Silas Coalman

Who is Silas Coalman? I don't know.

In 1854 he married Lucy Letitia Birdsell in Washington County, Ohio. I'm not sure if Lucy Letitia is my great, great grandfather's sister or not. I know Lucy Jane Birdsell Pettibone was his sister.

Would William's father and mother name two daughters the same first name and call them by their middle names? I could almost see it if they were twins, but they were born about 6 years apart.

On Ancestry.com if you put someone in your tree you can get hints from the documents they have there or from other family trees that have those same people listed in them. You can go to those trees and see what information someone else has. It's pretty neat, even though a large percentage of what I see doesn't have any documentation supporting it.

When I look at the hints for Lucy Letitia Birdsell the hints are really for Lucy Jane Birdsell. Letitia is in the 1850 census by name. Then there's the marriage record for Lucy Letitia Birdsell and Silas Coalman. That's it. Nothing more that I can find for her. Other than I have her pin pointed in the 1840 census by gender and age.

Poor Silas Coalman. I found him in the 1850 census by name. Then the marriage record. And nothing else for him. Not a thing. Not one thing. No death record. No burial record. Nothing. Not only that, I can't find any hints for him on ancestory.com. Not a one.

He's gone. For all practical purposes he's also forgotten.

Why is no one looking for him?

Who was this young man that disappeared at the age of 21? Was he the husband of my great, great, great aunt?

Am I really the only person who is attempting to learn more about him?

If so, why?

He's not an ancestor. He's an ancestor-in-law, at best. Why can't I let go of the fact that he appears forgotten? Maybe it's because I keep wondering how I'd feel if it were my great, great grandfather that had been completely forgotten by the world.

So, while I learn about others, I keep searching for information about Silas and his wife, who might have been my great, great grandfather's sister.

We owe them that much.