Query: FISHER/BANFIELD

Dear Friends in Indiana Genealogy:

Our family is hoping to find what happened to our ancestors Samuel Fisher and his wife Sarah Banfield Fisher.

We are hoping that someone can help us. This has been a family mystery for four generations. So any help in locating what their cause of deaths were or where they are buried would be a great discovery for us as a family in search of its history.

This is what we know:

Marriage records in Harrison County Kentucky say they were married in Cynthiana, June 2, 1870 at Will’s House. Samuel was born about 1848 in Bath County Kentucky; Sarah was born about 1853. We found an advertisement in the June 2, 1870 issue of The Cynthiana News for Will’s House, on Main Street, Cynthiana, KY, J.S. Wills, Proprietor. So that must be the place.

1870 Census has them in the Robinson Station Kentucky area.

The Charter Book for Robinson Station Christian Church records Samuel as a charter member and Sarah joined later. Then there is also an entry that in 1878 or 9, they left for Missouri. At that time they had three children; Lillian, Minnie, Henry (my great grandfather).

John J. Fisher is Samuel’s brother and witness for Samuel at his wedding. The same Robinson Station Christian Church Charter Book lists John’s wife (we believe) Mary having died around 1880. She was buried on Dick Lizar’s (Ligar’s or Lysar’s) farm. It is then documented that John J. left for Missouri.

1880 Census has Samuel’s family in Trenton, Grundy County, Missouri. Lillian is listed inaccurately as Leon. And they have added a daughter, Mattie. This is the last record we have of Samuel and Sarah.

Family stories say that Samuel and Sarah die and the children are sent back to Harrison County Kentucky to live with family.

We do not know what happened in the interim, but in 1892 Miss Minnie Fisher is listed as a witness at a wedding for George W. Roberts and Alice Bell Doan both of Kelat (this information was recently found by Mr. Charlie Feix of Cynthiana). Then in the 1900 Census, we find the children in Midway, Woodford County, Kentucky, living with Josh and Prudy (Prudence) King. We believe Prudy is maybe a sister to Sarah. We do know that Josh and Prudy are from Berry, Kentucky and return to Berry sometime around 1919. But, the children, all stay in the Midway area and marry, except Minnie. She marries Austin Roberts of Berry. The others: Lillian marries-Charlie Portwood, Mattie marries Joe McRae (McCrea), Henry marries Bess May; all stay in and around Woodford County (Midway).

Other Banfield names are Oliver and Willis. We believe them to be Sarah’s brothers, maybe. They used to visit Henry and Bess when my Grandfather, Samuel (named after his Grandfather) was a child.

We’ve not found any evidence of Samuel and Sarah’s deaths in Missouri. Some folks we’ve corresponded with there believe that there is a possibility they migrated to Indiana. I’ve found, via Ancestry.com, a Sarah A. Fisher death record in Spencer, Indiana on March 2, 1885. The age would be about right. I’ve not been able to find her obituary nor information on Samuel.

My Dad, Joe Fisher, of Midway is 88 and would really like to know what happened to Samuel and Sarah. We have tried to find out on our own for 20 years or more. We have talked with folks, lots of folks in the Harrison County area but haven’t been able to find anything about Samuel and Sarah’s deaths. We’ve corresponded with folks in Missouri and have certainly appreciated all who have talked with us and assisted us in our search.

We would certainly appreciate any and all help you can give us or direct us to.

Sincerely,

Donna Jo Forman
414 Mill Road
Midway, KY 40347
dforman2@roadrunner.com