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 Or at least a historical document or two!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:

On February 8, 1890, The Saturday Review in Greensburg, Indiana reported:

On February 15, 1890, The Saturday Review 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 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:

1. For a school project, my daughter was researching her name and wondered if her name had any meaning to it. 
2. 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?