Suttons in McMechen, West Virginia (A tale of two Ediths)

McMechen was the center of the Isaac Sutton family and their adult children in 1910.

Isaac Sutton and his wife Mary lived on Logan Street with two daughters:
Edith Sutton, 26
Jennie Sutton Suter, 35.
William Sutton, 38, and Mary Ashworth Sutton, on River Road

Maud Sutton Harbison, 23, and George Harbison, on Garfield Street

Mary Catherine Sutton Filben, 40, and Tom Filben, lived in Benwood, about two miles north of McMechen.

Effie Sutton Ashworth, 29, is living on Marshall Street in Benwood, with her husband, identified in the census as "Edward" B. Ashworth, 36.

Edith Sutton shows up twice in the 1910 census: as the daughter of Isaac and Mary Sutton and as the sister of William and Mary Sutton.

Here are the details:

Isaac Sutton, 66, living on "his own income," lived with his wife Mary, 62, in 1910. Daughters Edith, 26, and Jennie Suter, 35, and her daughter, Gertrude, 11, also lived in the home on Logan Street, a north-south street in the heart of "McMechen City," West Virginia, a community a couple of miles south of Benwood. Click on the map below to get a better look at what the town looks like today. Note River Road near the bottom of the image, near the Ohio River, and Logan Street, above Highway 210. The census taker apparently came by the house April 20, 1910. A day ealier, another census taker also recorded Edith Sutton, a single 26-year-old woman, in the William Sutton (below) home. She was listed as William Sutton's sister.

William Sutton's home was on River Road, apparently in McMechen, which, if the town is roughly the same then as today, would have been a few blocks away from Isaac Sutton's home.

The census taker apparently came by the William and Mary Sutton home on April 19, 1910. The home would have been a busy one, with or without Edith Sutton. William Sutton, 38, was a farm laborer in 1910, and his wife, Mary, was 37. They had eight children, ages nine months to 13 years, the two oldest from William Sutton's first marriage. Wilma Sutton was seven years old in 1910.

William and Mary Sutton's neighbors had occupations that included, according to the census, day laborer, tin mill heater, boat pilot, factory boilermaker and railroad laborers.

Maude Sutton, the 23-year-old sister of William and Effie, also lived in McMechen in 1910. The census copy is a little rough, but it looks like she lived on Garfield Street with her husband, George Harbison, 25, and the first of their three children, four-year-old Mildred. George worked for the railroad.

Edwin Ashworth and Effie Sutton Ashworth in San Gabriel, 1920

In 1920, Edwin Ashworth was a 46-year-old locomotive engineer in the lumber (?) industry.
His daughter, Margaret, 22, was a department store "saleslady" and his wife, Effie Sutton Ashworth, 40, was an apartment house manager. Their son, Clarence, 13, was also living with them in their South Stoneman home. The census says Edwin was born in New Jersey and his parents were born in England.

Sutton and Ashworth: A double family connection in 1900

On June 13, 1900, the census recorded Edwin Ashworth, a 27-year-old railroad fireman, living in Benwood, W. Va., with his wife, Effie (sp?), 21, and daughters Margaret, 3, and Edna, 1.
Edwin's sister, Mary, 26, is also living with them.

The occupations of neighbors included day laborer, iron roller, railroad engineer, tube worker, pottery and "coke machine." The places of birth of neighbors included Austria, Germany, Wales, Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

William Sutton and Mary Ashworth were married Nov. 29, 1900 at her home in Benwood, West Virginia. It was Thanksgiving Day.
Marshall County records for the marriage say it took place at Mary Ashworth's home. The 1900 census says she lived with her brother's family in Benwood on June 13, 1900.

Her brother, Edwin Ball Ashworth, was married to Effie Sutton, William's sister.

Edwin and sister Mary Ashworth in Benwood in 1900

On June 13, 1900, the census recorded Edwin Ashworth, a 27-year-old railroad fireman, living in Benwood, W. Va., with his wife, Elba (sp?), 21, and daughters Margaret, 3, and Edna, 1. Edwin's sister, Mary, 26, is also living with them. The occupations of neighbors included day laborer, iron roller, railroad engineer, tube worker, pottery and "coke machine." The places of birth of neighbors included Austria, Germany, Wales, Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Who moved to California from West Virginia?

I'm still working on this, but this is what I have as of March 2008:

Who was there from West Virginia
• Isaac Newton Sutton (in beach foto)
• Martha Henry Sutton (in beach foto)
• Brother and sister: Edwin Ball Ashworth and Mary Alice Ashworth
• Brother and two sisters: William Alfred Sutton, Effie Bell Sutton Ashworth, Sarah Virginia (1920 census listed her as ‘Jennie’) Sutton Suter
• And their children

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Effie Bell Sutton Ashworth (in beach foto)
Edwin Ball Ashworth
Margaret Martha Ashworth
Edna Ashworth
Clarence Ashworth

Sarah Virginia Sutton Suter (widowed?)
Gertrude
(lived with nephew Clyde in 1920, also next door to Mary Sutton)

William Alfred Sutton
Mary Alice Ashworth Sutton
Clyde Newton Sutton
Mary Sutton
Wilma Sutton
Isaac Nelson Sutton
Martha Margaret Sutton
Maude Francis Sutton
Benjamin Franklin Sutton
Effie Louela Sutton
Wanda Alice Sutton
Ruth Ramona Sutton

Genealogy: The Ohio River Valley near Wheeling

A couple of months ago Mom sent me a package of family records that included family genealogy. After reading through them a couple of times, I found myself looking for a map to make sense of what I was reading. On Mom's side of the family much of the family history takes place in West Virginia along the Ohio River, from Wheeling to Moundsville, including Benwood, where Grandma Beresford was born. Here's what the area looks like:


Wheeling is to the left of the map and Moundsville is to the right. The Ohio River runs right to left, north to south. You should be able to click on the map to get a larger image. Here's a closer look at Benwood today. It's a few miles south of Wheeling:



Here's a bridge over the Ohio River at Wheeling that would have been familiar to the families living in Wheeling and south.
The bridge is part of the National Road.