A Case of Mistaken Genealogical Identity-

Clay Owens (Wilson) Parks Garrett Wells

 1868-1949

Dealing with mistakes in genealogy doesn't have to be all that hard.  You just have to get some verification to what you see.  Ok, maybe not so easy.  One such case in my tree was Clay Owen Wilson 1868-1949. 

Clay, normally a boy’s name these days, was a girl.  She was born 24 Nov 1868 to Henry and Mary Jane (Goodloe) Wilson.  The relation to me is that Clay married William Allen Parks, my grandfather’s uncle.

When I started the research on this branch of the Parks tree, I found several errors in Parks geneology.  Many had Clay listed as a brother to William.  I wondered how that many trees could have the same error.

The first thing I have learned about errors is what is called the “shark attack.”  The sharks circle their pray for some time without action, then suddenly when one shark makes a move, all the others follow.  This happens in genealogy.  One tree makes an error and many others simply follow.  If you read my LeRoy Cottingham post, you may remember how my grandfather is listed in several trees as David LeRoy Cottingham.  A simple case of one little piece of misinformation and suddenly it’s in shark family histories around the country.

What I think happened with Clay is easily understood.  Her father was Henry F Wilson.  Her mother’s name was Mary.  Clay was born in 1868 in Missouri.  It seems that not far from where the Wilson’s lived in 1868, there was another Wilson family.  Frank and Mary Margaret Wilson had a son in 1868 and they named him Clay.  To make matters worse, the 1870 census listed my Clay as a male.  See the progression here?

To further confuse those family tree makers my Clay was married three times, then when she died, she was buried with her first husband.  So ya see how easily this happened.

Here’s a timeline rundown on my Clay.

Born 24 Nov 1868 to Henry F and Mary Jane (Goodloe) Wilson.  This info comes from her death certificate, although that same certificate shows Henry with a middle initial of J (His grave stone has an F.)

1870 census as I said has her listed as sex M.

1880 had her as F.

1890 census was destroyed in an archive disaster.

5 Nov 1890 Boone county, Missouri Marriage License shows Miss Clay O Wilson married William A. Parks.

20 May 1896 Boone county, Missouri Marriage License shows Mrs Clay O Parks married Stephen Garrett.

1900 census has Clay Garrett born Nov 1868 living with husband SJ in Blackwater, Cooper, Missouri.  Two stepdaughters to SJ are living there named Lola and Edna Parks.

12 Nov 1908 Saline county, Missouri Marriage License shows Mrs CO Garrett marrying Wilbert A Wells.  (This document is really tough to read and was transcribed as Mrs Co Garrett marrying “Waran”)

1910 census has WA Wells and his wife, Clay O living in ArrowRock, Saline, Missouri.  Step daughter to AW, Edna M Parks is listed as living with them.

1920 and 1930 census’ both show Wilbert A and Clay O Wells still living in ArrowRock.

23 June 1939, Wilbert died.  His wife was listed as Mrs Clay Garrett.

1940 census, Clay Wells lives with son in law HM Watts and his wife, Lola.  The handwriting on the document is transcribed as Clay Watts.  HM is on a page prior to that of Lola and Clay.  This fueled a little more confusion.

31 Dec 1949, Clay Owens Wells death certificate from Saline county shows the informant of the death as Mrs HM Watts.

Clay Wells Parks is buried in ArrowRock cemetery next to William A. Parks plot 179

Wilbert A Wells is also buried at Arrow Rock with his first wife in plot 234.

 

Please forgive me for making you read through all the boring stats, but I did it so anyone who uses this information for their own family tree will be able to see where my information can be verified.

 

Anyone who mistakes my Clay for other Missouri Clay may have missed out on what I refer to as “The Fun Stuff.”  Ya see, in genealogy, the “begats” are boring but necessary to get to the stories.  Here’s a family story that I found most interesting.

 

Clay Owens Wilson had several siblings.  Six sisters and two brothers.  After Clay’s father, Henry dies, her mother, Mary Jane did as many of her time.  She went to live with her kids.  On the 1910 census, she lived with daughter Mollie Orears.  Then shortly after that she lived with her daughter, George A Moore.  (A girl named George has a whole set of it’s own problems.)

George was married to a man named Enoch Moore.  Enoch died so Mary Jane moving in with George was a good fit, both widows.

 

The Fun Stuff

George had a son, Henry Lee Moore.  Henry was sort of a drifter and traveled for work.  On the morning of Dec 17^th, 1912, Henry came to visit his mother and grandmother.  Turns out that a US Department of Justice Special Agent MW McClaughry believed Henry to be a serial killer responsible for 25 axe murders.  Two of those were George and Mary Jane.  Henry was convicted of their murders in March 1913. 

 

The rest of that story can be found by googling Henry Lee Moore and here’s a link to get you started.  I used this one to verify some research on daughters:

http://www.millersparanormalresearch.com/Pages/Columbia_Missouri_Herald_12-20-1912.htm

 Ya never know what you'll find in the hay stack known as genealogy.

 

James Roy Simmons 1921-1943

 

 

Although not a relative, I found this story an interesting and educational genealogical research project.

 

After my Dad died last year, I was looking through some of his belongings.  It was a box of items collected by him, his mother, and his grandmother.  There were many pictures and newspaper clippings.  There were several clippings about an explosion in North Kansas City in 1943.  I wondered “what’s the connection?” 

 

I read the clippings which described the death of James R. Simmons in a steel barrel factory explosion.  Later I found another clipping.  It was an announcement for my Dad’s first marriage in 1942.  In attendance were the bride’s sister and a Mr James Simmons.

 

The articles said James, called Jimmy graduated in 1940 from Liberty High School in Liberty, Missouri.  That was my Dad’s class.  Jimmy was class president.  I wrote this article as a tribute to Jimmy and my Dad on a Liberty High School Memorial page on Facebook.

 

• The President of the Class of 1940 was James Roy Simmons.  “Jimmy” was Dad’s best man when Dad married his first wife in Nov 1942.  Jimmy had a paralyzed left leg from a childhood illness, wore a leg brace, and walked with a cane.  Interesting that Dad, the high school athlete, and his best man would have such a contrast.  Although Jimmy often was off balanced, he had powerful arm strength and was an excellent swimmer.  He lived with his family at 216 N Missouri St there in Liberty.  Jimmy worked as a clerk in North KC for J&L Steel plant, a company that made steel barrels on Iron Ave in Northtown.  On 1 May 1943, he was working the night shift when a neighboring business reported smoke coming from the plant.  Jimmy, another clerk, and a night watchman were the only ones working.  Jimmy went with the night watchman to investigate.  As they entered the factory, an enamelling oven exploded.  The watchman escaped but was burned badly.  The furious blaze that followed the explosion was fought by fire crews from all over the KC area.  Jimmy was found trapped under a handtruck of metal bars.  The fire had taken his life.  Another contrast for the two friends.  My Dad lived to be 90 and his good friend died at 23.  Just a couple days ago, April 18^th would have been Jimmy’s 92^nd birthday.  Dad always said the downtown Liberty fire was why he became a volunteer fireman, but I’m sure his friend Jimmy and the 1943 J&L incident had a lot to with it.
 

 

I found the 216 N Missouri St address from the 1940 census.  Jimmy lived with his parents Lee Roy and Zelma.  Roy was a bank cashier.  Jimmy’s 20 year old brother Frank also lived at home.  Frank was a bookkeeper for a retail auto supply.

 

All four are buried in the Missouri City Cemetery, Missouri City, Clay county, Missouri.  Lee Roy died in 1973, Zelma (Sparkman) in 1983, and brother Frank in 2001. (findagrave.com)

Murder of Eli Tapp

Thanks to Rick Powell of www.thepowellfamily.htm for going to the Henderson library and researching to find the following articles.  These articles tell the story of Eli Tapp (1881-1919) and his murder by his son-in-law, Roy Cottingham (1900-1974).

There was an article after this where Roy was released on bail but I still need to answer some other questions.  Did he skip bail? Did he go to trial and found not guilty?

By the way, Roy is my grandfather, and Eli is my great grandfather.  Enjoy the story and I'll update you when I find out anything new.  Thanks again Rick!

You can click on the articles to enlarge and make them easier to read.  The shooting happened Tuesday June 17th, 1919.  The first article is June 18th.  The next is June 19th, and the third is June 24th.  This weekend will be the 93rd anniversary of the murder.

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