We're not in Kansas any more!

But, some of my ancestors used to live there.

In Johnson County. Olathe to be precise.

That was where Edson McClure Blakesely (#34) filed for his Civil War pension in the late 1800s.

Well, thanks to our friends at the NEHGS, I was made aware of a (new?) site on the history of Johnson County.

I haven't had a chance to fully explore the site, yet. But, did find this photo of a group of Civil War veterans. The fellow seated second from the left in the second row looks suspiciously like old Edson . . .

Some new peregrination starting points from this find:
* I didn't see any Blakesley listed in the list of online bios. But, are they searchable? Perhaps, Edson--or his wife Mary Elizabeth Blakesley (#35)--might be mentioned in someone else's bio . . .
* Search the obituary database.
* There is a ton of cultural info available on this site. While it may not provide specific information on the Blakesleys, it certainly offers a lot of context to help understand what life would have been like during their time in Olathe.
* Pull out Edson's pension file, and see if he gave a specific address. There are maps and atlases on this site, as well as photos.
* Also from the pension file, get the names of the physician who completed his medical examination and witnesses, etc. They may be included in some of this material.

Some McClure Notes

I am hoping the following notes taken out of volume 2 of the "History of Seneca County, Ohio," will help me break down one of my most persistent genealogical brick walls: Isabel McClure (#69).

All I know about her so far is that she was born in Pennsylvania about 1809/1810. She married John B. Blakesley (#68). They were living at Tiffin, Ohio, by 1831, when their first son was born there. By the 1840s, they were living at Republic in Seneca County, Ohio, when a younger son--my Civil War ancestor Edson McClure Blakesley (#34)--was born. By 1850, they had settled in Sandusky, and an 18-year-old laborer (possibly her nephew?!?) named James McClure was included in their household during the census enumeration. Isabel died at Sandusky in 1869.

So, back to the notes:

Page 262In the 1838 election for sheriff, Levi Keller (a Democrat) beat William McClure (a Whig), 1,233 votes to 810 votes.

Page 296 - In May 1835, Robert W. McClure made application for the benefit of the Insolvent Debtors Act.

Page 492 - James W.G. McClure was among the first Presbyterian settlers.

Page 578 - Among the orginal purchasers of the town of Middleburg in 1837 was a William McClure.

Some new peregrination starting points from this find:
* Do any of these McClures appear on census records?
* What was the Insolvent Debtors Act?!

Is it Gleeson or Gleason, or does it even matter?

The creators of the website http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net are to be commended for giving Arlington National Cemetery a virtual presence on the web.

Now, I have known pretty much my entire life that my grandfather William John Gleeson (#6) was buried there.

So is General Leigh Wade, namesake of my mother Leigh Anne Gleeson (#3).

But, imagine my surprise when I discovered another possible familial connection to the fellow pictured here!

His name was John Hasset GLEASON. Yep, with an EA instead of an EE.

Usually, that difference in spelling is enough to turn my attention toward a new peregrination, but then I discovered his birth date and place.

He was born 17 May 1838 at Borrisoleigh in County Tipperary, Ireland.

That's the same little village my immigrant ancestor James Gleeson (#24) left behind when he voyaged to the good old US of A. And, he was born just a short time earlier, in May of 1835 or 1836 (depending on which source you believe).

Could it be these two men were brothers, or maybe cousins?

Some new peregrination starting points from this find:
* John Hasset Gleason died 30 June 1889 in Washington, DC. Is there a death certificate that might list his parents' names?
* JHG was also a Civil War veteran. Does he have a pension file that might give further clues to his ancestry or kin?

Missouri Death Certificates

It seems the Secretary of State out in Show-Me Land had enough time on his or her hands to digitize a bunch of the old death certificates on file in his or her office.

That's good news to genealogists, no?!

The records span from 1910 to 1957, and are searchable at the following link:

http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/

I have already found some folks from my own family tree:

* Mary Fletcher "Fet" Cocke (1829-1913) of Keytesville, elder sister of my ancestor Martha Virginia Brown (#33).

* William McKinzy Cocke (1826-1917) of Keytesville, Fet's husband and also a distant cousin.

* Elizabeth "Lizzie" Hanenkamp Delafield (1849-1932) of St. Louis, a distant cousin.

* Wallace Delafield (1840-1915) of St. Louis, Lizzie's husband.

* Lewis D. Dozier (1846-1914) of St. Louis, a distant cousin by marriage.

* Sallie Lewis Johnson (1860-1926) of St. Louis, a distant cousin.

* Warren Johnson (1861-1936) of Webster Groves, Sallie's husband.

* Andrew J. Knapp (1851-1921) of St. Louis, husband of Julia below.

* Julia Lewis Knapp (1855-1918) of St. Louis, a distant cousin.

* Lewis Knapp (1877-1947) of St. Louis, Julia's son.

* John D. Perry Lewis (1873-1939) of St. Louis, a distant cousin.

* Sallie Lewis (1870-1938) of St. Louis, John's wife.

* Turner Talton Lewis (1857-1932) of St. Louis, a distant cousin.

* Kate Virginia Manning (? - 1917) of Kansas City, sister of my namesake William Swinney Morgan (#16).

* Williem E. Manning (1858-1939) of Kansas City, Kate's husband.

* William E. Royster, Sr., (1863-1936) of Kansas City, a distant cousin by marriage.

* William E. Royster, Jr. (1913-1913) of Independence, who died of bronchitis when only 2 weeks of age.

* Margaret Morris Scarritt (1853-1933) of Kansas City, a distant cousin.

* Stuart G. Stickney (1877-1932) of St. Louis, a distant cousin by marriage (a marriage, by the way, which ended in divorce according to the death certificate!)

The Old Grey Winton, she ain't what she used to be!

The 1925 funeral record of my ancestor Mary Elizabeth Blakesley (#35) mentioned her surviving family paid for the use of a "grey Winton."

Well, that was not the name of any automobile that I had ever heard of before.

Then again, I'm not much of a car buff.

But, I was curious enough to find out more, and discovered an entire article about the Winton Motor Carriage Company on Wikipedia.

Turns out the company was founded by Scottish immigrant bicycle merchant Alexander Winton in Cleveland, Ohio, back in 1897, and it produced the type of upscale vehicles that would have been popular with a funeral home . . . at least up until 1924.

In the latter year, increased competition forced Winton to abandon cars to focus on boat engines. And, in 1930, they sold out to General Motors.

It is likely the vehicle Mary Elizabeth's mourners rode in looked something like the 1915 Winston Six Limousine pictured above.

Some new peregrination starting points from this find:
* Does the Carey Hand Funeral Home in Orlando have any photos of their old vehicles?

Rev. J. Dean Adcock (1876-1944)

A google search for "Dean Adcock" quickly retrieved this picture of the Baptist minister who officiated at the 1925 funeral of my ancestor Mary Elizabeth Blakesley (#35) in Orlando.

It led me to a good resource for anyone researching Baptist roots in the Sunshine State:

http://www.floridabaptisthistory.org/

There I found the Rev. Adcock was born 10 July 1876 in Tennessee. So, he would have been 49 years of age at the time of the Blakesely funeral.

As a younger man, he studied both at Union University and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Upon graduation, he was called to Louisiana and served as a pastor in the towns of Mansfield, Bunkie, and Leeville.

It was in Mansfield that he met and married Miss Frances Rives.

The Adcocks came to Florida in 1912, when he was called to the pastorate of First Baptist Church of Tallahassee.

He became pastor of First Baptist Church of Orlando in 1920, so could not have known Mary Elizabeth for very long before she died in 1925.

He left Orlando in 1938 to become pastor of the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church in St. Petersburg. But, he would have still been in town when Mary Elizabeth's husband (and distant cousin!!) Edson McClure Blakesley (#34) died in 1931. Perhaps he officiated at his funeral as well?

He retired in 1943, and died the following 28th of May.

Some new peregrination starting points from this find:
* The web site referenced obituary details to be found in Florida Baptist Witness on 1 June 1944 (page 1) and 22 June 1944 (page 12). Is this publication indexed? Could it include references to any of my Baptist ancestors in Florida, even if they weren't clergymen?
* The web site also referenced Patricia J. Birkhead's 1996 book We've a Story to Tell: A History of First Baptist Church, Orlando, Florida. [ISBN 1577360206.] I own a copy. Can it tell me if the Blakesleys were members of the congregation, or did Rev. Adcock officiate at funerals of non-members, too?

201 North Magnolia Avenue, Orlando, Florida, 32801

The Orange County Property Appraiser 's web site in Orlando, Florida, is a tremendous resource for anyone trying to research where their ancestors lived.

For instance, I wanted to find out more about the address 201 North Magnolia Avenue, where my ancestors Edson McClure Blakesley (#34) and Mary Elizabeth Blakesley (#35) were living back in 1925.

Unfortunately, I discovered whatever type of building might have been at that address back then fell to the march of progress by 1954, when the current 4-story commercial structure (pictured above) was built.

Must've been a convenient location for Edson to retrieve his Civil War pension checks, though. It's right across the street from the downtown post office!

Some new peregrination starting points from this find:
* What happened to the building that was on this site in 1925?
* Are there any surviving photographs?