In February 1855 Zachariah and Polly jointly sold all of their land in Roxbury Township. The 1855 census of Prattsville, Greene County, dated June 15, shows Polly living with Willson and Mary Howard, her daughter and son-in-law. This census indicates that Polly had been living there for three months. Zachariah and his sons do not appear in the 1855 census in either Greene or Delaware counties.
In January 1856 Polly German purchased a house and land in her own name in the village of Prattsville.
In December 1856 Zachariah
bought 51 acres of land in Ogle
County, Illinois;
Zachariah and Polly sold the same on September 23, 1857 to their sons Samuel
and Pratt acting as trustees for Polly German. Samuel and Pratt issued a
mortgage for $600 that same day to William Garrett, payable in three
installments of $100, $200 and $300. Probably the boys were Trustees for Polly
because the installments were not scheduled to be completed until 1858. Samuel
and Pratt sued the buyer on September 8, 1858 for $500 for trespass,
apparently forcing payment of the final two installments, because they released
the mortgage in October. Zachariah and Polly also sold 2 1/2 acres of land in
Carroll County, Illinois on September 23, 1857. These records are in the
courthouses at Oregon, Illinois and Carroll, Illinois. It seems that
Zachariah and his sons moved to Illinois after the sale of Lots 7 and 20 in
February 1855, before the 1855 census was taken. Polly was also in
Illinois in September 23, 1857 for the land sales, even though she bought
a house in Prattsville in 1856. We do not know whether or where Zachariah
and Polly were divorced, but it seems that Polly's last in-person
involvement occurred on September 23, 1857. By 1858 it appears that
Polly was no longer in Illinois as the final Illinois land transactions by
her sons were done on her behalf.
Polly's daughter Mary Jane German married Willson Howard before the 1855 census; they were living next to Polly in Prattsville at the time of the 1860 census.
By 1865 Mary Jane was a widow and living with Polly. Polly's son Abel was also listed there in 1865, because he was in the Army.
This census also shows Polly as a widow, although her (ex?) husband Zachariah was living in Missouri.
In June and August 1874, Polly wrote these letters to her son, Samuel:
"Wallace" is almost certainly Wallace McDaniels. The McDaniels lived near her in Prattsville, and Wallace McDaniels appears in the 1880 census with Samuel in Nebraska. (Ancestry.com mistranscribes his name as "Nathan" in the 1880 census.)
"Aunt Betsey" probably refers to Wallace's mother, who may be Polly's sister, evidenced by a Jane Chamberlain (Polly's maiden name) living in the McDaniel home in the 1850 census for Prattsville.
In 1874 Polly, Wallace McDaniels (and possibly her granddaughters by Mary Jane, Hattie and Mary Etta) moved to Richardson County, NE where her son Samuel German was living. Samuel had changed his surname to Germain.
On March 2, 1878 the Catskill, NY Examiner published this death notice: "In Athens, Neb., Feb. 11, Mrs. Polly German, formerly of Prattsville, aged 77".
1867 map of Prattsville, NY. Mrs. P German appears two dwellings to the right of L. H. Howard, on the north side of Washington St.
A Mrs. J German was living two houses to the left of the Howard's; this is certainly Jane German, Isaac F German's widow.
The pink triangular insert shows the portion of Greene County that is actually located on the west side of Scoharie Creek, bordered by Delaware and Lexington Counties. E. Soule appears here. He married Issac F German's daughter, Rachel. This is very close to the land owned in Delaware County by Issac, Ezekiel and Zachariah German during the 1830's - 1850's.
A marriage notice published in the Windam Journal of March 2, 1865 says that on February 25, 1865, Jane Chamberlin of Prattsville married a Wesley Cooke at the house of C. McDaniels. We suspect that Jane Chamberlin was Polly's niece, that Mrs. Betsey McDaniels was Polly's sister and Jane's mother as well as the "Aunt Betsey" referred to in Polly's 1874 letter to Samuel, and that Charles and Betsey's son Wallace McDaniels is the "Wallace" referred to in the same letter. See the McDaniel listing in the 1865 census above.
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