Genealogical Research: Phebe Mari (Page) Quimby Holman Gage

Phebe Mari Page, born 22 Aug 1811 in Hancock, Addison County, Vermont, was the daughter of Pvt. Joseph Page and Martha 'Patty'Minerva Goss (Marble) Page.¹ Her siblings may have been James, Sylva, Anna, Chauncy, Joseph, Elihu 'Eli', Addison / Edson, Adeline Amanda, Caroline Melinda, Stephen R, and Emmaline.

Phebe M Page married Seth Quimby on 13 Jun 1833 in Hancock, Addison County, Vermont. The officiant was Jera Barnes, Justice of the Peace.¹ They had a son, Henry Sylvester Quimby, who was born about 1835 in Vermont, in possibly Waitsfield, Rochester, or East Middlebury. Henry served as a private in Company G, Vermont 8th Infantry, in the Civil War.² Seth Quimby lived in Bennington County, Vermont in 1840.³

Phebe M Quimby married George W Holman on 16 Sep 1843 in Rochester, Windsor County, Vermont. The officiant was Jeb Dwitehill, Minister of the Gospel.¹ I know little about George W Holman other than he may have been a private in the 3rd Battery, Vermont Light Artillery during the civil war.⁴ ⁵ It's also possible this record represents a younger George, perhaps even a son who was a Jr.

The timeline gets a little tricky around here. On the 28th of September in any year from 1838 to 1844, Phebe Mari had a daughter named Phebe Jane, whose actual surname at birth is currently unknown, and may or may not have ever been recorded. Phebe Jane's gravestone reads 1844 as her year of birth.⁶ Interestingly, Phebe Jane can be found on the 1850 census as Phebe J Slason⁷, though this may have been due to laziness on the census taker's part, as Phebe Jane is merely listed among the children Franklin and Patience Slason with a 'ditto' quotation mark in position of her surname. Phebe Jane's mother is listed on the next line as Phebe M Holman.

I'm inclined to believe that perhaps Phebe Jane was a daughter of George W Holman and she was, indeed, born 1844 as Phebe Jane Holman. However the discrepancy between recorded maiden names causes me to wonder if perhaps Phebe Jane adopted her mother's second husband's surname to lend legitimacy to her birth before her own marriage as 'Jane Holman' to John Todd Clark Howard on 29 August 1863 in Geneva, Kane County, Illinois.⁸ In my personal experience, significant name changes sometimes signal illegitimate births (or bigamy, but that's a discussion for another time). That said, it may also be that Phebe wanted to individuate from her mother, with whom she shared a first name. This idea is further supported by Phebe Mari's later usage of the name Maria in 1860.⁹ Even if Phebe Jane were a 'natural daughter', George W Holman may have still been her biological father.

Phebe M Holman married Thomas Gage on 19 February 1852 in Vermont. The officiant was B. Davenport, Justice of the Peace.¹ I'm fairly convinced this is the same Thomas Gage found living next door to Franklin Slason's family in 1850. Thomas Gage was the father of Franklin Slason's wife, Patience Belinda (Gage) Slason. This is an easy explanation for how Phebe and Thomas came to meet. Though one has cause to wonder why Phebe M and her daughter were residing with the Slason family in the first place.

Thomas and Maria Gage lived in Sudbury, Rutland County, Vermont in 1860 with their sons, Thomas G Gage and John A Gage.⁹

Phebe M Gage lived with her sons in Victor Center, DeKalb County, Illinois in 1870, though their surname was erroneously recorded as 'George'. I haven't yet located Thomas Gage in the 1860 census. Thomas died in Illinois probably in the year 1874, at the age of 92.¹⁰ Phebe died in 1876 in Sterling, Johnson County, Nebraska at the age of 63, and shares the same face of a gravestone with her daughter's mother-in-law, Agnes Todd (Clark) Howard.¹¹ ¹²

As much of what I wrote above is not yet common knowledge, I've linked Phebe Mari Page to Phebe Mari Holman and a few other family members on familysearch.org to reflect my findings, in hopes someone else will be inclined to add more information down the road. I look forward to the further unfolding of information!

Sources:

1. Ancestry.com; Vermont, Vital Records, 1720-1908; Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2013.

2. Historical Data Systems, comp.; U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles; Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2009.

3. Ancestry.com; 1840 United States Federal Census; Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixth Census of the United States, 1840. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1840. M704, 58.

4. NPS.gov; The Civil War, Soldier Details; National Park Service, accessed 12 Jan 2017.

5. National Park Service; U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865; Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2007.

6. FindAGrave.com; Phebe J Holman Howard, Find A Grave Memorial# 55471736; Find A Grave, Inc., 1300 W Traverse Parkway, Lehi, UT 84043, United States; accessed 12 Jan 2017.

7. Ancestry.com; 1850 United States Federal Census; Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Seventh Census of the United States, 1850. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1850. M432,

8. Jordan Dodd and Liahona Research, comp.; Illinois Marriages, 1851-1900; Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.Original data - Index compiled from county marriage records on microfilm located at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah by Jordan Dodd of Liahona Research.

9. Ancestry.com; 1860 United States Federal Census; Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1860. M653, 1

10. Hiram Carleton; Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 1; Lewis Publishing Company, 1903; p.476

11. FindAGrave.com; Phebe M Gage, Find A Grave Memorial# 55471689; Find A Grave, Inc., 1300 W Traverse Parkway, Lehi, UT 84043, United States; accessed 12 Jan 2017.

12. FindAGrave.com; Agnes Todd Clark Howard, Find A Grave Memorial# 55471696; Find A Grave, Inc., 1300 W Traverse Parkway, Lehi, UT 84043, United States; accessed 12 Jan 2017.

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