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Twisted Family Ties of My 2X Great-Grandmother

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52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Week 16 – April 15 -21, 2024

Step



When I thought about the writing prompt of Step for this week I decided to highlight my 2nd great-grandmother, Effa Elizabeth Smith, as she was the second wife of Andrew Schooley Allen (1823 – 1913), commonly known as Schooley in his community, my 2nd great-grandfather. Because Schooley had at least four children with his first wife, Elizabeth B. Smith  (1822-1861), Effa, or Effie, as she was more commonly known, became a stepmother to those children when she married him on 23 February 1864.





Effa E. Smith was born on 6 December 1833 in Muncy, Pennsylvania, a small agricultural village, later a thriving lumber industry area in the north-central locality of the state to Alexander M. Smith, an innkeeper (1800-1864) and Elizabeth Schuyler, his wife (1797 – 1852). Muncy was one of the earliest settlements in the West Branch Valley of the Susquehanna River. Muncy and its residents were participants in some of the most significant historical events in the making of the American Frontier, including the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. Numerous Indian trails also crisscrossed the landscape. Pioneers cleared land, planted crops, and built cabins as early as 1752, hoping to farm and trade with the Munsee or the “Monsey clan” of the Delaware or Lenape Indians who lived nearby. By the 1830s Muncy was located on a stagecoach route, the Danville Road, necessitating the need for inns and taverns. I have been attempting to




uncover the name of the inn that Alexander owned or managed but I have not been successful in that endeavor as of yet.


Have noticed the common surname of Smith for Elizabeth B. and Effie E. When I first began researching my Allen lineage the Smith surname was quite common in my family. Despite the undeniable common surname of Smith, the two women were indeed full biological sisters! Elizabeth was approximately seven years older than Effie.


It was not uncommon in America during the 1860s for a sister to marry her brother-in-law after the early death of her sister. Had Schooley lived in England during that era his marriage to Effie would have been illegal. It was not until 1907, after the Deceased Wife’ Sister’s Marriage Act that the union would have been performed. But thankfully Effie and Schooley lived in Pennsylvania in the United States of America otherwise I would not have been here!


Several factors influenced these types of marriages:


1.      Practical Considerations: Often these marriages arose from practical necessities. When a woman. When a woman passed away her sister could step in to help care for the children and manage household affairs thereby providing stability and continuity during a difficult time.

2.      Geographical considerations: Often people did not travel far from their homes in search of a spouse to help care for them and the children of the deceased wife. Many people lived in farming communities where their social interactions were limited.

3.      Freedom of choice: it provides a person with freedom to choose who to marry.


Effie’s sister, Elizabeth B. Smith Allen, died in 1861 when she was 39 years old. She had two living children, having lost at least two other children as infants: Sarah Esther Allen was born 27 January 1853 and Amos Biddle Allen was born in 1855, Mary E. Allen, b. 1858 d. 1860, and an unnamed infant of an unknown date. When I visited the Derry Presbyterian Cemetery in Whitehall, Pennsylvania in 2003, I found the headstones of Elizabeth, A. Biddle, Mary E., and infant Allen in the cemetery. Andrew/Schooley was not interred in that cemetery with them.



Then, I began to unravel the story of two sisters who had married the same man.


Interestingly, the children of Schooley’s marriage to Elizabeth B. Smith would have been considered the aunt and uncle to the children of his marriage to Effa E. Smith. The two living children of Elizabeth’s and Schooley’s marriage are also considered Effie’s stepchildren.

Recorded on the 1900 United States Federal Census Effie and Schooley married in 1864, at least 2 ½ to 3 years after Elizabeth’s death.


In the Civil War Draft Registration from July 1863, I found Andrew/Schooley’s name recorded as unmarried or single, a farmer, living in Madison Township, Pennsylvania when he was 41 years old. It is possible that Andrew/Schooley served in the Union Army after the death of his wife, Elizabeth as he registered for the draft in July of 1863. However, I could not find any positive or irrefutable record of his service. It seems the name Andrew Allen was a common one.


Effie’s children born during her marriage to Schooley were Elizabeth S. Allen, b.7 February 1864, d. 27 May 1939; Minnie D. Allen, b. 1866, d. 1886; John Smith Allen, b. 15 June 1868, d. 14 November 1941 (my paternal great-grandfather), and Annie M. Allen, b. 3 August 1872, d. 26 May 1939. All the children except John Smith Allen are buried in the Milton Cemetery, Milton, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania along with their mother, Effie and Schooley.



You may notice that Elizabeth S., also commonly known as “Lizzie,” and Annie died within one day of each other. Lizzie and Annie were the spinster aunts who lived with and cared for their father, Andrew (Schooley) until his death at the advanced age of 89 in 1913. Effie died on 20 December 1909 a full ten years before her husband. Effie’s stepchildren, Sarah Esther Allen Lilley, died in 1919, and “Biddle” or "Bid" died in 1875 at the young age of 20 from





typhoid fever. Not all of Effie’s children outlived her as Minnie D. died in 1886 at the age of 20 years, but Lizzie, Annie, and Smitty died well after her.



Another interesting fact I came across while researching this line of ancestors was that several of the male members of the extended family commonly used their middle names instead of their first given name. Andrew was known as “Schooley,” Amos Biddle was known as “Biddle” or “Bid,” and my great-grandfather was commonly known as “Smith or Smitty.”  Another Smith from a divergent line was officially named Ralph but he commonly used the nickname “Bud.” Perhaps they used their less common middle names, nicknames, or surnames as the names most people knew them to distinguish themselves from others with the common surname of Smith.


As one can imagine the common surnames of Smith and Allens in my paternal family lineage have caused me much confusion during my genealogical journey in unraveling this line. I have found myself revisiting the records of these ancestors often in the hopes of finding more information about each one of them as well as scouring the records I have already discovered to be sure they are the correct ones.



Unfortunately, I have not discovered any photographs of these ancestors, but I continue to search for them. I’m sure that photos would help me in my quest to discover more about my Allen and Smith lineage. If any of you wonderful readers happen to have any of these photos I'd love to talk with you about them.

 

 

 

 

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