Weaverling Spit, Anacortes, Washington. Photo by Betty Tartas
I have been working on family trees for nearly 25 years, and some days it feels as though there is nothing left to discover! But then I will stumble onto a single document or one piece of information that will absolutely astound me! And that is exactly what has happened recently.
Who could guess that my aunt--who lived most of her life in California-- would have ancestors who were original settlers in my hometown?!?
A few years back, I gave one of my male cousins a Family Tree DNA kit as a gift, and worked up a family tree for him, showing the lineage of his mother, my aunt, PATRICIA SUE NAGLEY (1922-1981). A descendant from NAGLEY family kindly shared her tree, which traced the NAGLEY family back to immigration in the 1700s.
The only problem was, my aunt's great grandfather, JEFFERSON JACKSON NAGLEY, born July 4, 1848 Clark County, Ohio, did not appear to have ever lived with the family of JEFFERSON W NAGLEY b 1824 Clark County, Ohio & HANNAH HAWKINS--the parents that the descendant had listed for him!
At the time, I tried briefly to untangle the truth about JEFFERSON JACKSON NAGLEY, but couldn't get anywhere, so set the tree aside for awhile to work on other things
Fast forward a couple of years. Circumstances changed, and I revisited the NAGLEY tree to make sure it was accurate and as complete as possible for my cousin, his relatives and their descendants.
The truth about JEFFERSON JACKSON NAGLEY's parents can be found in his Washington State death record. On his death certificate, his parents were listed HENRY NAGLEY & FRANCES RODGERS.
This sent me rushing back to the 1850 census for Clark County, Ohio.
In 1850 Springfield, Clark County Ohio, H B NAGLEY (HENRY BRIGGS NAGLEY) & wife MARY JANE were listed in the census with one daughter OLIVE, age 2. Next door to them lived a NASON family, and two doors down lived the widow ALMIRA (KIMBALL) ROGERS age 41, born Vermont, with her children F M (FRANCES M) ROGERS age 20 born Vermont, JAMES age 17 born Ohio, RUSSELL age 13 born Ohio, GEORGE age 7 born Ohio, and JEFFERSON NAGLEY age 2 born Ohio.
Later records show that JEFFERSON J NAGLEY was not the son of ALMIRA (KIMBALL) ROGERS, but indeed the son of FRANCES M ROGERS by HENRY BRIGGS NAGLEY.
FRANCES M "FANNIE" ROGERS was the daughter of SAMUEL ROGERS & ALMIRA KIMBALL, born 27 Sep 1829 in Stowe, Lamoille county, Vermont. Her parents had deep New England roots, but moved westward in the 1830s to the area that would become Clark County, Ohio.
FRANCES may or may not have been married to HENRY BRIGGS NAGLEY. A marriage license for HENRY B NAGLEY & his future wife MARY JANE WRIGHT was issued 8 March 1845 when she was age 15, underage, with her parent's consent--but the court record showing that they were actually wed was never written in the record book!! Their first child OLIVE was not born until 1848. So far, I have not found a marriage record for HENRY & FRANCES. If they were wed, it was only for a short time when FRANCES was age 18.
FRANCES M ROGERS married 2nd) to ISAAC T NASON on June 1, 1851 in Clark County, Ohio. ISAAC was 20 years older than FRANCES. They had two sons ISAAC NEWTON NASON born 18 Nov 1851, and EMERSON B NASON born 12 Nov 1853. ISAAC T NASON died 25 Feb 1854 in Clark County, Ohio.
For her 3rd) marriage, FRANCES M ROGERS married JAMES WEAVERLING on 30 Sep 1857 in Rock Island County, Illinois. The 1860 Buffalo Prairie, Rock Island, Illinois census shows FRANCES, husband JAMES, several of his children from previous marriage, her two NASON sons, and their son CHARLES WEAVERLING.
In 1860, JEFFERSON NAGLEY age 12 was still living in the household of JACOB & CYNTHIA CATROW in Clark County, Ohio. It was likely that he was bound out for service with that family.
By the 1870 census, JAMES WEAVERLING & wife FRANCES were living in Jackson twp, Johnson County Missouri. JEFFERSON NAGLEY age 21, NEWTON NASON, age 18 and EMERSON NASON age 16 are listed in the household, as are three of JAMES' children by his 1st marriage, plus six of their own children.
Sometime around 1875, the extended WEAVERLING family migrated to what was then Washington Territory. Before they left, JEFFERSON JACKSON NAGLEY married LOUISA BEAMON on 14 April 1872 in Johnson County, Missouri. ISAAC N NASON married & settled in Nebraska, then Wyoming; his brother EMERSON NASON married & settled in Utah.
In 1880 the remaining family members were living on what would come to be known as Weaverling Spit, on Ship Harbor, in Anacortes, Skagit County, Washington (This was part of Whatcom County in 1880). JEFFERSON J NAGLEY & his wife & children lived practically next door; another neighbor was the widow ERNESTINE DEUTSCH & her children, and a short distance away, AMOS BOWMAN, and his wife ANNA CURTIS BOWMAN, the namesake of the town of Anacortes.
JEFFERSON JACKSON NAGLEY, wife LOUISA and their family lived on Weaverling Spit in Anacortes for at least a decade. Several of their children were born in Anacortes. In 1889, the family moved to Snohomish County, and from there, over Stevens Pass to the town of Cashmere, and then Twisp, Okanogan County, Washington. JEFFERSON JACKSON NAGLEY died in Twisp 26 Feb 1937.
FRANCES & JAMES WEAVERLING lived on Weaverling Spit until 1894, when JAMES died. FRANCES then moved for several years to Seattle, where she married 4th) to JEROME MARFORD. She did return to Anacortes to live with her son CHARLES, and died 23 Jan 1913 in Anacortes, Skagit County, Washington.
FRANCES & JAMES WEAVERLING are both buried in Fern Hill Cemetery, in Anacortes.
Son CHARLES WEAVERLING lived & farmed on the family homestead on Weaverling Spit until the 1920s. The land was sold, and in recent years was returned to the Samish Tribe. It is now the site of an RV park, with community access via the Tommy Thompson Trail & bike path.
Weaverling Spit is only a short distance from my home, and I have visited many times!!
Here is a link to more information & photos of the Weaverling Spit homestead
Have a great day!
Betty
© Betty Tartas 2018
