One Strong Lady and Her Quaker Ancestors

     Phoebe Lovett was the wife of John Van Buren, and grandmother to Clarence Goldsberry.  She was the daughter of William Lovett and Mary Ann “Polly” Smith, born March 24, 1839 in Racine, Lebanon Township, Meigs County, Ohio.  She married John Van Buren July 27, 1856 in Racine, when she was just 17 years old.  John Van Buren was ten years older than his wife.  She had a son, George, the next year, and another son, William David in 1859. George died as a young child.  John Van Buren left for the Civil War when Phoebe was four or five months pregnant with their daughter, Christine, who died when she was only 15 years old.  After John Van Buren returned from the war in 1865, they had four more children:  Francis Ellsworth (our direct line ancestor), Ella, Eva, and Charles Lewis.  Charles was only 10 years old when his father died.  Phoebe was left with four children to raise by herself, and then took custody of her grandson, Clarence.

Phoebe died February 22, 1925, almost 40 years after John Van Buren.  They are buried in the Zion Cemetery, outside of Shade.

 Phoebe’s father, William Lovett, was born in Ohio on June 4, 1804, the year after Ohio became a state.  He married Mary Smith on September 15, 1826. 

 William and Mary are enumerated in the 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, and 1870 census records.   Some interesting notes from the census records:  In 1850, they have seven children: Betsey, 17; Sarah, 14; Daniel, 13; Phoeba, 11; William, 9; Mary E.., 4; Eliza A., 2. In the 1860 census, Sarah, Daniel and Phoebe are not listed.  We know that Daniel and Phoebe are married and out on their own.  Sarah would be 24 years old, so is probably married.  Elizabeth is 27 and is marked as “idiotic,” as she is in 1870.  Also in 1860, there are two more children, Hiram, 9, and O. W., 6.  In 1870,  O.W.’s first name is Orange (?) even though in Phoebe’s obituary, he is named Owen.    Also in the 1870 census, we find that Hiram has married someone named Samaria and they are living with William and Mary.  William died on December 4, 1871 and is buried in Meigs County.

     William’s parents Daniel and Phoebe West were married January 1, 1798 in Ohio, one of the oldest recorded marriages in the state.  Daniel Lovett is listed as one of the early settlers of Meigs County in the book The Pioneer History of Meigs County.  He and Phoebe are enumerated in the 1820, 1830, and 1840 census of Letart Township, Meigs County, OH.  Daniel died December 4, 1840 in Meigs County, OH.

    There has been no proof found of who Daniel Lovett's parents are.  There are many Lovetts in Pennsylvania at the time of his birth.  There were Lovetts that came during William Penn's settlement in 1690, and many of them were Quakers.  I hope to find more records to establish more about Daniel's ancestors.