The Best Genealogy Tips

Where is the best place to look for the most valuable genealogy tips.  I have been doing research for abrout nine months, and although,  I am very happy with my results, I have a long way to go yet.

 I haven't figured out anything about probate records and what I am even looking for on them.  Is there someplace where I can find copies of probate records to look at?  I thing it might help to figure out what I am looking for if I have something I can see before I try looking for them.

I hear people saying I have been searching for 25 years and I am still am not done.  I wonder with the advances in technology if that will always be the case.  If we find things so much quicker will we run out of relatives or will we just keep extending our lines?

Do We Share Ancestors in Our Family Trees

Please take a look at my trees to see if we share any ancestors.  I am hoping to make connections with other people that make be closely or distantly related.

If any of the names I have listed are also in your tree, please leave a comment.  Maybe we do have a connection.

If you think any of our names match I will compare with you.

Delores M. Manis Davidson- My Great Aunt

Delores Manis was born around 1908.  Delores was the third child of  Lester Manis and Cora Gibson Manis.  Her parents divorced in 1910.  She had a few stepfathers while she was growing up.  

I haven't been able to find much on her yet.  I found her gravestone and I found her on three censuses.  I don't have a birth record, marriage record or death record.  I will be working on these things.  According to census information  she got married around 1921 to James Omar Davidson.  She had a daughter Donna Davidson on April 1, 1926.

DELORES MANIS FAMILY TREE FROM ANCESTRY.COM

Sadly Delores died in 1938.  She was around 30 years old and left a 4 year old daughter.

I really need to find more information on Delores.  She was my Mom's aunt and I only knew her name before I started researching.

She is buried in Chester Cemetery beside her mom and her sister.

Writing about each one of the ancestors give me a chance to put all my information in one place so I know what I have and what I am still searching for.  I also hope that I will come into contact with other peoples research might overlap mine and we can help each other.

Fred Manis - World War 1 Veteran - Red Arrow 32nd Infantry

My grandmother's brother little brother was Fred Manis.  He was born to Lester Manis and Cora Gibson on October 1, 1899.  He lived in Wabash for a short while and then the family moved to Richmond.  He worked as a truck driver until he enlisted in the military.  He joined up on January 20, 1915, in Columbus, Ohio.  I have not been able to find a copy of his full military record yet, so I don't know where he started out.

According to his files when he was at the U.S. National Homes for Disabled Soldiers Records he was Sergeant in the 32nd United States Infantry.  I am not sure how he got into this division since it was made up of men from Wisconsin and Michigan.  It sounds like they were in some of the fiercest fighting in World War 1. This is one area where I plan to do more research.  He spent 52 months in the military.  His father Lester also fought in World War 1. Fred spent a lot of time in the Veteran's Homes for the rest of his life.

He married Elsie McDowell on June 4, 1919.  They had one son, Harold Manis.   They lived in Richmond, Indiana, where he worked as a mechanic.

He died in the Veteran's Home in Grant County, Indiana on December 20, 1940.

Wordless Wednesday - Leprechauns

I am participating in Wordless Wednesday at GeneaBloggers today.  Today I was in the mood for a fun picture.

Jack Eugene Plummer - My Big Brother

Jack is the son of Charles and Shirley Hoover Plummer.  He was born in Richmond, Indiana on July 22, 1939.  Jack was 15 years older than me so I don't remember him except as a man.  I don't remember him living at home, in my memory he was always married to Della Hahn who I called Sis.  In actuality they were

married January 23, 1960, when I was five years old.  

Jack was an avid outdoors man   He was a hunter, a fisherman, he rode horses, and he water skied. He loved cars.  He was always busy and involved in something.  I remember how excited he was when he got his first deer.  He also raced stock cars. There was a race track somewhere east of Connersville, Indiana, where he would race stock cars on the weekend during the summer.

  

Jack was a sheet metal worker and he worked for Triangle Sheet Metal, in Connersville, for many years.  He was the owner's right hand man, and head foreman.  

Jack and Sis would take the take me to their house to stay a lot.  They also took my two brothers and my younger sister. We were still living at home with mom and dad.  They would take all of us fun places and do things with us.  It was  like having an aunt and uncle who had no children.  They would spoil us.  I know he taught my brothers how to do lots of things.  Dad wasn't very well by this time and was unable to do a lot of things.  We got to do those things with Jack.  

Jack had a dog that was very close to him.  His dog, Belle, was left at home one time when they were gone and someone tried to get in.  Belle tore up a lot of things in the house.  They couldn't leave her inside any more because she would get nervous and tear things up.  They started chaining her outside when they left.  She broke several chains.  Sometimes she would get to our house before they did.  We knew he would be coming around soon when she would be standing at our front door.  She was a great dog.  She just didn't want to stay at home when they were gone.

Jack and Sis had always wanted children of their own.  They were unable to have them.  They decided to adopt but it was difficult to find children to adopt and they didn't think it was going to happen.  My brother that was just a little younger than Jack was having problems raising his children.  He and his wife decided to allow Jack and Sis to adopt the baby they were going to have.  They had a little girl in July 1974.  Jack and Sis adopted her.

Jack bought a boat the in the summer of 1974.  He was out in the boat almost every weekend.  It was getting to be late summer and I had gone to Connersville to see mom and dad.  Jack came by and said he was going out on the boat and asked if we wanted to go.  My husband, my mom, my daughter and I had gone out the weekend before.  We decided not to go and told him to have fun.  A little while later we headed home which was a couple of hours away.  When I walked into my house the phone was ringing.  It was mom calling to tell me that my brother had died on the lake that afternoon.  He drowned at Brookville Lake.  He was 35 years old.  Brookville Lake had been opened to boaters for the first time that summer.  He was the first drowning in the lake.  Jack died on August 26, 1974.   His daughter was one month old.  Jack  is buried at Dale Cemetery in Connersville, Indiana.

Tombstone Tuesday - A Vietnam War Casualty

I decided to participate in Tombstone Tuesday with GeneaBloggers.  This is my first time to do this and I had a hard time choosing where to start.  I decided to start with a newer grave.  I haven't gotten too far in my family stories so I choose a person who died as a young man.  

Thomas Hofer was my cousin who died in Vietnam.  I will do another post on him later.  Today I will just stay with posting the pictures.

Update on earlier post: It is a 1916 Indiana

My earlier post Is this motorcycle an Indian received an answer.  Tim Baer from A Century of Motorcyling had the answer.  I sent him a link and asked him for his expert opinion and here it is!  As you can see this motorcycle is older so I still am not sure when the picture was taken.  I know my grandmother died in 1935, so it is pre-1935.

A Century of Motorcycling

Hi Betty, (Nice name, are you a member of the Betty Club)
I did a little research and this is what I found.
Your Indian is 1916.
The rear leaf spring was introduced in 1913.
The handlebar crossbar was first used in 1914.
The rear of the front fender is flaired, that started in 1916.
The motor is a 61 cubic inch V-twin.
I could tell more if I could see the other side of the motorcycle.
The sidecar is not Indian brand, the front curve of the nose is verticle. All indian sidecars had a horizontal bend.
I tried to add the info to your web site, No luck
Thanks for asking
Tim Baer
A Century of Motorcycling

Lester Parker "Pop" Mannis (Manis) - Another Leaf in the Family Tree

I always have warm feelings when I think of "Pop" Mannis.  I don't remember many of the details that Mom told me when she talked about him.  I was just a kid!  I just remember when she spoke of him and talked about "Pop" that she always had a smile on her face and a loving tone in her voice.  I'd like to think that is what my son sees when I talk about Mom or Dad.  He didn't get the chance to know them, except through me. 

Lester Mannis was born in Henry County, Indiana on March 30, 1877.  His parents were Isaac Manis and Lucinda Zorns(Zornes) I don't know anything about his life growing up. I really hope I can someday find some personal information on him.  He married Cora Gibson on April 1, 1895.  I don't know if he met her in the Wayne County area, because her family had spent some time there.  Cora's family had moved to Wabash later and most of them were still in Wabash around the time they were married.  In looking back I see that Lester's sister married Cora's cousin in 1892, so that is probably how they met.  In the 1900 census Cora and Lester were living with Cora's brother James in Wabash. According to the 1910 Census they were living in Richmond and that is where they stayed most of the time after that.  Lester and Cora had three children, Ethel, Fred, and Delores.  Cora and Lester divorced on Dec 16, 1920.  

Lester married Augusta Werts Gable on July 20, 1912.  Lester served in World War 1.  I haven't gotten a copy of his service record yet.  His description is shown on his Draft Registration Form.  He was medium height, stout build, had blue eyes and brown hair. He was working as a millwright at Standard Pattern Works in Richmond, Indiana. The card says he was "discharged on account of(unable to read)Collapsed.  11 day of May 1918. His son Fred also served in World War 1. 

He continued to work as a millwright at least up until 1933, according to city directories.  Lester died until March 9, 1935.  
His second wife, Augusta, outlived him by 30 years.

Mannis/Manis

You have probably noticed that I have used different spellings of the last name Mannis.  The Manis's came to the United States originally using the name Maness. As the family spread out the spelling changed or was butchered many times.  Manes was used by some family extensions. My family used the spelling Manis. Oddly enough, Lester spelled Mannis.  I don't know when he added the second n.  I do know that from the time he married Augusta until his death, he used 2 n's. His father, his children and his first wife all spelled it Manis.  I don't know why the name spelling change occurred. He had a cousin of the same name that lived in the Anderson, Indiana area who was written up in the newspaper a couple of times for committing crimes.  It's possible that he didn't want to be confused with that Lester Manis.  

FGS Conference Held in Ft Wayne, Indiana

I am really excited about the Federation of Genealogical Studies Conference being held in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.  It is only a few hours from my home.   It will be from August 21-24, 2013.  This will be my first opportunity to attend a conference.  I can't wait to see what they are all about!

My husband will think it is just another way for me to spend money.  He doesn't understand my obsession with finding out about a bunch of dead people.  He does enjoy it when I present him with information on his family.  His eyes glaze over when I talk about it too much though.  I did find out that his great great grandfather is also the great great grandfather of DearMRYTLE.  His great great grandmother, Callie Phillips, was the first wife of William Henry Phillips and her great great grandmother married him after his first wife died.

I hope DearMRYTLE makes it to the conference.  I would love to meet her.

The living members of my family tree

I have been thinking that it would be great to include stories of the living members of my family.  I just am not sure about putting too much information on for public view.

  
If I don't get their stories now I may wait too late as I have done with the generations that are gone already. Even the young members of the family have stories that need to be recorded now.  I know I had a brother die at 35 years of age and my first husband died at 31.  I have memories of them but they have been gone for a long time now and it is harder to recall some things.  If I had recorded details when they were here it would have been much better. I know my children would love to have more information about their father's years of growing up as they were quite young when he died.

  
Does anyone have suggestions about how to handle this and still protect the privacy of the family?

I will get back to the family history post tomorrow. 

I found a great post on another blog.

This is the greatest idea.  I'm new at this blogging thing so I'm not sure if this is the correct way to do this.  I am just going to attach a copy of the blog post here.

This is a wonderful gift for her father, but if he keeps these letters it would also be a great keepsake for the whole family in future years.  Oh how I wish we had done something like this for my mother or father years ago.

Cora Gibson Manis Leistner Harris Marsh Wylie - my Melungeon grandmother

Cora S Gibson (Gipson) was born on Oct 5, 1876  in, Ohio.  She was the sixth of eight children.  My mother had never really told me much about her.  I knew her name and I knew that she was married to a Scotsman.  My mother always talked about his brogue.   She said they called him "Scotty".  She told me that she had a great grandmother who was a full blooded Cherokee Indian.  So when I began to search for information on my family, the first tie I found to Cora was her grave.  She is buried beside her daughter, my grandmother.

When I searched the census records I found her in the 1880 Census with her family.  It took a while to find because the census taker had put her reversed her father's name.  His name was Henderson Gibson. Since the census taker had written it down with the last name as Henderson, they were all shown as Hendersons instead of Gibsons.  Next, they were all listed as Mulatto.  Then I began to think I had found a connection to African American heritage.  As I searched and went back as few generations they were all listed as Mulatto.  In every census after 1880 all family members are listed as White.  At this point I was really confused.  I began researching mulatto and related searches and came across the term Melungeon. I found a book North from the Mountains, A Folk History of the Carmel Melungeon Settlement, Highland County, Ohio, and ordered it.  In the book they listed all the Melungeons who were living in Carmel, Highland County, Ohio in 1970.  My great-great grandfather and his family were listed.  At that time my great grandmother had not been born.  My great grandfather and family were counted twice in the 1970 Census.  They were in Highland County, Ohio in June and in Henry County, Indiana, living with his parents in August, 1970.  I am going to write more about the Melungeons in later posts. for now I will continue on with Cora.

Cora married Lester Mannis, my great-grandfather on April 1, 1895.  The had three children together, Ethel- my grandmother, Fred, and Delores.  They were divorced in 1910.

Cora's next marriage was to Christian Leistner.  Christian was born in Indiana to German parents.  Cora married Christian on August 6, 1913.  Christian wasn't around long, according to her next marriage record  he had died.

Her third husband was Frederick Harris.  They married on March 1, 1918.  I am assuming they were divorced, because on the 1920 Census she is listed as the wife of Charles Marsh.  Her youngest  daughter was still living with her. I found Frederick Harris living as a roomer in a nearby town.

Cora and Charles Marsh were also short-lived because by around 1924 she was married to Kennedy Kennith Wylie, the step-grandfather my mother knew.  In 1930 she is on the census with Mr Wylie, and Mr Marsh is living with other people.

My mother would have been around 5 when her grandmother married Mr. Wylie.  She talked about "Scotty"  quite a bit.  The 1930's were a rough time for Cora.  Her daughter, Ethel died in 1935, her daughter, Delores died in 1938 and her son, Fred died in 1940.

Mr Wylie died in 1948.  Cora lived until April 3, 1949.  She had survived longer than her three children and at least two of her husbands.

My oldest sister remembers Mom saying that she was a grouchy woman who liked to drink.

What is this car's history?

Since I haven't decided which direction to go in my family history right now, I decided to post a few of the pictures I have with old cars in them.  May someone can identify the years or makes of the cars.

Please let me know if you have any ideas on them.

How do I climb the family tree?

I have been trying to figure where to go from here.  Do I switch now to my grandmother's parents and family or do I continue up from where I am on my grandfather's side?  I don't know how to keep some kind of rhythm in the process.  I don't want to confuse everyone with the relationships.

How do other people do this?

Any suggestions??

My though is to switch over and put in my other great grandparents and their direct families   Doing this I would switch back and forth between families at each level.  Then maybe it would be better to go down each family line, even though then I still come to lines splitting at each generational level.

Oh well, if you have any suggestions please leave a comment.

Catalyst for my family history research

I thought I would just take a few minutes and explain my reasons for searching for my family history.  I just started in May 2012.  In April 2012 my 17 year old son and I went on a school trip to France.  

We were touring the French countryside and we got to go to Omaha Beach where the Americans stormed the beaches  in the battle of Normandy.  We stood in the bunkers and on the coast, we walked through the museum and through the American Graveyard and read all the memorials.  As we were walking around my son had overheard people talking about their family members who had fought there.  He said to me, "Mom, it is such a shame that we are standing here and we know nothing about our family members and if they were here or not."  I then promised him we would do some research when we got home.

Well we got back and he was busy with baseball and I was busy so we didn't immediately do anything.  Then my daughter called me in early May and said,  "Mom I just signed up for Ancestry.com, can you help me?"  Well that night I signed up for Ancestry.com too.  And that was the start of my obsession.  My parents were older when I was born and they had both died quite a few years ago.  All of my aunts and uncles were gone too.  Luckily, about twenty years ago I had asked my mother to give me information for my Bible.  I had written down everything she could remember.  What a godsend that was!!  She had given me everything she could remember about my Dad's side of the family too!  My son and I spent the summer going to graveyards, courthouses, and libraries in between baseball games.  We photographed the main graveyard in our town and made memorials for all the people buried there.  That is an ongoing project because we have been trying to locate information to complete all the memorials.  We have put them on Billions Graves and Find A Grave.

By fall I had found first cousins from all over the country.  I had gotten my siblings involved.  We had a family reunion in October and had about 75 in attendance.  I didn't think that was bad for getting it together so quickly.  I had a cousin who brought her RV from Colorado clear to Indiana to attend.

This last year has been so much fun.  I have spent every free minute researching.  My son and I went on another trip to Europe this fall with his class.  Even though we haven't found any relatives we could corroborate that came from any particular areas there, we know that the Hoovers originated in Germany.  It felt great to stand in Germany and think maybe we were in the same area that our ancestors from several generations ago may have started out there.  

My daughter, my son, and I are truly hooked on finding all our family history.  I decided to do this blog to maybe find more relatives and to talk with other people in the genealogy community.  I hope to learn from other people and to maybe be of help to others.

My Mother's Kortright and White Cousins

Luella Hoover's children were quite spread out over the years. Her first three children were with her first husband John J Kortright. She had James on July 5, 1907. James married Letha Bane. After Letha died he married Betty. He lived in Richmond, Indiana most of his life. He retired from Alcoa. James died at the age of 78 in September 1985.

Her oldest daughter Elizabeth Kortright was born in Richmond on Feb 28, 1908. Elizabeth married Horace Webb. They had 5 children. They lived in Mooresville, Indiana. Elizabeth died April 4, 1965.

Anna Kortright, Elizabeth Kortright & Richard White

Luella's second daughter Anna Kortright was born in Richmond, Indiana. She was born in Richmond around 1911. She married Earl Adams. They had one son before she died with tuberculosis in the early 1930's. Her son was 8 months old at the time of her death. Her Aunt Martha raised him.

Luella married Homer White and they had 6 children together. Of those 6 only 2 survived beyond age 2.

Richard White was born in 1917. He married Dorothea. they lived in the Richmond, Indiana area. he died in 1989.

Paul White was the youngest of her children. Paul was born in 1928. He is a retired minister and is living in Illinois.

The children who died young were:

• Rail White, born approximately 1920
• Stillborn Infant, born approximately 1922
• Donald E. White, born 1925, died 1926
• Mary Jo White, born 1926, died 1928

It would have been hard to go through the deaths of so many children.  

The picture at the top of the page is Anna Kortright, Elizabeth Kortright, and Richard White in front of the house that a lot of the family lived in at different times.  It was the home of  Lulu and Arthur Pickett, but other family members lived in part of it at different times.

The following picture shows the fathers of the Kortright and White children.  From left to right is Homer "Jack" Kortright holding one of his children (unidentified), John Kortright, and Jim Hoover with one of his children (unidentified).

Homer "Jack White", John Kortright, and Jim Hoover.

Quaker Family History Continues

In my family research I have found that all most all of my family lines have descended from Quaker origins.  Of course, through the generations not all of the family has remained in the Friends church.   Although we do have lots of ministers in the family line.  I'll go into that in a later post.

In this post I will tell you about Franklin Chant, the only son of Lulu Pickett Chant and Arthur Chant.  He is the half-brother to my grandfather.  Franklin was born in Richmond, Indiana on November 7, 1898.  I

As I'm sure is the case with everyone, my research is ongoing and I don't feel like I have the complete story on some of my ancestors.  I have lots of theories.  Franklin married Lillian Roth 
on September 22, 1926.  I believe they met at the Ft. Wayne Bible College.  I know Lillian graduated from there and I found Frank listed in a city directory in 1929.  He was a coremaker at the Bible Training School in Ft Wayne.  

Frank was pastor at several churches over the years.  He spent time in Tennessee and Ohio.  He spent a few years as pastor of the Bloomingdale Friends Church in Parke County, Indiana.  When he died he was the pastor of the Greenfield Friends Church, in Hancock County, Indiana.

Lillian served at the Greenfield Friends Meeting in Indiana, the Penn Friends meeting in Penn, Michigan, and Ludlow Falls Friends Meeting in Ludlow Falls, Ohio.  In the early years she was the assistant matron at the Bible Training School in Ft Wayne, Indiana.

Frank died April 28, 1959, in Greenfield, Indiana.  Lillian died October 4, 1986 in Richmond, Indiana.  There are buried beside each other in Earlham Cemetery, Richmond, Indiana.

Frank came from a long line of Friends, both his parents were members of the Friends church.  My connection to the Friends goes back as far as the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  

Is this motorcycle an Indian?

UPDATE
I contacted the Glenn H Curtiss Museum to see if they had any information on the motorcycle as suggested by Heather Rojo.  They said they didn't have anything like it, but they thought it was about a 1910 Indiana.

Does anyone know anything about this motorcycle and sidecar?  What year is it from?  I think it says Indian on the side.  I tried looking it up and didn't find anything exactly like it.  Some looked similar but the sidecar was different.

Oh, by the way,  the riders are my grandparents, Jim & Ethel Hoover.

Please leave a comment and let me know someone is looking at this.  I haven't had a comment yet so it feels like no one is reading anything.

Jim Hoover's Little Sister - Martha Elma Hoover Solomon

The youngest child of Frank & Lulu Hoover is Martha.  Martha was born September 21, 1894 in Richmond, Indiana.

Martha was married to William Solomon on October 12, 1911.  Bill and Martha were married several years and had no children.

In late 1930, Martha's niece, Anna Kortright Adams, died from tuberculosis.  Anna had an eight month old son and her husband wasn't able to raise him by himself.  Martha and Bill said they would take him and take care of him for awhile.  He lived with them until he was nineteen years old.  Their foster son, Jim, has given me some family information and pictures.

Martha died on October 31, 1959.  She is buried at Glen Haven Memorial Gardens in Richmond, Indiana.

My grandfather's oldest sister - Luella Jane Hoover Kortright White Nicholson

Luella Jane was the first child of Frank and Lulu Hoover.  She was born in Wayne County on March 29, 1892.  In the 1900 Census I found she and her sister living with their aunt, Lizzie Craft, this was after their father had died and their mother had remarried.  Luella married John J Kortright on February 16, 1907 in Richmond, Indiana.  She and John were married for a few years and they had three children, James, Elizabeth and Anna.  John and Luella divorced after a few years.  I still haven't found divorce records.  According to family members John spent some time in prison in Michigan City, Indiana.  Is it possible to get prison records?  Maybe I need to research this.  I do know that after Luella remarried John came to visit and was friendly with her second husband and still had a friendship with her brother, Jim.  

Luella's next marriage was to Homer Floyd White who went by the name "Jack". They were married in September 1914 in Richmond, Indiana.  Their first son, Richard,  was born in 1918 in Indiana.  They had five more children, four of whom died by age two, one was stillborn.  Their last child, Paul, is still living.  I have spoken to him and he has given me information and I plan on talking with him more.  He is a treasure trove of family information.  I have also spoken with a couple of Luella's grandchildren who are in their 80's and have many family memories.  

According to family members, Luella and "Jack"  both spent time working in a traveling carnival.  At that time  the country was in dire economic times and jobs were hard to find.  They traveled with the carnival for a few years and Luella had a snake act.   She apparently wore costumes that were risque for that time period.  Her grandson says  there are pictures!!  I haven't been able to locate any yet, but family members say they still exist.  I guess "Jack"  at one point had an act where he jumped things with a bicycle.  I was told there were some very close calls with that act.   

"Jack" died July 18, 1934 of a stroke.  He is buried at Chester Cemetery along with his children.

Luella married for a third time to Verlin Nicholson.  I don't know when she married Verlin, but I found them in a city directory in 1951.   Luella was still listed as a widow in 1940. So they married between 1940 and 1951.  One of the grandsons said,  "Mr Nicholson was a nice man".  
Verlin died in 1955.

Luella died March 14, 1958.  I was very young so I don't have any memories of her.  

My Brick Wall - Frank W Hoover

Okay this is where I get frustrated.  My grandfather's dad died when he was just three years old.  It seems there is very little information about him.  

Frank W Hoover was born either in Virginia or Kentucky, records indicate one or the other at different times.  He was born on October 21, 1853.  Since information is very scarce I have not been able to locate him on any census records.  I have located  marriage records in Wayne County.  Apparently he was married  three times in a short number of years.  I wasn't sure that all the records were for the same man at first.  As I continued to search and collect information I have come to believe they are all the same Frank Hoover.  

His first marriage was to Lizzie E Moore on May 16, 1885.  On the records for this marriage it says he is a farmer in Wayne County, Indiana.  It is his first marriage. He is 32 years old and he was born in Kentucky.  He father is Stanton Hoover and his mother is Katherine Wallen.  

His second marriage was to Lizzie Robertson on September 29, 1987.  On the records for this marriage it says he is a farmer in Richmond, Indiana.  This one says his third marriage.  He is 34 years old and he was born in Virginia.  His father is Stanton Hoover and his mother is Catherine Walden.

The third marriage is to my great grandmother Lulu Pickett.  They married on September 3, 1891.  The records for this marriage indicate that he is laborer in Richmond, Indiana.  This one also says it is his third marriage.  His age is 38 years old and he was born in Virginia.  This time his father is George Hoover and his mother is Catherine Ward.  

I have been searching for records on Lizzie Moore and Lizzie Robertson.  I don't know if they died or remarried, but I have not located anything on either of them.

So here is my dilemma, is this the same man.  If you are reading this blog and you have an opinion on this please comment.  I would love to have other opinions from people who have been doing this for a while.

On each of his children's birth certificates there is also conflicting information.  On his daughter Luella's record it says he is 32 and born in Virginia.  At that time he would have been 39.  On his son Jim's record it says he is 40, which would be correct, but says he is born in Kentucky.  On his third child Martha's record it say 41, also correct, and has no birth place.

Frank's death record has no information about his birth at all and no parents listed.  He died from meningitis. 

I have a cousin who says that when she was younger she wrote to a man in California who was Jim Hoover's brother and his name was John.  I do know that Lulu did not have any other children with Frank.  So is John a son of Frank and one of the Lizzie's?   I have not been able to collect any other information on this John.  My cousin said that at one time their house burned and all the letters were lost. She lost contact with him after that and she does not remember many details about him.  I do know that when my mother wrote down family information she did not mention a John Hoover.  Another lost trail??

Frank is buried in Chester Cemetery next to my great great grandmother Martha Jane Eccles Pickett.

Little Grandma - Martha Luella Rachel Lee Jane Pickett Hoover Chant

Three Generations, Grandma Chant, Jim Hoover & Bob Hoover

My mother always talked about "Little Grandma"  who she lived near when she was growing up.  She told me her whole name when I was young and I would go around chanting it.  I have always remembered her name and when I started researching her family history it began to make sense.  I believe most people had long names back then so it probably wasn't that unusual.  The funny thing was that she just went by Lulu.  Her mother was Martha Jane, her grandmother was Rachel, she named one daughter Luella Jane, the other Martha,  and since she had married twice she picked up the names Hoover and Chant.   

Grandma Chant was born on July 18, 1962, I know she was born in Indiana, but I haven't found her birth record yet so I'm not sure if it was in Richmond.  Her parents were Martha Jane Eccles and Benjamin N. Pickett.  She was the youngest of their four children, which included Lizzie, Thomas, and Bill.  She grew up in the Richmond area and lived there most  of, if not all of her life.  She came from a long line of Quaker ancestors and she member of the Friends church. 

Lulu married Frank Hoover, my great-grandfather, on September 3, 1891.  They were only married a few years because Frank died in 1896.  They had three children, Luella, my grandfather Jim, and Martha.  The children were very young when he died.  On April 7, 1897, she married Arthur Chant, who was also a member of the Friends church.  She and "Arty"  were together until their deaths a few weeks apart.

Grandma Chant and Arthur had a son together, Franklin.  I wondered if she named if after her first husband, Frank Hoover.  

I believe Grandma Chant was called "Little Grandma" because of her short stature and the fact that their other grandma was tall.  Grandma Chant was taller than "Arty" though.  He must have been very short.  

When my aunts and my mom got together I would hear them reminiscing about their grandma.  Since they had always lived close to her, at times in the same house, they were very close to her.  I have heard stories about her standing under the window of the girls bedroom listening to them talk.  They would hear her making a snorting sound and would know she was there.  Of course, then the talk would just get better so Grandma would have something to listen to.

Grandma's husband "Arty" died when he was hit by a car while taking a walk.  He died on Aug 13, and Grandma died on September 6, 1935, just 3 days after her daughter-in-law died.

Printed in the Richmond Palledium Item on  Sep 7, 1935.

Her funeral was held at the home of her daughter, Martha Hoover Solomon.  Above is a copy of her obituary from the Richmond Palladium Item.

She is buried at Chester Cemetery alongside many family members.

Ethel Frances Isabelle Manis Hoover - the grandmother I never met

My grandmother, my mother's mother, Ethel Hoover, the first wife of Jim Hoover.  All I know about my grandmother I learned from my mother, listening to my aunts talking when they got together, and lots of genealogical research

I researched census records and there I found her living with her parents in her aunt and uncles house at age 3.  I later found her obituary, her marriage record, her death record, her gravestone, and census records.  I still have not located her family in the 1920 Census. Ethel was born on September 24, 1896 in Wabash, Indiana to Lester Parker Manis and Cora Gibson Manis.  I am not sure when they relocated to Richmond, but her father was born in Henry County and his mother was living in Richmond.  Ethel lived next door to Jim's sister, Luella in 1910.  They married on February 12, 1912.

Ethel and Jim had 6 children born between 1913 and 1928.  They lived in Richmond most of those years, with a few years in Connersville when he was the minister of the Pilgrim Holiness Church there.

My mother's cousin, Jim Adams, recently told me a story about the day that my grandmother had her stroke that caused her death.  He was living with Martha Hoover Solomon and her husband Bill at that time.  He was only about 5 years old. He said that Ethel

Martha holding one of her children.

and Jim came over to visit them and as they were walking up the steps at 1344 Harris Street, in Richmond, Indiana, Ethel fell over into the shrubs.  Bill Solomon rushed over to help Jim get her up.  He thought she had missed a step, so he laughed and asked her if she had been hitting the bottle.  She had had a major stroke and she died either the next day or the day after.

My mother was 15 when her mother died.  At the time of Ethel's death, Jim still had four girls living at home.  Jim's mother and step-father died within a few weeks of Ethel.   They are all buried in Chester Cemetery in Richmond.

My mom told me a few stories about her mother.  She talked about her mother being born with a veil over her face.  My mother didn't believe in fortune tellers, but she said her mother was a very religious woman but she just seemed to know things.  She loved her mother very much and talked about what a kind, loving person she was.

Martha Hoover, Luella Hoover, and Ethel Manis

Until just a few years ago I had only seen one picture of my grandmother.  I have located some in the last few months. My sister had located some,  I found cousins who had them and Jim Adams's had one that he sent to me.  I hope to find more as I locate more people who knew her.

James William Hoover - Climbing the branches of the family tree

My grandfather, Jim Hoover, was born in Richmond, Indiana to Lulu Pickett and Frank Hoover August 7, 1893. He was their second child. Jim had an older sister Luella and a younger sister, Martha. Jim was 2 years old when his father died. A little over a year later his mother remarried. His mother married Arthur Chant. Arthur helped her raise her children and was the grandfather to Lulu's grandchildren. When Jim was 5 his mother and Arthur had a son, Franklin Chant.

I am not sure how Jim met his future wife, Ethel Manis. I did notice that in the 1910 U.S.Census Jim hoover's sister Luella is living next door to Ethel Manis's family? It took some searching to find this because both families surnames are not correct. Kortright is spelled Cartwright, and the Manis family is listed as the Parker family. Ethel's father was Lester Parker Manis.

Jim and Ethel were married in Wabash, Indiana on February 12, 1912. My cousin, Linda has a paper that has a description on their wedding written out. It is on a an old sheet of paper and is detailed. I haven't been able to get a copy of it but she read it to me. I hope to get a copy in the future to add here. After the marriage they moved to Richmond since most of their children were born in Richmond. Over the years they moved several times but other than a short time in Connersville, they seemed to live around the Richmond area.

Jim and Ethel had six children, Robert James Hoover, Ruth May Hoover, Pauline Hoover, Shirley Hoover, Betty Jane Hoover, and Milly Lou Hoover.  Around 1928 Jim was the pastor of the Pilgrim Holiness Church at 1609 Columbia Avenue in Connersville, Indiana.  He was only there a few years.  The Hoovers moved back to Richmond and Jim went to work as a machinist at National Tool (NATCO).  He continued to work there until he retired several years later. The Hoovers were living in Spring Grove which is a rural area of Richmond, Indiana when Ethel died.  She died on September 3, 1935, leaving Jim with four daughters still at home.  His stepfather and mother died at around the same time.  The deaths all occurred within a three week time frame.  Jim and his family lived in the same home with his parents, I am not sure if it had separate apartments or how it was set up.  I do know at one time that he was paying rent to his stepfather.  He paid $15.00 per month in rent. The home had housed most of the Hoover-Chant family at different times.  I know his sister Luella and her family also lived in the house at times.  

The Spring Grove Home

The Spring Grove Home Today

A few years after Ethel died Jim married Mabel Wise Shiverdecker.  I know they were married by 1939 but I have not been able to locate a copy of their marriage certificate yet.  Mabel had a young son, Joseph Shiverdecker, who came to live with the Hoover family. 

Jim and Mabel lived a few places in Richmond.  They lived at 3711 National Road East for several years.  I believe it was a trailer park and that is where he lived up until the time he died.  Jim died on March 14, 1967.  

Jim's great-nephew told me a few stories about some things he remembered.  

When President Roosevelt was running against Wilkie, Jim went to his sister's house at 527 North West L Street in Richmond.  He and his brother-in-law were celebrating the fact that Roosevelt had won the election.  Jim had been drinking a little.  My cousin remembers that Jim told William Solomon " Bill when the Republicans were in office my shoe soles were so thin, when I walked on chewing gum I could tell the flavor of it."  My cousin was around 12 at the time and he always thought that was so funny. 

He remembers that after he was adult and married he went to visit Jim and he knew Jim had been away from the church for several years at this point.  He knew that Jim was no onger a Christian and that his sisters had been praying for him for a long time.  Jim's sister, Martha, had died by this time.  My cousin stopped by to see Jim at his mobile home and prayed with him.      He told Jim that he & his wife would pick Jim and Mable up and take them to the Cherry Grove Camp Meeting that evening.  When they returned to pick Jim up he said Jim was very happy and told him that after he left that day he got on his knees and prayed and recommitted his life to God.  That evening at the camp meeting Jim got to his feet to give his testimony.  He told them that he had gotten saved again and would be living his life for God and he told them his name.  Two men in the front row stood up and asked him if he was the Jimmy Hoover that had pastored the Pilgrim Holiness Church in Connersville.  He answered that he was.  The men said that they had been saved under his ministry and had become members of the church.  Jim praised God and rejoiced.

I didn't get to spend much time with my grandfather and didn't get to know him very well, but it is great to hear stories and know that the people who knew him really loved him.

I have found out that Joe Shiverdecker's daughter has my grandfather's Bible that he used over the years and that he made notes in it for his sermons.  I hope to someday get to see the Bible.