Sarah Alvira Winch Case

I found a document at the Geneva Library that's dated 1864. It says that the minor orphaned children of Ethelbert Winch shall be placed under guardianship of Philo Winch, one of Ethelbert's brothers. The minor children were listed as Freeland, Mary and Albert. Sarah should have been on the list
too, so I am puzzled as to why she isn't. Maybe Ethelbert's wife was still living and Sarah stayed with her. Maybe the wife had to send some of the children to live with relatives after Ethelbert died.

I don't have any photos of my great-great-grandfather, Albert Perry Winch, this photo of Albert's sister Sarah might be as close as I am ever going to get to having a likeness of him.

Albert Winch's daughter, Polly Almeda, married two brothers according to old records.
This will give you a better idea of how I am connected to Sarah Winch Case.
Ethelbert Winch (I think?) had a son, Albert Perry Winch, born 1851.
Albert Perry Winch married Marietta Nichols.
Albert and Marietta had 4 children before divorcing in 1887. The last child
was born in 1883 and was named Polly Almeda Winch.
Polly Almeda was married twice.
Her first husband was Wallace Hunt.
They divorced after having several children together.
Then Polly Almeda married Judson Keech.
Judson was Wallace Hunt's brother, but Judson had the last name Keech
because he was given up for adoption. (All the children were given up after
Judson's parents got divorced.
Polly Almeda Winch and 2nd husband Judson Keech had several children.
The very last of the brood was Almeda Keech (she was named after her
mother.) So you see, Albert Perry Winch, suspected brother of Sarah Winch
Case, was my grandmother's grandfather.
Almeda Keech married Elmer Niemi.
They had 2 children. Their son, Elmer William, is my father.

Back of this photo says it is a picture of Eliza Winch. It was probably taken in the 1880s.

Eliza Winch was the daughter of David and Laura Shepard Winch.

She was Ethelbert Winch's sister and so she would have been an aunt to Sarah Winch Case.

Eliza was supposedly married, but there is no record of who her husband was. The 1880 census lists her as living with her mother in Pierpont.

Her marital status on the census was still classified as married, but there is no husband to be found on the premises. Odd.

Eliza was born in 1825 and died in 1895. She is buried in Padanarum Cemetery in Richmond on North Lake Road next to her parents.

As far as I know, she never had any children, but she might have had some. Who knows... There's some mystery surrounding her.

I checked the 1880 census for Sarah and Ephraim and interestingly enough,
Sarah's race is listed as white not Indian. I guess if she was half white,
maybe she could say that. The census also says Sarah couldn't read or write.

Don't know who this lady is or what side of the family she is connected to

do you know this lady? Click to enlarge photo

If you can identify her email me

.

Among some old papers at her grandmother's house, she found an old name card for a Hattie M. Case. It's the type people used to exchange during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

July 28, 2003 received an email from Rebecca. She found Sarah Alvira Case's death certificate. She died April 22, 1928 of an apoplexy, which is an outdated medical term for stroke. Her parents were -- as we suspected -- Ethelbert Winch and Hannah Sturgis, and she is buried in Pierpont but it did not list the name of the cemetery. The informant for the death certificate was Sadie Childs of Dorset.
May 22, 2007 received this information from Rebecca ALBERT PERRY WINCH – A TIMELINE Feb. 21, 1851 – Albert is born, the first child of Ethelbert Winch and Hannah Sturges. Ethelbert, the son of David Winch and Laura Shepard, is about 29 and Hannah, parents unknown, is about 24. Hannah is supposedly half or full-blooded Seneca Indian. Albert is the first of two children. Sarah Alvira is born in 1853 and Freeland in 1856. April 1857 – Ethelbert Winch dies after an illness, leaving three small children (Albert is only 6). One old document included with others in Ethelbert's estate says Hannah paid $5.75 to a doctor named Charles Sawyer. The cost of Ethelbert's coffin was $3.50, paid by Philo Winch, Ethelbert's younger brother. Another document dated April 10, 1860 says, “All chattels, rights and credits which were of Ethelbert Winch late of the township of Pierpont in said county, deceased at the time of his death is hereby committed unto Lester Turner. . .” Property in the estate of Ethelbert Winch included 1 old cracked cauldron kettle, two hooked log chains, 6 spoons, 1 set of knives and forks, an old plow, an old cook stove, family Bible, a cow, eight sheep, two beds and bedding and tw bedsteads, pots and kettles, table and chairs, six cups and saucers, sugar dish, milk pot(?), and clothing and ornaments belonging to Hannah. The total cost to settle the estate was $515. Before 1860 – Hannah Winch is remarried to Lester Turner before 1860. In the 1860 census she has a 1-year-old daughter by Lester named Flora. This same census also lists Albert, 9; Sarah, 6; and Freeland, 4. Prior to 1864 – Hannah, Lester and Ethelbert’s orphaned children head west to Illinois. In 1864 – Albert’s uncle, Philo Winch, files for custody of Albert, Sarah and Freeland. Philo Winch and his brother-in-law, Lewis Leonard (husband of Ethelbert’s sister Lucy), paid $100.26 to have Albert, Sarah and Freeland retrieved from Illinois and brought back to Ohio. Albert is about 13 years old and placed under the guardianship of Philo Winch until age 21. Around 1864-1867 – Hannah has twin sons by Lester Turner – Sylvester and Lester Jr. It is not clear where these sons were born, but they might have been born in Ohio. Later in life, twins Lester and Sylvester will earn a reputation for being rowdy. An 1890 edition of THE TELEGRAPH, a newspaper in Ashtabula County, details the case of Ohio vs. Sylvester and Lester Turner. It reads: “--DENMARK, Ohio-- Quite a large percent of the citizens of East Denmark and West Pierpont have for a week past been in Jefferson as witnesses in the case of Ohio vs. Sylvester and Lester Turner. The case originated as follows: On Christmas day 1889, when the family of Wm. Stolliker were preparing their Christmas dinner their preparations were disturbed by the entrance of Sylvester Turner, who came in search of his housekeeper, Mrs. Hawes, who was temporarily stopping with the Stolliker family. Upon Mrs. Hawes refusing to accompany him, and Mr. Stolliker assuring her of protection while an inmate of his house, Mr. Turner left the house and awaited the coming of his brother, Lester, when they forcibly entered the house, knocked down Mr. Stolliker with a flat iron, carrying off Mrs. Hawes in triumph. After lingering between life and death for several weeks, Mr. Stolliker finally so far recovered as to appear as a witness against his assailants and the verdict of the jury will doubtless appear in the present issue of the TELEGRAPH. – Dec. 9, 1890(?)” -- A descendent of William Stoliker told me the Stolikers were rumored to have been Indian. She also said Cora Hawes (maiden name Stoliker) was a young woman about the same age as the twins. Could one of the twins been romantically interested in Cora? Cora died in 1891, so the story ends there. I don't know what the legal outcome of the case was. Prior to 1870 – Hannah dies. No documents of her death or where she is buried are known to exist. Lester kept the twins (presumably) and came back to Ohio/Pennsylvania and was married again by 1870 to a Mary Ellen Winkleman. Lester and Mary Ellen had a son, Haskall Byron Turner, in 1868. After his birth, Lester was listed as staying in the Ashtabula County home in Kingsville, OH with one of his twin sons by Hannah Sturges Winch. The father and son may have been in the facility’s mental ward, since mental illness seems to have been an issue. When Lester left the county home he reunited with Mary Ellen, and they had two more sons. Just before the last son was born, Lester and Mary Ellen separated. In 1880 he was living with his twin sons, Sylvester and Lester, in Pierpont, Ohio. The twins were 19 then. (Ages for the twins conflict on various census records.) In the 1870 census – Albert P. Winch is living in Brokenstraw, Warren County, PA with the Adaniram Ransom family. It is not clear how Albert knew the Ransom family, but he might have had relatives in Warren County (more on that later). In the census, he is listed as a farmhand and is 19 years old. He must not have liked living under the guardianship of his Uncle Philo. He has left Ashtabula County and his Winch relatives for a life in Warren County, PA. Feb. 11, 1872 – Albert marries Marietta Nichols. He is just a few weeks shy of his 21^st birthday, and Marietta is a few months shy of her 16^th birthday (she turns 16 April 22, 1856). They reside in Pierpont near Marietta's parents, Nelson and Betsey Nichols. Jan. 5, 1873 – Albert’s first child is born – a daughter, Miriam Marie Winch, named after Marietta’s sister. May 5, 1874 – Albert’s second child is born – another daughter, Flora Winch, perhaps named after Albert’s half sister. Jan. 13, 1876 – Albert’s first son is born – Nelson Ernest Winch, named after Marietta’s father, Nelson Nichols. May 23, 1883 – Polly Almeda Winch is born. She is the last child Albert and Marietta will have. June 1887 – Albert files for divorce from Marietta. In his divorce petition he alleges that Marietta has been an unfit wife. (He does not mention that he has been having an affair with a younger woman.) He is 36 years old and Marietta is 31. Nov. 2, 1887 – The divorce is final, and the same day it’s final, Albert marries Lydia Lattin, his 19-year-old girlfriend, in Jefferson, Ashtabula County, Ohio. The marriage record says both were residing in Wayne, Ohio at the time of the marriage. Lydia was also part Seneca Indian (a daughter of a Native American man named Quincy Lattin) and if we do the math we can deduce she was already pregnant at the time of the marriage. June 1888 – Albert and Lydia’s first child is born – a daughter named Laura E. Winch. In 1889 – Marietta Nichols remarries to a man named Alzemus Swartz. Marietta is 33 years old. They eventually have a daughter named Myrtle (born 1891). In March 1890 – Lydia gives birth to Albert’s son, Alfred C. Winch. Feb. 1894 – Lydia births a daughter, Lena Winch. Oct. 1898 – Lydia has another daughter, Hazel E. Winch. By 1900, Lydia and Albert are living in Triumph, Warren County, Pennsylvania with their four children. In 1904, two of Albert’s children by his first wife, Marietta Nichols, die. Flora Winch Hudson and Nelson Ernest Winch both die of typhoid fever in the fall of this year. Flora is married with small children. Nelson is a bachelor. Albert’s name is left out of the obituaries. By 1910 – Albert and Lydia are separated. Albert is living alone in Pierpont, Ashtabula County, next door to his daughter, Polly Almeda Winch Hunt. Albert tells the census taker he is “widowed,” which is a lie. Albert’s ex-wife, Marietta Nichols Swartz, also lives in Pierpont, and Lydia Lattin Winch is very much alive. Nov. 27, 1911 - Albert and Lydia are legally divorced in Tidioute, Warren County, PA. Lydia marries James Warren Kearney (Kerney), a much older man, in December 1911. 1915 – Albert is admitted to the Ashtabula County Infirmary because he is “destitute.” Jan. 1916 – Albert dies in the Ashtabula County Infirmary of syphilis. He is buried in a pauper’s grave in Lulu Falls Cemetery in Geneva, Ohio, where infirmary inmates are interred. He is 64 years old. I have also been in contact with a descendent of Albert P. Winch and his second wife, Lydia Lattin. Her name is Monica Schwarzmueller, and she is the great-granddaughter of Albert and Lydia's first child, Laura E. Winch. Laura E. Winch married Charles James, and they had a daughter named Margaret James, b. 1914 in Tidioute, Warren County, PA. If anyone has any info. on this branch of the family tree, please contact Monica at monica3@roadrunner.com STURGES GENEALOGY I have also been trying very hard to find out who Hannah Sturges Winch Turner's parents were. I have dug up a few clues, but nothing is definite at this point. My great uncle, who is long dead, once told my father that he had a female Seneca Indian ancestor who came from NY State. Since Hannah Sturges was born in Pennsylvania, according to old records, this leads me to wonder if Hannah’s mother was an Indian and her father was white and she was just half Seneca? Although I haven't been able to find out for sure who Hannah's parents were, I have possibly found two of her sisters. In the 1850 Richmond, Ohio census, Hannah and Ethelbert are living with a Mary T. Sturgis, age 15. This Mary might have been Hannah's sister, and she might have also been a sister to a woman named Temperance Sturgis. I believe Mary and Temperance might have been sisters (or otherwise related) because after Temperance died, Mary married Temperance’s widowed husband. Mary T. Sturges was first married to a Joseph Wright who died in the Civil War. At the time of her husband’s death, Mary was living in Wisconsin. (She and Joseph had moved there from Ohio/Pennsylvania.) After she became a widow, Mary moved back to Pennsylvania and went to Warren County to live. In PA she married Jonah/Jonas Broughton, whose wife, Temperance Udell Sturgis Broughton, had died. Mary and Jonas eventually moved to Kansas, where Jonas died. Mary was married a third time to B. Powell and is buried in Kansas. Mary’s obituary says both of her parents died around 1847-48, and she went to Ohio to live. (We know she was living with Hannah and Ethelbert in 1850.) If Mary and Hannah were sisters, then perhaps Hannah and Temperance were sisters, too? There are documented connections between the three of them. There is a posting on Ancestry.com that says Temperance might have been the daughter of a man named Israel Sturgis and a woman named Sall Beadle. Israel came from NY State and was in Crawford County, PA by 1830. Could he have married a Seneca woman and brought her to PA with him? Could she have been named Sall Beadle? It’s all speculation at this point, but it’s a trail to follow none-the-less. It also makes sense that Hannah and Lester Turner would have headed west to Illinois if Hannah had family who had moved from Ohio/PA to more westerly states. (remember the guardianship papers that say Albert, Sarah and Freeland were fetched from Illinois in 1864.) Another clue that I’ve uncovered that links our Winches to Temperance Udell Sturgis Broughton is this: In 1870, Albert P. Winch was living in Brokenstraw, Warren County, Pennsylvania with a family by the name of Ransom. The Ransoms and the Broughtons were connected. Also, if Temperance and Mary Sturgis were sisters to our Hannah, then they would have been aunts to Albert and your Sarah. Why else would Albert have left Ashtabula County and gone to Warren County, PA to live if he didn’t have relatives there? By the way, Warren County, PA is an area that was once heavily populated by Seneca Indians. There a ton more Sturges information at the Sturgis family forum at www.babtech.net
5/22/07 Olive added that Hannah married Lester Turner, in fact he is the son of Carmi Turner, brother to Jesse Turner, father of the Turner sisters that E.A. married.

Samuel Winch was a brother of Ethelbert Winch and an uncle to Sarah Winch Case.

	David Winch Jr., an uncle to Sarah and a brother to Ethelbert

I do not know the identity of the man in this photo, but I am sure he is a Winch. He looks so much like David Winch Jr. (in the younger photo I sent you) that I sometimes wonder if it's David later in life. I also wonder if it's my ancestor Albert P. Winch. The back of the photo has some handwriting that is hard to read, but it looks like it says "Work for Ames Kertis." Maybe someone out there knows for sure who this fellow is.

If you are of this family, please feel free to send information to case@maggiesworld.com and I will list it here. Any photos must be in 400X400 pixels in .gif or .jpg format only.