Alphus James and Family

Alright so I've been working on the James family for quite some time and still have some questions.  So what better way to possibly get some answered than to ask my family :)  so James's! if you know the answer or have any information pleeease comment and let me know!  But first here is what I have (See bottom of post for questions)

Alphus James was born November 11, 1891 in Bollinger County, Missouri.
His parents were Caleb Lorance James and Rebecca Robbins (Interesting tidbit: Both of their fathers served together in the Civil War)

He had the following siblings:

• Thomas Franklin James
• Isom E. James
• Della James
• Rosa James
• Pearl James
• Myrtle James

 He is located in the following census records:

• 1900: Fillmore Township, Bollinger County, Missouri (Listed as child of head of house Caleb L. James, born in November 1889. He was born in Missouri as were both of his parents.  He had not attended school in the year 1900 and could not read or write)
• 1910: Clay Township, Dunklin, Missouri (Listed as hired man in the home of Elyte Killbreth at age 18. He was single and both parents were born in missouri.  His job was as a farm laborer and his occupation general farming.  He could not read or write, had not attended school in the year of 1909, was out of work for 12 weeks in 1909, but was not out of work on April 15, 1910.)
• 1920: Clay Township, Dunklin County, Missouri (Listed as a boarder in the home of Isom Mills at age 28.  He's listed as married.  Living there also is Dora James though she is listed as single, this must be in error.  He could now read and write and was a laborer on a farm.)

Alphus married Pearl Watkins, (born December 21, 1896) daughter of  John Watkins and Emma Gibbs sometime after 1910. I have yet to find their marriage record.

The two had the following children:

•  Ruby James born Feb 18, 1915 Hornersville, Dunklin, Missouri (married Enick Lincoln)
• Vercie Marie James born December 18, 1916 Hornersville, Dunklin, Missouri died May 11, 1917
• Orville James born April 7, 1918 Hronersville, Dunklin, Missouri (married Helen Golden)

 Pearl died October 24, 1918 of the Flu (the flu epidemic was going on at this time). On her death certificate it states that they were unable to get a doctor.

Alphus married Dora Fitzgerald on February 7, 1920 in Arkansas.

The two had the following children:

• Marie James born c. 1921
• Marvin James born July 23, 1922
• Hattie Lou James born December 23, 1926 Hornersville, Dunklin, Missouri died June 13, 1932 Webb City, Jasper, Missouri
• Charles Alphus James born c. 1929 Hornersville, Missouri

 In the 1930 census Dora is listed as a widow which means Alphus may have died between 1929-1930. However in the death notice for Hattie Lou it says that he is surviving.  This is one of my questions for you family :) Which I'll address at the end of this post.  Also interesting: Grandpa Orville is not living with Dora, Ruby, Marie, Marvin, Hattie, and Charles in the 1930 census. He is living with J.K. Gibbs who would have been his mother Pearl's uncle.

  The following records exist for Alphus (that I could find):

• World War I Registration Card:
• As you can see from this he was now living in Hornersville (where Grandpa James was born).  He was married (to Pearl Watkins) and had one child (Aunt Ruby).  He was a farmer.  Physically he had a medium slender build, had blue eyes and brown hair.  He could not sign his name (See "x" for his mark).

 

• Newspaper clipping for the death of his daughter Hattie Lou James written on June 14, 1932 in the Joplin Globe. As you can see there are some discrepancies.  It does not mention Ruby, Orville, or Charles. It also is saying that Alphus is alive where the 1930 census has Dora stating she is a widow.

So here are my questions:

1. Does anyone know when Alphus James died?
2. What happened to Marie and Charles Alphus James?
3. Does anyone know the marriage date of Alphus and Pearl?
4. What happened to Dora?
5. Has there ever been any contact with Alphus siblings? 
6. Do you have any sort of information or remember any stories about this branch of the family?
7. Do you have any questions for me? 
8. Any further comments are appreciated :)

Hopefully this was informative!  

Hollenbeck breakthrough

First of all - How are the Hollenbecks related?

The most recent Hollenbeck in my tree is  Sophia Hollenbeck who married Herman Joseph Gerling. So for a line of descendant

•  Johann Heinrich Hollenbeck (prev. info had as Herman Heinrich) m. Maria Catherina Wolking
• Herman Heinrich Hollenbeck m. Margaretta Adelaide Lammers
• Sophia Hollenbeck m. Herman Joseph Gerling
• Louis Gerling m. Veronica Bax (and these are probably the names you my family are most familiar with :) )

So for years, I kind of have been toying with this particular branch of my family.  I've looked at it, glanced around ancestry, didn't find anything and gave up for a little while.  It wasn't that I wasn't interested in this particular family name, but I was always searching more in depth on another name and once I'd hit a brick wall would come back and toy with this one. Should I have put more focus on it? Maybe.  But I tend to bounce around depending on how much frustration I feel like I can handle :)

This is the information that I had to work on, supplied from the following site: Descendants of Herman Hollenbeck.  For those who don't want to click on the link, basically:

Herman Heinrich Hollenbeck b. about 1790 in Cologne, Oldenburg, Germany d. Before 1860 Osage County, Missouri married Maria Catherina Wolking b. 1799 Oldenburg, Germany d. January 1864 Crawford Twp, Osage, Missouri.

Something about their being born in Cologne didn't quite seem to fit for me, and I was also having difficulty finding when they immigrated to the states.  According to their son Herman Heinrich Hollenbeck in the 1900 census he immigrated in 1851 and for the longest time I was looking for immigration records after that date.

To my surprise he came up in the 1850 census living in Cole, Missouri - which means, the family immigrated before 1851.

With this new piece of information I went hunting again, but this time I tried searching with his sister's name Catherina - and sure enough! there they were!

 

On May 26, 1842 on the J N Adami, the Hollenbeck family consisting of Johann Heinrich, Catherina (his wife), and children Herman and Catherina arrived in New Orleans, Lousiana.  Their native town was Hunteburg and they were from Holdorf.  Their final destination was listed as St. Louis. What sort of luggage did they bring? 2 chests and 2 bags.   I have copy and paste on this document to make it more easily read.  Our ancestor did not  travel in the cabin, instead they were in steerage. 

Imagine, starting a whole new life in a new country with only 2 chests and 2 bags holding your belongings.  I pack a suitcase for a week (Yes I overpack)!

To keep this blog post short, I will stop here :) But expect more on this family, because I was able to order the Holdorf/Hunteburg microfilm from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, UT.  I was able to find records of Johann and Catherina's children (2 of which I didn't know about) and a couple trails to follow.

If you have any information on the Hollenbeck's you want to share :) please feel free to comment!!