The research desk
A family tree is an argument assembled from evidence. This site keeps the paper trail alongside the story, including the places where the paper disagrees with itself.
A named record directly reports the claim; we identify the record and leave room for errors in it.
Several records fit together, though a single direct statement may be missing.
Promising evidence; an important link or transcription still needs checking.
A relationship or memory Sandy supplied, identified as such until matched to a record.
Records disagree. Both versions remain visible while we investigate.
A question, candidate, or next step—not an established fact.
What is available now
- Chambers records reviewed by SandyIndiana State Library marriage index for James and Prudence More (1840); Daviess County census household (1860); Cynthia Ann’s death certificate. Findings are described on their profile; record images and full citations still need attaching.
- Silas Chambers grave marker and pension indexWorking images on Silas’s profile; marker transcription under review.
- Smith, Freels & McCoy family-history report, version 4A compiled working narrative. Underlying records will be linked individually after review.
James and Prudence in 1850
Their household has not been located in the 1850 census. Sandy manually searched Baker Township and Brown Township, Martin County, Indiana, without finding it. That does not show where the family was.
Search guide from the 1860 census: James, about 32–33; Prudence, 26–28; Mary Jane, 8; Silas L., 5–6; Cynthia Ann, 1–2. Ages are estimates for a possible household.
Also open: Nanny’s Nelson ancestry, records for James’s parents, matching original records along the Joseph Mart line, and reviewed scans for other branches.
The Silas parent link
The 1860 household places Silas L. with James and Prudence. Cynthia Ann’s death certificate names James and Prudence Moore as her parents, while the 1840 marriage index names James and Prudence More. Together they strongly support Silas’s parentage. Strongly supported
Keep both readings in view
The 1860 census reports Indiana for Prudence and Cynthia Ann. Cynthia’s death certificate reports Tennessee for both. The marriage index spells Prudence’s surname More; Cynthia’s death certificate uses Moore. We preserve each record’s wording rather than silently choosing one.
How this conclusion changed
September 2026: Replaced the tentative online-tree connection with a strongly supported James and Prudence → Silas link based on Sandy’s review of the marriage index, 1860 census, and Cynthia’s death certificate. Removed Tennessee as Silas’s established birthplace: the reviewed 1860 census says Indiana. The 1850 search remains open.
The record trail grows
Clara’s 1860 childhood household and 1881 maiden-name entry now lead back to Cyrus and Edna Wical. The George and Clara household leads forward to James and then Evelyn, who married William Lester Chambers. Follow the Boles and Wical family →
Cyrus’s roster points to September 19, 1864; the Winchester interment card records April 19, 1864. Both dates stay visible on his profile. The earlier family tree placed Evelyn as William’s mother; it now places them as Les’s parents.
Was John Cornelius’s son?
Cornelius Boyles’s estate names Jacob as his son and identifies Widow Nancy. Sandy reviewed all 44 pages and did not find John. This is a completed negative search in that file, not proof John was unrelated. The John Boles parent link remains open; he does not appear under Cornelius and Nancy as their child in the visual tree. Unresolved
Next: Washington County, Pennsylvania Orphans’ Court, guardianship, minor-child, land, and related estate records after Cornelius’s 1821 death. John, reportedly born March 28, 1807, would have been about 14. Look for son, minor child, heir, or ward naming John Boles/Boyles/Bowles with Cornelius. Trace John’s move into Ohio separately.
Also find the original evidence for first wife Mary J.’s alleged Magee surname and reported death around 1851. The independently reviewed January 13, 1853 Guernsey County marriage to Margaret McMullin does not establish either claim about Mary J.
Nancy’s Buxton name
Jacob Buxton’s May 18, 1836 will directly names daughter Nancy Boles, wife Hannah, and individually named children Jacob, Sarah Grimes, and Aaron. Cornelius’s probate papers identify Widow Nancy Boyles; Jacob Buxton signed the bond and appears at the estate sale. This is stronger than a cemetery-tree assertion. The will does not claim those four are all Jacob’s children. See Nancy’s page and images.
Records behind the bridge
- 1910 U.S. census, George W. Smith household: Leanner and grandson William Stirling Smith.
- William Stirling Smith delayed birth certificate: parents John Houston Smith and Arda Freels.
- John Houston Smith’s 1940 Tennessee death certificate: parents George Washington Smith and Leaner V. McCoy; informant Artie.
- Dovie Guthrie Smith Williams’s death certificate: George W. Smith and Lee Anna McCoy.
- George W. Smith’s 1918 death certificate and 1860 census household: Levi Smith and Martha Reed.
These descriptions come from the Version 4 family-history working report. Original scans and repository citations will be attached after each is inspected; this list does not pretend that the report itself is a primary record.
Ida’s family, found on page 460
Sandy personally located Joseph and Ida’s original marriage entry on image 460 of 627. The register names Silas L. Chambers and Matilda E. Laughlin as Joseph’s parents, and John R. Toland and Mary J. Hartman as Ida’s parents. This is an original-record discovery, not a copied tree.
Meet Ida · John R. Toland · Mary J. Hartman · John Toland Jr.
1890 marriage register — documented fact · view records
Indexed marriage record — a finding aid; the original register is the parentage evidence.
1909 birth certificate — documented surname · view record
1920 census — William in the household · view record
1927 death certificate — documented entries, probable sibling connection · view both versions
Recently found: Ida and John’s childhood household
John Toland is documented as Ida’s brother in the 1880 household. Identification with the later death certificate is strongly supported by matching parents. Strongly supported later-record identification The 1880 household now places them together as children.
John’s certificate independently records the parent names and Pennsylvania birthplaces. The shared 1880 household now documents Ida and John Jr. as siblings; identification of the later certificate with that child is strongly supported. The handwritten and typed age entries disagree; neither is silently discarded.
The Toland household comes into focus
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.
Ida’s marriage remains February 21, 1890, Crawford County, Illinois; Sandy located the original entry on image 460 of 627. Etta’s 1909 certificate independently records Ida Toland, and the 1920 household places William with Joseph and Ida. Those originals remain in the earlier evidence collection.
Still under review
- Joe Toland’s parentage: supplied summary and certificate’s mother entry differ.
- John Riley’s memorial: a strong candidate, not confirmed dates for Ida’s father.
- The 1870 Hartmans and Couts records: promising leads; no confirmed extension of Mary’s ancestry. Joseph Robert’s death date also conflicts with the summary.
- Ida’s obituary: requested; actual notice still needed.
Sandy’s memory of Grandpa William is preserved as family recollection.
Grandma and Grandpa’s marriage license
Here they are together on paper: William L. Chambers, age 19, and Evelyn M. Boles, age 18, both of Gassville, Baxter County, Arkansas. Their Baxter County marriage license is dated January 18, 1934, with Nellie Cooper named as county clerk.
Meet William Lester Chambers · Meet Evelyn Mary Boles Chambers
Documented marriage-license entry
January 18 is the date shown on this license. This image does not include an officiant’s return or separately establish the ceremony date. Names are preserved as recorded; the profiles use their established full names.
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 confirmedMeet Elizabeth Etta Chambers Hartman · Meet Joseph Robert Hartman
The Chambers–Hartman receipts
The records behind the connection
The Washington County, Pennsylvania application names father Joseph Robert Hartman; mother Etta Hartman; and mother’s maiden name Etta Chambers. It records Ida’s birthplace as Bloomfield, Indiana, and residence as Ravenna, Ohio.
Documented application entriesThis independently records Etta’s maiden surname. Ida Hartman is distinct from Ida Jane Toland Chambers. Elizabeth Etta’s proposed parentage remains a separate memorial-attributed identification.
The son’s 1937 death certificate
The certificate records birth January 27, 1905, and death in January 1937 in Cleveland, Ohio. It names Joseph Hartman and Etta Chambers as parents. It records a gunshot injury, classifies the death as homicide, and attributes the shooting to his estranged wife. No motive or circumstances beyond the certificate are inferred.
The original death certificates document the names they report. The grave photograph documents its inscription. Find a Grave’s contributed parent links are a separate source claim; matching Etta Chambers to Elizabeth Etta, daughter of Silas and Matilda, remains a supported identification needing direct corroboration.
James and Prudence: two dates, one original register to find
The Indiana State Library index lists James Chambers and Prudence More, February 8, 1840, Martin County, Indiana. A separate compiled index, Martin County Indiana Marriage Records, 1820–1925, Book 1, lists James Chambers and Prudence Moor, January 18, 1840, with a return dated February 8, 1840 (FamilySearch image 84 of 205).
The ceremony date is unresolved. Neither indexed date is being selected as the ceremony date before the original register is examined. More, Moor, and Moore remain source-specific surname spellings.
Compiled/indexed evidence · original register neededDavid Mack’s application adds a name
David Mack Chambers’s January 24, 1908 marriage application names his parents James Chambers and Prudence Spietta Moore. “Spietta” is preserved as the current reading of that record, pending confirmation; it is not silently adopted as Prudence’s established middle name. The application also reports Tennessee for both parents’ birthplaces, conflicting with the 1860 census report of Indiana for Prudence.
Original application · name reading pending confirmationStill in Daviess County
Sandy has located James and Prudence in the 1860 and 1870 Daviess County, Indiana censuses. The 1870 location is Bogard Township. James’s parents remain unknown; no speculative Tennessee ancestry has been attached.
Matilda Ellen Laughlin: following the surnames
One woman, several married surnames—and a trail that makes considerably more sense when we keep them together. Matilda appears in the working marriage timeline as Nugent, Chambers, and Sinclair.
Research Notes / Sources
- John W. Nugent: marriage reportedly July 3, 1863. Original record still needed.
- Silas Luster Chambers: December 6, 1867, under Matilda E. Nugent, supported by the supplied compiled Martin County marriage entry. Original register still to be checked.
- Wayman Sinclair: marriage reportedly June 10, 1876, under Matilda E. Chambers. Original record still needed.
Matilda reportedly died March 19, 1909. A transcription citing Greene County, Indiana, Death Record Book H-6, page 26, record 232 identifies her father as Osman Laughlin and mother as Elizabeth Geyher. These are transcription-based research leads awaiting the original death entry. Neither parent has been added to the confirmed tree.
Working timeline · compiled entry and transcription leadsMrs. Wayman Sinclair’s surviving children
An obituary excerpt supplied in Sandy’s research names Mrs. Joe Hartman of Washington, Pennsylvania and Joseph Chambers of Johnstown, Pennsylvania among Mrs. Wayman Sinclair’s surviving children. This provides valuable additional support for Elizabeth Etta Chambers Hartman and Joseph Mart Chambers as Matilda’s children.
Source status: obituary excerpt reported by Sandy; full original clipping, newspaper title, publication date and page still needed for inspection. “Mrs. Joe Hartman” is the wording of the excerpt; identifying her as Elizabeth Etta is supported by the related Hartman records. This is additional evidence beyond Find a Grave contributor statements, not a claim that the original clipping has been inspected here.
Currently hunting
The original 1840 marriage register; the Matilda marriage entries and death record; and the full Sinclair obituary. The 1850 James/Prudence household remains open. Baker and Brown townships were searched without finding them; that does not establish residence elsewhere.
Hartman research: genealogy and the case history
A name that needs settling
Sandy’s research identifies this son as Joseph Albert Hartman. However, the available Ohio death certificate appears to name him John Riley Hartman. It records January 27, 1905–January 18, 1937, Cleveland, and names parents Joseph Hartman and Etta Chambers, with wife Flossie.
Unresolved identity/name conflict: “Albert” has not been verified in the originals inspected for this update. The certificate name is retained here; Joseph Albert is recorded as a research identification requiring reconciliation, not a confirmed alternate name.
Original certificate · conflicting research identificationSon’s profile → · 1937–1938 research story and sources →
The original death certificate and January 21, 1937 newspaper page are available. The September 25, 1938 source-location screenshot is preserved as a finding aid, not substituted for the original article. March 1937 verdict reporting and the original 1938 clipping remain needed.