All about Sarah Jane - Part 2

Sarah Jane Ferguson is my 3x great grandmother. She was born on May 11, 1833 in Pennsylvania. According to her death certificate, her parents are John Ferguson and Polly Atley although I have yet to independently verify that information. Census records list that her parents are from either Pennsylvania, Ohio, or Illinois.

She first appears in Perry County, Pennsylvania census records in 1870. At this time, her daughter Mary Elizabeth would have been 9 years old. Sarah Jane is only listed with her new husband, John McKillips, and twin male newborns. Mary Elizabeth is nowhere to be found. The 1880 census lists Sarah Jane with husband John and children Andrew, John, and Malinda. Records show that John McKillips died within the next few years and that the family struggled financially. They were listed as paupers and received assitance from the workhouse in Perry County.

A few short years later, Sarah Jane married a Philip Britsch. The marriage did not produce any more children and Philip died less than 10 years into their marriage.

The only record thus far that list both Sarah Jane and Mary Elizabeth is the First United Methodist Church baptism register from Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Both Sarah Jane and Mary Elizabeth are listed as being baptized along with three more pieces of interesting information. Two additional children were baptised as well, George Washington and Elliott Hoover Ferguson who were born in 1863 and 1866 respectively. In addition, all three children are clearly labeled in the register as "illegitimate children of S.J. Ferguson".

Who is the father (or fathers) of Sarah Jane's children?

I cannot assume they all have the same father nor can I assume they do not. I cannot even assume they died prior to the 1870 census because I know that Mary Elizabeth survived until 1904 and was not living with her mother in 1870. Still yet, is Mary Elizabeth's father's last name really Sheesley? Can this maybe be an adopted name? Or can all three children contribute their paternal DNA to a Sheesley?

I think the story of Sarah Jane is a story of survival. She very obviously had a difficult life. Life as a pauper in the late 1800s is nothing like receiving assitance today. The workhouse was quite inhospitable and required, I am sure, back breaking work. The state of the family must have been so desperate that there was simply no other choice.

I can only imagine how she was received by family when she had three children out of wedlock. A separate First United Methodist Church membership register has Sarah Jane's name crossed off with the explanation that she was expelled due to immorality. She buried several children, one of which as an adult to a horrific accident, as well as at least two husbands. Beyond all of this, Sarah Jane lived to be 86 years old. I love the picture of her attached above because it looks like even though she had a very tough life, she still managed to smile.