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!

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