In all my years of genealogy research, patience and frustration are not uncommon. Usually, though, it goes hand-in-hand.....with a little frustration of hitting dead-ends, than a little patience until that one record appears to break down the wall. And, it usually happens with an individual. The Miley's are different - it's the whole fam damily.
I have experienced more frustration (and have tried a little patience, too) with this family. I keep hitting these brick walls - with all of them!
So, the most I can do with the post on the Mileys is to just blog what I have so far.
Mary Mitchell, the daughter of Bernard and Bridget Jennie Mulranel (or Jane), married John Miley. Together, they had at least seven children - John, Jane, Annie, Mary, Catherine (Kate), Winnie, and Alice.
The 1860 Federal Census shows John and Mary in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire along with their first child (and only son), John.
I have been unable to find a marriage record for them, but I think it's safe to assume they were married in New Hampshire.
By 1870, they are now residing in Whiteside County, Illinois, with their additional children of Jane, Ann, Mary, and Kate (of course, son John is there also). This Census reports Jane as having been born in New Hampshire and Ann in Illinois, so another safe assumption is that they moved to Illinois between 1861 and 1865.
Now, the 1880 Federal Census is a bit of a "head-scratching" puzzle. By this time, their oldest son, John, had married Etta Fuller in Iowa and was off on his own; but, John (the father) is listed in his own household with daughters, Annie, and 9 year old Winnie. He is recorded as married, but Mary and the other children are not there.
Mary appears in her own household (in Whiteside County, also, like her husband, John), as widowed, along with her daughters, Mary, Katy, and 6 year old Alice. Also, in the household is Mary's brother, Bartley.
So, what's up with this?
One possibility is that John died in 1880, leaving Mary widowed. I'm just not sure why they were in two separate households with the children split up the way they were in the Census.
The next record found with the widow Mary is the Iowa State Census of 1885 where she is living in Crawford County with her children, Katey and Alice. So, what happened to Jane, Annie, Mary, and Winnie (we already know that her only son, John, is married and off on his own)?
Well, let's see now....I can't find anything on Jane after the 1870 Census. There are some marriage possibilities, but nothing definitive. There is also the possibility that she passed away, but no record of it.
Annie is another mystery - with no record after the 1880 Census. It is also the same with daughter, Mary, and daughter, Winnie. There is nothing on her beyond the 1880 Census.
Daughter Katey married Tim Kenney in 1893. Daughter Alice married August Abts in 1906.
Mary Mitchell Miley remained in Crawford County until her death in 1908, and is buried in Saint Ann's cemetery along with many others from the Mitchell family.
I have done a pretty intense search through newspaper.com and Chronicling America, but could find no references on the Miley family. I will add them to the blog if I do come across anything at a later time.
