William Charles Dunn

Parents: James Andrew Dunn, Betsy Elizabeth Cox
Birth: April 17, 1827
Marriage: May 9, 1857 to Margaret Ann Gray. He was 30 and she would be 19 in a few days. They had 9 children: Edward, Charles Millard, Delia Anita, Molly, Viola, Lethia Alafaire, William Leo, Lloyd L, and Alvie Burton
Death: January 24, 1913 at the age of 85.

As I researched William's life, three things stuck out to me: he was a farmer, he was a homebody, and he cared about detail. On every census, his occupation was listed as farmer, although many of the other farmers that I've researched listed secondary occupations in the occupation field instead. William identified as a farmer. Of all the documents I found for him, none of them showed him being further than 20 or so miles away from the place he was born. He liked being with his family, both immediate and extended. The thing that made me realize that he payed attention to detail was that his birth date was correct on every record that I looked at. Compared to other records that I've looked at from his time period in the South, he was very particular to get this one thing right. I imagine that carried over to other aspects of his life as well.

_________________

William was born in Mecklenburg county, probably just northwest of Charlotte where he lived most of his life. He was the only boy in his family for the first 6 years of his life, with two older sisters and two sisters between him and his next youngest brother. After that, five more sisters came into his family, followed by the two youngest, both boys. The youngest brother was born just a few months before the 1850 census was taken. All this time, it appears that the family was living in Mecklenburg county, northwest of Charlotte.

William met Margaret Ann Gray about 6 or 7 years later, and they were married--or at least they obtained their marriage license--in Gaston county, immediately east of Mecklenburg county. It's about 20 miles from the county seat of Gaston county to Paw Creek, where the family lived, but I'm guessing that William lived closer than the county seat.

William and Margaret stayed in Gaston County for at least three years after their marriage; in 1860, they were living there with their fist child. Sometime before 1870, though, they were back in Paw Creek, Mecklenburg county, next to William's family. They stayed in the area until William passed away in 1913 at age of 85.


References:

1830 Census (father James listed; all that indicates William is the one boy attributed to that family)

1850 Census:

*note that immediately below the James Dunn family on this census was the
Andrew Dunn family. Andrew was James's older brother.

Index of marriage record
(Gaston county)

1860 Census
(Gaston county)

1870 Census:

1880 Census

1900 Census

1910 Census

Ellen Eve Rowe

Parents: James Rowe, Mary Ann Mitchell
Birth: October 16, 1851 in Shropshire, England
Year of immigration to US: 1860/1861 Year of naturalization 1871
Marriage: Jun 11, 1872 to Wheelock Winspear. They had six children: John Burrige, Wheelock William, Minnie May, Nellie Grace, Marie Mabel, and Catherine Pearl
Death: January 16, 1948 in Ohio, United States

Ellen was born in Shropshire, England, and was the second child born to James Rowe and Mary Mitchell. When she was about 9 years old, Ellen left England and came to the United States to live with John and Lydia Burrige, who had no children of their own. I believe that John and Lydia were Ellen's aunt and uncle, because according to Lydia's death certificate, her maiden name was Rowe.

Dad wrote a note on James Rowe (Ellen's father)'s page in Family Search. It says:

"James & Wife Mary Ann & 3 children died in epidemic. William and Ellen were then raised by the Burriges."

So it appears that Ellen was an orphan, although an orphan that loved her foster parents very much.  She was only 8 or 9 when she made the journey across the ocean to the United States, so she had plenty of time to get close to them before she married. She also named her first born son after her foster father John. Her son Wheelock William was obviously named for his father, but perhaps his middle name was in memory of Ellen's brother William.

Three names from Ellen's family are in my family: Mary Ann (Ellen's mother), Ellen, and Catherine (Ellen's daughter; also Ellen's mother-in-law). I don't know if it was intentional or accidental that my parents gave us names from our family heritage; I remember hearing once that I was named for someone in our family tree, but when I've asked about it more recently, I was told otherwise.

Anyway, Ellen was living with John Burrige and Lydia Burrige in 1870 (see the census below). They had emigrated from England about 10 years before Ellen had, and I imagine that they were well established in their Ohio township, Clermont County community by the time she reached them in 1860. Ellen married Wheelock Winspear just two years after the census was taken, when she was 21.

The two started their family, lived in Kentucky for a while (where their son John was born), and then settled in Pierce Township, Clermont co, Ohio. The place they settled was probably on Wheelock's family farm, since Wheelock's mother (Kate) and spinster sister (Maria) were living either with or right next door to the young family.

As the years progressed, Ellen and Wheelock's sons and daughters were married. The aging couple stayed in Pierce, Ohio until they moved to Ohio, Ohio (seriously, that's what it's called!) one township over.

Ellen's foster mother Lydia Burrige passed away in 1918, probably around or close to the time that the Winspears moved to Ohio twp. Since her foster father John had already passed on, Ellen was the informant for the death record. She either knew or had records for Lydia's birth date and father's name, which were recorded on the death record.

1924 was a difficult year for the Winspear family. On New Year's Eve, (Dec 30, 1923), Ellen and Wheelock's son John died. Just a few months later, in May, Wheelock passed on from acute nephritis (kidney disease), and then in June of the same year Ellen and Wheelock's son Wheelock William passed on also.

Thankfully, Wheelock Winspear had provided well for his widow--they owned their house in Ohio, Ohio--so Ellen would not face as much financial difficulty as another might in her situation. Wheelock was already 77 at the time of his passing, and I believe the two were both prepared for it. However, no matter how much you know what's coming, loss is hard to bear; I'm sure it was even harder for Ellen to bear since two of her children in addition to her husband passed away all in one year

Even though the house was owned free of mortgage, Ellen did not want to live by herself. By 1930, she was living with her daughter Catherine in Cincinnati in a place they rented for $35.00/month at 961 McMillan St. I imagine she sold the house in Ohio twp and used the money from the sale to supplement Catherine's income as a clerk at the post office. In 1940, Ellen still lived with Catherine at the same address. The view from their window probably included this building: 

Picture from Google Street View, 978 McMillan St, Cincinnati, OH

The building that they lived in has been torn down, and a Kroger grocery store sits in its place.

In 1940, Catherine worked as a stenographer at the Revenue Department. Since neither the 1930 or 1940 censuses list an occupation for Ellen, I believe she just stayed at home to keep house and cook their meals. At some point between 1940 and 1948, Catherine had married a Mr. Barnhart and moved to Waynesville, Warren county, Ohio (northeast of Cincinnati). Ellen came with them, and passed away in Waynesville in 1948 at the ripe old age of 96.


Marriage record:

1870 Census

1880 Census

1900 Census:

1910 Census:

1920 Census:

1930 Census:

1940 Census:

Death record (1948)

Wheelock Winspear

Parents: John Winspear, Catherine Almira Wheelock
Birth: March 8, 1847
Marriage: June 11, 1872 to Ellen Eve Rowe. He was 25 and she was 20. They had six children: John Burrige, Wheelock William, Minnie May, Nellie Grace, Marie Mabel, and Catherine Pearl.
Death: May 27, 1924, at 77 years old

Wheelock was born in New York State near Buffalo. He was named by the maiden name of his mother. For at least the first 13 years of his life, his family lived close to his mother's family in Lancaster, Erie County, New York, as you can see from the 1850 and 1860 Censuses. His family farmed and had boarders, and even a servant at one point.

For some reason or another, the family decided to move from NY to southern Ohio, 450 miles away from where they used to live. The place they settled on was a small town called Pierce, a mere 3.5 miles from Amelia, and about the same distance from the Ohio river, which was also the Kentucky-Ohio border. They probably moved around 1868 or 1869, since Wheelock's 2-year-old niece Girtie was born in NY and his 11-month old niece Maude was born in Ohio. The girls and their parents were living with Wheelock's parents at the time of the 1870 US Census.

In 1872, Wheelock married his life-long companion, Ellen Rowe. Their first child--John--was born across the river in Kentucky, but the rest of their children were born in Ohio. I'm guessing that Wheelock had found a temporary job in KY to help him get his new family on their feet, and then moved back to Ohio to be close to his family once again.

In 1880, Wheelock's mother and youngest sister were living with or right next to his own young family. He had 3 children, including Minnie May (recorded as Minetta on the census). The farm was doing well enough that he could employ a man to help on the farm.

As the years progressed, Wheelock's sons and his daughters were married. He and his wife Ellen stayed in Pierce, Ohio until they moved to Ohio, Ohio (seriously, that's what it's called!) one township over a few years before Wheelock's passing in 1924.

1924 was a difficult year for the Winspear family. On New Year's Eve, (Dec 30, 1923), Wheelock's son John died. Just a few months later, in May, Wheelock passed on from acute nephritis (kidney disease), and then in June of the same year Wheelock's son Wheelock William passed on also.

Thankfully, Wheelock Winspear had provided well for his widow, and they owned their house in Ohio, Ohio, so she would not face as much financial difficulty as another might in her situation. Wheelock was already 77 at the time of his passing, and I believe he was prepared for it.


Sources:

1850 Census:

1855 New York State Census:

1860 still in Lancaster, New York

1870 US Census

Marriage record:

1880 US Census:

1880 Census, Pierce, Clermont, Ohio

1900 US Census:

1910 US Census

1920 US Census

Death Certificate

Frank Henry Grupenhoff

Frank was a trunk maker, a home owner, and a single parent. He buried two children and his wife within seven years of each other. He lived through the Great Depression and both WWI and WWII. He must have had some kind of staying power. What a man!

According to a book written by my sister when she was in elementary school, Frank's family was the first in their neighborhood to get a car. Her source was probably our father.

Parents: Frank Grupenhoff, Mary or Maria K. Wissing
Birth: April 12, 1874
Marriage: October 29, 1902 to Josephine Plogsted. He was 28 and she was 20. They had six children: Cecilia, Edward H, Rosella Marie, William B, Clara A, and Josephine Agnes
Death: March 23, 1953, aged 78 years

1880 Census - Frank was 6. At this point, he was in a single-parent family, as his father had died when Frank was only 3. Mary, Frank's maternal grandmother, was also living with his mother, his sister Clara, and Frank himself. Frank and Clara were the youngest of their siblings, and their older siblings Henry and William are not listed on this census. I wonder if family members had taken the older siblings to lighten the financial burden from Frank's mother? Well, what I do know is that later, Frank's older brother William was living with his mother.

1899 City directory of Cincinnati. He was living at the same address (531 Woodward) as his mother Mary, brothers William and Henry, and sister Clara. William is listed as a porter, Henry as a varnisher, Frank as a trunk maker, and Clara as a cigar maker. If you'd like to see the directory, send me an e-mail. Someone else helped me find it, and I believe it would infringe copyright to post it here.

I couldn't find Frank in the 1900 census, although I found his mother, brother William, and sister Clara at the same address as in the directory. They were renting there, and at least five other families lived at the same address, so I'm guessing that they lived in an apartment building. The address listed on his marriage license is different from the one he lived at in 1899, so it's possible that he moved to the address listed on his marriage record between the compilations of the directory and the census. Frank was 26.

Marriage License, 1902:

The addresses listed for Frank and Josephine on this marriage license are very close to each other--not even half a mile apart! I'm sure they met because of their proximity to each other. Frank was 28 at the time of his marriage. I wonder why he waited so long (for that time period) to marry? Was he focusing on supporting his mother? Was he searching for love? Was he working on becoming financially stable? Whatever the case, he and Josephine Plogsted were married by a Catholic priest in October of 1902 and started their family immediately. 1903 brought Cecilia, Edwin came in 1904, Rosella in 1906, William in 1907, Clara in 1909, and Josephine Agnes (Granny Jo!) in 1910. By the 1910 census, the family had purchased a small home on Bouton Avenue and were working on paying it off. Frank must have been successful in his profession of trunk maker to make such an investment.

1910 Census:

The decade between 1910 and 1920 brought much sorrow to Frank's life. His daughter Clara died from severe burns she received in an accident, WWI started, his daughter Rosella died of diphtheria, and finally, his wife passed away from heart failure. See the post on Frank's wife Josephine for more detailed information on the three deaths.

After his wife died, Frank's mother came to live with him, I'm guessing to help with the children. It's possible that she came to receive the support of her son in her old age, but I find that doubtful since Frank was recently widowed and at the time of her death, Mary was living with her son William (see the addresses on her death certificate). The draft registration lists details that we already know but also has a physical description: Frank was average height and weight, had gray eyes and "light" hair.

Death certificate for his daughter Clara (1912)
1914 WWI starts
Death certificate for his daughter Rosella (1915)
WWI Draft Registration. (1918)
Death certificate for his wife Josephine (1919)

1920 Census:

In the 1930 census, Frank is listed as a carpenter in the home building industry instead of as a trunk maker. Cecilia was staying at home to take care of the house, Edwin worked as a production man (whatever that means--maybe it's a precursor to engineering?) in the soap industry, and William worked as a clerk for a roofing company. The census notes that Frank's family did not have a radio at this point, even though his daughter Jo and her new husband Cliff already had one.

Jo was the first of Frank's children to marry (in 1929), and his children Cecilia and Edwin married soon after. William took a little bit longer (according to information done by other researchers), but was not living with Frank for the 1940 census anyway. William was a grown man of 30-something by this point, so I'm not surprised. Frank lived in the house at Bouton Ave up through the 1940 census, but decided to move to Woodward St sometime before 1953.

1928 Mary Wissing mother of Frank passes away.
1929 Josephine Agnes Grupenhoff (Jo) and Clifford Winspear White's marriage
1929 The Great Depression
1930 Census
1939 WWII
1940 Census

Death certificate (1953): Frank died of "Chronic myocarditis" -- in other words, chronic heart problems. He had moved to 217 Woodward St., Cincinnati, Ohio, and was living there at the time of his death. His mother is listed as living (renting) at 531 Woodward in the 1899 Cincinnati directory, and Google maps shows these two addresses as right next to each other.

Josephine Plogsted

Parents: Frederich Henrich (Henry) Plogsted, Marie (Mary) Appleman
Birth date: September 14, 1882 (September 25, 1882 according to death certificate)
Marriage: October 29, 1902 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Frank Grupenhoff. Josephine was 20 and Frank was 28. They had six children: Cecilia, Edward H, Rosella Marie, William B, Clara A, and Josephine Agnes.
Death date: March 29, 1919, at age 36

The earliest record I was able to find for Josephine was the 1900 census. She was 17 when it was taken, and from it, you can see that her parents were both born in Germany, had been living in the US for 32 years each, and were naturalized citizens of the US. They rented a house on Colerain Avenue in the city of Cincinnati, and young Josephine worked as a dressmaker. At least half of the families listed on the same page as the Plogsteds were also immigrants, mostly from Germany.

Soon after this small glimpse we get into her life, she married Frank Grupenhoff, also a son of German immigrants. At the time, she was still working as a dressmaker, and from the marriage record, we see that they were married by the Reverend J. M. Felden, a Catholic priest. Josephine was still living at Colerain Avenue -- she was living at 3661 Colerain Avenue, to be exact. That address is in the middle of a street now!

It appears that Josephine spent the rest of her life at a cute little house at 4940 Bouton Street, Cincinnati, Ohio. She and her husband Frank were there for the 1910 census, and it is the address on her death certificate. I found a picture of the house on Google Maps Streetview. Look!

Image from street view on Google Maps

When you look at the house with satellite view, you can see the roof over the porch and room next to the porch is flat. I don't know if these were additions after the Grupenhoff family moved out, but I can just picture Josephine's children playing on the porch and climbing out of the windows to sit on the roof when they could get away with it.

Unfortunately, Josephine had to experience the tragedy of two of her children passing away before she did. Clara, the second youngest, died in 1912 from shock she experienced after receiving severe burns. Her death certificate lists "Shock [for?] multiple burns accidentally received (set fire to clothing with lighter match)" as the cause of death, but family lore says she and the other children were playing by a brush fire and her dress caught fire as she tried to jump over it like the other children (source: my dad). She was only three years old. I can't imagine the agony that Josephine must have felt, and I wonder if she blamed herself for not watching the children more closely.

Rosella Marie, the third oldest, died just three years later of diphtheria, a bacterial infection that is now essentially eradicated in industrialized nations because of vaccines. The doctor visited two days before Rosella passed on, but evidently there was nothing he could do, because she passed away on September 16, 1915. Rosella was only 9 years old. (I had to do some digging to find Rosella Marie's death certificate, and I had a really neat experience after I found it that I wrote about here.)

Josephine Plogsted passed away in 1919 at age 36 of heart failure or "acute myocardial insufficiency," according to the death certificate, and the secondary cause was asthma. She had been doing poorly for at least two days--and probably more--before her death, because the death certificate shows that she had been attended by a physician two days before her passing. Her oldest child Cecilia was only 15, and her youngest--my Granny Jo--was only 9 years old when they lost their mother.


Sources:

1900 Census:

1900 Census

Marriage license (1902):

Marriage license, 1902

1910 Census:

1910 US Ohio Census

1920 Census (to give an idea of where her family was when Josephine passed on):

1920 US Ohio Census

Julia Anna Peters

Julia Anna Peters, James W. Wallace

Parents: George W. Peters, Sarah Penny
Birth date: September 9, 1872
Marriages:

1. April 30, 1895 to William Shell. Anna was 22 and William was 27. They had one child, Lena Mabel Shell
2. August 20, 1899 to James W. Wallace. Anna was 26 and James was 32. They had two children, Adrian Floyd and Cecil Denver.

Death date: April 14, 1956

Julia Anna has been a really interesting person to research. It seems like she went by her first name Julia when she was young (see the 1880 Census), but by her first marriage, she was called by her middle name Anna or Annie (see the subsequent censuses).

As you can see from the 1880 census, Julia is the second youngest child in her family. Her father had passed away just a year before the census was taken, so Julia's mother Sarah was listed as the head of household. Julia's older brothers helped to support the family (if you look at the 1880 census in Family Search, you can see Julia's older brother George W and his family listed right before Julia's family unit), but you wonder how Julia's life and perspective were different without her father around for much of her life.

Did you know that the 1890 U.S. Census was burned? Evidently there was an fire in the basement where it was kept, and all fragments except a few maps were destroyed as a result. This fire is what prompted the United States to establish the National Archives. So we don't have any of the 1890 Census records. It would be nice to know more about Julia's family at this point, but I guess we'll just have to live with the gap.

In 1895, Annie married William Shell (I found their marriage license/certificate!). About a year later, their daughter Mabel was born. Around 1898, William passed away. What a tragedy! I'm sure that Annie was distraught! On top of having a young child and not knowing how she was going to survive financially, her husband and companion was no longer there for her.

Annie married again, about a year and a half after William's passing. She married James Wallace, also a young widower. His first wife had passed away three years earlier, just a few months after he and she married. James and Annie married just in time to have their first year of marriage preserved by the 1900 US Census. Mabel is 4 at this point, and James and Annie had been married for about a year. They were renting a house that didn't have a farm, but most of the people living near them lived on farms.

At the 1910 Census, James and Annie seem to have a really good life going for them. They own their own farm free of mortgage!  Their children are growing and going to school--at this point, they have two boys (Adrian, 9, and Cecil, 1.5 years - here's his birth record from 1908) in addition to Annie's daughter Mabel. James seems to have steady work at the sawmill, which brings in a more reliable income than the farm would.

Not much seems to have changed by the 1920 Census except that Mabel has moved on, probably to marry and start her own family. I couldn't find a marriage record for her, so I'm not sure who she married or if she did marry. Annie's son Adrian got married two years after the census was taken, so Annie and James were left with only their youngest child at home, making Cecil essentially an only child for his teenage years.

Sometime before 1930, Annie and James sold their farm and moved into town. James started up a grocery store, and Annie worked there as a clerk. Unfortunately, it seems like that business didn't work out for them, because in 1940 James was working at the saw mill again.

Annie was 83 when she passed away.

1880 Census
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MZ1D-6Y5

Marriage to William Shell:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XD59-LCQ

Birth of Cecil Denver Wallace, Sr. (1908):
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X67W-S5S

Marriage of son, Adrian Peters (1922):
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XZ1N-7LL

1900 Census:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MMCC-1R8

1910 Census:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MLNF-1ST

1920 Census:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MDBS-5VX

1930 Census:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X4S4-YXF

1940 Census:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KWD1-6W5

Clifford L White

Clifford Lee or Levi (I'm not sure which it was) White was a kind and family-oriented man. He took in his son's family and spent time with his grandchildren, sometimes taking them along on rides while performing his job as a salesman.

Parents: Thomas Pinkham (T.P.) White, Flora Jane Nichols
Birth: May 9, 1875
Marriage: June 7, 1899 to Minnie May Winspear. Cliff was 24 and Minnie was 22. Their only child was Clifford Winspear White.
Death: September 23, 1965

Birth record:

1880 Census:

Click to enlarge

This census is hard to read, but it shows all of Cliff's siblings as well as his parents. Thomas P's profession is listed as a carriage maker. Cliff was in the very middle of five children.

Cliff and Minnie's marriage record is on the post I wrote about Minnie. You can find links to the following censuses on that post, as well.

1900 Census:

Click to enlarge

This is (barely) less than a year after Cliff and Minnie's marriage. We see from this census is that the family is renting their home, and must live in or near town, since they don't have a farm. We also see that Cliff worked at a livery stable on his "own account" (that's what the 'o' means after his place of work). I'm guessing that this job could be related to his father's job as a carriage maker. We also see that both of Cliff, Sr's parents were born in Ohio.

1910 Census:

Click to enlarge

From this census, you can see that Cliff Sr. and Minnie were a little bit older when Cliff Jr. was born. In fact, he was born over 7 years after they married! They sure did have a long wait. I'm sure they treasured their only son that they had waited so long for. I remember hearing that Cliff, Jr. was a "spoiled only child," but I suspect that his parents couldn't help it. They had waited so long for this child.

We also see that Cliff Sr. still worked as a "livery man" at a livery stable. If I understand the census taker's shorthand correctly, Cliff Sr. was the employer at the livery stable.

1920 Census:

Click to enlarge

In this census, we see that Cliff Sr. is working on his "own account" (OA on the far right) as a manager at a garage. This is probably a natural transition from the livery stable as the country was transitioning from horses to automobiles as their main mode of transportation.

1930 Census:

Click to enlarge

At the time of this census, Cliff Jr. had just moved out and married the beautiful Jo Grupenhoff, so Minnie and Cliff, Sr. are empty-nesters. The family owned a radio set, rented their home, and did not live on a farm. Cliff, Sr. worked as a salesman for a "monument co." meaning that he sold gravestones.
1940 Census:

Click to enlarge

Here's a big change! Minnie and Cliff, Sr. own their own home, and it's beautiful and spacious. White Acres housed Minnie and Cliff, Sr. on one side and their son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren on the other. Cliff, Sr. was a "monument" (aka gravestone) salesman, and Minnie stayed at home.
Cliff passed away a few months after his 90th birthday. The record of his death states that he passed away in Clermont County at a "long term care facility". I'm not sure if that means a long term facility in a hospital or if it means he was in a rest home when he passed away. I'm guessing that since Minnie was still living at the time of his death, Cliff was not in a rest home.