The Wedgbury Family in the USA
|
Under Construction
The
Wedgbury Family in
|
Under Construction
Other
Wedgbury Families in the
|
Under Construction
The
Wheatland Family in the
|
Contact for More Information
|
Owen Washington Wedgbury
Owen
Washington Wedgbury was born August 14, 1856, in
In 1880, a
single woman by the name of Mary E. Taylor was living with her married sister
Martha (Sumner) in the Stockland/Milford Township area of
Our family
records indicate that Owen and Lizzie were joined in marriage January 17th,
1882, but there has not been any documentation supporting this exact date. The marriage is believed to have taken place
in
Owen and
Lizzie continued living in the
Owen apparently recovered his
losses and was found there in the 1890 Tax Lists. Their home remained childless until February
of 1890, when they took in a little toddling boy named Earl Ashby. He was the son of community neighbors Frank
and Laura Ashby. He was
born in
In 1900, Owen and Lizzie are living
in Warren County, Indiana, caring for Lizzie’s aging father. The census taker enters their foster son Earl
Ashby as a servant. After Mr. Taylor
dies in 1904, Owen moves his little family back to
In May of 1909, just days before Earl’s eighteenth birthday, adoption records reflect the truth of Earl’s relationship with Owen and Lizzie: they have been his parents in facto since his mother died in 1890. Owen has been making a living in real estate and is financially stable. The adoption changes Earl Ashby to Earl Ashby Wedgbury and makes him Owen’s legal heir.
In 1910, the census taker lists Owen as having his own income, and Earl is working as a farm laborer. Just two doors away, is the home of Wallace I. and Elva (Geddes) Baker, and they have a lovely daughter named Opal Ivy. Earl and Opal married in 1910.
Earl
and Ivy quickly had a little family:
Russell Earl, born in March of 1911, and Elva Fay, born in April of
1912. In Elva’s birth record, her father
is listed as merchant, but in census records Earl is listed as a mechanic. By all accounts and the smiling faces in the
family photo album, this was a happy little family.
In the autumn of 1918, the Spanish
flu crossed the Atlantic Ocean and began to spread among the civilian
population, especially impacting the 
and ten years old.
Opal’s mother and older brother had also died during the influenza epidemic, but her younger brother Floyd survived. He and his wife Gladys became Pa and Ma Baker, and raised Russell and Elva.
Lizzie died on October 08, 1924, in
Owen & Lizzie With Russell & Elva
Descendants of Owen Washington Wedgbury
Owen Washington Wedgbury 1856 - 1926
+Mary Elizabeth Taylor 1852 - 1924
1. Earl Ashby Wedgbury 1888 - 1922
+Opal Ivy Baker 1892 - 1918
a. Russell Earl Wedgbury 1911 - 1959
+Hildegard Frieda Orgler 1913 - 2006
i. ~daughter (living) 1938 -
ii. ~son (living) 1941 -
iii. ~son (living) 1944 -
iv. ~daughter (living) 1946 -
v. ~daughter (living) 1948 -
b. Elva Fay Wedgbury 1912 - 1997
+Buell M. Judd 1910 – 1997
no children
Resources:
Birth
record of Elva Fay Wedgbury. 1912, Mildford,
Correspondence
with descendants of Owen Wedgbury, including J. Lano,
R. Luetkemeyer, and D. Wedgbury.
Illinois State
Archives housed at http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/databases.html
Including:
o
Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763–1900
An Ongoing Project of the
o
Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre–1916
An Ongoing Project of the
o
Illinois Statewide Death Index (1916–1950)
An index created by the Illinois Department of Public Health
o
Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database
o
Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database
Wedgbury, Michael K., A History
of The Wedgbury Family: The Descendants
of William Wedgbury. 1976,
Wedgbury, William,
private letter to Owen Wedgbury. April 1887,
Wedgbury,
William; Weldon, David; and Reighart, C.G. March 1881,
©
2008, by Rebecca E. Renteria
Information
for personal/private use only, may not to be used for paper or electronic publication
without written consent and citation.
The Wedgbury Family in the USA
|
Under Construction
The
Wedgbury Family in
|
Under Construction
Other
Wedgbury Families in the
|
Under Construction
The
Wheatland Family in the
|
Contact for More Information
|