Turn of the century North Dakota help? With a little Yorkshire on the side.

Question

This is a wild one that I’m trying to work out. My 2nd ggf, Abel Boothroyd emigrated from England, disappeared from Providence, RI before his wife and daughter arrived (he had come ahead of them), shows up in North Dakota, marries a widow, and then traces of both vanish.

Here are the pertinent documents, some of which I’ve posted in his profile.

In 1895, Abel Boothroyd was granted citizenship in Steele Co., ND. (See form) In 1896 he was granted a land grant in Riverside Township, Steele Co., ND. In 1908 he married a Mrs. Eden Scholes in Steele Co. He is NOT in the 1900 census for Riverside township, nor does he appear in any search in Ancestry databases for that year’s census. He does not appear again in any other records.

Mrs. Eden Scholes: arrived in NYC in 1881, according to later documents, files the first form for citizenship in 1883. In 1893, she is granted citizenship in ND with Abel Boothroyd as one of the signers attesting on her behalf. In 1894 she is granted a land grant in Riverside township, Steele Co., ND (which is adjacent to the one that Abel will be granted two years later. She is listed in the 1900 census for Riverside township as the sister of James A Day (head of household) as a widow with one child who is no longer living. James A Day is in findagrave records as the husband of one Edan [sic] S. Day.

So, my questions are:

What happened to Abel Boothroyd (death date, etc.)

Was Mrs. Eden Scholes born Eden Day in England and where and to whom? (I don’t have Ancestry’s international package, so any help here is appreciated.)

If Mrs. Eden Scholes/Boothroyd really is James A Day’s sister, then is the Edan S. Day whose obituary says was the wife of James A Day the same person? https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/115526571/edan-s-day If not, what happened to the Eden Scholes who married Abel Boothroyd?

I don’t want to create a profile for Mrs Eden Scholes until I can be sure of her maiden name. Abel was from Yorkshire, so, maybe, they met on the boat over and she might be from the same region.

Comments

The more I think about it, given the new information added below, the more I’m convinced that James A. Day and Abel Boothroyd are the same person. That Abel assumed a new name when he deserted Providence and only used Abel Boothroyd when he had to, on official documents where he might have to show some form of ID, like his UK papers.

That would explain the various conflicting information, and would be in character for a man who would abandon his wife and child in a New World.

Answer 1

In the 1915 there is a listing of an Edith (looks like Eden to me) Boothrond (looks like Boothroud to me) in  Steele County, North Dakota, listed as native colored over 60 years old, here?   https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89LJ-L9QB?i=134&cc=2346284&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AQK9C-YXV7

Janes death record:  https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9VD-N99G-S?i=1300&cc=2146229&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AF88S-2P8

Interesting two Jane Boothroyd's in the 1885 Census for Rhode Island, one a grocer and one a store clerk, if she was a grocer she must have had money from somewhere to set up her store?

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939Z-YP9X-D1?i=448&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AM5XL-JV8

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90422542/jane-boothroyd

Comments

Yes, that certainly looks like Eden Boothroyd, or at least close enough. Abel may have died before this. I don’t read the category as native colored, but, oddly, foreign males and all women over 60. She was from England, so the tick was probably misaligned.

Jane (Heppleston) Boothroyd must have had some money to be able to have a house where she could take in boarders. Interestingly, her daughter, Lucy Jane, wasn’t really named Lucy by her parents. They just named her Jane after her mother, but the nurse thought that was too plain and put Lucy down as her first name. She went by Jane to her closest family. Maybe she worked as a clerk in her mother’s store.

Answer 2

Are you sure that Eden is Jame's sister?  This record shows Eden as being 13 years younger then James?  I wonder if this is the Eden you are looking for?   https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9JH-1XC5?cc=1451475&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3A6HRR-CY3Z

In the 1910 Census there is an Eden Day but she gives her age as 44 which would make her born about 1866?   https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9JH-1XC5?cc=1451475&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3A6HRR-CY3Z

Eden Scholes had two land patents one in 1889 and one in 1894 here https://thelandpatents.com/owners/1966908

Comments

In the 1900 census, she is listed as “Eden Scholes, sister” to James Day, with an 1852 birthdate. Even though it’s surprising for him to marry an Eden S. with a sister who was (in 1900) Eden Scholes, I guess it’s possible. They would have to be two different women, however improbable.

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Here this Eden is James' wife. So probably not the Eden you are looking for.   https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/115526571/edan-s-day

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Ooh! I hadn’t seen the 1889 patent before.

Answer 3

I may be making the mystery worse.  Take a look at the attached clipping from The Hope Pioneer on July 22, 1908, which has James A. Day marrying Eden Scholes on that same day that you have Abel Boothroyd marrying Eden Scholes in his profile:

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89893305/

It looks like the same judge's name, too.

P.S. Here is a report of the death of James A. Day on April 21, 1909:

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89893578/

P.P.S.  Here are notices involving the Estate of Eden S. Day, otherwise called Eden S. Boothroyd.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89893578/

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89893911/

Comments

What the heck was going on back then?!?

The marriage certificate for Abel Boothroyd and Eden Scholes dated 22 Apr 1908 is signed by the same Judge Moote as is mentioned in the clipping announcing the marriage of Eden Scholes to James A Day, on the same, as you noted.

The 1915 North Dakota lists an Eden Boothroyd, not Day. The 1900 US census in North Dakota lists a James A. Day as head of household with Eden Scholes as his sister.

With the official documents recording the relationship between Eden Scholes and Abel Boothroyd, I’m inclined to believe that the wedding announcement got their facts confused and maybe James Day was there to give his sister away.

Or, because of Abel Boothroyd’s abandonment of his first wife, maybe he went by the name James Day, only using Abel Boothroyd on official documents. And he called her his sister on the 1900 census to avoid a scandal.

This may be one of those tangled webs that may never get unraveled.

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Chris:

    With the limited information I saw, that's the same thing that I wondered.

                              Roger

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Abel assuming the name James A. Day seems to be the only explanation that accounts for all of the evidence.