Mary married Elihu Beckwith Kingsley on 20 December, 1849 when she was only 13. Elihu was more than double her age if his birthday was right as born in 1818. Can't comment politely on that, so I won't comment at all. My sister learned that in the same area a man was jailed for lying on his marriage document. He had married a 13 year old girl. She wonders if this was our Elihu...
There is no marriage record, but a marriage announcement was published in several newspapers.
McRae, Joan. Warren County PA Marriage and Death Notices Volume 1 pg. 8: "Md. at Sheffield 20 Dec. 1849, by D. D. Bower, Esq., Mr. ELIHU KINGSLEY and Miss MARY HARVEY." (WL gives 21 Dec.) (WM 276 Dec 49)"
Warren Ledger December 25, 1849, pg. 3 Column 3: "Married: In Sheffield, on the 21st inst., by D. D. Bower, Esq. Mr. ELIHU KINGSLEY and Miss MARY HARVEY."
October 15th, 1850 Census taken in Sheffield, Warren, PA: House 2047; family 2050, Elihu Kingsley, 296, male, farmer, $200 value of real estate, born PA. Mary Kingsley, 18, female, born PA. Box checked: Married within the year.
Comments: Elihu downgraded his actual age from 32 to 29; Mary upgraded her actual age from three days after turning 13 to 18. It looks a bit better. Did they know each others actual ages or had they even lied to each other?
Also note that the man who married them, Daniel D. Bowers, lived next door, or at least appears next to their entry on the census, so he lived very nearby. According to the History of Warren County, Daniel D. Bowers owned most of the land in Sheffield Village between 1836 and 1864, the time which Elihu and Mary would have made their home there.
Mary delivered her first child 9 months after the wedding. These children were born in Sheffield (according to Belle Barnes, daughter of Kathryn Emily Kingsley) before the 1860 census. The dates came from family group sheets passed down and are found in the Kingsley Family of America book, p. 312. Source listed in the book is records of Rose Adelle Kingsley Bloss, daughter of Elihu and Mary.
1. Herbert Walker Kingsley b. 25 October, 1850, just after Mary turned 14.
2. Rose Adell Kingsley b. 22 November 1852.
3. Francis William Kingsley b. 23 April 1855 died before 1860.
4. Fremont Perry Kingsley b. 28 Sept 1856.
5. George Washington Kingsley b. 22 Feb 1859.
The 1860 census (Sheffield, Warren, PA) showed the family as family number 357 in dwelling 358. Elihu B. Kingsley, age 43, male, Farmer, $300 value of real estate, $200 value of personal estate, born in PA. Mary S. Kingsley, age 26, female, born PA. Herbert 9 male, born PA, attended school. Rose 7 female, born PA, attended school. Fremont P. 3 male, born PA. George W. 1 male, born PA.
Children continued to be born to Elihu and Mary Kingsley, all in Sheffield:
6. Charles Andrew Scott Kingsley b. 9 July 1861.
7. Kathryn Emily Kingsley b. 13 July 1863.
8. Emma b. 1865, died 1871.
9. Archibald (Archie) Warner Kingsley b. 9 Jan 1866.
It should be noted here that Elihu sold land in 1864. "In the winter of 1864, after J. F. Schoellkopf of Buffalo had purchased some land of Daniel D. Bowers and of John Gilson, an oil excitement was created and all the rest of the property where the village of Sheffield now stands was sold for the purpose of producing oil. Lands of Elias Kingsley, Elihu Kingsley, [etc] were sold to non-residents, who intended to drill for oil. Drilling was done but... no oil was discovered, and the lands which had so recently enriched the vendors and impoverished the vendees were sold for nominal prices or for taxes. This was in the winter of 1865." (Schenck)
This passage tells us that Elihu sold all of his land in 1865 to oil prospectors as speculators. How did this affect the family?
Belle Barnes wrote to Mary Schian Jensen a detailed letter explaining the Kingsley ancestry and the information gleaned above. From it we learn some background of the family around this time: "All the children were born in Sheffield, in the second house built in that town by Elihu's brother Elias Kingsley. Elias then built himself a house (the 3rd house in Sheffield.)" (Undated letter in possession of Sandi Jensen Griffiths)
This is where the story turns from average to mysterious. Mary disappears from her family and starts a new life in Michigan!
Sources:
Kingsley, William Arthur. Kingsley Family of America 1980: Baltimore, MD. Print.
Schenck, J. S. and W. S. Rann. History of Warren County. 1887: New York. Print. 511-523.
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