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Monday, February 18, 2013

Matrilineal Monday - Marcella Reed

Marcella Reed is my 3rd great-grandmother through my maternal side. She was born in 1835 in Montgomery County, Missouri, which is about half-way between Columbia and St. Louis. Marcella was the fourth of six known children.
Marcella's father, David, fought at a young age in the War of 1812. He received a land warrant and when he died in 1853, Mary Reed received a widow's pension. Marcella married Elijah Happy April 21, 1853 in Carroll County, Missouri.
The couple settled in Ray County, Missouri where they had all of their children.
The 1860s were a rough time for the young couple. They lost at least four babies, one after another, in a four-year time period.
 
Marcella lived the rest of her life in Ray County, Missouri, where her husband was a farmer. At it's largest point their farm was 200 acres. She died in 1891 and is buried in Richmond Cemetery, Richmond, Missouri.

Marcella is one of those ancestors that I have the "bones" for, but no meat. From biographies written about her husband I know that she attended Missionary Baptist Church but that is it. Based on the above information I have the following "due-outs" for Marcella:
1. Find her obituary.
This post is part of my on-going goal of 2013 to research each of my 32 3rd great-grandparents more in-depth. Marcella is #18 on my list.




6 comments:

The Brigham City Fort said...

What a great project to find out more about each of those 3rd Great Grandparents.

Regards, Grant

Heather Kuhn Roelker said...

Thanks, Grant! It was a way to focus my research and I've done a great job (so far) at keeping up with it!

Queen Bee said...

I've never heard of the Happy surname before - I love the name though. It's so unusual - do you know the origin? By the way, I checked Genealogy Bank for an obituary for Marcella, but they don't have newspapers for that area of Missouri. Best of luck finding the obit.

Wendy said...

I don't know -- it seems like there would be a lot of pressure on you if your last name was Happy.

Congratulations on sticking to your resolve to trace your 3G grandparents.

Heather Kuhn Roelker said...

Thanks for looking for an obit for me, Queen Bee! Welcome to my world...none of the papers from Ray County are digitized. I will have to do it the old school way and check the microfilm next time I visit. You ask a good question about the Happy surname. I'm not sure if it is English or a German derivative. I'll have to do some hunting!

Heather Kuhn Roelker said...

Tee hee. They are Happy people, though!