QUESTIONS OR PUZZLES IN OUR FAMILIES

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  1. Edmund Mathew Landis (born in Baltimore in 1850) married Alma Moore, producing 2 children who survived to adulthood : Edmund R. Landis and Ida Mary Landis. Alma's obituary mentions only her son Edmund R., and not Ida nor any grandchildren. Ida's obituary reveals 3 sons : Clyde S. Jr., Landis, and Calvin Edmund. Apparently only Clyde Jr. left children : Craig, Herbert (according to Gordon Blair in 2002), Clyde S. 3rd, and Ethel. Clyde Samuel Blair 3rd (a retired CPA) listed as living in Manchester, MO, near St. Louis, at the same address as the widow (Henriette) of his brother Craig. Craig's daughter Karen (Thompson) may be able to help describe this family?
  2. A scrapbook maintained by John William Landis contains a glowing obituary of a Sarah Landis Maher, with picture. This writer (Tom McFarland in 2002) believes that the obituary is included only for Sarah's name "Landis". However, it is not known how Sarah might be related to other contemporary members of the Landis family, such as Edmund M. Landis (above)
  3. Some pictures in the old Cox Album remain unidentified, for example this woman. A similar album created by Hannah Potter Landis has even more unidentified pictures. Probably most of these people are from Hannah's eastern connections. Who are they? Thus, when Hannah's son John went on his honeymoon, he visited the east ; and near the birth of his 2nd child (William), John visited Baltimore, Boston, and Providence, keeping a short diary mentioning 2 cousins.
  4. Hannah Robinson, wife of Edmund Landis Sr., was born on 20 Jun 1820 in Kingston, Rhode Island, but she left only a book of poems and a largely unlabeled photo album as clues to her birth family. Some of the poems are signed by children of Colonel Christy Potter (brother of Hannah's mother Mary Seager Potter). This and other clues strongly testify that Hannah was indeed the daughter of Matthew Robinson, as a Vermont historian had suggested in May 2003. Some details of Matthew's family are available through a book by Hazard named Recollections of Olden Times : Rowland Robinson and his Unfortunate Daughter , but there appear to be a few errors in this book, whose dates are not completely consistent with the 1820 census, when Matthew lived in South Kingston. Can we find more clues to Hannah Robinson's early life? There is an incentive for us to nail down this issue, since the Hannah in Hazard's book had royal ancestors traced back 1500 years.
  5. The parents of Emeline and Henry Davids were Henry Van Wart Davids and Maria Brinckerhoff. Both lived near the present towns of Fishkill and Brinkerhoff, N.Y. ; are ancestors there today?
  6. The Cox lived in Sandwich, Illinois, for the 1880 census ; exactly where did the Cox family live in Sandwich? An announcement of the wedding of John William Landis to Alice O. Cox names the Cox address as "302 Orchard st". The custodians of records of the Fullerton Avenue Presbyterian Church in Chicago, attended by the Landis family, states that Orchard Street is near this church. Did the Cox family also maintain a home in Chicago?
  7. Henry A. Cox had one child Martha. Did Martha leave descendents? Where is she buried?
  8. Alice Louise Cox married John William Landis and had 2 children (Louise and William), after which she apparently divorced. In an obituary from Delevan, she is named "Alice Adams", a surname taken by her sister Maria. Did Alice actually assume the surname "Adams", or is this an error in the obituary?
  9. Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago records the burial of Edmund Landis (Sr) in May 1881, and has no record that he was re-buried elsewere. What then is the significance of a diary entry on 4 September 1887 by his youngest son John William, stating that he was visiting "fathers grave" with "cousin Wm Robinson" in Rhode Island? One possibility is that "father" refers not the father of John William Landis, but rather to the father of Wm Robinson ; the grave would then be that of a brother of Hannah (Robinson) Landis. We know that Hannah had 5 brothers who survived to adulthood: Rowland, Samuel, William, Edward, and S. Ayrault (Stephen).
  10. Anastasia Sadleir married Andrew McFarland in 1862 in Ireland. Mormon records imply that Anastasia's father, John Sadleir, was born about 1807, and Anastasia's son Robert claimed that John died at age 68 (hence about 1875) and his death should have been registered. Can we find the death registration for John Sadleir? Griffiths Valuation and Anastasia's marriage registration reveal that late in his life, John lived in Innismagh Townland, Carnteel Parish, County Tyrone, where he was a "writing clerk". When Anastasia was born, her father was a "schoolmaster" (teacher) in Kilglass School near Ahascragh. Mormon records suggest John was born in Ahascragh, and the only other Sadleir listed for Galway County in Griffiths Valuation is the Reverend Ralph Sadleir. Ralph was born in 1815 and is part of the royally connected Sadleir clan of Tipperary, about 50 miles sourth of Ahascragh, but the record does NOT show Ralph and John were brothers, 1st, or 2nd cousins. How are these two Sadleir families related?
  11. (related to previous question) In 1995, Joyce (Horan) Keller was shown records dating from the early 1800s at a rural church near Ballygawley, County Tyrone. These records named several McFarlands of the day. Joyce took notes but as of 2007, she has lost the notes. Copies of the parish records for both parishes are kept on microfilm at PRONI (Public Records Office of N. Ireland) in Belfast, for Carnteel numbers MIC/583/27, 29-32. These records were copied to this website in 2008. Andrew's father (also Andrew) appears in the Tithe Applotment (tax rolls) for 1827, but the parish records do not describe the baptism of the younger Andrew, who was born about 1830 from civil records of his death in 1893. Anastasia's family appears to have arrived in Carnteel later, since her 1837 birth occured in Ahascragh; no attempt was made to find records for the surname Sadleir from Carnteel or Errigal Keerogue parishes.

    This writer sees only a very few ways to research this family further. [1] Locate the graves of Andrew and Anastasia near Ballygawley, which will have dates. [2] Find a copy of an unpublished local history, written by a local minister, with a title reputed to be "Ulster Heart", seen by Joyce Keller in 1995 at the Ballygawley bed & breakfast operated my Mrs. Lyttle and her son John. The inn does not operate in 2008, but the son John still lives on the premises. [3] Examine parish marriage and death records. [4] Ask an old local resident to comment upon a 1965 letter from cousin Emily with the hope that living relatives can be located near Ballygawley.

  12. In the 1890s, Andrew and Anastasia Mcfarland died in Ireland, and all their children emigrated to America: Matilda, Julianne, Thomas, Frederick, Robert, Charlotte, and Caroline. Charlotte returned to Ireland as Mrs. Graham. One cousin "Emily" wrote to the American siblings in 1956. Is it possible to locate currently living relatives in Ireland ?
  13. LIVING EUROPEAN RELATIVES are known for the families of De Vos (Belgium), Olsen (Norway), and Risdon (England). As of November 2007, we seem close to finding living relatives from the McFarland family (Northern Ireland), but a bit more work is needed.
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