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Subject: [KSLABETT-L] Adam, Cyrus H., & Albert Jerry Clark/Clarke; family moved VA (now WV)>OH>IN>KS
Date: Fri, 9 May 2003 12:28:20 EDT

Would anyone be able to give me some suggestions for locating 1870s death,
marriage, and birth records in Labette County, KS?

My g-g-g-grandfather Adam Clark/Clarke picked up his family after spending
about twenty years as a farmer and politician in Kokomo, Howard Co., IN, and
moved to Labette Co., KS.

1870 KS census, Labette Co., Montana Township, p. 13 (original) or p. 40
(stamped):
Adam Clark (b. 1809, OH; d. 3-8-1872, Labette Co., KS) is found living
with:
Third wife Jane Jordan Spencer (b. 1811; d. 1-10-1879, Labette Co.,
KS)
Daughter Cornelia F. (b. abt.1851, Kokomo, IN; d. 4-2-1881 or 1882)
Son John Spencer (b. 2-16-1852, Kokomo, IN; d. 7-30-1934, Labette Co.,
KS)
Son George P. (b. abt 1853, Kokomo, IN; d. Jan. 27, 1874)
Son Cyrus Higgins (b. 9-20-1845, IN, prob. Kokomo; d. 7-19-1920,
Kokomo, IN)

The first three children listed above were children of his third wife
Jane Jordan Spencer. The last child was one of his children by his second
marriage to Mary Ann Higgins (maybe Mary Ann Jane Higgins).

Between the 1870 census and 1872, Cyrus Higgins Clark/Clarke had
married Laura Thompson/Tompson and had a child:

Albert Jerry Clarke/Clark (b. 4-16-1872, near Bee Creek, KS -- maybe
Labette Co., maybe Chataqua Co., KS; d. 1-26-1945, Fort Wayne, Allen Co., IN;
bur. Kokomo, Howard Co., IN.

Laura Thompson/Tompson is a mystery person we would like to find. She is
named in her son A.J.'s marriage records in Kokomo, IN. She is listed in
census lists as being born in IN and OK.

In the obituary of her husband Cyrus, she is mentioned as a "Mrs.
Thompson, a resident of Dayton, IN." Calculating from information in the
obit, she died in 1878.

I have searched all of the Indiana marriage indexes searching for a
man whose surname was Thompson who married a woman whose given name was
Laura. There is no such marriage in the Indiana records before 1872. Of
course, it is possible that both Laura and Mr. Thompson might have been from
IN families who picked up and moved to KS and they might have been married in
KS though they were from Dayton, IN, originally.

If she were a Mrs. Thompson from Dayton, IN, would that show up in a
marriage record when she married Cyrus in Kansas?

The main reason for questioning the claim of Laura's birthplace as
Indiana and possibly even the existence of a previous marriage comes from
information shared with my grandfather and his siblings who were the children
of A.J. Albert Jerry Clarke and his father Cyrus Higgins Clark/Clarke always
told A.J.'s children that their grandmother Laura Thompson/Tompson was a
Native American. Two of his children remembered the tribe as Cherokee, one
as Cherokee or Choctaw, and the fourth only remembered being told her
grandmother was Indian. My grandfather's family Bible has Laura listed as
being born in Indian Territory.

As the years have gone by and we have found not an inkling of her
existence, my siblings and I wonder if the information in his obituary which
was supplied by A.J.'s half sister (child of the woman who raised A.J. from
about age 8, a woman whose family had been among the original Caucasion
settlers in Kokomo, and a woman who was a member of the KKK, as per her
diary), was intentionally crafted to avoid anyone supposing that there was
any "impurity" in family blood. Certainly, the detailed obituary (first page
news warranted by the fact that Cyrus' father Adam was also among the first
Caucasion settlers in Howard Co., IN) neglected to mention that some time
between 1864 and 1870 this old Howard County family moved to KS, nor did it
mention that Cyrus did not return to Howard Co. until 1880 when he married
his second wife, a woman whose family had lived very near his own family when
they were 4 years old -- as per the 1850 census.

So, here are our questions:

Where might we get death certificates for:

(1) A. Adam Clark/Clarke, d. March 3, 1872, Labette Co., KS.

(His family name is spelled variously on official records, sometimes with the
final 'e' and sometimes without. None of his official records seem to show
him signing his name A. Adam, rather he simply used his middle name
consisently -- but a death certificate might include A. Adam -- or possibly
Archibald Adam given that Adam's generation is the only generation for about
six that does not include an Archibald, and given that one of his sons was
named Archibald A. Clark/Clarke.)

(2) Jane Jordan Clark/Clarke, d. Jan. 10, 1879, Labette Co., KS.

(3) John Spencer Clark/Clarke, d. July 20, 1834, Labette Co., KS

Marriage records for 1870s and on?
If so, where might we begin looking for the marriages of:

Cyrus H. (Higgins) Clark/Clarke and Laura Thompson/Tompson between
1870 and 1872.

John S. (Spencer) Clark/Clarke and anyone in any year.


Birth records for 1872? If so, where might we begin looking for the birth
of:

Albert Jerry Clark/Clarke, father Cyrus H., mother Laura
Thompson/Tompson, April 16, 1872.


Finally, do any of these people belong in your family? There were other
Clarks from this family who moved to and remained in Kansas. But I have not
found anyone researching them yet!

Thanks for any help you can give to a newbie Kansas researcher!

Karen Carter
Minneapolis

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