William Robert Ross

Brief Life History of William Robert

When William Robert Ross was born in 1855, in Ohio, United States, his father, John Alexander Ross, was 22 and his mother, Susanah H Robinson, was 16. He married Sarah Permelia Barringer on 4 November 1888, in Geneva, Fillmore, Nebraska, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 2 daughters. He lived in Beaver Township, Guthrie, Iowa, United States in 1880. He died on 4 July 1911, in Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas, United States, at the age of 56, and was buried in Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas, United States.

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Family Time Line

William Robert Ross
1855–1911
Sarah Permelia Barringer
1870–1932
Marriage: 4 November 1888
John Alexander Ross
1888–1947
Robert William Ross
1891–1980
Bruce Scott Ross
1894–1900
Suzan Emily Ross
1896–1956
Barney Allen Ross
1898–1978
Sarah Kate Ross
1900–1949

Sources (4)

  • William R Ross in household of John A Ross, "United States Census, 1880"
  • W.r Ross, "Nebraska Marriages, 1855-1995"
  • W.r. Ross, "Nebraska Marriages, 1855-1995"

World Events (8)

1857 · The State Capital moves to Des Moines

The Capitol was located in Iowa City until the 1st General Assembly of Iowa recognized that the Capitol should be moved farther west than Iowa City. Land was found two miles from the Des Moines River to start construction of the new building. Today the Capitol building still stands on its original plot.

1860 · Ohio supports the Union side of the Civil War

Although divided as a state on the subject of slavery, Ohio participated in the Civil War on the Union's side, providing over 300,000 troops. Ohio provided the 3rd largest number of troops by any Union state.

1870 · The Fifteenth Amendment

Prohibits the federal government and each state from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It was the last of the Reconstruction Amendments.

Name Meaning

Scottish: habitational name from one or other of a number of Scottish and English places called Ross or Roos(e), especially Roose (Lancashire) and Roos (East Yorkshire). The placenames derive from a British ancestor of Welsh rhos ‘moor, heath, plain’, which is the sense of the cognate Gaelic word ros. The Scottish surname has at least three origins. First, the Anglo-Norman family from Roos (East Yorkshire) was introduced to Scotland when Robert of Roos, lord of Wark Castle (Northumberland), married Isabella, an illegitimate daughter of King William the Lion. Second, various families took the name from the province of Ross in northern Scotland and other places of that name. Third, there were Norman families in Scotland by the 13th century who probably derived their name from Rots in Normandy (see 2 below). The descendants of Godfrey de Ros, tenant of the de Morville lords of Cunninghame, were major landholders in Ayrshire, and almost certainly took their name from Rots. The Rose family of Kilravock (Nairnshire) may take their name from either of these three (see Rose ). The lairds of Balnagown adopted the surname Ross after the earldom of Ross (to which they considered themselves rightful heirs) had passed into other hands through the female line.

English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Rots in Calvados (France), probably named with the ancient Germanic element rod ‘clearing’ (compare Rhodes ). This was the original home of a family de Ros, who were established in Kent in 1130 and had major estates in Kent until well into the 13th century.

English: habitational name from Wrose, in Shipley, near Bradford (Yorkshire), with re-spelling of Wr- as R- due to the loss of /w/ before /r/ in early modern English pronunciation. The spelling Wrose is no longer current. The placename derives from Old English wrāse ‘knot, something twisted’, referring to the steep-sided hill on which the settlement stands, with the sense ‘broken or twisting hill’.

Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.

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