The Callin Family History sketched out a few facts about Elizabeth Ferguson McNabb Reed, and thanks to her obituary, we now know a lot more about her and her family than we did before. In last week's post, we looked at her first marriage to James McNabb and met their daughter, Ella McNabb Carper.
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| Alda Carper: her place in the Callin Family History |
A. Alda Florence Carper (1879–1970) was born on 12 April 1879 in Auburn, De Kalb County, Indiana. She married James George McCosh (1871–1961) on 21 December 1895. Clearly, that name seems very similar to the "Alta McCorse" mentioned in the Callin Family History - and as the CFH says, they had four children.
James was the son of Silas J McCosh (1841–1906) and Christina "Christie" Long (1847–1910) and was born on 27 November 1871 in Auburn. He had three sisters (Emma, Laura Belle, and Ida) and a brother, Charles.
Aldy and James had one daughter and three sons, the youngest of whom died in infancy:
1. Flossie Pearl McCosh (1896–1937)
2. Silas Jacob McCosh (1898–1962)
3. Paul Leroy McCosh (1900–1977)
4. George F McCosh (1902–1902)
In case you missed it, they named their first two sons after two of the earliest Christian evangelicals: Silas and Paul, who traveled together on Paul's second missionary journey. Aldy and James raised their kids on their farm in Keyser Township, and after Flossie's death in 1937, they also raised two of their grandchildren. After he retired from farming, James and Aldy moved to 1113 Pearl Street in Auburn, where they were living when James died on 30 August 1961, at the age of 89. Alda died on 15 June 1970, at the age of 91. They are buried together in Woodlawn Cemetery in Auburn.
1. Flossie Pearl McCosh (1896–1937) was born on 30 October 1896 in De Kalb County and married her first husband, John Franklin Hess (1887–1958), on 28 September 1912. He was the son of Jacob G. Hess (1851–1927) and Rose Moody (1849–1901) and he was born in Garrett on 27 October 1887.
Flossie was just one month short of her 16th birthday when she married Frank, who was 24. They soon had two children: Floreen and George. The marriage did not last, however, and Frank sued for divorce in September of 1917, alleging adultery (as can be seen in the newspaper clipping at right).
In 1920, Flossie was listed as a single lodger in the home of the Laymen family in Milford, LaGrange County, Indiana. The children lived in Keyser with their grandparents, Aldy and James McCosh.
According to Floreen's granddaughter, "Both Frank and Flossie would tell Uncle George and Nanny (Floreen) that they would come to get them, and they would sit waiting for them. Many times, never showing up. They would occasionally be brought to their houses where their 'new' families lived. But [they were] never allowed to stay more than a few hours. ... Nanny told me of many times, watching her parents leave and her and Uncle George sitting on the porch crying. But those visits were very few. Nanny was close, later in life, with her half-siblings. I remember going to her sister’s house. I know that her parents loved them very much. I think they just couldn’t figure out how to make it work, so Grandma and Grandpa McCosh just took care of it."
Flossie married her second husband, Alva Emerick (1895–1954), in LaGrange County, Indiana, on 15 July 1920. Alva was the step-son of Oliver Laymen, and he and his one-year-old son, Sebra, were living in the Laymens' Milford home where Flossie was lodging.
Frank Hess also remarried on 27 October 1920 in Allen County, Indiana, to Edith Mae Roberson (1900–1979). Frank and Edith had two daughters, whom they raised in Fort Wayne, and he died there on 8 July 1958.
Flossie and Alva had four children together; two daughters and two sons, whom they raised in Milford. It isn't clear who the mother of Alva's son, Sebra, might have been; where his official documents list a mother's name, they list Flossie, but he was definitely born two years before Alva married Flossie. It seems possible that Alva and Flossie had Sebra while she was separated from Frank - but there is no solid evidence of that.
That said, we do know that Sebra Wanzo Emerick (1918–1976) was born on 29 August 1918, in Stroh, Lagrange County, Indiana. PFC Sebra Emerick served in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He was married twice, but he does not seem to have left any children behind.
He seems to have led a somewhat troubled life, as he appears in the newspapers several times for drunk driving, public drunkenness, and at least once after a "family brawl" involving his brother, Ernest, and brother-in-law, Orval Lung. Sebra died in a fire that swept through his house trailer on 24 April 1976, in Auburn. He was 57 years old and was buried in Hudson, Indiana.
Flossie died on 12 April 1937 in Giant, De Kalb County, Indiana, at the age of 40. About 1950, Alva moved to Steuben County, where he was killed in a hit-and-run accident near his home the night of 1 July 1954. He was buried in Wright Cemetery, Hudson, Steuben County, Indiana.
a. Floreen I. Hess (1913–2004) was born on 21 May 1913 in Auburn, De Kalb County, Indiana. When her parents divorced, she and her little brother, George, went to stay with her grandparents, Aldy and James McCosh.
Floreen married Kenneth Harry Palmer (1910–1991) on 7 December 1929 in De Kalb County. Kenneth was born on 31 January 1910 in Auburn to Harry Oscar Palmer (1885–1977) and Blanche Elma Wise (1888–1948). He was the second of five children.
Kenneth and Floreen both worked for the Auburn Printing Company. Floreen retired in 1975 after 40 years of service. Again, according to her granddaughter, Ken and Floreen were the first people to have a cottage on Golden Lake in Angola, Indiana. "Actually the very first cottage on Fanning Road. He was at one time, the president of the lake association... I remember him going to the board meetings. And actually, have a cassette tape of him practicing his speech about how they needed to clean out the creek. The Fanning’s were related to Kenneth’s side of the family."
When Kenneth died on 11 April 1991, and Floreen on 5 May 2004, they left behind one daughter and one son, both of whom are still living, six grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.
b. George DeLoss Hess (1915–2002) grew up in the home of his grandparents, Aldy and James G. McCosh. He was 21 years old when his mother died, and the following year, he married Alta Mae Martin (1920–2009) on 18 June 1938. They raised a son, Jerry Dee, together.
Alta was an accountant with the Dana Corporation in Auburn for many years, and the couple spent a lot of time in Avon Park, Florida, until George's death on 14 July 2002. Alta died on 12 July 2009 at Parkview Noble Hospital in Kendallville. They left behind two granddaughters and six great-grandchildren.
i. Jerry Dee Hess (1939–1999) was born on 14 July 1939, in Auburn, Indiana, and he died on 8 March 1999, at the age of 59. He was an alum of DePauw University and was survived by two daughters, still living.
c. Virginia Lucille Emerick (1920–2015) was born on 7 September 1920 in Stroh, Lagrange County, Indiana. She married her first husband Orval Willis Lung (1920–1992) on 8 September 1938, about a year and a half after her mother died. Virginia and Orval had five children together, three of whom are still living.
Orval was born on 10 June 1920 to Merritt C Lung (1886–1970) and Esther S Roy (1891–1969) in Wolcottville, Lagrange County, Indiana. He served in the U.S. Army from 5 December 1944 to 30 August 1946. After the war, he worked as a testman for Indiana Bell Telephone Company and after he retired in 1975, he was employed for 15 years by the St. Joseph County Public Library as a bookmobile driver. He married his second wife, Louise Anna Heinrich (1916–1998), in 1974.
Virginia married her second husband, Raymond Neighbors (1909–1985), sometime between 1956 and 1960. They lived in South Bend, Indiana, where Ray died in 1985. When Virginia died in 2015 she was survived by a daughter, two sons, ten grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and eighteen great-great-grandchildren.
ii. Linda Lee Lung (1942–2015) was the second daughter born to Virginia and Orval on 6 December 1942 in Sturgis, Michigan. She moved with her family to South Bend, St Joseph County, Indiana, in 1950. On 16 January 1960, she married Niles Albert Stickler in South Bend. Niles was born 26 November 1936 in Mishawaka, St Joseph County, Indiana, to Elmer Elwood Stickler (1895–1970) and Dora Ann Otto (1897–1981).
Niles served honorably in the Army from 12 March 1956 to 11 March 1959. He worked for Preston Trucking Co. as a heavy duty truck mechanic, retiring in 1998. Linda retired from South Bend Water Works, where she worked as an Administrative Secretary for several years. Niles loved working with wood and making furniture, toys, hope chests for his daughters, and toy boxes for his grandchildren.
Niles died on 15 April 2007 at Our Lady of Peace Hospital in South Bend. Linda died on 11 February 2015 at Memorial Hospital in South Bend after a lengthy illness. They are survived by two daughters, a son, seven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren
v. Ginger Lynn Lung (1952–1952) would have been the youngest child of Virginia and Orval. She died in infancy.
d. Margie Alda Emerick (1922–1995) was the second daughter of Flossie and Alva, born on 1 September 1922 in Elmira, Lagrange County, Indiana. A little over a year after her mother's death, Margie married Edward James Beck (1920–1974) on 30 September 1938. Edward was born on 8 May 1920 in Union, De Kalb County, Indiana, the son of Phillip Henry Beck (1888–1937) and Mary Catherine Beck (1893–1984).
(No, Phillip and Mary were not related to each other, though both of their families lived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. If there is a connection between them other than marriage, it is no closer than second- or third-cousins.)
Edward and Margie had two children, both of whom are still living. However, when Edward enlisted in the Marine Corps, where he served from 17 May 1944 to 13 February 1946, Margie decided to ask for a divorce. Newspaper accounts made things seem quite ugly, and custody of their children was awarded to Edward's mother until Edward could return from the war. He remarried Gladys L. DeLong Surface (1915-1990), and he died in Sturgis, St. Joseph, Michigan, on 29 April 1974.
Margie married Frank Edward Smith (1923–1961) on 23 August 1947. He was the son of Frank Smith (1895–1955) and Daisy Hindenlang (1901–1958), born in Decatur, Adams County, Indiana, on 22 February 1923. Frank and Margie had one daughter, still living, who they raised in Garret. Frank died unexpectedly of a heart attack as he left his job at the Midwestern Foundry the afternoon of 30 November 1961. Margie died of congestive heart failure in the DeKalb Memorial Hospital on 6 November 1995, at the age of 73, and she was buried in the Wright Cemetery in Hudson, Steuben County, Indiana.
e. Ernest Russel Emerick (1924–1989) was born on 20 May 1924, in Stroh, Lagrange County, Indiana. He married Dolores Irene Shultz (1927–2009) on 30 January 1945, after serving in the U.S. Army from 19 February 1943 to 26 October 1944. The couple raised six children, all but one of whom are still living.
Ernest worked at the Midwestern Foundry, where he seems to have been an exemplary employee. He and Dolores lived in Waterloo in the 1960s, and were both members of the Auburn Radio club, as well, known by their handle, KHC8674.
Ernest died on 20 July 1989 in Fort Wayne, Allen County; Dolores survived him by thirty years. She died at age 82 on 26 May 2009, at Parkview Hospital, Fort Wayne. They are buried in Corunna Cemetery in De Kalb County, Indiana. They left behind three sons, two daughters, 20 grandchildren, 45 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-granddaughter.
ii. Victor Allen Emerick (1947–2005) was the second child of Ernest and Dolores, born 28 April 1947 in Kendallville, Noble County, Indiana. Victor and his first wife, who is still living, had four children. He married his second wife, Pamela Dee Ferguson, on 17 April 1976 in Sturgis, St. Joseph County, Michigan, and they had one more child together.
(Note: Pamela does not appear to be even remotely related to the Fergusons who appear elsewhere in the Callin Family History.)
Victor worked as a machinist at Flowserve in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and worked at Sutton Tool for over 20 years. Pamela preceded Victor in death on 30 January 1997. He died at age 57 on 24 January 2005 in Three Rivers, Michigan. He was survived by his first wife, three sons, two daughters, and eleven grandchildren.
One of Victor's sons, Lawrence J. Emerick (1971–2017), died on 7 July 2017 in Mount Dora, Florida, where he lived with his wife and two sons.
f. Neal Arthur Emerick (1925–2010) was born on 19 October 1925, in Stroh, Lagrange, Indiana. He served in the U.S. Army from 11 January 1944 to 25 February 1946, spending part of that time in the Philippines. Near the beginning of his time in the Army, he married his first wife, Viva Lucille Christlieb (1926–1997), on 8 August 1944 in Fort Wayne. They had two daughters, still living, but Neal sued for divorce in 1957.
Neal married his second wife, Sezar Renia Branson (1922–1992), in Auburn on 15 February 1964. After Renia died on Valentine's Day 1992, Neal and Viva re-married on 5 September of that year and were together when she died on 27 November 1997.
Neal died at age 84 on 22 July 2010 at his home in Auburn. He was survived by his two daughters and a son-in-law, seven grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.
2. Silas Jacob McCosh (1898–1962) was the second child of Aldy and James McCosh, born on 14 September 1898 in Auburn, De Kalb County, Indiana, and grew up in Keyser. Apart from a stint in the U.S. Army from 17 April through 26 May 1919, he remained on his parents' farm through 1920.
Silas married Marceile B Housel (1909–1984) on 29 September 1927 and in 1930, they were living in Garrett, with Silas working at the foundry. She was the youngest of three children of Arthur Wakefield Housel (1882–1960) and Alta Florence "Aldy" Miller (1881–1965), born on 11 October 1909 in Garrett.
Silas was a machinist at Warner Automotive Parts until his health forced him to retire in 1959. He died after a heart attack at his home on 3 March 1962, after suffering for three years from a heart condition. He was buried in the Cedar Creek Cemetery in Cedar, De Kalb County. Marceile died on 7 August 1984 and was buried with her husband.
a. Gerald Arthur McCosh (1928–1928) was born on 5 April 1928 and died on 1 May from whooping cough and pneumonia.
b. Betty Florence McCosh (1930–2000) was born 11 January 1930 and grew up in Garrett and Butler. She attended Auburn High School.
Betty married Richard Stanley Surfus (1930–2005) on 8 August 1953, in Garrett. Richard was the son of Wayne Harold Surfus (1902–1984) and Edith Houser (1907–1991), born on 9 February 1930.
Richard was serving as a sergeant in the U.S. Army when he and Betty married. He enlisted on 18 January 1952 and was deployed in Korea. After the hostilities ended, he was a forklift operator at Warner Gear in Auburn, retiring in 1988. He also enjoyed farming.
Betty died on 22 May 2000 and was buried in the Cedar Creek Cemetery. Richard died at age 75 on 7 May 2005, at Miller's Merry Manor in Garrett, and he was buried with Betty. They were survived by three sons and two daughters-in-law, and six grandchildren.
c. Dorothy Mae McCosh (1931–2018) was born in Garrett on 4 December 1931. She married Donald Eugene Gall (1927–1999) in Butler on 9 November 1951. He was the son of Otis Eugene Gall (1883–1969) and Mamie I White (1894–1980) and was born on 12 April 1927 in Butler.
Don died on 21 September 1999. Dorothy died Thursday, 22 February 2018 at DeKalb Health in Auburn at the age of 86. They are survived by three sons, five grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandson.
d. Paul Wayne McCosh (1934–2014) was born 19 October 1934 in Garrett, Indiana, and died on 11 July 2014 at DeKalb Health. He was married several times and is survived by three sons, a daughter, 2 step-sons, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
e. James Arthur McCosh (1944–2017) was born on 11 February 1944 in Garrett, Indiana, and attended Garrett High School. He was married in 1966, and he and his wife had three sons (one of whom is still living) before they divorced. Jim died on 17 November 2017 in Angola, Steuben County, Indiana.
i. David James McCosh (1966) was born at DeKalb Memorial Hospital on 12 July 1966 but succumbed to respiratory failure at three days of age.
ii. James A McCosh (1967–2000) was born 30 June 1967in Auburn. He was married on 15 June 2000 but died in a car accident on 29 December of that year. He was 33 years old.
3. Paul Leroy McCosh (1900–1977) was the third child of James and Aldy (Carper) McCosh, born on 27 April 1900 in Auburn. Like his brother, Silas, he grew up on the farm in Keyser and served during World War I, enlisting from 18 April 1917 through 26 May 1919.
Paul married Gladys Mary McJury (1903–1984) on 25 July 1927 in Levering, Michigan. She was born on 14 January 1903, the daughter of Leslie J McJury (1868–1944) and Lillian B Gleason (1868–1945).
Paul worked at Eddy Paper Corp. for several years, and later owned and operated Paul's Diner in Three Rivers and the Pleasant Beach Resort at Carp Lake, Michigan. He died on 10 December 1977 in Three Rivers, Sturgis County, Michigan. Gladys followed a few years later on 16 August 1984 in Petoskey, Emmet County, Michigan. They were both buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Mackinaw City, Emmet County, Michigan.
i. Jane Ann McCosh Durand (1935–1982) was the only child of Paul and Gladys, born on 15 May 1935 in Three Rivers, Michigan. She attended Three Rivers High School and then Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. She married after finishing school and became a nurse in Battle Creek, Calhoun County, Michigan.
Mrs. Jane Durand died just two years before her mother on 3 September 1982, also in Petoskey, Emmet County. She left behind her husband and two children, a son and daughter, both still living.
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And that is that for the descendants of the girl misidentified as "Alta McCorse" in the Callin Family History.Special thanks to Floreen Hess Palmer's granddaughter, Sam Worley, for sharing her grandmother's story with us. As a researcher who doesn't know most of the people I write about on a firsthand basis, it's always a little scary to weigh in on what might be sensitive family matters. I always appreciate the compassion and honesty I find in my growing circle of cousins.
It's still a little amazing to me how quickly the family can expand. I was surprised to see how many people there were to document in this branch of the family. The post kept getting longer, and I kept breaking it into smaller chapters - and this is only "part 1" for Ella McNabb Carper's children! We'll continue with Alda's siblings next week.
As always, if you've found one or more of your relatives mentioned in this blog, please get in touch. You can comment below (anonymous comments are usually not as helpful), or email "mightieracorns" at Gmail.com.
We now have more ways to reach out:
a Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/MightierAcorns/
a Twitter feed - https://twitter.com/MightierAcorns
a Ko-Fi cup - https://ko-fi.com/mightieracorns
...and if you prefer a private group, we still have the Callin Family History group on Facebook for "cousins only" (there will be a question about how you're related to the family before you can join).
Until next time.... Happy Hunting!
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