My Most Elusive Ancestor(s) 

Submitted by GFSRip@aol.com

I couldn't decide which one of two I should write about, so decided to complain about both of them.

Great-Great Grandpa #1 was William Harrison BERNARD/ BENARD. Naturally, I didn't seriously start genealogy until after my Great Grandma passed away, so I never asked her about her father. But from what my great aunt tells me, she wouldn't have talked about him much anyway. There seems to be a big mystery about "Harrison", as he was called. My Great Great Grandmother was, to say the least and to keep it clean, a rebel. Her name was Mary Catherine JUSTICE but she was called Molly. One family story passed down was that Molly remembers being 13 years old, pregnant, walking down a dirt road, smoking a corn cob pipe (the dates add up to her being 14, almost 15). Mary Catherine JUSTICE was born October 10, 1875 in Bradfordsville, Marion County, Kentucky, the daughter of Elbert Gamewell/Granvill JUSTICE and Minerva Jane (Janie) KING. On August 11, 1891, Molly married William Harrison BERNARD at the home of her parents in Casey County, Kentucky. Their daughter Lena (my Great Grandmother) was born October 1, 1890, in Casey County. Yes, even back then, sometimes the cart was put before the horse. 

This marriage date of 1891 is the last "proven" mention of William Harrison BERNARD. There are a couple other William H. BERNARD's marriage listings, but these would make Molly at least the second or third wife and make him a great deal older than Molly. 

The listings show:
William H. Bernard = Malvina Polston Casey Co., KY 4/1/1884
William H. Bernard = Nancy S. Rayborn Casey Co., KY 1/26/1860

An educated guess tells me that Molly was probably the second wife of the William shown married to Malvina Polston. I also think the William who married Molly was the son of William H. and Nancy S. Rayborn. But no proof of either guess.

By August 16, 1895, Molly married Coleman BERNARD, said to have been a cousin to William. I have also never been able to find out anything about Coleman, other than he and Molly had a son Coleman (Coley) BERNARD, Jr. born October 12, 1901, in Kentucky.

On December 16, 1902, fast-moving Molly married Gottfried GLUR, a widower with 12 children in Laurel County, Kentucky. Lena went to school under the name of GLUR and not BERNARD.

So for 30 years, I have tried to find Harrison. I have written to county and state. I still don't know if the old coot died, divorced or deserted. 

Great-Great Grandpa #2 is Edward DERWIN/ DARWIN/ DERWINE. Edward shows up in the Pike County, Missouri, marriage records as marrying Martha BELL January 29, 1874. The 1910 Madison County Census shows he was born ca 1832 in France. This matches a memory of my Great Grandma who said her father told her once he can remember standing on the ship watching the Eiffel Tower and wondering if he was doing the right thing in leaving France. 

In 1850, I believe this is the Edward DERWIN listed on the 1850 Calhoun County, Illinois, Census. In 1880, he is listed as a farmer on the Lincoln County, Missouri, Census. Daughter Cora May was born in Lincoln County, Missouri, on April 30, 1881. Sometime between 1881 and November 1900, they moved back to Calhoun County, where his daughter was married and the marriage license says she was a resident of Calhoun County. One cousin said she thinks she found Edward living in West Point, Illinois, in 1900.

When I win the big lotto, I will travel to Missouri and Kentucky myself to see what I can find. <G> 

Now about Martha BELL.....