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The Single Most Favorite Double in the World

1979 Doublemint twins ad from YouTube.

This week the theme is ‘multiples’. This theme was almost too broad for me to decide what to write about! After some debate I narrowed it down to two topics. After looking at the 2021 weekly topics list I felt the other story would fit into an October theme and this particular story for this week didn’t really fit anywhere else. So, this week we’re talking about multiple births. I’m going to look into something I’ve always wondered: how many sets of twins did my direct-line ancestors have? I’ll be going back as far as my 2nd great grandparents. I chose that as a stopping point so this blog doesn’t get too lengthy. Out of the 8 pairs of my 2nd great grandparents, 3 of the couples had twins.

Dad’s Family: Double Your Sentiment

90’s Doublemint twins ad.

In the 21st century the statistical probability of having twins is about 3%, or 3 in 100. That is a higher probability than previous generations. In my family (in that 2nd-great-grandparent generation) mixed sets of twins were more popular (mixed meaning a boy-girl set of twins versus same-sex twins). Out of my dad’s great grandmothers, he had one who had twins. Eliza Emoline BELL WILLIAMS (and her husband, Samuel Morris WILLIAMS) had a set of twins in 1900- two boys named Lorenzo Dall and William Sherman WILLIAMS. Neither baby survived. I’m guessing the babies are probably buried in Oakland Cemetery in Success, Texas County, Missouri since the family lived in that area and other family members are buried in that cemetery but I can’t say for certain where the babies were buried. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this family today because I’ve written about them quite a bit. You can find previous posts at:

Mom’s Family: Double Good

Early iteration of the Doublemint twins ads.

My 2nd great grandmother, Sarah C. DAVIS REITER, and her husband Nicholas Wilhelm REITER had a set of twins in 1864. My mom thinks Sarah’s twins were mixed – one boy and one girl. She can’t remember their names but is going to try to find that information for me. I’ve not found their names anywhere but if mom locates that information I’ll be sure to let you know. The babies did not survive. I don’t know where they’re buried but I’m sure it’s in Illinois, in the area of Perry, Pike County, Illinois since that’s where the family lived. This is another family I’ve written about quite a bit so I won’t spend a lot of time on them today. You can read more about Sarah and her family at:

My 2nd great grandmother, Druziller Mahala LATTY BULLOCK (and her husband James Mathaniel BULLOCK), also had a set of twins born in 1892. For this grandma though, both twins survived – one girl named Alice May and one boy named Oscar Morris.

1982 Wrigley’s Doublemint gum twins ad.

Alice May and Oscar Morris BULLOCK were born 17 April 1892 in Benton County, Arkansas. They remained in Benton County, Arkansas until after they married. Alice married Martin Rotramel when she was 17 years old. Together, Alice and Martin and had 8 children – and no twins. Here is Alice in her later years with her dog, Major. I love this photo.

Alice BULLOCK ROTRAMEL and her dog, Major.

Alice lived to be 92 years old! The last 52 years or so of her life she lived in Delaware County, Oklahoma. Alice passed away on 1 December 1984 in Jay, Delaware County, Oklahoma. She’s buried in Hillcrest Cemetery beside her husband in Gravette, Benton County, Arkansas where her parents are buried.

Oscar Morris BULLOCK grew up with his family in Benton County, Arkansas. He served as a Private in the U.S. Army as evidence by the Army transport document below.

I don’t fully understand that document. It looks like perhaps he was transported to a Veterinary Hospital. It would be interesting to know what he did in the Army. Oscar fought in World War I. I do know he arrived in New York in June of 1919 on his way to fight in France.

According to military records, Oscar was serving with Veterinary Hospital #16 MR. as a Private V.C.. Oscar served in France in 1919. During that time, the final US deaths of the war happened and the Treaty of Versailles was drawn up. The treaty was signed the day after Oscar arrived back on US soil. Oscar shipped out from Marseille, France on the ship Taormina and arrived home at New York, USA on 27 June 1919.

Some researchers say that at age 27 Oscar married Stella BROWN. He lived in California at the time but the marriage certificate was in Arkansas. I haven’t done extensive research on this line so I can’t say what really happened. I know that in his obituary no children or wife were listed. Oscar passed away at 80 years of age. He died on 17 February 1973 in Fayetteville, Washington County, Arkansas. He was buried in the Fayetteville National Cemetery in Fayetteville, Washington County, Arkansas.

Doing the Numbers

So, let’s bring this all together. I looked at all my direct line ancestors from my parents up through all of my 2nd great grandparents. The only generation that included twins were my 2nd great grandparents’. Out of 8 sets of 2nd great grandparents, only 3 couples (2 on my mother’s side and 1 on my father’s side) had twins. The paternal set of twins passed away or were stillborn; their names were Lorenzo and William. One set of maternal twins also passed away or were stillborn and included one girl and one boy; I don’t know their names but they were given names. The final set of maternal twins (Alice and Oscar) lived to adulthood and at least one of them had their own offspring but did not have their own set of twins.

According to official statistics:

The gender chances of a fraternal twin pregnancy are; 25% chance that a mother will have two boys, 25% chance that a mother will have two girls, and 50% chance that a mother will have a boy and a girl. On the other hand, identical twins are always the same gender.
https://healthresearchfunding.org/24-interesting-fraternal-twins-gender-statistics/, accessed 28 Feb 2021.

So, according to Health Research Funding, Alice and Oscar were fraternal twins as were the DAVIS twins. Only the paternal twins- Lorenzo and William WILLIAMS- had a chance at being identical twins. I found that very interesting.

I was wondering about what my chances of having twins might have been in my childbearing years. Since 3 out of 8 couples in my 2nd great grandparents’ generation had twins, I felt like statistically I stood a better chance of having twins in my child bearing years. MedlinePlus.gov confirms it as does Washington State Twin Registry. Turns out, fraternal twins- especially if they occur on the mother’s side- are associated with an increased likelihood of twins being hereditary in families. I searched some more and I hit some good information:

A family history of identical twins does not necessarily make it more likely you’ll have multiples, although the offspring of male identical twins may be more likely to have their own identical twins. However, if you have fraternal twins (non-identical) in your family, your chances of conceiving twins rise. If there are fraternal twins on both the mother and father’s side, your odds for twins goes up even higher.
Lazarov S, Lazarov L, Lazarov N. Multiple pregnancy and birth: Twins, triplets and high-order multiples. Overview. Trakia J Sci. 2016;1:103-107. doi:10.15547/tjs.2016.01.015

There are other factors that play a role as well. As it turns out, having children when you’re older increases your odds of having multiple births from one pregnancy. So I went back to my charts to check ages of the mothers. Eliza Emoline was 28 years old when she had Lorenzo and William. Sarah C. was 27 years old when she had her twins. Druziller Mahala was 34 years old when she had Alice and Oscar.

Final Thoughts

One last statistic about twins from Health Research Funding.

A woman named Mary Jonas, who died in 1899 had 15 sets of fraternal twins.
24 Interesting Fraternal Twins Gender Statistics – HRF (healthresearchfunding.org)

I found that tidbit interesting since two sets of the twins I talked about today were born during the 1890’s. I will spare you one last Doublemint commercial. Hopefully the song is now stuck in your head so I don’t have to suffer that fate alone now.

If you’d like to learn more about the BULLOCK family, you can find more of my posts at:

If you’re looking for more blogs to read later in the week, you can go to:

If you’re interested in joining me on this family history writing adventure, well…the more the merrier! You can join at Amy Johnson Crow’s website. There’s a Facebook page that goes along with the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. The only rules are the rules you make up for yourself on this writing adventure. Anything you get down in writing is more than you had before so get writing! Don’t miss out on Amy’s blog and podcast either. Both are very good.

Enjoy your week and make the most of it!

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives Genealogy blog

Quincy Bell, Civil War Hero or Political Thug?, Part 2

UPDATED CONTENT

This post has been updated as of 2 August 2022. I’ve been able to decipher some more of the content of the second newspaper article and have updated the text portions that I’ve figured out. Additionally, if you’ll scroll to the bottom you will find Update, Final Thoughts, & Resources sections with new information.

I hope you read part 1 because we’re jumping right into part 2, no introduction!

Transcription of the first newspaper article:

From Texas County.
Still Another Spurious Delegate at Marshfield – A Fugitive from Justice turns up in a Representative Capacity.
Houston, Texas Co., Aug. 4.
To the Editor of the Daily Leader:
Springfield papers, containing an account of the Marshfield convention, have just been received here. From them we learn that one Q. A. Bell was in that convention as a delegate from Texas County. No Radical convention has been held in this county to appoint delegates to the Marshfield convention, nor for any other purpose. Mr. Q. A. Bell got into a scrape here, and left the county to avoid being arrested by the officers of the law. He ran away from Texas county- a fugitive from justice- went into Webster county and stayed with some relatives until the Marshfield convention came off. He has just got back, and I understand he says he is ashamed of what he did, and would not have gone into the convention but that some of Havens’ friends at Marshfield “fixed up his papers,” and insisted that he act as a delegate – that they assured him “it was all right enough, and nobody would ever find it out.
Suffrage Radical

It was alright enough. You ever told yourself that about something? Maybe next time, just say no! I wish I could tell you that I understand everything that happened but I don’t. I’ve sat on this story for about a year, maybe a little longer, because I was trying to figure out the whole story. I’m not going to hold out any longer. In trying to figure it all out there is another article we need to read but it is in such poor shape that it’s nearly impossible to read. I’ve transcribed as much of the article as possible, and as well as possible, below.

Daily Leader
Thursday, August 11, 1870
Was the nomination of the ten dollar, hundred day hero* by the Marshfield convention a cut-and-dried affair or was it not? Was the convention which made the nomination a body representative of the real contingent of the Radical party in the district, or did it represent only that Eternal Hateite(?)** “ring” in that party? It now appears that the two individuals admitted to the convention as delegates authorized to cast the vote of Ozark county, were not only spurious and self-constituted, but in no manner reflected the sentiment or wishes of the majority of the party in that ???. One of them, in fact, had not been in the county or the State three months, and was not therefore a qualified voter. It appears that McDonald county, which no primary convention was held and no expression whatever of choice as to candidates was had, was in like manner misrepresented in the person of W. H. Goody ????. And now it further appears that Texas county, failing to send a delegation found herself honored in the convention by being accredited in that body with a fugitive from justice, Q. A. Bell, who was picked up in the streets of Marshfield and clothed with representative honors by an agent of the Havens clique. Here, then, we have three ??? casting their votes at Marshfield for a candidate and the representative of principles notoriously ignored by a large majority of the party whose views they assumed to represent. Add to these Christian county, in which the friends of the amendment outnumber the malignants(?) two to one, and also add Greene, the ac??? to ??? from hold(?) of suffrage, and does not the question become one worthy of the party whether they have not been imposed on, their real sentiments misrepresented, and their wishes overridden in the action of the Marshfield meeting! Does it not become even a more serious question whether they will abide by and submit to the usurpations of a mere clique, bent upon carrying out the will and the wishes, not of the majority, but the barest minority of the party?

That’s where the article ends. I can hardly make heads or tails of it other than Quincy wasn’t alone in this mess and there was a clique known as the Havens clique that was a minority in the Radical Party of 1870. So I Googled it, of course! Apparently, in the five years following the Civil War, Missouri was deeply divided. The conservatives had split into several factions over a variety of issues and they couldn’t seem to agree on anything. In this void rose up the Radical Union Party (aka Radical Republican Party)***. They wanted to get rid of slavery as well as Missouri’s reputation of being a state overcome with guerilla warfare. The party was progressive in their thinking. You can learn more here.

Suffice it to say, Quincy got sucked into all this- whether willingly or through cajoling- and it didn’t end well for him. I really can’t tell you much more than that right now but there is at least one more article I need to transcribe. Unfortunately, it’s taking a lot longer than I thought it would. So, over the next week or two I’m going to be transcribing and reporting to you about the Marshfield Convention and the craziness that went on there and maybe when I’m done we’ll have this all figured out.
So enjoy your stay right here in the middle of a big old political, legal mess for Quincy. I’ll catch up with you soon with the rest of the story.

Until then,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog
Clippings are from Newspapers.com

UPDATE:

*”Ten dollar hundred day hero” refers to Captain Harrison HAVENS. The Hundred-Day portion is sort of explained with this political cartoon:

Political Cartoon from the *Springfield Leader and Press*, 26 July 1870.⁶

The Ten-Dollar portion is explained in this short article:

*Springfield Leader Press*, 31 July 1870. Newspapers.com.⁷

**Eternal Hateites was a name given to the Radical Republicans by the mainstream media of the day and by their political opponents. Interchangeable terms include “eternal haters”, “eternal hate-ring”, and “eternal hateism”.^{1, 4} This sect apparently included supporters of Captain HAVENS and Governor McCLURG.² I’m not knowledgeable enough on the subject to say this was undeserved but from what I’ve read up to this point, it certainly seems like the Radical Republicans’ opponents were using the media as an arm of destruction to do their bidding against the Radicals.³ In fact, at this point, I’m not even certain I believe that Quincy was a “fugitive from justice”. The Radical Republicans were being called “anti-constitutional” and I certainly don’t see anything in their platform or in the newspapers that leans toward anti-constitutional. It seems their opponents had no problem conducting an effective smear campaign. Again, after the last few years I can certainly see that going on today in politics and in the media.

*** The Radical Union Party is synonymous with the Radical Republican Party. There were many, many small and very short-lived political parties that sprang up between the midterms in 1870 and the presidential election of 1870. This included the Liberal Republican Party (which was not the same as the Radical Republicans or State Republicans (which would become what we know as the Republican Party of today). The Liberal Republicans would later be known as Rockefeller Republicans and would eventually merge with the Democrat Party as we know it today. Quincy was not affiliated with this party. The Radical Republicans would eventually merge with the Republican Party. This is, in part, why it has been so difficult to parse out what really happened. Despite the Radical Republican Party affiliating as Republican, they could expect no help at all from the mainstream Republicans. In fact, the Radical Republicans received the name-calling, etc. from all sides including the “friendlies”. The last third party president was President Millard Fillmore in 1850-1853. By 1870, I’m sure it was much like today where people were harassed and discouraged from voting third party.

You know how I always say that everything “comes back around full circle”? While researching all the players and events connected to the Marshfield Convention, I came across this article that was written a little over one year ago referencing the 1870 Missouri events stemming from the Marshfield Convention. The headline and sub-headline read, “Missouri Democrats Brace for Electoral Disaster Not Seen in 150+ Years: Republicans will be favored to hold all statewide offices in Missouri after the 2022 midterms for the first time since 1870”.⁵ Like I always say, it all comes back around eventually. This is, in part, why I write this blog – so my grandsons can see how cyclical life is and how resilient their ancestors were (and maybe so they’ll see where bad decisions will take them in life).

Final Thoughts

Keep in mind that, just like today, the newspaper articles seem to be very slanted toward one side or the other. The most neutral paper I found (in regard to their reporting on the Radical Republican Party) was the Buffalo Reflex, a small paper out of Buffalo, Missouri. In 1870, Buffalo had a population of 278 people. Like today, the majority of newspaper articles about politics included name-calling and libelous-sounding statements. Just like today, emotions were high, opinions were plentiful, and everyone believed they were right. Tensions were so high and the articles were biased enough that at this point I’m even questioning whether Quincy really did anything wrong. I’m wondering if the people in control of media just didn’t like the side he chose. This tactic is so prevalent today and it gives me a whole new perspective on the situation for Quincy. I do wonder if he was doing a favor for an old military friend (John PHELPS, from part 1 of this story) or if a group of people perhaps coerced Quincy to do this. I say this because I’ve never found any other stories of Quincy being in legal or criminal trouble. In any case, I may never know the truth but I keep searching. To my boys (and my new granddaughter that will arrive in the Spring!) I say, be careful with whom you associate. Your friends matter. Be careful when making decisions in haste. Always try to take time to think through the consequences of your decisions and actions. And, always keep your behavior above board so no one can coerce you to do something by saying they’re going to tell things about you that you don’t want others to know.

One more note: I used a political cartoon as the new featured image for this post. It’s the only derogatory cartoon I found on the Liberal Republican candidate while researching this post. (I didn’t look too hard but most of the newspapers were left-leaning and were attacking HAVENS and MCCLURG rather than SCHURZ. This cartoon didn’t come out until 1872, the year of the presidential election. I found the image at Wikipedia.⁸ It’s a public domain image and originally appeared in Harper’s Weekly. The artist/creator was Thomas NAST.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the update. Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Resources

Newspapers.com. Warrenton Banner, 6 September 1870, Vol. 6, #3, Page 4; Warrenton, Missouri. Accessed on 1 August 2022.
Newspapers.com. Nodaway Democrat, 12 October 1870, Vol. 1, #48, Page 2; Maryville, Missouri. Accessed on 1 August 2022.
Newspapers.com. Buffalo Reflex, 24 September 1870, Vol. 2, #4, Page 4; Buffalo, Missouri. Accessed on 1 August 2022.
Newspapers.com. Buffalo Reflex, 8 October 1870, Vol. 2, #6, Page 5; Buffalo, Missouri. Accessed on 1 August 2022.
Ostermeier, Dr. Eric. “Missouri Democrats Brace for Electoral Disaster Not Seen in 150+ Years”. 7 June 2021. Smart Politics, University of Minnesota. Accessed 1 August 2022.
Newspapers.com. Springfield Leader and Press, Vol. 1, #73, Page 4; Springfield, Missouri. Accessed on 2 August 2022.
Newspapers.com. Springfield Leader and Press, Vol. 1, #77, Page 2; Springfield, Missouri. Accessed on 2 August 2022.
Wikipedia – Carpetbagger entry. Accessed on 2 August 2022.

Medical Monday, Part 2: Eliza Emoline Bell and Nephritis

This post is an extension of yesterday’s post about Eliza Emoline Bell Williams Sneary. You can find that post at https://wordpress.com/post/daysofourlivesgenealogy.wordpress.com/543.
This morning I woke up still thinking about Eliza. It occurred to me that I had written her post in such a hurry that I hadn’t even looked up the medical code that classifies her death to make sure there wasn’t something I was missing about her death. So I looked it up this morning.
Here’s a shot of Eliza’s death certificate again only this time I circled the death code number so you know what you’re looking at.
med code eebws
It’s actually on her death certificate twice so I circled the larger one and pointed an arrow at the smaller one. Then, I went to Wolfbane Cybernetic’s website. Click on the link and you will see that you get a list of different versions of the International Classification of Diseases (“ICD”). I chose the 1928 version since that’s what would have been in effect when Eliza died in 1934. This would be Revision 4 of the ICD. I scrolled down to 132 and found there was no classification of ‘a’ or ‘b’. Under the 132 code it stated, “Nephritis, not stated to be acute or chronic”. There was also not an ‘a’ classification of code 132 in Revisions 3 or 5. I had to go back to Revision 2 (1909 revision) to find a ‘132a’ classification but at that time ‘132a’ was used for “diseases of ovary” (excluding ovarian tumour)”.
So, all of this to say that I still can’t tell you whether Eliza’s Nephritis was acute or chronic nor what type of Nephritis she had. However, I have done a more exhaustive search for an exact cause of death. We will likely never know anything more specific than “Nephritis”. Also, I wanted to let you know that the ICD is out there on the internet for anyone to use so that when or if you ever need to look up a code on a death certificate you know how to find it and what to do with it once you have it.
Health and peace,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

Medical Monday: Eliza Emoline Bell and Nephritis

Eliza Emoline BELL was my paternal 2nd great grandmother. The lineage goes from Eliza and her first husband, Samuel WILLIAMS, to their daughter, Bessie. Bessie is my paternal great grandmother. Every time I start to write a post about Eliza, I get derailed…badly. Every time. I’m pretty sure she hates me. But, I’m going to “try, try again”. I have written about her several times and you can find those posts here:
We all have secrets
Prosperity- Different Strokes for Different Folks
Eliza Emoline Bell, Independence Girl
Mentioned in Luchadors, Lawmen, and the Lost
Eliza’s death date anniversary is 25 February 1934. As I’ve said before, every time I research her I feel like I’m on the verge of a huge breakthrough. Unfortunately, my research always falls short and I never quite make that breakthrough. So today, in the interest of keeping this blog moving along, I’m going to post her death certificate which is something I haven’t given you before. Additionally, I’ll go into some detail about her cause of death. You can have a copy of her death certificate for yourself by going to this link: https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1934/1934_00008036.PDF

A supplement to the original death certificate was also issued:

The best I can tell, the supplemental document was issued in order to add Eliza’s birthdate.
As you can see, Eliza’s cause of death was listed as Nephritis. Nephritis is an inflammation of the kidneys and can lead to kidney failure and, ultimately, death. Each different type of Nephritis has its own causes and since the doctor did not give any other detail, we will never know what type of Nephritis Eliza had. Thanks to the internet, we can review the different kinds and causes of acute nephritis though.
Interstitial Nephritis causes the spaces between the kidney tubules to be inflamed, thus causing the kidneys to swell. This type of nephritis is often caused by taking medications for long periods of time. This type can also be caused by low potassium or an allergic reaction to a medication.
Pyelonephritis is another type of Nephritis. It’s caused by a bacterial infection which often begins in the bladder and travels up the ureters into the kidneys. The bacterial infection starts from a type of E. Coli found in the large intestine. Other possible causes include the formation of kidney stones, surgery on the bladder/kidneys/ureters, or urinary exams using a tool called a cytoscope.
The last type of Nephritis listed at Healthline.com is Glomerulonephritis (historically known as Bright’s Disease). This type of acute Nephritis is an inflammation of the capillaries in the kidneys. The capillaries help filter the blood within the kidneys. The exact cause of this type of Nephritis is unknown but believed to be caused by immune deficiencies, cancer, and/or broken abscesses within your body.
People with increased risk of Nephritis include those with a family history of kidney disease/infection (that would be YOU, Drake family!), those with immune system diseases such as Lupus, those who overuse antibiotics or pain medications, and/or anyone having had recent surgery on the urinary tract.
How would your body tell you that you might have Nephritis? I’m glad you asked! Depending on the type of acute Nephritis you have, you might feel pain in your pelvic area or abdomen or kidney areas and pain or burning when you urinate. You may need to urinate frequently and your urine may be cloudy or contain blood or pus. You may experience swelling in body parts (frequently in the face, feet, and legs). You also may experience vomiting, fever, and/or high blood pressure. Nephritis is often accompanied by blood pressure and heart problems.
If you feel you may be having these symptoms be sure to make an appointment with your doctor right away. When you go, be sure to let the doctor know that there is a family history of kidney problems. This may be important for the doctor to know in order to run the right tests on you. Nephritis can be treated if you catch it early. On the flip side, if you let it go it can kill you or leave you on dialysis for the rest of your life.
Take care of you! There are people in this world who need you to be around for them.
Peace and health,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives
** Information for this post came from Healthline.com (see link above) and Missouri Digital Heritage (see link above).

Happy birthday, Minerva!

Minerva Nancy BRINCEFIELD is my paternal 3rd great grandmother. She was born in North Carolina in February of 1813. One researcher believes her parents were Anderson BRINSFIELD and Francis DYE. I have nothing to prove or disprove that theory. My line of descent from Minerva goes through Minerva’s daughter Minerva, and the younger Minerva’s son (and my great grandfather) Ralph LARKIN. Since I haven’t talked much about Minerva (the elder one and the subject of today’s post) on the blog, I’m going to stick with introducing her through the census records today. That gives a background of her life and also fits in with this week’s blog theme of “in the census”.
I know nothing of Minerva’s younger years. The first record I pick her up on is her marriage to Bartlett Yancey UNDERWOOD. Minerva and Bartlett’s marriage bond was dated 4 May 1843 in Rockingham County, North Carolina. The bonsdman was Edward WHITT. The witness was Sampson L. CRYER. I don’t know at this time how these men are related to Minerva and/or Bartlett or even if they are related at all. At the time of their marriage, Minerva was 27 and Bartlett was 25. It’s within the realm of possibility that this was not Minerva’s first marriage.
Next, I found them in the 1850 Federal census for the state of North Carolina. They were living in the Eastern District of Rockingham County, North Carolina with three children- a girl and two boys. The only clarification I can give on the location is that in 1850 there were to North Carolinian districts- Eastern and Western. So take from that what you will. Bartlett gave his age as 35 and Minerva was 33. Bartlett was farming but I was unable to find an agricultural schedule that would describe their farm. Although Bartlett could read and write, Minerva could not. Everyone in the family was born in North Carolina. If you scroll down the page you will find Anderson and Fanny BRINSFIELD living with two adult males and two adult females- possibly their children (or two of their sons and their sons’ wives). In an effort to cover all the bases, I browsed many census schedules including agriculture, manufacturing, slave, tax rolls, mortality, etc. to see whether Bartlett or Minerva were listed there and they were not listed on any other schedules, censuses, or rolls available on Ancestry for the 1850 time period.

By 1860, Bartlett and Minerva have moved to Thomasville, Woodside Township, Oregon County, Missouri. Bartlett was still farming and Minerva was listed under the name Nancy. Both were listed as being 45 years old. Bartlett gave the value of his real estate as $200 and his personal property $200. Minerva was still the only one in the home who could not read or write. In 1860 Minerva and Bartlett had seven children living with them ranging in age from 1 to 14 years old. The children’s names were Jefferson, Mary, Worth, Dallas, Jane (my 2nd great grandmother whose name was Minerva but who went by Jane when still living with her mother), Brown, and Missouri. Again, after reviewing a variety of different census schedules, Bartlett and Minerva weren’t on any other schedules besides the US Federal Census for the state of Missouri.

The map above shows you the location of Thomasville as well as Alton- both were places that Bartlett and Minerva and their children lived. Thomasville Post Office was closed down in the 1970’s. One blogger calls the old Thomasville post office building “the goose”. You can find out why by reading her blog post at Claudia’s Surf City blog. (And that flood she’s talking about? Yeah- we got that one, too! It was terrible! We had to evacuate. I’m thinking maybe that story should be a future post for the “Stories for the Boys” series on my blog!)
By 1870, the family had moved to Alton, Piney Township, Oregon County, Missouri. I’ve marked Alton on the map above. In 1870, Bartlett is no longer living with the family. Minerva gave her age as 52. T. J. was marked as the Head of Household and Minerva along with her children (George, Minerva, James, Francis, and Washington) were living with T. J. The siblings (including T. J.) range in age from 7 to 22. I don’t know for sure what the ‘T’ in T. J. is short for but the ‘J’ stands for Jefferson. Worth A. UNDERWOOD and Missouri Ann UNDERWOOD are no longer living with the family in 1860. George is George Dallas UNDERWOOD; Jane is Minerva Jane UNDERWOOD (my 2nd great grandmother); James is James Brown UNDERWOOD. Francis is Francis Elizabeth UNDERWOOD and Washington is Washington Davis UNDERWOOD. Both Francis and Washington were born after the previous census was taken. T. J. was farming and Minerva was keeping house in 1870. T. J. listed his real estate value at $700 and his personal property at $400. On this census, the entire family is marked as unable to read or write which conflicts with previous census data on this family. Neither T. J. nor Minerva were in any other census schedules in the 1870 timeframe that I could find.

In 1880, Minerva was living in Elk Horn Township, McDonald County, Missouri. She gave her age as 64. Living with her were her children Jane, Washington Davis, and her granddaughter Alice (see note at the end of this paragraph). Living next door was Minerva’s daughter, Francis Elizabeth who was married to George BOWEN. Minerva was listed as being widowed. I’m assuming she had been widowed since at least 1870 when Bartlett was no longer living with the family. Minerva was keeping house. Washington was working as a laborer. No one in the family could read or write. I’ve blogged about whether or not Alice is the elder Minerva’s daughter or granddaughter. You can find more information about Alice and an explanation as to whom I think Alice’s mother is here and here (at this second link you’ll need to scroll down about ¾ of the page to find the section on Alice). The family was not on any other extraneous census schedules that I could find for the 1880 time period.

In 1900, at 87 years old, Minerva shows up in her final census record. She is living with her son, George Dallas UNDERWOOD and George’s family. They lived in Township 24 Range 23 East, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). This area was “West of the Grand River”. Looking at a map, this would be the area west of Monkey Island- between Monkey Island and the Bernice/Cleora area in what is currently Delaware County, Oklahoma. No extra census schedules were found for the family.

Minerva passed away in 1905. She is buried in an unmarked grave in Oaklawn Cemetery in Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma. If I’m remembering correctly, the grave was meant for her daughter (Francis BOWEN) or son-in-law (George BOWEN), but they buried her there first. The BOWEN’s ended their life in the state of Washington and are buried there.
I’m looking forward to future stories about Minerva and her family. I hope you are, too. I hope your week is fantastic!
Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

Eliza Emoline Bell, Independence Girl

This time last week we were celebrating Independence Day in the U.S.. I planned this post for that date but I was having internet problems last week. Eliza is the ancestor I was working on back on February when my posts got derailed. She is my paternal 2nd great grandmother. July is Eliza’s birthday month. Her death date anniversary was 25 February 1934. I’ve written about Eliza here with a follow-up to that post here and I published a photo here that I believe might be Eliza if you’d like to refresh your memory about her before going on. Eliza was born in Roubidoux, Texas County, Missouri in July of 1871. Her dad, Quincy, was 46 years old and her mom, Elizabeth (Quincy’s second wife) was 26 years old.
Roubidoux doesn’t exist as an official place anymore but before it became a ghost town, it was located in the Salem Plateau region of the Ozarks at the confluence of the east and west forks of Roubidoux Creek, about 12 miles northwest of Houston, Missouri (the county seat).

The above map shows the location of Roubidoux, Missouri.
Their post office was established in 1850 and was in operation until 1953. The town was named after the creek but the creek was named after Joseph Robidoux, a French explorer. The township of Roubidoux does still exist and has since 1845 which happens to be the same year that Ashley County was renamed as Texas County, Missouri. Texas County was the largest county in Missouri and was named after the state of Texas which was the largest state in the Union. Before Eliza was born her dad fought in the Civil War for the Confederacy. Most men in Texas County were Confederates and were more concerned with the question of secession than that of slavery since there were very few slave owners in Texas County in the 1860’s.
Eliza married at a very young 16 years old to Samuel Morris WILLIAMS. I haven’t yet found proof of what happened to Samuel but theories abound from the oft retold family story that he was killed by a train in 1905 to the theory that he abandoned Eliza and their children and ended up marrying another woman. In any case, Eliza had been single (or widowed) about 3 years when she married John Charles F. SNEARY in 1908. John was a local widower who had been married twice before he married Eliza. In 1910, John and Eliza were living at 1300 North Monroe Street in Enid, Garfield County, Oklahoma. I wanted to give you a map so you could see where they lived but my internet still isn’t up to par so I’ll let you Google that on your own.
Another interesting thing I found in the 1910 census is that Eliza said she had given birth to 11 children and only 9 were living at that time. My grandma always named 12 children that were born before 1910 and then she named one being born after 1910. I also have information saying that Eliza and John had a baby together. I think the two deceased children Eliza was referring to were the twins, Lorinzo Dall and William Sherman. I am uncertain what happened to Ruel, the baby born after Martin. He lived to at least age 2 when he was listed in a census entry in 1915 in the state of Kansas. I do know that in 1915, Ruel was censused with the last name of WILLIAMS even though family oral history says Eliza and Samuel were not together after 1905 and I have documentation showing that Eliza married John SNEARY in 1908. I suspect that Ruel was the baby that Eliza and John had together and that the census taker made a mistake. However, I have no proof of that. The family did live in Iola, Kansas in 1915 with Ruel and the other children and Ruel doesn’t show up on any more census entries with the family after that 1915 census. One additional fact is that their SNEARY baby is buried in Iola, Allen County, Kansas.
Infant Sneary Obituary
When the SNEARY baby died, the family was living at 625 S Second St in Iola, Kansas. Again, I wanted to give you a map but the internet isn’t cooperating so you’ll have to Google that one on your own again.
The last thing I recently discovered about Eliza was in a census entry that was taken when Eliza was about 5 years old. This census was an 1876 Missouri state census. It is the one piece of documentation that I can find that connects Eliza’s mom with the surname TYREE (spelled many different ways including TIRY). My grandma always gave four surnames for Eliza’s mom- TYREE, MOODY, STEVESON, and BELL with the BELL name being her married name from her marriage with my ancestor, Quincy BELL (Eliza’s dad). (Don’t forget there is also that pesky photo with the last name HENNIG that I believe may belong to this family!) I have never been certain which is a maiden name and which are married names or even if all these names belong to the same family. In any case, back to my discovery- the 1876 census showed a Mary A. TIRY living with Eliza’s mom. The census does not say whether Mary is Eliza’s half-sister, cousin, other relation, or no relation at all. I am assuming that Mary is closely related though since the TYREE name is a name associated with Eliza’s mom.
1876 census Independence Girl blog post
Above, the 1876 Missouri state census showing a Mary A. TIRY living with Quincy and Emely BELLE (a misspelling of the BELL name).
Over the 1910’s and 1920’s, John and Eliza moved around and slowly worked their way back to Upton Township in Texas County, Missouri where Eliza died in 1934. She is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Success, Texas County, Missouri with John SNEARY. My grandma always described John as a good man- very kind and loving- and a good grandpa to her. I’m glad to know that after a hard life full of loss that Eliza was able to end her life with a good man who took care of her and the children and grandchildren.
Hopefully it won’t be much longer before I finally make a breakthrough on Eliza’s mom’s family and get all those names sorted out.
Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

Weekend Wrap-Up #6 and a SURPRISE!

It’s the weekend! YAY! I haven’t been able to do much extra research for a couple of weeks now but I’m thankful for Becky who was able to do a little extra research this week and share it with us. Also, be sure to read to the end because there’s a big surprise at the end of the wrap-up!
Sarah DAVIS REITER
Becky and I are looking into whether or not Sarah was a midwife. We may never know definitively but we’re trying. Rebecca WORK, who was at two of the three births documented in my post earlier this week, was also recorded as being at other families’ births in the same locale. I’m fairly certain Rebecca was a midwife. My question comes in whether or not Sarah was a midwife or midwife-in-training (or neither).

Fold3 record showing Rebecca was present at the birth of Alice Hobbs.

Fold3 record from Becky- one of the records showing Rebecca was present at the delivery of the HOBBS children.
Becky and I have also both questioned whether or not that is really Sarah on the 1870 Mortality schedule. Something’s going on- we’re just not sure what. There is a Sarah living with Nicholas and his children in 1880.

1880 Federal Census record for Nicholas and Sarah Riter family.

So the timeline goes like this:
1870 Mortality schedule- Sarah dies of consumption.
1870 Federal census- Nicholas and children are censused without Sarah.
1880 Federal census- Nicholas and children are censused with Nicholas’ wife, Sarah.
So, is this a second wife named Sarah? Was Sarah, for some reason, mistakenly assumed dead or mistakenly censused as dead in 1870? We don’t’ know all the answers yet but we’re still looking so there may be a future update on Sarah.
Lucille DEWITT WILLIAMS CULLOM and Mary McATEE WEDDING
I have no updates yet on these two women. My husband’s Uncle Gerry is in the process of sending me copies of some records so there will, at some point, be an update on Lucille. For now, there is no new information to post.
John WILLIAMS- I forgot him!
When I posted the week’s schedule last Sunday I completely forgot to add in John WILLIAMS, my paternal 3rd great grandfather! John was born on this date in McKeesport, Illinois. You will never find this place on a map. I’m not sure where it is, actually. The information I have on his birth comes from his obituary and gravestone as well as this biographical piece in Historical Review of Arkansas: Its Commerce, Industry and Modern Affairs, Volume 3 by Fay Hempstead.

Biography of Edgar WILLIAMS, son of John WILLIAMS.
John was “a highly respected citizen of Roubidoux” in Texas County, Missouri. This was reported by the local paper in 1904. (The Houston Herald, 8 Sep 1904) He must have been well acquainted with the folks at the newspaper office because there were quite a few times that the local paper reported in the gossip column that John had come into town (Houston) to do business.
John was married at least three times. His son Samuel was my 2nd great grandfather and was John’s first known son by his first known wife. I say “known wife” loosely since I don’t have any idea what her name was.
John professed his faith in Christ at age 20 and joined the Methodist Church. He had one child by each of his first two wives and eight children with his third wife. It is said that when John’s son Samuel (my 2nd great grandfather) married my 2nd great grandmother Eliza Emma BELL that John disowned him. The reason is not known. You can read more about John and this particular issue at my cousin Annie Blanchard’s blog, Digging Genealogy. That link will get you to all of Annie’s posts about John and his son Samuel and that branch of the family. Much of what I know about John comes from Annie’s blog posts and from two incredible obituaries (one for John’s wife Armazinda and one for John) written by John’s friends at The Houston Herald.

Armazinda WALLACE WILLIAMS’ obituary (sorry for the quality- it was the best I could do). 20 August 1903 The Houston Herald, Houston, Missouri.

John WILLIAMS’ obituary. 08 September 1904 The Houston Herald, Houston, Missouri.
I know that type is hard to read so here is a transcription of the article:
“Death of John Williams.
_____
God in His infinite wisdom has seen fit to remove from this earth Mr. John Williams, aged 64 years, 6 months, 22 days. He died Sept. 2, 1904; he was born in Illinois Feb. 11, 1840, and came to Missouri in 1869. He made a profession of faith in Christ at the age of 20 and united with the Methodist church. He lived a Christian life and a few weeks before his death he was baptized in the Christian church at Prairie Point [Texas County, Missouri].
“Uncle John, as he was commonly called, has been a sufferer from chronic bronchitis for the past eight years, but has been gradually growing worse the last two years. He was taken worse a few days ago and God relieved him Saturday morning at 10:50. His last hours seemed to be his happiest ones.
He was married three times; 8 children resulted from his last union, all of whom are still living.
During his life he accumulated a great deal of wealth and was very honest in all his dealings. He was industrious and his children have an example before them as to industry and serving God. He was ready and willing to go and did not fear death at any time.
His wife preceded him to that better world about one year ago and was there waiting the coming of her loved one who was very lonely after the death of his companion. His sons and daughters are heart stricken as they are fatherless and motherless, which as w[e] all know is very sad indeed, yet we are born to die and our Lord knows best. He has led another dear one from this earth into the arms of rest. He is sweetly sleeping and his spirit has returned to the God that gave it.
No more will his children hear his good words of advice, but all is silent; a place is vacant in their home. His chair can’t be placed for papa to sit down to rest again, for alas, he is at rest in Heaven; he is around the Great White Throne with the angels and has joined them forever.
Dear ones, you can’t bring him back, but you can go to him. You have the blessed assurance of meeting him never more to part; you have two bright lights in Heaven awaiting your coming, which we hope to know you will prepare to do and that is to meet them over there. They are safe in the vale. They are sleeping in the bosom of God.
During his illness everything that relatives and neighbors could do was done but the angel of death was the only reliever.
Funeral services were conducted at Liberty graveyard Sept. 4th by Rev. Johnson. He delivered a very touching sermon to a very large crowd. Tears filled the eyes of all the attendants as they beheld the orphans that gathered round to take the last look at father. Now, to the bereaved ones I would say, weep not, for your loss is Heaven’s eternal gain. He is at rest and has left this unfriendly world. His home is above and not built by hands. Make preparations to meet him and rejoice of his being with his Savior. While this is a dark hour to you, remember, be still, sad hearts, and cease repining; behind the clouds the sun’s still shining; your fate is the common fate of all; late each life some rain must fall; some days must be dark and dreary. May God be with you is the prayer of Celia Neal.”
That is quite an obituary! I don’t know that I’ve ever found a longer, more flowery obituary for any of my ancestors as Celia’s was for John WILLIAMS. Armazinda’s was equally long and flowery. I’d be happy to provide a transcription for hers if anyone wants it. Family, you can never say again that you didn’t have any wealthy ancestors. You’ve heard it from The Houston Herald yourself- John was wealthy, well-respected, and a pillar of the community!
That’s your update for this week. I found an error while proofing this post but when I went back in to correct it later I couldn’t find it again, so you get a bonus error (probably more than one, truth be known!) with your blog post! Enjoy your weekend and be sure to come back tomorrow for next week’s schedule.

Until tomorrow,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Category: Texas County Missouri

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