Today, we will take a quick look at Rebecca Bandy, born c1838 and her brother, William H. Bandy, born c1839, both in Lawrence County, Ohio.

I’ve combined these two, the 9th and 10th children of Andrew Bandy and wife Rebecca Wooldridge for a specific reason – the lack of hard documentation for them.

Let’s begin with Rebecca Bandy. She was born about 1838 in Lawrence County and appears as a 12 year old at home with her family in the 1850 census.

That is the one and only document that contains her name that I’ve found. Unfortunately, this family wasn’t big on gravestones and newspapers obituaries for Lawrence County don’t include her name.

As three of her siblings ended up living in Peoria County, Illinois, it was certainly a possibility that she also migrated there, but no evidence of Rebecca has been found there either. She may have died young, but it is also possible she married somewhere but the record was lost or not properly recorded. As I wrote yesterday, no marriage record has been found for her brother Andrew Jackson, who clearly married Mary Queen.

In any case, Rebecca completely disappears from the records after the 1850 census, so there is nothing else to report about her.

Next, we move on to William H. Bandy, born c1839/40, also in Lawrence County. William is also found at home with his parents and siblings in 1850.

By 1860, William is the sole child left at home with Andrew and Rebecca, as his youngest sister, Lucinda has removed to Peoria County with her siblings. More on Lucinda tomorrow.

After 1860, records are a bit more murky. It appears that William also went to Illinois and served in the Union Army during the Civil War in Company C, 47th Illinois Infantry. I feel fairly certain that this is “my” William H. Bandy for several reasons.

First, he is the only man of the name in this age range except for his cousin, William Bandy, who lived in Gallia County, Ohio.

Second, the 47th Regiment was organized on 16 August 1861 in Peoria. William enlisted two days later on the 18th of August.

William H. Bandy was mustered out, sick, on 27 May 1862 in Hamburg, Hardin County, Tennessee. He likely took part in the Battle of Shiloh on 6-7 April 1862.

Third, this William received an invalid pension, applied for on 17 August 1888. His wife Sarah applied for a widow’s pension about two years later on 1 August 1890.

Fourth, William H. Bandy is listed as a deceased veteran who lived in Eilliott County, Kentucky and widow Sarah’s name appears with his in the same schedule.

Lastly, census records for 1870 and 1880 identify William H. Bandy’s place of birth as Ohio, but the family was living in Elliott County, Kentucky. It is about 150 miles southeast of Lawrence County, Ohio and borders Morgan County, Kentucky, which has lost many records. That will be important in a moment.

Census records also place his birth as c1843 in Ohio, but I’ve come to the conclusion that someone different in the family gave names and ages in each census and most had no clue exactly how old their family members were!

The 1870 and 1880 censuses provide the framework for the family of William H. and Sarah Bandy. No marriage record has been found, but the death certificate of their first child, Mary Alice, gives her parents names as William Bandy and Sarah ELAM. The Elams lived – yep, you guessed it – next door in Morgan County, Kentucky. Their record loss is probably why no marriage record has been found for them. There is a Sarah Elam, born c1843, in Morgan County at home in both the 1850 and 1860 censuses.

Before moving on with the story, though, I need to add a side detail here. One William Bandy married one Sarah Howard on 18 April 1866, Gallia County, Ohio. I have come to believe this is the same couple and Sarah (Elum?) might have married (1) Mr. Howard, c1862/63 and he died soon. William’s first child, daughter Mary A., born in 1864, would then be the child of Mr. Howard, but William Bandy would have been the only father she knew.

There is a second alternative, as there is a Sarah E. Howard and a Sylvester Howard living in the home of John Wilson and Emily (Hunter) Conn in Morgan County, Kentucky in 1860. Sarah E. was also born c1843. Also, William and Sarah Bandy named a son Sylvester G. Bandy, born 16 August 1874. That birth certificate names his parents as William Bandy, born in Lawrence County, Ohio and Sarah E. Howard, born in Morgan County,  Kentucky.

A final piece of evidence supporting the Howard theory is that daughter Darinda’s death certificate in 1934 named her parents as William Bandy and Sarah Howard.

So, was Sarah an Elam or a Howard? Given that Mary Alice’s death certificate, created after her life, gave her mother’s maiden name as Elam, but Sylvester G. Bandy’s birth certificate was created from details provided by William or Sarah, both living, or someone who knew them, and her maiden name was given as Howard, I tend to believe she was the 17 year old Sarah E. Howard in the 1860 census living with the Conn family. A bit of extra weight is added by the fact that there was a Sylvester Howard, three years younger, also there and the Bandys later named a child Sylvester.

Even though Darinda’s death happened many years later, it supports Sarah’s maiden name as being Howard.

The only detail I haven’t figured out is why she would have been marrying in Gallia County, Ohio. One possibility is that Wilson Conn took the family to a safer location during the Civil War. Both Elliott County and Gallia/Lawrence Counties had big mining industries so there would be work. After the war ended, the Conns (and the Bandys) returned to Kentucky.

For now, absent more evidence, I believe she was Sarah E. Howard. I’d love to see a death certificate – she died on 23 January 1916, Fayette County, West Virginia while she was living with the family of one of her children. However, her death was recorded in a basic register with name, sex, age, cause. No parents’ names given.

Now to the family of William H. and Sarah (Howard) Bandy of Elliott County, Kentucky.

In 1870, we find William H. Bandy, 26, Sarah Bandy, 27, and children Mary A., James A., Marinda J. and George H.

By 1880, the last census in which William is found, we have the same family with the addition of three more children – Lucy C., John E. and Abigail. It was noted by the census taker that William had a wounded foot.

Children:

1. Mary Alice, born 22 February 1864, Elliott County, Kentucky; died 20 December 1946, Boyd County, Kentucky; married William Henry Pruitt. He was born 22 April 1862, Morgan County, Kentucky; died 1 October 1929, Elliott County, Kentucky. They were the parents of eight children – Mack M., Ada, Gracie, Benjamin H., Mattie J., Chloe E., Wallace L. and Sarah J., all living in 1910.
2. James A., born c1866, Elliott County, Kentucky; died after 1880; no further record.
3. Darinda J., born February 1867/69, Elliott County, Kentucky; died 24 February 1934, Elliott County, Kentucky; married Elijah C. Evans, c1888. He was born 9 March 1859, Elliott County, Kentucky; died 18 April 1946, Montgomery County, Ohio. They were the parents of five children, all living in 1910 – James Russell, Maude A., Mary B., Beulah Vesta and Della Mae.
4. George H., born 25 July 1868; died 26 December 1921, Boyd County, Kentucky; married Lizzie Fraley, 14 February 1901, Rowan County, Kentucky. She was born 22 April 1875, Rowan County, Kentucky; died 30 July 1964, Boyd County, Kentucky. They were the parents of six children – Norman Cecil, Tina, Margaret, Myrtle Zelda, Golda M. and Mattie P. It is possible that George had a first wife also named Elizabeth because he is found in Rowan County in 1900 with wife Elizabeth and son Norman; marriage year is listed as 1898. Norman’s death certificate lists his mother as Elizabeth Fraley.
5. Lucy C., born 1872; died c1895, probably Pike County, Ohio; married Joshua T. Branham, c1894. They were the parents of one child, Ned Gearheart Branham, born 24 August 1895, Pike County, Kentucky. However, in 1900, he was living with the family of Solomon England as an adopted son. Joshua Branham married (2) Sarah Slone, 16 November 1900, Pike County, Kentucky (3) Belle Chapman, 9 February 1924, Lawrence County, Ohio. In 1910, Ned was living with his divorced aunt, Alpha Branham and cousin Louisa, still in Pike County, Kentucky.
6. Sylvester G., born 16 August 1874, Elliott County, Kentucky; died young; not at home in 1880.
7. John E., born c1875, Elliott County, Kentucky; at home in 1880. He might be the John Bandy, born c1874, single and living in Marshall County, West Virginia in 1920. He reported parents born in Ohio. In 1930, John was unmarried and living with his sister, Stella, in Jackson County, Ohio. It appears he has no descendants.
8. Abigail, born 1878; died 1966, Kanawha County, West Virginia; married Luther V. Kelly, by 1917, possibly in West Virginia. He was born 1870, Kanawha County, West Virginia; died 1947, Roane County, West Virginia. I haven’t found Abbie in 1900 or 1910. They were the parents of two sons – Shirley Dare and Luther Vaughn.
9. Henderson, born May 1882; died 13 September 1961, Columbus, Franklin, Ohio; married Minnie B. Fraley, c1902. They had one daughter, Frances, born 28 August 1903.  Minnie Belle Fraley was born 12 April 1880; died 28 May 1949, Elliott County, Kentucky. She married (2) Isaac Ison. At home in 1910 is Effie Fraley, born c1909. It isn’t evident who Effie’s father is, although in 1920, she is listed as Effie Ison. By 1910, Henderson is enumerated as single.
10. Stella, born August 1886, Elliott County, Kentucky; died after 1940, probably Jackson County, Ohio; married Joseph Partlow, 1907, Kanawha County, West Virginia,  as his second wife. He was born 1876; died 30 November 1915, Fayette County, West Virginia. Joe had one daughter, Fay, with his first wife. Stella and Joe were the parents of two sons – Jack and Jacob.

This concludes the family sketch of William H. Bandy, who I believe I have correctly identified. It has become evident that the Bandy family who settled in Lawrence County, Ohio gained job skills in the mining industry and the next couple of generations continued that work, in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia – pretty much anywhere work was available.

Next up is the family sketch of Andrew and Rebecca (Wooldridge) Bandy’s youngest child, Lucinda, who followed her siblings to Peoria County, Illinois, a place which also provided many mining jobs.