My next project will be to update Henry Highland’s page with the few details I have about daughters Margaret and Louisa.  Then I will likely create another Corels by Chance page for the Parman family, as the Parman’s are related through Cosby Jane Corel’s line (Rachel Parman is the maternal grandmother of William Justice.) and Rebecca Elizabeth Corel’s line (Rebecca is the youngest daughter of Henry Highland, she married Giles Gilbert Parman, son of George Parman and Lydia Myers.  Lydia is the sister of Willis Myers who married Julia Ann Corel.).  Rachel Parman is an aunt of George Parman and great aunt of Giles Gilbert Parman.

After showing the Parman family, I will do the page for Rebecca Elizabeth Corel that will complete the children of Henry Highland Corel and have me ready to start working on the children of Mary Ester Corel and John Puckett.

]]> http://corelcousins.com/2009/08/05/whats-new-wednesday-julia-ann-corel-page-complete/feed/ http://corelcousins.com/2009/04/14/tombstone-tuesday-william-j-puckett/ http://corelcousins.com/2009/04/14/tombstone-tuesday-william-j-puckett/#comments Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:40:08 +0000 Paula http://corelcousins.com/?p=682

William J Puckett

Today’s Tombstone Tuesday is from ‘Corel Cousin’ Cathie Dixon Constable and is of William J Puckett, first husband of Louisa Corel.  William was born December 21, 1820 in Virginia.  It is believed that his parents were Rhoda Francis Newby and Lewis Puckett.

Louisa Corel and William Puckett were married December 18, 1842 in Tazewell County, Virginia^1,2.  The couple would have 13 children, 8 of which were born before the family settled in Wyandotte County, Kansas in December 1857³.

On August 15, 1862 Louisa and William’s two oldest children, Henry and Joshua Jeremiah, enlisted in the Twelfth Regiment of the Kansas Volunteers.  Joshua would make it back home, but Henry was one of 16 men in his regiment to die of disease⁴.  Henry died December 10, 1863 at the Fort Scott Hospital in Bourbon County, Kansas.

In 1871 William Puckett moved his family to Wilson County, Kansas, near the border of Woodson County, Kansas⁵.  This would be where William Puckett would live out his days.  William died April 8, 1887 and is buried at the Little Sandy Cemetery, Wilson County, Kansas.

This would not necessarily be my first choice for my first brick wall to blog about, but the timing is just too right, since I just finished the Puckett page in the Corel by Chance section only minutes ago!

Thirteen of the Corel children married into only seven different family names between about 1835 and 1867.  One of the children married twice and only two of the children married ‘independently’, or not into the same family names as her siblings!  You may think that with so few families to look into, that it should be rather easy to connect everyone.  It probably would be much easier, if they had married into families that were a bit more visible!

Three Corel sisters married three Puckett men.  All three couples were married in Tazewell County, Virginia by William Henkel.  John Puckett married Mary Ester Corel on August 19, 1839;  Joshua Puckett married Margaret Corel on November 26, 1842; William John Puckett married Louisa Corel on December 18, 1842.

According to census records, John is the oldest, born about 1814 in Virginia.  William John was born about December 21, 1820 in Virginia.  Joshua was born about 1821 in Virginia.

In reviewing message board posts, most seem to believe that the parents for at least some of the three Puckett boys are Lewis Puckett and Rhoda Newby.  I have not been able to find anything that backs up this theory, but according to a biography on a descendant of William John Puckett and Louisa Corel, William’s father was named Lewis.  One avenue I plan on pursuing is to try to locate a will for this Lewis Puckett, who reportedly died in 1846 in Ballard County, Kentucky.

If the will doesn’t pan out, I will certainly be driven quite mad by trying to connect these Puckett men!

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.