Tag Archive | McBurnett

Monday Madness no more! (or, “…another one bites the dust…”) Part 2

May11

So who was “Copeland”, the 6th (or 7th) husband of my great grandmother, Dovie C McBurnett?

To review, all I know about Copeland is that he was the last husband of Dovie, as evidenced by her death certificate, obituary and headstone:

RubDCopeland DC DovCMcburnett obit DovCMCburnett stone1

I don’t know when or where they were married or if she outlived him or just the opposite, or if she divorced him, as she had at least 2 of her previous husbands.

But I know there had to have been a Copeland. Musta been…

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I haven’t done any research on Dovie lately, but my brick walls are always in the back of my mind. I keep my eyes open, just in case…

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Last night, I was searching for info on one of the children of my third great-grandfather. Not in my direct line, but I had accidentally come across a mention of her, and subsequently him, while looking for yet another ancestor not related to either:

celeste

I reasoned that if I could find a death certificate for Celeste Cline, maybe it would list the names of her parents, John J Davis and Marcellon Lunsford. You see, the problem is with Lunsford’s first name. I have several census entries for her, both as Lunsford and Davis, and with each document, her first name is spelled differently. Considerably differently, in fact. So much so that I really don’t know what her first name was!

I read a few days ago from several genealogy blogs that the FamilySearch Record Search site has recently added a lot of new names and new sources. So that’s where I headed…

(to be continued)

Monday Madness no more! (or, “…another one bites the dust…”)

May10

Several years ago when I first got interested in genealogy, my Dad’s 2 grandmothers spurred my imagination. I had always heard tales of his “Cherokee Gramma” and his “Jewish Gramma”. “Cherokee Gramma” was responsible for our Native American heritage, and my Dad, then my brothers and I are Jewish because of “Jewish Gramma”.

Over the years, I have tried to “prove” those Cherokee and Jewish roots, with varying success.

I have yet to find any actual, factual connection of “Jewish Gramma” Ruth Carroll Carr to Judaism. No family Bibles or synagogue records, nothing. But a person can be Jewish without belonging to a synagogue or speaking Hebrew. It can be a state of the heart.

WilEHall wed3 As for “Cherokee Gramma” Dovie C McBurnett, I have found an indirect link, of sorts, to a Native American heritage. She and my great grandfather William Earl Hall were married in Cherokee Territory (now Oklahoma) in 1906 and their marriage is recorded in the Chickasaw Nation Marriages Index book located in the Ardmore, Ok courthouse. Does that make Dovie and/or William of Native American descent? Not necessarily. More research is definitely needed. William, however, is one of my brick walls. He is said to have died in some type of railroad accident sometime between 22 Jan 1906 (their marriage) and July 1913 (the date of Dovie’s marriage to Hubby #2 Ollie Stanley). The marriage certificate and a 1910 census entry are the only documentation I have of the existence of William Earl Hall. No death certificate, no headstone, nothing.

Dovie evidently believed herself to be a Native American. According to my Dad, she frequently dressed in Indian garb and her house was decorated in that fashion.

Dovie’s life after William Earl Hall was not dull, however. My Dad has told me that Dovie had several husbands. Well, so far, I have counted at least 6. Technically 7, as she may have married one man twice!

I have spent a lot of time documenting these men. For some, I have found quite a bit of data, for others, barely a name.DovCMCburnett stone1

But Husband No 6/7 has always been a mystery. Dovie’s last name on her death certificate and her headstone is Copeland. In fact her given name has morphed over the years from Dovie C to Ruby Dovie, but that is for another post…

But who was Copeland? Without a first name, date of marriage, date of death or headstone, he has been an enigma.

Until last night…

(to be continued)

Weekly Genealogy Blogging Prompt #47: Seek help for records that don’t make sense

Nov20

This week’s blogging prompt couldn’t come at a better time! Seek help for records that don’t make sense.

Who knew!

Just a couple of weeks ago I located a new reference to my great-grandmother Dovie C McBurnett’s third husband Lon Washington Epperson. That’s great, you say, the more, the merrier (References, that is. Not husbands! But that’s for another post…)

A new reference with a new source. Isn’t that what a genealogist is supposed to be happy to see? Maybe not…

Let me explain.

If you’ve been following this blog, then you already know about Dovie and her 6 husbands:

  1. William Earl Hall- married Dovie in 1906, gone by 1913 (believed to have died in a railroad accident)
  2. Oliver Stanley Porter- married Dovie in 1913, divorced in 1920
  3. Lon Washington Epperson- married Dovie in 1920, gone by 1935
  4. John Otys Priddy- married Dovie in 1942, gone by 1953
  5. Joe Farr Bailey- married Dovie in 1953, died in 1961 (don’t know whether death or divorce separated these lovebords!)
  6. Unknown Copeland- don’t have a name or a marriage/death/divorce date for this gentleman, but Dovie’s last name at her death was Copeland

Confused yet? Dovie’s love life gets even more interesting, believe me!

Let’s look at the details of the McBurnett-Epperson marriage.

Lon Washington (L W) Epperson first appears in our Desperate Housewives spin-off in the 1920 US Federal Census, dated 9 Jan 1920, living

lwe1

next door to Mr and Mrs Ollie Stanley!

How convenient! I wonder if he knows what he’s about to get himself into…

Next appearance of Hubbie #3 is in the 19 Sep 1920 edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, this time

lwe2

divorcing Dovie (by this time she had adopted her younger sister’s name Ruby. What happened to the original owner of this name? Working on it…)

Wait a minute… Ruby and L W are getting divorced? When did they get married?

Somewhere between 9 Jan 1920 and 19 Sep 1920, it seems. That musta been marriage on the fast track!

An interesting little tidbit from the Star-Telegram, dated 29 Nov 1921

lwe3

Could explain a lot! (This is L W Epperson. The address, 1600 D Street, is the same as in Epperson’s 1920 Census enumeration.) Notice that “Dan” Epperson has a wife and family.

Where in the world is Waldo (I mean L W) now, in 1930?

lwe4

Back living with Ruby D(ovie), now with a son born in 1925! Guess that divorce in 1920 didn’t take. Or was it the head injury? Maybe L W forgot about the divorce :)

In the 1935 Fort Worth City Directory, Lon is listed

lwe5

with no spouse. Where in the world is Dovie?

Here is L W Epperson in the 1938 Fort Worth City Directory

lwe6

Married to some lady named Willa M and with 2 kids. L W has been busy!

To be continued