   We are indebted to Edmunds researcher Virginia Edmunds for sharing her research and biographical information on John and Ortentia Almeda Hadley Edmunds. Much of the following information borrows heavily from Virginia's history of the Edmunds family. And thanks to the wonders of the Internet, the enthusiastic research and contributions of Jim Kendall are now expanding and enriching these pages. Jim is a third great-grandson of John and Ortentia Edmunds through their daughter, Olive.
Other web authors have used the spelling Hortentia, as she was named in her obituary. The confusion is indeed understandable: we have found her name spelled in a variety of ways. This site shall persist in using Ortentia for several reasons. When Doris Barb Pogue, Ortentia's great-grandniece, wrote the Hadley family history in 1933, she used Ortentia, the name used by the family. Various public records, several of which are displayed on this site, show the spelling Ortentia, including John and Ortentia's marriage documents. And after the death of Jesse Hadley, a receipt her share of Jesse's estate was signed with the name "Ortentia A. Edmunds", although it is unclear whether or not Ortentia, herself, signed the receipt. In a letter to her sister, Marinda, Ortentia wrote, "I never was loving and forgiving, like you." Time has erased human memory of Ortentia's character, so we are left to wonder about the woman who described herself thusly, yet appears to have been much loved.
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Ortentia Almeda Hadley
Dau. of:  Jesse Hadley & Lucinda Lawrence
b: Aug 18, 1824 Centreville, Allegany Co, NY m: Jul 13, 1839 Fountain Green, Hancock Co, IL
d: Sep 19, 1907 Franklin, Jackson Co, WI burial: Irving Cem., Black River Falls*, WI
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John Edmunds
Son of: Obadiah Edmunds & Lydia Moors b: Sep 10, 1821 Butler Co, PA m: Jul 13, 1839 Fountain Green, Hancock Co, IL
d: Dec 30, 1878 Black River Falls, WI burial: Irving Cem., Black River Falls, WI  unidentified young woman, baby
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In the Hadley family history, it was reported that Ortentia gave birth to sixteen children. Notes prepared by a great-granddaughter gave the number as fourteen. In the 1900 Census, Ortentia (presumably) told the enumerator she was the mother of 13 children. In her obituary, in 1907, only eleven children were mentioned, three of whom died in infancy or early childhood. | |
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Olive Lawrence Edmunds
b: Aug 15, 1840 Fountain Green Twp, Hancock Co, IL
m: Oct 1, 1856 Hancock Co, IL d: Jan 26, 1908 Mellen, Ashland Co, WI burial: Riverside Cem., Black River Falls, WI
Spouse: John Marcus Olson
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The date of death on Olive's tombstone is 1907; the date published in Deaths in Jackson County, Wisconsin, was May 31, 1905; obituaries gave her date of death as January 26, 1908. |
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Wesley J. Edmunds b: Oct 2, 1842 Fountain Green Twp, Hancock Co, IL
d: Sep 3, 1843 Hancock Co, IL burial: probably in the Hadley Cemetery |
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Bailey Edmunds
b: Jun 2, 1844 Fountain Green Twp, Hancock Co, IL
m: Sep 26, 1869 Jackson Co, WI d: Oct 16, 1917 Black River Falls, WI burial: Riverside Cem., Black River Falls, WI
Spouse: Jane Martin
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 Tentatively identified as Bailey Edmunds |
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Jesse Edmunds b: Sep 4, 1847 Fountain Green Twp, Hancock Co, IL
d: Jul 8, 1848 Hancock Co, IL burial: probably in the Hadley Cemetery |
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Emeline Edmunds b: Dec 24, 1848 Fountain Green Twp, Hancock Co, IL
d: Sep 7, 1851 Black River Falls, WI (nearby) burial: Irving Cem., Black River Falls, WI |
Virginia found Emeline's tombstone in 1992. |
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Mary A. Edmunds b: Apr 1, 1851 Jackson Co, WI m: Jul 4, 1868 Jackson Co, WI d: Jan 31, 1911 Spokane, WA burial: Spokane WA Spouse: Cyril C. Clark
At the time of John Edmunds' death in December, 1878, Mary (Mrs. C. C. Clark) lived in Longwood, Clark Co, WI. When her mother died on Sep 19, 1907, Mary was living in Spokane, Washington. |
View the photo album, below, to see an enlargement and the reverse side of this image. |
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Jesse Herschell Edmunds
b: Sep 14, 1853 Jackson Co, WI m: Aug 15, 1875 Black River Falls, WI d: June 3, 1907 Kansas City, MO burial: Spouse: Frances Rowena Beach
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Tentatively identified as Jesse Herschell Edmunds |
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Estelle Edmunds b: 1854 Jackson Co, WI d: bef Dec 30, 1878 Jackson Co, WI (probably) burial: |
We have found no record of this daughter beyond the 1870 Census. Based on data available at this time and, in particular, the obituary of John Edmunds, Estelle apparently preceded her father in death. |
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Almeda H. "Meda" Edmunds b: Nov 23, 1855 Jackson Co, WI m: Sep 22, 1877 Jackson Co, WI d: aft Feb 13, 1918 (probably) burial: Spouse: William Colonel Shean
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Almeda, named as Mrs. William Shean, was said to be living in Jackson County at the time of her father's death in 1878. In 1907, when Ortentia died, Almeda was reported to be residing in Clark County, Wisconsin. There is a record of a land purchase by Almeda E. Sheehan in Montana, on Feb 13, 1918. Almeda's and William's son, Emmet, was a resident of Baker, Baker Twp, Fallon Co, Montana, in 1920. Almeda was not a member of the household. |
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Lucy E. Edmunds b: May 23, 1858 Albion Twp, Jackson Co, WI m: Aug 17, 1878 Albion Twp, Jackson Co, WI d: Sep 1, 1935 Bonanza, Klamath Co, OR burial: Spouse: Oscar Alphonso Thompson
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In December, 1878, Lucy, named as Mrs. Oscar Thompson, was said to be living in Neillesville, Clark Co, WI. She was in Thatcher, Idaho in 1917, when Bailey Edmunds died. |
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Infant Edmunds b: abt Apr 17, 1859 Wisconsin d: Apr 17, 1859 Wisconsin burial: Sullivan Cemetery |
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Sarah V. Edmunds b: 1862 Jackson Co, WI m: d: aft Oct 16, 1917 burial: In 1907, when Ortentia died, Sarah was said to be residing in the state of Washington. She was also named as a survivor when Bailey Edmunds died.
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Sarah was enumerated twice in the 1880 Census. On June 1, she was apparently staying in the home of her sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Cyril Clark, in Hixon. Sarah was shown to be a school teacher. Then on June 28, she was counted again in the home of her widowed mother, Ortentia, in Albion Township. At this time, no occupation was registered.
Jim Kendall offers a logical explanation: On June 1, Sarah was teaching or had just finished teaching school in Hixon
and was staying with her sister. By June 28, she had returned to her mother's house in Albion Twp., and was unemployed or between terms.
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Martha M. (Mattie) Edmunds b: 1863-1864 Jackson Co, WI d: May 22, 1904 burial: Irving Cem., Jackson Co, WI Martha was enumerated in the family home in the 1880 Census. She was shown to be a schoolteacher. Spouse 1: David C. Kenyon
Spouse 2: Marvin Walker
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 View the photo album, below, to see an enlargement and the reverse side of this image. |
Click on the album to view all Black River Falls photos.
This isn't the album that held all of the Edmunds family photographs.
Instead, it's a reduced image of the beautiful old album that
belonged to Annie Eleanor Petrie, wife of Ortentia's grandson,
Manford Orville Olson. Shared by Jim Kendall.
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