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.

Let's Get Started with the Dailey Family

I have been on this genealogy journey for the last few years and focusing on my married name of Woods.  I decided it was time to start digging into my Collins and Dailey roots!  I'll admit, it scared me a little bit to get started. I think that's why it took me so long to start.  With such common names as Collins and Dailey, I thought, "This is going to be soooooo hard!"  But then I thought, "When have I ever skirted from a challenge? Um, NEVER!" 

So here goes....I will do my best to start gathering some good stories for us and sharing what I learn.

I'm going to start with posting a look at our Dailey family tree for reference.  It appears we may have roots in Virginia, and our Dailey ancestor (George Washington Dailey) migrated to Indiana sometime around 1857. 

Before my grandmother, Leona Dailey Collins, died, I spent some time with her over several visits and gathered some family history.  Oh, how I wished I had asked more questions!  Don't we always wish that as genealogists?  If you are reading this and are thinking of speaking with a relative about your family history, seize the day! 

Grandma had some old pictures and a little booklet entitled, History of the Dailey Family, and quite honestly, this is probably the reason I got the genealogy bug!   I was mesmerized by the old picture of George Washington Dailey and his second wife, Mary Ann Bridgewater, and all their children.  The little booklet was also intriguing because I was thinking someone actually took some time and researched MY family. 

The booklet appears to have been compiled in 1966 by Bert E. and Norah J. Marshall.  This has been my starting point for the Dailey family history I have been gathering.  When someone published and compiles a family history, one should view it as hints to the truth and not gospel, unless they have well documented sources and you have verified those sources.  This booklet does not have any sources documented, so I have been dissecting it and thoroughly enjoying it! 

The first page starts out with some interesting news.  My four times great grandfather and grandmother were from Frederick County, Virginia.  I have been working on proving this fact and it is more difficult as I'd hoped, as there are multiple James Daileys in Frederick County, Virginia around this 1800-1850 time period. 
However, if I go back to the first paragraph of this blog, I am up the challenge and see if I can sort out the James Dailey mess over the course of the next few months. 

While I sort out this mess, I may have to digress and tell you some interesting stories I have found already and more current than 1850.  The first one involves MURDER!  Yes, I said murder, and in this little Dailey family and in the little county of Orange, Indiana.  Stay tuned folks! 

Sources:

Bert E. and Norah J. Marshall, Published Stout's Print Shop, Paoli, Indiana, History of the Dailey Family; supplied by Leona Ethel Dailey Collins, Orleans, Indiana, United States, History Published in 1966, Collected and Written in 1964 and 1965; Small 16 page booklet photocopied and stapled. Given to Deidre Collins Woods by Leona Ethel Dailey Collins (her grandmother) in 2008.

George Washington Dailey Family pictured are: George Dailey, Mary Ann Bridgewater Dailey, John Dailey, Daniel Dailey, Jeremiah McCullough Dailey, Ulysses Morton Dailey, ; digital image, ; privately held by Deidre Woods, Greenfield, IN 46140, 2019. Photograph copy given to Deidre Collins Woods by her grandmother, Leona Dailey Collins.