Friday, March 2, 2018

Nancy and Cyrus

Fair Warning: this post is bookended by "brick walls" - two women whose fates we do not know.

After John Scott married Sarah Callin in 1823, they settled in Clear Creek Township, about 10 miles north of Sarah's family farm in Milton Township. As the population of Richland County grew, it attracted more settlers from the East and that movement to and through Ohio drew families like John and Sarah Scott's further west.

John and Sarah's first three children - George (1827-1905), James (1832-1916), and Sarah (1836-1854) - were born in Ohio, probably in Clear Creek Township; their middle daughter, Rebecca (1839-1928) was born in Michigan, while the family was en route to Winnebago County.

John Scott's household appeared in Winnebago on the 1840 Census. And that's where we'll begin today.

Nancy A Scott (1840–1850)

Nancy only appears by name in one record: the 1850 U.S. Census. The 1850 census is the first to list all household members by name and provides their age and place of birth, so we know from this that Nancy was 10 years old and born in Illinois.

Comparing this record to the 1840 record raises some questions; there appear to be some children counted in 1840 who are not on the 1850 census. But all of the children we have already documented in this blog appear in 1850.

Nancy is the only one who doesn't appear in the available online marriage records, death records, or 1860 Census records. From that, I conclude that she most likely died sometime after 1850. That said, if she was married at 18, she would probably not appear in her parents' household or under her maiden name in 1860 - so she could have also lived a long and productive life.

We simply don't know.

Cyrus H Scott (1843-1931)

Cyrus was born on 16 July 1843 in Harrison Township, Winnebago County, Illinois. He was 19 when he enlisted in Company A of the Illinois 74th Infantry Regiment on 14 August 1862 and he was soon promoted to corporal. He served to the end of the war and mustered out on 10 June 1865 at Nashville, Tennessee.

When he returned from the war, he married Mary Wishop (1844–1902) the eldest daughter of Scottish immigrants, Andrew Wishop (1819–1884) and Isabella Hunter (1820–1859). Mary was born 27 September 1844 in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Cyrus and Mary farmed and raised their family together, mostly in Harrison Township. They lived for a few years in New Albany, Story County, Iowa, but returned to Harrison and remained there until Mary died on 5 December 1902, at 58 years of age. She was buried in North Burritt Cemetery.

After Mary's death, Cyrus married Ida May (West) Smith (1864–1928), the young widow of George Oscar McDonald (1855–1892). Ida May was born on 9 October 1864 in Annawan, Henry County, Illinois, to Isaac West and Marietta Boughner. She married George McDonald in Ontario, Canada, when she was 16, and he died in 1892, the same year their son, Lloyd McDonald (1892-1984) was born.

Cyrus married Ida May on 18 June 1906. They had another daughter together and remained on their farm until Ida May died on 14 July 1928. Cyrus retired and moved in with his daughter, Sarah Reber, in Rockford. After living there for a year or so, he moved in with his son, Samuel, in Harrison, where he died on 8 June 1931, at the age of 87. He was buried in North Burritt Cemetery near Mary.

     I. Howard H Scott (1867–1951) was born on 30 January 1867, probably on his parents' farm in Harrison Township. He was about ten years old when they moved to Iowa, but they were back in Illinois by 1895 when Howard married Eva Estelle Conklin (1874–1963) daughter of Henry W Conklin (1827–1901) and Alvalina Grover (1833–1923).

(Eva was the great-aunt of Willard Swan Conklin, the husband of the ill-fated Helen J. Sharp from our last post.)

Howard farmed in Owen township before moving to Shirland township, where he farmed for many years. He and Eva raised two sons there. Howard died on 13 August 1951 at 85 years of age after a heart attack. Eva followed him 12 years later on 10 March 1963. They were buried in Shirland Cemetery.

     A. Francis Owen "Frank" Scott (1897–1973) was the elder son of Howard and Eva Scott. He was born on 1 October 1897 and grew up on his father's Shirland farm. On 9 June 1920, he married a Beloit school teacher named Irene Gladys Hull (1896–1982), daughter of Harvey Stillwell Hull (1863–1948) and Ada Jane Ladd (1856–1928).

After they married, Irene and Frank moved to Beloit, where Frank worked as a mechanic and car salesman. They raised their daughter there. Frank died on 4 November 1973; Irene died on 5 July 1982.

     i. Shirley Irene Scott (1931–1978) appeared on the 1930 Census with her parents, but her Social Security Death Index record gives her birthdate as 21 April 1931. She was born in Beloit, graduated from Beloit Memorial High School in 1947, and lived with her parents, working as a clerk and stenographer for several Beloit businesses. She died in January 1978 at the age of 46.

     B. William Henry Scott (1899–1988) was born on 8 October 1899 and grew up on his parents' farm in Shirland Township. On 11 July 1928, in Nashua, Chickasaw County, Iowa, he married Pearl Gladys Mythaler (1898–2000) daughter of  David Franklin Mythaler (1873–1947) and Amanda Fanny Hoover (1879–1912). Pearl was born on 8 May 1898 in Black Hawk County, Iowa.

William was a dairy farmer, and the couple raised two sons, one of whom is still living. William died on 2 April 1988 in Beloit, and Pearl also died there on 2 June 2000. She spent her final years in Sun Valley West Retirement Home. They were survived by their sons, six grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

     ii. Dr. Gary Julian Scott (1937–2007) was born on 30 September 1937, in Beloit, and married Corrine Rae "Connie" Hofner (1937–2001), daughter of Peter B Hofner (1894–1981) and Ora Kingdon (1898–1963), on 6 July 1958. Connie was born on 1 December 1937 in Montevideo, Chippewa County, Minnesota.

Connie worked as an interior designer, and she owned and operated Cottage Interiors in DeKalb and St. Charles. Gary worked at Penn State University for 12 years, and later retired after 24 years as director of the Career Planning & Placement office at Northern Illinois University. An athlete in his youth and a Huskies fan, he showed his enthusiasm for sports in his support of NIU athletics, especially football.

He went into private industry at T.R.P. International Inc. with one of his sons and was instrumental in developing Scott Masonry with another. He was an avid collector of stamps and coins, a skilled craftsman and artist, an avid reader and a world traveler.

Connie died on 23 May 2001 at their home in Bloomington, Indiana; Gary died at Kishwaukee Community Hospital in De Kalb, Illinois, on 24 April 2007. They were survived by three of their four sons, and their daughter, as well as nine grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

     a. Eric Peter Scott (1968-2001) was born 28 November 1968, in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Gary and Connie (Hofner) Scott.  Eric was married on 19 June 1993, in DeKalb, Illinois, and he was a bricklayer and member of Bricklayers Union 27 in Geneva. He was an avid hunter, boater, snowmobiler and classic-car enthusiast. He was killed in a motorcycle accident north of Sycamore, Illinois, on  Saturday, 1 September 2001. He was survived by his wife and two small daughters.

     II. Sarah Elizabeth Scott (1869–1948) was born on 12 April 1869 in Harrison Township, Illinois, and grew up on her family's farm. She married Clayton Ruhl Reber (1870–1968) son of George W Reber (1835–1912) and Elizabeth Reber (1839–1901) from Centre County, Pennsylvania. Clayton farmed, worked as a repairman, and as a carpenter.

Sarah's father, Cyrus, lived with them in his last years. Sarah died at 79 years of age on 2 September 1948, in Rockford. Clayton remarried in 1950 and died at 97 in January 1968. He and Sarah are buried in Harrison Cemetery.

     III. Samuel Walter Scott (1872–1957) was born on the Harrison Township farm on 12 September 1872. He was 21 years old when he married Ellen Hamilton Gilmore (1875–1960), daughter of Irish immigrants Thomas Gilmore (1843–1918) and Margaret Hamilton (1841–1918), on 22 November 1893. Ellen was born on 30 April 1875, and while most of her records say she was born after her parents moved to Illinois, there is a Massachusetts Birth Record for her (which also indicates that she was born in Illinois).

Ellen and Samuel ran their farm in Harrison Township and raised their son and daughter. Samuel lived to be 85 years old and died on 1 December 1957. Ellen died on 31 March 1960. They are buried in Shirland Cemetery.

     A. Walter Samuel Scott (1894–1975) was born in Owen Center, Winnebago County, on 14 December 1894. It will probably not surprise you to learn that he became a farmer in Winnebago County, as so many of his cousins and forefathers had done.

Walter married Ethel Mae Seaton (1894–1990) daughter of Arthur David Seaton (1866–1943) and Lavinia Mary McMathan (1868–1966) on 23 September 1922. Ethel was born in Chicago on 16 April 1894 and graduated from the Norman Teachers College before she met and married Walter. The couple farmed and raised a son together in the South Beloit area.

Walter died at 80 years of age in Shirland on 19 May 1975 after a lengthy illness. Ethel survived him and went to live in the Fair Oaks Nursing Home in South Beloit, where she died at the age of 95 on 21 January 1990. They are buried together in the Shirland Cemetery.

     i. Walter Dale "Dale" Scott (1925–2009) was born 24 April 1924 in Rockford, Illinois. He graduated from Hononegah High School, Class of 1942, and found work as a real estate appraiser. He was a member of Rockton United Methodist Church and Rockford Association of Realtors.

Dale was married on 2 March 1949, and he and his wife raised a son and three daughters. They all survived him when he died on 5 January 2009 in Rockford Memorial Hospital at the age of 83. He also left behind four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

     B. Blanche Ellen Scott (1897–1974) was born 19 July 1897, probably in Owen Center, like her older brother, Walter. She married Raphael Edward "Ray" McMahon (1890–1960) son of Edward McMahon (1861–1926) and Mary Cecelia Moran (1867–1951) on 20 September 1916.

Ray was born on 8 December 1890 and was a lifelong farmer. The couple raised four sons together on their farm in Harrison Township, later moving to Laona. Ray died on 5 May 1960 at the age of 69. Blanche served as the Northern Illinois District deputy of the Royal Neighbors of America for 11 years. After Ray died, she moved to Davenport, Iowa, with her son, Lawrence, and died on 19 July 1974 at the age of 77.

     i. Maurice Raphael McMahon (1917–1984) was born 17 September 1917 and grew up on his father's farm in Harrison Township. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on 26 August 1942 and served until 29 November 1945.

After the war, Maurice married Helen L Glau (1923–2016), daughter of Julius C Glau (1884–1958) and Frieda Schubert (1888–1957). Helen was born on 5 January 1923 in Shell Lake, Washburn County, Wisconsin. They farmed for many years in Durand, Illinois, raising two sons and a daughter. Helen ran the Durand CafĂ© and the Hilltop Restaurants before working for the Post Office; she retired in 2002.

Maurice died on 29 December 1984, when he was only 67. Helen lived in Durand until her death at 93 years on 18 August 2016. They were survived by their three children, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

     ii. Robert Scott McMahon (1925–1956) was born 8 April 1925 and grew up on the farm in Harrison Township. He was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy on 1 March 1946 and married Bernita Belle Baker (1924–2016) later that month. They had four children together before Robert's untimely death in April 1956.

Bernita was born on 8 March 1924 in Durand, Illinois to Stewart Charles Baker (1890–1956) and Verna Marguerite Kinney (1896–1969). She remarried Paul Victor Hudson (1916-1981) of Lake County, Florida, in 1959, and they also had two children. Bernita spent many years caring for others as a nurse at Waterman Memorial Hospital.

She died on 22 December 2016 in Eustis, Lake County, Florida. She was survived by her six children, 13 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.

     iii. Lawrence Allen McMahon (1929–1994) was born in Durand, Illinois on 7 January 1929. He served in the U.S. Navy from 4 October 1946 until 21 December 1949, and after that, he lived in Mount Dora, Lake County, Florida, for more than 30 years, where he was a social worker with the U.S. Navy.  He moved to Tampa from Mount Dora in 1992. He was Catholic and a member of the American Legion Post 139. He died at Tampa General Hospital on Thursday, 8 September 1994.

     iv. Jackie Lee McMahon (1933–2006) was born on 29 April 1933 and was raised on the farm with his brothers. He was married in Indianapolis in November 1969, and his former wife is still living. Jackie settled in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he died at the age of 72 on 23 March 2006.

     IV. William H Scott (1878–1899) was born on 19 November 1878 during the time when Cyrus and Mary were living in New Albany, Story County, Iowa. He grew up in Harrison Township, but he died at 20 years of age on 13 February 1899 and was buried in North Burritt Cemetery.

     V. Laura Scott (b. 1910) leaves us with a mystery. She was born about 1910 to Cyrus Scott and his second wife, Ida May West. We know that she married Malcolm L Ferns (1905–1970) son of Albert Eugene Ferns (1861–1931) and Susie Armilda Gross (1866–1928) in April 1926, and that that they had an infant daughter who died in 1929. We know that they divorced in 1932 and that Malcolm ended up in Montana, dying in Silver Bow in 1970.

But we don't know what happened to Laura after that. She may have gone anywhere after her divorce, and I don't know whether to look for her under the name "Ferns" or "Scott." Her parents died in the few years before her divorce and she does not appear in the households of any of her half-siblings. Without any leads on the 1940 Census or other records databases, we end at a brick wall.

Until we find out otherwise, I hope and imagine that Laura found a way to start a new life and had a long and happy one.
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With that, we have only one more daughter of John and Sarah Scott to review. Lucina Scott Dobson's story may take more than one post, but soon, we should finish the research phase of our Callin Family History update, and I should be ready to work on the editing phase after school ends in May.

As always, if you're related to any of the people you have found on this blog, I'd love to hear from you. I know I have gaps and mistakes that you can help me correct, and I'm always eager to add more stories to the eventual book we'll be publishing. Just drop a note in the comments below, send me an email at "callintad at gmail dot com" or follow the link above to the Callin Family History Facebook group.

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