I am researching the SPENCE, RAYHOUSER, BEAVER, COVINGTON AND WRIGHT
families of Ft.Wayne. I have used the Allen county and ancestry (paid
subscription) websites which have added immensely to my information. I would
very much like to correspond with any descendants of these families, which
are more clearly defined below.
(Mary) Jane (nee BODDY) and John SPENCE emigrated to America from England c
1850/1851 and brought with them their two daughters, Mary Jane and Caroline
"Clara." There were also two sons, John Jr. born 1825 in Leeds, and Edward
born in 1834, but I have no further information about them. I do not know
whether they emigrated with their parents or not.
I do not know if they came directly to Ft. Wayne. The first proof I have of
the family in Ft. Wayne is daughter Caroline (Clara)'s marriage to Augustus
C. BEAVER in 1855. I do know that John Spence Sr. was dead by 1857 (Jane's
father's probate). It would seem that he did not die in Ft. Wayne, because
after her funeral at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Jane Boddy
Spence was buried in Avilla, Noble County, IN, in the Catholic cemetery next
to her sister, Eliza Boddy Moorhouse.
The two daughters were not Catholic as adults. As stated above, Caroline
"Clara" married Augustus C. Beaver in 1855 and they had one daughter, also
named Clara. The mother, Caroline Spence Beaver died in 1860/61. Clara
married Frank Miller.
Mary Jane Spence married Rufus Rayhouser in 1856 and they had five children.
The three sons, Charles, Alfred, and Francis "Frank" never married. Alfred
and Frank had a farm together in Perry Twp. Daughter Addie T. married
Charles E. Wright and they had one daughter named Helen Wright who was born
in 1903. Daughter Annie married Rev. Thomas E. Covington and they had four
children: May (who became a missionary and went to Central America), Helen,
Thomas, and Addie Covington. Is the May Covington who married William Meyers
in 1919 (Indiana marriage index) the same as the May above? I haven't yet
had a chance to obtain this marriage record.
Would be delighted to hear from anyone searching these families. Thank you.
Sincerely, Patricia Boddy Tharp