Uriah MARKS (1794-) and Susanna DIX -Married in 1817



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Edna OTWELL > Edwin OTWELL > Jane ASH > Anna Maria MARKS > Uriah MARKS and Susanna DIX 

Anna Maria was born and baptized in Heytesbury, Wiltshire, England and her parents were Uriah MARKS, shearman, and Susanna. 

Uriah MARKS’ parents were Richard MARKS and Mercy STOKES (1755-?). The family was originally from North Bradley, Wiltshire, England and had moved to Heytesbury by Uriah's baptism on 5 February 1804. Uriah was born in 1794, so he was about 10 years old when he was baptized.  The name Uriah appears several times in the STOKES family of North Bradley.

We found a 5 October 1817 record of marriage for Uriah MARKS, bachelor to Susanna DIX, spinster in the transcript of Heytesbury Marriages, 1653-1827. The same information was found on Pallots Marriage Index, 1780-1837 and in the Wiltshire Parish Registers.  The marriage is the earliest record we have for Susanna.

From Pallots Marriage Index, 1780-1837

Uriah and Susanna had at least 5 children: Anna Maria (our ancestor), Elizabeth (born in 1820), Eliza (born in 1822), William, Jane and Henry.  Baby Henry was baptized in 1830 and died in 1831.  Susanna also died in 1831.

The family history recorded by genealogist Stilson HART states that William and possibly Lizzie were the names of the siblings that came to Toronto with Anna Maria after the death of their parents. William became a Methodist Minister and we found records confirming he had taught in a Sunday School in Toronto. No solid information has been found for Lizzie, though we have found a marriage registry in Toronto for Elizabeth MARKS who married John PUDNEY with witness William ASH (Anna Maria's husband's name).

To date, the only death record found for a Uriah MARKS in England was an 1846 record in Alderberry, another small Wiltshire village, but it is doubtful this is the same person since Anna Maria was in Canada before her 1838 marriage.

Interestingly, a Uriah MARKS showed up in the 1842 Toronto census. He was listed as a laborer. We also found a Toronto marriage registry for Uriah MARKS to Mary BRIEN on 25 May 1846. The marriage was by Banns and the witnesses were William MARKS and Elijah MARKS (which looks a bit like "Eliza MARKS"). Could Uriah have brought his children to Toronto? More research is needed.

Anna Maria MARKS-ASH-ATWELL (1817-1899)

Anna Maria, photo curtesy of cousin Carolyn F.

Edna OTWELL- SIM > Edwin OTWELL > Jane ASH-OTWELL > Anna Maria MARKS

Like her husband William ASH, some of what we know about Anna Maria is based on histories compiled long ago by Stilson ASHE, Jr. (1918-) and shared by our third cousins David H. and Carolyn F. This was written by Stilson’s aunt, Esther ASHE, granddaughter of Anna Maria:

• "Maria Marks (Father’s Mother) was born at Haysburg, Devonshire, England (Date unknown) An englishman thought it (Haysburg) near the center of Devonshire, not far from the Doons’ in the story of “Lorna Doone”. Maria Marks’ parents died. She being the oldest, emigrated to Toronto with her brothers and sisters. One brother, William Marks, became a Methodist Minister in Toronto. She had a sister Lizzie I think. Maria Marks was apparently a young lady when she left England. She told of lacing her corset so tight one day, when she went to church, everything turned black. When she came too she was lying on the church steps and the red feather in her hat was broken."

Anna Maria was known as Maria. She was the eldest daughter of Uriah MARKS and Susanna DIX of Heytesbury, Wiltshire, England born 13 November 1817. She immigrated with her siblings to Toronto, Ontario before 1838. She married William ASH on 12 May 1838 in Toronto and they settled in Uxbridge, Ontario.
  

William and Maria had at least 5 children: Maria SCHEFFER, Elizabeth PATTERSON, William ASH, James ASHE and Jane OTWELL (our ancestor).  William died in 1847 when Maria was about 3 months pregnant with Jane. After his death, Maria returned to Toronto where her siblings resided. She gave birth there to Jane.

On 30 April 1848, Maria next married farmer John ATWELL (1818 - 1903) of Pennsylvania. This blended family settled on a farm near St. Mary’s, West Nissouri, Middlesex, Ontario. They lived in a log cabin and had at least 4 additional children: Hannah ROSS, George, Ellen and Levi. There was also a son named John born in 1848; he may be Maria’s or he may have been John’s from a previous marriage. The family appears on the 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1891 West Nissouri censuses. The family was Episcopalian in the 1851 census and Canadian Methodist in 1861, 1871 and 1891.

In January 2017, cousin David H. found one of the ATWELL descendants, cousin Gayle J. of Ailsa Craig, Ontario.  She was not able to tell us anything new about William ASH, but she did have some information on Maria.  The following is from David's email:

• "After we established that Anna Maria was our mutual ancestor, she said that every year her mother would place flowers at the ATWELL gravesite in North Nissouri Cemetery where we visited. When she and her mother ever talked about family history together, they would wonder what happened to the ASH siblings--nobody in the ATWELL family knew."
• "Gayle told me a little about great-great-grandmother Anna Maria. She was greatly respected and loved in the community, and people would rather go see her than a doctor.. She delivered a large number of the babies born in the area. What a wonderful reputation."

Maria died at age 82 in 1899 and was buried at the North Nissouri Presbyterian Cemetery.

Anna Maria's Obit, 11 May 1899
From St. Mary's Museum

Visit her on-line memorial:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=141039169

William ASH (1817-1847)

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Edna OTWELL- SIM > Edwin OTWELL > Jane ASH-OTWELL > William ASH

Much of what we know about William is based on family historian Stilson HART (1918-) and shared by our third cousins David H. and Carolyn F.  This was written by Stilson’s aunt, Esther ASHE, granddaughter of William:

"Father’s Father whose name was William ASHE was born in Armagh County about 50 miles north of Dublin, 1817. He married May 12, 1838 and died April 29, 1847, in Canada, near Uxbridge, Ont. He had gone away on horseback. They found him lying on the ground beside his horse, his clothing unfastened and his body bloated. He had this trouble some time before his death. He must have been quite young when he came to America."

First, you will note that this family spells the surname ASHE as they are all descended from the one son, James ASHE, who spelled it that way. All of the other children used ASH and the documents we have found confirm the ASH spelling.


William ASH was born in Ireland and immigrated to Canada. Our earliest possible record is the marriage register for William ASH, widower of Toronto to spinster Hanna MARKS on 12 May 1838 in Toronto. We know that his wife’s name was Anna Maria MARKS and though the bride’s name does not match exactly, it is likely this is our William.  If the year of birth is true, he immigrated and was previously married by age 21.

In 1839, their first known child, Maria, was baptized in Toronto.  William's occupation was listed as a shoe-maker.  In 1844, they appear in Etobicoke Wesleyan Mehodist baptism records for their son William.  Etobicoke is near Toronto.

In an 1847 directory for Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada, we found a William ASH occupying lot 6, concession 2. It is not known if he owned the parcel or leased it. A map found from 1870s shows that the lot had been divided into 4 smaller parcels with individual homes, a grist mill and a church.

• This parcel was later known as the OTEWELL (no relation to our OTWELL line) Homestead and the Uxbridge Museum curator shared photos of the home and barns published in a book The Inventory of Historic Homes. There is a note in this book stating that the owners were Quakers and it is unknown what date the structures were built.  Quakers from Pennsylvania were the earliest settlers to this area.

William and Anna Maria had at least 5 children: Maria SCHEFFER, Elizabeth PATTERSON, William, James ASHE, Jane OTWELL (our ancestor). William died when Anna Maria was pregnant with Jane. The final document we have for William is Jane’s death certificate which listed her parent’s names.

At the time of his death in 1847, he would have been 30 years old.  We do not know where he was buried.

This ends the ASH research.

Jane ASH-OTWELL (1847-1935)

Jane OTWELL, Detroit circa 1935
Photo courtesy Herb OTWELL

Edna OTWELL > Edwin OTWELL > Jane ASH

Jane was born on 13 November 1847 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her parents were William ASH and Anna Maria MARKS. William had died prior to Jane’s birth. When Jane was 1 years old, Anna Maria married John ATWELL and the blended family moved to a farm near St. Mary’s, West Nissouri, Ontario. Jane appears on the 1851 census under the surname ATWELL. She did not appear on the 1861 census.

At age 17, Jane married her neighbor, 19 year old Maurice OTWELL (1845-1915), on 15 July 1865 in Perth, Ontario. After marriage, they lived with Maurice's parents on the OTWELL Farm near St. Mary's and had at least 7 children (John Franklin, William, Edwin (our ancestor), Mary Ellen HALEY, Edith PAGE, Ila May MCLEOD-YOUNIE and Victoria Jane FREISLEBEN).

After Maurice was committed in 1889 (see previous post), Jane and her children remained in the OTWELL household. Several of the older children married and moved away that year. In 1890, Jane’s mother-in-law, Mary TAYLOR-OTWELL, passed away and the OTWELLs sold the farm and moved to London, Ontario by 1891.

Maurice's father, John Franklin OTWELL, was still patriarch of the family.  By 1903 John had senile dementia.  He was caught stealing and sent to prison.  (You'll have to wait for his upcoming post for the full story.)  Just imagine what Jane and the family went through in such a short period of time - Maurice's insanity, Mary's death, loss of the farm, John Franklin's dementia and imprisonment.

Jane must have wanted a fresh start.  She moved the remaining family to Detroit, Wayne Co., Michigan. (One of her daughters had previously moved there.) She first appears in the 1903 Detroit directory offering furnished rooms for rent. In the 1910 census, her occupation is keeper at a rooming house. Her daughters Ila May MCLEOD and Edith PAGE were also renting there.

Jane never remarried.  Maurice died in 1915.  In the 1920 census, Jane was a retired widow living in her daughter’s, Mary Ellen HALEY’s, household. By 1921, she appears in the Detroit directory living at another location.

Jane died of pneumonia at home on 18 January, 1935 at age 87 years. Her son John OTWELL was the informant on her death certificate. She was laid to rest at Oakview Cemetery, Oakland County, Michigan.  Her obituary mentions that she was the niece of England's late Lord Salisbury, but no further information has been found on that information.

Obit courtesy cousin David H.- from his scrapbook

Visit her on-line memorial:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=146344726