Who are George's Parents? Part 5 (James' Early Land Deeds)

In this next post, let's look at the first time we definitively see James Dailey show up in some land deed records. He has a few transactions in Frederick County, VA that we can dig into. 

James and Rachel are married in December of 1825, and the first land transaction shows up in Frederick County six years later in 1831. The record is found in Frederick County Deed Books, Book 59, Page 159-160, and is for a Deed of Trust. Not knowing what this meant, I had to consult one of my favorite bloggers, "The Legal Genealogist", to see what she had to say about this special type of deed. What I discovered is that this type of deed is not really a deed, but more of a mortgage with two or three parties involved. In our case, we have three parties involved in this transaction. 

• Lender – The party who loans the money 
• Borrower – The party who is borrowing the money and receiving the property  
• Trustee – The party who holds the title to the property on behalf of the lender and whose main purpose is to sell the property at public auction if the borrower defaults on payments

According to Legal Genealogist, "If the borrower meets the conditions — that is, pays the money — then the trustee transfers title back to the borrower. If the borrower doesn’t meet the conditions, then the trustee can go ahead usually without any court action and sell the land, giving the money to the beneficiary, the lender. In both cases, possession of the land stays with the borrower, and all that’s being documented is the debt and the fact that the land is security for the debt. The deed of trust form just makes it easier for the lender if the borrower doesn’t pay what’s owed."

For the James Dailey Deed of Trust, he purchases some farm equipment and animals and the parties involved are as follows: 

• Lender – Jesse Calvert loaned $290.60 
• Borrower – James Dailey  
• Trustee – George Fyst  

The Items are interesting and my favorites are when they call the farm animals by name - one bay mare named "Bet", one bay horse named "Dragon". The other items are farm equipment like shovels, hatchets, and log chains and household items like beds, a cupboard, and split bottom chairs. See below from the actual deed for the complete list. 

While reading this, I am wondering where James and Rachel are staying to keep these animals and household items because land is not purchased until the next deed which is 8 years later in 1839. Perhaps he could be staying on family land (don't I wish I knew who that was) or renting land. 

Let's look at the next two land transactions dated, 23 Feb 1839 and found in Frederick County Deed Books, Book 67, Pages 275-277. James Dailey paid Jesse Calvert $370 for 297 1/4 acres of land that adjoins the land of Jacob Switzer (Make note of this name. It will come up again in a few). It mentions two tracts of land - one for 250 3/4 acres and another for 46 1/2 acres.  Notice this deed does not mention his wife, Rachel; however, the next deed does. 

The next deed transaction occurs on the same day, 23 Feb 1839, and is one of the only other times James and Rachel are mentioned together in a document. This deed is another Deed of Trust and for the same 297 acres of land mentioned above.

• Lender – Jesse Calvert loaned $1,920 
• Borrower – James Dailey  
• Trustee – George Fyst  

James is to pay Jesse back in five equal yearly installments of $384 until the full amount is paid back. So it appears James had $370 dollars to put down and paid to Jesse Calvert in the first deed, but then needed to borrow the remaining balance from Calvert in the second deed. 

I want to close this post but want to point out a few items first: 

• The acreage purchased seemed like a large amount of land. I did a little research and found that by the 1850 Census, "farms in Frederick County were generally larger than ones in other counties in the Valley. Sixty-six percent of the farms in the county had 100 to 5,000 acres of improved farmland." 
• I am not sure how Jesse Calvert relates to James Dailey, if at all.  James did a couple of property and land transactions with James and there may be no relation. Maybe Jesse is just a friend of the family. This could use some additional research.  
• I am also not sure if George Fyst is acquainted to James. He serves as a trustee on both deeds of trust. I did a little investigating on who could be the trustee and discovered that according to parkerpollard.com, "The trustee can be a business entity or an actual person like an attorney or a bank employee. Although the trustee is selected by the lender and can be replaced whenever the lender chooses, the trustee represents neither the borrower nor the lender. Rather, the trustee is a fiduciary with duties to both parties. He or she holds title to your real property subject to the terms of the deed of trust, until the loan is paid in full." Given this, George Fyst may just be an outside party with no relation to James. 

Keeping in mind that Rachel dies on 18 March 1842, just three years later, I will continue the focus and tracking of James and Rachel's land in the next blog post. 

FAN Club 

• Jesse Calvert - Lender on Deed of Trust dated Oct 1835 and Grantor in deeds dated Feb 1839
• George Fyst - Trustee on the Deed of Trust dated OCt 1835
• Jacob Switzer - Land James bought in Feb 1839 adjoins the land of Jacob Switzer

Sources

• https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2016/07/12/deed-of-trust/ 
• Frederick County Deed Books, Book 59, Page 159-160, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSL6-QQ7K-V?i=91&cat=408287
• Frederick County Deed Books, Book 67, Page 275-276, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSRG-1QL1-6?i=147&cat=408287
• Frederick County Deed Books, Book 67, Page 276-277, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSRG-1QGF-Y?i=148&cat=408287
• https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/pdf_files/SpecialCollections/FK-022_Rural_Landmarks_Survey_1988-1992_PH_I-III_1988_KALBIAN_report.pdf, Page 120 
• https://www.parkerpollard.com/trustee-deed-trust/

Who are George's Parents? Part 4 (Absolom's Probate File)

Once I learned which county to look for Absolom's probate (see Part 3 blog post first), I was off and running with renewed vigor. Let's dig into the probate file for Absolom. After I was back at the hotel after being at the library for the day, I could look up the actual probate files the index was referencing on FamilySearch.org.  Bear with me as this is a longer post, but the documents are SO COOL!  

What I found was that Absolom was a merchant (we knew that already from the 1850 Census), but that he owned two stores - one store was in Capon Bridge, West Virginia and one store in Frederick County, Virginia. If you look at the map below, I marked the two areas with yellow stars and you can see just how close Capon Bridge is to the county line. I am guessing on the location of the one in Frederick County, as it is not yet known the exact location, but one would guess it is near the cemetery where Absolom is buried.  

The probate file is quite lengthy because the administrators of his probate were forced to sell both store contents to recover money from the investments. I would imagine it would be costly to own two stores, and he probably owed creditors as well. The probate file is page after page of selling the contents, and there are some pages missing from the file. Even so, we may not have a complete picture of everything that happened with the probate, but I was still able to glean some information. 

Here is the first entry in the probate file and is dated the 7th day of February 1854 (he died on 30th of December 1853) and states the following: 

"This following is an inventory of the merchandise at Capon Bridge in the County of Hampshire belonging to the estate of A Dailey dec'd taken by Robert B Sherrard and James W Grove as the administrators thereof on the 7th day of February 1854 as follows to wit:" 

Then it goes on to list the store contents for 23 pages. It starts out with the cloth that would have been up for sale - plaids, black cloth, cassimere (a closely woven smooth twilled usually wool fabric (as for suits), etc. and then continues just as you would think of a general store with Hardware, Books & Stationery, Boots & Shoes, Hats & Caps, Glassware, Tinware, and Groceries. I have included another page so you can get an idea. Can't you just see the store all lined with goods?  The total appraisal of the contents of the Capon Bridge store came to $1,835.66 which in today's money would be about $60,926.87. 

The second entry in the probate file is for the personal property of Absolom and is also dated the 7th day of February 1854 and states the following: 

"This following is an inventory of the personal estate of A Dailey dec'd made by Robert B Sherrard and James W Grove as the administrators there on the 7th day of February 1854 with a column on the right hand in which the undersigned appraises appointed by the County Court of Hampshire have annexed the value of the several items to wit:" 

You will notice household items in the personal inventory such as a mahogany bureau, pictures & frames, an eight-day clock, split bottom chairs, a keg of brandy, bushels of corn, lard, etc. This would have been the personal property of Absolom and his wife Margaret at their house. The inventory of the personal property continues for two more pages, and I have included an excerpt of them here. The total appraisal of the personal property came to $1,979.03 which in today's money would be about $65,685.42. 

The third entry in the probate file is the accounting for the merchandise sold from the store and the sale lasted seven days from February 28th through March 13th, 1854. The administrators recorded who purchased the item(s) and for what amount and states the following: 

"The following is a statement of a sale of merchandise sold at a sale made by Robert B Sherrard and James W Grove administrators of the estate of Absolom Dailey dec'd on the 28th day of February 1854 as follows viz:" 

The sale goes on for 42 pages and experts in genealogy will tell you that you should examine who purchases items at an estate sale for clues (remember our FAN club), but this is a little trickier. I imagine lots of people came out to buy items and the 42 pages list LOTS of people. Just think about us going to a store that is closing and looking for a good bargain!  The total amount of this sale was $1,838.01. In today's money that is $61,004.86. 

There are some last names that appear with repetitiveness such as: 

• Carlyle
• Colbert 
• Hook 
• Kerns
• Peacemaker 
• Oats
• Pugh
• Whitaker 

In addition, as you look at the pages, you will notice George Dailey purchases Shoe Knives for $0.14 and Black Satin for $1.60.  There was also a purchase from a Samual Dailey as well for 32 yards of cotton. But, other than that, no other Dailey's are listed in the inventory. 

The next sale is for the personal property of Absolom and the entry is not dated but happens sometime before the 26th day of March 1854 (this is the date it was entered into the courts) and states: 

"The following is a list of the property belonging to the estate of A Dailey dec'd sold at a sale made by Robert B Sherrard and James W Grove Administrators thereof on the {blank} day of {blank} 1854 as followeth viz:" 

The total for this sale is $312.29 and is $10,365.13 in today's money. George and Mrs. Dailey (presumably Absolom's wife) purchase a number of items here in the two pages. 

George purchases the following for a total of $49.56: 

• Lamp - $0.08
• Cooking Stove and apparatus - $17.00
• Kitchen Table - $17.66 1/4 
• Stone Jar - $1.00
• Dishes - $3.37 1/2 
• Horse Net - $3.70
• Desk - $4.00
• Book Case - $1.25
• Window Blinds - $1.50

Mrs. Dailey purchases the following for a total of $123.56: 

• Brass Kettle - $1.00
• Safe - $8.00
• Bed Bedstead and Bedding - $12.00
• Keg of Vinegar - $1.56
• Bureau - $2.50
• Clock - $2.50
• Pair and Irons - $1.50
• Bay Mare - $75.00
• Cow - $19.50

There is another inventory and sale and 20 pages of the book are missing.  It looks similar to the other sale and this is for the Frederick County, Virginia store. With 10 pages of an inventory included and 20 pages of the sale, there is still a lot to see. The sale lasts for 4 days and is dated around August 6 -10, 1854 and the entry starts with the following: 

"The following is an inventory of merchandise belonging to the estate of A Dailey dec'd at Commerce Hill Frederick County VA taken by Robert B Sherrard and James W Grove Administrators thereof on the {blank} day of {blank} 1854 viz:" 

The total for this sale is $1,322.40 and is $43,891.40 in today's money. George Dailey again purchases a few items.  

George purchases the following for a total of $1.08: 

• Shoe Knives - $0.14
• Purses - $0.73 1/2
• Pack of Envelopes - $0.07
• Set of Teaspoons = $0.14

Last names that show up frequently include: 

• Peacemaker
• Grove
• Kerns
• Whitacre
• Braithwaite 
• Sherrard
• Heironimus 
• Light
• Pugh
• Triplett
• Dehaven
• Engle

I would imagine it would take a while to close out the probate for Absolom. Given the sheer magnitude of the sales of the two stores, I am imagining they also had to collect from people who might have owed Absolom money on credit from the store. In the next entry, you start seeing the administrators giving an account two years later in July 1856 for the happenings surrounding the accounts and where they stand. 

Sherrard gives his account and excerpts are below: 

Then Grove gives his account and excerpts are below: 

We then see another record of account in July 1858. I will point out that James Dailey and George are both listed in this account. 

In typical probate closure, there would be a final closeout proving to the court all the debts are paid and owed. It would also show the disbursement to the widow or others, but of course, this is missing from the records. I have searched for them but have not found anything to date. Some of the records are just missing. 

To sum up all this probate stuff, it is pretty neat to see all these old documents and how they dealt with a person dying intestate (no will). It proves nothing further in our quest to find the parents of George Dailey. However, I will say that I believe it does show they were very close.  Not a lot of Daileys appear in these records - George, James (only once), and a Samuel (only once), and George does show up very frequently.  

In the next post, we will look at deed records (A.K.A. other cool old documents)!

FAN Club Listing (I will continue to add to this)

• John Parlett (bondsman listed on James and Rachel marriage) 
• Absolom Dailey (1850 US Census Head of Household)
• Margaret Grove (Wife of Absolom Dailey)
• John Grove (Minister for the marriage of Absolom and Margaret)
• Robert B Sherrard (Administrator of Absolom Dailey's probate) 
• James W Grove (Administrator of Absolom Dailey's probate) 

Sources

Historical Maps of Virginia (ua.edu)

Hampshire County West Virginia Probate Records, Inventories 1855 (missing p.1-98 & some pages are part missing); Pg 147-261;  https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99VT-Q375?i=353&cat=220785  

U.S. Inflation Calculator: 1635→2022, Department of Labor data (officialdata.org) 

Who are George's Parents? Part 3 (West Virginia and Virginia Counties)

In my last couple of blog posts, I have been trying to prove who is George Washington Dailey's parents. My hypothesis is that James and Rachel Dailey are his parents from Frederick County, VA. When we last left George, he was living in a household of Absolom Dailey and his wife Margaret in the 1850 US Census. I was very intrigued to find more information about Absolom.

Determined to find additional information on the Dailey family, my cousin and I planned a trip to Frederick County, VA in October of 2021. She and I had spent the better part of a day in the Archives Reading Room in the basement of the Handley Library in Winchester, Virginia, 100 W. Piccadilly Street, Winchester, Virginia. Let me go off on a tangent for a moment and talk about this library for a moment. This is one of the prettiest local libraries I have ever visited. My cousin and I have visited lots of archives and libraries, but the library building itself was just magical. The library opened in 1913 and was built from funds left by Judge John Handley. As we whisked ourselves away to the basement, I wish I had spent more time in the other parts of the library. What we walked by was gorgeous and reminded me of an old mansion with dark woodwork, art, and a beautiful staircase in the entry. Here is a picture I took of the building below.  

 

Anyway, back to Absolom. I had spent all day in the Handley Library looking at books, files, and microfilm with nothing concrete. It was ten minutes to five o'clock, and I told my cousin I was ready to leave. I was a little burnt out and not finding much. She says, "We have ten minutes to closing time. We might find something. Keep looking." Exasperated, I collapsed myself at the end of an aisle and at a shelf marked, "West Virginia".  I perused for a second and grabbed a book called, Index to West Virginia Estates Before 1866, and opened up to the Index page. Fully expecting to find nothing, I was blown away when I found an entry for, none other than, Mr. Absolom Dailey. 

The probate record reference was in Hampshire County, WEST VIRGINIA.  I think to myself, "West Virginia?"  Seriously. Let's do a little geography lesson here for a moment before getting into the details. The location of the Dailey clan to date had been in the tip-top corner of Frederick County, VA based on the cemetery blog post from last time and a few land deeds (we will talk about those in another post). As shown on this first map, you can see four counties all meet in this corner - Hampshire, Morgan and Berkeley in West Virginia and Frederick in Virginia. The Dailey clan lived just above the "F" on the map. After finding the probate for Absolom in Hampshire County and while studying these locations on the map, it made me realize that I need to widen my search for records to any of these four counties. Furthermore, when you think about it, county boundaries are just arbitrary lines drawn, and I learned a valuable lesson about doing some homework pinpointing locations better in the future.   

 

As to not make this blog post too long, let's continue to Part 4 next! 

 

FAN Club Listing (I will continue to add to this)

• John Parlett (bondsman listed on James and Rachel marriage) 
• Absolom Dailey (1850 US Census Head of Household)
• Margaret Grove (Wife of Absolom Dailey)
• John Grove (Minister for the marriage of Absolom and Margaret)

Sources

107 Years of the Handley Library | Handley Regional Library System

Pippenger, Wesley E. Index to West Virginia Estates Before 1866. , 2013. Print.

Frederick County, Virginia Genealogy • FamilySearch

Who are George's Parents? Part 2 (1850 Census)

Continuing with my quest to find some piece of definitive evidence to discover George W. Dailey's parents, this blog post will focus on the first time George shows up on any records. He first appears in the 1850 US Federal Census in Frederick County, VA. 

Born in 1831, George is around 20 years old in this census and one would assume he might show up in the household of James and Rachel, right? WRONG!  George shows up in the household of an Absolom Dailey. WHAT?! Why is he not listed in the household of James Dailey, his supposed father? This case would be simpler if that were the case. Let's dig in a little more.    

In the 1850 US Census, the Head of Household and all the people in the house are listed, but relationships to the Head of Household are not listed. This makes things a little trickier when reviewing these records. Given this, I am unsure how George might be related to Absolom. Let's look at the record a little closer for some clues. I am guessing that Absolom is married to Margaret and the three children listed are theirs. 

• Absolom - Age 27 
• Margaret - Age 30
• Basil E. - Age 4
• John A. - Age 2
• Not Named - 9 months

George is then listed after the family and not listed with an occupation but born in Virginia and listed as 20 years old. There is one last person listed in the household, an Eliza Bullett, age 12 and a black female. 

I am thinking that Absolom might be an uncle, cousin, or brother to Rachel or James (since Rachel's name was listed as Dailey on the marriage bond from the last blog post). Because Absolom would have been born around 1823 and James and Rachel did not get married until 1825, brother to George is possible, but not likely.   

Knowing that Absolom is listed as a Merchant on the census could help me find additional records for the future, and I did discover that Absolom married Margaret Grove on the 20th of February 1845 and the bond was dated the 11th of February. 

Now to compile some possibilities for where James and Rachel Dailey in are 1850. 

• One or both are deceased 
• They are alive but George is living with Absolom, possibly working with him in his merchant store

I did a little more research and found that Rachel died in March of 1842. I found this Find a Grave listing with a good picture of the gravestone.  George would have been around 11 years old at the time of his mother's death. I could not find any death records or listings for James before 1850. 

The transcription for her gravestone is as follows: 

In memory of 

RACHEL DAILEY

Wife of 

JAMES DAILEY

Who was born on the 5th day of February 

AD 1805, 

and departed this life on the 18th

of March AD 1842

Beware of him and obey his voice

provoke him not; for he will not 

pardon your transgressions: 

for my name is in him. Exodus 23 chapter

21 verse and verse 22

 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, 

and do all that I speak; 

then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, 

and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

I had the privilege of visiting Rachel's grave in October 2021 when my cousin and I visited Frederick County, VA for a genealogy trip. We traveled to Wesley Chapel Cemetery, and it was a lovely cemetery with a small chapel. I love visiting the lands where ancestors are buried. It makes me feel closer to my four times great grandmother (if she is, in fact, my grandmother). When we arrived at the cemetery, it did not take us long to find her grave. The grave was in worse shape than the picture shown below and that makes me sad. But one of my biggest discoveries of the trip was in this cemetery.  Guess who was buried beside her....Absolom Dailey. 

So....given this fact, maybe Absolom is her brother? At the time of writing this, I am still unsure of exactly how they are related but being buried next to each other does say they might have been close.  <sigh> More mysteries! 

The next blog post will focus on Absolom Dailey.

Me and Rachel's grave and Absolom's grave to the left. 

FAN Club Listing (I will continue to add to this)

• John Parlett (bondsman listed on James and Rachel marriage) 
• Absolom Dailey (1850 US Census Head of Household)
• Margaret Grove (Wife of Absolom Dailey)
• John Grove (Minister for marriage of Absolom and Margaret)

Sources

Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Original data:Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C. Ancestry.com - 1850 United States Federal Census

Marriage Bonds and Licenses, 1773-1904. Marriage bonds, v. 15-20 1828-1850; Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1952.  Marriage bonds and licenses, 1773-1904; ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9XF-2984-8?cat=363549 (familysearch.org)

Vogt, John, and T W. Kethley. Frederick County Marriages, 1738-1850. Athens, Ga. (548 Cedar Creek Dr., Athens 30605: Iberian Press, 1987. Print.

U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current; Ancestry.com, Find A Grave, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012, Provo, UT, USA https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/67326022

 

Who are George's Parents? Part 1 (James and Rachel Marriage)

It's been a while since I have written any posts about my genealogy journey; however, I have been doing some research on the Dailey family, and I think it's time to document some findings. I decided in October of 2021 that I wanted to focus on proving that James and Rachel Dailey are the parents of George W. Daily. As mentioned in a previous blog post, Let's Get Started with the Dailey Family, there was a small booklet given to me from my grandma that lists the genealogy and it lists this marriage as a fact, but I was skeptical. All I had to go on was these two sentences in the booklet.

I started by trying to verify the marriage first. I did find a marriage bond for James Dailey and Rachel Dailey in Frederick County, Virginia dated 19 December 1825.  The bondsman listed on the document is a John Parlett.

Let’s digress a moment on Marriage Bonds. A marriage bond was basically an intention to marry filed by the groom-to-be and confirming there was no legal reason why the two couldn’t be married (either already married, too close of relation, or too young). The groom and the bondsman, typically the father or brother of the bride, were pledging that they would pay the indicated amount only if there was a reason they could not marry.

OK, back to James and Rachel...a few things stand out to me after examining the marriage bond: 

• Who the heck is John Parlett?  Realizing the bondman does not HAVE to be a father or brother, I am not sure how he might be related (if at all) to Rachel, but definitely not the same last name as Rachel. John gets filed under the FAN (friends/family, associates, and neighbors) Club for future research.
• The marriage date does not match from bond to the booklet, but I would trust the actual document over the typed history.
• Maybe Rachel was married before and her maiden name is actually Parlett. If her birth date was 5 Feb 1805, and she was 20 when she married James, that is possible. Need to check that later. The booklet says that her last name was Dailey and no relation, but I trust nothing unless proven. 

I also found the marriage listed in Frederick County Marriages, 1738-1850 book while I was at Allen County Public Library. Nothing new to add to the details. This listing is by Groom and you will notice a few more James Daileys. But we are focusing on the James and Rachel. 

While we have a few things to research from our findings, this proves nothing as far as being the parents of George W. Dailey. In the next blog post, I will dig into Rachel's death and information surrounding her death. 

FAN Club Listing (I will continue to add to this)

John Parlett (bondsman listed on James and Rachel marriage) 

Sources

Marriage Bonds and Licenses, 1773-1904. Marriage bonds, v. 10-14 1811-1828; Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1952. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9XF-2YGR?i=900&cat=363549

Vogt, John, and T W. Kethley. Frederick County Marriages, 1738-1850. Athens, Ga. (548 Cedar Creek Dr., Athens 30605: Iberian Press, 1987. Print.

Trouble for Harley Dailey - Part 2

In Part 2 of my blog posts about Harley Dailey and his troubles, let's continue to learn his fate.  Imagine my surprise when I pulled up the first article and the headline said, "Brother, Sister Shooting Victims"! I kept pulling up more articles and more scandalous headlines.  Here is a transcription of one of the articles that explains the situation. 

DOUBLE KILLING ENDS QUARREL. Paoli News, 13 December 1939.

"A quarrel between brother and sister over who should stay at the family home and care for the mother led to a fatal shooting in which two were killed.  The tragedy took place place on the Dailey farm near Valeene and seven miles southeast of Paoli.  

Mrs. Edna Landrus, 42, of Paoli, and her brother, Harley Dailey, 48, patient in Hillcrest Tuberculosis Sanatorium at Vincennes, were shot fatally. Dailey was home on a vacation.

Deputy Sheriff Floyd Morris of Orange County related that the woman's son, Jewell Dailey, 21, of Paoli, said his uncle shot his mother. Then young Dailey killed the uncle."

Ok, what the what?  Read that again and again and again.  Seriously.  Brother shoots sister, nephew shoots uncle!  Need more details?  Keep reading.

"The brother and sister had quarreled, the deputy sheriff quoted the young man as saying, over which should live with their 76-year old mother, Mrs. Josephine Dailey, on her farm, where the shooting took place. 

The deputy sheriff said young Dailey gave this account of the shooting.

Mrs. Landrus and her son had been staying on the farm the last three weeks. Her brother drove there Sunday from Vincennes.  

He went rabbit hunting. Back at the farm house he parked his automobile, got out and stood holding a shotgun.

A quarrel followed. All four on the farm took part. Mrs. Landrus ran up to her brother and he struck her.  His mother then ran up and he hit her too.  Young Dailey went into the house and obtained a pistol.  

When he came out his uncle had shot his mother once in the back and killed her.  He emptied five chambers of the pistol into his uncle's body. 

The young man was jailed here on an open charge while Sheriff Noble Ellis and Coroner George Dillinger investigated.  

Funeral services were held for Mrs. Landrus from the Ellis Funeral Chapel, Tuesday afternoon, conducted by the Rev. D.M. Boyd and burial made in the Community cemetery.  

Mr Dailey will be buried this afternoon (Wednesday) at Concord with funeral services at the Ellis Chapel with Rev. Boyd conducting."

How can this be?  Can you imagine this poor mother witnessing and seeing two children killed in front of her in her own front yard?  This just makes me so sad.

In reading a few more articles, a few more details emerge.  The Logansport Pharos Tribune claimed that Harley died instantly and Edna died en route to the hospital.  In addition, Edna was a defendant in a divorce suit filed in English by her husband, Jerry Landrus.  The Monroe Morning World, stated Edna was on her second marriage and her son, Jewell, had adopted his mother's maiden name.  While the Manitowac Wisconsin Herald stated that Harley was killed by a .38-caliber revolver while Edna was murdered by a .410 gauge shotgun. Another article in the Paoli Republican said that Jewell fired his shots at his uncle through the window and three of the pistol bullets struck Harley.  

Now you may be wondering about Jewell and if he escaped punishment for the murder of his uncle.  Remember what Grandma Leona said when I asked her if the persons responsible went to jail, and she said, "No, not back then. It was justified. They didn't have to go to jail."  Well, let's find out exactly what happened.  

Apparently Jewell was held in the Orange County Jail immediately following the killings and a special session of the grand jury met to decide his charges.  He was indicted and faced the charge of voluntary manslaughter for the killing of his uncle. Bond was set for $2500, and his trial was set for February 26, 1940.  I also learned his full name in the court news of the paper, Charles Jewell York Dailey.  However, another article put "Jack" by his name as well.  

  
At the court hearing in February, it didn't take long to acquit Jewell for the charges.  The trial lasted for two days and the jury gave the non-guilty verdict with only fifteen minutes of deliberation.  Mrs. Josephine Dailey testified in the courtroom on the first day of the trial and stated, "Harley came to her home, seven miles south of Paoli, the day he was slain to visit her and go rabbit hunting. After hunting a while he came back to the house and told her he was going back to Paoli on business."

Sheriff Noble Ellis testified as well and stated, "Harley and a man he identified as Roy Gerkins came to him that morning and asked if there was some way to make Mrs. Landrus and Jewell leave his mother's house because they were living there on her pension money."  The sheriff told him there was nothing he could do.  

Josephine also stated, "They came back and said a heated argument was engaged in by Edna, Harley and Jewell during which the aged woman said she was knocked to the ground and when she regained her senses she found Harley lying on the ground near her and Edna lying on the ground a few feet from Harley.  She said Jewell asked her to help him get Mrs. Landrus, his mother, to a doctor since he did not believe she was dead and they met a doctor about a half mile up the road who pronounced Edna dead and they brought he back home."

The courtroom was said to be packed for the two day trial with standing room only, and when the ordeal ended, the courtroom erupted in what was described as a "joyous uproar" and "compared by some spectators to that of a close basketball game" when Jewell's acquittal was read.   

Seeing the Indiana Death Certificates for both Edna and Harley solidify this awful fateful day where two siblings were killed by members of their own families.  So you see, Grandma Leona's story was correct.  She would have been about 21 years of age at the time this tragedy happened in her family.  It made an impression on her just as it has made an impression on mine while I have been learning about our family history.  In closing, let's learn to love one another, folks!    

Sources

Newspaper Article, Paoli News, Paoli, Indiana, 13 Dec 1939, Page 1, Column 3 and 4, Double Killing Ends Quarrel.

Newspaper Article, Logansport Pharos Tribune, Logansport, Indiana, 12 Dec 1939, Page 5, Column 3, Youth Held for Murder.

Newspaper Article, Monroe Morning World, Monroe, Louisiana, 11 Dec 1939, Page 4, Column 5, Two Killed, Son of One Arrested.

Newspaper Article, Manitowoc Herald Tribune, Manitowoc , Wisconsin, 11 Dec 1939, Page 7, Column 3, Family Quarrel End in Shooting; 2 Dead.


Newspaper Article, Paoli News, Paoli, Indiana, 14 Dec 1939, Page 1, Column 6, Jury To Meet for Sifting Of Dailey Deaths.

Court News, Paoli News, Paoli, Indiana, 27 Dec 1939, Page 1, Column 1, Court Adjourns Until February.

Newspaper Article, Paoli News, Paoli, Indiana, 28 Dec 1940, Page 1, Column 1 and 2, Jewell Dailey Acquitted Tuesday on the First Ballot. 

Newspaper Article, Paoli Republican, Paoli, Indiana, 29 Dec 1940, Page 1, Column 5, Packed Courtroom Applauds Dailey Manslaughter Acquittal. 

Ancestry.com. Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Indiana State Board of Health. Death Certificates, 1900–2011. Microfilm. Indiana Archives and Records Administration, Indianapolis, Indiana.