I knew that my 3rd great-grandfather, William Cavanaugh, had at least two wives. One I knew simply as Nancy C., and the other was Elizabeth Latimer. My 2nd great-grandfather's death certificate listed his parents as William Cavanaugh and Mary Webb. I thought Mary must have been yet another wife and I searched for evidence of their union and proof that she was the mother of John Houston Cavanaugh. I found William on the 1860 census, before he was married, living with his parents. In 1880, he was listed with Elizabeth and several children. I hadn't found him anywhere in the 1870 census, the year of John Houston's birth.
Both Nancy C. and Elizabeth Latimer Cavanaugh's are buried in Shaddy Cemetery, Grovespring, Wright County, Missouri. Nancy's tombstone records her death date as 28 July 1875. Also buried there are two toddler girls, daughters of WS and NC Cavenaugh, according to their tombstones.
- Mary M. Cavenaugh born 25 November 1871, died 22 November 1872
- Arminda C. Cavenaugh born 24 October 1873, died 5 December 1874
I came across a transcript of a Wright County guardianship case that assigned William Cavanaugh as guardian of the minor children of Annzi Moses on 2 November 1869. Since this was so close to John's birthdate in 1870, I knew I wanted to find out more. But first I wanted to locate the family in the 1870 census. It was really bugging me. Maybe the last name had been transcribed incorrectly and that's why it wasn't showing on an index. So I started looking through the census that year in Wright County, Missouri...page by page. On one page, under an ink stain, the family I was searching for was found!
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Year: 1870; Census Place: Wright, Missouri; Roll: M593_826; Page: 445B; Image: 139063;
Family History Library Film: 552325
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Family number 248 was transcribed as Wm, Mary, James and John Erace, with Polly, Catharine, James and Wm Mosier. This John was the right age as my John with parents born in Tennessee and Indiana (information that matched with other sources). Wm is written at the far end of the line for the name, suggesting a long surname. It's super hard to read, but the first part of the surname could be CAVE. The spellings Cavanaugh and Cavenaugh were both seen in records for this family. I really thought that my "Mary" was hiding under that thumbprint shaped ink stain.
There were also all those Mosier children. Recall the guardianship record regarding the children of Annzi Moses? Moses, Mosier...close. Next, with the first names of these Mosier children, I searched for them in the 1860 census. I found a Moses family, in Wright County, that appeared to be a match.
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Year: 1860; Census Place: Wright, Missouri; Roll: M653_660; Page: 921; Image: 360;
Family History Library Film: 803660
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Family number 268 was transcribed as Emezah, Rachel M, Nancy E, John W, Sarah J, Martha E, Mary A, Caroline M, James E, and Wm W Moses. Looking at the record, the last name looked to me more like Moser. The four youngest children are a close match with the 1870 record I found; Mary is commonly given the nickname Polly, Catherine and Caroline are similar, James and William are a match. A closer look at Nancy and that middle initial looks like it might actually be a C. I wondered if this could be Nancy C., the wife of William that died in 1875. The age is right, and if it is her, the relationship made the connection with the guardianship record that I was looking for. But why would William have been named guardian for these minor children, siblings of Nancy, prior to his marriage to her? The theory I was following so far had Mary Webb as William's wife at least until February 1870.
I pulled out John's death certificate again. The informant was his son Elmer Cavanaugh. Elmer would have never met his grandmother, so this is not real reliable information. Looking around in the family, I found that John's wife's had a maternal grandmother named Mary Webb. Perhaps Elmer had heard the name or found it written somewhere and confused the relationship. I was beginning to believe that Nancy C. was actually John's mother.
Nancy's father, Emeziah, was a civil war casualty. It was his death that resulted in the guardianship case.
I ordered the military pension file in hopes that I would find documentation proving William's relationship to the children; I was hoping for the marriage record of William and Nancy. The file arrived, but it didn't mention William's relationship to Emeziah, Nancy, or the minor children. It did give evidence that Emeziah's wife was the initial guardian of the children, and that she died in 1869. It was then that William was named guardian.
I looked again at that 1870 census and closely examined the name under the smear of ink. While I initially thought it was Mary, as it was transcribed, I saw that it could easily be Nancy. The whole center of the name is within the ink stain. The age and birthplace match the information I found for Nancy Moser. There is also the fact that Nancy's younger siblings were living in the household under a recent guardianship agreement. Nothing came up in my search for a death record for a Mary Webb Cavanaugh of that age, time and place. No marriage records were found for William Cavanaugh and Mary Webb. In fact, the only evidence suggesting "Mary Webb" existed was the death certificate information supplied by Elmer Cavanaugh.
My conclusion was that Nancy C. Moser was the first wife of William S. Cavanaugh and the mother of his first four children; Mary, Arminda, James and John. After Nancy's death, William married Elizabeth Latimer. There was not a wife named Mary Webb.
In 1850, her full name, Nancy Charity Moser, was given on the census record. Nancy Charity Moser, my third great-grandmother, was born 11 October 1846 in Greene County, Indiana to Emeziah Moser and Rachel Mahala Watkins. She was the oldest of eight children. Her family migrated to Ozark County, Missouri by 1850 and then on the Wright County by 1860. Her daddy died in the war, her mother died soon after, she buried two baby girls, and then she died at the dreadfully young age of 28, leaving two little boys without a mother. In her short life she suffered great tragedy, and, I hope, great joy. I'm so glad I found her.
I pulled out John's death certificate again. The informant was his son Elmer Cavanaugh. Elmer would have never met his grandmother, so this is not real reliable information. Looking around in the family, I found that John's wife's had a maternal grandmother named Mary Webb. Perhaps Elmer had heard the name or found it written somewhere and confused the relationship. I was beginning to believe that Nancy C. was actually John's mother.
Nancy's father, Emeziah, was a civil war casualty. It was his death that resulted in the guardianship case.
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| National Archives and Records Administration. U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000. |
I ordered the military pension file in hopes that I would find documentation proving William's relationship to the children; I was hoping for the marriage record of William and Nancy. The file arrived, but it didn't mention William's relationship to Emeziah, Nancy, or the minor children. It did give evidence that Emeziah's wife was the initial guardian of the children, and that she died in 1869. It was then that William was named guardian.
I looked again at that 1870 census and closely examined the name under the smear of ink. While I initially thought it was Mary, as it was transcribed, I saw that it could easily be Nancy. The whole center of the name is within the ink stain. The age and birthplace match the information I found for Nancy Moser. There is also the fact that Nancy's younger siblings were living in the household under a recent guardianship agreement. Nothing came up in my search for a death record for a Mary Webb Cavanaugh of that age, time and place. No marriage records were found for William Cavanaugh and Mary Webb. In fact, the only evidence suggesting "Mary Webb" existed was the death certificate information supplied by Elmer Cavanaugh.
My conclusion was that Nancy C. Moser was the first wife of William S. Cavanaugh and the mother of his first four children; Mary, Arminda, James and John. After Nancy's death, William married Elizabeth Latimer. There was not a wife named Mary Webb.
In 1850, her full name, Nancy Charity Moser, was given on the census record. Nancy Charity Moser, my third great-grandmother, was born 11 October 1846 in Greene County, Indiana to Emeziah Moser and Rachel Mahala Watkins. She was the oldest of eight children. Her family migrated to Ozark County, Missouri by 1850 and then on the Wright County by 1860. Her daddy died in the war, her mother died soon after, she buried two baby girls, and then she died at the dreadfully young age of 28, leaving two little boys without a mother. In her short life she suffered great tragedy, and, I hope, great joy. I'm so glad I found her.
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Created by: PSC
Record and photo added: Feb 09, 2011
Find A Grave Memorial# 65404655
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