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| Marriage License Cover |
The descendants of William K Summers
have been extensively researched by Judith (“Judy”) Somers,
wife of Dale Somers, William K’s great grandson. (The spelling of the last name
was changed.) Before Judy died in 1992, she corresponded with Verne (Crabtree)
Summers, wife of James Jordan’s son from
his third marriage, John William Summers (see The Mysterious Tillman Andrew), passing on abstracts of Illinois courthouse
records. Among the abstracted
records were those of James Jordan’s 1879
marriage to Rosetta “Caul” in Hamilton Co. There were two highly questionable things
in the abstracts. First was the claim that the records showed this to be
James’s second marriage. He had apparently been married once before, but to
whom nobody knows. Second was Rosetta’s middle name, transcribed by Judy as “Filone,”
and changed by some to “Trilone” or “Frilone.” And it would be interesting to see if Rosetta’s
family name was really given as “Caul.” It seems like a good time to take a
look at digital copies of the original records, rather than abstracts, and
here they are, from the Hamilton Co courthouse.
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| Marriage License |
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| Marriage Return |
The handwriting on the Marriage Return
is poor and there are some errors. James’s mother’s name was “Nichols,” not “Nickles.”
Rosetta was probably born in Webster Co, Kentucky, not in nonexistent “West
Vill Co Ky.” And her family name is given as “Coal,” not “Caul” as transcribed
by Judy, nor “Cole,” as given on the Marriage License Cover, which it really
was. Of course, that James and Rosetta were Illiterate (as shown in the 1880 Hamilton
Co census) did not help.
The Marriage Return does indeed state that
with this marriage James had been married “Twice.” But the bride’s middle name is not “Filone” or “Frilone” or “Trilone.” It
is obviously “Freelove.” Why are we so certain, given the overall poor handwriting? In the 1860
census, Rosetta’s parents, Robert and Lucy, were living in Webster Co, Kentucky,
next door to another Cole family with a daughter named “Freelove Cole.” The
families were almost certainly related, particularly since the 1850 census shows
the same Cole family as well as Rosetta’s parents living in Allen Co, Kentucky, along with a
large number of other Coles, sixty total. It appears that “Freelove” may have
been a family name. The Allen Co Coles originated in Virginia. Various records show that state to be the birthplace
of at least three different 18th- and 19th-century women bearing the name “Freelove Cole.” And the writing of the name is relatively clear in the Marriage Return.
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| Lucy Cole's Hamilton Co Marker (Find A Grave). |
The digital images of the marriage records show three
other things of interest. (1) Rosetta apparently gave her name as “Rosety,”
though it does appear as “Rosetta” in the marriage license. (2) She was married
in the house of her father Robert, known to live in Knights Prairie Twp,
Hamilton Co. (3) The witness was Rubin Dial, the brother of Rosetta’s
stepmother, Mary Dial. Prior to Rosetta's marriage, her biological mother, Lucy, had passed away, sometime around
1868, presumably in Hamilton Co, where she is buried.
If you would like free no-strings-attached copies of the marriage documents and my transcriptions, just click on the link below. You don’t need the Dropbox app. If, at this point, you get a “Log in or Sign Up” message just ignore it. Press the download button at the top of the web page. You will then get (another) “Log in or Sign Up” message. Just click “Or continue with dropdown only” at the bottom of that message. You need not log in or sign up. It is not necessary to be a Dropbox user. Leave a comment or send me an email if you have problems.
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