A rat's nest in Indiana and Wisconsin

[Erato]

This is actually a multi-state and multi-generational rat's nest.  Best to start with the first generation and take it one step at a time.

Seth Tarr Mitchell was born in Litchfield, Kennebec County, Maine on 19 May 1818.  His parents were Joshua Mitchell and Nancy Tarr.  Since only the heads of households were named on the 1840 census, I can't be sure, but it looks like Seth was still at home with his parents in 1840.

A Seth T. Mitchell allegedly married a Mary E. Bright on 19 October 1844 in Johnson County, Indiana:

http://marriage-divorce-records.mooseroots.com/d/c/Seth-Mitchell

And in 1850, there was a Seth T. Mitchel, merchant, age 37, born in Maine and living in Franklin Twsp., Johnson County, Indiana.  His wife was named Mary E. There was a son Emerson Mitchel and two other children, Mary L. Bright and Septimus G. Bright, presumably step-children.  [It is worth noting that Emerson was a fairly common name among the Maine Mitchells].

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01gto/


Question:  Does anyone have access to the original Indiana marriage records and, if so, is there anything to confirm that the Indiana Seth Mitchell was the man who was born in Litchfield, Maine?


By 1860, Seth Mitchell seems to have abandoned Mary and Emerson.  They were still in Indiana [Septimus had died and Mary L. Bright had married] but Seth seems to have gone to Wisconsin and acquired a different wife?, though he didn't actually marry her until 1867.

http://www.mocavo.com/1860-United-States-Census/126207/005165841/686#row-5
http://www.mocavo.com/1860-United-States-Census/126207/005171801/93#row-11
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XR2W-PQZ


Question:  After 1867, there is no further sign of Seth Mitchell.  When and where did he die?

[shellyesq]

I haven't found the actual marriage record, but another index has Seth T. Mitchell marrying Mrs. Mary E. Bright on 20 Oct 1844 in Johnson Co., Indiana.

[shellyesq]

There are a bunch of trees that said he died 24 Feb 1867 in Indiana, but no actual source was given.

[shellyesq]

From Emerson's 2nd marriage record, it looks like Mary's maiden name was Eaton - https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KF8S-DXZ 

[shellyesq]

There are a bunch of references in Indianapolis newspapers from 1862 and 1863 about property mortgaged in Johnson Co. by Seth T. Mitchell and wife.  One of them mentions his wife as Mary E. 

[Erato]

If he died in Indiana in February 1867, then the Indiana Seth is not the one who was born in Litchfield, Maine because that Seth married Emeline J. Taylor in Oshkosh in March 1867.  The Wisconsin marriage names his parents as Joshua and Nancy Mitchell.  Moreover, it makes sense that he might have gone to Wisconsin since other members of the Mitchell family were there including his sisters Mary Mitchell and Nancy Ann Mitchell [my gg-grandmother].

[Erato]

I am aware of the marriage record for Emerson Mitchell in which his mother is named as Mary Eaton.  There is also a record of a Jabes Bright marrying a Mary Eliza Huntington in 1836 in Shelby County, Indiana [just to the east of Johnson County].  Jabez Bright is on the 1840 census in Johnson County.

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV99-CFFP
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01gtp/

[shellyesq]

I don't know what the basis for that 1867 death date was.  In theory, maybe Mary had him declared dead at that time.   

Here's a possible death notice for Mary:  http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~injohnso/obits/M/mitchellmary.htm  A death notice in a Martinsville, Ind. newspaper said she was a resident of Franklin for 40 years.

[Erato]

That death notice is probably the right person because I have Mary E. Mitchell on the 1850,60,70 and 80 censuses in Franklin Twsp., Johnson County, Indiana.