in print that clearly states the connection between my Creeden family and Patrick and Hannah Hoover Creedan of Clinton County, Ohio. According to the obituary, my great-grandfather Sheriff Chas. Creeden was a nephew of John Creedan.

Charles' father Timothy Creeden was the son of Patrick and his previous wife Mary Coakley and was a half-brother to John. Patrick married Hannah Hoover in Clinton County, Ohio and had several children with her including John.

The obituary states that John was married to Ida Phillips, but doesn't mention a previous wife or children. In the 1900 census, John is living with Ida and his two daughters Flora and Stella. Flora married John Norris and Stella (Estella Catherine) married Issac Pyle. John also had a son named Hiram H. Creeden. The three children were from John's earlier marriage to Minerva McFarland.

Sunday's Obituary is a prompt developed by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here.

Wedding Wednesday - Mary Elizabeth Creeden to George J. Fisher

The Ft. Recovery library of Mercer County, Ohio has digitized several local newspapers, including some hard to find issues from the 1890s. This marriage notice for Mary Elizabeth Creeden and George Fisher (usually spelled Fischer) was published in the Mercer County Observer on January 23, 1896.

Married. On Wednesday morning by Rev. Hartman at the St. Marys Catholic church, Geo. J. Fisher, the popular young butcher of Logan street, and Miss Mary Creeden, both of Celina. The young couple left on the afternoon train for Wellington, Ohio, where they will visit relatives for a few days and then return to Celina. May success ever be your lot.

The notice places their wedding date at January 22, 1896. Mary was the daughter of my 2x great-grandfather Timothy Creeden. Mary and George lived in Pueblo, CO for a few years and later settled in Los Angeles, CA. They had three children: Hilda, Beatrice, and Godfrey. Beatrice was married to Paul Kenneth Weddell.

Wedding Wednesday is a Geneabloggers daily blogging prompt.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 12 - 12

The 52 Ancestors prompt for this week is "12". If you look at a numbered ancestor chart and you're at the beginning of it, #12 is your mother's father's father. You could also write about someone with a birthday or anniversary in December or on the 12th of any month.

My mother's father's father was John Wesley Councill and as I looked through my blog posts I realized I haven't written too much about him.

John was born on Feb. 9, 1959 in Centreville, MD to Francis Councill and Mary Ann Meredith. John married Ariana Sparks on Feb. 2, 1887 in Maryland and the couple had 14 children from 1888 to 1907. My grandfather Royce Councill was one of the younger children and was born in 1902 in Queen Anne's County, MD. 
 
In the 1860 census, John is listed with his parents in Queen Anne's County, MD. His father Francis is a farmer. I've found that his birth years vary quite a bit in the census records and in this one, he appears to be 6 years old, placing his year of birth around 1854.

1860 US Census, District 3, Queen Anne's County, MD

In the 1870 census, John's age is given as 13, placing his birth year around 1857.
 

1870 US Census, District 3, Queen Anne's County, MD

In the 1880 census, there is a 21 year old John Councill living with his uncle Thomas Councill in Talbot County, MD. John is working as a farm hand.

John's father Francis died in 1887 and he inherited a section of land in Queen Anne's County. By 1900, John and Ariana have 9 children. Some of his wife's family are also living with them on their farm in Queen Anne's County.

1900 US Census, District 3, Queen Anne's County, MD

A newspaper article published in the Baltimore Sun on May 20, 1908 shows that John had a Queenstown, MD address and was opening a boarding house called the Chester Hotel. It's not clear from the ad whether the hotel was in Queenstown or Baltimore, but this may be the same boarding house as the one listed in the 1910 census.

In 1908, John and Ariana sold their land in Queen Anne's County and according to the 1910 census, they were operating a boarding house in Baltimore, MD. There were 8 boarders living at the house. This census shows that they had 14 children with 12 still living. Their son Julius didn't want to move to the city and was living with an aunt and uncle in Queen Anne's County. I couldn't find their oldest son Herbert in the 1910 census, but he is living in Pennsylvania in the 1920 census.

1910 US Census, Baltimore, MD

John died on Dec. 5, 1916 in Baltimore and his occupation on his death certificate was listed as a watchman in a bank. He is buried in the Baltimore Cemetery on 2500 East North Avenue, Baltimore.

#52Ancestors is a series of weekly family history prompts developed by Amy Johnson Crow.