Thomas Buchanan King’s Parentage

Thomas B. (possibly Buchanan) King has been a mystery in our family for longer than we know. My great grandmother, Mazie Mae King (daughter of Thomas’ son John William King) told me as a child that he had been adopted, taking the King surname as his own.

Today though, it seems that the parentage of Thomas Buchanan King may be closer to being solved.

The supposed birthdate for Thomas is March 1850-2, according to census records following his marriage – always the same age as his wife – which leads me to think that since he was illiterate and possibly adopted, he may have not known his exact age or birthdate. I knew that Thomas B. King was married on November 12, 1880 to Eliza Jane Starkey in Gallia County, Ohio. And that the King family left behind records of moves to multiple counties including Jackson, Lawrence, Ross, Fayette, Pike, and Greene. Unfortunately, both Thomas and Eliza Jane continue to evade me where the 1880 Federal Census is concerned, so after having no luck there I tried searching for Thomas King in the area of Gallia County in 1870.

After clicking through several pages and nearly throwing in the towel, I located a Thomas B. King in Bloom, Scioto, Ohio – but his age was 13, giving him a birth year of about 1857. Seemingly way too far off for my Thomas, but his mother’s name struck me. Sandalan King. A very unique name that is eerily similar to one of Thomas’ daughters names, Sandaline “Ann” King, born in Cabell County, West Virginia.

Marriage record of Thomas B. King’s daughter Standalone “Ann” King.

Sandalan was living with the following children in 1870: Alexander (17), Nancy (14), Thomas B. King (13), and Rebecca J. King (4). Sandalan was 50 at this point, so Rebecca may have been a granddaughter.

I located Sandalan on the 1860 census under the name “Sandall Keeton” living in the home of John King and his children; Viletta (13), Alexander (10), Nancy (5), and Mary (3).  At this point the family is living in Bloomfield, Jackson, Ohio. This time, Sandalan had a son named Buchanan Keeton, 5. This is the same family she was living with in 1870, but there is no evidence that she and John King were married.

In 1850, “Sandal Keyton” is living in Cabell, West Virginia, USA with her husband George Keyton and children Mack Harriet 23, Nancy 20, Roxy 19, Emmaletta 16, Mary C. 15, and John 13. Sandalan King (maiden name?) married George Keyton June 4, 1848 in Putnam County, West Virginia, so the children were probably from his previous wife.

Although I do wish there was more recorded evidence to attach Thomas Buchanan Keyton King and Sandalan Keyton to our family tree, I do think that the circumstantial evidence is pointing to this being the answer so many people in our family thought we would never receive.

 

The Lacota Cemetery Vandalism (March 2016)

Last Saturday, I made the short trip from my home to a tiny corner of South Western Michigan to see the cemetery where my Eichler and Reames ancestors were buried. This trip was due to the fact that I had found out that vandals had knocked over around 33 gravestones, many of which appeared from the local new stations photographs appeared to be old.

Instantly upon seeing the article and name of the cemetery, I feared for the graves of my 5x great grandparents: Silas Zane Reames and Mary Polly Phillips Reames. I was also concerned about my 3x great grandparents graves: Minerva McKeeby Eichler and Platt Eichler. Walking into the cemetery was surreal, toppled stones laid every where. My heart sunk more when I realized the markers that were damaged were among the oldest in the cemetery. I quickly located the Eichler family plot (luckily the family stone was not damaged) Minerva and Platt’s stones to the left stood sturdy as they had for 52 and almost 100 years, respectively.

I continued looking around for the grave of Silas Zane and Mary Polly Reames, Minerva Eichler’s maternal grandparents. While I looked, I considered the life of my ancestors. Silas Zane moved his family to the area from Indiana to Cass County, Michigan where at 45 he left his occupation as a sawyer and became a Union Soldier fighting in the Civil War. Following the war, Silas returned to Michigan and worked as a farm laborer up until he was unable to work, probably due to heart trouble and asthma. On March 19, 1910 his bedridden wife of nearly 65 years passed away at the home of their son Isaac Reames in Casco, Allegan, Michigan which is very close to Lacota. Silas died May 18, 1910 and the two were buried under a shared stone in the Lacota Cemetery.

On the 106th anniversary of Mary Polly Reames’ death three bored kids (two fifteen year old boys and a thirteen year old girl) decided to knock over some of the stones in the more historic portion of the cemetery. Perhaps they figured no one cared since the stones were older. But inscribed at the very bottom of Silas and Polly’s marker are barely legible words that still ring true 106 years later: “…not forgotten.”

It is my sincere hope that these kids will realize that people still care about the individuals beneath these old markers, and maybe someday they will grow into the kind of person that will care about individuals buried beneath old stones as well.

Jesse “Joseph” Preston Bender’s WWII Draft Registration

After his youngest two children died in a house fire in November of 1942, Joseph (the name which he was going by at the time) sent his two youngest surviving sons Charles and Harold to a farm where they would be taken care of as payment for working on the farm. His son Jack remained with his mother Elizabeth Jenkins and his father.

According to Jack the couple argued a lot, and eventually divorced. It seems that by the time that Joseph gave information for the WWII draft in 1942 he and Elizabeth had possibly parted ways, but they also tended to move around a bit and it is unlikely that mail or news was reaching them as well as it could. “Jess Preston Bender” was still living in Wayne County, Michigan but listed his nearest relative as “Mr. L. Fast”. I know that Jesse was close with his maternal uncle Clemons “Clem” Fast, but had no uncles with “L” names.

I found a Mr. Lloyd Raymond Fast living in Grosse Point, Wayne, Michigan at the time of the draft. His place of business matched Jesse’s address for “Mr. L. Fast” even more interesting was that this Lloyd Raymond Fast gave his place of birth as Neptune, Ohio which is located in Jesse’s native Mercer County, OH very near Jesse’s birthplace of Dublin Twp.

Looking further into Lloyd, I found that he is the son of George Branaman Fast (1846-1920) and Martha Cecilia Nelson (1861-1954). George B. Fast was the younger brother of Jacob Ginter Fast (1840-1912), Jesse’s paternal grandfather.

Elijah Swift & Sarah Mongold

Elijah Swift, son of James Swift and wife Mary Teats married Sarah E. Mongold (parentage uncertain at the time of writing) were married on October 1, 1873 at Pickaway County,Ohio.

From a previous post concerning Elijah Swift  and brother, Thomas.

Elijah was the son of a farm laborer from Ross County, Ohio. On the 1880 Census, his occupation was written as a farm laborer and the family of five were living in Elijah’s native Ross County, Ohio. In 1900, the family included 11 children, all of which were living in Ross County.

 

By the 1910 census, the family had relocated to Center, Delaware, Indiana after 37 years together and 12 children (11 surviving) the family had relocated. Oddly, only one individual on the page has an occupation listed. The couple was renting their home at the time, but had rented back in Ohio as well.

In 1920, the couple had moved back to Ross County, Ohio where they rented a farm. Also in the home were son James Swift, and a man named Charles Mongold (possibly a brother or cousin of Sarah). Elijah and James found work laboring on neighboring farms.

Elijah Swift died February 9, 1926 of a cerebral hemorrhage. His last known residence was Muncie, Delaware, Indiana and he was laid to rest in the Beech Grove Cemetery. Funeral costs were paid by his sons: Ervin, Earnest, Pearl, Grover, and James Swift.

Sarah lived in Muncie with her son Grover C. Swift and his wife Anna King Swift in 1930. She passed away on March 10, 1933 in Losantville, Randolph, Indiana at the home of Grover Swift. Grover paid her funeral expenses and she was laid to rest beside her husband of 52 years on March 13, 1933.

Lewis D. Vanness’ 1914 Probate Inventory

Lewis D. Vanness of Shabbona Grove, Dekalb, Illinois is my 4x great grandfather on my mother’s paternal side. He died in 1914 and left a will which asked for the following items to be sold and the funds (which totaled to almost $13,000 in today’s money) to be left to his wife of 49 years, Laura Ellen Spicer Vanness, who died in 1920. The couple had the following children: Anna Vanness, Lewis Aaron Vanness, Bartholomew Vanness, Nettie E. Vanness, and Willard Vanness.

A 1914 Magazine

Typical for a farmer at that time, Lewis kept bees, a cow, a horse, chickens, and grew corn.

Most interesting to me was that he had an automobile and a talking machine (phonograph) and records, for a farmer in a small town he must not have lived too shabbily.

I loved the fact that he had an organ. Organs were huge on my Great Grandma Grace Decker‘s side of the family, Grace would have been Lewis’ granddaughter. I was seven when Grace died, but I remember going to her home and seeing an organ on her enclosed porch. Her mother, Mary Smith Decker also had one which was given to her by her father Samuel Smith.

Charles J. Pfiffner

Charles J. Pfiffner was born to Alexander Pfiffner, a Catholic Swiss immigrant, and Lucinda Bevert in November 1865 in Illinois. Charles is my 3x great grandfather on my paternal grandfather’s side.

His mother, Lucinda died at about 40 in on August 28, 1875 in O’Fallon, St. Clair, Illinois. Charles would have been nine when he lost his mother. In 1880, fourteen year old Charles was living in St. Clair, Illinois with his 53 year old father, 23 year old brother Alex, 20 year old sister Kate, 16 year old brother Louis, his uncle Joseph Pfeiffner, and cousin Edward Miller.

Charles was married to Emily Anderson on April 20th, 1896 in St. Clair, Illinois. And fathered my 2x great grandmother, Irene Rose Pfiffner on January 8, 1897 in East St. Louis, St. Clair, Illinois. In 1900, he worked as a laborer and still lived in St. Clair.

In 1901, Emily and Charles had a son named Eugene Charles Pfiffner and in 1906, another son named Harry A. Pfiffner was born.

On February 21, 1910 Charles died of Pneumonia leaving his wife and three children behind. On the 1910 Census, Emily is listed as widowed and head of household to their three children; Irene, Eugene, and Harry. Emily went on to marry Charles’ older brother Louis, but was buried next to Charles upon her death in 1958 (48 long years following his death).

Rankin Moore: Not the Mystery we Thought

Rankie Moore with wife Bertha Daniels Moore, Harlan KY. Photo uploaded to Facebook by Linda Murr-Barnes.

My 2x Great Grandfather Rankin Moore has always been shrouded in mystery. There were stories that he took his new bride’s late first husband’s name, that no one raised him, that his mother abandoned him in a hog pen because he was illegitimate. These are the stories we grew up with. But no one knew the truth, or how to find it.

When I began looking at my ancestry, I nagged my Mamau incessantly about her grandfather’s history. She told me all that she knew: He had a brother named Albert Powell who lived in Cincinnati and his mother’s name was Nancy Jane Jackson – she was blind and her family was from Pineville (in Bell County, KY). She also said that no one knew who his father was.

On May 8, 1919 in Harlan County, 25 year old Bertha Daniels Moore married my great-great grandfather. An 18 year old by a familiar name, Rank Moore, a miner and farmer. This Rank claimed on the marriage record to be the son of Nancy Jane Jackson and Rank Moore, Sr. Family lore has it that the ever stubborn Bertha refused to give up her surname, instead making her new husband take the name Moore.

For years, we assumed that Rankie made up a name on his wedding day to assume his wife’s surname. I just figured that that branch would never be filled out. But recently, while trying to find articles on the family in Kentucky I stumbled upon something fantastic from The Corbin Times Tribune on January 2, 1969…

A funeral notice for a man I’ve never heard of, Isadore Moore. The word “half brother” next to Rankin Moore sparked my interest, although I assumed that it was just another dead end. Knowing better than to turn down a lead, I looked up Isadore on the 1930 Census and found he was living in Harlan County with his mother, Ellen Moore. In 1920, he was going by his middle name Washington and lived with his widowed mother Ellen and siblings in Upper Martin’s Fork, Harlan County. In 1910, his father was still living. His name was Rankin Moore. At first, my heart sank a little when I saw that Ellen and Rankin had an 11 year old daughter, but viewing the record I saw that they had only been married 9 years.

Locating Rankin Senior on the 1900 Census in Upper Martins Fork I found that at age 36, he was a widower who could read but could not write. He married Ellen Lawson in November 1901, mere days after Rankin Jr. would have been born on October 25, 1901.

A granddaughter of Rankie’s said that she did recall her father telling her about his uncle Tom Moore, so it seems to corroborate with the funeral  notice. Because I was still very shy of the idea that the bit about Rankin the half brother wasn’t a mistake I was very excited to see Mrs. Sarah Katherine Moore Walton‘s which also stated that she had a living half-brother named Rankin Moore.

So why did we not know where he came from when his half-siblings (possibly even his father) claimed him? We might never know. What I, and the rest of our family, know and have known all along is that no matter where he came from he was widely regarded as kind and gentle. He wore a suit and could often be found lingering outside the Harlan County Court House even in the summertime.

Mariah McKoon Fults (Brick Wall Work)

Mariah (sometimes Maria) Mckoon Fults Thornton was the mother of John Chauncey Fults, my 5x great grandfather (by following the link you can read his biography from History of Montcalm, MI Vol.II 1916, which includes all I knew about John’s parents).

John C. Fults, successful farmer and pioneer citizen of Sidney Township, Montcalm, MI was born in Herkimer Co., NY on July 11, 1830 son of William Fults and Mariah Mckoon, natives of NY state, the former of German descent and the latter of Scottish descent. William died shortly after his marriage. Following which, Mariah and only child John, came to MI in 1835 settling in Romeo, Macomb, MI then moving to St. Clair County where Mariah married Benjamin D. Thornton, a union to which 2 daughters were born; Hulda and Esther (Sally) both of whom and the mother are deceased.

Knowing the above information, I didn’t think of one huge detail: What widow in the 1830’s moves to a new state alone? I’m sure it happened, but it must’ve been rare. “Michigan Fever” had began and settlers from the east were making their way into the territory but even so the land was a mosquito ridden wilderness with long, harsh isolating winters. A popular chant in the East went: “Don’t go to Michigan, that land of ills / The word means ague, fever, and chills.” Michigan did not gain statehood until 1837 (Side note: Funny that I would have ancestors here two whole years before Michigan became a state when I always felt so detached from my home state’s history).

Mariah Mckoon Fults married B.D. Thornton of Berlin, St Clair Co October 3, 1843 she was 31 and living in Ray TWP, Macomb. Her surname was given as “Collins”… I assume she may have married a Collins after arriving in Michigan, but I could find no record for that marriage and no children confirming that she had married a Collins. But I find it unlikely that she would have lived as a widow in such a harsh state for seven years during the her prime. Together, the couple had two documented children: Hulda A. Thornton Snell and Esther Sally M. Thornton Hamner.

John C. Fults petitioning the estate of Mariah/Maria Thornton as a heir along with his two half sisters, Hulda and Esther Thornton.

So with that, let’s talk about widows who don’t move to a new state with their 4 or 5 year old son alone… So recently, while revisiting my brick walls as I do about once a month to once every two months, I tried something I should’ve done a long time ago: I looked for other McKoons living in Macomb County in 1835-1850 (Duh, right?!). And I found one: Morgan Lewis McKoon of Bruce, Macomb, Michigan in 1850. In May of 1837, Morgan McKoon of Macomb County purchased 40 acres in Michigan. This matches the timeline I have for Mariah and J.C. Fults. James was born in 1817 and Mariah McKoon Fults was born around 1811, were they siblings?

Morgan’s parents were James McKoon and Huldah Cummings. At first, the only children I could locate for them were: Thana McKoon Cummings (1801-1865), Huldah McKoon Gillet (1803-1883), Polly McKoon Johnson (1805-1884), A child that died in 1807 at 11 months old, Zadoc McKoon (1815-1850), Morgan Lewis McKoon (1817-1907), Esther McKoon Ward (1819/1820-1903), and another infant buried with Huldah Cummings McKoon in 1821.

Esther McKoon Ward’s obituary states she was the youngest of eight which implies that at least the infant buried with her mother was not counted in the eight children, possibly because the child was stillborn. The gap between the child who died in 1807 and Zadoc McKoon is quite big. Mariah would’ve been born in about 1811, making her roughly 19 when she had her son and fitting right into that gap. The names of her daughters Hulda and Esther are also both names of her sisters, and Hulda her mother’s name as well.

Guardianship records for James McKoon’s minor children, 1831.

James McKoon died in October of 1830, the guardianship of his minor children was decided in May 1831. Esther, Marcia, and Morgan L. all went to live with Polly McKoon Johnson and her husband Thayer Johnson in Richfield, NY. Ladoe went to live with Thana McKoon Cummings and George Cummings of Erie, Erie, New York.

If Esther’s obituary was not including the infant siblings that passed away Marcia and Ladoe would make eight children, but because Zadoc would have had to have been about 15 at the time of his father’s passing, Ladoe may have been him. Marcia is awfully close to Mariah/Maria and in census records Mariah’s son J.C. Fults’ birth year varied from 1830-1832.

Because I can’t locate a marriage for Mariah McKoon and William Fults, or a birth record for John Chauncey Fults I don’t know if Marcia McKoon and Mariah are the same person. I also have nothing more to connect Mariah to James McKoon and Morgan Lewis McKoon besides a few very ironic coincidences… But in a few months, I’ll try looking again.

When Family History Sounds More Like a Daytime Drama

I have previously  posted about my 3x great-grandfather, James Fredrick Trumble and his wives Mary Scriver and Ellen
Lockhart Fletcher once before. But, since I began digging more and reading through historical newspaper articles I have uncovered the story of James and Ellen’s tumultuous marriage. After James’ first wife Mary died of Typhoid Fever on September 12, 1910, he and his unmarried children (including my 2x great grandmother, Alice Agnes Trumble Okolow) moved to Flint, Michigan where he operated a boarding house. On December 8, 1911 he married Ellen Fletcher.

Reporters in Flint began running the family’s dramatic story not even six months after the marriage on May 3, 1912. Mrs. Trumbe had brought James to court because she planned on leaving him on the grounds of non-support. She stated that she had left because his children from his previous wife interfered and that the oldest wrote letters to try and separate them (James’ eldest daughter was Edna Isabelle Trumble was around 19 at that time and living at home). The article states that on recommendation of the prosecutor and the couple had decided to work out their differences.

The next time the Trumble family is was the headlines was later that same month when Mrs. Trumble left her five week old daughter Hazel and another child under 2 years of age with a neighbor so that she could go to the court at 8am and withdraw a statement from the previous day in which she accused James of assault and battery. Afterward she did not return to the neighbor’s home for her baby, instead at 1pm she called the sheriff from a drug store and stated that someone had stolen her children. At the time of the call, the baby had already been brought to the Sheriff’s Office because she would not stop crying with hunger. Little Hazel Trumble died in August 1912 of Enteritis.

After Hazel’s death in August 1912, the papers didn’t mention Mr. and Mrs. Trumble much. In 1913, they had their second child together, a son they named Howard Trumble. It seemed that things were finally going right for Mr. and Mrs. Trumble. But in July of 1914, a headline reading “Half of Family Lives in Tent; Half in Small Shack” added to the Trumble’s unhappy marriage. By this point, Edna Isabelle was married and had left her father’s residence. Of James Tumble’s children; Harley Wesley, Mary Catherine, Alice Agnes, and Manley Herbert were all still living at his home – or tent. The baby, Howard lived in his mother’s ice cream shack. It is said in the article by an unnamed source that when the families were both living under one roof it was too crowded and living conditions were poor. The article states that James was given until August 24 to “make good” on his monetary support.

In July 1916, little Howard Trumble died. And in November of 1916, James Trumble passed away as well from pneumonia. Ellen would go on to remarry three more times, dying in 1952.

Relations we Didn’t Know We Had: A Murder Victim (& The Murderer)

Mary Eichler Nightingale was the daughter of Asenath and Dean Eichler (my 5x great grandparents). On March 5, 1913 she was shot by her son-in-law Joseph Byron Hatfield in Gobleville, Van Buren, Michigan.

Hatfield and Florence A. Nightingale, Mary’s daughter, were married on October 21, 1909 in Bloomingdale, Van Buren, Michigan. On August 2, 1910 she birthed him a son in Otsego, Allegan, Michigan they named him Lawrence Jay Hatfield. On the 1910 Census, Florence is living with her parents and listed as single although she had been married to Hatfield for 10 months and was 6 months pregnant with Lawrence. Hatfield also had a record for petty crimes.

Apparently, Florence repeatedly refused to live with Hatfield and chose to stay with her parents, claiming that her husband had been extremely cruel with her a number of times. He had tried several times to get her to live with him as man and wife again, even attempting to have law enforcement help him but the motion was denied.

On March 5, 1913, Hatfield came to the home of his mother and father in-law to ask his wife to come home with him, but she refused. He then wept over his son, kissing him and left the residence. From there, he went to Kalamazoo where he purchased a revolver and took a cab back to Gobleville.

At about 8:30 that evening he knocked on the door at the Nightingale home. Mary Nightingale answered, he asked if he could speak to his wife and she refused. Then he shot point-blank her in the neck, severing her spinal cord. Afterwards, he turned the gun on himself.

Mary didn’t die right then, she lingered paralyzed and with the bullet in her body, but able to give statements to the sheriff about the incident. Hatfield also lived, and was tried for assault with intent to murder which he was sent to serve a life sentence at the Northern Michigan State Prison in Marquette on April 18, 1913.

On May 21, 1913, 45 year old Mary Nightingale passed away from the injuries she sustained two and a half months earlier at the hand of Hatfield. Hatfield himself died ending his imprisonment on January 6, 1914 when he dropped dead while working in the box shop at 11:30am. A blood vessel in his brain had ruptured, stemming from his self inflicted gunshot wound. He was 25. After his death, Florence remarried. She had four more children and died in 1951 at 59.

Hatfield stated to reporters at the Kalamazoo Gazette that his mother-in-law had tried to persuade Florence to leave him ever since their marriage. He said if it had not been for her, he and Florence would have lived happily. Together. One has to wonder what would have become of Florence and little Lawrence if Mrs. Nightingale had permitted him to see them.

BONUS RELATION: Turns out I am also related to the murderer. His mother, Mary Eliza Reames Hatfield (1860-1944) was the daughter of Silas Zane Reames & Mary “Polly” Phillips. Her older sister was Melvina/Lovina Jane Reames Mckeeby who had a daughter, Minerva Mckeeby (b.1869) who married Platt Eichler (my 4x great grandparents). Platt is the son of Asenath and Roy Dean Eichler, making him Mary Nightingale’s brother.