"As We Are Now Living Apart": the Second Marriage of Samuel Glenn

Way back in 2018, I wrote up my findings on the real parents of my ancestor Samuel Glenn. I ended the post with a teaser, claiming to have more information to share--a claim I never followed up on. 

Until today: here I will present information on Samuel Glenn's ill-fated second marriage. As a refresher, Samuel Glenn was born between 1776 and 1780 in Maryland. His first wife is reported to be Catherine Hickson, who died in Clermont County, Ohio on 11 Mar 1833. They had eight children together, some still at home when Catherine died.

I found a marriage record for a Samuel Glenn occurring in Campbell County, Kentucky in 1839. Campbell County is situated right across the river from Samuel's land in Clermont County, Ohio. Could this be the right Samuel? (Click any image to enlarge.)

Samuel Glenn to Sarah Colby Marriage Bond

"KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS: That We, Samuel Glenn and Wyatt Baxler, are held and firmly bound, unto the commonwealth of Kentucky, in the just and full sum of fifty pounds, current money, to the payment of which well, and truly to be made, We bind ourselves, our heirs, &c. jointly and severally, by these presents, sealed and dated this 9th day of Jany 1839. The condition of the above obligation, is such, that whereas, there is a marriage shortly intended to be solemnized, between the above bound Samuel Glenn and Sarah Colby, widow, now should there be no legal cause to obstruct the same, then the above obligation to be void, else to remain in full force and virtue.
Witness                    Saml Glenn
                                 W. Baxter"

Samuel Glenn to Sarah Colby Marriage License

"COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY, Campbell County, to wit,
To any legally authorized Minister of the Gospel,
These are to license and permit you to join together in the holy state of matrimony Samuel Glenn, Widower, and Sarah Colby, Widow, and in so doing this shall be your sufficient warrant, bond and security having been given.
Given under my hand this Ninth day of January 1839.
                                  John N. Taliaferro, Ck"

Record of Marriage
Campbell County, Kentucky Marriage Book 1830-1851, p. 91

"720: Samuel Glenn to Sarah Cobly (sic). Married by Revd C. L. Southgate January 9, 1839"

Samuel Glenn died in 1841 and does not appear in the Will Index in Clermont County probate records. His entry in the 1840 census lists only him, no one else in the household. Not looking good to find anything further about this mysterious widow Colby.

I shelved this information until a later date. I was perusing the dry and dusty deeds of Clermont County, Ohio, and uncovered the whole (or as much as was put into public record) story.

Clermont County, Ohio Deed Book 40

Page 27: “Know all men by these presents that I Sarah M Glenn wife of Samuel Glenn of Clermont County State of Ohio Do hereby relinquish all my right to and acquit my said husband Samuel Glenn his heirs executors and administrators of any claim whatsoever to him of any maintainence Dower allimony or any other claim on account of the marriage contract that now exists between himself and me to any of his Real or personal property both in law or equity that he now holds or may own at any time for the remainder of his natural life upon the following condition that Samuel Glenn my husband and me cannot by some means and for some difficulties live together as we now are living apart and mutually agree so to live so long as God shall spare our lives this day my said husband made to Dennis Smith my Trustee a Deed of General Warrantee for thirty acres of land lying in Stonelick Township in said County gave me one Cow worth about ten Dollars one half of the rent (Page 28) Wheat that he received last year the farm that I now live on last year and paid the Costs of a suit that was commenced by me against him in the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio for allimony all of which I acknowledge the receipt for as one equal third part of all he possesses and agree to leave the premises on which I now reside immediately and to never trouble him any more Witness my hand and seal this 31st day of March 1841

                                                                                        Sarah M Glenn

Executed in presence of
Wm. Roudebush
Elizabeth her X mark Stagton
State of Ohio
Clermont County
Before me Wm. Roudebush a Justice of the peace in and for said County personally appeared the above name Sarah M Glenn and acknowledged the signing and sealing of the above Release to her husband to be her voluntary act and deed this 31st day of March 1841
                                                                                       Wm Roudebush JP
Recorded July 23d 1841”

Page 369: “Know all men by these presents that I Samuel Glenn of the County of Clermont & State of Ohio in consideration of the sum of one dollar and a full release from Sarah M. Glenn my present wife to me of all her legal right both in law and equity to me my heirs executors and administrators of all the property I now or shall own at any time during my natural life either real or personal have bargained and sold and do hereby bargain sell release and aquit all my title to (Page 370) Dennis Smith Trustee for Sarah M. Glenn my present wife in fee simple her heirs and assigns forever to the undivided half of the following premises situate in the County of Clermont and State of Ohio bounded and described as follows beginning at a white oak & 2 beeches south corner to Daniel Dumford thence running north 45o E 37⅓ poles to a stone thence S 50o E 107½ poles to a white oak & 2 beeches thence S 45o W 37⅓ poles to two ashes and a beech thence N 50o W 112 poles to the beginning Containing sixty acres this deed to convey thirty acres only of the above described land off of the south end next to where Samuel Waldren now lives to have and to hold the said premises with the appurtenances unto the Said Sarah M. Glenn said Trustee for her only use and the use of her heirs and assigns forever and etc.  Samuel Glenn for himself & his heirs doth hereby covenant with the said Dennis Smith Trustee for the said Sarah M Glenn for her use and the use of her heirs and assigns that he is lawfully seized of the premises aforesaid and that the premises are free and clear from all incumbrances whatsoever and that he will forever warrant and defend the same with the appurtenances unto the said Dennis Smith the Trustee above named for the use of the said Sarah M Glenn her heirs and assigns against the lawful claims of all persons whomsoever In Testimony whereof the said Samuel Glenn has hereunto set his hand and seal this 31st day of Mar 1841
Executed in presence of 
Wm Roudebush
William Tarr
Saml Glenn {seal}
State of Ohio Clermon County, SS
Before me Wm Roudebush a Justice of the peace in and for said County personally appeared the within named Samuel Glenn and acknowledged the signing and Sealing of the within conveyance to be his voluntary act and deed this 31st day of March 1841
Recorded April 6, 1842                             Wm. Roudebush JP”

So, the records tell us that Samuel and Sarah were married in January of 1839. By the time of the 1840 census, they were living apart. At some point, Sarah filed for divorce with the Supreme Court of Ohio, but agreed to drop the suit when, in March of 1841, Samuel gave her the real estate and personal property outlined above.

Samuel died three months later, on July 1, 1841.

I have not yet been able to find out more information on the widow Sarah M. Colby--maiden name, first marriage, or when she died. She went on to sell her 30 acres in 1845. A next step in research would be to find any of the divorce proceedings, if they exist. Those might give more detail as to why the couple could not get along.

A Tale of Two Properties, Part 1: John and Alice Hilyard of Muncie, Indiana

 Last July, my intrepid partner in crime DD and I decided to look into our more recent ancestry, closer to home. My great-grandparents, John and Alice (Holtzapple) Hilyard, lived for a time in Muncie, Indiana. They are the featured family on my cover page, and I believe that photo was taken shortly before they moved to Muncie. We still have some family there and met up with local cousin CC to investigate. 

Some years ago, I located an address for John and Alice in a 1913 city directory: 1802 E. 12th Street in Muncie. I ran right over to Google Maps and was disappointed to see this area is a commercial zone with some buildings and parking lots there now. I asked cousin CC about it at the time, and she confirmed the house no longer existed. The red balloon on the right shows the address; I'm leaving in Heekin Park for further reference. Note that 12th Street is now called Memorial Drive. Reminder: click on any image to enlarge it.

Google Maps View of 1802 E. 12th Street Today

I was able to find an ad in a 1912 newspaper showing this property, with 7 rooms, was for rent. 

The Star Press 10 Mar 1912

We can assume they took the house for rent, as the 1913 City Directory is based on the prior year's residents. The directories were printed every two years, and the Hilyards were there again in 1915, 1917, and 1919. During this time period, John Hilyard worked as a carpenter for Ball Bros., famous manufacturer of Ball glass jars.

1913 Muncie City Directory

And that's where I left it. With the house gone, what more could I learn?

Until 2022, when I started to prepare for our trip that is. I thought I should revisit the records and see what I might have missed. Since we were going to be in the county seat, I should look up the deed to this property while we were there. Checking online for information before heading out, I found the Delaware county deeds were already digitized and available for free online! Check out the wonderful Muncie Public Library for more. 

Delaware County, Indiana Deed Book 161 p. 80

Rather than a street address, the deed gives a lot number: Lot 10 in block 56 of Goshorn and Lupton's subdivision. I noticed John and Alice bought the property (the one they had lived in for 4 or 5 years as renters) from the owners for $1 and other consideration. The sellers' names are not familiar to me. I don't know why the Hilyards got the house for a dollar, and this is an area I should explore further.

There are many historical maps available online, so I thought I would look up this specific lot number. I found a great high-resolution map from Ball State University's website and was able to locate lot 10 Block 56, outlined in blue here.

If you compare this to the Google Maps screenshot above, there is a big discrepancy. Using Heekin Park as a reference point, the current location of 1802 is east of the park and on the same street. But at the time the Hilyards lived there, it was west of the park, and a block down!

I dug through my photos and found some pictures I believed to be John and Alice's Muncie home, included here.

John and Alice Hilyard

Seated, Alice Hilyard. Daughter Tessie on far right, son Vaughn standing next to Tessie

Armed with this new information, I set out with cousins DD and CC to do some recognizance work. We cruised up and down the street, parking and peering at the current homes, trying to determine which one was "ours". While we were there, we convinced ourselves it was this one, and that it had been added on to considerably:

Oops, wrong house!

However, after we got home and really thought it over, this house was located on lot 11, right next door to lot 10.

Now we are convinced that the house John and Alice Hilyard is still standing, and looks like this:

Would they mind if we cut some bushes back so we could see the place better??

The east side of the house is totally obscured by bushes and trees, and that is the angle the old photos would have been taken from. But if you imagine it without the front porch, it has the abrupt cut-off of the front as in the old photos. We didn't try to take a lot of photos of this house because were focused on the one next door, but I feel certain this is it based on the old city map, and that the photos I have are of this home.

Current location using Beacon website, courtesy of cousin DD

Lesson here: just because you have an address for a location doesn't mean it translates to the current address. Streets get renamed. Dig a little deeper, find some old maps. Check deeds for more information.