I discovered that Olivia is not James and Barbara’s daughter. She is their granddaughter. Her mother is Julie, who gave birth to Olivia before she married a man named Jones.

James L Wakenight, photo courtesy of Find A Grave member, KTS.

Born: 30 SEP 1936 in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois

Father: Leroy A Wakenight (1911 to 1989)
Mother: Ruby M Messenger (1916 to 2016)

Spouse: Barbara Boyden (1944 to Unknown/Still Living)

Married: 20 Feb 1965 in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois

Children:

Jill Wakenight (1970)
Julie Wakenight (1975)

Died: 31 MAR 2013 in Mountain Home, Baxter County, Arkansas

Obituary:

Baxter Bulletin, Apr. 2 to Apr. 3, 2013:

Mr. James L. Wakenight, age 76 of Mountain Home passed away Sunday, March 31, 2013, at Baxter Regional Medical Center.

He was born September 30, 1936, in Oregon, Illinois to Leroy Wakenight and Ruby Messenger Wakenight.

He married the love of his life, Barbara Boyden on February 20, 1965, in Oregon, Illinois. His passions in life were fishing, golfing, and gardening. He was a guide on both Norfork and Bull Shoals Lakes. He attended East Side Baptist Church. He and his wife Barbara owned and operated Barb’s Coffee Shop for 33 and ½ years in Mountain Home.

Mr. Wakenight is survived by his wife, Barbara Wakenight of Mountain Home; 3 daughters: Jill Martin, Julie Jones, and Olivia Wakenight, all of Mountain Home; a grandson, Brandon Sutterfield of Mountain Home; a step-granddaughter, Brittany Martin; beloved family dog, Carmen; his mother, Ruby Wakenight of Oregon, Illinois; a sister, Doris Payne of Las Vegas, Nevada; 3 brothers: Richard Wakenight of Moline, Illinois, Roger Wakenight of Polo, Illinois and Randy Wakenight of Oregon, Illinois; his aunt, Pauline Glendenning of Oregon, Illinois.

He was preceded in death by a brother, Greg Wakenight.

A memorial service, officiated by Reverend Zack Holder, will be held at 1:00 PM Friday, April 5, 2013, at East Side Baptist Church.

Roller Funeral Home, Highway 5 North, Mountain Home, AR 72654

James’ obituary can be found on the Find A Grave website.

Timeline:

1940 Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois
1965 Marriage to Barbara
1970 Birth of daughter, Jill
1975 Birth of daughter, Julie
1989 Death of father, Leroy
1993 Mountain Home, Baxter County, Arkansas
2004 Death of brother, Greg
2013 Death and burial

Occupation: fishing guide

Records:

1940 US Census Record
U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 1
Social Security Death Index
The U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current

Variations of Surname: None

Spouse:

Barbara J Boyden:

Barbara was born in 1944 in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois.

Barbara’s father was Harry Boyden. He was born on 30 JUL 1908 in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois. He died on 29 SEP 1981 in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois.

Barbara’s mother was Dorothy Lucille Suter. She was born on 15 DEC 1910 in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois. She died on 20 MAY 1997 in Rockford, Winnebago County, Illinois.

Barbara had 12 brothers and sisters, all born in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois:

Delores Boyden (1929)
Edwin Boyden (1932)
Darlene Boyden (1934)
Melvin Boyden (1935)
Dixie Lee Boyden (1938)
Harry Boyden (1939)
Donald Boyden (1940)
Patricia Boyden (1942)
Betty Boyden (1943)
Sue Boyden (1945)
Kathleen Boyden (1946)
Sally Boyden (1947)

After James’ death, Barbara married Roscoe Gene Cowart in 2016 in Mountain Home, Baxter County, Arkansas. No known children were born to this marriage.

Roscoe Gene Cowart, photo courtesy of Find A Grave member, Mizzizzippy.

Roscoe Gene Cowart:

Roscoe was born on 11 FEB 1930 in Clarkridge, Baxter County, Arkansas. He died on 13 JUL 2020 in Mountain Home, Baxter County, Arkansas.

Roscoe’s father was David Clifton Cowart. He was born on 5 SEP 1886 in Clarkridge, Baxter County, Arkansas. He died on 15 JAN 1970 in Clarkridge, Baxter County, Arkansas.

Roscoe’s mother was Maude Eva Thacker. She was born on 24 DEC 1895 in Clarkridge, Baxter County, Arkansas. She died on 19 OCT 1988 in Gassville, Baxter County, Arkansas.

Roscoe had three brothers and sisters, all born in Clarkridge, Baxter County, Arkansas:

Ruby Jane Cowart (1913)
Roxie Marie Cowart (1917)
Rudolph Cowart (1922)

Roscoe had previously married Imogene Muier on 9 DEC 1950 in Mountain Home, Baxter County, Arkansas. Three known children were born to this marriage, all born in Baxter County, Arkansas:

David, Gail, and Debra Cowart (ages unknown)

Imogene Muier was born on 23 OCT 1932 in Howards Ridge, Ozark County, Missouri. She died on 29 JUL 2007 in Clarkridge, Baxter County, Arkansas.

Roscoe’s Obituary:

Mountain Home – Roscoe Gene Cowart, 90, of Mountain Home, Arkansas, passed away on Monday, July 13, 2020. He was born on February 11, 1930, to the late David Clifton and Maude (Thacker) Cowart in Clarkridge, Arkansas. Roscoe enjoyed hunting, fishing, gardening, bowling, and playing his guitar for nursing home residents and staff and the children attending preschool. He was a member of the Clarkridge Church of Christ.

He leaves behind his wife, Barbara, his son, David Cowart, daughters: Gail Cobb (Ray), Debra Foster (Gary), Jill Martin, Julie Jones, Olivia & Laci Garner-Wakenight; grandchildren: Chris Kelley of Sherwood, AR, Wendy West (John) of Benton, AR, Darla Hulen of Flippin, AR, Jared Cantrall of Yellville, AR, Jonathan Foster (Stace) of Mount Juliet, TN; great-grandchildren: Brandon Sutterfield, Brittany Barker (Daniel), Ben, Noah, Asher, Beckham, Gage, Abigail, Zach, Ian, Brennan, Aundreya, Aedyn; sister-in-law, Ada Howard and brother-in-law, Ray Muier and wife Bertha.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years, Imogene (Muier) Cowart; one brother, Rudolph Cowart; sisters, Ruby Chandler and Roxie Crawford, and by his parents.

A graveside service will be held at 10:00 A.M., Thursday, July 16, 2020, at Thacker Cemetery with Wayne Camp officiating. Honorary pallbearers will be Chris Kelley, Jared Cantrall, Ben Cantrall, Gage Hulen, Noah Cantrall, Johnathan Foster, Wes Britt, Darrell Cowart, Mike Howard, Roger Howard, Ron Spears, Dan Isabel, Grayson Calloway, Gary Foster, Ray Muier, Junior Trivitt and Ray Cobb. Arrangements are by Roller Funeral Home.

Roscoe’s obituary can be found on the Find A Grave Website.

Barbara’s daughter, Jill, paid tribute to her step-father with a social media post:

“Today we said our goodbyes to a loving, caring man who made my Mom happy again after losing my Daddy. They were married for almost 5 years. Roscoe was a ray of light in our world. Lots of laughs and lots of love. Rest in peace Roscoe.”

Clarification of Relationship:

James’ 2013 obituary refers to his daughters as “Jill Martin, Julie Jones, and Olivia Wakenight”.

Roscoe’s 2020 obituary refers to his (step) daughters as “Jill Martin, Julie Jones, Olivia & Laci Garner-Wakenight”.

Yet, through my research, I discovered that Olivia is James and Barbara’s granddaughter. Her mother is Julie, who gave birth to Olivia before she married a man named Jones.  Laci Garner is not related to the Wakenight family.

This type of investigation is important in genealogy. As the three daughters are still living, I could not search family tree websites like Ancestry.com. Instead, I turned my attention to social media websites.

It was on one of these sites that I found Julie’s profile. In several of her posts, she referred to Olivia as her daughter. This is how I was able to confirm their relationship.

For privacy reasons, I cannot divulge too much information on living individuals. Yet, I believe other Wakenight genealogists should know how these family members are connected.

Notes:

For more information on this part of the Wakenight family, please visit Sharon Strow’s website, “Descendants 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!