Sunday, May 10, 2009

The Death of Ruth Joslin :: 1830

Official death records were not kept in the early days in Ohio. Then, as now, people often relied upon the local tabloid for news of their friends, neighbors and relatives.

Carol Willsey Bell compiled "Delaware County, Ohio Genealogical Abstracts" in 1980 and on page 51 we find the following entry, citing the Ohio State Gazette: "Sept. 16, 1830 - Died in Liberty Tp. on 27th ult, MRS. RUTH JOSLIN, w/o Jonas, age 59 years." The term "ult" refers to the previous month, i.e. Ruth died on August 27th 1830.

In 1992, Mary V. Reed compiled "Abstracts from Miscellaneous Delaware County Ohio Newspapers 1821-1857" and on page 49, citing the Ohio State Gazette and Delaware County Journal of September 16, 1830 is the entry: "Died in Liberty Township on the 27th ult. Mrs Ruth JOSLIN, aged 59 years wife of Mr. Johns JOSLIN."

From another "Joslin" researcher, I found out that Ruth's tombstone resides within the confines of the Delaware County Historical Museum, or at least it did several years ago. The inscription was transcribed as "Ruth wife of Jonas Joslin died Aug 27, 1830 aged 59 Years."

In this online listing, Ruth is shown as having been buried in the "Joslin Cemetery" along with Jonas Sr. The cemetery is shown as #9 on this map and was located in the southern portion of Liberty Township near the Franklin County line. From its location, I am presuming that the cemetery was on the Joslin farm.

1 comment:

Harriet said...

Becky,
I have an award for you the 2009 Friendly Blogger award. You can pick it up at Genealogy Fun.