How Did They Get There?

Yesterday, quite by happy accident, I came across a death record for one Leonora King while searching at the pilot Family Search Record Search Site. What caught my eye was her parents surnames, Magill and Percival.

At first I thought I had found another child for William J. Magill and Mary E. Percival, however, further investigation elicited the information that this was Mary L. Magill and that she used the name Leonora. Great. What information I didn't have was that she married and the name of her spouse. The Ohio death record site had her husband's name on the death certificate. I found them on the 1900 Census, enumerated just down the page from F. J. Magill, his wife Anna, two nieces and F. J.'s mother Mary Magill. Sweet. I hadn't found F. J. on the 1900 census before, as I had been searching for Frederick or Fred J. The "J" on the 1900 census isn't even readable.

But I digress. I found no Edward B. King or Leonora King on any census between 1910 and 1930. Leonora died in 1938 in Ohio; Edward died in 1953 in Florida. I was reasonably sure it was him, but searching on Find A Grave nailed it, since there I found Leonora and Edward in Fort Lauderdale and her headstone read Leonora Magill King. So that was great, I found them in 1900, 1938 and 1953 and their resting places, but absolutely no sign of them between 1900 and 1938.

Periodically, I will check Genealogy Bank for which I have a subscription, to see if any Florida newspapers will have an obit for this line. I was fortunate enough to find not only an obituary but the funeral notice for Mary E. Percival Magill. Mrs. Magill died in 1914 and was survived by her son, and a daughter, Mrs. E. B. King, of Havana, Cuba. Well, that certainly explained why I couldn't find them on the 1910 census.

Leonora's brother, Fred, died in 1917 and in his obituary, she is still living in Havana. Back to Ancestry and the US Passport applications give me results for Leonora Magill King, Edward B. King and daughter Elizabeth Percival King for 1919 and that Edward is in Foreign Service and employed by Western Union. His application shows him in Cuba from 1906 to 1916 and again from 1916 to present time (1919) and that is what he had been doing for the last several years and would explain why I can't find them on the census.

Mystery solved.

Copyright 2010, ACK for Gene Notes