A Marriage in Gallia Co., OH - Francis Tannahill

A few days ago, I was trolling for odd bits and pieces on www.familysearch.org when I came across a record that certainly gave me a bit of a thrill.  There in front of me was proof of a marriage and a name that I had been searching for over a decade.

Mary “Polly” Fillinger was born about 14 Oct 1813 in Virginia and she died on 10 Apr 1897 on Village Twp, Van Buren Co., IA.  I found Mary’s name listed in an marriage index in Gallia Co., OH.  She was married to Francis Tannahill on 5 Nov 1835.  Now, I knew that Mary and Francis or Frank had been married in Ohio and had lived there at least a few years.  This is what is great about websites like Family Search or Ancestry and many other genealogy websites.  There is always new information being indexed and always the chance of finding additional clues buried in this new info.

Francis was actually only a few years older than Mary’s father, having been born in about 1788.  Mary Fillinger was twenty five years younger than her husband.  I’m sure she must have always realized that she would be a young widow and from what I have discovered, Francis Tannahill probably died sometime before 1850.  He left behind nine children….although I don’t believe that the youngest child is his daughter.  Elgiva M. Tannahill was born on 28 Feb 1852 and while Mary Fillinger is not listed as a widow in the 1850 census, her husband is not listed.

There is a lot left to wonder about.  Francis is listed with a land record in the land office in Chillicothe Co., OH on 10 Mar 1836 with a purchase of 40 acres and is also listed has having 40 acres in Lawrence Co., OH of Twp 4-n, Rge 17-W, Section 14.  I suspect that this is the same piece of land.  Francis is also listed in the 1840 census in Van Buren Co., IA and the entry is listed with two males under the age of 5, one male age 30-39, one female under the age of 5, one female between age 20-29 listing five total people in the household.  These members would include Francis and Mary, and sons William H. b. 15 Jan 1838 and John Lyons b. 9 Feb 1840 and daughter Elisabeth b. 4 Nov 1836.  Although, I have to wonder if the census taker made a mistake on the age as Francis would have been older than 39 in 1840 as the best info I have is that his birth date was in 1788.  This record makes me wonder if my great great grandfather was really born in Ohio.  The possibility still exists that he was born in Ohio and that the family moved fairly soon after John Lyons Tannahill’s birth on 9 Feb 1840. 

By the time Mary Fillinger died in 1897, she only had two living children of her nine children.  That in itself seems to be a very sad fact.  I don’t even know what my great great grandfather died of…but he died in 1873 at the young age of 33 years of age.  Perhaps someday, I might find what happened to him.  My mother used to joke that he was probably shot or hung…but I suspect that his death cause was more likely pneumonia or influenza.  Even so, it is great to finally have a record that confirms the name of his father as Francis Tannahill. 

 

Descendants of Francis Tannahill

 

Generation No. 1

1.  FRANCIS⁸ TANNAHILL  (JAMES⁷ TANNEHILL, SAMUEL⁶, NINIAN⁵, WILLIAM⁴, WILLIAM³, WILLIAM², THOMAS¹ TANNAHILL) was born 1788 in VA, and died Bef. 1850.  He married POLLY MARY FILLINGER 05 Nov 1835 in Gallia Co., OH, daughter of HENRY FILLINGER and ELIZABETH FERREL.  She was born 14 Oct 1813 in VA, and died 10 Apr 1897 in Village Twp., Van Buren Co., IA.

 
Children of FRANCIS TANNAHILL and POLLY FILLINGER are:

               i.   ELIZABETH⁹ TANNEHILL, b. 04 Nov 1836, OH; d. 29 Nov 1861, Van Buren Co., IA.

              ii.   WILLIAM H. TANNEHILL, b. 15 Jan 1838, OH; d. 08 Jul 1889, Van Buren Co., IA.

             iii.   JOHN LYONS TANNAHILL, b. 09 Feb 1840, OH; d. 19 Apr 1873, Chautauqua Co., KS; m. ALMIRA JONES, 27 Dec 1866, Chequist, Van Buren Co., IA; b. 03 Jul 1850, Van Buren Co., IA; d. 05 Aug 1916, Chautauqua Co., KS.

             iv.   HENRY F. TANNAHILL, b. 01 Sep 1841, IA or OH; d. 08 Dec 1864, Fort Cottonwood, NE.

              v.   ELIZA E. TANNEHILL, b. May 1845, Van Buren Co., IA; d. Aft. 1925; m. JOHN W. THORNTON, CO; b. Abt. 1842, France; d. 21 Jan 1900, Leavenworth, Leavenworth Co., KS.

             vi.   M. ANNA TANNEHILL, b. 08 Jan 1847, Van Buren Co., IA; d. 16 Sep 1859, Van Buren Co., IA.

            vii.   CHARLOTTE TANNAHILL, b. 13 Jan 1848, Van Buren Co., IA; d. 17 Mar 1934, Van Buren Co., IA; m. ORANGE BUCEY, 15 Apr 1863, Van Buren Co., IA; b. 14 Feb 1839, Tuscarawas Co, OH; d. 28 Jan 1910, Van Buren Co., IA.

            viii.   FRANCES MARION TANNEHILL, b. 04 Sep 1849, Van Buren Co., IA; d. 15 Jun 1889, Van Buren Co., IA.

             ix.   ELGIVA M. TANNEHILL, b. 28 Feb 1852, Van Buren Co., IA; d. 02 Apr 1862, Van Buren Co., IA.