As I’ve begun to take a closer look at the descendants of Andrew Bandy and Rebecca Wooldridge, and am realizing just how scattered their descendants have become, I’ve decided to do an in-depth series on their eleven children and many grandchildren.

I’ve written about my husband’s 2X great grandmother, Mary (Bandy) (Sturgell) (Wade) (Cookman) Fouts many times and have brought her lines down to the present generation, at least in terms of proving their are descendants today without compromising privacy of the living.

Yesterday, there was an update on the family of Samuel Coleman Bandy, wife Sidney Nelson, and their blended family.

Today’s spotlight is on Martha Bandy, oldest daughter and third child of Andrew and Rebecca.

Martha Bandy was born on 22 June 1825, likely in Botetourt County, Virginia, the family home before Andrew moved to Lawrence County, Ohio about 1829. She married Michael Hobble on 15 March 1841 in Lawrence County.

Michael Hobble, the youngest son of George and Sophia (Arbaugh) Hobble, was born on 27 January 1814 in Greenbrier County, Virginia (now part of West Virginia). He died on 9 June 1876 in Peoria County, Illinois and is buried at the Maple Ridge Cemetery.

After Michael died, Martha left Illinois with daughter Rebecca and her family and died on 6 November 1895. She is buried in Americus, Lyon, Kansas.

Children (All events in Peoria County, IL unless noted otherwise):

1. Elizabeth C. Jane, born 21 June 1842, Lawrence County, Ohio; died 28 June 1921, Lyon County, Kansas; married Jesse Jones Jr., 20 June 1861. He was born 25 February 1837, Ohio; died 29 January 1911, Lyon County, Kansas. They were the parents of nine children, with six living in 1910.
2. Andrew Jackson, born 13 August 1845, Lawrence County, Ohio; died 28 July 1924, Clackamas County, Oregon; married Martha Lightbody, 22 November 1866. She was born in 1850, Illinois; died 1944, Clackamas County, Oregon. A.J. was a Civil War veteran. They were the parents of five children, with four living in 1900.
3. Mary C., born 21 April 1848, Lawrence County, Ohio; died 8 December 1939, Rock Island County, Illinois; married (1) William Cowgill Saylor, 7 August 1866. He reportedly died c1881, perhaps in Newton County, Missouri. (2) William H. Hayes, 13 October 1883, per her obituary, but place unknown as no marriage record has been found. Both husbands were Civil War veterans. Mary had five children with William Saylor and two daughters with William Hayes. Six of Mary’s 7 children were living in 1900.
4. Rebecca Isabelle, born 15 August 1850, Lawrence County, Ohio; died 16 November 1932, Lyon County, Kansas; married David Madison Cowser, 27 September 1866. He was born 21 May 1842; died 16 April 1917, Lyon County, Kansas. He was a Civil War veteran. This couple must have had a difficult life. They were parents of 11 children, but 6 sons and 1 daughter predeceased their father. One son and three daughters survived both parents.
5. Almira Milanda, born 17 November 1852, Lawrence County, Ohio; died 29 January 1934, Peoria County, Illinois ; married (1) Calvin Watson, 17 March 1870. He was born c1851, Illinois; died 1883. They apparently divorced soon, but had one daughter, Alice. Calvin married (2) Delilah Fryman, 4 July 1876. (2) William H. Jones, 21 August 1873, Tazewell County, Illinois. He was born c1852, Illinois; died before 1900, when Almira was enumerated as a widow. She reported giving birth to 6 children, all still living in 1900.
6. Melissa, born c1852, Lawrence County, Ohio; died before 10 August 1876, probably Peoria County, Illinois; married Neely Butler Gray, 8 February 1872. She apparently died soon as no further record is found and Neely married (2) Nellie C. Wilsey, 10 August 1876, Tazewell County, Illinois and lived in Vernon County, Missouri by 1880. Melissa has no known descendants.
7. George Washington, born c1855, Lawrence County, Ohio; died 6 November 1945; married Lucinda M. Deselms, 2 June 1878. She was born 30 January 1862; died 1 August 1941. They had no children and there are no known descendants of George.
8. Lucinda M., born c1861, Lawrence County, Ohio; died 26 June 1883 of consumption; reportedly married George Albert Adams in June 1882, but no record found. There are no known descendants.
9. Emma Elonia, born 14 April 1864, Lawrence County, Ohio; died 25 July 1956, Cook County, Illinois; married Joseph Bouchard, 30 May 1882. He was born 1861; died 1933, Cook County, Illinois. They were the parents of five children, all living in 1900.
10. John Henry, born 14 April 1868; died 29 May 1917, Boise, Ada, Idaho; married (1) Cora Isabel Lamb, c1895, probably in Kansas. She was born 17 July 1871, Iowa; died 8 July 1904, Lyon County, Kansas. (2) Dora Bell Killion, born 18 April 1871, Illinois; died 20 October 1920, Rice County, Kansas. John had two sons and one daughter with Cora and another son with Dora. Dora married (1) James M. Lunch (1867-1899).

This ends the family sketch of Michael and Patsey (Bandy) Hobble, who have many descendants today.

The family of George Hobble and Sophia Arbaugh is but a collateral line of my husband’s and the family is small, given that George Hobble’s family origins haven’t yet been uncovered.

However, given that there are two ties between the Hobbles and my husband’s 2X great grandmother Mary Bandy’s family,  it is important to discuss these links – and one error, I believe – to clean up this line.

To begin with, Sophia Arbaugh was unmarried, and likely the youngest daughter if not youngest child of Adam Arbaugh whose left a will in March 1800 in Greenbrier County, Virginia, today part of West Virginia. She was the daughter of Mary (MNU) and had ten siblings who survived to adulthood named in her father’s will – John, Michael, Adams, Eve Baker, Christian Dozer, Caty Fleshman, Mary Sowards, Elizabeth Fleshman, Lucy Claypool and Barbara Miller. 

As with George Hobble, the origins of Adam Arbaugh are unknown.

Unless Sophia was late to marry, let’s estimate that she was perhaps about 18 years old when her father died, so born c1782. It seems odd that no marriage record is found for George and Sophia, since the marriages of her sisters – Lucy to Ephraim Claypool and Barbara to Henry Miller – are recorded in Greenbrier County in 1791 and 1796 and the county records are supposedly complete.

George Hobble first appears in Greenbrier County land records in 1804, when he purchased land from Keeney et al. Unfortunately, the early Virginia census records are lost, so there is no other way to determine when George first settled there. However, he was the one and only Hobble found in those early land records.

Lacking a marriage record for George and Sophia and given that their oldest known child, William, was born c1805, it is probable that they married sometime in 1804.

That would particularly make sense given that George bought his land in 1804 – he would have needed property to make a home for his family.

Sophia was enumerated as 70 years old in 1850, but 97 in 1860. She was more likely about 68 in 1850 and 78 in 1860. She is not found in the 1870 census and most likely died by that time.

George and Sophia spent their married lives in Greenbrier County and raised six children who survived to adulthood:

1. William, born c1805, according to census records in 1850, 1860 and 1870; died after 1870, when he was at home with Elizabeth and listed as an invalid in the census; married (1) Sidney Nelson, probably c1828 in Greenbrier County, Virginia. He is head of household in 1830 with an adult female and one male under 5.  Sidney married (2) Samuel Coleman Bandy, 6 August 1840, Gallia County, Ohio. (2) Elizabeth Windle, 26 June 1839, Lawrence County, Ohio.
2. George, born c1808; died 1865, Huntington County, Indiana; married Jarret (sic) or Jannet/Jane Bolen, 21 January 1835, Lawrence County, Ohio. Jane removed to and died in Dodge City, Ford, Kansas, 23 December 1893.
3. Jacob, born c1810; died between 1860-1870 censuses; married (1) Unknown (2) Martha Amaritta Windle, 14 September 1862, Lawrence County, Ohio
4. Katherine, born c1812; died after 1880, probably in Wayne County, Illinois; married James Yates, 6 January 1845, Lawrence County, Ohio.
5. Michael, born c1814; died 9 June 1876, Peoria County, Illinois; married Martha (Patsey) Bandy, 10 April 1841, Lawrence County, Ohio
6. Clarinda, born c1816; no further record, but there is a female 10-14 in the home in the 1830 census, but gone in 1840.

Before we move on to the Bandy family connections, there are a couple of loose ends with the Hobbles.

Both William and his brother, Jacob, Hobble had first marriages where records have not been found. Sophia, William and George all sold off their portions of George Hobble Sr.’s Greenbrier County land in 1829 and appear in the 1830 census of Lawrence County, Ohio.

This points to a migration date of summer or fall of 1829. The distance from Greenbrier County to Lawrence County is over 300 miles and the family most definitely would have been part of a group, which included Benjamin Nelson, likely father of Sidney Nelson.  I have to wonder if, in the excitement of settling in a new place, William and Jacob were married along the way by an unknown preacher and his records were lost?

I also believe now that William Hobble married Sidney Nelson, not Jacob Hobble. That is because in 1850, William is at home with Elizabeth and Martha Bandy (sic) Windle. Martha was born c1837 in Ohio. There are no Bandy children in the home.

This fits with the Hobble children that Sidney had at home in Peoria County, Illinois in 1850.

Jacob, on the other hand, is found with a house full of family in 1850 – his mother, Sophia and children Edward, Minerva, Harry, Reuben and Malinda, all born 1833-1843. Lacking any other marriage records for Jacob, his family structure is that of a wife and mother who likely died c1843 or 1844.

One last word regarding Jacob Hobble. I believe that his second wife, Martha Ameritta Windle, was the stepdaughter of his brother, William and the same Martha Bandy (sic) at home with William and Elizabeth in 1850.

Next, we will look at the three connections to the Bandy family – the family of Samuel Coleman Bandy, the family of Michael Hobble and Patsey Bandy and Lucretia Hobble, daughter of William and Sidney (Nelson) Hobble, who seems to have been conflated into Lucinda Bandy, daughter of Andrew Bandy and Rebecca Wooldridge.