I have been researching the ancestors (and their descendants) of my husband and myself for about 10 years, off and on. Most of the research I've done has been online. And the records that are becoming available online are just astounding! But, there are still a lot of things that only exist on the dinosaur technologies like paper and microfilm. So, my newest genealogy venture is to do field trips to places where our ancestors lived and see what else we can find out. Our first genealogy field trip was last month.
My husband's family, the Isaac Ketchum family, moved to St. Francois County, Missouri in the 1850's. Since that's only a few hours from our home, we chose that for our first visit.
Isaac, my husband's 2nd great grandfather, is my brick wall on the Ketchum side of the family. All of the information I've found in various US Censuses indicates that Isaac was born in 1807 or 1808 in Virginia. I've been unable to determine who his parents were. Some researchers looking at this family have linked this Isaac to Isaac Newton Ketchum, who was reportedly the son of Joel Ketchum and Eleanor Tinsley. However, I've not found any trees that have any sources for this information, so I'm still skeptical. Especially since Eleanor Tinsley's death date was in 1797, 10 years before Isaac was born.
Isaac and his children (John, Mary, William, George, Monroe, Sarah, Eliza, Virginia and Tennessee) are found in the 1860 census in Liberty Township, St. Francois County, Missouri. At that time, he was living with his second wife, Elizabeth Durham Randolph, who he married in 1858 in St. Francois County. Since his daughter Tennessee Ketchum was born in 1854, I've assumed that his first wife, Susan (Daughton) died between 1854 and 1858. Tennessee was also born in Tennessee, so he and his family moved to Missouri between 1854 and 1857, when he filed his first land patent in St. Francois County.
The 1850 census in Marshall County, Tennessee shows Isaac as a farmer, with real estate worth $300. According to the information on this website: the average price of land in Tennessee in 1850 was $5.50 per acre. So Isaac owned approximately 50 acres of land. I found 3 land patents that Isaac got in St. Francois County. In April 1857, he purchased 80 acres. In January 1859, he purchased 39.94 acres and in August 1860, he purchased the 40.65 adjacent acres.
At the library in Farmington, Missouri, we found a book showing the land patents for the county, and indicating where Isaac's property was. We're hoping to find a way to map that, so we can go back and actually see what is on that land today.
It appears that some of Isaac's children remained in St. Francois County. I'll share what we found out about them later. Isaac, however, appears in the 1865 Illinois State Census in Verandah Township, Randolph County, Illinois. His son John - who later returned to St. Francois County - is living next to him. Isaac's family is shown to contain one male between the ages of 10 and 20 (presumed to be Elizabeth's son, John Randolph), and one between 60 and 70 (Isaac). Females were 5 between 10 and 20 (Presumed to be Eliza, Tennessee, and Virginia Ketchum and Julia and Nancy Randolph) and 1 between 40 and 50 (Elizabeth). It is possible that the move from Missouri to Illinois between 1860 and 1865 was due to the Civil War. Missouri was divided between north and south, while Illinois was a northern state.
By the 1870 census, Elizabeth is living in Plattin County, Missouri, living with her children John and Nancy. She does not appear to own her home, but has a personal estate estimated at $230.
At this point, I have been unable to determine when and where Isaac Ketchum died. The 1870 census does not show whether Elizabeth is widowed or not, but assuming that she is, then Isaac died between 1865 and 1870.
So, that is Isaac's story, as far as I can tell it.
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