Welcome back!
School is out for the summer, and we're celebrating with a guest post from cousin Leanna that should help clear up the mystery of what happened to William Zardius Sly (1882–1954).
Showing posts with label 1940s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1940s. Show all posts
Friday, June 14, 2019
Friday, August 25, 2017
When Grandma Played the Organ
In his 1995 book, The Five Love Languages, pastor Gary Chapman outlined five ways to express and experience love that he called "love languages": gift giving, quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service (devotion), and physical touch. Everyone expresses themselves in each of those five languages to some extent, but almost everyone favors one above the others. The morning of August 21st, at age 91, my family lost someone who expressed herself through acts of service more than almost anyone else I have ever known.When Alberta Jane Tuttle was born on August 29, 1925, in Summit, New Jersey, her father, Alfred, was 32, and her mother, Edna, was 30. Alberta and her big sister, Lyle, were raised in New Jersey. Their father, who had served as a bugler in the infantry for three years before World War I, worked as a manager for a chemical plant during the Depression. Their mother was a tough-but-sweet homemaker who had supported her five sisters before marrying Alfred; I wrote a bit about Edna's family in an earlier post.
 |
| Alberta "Bert" Tuttle Columbia H.S. 1943 |
At the end of World War II, Alberta married a tall, handsome sailor named Russell Hudson Clark on March 2, 1946, in Irvington, New Jersey, in a service held at the Reformed Church in America by Rev. Harry A. Olsen. The young couple honeymooned in Washington, DC, before moving out to Middletown, Ohio, but they soon moved back to New Jersey.
In fact, movement would turn out to be a defining characteristic of the household of Bert and Russ Clark.
When I showed an interest in family history, Grandma sent me a partial list of all of the places they had lived. She could only remember 33 moves between 1946 and 1984, but she assured me that there were more. They moved from New Jersey to Texas, to Arkansas, back to Texas; to California, Arizona, back to California; to Colorado, followed by a trip to visit New Jersey before moving back to Little Rock, Arkansas - and that only brings us up to 1962!
 |
| Alberta & Russ 2 March 1946 |
Russ would find work in a place, and settle for a while. He might find a church that was looking for a pastor, and they might go live in that community. Alberta could play the organ, and so she would accompany the choir or the congregation, and he would preach. But there was always another call from elsewhere that he needed to follow, and she would go with him. Eventually, the kids grew up and it was just the two of them, always traveling.
It didn't matter where they were, whether you were in their home or they were in yours; Grandma would be busy. She loved to take care of her family. She was forever bustling around the kitchen, cleaning up, playing with the children, singing - always showing us all how much she loved us through those acts of service.
I discovered a few years ago that one of Grandma's ancestors, a surgeon named John Green, was a founding member of the First Baptist Church of Providence, along with the famous Roger Williams, who also established the colony that would become Rhode Island. Baptists place the conscience of the individual at the center of their faith, and Williams's conscience drove him to avoid organized religion - even if he was the one who organized it. In many ways, I could see Grandpa as a spiritual successor to Williams, always seeking, always following his calling. Grandma, as a committed Christian wife, following her own conscience just as fiercely as he followed his.
I know how important it is to my surviving family to mention the fact that Grandma was a strong Christian. She certainly was that, without question. A few years ago, I was going through some intensely difficult troubles, and she called me to make sure I was okay. I could tell that it broke her heart that we were 3,000 miles apart and that she couldn't come over and help with the children or do something to show her love. All she could do was ask, "Have you considered just giving the problem to Jesus?" Being a humanist who has no belief in the supernatural, I couldn't honestly tell her that I had. But being a humanist also means that I treasured the fact that she would dive in and exhaust herself trying to make things better for everyone around her before finally accepting that there were some things she could not fix.
That ferocious, patient love was what made her a great lady.
That philosophical stuff would have all been beyond my understanding when I was young. All I knew when I was a kid was that seeing Grandma and Grandpa Clark was an adventure. They always had a new house in a new place, or if they were between houses, they would have a different motorhome or trailer to live in. As we got older, we learned what they meant by "disability" and "fixed income" when they talked with the other adults at dinner.
She wouldn't complain, but sometimes we could tell that all of the moving around was hard on her. She would talk about finding a church home, putting down roots, and having a house she could call her own. Sometimes they even stayed on a piece of property long enough to build a house, and she could get her organ out of storage and set it up in her living room. I particularly loved the visits when she had room for her organ because she would play and sing those old revival hymns that made such a grand first impression on the churches they visited.
After Grandpa died in 2002, Grandma's life was not the same. How could it be after 54 years of life together? There was a brief time when we wondered what she would do next, and how she would adjust. We worried, but we should have known that she would find a way to feel useful.
 |
| Alberta and Sherwin, 2004 |
When Sherwin died in 2008, he and his family were generous enough to leave her his house and enough to live on. Grandma married a third time, once again choosing a preacher, but this time, she joked, she was marrying a much younger man - he was only 85! They were planning to buy a house and move to the north of Phoenix to get away from the heat and the city.
In 2011 her sister, Lyle, died after battling dementia for several years. Having watched Grandpa battle with Alzheimer's Disease before his death, Grandma told us that biggest fear was that she would lose her mind and not know who any of us were before she died. She worried that any time she forgot a name or misplaced something that it was a sign, but as far as I know, she was still fully herself when she began suffering from an elevated heart rate last week and went to the hospital.
She died at four o'clock in the morning on August 21, 2017, in a hospice in Surprise, Arizona, at the age of 91 years, 11 months, and 21 days. I will always remember her for her music, her laughter, and her constant, steady service to everyone she loved.
 |
| Grandpa & Grandma Clark, bound for their D.C. honeymoon |
Friday, April 22, 2016
The Reubenites, part 6: Finally!
At last, after many weeks of searching, we arrive at the end of the McNabb line...only to find more mysteries!
Mary Ellen McNabb (1871-1940) was not named in the Callin Family History. There is a possibility that this could be the person I was looking for in the post from a couple of weeks ago; the "Ella, married, dead" who is mentioned in the CFH. (After all, I never found a birth record for "Nancy Ellen" and can't be sure that the record of her marriage to Frank E Hazard is connected to our family of McNabbs.)
For now, I'm sticking with the assumption that "Nancy Ellen" is the four-year-old Ellen listed in the 1870 Census, and that Mary Ellen is another person.
Here's what I know:
Some other interesting things about the Death Record:
The information was provided by Mary's "niece," Mrs. Clarence Hyde. You might remember her as Mary Mable McNabb, the daughter of James M. McNabb from The Reubenites, part 1. She probably knew that her father had been born in Indiana, and that Reuben had moved the family to Michigan after most of the children were born, which would make listing Indiana as Mrs. Streeter's birthplace an understandable mistake.
It also lists Mary as the widow of Lewis Streeter, and states that Mary had been a member of the Battle Creek community for 10 years. I was not able to find any evidence to say when Lewis died, or how long they were married. Mary is described as a retired actress, and there is no evidence that she had any children.
But there's more!
Some other researchers claim that Mary was married in December of 1900, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, to a Charles W. Menges (1875-1915). There is a family by that name living in Milwaukee in 1900, with a son named Charles who is the right age. There is a couple by the name of Charles and Mary Menger (sic) living in Milwaukee in 1905 (with a 14-year-old Charles Menger, who might be Charles's son from a previous marriage), as well as a Charles and May (sic) Menges living in Chicago in 1910.
When I went looking for an obituary for a Charles Menges in 1915, I found several newspapers describing a massive steamboat accident (the Eastland) which killed about 1,200 people. One of those identified was a "Lieut. Chas. W. Menges":
Found on Newspapers.com
I'm going to have to leave things there, for now, but if any of you has a marriage certificate that could tie this story together, I'd love to know about it! Until I see evidence that Mary Menges was the former Mary McNabb, I won't know for certain.
Oliver Otis McNabb (1874-1931) presents his own set of questions. The record of his birth I found was only an index record in the Michigan, Births and Christenings Index, 1867-1911. It says his mother's name was Rebecca, but since I can't examine the original, I don't know where that comes from. It could be anything from an awkward family secret to a misprint.
Oliver grew up in Grand Rapids, and as a young man he worked as a teamster and a porter. In 1898 he enlisted in the U.S. Army, and served in Company L of the 19th Infantry Regiment. His records indicate that he served during the first part of the Spanish-American War.
According to An Abbreviated and Incomplete History of the 19th Infantry Regiment:
A few months after his discharge from the Army, on July 4, 1899, Oliver married Margaret Maud Schravenrand (1875–1953) in Grand Rapids. The marriage did not last long, as Oliver moved to Detroit in 1902, and the couple's divorce was granted in Kent county on 16 January 1903.
The Michigan Divorce Record indicates that the couple had one child at the time of the divorce. Maud remarried in September 1904 to John E Nieboer (1870-1936), and according to the 1910 U.S. Census record for their family, they had two daughters: Margarett (age 4) and Hellen (age 9). There are no records which state plainly that Helen is the daughter of Oliver McNabb, but the evidence strongly suggests that she is. It is also apparent that John Nieboer raised her, and that Oliver was probably not part of her life.
Oliver moved out to California, where he can be found in the 1910 Census married to Elizabeth (b. 1876) and living in San Francisco. In 1920, they had several boarders lodging in their home, but no children; and in 1922, 48- year-old Oliver's health had deteriorated to the point where he was moved to the Sawtelle Veteran's Home in Los Angeles. Records show he had partial paralysis in his right leg. By 1930, he Elizabeth were divorced, and the following year, he died, and was buried in the San Francisco National Cemetery.
(One more tantalizing clue: Oliver's obituary mentions his "loving sister, Mrs. Mary Streeter" - which implies that her acting career may have unfolded in San Francisco. No evidence to support that, though, I'm afraid.)
Maud and John had remained in Grand Rapids with Helen and Margaret. They had three more daughters; one of whom died in infancy in 1910. John died in 1936, and Maud in 1953.
1. Helen J. Neiboer (1900-1988) was born 28 September 1900 in Grand Rapids. When her mother married John Neiboer, he evidently adopted Helen. She married Ralph David Wheat (1897–1991) on 6 October 1920. Ralph was a core maker in a steel foundry in the 1930s. They raised a family of four children: two sons and two daughters.
a. Marjorie Elaine Wheat (1921–1998) married Alvin F Hayward (1920–1999) on 17 June 1944. He was a World War II veteran, having served from 22 July 1942 to 4 December 1945.
b. Donald C. Wheat (1924-2013) married in 1946, and at the time of his death, he and his wife had two sons and a daughter, eight grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren (with two on the way).
c. Joyce Carolyn Wheat (1927-2011) married John Milo Maat (1920–2002) on 24 January 1948. John was a farmer all his life, and was a veteran of World War II. They have three sons, still living, and had a daughter, Carol Jean Maat (1950–2001).
d. Karl David Wheat (1931-2004) was a veteran of the Korean war, having serving as a Private First Class in the Marine Corps. He was buried at the Ft. Custer National Cemetery in August, Michigan. His wife survived him.
And there you have it: the last of our McNabbs (that we know of)! There are a lot of gaps I wish I could have filled in, but the records either weren't where I expected them to be, or had mistakes that I couldn't trust. Maybe one of you lovely readers will recognize someone from these posts and drop a note to help me sort it all out. You can comment below or email my Gmail (callintad at gmail dot com).
Next week, we'll be back in Indiana with Mary (Ferguson) McNabb's younger sister, Mildred (Ferguson) Ettinger.
Mary Ellen McNabb (1871-1940) was not named in the Callin Family History. There is a possibility that this could be the person I was looking for in the post from a couple of weeks ago; the "Ella, married, dead" who is mentioned in the CFH. (After all, I never found a birth record for "Nancy Ellen" and can't be sure that the record of her marriage to Frank E Hazard is connected to our family of McNabbs.)
For now, I'm sticking with the assumption that "Nancy Ellen" is the four-year-old Ellen listed in the 1870 Census, and that Mary Ellen is another person.
Here's what I know:
- Michigan Birth and Christenings Index lists "Mary E McNabb" born on 2 February 1871 to Reuben McNabb and Mary.
- Michigan Death Records list "Mrs. Mary M Streeter" born Febraury 1871 (in Indiana), parents Reuben McNabb and Mary Ferguson; death occurred in Battle Creek, Michigan on 21 April 1940.
Some other interesting things about the Death Record:
The information was provided by Mary's "niece," Mrs. Clarence Hyde. You might remember her as Mary Mable McNabb, the daughter of James M. McNabb from The Reubenites, part 1. She probably knew that her father had been born in Indiana, and that Reuben had moved the family to Michigan after most of the children were born, which would make listing Indiana as Mrs. Streeter's birthplace an understandable mistake.
It also lists Mary as the widow of Lewis Streeter, and states that Mary had been a member of the Battle Creek community for 10 years. I was not able to find any evidence to say when Lewis died, or how long they were married. Mary is described as a retired actress, and there is no evidence that she had any children.
But there's more!
Some other researchers claim that Mary was married in December of 1900, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, to a Charles W. Menges (1875-1915). There is a family by that name living in Milwaukee in 1900, with a son named Charles who is the right age. There is a couple by the name of Charles and Mary Menger (sic) living in Milwaukee in 1905 (with a 14-year-old Charles Menger, who might be Charles's son from a previous marriage), as well as a Charles and May (sic) Menges living in Chicago in 1910.
When I went looking for an obituary for a Charles Menges in 1915, I found several newspapers describing a massive steamboat accident (the Eastland) which killed about 1,200 people. One of those identified was a "Lieut. Chas. W. Menges":
Found on Newspapers.com
I'm going to have to leave things there, for now, but if any of you has a marriage certificate that could tie this story together, I'd love to know about it! Until I see evidence that Mary Menges was the former Mary McNabb, I won't know for certain.
Oliver Otis McNabb (1874-1931) presents his own set of questions. The record of his birth I found was only an index record in the Michigan, Births and Christenings Index, 1867-1911. It says his mother's name was Rebecca, but since I can't examine the original, I don't know where that comes from. It could be anything from an awkward family secret to a misprint.
Oliver grew up in Grand Rapids, and as a young man he worked as a teamster and a porter. In 1898 he enlisted in the U.S. Army, and served in Company L of the 19th Infantry Regiment. His records indicate that he served during the first part of the Spanish-American War.
According to An Abbreviated and Incomplete History of the 19th Infantry Regiment:
During the Spanish-American War, the 19th was one of the first units dispatched. Transported by train to Mobile and then Tampa, on July 21st the regiment boarded the USS Florida and USS Cherokee to set sail for what was then called "Porto Rico." They spent a year in Ponce performing guard and provost duty, then sailed to New York where they boarded trains to the west coast. On July 27, 1899 they sailed for Manila.Oliver was discharged in April of 1899, which probably means he saw duty in Ponce, but got out of the service before the Regiment shipped to the west coast.
The regiment was broken into company-sized units and participated in many battles with the Insurgents before returning to the U.S. in 1902.
A few months after his discharge from the Army, on July 4, 1899, Oliver married Margaret Maud Schravenrand (1875–1953) in Grand Rapids. The marriage did not last long, as Oliver moved to Detroit in 1902, and the couple's divorce was granted in Kent county on 16 January 1903.
The Michigan Divorce Record indicates that the couple had one child at the time of the divorce. Maud remarried in September 1904 to John E Nieboer (1870-1936), and according to the 1910 U.S. Census record for their family, they had two daughters: Margarett (age 4) and Hellen (age 9). There are no records which state plainly that Helen is the daughter of Oliver McNabb, but the evidence strongly suggests that she is. It is also apparent that John Nieboer raised her, and that Oliver was probably not part of her life.
Oliver moved out to California, where he can be found in the 1910 Census married to Elizabeth (b. 1876) and living in San Francisco. In 1920, they had several boarders lodging in their home, but no children; and in 1922, 48- year-old Oliver's health had deteriorated to the point where he was moved to the Sawtelle Veteran's Home in Los Angeles. Records show he had partial paralysis in his right leg. By 1930, he Elizabeth were divorced, and the following year, he died, and was buried in the San Francisco National Cemetery.
(One more tantalizing clue: Oliver's obituary mentions his "loving sister, Mrs. Mary Streeter" - which implies that her acting career may have unfolded in San Francisco. No evidence to support that, though, I'm afraid.)
Maud and John had remained in Grand Rapids with Helen and Margaret. They had three more daughters; one of whom died in infancy in 1910. John died in 1936, and Maud in 1953.
1. Helen J. Neiboer (1900-1988) was born 28 September 1900 in Grand Rapids. When her mother married John Neiboer, he evidently adopted Helen. She married Ralph David Wheat (1897–1991) on 6 October 1920. Ralph was a core maker in a steel foundry in the 1930s. They raised a family of four children: two sons and two daughters.
a. Marjorie Elaine Wheat (1921–1998) married Alvin F Hayward (1920–1999) on 17 June 1944. He was a World War II veteran, having served from 22 July 1942 to 4 December 1945.
b. Donald C. Wheat (1924-2013) married in 1946, and at the time of his death, he and his wife had two sons and a daughter, eight grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren (with two on the way).
c. Joyce Carolyn Wheat (1927-2011) married John Milo Maat (1920–2002) on 24 January 1948. John was a farmer all his life, and was a veteran of World War II. They have three sons, still living, and had a daughter, Carol Jean Maat (1950–2001).
d. Karl David Wheat (1931-2004) was a veteran of the Korean war, having serving as a Private First Class in the Marine Corps. He was buried at the Ft. Custer National Cemetery in August, Michigan. His wife survived him.
And there you have it: the last of our McNabbs (that we know of)! There are a lot of gaps I wish I could have filled in, but the records either weren't where I expected them to be, or had mistakes that I couldn't trust. Maybe one of you lovely readers will recognize someone from these posts and drop a note to help me sort it all out. You can comment below or email my Gmail (callintad at gmail dot com).
Next week, we'll be back in Indiana with Mary (Ferguson) McNabb's younger sister, Mildred (Ferguson) Ettinger.
Friday, April 1, 2016
The Reubenites, part 3: Goldsmith
Fair warning: this post may well turn out to be an April Fool's joke on us all.
Such is the nature of dealing with unreliable records! Let me explain:
Back in February, I said in the post The Mysterious McNabbs that there were two people named "John McNabb," both of whom claimed to be the son of Reuben and Mary (Ferguson) McNabb. As I said then,
In case you don't feel like re-reading that whole post, here is my description of the family we'll start with today:
John Goldsmith McNabb was...
John appeared in the 1940 Census, living in Alturas and working as a salesman. He was not married, so it is probably safe to assume that he never remarried after his divorce. Ida appeared in 1940, living alone in Durham, Butte county, California. In 1945, she is listed in the city directory for Chico/Oroville as the widow of J.G. McNabb, and after her death in 1953, she was buried with Theodore and Kathryn - the babies who died in 1907 and 1912 - under the name McNabb; so I think it is safe to say she did not remarry, either.
Their four surviving children were:
1. Dores Rosalie McNabb (1894–1992) was born in Wisconsin on 20 June 1894. When she graduated school in Chico, she found work as a stenographer in a lawyer's office. She married Carlyle Conrad Roberts (1894–1981) about 1921, and they raised five children together. He worked as an oiler in a power plant, and she continued to clerk, at least during the 1950s. His family was among the early California pioneers, starting with his mother's family, the Stanfords, who settled in Shasta County from Butler County, Missouri, in 1857. His father Benjamin Franklin Roberts came to Shasta County from Mechanicsville, Penn. around 1871.
Dores and Carlyle started their family on the Middle Fork of the Feather River in a quaint PG&E community called Las Plumas which has since been inundated by Lake Oroville. Around 1937, the family moved to Paradise, Butte county, California.
i. George Franklin Roberts (1922–1998) enlisted 5 November 1942, and served as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, earning the Bronze Star. He was married after the war in 1947. After his father's death in 1981, he may have taken in his mother, as she died in Calaveras county, where George and his wife lived, and where George died in 1998. His wife is still living.
ii. Lewis E "Bud" Roberts (1924–2007) grew up in Paradise, California, and graduated high school in Chico. He enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in 10 December 1942. According to his obituary, he was discharged in 1945 as a Technical SGT (E-7) at the age of 21. He flew 35 missions over Europe in a B-24 Bomber as a Radio Operator/Top Turret Gunner, with the 458th Bomb Group in the "Princess Pat". He survived the B-24 crash in France with a full load of gasoline that was being hauled for Patton's Tank Force, and a forced landing in Belgium, with two engines feathered landing at a P-47 fighter base during the Battle of the Bulge. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, an Air Medal with clusters, European Theatre Campaign Medal and WWII Victory Medal. Bud also served several years in the Naval Reserve as a Radio Operator until he contracted polio in the early 1950's. He retired from service with the State of California in 1984 as a Senior Communications Technician. He was also a ham radio operator for over 65 years, "W6ZFJ".
Bud married Jennie Lee McCandliss (1925–2001) in 1946, and they raised two sons and a daughter who are still living.
iii. Earl Stanford Roberts (1930–2011) started a career with the California Division of Forestry, Department of Natural Resources as a seasonal firefighter in 1947, when he was 17 years old. He achieved Eagle Scout in 1948.
In December 1950, Earl, along with his childhood friends Hugh Jared and Bill Brill, enlisted in the Navy and took Basic Training in San Diego, Calif. He and Hugh were assigned to the Seabee’s Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 8, “Highball the 8 Ball”. Earl served at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Port Lyautey, French Morroco, Fort St. John, Newfoundland and was discharged in September 1954 at Quonset Point, R. I., Rank Chief Electrician.
His career with CDF continued after discharge. In 1959, he was chosen from among the top employees for a special assignment at Squaw Valley, California, providing fire protection for the 1960 Winter Olympics. In 1965, he moved to Modoc County and served 19 years as a forest ranger. Earl retired in 1984 after 35 years.
At the time of his death, in 2011, Earl left behind a wife, three daughters, and a son, all living, as well as five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren..
iv. Helen Rosalie Roberts (1931–1976) married Andrew Kenneth "Ken" Hodges (1929–2012) in March 1953. Ken was drafted into the military out of high school and served his country honorably as a member of the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He returned to Chico following his discharge and met Helen. They raised one daughter, who is still living.
v. Jean Margaret Roberts (1933–2013) grew up in Paradise, and attended Chico High School where she met her future husband. They were married five years later in December 1951. They had daughters, one of whom is still living. After her husband completed a degree at Chico State College the family moved to Woodland in 1959 where they spent the next 14 years. They then moved to Sacramento where she worked at the UC Davis Medical Center.
In 1992 both Jean and her husband retired and moved to Brookings, Oregon.
a. Joni Lee (Sheldon) Paulsen (1956–2006) was born January 27, 1956, in Chico. She graduated Woodland High in 1974, then attended Chico State University. Joni lived and worked in Austin, Texas from 1978 to 1987, and in 1987 she moved back to Woodland where she met and married her husband. They were wed in 1993 and have two daughters. The family made their home in Woodland and on her beloved island of Kauai.
Joni was very active in her community. She headed the Paulsen Foundation, creating a College Scholarship Fund for local students and she served a term on the Yolo County Fair Board of Directors.
2. Forrest Stevens McNabb (1897–1987) joined the National Guard at age 17 and pursued Poncho Villa, according to one obituary. After serving three years, he joined the U.S. Army (on 5 August 1917) and served in Germany and France in World War I.
He married Laura Louise Frederick (1907–1983) in 1927, and they settled in Durham, Butte county, California, where he farmed through the 1930s. Laura worked for 20 years as a licensed vocational nurse at Enloe Hospital.
When the Second World War broke out, Forrest worked as a machinist foreman at McLelland Air Force Base for two years and then at Tetreau Garage. After the war, he served as the United States Postmaster at Durham from 1949 to 1967.
The couple had two daughters, one of whom is still with us. Lorraine was the elder daughter:
i. Lorraine Elinor McNabb (1928–1991) married Carroll Myron "Bud" Hansen Sr. (1925–2003) on April 12, 1947 in Durham. Lorraine was a florist at Laughlin's Flower Shop for 13 years. Her husband, Bud, served with the U.S. Army during World War II and received the Purple Heart. He farmed most of his life, retiring in 1991, when Lorraine died. Bud then moved to Wayland, Iowa, in 1994 with his son's family.
The couple raised three sons and a daughter. Their youngest son died several years ago: James William Hansen (1970–2007).
3. Esther Margaret McNabb (1899–??) graduated from Chico High School in 1920, and went to work as a nurse in the hospital in Chico. She spent most of the 1920s working in Oakland, and the 1930s in Modesto as a superintendent at the Lillian Collins hospital. In 1940, she was working at Nevada County Hospital County Home For the Aged in Nevada City.
After 1940, I can find no more records for Esther. Mathematically, it is unlikely she is still with us, but if she was, she would be 117 years old - and I'm pretty sure her name would have turned up a news article or three about that.
4. John Gerald McNabb (1901–1983) married Leila D Masterson (1898–1976) in Reno, Nevada, on 14 April 1935. The couple set up house in Chico, in the house where Leila and her widowed mother had been living. They do not appear to have left behind any children of their own.
John Gerald is occasional documented as "John G McNabb, Jr." though he and his father clearly did not share a middle name.
For the Record, if you want to know more about the other John McNabb, here are the details I was able to find:
John C McNabb was born on September 20, 1860, in Indiana. He married Inez M. Atkins (1880–1935) on December 25, 1912, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He died on December 1, 1932, in Battle Creek, Michigan, at the age of 72, and was buried in Augusta, Michigan. They do not appear to have had any children.
Such is the nature of dealing with unreliable records! Let me explain:
Back in February, I said in the post The Mysterious McNabbs that there were two people named "John McNabb," both of whom claimed to be the son of Reuben and Mary (Ferguson) McNabb. As I said then,
I am inclined to believe that the second of these - John Goldsmith McNabb - is the actual son of Reuben and Mary McNabb, based on the birth dates. There is a 6-year-old John McNabb listed in Reuben and Mary's family in 1870, and the strongest evidence says that he would be that John McNabb.I still believe that, and so we'll explore the descendants of John Goldsmith McNabb today; but it may well turn out that we unearth a clue later that forces me to change my mind. If that happens, then I will feel like a very special April Fool!
In case you don't feel like re-reading that whole post, here is my description of the family we'll start with today:
John Goldsmith McNabb was...
... born 24 December 1864 in Auburn, De Kalb, Indiana. He married Ida Ann Sack (1872–1953) in 1894, and they had four children - the first in Wisconsin, and then the others in Michigan - before heading out to California in about 1905. They had two more children after settling in Chico, California, both of whom died in infancy (one in 1907, one in 1912). The couple then divorced in the 1920s. Eventually, John applied for a life claim on his Social Security in January 1943, and died that December in Alturas, Modoc county, California. His Social Security application lists his parents: Ruben McNabb and Mary Furgson.
John appeared in the 1940 Census, living in Alturas and working as a salesman. He was not married, so it is probably safe to assume that he never remarried after his divorce. Ida appeared in 1940, living alone in Durham, Butte county, California. In 1945, she is listed in the city directory for Chico/Oroville as the widow of J.G. McNabb, and after her death in 1953, she was buried with Theodore and Kathryn - the babies who died in 1907 and 1912 - under the name McNabb; so I think it is safe to say she did not remarry, either.
Their four surviving children were:
1. Dores Rosalie McNabb (1894–1992) was born in Wisconsin on 20 June 1894. When she graduated school in Chico, she found work as a stenographer in a lawyer's office. She married Carlyle Conrad Roberts (1894–1981) about 1921, and they raised five children together. He worked as an oiler in a power plant, and she continued to clerk, at least during the 1950s. His family was among the early California pioneers, starting with his mother's family, the Stanfords, who settled in Shasta County from Butler County, Missouri, in 1857. His father Benjamin Franklin Roberts came to Shasta County from Mechanicsville, Penn. around 1871.
Dores and Carlyle started their family on the Middle Fork of the Feather River in a quaint PG&E community called Las Plumas which has since been inundated by Lake Oroville. Around 1937, the family moved to Paradise, Butte county, California.
i. George Franklin Roberts (1922–1998) enlisted 5 November 1942, and served as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, earning the Bronze Star. He was married after the war in 1947. After his father's death in 1981, he may have taken in his mother, as she died in Calaveras county, where George and his wife lived, and where George died in 1998. His wife is still living.
ii. Lewis E "Bud" Roberts (1924–2007) grew up in Paradise, California, and graduated high school in Chico. He enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in 10 December 1942. According to his obituary, he was discharged in 1945 as a Technical SGT (E-7) at the age of 21. He flew 35 missions over Europe in a B-24 Bomber as a Radio Operator/Top Turret Gunner, with the 458th Bomb Group in the "Princess Pat". He survived the B-24 crash in France with a full load of gasoline that was being hauled for Patton's Tank Force, and a forced landing in Belgium, with two engines feathered landing at a P-47 fighter base during the Battle of the Bulge. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, an Air Medal with clusters, European Theatre Campaign Medal and WWII Victory Medal. Bud also served several years in the Naval Reserve as a Radio Operator until he contracted polio in the early 1950's. He retired from service with the State of California in 1984 as a Senior Communications Technician. He was also a ham radio operator for over 65 years, "W6ZFJ".
Bud married Jennie Lee McCandliss (1925–2001) in 1946, and they raised two sons and a daughter who are still living.
iii. Earl Stanford Roberts (1930–2011) started a career with the California Division of Forestry, Department of Natural Resources as a seasonal firefighter in 1947, when he was 17 years old. He achieved Eagle Scout in 1948.
In December 1950, Earl, along with his childhood friends Hugh Jared and Bill Brill, enlisted in the Navy and took Basic Training in San Diego, Calif. He and Hugh were assigned to the Seabee’s Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 8, “Highball the 8 Ball”. Earl served at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Port Lyautey, French Morroco, Fort St. John, Newfoundland and was discharged in September 1954 at Quonset Point, R. I., Rank Chief Electrician.
His career with CDF continued after discharge. In 1959, he was chosen from among the top employees for a special assignment at Squaw Valley, California, providing fire protection for the 1960 Winter Olympics. In 1965, he moved to Modoc County and served 19 years as a forest ranger. Earl retired in 1984 after 35 years.
At the time of his death, in 2011, Earl left behind a wife, three daughters, and a son, all living, as well as five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren..
iv. Helen Rosalie Roberts (1931–1976) married Andrew Kenneth "Ken" Hodges (1929–2012) in March 1953. Ken was drafted into the military out of high school and served his country honorably as a member of the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He returned to Chico following his discharge and met Helen. They raised one daughter, who is still living.
v. Jean Margaret Roberts (1933–2013) grew up in Paradise, and attended Chico High School where she met her future husband. They were married five years later in December 1951. They had daughters, one of whom is still living. After her husband completed a degree at Chico State College the family moved to Woodland in 1959 where they spent the next 14 years. They then moved to Sacramento where she worked at the UC Davis Medical Center.
In 1992 both Jean and her husband retired and moved to Brookings, Oregon.
a. Joni Lee (Sheldon) Paulsen (1956–2006) was born January 27, 1956, in Chico. She graduated Woodland High in 1974, then attended Chico State University. Joni lived and worked in Austin, Texas from 1978 to 1987, and in 1987 she moved back to Woodland where she met and married her husband. They were wed in 1993 and have two daughters. The family made their home in Woodland and on her beloved island of Kauai.
Joni was very active in her community. She headed the Paulsen Foundation, creating a College Scholarship Fund for local students and she served a term on the Yolo County Fair Board of Directors.
2. Forrest Stevens McNabb (1897–1987) joined the National Guard at age 17 and pursued Poncho Villa, according to one obituary. After serving three years, he joined the U.S. Army (on 5 August 1917) and served in Germany and France in World War I.
He married Laura Louise Frederick (1907–1983) in 1927, and they settled in Durham, Butte county, California, where he farmed through the 1930s. Laura worked for 20 years as a licensed vocational nurse at Enloe Hospital.
When the Second World War broke out, Forrest worked as a machinist foreman at McLelland Air Force Base for two years and then at Tetreau Garage. After the war, he served as the United States Postmaster at Durham from 1949 to 1967.
The couple had two daughters, one of whom is still with us. Lorraine was the elder daughter:
i. Lorraine Elinor McNabb (1928–1991) married Carroll Myron "Bud" Hansen Sr. (1925–2003) on April 12, 1947 in Durham. Lorraine was a florist at Laughlin's Flower Shop for 13 years. Her husband, Bud, served with the U.S. Army during World War II and received the Purple Heart. He farmed most of his life, retiring in 1991, when Lorraine died. Bud then moved to Wayland, Iowa, in 1994 with his son's family.
The couple raised three sons and a daughter. Their youngest son died several years ago: James William Hansen (1970–2007).
3. Esther Margaret McNabb (1899–??) graduated from Chico High School in 1920, and went to work as a nurse in the hospital in Chico. She spent most of the 1920s working in Oakland, and the 1930s in Modesto as a superintendent at the Lillian Collins hospital. In 1940, she was working at Nevada County Hospital County Home For the Aged in Nevada City.
After 1940, I can find no more records for Esther. Mathematically, it is unlikely she is still with us, but if she was, she would be 117 years old - and I'm pretty sure her name would have turned up a news article or three about that.
4. John Gerald McNabb (1901–1983) married Leila D Masterson (1898–1976) in Reno, Nevada, on 14 April 1935. The couple set up house in Chico, in the house where Leila and her widowed mother had been living. They do not appear to have left behind any children of their own.
John Gerald is occasional documented as "John G McNabb, Jr." though he and his father clearly did not share a middle name.
For the Record, if you want to know more about the other John McNabb, here are the details I was able to find:
John C McNabb was born on September 20, 1860, in Indiana. He married Inez M. Atkins (1880–1935) on December 25, 1912, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He died on December 1, 1932, in Battle Creek, Michigan, at the age of 72, and was buried in Augusta, Michigan. They do not appear to have had any children.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
The Reubenites, part 2
William C. McNabb was the third son of Reuben and Mary (Ferguson) McNabb. Mary Ferguson, you will recall, was the great-granddaughter of James Callin, the granddaughter of John and Elizabeth (Simon) Callin of Ohio, and the daughter of James and Eliza (Callin) Ferguson.
In our last post, we talked about his two older brothers, George and James. William was born in Indiana on 21 November 1861. After the close of the War Between the States in 1865, he and his family moved to Michigan, and he grew up there.
He married Edna Hall (1872–1941) on 20 March 1889, and he worked as a machinist and a carpenter in Grand Rapids, Michigan. When William died, he was 56 years old, and had likely only seen two of his grandchildren born. His youngest daughter was only 10 at the time, and Edna was only 46.
Edna stayed in their house at 455 Delaware SE for a couple of years before relocating to 434 6th Street, where she ran a dry goods business. Her death record shows her name as Edna May Coats, so she must have re-married in the 1930s. (Her brother married a woman named Coats, so it's possible that Edna married someone from that family.) She died 21 July 1941 in Grand Rapids.
1. Leora McNabb (1889–1897) died at 8 years of age, causes unknown, and she was buried in the Fairplains Cemetery at Grand Rapids, where her parents and many others named in this post are also buried.
2. Charles McNabb (1891–1938) was born and raised in Grand Rapids, and was working as a cabinet maker when he married Chloa Wellman (1890–1933) on 16 September 1915. He worked his way up to being a stock clerk, and then moved his wife and infant son to Chicago for a few years, where the other two boys were born. By the end of the 1920s, they were back in Grand Rapids.
In 1933, Chloa died from unknown causes, and five years later, in 1938, Charles was hospitalized and quickly died from complications from cellulitis and septicemia. They were buried in Fairplains Cemetery.
a. Warren Colburn McNabb (1917–2014) married Marion Elvira Renberg (1919–2008) in 1939 in Royal Oak, Michigan. Warren worked as a gear design engineer for 44 years and retired in 1979. During his career he published several technical books and manuals and also held several design and production patents. After his retirement they moved to Pentwater, Michigan, where they lived for 29 years. They moved to Florida and the Spring Haven Retirement Community in 2008, because of Marion's advanced Alzheimer's disease. She passed in 2008, they were married for 69 years.
Warren and Marion held a large McNabb family reunion in Lansing Michigan for 75 years. They had three daughters and a son, all of whom are still living. He died from congestive heart failure on 14 April 2014 at the Good Shepherd Hospice House, Auburndale, Florida.
b. Charles Wayne McNabb (1919–1992) was known by his middle name, Wayne, and moved in with his aunt, Beatrice (McNabb) Blackall (she is #7, further down this post) after his father's death. He worked in an assembly plant in 1940.
Wayne enlisted in the U.S. Army 16 April 1941, and was inducted at Camp Haan in Riverside, California. He served throughout the war, and was discharged on 1 November 1945 at the rank of technical sergeant.
c. Kenneth Earl McNabb (1920–2004) married Jeanne Ann Houman (1926–2015). Like his brother, Ken was a veteran of World War II and served four years in the Navy aboard the USS West Point. After the war Ken worked for Traveler's Insurance Company retiring after 32 years of service. He and Jean had two children, a son and daughter, both of whom are still living, and four grown grandchildren.
3. Ethel M Mcnabb (1894–1963) married Mark D Markham (1891–1918), and they had one son, Jack Markham (1918–1927), before Mark's untimely death in 1918. Ethel remarried, Edward Adolphus Mirandette (1887–1957) in 1922. Sadly, young Jack died five years later, but after that, Ethel and Edward had another son and daughter together.
a. Elton Adolphus ("Al") Mirandette (1929–1997) married Rosemary M Breen (1929–2001). Al and Rose have three sons and two daughters still living, and as of 1997, 14 grandchildren.
b. Marthajane "Marty" Mirandette (1937–2013) married and had three sons, two of whom are still living. According to her obituary, Martha held a Master Degree with the International Women's Organization, Beta Sigma Phi and was a long time member of the Faith Lutheran Church congregation.
i. Bret James Stockreef (1958–2004) was the son of Marthajane (Mirandette) Stockreef; he died in Connecticut in 2004.
4. William Earl McNabb (1896–1956) married Marcia L Rushford (1891–1988) on 23 June 1917 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Marcia's father, Antoine (or Anthony) Rushford was born around 1820, and was a cousin of Napoleon Bonaparte. William served as a corporal in the U.S. Army in World War I.
They had three children, and their middle daughter is still living, as far as I can tell.
a. William Earl Mcnabb Jr (1920–1969) married Barbara Ann Love (1921–1996) on 29 December 1945. They lived in Royal Oak, where William worked as a salesman until his death at the early age of 48. Barbara's last name at the time of her death was Barbara Ann Brunk, which would indicate that she probably remarried, but I have not been able to find any records besides her Social Security Administration application.
c. Leila Joan McNabb (1932–1965) married John Thomas Carroll (1926–1998) on September 8, 1962, and she died just three years later.
5. Hazel I Mcnabb (1898–1987) married Charles Edward Peet (1898–1966) on 23 October 1918 in Frankfort, Michigan. The couple lived in the Grand Rapids area through the 1930s, and that is where seven of their eight children were born. By 1940 they had relocated to Battle Creek, where they had one more daughter. Their two youngest daughters are still living.
a. Maxine Lorraine Peet (1920–2005) married Austin Alvin Collar (1918-1994) on 24 June 1941. Two years later, Austin entered the U.S. Army, and served from October 1943 through December 1945. They do not seem to have had any children, and they lived in Battle Creek for the rest of their lives.
b. Jean Marie Peet (1922–1981) enlisted in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) in 1943 and served through her release in January 1946. Just a couple of months later, she married Kenneth Lee Stelma (1921-2009). Ken was also a veteran of World War II. They had three children, still living: two sons and a daughter. After Jean died in 1981, Ken remarried and moved to Florida; their children all moved to North Carolina.
c. William J Peet (1923–2010) enlisted in the U.S. Army on 13 December 1941, less than a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He served until 10 November 1945. He married Doris Joyce Walton (1924-1998) of Paterson, New Jersey, probably in 1942 - as their eldest daughter was born not long after that.
The couple lived in Battle Creek, Michigan, and they raised four daughters and a son - all but one of whom are still living. They also left behind 12 grand children, and 23 great grandchildren.
i. Nancy Carol Peet (1951–2008) was the fourth child of William and Doris. She was married and lived with her husband in Wayne county, Indiana.
d. Charles M "Chuck" Peet (1928–2013) was only 13 when World War II broke out, and could not enlist when his older brother and sister did. But he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on 23 January 1946, anyway, just a few months before his eighteenth birthday. He married Joyce Ann Gray (1931-1995) around 1949, probably just after his discharge from the Army, and he began a long career as a truck driver.
The couple raised two sons and a daughter; only their daughter is still living. But they also have six grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.
i. Charles R. Peet (1950-2015) was born on July 11, 1950, in Jackson, Michigan. He was a lifelong resident of the area graduating from Harper Creek High School in 1968. Charles married in 1970, and he and his wife raised two sons and a daughter - all four of whom are still living. He worked as a carpenter and millwright for Carpenter’s Local 525, and he retired in 2009. When he died, he left behind six grandchildren, as well. He died Thursday, February 12, 2015, in Grand Rapids with his family by his side.
ii. Dale E Peet was the other son of Chuck and Joyce; I know very little about him, other than the apparent fact that he died before his father and before his brother. He is mentioned only briefly in their obituaries. He also appears to have been named for his uncle, Chuck's younger brother.
e. Dale Edward Peet (1930–1986) enlisted in the U.S. Navy on 22 July 1948 and served in the Korean War. After his discharge on 21 July 1952, he married Betty Jane Copenhaver (925-2003), and they lived in the Battle Creek area, where Dale worked as a machinist.
f. Joyce I Peet (1931–1973) married Gerald Duane Lawhead (1922-1981) on 14 January 1950, and worked as a clerk-typist and a stenographer in the Battle Creek area throughout the 1950s. Duane worked his way up from a packer to a receiving clerk, and then in the late 1950s became an accountant. After Joyce died, he moved out to Clark county, Nevada, where he died a few years later.
The two youngest daughters of William Earl and Marcia (Rushford) McNabb are still with us, but the family lost one of their sons just a month ago.
Louis Charles Monaweck (1954-2016) was one of four brothers, and leaves behind a wife and two sons of his own. Louis graduated from Harper Creek High School and then attended Michigan Tech on a wrestling scholarship. He later graduated with his Bachelors Degree from Western Michigan University and worked for Consumers Energy for 32 years prior to establishing his own company, Midwest Powerline Inc.
6. Frank Carmine McNabb (1901–1983) married Helen E Murray (1905–1998) on 23 November 1927 in Detroit, Michigan, and they had two children - a son and a daughter who are still living.
7. Beatrice J McNabb (1908–1992) married Lowell James Blackall (1905–1998) on 6 April 1929 in Grand Rapids. This is the family that took in Charles Wayne McNabb in 1940, after his parents died. Beatrice and Lowell had two sons, one of whom is still living.
a. Robert Lee Blackall (1930–2004) married Beverly Sue Strohpaul (1932–2004) on 28 October 1950 in Grand Rapids. I have not been able to find any more information about them.
And that brings us up to date on this line. As you might be able to tell, there were a lot more descendants of William and Edna (Hall) McNabb for me to research than I originally expected. This post also seems to have more than the usual share of names of those who died recently - one, Louie Monaweck, who died between the time I started drafting this post in January and today.
As always, I do the best I can to tell their stories, but there are always details that I have to leave out in order to respect the privacy of the living. I often have more information from obituaries and public records than I can include here, but I won't post any of it in public without permission.
If you are one of the many children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren of this family, I'd love to hear from you how I did. If you have stories or memories you'd like to share here, I'm happy to host a guest post - and if I made any mistakes, I'd love to fix them.
Let me know what you think, and share this post with your family - and I'll keep digging for more cousins!
In our last post, we talked about his two older brothers, George and James. William was born in Indiana on 21 November 1861. After the close of the War Between the States in 1865, he and his family moved to Michigan, and he grew up there.
He married Edna Hall (1872–1941) on 20 March 1889, and he worked as a machinist and a carpenter in Grand Rapids, Michigan. When William died, he was 56 years old, and had likely only seen two of his grandchildren born. His youngest daughter was only 10 at the time, and Edna was only 46.
Edna stayed in their house at 455 Delaware SE for a couple of years before relocating to 434 6th Street, where she ran a dry goods business. Her death record shows her name as Edna May Coats, so she must have re-married in the 1930s. (Her brother married a woman named Coats, so it's possible that Edna married someone from that family.) She died 21 July 1941 in Grand Rapids.
1. Leora McNabb (1889–1897) died at 8 years of age, causes unknown, and she was buried in the Fairplains Cemetery at Grand Rapids, where her parents and many others named in this post are also buried.
2. Charles McNabb (1891–1938) was born and raised in Grand Rapids, and was working as a cabinet maker when he married Chloa Wellman (1890–1933) on 16 September 1915. He worked his way up to being a stock clerk, and then moved his wife and infant son to Chicago for a few years, where the other two boys were born. By the end of the 1920s, they were back in Grand Rapids.
In 1933, Chloa died from unknown causes, and five years later, in 1938, Charles was hospitalized and quickly died from complications from cellulitis and septicemia. They were buried in Fairplains Cemetery.
a. Warren Colburn McNabb (1917–2014) married Marion Elvira Renberg (1919–2008) in 1939 in Royal Oak, Michigan. Warren worked as a gear design engineer for 44 years and retired in 1979. During his career he published several technical books and manuals and also held several design and production patents. After his retirement they moved to Pentwater, Michigan, where they lived for 29 years. They moved to Florida and the Spring Haven Retirement Community in 2008, because of Marion's advanced Alzheimer's disease. She passed in 2008, they were married for 69 years.
Warren and Marion held a large McNabb family reunion in Lansing Michigan for 75 years. They had three daughters and a son, all of whom are still living. He died from congestive heart failure on 14 April 2014 at the Good Shepherd Hospice House, Auburndale, Florida.
b. Charles Wayne McNabb (1919–1992) was known by his middle name, Wayne, and moved in with his aunt, Beatrice (McNabb) Blackall (she is #7, further down this post) after his father's death. He worked in an assembly plant in 1940.
Wayne enlisted in the U.S. Army 16 April 1941, and was inducted at Camp Haan in Riverside, California. He served throughout the war, and was discharged on 1 November 1945 at the rank of technical sergeant.
c. Kenneth Earl McNabb (1920–2004) married Jeanne Ann Houman (1926–2015). Like his brother, Ken was a veteran of World War II and served four years in the Navy aboard the USS West Point. After the war Ken worked for Traveler's Insurance Company retiring after 32 years of service. He and Jean had two children, a son and daughter, both of whom are still living, and four grown grandchildren.
3. Ethel M Mcnabb (1894–1963) married Mark D Markham (1891–1918), and they had one son, Jack Markham (1918–1927), before Mark's untimely death in 1918. Ethel remarried, Edward Adolphus Mirandette (1887–1957) in 1922. Sadly, young Jack died five years later, but after that, Ethel and Edward had another son and daughter together.
a. Elton Adolphus ("Al") Mirandette (1929–1997) married Rosemary M Breen (1929–2001). Al and Rose have three sons and two daughters still living, and as of 1997, 14 grandchildren.
b. Marthajane "Marty" Mirandette (1937–2013) married and had three sons, two of whom are still living. According to her obituary, Martha held a Master Degree with the International Women's Organization, Beta Sigma Phi and was a long time member of the Faith Lutheran Church congregation.
i. Bret James Stockreef (1958–2004) was the son of Marthajane (Mirandette) Stockreef; he died in Connecticut in 2004.
4. William Earl McNabb (1896–1956) married Marcia L Rushford (1891–1988) on 23 June 1917 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Marcia's father, Antoine (or Anthony) Rushford was born around 1820, and was a cousin of Napoleon Bonaparte. William served as a corporal in the U.S. Army in World War I.
They had three children, and their middle daughter is still living, as far as I can tell.
a. William Earl Mcnabb Jr (1920–1969) married Barbara Ann Love (1921–1996) on 29 December 1945. They lived in Royal Oak, where William worked as a salesman until his death at the early age of 48. Barbara's last name at the time of her death was Barbara Ann Brunk, which would indicate that she probably remarried, but I have not been able to find any records besides her Social Security Administration application.
c. Leila Joan McNabb (1932–1965) married John Thomas Carroll (1926–1998) on September 8, 1962, and she died just three years later.
5. Hazel I Mcnabb (1898–1987) married Charles Edward Peet (1898–1966) on 23 October 1918 in Frankfort, Michigan. The couple lived in the Grand Rapids area through the 1930s, and that is where seven of their eight children were born. By 1940 they had relocated to Battle Creek, where they had one more daughter. Their two youngest daughters are still living.
a. Maxine Lorraine Peet (1920–2005) married Austin Alvin Collar (1918-1994) on 24 June 1941. Two years later, Austin entered the U.S. Army, and served from October 1943 through December 1945. They do not seem to have had any children, and they lived in Battle Creek for the rest of their lives.
b. Jean Marie Peet (1922–1981) enlisted in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) in 1943 and served through her release in January 1946. Just a couple of months later, she married Kenneth Lee Stelma (1921-2009). Ken was also a veteran of World War II. They had three children, still living: two sons and a daughter. After Jean died in 1981, Ken remarried and moved to Florida; their children all moved to North Carolina.
c. William J Peet (1923–2010) enlisted in the U.S. Army on 13 December 1941, less than a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He served until 10 November 1945. He married Doris Joyce Walton (1924-1998) of Paterson, New Jersey, probably in 1942 - as their eldest daughter was born not long after that.
The couple lived in Battle Creek, Michigan, and they raised four daughters and a son - all but one of whom are still living. They also left behind 12 grand children, and 23 great grandchildren.
i. Nancy Carol Peet (1951–2008) was the fourth child of William and Doris. She was married and lived with her husband in Wayne county, Indiana.
d. Charles M "Chuck" Peet (1928–2013) was only 13 when World War II broke out, and could not enlist when his older brother and sister did. But he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on 23 January 1946, anyway, just a few months before his eighteenth birthday. He married Joyce Ann Gray (1931-1995) around 1949, probably just after his discharge from the Army, and he began a long career as a truck driver.
The couple raised two sons and a daughter; only their daughter is still living. But they also have six grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.
i. Charles R. Peet (1950-2015) was born on July 11, 1950, in Jackson, Michigan. He was a lifelong resident of the area graduating from Harper Creek High School in 1968. Charles married in 1970, and he and his wife raised two sons and a daughter - all four of whom are still living. He worked as a carpenter and millwright for Carpenter’s Local 525, and he retired in 2009. When he died, he left behind six grandchildren, as well. He died Thursday, February 12, 2015, in Grand Rapids with his family by his side.
ii. Dale E Peet was the other son of Chuck and Joyce; I know very little about him, other than the apparent fact that he died before his father and before his brother. He is mentioned only briefly in their obituaries. He also appears to have been named for his uncle, Chuck's younger brother.
e. Dale Edward Peet (1930–1986) enlisted in the U.S. Navy on 22 July 1948 and served in the Korean War. After his discharge on 21 July 1952, he married Betty Jane Copenhaver (925-2003), and they lived in the Battle Creek area, where Dale worked as a machinist.
f. Joyce I Peet (1931–1973) married Gerald Duane Lawhead (1922-1981) on 14 January 1950, and worked as a clerk-typist and a stenographer in the Battle Creek area throughout the 1950s. Duane worked his way up from a packer to a receiving clerk, and then in the late 1950s became an accountant. After Joyce died, he moved out to Clark county, Nevada, where he died a few years later.
The two youngest daughters of William Earl and Marcia (Rushford) McNabb are still with us, but the family lost one of their sons just a month ago.
Louis Charles Monaweck (1954-2016) was one of four brothers, and leaves behind a wife and two sons of his own. Louis graduated from Harper Creek High School and then attended Michigan Tech on a wrestling scholarship. He later graduated with his Bachelors Degree from Western Michigan University and worked for Consumers Energy for 32 years prior to establishing his own company, Midwest Powerline Inc.
6. Frank Carmine McNabb (1901–1983) married Helen E Murray (1905–1998) on 23 November 1927 in Detroit, Michigan, and they had two children - a son and a daughter who are still living.
7. Beatrice J McNabb (1908–1992) married Lowell James Blackall (1905–1998) on 6 April 1929 in Grand Rapids. This is the family that took in Charles Wayne McNabb in 1940, after his parents died. Beatrice and Lowell had two sons, one of whom is still living.
a. Robert Lee Blackall (1930–2004) married Beverly Sue Strohpaul (1932–2004) on 28 October 1950 in Grand Rapids. I have not been able to find any more information about them.
And that brings us up to date on this line. As you might be able to tell, there were a lot more descendants of William and Edna (Hall) McNabb for me to research than I originally expected. This post also seems to have more than the usual share of names of those who died recently - one, Louie Monaweck, who died between the time I started drafting this post in January and today.
As always, I do the best I can to tell their stories, but there are always details that I have to leave out in order to respect the privacy of the living. I often have more information from obituaries and public records than I can include here, but I won't post any of it in public without permission.
If you are one of the many children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren of this family, I'd love to hear from you how I did. If you have stories or memories you'd like to share here, I'm happy to host a guest post - and if I made any mistakes, I'd love to fix them.
Let me know what you think, and share this post with your family - and I'll keep digging for more cousins!
Friday, January 22, 2016
A Real Hoot
Nathan Hoot came from Pennsylvania and settled on a farm near Reedsburg, Ohio, probably during the 1830s. He later moved to Ashland with his brother and they ran a shoe business for several years before selling their interests. Nathan relocated to Galion, set up shop there, and worked at making shoes the remainder of his life.
John B. Hoot, his son, was born in Reedsburg in March 1839. After finishing his schooling he was apprenticed to William Ilger to learn harness and saddlery. Upon becoming a journeyman saddler, he entered the Union army, serving in the 196th Regiment, Ohio Infantry.
The Regiment was organized at Camp Chase, Ohio, and mustered in March 25, 1865. They left the state for Winchester, Virginia, on March 26, when they were assigned to 2nd Brigade, 2nd Provisional Division, Army of the Shenandoah. In July they were moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and held garrison duty there and at Fort Delaware till September. They mustered out on September 11, 1865.
Frances A. Campbell married John B. Hoot (1839–1911) on 20 February 1862. She was the younger, surviving daughter of Henry and Ann (Callin) Campbell, and the sister of Cyrus and Harrison Campbell, the subjects of our last two posts. Harrison, you might recall, married John Hoot's sister, Catherine Hoot.
Frances was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, on 30 March 1842, and grew up on her father's farm. She married John when she was twenty, and over the following twenty-six years, they had eight children together; two sons and six daughters.
After the war, John moved with his family to Orange, where he rented a saddlery shop for many years, often employing as many as seven men. He was acknowledged throughout the county as being unsurpassed as a saddler and harness maker. His work was reportedly shipped to all parts of the United States. Upon leaving Orange, he removed to Mt. Vernon where he was foreman of a saddlery shop for ten years. In 1903 he retired and moved to Columbus, Ohio, where the family lived on Wisconsin Ave.
Frances died in 1905 at the age of 62, only two years after John retired, and he died in 1923. They were buried together in the Nankin cemetery, Ashland county, Ohio.
a. Adelbert Earl Barrick (1885–1964) worked as a machinist and skilled laborer most of his life. He married Minnie May Mcmurray (1878–1953) on 12 March 1904, and they had four sons. According to his World War I draft registration, Adelbert lost his left leg above the knee in March 1908. The couple remained in Ashland all their lives. Minnie died in 1953 at the age of 75, and Adelbert at 79 years, in 1964. They were buried in the Ashland cemetery.
i. Charles A Barrick (1908–1969) was a core maker and foundry worker throughout his adult life. He married Velma A Mawhorr (1908–1976) around 1927. Their son, Charles Gaylord Barrick, (1928–2003) was retired pastor of the Sullivan Congregational Church and had taught eighth- and ninth-grade English in the Cloverleaf School District, Lodi, for 30 years.
ii. Clyde Earl Barrick (1912–1966) was married to Charlotte, though they seem to have been estranged in the 1950s; they had one son and one daughter.
iii. Ernest Benton Barrick (1920–1977) enlisted in the National Guard on 15 October 1940. He was still living with his parents at that point, but by 1945, he was married to Betty Marken (1918-2014) and living at 30 W Walnut, in Ashtabula. They had four children: three daughters who are still alive, and a son, David Joel Barrick (1951-2013). David was a U.S. Army veteran and served in the Vietnam Conflict. He and his wife had four daughters.
iv. Albert Ellis Barrick (1922–1979) was a World War II veteran who served from 26 October 1942 until 15 February 1946. He worked in assembly plants, and never married. He was 57 years old when he died in Ashland.
b. Rea Barrick (b. May 1890) made one appearance in the 1900 Census, but sadly seems to have disappeared after that. It is possible that after her mother's death in 1906 that Rea might have gone to live with relatives, or gotten married before 1910.
a. Leonard Benton Stine (1889–1969), who preferred to be called "Leon," married Norah Wanda Ward (1891-1978). They were a farm family, and lived in Sullivan their entire lives. In 1930, their farm was next door to Leon's brother, Evan's farm. There are no records showing that they had any children of their own.
b. Evan Francis Stine (1891–1944) married Mary Margaret Gill (1893–1973) around 1918, and began farming in Ashland county. The had seven children (i-vii); four daughters and three sons. Evan died at the age of 53, and Mary at 79.
i. Mary Lucille Stine (1919–2004) married Paul Eichelberger (1911–1974), and they have four children who are still living: two sons and two daughters, and four grandchildren. Paul and Mary also had twins: a son and daughter born in 1950. The little girl, Carolyn, only lived a couple of weeks, but Carl Harold Eichelberger (1950-2014) was a machinist, like his father, who lived his whole life in Ashland county. Carl left a wife and three daughters.
ii. Donald F Stine (1921) was born on 30 January and died 7 July 1921. He is buried in the Southview Cemetery in Sullivan township, Ohio.
iii. Luella Irene Stine (1922–1999) married Donald E Heifner (1911–1960), a farmer from Montgomery township. Don died very young, at 49. Their only child was Kenneth Richard Heifner (1949–1969), a U.S. Marine killed in action in Viet Nam when he was only twenty.
iv. Walter E Stine (1924–1997) married Mary Ellen Morr (1924–2008) on 13 June 1943, and they had two sons who are still living.
v. Helen Pauline Stine (1928–1999) was married twice; first to Richard Dale Boales (1927–2009) and then in 1954 to Forrest Milton Fellenbaum (1918–1988).
vi. Harold Evan Stine (1928–1986) married Martha Irene Johnson (1930–2015) on 25 March 1950. They lost their first two babies at birth (Larry Richard Stine b. 1950 and Stephen Eugene Stine b. 1951), but had a daughter and two more sons, and 36 years together before Harold died at 57. Martha only died last year at 84, having spent her time surrounded by grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
vii. Phyllis A Stine (1935–1997) married Harold Max Lamb (1934–1992) in 1952, right after she graduated high school. They had a daughter, Mary May Lamb (1953-2003) who married Larry J "Jay" Matthews (1953–2010); the Matthews had three sons, who are still living.
Phyllis and Harold divorced in the early 1960s, and while he remarried later, Phyllis lived out her days in Ashland.
c. Mary Estella (Stella) Stine (b. 1896), the only daughter of Frank and Ida (Hoot) Stine, grew up on the farm, but in 1920 was living out on her own. She was a factory worker in Ashland, rooming in the home of Rebecca Wood. After 1920, there are no more clues to her whereabouts. I assume she got married and I simply haven't tracked down the record, yet.
d. Alva Sylvester Stine (1900–1966) grew up farming like his father and brothers, but in 1923 he graduated Ashland University where he was Vice President of his senior class, and he went on to become a school superintendent and administrator. Known as "Alva" throughout his youth, he preferred to be called "Sylvester" later on.
By 1927, Sylvester had married Mary I. Ferrel (1899-1999), and was a principal at a school in Wayne county. Two years after his father died, Sylvester and Mary had their daughter, Miriam Elaine Stine (1933–2000). Miriam grew up in Canton, Ohio, where she married Mr. Cross in 1952. They all relocated to Cass county, Michigan, where Sylvester died in 1966. Miriam was an elementary school teacher there for many years, and she and her husband also had a daughter and two sons who are still with us.
At the age of thirteen years, Byron was apprenticed to a barber. Later he traveled for three years, working as a journeyman in various cities, finally returning to Ashland in 1885, where he opened a shop in the National Bank building. He remained there for eighteen years, becoming popular for his high-class work. After that he relocated to Main street, the third door below Orange street, where he employed three men.
In 1891 Mr. Hoot was united in marriage to Ida Mae Brubaker (1874–1944), daughter of John W. Brubaker and Eliza Barr. Byron and Mae had one daughter and one son.
a. Glorene Frances Hoot (1895–1977) was the victim of many misspellings in the historical record - "Lorene," "Glarence," and (my least favorite) "Glovine" being just three. She married Harry Eugene Matthews (1895–1976) on 5 October 1916. (He was no relation to the Larry Jay Matthews who married Mary May Lamb as mentioned above.)
Harry was a salesman, worked for a time as a produce manager, and then as an insurance salesman. The couple raised two children:
i. Rexford Eugene Matthews (1919–2002) enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1939, and served throughout the war, being discharged in 1946. He married his wife, Virginia Louise Page, in 1948. They had at least one daughter and a son who are still living. Rex worked as a salesman in a shoe store, until he landed a job with the State Highway department; Virginia worked in a pastry shop. They were together for 31 years, until they divorced in 1979, and Rex moved down to Sarasota, Florida. There he remained until his death in 2002.
ii. Patricia Mae Matthews (1925–2012) was a professional Girl Scout and camp director, then a physical education teacher. Pat also had a beautiful soprano voice, and was a soloist in the Ashland College Choir, as well as a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus in the days of Robert Shaw and George Szell. She performed with that group on the stage of Carnegie Hall.
In 1983 Pat received the "Individual Better Life Award" from the Ohio House of Representatives for being a "remarkable individual, combining humanitarian concern and commitment with selfless initiative to become a dynamic force in behalf of the aged." In 1985, she relocated to Sarasota, Florida - that may have been why her brother moved there, as well. In Sarasota she volunteered in nursing homes and sang in the Key Chorale for 16 years.
b. John Weldon Hoot (1902–1950) was a professor who married Evelyn Marie (1902-1969) in Ohio, and took his wife to Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, in the 1930s. After his death at 48 years of age, in Philadelphia, Dr. J. Weldon Hoot was buried back home in Ashland, but Evelyn and their teen aged daughter remained in Pennsylvania. Their daughter is still living in that state, as far as I know.
a. Helen G Kirsh (b. 1889) appeared on the 1900 Census in the Mount Vernon, Knox county, Ohio household of her widowed mother. There is a marriage record from Chicago in 1908 showing a Helen Kirsh marrying Harry Schmitz, but the details about her in their 1910 Census record (in Chicago) do not indicate that this Helen came from Ohio, so I can't say for certain that this is our Helen Kirsh.
b. Arlina A Kirsh (1892–1963) married Ora James Bemiller (1888–1939) in 1910, and moved in with his family. Ora grew up a farmer, then worked for a time as a tobacconist, as a firefighter, and later as a metal worker in Shelby, Ohio. James took ill and died about a month after he and Arlina moved to the Galion area. They had one daughter.
i. Eva Glorine Bemiller (1913-1956) was partly named after her mother's cousin, Glorene Hoot. She married Daughn D Clow (1913-1987) in Ohio county, West Virginia, in 1936. Some time after Eva's death in 1956, the rest of the family relocated to Florence, South Carolina, where Daughn died in 1987. Daughn and Eva had a son and a daughter, and many grandchildren.
c. William Frederick Kirsh (1895–1958) married Goldie M Hall (1896–1982) on 30 April 1917. William was a restaurant manager most of his career. He died at home in 1958 at the age of 63. Goldie remained in Ashland the rest of her life.
i. William Frederick Kirsh Jr (1918–1981) was a stock clerk in Cleveland married to Kathleen Corrine Vessels (1920–2002) when he enlisted in the Army in 1943. After the war, they raised eight children, two of whom have died: William Patrick Kirsh (1953-2000) and Frederick "Fritz" W. Kirsh (1946-2008). Still living are three sons and three daughters.
ii. Philip Leroy Kirsh (1920–1982) took a engineering degree in metallurgy at Ohio State University in 1941, and a commission in the U.S. Navy, where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He was discharged in 1946, and married Elizabeth Axham Keene (1918–2003). They lived for years in Rochester, New York, and retired to Canandaigua in the late 1970s. Their daughter was the late Susan Jean Kirsh Anzalone (1951–2001).
iii. Jack Loren Kirsh (1927–1973) graduated high school in the class of 1946 and went on to become an educator. He married in 1957 while teaching in Florida, where he was principal of the Greenville Elementary School in 1960. He eventually relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he died in 1973.
Clara Hoot Kirsh remarried after 1900 to William M Litt (1872–1937), and they had three children in the next few years. Sadly, Clara died in 1916, and William remarried a widow named Edith. (Note: while William's name is clearly spelled "Litt" on his headstone, his sons spelled the name "Lett" - I will leave it to the family to sort that out!)
d. Benton D Lett (1902–1967) was a fireman in Columbus, Ohio. He married a school teacher named Eva D Eyster (1905–1952) around 1928, and they had one child, Eugene Clay Lett (1929-1995).
e. Milo F Lett (1905–1967) worked as a truck driver and laborer around Berlin, Knox county, where he grew up. in 1942, he enlisted in the Army and served throughout the war in the 1136 School Squadron. I know from notes in his records that he was divorced, but I have no information about any wife or children.
f. Catherine Litt (b. 1906) is another mystery - after appearing on the 1910 Census with her family, she is not in the household in 1920. There is an Ohio birth index record, but beyond that, I don't know any more about her.
a. Emma D Hamman (1905-1985) married Leon Clarence Osborne (1892–1975) on 20 September 1915, and the following year, they went to China as independent missionaries. In 1919, they joined the Church of the Nazarene and served its church at Chao Cheng, Shantung, until 1942.
Leon was detained by the Nationalists in 1928 near the beginning of the Chinese Civil War.
Found on Newspapers.com
Leon was released, and the couple continued their work in the country until 1942. He published a book about the work in China, Christ at the Bamboo Curtain, (Beacon Hill Press, 1956).
Zelpha supported herself by as a dressmaker, and evidence says she married a Mr. Kramer (or Kraner) at some point. While she or her daughters took possession of the house on Wisconsin Ave, Zelpha eventually relocated permanently to San Diego, California, where she died in 1951.
a. Leota E Welch (1906–1998) married Walter William Roseberry (1904–1990) in 1928, but in 1930, she was still living in the home of her aunt Abbey (see above). It may be that the arrival of their son in 1932 meant that Leota was not able to care for Abbey, and that could be what led to sending Abbey to the state hospital in Columbus.
Walter and Leota did not stay together after their son grew up; Leota remarried Ernest Hamlin (1913-1990) in 1972, and they moved down to Manatee, Florida, where they lived out their retirement.
i. Kenneth William Roseberry (1932–1991) was an electrician in Columbus, Ohio. He was married in the 1950s, but also divorced by the late 1960s. His wife remarried in 1972. Kenny died the year after his father, and they were buried in the Obetz Cemetery in Franklin county. I do not know whether he left any children behind.
b. Frances Dana Welch (1909–1963) remained with her mother until she was in her early thirties, accompanying Zelpha as she moved between San Diego and Columbus. Eventually, she seems to have married, probably in the 1950s. She is buried in Union Cemetery under the name Frances Dana Gilmore.
John B. Hoot, his son, was born in Reedsburg in March 1839. After finishing his schooling he was apprenticed to William Ilger to learn harness and saddlery. Upon becoming a journeyman saddler, he entered the Union army, serving in the 196th Regiment, Ohio Infantry.
The Regiment was organized at Camp Chase, Ohio, and mustered in March 25, 1865. They left the state for Winchester, Virginia, on March 26, when they were assigned to 2nd Brigade, 2nd Provisional Division, Army of the Shenandoah. In July they were moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and held garrison duty there and at Fort Delaware till September. They mustered out on September 11, 1865.
 |
| John and Frances (Campbell) Hoot |
Frances was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, on 30 March 1842, and grew up on her father's farm. She married John when she was twenty, and over the following twenty-six years, they had eight children together; two sons and six daughters.
After the war, John moved with his family to Orange, where he rented a saddlery shop for many years, often employing as many as seven men. He was acknowledged throughout the county as being unsurpassed as a saddler and harness maker. His work was reportedly shipped to all parts of the United States. Upon leaving Orange, he removed to Mt. Vernon where he was foreman of a saddlery shop for ten years. In 1903 he retired and moved to Columbus, Ohio, where the family lived on Wisconsin Ave.
Frances died in 1905 at the age of 62, only two years after John retired, and he died in 1923. They were buried together in the Nankin cemetery, Ashland county, Ohio.
1. Agnes Cornelia Hoot (1863–1906)
The eldest daughter, she preferred to go by the name Cornelia, married John Byron Barrick (1858–1935) in 1880. John was a teamster in the Cleveland area for many years. They had a son and a daughter before Cornelia died unexpectedly in 1906 at the age of 43, while visiting in Athens, Georgia. After burying his wife, John moved in with his son, Adelbert, in Ashland, where he lived until his death in 1935.a. Adelbert Earl Barrick (1885–1964) worked as a machinist and skilled laborer most of his life. He married Minnie May Mcmurray (1878–1953) on 12 March 1904, and they had four sons. According to his World War I draft registration, Adelbert lost his left leg above the knee in March 1908. The couple remained in Ashland all their lives. Minnie died in 1953 at the age of 75, and Adelbert at 79 years, in 1964. They were buried in the Ashland cemetery.
i. Charles A Barrick (1908–1969) was a core maker and foundry worker throughout his adult life. He married Velma A Mawhorr (1908–1976) around 1927. Their son, Charles Gaylord Barrick, (1928–2003) was retired pastor of the Sullivan Congregational Church and had taught eighth- and ninth-grade English in the Cloverleaf School District, Lodi, for 30 years.
ii. Clyde Earl Barrick (1912–1966) was married to Charlotte, though they seem to have been estranged in the 1950s; they had one son and one daughter.
iii. Ernest Benton Barrick (1920–1977) enlisted in the National Guard on 15 October 1940. He was still living with his parents at that point, but by 1945, he was married to Betty Marken (1918-2014) and living at 30 W Walnut, in Ashtabula. They had four children: three daughters who are still alive, and a son, David Joel Barrick (1951-2013). David was a U.S. Army veteran and served in the Vietnam Conflict. He and his wife had four daughters.
iv. Albert Ellis Barrick (1922–1979) was a World War II veteran who served from 26 October 1942 until 15 February 1946. He worked in assembly plants, and never married. He was 57 years old when he died in Ashland.
b. Rea Barrick (b. May 1890) made one appearance in the 1900 Census, but sadly seems to have disappeared after that. It is possible that after her mother's death in 1906 that Rea might have gone to live with relatives, or gotten married before 1910.
2. Ida N. Hoot (1865–1947)
Ida was the second daughter of John and Frances (Campbell) Hoot. She married Franklin Pierce Stine (1861–1931) in 1886. Frank was a farmer in Ashland county, and he and Ida had three sons and a daughter.a. Leonard Benton Stine (1889–1969), who preferred to be called "Leon," married Norah Wanda Ward (1891-1978). They were a farm family, and lived in Sullivan their entire lives. In 1930, their farm was next door to Leon's brother, Evan's farm. There are no records showing that they had any children of their own.
b. Evan Francis Stine (1891–1944) married Mary Margaret Gill (1893–1973) around 1918, and began farming in Ashland county. The had seven children (i-vii); four daughters and three sons. Evan died at the age of 53, and Mary at 79.
i. Mary Lucille Stine (1919–2004) married Paul Eichelberger (1911–1974), and they have four children who are still living: two sons and two daughters, and four grandchildren. Paul and Mary also had twins: a son and daughter born in 1950. The little girl, Carolyn, only lived a couple of weeks, but Carl Harold Eichelberger (1950-2014) was a machinist, like his father, who lived his whole life in Ashland county. Carl left a wife and three daughters.
ii. Donald F Stine (1921) was born on 30 January and died 7 July 1921. He is buried in the Southview Cemetery in Sullivan township, Ohio.
iii. Luella Irene Stine (1922–1999) married Donald E Heifner (1911–1960), a farmer from Montgomery township. Don died very young, at 49. Their only child was Kenneth Richard Heifner (1949–1969), a U.S. Marine killed in action in Viet Nam when he was only twenty.
iv. Walter E Stine (1924–1997) married Mary Ellen Morr (1924–2008) on 13 June 1943, and they had two sons who are still living.
v. Helen Pauline Stine (1928–1999) was married twice; first to Richard Dale Boales (1927–2009) and then in 1954 to Forrest Milton Fellenbaum (1918–1988).
vi. Harold Evan Stine (1928–1986) married Martha Irene Johnson (1930–2015) on 25 March 1950. They lost their first two babies at birth (Larry Richard Stine b. 1950 and Stephen Eugene Stine b. 1951), but had a daughter and two more sons, and 36 years together before Harold died at 57. Martha only died last year at 84, having spent her time surrounded by grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
vii. Phyllis A Stine (1935–1997) married Harold Max Lamb (1934–1992) in 1952, right after she graduated high school. They had a daughter, Mary May Lamb (1953-2003) who married Larry J "Jay" Matthews (1953–2010); the Matthews had three sons, who are still living.
Phyllis and Harold divorced in the early 1960s, and while he remarried later, Phyllis lived out her days in Ashland.
c. Mary Estella (Stella) Stine (b. 1896), the only daughter of Frank and Ida (Hoot) Stine, grew up on the farm, but in 1920 was living out on her own. She was a factory worker in Ashland, rooming in the home of Rebecca Wood. After 1920, there are no more clues to her whereabouts. I assume she got married and I simply haven't tracked down the record, yet.
d. Alva Sylvester Stine (1900–1966) grew up farming like his father and brothers, but in 1923 he graduated Ashland University where he was Vice President of his senior class, and he went on to become a school superintendent and administrator. Known as "Alva" throughout his youth, he preferred to be called "Sylvester" later on.
By 1927, Sylvester had married Mary I. Ferrel (1899-1999), and was a principal at a school in Wayne county. Two years after his father died, Sylvester and Mary had their daughter, Miriam Elaine Stine (1933–2000). Miriam grew up in Canton, Ohio, where she married Mr. Cross in 1952. They all relocated to Cass county, Michigan, where Sylvester died in 1966. Miriam was an elementary school teacher there for many years, and she and her husband also had a daughter and two sons who are still with us.
3. Byron A Hoot (1867–1942)
Byron was one of the leading barbers of Ashland, conducting "a large and elegantly appointed shop" there for many years.At the age of thirteen years, Byron was apprenticed to a barber. Later he traveled for three years, working as a journeyman in various cities, finally returning to Ashland in 1885, where he opened a shop in the National Bank building. He remained there for eighteen years, becoming popular for his high-class work. After that he relocated to Main street, the third door below Orange street, where he employed three men.
In 1891 Mr. Hoot was united in marriage to Ida Mae Brubaker (1874–1944), daughter of John W. Brubaker and Eliza Barr. Byron and Mae had one daughter and one son.
a. Glorene Frances Hoot (1895–1977) was the victim of many misspellings in the historical record - "Lorene," "Glarence," and (my least favorite) "Glovine" being just three. She married Harry Eugene Matthews (1895–1976) on 5 October 1916. (He was no relation to the Larry Jay Matthews who married Mary May Lamb as mentioned above.)
Harry was a salesman, worked for a time as a produce manager, and then as an insurance salesman. The couple raised two children:
i. Rexford Eugene Matthews (1919–2002) enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1939, and served throughout the war, being discharged in 1946. He married his wife, Virginia Louise Page, in 1948. They had at least one daughter and a son who are still living. Rex worked as a salesman in a shoe store, until he landed a job with the State Highway department; Virginia worked in a pastry shop. They were together for 31 years, until they divorced in 1979, and Rex moved down to Sarasota, Florida. There he remained until his death in 2002.
ii. Patricia Mae Matthews (1925–2012) was a professional Girl Scout and camp director, then a physical education teacher. Pat also had a beautiful soprano voice, and was a soloist in the Ashland College Choir, as well as a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus in the days of Robert Shaw and George Szell. She performed with that group on the stage of Carnegie Hall.
In 1983 Pat received the "Individual Better Life Award" from the Ohio House of Representatives for being a "remarkable individual, combining humanitarian concern and commitment with selfless initiative to become a dynamic force in behalf of the aged." In 1985, she relocated to Sarasota, Florida - that may have been why her brother moved there, as well. In Sarasota she volunteered in nursing homes and sang in the Key Chorale for 16 years.
b. John Weldon Hoot (1902–1950) was a professor who married Evelyn Marie (1902-1969) in Ohio, and took his wife to Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, in the 1930s. After his death at 48 years of age, in Philadelphia, Dr. J. Weldon Hoot was buried back home in Ashland, but Evelyn and their teen aged daughter remained in Pennsylvania. Their daughter is still living in that state, as far as I know.
4. Clara Hoot (1869–1916)
Clara married Philip Kirsh (also seen as "Kirsch") some time around 1888, and they had three children before Philip's death a decade later. Despite leaving few records behind, it is safe to guess that he died between 1895 and 1900.a. Helen G Kirsh (b. 1889) appeared on the 1900 Census in the Mount Vernon, Knox county, Ohio household of her widowed mother. There is a marriage record from Chicago in 1908 showing a Helen Kirsh marrying Harry Schmitz, but the details about her in their 1910 Census record (in Chicago) do not indicate that this Helen came from Ohio, so I can't say for certain that this is our Helen Kirsh.
b. Arlina A Kirsh (1892–1963) married Ora James Bemiller (1888–1939) in 1910, and moved in with his family. Ora grew up a farmer, then worked for a time as a tobacconist, as a firefighter, and later as a metal worker in Shelby, Ohio. James took ill and died about a month after he and Arlina moved to the Galion area. They had one daughter.
i. Eva Glorine Bemiller (1913-1956) was partly named after her mother's cousin, Glorene Hoot. She married Daughn D Clow (1913-1987) in Ohio county, West Virginia, in 1936. Some time after Eva's death in 1956, the rest of the family relocated to Florence, South Carolina, where Daughn died in 1987. Daughn and Eva had a son and a daughter, and many grandchildren.
c. William Frederick Kirsh (1895–1958) married Goldie M Hall (1896–1982) on 30 April 1917. William was a restaurant manager most of his career. He died at home in 1958 at the age of 63. Goldie remained in Ashland the rest of her life.
i. William Frederick Kirsh Jr (1918–1981) was a stock clerk in Cleveland married to Kathleen Corrine Vessels (1920–2002) when he enlisted in the Army in 1943. After the war, they raised eight children, two of whom have died: William Patrick Kirsh (1953-2000) and Frederick "Fritz" W. Kirsh (1946-2008). Still living are three sons and three daughters.
ii. Philip Leroy Kirsh (1920–1982) took a engineering degree in metallurgy at Ohio State University in 1941, and a commission in the U.S. Navy, where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He was discharged in 1946, and married Elizabeth Axham Keene (1918–2003). They lived for years in Rochester, New York, and retired to Canandaigua in the late 1970s. Their daughter was the late Susan Jean Kirsh Anzalone (1951–2001).
iii. Jack Loren Kirsh (1927–1973) graduated high school in the class of 1946 and went on to become an educator. He married in 1957 while teaching in Florida, where he was principal of the Greenville Elementary School in 1960. He eventually relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he died in 1973.
Clara Hoot Kirsh remarried after 1900 to William M Litt (1872–1937), and they had three children in the next few years. Sadly, Clara died in 1916, and William remarried a widow named Edith. (Note: while William's name is clearly spelled "Litt" on his headstone, his sons spelled the name "Lett" - I will leave it to the family to sort that out!)
d. Benton D Lett (1902–1967) was a fireman in Columbus, Ohio. He married a school teacher named Eva D Eyster (1905–1952) around 1928, and they had one child, Eugene Clay Lett (1929-1995).
e. Milo F Lett (1905–1967) worked as a truck driver and laborer around Berlin, Knox county, where he grew up. in 1942, he enlisted in the Army and served throughout the war in the 1136 School Squadron. I know from notes in his records that he was divorced, but I have no information about any wife or children.
f. Catherine Litt (b. 1906) is another mystery - after appearing on the 1910 Census with her family, she is not in the household in 1920. There is an Ohio birth index record, but beyond that, I don't know any more about her.
5. Hattie J. Hoot (1870–1924)
At nineteen, Hattie married Alpheus C. Hamman (1867–c. 1935), and they had one daughter. After Hattie's death at the age of 53, Alpheus seems to have been on his own. His grave marker remains undated.a. Emma D Hamman (1905-1985) married Leon Clarence Osborne (1892–1975) on 20 September 1915, and the following year, they went to China as independent missionaries. In 1919, they joined the Church of the Nazarene and served its church at Chao Cheng, Shantung, until 1942.
Leon was detained by the Nationalists in 1928 near the beginning of the Chinese Civil War.
Found on Newspapers.com
Leon was released, and the couple continued their work in the country until 1942. He published a book about the work in China, Christ at the Bamboo Curtain, (Beacon Hill Press, 1956).
6. Abbey I Hoot (1875–1940)
Abbey stayed in the home of her parents until John's death in 1923, at the age of 83. After that, Abbey took in lodgers at the house on Wisconsin Avenue for a few years, with the help of her niece, Leota Roseberry (Zelpha's elder daughter). Sadly, by 1935, she was unable to continue taking care of herself, and spent the last few years of her life committed to the Columbus State Hospital for the Insane.7. Zelpha L. Hoot (1877–1951)
Born in Nankin, Zelpha probably met William Crawford Welch (1875-1917) when her father retired and moved the family to Columbus in 1903. Zelpha and William were married about 1906, and had two young daughters when he died at 42. I could not find an explanation of how he died, but he was a railroad man, and he would not be the first person in this family to be killed on the railroad.Zelpha supported herself by as a dressmaker, and evidence says she married a Mr. Kramer (or Kraner) at some point. While she or her daughters took possession of the house on Wisconsin Ave, Zelpha eventually relocated permanently to San Diego, California, where she died in 1951.
a. Leota E Welch (1906–1998) married Walter William Roseberry (1904–1990) in 1928, but in 1930, she was still living in the home of her aunt Abbey (see above). It may be that the arrival of their son in 1932 meant that Leota was not able to care for Abbey, and that could be what led to sending Abbey to the state hospital in Columbus.
Walter and Leota did not stay together after their son grew up; Leota remarried Ernest Hamlin (1913-1990) in 1972, and they moved down to Manatee, Florida, where they lived out their retirement.
i. Kenneth William Roseberry (1932–1991) was an electrician in Columbus, Ohio. He was married in the 1950s, but also divorced by the late 1960s. His wife remarried in 1972. Kenny died the year after his father, and they were buried in the Obetz Cemetery in Franklin county. I do not know whether he left any children behind.
b. Frances Dana Welch (1909–1963) remained with her mother until she was in her early thirties, accompanying Zelpha as she moved between San Diego and Columbus. Eventually, she seems to have married, probably in the 1950s. She is buried in Union Cemetery under the name Frances Dana Gilmore.
8. Walton Wesley Hoot (1879–1951)
Walton was a barber, like his older brother, and around the time the rest of the Hoot family moved to Columbus, he married Effie Mae Snook (1879–1938) and resided with her family in Ashland. They raised one son, and lived out their days in Ashland.
a. Forest Emery Hoot (1906–1999) married Helen Louise Pancoast (1906-1993) during the 1930s. Forest was working as a salesman. I have not found any information about this couple to indicate what their business was or whether they had children, but they did leave behind an endowment for a scholarship at Ashland University, so they must have been successful.
-------
And that, good friends, brings us to the end of a very long post about people surnamed Hoot. It also brings us to the end of the descendants of Ann Callin Campbell. I have to say, these last three posts were quite an exercise of my researching abilities, and I am not entirely sure I've done these people justice.
As always, if you are related to any of these families, and can help me identify and fix any mistakes I have made, please do reach out through the comments below, or through my email address, callintad at gmail dot com; there were at least two examples during the preparation of this post that I did "one last search" and found out something revelatory - like a couple I had thought had three children actually had eight children. Or I found an article that revealed a daughter I hadn't known about.
But I'm not complaining. I enjoy the thrill of the hunt, and I love knowing that I've tied together whatever I can for posterity. In fact, for all of the extra work that went into this post, it was, for me...
...a real hoot.
a. Forest Emery Hoot (1906–1999) married Helen Louise Pancoast (1906-1993) during the 1930s. Forest was working as a salesman. I have not found any information about this couple to indicate what their business was or whether they had children, but they did leave behind an endowment for a scholarship at Ashland University, so they must have been successful.
-------
And that, good friends, brings us to the end of a very long post about people surnamed Hoot. It also brings us to the end of the descendants of Ann Callin Campbell. I have to say, these last three posts were quite an exercise of my researching abilities, and I am not entirely sure I've done these people justice.
As always, if you are related to any of these families, and can help me identify and fix any mistakes I have made, please do reach out through the comments below, or through my email address, callintad at gmail dot com; there were at least two examples during the preparation of this post that I did "one last search" and found out something revelatory - like a couple I had thought had three children actually had eight children. Or I found an article that revealed a daughter I hadn't known about.
But I'm not complaining. I enjoy the thrill of the hunt, and I love knowing that I've tied together whatever I can for posterity. In fact, for all of the extra work that went into this post, it was, for me...
...a real hoot.
Friday, January 8, 2016
A Family of Respectable Size
Cyrus C. Campbell was born 23 March 1834 on his father's farm in Ashland* county, Ohio. His parents were Henry and Ann (Callin) Campbell, to whom we were introduced last week.
On 4 July 1859 Cyrus married Ursulla Amanda Springer (1839–1924), the daughter of one of Montgomery township's earliest settlers, John Springer. Ursulla's late mother, who died when Ursulla was only eight years old, was Elizabeth Carter, whose family had been among the earliest to arrive in Ohio in 1806. The Carter lineage can be traced back through at least three generations of men named Daniel Carter, to one who is said to have been part of Lord Baltimore's company, which settled the colony of Maryland.
If you seek out Cyrus and Ursulla in the 1860 and 1870 Census records, be aware that between the enumerators and the transcribers who digitized the records, they are probably indexed incorrectly. (Ancestry has them indexed in 1860, in the household next door to Henry and Mary Ann, as "C.C. and Knula Caryatull," for example.)
His father, Henry, worked as a shoemaker, and when Cyrus was young, he was listed as a cobbler, likely repairing shoes in his father's shop. In 1860, he was listed as a clerk; in 1870, he gave no occupation, and had a respectable estate built up. Sadly, he died at age 39 in 1873, of unknown causes, leaving his widow with two sons, thirteen and nine years of age.
Ursulla remarried quickly to Robert Sutton, and they had two daughters; Maud (b. 1874) and Grace (b. 1876). Mr. Sutton appears to have adopted the Campbell boys, who were listed in the 1880 Census with the name Sutton. But after they grew up and left home, they used the name Campbell again. (Note that the brothers also named their first born sons in honor of each other.)
As the 1880 lists the Sutton family in Auglaize county, and identifies Robert's occupation as "Publisher," I think it is safe to conclude that he is the same Robert Sutton who published the History of Auglaize County, Ohio, found here:
1. Alden W Campbell (1860–1936) married Julia M. Kirkendall (b. 1859) in 1885. The couple was living in Illinois right after their wedding, but moved back to Ohio for a few years, around 1890, before relocating back to Greenup, Cumberland county, Illinois by 1900, where Alden took up farming. By 1910, their older children were out on their own, and Alden had established a farm in Baker, Martin county, Indiana, where he and Julia remained until after 1930.
They had three children, Howard Ernest (1886-1937), Lucille (b. 1888), and Marjorie (b. 1891), and in 1930 their grandson, Colin (b. 1916) was listed in their Indiana home. When Alden died in October 1936, he and Julia were residing in Chicago. Julia was 77 years old when he died, but I haven't been able to find any records to indicate when or where she died.
a. Howard Ernest Campbell (1886–1937) was born in Illinois, and grew up on his father's farms. In 1900, he was a student living at home in Illinois, apparently studying electrical engineering. Whether he continued his studies or took a job, by 1914 he was living in Brooklyn, New York, where he married Edith Reynolds Whitney (1889-1936).
There are some records hinting that Howard may have had an interesting career; he may have been working aboard passenger ships as an electrical engineer. He doesn't seem to have served in the military, but if he was working aboard ships during World War I, and the 1920s, those were certainly exciting times to be at sea. The only certainty I have is that he traveled from Antwerp, Belgium, to New York aboard the SS Pennland in 1932. My theory is that he spent twenty years working on ships, retired in 1932, and moved his family to Louisville, Kentucky, where he started a new career as an electrical engineer for a company there.
Sadly, Edith suffered an intestinal blockage in 1936, and died that September from complications after the surgery to correct it. Howard died accidentally from carbon monoxide poisoning while working on his car in a closed garage the following November. His Kentucky death certificate names his parents and his wife, Vera N, whom he presumably married in the year after Edith's death.
i. Colin Wilbur Campbell (1915–1984) grew up in Brooklyn, and at age 16, he was living with his grandparents in Indiana. After that, I can say very little about his life, other than the U.S. Social Security databases indicate that he may have gotten his Social Security number in Colorado, and that he died on 30 September 1984.
ii. Barbara Lucille Campbell (1917–1992) also grew up in Brooklyn, but unlike her brothers, we do not have a record showing her on the 1930 Census. From the Social Security and Kentucky Death records, we know that she died in Louisville, Kentucky, at age 75, and that her married name was Barbara Campbell Rehm.
iii. Gordon Whitney Campbell (1918–1982) seems to have led an adventurous life, to say the least. From his home in Brooklyn in 1920, he was sent to a boarding school in Lake Villa , Illinois by 1930. Allendale School was described by some sources as an institution for homeless boys, and was founded in 1897 by Edward "Cap" Bradley, a young Princeton graduate interested in the plight of urban youth and the poor conditions under which they lived. (See a photo of Boys at Drill, Allendale Farm, Lake Villa, Ill. c. 1917.)
Whatever led Gordon there, he grew up to serve in the U.S. Army in World War II and Korea, attaining the rank of Major. His records indicate that he enlisted in November 1940, while living in Pennsylvania. He married in Emporia, Virginia, on 30 August 1941, and he and his wife (who may still be living) had a daughter and a son.
Gordon died in Fresno, California, in 1982, and was buried there under a military headstone.
b. Lucile Campbell (1888–?) is almost a complete mystery. She appears on the 1900 Census with her parents, brother, and sister, and then vanishes from the record. I suspect that since her brother was listed as "Ernest" on the 1900, she may have been listed by her middle name, too. But until we find a clue...
c. Marjorie G Campbell (1891– ?) married Arthur Julius Craig (1884–1942) in Martin county, Indiana, in 1915. Arthur soon moved with his wife to Chicago, Illinois, where he was a high school teacher. Aside from a 1920 Census record that places Arthur in Boulder, Colorado, rooming in another household while working as a superintendent in a school there, Arthur and Marjorie seem to have remained in Chicago until Arthur's death in 1942. The couple appears not to have had any children of their own. After Arthur died, there was one more U.S. City Directory listing for a Marjorie Craig, widow of Arthur, listed in Boulder in 1946; but beyond that, no conclusive information about what happened to Marjorie.
2. Howard W Campbell (1864–1930), Cyrus's second son, was born in Tennessee, and raised in Ohio. His father died when he was nine years old. He struck out from Ohio when he grew up, and settled in Rains county, Texas. There, he married Dora Helen Miller (1878–1960) on 26 August 1896, and took up farming. They had eight children, altogether (a.-h. below). We don't know precisely when he died, but it was before 1930.
a. Alden Vernon Campbell (1897–1975) married his first wife, Bessie Jewell Day (1903–1935), probably in 1922. They had six children before 1935 (i-vi, below), when Bessie Jewell died unexpectedly. Alden relocated back to Ohio with his children and his widowed mother, Dora some time between 1935 and 1940. Dora died in Ohio in 1960.
Alden later married a second wife named Bessie M. (1900-1980). After they died, they were buried in Collinsville Cemetery, Butler County, Ohio.
i. Aubrey Julian Campbell (1923–2005) married Jewell Vandeventer on February 22, 1947 in Covington, Kentucky. She was born in Laurel County, Kentucky, on April 9, 1924 the daughter of Charles Woods and Hannah (Durham) Vandeventer. They had three sons and four daughters, all still living. Aubrey died in 2005, and Jewell followed in 2008.
ii. Thelma Louise Campbell (1925–2013) was born in Tyler, Texas on January 24, 1925. On August 30, 1944 in Covington, Kentucky, she married Eugene Rogers, and they were married for 63 years before he preceded her in death in 2007. Over her lifetime, she took in approximately 120 foster children.
iii. Wilma J Campbell (1927–?) was born in Emory, Rains county, Texas on 11 February 1927. We know that she was 13 in 1940, living with her family in Ohio, and we know from her sisters' obituaries that she died before 2011. Her married name was Wilma Davis.
iv. Pauline R Campbell (1929–2011) was born March 3, 1929 in Mineola, Wood county, Texas, but lived in Middletown most of her life. She married Olney Combs, who died in 1985; her obituary names three sons and two daughters who are still living.
The two youngest children of Alden and Bessie, a girl (v.) and a boy (vi.), are still living
b. Roy Stanley Campbell (1901–2002) was born 21 April 1901, and he married and had a son before he was twenty. Roy died in 2002 less than one month before his 101st birthday. His son is still living in Texas.
c. Marion C Campbell (1903–2001) was born in Emory, Texas, on June 27, 1903, and married Elizabeth "Lena" Matlock (1907–2005) on April 26, 1924 . He was a turret lathe operator for Steel Products Engineering Co. in Springfield, Ohio, for 33 years, retiring in 1969. He and Lena had four daughters and two sons, as well as an infant daughter who died in 1933, around the time the family relocated from Texas back to Ohio.
i. Helen Jane Campbell (1925–2010) was an operator with the Kissell Company, and was married to Roger E. Bayes (1921-2009), a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier for more than thirty years. They have one son and one daughter still living.
ii. Vernon E Campbell (1926–1984) enlisted in the final year of the second World War, on 7 April 1944. He worked as a machinist in Springfield, Ohio, through the 1950s. I assume from the City Directories that he was married to Florence, though I could not find marriage records or any further information about her. When Vernon died in 1984, at age 58, his wife was one Pansy Ellis (1922-2005), and they seem to have married around 1974.
iii. Marion Francis Campbell (1927–2013) was a veteran of the U.S. Navy where he served in WWII and the Naval Reserves. He worked for New York Central and Conrail for 42 years. He and his wife (still living) had two sons, the elder of whom was also a railroad worker: Robert Michael Campbell (1947–1989) died at only 41 years of age.
iv. Shirley Mae Campbell (1930– ?) appears on the 1930 and 1940 Census with the rest of the family, and her father's obituary mentions her as preceding him in death; but I have found no other records to say how old she was when she died.
v. The fifth child of Marion and Lena was a daughter who is still living in Ohio.
vi. Infant Daughter Campbell (1933–1933) is buried in Ohio.
vii. Miriam Colleen Campbell (1939–2012) attended Brown Mackie College in Salina in the early 1990s, and was the owner and operator of DuCharme Tax Services for twenty years. "Mim" DuCharme, as she was known, adopted her granddaughter in 1996, and raised her. Mim died in 2012.
d. Harold Ellsworth Campbell (1905–1989) was born in Texas, but by the mid-1920s he had relocated to Ohio. He married Doris E. Longbrake (1904–1969) on 23 October 1926, and they had a daughter and two sons before 1940. Their daughter is still living, but their sons are not.
ii. Fred S. Campbell (1938–2009) married Jeanne E. McCormick (1945–2011) on 22 December 1964 in Melbourne, Florida, and they had three sons and a daughter. Fred was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, and worked as a senior engineering emissions technician at General Electric for over 35 years, retiring in 2002. He served as Minister of music for 15 years at Ross Avenue Church of God.
iii. Homer Lee Campbell (1930–2012), apparently named for his uncle, married in Middletown, Ohio, on 21 August 1975 and has two sons still living. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army.
e. Homer Leonidas Campbell (1907–1987) was born in Rains county, Texas, moved to Ohio, and married Mary E. Kyser (1910-1988) either in 1934 or 1937. They have one daughter, still living.
f. Grace Dorothy Campbell (1911–1999) married Roger Wynston Longbrake (1901–1981) on 31 August 1928 in Covington, Kentucky, and they relocated to Shelby, Ohio, some time around 1937. Roger was the older brother of Doris Longbrake, wife of Grace's brother, Harold Ellsworth Campbell.
Roger and Grace had six sons, five of whom are no longer with us:
i. Hugh Roy Longbrake (1929–2010) - married Darlene D Donhow (1929–2007) in 1953.
ii. Gerald Elsworth Longbrake (1930–2005)
iii. Howard Mitchell Longbrake (1932–2005) - married MaDonna Accordino (1937–2006). They were survived by two sons. Howard was a 20 year U.S. Marine Corps veteran, serving in Korea and Vietnam.
iv. Horace Leondis Longbrake (1936–2008)
v. Wynston Delmar Longbrake (1938–2002)
Their youngest son, George, is presumably still alive. Normally, I wouldn't include information about a living individual, but he and his brothers, Gerald and Wynston, ran into trouble with the law in a 1960 robbery (see linked article to the right). This is probably not something their families want to remember, but it is a matter of public record.
(See "Problematic: Between History and Gossip" for thoughts on the difficulty of documenting uncomfortable truths.)
g. Daughter Campbell - It is highly unusual to find living relatives born before 1920, but since I can't find any records for this lady, I must assume that she is still alive. Until I know for sure, I will continue to respect her privacy.
h. Marjorie R Campbell (1919–1998) was a Warrant Officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II, if I'm reading her Find-a-Grave entry correctly. She married Alvie Frank Samford (1912–2004), and they lived in Riverside, California.
Obviously, there is a lot left to learn about the Campbell families. Despite his early death, before turning 40, Cyrus Campbell left a large legacy in his surprisingly numerous descendants. Here's hoping that those still with us are happy and healthy!
* Milton township was originally part of Richland county, until Ashland county formed in 1846.
On 4 July 1859 Cyrus married Ursulla Amanda Springer (1839–1924), the daughter of one of Montgomery township's earliest settlers, John Springer. Ursulla's late mother, who died when Ursulla was only eight years old, was Elizabeth Carter, whose family had been among the earliest to arrive in Ohio in 1806. The Carter lineage can be traced back through at least three generations of men named Daniel Carter, to one who is said to have been part of Lord Baltimore's company, which settled the colony of Maryland.
If you seek out Cyrus and Ursulla in the 1860 and 1870 Census records, be aware that between the enumerators and the transcribers who digitized the records, they are probably indexed incorrectly. (Ancestry has them indexed in 1860, in the household next door to Henry and Mary Ann, as "C.C. and Knula Caryatull," for example.)
His father, Henry, worked as a shoemaker, and when Cyrus was young, he was listed as a cobbler, likely repairing shoes in his father's shop. In 1860, he was listed as a clerk; in 1870, he gave no occupation, and had a respectable estate built up. Sadly, he died at age 39 in 1873, of unknown causes, leaving his widow with two sons, thirteen and nine years of age.
Ursulla remarried quickly to Robert Sutton, and they had two daughters; Maud (b. 1874) and Grace (b. 1876). Mr. Sutton appears to have adopted the Campbell boys, who were listed in the 1880 Census with the name Sutton. But after they grew up and left home, they used the name Campbell again. (Note that the brothers also named their first born sons in honor of each other.)
As the 1880 lists the Sutton family in Auglaize county, and identifies Robert's occupation as "Publisher," I think it is safe to conclude that he is the same Robert Sutton who published the History of Auglaize County, Ohio, found here:
1. Alden W Campbell (1860–1936) married Julia M. Kirkendall (b. 1859) in 1885. The couple was living in Illinois right after their wedding, but moved back to Ohio for a few years, around 1890, before relocating back to Greenup, Cumberland county, Illinois by 1900, where Alden took up farming. By 1910, their older children were out on their own, and Alden had established a farm in Baker, Martin county, Indiana, where he and Julia remained until after 1930.
They had three children, Howard Ernest (1886-1937), Lucille (b. 1888), and Marjorie (b. 1891), and in 1930 their grandson, Colin (b. 1916) was listed in their Indiana home. When Alden died in October 1936, he and Julia were residing in Chicago. Julia was 77 years old when he died, but I haven't been able to find any records to indicate when or where she died.
a. Howard Ernest Campbell (1886–1937) was born in Illinois, and grew up on his father's farms. In 1900, he was a student living at home in Illinois, apparently studying electrical engineering. Whether he continued his studies or took a job, by 1914 he was living in Brooklyn, New York, where he married Edith Reynolds Whitney (1889-1936).
There are some records hinting that Howard may have had an interesting career; he may have been working aboard passenger ships as an electrical engineer. He doesn't seem to have served in the military, but if he was working aboard ships during World War I, and the 1920s, those were certainly exciting times to be at sea. The only certainty I have is that he traveled from Antwerp, Belgium, to New York aboard the SS Pennland in 1932. My theory is that he spent twenty years working on ships, retired in 1932, and moved his family to Louisville, Kentucky, where he started a new career as an electrical engineer for a company there.
Sadly, Edith suffered an intestinal blockage in 1936, and died that September from complications after the surgery to correct it. Howard died accidentally from carbon monoxide poisoning while working on his car in a closed garage the following November. His Kentucky death certificate names his parents and his wife, Vera N, whom he presumably married in the year after Edith's death.
i. Colin Wilbur Campbell (1915–1984) grew up in Brooklyn, and at age 16, he was living with his grandparents in Indiana. After that, I can say very little about his life, other than the U.S. Social Security databases indicate that he may have gotten his Social Security number in Colorado, and that he died on 30 September 1984.
ii. Barbara Lucille Campbell (1917–1992) also grew up in Brooklyn, but unlike her brothers, we do not have a record showing her on the 1930 Census. From the Social Security and Kentucky Death records, we know that she died in Louisville, Kentucky, at age 75, and that her married name was Barbara Campbell Rehm.
iii. Gordon Whitney Campbell (1918–1982) seems to have led an adventurous life, to say the least. From his home in Brooklyn in 1920, he was sent to a boarding school in Lake Villa , Illinois by 1930. Allendale School was described by some sources as an institution for homeless boys, and was founded in 1897 by Edward "Cap" Bradley, a young Princeton graduate interested in the plight of urban youth and the poor conditions under which they lived. (See a photo of Boys at Drill, Allendale Farm, Lake Villa, Ill. c. 1917.)
Whatever led Gordon there, he grew up to serve in the U.S. Army in World War II and Korea, attaining the rank of Major. His records indicate that he enlisted in November 1940, while living in Pennsylvania. He married in Emporia, Virginia, on 30 August 1941, and he and his wife (who may still be living) had a daughter and a son.
Gordon died in Fresno, California, in 1982, and was buried there under a military headstone.
b. Lucile Campbell (1888–?) is almost a complete mystery. She appears on the 1900 Census with her parents, brother, and sister, and then vanishes from the record. I suspect that since her brother was listed as "Ernest" on the 1900, she may have been listed by her middle name, too. But until we find a clue...
c. Marjorie G Campbell (1891– ?) married Arthur Julius Craig (1884–1942) in Martin county, Indiana, in 1915. Arthur soon moved with his wife to Chicago, Illinois, where he was a high school teacher. Aside from a 1920 Census record that places Arthur in Boulder, Colorado, rooming in another household while working as a superintendent in a school there, Arthur and Marjorie seem to have remained in Chicago until Arthur's death in 1942. The couple appears not to have had any children of their own. After Arthur died, there was one more U.S. City Directory listing for a Marjorie Craig, widow of Arthur, listed in Boulder in 1946; but beyond that, no conclusive information about what happened to Marjorie.
2. Howard W Campbell (1864–1930), Cyrus's second son, was born in Tennessee, and raised in Ohio. His father died when he was nine years old. He struck out from Ohio when he grew up, and settled in Rains county, Texas. There, he married Dora Helen Miller (1878–1960) on 26 August 1896, and took up farming. They had eight children, altogether (a.-h. below). We don't know precisely when he died, but it was before 1930.
a. Alden Vernon Campbell (1897–1975) married his first wife, Bessie Jewell Day (1903–1935), probably in 1922. They had six children before 1935 (i-vi, below), when Bessie Jewell died unexpectedly. Alden relocated back to Ohio with his children and his widowed mother, Dora some time between 1935 and 1940. Dora died in Ohio in 1960.
Alden later married a second wife named Bessie M. (1900-1980). After they died, they were buried in Collinsville Cemetery, Butler County, Ohio.
i. Aubrey Julian Campbell (1923–2005) married Jewell Vandeventer on February 22, 1947 in Covington, Kentucky. She was born in Laurel County, Kentucky, on April 9, 1924 the daughter of Charles Woods and Hannah (Durham) Vandeventer. They had three sons and four daughters, all still living. Aubrey died in 2005, and Jewell followed in 2008.
ii. Thelma Louise Campbell (1925–2013) was born in Tyler, Texas on January 24, 1925. On August 30, 1944 in Covington, Kentucky, she married Eugene Rogers, and they were married for 63 years before he preceded her in death in 2007. Over her lifetime, she took in approximately 120 foster children.
iii. Wilma J Campbell (1927–?) was born in Emory, Rains county, Texas on 11 February 1927. We know that she was 13 in 1940, living with her family in Ohio, and we know from her sisters' obituaries that she died before 2011. Her married name was Wilma Davis.
iv. Pauline R Campbell (1929–2011) was born March 3, 1929 in Mineola, Wood county, Texas, but lived in Middletown most of her life. She married Olney Combs, who died in 1985; her obituary names three sons and two daughters who are still living.
The two youngest children of Alden and Bessie, a girl (v.) and a boy (vi.), are still living
b. Roy Stanley Campbell (1901–2002) was born 21 April 1901, and he married and had a son before he was twenty. Roy died in 2002 less than one month before his 101st birthday. His son is still living in Texas.
c. Marion C Campbell (1903–2001) was born in Emory, Texas, on June 27, 1903, and married Elizabeth "Lena" Matlock (1907–2005) on April 26, 1924 . He was a turret lathe operator for Steel Products Engineering Co. in Springfield, Ohio, for 33 years, retiring in 1969. He and Lena had four daughters and two sons, as well as an infant daughter who died in 1933, around the time the family relocated from Texas back to Ohio.
i. Helen Jane Campbell (1925–2010) was an operator with the Kissell Company, and was married to Roger E. Bayes (1921-2009), a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier for more than thirty years. They have one son and one daughter still living.
ii. Vernon E Campbell (1926–1984) enlisted in the final year of the second World War, on 7 April 1944. He worked as a machinist in Springfield, Ohio, through the 1950s. I assume from the City Directories that he was married to Florence, though I could not find marriage records or any further information about her. When Vernon died in 1984, at age 58, his wife was one Pansy Ellis (1922-2005), and they seem to have married around 1974.
iii. Marion Francis Campbell (1927–2013) was a veteran of the U.S. Navy where he served in WWII and the Naval Reserves. He worked for New York Central and Conrail for 42 years. He and his wife (still living) had two sons, the elder of whom was also a railroad worker: Robert Michael Campbell (1947–1989) died at only 41 years of age.
iv. Shirley Mae Campbell (1930– ?) appears on the 1930 and 1940 Census with the rest of the family, and her father's obituary mentions her as preceding him in death; but I have found no other records to say how old she was when she died.
v. The fifth child of Marion and Lena was a daughter who is still living in Ohio.
vi. Infant Daughter Campbell (1933–1933) is buried in Ohio.
vii. Miriam Colleen Campbell (1939–2012) attended Brown Mackie College in Salina in the early 1990s, and was the owner and operator of DuCharme Tax Services for twenty years. "Mim" DuCharme, as she was known, adopted her granddaughter in 1996, and raised her. Mim died in 2012.
d. Harold Ellsworth Campbell (1905–1989) was born in Texas, but by the mid-1920s he had relocated to Ohio. He married Doris E. Longbrake (1904–1969) on 23 October 1926, and they had a daughter and two sons before 1940. Their daughter is still living, but their sons are not.
ii. Fred S. Campbell (1938–2009) married Jeanne E. McCormick (1945–2011) on 22 December 1964 in Melbourne, Florida, and they had three sons and a daughter. Fred was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, and worked as a senior engineering emissions technician at General Electric for over 35 years, retiring in 2002. He served as Minister of music for 15 years at Ross Avenue Church of God.
iii. Homer Lee Campbell (1930–2012), apparently named for his uncle, married in Middletown, Ohio, on 21 August 1975 and has two sons still living. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army.
e. Homer Leonidas Campbell (1907–1987) was born in Rains county, Texas, moved to Ohio, and married Mary E. Kyser (1910-1988) either in 1934 or 1937. They have one daughter, still living.
f. Grace Dorothy Campbell (1911–1999) married Roger Wynston Longbrake (1901–1981) on 31 August 1928 in Covington, Kentucky, and they relocated to Shelby, Ohio, some time around 1937. Roger was the older brother of Doris Longbrake, wife of Grace's brother, Harold Ellsworth Campbell.
Roger and Grace had six sons, five of whom are no longer with us:
i. Hugh Roy Longbrake (1929–2010) - married Darlene D Donhow (1929–2007) in 1953.
ii. Gerald Elsworth Longbrake (1930–2005)
 |
| "Three Grand Jury Witnesses Under Arrest" - 7 July 1960 Pasadena, CA |
iv. Horace Leondis Longbrake (1936–2008)
v. Wynston Delmar Longbrake (1938–2002)
Their youngest son, George, is presumably still alive. Normally, I wouldn't include information about a living individual, but he and his brothers, Gerald and Wynston, ran into trouble with the law in a 1960 robbery (see linked article to the right). This is probably not something their families want to remember, but it is a matter of public record.
(See "Problematic: Between History and Gossip" for thoughts on the difficulty of documenting uncomfortable truths.)
g. Daughter Campbell - It is highly unusual to find living relatives born before 1920, but since I can't find any records for this lady, I must assume that she is still alive. Until I know for sure, I will continue to respect her privacy.
h. Marjorie R Campbell (1919–1998) was a Warrant Officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II, if I'm reading her Find-a-Grave entry correctly. She married Alvie Frank Samford (1912–2004), and they lived in Riverside, California.
Obviously, there is a lot left to learn about the Campbell families. Despite his early death, before turning 40, Cyrus Campbell left a large legacy in his surprisingly numerous descendants. Here's hoping that those still with us are happy and healthy!
* Milton township was originally part of Richland county, until Ashland county formed in 1846.
Friday, October 2, 2015
The Distance of Close Connections
For the last couple of months, we've explored the descendants of the man I called Tragic Thomas. Thomas was the son of James, elder of the two Brothers Callin of Ohio, and grandson of the man referred to in the Callin Family History (or CFH) as "James 1st".
I told you what little I know about Thomas's brother, Alec Callin, who felt The Pull of the West and moved further, from Ohio to Iowa. Just to refresh you on the details, the CFH says this of Alec:
Following behind Alec by a year or two, his younger brother, James (3rd), also moved to Iowa. Per the CFH, again:
I told you what little I know about Thomas's brother, Alec Callin, who felt The Pull of the West and moved further, from Ohio to Iowa. Just to refresh you on the details, the CFH says this of Alec:
"Married and moved with his family and mother to Iowa about the year of 1840. The mother referred to was 'Aunt Mary', wife of James 2nd who was killed with a gun. She sold the farm and went with Alec to Iowa where she died some years later. Nothing has been heard from that branch of the family since 1845."There are several records of land grants to an Alexander Callin, one identifying him as a resident of Muscatine, Iowa in July 1854, and showing that he purchased a plots of land in the young state. There is also a Mary Callin buried in a Muscatine county cemetery, having died in 1846 at age 77.
Following behind Alec by a year or two, his younger brother, James (3rd), also moved to Iowa. Per the CFH, again:
"James Callin with his wife and baby moved to Iowa where he died in 1844. William Callin, brother of Margret, went to Iowa and brought her and the two above named children home to Ashland Co. after her husband's death."
The "above named children" are William and Warren on the following chart, which shows the lineage of their parents:
Because it's such a taboo, I hesitate to come out and say plainly that James and Margret were 1st cousins, but clearly, they were. James was the youngest son of James, the brother of John, whose youngest daughter was Margret.
I don't have any way of knowing what the family might have thought about this arrangement, either. Both fathers were long dead by the time the couple was wed in 1841. Alec had already moved west by this point, taking his and James's mother, Mary, with him; and if Margret's mother, Elizabeth, disapproved of their wedding, it may explain why they decided to make the journey described here. Even today, traveling 435 miles (by modern route estimates) from the frontier of Ohio to the even newer frontier of Muscatine, Iowa with an infant wouldn't be ideal!
But the truth is that we can't know the Truth(tm) - the best we can do is look at what we do know, and try to fill in the blank spots as best we can. We can't know what the people were thinking or what motivated their choices, but we can at least hazard a guess as to what those choices were.
We already know from reading about Tragic Thomas's life that James and Margret were two of at least 13 cousins (including Thomas himself) who grew up together on the farm that their fathers had settled in Milton township.
We know that when James died (1844), Margret was left with Warren, about age 2, and she was almost certainly pregnant with little William (b. 1845). Since Margret's brother - my own 3rd great grandfather, William - is the one who made the ~870 mile round trip to Iowa to bring Margret back to Ohio, we can assume that Margret either did not want to remain in Iowa or could not, for some reason. Alec had only purchased the first of three recorded properties that we know of, and we have no idea who his wife was or how many children they had; clearing a farm and providing for a large family would have been daunting.
Since "Aunt Mary" (James and Alec's mother) died a year later, perhaps we can guess that she was in poor health. It could be that with her husband dead, Margret simply wanted to return to where she grew up.
Once back in Ohio, Margret herself died in 1847. It is telling that her two small sons - 5 and 3 by that time - were not taken in by any of her siblings' or cousin's families on the 1850 Census. As we will see, at least one of the boys was fostered with a family in New London, Huron county. Of course, for the size of her extended family, Margret's options for finding someone to raise her sons were more limited than you might think.
Since "Aunt Mary" (James and Alec's mother) died a year later, perhaps we can guess that she was in poor health. It could be that with her husband dead, Margret simply wanted to return to where she grew up.
Once back in Ohio, Margret herself died in 1847. It is telling that her two small sons - 5 and 3 by that time - were not taken in by any of her siblings' or cousin's families on the 1850 Census. As we will see, at least one of the boys was fostered with a family in New London, Huron county. Of course, for the size of her extended family, Margret's options for finding someone to raise her sons were more limited than you might think.
Consider that Thomas, her cousin/brother-in-law had likely died in 1843, just before she came back from Iowa. His widow, Nancy, had several small ones of her own, two of whom she would lose after 1850; her household may have been stricken with any number of disease outbreaks common at the time, and possibly couldn't have handled the two boys.
Margret's own siblings all had their hands full. The oldest brother, John, died young (23 years old) in 1825, but of the rest:
- Her oldest brother, George, had six children under 12 in his home; 2 boys, and 4 girls. (The youngest of those, Sabra Ann, was born in 1843 and died in 1849.)
- Her sister Ann Campbell also had 5 who were 10 and under; 2 boys and 3 girls.
- Her sister Sarah married John Scott in 1835 and they had moved to Illinois around 1840.
- Sister Eliza Ferguson and family lived in Auburn, Indiana.
- Her brother William's third child, a son name James, was born in 1844, and his fourth, George (who grew up to compile the Callin Family History) was born in 1846. The births of these boys bookended his trip to Iowa to fetch Margret, Warren, and little William.
- Her next eldest brother, James, had two daughters - the younger of whom (born in 1841, and called Sabra Ann) was blind, and likely needed special attention that her parents couldn't spare.
- And lastly, Hugh had just married Barbara Matthews, and they had a newborn in 1846.
Certainly, each of these families had their own hardships to face, so it wouldn't be charitable to draw any conclusions about them or their sister from the fact that none of them seemed to have room for Warren or William - even William's likely namesake, his uncle.
Wherever he ended up going to live as a boy, we know what eventually happened to Warren:
"Warren enlisted in the spring of 1861 in 25th Regiment O.V.I., and died on Cheat Mt., West Va. Had been on a scout; only sick one hour. It is supposed he died from drinking poisoned milk. He was a musician, and wherever he went his violin went, and when in camp he drew crowds to hear him play. It is said no man in the regiment equaled him in strength, his soldierly qualities won the confidence of his colonel and he was made Scout. His kind heart and sweet disposition endeared him to all his comrades. The whole regiment mourned his death." (CFH - record of Margret, his mother)
As for young William, his first cousin, George, happened to be the author of the CFH, and had this to say:
"William Callin was left an orphan in childhood about the age of 3. Was adopted by and raised by a family named Day near New London, O. At eighteen he enlisted in Co. E, 55th Regt. O.V.V.I., was in all of the battles of his Reg't. till captured on Sherman's Atlanta Campaign and remained in Andersonville prison till close of war. He escaped from prison three times but was each time traced by bloodhounds, captured and returned. His prison life resulted in curvature of the spine and he was badly crippled during later life, enduring much suffering and finally death, for the services he rendered his country, to which he gave the full measure of his devotion." (CFH)
"Andersonville Prison" by John L. Ransom
I still don't know for certain who the "family named Day" was, though I have a hunch; I will continue that hunt and keep you updated.
After the war, William married Theodocia Johnson (1843 – 1899) 9 August 1868 at age 23, and they had one daughter, Edith May Callin (1872 – 1967). It isn't clear what William did for a living; by the 1900 Census, he was 55 and listed as a "pentioner" (I assume that's just a spelling mistake by the enumerator). Theodocia died in May 1899, and Edith appeared with William on the Census, which says she worked as a seamstress, probably supporting her father.
Just over a year after the death of her mother, Edith married Oley Ray Hanley (1876 – 1953) on 16 August 1900; they had one son: Lyle Elliott Hanley (1902 – 1935). William likely lived with them, until his death in 1907. His brief death notice in the newspaper simply mourns the passing of an "old resident and soldier," and he was buried on a Friday.
Edith divorced Ray around 1912, and moved with 10-year-old Lyle to Toledo. Lyle lived with his mother through the 1920s, and was employed as a clerk, and as a time-keeper by the American Can Co. Lyle died on May 10 1935 in Toledo. He was survived by his young widow, Marie, whom he married around 1930. His obituary did not mention any children.
Edith outlived her son by 32 years. She seems to have made a living taking in boarders, as she did in 1940, judging by the Census, and she died in May 1967 at the age of 94. It's impossible to know whether she ever knew her Callin cousins who also lived in Toledo; Ben Frank and Daisy would have been living there at least until his death in 1953. But it may be that after three somewhat tragic and lonely generations, Edith may not have been interested in her family connections.
And with that, unless we discover something new, I believe we have officially covered everyone on the "James 2nd" side of the family - from here on, we will look at the descendants of his brother (my 4th great grandfather), John.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)