Notes for DEBORAH SCHOOLEY STRATTON EMMONS:

Daughter of Elisha and Rachel Coe (Holmes) Schooley.
Born: August 28, 1787 in Virginia.
Died: December 7, 1872 in Unknown.
Buried: Spring Creek Cemetery, Mahaska County, Iowa.
Census:
July 27, 1870 - Oskaloosa Township, Mahaska County, Iowa.
Married: (1) Josiah Stratton September 30, 1812 in Salem, Columbiana County, Ohio. He was born February 21, 1789 in Gloucester, New Jersey and died October 13, 1846 in Augusta, Ohio.
(2)Thomas Emmons before 1854 in Unknown.

In the 1860 census, we find Thomas Emmons, age 78, in Prairie Township, Keokuk County, Iowa, owning $2500 in real estate and having $200 in personal property. Also in the household are Deborah, age 79, and Mary, age 56 (so say my notes; perhaps it should be 46), who owns $1000 in real estate. All of Thomas and Mary's children except Rebecca and Cassandra, who had died without issue, are named in his will. Also named is his wife, Deborah, who is to have the property she brought with her to the marriage, one third the proceeds from the sale of his moveable property, and, during the rest of her life, the income from Thomas' eighty acre homestead and one cow. Grandsons Micajah and Davis, are to split the share of their dead father, except for fifty dollars which were to go to their mother, and "if my grandson Davis Emmons (who is supposed to have died at sea in the Pacific ocean in the fall of the year Eighteen hundred and fifty three whilst on his way to California) should not appear before the final settlement of the executors... "Micajah is to have his brother's share.

Deborah Emmons is something of an enigma. Since her husband, Thomas was a Friends minister, we would expect a record of their marriage to be found in Friends records. However, the marriage records of Sandy Spring meeting are missing for the period during which they were wed. Adding to the mystery is the fact that her age and birthplace seem to vary from census to census. Judging from the 1860 census, she would appear to have been born about 1781, in Ohio, but this is surely not right as Ohio was not yet settled then. Was she both step mother and mother in law to Thomas' son Cyrenus, or were these two Deborahs of about the same age? It seems that Deborah (Schooley) Stratton, mother-in-law of Cyrenus Emmons, did become his stepmother as well. This is confirmed by the birth date listed on her gravestone, which matches the birth date given for Deborah Schooley to the day.