In the 1860 Census, David and Jane are still in Newark Township with their children Thomas, David, Robert, Owen, Jane, Kate (Catharine), and Margrett. The elder David Owens who was with them in 1850 is no longer there. I imagine he died, but I haven’t found any record of that.

I believe that the courthouse there burned down several times, so a lot of information has been lost. Most of what I have I have gathered from Census records and Newspaper clippings that I’ve been able to find on Ancestry.com. I was very fortunate several years ago to contact a grandson of Robert Owens, who gave me as much information as he could, and that has been very helpful in verifying that what I have found is probably correct.

In 1860 there is a David Hughes, 11, living in the Owens household. Who is David Hughes? Where did he come from? Where did he go? I don’t imagine that I’ll ever find those answers. During my research, though, it appears that the Welsh people would often send their children, especially sons, to live with and work for other families, probably relatives, when they were around 12 years old. Conjecture, I could be completely wrong.

Ten years later, after the Civil War, only Margaret is living with David and Jane. Their daughter Catharine, now Thomas, is living nearby with three children of her own. Where are the other children? What happened to Catharine’s husband?

David died before the next census. He died on July 18, 1878, age 79, of paralysis. With the exception of the ships list, all of the census records put David’s birth about 1798-1799, which matches the information from my “cousin”. He stated “I remember a little bit about the Owens family because of one strange fact. Robert Owens' father was born in 1799 in Bala, Wales. Robert was born in 1838 in Bala, Wales. My mother was born in 1902 in Nepesta, Colorado. That makes 3 generations born in 3 different centuries.”

Margaret was still living with Jane in 1880. Jane died of old age on May 27, 1889, at “82 years, 4 months and 21 days” old. With the exception of the 1860 Census Jane’s birth would have been around 1806-1807, the info for her death puts her date of birth at 6 Jan 1807, which corresponds to the information from my “cousin”.

I know about my Great grandmother, Catharine Owens Thomas, and I do have some information on Robert Owens, from my mother and his grandson, but what happened to the rest of the family? There are SO MANY Owens, how can I track them down? Close to impossible, but what I have would have been impossible without that scrap of paper!!