ABOUT THE FAMILY OF IDA MAE (CLEMENTINE?) NULL:
by Fred Coffey

I had a tough time tracing Ida Mae and her family through census reports, prior to her marriage to James Monroe McCarl. However I believe I can connect her to the following:

LFC CENSUS NOTES, 1870, IOWA, DECATUR CO., LONG CREEK TWP:
Samuel Null is age 50, a farmer, with real estate worth $700 and personal estate worth $1800. Rachel is 38 (number hard to read) and a housekeeper. Living at home are “Ida C” age 10, “William S” age 7, and “Charles C” age 1. Samuel was born in Ohio, Rachael was born in Virginia, Ida and William were born in Illinois, and Charles was born in Iowa. Ida and William have attended school in the past year.

(Observations: Important to note that Ida is entered as “Ida C”. Based on info from the 1860 census, I believe she was originally named “Ida Clementine”, and that “Ida Mae” may have been a nickname that she later thought sounded pretty? Also, one might wonder if brother “William S” was the inspiration for Ida later naming one of her children “William Sylvester”?)

LFC CENSUS NOTES, 1860, ILLINOIS, KNOX CO,
I found the Samuel Null referenced above, not sure he is the right one. Samuel is 38, born in Ohio, Rachel is 28, born in KY. Children are Sarah E, age 10, born in IL and Clementine, age 4 months, born in IL. (”Clementine” presumably got called “Ida C” by 1870, and “Ida Mae” later?)

(Observation: Both of the above census numbers indicate she was born in about 1860. We don’t know when she and Roe McCarl were married, but their first child Samuel was born in about 1875, when Ida would have been about age 15. A very early age, but quite plausible.)

I have found one genealogy that identifies Samuel Null as the father of Ida Mae, and which also identifies the parents of Samuel. This one implies that Samuel was first married to an unknown “Sarah”. There are several genealogies that have same general family connected to “Sarah”, but without a “Rachael”. The one of most interest is

http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=lemken&id=I13174

The site offers the following caution about Samuel: “No firm evidence of Samuel Null's personage or whereabouts has been found; however, in 1860 there was a Samuel Null with wife, Rachel, living in Salem Township., Knox County, Illinois. He was born about 1822 in Ohio. This was the same county that Isaac Null had left in 1854 for Iowa. This same Samuel Null appeared in 1870 in Long Creek, Township., Decatur County, Iowa, -- the same county where Isaac had married his 2nd wife, Martha McNainer, in 1868. No deeds, death and estate records, or burial records have been found in Decatur County for Samuel. Possibly he left the county for other parts; although, the court house there burned in 1874 destroying earlier records. More research needs to be conducted.”

This is a very large tree, seems well documented. I have taken it as the source of the ancestry of Samuel. (The reader should also examine Samuel’s brother Isaac, and his connections to Decatur County.)

CAUTION: I THINK THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THIS IS THE RIGHT GENEALOGY. BUT MORE RESEARCH IS NEEDED!