I just received news last night that my long-lost cousin, Kyle Smith, passed away. He was only 30 years old. We were connected through my Wheeler family line, and he was considered my 3rd Cousin 1x removed. We got in contact through genealogy research. He had a huge passion for research, which is what led us to get in contact. He was just a wealth of information about our family. We had hoped to meet up one day in person, but unfortunately, that won't be the case.
I don't know what happened. Last I heard, he was taking care of his mom, my 3rd cousin. Her health wasn't doing so well. She was in and out of the hospital quite a bit. Poor Kyle was the sole provider and caregiver. I do know that Kyle struggled with depression hardcore. I think he was diagnosed with bipolar, but I can't remember. There were nights spent praying for him and his family and trying to encourage him through the rough times. I know one thing he really struggled with was the loss of his brother, Chris. That hit him so hard. Being that I am not close with the family, I may never know what exactly happened with Kyle, but that's okay. I just know that I will miss him greatly.
How We Are Related
I got in contact with Kyle years ago when I first began my research. He had uploaded many documents and photos of the family that helped me make connections. Our common ancestors were John William Enoch Wheeler and his wife Mary Elizabeth Ware. My great-grandfather was James Benjamin Francis Wheeler, son of John & Mary. Kyle's ancestor was James' brother, George Ezra Daniel Wheeler.
Family Tree of John William Enoch Wheeler Ancestry.com
Thanks to Kyle, I got copies of pages from the Wheeler Family Bible that contain Births, Marriages, and Deaths. That led me to locate documents to back up this information. He also tagged me in a photo that helped me connect a missing piece that was in my grandma's collection.
This was one of my most exciting finds because that is my Great-Grandma. She died when my grandpa was just a baby, so I didn't have any pictures of her. Or so I thought. If he wouldn't have tagged me in that full photo, I wouldn't have figured out who this was. So as you can see, thanks to Kyle, I was able to connect more pieces and trace my family back further.
Grief comes in many different ways. And right now I'm grieving what would have been along with missing him. Please pray for Kyle's family as they process this difficult time. I'm grateful for the short time I knew Kyle. One day I know I will eventually see him.
It's that time of year again! The Franklin County Historical Society is having its Annual History Fair at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Union, Missouri. There will be approximately 20 vendors set up inside, along with a few outside with a new feature: a Car Cruze! If the weather holds out, you will see a whole bunch of vintage cars lined up outside the KC Hall. What a great way to spend an afternoon.
I will also have a couple booths set up at the fair. My main one will be displaying some of my research and special items. I will also be offering my services for genealogy research. A special I will be running at the fair will include looking up a relative on the 1950 Census FOR FREE. I will have my tablet to look them up. Also on display will be a page from the 1950 census that has my mom and her family. I'm looking forward to starting doing this as my career.
Who else will be at the fair? Check out our flyer below.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention the other booth I will have set up as a display. If you noticed on the flyer, under my name, it says "Fort Leonard Wood Yearbook display". Yep, I will have the yearbooks in my collection on display for everyone to look at AND I will have my computer there as well to feature my website: Fort Leonard Wood Yearbooks. I've written about it a few times before, especially recently since the Search feature is now finally working! Yay! I'm so excited! Now it's time to focus on getting more yearbooks to add to the site.
This is our biggest event of the year. We will have a Silent Auction and a raffle for a one-night stay at McKelvey Vineyards (a $750 value). Tickets are only $10. I still have tickets if you are interested, but better hurry! The deadline is Sunday!
It's done! The search feature on my website, https://www.ftleonardwoodyearbooks.com/, is now live! I was having a heck of a time trying to code the feature, but after walking away from it for a little while, it finally worked!
Let me show you how to do this. You head to my website: https://www.ftleonardwoodyearbooks.com/. If you look up in the right-hand corner, you should see a Magnifying Glass. When hovering over the top, a popup box should appear and read "Open Search Bar". When you click on it, a search bar will show up for you to search my site.
Now all you need to do is type in the name you are searching for. I recommend starting with just a last name. Then hit the "Enter" key. After that, the results will show up for you. From here you can click on the results to look at the page(s). If you look at one of the results and decide you wish to go back to the rest of the results, just hit the back button.
I am so excited that this is finally working! This will make it much easier to search for your relative. I am still in the process of adding more yearbooks to my site. It takes me time to type each name and scan the pages. I am still taking care of this all on my own. I would like to purchase a book scanner to make it much easier, but they are a little pricey.
If you would like to support my efforts, I would greatly appreciate a donation. 100% of everything that comes in goes toward this project. Just click the link below to make a donation.
If you have any questions about this project, how to use the site, or use the search feature, just leave a comment here or you can email me at AuntieJen82@yahoo.com.
I recently returned from a trip to Nashville, Tennessee, where I had the opportunity to visit the Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA). I wanted to look through their collections to locate more information on my 3rd Great Grandma Maggie Helfrich, my brick wall, and her first husband, Logan Dennis. Unfortunately, things did not turn out the way I had hoped.
First The Bad News
Before I traveled, I was informed by an archivist that their newspaper collection that was on microfilms would not be available due to re-processing. That was one main reason I was going to the Archives. I wanted to look through the newspapers for Jackson County to learn any new information about Logan and/or Maggie.
Quick backstory: Maggie sued Logan for abandonment in 1872, claiming he left after they were married on October 30th. I have not located a record to back up this claim. I did look through a database of Jackson County Marriages at the TSLA from the same period, but I did not find any entry for Logan and Maggie. So, my plan to look up Jackson County newspapers was out.
More Bad News
Once I got there, I was also told that their ASRS system (Automated Storage & Retrieval System, aka the robot) was out of order. So they could not pull items from their special collections. *sigh* Well, that's not helpful.
So, What Could I Actually Look At?
I wrote up a list of Microfilms I was interested in checking out based on research I did before traveling. The TSLA has guides available online for each county explaining what records they have available on Microfilm. So, I started with that list. Unfortunately, I didn't learn any new information.
After I finished with my list, I inquired about any records that would mention Rivermates or Steamboat Captains. And if there were no personal records, would there be any historical records available. To my surprise, there was something.
What Did I Find?
First, I want to remind you how important it is to write down certain details you come across in your research for later use. I learned about Logan's occupation as a Shipmate from a few different sources: Newspapers, city directories, and his divorce from Maggie later in 1890. All of these records together corroborated the details of his address and occupation. The newspapers also provided details of his excursions, including the names of the steamers. It's these facts that helped me: The names of the steamers.
1887 Nashville Banner Newspapers.com
1888 Tennessean Newspapers.com
Davidson County Chancery Court Records Mary M. Dennis vs. Logan Dennis Divorce file & Final Decree Metro Archives - Nashville Public Library
1883 Nashville City Directory Ancestry.com
Since I had the names of the steamers, the archivist at the TSLA was able to locate a file mentioning those steamers. The file was called the "Douglas, Byrd, Family Papers". Judge Byrd Douglas was the author of Steamboatin' on the Cumberland. Douglas was a licensed operator, owning various boats, including towboats and barges, which he piloted along nearly every navigable mile of the Cumberland River. The papers in the file consist of notes, photos, rough drafts, and more. And the name of one of the ships Logan was on was mentioned in these files. The file was photographed and put on 5 different microfilms. Another archivist pulled the microfilms and gave me an information sheet about the collection. (Link above and here.)
Since I was limited on time for the day, I focused on just a few sections of the collection. Specifically, the section labeled: “Steamboatin’ On The Cumberland – Register – Steamboats, Captains & Crew, 1870-1890". You see, I don't have much information about Logan as a shipmate, so I hoped he would be listed on the register as part of this section. And would you believe... I did find something.
Steamboat Register - Crew, Captains & Ships 1880-1890 Byrd Douglas Family Papers - TSLA
What Did I Learn?
As you can see from the register, there wasn't much listed about Logan Dennis (of course, sigh). But there were a few clues I gleaned from these notes.
His license number. It's the same as needing a license to drive a car. You would need one to operate a steamer. I asked the archivist if there were any known records of Steamboat Licenses, and he said not to his knowledge.
Logan obtained a license later than I thought. He definitely was a shipmate starting around 1883, but he didn't get his license until a few years later.
He really didn't do much. Most of the other men listed had notes associated with their entry; such as which ship they worked on or their titles. Logan had nothing. But at least he was recorded in this register.
Anything Else?
Just by happenstance while I was looking for the section with the shipmate registers, I also found the lists of steamboats from when Logan was a shipmate. It's possible, Logan operated some other ships besides the ones I already knew. I have no way of finding out at this time though.
So for now, I'm going to save this information for a later date, again. Cause you never know when this information will be useful. More and more records are becoming available all the time. What once was buried, is not available online. This trip definitely proved that for me.
When I first started researching Maggie Helfrich, the only way I could find answers was to travel to Tennessee. Now, I find most of everything that I needed to look through, is available online. I'm not saying that traveling out there was a waste but by no means. It was a great experience! And since some things were not available to me this time, it just means I will have to travel back again at a later date. I was informed my library card is still good for at least a couple years!
I also have some feelers out in different counties, so this is definitely not over yet!
Ok guys, I might have a lead on my 2nd Great-Grandma's birth parents. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself, but I'm thinking, "What are the odds?". To catch you up, here are the blog posts where I write about Oma being adopted:
So as you can see, this was a huge shock to all of us. We had no idea she was not the natural-born child of Logan and Maggie Dennis. I don't even know if Oma knew. As the record states, she was taken in when she was just a couple months old in 1885. So unless Maggie told her, there would be no way for her to know. Records were not kept back in those days the same way they are today. Heck, it has taken me years to track down this information.
Yesterday, I was going through some court records for Bedford County, since that's where Oma was from according to the adoption record, to see if I could find any information about an infant being removed or taken, or if there was any information about a Collins (Oma's original last name) in the records. I did come across a Jerry Collins that was mentioned in the Circuit Court Records for Bedford County from 1885, the year Oma was born. I found the page that was listed in the index and began to read the information.
"This day the Grand Jury returned ... one indictment against Jerry Collins for Murder..."
This definitely got my attention. Reading down further, it appears Jerry Collins was indicted for the Murder of Martha Collins. I assume this is his wife, but it doesn't say. But since this is a murder case, it should be in the newspaper.
Shocking Tragedy The Pulaski Citizen Pulaski, Tennessee Thursday, March 05, 1885
This is horrible! What a senseless death! My gosh... This wasn't the only article I found. One had a more thorough explanation of the events. But this one mentioned the fact they had many children. Which was important. Now, let's look at some facts here. Oma was born in January 1885. According to her adoption record, Oma's parents were dead. Maggie & Logan acquired her from authorities of the Bedford County Asylum. There are some facts that line up with some of these details: The right time period, one parent is indeed dead, and this occurred in Bedford County.
Is it a coincidence? What are the odds?
Honestly, I don't know at this point. I have no definitive proof of anything. But this is the first *possible* lead I have come across. I am reaching out to as many repositories as possible looking for records relating to the Bedford County Asylum/Poorhouse. The next step will be locating census records for this family (if I can find any before and after this event) and then trying to see where the other children ended up. So many questions. But yeah, I just had to share this with you guys.
My cousin Brian shared a news story with me today from the St. Louis Post Dispatch. He is into history like I am. And this Thursday Throwback took me back.
Aug. 2, 1963: The new South County shopping mall opens and dazzles St. Louis
Famous-Barr was a department store that was a St. Louis icon for many years. The company came about from a merger of the William Bar Dry Goods Co and the Famous Clothing Store: Famous-Barr. The merger took place in 1914, and their first store was located in Downtown St. Louis in the Railway Exchange building. If you talk to anyone who grew up in St. Louis and the surrounding counties, everyone will tell you they have been to a Famous-Barr department store at least once in their lives. I was definitely one of them. I remember going to South County Center when I was a kid. We would go back to school shopping, Christmas shopping, and birthday shopping. And one major stop was Famous-Barr. And it was my favorite place to shop around Christmas. When they built the store, they included a Rotunda or Cupola (a small dome, especially a small dome on a drum on top of a larger dome). And they would have a HUGE Christmas tree that went up the center of the dome. It was the largest tree I had ever seen. I wish we had pictures. But all I have is memories.
So when my cousin sent me this article, I just went down memory lane. Happy memories. But my mood soon shifted to melancholy. Even though the South County center is still there, so much has changed. Famous-Barr was eventually taken over by Macy's and the name was retired in 2006. I grew up and moved away. My grandma couldn't go shopping anymore once she got older in age. When I came back to live in Missouri, my grandma wasn't able to stay at her home for very long. She passed away in 2015. Nothing was the same. But I do have happy memories and I will hold onto them as long as I can.
So here are some old photos and newspaper articles from that day back in 1963 when Famous-Barr opened at South County Center. Take a walk down memory lane with me.
Back in July 2022, my hubby and I took a Family History Trip for a vacation to celebrate our 20th Wedding Anniversary. We've wanted to return to western Missouri to do more family history research for years. Specifically, the towns of Independence, Liberty, and Plattsburg. Things finally lined up for us to travel, so we went! Since we've been back, I've been trying to go through all the photographs, videos, and research I accumulated. The trip was a whirlwind, and I can't wait to share it all with you.
To start at the beginning of our journey, click the link below:
If there is one thing I learned from this day of the trip, it is not everything goes as planned. Something to know about me: I am a planner. I like to have an itinerary. I want to be prepared for things. I had this whole trip planned out of where we would stop and when. So needless to say, when things don't go as I plan, I don't like it very much. Ok, I REALLY don't like it. I hear my husband in the background saying, "Uh yeah, you really, really don't like it!" Now, I can handle SOME changes. The ones I can control. Like the first place that we decided to add to our itinerary.
I had forgotten that President Harry S. Truman lived in Independence for most of his life. So many historical sites are set up for visitors such as President Truman's home, The Harry. S. Truman Library and Museum, The Noland Home, and more. His house is listed on Missouri's National Historical Sites and maintained by the National Park Service. To visit the home, you need to purchase tickets from the Truman Home Visitor's Center at 223 North Main Street in Independence. There is also a gift shop attached to the visitor's center along with a short video you can watch about President Truman.
Honestly, Mark and I could come back and just stay in Independence for a few days checking out the historical sites. But we have different plans for this trip. Yet, since we were right there, and there was still time before the Jackson County Historical Society would be open, we decided to stop at the Truman Home Visitor's Center for a few minutes. I was able to get my National Parks Passport stamped since the Truman Home Visitor's Center is listed as part of America's National Parks. Are you familiar with the Passport program? If you plan on taking trips to some national parks either by yourself or with the kids, I recommend picking up one of these passports. It's just for fun, but a great souvenir.
Ok, on to the Jackson County Historical Society, which was in the square, literally right across the street from the Visitor's Center. They open at 10:00am. Or so I thought...
Historic Truman Courthouse Independence, Missouri
We walked up to the doors of the courthouse and they were locked. Hmm... ok maybe the other doors on the other side? Nope, they were locked too. Why? What happened? They should be open. Did I miss something? I checked their website. Yes, they should be open Monday through Saturday... wait... oh no. I didn't realize what day it was. It was Sunday. No wonder the square in town was literally, EMPTY! Nothing was open. It's like the whole square shut down for Sunday. Including the one restaurant that we planned to eat at for dinner. Cue the mental breakdown. I literally had to sit in the car for a few minutes to calm down. I was hoping to gather some information about the Swope family, including photographs. I was so frustrated.
After a few minutes of breathing, I knew we could still make this a productive day. We decided to go on and head to Mount Washington Cemetery to visit the graves of the Swope Family; the main reason we were in Independence. Oh let me tell you, I wasn't prepared for the size of this cemetery. The maps online didn't really give me a clue about what I would be dealing with. The cemetery is about 400 acres. Yes, you read that right. There are about 43,000 people buried in this cemetery. Holy cow! Now, yes I did reach out to the cemetery to ask about the location of the Swopes, but I got nothing back before we traveled. Since I didn't want to be looking for a needle in a haystack, I decided to check out their Find A Grave memorials for any information I could glean. Turns out, someone had included the section in which they were buried. Score! They were buried in the Garden of Memories section! I found a map online that showed the different sections of the cemetery. We used that to navigate to the section where the Swope family was buried. So here we go!
Map of Mt. Washington Cemetery Path to section marked in red
The drive was beautiful. The cemetery used to be a park and fairground in the early 1900s before the Mount Washington Cemetery Association purchased the land. They utilized the rolling hills for Masouleums, and they designed beautiful buildings throughout the park for funerals. After many twists and turns (and hills) we located the Garden of Memories section. Ok, now to find where the Swopes were buried. They were a decently prominent family, so I thought they would have a huge headstone that says "Swope".
Yeah, no. That wasn't the case. We walked the whole section multiple times looking for a huge stone that said "Swope". I took one side, my hubby took the other and we just walked, and walked. Finally, I told him I was done. I sat down and waited for him to bring my van over to me. I was tired and sore. All of a sudden he called me and said he found a headstone that says "Chrisman" on it. Well, Maggie Swope was once a Chrisman. Maybe that's family. So we go over there. He said he looked around and couldn't find any Swopes but found this. I started walking the section and, would you believe, a few feet over, there were the Swopes. Oh, my, Gosh!! We both walked right past them since they were by the road. We were so focused on looking for a big "Swope" headstone that we were blind. My hubby was so mad at himself.
Swope/Chrisman Family Plots Mount Washington Cemetery Independence, Missouri
To see the full moment of our stupidity, check out the vlog for day 2.
Coming Soon!
Mark, my husband, is related to the Swope family through his maternal line. His mom, Mildred, was a Swope. She was the one who originally told us about the scandal in the family from the early 1900s, but she didn't know the details or how they were related. So I traced the lines to find out how they were related. Today, we were visiting the graves of Maggie Chrisman Swope, her husband Logan, and her children. Mark is Maggie & Logan's 1st cousin 4x removed. (Ancestry told me that, I didn't figure that out on my own haha). Maggie and her children were the targets of Dr. Bennett Clark Hyde. His goal was to kill off the family so he would inherit the family fortune of Col. Thomas Hunton Swope. This resulted in the deaths of Col. Swope, one of Maggie's sons William Chrisman, and a cousin/friend James Moss Hunton who was a guardian of Col. Swope. The rest of the family was ill at some point, almost to the point of death at times. After much suspicion had arisen, Maggie removed Dr. Hyde and contacted a prosecutor. She was the driving force behind trying to prosecute Dr. Hyde for what he did to the family. This story is one of the best crime dramas you could read about. And it's a true story about our family! Now, there is no way I could ever go into the details of this story sufficiently. So I recommend reading the book, "Deaths on Pleasant Street: The Ghastly Enigma of Colonel Swope and Dr. Hyde" by Giles Fowler. The author was a journalist and a teacher who studied the case files in depth to create a narrative that is detailed and truthful. He presents the facts but leaves unanswered questions for you to figure out. The book is hard to get sometimes as the author has since passed away, but if you are able, I absolutely recommend picking up this book.
Click the buttons to view photos of the Swope graves:
Slideshow Images
Once we found the graves, we spent some time filming, photographing, and just admiring the area. It was beautiful and peaceful. You can watch Episode 2 in my series, "Grave Hunting with Auntie Jen" where I feature this Swope family.
Honestly, Mark and I could have spent many more hours exploring this cemetery just for the architecture, but it was past lunchtime and we were getting hungry. We planned on doing a wine tasting at Mallinson Winery, where we were staying, and just eating some snacks during the tasting. We are not big wine drinkers, but since we are staying at a romantic winery, why not have a romantic wine tasting together? So back to the Norton House & Mallinson Winery.
Trigger the next crisis. After taking a few photos, we walked up to the winery only to find a sign that stated they were closed for a private event. Wait, what? We were not informed of this when we booked. Now, I was getting angry. This time it definitely wasn't my fault. I finally found someone who walked out and saw how angry I was. She asked if there was anything she could help me with. I explained our situation and how I was not informed when we booked. And this was supposed to be a memorable weekend for our anniversary. We were about to leave when she offered to do a private wine tasting for us. I was blown away. So we accepted and went inside. It was a really nice time. We got to learn about how the winery got started and were able to try some of their specialty wines. I was looking to hopefully purchase a couple for some special evening with my hubby. We actually purchased quite a few bottles. They were really tasty. And like I said before, we are not big wine drinkers, but I really enjoyed these. I was really grateful that one of the owners offered us a private tasting. It really helped make the day better after some rough starts.
Since there wasn't much as far as snacks at our wine tasting, we decided to go ahead and have a late lunch/early dinner. Unfortunately, as I said earlier since it was Sunday, everything in the square was closed, including the place we wanted to try for dinner. They recently changed their hours to be closed on Sundays. We decided to then just eat somewhere we were familiar with: Outback Steakhouse. Always a good choice. And the dessert we ordered... oh my gosh!
Chocolate makes everything better right? Definitely felt refreshed... and full! We couldn't finish this dessert, but we sure tried. But we still weren't done for the day, so on we go. We had two more tasks to complete before sundown.
First, we needed to track down where the Swope Mansion used to be located. This is where the murders of William Chrisman Swope, Col. Thomas Hunton Swope, and James Moss Hunton took place. The mansion was torn down in the 1950s after falling into disrepair. I brought with me some documents to help me pinpoint the original location.
Swope Mansion JCHS Archives
The address of the Swope Mansion was 406 South Pleasant Street. Today at that location is an RV Park and a Central Mission Community - Church of Christ building. With changing boundaries and roads, it isn't always easy to locate where a property used to be. One article I acquired back in 2018 was very helpful when it came to understanding what happened to the Swope Mansion.
Old Swope Mystery Mansion 06 Jul 1947, Sun The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri) Newspapers.com Back in July of 1947, the Kansas City Star ran an article about the Swope Mansion, tragedies that occurred there, and what eventually happened to the property. The financial stress of the trials against Dr. Bennett Clark Hyde played a major role in what happened to the mansion. Poor Maggie was depleted of all her money. She couldn't keep up with the mansion anymore and was forced to sell it. The Church of Latter-Day Saints purchased the property from Mrs. Swope in 1923 and used the building for schools and missions.
We pulled up to the property area which is part of the RV park and found a sign from the Church of Latter-Day Saints. So we definitely found the location where the mansion once stood. The article explains that "A winding asphalt driveway, built for horse-drawn carriages, extends nearly a city block to the front door..." This means that the house sat more toward the back (north) of the property. See the map below. The red pinpoint is supposed to be 406 South Pleasant Street. The red square is the approximate property line. I'm not sure how far back the property went without further research, which would require me to visit the Jackson County Historical Society and the Midwest Genealogy Center.
We also talked with the property owner of the RV Park and he confirmed that I was thinking about the house being further back on the property. He was very pleasant and helpful. He enjoyed looking at the article I had with me. After our conversation, was drove around the property filming a bit before heading to our next destination.
By now the sun was setting and it was getting dark. But we still had enough light for our last task of the day. When I went through all the photos in my Mother-in-law's photo albums, I noticed some photos of the locations we were hoping to visit on our trip. So I told Mark I wanted to recreate these photos. He was so down with this idea. Our first stop was the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. Mark's grandparents had taken a photo of themselves in front of the library back in 1965. The beauty of waiting until the library was closed was we were able to get a photo with no one else in the background.
While this day didn't start off on the best note, it ended with a beautiful sunset. Our time in Independence had come to an end. Tomorrow we would be heading to the Swope Memorial and then to Liberty, Missouri. We definitely will be making a trip back to Independence sometime in the future to explore more of the historical sites, libraries, and historical society.
Don't forget to check out the Day 2 Vlog once it comes out as well as Day 3 Blog entry.
