Lyn's Hobsons

Not quite Monroe research but given my link to Johnson Monroe is via Ellis L. Hobson married Alma Monroe I assume my recent contact with a second cousin via Hobson makes this post fit here quite nicely. My "new" cousin Judy's grandfather Orlando K. "OK" Hobson is my grandfather Ellis' older brother. I have a couple of letters OK wrote in early 1900s. In these letters OK has some of the most beautiful handwriting I have ever seen. OK was the Methodist minister who married my grandparents. I have references to him in my grandfather's 1910 obituary and in letters written by one or the other of my grandparents.

Judy never heard of me or my grandfather. I knew her father's name but not much more. A couple of days ago I received photocopies of several items Judy owns. I thank her publicly for being so generous. One item was our great-grandfather Minos Russell Hobson's will. I didn't know it existed. My mother and her sister didn't receive anything but they both were mentioned. I was happy to see that. Judy also sent some obituaries which were very interesting. I did not know OK's wife Bessie Harlow was a licensed Methodist minister. I couldn't tell from the articles when the General Conference of the Methodist Church authorized women to preach but it must be much earlier than I ever imagined. I have only begun to absorb this new information and new information always creates questions. I will likely drive Judy nuts asking questions in the next few weeks. Hopefully she will be willing to put up with me. All this has me thinking I should do more work on documenting descendants of my Hobson great-grandparents. I made a teensy start by asking a high school classmate who lives in Wichita to look up some obituaries at the Wichita Historical and Genealogical Society I found in the WHGS on-line index. She agreed to do so as she plans a visit there for her own family research but it may be a few weeks. Thank you Eve! I've also done some census work and found some "my Hobsons" related World War I draft cards. And then... I set up a private Picasa Hobson photo album and uploaded some pictures. If anyone is interested in seeing this album, please let me know. Finding a "new" cousin is a wonderful experience - but it surely makes me see a zillion holes in my research and reminds me of all the projects I need to work on.

Family Myth Busted!

For years I can remember being told that Highland Methodist's church land had been donated by my Monroe Ans., but the other day I was in Glasgow and stopped by the courthouse for a quick dig regarding a house up for auction that I thought might have been tied to Nathaniel and Alethea's land I came across the deed for Highland and lo and behold Franklin Overstreets estate donated the land! Since Franklin is tied to my branch of the family to both my Shaw family and is also the father of Laura who marries one of Issac West and Phobe Monroe's sons I guess it still works, but now I wonder how in the dickens the story was created that the land came from a Monroe? I wonder where all the old records for Highland are? Anybody know?

Phoebe Monroe & Isaac West descendants

Yesterday I replaced the link on the Johnson Monroe Yahoo group site that pointed to descendants of Dabney Collins to one that points to descendants of Phoebe Monroe (d/o James Monroe and Jane Dawdy) and Isaac West (s/o Thomas West and Eleanor Self). If anyone reading this blog has an interest in Phoebe's and/or Isaac's lineage please request to join the Johnson Monroe Yahoo group by clicking on the link on the main blog page. Or post a comment and tell me your interest in the family. Or email me directly. I'd love to hear from you.

More Loose Ends - Parker, Allen, Monroe

This past week I did census work re Francis A. Allen m. 1) Lydia Bratcher and 2) Margaret Jackson. I also found my old email correspondence with a descendant of Francis and Lydia. Took me over a week! I finally found it in my "Self" family folder. I should have looked there earlier as Lydia Bratcher is d/o David Bratcher and Lydia Self. And... as our twisty family goes - this means Isaac West who married 1) Phoebe Monroe and 2) Harriett (McChesney) Monroe is first cousin to Lydia Bratcher m. Francis A. Allen as Isaac's mother Eleanor and Lydia's mother Lydia were both daughters of Edward Self and Sarah Cottrell. All this aside - I still have a strong suspicion (the know in my heart but can't prove it kind) Francis Allen is a grandson of David Allen and Elizabeth Price and my gg-gmother Rebecca Allen's nephew. I would so love to prove this but with the records in Hart Co., KY burned and burned again I may never know. I have learned descendants of Francis kept contact with some of their Kentucky kin on the Bratcher side. The fact he and his second wife are in Rice Co., KS in 1880 census before moving to nearby Pratt Co. where he lives the rest of his life makes me think perhaps he knew his cousins who were related to him via his aunt Rebecca. Could that be why he went to Rice Co., KS? Maybe I'm just dreaming this all as I so much would like to identify Rebecca's siblings and their descendants. I know they are out there somewhere. How can I find them? I need help!

Loose Ends - Parker, Allen, Monroe

I've been trying to settle loose ends the past few days without a lot of success. I am still intrigued by the potential relationship the first wife of Joseph Parker (named as Mrs. Mary A. Hall, daughter of David Allen in her son Elijah Parker's bio) may be the sister of my gg-gmother Rebecca Allen (m. Mathew Hooper Monroe). Joseph Parker's 2nd wife was Nancy Monroe (d/o James Monroe and Jane Dawdy) so we know Joseph probably knew Mathew and Rebecca. William F. Parker (s/o Joseph and Mary) may be the Wm J Parker age 24 in 1860 Hart Co., KY census of F. A. Allen (m. Lydia Ann Bratcher). I believe F. A. Allen is most likely Francis A. Allen and a nephew of Rebecca (and Mary?) and he and William F. Parker are (first?) cousins. A number of years ago I had some brief correspondence with a descendant of Francis A. Allen. This person was living just south of Tribune, KS and said his Francis Allen was born in Hart Co., KY and for a period of time he lived in Rice Co., KS. Just the same places where Rebecca Allen's descendants were! He didn't know who Francis' parents were. Francis Allen's first wife Lydia Bratcher died young and he married again and this person descended from the second marriage. I lost track of the correspondent when his email changed. We emailed very little during the time we had contact as his grandfather had recently died and he was the one dealing with all the estate issues, etc. Surely would like to find him again!

I checked Joseph Parker's 1840 Barren Co., KY census today. There is one male < 5 (Robert Allen Parker), one male 5-9 (William F. Parker), one male 30-39 (Joseph), 1 female < 5 (Sarah Parker), 1 female 10-14 (perhaps a daughter of Mary Allen by Mr. Hall?) and 1 female 30-39 (Mary Allen Hall Parker). I could not find a Barren Co. marriage to fit for a Hall female 1840-1850 that I could for sure identify with Mary or Joseph. This young woman is not with Joseph and second wife Nancy Monroe in 1850 census.

I would very much like to tie all these folks together. If anyone can help, please chime in. Thanks!

Martha Monroe m. Peter Crews 1824

I've started work on the Martha Monroe married 1824 Peter Crews line. They moved to Wayne Co., IL from Barren Co., KY between 1828 and 1830. I have 203 descendants for them but have not acquired a lot of the needed supporting documentation so it's time to go back and do that as well as follow these families on down through the 1930 census. I owe a great deal of thanks to Martha & Peter's great-granddaughter Mary Ellen (Crews) Brach (1901-1994) who compiled the _Genealogy Survey of the Crews Family_ in 1968. After Mary Ellen died her sister Evelyn Alene (Crews) Donoho (1913-?) updated this survey. This document is wonderful because it tells who moved where and when. I wonder what Mary Ellen would have done had she had access to the Internet and all the wonderful family history information available today.

I haven't looked at these Wayne Co., IL surnames for a while so it's like discovering a whole new set of cousins with names like Pharr, Sams, Fishel and more. But there are also familiar names from the Barren Co., Kentucky area like Martin, Shaw, Bradshaw, Young, Shelton and Owen.

I hope while I do this research I will make contact with a cousin or two in this line to join us in our research.

Collins Descendants and What I'm Up to Next

Yesterday I added a link on the Johnson Monroe Yahoo group site to my register report of the descendants of Dabney Collins (f/o Francis Marion Collins m. Polly B. Monroe) . I hope a Collins researcher/descendant will check Logan Co. and Simpson Co. marriage records to verify the names and dates of the two wives I have for Dabney. I haven't followed all of FM and Polly's children but have some descendants for Leonidas, Georgia, Charles Elmore, Susan Eva and Marion Boles. Please let me know of errors/additions, etc. I'm about "Collins'ed out" for now and I'm itching to move on to look at other cousin lines.

I haven't decided which Monroe descendant lines I will concentrate on next but think maybe those who went to Wayne Co., Illinois from Barren Co., KY prior to 1850. I have earlier done census work on many of them through 1880 and some through 1900. Since then I've gathered a lot more information re spouse names, who moved where and when so maybe now I can follow more of them through the 1930 census. Do any of my Mathew and Rebecca descendant cousins know Mathew Monroe and Rebecca Allen are in the 1830 Wayne Co., IL census? I've always found this curious as all their children claim to be born in Barren Co., KY and they are Barren Co census in 1840 and 1850 censuses so they must not have lived in Wayne Co. for very long. They move to Cass Co., Illinois about 1852/53.

Hope some of you will comment once in a while. I feel like I am writing into a void.