Julia was my Dad’s mother’s mother’s mother.  There was almost no family information about her that was passed down, except for her name, so I’ve had to dig to find out anything about her.  Her married name was Julia Sadler.  Her husband was William Walas Sadler.  She died in Aug. 1869 in Pickerel Lake, Minnesota (according to the 1870 mortality schedules) of consumption and dropsy.  She was born in either New York state or Pennsylvania in the early- to mid-1830’s (Aug-Sept 1832).  She is easy to find in the 1860 census living in Iowa.  She raised 4 small children in the wilderness while her husband was off fighting in the Indian Wars.  That’s what I started with.

So how to find out more about her?  Well, I knew she lived in Pa. (as she married William there), so looked for her in the 1850 census, and found her in Millcreek, Erie, Pa. where she appears to be working in the home of James Parker, most likely as a live-in domestic servant.  Next I looked for other members of the family living nearby, and found what I believe to be her parents – Theodore and Mary Johnson, also living in Millcreek with their other children James, Sarah, May, Henry, Gilson, and John.  As there are no other Johnson’s in the town of Millcreek, and Theodore and Mary’s ages allow for Julia to have been their eldest daughter, I believe they in fact are her parents.

Theodore appears to have died prior to the 1860 census, and Mary remarried to Elisha Osgood of  Millcreek.  Elisha seems to have died prior to the 1870 census, as Mary Osgood is living in the home of her son Gilson Johnson in Erie at that time.  Looking again at the 1860 census, I found Mary Osgood living in Erie with her children Henry, Gilson, and John – the three youngest of her children – although Gilson and John are using the last name of Osgood (incorrectly transcribed as Orgood), while Henry is using his correct name of Johnson.  They are living in Erie, Pa., near Lundy’s Lane.

At this point, I have to say a word about Theodore and Mary – Theodore was born in Pa. according to the 1850 census in which he appears, but Gilson’s future census records give his father’s place of birth as Maryland.  Theodore appears to have been born about 1812.  One source I found (not a primary source) gives Mary’s maiden name as Gilson, which I find to be highly plausible, as one of her son’s was given this unusual name.  Her census records give her place of birth as New York state, and her birth as about 1816-1817.  The same undocumented source that gives her maiden name also lists her birth as 2 Feb 1816 and her death as 11 Aug. 1898 in Erie.  One primary record I located shows Mary A. Osgood living at 702 12th Street in Erie in 1890, though I could not find her in the 1880 census.

So what became of Julia’s siblings?  Well, after the 1860 census I can find no record whatever of either Henry or John.  Given their ages (born about 1843 and 1848) I can only assume they fought in the civil war and were killed.  I can find no definitive record of May J. Johnson, born about 1842, after the 1850 census.  I assume she married prior to 1860.

Gilson is easy to trace.  He remained in Erie, married Sarah M. Quackenbush, and had 8 children: John (1869); Harvey (22 Jan 1871); Clayton Gilson (24 Sept 1874); Fred (13 June 1876); Nellie (June 1879); Mabel B. (Aug. 1881); Mary Ann (May/Mae) (5 Feb 1884) ; and Mason G. (Macy) (13 Feb 1886); and a granddaughter Ethel (May 1891), though I don’t know which child was her parent.

Sarah must have married prior to 1870, as I can find no definitive record for her after 1860.

That leaves only James.  James, like his older sister Julia and her husband, moved out to Iowa.  In 1860, when William and Julia are in Sumner, Iowa James and his wife Orinda (maiden name Mattocks) and their oldest child Almina are living in Pleasant Valley, Iowa a town alongside the Mississippi River outside the current city of Davenport.  Almina’s last name in the census is incorrect, but she was at that time 3 years old and was born in Pennsylvania.  It appears James opted to become a farmer in that area, while Julia and her family pressed on to LeRoy, Minnesota where my grandmother’s mother Minnie Sadler was born, her third child.  I had wondered at Julia going into the unknown West with only her husband, but it makes much more sense that she would have traveled in the company not only of her father-in-law and his second wife (Almeron and Hannah Sadler, who settled in Howard County, Iowa) but also her brother and his wife as well.  This also lends more weight to Theodore and Mary being her parents as well as James’, as I believe.  James and Orinda appear to have died prior to the 1880 census, as the children are scattered about – Theodore Daniel is living with his grandparents Wilder and Elizabeth Mattocks in Illyria, Fayette County, Iowa.  James and Orinda had 5 children: Almina (1857); Theodore Daniel (1861); Cynthia (1864); Wilder (1866); and Ada (July 1869).  Almina married Ernest Holmes in Iowa prior to 1880.  Ada must have been adopted out, as I can not find her in the 1880 census.  Wilder was boarding out in 1880.  I can find no record of Cynthia – she must have married prior to 1880.  Edit: Orinda died in March 1880 in Boardman township, Clayton county, Iowa of stomach cancer (Source: 1880 Federal census mortality schedule).  James died in Feb 1870 in Mcgregor, Clayton county, Iowa of typhoid fever (Source: 1870 Federal census mortality schedule).  Theodore Daniel (b: Aug 1862 – 1900 census) married a woman named Annie E. (b: Jan 1864) in 1885 and they settled in Illyria, Fayette county, Iowa having 6 children (the following 4 survived infancy: Harry (July 1886), Elva M. (Dec. 1888), Walter (Mar. 1894), and Sylvia (May 1898)). Walter married Ada/Ida before 1920 in Iowa and they had at least 6 children.  Elva married Robert Bond about 1908 and they had at least 7 children.  -End edit

And so this is Julia’s family – my family.  Somehow, I find comfort in knowing that when she settled in Minnesota to raise her children on the prairie while her husband was off fighting, her brother and sister-in-law were only a couple of hundred miles away…

© Deborah Ray and archivecookie.com, 2012.