The Ancestry of Mary Jane Booth wife of Isaac Jones

CHAPTER 10

The BOOTH FAMILY

Family records state that William Isaac Booth [Boothe] was born 15 March 1806 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. His father was Andrew Edwin Booth, born circa 1774 in Ireland, to William Booth and Angelina Harvey. Little is known more about the antecedents of the Booth family other than they were Presbyterian Scots and not Catholic Irish as that Andrew Booth emigrated from Ulster in Northern Ireland.

Andrew Booth came across the Atlantic after the Revolutionary War circa 1797. He came with at least two brothers who were named William Booth and Harvey Booth.  Their parents remained in Ireland. The United States was a new nation when the brothers arrived, most likely at the port of Philadelphia and from there they headed west.  They settled first in raw western Pennsylvania along the Neshannock River in Alleghany County. Sometime after Andrew Booth was established in Pennsylvania, he married Nancy Sharp who was also an immigrant from Scotland.

Several sects of Presbyterianism existed in Alleghany County in the early 1800’s which may have attracted the brothers to the area. Early circuit riders had established Presbyterian congregations in Ten-Milers in 1799 and in Neshannock in1800.

A tax record from 1800 showed that Andrew Booth was a resident of Neshanock Township in Alleghany County, Pennsylvania. Allegheny County was created in 1785 from Washington and Westmoreland Counties. Mercer County was created in 1800 from Alleghany, In 1801 Andrew Booth found himself with Salem Township which comprised all the northwest corner of the county of Mercer. In 1802 Salem Township was divided with the south half being named Pymatuning. Here Andrew Booth is recorded in the 1810 United States Census with a wife and six children less than ten years of age.

1810 Andrew Booth of Pymatuning, Mercer, Pennsylvania

Free White Male age 45 and over: [before 1765] Andrew Booth

Free White Female age 26 thru 44: [1766-1784] Nancy Sharpe

Free White Males age Under 10: [1801-1810] unknown

Free White Females age Under 10: [1801-1810] Jane Booth 1801

Free White Males age Under 10 [1801-1810] William Andrew 1804

Free White Males age Under 10 [1801-1810] William Isaac 1806

Free White Females age Under 10 [1801-1810] Jemima Booth 1807

Free White Females age Under 10 [1801-1810] Ollie Ann Booth 1809–

Andrew Booth continued to farm in Pymatuning Township and was recorded in the 1820 United States Census with a wife and nine children.

1820 Andrew Booth of Pymatuning, Mercer, Pennsylvania Date: August 7, 1820

Free White Male age 45 and over: [before 1775] Andrew Booth

Free White Female age 26 thru 44: [1776-1804] NancySharpe

Free White Male age 16 thru 25: [1795-1804] unknown

Free White Female age 16 thru 25: [1795-1804] Jane

Free White Male age 16 thru 18: [1802- 1804] Andrew (1804-1873)

Free White Male age 10 thru 15: [1805-1810] William Isaac

Free White Female age 10 thru 15: [1805-1810] Jemima Booth 1807

Free White Male age Under 10: [1811-1820] Jesse Booth 1814

Free White Female age Under 10: [1811-1820] Esther Booth 1814

Free White Male age Under 10: [1811-1820] Harvey Booth 1820

Free White Female age Under 10: [1811-1820] Ollie Ann Booth 1818

Number of Persons Engaged in Agriculture: 1

The daughter Ollie Ann, probably Olive Ann in some records, was listed as being born in 1809 and in other records in 1818. Either the parents named a daughter after a daughter who died or there is a confusion regarding the birth of this daughter. In either case the female listed in 1810 as under 10 is not listed in the 1820 census.

Andrew Booth’s son William Isaac Booth had already moved to North Carolina when his father Andrew made an indenture on 7 March 1829 between himself and Andrew Booth Jr and Harvey Booth. Andrew sold to Andrew Jr. and Harvey land for $1,200. The land was bordered on the east by Mrs. Booth and Samuel Howard; on the west by the Pennsylvania and Ohio state line; north by lands of John Fell and south by lands of John Thompson containing 350 acres.  This Tract description said it was sold by “Andrew Booth and his wife, Jemima.”

The 1830 Census of the United States for Pennsylvania had Andrew Booth still residing in Pymatuning, Mercer County, Pennsylvania while his son William Isaac Booth was living 515 miles to the south in Guilford, North Carolina.

There is a discrepancy with the age of Andrew Booth. In the 1810 census he said he was over 45 years old [before 1765], and in the 1820 census he also said he was over 45 years old [before 1775]. However in the 1830 census he states that his age is between 50 and 59 [1771-1780]. The 1820 census would be correct for the 1810 census and the 1830 census but the 1810 and 1830 census do not match. Family tradition state that he was born circa 1774 which is more probable than the 1810 census.

1830 Census of Pymatuning, Mercer County, Pennsylvania

Free White Male age 50 thru 59 [1771-1780] Andrew Booth

Free White Female age 50 thru 59 [1771-1780] Nancy Sharpe

Free White Male age 20 thru 29 [1801-1810] William Andrew

Free White Female age 20 thru 29 [1801-1810] Jemima

Free White Female age 20 thru 29 [1801-1810] Esther

Free White Male age 15 thru 19 [1811-1815] Harvey

Free White Male age 15 thru 19 [1811-1815]

Free White Female age 15 thru 19 [1811-1815] Ollie

Free White Female age 15 thru 19 [1811-1815]

An 1834 deed of Andrew Booth names his wife as “Jemima”. Some suggest that was Nancy’s middle name Nancy Jemima. Rarely are females born in the 18th century given middle names which could mean that Jemima could have been a second wife or the wife of Andrew Booth Jr..

            “30 April 1834 Indenture between Andrew Booth of Pymatuning Township, Mercer County, PA and his wife Jemima of the first part and John McClurg of the same township, county and state of the second part. Andrew and Jemima sold fifty (50) acres of land to John McClurg for $150.00 Deed Record M-1-460-461.”

Andrew Edwin Booth died 5 June 1835 about 61 years old and is buried in Pymatuning Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Nancy Sharp’s death date is unknown. They had 12 children with several dying in childhood.

1. Son born circa 1801 Pymatuning Township Mercer County Pennsylvania.

2. Jane Booth born circa 1803 Pymatuning Township Mercer County Pennsylvania.

3. William Andrew Booth born 31 May 1804 in Pymatuning, Mercer, Pennsylvania.

4. William Isaac Booth born 15 Mar 1806 in Pymatuning, Mercer County, Pennsylvania,

5. Jemima Booth born 1807 in Pymatuning, Mercer County, Pennsylvania,

6. Ollie Ann born 1809 in in Pymatuning, Mercer County, Pennsylvania

7. Esther Booth born circa 1809 in Pymatuning, Mercer County, Pennsylvania

8. unknown Booth born circa 1811 in Pymatuning, Mercer County, Pennsylvania

9. Jesse Booth was born 23 March 1814 Pymatuning Township Mercer County, Pennsylvania and died 13 May 1870 at La Harpe, Hancock County, Illinois.

10. Ann Booth was born 31 Jan 1818 Pymatuning Township Mercer County, Pennsylvania, and died 27 Nov 1897

11. Harvey Booth born 1820 in Pymatuning Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, and died 1898

12. Unknown Booth

William Isaac Booth and Mary Ann Lane

It is unknown why William Isaac Booth left Pennsylvania to head south to Guilford County, North Carolina rather than westward which was the national trend but he is there at least by 1829 when he was 22 years old. Guilford County North Carolina was most noted for having a strong Quaker Community. William Booth would eventually settle in three counties that had Quaker Monthly Meetings but that could simply be coincidental. There is no evidence that William Booth ever was a Quaker but marriage records in the county show that he was married to Mary Ann Lane in Guilforld County on 16 February 1829. Benjamin Thornburg, who was a Quaker acted as bondsman. John Hanner, clerk of the county court was the witness.

Marriage Bondsmen were generally family members or very close friends as they were required to post money to secure that the marriage would take place. What relation if any Benjamin Thornburg had to the couple is unknown. He had been in the county for at least 30 years and had he married Ann Wittee on 17 Dec 1801 also in Guilford, North Carolina. He is listed in the 1820 census of Guilford County, North Carolina.

William Isaac Booth and Mary Ann Lane lived in Guilford County North Carolina until about 1837 according to the births of their first four children. Their eldest child was Mary Jane Booth was born 23 February 1830.  Another daughter Elizabeth Ann Booth was born January 1832 followed by two sons, Jesse Lane Booth was born 15 Mar 1834 and John Francis Booth born 11 Jul 1836, all born in Guilford County, North Carolina. That Mary Anne Lane Booth named her first born son Jesse Lane is a possible clue to who her father of grandfather was.

There was a general migration of Quakers from Guilford County to Indiana, and Ohio in the 1830’s as their abolitionist sentiments made them unpopular in the slave state of North Carolina. Quakers in North Carolina began to find it intolerable to live in a slave state as Quakers were becoming more and more identified with the anti slavery movement. States north of the Ohio River were Free States and by 1837 the family had moved to Quaker settlements in Vermilion County, Illinois where sons Isaac Edwin and William Henry were born. Isaac Edwin Booth was born in 1838 and William Henry Booth in 1841.

 Interestingly “Vermilion” County, Illinois is separated from “Vermillion” County, Indiana only by the Wabash River, and was founded primarily by Quakers from Guilford County, North Carolina. Entire monthly meetings in North Carolina were removing themselves to the Midwest as their anti-slavery sentiments were arousing animosity between them and their neighbors. Whether the Booths subscribed to Quaker beliefs or abolitionists sentiments is unknown but they did move from North Carolina to live among Quakers in Vermilion County, Illinois about 1837 near the same time Isaac Jones’ folks were leaving Ohio to Peoria County, Illinois.

William Booth's family was enumerated in the 1840 Census of Vermilion County, Illinois where he is listed as a farmer. Either he or his wife could not read or write according to the census which did not clarify which one.

Free White Male age 30 thru 39 [1801-1810] William Isaac Booth

Free White Female age 20 thru 29 [1811-1820] Mary Ann Lane

Free White Female age 10 thru 14 [1826-1830] Mary Jane Booth

Free White Female age 5 thru 9 [1831-1835] Elizabeth Booth

Free White Male age 5 thru 9 [1831-1835] Jesse Lane Booth

Free White Male age Under 5 [1836-1840] John Francis Booth

Free White Male age Under 5 [1836-1840] Isaac Edwin Booth

Persons Employed in Agriculture 1

White Person over 20 Cannot Read and Write

That land was being opened in Iowa Territory was national news. The prospect of having cheap land had William Booth packed up his family and belongings and move. They traveled by a oxen drawn wagon across the Mississippi River at the village Keokuk circa 1842. When Indian lands were opened up in April 1843 the family settled in newly formed Mahaska County. Here they built a log cabin.

A son named Joseph Benson Booth was born in 1843 in Jefferson Township, Mahaska, Iowa and another son named Charles Wesley Booth born there in January 1845.

On Christmas day 1847, a deed was recorded in Book A page 29 in Marion County that showed that William Booth was a resident of Mahaska County. “William Booth of Jefferson Township, Mashaska County,” sold to “William M Clark of Knoxville Township Marion County” various livestock and farm equipment for $300.

William Booth sold to William Clark “one sorrel horse with a black face and two white feet six years old in Spring of 1848” valued at $35, “one bay horse colt with two white feet and a star in the forehead” valued at $20, 2 steer cows valued at $10 each, 4 steer calves $5 each, one wagon valued at $30, one set of gears valued at $6, 12 hogs valued at $12 and 400 bushels of corn valued at $8 “to have and to hold”.

The transaction was dated 25 December 1847 and recorded 9 February 1848. Witnesses were Lysander Babbitt and J Smith Hooten. William Clark was a Justice of Peace in Knoxville Township and he would later witness several of the deeds of the Jones family.

While the 1850 census showed that William Booth did not own the land he was farming, a grant dated 2 December 1850 showed that he bought 40 acres in Township 75 Range 20 Section 11 in the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter. He sold this land 8 August 1851 to Alexander Dunkham. This land was about ¼ of a mile south of John M. Jones farm. The deed was recorded in Book C page 220 but not until 25 July 1853.

William Booth bought another 40 acre farm on 17 June 1851 from James M Walters and his wife Rebecca for $150. The deed was recorded in Book C page 160 on 17 June 1851. The property was located in the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 28 in Township 74 Range 19 along the North Cedar Creek. This is in Indiana Township, bounded on the north by Knoxville Township; on the east by Liberty; on the west by the Township of Washington and on the south by Monroe County. This would be his last farm.

On 13 October 1851 William Booth made out his last will and testimony. He may have been ill for some time for less than a month later on 10 November 1851 he died of dysentery known then as “the bloody flux”. He died while driving a horse and wagon in Knoxville.

His ten year old son William Henry Booth died about the same time as both bodies were stored in a woodshed all winter. The ground was too hard to dig a grave to bury them so they had to wait until spring when the ground thawed. They were buried probably in Indiana Township but as it turned out, they were buried outside the boundary of a cemetery and no headstones were set up. So now their graves are under some farmer’s field.

William Boothe’s will was brought to court in December but was not proved until January 1852. “In the name of God, Amen. Know all men by these presents that I William Booth of the state of Iowa, Marion County, being of sound mind memory and understanding do maketh publish and declare this to be my last will and testament hereby revoking and making null all former last wills and testaments and writings in the nature of last wills and testament by me heretoforth made.

My will is first that my funeral or charges and just debts be paid by my executor herein after named be required for the payment of my just debts funeral expenses and the expenses attending the executor of the will and the administration of my estate.

I give devise and dispose as follows, to writ; I give and devise to my beloved wife Mary Ann during her widowhood all my real estate and personal property, except to my eldest daughter I bequeath one dollar, to my second daughter Elizabeth Ann I bequeath one dollar, to Jesse Lane my son, I bequeath one bay coult [colt] now sucking with blase in its face. To John Francis my son I bequeath one coult [colt] now sucking sorrel with a star in the face on forehead.

My will is that at the decease of my beloved wife Mary A. all my real estate and remains of the personal property as remains after complying with the foregoing will be equally divided between my sons Jesse Lane, John Francis, Isaac Edwin, William Henry, Joseph Benson, Charles Wesley, George Daniel, and James Henderson.

 My will is that all my dear children now living with me shall have their raising out of my estate.

I moreover will that Mary my wife be appointed my executor to execute this my last will and testament. In testimony whereof I the said William Booth have subscribed my name and affixed the seal, this 13th day of October a.d., 1851.

The witnesses to the will were Samuel and Jesse Sherwood. The will was filed in December and proven in January 1852.

On 22 March 1852 Mary Ann Jones was authorized to act as executor of the estate. William Boothe’s will provided a dollar each for his two daughters, and a colt to each of his two eldest sons. The farm and some livestock were left to his widow to care for the minor children. On 20 November 1852 a company called Yorse, Gates and Company went to court to recover $31.25 for promissory notes they held from William Booth.

Mary Ann Lane Booth wife of William Isaac Boothe was left a widow with seven sons living at home. Her daughters Mary Jane Booth and Elizabeth Booth were married women. The eldest son, Jesse Lane Booth was 17 years old when his father died. He was followed by John Francis Booth age 15, Isaac Edwin Booth age 13, Joseph Benson Booth age 8, Charles Wesley Booth age 6, George Daniel Booth age 3, and James Henderson Booth age 1.

The 40 acre family farm in Indiana Township was near the North Cedar Creek about 14 miles southeast of Mary Ann Booth’s son in law Isaac Jones’ farm. They lived just about two miles from the county line of Monroe County. It is doubtful that Isaac Jones remained close to the Booths except for occasional visits. Mary Ann Booth’s daughter Elizabeth Ann Steadman, was married to a man who would take her away from Iowa to the gold fields of California before the decade of the 1850’s was over.

Jesse Lane Booth when he reached maturity in 1855 eventually became the guardian of Charles Wesley, George Daniel Booth, and James Benson Booth. At the end of 1865 on December 5th, Jesse petitioned the court to be released from being the guardian of “minor heirs of William Booth Deceased.” At that point Charles W was 20 years old, George Booth was 17 years old, and Jim Booth was 15 years old.

The 1856 state census of Iowa listed the widow Mary Ann Booth as head of household number 35 located in Indiana Township of Marion County. She listed her age as 46 years old [1810] and born in North Carolina. She stateed that she had lived in Iowa for 13 years. Within her household was her sons, Jesse L Booth age 22 [1834] born in North Carolina, John F Booth age 19 [1837] born in Illinois, Isaac E Booth age 17 [1839] born in Illinois, Joseph Booth age 11 [1845] born in Iowa, Charles W Booth age 10 [1846] born in Iowa, George D Booth age 7 [1849] born in Iowa and James H Booth age 5 [1851] born in Iowa. Jesse Lane, John Franklin, and Isaac Wesley were all listed as farmers and Jesse Lane was a registered voter and a member of the county militia.

The agricultural report showed that the family raised 15 bushels of oats on 2 acres of land, 50 bushels of corn on 16 acres of land. The census showed that the family was also hog farmers as they had 16 hogs worth $59. They also had sold a cow for $18.

Keeping these boys in clean clothes and food must have been a full time job for Mary Ann Booth who had no help with the housekeeping chores. However she gained a daughter in law when her son Jesse married Mary Catherine Coons 21 November 1858.

The 1860 Census showed the Booths on 18 July 1860 as having the Post Office address of Attica in Indiana Township, Marion County, Iowa. They were enumerated as the 21^st family in the township.

Mary A Booth age 49 [1811] born in North Carolina farm $800 personal estate $500

John F Booth age 24 [1836] born in North Carolina occupation farmer

Joseph B Booth age 17 [1843] born in Iowa

C W Booth age 14 [1846] born in Iowa

G D Booth age 12 [1848] born in Iowa

J H Booth age 10 [1850] born in Iowa

Andrew Coons age 35 [1825] born in New York occupation Carpenter.

Andrew Coons who was listed as a carpenter in Mary Ann Lane Booth’s household was enumerated twice. He was also listed in the household of H W Coons a 64 year old farmer. No doubt Mary Catherine Coons was related to this family. Perhaps Andrew Coons was working for the Booth’s family when the census taker came by.

Jesse Lane Booth was enumerated 19 July 1860 also with the Post Office address of Attica in Indiana Township, Marion, Iowa.  His was family number was 76 and 55 households away from his mother. His wife Mary Catherine Coons was listed as 16 years old and would have been 14 or 15 years old when the couple married. He is a farmer but without any real estate and only $125 in personal property.

Isaac Edwin Booth, who would have been 19 years old, is not listed in the household of his mother nor anywhere else in the county. As that he was a loner for most of his life he could have been most anywhere.

A descendant of William Booth wrote, “When the first William Isaac died in 1851, he left his farm to his wife to raise their kids. They were "bone poor" but struggled along and somehow managed. Jesse and the two girls married before the Civil War and John, Joe, and Ike enlisted early in the war. Jesse left later. All survived and returned. Of the ones who stayed home Charles was the oldest.”

The Civil War began in April 1861 when South Carolina fired upon federal troops stationed in Charleston harbor. Jesse Lane Booth, John Francis Booth, Isaac Edwin Booth, and Joseph Benson Booth all served in the Union Army.  All the Booth brothers probably joined the army to be less of a burden on their widow mother as well as to show their patriotism. Their mother was a Southerner from North Carolina and they knew it was more than likely they would have had relatives fighting for the Confederacy.

 “Ike” Booth was the first in the Booth family to enlist in the Union Army on 21 May 1861 as a private. He was put in Company B of the 3rd Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry. His military records stated he was age 22 and a residence of Attica, a little community in Marion County, Iowa, approximately 6 miles south of Knoxville.

He was mustered into service on 10 June 1861 at Keokuk, Iowa. On the morning of the 3^rd Regiment’s departure, the soldiers were “accompanied by a large number of citizens” as they “marched to the steamboat landing where two steam ferries transported them to Hannibal, Missouri.” The regiment departed without its field officers and once in Missouri marched west “without knapsacks, haversacks, canteens, cartridge-boxes or ammunition, only equipment being empty muskets.”

Ike Booth participated in General Ulysses S. Grant’s Western Campaign to split the Confederacy into halves down the Mississippi River. He participated in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, and Vicksburg as did his two brothers John and Joe.

Ike Booth was mustered out 11 July 1864, at Davenport, Iowa, with the expiration of term of service.When he was mustered out he worked as a laborer but was discontented with civilian life.

Joe Booth enlisted on 19 October 1861 at the age of 18 while a resident of Knoxville Township. His older brother John Booth joined 5 days later on 24 October at the age of 28 years. He was persuaded by his mother to look after his younger brother. Both brothers were mustered in 25 November 1861 as privates in company G of the 15th Infantry Regiment of Iowa Volunteers.  

The brothers were stationed at Keokuk, Iowa until they were sent south to fight against the rebel army. A Civil War soldier from the 15th regiment wrote in his diary “An immense concourse of citizens were assembled to witness our last dress parade. The people of this place have been very kind to us and seem to feel really sad at our departure. Well they may for many brave fellows will start for Dixie tomorrow never to return. Many hearts now ‘beating with high hope’ and anticipating glory's achievements in a few months, perhaps a few weeks, ‘will molder cold and low”.

When John and his brother Joe Booth reached Tennessee the battle of Shiloh had already commenced. Their regiment moved quickly to the front of the battle but was assigned to a poor position and the regiment was ordered to fall back. The men of their regiment was said to have fought bravely but lost 188 men killed, wounded and or missing.

After Shiloh the brothers took part in the campaign against Corinth in Northern Mississippi.  They took part in various operations mostly at Holly Springs, Mississippi during the miserable winter of 1862-63.

In November 1862 the Fifteenth Iowa Infantry took a prominent part in the operations which penetrated into the interior of Mississippi. They were on the way towards Vicksburg when a strong force of the Rebel cavalry succeeded in getting in the rear of General Grant's army and recaptured Holly Springs, Mississippi. Immense stores of supplies for the use of the US army had been accumulated there. The Confederates destroyed the supplies, and compelled the Union Army to retreat towards Memphis.

The soldiers suffered greatly from exposure to frequent storms and from the lack of sufficient food. The Booth brothers became sick with dysentery on the retreat and became too ill to serve. They were discharged 17 December 1862 at Abbeville, Mississippu and were sent back to Davenport, Iowa by paddleboat where their family came and brought them back home to recuperate.  Back home in Iowa John Booth married Martha Jinkins on 1 February 1863 in Monroe County.  

Jesse Lane Booth, at the age of 30, enlisted on 19 November 1864 in Company A of the 33rd Regiment, Iowa Infantry as a private. He was a married man with three children.  The delay in joining the army may have been because his mother had little support until his brothers, Ike, John, and Joe were mustered out. He was wounded in a battle during the Civil War when a bullet took off his middle finger on his right hand. He was mustered out on 12 Jun 1865 at Little Rock, Arkansas. Mary Ann Booth Jones’ sons all came home from the war.

Sometime afterwards Charlie Booth became acquainted with Harmon Foster who was about six years older than Charlie. As that the times were hard after the war ended with so many soldiers returning home, Charlie turned to cattle rustling. He married in 1866 Elizabeth Lavender while hiding out in Fremont County, Iowa.

A Booth family researcher stated ,“At this point, we will tell a fabulous yarn. It was told by some of George Booth's sons and Clarence Allen, son of James Allen who was Charles Wesley Booth before he changed his name. Other Booths are embarrassed and refuse to talk about it or change it to make it rather innocuous. But this is about as accurate as it can be, pieced together a century later.”

 “After the war, he became dissatisfied with the poverty and in 1870 or about then, he fell in with a fellow named Foster, near Knoxville. They stole a brace of oxen and started down the road to Ablia, Iowa.” Ablia was a little farming community in neighboring Monroe County.

“Along the way, one would wait while the other would lead the oxen into a farmer’s yard, sell them and leave. The other would come along looking for his brace of stolen oxen. He would either see them or ask the farmer if he'd seen them. Then claim them and lead them down the road until he met his partner, whereupon they would divvy the money and proceed to the next victim.”

The scheme caught up with the men. “Outside Albia, when Charlie went into a yard, the sheriff was waiting on a complaint from the real owner. Foster vanished and Charlie was put in jail. The next morning they took him out to hang him as a rustler. They had the rope around or ready to go around his neck, when Joe and Ike, who had heard of his trouble and had ridden all night, came galloping down the street six guns blazing in the air to scatter the crowd gathered to see the necktie party. They had a third horse for Charlie.

The crowd dispersed all right, but the deputy or sheriff, the jailer, wouldn't release Charlie.” “Joe, who everyone said was mean, mean clear through, would just as soon kill a man as look at him, drew a bead and shot the captor of Charlie. Whether he killed the law officer or not is uncertain. They cut Charlie loose and all three rode out of town with the posse hard behind them.

They rode that day and night and the next day and into the following night, deep into Missouri. Finally, certain that they were safe from pursuit, they stopped to rest. They only stopped during the ride long enough to water, feed and wind the horses and grab a bite to eat.”

“After recuperating, they followed the then Northern Missouri Railroad line from Hannibal to Kansas City and St. Joseph, Missouri. One story has that they split up on a corner in St. Joseph. Joe and Ike going west and Charlie going to Southwest Iowa. That is discounted because it is known that Charlie sent for his wife and baby and she is buried at Jesse's place in Kansas. Also, to go back so soon would have been foolish and Charlie was rope shy by then and not so foolish about the law. Rather, it seems certain that the three [brothers] rode to Jesse's farm which was remote from town, two states away from Iowa and a safe haven. There they probably helped Jesse set up his farm and then Charlie sent for his wife and baby. Ike and Joe, after a bit, rode on west. Ike to be a cowboy in Dodge City in 1876 and die in Denver in 1897. For certain, he was probably a drifter and cowboy from 1870 to 1890 when he applied for a soldiers pension.

Joe rode west and that's all that is known so far. Probably changed his name. He never applied for a pension. Those who have heard of him say he was probably shot in a gunfight or in a robbery or hung.”

Actually Ike Booth headed east to Davenport, Iowa where he hid from the law by enlisting in the army on 5 August 1870. His enlistment records showed that he was born in Vermilion County, Illinois and gave his age as 31 [1839]. He said he was a farmer and the army described him as having brown eyes, dark hair, and a dark complexion. He was assigned to the United States 5th Infantry and was station in Fort Dodge located in western Kansas. When the Civil War ended, the bulk of the Regular Army was assigned to frontier duty in the west.

The 5th Infantry was transferred from New Mexico to Kansas. By October 1868 it was strung out across seven different posts in western Kansas, with headquarters at Fort Riley. The 5th Infantry operated at times as mounted infantry and took part in many of the major Indian wars of the next twelve years.

Fort Dodge was founded in 1864 to protect Santa Fe Trail traffic from Indian attacks. The old Fort Dodge hospital built in 1867 is one of the few remaining old buildings still remaining at Fort Dodge, Kansas. In the spring of 1870, prior to Ike’s enlistment, the 5th drove off Indian attacks on the Kansas Pacific Railroad. Ike Boothe served in the U.S. Infantry from June 1870 to June 1875.

With the coming of the railroad to Dodge City, Kansas in 1872, and the threat of extinction of the buffalo, the Plains Indians conducted a final outburst of violence in an attempt to preserve their way of life. At that time, buffalo hides were selling for $3.50 each and plenty of hunters were on the scene to benefit from the price. By 1873, most of the buffalo had been annihilated, even to the south of the Arkansas River where the Medicine Lodge supposedly protected the buffalo and Indian's rights.

In addition to providing protection for commercial trade routes, the army at Fort Dodge also provided safeguards for frontier communities, including Dodge City, Kansas. The Fort distributed food and water to civilians during the severe winter of 1874, just two years after the establishment of Dodge City.

In 1874 the army renewed engagements against the Indians, for asserting their rights by attacks to the north of the Arkansas River. General Nelson Miles of the 5th army kept up these attacks on the Indians until the spirit of the Plains Indians was broken, and “their wild and Independent culture had virtually disappeared.”

From July 1874 to February 1875 a mixed force of the 5th Infantry and 6th Cavalry fought in campaigns against the Southern Cheyenne, Comanche and Kiowa Indians along the Red and Washita Rivers in Indian Territory and Texas. The 5th Infantry also played a major role in the Red River War.

However Ike Boothe did not participate in these Indian wars as he was admitted to the hospital at Fort Dodge in August 1874 and was there in a hospital bed until he was mustered out in 1875. Army records show that Ike Booth arrived sick at the Fort Dodge hospital on 11 August 1874. He was listed as a private in Company C of the 5th Infantry. Pneumonia, dysentery, diarrhea and malaria were common among soldiers in the isolated fort. There he remained sick in the hospital until he was discharged in June 1875.

The building in which he was quartered was a stone building with a shingle roof, measuring 97 x 40 x 12ft. The ward had a capacity of 12 beds one of which Ike Booth occupied for almost 9 months. What ailment confined him to bed for 9 months is unknown.

The 1875 Kansas census dated 1 March shows that Ike Booth was living in Dodge City where he is listed as a farmer while the June Army records of Fort Dodge still listed him as sick in the hospital in 1875.

When Ike Booth was mustered out of the service is unknown but mostly likely in June 1875 after his 5 years enlistment was up. He resided in Dodge City probably between 1875 and 1879 and worked in the cattle industry as a cowboy. Dodge City was where trail herds waited to be sold from being driven up from Cattle Trails in Texas. In 1878 there were 100,000 cattle driven to Dodge City.

The 1880 US census of Colorado shows that Ike Booth had drifted to Jefferson County, Colorado near Littleton in Township 5 Range 70. He was still single and he gave his age as 45 [1845] and Kansas was listed as the place of his birth as well as for his parents. His occupation was given as a farmer but he may have been ranch hand or even a prospector in the gold fields.

Living adjacent to him is another single man named William Williams age 35 [1855] and also listed as a farmer. It seems likely that they were friends or partners. They were listed as dwellings number 116 and 117. They were surrounded by married families.

Ike Booth disappears from records and is not found in the 1885 state census nor in the 1890 census of Union Veterans. Not until a notice of a tombstone application for Union Soldiers is he mentioned again. Some relative must have done it for him.

The application read Private Company B 3rd Regiment Iowa Infantry buried Riverside GAR [Grand Army of the Republic] Denver Colorado. Death date 27 June 1897 head stone supplied by Vermont Marble, Proctor Vermont. Contract 29 June 1897. He is buried in the Riverside Cemetery which was founded in 1876 and consists of 77 developed acres along the South Platte River.

After the escape from hanging in 1870, the other Booth brothers headed towards eastern Kansas where their oldest brother Jesse Lane Booth had moved to Osage County. Jesse Lane Booth is listed in the United States Census on the 21 June 1870 as living in Agency Township Post Office Olivet with his wife and five children. His youngest daughter Annie was born in April according to the census and in Kansas so the family had moved to Kansas sometime between 1866 and 1870. Here they had a farm where his two younger outlaw brothers, Joe and Charlie fled.

Charlie Booth sent word for his wife to come join him at his brother’s farm where she and her baby died and are buried in Jesse's orchard. After the death of his wife and child Charlie, “after he figured things were cooled off, sneaked back, perhaps in 1872, to the Southwest corner of Iowa in Fremont County where he found work.”

 In 1873 under his assumed name of James Allen, he married Nancy Ann Chapman the daughter of Henry J Chapman and Clementine McClure. Her father had been killed in the Civil war in 1864 leaving her fatherless at the age 12 year old. Charley now James Allen and Nancy had 5 children.

“They [Charlie and Nancy] had a farm in Sidney, Iowa about 2 or 3 miles from both the Missouri and Nebraska borders. It was in the hills and ravines of the high ground east of the Missouri River. In those days, it was a good place to hide. He had children and raised his family and never told anyone, even his wife. He died there and is buried in a cemetery overlooking the Missouri River.”

“In keeping with the secrecy kept about Charlie, is one about his brother Jim, the youngest, [who] went out to work in Fremont County, one summer. He worked about a mile from Charlie and they met. They told everyone they were distant cousins. When Jim went back to the Chariton, Knoxville area, he told absolutely no one that he had seen Charlie.”

“Sometime around the time of World War I, Charlie, then an old man, went back to Knoxville [Marion County] and Chariton [Lucas County]. His family never knew where he went. He went to visited George [his brother], who took him over to Johns. They told their families he was a distant relative. No one knew who he was except his brothers, of course.”

“During the years 1873-1900, he [Charlie] used to get letters and cards with only an initial to sign them. After reading them, he would carefully burn them and grind the ashes up. It was assumed later that Joe or Ike were the writers, but his secret was kept.”

“In the late 1920's, Clarence Allen, Charlie's son, having heard he was from Knoxville, Iowa or thereabouts, went to see if he could find any relatives. He asked for any Allens and drew a blank. Finally one fellow said that a real old timer was driving his team and wagon down the street and why not ask him. They stopped the old man who was George Booth. When Clarence said he was looking for Allens, George asked Clarence who his father was. When he said James Allen from near Sidney, Iowa, George took him behind the bank and told him the story. He invited him to come and visit and meet the relatives and so Clarence Allen found his family, the Booths.”

“So, that is the story, rather accurate except for certain minor points, and a page from the real Wild West as written by Great Aunt Maud [Maud Shields Lipes].” Maude Shield Lipes was a granddaughter of Isaac and Mary Jane Booth Jones.

Mary Ann Booth and her 22 year old son George Booth are not found in the 1870 Census. Their whereabouts is unknown but may have something to do with her sons Ike, Charlie, and Joe being sought by the law and were hiding in Missouri and Kansas. Her eldest son Jesse L Booth was listed in Agency, Osage County, Kansas. John Booth and his brother were living in Abia, Monroe County, Iowa. Ten years later in 1880 Mary Ann Booth was listed in Knoxville Township within the household of her son in law Isaac Jones on August 2nd. She was listed as a visitor and 70 years old born in North Carolina as were her parents. Her daughter Elizabeth Ann was living at Mokelumne Hill, in Calavaras, California. She was listed as a 46 year old widow when she was actually divorced from her second husband. Jesse Booth was still living on a farm near Agency, Osage County, Kansas. John Booth and his brother George Booth were farmers in Cedar Townhip, Monroe County, Iowa. Ike Booth was out west in Jefferson County, Colorado. Joe Booth’s whereabouts is unknown and he may have been dead by 1880. His brother Charlie had changed his name to Jim Allen and was hiding in Fremont County, Iowa. The youngest son of Mary Ann Booth Jim was living in the township of Pleasant in Lucas County, Iowa.           

            Mary Ann Lane Boothe, continued to live with her son-in-law’s family in Union Township, Marion, Iowa until her death in 28 August 1887. She died at Isaac Jones’ farm at Red Rock, north of Knoxville, Iowa. The farm is now in an area flooded, behind a huge dam on the Des Moines River.

She is buried near her second son, John Francis Booth in the Oakdale Cemetery a few miles west of Lovila, Iowa in Cedar Township, Monroe County Iowa. The Oakdale cemetery is in section 7 of Cedar Township, Monroe County, Iowa a few miles east of the Lucas County line. The death date on her tombstone is 28 August 1887 and it states that her age was 77yrs, 5 months and 5 days. This would put the date of her birth as 23 March 1810 if accurate.

cHer granddaughter Minnie E. Boothe who died 22 Mar 1874 at the age of six was the first to be buried in the cemetery followed by Mary Ann Booth in 1887. She was followed by another granddaughter Mattie Booth who died 30 September 1905 at the age of 24. Her two sons John and George Booth are also buried in this cemetery as well as their wives and other grandchildren.

At the time of her death most of her children and grandchildren were scattered from the Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans. Daughter Elizabeth was in Gloucester Massachusetts, son Jesse Lane Booth was in Osage County, Kansas, John Francis Booth was in Monroe County, Iowa, Isaac Edwin Booth was in Jefferson County, Colorado, Joseph Benson Booth was out west or dead, Charles Wesley Booth had changed his name to James Allen and hiding in Fremont County, Iowa, George Daniel was in Lucas County, Iowa and James Henderson Booth was in Lucas County, Iowa.

Children of William Isaac Booth and Mary Ann Lane

1. Mary Jane Booth Jones Born 1830 Died 1917 Married Isaac Jones [see Isaac Jones section]

2. Elizabeth Ann Booth Born January 1832 Guilford County, North Carolina Died 2 March 1898 age 68 years old Gloucester, Essex, Massachusetts, United States 1st Married circa 1848 Iowa Nathan Steadman [1828-1858] 2nd Married 18 August 1859 Campo Saco, Calaveras, California William Albert Homan. Elizabeth was a widow with three young children when she married William Albert Homans a native of Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts. He was a seaman who was married and had two children he left behind in Massachusetts when he came to the Gold Fields of California. Evidently he did not divorce his first wife who continued to live in Massachusetts. He was probably a bigamist.

They were married 18 Aug 1859 in Calaveras County, California, located in the heart of the California Gold Country. Mark Twain set his story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", in this county. In August 1859, when Elizabeth and William married the town was almost completely destroyed by fire. It was described by a reporter the following year: “The population of Campo Seco in the summer of 1860 is about 300, including 50 Chinese and a sprinkling of Mexicans.

In 1862 gold was still being placered on 15 or 20 claims, but the future of the town was not gold, but copper. That year the town boasted a hotel, a restaurant, four stores, two saloons, a brewery, blacksmith shop, livery stable, post office, Wells Fargo office, and two churches; Catholic and Methodist. By 1867 however, the boom was over, occasioned by a glut in the copper market and the cessation of the Civil War and its demand for copper for shell casings.

The 1880 census shows that Elizabeth Booth Homan was in California with her daughter Elizabeth A Homan while her husband was in Massachusetts with the remainder of the Homans children. She listed her marital status as widowed while William listed his status as married.

She eventually moved back to Gloucester, Massachusetts to be near her children. One of her daughters, Nannie Homans went off to Paris, Francis in 1893 to study art and became a prominent portrait artist. Her Steadman children all remained in California. They were Welcome Judson Steadman [1849-1898], Mary Ann Steadman Tretheway [1852-1936], Charles Joshua Steadman [1857-1923]. The Homans children were Henry B Homans [1859-1935], Nancy W “Nannie” Holmans Holmes [1862-1925], Sarah A Homans Burham [1863-1930], Willie D Homans [1865-1943], Elizabeth A Homans [1868-1944], Lucy Lam Homans [1869-1879].

3. Jesse Lane Booth born 15 Mar 1834 in Guilford County, North Carolina died circa 1923 in Malvern, Osage County, Kansas at the age of 89. He was buried in the Malvern Cemetery. He married Mary Catherine Coons born 14 December 1841 New York state. She died 1914 in Osage County, Kansas and buried in the Malvern Cemetery.  Jesse enlisted in Company A, Iowa 33rd Infantry Regiment on 19 Nov 1864. He was mustered out on 12 Jun 1865 at Little Rock, Arkansas. After the war he went to Kansas and homesteaded some land in Osage County. He had been wounded in right hand and lost middle finger and other injuries and received in July 1881 a monthly $6 pension for the partial loss of a middle finger on his right hand. Mary Catherine Coons and Jesse had five children together. They were Augusta Alma Booth Graham [1859-1933], William Henry Boothe [1861-1936], Sarah Ann Boothe Drake [1864-1946], Charles F Boothe [1866-1950] Annie Boothe Matthews [1870-1942]

4. John Francis Booth was born 11 Jul 1836 in Guilford County, North Carolina. He died 2 July 1915 nine days before 79th birthday in Taylor Township, Appanoose, Iowa. He was buried in the Oakdale Cemetery in Cedar Township, Monroe, Iowa. He married Martha Jinkins on 1 February 1863 in Monroe County Iowa.  John enlisted with his brother Joseph Benson Booth in the 15th Iowa Infantry Iowa Volunteers Company G 15th Regiment Company G. John enlisted 24 October 1861 at the age 28 to look after his younger brother. In 1870 he was living in Cedar Township, Monroe County, Iowa. He farmed there until after 1910 he went to live with a daughter in Moravia, Appanoose County, Iowa where he died in Moravia, Iowa, having lived a long life.  John Booth and Martha Jinkins had 17 children in 30 years. They were Mary Anne Boothe Demerice [1863-1953], William Isaac Boothe [1865-1947], Sarah Elizabeth Boothe [1866-1866], Minnie Elswitha Boothe [1867-1874], John Wesley Boothe [1870-1964], Samuel Jessie Boothe [1871-1951], Jane Eltheda Boothe Antrim [1873-1958], Ellis Boothe [1875-1898], Lucy Edna Boothe [1877-1910], George Washington Boothe [1879-1953], Martha “Mattie” Winafred Boothe [1881-1905], Richard Marquis Boothe [1883-1965], Effie Lucretia Boothe Brawdy [1884-1942], Albert Logan Boothe [1887-1968], Clarence Clifford Boothe [1889-1924], Walter Scott Elliott Boothe [1890-1972] Francis Marion Boothe [1893-1893]

5. Isaac “Ike” Edwin Boothe was born June 1838 in Vermilion County, Illinois and died 27 June 1897 in Denver, Colorado at the age of 59. Ike Booth was a loner for most of his life, leaving home in his teen years. When he was 22 years old, he was the first in the Booth family to enlist in the Union Army on 21 May 1861 as a private. When he was mustered out in 1864 he was a laborer but was discontented with civilian life. After helping his younger brother Charlie escape being hung as a rustler and with little other prospects, he rejoined the United States Army in 1870. He was stationed in Fort Dodge, Kansas guarding the Santa Fe Trail from Indian attacks for five years with the last 9 months laid up in the army hospital at Fort Dodge. When he was mustered out he worked in the cattle industry but dissatisfied with being a cowboy he went to Colorado to try his hand at prospecting. He never married and died in Colorado in 1897.

6. William Henry Booth Born 1841 Vermilion County, Illinois Died 1851 age 10 years old Knoxville Township, Marion County, Iowa This son died about the same time as his father and both bodies spent the winter in a tool shed waiting for the ground to thaw. Both he and his father are buried in unmarked graves.

7. Joseph “Joe” Benson Booth was born 1843 in Mahaska County, Iowa Territory. He died unknown and never married as far as it is known. Joe Booth served in the 15th Regiment Iowa Volunteers Company G along with his older brother John F. Booth. He enlisted 19 October 1861 at the age of 18 while a resident of Knoxville Township. He was mustered in 25 November 1861 and discharged 17 December 1862 at Abbeville Mississippi for a disability. After coming back to Iowa he mostly likely worked on his widow mother’s farm. When his younger property Charley Booth was arrested for cattle rustling and was about to be hung, he and his brother Ike rescued him. Joe was said to have shot the sheriff or the jailer who might have been one and the same. He and his brother Charley headed to Kansas where their older brother Jesse had a farm and hid out. Joe then eventually went out west and was never heard from again. The family speculates that he was either killed in a shootout or even hung. He was remembered as a “mean, mean man who would just as soon shoot you as look at you”.

8. Charles Wesley Booth aka James Allen Born was born January 1848 in Mahaska County, Iowa Territory. He died in 1925 age 77 years old in Sidney, Fremont County, Iowa. He is buried in Grandview Cemetery in Sidney, Iowa. He married on Christmas Day 1866 Elizabeth Lavender daughter of Luke Lavender.  Charlie Booth and Elizabeth Lavender and had a child both who died and are buried in Kansas on Jesse Booth’s farm. About 1870 Charlie was involved in cattle rustling and was about to be hanged when his brothers rescued him but noy until after shooting the sheriff. He fled to Kansas and sent for his wife and child after he was on the run.  After his wife and child died in Kansas he returned to Fremont County Iowa where the Lavender family had been living only to find that they had moved to Lincoln Nebraska.

He married in 1874, probably in a common law marriage, under the assumed name of James Allen. His second wife Nancy Jane Chapman, daughter of Henry J Chapman, was said never to have known her husband’s true identity. They were the parents of six children, Quincy Allen [1874-1876], Georgiana Allen Dyson [1876-1954], John Ison Allen [1880-1905], James Ernest Allen [1882-1964], William Custer Allen [1885-1954], Henry Clarence Allen [1888-1971]. 9. George Daniel Boothe born June 1848 Knoxville Township, Marion County, Iowa, died 1928 age 80 years old Cedar Township, Monroe County, Iowa Oakdale, Married Margaret E. Bennett born 14 Jan 1854 Tennessee to William F Bennett and Elizabeth Netherton. Died 1934 in Cedar Township, Monroe County, Iowa They had 7 children Rhoda L Boothe McDowell Bennett [1874-1966], Mary Josephine Boothe Taylor Flanagan [1876-1969], William H. Boothe [1879-1965], Stella E. Boothe Wood [1881-1962], Frank Forrest Boothe [1886-1975], Fred Nicholas Boothe [1890-1969], Loa Reid Boothe [1893-1981]

10. James Henderson Booth was born 12 Nov 1850 in Knoxville Township, Marion County, Iowa. Knnown as Jim, he died on 3 June 1915 at the age of 64 years old in Chariton, Lucas County, Iowa, He married Nancy Jane Bennett. His obituary was printed in the Chariton Leader Newspaper. “Chariton, Iowa Thursday, June 10, 1915 James H. Boothe was born at Knoxville, Iowa, Nov. 12, 1850, and died at his home in Chariton, June 3, 1915, aged 64 years, 7 months and 21 days. His parents came from North Carolina in an early day and settled near Knoxville, Marion County, Iowa, his father dying when he was but a small child. He was married to Nancy J. Bennett Croy, January 14, 1872. They resided on a farm in Pleasant township, later moving to Chariton. He made a profession of religion years ago and in his last moments he gave a bright and clear evidence of his acceptance with God. He was a kind husband, an obliging neighbor and those who knew him best speak words of commendation of his noble traits of character. He leaves his wife and an adopted daughter, Mrs. Ruth Brandon, and a host of friends to mourn his departure. Short funeral services were held from the home at 8 o'clock, conducted by Rev. E. E. Ilgenfritz, and the remains were taken to the Coal Glen church where the sermon was delivered by the local pastor at 10:30 and interment was made in the nearby cemetery. Thus a good man has finished his life's work and gone to his eternal rest.