Other Events:

• _UID: 40569E1BB36D2240B05751360D9ADEB397FA

Notes:

U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963 about Ernest W Fletcher
Name: Ernest W Fletcher
Birth Date: 13 Oct 1903
Death Date: 10 May 1959
Cemetery: 15th And Naval
Cemetery Location: Bremerton, Washington

Ivy Green Cemetary

!NOTE: All children were in Leiviston Idaho. Ernest died of heart attact
Washington, Select Death Certificates, 1907-1960 about Ernest W. Fletcher
Name: Ernest W. Fletcher
Gender: Male
Age: 55
Estimated birth year: abt 1904
Death Date: 10 May 1959
Death Place: Bremerton, Kitsap, Washington
Father: Fred Fletcher
Mother: Corrie Sly
FHL Film Number: 2033963
Reference ID: 10039

1920 United States Federal Census about Ernest W Fletcher
Name: Ernest W Fletcher
Age: 16
Birth Year: abt 1904
Birthplace: Michigan
Home in 1920: Port Angeles, Clallam, Washington
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Son
Marital Status: Single
Father's Birthplace: Michigan
Mother's name: Carrie A Fletcher
Mother's Birthplace: Michigan
Able to Read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Carrie A Fletche r 41
Effie B O Brien 18
Ernest W Fletcher 16
George D Fletcher 14
Brewster J Fletcher 12
Leroy W Fletcher 6
Luella J O Brien 0 [8/12]


Washington, Deaths, 1883-1960

Name: Ernest W Fletcher
Gender: Male
Birth Date: abt 1904
Death Date: 10 May 1959
Age at Death: 55
Death Location: Bremerton, Kitsap, Washington
Father: Fred Fletcher
Mother: Corrie Sly
Record Source: Washington State Death Records

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Mona FLETCHER was born in in Lewiston, Nez Perce, Idaho, United States.
2. Fred Warren FLETCHER was born in in Lewiston, Nez Perce, Idaho, United States.
3. Shirley FLETCHER was born in in Lewiston, Nez Perce, Idaho, United States.

Other Events:

• _UID: 54CD77F2295C814A8C5B3AFEAA3BA46EF0D1

Notes:

1910 United States Federal Census
Name: Frederick Fletcher
Age in 1910: 36
Estimated birth year: abt 1874
Birthplace: Michigan
Relation to Head of House: Head
Father's Birth Place: Indiana
Mother's Birth Place: Indiana
Home in 1910: Flathead, Flathead, Montana
Marital Status: Married 13 years
Race: White
Gender: Male
Household Members: Name Age
Frederick Fletcher 36 Sailor tugboat
Daule Fletcher 31 (Carrie) had 6 children, 5 living
Dorothy Fletcher 10
Beindill Fletcher 8 (Berniece)
Earnest Fletcher 6
George Fletcher 4
Brewster Fletcher 3

1920 United States Federal Census
Name: Fred Fletcher
Home in 1920: Eureka, Lincoln, Montana
Age: 45 years
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1875
Birthplace: Michigan
Relation to Head of House: Roomer
Father's Birth Place: New York
Mother's Birth Place: Canada
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Sex: Male
Able to read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Image: 794
Neighbors:
Household Members: Name Age
William Butter 49
Dintha Butter 55
G C Grimes 35
Fred Fletcher 45

1930 United States Federal Census
Name: Fred A Fletcher
Age in 1930: 55
Gender: Male
Birth Year: abt 1875
Birthplace: Michigan
Race: White
Home in 1930: Oscoda, Iosco, Michigan
Marital Status: Married
Relation to Head of House: Head
Father's Birthplace: New York
Mother's Birthplace: Canada
Household Members:
Name Age
Fred A Fletcher 55
Effie B Brooks 28
William L Fletcher 17
Ruth J Fletcher 23

Fred married Clara Ann "Carrie" SLY on 3 Dec 1896 in Pinconning, Bay, Michigan. Clara (daughter of Alvannah Loren SLY and Elizabeth Close) was born on 30 Nov 1878 in Ausable, Mecosta, Michigan, United States; died on 3 Jul 1957 in Port Orchard, Kitsap, Washington, United States; was buried in Discovery Bay Cem, Jefferson, Washington, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: 9A71CEB69D7C1C4DA11B664821586D47A87C

Notes:

Carrie Sly
in the Michigan, County Marriage Records, 1822-1940
Name: Carrie Sly
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Birth Date: abt 1878
Marriage Date: 3 Dec 1896
Marriage Place: Pinconning, Bay, Michigan, USA
Father: L. Sly
Spouse: Fred A. Fletcher
Film Number: 000947222

http://www.mifamilyhistory.org/isabella/cenvital.html
Isabella County, Michigan Birth Records:
Child No. Birth Date Name (if any,and color other than white) Sex Birth Place Full Name of Each Residence Birth Place Occupation of Father Date of Record
1668 Nov 30, 1878 Clara Sly F Mecosta Co. Loren Sly Fremont Michigan Farmer May 20, 1879 Elizabeth Sly Indiana

Funeral service card states Carrie Ann Fletcher born Nov 30, 1876, Ausable, Michigan.

Carrie Ann and Fred Fletcher lived in Michigan. They stayed there when Carrie's mother and stepfather, Libby and Dick Smith, came west to Montana.They were still in Michigan when Milton Sherman left Montana and returned to Michigan about 1905. They probably kept in touch with him. Later they also came west to Montana near Eureka where Fred was the Mill pond tender on Flathead Lake. In 1912 the family moved into the "Love Cabin" near the homestead of Carrie's sister, Elizabeth Smith. Later moved to a lot in Eureka, Montana which was owned by May Sly.

1900 United States Federal Census
Name: Fred Fletcher
Home in 1900: Whitney, Arenac, Michigan
Age: 25
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1875 April
Birthplace: Michigan
Relationship to head-of-house: Head
Spouse's Name: Carrie
Race: White
Occupation: fisherman
Household Members: Name Age
Fred Fletcher 25
Carrie Fletcher 21 2 children, 1 living married 4 years
Dortha M Fletcher 10/12

1910 United States Federal Census
Name: Carrie Fletcher
Age in 1910: 31
Birth Year: abt 1879
Birthplace: Michigan
Home in 1910: Flathead, Flathead, Montana
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Wife [Daughter]
Marital Status: Married
Father's Name: Fredirick Fletcher
Father's Birthplace: Indiana
Mother's Birthplace: Indiana
Neighbors:
Household Members: Name Age
Fredirick Fletcher 36 Sailor of tugboat
Carrie Fletcher 31 6 children, 5 living
Dorothy Fletcher 10
Bernice Fletcher 8
Earnest Fletcher 6
George Fletcher 4
Brewster Fletcher 3

1920 United States Federal Census
Name: Carrie A Fletcher
Age: 41
Birth Year: abt 1879
Birthplace: Michigan
Home in 1920: Port Angeles, Clallam, Washington
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Head
Marital Status: Married
Father's Birthplace: United States [United States of America]
Mother's Birthplace: Indiana
Home Owned: Rent
Able to Read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Household Members: Name Age
Carrie A Fletcher 41
Effie B O Brien 18
Ernest W Fletcher 16
George D Fletcher 14
Brewster J Fletcher 12
Leroy W Fletcher 6
Luella J O Brien 0 [8/12]


1920 United States Federal Census
Name: Fred Fletcher
Home in 1920: Eureka, Lincoln, Montana
Age: 45 years
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1875
Birthplace: Michigan
Relation to Head of House: Roomer
Father's Birth Place: New York
Mother's Birth Place: Canada
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Sex: Male
Able to read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Image: 794
Household Members: Name Age
William Butter 49 (should be Butler)
Dintha Butter 55
G C Grimes 35
Fred Fletcher 45 (no job)

1930 United States Federal Census
Name: Carrie Fletcher
Gender: Female
Birth Year: abt 1879
Birthplace: Michigan
Race: White
Home in 1930: Port Angeles, Clallam, Washington
Marital Status: Widowed
Relation to Head of House: Head
Father's Birthplace: Indiana
Mother's Birthplace: Indiana
Household Members: Name Age
Carrie Fletcher 51 laundress at a laundry

Washington, Select Death Certificates, 1907-1960 about Carrie Ann Fletcher
Name: Carrie Ann Fletcher
[Carrie Ann Sly]
Gender: Female
Age: 80
Estimated birth year: abt 1877
Death Date: 3 Jul 1957
Death Place: Port Orchard, Kitsap, Washington
Father: Clarence V. Sly
Mother: Elizabeth
FHL Film Number: 2033736
Reference ID: 13430

U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current about Carrie A. Fletcher
Name: Carrie A. Fletcher
Birth Date: 1878
Death Date: 1957
Cemetery: Discovery Bay Cemetery
Burial Place: Maynard, Jefferson County, Washington
URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-...

Other Events:

• _UID: C91C309FEC8C234A8B5A5E7B51ED26EDA8A0

George married Synthy Galm. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• _UID: 7366DBE359A6434BBB5FA961F4AB7973D3BC

Other Events:

• FamilySearch Id: KFFK-QD8
• Reference Number: *
• _UID: ACE9B1E9CFA0B34FA10EA025755230444F94

Notes:

Things to do:
1. divorce papers, Oscoda, Cheboygan counties?
2. Isabella, Bay, Oscoda County newspapers. (gold rush news, marriages, divorces, deaths)
3. What was Loren's occupation? lumber?
4. Where were the gold strikes in 1888?
5. location of Michigan counties: Eaton, Bloomfield, Mecosta, Isabella, Iosco, Cheboygan.

Timeline for Alvanus/Alvannah Loren Sly:
1854 Loren born in Michigan
1860 Census, Loren, listed as Alvanus, lived with parents and siblings in Oneida, Eaton, Michigan
1863 Jan 11, Loren's father, William W Sly, age 56, died in Isabella county, Michigan
1864 Oct 4, Loren's mother, Elizabeth, married Sylvester Brown. The children were farmed out.
1870 Census, There is an Alvin Sly, age 17, living with John and Almira Sly in Bloomfield, Oakland, MI
1873 Loren's mother, Elizabeth, age 53, died in Michigan
1877 Loren married Elizabeth Close in Hinton, Mecosta, Michigan
1878 Nov 30, daughter, Clara or Carrie, born in Ausable, Mecosta, Michigan
1879 owned 40 acres of land in Hinton, Mecosta County, MI (T 13 N, R 8 W)
1880 Census. Loren A Sly, wife, Elizabeth, and daughter, Carey living in Fremont, Isabella, MI
1881 May 3, daughter, Addie May, born in Oscoda, Iosco, Michigan
1883 Jul 26, son, Ernest Wayne born in Mackinaw City, Cheboygan, Michigan
1888 near this time Loren left for the gold fields and disappeared. ???


Alvana Loren Sly and Elizabeth Close were married 23 September 1877 in Hinton, Mecosta, Michigan. According to his cousin, Alonzo Daniel Sly, Loren borrowed the suit of his brother, Lester, to be married in. In1880 Loren and Elizibeth lived in Fremont, Isabella County, Michigan with their 1st child, Carey. Elizabeth's parents lived nearby. They had 2 more children, Addie Mae and Earnest, and times were hard. Loren (as he was listed in the 1880 census) decided to go to the gold fields. Just where he went is unknown. It is said that he sent a couple of letters home and then was not heard from again. According to Olive Sly Huff, the daughter of Ernest Sly, who was Loren's son, "Ernest said he was 5 years old ( about 1888) when his father left for the west." After her husband left, Elizabeth took in roomers to make ends meet. Richard Smith was one of her roomers. Richard and Elizabeth married and moved to Montana to homestead, ten miles east of Eureka. Elizabeth (Libby) and Richard Smith raised her grand daughter, Bertha Sherman. According to a cousin, "Old Dick wasn't too gifted in work. It was always Aunt Lib that did the work. She even worked out at cooking. It's still a wonder to me how people got by in those days."
Alvanus or Loren A. Sly was born about 1854 in Michigan, the 3rd child of 6, of William and Elizabeth Sly. His father died when he was about 9 years old. His mother remarried, but most of the children were farmed out. Bertha Sherman said that her grandmother, Elizabeth Sly described Loren as a red-haired man who walked with a limp. When Bertha was just a little girl she ran into the house and said "Grandma, there is a red-haired man who walks with a limp coming up the road!" When they went to look, the man was gone. They wondered if it could have been Loren Sly. Loren's brother, Lester, lived and died in Billings Montana in 1933. The place and time of death of Loren are unknown.
Elizabeth Close was born in Adams County Indiana on the 25 December 1858. She was the second child of 6 born to James and Nancy Close. Her father had been married before and Elizabeth had a half brother, George. She grew up in Indiana, later moving to and marrying in Michigan. After her first husband left and she remarried and moved to Michigan, Libby raised vegetables and strawberries to sell to the neighbors. She also sold cottage cheese, eggs, milk, chicken, cookies, etc. She was well liked by everyone. Elizabeth (Close) Sly Smith was diagnosed with breast cancer at the Mayo Clinic and Bertha often administered Morphine to her grandma to make the pain bearable. Elizabeth died from the cancer in July 1919 at the age of 60.

Alaska Gold Rush 1880-1914 (Valdez 1898)

!SOURCE: Sealed to spouse, 10 Dec 1985 SL, Marriage sealing batch # M518622, sheet #1003, film# 1004849

1860 United States Federal Census Record about Alvanus Sly
Name: Alvanus Sly
Age in 1860: 7
Birth Year: abt 1853
Birthplace: Michigan
Home in 1860: Oneida, Eaton, Michigan
Gender: Male
Post Office: Grand Ledge
Household Members: Name Age
William Sly 52
Elizabeth Sly 33
Wm W Sly 12
Lester 8
Alvanus 7
Daniel Sly 6
George Sly 3


1870 United States Federal Census (There is a George, age 45, and Jane Sly on this page 2 families up)
Name: Aline Sly ( this definitely is written Alvin perhaps our Alvanus Loren?)
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1853
Age in 1870: 17
Birthplace: Michigan
Home in 1870: Bloomfield, Oakland, Michigan
Race: White
Gender: Male
Post Office: Franklin
Household Members: Name Age (All born in Michigan
John Sly 47 born abt 1823 Michigan
Almiea Sly 40 (looks like Almira)
Aline Sly 17 (looks like Alvine) farmer
Charles Sly 5
William Watkins 20 farmer

U.S., Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918 about Loren Sly
Owner's Name: Loren Sly
State: Michigan
County: Mecosta
Town: Hinton
Year: 1879

This is a census of John and Almira who Alvine was living with in 1870
1880 United States Federal Census about John B. Sly
Name: John B. Sly
Age: 57
Birth Year: abt 1823
Birthplace: New York
Home in 1880: Bloomfield, Oakland, Michigan
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Self (Head)
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: Almira D. Sly
Father's Birthplace: New York
Mother's Birthplace: Pennsylvania
Neighbors: View others on page
Occupation: Farmer
Household Members:
Name Age
John B. Sly 57
Almira D. Sly 47
Charles B. Sly 14


1880 United States Federal Census Record Loren A. Sly
Name: Loren A. Sly
Age: 26
Estimated birth year: abt 1854
Birthplace: Michigan
Occupation: Farmer (Noted that he was employed 2 months during census year)
Relationship to head-of-household: Self
Home in 1880: Fremont, Isabella, Michigan
Marital status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Male
Spouse's name: Elizabeth Sly age 21, daughter Carey age 1
Father's birthplace: NY
Mother's birthplace: MI


Lawrence Sly
mentioned in the record of Earnest W. Sly and Blanch R. Holbrook
Name: Lawrence Sly
Gender: Male
Wife: Elizabeth Close
Child: Earnest W. Sly
Other information in the record of Earnest W. Sly and Blanch R. Holbrook
from Montana, County Marriages
Name: Earnest W. Sly
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 30 Jun 1907
Event Place: Kalispell, , Montana
Age: 24
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Birthplace: Mack City, Mich.
Birth Year (Estimated): 1883
Father's Name: Lawrence Sly
Mother's Name: Elizabeth Close
Additional Relatives: X
Spouse's Name: Blanch R. Holbrook
Spouse's Age: 21
Spouse's Marital Status: Single
Spouse's Race: White
Spouse's Birthplace: Pine Valley, Oregon
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated): 1886
Spouse's Father's Name: Henry W. Holbrook
Spouse's Mother's Name: Mahala E. Neil
Reference ID: V3p513 , GS Film number: 1902479 , Digital Folder Number: 4350527 , Image Number: 287
"Montana, County Marriages, 1865-1950," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F33W-J42 : accessed 21 Oct 2014), Lawrence Sly in entry for Earnest W. Sly and Blanch R. Holbrook, 30 Jun 1907; citing V3p513, Kalispell, , Montana; FHL microfilm 1902479.

Bertha Sherman said that her grandmother, Elizabeth Sly said that Loren was red-haired and walked with a limp. According to a letter from Olive Sly Huff, the daughter of Earnest Sly, who was Lorian's son; Earnest said he was 5 years old ( about 1888) when his father left for the west. Elizabeth and Lorian Sly were living in Michigan, Bay County, Pinnconning Village. When money became scarce, Lorian left for the gold fields. There were two or three letters received from him. Then no more word. Elizabeth took in roomers to make ends meet. Richard Smith was one of her roomers. Richard and Elizabeth married, after 1894, and moved to Montana to homestead, ten miles east of Eureka. Addie Mae Sly and Milton Sherman married and went with them. Libby and Dick Smith raised Bertha Sherman, daughter of Addie Mae and Milton Sherman. When Bertha was just a little girl she ran into the house and said "Grandma, there is a red-haired man who walks with a limp coming up the road!" When they went to look, the man was gone. They wondered if it could have been Lorian Sly. Lorian's brother, Lester, lived and died in Billings Montana in 1933. ( Bertha was born in 1903.)

findagrave.com
Loren Alvanus Sly..
Birth: 1853
Grand Ledge
Eaton County
Michigan, USA
Death: unknown
Yellowstone County
Montana, USA
Loren married Elizabeth Close on Sept 23, 1873 in Michigan.
Loren, apparently, left his family in 1888. He was going to look for gold in Montana. He sent a few letters and then was not heard from again.
Death: aft 1898.
Family links:
Parents:
William Wesley Sly (1807 - 1863)
Elizabeth Morris Sly (1827 - 1879)
Spouse:
Elizabeth Libby Close Sly (1858 - 1919)*
Siblings:
William Wesley Sly (1848 - 1922)*
Hattie Sly (1849 - 1859)*
Lester Daniel Schley (1850 - 1935)*
Loren Alvanus Sly (1853 - ____)
Daniel Sly (1856 - 1942)*
George Albert Sly (1858 - 1942)*

*Calculated relationship
Burial: Body lost or destroyed

Created by: RMW
Record added: Jun 01, 2012
Find A Grave Memorial# 91113176

Alvannah married Elizabeth Close on 23 Sep 1877 in Hinton, Mecosta, Michigan, United States. Elizabeth (daughter of James CLOSE and Nancy Ann DOUGHERTY) was born on 25 Dec 1858 in , Adams, Indiana, United States; died on 8 Jul 1919 in Eureka, Lincoln, Montana, United States; was buried on 9 Jul 1919 in Tobacco Plains Cemetery, Eureka, Lincoln, Montana, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Reference Number: *
• _MARNM: Sly, Smith
• _UID: 9108D5F346F2C24DB55FBF8C540299564CD1

Notes:

Things to do:
1. send for homestead application and or land records.
2. Stump farms?
3. Subsistance farms?
4. R R in Lincoln county?
5. History of Lincoln county (Historical society?)
6. local mail delivery?
7. Bay County newspapers? property sales, etc.
8. 1860's Gold rush in Montana - became a state in 1864.
9. 1880's railroad crossed Montana
10. Divorce Papers?
11. Land records for May Sherman in Eureka
12. Land records for Elizabeth Smith

Timeline:
1858 15 Dec Elizabeth born Adams Co. Indiana to James and Nancy Daugherty Close
1860 US Census Madison, Allen, Indiana age 1 with parents and sister, Eliza age 2 and half brother George age 11
1862 Decatur, Adams, Indiana
1865-1869 Siblings born Indiana
1870 US Census Root twp, Adams, Indiana with parents, James & Nancy Close
1877 Elisabeth married Loren Sly Hinton, Mecosta, MI
1878 Sister Diantha married Sylvester, Allen, MI
1880 US Census Eliz & Loren Sly Freemont, Isabella, MI, with child Carrie age 1
1894 MI State Census Elizabeth Sly Marr with 3 children, Pinconning Village, Bay, MI
1900 Eliz Sly & Richard Smith marr Rockford, Winnebago, Wis
1910 Census Eliz & Richard Smith Lincoln Co, Montana
1919 8 Jul Libby died of breast cancer in Eureka, Lincoln Co., Montana (death cert gives cause of death as Uterine Carcinoma)

1900 Census, Michigan - searched all of Bay County, Pinconning twp and found no Smith, Libby or Richard nor did I find any Slys

After her husband, Lorian Sly, left for the gold fields (about 1888) during a recession, Elizabeth Sly took in roomers to make ends meet. After a few letters from Lorian, she never heard from him again. Elizabeth (Close) Sly eventually married Richard Smith, one of the roomers, (between 1894 and 1901) and moved to Montana near Eureka to homestead. Elizabeth (Libby) and Richard Smith raised her grand daughter, Bertha Sherman. Libby raised vegetables and strawberries to sell to the neighbors. She also sold cottage cheese, eggs, milk, chicken, cookies, etc. She was well liked by everyone. Richard Smith was a bricklayer, then a ditch tender of the irrigation ditch (circa 1916). It is said that little by little he lost most of his land through lawsuits he initiated. The homestead burned and he lived in the little cabin on the property. It is said that he was onery, but Bertha remembers him as kind to her. The land was eventually bought by Fred and Maye Alverson. She was a cousin to Bertha Sherman. Richard Smith died in Eureka, Montana. The following was taken from a letter dated 19 February, 1970, to Marilyn Parker from Maye Alverson, (daughter of Jennie Close Butler who was a sister to Elizabeth Close Sly Smith.) " Dick Smith's place was built on a piece of land that was not his and when he went to prove up, found it out. So he bought 3 acres from a Henry Wedymeyer. When Dick got too bad, he moved to town with one of their old neighbors and I think some one took what they wanted out of the house and touched a match to it, as it was burned. So nothing was left." "When Dick was buried, I was surprised as he was a real good looking man. He always wore a mustach and the undertaker shaved it off. The reason he wore a mustach, he had a big birth mark on his upper lip. And he was so clean." " Old Dick wasn't too gifted in work. It was always Aunt Lib that did the work. Even worked out at cooking. It's still a wonder to me how things and people got by in those days. (Lib for Elizabeth). At one point Elizabeth lived in a boxcar while picking huckleberries and cranberries in a cranberry bog.
Elizabeth (Close) Sly Smith was diagnosed with cancer at the Mayo Clinic and Bertha often administered Morphine to her grandma to make the pain bearable. Elizabeth died in July 1919.

"The Story of the Tobacco Plains Country,
the Autobiography of a Community"
Page 164 is in a chapter on "Fortine Area Homesteads." It says, "Among many other Michiganders who homesteaded in this vicinity were Dick Smith and his wife, and Mrs. Smith's son and daughter, Ernest and May Sly. For years Dick Smith was the community "radical"--always fighting the capitalist lumber companies and writing accusing letters to his Congressmen: "Just sore at everybody in the world," as Harry Weydemeyer puts it. Mrs. Smith died and her son and daughter went west, but Dick stayed on, living alone at his homestead, and died there at a ripe old age, still kicking."

Boom and Bust: Montana's Homestead Era By Gary Glynn
Although the homestead era in Montana lasted for more than 70 years, the vast majority of those who homesteaded in the state did so during a ten-year period beginning in 1908. The original Homestead Act was signed by Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862. The new law stipulated that any head of household over 21 years old could stake out a 160 acre farm on government land with only a $10 filing fee. If the farmer lived on the homestead for five years and improved the property, he or she would receive title to it. Several different variations on the Homestead Act were passed over the years, and depending on which one a farmer filed under, he could receive 160, 320, or as much as 640 acres.
Despite giving away land for free, the Homestead Act proved to be a failure in the arid West, where even 640 acres was simply not enough land to enable a farmer to succeed. It was an invitation to disaster.
Nevertheless, to many the promise of free land was irresistible. By 1900, half a million families had moved West to homestead. It wasn't until the early 1900s that large numbers of would-be farmers began arriving in Montana, lured by a slick advertising campaign paid for by railroad magnate James J. Hill, the man who controlled the Great Northern, the Burlington and Northern Pacific railroads. Hill knew that customers for his railroads were hard to find in sparsely populated Montana, and he realized that with the help of the Homestead Act, he could convert the empty plains of Montana into a potential gold mine for his railroad empire. All he had to do was convince farmers that the dry plains of Montana were rich farmland.
By 1908 his campaign to bring thousands of small farmers into Montana was in full swing. Hill had thousands of brochures distributed throughout the United States and Western Europe extolling the virtues of the Great Plains as a farmer's paradise. Hill also promoted the "Campbell System" of dry-land agriculture, devised by South Dakota farmer Hardy Webster Campbell. Campbell stated that with deep plowing and scientific agricultural methods, the plains of Montana could produce tremendous yields of grain. Hill also hired another agricultural expert Professor Thomas Shaw, who described eastern Montana as a farmer's paradise. By 1910, Shaw was operating 45 experimental farms in Montana, and the favorable results of his experiments were widely publicized.
Along with promoting the promise of free land in an agricultural paradise, Hill announced cut-rate fares on his railroad to entice farmers to move to the state. His promises of free land, cheap transportation, and rich soil appealed to many people, and Montana's Homestead Boom was on.
Most of the newcomers were Americans, but thousands were Germans and Scandinavians drawn by Hill's European advertising campaign. The cowboys and miners of the state, who had flooded into Montana during earlier booms, watched the trainloads of newcomers arriving, and derisively nicknamed them "honyockers."
By 1908 the boom was in full swing, and every westbound train brought new homesteaders. They erected tar paper shacks and hitched up their plows, eager to make their fortune in the golden fields of wheat. The Great Falls land office averaged 1000 to 1500 homestead filings a month in 1910, and agriculture surpassed mining as the state's number one industry for the first time. At least 40,000 homesteaders filed claims in the state during the first twenty years of this century, and new farming communities began springing up all over the eastern plains.
For several years it appeared as if the small farmers would succeed and prosper. A period of unusually high rainfall blessed the new farmers, and the freshly plowed prairies produced record crops of wheat. When James J. Hill passed away in 1916, it looked as if his plan to populate the empty plain of eastern Montana with homesteaders had paid off.
The one thing that James J. Hill and his agricultural experts had not counted on was drought, and periodic droughts are a fact of life on the Great Plains. The spring rains failed to appear in 1917, and by the summer of 1918 the drought was widespread. Suddenly, thousands of Montana's homesteaders were in serious trouble. Their crops burned up in the fields, and the nonstop winds blew the carefully plowed and powdered topsoil away. Finally, hordes of grasshoppers arrived to complete the devastation. Many farmers found themselves unable to pay their bills, and by the summer of 1919 thousands had been forced from their farms. The same railroads which had brought the homesteaders into Montana now carried them away. The banks and seed merchants and implement dealers, all of whom had fueled the homestead boom with easy credit, declared bankruptcy in record numbers. Although the Homestead Act remained in effect until 1935, the homestead boom had ended in Montana by 1918.
The steamboat trade, with its expense and limitations, dropped off sharply in the mid- 1880s, as the first railroads reached Montana and opened up to passenger service. "Emigrant cars," specially designed for the prospective settler, afforded dismal and cramped accommodations to those with enough money to pay for the cost of trip. Passengers in emigrant cars were often forced to spend their journeys sitting upright on uncushioned, backless benches. On many trains, the management offered thin straw mattresses (at a cost of $3.00 each), which could be laid on the floor beneath the benches. One settler remembered, "My mother had a real hard time getting any sleep on the train. Anytime she laid down under the benches, her feet stuck out into the aisle, and the conductor would come along and kick her." Privacy in the cars was minimal, with no dividing partitions and a common toilet and cookstove for as many as 30 emigrants. Wealthier settlers could rent out entire boxcars, in which to transport not only their family members, but also their household goods, farming equipment, and up to six heads of cattle.

Bay County, Michigan land records? The date is before Libby and Richard Smith's marriage?
Smith Libby J Sec 32 T 15N R 4E 80 acres Land office 04 (East Saginaw) Document #639 signing date 1874/04/10

1860 United States Federal Census Record about James Close
Name: James Close
Age in 1860: 33
Birth Year: abt 1827
Birthplace: Ohio
Home in 1860: Madison, Allen, Indiana
Gender: Male
Post Office: Fort Wayne
Value of real estate: $300 farmer
Household Members: Name Age
James Close 33
Nancey Close 23
George Close 11
Eliza Close 2
Elizabeth Close 1
1880 United States Federal Census Elizabeth Sly
Name: Elizabeth Sly
Home in 1880: Fremont, Isabella, Michigan
Age: 21
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1859
BirthPlace: Indiana
Relation to head-of-household: Wife
Spouses's Name: Loren A.
Father's birthplace: OH
Mother's birthplace: OH
Occupation: Keeping House
Marital status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Female
Household Members: Name Age
Loren A. Sly 26
Elizabeth Sly 21
Carey A. Sly 1
Laura Bronk 10 nurse

The 1894 statecensus, Michigan, Bay Co. Pinconning Village, dated June 8, 1894 (film #915292) page 206 family 822:
Smith,Richard, age 30 M Board, single, carpenter bp Indiana, father bp Canada, mother bp Indiana
15 years in state.
Sly, Elizabeth. age 35 F wife marr, 3 children, 3 living, bp Indiana, fath bp Canada, mo bp Indiana
15 years in state
Sly, Carrie age 15 F daug single, bp Michigan, father bp Indiana, mother bp Indiana
Sly, Addie M age 12 F daug single, bp Michigan, father bp Indiana, mother bp Indiana
Sly, Earnest age 10 M son single, bp Michigan father bp Indiana, mother bp Indiana

1910 United States Federal Census
Name: Elizabeth Smith
Age in 1910: 51
Birth Year: abt 1859
Birthplace: Indiana
Home in 1910: School District 10, Lincoln, Montana
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Wife
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: Richard Smith
Father's Birthplace: Ohio
Mother's Birthplace: Ohio
Neighbors:
Household Members: Name Age
Richard Smith 49
Elizabeth Smith 51
Bertha I Sherman 7


Marr: film # 1004849, Book A, page 53 "Marriages, Mich, Mecosta County" #787

Montana Death Index, 1860-2007
Name: Elizabeth Smith
Age: 61
Estimated birth year: abt 1858
Gender: Female
Death Date: 8 Jul 1919
Index Number: Lin 34

findagrave.com
Elizabeth Smith
Birth: 1858
Death: Jul. 8, 1919
Burial:
Tobacco Valley Cemetery
Eureka
Lincoln County
Montana, USA
Created by: Jim Lee
Record added: Nov 19, 2009
Find A Grave Memorial# 44563149
Elizabeth Libby Close Sly
Birth: Dec. 25, 1858
Adams County
Indiana, USA
Death: Jul. 8, 1919
Eureka
Lincoln County
Montana, USA
Elizabeth married Loren Sly on Sept 23, 1873 in Michigan.
Loren disappeared sometime in between 1888 to 1898.
Elizabeth married Richard Smith on July 14, 1900 in Illinois.
Parents:
James Close (abt 1827 - Unk)
Nancy Ann Daughterty-Close
(abt 1836 - Dec 8, 1910)
Family links:
Spouse:
Loren Alvanus Sly (1853
Burial:
Tobacco Valley Cemetery
Eureka
Lincoln County
Montana, USA
Created by: RMW
Record added: Jun 01, 2012
Find A Grave Memorial# 91113262

Other Events:

• FamilySearch Id: K24C-96Q
• Occupation: Blacksmith
• Reference Number: *
• _UID: 594E9FF12258944695EDD52AD799473CFF93

Notes:

Timeline for William Wesley Sly:

1807 Oct 22, William Wesley born in New York
1823 William's mother, Lodema died in Hopewell, New York
1842 Jul 17, William married Elizabeth Morris in Commerce, Oakland, Michigan,
1848 Jul 9, son, William Wesley born in Walled Lake, Oakland, Michigan
1852 Aug 1852, son, Lester Alonzo born in Orchard Lake, Oakland, MIchigan
1854 son, Alvannah Loren born in Michigan
1856 son, Daniel born in Grand Ledge, Eaton, Michigan,
1858 son, George Albert born in Grand Ledge, Eaton, Michigan,
1860 daughter, born in Michigan
1863 Jan 11, William died in Commerce, Oakland County, Michigan, at the age of 66

William Sly and Elizabeth Morris were married 17 July 1842 in Commerce, Oakland County, Michigan. William had been married previously to Ashah Davis, and they had 2 children, Anna and Rhoda. William and Elizabeth had 1 child, William when living in Hamburg, Michigan in 1850. By 1860 they lived in Oneida, Michigan and had 4 more boys, Lester, Alvanus, Daniel, and George. They also had a daughter, Hattie, who is not listed in the census but is listed as age 5 in 1863 Isabella County Probate Records for William Sly: "The petition of Elizabeth BROWN widow of William Sly, late of said county (Isabella), deceased, respectfully showeth that on or about the first day of Jan. 1863, The said William Sly died leaving goods and clothing, rights, credits, and real estate in the county, aforesaid, and that to the best of the knowledge and belief of your petitioner no last will and testament was left by the said William Sly, deceased. That the deceased has left a widow, Elizabeth Brown, your petitioner, age 37 years and six children: William, age 18, Lester, age 15, Alvan age 13, Daniel age 12, George, age 9, and Hattie, age 5: and that the deceased was immediately at his death an inhabitant of said county. Your petitioner therefore prays that letters of administration be granted on the estate of the said William Sly and that Philander Harnes may be appointed administration. signed with her X 28 July 1863."
William Wesley Sly was born 22 October 1807 in New York. He was the1st of 7 children born to Christopher Sly and Lodemia Mack. His mother died in 1823 when William was just short of 16 years of age. They were then living in Hopewell, New York near Palmyra.

This story was told by a grand daughter in law of William: " The Indians around Walled Lake (Michigan) called William Sly the `strong man' because every time the Indians went through Walled Lake, they had to shake hands all around. He got so tired of shaking hands that he started to squeeze their hands real tight so that it would hurt and they wouldn't ask to shake hands anymore. Hence he earned the name `the strong man'. William was a big, powerful man. He was a blacksmith, thus his strength. He died 11 Jan 1863 in Commerce, Oakland County, Michigan, at the age of 66.

Elizabeth Morris was born about 1820 in Ireland. She was the last of 6 children of William Morris and Jane Crawford. She immigrated to America with her parents and 2 sisters in 1830 possibly from Antrim, Ireland. A sister and 2 brothers had preceded them that year. About 1835 the family moved to Oakland County, Michigan. In January 1863 Elizabeth's husband died and in August of the same year she lost her 2 brothers, becoming their heir. The next year 4 October 1864 at Detroit, Michigan Elizabeth Sly married Sylvester C. Brown. They were both of Royal Oak, Michigan. He was 39 and she was 33.
The children were all in Isabella County in 1865. Sylvester Brown and wife, Rosannah, took care of Hattie, Daniel, and George. Mr. Brown submitted a bill for food and clothing 7 June 1869. (Could this be the parents of Elizabeth Sly's 2nd Husband, Sylvester C Brown?)
Elizabeth died about 1879 in Michigan.

Oakland Co, MI and Isabella Co. vital and probate records.
pg 141, family 114 Call # 0803542

1850 United States Federal Census Record
Name: Wm Sly
Age: 33 Blacksmith
Estimated birth year: abt 1817
Birth place: New York
Gender: Male wife Elizabeth age 38 born Ireland, son William age 1 born Michigan
Home in 1850 (City,County,State): Hamburg, Livingston, Michigan

1860 United States Federal Census Record about William Sly
Name: William Sly
Age in 1860: 52
Birth Year: abt 1808
Birthplace: New York
Home in 1860: Oneida, Eaton, Michigan
Gender: Male
Post Office: Grand Ledge
Value of real estate: real $500 personal $200
Household Members: Name Age
William Sly 52 Blacksmith
Elizabeth Sly 33 bn Ireland could not read or write
Wm W Sly 12 MI
Lester Sly 8 MI
Alvanus Sly 7 MI (Alvanuh)
Daniel Sly 6 MI
George Sly 3 MI
(no Hattie in 1860 census, but William's estate in Eaton Co. say she was 5 years old when her father died.)

U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907 about William Sly
Name: William Sly
Issue Date: 10 Feb 1852
Acres: 40
Meridian: Michigan-Toledo Strip
State: Michigan
County: Oakland
Township: 3-N
Range: 9-E
Section: 12
Accession Number: MI0910__.233
Metes and Bounds: No
Land Office: Detroit
Canceled: No
US Reservations: No
Mineral Reservations: No
Authority: April 24, 1820: Sale-Cash Entry (3 Stat. 566)
Document Number: 30034

Grace Torrence, daughter in law of Rhoda Ann Sly who is the oldest daughter of William Wesley Sly, told this story to Gladys Porritt, grand daughter of Rhoda: " The Indians around Walled Lake called William Sly the `strong man' because every time the Indians went through Walled Lake, they had to shake hands all around. He got so tired of shaking hands that he started to squeeze their hands real tight so that it would hurt and they wouldn't ask to shake hands anymore. Hence he earned the name `the strong man'. Grace Torrence said William was a big, powerful man.

Isabella County Probate Records The petition of Elizabeth BROWN widow of William Sly, late of said county (Isabella), deceased, respectfully showeth that on or about the first day of Jan. 1863, The said William Sly died leaving goods and clothing, rights, credits, and real estate in the county, aforesaid, and that to the best of the knowledge and belief of your petitioner no last will and testament was left by the said William Sly, deceased. That the deceased has left a widow, Elizabeth Brown, your petitioner, age 37 years and six children: William, age 18, Lester, age 15, Alvan age 13, Daniel age 12, George, age 9, and Hattie, age 5: and that the deceased was immediately at his death an inhabitant of said county. Your petitioner therefore prays that letters of administration be granted on the estate of the said William Sly and that Philander Harnes may be appointed administration. signed with her X 28 July 1863

Name: William Wesley Sly
[Y Sly]
Birth Date: 22 Oct 1807
Birth Place: Ontario County, New York, USA
Death Date: 1 Jan 1863
Death Place: Isabella County, Michigan, USA
Has Bio?: Y
URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-..

William married Elizabeth MORRIS on 17 Jul 1842 in Commerce, Oakland, Michigan, United States. Elizabeth (daughter of William MORRIS and Jane CRAWFORD) was born about 1820 in Ireland, Free State; died on 7 Feb 1879 in Oakland, Michigan, United States; was buried in Walled Lake Cemetery, Walled Lake, Oakland, Michigan, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• FamilySearch Id: K24C-9XC
• Reference Number: *
• _MARNM: Sly
• _UID: 0458416283314645AA9D192A0BF5BBA2257E

Notes:

Notes for Elizabeth Morris, born about 1820 Ireland, Was living at West Bloomfield, Michigan, at time of marriage to William W. Sly.

Isabella County Probate Records: The petition of Elizabeth Brown, widow of William Sly, late of said county, deceased, respectfully showeth that on or about the first day of January 1863, the said William Sly died leaving goods and clothing, rights, credits and real estate in the county, aforesaid, and that to the best of the knowledge and belief of your petitioner, no last will and testament was left by the said William Sly, deceased. That the deceased has left a widow, Elizabeth Brown, your petitioner, age 37 years and six children; William age 18, Lester age 15, Alvorus(?) Loren, Daniel age 12, George age 9 and Hattie age 5/ and that the deceased was at his death an inhabitant of said county. Your petitioner therefore prays that letters of administration be granted on the estate of the said William Sly and that Philander Harness may be appointed administrater.
signed with her X 28 July 1863

In the 1870 Census It looks like Alvannah Loren was living with a John Sly in Bloomfield, Oakland, MI and Lester was living with Elizabeth's sister Jane Crawford and family in West Bloomfield, Oakland, MI. ( see their notes).

Michigan Marriages, 1851-75 about Elizabeth Sly
Name: Sylvester C. Brown
Spouse: Elizabeth Sly
Marriage Date: 4 Oct 1864
County: Wayne
State: MI

Children all in Isabella County 1865

Sylvester Brown and wife, Rosannah, took care of Hattie, Daniel, and George year ending 28 May 1866. Mr. Brown submitted a bill for food and clothing 7 June 1869. (Could this be the parents of Elizabeth Sly's 2nd Husband, Brown)

Marriage record in Wayne county, Michigan for a Sylvester C. Brown and Elizabeth Sly, both of Royal Oak, Michigan. He is 39 and she is 33. Date of Marriage 4 Oct 1864 at Detroit, Michigan by Timothy McCarthy.

Oakland County, Michigan probate files: #1983 George Morris, Intestate filed 10 Aug 1863, died 1 Aug 1863. Heirs: brothers and sisters, John Morris, Mary Hedican, Nancy Gilchrist, Jane Cummings and Elizabeth Sly. Adm George Crawford. (each of the sisters received 762.69 1/2 as heirs of the estate)

Oakland County, Michigan Probate files: file # 1993 John Morris; intestate filed 31 Aug 1863, Died 20 Aug 1863. Heirs: sisters; Mary Hedican, Nancy Gilchrist, Jane Cummings, Elizabeth H. Sly. (each sister received 367.77 1/2 as heirs of the estate.)

Jane Morris came to America with her 2 brothers, John and George Morris when she was only 15. They settled in New York State, remained for about 5 years and in 1835 came to Oakland County Michigan. In the meantime their father, mother and 3 sisters also came to the United States. (from Oakland County, Michigan History P. 872, see George Cummings)

Name: Elizabeth Sly
[Y Sly]
Birth Date: 1827
Birth Place: Ireland
Death Date: 7 Feb 1879
Death Place: Oakland County, Michigan, USA
Has Bio?: Y
URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-..

Elizabeth Morris Sly
Birth: 1827, Ireland
Death: Feb. 7, 1879
Oakland County
Michigan, USA

Elizabeth married William on July 17, 1842 in Commerce, Oakland County, Michigan.

Elizabeth's second husband was Sylvester C Brown. They were married on Oct 4, 1864 in Detroit, Michigan.

Aged: abt 52.
******************
Elizabeth's mother's full name was Jane Crawford-Morris.
Family links:
Parents:
William Morris (1777 - 1835)
Jane Crawford Morris (1775 - 1845)
Spouse: William Wesley Sly (1807 - 1863)
Children:
William Wesley Sly (1848 - 1922)*
Hattie Sly (1849 - 1859)*
Lester Daniel Schley (1850 - 1935)*
Loren Alvanus Sly (1853 - ____)*
Daniel Sly (1856 - 1942)*
George Albert Sly (1858 - 1942)*
Burial:Walled Lake Cemetery, Walled Lake, Oakland County, Michigan, USA
Created by: RMW
Record added: Oct 15, 2011
Find A Grave Memorial# 78443251

Notes:

MI Genweb marriages
MORRIS,SLY,ELIZABETH - MORRIS,WILLIAM WESLEY SLY,OAKLAND,--,,17 JUL 1842,--,--,--

Other Events:

• Reference Number: *
• _UID: 8730E5B4EF33BB47B635D50C85C74C0BE385

Notes:

Timeline for James Close:

1824 James Close born Ohio
1848 James married Lydia Young Allen County, Indiana ( Is this right or did he marry Elizabeth Wade?)
1851 son, George born Allen County Indiana
1855 June 2, James & Nancy married Allen County, Indiana
1856 daughter Eliza born Indiana
1858 daughter Elizabeth born, Adams County, Indiana, United States
1860 US census Madison, Allen, Indiana
1862 daughter Diantha Jane born Decatur, Adams, Indiana
1865 daughter Torisa born Indiana
1867 son William born Indiana
1869 daughter Sibetha born Indiana
1870 US census Monmoth PO, Root , Adams, Indiana
1878 marriage of daughter, Diantha Jane in home of james Close in Sylvester, Allen County, Michigan
1880 US census Fremont, Isabella, Michigan, James is listed as crippled, maimed or bed ridden.
1900 US census June 2st, James & Nancy in Janesville, Rock, Wisconsin
1903 10 Jun James died in Rock County, Wisconsin, age 79
1910 wife Nancy died Decatur, Adams, Indiana,

James Close's parents both born in Ohio, Mother's name Marthia (sic) from Jame's death cirtificate.
It is believed George and family lived in Dekatur and Fort Wayne, probably Indiana.

Possible first marriage? Cutler family tree on ancestry states George's mother is Mary A Bixler 1815-1900
but that marriage is listed as Feb 1855, the same date as his marriage to Nancy Dougherty and is after George was born.

Indiana, Marriage Collection, 1800-1941 about James Close
Spouse Name: Elizabeth Wade
Marriage Date: Nov 16 1848
Marriage County: Allen

Could this be James' family? Could there have been a child before George and the mother be Elizabeth)
1850 United States Federal Census
Name: Jas Close
Age: 28 ( I read 25)
Estimated birth year: abt 1822
Birth Place: Ohio
Gender: Male
Home in 1850 (City,County,State): Madison, Allen, Indiana
Family Number: 1311
Neighbors: Malinda Wade age 50 is living next door with 7 children age 20 to 12.
Household Members: Name Age
Jas Close 28 (I read 25)
Elizabeth Close 25
Malinda Close 1

Malinda Close ( could this be the same Malinda Close?)
in the Web: Allen County, Indiana, Obituary Index, 1841-2010
Name: Malinda Close
Publication Date: 5 Aug 1910
Publication Place: Allen, Indiana, United States of America
Death Date: Abt 1910

!MARR: 2 Jun 1855, Allen County, Indiana Bk3 pg 332-Allen Co. Ind. (also "Early Marriage Records of Allen County, Indiana, Vol 2, pg 51, call # 977.274/V25 da)
Indiana, Marriage Collection, 1800-1941 about James Close
Spouse Name: Naney A Dougherty
Marriage Date: Feb 1855
Marriage County: Allen

1860 United States Federal Census Record about James Close
Name: James Close
Age in 1860: 33
Birth Year: abt 1827
Birthplace: Ohio
Home in 1860: Madison, Allen, Indiana
Gender: Male
Post Office: Fort Wayne
Value of real estate: $300 farmer
Household Members: Name Age
James Close 33
Nancey Close 23
George Close 11
Eliza Close 2
Elizabeth Close 1

1870 United States Federal Census Record about James Close
Name: James Close
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1822
Age in 1870: 48
Birthplace: O Cannot write US citizen parents not foreign born
Home in 1870: Root, Adams, Indiana
Race: White
Gender: Male
Value of real estate :$300 farmer
Post Office: Monmoth
Family:
Nancy, wife age 30 bn Ohio;
George, 18 Ind;
Eliza, 14 Ind;
Elizabeth 12 Ind;
Diatha 10 Ind;
Terisa 6 Ind;
William 3 Ind;
Sibetha 9/12 Ind.

1880 United States Federal Census
Name: James Close
Home in 1880: Fremont, Isabella, Michigan
Age: 68
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1812
Birthplace: Ohio
Occupation: Farmer
Relation to Head of Household: Self (Head)
Marital status: Married
Spouse's Name: Nancy A Close
Father's birthplace: Ohio
Mother's birthplace: Ohio
Race: White
Gender: Male
Box stating "maimed, crippled, or bed ridden" is checked for James.
Household Members: Name Age
James Close 68
Nancy A Close 42
Charles Hutchison 4 born Indiana grandson (son of Eliza and William Hutchison? )
NOTE: their daughter, Elizageth with her husband Loren A Sly, live next door and 4 Dougherty families on same page (George age 35, Soloman 31, William 71, Job 31)

1900 United States Federal Census (my mother remembers her family talking about Janesville and Fort Wayne)
Name James Close
Age 76
Birth Date Mar 1824
Birthplace Ohio
Home in 1900 Janesville Ward 1, Rock, Wisconsin
Race White
Gender Male
Relation to Head of House Head
Marital Status Married
Spouse's Name Nancy Close
Marriage Year 1860
Years Married 40
Father's Birthplace Ohio
Mother's Birthplace Ohio
Household Members
Name Age
James Close 76 can read, write and speak English
Nancy Close 85 ( the age and birthdate are the same as the boarder below. I think it was an error on her part)
Alston Horton 85 boarder

James Close
in the Wisconsin, Deaths, 1820-1907
Name: James Close
Death Date: 10 Jun 1903
Death Place: Rock, Wisconsin, USA
Cause of death: Pulmonary tuberculosis
Volume: 03
Page Number: 0251
Reel: 118
Sequence Number: 060650
Source Information
Ancestry.com. Wisconsin, Deaths, 1820-1907 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2000.
Original data: Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services. Wisconsin Vital Record Index, pre-1907. Madison, WI, USA: Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services Vital Records Division
Wisconsin Historical Society. Pre-1907 Vital Records Collection. Madison, WI, USA: Wisconsin Historical Society Library Archives.
This database indexes over 439,000 deaths recorded in the state of Wisconsin between 1820 and 1907. .

Addie Mae had a picture of Nancy (Dougherty) Close taken in April 1896 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

James married Nancy Ann DOUGHERTY on 2 Jun 1855 in , Allen, Indiana, United States. Nancy (daughter of William DOUGHERTY and Elizabeth HECKATHORN) was born on 16 Dec 1837 in Starke County, Ohio, United States; died on 8 Dec 1910 in Decatur, Adams, Indiana, United States; was buried in Maplewood Cem, Decatur, Adams, Indiana, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Reference Number: *
• _MARNM: Close
• _UID: 1B8EF423CFB8994396987636E7AD5DA896C1

Notes:

Definition: From the word "dochartach" meaning 'obstructive.' Docherty is the most common Scottish form of this surname, while Doherty and Dougherty are usually of Irish derivation.
Surname Origin: Scottish, Irish
Alternate Surname Spellings: Doherty, Dougherty, Daugherty, O'Doherty, Dogherty

moved to Indiana about 1846

1850 United States Federal Census
Name: Nancy Doherty
Age: 13
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1837
Birth Place: Ohio
Gender: Female
Home in 1850(City,County,State): Madison, Allen, Indiana
Household Members: Name Age
Wm Doherty 45 carpenter, bn Ohio
Elias Doherty 37 bn Pennsylvania
Margaret Doherty 16 bn Ohio
Hiram Doherty 17 bn Ohio
Nancy Doherty 13 bn Ohio
Wm Doherty 11 bn Ohio
Eliza Doherty 9 bn Ohio
Samuel Doherty 7 bn Ohio
Mary Ann Doherty 4 Indiana
John Doherty 1 Indiana

Indiana Marriage Collection, 1800-1941
Name: Nancy Ann Dougherty
Spouse Name: James Close
Marriage Date: 2 Jun 1855
Marriage County: Allen
Source Title 1: Allen County, Indiana
Source Title 2: Index to Marriage Record 1824 - 1920 Inclusive Vol
Source Title 3: W. P. A. Origtial Record Located: County Clerk's O
Book: 3
OS Page: 332

1860 Census, Madison Twsp, Allen County, Indiana Nancy age 23, James age 33 farmer, children George age 11, Eliza age 2, Elizabeth age 1.

1870 United States Federal Census
Name: Nancy Close
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1840
Age in 1870: 30
Birthplace: O
Home in 1870: Root, Adams, Indiana
Race: White
Gender: Female
Post Office: Monmoth
Household Members: Name Age
James Close 48
Nancy Close 30
George Close 18
Eliza Close 14
Elizabeth Close 12
Diathe Close 10
Terrisa Close 6
William Close 3
Sibetha Close 9/12

1880 United States Federal Census
Name: Nancy A Close
Home in 1880: Fremont, Isabella, Michigan
Age: 42
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1838
Birthplace: Ohio
Relation to Head of Household: Wife
Spouse's Name: James
Father's birthplace: Ohio
Mother's birthplace: Ohio
Neighbors: living next door to Loren A Sly and wife Elizabeth & child Carrie age 1.( lots of Daugherty families
right close)
Occupation: Housewife
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Female
Household Members: Name Age
James Close 68 listed as crippled, maimed, or bed ridden
Nancy A Close 42
Charles Hutchison 4 grandson

1900 United States Federal Census ( I think this is a correct record for James and Nancy Close with an error in the age and birthdate columns. My mother said she remembers the family talking about Fort Wayne and Janesville.
Name James Close
Age 76
Birth Date Mar 1824
Birthplace Ohio
Home in 1900 Janesville Ward 1, Rock, Wisconsin
Race White
Gender Male
Relation to Head of House Head
Marital Status Married
Spouse's Name Nancy Close
Marriage Year 1860
Years Married 40
Father's Birthplace Ohio
Mother's Birthplace Ohio
Household Members
Name Age
James Close 76
Nancy Close 85 the birthday and age listed are exactly the same as the boarder below, I think hers is an error
Alston Horton 85 boarder Apr 1915

1910 United States Federal Census Nancy A Close (Nancy lived with Mary Ann, her sister, and her sisters husband )
Name: Nancy A Close
Age in 1910: 72
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1838
BirthPlace: Indiana
Relation to Head of House: Sister-in-law
Father's Birth Place: Pennsylvania
Mother's Birth Place: Pennsylvania
Home in 1910: Root twp, Adams, Indiana
Marital Status: Widowed
Race: White
Gender: Female
Household Members: Name Age
John Roudebush 69
Mary A Roudebush 60 it states she had no children
Nancy A Close 72 It states that Nancy had 6 children, 3 of which are living.

!DEATH: Bk CH12, pg 92 Dekatur, Ind. - Softening of the Brain. (Copy of death cert. in possession of Marilyn Parker) Buried in Maplewood Cemetery, Location N40 49.739, W84 56.656. Cemetery is currently known as the Decatur Cemetery. Was also known as the Greenwood Cemetery . Nearby are headstones of Rodenbush, Clossom. age 73

findagrave.com
Nancy A. Close
Birth: 1837
Death: Dec. 8, 1910
Burial: Decatur Cemetery
Decatur, Adams County, Indiana, USA
Find A Grave Memorial# 39483402

The Genealogy Center » Fort Wayne & Allen County, Indiana Resources » Allen County Obituary Index, 1900-July 30, 2015
Allen County Obituary Index, 1900-July 30, 2015 - Results
Key to abbreviations:
FWDS = Fort Wayne Daily Sentinel
FWN = Fort Wayne News
FWS = Fort Wayne Sentinel
FWWS = Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel
JG = Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
NS = Fort Wayne News-Sentinel
Researchers can find microfilm of all of the Fort Wayne newspapers in the Allen County Public Library's Genealogy Center. Copies of specific obituaries may be ordered by emailing Genealogy@ACPL.Info with the complete citation as found in the index. Cost is $2.50 per obituary, billed at the time of mailing. Response time is typically 4-6 weeks. Your complete name and mailing address must be included with your request.
Surname First Name Page Paper Obituary Date
CLOSE James, Mrs (Nancy A) 13 JG 12/09/1910

Could this be a relation?
"Michigan, Deaths and Burials, 1800-1995," James Dougherty, 1874
name: James Dougherty
gender: Male
burial date:
burial place:
death date: 12 Mar 1874
death place: Freemont,Isabella, Michigan
age:
birth date:
birthplace: Ohio
occupation: Farmer
race: White
marital status: Married
spouse:
father:
father's birthplace:
mother:
mother's birthplace:
indexing project (batch) number: B07349-9
system origin: Michigan-EASy
source film number: 1005119
reference number: v 1 p 18

Decatur Daily Democrat, Adams County, Indiana
Thursday, October 8, 1910

PARALYSIS FATAL
Mrs. James Close, Who Suffered First Stroke Four Months Ago
SUCCUMBED TODAY
Passed Away At Home of Sister, Mrs. John Raudebush - Burial Saturday

Nancy A. Close, aged nearly seventy-three years, widow of James Close, who for the past four months has helpless from paralysis, and whose life has been hanging by a thread for the past few days, this morning at 7 o'clock passed away at the home of her sister, Mrs. John Raudebush, in the north part of the city. About 4 months ago Mrs. Close, with her sister and other relatives, went to visit with their brother, William Daugherty, at Big Rapids, Mich., and while there, Mrs. Close suffered the first attack of paralysis. She was rendered helpless and it was necessary to bring her home on a cot. Since that time she has gradually declined.
Mrs. Close was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Daugherty. She was born in Starke county, Ohio, December 16, 1937, and had she lived but a week and a day longer would have been seventy-three years of age. In childhood she came with her parents to Allen county, Indiana, and grew to womanhood. She was married there to James Close, and later came to this county to reside, making their home four miles west of this city. They lived in this vicinity for some twenty-five or thirty years, becoming well known, and then went to Jamesville, Wis., to live, and later to Oklahoma. Five years ago Mr. Close died in Oklahoma, and a year later his widow came here and has resided since with her sister, Mrs. Raudebush.
Mrs. Close is survived by three daughters, all living at Pallisbell, Mont. They are Mrs. William Butler, Mrs. Lizzie Smith and Mrs. Tom Lee. She also leaves a grandson, Charles Hutcheson, whom she reared as her own. He also lives in Pallisbell. A daughter, Mrs. William Hutcheson, and a son, Will Close, besides an infant daughter, have gone before.
George Daugherty of Oklahoma, William H. Daugherty of Big Rapids, Mich., and Mrs. John Raudebush of this city are surviving brothers and sister.
The funeral will be held Saturday morning at 10 o'clock from the M. E. church, the services to be conducted by the pastor, the Rev. Sherman Powell. Burial in the Decatur cemetery.
***


Nancy L Close
in the Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011
Name: Nancy L Close
Gender: Female
Race: White
Age: 73
Marital status: Widow
Birth Date: 1837
Death Date: 8 Dec 1910
Death Place: Decatur, Adams, Indiana, USA
Burial: December 10, 1910; Maplewood Cemetery

Notes:

Indiana Marriage Collection, 1800-1941
Name: James Close
Spouse Name: Naney A Dougherty
Marriage Date: 2 Jun 1855
Marriage County: Allen
Source Title 1: Allen County, Indiana
Source Title 2: Index to Marriage Record 1824 - 1920 Inclusive Vol
Source Title 3: W. P. A. Origtial Record Located: County Clerk's O
Book: 3
OS Page: 332