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We are helping Susan Budensiek in identifying her Prentiss roots. Here is what we have so far:

1. Orpha Jane Prentiss. There is some uncertainty about her birth date and place:

• There is an IGI source saying she was b. 16 Apr 1830 in Burlington, Chittenden Co., VT and d. 9 Jan 1917.
• On the other hand, the 1860 census gives her age as 28, indicating a birth year of 1831-32 in VT.
• However, the 1870 census says she was age 32 and b. c. 1837-38 and b. in NY.
• Further, the 1880 census in Finnimore says she was age 47 and b. c. 1832-33 in Canada and that both of her parents were b. in New Hampshire.

There is a chance that Orpha Jane may be a daughter of an Ira Prentiss who is not otherwise identified. Susan says that surname appears on Orpha Jane's death record, but the informant was a neighbor so she may have given the wrong name. We checked our extracts from the VT census records, but find neither an Ira Prentiss nor an Orpha Jane Prentiss.

Complicating the matter is the fact that IGI entry also indicates her surname may be Hagen rather than Prentiss. Susan also says that Orpha Jane was supposedly adopted by a Hazen (or maybe Hagen) family but we do not when or where this might have occurred, but if so, it was before her son's birth in 1875.

Our extracts of Prentices from the 1850 VT census do not show any Orpha Jane Prentiss.

Orpha Jane Prentiss m. 1st. James Boyd c. 1850-51. He was a farmer, b. c. 1824, VT. They appear in the 1860 census in Georgia, Franklin Co., VT, and in the 1870 census in Finnimore, Grant Co., WI, with their children:

1. George A. Boyd, b. c. 1851, VT. At home in 1860, not in 1870.
2. William R. Boyd, b. c. 1858, VT. At home in 1870 and 1880 in Finnimore, Grant Co., WI.
3. Charles I. Boyd, b. c. 1859, VT. At home in 1870 and 1880 in Finnimore, Grant Co., WI.
4. Bernard/Barney Boyd, b. 11 Dec 1862, VT, and d. 14 Mar 1944, Mason City, Cerro Gordo Co., IA. At home in 1870 and 1880 in Finnimore, Grant Co., WI. He m. Anna Elisabeth Frank on 15 Sep 1887 in Cresco, Howard Co., IA. Children per Ancestry.com :
   1. Mabel Orpha Mary Boyd 1891 – 1943
   2. Norman Frank Boyd 1894 – 1969
   3. Gertrude Boyd 1896 – 1968
   4. Carl H Boyd 1902 – 1968
5. Ida Boyd, b. c. 1865. At home in 1870 and 1880 in Finnimore, Grant Co., WI.
6. John Boyd, b. c. 1867. At home in 1870 and 1880 in Finnimore, Grant Co., WI.
7. Clara A. Boyd, b. c. 1874. At home in 1880 in Finnimore, Grant Co., WI.

Interestingly, in that 1870 census in Finnimore, Grant Co., WI, only 2 doors away lived the family of John Prentiss, b. c. 1847, NY, his wife, Ellen A,, b. c. 1847, VT, and in the 1880 census in Enosburg, Franklin Co., VT. Children:

1. Albert M. Prentiss, b. c. 1867, VT. At home in 1880.
2. Ethel Prentiss, b. c. 1875, VT. At home in 1880.

Susan Budensiek says that they later moved to Iowa (per Susan Budensiek,email, 20 Jun 2000), but they do not appear in the 1900 and later census records. However, an entry in Ancestry.com says she d. 9 Jan 1917 in Cresco, Howard Co., IA.

An Eldridge-L@rootsweb.com posting by Susan Budensiek on 26 Jul 2000 says that she may have m. 2nd George William Eldridge, perhaps a doctor, who was b. c. 1824 in Bridgeport, VT, son of Oliver Eldridge and Sarah Sally Wright. Ancestor Charts for him can be found at Rootsweb.com . According to Susan Budensiek, there are two theories about that marriage and birth:

• One story says George m. Orpha and died just before baby George Albert Eldridge was born.
• An alternative story is that George never married Orpha Jane, bur rather ran off to the California gold fields.

Descendants of Orpha Jane Prentiss/Hagen:

1. George Albert Eldridge, b. 1 Apr 1854 in VT and d. 1 Apr 1888 in Grant Co., WI. . . . [2]

2. George Albert Eldridge, b. 1 Apr 1854 in VT and d. 1 Apr 1888 in Grant Co., WI.

He m. Mary Catherine Winter on 11 Sep 1873 in Grant Co. WI. Mary was b. 15 Aug 1856 in Grant County, WI and d. 11 Oct 1937 in Glendive, Dawson Co., MT. She was the dau. of Joseph Benjamin Levi Winter and Magdalena Stoner. An Ancestor Chart for Mary can be found at Ancestry.com .

Children of George and Mary:

1. William Eldridge, b. 01 Apr 1875 in Grant Co., WI.
2. Julia Rosella Eldridge, b. 15 Dec 1876 in Plum Valley, WI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [3]
3. Warren Albert Eldridge, b. 11 Jun 1878 in Carrogarda Co., IA.
4. Jesse Wilson Eldridge, b. 08 Jan 1880 in Grant Co., WI
5. Minnie Jane Eldridge, b. 22 Feb 1882 in Grant Co., WI, and d. 14 Nov 1957. . . . [4]
6. Charles Henry Eldridge, b. 08 Apr 1884 in Grant Co., WI.
7. Bertha Ann Eldridge, b. 05 Mar 1886 in Grant Co., WI.

3. Julia Rosella Eldridge, b. 15 Dec 1876 in Plum Valley, WI and d. 1 Sep 1940 in Eau Claire County, WI. She m. Franklin Edson Markham on 9 Apr 1892. He was b. 22 Mar 1872 in Jackson County, WI and d. 19 Jan 1947 in Eau Claire County, WI.

4. Minnie Jane Eldridge, b. 22 Feb 1882 in Grant Co., WI, and d. 14 Nov 1957.

She m. Charley/Charles Haines. He was b. 1 May 1861, Scio, Allegany Co., NY, and d. 1 Nov 1936, Glendive, MT. They had 1 or more children per Ancestry.com :

1. Carl C. Haines, b. 8 Nov 1908, WI and d. 10 May 1991, MT. He m. (unknown) and had 1 or more children, including:
   1. Melvin Haines.

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