Fawkner DNA -- From the Top

It's time to blog again. Mostly for myself, as a way to get my otherwise jumbled thoughts better organized. But, if you're interested enough in Fawkners or the application of DNA to genealogy, you're more than welcome to tag along. I can't guarantee you'll learn a lot, but I'll be pleased if you do.

Here's the deal.  My wife is descended from John C. Fawkner, who, best as we know, was born in 1777. He was my wife's 3rd great-grandfather.  About this there is no doubt. I can prove it with documentary evidence, but I'm not going to do that here. For the moment, the question is: who were the parents of John C. Fawkner?

John C. Fawkner had children from four marriages before he died in 1839 in Hendricks County, Indiana. The research that discovered and documented these marriages was reported in my article in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (September 2011, pp. 165-84). Though a good deal is known about his life, no record directly identifies John C. Fawkner's parents.

However, several pieces of contemporary evidence place him in close proximity -- both geographically and socially -- with a Faulconer family in Fayette County, Kentucky, from the mid-1790s into the 1820s.  Several variations of John C. Fawkner's name appear in the records -- Faulkner, Falconer, Forkner, etc. Might John C. Fawkner have been a member of the Fayette County Faulconer family?

The idea that DNA might shed light on the problem resulted from an accidental encounter. While attending a Low Dutch Cousins reunion in Mercer County, Kentucky, in 2009, I met a Faulconer about my age who traced his ancestry back to John Faulconer, who came to Fayette County from Virginia in 1799. Again, the ancestry checks out, but I am not going to document Mr. Faulconer's descent here. The important thing at this point is that "KY-Faulconer" is a direct-line male descendant of the John Faulconer who settled in Kentucky. That is, barring any intervening mis-attributed paternity events, he should carry the Y-DNA of John Faulconer.  Perhaps, slightly modified by a few mutations over several generations.

This was good, but there was a problem.  My wife can not have any Faulconer Y-DNA. In fact, she has no Y-DNA. Her father was a Tidball (deceased), so her two brothers also have no Faulconer Y-DNA. But, her father's second cousin -- "MN-Fawkner," a 2nd great-grandson of John C. Fawkner -- is still living. If  John Fawkner was really a Faulconer, MN-Fawkner should still carry the Faulconer Y-DNA.

This was good.  I had two possibly related straight-line Faulconer/Fawkner descendants to test. Now, remember, Y-DNA was all the rage in 2011. Consumer-market autosomal DNA tests were in their infancy. The key for now was that, by going up my wife's family tree a few generations and then back done, I had found a living Fawkner male to test.

The scene is set. The curtain goes up next week when I will unveil the first set of results.

Katharyn was Buried THERE?

By 1900, the George Fawkner family had made it across half a continent from Indiana to California. Fairie Fawkner had married the son of the Minnesota State Auditor, Herbert Braden, who went west to be an "orchardist" in Ontario, California. Fairie's father, George, had died in San Francisco in 1897, and his body was shipped to Ontario for burial. After George's death, his widow and Fairie's sister, Katharyn, went west to be near the Bradens. Herbert died in 1903; Fairie died in 1910. Katharyn and her mother went east to Chicago for a few years (evidence: 1910 census and 1913 death certificate of Fairie's daughter, Genevieve).

Sometime after 1913, Mary and Katharyn returned to Southern California, but they left a faint trail until Katharyn died in 1954. Her death certificate offered a surprise. Burial was to be at Woodlawn Cemetery in New York City. Why THERE? Apart from her birth in Indiana, Katharyn had never lived east of Chicago.

The cemetery record was revealing. Katharyn Fawkner and Mary C. Fawkner (died 1931 in Los Angeles) had been interred in lot 16198 in the Clover plot in Section 153 -- alongside Aurie Dell Black. The lot owner was Herbert S. Carpenter, Arthur J. Singer, and the Farmer Loan and Trust Company, executors of the estate of Aurie Dell Black. The cemetery record indicates that bequest no. 1,623 of Aurie's will limited burials in the plot to the three women.

Who in the world was Aurie Dell Black, and why did her will provide for the burial of Katharyn and her mother? There are shorter ways to the answer, but my route started with Aurie's name. I'm not sure why, but I felt like I had seen the name before. Actually, I had not, but my memory took me back to the 1880 census enumeration of Katharyn and her parents in St. Paul, Minnesota. There, with the family of George S. Fawkner, was a niece, "A. D. Walker," 19, born in Indiana.

I knew the Fawkner family inside out, so was pretty certain Ms. Walker was a niece on Katharyn's mother's side of the family. George Fawkner had married Mary Burks in Hendricks County, Indiana, in 1866.  It was easy to find that Mary had a sister Rhoda, who had married William Walker in 1856. In 1870, "Orsa" Walker, 9, was living with the A.P. Burk family in Tuscola, Illinois -- the same town where the George Fawkner family lived. I don't know what, but something had apparently happened to place Orsa, or Aurie, with her grandparents in 1870, and with her Aunt Mary in 1880.

Aurie Dell Walker married John Austin Black in 1895 back in Indianapolis. Black became a wealthy stock broker in New York City. Aurie's September 1922 passport application indicated the couple had divorced. I don't know the details, but after the divorce, Aurie had the means to live at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, where shed died in 1926. She also apparently maintained control of the Woodlawn Cemetery lot, allowing her to reserve space for her aunt and cousin.

Marriages of Jennie and Fairie Fawkner

Five years after Jennie Fawkner's young suitor, Albert Drake, shot himself on a St. Paul street in 1882 (May 19 post), Jennie said yes to a more promising proposal. She married Thomas Parker Pease in a "quiet wedding" in the Fawkner home in September 1887, officiated by G. L. Brokaw of the Christian church.

MN Historical Society microfilm

Tragedy paid another visit only 15 months later when Jennie died in December 1888. The three-sentence news report stated, "Mrs. Pease was well known in social circles. She was but twenty-two years of age, having been married little more than a year." (St. Paul Daily Globe, 10 December 1888, p. 2). She undoubtedly died of child birth complications, because the Ramsey County death registration reported the death of "Baby Pease" the same day. Jennie died of eclamplesia, a complication of high blood pressure that can cause seizures or coma in pregnant women.

Jennie's sisters, Fairibelle and Katharyn, were 19 and 11, respectively, when Jennie died. Though surely deeply touched by their sister's death, they enjoyed promising teen years. Scattered newspaper reports give some hint of the Fawkner's rise in status during this time. In June 1887, Fairie attended the season opening event at the Hotel Lafayette on Lake Minnetonka (a fashionable resort west of Minneapolis) for Minneapolis and St. Paul "belles and beaux" (Daily Globe 26 June 1887, p. 5).  In the fall of 1891, Miss "Faery" Fawkner gave "a charming little tea party"for three guests. Eligible young men were invited for the evening -- the young people "danced and talked and enjoyed themselves in the simplest and most delightful fashion imaginable." Among they young men were Capt. Braden, and Tom and Will Pease -- possibly Jennie's widowed husband and his brother.

In January 1892, Fairy performed in a benefit performance "Fantasma of Flowers" for the Christian chapel (Daily Globe, 10 January 1892). Katharyn, still a teenager, enrolled in a course in painting at St. Joseph's Academy, making an "enviable reputation as an artist in the school" (Daily Globe, 9 April 1893).

George Fawkner apparently made some political connections -- possibly through his wife's family or the GAR -- because he was appointed a special agent of surveys for the General Land Office in June 1889 (under the Harrison administration). Her father's political connections might have helped Fairie take a step up in status. She married Herbert C. Braden 26 October 1892. Herbert's father, William, was Minnesota State Auditor from 1882 to 1890.

At least three accounts in the St. Paul Daily Globe gave slightly different accounts of the Wednesday "high noon" wedding in the Fawkner home.

• The Daily Globe (23 October 1892) reported that "a wedding that will of of much interest to St. Paul people" would take place at 12 o'clock noon Wednesday, 26 October, at the Christian chapel at the corner of Nelson and Farrington Avenues. A wedding trip to Duluth and West Superior was planned. After 10 days back in St. Paul, Herbert and Fairie would make their home in Osburn, Idaho.
• A longer story after the wedding said the couple would live in Montana. The groom was described as "Capt. Braden's handsome son." The chapel was "prettily trimmed with palms," and even though no cards were sent out, "the room was crowded to the doors" as the wedding march was "swiftly played" (Daily Globe, 27 October 1892).
•  The 30 October Sunday edition stated that  bride was the daughter of a "prominent army officer" -- not true to this blogger's knowledge.

MN Historical Society microfilm

The bride's gown was "a traveling costume of sage green wool crepe, trimmed with wool of a lighter shade." Her hat was "a delightlful creation of shaded green ribbons and plumes and velvet." She carried a bouquet of American Beauty roses. Fairie's sister, Kate, carried La France roses and wore gray wool and a gray felt hat.

Herbert Braden's father, as State Auditor, was closely involved with the timber industry in northern Minnesota -- possibly an explanation for Herbert's plans to go west to Osburn, Idaho. He and Fairie did not stay there long. By the time of the 1897 death of Fairie's father in San Francisco, the Bradens were in Ontario, California -- east of Los Angeles. The 1900 census identified him as an "orchardist." Herbert died there 20 June 1903. Though he had been in California since at least 1897, hid death warranted an obituary in the St. Paul Globe.

"Bert" Braden, as he was familarily [sic] called by his friends here, was a son of Former State Auditor W. W. Braden and was, during his residence here, quite prominent in the national guard. He was captain of Company C. in the First regiment, and later a major in the Third Regiment. H was a member of the Sons of Veterans and prominent in the Loyal Legion. (St. Paul Globe, 21 June 1903, p. 16, col. 1).

Fairie died in Chicago in 1910, but was buried alongside Herbert in Bellevue Memorial Park in Ontario. The 1910 census enumerated Fairie's daughter Genevieve with Mary, 69, and "Katherine" Fawkner, 28, in Chicago. Genevieve died from "tuberculosis of hip joint" in Chicago in 1913. Mary Fawkner died in Los Angeles in 1931. Katharyn also returned to California, where she died in 1954.

This is not quite the end of the story. In one of my presentations at the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree in Burbank this weekend, I will be sharing the story of why Katharyn was buried across the continent in New York City. My plans are to re-tell the story in next week's blog.

What Next? SCGS Jamboree!

Several recent posts have featured the family of George S. Fawkner, who was born in Indiana, fought in the Civil War, married and took his family to Illinois and Minnesota, traveled the West as a government land inspector, and died alone in San Francisco in 1897.

George had three daughters.

• Jennie escaped possible murder as a teenager (May 19 post), married Thomas Parker Pease in 1887, and died from childbirth complications in 1888. The baby also died.
• Fariebelle married Herbert Braden in 1892 in St. Paul. He died in California in 1903, leaving Farie with a young child -- who, in turn, died unmarried at age 19 in Chicago.
• Katharyn never married and, to the best of anyone's knowledge, had no children. She died in Los Angeles in 1954 at age 76 -- even though her death certificate said she was only 70.

That's right, George S. Fawkner has no descendants. But, he had nephews and nieces and cousins, which makes him a part of many people's family history.

This week's post, scheduled for June 2, will tell more of the story of Jennie, Fariebelle, and Katharyn. This weekend, one of my presentations at the Southern California Genealogical Societies Jamboree 2016 (http://genealogyjamboree.com/) will feature the story of how Katharyn, who had never lived east  of Indianapolis, came to be buried in New York City after her death in California.

See you in Burbank!

"A Pernicious Habit"

St. Paul Globe, 14 May 1882, p. 10; Chronicling America image

If you read last week's post, you know the tragic ending of the teenage romance of Jennie Fawkner and Albert Drake. More than 130 years later, a reader of the article in the St. Paul Daily Globe can not know how faithfully the facts were reported, but the essential fact is clear -- a 16 year-old boy died on the streets of St. Paul as result of a romance gone sour.

The boy was far too young to die. Both families must have been devastated. This is real family history that can never be totally swept under the carpet.

The incident occurred on a downtown street, in broad public view. The front page coverage surely made the incident the talk of the town. A gun was involved. This was not the wild west; this was St. Paul, the capital of Minnesota, nearly 25 years after statehood. In the next issue of the Globe (14 May 1882, p. 10), a stirring letter to the editor spoke to an issue that is with us yet today.

 Apropos to the untimely end of young Drake by suicide... is it not about time for the proper authorities to initiate more stringent measures to prohibit the carrying of concealed weapon[?] It is true that the law forbidding it exists, but it is equally true that it is, with rare exception, a dead letter upon our statutes... or city laws.

The anonymous letter writer asserted that as many as two-thirds of all boys 14 and older carried weapons, and urged the police to make "sudden and unannounced" searches for the weapons.

St. Paul Globe, 14 May 1882, p. 10; Chronicling America image

He (or she) added:

There seems to be a morbid desire in our youth to be the owner of such an implement of death; he seems to attach a certain greatness to it; it makes him feel like a man! Ah, there's the rub! Men set the example and youth is bound to imitate. The question naturally arises, "Why do so many men carry concealed weapons?"

 The writer acknowledged that "the law-abiding and orderly class of citizens" feel the need to carry guns for self-defense, but went on to lambast lawyers for using the law to protect criminals.

The story and the letter are eerily similar to stories and commentaries we read today -- although today drugs or gang grievances might be involved. This is a nonpolitical blog -- or nearly so. Opinions varied then and opinions vary now. I draw two lessons from the newspaper story and the letter to the editor. First, newspapers are a wonderful source for getting a feel for the places and times our ancestors lived. Second, today is not as different from the past as we like to think.

A Singular Suicide: Tragedy finds the Fawkners

Unexpected family history stories are buried in historical newspapers, and the explosion of searchable digitized images of them makes it easier than ever to find news about your family.

While searching for news about the George Fawkner family of St. Paul, Minnesota, I stumbled upon a story printed in the 11 May edition of The Albert Lea Standard, published in Albert Lea, Minnesota, about 100 miles south of St. Paul. This story popped up because the optical character recognition had caught the name "Fawkner" in a story titled, "A Shooting Sensation in St. Paul." I at first thought the search engine had given me a false positive hit -- that is, I though the OCR had mistaken another name for Fawkner. Then, four lines into the story, my eyes caught "the daughter of Mr. George Fawkner."

The opening passage of the article read: "A singular suicide occurred in St. Paul recently. A school boy affection on the part of Albert Drake, a sixteen year old, for Miss Jennie, the fifteen year old daughter of Mr. George Fawkner, developed into a wild and frantic passion." When Jennie's mother "delicately broke the news" of her objections due the the youth of the parties, Drake "was inspired by jealousy to take her life." After Jennie "by presence of mind" frustrated his efforts, he turned the pistol on himself. That's it -- just the facts.

I have used the article in lectures about historical newspapers to make a rather pedestrian point. Notable stories were often picked up by distant newspapers. The search engine I was using did not pick up this story in the St. Paul newspaper, but found it in the Albert Lea paper. Had I limited my search to St. Paul, I would not have found it. I thought it odd that the story had not appeared in St. Paul.

St. Paul Daily Globe, 2 May 1882

Well, it had. A week earlier. The newspaper search engine I was using just didn't find it because the St. Paul paper spelled the name "Fawker." The morning after the tragedy, the St. Paul Daily Globe (4 May 1882) carried the news in column 1 of page 1. And, the St. Paul paper went into much greater detail, albeit somewhat vaguely.

From the parties interested and those who saw the shooting the following particulars have been obtained. Some months ago Albert Drake, the boy shot shot himself, and who, had he lived, would not have been 16 years old till August next, commenced going with a little girl named Jennie Fawkner. The little Fawkner girl is about the age of the boy, probably not quite as old -- a little over 15 years.

The Daily Globe related that the Fawkners lived in "the brick dwelling on the southeast corner of Eighth and Minnesota Streets" (pull out the city directories and Sanborn fire insurance maps!). Jennie was of "slight build, dark hair and eyes, and interesting and bright in conversation." Albert, the son of William A. Drake, had been attending Curtiss' Business college. Albert had never formally called at the Fawkner home; he and Jennie had met as schoolmates.

Several days before the tragedy, Jennie had told Albert about her mother's concerns, but he did not seem overly agitated. They had conversed normally at church, but on Wednesday morning he was "pale, nervous, and ugly." When Jennie and her sister encountered Albert on the way home from school, he pulled a pistol from his pocket and "placed the muzzle of it close to her face." She ran. He fired and missed. As the two raced up Eighth Street, a young man took note of the situation and rescued Jennie by pulling her into a store. Witnesses thought Albert believed he had killed Jennie. Near the corner of Eighth and Pine, he shot himself (witnesses heard two shots in rapid succession).

The newspaper story gives more details that neither Fawkner nor Drake descendants would enjoy (George Fawkner has no living descendants). The young man who rescued Jennie was identified as Edward Erickson.  One wonders if his descendants have heard the story.

Finally, the newspaper noted that the revolver used was known as the "Bull Dog" pattern, with a barrel about three inches long. Today, gun rights are a hot political issue. What did St. Paul denizens think in 1882? Next week's blog tell what one reader of the Daily Globe thought.

Whoa, Nellie -- Who in the World was Mary?

Little Freddie Fawkner was probably the son of Robert G. Fawkner and his 1893 wife, Mary E. Combs. I think. And, Robert was still married to Mary when he wed Nellie (Marion) Brown in 1895.

Whoa, Nellie! Something is rotten in the State of Illinois. Because, it sure looks like Robert was a bigamist.

Let's review the chronology.

• Robert G. Fawkner married Mary E. Combs in April 1893.
• Freddie W. Fawkner was born February 1894.
• Robert abandoned Mary in March 1895 (according to her divorce complaint).
• Robert G. Fawkner married Nellie B. (Marion) Brown in October 1895.
• Freddie was buried November 1895 in a plot purchased by Mary E. Fawkner in the cemetery in Robert G. Fawkner's hometown.
• Mary E. Fawkner filed for divorce from Robert G. Fawkner in 1908 and was granted a divorce in January 1909. He did not respond to a summons to appear in court -- because he was living with Nellie.

Nellie had been divorced from Richard Brown less than a week when she married Robert G. Fawkner in 1893 in Madison County, Illinois. She and Richard had married in June 1888 in Montgomery County, Illinois. Nellie was probably the daughter of the Thomas Marion whose family lived in Crawford County, Illinois, in 1880.

When she married Robert G. Fawkner in 1893, did Nellie have any idea that Robert was still married to Mary? (One point of caution: no record of the 1893 Fawkner-Combs marriage has been found). And, who in the world was Mary?

Mary presents about as much conflicting evidence as I've ever encountered concerning one individual. A few days of internet research produced the following points of evidence.

• Mary stated in her divorce complaint that Robert G. Fawkner's last known residence was Harrison, Kansas. The court record states that a summons to Robert was printed in the Warrensburg Times.
• There is not a Harrison anywhere near a Warrensburg in Kansas. In fact, the U.S. Newspaper Directory lists no such newspaper. There is, however, a small town named Harrison a few miles west of Decatur, Illinois. Three or four miles north of Harrison is Warrensburg, where a paper named the Warrensburg Times was published between 1885 and 1931, according the the U.S. Newspaper Directory (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/titles/).
• It is likely Mary had a child, Freddie (1894-1895) (see the May 9 post), but the 1900 U.S. Census states she had no children living or dead.
• The 1900 census listed Mary E. Fawkner as a daughter of N. L. Combs. She had a brother, Lester W., 14.
• The 1910 census listed Lester, 22, as Mary's son; they were living in Decatur. In 1930 and 1940, Lester was living with his mother, Mary Fawkner, in Akron, Ohio.
• Lester's 1918 marriage license identified his parents as Charles F. Combs and Mary E. Fawkner, and stated that he was born 20 July 1885 in Whitley County, Indiana. His World War II draft registration recorded that he was born in Indiana on the same date.
• Mary Fawkner's 1941 obituary reported that she died at the home of her son, Lester W. Combs. Her death certificate has not yet been viewed.
• His daughter, Patricia, was the informant for Lester's 1953 death certificate. She did not know the names of either of his parents. The certificate includes Lester's Social Security number, so his application might answer some questions.
• Several family trees at Ancestry.com* identify Mary E. and Lester W. as siblings, but one (Ted F. Bubert II Family Tree) places Lester as the son of Mary E. Fawkner Combs. It states that Mary married "Charles F."

Lester was born about eight years before Mary Combs married Robert Grant Fawkner. If Lester was Mary's son, she apparently had had either a previous marriage or a dalliance that produced a child (Lester) in Indiana. A marriage record has not been found.

So, was Lester the son of Noah Coleman Combs  or the son of his apparent daughter, Mary? Noah died in 1906 Macon County, Illinois. His will might answer the question. As a matter of fact, his death was apparently the trigger for Mary to file for divorce. In her divorce suit, she stated that she wished to assure that her one-tenth inherited share in a piece of land not fall into the hands of Robert G. Fawkner.

The big question remains: Why did Mary wait more than 13 years after Robert left to file for divorce?
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* Family trees, all viewed 9 May 2016, include: Muna, Rushing, Tuttle (http://person.ancestry.com/tree/7220358/person/24081125324/facts); Combs Family Tree (http://person.ancestry.com/tree/36552173/person/18952932990/facts); Davis-Buehler Family Tree (http://person.ancestry.com/tree/43084088/person/12687889273/facts); Ted F Bubert II Family Tree (http://person.ancestry.com/tree/67441186/person/42236059133/facts); Brown Family Tree (http://person.ancestry.com/tree/36492971/person/18947146084/facts).

Parents for Freddie Fawkner

The blogger missed last week's self-imposed deadline because, although he traversed the Grand Prairie of Illinois at the maximum legal speed, he didn't get home from the Ohio Genealogical Society conference in time to figure out what to write. Then, there was the other problem -- his mind was so full of family history discoveries that he didn't know where to start.

Let's start with Freddie Fawkner. Only one thing about Freddie is known with certainty. A small gravestone in the Arcola (Illlinois) Township Cemetery states that Freddie was born 15 February 1894 and died 1 November 1895.*

The James C. Fawkner family lived in the Arcola area from the late 1870s to the mid-1890s, but no known records identity Freddie's place in the family. James C. Fawkner died in 1889. His wife, Julia, died 14 May 1894, but her age (about 52) and the fact she had another son named Fred (1880-1946) eliminate her as a candidate for Freddie's mother. Possibly, one of her sons -- Robert Grant (b. 1863), James Henry (b. 1869),  or Cyrus Gatewood (b. 1877) -- was the father.

The Arcola Township Cemetery office has no information about Freddie or the burial, except that the plot was purchased by a Mary Fawkner. There was no Mary in the Arcola Fawkner family. Who was Mary?

The first clue comes from a newspaper story that reported that Mary E. Fawkner filed for divorce from Robert G. Fawkner in the fall of 1908 in Macon County (Decatur), Illinois. In her petition for divorce, she stated that she married Robert G. Fawkner 13 April 1893 and that he abandoned her in March 1895. She asked the court to restore her maiden name: Mary Ethel Combs. So far, so good -- the timing of the marriage is right for a February 1894 birth. There is one problem: no marriage record has yet been found in Macon or nearby counties (still looking).

Other sources complicate matters. The 1900 census enumerated Mary E. Fawkner living with her parents in South Macon Township. It recorded that Mary, a divorcee, had no children, dead or living. This evidence is not immediately alarming because, given her situation, Mary might not have wished to publicly acknowledge her loss of a young child.

Another newspaper story introduces a more serious problem. The 26 October 1895 edition of the Alton Evening Telegraph reported that Nellie Marion Brown received a divorce from Richard Brown and, yet the same week, married Robert G. Fawkner of Arcola.  His Arcola residence strongly implies that he is the same man who married -- in fact, was still married to -- Mary Combs. Was he a bigamist? Did Mary know that Robert was married to Nellie?

According to documents in the Macon County divorce case file, Mary told the court that Robert G. Fawkner's last known residence was Harrison, Kansas. Actually, city directories and censuses reveal that he was living with Nellie in East St. Louis between 1905 and 1910. (He has not been found in the 1900 census). When the Macon County Court issued a summons for him to appear in Decatur, he did not respond. Perhaps, he was just far enough away to be out of sight of Mary and Macon County authorities. When Robert did not respond to the summons, the judge accepted Mary's version of events and granted the divorce.

Neither marriage worked out well for Robert. In 1920, Nellie was living in Leyden, Cook County, Illinois. Robert ("Grant") Fawkner was living with his sister's family in Carlton County, Minnesota; he said he was single. They were still apart in 1930; Nellie said she was married and Robert Grant said he was single. In 1940, Robert said he was a widower (Nellie had died in Cook County, Illinois, in 1935).

It seems safe to conclude that Freddie's parents were probably Robert G. Fawkner and Mary Combs. But, who in the world was Mary? Next week's post will make her identity as clear as mud.
_____________
* For earlier thinking about Freddie, see J. H. Fonkert, "Tales from Three Cemeteries: Ole Peterson, Freddie Fawkner, and Katharyn Fawkner," Minnesota Genealogist, 46:3 (2015), pp. 20-6. For more on Robert G. Fawkner, see this blog's 13 August 2015 post.

Gravestones in Grandpa Steve's Briar Tract

The blogger is in Mason, Ohio, awaiting Thursday morning's kick-off to the 2016 Ohio Genealogical Society Conference. This is my fourth appearance at the conference in five years.  My first visit in 2012 was a memorable one -- not just because of the great conference in Cincinnati.

Some 15 years ago, Grandpa Steve posted a story -- part creative writing and part non-fiction -- on an internet website for writers (https://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/927940-Another-Bird-Sighting). He described a walk on a frosty morning from his home on Greens Bottom Road, just north of English, Kentucky, passing under Interstate Highway 71, to the Briar Tract to visit the old Demint Cemetery where his ancestors were buried.  Grandpa Steve's story captured my interest because of the following passage:

The trees may be 100 or 150 years old or even back to 1796 when Jarret Demint cleared this land and built a group of cabins, aided by his brothers-in-law Jacob Lamb, John Faulkner, and Dan Rollins who later had his garden by the pear trees.

It's a long story that needs to be told elsewhere, but John Faulkner was my wife's 3rd-great-grandfather. He is not buried in the Demint Cemetery -- he died in 1839 in Hendricks County, Indiana. But, his first wife (of four) was Elizabeth Nuttal, the daughter of Elijah Nuttal, might have been buried there. Elijah Nuttle owned several hundred acres of land along Mill Creek, where it empties into the Kentucky River. Jacob Lamb, Jarret Demint, and Dan Rollins (Rawlings) were other sons-in-law of Elijah Nuttal. They all received land from Elijah's estate in the late 1790s.

A small piece of the longer story is part of a lecture I am giving Saturday at OGS. For now, let me tell you that during the 2012 conference, I drove to English, Kentucky, in hopes of finding and visiting with Grandpa Steve. I had managed to identify him and locate him from clus in the story he posted on the internet. About half way to English, I tried  calling. I got a "this number has been disconnected" message. I wondered. When I got to Greens Bottom Road, I stopped to ask directions of a couple of older men sitting out front of their house. They told me that Grandpa Steve had died four months earlier. I never got to meet him (I had talked to him on the phone several times). I searched, but could not find the cemetery.

Fast forward to today, 27 April 2016.  We returned to English. Knocked on a few doors. Met Grandpa Steve's cousin, who told us where to look for the cemetery. We found it. Completely overgrown. Muddy and wet from an overnight rain. Fill of thorny brambles. But, I found three stones, including those of James and Elizabeth English -- namesakes of the town. There are supposed to be several more stones there, but I would have needed a machete to find them. Still, it was an amazing experience.

I must stop here. I have much to do before tomorrow's lecture, and the conference center internet is acting up, making it difficult to save this post on Blogspot. I have a great photo of the English stone, but the wireless refuses to upload the image to Blogspot.  I will add it later if I can. (I think I just  managed!) Meanwhile,  I am keeping my fingers crossed that it survives the wireless and publishes as scheduled tomorrow morning. 

The Case of George -- Wanderlust or Health Tourism?

Even though San Francisco officials had trouble confirming it, George S. Fawkner did die in the city in 1897 (see 14 April 2016 post). His body was shipped to Ontario, California, where he was buried in Bellevue Memorial Park cemetery. You can see photos of two gravemarkers at Findagrave.com (memorial no. 20,877,969). A second marker, possibly placed by the Grand Army of the Republic, identifies him as a veteran of Co. H of the 7th Indiana Infantry.

In a future post (next week?), I will explain why George is buried in Ontario, east of Los Angeles. This post takes up the question of why he was on the West Coast at all. As mentioned last week, George was in the grocery business in Portland, Oregon, for a year or two, before traveling south to California. His wife, Mary, was back in Minneapolis during this time.

George had traveled widely in the West as U.S. Inspector of Surveys. Mary must have been used to his travels. It is not known how she took George's death, but she certainly wanted her due from his Civil War pension. Her statements to the Pension Board give at least one version of George's travels.

In an affidavit given 3 October 1898, Herbert and Faribelle Braden (George's daughter) stated that George and Mary "were never divorced and except for soldier absence on business they lived together as husband and wife up to the date of George S Fawkner's death."

In a letter to her attorney in March 1899, Mary explained George's West Coast sojourn.

Previous to my husband's death we lived in Minneapolis for two years. previous to his death he was not able to stand the cold winters in that state and he was compelled to change climate and he had been in Oregon [lightly crossed-out] away from home for over eight months he found Oregon was not a benefit to him, so on April 20th 1897 or near that time he left that State for Cal. going to San Francisco by water, took a sever [sic] cold which settled through his whole body...

Mary Fawkner Inability Affidavit, 16 May 1899; G. S. Fawkner Civil War pension file

She added that George had found changing climates was better than medication, but admitted that he did take "Patent Medicines" [her quotation marks]. In May, Mary filed an inability affidavit in which she stated that, while in Portland, he made several trips to Vancouver, British Columbia. Why, she did not say.

A more detailed reading of the pension file leaves no doubt that George S. Fawkner was seriously injured in a battle at Strasbourg, Virginia, and that he probably did have trouble with physical labor. Yet, he worked in several jobs, made political connections, and traveled extensively while Inspector of Surveys. He no doubt did hope that Oregon would be good for his health, but he may have suffered from a bit of wanderlust, as well.

George Fawkner dies alone in California

George Fawkner, born two months after his father's death in Hendricks County, Indiana, served in Kentucky and Indiana regiments in the Civil War, opened a harness-making business after the war, had a couple of deputy sheriff gigs in Douglas County, Illinois, and back in Indianapolis, before landing in St. Paul and Minneapolis, where he tried out a variety of jobs, including an appointment as U.S. Inspector of Surveys.

He disappeared from St. Paul and Minneapolis censuses and directories after 1895. Where did he go? And why? First, a brief notice in the San Francisco Call noted the death of George S. Fawkner in the city. The news traveled back to Indiana where a short obituary described him as "a native of this county, well known in this community." George was on his way to visit his daughter, but had taken ill in San Francisco and died after surgery for appendicitis. The obituary added: "His wife was in the east preparing to start to join him." (Danville Republican, 2 September 1897, p. 8).

Where was the daughter? Which daughter? That part of the story must wait for next week's blog. The immediate question was: Why was George in the west without his wife? He was indeed in the west. George had taken up a new trade in Portland, Oregon, where city directories for 1896 and 1897 listed his as a grocer at 21 Park St. N.

Why Portland? Why by himself? The rest of the story comes from his Civil War pension file, which includes his wife's application for a widow's pension. The file includes the 19 June 1897 Western Union telegram, received at Minneapolis announcing George's death: "Your husband died at StLukes hospital last night. Remains by his request shipped to H C Baden Ontario California."

Set aside for now the question of why (and how) George directed his remains to H C Baden in Ontario (east of Los Angelese) -- that is part of next week's story. Note that it took some six weeks for the news to reach the Danville Republican. It's not clear how soon she arrived in San Francisco, but when there, Mary Fawkner telephoned St. Luke's hospital for more details. She was told no such person as George Fawkner had died there.

This, of course, was a problem for a widow claiming a widow's pension. The attorney assisting with her application pressed for legal proof of death. On June 1898 -- a year after the death -- Mary, now living in Los Angeles, received a letter from the San Francisco Board of Health stating that "Geo S. Fawkner died of strangulation of the intestines, and a certified copy of death will cost you $1.80." In a note to Mary, her attorney said, "This shows Ed Godchaux, the Board of Health Secretary, was derelict of his official duty."

Oddly enough, a 23 July 1898 letter from the County Recorder declared that his office was unable to find a death record for George Fawkner, and the the hospital still claimed no one of that name had died there. It remains unclear why the Board of Health could document the death in June, but the County Recorder could not in July.  Both the Board of Health and County Recorders letters were stamped received by the Pension Office 4 August 1898.

In any event, Mary received her pension. Other documents tell more about why George S. Fawkner was on the West Coast -- next week.

All the Fawkner News that's Fit to Print

Beginning genealogists often focus on begetting, matching, and dispatching ancestors -- that is births, marriages, and deaths. Understandably so, because those events are the foundation of any family tree. But, family history is so much more. Ancestors had lives. Lives full of twists and turns. Lives not so terribly different from lives today.

One of the best sources for the events in those lives are newspapers. Research into George Spencer Fawkner is a case in point.

George Fawkner lived in St. Paul, Minnesota, from about 1878 to about 1895. As reported in the previous two posts of this blog, he had a somewhat erratic, if not generally upwardly mobile career path in Illinois, Indiana, and now, Minnesota. By the mid-1880s, he was living in the stylish Cathedral Hill neighborhood of St. Paul, not terribly far from the mansion of the railroad tycoon, James J. Hill.

Don't misunderstand, the Fawkners were several ranks lower on the socio-economic ladder, but George was making some progress. Newspaper clippings hint at the lifestyle.

• In spring 1884, the young people's literary society of the Christian church met at the home of G. S. Fawkner, 286 Pleasant Ave. (St. Paul Daily Globe, 11 April 1884, p. 8.)

• Among those present when the Minnetonka summer season was formerly opened at the Lafayette Hotel, was Miss Fairrie Fawkner, wearing "plumb-colored satin with lace draperies." The party lasted til midnight, with "a special train in waiting to convey the tired pleasure-seekers to their homes in the Twin Cities." (St. Paul Daily Globe, 26 June 1887, p. 5).  Lake Minnetonka was, and remains, an upscale lake resort just west of Minneapolis.

• In the fall of 1891, "Miss Faery Fawkner gave a charming little tea party yesterday afternoon in honor of her guest..." "In the evening the young men were invited in and danced and talked and enjoyed themselves in the simplest and most delightful fashion imaginable." Among them were Capt. Braden and Tom Pease. (St. Paul Daily Globe, 16 October 1891, p. 4). Keep the Braden and Pease names in mind for next week's blog.

• Fairy Fawkner performed in "Fantasma of Flowers" in a January 1892 benefit for the Christian chapel on Nelson and Farrington Streets. (St. Paul Daily Globe, 10 January 1892).

Then, there is the somewhat bizarre story of August 1885 that George Fawkner had just returned from a two-week tour of North Dakota, during which "he visited all of the cities and towns and drove across the country. He reported fine crop conditions and said both business men and farmers "were feeling buoyant at the outlook." (St. Paul Daily Globe, 23 August 1885). What possible business took him to Dakota? He wasn't appointed to his government surveyor job until 1889.

George Fawkner had "retired" from the real estate firm of Brown, Fawkner and Hanley in March 1887, but was apparently still wheeling and dealing two years later when he advertised his intent to purchase with cash "$50,000 to $100,000 worth of centrally located property, paying a good rental; don't apply unless willing to sell at a bargain" (St. Paul Daily Globe, 15 March 1889, p. 7).

St. Paul Daily Globe, 1 July 1889

 In any event, by summer he was Inspector of Surveys. His comings and goings as Inspector of Surveys are were reported in newspapers all across the west. He was back in St. Paul at  least briefly in April 1893, visiting his daughters, "one of whom is Mrs. Capt. Braden. Another daughter is still a pupil at St. Joseph's Academy, where she is taking a course of lessons in painting, and has made a very enviable reputation as an artist in the school." (St. Paul Daily Globe, 9 April 1893, p. 12).

* * *

 All newspaper articles cited above can be viewed at the Library of Congress' free Chronicling America website -- www.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.

George Fawkner -- Was he Entrepreneurial or just Unsettled?

George S. Fawkner is one of my favorite characters. To the best of my knowledge, he has no descendants, but I think end-of-line characters are worth remembering. After all, George had nephews, nieces and cousins, and he was part of their lives.

I like George partly for his middle name: Spencer. It's completely unimportant that you know this, but I think I like the name because I was born in Spencer, Iowa. George used his middle initial "S." religiously, but the only record I have seen giving the name Spencer is his widow's application for his Civil War pension, in which she swore that she was “the widow of George Spencer Fawkner who was enrolled under the name George S. Fawkner. The origin of the name is no mystery, however.  He was named after his mother's brother, Spencer Faulconer.

As last week's post revealed, George had tried harness-making and had a shaking law enforcement career in Illinois and Indiana after the Civil War. By 1880, the family was in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where the census stated he was a merchant "taking coal." He presumably moved to Minnesota after 1877, because his 3-year old daughter, M. Kate, had been born in Indiana. The family’s 1880 residence was apparently a multi-family dwelling with a half dozen families. Among them were printers, dressmakers, merchants and teachers; a couple of families had young female servants.


The first evidence placing the Fawkners in St. Paul was an entry in the “Removals, Alterations and Omissions” section of the 1879-80 city directory listing with the firm of “Bendre & Fawkner.” Bendre and Fawkner’s line of work remains uncertain.  No other mention of a Bendre has been found in city directories or the census, but Louis and Fritz Bender were tailors. The 1880-81 city directory hints at tailoring, placing George in the sewing machine trade, while wife Mary was engaged in millinery with her niece Miss A. D. Walker.

1883 St. Paul, MN, City Directory, p. 537.

George soon switched to the travel agency business.  Directories from 1884 to 1888-89 listed George Fawkner working for a travel agency, Matheny, Haney & Co. The family moved frequently, living at 286 Pleasant St. in 1884-85, and at 378 N. Franklin by 1888-89. Was George simply drifting from one trade to another, or making real financial progress?  A clue on the side of progress is the 1891-92 city directory, which identified him as the U.S. Government Inspector of Surveys. The family was now living at a fashionable address on St. Paul’s Cathedral Hill: 686 Dayton Avenue. A government job may have led to political connections, or possibly connections led to the job.  At any rate, George’s daughter Fairibelle captured the heart of Herbert C. Braden, the son of the Minnesota State Auditor.  They were married in October 1892.

Earlier, in 1887, daughter Jennie had married Thomas Parker Pease. Jennie died only 15 months later from complications of a premature birth. No surviving children are known. Thomas was boarding with the Fawkners on Dayton Ave. in 1889-90 and 1890-91. By 1893, Pease had moved to a downtown dwelling. 

The 1894 St. Paul directory reported that George Fawkner had moved to Minneapolis. The 1896-96 Minneapolis directory found George S. Fawkner still working as a travel agent and living at 118 E. 14^th St. The 1895 Minnesota census recorded George’s family at 112 E. 14^th St., but the state census did not record occupation. Likely, either the census or city directory made an error in recording the house number.

The duration of George Fawkner's tenure as Inspector of Surveys is uncertain, but as newspaper accounts from across the western United States attest, the job took him far from home on long train journeys. Local papers commonly made note that the Inspector was in town on official business. George might even have made a little money on the side. An Ogden, Utah, jeweler advertised he had for sale a quantity of opals acquired from George Fawkner, the U.S. Inspector of Surveys.

The Standard (Ogden, UT), 1 April 1893

Was this a case of entrepreneurial spirit, of a case of a man who had a hard time settling down? Since George's last descendant died in 1954, there are no stories to illuminate the evidence. Next week's post will take up George's last journey.

George Settles -- Sort of

George Fawkner's adventures were only just beginning. Back home in Hendricks County after the Civil War, George and his brother Cyrus went into the harness-making business. Between November 1865 and January 1866, the IRS assessment lists included C.W. and G. S. Fawkner in a harness manufacturing business in Danville.

In February 1866, George married his former school-mate Mary C. Burks. The wedding was at her father’s home near Danville. By 1870, George and Mary, with daughters Jennie, 3, and Ferris, 1, were in Tuscola, the county seat of Douglas County, Illinois. Both daughters were born in Illinois, so George and Mary presumably made the move 80 miles west soon after their marriage.

Here is where the fun starts. The 1870 U.S. Census stated that George's occupation was "Depty Shff" -- deputy sheriff. I have no idea what his qualifications were. By 1874, George was back in Indianapolis, where the city directory listed him in the coal business. But, law enforcement must have still called him. In January 1875, the Indianapolis News reported that he was collecting bills for the sheriff's office.

All may have been well and good, but by June things turned sour. On 17 June 1875, the Indianapolis Sentinel reported: "The demolition of a house occupied by George Fawkner, on Massachusetts Avenue, yesterday, gave rise to one of the liveliest free fights, or rather series of them, that has enlivened that vicinity for a long time." When George returned home that evening, he found the house being torn down.

He ordered them to desist and encouraged them to come down by propelling brick bats at them. Just as Fawkner heaved a well burnt bat at an Ethiopian on the roof, which missed him by a hairs breadth, Shover [owner of the house] replied with another piece of clay and being the better marksman, struck Fawkner on the shoulder. The latter got his innings, however, when he wrested the second missile out of Shover's hand, and worked it with good effect on his enemy's head.

The next day, the Indianapolis News identified George as "one of the Sheriff's baliffs." He had been arrested for the brickbat incident and now, at the courthouse no less, "severely assaulted" the contractor.  Mused the News, "it is well to inquire of the Sheriff if private citizens cannot transact business in his office without danger of attack from bailiffs whose duty it is to preserve the peace, not to break it in this outrageous fashion. If these are the sort of men to act as officers people ought to know it."

This may partly explain why George was soon off to Saint Paul, Minnesota, where in 1880 he was a merchant "taking coal."

Fawkner, by George!

A quick reminder... I am glad you are reading my blog, but I am writing these posts at least partly for myself. They are a way for me to informally gather together some of what I have learned of the Fawkner, Fonkert, Zorgdrager, Tidball, Morstad, and other families. These posts are not intended, and should not be used, as research reports. While I try to generally identify major sources within the narrative, I do not fully cite sources. Readers may contact me for more information.

I haven't even started with the Tidballs or Morstads, but it is time to get back to the Fawkners, by George! If you'd like to review, the Fawkners took center stage in this blog between April and October 2015.

Over those six months, we focused on the family of James C. Fawkner (1829-1889). Born in Kentucky, James was the oldest of the five children of John C. Fawkner and Ann B. Faulconer. George S. Fawkner, born 23 May 1839 in Hendricks County, Indiana, was the youngest. He never knew his father, who died a few weeks earlier. George's middle name, Spencer, came from his mother's brother, Spencer Faulconer.

George S. Fawkner, Indiana Historical Society

George came of age just in time to go to war. This is, of course, fortuitous for a family history researcher because of the records the war generated. Beyond censuses, most of what is known about George comes from his Civil War pension file.

Immediately before the war in 1860, George was living in the household of Robert Coleman in Kenton County, Kentucky. Why was he there? This is a mystery worth solving because if might give clues to family relationships (George's maternal grandmother was a Coleman); for now, we must let it pass. In any event, George was soon back north of the Ohio River. He enlisted 20 August 1861 in Company H of the 7^th Indiana Infantry; he was mustered-in 7 September.

While on detail as a Scout as Strasburg, Virginia, on 20 March 1862, fragments from an exploding shell struck George Fawkner, injuring his right lung and breaking bones in his right hand.  Three months later, during a downhill charge through enemy lines at Port Republic, his frightened horse threw him against a log, causing renewed hemorrhage of his lung.  His reward was a furlough home.

Muster rolls showed him absent July through October, but The Adjutant Generals’ Office reported that George was discharged 6 August 1862 by reason of promotion to 2d lieutenant, Co. E, 8^th Kentucky Cavalry Volunteers.  Later corrected records of Company H stated that George Fawkner was discharged at Alexandria. Are you confused? I am.

George resigned from the Kentucky Cavalry 6 December 1862. Back in Hendricks County, IRS tax records indicate that he probably sold horses with his brother Cyrus. Whether business was slack or he just hankered for the army, he was soon back in uniform. He received a $60 bounty and was promoted to 1^st Sergeant when he enrolled for a three-year term in Co. L of the 9^th Indiana Cavalry at Indianapolis in March 1864.  He gave his residence as Kelso in Dearborn County, just a few miles from the Ohio River and just inside the Indiana-Ohio border where it touches the Ohio River. Kenton County, Kentucky, is just across the river.

George was promoted from 1^st Sergeant to 2^nd Lieutenant 31 January 1865. During his 1864-65 service, he saw detached duty at Louisville; Rodney, Mississippi, and later with his unit at Vicksburg in March and April of 1865. In March 1864 he was absent buying horses for the Company.

At the end of the War, George was 26 -- perhaps ready to settle down. He did marry, but he didn't settle much. Next week's post will cover the next chapter of his life.

Chapter 23: Cyrus Dies at the Sailors and Soldiers Home

Military pension files can be rich sources for biographical information because applicants had to establish details of their physical condition and, oftentimes, the facts of marriages and family relationships. Physician's reports and affidavits regarding personal habits dominate Cyrus Fawkner's file.

Cyrus had multiple physical ailments, including heart disease and a double oblique inguinal hernia. Several affiants -- all using the same language -- attested that the hernia was not caused by "any vicious or immoral habits." They said the hernia was not any fault of the veteran. In a May 1895, while a resident in the Sailors and Soldiers Home at Quincy, Illinois, Cyrus swore that the hernia was sustained about 1884 while working with hogs. Cyrus said that he could secure no testimonials for the cause of the hernia because his wife and daughter "who knew of it are dead and no one here knows about it." He said it happened some 200 miles away (in Fairbury) and consequently he could not witnesses who knew of it. In August, he stated that the injury was sustained in January 1888 when he took a severe fall in the hog lot.

Details of the accident may be sketchy, but Cyrus most certainly was in the hog business. A February 1881 newspaper reported that Thomas Weeks of Fairbury had sold "to Fawkner & Hanna this week, 20 head of hogs that averaged 480 pounds each. A run in with a 480 pound hog could do a man some damage!

An acquaintance from Fawkner's Fairbury days observed that he "was a drinking man but her never saw him drunk and that he [claimant] might have been drunk a good many times and affiant not know it." Genealogists understand the logic: just because there is no evidence of something happening doesn't mean it didn't happen. Another affiant state,"the claimant is a moderate drinker.” The Special Examiner for the Pension Bureau responded: “The claim will probably bear investigation.”

It is not clear how long he lived in the Soldiers and Sailors Home in Quincy. He may have lived in St. Louis at least part of the time between 1900 and 1910, because he was examined by doctors there in April 1905 and February 1907.

He apparently recovered enough to be able to live semi-independently for at least a short time. The 1910 census recorded him as a boarder in a private home in St. Louis, Missouri. At age 72, he was still working as a saddler in a harness shop. However, he soon moved into the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Danville, Illinois – a mere 60 miles from his hometown of Danville, Indiana. Cyrus died at the Soldier’s Home 22 June 1911.[14 Burial was in section 6, row 8, lot 1,478 of the Danville National Cemetery.

NOTE: The 4Gen Genealogy blogger is hitting the road again this morning for a visit to Wyoming and Colorado to commune with geysers, hot springs, and granddaughters. He expects to resume blogging in the last half of October -- perhaps venturing into entirely new territory. 

Chapter 22.1: Breaking News: Cyrus was Thrice-Married!

Breaking News: Cyrus W. Fawkner married three times after all.

I have more than once told genealogists that writing is a good way to clarify what you don't know. Sometimes, that paragraph needs just one more piece of information to tell the real story. Well, something similar can be said about cleaning off your desk. Sometimes, you rediscover that forgotten file that reminds you that you should have known more than you remembered when you were writing that paragraph.

Last week's post (Chapter 22) is a case in point. First, you probably haven't noticed, but I sneaked been back into my Blogspot account to the next day to "update" the article about Cyrus W. Fawkner. While playing around in an online historical newspaper index, I found a one-paragraph article documenting the death of Cyrus' second wife, Ann Ogden, and added that piece of information to last week's post. A convenient thing about digital publication is that it is easy to quietly edit what you published the day before.

Then, a couple of days later, while sorting through piles on my desk, I discovered two documents that proved something I had written wrong. I had written about Cyrus' two marriages -- to Laurie Came and Ann Ogden -- and remarked that Cyrus hadn't matched his brother, James, in the marriage derby. I also told of Cyrus' son, Charles W. Fawkner, marrying Ellen Robinson 27 February 1890. While writing last week's blog post, I had glanced at an index entry for the 1890 marriage (Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900, http://www.ilsos.gov/isavital/marriagesrch.jsp). At first I thought, oh my, Cyrus had married a third time. But on second thought, knowing that in his Civil War pension documents Cyrus had specifically said he had been married only twice, to Laurie and Ann, that "C. W. must have been Cyrus' son, Charles W. Fawkner. Born about 1869, he was a just the right age for an 1890 marriage.

Yes, he was, but guess what I found in my files? I found copies of both the application for license and the marriage return. The groom was 51 years old and the bride, 37. The marriage registration clearly states that the groom's parents were Jno. C. Falkner and Ann Faulkner -- the John C. and Ann Fawkner who lived in Hendricks County, Indiana, in the 1830s, and had a son named Cyrus.

So, now I know that Cyrus, like his brother James C., married three times.  I'm still not sure what happened to his son, Charles W. That research question is not high on my list of research priorities, but I would like to know if he produced any more Fawkner descendants.

Yes, I will now go back to last week's blog and add a correction note.

LESSON: Nothing you write is perfect. Don't let the fear that you might have made a mistake keep you from writing. But, also look back through your files from time to time to see if something new catches your eye.

Image source: Livingston County, Illinois, Marriage Applications, Book 5, p. 442, Family History Library microfilm no. 1,401,629.

Chapter 22: Cyrus W. Fawkner, Horse-dealer, Saddler, Harness-Maker

Remember Cyrus, the deaf barber in Minneapolis (Chapters 15-16)? He was probably named after his Uncle Cyrus, the Indiana-born brother of James C. Fawkner. Born 21 May 1837, Cyrus Fawkner was the fourth child of John Fawkner and Ann Faulconer. Compared to his brother, James, Cyrus seems to have lived a more ordinary life. I say "seems to" because we only get brief glimpses through the fog of time of moments in lives lived more than a century ago.

Cyrus was 22 when he married Launie Cames 22 June 1859 in Hendricks County. There is some uncertainty about the bride's name because the 1860 census (June 1860) recorded Cyrus Fawkner  with an apparent wife, Mary, age 18, born in Kentucky. "Launie" likely was a mispelling of Laurie, because a Laurie Fawkner was buried in the East Danville Cemetery about 1860. Possibly, she was possibly the 7-year old Laura E. Cames in the 1850 household of Richard and Eliza Cames of Madison in Jefferson County, Indiana. 

In 1860, Cyrus lived in the county seat Danville. The census enumerator did not record an occupation for Cyrus. His apparent wife, Mary, was 18. Mary probably was Laurie; in response to a pension bureau questionnaire in 1898, Cyrus stated he had been married only twice -- to Laura Cames and Ann E. Odgen (see below). While the pension file obfuscation about James C. Fawkner's marriages puts a researcher on guard, no evidence has been found for a marriage of Cyrus to a woman named Mary. Some doubt remains because he 1860 census reported that Mary had been born in Kentucky, while the 1850 daughter of Richard Cames was born in Indiana (her brother was born in Kentucky). The 1860 census was taken 1 June, so if Laura/Launie’s death date is later than June 1, the two women are likely the same. The death date may be carved on the gravestone, but has sunk below ground level.

Much of what is known about Cyrus comes from his Civil War pension file (application 1,051,754, certificate 916,816). Having lost his young wife, Cyrus probably had little reason to stay home. He enrolled in the Kentucky Cavalry, 8^th Regiment, 21 August 1862 and mustered out 23 September 1863. He held the rank of private and regimental saddler. He was received to duty as “Syrus Faulkner." During May 1863 he suffered from typhoid fever. Why did Cyrus enlist in Kentucky? Good question; no good answer yet.

Back home after the war, Cyrus probably sold horses with his brother George. An 1863 IRS tax assessment list for Hendricks County listed “Fawkner & Bro.” as horse dealers. In 1865, C. W. and G. S. Fawkner were listed as operating a harness manufacturing business.

Toward the end of the war, he enlisted again in the Indiana Volunteers, 154^th Regiment in April 1865. A saddler, he was discharged August 4 as a private at Stevenson, Virginia. Soon after coming home, he married Ann Ogden 8 October 1865, and rejoined George in a harness-making business in Danville. IRS assessment records show that they were still in business together in March 1866, but by June, Cyrus had moved to Fairbury in Livingston County, Illinois, where Cyrus opened his own saddlery business. Cyrus had probably left Danville by April, when the Danville business was known as Fawkner and Dunnington.

Cyrus and Anna had two children in the next few years: Alice (about 1866) and Charles (about 1869). Both the 1870 and 1880 censuses reported Cyrus' Fairbury occupation as harness-maker. Cyrus and Anna had two more children: Minnie, born about 1872, and Frank, born about 1879. The family lived in town on Locust Street. His pension application indicates that, sometime between about 1888 and 1891, he moved to Naples in Scott County, Illinois, where he again was a saddler.


It is not known if Cyrus has any living descendants. His son, Frank, married a Missouri woman abut 1907, but censuses don't indicate any children. When an April 1898 Pension Bureau questionnaire asked "Have you any children living?" Cyrus listed only the two sons -- Charlie W. and Frank J. The daughters might have died young. He also told the Pension Bureau that the only two people -- his wife and daughter -- that knew how he had sustained a hernia had died. A Bloomington (Ill.) newspaper reported that Cyrus' wife, Ann, died 2 January 1888 of consumption. An 1891 newspaper article reported that Minnie, "afflicted with the consumption," had returned home to Fairbury after being sent away for a year to southern Illinois.

Charles married Mrs. Ellen J. Bowers Robinson 27 February 1890 in Livingston County. (Update: The C. W. Fawkner who married Ellen Robinson was not Charles, but his father, Cyrus. See Chapter 22.1, 24 September 2015). For the moment, nothing more is known about Ellen.was possibly living in St. Louis in 1900. Charles Fawkner died about 1915, buried Naples Cemetery, Scott Co. Illinois, but has not been found with certainty in the 1900 or 1910 censuses.

Frank was possibly in Jones County, Iowa, in 1900, and was in St. Louis in 1910. However, he was soon back in Scott County, Illinois, where he married Mary Hoffarth in 1911. Censuses don't report any children. . Frank Fawkner died 5 Feb 1945, Beardstown, Cass County, Illinois, and was buried in Antonia, Jefferson County, Missouri.

Ill-health forced Cyrus into the Soldiers and Sailors Home in Quincy, Illinois, where he lived in 1900, Quincy, Adams County. Cyrus applied for a pension 26 August 1891. All in all, he appears to have lived a mostly ordinary life for a Civil War veteran in the last decades of the 19th century. Next week, we will dig deeper into his Civil War pension file and learn about his later years in soldiers' and sailors' homes in Quincy and Danville, Illinois.

LESSON: Writing this week's post reminded me of a simple lesson. We just can't know everything about all the members of an ancestral family. We can't follow every descendant. There just isn't time. We have to pick and chose and focus on energy on questions we most want to answer.

Chapter 21: Back to the Beginning -- Elizabeth A. K. Fawkner

After a week off with the loons Up North, it's hard to know where next to take this blog. I certainly didn't think I'd still be spinning out the Fawkner story after 20 weeks. Let's backtrack a bit before moving forward.  Way back in Chapter 4, we used guardianship records to identify James C. Fawkner's four siblings: Elizabeth A. K., John E., Cyrus W., and George S. Learning something about them might help us better understand James' family. (You might want to go back and review Chapter 19 to recapture the big picture).


I'll start with the oldest, Elizabeth -- a convenient beginning because the Thursday deadline is looming and I know less about her than James' brothers. Seventeen year-old Elizabeth married Eli Morgison, 5 April 1849 in Hendricks County, Indiana. The name variously appears as Margason and Morgason. Little is known about their life together, but several pieces of fragmentary evidence offer a sketchy outline. In 1850 and 1860, they lived near Wesley and Ann Sears in Marion Township. By 1870, they had moved to Bowdre Township in Douglas County, Illinois. Eli and Elizabeth had 10 children: John W., L. A. (female), James, Edgar, Nancy, Joseph, Dan, A. J. (m), and Kemp, and a baby girl.

 

The family likely went west to Douglas County about 1864, between the births of Dan and A. J. ("Jackson" in the 1880 census). The Morgison's presence in Douglas County might explain James C. Fawkner's move to Coles County in the early 1870s. An 1875 land ownership map showed Eli or E. Morgason owning about 433 acres just east and southeast of the town of Hinesboro.

Eli Morgason probably died about 1874. When Nancy, using the name Nannie, applied for a passport in 1918, she stated that her father was born at Lexington, Kentucky, and lived continuously in the United States from 1824 to 1874. (She had previously applied for a passport in 1910 as an unmarried dentist). Nannie was living in Coles County, Illinois, when she made her application. In 1920, Nannie was living in Oakland, Coles County.

Absent a photo of Elizabeth, Nannie's passport application photo -- indistinct as the image is -- may give some idea of what Elizabeth Fawkner Morgason looked like.

Her son, Kemp Morgason, was still living in Bowdre Township in 1900. The household included wife Adelia, 29, Helen, 3, and  Blanche, 1.  Kemp moved back to Terre Haute Township, Vigo County, Indiana, by 1910. He married Adelia Watts, daughter of George Watts,  21 February 1890 in Coles County, Illinois.

That's all, folks. That's all I know for now about the Morgison/Morgason family. However, the family's residence in east-central Illinois provided an important piece of evidence in the story of James C. Fawkner's life. It was Elizabeth whose 1892 affidavit implicitly denied her brother's second marriage to Elizabeth Stephens (see Chapter 11). Elizabeth stated that she had been present at the funeral of James' first wife (Elizabeth Sears) in the spring of 1854. Elizabeth Morgason, of course, knew James's third wife (Julia Ann Angell) well, but told the pension board that James "was never married to another except the claimant and surviving widow (Julia Ann).

LESSON: It almost always pays to follow siblings of your main person of interest. In this case, following the Morgason family to Illinois helps explain why James C. Fawkner moved from Missouri to Coles and Douglas counties of Illinois.

Source for photo of Nannie Morgason: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925; Roll #: 449; Volume #: Roll 0449 - Certificates: 250-499, 03 Jan 1918-05 Jan 1918.

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