Fourteenth Generation


179. Norman N. DEWEY (*+) was born on 13 February 1819 in North Hampton, Clark County, OH.5,14,60,76,77,78,79,80,81 (One LDS Family Search file lists his birth place as Northampton, Hampshire County, MA, but the 1860 and 1870 Census' lists his birth place as Ohio, as do the 1910 Census for his son Aurelius and the 1920 Census for his daughter Mary. It was actually North Hampton, Clark County, OH.) He appeared in the census in 1850 in Lafayette Township, Walworth County, WI.82 His household consisted of Norman, age 30; Minerva, age 31; and their children, "Aurillius E.," a male, age 7; and "Abi E," a female, age 5.

Living next door was the household of Ambrose Fite Parish, age 35; his wife, Lucinda, age 30; their four children; and Roxanna Parish, age 56. It is very probable that Ambrose was a brother of Minerva, and that Roxanna was his wife's mother because they were both born in Massachusetts. Between June 1855 and 1875 he was a farmer in Wilton Township, Monroe County, WI.77,83 Norman owned property on 15 June 1855 in Monroe County, WI.84 Bureau of Land Management records show that Norman received two parcels of public land from the U.S. government on June 15, 1855. The parcels were granted to him under the auspices of an 1820 Act of the U.S. Congress to populate the American West.

One parcel was a 55.7-acre piece in Wilton Township described as "the West half of the North West fractional quarter of Section Seven in Township Sixteen North of Range One West in the District of Lands subject to sale at La Crosse Wisconsin." The other was a 40-acre piece in Ridgeville Township described as "the North East quarter of the South East quarter of Section Twelve in Township Sixteen North of Range Two West in the District of Lands subject to sale at La Crosse, Wisconsin."

The pieces adjoined each other adjacent to the Ridgeville-Wilton town line, and were southeast of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ridgeville. The Patents contain the signature of President Franklin Pierce, and Gary Griggs has certified copies of each from the Bureau of Land Management..

The 40-acre section in Ridgeville adjoined a 20-acre parcel then owned by August Pergande, and now owned by Bill Waege, one of his grandsons.

Norman later sold both pieces of farmland to Gottfried Jaskewicz (later changed to Kewit), who had emigrated from Germany in 1855. Gottfried was the paternal grandfather of Bernice Pergande Griggs' mother, Auguste Lydia Kewit. So a business transaction took place in the 1860's between ancestors of two families that came together in the marriage in 1939 of Bernice Pergande and LaVerne Griggs.

The 1877 plat map of Tomah Township shows that Norman's wife then owned an 80-acre farm in the northeast portion of Section 7. (Norman had died in 1875.) He appeared in the census in 1855 in Wilton Township, Monroe County, WI.85 His household consisted of 2 males (probably himself and his son, Aurelius) and 3 females (probably his wife and their daughters Abi and Mary). The whereabouts of their sons Aurelius and Ephraim is not known. He appeared in the census in 1860 in Wilton Township, Monroe County, WI.77 His household consisted of Norman, Minerva, their son "Anselma" (Aurelius) and their daughters Mary and Eva. (His household was next to that of Gottfried Kewit and his family.) Norman appeared in the census in 1870 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.80 He appeared in the census in 1875 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.86 His household consisted of 1 male and 2 females. He died on 24 December 1876 at the age of 57.5,76,87,88,89,90,91 (The Root Family Bible lists his date of death as 25 December 1876. His wife's obituary lists it as 24 December 1875, as does the Oak Grove Cemetery record of deaths. The LDS Family Search website lists it as 24 December 1876.) Norman was buried in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.14,87,92 in the Oak Grove Cemetery.

Norman N. DEWEY (*+) and Minerva Eunice PARISH (*) were married on 15 September 1842 in Solon, Cuyahoga County, OH.87,93,94 (According to the IGI records, their marriage date was 13 Sep 1842.) Minerva Eunice PARISH (*), daughter of Justus PARISH and Roxanna BISSEL, was born on 16 July 1819 in Solon, Cuyahoga County, OH.14,77,81,87,88,93,95,96,97 (She was listed as "E. M. Dewey" in the Marriage Registration Record of her son, Aurelius.)

The 1840 Census of Solon, Cuyahoga County, OH, listed the family of Justus Parish, and it was the only Parish household in the county. He may have been her father. Justus' household consisted of 1 male, age 15-20; 1 male, age 20-30; 1 male, age 50-60; 1 female, age 5-10; 1 female, age 15-20 (possibly Minerva); and 1 female, age 40-50. She appeared in the census in 1850 in Lafayette Township, Walworth County, WI.82 She appeared in the census in 1855 in Wilton Township, Monroe County, WI.85 Minerva appeared in the census in 1860 in Wilton Township, Monroe County, WI.77 She appeared in the census in 1870 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.80 She appeared in the census in 1875 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.86 Minerva appeared in the census in 1880 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.66,71 She was living with her son Aurelius during the census.

(She cannot be located in the 1900 Census. Her obituary in 1907 indicated that she had lived in Tomah for the 40 years prior to her death, but she cannot be located in the Monroe County census in 1900. She was living with her daughter, Mary, at the time of her death, but she was not listed with Mary's family in 1900.) She appeared in the census in 1905 in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.98 She was living with her son Aurelius and his wife. She died on 29 April 1907 at the age of 87 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.87,88,91,93,97,99 Obituary Notes: "Mrs. Minerva Dewey, nee Parish, was born in Solon, Ohio, July 16th, 1819, and died of paralysis at the home of her daughter, Mrs. I. J. Root, south of this city, April 29th, 1907, at the advanced age of 87 years, 9 months and 13 days.

She came to Walworth County, Wis., in 1846, and to Monroe County in 1855, settling in the town of Wilton where she resided for nine years. She moved to Tomah in 1864 where she has resided for over forty years.

The deceased was married to Norman Dewey, Sept. 15, 1842. He departed this life Dec. 24, 1875. For the past nine years she has resided with her son and daughter, respectively. Only two of her five children survive, viz: Aurelius Dewey and Mrs. I. J. Root, both of Tomah. She also leaves to mourn eleven grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Dewey united with the Christian Church in childhood and upon coming west became a member of the United Brethren Church. For some time she has been conscious of the weight of years and longed for the time to come when the Lord would call her home.

Funeral services were held Wednesday morning, May 1, at the home of I. J. Root, the Rev. W. Atkinson officiating and the interment was in Oak Grove Cemetery. The singing was in charge of I. N. Palmer, Mrs. Fred Crossett and Mrs. Judson Crossett, with Miss Annie Berry accompanist. Mrs. Dewey's death removes another of the oldest settlers from this community." Minerva was buried on 1 May 1907 in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.14,92,93 in the Oak Grove Cemetery.

She has Ancestral File Number 2BJZ-G5P.97

Norman N. DEWEY (*+) and Minerva Eunice PARISH (*) had the following children:

+206

i.

Aurelius Ephraim DEWEY.

207

ii.

Abbey E. DEWEY was born about 1845 in Solon, Cuyahoga County, OH.100,101 She appeared in the census in 1850 in Lafayette Township, Walworth County, WI.100 She appeared in the census in 1855 in Wilton Township, Monroe County, WI.77,85 Abbey died before probably 1860 at the age of 15.77,89 (She was not listed with her parents in the 1860 Census, so she probably died before then.)

208

iii.

Ephraim DEWEY died before probably 1850.77,82,85 (He is not listed as living with his parents and siblings in the 1850, 1855 or 1860 Census'. He may have died before 1850 as an infant.)

+209

iv.

Mary Minerva DEWEY (*+).

+210

v.

Eva Jane DEWEY.