Webb – The Misadventures of a Genealogist

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Start (Week 01)

Posted on January 5, 2018February 16, 2025 by Kathleen

Happy New Year!

This new year, I’m hoping to be way more organized than last year. I didn’t do too bad in 2017, but I would really like to stay a little more focused when it comes to writing up my findings or even just sharing information with my family on social media. It feels like I’m sharing the same things all the time with no context.

One cool thing I’m trying to do this year is participating more in writing prompts. 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks sounds like a fun way to start. I’m sure I won’t be posting all 52 weeks, but as many as I can sounds perfect!

Week 01 Prompt: Start

The first week’s prompt has the vague meaning of Start. When I read this prompt, I immediately thought of my start in genealogy. I was doing an eighth-grade project. I don’t remember the specific project but my mother just happened to mention it to my Grandma Emogene. She was visiting us at the time. What I didn’t realize until that moment was that my Grandmother traveled with a copy of the family tree.

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71 Years of Wedded Bliss!

Posted on May 15, 2016February 18, 2025 by Kathleen

All this rain has left us with some plumbing issues and I don’t want to think about it anymore. We got it fixed on a weekend thanks to a very generous local company. It really makes you thankful for people when they go out of their way to help, without charging you an arm and a leg. After all the stress and worry, I decided to use one of the newspaper websites to search and I came across the article to the left! Last week, I talked about what a small world it was and I thought I’d also share this gem about that very same person.

It appeared in the May 5th, 1906 edition of the Elkhart Weekly Review. It talks about Reuben and Anna Webb, my 3x great uncle and aunt. For some reason, I’ve always loved these two. I don’t know why, maybe it’s just their stability and longevity. I am still trying to track down their descendants. I know their wedding anniversary was a big deal, because they frequently appear in the paper as a celebration. Not only that but it seems as if they had a big shindig every year to celebrate! I’m pretty sure if I had been married 71 years, I’d be throwing parties too! That’s a big deal.

One of the things in the article that struck me because I had never heard it before, was that “soon after their marriage they went westward to Indiana with their parents”. I know that they went from Brown County, Ohio to Tippecanoe County, Indiana but I had no idea their parents came with them. In fact, I was pretty sure Reuben’s dad, Reuben, lived in Ohio for the rest of his life. Not that I have any records stating that, it’s just what I assumed! It could just mean Anna’s parents but it didn’t sound like that.

I also love that it mentions Reuben’s time in the Civil War, I had already known that, but I love the more personal recollection about it. Sadly, a few months after this article and their 71st wedding anniversary Anna died.

Tomorrow will be the 181st anniversary of their marriage. According to records, they got their license on the 4th of May, and then were married on the 16th. I say Happy Anniversary for any day they wanted to celebrate on. 🙂

Sources:

“Wedded Many Years,” Elkhart Weekly Review, 5 May 1906, p. 8, col. 3; digital images, Genealogy Bank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 15 May 2016), This entire product and/or portions thereof are copyrighted by NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society.

Brown County, Ohio, Marriage Records, 1818-1939, 4: 136, Webb-Sidwell, 4 May 1835; digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 15 May 2016).

Definitely a Small World

Posted on May 11, 2016February 18, 2025 by Kathleen

Like all genealogists, I am always searching things for familiar names. It could be newspapers and obituaries or even my families Facebook pages. When I finally got my Grandpa Moore to clear out his closet in Columbus, I was absolutely ecstatic. I was even happier when he let me confiscate what was in it. Police Chief’s granddaughter humor there. There were boxes of things in that closet. More than I thought I would ever be able to go through. I even thought I would have to weed some of it out. I had heard stories of grandparents saving things that weren’t exactly important. I haven’t thrown anything out though, because apparently my great-grandparents were amateur genealogists. They saved all the right things at all the right times. I have so many amazing records, I could just cry thinking about it. It makes me wish I had known them. Technically I knew Grandma Llewellyn, but I don’t remember her since I was so young when she died. I know I would have loved her though because through these objects she kept, I know that I would have spent a lot of time talking about the past with her. I am just so grateful that my Aunt Lori loves talking about it so much, because it is the next best thing.

Imagine my surprise when I’m going through all these things that have sat in a closet for over 30 years, and I find the most amazing thing. Not even something for my father’s side of the family, but my mothers.

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George Washington Webb and White Burley Tobacco

Posted on March 26, 2016February 18, 2025 by Kathleen

I’ve talked about the family tree my Grandma showed me when I was in the eighth grade. It was what started this genealogy obsession with me. There was always this little blurb in the beginning of it. It was the only little insight we had to George Washington Webb, his siblings, and his parents. I was always so fascinated with that little blurb. Maybe it was the problem solver in me, I just love to solve mysteries! Whether it be movies, books, or TV shows, I love a good mystery.

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Moving Along Nicely

Posted on April 11, 2013February 19, 2025 by Kathleen

Today is a great day for me. I’m moving on to the Webb family in my Family File Cleanup Project. This is a big deal because at this portion of the tree, all the research is my own. I will still have to properly source everything in a consistent way with the rest of the tree. I wasn’t so consistent with the sourcing. The great news is that I shouldn’t have any super crazy verifying to do at all. Everything from this point on is my own information, so hopefully I’m able to get this section knocked out quickly. That’s not to say that I won’t be doing a little research here and there, because I’m sure I will. For some reason, I’ve always loved researching the Webb family.

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I’m Overwhelmed but On Track

Posted on April 18, 2011February 16, 2025 by Kathleen

First thing first, I have to say a big thank you to Jennifer over at The Erudite Genealogist. She wrote up an awesome entry giving everyone advice on what to take with you on a research trip. In fact, I’m going to be digging into the spare room closet this week and making sure I have an empty scrapbook case on wheels to get started! So again, THANK YOU!

Now that I have some great advice to follow, it’s time to break into the nitty gritty work. That work has been what has kept me from blogging. Those darn Mays ancestors are driving me crazy but I’m slowly getting them entered into my file. I found that I’m not focusing so much on finding any new directions, I’m just trying to verify what I have with the resources I currently have. When I’m not driving myself crazy there, I’m trying to set up a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to organize the research I want to do on location.

As I get my information together, I’ll keep you updated on my progress. Most likely I’ll have more questions, so I’ll probably ask those as they come. Right now I’m not sure of the exact dates of this traveling. I just know I’ll be in Upstate New York for the 4th of July weekend. The plan is to leave time after the holiday for heading to New Jersey for a little research. Plans always change though so there might be a separate trip to New Jersey needed.

I’m also going to Ohio to visit family this summer because it’s our turn to make the drive. I want to get out a little and visit the Brown County cemeteries where my Webb ancestors are buried. I’m unsure of where Reuben H Webb from Orange County, VA is buried but I hope to figure it out and visit his grave also. I know his son, my 3rd great grandfather, is buried in Kentucky in an abandoned, derelict graveyard. So I hope the same isn’t true for his father.

Reuben was living with one of his sons in 1850. I believe he died shortly after the census. The family was living in White Oak, Highland County, Ohio at the time of the census. I believe James’ wife was born and raised there. Next door to James and Reuben is Alice Webb-Bell. Alice was foreign to me until I found her son Starling living with another of her brother’s in 1880. Then as I tracked back, I found her and later found a mention of her name associated with Reuben. Acc0rding to Reuben T Webb’s biography, his father was forced to move several times after circumstances caused him to lose his property. My question would be did Reuben die in Highland County or Brown County, where the family was living in 1860? This is something I am going to try and find out before I head to Ohio.

Sorry to get off subject, I do that often. So I have several lists going, one for births, deaths, and marriages. Another for cemeteries. I’m also going to start making an obituary list. Looking at the local newspapers is something I haven’t had the opportunity to do before (Ancestry.com’s collection is severely limited), so I’ll be really excited to get to check those out.

More Webb Confusion

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Kathleen

Okay, so I thought if I took a little time to do some Webb family research, it’d be a break from the frustration of the Mays family. I was wrong. In fact, I was so wrong I might be right. After finding the treasure trove, I wanted to take another look at the information it gave for Reuben H Webb and his wife Ann Thompson. I’m not doubting the biography but there was something that stood out glaringly for me. I don’t know what to do about it. However, it kind of fits in with the fact that Reuben moved around a bit after losing the land he cleared initially.

You see, on FamilySearch.org it has in two separate databases that Reuben Webb married Ann Thompson on 15 Feb 1806. Why my original family file says 1805, I’ll never be able to tell you. That’s how crazy my file is.

I was very excited to see the top result pop up. It’s a new database added at the end of March. It has the original microfilmed images that were used for indexing in the first place! So I quickly clicked it. The only problem is I can’t find the marriage anywhere on that page. I even paged back to 1805 to see if it was there. Still not there. So if the marriage isn’t on that page, the question needs to be asked. Where did this record of the marriage come from? Does this point to an error?

Once again I’m left with more questions then answers. You can bet I will go through these page by page if it means finding my ancestor. My only thing is, the biography of their son says they were married in Kentucky. So which version is true? I thought actually seeing the record would alleviate my confusion. That obviously hasn’t worked for me yet!

Edit: I checked my records. The 1805 date came from the Ancestry.com Ohio Marriages, 1803-1900 database.

Webbs in the Civil War

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Kathleen

I was a little blocked about what to write about next on the blog. Then Ancestry.com released new Civil War documents!

In the Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865 database, I found both Reuben Thompson Webb and his sons Reuben Horace and James A! Unfortunately, I’m still finding no proof that Reuben’s brother James ever served in the Civil War. Hopefully this changes soon. The family legend says that he died of injuries and gave his death date as September of 1863. Maybe this just means that I haven’t found him in the records yet. I’m still looking!

Reuben Webb, You’ve been found!

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Kathleen

Back when I started to search my family history, I was given a copy of the tree by my grandmother. I’m sorry, I think I’ve said this 8 million times. I’ll try not to repeat myself so much. In the front of the tree, there was a little paragraph that started out explaining about our Webb line.

James F, Vincent, and George Washington Webb were three of five known children who were orphaned at an early age by the death of both parents. There may have been other children. Upon the death of their parents, they were taken in by various families and were reared to adulthood on that basis. There is no information on the other two children. James lived in Brown County, Ohio and died at an early age from Civil War wounds. Vincent moved to Romney, Tippecanoe County, Indiana. George lived generally in Brown and Clermont Counties of Ohio and Pendleton County, Kentucky Court House records reveal that he owned land in that county. By some Accounts and by an entry in Congressional Record, George Washington Webb is credited with discovering white burley tobacco. The family legend of their having one fourth American Indian blood has not been confirmed.

Okay, so that’s what I started with. I eventually found out Vincent Webb was actually Reuben Thompson Webb. George and James’ information is mostly correct. However, they were NOT orphaned at an early age. As of 1850 their father, Reuben H Webb was alive and living with James and his young family in Highland County, Ohio.

Eventually I even found the names of two more children in an online tree, Alice and Nathaniel. I couldn’t find any documentation for Nathaniel at the time, but I did find Alice. So I was up to four out of five children! Not bad!

Sunday night, I was doing some random Google searches. I ended up typing in Reuben Webb, Tippecanoe IN. I knew he was in the Civil War and lost his eye. I knew he was in Tippecanoe for at least 50 to 60 years. I figured if I was going to find anything out about the parents, it would be from him because it surely didn’t come from my Gr-Gr-Great Grandfather George Washington Webb. Little did I know, I struck a goldmine. My search resulted in a biography written as part of a compilation of biographies to outline the history of many Indiana counties. The book is called, Biographical History of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren, and Pulaski Counties, Indiana. Reuben T’s biography appears on pages 319-322 of Volume 1. It was published by Lewis Publishing Company and can be found on Amazon and Google Books.

The biography transcript was removed because I don’t want to violate copyrights. I finally managed to get the main page to load, so I’ve removed the transcript from the blog because it says no reproductions are allowed on the web in any part.

The biography was originally published in 1899! The full transcript can be found here. So this was written while Reuben Thompson Webb was still living. Not only that but it gives a huge background on the Webb families. Now all I have to do is back it up with records. I’m going to slowly gather these but this biography blew the little paragraph out of the water.

Update from Yesterday

Posted on October 8, 2010 by Kathleen

I can’t help myself. I have to chart out all those children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Reuben and Anna Webb. See yesterday’s post for the catalyst to this list. For those that aren’t me and aren’t familiar with the way my family tree works. The Webb family is on my mother’s side of the family. My maternal grandmother’s to be exact. This family has been for the most part verified by me because for some reason I love the Webb family. Reuben’s family is actually all researched by me, so that’s why I’m so anxious to pinpoint all these kids. The hard part is not counting the kids born AFTER my 1905 target date for the article written and not counting children that had passed away before 1905.

Reuben Thompson Webb married Anna Sidwell 16 May 1835 in Brown County, Ohio [1. Brown County, OH Marriage Records 1818-1939, FamilySearch].

webbreuben-01 — Living Descendants in 1905

Okay, I did leave in all 6 of Reuben and Anna’s children. Elizabeth died in infancy and I think James died after or during the Civil War. In all, I’m really surprised how off I am! This shows that you shouldn’t be too confident just by using census records! I had a few marriage indexes to help at the time but most of this research was done in the early stages of my genealogy. So really I’m anxious to see what else I could unearth now! I’m going to have to make time for that this weekend or during the week sometime!