Re: John Orville Earl, b. 1818 and Mary Melvina Dillingham, b, 1828, US of A
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In reply to:
John Orville Earl (Jack) and Mary Melvina Dillingham yr unk
Aleta Studer 10/26/03
The Mormons
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asphttp://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp
have a John Earl born in 1835 in Arkansas marrying a Mary Dillingham in the AF, which is supposed to be 75% accurate. It has John's mother as "Reese Dillingham", which seems odd, since Reese is normally a man's name.
The IGI has him exactly - John Orville Earle, b, ??? marrying MARY MELVINA DILLINGHAM on OCT 1841 in Hopkins Co, Kentucky, dying in 1895. Either the IGI or the AF is wrong. At least that gives you a decade and a continent, which you didn't have before. Now we know you aren't another Australian, drinking shiraz with your kangaroo steak. They are nice people, but when they abbreviate a state "WA" they mean "Western Australia", not "Washington".
Back to our friends the Mormons, who may chow down on mammals but skip the alcohol. They probably don't eat kangaroos in Utah. This looks like John and Mary in 1880:
Household:
NameRelation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
John O. EARLSelfMMaleW62KYFarmerSCKY
Mary M. EARLWifeMFemaleW52KYKeeping HouseKYNC
Ida S. EARLDauSFemaleW12KYKYKY
Richard F. EARLSonMMaleW28KYFarmerKYKY
Lenra F. EARLDauLMFemaleW20KYKYKY
Leniel G. EARLGSonSMaleW4KYKYKY
Edward E. EARLGSonSMaleW2KYKYKY
Sarah L. B. EARLGDauSFemaleW8MKYKYKY
The URL is
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=census/search_census.asphttp://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=census/search_census.asp
and the place is Saint Charles, Hopkins, Kentucky.
If this is accurate, Mary was born in 1828, give or take a year, so if she married in 1841 she was 12 - 14. 13 is pushing it, even for Arkansas, but 14 is common enough for the times that 1841 seems reasonable, especially since they married in October; they may have waited for her 14th birthday. John may have shot an elk for the wedding dinner. They may have toasted the happy couple with corn whiskey, wine being an eastern affectation.
People in Arkansas may have moved to Kentucky, although the usual migration pattern was westward. The AF citation looks less and less likely.
The 1880 has Richard F and Edward, although Edward is an "E" rather than an "H". Your source for his middle name may be wrong, or the transcriber may have hiccupped, or the original may be wrong, or this is the wrong family; take your pick. I suspect it is the right family, though. I looked up 500 of my individuals on the LDS 1880, over the course of 6 months. Middle initials are wrong 25% of the time.
Looking at the birth places, I suspect that AF entry is a coincidence; this little family never left Kentucky. The John born in 1835 in Arkansas who married Mary may be a distant cousin or just someone with the same name.
The census isn't perfect, but you now have a couple of siblings, some approximate dates and a county to look through.
As for tips, since this is the Tips forum, I'd suggest the US Gen Web for Kentucky:
http://www.kygenweb.net/counties/index.htmlhttp://www.kygenweb.net/counties/index.html
Awfully nice people, and the birthplace of the US Gen Web, not to mention Kentucky sour mash.
Speaking of tips, if this helps, raise a glass to me with your turkey. We usually serve a mild red, a sturdy white and a compromise pink with the bird. The mild red may be a well-aged bordeaux, cabernet or zinfandel. The sturdy white a chardonnay, Macon, or dry sauvignon blanc. White zinfandel is the only compromise readily available, but of you can find a Tavel it would be well worth the effort.
The back label of "Yellow Tail" Shiraz really does recommend it as a perfect compliment to kangaroo.