Sunday, July 8, 2012

Chapter zero - continued

My mother's parents were John Louis Frye and Frances Christine Milliken. This side of the family was also considerably harder to track down and the potential for errors in the research somewhat higher.

John Louis Frye (1905-1949), son of Charles Fletcher Frye and Anna Claudia Harwood.

Frances Christine Milliken (1905-1992), daughter of William Edward Milliken and Daisy Ola Thompson.

Charles Fletcher Frye (1858-1951), son of Christopher Columbus Frye and Almira Harwood.
Anna Claudia Harwood (1864-1937), daughter of Charles Burt Harwood and Martha Jane Griggs.

William Edward Milliken (1878-1913), son of David Taylor Milliken and Sarah Minerva Corley.
Daisy Ola Thompson (1884-1934), daughter of Robert Asbury Thompson and Frances Christiana Stanford.

Christopher Columbus Frye (1839-1918), son of Henry Frye and Dorcas Darcy Huffman.
Almira Underwood (1840-1905), daughter of Henry Underwood and Eliza A Hufford.
Charles Burt Harwood (1837-1911), son of Nathan Harwood and Abigail Munn Burt.
Martha Jane Griggs (1840-1915), daughter of Benjamin S Griggs and Jane Struble.

David Taylor Milliken (1846-1890), son of Samuel Milliken and Nancy Jane Corley.
Sarah Minerva Corley (1847-1920), daughter of Henry William Corley and Martha Ann Hall.
Robert Asbury Thompson (1862-1934), son of Edward F Thompson and Martha Caroline Cubley.
Frances Christiana Stanford (1866-1886), daughter of Alpheus E Stanford and Mary E Trotman.

Henry Frye (1800-1880), son of John Fry and Charity.
Dorcas Darcy Huffman (1811-1865), daughter of Jacob Huffman and Margaret Sayre.
Henry Underwood (1810-1896), son of Jesse Underwood and Julia Ann Meyers.
Eliza A Hufford (1814-1890), daughter of Peter D Hufford and Catherine Meyers.
Nathan Harwood (1795-1847), son of Amherst Harwood and Betsy James.
Abigail Munn Burt (1798-1865), daughter of Charles Burt and Anna Chapin.
Benjamin S Griggs (1802- ?), son of Samuel Griggs and Sarah Ann Griggs.
Jane Struble (1812- ?), daughter of Daniel Struble and Margaret Wyker.

Samuel Milliken (1817- ?), son of James Milliken and Mary (Polly) Hastings.
Nancy Jane Corley (1823-1866), daughter of Jonathan C Corley and Delilah Basham.
Henry William Corley (1820-1890), son of Jonathan C Corley and Delilah Basham.*
Martha Ann Hall (1825-1848), parents unknown although I have my leads.
Edward F Thompson (1835-1862), parents unknown.
Martha Caroline Cubley (1840- ?), daughter of Robert M Cubley and Rebecca Beavers.
Alpheus E Stanford (1846- ?), son of Oliver Hazard Perry Stanford and Frances Amanda Porter Willis.
Mary E Trotman (abt 1839- ?), daughter of Thomas Trotman II and Christiana Elizabeth Hobbs.

These families all converged in Shelby County, Illinois, but here's the paths:

Frye/Huffman - Pennsylvania to Ohio to Illinois.
Underwood/Hufford - Pennsylvania to Ohio.
Harwood/Burt - Massachusetts to New York to Illinois.
Griggs/Struble - New Jersey to Ohio.
Milliken/Corley/Hall - North Carolina/Tennessee to Tennessee to Illinois.
Thompson/Cubley - Georgia/Alabama to Texas.
Stanford/Trotman - Georgia to Texas.

*Family secret, ignore.


Chapter zero

A (brief) summary of the Family Tree, starting with my father's side. The question is How do I go about presenting this information? The answer is probably Sloppily, very sloppily.

I'm not going all the way back to Lawrence Leach (1580-1662), so it stands to reason I'm also not going back to his ancestors. Not yet, anyhow.

Let's try this:

Frederick Darwin Leach, son of Frederick George Leach and Edwina Gist.

Frederick George Leach (1898-1973) was the son of Everett Isaac Leach and Mary Emma Banks.

Everett Isaac Leach (1867-1934) was the son of Eli Edward Leach and Juliette Saunders.
Mary Emma Banks (1870-1945) was the daughter of Samuel Banks and Mary B Rader.

Eli Edward Leach (1825-1894) was the son of Isaac Hayes (I kid you not) Leach and Chloe Rideout.
Juliette Saunders (1826-1904) was the daugher of William Saunders and Parmelia Marsh.
Samuel Banks (1845-1912) was the son of Henry Banks and Lydia Dewald.
Mary B Rader (1846-1933) was the daughter of Benjamin Rader and Catherine Brown.

Isaac Hayes Leach (1788-1876) was the son of Isaac Leach and Jerusha Leach.
Chloe Rideout (1796- ?) was the daughter of Benjamin Rideout and Sarah.
William Saunders (1799-1882) was the son of George Saunders and Nancy Ann Clark.
Parmelia Marsh (1804-1888) was the daughter of Samuel Marsh and Keziah Gorton.
Henry Banks (1814- ?) was the son of a man named Bankes. Still looking for more info.
Lydia Dewald (1820- ?) was the daughter of Abraham Dewald and Elizabeth Reihm.
Benjamin Rader (1823-1890) was the son of Conrad Roeder, Jr. and Maria Magdalena Ulrich.
Catherine Brown (1827-1903) was the daughter of Daniel Brown and Elizabeth Martin.

I'll stop here. The migration was from New York to Wisconsin to Kansas for the Leach/Rideout/Saunders/Marsh branch, and from Pennsylvania to Ohio to Illinois to Kansas for the Banks/Dewald/Rader/Brown contingent.

Edwina Gist (1896-1983) was the daughter of Almon Arthur Gist and May Etta Hallowell.

Almon Arthur Gist (1870-1955) was the son of Thomas Gist and Rebecca Jackson Thompson.
May Etta Hallowell (1870-1920) was the daughter of William Alfred Hallowell and Sylvia Henrietta Mead.

Thomas Gist (1829-1898) was the son of Hiram Gist and Sarah (Sally) Martin.
Rebecca Jackson Thompson (1829-1920) was the daughter of John Thompson and Elizabeth Delong.
William Alfred Hallowell (1828-1915) was the son of John Hallowell and Sarah Reynolds.
Sylvia Henrietta Mead (abt 1830-1876) was the daughter of Ezra Mead and Sylvia A Packard.

Hiram Gist (1796-1875) was the son of John Gist and Hannah Geron.
Sarah (Sally) Martin (1807- ?) was the daughter of William P Martin and Martha Stephens.
John Thompson (1788-1856) was the son of James Thompson and Mary Ann Jackson.
Elizabeth Delong (1800-1832) was the daughter of James Delong and Nancy Agnes Simpson.
John Hallowell (1787-1851) was the son of John Hallowell and Lydia Trump.
Sarah Reynolds (1790-1846) was the daughter of Jesse Reynolds and Sarah Haines.
Ezra Mead (1794-1846) was the son of Ezra Mead and Hannah Sampson.
Sylvia A Packard (1798-1845) was the daughter of George Packard III and Margaret Prouty.

The Gists went from Virginia to Tennessee to Missouri to Kansas. The Martins from North Carolina to Kentucky to Missouri. The others generally from Pennsylvania and Ohio, although the Packards and Meads were originally from Vermont and/or Massachusetts.

So that's my father's side.

Chapter one

OK. This isn't really Chapter one, but you have to start somewhere and I choose to start with the births of my parents.

My father, Frederick Darwin Leach, was born September 19, 1924 in Arkansas City, Kansas. I have been told that Arkansas City is pronounced Ar-kansas and not like the state of Arkansas. It's entirely possible that the residents of Arkansas City pronounce Arkansas the same way. I don't know. Have I been there? This is just one more thing I do not recall.

He was the first born son of Frederick George Leach and Edwina Gist.

An undated postcard of the metropolis. The streetcar speaks well for the city.




My mother, Elizabeth Patricia Frye (called Betty Pat because no one on her side of the family goes by their given name), was born September 13, 1925 in Cowden, Illinois. I have been to Cowden, a very small town in southern Illinois, near Effingham (one of the better names for a city I've come across).

She was the first born daughter of John Louis Frye and Frances Christine Milliken.

This is Grand Avenue in Cowden, with no date unfortunately. It has improved somewhat since then, although I'm not sure its population has gone up.


Additional photos can be found here:

http://www.shelbycohistgen.net/historicalphotos.php?view=thumbnailList&category=3

But now I'm thinking I've started my story later than I should have. Maybe it should have started with my grandparents or their parents or grandparents. I never met any of these people, but I have been researching the genealogy for several years now.

Never mind. I'm going further back in time.

But first, my parents as children. First, my father:


a little older:


and my mother:


and a little older:


My Life

Yes, it's been a while. But you can't say you weren't alerted to my tendencies.

This post, and probably several more, are going to be about me. I'd rather write about someone a little more interesting, but that would require way too much work. Instead, all I have to do is rack my defective brain for what memories I have left. "You will talk!" I tell it.

I am told I was born in Athens, Ohio on April 20, 1957 - and I have the birth certificate to prove it. The hospital was called Sheltering Arms, although the pictures I've seen of it looks more like an apartment building than a hospital.
Looks a little suspicious, doesn't it? I was the fourth of four children in my family, so I entered the Leach novel somewhere around Chapter 32, which, naturally, led to lots of confusion in my childhood. Heck, it still haunts my life story.

Anyhow, that's enough for now. This is exhausting.