Friday, September 2, 2011

Great Great Grandparents Lacy

Jeptha David Lacy was born July 15, 1823 in Christian County, Kentucky, son of George W. Lacy and Polly Briant Lacy. He was named for his grandfather, Jeptha D. Lacy who was born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey in 1769. He also had an uncle, Jeptha D. Lacy, Jr. who was married in McLeansboro, Illinois in 1825. This plethora of Jeptha Lacys has led me into some interesting twists and turns in trying to pin down the ancestors. (Not to mention I've found other apparently unrelated Jeptha Lacys. No kidding.)

Sarah Stone, parents unknown to me, was born October 15, 1831 in Ohio. Her family moved to the Quincy, Illinois area, as had young Jeptha Lacy. This is where they met, and they were married there in 1849. They had three children, Theodore M., Emma J., and Mary E. Lacy. Shortly after the eldest, Theodore, was born in 1850 the family relocated to Fremont County, Iowa. There they established a farm four miles northwest of the soon-to-be town of Sidney which was platted in 1853.

Jeptha was much involved in the development of the city, became the town marshall, and was a leading merchant and landholder. Among other enterprises, he operated a lumber mill and a mercantile store.

The Lacys were charter members of Sidney Methodist Church and Jeptha envisioned a seminary to be located in Sidney. Under the aegis of the Sidney Methodist Church, Fremont County Collegiate Institute was established sometime in the 1860s. It was still in operation as late as the spring of 1868. The school, however, closed its doors, as the Methodist Conference refused to back it, and Sidney never became the "college town" the Lacys had envisioned.

In a 1902 interview with the Fremont County Herald, "Uncle Jep" as he was known throughout the community stated that when he had started improving his land fifty years earlier he could not then realize that "within a half-century this wild, unsettled country which belonged mostly to the Indians and infested with wolves could be brought into such a state of cultivation as now exists, and the same land selling for $80 to $100 per acre."

Mr. Lacy further stated that he had cast his first vote for Clay in 1844. He voted for Taylor in '48, for Scott in '52, and for Fremont in '56. (My record of "picking winners" pretty much mirrors his.) Since Lincoln's election in1860, he said, he's been affiliated with the republican party. "Remarkably he claimed to have never missed an election, national, state, nor county, for fifty years." (FCH)

Jeptha David Lacy, July 15, 1823 - December 19, 1904
Sarah Stone Lacy, October 15, 1831 - September 21, 1911

Both are interred in Sidney Cemetery, Sidney, Iowa

5 comments:

Sharkbytes (TM) said...

Very interesting. Om is from Indiana, too, with roots up in the northeast, though. He also was named for an ancestor, Omer... Who knows, maybe our ancestral paths crossed somewhere.

vanilla said...

Shark, study of family history unearths some interesting things. One encounters some frustrations, too.

The other day I told my ophthalmologist that my secretary's maiden name was the same as his. I said you may be related, but you'd probably have to go back to Noah to find the connection. Guess we're all in this together, eh?

Natalie said...

Hi Vanilla! I'm visiting you blog from California. I'm so excited that I have found your page!
I've been researching my husband's genealogy line from his father's mother's father's side and have sources through Theodore M. Lacy. I'm having a hard time finding sources for Jeptha David Lacy and wife Sarah Ann Stone. Would you happen to have sources for the information on this post? Or...at least point me in a direction to find them?
Thank you soooo much! -Natalie

vanilla said...

Hi, Natalie. It pleases me that you have found my blogpost regarding my gggrandparents. It has been several years since I worked on the family tree. I would be pleased to share any information which might be useful to you in your research. A sweet irony, though, is that I have a niece who was recently bitten by the genealogy bug and she currently has my notebooks on the Lacy family. It tickles me that she is avidly interested in her research since none of my kids have shown an interest in it.

I will retrieve my material—sometime. Meanwhile, you might check sources in Fremont County, Iowa and Gallatin, Missouri.
Happy hunting!

Natalie said...

Thank you for your quick response. I'll be heading to my local library this week which has the city's genealogy association's library located there. They may be able to help me verify this information on George and Mary "Polly".
Actually, it is rather fun searching for missing puzzle pieces in the family line. I've talked to some women at LDS church when going to their family history library to use their Ancestry website, some have said they've been doing it for thirty years!!! I just began a few months ago and have made great progress. My intention is to get the father's and mother's information on my side and husbands side of the family, that's all....hehehe. I don't want to be doing this for years.
I sure don't want to devote my life to endless genealogies. ;)
Thanks again. At least your post has given me clues in what to search for and where. God bless you! -N