Martha Jane "Jennie" ALLUM

  General Notes:

Affidavit: This 1906 affidavit on behalf of his sister, Martha Jane "Jennie" (Allum) Smith, 1838-1926, was signed by her younger brother, John Banks Allum, 1843-1927. The document, created when Jennie filed for a widow's pension, verifies that indeed she and Mordecai Smith had been husband and wife and had been married on November 23, 1854.

Affidavit from DeeAnna Allum Granston


1838 BIRTH of Martha Jane Allum ("Jennie")

1840 DEATH of great grandfather William Allum 1st

1840 CENSUS, Pennsylvania, Greene County, Richhill Township (Martha, born in 1838, was the daughter (and only child to that time) "under age 5" in the household of which her father William was designated head)

1850 CENSUS, Pennsylvania, Greene County, Richhill Township (August 30) ("Martha Jane," age 12, with parents)

1854 MARRIAGE of Martha Jane Allum and Mordecai Smith at Belmont, Belmont County, Ohio by S. J. Bolon, J. P.

1855 DEATH (approximate) of grandfather, John Fields

1855 MIGRATION from Pennsylvania to Iowa

1856 CENSUS, Iowa State Census, Scott County, Davenport (no specific date) (Mordecai, age 29, "Laborer") (wife "Martha," age 19, daughter "Mary," age 1)

1858 DEATH of mother, Mary Ann (Fields) Allum (in March)

1858 MARRIAGE of father William Allum 2nd and stepmother, Mary Ann (McMasters) Fulton (in September)

1859 DEATH of grandmother, Jemima (Barnhart) Allum

1860 CENSUS, Iowa, Iowa County, Honey Creek Township, P. O. Koszta (July 27) ("Mordeca" Smith, age 32, "Carpenter") (wife "Martha," age 22) (in the household are daughter "Mary," age 5, and son "Wm. G.," age 8 months) (On the same census page are William and Rhoda [Teagarden] Fields--Martha Jane Allum Smith's uncle and aunt--and their family, plus Stephen and Ellen [Teagarden] Craft and their family, all originally from Pennsylvania)

1862-1865, MILITARY SERVICE, Civil War, for Mordecai Smith (see below)

1865 DEATH (approximate) of grandmother, Rachel (Phippen) Fields

1868 DEATH of grandfather, Charles W. Allum

1870 CENSUS, Nebraska, Dixon County, P. O. Ponca (July 16) ("Mordica," age 42, "Farmer") (wife "Martha," age 32) (Daughters "Mary," 14, and "Lucinda," 8, are in the residence)

1879 DEATH of father, William Allum 2nd

1880 CENSUS, Nebraska, Dixon County, Ponca (June 10) ("Martha," age 42, is head of the household; husband Mordecai is not documented)

1900 CENSUS, Nebraska, Dixon County, Otter Creek & Ponca Townships (June 8) ("Mardeci," age 72, "Farmer") (wife "Martha J.," age 62) (Martha is shown as the mother of 2 children, 2 children living in the year 1900; she and Mordecai had been married 45 years) (In the home are son, "Alva," age 27, born "July, 1872 in Nebraska," "Farm Laborer," and grandson "Merill," age 7, born "September, 1892 in Nebraska")

1906 DEATH of husband, Mordecai Smith, at 78 years 9 months 17 days

1910 CENSUS, Iowa, Marshall County, Marshalltown (April 22) ("Martha J.," age 71, widow, "Own income")

1920 CENSUS, Iowa, Marshall County, Marshalltown (January 16) ("Martha J.," age 81, widow, is head of her household in which her grandson, "Harry F. Doane," age 41, is documented)

1925 CENSUS, Iowa State Census, Marshall County, Marshalltown (January 1) ("Martha L.," age 86, is "grandmother" in the home of her grandson, "Harry F. Doan," age 45)

1926 DEATH, Martha Jane (Allum) Smith at 87 years 10 months 27 days

Cause of death: "Chronic rheumatism" --death certificate "General debility" --obituary




DESCRIPTION (Mordecai, from military record): 5' 19 3/4" tall, dark complexion, black hair, blue eyes

MILITARY SERVICE (Mordecai): Civil War, Private, Company G, 28th Regiment, IOWA Infantry, August 1862 to July 1865

MILITARY PENSION RECORD: Invalid Certificate No. 738 160 and Widow's Claim No. 623 273


Shirley Allum Hudlicky, July 10, 1964 letter to DeeAnna:

"I sent for a pension record for a Mordecai Smith but when it arrived it was for the wrong Mordecai. This last week I sent for the record of the other. Now if this isn't the one we shall have to depend upon other channels, for I am running out of Mordecai Smiths who served in the armed forces."



SOME DOCUMENTS:

1865 (and later) - Military Pension Record for Mordecai Smith from National Archives, Washington, D.C.

1906 - General Affidavit dated December 4, 1906 signed by John B. Allum of Marengo, Iowa, brother of Martha J. (Allum) Smith, verifying her marriage to Mordecai Smith on November 23, 1854 (from military record of Mordecai Smith)

1906 - General Affidavit dated December 8, 1906 signed by W. B. Fields of Ladora, Iowa, relative of Martha J. (Allum) Smith, verifying her marriage to Mordecai Smith (from military record)

1906 - General Affidavit dated December 20, 1906 signed by Leonard Allum, Waterloo, Iowa, brother of Martha J. (Allum) Smith, verifying her marriage to Mordecai (from military record)

1916 - Handwritten letter dated September 15, 1916 and signed by F. M. Fields, "cousin of Martha J. (Allum) Smith," regarding his personal knowledge of the death of her husband Mordecai (from military record of Mordecai Smith)



OBITUARY (Martha) from TIMES-REPUBLICAN, Marshalltown, Marshall County, Iowa, April 19, 1926:

VETERAN'S WIDOW DEAD

Martha Smith Died At Soldier's Home Hospital

Mrs. Martha J. Smith, 87, died at the soldiers' home hospital at 12:03 this morning of general debility. Mrs. Smith was admitted to the home Sept. 7, 1908, from this city. She was born in Pennsylvania May 27, 1838. She was the widow of Moidecia (sic) Smith, who served in Company G, Twenty-eighth Pennsylvania infantry.

She is survived by a son, Oliver G. Smith, who lives in Texas and a grandson, Harry Doan, of this city. A brother, J. B. Allum, is a member of the home.

The funeral will be held from the soldiers' home chapel with Rev. L. W. Harper and Chaplain Clement in charge. Burial will be in the home cemetery.



Margaret Smith Brennan:

"Martha Jane was called 'Jane' by her father."

"Martha Jane stated that, when her husband Mordecai joined the army during the Civil War, she took her two little girls (indicating William died as an infant) to Virginia (West Virginia?) to live with her parents until the end of the war, going most of the way by river. (Is it possible her parents went to Blacksville, West Virginia in the early 1860s?) On the map, I see Blacksville is just over the border from Pennsylvania, and she could have gone down the Mississippi and up the Ohio."

"Martha Jane thought that 'Allum' had been changed from 'MacAllum' and that her ancestors had come from Scotland. The fact that William Allum (ca 1754-1840) was active in the Redstone Episcopal Church [Washington County, Pennsylvania] points to his being English rather than Scottish."

"Martha Jane also spoke of a cousin who was a drummer at age 15 in the Civil War. Who would that have been?"

Note: Martha Jane is referred to as "Jennie" in letters from Mrs. Clayton Allum, her nephew's wife, and as "Jennie" in letters from Gertrude (Amrine) (Allum) Brown (John Banks Allum's second wife, who was Martha Jane's sister-in-law)



CONTRIBUTOR to this page:

Margaret Smith Brennan

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Martha married Mordecai SMITH on November 23, 1854 in Belmont, Belmont County, Ohio. (Mordecai SMITH was born on February 2, 1828 in Fulton County, Pennsylvania, died on November 19, 1906 in Marshalltown, Marshall County, Iowa and was buried on November 21, 1906 in Iowa Veterans Home Cemetery, Marshalltown, Marshall County, Iowa.)