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Great great grandfather Jeremiah Bothwell spent most of his adult life in Whiteside County, Illinois, so that is why I think of my Bothwells as “Whiteside County Bothwells.” Actually, Jeremiah was the only one to spend much time there.
This branch of the Bothwell clan was from County Armagh, Ireland. There are other Bothwells from Ireland, but most of them were in County Down. Very few were from Armagh, so you would think it would be easy to trace them. WRONG. We don't know exactly where they lived, or who their parents were, or anything. We assume that they originally came from Scotland, and were part of the plantation of Ulster, but we don't know.
There were five siblings who left Armagh - William, James, Jeremiah, Sarah, and Margaret - and family memories say there was a brother (or half-brother) Samuel left behind. They went first to Canada, sometime in the 1830s. We are not sure where in Canada, although we suspect somewhere near Durham - another group of Bothwells who had intermarried with Elliots were there. In 1838, the siblings moved to Burlington, Vermont, where they set themselves up as tailors.
Burlington Sentinel.
NOTICE
JAMES BOTHWELL
Respectfully informs the public that he will Make, Clean and Repair Clothing to the satisfaction of his employers.
He will also keep on hand a stock of Ready Made Clothing, which he will give in exchange or sell for ready cash on the lowest terms. He will be found in the first Store south of the Chair Factory, Church-street.
N.B. -Cloths of all kinds constantly on hand and for sale. Trimmings for sale for those who may furnish their own cloth.
Burlington, Jan. 14, 1838
The Burlington Sentinel, Burlington, Vermont, 14 Jan 1838 I suspect the date is a typo because the first issue in which I found it was dated Jan. 21, 1939. There were other ads on the page dated both 1838 and 1839. [note by Kearney Bothwell, who found the ad.]
They stayed there for two years at least. During that time James married Ruth Converse (May 13, 1839) and William married Dinah Manson (June 17, 1839 Burlington, VT - minister Rev. J. K. Converse). William and Dinah apparently went back to Canada for a while -their first child (maybe their first two) was born there. The rest of the siblings plus Ruth are in the 1840 Vermont census:
1840
Vermont - Chittenden Co - Burlington 032 - line 16
Bothwell James - 1 m 20-30; 1 m 30-40
1 f 10-15; 1 f 20-30; 1 f 30-40
total 5. 2 in manufacture and trade
1m 34-40 (James 40)
1m 20-30 (Jeremiah 22)
1f 30-40 (Ruth 34)
1f 20-30 (Sarah 26)
1f 10-15 (Margaret 17)
They headed west not long afterward. William was buying land in Whiteside County, Illinois in 1840:
31 Aug 1840 Charles Rood to William B WD 100 (A&B-97)
1 Sep 1840 Jeremiah Rice to William B WD 100 (A&B-174)
and James (and presumably the others as well) was there by 1842:
13 February 1842 - organization of the Congregational Church and Society of Albany. Members had withdrawn from the First Presbyterian Church “being dissatisfied with the principles of said church.” Certificate signed by: James Bothwell, William H. Efner, Duty Buck, Erastus Allen, William Bothwell, Mrs. Hannah Allen, Mrs. Ruth Bothwell, Mrs. Fannie Buckingham, G. Buckingham by profession, Mrs. Dinah Bothwell by profession. [Charles Bent, History of Whiteside County, Illinois : from its first settlement to the present time, with numerous biographical and family sketches (Morrison, Ill. : [s.n.], 1877) p. 118-119.] William Bothwell and Duty Buck were chosen deacons.
Sarah got married just a few weeks after the new church had been formed:
Sarah Bothwell - Charles Pulford - 7 March 1842 - Whiteside Co, Illinois by EH Hazard, Congregational Church, Albany, Illinois.
She and Charles lived in Savanna, Illinois, just a little bit up the river from Albany, for the rest of their lives, as far as I can tell. Sarah died in 1872. Charles married again, and lived until 1887.
In 1844, William, always the adventurous one, had moved on to Jo Daviess County, where he helped to found another church.
9 Feb 1844 Jo Daviess Co. -The village of Elizabeth - At the organization (of the Presbyterian Church) the following trustees were elected: Wm. P Warwick, James B. Watts, Wm. Bothwell and John Rees. . . .
[History of Jo Daviess County. I don’t have any more bibliographic information than that, sorry!!! ]
William sold some of his Whiteside County property to James six weeks later.
21 Mar 1844 William Bothwell to James Bothwell WD - 350 (C-342)
[Recorder’s Office, Whiteside County, Illinois.]
He spent the next few years in Galena, Jo Daviess County, operating a hotel. He moved across the Mississippi to Dubuque probably before 1856, when Margaretta Bothwell, possibly his daughter, married Benjamin Ellis.
1856 July 16 - marriage license Dubuque - daughter? Margaretta Bothwell and Benj. W Ellis book 1, p. 432 - record 1292 (236) - No other info on license [Information from Kearney Bothwell]
William was in the 1858-9 Dubuque City Directory (again operating a hotel/boarding house). He lived in Dubuque for the rest of his life, dying there in 1885
Sister Margaret was married in 1844, in Jo Daviess County, apparently in the church recently founded by brother William.
17 July 1844 - Margaret Bothwell - John Fink - Jo Daviess County, Ill. by A Kent
[Illinois Statewide Marriages, website.Actually, it says “John Frink.” The information about who performed the ceremony comes from Kearney Bothwell.]
She and John Fink lived in Savanna, Illinois (where sister Sarah also lived) for the rest of their lives. They both died in 1895, within a week of each other.
James died in 1847, and his widow moved to Lenawee County, Michigan. There were some Converses there, probably relatives of hers.
Jeremiah stayed in Whiteside County for most of his life, officially a farmer, but actually a real estate speculator. He married Sarah Bates in 1845 in, oddly enough, London, Ontario. We can’t help thinking that if we knew why the marriage happened there, we’d be a good bit on the way to figuring out who the Bothwell parents were.
Jeremiah Bothwell - Sarah Bates - 30 June 1845 - London District of Ontario, Canada. Ceremony performed by the Rev. James Bailey of the Episcopal Methodist church. Witnesses Charles Dickenson and William Needham. [The Marriage Registers of Upper Canada/Canada W., Vol. 4, Pt. 2, London district, 1841-1852, (Delhi : Norsim Research and Publishing, 1995) p. 48.]
He and Sarah had six children, all born in Albany - and then Jeremiah had a mid-life crisis and divorced Sarah and married the widow of Gilbert Buckingham, who spent all his money in record time. Jeremiah died in 1898, in the house of his nieces, Anna and Sarah Fink.
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