Today, we will look at the life of Lucinda Bandy, born 4 March 1842, Lawrence County, Ohio, and was the youngest child of Andrew and Rebecca (Wooldridge) Bandy.

Lucinda appears in only one census – the 1850 – at home with her parents. Before knowing that three of her older siblings lived their lives in Peoria County, Illinois, it would be easy to assume Lucinda had died as a child in Ohio. That assumption would be particularly simple given that she wasn’t at home in 1860 and no marriage record can be found for her in Ohio.

There are no records or family history to explain how a teenage girl got from Symmes Township to Peoria in the 1850s, but she certainly didn’t travel alone. My best guess is that either Cole Bandy, her oldest brother, visited the family in Ohio and took her with him to Illinois or else her youngest brother, William H., made more than one trip between the two locations and Lucinda went with him.

Lucinda hasn’t been found in the 1860 census and it is very possible that she was on the road when the census takers came around. If so, then it is more likely that she moved to Illinois with Cole, as William is living with their parents in 1860.

In any case, life in Peoria County must have been exciting for an 18 year old young lady. Lucinda couldn’t have been long in Illinois when she met her future husband, Hiram Reed Wolgamott.

They married on 9 August 1861, Peoria County, Illinois.

Hiram was born 28 January 1840 in Indiana and died on 16 August 1921 in Riverside Township, Adams County, Illinois. Hiram survived his wife by just over a year, as Lucinda died on 8 May 1920 in Roanoke, Madison County, Illinois. However, both are buried at Lancaster Cemetery, Glasford, Peoria, Illinois.

Hiram was a Civil War veteran, having served in Co. I, 32nd Regiment of the Illinois Infantry. Military life must have suited Hiram. He entered service as a sergeant and finished as a second lieutenant. The other extended family members all went in and came out as privates.

Hiram left a will, which is also very unusual in this family. The October 1921 court petition to enter the will into probate identified Kate Fahnestock, Robert Wolgamott, Sherman L. Wolgamott, Hattie Sprague and Hazel Wolgamott as his legal heirs.

Also unusual in the Bandy family is that most of the Wolgamott clan have gravestones, even the children who died young!

Hiram and Lucinda were the parents of nine children, six of whom lived to adulthood and five who married and had families.

Children:

1. Hulbert M., born 4 July 1866; died 13 March 1914; unmarried; has no known descendants
2. Hattie May, born 5 November 1867; died 6 February 1925, both in Peoria County, Illinois; married Thomas L. Sprague, c1890. He was born 23 October 1864; died 12 May 1927, both in Peoria County, Illinois. They were the parents of six children – Clarence Nelson, Irwin R., Adrian Thomas, Alberta Daisy, Katheryne E. and Florence H.
3. Grace Anna, born 31 October 1869; died 21 November 1876
4. Katherine M., born 21 September 1873, Peoria County, Illinois; died 1951; married Rev. Earl Lester Fahnestock, c1906. Earl was born 30 January 1881; died October 1966. Both are buried in Lancaster Cemetery, Peoria County, Illinois. They were the parents of three children – Paul L., Robert L. and Daisy Lois.
5. Mary J., born February 1875; died 11 November 1876
6. Judson, born 10 May 1876/77, Peoria County, Illinois; died 11 October 1918, Owen County, Indiana of tuberculosis of five months duration; married (1) Elizabeth Emeline Sams, c1898, but soon went their separate ways, she in Fulton County, Illinois and Judson in Indiana. They were the parents of one daughter, Violet Hazel. (2) Rhoda Nation, 4 March 1905, Urbana, Champaign, Illinois. Rhoda was born on 30 December 1886, Owen County, Indiana; died 27 May 1963, Madison County, Indiana. Rhoda married (2) Angus B. Patrick, 17 January 1926, Indiana and (3) Mr. Keever. Judson and Rhoda were the parents of five children – Sherman E., Howard Troy, Lillian Marie, Doris Rosalie, and Judson Nation.
7. Sherman Logan, born 1880; died 4 May 1941, Tacoma, Pierce, Washington; married Mena Elizabeth Bachman, c1908, probably in Oregon. She was born 26 April 1881/83, Oregon; died 13 January 1976, San Antonio, Bexar, Texas. They were the parents of two children – Harta Theresa and Augustus Harry.
8. Daisy D., born 16 October 1882; died 17 November 1891
9. Robert Blaine, born August 1883; died 1932; married Jessie Greenwood, 1 October 1913, Knox County, Illinois. Jessie was born 1885, Illinois; died 1978. Both are buried in Knox County, Illinois. They were the parents on one son, Gordon R.