One theme of 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks is "Plowing Through". I didn't know what I was going to write for this but when I wrote about last weeks ancestor I decided to focus on "plowing through" one branch of the family that is part of an adoption.
As you read previously, Mable died leaving 4 young boys, 3 with no father to help. Charles and William were sent to an orphanage, Raymond was kept with his biological father and Robert was adopted by Mabel's aunt, Della.
So to give an overview of this part of the adopted family, I am going to give a quick rundown.
Robert Rose was adopted by James Martin and Della Mordock (Cowger) Heisel. (Mordock! I wonder where that name came from.....another mystery to solve!) I don't know if this was official or if Robert just came to live with Della and her husband.
Della was hard to track as sometimes she went as Della, other times she went as Delila. I will remain calling her Della moving forward.
Della was born to Isiah Cowger and Rebecca Hardwick. Isiah and Rebecca were married in 1864 in Rush County, Indiana. Together they had 13 children:
Susan
Sarah
Stephen
Mahala
Margaret
William
John
Jane
Joseph
Cordia-This is Mabel's mother
Julia
Pearly
Whew!
Della married James Heisel on March 9, 1916. He was 36, she was 41. They lived in Rush County, Indiana and both died there. From what I can tell, they both lived in Rush County their whole lives.
Mabel passed in 1923 so Della and James adopted Robert. I am not sure when, I am guessing not long after Mabel died. I do not have any records of the adoption. Della, James and Robert were not a family for very long as James passed away in 1927.
In the 1930 census Della and Robert are living with Della's sister Julia Anne and her husband William Moore in Wayne, Indiana.
Della died in 1933 and is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, IN.
In the 1940 census, Robert is still living with Julia and William in Wayne, IN and is a laborer. He is listed as their nephew.
So why were Charles and William sent to an orphanage but Robert was adopted? My guess would be that Robert was only 3 when Mabel died so he had the appeal of being young. Charles was 10 and William was 9, they were older and ornery!
**Does anyone know what Robert's middle name was? I only see the middle initial.....
Showing posts with label William James Rose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label William James Rose. Show all posts
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Thursday, January 1, 2015
A Fresh Start: Katherine "Kate" Skinner
Happy New Year!
The word of the year for me is "Focus". For genealogy, I am going to focus on what I've found which may lead to answers. Or at least a historical document or two!
It is a fresh start for 2015 (and hopefully some fresh eyes!) in filling out my family tree.
I am somewhat obsessed with my Dad's Dad's side of the family. I have gone back many generations on other lines, but this side only goes back 2 generations and I am stuck. Hopefully writing out what I have could lead to some more answers.
Katherine "Kate" Skinner is my 2nd Great Grandmother on my Dad's side. She was married to William Rose and lived in Jennings and Decatur counties. Family lore was that William was married to a Katherine Burdan and had a mistress named Katherine Skinner. As I untangled this web, I found out that this was not true. She was the same person!
I am not sure where or when Kate was born, I am guessing somewhere around 1849 in Indiana.
The first record I have of Kate is her marriage to William Rose. She is listed as Kate Burdan. Kate and William were married on March 7, 1868.
In the 1870 Federal Census, Kate is listed as being 21. She is the spouse of William Rose and they have 2 children. Harry who is 1 and Ada who is 5.
Wait.
Ada is 5? William and Kate were just married. Ada would have been born about 1865.
Well, in researching Ada, she lists in a marriage license that her parents were Eugene D'Birddoon and Katherine Skinner. Ada's death certificate also states she was born in Richmond, Virginia.
So it looks like Kate's maiden name was Skinner and her married name was D'Birddoon (or Burdan) and Ada's father was not William.
In the 1880 Federal Census, Kate is listed as being 27. She lives will William, Ada, Harry, Everett (8) and Rhedonia (3 months).
Within 10 years, Kate only aged 7 years. Something doesn't add up in those census records. Since both Kate and William could not read or write, I would imagine she really didn't know her true age. I am going to guess she was born around 1849, this would put her at age 18 when she had Ada. I could be wrong....
I also know that Kate had two other children: Bertha born in 1883 and died in 1887. And Clarence, my Great Grandfather, born in 1885.
I believe I have also found Kate's obituary. It does not list her full name, only Mrs. Rose, and initially states she is "colored". This was corrected in a follow-up a few days later. The date in the paper in Decatur County, Indiana is the same date that William lists as the death of Clarence's mother when he was admitted into to Sailor's and Soldier's Orphanage.
On February 5, 1890, The New Era newspaper in Greensburg, Indiana reported:
I have inquired at the Jennings County Courthouse and the Decatur County Courthouse for a death certificate for Kate, but none were found. I also have not found any record of her burial in Vernon, IN. I did find our that her daughter Bertha was buried in a cemetery in Vernon in a pauper's grave. I would assume Kate is also buried in a pauper's grave.
What I would like to find out:
1. Who are her parents
2. Where was she born
3. When and where did she marry Eugene.
4. Where is she buried
Hopefully 2015 is the year for the answers!
The word of the year for me is "Focus". For genealogy, I am going to focus on what I've found which may lead to answers. Or at least a historical document or two!
It is a fresh start for 2015 (and hopefully some fresh eyes!) in filling out my family tree.
I am somewhat obsessed with my Dad's Dad's side of the family. I have gone back many generations on other lines, but this side only goes back 2 generations and I am stuck. Hopefully writing out what I have could lead to some more answers.
Katherine "Kate" Skinner is my 2nd Great Grandmother on my Dad's side. She was married to William Rose and lived in Jennings and Decatur counties. Family lore was that William was married to a Katherine Burdan and had a mistress named Katherine Skinner. As I untangled this web, I found out that this was not true. She was the same person!
I am not sure where or when Kate was born, I am guessing somewhere around 1849 in Indiana.
The first record I have of Kate is her marriage to William Rose. She is listed as Kate Burdan. Kate and William were married on March 7, 1868.
In the 1870 Federal Census, Kate is listed as being 21. She is the spouse of William Rose and they have 2 children. Harry who is 1 and Ada who is 5.
Wait.
Ada is 5? William and Kate were just married. Ada would have been born about 1865.
Well, in researching Ada, she lists in a marriage license that her parents were Eugene D'Birddoon and Katherine Skinner. Ada's death certificate also states she was born in Richmond, Virginia.
So it looks like Kate's maiden name was Skinner and her married name was D'Birddoon (or Burdan) and Ada's father was not William.
In the 1880 Federal Census, Kate is listed as being 27. She lives will William, Ada, Harry, Everett (8) and Rhedonia (3 months).
Within 10 years, Kate only aged 7 years. Something doesn't add up in those census records. Since both Kate and William could not read or write, I would imagine she really didn't know her true age. I am going to guess she was born around 1849, this would put her at age 18 when she had Ada. I could be wrong....
I also know that Kate had two other children: Bertha born in 1883 and died in 1887. And Clarence, my Great Grandfather, born in 1885.
I believe I have also found Kate's obituary. It does not list her full name, only Mrs. Rose, and initially states she is "colored". This was corrected in a follow-up a few days later. The date in the paper in Decatur County, Indiana is the same date that William lists as the death of Clarence's mother when he was admitted into to Sailor's and Soldier's Orphanage.
On February 5, 1890, The New Era newspaper in Greensburg, Indiana reported:
On February 8, 1890, The Saturday Review in Greensburg, Indiana reported:
On February 15, 1890, The Saturday Review in Greensburg, Indiana reported:
What I would like to find out:
1. Who are her parents
2. Where was she born
3. When and where did she marry Eugene.
4. Where is she buried
Hopefully 2015 is the year for the answers!
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
The 73-year-old Puzzle
I sometimes forget that the discoveries I make need to be shared in its entirety. I get lost details and forget the big picture of sharing these finds with my family.
My uncle just reminded me of this.
I started looking into my family history for a couple of reasons:
I do have a Family Bible that has some handwriting from a few different people in it. On the inside of the Bible is a small family tree that has been attempted many times to be filled out. Sometimes it is just the last name and sometimes it is a name but has been misspelled.
The pieces of this 73-year-old puzzle start in this Bible.
My Great-Great Grandfather, William James Rose, has two last names listed for his wife in this Bible; Birddoon and Skinner.
Family Lore is that William had a mistress and a wife. And between the 3 of them, they had seven sons. To make it even more complicated, the first name of both Birddoon and Skinner was Katherine. Imagine trying to figure out which sons belonged to which Katherine!
Luckily I didn't have to.
What I found out was that William was married twice but his first marriage was to Rebecca Jolly. They had one daughter, Mary.
I believe that Rebecca died in childbirth and Mary went to live with her Maternal Grandparents but then she disappears.
William then married Katherine Burdan (incorrectly spelled on the marriage license in the Jennings County, Indiana Courthouse, neither Katherine or William could read or write). A daughter was listed in the 1870 census, Ada, she was 5. Katherine and William married in 1868. You do the math, I'll wait.....
William and Katherine went on to have 4 boys and 1 girl. Seven children all together! More on them later.
The state of Indiana recently released marriage records from 1800-1941 and I found Ada's marriage licence.
It listed her mother as Katherine Skinner and her father as Eugene Birddoon!
Puzzle solved. Katherine's maiden name was Skinner, her first married name was Birddoon and her second married name was Rose.
Now the next pieces of the puzzle:
What happened to Rebecca, Mary, Eugene and Ada?
My uncle just reminded me of this.
I started looking into my family history for a couple of reasons:
- For a school project, my daughter was researching her name and wondered if her name had any meaning to it.
- There is one branch in my tree that is very short. The Rose branch.
I do have a Family Bible that has some handwriting from a few different people in it. On the inside of the Bible is a small family tree that has been attempted many times to be filled out. Sometimes it is just the last name and sometimes it is a name but has been misspelled.
The pieces of this 73-year-old puzzle start in this Bible.
My Great-Great Grandfather, William James Rose, has two last names listed for his wife in this Bible; Birddoon and Skinner.
Family Lore is that William had a mistress and a wife. And between the 3 of them, they had seven sons. To make it even more complicated, the first name of both Birddoon and Skinner was Katherine. Imagine trying to figure out which sons belonged to which Katherine!
Luckily I didn't have to.
What I found out was that William was married twice but his first marriage was to Rebecca Jolly. They had one daughter, Mary.
I believe that Rebecca died in childbirth and Mary went to live with her Maternal Grandparents but then she disappears.
William then married Katherine Burdan (incorrectly spelled on the marriage license in the Jennings County, Indiana Courthouse, neither Katherine or William could read or write). A daughter was listed in the 1870 census, Ada, she was 5. Katherine and William married in 1868. You do the math, I'll wait.....
William and Katherine went on to have 4 boys and 1 girl. Seven children all together! More on them later.
The state of Indiana recently released marriage records from 1800-1941 and I found Ada's marriage licence.
It listed her mother as Katherine Skinner and her father as Eugene Birddoon!
Puzzle solved. Katherine's maiden name was Skinner, her first married name was Birddoon and her second married name was Rose.
Now the next pieces of the puzzle:
What happened to Rebecca, Mary, Eugene and Ada?
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