Anna A Main (1856-1929)

Charts | Birth | Marriage | Child | Census| Family_Record

Daughter of Isabel Main √
Wife of Elias Andrew Stratton √

Facts (with source information): Narrative Report

What's so great/bad about these records?
There are court records that prove that Isabel Main, daughter of Jonas Main, had a baby on January 6, 1856. Unfortunately, they do not name the baby or even say whether the baby was a boy or girl. There are sources that help to establish that Anna Main Stratton was Isabel’s daughter. (1) The 1870 census shows 14-year-old “Alpha” in the home with her mother and stepfather. (2) The 1874 diary Anna kept documents her close relationship with her grandfather. (3) The obit for her stepfather names Anna as one of his children.

Charts:

Birth and adoption

Jan. 6, 1856 Birth:

A child is born to Isabel Main, daughter of Jonas Main. Jonas sues the father, who has married another woman. According to Isabel and Jonas, William Main is the child’s biological father. Unfortunately, the child’s name is not given in the court record, just the birth date. And the court did not rule in Jonas Main’s favor. So, there is no proof that William Main was Anna’s father. (He and his wife did leave Delaware County, and never returned.)

This court record makes Jonas Main sound like a terrible, angry person. No doubt he was very angry at the time. But when Anna was a teenager, she had a loving relationship with Jonas and his children. (She wrote a diary that makes that clear.) And when Jonas was a very old man he was interviewed for a newspaper article. He sounds like a really nice person in that interview. Like all of us, he was a complicated human being.

Case M0161 and M0164, January, 1856
1856-Lawsuits-Transcription

Delaware, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas
1856, Case M0161
(film 008371547, image 1009)

June, 1860, Census

Four-year-old Anna did not appear in the 1860 census. Her mother, Isabel, is in Jonas Main’s household. The others shown are Isabel’s siblings.

Jonas Main family, lines 22-31

September, 1860, Marriage of Anna’s Mother:

Delaware County, Ohio
lower right corner
(film 004016690, image 392)

1870 Census:

In the 1870 census, her name is “Alpha,” not Anna. She is 14.
1870 is the only census that shows her with her mother.

Marion Main family, lines 26-31

1877 Marriage

In 1877 Anna A Main married Elias A Stratton in Delaware County, Ohio. That same year their daughter Edna was born.

upper right corner

1877 Birth of Daughter Edna

Delaware County, Ohio
line 7
(film 004016689, image 201)

Censuses in which her name is Anna Stratton:

The 1890 census was lost in a fire.
I cannot find the 1910 census.

1880 Census

Delaware County, Ohio
lines 38-40

1900 Census

St. Louis, Missouri
lines 77-81

1920 Census

Arapahoe County, Colorado
line 60

Family Record

StrattonFamilyBibleDates

1929 Copy of dates from the Stratton Family Bible

These are birth dates from the Stratton family bible, copied in 1929 by Edna Stratton. Her grandparents, lines 1-2; her parents, lines 5-6; Edna and her brothers, lines 9-11. (Anna A Stratton’s birth date: Jan. 6, 1856)

Edna made this record when she went to Denver for her mother’s funeral. Anna Main Stratton is buried in Denver, Colorado.