Looking Sharp, part II

Welcome back!

We're getting closer to the end of the journey, and to the eventual publication of our Callin Family History revision. Unless we make another breakthrough with another line, we'll wrap up the family of James and Sarah (Callin) Scott in three or four more posts!

In our last post, we discussed the three eldest children of Rebecca Scott (1839-1928) and Edward Sharp (1835–1887) of Winnebago County, Illinois.This week, we'll look at their three younger sons and their descendants.

     D. Charles E Sharp (1872–1929)

Charles was born on 5 June 1872 in Burritt, Illinois. He was 15 when his father died on 11 August 1887 at the age of 51, and since his older brother, William, had already married and moved to Iowa by that time, Charles and his younger brothers likely began working the farm under Rebecca's direction.

Charles married Minnie Maud Champion (1876–1976) in 1895. She was the daughter of Abraham Champion (1846–1915) and Ida F Dobson (1856–1927). They had three children over the next 10 years and raised them in Shirland.

After Charles died on 21 January 1929, at the age of 56, he was buried in Shirland Cemetery. His surviving son, Everett, remained working the family farm, and Minnie moved into town, where she was a long-standing member of the National Grange and the local Sugar River Grange. Minnie died on 7 March 1976, less than a week before her hundredth birthday, and was buried with Charles in the Shirland Cemetery.

     1. Leigh Abram Sharp (1896–1916)  was born in February 1896 in Owen and moved to Shirland with his parents when he was two years old. He went to Rockford high school for two years before being attacked by a bull in 1914. He was severely injured and he never fully recovered. He died on 1 July 1916 and is buried in the Shirland cemetery.

     2. Everett Edward Sharp (1898–1974) was born on 10 August 1898, in Winnebago, Illinois, and grew up working the family farm. He married Margaret Muryl Forbes (1897–1978) on August 20, 1919. She was the daughter of John Forbes (1870–1942) and Amelia Johnson (b. 1873).

Everett was a farmer and he and Muryl seem to have been happy to tend their farm and enjoy the company of their close relatives. They had no children of their own. He died in May 1974 in Shirland, Illinois, and Muryl just a few years later on 11 January 1978.

     3. Frances Edna Sharp (1906–2002) was born 8 June 1906. She married Walter M Cole (1901–1975) around 1925, and they farmed and ran a cleaning and dying business in Rockford for many years. Walter was the son of Frank W Cole (1872–1943) and Ollie O Reed (1877–1935).

Like her brother, Frances and Walter did not have any children. After Walter's death, Frances auctioned a large amount of farming equipment and likely moved into town where she remained for nearly thirty years, until her death on 15 May 2002.

     E. Fred Edward Sharp (1878–1951)

Fred was born on 10 August 1878 in Burritt, Illinois. He was only nine when his father died, and he likely grew up running the family farm with his brothers. He married Lillie May Taylor (1881–1946) on October 4, 1899, in Winnebago, Illinois. She was born on 22 January 1881 to Joseph S Taylor (1852–1946) and Amelia D Starin (1856–1924) of Darien, Walworth County, Wisconsin.

Fred and Lillie had four children in 10 years and lived in Rockford, where Fred worked as a landscaper and gardener for many years.  He died in 1951 at the age of 73 and was buried in Winnebago, Illinois.

     1. Edward J Sharp (1900–1986) was born on 13 July 1900, in Winnebago County, Illinois, and he supported himself with a number of different jobs over the years.

In 1917 he worked in the Schumann Piano plant, as did his brother, Joseph. The Schumann Piano Company was established in 1847 and when their business proved to be very popular, they moved to larger factories in Rockford in 1903.

In 1918, he was working in the Hotel Nelson, a Rockford landmark. Eventually, he settled into working as a steamfitter before working with his father as a landscaper.

In about 1923 Edward married Marilla Lavergne "Bea" Spafford (1900–2001), daughter of Elmer Livingstone Spafford (1861–1943) and Mildred K Kramer (1870–1966). Bea was born 25 September 1900 in Bowling Green, Wood County, Ohio; her family was living in Toledo when she married Edward and had their daughter, Helen.

Edward and Bea soon moved their small family back to Rockford, where they spent the rest of their lives. He died in April 1986 in Shirland, Illinois, at the age of 85, and Bea survived until her death on 4 April 2001. They are buried in North Burritt Cemetery.

     a. Helen J Sharp (1924–1945) was born in Toledo, Ohio, on 23 August 1924. She grew up in Rockford and graduated Hononegah High School in Rockton. She married Willard Swan Conklin (1919–1965) on 10 March 1945 and graduated from the St. Anthony School of Nursing that spring.

But she collapsed in the water during a pool party on 1 August of that same year and was pronounced dead at the hospital. She was 20 years old.

     b. Edward Spafford Sharp (1930–2004) was born on 13 October 1930 and grew up in Rockford. He married Dolores A Bunn (1932-1979), a recent graduate of Beloit College in nearby Beloit, Rock County, Wisconsin, on 28 December 1953.

They moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1957. That is where Dolores died 22 years later on 28 March 1979. Her family requested that memorials be made to the American Cancer Society. Edward remained in Albuquerque, and at some point, brought his mother, Bea, out to live nearer to him. He died just three years after she did, on 29 July 2004.

According to Dolores's obituary, she was cremated, and in the absence of a burial record for Edward, I assume he might have been, as well. They left behind no children.

     2. Joseph A Sharp (1902–1980) was born 23 March 1902 and grew up in Rockford. He worked in a number of jobs before establishing his cleaning business.

When he was 24, Joe married Ruth M Herbert (1903–1981), daughter of Henry K Herbert (1870–1926) and Minnie M Luhman (1872–1948) on 26 June 1926. Ruth was born 28 February 1903 and grew up in Boone County, Illinois. She taught school in Shirland before marrying Joe.

There is a big gap in records after the 1940 Census. Joe and Ruth seem to have remained in Shirland. They raised one son together there. Joe died in June of 1980, and Ruth followed the next year, on 21 October 1981. According to the Marengo Beacon, she was buried in Shirland, but I have not been able to locate either of them in Find-A Grave's database.

     a. Jack Allan Sharp (1930–1988) was the son of Joe and Ruth Sharp, and was their only child, as far as I can tell. He was born on 3 August 1930 and graduated from Hononegah High School in Rockton. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana in 1950.

I know he was married in November 1951, and his wife survived him when he died on 15 June 1988. I do not know whether they had children, or how he died, but he is buried in the Shirland Cemetery.

     3. Mildred Mae Sharp (1904–1984) was born on 21 September 1904, grew up in Rockford, and worked there as a bookkeeper and clerk. She remained single her entire life and supported herself until her retirement. She died at the age of 79 in April 1984 and is buried in North Burritt Cemetery.

     4. Allie Francis Sharp (1910–1974) was born 17 July 1910 in Rockford. He graduated Rockford High School in 1928 and went to work as a gardener with his father. In 1939 Al's occupation in the city directory was listed as "vocalist," suggesting he also sang professionally.

After 1942, I was unable to find any records to suggest that Al married or had children. He died in Beloit, Rock County, Wisconsin, on 9 September 1974, and is buried in North Burritt Cemetery.

     F. Jesse Martin Sharp (1886–1947)

Jesse was born in Burritt township 25 April 1886 and was a lifelong county resident of Winnebago County. After his father died, he remained on the farm with his mother and brothers, until moving into Rockford with his mother in the mid-1900s. He was a salesman in a fruit store, and they lived together on Jilson Avenue.

He married Ellen Amanda Kelley (1890–1945) on 23 September 1908. Her parents were Samuel Henry Kelley (1856–1920) and Della Laura Blackner (1862–1923) of nearby Owen township. They had a daughter together, but their relationship deteriorated to the point that Jesse went to court in 1922 to have Ellen found mentally incompetent. The judge determined that she was sane, and referred their case to divorce court. They were divorced in 1924.

Ellen eventually remarried in 1939 after working in Chicago for a while as a maid. She married an Italian immigrant named John Phillip Rodgers (born Giovanni Filippo Roggero) and died in Chicago on 8 February 1945.

Jesse married Naomi G Lindman (1891–1984) on 18 August 1926 and became the step-father of her three children: Charles Carey (1914–1990), Orville Carey (1915–1974), and Geraldine Mary Carey (1920–2012).

He died on 16 January 1947, in Roscoe, Illinois, at the age of 60, and was buried in Rockton. For the last several years of his life, he was employed as a foreman by W.F. & John Barnes company. He was survived by his widow, Naomi, his daughter and step-daughter, two step-sons, and four grandchildren.

     1. June Jeanette Sharp (1914–1987) was born on 3 October 1914 in Shirland Township, Winnebago County, Illinois. She was ten years old when her parents divorced, and twelve when her father remarried. She grew up with her step-siblings and graduated from St. Anthony nursing school in 1937. She worked as a registered nurse at the Rockford Clinic for many years and retired from there.

June married Donald Edward Houseweart (1907–1966) on 9 June 1956 at the age of 41, becoming step-mother to his adult son and daughter. Don died ten years later on 19 July 1966. June died on 12 September 1987 and was buried in Rockton Township Cemetery.

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As a genealogist, I'm always sad when I come to the end of a family line that has no more children. In this post, the only person who may have surviving descendants is Jack Sharp; I suspect that he had a son, but I could only find the thinnest evidence of that (it could have been a mistake in an index record).

But as a humanist, I am fascinated by the people who, for whatever reason, remained childless. The records rarely give any glimpse into what their lives were like. We almost never whether they chose to remain single, or if they were lonely; we don't often know whether they were devoted to their career, or if they were hoping for a family. And when they married but remained childless, we don't know whether that was a purposeful choice or the result of biology.

I always hope for the best, and I always assume that, like June Sharp Houseweart, they had a career and found satisfaction in her adult family later. I picture Ed and Dolores enjoying the life I want for myself and Kate in the high desert around Albuquerque, and hope that they weren't childless because of the cancer that might have taken her life.

Whatever the real story might be in each case, I try to fill in the gaps in my knowledge with my best guess, as supported by the evidence I'm able to find. I strive to tell their stories in the most positive and non-judgemental way I can and hope I strike an appropriate tone. I want to do right by everyone, and celebrate them all.


As always, if you're finding this blog during your own family history research, I hope you'll reach out and let me know! Mistakes are inevitable, but can be fixed! I just need your help finding the documents that will let me fix them.

There's a link above, on the right, that will take you to the Callin Family History Facebook group (where you'll be asked how you're related to the family) - or you can email me; my Gmail address is "callintad" at Gmail.com. You can also drop a comment in the box below.

Looking Sharp

Hello again! The holidays have passed, and a new semester of music classes has begun. Time is still a scarce commodity, but while I've been silent for a couple of months, I have continued to work through the descendants of John and Sarah (Callin) Scott.

As you read about the Scotts and related families in Winnebago County, Illinois, keep in mind that the Rockford area is very near the Wisconsin state line and that records for many of the people we're studying appear in both Winnebago County and neighboring Rock County, Wisconsin. This has led to some confusion, as records will occasionally contradict each other as to the birthplace of an individual. If you're using Newspapers.com you will notice that the Janesville Daily Gazette frequently acts as the "local paper" for both areas. (Fun fact: Janesville, WI happens to be the birthplace of the current U.S. Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan.)

We're about a third of the way through the Scott children, so far, and today, we begin with John and Sarah's middle child and her three eldest children:

     Rebecca Scott (1839-1928)

Rebecca was born in April 1839, in Michigan where her family was en route from Ohio to their eventual home in Winnebago County, Illinois. The county was only a few years old, having been settled in 1834, formed in 1836, and then reduced to its present size in 1837. Rebecca grew up on her father's farm in Harrison township, near Rockford, Illinois. On 13 December 1856, at 17 years of age, she married Edward Sharp (1835–1887).

Edward was the son of Michael (1801–1881) and Mary "Polly" Sharp (1806–1886). He was one of eleven children; his eldest brother, John, was born in 1824. Edward was born on 22 October 1835 in St. Lawrence County, New York, and his family relocated briefly to Illinois, and then settled in Sauk County, Wisconsin. In 1847, they established themselves in West Point, Columbia County, Wisconsin, about 100 miles north of Rockford.

Four years after they married Rebecca and Edward appeared in the 1860 Census in a household near his parents and his brother John in West Point, but they soon moved to a farm in Burritt Township, Winnebago County, where they lived until Edward's death on 11 August 1887, not long after the birth of their sixth child, Jesse. Edward was only 51 years old. Rebecca remained on their farm to raise her family but eventually moved to Rockford where she lived with Jesse. She died on 28 August 1928.

     A. Alice Augusta Sharp (1859–1914)

Born in 1859, Alice appears with her parents in the 1860 Census living in West Point, Wisconsin; presumably, that's where she was born, though later records indicate (incorrectly) that she was born after 1860 and in Illinois. She married Duncan F Rogers (1860–1934) in April 1881.

Duncan was the son of Scottish immigrants, William Rodgers (1830–1920) and Helen (or Ellen) McGeachie (1837–1921). He was a vice-president in the Rogers Brothers Galvanizing plant. The couple lived in Rockford, where Alice died in 1914. Duncan eventually remarried, but as far as the records show, left no heirs behind when he died in 1934.

     B. William T Sharp (1860–1926)

William was born in October 1860, most likely in Wisconsin. Records disagree on his birthplace, as several census records indicate he was born in Illinois. He grew up on his parents' farm in Burritt Township and married Catherine Mary "Katie" Drain (1859–1933) on 7 March 1882.

Katie was born in Argyll, Scotland, on 27 February 1859, and came to America not long before her wedding, arriving in New York on 26 December 1879 aboard a ship called Ethiopia. Her parents were James Drain (1816–1859) and Margaret McGeachie (1819–1874) of Campbeltown, Argyll, Scotland. Margeret was an older sister of Helen McGeachie, Duncan Rogers's mother.

After William and Katie were married, they moved to State Center, Marshall County, Iowa, where they lived for at least a few years before relocating to Kansas. From at least 1900 on, they lived in Corinth, Osborne County, and both of them are buried in Corinth Cemetery. William died in 1926, and Katie survived until 14 November 1933.

     1. Edward James Sharp (1883–1957) was born in Marshall County, Iowa, on 11 May 1883. He was 12 when his younger brother was born; by then, the family lived in Kansas.

On 20 July 1910, Edward married Cecile Jefferies (1893–1971) in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Her parents were George Ervin Jeffries (1869–1947) and Grace A McGlothlin (1876–1924). Edward and Cecile lived in Osborne County, Kansas, and Edward farmed there for many years. In 1920, the family appeared in Saint Joseph in the household of Grace Jeffries, and Edward was listed as a conductor for a rail car company, but in 1915, 1925, and 1930 they were listed in either Alton or Downs.

Edward's mother, Katie, died in 1933, and by 1935, he and Cecile had moved back to Missouri; but according to the 1940 Census, Edward lived on a farm in Washington Township, Buchanan County, and Cecile lived in Saint Joseph, where she owned and operated a restaurant. They are each listed as the Head of their respective households, and both are listed as married. However, by 1945, Cecile seems to have sold her restaurant, and moved to Dixon, Illinois, to live near their son, Ivan.

Cecile was married to John K Bevis (1886–1948) of Columbus, Illinois, sometime between 1945 and John's death in 1948. Edward died in Missouri on 30 August 1957 and was buried near his parents in Downs Cemetery, Osborne County, Kansas. Cecile lived in Columbus until at least 1953 and then moved down to St. Augustine, Florida, where she died in 1971 at the age of 79.

     a. Ivan Wayne Sharp (1913–1993) was born on 3 September 1913 in Downs, Kansas, and grew up there on his father's farm. He married Lucille N Nusbaum (1915-2006) of Walnut Creek, Kansas, in 1935, and they lived for at least a brief time with his mother in Saint Joseph.

Lucille was the fourth of 13 children born to Harvey Edward Nusbaum (1885–1973) and Mabel Hendricks (1888–1974). The Nusbaums moved from Kansas to Dixon, Illinois, sometime between 1935 and 1940, and Ivan and Lucille joined them there according to the 1940 Census.

In 1956, the Sharp family moved down to Saint Augustine, Florida. Lucille worked as the manager of the Sears Service Department and retired in 1977 after 20 years with the company. Ivan died in 1993, and Lucille survived him by another thirteen years.

They had three sons and two daughters and they left behind seven grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren at the time of Lucille's death in 2006.

     i. Gary Ivan Sharp (1938–1992) was the eldest son of Ivan and Lucille. He was born in Glen Elder, Mitchell County, Kansas, on 22 August 1938. Because Lucille's youngest sister was born in 1933, Gary was only five years younger than his aunt.

Gary grew up in Nelson, Lee County, Illinois, and after he graduated from Rock Falls High School, he found work on the U.S. Chicago & North Western Railroad until the Sharp family's move to Florida.

Gary married Carol Mae Roesch (1937–2001) in Saint Augustine in September 1959. Her parents, Joseph Roesch and Aagot Rolfson hailed from Ada, Minnesota. She and Gary moved to Montverde in 1971 from St. Augustine. She was president of a spring water company.

Gary was killed in a car crash in 1992, and Carol died in 2001. They are buried in Craig Memorial Park, Saint Augustine, St. Johns County, Florida.

     2. William Archie Sharp (1896–1996) was born on 18 March 1896 in Gove County, Kansas, and lived his whole life in Osborne County. He grew up on his father's farm, and enlisted in the U.S. Army near the end of World War I, serving in Field Artillery Replacement from 14 June to 17 December 1918.

 He married Millie May Irey (1898–1989) from a neighboring township in Osborne County around 1918, and they had three children over the following ten years. Her parents were Sherman Grant Irey (1865–1939) and Margaret Jane Cramer (1871–1954)

The couple was active in their local community, belonging to the Order of the Eastern Star, the American Legion, and the Downs United Methodist Church. Bill farmed and found work as a carpenter; Millie was a partner in the Downs Ready to Wear shop with her daughter, Donaldeen.

Millie died on 20 March 1989 at the age of 90, and Bill died at 100 years of age on 24 March 1996. They are buried in the Downs Cemetery.

     a. Duane Harold Sharp (1919–2007) was born 9 September 1919, in Downs, Osborne County, Kansas. He farmed all of his life in Osborne and Saline counties and owned and operated Sharp Auto Sales in Salina for 55 years. Duane married Margaret Sunshine Tucker (1925–2004) around 1940, and they had three daughters and one son before they divorced.

Margaret was born 27 August 1925 in Missouri and raised in Cawker City, Kansas, the daughter of Henry Lincoln "Harry" Tucker (1868–1933) Alta O Atkins (1869–1958). She married Everett Lee Gardinier (1922–2012) on 6 February 1953. They had another daughter and three sons and later moved to northern Arizona.

Duane married Gloria Jean Miller (1925–2010). She was born Oct. 9, 1925, in Salina, Kansas, the daughter of Charles E. Miller and Mary Hickey. Jean died at 84 years on 22 July 2010. Their survivors included 18 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren.

     i. William Duane "Bill" Sharp (1950–1997) was born in Salina, Saline County, Kansas, on 19 December 1950. He married Vicki Jean Fowler (1953–2002) and they raised two sons and a daughter. A third son died in infancy: Shannon David Sharp (24 November 1977).

Bill was shot during an incident at his father's car lot in 1984. He was living next door to Sharp Auto Sales that December, and when he went out to investigate a noise, he was shot by an intruder. It is not clear whether the rest of Bill's family was living there at the time. Bill and Vicki appear to have had a difficult relationship; the court notices in The Salina Journal reported several attempts by the couple to divorce, though they were still together when Bill died. On 12 October 1991, Bill became the first person arrested under a new domestic violence law after Vicki reported an altercation while they were separated.

Bill worked for Federal Express as a courier for more than 10 years and farmed west of Salina. He was killed in an accident involving a tractor and a train on 18 October 1997. He was 46 years old. Vicki remarried in November 2000, but she died only a couple of years later, on 21 August 2002 at 48.

     b. Dan Richard Sharp (1923–2010) was born 29 May 1923 in Corinth Township, Osborne County, Kansas. He was a lifelong farmer in the Downs area, served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and he was a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Downs United Methodist Church.

Dan married Florence Elizabeth "Beth" Boultinghouse (1927-2009) in October 1946. She was the daughter of Louis Arthur Boultinghouse (1901–1973) and Dora Elizabeth Treadwell (1901–1978), and a twin sister of Robert Dean Boultinghouse (1927–1996). The twins were born on 24 March 1927.

Beth helped Dan for more than 62 years in farming, custom cutting, and auto trading, as a homemaker, bookkeeper, wife, and mother. Together they built two homes, raised three children and enjoyed square dancing, boating, bowling, playing bridge and supporting many community activities. Beth's hobby was family history research which resulted in a collection known as "The Boultinghouse Connection" She was a member of the Downs and Osborne County Historical Societies.

Beth died on Monday, 1 June 2009 at the age of 82; Dan died at Mitchel County Hospital on 13 November 2010 at the age of 87. Both are buried in the Downs Cemetery. They were survived by their three children and nine grandchildren.

     c. Donaldeen Sharp (1928–2011) was born 24 January 1928 in Downs, Kansas, attended the Downs schools and graduated from Downs High School. On 25 May 1946, she married the love of her life, Richard "Dick" Carl (1925–2008), in Beloit, Kansas. Dick was born 21 June 1925, on the family farm east of Cawker City, Kansas, the second of nine children born to Nicholas Peter Carl (1894–1972) and Irene L Slipke (1904–1990).

In their early years of marriage, Dick worked construction for Brown & Brown Construction Co., later farming until he retired in 1995. While Dick and Donaldeen lived on the farm, she had a ceramic shop. In 1968, she opened, owned and operated "Downs Ready To Wear" on the main street in Downs in partnership with her mother, Millie.

Although he struggled with rheumatoid arthritis from early in life, Dick always had a smile and a kind word to everyone he greeted. He died peacefully April 28, 2008, at the age of 82. Donaldeen died at 83 years on Monday, 2 May 2011 at the Golden Living Center in Downs, Kansas. They are buried in Downs Cemetery.

Dick and Donaldeen were survived by their daughter and two sons, 12 Grandchildren and 18 Great-grandchildren.

     C. Donna A Sharp (1865–1940)

Donna was born 19 February 1865, just before the end of the Civil War. She grew up on the family farm in Burritt Township, Winnebago County, Illinois, and married Joseph R Randerson (1860–1943) on 20 November 1884.

Joseph was the son of English immigrants Joseph Randerson (1819–1859) and Charlotte Milnes (1826–1915). They came to America in 1848 aboard the Patrick Henry just after their wedding in Yorkshire. Joseph was born on 13 February 1858, and he was not yet one year old when his father died on 2 February 1859. Charlotte married William Riley (1835–1923) in either 1860 or 1861 and Joseph appears with his siblings in the Riley household on the 1870 Census (though, for some reason, the enumerator listed him as "Josephine" and misgendered him).

Joseph and Donna moved to Rockford, where they raised three sons. Joseph worked as a teamster, chauffeur, and sometimes as a laborer. Donna died in Rockford on 16 February 1940, and Joseph died in Lyons, Nebraska, on 2 August 1943 while visiting their son, Harley. They were buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Rockford.

     1. Judson Edward Randerson (1887–1977) was born on 10 January 1887 and grew up in Rockford, Illinois, where he graduated from the business college. In 1911 he moved to Iowa and married Galeta Myrtle Gates (1889–1976) of Des Moines on 27 December. Galeta was the daughter of Charles Henry Gates Sr. (1862–1944) and Charlotte Grace "Lottie" Watson (1863–1905).


Judson and Galeta settled in Malvern, Mills County, Iowa, where Judson purchased a clothing shop from the Kneeland Bros. and ran the business for 42 years. (An example of his advertising from 1938 is shown at right.) They did not have any children of their own, but they adopted Galeta's niece when her brother's wife died less than a month after her birth. The little girl was born Flora Winifred Gates, but the Randerson family called her Flora Barbara, and she went by the nickname "Babs." Babs died on 20 November 2012.

After running his clothing store since 1918, Judson sold the business and retired in 1960. He stayed active running an antique auction through the 1970s. He died in Malvern in December 1977, just a year and a half after Galeta died in May 1976. They are buried in Malvern Cemetery.

     2. Harley Joseph Randerson (1889–1974) was born on 27 January 1889, in Rockford, Illinois. He began working in the local packing plant by 1905 when he was only 16, and he married Mary Jane Boyd (1889–1967) in about 1910.

Mary Jane was born on September 20, 1889, in Oakland, Nebraska, to John Boyd (1843–1905) and Margaret Ferguson (1856–1917). Margaret Ferguson's father, William Ferguson was born in Ireland in 1821 and emigrated to Canada, where Margaret was born, so it is unlikely that these Fergusons are related to the Ferguson families that married into the Callin family. However, John Boyd's mother was Catherine McGeachie, married to George Boyd in Southend, Argyll, Scotland - almost certainly related to the McGeachies who married Alice and William Sharp, above.

Harley and Mary Jane lived in Rockford for several years; their daughters were both born in Rockford, they were listed in several of the city directories, and Harley's World War I draft registration placed them there in 1917. But by 1930 they were back in Nebraska, living in Lyons, Burt County.

Records were hard to find, but a brief newspaper item tells us that Mary Jane died in Lyons on 28 September 1967. Harley died in May 1974 in Lyons at the age of 85, and they were buried in the Lyons Cemetery.

     a. Margaret Donna Randerson (b. 1911) was born in Rockford on 1 August 1911. She was the treasurer of her high school Biology club and became a school teacher. The most recent census record found for her places her in Fort Morgan, Colorado, where she was teaching in the public schools in 1940.

     b. Madeline M Randerson (1913–1999) was born on 15 June 1913 in Rockford, and grew up there. I estimate that her family moved to Lyons, Nebraska, around 1920, and that's where they were in 1930. Madeline married Vernon Samuel Gallup (1912–2006) of Lyons on 30 January 1934.

Vernon was born 8 March 1912 to parents George Gallup (1875–1954) and Clara Thompson (1886–1918). He spent most of his childhood on the farm southeast of town, except for six years, when his family moved into Lyons following the death of his mother in 1918. He graduated from Lyons High School in 1930 and then farmed for 43 years. He received numerous soil conservation awards for his farming. In 1977, Vernon and Madeline sold their farm and moved into a new home in Lyons. They were members of the United Methodist Church where Vernon had been a member since 1925. He held many offices in the church, served on the Viles School Board, and served on the Lyons Cemetery Board.

Madeline died on 1 May 1999, and Vernon on 3 December 2006; they were buried in Lyons cemetery. They were survived by two daughters, five grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

     i. Mary Jane Gallup (1937–2015) was born in Lyons, Nebraska, on 5 May 1937. She grew up at the family farm near Lyons and attended Lyons Public School graduating in 1955. She attended Nebraska State Teachers College in Wayne, Nebraska and graduated in 1959 with a degree in elementary education.

Mary Jane married Kosoma K Skaggs (1931–2004) on August 26, 1960. He was the son of Elmer Alonza Scaggs (1897–1979) and Clara Elsie Beams (1896–1980). They moved to Lamar, Prowers County, Colorado, where they lived throughout their married lives. Mary Jane taught in the Lamar Colorado Public Schools systems for many years as an elementary teacher and then later as a substitute teacher.

Kosoma died on 1 February 2004, and Mary Jane lived in Lamar for another eleven years. She died on 31 August 2015 at the Lexington Medical Center in Lexington, South Carolina after a short illness. She was buried near her husband in Fairmount Cemetery in Lamar.

They were survived by her sister, a son and a daughter, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren

     3. Banner S Randerson (1890–1918) was born either on 25 February 1890, according to his World War I draft card. He grew up in Rockford and married Gertrude Stuart Blakesby (1891–1930) on 26 October 1915. Gertrude's parents were Joseph Havens Blakesley (1858–1929) and Anna Rebecca Stuart (1866–1940) and she was born on 21 July 1891 in Rockford.

Banner died unexpectedly at the age of 28 on 18 October 1918, not long after the birth of his son, Joseph, and Gertrude soon remarried. She and her new husband Clifford Dwight "Dick" Miller (1901–1972) had a son they named Henry Joseph before Gertrude's death on 7 July 1930. Dick remarried, and he and his new wife raised Joseph Randerson and Henry Joseph Miller along with their own children.

     a. Joseph Stuart Randerson (1917–1999) was born 22 May 1917 and was raised in Rockford by his step-parents. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on 20 June 1941 and was married in Chicago on 6 September 1941. He and his family lived in Highland Park, Lake County, Illinois.

Joe died on 1 December 1999 in Los Gatos, Santa Clara, California. As near as I can tell, he was survived by his wife and daughter.

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That's probably enough for one post! Next time, we'll talk about the three younger children of Rebecca Scott and Edward Sharp.