A genealogy blog about the migration generation of my McKee Family line, including bios, transcribed obituaries, photographs, and research notes.



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Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Vincent Fletcher, Canada, 1929-1997

I love Find A Grave. A good soul published the grave site details and a picture of the gravestone of Vincent Fletcher. See memorial 195643418. I've been missing a death date for him. The memorial shows the date 21 Apr 1997.

Vincent is the son of Percy Vincent and Mabel (BradleyFletcher. He married Many Winnifed McLees. Based on Mary's obituary, the couple had no children. Here are the links to Mary's obits and an extra article.

Obit 1
Obit 2
Article 1

From Mary's obits and the article, the couple seems to have retired to Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. So now I need to see if I can track down an obit for Vincent.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Jesse Lemuel "Lem" McKee 1890-1971 Missouri Michigan

I'm still buried in newspaper research. Thus you have the lack of posting to this blog. I'm finding all sorts of interesting articles...not the least is this series of articles about Lem.

Greenville Sun, Greenville, Missouri, 24 May 1906, Page 6
Joe Huff Killed.
Williamsville citizens were startled last Monday morning at the news of Joe Huff having been shot down and almost instantly killed by a son of Jesse McKee. Huff and Jesse McKee engaged in a quarrel about some trivial matter and McKee's son took sides with his father and shot Huff down. McKee claims that Huff drew a club on him and was about to strike him and that his murderous act was in self-defense.
Coroner Sheets held the inquest Monday afternoon. The verdict of the jury was that the deceased came to his death by a gun shot wound produced by young McKee. The young man is only about 17 years old. He has been given a preliminary before H. Manns and held to await the action of the circuit court. Constable Edgar delivered him to the sheriff here Tuesday.


Pemiscot Press, Caruthersville, Missouri, 5 Jun 1906, Page 1
Kennett Democrat: Joe Huff was shot and instantly killed while engaged in an altercation with Jesse McKee, at Williamsville, Tuesday, the fatal shot being fired by a 16-year old son of McKee. The two men were quarreling over a woodpile which McKee claimed obstructed a pathway used by him.


Greenville Sun, Greenville, Missouri, 7 Jun 1906, Page 2
Bound Over.
Lem McKee, who is charged with the murder of Joe Huff, was given a preliminary trial before 'Squire Manns at Williamsville last Thursday. He was held to await the action of the circuit court. His bond was fixed at $10,000 and he was committed to jail for failure to give bond. His mothers, Mrs. Jesse McKee was held as an accessory. Her bond was fixed at $1000 which was promptly tilled. Attorney O. L. Munger has been retained by the defendants and Almon Ing represents the state.


Greenville Sun, Greenville, Missouri, 2 Aug 1906, Page 7
WAYNE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT DOCKET
List Of Cases To Be Tried At The August Term Of Circuit Court.
...
State of Mo vs. Lem McKee; murder.
...


Greenville Sun, Greenville, Missouri, 30 Aug 1906, Page 2
Circuit Court Proceedings, (Third Week)
...
State vs Lem McKee, murder, trial by jury and acquitted.
...


You just never can guess what information you'll run across when you start poking around. Lem went on to live an honorable life. He worked mostly as a carpenter, moving between the Williamsville, Missouri area and Pontiac, Michigan (as early as 1929). His obit--see below--says he lived in Detroit; however, I found him in Pontiac.

Piedmont Wayne County Journal-Banner. 11 Feb 1971, Page 2 Columns 4 and 5
J. L. McKee Rites Held in Williamsville
Jesse Lemuel McKee, the son of Jesse and Rosa Noble McKee, was born in Wayne County, Missouri, on January 6, 1890.
Mr. McKee was converted early in life and attended the Assembly of God Church for many years.
On November 1, 1913, he was united in marriage to Miss Lillie Grable. Mr. and Mrs. McKee made their home in Detroit, Michigan, where he worked as a tool and die maker for General Motors Corporation until his retirement. Mrs. McKee passed away on May 29, 1959. On December 21, 1960, he was married to Mrs. Nellie Mae Frazier who survives.
Other survivors include a step-daughter, Mrs. Gloria Salamore of Harvey, Illinois; two sisters; Mrs. Julia Hillis of Dexter, Missouri and Mrs. Alice Howard of Jackson, Missouri; three-step grandchildren, nieces, nephews, other relatives and many friends.
Mr. McKee passed away at the Doctors Hospital, Poplar Bluff, Missouri, on February 4, 1971 at the age of 81 years and 21 days.
Funeral services for Mr. McKee were held in the Assembly of God Church, Williamsville, Missouri on February 7, 1971 with Rev. Lester Freeman officiating. Music was furnished by the church choir, with Mrs. Floyd Gurley at the piano. Serving as casket bearers were O. L. Holmes, William Cradic, Charles Tinker, Sam Willard, Gene Manns, and Donald Murray.
Interment was made in the Holladay Cemetery at Williamsville. Coder Funeral Home of Williamsville, in charge of arrangements.


Sunday, January 20, 2019

Florence Huff or Florence Robbins, 1905-1992, Maine, Florida, Colorado

One thing that doing newspapers research has caused me to do is revisit the research for each person in my database. I'm making sure I've included every available record. I've uncovered a few mistakes and have found information added since the last time I looked, which has been a few years. Today I started looking at a person whose last name is either Huff or Robbins. I've got records that would indicate that both are possible. This puzzle started when I looked up Florence's marriage record.

Ancestry.com. New Hampshire, Marriage Records Index, 1637-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Name: Florence M Robbins
Marriage Date: 31 May 1930
Event Type: Marriage
Marriage Place: Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire
Birth Date: abt 1905
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Father's name: George Robbins
Mother's name: Harriet Lansing
Spouse Name: Frank A Anderson
Spouse Age: 27
Spouse Gender: Male
Spouse Father's Name: Joseph
Spouse Mother's Name: Julia Pierce
FHL Film Number: 2057170


Biddeford Journal, Biddeford, Maine 6 Jun 1980, Page 31

GOLDEN WEDDING - Frank and Florence Anderson of Goose Rocks Beach, Kennebunkport, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary May 31 at the home of her brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Ernestine Huff of Jenkins Road, Saco. Fifty relatives and friends attended the surprise party which was given by the honor couple's children, Joyce Anderson of Yuma, Colo., Guy Anderson of Biddeford and Judie Lenhart of Greeley, Colo., and the Huffs. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were married May 31,1930, at Portsmouth, N.H. They have lived in Biddeford and Kennebunkport ever since. Their family also includes seven grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

If you look up Florence Huff on Ancestry and check the Public Member Trees, you'll find four trees under both the names Florence Huff and Florence Robbins, with both women marrying Frank Anderson. So it would appear that I'm not the only confused person.
  • Florence Huff's parents are William O Huff and Ivy M Clark.
  • Florence Robbins' parents are George M Robbins and Harriet M Lansing
Here's the census layout.
  • 1910 has a Huff entry.
    Florence is with the Huff family in Lyman, York, Maine.
    Her father William is married to Ivy in this census.
  • 1920 has a Robbins entry.
    Florence is with the Robbins family in Biddeford, York, Maine.
    1920 has a Huff entry.
    Robert (Florence's brother) is still with his father William O Huff.
    William is married to Helen in this census.
  • 1930 has a Robbins entry.
    Florence is there in Biddeford, York, Maine.
    1930 has a Huff entry.
    William is a boarder in Biddeford and is listed as divorced. He has no children with him.
  • 1940 has no Robbins entry.
    1940 has a Huff entry. William is divorced and living with his son James. 

It would appear that based on the census entries and subsequent records that Florence started life as Florence Huff, and for some unknown reason, becomes Florence Robbins between 1910 and 1920. 

As an additional piece of information, in Florence's daughter Lillian Joyce's obituary, her mother is listed as Florence Robins

So what happened is a puzzlement. If you have information to contribute, please post a comment to this blog post.