Mrs. William Hall – this is how she was called in a newspaper article about her 86th birthday which she celebrated on 12 September 1959. Under the same name, we find her obituary: On 11 June 1966, this week 54 years ago, Mrs. William Hall died at the age of 95. Obviously, Mrs. William Hall’s birth date is not quite settled, at least not for the Lancaster Eagle Gazette where both articles appeared: If Mrs. William Hall turned 86 in September of 1959, she was born in 1873. In that case, however, she would only have been 93 by the time she passed away in June of 1966.
On her grave stone, the year 1870 for her birth has been chiseled. According to some census data we have gathered, she was supposed to be 22 in 1900 (and already married for 11 years, so someone mistook a 7 for a 2 here, it seems), 37 in 1910, 47 in 1920, 57 in 1930, and 68 in 1940. If her birthday was indeed in 1870, she was 18 when she married her first husband on 29 Mar 1889 in Clearport, Ohio, and not just 15. Hence we will assume that her “86th” birthday was, in fact, her 89th!
So, who was Mrs. William Hall to us? No other than (2nd) Great-Grandpa Harvey Hamilton Lindsey‘s wife Susannah Long! Harvey Hamilton passed away 23 years before Susannah, so after having been a widow for 10 years, Susannah married again, this time William Hall who had himself been widowed twice by that time.
As you can see if you look at the names of the birthday guests, the last name Lindsey
abounds, including of course our dear (Great-) Grandma Irene Denney. But the second marriage lasted only for 6 years after which William died. By the time Susannah celebrated her 86th birthday that was actually her 89th, she was already widowed a second time.
This week, we remember Susannah Long. Her obituary also mentions her as Mrs. William Hall, but she lies buried with Harvey Hamilton, and they grave stone says Lindsey. We assume her second husband was buried with his first or second wife.
Requiescat in Pace, Great-Grandma Lindsey.
Denney Home Place 