Introduction - OMAHA, NE - This year wouldn’t have been as productive as it was without my having access to Federal Census images on the Internet. So, much can be learned from Census information and new leads from the Census can be followed with other online resources at my disposal. I’ve only made four physical searches of local records this year; Troy, Miami Co., OH, LaSalle Co., IL, Sioux City, IA, and Ottumwa, Wapello Co., IA. The rest of this year’s discoveries have come from online databases, message boards, email, and contacts from my family tree home page.

I’ve been able to personally meet some newly discovered cousins, as well as some that I’ve only corresponded with via email and phone calls.

The sharing of information and photos has added greatly to my archive of our family tree. This task, never-ending, leads me to wonder what wonderful discoveries lay ahead for the coming year.

The Musselmans –

THE FRENCH CONNECTION

VERMILLION, SD - Up until this year, I had known that one of the daughters of George Franklin Musselman and Ann Marie Topping, and sister to Theodore Musselman, had married a man by the last name of Clay and had a son, Forrest Clay and that this same Musselman girl later married a man by the name of Chaussee and had two daughters, Etta and Cora Chaussee. However, I wasn’t sure which Musselman girl it was, Mary or Louise, because the source of this information, the probate record for George Franklin Musselman dated 1885, when listing the heirs to his estate, only said “….the children of a deceased daughter…”, never mentioning her first name. In order to incorporate these connections into my database, I chose Louise to be Mrs. Clay and Mrs. Chaussee.

Well, on August 2^nd, this year, I received a wonderful email from Joyce (Sipe) Hudson, a granddaughter of Etta (Chaussee) Sipe! Joyce and I were able to answer the questions that we both had about our Chaussee-Musselman connection. Joyce was able to confirm, for me, that it was, in fact, Louise Musselman who married “George” Chaussee, and that George was the son of Charles and Zoah Chaussee of Clay Co., SD. The Chaussees came from Canada and were of French descent.

Joyce was unfamiliar with Louise Musselman’s first husband, Clay, but had seen reference to her name as “Ellen Louise Clay” who married George Chaussee, which was confusing to Joyce, until now. Joyce lead me to Sioux City where Etta Chaussee and her husband, William Sipe were married. It was in the marriage records for Woodbury County, that I was able to confirm, with positive evidence, that the parents of the bride were George Chaussee and Louise Musselman.

Joyce Hudson and I were able to compare notes about Cora Chaussee’s marriage to John Bring, and she provided me with some photos of Etta, Cora, and John Bring.

After the death of their mother, Etta and Cora were raised by their father and stepmother, Adrienne Rogers, in Vermillion, SD, Cora and John Bring meeting and marrying in Vermillion in 1900, and Etta marrying William Sipe in Sioux City in 1897. Later, both families as well as George and Adrienne Chaussee, moved out west to Oregon, Washington, and Montana.

The Snyders –

The Sioux City Journal

Sunday - April 17, 1904

DEATHS

SNYDER - In Sioux City, Io., Saturday, April 16, 1904, Harry Snyder, at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Ed Stroebel, 3946 Monroe avenue, Leeds, of heart failure, aged 78 years. The remains will be sent to Elk Point, S. D., this morning for interment. The deceased man had been a resident of Sioux City for the past thirty years. He formerly was engaged in the farming business and also has been in the blacksmithing business.

The online census images led me to discover the final whereabouts of my GGG Grandfather, Henry Snyder. Previously, I only knew that he was buried in South St. Paul Cemetery in Elk Point, SD. His headstone provided no dates, only the Civil War unit that he served with. With no other familiar names marked nearby, I’ve always wondered when Henry (Harry) Snyder died, as well as the final demise of his wife, Caroline.

When I found “Harry “ Snyder in the 1900 Sioux City, Woodbury Co., Iowa Census living with his daughter, Alice, and her husband Cyrus Thompson, I almost immediately visited the Woodbury County Courthouse to locate a death record for Henry Snyder. I was hoping to find his parents listed in this record, but disappointingly they were not.

By knowing Henry’s death date, I was able to locate a death notice and an obituary at the Sioux City Library, in the two Sioux City papers from that time period.

TheTribune

DIED

SNYDER - In Sioux City., IA., April 16, 1904, H. Snyder, aged 78 years, of heart failure.

The remains will be taken to Elk Point for interment. Mr. Snyder lived with his daughter, Mrs. Fred Strobel in Leeds.

The Reids –

Always,

the Last Place You Look.

TROY, OH - Last year, I told you of the divorce of John and Nancy Ann Reid in Miami County, Ohio in 1865 and the “soon-there-after” marriage of John Reed and Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Reeder. I am, for the moment, positive that John “Reid” and John “Reed” are the same man. I’ll be surprised if it is ever determined to be otherwise.

Upon another visit to Troy, Miami Co., Ohio in March, this year, I pursued the trail of John and Sarah E. (Reeder) Reed. I located the marriage of their daughter, Caroline, to William Wilhelm, and gathered further information about their family (i.e. obituaries, cemeteries, and census) hoping to find a clue as to the final demise of John Reed. After locating the obvious records, I finally found what I was looking for in a Common Pleas Court record dated April 20, 1893 involving Caroline Wilhelm and a George W. L. Reeder concerning a house that Mr. Reeder was leasing from Caroline and her mother, Sarah Reed. Mr. Reeder was supposedly to have been responsible for the taxes associated with the property as well as pay $2 per month rent while he lived there with his family. Well, evidently the taxes became overdue, and Caroline was legally liable for them. They became delinquent enough for the property to be sold for cost of the back taxes. A man named Martin bought it and then Mr. Reeder bought it from him. Caroline Wilhelm was suing for fraudulent methods of obtaining the property that she thought was rightfully hers, or her mother's. A jury voted in favor of Mr. Reeder.

The most important part of the court record was at the beginning where the property is described as belonging to John Reed who died on February 22, 1882. This is what I was looking for!

This Common Pleas Court record must have triggered the filing of a Probate Case for the John Reed estate, dated November 1893. I knew of this Probate record and had a copy of it. It listed his heirs as the widow Sarah E. Reed and daughter Caroline Wilhelm, but there was no date of death listed for John Reed, anywhere, in the probate record. Come to find out, he died almost twelve years prior to his probate record.

With the knowledge of John Reid’s death date, I then searched the local newspapers of the time hoping to locate an informative obituary that would tell me more about John Reid and his family. I was excited to find a death notice for him, but disappointed about its lack of informative content. The hunt continues!

Miami Union

Troy, Ohio

Feb 25, 1882

Mr. Read, an old gentleman who lived at the end of Market street, died this week.

Two Branches Unite!

KANSAS CITY, KS - One day in January, 2002 Cary Houchins emailed me inquiring about my Swanson family line. I had to tell him that I saw no connection between his Swansons and mine. This happens all of the time in this hobby of genealogy. But, he should have asked me about my Reid family!

It was a week later that I received notice from the Replogle Family Message Board, online, that someone had responded to my inquiry about Henry Reid and his wife Sarah Ann Replogle. Low and behold!……….it was Cary Houchins who had responded!

Cary, of Kansas City, KS, was searching for his Great Great Grandfather Schuyler Colfax Reid, whom he knew was the son of Henry and Sarah (Replogle) Reid. I knew of Schuyler and had collected information about him from Sioux City records. Schuyler was a brother of my GG Grandfather, Charles I. Reid. I knew of Schuyler’s wife and children, but I had not pursued contacting any of his living descendants. Cary’s contact saved me the search.

It was through Cary, that I was able to correspond with his mother, Judy Johnson of Spencer, IA, and Judy’s cousin, Carol (Johnson) Chmielewski of Muskego, WI. Judy and Carol grew up in Sioux City, IA and were familiar with many of the same people from the Leeds area that my parents are familiar with; i.e. the Reids, Lynns, Johnsons, and Siedschlags. I think that everyone had fun going down memory lane as well as reviewing the book about Leeds’ history.

Cary, Judy, and Carol were able to share information about their line, with me, and I provided them with information about the rest of our extended Reid family. Carol Chmielewski sent, to me, a wonderful picture of her Great Grandfather Schuyler Colfax Reid. It was fun comparing resemblances between him and his other brothers who I have pictures of.

On two separate business trips, I was able to meet Judy Johnson in Spencer, Iowa and then her son Cary Houchins in Kansas City, KS. Its always a delight to sit down and visit with new cousins and discuss our common ancestors.

You Never Know

Who You’re Sitting Next To!

SPENCER, IA - While I was contemplating my Reid family information, I noticed that I had another distant relative who lived in Spencer, Iowa besides Judy Johnson. Debra Sue (Dougherty) Johnson (no Johnson connection that I know of.) who’s great grandmother was Mary Ann (Reid) Edwards, lived in Spencer with her husband, Dr. Tom Johnson, and their children. Debra grew up in Hastings, NE where her parents, Lester and Kaye (Edwards) Dougherty live.

By chance, I asked Judy Johnson if she knew a Tom and Debra Johnson from Spencer, and if so, then she was related to them. Judy’s reply was, “Know them? We’re best friends!”. It turns out that Judy and Debra have known each other for about fifteen years, and Judy has had Debra’s children as her students in the school that she teaches at. Both Debra and Judy were ecstatic to learn that they were cousins, although very distant. Judy’s Great Great Grandfather Henry Reid and Debra’s Great Grandmother Mary Ann (Reid) Edwards were brother and sister, children of John and Nancy (Marks) Reid.

Treasures in the Attic!

SOUTH SIOUX CITY, NE - Condolences went out to Melva (Russell) Persinger, of South Sioux City, NE, last year, after the passing of her mother, Ruby (Keller) Russell in August 2001.

Although sad, this is often how family history memorabilia is discovered. Melva discovered many old photographs in a box, that belonged to her mother. Melva allowed me to borrow these precious items, so that I could scan and archive them in my family history computer file. The collection of photos contains descendents and relatives of Joseph Viner Reid and his wife Alice Loretta Brown. Joe and Alice’s wedding photo as well as a fiftieth wedding anniversary photo, were two of the most interesting ones, to me.

Some photos were of Reids that I didn’t have pictures of or were different than the ones that I have, like Emma, Ida, Mary Ella, and Florence Reid, Joe’s sisters. One photo that was labeled as “Joe’s cousins” was of two little girls whom I believe to be Eliza Mae and Lola Alice Reid, Henry Reid’s youngest children. Another of a young man is labeled “Joe’s cousin” which really resembles Alfred I. Reid when compared to a photo of Alfred as an older man. Alfred was a son of William and Emma (Viner) Reid. Thank you, Melva, for sharing!

ANOTHER FACE-TO-FACE.

It was during the same business trip to Kansas City, MO when I met with Cary Houchins that I was able to finally meet Frances Ruth (Reid) Napper, a granddaughter of Joseph Reid, brother to my GGG Grandfather Henry Reid.

“Ruth” and her daughter , Frances Ruth (Napper) Wholf, have provided very, valuable information to our search for our Reid ancestry. Cousin Mike Thorstad first made contact with Frances Wholf who was also searching for her family’s roots. It was from many documents from Joseph Reid’s Civil War records that turned our research efforts towards Miami County, Ohio where abundant information was discovered about our Reid family. We had previously been searching in Montgomery County, Ohio with little success.

Another great contribution from Ruth’s family was in the form of the journal that her grandfather kept during his service in the Civil War. Although not containing much for genealogical research, it was fascinating to read as a first hand account of the life and times of America in the Civil War era.

I had the journal transcribed and I have donated a copy of it to the Miami County, Ohio Historical and Genealogical Society Library in Troy, Ohio, where Joseph Reid’s military unit was formed up. The content of the journal is also posted on my family tree home page, on the Internet. It was a pleasure meeting with Ruth Napper and many thanks to her and Frances for their contributions!

REID – WELLER – DRAKE

LASALLE COUNTY, IL - Often, while researching an immediate “branch” of one’s family “tree”, one finds an interesting “twig” in which to pursue. One such twig, for me, is that of the connection between the Henry Reid and the Jeduthian Weller families.

This year, I was able to stop in Lasalle County, IL on my way to Cincinnati, OH for business. During my brief visit in Ottawa, IL I was able to fill in some blanks about this connection.

I had already known that Henry Reid’s son, George Sherman Reid, had married Eleanora (Nora) R. Weller, the daughter of Jeduthian Weller and Ann Drake from Lasalle County, IL, and that Nora was raised by the William M. Bute family, also from Lasallle County, IL, in Page County, Iowa after the death of her mother, Ann Drake. But, I only had bits and pieces concerning Nora’s parents and their lineages.

Through census listings and newspaper indexes at the Lasalle County Genealogical Library in Ottawa, IL I was able to gather more information about the Wellers and Drakes which has been most valuable to the living descendants of Pearl M. Reid, son of George S. and Nora (Weller) Reid, whom I have been in contact with for a couple of years, now.

With these additional clues from Lasalle County, IL I was able to pursue a hunch that I had about George S. Reid’s sister, Lola Alice, who was noted to have married a John Weller. I thought, and had hoped, that this John Weller and Nora Weller were related. Finally, through searching Census images on the Internet, I was able to positively match John Weller, son of Jeduthian Weller, to John Weller, husband of Lola Alice Reid. So my hunch was correct… two Reid siblings married two Weller siblings.

The Babcocks –

WHO’S YOUR DADDY?

PAGE COUNTY, IA - Ever since starting this adventure into my family’s past, five years ago, I’ve wanted to trace my Babcock line further back from my GGG Grandfather John Vinton Babcock. With conflicting information from various Census listings concerning John V. Babcock’s birth place (i.e. New York or Rhode Island), and the enormous concentrations of Babcocks in both places, I thought that it would be impossible to track down my “John” Babcock and sort him out from all of the other “John” Babcocks.

I thought, for sure, that an informative obituary for John V. Babcock would be the answer to the discovery of his ancestry. After looking a couple of times, before, in the Page County, IA newspapers, with no results, I decided to try again and I was successful! However, the obituaries that I found were very brief and didn’t yield any more than what I already knew.

The Shenandoah Democrat

November 10, 1893

J. V. Babcock, a farmer living near Bingham, died Wednesday of diabetes.

Funeral services were held yesterday by Rev. J. B. Bartley with interment at Snow Hill cemetery.

He was 52 years of age and leaves a wife and four children.

The Shenandoah Sentinal

November 10, 1893

BINGHAM

DIED - Three miles southeast of Bingham, at his home, on Wednesday evening at four o'clock, Mr. Babcock. His funeral takes place Friday.

FULTON COUNTY, OH - Well, once again, my subscription to online Census images has proven most valuable, for it was in the 1850 Fulton County, Ohio Census that I found my John V. Babcock living with his parents, Joseph and Hannah Babcock, my GGGG Grandparents. Luckily, John was listed using his middle initial, otherwise I would still have doubts as to this being my GGG Grandpa Babcock. His age at the time and his birthplace of New York, when added to his parents’ birthplaces as Rhode Island, convinced me even more of this being a positive discovery.

From this 1850 Census, as well as the 1860 Census, I was able to discover John V.’s siblings’ names, as well. I had already known of John V.’s older sister, Eliza, who married George Bunting and resided in Page County, Iowa near John V. and his family, but now I know of his brothers, George Clark and Robert James Babcock.

Through the Internet, I was then able to make contact with a living descendant of George C. Babcock, Janet Marty. Janet and I have exchanged our Babcock information and have filled in the blanks that we both had about the other’s Babcock branch. The next step will be to discover who were the parents of my GGGG Grandparents Joseph and Hannah Babcock were. It just keeps going!

THE BABCOCK, BUNTING, RUNYAN SPIDER WEB.

PAGE COUNTY, IA - This will be very confusing to most of you, for the relationships within the Babcock, Bunting, and Runyan families form quite a spider web like family tree, but it is through this web that I made contact with Wayne Runyan and Norman Runyon, who have researched their family history and who are related to each other, but Wayne being the one most related to me.

I’ll start with Eliza Babcock (remember she’s the older sister to John V. Babcock.) who married George Bunting. Their son, Isaac N. Bunting married Rebecca A. Runyon and Isaac’s sister, Ruth Jane Bunting, married John Lewis Runyon. Both Rebecca and John Lewis Runyon were children of William and Mary Ann Runyon.

George and Eliza (Babcock) Bunting’s daughter, Emaline, married Roma Maranville and they had two children Sarah Ann and James Isaac Maranville. Well, Sarah Ann Maranville married her cousin, Robert H. Babcock son of John V. Babcock, and James Isaac Maranville married Alda Belle Runyon, his Aunt Rebecca Bunting’s and Uncle John Lewis Runyon’s little sister.

Wayne Runyan, with whom I’ve corresponded with through email, is a descendant of John Lewis Runyon and Ruth Jane Bunting. So, our lineages connect back to the parents of Eliza (Babcock) Bunting and John Vinton Babcock’s parents, Joseph and Hannah Babcock. Also to be added to this connection, is Janet Marty’s George Clark Babcock lineage.

Wayne Runyan is my third cousin twice removed. I haven’t enough information about Janet Marty’s line, yet, to be able to accurately mark our relationship to each other.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS IDA JANE BABCOCK?

HINKLEY, PINE COUNTY, MN - It has been a long wait, but the final whereabouts of Ida J. Babcock has been discovered. In review….Ida Jane Babcock, daughter of John Vinton and Sarah Jane (Stine) Babcock, married Edward J. Hookham in 1886 in Page County, IA and they had three children, Robert A., Earl T., and Myrtle I. Hookham. In 1900, in Page County, Iowa, Edward and Ida divorced. I had collected some information on the Robert A. Hookham family from Pat Freer of Shenandoah, IA whom I met, there, and was introduced to Roy Hookham and his mother, Maxine Hookham, Robert A.’s daughter. I, also, had investigated rumors of Ida Babcock having married a second time to a George Dawson, but my search results provided confusing information.

Finally, this year, all of the puzzle pieces have come together. With clues about Earl T. Hookham’s whereabouts from Maxine Hookham, Earl’s niece, and a referral from a Dawson family researcher, Leslie Dawson of Nebraska City, NE, I was able to make contact with a grandson of Earl T. Hookham, James Earl Dawson.

I knew that in 1900, during the time of the divorce, Ida and her children, Robert and Myrtle were living in Page County, IA with Ida’s mother, Sarah Jane (Stine) Babcock and Earl Hookham was living with his aunt and uncle, Charlie and Mary (Babcock) Reid, in Sioux City, IA. I had tried to locate Earl Hookham in later census records, but with no luck. The reason for this being that his name was changed to Earl T. Dawson.

From James Earl Dawson, I was able to confirm and learn more about Ida J. (Babcock) Hookham’s second marriage to George David Dawson, who had been previously married, as well. After marrying Mr. Dawson in Fremont County, IA in December of 1900, they had a child together, Nellie, in 1901. They later moved to Hinkley, MN, taking Earl and Myrtle Hookham with them, and their last names changed to Dawson. The oldest Hookham child, Robert, remained in the Sioux City, IA area.

It was in 1911 that Ida passed away in Hinkley, MN. Some time afterwards, George David Dawson married his stepdaughter, Myrtle I. Hookham, and they had nine children together. I have corresponded with Gale Dawson, a descendant of this marriage.

Earl T. Hookham-Dawson later married Anna Godfrey and they had three children, Darwin Earl, Lillian, and Wayne Dawson. My contact, James Earl (Jim) Dawson, is the son of Darwin Earl Dawson.

Jim Dawson has provided me with some interesting items. One was a letter that was written by my GG Grandmother Mary E. (Babcock) Reid to her sister, Ida J. (Babcock) Dawson in February 1902 and the other was an old photo of the Babcock family including the mother Sarah, Mary, John H., and Ida. Jim also had a photo of the Edward J. Hookham family and one of Robert A. Hookham as a young man. What treasures! I look forward to further correspondences with Gale and Jim Dawson about our Babcock – Hookham – Dawson lineage.

The Stines –

AUDUBON COUNTY, IA - A new line of cousins has been discovered with connection to my Stine family tree. Sarah Jane (Stine) Babcock’s sister, Margaret Stine married George A. McCuen in Jasper County, IA in 1855. I had known a little about this McCuen family from the Audubon and Carroll County area of Iowa including the fact that their daughter Rose Bell (McCuen) Fritz’s second marriage was to her cousin, Robert H. Babcock, which was also his second marriage, but now a living descendant of Rose McCuen and her first husband William Fritz, Brenda (Fritz) Allyn, has provided additional information about the McCuen line to fill in the many blanks that I had in this Stine family branch of my tree. I, in return, have been able to give Brenda much about our common Stine family.

The letter that I mentioned in the article about the Babcocks, from Mary (Babcock) Reid to her sister Ida (Babcock) Dawson had mentioned their Uncle George and Aunt Margaret McCuen, and their one of their sons who lived near Sioux City, Iowa in northeastern Nebraska.

I’m looking forward to exchanging more information with Brenda in the near future.

The Butlers –

WAPELLO COUNTY, IA - In my pursuit to learn more about my Butler family tree, I started with rather vague information about the final whereabouts about my GG Grandfather Millard Alonzo Butler and his connection to Calvin and Alice Butler, supposedly to be his parents.

I think that I have tracked down death information for Millard A. Butler in Maywood, Cook County, IL in 1921 but have yet to receive a copy of this record.

As far as confirming the relationship between Millard and Calvin Butler and tracing the Butler line farther back…..I’ve hit a gold mine!

A couple of years ago, in Cherokee County, IA, my parents discovered an obituary for an Eliza Butler who died in 1901 in “Highland, Iowa” and who was said to be the mother of “A. M. Butler”. She was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Cherokee. Although the obituary was brief, this was a vague clue, for us, with great potential to be connected to our Butlers, for Millard A. Butler was living in Cherokee County in 1900 and our records at the time had his mother as being “Alice” which is phonetically similar to “Eliza”.

I had found various information about a Calvin and Eliza (Carter) Butler, which only listed one child, that being an Arthur Melville Butler (A. M. Butler.). With my GG Grandfather being listed in various records as Millard A., Alonzo M., M. A. and A. M. Butler, I couldn’t be sure of any relationships, at that time.

This Calvin and Eliza Butler were married in 1852 in Stark County, Ohio, my sources showed that Millard A. Butler was born in 1855 in Ohio so, I figured that the 1860 Ohio Census should show both in the same household, but this wasn’t to be.

After giving up, for the time being, it was a reference in the 1900 Iowa Census Index that lead me to “Highland Twp.”, Wapello County, Iowa where a C. Butler and wife Eliza were listed. My visit to Ottumwa, in Wapello County, IA resulted in great findings!

In records at the Ottumwa library and the genealogical library, there, I found many references to an Abia C. Butler and his family, but no Calvin or Eliza, just that 1900 Census listing for them. So, I collected as much information about the Abia C. Butler family, as I could.

After returning home to my computer, I pursued the search for this Abia C. Butler’s past, on the Internet, and discovered that he and Calvin Butler were brothers and that their parents were George and Catherine (Cline) Butler.

Once again, through my subscription to online census images, I was able to find Calvin Butler and his family in Stark and Fulton Counties in Illinois, and Monona and Wapello Counties in Iowa from 1850 through 1900. It was the 1870 Fulton County, IL Census that listed both Calvin and Millard together, as well as the 1880 Monona County, IA Census. I have since been able to piece together many various fragments of Butler information that I had gathered.

I’ve always had a family photo of Butlers, which only identified “Laun” Butler as one of the grown children of the family (“Laun” or “Lon” being short for Alonzo, or Millard Alonzo.) the father, I had assumed but now know, being Calvin Butler. With my new findings, I was able to make a reasonable assumption about the other siblings shown in the photo.

With further searching of the Internet I came across a man who provided me with a little more information about my Millard-Calvin-George Butler line. He provided me with three additional generations back to a Simon Butler who was born in the late 1600’s in Wales and came to America, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1701. I have, yet, to compile all of the Butler information into my computer file, but I will report later of any more interesting findings.