My great-great-grandfather Ira Sargent’s second wife seems to have been dropped from a UFO into Adams County, Illinois, in 1886. I researched her quite a bit when Ira’s parents were unknown and I was hoping that something on her might lead to something on them. When I was able to locate Ira’s parents through other means, my research on his second wife (from whom I do not descend) took a back seat to other things.

While I no longer need to find her to find his parents, it’s still good research methodology to locate what information I can on her. The problem is that there are several gaps in my research on Martha J. or Ellen (Morris/Morse) Phelps Sargent. There’s also gaps in my research on Ira’s first wife, Florence Ellen Sargent as well, but that’s another story.

Here’s what I have on Martha, second wife of Ira Sargent.

1880 Census—can’t find.

1886 Marriage

William I. Sargent (aged 40 of Walker Township, Hancock Township[sic – should be County] ) married Mrs. Martha Phelps (aged 37 of Lima, Adams County, Illinois) on 26 February 1886 at the residence of John Ensminger, Justice of the Peace, in Adams County, Illinois. The marriage register entry was located in Adams County, Illinois, Marriage Register Volume 4, page 134. [This extract was made from a digital copy of the material made from the Family History Library’s microfilmed copy of the records. Much of the requested information in the register is left blank.]

1900 Census

Rocky Run Township, Hancock County, Illinois, sheet 250A, household of Ira Sargent—lines 40-42 [transcription made from an online image of the census on FamilySearch.]

Ira Sargen, white male, born March 1843, aged 57, male married 35 years, born in Canada F, father born in New York, mother in Canada F, [immigration questions answered with a “?”], living on a rented farm. Cannot read, cannot write, speaks English.

Marta J. Sargen, wife, white female, born August 1849, aged 50, married 35 years, mother of two children, two children living, born in Illinois, father and mother born in Indiana. Cannot read, cannot write, speaks English.

Martha A. Sargen, daughter, white female, born September 1890, aged 9, born in Illinois, father born in Canada, mother born in Illinois. Cannot read, cannot write, speaks English.

1910 and 1920 census

Martha should be enumerated in the 1910 and 1920 census, probably in the general area of Hancock County’s Rocky Run Township and Adams County Illinois’ Lima Township. Martha is not enumerated with her daughter Martha in either of these enumerations and Martha (the daughter) has been located with her own family in these enumerations. Martha (the mother) has not been located in either census, but so far attempts to locate her have not been exhaustive. Her husband, Ira Sargent, was institutionalized in 1907 by an Adams County Court. Those committal records indicate that he was “parted” from his wife at the time of his committal.

Death Certificate–transcript

Death Certificate–actual

A literal transcription of the death certificate would make one wonder if her father’s first name was Morris–given the position of the blank after that word.

Obituary

Martha’s obituary doesn’t provide much in the way of details of her origin, but it does indicate she died at the home of “Mr. and Mrs. I Shipe” who apparently lived in the Tioga area. Her surviving daughter is not listed nor are her two step-daughters. The only survivor mentioned is a Bert Phelps, a nephew who lived near Warsaw at the time.

Cemetery

Martha’s death certificate indicated she is buried in the Fletcher Cemetery in Rocky Run Township, Hancock County, Illinois. A personal search of the cemetery failed to locate a stone for her.

Her daughter Martha’s SS-5 form

The pieces of information relevant to Martha (wife of Ira) on the SS-5 form for Martha (Sargent) Silsby Greenstreet (daughter of Martha) is the maiden name of her mother, Morse (instead of Morris), and the place of birth for Martha (Sargent) of Lima, Hancock County, Illinois [sic]. Lima is in Adams County, not Hancock. The good thing is that there is nothing on this SS-5 form that is inconsistent with what has already been located and it seems to confirm that Morris/Morse was the maiden name for Martha (wife of Ira) and not her father’s first name.

Martha’s Birth Date and Place

Her marriage record and 1900 census enumeration consistently provide a year of birth of 1849. Her death record indicated she was born in August of 1859–the same month as the 1900 census–but ten years later. For now, I’m using a range of birth years of between approximately 1849 and 1859, with a place of birth of Illinois. The 1900 census is the only record providing her place of birth.

Going Forward

I need to locate:

• 1910 census enumeration
• 1920 census enumeration