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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks no. 22—Olive Hall Dunbar (1823-1902)

My Grandma Grace probably never met her Grandma Olive. Grace grew up in rural western Nebraska. She never mentioned a visit from her grandmother, nor did she speak of traveling to visit her.

Olive had traveled, though. She lived in three states, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Michigan. Born at Chatham, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, on June 10, 1823, she was the 10th child of seafarer and salt maker Benjamin E. Dunbar and his wife Rhoda Hall. They lived on the Cape until Olive was about eight years old.

At that time, in the early 1830’s, the market for salt made from sea water had dwindled. The Dunbars sold their holdings and moved inland to then-Portage County, Ohio. They settled in Stow, and the father died soon after their arrival.

Olive probably never saw the ocean again. She and a couple of younger sisters grew up in the home of her widowed mother, surrounded by her older siblings and their families. Her father left her some town property, so a prominent local man became her guardian and watched over her estate. By the time she was nineteen, she had met someone to marry.

She and John Davis Riddle probably were wed on January 7, 1843 by a Justice of the Peace in Summit County, Ohio. Curiously, their names on the marriage record do not match those on other records they created through their lives. He signed as “John Davis”, omitting his Riddle surname. She gave her name as “Olla” rather than Olive.

Olive’s first two daughters, Tamson and Theodocia, were born in Ohio in 1845 and 1847, respectively. John and Olive probably farmed in Summit County.

A few months after Theodocia’s birth, Olive sold her inherited town lots. She and John left for Michigan where they acquired a farm and added to their family. They lived the rest of their lives near Mendon, Michigan. Together they had eight children and also raised one of their grandsons:

  1. Tamson Rebecca (1845-1922)
  2. Theodocia Orlinda (1847-1929)
  3. Isaac Newton (1849-1915)
  4. Ethan Henry (1851-1931)
  5. Laura Ruamy (1853-1933), my ancestor
  6. John Hoxey (1855-1937)
  7. Seymour Alfonso (1858-1934)
  8. Olive Delila (1865-1947)
  9. Aden Ralph (1867-1947), Tamson’s son

Olive reportedly worked hard as farm wife. Her grandchildren recalled that she kept a spotless kitchen floor, scrubbing it daily.

By 1890, the children had grown up. Three of them, Theodocia, Laura, and Seymour, left Michigan to homestead in Nebraska. Did Olive ever see them again?

The passing years did not treat John and Olive kindly. His vision failed, making farm work difficult. The couple finally made a pact for their care with their oldest son Newton. If he remained single, worked their farm, and cared for them, he would eventually inherit the property. Unfortunately, they did not reduce this agreement to writing.

After John committed suicide by hanging himself in his barn in 1896, Olive continued to live on the farm with Newton. When she passed away in 1902, he assumed the farm would be his.

His brother Ethan thought otherwise. He sued his brother for his share of the farm. Because there was no written agreement giving the farm to Newton, Ethan won.

Olive’s farm was sold at auction. Newton received $1174.88 in recognition of his care for his parents, and the other children each received $43.14. Olive’s property had consisted of bushels of wheat, rye, corn, hay, and oats; two cows and a calf; 25 chickens; 16 bed quilts; a feather bed; 4 pillows; 4 cotton bed sheets; a feather tick; table linens; crockery and tin ware; a churn; a milk safe; a clock; 10 chairs; a cooking stove; a rag carpet; an extension table; and 8 framed pictures.

Olive was laid to rest in the Mendon Cemetery, next to John, on June 3, 1902.

 

 

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