Category Archives: Genealogy

Rachel Cox

28 Tuesday Apr 2020

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On April 28, 1860, Rachel Cox was born in Widner Township, Knox County, Indiana to Alexander Cox and Angeline Sartor.  She was the third child born to this family of at least seven children.  Of her six siblings, two were sisters (Mara Alice and Flora) and four were brothers (Elliott, John, Charles, and Lew).  Alex supported the family through farming until the early 1880s when they packed the house and moved to Elm Grove, Kansas.  It is in Elm Grove where Rachel met Benjamin Franklin Rafferty.  He worked on a neighboring farm and on July 4, 1886, he married Rachel.  In January 1887, Rachel’s mother Angeline died and was buried in Kansas.  Her father died of Bright’s disease in 1905 at his home in Welch, Indian Territory.

Rachel and Frank returned to Indiana and northern Knox County not long after they were married.  Their daughter Roxie Ruth was born in 1888 and their son Charles Russell followed in 1895.  Frank was working as a day laborer in 1900 living outside of Bicknell, Indiana.  The family then moved to Indianapolis prior to 1905.  Not long after, on Jun 16, 1909, Rachel died of breast cancer.

Rachel Cox

Rachel Cox was my 2nd cousin 4x removed on my dad’s side.

REFERENCES

  • United States Census, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900
  • Kansas State Census, 1885
  • Indiana Death Certificates
  • Find a Grave website
  • Kansas County Marriage Records
  • Vincennes Commercial, December 12, 1905

Hulbert John Bailey

27 Monday Apr 2020

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Hulbert John Bailey was born on April 27, 1911 in Olive Hill, Carter County, Kentucky, the son of John H Bailey and Ona Florence Johnson.  He had two brothers (Ronald and John A.) and four sisters (Arcie, Geraldine, Clara and Wanda).  He was raised in Olive Hill, but lived for a short time in the Cleveland area with his sister Arcie and her husband Frank Behling.  He worked in construction.

Hulbert John Bailey

Around 1931, Hulbert returned to Kentucky where he married Mabel Burchett.  Together they had a daughter, Florence Elizabeth who went by “Betty”.  The marriage, however, did not last long and Hulbert found himself back in northern Ohio by 1935 working as a painter. On November 16, 1935, he married Joan N. Hallam in Ashtabula County, Ohio.  This marriage, too, was short lived.  It is believed that Hulbert died in late 1936, although substantiating documentation has not yet been located confirming this.  Joan did remarry in 1939 and the marriage license does indicate she was a widow at that time.

His daughter Betty was raised by John and Florence and she lived to be nearly 80 years old.

 

Hulbert John Bailey was my 4th cousin 3x removed on my dad’s side.

REFERENCES

  • United States Census, 1920, 1930, 1940
  • Kentucky Birth Index
  • Ohio County Marriage Records
  • Find A Grave website

Susan Puckett

26 Sunday Apr 2020

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Susan Puckett GobleOn April 26, 1867 in Lewis Township, Clay County, Indiana, a daughter named Susan was born to George Puckett and Mary Edmonson Puckett.  Susan had at least four siblings–Richard, Sarah, Zirish and Lucy.  Not a lot is known about Susan’s early years.  According to census records from 1880 she attended school.  Her mother Mary passed away in 1898, and the following year at the age of 32 Susan married Joel Goble, a local farmer.

Susan and Joel remained in Lewis Township near the small town of Coalmont.  In 1902, they were blessed with daughter Margaret. Four years later, a son named Fredrick was also born.  For a time, both Joel’s and Susan’s fathers resided with them on their farm.

Through the years, Susan and Joel continued to work the farm.  On March 14, 1948, Joel suffered a fatal cerebral hemorrhage and passed away.  Less than a year later, on January 8, 1949, Susan passed away from the same cause of death.  Both were laid to rest at the Little Flock Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery north of Coalmont.

 

Susan Puckett was my 2nd cousin 4x removed on my dad’s side.

REFERENCES

  • United States Census, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930
  • Indiana Death Certificates
  • Find A Grave Website
  • Indiana Marriage Collection
  • Terre Haute Tribune, January 9, 1949 & March 15, 1948 via Newspapers.com

Arthur Leslie Keith

25 Saturday Apr 2020

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Arthur Leslie Keith

Arthur Leslie Keith was born on April 25, 1874 in Worthington, Indiana.  His parents were John Lawson Keith and Mary Ann Robertson.  He had two sisters–Mattie and Gertie, three brothers–Ison, Thomas and Cecil, and two half-brothers from his mother’s first marriage–Elmer W and John H Bicknell.  As a small boy, Arthur’s  family resided in Van Buren Township in Monroe County, Indiana where his father farmed until his death in 1884.  Mary Ann moved the family to Lancaster, Nebraska, presumably to be somewhat closer to her family who resided in Iowa.

On June 13, 1900, Arthur married Mabelle Homerick in Nebraska City, Nebraska.  At that time, Arthur was living in Saline County, Kansas,  and that is where they made their home.  In 1905 they were blessed with their first child, James Lawson Keith, however, he passed away before he turned two.  A second son, Arthur Leslie II, was born to the couple the following year.  The family then moved from Kansas to Chicago, where the elder Arthur pursued his PhD at the University of Chicago in the Department of Greek Language and Literature. While in Chicago, young Arthur passed away in 1909.

Arthur Leslie Keith

As Arthur finished his doctoral studies, he and Mabelle were blessed with a daughter.  The family moved to Northfield, Minnesota where Arthur taught Latin at Carleton College.  Unfortunately, young Mary Elizabeth suffered a fate similar to her brothers and died as a small child in 1912.  The couple remained in Minnesota until the early 1920s when they relocated to Vermillion, South Dakota.  Arthur continued to teach Latin, now at the University of South Dakota.  After almost 42 years of marriage, Arthur passed away on March 1, 1942 at the age of 67.

 

Arthur Leslie Keith was my 3rd cousin 3x removed on my dad’s side.

REFERENCES

  • United States Census, 1880, 1910, 1920, 1940
  • Kansas State Census, 1905
  • South Dakota State Census, 1925, 1935
  • Nebraska Marriage Records
  • Find A Grave website
  • US College Student Lists, 1763-1924
  • World War I Draft Registration Cards
  • Cook County, IL Deaths Index
  • Minnesota Death Index

Michael “Mitchell” Kaiser

24 Friday Apr 2020

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Mitchell Kaiser

Michael Kaiser was born in the Alsace Region on April 24, 1838 to Michael Kaiser and Marie Anne Claussmann.  The younger Michael frequently went by Mitchell as evidenced on various documents bearing his name.  Family stories relate that as a young man, Mitchell was in Army.  With the political turbulence in that region of Europe, he found himself either in the French Army or the German Army at any given time.  As the story would have it, one night he slipped away from the encampment along the Rhine River and met up with a friend who had a boat.  Passenger lists for arrivals into New Orleans indicates a seventeen year old Michel Kaiser arrived from LeHavre, France on the Nuremberg on April 21, 1855.  Also arriving on that ship was his fifteen year old brother John B. Kaiser.

 

Mitchell Kaiser Land Vincennes Twp

Mitchell Kaiser farm south of Vincennes.

By 1860, Mitchell had made his way to Knox County, Indiana where he was working as a farmhand on Lambert Halter’s farm.  On January 15, 1861, Mitchell married Lambert’s daughter Mary Elizabeth. Mitchell acquired about 50 acres of land near his father-in-law south of Vincennes and supported his ever growing family by farming.  Over the course of the next twenty years, Mitchell and Mary Elizabeth were blessed with at least ten children, four of which lived to adulthood–Michael, Rose, Lambert, and Anthony.  In August 1881, their first born daughter Mary Elizabeth died at the age of seventeen.  A few short weeks later, after giving birth to their youngest daughter Elizabeth, Mitchell’s wife passed away on October 10, 1881.  The babe unfortunately died two weeks later.  They were all laid to rest in Mt. Calvary Cemetery.

On Jun 14, 1887, at nearly the age of fifty, Mitchell married his second wife, Magdalena Keller.  She was the daughter of John Keller and Magdalena Fleck.  Magdalena gave birth to seven children, three of which reached adulthood–Magdalena, Raymond, and Clara.  Mitchell continued to work the family farm until he succumbed to a bout of pneumonia on February 27, 1912 at the age of 73.  He, too, was laid to rest in Mt. Calvary Cemetery.

 

Mitchell Kaiser was my 2nd-great grandfather on my mom’s side.

REFERENCES

  • United States Census, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910
  • Indiana Death Certificates
  • Indiana Marriage Collection
  • New Orleans, Passenger Lists
  • Find A Grave Website
  • Halter Family History, compiled by Phyllis Vennard Halter, 1979
  • Vincennes Daily Commercial–April 5, 1888 & July 17, 1888
  • The Vincennes Commercial–February 28, 1912

Henrietta Polk

23 Thursday Apr 2020

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On April 23, 1848, Henrietta Polk was the third child born to Isaac Polk and Mary Jane Cox.  She was preceded by Jeannette and Benjamin, and followed by six more siblings–Charles, Rachel, Alice, Harriet, Florence and Jonathan.  The family resided in the Oak Station (Widner Township) area of Knox County, Indiana, where her father apparently had a sizable farm.  When Henrietta was eleven, her mother died, leaving Isaac with many mouths to feed.  Two years later, Isaac married Martha Couchman Ferguson, the widow of John Ferguson.  They added three more daughters to the family–Delilah, Hester and Eva for a total of twelve children born to Isaac.

Henrietta attended school as a youngster and lived on her father’s farm well into her twenties.  On November 8, 1879, she married single father Ellis Hill.  Ellis had been married and widowed twice previously–first to Lavinia Risley and then to Henrietta’s older sister Jeanette.  Both women appear to have died as a result of childbirth complications.  Henrietta, consequently, became a stepmother to nine year old Mary.

Ellis and Henrietta made their home in the north central part of Washington Township in Knox County where Ellis farmed 80 acres of land.  Over the next two decades, they had five children, three of which made it to adolescence–Walter, Fannie and Hallie.  Hallie apparently had some health issues and was sent to live with an aunt in Idaho where the climate was more favorable for her.  Unfortunately, the improvement was short lived and she died in April 1906 in Idaho.  Henrietta, who suffered from paralysis, passed away a few short months later on July 17, 1906 on the family farm on the outskirts of  Bicknell, Indiana.

Henrietta Polk Widner

Isaac Polk farm in Widner Township, Knox County IN

Henrietta Polk Washington

Ellis Hill farm in Washington Township, Knox County, IN

 

Henrietta Polk was my 2nd cousin 4x removed on my dad’s side.

REFERENCES

  • United States Census, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900
  • Indiana Death Certificates
  • Indiana Marriage Index
  • Find A Grave
  • The Western Sun, April 27, 1906
  • Combined Atlases of Knox County, Indiana, 1880-1903

 

Martha Bonnel Tompkins

22 Wednesday Apr 2020

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Christoper Kent and Martha Price KentMartha Bonnel Tompkins was born April 22, 1841 in New Jersey.   She, along with her twin sister Mary Esther, were the youngest of four children born to Ashbel Allen Tompkins and Mary Noe “Polly” Bonnel.  Her older siblings were Philemon and Huldah.  She resided with her family in New Providence until November 17, 1869 when she married Christopher Kent.

Christopher and Martha made their home in nearby Summit, New Jersey.  Christopher supported the family as a general mason.  They were blessed with one son, Alfred Tompkins Kent, in 1873.  Martha left this world too soon on April 7, 1883 in Summit.  She was laid to rest in the New Providence Presbyterian Churchyard in New Providence, New Jersey.

Martha Bonnel Tompkins

 

Martha is my 4th cousin 5x removed on my dad’s side.

REFERENCES

  • United States Census, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880
  • New Jersey Deaths and Burials Index
  • New Jersey Marriage Records
  • Find A Grave website

Mildred Ann Atkinson

21 Tuesday Apr 2020

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On April 21, 1914, Mildred Ann Atkinson was born to James Weley Atkinson and Maude Rogers in Bicknell, Indiana.  She was the youngest of four children born to this family.  Her siblings included her brothers Eugene and James and a sister Esther.  Eugene died of meningitis at the age of fourteen before Mildred was born.

Mildred attended Bicknell public schools and graduated from Bicknell High School before attending Lindenwood College in Missouri.  She started her career as a high school teacher at her alma mater teaching Latin.  She later would move to Indianapolis where she taught English in several of the high schools there until her retirement in 1974.

In 1936 Mildred married Virgil Edwards.  Shortly thereafter, they moved to Indianapolis where they made their lifelong residence.  Virgil was an accountant and served in the Navy.  He co-owned a florist shop in Indianapolis for over 30 years.   Mildred and Virgil were the parents of two children.

After 61 years of marriage at the age of 84, Mildred passed away on October 23, 1998.  Virgil followed three years later.

Mildred Atkinson

Mildred was my 2nd cousin 2x removed on my dad’s side. 

REFERENCES

  • United States Census, 1920, 1930, 1940
  • Indiana Birth Certificates
  • Indiana Death Certificates
  • Vincennes Sun-Commercial via Newspapers.com
  • Find a Grave website

Hazel Phillippe

20 Monday Apr 2020

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Hazel Phillippe was born April 20, 1890 in Bicknell, Indiana.  She was the oldest of at least five children born to William Franklin Phillippe and Nancy Jane Gilmore.  She had three brothers–Goldie, Frank and Albert–and a sister Flossie.

In 1909, Hazel married Martin Franklin Green and they had two sons, Dallas and another son who died in infancy.  Martin worked for the railroad as a fireman.  The Greens lived in Bicknell until 1951 when Martin died of a heart attack at age 62.  Hazel continued to reside in her home town until 1975 when she, too, succumbed to heart failure at the age of 85.  She is buried in the Asbury Chapel Cemetery in Ragsdale.

Hazel Phillippe

 

Hazel was my 2nd cousin 3x removed on my dad’s side.

 

REFERENCES

  • United States Census, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940
  • WPA, Indiana Births, 1880-1920
  • Indiana Death Certificates
  • Indiana Marriage Index
  • Vincennes Sun-Commercial via Newspapers.com

Barbe Bonneau

19 Sunday Apr 2020

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Barbe Bonneau was born April 19, 1756 at Fort Vincennes to Charles Baptist Bonneau and Genevieve Charlotte Dudevoir.  She had at least seven siblings–Charles, Genevieve, Jean Baptiste, Marie Josephe, Pierre, Angelique, and Anne Jeannette.  The family name has taken on several different spellings including Bono and Bonneaux, with either one or two “n’s”.

Barbe married Michel Brouillette in the early 1770s at Fort Vincennes.  Michel was at least ten years older than Barbe and had established himself as a trader in the Wabash River Valley.  In 1773, as the story goes, he purchased an unfinished house on First Street in Vincennes from Barbe’s father and this is where they started their family.  Over the next twenty years, Barbe would give birth to at least eight children through the height of the Revolutionary War.  During this time, her husband was captured by the Indians working with the English and changed his allegiance between the English and the American cause more than once.  Barbe and Michel’s children included Michel Jr, Laurent, Barbe, Marie Louise, Pierre, Genevieve, Ursula (who died in infancy), and Lorant (who did not reach his majority).

After the War, Michel continued trading goods and headed up the local militia.  He passed away in 1797 at Vincennes.  Barbe continued to raise their children in Vincennes until her death in 1802.

Barbe Bonneau

While not a lot is known about Barbe, her family has made a definite impact on the history of Vincennes.  The “Old French House” is touted as the only French Creole style house left in Indiana.  Michel Jr built the house in 1809.  It was restored and opened as a museum in 1976.  It sits near the corner of First Street and Seminary Street.  Barbe’s great-grandson Thomas started TA Brouillette & Son in 1866, a family-owned and operated company that lasted 135 years serving the Vincennes area.

 

Barbe was my 2nd cousin 7x removed on my mother’s side.

 

REFERENCES

  • Find-A-Grave website
  • Terre Haute Tribune-Star – April 4, 2009
  • Vincennes Sun-Commercial – October 28, 2001, August 2, 2015