A Little Help From My Forum Friends

When I groused, the other day, about my loss of research material regarding the John J. Jackson family, I didn’t want to complain too loudly. You see, I thought maybe—just maybe—I’d have another way out of the dilemma.

And I did.

I owe my thanks to the efficiency of online genealogy forums, and in particular, to one member of the message boards at Rootsweb.com and Ancestry.com. Can I help it if the very person who came to my assistance was another “outlaw” like me, married into this family which includes so many Sniders?

My query—which I actually sent to Rootsweb’s OHPerry mailinglist about the time I wrote my sniveling post—basically asked for help from anyone having access to the book, Pioneers of Perry County Ohio by 1830. That was the volume I had noted, during my family’s trip to the Allen County Public Library last summer, as the source of a biographical sketch on John Jackson—the copy I had discovered, upon return home, to be missing.

With the immediate helpfulness that is the hallmark of online connectivity, I heard back from a distant Snider relative who had the book and was willing to scan the page in question and email it to me.

The biographical sketch of John Jackson turned out to be much the same as the paragraph I located in the 1883 history book yesterday—with an added bonus: it names John Jackson’s wife. (Of course, there are several other details that will be of help, too, but I’ll cover those tidbits on another day.)

In addition, the article gave its source, citing a report in the New Lexington Tribune from September 28, 1876.

And yet, as you may see yourself, I still feel that some of the details may not be entirely correct, putting me in the awkward position of having to conjure up documents during an age where such details were not officially recorded by any government entity.

Here’s what the book had to say about John and his wife:

Mr. Jackson was first married in 1816 at Bellefontaine, Missouri to Sarah Howard Ijams, daughter of Wm. Ijams (sister of William, John and Joseph Ijams) who later died in 1825. In January 1818, he accompanied his wife, mother-in-law, and brother-in-law across the Mississippi at St. Louis to Bearfield Township, Perry County Ohio, where they arrived the latter part of August.

As I mentioned before, I do not feel confident about that wedding year or location. Of course, I can easily blame any possible discrepancies upon the source: a newspaper report. However, that won’t yield me the truth of the matter.

Yet, see that date? The one in the phrase, “who later died in 1825”? Who was it, I want to ask, who died in 1825? Does the writer mean to infer it was John’s wife, Sarah? It may not have been—not, at least, in that specific year. Could it have referred to Sarah’s father, William Ijams? If so, why would John be traveling that rugged pioneer turf in 1818 with his mother-in-law but not his father-in-law, if the man was still alive at that point?

There are some points at which a researcher may initially be overjoyed to discover a new genealogy resource, and yet, later discover that the thing invokes more questions than the answers it originally provided. Such may be the case with this man’s brief biography. And yet, I’m still grateful to have it. It provides a map to further treasure, if I can use its hints wisely.


Above left: Karl Bodmer, "Confluence of the Fox River and the Wabash in Indiana," watercolor, 1832; courtesy Wikipedia; in the public domain.