Jeddiah Brink:On the Brink of Finding the Brinks

[NOTE, June 2016: See Additional information in brackets below. Another child discovered!]

For Mother. Sorry we didn’t know all these things when you were still here to enjoy the journey.

Harriette Anderson Kaser

Harriette Kaser and oldest great-grandson, 1989.

Although I’m not writing a specifically Mother’s Day themed article this week, I am thinking about my mother Harriette Anderson (Kaser) as I delve into the histories of her father’s family starting with Jeddiah Brink, mother’s great-uncle. (The picture above shows her with her great grandson, as I talk about her grandmother’s family–or from the kid’s perspective–his 3x great grandmother!)

Mother never met Jeddiah, because he died 7 years before she was born, but she certainly knew a lot of the Brink family members who lived around  Killbuck, Ohio.

Mary Brink Anderson and others

Guy Anderson and Vera (holding son Herbert). Guy’s mother Mary Brink Anderson on the far right. 1909 family gathering.

First thing I have to get out of the way–Mother was wrong.  She thought that Leonard Guy Anderson’s mother’s family was Dutch, although she never emphasized her Dutch lineage.  Now I’m wading through a swamp of misleading clues and seriously doubting the nationality of my grandfather Guy Anderson’s mother, Mary Veolia Brink (Anderson)(Kline)–particularly on her father’s side. So although I asserted in an earlier post about Mary Brink and her family that her mother (Middaugh/Meddaugh) and her father (Brink) were both Dutch, I’m going to have to do a lot of work to find the truth.

Unfortunately, I even titled that post about Mary V.  Brink, “The Dutch Connection”. Whoops. But not a total loss, because it appears that the Middaugh side of her family, which I’ll get to in the next month or so, actually WAS Dutch.

Mother would have loved this process.  She didn’t like being wrong, but after all, this wasn’t HER fault–she was just passing on information that had been given to her. But she did love digging into the past and discovering new things. So Happy Mother’s Day wherever you are, mother– I wish you were here to share this.

Jeddiah Brink 1846-1914

Born in February, 1846 in Killbuck Township, Holmes County, Ohio,  Jeddiah was the oldest child in the family of Abraham (Abe) and Dorcas Middaugh Brink. He had twelve sisters and brothers, although only seven would survive to adulthood.

My great-grandmother Mary V. Brink was born when Jeddiah was twelve years old.

Like most of the boys in the family, Jeddiah grew up working on the farm. I don’t know about his schooling, but I do know that he could read and write.

Between March and May of 1865, Jeddiah (then 19) lost a three-year-old brother,  a 13-year-old brother and a 16 year-old sister. Apparently some epidemic swept through the countryside.  But Jeddiah survived and married Susanah (Susan) Fortune  the following March (1866).

Jeddiah Brink marriage

Jeddiah Brink and Susan Fortune Holmes County, Ohio marriage, 1866

Susan came from a nearby farm family, and in the census of 1860, Susan Fortune, then 15 years old, was living with the Freshwater family. It was not uncommon for a farm family to “farm out” their teenage children to work on neighboring farms, and I assume this was the case, although I do not yet have a handle on Susan’s family. I’ll leave that to descendants of Jeddiah, since my main interest is in his sister Mary (my great-grandmother).

As newlyweds, Susan and Jeddiah must have lived with one set of parents, but I do not know for sure.  Their first child, Eleanora Celestra was born in February, 1867.  (Celestra’s middle name comes from the 16-year-old sister who died the previous year.)  Now a family of three, they needed a place of their own. After all, Jeddiah’s youngest sister, Ada Ethel Brink, was born the same year, so if they were staying with his parents, Abe and Dorcas, the house was full with a baby and five other children ranging in age from 8 to 17 years old.

Here is a picture of Jeddiah’s house, but I’m going to save the story of the house–and the EXACT location- for another day.

Home of Jeddiiah Brink

Jeddiah Brink home, Killbuck Township. Picture by Jim Smith about 1996

Once Jeddiah and Susan had settled into their new home, Jeddiah was busy farming and Susan was busy with babies.

  • 1867: Eleanora Celestra Brink
  • 1870: William Alfred Brink
  • 1871: Ida V. Brink
  • 1873: Ola May Brink
  • 1875: Viola Brink [Added.  Is listed in 1880 census.
  • 1879: Frank Brink
  • 1881: Jenny Brink [Jenny showed up in our research late, since she was not with the family in 1900, and married soon after]
  • 1883: Emma Brink

Life on the farm went on, the children grew, and in 1898, Jeddiah’s father, Abe died.  For a time Jeddiah’s mother lived with daughter Mary, and Mary’s son Guy Anderson and his first wife Lillis. So my grandfather, great-grandmother and great-great grandmother were all living together.

Like the terrible tragedy of 1864 and 1865, Jeddiah and his family had a bad time in 1898 and 1899.  A year after Jeddiah’s father died, his wife, Susan died at 54.  In 1900, we see just the Emma and Jeddiah rattling around in that big farmhouse. [Added Information: The youngest daughter Jenny, at 18, was working as a maid for the Clow family in Killbuck Township.] A few months after the census was taken–October 18, 1900 to be exact, Emma married Simon Gillmore, a farmer who also lived in Holmes County.

The new century was a time of big changes. Jeddiah’s first wife had died in 1899, and the following year, some time before June, his son Frank married Matilda Bellar. (The Bellar name will figure in the history of the house pictured above.) And as mentioned above, Emma married in October 1900.

By the end of that year, Jeddiah was truly alone. But he was not destined to be alone for long.  In 1901, he married Sarah ___________. [Added: Meanwhile, the youngest daughter, Jenny, married James F. Layland in December of that same year. ]Two years later, he moved with Sarah to Perry Township, Richland County, where he occupied a farm next to one rented by his son, Frank. His son William also lived in  Richland County in 1910, although he lived in Mansfield. Daughter Elnora Brink Schonauer moved to Richland County from Coshocton County between 1910 and 1920 and finished her life there.

On the 1910 census, when he is 64 years old, Jeddiah is still listed as an active farmer. His son Frank did not stay in Richland, or in farming. After serving in the army in World War I, he moved to Columbus, Ohio where he worked for the railroad..

On the 5 of December 1914, Jeddiah died in Richland County of “apoplexy”. His death certificate information was filled in  by his daughter Ola May.

Note: Ola May married a Lepley, as did her sister Ida!

How I am Related

  • Vera Marie Kaser Badertscher is the daughter of
  • Harriette Violia Anderson Kaser who is the daughter of
  • Leonard Guy Anderson, who is the son of
  • Mary Violia Brink Anderson (Kline), who is the sister of
  • Jeddiah Brink.
  • Mary and Jeddiah are children of
  • Abraham Brink and Dorcas Middaugh Brink

RESEARCH NOTES

U. S. Federal Census 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 (Killbuck Twp, Holmes County, Ohio) and 1900, 1910 (Monroe, Coshocton Ohio); 1910, 1920,( Perry,  Richland County, Ohio);1900 (TIverton, Coshocton, Ohio), 1910 (Mansfield Ward 2, Richland, Ohio); 1920 (Mansfield Ward 1, Ohio), 1930, 1940 (Mansfield, Richland, Ohio, 1910, 1920 1930, 1940 (Columbus, Franklin, Ohio).

Image of Holmes County, Ohio marriage license for Susan Fortune and Jeddiah Brink from Ancestry.com posted by user KMannery65.

Image of Richland County Death Certificate for Jeddiah Brink from Ancestry.com, posted by user KMannery65.

Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1932, 1938-2007, Ancestry.com and Ohio Dept. of Health, for Jeddiah Brink Richland County, 12-5-14,; Elnora Brink Schonauer Mansfield, Richland County, 11-11-26, Ida Brink Lepley, Holmes County 17-Aug 1942, Ola May Brink Lepley .

Florida Death Index 1877-1998, William Brink Pinellas Florida, 1948.

Ohio, Find A Grave Index, 1787-2012, Internet, Ancestry.com.  For Jeddiah Brink, Susan Fortune Brink, Elnora Brink Schonauer

Ohio Births and Chistenings Index, 1774-1973, Ancestry.com, Internet. For Frank Walter Brink, William A. Brink, Emma Brink.

Web: Ohio, MOLO Obituary Index, 1811-2012,  for Ola Brink Lepley January 1934, obituary in Coschocton Tribune January 28, 1934.

Holmes County Marriage Records 1789-2013, FamilySearch.org web site. James F. Layland and Jennie Brink, 08 Dec 1901; citing Holmes, Ohio, United States, reference p 233; county courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 477,147.

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