Subject: Ollis
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 14:59:45 -0700
From: "S. Chamberlin"
To: pollis@earthlink.net  

Dear Ollie,

I would like to interject a hypothesis regarding the origin of Boston Ollis.

Considering the age that Boston was (approximately 30) at the time he came to this country, he had to be doing something with his ten to fifteen years prior to his arrival. The situation in England was quite fluid. "King George III was a part of the Hanoverian Dynasty. King George I and George II were aliens in language, outlook, upbringing, and sympathy; their court was predominately German; their interests and ambitions had centered on Hanover and on the Continent of Europe." The above quote is from Winston Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples, Volume Three, page 163. It is quite possible that Boston Ollis was off fighting in Germany before coming to this country and might have had his fare provided in compensation for his services.

We also seem to discount the heritage that we receive from our maternal lines. In my German ancestorage, I find the given name Barbara many times. The bible in question might easily have been given by someone in Barbary (?) Ollises family and the German ancestry could easily be from her family.

The Bible has a publication date in Baltimore, Maryland in 1817. How likely is it that it would have arrived in Tennessee to have been included in the possessions taken to Indiana where according to the history of Washington County, Indiana Peter Ollis settled in 1818?

I am not disputing the fact that the Bible came from Peter and Christina Ollis. Christina is also a name that I find in my German lines. I just do not feel that it is indicative of German ancestorage for Boston Ollis. Also, I would like to see documentation for Christina's surname being Boston. If it was taken from the death records of Washington Co. Indiana, I feel that the record of John Ollis, Sr.---65y; married; farmer; died near Hardinsburg March 27, 1889; son of Peter Ollis and ----- Boston could easily have been reference to who his grandfather was.

I also have a problem with searching for another John Ollis who was living with Boston and was supposedly 85 in 1860. My experience with the censuses is that they are very often inaccurate as to age and that one must verify the information against other known sources. Is there a second John Ollis in the county? Often that is not enough as I have found instances of people being counted twice. Sometimes, I am told, the census taker would sit at his kitchen table rather than go out on a rainy day and say "let's see, old John is living with his boy and he has to be about 85". Many time the children would give information to the best of their knowledge and it wasn't entirely accurate. I have found many instances of birthplaces being given for two and three different states as well as variations of ages of the same person in two and three different censuses.

These are just thoughts but I hate to see us polarized on some of these issues without entertaining the possibilities and citing sources for definitive answers.

Sidney

Subject: Re: Addition to the Ollis Web Site
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 1998 20:56:14 +0000
From: velmal@juno.com (Velma L Wilson)
To: pollis@earthlink.net
References: 1

Ollie,

I noticed at the web site that there was some consternation about the maiden name of Peter Ollis' wife and what proof we had on it. I am quoting from a letter from Virginia Miller sent to me dated July 31, 1981 that states: "I think I was the first to find that Peter Ollis' wife was Christina Boston and I know how I arrived at it. I found in the death records that John's mother's maiden name was Boston. Then in the census of 1850 and 1860 Peter's wife was listed as Christina. I got a death certificate for John this morning."

This death certificate is not in my hands, so I have only Virginia's word on what it states. Maybe we should get a copy of this document for verification. I haven't corresponded with Virginia since 1981 and don't know if she is still alive or not. She worked at the museum and genealogy library in Salem, Indiana and did a lot of research on the Ollis family line since her family ties into the Ollises, too. John Ollis (son of Peter and Christina) who married Jane Rippy were her great grandparents.

Velma Wilson

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 11:42:01 -0400
From: "Prentis L. Ollis"
To: Velma L Wilson
CC: Judith Coe , Jane Sarles

Velma this is great information. Do you have an address for Virginia Miller? If not I have some other researchers in Indiana that might could help.

Ollie

Subject: Re: Addition to the Ollis Web Site
Date: Sun, 09 Aug 1998 21:50:12 -0400
From: "Judith H. Coe"
To: "Prentis L. Ollis"
References: 1 , 2 , 3

Ollie,

I'll call the John M. Hay Center (library) in Salem tomorrow and see if she is still there. I talked with several people when I was down there and they knew I was researching the Ollis/Lloyd line. No one mentioned being tied into this line, so I'm wondering if she is retired.

Judy

Subject: Re: Addition to the Ollis Web Site
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 11:14:46 -0400
From: "Jane Sarles"
To: "Prentis L. Ollis"

Good Morning, Ollie,

Virginia Miller was my cousin. She died about a year ago. If she found a death cert. on John Ollis, I should be able to, and will check on that when I can get to Salem, the Washington County seat. I live about 35 miles from there, but I am going to be traveling for the next few weeks, so give me some time.

Virginia was a fine person and spent many years on genealogy. I don't mean to criticize, but she did make assumptions. I have the book of death records of Washington County It says (exactly):

"Ollis, John, Sr. ----65 y; married; farmer; died near Hardinsburg March 27, 1889; son of Peter Ollis and ---- Boston."

As far as I know, this is the only place the Boston surname appears. The death record will probably say the same thing, but I will check.

Jane

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 11:42:01 -0400
From: "Prentis L. Ollis"
To: Velma L Wilson
CC: Judith Coe , Jane Sarles

We have a volunteer to try and find the death record's of John Ollis, Peter's son.

Thanks Jane... Please take all the time needed.

Happy and safe traveling.

Ollie

Mon, 10 Aug 1998 12:47:02 +0000
From: velmal@juno.com (Velma L Wilson)
To: pollis@earthlink.net  

The citation here might have been Virginia's find as well. She didn't say she had a death certificate. She indicated she found this notation in the death records.

I believe that Virginia would have given her genealogy of the Ollis family to the museum since she worked there. Has anyone checked on that?

Velma

Subject: Christina Ollis maiden name
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 11:34:45 -0700
From: "S. Chamberlin"
To: pollis@earthlink.net  

Ollie,

My Handy Book for Genealogists says Indiana didn't start keeping death certificates until 1900. Generally the state mandated format contains more consistent information than those that were previously kept at the county level.

My list of the children of Peter Ollis (perhaps not complete) was furnished to me by Washington Co. Indiana. The death dates that I have for the children indicates that a daughter, Mary Ollis who married Isaiah Doane died 5 July, 1904. Perhaps it would be more fruitful for Peter's descendents to verify their maternal line by checking her death certificate for information.

Sidney

Subject: Re: [Fwd: Christina Ollis maiden name]
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 15:29:52 +0000
From: velmal@juno.com (Velma L Wilson)
To: pollis@earthlink.net

Ollie, I have a copy of Mary Doan's death record. It states her father's name was Peter Ollis, born in N.C. and maiden name of mother is Ollis, birthplace not known. The informant was William Doan. Not much help there.

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 17:27:32 -0400
From: "Jane Sarles"
To: "Prentis L. Ollis"

Ollie,

Washington County does have some death records beginning in 1882; in fact the information in the book I quoted is from those. Fortunately John Ollis is among them. I will also check on a death record for Mary Ollis Doane. Those of us from Washington County are very fortunate to work in a county that has kept and made available records earlier than the state as a whole.

Cheers,

Jane

Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 21:47:38 +0000
From: velmal@juno.com  (Velma L Wilson)
To: pollis@earthlink.net
CC: SCUPACREEK@worldnet.att.net,  velmal@juno.com,  jsarles@iglou.com,  jhcoe@surf-ici.com
References: 1

Thanks for your dogging of this issue. I think we need to prove everything we write down when it comes to making out our lineage. This Boston surname is one that I would like to see come to closure.

Jane, I hope you can come up with something we can pin our lineage chart to.

Sincerely,

Velma

 Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 17:23:57 -0400
From: "Jane Sarles"
To: "Prentis L. Ollis"

Dear Ollie,

I was able to get out to Salem in Washington County today to check on Peter and Christina (given as Christiana in one census). I checked the original death record book in the Health Dept. for Aaron Ollis, their son. No parents names were given. I checked the death record for son John (my great, great grandfather). Father was given as Peter Ollis, mother as Boston. It is quite legible and clearly written; there is no doubt that there is no given name and that the last name is Boston.

The death record for Nelly Ollis Marshall (Peter’s daughter) gave no parents. There were no death records found for any other of Peter’s children.

I checked at the Stevens Genealogy Library in the obituary index and the cemetery books. Aaron’s obituary does give his parents as Peter Ollis and Boston, but the information was taken from the death record, according to the librarian there. Obviously it was added by the compiler on the basis of John’s death record information. The obit does not give parents names. I checked cemetery records - same thing - son of Peter Ollis and Boston.

You have to understand about the ladies who have done genealogy in Washington County for many years (my cousin Virginia Miller among them); they added information that they knew(?) to what they were compiling, such as the cemetery listings. My mother did some of the cemetery books along with Virginia, so I know that for a fact. They thought they were being helpful, but it has resulted in the only truly primary source information (John Ollis’ death record) being repeated over and over in a number of resources. The only primary source that gives "Boston" is in that death record.

My feeling (how’s that for objective genealogy?) is that we cannot take the death record which gives _ _ _ _ _ _ Boston as gospel. Things were pretty loose back then and although the name is in the mother’s space, the person who filled it out could have just grabbed what they had heard as Peter’s father’s name. I believe anyone who knew them would have known her first name. It is in numerous deeds that I have.

There were people with the surname Boston living in the same township, but I followed their line and did not find a connection; they were from Kentucky and did not mention Christiana at all.

I then went to the cemetery where Peter’s son John and his wife were buried. They have a fine large tombstone, but no mention of parents.

In checking the census, it appears that both Peter and Christiana died in the 1860’s. I was unable to find a grave for them, as was my mother in searching years ago.

They were married in North Carolina, their children were born there 1808 - 1817. They came to Indiana (apparently bypassing Morgan County Tennessee) about 1820, according to the census info on their children’s birthplace.

Sorry not to have found a definitive answer to our question. The best bet may be an assiduous search for the North Carolina marriage about 1806-08.

Regards,

Jane Sarles

Thanks so very much Jane you have performed a yeoman's (or is it yeowoman or yeoperson?) job of this research item. We thank you very much. I will attempt to focus on the North Carolina Marriages.

Ollie