Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Ahnentafel Roulette - #42 Absolem Eaton

Here is the weekly challenge from Randy Seavers of GeneaMusings:

1) How old is your great-grandfather now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."
2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ahnentafel (ancestor name list). Who is that person?
3) Tell us three facts about that person with the "roulette number."
4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook or Google Plus note or comment, or as a comment on this blog post.
5) If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then spin the wheel again - pick a grandparent, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, or even your children!

Spinning......

After doing all the math, I am ready to go! My maternal great-grandfather Michael H. Yawman was born in 1842 and would be 168 years old if he were alive. Dividing by 4 gave me a nice whole number of 42 (no fractions here, yay!). Number 42 on my ahnentafel list is Absolem D. Eaton, one of my paternal 3rd great-grandfathers. Here is what it says about him:

42. Absolem D. Eaton, son of Abraham Eaton and Mary, was born 11 Jan 1793 in Rowan Co., NC, died on 20 Nov 1859, and was buried in Bismarck, St. Francois, Missouri.

Here are three facts about Absolem:

• He married Sarah Reaves (daughter of James) on 21 March 1815 in Haywood County, North Carolina. [Source: "North Carolina Marriage Collection, 1741-2004," online database, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 Mar 2011), Absolam Eaton and Sarah Reaves; citing County Court Records at Waynesville, NC and FHL # 0418147 item 2.]

• In 1825, Absolem purchased 80 acres of public land in Washington County, Missouri; here is a copy of the patent:

Bureau of Land Management, "General Land Office Records,"
online database and images (www.glorecords.blm.gov : accessed 3 Sep 2011),
 entry for Absalom Eaton, Accession Nr. MO0570.565.

• In the 1850 U.S. census, Absolem, his wife Sarah, and youngest daughter Martha, were enumerated in Concord Township, Washington County, Missouri. Absolem, a farmer, owned real estate valued at $500. This was the last census on which he was enumerated. [Source: 1850 U.S. census, population schedule, Concord, Washington, Missouri, p. 125A, family 508, household of Absalom Eaton; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 Jan 2010); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll M432_421.]

Completing this challenge, I discovered I have much less information than I thought regarding my Eaton ancestors. I need to develop a research plan for this family!



© 2011 Denise Spurlock