Going Beyond the Details - The Nashua Reporter

I've been pouring over newspapers the last couple of weeks trying to find out something about the actual lives of some of my long-dead relatives. I've subscribed, at various times, to several different services, but despite ancestry.com's partnership with newspapers.com, I generally find I like newspaperarchives.com much better for easy retrieval and review.

One of the papers this service offers is from Nashua, Iowa. The Nashua Reporter from 1899 to the early 1980s. Early on, there were news notes from each town and township I call the "gossip column." It is chock-full of who went to this house or that for dinner, shopped out of town on the weekend, or visited or had visiting relatives. It's a great source to find spouse names, what they did, where they moved to once they left the area, and service information, especially during World War II.

I've found the answers to many mysteries or at least grabbed a thread that allowed me to fill in blanks in standard records. I discovered the long, interesting marital history of my great aunt Mary and just recently discovered that her sister, Bernice Smith Beckage, who lost her husband Andrew Beckage suddenly in 1947, almost immediately remarried her second husband whose existence I've never heard about from anyone. My guess is the marriage didn't last too long and she reverted to her first husband's name after that marriage.

Papers like the Nashua Reporter were a treasure. They show the ties that span through families and marriages and the triumphs, trials, and tribulations of generations of relatives. While I'll never find out why my Great Grandma Kate Smull Smith was so ornery, I do get to see that her children and their children were frequent visitors and who cared for her through the years after her husband's death.

I took a liking to this young fellow, who married one of my relatives, I couldn't for the life of me
figure out why they left Iowa for Albuquerque, New Mexico. I had assumed it was job-related - he was a grocery wholesaler and retailer throughout his life. Turns out I was wrong- it was a very bad case of tuberculosis that sent him to drier climes and he had a sister, Mrs DO Marshall living in Albuquerque. He also went into the real estate business in 1929 (Walter K Spurgeon Realty - later Walter K Spurgeon Courteous Realty) and as late as 1945, not the grocery business. He returned to that business, as a clerk, once they moved to California. This is what I found on he and his young wife, Leona Smith Spurgeon, daughter of Harland Smith and Fannie Magoon Smith:

Walter Spurgeon, who had been spending a few days at the Harland Smith home, returned Friday morning to his home at Boone. Miss Leona Smith accompanied him as far as Cedar Falls.
Nashua Reporter March 26, 1914
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Walter Spurgeon, who had been spending a few days at the Harland Smith home, returned Friday morning to his home at Boone. Miss Leona Smith accompanied him as far as Cedar Falls.
Nashua Reporter March 26, 1914
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LEONA SMITH A BIRDE
WEDS WALTER SPURGEON AT BOONE DECEMBER 27
At the home of Otis L Spurgeon, 1515 12th St Des Moines on Wednesday afternoon, at 5:00, occurred the marriage of Walter K Spurgeon, of Boone, Iowa, to Miss Leona Smith, of Nashua, Iowa. The ceremony was performed by Otis L Spurgeon, brother of the groom. The bride is the daughter of Mr & Mrs Harland Smith of this city. She was a former member of Mr Spurgeon's congregation at Nashua, he having baptized her into the church. She was during his stay here his efficient organist. The bride is of charming personality and a fine musician. Mr Spurgeon has been for a number of years a traveling salesman, but with the first of the coming year will enter into business with his father at Boone, where the parent is already engaged in the grocery and meat business. The young couple go to housekeeping at once in a home already furnished and will be at home to their friends on 10th St, Boone, Iowa.
Nashua Reporter January 4, 1917
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Mrs Walter Spurgeon who had been spending a couple of weeks at the house of her parents, Mr & Mrs Harland Smith, returned Friday to her home at Boone.
Nashua Reporter August 1, 1918
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Mrs Harland Smith went to Boone Thursday morning to nurse her daughter, Mrs Walter Spurgeon through a case of influenza. Mr Spurgeon is just recovering from an attack of the disease.
Nashua Reporter November 21, 1918
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Mrs Harland Smith returned from Boone Monday where she had been called by the illness of her daughter Mrs Walter Spurgeon. She reports that Mrs Spurgeon is much improved and able to be about once more.
Nashua Reporter May 8, 1919
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Mrs Walter Spurgeon of Boone, who had been spending a few weeks with her parents Mr & Mrs Harland Smith, went to Minneapolis Thursday to visit her sister, Mrs Corey.
Nashua Reporter July 31, 1919
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Mrs Walter Spurgeon of Boone, who had been here visiting her parents, Mr & Mrs Harland Smith, left for Minneapolis Monday to visit her sister, Mrs Percy Corey.
Nashua Reporter April 1, 1920
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Mrs Walter Spurgeon and baby of Boone, arrived Saturday for a visit with her parents, Mr & Mrs Harland Smith.
Nashua Reporter February 9, 1922
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Mirt Smith and Harland Smith autoed  to Cedar Falls Monday to visit the latter's daughter. Mrs Walter Spurgeon and little son of Boone, who came for a visit with her parents and other relatives and friends.
Nashua Reporter June 22, 1922, p 1
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For Marcelles 50 cents and bob curl 25c. See Leona Spurgeon, 1st door north of Reporter office. 16-2
Nashua Reporter December 3, 1924
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Mrs Beulah Lewis and little daughter, Betty of Boone, came Saturday evening to visit her brother and his wife, Mr & Mrs Walter Spurgeon, at the Harland Smith home.
Nashua Reporter February 4, 1925
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Methodist Episcopal Church, Elmer Shafer, Minister
...The special musical number for the morning was the solo by Mrs Leona Spurgeon, sung in a very effective manner. It was entitled, "Oh, What a King."
Nashua Reporter February 25, 1925
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Mrs Walter Spurgeon and little son arrived Wednesday of last week from Boone, to remain a few weeks with her parents, Mr & Mrs Harland Smith.
Nashua Reporter August 19, 1925
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Walter Spurgeon, who Has been for several weeks receiving treatment at the sanitarium at Oakdale, is able to return home and is with his family at the Harland Smith home.
Waterloo Evening Courier January 8, 1925, p 14
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Walter Spurgeon who had been spending several weeks with his wife at the home of her parents, Mr & Mrs Harland Smith, went to Boone, Iowa, Thursday to spend a few weeks with his parents, Mr Spurgeon, who had been at Oakdale Sanitarium for some time taking treatments, before coming to Nashua, is gaining steadily in health.
Nashua Reporter March 4, 1925
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Mrs. Leona Spurgeon and little son Richard have returned to Boone. after  visiting at the home of her parents.Mr. and Mrs. Harland Smith
Nashua Reporter September 2, 1925, pg 8
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Friends of Mr & Mrs Walter Spurgeon, who went to Albuquerque, NM, about a year ago to seek relief for Mr Spurgeon who was suffering from tuberculosis, will be glad to learn that he is much better and expects soon to go to work. At first, he did not improve satisfactorily and the only chance he had, which was one out of ten, was to have his affected lung collapsed, and he took the chance with the above result. Mrs Spurgeon is employed in the offices of the Great Western Railway.
Nashua Reporter December 8, 1926
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Mr & Mrs Walter K Spurgeon, 1208 East Roma Ave, are enjoying a visit fro Mr Spurgeon's brother, Rev Otis L Spurgeon, pastor, Trinity Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo. Rev Spurgeon was a chaplain in the World War and is a captain in the 443rd Field Artillery, ROTC. He is also a lecturer widely known over the country, being in demand before public schools and dinner clubs for his lectures on Character Analysis and Applied Psychology. Also a Kiwanian and a Mason, Rev Spurgeon is also a brother of Mrs DO Marshall of this city.
Albuquerque Journal March 28, 1929
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Walter K Spurgeon Real Estate 1208 East Roma Ave Phone 2867-R.
Albuquerque Journal July 2, 1929
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Modern home with big sleeping porch, price only $3,000 on easy terms. Walter K Spurgeon, 694 East Central.
Albuquerque Journal August 26, 1929
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In a pretty home wedding Wednesday morning, Rev Otis L Spurgeon peformed the ceremony uniting his daughter, Miss Velma Spurgeon and Herbert C Chandler of San Francisco in marriage. The ceremony was read at 10 o'clock at the home of the bride's uncle, Walter K Spurgeon, 1208 East Roma Ave.

The bride was gowned in a blue chiffon velvet ensemble, the jacket covering a blouse of eggshell satin. Her hat of dark blue velvet and other accessories matched. Miss Roberta Spurgeon, who attended her sister as maid of honor wore a dress of heavy flowered crepe in blue and white. Walter K Spurgeon the bride's uncle, acted as best man to Mr Chandler.

After the ceremony, a wedding breakfast was served to the bridal party and the ten guests present: Rev & Mrs Otis L Spurgeon, Mr & Mrs SA Spurgeon, Mr & Mrs WK Spurgen, Mr & Mrs DO Marshall, and the mIsses Esther Jensen and Carrie Swendson.

Mr & Mrs Chandler left Wednesday afternoon for a short honeymoon of unannounced destination after which they will be at home at the El Centro apartments, 270 Turk St, San Francisco, Cal.

The bride attended Des Moines College, the bridegroom Texas University. Mr Chandler is branch manager on the west coast for the Holcomb & Hoke Manufacturing company of Indianapolis. Mrs Chandler was formerly secretary to Dr OA Cox.
Albuquerque Journal October 17, 1929
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Mr & Mrs Walter Spurgeon and son, of Albuquerque, NM, arrived Tuesday evening of last week by auto for a visit with Mrs Spurgeon's parents, Mr & Mrs Harland Smith, and her brother, Will Smith and family.
Nashua Reporter July 22, 1931
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Mrs Walter Spurgeon of Albuquerque, NM, who was called here by the illness and death of her father, the late Harland Smith, returned home Wednesday of last week.
Nashua Reporter December 13, 1933
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Mrs Walter Spurgeon of Albuquerque, NM, came last week to visit her mother, Mrs Harland Smith.
Nashua Reporter May 20, 1936
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Mr & Mrs Walter Spurgeon of Albuquerque, NM, came last week for a visit with her mother, Mrs Harland Smith, and her brother, Will Smith and wife. Mrs Harland Smith accompanied them to Minneapolis, where they visited another of her daughters, Mrs PE Corey and husband. They also visited relatives and friends at Duluth returning to Nashua last Wednesday, after which Mr & Mrs Spurgeon started home.
Nashua Reporter June 18, 1941
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Mrs Fannie Smith, who suffered a severe stroke Thursday, was slightly improved Friday. She was alone in her home at the time she was stricken, and was found lying across the bed by Mrs John Anderson, who went to the home to call. Her daughter, Mrs Percy Corey, and husband of Minneapolis, Minn and another daughter, Mrs Leona Spurgeon of Albuquerque, N M were summoned to her bedside.
Waterloo Daily Courier April 12, 1942, pg 20
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Mrs Walter Spurgeon of Albuquerque, NM, has returned to her home, after helping care for her mother, Mrs Harland Smith, who suffered a stroke about a month ago.
Nashua Reporter May 13, 1942
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Couple 18 years residence wants unfurnished duplex or apartment. References Walter Spurgeon. B Apartment No 21.
Albuquerque Journal April 12, 1944
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Attractive Duplex in Heights. Two bedrooms ech. Walter Spurgeon with Karr A Kichenberger, 311 West Gold.
Albuquerque Journal June 10, 1944
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PFC Richard K Spurgeon, son of Mr & Mrs Walter Spurgeon, 1002 North Fifth, is serving as a photographer at an air depot of the Air Service Command in the Netherlands East Indies.
Albuquerque Journal April 18, 1945
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SMALL grocery and filling station, stock andand fixtures only, Good little business. Walter K. Spurgeon. Fifth and Grant e5840 Albuquerque Journal May 29, 1945
Albuquerque Journal May 29, 1945
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30 Years Ago
Grandpa and Grandma Harland Smith are waring the smile that won't come off, all on account of a card which they received telling of the birth of a 7-pound son at the home of Mr & Mrs Walter Spurgeon in Duluth, on Aug 3, 1920.
Nashua Reporter August 16, 1950
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Built for two, home and half acre, furnished. Walter K Spurgeon, 5840.
Albuquerque Journal May 31, 1945
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30 Years Ago
Mrs Harland Smith went to Minneapolis Friday to get acquainted with the new grandson at the Walter Spurgeon home.
Nashua Reporter August 23, 1950
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 The Spurgeon's moved to Southern California after New Mexico, and died there.

Without this valuable resource, Walter's life might have been missed in a cut and paste the records and move on kind of way.

Sundance, Wyoming and the Bowers Family

Mount Moriah Cemetery, Sundance, Wyoming

I finally took a real vacation this year. Traveling with my dear friend, Nancy, we traversed all of South Dakota and went into Wyoming to see Devil's Tower (aka Bear Lodge). Nearby, was the beautiful little ranching town of Sundance, Wyoming in Crook County.

Nancy is not a genealogist, but kindly indulged me for the one genealogy stop-off I wanted to make. Look back to Agnes Watson Smith Bowers' story here. I found her particularly interesting because of the path her life took.

The cemetery entrance was a challenge; it looked like an ATV path and not a drive. Signs posted said, "Private Property" and "Unmaintained Road." We took a chance and slowly moved up the hill meeting with a very tired old gravel road, full of pits, until suddenly, there was a maintained gravel road. Over the crest we found the vast expanse of the cemetery, maintained well. It was fairly easy to locate my relatives including Agnes, her son James Harvey, his wife Amalia Reinhold, and her second husband Wyman Henry Bushnell. I also located Agnes' sister Belle Watson and her husband James Benjamin Richardson's grave nearby.

On the way to the cemetery, we stopped at the very charming and well-put-together Crook County Museum and I picked up the book, "Pioneers of Crook County" which is quoted in my first piece on Agnes (see above link). Government Valley is located just outside of Sundance. There was an additional good story about James Benjamin Richards and Belle Watson I want to share from that book as well:

Agnes's sister Belle and husband
J B Richardson

"A short time after James and Isabelle Richardson had moved to the head of Government Valley, he had gone hunting leaving Isabelle and baby son John with his hunting dogs for protection. One bright moonlight night pandemonium broke out among the dogs. Isabelle looked out her bearskin door and saw a huge bear about 100 yards below the cabin. The dogs were so frightened they climbed on the hay stack in the corral leaving their mistress with only a bearskin door between her baby, herself and the big bear. Fortunately the bear went away but the next morning a cowboy rode in and told her he had never seen such big bear tracks. They measured from the tip of his fingers to his elbows when he laid his arm in the track."

"A few years after James and Isabelle Richardson had settled at the head of Government Valley, she had finally acquired a Home Comfort cooking range. One day they had a gentleman visitor from Lead, South Dakota. He offered Mrs. Richardson five (5) shares of Homestake Mining Stock for the range. She did not hesitate in telling him no, not realizing she was turning down what would become a very large amount of money. At that time the range was worth much more to her than any mining shares."
source: Pioneers of Crook County, paragraphs 2-3, pp. 423-424.

Christina Cappoens, A Woman of Wealth

The village of New Amsterdam, 1660

Imagine my surprise to find out that I descended on my working class father's side of the family to
one that was not only wealthy, but one of the most influential families in the history of what is now the United States. My dad always said we were "Heinz57" and it's true. We descend from Germans, English, Scottish, Irish, and Dutch ancestors.  Those Dutch though - they were something.

Christina Cappoens was born in about 1620. There is still discussion as to her parentage, with some saying her family was of Scandinavian blood and some Dutch. This I will not take on. Suffice it to say, she arrived in the new land and married Captain Jacob HAY, who had served in the West Indies. In 1658, Hays died, leaving Christina with her only child, Maria Hay.

Captain Hay built their home in what is now Manhattan on Stone Street. According to the Stone Street Historic District:

 "Stone Street, Stone Street Historic District, Financial District, Manhattan On the southern half of this site, landowner Wessel Evertsen built a house (c. 1660) for Asser Levy, a Jewish butcher and moneylender who successfully fought for permission from the town "to keep guard with other burghers" despite the disinclination of his fellow townsmen to serve with Jews.

 Levy retained the property for ten years, then conveyed the house and lot to Jan Herberding (a/k/a John Harpendingh), who later leased land on the west side of today's South William Street to Congregation Shearith Israel for its synagogue. At the northeast corner of the site Jacob Haey (a/k/a Jacob Heij, d. 1658), who had been a prosperous trader in Curasao and Santa Cruz, erected a comfortable house (c. 1648). Haey also owned a large plantation, in what is now Greenpoint, Brooklyn, which was cultivated by African slaves. His widow, whose second husband was shipmaster David Jochemszen (a/k/a Jochems), continued to live in the Stone Street house until at least 1686. The lane adjacent to this property was very narrow, and remained so for a century; in 1754 residents petitioned to widen it, as it was the "only passage thro Mill Street Commonly Called the Jews Ally [...] to Duke Street." The Haey/Jochems house and its garden were then sacrificed for the widening of the lane; however, documents indicate that the site of 59-61 Stone Street soon again contained two structures. The southern half of the site (No. 59 Stone Street) was associated with Gershom Mendes Seixas (1746-1816), the rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel, chief spokesman for American Jewry, and Revolutionary patriot. Seixas was among the city's first philanthropists and for many years was a regent and trustee of Columbia University."

Young Captain Pieter Praa, Jr.

Maria married three times, losing two of her husbands prematurely. She married Phillip Johns
LIEUW in 1668, followed by a marriage to Joost Adriaensen MOLINAER in 1681. To the Molinaer marriage was born one daughter, Sarah. Finally, Maria married Pieter PRAA, a captain in the militia and of Huguenot extraction. They had five daughters, including Catarina, referenced in the will.

Christina was a rare woman of her day. She was able to read and write and signed her various estate documents with a full signature. After she married her second husband, David JOCHEMSEN, they would leave some of the most interesting documents behind - their joint will, which left their estates to the other. Typically, husbands left their estates to their male progeny. Christina's will left her estate to David and her daughter Maria. David died before Christina and Christina died after her own daughter's third marriage, so she provided a detailed codicil to ensure that her two elder granddaughters were treated equally by the father of Catarina, Pieter PRAA. When Christina died in 1693, her will read in part:

"I give and bequeath in particular to my daughter Maria Hays, married to Peter Praa, first my small house with the land from the front to the rear, as far as my right extends, with the lane, except eight inches in said lane, which is to remain to my great house from the front to the rear, which shall be the parting line between my great house and lot and my small house and lot from one street to the other. Which said line (except the aforesaid eight inches), my said daughter shall and may build upon, as to her may seem meet. Provided that my said daughter Maria shall not dispose of the said small house by will or otherwise, but only to receive the rents during her life, and after her death to go to her children or their lawful heirs, and in default of such heirs, then to the next of my kindred in blood, but not to the children of Joost Adriansen, deceased. I also leave to my daughter Maria the use and income of my land and meadow and Bowery, lying at Maspeth Kills, and which is now in possession of herself and her husband, and after her death it is to go to her two children, Sara Molenaer, procured by Joost Adriansen Molenaer and Catrina Praa, procured by her present husband Peter Praa and such other children as she may leave. The said Peter Praa to have the use of the same during his life, but if he remains there after the death of his wife then he shall pay to the children for said Bowery, 10,000 guilders in wampum value."

 She later states:

"If my son-in-law Peter Praa opposes this will, or if he misbehave himself as to the children, he shall be debarred from all benefits." 

The land legacy of the purchases by the long-deceased Jacob Hay and additional purchases made by David Jochemsen, and Pieter Praa and later yet, the union between the MESEROLE and PRAA families, left the family owning much of Greenpoint, Bushwick, and 40,000 acres of New Jersey. I'll cover the vast land ownership of the family in the next post, along with some of the details of their slave ownership.

Brothers Smull: Jesse Smull

The Brothers Smull include Jacob, Peter, Henry, and Jesse, the brothers whose parents are still unidentified. The first three settled in Centre County, Pennsylvania sometime near the turn of the 19th century, soon after its founding (1799).

Jesse was the odd brother out. He wasn't a farmer or stone mason like his brothers, but a day laborer. The first decipherable census of 1850 has him age 36, married to Mary Bergey, with four boys: Charles, Henry, Jesse, and John, living in Frederick County, Pennsylvania.

In 1860, the family had pulled up stakes and relocated to East Coventry, Chester County. Mary and Jesse, had by then, three boys at home:  John, James, and Irwin. Jesse worked as a farm hand.

By 1870, they were still in Chester County, though no census is available for the family. That census would have been Jesse's last. In 1879, while working in a paper mill in Spring Valley, Chester County, Jesse met with a terrible accident.

According to the local paper, The Reading Times, Reading, Pennsylvania:

Jesse Smull, an old employee of the American Wood Paper Company, Spring City, this county, died while working in the alkali house, this morning, because of the tanks suddenly sprung a leak, covering him with liquid and scalding him fatally. He lingered with intense pain until 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when death relieved him of his suffering. Deceased leaves a family.
September 11, 1879

Mortality Schedule, Chester County, PA ending 31 May 1880 (Click to open)

It appears that they did not live a well-off life if at age 65 he was still laboring. What a horrible way to go.

I believe Mary died some time in the next decade. I'm taking a new look at his children, but most of them appear to have remained in the Reading area.  His children generated at least a couple of PhDs and a dentist.  His hard work paid off. I'll update on this soon.

MysteryMuddle: More on the Brothers Smull

I'm trying to untangle the mess of the Brothers Smull, who descended on Brush Valley in Centre County, Pennsylvania sometime in the early years of the 1800s. Read about the mystery of Jacob Smull.

Only one person had any insight in to his story and none of his sources were cited, but I did run across the 1820 Census with his name on it and it supports at least part of the story, but added even more questions to the growing list of mysteries.

According to that family tree, Jacob Smull was born in 1795 and died in 1830. This person had identified five children and a wife, Margarethe Brodt, daughter of Friederich Brodt and Maria Magdalena Seipel.

One of Jacob's purported daughters, Rebecca Smull, was married to Solomon Bechtol. Their history and that of their children was very limited in successful searching.

Elizabeth Smull, married  Jacob Burkert, and was blessedly easy to track.

No references were made to Jacob or his children in any documents outside of Ancestry records that I've been able to find. Margarethe and her parents are also a mystery at this point.

Now, my questions are as follow:

• What happened to Rebecca's children Anna, Mary, John David, Harry, and Emma J?
• What happened to Jacob purported children: Juliana, Johannes, and Jacob? 
• What happened to Margarethe after Jacob's death?

Personal Interviews: Saidee Smull Family History

Curtis Williams

Peter Smull > Johnathan Smull > Saidee Smull married Curtis Williams

I've written many letters and emails trying to get distant family members to help me in my quest. Unfortunately, those have mostly been met with deafening silence. One day, I shot off an email to a distant cousin who lived in Minnesota. She is the granddaughter of my great grandmother's sister. Think about that for a minute, I usually need to. She agreed not only to talk to me, but was going to be visiting the area and would meet with me and BRING PHOTOS!  I had died and gone to heaven.

Saidee Smull was the sixth of eight known children of Johnathan Smull and Mary Jane Cooper. She was born 11 Jan 1877 in Bradford, Chickasaw County. She married Curtis A Williams, son of John Williams and Mary Ann Smith, on 09 Sep 1903 in Plainfield, Bremer County, Iowa. The elder Williams' had been born in Indiana and pioneered into Dixon County, Nebraska, before relocating to the Bremer County, Iowa area.

Saidee and Curtis had two daughters, Annie Rosalie (1904), who went by "Rosalie" and Florence Alta Maude (1906), who went by "Maudie." When Maudie was just four, her father died suddenly from typhoid. He was only 35 and a strapping young farmer who took care of his own family as well as his widower father, John.

Life changed significantly for Saidee, but she persevered. She raised her daughters and had a close relationship with several of her sisters and was often found visiting them in Plainfield from Denver. Around 1912, she got more bad news. 

Rosalie, Saidee and Maudie in
Loma Linda, California 1912-1913

Her daughter Rosalie was sick. My interview subject, her daughter, mentioned her mother had been sick and they had gone to California about that time, but she didn't know why - we figured it out while going through the packet of materials she brought. Inside, neatly folded, was a brochure for the Loma Linda Sanitarium where they provided treatment for tuberculosis (among other things). Mystery solved. The girls and Saidee stayed out there for a year until Rosalie was better. Once they grew, both girls became public school teachers.

Saidee never remarried and lived in her later years with her daughter Rosalie and family. Rosalie married a young man named Cloyd Belton, who had arrived in Iowa to work on a road crew building a highway near Denver and never went home. Cloyd was one of eight boys of Marion and Beatrice (Campbell) Belton from Calloway County, Kentucky.  They went on to have my interview subject.  Rosalie died 10 Mar 1990 in and Cloyd died in 1984.

Maudie married a gent named Fred Baker in 1932 in Marshall County, Iowa. They went on to live in Texas. Maudie died Hot Springs, Garland County, Arkansas 30 Aug 2005. They had a boy and a girl.

Maudie and Rosalie Williams

Mystery Muddle: The Children of Peter Smull

Help Solve the Mystery

This is a continuation of the remaining mysteries of the Peter Smull line. His parentage is still a mystery and you can read about it here.

Peter Smull married Mary Waggoner (who are her parents, she asked?), most likely in Centre County, Pennsylvania before 1830. John Waggoner was the father and she had a brother William.

In searching through the cobbled together bits and pieces of various census and news articles, I've been able to identify 11 of the reported 12 children of the couple.

Catherine Smull b 1822 Centre Co. Penn; d 1876 Rock Run, Stephenson, IL m 1842, Pennsylvania; William Kryder, son of John and Susanna Keun,  b 1821 in Pennsylvania; d 1902 Dakota, Stephenson, IL. He remarried after her death to Sarah Crock. I've located six children: James Henry, Lydia, Mary Elizabeth, John J, Susannah Elmira, and Norman.

Sarah Ann Smull b 1822 Centre Co Penn; d 1892 Dakota, Stephenson, IL m date UNK David Kryder, son of John and Susanna Keun, b 1823 Pennsylvania; d 1889 Dakota, Stephenson, IL. One child: Samuel (1856-1864)

Mary Smull b 1824 Centre Co Penn; d 1908 Dakota, Stephenson, IL m (1) John Meyer 1844, Pennsylvania, d 1848; One child: Jacob. m (2) George Frantz 1849, Pennsylvania. He was born in 1822 in Pennsylvania and died 1889 in Dakota, Stephenson, Illinois. Three Frantz children: Anna, Henry T and George McClellan (moved to Canada and pioneered in Starbuck, Manitoba.

UNKNOWN SMULL MALE. Believe this son was born between 1826-1830 based on back-tracing the 1830 and 1840 Peter Smull Census.

• I'm trying to dissect the various Smulls in Stephenson County to deduce who this man was. If you have information that will help solve this mystery, please let me know by leaving a comment.

Matilda Rebecca SMULL b 1828, Centre Co Penn; d 1915 Stephenson Co, Illinois; m Daniel Meyer, 1851, Miles, Centre Co, Penn; son of  Henry Meyer and Hannah Bierly, b 1831 Centre Co Penn; d Dakota, Stephenson, Illinois. I've located nine children: Sarah A, Dora Hannah, Newton Henry, Thomas Ephriam, John Franklin, Peter David, Emma Jane, Effie Susan, and Mary

Julia Ann Smull b 1830 Centre Co, Penn; d 1912 Dakota, Stephenson, Illinois m 1847, Penn; (1) John Haas, son of David Haas and Barbara Mitterling. b 1832 Juniata Co Penn; d 1881 Stateline, Vilas, Wisc., one daughter, Ida, died a spinster, 1938 m bef 1889 (2) UNK Miller

Peter L Smull, SR b abt 1833, Centre Co Penn; d 13 Sep 1900, Dakota, Stephenson Co; Ill at the home of his sister Matilda; m 1861 Rebecca Cronoble (this may have translated from Grenoble and been listed as Grenoble in Pennsylvania); three sons b abt 1835 d UNK probably Stephenson Co, Ill.

• Peter is a bit of a mystery. He's referenced in the local paper once in a while and at least for a time, worked as a shoemaker, but he remains a big question mark. 
• His first child Peter L Jr doesn't seem to have lived with his parents. In 1860 he was living with grandparents Peter and Mary and in 1860, he was a 12-year-old living in the household of Simon & Rebecca Rote in Lancaster, Ill. I would guess as a hired hand. 
• Second son, Oscar Samuel is with his parents in 1870 and in 1880, when he was 18 and a farm hand for CA and Sarah Sullivan. 
• No records exist for Rebecca Cronoble (possibly Grenoble) either, other than as referenced parent on various documents related to the children. No death record is available for her or Peter L Sr
• The last news item related to this Peter is in 1900. He is not listed as a survivor on his sister Mary Frantz's obituary from 1908, so I would peg his death at sometime between 1900 and 1908. *Update (2/28/2017): I found an obscure reference to his death on 13 Sep 1900 in a Rockford newspaper gossip column. He died at the home of his sister Matilda Meyer in Dakota.

Johnathan Smull b 1834 Centre Co Penn; d 1885 Bradford, Chickasaw Co, Ia; m 1860 Monroe, Wisc Mary Jane Cooper, daughter of William Lloyd Cooper and Elizabeth Beams, b 1842 Rock Grove, Stephenson Co, Ill; d 14 Feb 1905; Plainfield, Bremer, Ia. They had eight children: Ulysses (died as a young man), Franklin Sylvester, Jennie Elnora, Viola Geneva, Katie Mabel, Saidee  L, Florence, and Amy, who died as an infant/young child.

Adam Smull b 1836 Centre Co Penn; d 1868 Stephenson, Ill; m 1859 Green Co Wisc; Mary Moses; b 1836 Penn; d 1929 Dakota, Stephenson, Ill. Mary and Adam had no children. She did not remarry.

Samuel Smull b 1840 Centre Co Penn; d 1919 Clark, South Dakota; m 1866 Mitchell, Ia; Lorena Thompson; daughter of Daniel Thompson and Ann Cooper; b 1850 Illinois; d 1918 Clark, South Dakota. They had two sons, Betran and Leon Willis.

Henry Smull b 1842 Cente Co Penn; d 1900 Macon, Macon, Ill; m 1864 Stephenson, Ill; Elizabeth "Lizzie" Smith; b 1846 Stephenson, Ill; d 1933 Decatur, Macon, Ill. He had six children: William W, Henry Arthur, Bertha C (never married), Elizabeth "Lizzie" Plummer, Charles E, and Pet (who died in infancy).

Charlotte Amanda Smull b 1844 Miles, Centre, Penn; d 1883 Dakota, Stephenson, Ill. Charlotte was classified as an "idiot" and lived with her parents and finally with sister Julia and husband John Haas until her death.

I'd be very glad to have people poke holes in this theory of descendancy. And, if you have other information, I'm dying to get all the mysteries solved from the seat at my desk because it's not likely I'll ever get to Centre County!