[Genealogy] Near to Moberly, Marriage Locations, and More
Michael John Neill
mjnrootdig at gmail.com
Fri Jan 16 16:49:40 CST 2026
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16 January 2026
** Near to Moberly--Good Enough?
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Near to Moberly--Good Enough?
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Nancy Rampley fought repeatedly for a pension based upon her husband
Riley’s service in Company D of the 78th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. That
was bad for her, but good for her descendants in that a special examiner
was sent out to obtain testimony from Nancy and several of her neighbors.
Nancy’s sixteen-page testimony, given on 14 August 1902, provided several
direct genealogical statements including the following:
“I was born near Milroy, Rush County, Indiana. My maiden name was Nancy J.
Newman. My father’s name was William Newman. My mother’s name was Rebecca
Newman. Her maiden name was Rebecca Tinsley. My father and mother are both
dead. They died near to Moberly, Randolph County, Missouri.
There is nothing more specific bout the Newmans in Nancy’s pension file.
All that can be inferred from Nancy’s statement is that her parents were
dead as of the date her statement was made: 14 August 1902. William and
Rebecca have not been located in the 1880 census. They are enumerated in
the 1870 census in Hancock County, Illinois, where they had moved in the
1860s from White County, Indiana.
Census records, pension records, and vital records on their children allow
the researcher to establish a list of the known children of William and
Rebecca.
What’s missing is a precise date of death and a precise place of death.
And that may never be found. If William and Rebecca owned no real property
at their death, then it is not surprising that there is no probate file.
Missouri death records in the 1880s are incomplete. None of William and
Rebecca’s other children lived in the immediate Moberly area–it is possible
they are buried in an unmarked grave or one that received little attention
or care after the stone was erected. I may not find any good record of
their death or burials.
Of course they are deceased-that’s not really the question. There are sites
and compilations that have a death year for them–but something with a
source is what I’m after.
The question is how much time do I want to spending trying to get at an
exact date and place of death.
Or do I just go with what great-great-grandma Rampley said and move on
(citing her testimony as the source)?
I’m tempted.
It’s a decision we all have to make, balancing time, money, and other
research interests.
--------------------------
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Marriage Locations
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I posted this quite a few years ago, but it has been updated with
additional details of the marriage location of my parents through my
great-great-grandparents. The only one I “know” was in a church was my
parents’ wedding. The others who were married by a minister probably had it
done at the parsonage or in the church, but I’m not certain. The only
reason I know where a set of my great-great-grandparents married is that
it’s mentioned in their Civil War pension papers. Marriage records don’t
often provide the precise location of the ceremony. Newspaper accounts of a
marriage may provide additional details.
I’m not a big fan of writing prompts, but reviewing these locations records
to see if I have more precise information might be a good idea. One never
knows what one might discover.
My parents:
- Carthage, Hancock County, Illinois–in church (local)
My grandparents
- Keithsburg, Mercer County, Illinois–eloped (minister)
- Warsaw, Hancock County, Illinois–eloped (minister)
My great-grandparents
- Breckenridge, Hancock County, Illinois–minister (local)
- Tioga, Hancock County, Illinois–minister (local)
- near Basco, Hancock County, Illinois–minister (local)
- Carthage, Hancock County, Illinois–minister (local) at parsonage
My great-great-grandparents
- St. John, New Brunswick, Canada
- Walker Township, Hancock County, Illinois–minister (local) at bride’s
home
- Tioga, Hancock County, Illinois–minister (local)
- Soap Creek Township, Davis County, Iowa–justice of peace (local)
- near Basco, Hancock County, Illinois–minister (local)
- Golden, Adams County, Illinois–minister (local)
- Prairie Township, Hancock County, Illinois–minister (local)
- Coatsburg, Adams County, Illinois–minister (local)
All the marriage locations were local to where the couples were
living–except for both sets of my grandparents. My paternal grandparents
drove several counties away to get married–they were well beyond legal age
(32 for grandpa and 25 for grandma). My maternal grandparents got married
in a town about fifteen miles from where they were living, but still within
the county limits as my grandmother was under age and had to get consent.
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Genealogy Tip of the Day
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