Joyful Easter

NYPL Digital Collection. Easter Postcard.

Obituaries for James and Lulu

Kokomo Tribune, 7 May 1949

Continuing with information on James Daniel Havens, my wife's 2nd-great-grandfather, above is a copy of his obituary from the Kokomo Tribune in Indiana. His wife Lulu, Lucinda Helen Wright Havens, preceded him on 11 September 1940. A copy of her obituary from the Kokomo Tribune is below.

Kokomo Tribune, 12 Sept 1940.

Draft card for James Daniel Havens

Ancestry. WWI Draft Card for James Daniel Havens.

This is the World War I draft card for my wife's 2nd-great-grandfather, James Daniel Havens. The card was signed on 12 September 1918, included his birth date and permanent address in Bennetts Switch, Miami County, Indiana. He wrote that he works for himself and was township trustee. James listed his wife "Lulu" Lucinda Helen Wright Havens as nearest relative.

Ancestry. Reverse side of draft card.

The reverse provides key details on James' eye color (blue) and hair color (light).

Bennetts Switch is a tiny hamlet located in Deer Creek Township, Miami County, named by Baldwin Bennett for a station on the Lake Erie & Western Railroad.

Revisiting the Havens side of the tree

Back in July 2013, I posted about the family of my wife's 3rd-great-grandfather, James Daniel Havens Sr. Based on email I exchanged recently with one of her distant cousins, I thought it was time to revisit this side of the tree.

James was born on 3 July 1828 in Monmouth County, New Jersey. He moved with his parents Daniel Havens and Margaret Ketcham Havens to Tazewell County, Illinois. James married Hannah Elizabeth McGinnis in Tazewell County on 15 December 1850 (she appears as Mary E. McGinnis on the Tazewell County Marriage Record). 

Hannah appears twice in the 1850 US Census in Tazewell County. First, in the household of her parents Abraham and Betsy Ann McGinnis on 11 October 1850. She was 17 years old and born in Tennessee.

Ancestry. 1850 US Census, Tazewell County. 11 Oct 1850.

By 24 December 1850, James and Hannah were listed again in the household of David Osborne, a farmer in Tazewell County were James was working as a laborer. In the same census, James' father Daniel appears as a laborer on the farm of Philip Hamburgh.

In my post from July 2013, I wrongly assumed the Elizabeth Havens appearing with James in the 1870 US Census was a different wife, but this was Hannah going by her middle name.

Ancestry. 1870 US Census, Tazewell County. 1 Jun 1870.

Hannah Elizabeth McGinnis Havens presumably died sometime between June 1870 and December 1872, when James married Ellenora Rork in Tazewell County.

In my July 2013, I listed James and Hannah as having at least 5 children. Here is an updated list, with my best current assumption on correct names:

- Margaret Elizabeth Havens, born 23 December 1851, died 17 October 1932

- Sarah Ellen Havens, born 9 February 1854, died 17 December 1934

- William Henry Havens, born 14 February 1856, died 26 December 1926

- Mahala Jane Havens, born 31 March 1858, died 5 February 1922

- Alice Mary Havens, born 29 January 1860, died 28 February 1923

- Charles Havens, born 1867, died before 1880

James and Ellenora had at least the following children:

- Bessie Havens, born about 1874, died about 1892

- James Daniel Havens Jr, born 14 September 1875, died 7 May 1949

- Charlotte Havens, born about 1878

In the Highlands

Photo by L. Jones. Scotland, Apr 2017.

The photo above looks like it could be a scene from Game of Thrones or the Lord of the Rings. This is another shot from my Frequent Traveling sister during her trip through Scotland last week. She's currently in France with my Mom, her sisters and our cousin.