The last of the Johnson family information

I was going to write about Erik and Emma last night but discovered that the blog for Erik was getting a tad too long to add Emma's information.  I'll write about Emma and throw in some additional information at the end.

Emma Andersdotter was born 30 Mar 1852 at Qvilla (now Kvilla), Torsås Parish, Kalmar County Sweden, the 2nd of 7 children born to Anders Börjesson (1815-1900) and Ingrid Petersdotter (1827-1867)

Line #50 - Emma Andersdotter

Emma's siblings included:

Peter Andersson 1849-1857
Anna Maria Andersdotter 1855-1934
Helena Andersdotter 1858-1880
Mathilda Andersdotter 1860-1943
Lydia Maria Andersdotter 1863-1897
Johanna Andersdotter died at birth 17 Oct 1865

I wrote about my connections found in Sweden and America a couple of years ago so I have already written some about Emma.  In addition to her niece Hildegard's son that came to America I have now found that her sister Lydia Maria had a daughter Alma Lovisa that also came to America, through Chicago and settled in Wisconsin.  Alma has several grandchildren still living here in America.



I found the ship log for Emma, Hilda and Freda's arrival in New York on either 4 Aug or 11 Aug 1884.  They arrived on the ship "The City of Chester".

Emma and family are at the bottom of the 2nd page - the 1st image is the cover page showing the columns.

The most I can write about Emma that didn't get covered in Erik's blog is that it's said she hated living in America.  Having lost 3 daughters between 1904-1909 couldn't have helped.  Her death occurred 22 May 1911 at Bridgeton, Newaygo County MI.  The cause of death is listed as "consumption", which for years I thought meant she was an alcoholic.  Upon getting better at researching I found that it's an old term for tuberculosis.  I'm not sure how long she was ill or why she wasn't in a sanitarium.

Note how absolutely ridiculously wrong the names of her parents are on this certificate.  The informant appears to have been her husband Erik, who's final "maltreatment" of his father-in-law was to horribly butcher his name.

A good lesson in genealogy is that you have to remember that the information on a death certificate is only as good as the person supplying it, who is obviously not the person on the certificate (that would know the information).  Erik even got her date of birth wrong!

I only have one photo of Emma, that came from my great-grandmother's photo album.  As with the photo of her mother Freda, she identified Emma and it was confirmed by Johnson cousins that have the same photo.  She certainly doesn't look happy to be having her photograph taken and looks (in my opinion) to be older than the age she had to be, since she was only 59 when she passed away.

Emma was laid to rest with her 3 daughters, and eventually Erik at Bridgeton Township Cemetery.  Erik and Emma purchased a monument for their graves and their daughters Anna and Freda were carved into it but that's it.  I worked with Judy and Sheryl, granddaughters of Frank and Alta and we got Erik, Emma and their daughter Jennifer added to the stone in Oct 2016, 105 years after Emma's death.  We'll never know the reason why this wasn't done, especially given that their other children are all buried nearby.  Even Erik's 2nd wife needed the death year added.

  
We had Jennie added to the stone as well, but other than her appearing in the census records, her marriage record and her death certificate we know nothing about her.  She was a mystery for a long time until I stumbled on her death certificate.  I found her marriage to Fred Price (1890-1923) 28 Oct 1908 at Ravenna, Muskegon Co MI and she died 20 Feb 1909 at Ravenna.  Fred remarried 31 Dec 1909 and had 2 sons before his early death.

Anna is the other daughter that we don't know anything about (or have a photo of) except that with Anna, we think we know what caused her untimely demise.  Family lore is that one of her brothers wanted to cut a deck of cards in half with an ax and had Anna hold onto them.  He either missed or the ax bounced but either way she got cut and got an infection that caused her death.

Her death certificate cause of death isn't easy to read but you can read "septicemia at first from abscess in finger not cared for soon enough".  That leads me to believe the story is probably true.




The other 4 children of Erik and Emma died well into adulthood and had families of their own.

Hilda Johnson McKenzie

Hilda was the eldest child and married James McKenzie.  My grandma doesn't recall ever meeting her but tells of how her parents used to tell her they were going to send her to live with aunt Hilda in Wisconsin if she didn't stop misbehaving.  Hilda had a son named Milon in 1901.  My grandma had a brother named Milon as well.  The name is so uncommon that I can't help but think this was done on purpose.

Arnold and Bessie Drake Johnson family

I met with a grandson of Arnold and Bessie quite a few years ago and he shared this picture with me.  I was glad to meet up with him as Arnold and Bessie lived in the Muskegon area most of their lives and therefore the other Johnson families don't seem to know much about them.  My grandma knew her aunt Emily and knew of her aunt Hilda and uncle Frank but had never heard of Arnold and Bessie.

Frank and Alta Johnson 1/3/1967

Frank and Alta Johson 1/3/1917

 Frank and Alta stayed in contact with my great-grandmother and I'm in contact with 2 of their granddaughters.  These photos were courtesy of their granddaughter Sheryl and their granddaughter Judy has remained in contact with my grandmother, who is tickled every time she receives a letter from her.  Getting to know them has been one of the rewarding experiences from doing genealogy.  I enjoy visits with them and like that generations removed that we can stay in touch.

Emily Johnson with niece Doris Colson

Emily visiting Nick and Doris Denhof in Florida

Emily and Vernon Fellows wedding

Emily and Vernon Fellows undated

Emily Johnson Fellows with 2nd husband Floyd Lambson

Emily is the one of my great-grandmother's biological siblings that must have stayed in contact the most.  My grandma remembers that her parents would visit Frank and Alta but she specifically remembers visiting with aunt Emily and uncle Vernon.  Emily ran a grocery store in Bridgeton that my grandma lived near so she remembers going to the store.  Emily even traveled to FL to visit with Nick and Doris.  Vernon and Emily had 4 children, 3 that were stillborn or died the day of birth and one that lived 2 days.  She and Vernon fostered several children and treated them as their own.  Because of this my grandma always wondered why on Earth aunt Emily allowed her mother to be given to the neighbors and didn't just take her in.  I pointed out to my grandma that Emily was only 6 when her sister Freda died.  I have no doubt she would have taken her in had she been old enough.

Emily has 2 obituaries that I've found, one stating she died at Grant Community Hospital and one that says she died at the McKinley Funeral Home (Grant, Newaygo Co MI) while visiting her neighbor Josephine Halverson, who was lying in state.  I'm sure it happens but this is the first time I've heard of someone dying while at a funeral visitation.

The Johnson family could have been a complete mystery to me if not for the help of Frank and Alta's granddaughters.  I found my first email thread with Sheryl from November of 2001.  She soon after got me in touch with Judy and they filled in so many blanks.  My grandma is at an age that she wouldn't have remembered much without the cues that they were able to provide.  I can't thank them enough!

More on the Jonsson (Johnson) family

As promised, I'll write about Freda Johnson's parents now.  There is (a little) more known about them than Freda, as they both lived longer lives and left a better trail behind.  Today I'll write about her father Erik.

Erik Jonsson was born 22 Feb 1858 at Slätafly, Torsås Municipality, Kalmar County Sweden, the 12th of 12 children born to Jonas Persson (1808-1885) and Christina Olsdotter (1815-1874).

Erik Jonsson birth, line #45

Erik's family included the following siblings:
Olaus Jonsson 1832-1922
Ingrid Stina Jonsdotter 1834-1913
Anna Maria Jonsdotter 1836-1850
Peter Jonsson 1838-1923 (I've connected with a 2nd great-grandson in Sweden)
Cajsa Lena Jonsdotter Aug 15-Sept 6, 1841
Cajsa Lena Jonsdotter 1842-1896
Emma Charlotta Jonsdotter 1845-1851
Andreas Jonsson 1847-1848
Anders Jonsson 1849-1913
Erik Jonsson 1852-1855
Gustaf Jonsson 1855-1856





As I researched Erik's siblings the thing that really stuck out to me was how many of their children made trips to America, Canada and New Zealand.  There are oodles of ship logs for them and some even had children here in New York and then returned to Sweden.  There were a few that stayed in Canada and America (I'm not able to research the ones that went to New Zealand) but for the most part, the majority of them returned home and lived out their lives in Sweden, and their American-born children remained in Sweden as well.  Sweden and Finland have always intrigued me and part of the reason is that my ancestors from both countries came here but some decided to go home.  They must have really enjoyed their lives in their home countries to make the trip and decide it was better to return.  I did find 7 nieces and nephews that remained in America.

Erik married Emma Andersdotter 15 Mar 1879 at Torsås, Kalmar, Sweden.

Line #4 on the right side of the image

Erik was the only one of his siblings to come to America, leaving 9 Apr 1883 and arriving in New York 23 Apr 1883.  I wrote in my last blog that I couldn't find the actual ship records but I did some digging last night and found both Erik and Emma's logs.  The ability to focus on individual direct family members and try to research the missing pieces is nice.  Ancestry.com has a collection titled " New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957" that is a wonderful searchable database of immigrants that came through the port of New York.

Top of the manifest for the SS Nevada

SS Nevada - Erik is 3rd from the bottom, in "steerage"

I mentioned in my blog about his daughter Freda that he came to America ahead of his wife and 2 daughters.  I was going to pay a researcher about 15 years ago to research Erik and Emma's families but he discovered that he was related to me via both lines of the family (he had done extensive research on his family) so instead he sent me a printed version of the lines from his tree that pertained to me at no cost.  In the packet he made mention that "Erik was condemned 3 months in jail for having maltreated his father in law."  The cousin in Sweden that I've connected with has tried to find documentation of such a thing and was unable to but allegedly Erik fled to America because of this.  What is it with these "criminal ancestors" fleeing to America?  In the Swedish "Emihamn" database I find transcription of Erik listing Muskegon MI as his destination.  I've yet to connect why Erik chose Muskegon but it's not far from the town of Bridgeton, where he and Emma eventually settled.

Erik and Emma had the following children (siblings of Freda):
Hilda Christina Johnson 1879 -1963 - married James McKenzie (son Milon)
Carl Alrik Mar 24th-Aug 30th 1881 at Qvilla
Arnold Johnson 1886-1959 - married Bessie Drake (3 sons Harold, Clyde and Earl)
Jennifer Johnson 1888-1909 - married Fred Price (no children)
Anna Johnson 1890-1905
Frank Johnson 1892-1967 - married Alta Ackley (3 sons Harry, Melvin and Keith)
Emily Johnson 1896-1972 - married Vernon Fellows (4 children died in infancy)

1900 Bridgeton Township

In 1900 and 1910 Erik and Emma (note that he's called Edward - seems to vary depending on the record) are living in Bridgeton Township.

In 1900 the family of August and Mathilda Olson are 2 doors down from Erik and Emma - Mathilda is Emma's sister that joined her in Bridgeton in 1888.  I have to imagine that letters went back and forth between the sisters, with Emma probably asking Mathilda to join her and telling her all about Michigan.  What I wouldn't give to get my hands on those letters.

1910 Bridgeton Township

Bottom line - Erik and Ida (Anderson) Lundquist

Emma passed away 22 May 1911 and 268 days later Erik remarried to the widow Ida (Anderson) Lundquist, who had lost her husband John in 1908.  Erik's daughter Emily served as a witness.

1920 Bridgeton Township

After what had to have been a hard farmer's life Erik passed away of "angina pectoris" at his home in Bridgeton Township, Newaygo County MI 19 Sep 1928.  He was laid to rest at the Bridgeton Township Cemetery next to Emma and 3 of his daughters.  Ida remained his widow until her passing in 1953 and is also buried at Bridgeton Township Cemetery, next to her first husband.

Johnson cousins have told me that Emily Johnson Fellows was certain that her father had been poisoned deliberately.  Apparently the dog also died and Ida got sick but recovered.  Ida had quite a chunk of land (I believe that the cemetery was part of it) and her children were fearful they were going to lose everything.  There is no proof that this is true given that the death certificate doesn't list any foul play or that there was an autopsy.  You know what else I discovered?  Ida and her 1st husband never had any children!  It's physically impossible for non-existent children to worry about their mother.  :)  Just one more example to prove that you can't believe all of the family lore!  Emily and Frank didn't like Ida when their father married and moved out shortly thereafter but Emily took Ida in when Erik died.


I only have one photo of Erik, courtesy of a granddaughter of Frank and Alta Johnson.  I believe there could be more photos of him out there but Frank and Alta's family had what appears to be the majority of the photos/documents of this family so I'm afraid that if they didn't have any more there aren't any.  There is a grandson that is possibly still alive in Durango CO, who would be turning 101 this year.  I've tried to track him down to no avail.  I'm sure Harold isn't much into blogging but if you see this I'd love to talk to you!  You're the last family member left on Earth that could remember Erik.

The Johnson's from Sweden - my great-grandma's mother's family

My last blog post was about my great-grandmother Doris (Colson) Denhof's father.  This blog will be about her mother's short life.  It's hard to believe she died at the age of 21 and had a daughter that lived to be 98.  Unlike Charles, who's parents I've already blogged about I'll be blogging about Freda's parents next so some details will be left out of this one.

Freda Maria Johnson (birth surname Jonsson) was born 11 Dec 1882 at Qvilla, Torsås Parish, Kalmar, Sweden (now known as Kvilla) the 3rd of 8 children of Erik Jonasson and Emma Andersdotter.  The handwriting in Swedish records is terribly difficult to read but here is her birth record, line #175.

I don't have the actual record of their emigration (it's on my "to-find" list) but I do have this transcription that tells me that Freda came to America via New York, leaving 25 Jul 1884 with her mother Emma and her sister Hilda.  Erik came to America earlier, more on that in another blog.  

First name: MARIA

Last name: JÖNSSON

Age: 1 Gender:

Parish: SVERIG County:

Title/Note: BARN

Port: KÖPENHAMN

Date: 1884 07 25

Destination: NEW YORK

Source: 2209

As mentioned in my previous blog Freda married Charles Perkins 5 Apr 1900 at Fremont, Newaygo County Michigan.  Their marriage was witnessed by James and Hilda McKenzie, Hilda being Freda's older sister.  

Freda gave birth to Milo in 1901 and to Doris in 1903.  Beyond that there isn't much known about her.  She died of pneumonia 18 Mar 1904 at Ashland, Newaygo County Michigan and is buried at the Bridgeton Township Cemetery at Bridgeton (Newaygo Co as well).  She's buried with 2 sisters and her parents in one plot, although all of her siblings are buried at this cemetery.  

Yet another mystery the great Charles Perkins left us with is why his wife is buried under her maiden name of Johnson.  Her death certificate clearly says Perkins and that she's married but that's not what's on the headstone.  Given that her parents are buried with her and Charles skipped town (although I don't know how soon after her death) my guess is her parents handled everything and perhaps were angry with Charles and did that to stick it to him?  I try to put myself in his shoes and try to imagine losing my wife so young, with young children and possibly not much in the way to support them and I can guess he may not have been thinking rationally but c'mon, flee to the middle of the state and give a child away?  Did Milo or Doris ever see Erik and Emma again?  Did they even know who they were?  So many questions..........

One question we don't have is who is in this photo.  My grandma had gone through my great-grandma's albums with her before I did and she identified and labeled this picture as Freda.  It was verified by another Johnson cousin who also has this picture.  It is the only known photo of Freda.  Every time I look at it I see lost potential in a life cut short by something very survivable by today's standards.  How would life have been different for my great-grandmother (and then for all of us that followed after) had Freda lived?  Would I even be here?  If she didn't go to the Colson family does she ever meet my great-grandpa?  Life is funny that way.........

Moving on to my great-grandma's side........

In the last couple weeks I've posted about my great-grandpa's parents.  I now want to write about my great-grandma's parents.  As I posted before, my great-grandma Doris Colson was raised by George and Anna (Buskirk) Colson but born to Charles and Freda (Johnson) Perkins.  Charles Ellsworth Perkins was born 15 Sep 1880 at Ashland MI.  The record states it's Muskegon Co but Ashland is currently in Newaygo Co so I'm not sure which is correct.  He was the 3rd of 8 children to Clarence Perkins and Sarah Etta Lambertson.  I've blogged several times about Clarence and am not positive how many 1/2 siblings Charles had but I know of at least 3. 

Record #517 on the bottom

Charles married Freda Maria Johnson 5 Apr 1900 at Fremont, Newaygo Co MI.  I'll blog about Freda next.

Charles and Freda had 2 children:
Milo R Perkins born 24 Jun 1901 in Newaygo Co MI, died 17 Jan 1964 at Lansing, Ingham Co MI.
Doris Lydia - my great grandmother.

Freda passed away 18 Mar 1904 at Ashland, Newaygo Co MI, leaving Charles with an almost 3 year old son and a 6 month old daughter.  As I stated in my blog about Doris, Charles moved to Lansing with Milo but gave Doris to the Colson family.  I do not know why Charles moved to Lansing or why he kept Milo but not Doris.

Charles remarried 7 Aug 1906 at Grand Rapids, Kent Co MI to Bertha Gertrude Edwards (1875-1943).  During my talks with my great-grandma she mentioned that her dad had married "Gertrude" (Bertha appears to have gone by Gertrude on some records).

Record #182, bottom, 1st hand-written entry

I only have one confirmed picture of Charles and Bertha and I've pondered whether or not to post it but decided that I will.  I'm not a fan of the picture but we're blogging about the lives of these people and sugar-coating parts of it doesn't accurately portray anything does it?  I got this picture during the visit that I talked about in the blog about Clarence Perkins.  His sister Eva's granddaughter Charlene Zufelt Henry (1933-2017) put a bunch of pictures on the table for my grandma and I and when this one hit the table, my grandma asked "who on earth is that", to which Charlene replied "that's your grandfather Charles Perkins".  My grandma's jaw then hit the table.  She of course knew nothing about this, as I'm sure her mother didn't.  All I can say about the photo is that it was a different time, with a lot of ignorance going on.  I hate to think he spent his entire life like this but I'll never know.

Charles' WWI draft card from 12 Sep 1918 lists him as doing machine repair for the Michigan Screw Company in Lansing MI, listing his wife Gertrude as his nearest relative.  Interestingly he lists 17 Sep as his birthdate, instead of the 15 Sep listed on his birth record.  He does the same on his card for WWII so perhaps the birth record is wrong?

Charles and Bertha had a 20 year marriage, until their divorce 4 Oct 1926 in Ingham Co MI.

I'll obviously never know what led to their divorce but I always speculate that there was an outside interference when the next marriage takes place so quickly after the divorce, as was the case when Charles married Anceretta (Walker) Slingerland 12 Nov 1926 at Lansing.  I'm guessing that he didn't get over his previous marriage in 5 weeks.

I have a couple of photos of Charles with Anceretta.  She was referred to as Anna on one of them so perhaps she used that as a nickname.

In his WWII registration he lists the person that will "always know his address" as Harvey Hosmer (name is butchered on the card), his sister Nellie's husband.  I'm not sure why he didn't list Anceretta as they remained married until his death.  He's working for the "Oldsmobile Div. of G.M.C."  His obituary also lists that that was his employer.

Charles passed away 8 Aug 1945 at Delhi Townhip, Ingham Co MI of acute myocarditis.  He was laid to rest at Deepdale Memorial Park in Delta Township, Eaton Co MI.  Anceretta lived as his widow for 34 years before passing away in 1979 and is buried with Charles.  The daughter Ruth listed in his obituary is actually a stepdaughter.

Lansing State Journal 9 Aug 1945

My great-grandma had 2 photos of Charles in her photo albums, and they are both better photos than the ones I posted above.  She had referred to him as a "motorman" and I wasn't sure what that meant but given the one photo I'm guessing he drove a trolley for awhile.  He looks considerably younger in that photo than any of the others.  I wish we could solve the mystery of why he was so willing to give up my great-grandmother, but not her brother.  There are a lot of questions with this particular ancestor that went to the grave a long time ago and will never be answered. 

How old is this man and where did he come from? My 3rd great grandfather Clarence L. Perkins

Clarence Lendall Perkins, my 3^rd great grandfather.  Where on Earth do I start with this one?  This is a rather long entry about an ancestor, a brick wall and the clues I've found leading me to a theory that I don't have the resources to solve (yet).

Clarence Lendall Perkins 

My great grandmother Doris (Colson) Denhof was his great granddaughter, via his son Charles Perkins and wife Freda Johnson.  Why do I list Doris as a Colson?  Because when she was 3 months old her mother Freda died of pneumonia, Charles took her brother Milo and moved to Lansing Michigan, leaving Doris with George and Anna Colson.  My pursuit of Clarence was initially hampered by my lack of information on the Perkins family which was because nobody in my family ever bothered to look.  Doris lived to be 98 years old and told me that her parents were Charles and Freda and the story of the “adoption”  (nobody thinks she was ever legally adopted).  She had a photo of each of her parents in her photo albums and told me that her father had remarried to a “Gertrude”.  I dug around on www.familysearch.org and found the marriage for Charles and Freda and found another marriage for Charles and Gertrude……….now I had an approximate age for Charles and the names of his parents.   

I looked in the Newaygo County marriages and found that Clarence L Perkins, age 36 and Sarahette Lamberson, age 18 married at Ashland, Newaygo County Michigan 12/1/1872.  Note that her name was actually Sarah Etta Lambertson – this comes into play later when talking about his military pension.

The next step I took was to look for Charles and family in the census records – I figured he must have siblings and I always track them as well, as working down a sibling line can yield a living cousin with information.  I was only able to find them in the 1880 and 1900 census:

6/17/1880 Ashland, Newaygo County Michigan

Clarence Perkins, age 25, laborer, born Vermont – parents born in VT

Sarah Perkins, age 22, keeping house, born New York – parents born in NY

Delia May Perkins, age 5, born Michigan

Eva Ellen Perkins, age 3, Michigan

Charles E Perkins, age 9/12 (born the previous September), Michigan

June 8^th-9^th 1900 Moorland, Muskegon County Michigan

Clarence L Perkins, age 54, Apr/1846,  boarder, born Vermont – parents born in VT

Why is he enumerated twice?  And why didn't he know where his parents were from 2 weeks after stating they were from Vermont?

6/21/1900 Ashland, Newaygo County Michigan

Clarence Perkins, Apr/1846, age 54, married 28 years, engineer, born Vermont – parents birth unk

Sarah Perkins, Jul/1854, age 45, 9 children, 8 living, born New York – parents born in NY

Viola Perkins, Aug/1883, age 16

Willis R Perkins, Sep/1885, age 14

Nellie Perkins, Jun/1888, age 11

Guy H Perkins, Mar/1893, age 7

Ralph C Perkins, Mar/1898, age 2

Eva A Scott, Feb/1878, age 22, 2 children, 1 living

Archie Scott, Dec/1876, 23, born MI

Ella L Scott, Nov/1899, 6/12, born MI

So far I’ve located 3 records for Clarence – his marriage would indicate he was born in 1836 in Vermont yet in 1880 he’s 11 years younger than he indicated in his marriage 8 years before.  Then in 1900 he’s aged 30 years in the 20 year span.  This isn’t going well at all.

I couldn't find Clarence after 1900 but I did locate Sarah in the previous 3 censuses:

1910 Groton, Tompkins County New York
Sarah Perkins, age 52, widowed, 9 children, 7 living, born New York, parents - born in NY
Willis Perkins, age  25, single, born Michigan
Ralph Perkins, age 12, single, born Michigan

1920 Groton, Tompkins County New York
Sarah Perkins, age 64, widowed, born New York, parents - dad born PA, mom born NY
Willis R Perkins, age 36, widower, born Michigan
Ralph Perkins, age 21, born Michigan
Alice Perkins, age 21 (dau in law)

1930 Groton, Tompkins County New York
Ralph Perkins, age 32, born Michigan
Harriett Perkins, age 26
Jay Perkins, age 6, born New York
Sara Perkins, age 76, widowed, born New York, parents - born in NY

Jay Perkins, age 6 living with Sarah huh?  A quick Google search revealed a Jay Perkins still living in Groton NY (this was around 2005 – he and his wife Blanche have both passed away since).  I called the house and Blanche answered the phone.  I explained how we were related and I did indeed have the home of Sarah’s grandson Jay.  Blanche was the family historian and was excited to hear from me.  She ended up sending me a packet of photos and family information and their son emailed with me a bit.  What really broke things open for me was when she asked “you do know you have a cousin in Grant (MI) still?”  I had no knowledge of what she was talking about so I took the woman’s name and number and gave her a call.

When I spoke to Charlene she was also glad to hear from me.  Her grandmother was Eva Perkins Scott and she remembered my 2^nd great grandfather Charles Perkins and his son Milo.  She had no knowledge of my great grandmother but was more than willing to meet with me.  I made the drive up to Grant and brought my grandma with me – when they met it was almost eerie how similar they looked – the genetics weren’t lost on either!  She had some documents and pictures to share.  One photo was the one at the top of the blog (the only picture of Clarence I can find) and one was a less than flattering picture of Charles (I’ll save that for another blog).  She also gave me Clarence’s discharge certificate from when he served in the Civil War and told me that he’s buried at the Veteran’s Cemetery in Grand Rapids.  Now I’m getting somewhere – I can track his death down this way!  This is also the paper that got me writing for his war record.

I tracked down his death certificate and obtained this information:

He died at the Soldier’s Home in Grand Rapids, Kent County Michigan

He was born 4/4/1835 in Vermont and died 8/15/1907

His father was William Perkins of Ireland

His mother was Adeline Perkins of Vermont

He died of “septicemia” (from injury of knee)

He’s buried at the Soldier’s Home Cemetery

Informant was Wm. J. Emery of the Soldier’s home. 

So – why on Earth wasn’t Sarah the informant?  What about his children?  His father born in Ireland?  Really?  This matches nothing I’ve found.  The 1835 date only matches the age Clarence gave at his marriage.  Other than possible names of parents this certificate didn’t provide much.  Charlene had mentioned that Clarence was married previous to Sarah so I got to looking and found this marriage record at Newaygo, Newaygo County Michigan:

Source:   "Michigan, County Marriages, 1820-1935," index and images, FamilySearch.org

With this new information I looked for Clarence and Nancy but was unable to find them.  I did however locate Clarence in the 1870 census (living with the Robert and Almira Field family – unk connection, if any):

7/2/1870 Ashland, Newaygo County Michigan

Lendall Perkins, age 30, born Illinois, cabinet maker, $200 personal estate

Clarence Perkins, age 4, born Michigan

Mary Perkins, age 2, born Michigan

I scoured the 1860 census records and was unable to locate him (a fact that was reinforced by the Census Bureau being unable to locate him either when he filed for his Civil War pension………the pension record is another blog). 

So far I have him born anywhere between 1835 and 1855 in Vermont, New York or Illinois to a father possibly born in Ireland even though all the census records list Vermont.  At this point I’m not sure where to go with my search but my assumption is that he was born in Vermont and that his parents died when he was young.  I’ve got 2 marriages with 11 combined known children but no explanation why none of the children from his 1^st marriage that were with him in 1870 were with him in 1880 as their mother is assumed dead (later confirmed in the pension papers). 

I found Clarence in the special Veteran’s census of 1890:

6/1890 Moorland, Muskegon County Michigan

Clarence L Perkins, Private Co K MI Cav Enlisted 11/2/1863, discharged 8/18/1865 (these ended up being a touch off), having served 1 year, 9 months and 16 days.

I went to work on census records for his known children, tracked down marriage and death records for all but his son Clarence (who I believe went to live with a daughter in WI after the death of his wife in 1932).  I ordered his Civil War record through the National Archives (again, another blog but same confusion was found there).  I decided I had a pretty solid family tree for Clarence and his children and then someone sent me the death certificate for a Myrtle Shears, which listed her parents as Clarence Perkins and Nancy Kellum.  I don’t have a Myrtle anywhere but this woman was clearly born while Clarence and Nancy were married.  Her obituary lists that she’s survived by two sisters, one in Newaygo County and one in “South Frankfort” and a brother in Newaygo County.  Good grief, I have 11 known children of Clarence and Myrtle isn’t one of them.  Her obituary either completely omits all her half-siblings, someone only included some or only includes her full siblings (which if that’s true I’m still missing 1 as Clarence would be the brother and Mary would be the sister). 

I added her information to my tree and decided other than going back generations I was probably done with this tree.  Then while working on my blog I was going through papers recently and found that Charlene had given me a copy of the 1884 census for Clarence and it threw yet another wrench into things. 

6/12/1884 “Spaulding Mill Camp”, Ashland, Newaygo County Michigan

Clarence Perkins, 19, born Michigan, parents – dad born VT, mom born MI

Next door

Clarence L Perkins, 46, born Vermont , parents born VT

Sarah Etta Perkins, 30, born New York, parents NY

Dolly M, 8, born Michigan, parents  VT and NY (remainder of children show this)

Eva E, 6

Charles E, 4

Viola, 1

Cecelia H, 23

Cecelia?  She’s listed as a daughter and would have been born about the time of Clarence and Nancy’s marriage but where on earth has she been for 1870 and 1880?  Also she lists her mom born in NY but Nancy was born in MI.  I find a marriage record for her in 1877 but can’t find her in 1880, married or otherwise.  In 1900 I find her again, listed as Perkins having had 2 children, 2 still living but not living with her.   I can find no other record for her at all – no 2^nd marriage, no death – no nothing.

So all of my work into putting this tree together and a decade later I find myself unsure that I’ve even got all of Clarence’s children and with Cecelia and Clarence Jr I’m still missing the deaths of 2 of them.

In regards to Clarence’s ancestry – this is my theory (which I firmly believe is correct but can’t prove without help):

In the 1850 McHenry, McHenry County Illinois (remember the 1870 census has him born in Illinois):

C.M. Perkins, age 24, born Vermont

Marilla Perkins, age 24, born New York

Luella Perkins, age 1, born Illinois

Clarence L Perkins, age 10, born Vermont

Thomas H Perkins, age 66, born Vermont

I have found multiple family trees online that list C.M. Perkins as Charles Marsh Perkins, son of Thomas Harlow Perkins.  I believe Clarence is a nephew of Charles and that his parents (possibly named William and Adeline) are deceased by 1850.  This census lists him born abt 1840 which lines up with more records than it doesn’t.  Given the games that Clarence seems to play with his age on various records I feel this one is probably the most accurate (no reason for his uncle to lie about his age). 

I’m afraid that until I’m able to find records from Vermont prior to 1850 I’m going to be stuck where I am on this one.  Anyone have any ideas?  This is the person I believe to be his grandfather:

Vermont, Vital Records, 1720-1908 about Thomas Harlow Perkins

Name:	Thomas Harlow Perkins
Gender:	Male
Birth Date:	19 Aug 1789
Birth Place:	Woodstock, Vermont, USA
Father Name:	John Perkins
Mother Name:	Hannah Gardner