Greetings--
I am new to this list having only about three weeks ago finally clawed my
way up my family tree through John Finch, son of Thomas and Mary (Calvert)
Finch, to the Calvert line (William Calvert & Elizabeth Nodding, parents of
Mary). In e-mail communications with Dan Whitmire, he led me to this
mailing list and the discussion that appeared in August 1999 about a Calvert
bible that was said to last be owned by a Lee Finch. I do not have this
bible nor have I ever seen it (sorry!), but I may have some information
relevant to finding it. I apologize for the length and detail of this
message, but it seemed necessary to convince somebody that this information
is believable.
According to Ella Foy O'Gorman's 1947 book
(
http://www.code-co.com/rcf/ancestry/OGorman.htm), Cynthia Calvert was the
daughter of William Jr (son of William & Elizabeth (Nodding) Calvert) and
Elizabeth Fine. She had a brother, also named William, who married Martha
Mitchell in Cooper Co MO in 1837. William and Martha appear in the Federal
censuses for 1840 Cooper MO, 1850 Chariton MO (where he is a cooper), and
1860 Carroll MO (where he is now a farmer, and blind), along with their
children. Sometime between 1860 and 1867 Martha died and is now buried in
the Big Creek Cemetery between Carrollton and Bosworth in Carroll Co MO.
Some of my relatives visited this cemetery two years ago searching for Finch
graves but made note of the Calvert ones as well since there was a family
legend of a Calvert connection. The stones were eroded and difficult to
read so I have no exact date, but it is definitely the right Martha since
the stone says, "Martha A wife of W. Calvert" and is buried next to William
and "William M. son of W & M.A. Calvert" (born 1846, unknown to O'Gorman
but
clearly listed in the censuses with William and Martha).
The 1867 date is known from Carroll County marriage records that show
William Calvert marrying Mary Finch in Jan 1867. Mary was a daughter of
Thomas and Mary (Calvert) Finch (listed by O'Gorman as Polly Ann) and a
sister to John Finch. William and Mary Calvert, along with William's
children, are shown in the 1870 Carroll MO census. In the 1880 census, Mary
Calvert is shown in Carroll MO living with William's youngest son, George,
and widowed. The Big Creek Cemetery gravestones are difficult to read, but
William is buried there beside Martha. Sources differ on his death date,
but agree it was in the first half of 1880 (the census was in June).
Mary (Finch) Calvert had a brother named Elbridge, who married Minerva
Misner in Carroll Co in 1860. They appear in the 1860 Carroll MO census and
similarly in 1870 with their children. The 1876 Carroll MO atlas and plat
map (
http://www.carolnet.com/cchs/publicat.htm) shows their farm in twp
53N,R22W. However, in the 1880 census, Minerva is listed as widowed and she
and her children are living with Mary Calvert and George in Carrollton twp
(T53N,R23W). Thus it appears that both William and Elbridge died and
Minerva and her kids moved in with her sister-in-law. The critical point in
all of this is that Elbridge and Minerva had a son named Robert Lee Finch,
born Dec 1863, and listed in both the 1870 and 1880 censuses as Lee.
Mary (Finch) Calvert is also buried in the Big Creek Cemetery and her stone
is engraved "Mary A Calvert nee Finch Born Aug 19, 1821 Died Nov 1,
1889". As Mary married late (age 45), she appears to have had no children.
If a bible listing Cynthia Calvert had been owned by William Calvert (the
3rd) it might very well have followed this path and been handed down to this
Lee Finch. While it might seem more correct that it would have gone to one
of William's children, Lee was a legitimate Calvert descendant as well.
The Carroll County marriage record index lists Lee Finch marrying Lucretia
Hubbard in Oct 1892. The 1900 Carroll MO census shows Robert L Finch and
Luticia, living with Pet Hubbard, sister-in-law. He is a carpenter living
in Bosworth, married 7 years. There are no children. The 1910 and 1920
Carroll MO censuses are similar, showing no children. Copies of some notes
passed on to me via a circuitous family route, supposedly written by a
granddaughter of John Finch probably in the early 1930s while living in
Bosworth MO, list a Lee Finch, son of Elbridge and Minervia Finch, having
married a Loutittie Hubbard, and having had no children. (These notes only
list names and relationships (no dates or places) and are not completely
reliable. I consider them useful mainly as hints of where to look for
better sources of info. They also do not give any information about even
the parents of Mary (Calvert) Finch, much less her grandparents.) The Big
Creek Cemetery contains the marker "FINCH Luticia 1864-1948 Robert L.
1863-1938". So whenever the bible was last seen, it could very well have
still been owned by Lee. But without any children, it would likely have
been given to another Calvert descendant.
However, these granddaughter's notes also refer to "the old Calvert bible
which cousin Tennie has put in the bank for safe keeping." Unfortunately,
this is all that the notes say about this bible--there is nothing about what
was in it. But it seems that this must be the same bible that was
supposedly owned by Lee Finch. The "cousin Tennie" would have been Mary
Elizabeth Tennessee Finch, born in Mar 1862, and who appears in the 1870 and
1880 Carroll MO censuses with her parents Noding C and Sarah F Finch.
Noding was another brother to John, Mary, and Elbridge, thus Lee and Tennie
would have been first cousins. The gd's notes say that Tennie married
Marion Culver (no date or location known). A possible reason why the bible
went to Tennie was that Marion Culver, according to the gd's notes, was a
director of a local bank.
There was yet another brother to John, Mary, Elbridge, and Noding: William
Finch. William had a daughter, Blanche, born ca 1864 in Carroll MO, who
married James H Long in Mar 1896 according to the Carroll County marriage
index. The gd's notes say they had a son named Roy. However, something
must have happened to James and Blanche, as the notes say Roy was raised by
Marion and Tennie Culver. The 1900 Carroll MO census lists Marion Culver
with wife Tenna (married 7 years and no children born) and George, an
adopted son, born Mar 1900. The 1910 Carroll MO census shows Marion and
Tennie living with Roy, an adopted son age 10. So his full name was
probably George Roy Long Culver. Finally, the 1920 Carroll MO census shows
Marion and Tenna with Roy, and again no other children. There is no mention
of other children in the gd's notes, so it seems certain that Marion and
Tennie had no children of their own. But if Tennie last had the bible, she
probably would have passed it on to Roy since, in spite of his being
adopted, he was still a true Calvert descendant.
The gd's notes say Roy Long Culver married Minnie Harlin (no date or
location known) and that they had three children: Marion, a second son (no
name listed), and a daughter (no name listed). At least that was the
situation when these notes were written, probably about 1931. Listed with
Marion, Tenna, and Roy in the 1920 census also were Minnie, daughter-in-law
age 22, and Marion H, grandson aged 10/12 (census taken in Jan 1920). The
Social Security Death Index (
http://www.rootsweb.com) contains Roy Culver,
born 18 Mar 1900, died Aug 1979, and last address in Carrollton, MO. It
also shows Minnie Culver, born 11 Apr 1898, died Jan 1977, and last address
Carrollton, MO. So this is almost certainly Roy's wife. The SSDI also
lists Marion Culver, born 6 Mar 1919, died Jul 1984, last address Griffith,
IN, and Orval Culver, born 17 Nov 1922, died 12 May 1998, and last address
Carrollton, MO. So Orval seems likely to be the second, unnamed son of Roy
and Minnie.
John Finch died young and his family was scattered. Additionally,
subsequent generations also suffered tragedies and were scattered as well,
so that now I do not have any relatives in Carroll County that I know.
Moreover, I do not live near Missouri. But it seems very likely that this
Calvert bible, if it still exists, has followed the above path and that
these Culvers, if they do not have the bible, may at least know where it is.
Marion H Culver's Griffith, Indiana, death may not be as useful, due to the
1984 date, but the Carrollton, Missouri, newspaper would almost certainly
have printed obituaries or death/funeral notices of the other Culvers above,
and they might give names of surviving relatives. If somebody could go to
Carrollton and check the Carrollton library, and if Roy or Minnie's notices
indicate a son Orval and Orval's notice lists somebody still alive since
1998, we might be very close to finding out what this bible has to say about
William Calvert, Sr and his parents.
As a final note, everything I have said here is either very old or from
public records. But I hope that the search that follows this respects the
privacy of any of these living relatives and does not post their names here
without their consent and, as well, that the search be organized enough so
that multiple hordes of wild-eyed genealogists do not suddenly descend upon
these innocent folks!
Steve
---
Steve Gillispie <gillisp(a)earthlink.net>