Have I already said how much I love findagrave.com? So many people have contributed to this site. I found a story about James Olmstead on his findagrave page:
James H. Olmstead, a substantial farmer residing in section 19, Taylor Township, came to Harrison County, in the spring of 1872, and settled in Clay Township, where he rented farm until the autumn of 1873, then he bought eighty acres of land in Clay Township, which he tilled for three years, then sold and rented in Cincinnati Township until the spring of 1881, at which date he removed to Butler County, Kan., bought a farm and remained until August of that year. He then sold and returned to Harrison County, Iowa, and lived on a rented farm until the spring of 1887. At this date he went to No-Man's-Land, south of Kansas, but only remained two months, when he retraced his steps to Harrison County, again he rented land that year, and the following spring bought the farm he now occupies.
Mr. Olmstead was born in Wisconsin, August 16, 1849. He is the son of Joshua and Mary (Walker) Olmstead, the father being a native of Illinois, while the mother was born in Indiana. The father was a miller by trade. In 1850 our subject with his parents removed to Allamakee County, Iowa, and in 1856 to Dodge County, Minn. At that date Minnesota had not yet been admitted into the Union, and there were but three families living in Dodge County. They remained there until the spring of 1866, when they started over land for California going by the way of the Neosha Valley, Kans., and being so captivated with that section of the West, our subject's father bought land in Lyons County, Kan., and died in Butler County, Kan., in 1875. Our subject remained at home with is parents until twenty-one years of age, and then took a homestead in Butler County, Kan., remaining there until the spring of 1872, when he came to Harrison County, Iowa.
He was married in Lyons County, Kan., in 1869, to Miss Ellen Wilson, by whom two sons have been born, William and Robert. Ellen (Wilson) Olmstead, died in Butler County, Kan., and for his second wife our subject married Miss Ella M. Parker, the daughter of David and Emily (Stark) Parker. The date of our subject's marriage was August 1, 1874, they being united in Harrison County, Iowa. By this marriage six children have been born – Minnie M., Harvey, Emma A. (deceased), Oran F., Herman L. and Erle A.
Ella M. (Parker) Olmstead, was born in Ohio, October 2, 1853. Her father was born in Canada, her mother in New York State. They removed to Harrison County, Iowa, in June 1863. Mr. and Mrs. Olmstead are members of the Christian Church, and politically he affiliates with the Republican party.
Until I found this, I had no idea that he was married before being married to Ella Parker. My grandmother talked about "the uncles" who watched over her, but never knew that these uncles may have included William and Robert. More research to do...
If you think your family history is complete ("My <mother|aunt|great-uncle> has done it for years") you are probably wrong. I have been doing family history for 45 years or so, but still make new findings frequently.
What do we know about his father, Joshua? His findagrave link doesn't tell us a lot. His gravestone doesn't tell us much, either:
We do find him in the 1870 Census in Kansas, along with his children who were still living at home:
A little searching on familysearch.com shows us Joshua and Mary's marriage record:
What is so special about this marriage date and place? They were married in Nauvoo, Illinois! From this, we find that Joshua and Mary were early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
It will take some more work to find mention of Joshua and Mary in Nauvoo, but we do know that Joshua's father, Harvey Olmstead, was called by Joseph Smith to be a high councilor in the Adam-Omni-Ahman Stake:
Linking into an early Mormon line is going to make things easier -- many of these people did their genealogy and recorded their lines, thus giving us a head start on things. The Olmstead line has been traced back to the 1300's.
Next -- Harvey Olmstead and his ancestors.
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