Charles and Elizabeth (Betzer) Lockwood
©2001, 2002 Nicole Carr
Migration: CT>NY>MI>NE
Related
surnames in my database (either direct or indirect):
Barrett, Betzer, Brown,
Mathews, Rowe, and Stover.
If you see any I have forgotten, let me know!
Up until recently, the Lockwood branch of my tree was my most challenging brick wall, bar none. It was as if Charles Wesley Lockwood's parents (my great-great-great gandparents), didn't want to be found. It was only after I receive Charles' obituary, that I was able to piece some clues together, and though it is at this point only circumstantial, I believe I have connected my Charles to his parents, grandparents, and maybe even beyond. Here is what I have found:
I know that Charles Lockwood was born January 30, 1852 in Kent County, Michigan. His father is listed as James, his mother was listed as unknown on his death certificate. In the 1900 census of Platte Township in Buffalo County, Nebraska, his father and mother are both listed as born in New York. I also know he died November 27, 1919 at his home south of Gibbon, in rural Buffalo County, Nebraska.
His obituary from the Gibbon Reporter states that he was born in Cortland, Michigan, and that in 1867, he moved with his parents to the Lincoln area. 3 of his surviving siblings still lived in Michigan, and one sister was living in Arkansas. So now, I need to find the graves of his parents in a cemetery around Lincoln, if they died there.
J.A. Lockwood, and his wife, Amanda, along with 2 children Harry, and Ella, were living near Palmyra, in Otoe County, Nebraska in the 1880 census. That is only about 8 miles from Bennett, in Lancaster County, where all but one of Charles' children were born. BUT, I can't find Charles, Elizabeth, Frank, or Clara, who should all be somewhere in the country, right?
I found one of Charles' sisters, Ella, and descendants on a rootsweb database, where her father, James, and mother Amanda (Davis) were listed. Browsing through the Kent County Michigan genealogy website, I found Courtland Township's 1850 Federal Census on-line, and Amanda and James are listed together, near two other groups of Lockwoods, so in answering one question, I have found another; how are these people related?
The 1840 census index lists a large extended family of Lockwoods living in the same household. Seth, Amanda, two married sons and wives, (Dix and Horace) and two unmarried children, (James and Unknown male) as well as a Lockwood about 2 years older than Seth, with no given name. I am assuming that means they had just moved to Michigan, and some were still looking for land, or at least their own home.
Elizabeth Betzer was born August 15, 1856 in Anamosa, Jones County, Iowa to Jacob and Rebecca (Stover) Betzer. Charles and Elizabeth were married in 1876 in Nebraska. She died in the same house as her husband, on July 14, 1935.
I know Charles and Elizabeth had 5 children. The 1900 census for Platte Township in Buffalo County lists Frank "Pete", Charles "Cass", Mary Ellen, and Alice "Allie". I know he had another daughter, Clara, who married Perry Barrett a year earlier. By Charles' death in 1919, Frank had moved to Oklahoma, but I don't know if he married, or had children.
Clara married Perry Barrett in 1899, Charles (who also went by Cass), married an M.(?) Oma Unknown maiden name, Mary Ellen married William Martin Brown in 1906, and Allie never married.
So, here is a brief outline of "My Lockwoods":
Seth Lockwood, b. August 05, 1797 in New York to Peter and Elizabeth "Betsey" (Kirby) Lockwood; d. October 25, 1880 in Tittibawassee township, Saginaw County, Michigan. Married Amanda (Unknown) anout 1817 in New York. Amanda, b. August 21, 1797 in New York; d. April 21, 1856 in Kent County, Michigan. Amanda is buried in Courtland Cemetery in Kent County.
Seth and Amanda had 4 children:
James and Amanda had 5 children:
For more details about the Lockwoods and related lines including dates of death, birth, marriage, and many notes and sources, visit my family tree database on the WorldConnect site.
Charles and Elizabeth
(Betzer) Lockwood
Charles and Elizabeth Lockwood were very 'well to do' farmers in the Buffalo County area, and I feel pretty confident that Mary Ellen's marriage to a migrant farm worker forged a rif between her and her parents. She did, however, remain close to her 2 sisters, but virtually nothing is known of Cass, or Frank. I am not sure if Elizabeth stayed in touch with Mary Ellen or not before Charles died, but I do have a picture of Mary Ellen, her daughter Ethel, and Elizabeth holding Ethel's oldest daughter, Dorothy, sometime around 1925.
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