Backward Glance - Elizabeth Tingley

Elizabeth Tingley was the daughter of John Adams and Sarah (Cox) Tingley. As recorded in The Tingley Family Revised, Volume I, compiled by Marian McCauley Frye, she was born in Virginia on December 3, 1811. Her birth year is given as 1813 in the International Genealogical Index. This latter date concurs with the date inscribed on her headstone at the North Platte Cemetery in North Platte, Lincoln County, Nebraska. The Tingley family is an old English family, and can be traced at least as far as William Tingley who was born in about 1588 in Surrey, England. Elizabeth's first American-born Tingley ancestor was Samuel, her third great-grandfather, son of Palmer. He was born before 1638 in Charlestown, Massachusetts. John Adams Tingley, Elizabeth's father, was born in New Jersey, as was his wife, Sarah Cox. They were married in New Jersey, but lived in Virginia and Ohio. John A. Tingley died in 1830 in Fairfield, Greene County, Ohio. Sarah died in 1851, also in Greene County.

In 1835, on March 12th, Elizabeth was married to Elijah Cody Martin in Xenia, Greene County, Ohio. He was the son of Uriah and Rhoda (Stiles) Martin. To this union were born 11 children. Their names were Indiana, William Jasper, Sarah Jane, John Webb, Tamsan Elizabeth, Rhoda, Robert Mercer, Lucy Ellen, Samuel Kinsey Leedham, Rebecca Floral and Abigail C. Elijah and Elizabeth lived in Logan County, Ohio, and Muscatine, Iowa. Elijah died in 1874 in Muscatine.

Photo courtesy Kathy Scott

I have not been able to locate Elizabeth on the 1880 census, so I'm not certain where she lived between Elijah's death and her own. However, the family story was that she lived into her 90's and died in Nebraska. I did find her death and burial information in North Platte, Lincoln County, Nebraska. She died on August 10, 1899, at the age of either 87 or 89, depending on which birth year (1811 or 1813) is correct. Her son, John Webb Martin, also lived in North Platte and is buried in the same cemetery. It seems reasonable that she lived with his family, though John didn't move there until after 1880. So, there is more to find!

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