Nelson S. and Mary Ann Houseworth, first cousins they were, married on July 12, 1859, in Delaware, Ohio. Much of my early research failed to find a maiden name for Mary Ann. After a trip to the Delaware County Public Library in 1999 I discovered the reason may have been because their last names were indeed the same....Houseworth. I believe that Mary Ann's last name was omitted because of confusion by authorities or family embarrassment(although cousin marriages, even first cousins, were more common back in the day). The wedding photos/portraits posted earlier in this blog were sent to me by a cousin Bessie Okray, a descendant of Cora, one of the children of Mary Ann and Nelson.
Mary Ann and Nelson and the 7 children born in Waldo moved to Blue Creek Township, Paulding County, Ohio, in late 1872....4 more children(including my Grandfather Sam) were born in Paulding County over the next 8 years.
opinion
_______"I believe that Nelson and several other Houseworth family and Felkey cousins moved to southern Paulding County because the Great Black Swamp was being cleared and they saw the opportunity for cheap land and new jobs. The family settle in Blue Creek Township, where the 4 youngest children were born.
Nelson contracted Typhoid Fever and died in the long since gone town of Follmer in November of 1887. One of the Houseworth daughters married a my by the name of Michael Follmer, thousands of small "towns" spotted the rural landscape back then, named after the families that settled them....the location of Follmer was just north of present day Haviland and is nothing more than acres of farm land in Blue Creek Township today.
Nelson is buried in the Blue Creek Township Cemetery(stone posted earlier), records also indicate that William(died age 3), and oldest son Alonzo are also buried there. I have no stone however for either of those sons. Mary Ann was living in the nearby town of Tipton in June 1896....she passed away that September, but I have no official death or burial records.
Blue Creek Township is located along the northern border of Van Wert County in south central Paulding County....it is located on the southern edge of the Great Black Swamp. In the 1800s when the was being cleared and drained, Blue Creek and Paulding were indeed harsh, wet and mosquito invested environments...it is possible that 50 year old Nelson Houseworth died from the Typhoid caused in full or in part by that very environment, however, we will never know(in all my research I have never found Nelson's middle name, only the S...Solomon was common and his Grandfather's name...possible?)
For excellent information on the Great Black Swamp go to:
{photos:Entrance to Great Black Swamp Center in Paulding, Ohio, (L) Much of the swamp looks like this rich farmland in Paulding County today(R) Location map of the Great Black Swamp}.
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