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Author: sarah1000000
Surnames: Chadwell/Bradberry/Gaylor/Goldston/Ruyle/Ruhle/Rule
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.chadwell/208/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
Here's my mystery family: My gggrandmother, Sarah Jane Chadwell was b. Aug 1866 in
Brighton, Polk Co., MO. Her brother, William Samuel Chadwell, was b. Dec. 1869 possibly in
San Antonio, Bexar Co., TX, according to his family. (I have no proof of either of these
births, if I did, I would know their parents names!) These children had a step- or
half-sister, Ida Ann Chadwell, who was shot by James Gaylor in 1872 in Polk County, MO and
the parents were listed as Martha and William Chadwell. I have a marriage certificate from
Bolivar for Martha Bradberry and William Chadwell on March 28, 1870, so that is confirmed.
William's deposition after Ida was shot states that Martha had Ida before he married
her, therefore, she was either from a previous marriage or illegitimate. The other
children were also born before this marriage, so I don't know if he was married
before, or she was, or they stole some children in the night and passed them off as
theirs!
In 1850 the only Bradberry living in Polk County, MO was a 2-year old William Bradberry,
living with Reuben and Mary Gaylor, the parents of James Gaylor. There is no sign of
Martha and she should have been about 5. It can't be a coincidence that the
Gaylor's and Bradberry's are so closely tied, unless they are related somehow. I
think this is the connection, but haven't been able to prove it. The father of Mary
Gaylor, nee Goldston, had two sisters who married Bradberry's, but I can find no
record of children from these marriages. It doesn't mean there were none, it's
just hard to find them because they were so long ago!
In the 1860 Census of Polk Co., MO Martha was 15, wasn't married and didn't have
any kids. She was living with an Adison Low and family as a servant or housekeeper in Polk
County. Some distant relatives of mine suggest that she may have married a Rule (Ruhle,
Ruhl, Ruyle or a hundred other spellings), I have never found any useful clues along these
lines, but it was between census years. The Ruyle name also fits with the Gaylor/Goldston
family.
I traced William Samuel's side of the family down just so I could find out what story
was passed down to his descendants and it is virtually the same. His granddaughter says
that the mother, Martha, died fairly young of ovarian cancer or something similar not long
after Sarah got married. I know she was alive in 1882, because she gave permission for
Sarah to get married to John Bryan in Pleasant Hope. By 1900 there is no one left in
Missouri. Sarah ended up in Washington state and William (jr.) moved to Colorado. The
father disappeared somewhere along the line.
In the 1880 Census, Martha Chadwell was living with a John Brown and family, and several
other people, some of whom are listed as insane, poor farm? While there is a story that
they all lived in the poorhouse until Sarah Chadwell was 8, that would have been around
1874, not 1880. In 1880, Sarah is living with John Emlet and family, and Samuel (William
jr.) is living with Nathaniel Wilson's widow, Sarah Wilson, and family. Sarah
Wilson's home is where the marriage of Sarah Chadwell and John Bryan took place.
I would appreciate ANY leads with this. I have been searching for years!
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