Name: Ruth Ruema Hoover
   Born: 20 Jan 1825
  Place: Champaign Co., OH
   Died: 6 Jun 1905
  Place: Mercer Co., IL
 Buried: 
  Place: Bethel Cemetery, Mercer co IL
M-Haplo: H1a1

Ruth Hoover was my matrilineal ancestor — my mother's mother's mother's mother's mother. As such, each cell of my body includes hundreds of copies of her mitochodrial DNA (mtDNA), which is passed down only through the mother. Mitochondria does nothing much more than regulate a cell's energy. It doesn't influence one's appearance, behavior, or anything else that might distinguish you or me as an individual. However, it is the one thing of Ruth's that I possess. If only for that reason, I feel a very special kinship with her. After all, I knew well four generations of the matrilineage: my sisters, our mother Billie Hogue, her mother Birdie McDowell, and her mother Euphemia Ruth Ashenhurst, Ruth's granddaughter.

And it seems at least one person in her lifetime thought she was special. A boy by the name of William Hoover, now know to be Williamson Hoover) is found living with her on the 1850 census, which I discuss below. This was doubtlessly the son of Michael Nicholas Hoover, Jr. who, at present, I believe to have been Ruth's uncle. This William named one of his daughters Ruth Ruemma Hoover. The reason for the attribution can be none other than obvious.

For reasons I can't understand, some researchers want to call her Ruth Ann Hoover. Ruema is not a common name, which might be one of the reasons some researchers have been reluctant to recognize it. (The obituary for her second husband, Charles Southern, informs us that Ruth Ruema was indeed her full name.) Only now, during the summer of 2018 and after researching Ruth for fifty years, have I wondered about the name's origin. Not surprisingly, Reumah (not Ruemah, letters transposed) is a biblical name. It means "elevated" in Hebrew and was the name of of Nahor's concubine. (Nahor was Abraham's brother.) Ruth is, of course, also very biblical. A google search informs us that Ruema was — and still is — widely used in some languages. We may never know why Ruth was given two significantly biblical names, but I suspect there was a story behind it. In any event, her name passed down through several generations. Her granddaughter was Euphemia Ruth Ashenhurst and her granddaughter was Patsy Ruth Hogue. Her granddaughter though her first husband, William McManus, was Ruth Knox (1871-), daughter of Lovina McManus (1845-1874), Find-A-Grave Memorial #10361820.

Ruth (Hoover) Southern's Obituary

The following is a transcription of a photocopy I received sometime in the 1980s from the Mercer County Illinois Genealogical Society. The newspaper it was taken from wasn't noted.

Mrs. Charles Southern

Mrs. Charles Southern, mention of whose death and burial was made in this paper last week, was born in Champaign county, Ohio, January 20, 1825. Her maiden name was Hoover. She was married William McMannis January 16, 1845. To this union was born one daughter. Mr. McMannis died May 23, 1847.

August 6, 1851, deceased was united in marriage to Charles Southern and since that time had lived continuously at the family residence south of Gilchrist. To this union five children were born. Three children survive to mourn the loss of a loving mother. They are one son, Marion, and two daughters, Mrs. George W. Martin, who resides near the family home, and Mrs. Ashenhurst of Tingley, Iowa.

Mrs. Southern was a member of the United Presbyterian church at Viola, but during the past ten years of her life she was confined most of the time at her home on account of her health and only once in the past seven years had she been able to go to the church of her faith.

Ruth's X on the estate records of her first husband, William McMannes, died 23 May 1848.

The search for her parents

I have found virtually no records that describe Ruth's relationship to anyone other than her husband and her children. We have to infer what we can:

1. We know from her obituary that Ruth was born in Champaign county, Ohio in 1825. Without that bit of information, my research would probably be going nowhere. Because the 1820 and 1830 census schedules for Champaign (see below) show several Hoovers, we have something tangible to work with.
2. According to the 1880 and 1900 census, Ruth's father was born in Virginia. But the same census records are contradictory for her mother, showing her born in Virginia (1880) and in Maryland (1900).
3. Ruth married twice in Mercer County, IL: William McManus 1845 (at the age of 20) and Charles Southern in 1851. We can assume, then, that her family was in Illinois by the beginning of the 1840s.
4. She lived the last 60 or more years of her life in Mercer county, Illinois, dying there in 1905, just a month after my grandmother's birth. Living in the same county was Mary Hoover, a daughter of Michael and Mary (Bodkin) Hoover. As it turns out, Mary was also born in Champaign county, Ohio—about six weeks before the birth of Ruth. This discounts any possibility that Michael Hoover was Ruth's father.
5. A granddaughter of Michael Hoover's, born in Mercer county, was named Ruth Ruemma Hoover (1882-1944). I don't think that can be written off as coincidence. In fact, her father, Williamson C Hoover, was living with Ruth on the 1850 census.
6. Ruth may have been the sister of Mary A Stanton. The 1850 Mercer county IL census (Twp 15 N Range 5 W, p 391) shows a household of only women and their children. I list them here by age:
   
   
   • Mary A Stanton, 35, VA
   • Ruth McMannus, 25, OH
   • Rachel A Hoover, 20, IN
   • Rachel Hoover, 16, IN
   • Hanah D Stanton, 12, IN ⁷
   • William Hoover, 11, IN
   • Sarah Stanton, 9, IL
   • Michel M Stanton (m), 7, IL
   • Lavina McMannus, 5, IL
   
   It's known that Mary Hoover married Richard Stanton in Vigo county, Indiana in 1834. Census records (see below) indicate that Michael Hoover had relocated there by 1830. His son, Ancil B Hoover,⁴ was born there in 1834.⁵ It's easy to assume that Rachel (16) and William Hoover were siblings. But we now know that William was the son of Michael Hoover Jr. That family appears to be well sorted out, but with no Rachel.
7. Elizabeth Jane Hoover married George Shaunce in Mercer county in 1841. Although I have found nothing that links Elizabeth to Ruth Hoover it's worth noting that the 1880 census (Mercer county, IL) describes her as being born in Ohio c1823 and both parents born in Virginia. Certainly that fits Ruth's profile. It's plausible they were sisters but I think it's possible that Elizabeth is an unrecorded daughter of Michael's. Per Shirleymae Pajkos's worldconnect pages, Elizabeth (Hoover) Shaunce died 22 Nov 1893 in Mercer county.
8. Michael Hoover, who is looking very much like he may have been Ruth's uncle, was born in Pendleton county, Virgina. He is believed to have been the son of Michael Hoover Sr, a veteran of the Revolution, and grandson of German immigrant Sebastian Hoover who died in Pendleton county in 1808. A number of Sebastian Hoovers are found among the family, the presence of at least one of which in Champaign county, Ohio and Madison county, Indiana helps substantiate, I believe, the Michael Hoover lineage.
9. According to a 2001 post at genforum by Howard Chinn, the Sebastian Hoover who married Elizabeth McCray in Pendleton county VA on 8 Mar 1824 (see below) died in McDonough county, Illinois on 20 Sept 1838.⁶ His widow is found on the 1840 and 1850 census readings for the same county:
   
   1850 McDonough County IL, page 300:

   976  976  Hover    Elisabeth    51    F VA
                      Mary         21    F OH
                      John         19    M OH        
                      Brice        17    M IL        
                      Robert       15    M IL
                      Margaret     12    F IL
             Snedley  Sarah E      2     F IL
             Hover    James        25    M OH
                      Lucinda      26    F KY
                      Martha A     7/12  F IL
   

   I find Elizabeth's son, James Hoover, and his family in Wood township, Carroll county, MO in 1880. As expected, his father is listed as being born in Virginia. Although the above suggests that Sebastian was in Ohio as late as 1831, we do not know if he was the Sebastian Hoover of Champaign county.
   
   Using the identities we find in the 1850 census, we'd expect the 1840 household to look like this:
   

   1840 McDonough IL, page 218
   
   1 male 0-4 (Robert)
   2 male 5-9 (John, Brice)
   1 male 10-14 (James)
   
   1 female 0-4 (Margaret)
   1 female 5-9 (?)
   1 female 10-14 (Mary)
   1 female 30-39 (Elizabeth)
   

   Of course, this doesn't exclude the possibility that Ruth was a daughter, but if we have her sisters right (and we may not), none are included above.
   

We still have nothing that tells us who Ruth's parents were but we do now have something from which to build. The assumption, which may prove to be false, is that Ruth was closely related to Michael Hoover, although almost certainly not his daughter.

The Hoover / Stanton Family

I found this at genforum:

Richard Stanton married Mary Hoover 14 July 1834
Posted by: Len Marker (ID *****5094) Date: April 19, 2004 at 14:43:19

This information was found by a cousin in two of the family bible left to her. There was no location listed, though the family has been found in the 1840 Mercer County, IL Federal Census, with 1 male child. The family has 6 children listed in the bibles: Eliza J. Stanton, 12 April 1838; Marion D. Stanton (other family records indicate the D. stands for Decatur), 17 August 1839, Terre Haute, Vigo County, IN; Sarah J. (Jane) Stanton, 07 May 1841, Michael M. (Mortimer) Stanton, 10 February 1842; Timothy Stanton, 14 October 1845; Susan Stanton, 12 November 1846. Mary Stanton is on the 1850 Federal Census with Marion, Sarah and Michael. The bibles have a death date listed for Richard, 24 March 1848. There is no further mention of the other children. Descendants for Marion and Michael are known. Sarah married Washington Purkapile, 22 November 1866, Mercer County, Illinois. I haven't seen anything about her after the marriage record.

In other words, Mary's Stanton's family was as follows:

Eliza J Stanton, 12 April 1838
Marion Decatur Stanton, 17 August 1839
Sarah Jane Stanton, 7 May 1841
Michael Mortimer Stanton, 10 February 1842
Timothy Stanton, 14 October 1845
Susan Stanton, 12 November 1846

The family is enumerated on the 1840 Mercer County, Illinois census:

Richard Staunton 100001-00001

I responded to Len's posting and received the following a short time later.

I think the Hoover daughters may be the children of Sebastian and Mary Jones Hoover, married 12 November 1812, Pendleton County, West Virginia, (this was originally VA) USA. Sebastian also had a father named Sebastian so things can get confusing...There were at least three sisters, Mary, Ruth and Elizabeth Jane that ended up in Mercer country, IL.

I find this record of land sale for Vermillion county:

http://www.ilsos.gov/GenealogyMWeb/PublicLandSalesNameServlet
STANTON RICHARD NESE 25 18N 12W 2 06/01/1836 VERMILION

Pendleton County, (West) Virginia

According to the Rootsweb archive (http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvpendle/marriages.htm) the following marriages were performed in Pendleton county, Virginia:

• Sebastian Hoover and Mary Jones,² 12 Nov 1812 by Otho Wade, minister
• George Hoover and Susannah Simmons, 21 Mar 1813 by Rob't W. Bolton
• John Hoover and Sarah Jones, 21 Mar 1813 by Rob't W. Bolton
• John Hoover and Sarah Harholt, 27 May 1817 by Fardenand Lair ⁸
• Michael Hoover and Mary Bodkin, 22 Feb 1821
• Sebastian Hoover and Elizabeth McCray, 8 Mar 1824
• Samuel Hoover and Margaret Brady, 5 May 1825
• Eli Hoover and Phebe Miller, 7 Dec 1826

A Sebastian Hoover was born in Germany in 1723 and is supposed to have married Catherine Muller (1723-1807) at Tolpehocken PA. It seems that there is some dispute as to just when he immigrated (and, therefore, where he married) as his son, Michael Hoover, is said in one source to have been born in Germany.

http://home.comcast.net/~hahoover/hoovol4.htm

John Hiner, the fifth child of John and Magdalena (Burner) Hiner, was born on the old Hiner homestead near Doe Hill, Highland County, Virginia on 12 Feb 1781. For a wife, he chose Rachel Hoover. She is also of German ancestry, believed to be the daughter of Michael Hoover, born in Germany in 1752, naturalized in 1773, died 1842, served during the Revolutionary War and believed the son of Sebastian Hoover who was killed in 1780. Rachel was born in Pendleton County, Virginia on 23 Oct 1788. John and Rachel left Virginia in Sept 1836 and reached Peru, Miami County, Indiana on 19 Nov 1836. John Hiner died 30 Jun 1851 and Rachel Hoover Hiner died 16 Sep 1872. Both are buried in Tillett Cemetery, Miami County, Indiana.

And there appears to be some mix up over the dates of deaths between the elder Sebastian and his son Sebastian, one dying in Pendleton county, VA in 1808 (or possibly a year earlier). The other was killed, as noted above, in 1780.

In addition to the younger Sebastian, both Michael and George are believed to have had sons named Sebastian.

In Pendleton Co., VA, Will Book 1:27 (1791), a Sebastian Hoover is stated as guardian of another Sebastian Hoover and of Catharine Hoover, orphans of Sebastian Hoover. We have three Sebastians right there and probably three successive generations.

A family chart found on the net gives the following as the children of Sebastian and Catherine:

• John Hoover 1744
• Sebastian Hoover 1750
• Jacob Hoover 1751
• Michael Hoover 1752
• George Hoover 1757
• Thomas Hoover 1758-1835 m Barbara Dunkle
• Lawrence Hoover 1760
• Peter Hoover 1761
• Catherine Hoover 1764

Could the deceased Sebastian be the same man mentioned on page 62 of Oren Frederic Morton's A History of Pendleton County, West Virginia?

There were petty raids by the tories, but there would seem to have been little bloodshed. The only loss of life that we locate was the killing of Sabastian Hoover by a settler from Brushy Fork.

A Pendleton county deed dated 27 March 1813 states that "said Jacob, Henry, Peter, William, John, Samuel, George, Catharine, Barbara and Elizabeth are children—heirs and devisees of Peter Hoover dec'd and Sebastian Hoover and Catherine, children heirs of Sebastian Hoover the younger, dec'd." The deed further states that Catharine was married to Isaac Smith, Barbara to John Waggy and Elizabeth to George Sevey. Also mentioned are "Michael Hoover and Mary his wife, Thomas Hoover and Barbara his wife". This is likely the Thomas who married Barbara Dunkle. He and Michael are probably the sons of the elder Sebastian, who died five years earlier. And, finally, Lawrence Hoover, George Hoover and "Catherine Stone formerly Catherine Hoover of the County of Woodford and the state of Kentucky" are listed, likely also children of the elder Sebastian.

Champaign County, Ohio

I received the following from Pat Stickley, Corresponding Secretary of the Champaign County Genealogical Society in February, 1992. I'm not recognizing any of these as being of the same family. Perhaps I'm missing something. In any case, here it is for the record.

Champaign County, Ohio Marriages:

A-7 John Hoover & Hannah Blaircon(?) 20 Mar 1808 C-148 John Hoover & Nancy Moore 12 Dec 1823³ C-304 William Hoover & Mary Fuson 19 Oct 1837 C-402 Margaret Hoover & William Humphries 30 Apr 1840 D-43 Margaret Hoover & Talbert Poland 11 Jul 1841 D-51 Sarah Hoover & John Adair 21 Oct 1841

Champaign County, Ohio Deeds:

G-431 Geo Hoover, wife Cath, to Harry Neal 4211 VMS Union Twp 3 Oct 1826 H-66 John Hoover to Thomas Groves 4772 VMS 10 Feb 1827 G-274 John Hoover from Andrew Pence 4772 VMS 6 Feb 1826 N-502 Jacob Hoover from Jno Pearson S22T5R1 10 Jun 1837 O-394 ditto to Wm Curl and Jeptha Dunlap S22T5R1 15 Sep 1838 O-420 ditto and wf Anna Marie to Stephen Dunlap S22T5R11 9 Oct 1838 O-421 ditto to James Dunlap S22T5R11 11 Oct 1838 O-521 ditto to John Gray bus prop s. edge of Urbana 21 Nov 1838

There are no Hoover will or estate records indexed prior to 1850.

Census readings

Pendleton county was formed from Rockingham county (and other counties) in 1787. The 1784 census for Rockingham lists the following. We know that the eldest Sebastian was living so this is probably him and his sons:

• Peter Hoover, 9 whites
• Laurence Hoover, 6 whites
• George Hoover, 5 whites
• Sebastian Hoover, 3 whites

The 1810 census for Pendleton county lists Henry, George, Jacob, Jacob Sr, John, Mary, Michal, Peter, Thomas, William. Where was the 3rd generation Sebastian? Both Senior and Junior were dead by then but Sebastian would have been at least 30 years old. Was he already on the move?

The 1820 census for Pendleton county lists the following. This is important as we see that Michael's sons, John and Sebastian are not present:

Hoover, George of Jacob page 69 Hoover, George of Mich^e page 68 Hoover, Hines page 67 Hoover, Jacob Sr page 68 Hoover, John H page 67 Hoover, Michael page 68 Hoover, Peter page 67 Hoover, Samuel page 68 Hoover, Thomas page 68 Hoover, William page 67

Ruth Hoover was born in Champaign county, Ohio in 1825. The 1820 census is obviously very helpful. All four men are reported as being 20-45. Sebastian shows only one child, a male. If Mary is accurately represented, she would have been in one of the other households. In fact, it now seems most likely she was John's child, and he had two young daughters.

    John Hoover      100010 20100 (pg 256 Union Twp)
    Sebastin Hoover  100010 00010 (pg 258 Union Twp)
    Samuel Hoover    400010 32010 (pg 267 Wayne Twp)
    Peter Hoover     220010 31010 (pg 267 Wayne Twp)

The 1830 Madison county, Indiana census entries are significant because several children in the Mary Stanton household in 1850 were born in Indiana and Mary herself was married in Vigo county, Indiana. However, the Sabastian Hoover listed here was 30-40 years old. He'd have been born no earlier than 1790. If his age is accurately listed, he could not have been the son of the Sebastian Hoover killed in 1780. His wife is 20-30 making her likely too young to have been the Mary Jones married in 1812. Furthermore, a cursory look at the ages could suggest that John Hoover (p 342) was the patriarch of this family.

    1830  >  INDIANA  >  MADISON  >  NO TWP LISTED
    Series: M19  Roll: 26

    John Hoover       00013000 11100101 (pg 337)
    Sebastian Hoover  10000100 20001000 (pg 338)
    Michael Hoover    11000100 01000100 (pg 341)
    John Hoover       11000010 12110100 (pg 342)

The 1840 Madison county census lists only a Michael Hoover but of a younger generation, 20-30:

    1840  >  INDIANA  >  MADISON  >  NO TWP LISTED
    Series: M704  Roll: 88  Page: 188

    Michael Hoover 11001-00001

I don't yet know who that is, but we find brothers Michael Hoover (Jr) and John in Miami County in 1840.

    1840  >  INDIANA  >  MIAMI  >  PERU

    Michael Hoover 1011001-0001001
    John Hoover    00004001-000111001

This isn't a perfect match but it's worth looking at.

Other Hoover Notes

The following is found at http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mygermanfamilies/Woodruff.html:

Robert Clarke Woodruff died before 1867 (Civil War??) as his widow Sarah Murphy Woodruff married James Hoover, son of Michael Hoover, on 6/17/1867 in Mercer County (we will be putting up a Hoover page). James Hoover had been a school teacher in Eliza Township in 1850 but was not in Mercer County in 1860, nor is the family found there in 1870. James Hoover died about 1879. His family is found in Plymouth County, Iowa, Washington Township in 1880: Sarah Hoover, 45, born Indiana, father born Virginia, mother born Pennsylvania; Mary Hoover, 12, born Dakota Territory; Eva Hoover, 16, born Il (if age is correct she is not Sarah's child unless she was a Woodruff); Ansil Hoover, 10, born Iowa; Jasper Hoover, 8, Ia; James, 6, born Iowa. Sarah died in Wisconsin in 1917 (obituary courtesy June Carroll).

[snip]

Eliza Woodruff is the daughter about whom there are several stories of her legendary temper (see paragraph at the top of the page). She apparently was small and feisty according to Poffenbarger researchers. Eliza married first to John Hoover on 1/12/1846 in Mercer County. He was son of Michael Hoover and brother of the James Hoover who married Robert Clarke Woodruff's widow. The marriage apparently didn't "take" as both later married other people. John Hoover married Delilah Ann Dobbins in Mercer County in 1860 and Eliza married Elias Poffenbarger, son of Michael and Barbara Putnam Poffenbarger, on 2/2/1859 in Mercer County.

John and Eliza Woodruff Hoover are found in New Boston Township in 1850: John Hoover, 27, laborer, born Virginia; Eliza, 21, born Indiana. Apparently John and Eliza had no children.

And at http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mygermanfamilies/Johnson.html we find:

June Carroll mentions daughter Utah Elizabeth. She appears to be listed as Elvira in the 1860 census. She married Michael Hoover, daughter of James Hoover and his first wife, Elizabeth Johnson. James Hoover married second to Sarah Murphy Woodruff, widow of Robert Clark Woodruff of Mercer County. We will be putting up a Hoover page but in the meantime there is information on James and Sarah on the Woodruff page. Michael and Utah Hoover are found in Washington, Plymouth County, Iowa in 1880: Michael Hoover, farmer, 26, born Wi, father In, mother In; Utah, 21, Il, parents Il; Sarah, 4, Ia; Edna, 1 mo, Ia. With them is Sarah Wilson, mother-in-law, 57, born Pa, parents born Pa. Next door to them is step-mother Sarah Hoover, 45, born In; father Va, mother Pa, and her Hoover children. Sarah's obituary is posted on the Woodruff page, courtesy of June Carroll.

To summarize the above paragraphs, we have:

                  Michael Hoover
                        |
               --------------------
               |                  |
          John Hoover        James Hoover
          b c1823            m1 Elizabeth Johnson
          m 12 Jan 1846      m2 17 Jun 1867
          Eliza Woodruff     Sarah (Murphy) Woodruff

A search at worldconnect shows a John Hoover who died in New Boston, Mercer county, IL 26 Nov 1906. He was born 1 Feb 1823 in Rockingham County, Virgina and married Delilah Ann Dobbins. His parents are listed as Michael Nicholas Hoover Jr and Mary Bodkin. John is given a sister named Mary who married a Gardner. This is certainly not Mary (Hoover) Stanton. However, it is particularly noteworthy that she was born in Champaign county, Ohio on 2 Dec 1824. (Ruth was born about 6 weeks later in the same place.) Furthermore, this lineage states that Michael Hoover Jr's father was Michael Hoover (born 1753, Pendelton county, VA), a son of Sebastian and Catherine Hoover. From http://duskcamp.itgo.com/Hoover2.htm:

Michael Hoover, a son of Sebastian and Catherine (Mueller) Hoover, was born before 1765 and died after 1830. His will was dated 1830. He married Mary. His second wife was [Mrs] Susanna Crummet.

Children are listed as Rachel, John, Sebastian, George, Michael, Thomas and Mary. In another post, Mary Kitt says,

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/k/i/t/Mary-Kitt-IA/index.html

I am also researching Michael and Mary Hoover. Both were born in VA. in 1800 and died in Mercer co. IL. Their son Williamson, was my grgrandfather. He married Lucinda Ditto in Mercer co. IL. in 1866.

Interestingly, William had a daughter named Ruth Ruemma Hoover (1882-1944), born in Viola, Mercer county, the home of Charles and Ruth Southern. William Hoover is found living near the Southerns on the 1900 census. But birth of Michael's daughter Mary in 1824 pretty much discounts that that Mary (Hoover) Stanton and Ruth were his daughters.

There are several misses in trying to tie Ruth to this family but there are enough hits to suggest to me that she and Mary Stanton were likely related to (perhaps cousins of) John and James Hoover. Michael Hoover Jr may have been their uncle.

We know that Michael Hoover was in Champaign county during the 1820s as his daughter Mary was born there at the end of 1824. As son John was born in Virginia in 1823 then Michael had only recently arrived. Can he have been the brother of John and Sebastian Hoover who had already been in Champaign county (Union township) by 1820?

Although Michael Hoover had had at least six children by 1850, Only Ancil is living with him and Mary in 1850:

    Rock Island county, Rock Island, Illinois, United States

    Nicholas Hoover             M       49      Virginia
    Mary Hoover	                F       38      Virginia
    Ansel Hoover                M       12      Indiana

Eldest son, John, is living with his wife in Mercer County, and James is living with the Fischer family. Michael's son, Williamson Hoover, living with Mary Stanton and her sister Ruth. Rachel (16) could either be an unknown child or Michael's or another name for his daughter Mary, who would have also been 16.