McCracken

Lemuel Lawrence

1831 – 1910

Lemuel and his third wife Eveline Donley

This photograph is the only know photograph of Lemuel.

Family Mystery

Little information about Lemuel Lawrence McCracken was passed down in the family. That may be because of the early deaths of his wife Louisiana (age 49) and his children (the one living longest lived only to 66). Additional complications and reasons the family may not have known a lot about him arose from his multiple marriages. Most of the information about Lemuel has been obtained through records. Nothing is known of his parents or any potential siblings.

Questions

Where was Lemuel Lawrence McCracken prior to 1854?
Who were Lemuel’s parents?
Did Lemuel have any siblings?
Is Lemuel related to Robert McCracken that lived in Bates County, Missouri at the same time he did?
Is McCracken really Lemuel’s surname?
Where is Ida Belle McCracken after 1910? Burial Location?
Where were William T. and Lemuel F. McCracken in 1880?
Why did Francis E. McCracken change her name to Minnie Alameda McCracken?
When did Sarah Ann (Dufer) McCracken die and where is she buried?
Why did the family say that Louisiana’s maiden name was Johnson when it was Matteer?
Were the Johnson/Johnston family that lived near the McCracken family in Crawford county somehow related?
How did Lemuel know the Gallea family?

First Marriage

Later that year he married Sarah Dufer. They had one son Delarma Lawrence (spelling varies from record to record) in 1858. Some records refer to him as Del, but most records during his adult years refer to him Lawrence. Lawrence seems to age faster than the years actually pass with later records putting his birth year at an earlier date. The reason for this is thought to be the fact that he was younger than his wife Nancy Judy and the age changed for convenience and image.

Lawrence and Nancy were the parents of 7 children:

Mary Elisabeth m. Albert Gross
Samuel Corr, no children
Sarah Jane, died young
Arthur Royal m. Ida May McNeil Ewing, no children
George William m. Anna Edith Vath, at least 4 children
Nancy Helen m. Steward James Smalley, at least 9 children
Harriett Lucretia m. Bert Verny Gaylord, at least 5 children
Laura Clara m. Frederick Ellsworth Smith, at least 6 children
Ruth Ann m. Daniel William Fye.

Marriage to Louisiana

Although no record has been found, it is assumed that Sarah died in 1858 as Lemuel remarried to Louisiana Badgley (our ancestor) in January 1859. Badgley was Louisiana’s name from her first marriage. She had married James Badgley in Ohio and they had two children Mary Ann and Louis. We had always heard from family that Louisiana’s maiden name was Johnson; however, records show several different, but similar maiden names and it appears that her last name was actually Matteer. Why the name Johnson was passed down through the family remains a mystery.

In 1860, Lemuel, Louisiana, her children, his son, and their oldest child are living in Lee County, Iowa. By 1870, Lemuel and Louisiana had four children together. At this point, Louisiana’s daughter Mary Ann was married to John Macklin and was living in Quincy, Illinois, Lemuel’s son Lawrence was living with another family and working on the farm although he was only 12, and Louisiana’s son Louis does not appear in the records. It is assumed that he must have died; however, no confirming record has been found.

Move to Kansas

In 1873, Lemuel, Louisiana, and the children that they had together [Lemuel Franklin (m. Annie Brockmeyer, 2 children), William Thomas (m. Louretta Johnston, Mollie Jaynes; one child with Louretta, three with Mollie and a step-son), Andrew Johnson (m. Rosa Ellis, 9 children), Ida Belle (m. John Lane/Lame, 2 children), and Joseph (Henry) (m. Laura Geer, 10 children) moved to Crawford County, Kansas, apparently leaving Lawrence, who was only 15, behind in Iowa. Their last child, Minnie Alameda, who married Charles Munroe, no children) was born in Kansas in 1874. Note: Minnie Almeda’s name was originally Francis E. The name changed sometime after 1880.

Louisiana’s brother Charles was already living in Kansas when Lemuel and Louisiana arrived. He first moved to Allen County before moving to Howard County. That area later became Chautauqua County where Lemuel moved in the 1890s. It is unclear where he was in 1873 as he was in Howard County in 1872 and in Scott Township in Bourbon County in 1875. It is assumed that he was still in Howard County when they arrived in Kansas as it was told that they spent their first night in Kansas with the Gallea family (who Lemuel knew/knew of) just south of the Bourbon-Crawford County Line near Cato.

Louisiana’s Death

Sometime after 1875, Louisiana was ailing and the family headed to where family lived. It is unclear whether they made it to their destination or whether they had to stop due to Louisiana’s deteriorating health. In 1879, Louisiana died in Bates County, Missouri.

After Louisiana died, Lemuel stayed in Bates County. In 1880, he is living there with his four youngest children. It is unclear where Delarma Lawrence, Lemuel Franklin and William Thomas were at this time as they have not been found in the 1880 census records.

Marriage to Eveline

The next spring, Lemuel married Melissa (Eveline) Donley McKown Rhodes. Eveline had two prior marriages and had children from each prior marriage. Her children were Laura Luella “Ella” McKown, Felix Henry McKown, and Thomas A. Rhodes.

It is unclear which ones of Lemuel and Eveline’s children lived with them. However, it is known that Louisiana’s daughter Mary Ann Badgley Macklin was married and living in Adams County, Illinois at this time. Lemuel’s son Lawrence marries in Lee County, Iowa that same year. There are no details on Lemuel Franklin or William Thomas until 1886 and 1885, respectively. Likewise, no records have been found for several of the others during what I will call the missing years (1881-1893). We do know that Henry went to live with the Dudley family and moved with them to Butler County, Kansas by 1885. It is unknown exactly when he went to live with them. It also seems that Minnie may have went to live elsewhere, possibly with her half-sister Mary, who was old enough to be her mother. There are no known children of Lemuel and Eveline.

The Move to Chautauqua County

In 1893, Lemuel and Eveline moved to Chautauqua County, Kansas. It is unknown if they had been in Bates County the entire duration of their marriage to that point or not although one article indicated that they may have lived south of Nevada for a time. It is also unknown why they chose to move to Chautauqua County. Louisiana’s brother had lived in the area at one time, they knew the Porcupile family that lived in the area, and a niece of Louisana’s was in the area, but it is unclear if any of these drove Lemuel and Evaline to move to the area or not.

The Final Move

In 1905, Lemuel and Eveline moved again. There are indications that they moved back to Missouri. However, it appears that they actually moved to near Farlington. Andrew appeared to look after them until Lemuel was hospitalized shortly before his death.

At some point, Eveline moved to Texas to live with her son Thomas although it is believed that she may have spent time with her other children.

It was a large family with lots of half and step siblings. The family was spread across Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Texas. It is known that some of the kids kept in touch with each other, but it isn’t clear if all of them did or not. Of course, some of them may never have met some of the others.

←Return to Main