George Washington McKenney Sr. was born 1832 in Ohio and died 1913 in Chautauqua County, Kansas. He is buried at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Belleville. About 1850 he married a woman by the name of Isabella Love who was born circa 1825-1829, the censuses being inconsistent. Family lore gives her as dying before 1874 in Russell, Russell, Kansas.
The parents of George Washington McKenney Sr. and Isabella Love are yet to be identified. After years of research, my best guess for George W. McKenney is that he was the grandson of a Robert and Margaret McKenney who were living in Belmont County, Ohio in 1820, in Beaver, Guernsey, Ohio in 1830, and in Enoch, Monroe, Ohio in 1840. In 1850, George Washington McKenney Sr. is living beside the widowed Margaret McKenney.
I should here first add that I have been to Chautauqua County and George Washington McKenney Sr. left no will, and neither did George Washington McKenney Jr., so I am relying on census records and family records (which were incomplete when compared to the census) in putting together these families. Robert McKenney Sr. of Belmont/Guernsey and Monroe/Noble Counties in Ohio appears to have left no will either. I have checked all around these areas for available wills and it seems the ones that *are* known and available are out there and give no information that would help clarify any of the individuals I am here researching.
POSSIBLE FAMILY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON MCKENNEY SR.
Having had a DNA test, one important thing we do know is that our McKenneys were Irish rather than Scotch-Irish. So far they aren’t related to other McKenneys/McKinneys in the DNA database. They are instead related to McKennas in Ireland. This is good to know because it makes them distinct from the Scotch-Irish families, and most of the McKenneys/McKinneys in America are Scotch-Irish rather than Irish.
As I’m not able to start tracking the Robert McKenney family until 1820–when Margaret would have been 44 at the time, and Robert older still–not all of their children will be known. The 1820 census shows they had at the time 1 male under 10, 1 male 10 to 16, 1 male 16 to 18, 2 males 16 to 26 and 1 male 45 and up, 1 female 10 to 16, 1 female 16 to 26, 1 female 45 and up. I believe a William b. about 1795 in Ireland to be the oldest child, there are two John McKenneys in the area b. about 1795 and one of these I believe to be the other son born 1795, Robert would be the second youngest male, and then the youngest son is known to be a George W. McKenney who was born May 20 1816 in Pennsylvania. The youngest daughter I believe to be a Mary S. who was born 1810 in Pennsylvania and married Samuel Bartow b. 1818.
George Mac Sr. was close to two known individuals, a William McKenney who was born in 1827 in Ohio and married an Esther Yarnell in 1844 in Monroe County, Ohio. They moved to Van Buren County, Ohio and George Mac Sr. is living next to him in the 1856 census. I am supposing that they are brothers.
Another individual that George Mac Sr. would appear to have been close to was a Robert Eugene McKenney born 1821 in Pennsylvania.
There are two candidates for parents of these individuals, both Johns born 1795, living in Guernsey, Ohio. We’ve not settled yet on who belongs to who, whether it is the John of Millwood, Guernsey, Ohio, or the John of Oxford, Guernsey, Ohio. Only one of these Johns would be a son of Robert Sr. and I have supposed it was likely the John living next to him in Beaver in 1830. But both John McKenneys b. 1795 were living in Beaver in 1830, so it is hard to say. Both Johns had census slots in their 1830 and 1840 households that would accommodate William, Robert and George. Both Johns were gone before 1850.
Robert Eugene McKenney was already out in Iowa in 1847–probably Van Buren County, having married a Mary Bartow in 1846 in Guernsey, and a good deal of her family had moved off to Van Buren, one being an uncle of hers, Cyrus Bartow. By 1847 he was in Van Buren, Iowa living around John Shafer, William Rogers, Jacob Shafer. By 1852, Jeremiah Shaffer was also there and he was married to Elizabeth Bartow, probably a sister of Mary’s. Those Bartows are related to Samuel Bartow who had married Mary S. McKenney in 1839 in Ohio and later located out in Minnesota around Robert Eugene McKenney. Samuel may be a sibling of Mary. We don’t have wills and aren’t exactly sure right now who were siblings and who were cousins.
Robert Eugene McKenney returned to Ohio and was in Monroe County, Ohio in 1850, but soon removed back out across the Missouri River.
William McKenney was in Van Buren County, Ohio by 1849, living a few names from the above mentioned Jacob and John Schaffer, and, as previously mentioned, by 1856 George W. McKenney Sr. was living next to him.
Both John McKenneys of Guernsey and Robert McKenney (the elder) being dead by 1850, nearly all the unknown children (and both Johns had many) left the area before 1850. Wherefore? I don’t know. I don’t know their names. I’ve researched and researched and don’t know where they went. Robert Eugene and George Mac Sr. were the two McKenneys to remain in Monroe County, Ohio, exempting the widow of the elder Robert, plus her son George Washington McKenney. So there were two George McKenneys in that census.
Things are messy with this family and here’s where it gets very messy. Addie McKenney McWhirt was the youngest daughter of George Mac Sr. and Isabella. Addie gave her mother as being Ioway Indian.
The MCKINNEY family was driving livestock in a wagon train from Iowa to Oklahoma. Isabel died and was buried in Russell, Russell, County, Kansas. The McKinneys had three children, a daughter who married and died in childbrith, Addie and George.
“Addie lived with the Indians as a child. When she became a young girl her father boarded her with the Cornelius MCWHIRT family so that she could learn the ways of the white people. Later, Samuel Alvin McWhirt, son of Cornelius and Mary were married.
“Isabel (Love) McKinney gave birth to Adda May on October 10, 1864 — Addie died on March 26, 1952.”
This information was given in an interview on June 27, 1976 in Wynona, OK by:
Mary (McWhirt) Custer – Addie’s daughter
Sylvia (Mcwhirt) Porter – her neice
Frona (McWhirt) Kemohah – granddaughter
I also was sent:
From the MCWHIRT history given as reported in 1976 by 4 of Sam’s descendants: “In 1900 Samuel was living on the Osage Indian Reservation in the Indian Territory. The 1900 Census states that Addie’s parents were born in Ohio. Addie’s mother, however, was an Iowa Indian. While the McKinney family was driving livestock in a wagon train from Iowa to Oklahoma, Isabel died and was buried in Russell, Russell Co., KS. The McKinneys had three children, a daughter who married and died in childbirth, ADDIE and George. Addie lived with the Indians as a child. When she became a young girl, her father boarded her with the Cornelius McWhirt family so that she could learn the ways of the white people. Later, she married Cornelius’ son, Samuel Alvin and refused to acknowledge her Indian ancestry and heritage.”
The patriarchs of the family having died before 1850, and Robert Eugene having already been to Iowa and returned, and then William out there by 1849, my feeling is that George Mac Sr. had likely gone out to Iowa with Robert Eugene, and/or William, and had returned to Ohio with his Ioway wife. Van Buren County Iowa happened to be where the Ioway had once had a primary village. They were no longer there but the Sac and Fox Indians remained and there had been of course some intermarriage with the Sac and Fox with the Ioway, and there may have been Ioway, too, mixed “breeds” who had remained. The McKenneys married eventually into families they’d known in Van Buren who were some of the earliest settlers there and had been there to work on the Sac and Fox Indian reserve and were very well acquainted with the Sac and Fox. Years of research has shown that the McKenneys and extended family from 1850 to 1930 were always living within a couple of households of relations (close and extended) of a certain Ioway family, and I’ve never seen anything quite like this before for it to be purely coincidental. My assumption is that Isabella was related to this family, but we’ve been unable to uncover why.
Adding more mysteries, a Sac and Fox and Ioway Indian by the name of Wilson McKinney was born in 1845 in this area.
But I will tackle the Ioway connection after giving census and other important data.
CENSUS DATA AND CHILDREN
In 1850 we find George and Isabella in Monroe County, Ohio:
1850 OH, MONROE CO., ENOCH TOWNSHIP, DISTRICT 165
12th day of Sept. 1850
pg. 328 (271 ancestry)
198/199 George MCKINNEY 21 carpenter b. OH (married within the year) can’t read or write
Isabella 21 b. PA (married within the year) can’t read or write
199/200 Enoch HAYES 31 Ohio farmer 300
Rachel 28
Mary E. 8
Sarah 7
Thinsey F 5
William H 1
(NOTE: Enoch HAYES b. 18 March 1817 Noble Co. OH, died 4 August 1874 OH http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:1363155&id=I0974.. Father Frederick HAYES b. abt. 1784 in NC and Elizabeth b. 1795 GA. Married Rachel MARCHBANKS b. 8 Oct. 1822 in Noble Co. OH or Lanark, Dumfrey, Scotland. From what I see of the family given on the web they stayed in Ohio. MARCHBANKS is also given as MARSHBANK at HAYES Genforum.
The 1830 Guersey Co. Beaver census shows Edmund HAISE, Bailey HAISE, Ogden GREY, John TOWNSEND, John MCKINNEY 3 1 – – 1/1 1 – – 1, Henry MORGAN, WIlliam DOWNEY. Edmund and Bailey appear to be sons of a brother of Frederick HAYES, named Bailey, b. 1775 in GA., died 1845 in Guernsey. Further down the page is Robert MCKINNEY – – 1 – 2 – – 1/ – – – – 2 – 1. )
200/201 Jacob MILLER 33 b. PA
Jane 34 or 24 b. OH
Elizabeth 7
Joseph 6
Rebecca 4
Permelia J. 3
John 8/12
(NOTE: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=REG&db=suekmurray&id=I0315 gives this as Jacob MILLER Jr. b. 1803 in Washington Township PA, died 16 March 1894 in Cambridge, Center Twp., Guernsey Co. OH, who married Jane SCARBOROUGH. They married 1870 in Guernsey Co. OH. Jane SCARBOROUGH’s sister, Rhoda, married the other George McKINNEY in this census and most of the siblings seem to have married in Guernsey. Jacob MILLER’s father, Jacob Sr., is observed in the 1800 census of Washington Co. PA)
202/202 Margaret McKENNEY 74 b. Ireland
Ann 46 b. PA
Robert 43
Margaret 5 b. OH
203/203 James FITCH 63 b. PA
Elizabeth 53 b.?
Mahala 21 b. OH
Jackson 10
Harrison 18
Eincon or Lincoln? Kenney 5 (m)
George 4 or 6
James 4
Elizabeth 14
204/204 James FITCH 32 b. PA
Rebecca? 26 b. OH
Mary A. 7
Mahala 3
Simon 2
Malissa 4/12
Robert Eugene McKenney was also living in Monroe County, in Carlisle. George Washington McKenney who married Rhoda Scarborough (a known son of Robert McKenney Sr. and Margaret) was also living in Enoch, Monroe, Ohio.
Martha Elizabeth, the first known child of George and Isabella, was born in 1851 in Ohio.
Margaret J., their next known child, was born in 1854 in Ohio.
Lucinda W., was born in 1855 in Ohio.
It is now that George and Isabella migrate to Van Buren to live beside William McKenney and are found in the 1856 state census.
Iowa, Van Buren County, Washington Township Roll: IA_66
24/24 William MCKINNEY 28 Ohio laborer
Esther 30 PA
Jane 11
Eli W. 9
Francis M. 6
William S. 4
Luther B. 1
25/25 George W. MCKINNEY 25 Ohio carpenter
Isabelle 24 PA
Martha E. 4 OH
Margaret J. 2
Lucinda 1
Son, William W. McKenney was born in 1857.
Sarah C. McKenney was born in 1860.
The 1860 shows George in the Van Buren Village township census.
His relation, William, is nearby in that census, apparently with a RR crew. But William appears twice in the census, also in the Washington Township where he had settled.
1860 IOWA CENSUS, VAN BUREN, VILLAGE TOWNSHIP
Taken 4th day of June 1860
Rootsweb transcription
3 130 130 Morrow Geo. B. 35 M Farmer 3,000 400 O.
4 130 130 Morrow Elizabeth 3* F O.
5 130 130 Morrow Silvenice 16 M Farming O X
REMARKS: age appears 16 written over 18 or visa versa
6 130 130 Morrow Saml’ 14 M Farming O. X
REMARKS: age 14 or 16 written over 7
130 130 Morrow Elizabeth J. 16 M O. X
REMARKS: age 16 written over
8 130 130 Morrow Thos. 19 M O. X
9 130 130 Morrow Richard 2 M O.
10 130 130 Morrow George 9 M O. X
NOTE: From Belmont CO. OH. “Morrow, George B., farmer, S. 32; P.O. Doud’s Station; born in Belmont Co., Ohio Oct. 15, 1817; in 1858, he moved to Van Buren Co., and settled in Village Tp.; in 1876, moved to his present farm in Lick Creek Tp.; farming has been his business; from 1838 to 1840, followed butchering in Wheeling W. Va. Married Elizabeth Guthrie Dec. 27, 1839; she was born in Harrison Co., Ohio, June 16, 1818; have had six children, one died in infancy; living–Sylvester, Samuel Thomas D., Jane, Richard and George W. Mrs. Morrow is a member of the Presbyterian Church. He owns 603 acres of land, valued at $15,000.”
11 131 131 Doud John M 49 M Farmer 1,500 Pa.
12 131 131 Doud Sarah M. 28 F N.Y.
13 131 131 Doud Sophronia 15 F O. X
14 131 131 Doud Henrietta M. 14 F Iowa X
15 131 131 Doud Edward T. 10 M Iowa X
16 131 131 Doud John M. 6 M Iowa X
17 131 131 Doud Wm. F. 4 M Iowa
18 131 131 Doud Saml’ H. 2 M Iowa
19 131 131 Doud David B. 2/12 M Iowa
NOTE: The Doud families appear to be from first Luzerne (Bradford) Co. PA, to Hamilton Co OH by 1818, to Clark Co OH by 1820 and the 1824 to Licking Co OH. Early 1840s to Van Buren.
20 131 131 Henshaw S. 23 M Farming O.
21 131 131 Doud Fear 78 F 400 Conn.
22 132 132 Homshell Henry 25 M Labourer Pa.
23 132 132 Homshell Charity C. 21 F N.Y.
24 132 132 Homshell Angetina 1 F Wis.
25 133 133 McKinney G. W. 30 M Carpenter 200 b. Ohio.
26 133 133 McKinney Isabella 32 F b. Pa. can’t read/write
27 133 133 McKinney Martha 8 F b. Ohio.
28 133 133 McKinney Margaret J. 6 F b. Ohio.
29 133 133 McKinney Lucinda 4 F b. Ohio.
30 133 133 McKinney Wm. W. 3 M b. Iowa
31 133 133 McKinney Sarah C. 5/12 F b. Iowa
1 135 135 Cadi Fanny 20 F Ind.
2 136 136 Nelson Wesley 28 M Labourer 50 O.
3 136 136 Nelson Julia 25 F O.
4 136 136 Nelson Christena 1 F Iowa
Note: Wesley Nelson and wife Julia are in the 1870 Ohio Meigs Co. Rutland census and in the 1880 Washington, Lincoln, West Virginia census page 224C.
5 137 137 Kelley Danl’ 30 M Labourer 40 O.
6 137 137 Kelley Arena 26 F O.
7 137 137 Kelley Cade 4 M Iowa
8 137 137 Kelley Melissa J. 2 F Iowa
9 137 137 McKinney Wm. 37 M Labourer O.
10 137 137 McKinney Eli 12 M Labourer O.
NOTE: Recorded twice. His family is in Van Buren township. Was in the 1850 census. Eli died in the Civil War and they remained in IA.
11 137 137 McMichal John 30 M Labourer Pa.
12 137 137 McMichal Robert 28 M Labourer Pa.
In 1864 Oct 10, according to some reports, Addie was born in Boone County, Iowa.
The eldest daughter, Martha, married Marion Campbell about 1868 in Iowa. The families then moved to Kansas.
G. W. is at the end of the census. His daughter Martha (Elizabeth) is also in the census with Marion CAMPBELL at household 112.
1870 NEOSHO CO KS
185
101/101 FOSTER R. F. 33 b. OH and children 15 to 1 b.IA
102/102 MORFORD Jeremiah 28 ? b. PA, Mary 50 b. PA and a 14 and 10 year old b. IA
Note: Perhaps Jeremiah MORFORD b. 1822 in PA and married to Mary HENNEN 22 June 1850 in Iowa County, IA. http://www.lvcta.com/gallery/iagenealogy/morford/d906.htm#P906
103/103 PAGET Jaccob L. 32 b. IL and Eliza and family.
104/104 NICHOLS Joseph B. 51 and wife b. PA and James 16 b. IA
NOTE: 1852 Wapello Louisa township IA census page 5)
105/105 HIGGINS John 38 b. OH and Drucilla 22 b. IL and 5 and 2 year olds b.IA
106/106 ELLIS Albert 34 b. OH and Alice 24 b. IA and 2 year old child b. IA
107/107 CAMPBELL John 61 b. V
Nancy 54 b. VA
David 23 b. IA (family gives as born 1846 Des Moines Polk IA)
Virginia 18 b. VA (family gives as born Mannington, Marion Co. WV)
Margaret 16 b. IA (family gives as born Putnam, MO in 1854)
James 11 b. MO
108/108 CAMPBELL William 28 b. VA
Mary 28 b. VA
Thomas 11 b. MO
Martin 9 b. IA
A. G. (male) 4 b. IA
James M? 1 b. KS
ANDREW? Johnathon 29 b. MO
NOTE: John is father of Marion and William. The family was in IA in 1847, back to VA then back to IA by 1854. Then were in MO in 1859 then back in IA by 1861. John’s family is on page 400 of the WV Marion co. Western distrct census for 1850.
109/109 HUDSON? Thomas 27 b. OH and family
110/110 SANN or GANN Wm 21 KY and Emma 18 IA and Mina age 1 born Iowa
111/111 LACOMA John 35 Island of Jesus/James and wife Nancy. Children 9 t0 1 born IA. (Found it and it’s a Canadian Island way out in the Atlantic.)
112/112 CAMPBELL Marion 27 farmer $300/$200 VA
Elizabeth 19 IA
Alford W. 2 MO
Milley I. 4/12 b. KS
113/113 CHAPMAN William or Millian? 68 b. KY and Martha 65 b. VA and family
114/114 CHAPMAN James 50 and Martha 47 and family all born KY
115/115 RICH Ichabud 28 b. IN and Evaline b. MO and daughter 7/12 b. KS
116/116 OSBORNE P. H. b. AL and Sarah b. IN and children 8 to 3 born MO and KS
117/117 RICH Mary Ann 46 b. KY and 12 year old Robert b. KS and 5 year old Mary b. MO
118/118 ROBINSON William H. 28 b. IN and Elizabeth 25 b. IN
119/119 RICH George J. 21 b. IN
next page
120/120 ANDERSON Lt. A
121/121 HAMILTON Henry and Sarah
122/122 CLARK George and D. A.
123/123 CLARK George W. and Elizabeth
124/124 HALL William and Nancy
125/125 GASKILL William and SARAH
126/126 HURT ? George and Rachel
127/127 GREGG ? and Sabrina
128/128 RIGBY George W. and Mary
129/129 CHARLES Levi R.
130/130 BRECKENRIDGE George b. MO and Lucy b. VA
MORFORD John 23 b. PA
CAMPBELL Samuel 32 b. VA
next page
FERRIS Adeline 17 and William b. 13 IA
…
167/167 SHANNON J. H. 23 IN
168/168 WORTMAN John 26 and Mary 20 IN
169/169 GORBACKER John 46 and Catherine 43 Hanover ? and family
170/170 MOLISH W. C. 70 B b. Indian Territory Creek Nation?
Lizzie B b. GA
Peggy 13 B b. Indian Territory
Jennie? or Irene? 10 B b. KS
Polly 50 B b. GA
171/171 FOWLER? Henry 26 b. IL and Elizabeth 27 b. MO
172/172 MCKINNEY Geo W. 43 wm House carpenter $350 b. OH Father of foreign birth
Isabel 45 wf Keeping house b. PA Unable to write
Lucinda 16 wf At home b. OH Attended school
Geo. W. 8 wm b. IA
Ida May 5 wf b. IA
You will notice that several children are missing in the 1870 census: Margaret J., William W., and Sarah C. I’ve no information on what happened to them and have found no death records.
About 1874, Isabella died. The family report was that Addie was boarded out so she would grow up knowing white ways. This has been confirmed. I found both Addie and George boarded out in Neosho County in the 1875 census.
1875 March 1st Ks census, Neosho, Osage Mission
BAXTER Thomas M. 32 farmer KY from Missouri
Eliza E. 23 Indiana from Indiana
Minoni 3 female b. KS
Clyde 1
(Note 1880 Osage Mission census gives him as 38, cattle dealer)
MCKINNEY Geo W. 13 b. Iowa from Missouri
(Between Jonathon Rowland 63 from Ohio and D. D. Bary 45 from Ireland)
Ancestry.com1875 Kansas, Neosho County, Lincoln Township
W. C. ? MCGIBSON 41 from Illinois with POWELLS and SMITHS in household
P. E. JACOBSON from Denmark
J. W. NUZWORTHY 42 b. IL and S. A. b. OH and family
5/4 David ROBB 34 $3000 $350 IN from IN
M J? 20 IA from IA
Adda MCKENNEY 8 IL from IL
7/5 M SIGLER 64 KY
S. A. 51 b. NY
L. B. 12 b. MO
W. M. 10 b. Col
W. E. BUNCH 59 VA and E. E. and family
H. C. OWENS 57 merchant NC and family
William WREN 45 blacksmith from Kentucky and Elizabeth b. IL
F. B. WHITE 33 b. IL and family
In 1877, Eli Wilson McKenney was born to George Mac Sr. in Iowa. We had no information on who the second wife was but I believe she was a Sarah F. Dotson (Dodson).
Sarah F. Dotson was born about 1850-1854 in Davis County, Iowa.
The 1856 Salt Creek, Davis, Iowa census shows her with siblings and mother, Eliza.
32/22 Eliza Dotson 45 Indiana
Delila 18
John 14 Illinois
Albert T. 10 Iowa
Lemuel 8
Sarah 6
Eliza 1
Her mother remarried and in 1860 we find Sarah as “Sallie” in the household of her stepfather, Thomas Sumner. They are in Union, Appanoose, Iowa, but her brother, Albert, is also in the Salt Creek, Davis, Iowa census, 16, in the household of a John and Rachel Sconce, who are relatives. Prudence Lynch, daughter of a Delilah Jane Dotson and William Lynch, had married John Casper Sconce in 1848 in Davis. So, Albert is on pg. 748. On page 750 is a 16 year old George Breckinridge who will marry Lucy Etta Campbell in 1868. Lucy Etta Campbell was a sister of Marion Campbell who wed Martha Elizabeth McKenney, Eli’s half-sister, in 1867 in Wapello County, Iowa.
226/217 Thomas Sumner 46 farmer b. IN
Eliza 48 b. KY
John C. 11 b. IN
Martha 7 b. IA
James R. 23 day laborer b. IN
Delila Dodson 20 domestic
John 27 day laborer b. IL
Albert 14 b. IA
Lemuel 13
Sallie 9
Eliza 7
In 1870 we find Sarah in the Village, Van Buren, Iowa census.
233/224 Johnson Thomas 31 saloon keeper 300 100 NY
Catherine 30 IN
Hannah 7 IA
William 3 IA
Virginia? 1 IA
DODSON Sarah 19 domestic servant IA
George W. McKenney Sr. and his family had been living in Village in 1860 and still had relatives in Van Buren County. It may be that he met Sarah here after Isabella’s death. It may be that they had an acquaintance even before Isabella’s death.
Then, in “Iowa, Marriages 1809-1992”, we find the marriage of a George W. McKenney and Sarah F. Dotson on 1875 Aug 22 in Davis County, Iowa. 1875 is the year that we find George W. McKenney’s children boarded out in Kansas, but George W. McKenney is no where to be found in the Kansas census.
I had always assumed Eli’s mother had died. In 1880, George W. McKenney appears in Arkansas with his son Eli, and only gives himself as single rather than widowed.
By Feb 1879 George W. McKenney had built a house in the Chautauqua Co. area and it appears that Sarah had moved to that county with the family after Eli’s birth, but they had separated by 1880 when she is found living as a servant in Sedan.
Kansas, Chautauqua, Sedan, 075
264/271 Hamilton Emily 59 b. OH father b. VT mother b. NY
Barr 24 son b. KS father b. PA mother b. OH
264/272 Hamilton Henry 26 Quarry man b. MO father b. PA mother b. OH
Susan 24 wife typhoid fever b. GA father b. NC mother b. GA
McKenney Sarah 28 servant house keeper b. IA father b. IN mother b. KY
Then in 1885 we find in Ottumwa, Wapello, Iowa, a divorced Sarah McKenney.
149/163 Joseph M. Smalley 45 restaurant
Catherine 87 keeps house
ME. 19 in restaurant
Ellen Cramlett 20 single domestic
Sarah McKinney 31 f divorced domestic b. Davis County
This is tentative research, but I believe she is the same Sarah Dotson who married George W. McKenney in 1875 in Davis County, Iowa, and that she is the mother of Eli W.
On April 19, 1891, in Ottumwa, Wapello, Iowa, Sarah married a 2nd time to a Tom B. Hanna who was born about 1852 in Putnam County, Indiana, his parents being George R. Hanna and Mary Burgiss. Sarah gave herself as Sarah Dodson McKinney, born 1852, child of John Dotson and E. Stapleton.
Name: T. B. Hanna
Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 19 Apr 1891
Event Place: Ottumwa, Wapello, Iowa, United States
Age: 49
Birth Year (Estimated):
Father’s Name: George R. Hanna
Father’s Titles and Terms:
Mother’s Name: Mary Burgiss
Mother’s Titles and Terms:
Spouse’s Name: Sarah Dodson Mckinney
Spouse’s Titles and Terms:
Spouse’s Birth Year (Estimated): 1852
Spouse’s Father’s Name: John Dotson
Spouse’s Father’s Titles and Terms:
Spouse’s Mother’s Name: E. Stapleton
Spouse’s Mother’s Titles and Terms:
Reference ID: 190
GS Film number: 979592
Digital Folder Number: 004309604“Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XJF3-BY7 : accessed 19 Dec 2013), T. B. Hanna and Sarah Dodson Mckinney, 1891.
In 1900, Sarah and Tom are living in Union, Iowa. They had no children but she gives herself as having 1 child still living, which would have been Eli W. McKenney.
Union, Appanoose, Iowa 1900
46/46 Hanna Thomas Nov 1843 56 b. IN father b. OH mother b. IN
Sarah F. wife Sept 1851 48 married 10 years 1 child living b. IA father b.OH mother b.IN
Tom Hanna died before 1910, when we find Sarah living in Richland, Wapello, Iowa.
1910 Richland, Wapello, Iowa
10 Griffith Carl A. 28 married 5 years b. IA parents b. IA farmer
Maud wife 23 b. IA parents b. MO
Ethel F. daughter 3 b. IA
Bernice daughter 1 b. IA
Hannah Sarah F. boarder 57 widowed 1 child living b. IA father b. OH mother b. KY
In 1922 she was living at 328 S. Vinea, Iowa City, Ottumwa, Iowa, given as the widow of Thomas.
In 1930 she was in the Wapello County Home and Insane Asylum in Highland, Wapello, Iowa.
Wapello Co. Home and Insane Asylum
Hanna Sarah 89 wd 22 b. IA father b. OH mother b. KY
Now, returning to George W. McKenney Sr.
Eli W., son of George and Sarah was born in 1877.
It was also in 1877 that Jurdy Hughes was born to Lucinda W., who had married an unknown Hughes, year unknown. By 1879 she was in Piatt, Illinois and had married again to William Shalburg.
In 1880, George Mac Sr. and Eli were reunited with George Mac Jr. and Addie and living in Arkansas:
1880 ARKANSAS WASHINGTON CO FAYETTEVILLE
17 June 1880 by J. F. SIMONDS
257
MCKINNEY George W wm 48 Head given as single rather than widowed carpenter b. OH father b. Ireland mother b. PA
George W. Jr.wm 18 Son b. IA father b. OH mother b. PA
Addie M. wf 15 Daughter b. IA (has not been in school)
Eli W. wm 3 Son b. IA
258
MARTIN George W. 37 carpenter b. IA father b. VA
MARTIN Mary W 31 b. MO parents b. NY
John 12 b. IA
Frank 13 b. IA
Albert 4 b. TX
Mose? 1 b. MO
1881-1882, Addie married Samuel Alvin McWhirt. Then in 1883, George Washington McKenney Jr. married Belle Sparks. By 1884, James Preston Tripp, who will be the second husband of Mary Elizabeth Sparks, married first Jennie McWhirt, a sibling of Samuel Alvin McWhirt.
In 1885, George Mac Sr. was living in Cedar Vale, Chautauqua, KS but the census gives him as being in Center, probably working with his son George Mac Jr.
KS State Census – 1885 KS Chautauqua Co. Center
G. W. McKenney 48 carpenter widowed b. OH from Iowa
George McKenney 22 married carpenter b. Iowa
Ancestry.com
In 1886 George Mac Sr. seems to have been in Helena, Phillips, Arkansas, then in 1887 he married Alice Tilson in Rogersville, Hawkins, Tennessee. She was 30 years his junior, 26 years of age. They settled in Indian Territory in Oklahoma. I’ve been unable to locate George in the 1900 census. He reappears in 1905. Alice Tilson does not. I don’t know what happened to her.
1905 State Census, Chautauqua, Chautauqua, Kansas
9/9 REVLETT J S 28 b. Osage Nation from Osage Nation
A L 28 b. IA from IA
Tessie 6 b. KS from KS
L 4
10/10 LYNN RS 40 b. IN from COL
F E 41 b. IL from COL
Lura 11 b. IL from IL
Edith 9 b. IL from COL
11/11 HENDERSON J L 33 b. PA from OH
ME 31 b. IL from IL
CANVILLE Rena10 b. Osage Nation
12/12 CALLAHAN W L 23 b. Osage Nation
Anna (line 6) 26 b. Iowa from Osage Nation
Leo 7 b.Osage Nation from Osage Nation
Charles 5 b. Osage Nation
Mary 3 b. KS from KS
Gertrude 1 b. KS from KS
FERRELL M 49
SHAW Adie 20 b. Osage Nation from ON
AVERY Emma 23 b. KS from KS
SHAW Robert 15 b. Osage Nation from ON
13/13 NESSELROAD W B 26 b. WV and LB 20 b. KS
14/14 MCKINNEY George 43 (line 19) b. Iowa from Iowa carpenter
Belle 37 b. Illinois from Illinois
May Belle 16 b. KS from KS
Carrie 7 b. OK from OK
G W 73 b. OH from Iowa common laborer
15/15 MCKENNEY Albert 21 b. KS from KS carpenter
Vera 19 b. KS from KS
16/16 GODWIN J F 35 b. IN from IN
Emma 33 b. MO from MO
V… 7 female b. KS from KS
James 6
Arthur 7
Carl infant
MCCORMAC Weltha 20
He is again in the 1910 census with his son, George Mac Jr.
G. W. Sr. is living with is son G. W. Jr in Chautauqua. They are both given as James. An unknown Clara SPARKS is in the household.
1910 CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY BELLEVILLE TOWNSHIP CENSUS
7/7
McKENNEY James m w 47 m. 26 years b. Iowa f-Ohio m-Pennsylvania
Bell f w 42 b. Illinois f-Indiana m-Indiana
Carrie f w 12 b. Kansas f-Iowa m-Illinois
James W. (father) m w age 78 b. Ohio f-Ireland m-Pennsylvania
SPARKS Clara (reads may be mother’s sister) f w 76 had 9 children, 4 surviving, b.Ind father-Ohio mother-Maryland
That census is a mess. Both Georges are given as James. Clara Sparks I can only assume to be Carrie Sparks, the mother of Belle. She was born in Indiana and her mother was born in Maryland but her father was born in Ohio.
George Mac Sr. died at the age of 84.
Below is what I’ve put together that possibly supports Isabella having been Ioway.
THE IOWAY INDIAN CONNECTION
In 1820 G. W. McKenney Sr.’s family (he isn’t yet born) is living in Belmont Co. OH. There is also a Major James McKenney there. McKenneys belonging to these two families were the only ones in Belmont at that time. I don’t know if James is related to our family or not (our family arrived in the U.S. in the late 1790s to early 1800s) but they may have known each other from the area as members of both McKenney families later moved to Iowa at the same time and are in one census living next to each other In 1820 this Major James McKenney is residing next to several Day families in Belmont who are related to a Major John Campbell, through Margaret Riley Shirley, stepmother of Nancy Shirley, who married Major John Campbell in 1822. Margaret Riley Shirley is living in neighboring Guernsey County. Her son, Richard Riley, is in Belmont and is married to Elizabeth Day. It’s her father, Samuel, who is one of the several Days living next to James McKenney. Richard and Dennis Riley are living within the next few households as well. Major John Campbell was out west by the early 1820s and in 1822 was licensed to trade with the Sac and Fox. His son, Vance Murray Campbell, married an Ioway woman before 1822. They had a son and are believed to have had a couple of daughters. Vance married another Ioway woman before 1839 and had an Ioway family that was well known, and married yet again another Ioway woman and had another daughter. I think it’s notable there was an Ioway connection with Belmont County, in which the McKenneys were living, by 1822.
Also living in Guernsey County is Lavinia Shannon Anderson, whose brother George Shannon was a member of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery (who encountered the Ioway). Her son will be living 3 households from one of the John McKenneys in Guernsey in 1840. I only note this because this means there would have been stories of the west floating around.
In 1825-1829 Isabella was born.
In 1832, George Washington McKenney Sr. was born.
1838 finds McKenneys in Van Buren, Iowa–two males living in the household of a William McKenney. They aren’t observed there after 1838. It’s possible they were related to George Mac Sr. as the area they were settled in is the same where McKenneys and their relations will be settled later. Neighboring families are all early pioneers, including Joshua W. Baker who works for the Sac and Fox as a blacksmith, and his sons will later become traders to the Sac and Fox. This Baker family married into my Hackney family soon (Hackneys later marry the McKenneys in Chautauqua Co. KS but would have known them in Van Buren, Iowa) and continued in the profession of traders for a couple generations. By the 1850s they are in Kansas at the Kaw Mission, working there, where one daughter marries the missionary to the Kaw, Thomas Sears Huffaker. Later, two of their children move to Oklahoma and are instrumental traders with the Osage there founding a couple towns. Also living in that area of Iowa in 1838 is a Caldwell family that marries into my Hackney family (the same that married into the Bakers). The Caldwells have been living literally next to the Sac and Fox Black Hawk and gave themselves as friends of Keokuk and his family and Wapello. At one point dragoons came in to move out squatters and burned all the houses excepting the Caldwells. The Caldwells were for some reason allowed to stay on the condition they run a ferry for the Sac and Fox reserve. One account gives them as living at Iowaville. Joshua Pilcher (who married Barada, relative of the Great Nemaha Reserve Baradas) also appears to be in the census there this year. He dies in St. Louis in several years.
In 1845, a Wilson McKenney is born in Iowa, probably in Van Buren. His parents are given as 1/2 white amd 1/2 Sac and Fox, but his daughter at one point gives him instead as Sac and Fox and Ioway, and he attended the school on the Great Nemaha Reserve and enlisted in the army out of Richardson County, Nebraska. (George Washington McKenney Sr., after the death of his Ioway wife, married an unknown woman and named their son Eli Wilson. I don’t know if there might be a family name kind of connection.)
By 1846 a whole group of relations of the McKenneys (including one of my McKenney families) have moved to Van Buren, Iowa. Robert Eugene McKenney returned to Ohio before moving back out west. In 1848-1849, William, another supposed brother of G. W.’s is in Van Buren, Iowa. Among these individuals who went to Iowa and returned was, I believe, G. W. McKenney Sr. who married Isabella Love in 1849. My belief right now is he must have met her in Iowa. They are in Ohio in 1850 as is one of the other McKenney families who traveled back and forth between Iowa and Ohio a number of times.
Interestingly, it is now, beginning in 1849-1850, that a whole other group of relations and neighbors sets out from Ohio for what will become the Ioway’s Great Nemaha Reserve. An entire neighborhood of relations and neighbors. They migrate first to Holt County, Missouri and are on the Great Nemaha Reserve of Half Breed Indians soon after it opens. These families were the Firebaughs, Heastons and Fourneys. In the 1840 census they were living next door to the Shaffers and Bartows who moved to Van Buren after 1845, and the Pickens families who had married into the Bartows.
In 1852 it is now that the Baker family, who had been with the Sac and Fox (blacksmith, traders), go to the Kaw reserve (again blacksmithing) where a daughter marries the missionary Huffaker.
Robert Eugene McKenney and family had returned to Iowa and were in Council Bluffs in 1852. They then moved further out west, but returned at least twice more to Ohio, counted in the 1860 and 1880 census there.
A Kelsey family living next to my McKenneys in Van Buren about now are also part of a Kelsey family found living in an area in Fremont where the Indian Nemaha Reserve Kencleurs, Flourys and Livermores are located. This Kelsey family is also associated with a Cutler family in the area and in 1867 this Cutler family will marry into the Spoonamore family who have not yet married into the Ioway. This family will be living next to my G. W. McKenney sr. in 1880. (The Cutlers were Mormons who settled in Indian Territory for quite a while, and also went down into Kansas to serve as missionaries to the Potawatomie which led to a break with them from the Mormon church. I don’t know if they were preaching to the Indian families in Fremont but had settled there after being moved off Sac and Fox land.)
In 1854 the Sac and Fox Wilson McKenney is attending the Ioway Indian Mission School. Around this time the McKenneys move back out to Van Buren, Iowa and seem to roam around with Van Buren as a base.
In 1855, John Baptiste Roy is in the Richardson census with two others–a John Sperry, blacksmith, and a carpenter by the name of Thomas Lytle, who is working on the reserve. Thomas Lytle will marry a woman named Louisa Leavell (Leavel) whose family may have known the Campbell family who later marries Martha, a daughter of G. W. McKenney and Isabella (this Campbell family was not related to Major John Campbell). In 1855 the Leavels move from Missouri to Richardson County, and the neighbors the Leavels had in Missouri will be the ones the Campbells have in Missouri to where they migrate in 1854.I know some of the Campbell children go back and forth now between Missouri and Iowa. Anyway, after Thomas Lytle dies, Louisa next marries in Richardson a William S. Freel whose family is also in Van Buren, Iowa in 1850, living next to some Douds, where my McKenney family will be living in 1860. More Freels, cousins, are living right next to the Baker-Huffaker family in Kansas. (William Leavel dealt in whiskey. Nebraska history states, “The first white settler outside of the “Half Breed Tract” was a man named Level, who in the spring of 1854, dug a hole in the side of a hill near the townsite of Archer, and kept whiskey to sell to Indians.”)
In 1860, Robert Eugene McKenney, having returned to Ohio, has as a neighbor a family related to Virginia Boggs who after this moves to Nebraska and marries George Neff abt 1865, the same year Winnie Neff’s daughter marries the Great Nemaha Reserve’s William Deroin. Winnie was living with George Neff in 1860 after the death of her parents. Virginia dies in St. Deroin. Her son, William B. Neff, will marry the Great Nemaha Reserve’s Millie E. Tesson. George Neff’s brother, Daniel, is living beside the Ioway Charles Roubidoux and Catherine in 1860 in Richardson County. George Neff will later marry the Ioway Josephine Deroin.
So, 1860. All those extended relations and neighbors of the McKenneys back in Ohio are now on the Great Nemaha Reserve and according to the census are living next to the Kenceleurs, Benoists, Picottes, Charles Roubidoux, and in Falls City are living next to Peter Livermore and Joseph Vetter and John Roy. Thomas Lytle is living next to them also beside the Roy and Vetter families. (Reiterating, Lytle is the one who was a carpenter to the Ioway and married the Leavell girl whose family at least shared neighbors with the Campbells who married my McKenneys.) These families will remain in Richardson. Another part of those families has moved instead to Wolf River in Doniphan, Kansas and will stay there for several decades.
1862, the Sac and Fox Wilson McKenney enlists in the army out of Falls City.
In St. Louis, Clarissa Van Bergen Pilcher, whose father was a “favorite” of Joshua Pilcher who married the Ioway Barada (one account gives this Pilcher as going to St. Louis with him), marries a Thomas Anderson Moore from the McKenney’s area of Ohio and is related to the friends and relations of the McKeneys who are living on the Nemaha Reserve. An aunt of this Moore then move to live next to my extended McKenney relations in Van Buren, Iowa.
1867, the Campbells who had neighborhood connections with the Leavell girl, now marry into my McKenney family.
1872 is when the Osage move down to Oklahoma. It is also about now that the Ioway Isabella McKenney is said to have died in Kansas during a cattle drive down to Oklahoma. It is now that the Hackney family (related to the McKenneys, Bakers, Huffakers) moves from Van Buren to Chautuaqua Co. next to the Osage Reserve.
As noted, Addie McKenney had said that she had “grown up Indian”, and that after her mother died she was boarded out. The censuses back up the boarding out. I find in 1875 she and her brother, my ancestor, boarded out at homes in Neosho County, Kansas. My G. W. McKenney Jr. is living in Osage Mission with a relative of the Spoonamores (the Spoonamores have yet to marry into the Ioway). Addie is with no one I know but lives next to one of the early pioneer families from Van Buren, Iowa. The rest of the McKenney family can’t be found but were presumably back in Iowa.
By 1879 G. W. McKenney Sr. is reported by a news article as living in Chautauqua Co. KS. As are his children.
In 1880, once again, this time down in Arkansas, close relations of the Spoonamore family are living next door to G. W. McKenney Sr. These are the people who had married into those who had come down from Fremont, Iowa.
George Neff, who had been married to Virginia Boggs in 1866, marries Josephine Deroin.
Relations of the people G. W. McKenney Jr. was boarding with in 1875 (also from the same area of Ohio, had moved to Brown Co. KS about 1870) marry into the Simmonds family now, who haven’t yet married Ioway, but when they do it will be the Ogdens who also marry into the Neff, Deroin and Roubidoux families.
Addie McKenney married Samuel McWhirt about 1881 and settles on the Osage Reserve. She had been boarded at one time with these McWhirts whose profession was building houses for Indians in trade for horses. The McWhirts also married into the Big Heart and Strike Axe Osage families.
George W. McKenney was by now living in Cedar Vale, Kansas.
In 1887 the Spoonamores finally marry into the Roy Ioway/Osage line descended from Pagrachena and Jean Baptiste Roy.
In 1887 G. W. McKenney Sr. had remarried again, a young woman from Tennessee, and they disappear for several decades into Oklahoma, family believes it was in the Cherokee area. G. W. McKenney Jr. lives on the Osage Reserve and over in Kay County until 1900 when he finally settles in Chautauqua County for good.
By 1900, a close relation of the McKenneys marries Antwine Rodman, Osage. Others are living next to the Frank and Mary Denoya family–Frank’s mother was Martha Lessert, daughter of Julia Roy. The William Franklin Family (wife had been a daughter of Pagrachena) is living next to Louis Leonard Denoya, another son of Martha Lessert and Francis Denoya. By 1910 Martha Lessert will live next to Antoine Rodman. Meanwhile, Rosa Denoya Pearson is living next to Addie McKenney McWhirt. The Ravlette’s (a grandson of Mary Roy) are living next to extended family in Chautauqua who were traders to the Osage in Chautauqua, some of this family then moving to Barada, Richardson, Nebraska. The Ravlette’s will eventually live next to the McKenneys.
The Ioway Frank Murphy family, related to the Roys/Spoonamores, moves to Cedar Vale in Chautauqua and is living amongst the Choteaus, Revards, Fullers and Moncravies. Frank Murphy is married to Amy Moncrovie, daughter of Elizabeth Loise and granddaughter of Mary Jane Barada who has moved to Chautauqua and will die there. The Fullers are descended from Mary Jane Barada as well.
Then in 1920 Laura Mae Revelette (granddaughter of Mary Louise Roy, sister of John Baptiste who married Pagrachena) is living next to my McKenneys in Chautauqua. Her husband, a Choctaw/Chahta, is mayor. Interestingly, my G. W. McKenney Jr. is given a little while later in a news article as having been mayor of Chautauqua. His half-brother lived in Mississippi, the McKenneys were going to visit and the the paper was reporting on the pending visit. He never was a mayor of Chautauqua and I wonder if perhaps a story had been told of his being related to a mayor instead and this was mixed up. It occurred to me this was possible after seeing this census. (Laura’s brother lived around the McKenneys for a couple of decades.)
In 1920, McKenney relations are now living right next door to the Ioway Franklins and Spoonamores in Kay County, Oklahoma. In 1929 they marry.
In 1930, a relation of the McKenneys marries Charles Fuller Jr., son of Osage Charles fuller who was a grandson of Mary Jane Barada. The widow of this Charles Fuller Sr. has remarried and is living next to my McKenneys.
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