Nancy Ann Toone (1798 - 1852)

Descendants

Contents 1 Wagon Train Details 2 Biography 3 Research Notes 4 Sources

Wagon Train Details

"Wagon Trains", large groups of covered wagons that travelled together for safety and protection, were a common way for pioneers to travel as they migrated west. These are the known details of the wagon train this person travelled on:

Wagon Trail:	Oregon Trail
Departure Date:	1852
Train Name:
Trail Master:
Point of Origin:	Wapello County, Iowa
Point of Muster:	Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie, Iowa
Destination:	Linn County, Oregon

For more information on wagon trains you can also check out the Trails and Wagon Trains sub-project

Biography

Nancy was born about 1798 in Maryland. ^[1] She couldn't read or write. ^[1]

Nancy Toone married Richard Evans 30 Sept. 1818, Lawrence County, Indiana. ^[2] They had children: ^[1]

David Evans, born about 1824, in Indiana

Eliza Evans, born about 1827 in Indiana, wife of William Holloway, born about 1827 in Alabama

Edward Evans, born about 1830, in Indiana

Mary Ann Evans, born about 1834, in Indiana

There were other Evans families on the Iowa State Census for Wappelo County in about 1847, unknown if any were sons of Richard Evans: Elbert Evans, John C. Evans, William H. Evans, Joseph Evans.

In 1852, Nancy Evans, in company with her husband Richard and her grown children and grandchildren, traveled on the Oregon Trail from their farm in

Wapello county, Iowa to the Oregon Territories. Nancy "died on the Powder River" (near Burns, Oregon), 23 Sept 1852, at the boundary of the Oregon Territory.

Excerpt from Donation Land Claim #1347 by Richard Evans: "states in part "and he further says that Nance Ann Evans his late wife died on Powder river on the Road to Oregon 23 Aug. 1852" copy in possession of author. Notification No. 2189, sworn oath by Richard Evans ^[3]

According to a letter by September 23, 1852, James S. Williams, (a copy of which is now in the Denver Public Library) from "Molaley Oregon" to his brother and sister back in the east:

"old Mrs Evins died the other [east] side of the Grand Round. They brought her on the Round and buried her." ^[4]

Research Notes

NOTE: Individuals were allowed 320 acres of land in the Oregon Territory on the Donation Land Claim, and married couples were allowed 640 acres. This was only in effect for in Oregon Territory before Dec 1, 1850. Richard went to Oregon in 1850 to establish residency for the claim, came back to Iowa in 1851, and brought his family out in 1852. As long as a person died in the Oregon Territory, their spouse could claim 640 acres. The Powder River was the eastern boundary of the Oregon Territory. Grand Ronde, farther west, was a long day's journey by wagon.

NOTE: The digitized original of Richard and Nancy's wedding license is available online. It is clearly written, and "Toone" is clearly spelled with an "e" on the end.

NOTE: Although the records of Nancy's life are not many, there are things we can deduce about her character from what records we can see.

She was intrepid: going on the Oregon Trail at age 54, with a grandbaby to care for, is not for the faint of heart.

She was hospitable: The 1850 census shows Thomas Kynsiston, age 37, Edward Kyniston, age 4, Francis Pope (a girl) age 9 and Mary Pope age 12, as part of the Evans household. She said "yes" to four more people to cook for, wash for, clean for!

She was faithful: From her farm in Indiana, to her farm in Iowa, to her expected farm in Oregon, she moved with her husband, accepting the immense load of extra work entailed in building and supplying a new home 'from scratch'.

Can you add any information on Nancy Toone? Please help grow her WikiTree profile. Everything you see here is a collaborative work-in-progress.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} 1850 United States Federal Census
2. ↑ Indiana Marriages, 1802-1892
3. ↑ Oregon Donation Land Claim No. 1347 (Roseburg Office)
4. ↑ Williams, James S., 1852, Letter dated September 23

See also:

• Oregon Donation Land Claim No. 1347 (Roseburg Office) Repository: BLM Oregon/Washington State Office

• Donation Land Claim Act at Wikipedia.org

• Williams, James S., 1852, Letter dated September 23 to "Dear Brother and Sister," typescript M911 M89-1806, no date, 2 p., Western History Collection, Denver Public Library. (The document is a mimeograph.)

• Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census, [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Year: 1850; Census Place: District 13, Wapello, Iowa; Roll: M432_189; Page: 447B; Image: 414

• Dodd, Jordan, Liahona Research, comp.. Indiana Marriages, 1802-1892, [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original Source: Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, Microfilm: 1317624 item 3 & 1317625

• Ancestry.com. Iowa, State Census Collection, 1836-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Microfilm of Iowa State Censuses, 1856, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925 as well various special censuses from 1836-1897 obtained from the State Historical Society of Iowa via Heritage Quest.

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/245033672/nancy-ann-evans: accessed 24 December 2022), memorial page for Nancy Ann Toone Evans (1801–23 Aug 1852), Find a Grave Memorial ID 245033672; Burial Details Unknown, Nancy Ann (Toone) Evans was wife of Richard Evans #76168570, mother of Edward Evans #76168652, Mary Ann (Evans) Sherrill, #16881009, David Evans #9444074 and Eliza Jane (Evans) Holloway.; Maintained by 1852oregontrail (contributor 47276731).