Tombstone Tuesday–Harriet “Eliza” (Bobo) Edgington

Eliza (Bobo) Edgington, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. (2015 photo by Karen)

Eliza (Bobo) Edgington, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. (2015 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Harriet Eliza (Bobo) Edgington, located in row 1 of Zion Lutheran cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. This marker is broken and a section is missing, but what can be read is inscribed:

ELIZA
Wife of
FRANKLIN EDG…[broken stone]
Died
[broken stone]
Aged
30 ys. 4 mo. 18 da.

I wrote a Tombstone Tuesday about Eliza on 11 August of this year and at that time I lamented that I would probably never know the identity of the person laid to rest here, judging by what could be read on the stone.

There just isn’t a whole lot to go on by reading the stone. Only three letters of her surname are legible and the third letter is so difficult to read that has been misread for years. The beginning of the surname that looked like EDO, is actually EDG. What looks like an O should be a G.

In addition, her death date is missing from the stone and there is no church record of her death or burial and nothing recorded in the Mercer County Probate Death Records. This tombstone was a real mystery.

Only a couple weeks after that I set out to learn about the woman buried next to Eliza, Carrie W. Friedell, who also appears to have no connection to Zion Chatt or the Chattanooga area whatsoever. I set out to learn how Carrie came to be buried in Zion’s cemetery, never thinking that there might be a connection between the two women. During my research into Carrie’s life I learned that Carrie W. Friedell was Carrie Wren (Edgington) Eichhorn Friedell, and she was Eliza’s daughter. Carrie W. Friedell was buried next to her mother, Eliza (Bobo) Edgington, wife of Dr. Benjamin “Franklin” Edgington. I wrote four blog posts about my research and conclusions concerning Carrie (Edgington) Friedell this past summer–Zion Chatt’s Mid-Summer Mystery Series, in case anyone missed it.

There is no church record of Carrie’s death or burial and no record of her death in Mercer County, Ohio. The same as her mother Eliza,

Eliza (Bobo) Edgington, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2015 photo by Karen)

Eliza (Bobo) Edgington, broken stone, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2015 photo by Karen)

Since I now know more about Eliza (Bobo) Edgington I decided to write this revised Tombstone Tuesday about her, with the hope that this information may be helpful to other researchers. Since there is so little readable information remaining on the tombstone I believe that researchers from this family do not know where Eliza is buried.

[Note: Benjamin Franklin Edgington usually went by the name of Franklin or Frank and although Eliza was given the name Harriet Eliza, she usually went by the name of Eliza. I will use the names Franklin and Eliza hereafter in this post when I refer to them. In addition, Franklin Edgington was Dr. Franklin Edgington. He was a physician.]

Eliza Bobo was born about 1848 in Ohio, probably in southeast Ohio, the daughter of Ezekiel and Sarah “Sally” (Wren) Bobo. Her family lived in Vinton, Athens, and Crawford counties and her parents are buried in Vinton County. [1] [2] [3] Ezekiel and Sarah used the Wren name as the middle name for two of their children: Carrie Wren Bobo and Thomas Wren Bobo.

Find a Grave.com indicates that Ezekiel Bobo was born 10 September 1804 in Washington County, Ohio, and died 26 August 1885 in Vinton County, Ohio. [2] Find a Grave.com also indicates that Sarah “Sally” Wren was born 1 December 1804 in Virginia, and died 6 February 1873 in Vinton County, Ohio. A photo of her tombstone is on their website. [4]

Eliza was one of the youngest children, if not the youngest child, in the Bobo family. In 1850 Ezekiel and Sarah Bobo lived with their 9 children in Vinton County, Ohio. In the household were Ezekiel, 46, Sarah, 46, Letta, 22, Phares, 18, Amos, 16, Charlotte, 14, Thomas W, 12, Frances, 10, Mary, 6, Eleline, 4, and Harriet E, 2. [1] Harriet E, aged 2, was our Eliza.

In 1860 Eliza, 12, was living with her mother Sarah and siblings Thomas, 21, Elihu, 14, and Mary, 16, in Bucyrus, Ohio. Her mother’s occupation was farmer and she was born in Virginia. [5] Eliza’s father Ezekiel was a farmer living in a hotel run by Hiram Halbert, 54, in Vinton County. There were several others borders in the hotel. [6] I do not know why Ezekiel and Sarah were living apart.

At some point Eliza traveled northwestward to Indiana, where she met and married Franklin Edgington.

Unfortunately I have not been able to locate Eliza in the 1870 census. Nor have I located her soon-to-be husband Franklin Edgington in that census. The census was taken in the summer of 1870 and they married in September of that year.

Franklin Edgington and Eliza Bobo married 24 September 1870 in Blackford County, Indiana, married by Rev. R.S. Bosman. [7]

Franklin and Eliza lived in Eaton, Delaware County, Indiana, where their two daughters were born, their only two children that I know of:
Nettie D Edgington (1871-1940), married Harry W. McMullen; married Charles A. Sutton; married Charley H Haley [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Carrie Wren Edgington (1873-1965), married Glen Eichhorn; married Max W. Friddle/Friedell

Eliza died sometime between 1873 and 1879, probably around 1877. Her widowed husband Franklin remarried in 1879. That time period is also consistent with the look of her tombstone. According to her tombstone she died at the age of 30 years, 4 months, and 18 days. Perhaps she died in childbirth. How Eliza came to be buried in Zion’s cemetery, I do not know. But I would like to know.

Carrie & Eliza (2015 photo by Karen)

Carrie W. (Edgington) Friedell beside her mother Eliza (Bobo) Edgington. (2015 photo by Karen)

After Eliza’s death Franklin Edgington married Malinda Blake on 13 December 1879 in Blackford County, Indiana, married by E T Chaffee of the M E Church. [13]

Dr. Benjamin Franklin Edgington, born 8 August 1849, died 13 September 1930 and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Warren, Huntington County, Indiana. He is buried beside his second wife, Malinda J (Blake) Edgington (1857-1937). [14]

As far as Carrie W. Friedell , I think she likely died in Indiana, had her funeral service there, and was brought to Zion’s cemetery for burial. That is only my theory at this point. How the plot by her mother was reserved for Carrie for nearly 90 years is another mystery. Who knew to bury Carrie in Zion’s cemetery?

The questions and the mystery continues…

 

[1] 1850 U.S. Census, Elk, Vinton, Ohio, p.218A, dwelling & family 1, Ezekiel Bobo; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Aug 2015); from Nara microfilm M432, roll 736.

[2] Find a Grave.com, Ezekiel Bobo, (1804-1885) Elk Cemetery, McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio, memorial 109718262.

[3] “Ohio, Marriages, 1789-2013,” database with images, FamilySearch, (https://familysearch.org : accessed 15 Aug 2015), Ezekiel Bobo and Sarah Wren, 8 Apr 1825; citing Athens, Ohio, Marriages, Vol. 1-2, p.4; from FHL microfilm 4016282.

[4]  Find a Grave.com, Sarah “Sally” Wren Bobo, (1804-1873) Elk Cemetery, McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio, memorial #109718133.

[5] 1860 U.S. Census, Bucyrus, Crawford, Ohio, p.62, dwelling 455, family 466, Sarah Bobe; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Aug 2015); from FHL microfilm 803951, from NARA microfilm M653, roll 951.

[6] 1860 U.S. Census, McArthur, Vinton, Ohio, p.332, dwelling 258, family 250, Hiram Halbert; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Aug 2015); from FHL microfilm 805046, from NARA microfilm M653, roll 1046.

[7] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 22 Sep 2015), Franklin Edgington and Eliza Bobo, 1870; from Blackford Marriage Book B, p.349.

[8] 1900 U.S. Census, Salamonie, Huntington, Indiana, ED 89, p.15A, dwelling 321, family 364, Chas A Sutton; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 Sep 2015); from FHL microfilm 1240378, from NARA microfilm T623, roll 378. [Nettie D (Edgington) Sutton, 29, wife in the household of Chas A Sutton, with son Elba M Mcmullen]

[9] “Montana Death Index, 1860-2007,” database, FamilySearch (https:///familysearch.org : accessed 17 Sep 2015), Nettie Haley, 2 Mar 1940; from “Montana Death Index, 1868-2011,” database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : 2009); citing State of Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Office of Vital Statistics, Helena.

[10] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 17 Sep 2015), Harry W McMullin and Nettie Edgington, 11 May 1890; citing Muncie, Delaware, Indiana Marriages, Vol. 9, p.453; from FHL microfilm 2069290. DIVORCED

[11] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007,” database with images, FamilySearch (http://fmailysearch.org : accessed 17 Sep 2015), Charles A Sutton and Nettie D Mcmullen, 20 Mar 1895; from Huntington Indiana Marriages, Vol. K, p.367; from FHL microfilm 2295249.

[12] “Montana, County Marriages, 1865-1950,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 17 Sep 2015), Charley H. Haley and Nettie D. Edgington, 29 April 1914; citing Marriage, Helena, Lewis and Clark, Montana Marriages, 1865-1950, p.119; from FHL microfilm 1906501.

[13] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 15 Aug 2015), Franklin Edgington and Malinda Blake, 13 Feb 1879, from Blackford Marriages Col. C, p.99, from FHL microfilm 1672562.

[14] Find a Grave.com, B Franklin Edgington, (1849-1930), Woodlawn Cemetery, Warren, Huntington County, Indiana; memorial #72918097.

 

 

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