Doctor Grandma

I am trying to get back into the hunt for more Agnews. Here’s the quick rundown of some of the newer stuff on my great-grandfather James Agnew. I’m pretty sure his father’s name was also James Agnew, b. in 1809. I am writing this quickly tonight, just to get a little bit written down.

James Agnew, born July 10, 1841. This birth date proves very important for tracking him down. He almost always says he was born in Ohio. The only James Agnew I have found from that birth year was born in the Cincinnati area. This makes sense for him to end up down the Ohio river a bit, in New Albany, which is where he lived out most of his adult life, anf where a lot of the family still lives.

in 1850, a little boy James shows up in the 1850 census. His name was miswritten at the bottom of a census page, apart from the rest of his family further up the page, as “Agnewe”. His family further up the page is: James and Mary Agnew, and baby Alfred. There is quite the age difference between the elder James, b. in 1809, and Mary Ann, b. around 1826. If Mary Ann is his mother, she had him at age 15. (If she is not his mother, I don’t know who his mother was.)

**There is another confusing possible family also in Cincinnati area, and that is a “William Agnew” with JAMES being age 18 in 1860 census. In this case, there is no mother here, and there are 2 sisters: Ann and Jennett. To straighten this out, I need to find the James & Mary Agnew family above, in 1860, and so far have not located them in 1860 census (to see if James is listed with them also).

The younger James joins the Union army July 27th, 1861 at the age of 19 or 20. I think this is our James because this regiment came out of the Cincinnati area. However, I cannot be sure of this as all I have is his name & age, & where he signed up.

He marries his first wife, Mary C. (Gross or Gorp) on August 3, 1863, in the New Albany area. They have 2 girls, Annie (b.1865) and Olith “Ollie” (b.1867). Mary dies on Oct. 7, 1874. Have not yet located the cause of death. Annie shows up years later at a step-brother’s funeral, as a “sister” so I know this is our James.

He marries my great-grandmother Carrie Bybee, who is much younger than he (19 yrs), in Aug. 1879. They have 6 children:
William Robert,
James Garfield (dies as a baby)
Fred Louis
Alfred Edward
and the twins: John Wesley (my grandpa) and Gertrude Myrtle.

James, my great-grandfather dies in 1906 (while painting a house from falling off the ladder), and Carrie in 1916 (in an “insane asylum”).

If James and Mary are his parents, then the elder James’ father is most likely a SAMUEL Agnew, who is living with them in 1850. Samuel is supposedly born in 1778 in PA.

(Now to confuse us, there is a famous doctor James Agnew, born in PA in 1778, but this cannot be the Samuel in Ohio in 1850 because the famous Dr. Samuel dies in Nov. 1849 in PA….)

so: Best case scenario, the oldest ancestor linked to us so far, is Samuel Agnew, b.1778 in PA.

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