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, Maryâs 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 had a criminal recordÂ
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.Â
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.Â
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.Â
Mary didnât 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. If this was supposed be his motive, I donât think it did. 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 âPollyâ 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), son of Asenath and Roy Dean Eichler, Mary Nightingaleâs brother.
Anna Decker, the daughter of my 3x great grandparents Lewis Luther Decker and Margurite/Margaret Edith Layton Decker. She was born in Hopkins, Allegan, Michigan on February 3, 1894. She lived on the family farm in Hopkins with her siblings Oren George (b.1887), Lee Aaron (b. 1889), and Maude (b. 1891). Her life ended in tragedy on the farm one warm fall day on November 9, 1899 when she asked to run and play in the yard without her shoes.
**Caution, this is a very graphic and sad story**
Little Anna was running through the yard while her brother Lee Decker (if the news article is accurate in saying the brother was about ten years old) was cleaning a stable when he unintentionally hit his sister with the fork. It punctured her eye and entered her brain four inches... she died almost instantly. It is also worth note that at the time of Annaâs death, Mrs. Decker was seven months along with her sixth child, my 2x great grandfather William Decker. In 1902, the Deckerâs would have another daughter and name her Anna in honor of the little girl they lost so tragically.
Below is the actual news article from the paper in Otsego, Allegan, Michigan:
Dean Eichler, my 5x great grandfather, was born in February 1825 in Chenango County, New York to John Eichler and Ruth Warner. Asenath Elvina Nostrant, was born in August around 1825-28 in Onondaga County, New York to James Nostrant and Laine VanPetten. The two were married in about 1847-1850 in Onondaga County, NY.
In 1850, the Eichlers are living in Lafayette, Onondaga, New York with their daughter, 2 year old Ellen Eichler.
Between 1854 and 1856, the family moved to Michigan. In 1860 Dean, Asenath, Ellen, Rosette, William, Sarah, Ruth, and Platt (my 4x ggfather) were living in to Pokagon, Cass County, Michigan where Dean farmed. Asenathâs maternal uncle Arent âAaronâ Van Patten died in Millgrove (in Valley Twp.), Allegan, Michigan in 1857.
In 1870, the family was living in Keeler, Van Buren, Michigan and now included Matilda, Ida, George, and Mary. Dean was still farming and his son William helped on the farm.
In 1873-74 the family moved from Keeler to Lee, Allegan County. Youngest child Lana was born there, their second youngest David was born in Keeler. Dean was still farming and was ill on the day the enumerator came in 1880, but I canât make out what it says specifically. Widowed daughter Rosette Eichler Houghton and her two children were living in the household as well. Rosette remarried later that year to a widower named Silas Randall of Pine Grove, Van Buren, MI.
In 1900 the couple was living with their daughter Mary J. Eichler Nightingale and her family in Hamilton, Van Buren, Michigan. In 1910, Dean and Asenath are living in Marcellus, Cass, Michigan with their daughter Ida Eichler Knoll and her family.Â
Dean died in about 1911 (I havenât located his death certificate on Seeking Michigan yet). Asenath died August 12, 1919 in Benton Harbor, Berrien, Michigan, according to her death certificate she was buried in the Grand Junction Cemetery.
Before marrying my great-great grandmother, Lillie Ann Coder, my great-great grandfather John William King was married to Etta Jane Lowe (daughter of Rosa Atwood and George Lowe) just after his 17th birthday on October 17, 1907 in Ross County, Ohio.
In April 1910, the couple was living in Marion, Fayette, Ohio along with their son John King Jr. who was born May 15, 1908. John was working as a farm laborer to support his son and pregnant wife. On September 19, 1910 they became the parents to Bessie H. King. Sadly, a little over one year later on September 28, 1911 their little daughter died of enterocolitis (an infection of the digestive system caused by bacteria) the contributing cause was listed as âfilth and lack of careâ. *NOTE: The death certificate for Bessie INCORRECTLY states that the mother was âAnna Loweâ*
Unfortunately, this would not be the last time tragedy touched the Kingâs lives: On February 28, 1913 the coupleâs six month old son, Charles Albert King would die of broncho-pneumonia and pertussis (whooping cough). The marriage was dissolved about 10 months after Charlesâ death.
On December 24, 1913 Etta married Isaac Wiles (the son of Anna Mullen and William Wiles) in Delaware County, Indiana. On the marriage certificate she claims her previous marriage to John King was dissolved that same month on December 13, 1913. (Working on getting the record for their divorce!)
On August 9, 1917 Etta married again to Randolph Grant Smullen (son of Milton Smullen and Anna Keglice) also in Delaware County. On that marriage record she claimed she had been married twice and that both marriages had been dissolved by divorce. The first divorce is incorrectly listed as occurring in 1910, ending the marriage with King. And the second divorce from Isaac Wiles taking place in 1916. Etta, her husband Randolph, her son John King, and her daughter Nannie Smullen lived in Muncie, Delaware, Indiana in 1920.Â
By 1930, Etta was working as a dishwasher at a restaurant and had divorced Smullen who was now her neighbor, they also had become the parents to a son prior to divorcing. In 1940, he was also living next door with their daughter, Nannie Smullen Chesterman while Etta lived with their son Vernon Smullen.
John King Jr. married Dorothy M. Hundley who was the daughter of Harvey Hundley and Clara M. Shingledecker Hundley Baker sometime after 1930. I havenât definitively located him on the 1930 US Census yet.
âWhere liberty dwells, there is my country.â - Benjamin Franklin
This Independance Day, Iâd like to put the spotlight on to two brothers who fought for the Independence we are celebrating; Israel Bissell (1752-1823) and Justus Bissell (1759-1832) (my 7th great grandfather through my maternal grandmother). The Bissell brothers were born to Israel Bissell Sr. and Hannah Sackett Bissell in East Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut.
âListen, my children, to my epistle
Of the long, long ride of Israel Bissell,
Who outrode Paul by miles and time
But didnât rate a poetâs rhyme.
A postman was this Israel Bissell.
Who on his horse, sped like a missileâ
                         I. Bissellâs Ride by Clay Perry
Israel Jr., a post rider, out rode the other freedom riders sent to warn of the British Attack at Lexington on April 19,1875 including Paul Revere, William Dawes, Samuel Prescott, and Sybil Ludington in both miles traveled and time. He rode for four days and six hours (345 miles) from Watertown, Massachusetts to Philadelphia along the Old Post Road. According to legend, his first horse died from having been ridden too hard.
After Israel returned home to Connecticut, he and his younger brother Justus enlisted in the continental army and served until the end of the war. Israel settled in Hinsdale, Berkshire, Massachusetts where he was buried with a modest marble headstone until the Daughterâs of the American Revolution gave him a plaque commemorating his ride.Â
Justus returned home to East Windsor and married Ann Blodgett (1760-1839) December 20, 1779 they were the parents of at least 10 children. The Bissells first moved to Middlefield, Massachusetts around 1782, while living there Justus worked as a carpenter and served on the school board. In 1809, the family moved to Ohio where Justus is buried in Aurora, Portage, Ohio.
When I was 15, I was almost too excitable to do genealogical research. I found the 1890 marriage record of my great-great grandparents Martha (Mattie) Magnora Fast and William G. Bender, and that lead to my first major mistake... I connected the first William Bender I found in Mercer County, Ohio to my family tree. I told myself âNo one will see this, if I need to change it I can.â But, a lot of Fast Descendants mustâve seen it and soon it was all over the internet. The William I had tied to my family was the son of Jonathan Bender and Hannah A. Murlin in Mercer County in 1870. But, the entire family ended up moving to Iowa by 1880, where that William was married in 1888.
But, there was another William in the county in 1870, William G. B. McClellan Bender was born in 1865 in Mercer County, Ohio to Henry Bender and his wife Clementine Lavina Long (she seems to have gone by Clementine/a until her husbands death in 1875 at which time she switched to Lavina). Henry and Clementine Lavina moved to Mercer County, Ohio between 1860-1865 from Hempfield, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania.
By the time Henry and Clementine moved to Ohio, they had three children:
Elizabeth Mathilda (b. November 13 1854), Charles J., and William H. (They mustâve changed his name to John H. Bender in his early childhood) Below is the Bender family on the 1860 census in Hempfield, Pennsylvania.
In 1870, Clementine and Henry are living in Hopewell, Mercer County, Ohio with William, aged 5 and Eliza, aged 4. It is unclear where the other children are. I think it is likely that the older daughter, Elizabeth Mathilda had passed away due to the younger sisterâs name and the fact that Elizabeth Mathilda was the only child not listed in Henryâs probate records from 1875.
Charles Bender had settled in Portland, Jay, Indiana by June 1887 when he married Mary Chapman there (she was remarried in 1895 to James McGill in Jay County). There in April 1898, he was married again to Sadie Hearn (divorced and remarried in Jay County 1899 to William Little). On census records he always listed his birthplace as Ohio and his parentâs as being born in Pennsylvania, his maternal grandfather died in Portland in 1893. Charles died May 4, 1939 in Portland, Indiana.
John H. Bender married Mary A. Crouch on August 15, 1897 in Mercer County. After she died in 1917, he married Donna Lawson Chapman. Together, they had two children John R. Bender born about 1926 and Mary Ann Bender born 1929. He died in Mercer County in 1946 and is buried in the Swamp College Cemetery.
William (G.?) B. Mclellan Bender is my possible link to these Benderâs. He is not living with his mother, stepfather, and sister on the 1880 Census. If this is my William G. Bender, he was married in Mercer County to Martha M. Fast on November 27, 1890. And had two children with her before he disappeared around 1896...
Eliza Ann Bender was born in 1865 in Mercer County. She applied for a marriage certificate to marry Henry Lehman in 1883, with her stepfather giving consent for her to marry, but the two never went through with the ceremony, they had an illegitimate daughter born in November 1883 named Nora E. (Elizabeth) Lehman. In July 1885 Eliza married Seth Adams in Mercer County. They moved to Auglaize County, Ohio where she died in 1944.
The nearer I become to twenty-three, the more I think about my great-grandmother Lovie Lee Moore and her life. Lovie was born on March 3, 1920 in Harlan County, Kentucky to Bertha Daniels Moore and her second husband, Rankie Moore. She died at 23 of Tuberculosis at The National Jewish Hospital in Denver, Colorado in 1943 - only one year before antibiotics began being used for the disease. She was a wife, a mother of four, a beloved daughter, and a sister.
Below: Lovie and her son Charles.
Around 1938, Lovie met and married my great grandfather, Raymond Murr. Together, they had four children: Juanita Murr, Charles Murr, Lillie Mae Murr, and Douglas MacArthur Murr. Not long after Dougâs birth, Lovie got sick and was eventually sent to Denver, Colorado to The National Jewish Hospital, which was one of the trailblazing hospitals for TB and lung health.
Although we never met Lovie, we do have a letter she wrote to her "Dad and motherâ. It is dated October 28, 1943. In the letter, she says she is âglad to hear from you all and to now [sic] that my kids are well.â She goes on to ask where her husband, Raymond is and if he is coming back out to see her. She also wrote âTell mother I am getting along fine and will have some nice clothes to wear when I get well. Daddy again no I miss my kids but I donât worry about them for I know you and mother will take good care of them. Tell David (younger brother) I said hello and kiss my baby for me.â According to the letter, a head nurse told her they could send any canned foods from home out to her, so she requested a can of snap beans, a can of (minced?) pickles, and another jar of Maryâs black berry jelly.
Just under a month later, on November 19, 1943 Lovie passed away. Raymond sent a letter to her father to tell him she had passed away. In it, he tells him when her body will leave Colorado and arrive in back home in Kentucky. He told Rank that he would like to come but didnât have the money. And said, â...be good to my kids until I see them and soon. God bless you all. She is at rest.â
Above: The family Lovie left behind (excluding baby Doug). L to R: Charles Murr, Lillie Mae Murr, Raymond Murr, and Juanita Murr.
Raymond remarried and moved to Tennessee, where he died in 1950 of Tuberculosis. His children remained with Lovieâs parents in Harlan.
Lillie Cardin Murr was the first wife of Louis Murr and the mother of my great grandfather Raymond Amos Murr. Lillie was born in January 1878 in Monroe County, Tennessee to Thomas Cardin and Amanda Manis. She died at the age of 49 on August 11, 1927 of Pellagra at the Eastern State Hospital in Bearden, Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee. Her life had been largely a mystery, until I located her death certificate...
Two facts from it helped me figure out the end of her story:
Pellagra is vitamin deficiency disease frequently caused by a chronic lack of niacin (which is instrumental in the circulatory system). It is classically described by three Dâs: Diarrhea, Dermatitis, and Dementia. In order to have a decisive diagnosis, skin legions must also be present. A common cause is a corn-based diet. Following the corn cycle, the symptoms typically appear in the spring and worsen in the summer due to sun exposure until eventually becoming constant. Without treatment, death usually occurs in four to five years. Between the years of 1906-1940 their were an estimated 150,000 deaths caused by Pellagra in the Southern United States with the majority of victims being the impoverished, African Americans, and adult women. Of the infected, only about 2% of pellagrins were institutionalized.
The Eastern State Hospital, located in the Bearden area of Knoxville, was primarily a mental institution and where she had been a patient for the last 20 days of her life.
Lillie married Louis Murr on November 25, 1900 in Monroe County, Tennessee. The couple went on to have the following children there (not including at least one other child who died prior to 1910):
Charles Murr b. abt 1896 (possibly 1900)
Andy Murr b. July 12, 1904
Gibson Murr b. July 25, 1906
Bessie Murr b. abt 1908
Virgil C. Murr b. December 25, 1910
Earnest Murr b. August 5, 1913
Raymond Amos Murr b. October 17, 1914
The family lived near Tellico Plains, Monroe, TN where Louis farmed, the Murr family probably had grits or cornbread at almost every meal. Today, the recommended daily value for women over 19 years of age is 14mg of niacin and we typically receive enough due to the amount of meat we consume. But back in the 20âČs, meat wasnât as readily available to the impoverished families of the Southern US. Corn was, and it was a heavily relied on staple in their diets. The prosperity of the âSwinging Twentiesâ was much more prevalent in cities, as the First World War had created an agricultural boom and after the war ended prices on corn, cotton, and wheat plummeted. The 1920âČs created a growth in cities while the rural communities suffered a lull in their economy, and in 1921 Pellagra cases spiked because of it.
In the beginning stages, Pellagra causes depression and fatigue. Next, painful blistering occurs on the sufferers hands, chest, and neck (often made worse by the skin being exposed to sun). It isnât uncommon for the tongue and throat to turn bright red and for hair to fall out, as well as mental confusion to begin. As the disease progresses, the minerals from bones and teeth deteriorate causing osteoporosis and tooth decay. In advanced stages, sufferers may become extremely sensitive to light, have heart muscle damage, some sufferers get nerve damage and paralysis of limbs. In the months before death dementia takes hold of the brain. The stigma for those afflicted with Pellagra was almost as horrible as the disease itself.
Because Lillie was hospitalized in July of 1927, it is likely she had been suffering from dementia for some time and that her family just couldnât care for her anymore. Pellagra no doubt wreaked havoc on her body, mind, and personality. Ten years after Lillie Cardin Murrâs death, in 1937, niacin was identified as the vitamin responsible for preventing the malady and by 1960, it was almost completely eradicated in the US.
John Douglas Jenkins is my 2x great grandfather on my paternal grandfatherâs side. A first generation American, he married Irene Rose Pfiffner around 1913 and had four children with her; Elizabeth (my great grandmother), Harold âHarryâ, Dorothy May, and Kenneth Floyd. The two divorced in about 1921, after which time. Elizabeth and Dorothy lived with Irene in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, Harry lived with John in Edwardsville, Madison, Illinois, and Kenneth was raised by his maternal grandmother Emily Anderson Pfiffner in Bellville, St. Clair, Illinois and East St. Louis, St. Clair, Illinois. It appears that John never remarried, he lived in Edwardsville with his mother Elizabeth Jenkins from 1930 until her death in 1940 working at the family service station.
In June 29 1931, the Decatur Evening Herald of Decatur, Illinois reported that two men were being held for the beating of a hitchhiker named John D. Jenkins, 35, a service station attendant who lived in Edwardsville.Â
The men picked up a man who, according to them attacked them with a hammer. A witness claimed that one of the men; Othal Ivy, of Huston, Texas struck Jenkins on the head. Witnesses said that the car pulled to a stop, where a man got out of the back seat and another man wielding a hammer got out of the front seat and struck the man from the back seat in the head before reentering the vehicle which then sped away leaving Jenkins behind with a fractured skull and a satchel. The satchel was found to be containing identifying papers for the driver of the car, Robert Craig, WWI Veteran from Long Beach, California whom Jenkins was originally identified as.
On July 3, 1931 more of the story ran in the Decatur Herald. In this article, both men (the afformentioned Ivy along with the driver, a WWI Veteran named Robert Craig of Long Beach, California) claimed that when they picked Jenkins up he was intoxicated and quarrelsome and that Ivy had only struck Jenkins to prevent the theft of Craigâs satchel. Jenkins had told police that the men stole $271 dollars from him, but the police only found $27 on the proposed assailants. The paper claimed that the idea that Jenkins could attack two able-bodied men with a hammer was fantastic.
Jenkinsâ side of the story was reported by his hometown newspaper, The Edwardsville Intelligencer. He claimed that the men picked him up in St. Louis, and he paid $4 to ride with them to Chicago. He claimed that on the way the two strangers purchased liquor and that he personally only took one drink and that in Pana, Illinois the men threw the bottle out of the car before attacking him in an alley.
This was not Jenkinsâ first or last encounter with violence... according to their youngest child, Kenneth Jenkins, his parents divorced because of Johnâs anger problems. And In 1936 in Edwardsville, John was found guilty of assaulting an Illinois Power & Light Company worker named Harold Gunter. Gunter entered the Jenkins Service Station (which Johnâs mother Elizabeth owned) to check power levels and believing that no one was there, he turned to leave. The two began speaking to one another, and soon after that is when John struck him.
âIf there is no Struggle, There is no Progressâ
I am impatient, I donât like waiting. Right now in my personal life this is a very difficult thing, I am frustrated with how long it is taking to make progress. So, I thought I would share part of a story I found in A Twentieth Century History of Allegan County, Michigan (compiled under the supervision of Dr. Henry Franklin Thomas of Allegan in 1907) about my 4x Great Grandfather, Ransom Aaron Layton who made his progress slowly with hard work.
âHe always manifested the progressive spirit which has been the dominant factor in the upbuilding and development of agricultural interests in this great state.â
Ransom was born to Francis Layton and his wife Margaret Ann Wagner Layton (both originally from New Jersey) on July 16, 1841 in Genesee County, New York. His mother died when he was four, and when he was nine he and his father relocated to Cooper, Kalamazoo, Michigan where he was educated and eventually became a laborer on a nearby farm until he had earned enough to purchase his own land and begin his own farm.
He chose Watson, Allegan, Michigan as the site of his homestead and farm and purchased 80 acres. As he continued to work, he was eventually able to purchase 80 additional acres. Making his total 160 acres - which was all forest land at the time of his purchase. In addition to clearing his own land and farming, Layton also worked at an area sawmill for a number of years spending half the day and half the night being spent at the mill and the remainder of his time was spent working on his land. On that land, he built a home and several outbuildings.Â
In 1868, Layton married Hannah Elvira Leach (born 1848 in Ohio), daughter of Justus Leach and Mercy D. Mason Leach. He and Hannah became the parents of three daughters and one son:
Margaret Edith Layton Decker (my 3x great grandmother), wife of Luther Decker. They had seven children: George Oren Decker, Lee Decker, Maude Decker, Roy Decker, William Decker, Annie Decker, and Leota Decker.
Arthur J. Layton who married Gertrude Mabel Goucher. Their children were Garnet Clara Layton and George Russell Layton.
Alta Almeda Layton, wife of Simon Fox. Mother of Pearl Myrtle Fox and Juanita Fox.
Bell Ethel Layton
In politics Layton was a Republican, and he never ran for office, instead focusing on his farm, but he was always interested in what was best for the people.Â
âHe may, without exaggeration be called a self-made man... Starting out in early life in the humble capacity of a farmer being employed by others, through industry, economy and careful management he worked his way year by year until he was the possessor of a valuable property of 195 acresâ
âTo know him was to respect him, and his many friends yet cherish his memory, for he was a man of excellent character and was ever ready to lend a helping hand to every worthy cause.â
I went to Ohio feeling extremely giddy and hopeful to find out more about Louella, Martha, and Marthaâs parents; Sarah Ann Keyser & Jacob Ginter Fast.
For Martha Magnora Fast Bender Couts, I thought I would certainly be able to locate a marriage announcement from December 1890 which would tell me who William G. Benderâs parents were. But there was no announcement following their marriage and no announcement of Jesse Preston Benderâs birth in 1892. I also thought I would be able to find articles concerning her second marriage in 1903 to James McClellan Couts and subsequent divorce after between 1910 and 1920. I anticipated finding out if Marthaâs daughter, Louella Bender was born with a mental disability or if it was caused by illness or injury, but I found nothing on her. Not even a birth announcement.
I was also looking for more on Marthaâs parents. Especially on Jacob G. Fastâs stomach troubles and his red automobile which he supposedly drove through his barn.
Even though I didnât find all I had hoped to find on the Fastâs and the Benderâs, I was glad to finally stand at the Riverside Cemetery and see their graves in person. There they were, all next to each other and next to family. To the left of Sarah and Jacob is their daughter Laura Ethel Fast Pennell and an infant. Martha and Louella are in two different rows, but you can walk almost in a straight line from one to the other. I think Louella was buried next to Pennell relatives.
Above: Louellaâs marker in the foreground with her mother Marthaâs directly across.
For me, visiting a grave in person instead of just seeing a photo that a stranger posted for Findagrave is a way for me to pay my respects. Iâve seen so much lately about cemeteries being âpointlessâ because everyone forgets about the people buried there, but not me. I may not be able to visit every grave, but the ones I do just fill me to the brim with gratefulness. I exist because they pressed on in the face of challenges. So much had to go right (and perhaps more had to go wrong) in order for my existence to be possible. If that isnât enough to make someone appreciate life just a little more, then I don't know what will.
Sometimes, you bring home a stack of papers with details on the lives of your ancestors. Sometimes, you bring home lost family photographs gifted from a distant relative. Sometimes, you bring home three sheets of paper...
Thatâs all I got. Three sheets. But, this is the best lead Iâve had on William G. Bender in years.Â
My three pages are all from a guardianship of estate record dated 1875. For twelve hundred dollars of a deceased man by the name of Henry Benderâs money. The guardian was Lavina Bender of Mercer County. Henryâs children were named Charles J. Bender (19), John H. Bender (16), William Bender (13), and Eliza A. Bender (9).
Of course, William is my primary interest. When looking at his name on the record it appears to say âWilliam B McC Benderâ but what is that little thing between his first name and the letter âBâ?
This page states that Lavina Bender was in charge of the money and that she is the guardian of Charles J. Bender, John H. Bender, William B. McClellin/McClellan Bender, and Eliza A. Bender. Williamâs other middle name peaked my interest because Martha M. Fast Benderâs second husband, James Couts whom she married after divorcing William, shared that middle name. Couts was born in 1863 and this particular William Bender was probably born between 1862-1865. So, I did a simple Google search for âMcClellan Civil Warâ and I found George Brinton McClellan. So, if William was named after this Union General turned Democratic President Nominee in 1864, his name would be William George Brinton McClellan Bender. Itâs a long name, but I think it is a possibility. It also would explain those little marks between Williamâs name and the middle initial âBâ. It kind of looks like someone attempted to stick in a âGâ.
Iâve already begun looking into this family but I donât have enough to share yet, when I do I will post more about them!Â
My great-great grandmother, Bertha Daniels was a true mountain woman. Born and raised in the hills of Eastern Kentucky, she had all the traits that would help one survive that role. By all accounts, she was stubborn, independent, and hardworking. She never hesitated before drawing a gun to shoot a rattlesnake, killed and prepared her own chickens, and made most of her clothing out of potato sacks. In about 1913, Bertha was married at or around eighteen in Harlan County, Kentucky to Rankin Edward Moore (b.1895) who was the son of Shade Moore and Sarah Hettie Lee Moore. In 1914, Bertha and Rankin Edward had a daughter they named after his mother, Sarah Hettie. By 1917, the couple had moved with their daughter from Harlan, Kentucky to Hancock County, Tennessee to farm just as Rankin Edwardâs older brother David Moore had.Â
There, they became parents a second time over to another daughter, Mary E. Moore. In Hancock County, in 1918, Rankin Edward registered for the United States First Word War Draft. On September 3rd of that year, amidst the first world war and the Spanish Influenza epidemic the young couple became parents once more, another little girl they named Eavey Cathrine was born. Rankin Edward contracted the horrible flu in October and passed away on the 26th. Little Eavey followed her father, passing away on November 13, 1918. She was laid to rest near her father in the Rosenbalm Cemetery (Formerly the Red Hill Cemetery) in Hancock County. Bertha, a newly widowed mother of two little girls, moved back home to Harlan.
Below: The death certificate of Rank(in) Edward Moore.
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. Although his surname as well as his fatherâs surname are listed as Moore on the marriage record, I have not been able to verify the information as records were easily manipulated and not easily verified at that time.
What ever the case, the second Rankieâs life before marrying Bertha is a mystery. We know that he had a brother named Albert Powell who was about a year older and had the same mother but a different father. I havenât been successful in finding either of them as boys in the census records, they appear only after having married. I believe I have located Nancy Jane Jackson in 1920 and 1930 in Bell County, Kentucky first as a boarder and then as an inmate at the Bell County Poor House. Iâve been unable to find Nancy, Albert, or Rankie on the 1900 & 1910 censusâ.
In Dekalb County, Illinois during July 1900, a 33 year old bachelor named Lewis A. VanNess married a 22 year old woman named Mary Smith. In June of 1901, Mary gave her husband a little girl whom they named Mary after her. And in November of the following year little Mary, my 2x great grandmother, became a big sister with the birth of Grace Ann. By 1905, the budding family had moved to Juneau, Wisconsin where Lewis engaged in farming. In census records, they seem like a typical farming family, but there is much more to the story of my 3x great grandparents Lewis and Mary VanNess.
The above excerpt was taken from an article from the True Republican May 1906, back in the coupleâs home town of Shabbona Grove, Dekalb, Illinois. An article that followed the headline: Husband Asks for Divorce. The subtitle of the article reads: But Wife Files Cross-bill Denying Allegations of Cruelty.
Lewisâ claim was that his wife was cruel to him and had a habit of using vile language while speaking to him. He also claimed that Mary was abusive to little Mary and Grace, striking them on occasion. And of course, that his wife had attempted to murder him,
Maryâs claim for her cross-bill divorce were that she was always affectionate and kind to her husband, and that he was cruel to her and the girls. She also went on to claim that they had not always lived happily together, and that their home life was an âutter failureâ which she attributed to her husbandâs excessive drinking. She asked for custody of the children and a share of Lewisâ property, which included 80 acres in Wisconsin, a team of horses, a wagon, a cow, and household furniture.
By mid-July 1906, the divorce was finalized. The court ruled on Maryâs behalf, awarding her custody of the girls. Below: Grace, Mary, and Mary Smith Vanness probably around 1905-1907.
In a surprising twist to the story of the VanNess family, on September 8, 1906 in the True Republicanâs Court House Notes section in a list of names of couples with approved marriage licenses were some familiar names: âLouis Vanness, 38, and Mary Vanness, 28, both of Shabbona.â A little over a month after their divorce was finalized, the couple remarried each other. Itâs unclear how the two reconciled, but they remained married this time until Maryâs death in 1945 and added a few more children to their family.
Above: (back to front, L to R) Clara Della, Laura Ella, Louis, and Margaret circa 1920-1922
Laura Ella VanNess, named after Lewisâ mother, was born in 1908
Clara Della was born in 1910
Margaret Ethel was born in 1914
Louis W. was born in 1917
Carl H. was born in 1924
The couple moved north to Michigan between 1917 and 1920, settling in Otsego, Allegan, Michigan where Lewis worked one of the townâs paper mills and Grace worked at a shoe factory. Mary, now 18, worked in nearby Allegan as a waitress and boarded with the family of the restaurantâs manager.
In 1930, the VanNessâ were making their home in Trowbridge, Allegan County. Lewis was back to farming by that time. And at 63 and 51, they had two sons aged five and thirteen to care for. The couple lived out the remainder of their lives on that farm. Mary died in 1945 and Lewis followed her in 1953. They, as well as many of their children are interred in the Mallory Cemetery in Trowbridge, Allegan, Michigan.
Louella Bender has been mentioned in passing here before, the younger sister of my great grandfather Jesse âJosephâ Preston Bender, she and her brother were the children of Martha Magnora Fast and the enigmatic William G. Bender. Like her father, Louella has always been under a veil for me. Unlike her father, I know where and when she was born, Iâve seen her name on every census right up to 1940. I know when, how, and where she died. I know where she was buried. What is so curious about Louella? She never married or had children. Now, Iâm not saying that makes her bizarre - it just got me to wondering... Was she just against it? Did she just never fall in love? Did her father abandoning her at the tender age of two affect her that profoundly?
I was testing out Newspapers.com when I found the above article from the Delphos Courant dated August 6, 1949. Delphos lies partially in Allen County, Ohio and partially in Van Wert County, Ohio. Louellaâs mother, Martha Fast Bender Couts, died in Van Wert County on May 3, 1949. I believe Dillie Showalter was actually âDollieâ Lydia Anne Showalter nee Mowrey, mother of Sarah Jane Showalter whom married Robert Stanley Bender (son of Louellaâs brother, Jesse P. Bender) in 1941. If I hadnât already been curious about Louellaâs life, I certainly was now. Why would a 54 year old woman need to have a guardian of her estate?
Louella was born January 8, 1894 in Mercer County, Ohio. In 1896, her father left the family and seemingly disappeared. In 1900, her mother divorced her father after running a notice in the Celina Democrat for six weeks straight. In 1903, Martha remarried James M. Couts, a laborer on the steam railroads, they also ended their marriage with a divorce. From at least 1910 to 1940, she lived with her mother at 137 East Third Street, Van Wert. Louella would complete the third grade, one year more than her mother - but five grades less than her brother. She knew how to read and write. And in 1920, at 26, she was a domestic worker and was paid wages. She hardly sounds like she would need a caretaker of her estate, perhaps she was just a more independent woman than most in that time.
In the neatly typed letters resting in the four little lines that lay out the borders of the box where other significant conditions contributing to death lie; I found why Louella never married, never had children, and why she needed someone to handle her finances for her. Mental retardation. My heart sank when my eyes found the words. Obviously, I knew that would be the most likely reason for her needing to have a guardian of estate appointed to manage her affairs. But she went to school (it would be unlikely she would have been sent to a school as a mentally disabled child to school around 1900).
Was she born that way? If so maybe that contributed to her father abandoning the family... Or was there an accident or illness that caused it to happen?
I called the probate court for the guardianship record hoping for answers, unfortunately all that is on there is the following:
She was âfeeble mindedâ.
She was 54.
She had a brother, Jesse Bender.
She had a relative named Robert Bender (her nephew).
Hopefully Iâll find out soon whether or not it was an accident, illness, or the way she was born.
Thomas B. King (sometimes listed as Thomas Buchanan King, although I have yet to find a record proving his middle name) was the father of my great great grandfather, John William King. I knew his wife was buried in the Compton Cemetery, Fayette, Ohio after her death in 1911. But where was Thomas buried?
Thomas B. King married Eliza Jane Starkey on November 12, 1880 in Gallia County, Ohio and I found them living in Fayette County, Ohio on the 1900 US Census, living in Union, Fayette, Ohio. Eliza Jane is the mother of eight children, with eight surviving and neither Thomas nor Eliza were literate.
I knew that John Wm. King and his family lived in Indiana and in Muncie during 1938 when my great grandmother, Mazie Mae King, married. While browsing Findagrave to see if any of my King family members were buried in Muncie, I found a Thomas B. King who died in 1912. Because King is a fairly common surname and Thomas is certainly an extremely common given name, I didnât think much of it.
Later, I took to searching the digital archives on Muncie Public Libraryâs website for Kings. I found the burial record and the funeral home record for that Thomas King that died in 1912. I figured a peek couldnât hurt!
To explain the significance of this record, I have to first fill you in on some details on the family of John William Kingâs wife, Lillie Ann Coder. Lillie Coder was born to George Washington Coder and Mary Swift in Ohio. Mary Swift (born Feb 17, 1883) was the daughter of Elijah Swift and Sarah E. Mongold, she had a younger brother (born in 1885) named Grover Cleveland Swift.
So, when I saw Swift, my eyes just about popped out of my head. I looked more into the life of Grover Swift and found that he was married in 1904 to a girl named Anna King. Thomas B. King was his father-in-law, which is why he paid the funeral home expenses and burial fee at Beech Grove Cemetery.
I received the full divorce file of Martha Fast and William G. Bender from an extremely helpful Deputy County Clerk in Mercer County, Ohio and although unsurprised that the full record did not shed any light on the residency of William, I am a bit disappointed.
Martha Magnora Fast, wife of the ever elusive William was about 24 in the year 1896. She had two little children; a two year old daughter, Louella, and a four year old son, Jesse Preston (my great grandfather). This was also the year that her husband of six years, William G. Bender, vanished seemingly without a trace. He left his wife and children and failed to provide necessities such as food, clothing, and a home. Martha waited four long years before filing for divorce.
By the time Martha started trying to divorce her husband, she was just five days past her 28 birthday. She now had an eight year old son and a six year old daughter, they were all living in the home of her parents. Because she could not find her husband even after a diligent search and inquiring his whereabouts, she turned to a publication of her intent to divorce William in an attempt to notify him. The publication ran every Thursday for six weeks beginning on August 2nd 1900 in The Celina Democrat, ending on September 6th, 1900. On September 26th, 1900 the final paper was filed and the divorce, along with custody of the children was granted to Martha.
