52 Ancestors: #42 - Mary Ann Winstead (1821 NC -1889 MO)

Mary Ann Winstead was born in October 1821 in Person County, North Carolina to William Wisntead and Sarah Morrow Winstead.  Mary Ann married Charles Yancy Trice in January 1841 in Hopkins County, Kentucky.

Mary Ann and Charles had at least 14 children. At say, at least, because there may be some I haven't identified, although some family records just say they had 14.

Sarah Jane Trice (1841 KY - 1929 KS) married William Sanford Townsend in 1868in DeKalb County, Missouri.  I believe they had 8 children.

Unity Smith Trice (1842 KY – 1929 MO) married Nathan Coleman Newby abut 1865, probably in Missouri.  They had at least 4 children.

Julia Ann Trice (1844 KY – 1922 KS) married Johnson M. Joiner in 1865 in DeKalb County, Missouri and had at least 14 children.  I don’t know the names of 3 of the children and I am assuming that they died at a young age.

John Louis Trice (1846 KY – 1936 MO) married Margaret Priscilla “Maggie” Smith in 1872 in DeKalb County, Missouri and they had at least 3 children.

James Nelson Trice (1847 KY – 1892 MO) married Amanda Lee Thurston in 1882 in Boone County, Missouri and they had at least 3 children.

George Washington Trice (1849 KY - 1924 MO). I believe he married at had at least one child but no information is known about either.

Joel Alexander Trice (1851 MO - 1923 KS) married Lucy Honora Smith in 1877 in DeKalb County, Missouri.  They had at least one daughter.

Charles Yancy Trice, Jr (1853 MO - 1915 AR) married Paralee Steen or Steele.  They had two children.  Then he married Luna Estelle Drake and had three daughters, one of whom died at age 9.

William Monroe Trice (1855 MO - 1940 MO) married three times, I believe: Mary Herron, Lizzie       McIlvane and Geraldine Lewis and may have had at least 5 children.

Henry Thomas Trice (1856 MO – 1940 KS) married Clara Morgan in 1887 and they had one daughter.

Mary Elizabeth Trice (1858 MO – 1944 MO) married George Arthur Butterfield about 1880 and they had 3 sons.

Oliver Cutler Trice (1860 MO – 1901 KY) married Mary Alice Ferril in 1886 in Missouri.  I believe they divorced and Mary remarried.

Marona Amner Trice (1863 MO – 1949 FL) married John F. Short about 1882.  They may have had a daughter.

Hattie Morrow Trice (1866 MO – 1945 ?) – I don’t believe she ever married and I don’t know where she was living when she died.

Mary Ann Winstead Trice died in August 1889 in Missouri and is buried in Packard Cemetery in Cameron, Clinton County, Missouri.

If you are interested in any of these family members, please contact me so that we can work together on finding more information and documentation.

52 Ancestors: #37 - Paralee Steen or Steele (abt 1857 MO-1893 KS)

Paralee (or Parlee, or a variety of other spellings) is a mystery to me, and to all of the other researchers I have had contact with.  She was born about 1857, probably in Missouri.  Her parents are unknown. 

She married Charles Yancy Trice, Jr on 19 November 1878 in Henry County, Missouri.  Copies of this marriage record are online.  Parlee and Charles are listed in the 1880 census, with no children.  They had two children:  Harriet “Hattie” Antoinette (1885-1947) and Odon Charles (1886-1940).  The death certificates available in Missouri records show that their mother is Parlee Steen/Steene, etc.   

In the 1900 census Charles and his wife Lena are enumerated with these two children as well as two daughters that Charles and Lena had, although Ruth was born before Parlee died, but she is Lena’s.  In all records including the obituaries for Charles, Hattie and Don are mentioned as is their mother Paralee. 

Paralee died on 3 December 1893 in El Dorado, Butler County, Kansas, and is buried in the Belle Vista Cemetery in that town.  Her death date is listed in the county court records.  There is no mention of parents.

Therefore, I am looking for records for Parlee including her parent’s names, her birth record (if possible), and a death record that lists more than just her date of death, if possible. 

If you have any information to help me solve this mystery, I would love to collaborate on this research. 

52 Ancestors: #35 - Charles Yancy Trice, Jr (1853 MO -1915 AR)

Charles Yancy Trice is both a mystery and an open book.  C.Y. Trice was born on 28 October 1853 in Cameron, Clinton County, Missouri.  His parents were Charles Yancy Trice, Sr and Mary Ann Winstead.  C.Y. was the eighth child of fourteen and the fifth son.

He was a promoter, salesman, and land advocate (real estate agent for farm lands).  At least two promotional books, talking about the benefits of purchasing farm land from him in the area he was promoting at the time (Kansas or Missouri), were written.  I have copies of each of them.  [Unfortunately I haven’t taken the time to transcribe them yet.  These are on my to-do list, when I have nothing else to do that is more important at the particular time.]  Charles served as mayor of Lamar, Barton County, Missouri, about 1898 or 1899 for 1 or 2 years. 

When Col. Trice died in 1915 [Col. was an honorary title], he was in Little River County, Arkansas. There were very long obituaries written in the papers in both Ashdown, Arkansas and Lamar, Missouri.  So, this is the area where there is a lot of information. 

So, what’s the mystery?  In both obituaries two wives are mentioned:  Miss Paralee  M. Steen (two children) and Miss Lena Estelle Drake (three children).  C.Y. and Lena raised the two children from his first marriage, and the story in the family was that Paralee died and the two children were left without a mother.  HOWEVER, it appears that C.Y. and Lena were married, or at least had one daughter, before Paralee died in 1893 in Kansas. 

The mystery continues.  There is a marriage record for Charles and Paralee.  There is a death record for Paralee.  I have been unable to find a divorce record for Charles and Paralee AND I have been unable to find a marriage record for Charles and Lena.  Considering that C.Y. had a good relationship with Lena’s father, I am assuming that there was an actual wedding between C.Y. and Lena.  But with first daughter Ruth born in 1891, to Charles and Lena, BUT court documents in El Dorado, Kansas show that Paralee died in 1893, I don’t know exactly what happened when. 

I have LOTS of information and documents on this family, many of them original.  I am definitely willing to share what I have.

SOooo…If you are interested in this family, and this mystery, or can help me solve this mystery, please contact me. 

Mystery Monday - Trice Marrage to Steen/Steele Again

Last fall I posted information regarding the first wife of Charles Y Trice (1853-1915).  Well, I've discovered some more information, but it's still leading to questions.  This is a lengthy explanation since I'm trying to work out all of the details for myself as well as asking for help from all of you. 

According to a familysearch index (I need to look at the actual film) Parral Lee Steen married C Y Trice in Henry County, Missouri in 1878. 

Then, according to online death records for Missouri for the two children of Trice and Steen, Harriet Trice Sheley's death certificate says her mother's name was Perilee Steene born near Joplin, Missouri.  Odon Trice's death certificate says his mother's name was Paralee Steen born in Joplin, Missouri.  So I have some consistency.  Unfortunately I can't find any Steen(e) with a first name with Per* or Par* in 1870 or 1860 census records.  And in the 1880 census with Trice, her age is given as 23, which would indicate she was born about 1857.  Any suggestions?

Then to make matters worse, on FindAGrave the headstone for Paralee Trice, wife of C Y Trice, shows 1847-1893.  So how old is she?

Then, the other mystery.  In 1900 census, Charles Trice is married to Lena and, in error it says they have been married for 15 years.  So what's wrong?  I know that Odon and Hattie are not Lena's children, but children by Charles's first marriage.  Since Ruth was listed as being born in  November 1892, but Paralee didn't die until 1893, is there a divorce record?  Where can I find that? 

Lastly, family lore states that Charles Trice married Luna/Lena Drake in 1890 or 1891 in Franklin, Indiana, or around there.  I have been unable to find a record of this marriage. 

So, I need a marriage record for Charles Trice and Luna/Lena Drake.
I need a birth record for Ruth Trice stating her parents' names, just to make sure she is the daughter of Lena. 
I need a divorce record for Charles Trice and Paralee, if the Trice/Drake marriage took place before Paralee died. 
I would like to find out the names of the parents of Paralee Steen(e). 
I would like to have a death record for Paralee Steen(e) Trice, not just a photo of the headstone.

All suggestions are appreciated.  Thank you.

Mystery Monday - Paralee Steen(e)/Steele TRICE

This mystery woman married my great grandfather Charles Yancy Trice.  On her headstone in Belle Vista Cemetery, El Dorado, Kansas, it states “Paralee, Wife of C Y Trice” and the dates 1847-1893. 

In the History of Boone County Missouri, “He was married November 19th, 1878, to a daughter of Alfred R Steele.”  Unfortunately the book doesn’t say anything more about her.  I have not found her or her father in 1850, 1860 or 1870 census records.  The 1880 census records show that she was born about 1857, not 1847, as the headstone.  But we know that a wife may not want to indicate that she is older than her husband. 

On the death certificate of Odon Charles Trice it states that his mother was Paralee Steen, born in Joplin, Missouri.  On the death certificate of his sister Harriet Trice Sheley it says her mother was Perilee Steene, born near Joplin, Missouri.

An obituary for Charles Yancy Trice stated that “By his first marriage to Miss Paralee M Steen…” 

So the family has her maiden name as Steen.  The history book has her father’s surname as Steele.  I have been unable to find her, or her father, with either spelling.

So, who is she?  Who were her parents?  Are there any birth or marriage records for her?   Do any of you have any knowledge of her?  Do you have access to a death record for her that may give more information?