A Wilson Family Tree
Notes for Olive Agnes Powell
James Hotchkiss has her last name as Howell, but the Adair Wilson family record gives her name as Olive A. Powell, as well as the Saline Co. birth register in Missouri Pioneers, County and Genealogical Records, Volume X (compiled and published by N. Hodges and Mrs. H. W. Woodruff, April 1971). Full name of Olive Agnes (Powell) Wilson is from the listing for her daughter, Genevieve, in "Woman's Who's Who of America", 1914.
The Adair Wilson family record shows the marriage between Ben and Olive in May 1868. Ancestry.com (Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002) shows a marriage between Benjamin Wilson and Alice Pouell on 27 May 1868 in Howard Co., MO. They have an image of the marriage book, and the bride's first name is definitely shown as Alice; it's not a transcription error. This is odd, but I think it must be the marriage of Ben and Olive; there is no other reasonable record for May 1868. My only guess is that the person entering the information mis-heard "Olive" as "Alice". Information on their divorce was obtained from an online Colorado divorce index that is no longer available, but it is now on Ancestry.com at “Colorado DivorceIndex 1851-1985”. The divorce was listed as taking place in Denver County, but Denver County did not exist until 1902, so presumably it was really Denver, Arapahoe Co., CO.
The Vaughan Family Tree on Ancestry.com has Olive's birth date as 21 Jun 1851. However, this birth date can’t be right because she is listed in the 1850 census (Saline Co., MO; she was 9 months old at the time of the census). (The Vaughan Family Tree parents and family for Olive agree with the census listing, but the birth date can’t be right). She is also listed as 11 years old in the 1860 census. Additional evidence that this is the right Olive Powell in 1850 and 1860 is that she had an older sister named Emily, and there was an Emily Powell living with Ben and Olive Wilson in the 1880 census.
This is a bit confusing... She is listed in the 1930 census as Olive E. Goodwin, widow, living with daughter Genevieve Wilson in White Plains, NY (Genevieve listed as a social worker, so it's definitely the right family). They are also listed together in the 1925 New York State census, in New York City (listed as Olive A. Goodwin this time). She is listed as Olive A. Goodwin, widow, in the 1920 census in East Orange, NJ, boarding with the family of Chas. Malloy. In "History of the Long Island College Hospital and Its Graduates" by Joseph H. Raymond (Brooklyn, NY, 1899, obtained from Google Books), there is a listing for Henry Timrod Goodwin, whose second wife was Olive Agnes Powell of Missouri (married 1894). They are listed together (she as Olive E. Goodwin) in the 1900 census in Richmond Co., NY, along with two sons who are presumably from Henry's first marriage. Olive's birth is given as Jun 1852 there, which isn't right (she was listed in the 1850 census, see above). Henry T. Goodwin is listed as divorced in the 1910 and 1920 censuses. So it looks like Olive tended to fib about her age and didn't want to tell people she was divorced. The Vaughan Family Tree and the CG Miller Family Tree say she died in 1936, but the Benjamin Harrison Wilson family tree says 1937.
1870 census
Listed as Olive (?) A. Willson, age 21, born in Missouri. Living with her husband, B.H. Willson, and family.
1880 census
Listed as Ollive A Wilson, age 31, born in Missouri, father born in Kentucky, mother born in Louisiana. Living with her husband, Ben H. Wilson, and family.
Note: Some of the information in these pages is uncertain. Please let me know of errors or omissions using the email link above. ...Mike Wilson
Page generated on 31 October 2023; see http://wilsonfamilytree.org/ for further updates