George was the son of Randall Buchanan Sprague and the first of his four wives, Mary J. Simonton, who wed on 28 Jan 1816 in Jefferson Co., Ohio. Two of George's many siblings are mentioned in the obituary attached to his memorial—Randall B. Sprague, b. 1828 and Julia A. (Sprague) Riley, b. 1838. Others were: Mary Jane, b. 1820; John T., b. 1822; Thomas, b. 1824; Susannah, b. 1827; William, b.1833; Nancy and Ephraim, b. 1841; and James, b. 1842. George's father would sire an additional dozen children with his second wife. That's a lot of Spragues to carry on the family name.
George began his life in a leap year in Carroll Co., Ohio in early May, 1816. It was a Thursday. "Thursday's child has far to go." And for George, that would be the case. He would live for almost 89 years, he would marry twice, father a dozen children, and have residences in four Indiana counties. He would live during the terms of 23 different presidents, James Madison about to complete his second term as the country's fourth president when George was born.
As days go, 2 May 1816 was a slow news day in history, the only event of note the marriage of Belgium's King Leopold, which would have little if any impact on George's life in Carroll County, Ohio.
George married his first wife, Sarah Everett, on 7 Nov 1839 in Carroll Co., Ohio. She would be the mother of his first five children—Margaret, b. ca. 1843; John Taylor, b. 1846; Hetty (Henrietta?) A., b. ca. 1848; Isaac Everett, b. 1850; and an unidentified child likely born circa 1841.
After Hetty was born, George and Sarah bundled up their children, packed up the worldly possessions worth taking with them, and traveled about 150 miles west, settling in Allen Co., Indiana. That's where the 1850 Census taker found them. George Sprague, 34, was farming for a living. Sarah, 34, probably knew her way around cows and chickens as well as making sure their three children—Margaret, 7; John, 5; and Hetty, 2—were well tended to and ready for church on Sunday. And in 1850, she was managing this while eight months pregnant with son Isaac, born on 12 Nov 1850.
Sadly, it seems that George's wife Sarah died within a few months of Isaac's birth, the year he lost her noted as 1851 in his obituary. She would have been about 35 years old.
With a new baby and three other young children in the balance, George quickly remarried, wedding Margaret Rettinghouse on 18 Sep 1851. From their union, seven more children would join the family—George Marion, b. 1864; Rosa Mary, b. 1866; William A., b. 1869; Andrew Perry, b. 1871; Viola E., b. 1874; and two unidentified children, likely born between 1852 and 1862.
The 1860 Census revealed that the Spragues had relocated and had settled, at least for a while, in Aubbeenaubee Twp., Fulton Co., Indiana, the nearest post office in Rochester. George Sprague, 44, was breaking in a new farm. Margaret, 27, was keeping house. There with their father and step-mother were John, 14 and Isaac, 10. George's daughter Margaret would have been about 17 and may have gotten married, but it seems that daughter Hetty, who would have been about 12, either joined the spirit world or had been placed with relatives. Let's hope it was the latter.
In the spring of 1861, the Civil War erupted. George, who was already 45 years old, does not appear to have been called to serve, and the birth of son George Marion in 1864, also suggests that George Sr. was not away fighting, though soldiers were allowed leaves to visit their families during the war.
When the 1870 Census came due, the Spragues were still in Aubbeenaubbee Twp., Fulton County…If you are wondering about the name "Aubbeenaubee," here is the back story. (Skip ahead if you just want to keep up with George's life story.) Chief Au-be-nau-be was a Pottawatomie Indian chief, born in 1760, who fell in disgrace after killing one of his wives during one of his frequent drunken sprees. A council of the chiefs of the different Pottawatomie bands was called and sentenced Au-be-nau-be to death, the murder to be carried out by his eldest son. The sentence was to be carried out within a certain number of moons, and if Au-be-nau-be managed to elude death during that time period, the sentence would be commuted and he would be considered a free man. But, as luck would have it, his son Pau-koo-shuck was only too willing to carry out the deed, and when his father drank to excess one day and fell asleep in the Blodgett log shanty, Pau-koo-shuck delivered one fatal blow to his head with a tomahawk and it was over for Au-be-nau-be. Pau-koo-shuck took over as chief, but soon after the tribe was disbanded and moved to a reservation west of the Missouri river in the fall of 1838. Today, there is a bay in the northeast corner of Culver's Lake Maxinkuckee that bears the name Aubbeenaubbee Bay, and recently, a plaque has been mounted on a post on the east side of Culver's Masonic Cemetery that tells the story of Pau-koo-shuck and how his ghost dances on Lake Maxinkuckee.
…(in 1870), George Sprague, 54, was busy farming. Margaret, 37, was tending to a household that included five children—George's two sons: John, 24, and helping manage the farm; and Isaac, 19—and George and Margaret's three children—George, 5; Rosetta (aka Rosa Mary), 9; and 1-year-old William. Living with the family, and helping Margaret with the housework and childcare was 40-year-old Mary Kelly, sadly noted as a "pauper." Mary was an Irish immigrant and life was often difficult for that particular group of immigrants.
The following year, son Andrew joined the family, followed by daughter Viola on New Year's Day in 1874. The family also pulled up stakes and moved that decade, ending up in Marshall County's West Township, which is more or less the Donaldson/Plymouth area. George Sprague, 64, was still actively farming. Margaret, 47, had her hands full wrangling five youngin's—George, 15; Rosetta, 13; William 11; Andrew, 8; and Viola, 6. Gone were the two helping hands of Mary Kelly, her fate unknown to me.
Also absent were George's sons John and Isaac, who were starting their own families by then. John married Julia A. Reed on 13 Mar 1873, and Isaac married Adeline Adair on 8 Aug 1877.
The now-lost 1890 Census creates a twenty-year gap with no updates for a family unless there are other records still around. Here is where I yell out the quote by Lady MacBeth "Out, dammed spot!" out of sheer frustration.
I did find marriage records for George and Margaret's children. Daughter Rosa married Frank Scott in 1888; son George married Harriett Grenert in 1887; son William married Della Alder in 1900; son Andrew married Lucinda Crabill in 1894; and daughter Viola married Serenus Geiselman in 1891.
On 2 May 1896, the family would have gathered to celebrate George's 80th year on this earth. Photos of him from the time look remarkably like photos of his father Randall B. Sprague. Both managed to grow very impressive white beards.
By the time the 1900 Census came around, George and Margaret were empty nesters, AND they had again relocated and were (hopefully) enjoying life in North Bend Township, Starke Co., Indiana, located in the southeast corner of the county, and contains some of the best soil for farms in Starke County. Named for its location on the north bend of the Tippecanoe River, and home to Bass Lake, the area has an abundance of fish and wild game. George, 84, had "retired" by then, though farmers never seem to retire in the traditional sense, they mostly just slow down. Margaret, 66, could also enjoy a slower pace, though there were eleven grandkids to spoil by then—Rosa's children: William, Ray, Viola, George and Dewey; George's children: Melvin, Anna and Inez; Andrew's children: Goldie and Viola; and Viola's son Chester.
In September of 1901, George and Margaret awoke on a day that would celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, a golden marriage milestone only about 5% ever reach. And if you asked them how they had managed to weather those five decades together, they would likely tell you it was just a matter of living through "the better and the worse, the sickness and the health and the richer and the poorer."
Four years after celebrating that milestone, George went walkabout and crossed into the light on 25 Apr 1905. Margaret soldiered on without her companion of fifty-four years, appearing on the 1910 Census, widowed, aged 77, living with daughter Viola and her husband Serenus Geiselman in North Bend. She was surrounded by three grandchildren—Chester, 18; Russell, 8; and Irma, 4—whom she had to share with their other grandmother, Catherine Geiselman, 87, and also living with Serenus and Viola.
Two years later, weary from her travels on earth and suffering from liver cancer, Margaret went off to find George on 16 Sep 1912. Hopefully, she did not run into Chief Aubbeenaubbee wandering around with a tomahawk in his head on her way to meet him.
George began his life in a leap year in Carroll Co., Ohio in early May, 1816. It was a Thursday. "Thursday's child has far to go." And for George, that would be the case. He would live for almost 89 years, he would marry twice, father a dozen children, and have residences in four Indiana counties. He would live during the terms of 23 different presidents, James Madison about to complete his second term as the country's fourth president when George was born.
As days go, 2 May 1816 was a slow news day in history, the only event of note the marriage of Belgium's King Leopold, which would have little if any impact on George's life in Carroll County, Ohio.
George married his first wife, Sarah Everett, on 7 Nov 1839 in Carroll Co., Ohio. She would be the mother of his first five children—Margaret, b. ca. 1843; John Taylor, b. 1846; Hetty (Henrietta?) A., b. ca. 1848; Isaac Everett, b. 1850; and an unidentified child likely born circa 1841.
After Hetty was born, George and Sarah bundled up their children, packed up the worldly possessions worth taking with them, and traveled about 150 miles west, settling in Allen Co., Indiana. That's where the 1850 Census taker found them. George Sprague, 34, was farming for a living. Sarah, 34, probably knew her way around cows and chickens as well as making sure their three children—Margaret, 7; John, 5; and Hetty, 2—were well tended to and ready for church on Sunday. And in 1850, she was managing this while eight months pregnant with son Isaac, born on 12 Nov 1850.
Sadly, it seems that George's wife Sarah died within a few months of Isaac's birth, the year he lost her noted as 1851 in his obituary. She would have been about 35 years old.
With a new baby and three other young children in the balance, George quickly remarried, wedding Margaret Rettinghouse on 18 Sep 1851. From their union, seven more children would join the family—George Marion, b. 1864; Rosa Mary, b. 1866; William A., b. 1869; Andrew Perry, b. 1871; Viola E., b. 1874; and two unidentified children, likely born between 1852 and 1862.
The 1860 Census revealed that the Spragues had relocated and had settled, at least for a while, in Aubbeenaubee Twp., Fulton Co., Indiana, the nearest post office in Rochester. George Sprague, 44, was breaking in a new farm. Margaret, 27, was keeping house. There with their father and step-mother were John, 14 and Isaac, 10. George's daughter Margaret would have been about 17 and may have gotten married, but it seems that daughter Hetty, who would have been about 12, either joined the spirit world or had been placed with relatives. Let's hope it was the latter.
In the spring of 1861, the Civil War erupted. George, who was already 45 years old, does not appear to have been called to serve, and the birth of son George Marion in 1864, also suggests that George Sr. was not away fighting, though soldiers were allowed leaves to visit their families during the war.
When the 1870 Census came due, the Spragues were still in Aubbeenaubbee Twp., Fulton County…If you are wondering about the name "Aubbeenaubee," here is the back story. (Skip ahead if you just want to keep up with George's life story.) Chief Au-be-nau-be was a Pottawatomie Indian chief, born in 1760, who fell in disgrace after killing one of his wives during one of his frequent drunken sprees. A council of the chiefs of the different Pottawatomie bands was called and sentenced Au-be-nau-be to death, the murder to be carried out by his eldest son. The sentence was to be carried out within a certain number of moons, and if Au-be-nau-be managed to elude death during that time period, the sentence would be commuted and he would be considered a free man. But, as luck would have it, his son Pau-koo-shuck was only too willing to carry out the deed, and when his father drank to excess one day and fell asleep in the Blodgett log shanty, Pau-koo-shuck delivered one fatal blow to his head with a tomahawk and it was over for Au-be-nau-be. Pau-koo-shuck took over as chief, but soon after the tribe was disbanded and moved to a reservation west of the Missouri river in the fall of 1838. Today, there is a bay in the northeast corner of Culver's Lake Maxinkuckee that bears the name Aubbeenaubbee Bay, and recently, a plaque has been mounted on a post on the east side of Culver's Masonic Cemetery that tells the story of Pau-koo-shuck and how his ghost dances on Lake Maxinkuckee.
…(in 1870), George Sprague, 54, was busy farming. Margaret, 37, was tending to a household that included five children—George's two sons: John, 24, and helping manage the farm; and Isaac, 19—and George and Margaret's three children—George, 5; Rosetta (aka Rosa Mary), 9; and 1-year-old William. Living with the family, and helping Margaret with the housework and childcare was 40-year-old Mary Kelly, sadly noted as a "pauper." Mary was an Irish immigrant and life was often difficult for that particular group of immigrants.
The following year, son Andrew joined the family, followed by daughter Viola on New Year's Day in 1874. The family also pulled up stakes and moved that decade, ending up in Marshall County's West Township, which is more or less the Donaldson/Plymouth area. George Sprague, 64, was still actively farming. Margaret, 47, had her hands full wrangling five youngin's—George, 15; Rosetta, 13; William 11; Andrew, 8; and Viola, 6. Gone were the two helping hands of Mary Kelly, her fate unknown to me.
Also absent were George's sons John and Isaac, who were starting their own families by then. John married Julia A. Reed on 13 Mar 1873, and Isaac married Adeline Adair on 8 Aug 1877.
The now-lost 1890 Census creates a twenty-year gap with no updates for a family unless there are other records still around. Here is where I yell out the quote by Lady MacBeth "Out, dammed spot!" out of sheer frustration.
I did find marriage records for George and Margaret's children. Daughter Rosa married Frank Scott in 1888; son George married Harriett Grenert in 1887; son William married Della Alder in 1900; son Andrew married Lucinda Crabill in 1894; and daughter Viola married Serenus Geiselman in 1891.
On 2 May 1896, the family would have gathered to celebrate George's 80th year on this earth. Photos of him from the time look remarkably like photos of his father Randall B. Sprague. Both managed to grow very impressive white beards.
By the time the 1900 Census came around, George and Margaret were empty nesters, AND they had again relocated and were (hopefully) enjoying life in North Bend Township, Starke Co., Indiana, located in the southeast corner of the county, and contains some of the best soil for farms in Starke County. Named for its location on the north bend of the Tippecanoe River, and home to Bass Lake, the area has an abundance of fish and wild game. George, 84, had "retired" by then, though farmers never seem to retire in the traditional sense, they mostly just slow down. Margaret, 66, could also enjoy a slower pace, though there were eleven grandkids to spoil by then—Rosa's children: William, Ray, Viola, George and Dewey; George's children: Melvin, Anna and Inez; Andrew's children: Goldie and Viola; and Viola's son Chester.
In September of 1901, George and Margaret awoke on a day that would celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, a golden marriage milestone only about 5% ever reach. And if you asked them how they had managed to weather those five decades together, they would likely tell you it was just a matter of living through "the better and the worse, the sickness and the health and the richer and the poorer."
Four years after celebrating that milestone, George went walkabout and crossed into the light on 25 Apr 1905. Margaret soldiered on without her companion of fifty-four years, appearing on the 1910 Census, widowed, aged 77, living with daughter Viola and her husband Serenus Geiselman in North Bend. She was surrounded by three grandchildren—Chester, 18; Russell, 8; and Irma, 4—whom she had to share with their other grandmother, Catherine Geiselman, 87, and also living with Serenus and Viola.
Two years later, weary from her travels on earth and suffering from liver cancer, Margaret went off to find George on 16 Sep 1912. Hopefully, she did not run into Chief Aubbeenaubbee wandering around with a tomahawk in his head on her way to meet him.
George was the son of Randall Buchanan Sprague and the first of his four wives, Mary J. Simonton, who wed on 28 Jan 1816 in Jefferson Co., Ohio. Two of George's many siblings are mentioned in the obituary attached to his memorial—Randall B. Sprague, b. 1828 and Julia A. (Sprague) Riley, b. 1838. Others were: Mary Jane, b. 1820; John T., b. 1822; Thomas, b. 1824; Susannah, b. 1827; William, b.1833; Nancy and Ephraim, b. 1841; and James, b. 1842. George's father would sire an additional dozen children with his second wife. That's a lot of Spragues to carry on the family name.
George began his life in a leap year in Carroll Co., Ohio in early May, 1816. It was a Thursday. "Thursday's child has far to go." And for George, that would be the case. He would live for almost 89 years, he would marry twice, father a dozen children, and have residences in four Indiana counties. He would live during the terms of 23 different presidents, James Madison about to complete his second term as the country's fourth president when George was born.
As days go, 2 May 1816 was a slow news day in history, the only event of note the marriage of Belgium's King Leopold, which would have little if any impact on George's life in Carroll County, Ohio.
George married his first wife, Sarah Everett, on 7 Nov 1839 in Carroll Co., Ohio. She would be the mother of his first five children—Margaret, b. ca. 1843; John Taylor, b. 1846; Hetty (Henrietta?) A., b. ca. 1848; Isaac Everett, b. 1850; and an unidentified child likely born circa 1841.
After Hetty was born, George and Sarah bundled up their children, packed up the worldly possessions worth taking with them, and traveled about 150 miles west, settling in Allen Co., Indiana. That's where the 1850 Census taker found them. George Sprague, 34, was farming for a living. Sarah, 34, probably knew her way around cows and chickens as well as making sure their three children—Margaret, 7; John, 5; and Hetty, 2—were well tended to and ready for church on Sunday. And in 1850, she was managing this while eight months pregnant with son Isaac, born on 12 Nov 1850.
Sadly, it seems that George's wife Sarah died within a few months of Isaac's birth, the year he lost her noted as 1851 in his obituary. She would have been about 35 years old.
With a new baby and three other young children in the balance, George quickly remarried, wedding Margaret Rettinghouse on 18 Sep 1851. From their union, seven more children would join the family—George Marion, b. 1864; Rosa Mary, b. 1866; William A., b. 1869; Andrew Perry, b. 1871; Viola E., b. 1874; and two unidentified children, likely born between 1852 and 1862.
The 1860 Census revealed that the Spragues had relocated and had settled, at least for a while, in Aubbeenaubee Twp., Fulton Co., Indiana, the nearest post office in Rochester. George Sprague, 44, was breaking in a new farm. Margaret, 27, was keeping house. There with their father and step-mother were John, 14 and Isaac, 10. George's daughter Margaret would have been about 17 and may have gotten married, but it seems that daughter Hetty, who would have been about 12, either joined the spirit world or had been placed with relatives. Let's hope it was the latter.
In the spring of 1861, the Civil War erupted. George, who was already 45 years old, does not appear to have been called to serve, and the birth of son George Marion in 1864, also suggests that George Sr. was not away fighting, though soldiers were allowed leaves to visit their families during the war.
When the 1870 Census came due, the Spragues were still in Aubbeenaubbee Twp., Fulton County…If you are wondering about the name "Aubbeenaubee," here is the back story. (Skip ahead if you just want to keep up with George's life story.) Chief Au-be-nau-be was a Pottawatomie Indian chief, born in 1760, who fell in disgrace after killing one of his wives during one of his frequent drunken sprees. A council of the chiefs of the different Pottawatomie bands was called and sentenced Au-be-nau-be to death, the murder to be carried out by his eldest son. The sentence was to be carried out within a certain number of moons, and if Au-be-nau-be managed to elude death during that time period, the sentence would be commuted and he would be considered a free man. But, as luck would have it, his son Pau-koo-shuck was only too willing to carry out the deed, and when his father drank to excess one day and fell asleep in the Blodgett log shanty, Pau-koo-shuck delivered one fatal blow to his head with a tomahawk and it was over for Au-be-nau-be. Pau-koo-shuck took over as chief, but soon after the tribe was disbanded and moved to a reservation west of the Missouri river in the fall of 1838. Today, there is a bay in the northeast corner of Culver's Lake Maxinkuckee that bears the name Aubbeenaubbee Bay, and recently, a plaque has been mounted on a post on the east side of Culver's Masonic Cemetery that tells the story of Pau-koo-shuck and how his ghost dances on Lake Maxinkuckee.
…(in 1870), George Sprague, 54, was busy farming. Margaret, 37, was tending to a household that included five children—George's two sons: John, 24, and helping manage the farm; and Isaac, 19—and George and Margaret's three children—George, 5; Rosetta (aka Rosa Mary), 9; and 1-year-old William. Living with the family, and helping Margaret with the housework and childcare was 40-year-old Mary Kelly, sadly noted as a "pauper." Mary was an Irish immigrant and life was often difficult for that particular group of immigrants.
The following year, son Andrew joined the family, followed by daughter Viola on New Year's Day in 1874. The family also pulled up stakes and moved that decade, ending up in Marshall County's West Township, which is more or less the Donaldson/Plymouth area. George Sprague, 64, was still actively farming. Margaret, 47, had her hands full wrangling five youngin's—George, 15; Rosetta, 13; William 11; Andrew, 8; and Viola, 6. Gone were the two helping hands of Mary Kelly, her fate unknown to me.
Also absent were George's sons John and Isaac, who were starting their own families by then. John married Julia A. Reed on 13 Mar 1873, and Isaac married Adeline Adair on 8 Aug 1877.
The now-lost 1890 Census creates a twenty-year gap with no updates for a family unless there are other records still around. Here is where I yell out the quote by Lady MacBeth "Out, dammed spot!" out of sheer frustration.
I did find marriage records for George and Margaret's children. Daughter Rosa married Frank Scott in 1888; son George married Harriett Grenert in 1887; son William married Della Alder in 1900; son Andrew married Lucinda Crabill in 1894; and daughter Viola married Serenus Geiselman in 1891.
On 2 May 1896, the family would have gathered to celebrate George's 80th year on this earth. Photos of him from the time look remarkably like photos of his father Randall B. Sprague. Both managed to grow very impressive white beards.
By the time the 1900 Census came around, George and Margaret were empty nesters, AND they had again relocated and were (hopefully) enjoying life in North Bend Township, Starke Co., Indiana, located in the southeast corner of the county, and contains some of the best soil for farms in Starke County. Named for its location on the north bend of the Tippecanoe River, and home to Bass Lake, the area has an abundance of fish and wild game. George, 84, had "retired" by then, though farmers never seem to retire in the traditional sense, they mostly just slow down. Margaret, 66, could also enjoy a slower pace, though there were eleven grandkids to spoil by then—Rosa's children: William, Ray, Viola, George and Dewey; George's children: Melvin, Anna and Inez; Andrew's children: Goldie and Viola; and Viola's son Chester.
In September of 1901, George and Margaret awoke on a day that would celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, a golden marriage milestone only about 5% ever reach. And if you asked them how they had managed to weather those five decades together, they would likely tell you it was just a matter of living through "the better and the worse, the sickness and the health and the richer and the poorer."
Four years after celebrating that milestone, George went walkabout and crossed into the light on 25 Apr 1905. Margaret soldiered on without her companion of fifty-four years, appearing on the 1910 Census, widowed, aged 77, living with daughter Viola and her husband Serenus Geiselman in North Bend. She was surrounded by three grandchildren—Chester, 18; Russell, 8; and Irma, 4—whom she had to share with their other grandmother, Catherine Geiselman, 87, and also living with Serenus and Viola.
Two years later, weary from her travels on earth and suffering from liver cancer, Margaret went off to find George on 16 Sep 1912. Hopefully, she did not run into Chief Aubbeenaubbee wandering around with a tomahawk in his head on her way to meet him.
George began his life in a leap year in Carroll Co., Ohio in early May, 1816. It was a Thursday. "Thursday's child has far to go." And for George, that would be the case. He would live for almost 89 years, he would marry twice, father a dozen children, and have residences in four Indiana counties. He would live during the terms of 23 different presidents, James Madison about to complete his second term as the country's fourth president when George was born.
As days go, 2 May 1816 was a slow news day in history, the only event of note the marriage of Belgium's King Leopold, which would have little if any impact on George's life in Carroll County, Ohio.
George married his first wife, Sarah Everett, on 7 Nov 1839 in Carroll Co., Ohio. She would be the mother of his first five children—Margaret, b. ca. 1843; John Taylor, b. 1846; Hetty (Henrietta?) A., b. ca. 1848; Isaac Everett, b. 1850; and an unidentified child likely born circa 1841.
After Hetty was born, George and Sarah bundled up their children, packed up the worldly possessions worth taking with them, and traveled about 150 miles west, settling in Allen Co., Indiana. That's where the 1850 Census taker found them. George Sprague, 34, was farming for a living. Sarah, 34, probably knew her way around cows and chickens as well as making sure their three children—Margaret, 7; John, 5; and Hetty, 2—were well tended to and ready for church on Sunday. And in 1850, she was managing this while eight months pregnant with son Isaac, born on 12 Nov 1850.
Sadly, it seems that George's wife Sarah died within a few months of Isaac's birth, the year he lost her noted as 1851 in his obituary. She would have been about 35 years old.
With a new baby and three other young children in the balance, George quickly remarried, wedding Margaret Rettinghouse on 18 Sep 1851. From their union, seven more children would join the family—George Marion, b. 1864; Rosa Mary, b. 1866; William A., b. 1869; Andrew Perry, b. 1871; Viola E., b. 1874; and two unidentified children, likely born between 1852 and 1862.
The 1860 Census revealed that the Spragues had relocated and had settled, at least for a while, in Aubbeenaubee Twp., Fulton Co., Indiana, the nearest post office in Rochester. George Sprague, 44, was breaking in a new farm. Margaret, 27, was keeping house. There with their father and step-mother were John, 14 and Isaac, 10. George's daughter Margaret would have been about 17 and may have gotten married, but it seems that daughter Hetty, who would have been about 12, either joined the spirit world or had been placed with relatives. Let's hope it was the latter.
In the spring of 1861, the Civil War erupted. George, who was already 45 years old, does not appear to have been called to serve, and the birth of son George Marion in 1864, also suggests that George Sr. was not away fighting, though soldiers were allowed leaves to visit their families during the war.
When the 1870 Census came due, the Spragues were still in Aubbeenaubbee Twp., Fulton County…If you are wondering about the name "Aubbeenaubee," here is the back story. (Skip ahead if you just want to keep up with George's life story.) Chief Au-be-nau-be was a Pottawatomie Indian chief, born in 1760, who fell in disgrace after killing one of his wives during one of his frequent drunken sprees. A council of the chiefs of the different Pottawatomie bands was called and sentenced Au-be-nau-be to death, the murder to be carried out by his eldest son. The sentence was to be carried out within a certain number of moons, and if Au-be-nau-be managed to elude death during that time period, the sentence would be commuted and he would be considered a free man. But, as luck would have it, his son Pau-koo-shuck was only too willing to carry out the deed, and when his father drank to excess one day and fell asleep in the Blodgett log shanty, Pau-koo-shuck delivered one fatal blow to his head with a tomahawk and it was over for Au-be-nau-be. Pau-koo-shuck took over as chief, but soon after the tribe was disbanded and moved to a reservation west of the Missouri river in the fall of 1838. Today, there is a bay in the northeast corner of Culver's Lake Maxinkuckee that bears the name Aubbeenaubbee Bay, and recently, a plaque has been mounted on a post on the east side of Culver's Masonic Cemetery that tells the story of Pau-koo-shuck and how his ghost dances on Lake Maxinkuckee.
…(in 1870), George Sprague, 54, was busy farming. Margaret, 37, was tending to a household that included five children—George's two sons: John, 24, and helping manage the farm; and Isaac, 19—and George and Margaret's three children—George, 5; Rosetta (aka Rosa Mary), 9; and 1-year-old William. Living with the family, and helping Margaret with the housework and childcare was 40-year-old Mary Kelly, sadly noted as a "pauper." Mary was an Irish immigrant and life was often difficult for that particular group of immigrants.
The following year, son Andrew joined the family, followed by daughter Viola on New Year's Day in 1874. The family also pulled up stakes and moved that decade, ending up in Marshall County's West Township, which is more or less the Donaldson/Plymouth area. George Sprague, 64, was still actively farming. Margaret, 47, had her hands full wrangling five youngin's—George, 15; Rosetta, 13; William 11; Andrew, 8; and Viola, 6. Gone were the two helping hands of Mary Kelly, her fate unknown to me.
Also absent were George's sons John and Isaac, who were starting their own families by then. John married Julia A. Reed on 13 Mar 1873, and Isaac married Adeline Adair on 8 Aug 1877.
The now-lost 1890 Census creates a twenty-year gap with no updates for a family unless there are other records still around. Here is where I yell out the quote by Lady MacBeth "Out, dammed spot!" out of sheer frustration.
I did find marriage records for George and Margaret's children. Daughter Rosa married Frank Scott in 1888; son George married Harriett Grenert in 1887; son William married Della Alder in 1900; son Andrew married Lucinda Crabill in 1894; and daughter Viola married Serenus Geiselman in 1891.
On 2 May 1896, the family would have gathered to celebrate George's 80th year on this earth. Photos of him from the time look remarkably like photos of his father Randall B. Sprague. Both managed to grow very impressive white beards.
By the time the 1900 Census came around, George and Margaret were empty nesters, AND they had again relocated and were (hopefully) enjoying life in North Bend Township, Starke Co., Indiana, located in the southeast corner of the county, and contains some of the best soil for farms in Starke County. Named for its location on the north bend of the Tippecanoe River, and home to Bass Lake, the area has an abundance of fish and wild game. George, 84, had "retired" by then, though farmers never seem to retire in the traditional sense, they mostly just slow down. Margaret, 66, could also enjoy a slower pace, though there were eleven grandkids to spoil by then—Rosa's children: William, Ray, Viola, George and Dewey; George's children: Melvin, Anna and Inez; Andrew's children: Goldie and Viola; and Viola's son Chester.
In September of 1901, George and Margaret awoke on a day that would celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, a golden marriage milestone only about 5% ever reach. And if you asked them how they had managed to weather those five decades together, they would likely tell you it was just a matter of living through "the better and the worse, the sickness and the health and the richer and the poorer."
Four years after celebrating that milestone, George went walkabout and crossed into the light on 25 Apr 1905. Margaret soldiered on without her companion of fifty-four years, appearing on the 1910 Census, widowed, aged 77, living with daughter Viola and her husband Serenus Geiselman in North Bend. She was surrounded by three grandchildren—Chester, 18; Russell, 8; and Irma, 4—whom she had to share with their other grandmother, Catherine Geiselman, 87, and also living with Serenus and Viola.
Two years later, weary from her travels on earth and suffering from liver cancer, Margaret went off to find George on 16 Sep 1912. Hopefully, she did not run into Chief Aubbeenaubbee wandering around with a tomahawk in his head on her way to meet him.
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