Thursday, May 2, 2013

Elizabeth Hagan-Mattingly-Boone

Life isn't always easy when dancing with the ancestors. Those pesky brick walls just seem to build themselves up in a nanosecond. I mean, one minute, I'm searching along, discovery after discovery, and then in the next instant BAM - an Emeril moment at best - there's a brick wall blocking my path and towering high into the sky and, seemingly, deep into the ground.

Such is my dilemma with 4 x Great Grandma Elizabeth Hagan-Mattingly-Boone! 

Why? Oh, I'm so glad you asked that question. Okay, you probably didn't ask that question, but, it is an appropriate question.

The why of the situation is fairly simple: everything I've found out about her suggests that Benjamin Hagan, son of Thomas and Sarah (Mudd) Hagan is her father, and that Monica Blandford is her mother, but . . . other information suggests that a Randolph Hagan is her father.

Great! Fine! Dandy!

So, I had to take a step back from the situation and try and figure out Great-Great-Great-Great Grandma's parentage. It goes something like this . . .

Elizabeth Hagan - born about 1771 or between 1790 and 1800.
  • 1830 Census - lists her age between 50 - 59, which suggests a birth year between 1770 and 1780, which would correspond with the born about 1771 information that is predominant regarding her birth
  • 1840 Census - lists her age between 40 - 49, which suggests a birth year between 1790 and 1800. Okay, so, like many women before her, she lied about her age to the Census Taker! Okay, probably not, but, wrong birth dates on the Census Records are not uncommon. Still, this puts a different spin on her potential year of birth.
So, I had to look at things a bit differently. If Elizabeth was born in 1771 . . . 
  • she would have been 41 years old in 1812 when she married her first husband Joseph Mattingly
  • she would have been 43 years old in 1814 when she gave birth to her first child Joseph Mattingly II
  • she would have been 46 years old in 1817 when, after the death of her first husband, she married Walter Boone
  • she would have been 49 years old in 1820 when she gave birth to her second child, my 3 x great grandpa, William Henry Boone
Okay, I'm sorry, but giving birth at age 49 in the year 1820 was probably not going to happen and, even if it did, the chance of a) a healthy baby and b) the mother surviving the birth, were highly unlikely.

So, if looking at the 1840 Census Record, and giving her a birth year between 1790 and 1800 . . .
  • she would have been between 12 and 22 years old in 1812 when she married her first husband Joseph Mattingly. 
  • she would have been between 14 and 24 years old in 1814 when she gave birth to her first child Joseph Mattingly II
  • she would have been between 17 and 27 years old in 1817 when, after the death of her first husband, she married Walter Boone
  • she would have been between 20 - 30 years old in 1820 when she gave birth to her second child, my 3 x great grandpa, William Henry Boone
These age ranges make much more sense, especially if you consider she was born in 1795, which would make her ages . . .

  • 17 in 1812
  • 19 in 1814
  • 22 in 1817
  • 25 in 1820
These ages definitely make a lot more sense, than having her born in 1771 and popping out a second child, no complications or anything, in 1820.

Still, no proof one way or another, and her age doesn't answer the question of her parentage.

What does that leave me? Well, for now, looking at three potential parents: Benjamin and Monica (Blandford) Hagan, Benjaim (jr.) and Nancy Ann (Cissell) Hagan, and Randolph and Aliege (Hagan) Hagan

Benjamin and Monica (Blandford) Hagan
  • In 1771, would have been 50 and 47 respectively. It is doubtful Monica was having children at age 47 in the year 1771
  • In 1795, Benjamin and Monica would have been 74 and 71 respectively, so . . .
  • In 1810, in Nelson County, Kentucky, a document lists the heirs of Benjamin Hagan as: Nicholas, Edward, Wilfred, Elizabeth, Christopher, Rachel (Hagan) Beale, and Eleanor
  • In an indenture document from 1810, Nelson County, Kentucky, the same heirs are listed
  • A John C. Hagan (most likely John Christopher Hagan, son of Benjamin and Monica) signed the marriage bond between Elizabeth Hagan-Mattingly and Walter Boone. Since Benjamin and Monica were deceased by this time, and if they were Elizabeth's parents, it would fall on an older/younger brother to sign the marriage bond.
  • Determination: depending on 4 x great grandmama's actual date of birth, Benjamin and Monica (Blandford) Hagan might or might not be her parents. 
Benjamin II and Nancy Ann (Cissell) Hagan
  • They did not marry until 1804. If Elizabeth was their daughter, she would have been 7 at the oldest in 1812 when she married Joseph Mattingly.
  • Determination: Benjamin II and Nancy Ann (Cissell) Hagan cannot by 4 x great-grandmother Elizabeth Hagan's parents.
Randolph and Aliege (Hagan) Hagan
  • They were married in 1795. It is possible they could be Elizabeth's parents; however . . .
  • In Randolph's last will and testament, he names all of his children and . . . Elizabeth is not one of the listed children, nor are the married names of any of his daughters Boone
  • Determination: Randolph and Aliege (Hagan) Hagan cannot be 4 x great gran Elizabeth Hagan's parents
So, I'm back at that lovely brick well. 

The next step in the process is to figure out other potential Hagan parents - trust me, a lot to choose from, because the Hagan family took the biblical saying go forth, be fruitful and multiply quite seriously - for Elizabeth.

My next step was to look at the naming patterns. Trust me, this helps. Back in the day, the first born son was often named after the grandfather, and the second born after the son. So, I went to look at the naming of 4 x great grandpa Walter Boone's children by his first wife Mildred Edelen . . .

  • Mary - name of Walter's mother, so named after grandma
  • Charles - name of Walter's father, so named after grandpa
  • John - name of Walter's grandfather, so named after great-grandpa
  • Christopher - name of Mildred's father, so named after grandpa
  • Henrietta - Walter had a brother named Henry
  • Joseph - don't have a clue
As you can see, there is definitely a naming pattern here, so, at least to me, it made sense that perhaps there was a naming pattern with Walter and Elizabeth (Hagan-Mattingly) Boone's only child: William Henry Boone.

As I've already pointed out, Walter had a brother named Henry, but not one named William. Which . . .

. . . means my latest theory is that perhaps Elizabeth is the daughter of William Randolph Hagan. Now, I only have to figure out if a) there was a William Randolph Hagan, b) who his parents were and c) if he had a daughter Elizabeth. 

Oh, the joys of dancing with the ancestors and trying to solve the riddles left behind by, well, a bunch of dead people!!


1 comment:

  1. Oy! This is somewhat similar to the Abbott and Costello version of "Who's on First, What's on Second, I don't know's on Third!" Good luck...I'm sure you are gonna get this all figured out.

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