john williams - Honeysuckle Farm, LLC

There’s Power in Numbers

I had totally intended to write about my Power family this week but it seemed everyone else was and I prefer to do something different. My thoughts went in a few different directions: “power in the blood” (i.e.- the life of one of my several Reverends) or “power in numbers” (i.e.- many offspring), etc. About the middle of the week though, something happened and I wrote about neither. I wrote nothing but emails…but I’m getting ahead of myself. About the middle of the week RootsTech conference started and of course, due to Covid it’s virtual. One of the few things I’ve been grateful that Covid changed…one of the few things Covid changed for the better…is a free and virtual conference! So I got busy with RootsTech and they have this amazing online tool this year where you can see who is at the conference that you’re related to so I started finding all these cousins and messaging them through the FamilySearch system and folks, that’s all the family history writing I’ve done this week! It’s been fun, though! A few have responded back and some I’ve asked to guest write or co-write some blog posts. We’ll see if anyone is willing to do that…fingers crossed, knock on wood, rub the lucky rabbit’s foot, pray-pray-pray!! I love guest writers on the blog and haven’t had one for a long time! Anyway…I decided to combine “power in the blood” and “power in numbers” and revamp them a little so that today I’m not telling the story of an ancestor so much as I’m telling the story of who I’ve been in touch with this week. I hope you’ll stick around and read this one and then come back next week for an ancestor story.

It’s funny how knowing that someone is related to you changes how you feel about them. It changes how much leeway you’ll give them and changes how you interact with them. Even if you don’t think it does…it does. There’s something about a blood connection that changes the way you think about and interact with someone initially. Now…after you get to know them that might change, but initially it seems to make a difference. Not only does it make you more open to introducing yourself to strangers, it’s an eye-opening, visual experience in genetics. It’s been very interesting to see which lines of my families have lots of researchers at the genealogy conference and which have seemingly no one at all. I’m not a statistics person but surely the number of researchers in a specific line makes a difference in which lines of the family get preserved (as far as information, stories, and pictures) and which don’t. I thought it would be interesting to let you see who/which family lines I’ve been in touch with so far.

Power in the Blood AND the Numbers

Dad’s Lines

Braxton DRAKE/Martha Patsy GREER line: 1 person.
Mordecai MITCHELL/Lucretia HUTCHISON: 5 people.
Jesse BAKER/Mary BAIR: 1person.
John HUBBARD/Nancy CHAMBERS: 1 person.
Levi HUBBARD/Nancy Indiana WHITE: 21 people!
John HUBBARD/Nancy WEDDLE: 2 people.
Josep LARKIN/Mary LANE: 1 person.
Bartlett UNDERWOOD/Minerva BRINSFIELD/BRINCEFIELD: 1 person.
James LANE/Nancy CONKWRIGHT/CONKRITE: 1 person.
John WEDDING/Mary McAfee/McAtee: 1 person.
John WILLIAMS/Nancy WALLS(?): 1 person.
John BELL Jr./Sarah HARDIN: 4 people
Hardy HARDIN/Tabitha ROBERTS: 1 person.

Mom’s Lines

John BATES/Mary MOBLEY: 1 person.
Charles G. SEELY/Synthia FOSTER: 3 people.
George SEELY/Elizabeth SHELLY: 3 people.
Frederick FOSTER/Mary BURNETT/PICKENS: 5 people.
John SEELY/Katherine BRINKER: 1 person.
James GIBSON/Lucinda DOW: 2 people.
Samuel GIBSON/Lucinda BELL PETTIT: 7 people!
Henry DOW/Rebecca WHITE: 1 person.
James GIBSON/Sarah PHILLIPS: 5 people.
John DOW/Harty ELLIS: 2 people.
Benjamin WHITE/Mary ELSTON/WALDROP: 6 people!
James BULLOCK/Cynthia DALE: 4 people.
James Squire DALE/Elizabeth SMITH: 3 people.
John LATTY/Martha Frances SCOTT: 4 people.
Edwin WALLS/Delilah UNKNOWN: 1 person.

Each person I contacted was only counted once. That’s 89 people I’ve connected with so far! Some people are connections for lines I struggle with so that’s very exciting. There are several people I’ve asked to guest write or co-write a blog post about their branch of the family (or about our common ancestor, either way). Some have already given me leads to resources I didn’t know existed for our family! The computer only shows me 300 relatives out of a whopping 45,000+ that are registered for the conference!!! I probably won’t even get through all 300 but I got as far as 5th cousins as of this evening. I’ve also learned how I connect to several professional genealogists I follow. Amy JOHNSON CROW, one of my favorite genealogists, is my 7th cousin through my mom’s FOSTER line. Thomas MacENTEE, another genealogist is my 10th cousin twice removed through my dad’s LARKIN line. Michele Simmons LEWIS, another genealogy friend, is my 11th cousin through my dad’s GREER line. Not all of my favorite genealogists have shown up on RootsTech and some have been no relationship at all. It’s been fun to find out though and I love this online tool.

This is certainly an exciting weekend. It’s been dampened a little by the fact that my computer has decided it no longer wants to live but I’m going tomorrow to get a new one so the adventure can continue! (By the way, I apologize if this post is unreadable or has lots of errors. I was fighting a dying computer that was randomly deleting entire paragraphs and other crazy things.) Over the remainder of the weekend I will likely begin looking up DNA matches to see if I can find any connections there. I hope you have a fun, exciting weekend. Do something for yourself!

Until next weekend,

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

Luchadors, Lawmen, and the Lost

Today’s theme is ‘sky’. Think about that for a minute…because I’ve thought about it for 2 days! This is a tough one. It required some creativity. I’m going to present several stories, not a lot of proof, possibly some photos, and a little bit of “this is what I’ve been told”. I think you will enjoy it though.
IT’S JUST A BUNCH OF BAD ACTING! – Eugene DRAKE and Bessie WILLIAMS LARKIN
Eugene (“Gene”) and Audrey DRAKE were my grandparents and Bess was my great-grandmother. In the latter years of her life, Bessie lived with Gene and Audrey. Bess loved luchador-style wrestling- masks, theatrics, stage names- the whole nine yards. She loved it. And Gene? He loved antagonizing his mother-in-law! (It’s the DRAKE sense of humor- we kind of can’t help it!) Gene would let Bess turn on wrestling and then he’d start in on her about how it was all fake. She would retort that it was real and the fight was on. I don’t know how Gene really felt about the wrestling but I know he loved picking on Bess. The more he’d antagonize her the more riled up she’d get. My mom remembers times that she would be sitting on the couch next to Gene and he’d nudge mom with his elbow and very softly say, “Watch this.” Then he would start rooting for the wrestler that was opposing the one Bess was rooting for and he’d start smack-talking Bess’s wrestler. Mom said it would really get her going and Gene would be on the couch laughing the whole time.

My grandma Audrey (Larkin) Drake, her brother Ray Larkin, and her mom Bess (Williams) Larkin.

Photo of a photo of Bess LARKIN, Audrey DRAKE, and I think the guy is Ray LARKIN.

Portrait of Eugene and Audrey (Larkin) Drake.

Gene and Audrey DRAKE.

Blue Sky luchador mask
REACH FOR THE SKY, PILGRIM! – William DRAKE and John Beason DRAKE
Remember Willard Drake who went to Leavenworth? William was his dad and my 3rd great-grandfather. William is said to have been a law enforcement officer at Oak Grove, Oklahoma. (Information supplied by Kerry Langstaff.) I haven’t been able to verify that. I do know that I’m not aware of William living near Oak Grove, Oklahoma but he did live close to Oak Grove, Missouri in 1870. I’m still trying to find some kind of proof for his work as a Constable or Deputy. John Beason DRAKE was William DRAKE’s grandson (son of Poppy Lon- my 2nd great-grandfather). John was an officer in Southwest City, Missouri.

DISAPPEARED INTO THIN AIR! – Bessie WILLIAMS LARKIN’s Family is Gone Like Yesterday!
My final short short story is about Bess’s family. I’m hoping that someone will find some information about them. Bess’s family has been so hard to trace. Her maiden name is WILLIAMS. Add that to the fact that she was married multiple times and then add to that commonplace first names and you’ve got a recipe for going nowhere fast! Over the past three decades I’ve been able to identify Bess’s dad and paternal grandfather but it’s been tough going and it’s only been recently that I’ve been able to find information about them beyond names. The WILLIAMS’ are still very much a mystery to me.
Bess’s mom’s last name is BELL. It’s still a fairly common name and the problem with a last name like BELL is that it was also a common first and middle name as well as a noun (as in “ring the bell”). All of those things add up to another very difficult family to research. I have identified Bess’s mom, maternal grandparents, and one set of maternal great-grandparents but have not been able to identify anyone in her line beyond that.
So just in case y’all feel like doing a little research, Bess’s parents are Samuel Morris WILLIAMS born April, 1864 in Illinois. Up until this year I believed he had died in 1905. That’s what Mam (Audrey) told me and that was the accepted family history among older family members. However, this year I discovered information indicating he did not, in fact, die but rather ran off and left his wife and kids. Samuel’s dad was John WILLIAMS (1840-1904). Bess’s mom was Eliza Emoline BELL (born July, 1871 in Roubidoux, Texas, Missouri and died in 25 February 1934 in Upton, Texas, Missouri). Eliza’s parents were Quincy Adam BELL (1825-1902) and Emily MOODY BELL (born in Missouri) OR Elizabeth Emoline STEPHENSON (1844-1897) (I’m not sure which one or they might even be the same person). Quincy’s parents were John BELL (1795-1848) and Sarah HARDIN (1806-1896). I would love for you all to join in the search.
One additional thing. I’d love for you all to consider taking a DNA test to contribute to advancing the family genealogy. If you’re interested but have questions, message me and I’ll be glad to help if I can. I just ordered my test a few days ago and I’m looking forward to getting my results.

Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

We All Have Secrets

Genealogy is like a big puzzle. Each of us has a piece- or pieces if we’re lucky- that we can share with each other. It’s midnight. I really should be sleeping. Instead, I want to share some puzzle pieces with you before I call it a night.
Recently, Annie Blanchard contacted me via Ancestry to talk about our common connection. You may remember Annie. I linked up to her Digging Genealogy blog in this post about Samuel Williams. Samuel’s father is mine and Annie’s common ancestor. Annie had puzzle pieces I didn’t have. (THANK YOU, ANNIE!) Specifically, she had a letter written by John WILLIAMS’ third wife (her ancestor; his first wife was my ancestor). She posted this letter along with a transcription of it on her blog. I read through the letter. Thought on it for a couple of days. (It’s book fair time at school so finding time to even think about the letter long enough to process it is hard.) Then this evening I got back to the letter and re-read it. I always find something new when I take the time to read it again after letting it settle in for a bit. I began to be very interested in the various people she mentioned in her letter. Some of them were relatives and Annie had done a good job of keeping track of those people but my ever-curious mind wanted to know about the OTHER people. (Surely you remember that particular bent of mine from my notoriously long 2 part post on Nicholas REITER, right??)
In any case, here I am hours later to let you know what I found. I was plugging along looking up each name trying to match up Mr. FOSTER with the most likely FOSTER listed in the records (or Mrs. CROSBY, or “old man LINGO”, etc.). And then I got to the name of Fannie HERRINGTON. I plugged her name into the Ancestry search engine and got quite a shock. Fannie was widowed and her second husband was…SAMUEL WILLIAMS! I thought, “Surely NOT!” So I dug around a little more. It’s possible that this really is MY Samuel WILLIAMS, but I don’t know for sure.

Marriage license for Samuel Williams and Mrs. Fannie Herrington.

Let’s Reason This Out
1. According to Annie’s information, Samuel was disowned by his father when he married my ancestor, Eliza Emeline BELL (also known as Emma or Emeline in some records) because John (Samuel’s father) didn’t like her.
2. Samuel and Eliza had a hard life together. If you recall, they averaged a loss of one significant person in their lives every 1 1/2 years. Some people even speculated that Samuel committed suicide as opposed to his death being an accident.
3. Timeline:
12 August 1903- Armazinda WILLIAMS, the woman who had raised Samuel since he was 8 years old, passed away.
1903-1904- Fannie HERRINGTON was a widow living near Samuel’s dad (John WILLIAMS) in
Upton Township, Texas County, Missouri. Samuel and Eliza WILLIAMS were a married couple living in
next-door Roubidoux Township, Texas County, Missouri.
Late-May/Early-June, 1904- Eliza became pregnant with hers and Samuel’s last child, Mart.
6 September 1904- Samuel’s dad, John, died.
2 October 1904- Samuel WILLIAMS and Fannie HERRINGTON get married.
February, 1905- Samuel and Eliza’s last child, Mart, was born.
1905- Family oral history states that sometime around the 1904-1905 timeframe, Samuel was hit and killed by a
train. You may also recall that I have not found one single source of information that backs up that
story. No juicy newspaper article, no obituary…I can’t even find his grave.
So conceivably, he could have impregnated Eliza, faked his own death, and then married Fannie HERRINGTON in October of 1904. Alternatively, maybe Samuel and Fannie somehow became romantically involved, Eliza found out so he and Eliza split up, and in order to satisfy Eliza’s religious family they made up the story that he was killed rather than face the social shame of a divorce or of everyone knowing their personal business.
As I said before- I’m not sure it’s the same Samuel WILLIAMS. There were other men with the same name in that general area at that time. (If you’ve tried finding someone with the last name Williams, Smith, or Jones you understand completely what my dilemma is here.)
I’d love for you to chime in with your thoughts on the matter. Was he really killed? Or did he fake it so he could finally satisfy his dad even though his dad had already died? Sometimes regret does funny things to our decision-making skills. I’ll definitely be trying to follow up on any leads. Hopefully Annie will have some ideas of her own when I tell her all about this tomorrow. Oh wait…it IS already tomorrow. Well- later today I’ll let her know and then I’ll pass any new information on to you. For now, it’s 1:15 a.m. and I’m tired. Now that I’ve got all this off my chest, I think I’ll go to bed.

Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Prosperity- Different Strokes for Different Folks

This week I’m going back to the last April blog theme that I missed. The theme was ‘prosper’. This one was hard. I didn’t have rich ancestors so I had to think a long time about what it can mean to prosper. I thought about telling you a couple of stories about my 2^nd great grandfather, William Larkin, who owned a mine in Aurora, Missouri, in 1900 but I didn’t feel like I had enough information and facts to do him justice yet so instead I started to think about what the Bible considers prosperous.

Deuteronomy 30:9-10 says, “The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

So that got me thinking about children and how the Bible says they are a blessing from God- a “heritage from the Lord”, “a reward”, they are “like arrows in the hand of a warrior”, and “blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them”. (Psalm 127:3-5) Also, grandchildren “are the crown of the aged”. (Proverbs 17:6) There are many verses but these are the first couple that really hit me and helped get me started down this path. So I looked at my father’s family and narrowed the list down to the 6 couples who had the most children. Out of those 6 couples, I decided to tell you about Samuel Morris and Emeline Eliza (BELL) WILLIAMS. I hope I can do them justice.

I don’t have a lot of information about Samuel’s early life. There is some confusion about who his mother really is. In trying to figure it out, I decided finally to look only at men named John Williams who were married in Illinois between the years of 1853 and 1869 because I felt like that narrowed it down pretty well. Well, let me tell you- I “narrowed” it down to 178 (!!!) John Williams’ who were married in Illinois between 1853 and 1869. (Are you beginning to understand why it’s June and I’m not done with an April blog post??) So rather than make you wait any longer…I’m just presenting you with what I have. They are one of my “brick walls” so I don’t have a lot of information but maybe I can tell a little of their story.

SAMUEL MORRIS WILLIAMS

Samuel was born in April, 1864 in Illinois. His dad was John W. WILLIAMS. Prior to writing this blog I believed his mother was Nancy (WALLS) WILLIAMS. However during the course of preparing for this blog, I located another researcher who has information that suggests John was married to someone before he married Nancy. I am still trying to sort it out, as is the other researcher- Annie Blanchard. (As a researcher I try to always prove everything I’m told rather than accept what I’m told without question. If you want to do your own research you are welcome to review Annie Blanchard’s post about John Williams at her blog at https://digginggenealogy.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/unpuzzling-the-ancestors-part-ii/.) The link takes you to part 2 of a 3-part blog series about John and his last wife, Armazinda.

By the time Samuel was six years old his family had moved to Licking, Texas County, Missouri, where his brother Charles was born in February, 1870. By 1872, Nancy had passed away and John married Armazinda Frances WALLACE. In 1880, the family was still living in Texas County, Missouri, and included Samuel, his dad John and stepmother Armazinda, his brother Charles, and half-siblings Walter, Alice and Edgar. Other siblings born later included Mabel, Frank, Martin, Elizabeth, and Bertie Frances. Throughout his life, Samuel was a farmer.

ELIZA EMELINE BELL

Eliza was born in July of 1871 in Roubidoux, Texas County, Missouri. Her parents were Quincy and Elizabeth (STEPHENSON) BELL. Eliza had 6 known siblings- two half-sisters named Mary and Cordova, and four siblings named John, Surrena, Josephus, and Samuel. Like Samuel’s dad, Eliza’s dad was married more than once. Eliza’s mother was Quincy’s last known wife. Whereas Samuel was (as far as I know) the first child, Eliza was the fifth child of her father and the third child of her mother.

SOMETIMES LIFE IS A SERIES OF PLUSES AND MINUSES – GAINS AND LOSSES

Marriage License for Samuel Williams and Emma Bell.

On 18 March 1888, Samuel married Eliza Emeline BELL in Roubidoux, Texas County, Missouri. Samuel was 23 years old and Eliza was 16. (NOTE: In the 1930 census, Eliza stated she first married at age 17. However based on date of birth and date of marriage, she had not yet turned 17 when she married Samuel. Memory is a tricky thing sometimes.)

I’m going to present Samuel’s and Eliza’s life together as a series of gains and losses. Plus signs for the positives (or gains, marked in green) and minus signs for the negatives (or losses, marked in red). I think this is a good way of showing what their life was like up to the crescendo-point in 1905.

++++ Between 1889 and 1896, they had their first four children- Sarah Ann (Aunt Sadie), Jahu, Hosea (or Hose as Mam always called him), and Ida.

– Then the first in a series of tragedies struck the family. Eliza’s mom died in January of 1897.

++ In 1898 and 1899, Samuel and Eliza had Quincy (who sometimes went by Bennie) and Ivy (Aunt Tack).

+/– In 1900, Eliza had another set of twin boys neither of whom survived. This was the second in the series of tragedies for the family.

+ In 1901 my great-grandmother Bessie was born.

– In 1902, Eliza’s dad (her last living parent) passed away.

+ In 1903 Eula (Aunt Ule) was born.

– Also in 1903 Samuel’s stepmother, Armazinda, passed away. Armazinda was Samuel’s stepmother from the time he was 8 years old so surely he felt some loss (if not significant loss) when she passed.

– Then in 1904 Samuel’s dad (his last living parent) passed away.

After all of these losses, 1905 was an excruciating year for the already hard-hit family.

+ In February, 1905 Martin (Uncle Mart) was born.

– That same year Samuel was killed by a train somewhere near either Cabool, Texas County, Missouri or Mountain Grove, Texas County, Missouri. Sources conflict about the location of his death and no official records or newspaper articles have ever been found to verify this. There was speculation that it was suicide. Some family members believe perhaps it was suicide and others believe that it definitely was not.

I know that Uncle Mart must surely have kept Eliza going on many days when she didn’t want to live anymore. In the space of a decade she had lost both parents, her father-in-law and stepmother, and two children. (Averaging it out, that would be almost one lost loved one PER 1 ½ YEARS!!) I can’t even imagine what it would be like to have that many close personal losses in that period of time. Knowing about all of these losses, it makes me think perhaps Samuel might really have committed suicide. Maybe while walking home he had time to think about all of these losses and simply couldn’t see a reason for living and in one brief moment while he was feeling hopeless, a train appeared and he saw that as a way out. I don’t know. It just makes me wonder.

LIFE KEEPS ROLLING ON

Sometimes we survive even when we don’t want to. I’m glad that Eliza made it through this difficult period of her life. In 1908 Eliza married John Charles SNEARY. Everyone I’ve talked to said he was a good man. He was good to Eliza and good to her children and grandchildren. I love him simply because of this. She needed someone good in her life. After marrying, Eliza and John (who sometimes went by Charles) moved to Enid, Garfield County, Oklahoma. In the 1915 Kansas Territorial Census, John and Eliza show up in Iola, Allen County, Kansas. In the household is a 2 year old male child named Rural WILLIAMS. In 1920 the family is living in Commerce, Ottawa County, Oklahoma and Rural is gone. I don’t know Rural’s relationship to the family- nor do I know anything else about him. If he belonged to Eliza and John, why wasn’t his last name SNEARY? I never heard anyone talk of Eliza and John having any children together and Rural came along too late to belong to Samuel. I have not yet found any answers about Rural. I vaguely remember my grandma mentioning a Rural but sadly, I can’t remember what she said. When she said his name it sounded more like ‘Ruel’.

Eliza would see several of her sons go into the military and be sent into battle during World War I but it appears from records that they all came back home. I hope that she enjoyed many wonderful years with her children and grandchildren.

By 1930, Eliza and John were back in Upton Township, Texas County, Missouri living out their final years together. Eliza passed away there in February of 1934. She was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Success, Texas County, Missouri. John passed away two years later in August of 1936. John and Eliza were buried next to each other.

Every time I tell you a story about one of our ancestors, I’m always amazed at how much they lived through and yet still were able to make a decent life for themselves. These are the stories I want our children and grandchildren to see. I want them to know that they come from a long line of strong people and good-hearted people. I want them to know that they have it within themselves to overcome whatever struggles they are facing and whatever trouble they find themselves in. I hope this is what they get from the stories about our people. Pass these stories on to them!
Don’t forget to check out Becky’s blog at http://downintherootcellar.blogspot.com, Theresa’s blog at https://recipesfromlena.wordpress.com/, and Rochelle’s blog at https://theologyformom.wordpress.com/ for more great reading. 🙂
“Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?” ~ King David

Until next week,