Seventh Generation

304. James Irving/Ervin COMSTOCK^{172,196,203,204} was born in 1837 in Tennessee.^98,176,196 He served in the military in 1862 at Company I, 3rd Missouri Cavalry Regt., Marmaduke's Brigade in Civil War. He died on 11 October 1893 at the age of 56 in Cedar County, Missouri.

Found as "Irvin Comstock" in 1860 McDonald Co MO Census.
Irvin was age 23, b. TN Elizabeth, 21, b. TN
Harvey, age 3 and James F. age 1, b. MO

In Hewett's ROSTER OF CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS, vol. IV, there is James "E." Comstock enlisted in MO 3rd Cavalry, Company I, along with Warren and William D.
National Archives Records show Jas E. Comstock enlisted by Capt. Clanton on 27 Aug 1862 - the same day as his brothers William and Warren - at McDonald Co MO for 3 years or the War. He was age 26. He was issued a horse valued at $100 and $10 worth of horse equipment. All three brothers enlisted in Capt. W. C. Clanton's Co, Greene's Regt, MO Volunteers which became Co I, 3rd Regt MO Cavalry. The Muster Roll of 30 Oct 1862 gave a location of Fulton Co AR. The Muster Roll of Oct 30-Dec 31, 1862 - James E. Comstock - stated that he deserted 15 Nov 1862. That was the same day his brother Warren left the unit. Their oldest brother William was still present at the end of that same accounting period. There is no further information on this unit.

Apparently James took his family to Franklin Co Kansas late 1862/1863. Mary Elizabeth's father died at Ft. Scott, Kansas in 1863, leaving his widow with several young children in Franklin Co. His sister Caroline Randal also lived there following the Civil War.

US Civil War Draft Registration; Database on Ancestry.com.
All persons of Class I, subject to military duty in the Southern District, consisting of the Counties South of the Kansas River and Davis County, state of Kansas, during the months of Sept, Oct, Nov & Dec 1863, under the direction of A. J. Shannon, Provost Marshall
Geneva, Allen Co. James E. Comstock, age 27, white, Farmer, Married, b. Tennessee

1865 Kansas State Census: Geneva, Allen Co, Kansas. Line 22, Hh 127
J. E. Comstock, 28, Farmer, b. TN. E. Comstock, female, 25, b. TN
H. A., 9, male, b. MO. J. T., 6, male, b. MO, Bill, 2, b. Kansas
Anna Stamps, 14, b. AR [twins, but I thought they were both females...]
J. J. Stamps, 22, male b. TN [James Jefferson]
B. Stamps, 14, male, b. MO
D. B. Stamps, 11, male, b. MO [Daniel Boone]
S. J. Stamps, 16, female, b. MO [Sarah]
S. C. Stamps, 10, female, b. MO [Saline Candace}
Martha Stamps, 7, b. AR

The 1870 Census: Franklin Co, KS, Harrison Twp, p.98, Household 182.
James Comstock, age 34, Farmer, b. TN; Elisabeth age 31, b. TN. Harvey 13, b. MO, Franklin 11, b. MO. Bell age 7 b. KA, Alonzo 4, b. KA and Theodosia 2, b. KA. The following also lived with James, no doubt relations of his wife: Candace Stamps 14, Martha 11, Dodson 19, and Boon age 17, all born in Missouri. [I believe the Stamps folks were indeed Mary Elizabeth's younger siblings and it's likely both Candace & Martha were 10 years older than shown, i.e. ages 24 and 21.]

There is a note in Comstock Family in America, "James Irving Comstock went north during the Civil War." This is a strange comment, since he fought for the Confederates and then went to Kansas.

1875 Kansas State Census. Ottawa, Franklin Co. Hh 295
J. E. Comstock, age 46, Farmer, b. TN, came from Missouri to Kansas
Elizabeth, 35, keeping house
Harvey, 18, b. MO. Frank 16, b. MO. Belle, 11, b. Kansas. Elonzo, 9, b. KA. Elizabeth, 4, b. KA.

Here is the 1880 Census:
Hayes, Franklin Co KA, p.66A
James E. Comstock, age 52, b. TN, Farmer. Father b. KY; mother b. TN
Mary E. Comstock, wife, age 41, born TN as were both her parents
James F., son age 21, born MO
Bell, daughter age 17, b. KS
Alonzo O. son age 14, b. KS
Elizabeth, daughter, age 9, b. KS

1880 Census of Defective, Dependent and Delinquent Classes for Hayes, Franklin, KS, lists Mary E. Comstock as Blind.

I found a most bizarre statement in the manuscript papers of John A. Comstock which included correspondence from Samuel Willett Comstock who also had a number of Comstock letters gathered in the late 1800's by Noah D. Comstock for use in the Comstock books by Noah's brother-in-law Cyrus B. Comstock. In listing the children of Ephraim Comstock, Samuel W. noted that "supposed poisoned to death by stepson". This makes little sense. There were those extra Stamps children in the household in 1870, but they had not been there in 1860 and Elizabeth was not old enough to have had some of them. The ages of the Stamps children and the Comstock children overlap, too. I wonder if instead of stepchildren, these were perhaps nieces & nephews being raised as foster children. Or is it possible that James married a second time when he went back to Missouri and married someone with children. (He did marry again, but she had only a grown son.)

The above manuscript collection was also the origin of the death date and place for James. Since he was living in Kansas in 1880, he would have had to move back to Missouri to die in Cedar Co.

James is said to have died 1893 Cedar Co. MO and youngest son William Decatur had married there prior to 1910 when he appears with a wife in the Census. I looked for the Comstock widow, Mary or Mary Elizabeth, in Cedar Co, 1900. Instead I found a Margaret E. Comstock, b. Nov 1841 in KY; she was a weaver of carpets. I found she was the second wife.

Found in Death Notices from Cedar County, Missouri Newspapers, 1888-1900 with Cemetery Inscriptions. Abstracts from the Stockton Journal, Cedar County Republican, and Eldorado Sun. Compiled by Marsha Hoffman Rising, C.G., 1988
From The Cedar County Republican 1893
Mrs. Wallace, of Jerico, died of drinking from a poisoned well and members of the Comstock family are low. Mrs. Wallace was a sister to Mrs. Comstock and Thomas Petty, Jr. The Comstocks reside 1 1/2 miles NW of Jerico on the Thos. Brasher farm. Sterling Brasher, a son to Mrs. Comstock, is accused of the crime. [Oct 13] Wife of J. B. Wallace 1856-1893, Silas Clark Cemetery, Cedar Co.
Note: Minerva Petty Wallace, sister of Mrs. Comstock was born 1836, not 1856. Her marriage record to Wallace gave his initials as J. W. Wallace and he is in a census as John W.

With the above death notice, I have been able to discover a bit more. It appears the deaths of both Comstock and Mrs. Comstock's sister occurred in 1893. The plot thickens.

Larkin T. Brasher, b. about 1841 in Missouri, died 1882 and buried Brasher Cemetery near Jerico, married Margaret E. Petty, born ca 1842 in Kentucky. They had three children shown in the 1880 Census, Benton Twp, Cedar Co MO - Drewry S. [Sterling as found in online databases] age 11, Mary 3. age 9, and Nelly A. age 4.

Sterling married Minnie Ethylene Brewster on 2 Oct 1890 in Stockton, Cedar Co. The censuses and an online database show they had two children - Charles Francis "Frank", b. Jerico Springs, Cedar Co, 20 Mar 1892, and Emma, b. Aug 1898. By 1930, Sterling & Minnie apparently divorced - he had married Lula M. Clark. Minnie was still in Jerico Springs living with the daughter Emma. Only in 1900 was Sterling not found in Benton Twp of Cedar Co - that year he was in Galena Twp, Jasper Co MO. If he was responsible for the poisonings, he apparently suffered no consequences. Missouri death certificates show Drewry S. Brasher of Jerico Springs, MO, was born 4 Mar 1869 and died almost 82 years old 28, Feb 1951. Wife Minnie had predeceased him. He is buried at the Brasher Cemetery.

I found the following marriage which took place at Jerico, Cedar Co. J. H. Erving married M. E. Brasher, 8 Jun 1888. This second husband was actually C. H. Ewing as found in the trial transcript after the death of James Irving Comstock. The trial notes also gave the marriage date of Comstock to Margaret E. Petty Brasher Ewing. The trial notes always give Comstock's name as "J. E. Comstock".

Then, interestingly enough, there is another marriage at Jerico. On 6 Nov 1893, Lizzie Comstock married J. B. Wallace. Presumably, Lizzie is Margaret E. Petty Brasher Comstock and the middle initial was for Elizabeth. This does not explain the presence of Margaret E. Comstock in the 1900 census, however, unless J. B. Wallace also passed away or she left him (she did leave husbands behind). There was no J. B. Wallace counted in the 1900 census in Cedar County, nor did I find him in any of the cemetery records online. However, I never found him in 1880, either.

Most needed to solve the mysteries would be a newspaper story giving more details about the supposed poisonings (I did find one which is posted in the notes of Minerva (Petty) Wallace), more aboutf J. B. Wallace, and information regarding the death of Mary Elizabeth Stamps Comstock. I also found the following.

Unidentified newspaper clippings posted on Ancestry.
DETAILS OF THE JERICO SPRINGS POISONING CASE
WHOLESALE MURDER WAS PLANNED
Two Members of the Comstock Family and a Neighbor Woman Named Wallace Died in Great Agony - Everything Edible and Drinkable About the House Poisoned.
Nevada, MO. Oct 16 (1893) - the first authentic news of the poisoning of the Comstock family, near Jericho Springs, was brought here yesterday by Herman Ready, a close neighbor of the Ill-fated family. JerichoSprings is just over the Vernon county line in Cedar county, and about twenty-five miles southeast of this city. It is miles away from a railroad or telegraph line, and therefore not readily accessible.
Mr. Ready, speaking of the poisoning said: "Monday evening old man Irvin Comstock and his family at supper partook of cold cabbage, bread, coffee and milk, and soon after eating every one of them became iolently sick. These who sat at the table were Mr. Comstock, his wife and little son Willie, and a neighbor, Mrs. Wallace. Once of the neighbors happened to call after supper and them all prostrated. Some of them in spasms. Dr. Brasure has hastily sumoned and with two other doctors that he call in, worked with the stricken family all night.
At 5 o'clock next morning the old lady Wallace died in great agony and on Wednesday morning Mr. Comstock died in a spasm. Mrs. Comstock was not dead when I left but was having spasms. Willie had gotten better, and it was through he would get well. Mrs.Comstock will died, if she is not already dead. A neighbor, Mrs. McCrary, who came over Tuesday morning to help nurse the sick, was herself poisoned by eating a bscuit and drinking a cup of coffee, which she prepared for herself from the family provisions. She was reported dying Thursday afternoon.
Dr. Brasure analyzed the cabbage, water, provisions and everything edible and drinkable about the place and said he found strychnine in all. The entire community is horrified, as it is plain the poison was used with the intent to destroythe whole family. Nevertheless there is not a breath of suspicion against anyone.
Mr. Comstock is well known here, having formerly resided in Nevada. Last December he took out license to marry the Widow Ewing and last spring they moved to her farm two miles northwest of JerichoSprings. Mrs. Comstock was the divorced wife of Thug Ewing, who still resides in the neighborhood where the poisoning occurred. She married Ewing four or five years after the death of her first husband Lark Brosure, (sic Brasher) who was burned to death at Eldorado Springs. She has a grown son by her first husband who also lives in the vicinity of Jericho Springs.
So far as can be learned the best of good feeling existed between the family and Thug Ewing and suspicion has not attached to him or to the grown son. The whole affair is shrouded in mystery.
---
Another article.
AFTER THE PROPERTY
Arrest of an Alleged Prisoner whose Work Was Deadly
Nevada, MO. Jan 19 (1894) - New reaches here from Jericho Springs of the arrest of Sterling Brasher and wife, on the charge of poisoning the Comstock family near there last October. Irvin Comstock, the father, and Mrs. Wallace, a visior, died, while Mrs. Comstock, a visitor named Mrs. McCrary and Willie Comstock were in danger of dying for several days. The poin had been sprinkler on all the food eaten at the Comstock home. Brasher is the only child of Mrs. Comstock my a former mariage and is thought thus sought to secure the Comstock property. [NOTE: later it was testified the food was all thrown out before it could actually be tested - one of the reasons no one was convicted of the murders.]The most likely source was water from the well]
---
undated article from a different newspaper but obviously a few days after the poisoning:
A Family Poisoned
New reached Stockton on Tuesday night from Jericho, that the family of r. Comstock, and Mrs. Wallace, a sister to Mrs. Comstock, had been poisoned by drinking water from the family well, and that Mrs. Wallace was dead and other members of the family were lying very low. Word was received at midnight of Tuesday, that two mebers of the Comstock family could not possibly live. Reports are contradictory regarding the number sick - some placing the number at five, others at three. The Comstock family reside one and a half miles northwest of Jericho on the Thos. Brasher farm, and are respected people. It is though that the well had been poisoned by some one with paris green or strychnine.
Mrs. Comstock and Mrs. Wallace are sisters to Mr. Thomas Petty, Sr. Doctors Brasher, Brownlee and Gates are looking after the welfare of the afflicted family, to, if possible, alleviate their suffering.
Later reports say that these were five poisoned, and that Mrs. McCrary, a neighbor woman, and Mr. and Mrs. Comstock, were not expected to live. Also that seventeen head of cabbage had been fond with cuts in them, and it is supposed that poison had been placed in them. Sterling Brasher, a son to Mrs. Comstock, is accused of the crime.

I studied their families for clues, looking at the census records and online databases. More information was available concerning the Brasher family - sometimes the name was spelled Brasier in the censuses. A Thomas Brasher, was born ca 1773 in Chatham Co NC and died after the 1850 census in Christian Co KY - his wife was Catherine "Katie" Croft and they had at least 12 children, all of whom apparently lived in Christian Co and most of whom remained there in Kentucky the rest of their lives. The family also lived for a time in Greenville Co, SC and the first four children were born there, the rest born in Kentucky. One son, Greenville "Green" Brasher is in the 1880 Cooke Co TX census. A son Abraham is in the 1860 Miller Co MO census, and a son Isham S. Brasher, born ca 1815 in Christian Co KY, moved to Cedar Co MO where he died ca 1890. It is notable that Isham married Rose E. Petty, b. Tennessee about 1820 - they were married 14 Oct 1841 in Christian Co KY. Now Thomas Brasher who married Katie Croft was a son of Aquilla Brasher who was married twice and Thomas had a half-brother - also named Aquilla [b. 1786 in NC, died prob in Cedar Co MO] for his father, and the younger Aquilla also moved his family to Cedar Co, Missouri - the younger Aquilla had sons Thomas and John. This makes for a lot of Brashers in Cedar Co MO.

Among the children of Aquilla's son Thomas [b. 1816 Christian Co KY and died 1896, buried Brasher Cemetery in Cedar Co] is Larkin T. who married Margaret E. Petty. [Larkin's parents and some of his siblings are also buried in this cemetery.] Larkin was with his father and family in the 1860 Benton Twp, Cedar Co MO census - he was age 19 and was the first of his father's children to be born in Missouri. So the family moved to Missouri about 1840 - I found them in Dade Co MO in 1850, when Larkin was listed as age 10.

The Petty family was a little more difficult to trace but there were not so many of them in Cedar Co. One clue was that in 1870 in Benton Twp of Cedar Co I found living with Isham S. Brasher and his wife Rosey, now age 50, Drury Petty, age 82, born in SC. Three households away was James T. Petty, age 49, born in TN as was Rosey, Isham's wife, James's wife Elizabeth age 48, born in Kentucky, and the following three children: born in Kentucky were Drury E. age 20 and Margaret age 17 [10 years too young to be Margaret E. Petty who married Larkin T. Brasher], and Mary J. age 12, born in Missouri.

I did find confirmation online in an inquiry letter that there was a Drury Petty, born abt 1780 in SC, whose wife was Jane and children included Rosey E., born about 1820 in Tennessee, and a James T., born abt 1823 in Tennessee. James T. married Elizabeth Parker 23 Feb 1846 in Christian Co KY. There were some of Rosey & James T.'s siblings born later in Illinois, and then several born in Christian Co.,Kentucky. A sister Minera A., born 1836 in KY married John W. Wallace on 10 Jan 1856 in Christian Co. The youngest child of Drury and Jane was Margaret E. R. born abour 1841 in Kentucky. [So here is a Margaret Petty of the right age and she has a sister who was married to a Wallace, although his middle initial is different.] I also found the following notice from Christian Co KY Newspaper Abstracts, Vol. 20, availabe at World Vital Records online, which appeared July 31, 1874: "We are glad to learn that Mr. Drury Petty, our former county man, though now living in Cedar County, Missouri, is in good health and that his voice can still be heard a mile off, though he is now eighty-four years old."
This definitely supports that fact that the Brasher and Petty families were associated in both Christian Co, Kentucky and Cedar Co, Missouri.

The 1860 census showed that James T. Petty & wife Elizabeth were already living in Benton Twp in Cedar Co. Drewry Petty, age 67, was still living back in Christian Co KY in 1860, with wife Jane, age 60 and a daughter "M." [Margaret] Petty, age 18, born in KY, next door to Samuel Petty, age 29, b. Tennessee - so here is the youngest daughter Margaret - right age and born in Kentucky - likely the same as the Margaret Petty who married Larkin Brasher about 1867/68

In 1880, James T. Petty is listed as Thomas J. rather than the other way around. He was 58, born in TN, father b. SC, mother b. NC. Elizabeth his wife was now 59. In 1900, they were both still living and still in Benton, Cedar Co. - Now James T. Petty, b. Nov 1822, age 77, married for 55 years, and Elizabeth was born Nov 1821, age 78. They had five children, only two are still living. Jossie, marked as a daughter, but with no different surname, and her three children were living there as well.

In the news clip, Mrs. Comstock had lost her sister named Wallace and mentions a brother Thomas Petty Jr. It would seem likely that the brother was the above James Thomas, or Thomas James Petty. Based on the census records and other data, he doesn't appear to have been either a Junior or a Senior Thomas. There do not seem to be two Thomas Pettys of any age living in Cedar Co MO. Also the sister married to J. B. Wallace in the news article was shown as born 1836 online, not 1856. That does leave several questions.

Was the Mrs. Comstock in Cedar Co, a wife of James Irving Comstock? Had she been the widow of Larkin Brasher? Were there errors in the newspaper account - the birth year for the wife of J. B. Wallace, if she was the same as Minerva Petty, was off by 20 years. Minerva married John W. Wallace, not a John B. There seems to be no one to be called Thomas Petty "Jr". Was Mrs. Comstock's brother Thomas, the same as the man listed as James T. or Thomas J. Petty? The answer to all of these - yes.

I did find census records for Minera Petty Wallace. In 1860, Christian Co KY - J. W. Wallace was 22, Manerva 23, daughter L. Fan. R. age 3 and two children with the surname Kinshaw. [Kinshaw is not a name associated with any of Minerva's siblings that I could find.] I could not find the family in 1870, but in 1880 they were definitely in Benton, Cedar Co, MO. John W. "Wallis", age 44, b. KY. Manerva A., wife, age 44 ,b. KY, parents born in SC. Jane E., daughter, 21, b. KY. James R., son, 13 and John R., son, age 10 - both born in Missouri.

James Irving/Ervin COMSTOCK and Mary Elizabeth STAMPS were married circa 1855.¹⁶⁸ Mary Elizabeth STAMPS, daughter of Nathan Dodson STAMPS and Winney EMBREY, was born in 1839 in Franklin County, Tennessee.¹⁹⁶

1880 Census of Defective, Dependent and Delinquent Classes for Hayes, Franklin, KS, lists Mary E. Comstock as Blind.

Mary died sometime after the birth of William in 1883 and before her husband's marriage to Margaret E. "Mag" Petty Brasher, 1892. She likely died in Kansas; James then moved to Cedar County, MO, where he was murdered in 1893. Testimony of Thomas Brasher at the inquest of Miranda Wallace who was murdered at the same time, indicates Thomas had known Comstock about 4 years, so possibly he moved to Cedar County about 1889.

The only possible family I've found for Mary Elizabeth is in neighboring Barry Co, MO, in 1850 before the Comstocks moved to Missouri. The family is indexed as "Stumps" District 5, Hh 299:
Nattie Stamps, age 31, b. TN Winny, age 27, b. TN
Children born in TN: Mary 10, George W. 9, James T. 7
Born in MO: Nicy & Dicy [twins] age 3, Sarah age1.
The family was not there 10 years later.

The 1860 and 1870 censuses confirm this is surely Mary Elizabeth's family.
1860 Census. Anderson Twp, Benton Co, AR Hh 1355
Nathan Stamps, age 41, b. TN Winney, age 37, b. TN
George, 18, b. TN
Born in MO: Nicey & Dicey, now age 13; Sarah age 11. Dodson age 9.
Daniel age 6, b. AR
Salina, age 4, b. MO
Martha, age 1, b. AR

Then in 1870, living with Mary Elizabeth & James Comstock in Kansas:
Candace Stamps 14, Martha 11, Dodson 19, and Boon [Daniel in 1860] age 17, all shown as born in Missouri. I suspect Candace was "dicey and should have been 24, not 14; and "Martha" might have been Martha Sarah and was age 21. Since the enumerators copied their notes by candle or firelight, I have seen similar errors - even the order of the Stamps young people suggests Candace & Martha were older than Dodson and Boon, since they were to be listed in age order.

James Irving/Ervin COMSTOCK and Mary Elizabeth STAMPS had the following children:

James Irving/Ervin COMSTOCK and Margaret E. "Mag" PETTY were married on 2 December 1892 in Cedar County, Missouri. Margaret E. "Mag" PETTY, daughter of Drewry PETTY and Jane [PETTY], was born in 1841 in Kentucky.

Margaret first married Larkin T. Brasher, 17 Sep 1867, Cedar Co, MO.

1880 Census. Benton Twp, Cedar Co, MO, Hh 113
Larkin T. Brasher, age 39, b. MO, parents b. KY
Margaret E., age 38, wife, b. KY, parents b. NC
Drewry S. age 11, son, b. MO
Mary E., age 9, dau, b. MO
Nelly A., age 4 dau, b. MO

Apparently both daughters died. When Mag was giving her testimony after the deaths of her sister & James E. Comstock, she stated that D. S. Brasher was her only child and that she had no children by her second or third husbands.

Mag's 2nd marriage to J. H. Ewing, 10 Jun 1888, Cedar Co, Missouri. In the trial transcript it appears as "C. H. Ewing" They were not married long and he instigated the divorce in 1890. At the trial he stated that her son Sterling did not like him, nor did her "other connections".

License was dated 8 Jun 1888 - J. H. Ewing and M. E. Brasher, both of Jerico and both over the age of eighteen. They were married on June 10th by Elder J. B. Corrias, Minister of the Gospel at Big Springs Church.
There was evidently a divorce since on 29 Apr 1897, he married Frances Leekinzy in Cedar County.

Margaret married James Irving Comstock, 2 December 1892, Cedar Co., MO. I believe she and her son Drury poisoned James and her sister in 1893. James' youngest son, William Decatur Comstock, and a hired hand were made ill at the same time but recovered.

Her possible 4th marriage to J. R. Wallace, was on 6 Nov 1893, Cedar County, and was a month short of a year after her sister and Comstock died of arsenic poisoning. Minerva, the sister, was married to John W. Wallace - Mag married this 4th time as "Lizzie" Comstock - not a name she had used previously. There is a puzzle. The actual digitzed marriage record to Lizzie shows J. R. Wallace. Court documents cite him as J. B. Wallace. John W. Wallace remarried in 1898 to Mary Jane (Robinson) Shipman and lived until about 1912/1913. I have found no evidence that reconciles the initials with the same man - yet there was time for Mag, with her short marriage history, to be married to her sister's widower, and divorce him between 1893 and 1898. In one of her depositions she stated she had been living with John Wallace for three months.

Cedar Co, 1900. I found a Margaret E. Comstock, b. Nov 1841 in KY; she was a weaver of carpets. She seemed not to be married to Wallace any longer, but this is surely the same lady. She lived a few houses from Lydia Bruster, the mother of Mag's daughter-in-law Minnie. Her residence given as Mill Street, Household 25. Margaret E. Comstock, b. Nov 1841, age 58, widow. Had three children, only 1 living. Born Kentucky, parents born in North Carolina. A weaver of carpets [her testimony after the murders described her as weaving in the barn on that day].

1910 Census. Benton Twp, Cedar, MO. Hh 99
John H. Hudson, 67, married twice - this time for 6 years, b. KY, Truck Farmer
Maggie E., wife, 67, married "twice" - had 3 children - 1 is living, b. KY

In the Brasher Cemetery, Jericho Springs, Cedar Co, MO is a stone for Maggie E. Hudson, b. 1841, d. 1926. Said on FindAGrave to have been married to John H. Hudson (b. 18 Jul 1842 - d. 24 Dec 1916) and Comstock. But evidence reveals she was married at least five times.