Marriage Record of Tabitha House and Robert King of Oregon and Howell Counties, Missouri

So far in 2012 I have been working on trying to break down my PETERS brick wall. Part of that process has been going “outside the box.” One of the ways in which I’m trying to do that is to gain exposure of this family by putting more documents and stories on my blog. So far my PETERS line has branched into my KING line and today I would like to further branch into my HOUSE line.

Last week I wrote about Fletcher King who was the brother of my 2^nd great-grandmother, Dora King Peters. He married Mary French in Alton, Oregon County, Missouri on December 3, 1893 at the home of Mary French’s father, John French. My 2^nd great-grandmother, Dora King, married William Edward Peters in November 1900 at the age of 26.

Dora and Fletcher KING were the children of Robert KING and Tabitha HOUSE. Robert KING and Tabitha HOUSE were married July 28, 1870 in Howell County, Missouri in probably what is now known as West Plains Missouri. I have actually been to West Plains and to the courthouse. In fact, to this date, this is the only courthouse I have ever been in!

Unfortunately, it was early on in my research when I visited the courthouse and I did not know what I was looking for at the time, so I did not find this marriage record there. I did, however, pull it off of Ancestry.com on March 7, 2012 from the “Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002” online database.  Tabitha House was indexed as Tabitha “Course.” The record cited the Missouri Marriage Records, Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives - Microfim as the source for the database entry.

Here is a copy of the page entry. The entry for Robert KING and Tabitha HOUSE marriage is the very light print in the lower left:

This is what it looks like zoomed in and cropped:

The transcription is as follows:

This is to certify that the rites of
matrimony were solemnized by the
undersigned minister of the gospel
between Robert King of Oregon
county and Tabitha House of Howell
County both of the State of Missouri on
the 28th day of July 1870
                                                by Wm _______
                                                Minister of the Gospel
Recorded this 1st day of August 1870
                                                by _______ Rec

The 1870 census was taken in August in West Plains, Howell County, Missouri, where Tabitha HOUSE was from, so she was not enumerated with her family, Holensworth [sic] HOUSE because she was probably already moved out of the house and living with her new husband, Robert KING by then. The 1870 census was taken July 10 in Oak Grove, Oregon County, Missouri, where Robert KING’s family was from, so he WAS enumerated with his family (presumed to be Wilzey KING).  They were married July 28, 1870 in Howell County, Missouri, so they should have been caught on one of the census reports, but I have yet to find them on any. Unfortunately, Robert KING died in 1876, leaving Tabitha with two young children.

I don’t have a very big window with which to find much information. I got Robert’s date of death from Tabitha’s obituary. I would like to find a marriage announcement for Robert and Tabitha (27 July 1870) and an obituary for Robert KING (1876). Tabitha remarried to Samuel Watson in 1879. You can view their marriage record and see a photo of the young couple here.