Mary (Jane) Westlake

1801 - 1895  (93 years)    Has 27 ancestors and 48 descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Mary (Jane) Westlake
  Birth	2 Oct 1801	Big Levels, Greenbriar Co., Virginia, USA   [1]
  Gender	Female
  Death	19 Jun 1895	Chilicothe, Ohio, USA
  Burial	Addison Township, Gallia County
  Siblings	8 Siblings
  1. Elizabeth Westlake,   b. 22 Apr 1780   d. Yes, date unknown   2. Sarah Westlake,   b. 18 Sep 1782   d. Yes, date unknown   3. Thomas A. Westlake,   b. 28 Jun 1786   d. Yes, date unknown   4. Samuel Westlake,   b. 3 Sep 1789   d. Yes, date unknown   5. Joseph Westlake,   b. 9 Mar 1792, Rockbridge County, Virginia, USA d. 10 Oct 1879  (Age 87 years) ▻ Margaret (Peggy) Craig,  m. 18 Apr 1816 ;   Mary Martin,  m. 1860   6. James Bracee Westlake,   b. 15 Mar 1794   d. Yes, date unknown   7. Welling Westlake,   b. 8 Sep 1796   d. Yes, date unknown   8. Nancy Westlake,   b. 18 Feb 1799   d. Yes, date unknown + 9. Mary (Jane) Westlake,   b. 2 Oct 1801, Big Levels, Greenbriar Co., Virginia, USA d. 19 Jun 1895, Chilicothe, Ohio, USA  (Age 93 years) ▻ Rev. James Gilruth,  m. 25 Sep 1823
  Person ID	I320387	Geneagraphie
  Last Modified	7 Aug 2009

  
  

  Father	Thomas Westlake,   b. 1 Jan 1755, Trenton, Mercer, New Jersey, USA d. Dec 1827 (Age 72 years)
  Mother	Molly Richmond Brace,   b. 24 Sep 1761, Tolland, Connecticut, USA bur. Bethel Church Cemetery, Addison Twp, Gallia Co., Ohio, USA
  Marriage	27 Jun 1779
  Family ID	F127708	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Rev. James Gilruth,   b. 29 Jan 1793, Belleville, Wood County, West Virginia, USA d. 2 Jun 1873, Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa, USA (Age 80 years)
  Marriage	25 Sep 1823	Gallipolis, Meigs Co., Ohio, USA   [2]
  Children	1. Harriet Gilruth,   b. 2 Dec 1824   d. 6 Dec 1852 (Age 28 years)   2. Mary Gilruth,   b. 5 Jun 1827   d. 30 Jun 1828 (Age 1 year) + 3. Naomi Melcina Gilruth,   b. 24 Jul 1828   d. 1915 (Age 86 years) + 4. Matilda Carolina Gilruth,   b. 12 Aug 1831, Granville, Licking Co., Ohio, USA d. Mar 1923 (Age 91 years) + 5. Alitia Pauline Gilruth,   b. 25 Feb 1835   d. 1908 (Age 72 years)   6. Mary Gilruth,   b. 25 Feb 1835   d. Yes, date unknown + 7. Christiana M. Gilruth,   b. 20 Jul 1837   d. 1905 (Age 67 years) + 8. James Henry Gilruth,   b. 7 Apr 1840, Worthington, Ohio, USA d. 5 Dec 1926 (Age 86 years) + 9. Thomas Westlake Gilruth,   b. 6 Apr 1843, Worthington, Ohio, USA d. 3 Jan 1921, Kansas, Missouri, USA (Age 77 years)
  Family ID	F127707	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	9 Aug 2009

  
  

• Notes

  1823 After marriage Mary Westlake and James Gilruth "lived in Iowa and also Prairie Home, Cooper Co., Mo. jan 1825 At approximately this time ("Spring) Mary Westlake was living with her mother Marion Ingles. Feb 1825-Mei 1825 Mary Westlake went back to Adelphi to be with her husband. She had to set up a new residence there. Okt 1825 Delaware - Mary and James' neighbor was Mrs. Hayes, mother to 2 year old Rutherford B. Hayes (Ohio Governor and President when he grew up). 4 Okt 1826 James Gilruth was appointed to take charge of the Wyandotte Missions at Upper Sandusky, OH. James and family moved there. In 1827 or 1828, James Gilruth was assigned to the Delaware Circuit, with his home apparently based out of Marion, where he had lived two years before. Jun 1828 James, Mary and Mary started travelling to Delaware for another appointment in Delaware Circuit. 1829 Probably the Fall of 1829, James Gilruth was appointed to Grandville, Licking Co., OH. They stayed there two years. Some time prior to the Conferance of 1832 the family went to visit the mothers of James Gilruth and Mary Westlake. See Note 2 Probably in 1832, the family began travelling from Putnam, Muskingum Co., Ohio, to Detroit, Michigan territory "in a light two-horse wagon." In 1833 James and Mary went to French Grant. They learned that Helen had become engaged ot Fredric Didway (Diduit). Mary caught cold while making the wedding clothes. Thzey owned two cows. Mary Westlake was ill with inflammation of the bowels. James doctored her back to health after dismissing the probably drunk doctor. Taken from "The Past is Prologue" pp 100-103. Mary Westlake Gilruth writes: "In June of 1828, Husband and myself, with little Mary, started for Delaware. Daturday forenoon he preached at Radnor and started to preach in the afternoon. We got to stop with a Mr. Adams. Mary was taken sick and we gave her herb medicine, but she grew worse. Your father went on next morning and filled his appointment and then started for the afternoon preaching place. "We had to go down a long slope, at the bottom of which was a marshy place bridged with round logs--a 'corduroy' bridge. At the top of the hill a half dozen young people, boys and girls on their way to church, frightened the horse with their laughter. The animal ran down hill, and notwithstanding his strength, Husband could not stop him. The harness broke and the buggy ran against the horse's heals, making him almost crazy wild. Husband managed to turn him to one side, but the buggy struck a stump, throwing myself and the baby out. "I did not lose my presence of mind, but as I fell, striking on my right side and much hurt, I whisked the baby over my head so she fell on top and was not injured. The buggy was broken apart, but Husband held onto the lines and was dragged on his face over the ground and bridge until the lines broke in each hand. "His clothes were torn, his watch was broken to pieces. The horse ran on, with the thills and single tree striking him at every step, until men gathered for service saw him and knew he belonged to Mr. Gilruth. But no one dared try to stop him until one man ran out and, clasping the animal about the neck, hung on until others came to his help. "Of course Husband must have been hurt, but he always made light of anything he could bear and so preached as if nothing had happened. The service was held in the house of a brother of Mr. Adams, a Mr. Elijah Adams, and I was taken to a bedroom in his house where I laid to hear Husband's voice in preaching and thought about his torn clothes. "Mary grew worse with dysentery. Next morning the parts of the broken buggy weree placed on Mr. Elijah's Adams' big wagon and were placed on top. Thus we made our advent into Delaware, stopping at the house of Mrs. Gordon (mother of Clara Gordon, whom some of my children knew at school in Worthington--'the Ladies Seminary.' Clara was not born until some years later). The horse was called 'Dick' and was the animal for which the horse I brought from home was swapped. He always would run away afterwards when he had a chance. "After getting to Mrs. Gordon's on Monday morning, your father went on to fill other appointments, not thinking that Mary was seriously ill, but advising me to send for a doctor if she got worse. I did so that afternoon. The child was standing by my knee when he came. He looked at her and ordered a dose of calomel. My baby never stood on her feet again. "Ah, that was a horrid night to me! As I sat in the rocking chair holding the litte dear in my arms, a dog howled right under the window of my room. Three times he gave that dismal howl. How could I help being startled! "I laid down with her in my arms and dreamed that I was sitting in a room in Mrs. Bixby's home and baby was lying on a little bed by my side. Husband came in and baby opened her beautifuly big brown eyes and smiled on him. She held out her little arms; he took her up and fondled her a little and laid her in my arms. Just as he laid her down, she went into a spasm. I woke up with the dread of that spasm. "Mrs. Gordon was not well, so the next day I did got to Mrs. Bixby. She was my most inimiate friend in Delaware. One Thursday we sent word to Husband and he got there Friday forenoon and my dream was fulfilled! He came into the room--Baby opened her eyes and smiled and held out her arms. He took her up, caressed her and laid her in my arms and she immediately went in a spasm. "Spasm after spasm followed until Sunday afternoon. Then she died. We (Husband and I), were bending over her little face. She opened her clear, intelligent eyes and smiled at us, then closed them as if asleep. We dropped on our knees and Husband, in calm, solemn prayer, gave her spirit to God. This was the 29th June; she was less than thirteen months old. "It was not because she died but because it was really so, that we believed her to be the handsomest and most forward or all our children. We buried her in the burial ground (not very far distant from Mr. Bixby's house), which as I remember, was situated on a high knoll and enclosed with a paling. If any of my children ever go to Delaware and go to the old burying ground, perhaps they may ifnd a small, white marble tombsone with her name, 'Mary--Daughter of J. & M. Gilruth' and a partly blown rose cut on it. "When we went back home without our Babe, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, who had slept in our house at night so it might be safe for Hattie and Helen and Miss Dunlevey, said that one night as they laid in my bed, they heard three distinct raps, and the Judge said to his wife, 'the baby is dead.' However that may be, we never heard strange noises there afterward." Taken from "The Past is Prologue" pp 111-112. Mary Westlake Gilruth writes: "The removal from Putnam was a great disappointment to me. Moving was so hard on me. We wished to visit our mothers again that Fall--so before Conferance of 1832, we started. After passing throught Chillicothe, we had to cross Paint Creek which, when full, was a pretty large stream. I will give my Husband's words, taken from his diary--'In crossing Paint Creek the water came up six or eight inches on the bed of the wagon which, being pretty light and not fastenend down, was not to our advantage. I had teh presence of mind to give time for the bed to fill--that with my weight saved us.' I shall never forget crossing Paint Creek at that time--three litle children with ourselves." Taken from "The Past is Prologue" pp 112-113. Mary Westlake Gilruth writes: "I went out to bring in their breakfast. I sat the victuals on the table. I did not then know, nor do I now know what they looked like. While sitting at the table, he began again in a sarcastic tone, indicating that I was much elated that my Husband was made Presideing Elder. "I asked, 'What makes you think so?' "'Because you turned so white when I told you.' "That aroused my indignation. Said I, 'The Conferance has made sole-leather of my husband long enough and we have submitted without saying a word, but this I resent and if I had the power to act as I feel, Detroit District might find a Presiding Elder where it could. I would never go one step.'" Taken from "The Past is Prologue" pp 121-122 They "traveled on what was called the 'Zanesville Pike' to Columbus, thence through Delaware, Marion, Upper Sandusky (or Wyandotte Mission), Tiffin, Lower Sandusky (now Freemont), through the Balck Swamp to Perrysburg at the head of Maumee Bay." They "had left Helen at French Grant with her Grandmother Gilruth, so that we had our three children--the eldes, our dear Harriet, being eight years old. Somewhere on this journey, althought I have forgotten the place, we came up a steep hill down which the road led." "Husband and I got out of the wagon to light the load, leaving the babe with Hattie. Naomi, a restless little thing, there years old, crept to the front and, trying to peep out, lost her balance and fell right across the wagon track. "Husband saw he could not snatch her up in time, so he caught and lifted up the fore whell of that heavily loade dwagon with one hand and, with the other, snatched the child away. This all happened so quickly that although looking at it, I could not take it in until afterward." *** "We reached Perrysburg at the head of Maumee Bay, on Lake Erie. This was the first appointment of the Detroit District and Husband told the Preacher what time he would hold the quarterly meeting there. We crossed the Maumee River by Ferry, but there was a ford about a half mile distant which was dangerous because of spaces between the flat rocks in the bed of the river, where the horses' feet would slip through sometimes." "At Maumee city, Husband also left word of the time for Quarterly Meeting. From thence we went on to Monroe on the River Raisin in Michigan. Here we learned that it would be better to make our home in Ann Arbor, Washeenew County, than in Detroit, because Ann Arbor was a little neraer the center of the District. Indeed if I remember right, the District embraced all the lower Peninsula of Michigan, and part of the upper. Husband's most distant Mission was on Lake Superior. Taken from "The Past is Prologue" pp 125. Mary Westlake Gilruth writes: "Ann Arbor (about the size of Wrothington, I think, when we went there in 1837) was divided by the River Huron into Upper and Lower Ann Arbor. We arrived in the Upper part (that is on the tope ofthe Bluff) which had been laid out into streets and blocks. The portion next the river, or the river bottom, was not yet laid off." Taken from "The Past is Prologue" pp 126. Mary Westlake Gilruth writes: "There was no house ready for the Presiding Elder in town. So, for the winter, your father rented part of Mrs. Dr. Lord' brick house, one fourth of a mile from the village. She was a widow. Dr. Lord had died not long before. Afterward we rented a house in town. "The years spent in Ann Arbor were the most pleasant, taking it altogether, I had spent since entering the Itinerancy. The people were cultivated, intelligent Easterners--very kind to us. I was young--only thirty one and girlish, even with three children. The young girls from eighteen years and up frequently spent the day with me." Taken from "The Past is Prologue" pp 135. Mary Westlake Gilruth writes: "Your father made it a rule to visit his parents and mine once a year, as along as they lived. We went to French Grant in 1833. We learned that Helen had engaged herself to a young man of French extraction. She was so young that Husband insisted on bringing her home with us. But his Mother advised against it. "She thought that all things considered, Helen would be better married to her choice. He was a nice young fellow--named Fredric Didway. The correct name was Duduit (prounced Dudwee) but it became Anglicized into Didway. So, Husband giving his consent, I went with him to Burlington on the Ohio River and then the county seat of Lawrence County, where we purchased such outfit as he would give her. "Her wedding dress was what is now called 'Victoria Lawn.' I made it myself, and I also made her underclothes--and washed and done up such as required. I took cold by doing so, and was too sick either to go to the church where your Father married her, or even to sit up at the wedding dinner. I was confined to my bed in the opper story two weeks, during which time little Hattie was my only attendant; because Husband was taken with cholera. He almost lost his life and every energy was bent to his care. It was sometime in November when we started home. "Husband was able to walk some when we started and could sit and drive; but I had to be lifted into the wagon although I could sit up. It was a slow, tedious, cold journey. We did not reach Ann Arbor until sometime in December.

  
  

• Sources

  [S1044] Kynett, Harold H.; The Past is Prologue - Meanderings with Memoirs; 1954, (Printed by Edward Stern & Company, Inc.), 22, B G427k 1954. (Reliability: 2). [S1043] Nelson W. Evans, A. M., A History of Scioto County, Ohio,Together With a Pioneer Record of Southern Ohio, (Portsmouth, Ohio. Published by Nelson W. Evans, 1903), 715 (Reliability: 2).