Week 12: 12 #52Ancestors

This week’s prompt had me a little stumped. “Twelve.” That was it. We could write about whatever we wanted related to “12.” Yes, okay, this is our twelfth week, but maybe a little more help than that would be great. Something like: twelve children, the twelfth month, twelve whatevers.

My husband came to the rescue with a suggestion: how about the 12th day, like in our son’s birthday. Of course. A nice little story that I’d like to share.

Our son was about 4-5 weeks early when he was born on February 12, 1992. We hadn’t yet finished decorating his nursery and I still had a boat-load of work on my desk. But when the baby gotta come, the baby gotta come!

We had told the family that since the baby was going to be a boy, we were naming him Connor, after my mother’s favorite cousin Connor Owen. My mother-in-law was perplexed by this and (seriously) asked my husband if that was going to really be his first name. My husband (not one to miss an opportunity to punk his mom) responded, “Why no, mom, we’re changing our last name to Connor.” She was not amused.

After he was born, my mother-in-law suggested that since our son was born on her father’s birth date, we name him Richard. Hmmmm. Not a fan of that name (no disrespect to all the Richards, Ricks, and Dicks out there). She suggested Richard as a middle name. Sorry, no; already decided to name him after my husband’s father (and her deceased husband).

 So that’s the way it was. No big deal. But then I start to do this “genealogy” stuff. And lo and behold, not only was our son born on his great-grandfather’s birthday, but on his 100th birthday. Okay, I think that would have changed things and we’d have had a Richard and not a Connor. 

Our son’s great-grandfather, Richard Mills, has been seen in my blog before – he is the little toddler sitting on his mother’s lap in Otoe, Oklahoma, Week 8. Richard was born on February 12, 1892, in Wichita, Kansas, but lived most of his life in Monett, Barry County, Missouri.[1] One of the great things about Monett was that they had a great little daily paper that published articles on the life of the town-folk. So wonderful to put some “meat” on the dry bones of family research. I found stories about parties Dick attended as a kid, picnics and train trips he went on, camping trips with his buddies and their sweethearts (scandalous!), church happenings, and on and on. All courtesy of a great on-line source for digital newspapers, Chronicling America (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov).

 An aside: Chronicling America is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress. As of today, 2,821 newspapers are available for viewing on the site, with entries dated from 1789 to 1963. The website also publishes a directory of newspapers published in the U.S. since 1690 to the present and information on how to access papers that have not been digitized. A truly great website that is invaluable for any family historian.

 Back to my topic – Richard Mills. One of the more fascinating Dick Mills stories from the Monett Times happened in 1909, when he was 17. Dick and his girlfriend, Maude Gibbons, were returning home from a nearby town with another couple. One of them was driving a two-horse carriage when they tried to cross an unfamiliar ford. Regrettably, they drove the carriage into a 15-foot hole and they were all swept down-stream. The boys were able to rescue the girls and one of the horses, but the rig was damaged and the other horse was killed.[2] Yikes! The Monett Times story was titled “Narrow Escape.” I should say so.

Like many members of my husband’s family, Dick worked for the Frisco Railroad. He had a variety of jobs with the Frisco, including freight clerk, baggage “master,” yard office “clerk,” and “yard master.”[3] He and his girlfriend Maude (from the story) were married on June 18, 1915. They had three children, all girls, including my mother-in-law. Dick died in Monett in 1971 and Maude followed in 1978. [4]

A last bit on the topic: I mentioned that our son was named after my mom’s favorite cousin. Darned if I didn’t find another bit of genealogical serendipity regarding his name. Again, it’s not until I am deep into genealogical research when I discover that my mom’s cousin was named for his great-grandfather, Conner McGann, who is my Connor’s third great-grandfather.[5] “Connor” is actually a nick-name for Cornelius - thank goodness that name didn’t come up when Connor was born (again, apologies to anyone so-named). 

[1]“U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 July 2014), card for Richard Mills, Ward 1, Monett, Missouri; United States, Selective Service System, “World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” National Archives microfilm publication M1509, roll 1683091. 

[2]“A Narrow Escape,” The Monett (Missouri) Times, 9 July 1909, p. 3, col. 3; image, Chronicling America (https://www.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 9 June 2015).

[3]1910 U.S. census, Barry County, Missouri, population schedule, Monett City, sheet 6B, enumeration district (ED) 4, dwelling 209, family 215, William J. Mills; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 July 2014); citing National Archives microfilm publication T624, roll 767. 1920 U.S. census, Barry County, Missouri, population schedule, Monett City, sheet 6B, enumeration district (ED) 5 dwelling 147, family 178, Richard Mills; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 July 2014); citing National Archives microfilm publication T625, roll 904. 1930 U.S. census, Barry County, Missouri, population schedule, Monett City, sheet 8A, enumeration district (ED) 6-16, dwelling 190, family 205, Richard Mills; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 July 2014); citing National Archives microfilm publication T626, roll not noted. 1930 U.S. census, Barry County, Missouri, population schedule, Monett City, p. 9B (penned), enumeration district (ED) 4, dwelling 209, family 215, William J. Mills; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 July 2014); citing National Archives microfilm publication T624, roll 767. 1940 U.S. census, Barry County, Missouri, population schedule, Monett City, sheet 1B, enumeration district (ED) 5-20, line number 78, Richard Mills; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 July 2014); citing National Archives microfilm publication T627, roll 2083.

[4]Find A Grave, database with images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 1/April 2015), memorials 57857237 and 57857263, Richard Mills and Maud J. Gibbons Mills, Monett IOOF Cemetery, Monett, Lawrence County, Missouri. 

[5]Find A Grave, database with images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 1/April 2015), memorial 110784646, Cornelius Conner McGann, St. Joseph New Cemetery, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio.

Richard Mills

Maude Jane (Gibbons) Mills

Vintage Postcard of Monett, Missouri, mygenealogyhound.com.