Appanoose County Research
PEYTON, BEVARD, HALL
Posted By: Ted (email)
Date: 4/28/2013 at 10:52:17
I am looking for someone who can search local records pertaining to Appanoose County to fill in some research gaps concerning my 2x great grandmother, Mary Jane Peyton Bevard.
She was born in Indiana to Phillip Peyton and Lucretia Jane Lott. The family moved to Tipton, Cedar, Iowa where Lucretia Lott died, and Mary Jane Peyton is enumerated with her maternal uncle, John J Lott in 1850. According to the 1856 State Census, she is living with her father, Phillip and stepmother, Catherine, in Newton, Buchanan, Iowa. By 1860, she is listed in the household of Aaron and Mary Long, a few doors down from her father's home.
On October 2, 1866, she gives birth to my great grandmother, Minerva Bevard in Muscatine, Iowa, however does not marry Martin Van Buren Bevard until October 23 1869 in Moscow, Muscatine, Iowa. The family of three is still living in Moscow according to the 1870 census. Mary Jane Peyton Bevard is christened at the Christian Church in 1873 at Troy Mills, Linn, Iowa, the town of her father's residence.
In 1880, she is listed in Centerville, Appanoose, Iowa with her husband, Martin and daughters, Minerva, age 14 and Matilda J., age 10.
This is where the information gets a little fuzzy. In 1885, I believe I have found Mary Jane Bevard living in Belair, Appanoose in an apparent poor house. Her daughter, Minerva, is in Centerville, now married to my great grandfather, William Arthur Hall and their eldest daughter, Bertha Elmina Hall. There is no evidence of Martin, her husband, or Matilda J., her younger daughter.
Martin Bevard is found in Seward, Nebraska, where he marries his second wife, Sarah Hamilton, on February 18, 1849. I did received his pension application and he makes no mention of his first wife, Mary Jane Peyton, nor either of his daughters. He dies in 1903 and is buried at Utica Cemetery in Seward County.
The last record I have for Mary Jane is at the home of her son-in-law and daughter, William and Minerva Hall, in the 1900 Federal Census, still in Centerville, Appanoose, Iowa. Here, she is still listed as Mary Bevard, a widow, being the mother of three children, all living. Which is also confusing, since I have only seen evidence of two daughters, and I have never been able to find Matilda, other than the 1880 Census.
I am curious if there are any divorce records for her and Martin Bevard, and of course, any obituary or burial record for her after 1900. The Hall family is buried at Oakland Cemetery in Centerville. Thank you for taking the time to read this long post. Please feel free to contact me here with a reply, or directly at canoecarver@aol.com.
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