This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Surnames: Mansfield/Helm
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/1h.2ADE/1451.1
Message Board Post:
Hello Ms. Mowry,
My name is Keith Lawrence, I am not sure if this will lead to anything or not, but I
thought that I would respond to your query just in case there might be a connection. I
will start at the beginning and try and give you an idea what I am hoping to find.
I have a great great aunt in my ancestry by the name of Louise Owsianny/Lawrence
(family name was changed from Owsianny to Lawrence), Louise met and married John W.
Mansfield who was born in Ohio in 1862, at this time I am unaware of his fathers name, but
his mother was D. A. Mansfield.
John and Louise married and lived in Minneapolis, they had one child that I think
died in infancy and a son Earl who was born in Minneapolis in 1895.
Shortly after Earl was born, John W. Mansfield abandoned his family, he may have gone
to California but that is only speculation on my part, at this time I have no idea where
he went to, when he died or where he is buried!
About 1905 Louise filed for divorce and a summons was published in papers across the
country, the divorce was granted after John failed to respond to the summons.
Louise passed away in 1928, and her son Earl Mansfield died in 1977, they are buried
in St. Mary's cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
While doing my research I found a 1885 Dakota Territorial Census in which the
following persons were listed as living in Bismarck, North Dakota:
D. A. Mansfield Mother age 49 Born in Ohio
S. W.Mansfield Son age 29 Born in Ohio
John Mansfield Son age 28 Born in Ohio
Stella Mansfield Other age 9 Born in Indiana
I also found D.A. Mansfield living with her sons, Samuel W. Mansfield and John W.
Mansfield in the 1880 Federal Census living in St. Louis, Missouri. D. A. Mansfield was
listed as a widow on this census.
In the 1885 Census I think that Stella may be a niece of D. A. Mansfield.
I found out that Stella Mansfield was the daughter of Charles W. Mansfield and his
wife Cordelia (McCormick) Mansfield. Stella was born on January 2, 1878 in Muncie,
Indiana. She met and married Chauncey D. Helm on September 24, 1898, in Delaware County,
Indiana.
I know of two children born to Stella and Chauncey, a son John Helm, and a daughter
Madeline N. Helm who was born on February 16, 1904.
The family later moved to San Jose, California where Stella passed away on September
15, 1972. Madeline Helm passed away on June 22, 1999.
There must be some form of connection between John W. Mansfield and the Mansfield
family of Delaware County in Indiana. Should any of the above names sound familiar to you,
please feel free to contact me at:
keith.lawrence(a)comcast.net
Thank you, Keith Lawrence