CFH First Draft: John Callin (1872-1940)

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

John Callin is the 79th 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.

The Further Legacy of Theodore Montgomery

Welcome back, cousins!

(Click to enlarge)

Fair warning, there is a lot of tragedy and untimely death in today's post. Today we continue with the children of Theodore and Margaret (Wilson) Montgomery. The tree on the right should help you get your bearings - and now we set sail with their second son:

II. Commodore Wilson Montgomery (1854–1904)

"Com" Montgomery was born on 11 December 1854, just after his family returned from their adventure in California. He grew up on the farm his father established on the outskirts of Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana, and he attended the local schools, where he did well. He even served as a teacher for seven years.

On 7 June 1877, he married Alla M Shoup (1856–1939) in Fulton County. Alla was born in Independence, Missouri, in August 1855, daughter of John R Shoup (1828–1901) and Helen M. "Nellie" Barrett (1828–1905). Her family relocated to Indiana after the Civil War.

Com was one of the foremost farmers in the county; he was active in the Grange, a director for several years in the Agricultural and Fair Society, secretary of the Fulton County Anti Horse Thief Society, Vice-president of the Farmers Mutual Insurance Co., and always prominent in Farmers' Institute work.

Com was stricken with a fatal form of peritonitis which ended his life on 26 March 1904 at the age of 49. He was buried in the Rochester I.O.O.F. Cemetery. Alla moved to Long Beach, California, in 1913 to be near several of her siblings and children, and she died there on 17 August 1939. She was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California.

     A. Clara Gertrude Montgomery (1878–1908) was born on 11 April 1878 in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana. She graduated from the local high school, and on 11 October 1903, she married Edward Eugene Murphy (1878–1920) in Rochester. Edward was the son of  John Murphy (b. 1851) and Samantha "Mattie" True (1847–1918).

John Murphy bound for trial Tue, Nov 1, 1881 – Page 2 · The Indianapolis News (Indianapolis, Indiana) · Newspapers.com
Edward was born on 26 February 1878 in Rochester, Fulton, Indiana, and was raised by his widowed mother along with his half-brother, Harry W Capp (1868–1917), from Samantha's first marriage. Records are not clear when his father died, or whether his parents divorced. The family appears in the 1880 Census as boarders in a house in Rochester, and there is a newspaper notice of a John Murphy of Rochester being bound for trial on fraud charges, but there is no indication that this is the same John Murphy, and that is the last record I can tie to anyone of that name in Rochester.

(It's possible that John Murphy is related to the other Murphy families I've written about, but it doesn't seem likely based on what little I know about him.)

Edward studied law under Peter Buchanan after he graduated from high school and was in that office for three years. He served one term as city clerk. He then accepted a position as deputy county clerk under William Wright, serving one term, then being elected county clerk in 1906. After filling his term he opened a law office. He also was prominently identified with Republican politics having served as county chairman in 1911 and district chairman in 1916 and was on the state central committee.

About 10:30 a.m. on 15 October 1908, Merle Ream, the milkman, drove down the alley behind the Murphy home and exchanged remarks with Clara about her day. She told him, "I'm trying to get rid of some of the trash." He had only reached the cross alleys when he heard a piercing scream come from the Murphy residence and he ran back to see Clara making her way to the house with flames all over her body. Before he could reach her, she sank to the ground. Mr. Ream, with others who had been drawn to the scene by the screams, succeeded in getting the flames out and moved her into the house. Most likely, the wind had blown her clothing over the fire and before she noticed it had spread. She died at 2 a.m. on 16 October. She was 30 years old.

Clara's sudden death left Edward alone to raise two small boys. He remarried, but not until a decade later, when he married the widowed Lillian I (Kissinger) Mohler (b. 1879) in Fulton County, Indiana, on 19 December 1918. One Saturday night in January 1920, though, he complained of an earache, which worsened the following day. He died on Monday afternoon, 12 January 1920, of what turned out to be meningitis, at age 40. Clara and Edward were survived by their two sons and were buried in Rochester I.O.O.F. Cemetery.

     1. Robert Eugene Murphy (1905–1965) was born on 28 August 1905 in Rochester, Fulton, Indiana. After his mother died, Robert was reared in the home of his aunt and uncle, Robert Shoup and Winona (Baker) Montgomery, who lived in Gary, Indiana. He attended Indiana University at Bloomington in 1924, and later graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He became an attorney for General Motors.

On 7 January 1933, Robert married Virginia M Ahlburn (1905–1989), daughter of Allen Edward Ahlburn (1875–1959) and Ella McKee (1880–1928), in Cincinnati. The young couple remained in Cincinnati for a few years before Robert took his job with General Motors and relocated to New York.

Robert died on 3 June 1956 at his home in Rockville Center, Nassau County, New York. He was 48 years old. Virginia eventually followed their daughter to Naples, Florida, where Virginia died at age 84 on 27 August 1989. They were survived by their daughter and numerous grandchildren.

     a. Eileen M Murphy (1935–2017) was born on Valentine's Day, 14 February 1935, in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. Eileen graduated from South Side High School in Rockville Centre, Nassau County, New York (on Long Island), and she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from St. Lawrence University. Her first job was editor in chief of the General Motors monthly newsletter. Shortly after, she became a flight attendant Eastern Airlines.

She married her first husband in 1959 in New York City, and they had five children together, whom they raised in Naples, Collier County, Florida. Soon after moving to Naples, Eileen founded Yesteryears Restaurant. She was also a volunteer with Hospice, Literary Volunteers, the Shelter for Abused Women & Children, and Naples Community Hospital. She and her first husband divorced in 1981, and she later remarried.

Eileen died on 19 March 2017 in Naples and was survived by her husband, five children, fourteen grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.


    2. Hugh M Murphy (1906–1924) was born on 26 November 1906 in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana. Late in the summer of 1922, while attending high school, he suffered from an attack of influenza and contracted pneumonia. His constitution was never strong and he contracted tuberculosis. In November 1922, he was taken to Healthwin Hospital in South Bend, St Joseph County, Indiana, where he grew worse until he died on 1 March 1924.


     B. Dora E Montgomery (1880–1888) was born on 9 January 1880 in Rochester and died of diphtheria on Thursday, 27 September 1888. She was buried in Odd Fellows cemetery (I.O.O.F.) in Rochester.

     C. Orbra Wilson Montgomery (1881–1951) was born in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana, on 12 December 1881. Wilson married Ethel Belle Baker (1883–1961) on 29 November 1906 in Rochester. Belle was a daughter of Ananias Baker (1848–1909) and Tamer M Holder (1851–1926), and she was also born in Rochester on 9 April 1883.

Wilson started out as a farmer, but at some point, he took a job in Great Falls, Montana. The records aren't clear as to when the family left Rochester, but they appeared in both Great Falls and in Chicago, Illinois, where Wilson worked as a superintendent and general contractor. His eldest daughter may have been born in 1907 in either Rochester or Montana, depending on which records you accept as correct; their second daughter was born in Chicago in 1914; and Wilson's World War I registration placed the family in Great Falls in 1917-18. The whole family appeared in Great Falls in the U.S. Census for 1920, and the youngest daughter was born in Chicago in 1925.

The family seems to have remained in Chicago from at least 1925 forward. Wilson died on 11 May 1951 in Chicago, and his obituary noted that he was a member of the Great Falls (Montana) Masonic Lodge. His widow, Belle, moved down to Houston, where she died on 23 April 1961 in Bunkerhill Village. They were survived by their three daughters and four grandchildren.

     1. Helen V. Montgomery (1907–1977) was born on 19 June 1907, either in Indiana or in Billings, Yellowstone County, Montana. She married Ralph Stanley Stackig (1904–1954), probably in 1931 in Chicago. He was born on 14 May 1904 in Chicago, the son of Victor Stackig (1872–1931) and Matilda "Tillie" Lindh (1874–1950).

Ralph seems to have been a life-long Chicagoan, and he died there on 18 February 1954, just a couple of months shy of his 50th birthday. Helen moved out west, probably to be closer to her surviving son, and she died on 10 February 1977 in Montclair, San Bernardino County, California.

     a. Ralph S Stackig Jr (1932–1951) was born in Chicago on 4 October 1932. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves and was sent to fight in Korea. Private First Class Stackig was a member of the 90th Field Artillery Battalion, 25th Infantry Division. He was seriously wounded by the enemy in South Korea on 20 June 1951 and died of those wounds on 22 June 1951. He was awarded the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.

     b. Harold Victor Stackig (1937–2003) was born in Chicago on 25 May 1937 and graduated from Hirsch High School. He moved out to California around 1960, was married, and had a daughter. He lived in Garden Grove, Orange County, for the last twenty years of his life, and died on 16 September 2003.

     2. Mary Alice Montgomery (1914–2004) was born on 29 December 1914 in Chicago, and grew up in Great Falls, Montana, returning with her family to Chicago in her teen years. She married Lawrence Lown McDonald (1913–2001) about 1935 and eventually moved with him to Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas.

Lawrence was born on 17 January 1913 in Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska, to Paul Tamble McDonald (1884–1936) and Kitty L Lown (1885–1936). He was a mechanical engineer. He died in Fort Worth on 11 July 2001, and Mary Alice followed three years later on 16 July 2004.

     3. Jane Baker Montgomery (1925–2011) was born in Chicago on 20 January 1925. She married Paul James Stocks (1923–2014) on 16 June 1944 in Cook County, Illinois. Paul was the son of August Joseph Stocks (1900–1958) and Geraldine Elizabeth Bannon (1902–1963), born on 16 January 1923 in Chicago.

Jane and Paul moved out to Galena, Jo Daviess County, Illinois, where Jane died on 18 January 2011 and Paul died on 17 August 2014.

Note: Belle and Wilson had four grandchildren as of 1961 - assuming that number includes the late PFC Ralph Stackig, and his brother Harold, that leaves two additional children between Jane Stocks and Mary Alice McDonald.

     D. Robert Shoup Montgomery (1884–1935) was born on 14 April 1884 in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University, Class of 1909, and became a manager of the Indianapolis plant of the Chevrolet Commercial Body corporation.

On 15 June 1911, Robert married Winona Jennie Baker (1887–1945). She was the daughter of Oscar Rowan Baker (1854–1940) and Mary A Aydelotte (1858–1946), born on 24 March 1887 in Knightstown, Henry County, Indiana. They raised their son and a nephew, Robert Eugene Murphy (see above).

Robert died at his home in Indianapolis on 28 November 1935. Jennie moved to Mecklenburg, North Carolina, but returned to Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana, in 1944 to live with her mother. Sadly, about a week after undergoing major surgery in Detroit, Jennie died there on 26 August 1945 and was buried in Fountain Park Cemetery in Winchester.

     1. Robert Baker Montgomery (1912–1970) was born on 13 May 1912 in Gary, Lake County, Indiana. He was living with his uncle, Paul Baker, when he died on 23 December 1970 in Muncie, Delaware County, Indiana.

     E. Charles Lee Montgomery (1886–1927) was born on 20 July 1886 in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana.

He married Mary Fern Ault (1890–) on 26 September 1908 in Rochester. Fern was born on 5 September 1890 in Rochester, and her parents were Oliver S Ault (1866–1930) and Hester Elvina "Hattie" Barrett (1866–1954). Not long after their wedding, the entire Ault family - Oliver and Hester, Fern and Charles, and Fern's five siblings - moved to Everett, Snohomish County, Washington.

Charles found work as a mason in Everett, where he and Fern appeared on the 1910 Census. A couple of years later, they were back in Rochester, where their daughter was born, and then, Charles took the family to Biloxi, Mississippi, where he worked for the Dantzler Shipbuilding Company. Their son was born there, and they appeared in the 1920 Census, but a few years later, Fern and the children returned to Washinton State. That's where they were living on 27 March 1927, when Charles died in Jacksonville, Florida, following an operation for the removal of a kidney. His body was returned to Rochester, and he was buried in the Oddfellows Cemetery there.

Fern remained in Seattle after Charles died, working as a clerk in a department store. About 1932, she married the widowed proprietor of a bottle factory named Albert Lewis Vanvaley (1868–1941) and moved with him back to Everett in Snohomish County. After Albert died on 26 November 1941 and was interred in View Crest Abbey Mausoleum in Everett.

Fern remained in Everett for many years but she eventually married again. She and Paul F Glaser (1878–1973) were married on 6 February 1953 in San Diego, California, and lived in Seattle. Paul died on 24 November 1973, and Fern followed on 8 August 1975; they are buried together in the Acacia Memorial Park in Seattle, King County, Washington.

     1. Unnamed Montgomery (1910–1910) was a baby boy born to Charles and Fern in Everett on 7 March 1910. He died on 2 May 1910.

     2. Margaret Beth Montgomery (1913–1997) was born on 4 January 1913 in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana. She attended Lincoln High School in Seattle, class of 1931.

In 1932, she married a chief petty officer in the U.S. Navy, and traveled with him, working for the war effort in California and Virginia. They had four small children together, then divorced in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1942. She remarried William Calvin Hutson (1914–1974) on 4 October 1944 in Camden County, North Carolina, and they returned to Marysville, Snohomish County, Washington in December 1945. They ran farms in Snohomish County until 1969 when they moved to Tulare Beach (also in Snohomish County).

Bill died on 5 June 1974 in Marysville, and Margaret died there on 11 January 1997. Margaret was survived by six of her seven children, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

     3. James Edgar Montgomery (1917–1980) was born on 10 May 1917 in Biloxi, Harrison County, Mississippi. He served in the U.S. Navy from 12 February 1945 to 14 April 1946, and he died on 23 August 1980 in Everett, Snohomish County, Washington.

Edgar most likely married Genevieve Cecelia "Jennie" Zuk (1915–2002) between 1937, when he appeared in the Everett city directory living at 2130 Colby avenue, and 1940 when the couple appeared in the U.S. Census. Jennie was born on 22 May 1915 in Seattle, the daughter of Polish immigrants, Alex Zuk (1889–1966) and Julia Wojnar.

Edgar worked for his step-father, driving a truck for the Van Valey distribution company, and he and Jennie appeared in the Everett city listing through 1957.

Edgar died on 23 August 1980; Jennie died on 21 January 2002.

     F. Guy D Montgomery (1891–1960) was born on 1 February 1891 in Fulton County, Indiana. On 18 December 1909, he married Ethel Lackey (1889–1976), daughter of  Andrew Lackey (1846–1894) and Angeline Goss (1848–1943). She was born on 3 January 1889 in Rochester.

Guy worked in a garage, as a mechanic, and in sales, with a brief stint working in Chicago as a grocer in 1913-1914 before returning to Rochester. Guy and Ethel had their daughter while they were in Chicago, and their son was born back in Rochester. Then at some point between appearing in Rochester on the 1920 U.S. Census and appearing in Los Angeles on the 1930 Census, the family moved to California.

Guy died on 20 November 1960, when he and Ethel were living in Whittier, Los Angeles County, California. He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. Ethel remained in their home there until she died on 29 November 1976 and her remains were cremated. They were survived by their son, Harold.

     1. Frances Mae Montgomery (1913–1958) was born on 14 January 1913 in Illinois, probably in Chicago. Her family relocated to Rochester, and then to Los Angeles, where she graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1932. In 1940, she was single, living at home with her parents, and working as a stenographer.

While I was not able to find documents to fill in the rest of her story, we know from her record in the California, Death Index, 1940-1997, which lists her parents' surnames, that Frances M. Andre died in Los Angeles County on 17 September 1958. She was buried in  Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles County, as her father would be two years later.

     2. Harold D Montgomery (1915–1983) was born in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana, on 16 December 1915. He graduated from Los Angeles High School three years after his sister, in 1935. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on 18 November 1945 and was stationed at Amarillo Army Air Field. Records indicate that he lived in Los Angeles after the war, and he died there on 26 November 1983.

As far as I can tell, no one from this family survived Harold.

     G. Hugh Montgomery (1894–1895) was born to Com and Alla Montgomery on 9 August 1894, died on 29 March 1895 at 7 months of age and was buried in Rochester's I.O.O.F. Cemetery.

- -- --- -- -

Just a few more people to talk about, but we're getting closer to the end of the tree! Yes, again. I know, I said that more than a year ago. But we shall press on next week!

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

We now have more ways to reach out:

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


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

Until next time... Happy Hunting!

A Davidson Family Roundup

Hello, cousins!

At long last, we are looking at the last two families in the Davidson branch of the family. In case you need a refresher, these are the youngest children of Henry Davidson (1818–1894) and Sarah Montgomery (1824–1918), and Sarah is the daughter of Elizabeth Callin Montgomery (1798-1834), who was the granddaughter of James Callin - the ancestor who ties us all together.

V. Samuel Thurston Davidson (1853–1889)

The fifth child of Henry and Sarah, Thurston was born on 6 August 1853 while his family was en route to Oregon. Depending on the record you cite, he was born on the Oregon Trail, in the Idaho Territory, possibly in what is now Utah. The family settled near Shedd, Linn County, Oregon, and that is where he grew up.

Thurston married Susanna Elizabeth Briggs (1850–1910) in Linn County in about 1878. They settled on a farm in Halsey and had a son in November of the following year. She was the daughter of Joseph M Briggs (1817–1888) and Susannah Early (1813–1901), born on 11 July 1850 and raised in Morgan County, Ohio.

Thurston died unexpectedly on 25 April 1889 on his farm near Shedd. Susan carried on managing the farm and raising their son and daughter. She died on 10 October 1910, and she and Thurston are buried in the Pugh Cemetery in Shedd.

     A. Cloud Henry Davidson (1879–1950) was born on 4 November 1879 in Shedd, Linn, Oregon.
spent all of his life in the Shedd and Halsey districts. He married Lura V Wilson (1880–1953), daughter of James Milton Wilson (1850–1895) and Mary Susan Kirk (1859–1895), on 19 March 1907. She was born on

Making a living as a prominent stock grower, Cloud and Lura resided on his farm near Shedd until he retired in 1945, then they moved to a farm near Halsey.  He died in a Portland hospital on 11 February 1950; she died at Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis on 18 March 1953. They are buried in Pugh Cemetery in Shedd and were survived by their son and grandchildren.

     1. Robert H Davidson (1919–2003) was born on 10 March 1919 in Portland, Oregon to Virgil Ulysses Allison (1887–1931) and Jessie E Brown (1891–1929). He was ten years old when his mother died, and he was taken in by Cloud and Lura Davidson, who adopted him.

Robert graduated from Halsey High School in 1937 and attended Oregon State College. He enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II, serving from 18 December 1942 through 12 March 1946. During his enlistment, he got married on 24 July 1943 in Linn County, Oregon, to Phyllis Amanda Holt (1918–2001). She was born on 2 December 1918 in Harrisburg, Linn County, Oregon to Benjamin Rice Holt (1889–1984) and Estle Fay Hill (1890–1977).

Phyllis was born east of Harrisburg and moved to Halsey in 1923 when her father joined the family's Hill and Co. hardware business. She graduated from Halsey High School in 1936. She continued to work in the family hardware store after they married, and she and Robert became partners in the Davidson Generational Grass Seed Farm, where they raised their family. Robert continued to farm until 1979 and lived on the Davidson Farm until his death. Phyllis died on 22 December 2001, and Robert died on 29 December 2003, both in Shedd. They were survived by two daughters and a son, and they are buried together in the Pugh Cemetery in Shedd.

     B. Addie Belle Davidson (1881–1954) was born in Shedd on 11 December 1881. She was a lifelong resident of Linn County and died at the community hospital in Lebanon on 11 February 1954. She never married, but she was an active member of many community organizations and was frequently mentioned in the local newspapers for being the hostess or organizer of local events.

VI. Mary E Davidson (1854–1929)

The youngest child of Henry and Sarah Davidson, Mary was born on 15 November 1854, soon after her family settled near Shedd. She grew up on the family farm and married her first husband, Charles W Malson (b. 1845) around 1874. Little is known about Charles, and most of that information comes from the 1880 U.S. Census, which gives his age (35), birthplace (Ohio), and the birthplaces of his parents (father in Indiana, mother in Kentucky).

The couple had five children together, but only three survived childhood. Mary sued Charles for divorce in 1894, leaving her to raise the remaining three children. She married her second husband, Richard Ross Cunningham (1849–1926) on 12 March 1896. Ross was born on 6 April 1849 in Pickaway, Pickaway County, Ohio, and ran off to join the 110th Ohio Infantry at age 15, fighting for 18 months in the Civil War. He settled in Oregon after the war, and his first wife died in Harrisburg in 1891, soon after which, he also lost two children.

After they married, Mary and Ross moved to a house on Main Street in Lebanon. He died there on 24 June 1926; Mary suffered from a heart condition in her final three years and died on 19 July 1929. They are buried in the IOOF Cemetery in Lebanon, Linn County, Oregon.

     A. Commodore W Malson (1875–1938) was born on 19 Nov 1875 in Halsey, Linn County, Oregon. He was raised in the Halsey neighborhood, and as a young man found work as a car inspector for the C & S Railway in Portland.

Commodore married Lura Sarah Pugh (1879–1962) in Portland on 18 September 1908. She was born on 14 April 1879 in Shedd, Linn County, daughter of John Wesley Pugh (1845–1913) and Nancy Elizabeth Walker (1849–1898) and younger half-sister of George B. Pugh, who married Commodore's cousin, Laura Elsie Davidson (1872–1913).

Commodore's job took him and his family to several cities including San Bernardino, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Hubbard, before he and Lura settled in Shedd in 1914. Commodore died at age 62 on 17 May 1938 at the hospital in Lebanon; Lura died on 6 July 1962, age 83. They are buried in the Pugh Cemetery in Shedd.

     1. Ralph Ernest "Curly" Malson (1908–1990) was born on 12 October 1908 while his parents were living in Salt Lake City, Utah. He attended Oregon College of Agriculture (now Oregon State University) majoring in chemical engineering. After graduation, he moved to Carmel, California, but returned to Albany and married Roberta Adelaide Wire (1913–2000) on 10 January 1937.

Roberta was born on 18 September 1913 in Albany, Linn County, to George Christian Wire (1874–1960) and Eva Whinery (1876–1972). Curly worked for the Bureau of Mines and other places through the Carpenters Millwright Union before retiring in 1974. He helped build the Albany Boys and Girls Club and the first zirconium furnace with Kroh Scientists.

Curly died on 11 March 1990 and Roberta died on 20 February 2000, both in Albany. They are buried in the Willamette Memorial Park in Albany. They were survived by their son and two daughters.

     a. Jerrold Ralph Malson (1939–2013) was born on 9 October 1939 in Lebanon, Linn County, Oregon. He was raised in Albany and attended Albany Union High School. He was a member of the Sea Scouts, and after graduating in 1957, joined the U.S. Navy and later the National Guard. He attended Northwest Christian College for one year before marrying his high school sweetheart.

After they married, Jerry attended Central Oregon Community College, receiving a degree in forestry. He continued to live and work in Central Oregon until moving his family in 1977 to Trout Creek, Montana, where they raised silver foxes. In 1982, he founded Jerry Malson Outfitting and established the Montana Guide Training Center.

Jerry died on 7 October 2013, survived by his wife, son, two daughters, and four grandchildren.

     2. Ruth Elizabeth Malson (1911–1995) was born on 2 November 1911 in Hubbard, Marion County, Oregon. She attended Albany College and studied music and managed the Halsey Telephone Co. and was actively involved with the RSVP, assisting at the Senior Meal Site and flu clinics.

On 11 February 1936, she married Elmer Delmont Ferrell (1912–1970) in Benton County, Oregon. He was born on 25 June 1912 in Cokato, Wright County, Minnesota, to Ezra Ernest Ferrell (1870–1950) and Lillian Kreitlow (1894–1982). He attended schools in Annandale, Minnesota. He moved to eastern Oregon in 1934 and later to Halsey where he made his home with a cousin, Mrs. Mae M. Weber, before marrying Ruth.

Elmer and Ruth had a son and daughter together but divorced around 1942. He had managed the Halsey Telephone Co. for two years and was head of the installation department of Pacific Northwest Bell in Portland at the time of his death on 12 July 1970.

Ruth married again on 4 December 1944 to Wilbur Lamar Norton (1907–1982). He was born on 20 November 1907 in Halsey, the son of Walker Lincoln Norton (1883–1947) and Myrtle Cora Sneed (1887–1974). Wilbur worked as a Western Union line crew workman, truck driver and general warehouseman for O W Frum, Cross Brothers, Dickerson Co, and W R Grace Co. They had a daughter together.

Wilbur died on and is buried in the Pine Grove Cemetery in Peoria, Linn County. Ruth died on 25 Sep 1995 in Albany and is buried in the Pugh Cemetery in Shedd. Ruth was survived by her son, two daughters, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

     B. Lilli Malson (b. 1877) was born in Oregon and appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census; while she did not survive to adulthood, we do not know precisely when she died.

     C. Dexter Malson (b. 1880) like his sister, Lilli, was born in Oregon and appeared with his family in the 1880 Census, but we do not know when he died.

     D. Bennett F Malson (1884–1912) was born on 7 June 1884 in Halsey, Linn County, Oregon. He grew up in Linn County and married Isabel A Rounds (1886–1958) on 25 March 1906 in Garfield, Whitman County, Washington. She was the daughter of Leroy Philo Rounds (1853–1918) and Gertrude Hatch (1855–1935) born on 5 October 1886 in Walla Walla, Walla Walla County, Washington.

The young couple lived in Portland, where Bennett was a waiter. He contracted meningitis and died at St. Vincent's Hospital in Portland on 14 May 1912. He is buried in River View Cemetery in Portland. He and Isabel did not have any children, and she was remarried in 1914 to Newton D. Johnson (1887–1943).

     E. Edna Hazel Malson (1888–1919) was born on 12 October 1888 in Pomona County, California. She moved to Lebanon, Linn County, Oregon, with her mother and brother and finished school there.

Edna married George Alexander Wishart (1890–1980) on 1 June 1908 in Portland and lived with him there until the fall of 1918, when they took her south to Los Angeles, California, for her health. Sadly, she died there on 3 February 1919 after suffering from influenza for several days. She left George to raise their two small daughters.

(At the end of the post, I will have more to say about George's family tree.)

George remarried on 9 June 1920 in Ogden, Weber County, Utah, taking Margaret M Selgrath (1890–1986) as his second wife. They had four more children together and after living in Utah, San Bernardino, California, and San Fransisco, they settled on the Monterey Peninsula in California in the late 1920s. George died on 4 June 1980 and Margaret died on 3 August 1986, both in Monterey County.

     1. Charlotte Evelyn Wishart (1912–1993) was born on 8 March 1912 in Oregon. She was seven years old when her mother died, and she grew up in the home of her father and step-mother, coming of age after they moved to Monterey. She married Frederick Antone Layton (1911–1979), son of Antone Layton (1889–1967) and Pearl Betz (1891–1984), about 1933.

Fred was born on 15 September 1911 in Monterey County, and he served in the U.S. Army from 19 January 1945 to 18 January 1946. Before and after the war he worked as a greenskeeper at the famous golf courses around Monterey Bay. The couple had two sons and a daughter together.

Fred died on 10 April 1979, and Charlotte died in the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (C.H.o.M.P.) on 14 December 1993. (Coincidentally, that is where my oldest child would be born in 1996!) They were survived by their three children, five grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren.

     a. Frederick Leroy Layton (1934–2011) was born on 7 July 1933 in Pacific Grove, Monterey County, California. Fred married Shirley Wright, and they are survived by a daughter and two sons. He retired as a central office technician with US West. He married his second wife in 1975, and she survives. He died at age 77 on 24 January 2011 in Olympia, Washington, after a 6-year battle with lung cancer.

     2. Doris Ellen Wishart (1915–1979) was born on 22 June 1915 in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, and she was only four years old when her mother died and her family moved to Ogden, Utah. She married Noel Paul Jones (1913–2002), son of Joseph Rosslyn Jones (1882–1956) and Grace I Muller (1881–1960), about 1935. Noel was born on 24 December 1913 in California.

Doris died in January 1979 in Longmont, Boulder County, Colorado. Noel died on 16 November 2002 in Fall River Mills, Shasta County, California. They were survived by a son.

- -- --- -- -

There you have it - I did my best, but I feel like there is a lot I still don't know about the folks in this post. There were enough gaps in the records that I fear I may have missed someone or some important events. But, if you saw my bonus post on the family of George Wishart, you know that I tried not to leave any stones unturned.

As always, if you've found one or more of your relatives mentioned in this blog, please get in touch. I'm always eager to learn more and to correct mistakes! 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!

The Rayburn and Diekman Families

Welcome back, cousins!

I hope everyone has had a Happy Thanksgiving, and I'd like to wish a special happy birthday to my dad, Ted Callin today! Today we continue with two more Murphy daughters and their descendants - so let's get into it:

     E. Nellie Murphy (1873–1958) was the fifth child of Henderson and Rebecca (Davidson) Murphy, born in Oregon in June 1873. She grew up in Oregon and Washington state, and she taught school for many years. Then, at 26 years of age, she married Andrew Mack Rayburn (1871–1940) in 1899.

Andrew was the son of John Barnett Rayburn (1837–1905) and Sarah Francis Frazier (1844–1915) and was born in West Virginia on 12 December 1837. He had also been a teacher, and after they married, he and Nellie homesteaded a wheat farm in 1902 near Hatton, Adams County, Washington. They had three sons and three daughters and raised them on their farm.

After several years of living in a two-room shack, Andrew had a two-story house built about 1917 in Othello on a promontory overlooking the wheat fields. Before the house was built, his daughter Hazel remembered "sleeping in a tent in summers, but the rest of the year we made do with sheet partitions in only two bedrooms." That house was purchased by C.C. Andrews and his son, Clyde, in 1974 and they moved it to their farm north of Bruce Siding, six miles northeast of Othello, where they planned to restore it.

Andrew died on 20 June 1940 in Othello, Adams County, Washington. Nellie sold the farm equipment and moved first to Walla Walla, Washington, then to Spokane. She lived in the Spokane area for 17 years and died there on 21 June 1958. She and Andrew are buried in Lind Cemetery in Lind, Adams County, Washington.

     1. Wilma Lucretia Rayburn (1900–1990) was born on 6 September 1900 in Columbia County, Washington, and grew up on her family's farm in Adams County, Washington. She graduated from Cheney Normal and attended Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. She taught school in Oregon and Washington for several years.

In the mid-1940s, Wilma married James Wilson Rogers (1905–1987). James was born in Davis County, Iowa, on 14 March 1905 to James Nelson Rogers (1876–1910) and Lydia Mae Carter (1884–1958). He was a butcher in Ottumwa, Iowa, for many years and moved to Spokane after divorcing his wife of 15 years around 1945.

James died on 6 March 1997 in Spokane, and Wilma died there on 14 December 1990. They were survived by James's daughter from his first marriage.

     2. Lawrence Mack Rayburn (1902–1977) was born on 25 July 1902 in Hatton, Adams County, Washington. After growing up in Adams County, he became an electrician working in Spokane in 1929 and 1930. He lived in West Allis, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin in the early 1930s, where he was listed in the City Directory as an engineering student.

While he was living in Milwaukee, he met Frances H Poepke (1904–2000), a stenographer from New London, Waupaca County, Wisconsin. Frances was the daughter of Joachina Ike Poepke (1877–1950) and Marguerette Knapstein (1876–1962)  and was born on 24 July 1904.

Lawrence and Frances were married on 1 June 1935 and soon returned to Washington state, appearing in Port Angeles, Clallam County, on the 1940 Census. They lived mainly in the Bremerton area during the 1940s before relocating to Portland, Oregon, where they remained during the 1950s. Lawrence worked as an electrical engineer with the U.S. Department of Interior from 1949 to 1965, according to his obituary.

Lawrence died at age 73 in Desert Samaritan Hospital, Mesa, Maricopa County, Arizona, and was buried in the Mountain View Funeral Home and Cemetery in that city. Frances died in Bend, Deschutes County, Oregon, on 12 October 2000 at the age of 96. She was buried in Mesa with Lawrence. They are survived by a son, daughter, and at least three grandchildren.

     3. Hazel Frances Rayburn (1904–1995) was born on 15 August 1904 in Hatton, Adams county, Washington. She graduated from Cheney Normal School and then from the University of Washington (Class of 1930). In 1926-27 she taught the seventh and eighth grades in Othello, and after graduating from University, she taught for 43 years in Washington, Idaho, and Alaska, retiring in 1969.

On 6 June 1958, Hazel married Harvey Hiscott Burgett (1912–1994). He was the son of William H Burgett (1874–1931) and Minnie Bertha Hiscott (1879–1964), born in Spokane on 25 November 1912. He worked as a warehouse-man for a paper company, and in road construction.

Harvey died in Spokane on 14 May 1994, and Hazel died there a year later on 17 November 1995. They were survived by nieces and nephews.

     4. Clarence Howard Rayburn (1907–1983) was born in Hatton, Adams County, Washington, on 13 May 1907, and he grew up in Adams County. in 1926 he attended State College of Washington in Pullman, Whitman County, Washington, and he eventually became a research chemist.

Clarence's career took him east to Richmond, Virginia. On 25 December 1934, he married Dorothy Jean Cahill (1910–1996) in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina. She was born on 6 April 1910 in Rockingham County, North Carolina, to Benjamin Marshall Cahill (1862–1926) and Katherine Louise Lewis (1866–1955).

The couple lived in Richmond together until Clarence's death on 3 July 1983. He was buried in Dale Memorial Park in Chesterfield, Chesterfield County, Virginia. Dorothy was living back in North Carolina when she died on 14 June 1996, and she was buried next to Clarence. They are survived by a daughter, two sons, and at least two grandchildren.

     5. Lena Rayburn (1911–2003) was born on 31 January 1911 in Hatton, Adams County, Washington. She grew up in Adams County and moved to Spokane, where she was listed as a maid in the household of Herbert and Virginia Barrett in 1930.

On 25 July 1931, she married Carl Julius Roning (1911–1988), the son of Norwegian immigrants Elmer Roning (1873–1962) and Caroline "Carrie" Bjornes (1882–1961), born on 2 June 1911 in Spokane. Carl worked as a lineman for the telephone company, and they raised their son and daughter in Walla Walla and Spokane before Carl retired from Pacific Northwest Bell in 1971. They then settled in Loon Lake, Stevens County, Washington.

Carl died on 8 March 1988 in Loon Lake, at 76 years of age, and Lena died there at age 92 on 3 October 2003. They are survived by their daughter, four grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.

     a. Clifford Mack Roning (1934–1993) was born on 12 March 1934 in Diamond Lake, Pend Oreille County, Washington. He grew up in Walla Walla and in Spokane, attending the University of Washington in 1956.

Clifford died on 15 October 1993 in Saint Petersburg, Pinellas, Florida. I believe he was married and may have had a daughter, but I was unable to find records to confirm these facts.

     6. Warren Dale Rayburn (1916–1994) was born on 13 April 1916 in Sprague, Lincoln County, Washington and grew up in Adams County with his siblings. He married Ida Mary Roach (1917–1991) on 11 July 1939 in Kelso, Cowlitz County, Washington. She was born in Malden, Whitman County, Washington, on 1 February 1917, the daughter of John Davis Roach (1891–1933) and Katie M Evans (1892–1970).

Warren and Ida lived in Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington, in the late 1940s and moved to Pendleton, Umatilla County, Oregon, where they remained throughout the 1950s. They divorced on 26 October 1965. Ida remarried Calvin Vance Day (1911–2001) on 19 June 1966 in Kennewick, Franklin County, Washington. She died on 6 October 1991 in Richland, Benton County, Washington.

Warren died on 16 February 1994 in Wasco County, Oregon.

     F. Carrie M Murphy (1878–1954) was born in Oregon on 2 October 1877. She married her first husband, Charles Jacob Diekman (1873–1942), in 1898. Charles was born on 14 June 1873 in Marshfield, Coos County, Oregon, to parents Charles W (1844–1916) and Lydia C Diekman (1851–1933). Charles was a carpenter and he and Carrie raised their children in Vancouver, Clark County, Washington. In the 1920s, Charles and Carrie moved down to California, and by 1940 had moved to Hawaii. Charles died there on 3 June 1942.

Carrie married her second husband, Thomas Henry Joy (1870–1963), at the end of 1946. She died in Honolulu on 9 March 1954, and Thomas died on 22 March 1963.

     1. Warren William Diekman (1900–1957) was born on 22 November 1900 in Moro, Sherman County, Oregon. He grew up in the general Vancouver area and was briefly married to Lucy Alice McBroom (1890–1934) in the 1920s.

Lucy was the daughter of Walter Hill McBroom (1859–1932) and Lillian N Rasey (1867–1960), born on 14 May 1890 in Butterfield, Watonwan County, Minnesota. She had been married to Daniel Oliver Williams (1888–1976) from 1909 to 1915, and to William Raymond Leslie (1882–1955) from about 1915 to 1920. She remarried Mr. Leslie in 1929.

Warren worked in construction, working in Los Angeles and Hawaii. Prior to World War II, he was in charge of the installation of the fortifications at Midway and Pearl Harbor from 1938 to 1940 and was a construction superintendent for Waale-Camplan contractors during the war.

On 26 November 1938, Warren married Grace Lee Campbell (1909–1977), daughter of Robert Campbell (1874–1952) and Irene Katherine Campion (1878–1950), in Multnomah County, Oregon. They lived in Hawaii in 1940, but in 1942, Warren was seen listing Portland as his home of record.

Warren died in Portland on 28 April 1957 and was buried in Riverview Abbey Mausoleum and Crematory. Grace raised their two young daughters; she died in Portland on 3 February 1977 and was buried with Warren. They are survived by their daughters and three grandsons.

     2. Virgil Otto Diekman (1903–1964) was born on 13 June 1903 in Moro, Sherman County, Oregon. He married Blanch Irene Joy (1903–1984) on 30 January 1922 in Chehalis, Lewis County, Washington. Blanch was born on 24 January 1903 in Vancouver, Clark County, Washington. She was the daughter of  Thomas Henry Joy (1870–1963) and his first wife, Etta Clara Higdon (1877–1945). (This is the same Tom Joy who later married Virgil's mother, Carrie.)

Like his father and older brother, Virgil worked in construction. He and Blanch had a son, and lived in the Portland and Vancouver areas during the 1930s. They likely moved to follow Warren to Hawaii, arriving in 1937. In 1940, they were living in Honolulu, Hawaii, which is where Virgil died on 20 April 1964.

       a. Dwaine Omer Diekman (1922–2000) was born on 10 September 1922 in Vancouver, Clark County, Washington, and moved to Hawaii with his family in the mid-1930s. He worked as a branch manager of an appliance store in Kailua, Hawaii, for many years. Dwaine was married to
Kimie Taira "Peggy" Ishihara (1922–2003) from about 1955 to about 1960, and in 1962 he married Winifred M Magpiong (1922–1990) in Agana, Hagåtña, Guam.

Winifred died on 16 March 1990 in Otis, Lincoln County, Oregon; Dwaine died in Otis on 9 June 2000 at age 78. Her obituary suggests that she and Dwaine may have had two daughters, but I was unable to confirm whether they were his daughters or Winifred's daughters from her previous marriage.

     3. Lois Carol Diekman (1911–?) was born on 15 September 1911 in Washington state and spent her early childhood in Vancouver, Clark County, Washington. She graduated from Glendale Union High School in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California in 1929 and married on 17 April 1930 in Los Angeles County, California, to Cecil William Swartz (1907–1990), the son of William Edgar "Willie" Swartz (1877–1934) and Addie Johnson (1878–1936). He was born on 31 July 1907 in Alderson, Pittsburg County, Oklahoma.

Lois worked in the Burbank Unified School District for 28 years, managing the Children's Center programs at Emerson and Washington nursery schools. She became the supervisor of Emerson in 1947. In 1952 she was transferred to Washington, where she became the supervisor. In 1973, because of budget cutbacks, she became supervisor of both Washington and Emerson, and she retired in 1974.

Cecil died on 20 April 1990 in Los Angeles, and while I have a record placing Lois in Sun Valley, Los Angeles County, in 1992, I don't know for certain what happened to her after that.

     4. Harold Elton "Red" Diekman (1913–1974) was born on 27 December 1913, in Vancouver, Clark County, Washington. He married Susanne Roberts Noyes (1923–2009) on 15 February 1942. Susanne was born on 2 March 1923, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Chief Warrant Officer Joseph Everett Noyes (1876–1952) and Lois Howard Brown (1888–1965). Being a military family the Noyes moved to Honolulu, where Susanne attended McKinley High School.

After they married, Red and Susanne had three children. In 1953, the family moved to Guam to participate in the post-war reconstruction of the island. Susanne worked as a school secretary for many years at Adelup Elementary School. In 193 they moved to Springdale, Washington, where they built their home and settled into the community She was the Springdale Town Clerk and served on the Springdale School Board.

He died on April 8, 1974, in Spokane, Washington, at the age of 60. Susanne died many years later on 26 January 2009. They were survived by two sons and a daughter, as well as nine grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandson.

     a. Harold Elton "Hal" Diekman Jr (1943–2018) was born on 8 August 1943 Honolulu, Hawaii. Hal spent his childhood in the pacific islands but he graduated from Stoneham High School in Stoneham, Massachusetts, in 1961 while residing with his aunt and uncle. He graduated college from Lowell Institute in Lowell, Massachusetts, where he enjoyed rowing crew. He joined the United States Air Force in 1968 and began a twelve-year military career as an Air Weather Reconnaissance Officer.

Hal was married in 1971, and he and his new wife resided in Guam while Hal served as a "typhoon chaser." In 1975 the family transferred to Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Oklahoma. After leaving the military, the family relocated to Lawton, Oklahoma in 1982 where they raised their three children.

Hal died just last year on 26 December 2018 in Lawton and is survived by his wife, three children, and six grandchildren.

     5. Diekman (1916–1916) Carried and Charles also had an unnamed baby daughter who died on 11 October 1916 in Vancouver, Clark County, Washington.

- -- --- -- -

There is one more Murphy child to cover, and my semester ends in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, we'll get back to a more regular schedule, soon.

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

We now have more ways to reach out:

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


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

Until next time... Happy Hunting!

Traveling the Oregon Trail

Hello, cousins!

Apparently, I have made a grave mistake. (Pun incidental...)

About this time last year, I published a series of posts about the descendants of an Elizabeth Callen, who I believe to be the daughter of James Callin. For your convenience, here is the series, so far:

• Echoes & Rhymes
• The Montgomery Connection
• A Ferrell Child
• Turning Another Page

But somehow I forgot to keep going! Those posts only traced the descendants of Elizabeth's first daughter, Mary, but Elizabeth had five children, which means I owe you a few more posts. In fact, as I've begun preparing these, I have discovered that this family is larger than I first thought, and putting their stories together has been taking longer than usual. This means I'll be giving you shorter posts spread out over a longer time, until we get caught up.

We'll begin today with the second daughter of Caleb and Elizabeth (Callin) Montgomery:

Sarah Montgomery (1824–1918)

Sarah was the second of Caleb and Elizabeth (Callin) Montgomery's five children, born on 27 December 1824 in Olivesburg, Richland County, Ohio. She was 9 years old when her mother died, and she was 12 when her father moved the family to Fulton County, Indiana.

Sarah married Henry Davidson (1818–1894) in that county on 22 April 1841. They had six children of their own, who we'll look at over the course of the next few weeks:

• I. Rebecca Lucretia Davidson (1842–1917)
• II. William Montgomery Davidson (1845–1939)
• III. Theodore Bruce Davidson (1848–1932)
• IV. Frances Mary Davidson (1850–1855)
• V. Samuel Thurston Davidson (1853–1889)
• VI. Mary E Davidson (1854–1929)

 Henry Davidson was born in Ohio, according to most of his Census records; the 1880 places his birth in Illinois, but 1850, 1860, and 1870 all say he was born in Ohio, and his record in the Oregon, Early Oregonians Index, 1800-1860 asserts he was born in Wayne County, Ohio. His Find-A-Grave memorial says he was born in Michigan on 28 May 1818.

In 1850 the Henry and Sarah Davidson family was living in Newcastle, Fulton County, and by this time they had taken in Sarah's orphaned niece, who is listed in their household as "Sarah E Faroll" (age 4). You might recall Sarah Ferrell from the post, A Ferrell Child.

Based on research compiled by Stephanie Flora at oregonpioneers.com the Davidsons set out for Oregon as part of the Murphy Train. Captained by John Ecles Murphy, the group consisted of family and friends, all members of the Christian Church (aka Campbellites or Disciples of Christ).  According to Flora's site, "In April 1852, a second migration of church members began the journey.  It was made up of the families of Burford, Butler, Davidson, Lucas, Mason, Murphy, Roundtree and a number of single men."

The Davidson family settled in what is now Halsey, Linn County, Oregon, where the two youngest children, Samuel and Mary, were born. Sarah and Henry lived out their days in Linn County. Henry died on 19 February 1894 and was buried in Pugh Cemetery in Shedd. Sarah lived in Lebanon until her death on 8 May 1918, and she was buried with her husband.

I. Rebecca Lucretia Davidson (1842–1917)

The oldest child of Henry and Sarah (Montgomery) Davidson, Lucretia was born on 18 August 1842 in Fulton County, Indiana. She would have been 10 years old when her family embarked on their journey to Oregon.

About 1864, she married Henderson Warren Murphy (1835–1918), son of John Ecles Murphy (1806–1876) and Frances Wright Doughty (1810–1891) - the same John Ecles Murphy who led the wagon train Lucretia's family took to Oregon in 1852. Henderson was born on 3 February 1835, during the years when his father was establishing the Church of Christ on Cedar Fork of Henderson River in Warren County, Illinois.

After they married, Henderson and Lucretia farmed and raised livestock in Oregon and Washington Territory. They raised a family of seven children, all of whom were born in Oregon:


     A. Sarah Frances Murphy (1865–1931)
     B. John D Murphy (1867–1955)
     C. Omer Thurston Murphy (1871–1961)
     D. Katherine M "Katie" Murphy (1873–1942)
     E. Nellie Murphy (1873–1958)
     F. Carrie M Murphy (1878–1954)
     G. Claude Henry Murphy (1885–1970)

(The rest of today's post will follow the descendants of Sarah Frances Murphy.)

About 1879 the family moved to Alder Creek in Klickitat County, Washington Territory, where they appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census and the 1883 territorial census, per Washington State and Territorial Censuses, 1857-1892. But their youngest child, Claude Henry, was born in Oregon in 1885, so it would seem they moved back to Linn County by that point.

Lucretia died on 20 July 1917 in Linn County, Oregon, and is buried in the IOOF Cemetery in Lebanon, Linn County. Henderson died at the home of his daughter, Carrie, in Vancouver, Washington, on 31 December 1918 and was brought back to Oregon and buried with his wife.

     A. Sarah Frances Murphy (1865–1931) was born on 5 January 1865 in Halsey, Linn County, Oregon. She married William Lawson Wells (1859–1949) on 3 November 1887 in Polk County, Oregon. William was born on 6 January 1859 to George Andrew Wells (1830–1900) and Henrietta Turner (1830–1911) in Hubbard, Marion County, Oregon.

William and Sarah lived at Dallas in Polk County, where William served as a county sheriff from 1890 to 1894 and as a county judge from 1896 to 1900. They raised seven children together. In 1903 the couple moved back to Halsey. Sarah died there on 21 September 1931 and was buried in Pugh Cemetery in Shedd, Linn County.

William married the widowed Winifred Snyder on 3 November 1932 in Halsey. He died at his home in Halsey on 15 February 1949 at the age of 90. He was buried with Sarah in the Pugh Cemetery.

     1. Leroy Henderson "Roy" Wells (1888–1971) was born on 21 October 1888 in Independence, Polk County, Oregon. He was a life-long farmer who never married. He moved to Albany in 1968 and died on 26 January 1971 in the Mennonite Home for the Aged.

     2. Elbert George Wells (1890–1961) was born in Independence on 4 April 1890 and grew up in Polk County, Oregon. By 1917 he was living in Calexico, California, where he worked as an engineer on the canals of the Imperial Valley's water company. He and Loreto Villa-Escusa (1895–2000) raised a family of five children: two daughters and three sons. The records I've found say that Loreto was born in 1895 in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico and that she and Elbert lived at 1384 Avenida Lerdo in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, but I have not been able to find marriage records - most likely due to my own inexperience looking for records in another country.

     a. Elbert George "Bari" Wells Jr. (1931–2016) was born on 3 July 1931 in Calexico, Imperial County, California. He was raised in Mexicali, Baja California, until his mid-twenties when he met and married his wife of 62 years. He worked hard all of his life in many jobs, starting as a farmworker in the fields of the San Joaquin Valley with his father and brothers at the age of 13. He then worked for Caltrans where he retired as the Brawley Yard Superintendent in 1991.

Bari died on 4 February 2016 at his home in Oceanside, California, and he is survived by his wife, son, two daughters, and two granddaughters.

     i. Elbert George Wells III (1954–2017) was born on 13 July 1954 in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, and was raised in Brawley, CA, where he attended Brawley High School. He later graduated from Imperial Valley College and the University of California, San Diego.

In 1980, George moved to Santa Barbara, California for work, where he met his late wife, Joann Napoli. In 2009, George moved to Oceanside, California, with his parents, where George assisted his father as a caregiver until Bari's death in 2016. During this time, George also battled diabetes. After his father's death, he moved back to Santa Barbara, where he died on 26 July 2017.

Order of Leopold II

     3. Goldie Ruth Wells (1893–1979) was born on 6 August 1893, in Dallas, Polk County, Oregon. She became a missionary to the Belgian Congo, where she assisted in establishing the mission station at Mondombe in 1919. She was an author, publishing Sila, Son of the Congo in 1945, and in 1937 she was decorated by the King of Belgium with the Order of Leopold II for her long and outstanding service in the Congo. When she was in America, she was a popular guest speaker in churches throughout the Midwest and Pacific Northwest.

Goldie died on 30 May 1979, in Salem, Marion County, Oregon, at the age of 85, and was buried in Shedd, Oregon.

     4. Gladys Leona Wells (1897–1980) was born on 24 August 1897 in Dallas, Polk County, Oregon. She married Emil J Helseth (1895–1980) on 16 September 1920. He was the son of Norwegian immigrants, Lars J Helseth (1864–1922) and Elise Pedersen (1867–1895), born on 9 January 1985 in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota.

Emil served in the Army Medical Corps in World War I, enlisting from 29 March 1918 to 11 April 1919. After the war, he attended the University of Oregon and graduated from Eugene Bible University, later called Northwest Christian College. He served pastoral assignments in Washington and Oregon, became an Army chaplain in World War II, serving from 5 June 1943 to 14 February 1946, and returned to Ontario as pastor of the First Christian Church. He later served in Boise and Burley, Idaho, retiring in I960 and moving to Salem. He was active in starting Keizer Christian Church, he was an elder emeritus of Garden Road Christian Church and a member of Salem Retread Organization, an association of people who served in both world wars.

Gladys and Emil died just a month apart in Salem; Gladys at home on 19 January and Emil on 11 February 1980 in a nursing home. They are buried in the City View Cemetery in Salem. They are survived by their two daughters, one of their three sons, 15 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

     a. Raymond Wells Helseth (1921–2005) was one of a set of twins born on 25 December 1921 in Eugene, Oregon. He received degrees from Northwest Christian College in Eugene and from Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. While they were students at Northwest Christian College, he met Miriam Myrta Eccles (1923–2004), and they were married on 24 August 1943 in Orting, Washington.

Miriam was the daughter of missionaries George Emery Eccles (1890–1988) and Lulu M Moffitt (1896–1969), born on 16 March 1923 in Bolange, Belgian Congo. (As it happens, the Eccles family served at the mission station in Mondombe in the 1920s, which Raymond's aunt Goldie had helped to establish.) Miriam was a trained coloratura soprano and soloist. She gave voice and piano lessons and took in typing.

Raymond pastored churches in Colville, Washington; Kimberly, Idaho; and McMinnville, Oregon; as well as several student pastorates in Oregon and Texas. Miriam supported Raymond's ministry as a pianist, choir director, committee chair, and teacher. While in McMinnville, Miriam received a BA in Music Education and an MA in English Education from Linfield College. She taught music at Adams Grade School, taught English and Freshman Girls' Glee at Centennial High School, then English at Gresham High School, and later still substitute taught in Salem before becoming a full-time grade school music teacher for some years.

In 1960, Raymond became organizing pastor of Lynchwood Christian Church in southeast Portland. He served as a part-time campus minister at Portland State University and volunteer chaplain in the Multnomah County jail system. He became Protestant Chaplain at Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem in 1968. Miriam volunteered extensively at Oregon State Prison while Raymond was chaplain, giving piano and voice lessons to inmates and directing a men's choir. The choir was limited to 40 men with a long waiting list. Several concerts a year were performed for "outside' guests. One guest was Senator Mark Hatfield whom the Helseths had long known and admired.

 Miriam was active at Keizer Christian Church, becoming the first woman elder in a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregation in Oregon. Even after he retired, Raymond served interim ministries in Washington and Oregon. Raymond and Miriam also helped start the Salem Area Habitat for Humanity. They had seen some original Habitat houses in Africa on a missions trip in 1986. Miriam was board secretary for nine years. On 16 March 2003, her eightieth birthday, a house was dedicated in West Salem as the Helseth Home.

Miriam died in Portland on 31 December 2004 at the age of 81. Raymond died on 1 October 2005 in Salem at the age of 83. They were survived by three of their five children and eight grandchildren. They were preceded in death by Merrilyn Joy Helseth (1946), who died in infancy, and by one son:

• Raymond John "Ray J." Helseth (1957–1997) was born on 16 February 1957 in McMinnville, Yamhill County, Oregon, and he grew up to be a long-haul truck driver. Ray J. died on 28 July 1997 in Salem, Oregon, at the age of 40 and was survived by his companion and three step-children.

     b. Ralph Emil Helseth (1921–2001) was the twin brother of Raymond, born together on 25 December 1921 in Eugene, Oregon. He married Julia Evelyn Pedersen (1918–2016) on Christmas Day in 1942. Evelyn was born 20 December 1918, in Seattle, Washington, during the flu epidemic of 1918 and grew up on the Olympic Peninsula. She was the daughter of Edwin Peter Pederson (1882–1925) and Rhoda Maude Stuart (1883–1957).

Like his brother, he became a minister. He attended Pacific Lutheran College in Tacoma. Evelyn was a graduate of Northwest Christian College in Eugene and served in the ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Washington, Indiana, and Oregon with her husband.

Ralph died on 3 January 2001 in Federal Way, King County, Washington, and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Auburn, King County. Evelyn moved to Hood River in 2008 as her health declined and lived with her daughter and son-in-law. She died at 97 years of age on 24 October 2016 and was buried with Ralph. They are survived by their daughter, one of their two sons, and their grandchildren.

• Jonathan Mark Helseth (1949–2004) was the son of Ralph and Evelyn Helseth, born on 25 August 1949 in Clarkston, Asotin County, Washington. He was married in Auburn, Washington, in 1971, and is survived by his wife, son, and daughter. He died on 13 November 2004 in Seattle and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Auburn.

     5. William Leonard Wells (1900–1904) was born in Polk County, Oregon, on 17 April 1900, and only lived to be three years old. He died on 24 March 1904 and was buried in Pugh Cemetery in Shedd, Linn County, Oregon.

     6. William Lawrence Wells (1904–1977) was born on 7 February 1904 in Oregon and grew up to be a minister, like many of the men in his family. On 23 August 1927, he married Gracia Thornton (1904–1975) in Lane County, Oregon. Gracia was born on 2 May 1904 in Oregon, the youngest daughter of Josiah Jeptha Thornton (1851–1941) and Frances Emeline Mathews (1863–1937).

The Rev. W. Lawrence and Mrs. Gracia Wells served in Missouri, Snohomish County, Washington, and in Marysville, Yuba County, California, before settling in Pasadena, Los Angeles County in the 1950s. Gracia died in Pasadena on 23 April 1975, and Lawrence died there on 26 June 1977. They were survived by their son and three grandchild.

     a. William Joseph Wells (1937–2016) was the son of Lawrence and Gracia Wells, born 6 March 1937 in Vancouver, Washington. He spent his childhood in Washington State and northern California and graduated from Marysville High School in California in 1955. After he studied for a year at Chapman College, he served in the U.S. Navy for four years. While stationed in Japan, he met and married Judith Kathryn Davis (1940–1992), daughter of American missionaries Dr. Howard Kenneth Davis (1920–2014) and Kathryn Anna Giles (1922–1998). She was born on 8 August 1940 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

After his discharge from the service, Bill returned to Pacific Christian College, then attended Phillips Seminary in Enid, Oklahoma earning both a Masters of Divinity and a Doctorate of Ministry. He served churches in Nelsonville and Findlay, Ohio. Judith was also ordained as a United Methodist pastor, and she served in the Byhalia-Pottersburg (Ohio) area.

Bill and Judith divorced in July 1977, and both remarried - Judith in 1978, and Bill about 1987. Judith died on 22 November 1992 in Centerville, Montgomery County, Ohio.

After he married his second wife, Bill spent 16 years at Anderson Hills Church in Cincinnati, until health complications forced him into retirement. In 2003, Bill and his wife retired to Yuba City where they joined St. Andrew Presbyterian Church and enjoyed a loving community there. Bill suffered many health problems over the next years due to diabetes. He died on 22 December 2016 in Yuba City, Sutter County, California, and is survived by his wife, son, two daughters, and eight grandchildren and step-grandchildren (four of each).


     7. Genevieve H Wells (1906–1999) was the youngest child of William and Frances (Murphy) Wells, born on 29 December 1906 in Oregon and grew up in Halsey, Linn County. She married Glenn Clinton Kendall (1903–1949) on 3 September 1927 in Linn County. He was born on 6 April 1906 in Grant County, Oregon, to John Benjamin Kendall (1867–1943) and Winnifred "Winnie" Mulkey (1873–1946).

Glenn and Genevieve lived in the Albany, Oregon, area until around 1944, when they moved to Paso Robles, California. Glenn died in San Luis Obispo County on 13 March 1949 and was buried in Paso Robles District Cemetery.

Genevieve remarried Leo Estel Smart (1890–1978) on 14 February 1958 in San Luis Obispo, California. Leo died on 6 May 1978 in Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo, California, and was buried in Paso Robles District Cemetery. Genevieve died on 12 June 1999, also in Morro Bay, California, at the age of 92, and was buried in Paso Robles, California.

       a. John E Kendall (1929–2016) was born on 13 April 1929 and grew up in Benton County. All I can say about John's biography with the records I have been able to find is that he married his second wife, Jean Belle Lay (1928–2004) on 7 September 1976 in Los Angeles County, California. She died in Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo County, California, on 20 November 2004, and was buried in the Paso Robles District Cemetery. John died there in 2016 and was buried with Jean.

       b. Lewis Clinton Kendall (1934–2009) was born on 7 September 1934 in Albany, Oregon, and moved to Paso Robles around age 10, where he eventually graduated from Paso Robles High. Lewis was married to his first wife for 18 years. After they divorced, he began his 23-year career with California State Parks. He worked at Hearst Castle for 6 years and 17 years at Lake Oroville. He moved to Chico in 1979, where he died on 27 July 2009.

- -- --- -- -

That is all I have at the moment - I feel like there is a lot more to say about these very interesting people, but hopefully, we'll get to learn more as we move down the trail!

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

We now have more ways to reach out:

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


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

Until next time.... Happy Hunting!

A Ferrell Child

Standards of proof are very important.

When you do any kind of research, it's important to understand not only what you know, but how you know it, and how confident you are in your sources. Of course, sometimes you simply don't have sources - records are non-existent, or at least not online, and all you can do is document what you do have, and make a note of where you think you need to look for more information.

There is a very good essay about evaluating "proof" at DNA Explained which has some advice I suggest you keep in mind as you read this post because much of the information I'm putting together here today is definitely not proven.

If you read my previous posts, Echoes & Rhymes and The Montgomery Connection, you know that I'm already on shaky ground when I assert that Elizabeth Callen is the daughter of James Callin of Milton Township, Richland County, Ohio. I think I made a strong case that she is, but now I'm going to make a much weaker case that we know who Elizabeth's daughter is.

This is as much as I can prove:

Mary Montgomery

James Ferrell and Mary Montgomery were married in Rochester, Fulton County, Indiana, on 23 March 1843. We know this much from the marriage record in Indiana, Marriages, 1810-2001.

That's not a lot to go on when you consider the standards of proof I just made such a big deal about!

We do know that Elizabeth had a daughter named Mary, because there is a mention of a Mary Montgomery in the biographical sketch of Caleb and Elizabeth (Callen) Montgomery's son, Theodore found in the Fulton County, Indiana Handbook (published by Tombaugh House, and available on the Fulton County Public Library's website): "To these parents were born five children--Mary, now deceased; Sarah, now the wife of Henry Davidson, living in Halsey, Oregon; Theodore, of whom this sketch is concerned..." I have not found records to prove the relationship of the Mary Montgomery in that Fulton County marriage record to Caleb and Elizabeth, but it seems like a reasonable "right place/right time" guess to make.

I have also found no birth records or death records that prove the relationship of James and Mary (Montgomery) Ferrell to the Sarah Ferrell who appears in the household of Sarah (Montgomery) Davidson on the U.S. Census records for 1850 and 1860, but it seems reasonable that if her parents died before 1850, the Davidson family might have taken in their orphaned niece.

Based on the scant evidence, my guess is that James and Mary were married (1843), had a daughter (1846), and at least Mary died before 1850 - probably all in Fulton County. There are records for men named James Ferrell (spellings can vary) in Indian and Ohio after 1846, but my hunch is that the one we are interested in might have died before the 1850 Census. I can't really rule out any number of other scenarios - including one in which the Davidson family simply adopted an orphan from another family. But for now, I'm going to assume that Sarah Elizabeth Ferrell (1846–1916) is the granddaughter of Caleb and Elizabeth, and the orphaned daughter of James and Mary.

Sarah Elizabeth Ferrell (1846–1916)

Whatever her true origins, "Sarah E. Faroll," age 4, was living in the home of her aunt, Sarah (Montgomery) Davidson, in Newcastle, Fulton County, Indiana, according to the 1850 U.S. Census. The Davidson family, along with many others, took the Oregon Trail west in 1852 and 1853, and in 1860 "Sarah Ferrell", now age 14, appeared listed in their household in Linn County, Oregon, near the Harrisburg post office.

By the time of the 1870 Census, Sarah was newly married to her third husband and living with him, his four children, and her son and daughter from her two previous marriages in Lancaster, Lane County, Oregon. That is a lot to deal with in ten short years.

Her first husband was Josiah S Powell (1839–1865), son of Noah Powell (1808–1875) and Mary E. "Polly" Smith (1812–1893), and he died at 26 years of age on 21 November 1865. Since Joe and Sarah's son, Glenn O. Farrell Powell (1865–1948), was born on 19 March 1865, I calculate that they were married in the spring or summer of 1864.

Sarah married her second husband, E. J. S. Page, on 4 August 1867, in the home of her father-in-law, Noah Powell, according to Marion County, Oregon, Marriage Records, 1849-1900. Their daughter was Sarah Olive Page (1868–1968). We know precious little about Mr. Page, not having any birth or death records to refer to. We don't even know his full name, or whether he died or simply moved on; I'm inclined to think that he probably died.

Sarah Ferrell's third husband was a widowed banker named James Addison Bushnell (1826–1912). They were married 2 April 1870 in Lynn County, Oregon, after the death of his first wife, Elizabeth Crowley Adkins (1831–1868) on 2 January 1868 in Lane County, Oregon. To everyone's relief, they survived their second year of marriage, and each lived until the 1910s.

James was the son of Daniel Bushnell and Ursula Griswold Pratt (1789–1883). He and his first wife, Elizabeth, had seven children before her 1868 death:

• Charles Alvah Bushnell (1851–1874)
• Lucy G Bushnell (1854–1937)
• Ursula Josephine Bushnell (1857–1859)
• Mary Elizabeth Bushnell (1859–1859)
• William Francis Bushnell (1860–1865)
• Helen V. Bushnell (1862–1935)
• George Addison Bushnell (1867–1882)

In addition to the seven children from his first marriage, James and Sarah had five children together:

• Henry Clay Bushnell (1871–1933)
• Walter Scott Bushnell (1874–1881)
• Albert Bushnell (1876–1876)
• Mary Bushnell (1879–1881)
• Gertrude E Bushnell (1883–1977)

James died on 8 April 1912 in Lane County, Oregon. He was 85 years old, and  Sarah was 70 years old when she died on 29 January 1916 in Lane County, Oregon. They are buried Luper Cemetery.

We'll get to Sarah Page and the others in a later post, but for now, let's look at:

I. Glenn O. Farrell Powell (1865–1948), was born on 19 March 1865 in Albany, Linn County, Oregon, to Joe and Sarah Powell. As discussed above, his father died when Glenn was barely two years old; and a step-father also came and went before he turned five. But Glenn grew up in the home of James Addison Bushnell.

Glenn married Arvilla Howard (1869–1918) in 1887. Arvilla was born 28 July 1869 in Lane County, Oregon. Her parents were Royal Varney Howard (1833–1916) and Eda Jane Smith (1841–1919). Glenn and Arvilla raised four children: a son (Noble) and three daughters (Ada, Claudia, and Pauline). Arvilla died at only 48 years of age on 17 February 1918 in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, and was buried in Lincoln Memorial Park in Portland.

Glenn farmed and supported his family as a carpenter. After Arvilla's death, he was remarried to Alice Jane Waud (1862–1942) on 18 December 1920 in Lane County, Oregon. He was the last of her five husbands. She died on 30 October 1942 in Renton, King, Washington, where she was living with one of her children from a previous marriage. Glenn died on 17 April 1948 in San Francisco, California, where he was living with his daughter, Pauline.

     A. Ada Gertrude Powell (1888–1975) was born in Oregon on 9 October 1888. She married Leon Leroy Myers (1886–1991) in 1910 in Multnomah County, Oregon.

Leroy was born 24 January 1886 in Morganville, Clay, Kansas. His parents were Conrad Myers (1855–1943) and Anna Augusta Roenigk (1860–1895). Augusta was born in Bremen, and Conrad was born in Iowa to John and Catherine Meyer/Myers, who were both born in Bavaria; so these Myers are probably not related to other Myers families in the Callin Family History.

Rev. Leon Myers photo Tue, Aug 4, 1936 – Page 4 · Macon Chronicle-Herald (Macon, Missouri) · Newspapers.com

The Reverend Leon Leroy Myers took his degree in May 1913 from the Eugene Bible College, and after a few years in Oregon, the family moved down to Redlands in San Bernardino. Leon became a prominent member of the Ku Klux Klan in Anaheim, and he was a crusader against liquor during the 1920s. In January 1925, after Rev. Myers was rebuked for making allegations against police and local officials that turned out not to be true, he was targeted by an anti-klan assassination plot. Later that spring, he was attacked and beaten by a citizen he had accused from the pulpit.

The Myers moved to Kansas in 1927, and to Cincinnati, Ohio, in the 1930s. Leon was frequently invited to speak at revivals.

Ada and Leroy had six children together, including twins, Leroy and Leon. But in 1954 she sued Leon for gross neglect and was awarded alimony. She did not sue for divorce, but it seems clear that they were no longer together after that.

When Ada died on 25 March 1975 in Half Moon Bay, San Mateo, California, she was survived by Paul, Eugene, Elizabeth, and James, as well as 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Leroy lived to be 105 years old, dying on 22 November 1991 in Calaveras County, California.

     i. Paul Addison Myers (1911–2002) was born on 19 July 1911 while his father was leading his first congregation at the Christian Church in Dallas, Polk County, Oregon. By 1920, the family was living in Redlands, San Bernardino, California. In 1930, the 19-year-old Paul was enlisted in the U.S. military and stationed in the Panama Canal Zone with his unit at Fort Clayton.

After his enlistment ended, Paul married and became an accountant in San Francisco. His wife was Esther O'Dell (1913–1954), daughter of the Reverend Charles Norman O'Dell (1883–1973) and Ione Grundy (1887–1968). The couple lived in San Francisco until after the war began, and Paul enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. On 7 December 1942, he entered boot camp as a private first class at Quantico, Virginia, and by October 1943 he had received his commission as a Second Lieutenant. He was wounded at Iwo Jima, and hospitalized at Guam in 1945.

After the war, Paul and Esther were living in San Pedro in 1949, but I get the impression from the records that the separation of the war took a toll on their marriage. I don't see any evidence that they had children, and Paul was living in Seattle with his second wife already when Esther died on 25 February 1954 in Stanislaus County, California.

Paul's second wife was Janet Kathrine Lynch (1927–2000); they probably met during their service, as she was a member of the Cadet Nursing Corps from 1945 to 1948. I wonder if they didn't meet at the hospital when he was wounded - but that's pure speculation on my part.

Janet died 9 April 2000 in Kirkland, King, Washington. Paul also died there on 11 August 2002.

     ii. Eugene Powell Myers (1913–1998) was born in Silverton, Marion, Oregon on 19 December 1913. When he was 8 years old, and his family was living in Redlands, he and his little sister created a stir in the local community when they tried to run away and "see the world"!

Myers children "see the world" Mon, Oct 3, 1921 – Page 12 · Santa Ana Register (Santa Ana, California) · Newspapers.com
In 1930, Eugene was 16 and residing at the State Juvenile Training School in Gatesville, Texas.

He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on 20 March 1942, and by the end of the war, he had achieved the rank of technical sergeant, having spent 20 months in the Pacific theater. He was discharged on 19 March 1946.

On 31 July 1951, he married Joyce Emily Hughes (1925–2009) in Alameda County, California. They had five children, four sons and a daughter; three of whom are still living.

Eugene died on 15 July 1998 in Grosse Pointe, Wayne, Michigan, survived by Joyce and four of their children. Joyce died there on 12 March 2009.

     a. Wayne Leon Myers (1953–1995) was born on 23 June 1953, in Berkeley, California, and died on December 27, 1995, in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the age of 42. Dr. Wayne L. Myers was listed in the City Directory of New Orleans in 1992.

     b. Dana O'Farrell Myers (1961–2011)  was born on August 9, 1961, in Detroit, Michigan, and he worked for the United States Postal Service in St. Petersburg, Florida, from 1986. His passions were sports, the beach, and camping. He never married, but he spent 24 years with his companion (she is still living) and their cat, Smokey. He died in Sunset Beach on 1 December 2011.

     iii. Elizabeth Jane Myers (1915–1989) was born in The Dalles, Wasco, Oregon on 30 December 1915. She grew up in Redlands, San Bernardino, California (surviving her adventure with her brother, Eugene, when she was six), and followed her family to Kansas in the 1930s. Her father was a pastor in Cincinnati, Ohio, when Elizabeth probably met and married Norman B Hallenback (b. 1904).

Norman was born in Brooklyn, New York, on 30 May 1904. His parents Bert Cornelius Hallenbeck (1875–1954) and Edith Testut (1878–1944), moved the family to New Jersey by 1920. He married Helen J Frank (1908–1985) on 14 Aug 1926 in Bridgewater, Somerset, New Jersey, and in 1930, Norman left her with three small children when he disappeared from the movie theater where he worked with $1600 and a pretty, young cashier. Helen officially divorced him in 1932.

Norman turned up in Cincinnati in 1938, where he was charged with forgery. This arrest led to the alerting of authorities in New Jersey to his whereabouts. Elizabeth probably met Norman in Cincinnati, as that's where her father was preaching. They were married and living in Caldwell, Essex, New Jersey, in 1940, with a daughter (still living) and a son.

Unfortunately, 1940 is the last we see of Norman. He left his second family and disappeared from view; and he is almost certainly deceased. (If he is still alive, he should appear on this list!) Elizabeth remarried in New Jersey in 1945, and divorced in 1951 in Florida. In 1962, she married
Raymond Edwin Hebeler (1914–2005), and they lived in Calaveras County, California, where she died on 12 March 1989. Elizabeth was buried in Mokelumne Hill Protestant Cemetery.

     a. Robert Norman Hallenbeck (1940–2001) was born on 3 September 1940, in Montclair, New Jersey. He was married in 1961, in Los Angeles, California, and again in 1974, in Clark County, Nevada. He died on 13 June 2001, at the age of 60, in California.

     iv. Leroy J Myers (b. 1921) and his twin brother Leon David were born on 21 February 1921, in San Bernardino, California; Leroy was not a healthy child, and while records have not been identified, he is said to have died while his family was living in Dodge City, Kansas, where he appeared on the 1930 Census.

     v. Leon David Myers (1921–1944) was quite an accomplished young man. He was a Master Councilor of the Cincinnati Chapter of DeMolay, and graduated from Withrow High School. He was employed by the American Surety Co. and attending evening college at the University of Cincinnati when he enlisted on 25 April 1942.

Leon received a commission and acheived the rank of Captain. He was flight leader of the 396th Fighter Squadron of the 368th Fighter Group (a Thunderbolt group), serving in the Ninth Air Force. He received the Air Medal, 12 Oak Leaf Clusters. Distinguished Flying Cross and Purple Heart. He was killed in action over Saint-Lô, France, 26 July 1944, near the end of the invasion of Normandy, leaving behind a young widow.

In 1949, he was returned to the U.S. and buried in Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Fransisco.

     vi. James Conrad Myers (1924–1986) was born on 10 Oct 1924 in Orange County, California, and was very small when his father moved the family to Kansas. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on 3 July 1943 in Cincinnati, and served with the Chinese Combat Command.

James married after the war, on 9 October 1949; his wife and son are still living. James died on 14 September 1986 in Pacifica, San Mateo, California.

     B. Noble Glenn Powell (1890–1936) was born on 7 April 1890, in Oregon, the only son of Glenn and Arvilla Powell. He established himself as a professional driver in 1910, at a time when chauffuers were transitioning from horse-drawn carriages to motor vehicles. He appears in the Oregon Motor Vehicle Registrations database as early as 1912.

He married Bertha Ann Johns (1896–1980) around 1913; she was the daughter of Oliver Troy Johns (1862–1908) and Ella Francis Elliott (1872–1966). They had a son and daughter in Portland. Bertha also worked as a waitress.

Noble died on 14 February 1936, in Portland, at the age of 45, and was buried there. Bertha was remarried twice, but died on 9 September 1980 in Eugene, Lane, Oregon.

     i. Noble Glenn O Powell II (1914–2015) was born in Portland, Oregon to Bertha and Noble Powell. As a teen, he served in the Civilian Conservation Corps at Mt. Hood. He served in the U.S. Navy in WWII in the Pacific theater. He moved to Eugene in 1951.

On 25 July 1936, in Portland, Noble married Mary Trofimenko (1915–2008), and they enjoyed traveling the world together for 73 years. Mary was born 1 December 1915, in Killdeer, North Dakota, to Wasyl and Anna Procentko Trofimenko. She attended Girls Polytechnic School in Portland. She worked as a retail clerk for Eugene Toy and Hobby.

Mary died in Eugene on 7 October 2008. Noble spent his final years at Gateway Living in Eugene, and died on 26 January 2015, four months after his 100th birthday celebration. He was survived by his two children, 7 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren and, 3 great-great-grandchildren.

Two of his grandchildren are deceased:

• Noble Glenn O. "Bo" Powell IV (1966–2017) was born on May 28, 1966, in Eugene, Oregon. He graduated from Willamette High School in 1984 and joined the U.S. Navy, where he excelled as a boatswain's mate. He deployed for operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom, earning multiple Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals and Commendations along the way. After 26 years, Senior Chief "Bo" Powell retired from the Navy with honor in 2009.
  
  Bo was married in 1991, and he is survived by his wife and two sons, as well as his parents and a sister. He died on 13 September 2017, after a long battle with multiple myeloma cancer.

• Leslie Gayle Powell Daum (1970–1997) was born on 16 February 1970, in Eugene, Oregon. She was killed in a car accident on 24 August 1997, at the age of 27. She was survived by her ex-husband and two sons, as well as her parents, brother Bo, and her sister.

     ii. Arvilla Powell (b. 1920) born just before the 1920 Census, Arvilla did not appear in any other records with her family. Presumably, she died as an infant.


     C. Claudia Mae Powell (1891–1974) was born on 14 November 1891, in Oregon. She married Joe Mulholand on 19 October 1910, in Marion, Oregon; however, they seem to have been separated by 1916, when she appeared in the Portland city directory alone as "Claudia Mulholland."

Claudia lived in Portland and San Fransisco, where she operated a candy shop; she moved to Stayton, Marion, Oregon, in 1951. She died on 15 July 1974, in Stayton, at the age of 82. Private interment was in Rose City Cemetery, Portland.

     D. Pauline B Powell (1892–1970) was born on 31 December 1892, in Oregon. She married George O Greybrooke (1888–1961) around 1920, and they lived in San Fransisco for about 30 years. George was born in the Dakota Territory, and served in the U.S. Army from April 1918 to May 1919, at the end of World War I.

Pauline died Saturday, 14 November 1970 in a Salem nursing home at the age of 78 years. She was survived by her sisters, Claudia Powell, also of Salem, and Mrs. Ada J. Myers, of Half Moon Bay, California.

 - -- --- -- - 

 Family can be hard.

When you start digging into the history of any family, there are stories that can be hurtful or embarrassing to uncover. And when, like me, you are so distant a relative that you might as well be a random stranger, you don't know any of the people who might be hurt or embarrassed by the stories you uncover. That means being extra careful, not only to do thorough research and adequately document what you know, but also to reach out to the survivors of those stories in a way that represents them well.

There were several examples here of (potentially) messy divorces, family abandonment, and the impossible-to-ignore involvement with the Klan. Fortunately for me, I have found the other researchers I've met over the years to be pragmatic about confronting these stories. People who get into this hobby seem to become accustomed to the idea of accepting "black sheep" and scoundrels into their family tree along with the upstanding pillars of the community.

After all, it's not like we have much choice in the matter by the time we come along!

Of the living people mentioned in this post, it looks like I may have found at least one candidate to look for in the DNA database. Once I find a match, I'll be sure to post an update.

Until then, if you recognize yourself in this family, and want to fill in gaps or make corrections, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. I'm on Gmail as "callintad," or you can comment below. You can also follow the link above, on the right, to the Callin Family History Facebook group, which is a private group for descendants of James Callin. (Be prepared to tell me how you're related to this family, so I know to let you in!)

I'll be working hard to get as much of this branch documented before I start school in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned!