The Thatcher Brick Wall

It annoys me that I haven't been able to find any new information on my great-grandfather Alexander M. Thatcher (born 18 July 1818 and died 13 Jan 1880).  It doesn't help that he was working class, an employee in a paper company, who died from tuberculosis.  I decided to take advantage of resources listed at Cyndislist.com.  I couldn't access the ones from Ancestry, but I could get to the ones by Michael John Neill.  I found the Problem Solving one helpful and I decided to look at the information again. 

In my family you can't always arrive at the truth following a straight line.  Some document said that Alexander was from Chester.  Most documents said he was from Pennsylvania.  What if Chester was right but the state was wrong?  I decided to take a look at that.  It turns out that would give me several more places to look:

• Chester, Delaware, PA
• Chester, Hampden, MA 
• Chester, Middlesex,CT
• Chester, Morris, NJ
• Chester, Orange, NY
• Chester, Rockingham, NH
• Chester, Windsor, VT

I will try the New England ones first.  Alexander once lived in Hampshire County, next to Hampden Co. Middlesex County, CT, and Windsor County, VT, are along the Connecticut River, which could have brought him to Hampshire County.  Chester, NH, is a little farther away, but makes more sense than Chester in New York or New Jersey. 

Searching for Mid-Western Landrum Cousins

I would like to get in touch with the family of my great-aunt Pearl G. Baker and her husband John L. Landrum.  Pearl was the only child of my great-grandparents Andrew Baker and Margaret Gatton to stay behind in Ohio when they moved to Kalamazoo in 1909.  Pearl was their oldest surviving daughter and she had married John Lewis Landrum 5 Dec 1896 in Paulding Co.  By this time John and Pearl had four children, one dying without a first name and probably stillborn.  Their fifth child was born in 1909.  The 1900 federal census shows them living six households away from Pearl’s parents. The family must have been close and it must have been very difficult for the grandparents and grandchildren to part. 

Grandmother Gertrude Baker Winchell

Pearl’s sister Gertrude Baker (my grandmother) was the only sibling to move east, to eastern New York State.  My father and his three siblings were all born in Kalamazoo.  The family moved east in 1930 and it must have been another emotional time for the grandparents.  

Andy and Maggie's grandsons Andy and Roy in Michigan

My family lost contact with the Michigan cousins after my uncle Andy stopped driving out to the state to visit relatives.  However, in 2006 the wife of my great-aunt Osie Baker Dunifin’s grandson found me because of the Internet and I drove out there that summer to visit and attend a family reunion.

Osie's grandson Wayne Dunifin and wife Karon

I’m in contact with the granddaughter and great-grandson of my great-grandfather’s brother Albin Baker who moved to the state of Washington.  I’ve corresponded with a descendant of their brother Stephen.  I’m in touch with granddaughters of their brother Riley. Great-Aunt Pearl’s family is the only one completely unaccounted for.  I’ve collected some names and dates, but I’d really like to know more about Pearl and her family, my cousins.  Pearl herself wouldn’t even be able to tell me much because she died at the age of 39 and her youngest child was one year old. 

Here is information I have on Pearl Baker, her husband John Lewis Landrum and their family. Many of the family were buried in Dealey Cemetery in Payne, Paulding Co.

John Lewis Landrum (back left) and his brothers

I. John Lewis Landrum was born on 24 September 1871 in Paulding Co., Ohio, the son of Robert Leon Landrum and Nancy Huff.   John Lewis Landrum and Pearl Baker were married on 5 December 1896 in , Paulding Co.   On By April 1910 the family was living in Benton Township, Paulding Co. where John made his living as a farmer. That is where Pearl died on 14 February 1920, age 39. 

By 1926 John married his second wife Rose Vonier. They had daughter Mary in December 1927.  On 4 April 1930 John was a farmer in Monroe Township, Adams Co., IN.  However, their son John Landrum died not even a year old in Three Rivers, St. Joseph Co., MI, on 10 April 1932.

Rose passed away before 1940 when John was enumerated living in Monroe Township and had his daughter Donna and her family living with him.  John died from a stroke on 4 December 1945 at the age of 74 in Monroe, Adams Co., IN.

John Lewis Landrum and Pearl Baker had the following children:

Donna and Eva Landrum

a.      John William Landrum was born on 24 October 1897 in Union Township, Van Wert Co., OH. He died in 1965 at the age of 68 in Benton Township, Paulding Co.  John William Landrum and Oletha Merl Brown were married on 1 February 1919 in Paulding Co. Oletha Merl Brown, daughter of Clark Brown and Mary Riggs, was born on 2 August 1897 in Homer, Champaign Co., IL. She died in 1940 at the age of 43 in Benton Township.

John William Landrum and Oletha Merl Brown had the following children:

                                                     i.     Louis Landrum was born on 6 November 1903 in Payne, Paulding Co. Louis Landrum and Naomi Sapp were married on 6 February 1943. Naomi Sapp, daughter of Joe Sapp and Lillie Brunner, was born on 17 September 1924 in Adams Co., IN.

                                                  ii.     Ralph W. Landrum was born on 25 August 1919 in Paulding Co., OH.  Ralph W. Landrum and Mary K. Kiser were married on 19 March 1946 in Adams Co., IN. Mary K. Kiser, daughter of Kenneth Kiser and Clara Uhrick, was born on 28 April 1928 in Adams Co.

                                                 iii.     Helen Agnes Landrum was born on 26 July 1929 in Grover Hill, Paulding Co. Helen Agnes Landrum and Carl Richard Breman were married on 14 October 1950 in Indiana. Carl Richard Breman, son of Richard Paul Breman and Florence Opal Archbold, was born on 14 December 925 in Fort Wayne, Allen Co., IN.

b.       Male Landrum was born in 1898. He died in 1898 at the age of 0.

c.      Gladys M. Landrum was born on 5 February 1901 in Benton Township, Paulding Co. She died on 21 March 1991 at the age of 90 in Benton Township. Gladys M. Landrum and Homer F. Price were married on 4 May 1920 in Paulding Co. Between 1930 and 1940 the couple lived in Benton Township.  In December 1945 Gladys and Homer lived in the village of Payne, Paulding Co. Homer F. Price, son of William David Price and Estella Craig, was born in September 1895 in Benton Township. He died on 30 June 1987 at the age of 91 in Benton Township, Paulding Co.

d.     Gladys M. Landrum and Homer F. Price had the following children:

1.      Dorothy M. Price was born circa 1921.

2.     Teresa Price was born circa 1922.

3.      June Price was born circa 1923.

4.     William Dean Price was born on 13 August 1925 in Payne, Paulding Co. He died on 9 December 1977 at the age of 52 in Paulding Co. William Dean Price and Betty Lou Robinson were married on 13 April 1946 in Auburn, Dekalb Co., IN.  Betty Lou Robinson, daughter of James B. Robinson and Cora A. Mercer, was born on 13 May 1927 in Grabill, Allen Co., IN, USA.  She died in 1986 at the age of 59.

William Dean Price and Betty Lou Robinson had the following child:

a.      Brenda J Price was born on 25 July 1950. She died on 9 August 1999 at the age of 49 in Kendallville, Noble Co., IN. She was married to a man with the last name of Jackson. 

e.      Maggie Ellen Landrum was born on 28 August 1905 in Paulding Co. She died on 29 August 1991 at the age of 86 in Adams Co., IN. Maggie Ellen Landrum and Roy White were married on 20 December 1922 in Payne, Paulding Co. The couple lived in Fort Wayne, Allen Co., IN in 1930 and moved to Decator, Adams Co., IN in time to appear in the 1930 federal census. They lived there through December 1945. Roy White, son of Lewis White and Belle Driver, was born on 21 April 1903 in Payne, Paulding Co.  

Maggie Ellen Landrum and Roy White had the following children:

                                                    i.     Isabel E. White was born circa 1924 in OH. She died in 1994 at the age of 70.

                                                  ii.     Lois Ann White was born circa 1934 in IN.

f.        Robert Andrew Landrum was born in June 1909 in Benton Township, Paulding Co. He died at age 12 years 13 days on 25 June 1921 in Paulding Co.

g.       Lillian Landrum was born in 1915. She died in 1915 at the age of 0.

h.     Donna B. Landrum was born on 11 August 1916 in Benton Township, Paulding Co. She died in 2004 at the age of 88 in IN. Donna B. Landrum and Robert Louis Bailey were married on 20 March 1937 in  Adams Co., IN. They appeared in the census in 1940 in Monroe Township, Adams Co., IN. Robert Louis Bailey, son of Peter Bailey and Mamie Urick, was born on 4 December 1912 in Monroe, Adams Co., IN.  He died in 1980 at the age of 68 in Adams Co.

Donna B. Landrum and Robert Louis Bailey had the following children:

                                                    i.     Norma Jean Bailey was born circa 1938. She married Larry Wilson and they lived in Celina, Mercer Co., OH, in 2011.

                                                  ii.     David L. Bailey was born on 1 May 1945 in Decatur, Adams Co., IN He died on 20 September 2011 at the age of 66 in Decatur, Adams Co., IN. David L. Bailey and Carol A. Rumschlag were married on 11 August 1988.

David L. Bailey and Carol A. Rumschlag had the following child:

1.      Danielle R. Bailey lived in Decatur, Adams Co., IN, in 2011.

                                                 iii.     Nancy Bailey who married a man with the last name of Sidle. She lived in Decatur, Adams Co., IN, in 2011.

i.      Eva R. Landrum was born in February 1919 in Benton Township, Paulding Co.  Her husband was  W. L. Durham.

I.                John Lewis Landrum and Rose Vonier were married about 1925. She was born about 1908 in Ohio. She died before 1940.

John Lewis Landrum and Rose Vonier had the following children:

a.      Mary Landrum was born in December 1927.

b.     John Landrum, died less than one year old on 10 April 1932 in Three Rivers, St. Joseph Co., MI.