Needing fresh eyes on a genetic brick wall

Question

I have some confusing genetic matches that I cannot link to my family tree. I have found so far nine DNA matches ranging from 62 cM to 19 cM that come from an ancestoral couple James Crawford (NJ 1807-1892) and Eleanor Quick (NY 1804- IA 1884) through three of their seven children. There is a documentation connection between this family and my own is in 1880 US Federal for Clayton Co. Iowa. At the age of 12 years old my great grandmother, Lone Oliver (IA 1868-IA 1956) went to work for Marshall Crawford (Penn 1828- IA 1913) a son of this couple. In the 1870 Federal census for Clayton Co. Iowa Marshall Crawford and his family lived in the same community as Lone and her mother Marinda Oliver (OH? abt 1830- IA 1887).  Since I have a brick wall on both my late father's paternal grandfather's (Mathias Enders 1822?-?) and maternal grandmother's side (Lone Oliver) I do not know where the Crawford family would fit if the even if at all. I've tried following the descendants of James Crawford's and Eleanor Quick's parents to see if there is someone that fits my scan known facts of my brick walls but I'm not see any. I think I need fresh eyes to tell me if I'm even on the right e.

Comments

Marinda Oliver

 in the 1850 United States Federal Census

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Name:	Marinda Oliver
Gender:	Female
Age:	20
Birth Year:	abt 1830
Birthplace:	Ohio
Home in 1850:	Grandview, Washington, Ohio, USA
Line Number:	41
Dwelling Number:	102
Family Number:	107
Household Members:	Name Age Curtis G Smith 23 Nancy Smith 27 Marinda Oliver 20

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This census shows her as housekeeper in a house with James Crawford aged 17. The page before that one shows Marshall Crawford aged 36 or 56 and Mary Crawford aged 60.

Marinda Oliver

 in the Iowa, U.S., State Census Collection, 1836-1925

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Name:	Marinda Oliver
Age:	55
Birth Year:	abt 1830
Birth Place:	Ohio
Residence Date:	1885
Residence Place:	Mendon, Clayton, Iowa, USA
Gender:	Female
Marital status:	Single
Neighbors:
Household Members:	Name Age Marinda Oliver 55

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If this is the same couple (likely), then Nancy is also likely Marinda's sister. Nancy died before Oct 1854 when Curtis G. Smith remarried to Lydia A. Bryant. 

It would appear from your DNA matches that your Oliver line has some connection to the Crawford/Quick family.  This could be via a NPE involving either Marinda or Lone.

Are you matching with any folks connected to your Knoebel line?  If so, you can rule out that it was Lone who had any affair/rape event with a Crawford.  

Are you matching with any other folks with Oliver kin from Ohio?  Especially from Guernsey, Washington and nearby counties? That would strengthen the theory that Marinda was likely not a widow (Mrs. Oliver), but the same woman enumerated with Curtis G. Smith and his wife, Nancy (nee Oliver) in 1850.

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Maybe she was working there because she was already a blood relation, or her children are related because she later married a son of this family? Not ruling the other options, but nieces and nephews often appear in a household other than their own as helpers, and unrelated domestics often marry into the family they serve for, so it might be one of these scenarios, not be something illicit.

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Agreed. It may very well be that Marinda found herself in Iowa because she had family who settled there. The Crawford/Quick family may be her kinfolk.

If the Crawford/Quick family can also be traced back to Ohio, that would support this theory.

Answer 1

Mathias Enders father on his tree was Wendelinus Endres

b-1770

I will send you the tree

Answer 2

I don't known if this means anything but I noticed

Marinda was also called Matlida.

Answer 3

So could one of the Crawfords be the father of one of your ancestors? Have you managed to confirm that any of these Marshall-related DNA matches are related to people on your Oliver branch?

Comments

I know next to nothing about Lone's parents other than little I have been able to glean from census records.  I have tried to find baptismal records for Lone and her brother since Iowa didn't require registration of births even on local level at this time. I haven't thus far found baptismal records either on the family search or locally. Marriage records, the 1925 Iowa census and death records for both Lone and her brother don't agree on the parents' names.

I have DNA matches with three of Marshall Crawford's siblings (two sisters and a brother). As far as I know I haven't found so far a match to Marshall's descendants.

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The DNA suggests that you're also related to James Crawford and Eleanor Quick. I think you need to look at which of your other shared matches these Crawford matches connect with.

If they were my matches, I'd be very suspicious of the fact that Lone had worked in the household of Marshall Crawford. Could he have been the father of her child? It could be a coincidence, of course, and maybe the timings don't work.

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Have you been able to find out which church Rev. Bissvelt (who officiated her funeral) belonged to?

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I have not so far. I contacted the Geneweb board in that area in hopes someone may have come across Rev. Bissvelt in their research but no luck. I also have looked through available church records available through the Family search but still have not found him.

I cannot find a burial record for Marinda in the area. That leaves three options. 1. She was buried in an unmarked grave so she is not listed on the WPA burial records or 2. Her family had her body shipped to family in another state for burial or 3. she was buried in a pauper's field.

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The some of the Knoebel descendants through Lone and her husband Edward Knoebel do match the Crawford lines.  So the connection has to be either through  Marinda or Lone's father. I don't see a connection to Lone's brother's descendants. I cannot discount that there maybe a connection to her brother's line since that connection would be as distant (or more) than my own. Also it could be that  fewer of that line compared to the Knoebel descendants have taken DNA tests.

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The lack of connections with descendants of Lone’s brother may indeed indicate that they were only half-siblings and therefore your shared ancestry would only be through your 2nd great grandmother, Marinda Oliver.  It may be that the only descendants of Edward who have DNA tested are of a younger generation and Marinda is their 3rd or 4th great grandmother.  AncestryDNA’s Shared Matches likely would not show you those matches because that feature is only for 4th cousin and closer - the half sibling relationship would definitely skew those results.

You would have better luck asking some of Edward’s descendants who have DNA tested to upload to GEDmatch.

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Is there a county historical society you could contact? Understanding it may take some time for them to get back with any info in this COVID19 era... but chances are they would be the most knowledgeable about old churches and their ministers.  

My guess is that since a minister was the officiant, she is likely buried in a churchyard cemetery. She may not have a headstone and the only record might exist in church burial records.

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I'll try to reach out to the county historical society. I have contacted them before about possibly finding the church records for the town of National (now unincorporated and nearly abandoned). I was hoping to find perhaps a baptismal record of my great-grandmother's brother (or half brother) since in he listed it as his place of birth. The person who answered me didn't know where one of the two church records might  have been transferred . The second church's records were sent to a Lutheran church but didn't go back as far as I needed (1859). They were not filmed by the LDS and a possible location I was referred to does not have them. I've check with the State Historical Society which would have (if they still existed) filmed them but again no luck.