#52Ancestors Week 8, "I Can Identify"

Week 8 of #52ancestors...  "I Can Identify" 

This week was a hard one to figure out who to write about.  Other people in the Facebook group were writing about ancestors they had already identified... or those they had not been able to identify.  Some wrote about ancestors they had things in common with, and others took different routes.

I finally decided to write about someone that I had identified in some ways... and yet I had not in other ways.  Confused?  ha ha

On July 4th of 1870, Smith Rosan married Mary Mathis... and became my 2nd Great Grandparents.  However, a lesser known fact, is that Mary was Smith's 2nd wife.  His first wife was Sarah E. Hale.  And she is one of my mysteries.  Ever since learning about her existence, I have wanted to know more about her.  Where did she come from?  How did they meet?  And so on and so forth.

Things I do know...

1. They were married in Montgomery, Alabama, on February 4, 1866.  Smith was stationed there with his Union regiment for close to the last full year of the Civil War.  

2.  Sarah was older than Smith.  In the 1866 Alabama state census, Smith is listed in the age 20-30 column, and Sarah is in the age 30-40 column.  They are living in Lowndes County.

3.  Sarah died in July of 1869, in Perry County, Illinois.  She was buried on a neighbor's property. 

Things I am almost certain of...

1.  Smith and Sarah moved from Alabama to Illinois in 1868.  Alabama rejoined the Union, and the Army was sent home.  It's most likely that this is when Smith and Sarah left Alabama, too.  Smith had been living in Perry County, Illinois, when he joined the Union Army.

Things I have found, but am not certain of...

1.  There is a Sarah Hale, age 24,  living in Lowndes County, Alabama, in the 1860 census.  She's in the household of a W.M. Hudson and his wife Elizabeth (age 30), as well as their 6 children and W.M.'s father.  The adults and most of the children are noted as being born in South Carolina.  Could this Sarah Hale be the right one?  Perhaps she was Elizabeth's sister?  Maybe she left SC with the family, to help take care of the children?

2.  There is a Sarah E. Hale, age 13, living in Anderson County, South Carolina in the 1850 census.  She is in the household of John and Eliza Hale.  

I know I am not actually a blood relative to Sarah...but I still feel like I should try to figure her out.  I like to think there's some relative of hers... someone trying to find out whatever happened to their 2nd Great GrandAunt...  Maybe someday we'll connect and be able to fill each other in.  After all, isn't that one of the goals of a Genealogist?  You are not just searching for yourself...you are searching for others, as well.