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Gravestone of George W. House

The Story of the Broken Tombstone

I finally found the obituary for the very old Elizabeth House who was buried in the Kirkville, Iowa cemetery. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't find any stone for my ggg grandfather, George Washington House.

His wife Elizabeth (my ggg grandmother) was there and the stone states she was the Wife of G. House. She died Oct. 5, 1863 at the age of 78 years. The stone for the other Elizabeth was to the right side of my Elizabeth. This story explains the whole thing and I had to laugh when I found it because the second Elizabeth had a sex change from George to Elizabeth because of a broken tombstone. Poor old George will be forever known as Elizabeth in that cemetery. I sent information to the Wapello County Historical Society to notify them of the information I had found.

I have been searching for several years for a connection to the HULL family for my Elizabeth House. Then I found some references to HALL - then one reference to her name as HILL! Finally I've found proof of the HULL name with a copy of the marriage bond between George House and Archibald HULL for the marriage of George House to Elizabeth HULL! I found this on film roll number 183078 which includes marriage bond records from Bourbon County, Kentucky.

OTTUMWA WEEKLY COURIER
OTTUMWA, IOWA
January 15, 1879

DEAD - AGED 120 YEARS

     George House, of Cedar Township, Mahaska county, died at the residence of his son, A.J. House, near Kirkville, on Friday, the 10th inst. and was buried on Sunday at the Westview Cemetery in Kirkville, Iowa.

     Mr. House was a very old man, and for 14 years has been able merely to be about, not being capable of doing any work. His sons have no record of his age, the family record having been lost or destroyed. He was a soldier in the War of 1812 and 1814 and drew a pension as such. As near as can be ascertained he was born at Fort Pitt, Pennsylvania, March 25th, 1758, eight months before it was captured by General Forbes, on the 25th of November, in the same year.

The old gentleman always claimed that it was called "Redstone Old Fort," though the history of Pittsburgh, Fort Duquesne and subsequently Fort Pitt, gives no account of it. Pittsburgh, at the time he was born, Mr. House claimed, was not in existence or even thought of. He lived for 24 years in Cedar township, Mahaska county, adjoining the Wapello county line. His wife, Elizabeth, died 15 years ago, and was 74 years old when she died.

     If Mr. House's statements are correct, at the time of his death he was 120 years, 10 months and 18 days old. He retained his mental faculties until a period of three weeks before his death, at which time he had a stroke of paralysis and after that he rapidly declined until the day of his death.


FURTHER INFORMATION:
     The records I have show George Washington House drawing a pension from the War of 1812. It also states the following: "In 1871 of Cedar Twp., Mahaska County, Iowa, and wife Elizabeth had died. George was 88 years old in 1871." This would mean he was born in 1783 which is logical since his parents, Andrew House and Hannah Snapp, were supposedly married about 1782 at Westmoreland, PA. George was born at Redstone Twp, Fayette County, PA.

     The picture of the tombstone shows "Elizabeth" House although it's partly broken and apparently it orignally said "George House, husband of Elizabeth House. Wouldn't old George have a fit if he thought he was buried forever under a gravestone that says he's a woman! He is buried beside his wife Elizabeth and their son Andrew J. is buried on the other side of Elizabeth. Their son Andrew J. House died 14 Aug 1899 at the age of 84 years.

     I feel so fortunate to have found the gravestones of my ggg grandparents when we made a trip through Iowa in May of 1996. With no listing to tell us where the graves were located, we had to walk row after row and find them. We knew the death dates so only had to look for very old stones. After searching through about 15 to 20 rows in this large cemetery we located them. We looked for very old stones since we knew he had died in the 1870s. Now maybe we can find those of his parents, Andrew and Hannah (Snapp) House, in Kentucky some day, too.

The Family of
 George Washington House
& Elizabeth Hull

George Washington HOUSE
b 25 Mar 1782 Redstone TWP, Fayette Co, PA
m 03 Oct 1805 Bourbon Co, KY
d 10 Jan 1879 Kirkville, Wapello, IA
His Father: Andrew HOUSE (see below for his family chart)
His Mother: Hannah Rolfe SNAPP House

Elizabeth HULL House
b 29 Sep 1785 KY
m 03 Oct 1805 Bourbon Co, KY
d 05 Oct 1863 Kirkville, Wapello, IA
Her Father: Archibald HULL

CHILDREN

1. Alvin HOUSE
b 1808 Bourbon County, KY
m Melinda MEHANNA House 21 Sep 1829 Bath Co., KY

2. William HOUSE
b ca 1811 Bourbon Co, KY

3. Andrew J. HOUSE
b 08 Apr 1815 Paris, Bourbon, KY
d 14 Aug 1899 Cedar Twp, Mahaska, IA
buried Kirkville, Wapello, IA
Single

4. George Washington HOUSE Jr.
b 28 Apr 1815 Paris, Bourbon, KY (this is an incorrect date!)
d 29 Sep 1895 Randolph Twp, Tippecanoe, IN
m Martha ALLEN House 12 Feb 1850 IN

5. Nancy Jane HOUSE Ross Godard
b 18 Sep 1820 Paris, Bourbon, KY
d 31 Jan 1903 Portland, Multnomah, OR
buried Lone Fir Cemetery, Portland, OR
m Stephen Evan ROSS 31 Dec 1839 Montgomery Co, IN
other marriages 2: Lewis A. GODARD

6. Mary A. HOUSE Cassell
b ca 1827 KY
m John J. CASSELL 12 Jun 1854

7. Thomas Jefferson HOUSE
b 1826 Paris, Bourbon Co, KY
m Polly A. _____? House

8. Hannah HOUSE Crouch
b 14 Aug 1828 KY
m John CROUCH 13 Sep 1843 IN

The family of
Andrew House and
Hannah Rolfe Snapp

Andrew HOUSE
b 01 Dec 1747 ,Frederick,MD.
m ABT 1782 ,Westmoreland,PA.
d 14 Aug 1843 Carlisle?, Nicholas, KY
His Father: Andrew HOUSE
His Mother: Catherine _____? House

Hannah Rolfe SNAPP
b 1763 ,,PA.
m ABT 1782 ,Westmoreland,PA.
d AFT 1855 ,Nicholas,KY.
Her Father: George SCHNEPP/SNAPP
Her Mother: Maria Magdalena LOWENGUT

CHILDREN
1. George Washington HOUSE
b 25 Mar 1782 Redstone TWP, Fayette Co, PA
d 10 Jan 1879 Kirkville, Wappelo, IA
m Elizabeth HULL House 03 Oct 1805 Bourbon Co, KY

2. Elizabeth "Betsy" HOUSE Wakeland
b ABT 1780/1790
m William Canady WAKELAND 20 Nov 1802 ,Bourbon,KY.

3. Mary "Polly" HOUSE Bramlett
m Henry Hugh BRAMBLETT 15 Feb 1815 ,Bourbon,KY.

4. Nancy HOUSE Donovan
b ABT 1790/1800
m Alexander DONOVAN 09 Apr 1820 ,Bourbon,KY.

5. John HOUSE
b 2 ,Bourbon,KY.
d ABT 1875 ,Scott,KY.
m Nancy BRAMLETT House 22 Dec 1818 Bourbon Co, KY
other marriages 2: Ann _____? Bramlett House

6. Sarah "Sallie" HOUSE Bramlett
m John BRAMBLETT 04 Nov 1823 ,Bourbon,KY.

7. Catherine HOUSE Duckett
m ? DUCKETT

8. William HOUSE
b ABT 1800 ,,KY.
m Mary _____? House

9. Malinda HOUSE Donovan
b ABT 1805 ,Bourbon,KY.
d AFT 1860 ,Scott,KY.
m Patrick DONOVAN 05 Mar 1823 ,Bourbon,KY.

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Last modified on Tuesday, September 06, 2016