This will be my 91st post and “I’m not done yet.” I started this blog back in February of 2014. I have covered a lot of our relatives but there is always something new to learn. I started researching the Family History way back in 1985 for my parents 50th wedding anniversary. This week my husband and I will be celebrating our own 50th anniversary.  It seems like it could not really be 50 years that Roy and I have been married. I do not even feel 50.  We have so many more things to do it will take another 50 years if time continues to speed by. I do digress, sorry. About this genealogy stuff.  In researching this weeks ancestor, I was pleasantly surprised to notice that this week played a role in one of his marriages also.

My goal is to complete the 32’s this year. The 32’s are our 3rd great grandparents. Now that we have Julia Marsh’s parents most likely identified I shall move on to the Francis line. This is my grandmother Etta Jane’s surname.

Etta’s (better known to me and my siblings as Gay) parents were Gilmore and Carrie (Batson) Francis who I have previously written about (see 52 Ancestors- Carrie Batson Mail Order bride? and 52 Ancestors -33- Gilmore C. Francis- gramps ). Gilmore’s father was George Washington Francis and his mother was Clementine Jane Shipp.

George’s father was William Henry Francis. Most of what we know about William initially came from the Francis Family of Fauquier County, Virginia  published in 1992 by Albert O. Felchlia. My sister Madeleine has done the research on the Francis line. This family book she has used as a starting point for some of our research, but we know the mistakes in our immediate family and therefore have taken the information with a look toward proving or disproving the information found in Felchlia’s book, and that is where we are with William, trying to prove or disprove his role in the Mexican War.

Here is what Francis Family of Fauquier County, Virginia  has to say about William H Francis.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Data on this family supplied by Diane Pheneger, Granville, OH

F141  William Henry b. ca 1798, Fauquier Co. VA………………..

F141  William Henry Francis m 6 Sept 1821¹, Fauquier Co, VA to

F141a  Delilah Dennison

             Parents: Thomas Dennison

             Bondsmen: William Francis and Thomas Dennison

     Children

F1411 Joseph Thomas b. 15 May 1822, Fauquier Co, VA, d. Columbus, OH

F141 William Henry Francis m. (2nd) 20 July 1826, Muskingum Co, OH to

F141b  Susanna Holmes b 22 Nov, 1806, VA

              Parents: Peter & Elizabeth (Redman) Holmes

             Resided: Muskingum Co, Oh

             William d 1848, Texas, drowned in Mexican War

             Susanna d 2 Apr 1896, bur Mt Sterling, OH

     Children

So according to the Francis Family book, William was born about 1798 in Fauquier county Virginia to Joseph and Tabitha /Sabitha (Holmes) Francis. A Transcribed Marriage bonds index of Fauquier county (by John K. Gott) shows a Wm. Francis and Delilah Dennison original bond dated Sept. 8, 1821 and the date of marriage ….  .. 1822.

Not much for pinning down a marriage date here.

Madeleine found in an 1820 Deed  (recorded 6/22/1820) for 250 acres in Muskingum Co. Ohio being sold by a Joseph Evans and his wife Mary to a William Francis of Muskingum.

The 1840 census for Mt. Sterling , Ohio does not list family members by name, Just head of household but we can determine from the age grouping and known information of William and Susannah’s children who was at home in this census.

The Males (ages) <5 = 1 (Peter Gilmore), 10<15 = 2 ( George Washington and Simon Henry), 30<40 = 1 (William Henry).

The Females (ages) <5 = 1 ( Mary Isabella), 5<10 = 2 ( Margaret Elizabeth and Laleth Ann), 10<15=1 (Sabitha Ann), 30<40 =1 (Susannah).

The 1850 US Census and later, shows Susannah as a widow. The information that William Henry died in 1848 is presumed correct. While we can find Susannah (Holmes) Francis on a “Findagrave” we are unable to find any documentation of a grave for William Francis in Muskingum county Ohio.

Records needed-

1. original Marriage bond for William and Delilah in Fauquier Co. Virginia.
2. Death of Delilah Dennison Francis in VA?
3. Marriage record of Susannah (Holmes) and William H. Francis in Muskingum county Ohio.
4. War records for William H. Francis – Mexican War 1846-1848.

While looking for Mexican War records for William H. Francis the following Index card has been found.

There were no records in this file for a William Francis from Ohio. Also in searching on Ohio’s list of Volunteers for the Mexican War there were no William Francis’ found. Any help on researching William Henry Francis and his demise would be greatly appreciated