12 September 2010

Divorce Action in Williams County, Ohio - Bailey

Mehitabel Olds Bailey v John Bailey (Journal 4 p74 - 1 Nov 1849; p84 - Apr 1850) with a countersuit by John Bailey v Mehitable Bailey

By Pamela Pattison Lash (updated 10 October 2011)

The couple was married on 10 Aug 1842, Wms Co (Marriage V1 p60).  Nothing is known of John's parentage but Mehitabel, b 17 Jan 1818, Ashtabula Co, OH, was the daughter of Thomas and Margaret Cannady/Kennedy Olds.  Thomas Olds, born 17 Jan 1786 in Brookfield, Worcester Co, MA, was the first shoemaker in the Edgerton-Clarksville area; he died on 9 Oct 1849 @63Y 8M 22D and was buried in the Clarksville Cemetery; later his wife Margaret, born 15 May 1789, would join him upon her death on 5 June 1872 @83Y 21D, having died in Big Creek, Black Hawk Co, IA. The Baileys had three known children: William (b1843), Justus Perry (b1845), and Mary Adaline (b1849).

The divorce record does not give any details except that Mehitabel wanted to drop the case that she introduced.  Later John sued Mehitabel but then said he would not continue his suit.  It appears that there was no divorce.  According to the Issue Docket, Clerk of Courts 1848-1852, John Bailey v Mehitabel Bailey divorce action was discontinued in April 1850 Term.

According to the 1850 Milford Twp, Defiance Co, OH federal census p80, Mahitabel Bayley 30 OH was enumerated with her Bailey/Bayley children, Justus P 5 OH, William 7 OH, and Mary A 1 OH.  Her mother Margaret Olds was also recorded as 60 VA plus many of her children and grandchildren, all living side by side according to this census.  Whether she indeed received a divorce, separated from John, or John died is not known.

According to the Defiance Co, OH Marriages (V1 p130), Mehitable, 38Y married twice before, and Frederick Murphy, 56Y married once before, tied the knot on 20/24 Sept 1856.  They had twin boys, Eli Clarence and Uriah J. “Uri”, b 11 Oct 1858 and Daniel William  b 18 Jan 1865.  Daniel later became an instructor at Stanford University in Los Angeles, CA. Frederick had been married to Modalana Cather of Berks Co, PA (1816 - 1843) and had a daughter, Mrs. Sarah Worthington, wife of John Worthington, a Civil War veteran; both were buried in Maple Grove Cem, Edgerton, OH.  Note that the Defiance Co, OH Marriage record stated that Mehitable was married twice before; there is a marriage record in Ashtabula Co, OH, where the Olds family once lived that has a Mehitable Olds and a Winfield G. Cosper married on 24 Jan 1836; if this is the subject of this detailing, that would explain the “twice married”, first to Cosper and then to Bailey. From the 1860 Milford Twp, Defiance Co, OH federal census p396, the Murphy family was listed as Fred 59 NJ, Mehitabel 44 OH, Eli 2 OH, Uri 2 OH, and A. Bailey (f) 11 OH.  In the 1870 Milford Twp federal census PO Farmer p131, the family was enumerated as Frederick 69 NJ, Mehitable 52 OH, Uri 12 OH, Eli 12 OH, and Daniel W 5 OH. 

Frederick Murphy, a NJ native, died In Milford Twp, Defiance Co, OH on 1 Dec 1879 @79Y 3M 15D. In the 1880 Milford Twp federal census p212, Mehitable Murphy was head of house at 61 OH with Urick 22 OH, his wife Ida 17 IN, and Eli 22 OH.  Mehitable died on 4 Dec 1894 in Butler, DeKalb Co, IN, and was buried in Clarksville Cem. Her obituary in the Butler Record, 7 Dec 1894, told that she was named after her paternal grandmother.  

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