First

Who was the first ancestor I found, heard about, wondered about that I never had the privilege to meet in person? For me this is an easy selection. My paternal Grandmother, Thelma Marie Larison Birdsell.

Thelma was born was born 23 Feb 1904 near LeRoy, Coffey, Kansas to George and Addie Jacobs Larison. She had one older sister, Ruth Naomi, to welcome her into the happy home.

Ruth and Thelma Larison, circa 1905. Photograph from the estate of Dale and Geneva Knight Birdsell.

 From everything I’ve found for Thelma, it appears she had a normal childhood. On 30 Oct 1922, she and Roscoe Oren Birdsell were married at Ulysses, Grant, Kansas. 

They welcome 3 children into their home. 

During those early years of being a wife and mother, Thelma took a lot of pictures of her children and the farm where they lived in Jewell County, Kansas. 

Sadly, late 14 Nov 1929 and early 15 Nov 1929, Thelma, who was pregnant with their fourth child, developed eclampsia and passed away at  4:00 AM on the 15th at the age of 25 years, 8 months and 23 days. 

While her life was very short, Thelma left 3 children: Inez, Dale and Leo. They would have a total of 8 children. Those 8 children went on to give Thelma 22 great grandchildren. Today Thelma has 32 great great grandchildren and I expect that number will increase. 

You did great Grandma. I think you’d be proud of your descendants. 

Mary Pelton and John Larison

Over at Ancestry it’s interesting to see how many people insist they descend from John Larison and his wife Mary Pelton. There’s a wonderful book called Pioneers of Old Hopewell by Ralph Age. Click on the link and it will take you to the book.

Go to page 225 and read about the Larison family. Page 227 is where some very interesting information is found.

The last part of the paragraph listing the children of James Larison and Kesiah Parke is this little jewel. “The eldest son John, married Mary, daughter of Benjamin Pelton of Long Island, who about 1740 purchased the farm now owned by John L. Burroughs, between Woodsville and Marhsall’s Corner. John Larison settled there and kept a hotel for many years. They had no children.“

This last sentence is followed by the following: “Benjamin Pelton bequeathed the farm to Mary Larison, and in the event of her death without heirs to descend to her nephew, John Pelton, son of her brother Samuel. John inherited the farm and sold it soon after to Moses Quick and joined the great migration to New York State about 1792.”

Evidence that Mary Pelton Larison, wife of John Larison died without issue, aka childless.

The following paragraph is as follows: “John Larison’s will, dated May 8, 1805, proved November 13, 1805, bequeaths his property, including a tract of land in Cayuga County, New York, to his namesake, John Sexton, son of his sister Catharine, who married Benjamin Sexton and resided at Belvidere; to John and Nellie McGee and to Elizabeth Larison, daughter of Catharine Manley of Somerset County. He appointed “Miller” Peter Snook and Jacob Stout his executors and the witnesses are his neighbors, Andrew, George and Anna Smith.”

Based on this evidence, and probate records are very strong evidence, John and Mary Pelton Larison died childless. Therefore, no one descends from them.

It would be lovely to descend from John and Mary. It would make it easier to get back to our immigrant ancestor if that were true. But it’s not true.

Please, be careful with what you add as truth to your family tree. Especially if it’s posted in a public place. Make sure you’re adding your relatives and not those you wish were your relatives or ancestors.

Tuesday’s Touchy Topic

We all like to think we descend from perfect ancestors. The truth: we descend from perfectly flawed human ancestors.

Have you ever heard the same person described by two different family members? There will be many times when the descriptions don’t match each other. Yes, they’re talking about the same person. Each one is relating the relationship they had with that person though.

Just as each of us loves each one in our family differently, so did our parents, grandparents, etc.

My paternal grandfather is a perfect example. I remember fun times with him. I remember feeling special around him. I remember lots of one on one time with him. When I think of him, I smile.

I’ve talked to several of my siblings about our paternal grandfather. They don’t share the same memories. Their memories are just as real as mine though. His relationship with each of us was different. I suspect that part of it was where I fell in the lineup of grandchildren. For five years I was the baby grandchild. And one of two granddaughters. I suspect that it started those two years when my sister was in school and I was the only grandchild at home to spoil.

These different grandparent stories are as wide and varied regarding my maternal grandparents. Some of my siblings have those special moments and plenty of one on one time with my maternal grandparents. I don’t have them. A few years before my birth, they’d moved 1500 miles away. We didn’t stop in to see Grandma and Granddad, since it was a three day drive to get to their house. They came back to visit every other year, I think. But during their time back it was divided between us and all the siblings my grandparents still had living in the area.

I don’t remember ever seeing my grandmother cook. I was shocked when one of my maternal cousins said something about Grandma cooking. Really? I’d never seen it. When my grandparents moved back to Kansas (I was an adult by then), I do remember seeing Grandma make sandwiches once. That’s it. That’s the limit of seeing my grandmother cook. Or it’s all I remember of her preparing food.

The time or two we went to California to visit them, I remember them taking us out to eat at least once a day during our stay. I know they did go out to eat a lot when we weren’t there, too. So, learning that Grandma cooked was shocking. Sadly.

I know my California cousins have completely different stories to tell about our shared grandparents. They saw them more often. They spent one on one time with them. Even some of my siblings have different stories because they were older and had an earlier relationship with them before my grandparents left the state. Some of them spent time with them in California after they’d become adults.

Same people, but different stories. I’ll admit, my stories about my grandmother aren’t the best in the world. For me, she was nothing like the Norman Rockwell image of Grandma. The things I remember about her don’t bode well for a kind, gentle woman.

On the other hand, my paternal grandfather was a silent man. He had a wicked sense of humor and we used to say the only way he stayed sane was he turned his hearing aid off most of the time.

I know each of my nieces, nephews and children would each tell a different story about their grandparents, my parents.

Yet, these are true stories about the same people. It’s okay if your stories about a family member isn’t as glowing and full of praise as someone else’s. Each relationship was different. Each of us saw a part of the person that others didn’t. Some for the best and some weren’t as good. Which makes those we descend from perfectly flawed humans.

The other side of DNA testing

Most genealogist who DNA test do so in the hopes of knocking down at least one brick wall. We hope our DNA testing will help us find more of our ancestors. In the process we know it will help us find cousins. Because if our unknown cousins hadn’t tested we wouldn’t match them and have a chance to learn more about our ancestors.

Here’s the other side. There’s a significant portion of those tested who are attempting to locate their birth families. Or in some cases the missing parent side of their birth families. It might be the child or grandchild who is searching.

My guess is that in time, there will be very few of yesterdays affairs, one night stands, etc., that remain hidden secrets.

People are curious. They want to know who they came from. They want to know what type of people they came from. They want to know when they look in the mirror if this or that physical feature came from Mom or Dad. They want to know.

I want to know who my ancestors were. I want to know what they were like. I love seeing pictures of them to see if any of their physical features are still visible in me.

Now imagine if you’ve never seen any of  your birth family. Wouldn’t you want to know if your short pug nose came from your mother’s side of the family. Or did your dad’s mom have that same nose. What about your green eyes? How did you end up with green eyes? Or brown or blue or hazel or grey or any other combination.

We want to know who we are and we want to know who are people are, too.

Science has caught up with helping us find these answers.

It’s not as reliable when I want to find 7th cousins. Too much gets lost in the preceding generations. My line was given this bit of coding. another line another bit of coding and in each new generation, any shared DNA we started with is reduced to where eventually, we might have the same shared ancestors, but genetically we don’t see it. Yet on paper it’s there.

When I want to find my siblings, it’s spot on. When I want to find my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, first cousins, second cousins it gives me that information if any of them have been tested. If I want to find my third cousins, it’s fairly reliable, but at that level some of them drop off the radar using only DNA.

Now what? Each case is different. There’s no pat answer to this. Is the missing parent still living? If yes, then the feelings and respect for the unknown child and the missing parent have to be considered. Does the missing parent have other children? How will this affect those children, who are probably adults now? Is there a spouse/parent of the other children and how will it affect that person?

If anyone takes a DNA test to ruin their birth family, I haven’t met them yet. Most are only curious and nervous. Very nervous. They fear rejection from their birth families. They only want to not only know who are their people, but what are their people like. But they fear the unknown. They really do.

But each case must be handled with care, respect and understanding. For both the person looking for their missing parent(s) or grandparent(s) and the missing parent(s) or grandparent(s).

I had my DNA tested to find missing ancestors. I didn’t think about others taking the same test to find missing or unknown birth parents. My test has helped chisel at a brick wall. I’ve seen where DNA testing has helped confirm a missing and/or birth parent. I’ve also seen where DNA testing has disproven who a missing or birth parent was.

The day is here. The technology is here. The family secrets aren’t so secret any longer. I don’t expect to find a half-sibling. Nor a half first cousin. Nor a half niece or nephew. Yet, I know the day is here where if any do exist, they could show up in full living DNA proof. I’ve given it a lot of thought. How would I handle it if it were me who found an immediate family member none of us knew existed? Carefully. Very carefully.

I’ll admit though, when I think about such a scenario, the first response is my gut clinching, but it’s followed immediately by, “Oh wow. I wonder if they got that piece of DNA that will tie this line to this other line that we’ve always thought came from the same line?” That’s followed by “Holy crap. Another person I can talk to about this amazing family of mine.”

What I first saw as lemons was immediately turned into a lovely pitcher of lemon-aide. True, some family members would probably get their portion served with a little vodka until the shock wore off. But lemon-aide it would be.

What’s your thoughts on this?

What DNA testing can and can’t do for genealogical purposes

I’ve been corresponding with a presumed distant cousin lately. In this case, it’s a male. We don’t know if the presumed match is on my maternal or paternal side. Nor does he know if it’s on his maternal or paternal side.

The DNA kits I manage at Ancestry.com.

This is a screen shot of the kits I manage at Ancestry. Yes, there are six of them. These are only the autosomal DNA tests. I have a Y-DNA test that one of my brothers did that’s there right now. I have that transferred to FamilyTreeDNA, too.

I also have access to two more accounts, one is my paternal first cousin. The other is a paternal second cousin, once removed.

The first four tests are also at GedMatch. The last two will be uploaded as soon as that site comes back to full power.

Three of the kits have also been transferred to FamilyTreeDNA. Two more will be transferred as funds allow.

I have a seventh autosomal kit in the final processing stages at FamilyTreeDNA.

If you’ve kept count, that makes a total of 9 autosomal DNA tests that I get to play with at various levels.

Why so many? Yes, I did, too, hear you asking as you rolled your eyes.

I tested myself first. My paternal first cousin tested himself. Wasn’t that fun to see how close they (the companies who do the testing and run the programs to determine the relationship levels) really did come to predicting our relationship.

They were spot on. We were first cousins. Of course they couldn’t tell me if the connection was on my maternal or paternal side of the family. In my case, I knew he belonged to my paternal line.

Yes, that’s pretty obvious for most of us. But what about those who were adopted and they would like to find information on their blood lineage? They really wouldn’t know if it were on their maternal or paternal line. However, what they would know if they had a first cousin and imagine how much closer that would get them to their birth mother or father.

The main problem with learning my first cousin is truly my first cousin through Ancestry, I still don’t have a way to look at what DNA we actually share. Which is why most of the tests get moved to Gedmatch and to FamilyTreeDNA. Both of these sites offer a chromosome browser.

I prefer the one at FamilyTreeDNA, but more people are at Gedmatch since Gedmatch is free and FamilyTreeDNA charges to transfer.

FamilyTreeDNA chromosome browser for me and my paternal first cousin.

The dark blue is my DNA, the orange areas is where my paternal first cousin matches me. When I’m on the FamilyTreeDNA website, if I hover over the orange area a little popup occurs and tells me exactly where on that chromosome we match.

What does it really tell me? It tells me that if someone else matches me on that chromosome in that same location, there’s a very high chance that they are related to me on my paternal side.

I added my brothers into the mix, because wouldn’t it be fun to see how much DNA I share with a sibling? My sister’s DNA is the one still processing. And won’t it be fun to see how much she shares with me and how much she shares with our brother and how much is her own, that she doesn’t share with either one of us?

Obviously when I compare my DNA to my sister’s (when it’s finished) or to my brother’s, I don’t know if that chunk is from our maternal or paternal lines. However, my brother shares more DNA with our paternal first cousin than I share with him. We’ll see if my sister shares more than I do, or if she shares less.

My brother has picked up matches that my DNA doesn’t. I expect my sister’s to do the same.

I’ve also had a first cousin, once removed tested. It’s a great chance to get one of my lines even more focused. One, this cousin is one generation closer to my genealogical brick walls. Two, this cousin has the unique mixture of getting a double dose of one of my problem lines. It has resulted in finding a third cousin for this cousin, and I believe the relationship is in one of our brick wall lines. I believe this match has moved the brick wall back one more generation. In the world of genealogy, we’ll take it. 🙂

One of the tests I had done was my attempt to prove a connection to a specific line that goes back more than seven generations. She can document she goes back to whom I suspect our line descends from, but it’s too far back for me to use that DNA to prove or disprove a connection.

Remaining on my paternal side, we use the information from my second, cousin once removed to narrow down the DNA that my grandfather received from his father or from his mother. This cousin is related through my grandfather’s maternal line. Where she matches myself, my brother, our first cousin and our first cousin, once removed, we assume that DNA came from Mary Elizabeth Coffield since Mary was the sister to this cousin’s grandmother.

The other two people in the first screen shot: one is my maternal first cousin. Once that information is moved to Gedmatch and to FamilyTreeDNA, I can compare that DNA against my brother’s, my sister’s, my own and even my paternal first cousin. What happens if my maternal first cousin matches DNA from my paternal first cousin? There are so many logical reasons for such an event. Each will be researched until a conclusion can be reached. But in the meantime, it will do a great job of helping me sort out some of my and my siblings’ maternal and paternal DNA.

The last test is my husband’s. Each time I play with his family tree, I love my family even more. At least we have some unique surnames. His tree? Baker, Allen, Dunn, Jones, etc., etc., etc.

Getting back to the distant cousin who matches me and my brother. I don’t know if it’s maternal or paternal. I have too many brick walls on each side of my family to discount either side. My paternal first cousin doesn’t match him, nor does my paternal first cousin, once removed. I haven’t checked my paternal second cousin, once removed, but if there’s a match, it’s not one that I share with the two of them, since I do know what chromosome my match is with the distant cousin and it’s not a chromosome match for me and my second cousin, once removed. I don’t have my maternal first cousin transferred to Gedmatch or FamilyTreeDNA yet, so I can’t compare the two of them against each other.

There are a few things I want to leave with you:

1) DNA for genealogy won’t tell you who your ancestor was, only that you’re related to this or that person. You have to fill in your own tree and make sure it’s correct by using documents such as birth records, marriage records, death records, family bibles, obituaries, old tax records, census records, etc., etc., etc.

2) If you’re adopted, none of the above works for you. Concentrate only on your closest matches. Or learn how to triangulate your results and see if you can find your ancestry that way.

3) The more people you have tested, the more likely you are to find more meaningful matches.

4) Don’t test willy nilly though. Try to keep the person’s genetic line as close to you as possible. I learned this the hard way when I tested the maybe distant cousin. I only know one line of their family history. And it’s too many generations away for me to sort through all the other lines.

I’m sure there are more, but that’s it for now. One of these days I have faith we’ll find the connection to the distant cousin. My best guess, the connection is hiding behind one of those brick walls.

Lydia Coffield Muckey

Today we have a guest blogger. Sharon Means Tullar is the granddaughter of Stratton Franklin and Lydia Ellen Coffield Muckey. She wrote the following.

I know I can’t thank her enough.

Stratton Franklin and Lydia Coffield Muckey. Photograph obtained from either the estate of Dale and Geneva Birdsell or Sharon Means Tullar.

To finish up a little bit more on the Coffield family—Lydia Coffield Muckey line, my mother was Esther Sarah Muckey and she married Merton O. Means. They had four children—Thelma, Robert, Gerald and myself (Sharon). Thelma married Rex Freeman and they had four sons. Robert married Twila Camp and they had two daughters and Gerald married Marie Hoyt and they had three daughters. I married Vaughn Tullar and we did not have children.

Elsie Muckey married Floyd Kiebler and they had one son. The son married and had four children. Elsie and Floyd spent a number of years in Colorado before moving to Texas to be closer to their son and his family.

William Calendar Muckey married Anna Belvill and they had four sons, loosing the oldest son as an infant. The three remaining sons all married and each one of them had several children. At this writing the second son is the only one still living.

Jessie Aurora Muckey married Floyd Kerns. They had three children—two still living. Jessie and Floyd lived at Hunter, KS., for several years before moving to Forsyth, Mo. Jessie returned to Kansas after her husband’s death. The two living children each married and had several children.

Andrew Muckey married Pauline Bolin. They spent their years in Kansas and Colorado. They had a son and a daughter. The son married and had two children and the daughter married but did not have children.

Clifford Muckey married Helen Clark and they had one daughter. The daughter married and she had three children.

In a former article Olive Muckey was mentioned. Olive married Ira Belvill and they had four sons. The sons all married and had children, Ira Belvill and Anna Belvill were brother and sister, making Ira and Olive Belvill’s children and William and Anna Muckey’s children double cousins. Olive and Ira have one son still living.

In an earlier article it also mentioned Alice Muckey married Otis Jarvis (they had 4 children and that Viola Muckey married James Jarvis (they had 4 daughters). James and Otis were brothers also, making their children double cousins.

This concludes the ramblings on Lydia Coffield and Stratton Franklin Muckey’s children and grandchildren.

Why those breast cancer awareness games are so harmful

This is a post I made on June 27, 2014 on Facebook. Before I copy and paste the post, here’s a picture of my mother on her wedding day on the last day of 1945.

Dale and Geneva Birdsell on their wedding day.

This is a picture of them several decades later in 1993

Dale and Geneva Birdsell

Now, here is the post I wrote on Facebook:

Okay, I’m going to get this off my chest. I’ve seen several comments on people’s status that made me assume one of their kids, grandkids or significant other had posted because it was so unlike the person who was supposed to have posted it.

Today I saw a post and because I know the person has had a rough couple years and it was a positive post I clicked like. I love it when good things happen to good people.

This is the message I received: “Hahahahaha You should not have liked or commented! Now you have to pick one of the 14 below and post as your status. This is the 2014 breast cancer awareness game. Don’t be a poor sport; choose your poison, and change your status: 1) Damn diarrhea! 2) Just used my boobs to get out of a speeding ticket! 3) Anyone have a tampon? I’m out! 4) How do you get rid of foot fungus? 5) Why is nobody around when I’m horny? 6) No toilet paper! Goodbye socks! 7) Someone offered me a job as a prostitute, but I’m hesitant… 8)I think I’m in love with someone. What should I do? 9) I’ve decided to stop wearing underwear. 10) It’s confirmed…I’m going to be a daddy/mommy. 11) I really don’t know how to tell anyone and I’m sick of hiding it…I’m gay. 12) Guess it was to good to be true…I’m pregnant! 13) I just won $1000 on a scratch off! 14) I’ve just found out I’ve been cheated on for the past five months. Post with no explanations. Sorry, I fell for it too!”

You know what really got to me? This part: This is the 2014 breast cancer awareness game.

Really? When in the hell has anything to do with breast cancer been a game?

My mother didn’t find anything humorous or fun about it when she fought it for 4.5 years and still died from it twenty years ago. My sister-in-law doesn’t find anything about breast cancer a game or fun as she is fighting and winning her fight.

Make no mistake it’s a fight. It will take my sister-in-law a few more years to regain the strength and energy she had prior to having had breast cancer.

So, tell me which one of the 14 posts will help my sister-in-law? Which one will help that friend or family who was just diagnosed?

The first Facebook breast cancer awareness did work. It garnered national and international media attention. The rest have gotten more obscene and offensive and the media is ignoring it now. And considering how offensive the “game” has become, as someone who has a very personal stack in breast cancer, I’m glad.

In the future when I see any of these 14 posts you’re to select I will, and I hope others will join me, ask you just how you think that is helping women who are fighting for their lives.

Since my mother died from breast cancer, as did two of her aunts, I know I have two ticking boobs. If you want to help, then do something other than joining a “game.” Cook a meal for the family of someone going through treatment. Go get their laundry caught up. Clean their house for them. Go hold their hand while they’re puking. Read them their favorite book. Go grocery shopping for them. Anything but making a crazy post that in return asks others to make a crazy post.

Stop the madness of thinking this type of thing actually does any good. Do some actual good. Please.

The please was the end of the original post. I didn’t include photographs then, nor did I include this last photograph

This final picture is of my mother when she had less than two months left to live. Study that picture and tell where you believe game fits into any cancer diagnosis.

My dad and mom in the waning days of her almost five year battle with breast cancer

 

4 July 1776

Today is the 4th of July. Once again, our politicians messed up. July 4, 1776 was not the day when the legal separation from Great Britain occurred. The legal ratification happened on July 2, 1776. That is the day when our forefathers voted for and officially separated the original 13 colonies from England.

What may or may not have happened on July 4, 1776 was the actual signing of the Declaration of Independence. It’s believed that all the signatures weren’t attached to it until August 2, 1776, but a few did sign in on July 4, 1776.

If you do nothing at all today, and if you’re American, please read the Declaration of Independence. Read the whole document. It’s not all that long.

The 4th of July 1776 does not mark the beginning nor the end of the Revolutionary War. It is supposed to mark the day when our elected officials voted to form their own country.

The official start date, according to Google, was April 19, 1775. Skirmishes had been going on for over a year before July 4, 1776. Lives lost. Men. women and children maimed.

The conflict did not end on July 4, 1776. Sad that we have to inform people that this is not the day we obtained our freedom. It’s the day, or very close to the day, we declared our freedom.

It took many years of fighting to obtain our independence from a king across the pond. The official last day of the American Revolution was September 3, 1783.

Great Britain didn’t want to let go of her hold on the 13 colonies. They put up a mighty struggle to retain control. While a peace treaty was signed, it wasn’t the last war fought where the United States and Britain would face each other again as foes.

Celebrate today, because this country was founded on wonderful ideas. Please take time to realize that the fight didn’t end on July 4, 1776 though. This country faced over seven more years of blood shed to gain the freedom being requested in the Declaration of Independence.

Did our family tree just turn into a briar patch Coffield style?

This is the last of the Coffield series. It won’t be the last on the Coffields, but it’s the last of this particular series. Part 1 is here. Part two is here.

This time we’re going to focus on the Stratton and Lydia Coffield Muckey and their children.

Note: I wrote this prior to publishing it and I had time to think about it. I was going to focus on all nine children. The truth is: I don’t know enough about all nine of their children to do them justice. I don’t do any of them justice, but the truth is, I’ll do several of them more of an injustice than if I just leave them alone.

What does all this mean? It means I don’t know this line of the family, or I know them and realize I don’t know the history enough to embarrass myself by pretending that I do.

Stratton Franklin and Lydia Coffield Muckey. Photograph obtained from either the estate of Dale and Geneva Birdsell or Sharon Means Tullar.

The children of Stratton, also called Frank, Muckey and Lydia Coffield Muckey were: Viola Claricy, Alice Jane, William Calendar, Elsie May, Olive Adenline, Sarah Esther, Jessie Aurora, Andrew Leroy and Clifford Lewis.

Lydia and Frank were married at Beloit, Kansas on 9 Mar 1895. Viola and Alice were born in Kansas. But William was born in Oklahoma Territory. The other children born in Oklahoma were Elsie, Olive and Sarah. My records show that Jessie, Andrew and Clifford were born back in Kansas.

Frank and Lydia Muckey with their 3 sons: William, Andrew and Clifford. Photograph obtained from the estate of Dale and Geneva Birdsell

Out of the three sons, the descendants of William are the only ones I know anything about. Hopefully, one or more of them will be willing to do a guest post and tell us about William and his children.

Sadly, I really don’t know anything about Andrew or Clifford except who they married, their children’s names, etc. It’s just not enough to attempt to do them justice.

That leaves us with the daughters of Lydia and Frank Muckey.

Daughters of Lydia and Frank Muckey. Photograph obtained from the estate of Dale and Geneva Birdsell

I apologize to any of the descendants of Jesse Muckey Kearns for bypassing their family. Again, my lack of knowledge would make me butcher their family.

I’m very familiar with one of the daughters of Esther Sarah Muckey Means. I’m going to leave this family alone because my hope is that Esther’s daughter will do a guest post for us one of the these days.

This is another family I’m not terribly familiar with, but I’m including them since I suspect several of you do know them. You might not have realized they were relatives though.

Olive Muckey married Ira Belvill and lived at Cawker. I’m sure many you know this family better than I do if you were in the Glen Elder or Cawker City area. Which means, I don’t know them very well.

Elsie Muckey Kiebler is another one I’m going to skip. Anyone want to fill us in on her?

Alice Muckey married Otis Jarvis. They had four children: Dorothy, Robert, Richard and Betty. Dorothy married Ralph Bohnert and one of their daughter returns for the reunion. I don’t know much about the other children or their families.

And that leaves Viola Claricy Muckey. She married James Jarvis and they had four daughters: Evelyn, Doris, Mary Ann and Margaret. James died in 1941. Viola married a widower by the name of Will Elliott in 1946. By the time we were Viola and Will’s neighbors in 1958, all of Viola’s daughters were married. I do remember Viola and Will. Will had at least one milk cow across the street from their house. He’d bring the bucket of milk to their house. One day I was outside and he asked me if I’d like a drink of fresh milk. I said yes. My siblings teased me for a very long time about drinking milk right out of the milk bucket. But it was good. There were times when Mom would have Viola, we always called her Mrs. Elliott, babysit us. What I remember about her was the obvious she was old, but fun. She introduced us to sugar water and to popcorn with butter and sugar instead of salt. Yes, she was one of my favorite people. She knew how to win the hearts of children.

I didn’t know until long after she’d passed and Grandpa Roscoe had passed that they were first cousins. All I knew is that if I could adopt any person to be a fill in grandmother for the one I never knew (my dad’s mom) I would have selected her as my replacement grandmother. I also didn’t know that once I came to school in the city of Jewell that I knew several of her grandchildren. I’m pretty sure I would have been extremely jealous had I known she was their grandmother.

Who were Viola’s grandchildren? Evelyn Jarvis married Paul Humphrey. I don’t know their family. Doris Jarvis married Harry Divel. Their children grew up around Jewell. They were older than me, so I really still don’t know them very well. Mary Ann Jarvis married Norman Greene. I did grow up around their children. And Margaret Jarvis married Duane McElroy and I went to school with two of their children.

If your family has been in this area of Kansas for four or five generations, the simple truth is, if you spit on someone you’re probably spitting on either your own relative, or one of your relatives relative. Or worse yet, your own double or triple cousin.

Isn’t the briar patch of family history fun? Wouldn’t it be more fun if we knew more about all the children I skipped?

More Coffield Fun Facts

Yesterday I talked a little bit about the Coffield family. Connecting some of the descendants of William Oren and Emma Viola Campbell Coffield to each other.

William and Emma Campbell Coffield

Let’s start with William and Viola again today. They had ten children, nine of them reaching adulthood.

We talked a little about Sayde Coffield Topliff and Mary Coffield Birdsell. Before we leave Sayde and Mary and their descendants behind, there’s more to their connection, other than being sisters and both leaving a young family behind.

Sayde married George Henry Topliff. George was the son of Newton Reed  and Emeline Blacker Topliff. Newton and Emeline Topliff had several children. Obvioulsy, George is an important component to the Coffield family. But George’s brother, James Elias Topliff and wife, Lena Idella Yapp Topliff are important, too. Their son, Henry Newton Topliff married Leona Agnes Birdsell.

Leona Agnes Birdsell was the daughter of Oscar Cooper and Mary Coffield Birdsell. This makes the children of Claude and Faye Topliff Slate and the children of Henry and Leona Birdsell Topliff double second cousins. The two common set of grandparents being William and Emma Coffield (from Faye and Leona’s side) and James and Lena Topliff (from George and Henry’s side). They’re also 9th cousins from William Fellows and Mary Ayer, but that’s another post. 🙂

I believe that concludes the inter-relationship between the descendants of Sayde and Mary.

Emma Coffield White. Photograph from the estate of Dale and Geneva Birdsell.

Emma F Coffield married Oscar White and they had two children. Their only son was killed after a drunk driver hit him in 1933. He died a few days later. Their daughter is still living so I won’t mention her name in public. But she married and had 3 children. The daughter and two of her children are still in this area.

Etta Coffield Byers with Irene Byers. Photograph from the estate of Dale and Geneva Birdsell.

Etta M Coffield married Walter Byers. Etta wrote the Browns Creek items for the Jewell paper for many years. Etta and Walter had 3 daughters. One died in infancy. Their eldest daughter, Helen married Harold Wesselowski and they had four sons. One of their sons, Thomas has passed on. This is the Wesselowski family out of Beloit. Etta and Walter’s youngest daughter, Bertha “Irene” married first Norman Elniff. They had two children. After his death, she married Robert Shelton and they had three children. They resided in the Randall area.

Clyde and Hattie Coffield Bowles wedding picture. Photograph obtained from the estate of Dale and Geneva Birdsell.

Hattie May Coffield married Clyde Bowles. Clyde was the son of Leonard Calvin and Viola Birdsell Bowles. Clyde was also the brother of Arthur “Art” Bowles who lived in Cawker for many years. The interaction between the Bowles and Birdsells would take another post, so we’ll limit this one to Hattie and Clyde. They had three children. Ruby who married Vernon Lorenz and they lived in O’Neill, Nebraska. They had one daughter who is still in either Nebraska or Iowa. Their first son was Harold Walter Bowles, who never married. Many of you knew him, but you didn’t know him as Harold or Walter. He was known as Mike Bowles and he was the guy who had one arm. I can’t think of Mike without smiling. He was an interesting guy who never knew a stranger. Their youngest son was Vernon Doyle Bowles. Vernon Doyle Bowles was known as Jack Bowles. He married Geneva Sanders who went by her middle name of Marjorie. Jack and Marjorie also raised two children from Marjorie’s family as their own children. I can’t remember if they were Marjorie’s niece and nephew or much younger siblings. I think niece and nephew. Jack and Marjorie’s birth children are living out west. I believe the nephew has passed on and the niece is living somewhere in one of the southern states.

William Coffield, Walter Byers, Emma White, Emma Coffield and John Coffield. Photograph obtained from the estate of Dale and Geneva Birdsell

John Henry Coffield married Elsie White (sister to Oscar White who married Emma F Coffield). John and Elsie had two children. A son and a daughter. Elsie died young and John moved back with his parents so they could help raise the children. John’s son Donald married and had two children. Donald died 1986 at Hutchinson, Kansas. I really don’t know anything about his two children. His daughter is still living. Anyone who shopped at Boogaarts in Beloit more than likely had the daughter of John and Elsie Coffield check them out at one time or another. John Henry Coffield lived in Cawker at one point. He died at Beloit, but I believe his home was in Cawker at the time of his death.

Arthur Coffield married Wilma Laughery. They had had three daughters and one son. Sadly, this is a Coffield line that I’m not terribly familiar with, other than names and dates. But not much pertaining to personalities. I do believe that Arthur ran a gas station at the intersection of highway 24 and 14 at Beloit at one time.

Elmer, Emma Jane and Maude Coffield. Photograph obtained from the estate of Dale and Geneva Birdsell.

Elmer Joseph Coffield married Maude Cullum and they had four children. Two sons died in infancy. Their daughter, Emma Jane, married Kenneth Dooley. They didn’t have any children, but Emma spent many years teaching in Mitchell County. Their surviving son, Duane Elmer married Betty Williams and their children left the area after they were grown. Elmer farmed and was also a preacher in the area.

And this leaves us with Lydia Ellen Coffield, eldest daughter of William and Emma Coffield. Lydia married Stratton Franklin Muckey.

Since this is long enough, I’ll leave Lydia, Stratton and their nine children until tomorrow. But it will be worth the wait.