Last Day in Jacksonville

I headed out to Jacksonville this morning planning to look for divorce documents for CB and Ella Nora Keller, then take some photos of places I haven't done yet, then head up to Peoria and do the same. I made it to Jacksonville about 10:15, and remembered that I wanted to get some deed information about Charles Howard as well, so went there first. I still had the book and page numbers written down from the day I was there last week, so that was easy. Then I went upstairs to check the divorce records. There was another woman there doing genealogy research and it turned out she had the register that I needed, so I sat and waited for it, and we chatted as she looked for her family. She said this particular family group - both the paternal and maternal lines - totally disappear after the 1850 census. She can't find any of them after that, so we talked about reasons why, etc. In other words, it took about 45 minutes before I had my chance to look at the register! When I got the book it only took about 3 minutes to look, and there they were - Nov 1905 - being granted a dissolution. So I asked for the record, which came back shortly, and I looked through it and asked for copies of everything. I decide I will read through it tonight, and just leave for the next thing. By the way, these divorce records, same as probate records, come with the original documents wrapped in a tri-fold cardstock envelope, tied with red string, or tape. (Now most of them have rubber bands holding them closed) This is where the phrase "cut through the red tape" came from! Who knew?!  Then the woman who was there with me asks about the person I am researching, so I tell her briefly about CB. She says I need to go to the State Archives office at the University of Illinois - UIS - in Springfield. (Now this was originally on my list, but I decided I really wanted the local color from the old courthouses.) She said she went there and they had records that she hadn't been able to find at the county level. So...I have to go home that way anyway, I might as well stop.

I take my copies, thank the staff, and head out to the car. As I get to the car, I remember that I also have to do some cemetery hopping, so mentally I cross off Peoria - I'll go tomorrow. I was not able to find the Hendersons at Jacksonville East when I went last, so off I go. Yay! There is a person there who has a computer with maps to show where everyone is. I ask about the Hendersons, then double check about the Howards and Kellers that I was not able to find the last visit. He finds the Hendersons easily and says he will take me out there, then finds all of the others, and says yes they are all together in that area. So, I really did find them and they really don't have headstones. He was not sure if they ever did have - they don't show that in the records. Bummer! But, he shows me to Smiley Hughes and Mary Elizabeth Henderson. Wow! What a monument. I knew they were fairly well-to-do, but gosh - this is something! On the back, sadly, is a list of five children - one 10-year-old, a one-year-old and three either stillborn, or infants who died soon after birth. So sad. There were a few other Hendersons around, but no names that I recognized.

Then I headed off to find the Henderson-McFadden Cemetery - somewhere out in the middle of the corn fields. Here we go again! I plugged the directions I had into Phoebe's computer (the navigation system in my car!), and off we went. It was a lovely drive past lots of farms, on county roads that are one lane wide, with big trucks coming FAST the other way, and of course the tractors and other farm equipment going two miles an hour - these guys, by the way,  are the tractors that I know on major steroids. These John Deere's are HUGE!

So I go a little further along, and Phoebe announces that I have reached my destination, but no, there is no cemetery here - just a cornfield. But as I look around, I see one up on a hill about 2 miles further, so I head to that. As I get closer I can see that it is too large to be the Henderson-McFadden place, but I look anyway. It turns out to be the Arcadia Cemetery, which I originally thought had some of our Henderson line, but turns out it didn't. So I sit there a minute, and try to think where it might be. The person who "discovered" it said it sat in a grove of trees, and I can see a small grove off in the distance, back the way I came, so off I go. As I approach, I see a little white sign that says Henderson Cemetery! No real road in, but hey, I'm an expert now, and just drive up the hill!

It is a very small cemetery and someone "found" it about 10 years ago. A lot of the stones where broken, or missing. They found some down in the creek below at the back. This person was a Henderson or McFadden descendent and had a list of who was buried here, so they pieced it together with what stones were still standing, and replaced the others. They cut out a lot of trees, put up a flag, and fenced it in around the back and sides. They still come by to keep it up. How wonderful! So - I found the Hendersons that I needed, but ended up taking pictures of everyone, because I think they are all related, and I have most of the information, so now I have photos to go with it.

Back into Jacksonville to take the pictures I need (it really is on the way to Springfield) and then on my way. I took a picture at the one address that I had for Ella Nora and Charles, but I'm not sure it is the house that stood there 100+ years ago - it looks too new. I also took pictures of the buildings at the NE corner of the Jacksonville Square, as our Smiley Hughes Henderson apparently built "the building on the NE corner of the square". My only problem is I don't know which building it is, and there is no identification on them. There really isn't just "a" corner - there are two roads that converge, and there are actually three buildings that could be "the one". Hopefully I can find out in the future, and then can label the correct building!

Now I come to Springfield, and the Archives Library. I am very hopeful that they will have CB's death certificate, that neither of the county courthouses had. I met Cheryl, another wonderfully helpful person, who spent an hour with me looking through microfilm rolls at death records, probate records, recorded wills (somehow different from probate - ?) and some other collection I can't remember, but no CB. She is really upset, but I tell her that this man really does not want to be located, or leave a paper trail behind. Again, no results.

On the way home, I remembered that I did not take a picture of the church at Middletown, which may be as close to a death certificate or cemetery picture that I can get, so I detoured slightly. Middletown is only about 20 minutes from Lincoln and another beautiful county road, so it is no hardship. The light is beautiful, and the fields are in the process now of being totally cut down, so I get to watch more buff John Deeres  running around the fields! So I drove around Middleton a little, took a couple of pictures, and said good-bye to CB Keller. I'm sorry I didn't find him this trip, but I haven't given up!

When I got back to the hotel, I looked at the divorce papers for CB and Ella Nora. Apparently he left December 31, 1899 and never came back. She said in the complaint that he had no permanent home, and because of that would be unable to care for the children (Homer was 12 and Ray was 6), so she was asking for sole custody. She also said that because he was a printer, and made good money, that he needed to pay child spousal support. The court agreed, but said it would set this up at a future date. At some point I may go look for those records, or I may just leave it at this. She didn't file until June 1905, and the divorce was granted November 1905, and it was soon after that when she and Roland Butcher were married. So that is the next search.

Tomorrow - Peoria's last visit!