Tag Archives: timelines

Nancy Dillon Kingery: 1842 Was a Rough Year (52 Ancestors #49)

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Timelines are powerful tools in our research. They can show us holes in our research, give us ideas for new places to look, and even help us evaluate evidence. (“She was only 2 when she gave birth? Huh. I think something is wrong here.”)

Timelines are even more powerful when we include dates of a person’s entire family. Doing that for Nancy Dillon Kingery, my 3rd-great-grandmother, gave me a whole new insight into her life.

  • 1808 – Born1)Nancy Ann Dillon Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70131401. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio. Birth date of 2 August 1808 calculated from age at date of death.
  • 1832 – Married Henry Kingery in Lawrence County, Ohio2)FamilySearch.org, Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1997, Henry Kingry and Nancy Dillon marriage, Lawrence County marriage vol. 1-3, p. 158.
  • 1833 – Birth of son Armsted3)Henry Rengers [sic] household, 1850 U.S. census, Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio, p. 399, nos. 65/67.
  • 1835 – Birth of son Lewis4)Henry Rengers [sic] household, 1850 U.S. census, Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio, p. 399, nos. 65/67.
  • 1836 – Birth of son William5)Henry Rengers [sic] household, 1850 U.S. census, Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio, p. 399, nos. 65/67.
  • 1838 – Birth of daughter Mary6)Cemeteries of Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio. No publication info.
  • 1839 – Birth of daughter Elizabeth7)Elizabeth Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70146859. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio.
  • 1840 – Death of daughter Elizabeth8)Elizabeth Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70146859. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio.
  • 1841 – Birth of son John Peter9)FamilySearch.org, Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953, John P. Kingrey death certificate, 11782 (1917), digital image.
  • 1842 – Birth of son Samuel10)Samuel Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70146927. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio. NOTE: The tombstone is hard to read; an earlier transcription varies on the month and day of his death, though both agree that it was in 1842 and he was aged 20 days.
  • 1842 – Death of son Samuel11)Samuel Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70146927. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio. NOTE: The tombstone is hard to read; an earlier transcription varies on the month and day of his death, though both agree that it was in 1842 and he was aged 20 days.
  • 1842 – Death of daughter Mary (13 November)12)Cemeteries of Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio. No publication info.
  • 1847 – Birth of son Henry Franklin13)Henry Rengers [sic] household, 1850 U.S. census, Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio, p. 399, nos. 65/67.
  • 1848 – Birth of son McCager14)Henry Rengers [sic] household, 1850 U.S. census, Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio, p. 399, nos. 65/67.
  • 1864 – Son John Peter enlists in 173rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry15)Roster Commission. Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion. Vol. 9. Cincinnati: Ohio Valley Press, 1889.
  • 1872 – Death of husband Henry16)Henry Franklin Kingery, Sr., FindAGrave.com, memorial 70128122. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio.
  • 1894 – Died17)Nancy Ann Dillon Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70131401. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio.

1842. The year that Nancy gave birth to her son Samuel, only to see him die three weeks later. Then 4-year-old Mary died later that fall. Nancy had already lost her 1-year-old daughter Elizabeth in 1840.

How did Nancy cope with the deaths of her children? Was she frightened to discover she was pregnant in 1847 and again in 1848? How worried was she when John Peter went off to fight in the Civil War?

The gap in her children between 1842 and 1847 makes me wonder. Did she have — and lose — another child in that time? Did she avoid getting pregnant, afraid that she would have to bury another child if she did?

While we’ll never know the answers to those questions, seeing this timeline makes us think less about individual events and more about Nancy’s life.

EDIT: If you enjoyed this example of a timeline, you might also like the post I wrote about Nancy’s son John Peter, his entry into the Civil War, and the birth of his daughter: John, This Is Your Daughter: Or, How a Timeline Uncovered a Family Story.

It's kind of strange how we look at time and the events in our ancestors' lives...

It’s kind of strange how we look at time and the events in our ancestors’ lives…

References   [ + ]

1. Nancy Ann Dillon Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70131401. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio. Birth date of 2 August 1808 calculated from age at date of death.
2. FamilySearch.org, Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1997, Henry Kingry and Nancy Dillon marriage, Lawrence County marriage vol. 1-3, p. 158.
3, 4, 5, 13, 14. Henry Rengers [sic] household, 1850 U.S. census, Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio, p. 399, nos. 65/67.
6, 12. Cemeteries of Windsor Township, Lawrence County, Ohio. No publication info.
7, 8. Elizabeth Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70146859. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio.
9. FamilySearch.org, Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953, John P. Kingrey death certificate, 11782 (1917), digital image.
10, 11. Samuel Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70146927. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio. NOTE: The tombstone is hard to read; an earlier transcription varies on the month and day of his death, though both agree that it was in 1842 and he was aged 20 days.
15. Roster Commission. Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion. Vol. 9. Cincinnati: Ohio Valley Press, 1889.
16. Henry Franklin Kingery, Sr., FindAGrave.com, memorial 70128122. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio.
17. Nancy Ann Dillon Kingery, FindAGrave.com, memorial 70131401. Includes photo of tombstone in Kingry Cemetery in Lawrence County, Ohio.