From The Family Alwood by Terry Klaus

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From The Family Alwood by Terry Klaus
EPHRAIAM KELLY ALWOOD a name I have written and spoken so many times over the past 11 years. I wish we could put a "face" to this name. He was born in Baltimore County, Maryland on October 11, 1803. To a father and mother we can only guess at, because no one has come up with REAL proof, we havea few "stories" from a couple of his grandsons, which one hopes to betrue, but I have chosen this man, of this particular generation, to begin our book, because he is my third- great-grand-father, and he is the father of our grandfathers, grandmothers, our fathers, our mothers, and were it not for him, we would not be a part of THE FAMILY ALWOOD.

Ephraim's father we will assume was Christopher Columbus Alwood and his mother Agnus Stuart as we have been told. His childhood we know very little about. They were most likely poor farmers, they moved around a bit. He had at least one brother that was older, Peola, who did arrive in the great and new Northwest Territory with him. According to some history books, there was a Joseph and a Christopher Alwood too, with them. We cana gain, only assume that one was an older brother, or an uncle, the other their father. There are many unanswerable questions, as we have come to many blank walls over the years. We have three young Alwood men. Charles born in 1827, George Washington born March 18, 1829, and Peola (Joseph) born February 1834. All born in Ohio. all with fathers born in Maryland, according to the U.S. Census records, in various years. Somewhere there is a connection between them and the family of Ephraim. We know they were not sons of Ephraim's or that of his brother Peola, or I should say, never were they accounted for under either man's name or families in records that have been found. But it does make sense that they were sons to possibly another brother of Ephraim, possibly the 'Joseph' that came with the Alwood party from Pennsylvania. or in fact there really were two Christopher's that arrived. one the father, one a son. Without records it is hard to prove. The names of their children follow with family traditions. Even Peola may have a middle name of Joseph. through not proven. His first son is named Christopher C. Alwood. This Christopher even married into the Switzer family, the same as that of his "cousin" Levi Salsberry Alwood. son of Ephraim. (The Switzer and McQuilling family connection). And Christopher had a brother that married as well into that family. In the family of Charles it is noted that "cousin" was a word used when mentioning both Levi and his brother Josiah. Some day this connection will be sorted out and we will find that the Family Alwood is even larger then we ever thought.

Christopher C. Alwood was only 16 or 17 when he married Agnus, and she died in childbirth after supposedly bearing four sons, so it is quite possible that the three marriages, that many of us who have done research have found in the Ohio marriage listings, could in fact be all the same man. Or it may be two. Many women of this time died from not justchildbirth, which is the most obvious, but from illness and the hardships of that day and age. After all the rending I've done over the years on the women of the frontier. I give them "three cheers" as I feel they not only had to be strong in their faith in God, but strong bodied as well. None seemed to have a small family, and there always seemed to be other families or family members living with them, and there was always the land. For the most part they depended on it, if not directly in farming,in the lumber business, and the running of the mills.

What we know for sure is that Ephraim and his family members who traveled with him, left Maryland at some point in time, went through the state of Pennsylvania. It was during this time in Pennsylvania, that they met up with the families of Salsberry, Dunbar. McQuilling. Viers. Switzer, and many others, and that they decided to travel onto Ohio. Many of these families you have just read about, so you know the connections, the many marriages of their families and The Family Alwood.

We have records to show that Ephraim Kelly Atwood married the daughter of Peter Salsberry, in Harrison County. Ohio, on July 15, 1824. Miss Elizabeth "Betsy" Salsbury and her sister Mary Ann Salsbury, who married brother Peola Alwood, were to carry on the Alwood name for many years. Ephraim was just 21 years of age when he married; Elizabeth was born inTopine Township. Cumberland County. Pennsylvania on May 9, 1799, so she was 25, and who said it was "new" for older women to marry younger men, right? They were married for over 58 years before Ephraim passed away in 1883. They were to have 10 children born to them, and to reach adulthood. And Betsy lived to be 87 years old. They never had an easy life. They traveled back and forth over the roads between Ohio and Michigan. FultonCounty, Ohio was home for most of their family for many years. We know from land purchases listed in Cass City, Michigan both Ephraim and Betsy, their son Levi and his wife Delilah had several properties and I think this is why I feel that Ephraim's grave or records of his death have never been found. I feel he died in Cass City, on February 26. 1883. as we have read, but I think he was buried on his own land, not in the proper cemetery. Betsy died February 2, 1897, and she is buried in Delta, Ohio in the Salisbury Cemetery. She had most likely, after Ephraim's death, gone back to Ohio, and was living with a son or daughter when she died.

[Later note: Jackie Hanna made a trip to Cass City and Caro and she discovered for us some information that in my mind, settles Ephraim's burial place. In the library she visited, there was a ledger book for cemeteries, with an account in the name of Elizabeth Alwood. Elizabeth purchased plot #109 for $3 (no year given). According to this book, no one had been buried in the plot. Jackie was directed to the sexton's house, Mr. Morgan, across the street from the City Cemetery, located on M-81, east side of Cass City. Mr. Morgan showed Jackie the "Alwood" plot. It is located in the old part of the cemetery off of the eastmost drive. It is on the left side of the drive, about 50 feet from the entrance and is in the second row. There was one marker on the plot, for Salmah A. Hill, died May 1891. I was never given a death date or place for Salmah and so this adds to her history. Mr. Morgan stated that there were five plots. Salmah's marker is in the middle (third) plot. He said that the two on the left of her marker had burials even though there were no stones, but the records prior to 1929 are not very good. He said that the two plots on the right were unused and could be claimed by a decendant. Mr. Morgan also stated that there is another unmarked plot on the other side of the drive by the garbage can that was also connected to the Alwood family, but it is not known who is buried there. After reading Jackie's information here on her trip to CAss City, I believe, and she too believes, that it is possible that Ephraim is buried in one of the two unmarked graves. Kinda sad that he must remain unmarked, his wife Elizabeth has a beautiful marker in the Salisbury Cemetery.]

Ephraim and Betsy had ten children, starting with Mary Ann, named for her grandmother or aunt on Betsy's side of family; Levi Salsberry, after his uncle; Josiah Kelly, Sarah Elizabeth, both named after their parents; Lydia Ann named after her aunt David William. partly named for his grandfather [if we continue to assume that Christopher Columbus Alwood was the son of William Henry Alwood.] Then Susan Catherine; Rebecca, named for her aunt; Jemima Melissa and Salmah. In our book The Family Alwood, their is a section on each of the ten children born to Betsy. I have tried to make it as correct and as complete as possible, sometimes only getting the information from one source. It could have errors, could be incomplete, but we have gone over every piece of paper in the files and I have tried to be correct as possible.

I'll end our section of Ephraim and Betsy with an obituary written on Betsy in the Christian Conservator. February 17.1897.

Elizabeth Atwood (nee Salsberry) was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, May 9th, 1799, and died trusting in Jesus, February 2, 1897, aged 97 years, 8 months, and 24 days. She was married to Ephraim K. Alwood, July 15th 1824. This union was blessed with 10 children, eight of whom, with many other friends, survive her to mourn the loss of a devoted mother and friend. She was blessed with the companionship of her husband for 58 years when he was taken to the spirit land. She has gone to join him in the land of the blessed. For sometime, she had longed to go and meet the loved ones gone before and her Savior in whom she so confidently trusted. She was the mother of Rev. J.K. Atwood of the North Ohio Conference. I visited her a number of times this past year and always found her ready to speak in glowing terms of her Savior and his power to save and keep and give good counsel and words of cheer. The funeral was conducted by the writer at the home of her daughter Sarah E. McQuillen, three miles northwest of Delta. God bless all left behind is my prayer.

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