Amanda Jane Wampler (1854-1923)

I have seen variations to the spelling of Amanda's mother's maiden name. On my side I have decided to go with Whisenand for consistency when sharing the maiden name within the tree and this places like this blog.

That being said, Amanda Jane Wampler was the daughter of Hiram Wampler (1815-1868) and Susan Whisenand (1818-1871). She was born 2 Apr 1854 in McLean county, Illinois - possibly in or nearby to Arrowsmith Township. Her nickname was Mandy.

[hm5-59] Amanda Jane, WAMPLER
   b. 2Apr1854; Arrowsmith Township IL
   m. Frank MARSH
   l. [he1-3]Hans->[hm2-5]Peter->[hm3-12]Jacob->[hm4-24]Hiram=>
Source: Wampfler/Wampler Database

Information from the Wampfler/Wampler Database is, for the most part, correct. It is, however, incomplete information for Amanda's life.

On 24 Dec 1874, in McLean county, Illinois, Amanda Jane married a John Franklin Marsh. Information I found for him is that he was born 10 Apr 1853 in Dawson Township, McLean county, Illinois to John Marsh and Eliza Hobart. The marriage between John Franklin Marsh and Amanda J. Wampler resulted in a daughter born on 14 Jul 1876 and named Goldie M. Marsh.

Amanda Wampler and John Franklin Marsh were divorced sometime between 1880 and 1888. John Franklin Marsh lived until 27 Jun 1932 and resided in Arrowsmith Township at the time of his passing - and Amanda's paper trail alone helps to share they were no longer husband and wife. I am personally leaning to the divorce happening before Feb 1885 due to this newspaper clipping I came across:

Miss Amanda Wampler, of Arrowsmith, will go to Wellington, Kas., next Monday, to make her future home with her brother, John, who is visiting at Arrowsmith at present.
The Pantagraph, 4 Feb 1885, Wed, Page 2

The thought of moving to Kansas did not last long as, per Mandy's paper trail, she is back in McLean county when she marries for the second time on 20 Feb 1889 to a Francis Marion Huckleberry. He was born 29 Apr 1857 in Blue Lick, Clark county, Indiana to George Huckleberry and Louisa Thompson.

Maybe the spouse's name, listed for Amanda Jane's entry above, was an accidental "mash up" of both husbands' names? Possible.

Amanda's marriage to Francis Huckleberry resulted in two children. A daughter, Leona Pearl, was 5 Jan 1891 in McLean county, Illinois. On 20 Oct 1895 a son, named Harry Willard, joined the family.

In 1898 Goldie M. Marsh passes away and she's buried in Ellsworth, McLean county, Illinois. So far, per my personal research, it does not appear that Goldie ever married.

On 19 Feb 1923, in Cheneys Grove, McLean county, Illinois, Amanda Jane Wampler Huckleberry passed away. She is buried in Ellsworth, McLean county, Illinois. Francis Marion did not remarry and he later passed away 20 Jan 1947. He is also buried in Ellsworth, McLean county, Illinois.

Leona Pearl Huckleberry does not marry and she passed away 23 Jan 1982. She is also buried in Ellsworth, McLean county, Illinois.

Harry Willard Huckleberry enlisted in the military 24 Mar 1918 and was discharged 3 May 1919. He does not marry either and passed away 14 Mar 1984 in Champaign, Champaign county, Illinois. He is buried in Ellsworth, McLean county, Illinois.

Indiana Wampler (1864 -1883), wife of George L. Knight

Indiana Wampler is listed, in her parent's household, Joseph Wampler and Cynthia Jane Smith, in the 1870 US Census and 1880 US Census in Monroe county, Indiana. On both census reports her age has her with an estimated birth year of 1864 and she is said to been born in Indiana, more than likely in Monroe county, Indiana.

Only other information I came across about her was a few family trees saying she married a George Knight. It seemed to come to a screeching halt after that. No children listed, no death information shared for her outside of maybe few online trees may share an occasional question mark (for the date) and "possibly in Monroe County" or more vague location of "Indiana".

[hm5-132]   Indiana, WAMPLER
b. 1864
m. George KNIGHT
l. [he1-3]Hans->[hm2-7]Christopher->[hm3-21]Adam->[hm4-51]Joseph=>
Source: Wampler/Wampfler Database

So, here is what I eventually found:

On 11 May 1883, Indiana Wampler married George L. Knight in Monroe county, Indiana. This marriage apparently happened on the weekend immediately right after she won her bastardy case against the very same George L. Knight. After the jury gave it's verdict in her favor, per the newspaper accounts, George seemed to have a change of heart and suggested, in the court house, that they marry that weekend.

"It took the jury about fifteen minutes to decide the Wampler Knight bastardy suit. After it was over, it is said that hte defendent shook hands with the mother and chucked the baby under the chin, thinking no doubt, that after all it is nice to be a pa."

"There was a large audience in court last Tuesday, the front seats were occupied largely by bald-heads. The attraction was the bastardy suit of Indiana Wampler against George Knight. The jury gave a verdict for the plaintiff. Mr. Knight and Miss Wampler havod[sic] agreed to "kiss and make up," and will be married Sunday."
Source: Bloomington Courier, 12 May 1883, Page 4

"... The following are the latest marriage licenses: ... Geo. Knight and India Wampler. ..."
Source: Bloomington Courier, 19 May 1883, Page 1

Per another article, from the Indianapolis News, it shared the information that after the May marriage, the couple went to live in Brown county, Indiana. The article is vague, but using the September publication date in with the paragraph sharing "some ten days ago", as some kind of time reference, this would have Indiana Wampler Knight passing in late August of 1883 in Brown county, Indiana. The article was about Indiana's friends found her sudden death suspicious and apparently went to court to have her body, buried in Monroe county, exhumed. No mention of which cemetery she was buried in nor have I located, at this time, a later shared determination of the exam/coroner's findings.

"Some ten days ago the wife of George Knight died suddenly and under circumstances which led her friends to suspect foul play. She was living in Brown county at the time of her death, but was buried in Monroe county. The body was exhumed and the stomach taken out for analysis. "
Source: The Indianapolis News, 3 Sep 1883, Page 3

Not much is known about the child, who was the reason for the bastardy suit being filed that lead to Indiana Wampler marrying the baby's father. The newspaper articles I found did not mention the child's gender or name. In snooping around Google search results, the closest I came is an record, within a pdf file of Monroe county births, sharing that an Anna Wampler gave birth to a child on 5 Jan 1883 and, in the father column, was "NA". However, the child is listed simply as Infant Wampler. I should share a notation, from my side, that that alone does not have it "definitive" that it was Indiana Wampler who gave birth to a child on 5 Jan 1883, just sharing what I felt was maybe a "possibility" I have found so far and could try to use that date/time frame thought in hopes of locating more information.

I turned to George L. Knight, in hopes that poking around on his side of the paper trail would help lead to the child's name. Again I was hit with a brick wall. He had a child out of wedlock, in 1878, with a Catherine Eldrick in Brown county, Indiana. Some sources say he married Catherine Eldrick, and other sources don't say that they married although the child, William, had the surname of Knight. If George and Catherine married in Brown county, Indiana after she was pregnant with William Knight, they had divorced by May 1883 in order for George Knight to marry Indiana Wampler in Monroe county, Indiana.

Another source, at Rootsweb, shared that George L. Knight had 8 children. They listed the one child he had with Catherine Eldrick, but had him and Indiana Wampler not having a child. George L, Knight married a 3rd time, to Sarah Margaret Chandler, in 1899 in Monroe county, Indiana. The couple is said to have 6 children. So this information takes me to having the names of 7 of children: besides William, he had James Andrew, Maud Ellen, Henry Lewis, Eliza May, Minnie Alice and Gilbert Marshall Knight. I have not come across George Knight's obit at this time to compare the listing of survivors to the list of the 7 children's names shared in that particular Rootsweb posting.

In 1889 there is a "notice" which ran in the Bloomington newspapers about land division amongst George Knight and his siblings. In those notices is also listed an Elizabeth Wampler. George's parents, James Hoagland Knight and Eliza E. Carter, do not appear (thus far in my poking around) to have had a daughter named Elizabeth and it seems that their son, George, is the only one from the family that married a Wampler. Could this Elizabeth Wampler be Indiana Wampler's child? Hard telling, as there isn't much to work with thus far with this mystery. Searching for an Elizabeth Wampler who was born in 1883 doesn't seem to help lead me anywhere. Due to the lacking of a 1890 US Census, no idea where Indiana Wampler Knight's child was living at - by 1900, a 17 year old child doesn't appear to be listed in George Knight's nor Joseph Wampler's households.

Per this posting, I have shared that I managed to come across a bit more information about Indiana Wampler's short life. That information is having me cross my fingers that it is hopefully helpful as I continue to try to find more information about her only known - but also 'unknown' - child, per her taking the father to court for bastardy and the newspaper accounts sharing that led to her marrying the father of the child that is not shared by many within their own research.

John Byars Wampler (1843-1885) and Minnie A. Buck's (1864-1896) Children

John Byars Wampler married Minnie A. Buck, daughter of Charles Marquis Buck and Hannah Wellborn, in a double wedding ceremony in August of 1881. (The other couple was W. Armitage and Maud Noyes. John was friends with the couple and also with Maud's brother, Alva(h) Noyes who would later marry Minnie Buck's sister, Hattie. Alva would later write a short book, "Story of Ajax", about his early adult years in Montana in which he would mention John and John's other brothers periodically within it.)

John B. Wampler died, in 1885, as a result of blood poisoning that came about due to infection in his leg. It is said that he was buried somewhere on his Montana homestead. Minnie remarried and died a few years later, in April of 1898, in California. (Her FindAGrave memorial page has Minnie's middle name being Belle, which I don't know where they got that from as in newspapers her middle initial was listed as A, not B.)

The brief 4 year marriage of John B. and Minnie A. (Buck) Wampler resulted in two children. A daughter named Lorene May Wampler, born in 1882, and a son named Walter F. Wampler, born in 1884. Reece Bowen Wampler, John Byars' brother who also lived in Montana at the time, applied and was approved to be guardian of the children.

Lorene May was born 19 Jun 1882, probably in Big Hole - where John B. Wampler had his homestead, but I have seen her birthplace listed as Butte, Silver Bow county, Montana online. She doesn't appear in an available census report with Reece B. Wampler. Sometime after her mother's passing, and before 1900, it appears that she went to Knox county, Indiana. She lived in that area for the rest of her life until her passing on 24 Apr 1976.

Lorene was married Charles D. Steffy, son of Joseph and Mary Purcell Steffy, on 28 Dec 1901 in Bruceville, Knox county, Indiana. This marriage resulted in three children together: Charles Curtis Steffy, who died around the age of 12, Walter E. Steffy, and a daughter, Nellie M. Steffy.

MARRIED.
Charles D. Steffy of Wheatland, and Miss Lovene[sic?] May Wampler of Fritchton, were married Wednesday by Rev. R. H. Hooke at the Upper Indiana parsonage.
Source: Western Sun - 20 December 1901 - Page 7

Walter F. Wampler was born 10 Dec 1884 - reportedly in Knox county, Indiana. I perused the Indiana birth index, on Ancestry, and cannot find a record for him there. Walter is listed in a 1900 US census report in Reece Bowen Wampler's household. On that census his birth information is listed as Dec 1884, which had him being 16 at the time. His obit also shared that he was born in Vincennes, Knox county, Indiana on 10 Dec 1884. (Some people are apparently attaching him to a 2 Mar 1883 birth where the mother's name is listed as Emma, but that date conflicts with the other information about him having a December birth date.)

Walter never married and he died 14 Nov 1905 in Nye county, Nevada, shortly before his 21st birthday, from pneumonia, and he is buried in Tonapah, Nye county, Nevada.

John Byars Wampler and his younger brother, Reece Bowen Wampler, both had sons they gave the first name of Walter to, per their own paper trails, but their sons were each born in different years. Reeece Bowen's son died in Chicago, Illinois in 1881 and was buried in Knox county, Indiana - his headstone has become worn down from weather and age, and apparently they referred to him by his middle name, Audley, versus as Walter.