He married: 1) 18 May 1873, Dereham Township, Oxford County, Ontario, Rosetha (Rozalthia) Barnum, who was born in September 1855 and died 7 July 1875, daughter of Solomon and Eliza Jane Barnum; 2) Janet/Jannette Cooper, born 1859 and died 25 May 1945. Rosetha is buried with John in the New Road Cemetery at Tillsonburg, Ontario.
John's early life was spent on the homestead farm, and he became a carpenter in early life. After the birth of their first child, Annetta, Rosetha died of complications and was buried in the Oatman plot in the New Road Cemetery outside of Tillsonburg. John remarried and after a few years he and Jannette moved to Michigan where, on 23 May 1889, he purchased 84 acres of land north of Cumber, Austin Township, Sanilac County. Annetta, John's daughter, had been living with her grandmother Eltha in Tillsonburg, but now moved to Michigan with her father and stepmother.
On 10 October 1892, John sold his farm near Cumber to purchase ten lots from Robert Smith in the village of Tyre, the sale being completed 19 April 1893. John lived in Tyre for the next two years, while his daughter moved to the Bay City area where she worked in a boarding house which served as home for many of the railway personnel. On 19 August 1895, John sold his lots in Tyre, and moved his family back to Tillsonburg, where he lived for 35 years, dying there on 18 March 1930. His obituary, as printed in the Tillsonburg Observer of 27 March 1930, reads:
"A wide circle of friends heard with regret of the demise on Tuesday, March 18th. of John Oatman, of the Eleventh Concession of South Norwich, in his 83rd year, following a long illness. He was the oldest son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Eli Oatman, and was born on the New Road, later moving to the Oatman homestead on the Eleventh concession. He was by trade a carpenter and worked on many of the buildings of the community and surrounding country. He is survived by his late wife and six children, Mrs. Knight, of Michigan, Mrs. James Stover of Rosanna, Mrs. Summerville of Fort Frances, Milo of Port Rowan, Melvin of Toronto, and Alvin at home, also several grandchildren. Two brothers and three sisters are living, Lorne Oatman, Springford, William Oatman of this community, Mrs. James Rogers and Mrs. M. Hicks, Tillsonburg, and Mrs. William Tilton, Vancouver. The funeral was held on Friday afternoon from his late home to New Road Church, where an impressive service was conducted by Rev. Mr. Thompson of the Free Methodist Church, and a very comforting address was delivered by the Rev. Mr. Marlatt, a former pastor and family friend, now at Port Rowan. Interment was in the family plot at New Road Cemetery. Six nephews were pallbearers; James Oatman, Tillsonburg; Roy Oatman, Cornell; Earl Rogers, Charles Singer and Verne Hicks, Tillsonburg, and John Pettinger, of Courtland.Mrs. Knight, of Michigan, is spending the week with her mother, Mrs. John Knight, of the eleventh concession."
Jannette died in Tillsonburg on Friday, 23 May 1945, and was buried Monday, 28 May in the New Road Cemetery.
Children of John and 1) Rosetha (Barnum) Oatman:
3228 Annetta, b. 6 Jul 1874, Tillsonburg, Oxford Co., ON; d. 6 Jul 1943, Reed City, Osceola Co., MI; m. John Solomon Knight, 1895.
Annetta's mother died shortly after her birth, and she was raised in the home of her grandmother, Eltha Oatman. During this time she attended the Methodist Church on New Road, and later the Free Methodist Church of which her grandmother was a member. At about age 15, she moved to Michigan with her father and stepmother and lived with them for a few years before finding employment in Bay City, Michigan, in one of the boarding houses for the growing number of railroad men needed for the expanding railroad system. This is probably where she met John Solomon Knight, who was employed as an engineer with the Michigan Central Railroad. She and John were married in 1895 when she was about 21. John was born 6 February 1866 and died 25 February 1939.
Sometime after the wedding, they moved to Gladwin and then to Highwood, a settlement about 12 miles out of Gladwin, but still in Gladwin County. In Highwood they raised their family, and in Highwood, John died in February of 1939. Annetta then sold the farm to her eldest son and moved to Lansing to live with and care for the children of her deceased daughter, Grace Knight Goodwich. After several years she purchased a small home in Gladwin, where she lived until her death in 1943. The Free Methodist published the following obituary on 6 August 1943:
"Annette Knight, born at Tillsonburg, Ontario, July 6, 1874, died July 6, 1943, at Reed City, Michigan. She came to Bay City, Michigan, in early life and later married J. S. Knight, to which union were born nine children. The husband and three of the children preceded her in death. She was converted in middle life and became a member of the Free Methodist Church. She lived a faithful, kind and consistent life. Her passing was triumphant -- she saw her Saviour waiting to receive her. Interment in the Gladwin Cemetery; funeral conducted by her pastor, Ralph Milks, from the Gladwin Free Methodist Church."
Children, surname Knight:
A Wycliffe Roland, b. 1896; d. 1980B Dewey Clyde, b. 1898; d. 1976
C Roseltha, b. 1903; d. 1929
D Mary Marie (Knight), b. 1906
E Grace Albena, b. 1908; d. 1941; m. _____ Goodwich
F George Edmund, b. 1909; d. 1970
G John Melvin, b. 1910; d. 1911
H Ruth Evangline, b. 1912
I Ruby Ella, b. 1913
Children of John and 2) Jannette (Cooper) Oatman:
3229 Lovina/Lavinnia, b. 26 Apr 1885, South Norwich, Oxford Co., ON; d. 22 Jul 1972, Tillsonburg, Oxford Co., ON; bur. 25 Jul 1972, Tillsonburg Cem.; m. James Stover, 14 Nov 1939, Springford, ON. He d. 16 Mar 1969 in Tillsonburg. At the time of her death in 1972, Lovina had 11 grand-children and 13 great-grandchildren. Children, surname Stover:
A Ruby, m. Cyril Smith, 3 Nov 1937; lived in Browneville, ON, in 1972. She had three daughters.B Pearl, m. _____ Tolhurst; lived in Arcade, NY, 1972
C Mildred, m. Seldon Wilkinson; lived in Tillsonburg in 1972. Children, surname Wilkinson:
I Janet Ann, b. 22 May 1940
NOTE: In papers from the Norwich Archives, Norwich, ON, Ruby Stover Smith, daughter of Lovina, states of her mother, Jannette Cooper Oatman:
"Harriett (Cowell) Livingstone -- Grandma Oatman's daughter before marriage to John Oatman. Harriett's father Israel Cowell wanted to marry Grandma, she refused, so he married Grandma's sister Bessie and they raised Harriet. This is the story I was told. She died May 14/1945 in 67 years. She was married to Wes Livingston, he died May 6/1963 in 83 years."
3230 Milo, b. 29 Aug 1888, Tillsonburg, Oxford Co., ON; d. 18 Jun 1962, Simcoe, ON; m. Margaret Towns, 20 Apr 1921
3231 Melbourne/William Melvin, b. 14 Feb 1895; d. Dec 1959, Toronto, ON; m. Garnett Aleatha Hazen
3232 Rhoda, b. 19 Apr 1896, Oxford Co., ON; m. Thomas Burns Summerville, 30 Mar 1921, Avondale Manse, Tillsonburg, Oxford Co., ON
3233 Alvin L., b. 18 Jan 1905 (per Tillsonburg Liberal, 19 Jan 1905); d. 9 Oct 1987; m. Gladys Bartlett
Family recordsBack to Oatman Home Page
Bennett, Rolland, Foliage on Ontario Branches, 1982
Tillsonburg Observer, 29 May 1873; 27 Mar 1930; 28 Feb 1907
The Free Methodist, 6 Aug 1943
Tillsonburg Liberal, 19 Jan 1905
Various Tillsonburg newspaper articles and obituaries
Tillsonburg cemetery records
Records of Marriages, District of Oxford, Item #1172
1881, 1901 census, South Norwich, Oxford Co., ON
Items and information from Norwich Archives, Norwich, ON