Treasure Chest Thursday: Doran/McCroskey Marriage Certificate

This Thursday's Treasure Chest is two-fold.  The first is the marriage certificate of my great-great-grandparents, Hamilton & Charlotte Doran.  The second is the biographical sketch that follows written by one of his brothers, William Penn Doran:

Biographical of Hamilton Doran

Hamilton Greene Doran born in Washington Co. Virginia,¹ Oct. 20, 1839. Charlotte Belinda McCroskey was born in Missouri Christian County Mar. 19, 1847. They were married Feb. 12, 1867.

To this union were born

Emma Amner Doran born Dec. 27, 1867. Married Fred Kerr. To this union one boy Fred.

Francis Edwin born June 2, 1869. Died Dec 24, 1873.

Minnie Ellen was born in Nov. 28, 1870 married to Bluford Gooch at Ozark, Mo, Dec. 15, 1886.

To this union were born two children Edd and Ella. Married Sam Larkins. Bluford died about 1890, Minnie married Marshall Fitzpatrick.²

To this union were born Dewey, Hazel, Earl, Carl, Faye and Lorene.

Mathew Duff³ was born in Feb. 19, 1872 married Ella Hilliard at Springfield 18

To this union were born Hugh, Malcom, Cecil, Lottie, Eunice and Glenn. Lottie married Oran Thompson

Eunice married Scott Pemberton.⁴

Alexander Judd was born in Apr. 18, 1873 married Lillian Stroud at Thayer Kans. Dec 17, 1903.

To this union were born Ethel, Chester, Glenn and Vivian. Ethel born in Thayer Ks. Chester at Cassidy Mo. Glenn and Vivian at 9 miles west and 3 miles south of Walter Okla.⁵

William James was born Jan. 15, 1875 married to Eliza Grubaugh at Ozark 189__. To this union were born Inez, Clearance, John, Lawrence and Donald.

Ina married Lee Bingham 1921

Junius Doran was born in June 8, 1878, married Cora in Rialto Calif. 19

One child born to this union Lenard Junius.⁶

Allen Hamilton was born Feb. 7, 1880. Married Julia Simms Cassidy about 1917. One child to this union was born Ralph. ⁷

Leanard Paul was born in Sept. 4, 1881 not married

________________________
¹This is incorrect – Stacy A. (Rosa) Chadwick
²A. J. Doran notes “Marshall died 1927”

³Added by A. J. Doran – “Died Jan 1935, Ella died 1936”

⁴In an unknown handwriting – “Cecil children Marvin, Delbert, Wanika; Glens -- Patty Ann; Jerry – Johnnie Joe; Eunice – Albert Cecil, Hilge Virgal, Colleen; Malcolm – Dexter, Nena, Kenneth, Wayne, Shela (died), Winsor, Warren, Trela, Leslie & Wesley”

⁵Added in pen “2 marriage Alexander J. Doran married Vannie McCroskey June 10 1943 at Witchita Falls, Tex. She died Aug 1 194263”

⁶A. J. Doran adds “Junius died 10th of July 1963 of cancer stomache”

⁷“Allen died Sept 14, 1935” added by A. J. Doran

Wordless Wednesday: Juicy's Playground

My Granpa Juicy (James Russell Rosa Sr.) apparantly ran a dance hall in Banning.  Anybody out there know anything about it??

SNGF: OMG I look like Laura Bush!

Ok, so I'm a little late for Saturday night, but we can have some Sunday Night Genealogy Fun!

My celebrity matches are:

• Laura Bush (72%)
• Sharon Tate (70%)
• Lou Diamond Phillips (68%)
• Mylene Farmer (66%)   I don't know who she is, but she's pretty!
• Olivia de Havilland (66%)
• Isabella Rossellini (64%)
• Rebecca Loos (64%)  Who?
• Josie Maran (64%)   I don't know who she is either.

This was actually fun!  I've gotta go play with this some more.  I wonder who my daughter looks like?

Thanksgiving Blessings

 
I laid in bed this morning breathing in the scent of freshly brewed coffee.  I love my husband!  Then my daughter made sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast.  We're doing the big Thanksgiving Dinner this evening.  The two of them are doing all the cooking... Roasted turkey, real mashed potatoes, candied yams, green beans and Jack's ever famous pecan pie.  Yum!  My daughter is adding a new pie this year, Chocolate Ricotta Hazelnut -- it looks amazing!  I am truly blessed in so many ways.... 

My great-great-great grandmother wrote a sketch that was published in Records of the Olden Time; or Fifty Years on the Prairies by Spencer Ellsworth.  You can download the entire book as a PDF here.  In reading it, I am always struck by how lucky we are today... and how blessed.

MRS. RACHEL L. McLAUGHLIN.

My maiden name was Hammett, and I was born in Warren county, Ky., six miles from Bowling Green, in 1812.  My father was a farmer, and likewise a blacksmith, cultivating a few acres of ground on which the necessary food for a numerous family was grown, together with the cotton for our clothing and tobacco for home consumption.  Money was scarce in those days, and with many mouths to fill we were early taught to work, and I remember when but ten years old of carding and spinning sufficient cotton to make half a yard of cloth.  It was my duty to attend to this department, and I early learned to plant and tend the cotton, to pick it when the time, and separate the seeds.  This was our summer labor, and the winter was devoted to carding, spinning, coloring, weaving and making up, leaving but little time for going to school.  My father had a numerous family, and was anxious to get where land was cheap and the boys couls each get a farm.  We heard much of Illinois; many of our neighbors went, and they sent back such glowing accounts that in the year I was twenty he started with his family.  We had two large wagons, five yokes of oxen, with sheep, horses and cows.  Myself and sister drove the sheep, my younger brothers drove the cattle and horses.  After a long but not eventful journey we reached the hoped-for land of promise and settled on the Senachwine creek, one mile north of Chillicothe, where the railroad now crosses.  Father and my brother-in-law immediately set about preparing for a crop, and succeeded in breaking, fencing and plowing sufficient for a few acres of corn.  A rough cabin was made out of rails, into which we moved until a larger and better one could be built.  We had been here but two weeks when all but father and mother were taken down with the ague.  Peoria, twenty-one miles distant, was the nearest place were either doctors or drugs abounded, and I thought I should surely die; but a good constitution pulled me through.  My attack of fever and ague lasted until "great snow storm."  On the 1st of February there came a heavy rain, carrying off the snow and creating a great flood.  The Senachwine overflowed its banks, and the back water from the river came up so rapidly that our stock was like to drown.  At ten o'clock at night my brother and sister waded out to the canoe and made their way through the driftwood to Brother John's, while the rest of us climbed on the beds to keep out of the water.  My father was not at home.  When he returned he entered the house in his canoe and took us off.  In the spring we made sugar, and the next summer succeeded in raising a very good crop of all kinds.  There was no mill in the country at that time, and our corn and wheat was ground on a hand mill made by my father, and the bran separated by a sieve.  My wedding cake was made from flour ground in this manner.  In the fall of 1831 I was married to S. B. McLaughlin.  We returned to Kentucky and lived there two years, but didn't get ahead much, and determined to return to Illinois.  We reached my father's with ten dollars in cash and a pair of ponies, gave five dollars to a Mr. Jones for a claim, and paid five dollars for dishes.  Our first labor was to build a cabon, after which we cleared ten acres and built a fence.  After the land was "logged" and the brush piled, my husband cut his foot and could do nothing, so the burning them up devolved on me.  Women of now-a-days, with a young babe and no "hired girl," if left in similar circumstances would have very likely sat down and cried, but I had no time for that, and so set to work and burned the log heaps and brush and hired the ground broken up and laid off, and then planted it, my husband being able to stand on one foot and assist some.  We raised a good crop, and have since been, on the whole, quite successful, for which I sincerely thank the Lord.  In course of time the cabin on the bottom gave place to a more convenient house on the place where we now live, and this in its turn has been replaced by one of more modern style, yet after all I think I found as much true enjoyment in the little cabin where we began housekeeping as I have since.  I have had thirteen children, nine of whom survive; seven are married, and I have fourteen grand-children. 

Rachel L. McLaughlin

Wordless Wednesday: Little Sprout

No this was not taken at Halloween....

Surname Saturday: Rosa

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings has assigned our Saturday Night Genealogy Fun task by asking what was the nicest thing another genealogist has done for us.  For me, that's easy!  I have two and they both deal with the surname Rosa; so I get to tackle two memes at once!  (^.^)

I've been researching Rosa (my maiden name) for years and was staring at a dead-end brick wall.  My grandmother left my grandfather when dad was young so I knew very little about the Rosa's.  I had worked my way back to Abram Rosa who was listed on the 1860 Census for Hamburg, Calhoun Co., Illinois with sons John, James (my 3rd great-grandfather) and Joseph who were all born in Holland.  And there I sat.  Stuck.

Eventually my mother and sister attended a McLaughlin family reunion in Henty, Illinois and while there my sister drove over to Calhoun County to visit some Rosa relatives.  Lynda and George Dixon graciously shared photograhs, newspaper clippings, and filled in missing information, children, etc.  They even had scans of the family bible!  They provided a treasure trove of memorabilia and have my utmost gratitude.

But I was still stuck.

Until I received an email from Martin Roza in response to ancient query on a bulletin board.  He is decended from Abraham Roza, a bother of my 3rd great-grandfather, who stayed in the Netherlands.  He was trying to trace those family members who came to America.  He was able to provide the Dutch names of Abraham Roza, his wife Jantje van Herp and their nine children:

Aaltje Roza (1825 - ?)
Abraham Roza (1827 - 1900) married Eelke van der Wal (1830 - 1912) ~ Martin's 3rd great-grandparents
Gerrit Roza (1828 - 1900) ~ my John Rosa who married Elvira Reed (1835 - 1907)
Catharina Roza (1830 - 1906) married Lambertus Pellikaan and eventually came to America (Illinois)
Pietje Roza (1832 - ?)
Harmon Roza (1835 - 1870) and his wife Josephine (who was farther down on that 1860 Census)
Adriana Roza (1837 - 1858) married Elias Godfrey Harvey in Illinois
Jan Roza (1839 - 1904) ~ James Rosa, my 3rd Great-grandfather
Govert Roza (1843 - 1863) ~ my Joseph  Rosa

Thanks to Martin's information I was able to search Genlias and found Abraham and Jantje's marriage record.  Dutch marriage records are wonderful because they not only give you the birth date and place of the bride and groom, but the parents of the bride and groom as well.  So I now know that Abraham's parents were Abraham Roza and Kaatje de Bruin and I'm happily digging through the baptism and marriage records of their children.

So that brick wall I was staring at?  Demolished!

They Fought for Their Country

I know Veteran's Day was yesterday, but who says our veterans only get one day?  I know I could wait until May for Memorial Day, but why?  So I'm declaring today a Thankful Thursday.  I am thankful for those who served our country and risked their lives so that we can remain free.

My ancestors who have served in the military since the Revolutionary War include:

_______________

Revolutionary War:

James Doran (1730 - 1799) of Washington Co., Virginia ~ fought in the Battle of Point Pleasant

Alexander Doran (1760 - 1814) of Washington Co., Virginia ~ fought at Kings Mountain

_______________

War of 1812:

Alexander Doran (1760 - 1814) of Washington Co., Virginia ~ same as fought at Kings Mtn

_______________

Civil War:

Edward Bonham (1840 - 1928) of Marshall Co., Illinois ~ 47th IL Infantry (Union)

Hamilton Green Doran (1839 - 1905) of Christian Co., Missourri ~ MO Infantry Co F (Union)

William James McCroskey (1846 - 1922) of Valley View, Texas ~ Texas Calvary Co B  (Confederate)

John W Rawlings (1836 - 1864) of Crawford Co., Indiana ~ 117th Regiment Co F (died of dysentery while in Andersonville prison

Annual Stroud (1813 - 1890) of Crawford Co. Indiana ~ Co B 13th Regiment Indiana (Union)

_______________

World War I:

Leonard Paul Doran (1881 - 1975) of  Christian Co. Missourri ~ Navy

_______________

World War II:

Allen Edward Danchak (1911 - 1942) of Burleson Co., Texas ~ Merchant Marines

Richard Ernest McLaughlin (1920 - 1994) of Peoria Co. Illinois ~ Army (Rangers)

I'm sure there's more, but those are the ones I know about at this point in time.  I think tomorrow I'll pay tribute to my husbands military ancestors....

In Honor of Veteran's Day: Allen Edward Danchak

Growing up all I knew was that Allen had died at sea.  Here's the rest of the sory....

Allen was the youngest child of John & Lydia Danchak; he was born in Lyons, Burleson Co., Texas on February 16, 1911.  He was my grandmother's youngest brother.  He's also the reason she had her ashes scattered at sea.

Allen was in the Merchant Marines.  He served aboard the Steadfast as per the 1930 Census of Merchant Seamen.  I've found several passenger and crew lists on Ancestry.com that show him serving aboard the Standard (1934), the Warwick (1940) and the Utacarbon (1941).  The picture above is Allen on the Utacarbon.  During World War II Allen served as chief mate on the Gurney E. Newlin. 

The Gurney E. Newlin was a steam tanker carrying gasoline and kerosene from New York to Manchester, England.  On October 27, 1942 it was struck by one torpedo in the engine room on the port side and immediately began to settle by the stern. The crew abondoned ship and only three lives were lost.  The master and eleven others were picked up by the HMCS Alberni and the rest (31 crew members which included Allen and 13 armed guards) were picked up by the Bic Island.  The Bic Island was torpeedoed and sunk with all hands on October 29, 1942.<sup>1

1</sup> From U-boat.net - Allied Ships Hit by U-boats

Tombstone Tuesday: Mathew George

 
Wow!  I write about Mathew George and this morning I find his gravestone!  Which illustrates the point that you should re-visit online sources since they do tend to add new information.  I frequent Find A Grave fairly often, but I've never found any of my husband's Georges ~ this morning I not only found Mathew, but Francis Marion and his wife Annie Laurie Brewer as well!

If I keep finding possible toe-holds I will climb over that brick wall of Mathew's folks.  Just watch me!  (^.^)

Mathew

Husband of

Sarah A. George

Died

Nov. 17, 1879

Aged

75 Yrs. 4 M's  21 D's

Madness Monday: Getting Over Matthew

Mathew George has been a thorn in my side.  Hard work and a bit of luck do pay off however....

Mathew George was born on June 20, 1804 in Chillicothe, Ross Co., Ohio.  He married Nancy Leonard in April 1823 in Franlin Co., Ohio.  He left Ohio in 1828 and moved to Indiana, then on to Illinois where Nancy died, and then to Shelby, Missouri where he married Sarah Van Skike in 1846.  He then moved to Ottumwa, Wappell Co., Iowa in 1851, then to Jackson Co., Kansas in 1863 where he died of lung fever on November 17, 1879.  He is buried in Soldier, Jackson Co., Kansas.  You can see why I've had such fun following him across the country!

He had twenty (yes, I said twenty!) children.  Nine were with Nancy: James, Susan, Elizabeth, John, Margaret, Samuel, William and Lewis. He had twelve children with Sarah: Samuel Erastus, Mathew Edward, David, Mary, Francis Marion, Elviva, Elmira, Andrew Frank, Susan, Maria Nida, Maggie Jane and Eliza.

The brick wall I'm trying to climb over is determing who Mathew's parents are.  I found an 1820 census with a Ridmond or Richard George in Chillicothe, Ross Co., Ohio so I might have found a toe-hold!

Wordless Wednesday: A Letter from the President

Tombstone Tuesday: John Danchak

John Danchak

Born Dec 30, 1839

Died Apr 30 1925

Gravestone is in the Frenstat Cemetery in Burleson County, Texas next to that of his wife, Rosie (Adamek) Danchak.

Wordless Wednesday: Aunt Bell

Well... Almost Wordless Wednesday.  Do you remember the movie The Others with Nicole Kidman?  Where she finds the photo album and is shocked that all the pictures are of dead people?  Since Halloween and All Saints Day is almost upon us, I thought I'd share my only post mortem picture.

Cyntha Isabelle (Stroud) Lewis

2 Jan 1867 - 17 Jul 1938

Tombstone Tuesday: Rosalie (Adamek) Danchak

 

Zde odpociva  --  Here lies

Rosalie  --  Rosalie

Dancak  --  Danchak

roz. 1841  --  Born 1841

u Vsetina  --  near Vestin

na Morave  --  in Moravia

Zem  --  Died

4 ril 1903  --  4 Oct. 1903

(There are four more lines ~ mostly unreadable)

Gravestone is in the Frenstat Cemetery in Burleson County, Texas.  Thank you to Mike Hejl for the translation from Czechoslovakian to English.

SNGF: Dangit! My Mother was Right!

Randy from Genea-musings, has given us our Saturday Night Genealogy Fun mission: to pick one of our four great-grandparents, create a descendants list for that great-grandparent, and tell how many decendants (living or dead) are in each generation.

Of course, I accepted this task. (^.~)

I chose my great-grandparents, Clifford Clyde McLaughlin (1882-1956) and Emily Phoebe (Clifton) McLaughlin (1885-1942).

Clifford and Emily had 15 children. All 15 are now deceased; three died before I was born or shortly thereafter. I did get to meet four of them: my Grandma Alice, Aunt Lily, Uncle Dick and Aunt Marge. My memories of Grandma Alice are a little fuzzy since she died when I was three, but Aunt Lily and Aunt Marge were often there for Thanksgiving at Uncle Dick’s. He gave us kids nick-names; my sister was Grace since she would trip over her own two feet, and I was Army. Army was short for Armenian Changeling because he said that with my dark hair and eyes I didn’t look like the rest of the family. (That depends on which members of the family you’re looking at, doesn’t it?)

Most of McLaughlin clan stayed in Marshall or Peoria counties in Illinois while my ancestors came to California, so I really don’t have an accurate number of grandchildren. There are 18 that I know of. Uncle Dick had two children whom I know and stay in sporadic contact with, and I know/knew all three of Grandma Alice’s kids. We visited Uncle Jerry a few times, and used to visit Aunt Donna a lot before she was murdered. I know of four great-grandchildren; my sister and I, and Aunt Donna’s two boys and to my knowledge my daughter is the only great-great-grandchild.

Wow, I really need to fill in some holes! I know my mother has more information on all the cousins, I guess it’s time to pick her brain. Hey Mom! Can I come over for lunch soon?

I need to find descendants of:

• Ethel McLaughlin (1904-1964) and LaMont Andrews (1892-1942),
• Raymond McLaughlin (1905-1982) and Esther Goudy Daniels (1905-1955),
• Willard McLaughlin (1911-1992) and Madaline Wanders (1910-1994),
• Trella McLaughlin (1917-2000) and Leslie Beck (1907-1990),
• Emily McLaughlin (1919-2005) and John Ryan (1915-2007),
• Mary McLaughlin (1921-1966) and Glenn Koch and
• Cecil McLaughlin (1922-2003) and Josephine Bruno

Ethel and Emily each had six children that I am aware of, but I don’t know if their children had children. Dangit! My mother was right! I should have paid more attention when I was younger….

Treasure Chest Thursday: The Poetry of Love

  

I actually have a fair amount of treasures in my genealogical collection, but I thought I’d start with the love letters/poems that Vanny (Virginia Vandalia McCroskey) sent to my great-grandfather Alexander Judd Doran.  Only one is still in its envelope, and the postmark is torn, but it appears to have been sent in either JAN or JUN of 1920.


Alexander had written “by Vannie McCroskey” across the back of each one, so I thought she had actually written them. As part of writing this article, I did a quick Google search of the first lines, expecting to get no results. Boy, was I wrong! Apparently Vannie was sending lyrics and poems that were popular in the early 1900’s. The endnotes citing the source and author are mine.


This packet was in the envelope:

In The Gloaming¹


In the Gloaming O my darling
When the lights are dim and low
And the quiet shadows falling
Softly come and, softly go;
When the winds are sobbing faintly
With a gentle unknown woe,
Will you think of me and love me
As you did once long ago?


In the Gloaming O my darling
Think not bitterly of me,
Tho’ I passed away in silence,
Left you lonely, Set you free.
For my heart was crushed with longing
What had been could never be,
It was best to leave you thus dear,
Best for you and best for me.

Chorus:

It was best to leave you thus dear
Best for you and best for me. 

I hold your trembling hand to-night and yet²
I may not now what wealth of bliss is mine,
My heart is such a curious design
Of trust and jealousy! Your eyes are wet –
So must I think they jeweled some regret, --
And lo, the loving arms that round me twine,
Cling only as the tendrils of a vine
Whose fruit has long been gathered: I forget,
While crimson clusters of your kisses press
Their wine out on my lips, my royal fare
Of rapture, since blind fancy needs must guess
They once poured out their sweetness otherwhere.
With fuller flavoring of happiness
Than e’en your broen sobs may now declare

Pity me not, twill make me pitiable³
Grieve not for me, twill set me grieving too.
But write to me hopeful,
In words pure, strong and true.


Sincerely yours with all the richest blessings heaven has in store for you,

XXXXX tenthousand times tenthousand

P.S. you did not say where to send your letters, you seem to stay near Walters, but I see you still head your letters Devol so there they go. If you want them sent else where say so.

This was the second batch:

Last Night When All Was Still⁴

Last night the night-in-gale woke me!
Last night when all was still!
It sang in the golden moon-light,
From out the woodland hill.
I opened my window so gently,
I looked on the dreaming dew,
And Oh! the bird my darling
Was sing-ing, sing-ing of you, of you!

I think of you in the daytime,
I dream of you by night,
I wake and would you were here, love,
And tears are blinding my sight.
I hear a low breath in the lime tree,
The wind is floating through;
And Oh! the night my darling
Is sigh-ing sigh-ing for you, for you!

Oh, think not I can forget you:
I could not tho’ I would;
I see you in all around me,
The stream, the night, the wood,
The flowers that slumber so gently,
The stars above the blue;
Oh! Heaven it-self my darling,
Is pray-ing pray-ing for you, for you!

O Heart of mine we shouldn’t⁵
          Worry so!
What we’ve missed of calm we couldn’t
          Have you know!
What we’ve met of stormy pain,
And of sorrows driving rain,
We can better meet again,
          If it blow!

We have erred in that dark hour
          We have known
When our tears fell with the shower,
          All alone!
Were not shine and shower blent
As the gracious Master meant?
Let us temper our content
          With his own.

For we now, -not every morrow
          Can be said;
So, forgetting all the sorrow
          We have had,
Let us fold away our fears
And put by our foolish tears
And through all the coming years
          Just be glad.

¹In the Gloaming by Annie Fortescue Harrison & Meta Orred in 1877
²Dearth by James Whitcomb Riley
³These first two lines are from Pity Me Not. by Ethelwyn Wetherald, the rest seem to be by Vannie
⁴Last Night When All Was Still by Halfdan Kerulf
⁵Kissing the Rod by James Whitcomb Riley

Wordless Wednesday: Baby on the Half-Shell

 

On the back is written

Ruth take care of Florence. Stroud granddaughter of Uncle John Stroud, brother of Elisha Stroud.

Tombstone Tuesday

Doran

Alexander J.                                              Lillian F.

Apr. 18, 1873                                          June 29, 1882

Mar. 22, 1976                                         Mar. 6, 1942

Wed

Dec 17

1903

Madness Monday: the Search for Cora Belle House

Cora’s not mad, but she’s certainly driving me crazy!

Using the premise of starting with what you know and working backwards, here’s what I know:

• She was born July 2, 1881
• She married John William Prewett
• She had thirteen children
• She died January 21, 1942 in Los Angeles, CA
• She was buried in Lightning Ridge, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma

Where was she born? According to various sources she was born in either Arkansas or Oklahoma. Since Oklahoma wasn’t a state in 1881 I’m leaning toward Arkansas. It would be nice to at least narrow it down to a particular county….

When & Where did she get married? According to a “cousin’s” family tree, she & John got married on November 12, 1896 in Red River County, Texas. But he has no verification. I haven’t been able to find any either. Don’t even get me started on how many spelling variations there are for Prewett, Prewitt, Pruitt, Prouette, etc.

Who the heck are her parents? I was really hoping to have this one answered by now! Back in May I ordered a copy of Cora’s death certificate. It arrived a few days ago. Her father is Frank M. House (birthplace unknown) which goes along with what my husband’s sister thinks she remembers. She thinks his name was Francis Marion, which is a very common name in her George line, so she wasn’t sure. It’s nice to know she may be right! Her mother’s name and birthplace are both unknown. :(

Most of the trees online list her parents as Francis Marion House and Rhoda Elizabeth Turner. They believe this because a 1900 Federal Census for Sulphur, Sebastian, Arkansas shows a Cora B House born in 1881 in Arkansas as the daughter of Francis M and Rhodil House. I have a problem with this because a 1900 Federal Census for Township 1, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory has Cora Prewitt with her husband John W Prewett and first child, Harvey O. How can she be both people?

How I long for a copy of the 1890 Federal Census, it would answer so many questions!

Cora & John Prewett with Leah & Ivan Clayton

Alexander Judd Doran & Lillian Francis Stroud

Lillian Francis Stroud & Alexander Judd Doran in their wedding clothes

Since I posted the History of Alexander Judd Doran last time, I thought I’d tell you a little something about him. Does that sound ok to you? Assuming, of course, that there ever is a “you” to read this. :)

Alexander Judd Doran was born April 18, 1873 in Finley, Christian County, Missouri to Hamilton Green Doran and Charlotte Belinda McCroskey. He had two sisters (Emma Amner and Minnie Ellen) and six brothers (Francis Edwin, Matthew Duff, William James, Junius Harry, Allen Hamilton and Leonard Paul).


If you read his History, you know he wandered all over Missouri, Kansas, and the Indian Territory to find work. He even wandered as far as Nebraska. Then in 1902 he went to

Oklahoma with Cousin Charley McCroskey where he went to homestead. Went to Valley View Tex in fall to Uncle Will McCroskeys
1902 stayed there one year about Dec 10           29
then to Thayer Kan was married Dec 17 1903    30

I find that passage to be incredibly interesting.


According to family legend, aka my mother, Alexander Judd was in love with Vanny McCroskey. And she loved him. He even asked her to marry him. But she said no, because they were cousins. “Uncle Will McCroskey” was Vanny’s father. So it appears that in the fall of 1902 he went to Valley View and spent a year with the McCroskey’s before going to Kansas to marry my great-grandmother.


On December 17, 1903 he married Lillian Francis Stroud, daughter of Elisha and Ruth (Rawlings) Stroud. They had four children: Ethel (104 and still feisty!), Chester Joseph (1906-1972), Harry Glenn (1910-2002) and Vivian Vannie (1913-1996).


They moved to Cotton County, Oklahoma in September of 1907 to a homestead Southwest of Walters where the family remained until 1943. To me, he sounds incredibly lonely when he wrote:

The children all married and gone Lillian died March 6 1942 and was buried in IOOF Cemetery one mile west of Walters. On the north side. I am alone on the Farm this is may 13th 1943.

Twenty-eight days later, on June 10, 1943 he finally got to marry his first love, Virginia Vandalia McCroskey.

Vanny McCroskey (1875-1963) circa 1884

Alexander Judd Doran passed away on March 22, 1976 just 24 days from his 103rd birthday.

History of Alexander Judd Doran

 
My great-grandfather, Alexander Judd Doran, was a genealogist. He loved to write the family history -- again and again and on any scap of paper he could find.  This transcription, The History of Alexander Judd Doran, was written in a small datebook. The original is in the possession of my mother.

I was Born April 18, 1873 in a log house 8 or 10 miles South and just about ½ East of Springfield Missouri. I can recolect the old home before the Frisco RR come along between it and in the spring about 1880. I was about 7 yrs old then. my mother died in Feb. 1883 I was 9 years old. mother died with typhoid pneumonia. She was buried 2 ½ miles north east of the old house in the Doran Cemetery on my Great Grandfathers place. P.S. Father was buried there Feb 13 – 1905. I was raised to be grown on the old farm and in neighborhood [the bottom corners appear to have been nibbled or torn.]

We built a new house when I was 11 years old.

1891 I worked for Doug Chapman and others. Jon A Gibson mel davis Henry Davis 18
1892 worked for John A Gibson and others 19

1893 worked for John M Keltner 20
1894 worked for Frank Keltner 21
1895 stayed at home and made a crop on Grandpa Dorans place & worked the rest of the time at home 22
1896 made a crop with a great uncle John Doran 4 mi n-w of Springfield mo. 23
1897 made a crop with Dee Doran on Jenkins farm 2 mi n of ho
1898 went to St. Louis mo then back to Springfield then to Kansas City mo then to Passons Kansas then to Vimta Indian Ter. Then back to Springfield 25
1899 went to K.C mo, St Joe mo then to Marysville Kan Wymore Nebraska back to St Joe mo. Back to Wymore neb Marysville and Randolph Kan then to Wichita Kan then to Sedgwick then back to Springfield 26
1900 went to Wichita Kan worked for sisters of Chanty one year 27
1901 went to Joplin mo then to walnut Kan worked with a Santafe Bridge and went home in fall and sowed crop of wheat on land that I had bough of the Grandfather Dorans estate 28
1902 went to htobast Oklahoma with Cousin Charley McCroskey where he went to homestead. Went to Valley View Tex in fall to Uncle Will McCroskeys
1902 stayed there one year about Dec 10 29
then to Thayer Kan was married Dec 17 1903 30
1904 stayed at Thayer Kan 31
1905 at Thayer until fall went to Cassidy Mo 32
1906 was at Cassidy 34
went 1907 at Cassidy until sep 1st then moved to Walters Okla where I moved to a homestead 33 3 S 9 west of Walters. Land no NE 17-312 I still own this land 1930 58
1943 The children all married and gone Lillian died March 6 1942 and was buried in IOOF Cemetery one mile west of walters. On the north side. I am alone on the Farm this is may 13th 1943.
Sold the homestead June 1943 bought a place in Comanche 12 mi South of Lawhan sold it 1945 moved to two miles west one south of temple Okla moved to Walter Okla fall of 1948 and I am still here Sept 3 1962