For some reason, the Connellys decided to move to Lawrence County, Indiana, in 1816, making Josiah Connelly one of the area’s pioneers. (The Society of Indiana Pioneers has stated that an individual was a county pioneer if he/she resided there on or before Dec. 31, 1825.)

Lawrence County was a place filled with hostile Native Americans and “the perils of making a home were great,” according to “History of Lawrence and Monroe Counties.” “The pioneer hesitated to be the first to combat with their treacherous customs.”

Another of the five original townships in the southwest portion of the county is Spice Valley Township. Among the first to buy land were Joel and Josiah Connelly in 1816, according to the history. John Connelly arrived in 1817. They purchased more land the next year, and Josiah became the first constable. Apparently, family sources say, Josiah was a great cabin builder. Joel and Josiah Conly (note spelling) are listed in the 1820 Federal Census as living in Lawrence County. The county was officially formed March 1, 1818. One record notes that Sarah and sons William, John Jr., Elijah, Josiah, and Joel made the move to Lawrence County.

Public land purchase records show that Josiah purchased 16,000 acres of land in Illinois in 1837 at a cost of $20,000.

Josiah was by this time twice married. He first wed Mary Elizabeth Miller, daughter of Joseph and Catharine Miller, on April 13, 1803, in Ashe County, NC. She was born 9 Jan. 1789 (87?), making her 14 on her wedding day; the bridegroom was 20. Mary died 12 Jan. 1813, probably in North Carolina. Their children were:

Joseph H. Connelly, 11 April 1804, Ashe Co., NC; died 18 Dec. 1854, Lawrence Co, IN. He married Margaret McBride 21 Feb. 1825 in Lawrence Co.

Dedemiah, born 22 Mar. 1806, Ashe Co.; died 16 July 1835, Parker Township, Clark Co., IL (Dedemiah was married twice, to Thomas Mitchell, 30 April 1825, and Morris Carrothers, 14 May 1831.)

Sarah C., born 6 Sept. 1807, came to Lawrence Co., married there on 3 May 1828 to Richard Beasley, and had five children born in Parker Township.

Ten years after his first marriage, Josiah married Sarah Elizabeth Terrell (or Terril), daughter of William and Nancy Terrell, on 29 April 1813 in Wilkes Co., NC. Sarah, born 25 Aug. 1792, was 20 when they married. She died 9 April 1840 and is buried in the Connelly Cemetery, Clark Co., IL. Together they had nine children: The first four were born in North Carolina.

Nancy Connelly, born 26 May 1814; died 1866 Clark County. Wed Jordan Johnson, 18 Feb. 1836, Clark Co.

Mary Ann, born 2 April 1816; married Isaac Johnson 3 March 1836, Clark Co.

Joel Jackson, born 18 Jan. 1818; died 7 Dec. 1841, Clark Co. Married Susan Daughhetee 16 Jan. 1840, Clark Co.

Elizabeth, born 15 Dec. 1819; died 30 May 1844, Clark Co. Married Levin Dixon Robinson 30 March 1837, Clark Co.

William Morgan, born 7 Feb. 1822, Lawrence Co., IN; died 26 Feb. 1904, Clark Co. Married Nancy Robinson 7 July 1840, and Lydia Hammond 5 Feb. 1854.

Josiah Washington, born. 20 Dec. 1823, Lawrence Co.; died 20 Jan. 1879, Clark Co. Wed Aldulah Hammond 4 Dec. 1845.

Timothy Harrison, born 22 Sept. 1825, Lawrence Co.; married Sarah A. White and Sally Jeffers.

Temperance, born 23 March 1829, Lawrence Co.; died 29 Oct. 1846, Clark Co. Married George Sloan 22 March 1846.

Judah, born 9 May 1831, Lawrence Co. Wed Simpson Walker 29 Aug. 1850 and ? Wedeman later.

Josiah’s third and last wife was Sarah “Sally” Dixon Robinson, a widow, who was 40 years old when they married 7 Jul. 1840 in Clark County. (Sarah was born 16 Dec. 1800.) They were married only several months after the death of his second wife. Their children were:

Martin Van Buren, born 15 May 1841; died 2 Feb. 1911, Clark Co. He married Jane Stilwell, 17 Jan. 1877.

Patsey Tennessee, born 27 Nov. 1844; died 1890. Wed Frederick Hammond 25 Sept. 1858.

Richard Madison, born 6 April 1846 – Richard is the line from which Mary Jo Connelly and her children, Sally and Daniel Gohlke, descend. He died in Feb. 1905 in Clark Co., living there all his life, just as his siblings did. He married Barbara Stilwell, Jane’s sister, on 1 Aug. 1870.

Barbara was born in Clark County 19 Dec. 1854 and was but 15 when she married Richard. After her death from typhoid on 2 Feb. 1879 (and burial in the Connelly Cemetery), Richard seems to have gone off the deep end. He put his children with his brothers’ families (Martin and William) and disappears from the census index. On 18 April 1883, he married Sarah Jane Black, but it appears he did not take his children back to live with him. Instead, he started a new family with his second wife.

Barbara and Richard first had Martin Van Buren, born 15 May 1871; died 16 Sept. 1923. He married Minnie Smith on 26 Feb. 1893, and so hated his father that on his marriage certificate he lists an “R.M. Morgan” as his father. On the death certificate, the uncle who sheltered him for years, Martin, was listed as the father.

Cora B. was born 28 April, 1876, and died in March 1971 in Casey. She was married on 21 Sept. 1897 in Clark County to farmer Solomon Melton, born in 1861 in Illinois, son of farmer John Melton (Kentucky, ca. 1824) and Adline (Indiana, ca. 1827). Their family is listed in the 1870 census in Edgar County. The 1900 census indicated Cora and Sol had had one child, no longer living. Little Cora, called Barbra by the family, also lived with Martin and family.

Walter, born 18 Nov. 1878, died at a young age in Parker Township, 30 Sept. (Aug.?) 1894. He was sent to live with William Connelley after his mother’s death. William, 58 in the 1880 census, calls himself “former keeper of the poor house” in that document. “Poor House” is written above the family names.

Richard’s second wife was Sarah Jane Black. Their four children were Argenta, 23 Aug. 1885; Cleveland Madison, 9 Sept. 1889; Lyman C., 20 May 1891; and Golda (or Goldie) Marie, 8 April 1898. Richard (or, R.M.) was a petite juror for the March term, Clark County Circuit Court, in 1882.

The Stilwell girls were the daughters of William and Emily (Wilcox) Stilwell, who in the 1880 Federal Census were listed at ages 63 and 59, respectively, and living in Parker Township, Clark Co. At that time their sons, Charles and Alexander, 15 and 19, were with them. The sons were born in Illinois, the parents in Ohio. There were other sisters: Lucy Stilwell Lowry (Mrs. Tom); Melissa Stilwell Volk (Mrs. George); Julia Stilwell Newlin (Mrs. Tom); Lucinda Stilwell Bennett (Mrs. Henry); and Cassandra Stilwell Marrs (Mrs. Will). (Both Jane and Barbara are buried in the Connelly Cemetery.)

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