Ashbell (Asbell, Ashben on some records) Van Scyoc (1808- ca1859)
was born in Virginia, married in Holt County, Missouri, and died, probably, in
Fremont County, Iowa after 1856 but before 1860. It is theorized that he was
the son of Cornelius Van Scyoc of Ohio Co., Virginia (son of Abel Van Scyoc)
and stepson to Almira Goodrich Van Scyoc since his birthdate predates the
marriage of Cornelius and Almira.
Two
female descendants of the family of Cornelius Van Scyoc, Elizabeth Van Scyoc
Keeler (Mrs. Seth Keeler) and Ruth Van Scyoc Mustard (Mrs. William Mustard) are
also in Fremont Co., Iowa during the time period Ashbell is there. They will
have his children with them on the 1860 census and son Jackson will come to
think of William Mustard as a father figure in later years.[i]
Significantly, the Keelers and the Mustards, along with Cornelius Van Scyoc all
have links back to Marion County, Indiana. William and Ruth Mustard will return
there in the mid 1870’s and be buried there.
The
names ‘Ashbel’ and ‘Almira’ both appear in the family tree of Almira Goodrich
Van Scyoc and may provide more hints as to lineage.
From
an Iowa Territorial Census we learn he settled into Iowa as early as 1836. His
son Jackson Van Scyoc said in his biography of 1906 that his father was
occupied cutting trees, farming, and other related tasks in those years and
later. Another source suggests he might have been one of the young men who was
involved in the Black Hawk War and the settling of Michigan and Wisconsin and
names similar to his may be found in both locations to suggest extended family
night have traveled there as well.
Since
there are an Isiah, Abram and Cornelius Van Scyoc (of various spellings) east of Fremont County they may need to be considered as possible
relations.
The
Family of Franklin Van Scyoc had the information that his father had married a
Sarah Farley and they had lived in Fremont County, Iowa. With that as the source point the search
began for the lineage of Franklin Van Scyoc.
Theory 1: THE ASHVILLE NASHVILLE, A.R. AND VANSHOIACK OF ANDREW CO., MISSOURI
THEORY.
In
this theory, the father of Margaret Ann, Franklin Benjamin, Thomas Benton,
Jackson, and Almira Van Sycoc was an “Ashville” or “Nashville.” An exact source
for this claim is hard to locate but appears to be based on the appearance on
the 1850 Andrews County, Missouri census of a group there named VanSchoiack: Rueben,
Josiah, Jackson, and Machiga. They apparently came out of the southeast (Maryland
and Kentucky). There is a land patent # 3062 issued in 1846 to Josiah
Vanschoiack of Andrew County. This group, except for some who attempted to head
to Oregon, remained in Andrew County, Missouri and there is a cemetery there
called the VanSchoiack Cemetery.
On
the 1850 census of the county is listed a man many have identified as “A.R.
VanSchoiack”. With him was a wife named Sarah born in Virginia and a daughter
named Margaret born in Missouri (see illustration). Somewhere – the exact source of the claim is
unclear – the idea that the Fremont County Van Scyoc was named “Ashville”
emerged. Thus, the “A.R.” became “Asbury
R. Van Scyoc” because of the happenstance of the wife and child’s names being
the same.
A
close inspection of the entry in the census record, however, calls this into
question. The initials used, when compared to other letters written by the
survey taker, are “N” and “R”. In fact, just four lines below the entry for
this individual is a person named “Nancy” and the capital initial is clearly
the same in both instances. One researcher, citing merely “Morman records”
identified these people as “Neely Ralston VanSchoiack”, his wife Sarah, and
daughter Margaret who left to go to Oregon but may not have survived that trip.
The limitations
of many databases is that the variations of name spellings create a barrier to
searching, linking and locating connections with unique surnames. For example,
such within the proven line of Franklin B. Van Scyoc the surname has been found
to include no less than twelve variations. This fluidity of spelling is the
result of phonetic attempts at spelling by officials or clerks, the varied
levels of education available to ancestors and the caprices of locales where a
specific spelling may already be favored or to old age.
Illustration 1: The 1850 Jefferson Twp., Andrews County, Missouri
was dated Nov. 26, 1850 (Note the “N” in Nancy on line 8 and compare to the
initials in line 4).
Since
the textual evidence of the handwriting clarifies the interpretation of the
initials in of 1850 the Andrew County, Missouri census, the two are not the
same. Since no further links can be found to tie these two groups together the
conclusion is that these are two distinct groups unrelated to one another.
Theory 2 – THE EARLY VAN SCYOC IN IOWA THEORY
The
A. Van Scyoc (by various spellings) in Fremont County, Iowa came into Iowa at
an early date, at or shortly after the area of Iowa Territory was opened to
white, male populations in surrounding regions and beyond. Thus his trek from
his birthplace in Virginia likely crossed, Ohio, Indiana, and then northwest
into what would be Wisconsin and Michigan Territories. His birthdate – based on
response to the 1850 census – suggests he could have been a young man when he
first arrived in the region (circa 1833) and possibly fought in the Black Hawk
War, worked for the government in exploring, clearing or otherwise opening the
territories previously mentioned. His second son, Jackson Van Scyoc, will say
in 1906 that his father felled trees on first coming into Iowa and that may be
a clue as to his presence in the 1836 Territorial Census of Iowa. On that
census, in the Demoine District, was listed Ashbel Van Sihock (pg. 71) with
three males of the same age range.[ii]
In 1845, his path and that of Sarah Ann Farley cross in Holt
County, Missouri. The region – often considered part of Fremont County, Iowa as
well as Atchison and Holt County, Missouri – is said to have seen people
counted in multiple census records. It was a natural link back to
‘civilization’ as travel increased in the 1840’s and 1850’s due to a variety of
migration causes (opening Oregon Territory, Gold in California, Morman
adherents heading to Utah and points west). The record in Holt County,
Missouri, according to transcribed copies, reads”: “Ashbin Van Skyhawk” and
“Sarah Ann Farley” married 9 January 1845.[iii]
The 1850 census of Fremont County,
Iowa provides the most information concerning this family. The family is listed
with what appears to be a phonetic spelling of the name. House no. 141 was
listed as containing: A.V. Shyhock, a 42 year old farmer born in Virginia;
Sarah Ann, 24, born in Virginia; Margaret [Ann],3, born in Iowa; Franklin, 6
months old, born in Iowa.
Illustration 2: U.S.
Federal Census, District No. 22, Fremont County, Iowa, September 10, 1850.
In 1852 on the Iowa State Census he is listed in Sidney
Township (pg.2), according transcribed copies, as “Abramscyae, A.” and in the
household five residents (3 males and 2 females).[iv]
Looking at the original will be
important in understanding more about the name or, at least, how the survey
taker may have interpreted the name. Note that the person in 142 is named
“Abraham”. This allows that this may be survey taker error – since all previously
found documentation (1836 census and marriage record) suggest the Ashbel/Ashben
rather than Abraham.
The Fremont County
Van Scyocs
According
to son Jackson, quoted in 1906, his father died about 1858. In September of
1860 his mother Sarah Ann Farley Van Scyoc (called Mrs. Sycoe , Mrs. Syoc and
Sarah Forley in various records) married a well-to-do older man living in
Thurman, Fremont, Iowa (the area of old Plum Hollow and Dutch Hollow). Her
children that census are enumerated with local cousins of her late husband: the
Seth Keeler, Riley Keeler and William Mustard homes.
Margaret
Ann Van Scyoc marries first in 1868 in Fremont County, Iowa John Simpson
Shirley and the retire Iowa to make their home in Lucas, Russel County, Kansas.
She will have three children: William A. Shirley, Luella Shirley, and Daisy
Shirley (married a man named Sims).
At
the time of the 1870 census Sarah Fletcher is listed with an Abil Fletcher
while daughter Almira (last Van Scyoc child born July of 1859-1860), son Thomas
Benton (called ‘Bonton” on the census) and Franklin are all misidentified as
“Fletcher” (with a possibly rebellious Franklin identified as two years older
and born in Virginia).
In 1877, Franklin Benjamin Van Scyoc will marry in Hamburg
or Plum Hollow, Lucinda Oakley and sire one child, James LeRoy Van Scyoc.
Thomas Benton Van Scyoc will marry Mary Clapper in her
parents’ home near Thurman and father three children: Clarence L., Clyde, and
Earl Van Sycoc.[v]
Jackson,
circa 1871 left to become a cattle drover going to Texas and then into Wyoming
before heading out to California (where his mother’s extended family was). As
the marriages of the two other brothers collapsed, they joined their brother
Jackson in Glenn County and Colusa areas of California where he become a
successful businessman and rancher. He had established a family with Lucy
Beasley Van Scyoc.
In 1880, the census finds Sarah Fletcher in the State
Hospital in Center, Henry County, Iowa. She was sent there based on some
behavior issues that, at the time, were labeled ‘insane’ but were probably the
result of another condition left untreated due to the medical levels of the
day. Her husband, Abraham Fletcher, was listed with the family of a son and her
daughter, Almira Van Scyoc Beckwith/Beckworth was listed with her family. In
1885, the state census finds Sarah back home with family.
In
1891 Abraham Fletcher will die and the 1900 census will find Sarah Ann Farley
Van Scyoc Fletcher residing in the home of her son-in-law, Benjamin F.
Beckwith/Beckworth and daughter Almira Van Scyoc Beckwith/Beckworth.
In 1909, Sarah dies and leaves her estate to her daughter
and because, several of her children were dead, she remembers her
grandchildren. This list of bequests verifies connections because it lists
names and last known locations. Those names: Almira Beckwith, daughter
(Thurman, Iowa), Jackson Van Scyoc, son (Winslow, California) ; C.L. Van Scyoc,
grandson, (Thurman, Iowa), Daisy Shirley, grand dau (Ft. Dodge, Kansas), W.A.
Shirley ,grandson (Lucas, Kansas), James Van Scyoc, grandson (Kansas City, Mo.).
Conclusions:
The two families are not the same but rather represent two
young families captured the same year but comprised of different individuals.
A.
A. V. Shyhock, 42, born Virginia; Sarah Ann, 24,
b. Virginia; Margaret,3 , born Iowa; Franklin, 6 months, born Iowa. Census
taken September 10, 1850.
B.
N.R. Vanshoiock, 24, born Kentucky; Sarah, 24,
born Virginia; Mary M., 2, born Missouri? Census taken November 1850.
The relationship between the Keelers, Mustards and Van
Scyocs is clear in broadest terms but still requires to see how they all “fit”
together. The presence of Van Scyocs in eastern Iowa and who end up in Enid,
Oklahoma bears closer examination.
Finally, the descendants of Ashbel/Ashben Van Scyoc and Sarah Ann Farley
are verified through census, marriage, birth, death and legal documentation to
be correct.
Marilyn A. Hudson, MLIS
[i]
James Miller Giunn. History of the State of California and Biographical Record
of the Sacramento Valley, California…. 1906. Pg. 944 Jackson Van Sycoc entry.
[ii]
“Demoine County Census , Iowa for 1836”; the transcribed entry reads “Ashbel
Van Sihock” Demoine Co., pg. 71, the entry “00-03-00-00”. The 1830 Federal
census labeled that second column as between 10- 16 years of age. Accessed at http://sites.rootsweb.com/~iadesmoi/Census/1836.htm.
The index at http://iagenweb.org/census/1836/1836-ia-index.html
lists entry for page 18. The age range is listed there as “over 21” see http://iagenweb.org/census/1836/1836-ia-des_moines.html
.
[iii]
Early Marriage Records, Holt County Historical Society, online at http://sites.rootsweb.com/~mohchs/marriage.htm,
accessed 3/14/2019
[iv]
“1852 Iowa State Census, Fremont Co.” Accessed at http://iagenweb.org/census/textdisplay.php?file=/census/fremont/1852-IA-fremont.txt
[v]
Data on the Clapper-Van Syoc marriage is contained within the work, Forney's
five family records of genealogy of Benners, Clappers, Ettlemans, Forneys, and
Studys, with historical sketches. 1931, by Charles William Forney.
