CFH First Draft: James Scott

 This post is part of an ongoing series, sharing the first draft of my Revised Callin Family History. 

James Scott is the 31st person in a descendant report beginning with the earliest known ancestor of our Callin family, (1.) James Callin. This descendant report uses the Register Style of the New England Historic and Genealogical Society. 

Please use the Contact Form (at right) to send questions or corrections.

Back to Linn County

Welcome back, cousins!

The last half dozen posts covered the descendants of Rebecca Davidson Murphy, the eldest daughter of Sarah Montgomery Davidson (1824-1918), and granddaughter of Caleb Montgomery and Elizabeth Callin. At long last, we get to move on to Rebecca's brother:

II. William Montgomery Davidson (1845–1939) 

William M. Davidson was born on 8 April 1845, in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana. He was the second son of Henry and Sarah Montgomery Davidson, who came to Oregon with their family in 1845 and settled on a 320-acre homestead three miles north of Halsey. Mr. Davidson attended the Halsey public schools and during 1863-64 attended the Christian college at Monmouth. In 1865 he went to eastern Oregon where he engaged in stock-raising. The following year he returned to Linn County where he resided for the rest of his life.

In 1867 he bought a place two and one-half miles east of Harrisburg, and on 2 June of that year, he married Sarah Rosetta "Rose" Morris (1848–1928). Rose was born on 24 October 1848 in Moniteau County, Missouri, to George Jackson Morris (1818–1896) and Eliza Ann Cook (1825–1903). (Records suggest her full name might have been "Elizanna Matilda Cook".) The Morris family were also pioneers and crossed the plains in 1853.

Rose and William had the following seven children:

     A. Clara M Davidson (1868–1950)
     B. Henry Bruce Davidson (1870–1953)
     C. Laura Elsie Davidson (1872–1913)
     D. John Halbert Davidson (1877–1953)
     E. Iva E. Davidson (1879–1881)
     F. Oral Everett Davidson (1883–1955)
     G. Lydia D Davidson (1886–1975)

(We have time to talk about Clara's family today, and the rest will follow in the coming weeks.)

The Davidsons lived on the farm until 1874 when they sold it and bought a home 5 miles east of Harrisburg. They lived there until 1907 when Mr. Davidson retired from farm work and moved to Brownsville. Rose died in Brownsville on 17 February 1928 and was buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Harrisburg, Linn County, Oregon. Soon after, William made his home in Albany with his daughter, Mrs. Clara McCoy. He died there on 26 May 1939 and was buried with his wife.

They were survived by five of their children, 17 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren.

     A. Clara M Davidson (1868–1950) was born in Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon, on 16 June 1868. She married Clyde McCoy (1869–1942) in Harrisburg in 1888. Clyde was born on 7 February 1869 in Halsey, Linn County, Oregon, to William McCoy (1817–1900) and Margaret Ann Downey (1849–1931).

Clyde was a businessman who ran a drug store and was a part-owner of a building in downtown Halsey but lost a great deal in a fire that destroyed several businesses in January of 1895. After that, he is listed as a laborer, farmer, and salesman when his occupation is listed.

Clara and Clyde had three children together over the 12 years they were married, but they divorced in 1900. He moved to Portland after that, and he died there on 21 October 1942.

Clara lived in Albany for 34 years but in 1948 she moved back to Corvallis. She had also lived at Harrisburg, Halsey, Brownsville, Salem, in Crook county, in Seattle and in Washington, D.C. according to her obituary. After she suffered a hip fracture, she lived with her daughter, Gertrude Brown, in Corvallis. She died there on 26 October 1950 at the age of 82 and was buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Harrisburg.

     1. Lilla Orlean McCoy (1889–1969) was born on 4 September 1889 in Linn County, Oregon, and lived all her life there. She never married, but for several years she operated the first Brownsville telephone exchange with her mother. She also was a legal secretary, working for the Linn County Court and Tripp and Tripp Realtors. Lilla died on 11 July 1969 at the Albany Linn Nursing Home after a brief illness and was buried in Masonic Cemetery in Harrisburg, Linn County.

     2. Gertrude Doris McCoy (1891–1983) was born on 28 August 1891 in Halsey, Linn County, Oregon. On 11 August 1915, she married Lyn Arthur Brown (1891–1956) in Brownsville, Linn County, Oregon. He was born on 20 September 1891 in Carthage, Miner County, South Dakota, the son of Fred Martell Brown (1867–1938) and Lilian R Prescott (1870–1952). The Brown family moved to Oregon at the turn of the century, and Lyn grew up in Brownsville.

Lyn and Gertrude had two children and raised them in Corvallis. Lyn worked as superintendent of a cannery, and the couple was active in the local community. Lyn died on 6 August 1956 while visiting their daughter, Bette, in Roseburg. He was buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Harrisburg, Linn County. Gertrude died at the Corvallis Manor nursing home on 7 March 1983 and was buried with her husband.

They were survived by their son, daughter, five grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

     a. Bette Ann Brown (1917–2012) was born on 24 February 1917 in Brownsville, Linn County, Oregon. She attended Albany College and graduated from Oregon State College in 1939.

On 14 June 1941, she married Wallace Russell Wright (1918–1967), who was born in Medford, Jackson County, Oregon, on 15 January 1918. Wallace was the son of Alexander Lincoln Wright (1888–1960) and Odis Effie Wise (1890–1918), but his mother died when he was 8 months old, and her sister and brother-in-law, Ailey E Wise (1888–1959) and Albert Cleveland Cochell (1884–1946), took him in and raised him.

Wallace worked in the woolen mills while taking an extension study from the University of Oregon, later attending the Oregon College of Education. Bette taught in Independence and Central Point before settling in Roseburg. They raised a son and a daughter together. She and Wallace moved to Garden Valley in 1954. He died there on 28 July 1967. She later married Dick Scarborough.

Bette taught biology and physical education at Sutherlin High School until she retired in 1979. Dick died on 18 August 2009 and was buried in Roseburg National Cemetery in Roseburg, Douglas County, Oregon. Bette moved to Clearwater Springs in Vancouver, Washington in 2009, where she died on 7 November 2012. She is also buried in Roseburg National Cemetery.

Bette was survived by her son, daughter, two grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

     b. Lyn Arthur Brown Jr (1920–2005) was born on 13 July 1920 in Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon. On 12 August 1942, he married Dorothy Ann Winter (1921–1987), daughter of Raymond Robert Robinson (1899–1983) and Vera Catherine Gantz (1902–2003) (Her biological father was Raymond Herbert Winter (b. 1899); records don't suggest whether he and Vera divorced or if he died.)

Dorothy was born on 3 January 1921 in Portland and moved to the Corvallis-Philomath area as a child. She was the secretary for the Corvallis School District for many years, retiring in 1984.

Dorothy died on 5 July 1987 in Philomath, Benton County, Oregon. Lyn died on 3 Jun 2005 in Corvallis. They were survived by two daughters and a son.

     3. Charles William Henry McCoy (1894–1970) was born on 2 October 1894 in Halsey, Linn County, Oregon. His parents divorced when he was about six years old, but Charles and his siblings grew up living near his mother's family, appearing in the 1900 Census in his grandparents' household in North Harrisburg, and living with his mother and sisters next door to the Pugh family (his mother's sister and brother-in-law) in Brownsville in 1910. During World War I, he served with the Marine Corps as an instructor of the machine gun, rifle, and pistol.

Charles married his first wife, Violet L Stellmacher (1904–1994) on 24 August 1920 in Linn County, Oregon. She was a daughter of Alfred Conrad Stellmacher (1861–1941) and Ida Louisa Spink (1869–1953), born in Oregon on 24 June 1904. The couple had a son and a daughter in Albany before they divorced.

By 1930, Violet had remarried and was living in Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California, with her daughter and new husband, Tom Tomson Leal (1905–1976). Violet and Tom had a son and daughter together and raised their family in Los Angeles. Violet died on 17 October 1994 in Placer County, California, where she had lived with her third husband, John A. "Jack" Doyle Jr. (1911–1992).

Charles married his second wife Guinevere L Kerns (1907–1954) on 29 May 1931 in  Josephine County, Oregon. She was born on 17 October 1907 in Oregon to John Wesley Kerns (1868–1951) and Jennie Houck (1885–1978). They also had a son and daughter together whom they raised in Medford.

Guinivere died on 30 September 1954 in Rogue River, Jackson County, Oregon, and was buried there in Woodville Cemetery. Charles died on 17 March 1970 in Rogue River and was buried with Guinivere. He was survived by all four of his children and eleven grandchildren.

Two of his children are still living.

     a. Alfred Lee McCoy (1922–2006) was born in Albany on 4 February 1922. When his parents divorced, he went to live in Calapooia, Linn County, Oregon, with his maternal grandparents, Alfred and Ida Stellmacher, where he appeared on the 1930 Census. He graduated from Albany High School in 1941 and briefly attended Oregon State University.

Lee joined the U.S. Navy in 1942 during World War II and served in the Pacific Theater as an electrician's mate. He also served in the Korean Conflict in 1950. Upon his discharge from the Navy, he married Patricia Gertrude Richey (1924–1995) in 1945 in San Francisco. She was born on 24 June 1924 in Washington, District of Columbia, to Thomas Beall Richey (1895–1953) and Winifred Mary Benbow (1893–1951).

Patricia's family moved to San Francisco from Washington, D.C. when she was two years old. She graduated from George Washington High School there in 1942, and after high school, she worked for Graybar Electric, at a detective agency and at an insurance company in San Francisco. Lee worked as an electrician in Los Angeles before moving back to Oregon in the late 1940s. About 1946 they moved to Albany, where Lee worked for Pacific Power & Light and Patricia worked for a title company and for Dr. Wade. In 1952 Lee transferred to the Linn County Telephone Company in Lebanon (currently CenturyTel) and worked as a construction superintendent for many years. Later, he became a safety engineer until his retirement in 1986.

Patricia died in Lebanon on 6 November 1995. Lee was later married to his old high school sweetheart, and they lived in Albany, where Lee died on 1 December 2006. Patricia and Lee are survived by their son and daughter, three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

     b. Margery Ann McCoy Holly (1924–2004) was born on 14 August 1924 in Medford, Jackson County, Oregon. She was married in 1948, and they lived in the Los Angeles area for many years before moving to Palm Springs.

Margery was vice president of Palm Springs Camera and Sound, Inc. for 12 years. Her paintings were featured at a one-woman show and received numerous awards from the Indio Date Festival and other venues. Her civic involvement included serving two terms on the Palm Springs City Art Commission, president of the Desert Art Center, chairperson of the Auditorium Project, a docent at Palm Springs Desert Museum and a volunteer at Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

Margery died on 28 February 2004 in Palm Springs, Riverside County, California. She is survived by her husband, daughter, son, and five grandchildren.

- -- --- -- -

As always, if you've found one or more of your relatives mentioned in this blog, please get in touch. You can comment below (anonymous comments are usually not as helpful), or email "mightieracorns" at Gmail.com.

We now have more ways to reach out:

a Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/MightierAcorns/
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a Ko-Fi cup - https://ko-fi.com/mightieracorns


...and if you prefer a private group, we still have the Callin Family History group on Facebook for "cousins only" (there will be a question about how you're related to the family before you can join).

Until next time... Happy Hunting!

Life As Lark

Hello, cousins!

Lark Robinson's family tree

Last week, I reported on my breakthrough finding the rest of the story of Minerva Callin (1834-1895). Of her seven children, I was only able to trace the descendants of one daughter - and according to the Kansas City Times, that daughter left behind 89 descendants!

Here is where we left off:

     VI. Laura "Lark" Robinson (1870–1954) was born on 15 December 1870 in Gridley, Coffey County, Kansas. When her parents divorced, around 1874, she remained with her father, Dana, and her younger brother stayed with their mother, Minerva.

Her name was listed as "Lark" when she appeared in her father's household on the 1880 U.S. Census, the 1875 and 1885 Kansas State Census, and in her daughter Clara's 1957 death record, suggesting that this was the name she went by. Her name appears as "Laura" in all of the other official records I found.

Lark married Jeremiah Luther Cook (1843–1919) in 1890. He was born on 3 March 1843 in Pendleton County, Virginia (which is now West Virginia) to William Cook and Mary Shaw (or Share). This was his second marriage, his first wife, Martha E Hartman (1859–1886), having died in 1886, leaving him with two children, Mary S., and Isaac Newton Cook.

Lark and Jeremiah lived in Cass, Douglas County, Missouri during the 1900s and 1910s before moving to Lamar, Barton County, Missouri. They had nine children together:

     A. Effa May Cook (1891–1979)
     B. Clara Belle Cook (1893–1957)
     C. Maudie Fay Cook (1895–1964)
     D. Martha Etta Cook (1898–1981)
     E. Harry Lee Cook (1901–1985)
     F. Daina Austin Cook (1905–1965)
     G. Willie Walter Cook (1907–1984)
     H. Dorothy M Cook (1910–1981)
     I. Angeline R Cook (1913–1984)

We'll be spending this week and next week looking at their families.

Jeremiah died in Lamar on 25 October 1919 and was buried in East Side Cemetery in Lamar. Lark remained in Lamar, but died on 1 December 1954 in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, and was buried in Lake Cemetery in Lamar.

     A. Effa May Cook (1891–1979) was born on 14 April 1891 in Missouri and married Elvis E Edwards (1878–1950) around 1908. He was born on 27 February 1878 in Independence Corners, Missouri, to Cornelius Edwards (1841–1928) and Charlotte "Lottie" Waller (1850–1935).

Elvis and Effie lived in Cass, Douglas County, Missouri (1910), Blue, Jackson County, Missouri (1920), and Liberty, Coffey County, Kansas (1925), before settling for a while in Sulphur Springs, Benton County, Arkansas for a few years around 1930 and 1935. They lived in Inglewood, Los Angeles County, California, from at least 1935.

Elvis died in Los Angeles on 6 November 1950 and was buried back in Sulphur Springs, Arkansas, in the Butler Creek Cemetery. Effie moved back to Missouri and remarried. Her second husband was Welker Lee Vickers (1890–1963). She died in Sulphur Springs in September 1979 and was buried with Welker in Butler Creek Cemetery.

       1. Roy Clifford Edwards (1909–1985) was born on 29 May 1909 in Ava, Douglas County, Missouri. He married Lucile B Lang (1914–1985) about 1931. They had three of their four children in Missouri before moving to San Diego, California, in 1937 or 1938.

Roy was a baker. He died in Sacramento, California, on 2 July 1985, and Lucille died in Riverside County, California, just a few months later on 15 November 1985. As far as I know, their son and three daughters are still living.

       2. Clara Marie Edwards (1912–2000) was born on 2 February 1912 in Blue, Jackson County, Missouri. She married Hayden Ralph Yeargain (1911–1981) on 31 March 1931 in Pineville, McDonald County, Missouri. He was born on 2 February 1911 in Sulphur Springs, Arkansas, to Charles Joe Yeargain (1884–1940) and Laura H Roughton (1890–1927).

After they married, Clara and Hayden lived in Inglewood, Los Angeles, California, where he worked as a plumbers assistant in 1940. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on 30 December 1942 and served until 18 January 1946.

Hayden died on 18 December 1981 in Redondo Beach, Los Angeles County, California, and was buried in the Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside County. Clara was living back in Lanagan, McDonald County, Missouri, in 1991; she died on 4 February 2000 in Gravette, Benton County, Arkansas, and was buried in Butler Creek Cemetery in Sulphur Springs.

The records suggest they did not leave any children of their own behind.

       3. Ruth May Edwards (1920–1976) was born on 9 January 1920 in Jackson County, Missouri (the Southeast side of Kansas City). She married her first husband on 12 October 1935 in Carthage, Jasper, Missouri, when she was only 15. His name was William A Brown (born 1908).

Will and Ruth had two sons together before the start of World War II. Without more information about Will, I don't know whether they divorced or he died; it is possible that he enlisted in the Army, as there are several records of men of that name in that area with similar details.

At any rate, Ruth married her second husband, William Bourbon Puryear (1906–1996), about 1946, and they had a son the following year. They lived in Noel, McDonald County, Missouri, which is about five miles north of Sulphur Springs, across the Arkansas-Missouri state line.

Ruth died at the Medical Center in Gravette, Benton County, Arkansas (another five miles south of Sulphur Springs), on 2 July 1976, and was buried in Butler Creek Cemetery, like her sister and mother. Bill died in Gravette twenty years later on 21 May 1996 and was buried with his wife.

       a. Darrell Lee Brown (1936–2014) was born 3 June 1936 in Pittsburg, Kansas. He was an American Airlines mechanic, and lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from at least the late 1950s, when he was married there. Darrell died 9 April 2014, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the age of 77 years.

       b. Gerald Dee Brown (1940–1998) was born on 29 February 1940 in Lamar, Barton County, Missouri. Like his older brother, he lived in Tulsa, where he married Judy Watkins (1940–2008) on 16 August 1958. He died on 10 September 1998 in Bangs, Brown County, Texas, and Judy died there on 3 July 2008.

       c. Daniel E Puryear (1947–2011) was born in Noel, Missouri, on 24 July 1947. Daniel was employed as a shipping supervisor for Tyson Foods. He had a passion for photography, playing the banjo, mandolin, and guitar, fishing and restoring cars. He died on 5 August 2011 in Houston, Texas, and was survived by his wife, his two sons, three step-sons, step-daughter, four grandchildren, eight step-grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

     B. Clara Belle Cook (1893–1957) was born in Lamar, Barton County, Missouri, on 6 August 1893. She grew up in Cass, Douglas County, and married William David Henson (1886–1976) there on 21 August 1910.

William was born on 6 January 1886, one of the younger children of James B Henson (1846–1931) and Martha Belle Tuggle (1855–c. 1915). He served in the U.S. Army from 15 August 1905 to 14 August 1908. William work as a laborer in the oil fields of the Pacific Northwest, and the family moved frequently between Cold Springs, Independence, and Lamar in Missouri and Idaho, eventually settling in Washington state.

Clara died on 27 August 1957 in Cashmere, Chelan County, Washington, and was buried in Cashmere Cemetery. William died there on 22 June 1976 and was buried with his wife.

     1. Effie Lenora Henson (1911–2010) was born in Cold Springs, Missouri, on 23 June 1911. She married Drew Leaver Coats (1894–1980) on 25 October 1932 in Libby, Lincoln County, Montana. He was born on 15 September 1894 in Houston, Texas County, Missouri, the son of Andrew Jackson Coats (1854–1918) and Nancy E Farris (1859–1942).

Drew and Lenora lived in McCormick, Lincoln County, Montana, during the 1930s, and were in Moyie Springs, Boundary County, Idaho, in 1942, where they ran a dairy farm. They had four sons and three daughters, all but one of whom are still living. Drew died on 4 January 1980 in Bonner's Ferry, Boundary county, and was buried in Paradise Valley Cemetery.

When she was 93, Lenora attended the University of Idaho where a new ruling called the “Lenora Rule” was passed so that anyone over the age of 85 could attend college without a high school diploma. She earned a 4.0 GPA.

Lenora died on 1 March 2010 at the Bonner General Hospital in Sandpoint, Idaho, with memorial services held on 6 March in the LDS Church in Bonner's Ferry. She was survived by 15 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren, and 10 great-great-grandchildren; one granddaughter and one great-granddaughter preceded her in death.

       e. James William Coats was born on Nov. 29, 1940, at the Coats Ranch in the State Line area to Drew and Lenora Coats., and attended Central and Troy schools. James and his brother moved to Leavenworth, Washington, in 1951 to live with another brother. James worked in the orchards and graduated from high school as valedictorian of his senior class.

James enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1959 in San Diego and was sent to Ford and Chrysler Motor College. He served aboard the USS CVA Constellation, USS Forrestal, USS Ranger, and the USS Kitty Hawk, commissioned the USS Enterprise, and commissioned and designed part of the USS Nimitz. James served for five years in Vietnam, both on land and at sea. He was the commanding officer of the first Navy Seal Team and during his years in the service traveled around the world and received numerous awards and medals.

While stationed in Hawaii he married Alicia Bicoy (1943–2017) on 24 May 1963. She was born on 14 May 1943 on Oahu, Hawaii, to Andres Cinto Bicoy (1896–1971) and Auria Ondo (1910–1973). He retired from the U.S. Navy after 20 years and in spring 1978 moved his family from Norfolk, Va., to Bonner's Ferry, Idaho. In 1980 the family moved to the Coats Ranch where he farmed, raised cattle, logged and did private contracting for the Forest Service in Idaho and Montana. He also worked for 15 years as a mechanic at Hubbard's Farm.

James and Alicia divorced, and he remarried in 2001. He died on 8 September 2004, at the age of 63, along with his dog Queenie, from injuries suffered in a car accident at Naples, Idaho.  Alicia died in her home in Troy, Lincoln County, Montana, on 17 October 2017. They are survived by their three daughters and six grandchildren.

     2. Lloyd James Henson (1914–1995) was born on 11 May 1914 in Pacific, Pierce County, Washington. He married Mildred Mae Barden (1919–1981) on 2 September 1938 in Cashmere, Chelan County, Washington. She was born on 13 August 1919 in Danbury, Burnett County, Wisconsin, to Hiram Henry Barden (1890–1955) and Maude Eva Cowan (1885–1960).

Lloyd was a carpenter and was a member of Local 2127 U.B.C.J.A. Mildred died on 14 December 1981 in Centralia, Lewis County, Washington, and was buried in Mountain View Memorial Park, Lakewood, Lewis County. Lloyd remarried in spent his last 13 years in Pierce County and died at 80 years of age on 15 March 1995 in Tacoma. He was buried with Mildred in Lakewood.

The couple had five children: three sons and a daughter, still living, and one daughter who died at age 30. They were also survived by six grandchildren.

• Lynda Lark Henson (1948–1978) was born on 10 August 1948 in Wenatchee, Chelan County, Washington, and was married to Forrest W Sorenson (1946–2013). She died at only 30 years of age on 24 September 1978 in Puyallup, Pierce County, Washington. Forrest remarried in 1981 but divorced in 1988. He died on 31 May 2013 in Pierce County, Washington.

      3. Lester William Henson (1916–1996) was born on 2 July 1916 in Shoshone, Lincoln County, Idaho. He appeared with his family in Independence, Missouri, on the 1920 Census, and in Center, Greene County, Missouri on the 1930 Census. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on 10 April 1942 in Tacoma, Washington.

According to Idaho marriage records, Lester was married on 16 November 1941 in Coeur d'Alene, Kootenai County, Idaho. I have not been able to find further information about this first wife to know whether she is still living. He later married Vera Ethel Lee (1915–2002) on 26 December 1947 in Coeur d'Alene and became the step-father to her four children.

Vera was born on 12 March 1915 in Coffee Creek, Fergus County, Montana, to Roy Albert Lee (1890–1963) and Elsie Murray (1899–1980). She was first married to Dale Ralph Hollingsworth (1897–1963), and they had two sons and two daughters before they divorced. She married her second husband, Ted Brusha, on 3 November 1938 in Wenatchee, Chelan County, Washington. They divorced, as well.

Lester died on 17 July 1996 in Kirkland, King County, Washington, and was buried in Acacia Memorial Park and Funeral Home in Seattle. Vera died on 15 April 2002, also in King County, and was buried with Lester.

      4. Leona "Mattie" Henson (1918–1920) was born in Lamar, Barton County, Missouri, on 3 November 1918 and died on 4 February 1920 in Independence, Missouri, when she was just over a year old. She is buried in a public plot in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Independence.

      5. Violet Lobelia Henson (1921–2002) was born on 24 March 1921 most likely in Bonner's Ferry, Boundary County, Idaho. Her records give some conflicting information on her birthplace, and her family was in Greene County, Missouri according to the 1930 Census.

She married Henry Leroy Pressley (1915–1949) on 26 October 1939 in Chelan County, Washington. Henry was born on 8 April 1915 in Hardin, Calhoun County, Illinois, to George William Pressley (1880–1967) and Clarabelle Mcdonald (1887–1918). He enlisted in the U.S. Army on 25 January 1944 and was honorably discharged after the end of the war on 12 November 1945, having served in the antitank company of the 473rd Infantry Regiment.

Henry was killed on 21 October 1949 near East Wenatchee, Washington, by a blast from a 12-gauge shotgun accidentally discharged by a hunting companion, James Nelson. Nelson and two other hunting companions rushed Pressley to a physician, but he was dead on arrival. He was survived by his widow and three daughters, one of whom is still living.

Violet remarried on 9 May 1952 in Chelan County, Washington; her second husband was Bruce Gilbert Grimes (1912–1997). He was the son of Clarence Procter Grimes (1879–1939) and Della Deakins (1884–1964), born on 26 December 1912 in Cashmere, Chelan County.

Bruce and Violet lived in Cashmere. Bruce died on 16 April 1997 in Wenatchee, Chelan County. Violet died in Okanogan, Okanogan County, Washington on 20 October 2002, and was buried in Cashmere Cemetery.

     a. Patricia M Pressley Hendrix (1941–2006) was born on 3 February 1941 in Chicago while her family was staying with her grandparents in Jerseyville, Jersey County, Illinois. She married her first husband when she was 15, on 23 September 1956 in Kootenai County, Idaho. She married a second time on 4 February 1967 also in Kootenai County, Idaho. She died in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, on 3 August 2006.

     b. Carolyn Lee Pressley Hankey (1942–2004) was born in Bonner's Ferry, Boundary County, Idaho, on 4 July 1942. She graduated from Cashmere High School in Chelan County, Washington. Carolyn died on 18 November 2004 in Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana.

     C. Maudie Fay Cook (1895–1964) was born in Lamar, Barton County, Missouri, on 10 October 1895. She grew up in Cass, Douglas County, Missouri, and married her first husband Willard Leslie Pyle (1886–1918) in Lamar on 29 February 1916. She appears to have been his second wife, and they had two sons before Willard's death in 1918.

She married her second husband, the Reverend Ora Clayton Keller (1889–1942) of the Free Will Baptist Church, sometime after 1920. They had a son and a daughter together and raised them in Missouri.

Ora was only 52 when he died in Norwood, Wright County, Missouri in August 1942. He was buried in Denlow Cemetery in Douglas County, Missouri. Maudie moved to San Bernardino, California, to be closer to her daughter. She died there on 17 March 1964. At some point, she married again, as her obituary and her record in the California, Death Index, 1940-1997 give her name as "Maudie Faye McCullough." She was brought back to Mountain Grove, Wright County, Missouri, for burial.

Maudie was survived by her three sons, her daughter (who still survives), six grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

     1. Jerry Alfred Pyle (1916–1998) was born in Pittsburg, Crawford County, Kansas, on 23 November 1916. He married Ruth Ann Irvin (1917–2012) about 1938. Ruth was born on 10 December 1917 in Oklahoma to William Norman Irvin (1879–1959) and Sarah E Smith (1884–1959).

Ruth and Jerry lived in Mountain Grove, Wright County, Missouri for many years. Jerry died in Guntersville, Marshall County, Alabama, on 19 September 1998. Ruth died while living at the Marshall Manor Nursing Home in Marshall County on 12 October 2012. They had three sons, two of whom are still living, and were survived by six grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.

     a. Ralph Eugene "Gene" Pyle (1939–2002) was born on 12 August 1939 in Norwood, Wright County, Missouri. Records show he was enlisted in the U.S. Army from 25 April 1973 through 31 January 1977, but his obituary says he retired from "the Army and civil service."

Gene married Reba Lavina Orahood (1939–2007), the daughter of William J Orahood (1894–1984) and Lora L Lewis (1902–1966). Lavina was born on 31 January 1939 in Lamar, Barton County, Missouri, and she and Gene were in the same graduating class at Lamar High School.

Gene died on 17 November 2002 in Arab, Marshall County, Alabama, and Lavina died 7 January 2007 in Warrior, Jefferson County, Alabama. They were survived by three sons and a number of grandchildren.

     2. Willard Leslie Pyle (1918–1983) was born on 9 August 1918 in Lamar, Barton County, Missouri. He was married on 10 August 1940, and his wife is still living. Willard was a carpenter who was sometimes contracted by Laura Ingalls Wilder. He died on 16 February 1983 in Mansfield, Wright County, Missouri.

     a. Willard Leslie Pyle (1941–2011) was born 7 May 1941, in Norwood, Wright County, Missouri. On 25 January 1963, he married Margie Loraine Crossland (1945–2010)  daughter of John and Alta Linder Crossland. Margie was born on 16 April 1945 in Springfield, Missouri.

Willard attended his senior year at Mansfield where he graduated with the Class of 1959. While living in Springfield, he met and married Margie. After she and Willard were married they made their home in Mansfield. Willard was a lifelong carpenter and his work was second to none. He was very particular about his woodworking and anyone who he worked for knew that it would be perfect. Margie was a hard worker and had worked at Tobin-Hamilton Shoe Factory, Ken Ballew Hatchery, Mansfield Nursing Home and was a fourth-grade teacher’s aide in the Mansfield Schools. Her last job was at Mercy Villa in Springfield where she worked for thirteen years.

Margie died on 15 April 2010 in her home near Mansfield, Wright County, Missouri, at the age of sixty-four. Willard died at the age of seventy years on 30 August 2011, also in his home near Mansfield. They were survived by their two sons and eight grandchildren.

     b. Lois Marie Pyle (1943–2008) was born on 23 December 1943 in Macomb, Wright County, Missouri. She married Ferda (Ferd) Hose Kelley (1940–1990), son of Hosea Richard Kelley (1904–1985) and Mary Vietta Hurt (1909–1995).

Ferd was a truck driver, and he died at only 50 years of age on 19 January 1990 and was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Norwood, Wright County, Missouri. Lois died on 12 December 2008 in Sedalia, Pettis County, Missouri, and was buried with her husband. They are survived by two sons and four daughters and were preceded in death by one infant daughter, Barbara Jo Kelley (1960).

     3. James Samuel Keller (1923–2001) was born on 27 December 1923 in Cold Springs, Missouri. He was a career military man, with his first enlistment beginning 25 June 1943 and his last ended 31 December 1965. When his mother died in March 1964, he was a sergeant stationed in Germany.

I know from his death record in the Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1932, 1938-2007 database that he was widowed when he died on 14 January 2001 in Hamilton, Ohio, but I have not found an obituary or any other information about his wife. James was buried in Saint Mary Cemetery in Saint Bernard, Hamilton County, Ohio.

- -- --- -- -

And with that, I need a break! We've only covered three of Lark Robinson Cook's nine children in this post, so we'll continue with the rest in next week's post. If they're all as numerous as this bunch, we may need three weeks to get through them all!

As always, if you've found one or more of your relatives mentioned in this blog, please get in touch. I've had a lot less time to spend looking for descendants of these folks, and I'm certain I've got gaps in my knowledge which some living cousins might be able to fill. If I can't find you, I hope you'll find me!

You can comment below (anonymous comments are usually not as helpful), or email "mightieracorns" at Gmail.com.

We now have more ways to reach out:

a Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/MightierAcorns/
a Twitter feed - https://twitter.com/MightierAcorns
a Ko-Fi cup - https://ko-fi.com/mightieracorns


...and if you prefer a private group, we still have the Callin Family History group on Facebook for "cousins only" (there will be a question about how you're related to the family before you can join).

Until next time.... Happy Hunting!

Rockford Files - George Scott

Since announcing that I identified the family of John and Sarah (Callin) Scott, I have been working on tracing their descendants. Beginning with their eldest son, here is the next chapter of their story!

Winnebago County in 1837
courtesy of Wikimedia

George Scott was born on 1 August 1827, in Richland County, Ohio. His father, John, was 28 and his mother, the former Sarah Callin, was 19. They had been married for almost four years, and George was their first child. George was five years old when his brother, James, was born; he was nine when his sister, Sarah, was born in 1836.

Three years later, in 1839, the Scott family moved from Ohio to Illinois. This would have been a journey of nearly 420 miles on the modern US-30W, but the family likely took a longer route, as evidenced by the fact that another sister, Rebecca, was born in Michigan that year.

Winnebago County, Illinois, was formed in January of 1836, and in 1837 its boundaries were changed to what they are today. Several of these related Scott families settled in and around Burritt Township, where George's grandfather, Joseph Scott, would be buried around 1851. George's father established a farm in the unincorporated area of Harrison, northwest of the young city of Rockford, where he and Sarah lived out their days.

North Burritt Cemetery
(Find-A-Grave)

George married Lucetta P Beach (1833–1912) in 1851. Lucetta's parents were Asher Beach (1800–1860) and Mercy Yaw (1797–1854) of New York and Vermont, respectively. Lucetta was born in New York, and Asher Beach relocated his family to Illinois in the 1840s.

After their marriage, George and Lucetta lived for a few years in Iowa, where their two eldest children were born. They appeared in the 1856 Census in Wayne, Mitchell County, Iowa, but by 1860, they were back in Harrison, Illinois.

The couple had five children in 10 years, and George farmed until he retired. He died on 10 September 1905, having lived a long life of 78 years, and Lucetta followed him on 4 November 1912, at the age of 79. They were buried together in the North Burritt Cemetery in Winnebago, Illinois.

In this post, we'll be looking at the descendants of their daughter:

I. Violetta Scott (1856–1928)

Was the oldest child of George and Lucetta. Born in Iowa on 12 February 1856, Violetta grew up in Harrison, Illinois, on her father's farm. She married Nathan H Knight (1851–1919) on 30 December 1874 in Rock County, Wisconsin, just north of the Illinois state line.

Nathan was born in Maine, and his family moved to Winnebago County during the 1850s, after his birth. His parents were Peter Knight (1794–1865) and Ann Hall Knight (1816–1897). He and Violetta farmed and raised five daughters in Harrison township. After Nathan's death, Violetta moved in with her daughters who were living in Shirland. When she died, she was buried next to Nathan in the North Burritt Cemetery.

     A. Lucetta A Knight (1876–1885) was named after her grandmother, but she died at only nine years of age.

     B. Elsie Leah Knight (1879–1938) was born on 12 January 1879, in Harrison, Illinois. She married Frank Horace Austin (1876–1954) on 5 June 1901, in Winnebago, Illinois.

Two of Frank's brothers, Albert and Ferdinand, would also marry two of Elsie's sisters, Iva and Blanche. The Austins' parents were Edward D. Austin (1843–1929) and Adelaide Elizabeth "Addie" Belcher (1856–1944). Edward was born in Troy, New York, and enlisted in the Union Army, first as a private in Company C of the 35th Regiment, New York Infantry and later as a sergeant in Company K of the 14th Regiment, New York Heavy Artillery. Addie Belcher was born in Lenawee County, Michigan, and married Edward in Tekamah, Nebraska, on 30 September 1873.

The young Austin family moved quite a bit; Frank was born in Nebraska, Albert in Iowa, and after living briefly in Kansas, they settled in Missouri, where the three younger Austin siblings—Edward, Ferdinand, and Lena—were born. Records show that Edward Austin was baptized a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on 9 June 1895 at Clarksdale, DeKalb, Missouri; but from at least 1900 onward, Census records show the family living in either Rockton, Illinois, or South Beloit, Wisconsin.

It isn't completely clear from the records, but I believe Frank and Elsie were divorced sometime before 1930. Elsie appears in the 1930 U.S. Census in Rockford, where she is listed as Divorced and living with her sister, niece, and grand-nephew. However, city directories for Beloit, Wisconsin, show an Elsie and Frank Austin living in that town in the 1930s; confusingly, there is another Frank Austin listed, too, with a wife named Edna.

Whatever their marital situation may have been, the couple did not have any children, as far as I can tell. Elsie died on 15 December 1938, in Rockford, Illinois, at the age of 59, and was buried in the North Burritt Cemetery in Winnebago, Illinois. Frank lived until 1954, died in Beloit, and was buried in the Rockton Township Cemetery in Rockton.

     C. Iva Viola Knight (1881–1923) was born in May 1881 in Illinois, and she spent practically all of her life in the vicinity of Harrison. She married Albert Jesse Austin (1878–1941) on December 30, 1908, and they had four children in their 12 years together. She died in Shirland, on 12 March 1923, at the age of 41, most likely from complications that arose during childbirth.

The year before, Albert had moved the family to Mattoon, Wisconsin, but it seems that when Iva was close to having their fourth child, she went to Shirland to have the baby and left her sister, Elsie, in Mattoon to care for the other three children. After receiving word of his wife's death on 14 March, it took Albert until March 20 to arrive in Rockford due to deep snow and storms. Other than the newspaper clipping that recorded this account, there are no other records of a fourth child born to Iva and Albert.

After Iva's death, Albert moved back to Rockton, where he died in 1941, and was buried in the Rockton Township Cemetery.

     1. Beulah Marie Austin (1910–1968) was born on 13 June 1910, in Rockton, Illinois, and she was 13 years old when her mother died. By the time of the 1930 Census, she was married to a man named O'Rourke and had a son, who may still be living. That first marriage did not last more than a couple of years, and she married John Rollie Henderson (1897-1969) on 10 November 1934, in Rockford, Illinois. She died on 30 September 1968, in Monroe, Wisconsin, at the age of 58, and was buried in her hometown. John died the following year, on 13 November 1969.

     2. Kenneth Donald Austin (1915–2006) was born 24 October 1915, in Harrison. He joined the U.S. Army in 1941 and served with the 21st General Hospital, where he saw service in North Africa and the European Theater. He was married on 5 September 1942, at Fort Benning, Georgia, and his wife survives him, along with two of their three children, five grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren.

After an honorable discharge in 1945, Kenneth worked at Beloit Iron Works until 1962, then relocated to Littleton, Colorado, and retired in 1995 to Kerrville, Texas.

His son, Rodney Craig Austin (1951–1980), enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and died in a non-hostile incident at the age of 29. He was a petty officer second class and was buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado.

     3. Leonard Jesse Austin (1920–1991) was born on 29 May 1920, in Rockford, Illinois. He was two years old when his mother, Iva, died. He served in the U.S. Army from 14 April 1942 through 1 November 1943.

Jesse married twice after the war, first to Edna May Needham (1924–2008) in 1943, then to Georgia Kathryn Mathis (1922–1996) on 16 October 1948 in Joplin, Missouri. As far as I can tell, there were no children from either marriage. He married again, briefly, in 1971.

He died on June 11, 1991, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, at the age of 71, and was buried there in the Fort Smith National Cemetery.

     D. Alice Bessie Knight (1884–1958) was born in August 1884 in Illinois. She married George Graham Helmer (1877–1943) on 31 January 1911 in Winnebago, Illinois. They divorced sometime during the 1920s, and she married Edward Reckinger (1901-1977) in 1936 in Boone, Illinois. She died on December 24, 1958, in Winnebago, Illinois, at the age of 74, and was buried in Belvidere, Illinois.

     E. Blanche Nathalia Knight (1889–1971) was born on 14 September 1889, in Illinois, and her story was difficult to piece together. I found records of her marriage in the Illinois, County Marriages, 1800-1940 database that indicate that she married Ferdinand J Austin (1885–1929) on 3 July 1912. He was better known as John F Austin. They had a son, Donovan, but divorced rather soon after that.

Ferdinand (or John F., as he appears in the Illinois, County Marriages, 1800-1940 database) married Bessie Marie (Burdick) Austin (b. 1885) on 8 September 1916. Bessie was the widow of John's brother, Allen Edward Austin, who had died on 16 January 1916.

Blanche and Donovan Austin appeared in her mother's household in Shirland on the 1920 Census, but she was soon remarried to Ora Lewis Critser (1882–1944), a widowed tenant farmer. Blanche and Ora had three more children during the 1920s and moved across the state line to Clinton, Rock County, Wisconsin. By the time of the 1940 Census, they were divorced, as well, and Blanche had relocated with the children to Cherry Valley, in Winnebago county, Illinois.

Blanche eventually followed her sons when they moved out to California. She died on November 4, 1971, in Placer County, California, at the age of 82, and was buried in Roseville, California.

     1. Donovan Douglas Austin (1914–1976) was born on 30 October 1913 in Harrison, Illinois. He grew up in his step-father's home from about seven years of age. He married Frieda Alvina Berger (1913–2000) in 1936. They had four daughters together but divorced not long after the birth of the youngest. By 1950 he had remarried Vera Josephine Anderson (1918–2013), who had recently divorced her first husband, Ralph L Stegg (1915-2008).

Donovan and Vera moved out to Roseville, California, in Placer County. Donovan died there in 1976, just five years after his mother's death. Frieda remained in Cherry Valley, where she raised their daughters by herself. She died on 1 August 2000 and was buried in the Cherry Valley Cemetery.

     i. Dolores Edna Austin (1937–1994) was born on 22 March 1937, in Rockford, Illinois. She graduated from East High School in Rockford in 1956. She died on January 19, 1994, in Cherry Valley, Illinois, at the age of 56, and was buried there.

     iii. Alice Beverly Austin Brown (1940–2015) was born 29 April 1940 in Cherry Valley, Illinois. She was married in 1958 in Cherry Valley, and she and her husband moved to the Monroe, Wisconsin, area where they lived and raised a family. She retired from Advance Transformer after 25 years. Alice loved horses and enjoyed music. She was survived by her husband, four daughters, two sons, 17 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren.

     2. Leo D Critser (1922–1972) was born on 1 August 1921, in Illinois. He attended Rockford High School in 1939 and hoped to enter the state teacher's college at DeKalb. He enlisted in the Army on 26 August 1942. After the war, he lived and worked around Rockford. He died on 8 June 1972, in San Francisco, California, at the age of 50, and was buried in Roseville, California, next to his mother, Blanche.

     3. Elsworth Orrin Critser (1923–1998) was born on 13 September 1923, in Harrison, Illinois. He was in the Army from 12 November 1924 through 11 February 1944, and after the war, he married and had three daughters, still living. He worked as a heavy equipment mechanic, and after living there for six years, he died on November 9, 1998, in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 75. He was buried in Belvidere, Illinois.

     4. Faye Virginia Critser Garner (1929–2017) was born on 16 January 1929, in Rock County, Wisconsin. She was married on 24 November 1948, in Winnebago County, Illinois. She and her husband raised four daughters. She died on 13 August 2017, in Loves Park, Illinois, at the age of 88.

Survivors include three of her daughters, seven grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by a daughter, Carla, and a grandson, Andrew.

 - -- --- -- -

As of this writing, it has been less than a week since the death of Faye Critser Garner, and she was the last person I needed to research before completing this post. It's not as if doing this work isn't enough of a reminder that we are all here temporarily; finding out that you're related to someone a week after their death just feels like a missed opportunity.

If nothing else, it motivates me to call mom and dad, while I still can.

But, that brings us to the end of Violetta Scott Knight's descendants; she has four more siblings for us to talk about over the coming months. I hope if you're among those descendants, you'll drop a note below in the comment section, send an email to callintad at Gmail.com, or join the Callin Family History group on Facebook. (My first question will be, "How are we related?")

Now, if you can, go hug a living loved one.

Cardinal Rules

• Rule number one: You are never "done" with your family history.

This project to update and document the descendants of James Callin is something I've been working toward for twenty years or so. And in the past, when I've gone over what I know about the part of the family we'll be looking at today - Margaret Ferguson and her descendants - I have never been able to find much beyond what the Callin Family History told me:

"Record of Margret Ferguson who was the 4th daughter of Eliza Callin Ferguson who was the 3rd daughter of John Callin who was the 2nd son of James 1st.

Born 1839, died 1902.
Married to Jerome Gallaher.
To this union two children were born:
Mary, married.
Helen, married, two children."

So when I began drafting this post, I expected that to be all I could tell you about Margaret Jane (Ferguson) Gallaher. Assuming I could scrape together names of the husbands of Mary and Helen, and find out the names of Helen's two children, I might have bare-bones minimalist biographies of six or eight people, tops.

• Rule number two: Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Evidence is the life blood of this project. Without documents that say when and where people lived, and what they did there, I can't rule out anything. And for the longest time, I could only find bits and pieces of this family's story - while the rest was a great, empty possibility.

Then I found an obituary...

Jerome Bohan Gallaher was born 23 August 1833, in Litchfield, Connecticut. He was one of eight children and moved westward when he was a young man settling at various points in Ohio and Indiana. He married Margaret Jane Ferguson (1839-1901) on August 15, 1858, in DeKalb county, Indiana, and they had two daughters: Mary (or Mollie), in 1860, and Helen in 1862.

At the beginning of the Civil War, Jerome enlisted in the 2nd Indiana regiment, in which he served until 25 August 1865. At the time of mustering out he had attained the position of Quartermaster of his regiment. After the close of the Civil War the Gallaher family moved to Black River Falls, Wisconsin, where Mr. Gallaher engaged in his old business of photography. In 1872 they moved to the newly incorporated town of Chippewa Falls, where they resided until the early 1890's, when he settled on a homestead outside of town.

Margaret preceded her husband to the grave in May 1901, and after that he lived alone most of the time on his farm. For the last two years of his life, he had been rather feeble, but when his friends planned to have him come to town where he could be looked after, he always vetoed their plans, expressing the wish to remain on the old farm as long as he lived. He died in January 1912.

     I. Mary A (Mollie) Gallaher (1860-1913) married William John Ickstadt (1865-1906) in September 1883. William took her away to the neighboring town of Edson where he was appointed as postmaster in October 1883, and he became a prominent real estate and business man in the Boyd area. In 1906, at the age of 47, he drowned in a boating accident on Pike lake. Mollie only lived another seven years, dying at 53.

     A. Jerome Monroe Ickstadt was born on 19 June 1884. He married Marie A Street in Boyd, Chippewa county, on 20 May 1912. The couple settled in Fond du Lac, where Jerome was a fireman with the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad company. The last record I have found for them placed them in Fond du Lac in 1921; there is another placing Marie in that town in 1924, but with no further listing for Jerome. I have found nothing to indicate when or where either of them died, or whether they had any children.

     B. Alice Mae Ickstadt (1888–1973) married Louis Floyd Shilts (1894–1947), probably around 1910. Louis was a veteran of World War I, and he worked as an auto mechanic in a Chippewa Falls garage. Mae taught in the local schools.

     C. Arthur J Ickstadt (1890–1927) grew up in Chippewa county, and worked at the State Home - what is now known as the Northern Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled. He married Louisa Rosalie Krenz (1894–1959) around 1925, and she was pregnant with their second son when he died in March 1927. The state later awarded her $7,000 in settlement, one month before the birth of that second son.


Found on Newspapers.com

       1. Donald W Ickstadt (1927–2013) graduated from Chippewa High School in 1945, then served one and ½ years in the Navy aboard the USS Chara and the USS Parikutin. He matriculated at Wisconsin State College at Eau Claire in 1947 and graduated in 1951 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Sciences, Physical Education/Secondary Education. He then attended the University of Southern California graduate school in 1952. Married in 1954, his wife, three sons, and two daughters are all still living. Don worked in employment services for the state of Wisconsin his whole career, retiring in 1987.

       2. Arthur Joseph Ickstadt Jr (1928–2013) was a Veteran of WWII and the Korean War. After leaving the Army, he settled in the Seattle, Washington, area. His mother, Louisa, died there in 1959. Art was survived by his wife, son, three daughters, and "16 Grandchildren, 13 Great-Grandchildren, 1 Great-Great Grandchild and numerous nieces and nephews."

     II. Helen J Gallaher (b. 1862) and her husband, Wesley J. Gregg (b. 1851) presented a few challenges to this researcher. First, there is a marriage record for a Helen Gallagher in 1879, which, even though the database does not link the bride record to the groom's record, seems to imply that she married a man named Amasa Nichols. Until I found Jerome's obituary, I did not know to look for Mr. Gregg, but once I did, I found Helen and Wesley in the four Census records (1900-1930), which indicated they were married in 1885. The birth record for their younger daughter, Jennie, lists Helen's maiden name as "Nichols," so I assume that 1879 record is correct. (And looking through the Chippewa county marriage records, Amasa Nichols seemed to marry quite often; there may be a whole other story there!)

But, Wesley appears to have farmed and worked for the railroad as a clerk for a time; and they raised two daughters. As of 1930, 79-year-old Wesley and 69-year-old Helen were retired and living on their farm. I have not been able to determine when they died or find any records of their burial, but I know from some mentions in the Eau Claire Leader that they were living in the area in the 1920s, and the 1930 Census shows them in Arthur, in Chippewa county.

     A. Ruby Gregg (b. 1883) grew up in Chippewa Falls, and appeared on the 1900 Federal and 1905 State Census in her parents' home. She would have been 21 in 1905, and the 1907 Chippewa Falls city directory indicates that she lived at home while working as a domestic servant for the Mcgilvary family. After that, however, the trail of records dries up, and I can't tell what happened to Ruby.

     B. Jennie H Gregg (1887–1931) married George Jerome Cardinal (1887–1963) on 9 December 1905 in Bayfield, Wisconsin. George was a musician and decorator, and was listed as a painter in the Census and city directories. The couple had nine children before Jennie's death in 1931 at the age of 44.

      1. Wesley G Cardinal (1906–1982) married Katherine Quinlan (1910–??) in about 1930. Wesley was listed in the 1930 Census in his family home, working as a painter/decorator, like his father. In 1940, he and Katherine and their two sons were renting their own place in Chippewa Falls, and Wesley was a musician in an orchestra. They may have had more children after the 1940 Census, but I have only managed to track down the eldest. I assume any other children they had are still living, or my searches would have turned up something. (Though, searching through results for people with the name "Cardinal" is surprisingly difficult.)

       a. Peter Paul Cardinal (1931–1997) served in the U.S. Navy during both the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, according to his grave marker. Based on the incomplete information I have found, I would guess that he enlisted in the early 1950s. He was married by 1959, when he is listed in the city directory for Memphis, Tennessee, which is near the Naval Support Activity Mid-South Naval Base in Millington. And he received a commission as an ensign on 1 July 1963. He attained his highest rank as a Lieutenant on 1 January 1967, and retired 1 August 1978. When he died, he had been living in Pegram, Tennessee.

      2. Linus Cardinal (b. 1909) is another minor mystery, in that I lose track of him after 1930. There are two items in the November 1921 Eau Claire Leader newspapers that describe how he was wounded when a gun discharged, and was later rushed to the hospital with "lockjaw" (probably tetanus) from the resulting infection. That happened when he was 12, and we see him listed at home in the 1930 Census, when he was 21, so we know he survived that episode, at least.

      3. George P Cardinal Jr (1910–1997) appears to have served in World War II, but like his older brothers, left little in the way of records, and his obituary does not seem to be online. I have not been able to find anything between the 1930 Census and the records of his death in Elk Mound, Wisconsin. His wife is still living, and I assume any children they have are, too.

      4. Jane Rosemary Cardinal (1914–1991) married Lloyd A Fransway (1910–1966) and they had five sons and seven daughters, in total. Most of them are still living. Lloyd was a painter, employed by Mikesell's Painting contractors for 25 years; he was the union president of Painters Local 259 from 1958 to 1964. He and Jane took in her three youngest siblings some time after the death of their mother; Lyman, Betty Mae, and the brother who is still living were all listed as Lloyd's foster children in his 1966 obituary.

       a. Mary Jo Fransway: died in infancy.

       b. Patricia Jane "Patty" Fransway (1935–2012) was married to Arthur Sedani (1935–1978), and they had two sons who are still living. Patty worked at the Chippewa Woolen Mill, Creamland Dairy, and the Northern Center for the Developmentally Disabled in Chippewa Falls until she retired. She mentored students through the Chippewa Falls Mentoring Program, headed up the spring and fall suppers for Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, and oversaw funeral luncheons. Patty was a beautiful seamstress and was a member of the Quilters and the Altar Guild.

       c. Lloyd Archie Fransway Jr (1937–1998) was a veteran of the U.S. Navy, serving from 12 May 1954 to 14 November 1957. He married at the end of 1960, and his wife and three sons are still living. They also had a daughter.

      i. Robin M Fransway (1961–2011) attended Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming. She lived in the Powell/Cody area and worked as a secretary and bookkeeper, raising her daughter, who is still living. Robin married on July 7, 2001, and her husband is still living, also.

       d. Anthony L "Tony" Fransway, Sr (1945–2009) served in the U.S. Army National Guard for eight years after he graduated high school. He married in 1968, and his wife, son, and daughter are all still living. He worked at Amoco-Pactiv for 39 years until he retired in 2004. He lived in Chippewa Falls his entire life.

       e. Laura Fransway (1946–2013) grew up in Chippewa Falls and graduated from Chippewa Falls Senior High in 1965. She married in 1977. One daughter and one son are still living. Over her lifetime, she worked for Amoco Chemicals, Whitetail Golf Course, Viking Bowl and retired from the Myrtle Werth Hospital. She was a member of Barum Lutheran Church in Elk Mound.

     i. Chad T Brown (1977-2002) was the oldest son of Laura Fransway. He graduated from Colfax High School in May of 1995, and was employed at Big Timber Saw Mill in Colfax until the time of his death from cancer. He was 25 years old when he died.

       f. Samuel Cardinal "Sammy" Fransway (1960–2003) was employed by Markquart Motors for the 14 years before he died. Sam was also a Chef at a number of local Wisconsin restaurants, as well as in Florida. He owned and operated Sammy's Saloon in Chippewa Falls from 1983 to 1987. He left behind one son.

      5. Kathryn Arlene Cardinal (1916–2007) married Fenton Norman Goss (1914–1999), and they left three sons and two daughters, still living. Fenton served in the U.S. Army during the last few months of 1946.

      6. John Samuel "Jack" Cardinal (1919–1990) served in the U.S. Army throughout World War II, from 6 April 1942 through 18 October 1945. He married in October 1946, and settled in the Detroit area with his wife, who is still living.

      7. Lyman Eugene Cardinal (1921–1977) served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. If I'm reading the records correctly, he enlisted in the Army in 1940, before Pearl Harbor, and switched to the Navy ten years later, retiring after twenty years in October of 1960. He and his wife settled in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. They had at least one son, who is still living.

      8. (Still Living) Cardinal - there is one son from this family still living. Here's hoping I don't need to update this entry until he is good and ready!

      9. Betty Mae Cardinal (1926–2015) graduated from Chippewa Falls High School and worked at the A & P Store, where she met her future husband. On April 18, 1948, the two were united in marriage in Chippewa Falls. They resided in Chippewa Falls where Bette worked at the Northern Center as the food service supervisor, retiring from there in 1986. She left behind her husband and two daughters.


And there you have it: just one timely find can add dozens of people to the family tree!