http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=markdivecchio&id=I120
I had some wrong information about the parents one "B.F." or Benjamin Franklin Churchill.
I just saw your post-em added to my Peden family tree on rootsweb.com.
Thanks for the new information. I must have some family connections wrong. Can you take a look at B.F.'s siblings and parents and let me know if they are correct? I think I've got Bert and B.F. confused.
Thanks,
Mark
From: Richard Churchill LeRoy <richardchurchillleroy
yahoo.com>Subject: Re: Churchill Genealogy
To: Mark DiVecchio
Dear Mark,
I am not sure where to begin, but you are in the correct Churchill Line, but wrong father for “Frank Bert Churchill. Your Frank Churchill was known by the family as “Big Frank” as he was the tallest of all the Churchills. His father, Steven A. Douglas Churchill was a brother to my 2nd great-grandfather, Rolland Jay Churchill. From there I have traced the Churchill like back six more generations to John Churchill of Plymouth Colony 1644.
Growing up I knew some of my great aunts and uncles as the family, although spread from Kansas to Tennessee and points in between, visited in the summers quite often. Having been an inquisitive young person, I would sit around and listen to my elders tell stories, dispute the facts each other as brothers will quite often do. I do not remember the whole story about “Big Frank,” but he was always spoke of with snickering and raised eyebrow. I had only been able to find one marriage of Steven A. Douglas Churchill, and that was to Carrie Hooper. Now I learn that Douglas Churchill was first married to Lillian Huntley Boyer, to whom Frank B. was born in 1876. Douglas and Lillian divorced in 1877. Perhaps this is why “Big Frank” was so much “larger” than the rest of the Churchill men. Could he have been the reason for the divorce and why the family did not discuss any particulars about him? In the one picture of him you have on your Web page for the Peden Family, he looks to be about 25 and has certain Churchill features. So now you should have the correct parents for “Big Frank Bert
Churchill.”
The Churchill men from George W. Churchill on were either involved in farming, building trades, or were masons and plasterers. George W. Churchill's grandfather, Jacob Churchill of CT was a stone mason.
Another common trait of most of the Churchill men was their ability to write well and also be artistic. I have several poems written by some Churchill men about persons in their immediate family. I also have sketches drawn by my grandfather, his brother B.F Churchill who lived in Knoxville TN, and even a
second great-uncle poems and drawings. I have found the Churchill Family to be independent, talented, eccentric at times, colorful, hard working, and loved getting together with other family members for a night of conversation and drink.
You had a drawing of a steering wheel that Frank Bert Churchill had invented. There were several of the Churchill men who also invented mechanical items used in the oil business. Rolland Churchill Jr. (R.D. Churchill) developed a small pump jack on which he held a patent. They were sold to small oil well producers. They were painted black and had bright orange lettering on the pumping arm that spelled Churchill. I still occasionally run across one in a field still working.
Sorry to ramble on so much, but an glad we connected. I have my Churchill Line on Roots Web and World Connect. I will upload a new Ged Com file when I update for “Big Frank”
Richard Churchill LeRoy
You have done a wonderful job on your web page!
Richard
Sent to me by Richard Churchill LeRoy, Apr 2011.
Sent to me by Richard Churchill LeRoy, Apr 2011.
Sent to me by Richard Churchill LeRoy, Apr 2011.
Sent to me by Richard Churchill LeRoy, Apr 2011.
Thanks for the photos.
I've been going over the info you sent and I just started looking at your tree on World Connect at rootsweb.com.
You are one of only a very few Churchill descendants to contact me even though my Peden/Churchill web site as been on line for almost 9 years. I've received a lot of emails on the Peden side.
The only other Churchill email I can find is from a Johnny Bond, a descendant from Mary E. Bond's family. Its from 2004 and the email address does not work anymore.
I'll write more as I dig around my files and look at your tree.
Mark
Dell Churchill from the memorabilia of Fred B. Churchill.
Daughter of Rolland Churchill and Mary Bond.
Sent to me by Richard Churchill LeRoy, Apr 2011.
Sent to me by Richard Churchill LeRoy, Apr 2011.
Sent to me by Richard Churchill LeRoy, Apr 2011.
Sent to me by Richard Churchill LeRoy, Apr 2011.
George Willis Churchill, 1859 – 1938, was born blind. Sometime around 1862, a noted surgeon and uncle, Seymore Churchill of Tioga, NY, operated on the three year old's eyes and restored partial sight. (See Seymore Churchill picture) George was called “Kit” for some unknown reason. He was a poet and supported himself in adulthood by printing and distributing posters in the city of Parson's Kansas. He was frugal, well known and liked by the people of Parsons, KS. He was married to Mary Grant whodied in 1927.
George Churchill from the memorabilia of Fred B. Churchill.
When Fred Churchill died in 2000, he had not indentified any known Churchill cousins to inherit all of the photos and other memorabilia.
After years of searching, using the web site, all the Churchill 'stuff' was donated to the Preserve Our Past Society of El Dorado Springs, where this Churchill branch lived.
El Dorado Springs Preserve Our Past Society Inc
PO Box 262
El Dorado Spg, MO 64744
PO Box 262
El Dorado Spg, MO 64744
I scaned a lot of the photos and documents. Many are on the web page (at a reduced resolution).
Mark
Richard
Richard
I have spent almost the entire day reading all the information on your web pages. If I had done this first, I would not have had to ask some of the questions I did. You did a remarkable job in putting all of the family documents and pictures together. It appears you have a natural curiosity. I am the same way. I love a good mystery and genealogy provides that outlet.
I have been trying to get all my ducks in a row by labeling my ancestor’s possessions, writing notes and comments on newspaper articles, letters, pictures, and other memorabilia. I was fortunate to have my mother with me for 89 years and the Churchill items came from her collection. I just hope that after I am gone, someone else will take up the banner and carry on. What you did with Fred's family history was a noble act and one worthy of praise and thanks.
I don't know how deeply you looked into my .ged file, but in case you missed it, Frank B. Churchill's father, Doug Churchill, was married twice. The first wife was Lillie Boyer, which you already know. They were married in about 1875 and divorced about 1877. They had one child Frank B. Churchill. His second wife was Carrie Hooper, and to this marriage at least one child was born, Ruth Churchill, abt. 1898. I am going to start researching Douglas Churchill's life and will send you the information when I find anything if you are interested?
Again, great job and I thank you for all the information. I retired as a reference librarian in a public library two years ago. I now devote a lot of time to genealogy and photography.
Richard
When Fred Churchill died in 2000, his wife gave us access to all of the photos and other memorabilia. At the time, she was in early stages of Alzheimer's Disease. I was amazed at what they had saved over the last 150 years. I knew at the time that they did not have any children or close relatives so I took it upon myself to document what they had and I built the web site to help find homes for the stuff.
I was pretty successful, found many distant cousins and historical societies willing to give items new homes.
There was very little in the stuff about the Churchill family. As you can see from my GED data, I found Doug Churchill's name and that of his children. Even some of that information was wrong or interpreted incorrectly by me. You helped correct that.
Over my decade of searching, there were no Churchill relatives to give the photos to so I sent them to the Preserve Our Past Society of El Dorado Springs, MO. That is where Frank Bert Churchill, Fred's father, spent his adult years.
I would be happy to send you a DVD with everything that I've scanned and researched about Fred Churchill's family. Sadly, I don't have any physical memorabilia left.
Mark
The two drawings by Wenona on the web page are the only two that I scanned. I do have very high resolution scans of them which I can send you.
Mark
Your comment about a good mystery is exactly right!
Getting a start with Fred's Peden and Churchill genealogy really got me started on my own family tree. I knew just the basics about my family at the time. I don't know if you saw my family's web pages but but I've now got a group of a couple of hundred cousins that I share information with.
(I used to tell people that in doing genealogy, I was finding dead ancestors. I've learned now that I was really finding live cousins.)
Genealogy is mostly the field of 'old' folks like us. If you organize all of the stuff that you have, some cousin will surely take over.
I had not dug too deeply into the Churchill line because I had so little information to go on. Your family tree has also sparked my interest again. You have done a great job and I'm sure that Fred Churchill would have enjoyed learning about the Churchills back to the 1700's. Have you had any luck jumping back to England?
I did not know that Doug Churchill was married twice and I did not know that his first names were "Stephen A.". There was nothing about that in any of the memoriabilia. There was one reference to Ruth Churchill along with a note "Died young". I had assumed that she was a daughter of Doug and Lillie.
It could be that since the family kept in very close contact with Lillie (Fred's grandmother) and seems to have completly disconnected from Doug (Fred's grandfather) there may have been some bad feelings after the divorce.
I would certainly be interested in anything that you can find about Doug Churchill since he is Fred's grandfather. I may do a little digging myself.
If you look in my GED file, I found that Lillie Boyer was married five times (based on the family notes). Doug was number 2 and as you found, the marriage only lasted a couple of years.
I do have a lot of scaned photos of her children - Heath - Churchill - Healy - Huff - and - Trammell. I will be happy to send them.
Mark
Having all relatives of my parent's generation gone now, made me realize how grateful I am that I started my research when in my 40s. Although, I did most of my research in court houses, historical societies, and family history books, it is easier now with a PC and online web sites..There are still five first cousins, including myself, that are living, about ten or so second cousins. And, like you, a few hundred distant cousins.
I worked on the Churchill line back to England myself, used a genealogy service in London, and corresponded with anyone living in England I could find with Churchill connections, but did not come close to any documentation of the original American immigrant, John Churchill. Many claim that he originated in Dorset and is connected with the Piddlehinton Churchill Family. My second cousin, Mary Churchill, traveled to England and was able to speak with the owners of Muston Manor who holds the Churchill documents in their private library. (I am sending you a picture of the home) There was nothing in the records that would indicate any connections with the John Churchill that came to America. There are three books which I found very useful. The first is: The
Churchill Family in America, by G.A. Churchill, 1904. It can be read online at: http://www.archive.org/stream/churchillfamilyi01chur#page/n11/mode/2up.
The other 2 books I used to try and help me understand the relationships of the people living at the Plymouth Colony from its settlement to its becoming a town are :
Saints and Strangers,
by George F. Willison,1945
publised by Reynal & Hitchcock, New York.
by George F. Willison,1945
publised by Reynal & Hitchcock, New York.
and
Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England,
by Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Boston, 1857.
by Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Boston, 1857.
I am still working on Ruth Churchill and her date of birth to see from what wife she came. There were, believe it or not, children throughout the Midwest named Steven A. Douglas after the famous or infamous debater of Lincoln. Some names were spelled Stephen and some Steven. Illinois is still a state that is numerous with members of the Democratic Party.
As far as the divorce between Doug Churchill and Lillie, I am going to email the county to see if the record indicates the reason for the divorce. I have a couple of ancestors in my LeRoy Family that never took responsibility for their actions and fathered children by different wives and acquaintances. The only thing that makes me curious is the five marriages of Lillie. My genealogical beginnings grew out of a problem that may have have been similar to that of Doug and Lillie. I asked my father if he knew anything about his great-grandfather and he replied with a look of, “Why would you want to know about dead people?) He told me to call his sister, my aunt Sharon, and she may know. I called Sharon and she told me that I will not find any information because he was
illegitimate. I started despite the odds of not finding information. As it turns out, my third great-grandmother had four children by four different men and she was only married to two of them, one being my third great-grandfather.
Richard
Not sure if you are interested in Civil War, but since this year is the 150th anniversary of the beginning I thought you might enjoy this letter. It was written by Frank Churchill, Son of George W. Churchill and his first wife, Harriett Bovard. George and his son Frank enlisted at the the same time. George made it home, although disabled, Frank did not. In the letter no mention of his mother as she is already dead and her father remarried to Maryetta Miller. His brothers are 1/2 brothers (same father different mothers).
Richard
As I mentioned earlier, Fred Churchill would have been pleased to learn this about his family.
I agree with you, something unpleasant happened when Doug Churchill and Lillie Boyer divorced. They seemed to have severed all connection with Doug and the Churchill family.
I did some checking on Doug Churchill, wife Carrie and daughter, Ruth. Tracing the US and KS censuses, showed Ruth married Harry Erwin and had two daughters, Carolyn Mae and Lola Ruth. I haven't been able to trace them further.
I found what I think is Ruth's SSDI:
Social Security Death Index
Name: Ruth Erwin
SSN: 515-18-1760
Last Residence: 66720 Chanute, Neosho, Kansas, United States of America
Born: 19 Dec 1898
Died:Jul 1971
State (Year) SSN issued: Kansas (Before 1951)
Name: Ruth Erwin
SSN: 515-18-1760
Last Residence: 66720 Chanute, Neosho, Kansas, United States of America
Born: 19 Dec 1898
Died:Jul 1971
State (Year) SSN issued: Kansas (Before 1951)
Here is the list of censuses that I found Ruth in:
1900 census, Chanute, Neosho, KS with parents, 1y, born Dec 1898.
1910 census, Chanute, Neosho, KS with parents, 11y.
1915 KS census, Chanute, Neosho, KS, 16y with parents.
1920 census, Chanute, Neosho, KS with parents, 21y,
1925, KS census, Chanute, Neosho, KS, 26y, with husband and two children. Ruth's parents are listed on the next page.
1930 census, Chanute, Neosho, KS, 31y, widowed, with parents and two children. First married at 22y. Listed as Ruth Erwin.
1910 census, Chanute, Neosho, KS with parents, 11y.
1915 KS census, Chanute, Neosho, KS, 16y with parents.
1920 census, Chanute, Neosho, KS with parents, 21y,
1925, KS census, Chanute, Neosho, KS, 26y, with husband and two children. Ruth's parents are listed on the next page.
1930 census, Chanute, Neosho, KS, 31y, widowed, with parents and two children. First married at 22y. Listed as Ruth Erwin.
So if this is her, the note that I found in Fred's stuff "Died young" must not be correct.
Mark
I found a Churchill tree on ancestry.com put up by a Laura Pawlowski. I was searching for George Churchill (1813-1875) and found him in her tree.
The tree is private and I need to request permission to look at it.
Do you know her?
Mark
Richard
Sent to me by Richard Churchill LeRoy, Apr 2011.
Sent to me by Richard Churchill LeRoy, Apr 2011.
Really interesting obits.
I know that Dell Harlan and her husband accompanied Frank Churchill and new wife, Georgia Estella Peden, on their honeymoon to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
I found this in Stella Peden Churchill's address book:
Mrs D.L. Harlan
515 S. Washington
Iola, Kans
I would guess that the Frank Churchill mentioned in the "Here for Funeral" article is Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Churchill, Dell's brother. (Since he could have also been from Iola, KS.)
I don't recognize any of the other names mentioned in the three articles.
What is so unusual is there was no mention of his first wife, Lillie Boyer, or son, Frank. It seems like we have the correct Doug Churchill from all the other names. Do you think there is a chance there were two Doug Churchill's?
Mark
I think there are too many connects between Fred's Family and my Churchills to have another Doug Churchill in the mix. I am sending you a picture and I do not remember if I sent it before. The quality is poor because it is a scan of a zerox copy of a picture. It is labeled, Grace & Stella. Grace Churchill also went by the name Pam Churchill. Grace married Thomas Stansberry in 1909 at Parsons, KS. The young woman that is marked Stella is petite and has the same facial features as Georgia Estella Peden. Look and see if this is Frank B. Churchill's wife.........
Richard
Sent to me by Richard Churchill LeRoy, Apr 2011.
I have all types of information that may or may not be of interest. They are just little tid-bits like the fact that Maud Bond Churchill sang in one of the many Opera Houses of Kansas City in the early 1900s. I found an article that tells under whom she studied. Up until the last four or five years of her life she lived in the same theatrical apartment building she has lived since the 1930s. I only met her once in the 1960s on a family trip to Neosho County, KS. Then the apartment building was full of hippies, but that was right up Aunt Maud's alley. :-) My grandfather called her his business sister. I told you the Churchill's were a little eccentric.....
Richard
Well, Frank Churchill ran the opera house in El Dorado Springs, MO in the years around 1915. I wonder if Maud ever performed there?
Is there any mention of Janet Malbon or Minnie Maxwell Lawing in her opera teachers?
Mark
Richard
Richard
I found this:
Southern Medical Journal for April 1924: "Dr. Warren E. Harlan, St. Louis, aged 47, died January 16 from pneumonia
'.
Mark
Richard
Sent to me by Richard Churchill LeRoy, Apr 2011.
Sent to me by Richard Churchill LeRoy, Apr 2011.
Sent to me by Richard Churchill LeRoy, Apr 2011.
(Downloaded from Find-A-Grave)
Found this on find-a-grave.com. Burial:
McCune Cemetery
McCune
Crawford County
Kansas, USA
McCune
Crawford County
Kansas, USA
Richard
Having learned about Frank Bert Churchill of El Dorado Springs and all of the Chuchills that you told me about - its clear that they were all involved in "interesting" endeavors.
Richard, I would like to take the emails and photos that you sent me and make up a simple web page about the Churchills to extend what I already have on Frank B. Churchill. All of these names and places might attract more people via Google and Yahoo searches.
I would let you look at the web page and make changes/corrections/additions to it before I make it available to the public. What do you think?
Mark
Richard
****We have too many Franks, Freds, and Dougs. Julius Churchill was the brother of S.A. Dougless Churchill, father of “Big Frank.” The plot thickens. Now we have more of the family on California.
Just FYI........Richard
Douglas W. appears on the Internet Movie Data Base:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0161428/
Mark
Richard.
I found the death certificate of Douglas W. on the LDS web site and I found his WWI Draft Registration on ancestry.com
Mark
Richard
I have been going through the DVD you sent and it is making it much easier to now put people with the proper parent, husband, and siblings. I cannot tell you enough how grateful I am to have this information. I have been to home auctions where antique dealers will bid the price up the price on an old of pictures box so that they can take them back to their shop to sell them. I felt sad when I saw this because I knew somewhere, someplace, there was a distant relative that would have wanted those pictures but were now scattered to the four winds. You have preserved the record of the California Churchill Family forever. I have second cousins once removed still in Kansas. I teased my brother by emailing him, letting him know what you had done and attached Frank in his uniform and Aunt Dell as a youthful picture. I am sure he will be just as grateful as I am. Again, thank you so very much.
Richard
to honor the Civil War Frank Churchill who died at the Battle of Corinth.
Richard
I would like to add the disability of George W. Churchill, father of S. A. Churchill to the page. Don't quote me for I have no factual evidence, but the family knowledge was that because of George's disability and the death of his son, Franklin Churchill, in the Civil War, he relied heavily on Opium and became addicted. If you would add the Certificate of Disability (900KB) and his Record of Muster (850KB) that gives the date he enlisted, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank You!
Richard
From: Richard Churchill LeRoy
Subject: Re: Churchill Web page
Mark, I have read over the web page and it looks fine to me. Go ahead and publish
Richard
