Sarah Bates

Great-great grandmother Sarah Bates was born about 1818 in Ireland, in the Wexford/Wicklow area (not far from Dublin), the youngest (probably) child of George Bates and Sarah Needham. One researcher (George Needham of Ontario) suggested that they may have lived in Inch, near Gorey, in County Wexford. Her older brother Benjamin was a baker before he enlisted in the British army in 1825, so it is possible that her father was too. ???

Her father died, and the family was in straitened circumstances, so in 1832 they emigrated to America. Mother Sarah’s brother Valentine was already there, on Prince Edward Island, so they may have joined him, at first. [Note 2011: I no longer remember why I assumed this was probable. If they landed in Quebec, they would have had to go BACK to visit PEI.] Sarah would have been only 14 at the time - what an adventure!

We (actually the Bratneys, but they shared with us) have a few fragments of Sarah’s journal. One mentions the trip:

We came to America the year 1832 landed 23 of May . Set sail the first of April. (The family of her brother George has different dates: left 29 March, at sea for 7 weeks and 4 days. But both agree on the year 1832.)

And one mentions the future - written about the trip? or about her marriage? (She seems even more fond of commas than I am.)

The Rev Dr Clark asserts, it, could not be a Serpent, temted, eve But, a gay monkey whose fine mimic arts and ?forbies?, were most likely to deceive, Dogmatic commentator Slite? holds out a serpent not a monkey temted Eve and which shall we believe with out ? none knows so well, who temted eve as Adam

The World is all before the where to fix. And Providence my guide

I like that. I like the sense of adventure. It makes her a person.

~~~~~

They stayed in Canada for a while, then moved down to New York. There may have been Bates relatives there, although if there were it hasn’t been stored in family memories. However, in the cemetery in New York which the Bateses used, there were two George Bateses - one her brother (~1808-1883) and another whose dates were 1816-1905. He could have been a cousin??? In a nearby cemetery, there was also a Hannah Bates, otherwise unattached, whose dates were ~1809-1839. [2011 - I recently found a possible Needham relative living there - Hannah Needham Armour]

Be that as it may, they did move to New York, and were there for the 1840 census:

1840 New York, Oneida Westmoreland 104
Thomas Bates 000102 0000110001
1m 15-20 (?), 1f 20-30 (Sarah), 2m (Thomas 33, George 32), 1f (Ann?)30-40,
1f 70-80 (Sarah Needham Bates); 2 agriculture, 1 manufacture

Thomas was another brother. He died in December of that year, and his tombstone was erected by his wife Elizabeth, but we don’t know who she was or how long they had been married. Another brother William was living nearby:

1840 New York, Oneida, Westmoreland p. 109
William Bates 3000001 (40/50) 000001 (30/40)

At least I think this is her brother William. In 1850 there is a William Bates who fits this profile, who was born in Ireland in about 1800, and who has children with the same familiar names - although with such common names as William and George, who can be sure?  This William may have been in Oneida County even earlier - there is one on the 1830 census who could be him.  Which makes the story in the reunion notes not quite so straightforward.  Possibly William came over first, to scout out the land, and then the rest of them, after a visit to Uncle Valentine Needham, came on down to the place he had chosen. On the other hand, there is that younger unidentified male in Thomas's household - that might be William.  But I have never been able to find a trace of him in later censuses.

~~~~~

Later on in 1840, Sarah, with her brother George and her sister Ann, went west. They traveled overland and then by boat across the Great Lakes. Kearney points out that this was a little odd, and wonders if they had not gone to visit still other relatives. He has focused on a group of Bateses living in La Salle County in Illinois:

I checked the census for Bates in La Salle Co. in 1840 and found one family, headed by Harvy with the eldest male listed as between 20 and 30. Checked 1850 and found five Bates familes, the heads of four of which all were born in New York: one headed by Oliver A. Bates, age 30, two headed by men named James H. Bates, one 42 and the other age 35; and one headed by Bradley Bates, 25 (Bradley's wife was Canadian born but was only 18 in 1850). The fifth family was headed by Barbara Bates, 36, and I think she was from Pennsylvania but I can't be sure from the handwriting. However, all five of her children, ranging in age from 2 to 14, were born in the same state as Barbara, so she's probably eliminated.

There were two reasons Kearney was interested in La Salle County. First of all, he found a marriage for an Ann Bates there in 1839, and second, La Salle is the county where the other group of Irish Bothwells from Canada appeared.

You would think that 1839 was too early for Ann to be getting married, since she’s with the rest of the family on the 1840 census -BUT. What if the woman we think is Ann were actually Thomas’s wife Elizabeth? And what if it was George and Sarah going out to Illinois to visit ANN who was already there????? On the other hand, Ann Bates of La Salle County married Asher Lane, and Jennie Bothwell Bratney's notes said that Ann married a Mr. Green, lived in Chicago, and was a milliner. Our Ann died in 1848, according to another scrap from Sarah’s journal, so the 1850 census is not going to help us one bit.

~~~~~

The next confusing thing is, Sarah married Jeremiah Bothwell in 1845 - in CANADA. I suspect that Canada was an easy half-way point for the Illinois Bothwells and the New York Bateses to meet, that’s not really the problem. The curious thing is - where was she from 1840-1845? Living with Ann? [Note 2011 - I recently did some research on Needhams in London, Ontario, and I suspect Sarah's uncle lived there - he would have been the William Needham who witnessed her marriage. Charles Dickenson, the other witness, was the son-in-law of William Needham, so therefore possibly the cousin-in-law of Sarah.]

Here is her marriage information (found by a Canadian researcher, and sent to Kearney)

30 June 1845 - Sarah Bates - Jeremiah Bothwell - London District of Ontario, Canada. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. James Bailey of the Episcopal Methodist church and the witnesses were Charles Dickenson and William Needham
The Marriage Registers of Upper Canada/Canada W., Vol. 4, Pt. 2, London district, 1841-1852, Norsim Research and Publishing, Delhi, 1995, P. 48.

Sarah was 27 at the time of her marriage, which is pretty old.

The Bothwells also had emigrated from Ireland to Canada to the U.S. In their case, they (three brothers, two sisters) came from County Armagh, to Upper Canada, to Vermont, and then west to Illinois.

Jeremiah and his siblings had established themselves in western Illinois on the banks of the Mississippi River, and that is where Sarah spent her married life - Whiteside County, Illinois. The Bothwells had set themselves up as tailors in Vermont, before they moved west, and on the 1850 census, Jeremiah still called himself a tailor, although I can’t imagine there was a big call for his services on the frontier. In later censuses, he called himself a farmer, and I imagine he did do a little farming, with the help of his sons. But where he really made his money was in land deals - he did a tremendous amount of buying and selling (as did his older brother William).

I’m not sure how religious they were. Jeremiah’s older brothers were always seceding from whatever church they had joined and starting up another. They seem to have been typical Scots Presbyterian/Congregational. Jeremiah is not mentioned in the church wars, so maybe he wasn’t in them - or maybe he wasn’t important enough to count (he was the baby brother). And - his marriage was performed by a Methodist Episcopal minister, so. (On the other hand, Jeremiah’s obit says he was a “member of the congregational society . . .” - although of course by that time he and Sarah had been apart for 25 years.) (On the third hand, son Benjamin was married by a Methodist minister.)

Sarah and Jeremiah had six children that we know of:

Benjamin, born 27 Feb 1847 (Whiteside Co.,) Ill
Sarah A. ~26 Aug 1848 Whiteside Co., Ill
Jeremiah 1851 Whiteside Co., Ill
James Augustus 26 September 1855 Albany, Illinois (Whiteside Co.)
Jane Augusta (Jennie) “ (twins) “
David Edgar 20 April 1858 Springfield, Ill
(I don’t know the story behind David being born in Springfield. A business trip? A visit with friends or relatives?)

There are no stories about their life together, and I can only imagine it as pretty unexceptional. It is pleasant country, on the river, just south of the Mississippi Palisades, and although there is a lot of prairie, there is also plenty of woods, so you don’t get the agoraphobic feeling.

In 1854, Sarah’s mother died back in New York:

Westmoreland June 17 1854
Dear sister - we wrote to you a short time ago but have received no answer yet. I have heavy news to write you. Mother is dead and gone she died last Monday the 12th of this month she has been failing ever since last winter. she had a very hard coughf and ? a great deal she suffered (crossed out) was a great sufferer [hole in paper] she bore it with patience she seeme [hole] have her work done. she was not able to say much the last twenty four hours before she died. The las letter I wrote she (crossed out) I wrote what she told me, she was quite anxious to here from you. If you want to know any more particulars you write and I will write. Aunt Betty Acton was out here the friends are all well out there. Uncle Armers folks are all well and so are Williams We are all well We should like to have you write as soon as you receive this
George sends his respects to you accept the same from me
Almira H? Bates

I have no idea who Aunt Betty Acton or Uncle Armer were (or even if it was Armer Bates, or somebody Armer).  William must be the brother. Update 2011 - Elizabeth Acton lived in Madison County, NY, the next county down from Oneida. She was born in about 1780 in Ireland. Uncle Armer was possibly Nicholas Armour, who was married to Hannah Needham, born 1788 in Ireland. These are possibly sisters of Sarah Needham Bates???

Back in Illinois - In 1860 a tornado struck the town and 5 people (out of only 800) were killed. Jeremiah claimed he suffered $2000 worth of property damage.

The Civil War seems not to have impinged upon them very much. None of their sons were old enough to enlist, although Benjamin did join up in 1867 (he served until 1870).

In 1866, their older daughter Sarah Ann died. She is buried in the Garden Plain Cemetery, although her stone has fallen down. David and I found it half buried sliding down the side of the hill and put it back up, but I expect it has fallen again. It was quite an impressive stone - a small obelisk on a pedestal. I do imagine this was quite a blow - I was devastated when Sunshine left for college - and that was only college!

Here are their census records, from 1850-1870:

1850 - Illinois, Whiteside (no Twp designation) - taken 9 Nov
District 37 - taken 9 Nov 1850 - house #1648
Bothwell, Jeremiah 30 m Ir tailor
      Sarah 32 f Ir
      Benjamin 3 m Il
      Sarah A 2 f Il
      property valued at $500
1860 Illinois - Whiteside - Garden Plain Twp taken 24 July
Jer. Bothwell 40 m Ir farmer
      Sarah 40 f Ir
      Benj 13 m Il
      Sarah A 11 f Il
      Jeremiah 9 m Il
      James 6 m Il
      Jane 6 f Il
      David 4 m Il
1865 Illinois State census -Whiteside County - Garden Plain Twp
Jerry Bothwell 1 M 40-50
      1 F 30-40
      3 M 10-20
      2 F 10-20
      1 M under 10
1870 census - Garden Plain Twp no date given
Bothwell, Jeremiah 52 M W farmer Ireland father/mother foreign born / citizen
       Sarah 50 F W keeping house " "
       Jeremiah 19 M W IL printer " "
       Jane }twins 16 F W IL at home " "
       James } 16 M W IL “” " "
       David 13 M W IL “” " "
Value of Real Estate $2000 Value of Personal Estate $4150

In 1870, son Benjamin was still in the army. Shortly after he got out, he and his brother Jeremiah headed west. They left on May 1, 1871. Benjamin’s family says he met his future wife on the trail going west, and they got married also on the trail - but the marriage record is found in the place they ultimately settled, Fillmore County, Nebraska. He married Sarah Brown on September 13, 1871. Both he and brother Jeremiah took out land claims (also in September 1871), but Jeremiah went back to Illinois almost immediately, and married Marium (Mamie) Fralick on October 5, in Clinton County, Iowa which is just across the river from Albany. He may have intended to take his bride back to Nebraska with him, but they eventually settled in Whiteside County.

Sarah seems to have been friendly with all her neighbors - her journal keeps track of the marriages of the local young people.

Sarah’s Journal
Many of these marriages are her neighbors’ (in Whiteside Co) children : Bates, Baird, Stone, Spangler, Sewall, George, Page, Parker, Rood. James Bothwell was buried in the plot belonging to the Bolls. But it is quite a coincidence that Emma Bates married a Loomis, since Sarah’s brother George Bates married Almira Loomis.

Miss Emma Bates married	Benjamin & Jerry started
to	west 1st of May 1871
George C Loomis the 16th of May 70	rec’d first letter from Benj
child born the 25 Aug 71	May 20 mailed in Orceola 12th
Miss Helen Fralick married	rec’d first letter from Jerry
to	May 2x mailed in
Thomas C Longford the 20th April 71	Omaha Neb May 18, 1871
Miss Sarah Bolls married 25th. . .	Benjamin Bothwell married
Miss Alice Stone married 27th	Sarah J Brown Sept 13 1871
Mr Charles Baird	Jeremiah Bothwell married
Miss Mary Lusk married	Mamie Fralick Oct 5th__
to	to Mr. James Nimmon and
Mr ____ Hermold 6th aug 1871	Miss Nellie Rood were married
Nancy Spangler married to	Nov 1873
Henry Sewall Oct 18, 1871
Miss Martha George married
William Page Dec 1873
Ella Parker married in Nov 1873 (name unknown)
Miss Addie Storer married
Andrew Stowell Dec 1873

In 1872 came a real shocker. Jeremiah and Sarah got divorced and several months later Jeremiah married the widow of Gilbert Buckingham, who had been quite a prominent citizen of the area. Social climbing? True love??? The plat map for 1872 has Sarah’s name on their home farm; one would think it had been part of the divorce settlement, but it looks as though Jeremiah sold it to his brother William in 1875 (after his new wife had gone through all the rest of his property), so maybe not.

Their divorce was final on June 27, 1872, and in November Sarah took up son Jeremiah’s Nebraska claim, which he had canceled on November 18.

In the early 1870's Sarah Bothwell and family came from Illinois to Nebraska. They settled in Glengary Township where her three sons, Benjamin, Jeremiah, and James, all claimed homesteads in Section 22. On September 4, 1871, Jeremiah claimed 80 acres in the W ½ SE ¼ of Section 22 and for reasons unknown he cancelled the claim on November 18, 1872. His mother, Sarah Bothwell, took over the claim on November 26, 1872. Sarah, a citizen of England, had to file her intention to become a citizen of the United States before she could file a claim. Improvements were made on the homestead, such as building shelters, plowing the prairie, and planting crops. On August 20, 1881, Sarah received her deed. The homestead now belongs to Otto and Jarmilla Kottas.
Sarah had five children: Benjamin, Jeremiah, Jennie, James and David. Sarah died June 18, 1888 at Hastings, Nebraska.
On October 9, 1875, her son, James A. Bothwell took over Henry Brown’s claim to the E ½ SW ¼ of Section 22. Brown became discouraged and left after living three years on his claim. James proved up on his homestead and received his deed on August 20, 1881. Richard Krupicka is the present owner of this homestead.
A Milligan Nebraska Centennial Book - published in 1988 - entry for Sarah Bothwell

Husband Jeremiah’s remarriage took place on March 29, 1873. Sarah's first grandchild, Henry W, son of Benjamin was born sometime in that same year. Benjamin moved back east for a while and his next four children, daughters Eva, Kitty and twins Mary and Martha, were born in Clinton County (I think), Iowa.

Her daughter Jennie married in 1875 - William A Bratney - and their first daughter, Nellie Mae, was born the next year, and another daughter, Lulu, was born in 1878. In 1879, her youngest son David married, and his first son came along the next year. Benjamin and his family came back from Iowa sometime around then too, so she was surrounded (well, they were scattered about the countryside, but still) by her children and grandchildren. In 1880, all of them (except for Jeremiah) were in Nebraska. Jeremiah stayed in Iowa, and eventually moved to Colorado - but poor Jeremiah never had any living children.

1880 Nebraska Fillmore
Bothwell, James A 26 m Il no occupation single
        Sarah 60 f Ir widow
living with them Sieber, Frank 43 m Bohemia farmer
        wife 42 f Bohemia
        Frank 18 m Bohemia farmer
        3 children ages11-18 born Bohemia
        2 children ages 8 and 5 born NE

She proved up her claim in 1881. Incidentally, in order to make the claim, she had to become an American citizen. She did that, and I have found the index record of it - but the person who made the index put an * by the records that had interesting genealogical information - and Sarah’s was not so marked - so I never bothered to send for it.

I don’t think she - or James - was interested in farming. Already by 1885, she was asking young Jeremiah if he thought she should sell it.

letter from JW Burlington Ia Mar 8-185
Dear Mother
I have been thinking of writing to you for some time.
How are you getting. the boys wrote me that you had been sick. did the things that Mamie sent you do you any good.
Our health is good except of course Mamie has those headachs which she allways had. How are the boys doing this has been an awful dull time for all kinds of business and they have done well if they have made expences. I quit the coffin business soon after I was out there and took charge of a furniture factory here.
You cant imagine the emigration there is going west this spring there are from 50 to one hundred familys with stock & baggage going through here daily.
are you still thinking of selling your farm. you asked me a good many times when I was out there what you had better do about selling but you know that is not easy for me to decide what would be best for you. all I wish and hope is that you can fix it some way to make your self comfortable. I am glad you have that much with which you can make use of for your self. don’t try to save it for your children but make the best of it you can for your self. I never hear from the old man. Yorks folks have moved into northern Nebraska
this is all for this time. Hope this will find you well. Mamie sends her love to you From your loving son
JWBothwell

I imagine she especially asked him because it was his claim originally.
(I think, by the way, that Jeremiah may have been in the coffin business with James in Nebraska before he went back to Iowa/Illinois. Our family only remembers James as a banker, but Sarah Tucker’s family says he was a coffin maker. Kearney has some notes about this, but they are pretty well buried, I guess.)

In 1886, her final unmarried child married. James married Sarah Tucker on June 3. Their first (and only living) child was born the next year - and meanwhile Sarah (Bothwell) had acquired several more grandchildren:
          Benjamin’s Anna born 1881
          Jennie’s Maud 1881, Grace 1883, Earlem 1886
          David’s Arta Julia 1882 and Jeremiah W 1885

There were two more grandchildren to come before she died - David’s Clarence 1887, and Jennie’s Elgin, born exactly one month before Sarah died.

I don’t know whether Sarah sold her farm or not, but she was staying with Jennie when she died, on June 18, 1888. She is buried in the Old Hastings Cemetery, in the same plot with Jennie’s husband (who died in 1899) and her granddaughter Lulu, who had died in 1884. Her stone says
                     Bothwell, Sarah Our Mother died June 18, 1888 age 79 years
                        (I think the age is incorrect - I think it was 70 years.)

Update - in the summer of 2006, we took a road trip to California, and at one point were only 17 miles from Hastings.  On impulse, we drove down into town.  There was a nice park right in the center of the town and it had a few grave stones scattered around, so we got out and looked - and with the luck of the Irish (or Scottish) we found Sarah Bothwell's grave (and WA Bratney's and Lulu Bratney's).  And the stone does seem to say "age 79 years."

Timeline
~1818 - born - Ireland - Wexford / Wicklow area
1832 - emigrated to America with family
183x - moved down to New York with family
1840 census - probably with brother Thomas and rest of family, Oneida County, New York
184x - went west with brother George and sister Ann
1845 June 30 - married Jeremiah Bothwell, Ontario, Canada
1847 February 26 - son Benjamin born (named after older brother?)
1848 July 24 - daughter Sarah Ann born
1850 census - with husband and children in Whiteside County, Illinois
1851 - son Jeremiah born
1855 - twins James Augustus and Jane Augusta born
1856 - son David born
1860 census - with husband and children in Whiteside County, Illinois
1866 April 13 - daughter Sarah Ann died
1867 - son Benjamin enlists in army
1870 census - with husband and children in Whiteside County, Illinois
1871 May 1 - sons Benjamin and Jeremiah head west
1871 Sept 13 - son Benjamin married Sarah Brown
1871 Oct 3 - son Jeremiah married Mamie Fralick
1872 June 27 - divorced Jeremiah
1872 - moved to Nebraska with sons and daughter
1873 March 29 - husband Jeremiah married Emily Buckingham
1873 - grandson Henry W born (s/o Benj)
1874 - granddaughter Eva born (d/o Benj) - Iowa
1875 - granddaughter Kitty born (d/o Benj) - Iowa
1875 Nov 28 - daughter Jennie married William A Bratney
1876 Oct 8 - granddaughter Nellie Mae Bratney born (d/o Jennie)
1878 Nov 2 - granddaughter Lula Bratney born (d/o Jennie)
1878 - granddaughters Martha and Mary (twins) born (d/o Benj) - Iowa
1879 Aug 2 - son David married Stella McManus
1880 census - with son James in Fillmore County, Nebraska
1880 Nov 29 - grandson Herman Edgar born (s/o David)
1881 Apr 3 - granddaughter Irvilla Maud Bratney born (d/o Jennie)
1881 - granddaughter Anna born (d/o Benj) - Lincoln, Neb
1882 Jan - granddaughter Arta Julia born (d/o David)
1883 July 27 - granddaughter Inez Grace Bratney born (d/o Jennie)
1884 May 31 - granddaughter Lulu Bratney died
1885 Sept 24 - grandson Jeremiah W born (s/o David)
1886 June 1 - grandson Earlem Bratney born (s/o Jennie)
1886 June 3 - son James married Sarah Tucker
1887 Sept 25 - granddaughter Edith Nell born (d/o James)
1887 Oct 21 - grandson Clarence W born (s/o David)
1888 May 18 - grandson Elgin Floyd Bratney born (s/o Jennie)
1888 June 18 - died - (at daughter Jennie’s house) - Hastings, Adams, Nebraska

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parents: George Bates | Sarah Needham
Bates Home Page | Lee's Genes Home Page

Sideways to:
siblings
husband Jeremiah Bothwell

Forward to children:
Benjamin | Sarah | Jeremiah | James | Jennie | David

questions, comments, additions, corrections?
contact me at: lee@leesgenes.com

Page last updated: 14 Jan 2011