I have been working on finding modern day cousins who are descended from my husband’s infamous black sheep ancestor, Isaac Sturgell, and his first wife, Mary Bandy, who was the mother of all his children.
Isaac and Mary had M.J., born about 1848, and Amanda, born about 1850 and both seemed to have died in childhood. They also had sons, Andrew Jackson, born in 1853, Abijah Houston, born i n1855, daughter Margaret, born in 1857, a third son, George W., born in 1860 and a fourth daughter, Mary, born in 1861.
I’ve written extensively about Isaac and Mary. My husband’s line is through Abijah and I know a lot about his children and grandchildren.
Andrew Jackson married four times – to Mary Fowler in 1871 and to Delania Ketchum in 1874, both in Barry County, Missouri, to Sarah J. Davis in 1875 in Benton County, Arkansas and, lastly, to Mary Catherine Turney in 1876 in Boone County, Arkansas. Andrew definitely got around and I have no idea what happened to all of these wives. However, Catherine was a widow in 1800 and there were no children in the home with her so I don’t think Andrew had any surviving children. I also haven’t found any trace of his first three wives after their marriage record.
George W. married twice – first to Caroline Holmes in 1878 in Van Buren County, Arkansas and second to Hannah Tinney in 1886 in Pope County, Arkansas. George and Caroline had a daughter, Narcissa, born in 1879 in Arkansas. They appear in the 1880 census, but Caroline and Narcissa haven’t been found in any other records. No further records have been found for George and Hannah after their marriage, but Isaac Sturgell’s obituary said his children were all dead in 1909. That wasn’t exactly true, as his daughters Margaret and Mary were alive in Illinois, but the boys stayed with Isaac when he and Mary split up, but the sons apparently had all died. It appears that George had no surviving children.
Margaret and Mary both married and had families. Margaret, born 17 March 1857, AR and died 6 January 1929 in Peoria, married George Alder on 10 June 1873 in Peoria County, Illinois. George was born on 12 November 1846 in England and died on 21 October 1900 in Kingston Mines, Peoria County, Illinois. He may be the George Alder whose birth was registered in Witney, Oxfordshire, England in the last quarter of 1846.
George and Margaret Alder had seven children:
- Anna Mary, born 1874 and died 1930. She married Andrew Wolschlag on 15 August 1893 in Peoria County, Illinois, but they had one surviving son who had no children.
2. John Thomas, born 30 May and died 12 September 1876.
3. Ruhama, born c1878 and died c1961 in Peoria County, Illinois. She married (1) Henry Alpheus Duffield on 19 August 1895 in Peoria County, Illinois (2) William Henry Krisher, c1907 and (3) John Novak.
Ruhama and Henry had two children, (1) Alma Ruth, born c1899; died c1941 and reportedly married Charles Riddle and (2) Joseph Howard, born c1903. No further records, however, have been found for either Alma Ruth or Joseph Howard after the 1910 census.
Ruhama and William Krisher had one daughter, Garnet Opal Krisher, born 15 December 1908 and died in 1997. I have found a great granddaughter of Ruhama and William!
4. Allen, born November 1881 and died in 1953. He married Martha Sampon on 28 December 1904 in Tazewell County, Illinois. She was born 7 October 1885 and died 13 October 1967 in Peoria, Illinois.
Allen and Martha had six children – Viola, who married late and had no children, Clarence, Wilbur, Edward Franklin, Robert K. and Harold Raymond. Robert K. died in 1931 as a child; Harold married c1953, but later divorced and reportedly had no children.
Clarence, Wilbur and Edward all married and each had two children. I won’t included further details here because some of these children are still living and I am hot on the trail of some descendants!
Mary Sturgell married George Kingsley on 15 July 1880 in Peoria County, Illinois. It appears that Mary had a son born in July 1878, who was enumerated at George Cookman in 1880, living with her mother and stepfather. However, in 1900, George Kingsley, born 1878, is living with George and Mary Kingsley and listed as a son.
No further information has been found about this George after the 1900 census.
George and Mary Kingsley had the following known children:
Malinda Gertrude Kingsley, born 1881; died 1942. She married (1) John Leslie. She and John had one daughter, Golda, born May 1899 and died September 1981. She married Walter John Sullivan on 19 August 1919 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan. However, they had no children of their own. (2) Willis LaFollette, but they had no children of their own. They raised Helen Lorraine Kingsley, Malinda’s niece and the daughter of her brother, Lloyd George Kingsley.
Therefore, there are no living descendants today of Malinda Gertrude.
Mary Kingsley, born September 1883; died after 1900, but no further information has been found about her.
Lloyd George Kingsley, born September 1889. He married (1) Minnie E. Wilson, c1914. She was born in 1895 and died 4 December 1916. She is buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, West Peoria, Illinois, but Lloyd is not buried with her. They had one daughter, Helen Lorraine, born 6 November 1915 in Peoria and died 20 October 2006, apparently in Chicago, Illinois, as Helen K. Baker.
The first name of her husband hasn’t been found, nor has an obituary and it is not known whether she had any children.
Lloyd married (2) Adelia C., born c1902 in Illinois. In 1930, they lived in Peoria with daughter Melva J., born c1924 and son Lloyd W., born December 1929, both in Illinois. In 1940, Melva was 17, living at home and apparently newly married to Madison J. Johnson, aged 18. No further information has been found about this family.
Clarence Edward Kingsley, born January 1895; died after 1900. No further information has been found about him.
At this point, I haven’t been able to determine if Mary Sturgell Kingsley has any living descendants today.
If you recognize any of these family names, please leave a comment.