Ancestor John OTT listed in 1840 Clay Co. IN Census, married Sarah OWENS about 1837. They have 7 children in the household and only two of them are theirs. Any ideas?

I have John Ott, b. 1814, d. 1863. Married Sarah Owens, b. 1818. I have their children as follows:
William M. Ott b. 1837
Martha Elizabeth Ott b. 1840
Mary A. Ott b. 1845
Ann Elizabeth Ott (my ancestor) b. 1846
Jerimiah Zimmerman Ott b. 1849
Amanda Ott b. 1852
Albert Abraham Ott b. 1853
John Buchanan Jr. Ott b. 1854
Julia Ann Ott b. 1861
I have all of these children born in Clay , Indiana. What I need is John Otts parents names. Would you happen to know? Thank You. Lynn Robbins

Well I have been working on this for 40 years and don't have an answer, please let me know if I can help. I do have a lot of theories, but none of them are proveable.
Don Ott

Bill,
All of those children belong to John and Sarah. John B. Ott was born in Missouri on the trip to Arkansas and Julia Ann was born after ariving in Arkansas. My original message was looking for the children living in the John Ott household in the 1840 Census, there was five that did not belong to John and Sarah.

I am doing a friends genealogy, she has thatSarah Owens parents were Jonathan Owens (a Cherokee Indian). Sarah's mother was Lousia Taylor they were from NC. Does anyone have any of this information???

The story that you have is one that has been passed around, however I have been unable to prove or deny any part of it. Mr. Guy Wells was one of the main proponents of the Indian relationship. In all the Census Reports, both John and Sarah indicate they were born in Kentucky and in the 1880 Census AR, Marion county, Sarah indicates both her parents were also born in KY. Jonathan Owen (note the "S" is missing)was living near the Ott family in Clay Co. Indiana for the 1840 Census, both John and Sarah can reasonably be believed to be part of the children shown. When John said he traded horses and furs for Indian wife Sarah, I believe he was telling a good story.

Sounds like a good story also. We have so many in the last 7 years that come to the Research Room of the Phelps County Genealogical Society that claim to have Indian grand or great grandparents. We don't have enough books or material to prove anything. We tell them to contact OK. Thank you for answering my question. If you ever find out that Sarah is really a Indian let me know. Sheiia