CThe Chambers
Family Story
Dad’s side · William Lester’s mother

Ida Jane Toland Chambers

Here is the family behind Grandpa William’s mother. Ida’s marriage entry gives us two names to follow: John R. Toland and Mary J. Hartman. Then Etta’s birth certificate gives us Toland again, in a record of its own.

Her parents

John R. Toland and Mary J. Hartman, explicitly named in her original marriage register.

Documented fact
Her marriage

Ida J. Toland married Joseph M. / Joseph Mart Chambers on February 21, 1890, in Crawford County, Illinois.

Documented fact
Toland, independently recorded

Her daughter Etta Marie’s 1909 birth certificate records Ida’s maiden surname as Toland.

Documented fact
William’s mother

The 1920 census places Ida and Joseph with their son William Lester Chambers, age five.

Documented fact

Her brothers and sister

John Toland Jr. appears as Ida’s brother in the 1880 household. Documented census relationship Identification with the John who died in 1927 is strongly supported by matching parents; see the retained age discrepancy.

The records behind her story

Crawford County, Illinois marriage register, February 21, 1890. Entry 44; image 460 of 627. Original entry located by Sandy.
Crawford County, Illinois marriage register, February 21, 1890. Entry 44; image 460 of 627. Original entry located by Sandy. View original image ↗
Detail of Ida’s entry: father John R. Toland; mother Mary J. Hartman. Read this detail with the full register.
Detail of Ida’s entry: father John R. Toland; mother Mary J. Hartman. Read this detail with the full register. View original image ↗
Etta Marie Chambers’s 1909 Pennsylvania birth certificate names her mother Ida Toland.
Etta Marie Chambers’s 1909 Pennsylvania birth certificate names her mother Ida Toland. View original image ↗
1920 census: Joseph and Ida Chambers’s household includes William, age five.
1920 census: Joseph and Ida Chambers’s household includes William, age five. View original image ↗

Follow the Toland evidence at the Research Desk →

A childhood household found

Ida’s family in 1880

The 1880 household documents siblings Marion E. (about 1872), Ida Jane (about 1874), Emma M. (about 1876), and John Jr. (about 1879). Documented census relationships Matching parent names strongly support identifying the younger John with the man whose 1927 death certificate is preserved here; the reported birth and age differences remain visible.

Marion E. · Ida Jane · Emma M. · John Jr.

1880 census, Cross Creek village, Washington County, Pennsylvania. John R. and Mary J. Toland appear with Marion E., Ida Jane, Emma M., and John Jr.; ages are census reports, not exact birth dates.
1880 census, Cross Creek village, Washington County, Pennsylvania. John R. and Mary J. Toland appear with Marion E., Ida Jane, Emma M., and John Jr.; ages are census reports, not exact birth dates. View original image ↗
1880 Toland household detail. Ida Jane, age six, is identified as a daughter; Marion E., Emma M., and John Jr. are also listed as children.
1880 Toland household detail. Ida Jane, age six, is identified as a daughter; Marion E., Emma M., and John Jr. are also listed as children. View original image ↗
Marion Toland’s Pennsylvania death certificate, February 6, 1908: father Riley Toland; mother Mary Hartman; informant Ida Chambers.
Marion Toland’s Pennsylvania death certificate, February 6, 1908: father Riley Toland; mother Mary Hartman; informant Ida Chambers. View original image ↗

Joseph “Joe” Toland: family connection under review. The supplied Kentucky certificate’s mother entry differs from the research summary; no established child link is drawn from it.

Requested · not yet reviewed

An obituary still to read

The Rutherford B. Hayes Ohio Obituary Index lists an Ida Jane Chambers notice in the Akron Beacon Journal published January 5, 1955. Sandy has requested the notice from the library. This is a research lead: the publication date is not treated as her death date, and the identity remains unconfirmed until the actual obituary is reviewed.

View the index entry

Research lead
Chambers–Hartman research

One family, two possible connections

Working hypothesis—not established: the 1870 West Bethlehem Township household includes Mary Hartman, 18, and Joseph, 10, with Robert and Elizabeth Hartman. Joseph Robert’s death certificate names Robert Hartman and Eliz. Couts. Ida Jane Toland’s marriage register names her mother Mary J. Hartman. If that Mary is the census Mary, Joseph Mart married Mary’s daughter Ida while his proposed sister Elizabeth Etta married Mary’s brother Joseph Robert. Mary’s identity and Elizabeth Etta’s parentage still require independent corroboration. No confirmed double-family link is drawn in the tree.

Well-supported research hypothesis · not confirmed

Meet Elizabeth Etta Chambers Hartman · Meet Joseph Robert Hartman