James, Rebecca and Abner, 1850 Belmont County, OH
I am seeking information about a James, Rebecca and Abner Howell who appeared in a household headed by James in 1850 in York Township of Belmont County, Ohio.
The census states:
James HowellM 30y, born in Ohio (by ditto marks from the above entries in that column for other households)
"Corilla" HowellF 35y, born in Ohio (her name was mistranscribed, and looking at Heritage Quest's digital image of the handwritten census page, it actually says Cevilla)
Margaret HowellF 10y
John HowellM 8y
Sarah HowellF 6y
George HowellM 4y
James HowellM 1y
Rebecca HowellF 24yb. VA
Abner HowellM 22yb. VA
Computing dates of birth, James was born about 1820, Rebecca about 1826 and Abner about 1828.It is reasonable to infer that Rebecca and Abner were James's siblings, and because they were both born in Virginia (part of which was just across the Ohio River from Belmont County), it is also reasonable to infer that James was born in Virginia and the census taker simply got carried away with ditto marks.
On the Latter Day Saints website (www.familysearch.org) there are submissions to the International Genealogical Index and to the Pedigree Resource Files which state that James Howell married Sevilla Bryson (daughter of John and Susannah Bryson), and which refer to Powhatan, which must mean Powhatan Point, at the mouth of Captina Creek, in York Township, Belmont County.
The IGI for North America, Batch No. M513101, states that John Bryson had married Susannah "Gatz" on February 18, 1810 in Belmont County.(Susannah was of German ancestry, originally Getz, but over the years anglicized as Gates.)It is fairly obvious that the "Cevilla" of the 1850 census was Sevilla (Bryson) Howell.
The IGI for North America, Batch No. M513105, states that a Rebecca Howell married a John Beaty on March 24, 1853 in Belmont County, Ohio.In the 1860 census for Richland Township, Belmont County, Ohio is the following:
Beaty, John, age 44, a white male born in OH, with wifeRebecca, 34, born in VA
Children in the household were Robert 16, Mary 20, Joseph 14, Ellen 12, and Margaret 6, all b. in OH.
We can infer that John Beaty had been married before, had his first 4 kids, his first wife died, and he married Rebecca in 1853 and they had Margaret in 1854.This is confirmed by another extracted marriage record from Belmont County (IGI North America Batch No. M513103), which states John Beaty had married Frances Mills on September 29, 1836 in Belmont County.
Now comes the problem.In the 1860 census for Belmont County, there was only one James Howell.He was in Union Township, but his reported age was only 35, born in VA.My best interpretation of the name of his wife is either "Cuvila" or "Cyvila" (using other examples of the census taker's handwriting from other entries on the same page for comparison to "decipher" her name).She was listed as age 27 and born in Ohio.There was only one child in the household, a "G. W." Howell, age 3.Clearly there are major discrepancies between the household of James and Cevilla in 1850 and the household of James and Cuvila in 1860, but I believe it was the same couple.
I have not been able to find the Abner Howell born in 1828 in a census after 1850.
There might be a naming clue for the mother of this James, Rebecca and Abner.James and Sevilla (Bryson) Howell named their first daughter Margaret, and that name does not seem to come from the Bryson side.Then, John and Rebecca (Howell) Beaty named their first daughter Margaret.With both James and Rebecca choosing the name Margaret for a first daughter, there is a strong possibility that their mother had been named Margaret.
Finally, in the 1860 census, James and "Cuvila" (Bryson) Howell were immediate neighbors of Miner Howell, born ca. 1818 to Abel and Naomi (Reed) Howell, who had migrated to Belmont County, OH from Loudoun County, VA before 1850.While Abel and Naomi did not have children named James, Rebecca and Abner, there is nonetheless a possibility that James, Rebecca and Abner were related to the Howells of Loudoun County.
One parallel is worth mentioning.Abel Howell had a brother Abner Howell, who married Priscilla Wade and did indeed have children named James, Rebecca and Abner, but the various trees posted on the internet show dates of birth for these three that do NOT match the dates of birth computed for the James, Rebecca and Abner of the 1850 census.
Does anyone have any information on James, Rebecca and Abner, such as their parents and siblings?If so, please share.