Avery Couch
By Mike Landwehr
Copyright 2010
NOTE: The following biography of Avery Couch is an excerpt from a book I authored in 2010, entitled "Moses Couch and William Stogsdill Families". Since that book is still unpublished, I am posting this excerpt to make the information more readily available to others who share my interest in this family.
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Sarah Literal’s notebooks contain no mention of the Avery Couch family. And I am not aware of any public record or family document that identifies Avery Couch as a son of Moses and Elizabeth Couch. Our inclusion of Avery Couch among the children of Moses and Elizabeth Couch is based on strong circumstantial evidence accumulated over time.
The Avery Couch family has generally been ignored by Couch family researchers. In all the years I have been researching the Couch family, I have never encountered any evidence of interest in this family by other researchers. All of the information that follows regarding the Avery Couch family comes from my personal research, and any errors are mine alone.
As mentioned earlier, we are not certain where Avery Couch was born. Avery’s 1850 census record lists Tennessee as his place of birth. The 1880 census record for Avery’s son, John, indicates that John’s father (Avery) was born in Tennessee, while the 1880 census record for Avery’s son, Henry, indicates that Henry’s father (Avery) was born in Georgia. We assume, for now, that Avery was born in Tennessee, but continue to look for further evidence of his place of birth.
Our earliest record of Avery Couch dates back to 1822. In 1822, both Moses Couch and Lindley Couch appeared on the Pulaski County, Kentucky, tax list. Avery Couch was listed next to Moses Couch in the list. The column indicating “white over 21” was not marked, suggesting that Avery was younger than 21. Avery reported owning one horse, valued at $40.
There is a lot of variation in the ages listed for Avery Couch in census records and in written declarations that Avery made during the 1850’s. My best estimate, based on those sources, is that Avery was born about 1804-1808. I believe that the appearance of Avery’s name in the 1822 tax list indicates that Avery was at least 16 years old at the time, suggesting that he may have been born about 1805 or 1806. Finally, we believe that Avery was married about 1823. If that marriage date is accurate, it would suggest that Avery was probably born no later than 1805. So, we will assume a date of birth of approximately 1805, recognizing that we could be in error by two or three years.
The best available evidence indicates that Avery Couch was married to Nancy Tabor in Lincoln County, Tennessee, about 1823. The 1850 census suggests that Nancy was born in Kentucky about 1808 or 1809. So Avery was probably in his late teens, and Nancy may have been about 14 or 15 years old, when the couple married. I believe that their first child, a daughter they named Mary Ann, was born to Avery and Nancy in Tennessee about 1825.
There is evidence that Avery and Nancy were in Georgia in the late 1820’s. Census records strongly suggest that their eldest son, John B. Couch, was born in Georgia. Our best available date of birth for John B. Couch is March of 1828.
Avery and Nancy may have been in Georgia only briefly. Our next record of Avery appears in the 1830 census, back in Lincoln County, Tennessee. The household of “Avory Couch” included a male aged 20-29 (probably Avery), a female aged 20-29 (probably Nancy), a male under five years of age (probably Avery’s son, John Couch), and a female under five years of age (probably Avery’s daughter, Mary Ann). Only two households separated the “Avory Couch” household from that of “Wm Stockdale”, whom I believe was Avery’s brother-in-law, William Stogsdill.
Only three households separated the “Avory Couch” household from that of “Banister Couch”, who was listed as 60-69 years of age. Separated by about two pages in the census records was the household of a Benjamin Couch, who was apparently aged 30-39. The relationship between these three Couch families, if any, is unknown to me at this point.
Avery and Nancy had another daughter, born about 1834 or 1835, whom they named Temperance. Our only record of her place of birth is the 1850 census, which lists her birthplace as Tennessee.
Avery relocated to Alabama by June of 1836. In declarations he filed in 1850, 1851 and 1855 for the purpose of obtaining bounty land warrants, Avery stated that he served as a Private in Captain James A. McAdory’s Company of Alabama Mounted Volunteers in the Second Creek War. Both Avery, and his younger brother, Benjamin, enlisted at Elyton, in Jefferson County, Alabama, in June of 1836, and served in Captain McAdory’s Company during the summer of 1836. For further information about Avery’s service in the Second Creek War, see “Benjamin ‘Ben’ Couch” on page 83.
Avery and his family apparently remained in Alabama after his service in the Second Creek War. Avery’s second son, Henry Couch, was probably born between 1837 and 1839. Throughout his life, Henry would consistently report his place of birth as Alabama.
The family of Avery’s sister, Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill, lived in Jackson County, Alabama, about 1834-1840. Avery’s younger brother, Benjamin, was living with Malinda’s family in Jackson County when he married in 1838 or 1839. It is possible that Avery and his family also resided in Jackson County in the late 1830’s, though we have no evidence of his whereabouts during this time period.
Avery and his family apparently migrated from Alabama to southern Missouri in the late 1830’s. Census records indicate that Avery Couch’s next child, a son that he and Nancy named Lindley, was born in Missouri about 1839-1840. Lindley was undoubtedly named after Avery’s mother. Avery and his family appear in the 1840 census of Ripley County, Missouri. The Avery Couch household consisted of a male aged 20-29 (probably Avery), a male aged 10-14 (probably his son, John), two males under five years of age (probably his sons, Henry and Lindley), a female aged 30-39 (probably his wife, Nancy), a female aged 10-14 (probably his daughter, Mary Ann), and a female under five years of age (probably a daughter born between 1835 and 1840 who would not survive childhood). I have no doubt that this was the same Avery Couch who was listed in Lincoln County, Tennessee, in 1830, even though there is an apparent error in the recording of Avery’s age.
There is evidence that Avery and Nancy had at least three more children while living in Missouri. They were Perlina Couch, born about 1841-42; Sarah Couch, born about 1843-44; and Nancy Couch, born about 1845-47.
We know that Avery’s eldest daughter, Mary Ann ‘Polly’ Couch, was married to a John Renfro, and that their first identified child was born in Missouri about 1846-47. The marriage records of Oregon County contain a record of the marriage of "John Renfrow and Polly Ann Conlen of this County and State" on April 23, 1846. The couple was married by Charles Literal. Charles Literal was an Oregon County Justice of the Peace, and Avery Couch’s brother-in-law. An examination of the marriage record confirms the spelling of "Conlen". I suspect that Polly Ann Conlen was actually Mary Ann ‘Polly’ Couch, and that Polly was Avery Couch's daughter. If true, this marriage would suggest that Avery and his family were still in the Oregon County area in 1846.
We believe that the families of Lindley Couch, Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill, Avery Couch, Delila (Couch) Literal, and Benjamin Couch, were all residents of Oregon County, Missouri, after Oregon County was taken from Ripley County in 1845. And, it appears that all of these families left Oregon County between 1846 and 1849. It is interesting to note that four of these five Couch families moved west, from Oregon County to Greene County and Dade County, Missouri. Avery Couch, for some reason, chose to move east, to Illinois, rather than moving west with his siblings. Avery and his family apparently relocated to Monroe County, Illinois, no later than the summer of 1849. Monroe County is on the east side of the Mississippi River, just south of St. Louis, Missouri. Avery’s daughter, Temperance Couch, was married in Monroe County in August of 1849.
The "Avary Couch" family appears in the 1850 census of Harrisonville Precinct, in Monroe County, Illinois. The census of the Avery Couch household was enumerated on September 14, 1850. The family appeared as follows:
Avary Couch 42 M Laborer Tennessee
Nancy 41 F Kentucky
John 20 M Georgia
Henry 12 M Alabama
Lindley 10 M Missouri
Perlina 8 F Missouri
Sarah 6 F Missouri
Comparing this 1850 census record to the 1840 census record for the Avery Couch household, we note that Avery apparently had two daughters who either married and left home, or died, between 1840 and 1850. I believe that one of the daughters missing from the household in 1850 was Mary Ann ‘Polly’ (Couch) Renfro, who appears elsewhere with her husband and son in the 1850 census of Harrisonville Precinct of Monroe County. We have no information about the other young female who was a member of the Avery Couch household in 1840, but is missing from the household in 1850.
Between 1847 and 1855 the Congress of the United States passed four land warrant acts which granted 60 million acres of land to veterans and their heirs. On October 29, 1850, just six weeks after being enumerated in the 1850 census of Monroe County, Avery made a written declaration before a Justice of the Peace of St. Clair County, Illinois. St. Clair County is located immediately north of Monroe County. Avery made his declaration for the purpose of obtaining a bounty land warrant under an Act of Congress approved September 28, 1850. The act provided for bounty-land warrants to be issued to officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted personnel, who served during the War of 1812 and Indian Wars since 1790, and for commissioned officers who served in the Mexican War. The act also provided for bounty-land warrants for the widows or minor children of those soldiers. Those who served nine months received warrants for 160 acres of the public domain, four months service received 80 acres, and one month of service received 40 acres. In his declaration, Avery stated that he was forty four years of age, and a resident of Monroe County, Illinois. He also described his service in Captain James McAdory’s Company in the Second Creek War. Avery signed his declaration with his mark.
Avery apparently moved from Monroe County to St. Clair County in 1850 or 1851. Unsuccessful in his first attempt, Avery made a second written declaration in his pursuit of a bounty land warrant on September 7, 1851, in which he stated that he was a resident of St. Clair County, Illinois. In this second declaration, Avery declared his age to be 46 years old. With the help of an agent in Belleville, Avery obtained a bounty land warrant for 40 acres of land, and then legally disposed of the warrant.
In March of 1853, in St. Clair County, Nancy Couch filed for divorce from Avery Couch. A Bill for Divorce was written for Nancy by B. M Cox, who was apparently an attorney, and was directed to the Judge of the St. Clair County Circuit Court. The Bill for Divorce, referring to the writer as "your orator", and to Nancy as "your oratrix", reads as follows:
"To the Honorable William H. Underwood Judge of the Circuit Court in and for the County of St Clair in chancery (sitting?)
“Humbly (complainary?) showeth unto your honor your orotrix, Nancy Couch that about the year of A. D. 1823 she was lawfuly maried to one Avey Couch in the County of Lincoln in the state of Tennessee that they since Removed to the state of Illinois where she has since Resided up to the present time. She further showeth that about six years ago her said hisband Avey Couch forgetfull of his Mariage Vow deserted and abandoned your orotorix, leaving nine small children without any suport save that of your orator. That the said Avey Couch before and since his desertion became subject to intoxication and was a habitual drunkard for more than five years. That he was guilty of extreme and repeated cruelty toward your oratrix for more than five years previous to his desertion that the said Avey Couch has remained absent for the space of six years and is still absent. your orotrix avers that the said Avey Couch has no just cause for the said desertion and abandonment but that she has always conducted herself properly as a dutifull wife should do towards the said Avey Couch they she has always acted done and provided for him with kindness and frugality
“May it therefore please your honor in consideration of the (prences?) to order and decree that the bonds of Matrimony heretofore existing between the said Avey and the said Nancy Couch be desolved and forever held at naught and your orator further prays that the (peoples writ of suporer?) may (issue?) directed against the said Avey Couch commanding him to be and appear befor this honorable Court to be holden in the town of Belleville in the second monday in march next and answer all and singular the charges and alegations contained in your orotors Bill, and may your honor grant all such other and further Relief and redresses as you shall deem (meat?) in the (presncors?), and your orotor in duty bound will ever pray”
On March 28, 1853, Nancy swore that Avery was not then a resident of the state of Illinois. Nancy could not write her name, and signed her statement with her mark. Because Avery was considered to be a non-resident of the State of Illinois, an official notice of Nancy's Bill of Divorce was published on four successive weeks in December of 1853 in the Belleville Advocate, a weekly newspaper published in Belleville. The bill from the printer was for $4.00.
A year later, on March 4, 1854, the Sheriff of St. Clair County reported that he had read and delivered an attested copy of "the within" (perhaps a summons to appear in court?) to the defendant (Avery Couch). The Sheriff's fee of $1.80 consisted of $.60 to serve the "returnable", $.50 for one copy, and $.70 for travel of 14 miles. This suggests that Avery was probably living it St. Clair County at that time. While I have no proof that the Judge of the St. Clair County Circuit Court granted Nancy the divorce she sought, the documents relating to her Bill of Divorce suggest that she probably received her divorce at the March, 1854 term of the court. Five witnesses were summoned to testify in her behalf. They were Sidney Todd (Nancy’s son-in-law), Jacob Canman, John Renfrow (Nancy’s son-in-law), Mary Ann Renfrow (Nancy’s daughter), and John Couch (Nancy’s son).
On March 3, 1855, Congress approved a new act relating to bounty land warrants. The 1855 act amended the prior acts governing bounty land service by making the minimum entitlement 160 acres regardless of rank and reducing the service requirement to fourteen days or participation in any battle during the war. A veteran or survivors who had previously received fewer than 160 acres could apply for the balance. On May 29, 1855, less than three months after passage of the new act, Avery applied for a second bounty land warrant. In his declaration, Avery stated that he was a resident of Alexander County, Illinois. Alexander County is located in the extreme southern tip of the state. Avery declared his age to be 46 years old. His bounty land application was handled by an agent at Thebes, in Alexander County.
Avery was successful in his application, and was granted bounty land warrant #66689, for 120 acres of land, on or about March 27, 1856. But, we don’t know whether Avery was still a resident of Illinois when the warrant was issued, or whether he had already relocated to Dade County, Missouri. In August of 1856, less than five months after his bounty land warrant was issued, we find our first solid evidence that Avery had rejoined his siblings in Dade County. On August 14, Avery purchased 120 acres of land in Dade County from the U. S. Government. To pay for the land, Avery used the bounty land warrant (#66689) issued to him in March of that same year.
Circumstantial evidence suggests that Avery was married, in Dade County, in 1855 or 1856, to a widow named Martha Hall. Unfortunately, most of the early marriage records of Dade County were lost when the courthouse was destroyed during the Civil War, so we have no proof of Avery’s marriage. But there is strong circumstantial evidence of his marriage to Martha Hall. Martha Hall appeared in the 1850 census of Dade County, Missouri, as the wife of James Hall. Five Hall children were listed in the 1850 household of James and Martha Hall. No trace of James Hall has been located after the 1850 census, and I can only assume that Martha Hall was widowed during the 1850’s.
The 120 acres that Avery purchased in 1856[1] was immediately adjacent to one of two 40-acre tracts purchased less than two years earlier by Avery’s older brother, Lindley Couch (see tract #4 on page 231). But Avery didn't retain ownership of this 120 acres of land very long. Less than a month after he purchased the land, "Avery Couch and his wife Marthy...of the County of Dade" sold that same 120 acres to Moses Eaton by a warranty deed dated September 8, 1856. It seems likely that the exercise of his bounty land warrant, followed by a quick sale of the land it purchased, was simply the method Avery chose to convert his bounty land warrant into cash. Avery and Martha received $300 for the land. The fact that Martha’s name appeared on this deed of sale as Avery’s wife suggests that Avery and Martha were married between May 29, 1855, when Avery filed his application for a bounty land warrant in Alexander County, Illinois, and September 8, 1856, when Avery and Martha sold their land to Moses Eaton.
Avery and Martha Couch may have moved from Dade County to Oregon County soon after the sale of their 120 acres in September of 1856. The following deed appears on page 92 of one of the Oregon County deed books. It reads:
"Know all men by these presents that we Avery Couch and wife Martha Couch have this day bargained sold and conveyed all our right title and interest in a parcel or tract of land lying east of the road from Thomasville to Simpson Couchs being a conditional near the road to B. C. Phillips for and in consideration of the sum of one hundred and sixty dollars all of the County of Oregon State of Missouri this the 11th day of December 1857".
Both Avery Couch and Martha Couch signed the deed by making their marks.
Only a few weeks later, on January 22, 1858, "Avey Couch" purchased 80 acres of land in Oregon County, Missouri, from the U. S. Government. The land he purchased[2] was located about two miles north and two miles west of the village of Webster, which was later renamed Couch. Avery paid cash for the land. His purchase of this land in January of 1858 is the last direct evidence we have found of Avery Couch. On September 1, 1859, a U. S. land patent for the 80 acres of land was issued to “Avry Couch of Oregon County Missouri”.
If Avery and Martha did move from Dade County to Oregon County in the late 1850’s, it appears that they did not remain there long. In the 1860 census, Martha Couch appears in the census of Dade County, where I believe that she was living on the farm of her brother-in-law, Lindley Couch, and his wife, Susannah. Living with Martha Couch were her six children from her earlier marriage to James Hall. But Avery Couch was not listed in the household with Martha. And I have not been able to locate Avery anywhere else in the 1860 census.
Was Avery still alive in 1860, and if so, where was he? Is it possible that he served in the military during the Civil War (1861-65)? The compiled service records of Company K of the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment include a record indicating that an “Averry Couch” served as a Private in that unit. The 27th Arkansas Infantry (also known as Shaler's Regiment, and later as Gaither’s Regiment) was a Confederate infantry regiment, organized at Yellville, in Marion County, Arkansas, in July of 1862. The regiment was reportedly composed of a handful of companies of mounted volunteers, which were dismounted and reinforced with several companies of conscripts. If our Avery Couch served in the 27th Arkansas Infantry, he may have enlisted, or he could have been conscripted. Avery was probably in his mid-50’s when the war began, so he was older than most of the men who served during the Civil War. But some men his age, and older, did serve.
A review of the compiled service records of Company K of the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment reveals that the only record linking the name of Avery Couch to that regiment was an entry in a Roll of Prisoners of War at Gratiot Street Prison. The Gratiot Street Prison was a Union prison in St. Louis, Missouri. One of the entries in that roll of prisoners, dated March 31, 1863, identified a prisoner named Avery Couch as a Private in Company K of Schalers Regiment. The entry indicates that Avery was captured in Marion County, Arkansas, on December 10, 1862, was received at the prison on March 29, 1863, and was sent to Washington, D.C., for exchange, on April 2, 1863.
After a detailed review of the compiled service records of the soldiers who served in the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, and of the records of the Gratiot Street Prison, I have come to doubt that there ever was a soldier in the 27th Arkansas Infantry by the name of Avery Couch. I believe that the entry on the Gratiot Street Prison roll of prisoners which identifies an Avery Couch as a member of the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was an error in the prison records. My reasoning follows.
There was a soldier in Company K of the 27th Arkansas Infantry named William Couch. This records of the Gratiot Street Prison indicate that this William Couch was captured in Marion County, Arkansas, on December 10, 1862, was received at the prison on March 29, 1863, and was sent to Washington D. C. for exchange on April 2, 1863. The information for William Couch exactly matches the information in the prison record for Avery Couch. A further review of the records of Gratiot Street Prison reveals that there was, in fact, another prisoner at that same time named Avery Couch. But this Avery Couch was the son of Benjamin Couch, and nephew of the Avery Couch who is the subject of this biographical sketch (see Avery Couch on page 107) . I believe that the prison record identifying an Avery Couch as a member of the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was an error, somehow linking the name of one prisoner (Avery Couch, son of Benjamin) with the information describing another prisoner (the William Couch who really was a member of Company K of the 27th Missouri Infantry Regiment).
I have presented this information about the appearance of the name Avery Couch in the compiled service records of the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment for the benefit of any future Couch family historians who encounter this record, and wonder about its meaning. I encourage any researcher with a serious interest in Avery Couch to review the records, and draw their own conclusions, but I feel comfortable with the conclusion I have reached, based on the information currently available.
While I don’t believe that Avery Couch served in the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, we do have some evidence that Avery survived the Civil War. That evidence is found in a record of the Circuit Court of Oregon County, Missouri. The record of interest is an Action to Divest Title, and reflects a decision of the Circuit Court in a suit brought before the court on the 2nd day of the May, 1874, term of the court. The Plaintiff was Nelson Pierce, and the defendants were listed as Martha Couch, John Renfro, Polly A. Renfro, John Couch, Tempe Couch, Henry Couch, Lindley Couch, Paulina Couch and Sarah Couch. The decision reads as follows:
“Now at this day comes the plaintiff by attorney and it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that defendants have been notified of the commencement and pendency of this suit and the object and general nature thereof, as set forth in the petition of plaintiff by publication in the South Missourian a weekly newspaper printed and published in Oregon County Missouri, said publication having been published for four weeks successivly, and the last insertion of said publication having been four weeks before the commencement of the present term of the Court; And it further appearing to the satisfaction of this Court that plaintiff furnished one Avery Couch with one half of the money with which he, said Avery Couch some time during the year 1859, Entered at the United States land office at Jackson Missouri, the South East quarter of the South East quarter of Section twenty one in Township twenty three North of Range four west, and it further appearing that it was expressly understood and agreed between plaintiff and said Avery Couch that said land was to be entered in the name of said Couch and that he was to convey one half of said afore described tract lying west of the old Thomasville and Pochahontas road to plaintiff, and that said Avery Couch departed this life sometime during the year 1866, intestate leaving said defendants as his heirs at law, and without ever having conveyed said one half of said tract as he agreed and promised to do in his life time; And it further appering to the Court that plaintiff has made valuable and lasting improvements on the one half of said tract so agreed to be conveyed as aforesaid by said Avery Couch: It is therefore ordered adjudged and decreed that the legal title in and to the one half of said tract of land lying west of the Thomasville and Pocahontas road be, and the same is hereby directed out of and from the defendants and each of them, and that the same be, and is hereby, vested in plaintiff and his heirs forever, and it is further ordered that unless the defendants be and appear at the next term of this Court and on or before the sixth day of the term if the same shall so long continue and if not they before the end of the term, show cause to the contrary, this cause will be made final, and the same is continued.”
The case brought before the court appears to involve a dispute over the ownership of 40 of the 80 acres of land purchased by Avery Couch in January of 1858, and granted to Avery by the federal land patent dated September 1, 1859. The Circuit Court record provides some valuable information. Of most importance, the judge’s statement that “Avery Couch departed this life sometime during the year 1866, intestate” provides our only evidence that Avery was alive after January of 1858, and our only evidence of Avery’s death. And the list of Avery’s heirs, consisting of his second wife, Martha, and his children from his first marriage, and one son-in-law, provides the most complete list of Avery’s children that I have located. The composition of the list also suggests that Avery and Martha Couch had little or no contact with Avery’s children after Avery and his first wife, Nancy, divorced in 1854. I assume that the list of Avery’s children was provided to the Circuit Court by Martha Couch, and was based on information provided to her by Avery at some point during their marriage. The list of Avery’s children and his son-in-law accurately describes Avery’s family between April of 1846, when Mary Ann Couch married John Renfro, and August of 1849, when Temperance Couch married Charles Quinlan. But, the list makes no reference to Temperance’s marriage, or her husband.
What did happen to Avery’s first wife, Nancy, after their divorce? We believe that their divorce was finalized in St. Clair County, Illinois, during the March, 1854 term of the Circuit Court. Days later, on March 28, 1854, Thomas Phelps and Mrs. Nancy Couch were issued a marriage license in St. Clair County. On March 30, the couple was married, in St. Clair County, by Levi Sharp, a Justice of the Peace. While we have no evidence to substantiate that the Nancy Couch who married Thomas Phelps was Avery Couch’s ex-wife, the marriage record refers to her as Mrs. Nancy Couch, we know of no other Couch families in St. Clair County at that time, and the timing of the marriage (just days after Nancy Couch was granted her divorce from Avery) strongly supports our presumption that the bride was Avery’s ex-wife.
Nancy and some of her children may have remained in St. Clair County through the 1850’s. Nancy’s daughter, Perlina, was married in St. Clair County in October of 1859. The 1860 census should provide us with our next record of Nancy and her children. However, after numerous nationwide searches of 1860 census indexes and census records, I have not been able to locate Nancy, or any of her children. There is strong evidence that several of her children were married, so it can not be a matter of one household being missed, or one surname badly misspelled. And the 1860 census of St. Clair County appears to be complete and legible.
I do have a strong suspicion about the apparent absence of Nancy and her children from the 1860 census. I know that Nancy and some of her children were in Bond County, Illinois, by 1870, and that Bond County served as home base to several of Nancy’s children for a number of years. Bond County is located just a few miles northeast of St. Clair County. A Rootsweb internet site which provides the 1860 census of Bond County indicates that 47 of the original 291 pages of the 1860 Bond County census records have apparently been lost over the years. All of the surviving pages of the census are for Greenville Township, except for five pages from Mulberry Grove, and three pages from Pocahontas Township. I suspect that Nancy (Tabor) Couch Phelps and her children moved from St. Clair County to Bond County before the 1860 census, and that the enumerations of their households were among the missing Bond County census records.
There are probably a number of reasons why Nancy (Tabor) Couch and her children might have moved to Bond County. But it may be more than a coincidence that William Lindley, a brother of Elizabeth (Lindley) Couch and uncle of Avery Couch, was married in Bond County in 1818, and died in Bond County about 1835. Following Nancy’s divorce from Avery Couch, it is possible that there may have been some family support available to Nancy and her children in Bond County
The 1870 census of McCord Township, in Bond County, includes the household of 26-year-old John Taylor. Listed in the household with John were 26-year-old Sarah Taylor, and 57-year-old Nancy Couch. I believe that this Nancy Couch was Avery’s ex-wife, Sarah was Avery’s youngest surviving daughter, and John Taylor was Sarah’s husband. A note in the census record indicates that Sarah was blind, so it seems reasonable that Nancy would live with the couple, and provide assistance to her daughter. Nancy’s use of the name Couch, and the absence of Thomas Phelps in the household, suggest that Nancy’s marriage to Thomas ended prior to 1870, through death, divorce or desertion. The 1870 census record is the last trace I have found of Nancy (Tabor) Couch Phelps. I suspect that she died, and was buried, in Bond County, but have no evidence to support that suspicion.
[1] The North 1/2 of the Southeast 1/4 and the Southwest 1/4 of the Southeast 1/4 of Section 17 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[2] The Southeast 1/4 of the Southeast 1/4 of Section 21 and the Southwest ¼ of the Southwest ¼ of Section 22, all in Township 23 North of Range 4 West.
Copyright 2010
NOTE: The following biography of Avery Couch is an excerpt from a book I authored in 2010, entitled "Moses Couch and William Stogsdill Families". Since that book is still unpublished, I am posting this excerpt to make the information more readily available to others who share my interest in this family.
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Sarah Literal’s notebooks contain no mention of the Avery Couch family. And I am not aware of any public record or family document that identifies Avery Couch as a son of Moses and Elizabeth Couch. Our inclusion of Avery Couch among the children of Moses and Elizabeth Couch is based on strong circumstantial evidence accumulated over time.
The Avery Couch family has generally been ignored by Couch family researchers. In all the years I have been researching the Couch family, I have never encountered any evidence of interest in this family by other researchers. All of the information that follows regarding the Avery Couch family comes from my personal research, and any errors are mine alone.
As mentioned earlier, we are not certain where Avery Couch was born. Avery’s 1850 census record lists Tennessee as his place of birth. The 1880 census record for Avery’s son, John, indicates that John’s father (Avery) was born in Tennessee, while the 1880 census record for Avery’s son, Henry, indicates that Henry’s father (Avery) was born in Georgia. We assume, for now, that Avery was born in Tennessee, but continue to look for further evidence of his place of birth.
Our earliest record of Avery Couch dates back to 1822. In 1822, both Moses Couch and Lindley Couch appeared on the Pulaski County, Kentucky, tax list. Avery Couch was listed next to Moses Couch in the list. The column indicating “white over 21” was not marked, suggesting that Avery was younger than 21. Avery reported owning one horse, valued at $40.
There is a lot of variation in the ages listed for Avery Couch in census records and in written declarations that Avery made during the 1850’s. My best estimate, based on those sources, is that Avery was born about 1804-1808. I believe that the appearance of Avery’s name in the 1822 tax list indicates that Avery was at least 16 years old at the time, suggesting that he may have been born about 1805 or 1806. Finally, we believe that Avery was married about 1823. If that marriage date is accurate, it would suggest that Avery was probably born no later than 1805. So, we will assume a date of birth of approximately 1805, recognizing that we could be in error by two or three years.
The best available evidence indicates that Avery Couch was married to Nancy Tabor in Lincoln County, Tennessee, about 1823. The 1850 census suggests that Nancy was born in Kentucky about 1808 or 1809. So Avery was probably in his late teens, and Nancy may have been about 14 or 15 years old, when the couple married. I believe that their first child, a daughter they named Mary Ann, was born to Avery and Nancy in Tennessee about 1825.
There is evidence that Avery and Nancy were in Georgia in the late 1820’s. Census records strongly suggest that their eldest son, John B. Couch, was born in Georgia. Our best available date of birth for John B. Couch is March of 1828.
Avery and Nancy may have been in Georgia only briefly. Our next record of Avery appears in the 1830 census, back in Lincoln County, Tennessee. The household of “Avory Couch” included a male aged 20-29 (probably Avery), a female aged 20-29 (probably Nancy), a male under five years of age (probably Avery’s son, John Couch), and a female under five years of age (probably Avery’s daughter, Mary Ann). Only two households separated the “Avory Couch” household from that of “Wm Stockdale”, whom I believe was Avery’s brother-in-law, William Stogsdill.
Only three households separated the “Avory Couch” household from that of “Banister Couch”, who was listed as 60-69 years of age. Separated by about two pages in the census records was the household of a Benjamin Couch, who was apparently aged 30-39. The relationship between these three Couch families, if any, is unknown to me at this point.
Avery and Nancy had another daughter, born about 1834 or 1835, whom they named Temperance. Our only record of her place of birth is the 1850 census, which lists her birthplace as Tennessee.
Avery relocated to Alabama by June of 1836. In declarations he filed in 1850, 1851 and 1855 for the purpose of obtaining bounty land warrants, Avery stated that he served as a Private in Captain James A. McAdory’s Company of Alabama Mounted Volunteers in the Second Creek War. Both Avery, and his younger brother, Benjamin, enlisted at Elyton, in Jefferson County, Alabama, in June of 1836, and served in Captain McAdory’s Company during the summer of 1836. For further information about Avery’s service in the Second Creek War, see “Benjamin ‘Ben’ Couch” on page 83.
Avery and his family apparently remained in Alabama after his service in the Second Creek War. Avery’s second son, Henry Couch, was probably born between 1837 and 1839. Throughout his life, Henry would consistently report his place of birth as Alabama.
The family of Avery’s sister, Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill, lived in Jackson County, Alabama, about 1834-1840. Avery’s younger brother, Benjamin, was living with Malinda’s family in Jackson County when he married in 1838 or 1839. It is possible that Avery and his family also resided in Jackson County in the late 1830’s, though we have no evidence of his whereabouts during this time period.
Avery and his family apparently migrated from Alabama to southern Missouri in the late 1830’s. Census records indicate that Avery Couch’s next child, a son that he and Nancy named Lindley, was born in Missouri about 1839-1840. Lindley was undoubtedly named after Avery’s mother. Avery and his family appear in the 1840 census of Ripley County, Missouri. The Avery Couch household consisted of a male aged 20-29 (probably Avery), a male aged 10-14 (probably his son, John), two males under five years of age (probably his sons, Henry and Lindley), a female aged 30-39 (probably his wife, Nancy), a female aged 10-14 (probably his daughter, Mary Ann), and a female under five years of age (probably a daughter born between 1835 and 1840 who would not survive childhood). I have no doubt that this was the same Avery Couch who was listed in Lincoln County, Tennessee, in 1830, even though there is an apparent error in the recording of Avery’s age.
There is evidence that Avery and Nancy had at least three more children while living in Missouri. They were Perlina Couch, born about 1841-42; Sarah Couch, born about 1843-44; and Nancy Couch, born about 1845-47.
We know that Avery’s eldest daughter, Mary Ann ‘Polly’ Couch, was married to a John Renfro, and that their first identified child was born in Missouri about 1846-47. The marriage records of Oregon County contain a record of the marriage of "John Renfrow and Polly Ann Conlen of this County and State" on April 23, 1846. The couple was married by Charles Literal. Charles Literal was an Oregon County Justice of the Peace, and Avery Couch’s brother-in-law. An examination of the marriage record confirms the spelling of "Conlen". I suspect that Polly Ann Conlen was actually Mary Ann ‘Polly’ Couch, and that Polly was Avery Couch's daughter. If true, this marriage would suggest that Avery and his family were still in the Oregon County area in 1846.
We believe that the families of Lindley Couch, Malinda (Couch) Stogsdill, Avery Couch, Delila (Couch) Literal, and Benjamin Couch, were all residents of Oregon County, Missouri, after Oregon County was taken from Ripley County in 1845. And, it appears that all of these families left Oregon County between 1846 and 1849. It is interesting to note that four of these five Couch families moved west, from Oregon County to Greene County and Dade County, Missouri. Avery Couch, for some reason, chose to move east, to Illinois, rather than moving west with his siblings. Avery and his family apparently relocated to Monroe County, Illinois, no later than the summer of 1849. Monroe County is on the east side of the Mississippi River, just south of St. Louis, Missouri. Avery’s daughter, Temperance Couch, was married in Monroe County in August of 1849.
The "Avary Couch" family appears in the 1850 census of Harrisonville Precinct, in Monroe County, Illinois. The census of the Avery Couch household was enumerated on September 14, 1850. The family appeared as follows:
Avary Couch 42 M Laborer Tennessee
Nancy 41 F Kentucky
John 20 M Georgia
Henry 12 M Alabama
Lindley 10 M Missouri
Perlina 8 F Missouri
Sarah 6 F Missouri
Comparing this 1850 census record to the 1840 census record for the Avery Couch household, we note that Avery apparently had two daughters who either married and left home, or died, between 1840 and 1850. I believe that one of the daughters missing from the household in 1850 was Mary Ann ‘Polly’ (Couch) Renfro, who appears elsewhere with her husband and son in the 1850 census of Harrisonville Precinct of Monroe County. We have no information about the other young female who was a member of the Avery Couch household in 1840, but is missing from the household in 1850.
Between 1847 and 1855 the Congress of the United States passed four land warrant acts which granted 60 million acres of land to veterans and their heirs. On October 29, 1850, just six weeks after being enumerated in the 1850 census of Monroe County, Avery made a written declaration before a Justice of the Peace of St. Clair County, Illinois. St. Clair County is located immediately north of Monroe County. Avery made his declaration for the purpose of obtaining a bounty land warrant under an Act of Congress approved September 28, 1850. The act provided for bounty-land warrants to be issued to officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted personnel, who served during the War of 1812 and Indian Wars since 1790, and for commissioned officers who served in the Mexican War. The act also provided for bounty-land warrants for the widows or minor children of those soldiers. Those who served nine months received warrants for 160 acres of the public domain, four months service received 80 acres, and one month of service received 40 acres. In his declaration, Avery stated that he was forty four years of age, and a resident of Monroe County, Illinois. He also described his service in Captain James McAdory’s Company in the Second Creek War. Avery signed his declaration with his mark.
Avery apparently moved from Monroe County to St. Clair County in 1850 or 1851. Unsuccessful in his first attempt, Avery made a second written declaration in his pursuit of a bounty land warrant on September 7, 1851, in which he stated that he was a resident of St. Clair County, Illinois. In this second declaration, Avery declared his age to be 46 years old. With the help of an agent in Belleville, Avery obtained a bounty land warrant for 40 acres of land, and then legally disposed of the warrant.
In March of 1853, in St. Clair County, Nancy Couch filed for divorce from Avery Couch. A Bill for Divorce was written for Nancy by B. M Cox, who was apparently an attorney, and was directed to the Judge of the St. Clair County Circuit Court. The Bill for Divorce, referring to the writer as "your orator", and to Nancy as "your oratrix", reads as follows:
"To the Honorable William H. Underwood Judge of the Circuit Court in and for the County of St Clair in chancery (sitting?)
“Humbly (complainary?) showeth unto your honor your orotrix, Nancy Couch that about the year of A. D. 1823 she was lawfuly maried to one Avey Couch in the County of Lincoln in the state of Tennessee that they since Removed to the state of Illinois where she has since Resided up to the present time. She further showeth that about six years ago her said hisband Avey Couch forgetfull of his Mariage Vow deserted and abandoned your orotorix, leaving nine small children without any suport save that of your orator. That the said Avey Couch before and since his desertion became subject to intoxication and was a habitual drunkard for more than five years. That he was guilty of extreme and repeated cruelty toward your oratrix for more than five years previous to his desertion that the said Avey Couch has remained absent for the space of six years and is still absent. your orotrix avers that the said Avey Couch has no just cause for the said desertion and abandonment but that she has always conducted herself properly as a dutifull wife should do towards the said Avey Couch they she has always acted done and provided for him with kindness and frugality
“May it therefore please your honor in consideration of the (prences?) to order and decree that the bonds of Matrimony heretofore existing between the said Avey and the said Nancy Couch be desolved and forever held at naught and your orator further prays that the (peoples writ of suporer?) may (issue?) directed against the said Avey Couch commanding him to be and appear befor this honorable Court to be holden in the town of Belleville in the second monday in march next and answer all and singular the charges and alegations contained in your orotors Bill, and may your honor grant all such other and further Relief and redresses as you shall deem (meat?) in the (presncors?), and your orotor in duty bound will ever pray”
On March 28, 1853, Nancy swore that Avery was not then a resident of the state of Illinois. Nancy could not write her name, and signed her statement with her mark. Because Avery was considered to be a non-resident of the State of Illinois, an official notice of Nancy's Bill of Divorce was published on four successive weeks in December of 1853 in the Belleville Advocate, a weekly newspaper published in Belleville. The bill from the printer was for $4.00.
A year later, on March 4, 1854, the Sheriff of St. Clair County reported that he had read and delivered an attested copy of "the within" (perhaps a summons to appear in court?) to the defendant (Avery Couch). The Sheriff's fee of $1.80 consisted of $.60 to serve the "returnable", $.50 for one copy, and $.70 for travel of 14 miles. This suggests that Avery was probably living it St. Clair County at that time. While I have no proof that the Judge of the St. Clair County Circuit Court granted Nancy the divorce she sought, the documents relating to her Bill of Divorce suggest that she probably received her divorce at the March, 1854 term of the court. Five witnesses were summoned to testify in her behalf. They were Sidney Todd (Nancy’s son-in-law), Jacob Canman, John Renfrow (Nancy’s son-in-law), Mary Ann Renfrow (Nancy’s daughter), and John Couch (Nancy’s son).
On March 3, 1855, Congress approved a new act relating to bounty land warrants. The 1855 act amended the prior acts governing bounty land service by making the minimum entitlement 160 acres regardless of rank and reducing the service requirement to fourteen days or participation in any battle during the war. A veteran or survivors who had previously received fewer than 160 acres could apply for the balance. On May 29, 1855, less than three months after passage of the new act, Avery applied for a second bounty land warrant. In his declaration, Avery stated that he was a resident of Alexander County, Illinois. Alexander County is located in the extreme southern tip of the state. Avery declared his age to be 46 years old. His bounty land application was handled by an agent at Thebes, in Alexander County.
Avery was successful in his application, and was granted bounty land warrant #66689, for 120 acres of land, on or about March 27, 1856. But, we don’t know whether Avery was still a resident of Illinois when the warrant was issued, or whether he had already relocated to Dade County, Missouri. In August of 1856, less than five months after his bounty land warrant was issued, we find our first solid evidence that Avery had rejoined his siblings in Dade County. On August 14, Avery purchased 120 acres of land in Dade County from the U. S. Government. To pay for the land, Avery used the bounty land warrant (#66689) issued to him in March of that same year.
Circumstantial evidence suggests that Avery was married, in Dade County, in 1855 or 1856, to a widow named Martha Hall. Unfortunately, most of the early marriage records of Dade County were lost when the courthouse was destroyed during the Civil War, so we have no proof of Avery’s marriage. But there is strong circumstantial evidence of his marriage to Martha Hall. Martha Hall appeared in the 1850 census of Dade County, Missouri, as the wife of James Hall. Five Hall children were listed in the 1850 household of James and Martha Hall. No trace of James Hall has been located after the 1850 census, and I can only assume that Martha Hall was widowed during the 1850’s.
The 120 acres that Avery purchased in 1856[1] was immediately adjacent to one of two 40-acre tracts purchased less than two years earlier by Avery’s older brother, Lindley Couch (see tract #4 on page 231). But Avery didn't retain ownership of this 120 acres of land very long. Less than a month after he purchased the land, "Avery Couch and his wife Marthy...of the County of Dade" sold that same 120 acres to Moses Eaton by a warranty deed dated September 8, 1856. It seems likely that the exercise of his bounty land warrant, followed by a quick sale of the land it purchased, was simply the method Avery chose to convert his bounty land warrant into cash. Avery and Martha received $300 for the land. The fact that Martha’s name appeared on this deed of sale as Avery’s wife suggests that Avery and Martha were married between May 29, 1855, when Avery filed his application for a bounty land warrant in Alexander County, Illinois, and September 8, 1856, when Avery and Martha sold their land to Moses Eaton.
Avery and Martha Couch may have moved from Dade County to Oregon County soon after the sale of their 120 acres in September of 1856. The following deed appears on page 92 of one of the Oregon County deed books. It reads:
"Know all men by these presents that we Avery Couch and wife Martha Couch have this day bargained sold and conveyed all our right title and interest in a parcel or tract of land lying east of the road from Thomasville to Simpson Couchs being a conditional near the road to B. C. Phillips for and in consideration of the sum of one hundred and sixty dollars all of the County of Oregon State of Missouri this the 11th day of December 1857".
Both Avery Couch and Martha Couch signed the deed by making their marks.
Only a few weeks later, on January 22, 1858, "Avey Couch" purchased 80 acres of land in Oregon County, Missouri, from the U. S. Government. The land he purchased[2] was located about two miles north and two miles west of the village of Webster, which was later renamed Couch. Avery paid cash for the land. His purchase of this land in January of 1858 is the last direct evidence we have found of Avery Couch. On September 1, 1859, a U. S. land patent for the 80 acres of land was issued to “Avry Couch of Oregon County Missouri”.
If Avery and Martha did move from Dade County to Oregon County in the late 1850’s, it appears that they did not remain there long. In the 1860 census, Martha Couch appears in the census of Dade County, where I believe that she was living on the farm of her brother-in-law, Lindley Couch, and his wife, Susannah. Living with Martha Couch were her six children from her earlier marriage to James Hall. But Avery Couch was not listed in the household with Martha. And I have not been able to locate Avery anywhere else in the 1860 census.
Was Avery still alive in 1860, and if so, where was he? Is it possible that he served in the military during the Civil War (1861-65)? The compiled service records of Company K of the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment include a record indicating that an “Averry Couch” served as a Private in that unit. The 27th Arkansas Infantry (also known as Shaler's Regiment, and later as Gaither’s Regiment) was a Confederate infantry regiment, organized at Yellville, in Marion County, Arkansas, in July of 1862. The regiment was reportedly composed of a handful of companies of mounted volunteers, which were dismounted and reinforced with several companies of conscripts. If our Avery Couch served in the 27th Arkansas Infantry, he may have enlisted, or he could have been conscripted. Avery was probably in his mid-50’s when the war began, so he was older than most of the men who served during the Civil War. But some men his age, and older, did serve.
A review of the compiled service records of Company K of the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment reveals that the only record linking the name of Avery Couch to that regiment was an entry in a Roll of Prisoners of War at Gratiot Street Prison. The Gratiot Street Prison was a Union prison in St. Louis, Missouri. One of the entries in that roll of prisoners, dated March 31, 1863, identified a prisoner named Avery Couch as a Private in Company K of Schalers Regiment. The entry indicates that Avery was captured in Marion County, Arkansas, on December 10, 1862, was received at the prison on March 29, 1863, and was sent to Washington, D.C., for exchange, on April 2, 1863.
After a detailed review of the compiled service records of the soldiers who served in the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, and of the records of the Gratiot Street Prison, I have come to doubt that there ever was a soldier in the 27th Arkansas Infantry by the name of Avery Couch. I believe that the entry on the Gratiot Street Prison roll of prisoners which identifies an Avery Couch as a member of the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was an error in the prison records. My reasoning follows.
There was a soldier in Company K of the 27th Arkansas Infantry named William Couch. This records of the Gratiot Street Prison indicate that this William Couch was captured in Marion County, Arkansas, on December 10, 1862, was received at the prison on March 29, 1863, and was sent to Washington D. C. for exchange on April 2, 1863. The information for William Couch exactly matches the information in the prison record for Avery Couch. A further review of the records of Gratiot Street Prison reveals that there was, in fact, another prisoner at that same time named Avery Couch. But this Avery Couch was the son of Benjamin Couch, and nephew of the Avery Couch who is the subject of this biographical sketch (see Avery Couch on page 107) . I believe that the prison record identifying an Avery Couch as a member of the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment was an error, somehow linking the name of one prisoner (Avery Couch, son of Benjamin) with the information describing another prisoner (the William Couch who really was a member of Company K of the 27th Missouri Infantry Regiment).
I have presented this information about the appearance of the name Avery Couch in the compiled service records of the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment for the benefit of any future Couch family historians who encounter this record, and wonder about its meaning. I encourage any researcher with a serious interest in Avery Couch to review the records, and draw their own conclusions, but I feel comfortable with the conclusion I have reached, based on the information currently available.
While I don’t believe that Avery Couch served in the 27th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, we do have some evidence that Avery survived the Civil War. That evidence is found in a record of the Circuit Court of Oregon County, Missouri. The record of interest is an Action to Divest Title, and reflects a decision of the Circuit Court in a suit brought before the court on the 2nd day of the May, 1874, term of the court. The Plaintiff was Nelson Pierce, and the defendants were listed as Martha Couch, John Renfro, Polly A. Renfro, John Couch, Tempe Couch, Henry Couch, Lindley Couch, Paulina Couch and Sarah Couch. The decision reads as follows:
“Now at this day comes the plaintiff by attorney and it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that defendants have been notified of the commencement and pendency of this suit and the object and general nature thereof, as set forth in the petition of plaintiff by publication in the South Missourian a weekly newspaper printed and published in Oregon County Missouri, said publication having been published for four weeks successivly, and the last insertion of said publication having been four weeks before the commencement of the present term of the Court; And it further appearing to the satisfaction of this Court that plaintiff furnished one Avery Couch with one half of the money with which he, said Avery Couch some time during the year 1859, Entered at the United States land office at Jackson Missouri, the South East quarter of the South East quarter of Section twenty one in Township twenty three North of Range four west, and it further appearing that it was expressly understood and agreed between plaintiff and said Avery Couch that said land was to be entered in the name of said Couch and that he was to convey one half of said afore described tract lying west of the old Thomasville and Pochahontas road to plaintiff, and that said Avery Couch departed this life sometime during the year 1866, intestate leaving said defendants as his heirs at law, and without ever having conveyed said one half of said tract as he agreed and promised to do in his life time; And it further appering to the Court that plaintiff has made valuable and lasting improvements on the one half of said tract so agreed to be conveyed as aforesaid by said Avery Couch: It is therefore ordered adjudged and decreed that the legal title in and to the one half of said tract of land lying west of the Thomasville and Pocahontas road be, and the same is hereby directed out of and from the defendants and each of them, and that the same be, and is hereby, vested in plaintiff and his heirs forever, and it is further ordered that unless the defendants be and appear at the next term of this Court and on or before the sixth day of the term if the same shall so long continue and if not they before the end of the term, show cause to the contrary, this cause will be made final, and the same is continued.”
The case brought before the court appears to involve a dispute over the ownership of 40 of the 80 acres of land purchased by Avery Couch in January of 1858, and granted to Avery by the federal land patent dated September 1, 1859. The Circuit Court record provides some valuable information. Of most importance, the judge’s statement that “Avery Couch departed this life sometime during the year 1866, intestate” provides our only evidence that Avery was alive after January of 1858, and our only evidence of Avery’s death. And the list of Avery’s heirs, consisting of his second wife, Martha, and his children from his first marriage, and one son-in-law, provides the most complete list of Avery’s children that I have located. The composition of the list also suggests that Avery and Martha Couch had little or no contact with Avery’s children after Avery and his first wife, Nancy, divorced in 1854. I assume that the list of Avery’s children was provided to the Circuit Court by Martha Couch, and was based on information provided to her by Avery at some point during their marriage. The list of Avery’s children and his son-in-law accurately describes Avery’s family between April of 1846, when Mary Ann Couch married John Renfro, and August of 1849, when Temperance Couch married Charles Quinlan. But, the list makes no reference to Temperance’s marriage, or her husband.
What did happen to Avery’s first wife, Nancy, after their divorce? We believe that their divorce was finalized in St. Clair County, Illinois, during the March, 1854 term of the Circuit Court. Days later, on March 28, 1854, Thomas Phelps and Mrs. Nancy Couch were issued a marriage license in St. Clair County. On March 30, the couple was married, in St. Clair County, by Levi Sharp, a Justice of the Peace. While we have no evidence to substantiate that the Nancy Couch who married Thomas Phelps was Avery Couch’s ex-wife, the marriage record refers to her as Mrs. Nancy Couch, we know of no other Couch families in St. Clair County at that time, and the timing of the marriage (just days after Nancy Couch was granted her divorce from Avery) strongly supports our presumption that the bride was Avery’s ex-wife.
Nancy and some of her children may have remained in St. Clair County through the 1850’s. Nancy’s daughter, Perlina, was married in St. Clair County in October of 1859. The 1860 census should provide us with our next record of Nancy and her children. However, after numerous nationwide searches of 1860 census indexes and census records, I have not been able to locate Nancy, or any of her children. There is strong evidence that several of her children were married, so it can not be a matter of one household being missed, or one surname badly misspelled. And the 1860 census of St. Clair County appears to be complete and legible.
I do have a strong suspicion about the apparent absence of Nancy and her children from the 1860 census. I know that Nancy and some of her children were in Bond County, Illinois, by 1870, and that Bond County served as home base to several of Nancy’s children for a number of years. Bond County is located just a few miles northeast of St. Clair County. A Rootsweb internet site which provides the 1860 census of Bond County indicates that 47 of the original 291 pages of the 1860 Bond County census records have apparently been lost over the years. All of the surviving pages of the census are for Greenville Township, except for five pages from Mulberry Grove, and three pages from Pocahontas Township. I suspect that Nancy (Tabor) Couch Phelps and her children moved from St. Clair County to Bond County before the 1860 census, and that the enumerations of their households were among the missing Bond County census records.
There are probably a number of reasons why Nancy (Tabor) Couch and her children might have moved to Bond County. But it may be more than a coincidence that William Lindley, a brother of Elizabeth (Lindley) Couch and uncle of Avery Couch, was married in Bond County in 1818, and died in Bond County about 1835. Following Nancy’s divorce from Avery Couch, it is possible that there may have been some family support available to Nancy and her children in Bond County
The 1870 census of McCord Township, in Bond County, includes the household of 26-year-old John Taylor. Listed in the household with John were 26-year-old Sarah Taylor, and 57-year-old Nancy Couch. I believe that this Nancy Couch was Avery’s ex-wife, Sarah was Avery’s youngest surviving daughter, and John Taylor was Sarah’s husband. A note in the census record indicates that Sarah was blind, so it seems reasonable that Nancy would live with the couple, and provide assistance to her daughter. Nancy’s use of the name Couch, and the absence of Thomas Phelps in the household, suggest that Nancy’s marriage to Thomas ended prior to 1870, through death, divorce or desertion. The 1870 census record is the last trace I have found of Nancy (Tabor) Couch Phelps. I suspect that she died, and was buried, in Bond County, but have no evidence to support that suspicion.
[1] The North 1/2 of the Southeast 1/4 and the Southwest 1/4 of the Southeast 1/4 of Section 17 in Township 30 North of Range 25 West.
[2] The Southeast 1/4 of the Southeast 1/4 of Section 21 and the Southwest ¼ of the Southwest ¼ of Section 22, all in Township 23 North of Range 4 West.