Ida Charlotte (Stevens) Anderson (1854 - 1926)

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 19 Mar 1926 at age 71 in Niagara Co, Lockport, NY

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Sara Patton [send private message]

Biography

Sara Stevens Patton Note-
I've listed Ida Stevens as the child of two sets of parents: her biological parents, Arnold and Charlotte McLaughlin Stevens, and her adoptive parents (and aunt and uncle), Sylvester and Eliza McLaughlin Olney.

Ida Charlotte was only 1 year old when her mother, Charlotte (McLaughlin) Stevens, died in August of 1855. Earlier that spring, her parents had sold their home, evidently planning to leave Youngstown to move to Knox County Ohio where her father's brother lived. With the unexpected death of her mother, however, her father sent two of her older siblings (Erial- age 13, and Eleanor - age 6) to live with their uncle in Knox Co, Ohio. But he evidently felt it would be too difficult to take baby Ida with him to Ohio. Therefore she was left in the care of her mother's sister, Eliza (McLaughlin) Olney (then 44) to be raised along with Eliza's own daughters who were much older than Ida. Whether or not she was officially adopted by Sylvester and Eliza Olney is not yet known (to be confirmed by guardianship records) but Ida's death record lists her parents as the Olneys, rather than her birth parents, Charlotte and Arnold Stevens and she is listed in census records as Ida Olney. However, when her biological father-Arnold Stevens-died in 1873 in Knox Co, OH, her name is listed as an heir, along with brother Erial and sister Eleanor/Ella.

The 1860 & 1870 census records for town of Porter show Ida with the last name of Olney:
1860 Town of Porter, Niagara Co, NY p. 39 - Aug 1 # 278/279
Sylvester Olney -47NY Master Tailor $100 personal property
Elisa " -49 Canada West Domestic
Lucinda " -24 NY Seamstress
Elisa " -22 NY Com S. Teacher
Dianna " -21 NY Domestic
Eurena " -15 NY Domestic At school
Ida " - 6 NY At home
2 houses away from James McLauglin, Ida's uncle

1870 Niagara Co, Town of Porter, Ransomville, NY Census: p. 462 Image 9 13 July #86/84
Olney, Sylvester -57 NY Taylor
" Eliza -59 Canada Father & mother foreign born
", Lucinda -35 NY Taylor Mother foreign born
", Dina -31 NY School teacher mother foreign born
", Ida -16 NY at home mother foreign born
Adrich, Jennie -33 NY teacher mother foreign born
", John - 1 NY

The estate records of Ida's father, Arnold Stevens, are on file in the Knox County Court House in Mt. Vernon, OH. They list the names and locations of Arnold's living children: Erial & Eleanor, (both living in Iowa in 1873) and Ida C. (living in NY state) Stevens. Ida was still single in 1873 (age 19). The Stevens family bible (which I've been told was destroyed since I last saw it 35 yrs. ago) lists Ida C. Stevens with exact same birthdate as given on her death record, confirming this as the same child.

Several of the Red Oak Stevens children and grandchildren knew that Ida married an "Anderson" and lived in or around Lockport, NY. This is confirmed by census, cemetery and death records. But I wonder if any of her Anderson descendants who are probably still living in Lockport, know that she was a Stevens and not an Olney!! Obviously her husband didn't!

Sources

• Stevens Family Bible - Born to Arnold & Charlotte Stevesn- Ida C. on July 20, 1854?

• Family History notes of Sophia McCallister Totty, eldest granddaughter of Erial and Rose Stevens, Source: 4 pp. typewritten notes dated Nov. 22, 1965 (Handwritten comment at top "Rose Marie Totty prepared from info by Sophia Totty". Handwriting probably Loie Stevens Firkins.) Information in parenthesis is by Sara Stevens Patton. TEXT: Erial had two sisters, Ida and Eleanor. Ida married an Anderson and lived and died in or around Lockport , New York, as did her husband and one son. Another son was still living in New York the lat we had hard (about 1920) .

• Knox County, OH-Death Records 1867-1908 Bk 1 Title: Court Clerk, Official death records recorded in the Clerks Office, Probate Court.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Sara Patton for creating WikiTree profile Stevens-3535 through the import of stevens mclaughlin.ged on Feb 17, 2013.