So, Mary Early and Charles Hobart Gatliff moved to Wayne Co., IA,
- and her brother John Grandison Early and Eleanor Rockhold moved to
Mercer Co., MO.
Eleanor Rockhold was, by the by, the dau of Charles Rockhold who
preceded Dr. JHE in the KY legislature representing Whitley Co.,
and who, no doubt, provided Thomas Rockhold Early's middle name.
Bein' pretty much geographically ignorant, I wondered at the dynamics
of brother and sister movin' 720 of today's miles, not a trivial trip
in the 1850s, and then bein' separated by livin' in separate states.
Why did they move? My mother's stock answer to such a question was
always, "Looking for cheap land." But rising tensions over the slavery
issue might have prompted some to get out of harm's way -- the coming
Civil War.
https://www.history.com/topics/abolitionist-movement/missouri-compromise
has a helpful treatise on MO's part in those tensions.
But, back to geography. The IA and MO counties to which the Earlys moved
were joined at the hip. To refresh your memory:
Mary moved to Wayne Co., around Lineville, and her tribe spread into Decatur Co.
John Grandison moved to Mercer Co.
Those counties were joined at the hip.
Search for Gatliffs in Wayne Co., and you mostly see Morgan and Grand River
townships. Search for Earlys in Mercer Co., and you mostly see Marion township.
Lineville frequently appears in the Gatliff records. I think that
the western edge of the Gatliff farm must've been in Morgan Township
because that's where the Gatliff cemetery seems to be.
So, separated? Shoot, Mary and Eleanor mighta lived further apart
back in Whitley Co. In MO and IA, they durn near coulda chit-chatted
over the fence after hangin' out the wash!
5 miles can be walked in 1 1/2 hours; 1/2 hour for a horse/buggy.
It would be nice to know the location of the Early/Rockhold farm
in Mercer Co. I suspect it was S of Mercer [town of] as that's where
the Early cemetery seems to be. But if it was N of Mercer, then Mary
and John Grandison might really have been next-door neighbors.
I haven't found any on-line sources for Mercer Co. land deeds, but
there's a lot of Rockhold activity in the area.
All of which leads me to a slight quibble with Cleland.
When he says Williamsburg, Whitley Co., KY, I know what he means.
When he says Marion, Mercer Co., MO, I get confused.
Williamsburg is a town in Whitley Co., KY.
Marion is also a town, unincorporated, in Cole Co., MO, but Cleland is
actually referring to Marion Township in Mercer Co., MO.
It's a small quibble because if someone looks in Mercer Co., and has the
right map, they'll find Marion Township. If they google Marion, MO, they won't.
I've seen it before. I found a findagrave page that mentioned Lafayette
Co., AR, when I'm pretty sure they meant Lafayette Township, Crawford Co., AR.
I don't suggest a fix, nor even suggest that it needs fixin', but I always wonder
what is meant by the Location part of Location, County, State. Just as I wonder
what is meant by Name in Name, State. Usually Name is a county, but sometimes
it's a city, maybe even a township. That's why I always use Name Co., State, to
make it clear. I've begun tryin' to specify Township when appropriate.
I wonder if there exists something like Iowa, Iowa Township, Iowa County, Iowa?
The Gatliffs didn't persist. In the 1940 census, there were 13 in IA, 19 in MO.
The Early/Earley clan did better. 430/622 Earlys and 47/101 Earleys, in IA/MO.
cheers grady
