With today’s posting I have a real mystery in the family that I was completely unaware of just weeks ago.
Comments were left on a posting to my blog post https://carolinafamilyroots.blogspot.com/2022/06/mrs-rowena-drye-widow-of-col-george-drye.html. The young lady wanted to know how “John M. and Sophronia S. (Maiden name unknown) Speed were related to George and Rowena (Maiden name unknown) Dry were related.
John M. Speed was born abt 1824 and died before December 1875. Sophronia S. (LNU) Speed applied for a Civil War Widows pension on 2 December 1875; Application#223713.
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/4654/records/1172475
It is not known when John M. Speed and Sophronia S. (LNU) Speed were married. Their only child, Elizabeth, was born in 1844 and in the 1900 Census her mother reported that she was deceased.
On 13 June 1900, Sophronia S. (LNU) Speed wrote her Last Will and Testament.
Last Will of Sophronia S. Speed
Sophronia S. Speed, being of sound mind do make this Will my last will revoking all previous wills:
First: I wish all my just debts and funeral Expenses paid. Second, I wish my executor to buy me a lot in Eastern Cemetery, and there bury me, and erect over my grave a neat tombstone.
Third: I give to my Nephew Stephen Dry certain pictures and an upholstered chair, which I have pointed out to my executor, and which I desire him to have crated and shipped to my said nephew at Houstonville, Ky.
Fourth: I give my Nephew John Dry a chair which my Executor is to have upholstered, and which is known to him.
Fifth: I give to my niece, Amanda C. Bradley, a certain trunk which I have had my nurse pack, and the contents thereof, the said nurse, Mrs. A. B. Gregory, knowing the said trunk.
Page 219
Sixth: I give all my wearing apparel to Maria Milligan.
Seventh: The remainder of my Estate of whatever description is to go into the hands of my Executor to be by him sold and the proceeds used by him without accountability in the paying of my debts, paying for my said lot in the said Cemetery, and the erection of my tombstone, and keeping my grave in repair.
I appoint R. C. Bradley my executor and request that he be permitted to Execute bond without Security.
This June 13th 1900. Sophronia X S. Speed,
Witness W. E . Mitchell
Rewena D. Weatherford
Mrs. A. B. Gregory
State of Kentucky,
At a County Court held for Jefferson County at the Court House in the City of Louisville on the 18th day of July 1900 the foregoing instrument of writing purporting to be the last will and testament of Sophronia S. Speed deceased late of this County was produced in Court and proven by the testimony of W. E. Mitchell, Rewena D. Weatherford and Mrs. A. B. Gregory the subscribing witnesses thereto, whereupon the same was established by the Court to be the last will and testament of said testatrix and ordered to be recorded, and is recorded in my office as Clerk of said Court.
Attest Wm C. Johnson Clerk
Sophronia S. Speed, by her will, makes bequests of furniture and clothing to different persons, and directs her executor to sell the remainder and use the proceeds in the payment of her debts and for the care of her grave.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal/160095867/
The Courier-Journal
Louisville, Kentucky
Thu, Jul 19, 1900
Page 10, Column 1
Sophronia S Speed in the Kentucky, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1774-1989
Name Sophronia S Speed
Residence Date Abt 1900
Residence Place Kentucky
Will Date 13 Jun 1900
Probate Date 13 Jun 1900
Probate Place Jefferson, Kentucky, USA
Inferred Death Year 1900
Inferred Death Place Kentucky, USA
Item Description Wills, Vol 21-23, 1896-1901
Individuals Listed (Name) Relationship
Sophronia S Speed
Stephen Dry_Nephew
John Dry_Nephew
Amanda C. Bradley_Niece
A.B. Gregory_Niece
Sophronia S Speed named the following George and Rowena D. Dry descendants in her Last Will.
1. Stephen Dry_Nephew; Stephen is the son of George and Rowena D. Dry.
2. John Dry_Nephew—John is the son of George and Rowena D. Dry.
3. Amanda C. Bradley_Niece is Amanda C. Drye wife of Richard Cobb Bradley. Amanda is the daughter of John F. Dry and granddaughter of Col. George Dry and Rowena D. Drye.
Two additional individuals were bequeathed legacies.
A, B Gregory, a nurse
Maria Milligan.
Fifth: I give to my niece, Amanda C. Bradley, a certain trunk which I have had my nurse pack, and the contents thereof, The said nurse, Mrs. A. B. Gregory, knowing the said trunk.
Page 219
Sixth: I give all my wearing apparel to Maria Milligan.
Seventh: The remainder of my Estate of whatever description is to go into the hands of my Executor to be by him sold and the proceeds used by him without accountability in the paying of my debts, paying for my said lot in the said Cemetery, and the erection of my tombstone, and keeping my grave in repair.
I appoint R. C. Bradley my executor and request that he be permitted to Execute bond without Security.
Let's review for a minute: A nephew is the son of your brother or sister, while a niece is the daughter of your brother or sister; essentially, they are the children of your siblings, making you their aunt or uncle.
If John and Stephen are, in fact, a nephew of Sophronia S Speed. Then, either George DRY or Rowena D. (LNU) is a sister of Sophronia S Speed. However, Amanda C. Bradley, wife of Richard Cobb Bradley is referred to as a Niece also. But, Amanda is the daughter of John F. Dry and granddaughter of Col. George Dry and Rowena D. (LNU) Dry. That would make Sophronia S Speed to be the daughter of Col. George Dry and Rowena D. (LNU) Dry.
Maria Milligan was Maria Hardesty before her marriage to Albert Milligan in Jan 1852, I have not found a blood connection to Sophronia S. Speed.
I suspect that Rowena D. Dry, wife and widow, of George Dry is the key to this mystery.
If you have any information on the parents of Sophronia S. Speed, I would love to hear from you.
________________________
1. 1860, Marion County, Kentucky, population schedule, District 2, Marion, Kentucky, Page: #731 (penciled), Line: #22, Dwelling: #704; Family: #687, Household of John M. SPEED; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: online December 2024); citing NARA publication M653_.
2. Compiled military record (), U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 (Provo, Utah: www.ancestry.com), N/A.
3. 1860, Marion County, Kentucky, population schedule, District 2, Marion, Kentucky, Page: #731 (penciled), Line: #22, Dwelling: #704; Family: #687, Household of John M. SPEED.
4. 1900, Jefferson County, Kentucky, population schedule, Louisville Ward 6, Jefferson, Kentucky, enumeration district (ED) 0059, Page 286 (Stamped); Line: #26, Dwelling: #66, Family: #114, Household of Sue S. SPEED; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: online December 2024); citing NARA publication T623, Roll: 533.
5. KY Department of Archives and History, "Civil War Pension Index, 1861-1934" database, (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/4654/records/1172475: accessed December 2024), entry for John M Speed; Unit A 10 Ky. Infantry.
6. C K Caron, City Directories for Louisville, Kentucky: 1861-1923 (Louisville, Kentucky: C K Caron, 1888), page 884, Sophronia SPEED.
7. 1900, Jefferson County, Kentucky, population schedule, Louisville Ward 6, Jefferson, Kentucky, ED 0059, Page 286 (Stamped); Line: #26, Dwelling: #66, Family: #114, Household of Sue S. SPEED.
8. Jefferson County, Kentucky, Probate Files & Loose papers, Sophronia S. Speed; digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org: online November 2024); Vol 21-23, 1896-1901.
9. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com: accessed November 2024); Memorial page for Sophronia Speed; (about 1818–17 December 1900); Find a Grave memorial # 52136289, Citing Eastern Cemetery; Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky, USA
10. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9066/records/142217
11. Jno M Speed in the U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1666/records/587040
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