Category: Genealogy Names

Census Sunday: Or, What in the Heck Does Megan Do All Day?

Posted on by spuddled

I’m just finishing up a week at the Outer Banks, which means I’m feeling lazy, so this week’s Census Sunday blog post will follow that old dictum, “Write what you know.” And what do I know? I know how to spend lots and lots of time “doing genealogy.” But what exactly does that mean? I wish it meant that I made a new and thrilling genealogical discovery (i.e., found a brand new ancestor) every day, or even broke through a brick wall every few weeks (or months). William Montgomery, I’m still looking at you. Instead, what it usually means in my case is working on my never-ending “Census Project.”

And what, pray tell, is the “Census Project”? In basic terms, it means selecting (somewhat arbitrarily) one branch of the family tree and tracing all the descendants of that line from 1850 to the present day, or some approximation thereof. I’m currently working my way through the Sweeney line, and have been for…well, I don’t even know how long. Why 1850, you might ask? The 1850 census was the first to list every individual by name, so it’s much easier to be sure you’re looking at the right family than if, say, you are faced with 38 men named William Montgomery in 1840, and the only identifying feature for each family other than location is how many individuals in the household fell into each age range.

So how is the Sweeney Census Project going after all this time? Well, if you want a hobby that will last the rest of your lifetime, this could be it. I’m working my way through the descendants of Moses and Elizabeth (Johnson) Sweeney, and so far I’m on their second child (of 14). Mary Sweeney was born in 1760 and married Tyre Slatten, and I’ve made my way to their 7th child of 8, James Anderson Slatten, and to his 5th child (of 14 – again with 14), another Tyre Slatten. This Tyre and his wife, Julia Anne Coy, moved from Kentucky to Missouri. They only had 7 children, and I’m to their second, a son named James Lyon Slatten. He and his wife Rosetta (or Rozettie) Bartlett also had 7 children. Their eldest, Elizabeth or Lizzie, married Alva Burton Guymon, and they had four children: Victor Floyd, Deloris, Roscoe, and Bedonna. Bedonna definitely goes on Megan’s List of Unusual Familial Names.

But then what does Megan do? Well, Megan goes onto Ancestry.com mostly, and looks up the family of interest. She finds them in the appropriate census record(s) and adds that location as a census “fact” in RootsMagic (Megan’s genealogy software of choice). Then, because she is a weirdo, Megan transcribes the details of the census entry into RootsMagic, then uses those details to add other facts (birthdates and locations, marriages, occupations, newly-discovered children, etc.) to the RootsMagic database, always citing her sources, because Megan has learned that lesson. Then Ancestry helpfully suggests other possibly-related records which are also examined and added as sources if they are really for the correct family. Often they are, but sometimes not even close.

Okay, I’m done talking in the third person now. I make an effort to find each individual in every 1850-1950 census during which they would have been enumerated. If I can’t find someone where they should be, I’ll just add a to-do task to their record, with the optimistic thought that someday I’ll come back and find all those missing documents. But since most of these are cousins of some stripe rather than more direct ancestors, I’m okay with moving on to the next victim, er, family. It’s the direct family members who can’t be found who are the most frustrating. Because where did they go?? Anyway…

Here’s one of the many census records I transcribed this week, the 1900 census record for Tyre and Julia Slatten’s family in Sulphur Springs, Arkansas. I do love those precise birth months/years in the 1900 census, rather than the ages in other censuses. Also the number of years married, and the number of surviving children out of how many children born detail. Tyre and Julia were in Bethany, Harrison County, Missouri, from 1860-1880, then Sulphur Springs from 1900-1910, though both Tyre and Julia were buried in Bethany upon their deaths in 1913 and 1919 respectively.1

So that’s what I’m usually working on, genealogically speaking. Though I will go on occasional side quests, like tracing all of one particular family’s memorials on the Find-a-Grave website, or randomly deciding to research someone else’s family tree on a whim. And sometimes there are side quests to the side quests, like reorganizing my library and updating my book-tracking software with purchase price and location, cover price, and reading dates for all 5679 books. And sometimes I spend time at the Outer Banks.

  1. Year: 1900; Census Place: Sulphur Springs, Benton, Arkansas; Roll: 51; Page: 8; Enumeration District: 0020 ↩︎

On This Day: Bicentennial Birthday of Joseph Simeon Schooling

Posted on by spuddled

On today’s “On This Day” post, I’m taking a look at the birth (and life) of Joseph Simeon Schooling, who was born 200 years ago today in Washington County, Kentucky.1 Or it might have been 200 years and 2 months ago in Madison County, Kentucky, but we’re going to ignore that possibility.2 Joseph was my 2nd cousin 5 times removed and was the son of James A. and Nancy (Sweeney) Schooling.

On 18 July 1847 in Riggs, Missouri, he married Elizabeth Jane Hall. He was 21, and she was 20.3 Elizabeth was also my 2nd cousin 5 times removed; she was the daughter of Willis Jourdan and Nancy (Sweeney) Hall. Joseph and Elizabeth second cousins; his mother Nancy and her mother Nancy were first cousins. By 1850, Joseph and Elizabeth were living in Prairie Township, Randolph County, Missouri, along with daughters Nancy Elizabeth, 2; and Lucy Margaret, 3 months. Joseph was a farmer with property worth $300.4 Ten years later, the family was still in Prairie Township, though Joseph’s property value had increased to $1250. The family size had increased as well; Nancy and “Margaret” had now been joined by Jeremiah William, 7, and Ida Callaway, 1.5

I have not yet located the family in the 1870 census, but by 1880 they had relocated to Bourbon Township in Boone County, Missouri. Here (because the 1880 census asks the question) we learn that Joseph is unable to write. The household now consists of Joseph, 53; Elizabeth, inexplicably only 50; Lucy, 28; Joseph, 19; Daniel Harvey, 14; and Henry Walker, 5. Oddly (though not unheard of in census records), Daniel is both working, presumably for his father, as a farm laborer while also going to school, but is also listed as being unable to write.6

In addition to the seven children who appear in the various census records, Joseph and Elizabeth had had three children who died young. Mary Ellen Schooling was born 5 July 1854 and died 8 August 1859. James Willis Schooling was born 6 March 1857 and died 21 February 1858. Martha Catherine Schooling was born 30 January 1864 and died 27 August 1866. All three are buried at Union Church Cemetery in Riggs.7 Joseph would die on 7 July 1897 in Sturgeon, Missouri and is also buried at Union Church Cemetery.

Though I do not have any photos of Joseph or his family, I was able to locate some official records, including land records where both Joseph and Elizabeth made their marks; apparently Elizabeth was also unable to write, although this wasn’t noted in the census record.8 In this particular deed (one of several I found), Joseph and Elizabeth sold three lots in the town of Centralia, Missouri, to J. M. Sholck for $125.

Joseph’s widow Elizabeth would outlive him by more than sixteen years, dying 27 February 1914 in Sturgeon. Missouri began to require the filing of death certificates in 1910, so we know that Elizabeth died of pneumonia and bronchitis and had been ill for three days.9

Of the seven children who survived long enough to appear in a census record, all would outlive both parents. The youngest of these, Henry, died first, at age 41 in 1915. Those same post-1910 death records tell us a sad story: Henry of a gunshot wound to the chest, which a coroner’s verdict determined to be a suicide. A newspaper article about Henry’s death provides more details, but I might save that one for or next “Morbid Curiosity” entry. Because it’s pretty weird. Lucy lived until 1919, dying at age 69. Joseph was 75 when he died in 1936, and Daniel died at age 76 in 1942. Eldest child Nancy died one hundred years ago this July at age 77, and Jeremiah lived until 1939, dying at 87. Child #6, Ida Callaway, was the last surviving Schooling family member. She died 7 February 1951 in Clio, Iowa, at age 91. Ida’s own daughter, Jessie, lived to be 95, dying in 1984.

  1. Moses Sweeney Descendants ↩︎
  2. Boone County, Missouri, Cemetery Index, 1800-1965, accessed; 24 October 2019; Simeon G. Schooling. ↩︎
  3. Find-a-Grave Website ↩︎
  4. 1850 Census ↩︎
  5. 1860 Census ↩︎
  6. 1880 Census ↩︎
  7. Moses Sweeney Descendants ↩︎
  8. “Columbia, Boone, Missouri, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C39L-G99G-K?view=explore : May 21, 2026), image 251 of 669; .
    Image Group Number: 008483753 ↩︎
  9. Missouri, Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1971, , Elizabeth Jane Schooling, 27 February 1914; online images, State of Missouri, Missouri Digital Heritage (https://s1.sos.mo.gov : online 10 April 2018). ↩︎

Heirloom Highlight: Grandma’s Shoes

Posted on by spuddled

This week’s recurring theme is that of the “Heirloom Highlight,” in which I provide a little history about one of the many artifacts I’ve acquired over the years, then for the most part I let the heirloom do the talking. That makes it easier for me, for sure, but also helps to ensure that the stories of these items are not forgotten.

Today we’re taking a look at a pair of shoes that belonged to my maternal grandmother, Velma (Swing) Hoffmann. I actually have a second pair of Grandma’s shoes, but I’ll probably save those for another time when I plan to highlight her entire wedding ensemble (which I also have). The shoes we’re focusing on today are these:

I can’t remember exactly how old I was when Grandma first showed them to me (high school-age, probably?), but I do remember Grandma saying they were the shoes in which she first learned to walk. I should have asked her how old she was then, but I don’t think I did. Does anyone know? Regardless, the shoes are now more than 100 years old, since I’m pretty sure Grandma walked before she was 9.

Even at the time when I first saw them, I loved the fact that a) they fastened with buttons, and b) had those teensy triangular nails in the soles. I also thought they seemed like they would be awfully slippery for baby Grandma trying to figure out that whole walking business. But she managed it, as she managed so many things in her life.

Morbid Curiosity: The Murder of Lyman Stewart

Posted on by spuddled

I guess when you have a large number of individuals in your genealogy database, you’re bound to find your fair share of grim tales, including murder. Including this one. This is the story of the murder of Lyman Marion Stewart, my fifth cousin twice removed.

Lyman was born 2 February 1900 in Kansas, at least according to his headstone and most other records.1 The Kansas Births and Christenings Index states he was born 2 February 1901 instead, in Osawatomie, Kansas.2 His parents were Martha Jane (Christison) and Newton Marion Smith. On his maternal side, he is descended from our Sweeney line. His mother would later remarry a man named John William Stewart, and Lyman appears to have taken his stepfather’s surname.3

Lyman was married several times; on 28 June 1922 in Santa Ana, California, he married Grace Lillian Maude Bates. They had a son, Lyman Marion Stewart, Jr., who was born 13 September 1926 in Kansas City, Missouri.4 By 1930 Lyman, Sr., and Grace are living separately (Lyman with his married sister in Phoenix).5 Then by 1940 Lyman has remarried and is enumerated with his wife, Mary L. (Handke) at 560 Main Avenue in Phoenix. In both 1930 and 1940 Lyman is listed as a carpenter.6 Between 1943-1945 Lyman served in the U.S. Navy,7 and by 1950 he had moved to Sausalito, California, where he was married to a third wife, a Nevada native named Annabelle.8

This marriage does not appear to have lasted either, as by 1964 Lyman was living in San Antonio and renting a room from his ex-wife Mary at 320 West Laurel Street. In the years since her marriage to Lyman she had remarried as well, to Edward Delbert Dettman; Mr. Dettman died in 1955 of stomach cancer at the age of 41.9 About noon on Saturday, 5 September 1964, Lyman’s ex-wife/landlady saw him drive away, but he didn’t tell her where he was going; this was not unusual.

About 10:45 the following morning, Dana Stamper, 38, and his son, went to Eisenhower Junior High School to play tennis. There they found Lyman’s body, about 122 feet west of the school building. He had been bludgeoned 16 times and strangled with a long piece of bedspread. Details from the earliest newspaper articles note that his time of death had been estimated to be between 8 and 10 p.m. Saturday night. Lyman’s wallet was found next to his body, still containing $10 (or about $105 in 2026 money), but his 1963 maroon Ford station wagon was missing.10

An article which appeared on the Tuesday following the murder confirmed that a pipe with a heavy steel ball at the end, believed to be the one that had inflicted the bludgeoning wounds, had been found near his body. The cause of death, however, was believed to be the strangling rather than the pipe. Also, new witnesses had come forward which shed more light on the time of death, as Lyman had been seen drinking at an ice house on Fredericksburg Road shortly before midnight on Saturday.11 I had to look this one up; an “ice house” in this context is apparently an open-air bar.12

Lyman’s death certificate was signed on 8 September following an autopsy. Noting his location of death as the 8300 block of Blanco Road and his usual residence as 320 West Laurel Street, it confirmed the cause of death as ligature strangulation taking place in a school yard about 9 p.m. on 5 September (in spite of the witnesses’ statements that he had been seen alive shortly before midnight). It also noted he would be buried on 9 September at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.13

Two weeks later, more details about the ice house visit were forthcoming. Witnesses were now reporting seeing Lyman drinking with an unknown man of about 40, and that the two had left the ice house together around 11 p.m. This newspaper article also describes Lyman’s station wagon as a 1953, not 1963, but gives a more detailed description: two-door, with a cream top and faded maroon bottom, license plate JR 7337.14

Less than a week later, the San Antonio Light had breaking news to report. Murder charges were anticipated against one Richard Handke, aged 36, of 320 West Laurel. Both his surname and address should be ringing bells; he was, in fact, the brother of Lyman’s ex-wife/landlady, and he also lived at the same address. He had been arrested in Corpus Christi, ostensibly for slashing at the face of an acquaintance, Ruby Warrick, who also lived at 320 West Laurel, and stealing $600 from her. This slashing had taken place back in March. When he was interrogated, Richard confessed to police that he and Lyman had argued over Ruby, and then he had attacked Lyman and killed him. Richard Handke had been brought to police attention by a witness who had seen them together at the ice house and knew of the mens’ connection to Ruby. After police brought Ruby in for questioning, she reported to them the story of the March attack.15 Handke would also tell police that his mother had been found beaten to death with a chain two years earlier; that slaying was never solved.16

Handke was officially charged with murder on 30 September, and detectives announced they had found a pipe in the bathroom of Handke’s apartment following a phone tip telling them to “look behind the bathtub.” The police lab also indicated blood was found on this pipe.17 So was the other pipe just a red herring? Are there lots of pipes just lying around in schoolyards? Anyway…

In January 1965 Lyman’s car was finally located, in a Corpus Christi garage. On 13 January Richard Handke was indicted for Lyman’s murder.18 It must have seemed to the public like everything was progressing toward a fairly straightforward conclusion. The front page of the 6 March Express and News, however, proves otherwise:

The article goes on to state that the trial, which was to have started the following Monday, would most likely be postponed because Handke’s confession had been thrown out as evidence. Handke had originally answered police questions after having been administered sodium penthothal, and even though this had been done at his own request, this still meant the testimony he had given was not admissible. Now, in March 1965, he claimed that detectives and pulled his hair and beaten him, and that this coercion was what led to his eventual confession.19

Two days later came even more startling news. The murder indictment against Handke had officially been dropped, though if further evidence came to light, a new indictment could still be filed.20 Not only was the confession no longer available as evidence, but an important witness in the case, now listed as Handke’s girlfriend “Ruth” Warrick, who had apparently been going to testify for the state, had now changed her story and was willing to provide an alibi for Handke.21

As one of my favorite podcasts always says, “So where are we now?” Unfortunately, it appears no one was ever brought to justice for Lyman Stewart’s murder. Richard Handke would live until March 1984, dying in San Antonio at the age of 55. He is buried in the San Fernando Cemetery in San Antonio alongside his parents and older sister Eleanor. His sister (and Lyman’s ex-wife) Mary Dettman died the following year; she and her husband Edward Dettman are buried in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, as is Lyman.22

One of many details I haven’t been able to answer to my own satisfaction is: what of that story about Richard Handke’s mother’s murder at the hands of a chain-wielding maniac? I mean, that seems too coincidental. So I eagerly looked up Mrs. Handke’s death certificate, and found it! And discovered that…she wasn’t even dead yet when Lyman Stewart was killed, and when she did die in 1967, it was not from a chain attack but from uremia, congestive heart failure, and arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. So I looked again…and it wasn’t Richard’s mother, but his sister, Eleanor, the one with whom he shares a headstone, who was killed in this way. And her death certificate does confirm the basic facts; her cause of death is listed as “contusion of the brain” as a result of her being “beaten on [the] head with [a] heavy iron chain.” This took place early on 28 December 1961 at the Cassin Farm on Highway 281 in Bexar County.23 Though there was a suspect named early on (and it wasn’t Eleanor’s brother but a mentally ill man who created a scene in a grocery store where he and Eleanor had both bought hams the evening of her death), it appears that, as Richard stated, her murder also went unsolved. So there you have it – certainly morbid, but definitely not providing answers that satisfy my curiosity.

  1. Ancestry, Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982, 54754. ↩︎
  2. FamilySearch, “Kansas, Births and Christenings Index, 1885-1911,” extracted birth and christening records, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 February 2021), Smith. ↩︎
  3. Ancestry, Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982, 54754. ↩︎
  4. Ancestry.com, U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, SSN 091180798. ↩︎
  5. 1930 Census, Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona; Enum 7-17, SUp 2, Sheet 1A. ↩︎
  6. Ancestry.com, 1940 Census, Bexar, Texas; SD 20, ED 15-31, Sheet 13A. ↩︎
  7. www.ancestry.com, U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca. 1775-2019 (n.p: 2019, n.d). ↩︎
  8. National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Sausalito, Marin, California; Roll: 552; Page: 6; Enumeration District: 21-100 ↩︎
  9. Ancestry, Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982, 32123. ↩︎
  10. San Antonio [Texas] Express-News, 7 September 1964, pg. 1 ↩︎
  11. San Antonio [Texas] Express-News, 8 September 1964, pg. 40 ↩︎
  12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_house_(building)#:~:text=In%20some%20parts%20of%20Texas,the%20sale%20of%20cold%20beer. ↩︎
  13. Ancestry, Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982, 54754. ↩︎
  14. San Antonio [Texas] Express-News, 23 September 1964, pg. 31 ↩︎
  15. San Antonio [Texas] Light, 29 September 1964, pg. 1 ↩︎
  16. San Antonio [Texas] Express-News, 29 September 1964, pg. 12 ↩︎
  17. San Antonio [Texas] Express-News, 1 October 1964, pg. 88 ↩︎
  18. San Antonio [Texas] Express-News, 14 January 1965, pg. 24 ↩︎
  19. San Antonio [Texas] Express-News, 6 March 1965, pg. 1 ↩︎
  20. San Antonio [Texas] Light, 8 March 1965, pg. 29 ↩︎
  21. The News [San Antonio, Texas], 8 March 1965, pg. 12 ↩︎
  22. Find a Grave, www.findagrave.com ↩︎
  23. Texas Department of State Health Services; Austin Texas, USA; Texas Death Certificates, 1903–1982 ↩︎

Black Sheep Sunday: The Marriage of Loren and Hazel Crews

Posted on by spuddled

In today’s Black Sheep Sunday entry, we’re going to take a look at my fourth cousin 3 times removed, Loren William Crews, and his marriage to Hazel R. Crews. Loren was born 1 July 1885 in Lynnville, Iowa; he was the son of James Benjamin and Sarah W. (Meredith) Crews. Sarah was the great-great-granddaughter of Moses Sweeney, subject of an earlier post here.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around all the details of this story, but here’s what I’ve been able to piece together. In the 1900 census, Loren appears in Richland, Jasper County, Iowa, with his parents, James and Sarah; sister Emma, 18; and a boarder named Harvey Downer. James and Sarah are listed as having been married for 19 years at the time.1

The next household to be enumerated by the census-taker was that of John and Lilly Crews, with their children Robert, 9; Iva May, 7; Glynn Leroy, 6; Benjamin, 3; and Doratha, 1. What is not clear from this is that John was the half-brother of James. John was the son of James Benjamin Crews and his first wife, Henrietta Stultz and was born 3 January 1868 in Indiana.2 In 1910, John and “Lillie” were enumerated in Dallas, Iowa; completing the household now were Robert, 19; Iva, 17; Glen, 15; Benjamin, 12; Dorthy, 11; and Hazel, 9.3

But back to Loren. On 15 April 1905 in Lynnville, he married Essie May Beason; he was 19, and she was 17.4 Together they had 5 children: Clifford Lyle, born in 1907; Audrey Leon, 1910; Beryl Louis, 1912; Gerald Gordon, 1915; and Lucille Ardean, 1917. Sometime after Lucille’s birth, Loren and Essie divorced. Essie would remarry in 1921. On 15 September 1919 at Lancaster, Missouri, a Loren Crews married Jessie McKeag; whether or not this is our Loren Crews, I am not sure.5 If so, that marriage does not appear to have lasted.

On 8 March 1921, Loren married again. But who was the happy bride this time? Hazel Crews, daughter of Loren’s brother John. So yes, Loren’s niece. They were married in Savanna, Illinois; Uncle Loren was 35 (though later reports listed him as 33), and Hazel was about 17(ish). After they were married, the newlyweds moved to Iowa. Hazel’s family, understandably, was not happy about these developments, and at some point legal actions were initiated.

On 8 April 1922, the Waterloo, Iowa Courier reported that a sheriff from Dallas County (Iowa) had arrested Loren after a lengthy search including investigations into Loren’s numerous aliases. Loren and Hazel were found living at 1005 1-2 Commercial Street along with their infant son. They had been in Waterloo for two months, and the newspaper describes Hazel and her son as being left “destitute…friendless and alone.”6

Two weeks later, according to the Iowa Consecutive Registers of Convicts, Loren was convicted of incest and sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison. He entered the penitentiary at Fort Madison on 22 April. The record lists him as 33 years old and a native of Iowa, “temperate” and with a poor education. For someone who could have served a quarter-century behind bars, Loren was lucky. The “Disposition” column on his record reads “4-18-24 Paroled.”7

Before that happened, though, sadly, Loren and Hazel’s small son died. Leonard Crews, 6 days shy of his first birthday, died at the Iowa City Hospital on 29 October 1922. His death certificate indicates his cause of death was “very likely tuberculosis.”8 Leonard’s brief obituary notes that “The parents are the only survivors,” without mentioning that one of the said parents was currently incarcerated.9

Had baby Leonard been the only thing linking Hazel to Loren, or did Hazel find she could not make it on her own? Whatever the reason, it appears that in spite of not including her parents as survivors of Leonard, after his death she returned home to them. In the 5 December 1923 Rock Island Argus, we learn that Hazel and Loren’s marriage was deemed illegal. The couple’s marriage was annulled and/or they were divorced; the article names both outcomes,10 though The Dispatch of Moline, Illinois, on 27 December 1923, lists them as having their divorce granted.11

What became of our ne’er-do-well cousin after his son’s death, his divorce from Hazel, and his parole? Apparently he married for a third time, though thankfully not to another niece. This wife was Lenore “Nora” Thomas; when the couple married on 1 June 1926 in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Loren was 40 and Nora was 28. It does not appear they had any children of their own; they moved to Mountain View, California, sometime around 1948, and he worked as a janitor for the Mackay Radio and Telegraph Company of Palo Alto for five years before his death in 1958. He was survived by four of the five children he had had with first wife Essie;12 sadly, their daughter Audrey had been killed in 1951 when a train struck the car in which she had been riding during a rainstorm.13

And Hazel? She would marry again also. On 28 January 1926 in Morrison, Illinois, she married Dewey Johnston. They engaged in farming in the “Perry, Dawson, and Redfield area.” Though they also do not appear to have had any children of their own, they raised a nephew, Tom Johnson (“Johnston”?). Dewey died in 1971. Hazel lived until 25 July 1984, dying at age 84.

  1. Year: 1900; Census Place: Richland, Jasper, Iowa; Roll: 439; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 0034 ↩︎
  2. Ibid. ↩︎
  3. Year: 1910; Census Place: Benton, Beaver, Oklahoma; Roll: T624_1242; Page: 8b; Enumeration District: 0017; FHL microfilm: 1375255 ↩︎
  4. Iowa Department of Public Health; Des Moines, Iowa; Iowa Marriage Records, 1880–1922; Record Type: Marriage ↩︎
  5. The Excelsior [Lancaster, Missouri], 18 September 1919, pg. 2 ↩︎
  6. The Courier [Waterloo, Iowa], 8 April 1922, pg. 8. ↩︎
  7. Ancestry.com. Iowa, U.S., Consecutive Registers of Convicts, 1867-1970 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors. ↩︎
  8. State Historical Society of Iowa; Des Moines, IA, USA; Iowa Death Records, 1921-1940 ↩︎
  9. The Rock Island [Illinois] Argus, 31 October 1922, pg. 20. ↩︎
  10. The Rock Island [Illinois] Argus, 5 December 1923, pg. 10. ↩︎
  11. The Dispatch [Moline, Illinois], 27 December 1923, pg. 3. ↩︎
  12. The Peninsula Times Tribune [Palo Alto, California], 8 January 1958, pg. 4. ↩︎
  13. “Beryl Crews, 2840 Alta,” death, National City Star-News, 9 November 1951, notice of death of Beryl Crews’s sister Audrey; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : online 13 December 2021). ↩︎

Photo Highlights: The Pilchards of Richland County

Posted on by spuddled

You might recall my post from a couple of weeks ago, where I detailed the numerous times in which my great-grandfather, Charles William Montgomery, appeared in print in various newspapers. Two newspaper articles mentioned in that post refer to a visit to Charles and his wife Laura by Laura’s sister and her husband, “Mr. and Mrs. C. Pilchard.” That name stood out to me, partly because Pilchard is a great name, and partly because I have an original photo of the happy couple. That’s what we’ll take a look at today, along with a little of their history.

Eunice Walker, sister of Laura and my great-grandaunt, was born 7 February 1860 in Noble, Richland County, Illinois. She was the second of eight children born to Marcus and Mary Ann (Conklin) Walker; Laura was third. Eunice made her first appearance in the census when she was 2 months old, living with her parents, eldest sister Ellen, and a 12-year-old boy named Albert Shields, in Denver Township, Richland County.1 In 1870 the family was still in Denver Township; daughters Laura, Minnie, and Clara had been added to the household. Marcus was a farmer with property worth $4000.2 Two more children (sons William and Clifton) had been added to the family by 1880. Eunice, though 20 years old, was still listed as having attended school in the past year.3

Two years later, on 17 May 1882, Eunice married Cyrus Royell Pilchard in Richland County.4 He had been born in Ohio in 18575 but by 1880 had relocated to Olney, in Richland County.6 By 1900, the first surviving census after the Pilchards’ marriage, the family had moved to Blue Ridge Township in Piatt County, Illinois. Cyrus and “Unis” were then the parents of three sons: Harvey P., born May 1883; Ervin C., born December 1885; and Walter C., born July 1886.7

By the time of the 1910 census the family had moved from Illinois to Webster City, Iowa. Harvey and Walter had since left home, but now joining the household was “Erwin’s” wife, Della. She was 18 years old, and she and Ervin/Erwin had been married less than a year.8

That was the last census in which Eunice would appear. About February 1918 she suffered a stroke which left her increasingly helpless, though with assistance she was able to sit up in her chair until three days before her death, which came on 19 August 1919. Eunice was 59.9 She is buried in Graceland Cemetery in Webster City.

In 1923 Cyrus remarried, to Jennie R. Barnett. He was 66, and she was 62.10 Cyrus died in Webster City in 1932; Jennie died in Manchester, Iowa, in 1949.11 Cyrus and Eunice’s son Phillip would have five children with his wife Ethel; Ervin and Della had one child, a son named Edgar; son Charles and his wife Georgia had two sons and a daughter.

As for that portrait itself, it offers a powerful reminder of the importance of labeling your photos. Penciled carefully on the back it reads “Cyrus and Eunice Pilchard.” Without that, they would have been just another mystery couple. Another important lesson? Organize your photos. Because I want to scan a higher-resolution version of the original, and at the moment I can’t find it. But I know it’s here somewhere…

  1. 1860 Census (n.p: www.ancestry.com, n.d). ↩︎
  2. 1870 Census. ↩︎
  3. FamilyHistory Search and/or www.ancestry.com, 1880 Census, Denver, Richland, Illinois; Page 1, Sup 7, Enum 171. ↩︎
  4. Various Illinois County collections, “Illinois, County Marriage Records, 1800-1940,” marriage indexes, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 November 2024), Eunice Walker/Cyrus R. Pilchard. ↩︎
  5. State Historical Society of Iowa, “Iowa, U.S., Death Records, 1880-1972/1880-1968,” death records, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61442/ : accessed 13 November 2024), Cyrus Royell Pilchard. ↩︎
  6. FamilyHistory Search and/or www.ancestry.com, 1880 Census. ↩︎
  7. 1900 Census. ↩︎
  8. 1910 Census (n.p: 1910, n.d). ↩︎
  9. “Eunice Walker,” Webster City Freeman, ; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed ). ↩︎
  10. Ancestry, Iowa, Marriage Records, 1880-1951, 28-005042. ↩︎
  11. www.findagrave.com, www.findagrave.com. ↩︎

Document Detail: Death Certificate of Maria (Rusch) Hunkler

Posted on by spuddled

For today’s Document Detail post, I’m taking a closer look at the death certificate of my great-great-grandmother, Maria Elizabeth (Rusch) Hunkler. Maria was born on Christmas Day 1859 in Saint Gallen, Switzerland. Her parents were Joseph Anton and Maria Elisabeth (Scheuermann) Rusch; she was the fourth of ten children born to them. In 1883 her future husband, George John Hunkler, emigrated from Saint Gallen to Washington, Illinois.1 In March 1885 George paid $19.78 for Maria to travel by train from Basel, Switzerland to Antwerp, then via the Red Star Line from Antwerp to New York or Philadelphia, then by train from New York or Philadelphia to Washington, Illinois.2 In December of the following year, George and Maria were married in Peoria.3

George and Maria were enumerated in 1900 in Washington;4 in 1910 in Crugar, Woodford County, Illinois;5 and in 1920-1930 in Elmwood, Peoria County, Illinois. The couple had five children: Bertha Elizabeth (1887-1986), Matilda “Tillie” (1888-1956), John George (1891-1986), Lena Agnes (my great-grandmother, 1892-1964), and Hulda Catherine (1896-1980). George John died 2 December 1934 in Elmwood at the age of 72.6 In 1940 Maria was enumerated at 246 Lilac Street in Elmwood.7

When she died 8 years later, her death certificate was issued by the State of Illinois Department of Public Health – Division of Vital Statistics. What information can be gleaned from this certificate?

Right off the bat we learn that Maria died in El Paso, Woodford County, Illinois, at the Dowell Nursing Home, and that she had only been there 9 days. Her “usual place of residence” is listed as Morton, Tazewell County, Illinois. Maria was a white female and the widow of George Hunkler. Her birthdate is listed (as expected) as 25 December 1859, and her birthplace as St. Gallen, Switzerland. She was 88 years, 9 months, and 2 days old at her death.

Her parents are listed with anglicized spellings as Joseph Ruch and Elizabeth Sherman. Both were said to have been born in unknown cities in Switzerland. The informant listed on Maria’s death certificate was her son, J. G. Hunkler (though that relationship detail is not provided); his address is given as Deer Creek, Illinois. The certificate tells us Maria was buried at Washington, Illinois, on 30 September 1948, and that the undertaker was R. W. Vincent of the Otto-Vincent Memorial Home in El Paso.

The medical portion of the certificate provides her date of death as 27 September 1948. The hour given is a little hard to read, but I think it says she died at 5:45 p.m. Her doctor, Robert P. Lykkebak of El Paso, stated he had attended Maria from September 18-27, 1948, and that he last saw her alive on the 27th. This date range and Dr. Lykkebak’s location in El Paso, suggests he was a physician in residence at the Dowell Nursing Home.

Dr. Lykkebak further stated Maria’s cause of death was acute cardiac failure, from which she had suffered for one month; she had also suffered from arteriosclerosis for 10 years and chronic myocarditis. Decubitus ulcers, from which she had suffered for three months, were also a contributing factor. Her death was not related to her occupation in any way (her usual occupation was listed earlier in the certificate as “at Home”), nor was there any operation or autopsy performed. Dr. Lykkebak signed the death certificate on 28 September 1948, the day after Maria’s death. It was officially filed that same day.8

Twenty years ago this summer, Mom and I visited Washington, Illinois and the grave of George and Maria in Washington Cemetery. John George and his wife Ruth are also buried there, one row away from his parents.

Last but not least, we actually have a photograph of Maria. It may not make up for my never having met her in person (I don’t even know if Mom ever met her in person), but at least it brings her to life a little bit more.

  1. 1900 Census. ↩︎
  2. Copy of passage ticket. ↩︎
  3. Various Illinois County collections, “Illinois, County Marriage Records, 1800-1940,” marriage indexes, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 August 2022), George Hunkler/Mary Rusch. ↩︎
  4. LDS File from Mrs. Bates. ↩︎
  5. 1910 Census (n.p: 1910, n.d). ↩︎
  6. FamilySearch Historical Records, Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947, FHL Film #1753854. ↩︎
  7. Ancestry.com, 1940 Census. ↩︎
  8. State of Illinois Department of Public Health, Death Certificate of Mary Hunkler (September 28, 1948). ↩︎

Newspaper Tales: C. W. Montgomery in Print

Posted on by spuddled

For today’s Newspaper Tales blog post, I’ve decided to take a look at various times in which my great-grandfather, Charles William Montgomery, showed up in newspapers throughout his lifetime. I’ve found that old newspapers can capture not only the important milestones, but also the small moments that help round out our understanding of our ancestors’ lives.

Charles was born 17 January 1861 in Lynchburg, Ohio, but the first newspaper mention of him that I have been able to find is from 1896, after he had moved twice: first to Richland County, Illinois, and then to Holdrege, Nebraska. Events in Charles’s life that did not make it into the newspaper (or at least not the newspapers I have seen) were his marriage to Laura Maud Walker on 22 February 1883 in Richland County, Illinois, and the births of daughters Myrtle, Mamie, Bessie, and Elta in Mansfield, Illinois, between 1884 and 1888. The family moved to Nebraska sometime around 1889. Charles’s first mention in print appears in The Political Forum of Holdrege: an article notes that C. W. Montgomery was to be appointed night watchman for the town, effective 5 February.1

There seems to have been something of a muddle over this appointment. An article appearing two days later in the Holdrege Weekly Progress also references Charles being made night watchman but noted that the former watchman whom C. W. had replaced was still “on the night turf.”2

The Holdrege Citizen similarly detailed this redundancy of night watchmen.3

Exactly what transpired next is unclear, but on 28 February 1896, The Holdrege Citizen reported that Charles had resigned his post. Interestingly, this notice appears on the same page as an account of Charles swearing out warrants the previous Wednesday against a group of men for public intoxication. The men pled guilty and were fined, and according to the article, the issue “caused considerable comment and feeling.” I can’t help but wonder if this somehow led to the resignation.4

Shortly after Charles’s resignation from his night watch post, a brief mention in The Holdrege Citizen provides information on his next employment situation. This one is night watch-adjacent.5

In all these articles, Charles appears fairly consistently as “C. W. Montgomery.” So I’m going to assume the “Chas. Montgomery” who took a car load of the mayor’s cattle to Omaha in June 1896 was a different individual. Though our Charles is back (and cattle-adjacent) in September 1897.6

Two years later, we learn, Laura’s sister, Eunice (Walker) Pilchard and her husband came to stay for “a few weeks” with Charles and Laura,7 though a later article revealed the visit had in actuality been only for 10 days.8 This later article refers to our Charles as “Chas. W. Montgomery, ” so maybe I should rethink that mayoral cattle business.

A month after the Pilchards’ visit, The Holdrege Daily Citizen coyly noted the arrival of “a handsome boy” at the home of Charles and Laura. This handsome boy was John Ward, the second of three sons born to the couple. The first son, Walter, had been born in March 1898 (10 years after the birth of Elta). John Ward, who would go by his middle name, was born 9 October 1899.9

Another bit of confusion comes next. Was it our C. W. Montgomery who was selected as “Chief Forester” for the Holdrege Modern Woodmen of America?10 Similarly, who was the “Chas. Montgomery” who attended the Nebraska State Volunteer Fire Department Association convention?11 I don’t know.

What does appear to be the next confirmed incident to befall Charles was that his employer at the Palace meat market sold the business. The new proprietor, Thomas Sword, would be assisted by his son as well as “Chas. Montgomery, the popular meat cutter.”12

The following month “the infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Chas. W. Montgomery” broke his collar bone by falling out of a swing. Was this John Ward, the “handsome boy”?13 Three months after that, Thomas Sword, the new proprietor of the Palace meat market, turned around and sold it to Chas. Hagstrom & Co. The article about the sale noted that our Charles would remain with the firm “for a month or two yet.”14

This “month or two” was an understatement. By April 1901 when the meat market changed ownership yet again, C. W. Montgomery was still working there, and would continue to do so.15 He seems to have been the one constant at that place.

Four months later another birth announcement for Charles’s family appeared in the newspaper. Though he wasn’t labeled as a “handsome boy” arriving at the house, it’s still exciting to see in print, as this was my grandfather, Lawrence Montgomery, born 26 August 1901.16

Before Grandpa was a year old, the family would move again, this time to Colorado. An article from May 1902 describes how Grandpa’s sister Mamie (then 16 years old) traveled to Sterling, Colorado, to prepare their new home for the family’s move.17

Even after his move, Charles continued to turn up in the Holdrege newspaper. Here he is connected with cattle again…18

Charles’s next appearance in print is a sad one that provides a lot of insight into the family’s history. His wife Laura was committed to an asylum in Pueblo, Colorado, and would spend the remaining thirty years of her life there. Even more poignant to me is the fact that her “youngest child” referenced here was my grandfather.19, 20

Six months later eldest daughter Myrtle, who had married in Colorado but then returned to Nebraska, came to visit “her parents.” I know from letters Mamie later wrote to her own daughter that Laura did write to her children from the asylum; perhaps Myrtle did in fact visit her there as well.21

Charles does not turn up as regularly in the Colorado newspapers as he did in Nebraska, at least at first. Interestingly, Fort Collins and Holdrege were roughly the same size (about 3000 people) in 1900, but by 1940, while Holdrege was holding steady at around 3400, Fort Collins had grown to over 12,000. Today Holdrege’s population is still only about 5500, while Fort Collins boasts about 170,000 residents.

Charles does show up in 1919 in an article concerning four acres of land he purchased. This article is tucked in between one asking citizens to buy War Savings Stamps and bread, and one advertising Bitro-Phosphate as a way to “increase one’s flesh.”22

Two years later Charles appears again, in an article noting he would be gone for several months to Cloverly, Wyoming.23 I wonder what was in Cloverly? It could not have been Buffalo Bill, even though Grandpa always said his father spent time “riding the range with Buffalo Bill,” because Buffalo Bill died in 1917.

Another less-mysterious trip was the one Charles took in December 1922 to Los Angeles, planning to stay for six months. At least it seems to be less mysterious: daughters Mamie, Bessie, and Elta would all eventually settle in California, though it’s not clear to me when each of them moved there with their families, and as we shall see, Elta, at least, was still in Colorado for a little while after 1922.24 This article also notes that Charles had lived for the past seven years at the New Antlers Hotel. This building still exists, and Mom, Dad, and I were able to see it in person in 2015.

In May 1923 a further article described Charles’s return from his trip. Though he enjoyed his time away, Colorado was still the winner in his book.25

Charles’s next appearance was in an article from September of that same year. This article tells us several important facts. Charles has returned to his prior occupation of being a night watchman, this time at the Great Western Sugar company. Also, daughter Elta was now living in Walsenburg, Colorado; Charles was taking a week’s vacation to visit her there.26

Charles was still employed at Great Western four years later, as an article describes how he was responsible for leading a class of eighth grade students from the Plummer School on a tour of the sugar company, describing the sugar-making process and answering the students’ questions.27

By 1933 both Elta and Bessie were living in Los Angeles, as in March of that year a newspaper article noted that Charles had wired both daughters but had not heard from him.28 It’s possible he was trying to reach them to relay information concerning their mother’s health; she would die in July of that year at age 70.

The following year Charles was the one with health concerns; a newspaper article from October 1934 notes he had been a surgical patient but was released back to his home at the Antlers Hotel.29

In May 1935 Elta sent Charles some freshly-picked California oranges. Charles shared his bounty with the staff of the newspaper which ran an article about this offering (the newspaper was then called The Fort Collins Express-Courier). Apparently this gift from Charles to the newspaper staff was not sufficient to prevent them from butchering Elta’s name; she is listed as “Alva” in the article.30

The following year Ward, the “handsome boy,” now 36 years old, visited Charles for a week. By this time Ward was married, had two children, and was living in Detroit.31

The following year it was Elta’s turn to visit Charles at 222 Linden Street (aka the Antlers Hotel).32

Then two years later in July 1939 Ward visited again. He was now a young widower, his wife having died in January of that year at age 31. The two young daughters, Jean and Ruth, were aged 10 and about 7.33

By this time Charles was nearing 80, but life would take at least one more surprising turn for him. In April 1941 an article in The Western Nebraska Observer noted that a marriage license had been been issued to Charles and a Lysle Cleave, both of Fort Collins.34 When they married on 27 March 1941 in Kimball, Nebraska, Charles was 80 and Lysle was 57.35 At some point I was sent a copy of a photograph of Charles and Lysle, which included notes written at the bottom of the page. It took some time to work out that “Mrs. Lyle” was in fact Lysle (Peterson) Cleave.

Part of what helped piece those details together was the final newspaper appearance we’ll look at today. As you might expect, that is Charles’s obituary, which appeared on 14 January 1942. Interestingly, the obituary states that Charles “would have been 75 Saturday,” when in fact he would have been 81.36 He died on 13 January 1942 in Fort Collins after a week’s illness. According to his death certificate, his cause of death was coronary occlusion and arteriosclerosis. So there you have it – Charles Montgomery’s life as described in newsprint. Now if only at least one article had mentioned Buffalo Bill…

  1. The Political Forum [Holdrege, Nebraska], 5 February 1896, pg. 3 ↩︎
  2. The Weekly Progress [Holdrege, Nebraska], 7 February 1896, pg. 1 ↩︎
  3. The Holdrege [Nebraska] Citizen, 7 February 1896, pg. 5 ↩︎
  4. The Holdrege [Nebraska] Citizen, 28 February 1896, pg. 5 ↩︎
  5. The Holdrege [Nebraska] Citizen, 17 April 1896, pg. 5 ↩︎
  6. The Holdrege [Nebraska] Citizen-Forum, 17 September 1897, pg. 8 ↩︎
  7. Holdrege [Nebraska] Daily Citizen, 8 September 1899, pg. 1 ↩︎
  8. The Weekly Progress [Holdrege, Nebraska], 15 September 1899, pg. 1 ↩︎
  9. Holdrege [Nebraska] Daily Citizen, 13 October 1899, pg. 1 ↩︎
  10. The Weekly Progress [Holdrege, Nebraska], 8 December 1899, pg. 1 ↩︎
  11. The Weekly Progress [Holdrege, Nebraska], 19 January 1900, pg. 1 ↩︎
  12. The Weekly Progress [Holdrege, Nebraska], 1 June 1900, pg. 1 ↩︎
  13. The Weekly Progress [Holdrege, Nebraska], 13 July 1900, pg. 8 ↩︎
  14. The Weekly Progress [Holdrege, Nebraska], 12 October 1900, pg. 1 ↩︎
  15. Holdrege [Nebraska] Daily Citizen, 19 April 1901, pg. 1 ↩︎
  16. The Weekly Progress [Holdrege, Nebraska], 30 August 1901, pg. 1 ↩︎
  17. Holdrege [Nebraska] Daily Citizen, 9 May 1902, pg. 1 ↩︎
  18. The Weekly Progress [Holdrege, Nebraska], 2 October 1903, pg. 1 ↩︎
  19. The Larimer County [Colorado] Independent, 28 December 1904, pg. 6 ↩︎
  20. The Fort Collins [Colorado] Express and The Fort Collins Review, 28 December 1904, pg. 4 ↩︎
  21. The Weekly Progress [Holdrege, Nebraska], 5 May 1905, pg. 1 ↩︎
  22. The Fort Collins [Colorado] Express, 21 March 1919, pg. 4 ↩︎
  23. Fort Collins [Colorado] Coloradoan, 27 January 1921, pg. 3 ↩︎
  24. Fort Collins [Colorado] Coloradoan, 16 December 1922, pg. 3 ↩︎
  25. Fort Collins [Colorado] Coloradoan, 16 May 1923, pg. 3 ↩︎
  26. Fort Collins [Colorado] Coloradoan, 21 September 1923, pg. 3 ↩︎
  27. Fort Collins [Colorado] Coloradoan, 20 January 1927, pg. 1 ↩︎
  28. Fort Collins [Colorado] Coloradoan, 14 March 1933, pg. 7 ↩︎
  29. Fort Collins [Colorado] Coloradoan, 9 October 1934, pg. 7 ↩︎
  30. Fort Collins [Colorado] Coloradoan, 28 May 1935, pg. 2 ↩︎
  31. Fort Collins [Colorado] Coloradoan, 6 August 1936, pg. 5 ↩︎
  32. Fort Collins [Colorado] Coloradoan, 25 July 1937, pg. 2 ↩︎
  33. Fort Collins [Colorado] Coloradoan, 30 July 1939, pg. 2 ↩︎
  34. The Western Nebraska Observer [Kimball, Nebraska], 3 April 1941, pg. 4 ↩︎
  35. Charles William Montgomery, Letter from Charles Montgomery (n.p: n.p, July 16, 1941). ↩︎
  36. Fort Collins [Colorado] Coloradoan, 14 January 1942, pg. 2 ↩︎

N Is for…Nurse

Posted on by spuddled

First of all, Happy Easter! Also, happy 15th birthday to my nephew, Ben. I don’t know why he isn’t still two years old, but anyway…

Now, on to this week’s post. We’re back to the alphabetical theme for this week, and this is the fourteenth Sunday of 2026. So today’s post, brought to you by the letter N, is about four sisters who were nurses. Biological sisters, that is, not the religious-order kind.

Anna Hulda Swing, Ella Rose Swing, Emma Ida Swing, and Corine Pearl Swing were my first cousins three times removed. They were the daughters of Henry Edward and Emma (Slegel) Swing. Henry was the son of Carl/Karl Swing and his wife Saloma (Bollinger) Swing, and the brother of my great-great-grandfather, Albert Carl Swing, Sr. Emma Slegel was the daughter of Samuel John and Mary (Walty) Slegel and the sister of Samuel Slagel, my great-great-grandfather. So while the girls’ parents were not related to each other, I am related to both of them.

There were 13 children in the family in total. Anna, Ella, Emma, and Corine were the 5th, 6th, 9th, and 12th children, respectively. Anna was born 7 December 1887 in Fairbury, Illinois; Ella was born 23 April 1890 in Cissna Park, Illinois; Emma was born 24 September 1895 in Lamar, Missouri; and Corine was born 31 March 1901, also in Lamar. In the 1900 census the family was enumerated in Nashville, Missouri; the household consisted of Henry, 42; Emma, 39; and children Lydia, 17; Benjamin, 14; Annie, 12; Ella, 10; John, 8; Henry, 6; Emma, 4; Bertie, 3; and Mattie, 9/12.1 By 1910 the family had moved to White Post Township, Pulaski County, Indiana; Ella and Emma were still living at home, but Anna was not, though Cora, 9, and Ruth, 7, had been added to the family.2 By 1920 Ella and Emma had also left their parents’ home, but Cora remained, not appearing on her own until 1930.

If we look first at Anna, we learn that she married Levi C. Banwart on 20 February 1910 in Francesville, Indiana. Both were 22.3 In the 1910 census the newlyweds appear in Salem Township, Pulaski County, Indiana.4 In January 1911 Anna gave birth to a daughter, Bernice E. Banwart, in Francesville. Sadly, in October of that year, 24-year-old Levi died of typhoid fever after nursing his father’s family through the same illness.5 Seven months later Anna gave birth to a second daughter, named Levila Ella Banwart.

By 1920, the census the census listed Anna’s occupation as nurse. That year she, Bernice, and Levila were living in Francesville.6 They were still in Francesville 10 years later. Anna was now listed as a practical nurse, and 19-year-old Bernice as a bookkeeper for a garment factory.7 By 1940 Anna was living alone and working as a nurse in a private home.8 By 1950 she appears to have retired, as no occupation is listed for her. It appears that Anna did not have a formal nursing degree, as her education level is listed variously as 2 years of high school (in the 1940 census) or 6th grade (in the 1950 census).9 Her obituary in 1978 describes her as a former midwife who was thought to have helped deliver 1000 babies in the Francesville area.10

Both Ella and Emma received more formal training. By 1920 Ella was in Benton Harbor, Michigan, where she was enumerated as a pupil nurse at Mercy Hospital.11 Sadly, the Mercy Hospital building was demolished in 2016. In 1930 Ella was living in Cedar Falls, Iowa; she was one of 5 trained nurses living at Sartori Memorial Hospital along with the hospital superintendent, a janitor, a cook, a maid, and a laundress.12 Sometime between 1935 and 1940 Ella moved to St. Joseph, Michigan. In 1940 she was living there in a Nurses’ Home as a resident nurse and was a hospital anesthetist. Her annual salary was $840, or about $19,750 in today’s money.13 Maybe the fact that her housing was provided would make that seem a little more lucrative? Interestingly, the record also notes her education level as 8th grade, so maybe nurse’s training wasn’t always listed as “higher education”? Or maybe the census taker was drunk. Because an article in The Herald-Press of Saint Joseph, Michigan, on 13 January 1921 notes that Ella and Emma Swing of Mercy Hospital in Benton Harbor were in Lansing that day to sit for state examinations of the State Board of Registration of Nurses. I haven’t been able to locate Ella in the 1950 census. She lived to age 95, dying on 14 December 1985 in St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana.14 She had never married.

From the Herald-Press article, we already know sister Emma was in training in Benton Harbor. In 1920 she was enumerated there (actually on the same page as Ella), also apparently as a pupil nurse. She graduated on 10 May of that year. Now Emma I can’t manage to locate in 1930, and her life took a different turn than Ella’s, as she married Roy W. Feigley on 1 July 1937 in Winamac, Indiana, at the M.E. Parsonage.15 Emma was 41, and Roy was 46 and a wholesale and retail fuel salesman. In 1940 the couple was enumerated in Fort Wayne; Emma has no occupation listed. Living with them was Anna’s daughter Bernice. She was listed as 25 (though she was really 29) and was working as a typist in an “abstract office.”16

In 1950 Roy and Emma were enumerated again in Fort Wayne, in the downstairs unit of 1118 Columbia.17 Unlike Mercy Hospital, this property, originally built in 1900, still stands. The census taker in 1950 listed Roy’s occupation as manager of an oil refinery. Roy would die of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1973 at age 78. He had also suffered from diabetes for 30 years.18 At the time of his death, he and Emma were living at 1715 Curdes Avenue in Fort Wayne. This house also still stands and is sweet if tiny. Emma would outlive her husband by nearly a quarter-century, dying 20 November 1997 at the age of 102. The informant on her death certificate was Anna’s daughter Bernice.19

Finally we come to the fourth nurse in the family. We have seen that Corine, or Cora, was still living at home through the 1920 census. By 1930 she was married and the mother of a young son (and I can’t find the family in that census anyway), so the record we have of her being the fourth nurse in the family comes from family history information provided by a cousin, Marsha Detter. On 27 September 1928 Corine married Orrell Roush in Littleton, Colorado.20 By 1940, “Orroll,” “Corinne,” and son Thomas M., 10, were living in Lincoln, Michigan. Orroll was a pattern marker at a stove factory, making $2400 a year (or $56,400 in 2026 dollars).21 By 1950 Thomas had married, and “Oral” and “Corrine” were living on their own, still in Lincoln.22 Cora was not as long-lived as her sisters. She died in 1970 at age 68; her husband died in 1979 at age 80. Their son Thomas outlived his father by only 5 years, dying in 1984 at age 54.

After thinking about the lives of these four Swing sisters, whether long or short, I can’t help but wonder how many countless lives they impacted for the better. That’s quite a legacy.

  1. Year: 1900; Census Place: Nashville, Barton, Missouri; Roll: 838; Page: 13; Enumeration District: 0024 ↩︎
  2. Year: 1910; Census Place: White Post, Pulaski, Indiana; Roll: T624_375; Page: 7b; Enumeration District: 0131; FHL microfilm: 1374388 ↩︎
  3. Ancestry.com. Indiana, U.S., Marriages, 1810-2001 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. ↩︎
  4. Year: 1910; Census Place: Salem, Pulaski, Indiana; Roll: T624_375; Page: 14b; Enumeration District: 0128; FHL microfilm: 1374388 ↩︎
  5. The Lamar [Missouri] Leader, 9 November 1911, pg. 6 ↩︎
  6. Year: 1910; Census Place: Salem, Pulaski, Indiana; Roll: T624_375; Page: 14b; Enumeration District: 0128; FHL microfilm: 1374388 ↩︎
  7. Year: 1930; Census Place: Francesville, Pulaski, Indiana; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 0010; FHL microfilm: 2340358 ↩︎
  8. Year: 1940; Census Place: Francesville, Pulaski, Indiana; Roll: m-t0627-01088; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 66-11 ↩︎
  9. National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Francesville, Pulaski, Indiana; Roll: 3042; Page: 71; Enumeration District: 66-12 ↩︎
  10. The Pharos Tribune [Logansport, Indiana], 28 August 1978, pg. 2 ↩︎
  11. Year: 1920; Census Place: Benton Harbor Ward 2, Berrien, Michigan; Roll: T625_757; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 72 ↩︎
  12. Year: 1930; Census Place: Cedar Falls, Black Hawk, Iowa; Page: 20A; Enumeration District: 0011; FHL microfilm: 2340377 ↩︎
  13. Year: 1940; Census Place: St Joseph, Berrien, Michigan; Roll: m-t0627-01733; Page: 64B; Enumeration District: 11-81 ↩︎
  14. Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana, U.S., Death Certificates, 1899-2011; Year: 1985; Roll: 15 ↩︎
  15. Logansport Pharos-Tribune, Emma Swing Marriage Notice (n.p: Newspapers.com, July 2, 1937). ↩︎
  16. Year: 1940; Census Place: Fort Wayne, Allen, Indiana; Roll: m-t0627-01115; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 94-14 ↩︎
  17. National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Fort Wayne, Allen, Indiana; Roll: 1979; Page: 16; Enumeration District: 95-20 ↩︎
  18. Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana, U.S., Death Certificates, 1899-2011; Year: 1973; Roll: 09 ↩︎
  19. Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana, U.S., Death Certificates, 1899-2011; Year: 1997; Roll: 39 ↩︎
  20. Ancestry.com. Colorado, U.S., County Marriage Records and State Index, 1862-2006 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. ↩︎
  21. Year: 1940; Census Place: Lincoln, Berrien, Michigan; Roll: m-t0627-01732; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 11-44 ↩︎
  22. National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Lincoln, Berrien, Michigan; Roll: 4519; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 11-111 ↩︎

Sibling Sunday: Charlana Conklin

Posted on by spuddled

This week introduces our last new theme for the year, which means the year is one-quarter done. The Sibling Sunday theme takes a look at a brother or sister of one of our direct ancestors, and for this week we’re examining the life of the interestingly-named Charlana Conklin, my second great-grandaunt. I’ve discussed here before how there was uncertainty over whether Grandpa Montgomery’s middle name was Theodore or Conklin; Charlana Conklin was the sister of Grandpa’s maternal grandmother.

Charlana was born 22 July 1838 in Ohio and was the daughter of Stephen Conklin, Jr., and his wife Sarah (Mills) Conklin, both of whom had been born in New Jersey before marrying in Cincinnati in 1821.1 Charlana was the youngest child in her family; older siblings were Elizabeth (born 1822), Abner M. (born 1824), Henry William (born 1828), Caroline D. (born 1831), and Mary Ann (our ancestor, born 1835).

Charlana appears in the 1850 census with her father and siblings in Clermont County, Ohio. Her mother had just recently died, having passed away on 14 May 1850 in Withamsville, Ohio, at age 51. Only three months after his wife, Stephen also died; he passed away in Withamsville on 31 August, leaving Charlana an orphan at age 12. The next twenty years of Charlana’s life are something of a mystery, as I haven’t been able to locate her in the 1860 census.

It does appear that after Stephen’s death he had bequeathed property to his children; in 1864 Charlana sold her share of the property to John M. Hunt for $1000. Similar deeds follow this one in the Clermont County Deed Book, in which Mary Ann and William H. also sold property to John M. Hunt.2

On 9 January 1870 Charlana married Nicholas Lough in Richland County, Illinois; her sister Mary Ann had been married in Richland County in 1857. Nicholas had been born 17 March 1833 in Braxton County, (West) Virginia. It appears that Nicholas was married once previously; in the 1860 census in Clay County, Illinois, he appears with his presumed wife Moselle and children Victoria, 6; Allen, 3; and Francis, 1.3 In 1870 Nicholas, Victoria, Allen, Francis, and Electa L. (age 8), along with “Gelanie,” aged 33 and born in Ohio, were enumerated in Denver Township, Richland County. “Gelanie” is one of the worst census misspellings I’ve seen, but it’s still close enough phonetically that I think this is our Charlana.4

On 28 December 1870 a daughter was born to “Edward” and Charlana (Conklin) Lough in Illinois.5 The small family’s happiness was apparently short-lived, however. An article in the Olney [Illinois] Daily Ledger titled “What’s the Matter with Nicholas?” gives some context. Though the article erroneously notes the marriage date of Nicholas and “Charlona” as 1 May 1870, it goes on to describe how on 10 October 1872, Charlana “”lit out” for parts unknown,” leading Nicholas to hope for a permanent separation.6 An article from the same newspaper two months later notes the Loughs’ divorce decree appearing on the court docket.7 Further muddying the waters is yet another article from the Daily Ledger from 25 November, noting that Nicholas had married Sarah C. Rich the Monday after his divorce from Charlana was finalized.8

Charlana would only remain a divorcee for eight months. On 7 July 1876 she died at age 37 and is buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery in Withamsville. Her headstone still lists her as “wife of N. Lough.” Letters of Guardianship filed 7 August 1876 note that Caroline Hunt (who appears to be the 27-year-old daughter of Charlana’s oldest sister Elizabeth) was appointed guardian of Nicholas and Charlana’s daughter Effie. Nicholas would survive until 1 November 1898; he is buried in Wesley Cemetery in Wendelin, Illinois, next to his first wife.

Effie was enumerated in 1880 in Clermont County, Ohio; her household then consisted of John M. Hunt, his wife Elizabeth, and their children Carrie (Effie’s guardian), Emma, Olive, William, and Elmer. “Effa L. Lough” is listed as the “granddaughter” of John and Elizabeth.9 On 17 September 1891 Effie married Francis A. Hopper in Hamilton County, Ohio.10 One hopes their marriage was happier than that of her parents; in 1900 Frank, Effie, and son Archie were living in Zanesville, Ohio;11 by 1910 they were living in Cleveland and had been joined by a daughter, Mary;12 the family was still in Cleveland in 1920, though Mary now appears under the name Lillian;13 in 1930 in Cleveland, the family consists of Francis, Effie, and “M. Lillian;”14 and in 1940 Francis and Effie are still together in Cleveland, living at 9707 Laird Ave.15 They were still married 9 years later when Effie died of cerebral apoplexy due to arteriosclerotic hypertension in Chester County, Pennsylvania.16

  1. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [LDS], “New FamilySearch,” database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6QW3-3SY?view=index&action=view : online 20 September 2024), Stephen Conklin/Sarah Mills, 31 May 1821. ↩︎
  2. “Clermont, Ohio, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C37P-5397-K?view=explore : Mar 28, 2026), image 452 of 667; .
    Image Group Number: 008585578 ↩︎
  3. The National Archives in Washington D.C.; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M653; Residence Date: 1860; Home in 1860: Township 4 Range 8, Clay, Illinois; Roll: M653_162; Page: 527; Family History Library Film: 803162 ↩︎
  4. Year: 1870; Census Place: Denver, Richland, Illinois; Roll: M593_272; Page: 522A ↩︎
  5. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission; Harrisburg, PA, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death Certificates, 1906-1968; Certificate Number Range: 001201-003750 ↩︎
  6. Olney [Illinois] Daily Ledger, 16 September 1875, Page 4 ↩︎
  7. Olney [Illinois] Daily Ledger, 18 November 1875, Page 4 ↩︎
  8. Olney [Illinois] Daily Ledger, 25 November 1875, Page 4 ↩︎
  9. Year: 1880; Census Place: Union, Clermont, Ohio; Roll: 1000; Page: 306d; Enumeration District: 050 ↩︎
  10. Ancestry.com. Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. ↩︎
  11. Year: 1900; Census Place: Zanesville Ward 6, Muskingum, Ohio; Roll: 1310; Page: 9; Enumeration District: 0076 ↩︎
  12. Year: 1910; Census Place: Cleveland Ward 1, Cuyahoga, Ohio; Roll: T624_1166; Page: 8b; Enumeration District: 0058; FHL microfilm: 1375179 ↩︎
  13. Year: 1920; Census Place: Cleveland Ward 1, Cuyahoga, Ohio; Roll: T625_1359; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 9 ↩︎
  14. Year: 1930; Census Place: Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0014; FHL microfilm: 2341496 ↩︎
  15. Year: 1940; Census Place: Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio; Roll: m-t0627-03203; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 92-22 ↩︎
  16. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission; Harrisburg, PA, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death Certificates, 1906-1968; Certificate Number Range: 001201-003750 ↩︎