Gertrude Gurley's second marriage

I just found out a new piece of information from the story I told you yesterday.  Gertie did marry a very old man by the name of Sylvester Lynn.  He died 8 years after they were married.  I found an exerpt from Gertie's death record that said she died with the last name of Lynn in 1960 so I assumed that she never married again.  WRONG!  Not only did she marry again, one year after Sylvester died, but she married Sylvester's son!  His name was Lurenzo Lynn.  Crazy!  I hope that someday I can get this all right! LOL!  Here is the marriage certificate for Gertrude and Lurenzo.

Very busy life!  What do you think about all of this? I would love to hear feedback!

Aura and Gertie Gurley

Another interesting find.  Let me see if I can help you understand this one!  Okay, so Thomas Gurley had a son by the name of Thomas.  He married a woman by the name of Aura Eldridge.  Thomas was the one who took over the farm when his father passed away.  They had two daughters.  Nettie and Gertrude.  Nettie is the one the professional genealogist told me about when I talked to him the other day.  Nettie married a man by the name of Richard Manahan and had two sons.  Gertrude, the younger sister, was still living with her parents when her father passed away.  In the 1900 census you find Aura and Gertrude (Gertie)  living together and a man by the name of Sylvester Lynn who is listed as a boarder.  Here is the census record:

Aura ended up getting sick in April of 1909 and passing away on the 19th of April.  Gertie and Sylvester got a marriage license on the 18th and were married on the 27th.  Only 8 days after her mother died!  If you look closely at the age of Sylvester and Gertie in 1900, you see how far apart they were in age!  It lists Sylvester as being 59 and Gertie as 22.  On their marriage record it lists Sylvester as 70 and Gertie as 33.  This is their marriage record:

This is Aura's death certificate:

I can only begin to imagine how Gertie felt when her mother was sick and about to die.  She was going to be left all alone in the world.  I wonder if she felt that marrying Sylvester was a way to protect herself or to just not be alone.  Or, did she truly love him?  It makes me wonder with everything happening so fast and at the same time.  Especially with their age differences.  I would love to hear what everyone else thinks.  As a side note, Sylvester was married before to a lady by the name of Sarah.

Thomas Gurley's Will

Fun times today!  I got a message on facebook that new Ohio records had been added to the Family Search website!  I thought I would go ahead and take a look and see what was there.  And what did I find?  Thomas Gurley's Will!  Yeah!  I love finding these kinds of documents.  So fun!  My biggest surprise was that he left some money to his Grand daughter Margaret Jane Hurlbut.  That was Grandma Vera's sister.  He left the money to Margaret when she was only a few years old, but she wouldn't get it until she was 18!  Grandma Vera wasn't born yet. He left something to every one of his children.  I loved seeing that.

Professional Genealogist

I have cold chills!  I just got off the phone with a professional genealogist in Norwalk, Ohio.  I have finally decided it was time to get some help with these wonderful ancestors.  I don't want to spend too much time, but I am so excited to see what he can find.  However, this is what he told me when I talked to him.  He told me that his grandmother who was 99 when she died  knew the Gurley's who lived in Bronson!  That's us!  He says the farmland is still there and he could show me right where it was!  The buildings have all burned down, but he has actually been there!  She also told stories about Nettie Gurley.  She was Thomas and Jane's granddaughter!  Her father was Thomas Jr.  I am so excited to see what he can find!!!  I will let you all know as soon as I hear anything!

Frank Hurlbut's Death Certificate

I was so excited to get mail today!  I had found in a California Index what I thought was Frank Hurlbut's (Uncle to Grandma Vera) death date.  I ordered a death certificate and it came in the mail today!  I was so glad to see that the information I had was correct and now I even have his birth date!  Yay!  I so often documents that tell me nothing new, so I was glad to get this!!  It even proves that his mother was Caroline Carter.  Now to get into some deeper research and see what I can find.  I wish I could afford to take a trip to Ohio!!  Would anyone like to go with me when I do?  :)  I am attaching a copy of the death certificate.  I love family history!  Oh, by the way, it states that he died of Carcinoma of Ileum.  Anyone want to take a stab at what that means?  I had to look it up.  The Ileum is the last section of the small intestines.  Poor Frank, that sounds so painful.  I did note that Grandma Vera was the one to give the information on the record.  I wish she was still around so I could ask her more questions!

Henry LeGrand Hurlbut

Did you read the previous post with the link to the Hurlbut genealogy? On that same page at the very top you will see that Henry LeGrand Hurlbut married Matilda Gurley! This was his second marriage as well. Matilda was grandma Marie's oldest sister. So....they married brothers! Sound familiar? It sure reminded me of my grandma and her sister and how they married brothers as well. It must run in the family! I was just really glad to see that they both married into a great family. If you read the Hurlbut genealogy starting at the beginning and follow our line, you will find a great history. Our first Hurlbut ancestor in America arrived in 1635 on a small vessel with his military group. It consisted of his commanding officer, the officers wife, a female servent and 11 soldiers. Our ancestor was Thomas Hurlbut and was one of those soldiers. They were sent to the new land to establish the Connecticut fort, which they did. During the time they were there, Thomas was shot by an indian. The arrow went through his thigh. He survived and we are all glad that he did! Read the story in the book to get all the facts. It's a really interesting story. Our grandfather, James, is often referred to as Isaac which was his middle name. His father was Henry Hurlbut. He was married to Almira Jennings. They were both from Connecticut and were married there. In fact, several of their children were born there. The British in 1779 caused many of the lands to be destroyed by fire in Connecticut. Included in this was Norwalk, Connecticut where they were from. As compensation, they were given land in Ohio. The land was called the firelands. Henry came to Ohio in 1818 to find and establish a part of this land. Eventually it was called Norwalk, Ohio. The family joined him there and in 1825 our grandfather, James, was born. This was the same location where our Gurley ancestors would settle in 1838. You can read a history of the firelands at this link: FIRELANDS HISTORY

Hurlbut Genealogy

A few months ago I came across a genealogy of the Hurlbut's in the United States. I was so excited! Here is a link to the book. I found it on books.google.com. HURLBUT GENEALOGY This link should bring you to the page that shows our grandfather, James Isaac Hurlbut. The first thing you should notice is that it lists his wife as Caroline Carter! I was a bit taken back by this until I remembered a key piece of information. In the 1880 census, James and Marie had a child living with them by the name of Frank. This was James' son from his first marriage and was the well known half brother to our grandmother Vera and her sister Margaret! So this took me on a search for the marriage between James and Caroline. The only thing I could find was a 1860 census where they were living together in Norwalk, Ohio and had four children. There names were Kate, Antoinette, Frank and Caroline. So....Frank had three sisters! I have yet to figure out what happened to Caroline and the daughters. I am trying to determine if they divorced and the girls stayed with their mother while Frank stayed with his father. Or if Caroline died and the girls went to live with relatives. This is still a research problem I haven't solved yet. I am attaching a copy of the 1860 census. Also, James and grandmother Marie were married in 1865, so something happened in those 5 years. I can't wait to find out what that would be!