Mary A. Demarest's story

How did hubby's great-grandma Mary Amanda Demarest (1831-1897) get from her birthplace of New York City to Plaquemine, Louisiana, where she married Thomas Haskell Wood (1809-1890) at the tender age of 14 (when he was 36)? They married in St. Gabriel Catholic Church shown in above image. This remarkable woman had a total of 17 children between 1846 and 1875!

Cousin Larry, the family genealogist, has spent decades (really) researching Mary Amanda. Although there's no verifiable evidence of exactly who her parents were, Larry believes Mary Amanda was the daughter of Henry E. Demarest (b. 1800), a mason in New York City, and Catherine Nitchie (or Nisky). Catherine's parents were possibly John Nitchie and Margaret Evertson Nitchie. Again, these are only hypotheses. More recent research has shown Mary Amanda possibly had a sister named Susan Jane Demarest.

Children of Mary Amanda Demarest Wood and Thomas Haskell Wood:

Jane Ann "Jennie" Wood, Thomas Jefferson Isaiah Haskell Wood, John Marshall Tabor Wood, Lucy Maria Kize Wood, William Henry White Wood, Alfred Olando Wood, Francis Ellery Wood, Lavatia Allen Wood, Joe Elemuel, Charles Augustus Wood, Rachel Ellen (Nellie) Wood, George Howard Wood, Marion Elton Wood, Mary Emma Wood, James Edgar Wood, Robert Orrin Wood, Leander Elkanah Wood

Mary and Thomas lived in Plaquemine, Iberville Parish, at the time of the 1850 Census...but nothing in the records (including marriage info) indicates the name of her parents. They were married on May 14, 1845, when she was two weeks short of her 14th birthday, by a Baptist preacher. Their first child, Jane "Jennie," was born on August 13, 1846, and baptized at St. Gabriel Church. 

By the time of the 1860 Census, the couple and their family lived in Cabell County, Virginia (now part of West Virginia). In 1870, they were relocated in Toledo, where their last 8 children were born and the couple themselves died.

Here are my posts about Mary Amanda Demarest and Thomas Haskell Wood:

• Plaquemine, Lousiana, where Mary Amanda Demarest married Thomas Haskell Wood and their early children where born and baptized.
• Was Mary Ann Demarest the mother of Mary Amanda? Not sure, still trying to confirm.
• Mary Amanda Demarest's Toledo Blade obit.
• Demarest babies born ex prohibito concubitu (meaning the parents weren't allowed to marry, perhaps because their family relationship was too close). I found these in the records of the Reformed Dutch Church of Greenwich, New York City, but I'm fairly sure that these Demarests aren't related to great-grandma Mary Amanda Demarest.
• Demarest family adoptions (by Mary Van Orden Demarest, as listed in records of Reformed Dutch Church of Greenwich, New York City--not necessarily related to Mary Amanda but interesting because the adoptions took place in 1843-4-5).
• Wood family of Ohio (with birth/death dates of all children of Mary Demarest and Thomas Haskell Wood) 
• Photo of some Wood children and recap of children of Mary and Thomas Wood. 
• Mary Amanda Demarest Wood's maiden name is shown as "De Merest" in her son James Edgar Wood's 3d marriage license.
• Mary Amanda Demarest Wood's granddaughter, Mary Amanda Wood, was married on June 3, 1903. Her groom, August Jacob Carsten, needed parental permission to marry as he was not yet 21.
• Searching for Mary Amanda Demarest Wood and her husband, Thomas Haskell Wood, in the 1880 US Census. I knew they were in Toledo, Ohio, but three big genealogy websites mistranscribed their surname as "Ward."
• Mary had 17 children in all, born across three states.
• Going to build a quick and dirty family tree to see whether the Mary Amanda Demarest baptized in 1832 is OUR ancestor.
• Finding the will of Mary Amanda Demarest Wood with listing of several generations of heirs!
• Sharing genealogy work in progress although not proven who Mary Amanda's parents are yet!
• What did Mary Amanda Demarest Wood die of?