Surname Saturday – Ancestor #11 – Sarah Belle Forshee

One of my goals for 2012 is to use the Surname Saturday blogging prompt as a way to assure that I spend some time researching each of my family lines and that I have appropriate source citations for the genealogical facts related to my ancestors. I’ve decided to use my ahnentafel report and work back through the generations starting with my grandparents, writing a summary of each ancestor. If you discovered this post through a search engine and find one of your ancestors listed here, please leave a comment to let me know.

My paternal great-grandmother Sarah Belle FORSHEE  was born 11 April 1856 in Hopewell, Washington County, Missouri,[1] the youngest child of James B. FORSHEE and Sarah A. PARKER.[2]

She grew to maturity in Missouri, and on 1 June 1879, married Ambrose B. MARTINDALE in Bismarck, St. Francois County, Missouri.[3] A.B. and Sarah had six children, four of whom lived to adulthood:

• William Clarence (1880-1889)[4]
• Maude Alberti (1881-1958)[5]
• Walter Ivan (1883-1958)[6]
• Mamie Olive (1884-1971)[7]
• Mamie Viola (1886-1886)[8]
• Arthur Bryant (1887-1961)[9]

I know little about her life, except that she raised two step-children from A.B.’s first marriage along with her own. It is likely that she was active in church activities, probably at the Methodist church in Cushing, Texas, for which her husband donated most of the lumber to build and where two of her daughters were organists.[10]

She died on 17 February 1923 in Houston, Harris County, Texas, and was buried the following day at Hollywood Cemetery.[11]

Although I have found many records regarding the life of Sarah’s husband, nothing has surfaced with details of her life. As I continue to review materials already in my possession and continue to conduct research about this family, I hope to find additional clues to my great-grandmother’s life.

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[1] Texas State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate 4483 (1923), Sarah Belle Martindale; digital image, Fold3.com, Texas Death Certificates (http://www.fold3.com/documents/19419207/texas_death_certificates/ : accessed 2 May 2011).

[2] 1860 U.S. census, Washington, Missouri, population schedule, Concord, p. 45, dwelling 274, family 296, household of James Foshee; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 Nov 2009); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll M653_659.

[3] Martindale-Forchee marriage, 1 Jun 1879, Washington Co., MO, Marriage Book C, p. 363.

[4] Wayne County, Missouri Cemeteries (St. Louis, Missouri: St. Louis Genealogical Society, n.d.), 26.

[5] Hopewell Cemetary Listing (http://www.rootsweb.com/~mowashin/cemetery/).

[6] Texas State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate 21812 (1958), Walter Ivan Martindale; digital image, Fold3.com, Texas Death Certificates (http://www.fold3.com/documents/19419207/texas_death_certificates/ : accessed 21 Apr 2010).

[7] Harris County, Texas, death certificate no. 03613 (1971), Mamie Olive Spurlock; Texas Department of Health, Austin.

[8] Wayne County Cemeteries, 26.

[9] Spurlock, Mamie Olive (Martindale), Scrapbook, ca 1950-1970; privately held by Cheryl Anne (Chaney) Beaver, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Lone Grove, Oklahoma. 2010. Photocopy in possession of Denise Spurlock.

[10] Mina Beth Seelbach Helpinstill, “Cushing, Texas – The Piney Woods Town,” p. 14; unpublished manuscript dated 1956, a copy of which was obtained from City Hall, Cushing, held by Denise Spurlock, {ADDRESS WITHHELD FOR PRIVACY], Lomita, California, 2012.

[11] Texas death certificate 4483 (1923), Sarah Belle Martindale.

© 2012 Denise Spurlock