[[File:GeorgeLetter1890a.jpg|thumb|right]]
[[File:GeorgeLetter1890b.jpg|thumb|right]]

== Charlotte ==

This was, most likely, the name of the mother of [[Goodwin George]]. A young man named Goodwin lives with an adult woman named Charlotte in the 1860 and 1870 federal census records in Saint Louis, Missouri. She was born in Massachusetts in roughly 1815. Goodwin would have named his daughter [[Charlotte George]] after her.

Her married name would have been Charlotte George, but her maiden name may have been Charlotte Rogers. This would be a possible explanation for her grand-daughter [[Charlotte George]]'s first name Charlotte and her mysterious but attested middle name / claimed maiden name Rogers.

== Her Birthplace ==

Her birthplace is given as Ohio in Goodwin's 1880 census entry, but it is given as Massachusetts in her two preceding census entries, and in her own 1880 census entry. Her death report lists her birth places as Charlestown, Massachusetts.

== Census entries ==
In her 1860 and 1870 census entries she lives with her children in Saint Louis, Missouri. In her 1880 census entry she is living in Fremont County, Hamburg, Iowa, as the mother-in-law to an H. B. Blood. (According to the Saint Louis city records, Helen C. George married Henry B. Blood on June 5, 1866 at the First Congregational Church.)

== Chicago ==

The letter from [[Charlotte George]]'s grandmother (at right) to Izetta George is from a woman Charlotte George called "Mama George" when she was two years old. This may I suppose be Goodwin George's mother, this woman. She writes to Izetta describing meeting Charlotte and Goodwin at the train, and her son calling "Mama George". Is the son in question Goodwin?

If this indeed her in this letter, she must have been alive in 1890, and presumably living in Chicago.

== Her Death ==

Consider this death entry, the only record I have of a middle initial:

GEORGE, CHARLOTTE R 12/25/1896 CHICAGO 88 YR U 00006665 COOK

I have obtained a copy of this death report. The woman in question is reported to have been born in Charleston, Massachusetts. It is striking that she is reported as being buried in St. Louis, MO after having lived in Illinois for 18 years, ie since 1878. This would match well her son's departure from Missouri prior to 1880. Massachusetts is also the birth place of Goodwin's mother as reported in the 1860 and 1870 census records. However, her approximate birth-year in this death record is rather different from the approximate birth-year in those census records.

I have found online in the Saint Louis, Missouri, death records a Chicago Department of Health Transit Permit to move her body to Saint Louis. She lived at 2118 Indiana Avenue in Chicago and died of "degeneration of heart and kidneys due to old age."

She is buried at the Bellefontaine Cemetery, Saint Louis, block 322/332 lot 3828, buried December 28, 1896.

== Research Notes ==

The Bellefontaine lot was owned by Jason Crawford Somerville. It holds ten graves, several unmarked, for people with surnames Somerville, Thum, and George. Since census records show the Georges and the Thums living together, I might guess them to be related by marriage. By elimination, I might then guess that Charlotte belongs on the Somerville plot because she is herself a Somerville.

[[Category:Individual]]

Charlotte (?)

2018-08-29T00:43:12Z

Admin:

Charlotte George

2018-08-23T02:32:17Z

Admin: /* Marriage to Lee */

[[File:NeerLeeCharlotteLJ.JPG|thumb|Charlotte George with Lee Neer and daughter Leona Jane]]
[[File:MattenHenryAndCG1930B.JPG|thumb|Charlotte George and Harry Mattern in 1930]]
[[File:GeorgeCharlotte1932.JPG|thumb|Charlotte George in 1932]]
[[File:GeorgeCharlotte1938.JPG|thumb|Charlotte George in 1938]]
[[File:GeorgeCharlotteSF.JPG|thumb|Charlotte George in San Francisco]]
[[File:GCandMLevy.JPG|thumb|Charlotte George and Mike Levy]]
'''[[Charlotte George]]''', daughter of '''[[Goodwin George]]''' and '''[[S. Izetta (Isettia) Davis]]''' , was born on 20 Apr 1887 in Colorado, died on 8 Jul 1964 in Bakersfield (?) at age 77, and was buried in Colma, California.

== Her Name ==

Charlotte George: so attested in the 1900 federal census.

C. R. George: so attested in her daughter<nowiki>’</nowiki>s birth certificate, 1909.

Charlotte Rogers George: a version of her name given by Charlotte Quinlan in the mid-1980s and appearing on her 1906 marriage certificate.

Charlotte Rogers George Neer: presumptive expansion of the abbreviation of her initials engraved on family silverware (c. 1906-1914).

When helping me compile my earliest notes, Charlotte gave her grandmother<nowiki>’</nowiki>s name as "Charlotte Rogers George," but fifteen or more years later, no longer had any recollection of the Rogers name, or what it signified. Its existence receives some support from the family silverware, some pieces of which are engraved "CRGN", which I take to be for Charlotte Rogers George Neer, which would provide a fairly narrow date range for the engravings. The name receives further confirmation from Leona Jane<nowiki>’</nowiki>s birth certificate, which gives her mother<nowiki>’</nowiki>s name as "C.R. George", and from her marriage records.

== Early Years ==

Her birth: Her birth and death dates derive from a funeral pamphlet in our possession. Her daughter<nowiki>’</nowiki>s birth certificate gives her place of birth as Colorado.

1890: The letter to Izetta from Izetta<nowiki>’</nowiki>s mother-in-law indicates that Charlotte spent some time with her grandmother in Chicago in 1890. They called her Lottie. If I read this letter correctly, Charlotte<nowiki>’</nowiki>s father Goodwin brought her to Chicago while Izetta stayed behind.

1897: Charlotte's father dies when she is ten years old. He had been in California for at least a year, and Colbert was with him.

1900: Charlotte and her mother appear as lodgers in the Bulter (sic) household in Denver in the federal census of that year.

== Marriage to Lee ==

1900s: Charlotte recalls that Izetta sent Charlotte to a finishing school with connections to the Colorado School of Mines, and that she became quite good on the piano. It is while there that she met [[Lee Neer]], whom she married, at some point presumably prior to 1909, when their only child, [[Leona Jane Neer]], is born.

1909: The Bisbee Daily Review (August 24, 1909) reports that "Mrs. Lee Neer went to Courtland this morning to join her husband."

c. 1914: One of Charlotte<nowiki>’</nowiki>s pictures from Douglas, Arizona is labeled "your daughter", which presumably means she was in touch with her mother, Izetta, in this period. Izetta also comes to Arizona in this period, as shown by her picture with Jane. Charlotte and [[Leona Jane Neer]] leave Douglas, Arizona.

We have pictures in our possession, not yet scanned, of Charlotte George "on camping trip out of Tuscon 1915".

1915: A series of photographs labeled "Kelton Ariz" and dated to 1915 show Leona, Charlotte, the Levys, and various others, on and around a swing in a yard near a rail line. Respondents from the Cochise County listserv provide a picture and map of Kelton, which show it to be nothing more than a rail stop, not a mile north to south. This is presumably the "whistle stop railroad crossroads" Charlotte Quinlan remembers being mentioned.

The train in the background in the photographs is labeled "El Paso and Southwest". That line ran towards Douglas. This permits us to determine the orientation of the pictures, and from there guess our place on the map, between the Joint Station and the Agent<nowiki>’</nowiki>s Dwelling. I believe the Joint Station visible in one respondent<nowiki>’</nowiki>s picture is also visible in one of ours.

Kelton was situated in Sulphur Springs Valley, which heads north-northwest from Douglas. It was halfway to Cochise, near Gleeson. Another respondent from the Cochise listserv notes that when one of the lines stopped running, the buildings were sold and moved around Sulphur Springs. If my reading of online material from the 1933 Railway Age is correct, authorization of the abandonment of the branch line from Douglas to Cochise took place before that year.

== Marriage to Floyd Manning ==

1915: Charlotte married '''[[Floyd Manning]]''' in El Paso, Texas, on September 2, 1915. Pictures from that same year show her camping in Tucson. The [[Charlotte George's Marriage, 1915|marriage certificate]] is in our possession, and her name is given therein as Mrs. Charlotte George Neer. We have a number of Floyd Manning<nowiki>’</nowiki>s baby pictures from Marshalltown, Iowa in our possession, and two pictures of his early adulthood labeled "I.M. Stoops - Perry, Iowa."

If I have interpreted Floyd Manning's draft card correctly, he, Charlotte and Leona Jane must have gone back to Cochise County and lived there for a time, as he registers for the draft there in 1917.

1915-1920? We have a photograph in our possession labeled "Grandma and mother Seattle" which I take to refer to the period after Charlotte went to Washington, but before Izetta died. We also have a picture labeled "Janey in Tacoma" which is probably from this period as well.

c. 1920: Charlotte appears in a postcard picture with her brother [[Colbert C. George|Colbert]]. We have two copies in our possession; Lee may have a third. On one, she wrote a letter to Belle, which she requests Belle send back to her. (She presumably did so, or it was never sent.) Charlotte<nowiki>’</nowiki>s statement in the letter that Colbert is "almost forty" dates the picture and the letter to circa 1920. She says that it was taken in Columbus. Columbus, New Mexico was, I think, a site for the First Aero Squadron.

1920: Charlotte appears in the 1920 census as Charlotte Manning in Washington State, Pierce, Fairfax, ED #198. This entry confirms her birth place, indicates that she did not know her father<nowiki>’</nowiki>s birth state ("United States"), and confirms her mother<nowiki>’</nowiki>s birth state. Floyd was a master mechanic in a coal mine. "Jane L" is listed as the daughter, her own birth state Arizona, her father<nowiki>’</nowiki>s Iowa, her mother<nowiki>’</nowiki>s Colorado.

== Life in San Francisco ==

At some point in the 1920s Charlotte George moves to San Francisco, where [[Michael Levy]] and his wife Mildred were already living.

Pictures - including the earliest ones dating to 1930 (see above at right) - show Charlotte George with Harry Mattern, but I have been unable to determine their location. Some appear to be in San Francisco, and others are labeled as camping trips.

Charlotte next married [[Michael Levy]] in or after 1934. [[Charlotte Ann Quinlan]] reports that Charlotte had to travel to Nevada to get a divorce from Floyd Manning in order to marry Michael.

Her death: Charlotte died July 8, 1964, in Bakersfield. She was buried in Colma, California. Her birth and death dates were established via the [[funeral pamphlet]] in our possession. Her California Death Index record lists Kern County as her place of death, and her mother<nowiki>’</nowiki>s maiden name as Rogers.

Research Notes: Birth Certificate: The state of Colorado does not keep birth certificates before 1910, although may have them for "some" counties. Arapahoe County birth records go back to 1876.

Death Certificate: I am unable to find any official record of her death online.

[[Category:Individual]]
[[Category:George]]
[[Category:Ancestor]]

Goodwin George

2018-07-31T18:50:01Z

Admin: /* Missouri */

[[File:George.JPG|thumb|The only picture we have of Goodwin George.]]
[[File:IzettaDavisMarriage.jpg|thumb|His marriage record.]]
[[File:ForestPreserve.JPG|thumb|His female relatives?]]

'''Goodwin George''', son of '''[[Unknown Male (Charles?) George|an unknown man perhaps named Charles]]''' and '''[[Charlotte (?)|a woman probably named Charlotte]]'''.

== His name ==

S. Goodwin: attested as such in the 1860 federal census. He is not explicitly listed as surnamed "George" in this entry.

Goodwin George: attested as such in the 1870 and 1880 federal census.

S. Goodwin George: attested as such in his 1877 marriage record.

== His birthplace ==

The earliest, but uncertain, evidence is the 1860 and 1870 census entries for someone appearing to be our Goodwin George, which record a '''Kentucky''' birthplace. The 1880 census gives his birthplace as '''Missouri'''. But his daughter Charlotte George's 1900 census entry again gives her father's birthplace as Kentucky. (However, other information in that entry is erroneous.) His 1896 voter registration record gives his birthplace as '''Kentucky'''. Goodwin's 1897 cemetery records his birthplace as Hamburg, '''Iowa'''. His son Colbert George's 1930 census entry lists a '''Colorado''' birthplace.

== His birth year ==

The 1860 census gives his approximate birth year as 1843.

The 1870 census gives his approximate birth year as 1845.

The 1880 census gives his approximate birth year as 1850.

His 1896 voter registration gives his approximate birth year as 1839.

== Missouri ==

1860: No Goodwin George appears in the 1860 census. Instead, we see an entry for an "S. Goodwin." He is the last person recorded in an entry beginning with 45-year-old Charlotte George of Massachusetts. This entry shows them living in Ward 5, St. Louis, Missouri. Goodwin's occupation is clerk, his age 17, his birthplace Kentucky. They are living with a family surnamed Thum, whose members appear after Charlotte, and two other people ages 17 and 16 who are also surnamed George. These may be siblings of Goodwin George, Hellen C. and Charles H. respectively. The wide range of reported approximate birth years for Goodwin may be explained in part by the proximity of his age to those of his siblings. Some misreporting may be taking place.

1870: A Goodwin George appears in the 1870 federal census, Missouri, St. Louis County, Township 3 W. St. Louis Subd. 7, page 251. Goodwin in this entry lives with a 55 year old woman named Charlotte George, who is keeping house. She was born in Massachusetts in roughly 1815. The two live together with a family surnamed Thumb. I am unable to read the occupation given for Goodwin. It seems to read "clerk in store."

1877: His marriage record to Izetta Davis gives the date of the marriage as July 25, 1877, recorded on March 27, 1878. The record was made by Duncan Brown, Minister of the Gospel, Holt County, Mound City, Missouri. His name in this document is given as "S. Goodwin George." The only men of the right age with surname George in the 1870 census in Missouri with first names beginning with S are named Samuel or Spencer.

== Iowa ==

1880: Goodwin must have moved from Missouri to Iowa before 1880, since Colbert is born in Iowa in circa 1880. (Izetta<nowiki>’</nowiki>s family had made the same move, but presumably something like 4 to 14 years before.) Goodwin George, Izetta, and "infant" (Colbert) appear in the 1880 census: Iowa, Fremont, Other Townships, District 68. He is listed as 30, she 18, the child 1/12. Goodwin is listed therein as a grain dealer. Izetta<nowiki>’</nowiki>s family appears immediately above them in the census record.

Goodwin's mother and the rest of his family are in Iowa as well, Fremont County, Hamburg: Charlotte George, age 72, appears as the mother-in-law of H. B. Blood, who has married her daughter Helen.

== Colorado ==

1880s: He does not appear to be in the Colorado 1885 census, but the family is there in 1887, as Charlotte is born there in that year.

According to the family story, Izetta<nowiki>’</nowiki>s husband was a "military man" and not around all that often. Does this mean that he joined the military after ending a career as a grain dealer at the age of 30? Is this why they left Missouri or Iowa for Colorado? Specifically, Charlotte recalls Leona Jane asking Charlotte George about whether she had known her father well, and Charlotte replied, "No, he was in the military." I have found no evidence for this.

1890: Did Goodwin bring his daughter Charlotte back to Chicago in 1890 from Colorado, to visit his "Mama George"? This is how I read the letter (page 1 & page 2) from Charlotte<nowiki>’</nowiki>s grandmother to Izetta. We cannot be sure he was actually in Colorado at the time. He is not listed in the 1890 Denver City Directory.

We have an unlabeled picture (see right) of two unknown women standing in front of a sign that says "Forest Preserve of <nowiki>[</nowiki>.....<nowiki>]</nowiki> County". On a pure guess, is this two of Goodwin George<nowiki>’</nowiki>s relatives (therefore unrecognized by later family members) in, for example, Cook County, Illinois?

== California ==

1896: The California Voter Registration rolls for El Dorado County, South Placerville Precinct, name a Goodwin George, Miner, Age 57, height 5'9", born in Kentucky and living in Placerville, registering on August 10, 1896.

== His family ==

Goodwin married '''[[S. Izetta (Isettia) Davis]]'''.

Children from this marriage were '''[[Colbert C. George]]''' (born circa 1880 in Iowa) and '''[[Charlotte George]]''', whom we may suppose is named for Goodwin's mother.

== His death ==

He does not appear with Izetta and Charlotte in their 1900 census entry, where they are lodgers with another family in Denver. Nor does he appear with Izetta when she is in Massachusetts in the 1910 census entry. In both entries, Izetta is listed as widowed. This presumably means he died at some point between 1890 and 1900.

The California Mortuary and Cemetery Records on ancestry.com produced this listing:

George, Goodwin (?)
Born Hamburg, Iowa. Died Placerville, July 14,
1897, aged 54 years.
Buried in I.O.R.M. Lot, Union Cemetery, Placer-
ville, California.
Information secured by Mrs. King Becker, 1933.

I take this entry to imply that Goodwin was a member of the [http://www.redmen.org/ Improved Order of Red Men]. This cemetery entry led me to the Union Cemetery, Placerville records, which contain the following entry:

Goodwin George
Birth: unknown
Hamburg
Fremont County
Iowa, USA
Death: Jul., 1897
Placerville
El Dorado County
California, USA
The Mountain Democrat
July 17, 1897
Obituary
Goodwin George who died at his hotel in this city last Tuesday was a mining expert and had been in the county
about a year. He had been quite successful and was well and favorably known to operators in the mines. He
leaves a son who was with him when he died and a daughter now in Georgetown but a resident of Denver, in
Colorado, the former home of her father. He was originally from Hamburg, Iowa, and was 52 years of age. His
funeral last Wednesday was conducted by Rev. B.D. Sinclair of the Episcopal Church. He was interred in Union
Cemetery.

== Future Searches ==

I have searched everyone with the the surname "George" in the 1850 census who is in Missouri and born in Kentucky in 1840 +/- five years, with no results. Likewise for those in Kentucky in 1850 and born in Kentucky in the same range, with no apparent results.

[[Category:Individual]]
[[Category:George]]
[[Category:Brick Walls]]

Lee Neer

2018-07-28T20:54:19Z

Admin: /* Life in Arizona and Sonora */

[[File:NeerLee.JPG|thumb|Lee Neer, undated]]
[[File:NeerLeeCharlotteLJ.JPG|thumb|Lee with his wife Charlotte and daughter Leona Jane]]
[[File:NeerLeePassport.JPG|thumb|Lee's passport photo]]
[[File:leeneerdiaryexcerpt.jpg|thumb|Lee's diary]]
[[File:leeneerfuneral.jpg|thumb|Lee's funeral]]

'''[[Lee Neer]]''', son of '''[[Oliver Lee Neer]]''' and '''[[Ida Jane Johnson]]''', was born on 21 Jul 1885 in Garrison, Montana and died on 24 Jul 1951 in Fresno at age 66.

== General Notes ==

Lee Neer: So attested in all primary source documents but the following.

O.L. Neer, Jr.: So attested in the birth certificate of his daughter Leona Jane.

Oliver Lee Neer, Jr.: So attested on his marriage license in 1906.

His birth: Evidence on his birth year and place is somewhat confused. His daughter [[Mary Margaret (Peggy) Neer|Peggy<nowiki>’</nowiki>s]] notes give the year as 1886, the place as Garrison, Montana. (In 2004 she tells me she guessed at this.) My original notes had indicated Ohio. The information as it currently stands comes from his fraternity initiation card. The birth certificates of both of his daughters give only "Montana" as his birth place. His daughter Leona Jane<nowiki>’</nowiki>s 1920 census record indicates that her father was born in Iowa, but this is likely nothing more than confusion for Floyd Manning, listed in that entry as her father, and born in Iowa.

== His Parents' Families ==

His father<nowiki>’</nowiki>s family: His daughter [[Mary Margaret (Peggy) Neer|Peggy]] remembers him talking about "Uncle Nah", whom I take to be his father<nowiki>’</nowiki>s half-brother Uriah. Lee would have been ten when Uriah died. I asked Peggy if Lee knew his grandfather [[Eden_(Edon,_Eaton)_Neer|Eden]], who died when Lee was roughly five years old, and she said, "He never mentioned him."

His mother<nowiki>’</nowiki>s family: He seems to have retained some contact with his mother<nowiki>’</nowiki>s family. Peggy recalls that Lee did not like his aunt [[Amelia_Johnson|Amelia Niehardt (b. Johnson)]] and thought she was a mean old lady. Amelia was his mother [[Ida Jane Johnson]]<nowiki>’</nowiki>s half-sister. His diary records (see right) on September 24, 1925 a visit from Kimmins Johnson and his wife, who he has not since since he was in Angola. Peggy<nowiki>’</nowiki>s marginal note on our copy of this entry records memories of him talking about Angola, and her suspicion that he went to school there.

I take Kim Johnson to be [[Delbert Kimmins Johnson]], Lee Neer<nowiki>’</nowiki>s cousin, both of them grandsons of [[Luther Hunt Johnson]]. (Delbert Kimmins Johnson was the son of [[Delbert Johnson]], Amelia's brother.) By Angola, presumably Angola, Ohio, is meant. Yet, if his birthplace is correct, this means the family returned to Ohio from Montana before heading onwards. I assume that Angola, Ohio, is meant, because it is perhaps thirty miles from Lima, Ohio, where his grand-father Eden owned land.

== His Education ==

In 2004 Peggy said he attended Angola Normal School, and that she wrote and found out it was a mining school. Searches for this school suggest that Angola, Indiana is meant. This is very close to the Ohio state border.

1890s/1900s: He attended Denver Normal High School.

1900s: Lee was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity at the Colorado School of Mines, where he was enrolled in the 1910 class of Mining Engineering. Charlotte remembers a family story that he had the fraternity<nowiki>’</nowiki>s letters branded on his stomach. Peggy confirms seeing this, and says that they were blindfolded during this process.

Sigma Nu national confirms that he was a member of the School of Mines Gamma Eta chapter, badge number 50, initiated on September 14, 1906. On his initiation card, it indicates that badge number 49 went to his brother Paul. This sequence might support Peggy<nowiki>’</nowiki>s assertion that Lee knew that the branding was coming, because his brother had gone first.

== Life in Arizona and Sonora ==

The 1906 Denver Colorado city directory records Claude and Lee as miners living with Ida Jane at 3037 California Street. At some point in or after 1906, but by 1909, Lee moves to Arizona.

''Globe, Arizona''

According to his daughter Peggy, Lee worked at the Old Dominion Mine in Globe, Arizona. This was a copper shaft located about 8 miles from Globe, in Gila County. (Globe itself was founded as a mining community in 1876, and copper and turquoise are still mined there.) I do not know whether he worked at Old Dominion only while married to Mary Margaret in the 1910s, or also earlier, while married to Charlotte in the 1900s.

1906: Lee Neer marries [[Charlotte George]]. They met in Colorado. They were married in San Francisco on 21 July 1906, the license recorded as Number H, 979, on 24 July, 1906. We have a copy of this license. It is likely that they were in San Francisco because Charlotte's mother Izetta was there at the time, in the period after the 1906 earthquake. The date was his birthday.

1909: [[Leona Jane Neer]] born to Charlotte and Lee Neer in Douglas, Arizona. Cochise County Department of Public Health records report that the birth was by physician.

1912: The Tombstone Epitaph reports (March 31, 1912, Sunday Edition) that "Lee Neer, a former resident of Courtland, arrived in camp last week coming from old Mexico, and saying that he had to get out of that country on account of the disturbances there."

1913: The Bisbee Daily Review reports (August 31, 1913) that Lee Neer was ordered to be paid $5.00 by Cochise County for interpreting.

1914: Lee and Charlotte Neer divorce. (Peggy threw the original records away, but we obtained copies of documents from case 1120 in the Superior Court of Cochise County, Arizona, 21 August 1915.) Charlotte made the petition for divorce on the grounds that Lee "for more than one year last past failed and neglected to provide the plaintiff with the common necessaries of life." The Bisbee Daily Review (August 22, 1915) reports that "Charlotte R. Neer was granted a decree of divorce from Lee Neer on the grounds of desertion and non-support."

The divorce settlement was initially described to me to be that Lee and Charlotte would have joint custody of Leona Jane with Leona Jane spending six months of the year with one parent and six months of the year with the other until she reaches high school. In fact, the divorce records say that Leona is to spend three months in the summer with her father, and the rest with her mother. This settlement seems to have resulted in legal disputes in 1916 and 1918. Considerable records of these disputes are included with the divorce documents: these records include summons to Lee Neer; a letter from Leona Jane Neer to her mother Charlotte; and a description of Lee's failure to bring Leona to Izetta George for transfer to Charlotte.

1916: The city directory of Globe Arizona records Lee Neer as a miner living at the Webster House.

1917/1918: Lee's draft registration card records him in Globe as a miner working for the Iron Cap Copper Company and living at 328 South House (?) Street. He lists his mother in Chicago as his nearest living relative. The Iron Cap Copper Company controlled the Old Dominion mine, where Lee worked.

1919: Lee and [[Margaret Buchanan Reid]] were married on 11 October 1919 in Globe, Arizona. They appear in the Globe city directory of that year as an engineer and clerk living at 432 South High Street.

Regarding the Iron Cap Copper Company, volumes 342-343 of the ''Geological Survey Professional Paper'', page 106, records "From 1919 to 1925, operations were handicapped and profits greatly reduced, owing to litigation."

''Sonora, Mexico''

1921: Lee's wife Margaret applies for a passport in April "to be with husband" in Mexico. The application lists her home address as 651 South, East St., Globe, Arizona. The application is made at the American Consular Agency in Agua Prieta, Mexico, W. H. Earp of Douglas, Arizona, witnessing. (Agua Prieta is immediately across the U.S./Mexico border from Douglas.)

1925: Peggy was born in 1925. She thinks her mother may have had a prior miscarriage, but is not sure. When she was born, the Neers were still going to Mexico, as Peggy says that her mother had been to camp there. Her birth certificate gives his occupation as "Mining Engineer."

1925: The December 20, 1925 issue of the Douglas Daily Dispatch gives his address on page four as 1119 Eleventh Street, the same address as his brother [[Claude (Claud) Neer|Claude]]. This is the same address given in Peggy<nowiki>’</nowiki>s birth certificate for Lee Neer and his wife four days prior. Note however that we have records indicating that Claude himself was already dead by this date.

Much of the activity in Lee's 1925 diary is in Nacozari, Mexico, which is about 77 miles south of Douglas and connects with Agua Prieta by rail. That diary's front inscription reads "Mr Lee Neer Cumpas Sonora Mexico." Cumpas is the municipal seat of Sonora, a few miles south of Nacozari. September entries describe camp; Pilares; another camp from five years before; Canae; Baruacha; and Cananea.

== Life in California as a Miner ==

c. 1927: In about 1927, Oliver, Ida, Lee, Margaret, and Peggy moved to Awahnee to work the Enterprise Mine. As Peggy put it, "they went broke with that mine and were always broke after that." (Peggy later attributed that quote to Lee himself, in the first-person plural.) Peggy also says that Lee used to work the Josephine Mine, which is in Mariposa County, and that the Mariposa mining museum still buys specimens from them. Lee stayed in Ahwahnee, near Yosemite, where Charlotte says he worked. Peggy remembers him saying that he could not get a job in this period because he was a registered Republican. Peggy<nowiki>’</nowiki>s uncle Dave had land, Lee and Margaret getting part of it, a 20-acre plot where the house was.

1928: The November 6 voter index for Potter Ridge Precinct, Madera County, California, lists Lee Neer (miner) and Mrs. Margaret R. Neer (housewife) as Republicans living in Raymond.

1930: Listed in the federal census as a gold miner in Madera, Township 4, District 11, with wife Margaret and daughter Margaret.

1932: The November voter index for Potter Ridge Precinct now reports Lee and Margaret as Republicans living in Ahwahnee. Likewise for the 1936 index.

1932: Lee Neer and family went to Long Beach shortly after the Long Beach earthquake. They lived with the Reid family. They had heard that there were jobs available there. Peggy doesn<nowiki>’</nowiki>t know what Lee Neer did for work while in Long Beach.

1934: Peggy wrote a letter to Leona Jane from Bear Valley on April 18, saying that "We went to the wild flower show at Ahwahnee Sunday and I got prize for my wild flowers. They had a dance at the school house here and had a lot of drunks."

1934: Peggy wrote a letter to Leona Jane from Long Beach on June 14. Was Lee with her? Maybe he was visiting his father Oliver. Peggy wrote that "Daddy went to Bansburg to look for a job. The other mine closed down."

== Life in California After Mining ==

1935 (?): Lee, Margaret, and Peggy Neer move back up to Awahnee at approximately this time. Lee Neer had difficulty finding work and said it was because he was the only Republican in the area. In this period, Lee starts working at the Yosemite Mountain Ranch, a vacation lodge, as caretaker. His wife Margaret becomes a cook at the lodge.

Charlotte remembers him building a boat at his house and putting it on nearby Bass Lake. He and Margaret would run the Ranch during the summer, and live up there while keeping the place in Ahwahnee. They would open it up in late May depending on the snow. She did the cooking on an old wood stove. Peggy remembers that Lee learned to ski, figuring he<nowiki>’</nowiki>d have no problem as he had skated as a kid, and used to ski down from the Ranch. Once, in a rush when a cow was calving, he took a turn too fast and had a long fall.

When asked if Lee drank, Peggy said that he did not often, but sometimes had a "coffee royale" in the morning. A friend of his once introduced him to cognac, which he enjoyed, and when someone finally delivered him a bottle and called it COG-nack, he pronounced it that way in amusement from that point on. Peggy: "He used to say he would hold it until his plates start to smoke," by which he meant his false teeth, which she says he<nowiki>’</nowiki>d had since the age of 21. He rolled his own cigarettes, but never licked them when he was done rolling them. He smoked a pipe as well, which Peggy eventually threw out, a Mearsham.

When discussing the issue of Catholicism with Peggy and Charlotte Quinlan, Peggy relates that Lee Neer used to say that he had a Methodist minister as an ancestor or other male relative. Charlotte added that she thought Lee may have had some anti-Catholic feeling. When I asked if he was a Methodist himself, Peggy nodded after Charlotte<nowiki>’</nowiki>s assertion that he may have been more of an atheist.

His house in Ahwahnee burned when the Harlow Fire came through in the early 1960s.

Peggy has in her possession State of California Department of Agriculture branding records from the late 1930s and early 1940s, one of which is addressed to Lee Neer. Peggy says he kept 2 or 3 cattle. His brand was <nowiki>’</nowiki>49<nowiki>’</nowiki> which she says was "his lucky number." I suggested that this was his fraternity initiation number, and that Paul and Lee got swapped in the fraternity records. Peggy said that he won his first cow with the number 49 from a rancher who had a lot and was giving one away in a contest. His five-year diary with entries dating from 1941 to 1944 includes in the back his own cattle breeding notes from 1940 to 1947.

1940s? In March 2016, Peggy's daughter Kathy reported Peggy saying that after Lee's wife died, Mrs. Cease asked Lee Neer to visit the sanitarium to tell stories, perhaps to keep his mind off of the death.

1951: A funeral notice in our possession dates to July 27, 1951, Lisle Chapel, Fresno, California. Peggy has the death certificate dated to July 24: she was the informant, as her mother had died in 1944, after an operation for a varicose vein. (Peggy has the legal bills incurred in the process.) His occupation was listed as a laborer. He died in the Fresno Community Hospital of a ruptured aneurysm, for which he had had an operation on July 23.

In 2006, Peggy described the event as she understood it. Lee was walking, perhaps from Ahwahnee to Yosemite Mountain Ranch, when his aorta ruptured. He tried to walk to Fish Camp. Cars drove past him. One couple picked him up and took him to Fish Camp. He wanted to stay there, but the doctors insisted that he go to the hospital. Leona Jane came. They operated on Lee in Fresno. He asked her (Leona?) to cover his feet because they were cold, but his feet were already covered, and he could not feel them. He did not live long.

== Family and Heirlooms ==

Lee married '''[[Charlotte George]]'''. The marriage ended in divorce.

The child from this marriage was:

'''[[Leona Jane Neer]]'''.

Lee next married '''[[Margaret Buchanan Reid]]''' on 11 Oct 1919 in Globe, AZ.

The child from this marriage was:

'''[[Mary Margaret (Peggy) Neer]]''' was born on 16 Dec 1925 in Douglas, AZ.

Items surviving from Lee's life include his five volumes of diaries; his photographs; and a Spencer Gun Co. shotgun which, according to family tradition, was given to him after the person it was purchased to kill was first killed by someone else, and it was no longer needed.

[[Category:Individual]]
[[Category:Neer]]
[[Category:Ancestors]]

Ida Jane Johnson

2018-07-28T14:58:56Z

Admin:

[[File:JohnsonIdaUnsure.JPG|150px|right|Is this photo Ida Jane Johnson? ]]
'''[[Ida Jane Johnson]]''', daughter of '''[[Luther Hunt Johnson]]''' and '''[[Mary Jane Bowlby]]''', was born in 1859 in Ohio and died on 17 Dec 1928 at age 69.

General Notes: Ida Jane Johnson.

Ida A Johnson: Attested so in the 1870 federal census, presumably a misheard response.

Ida Jane Neer: Attested so in her death notice.

Ida Near: Attested so in the 1880 federal census.

Her birth, 1859: I do not have textual evidence for Ida<nowiki>’</nowiki>s birth-date, but Peggy asserts that she and Oliver Lee were married on her birthday, 16 March, 1878. Her birth place, Ohio, is attested in the 1880 federal census entry.

1865 or 1866: Ida<nowiki>’</nowiki>s mother Mary Jane dies.

1870: Ida Jane is not to be found in the federal census entry for Emanuel Bowlby, but instead is in the custody of Noah and Amelia Neidhart, ages 28 and 20 respectively. This means that when Mary Jane died, Ida (then aged 6 or 7) ultimately joined the family of her half-sister. Peggy reports remembering that Ida thought Amelia was mean.

1878: Ida married '''[[Oliver Lee Neer]]''' on 16 Mar 1878.
A hard-copy of the marriage certificate is in our possession.

1880: She appears in the federal census with Oliver Lee Near (sic) in Laramie, Wyoming, listed as keeping house. The place of birth of her father is given as Pennsylvania. The place of birth of her mother is not given.

Charlotte reports a number of stories her mother Leona Jane told about Ida, with whom she lived for periods during high school. Ida could reportedly go into the local department store, presumably in Douglas AZ, look at the most expensive dress, go home, and replicate it. Ida made the dress Leona Jane is wearing in her posed high school graduation picture. She always spoke of Ida with affection, and Charlotte states it was Ida who put the articles about Leona (and presumably Agnes Neer) in the local newspaper.

Peggy remembers Lee saying that Ida belonged to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman's_Christian_Temperance_Union Woman's Christian Temperance Union]. She remembers seeing an article from the Douglas Dispatch describing how Ida went to a meeting in Tucson.

In her son Lee's draft card (1917/1918) Ida is listed as living in Chicago. Paul's passport application (1919) gives her address there as 4259 Grand Boulevard.

Her death: Evidence of her death comes from the California Death Index, state file number 62969. Peggy<nowiki>’</nowiki>s letter describing that entry says the place code is Los Angeles. I do not find this online at ancestry.com, where searches for Ida Neer turn up nothing. Peggy has a xerox of the December 19, 1928 Los Angeles Times with the following entry: "NEER. December 12. Ida Jane Neer, beloved wife of Oliver L. Neer, and loving mother of Lee Neer. Remains at Pierce Brothers." This date conflicts with what I have recorded, but it is likely to be right.

Her burial: Ida is buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Douglas, Arizona, where she lay without a headstone until one was purchased for her by [[Charlotte Ann Quinlan]] and [[Giulio Laurenzo Ruffini]] in 2013. Her family must have returned her to Arizona from Los Angeles when she died. Peggy says that "the one who ruptured his appendix in LA" is buried next to her. Peggy reports that there were five plots, but only two were used. Oliver must have bought five plots and not used them all. Peggy thinks that Ida was shipped to Arizona to be buried because Oliver had already paid for the plot. But, by the time he died there was no money to get him back there.

[[Category:Johnson]]
[[Category:Individual]]
[[Category:Ancestors]]

Admin:

'''[[Salvatore Carraca]]''' died before 1897. He was a contadino, listed as dead at the time of his daughter's death in 1897. I do not find him in the 1866-1905 death indices. A death before 1866 is plausible here.

Salvatore married '''[[Luigia Seu]]'''. The child from this marriage was '''[[Rosalia Carraca]]'''.

[[Category:Individual]]
[[Category:Brick Walls]]
[[Category:Carraca]]
[[Category:Ancestors]]

Charlotte (?)

2018-04-07T18:42:46Z

Admin:

2017-12-29T17:50:56Z

Admin:

William Davis

2017-12-29T17:49:28Z

Admin:

William Davis is potentially the father of [[James Davis]]. Mary Palmquist, a member of ancestry.com, writes the following via email on April 27, 2015:

My husband corresponded with Charles C. Davis Jr. in 1985. Charles was the son of Charles C. Davis who was the
son of Henry Clay Davis. Charles wrote the following in his letter to my husband "My notes indicate that William
Davis was the father of James Davis who was born in 1805 and married Euphemia Wilson. William Davis (Welch) was a
friend of Thomas Jefferson who Jefferson persuaded him (Davis) to move a foundry firm from Philadelphia to
Washington, D.C. This foundry firm (owned by William Davis) built the first iron railing around the White House and
other buildings. He later built the first bridge (iron) across the Potomac River. When almost finished a flash flood
wiped out the bridge and William Davis (financially). He died shortly thereafter." I have been searching for a
William Davis making a guess as to a possible birthdate but so far have been unsuccessful.

[[Category:Davis]]
[[Category:Individual]]
[[Category:Brick Walls]]

William Davis

2017-12-29T17:48:47Z

Admin:

William Davis is potentially the father of [[James Davis]]. Mary Palmquist, a member of ancestry.com, writes the following via email on April 27, 2015:

My husband corresponded with Charles C. Davis Jr. in 1985. Charles was the son of Charles C. Davis who was the
son of Henry Clay Davis. Charles wrote the following in his letter to my husband "My notes indicate that William
Davis was the father of James Davis who was born in 1805 and married Euphemia Wilson. William Davis (Welch) was a
friend of Thomas Jefferson "who Jefferson persuaded him (Davis) to move a foundry firm from Philadelphia to
Washington, D.C. This foundry firm (owned by William Davis) built the first iron railing around the White House and
other buildings. He later built the first bridge (iron) across the Potomac River. When almost finished a flash flood
wiped out the bridge and William Davis (financially). He died shortly thereafter." I have been searching for a
William Davis making a guess as to a possible birthdate but so far have been unsuccessful.

[[Category:Davis]]
[[Category:Individual]]
[[Category:Brick Walls]]

Joseph T. Davis

2017-12-29T17:47:37Z

Admin: /* His Family in Missouri */

'''[[Joseph T. Davis]]''', son of '''[[James Davis]]''' and '''[[Unknown Female Davis]]''', was born on 4 Aug 1834 in District of Columbia and died on 29 Aug 1906 in Denver, Colorado at age 72.

== General Notes ==

J. T. Davis: So attested in the 1860 census entry.

Joseph T. Davis: So attested in the 1870 census entry.

== His Birth-Place ==

According to information his son provided for his death certificate, Joseph T. Davis was born in the District of Columbia on the date given. Some previous census entries (e.g. 1860) affirm the birth place, while others give his birth place as Maryland. Still later evidence, Izetta George<nowiki>’</nowiki>s 1910 census record, lists her father<nowiki>’</nowiki>s birth place as Missouri.

== With His Father's Family ==

Before 1850: Joseph moves to Missouri with his father's family prior to 1850, judging from census entries described below.

1850: Joseph appears as "Jos. Davis", a 15 year old born in Maryland, in the 1850 federal census, living in Howard, Missouri, with James Davis (45), E. Davis (34), et al. E. Davis is presumably Eufemia, not Joseph's mother but his father's second wife.

== His Family in Missouri ==

1860: J.T. and Caroline appear together in the 1860 federal census in Missouri; Atchison Co.; Buchanan. His age is perhaps given as 25, although the reading is doubtful, and his occupation "Merchant" with a personal estate valued at $1500. His birthplace there appears to be listed as "D.C." although this reading is also doubtful. (It appears elsewhere on the page.)

1862-1866: Since J.T. Davis and Caroline had Izetta in Missouri in 1862, he must have moved to Iowa between 1862 and 1866, when Rowena is born there. Perhaps the family went to Iowa to be near Caroline<nowiki>’</nowiki>s family, as she was born there.

== His Family in Iowa ==

1870: The 1870 federal census for Iowa; Fremont; Hamburg lists a Joseph T. Davis in "Dry Goods Sales" by profession, having real estate worth 29,000 and personal estate worth 5,000. His birth-place is given as Maryland, and his age 36. (This entry shows him with "Celia" <nowiki>[</nowiki>sic<nowiki>]</nowiki>, Isetta, Rowena, Alma, and James <nowiki>[</nowiki>?<nowiki>]</nowiki>, the latter not otherwise known.)

1880: I first discovered him and Caroline through the 1880 Hamburg, Fremont, Iowa federal census, where he is listed as J.T., appearing with his family immediately above Goodwin and Izetta George. Since J.T. has Izetta<nowiki>’</nowiki>s maiden name, and he and his wife have the same birth-places as those listed for Izetta<nowiki>’</nowiki>s parents (Missouri and Iowa respectively), I assume this family to be Izetta<nowiki>’</nowiki>s.

However, this birthplace for Izetta<nowiki>’</nowiki>s father (Missouri) contradicts earlier census records, which give Washington, D.C. and Maryland respectively. Unfortunately, no place of birth is given for either of his parents.

I do not find Joseph or J.T. Davis in the 1885 Iowa census. Nor does he appear in the 1895 census. (The 1890 federal is fragmentary.) Since Joseph T.'s wife Caroline dies in Iowa in 1886, I suppose that he moves to Colorado at some point after, with his son Joseph T., presumably to be near Izetta.

== His Family in Colorado ==

1900: Joseph T. and his son Joseph E. appear in the 1900 federal census living alone together in Denver. His occupation is given as a <nowiki>’</nowiki>peddler<nowiki>’</nowiki>. His birthplace and that of his parents are both explicitly indicated as <nowiki>’</nowiki>D of Columbia<nowiki>’</nowiki>. 1835 is given as his year of birth. His exact death date and particulars come from a Denver, Colorado, death certificate, in which his son, Joseph E., gives Joseph T.<nowiki>’</nowiki>s occupation as a <nowiki>’</nowiki>chemist<nowiki>’</nowiki>. He died of <nowiki>’</nowiki>senility<nowiki>’</nowiki> with <nowiki>’</nowiki>cystitis<nowiki>’</nowiki> as a contributory cause. He had been living with his son at 325 NiHassan (sp.?) Avenue. He died at St. Anthony<nowiki>’</nowiki>s Hospital. Joseph T. was buried at River Side on August 31, 1906.

== Research Notes ==

Birth Certificate: Washington DC<nowiki>’</nowiki>s Department of Health reports birth certificates on record only since 1874.

Death Certificate: An attempt to order his death certificate from the State of CO, 12/12/04, resulted in a response stating I need to "submit documentation to establish my legal interest in obtaining" the document. I resubmitted the application and received a copy on 6/10/05.

== Family ==

Joseph married '''[[Caroline (or Celia) Kimer Davis]]'''.

Children from this marriage were:

'''[[S. Izetta (Isettia) Davis]]'''

'''[[Rowena Davis]]''' was born circa 1866 in Iowa.

'''[[Alma? Anna? Davis]]''' was born circa 1868 in Iowa.

'''[[Amelia Davis]]''' was born circa 1874 in Iowa.

'''[[Matty? Hatty? Davis]]''' was born in 1876 in Iowa.

'''[[Joseph E. Davis]]''' was born circa 1878 in Iowa.

'''[[James Davis]]''' was born circa 1870.

[[Category:Individual]]
[[Category:Davis]]