Probably the Samuel Pettit listed in the 1880 census of Hardin twp., Pike Co., Illinois, age 26, born in Kentucky. (The date and place of birth and the name of his wife are right.) He is listed with a wife Mary E., age 19, born Ky, and a daughter, Ella F., age 2, born in Illinois. There is no Samuel Pettit in Pike Co. or surrounding counties in the 1900 soundex of Illinois. I should check Pike Co. deeds for 1877-1886, and birth records if they exist.
Also, in Hocking Co., Ohio, where Samuel and Mary's baby daughter Rebecca died in Aug 1882, in Death Book 1, p. 146, is recorded the death of Ella F. Pettitt, died 25 Apr 1882, in Perry Co., Ohio, born Illinois, cause of death lung fever. Ella's age is recorded as 7 months, 10 days, which would not fit for the Ella F. who was age 2 in 1880, but this still seems very likely to be the same child - what is the likelihood that one Kentucky-born Samuel Pettit who was 26 in 1880 with a wife Mary E. had a daughter Ella F. born ca 1878 in Illinois, and a different Kentucky-born Samuel Pettit who was also 26 with a wife Mary Ellen had a daughter Ella F. born in Illinois ca 1881, but didn't appear in the 1880 Soundex at all? Most likely the years were left out of the age at death field by oversight - the "marital status" column says "child", not "infant" as this book does for most children under one year of age. And if the Ella and Rebecca who died in 1882 are sisters, the ages can't both be correct, since they would mean Ella was born in Sep 1881 and Rebecca four months later in Jan 1882.
1900 Census of Athens Co., Ohio, Trimble Twp., lists Samuel living with his sister Florence and her husband James Kidd:
bro-in-law, Petitt, Samuel, Jan 1854, 46, widowed, Ky Ky Ky; nephew Charles, Sep 1897, 2, WV Ky WV.
It appears that Samuel must have been widowed twice, and that Charles is a child of the second marriage. My reasons for believing this are (1) Samuel apparently had no children born between 1882 and 1897, (2) no wife is mentioned in the Sep 1896 deed signed by himself, his siblings and their spouses, and (3) if the 1880 Pike Co. Illinois reading is for the same family and is correct, then Mary Ellen was born in Kentucky, not West Virginia. |
