Connecting Families in Marion Township, Henry County, Iowa

Receiving comments and emails from readers is one of the best parts of running Hagenbuch.org. Recently, I was contacted by Jean whose family roots are in Mount Pleasant—a small town in Marion Township, Henry County, Iowa. Jean wrote to let me know Benjamin Hagenbuch (b. 1818) had settled on a farm right next to where her Bailey ancestors once lived.

Jean is descended from Shadrack M. Bailey (b. 1807) and Nancy (Manjue) Bailey (b. 1808). The couple were from North Carolina and relocated to Iowa by 1850, where they appear in the census records for Pleasant Grove, Des Moines County, IA. Soon after, they moved to a property in nearby Mount Pleasant. This adjoined a farm owned by Benjamin Hagenbuch and his wife, Lavina (Thornton) Hagenbuch (b. 1820). (It should be noted that Lavina’s name is written as “Larina” on her gravestone, which appears to be an error.) Benjamin’s line is: Andreas (b. 1715) > Christian (b. 1747) > John (b. 1785) > Benjamin (b. 1818).

Ads for Benjamin Hagenbuch’s chairs and painting services from “The Star of the North,” May 16, 1850

The Hagenbuchs were from Bloomsburg in Columbia County, Pennsylvania. Back east, Benjamin painted homes, as well as made and sold chairs. Still, he had aspirations of owning his own farm. Land was increasingly expensive in Pennsylvania, and many of the neighbors were moving west to homestead, including his wife’s Thornton siblings. Lavina’s parents were Eli Thornton (b. 1786) and Rachel (Willet) Thornton (b. 1790).

Around 1852, Benjamin and Lavina took the leap and moved their family to Mount Pleasant, IA. Their neighbors included the Baileys and two of Lavina’s sisters, Sarah and Rachel. Sarah Thornton (b. 1818) was married to Dr. Wellington M. Bird (b. 1817), and their property was east of the Hagenbuchs’. Rachel Willet Thornton (b. 1826) had married Charles Gossage Willits (b. 1821), and their homestead lay to the south of the Hagenbuchs’. It is likely that Charles Willits was a distant cousin of Rachel, who was given the middle name “Willet” after her mother’s maiden name.

Portion of an 1870 map of Marion Township, Henry County, Iowa showing where the Hagenbuch, Bailey, Bird, and Willits families lived

Willet, Willets, Willit, and Willits all appear to be rooted in the same family name. Research shows that the earliest member of this group to arrive in America was Richard Willets. He was born in 1618 in England. Around 1643, he immigrated to America and settled in Hempstead, Long Island, which was then a Dutch colony. Over the next two hundred years, Richard’s descendants and relatives would spread out across the continent. In the early 1840s, one line moved from Pennsylvania (in either Bucks or Berks County) to Illinois. Charles G. Willits (b. 1821) was from this group. Another line moved from New Jersey to Bloomsburg, PA during the late 1700s. Rachel Willet (b. 1790) was from this group.

Charles Willits, Benjamin Hagenbuch, and Wellington Bird were connected by their adjoining properties and their marriages to the Thornton sisters. Additionally, all three became good friends of Shadrack Bailey and his family. In a letter from November 8, 1868, Lucinda Angeline (Bailey) Morgan (b. 1837) wrote to her brother, Francis Marion Bailey (b. 1834), about their father, Shadrack, being helped by Benjamin Hagenbuch:

. . . Father is not able to sit up all day for the last 10 days. Mr. Hagenbush [sic] took him to the election in a carriage. No more at present.

Shadrack died a few weeks later on November 26, 1868, and his farm was passed to his eldest daughter, Martha Ann (Bailey) Barger (b. 1830), and her husband, William Barger (b. 1834). Unfortunately, the couple died four days apart in the summer of 1873 and left behind several young children. In her last will and testament, Martha Ann assigned guardianship of her children to the neighbors, illustrating the close-knit nature of their relationship. For example, 10-year-old Alice Barger (b. 1868) was adopted by Benjamin and Lavina Hagenbuch.

Jean with Bob Willits, great grandson of Charles G. and Rachel W. (Thornton) Willits

In one of her emails, Jean provided several photograph of Bob Willits, who is the great grandson of Charles G. and Rachel (Thornton) Willits. Bob still lives in Mount Pleasant, IA. At 95 years old, he remains dedicated to preserving his family’s long history, some of which overlaps with our Hagenbuch family.

Case in point: the Willits name makes an appearance in the children of Benjamin and Lavina (Thornton) Hagenbuch. Their children were: Eli Thornton (b. 1843, d. 1917, m. Margaret Beeler), Anna “Phoebe” K. (b. 1845, d. 1904, m. Robert M. Lehew), Rachel Willits (b. 1848, d. 1915, m. Daniel Helphrey), and Elizabeth “Lizzie” Sarah (b. 1854, d. 1927, m. William S. Cade). While Rachel Willits Hagenbuch was probably named after her aunt, Rachel Willet (Thornton) Willits, she could have been given this name to honor her grandmother, Rachel (Willet) Thornton. Yes, this is all a little confusing!

It is also worth mentioning that Benjamin and Lavina’s eldest child, Eli Thornton Hagenbuch, is a significant figure in our family and has been featured on this site. Like many people of his time, Eli wrote letters. Luckily his descendants saved many of these, enabling them to be read and analyzed.

The Eli Thornton Family, c. 1904
Seated (L to R): Anna Mae, Margaret (Beeler) Hagenbuch, Eli Thornton Hagenbuch, Harry.
Standing (L to R): William, Hugh, Albert, Myrtle.

According to Jean, something similar happened with letters written by her Bailey ancestors. When Martha Ann (Bailey) Barger died in 1873, the Bailey family letters were passed to her daughter, Sarah “Josie” Josephine Barger (b. 1870), who was adopted by Charles G. Willits—Bob Willits’ great grandfather. Josie died in 1898 without any children. Thankfully, the Willits family saved the Bailey letters, and after being contacted Jean, Bob provided these to her, returning them to a Bailey descendant!

Bob, being a dedicated genealogist, has done much to remember his family and its history. He wrote the following story about his great grandmother, Rachel, in the Mt. Pleasant News, May 28, 2008:

My great-grandfather [Charles Gossage Willits] was married twice. His first wife [Rachel Willets Thornton] died in 1862. I can also remember Dad [Charles Robert Willits] telling about his father [Eli Thornton Willits] telling of the day that my great-grandfather Willits’ first wife was buried. The funeral service was held at Ebenezer Church, which was located one mile south of the present Wesley Chapel, and Grandfather [Eli Thornton Willits], who would have been 9 years old when his mother died, told of how the church bell tolled once a minute for each year of her life—she was 35 years old—as her body was being taken to Ebenezer Cemetery, which was/is one-half mile south of the church site. Her grave or gravestone has yet to be found. Her name is on the Willits Cemetery Monument in Forest Home Cemetery, where my great-grandfather and his second wife are buried.

Charles G. Willits’ home and farm in Marion Township, Henry County, Iowa

By definition, genealogy is the study of family lines. Yet, no family tree looks like a line. Besides the branches formed by parents and their children, there are the connections formed by marriages and the links created between friends. In the mid-1800s, the Hagenbuch, Bailey, Willits, Bird, and Thornton families were all intertwined in Marion Township, Henry County, Iowa. While only a few of their descendants live in this area today, they left behind letters, farms, and records that aid in telling their stories.