Uncle Who??

This post is especially meant for those who attended the Witham Family reunion this year.

When people starting arriving at the meeting hall, we noticed some whispers like, "Who is that?" "He's from Uncle Charley's family." "Well, who is Uncle Charley?", and, "Who is that? "She's from Uncle Clay's family." "Well, who is Uncle Clay?" So, we saw the need for a quick family history lesson so everyone would know how we are all related - an unplanned and unrehearsed family history lesson. I thought I could handle this, but I ended up goofing it up. I tried to cover too much information in a short period without any notes or visual references. I had brain lock. Sometimes I think I talk so fast that my mouth outruns my brain. So, sorry for screwing that up, but that's ok. I've had time to think about how I should have handled it, had I planned ahead and been prepared. I will do better next year and we can try again for the new folks at the reunion.

In the meantime, this is what I SHOULD have said. I'm going to give this in 3 versions, an overly simple version for those who like it short and sweet, a version with a little more information, and finally, the long version for those who like to know all the details.

Everyone who attended the reunion this year fell into one of two family lines. You were either from Uncle Clay's family or Gpa Charley's family.

SHORT AND SWEET (cut to the chase):
Uncle Clay and Gpa Charley were brothers.

A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION:
Uncle Clay and Gpa Charley are both sons of Francis Calvin Witham. Uncle Clay is the first (and only) son of Francis Calvin Witham with his first wife, Martha "Mattie" McDonald. Gpa Charley is the oldest son of Francis Calvin Witham with his second wife, Mary Susan "Molly" Rains. So, technically, Uncle Clay and Gpa Charley are half brothers. They have the same dad, but different moms. However, when I talk about my family, I don't really like to use terms like "half" and "step", but technically that's the case.

LONG, DETAILED VERSION:
I want to focus on Francis Calvin Witham. Not just in this version of the story, but I want to focus on him A LOT on this website because he is the man that all of us Jacksonville Withams have in common. As far as I know, every person who has ever attended our Jacksonville area reunion is related to Francis Calvin Witham.

To relate him to someone you probably know from Gpa Charley's family, he is the grandfather of Aunt Myrtle, Aunt Mary, Uncle Hank, my Gpa Tom, Uncle Ed, Uncle Warren, Aunt Marjorie, Aunt Betty, and Uncle Ray.

Francis Calvin Witham was born and raised in Kentucky. If you look back through the census records, you will see that while growing up, his family lived near another family, The McDonalds. Francis Calvin Witham fell in love with one of the McDonald girls, Martha ("Mattie"). They married and had a baby boy together. They named him Alexander Clay Witham (Uncle Clay). This sounds like the making of a storybook romance. Two young kids grew up near each other. When they grew older, they fell in love, got married, and had a baby. Unfortunately, this love story ended in tragedy. Shortly after giving birth to Uncle Clay, Mattie McDonald passed away. We don't know exactly how she died, but it was less than 6 months after Uncle Clay was born. This left Francis Calvin alone with baby (Uncle) Clay. While this is a tragedy for Uncle Clay's family, Uncle Charley's family wouldn't exist if it didn't happen the way it did.

Francis Calvin remarried. He married a lady named Mary Susan "Molly" Rains.

FC & Molly Witham. Kids: Ed, Til

FC & Molly Witham. Kids Unknown

Together, Francis Calvin and Molly had 8 kids of their own. Including Uncle Clay, there were 9 children total. 

The family continued living in Kentucky until 1912, when Francis Calvin Witham moved his family (of mostly farm workers) from Kentucky to Morgan County Illinois to look for work. 

At the reunion this year, I was asked a question by cousin Jeff Dixon about the Withams that are still in Kentucky. I think I misunderstood his question at the time. I think he was asking me, "If Francis Calvin Witham moved his family to Illinois, then who are the Withams that are still in Kentucky?" While Francis Calvin Witham moved HIS family from Kentucky to Illinois, he had brothers, sisters, and cousins who stayed behind in Kentucky. Basically, most of our Withams from Illinois are the family of Francis Calvin Witham. Most of our Withams in Kentucky are the family of Francis Calvin Witham's brothers, sisters, cousins, etc... Several of the Kentucky Withams have found our website and we have made contact with several of their family lines. A few years ago, our cousins Becky and Jackie (from Uncle Clay's family line) made a trip to Kentucky to meet with our Kentucky relatives and explore the area where our family settled. 

So we can get a little better understanding of who everyone is, let's take a closer look at the 9 children of Francis Calvin Witham. 

Of the 9 children of Francis Calvin Witham, four of them have been represented at our Jacksonville area family reunion in the past years, that I'm aware of. Those four are:

Uncle Clay

Uncle Clay

Uncle Clay & Aunt Lieu

Uncle Clay was married to Lieu Bell and they lived on a farm near Berlin, IL. Our family would sometimes go out to his house for Sunday lunch, but not too often, because it was a distance away and there was no good way to get there easily. Everyone says Uncle Clay and Aunt Lieu were some of the sweetest people you could ever meet. And if you notice the photo of Uncle Clay, he was very tall.

Uncle Clay and Aunt Lieu had 5 children: Annie, Addie Lee, Prentice, Evelyn, and V. Walter.

Uncle Clay has been very well represented at our reunions in the past few years. His great grandson, Warren Smith, brings more and more folks with him to the reunion every year, including Warren's father, Wendell, and Warren's wife, Connie, as well as their kids and grandkids. That's awesome. Uncle Clay was also represented in 2011 by his great granddaughters, Becky and Jackie, who flew in from California and Arizona, and his grandson, Charles Richard Koehler (and wife, Nancey).

Uncle Bill

Uncle Bill & Aunt Zella with Ruby and Gertrude

Uncle Bill was a farmer and a politician. He was a republican and served as the County Commissioner for Morgan County Illinois.

Uncle Bill and Aunt Zella had 3 children: Ruby, Gertrude, and Billy Jean.

Uncle Bill has been represented at our reunion by Cousin Bucky Leadill, his wife, Connie, and daughter, Tracy Leadill Mulquin. He was also represented in years past by the Ryan family.

Aunt Jen

Aunt Jen

Aunt Jen & Aunt Ex

Aunt Jen's name is Janie Cate Witham, but everyone calls her Aunt Jen. She was married to William Sparks. They had 2 children, William Sparks and Lucy Gordon Sparks.

Aunt Jen has been represented at our reunion by her granddaughters, Sandy Sparks McCurley and Marilyn Yost.

Grandpa Charley

Gpa Charley & Gma Josie Witham
Kids: Aunt Myrtle & Aunt Mary

Gpa Charley & Gma Josie Witham
with all 9 of their sons and daughters

Grandpa Charley and Grandma Josie had 9 kids: Aunt Myrtle, Aunt Mary, Uncle Hank, my Gpa Tom, Uncle Ed, Uncle Warren, Aunt Marjorie, Aunt Betty, & Uncle Ray.

They have been very well represented at our reunion by many family members.

So, to recap...

Out of the 9 children of Francis Calvin Witham, 4 of them have been represented in recent years at our family reunions. That leaves 5 family lines that have not been well represented yet. Of the 5 lines that have not been well represented, 3 of them have no living family to represent them. They are:

Sarah K. Witham
Sarah Witham was born in December of 1885 and passed away in January of 1886, before she was one month old. Therefore, she has no living family to represent her at our reunions.

Matilda "Tilda" Witham

Aunt Ex & Aunt Til

Aunt Til never had kids, so she has no family line to represent her at the reunions.

Exonia "Aunt Ex" Witham

Aunt Jen & Aunt Ex

Aunt Ex married and had a daughter, Mary Jane Gillis, but Mary Jane never had any children, so there is no one left in their family line to represent them at our reunion.

So, to recap once again...

Out of the 9 children of Francis Calvin Witham, 4 of them have been represented in recent years at our family reunions. That leaves 5 family lines that have not been well represented yet. Of the 5 lines that have not been well represented, 3 of them have no living family to represent them. That leaves 2 family lines that have not been represented at our reunions in recent years, but still have living family members (as far as we know). They are:

Thomas Walter Witham

Francis Calvin & Mary Witham. Charley on left, Walter on right.
Bill between Gma & Gpa, Jen on Gpa's lap. Exonia on Gma's lap

Uncle Walter had a son, named Thomas Haskell Witham and a daughter named Edna. We don't know too much more about him yet, but cousin Becky is on the trail of this family, trying to track them down.

Edward Francis Witham

Francis Calvin and Mary Witham
Kids: Uncle Ed, Aunt Til

Uncle Edward had two daughters. One daughter was Marie Watson from the Granite City, IL area. The other daughter was Sue Dyer (married to Bill) from St. Louis.

If you can help us find either of these families (Uncle Thomas Walter's or Uncle Edward Francis'), please let us know. You can post a comment here or email me directly at Mike@WithamFamilyHistory.com.

So, to recap one last time... (I really like recaps, huh?)

Out of the 9 children of Francis Calvin Witham, 4 of them have been represented in recent years at our family reunions. That leaves 5 family lines that have not been well represented yet. Of the 5 lines that have not been well represented, 3 of them have no living family to represent them. That leaves 2 family lines that have not been represented at our reunions in recent years, but still have living family members (as far as we know).

I hope that helps to clarify who all the aunts and uncles are. If you have any questions, please post it in a comment below or email me directly and I'll see if I can find an answer for you.