My brick wall for the month of February is Dinah Mapes.
Dinah Ann Mapes was born about 1825 in New York.
She married four times:
1. Melvin Parker in Arkansas. They had one child, George.
2. Samuel Mallett in St. Louis, Missouri. They had one child, Adelia.
3. Elijah Perry in St. Louis, Missouri. They had three children: Sarah, John, and Tommy.
4. William H. Brown in California. No children.
According to her son John’s memory, she died in San Jose, California, in 1898.
Other members of this family have been working hard, as I have, to track down more information for this ancestor.
Specifically, I would like to know:
a. Who were her parents?
b. How did Dinah get from New York, where she was born, to Arkansas, the place of her first marriage?
According to her son John, she sailed around the Horn from Texas to California, to reunite with her husband, Elijah Perry, who was already mining for gold. She apparently stayed with her folks until this sea voyage occurred.
c. Who were her folks? Were they her parents? Or people she was related to? Or Elijah’s relatives?
d. Where and when did Dinah die, and where is she buried?
If you have thoughts about further research that could be done, or especially if you, too, are related to Dinah, please leave a comment.
Wordsmith Magic 
The best I can offer you is good luck. But the hunt is where all the fun is.
Thanks…you’ve got that right! Sometimes others can throw out a clue, however, which lessens the teeth gnashing. 🙂
I wonder if we’ve already been in touch on Ancestry. In case we have not, I did a bunch of that sleuthing to match up Dinah to Samuel Malatt and again have hit the same brick wall. I did find a Samuel Malatt marrying several more times in the same area. I also found a record of a marriage in Calhoun County, Ill. a few years before Dinah and it doesn’t appear that his wife died (i.e. he left her? she left him?) There’s also legal proceedings against him that I can’t find more about. If we haven’t already connected, I would love to share the mystery!
Hi! Yep, we have connected on Ancestry, and I am glad to reconnect! I don’t know of your Samuel Malatt findings, and would love to hear more. My email is ljadventur@aol.com Thanks!
This is still a brick wall for me. No new information as far as I can tell. I think I’m happy to have teased out as much as we have!