Last time I shared what was going on, I told you all that I had finished the page for James Joseph McGhee and Mary Ann Neidigh and that I would begin working on the grandchildren of William and Rebecca.  The logical place to start was with the oldest child, Jemima Corel McGlothlin.

Ever since I have started working on researching our Corel family, Jemima has been the most difficult.  She died so early that there are very few records of her.  David McGlothlin moving the family back to Kentucky kept her children from being as connected with the Corel family as the other descendants were during the late 1800s and early 1900s.  Her son, Henry H. did come back to Kansas and lived with Rebecca Oney Corel, but he had no children.  His brother Shade later came to Kansas and settled near his brother in Linn County, Kansas and Corel Cousin Bobby Dobbins Title has done tremendous research on both brothers.  Jemima’s other two sons seem to ‘fall of the face of the Earth’, which most likely means that they died fairly young and probably without any children of their own.  So, that left me with researching on Jemima’s daughters.

Mary McGlothlin appears to have died fairly young herself.  She had two young sons, but after her husband remarried, I cannot find the boys.  I then began looking into Martha Jane McGlothlin.  A while back, I had seen some posts from one descendant of Martha Jane’s, but after several attempts to contact her, I have had no luck.  So, I started my research on the children of Martha Jane once more.  Martha is easier to track than her sister, because she had married twice and she had children from both marriages.  It has been a bit tricky to track down her son from her second marriage, as apparently there were several Charlie Pack’s living in Kentucky in the early 1900s.  So, I looked back at her first marriage and her children from that union.

The Kentucky records that are on Ancestry.com are spotty.  If you are lucky enough to have the right year, you can find a wealth of information.  If you are not so lucky, good luck in finding anything!  Luckily, the two oldest children of Martha Jane were born in the right years!  Henry Jefferson and Charles Johnson Spence are two children of Martha Jane that I have been able to trace.  It became much easier once I definitely ruled out the Samuel Jefferson that some people have connected to Martha Jane McGlothlin!  With census records and a grandson who died in a good year in Kentucky, I have also been able to partially piece together a third son, David Spence.

By then turning to Google to see what else I may be able to find, I found a wonderful conversation between two descendants of Henry Jefferson Spence.  Both posted emails in their forum posts, so I quickly emailed them both, hoping that at least one email would still be a good email.  Later that night, I was so very pleased when I heard back from a newly found Corel Cousin, Jan!

Jan’s husband, Mike, is our connection to Jemima Corel.  Henry Jefferson Spence married Mary Anna Ratliff in 1884.  Any of you who have researched on the families in Tazewell County, Virginia will certainly recognize the Ratliff name.  What I find to be most amusing is that Mary Anna’s father, Robert Ratliff, is the son of Mary J. “Polly” McGlothlin and Richard Ratliff, and a grandson of none other than Judith Leathers and John McLaughlin!   This makes the descendants of Henry Jefferson Spence and Mary Anna Ratliff their own cousins – most likely, if we could only prove that David McGlothlin was a child of Judith and John.

Henry Jefferson Spence and Mary Anna Ratliff had several children, including Archie who married Ruth Scantlin.  Ruth and Archie Spence had six children of their own, including cousin Mike’s mother (who is still living!). What makes this new find even more exciting is that our newly found cousins live in Lawrence, Kansas!

I do not have exact dates and such on all of the descendants of Henry Jefferson Spence, but I am hoping to exchange GEDCOM files with Jan soon.  As soon as I do, I will email each of the Corel family genealogists so we can all update our files!

Thomas Stuart McGee

Thomas Stuart is the youngest son born to Olivia Gillespie Corel and John Jacob McGee.   He was born July 21, 1881 in Wakarusa Township, Douglas County, Kansas.  Thomas was only 7 when his father, John Jacob, died.

In 1900 Thomas Stuart is living with his brother, Richard Oney McGee in Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri¹. Ten years later Thomas Stuart is still in Kansas City, but now living with his mother, Olivia Gillespie Corel McGee, his aunt, Nancy Maryland Corel Dobbins, two brothers, Albert Edward and Oliver Corel McGee, and a cousin, Ada Corel, granddaughter of Margaret McGee and William Corel².

As you can see by this grave stone, Thomas Stuart McGee was a soldier during World War I.  In researching for this blog post, I have found that Thomas enlisted in the military long before war broke out.  Thomas first enlisted with the Missouri National Guard and was placed as a Private in Battery B, First Battalion, Field Artillery on June 14, 1905 and was promoted to Corporal in less than a year, on March 14, 1906.  Thomas received an honorable discharge after his first term and he reenlisted on June 14, 1908 and was promoted to Sergeant on October 15, 1909.  Thomas again received an honorable discharge and reenlisted on June 14, 1911.  He was promoted to 1st Sergeant on June 24, 1912.  Thomas once again reached his expiration of term of service and reenlisted on June 14, 1914 as a 1st Sergeant.  For a reason I have not been able to find as of yet, one month later on July 14, 1914, Thomas is shown as a Private.  Then the reference I have found gets really confusing!  It is shown that on August 18, 1914 Thomas is a Sergeant and on the same date he is shown as a Mess Sergeant.  Four days later on August 22, Thomas is once again a Sergeant for a couple of weeks until September 8, when he is shown as a Stable Sergeant.  October 1, 1914 Thomas is once again a Sergeant.  He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant of Battery B, First Battalion, Missouri Field Artillery on June 22, 1915.  On June 18, 1916 President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation calling National Guard units into federal service after Pancho Villa attacked the camp of the 13th Calvary and the town of Columbus, New Mexico on March 9, 1916.  2nd Lieutenant Thomas S. McGee was fourth in charge of Battery B, First Battalion, Missouri Field Artillery.  The battery arrived at Camp Clark, Nevada, Missouri on June 22, 1916 and was mustered into federal service on June 25.  They arrived at Laredo, Texas July 5, 1916 and remained on duty until December 18, 1916, when the battery moved to Fort Riley, Kansas where they were formally relieved from federal service on December 22³.

On July 18, 1917 the Missouri Field Artillery Regiment joined other regiments from Missouri and Kansas to form the 35th Division of the National Guard for service in World War I⁴.  The Missouri State Archives shows a “Thomas B. McGee” born July 21, 1881 in Lawrence, Kansas, residing at 205 N. Monroe Street, Kansas City, Missouri, was inducted on August 5, 1917⁵.  August 5 was the same day that the 2nd Missouri Field Artillery was mobilized⁶.  The 35th Division was organized at Camp Doniphan, Oklahoma in August 1917 and trained there until April when the troops headed for the ports of New York and Philadelphia.  The Missouri State Archives shows that Thomas McGee left the United States on May 20, 1918 and he returned on April 20, 1919.

On September 28, 1918, Captain Thomas S. McGee of Battery B, 1st Battalion, 129th Field Artillery successfully led his Battery to victory over a hostile battery in a small clearing in the Argonne Forest in Charpentry, France⁷.  On October 2, 1918, the 35th Division was relieved of its station in the Argonne Forest by the 1st Division.  Captain Thomas McGee, along with Captain Marks and Chaplain Tiernan, was the last to leave the forest from the 35th Division⁸.  November 10, 1918 Captain McGee received a phone call requesting that Battery B fire on a German machine gun nest that was firing at the 322nd Infantry.  Seventeen rounds was all that Thomas McGee needed to secure the area⁹.

The orders to return home were received by the 129th Field Artillery on April 8, 1919.  The men traveled home on the recently acquired North German Lloyd S. S. Zeppelin in the ship’s maiden voyage across the Atlantic.  The ship left France at 1:09 PM on April 9, 1919. The men awoke to find themselves in the outer harbor of New York on Easter Sunday, April 20, 1919.  Later that day they were settled into Camp Mills, New York where they remained for the next ten days.  The Regiment then split into two groups on April 30, the first was led by Colonel Smith to travel via the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the second was led by Major McGee to travel the Grand Trunk Railroad to Chicago.  Major McGee’s charges reached Niagra Falls on May 1 and Chicago on May 2, 1919, where they then traveled the Chicago and Alton Railroad into Kansas City.  At 7 AM on the morning of May 3 the soldiers arrived at Union Station in Kansas City where they spent the next several hours being honored and meeting with family and friends.  At 2:00 that afternoon, the men loaded the train once more for Camp Funston at Fort Riley, Kansas for final inspections and such.  On May 6, 1919 the final discharges were issued and the 129th Field Artillery ceased to exist as a formal organization¹⁰.

Neither the Missouri State Archives nor Lee’s book specify when Thomas S. McGee received his promotion from Captain of Battery B, 1st Battalion to Major of 2nd Battalion of the 129th Field Artillery, but both do confirm that he did rank as Major at the end of World War I.

Thomas seems to have disappeared from most records after his military service.  The only other documentation I have found this far is that Thomas S. McGee married Margaret Francis Riley on May 10, 1930 in Clay County, Missouri¹¹.

On March 25, 1949 Thomas Stuart McGee died at Research Hospital in Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri from cerebral thrombosis with infection, hypertension, and vascular disease.  Thomas was a retired heating engineer  living in North Kansas City, Clay County, Missouri at his time of death.  His body was removed to Oak Hill Cemetery, Douglas County, Kansas on March 28, 1949¹².

• For anyone who is new to Corel Cousins, I’d like to refer you to our Welcome page.  This page gives a bit of background on the Corel family, as well as many variations of how the name has been spelled through the years.
• If you would like to contact any of the researchers on the Corel family, I have listed them on the Contact Us page.  At the top of the page you will find links for each child of William and Rebecca so you do not have to scroll through the entire page to find what you are looking for.  There is also a contact email for the Corel – Oney Family Reunion and the webmaster.  For those who would rather just ask a quick question or make a comment, rather than send an email, there is a contact form at the bottom that can be submitted.
• On the Calendar page, you will find a Google Calendar that has dates of births and marriages for the Corel family.  I hope to add more to this soon, including information about the family reunion in 2010.  If you see something that is wrong, or if you have a date that is not listed on the calendar, please be sure to let me know!
• I have done a lot of my research online, and you will find the most valuable places I have found information on the Links page.  You will also find some links on individual pages.  I have found a plugin that allows me to enter footnotes easily within my pages and blog posts, so I am documenting when and where I have found things as I am writing now.
• The William and Rebecca page currently has a brief introduction to the founders of this family.  As I have been researching and working on this site, I have found much more that I need to add to this page.  This page also has a link to the Corel – Oney Union page which provides a copy of the original marriage record of William and Rebecca.
• On the Corel – Oney Children page you will find a list of the fourteen children of William and Rebecca.  The children that married and had children of their own are linked from this page, as well as the sidebar on your right.
• The Corel by Chance page provides links to the families that have joined the Corel family.  You will also find these families listed in the sidebar on the right.

I have made this blog post “sticky” so that it will show up at the top of the main page as a starting point for anyone new to the website.

I have just completed the page for the parents (Mary Ann Neidigh and James Joseph McGhee) of the last family to marry the children of Rebecca Oney and William Corel!  I am so very excited to be at this point, because it was a place I never thought I would be.  I do have some additional things to add to this McGee family, but I think that it is time to move this site forward and to start examining the grandchildren of William and Rebecca.  I’d like to thank everyone who has stuck around the past two years for me to get to this point in designing the website.

I want to reiterate that I am always looking for photos of our family.  If you have any photos you are willing to share, please send me an email!

I am also looking for a plugin that will allow me to insert links to different blog posts on the pages, based upon categories.  If anyone familiar with WordPress has seen anything like this, please let me know.

In doing the regular census search for James Joseph McGhee, I have found a James McGhee and a Thomas McGhee in Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania in 1820.  The funny thing is, this is not my James or Thomas McGhee.  This James is shown with three males under 10, two males 18 – 26, and one male 26 – 45.  There is also one female 26 – 45.  Thomas shows one male 26 – 45, one female under 10, and one female 16 – 26¹.  I have searched enough to find out just who this James McGhee is, but I am not able to say one way or another if he is related to my McGhee’s.

The James McGhee found in the 1820 census in Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania is most certainly the James McGhee born about 1755 – 1760 in Northern Ireland that is documented by Mr. Patrick Lowery’s Family Tree.  Mr. Lowery makes no mention in his family tree of the Thomas McGhee listed next door to his James McGhee in 1820.

Perhaps there is not a connection between the two McGhee families.  I have not been able to find anything on this Thomas McGhee, and he is not in Centre County, Pennsylvania in 1830.  The James McGhee died in 1822 and left his land to his two sons, Isaac and John, who are both in Howard Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania in 1830.  These are likely the two males 18 – 26 living with James McGhee in 1820.

I still think it’s strange that two McGhee/McGee families would end up in Centre County, Pennsylvania.  What do you think?

McGee Monument

Since I have been researching my McGee/McGhee line this week, I thought I would continue with the McGee’s today on Tombstone Tuesday.  Those of you who have been to the old section of the Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, should recognize the McGee monument.  I remember that when I was quite young, I was fascinated by this monument, and thought it would be cool if I was related to the people buried there.  Today, I am proud that my 4th great grandparents are among those buried at this monument.

Unfortunately, I do not have very good photos that document this monument, but I am able to share with you the many inscriptions on this monument.

East Side of Monument

• James McGee, died August 19, 1876, aged 79 years, 10 months
• Mary, wife of James McGee, died July 14, 1872, aged 66 years, 5 days
• John J., 1864 -
• Myrtle H., 1869 – 1932

South Side of Monument

• Thomas S. McGee, Oct 28, 1834 – Dec 4, 1914
• Rebecca Ann, July 31, 1844 – Apr 12, 1926

West Side of Monument

• John J. McGee, Apr 9, 1836 – Nov 22, 1888
• Olivia Corel, Jan 14, 1838 – Nov 27, 1917

North Side of Monument

McGee Monument

• A. N. McGee, died July 16, 1869, aged 36 years, 16 days
• Sarah McGee, died Oct 30, 1874, aged 32 years, 18 days
• Catherine McGee, died Mar 6, 1863, aged 18 yrs, 6 mos, 9 days
• John J., son of A. N. & J. McGee, died Sept 16, 1868, aged 1 yr, 6 mos
• James C., 1858 – 1884
• Albert E., 1873 – 1925
• Lena A., 1869 – 1937

Family legend states that three McGhee brothers, James Joseph,  Adam, and Thomas, arrived in New York from Ireland about 1819.  One descendant of James Joseph recalls hearing stories of James working on the Erie Canal, which was constructed between 1817 and 1825.  Another descendant wrote of the three brothers being grading contractors for the Illinois Central Railroad, “and finishing their contract in 1852, they had $8,000 in silver dollars which they concealed in nail kegs and traveled by wagon train to Kansas City from St. Louis, and after a time went to Kansas where they took up land east of Lawrence.”

James Joseph McGhee married Mary Ann Neidigh in Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania in 1826 and that they had seven children before leaving Pennsylvania.  The McGhee’s arrived in Stephenson County about 1839.

I have recently found that on June 4, 1839 James’ parents and some siblings arrived in New York, by way of Liverpool, on the Barque Agenora.  Those passengers were:  Thomas and Margaret McGee (parents), Thomas, Margarite (Margaret), and Caldwell McGee (siblings), and Robert and Elizabeth McGee (brother and sister-in-law) with their children, Sarah, Margaret, Elizabeth, and Thomas.

All of the McGhee children are accounted for in 1850, living in Stephenson County, Illinois, except for Adam.

In going back to the family legend, I am struggling to prove or disprove a majority of the lore.  In my research, I did find something that has only added to my confusion.  In the 1820 census in Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania, there is a James McGhee listed next door to a Thomas McGhee.  I would be quite excited, if there were no other family members listed.  The James McGhee family shows three males under 10, two males 18-26, and one male 26-45, as well as one female 26-45.  The Thomas McGhee household has one male 26-45, one female under 10, and one female 16-26.  One theory I have is that perhaps the McGhee’s listed in Centre County are uncles or cousins.  With the James McGhee household having two males between 18 and 26, it is certainly possible that this could be James Joseph, and perhaps his brother Adam.

In searching for the immigration of James Joseph McGhee, I have not even been able to locate naturalization records for any of the McGhee’s.

The one thing that I do feel fairly confident about concerning the family legend of the McGhee family is that Thomas McGhee did not come to America in 1819 with two other brothers.  Along with him being listed on the passenger list with his parents and siblings in 1839, in 1819 he would have only been five years old.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am incapable of making decisions and narrowing things down! So, for my first participation in the Smile for the Camera carnival, I have selected eight photos of brothers and sisters from youth to adulthood. I did at least pick only one photo from each family, although I did have a few different photos I could have included, I thought I should save those for another day!

This photo from the 1890s shows that two brothers were able to get along well enough to participate in a community band together.  Gaston Dobbins is on the right in the first row with his trombone, and his younger brother, Scott Dobbins, is nearly hidden on the right hand side of the back row.  Scott and Gaston are the sons of James Sellars and Nancy Maryland Corel Dobbins.

This photo was taken about 1890 of James Pickens and Susannah Clay McGee Corel and six of their children.  Pictured are, from left to right, Ella Corel Bowman, Catherine Corel Hughes, Susannah Clay McGee Corel, Anna Corel Stanley, James Henry Corel, Eugenia “Jennie” Corel Engel, James Pickens Corel, and Charles Wesley Corel, DDS.

This photo of Olivia Gillespie Corel McGee and her sons is from 1906.  Pictured, from left to right, are Richard Oney, Albert Edward, Olivia Gillespie Corel, Thomas Stewart, John Jacob Jr., Solon Neidigh, and Oliver Corel McGee.

This image is from about 1911 and is of Frieda Margaret and Rowena Ruth Newcomb, youngest children of Margaret Salathiel and Frederick Newcomb.  The girls are the grandchildren of Jemima Morris Corel and John Morgan Salathiel.  Jemima Morris Corel is a daughter of Henry Highland and Nancy Matney Corel.

This photo from about 1916 shows the many brothers and sisters of my Great Grandma (Kathryn), also pictured are her parents!  From left to right: James Henry, George Arthur, Glenn James, Augusta “Billie”, Eugene William (front row), Charles Wesley, Kathryn (front row), Gladys Faye, Emma Augusta Miller, John Beasley Corel.

James Henry Corel is the son of James Pickens and Susannah Clay McGee Corel.

This photo is from about 1940 and shows two sets of siblings, left to right, James Conrad “Jimmy” Hahn, Daphne Lorina Canterbury, Billie Kay Hahn, and William Huttig “Billy” Canterbury.  The Hahn children are great grandchildren of James Pickens Corel and the Canterbury children are great grandchildren of Olivia Gillespie Corel McGee.

This photo from about 1954 shows siblings Connie Kay Laughlin and Clinton Ray “Sonny” Laughlin Jr., great great grandchildren of James Pickens Corel.

These three siblings from 1965 show from left to right Susan, Michael, and Donald Charles McFarlin.  In 1970 Donald Charles  (Fletcher – McFarlin) Bishop married Connie Kay Laughlin, second great granddaughter of James Pickens Corel.

Rebecca Oney was born August 26, 1791 either in Richlands, Russell County, Virginia or a short distance away in Cedar Bluff, Virginia.  Today, Cedar Bluff is in Tazewell County, Virginia.  It is believed, but has not been proven, that Richard Oney and Sarah Highland are the parents of Rebecca.  It is also quite possible that Rebecca was their daughter-in-law without issue, as she is not mentioned in Richard’s will.

Rebecca Oney married William Corel, a man who eludes genealogists as well, on June 6, 1811 in Tazewell County, Virginia.  The couple made their home near Maiden Springs, Tazewell County, Virginia.  The couple had fourteen children, 11 girls and three boys, this alone makes Rebecca a remarkable woman.  Sadly, three daughters did not survive into adulthood, but this did not signify the end of Rebecca’s life.

As the older children were marrying and starting their own families, William and Rebecca Oney Corel decided they would move west to take advantage of the new life that the new frontier had to offer.  In 1849 William and Rebecca packed up all of their worldly belongings and 10 of their 11 living children, along with a few grandchildren and left Virginia.  Many brothers and sisters of their sons- and daughter-in-law joined the family in this westward trek.  The first few days the group traveled by horseback to clear the mountainous terrain.  Once they reached the Ohio River, they continued on by boat until they reached Westport Landing in Jackson County, Missouri.

By the 8th of August in 1850, the day the census taker came by, William and Rebecca Corel had quite a full house in Kaw Township (now Kansas City), Jackson County, Missouri.  Along with their youngest children (William, Cosby Jane, James Pickens, Nancy Maryland, and Olivia Gillespie) they had three other children living with them, Stewart Peart, Mary Louisa Peart, and William B. Peart.

How this came to be, I cannot speculate, but I have found that the mother of the Peart children, Oney Biggs Peart died in January of that same year.  Oney Biggs Peart and her widower, Jonathan Peart had married in Platte County, Missouri in 1842, long before the Corel family moved to Missouri.  In those few months after they arrived from Virginia, they must have made quite a connection with the Peart family to be willing to take on three young children (Stewart was the oldest listed as 7 on the census).

Another interesting note about Rebecca, who was just over two weeks away from turning 59,  is her occupation listed on the census.  Where most wives/mothers we find are listed as “at home” or such indicating they were housewives, which is quite a job in itself, Rebecca is listed as a farmer.

The following year Rebecca is faced with great hardship in this new land her family now calls home.  Jemima, William and Rebecca’s oldest daughter died on June 13, 1851.  Jemima’s husband, David McGlothlin, soon heads back east with his six children.  Life did go on for Rebecca as she prepared for  her daughter, Cosby Jane, to be married to William Justice just two months later on August 14.  On September 27, 1851 even more tragedy strikes the Corel family when the patriarch, William passes away.  I can only imagine that Rebecca found solace knowing that her two youngest sons and her two youngest daughters were still living at home to stand by her throughout these trying times.

Rebecca Oney Corel’s adventure did not stop there.  At 5:00 AM on March 4, 1854 the United States Senate passed the Kansas-Nebraska bill after an all night session.  I wonder how quickly Rebecca and her children heard of the bill’s passing.  I wonder when they decided to move further west.  On May 1, 1854 the Kansas Territory was open to settlers.  According to the December 25, 1890 issue of the Lawrence Quarterly, three Corel brothers (Henry H., William, and James P.) accompanied Clark Stearns of Michigan to stake their claims on land in Douglas County, Kansas.  “The first settlement made in Lawrence was on May 14, 1854 when the foundation of a cabin for Clark Stearns was laid…” A survey map of the area dated July 4, 1857 shows the land of C. Stearns on the west side of the land of J.P. Corel, although, at the time the land actually belonged to Rebecca Oney Corel.  The area that the Corel family settled was not their first choice.  They had planned on settling on the north side of the Kansas River, but the camps of the Delware Indians had them rethinking that plan.

In 1855 a measles epidemic swept through the town of Lawrence.  Rebecca’s son’s family was hit hard.  Henry Highland Corel, his wife, Nancy Matney Corel, and their son, William Corel all died in 1855 from the measles.  About 1858 Rebecca lost yet another child, Margaret Corel Puckett.

The next few years, Rebecca married off her children that were still living at home:  William was married  to Margaret Ann McGee about 1856,  Nancy Maryland married Francois LaHay December 19, 1856,  James P. married Susannah Clay McGee on August 20, 1857, and Olivia Gillespie married John Jacob McGee April 19, 1860.

After Olivia and John Jacob McGee were married, Rebecca lived with the couple along with two of her grandchildren, Rebecca Corel, daughter of Henry H. Corel and Nancy Matney, and Henry H. McGlothlin, son of Jemima Corel and David McGlothlin.  It was about this time that Rebecca sold her land claim to her son, James Pickens Corel, but he would not be vested in the land until after her death.

November 9, 1860 Rebecca left this world to see the many family members who had passed before her.  Rebecca was buried along with her family members, son Henry H., daughter-in-law Nancy, granson William, and daughter Margaret, in the Mount Oread Cemetery, also now known as the Pioneer Cemetery.

In 1865 the city of Lawrence, Kansas opened a new cemetery, Oak Hill Cemetery, and burials at Mt. Oread ceased.  After Oak Hill Cemetery opened many of those buried at Mt. Oread were moved to Oak Hill.  It would be over 100 years after the moving of the graves that Corel descendants would find that the Corel family members originally interred at Mt. Oread were among those moved to Oak Hill.  Watkins Museum in Lawrence, Kansas received old burial reinternment cards from the city of Lawrence that proved the transfer of the bodies.  There are no markers for the graves that were once at the Pioneer Cemetery, but the burial cards now in possession of Watkins Museum show that the Corel family members are buried in the same area as the Corel family plots.

Rebecca Oney Corel led a difficult life being one of the pioneers who left Virginia to settle in the Midwest.  Five of her fourteen children passed on before her, as did her husband and a few grandchildren.  In a time when her peers were often housewives, she farmed the land.  She continued to live when others may have found the circumstances too difficult.  Sadly, even in death she was not able to rest in peace, as she was moved from one cemetery to another.

The women of the early 1800s were required to live through many trials and tribulations that we may not have to face today, but the inspiration I get from knowing that I am descended from Rebecca Oney Corel is that no matter what I must face, in the end I can still live to fulfill my dream, just as Rebecca was able to make it to Kansas and claim land as her own.  Today, four families that are descendants of Rebecca Oney and William Corel still live on the land that Rebecca settled on in 1854 on the south bank of the Kansas River.

The last update blog post I did, I wrote about how I did not think that Robert Emmitt McGlothlin was a child of Judith Leathers and John McLaughlin.  Cousin by marriage, Teresa Klaiber, shared some information with me, as well as some conversations she had with her mother-in-law, and now I believe that Robert Emmitt McGlothlin must have at least been raised by Judith Leathers and John McLaughlin.  On the McGlothlin page, I share the reasons why I do not think that Judith Leathers is the mother of Robert Emmitt McGlothlin, but since I do believe that she played a part in his life, I also have a link to the information I found on Judith Leathers and John McLaughlin (found here and on the McGlothlin page under Corels by Chance) and what is believed to be their descendants.

In addition to the McGlothlin family, I have also added the Matney family.  There is also conflicting theories on the ancestry of the Matney’s and who is the father of Brooks Matney who married Jane Young.  As these families are not my direct lines, and much of the research I have done for each of these families is no more than a week of scouring the internet, I have decided to go with the majority on this question.  On the Matney page you will find links to the descendants of both Walter Matney and Brooks Matney.

A page has also been created for the Dobbins family.  This is the family I have spent the least amount of time on because Cousin Bobby Dobbins Title has been so kind to share her work with me for this site.  On the Dobbins page you will find the descendants of Robert B. Dobbins and Katy Alexander, as well as a link to a page for James Alexander Dobbins and Elizabeth Perkins.  I also have a link for a wonderful essay written by Cousin Bobby on this line.

Along the top and bottom of each of the pages on this site, you will see the main page links for this site:  Home, Calendar, Contact Us, Welcome!, William & Rebecca, Corel-Oney Children, and Corel by Chance. 

• Home is the main page you see when you come to Corel Cousins.
• Calendar is something new I thought might be fun to share important dates in the Corel family.  I have created a Google Calendar and so far I have added the birth dates, marriage dates, and death dates for William Corel and Rebecca Oney and their children.  I plan to add more dates to the calendar at a later time, most importantly the Corel-Oney reunion will be added once a date has been decided on!  If anyone has any dates they would specifically like to see, or if you see a correction that needs made, please let me know!  This is a public calendar on Google, so anyone who is already using GCal can add this to their personal calendar.
• Contact Us is similar to the ‘Corel Researchers’ page on the original site.  I have included names and email addresses, as well as photos for those that I had, for the different sections of the family.  I have also added Connie Bishop to the top of the page as the contact for the family reunion.  At the bottom of the page is a contact form if anyone wants to drop a quick note to me without getting into their email program.
• Welcome! gives a brief history of what is going on with this site, and it’s purpose.  It was the home page on the original site.
• William & Rebecca gives the history of William Corel and Rebecca Oney Corel.
• Corel-Oney Children lists the
• Corel by Chance is the page for the links of the allied families, most of which came into the Corel family by marriage.

On the sidebar, I have two ‘widgets’ I’d like to point out.  You can find these ‘widgets’ beneath the Corel Cousins links.  By the way, if anyone has a website who is a Corel Cousin and it isn’t listed, please let me know so I can add your site!  The first ‘widget’ is Google Friend Connect.  For those of you who are already active with the Google products, this is a way we can stay connected.  The second ‘widget’ is for FaceBook.  I have many of you already as FaceBook friends, and if other family members are out there are on FaceBook, I would like to add you, as well.  This widget is for anyone who is on FaceBook to follow this blog from within FaceBook, and it lets me know that I have a couple of people who might like it!

So this is what is new on Corel Cousins since my last update.  I am in the process of completing quite a few more pages!  I am nearly done with a page for the Justice family.  I’ve been researching for the Puckett family page.  Which reminds me, I’ve tried emailing Cousin Sandy who is a Puckett descendant, and haven’t heard back from her.  Has anyone heard from her recently?  Did she perhaps change email addresses?  I’d love to hear from any Puckett descendants, because I’m really struggling with this line!  I need to start on the McGee family.  I think it scares me because it’s my line and I have so much info scattered everywhere on this family!  Plus I’m afraid this might end up looking like a McGee site if I go a bit overboard!  I have been compiling a links page that will be included on the top and bottom menu on each page.  I could probably put it up now and just add to it as I need to….  Look for that soon, I will probably do that!  The next thing I’ve been working on is one thing that really had me nervous before…. I’ve started working on the grandchildren of William and Rebecca!  You may have noticed that I have also started participating in a blog meme called Tombstone Tuesday.  This is to help me make sure that I remain active on this site, and so you all know I’m still here!  If anyone has a tombstone photo that they would like featured here, please send it to me!

Finally, I want to share a bit of my thought process with you.  As I am going through these lines and I am seeing other families mingle in with the Corel descendants, I am looking to see the connections.  This is part of what fascinates me is how this family mixes it up so much with other families.

For instance, what I found yesterday was that Lucinda Meek and Melinda Meek were sisters.  Lucinda married James Whitehead Ward and Melinda married his brother, Jonathan Ward.  After Jonathan died, Melinda married David McGlothlin, widower after Jemima Corel’s death, on July 19, 1853.  Lucinda’s son, George Washington Ward married Mary McGlothlin, oldest child of Jemima Corel and David McGlothlin, on July 31, 1854.

William Corel

William Corel was born April 7, 1828 in Tazewell County, Virginia. William was the ninth child, and second son of William Corel and Rebecca Oney.  He married Margaret Ann McGee about 1857 in Douglas County, Kansas.  Margaret was born December 3, 1827 in Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania.

Margaret Ann McGee Corel

William Corel traveled west with his family from Virginia to Jackson County, Missouri and then on to Douglas County, Kansas.  He settled in Douglas County, Kansas in close proximity to his mother, Rebecca Oney Corel, and his brother, James Pickens Corel.  In 1863 William Corel sold half of his land to Thomas Sternberg for $500.  William andhis young family were still living in Wakarusa Township, Douglas County, Kansas by the 1865 State Census but had moved on to Osage County by the 1870 US Census.  It is interesting to note that the land bought by Thomas Sternberg in 1863 was sold to the City of Lawrence for Oak Hill Cemetery for about $3,000.

William and Margaret lived out their days in Osage County, Kansas.  Lois Tyson, in her 1986 Osage County History, relates that Margaret McGee Corel believed that the name Corel was spelled incorrectly.  Margaret convinced her sons to change the spelling to Correll.  William and Margaret’s daughter, Ada, did not change the spelling of Corel.  Margaret McGee Corel died on January 20, 1894 in Melvern Township, Osage County, Kansas.  She is buried in Sutton Cemetery in Osage County.  William Corel died on August 19, 1903 in Melvern Township, Kansas and is buried next to his wife, Margaret, in Sutton Cemetery.