Connections – Gallups & Shawvers

One of the most fascinating things about genealogy research is the discovery of connections between individuals with your database and sometimes you find them by accident and other times it is merely the exercise of putting the pieces together.  For example – my great grandfather’s uncle Hugh and my great grandmother’s older sister Jessie; an interesting picture is made when you look at their connections.

Hugh Gallup was the youngest son of Silas Gallup and Phebe Ann Montanye and was born on 28 Feb 1886 in Duanesburg, Schenectady Co., NY – my great great grandmother Edith was his oldest sibling born on 28 Jan 1860.  Edith married Orlando Gage and their oldest surviving son was my great grandfather Ora Silas Gage who was born on 5 Apr 1892.  After the death of his parents within eight days of each other in 1908, Ora brought his younger siblings west to live with their maternal grandmother, Phebe Montanye Gallup.  Silas and Phebe came out west in 1887 when Hugh was a young child.  So…here is the interesting connection – Hugh married Jessie Shawver on 7 Oct 1909 in Burt Co., NE and Jessie was the older sister of my great grandmother, Florence. 

Jessie Mabel Shawver was born 13 Oct 1891 to George Christian Shawver and Rebecca Jane “Frankie” Pitsenbarger. When she married Hugh Gallup in 1909, I have to wonder if it was an opportunity for Hugh’s nephew Ora and Jessie’s sister Florence to meet – which you might guess by now would be a significant connection in my family.  Evidently both Hugh and Jessie thought very well of Ora and Florence because they named their second daughter, Florence Oriana Gallup for both of them.  (Granddad Gage and Grandma married on 4 Sep 1917)  Evidently thought, Hugh and Jessie did not have a successful marriage and divorced sometime after 1916.  Hugh left Nebraska and went back to New York and left Jessie with four young children to raise.  Within three years, Jessie has remarried.

Jessie’s younger brother, George married Clara Adele “Midge” Bacon on 10 Feb 1915 in Lyons, Burt Co., NE and Midge was the daughter of John Francis Bacon and Emily Simpson.  Not too long after their marriage, Emily Simpson Bacon dies on 2 Nov 1917.  As I am sure that it is common in small towns, families know each other and some interesting connections can sometimes occur.  Within a few years Jessie Shawver and John Francis Bacon marry on 14 Jun 1919 probably in Lyons, Burt Co., NE.  So…Jessie has been married to one sister’s uncle-in-law and is now married to her brother’s father-in-law.  John Francis Bacon and Jessie have five children and poor Midge now has nieces and nephews who are her half-brother’s and sisters and a father who is her brother in law. 

However…we aren’t quite finished with Hugh Gallup.  After Hugh returned to New York, he went back to the Albany, NY area and worked as an engineer.  There he met and married a spinster named Marilla E. Latta on 12 Oct 1935 in Delmar, Albany Co., NY.  For several years, that is all I knew about her was her name and after some research, I was able to figure out her birth date and death date and her parents.  She was born 16 May 1889 in Clarksville, Albany Co., NY and died on 5 Jul 1938 in Albany, Albany Co., NY and was the daughter of George W. Latta and Julia Ann Hotaling.  Both the Latta and the Hotaling names were red flags to me.  Granddad Gage’s father, Orlando was married first to a Charity Hotaling.  Their oldest son’s name was Burton Latta Gage.  Somehow those names were connected.  After more research, I found out that Julia Ann Hotaling and Charity Hotaling were sisters and the daughters of Michael Hotaling and Ellen Robertson.  So I would assume that Charity Hotaling had a significant fondness for her brother-in-law to give her oldest son the middle name of Latta.  I can find no other connections other than that. 

So – here is an interesting lesson.  Don’t forget to research the siblings of your ancestors…you never know what stories may emerge!