William Updegraff ^{1 2}

  Noted events in his life were:

• He appeared on the 1860 US Census in Sharon Township, Clinton County, IA on 13 August 1860. ²

1860 US Census
Page 70, Family 497
Sharon Township, Clinton, Iowa, United States
William Updegraft..28..Ohio..Farmer

(Living with wife and son.)
.

William married Julia Ann Hudson, daughter of Joseph Hudson and Charlotte Bowman, on 21 September 1856 in Clinton County, IA.¹ (Julia Ann Hudson was born on 7 March 1826 in Ohio ^{2 3 4} and died on 20 May 1872 ^{3 4}.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• They appeared on the 1860 US Census in Sharon Township, Clinton County, IA on 13 August 1860. ²

1860 US Census
Page 70, Family 497
Sharon Township, Clinton, Iowa, United States
William Updegraft..28..Ohio..Farmer
Julia A. Updegraft..34..Ohio
Milton L. Updegraft..2..Iowa
.

  Marriage Notes:

Name: William Uptegraft
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 21 Sep 1856
Event Place: Clinton, Iowa, United States
Sex: Male
Spouse's Name: Julia Hudson
Spouse's Sex: Female

Citing this Record
"Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KCWP-7P7 : 10 February 2018), William Uptegraft and Julia Hudson, 21 Sep 1856, Clinton, Iowa, United States; citing reference 50, county courthouses, Iowa; FHL microfilm 1,005,210.
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Many researchers indicate that William Updegraff took a second wife about 1860 by the name of Lydia Maria Shear. Together they had 5 or 6 children. However, I am fairly certain that this was a different William Updegraff whose middle initial was "B". The William that was married to Julia Ann Hudson had no documents that reference that middle initial.

But the most important reason that they were two different William Updegraffs is the fact that they were both enumerated separately in the 1860 US Census. The first one on 23 Jun 1860 showed William B. Updegraff, age 38, and wife, Lydia, in Canoe Township, Winneshiek, Iowa. The second one nearly two months later on 13 Aug 1860 showed William Updegraff, age 28, and his wife, Julia, in Sharon Township, Clinton, Iowa. These two different counties are not adjacent and are almost 150 miles apart.

In addition, William B. Updegraff's age and estimated birth date remained consistent with his subsequent census records which typically showed a birth year of about 1822. The other William whose wife was Julia Hudson, only appears with her on the 1860 US Census and his age of 28 suggests a birth year of 1832 which is about 10 years later making him 10 years younger.

There is also a Record of Person Subject William Military Duty completed in 1862 in Clinton County which lists a William Updegraff with an age of 30. The age would seem to confirm his birth year of about 1832.

Julia Updegraff's name appears on an 1870 Census record in Clinton County, Iowa but she is living with her son Milton at the household of older Catharine Updegraff and her family. There is no mention of her husband, William. That Catherine Updegraff does not appear to be related to the William B. Updegraff who married Lydia Shear.

The confusing part about the two different census records is that one shows William and Julia as the parents of a son, Milton L. Updegraff whose age of 2 suggests a birth year of about 1858. Milton's name does not appear on the other 1860 Census with William and Lydia.

However, a son named Milton does appear with William and Lydia on the 1870 Census but his age of 9 suggest a birth year of about 1861 three years after the other Milton's birth year on the 1860 Census. The 1885 Iowa State Census shows the son, Milton, living with his parents, William and Lydia with an age of 24 which suggest a birth year of about 1861 which is consistent.

It would seem to be purely coincidental that there was another William Updegraff in the state of Iowa but his use of the middle initial consistently shows him only with a wife named Lydia and never with Julia. It also seems coincidental that Willam and Lydia also named their son Milton, born about 1861 but his census records never show a similar birth year with that of the Milton born to William and Julia whose birth year was about 1857.

Perhaps the final clue to these coincidental names is the fact that Julia A. Updegraff filed as a widow to claim the pension of her husband who was with Company F, 26th Iowa Volunteers. That record appears in the database "United States Civil War Widows and Other Dependents Pension Files, 1861-1934". That means that William Updegraff, husband of Julia Hudson, was killed in the Civil War and therefore the other William B. Updegraff and wife Lydia are not related at all.
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