Floyd and his step-mother, Ethel, lived together for 32 years. Could it have been out of necessity, as Sharon Strow stated? Or, did they fall in love?

Floyd Wakenight

Born: 15 MAR 1905 in Mount Morris, Ogle County, Illinois

Father: Harry Norman Wakenight (1873 to 1929)
Mother: Margaret Louise Hill (1880 to 1918)

Spouse: Ethel Bell Andrew (1904 to 1975)

Married: Unknown/Unverified

Children: None

Died: 7 MAY 1961 in Hines, Cook County, Illinois

Burial: Washington Grove Cemetery, Chana, Ogle County, Illinois

Obituary:

Timeline:

1910 Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois
1920 Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois
1930 Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois
1940 Nashua, Ogle County, Illinois
1961 Death and burial

Occupation: general laborer

Records:

1910 to 1940 US Census Records
U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
Social Security Death Index
Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current
The U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current

Variations of Surname: None

Spouse:

Ethel Bell Andrew:

Ethel was born on 8 JUL 1904 in Chana, Ogle County, Illinois. She died on 18 DEC 1975 in Rockford, Winnebago County, Illinois.

Ethel’s father was Daniel Jeremiah Andrew. He was born on 1 APR 1875 in Washington County, Maryland. He died on 9 MAY 1931 in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois.

Ethel’s mother was Myrtle Cole. She was born on 13 JUN 1883 in Sherman County, Nebraska. She died on 21 MAY 1916 in Rochelle, Ogle County, Illinois.

Ethel had six known brothers and sisters, all born in Ogle County, Illinois:

Blanche L Andrew (1904)
Mildred B Andrew (1908)
Alice A Andrew (1909)
Emma L Andrew (1911)
George A Andrew (1913)
John Andrew (1915)

Ethel married Everett William Messenger on 26 MAY 1923 in Ogle County, Illinois. One known child was born to this marriage:

Priscilla Neva Messenger (1923)

Everett William Messenger was born in 1903 in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois. He died in 1985 in Daysville, Ogle County, Illinois.

Ethel and Everett divorced before 1927.

In 1927, Everett married Cleatis Adele Harmon. Five known children were born to this marriage, all in Ogle County, Illinois:

Everett Messenger (1927)
William Messenger (1929)
Patricia Messenger (1931)
Richard Messenger (1935)
Yvonne Messenger (1938)

Cleatis Adele Harmon was born in 1908 in Odell, Livingston County, Illinois. She died in 1978 in Daysville, Ogle County, Illinois.

Also in 1927, Ethel married Harry Norman Wakenight. One known child was born to this marriage:

Roland Andrew Wakenight (1928)

Harry Norman Wakenight was born on 5 NOV 1873 in Mt Morris, Ogle County, Illinois. He died on 3 JAN 1929 in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois.

Did Floyd marry Ethel?

Ethel’s husband, Harry, died in 1929. On her website, Sharon Strow added this note:

“After the death of her husband, Harry, Ethel married his oldest son, Floyd, and together they raised Pricilla and Roland.”

But, did they truly get married? I found no evidence of a marriage record.

I wonder if what they had was more of a common-law-marriage. This is a term used when two people live together without getting legally married through civil courts or religious ceremonies.

Both the 1930 and 1940 US census records showed that Floyd lived with Ethel as her step-son. By 1940, eleven years had passed since Harry had died. Wouldn’t they have married before then?

 

Could small-town gossip have stopped this from happening? How many stories would have been passed around from neighbor to neighbor about the step-mother marrying her step-son? They were very close in age, by the way. Could Roland have been Floyd’s son? You know, small-town gossip.

Yet, the fact remains that Floyd and Ethel lived as a married couple.

When Roland died in Korea in 1951, the Dixon Evening Telegraph described him as “the son of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Wakenight” not the son of Mrs. Harry Wakenight.

And, Floyd’s 1961 obituary listed Ethel as his widow, “the former Ethel Andrews”, not as his step-mother.

Gossip aside, I wonder if they stayed together out of necessity, or did they fall in love?

Notes:

For more information on this part of the Wakenight family, please visit Sharon Strow’s website, “Desecndants of Daniel Wakenight.”

Creating Your Family Tree

Interested in building a great family tree? Remember these important steps:

Look in your photo albums. You may have old pictures that your parents or grandparents gave you. Or, ask them for copies of photos that they have in their possession. Many people will write names and dates on the backs of photographs. Letters, diaries, and family bibles are also an excellent source for births, marriages, and deaths.

Talk to your older relatives to find out about your ancestry. They may relate stories about an ancestor that you can add to your family tree. Family history is usually not found in newspapers. It is more of a verbal memory that is passed down from generation to generation.

Find the right family tree builder that suits your needs. You can choose one that has a paid subscription like Ancestry.com. There are also free sites like FamilySearch.org.

When you start building your family tree, add documentation to your ancestor’s profile. The records can include birth, marriage, death, census, military, city, and county directory listings. Any information that you can find will help create a life story about your ancestor.

If you have a unique surname, like Wakenight, you may find databases on the internet that are useful in your search. I use SurnameDB.com for my English surnames. There are many others on the internet for other countries like Ireland, Italy, and Germany.

Genealogy is the study of a person’s “line of descent.” As you create your family tree, you would typically start with one individual and go “back into time.” You would add their parents, grandparents, and so on. There are also family trees that go “forward into time.” Many of these family trees start with a famous person, such as a president or royalty, and move forward into the present time. The purpose of this type of pedigree is to establish a person’s bloodline to that famous person.

There is no limit on how big your family tree can grow. The blank canvas is there for you to use. Cherish your family history, and it will be there for generations to come!