Person:Christopher Joy (1)

Biography

Christopher C. Joy was born in 1821 in Delaware County, Ohio. The scarcity of records has made it difficult to determine his parents, but the diary of his son Benjamin F. Joy, written in 1866, seems to indicate that Christopher’s father was Solomon Joy, born 17 Aug 1799 in Putney, Vermont. If this is the case, then C.C.’s heritage can be traced back to Thomas Joy and Joan Gallop.

C.C. married Eunice Davis in 1842 in Delaware County, and his first son, James Madison Joy, was born 25 Mar 1843. Another son, William Wallace, was born 2 years later, on 1 Sep 1845. In 1850 the family was living in Marshall county, Illinois, with Eunice's older sister Maria (who was listed as an "idiot." That same year, when the boys were only 7 and 5, their mother died. (What happened to Maria Davis? Where was Eunice buried?)

C.C. moved back to Delaware, Ohio and remarried in 1851 to Mary Foust. The following year Mary gave birth to Benjamin F. Joy. When Benjamin was about 6, the family moved to Peoria, Mahaska County, Iowa. It must have been a long and difficult experience, with Mary pregnant with her second child On July 11, 1857, Solomon H. Joy was born in Iowa.

Civil War broke out in the United States, and in 1861, the eldest child, James M. Joy, enlisted in the Union army, Iowa. He re-enlisted in 1862 or 1863 and served until the end of the war in 1865. His younger brother, William W., also enlisted in January 1864, and returned with his brother in 1865.

Meanwhile, C.C. Joy was working as a harness-maker. By about 1871 he also became proprietor of the "Peoria House," a hotel in Peoria, Mahaska county, Iowa. Several years later the family moved to Osceola, Nebraska, where Ben Joy and his brother Solomon worked as harness makers. The competition in Osceola was another harness-maker named Alexander Jay.

Although C.C.'s wife Mary and other Joy descendants were buried in the Osceola cemetery in Polk county, Nebraska, there is no tombstone or grave spot for C.C. (Where did he go?)

Notes

Came to Mahaska County in 1857. Held offices as school director and township trustee.

NEWSPAPER The Weekly Oskaloosa Herald, 6 Jan 1876 lists C.C. Joy as proprietor of "one hotel 'Peoria House.'" (In 1871 it was run by Mrs. M.A. Crayton.)

Osceola Record, 25 Aug 1887 CC Joy left Monday morning for Bassett, Brown Co, where he will visit for a time his son, Jas. M. Joy, a former resident of this place.

PROBATE November 1874-March 1881 HUIT, Winnie /C.C. Joy 27 Jan 1879 p.3 Probate Record for Winnie Huitt; Co Clerk, Mahaska Co IA Vol J:319; Probate settled 27 Jan 1879; ; copy from Bertlyn Johnston, Ames, IA. "Now on this day 27 January 1879 come P.D. Spain and R.S. Smith and file their petition putting forth thence that Winnie Huitt Died on or about 5 December 1877 leaving property to the value of $400.00 and set forth under on that they are creditors of said estate and that the heirs of the deceased have taken no steps toward settling said estate and they ask that C.C. Joy be appointed administrator of said estate. And the court being sufficiently advised in the premises appoints the said C.C. Joy administrator of said estate whose files his bond with approved security which is approved administration qualified and commission issued and is ordered that administrator give notice of his appointment as administrator posting three notices thereof in three different places in Mahaska Co."

1. ↑ Iowa, Mahaska Co, Richland Twp. , in 1880 U.S. Federal Census.

   C.C. Joy, age 57, b. OH, harness-maker, parents b. VT
   Mary Joy, other, age 58, b. OH, father b. PA, mother b. NH
   Bertie Joy, daughter, age 13, b. IA
   Susan Bartless, other, age 69, b. OH, carpenter

2.   Polk, , in State of Nebraska. 1885 Nebraska State Census. (Nebraska, United States: State of Nebraska).

   Christopher Joy, Mary, Bertha age 17 b. IA, Eunice age 17 b. IA
   (I believe this Eunice is James M. Joy's daughter, mistakenly enumerated twice.)

3. ↑ Peoria, Iowa, in Dahm, James. Peoria, Iowa: A Story of Two Cultures
   p.16, 1993.

   Taken from "History of Mahaska County" by Semira Phillips, pub. Des Moines: Union Historical Co., 1878

4. ↑ Iowa, Mahaska, in 1860 U.S. Federal Census
   Series: M653 Roll: 334 Page: 54, 11 Nov 2005.

   Christopher C. Joy, age 39, farmer, b. Ohio;
   Mary, age 40, housewife, b. Ohio,
   James M., 17, farm laborer, b. Ohio;
   Wm. W, 14, b. Ohio; Benj. F., 8, b. Ohio;
   Solomon (H. or N.), 2, b Iowa,
   Nancy Durkee, 16, domestic, b. Ohio

5. ↑ Obituary of C. C. Joy, in The Osceola Record (Osceola, Nebraska)
   8 Feb 1894.

   Died C. C. Joy, at the residence of his son, B. F. Joy, in Shelby, Wednesday, February 31st, 1894, aged 73 years. Deceased was born in Ohio 1820 moved to Iowa in 1857, and to Osceola 1881 and has resided at Osceola and Shelby ever since. Father Joy was one of the old landmarks and the number of his friends was limited only by the number of his acquaintances. He was a member of the Methodist church for many years and was a devoted, consistent christian. The funeral was held at Osceola in the Presbyterian church Thursday afternoon at 2 o'clock. Rev. Whitmer of the M. E. church conducting the services.
   
   * typed as found in the newspaper, death date was probably January 31st.

6.   1850 Federal Census, Illinois, Marshall
   17 Sep 1850.

   M432_120; Page: 112; Image: 62.
   
   Dwelling 1 Family 1
   Christopher Joy, 28, Male, farmer, $500 of real estate, b. Ohio
   Eunice Joy, age 26, female, b. OH
   James Joy age 7 b. OH
   William Joy age 5 b. OH
   Maria Davis age 38 b. OH Idiot