This is long, and I apologize, but it's the only way to explain where my
research has led me, and what I'm up against.
Since a Hesson did some messin' all's Wells may not end Wells because there
may be a Skelton in the closet. :-D
There is no way, I know of, to break this down into several simple queries.
It's been many months since I last was able to tackle this, and now I hope
to pick up where I left off:
I have my Maternal Great Granny to blame for this guy ( A Skelton ) even
being connected to my family at all.:-)
The story centers around folks who lived in Howard, Perry, Ripley, and
Warrick Counties, Indiana, between 1871 & 1920.
You see, between 1889, and 1915, Mary Hesson married 4, possibly 5, men
from Indiana & Ky., and had children by 2, possibly 3, or all 5 of them,
though each child has a different last name. :-)
I know very, very little about any of the folks in this little drama.
Anyway, this story begins with Margaret Jewell, a woman who died in
Owensboro, Ky. on 12/11/1938, of tuberculosis, at the age of 44.
Her Mother signed the death certificate as Mrs. Mary Fields (hubby #5).
Margaret (Maggie) was born to a John West, and Mary Hesson, on 12/18/1893,
in Indiana.
Here's where things get intriguing, and very messy.
First let me say that Mary died in 1957, at age 85, putting her birth at
1871/72.
Mr. West was hubby #2.
Maybe.
There is a story that she married hubby #1, some guy last named CHENAULT in
abt. 1889, and had a child named FLORENCE, who lived only maybe 3 years.
Mary Hessen DID marry John West on August 2, 1891, in Warrick County,
Indiana.
Then, a month BEFORE the birth of Maggie:
Mary West marries ELIJAH M. SKELTON on Nov. 11, 1893.
She, ( and Maggie West ) seem to have left Mr. Skelton sometime in the
next few yrs. because she appears ( with Maggie West ) as a boarder in the
household of her next hubby, My Great-Grandfather,the widower, JOHN T.
WELLS, in the 1900 Perry County, Indiana, census, under the last name of
SKELTON.
This is interesting, in and of itself, because My Grandfather William
Jennings Wells is on record as being born in 1897.:-)
Stay with me here as I explain what I found in the 1900, and 1910 census.
In 1900:
Elijah, single, is living with his mother Louisa, and a sister, in Pigeon
Township, Warrick County.
No sign of John West yet.
Mary & Maggie are boarders in Anderson Township, Perry county, in the
househould of widower John T. Wells, and his children Charles ( We always
thought he was a child of His and Mary ), and Murriel ( no-one has heard of
her ).
NO SIGN so far, in my search, for a 3 yr. old William Jennings Wells.
1910 Census:
Mary, without Maggie, is now married to John Wells, and they have a 5 yr.
old daughter named Blanche ( no-one has heard of her), and live in Kokomo
City in Howard County, Indiana.
No sign of John West, or Elijah Skelton, yet.
I finally find 12 year old William J. Wells living as a boarder in Milan,
Ripley County, Indiana, with the family of a Marquis Tilberry.
He WAS NOT living here in 1900.
Sometime in the next few years William got together with his Mother because
I have a photo of the 2 of them in Owensboro, Ky. in 1916.
He met my Grandmother there.
The Photo is the only known image of Mary.
1920 Census:
Mary has married her last husband, WILLIAM FIELD, and they live in
Owensboro.
William married my Grandmother in 1919, and they, with her child from her
1st marriage, live in Owensboro.
My Mother, their 1st child, was born in 1929.
He died a tragic death in 1937, but THAT�S a whole �nother can of worms
with a mystery of its own.
Mystery?
Is he truly a SKELTON who was LEGALLY adopted by Wells AFTER 1900 when he
and Mary must have got hitched?
Anyway, I have no clue of the fates of any of the first 3 or 4 husbands. :-)
Nothing about divorces, or deaths.
No clues about the fates of the other siblings, and step-siblings either.
I have some info about Mr. Skelton�s ancestors, and Mary Hesson�s as well.
Also that of John Wells, and John West.
I DO have a clue as to the connections between Mary and her 1st 2 or 3
husbands.
A fellow researcher turned up an intriguing set of listings in the 1880
census CD for Indiana:
Pigeon, Warrick County, Indiana:
William West/Catherine West with, among others, a son named John, age 9,
born 1871.
JUST DOWN THE STREET:
Joseph M. Skelton/Mary E. Skelton with a son named Anson, age 10, born 1870.
ALSO NEARBY:
Mary Hessons family.
MEANWHILE, in Cannelton, in Perry County:
Jos. Chenault/Martha Chenault, with sons John, age 11, and Arthur, age 8.
This is all very intriguing, and mysterious, and I have fellow researchers,
plus some digging of my own, to thank for bringing this much to light.
To bad the 1890 census is lost.
If there is ANYONE out there who can help me sort all of this out, and shed
light on the SKELTON side of things, I'd be grateful. :-)
Kiril Kunduarazieff
Costa Mesa, Ca.