New Finds Bring New Questions

Posted on August 22, 2023August 23, 2023 by FHadmin

Genealogy is a great avenue to find new mysteries. This is the case with my recent research into William Willett, Jr., the brother of 3rd-Great-Grandmother Eleanor “Ellen” Willett. Ellen and William Jr. are two of the children of William Sr. and Harriet (Holden) Willett.

For context: Ellen married William Jury in Canada and is the mother of John Charles Jury. Ellen, John, and two of John’s siblings immigrated to the United States living in Kansas, Missouri, and Michigan. John married Matilda White and they are the parents of Matilda Jury, who married William J. Peelle.

Now, to Ellen’s brother, Wiliam Jr. . . . .

Family Stories

According to family, William Jr., who was born in England and moved with the family to Canada, spent a significant portion of his adult years in Australia. It was there, that he supposedly became a man of considerable wealth. According to family stories, William Jr. made his money in the ship building industry. However, all most nothing was known about his personal life.

Ottawa County, Ontario, Canada.
Released into the public domain by the author.

The Property Dispute

The first article I found in my recent research was regarding a dispute over the ownership of 500 acres of land in Blenheim and Blandford Townships in Ontario, Canada. In 1848, William Jr. had agreed to purchase the land from the Canadian government. He made initial payments and improved the land. Then he left for Australia.

During William Jr.’s absence, his father, William Sr., lived on the property and continued payments on the property from rent made on portions of the property and from money William Jr. sent home. When the payments were complete, his father got a patent on the land in the name William Willett of Blenheim without clarification of senior or junior. After that, he had treated the property as his own, including taking out a mortgage and specifying what to do with it in his will.

When William Jr. returned from Australia 15 years later, he went to sell a portion of the property and found out he did not have title to the property. And, his father’s will only provided for him to receive 50 acres of the land. Clearly, before his death, his father had come to assume the property was his own. Perhaps, he saw it as payment for overseeing the property for so many years or had a different understanding of the agreements regarding the property.

The case ended up in court. William Jr. pled his case and it appears that the other parties saw merit in his case. Still, it left me wondering. What had his father’s understanding been regarding the property? Did William Jr. have to pay the mortgage? Was the property simply removed from his father’s will? Was there anything else of value in his father’s will?

Wealth & Occupation

When William Jr. died, he was referred to a gentleman, which is consistent with a man of means. He was 90 and it stated that he was overseeing the building of houses when he caught a chill and ended up with pneumonia. So, houses are not ships, but it aligns with someone in the building business. Yet, it seems odd that a gentleman would be building houses at his age – even if he was simply overseeing the building.

However, the very modest mention of his death in the newspapers stated that he had made his fortune in the gold fields of Australia. So, the questions are: How rich was he really? Did he work in ship building, make money in the gold fields, or both?

His will did not answer any of those questions as he simply made his wife Anne the executrix of his will and gave her everything. Now, Canadian probate records might provide more detail, but so far all I have learned from Canada is that his estate paid $3250 in inheritance tax in 1905, the year after his death. Based on the Succession Duty Act of 1892 and the fact that his wife was to inherit everything, taxes would not have applied if the estate did not exceed $100,000. If the tax applied only to money exceeding $100,000, his estate would have exceeded $200,000, but I am not clear on the exact implementation of the law. Thus, I estimate that his estate was somewhere between $130,000 and $215,000. Probate papers would likely provide clarification. (Based on a 1915 to 2023 calculation, this would be approximately $3.3million to $5.5 million Canadian dollars today. Note: I could not find a calculator that went back to 1905.)

Additionally, William’s wife acquired a lawyer in Newport, Australia (near Sydney) as he owned various properties there at the time of his death. Those properties were eventually sold for several hundred pounds. This portion of his estate was not settled for over 10 years after his death.

Anne Sexton, His Wife

His wife Anne, whom was over 40 years his junior and whom he had not married until 1894, died in 1917. At the time of her death, she had an estate in Canada, presumably what William had left to her as she was born in Australia. She also owned 3300 pounds of stock in Victoria Iron Rolling Company in Australia.

All this leaves me wondering why they hadn’t disposed of these properties and investments in Australia when they moved to Canada? Did they plan to go back? Did they move suddenly? Who inherited the property after Anne died? Did either of them have any children? Did William have any other wives? And, who was Ellen Dunn who handled Anne’s estate?

Clearly, more digging to do!

Featured Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay.

A Man of Character

Posted on August 16, 2023August 19, 2023 by FHadmin

This is a follow on to my article “Last of His Generation.” In that article, I touched on the physical and mental strength of my father. Yet, when the topic of strength arose this week, I could not help but think of him again. Thus, in this article, I will dig deeper into strengths of his character.

Learning, Growing, & Sharing

Dad had a love of learning. He read extensively, which is why we ended up with an entire library of books after he passed. Along with the topics he enjoyed, he read to learn about new things and to learn how to do things. At other times, he learned simply by doing. When he was young, his father told him that there wasn’t anything that he couldn’t do. He took it to heart and lived by that philosophy his entire life.

He would step up and fill any position that needed filled (except he would pass if blood was involved as that was his kryptonite). In his 90+ years, he became the resident electrician, starting with wiring the house for electricity when he was around 18 or 19 years of age. He was also the plumber as he added a bathroom to both our house and Dewey’s house. Dad was also a carpenter, adding onto the barn, making cabinets, building furniture, making jewelry boxes, and more He was also a baker and a cook. Of course, his semi-photographic memory was very helpful in many of these pursuits.

However, he was probably best known as a mechanic. He worked on anything and everything: farm equipment, cars, motorcycles, boats, and even a semi on Christmas Eve. He would rarely take any money for his work even when he worked late into the night to get something fixed so that someone could go back to work the next day. At the office, he once quickly fixed something that the maintenance guys had been working on all day. One of the men remarked, “God laid his hands on it.” He liked to tell that story. It wasn’t to brag, but more because he was proud that he could fix almost anything easily.

Master Negotiator

Dad could also talk about almost any topic. This came in handy when he was on the job as his boss would have him talk to the land owners that did not want the state employees to come onto their land to survey or who were upset about construction in front of their property. After one conversation, he could usually get an agreement. His trick was to be observant to their surroundings and to listen to what they said. He noticed what appeared to be important to them and then talked to them about that topic. One day it might be corn and the need for rain and another day it might be grandchildren or churning butter. Soon, they had loosened up and were letting the men onto their property.

Doing It Right

In Dad’s later years of working, someone noted one day that he was the first guy on the job and the last to leave despite being the oldest guy on the job. It was all about putting in the work to make sure that things were done right. If anyone said that something wasn’t perfect with a job he was working on, he took it upon himself to seek out what was wrong and make sure that it was corrected. I remember one weekend when someone had made a negative comment as he was leaving work about the workmanship of a job he was overseeing. He went on his own time and in his own vehicle to the job site to check it out even though the site was many miles away from home and his time at home was very limited.

Balls & Strikes

Dad would often tell us stories of playing baseball, the McCracken family’s favorite pastime. He played for several teams, but almost always pitched. He did not like it if an umpire called a game in his favor. Dad said that he would much rather have the close calls go against him. He said that he might lose the game, but he would feel better about it. He never thought you really won a game if you got help, even unintentionally, from the umpire.

Poking & Prodding

Now, most people might not think of him as a spiritual man as he didn’t see a need to be in church every Sunday and he didn’t talk much about his beliefs. However, he was a man of strong conviction and one that was always busy helping others – family, friends, and strangers. When he had his heart and cancer surgeries, he let the student nurses poke and prod on him whenever they asked. After all, they had to learn by trying it on someone.

Close to God

As mentioned above, Dad didn’t feel the need for a church building. Instead, his relationship was everywhere. One day Dewey and I had baled hay. We knew a storm was coming and we had gotten as much hay in the barns as we could. When Dad got home, I helped him unload a wagon and we went back to the south field for more. The storm was getting closer and he had me flying the tractor over the terraces in that field as he ran from bale to bale to throw them onto the wagon. Then he would jump on every so often to stack them up.

After getting the hay picked up, we booked it home. I don’t remember if we covered it or unloaded it, but by the time we were done the storm had hit. In the process, the power had gone out and the house felt like a steam room. So, we got in the car and went to see if we could get a cold drink somewhere and at a minimum we thought we could cool off. That night lightening was flashing everywhere and lighting up the entire sky. As we drove through the storm, he stated that it was on stormy nights that he felt the closest to God.

Holding Out Hope

Probably one of Dad’s strongest and longest enduring strengths was with regards to his brother Howard. He held onto hope that his brother Howard, who was MIA in WWII, had somehow survived his injuries and would eventually make his way back home. He continued to hold out hope until the time that Howard would have been well into his nineties. Then, he simply said, “I guess it isn’t very likely now.”

Sharing Christmas

I remember one Christmas when I was very young. That Christmas Dad told us about a family that was struggling. We gave the family our Christmas tree and I think Dad gave them money for Christmas dinner. This wasn’t a close friend, but someone that worked in a very low paying job and he wanted to help them out.

Working Through It All

Dad’s father also taught him that just because you encountered adversity in life, you didn’t need others to do things for you – you were a McCracken! It was fine and a good thing to help others, but it just wasn’t necessary for you to stop working just because you lost a loved one or some other adversity occurred.

He learned to put others first and to persevere no matter how difficult the circumstance. This led him to make some very difficult choices in his life. Some of them even broke his heart, but he thought his decisions were best for people that he deeply cared about.

Even as his body was failing him, he had the strength to hold on until my husband and I could be where we could help. He kept asking me how much longer it would be until we moved. Once we arrived, we had a great Father’s Day together. Within 10 days of that day, he could no longer stand. Yet, he kept wanting to keep on trying. Even in those last days, his grip on my hand was stronger than most people’s grip.

The False Reunion

Posted on August 9, 2023January 9, 2025 by FHadmin

Sometimes things aren’t as they are portrayed – even when it comes to family.

Jury-Hartnett Family

On February 12, 1873, great-great grandpa John C. Jury’s sister Eleanor “Ellen” married Thomas Hartnett in Hiattville , Kansas. Ellen and Thomas initially lived in Hiattville and Thomas worked as a farmer and a section foreman for the MK&T Railroad.

During the 1870s and 1880s, Ellen gave birth to three children, two sons and a daughter with their oldest son John being the first child born in Hiattville. Then in 1890, the family moved to a farm north of Hiattvile. By 1905, that farm included 235 acres and had been greatly improved.

Long Lost Half-Brother

In the spring of 1908, a man about 60 years of age arrived in Hiattville claiming to be the half-brother of Thomas. He seemed to know information on the family and knew that Thomas’ half-brother had disappeared over 20 years earlier.

I believe this half-brother was Richard Hartnett. Richard had lived with Thomas and Ellen early in their marriage. Richard was younger than Thomas and had been born in New York while Thomas was born in Ireland. However, Richard soon married and moved away.

Despite the details the man provided, Thomas was skeptical that this man was really his half-brother. Still, Thomas allowed him to stay with the family. He seemed to be harmless. However, sometimes he did not seem to be completely all together mentally and he often talked about starting a logging camp.

One day an address in Oregon was found in his pocket, which would tie in well with logging. Thus, an inquiry was made of officials in that town. It was found that no one with the name Hartnett was known there. However, a man had left that town in the spring that perfectly matched the description of Thomas’ visitor. His name as they knew it was James Ward.

By mid-summer, James’ secret was out and his mental health had declined. Thomas took him to Fort Scott and the old man was so frail that he had to be half-carried into the courthouse. On that day, his mind was not good and he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) provide any details of his life, including who he really was.

The Real Half-Brother

At the time that the supposed half-brother arrived in Hiattville, Richard was living with his family in Seattle, Washington. After he had married, he had worked with the railroad and moved to Parsons, Kansas. Later, he did various jobs living in Stewartsville, Missouri (north of Kansas City) and Netawakce, Kansas (north of Topeka) before finally settling in Seattle in 1890.

Apparently, Richard didn’t keep in contact with Thomas over the years. However, it appears that James, who had recently lived in a neighboring state, had come in contact with Richard and/or his family. James had learned enough about the family to not be a complete obvious fraud.

The Reunion Ends

In the end, the judge sent James to the State Hospital. But, why had he decided to impersonate Thomas’ half-brother? And, why had he made a journey all the way to Kansas from the Pacific Northwest? No one will ever know.

Moving Away

Posted on August 2, 2023August 2, 2023 by FHadmin

Today, many people think nothing of a family member moving across the country for a new job or other opportunity. But, family members moving off on their own is nothing new to this country. This article discusses some of the moves made by members of my Ellis family line.

Roger Ellis

Roger is my 4^th great grandfather. He first shows up in the tax records in Franklin County, Kentucky in 1801. He would not yet have been 21 years of age. Then he married in 1805 in nearby Shelby County. Various Ellis families lived in the area, but none have been connected to Roger. The census and other records state that Roger was born in Pennsylvania. So, what brought him to Kentucky and who traveled with him is unknown. However, we do know that he didn’t stay long as a few years later he secured land in Ripley County, Indiana, which had just opened up for settlement.

His Children

Part of Roger’s children were born in Shelby County, Kentucky and the remainder in Ripley County, Indiana. His oldest son James and his family also got the adventurous spirit. Sometime between 1850 and 1857, they moved to Fillmore County, Minnesota. According to his son’s biographical sketch, they stopped for a couple of years in Iowa prior to making the move to Minnesota.

It is assumed that they moved to be able to acquire more or better land as Minnesota started opening up for settlement in the early 1850s. With that perspective, it was a very good move. James’ land in 1850 in Indiana was valued at $400. By 1870, his land in Minnesota was valued at $3500.

Roger’s youngest son also set his sights on Minnesota. He headed northwest sometime between 1864 and 1867. He initially settled in the same county as James. However, sometime between 1870 and 1880, he moved further northwest to Otter Tail County.

Rebecca is the only daughter to move away from Ripley County, Indiana and the surrounding counties. It wasn’t until 1875 that she married Ruel O’Neel. Ruel’s wife had died the year prior. It is unclear how Rebecca came to move to Iowa and be married to Ruel, but they likely knew each other from their younger days as he lived in Ripley County until the mid-1850s.

The other 7 of Roger’s children either lived in Ripley County or an adjacent county.

David’s Children

My direct line is through David Ellis. As far as we know, he lived all his adult life in Ripley County. What is unknown is what happened to him. All that is known is that he was with the family in 1860, but not with them in 1870. Some people say that he died in the Civil War as there was a David Ellis that died during while serving. It is unclear, however, if that is the same David Ellis.

In any case, David’s wife (Lucy Ann Storms Ellis) and his children all left Indiana during the 1860s. This very well may be due to the Civil War. All of them, with the exception of Henry, ended up in Kansas after a brief period in Illinois.

In this generation, Henry was the one that moved away from the rest of the family. He stayed in the Illinois/Indiana area for a period of time and then he moved to South Dakota, many miles away from the rest of the family. Again, it is assumed that he moved there for the land as the 1880s were brought significant movement to South Dakota.

The Next Generation

David and Lucy’s son Joseph Lewis Ellis is my 2^nd great grandfather. His kids spread out across the state of Kansas mostly in the southern half, but spanning a large portion of the state from east to west. Again, there was an exception.

The youngest, Samuel, moved to Oklahoma. He made his move within a decade of Oklahoma becoming a state, but long after the Oklahoma Land Rush. The reason for his move does not seem to be motivated by the acquisition of land as he was a mechanic. Perhaps southeast Kansas had too many mechanics or his marriage to a much older woman was an issue. No evidence likely exists to create a good working theory for this move.

Great Grandma Rosa

The Ellis line ends with my great grandma Rosa. She moved with the family to Kansas and then from Neosho County to Crawford County. Her children continued the pattern of at least one family member moving away from where their parents lived. And, the pattern continues today.

Too Many Minnies

Posted on July 25, 2023July 25, 2023 by FHadmin

Often newspaper articles, small mentions, and even advertisements have given me a lead to research, given some details in someone’s life, or helped bring a person to life. However, in the case of Minnie (Kutzner) Helm, my mother-in-law’s mother, the newspaper not only led me to find new relatives that I didn’t even have on my radar, but it came to the rescue to tie very fragmented records together.

The Syracuse Journal Democrat, August 13, 1926

The Article

I was searching for articles in Nebraska sbout Minnie Kutzner when I came across the article shown. I immediately wondered why Minnie had been traveling out of state with E. H. Johanns and his family. This was not a name that had ever come to my attention.

Confusion #1

I was following the records and newspaper articles, but then I had second thoughts. E. H. Johanns appeared to show up with the given name of Elbie, Eaven H., Ivan, Iva, and Elben Henry. I began to wonder if these records and newspaper articles were all of the same person. But, he was consistently with a wife Minnie and in many records with sons Elmer and Chris. Thus, the pursuit was on.

Confusion #2

E. H. Johanns and his family lived just outside Syracuse, Nebraska. However, the marriage record for Elbie Johanns showed that he married at the German Lutheran Church in Thayer County, Nebraska, about 100 miles southwest of Syracuse. Again, I was wondering if it was the same man. However, newspaper articles mentioned his wife visiting relatives in Dreshler, Nebraska, which is in Thayer County.

When I saw the name of his wife – “Wilhelmine Kutzner,” I knew this had to be the same couple. The name was spelled incorrectly and used a more formal version of “Minnie,” but it clearly must be another “Minnie Kutzner.”

E.H.’s obituary, which was found well into the research, resolved the question as it said that he had lived in Syracuse where he married Minnie Reuter. Yes, another Minnie! However, she died within a few years of their marriage. Then, it said that he moved to Thayer County, where he married Wilhelmine “Minnie” Kutzner.

A Clue

But, what was the relationship between the two Minnies? Upon reviewing additional details of their marriage, I saw that Minnie Johanns’ father was “Herman Kutzner” and her mother was “Ernestine Stahlert.” Herman Kutzner was the name of Minnie (Kutzner) Helm’s father, but I had never heard he had a wife besides Minnie (Kutzner) Helm’s mother, Minnie (Schmidt) Kutzner. Yes, far too many Minnies!

The Syracuse Journal-Democrat, December 25, 1958

More Digging

So, it was back to the records to determine exactly how this Herman Kutzner was related to Minnie (Kutzner) Helm. No census records existed with Herman and Ernestine living in the same household. However, in 1880, both were living in Minerva, Iowa near where Minnie (Kutzner) Helm’s family lived. Herman, who was listed as married, was boarding with a family. At the same time, Ernestine was listed in the same town with her parents and her daughter Wilhelmina. Interestingly, Ernestine was listed as single and both her and her daughter were listed with Ernestine’s maiden name.

Additionally, the transcription of a marriage record was found, but it lists the wife as Annie, not Ernestine. It seems given the timing of the marriage and the location that it must be the record of the marriage of Herman and Ernestine.

Separate Ways

Another daughter, Caroline Mary “Maria,” was born to Herman and Ernestine in September of 1880. Yet, by the beginning of 1883, Herman and Ernestine must have parted ways as Ernestine married August Meyer in Thayer County that January. Two years later Minnie (Kutzner) Helm’s father Herman Kutzner married her mother Minnie (Schmidt) Kutzner. However, no divorce record has been found to date.

No Conclusions

It would seem that given

Multiple records of Ernestine and Herman being married
Ernestine and Herman being in the same small town close to where Minnie (Kutzner) Helm’s father later lived
The timing of additional marriages

that Minnie (Kutzner) Helm’s father was the same man that married Ernestine. Yet, no records were found to conclusively prove that her father had married twice.

Newspaper To The Rescue

Despite the newspaper not being a primary source of information, it came to the rescue to pull these facts together. One might think that Herman’s obituary would be useful. However, despite Minnie (Kutzner) Johanns and her husband visiting him during his last illness, she was not mentioned in his obituary. It only contained references to his family with his second wife.

Instead, it was the obituary for Minnie (Kutzner) Johanns that brought this story full circle. The key was the mention of Minnie (Kutzner) Helm and her siblings as survivors of Minnie Johanns. Minnie (Kutzner) Helm’s brother Otto’s obituary also mentioned Minnie (Kutzner) Johanns and her sister.

As a result of a newspaper article about a car accident, I found that my mother-in-law had two half-aunts: Minnie (Kutzner) Johanns and Caroline Mary “Maria” (Kutzner) Aden. Additionally, she had eight “new” half-cousins and many more “new” distant cousins.

Questions Remain

The questions that remains are:

Why did Herman name a daughter Minnie when he already had a wife and daughter that went by Minnie?
Why wasn’t Minnie (Kutzner) Johanns mentioned in her father’s obituary despite her visit with him during his battle with cancer?
Why didn’t my mother-in-law know about her half-aunts and their families? After all, they lived in the same general area and it was clear that each branch of the family knew about the other.

Afterward

This story is a greatly abbreviated version of the research into this family. It was complicated by the German names, which never seemed to be spelled the same way twice and the list of given names which seemed to be used interchangeably.