Monday, April 28, 2014

Elizabeth Laws Doyle - Amenuensis Monday & 52 Ancestors

Elizabeth (Laws) Doyle is my father's paternal grandmother.  Her obituary was published in Greenville, Pennsylvania's The Record Argus on September 6, 1910.

Stoneboro....
Mrs. Elizabeth Doyle died at the
home of her daughter, Mrs. Henry
Jones, August 20, aged 64 years. Mrs.
Doyle was a native of England and
has lived here for quite a number of
years.  Her husband died a few
years ago.  They lived on the hill,
near the old No. 2 mine and kept a
small store.  She was the mother of
twelve children, six boys and six
girls, and had a great many grand-
children all of whom were present
but one, Mrs. Allen Cochran, who
was so far away and could not be
here.  The funeral was held at the
home of Henry Jones, September 2.
A very large number of friends, rela-
tives and neighbors were present.  In-
terment was made in the Oak Hill
cemetery, beside her husband, And-
rew Doyle, Sr.  The sons and daugh-
ters living are:  Mrs. Lizzie Jones,
William Doyle, Mrs. Martha Cochran,
Robert Doyle, Mrs. Maggie Doyle,
Andrew Doyle, Jr., Mrs. Mary A.
Campbell, Isabella, George and John
Doyle and Mrs. Ida Doolittle.  All are
married and some have very large
families of their own.  Those out of
town were Maggie and family, And-
rew and family, of Jackson Center;
Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Campbell and
Isabella and family, of Franklin; Mr.
and Mrs. John Doyle, of Grove City;
Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Doolittle, of
Sharon.

Notes
Elizabeth emigrated from England in October, 1870, when she came with her four oldest children to meet her husband, Andrew, who had come the year before. 

The obituary states that Elizabeth was the mother of 12 children but family records tell me there were 14, three of which died within one year of birth.  The obituary names the surviving 11 children.  Though I had the names of all the children, I didn't have the married names of the daughters.  I am pleased to learn the additional information from this obituary.  It will be a great help in locating them in census and other records.

Her children, from the article above (with additional information from family records in brackets) are
  • Mrs. Henry (Lizzie) Jones - [Elizabeth Jane] - child #2
  • William Doyle [Tressa Froman] - child #1
  • Mrs. Martha (Allen) Cochran - child #4
  • Robert Doyle - child #3
  • Mrs. Maggie Doyle of Jackson Center - [Margaret] - child #5
  • Andrew Doyle, Jr. of Jackson Center - child #6
  • Mrs. Mary A. (H. H.) Campbell of Franklin - [Mary Ann] - child #7
  • Isabella of Franklin - [or Isabell] - child #9
  • George Doyle - child #8
  • John  (& Mrs.) Doyle of Grove City - child #11
  • Mrs. Ida (Clarence) Doolittle of Sharon - child #10

Infant children who predeceased Elizabeth are Emma in 1885; Fred in 1888; and Frederick in 1889.

I love obituaries because they give a researcher a place to start.  Information may be correct or incorrect but at least it's a hint, a suggestion, and possible a fact.

Elizabeth's obituary was given to me by Dayna whose research meets mine at my father's half-sister, Tressa Doyle Wilson.  Thank you, Dayna.


This post is in response to Amy Johnson Crow's call to her readers to write about 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2014-2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved. .

4 comments:

  1. She had a Fred and a Frederick? They weren't the same person? But now that I said that, my mother had a friend who gave her son the same name as a stillborn son in order to have a Junior.
    I agree -- even an obituary with errors offers some clues and it's up to us to figure them out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In some groups of people it was a custom to name a new child after an older brother or sister who had died as an infant. The idea was that they would remember the little one who died when they spoke to the living child. My grandfather was named William after a baby brother who had died years before. In my grandfather's case, he had 2 middle names and he was called by one of those.

      Delete
  2. It's amazing that 11 of her 12 surviving children were present when she died. She must have been a wonderful mother.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was thinking the same thing, Sheryl, as I was writing the post. On my father's side, both is paternal and maternal, few children died before adulthood and few of the adult children died early. On my mother's side, though, one grandmother had 15 children and only 6 outlived her.

      Stories have passed down about "Grandy," as she was called, indicating that she was a kind and generous woman.

      Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment.

      Delete

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