Samuel Hall "Hal" Conkey (1899 - 1996)

Samuel Hall "Hal" Conkey was born 26 Jan 1899 in London, Ontario, Canada while his mother was visiting her sister. The family home was in (Caseville), Lake township, Huron county, Michigan and he was considered a native born US citizen. (Even listed as born in Michigan in censuses.)

He is the youngest of five children, and only son born to Samuel Conkey and Amanda Melvina Fitzgerald Hall. He had two young sisters die before he was born, Zelma (1890-1897) and Valerie Leslie (1896-1896). Two other sisters lived to be adults, Alice Blanch (1892-1977) and Hope Jean (1897-1977).

He is listed as Samuel H Conkey in the 1900 census, born Jan 1899. In the 1910 census he is Hall Conkey, and in the 1920 census he is Hal Conkey. 

1900 census

1910 census

1920 census

One of the many careers Hall had was as a school teacher. He had ideas ahead of his time. He wanted the students to work together in groups. It was a scandal when he married one of his older students.

Hall Conkey and Christine Walker

Hall married Christine Margaret Walker. They were married 30 Jun 1926 by Rev. Glenn Carpenter at the home of the bride's parents in Sheridan Township, Huron, Michigan. They had four children and were married for seventy years before his death.

In the 1930 census he is listed as Samuel H Conkey again. He is also listed as a salesman. According to his son, he sold generators so that people could have electricity in their homes.

1930 census

His oldest son writes: "A teacher for many years, he left teaching during the depression and returned to his fathers farm so he could feed his family. And he did. He rebuilt a run down farm by buying baby calves and raising them. At one time they had over 100 head of cattle. Each spring they would buy 300 to 500 baby chicks and raise them for the lake shore trade, selling them during the depression for a dollar a bird, a lot of money in those days."

The Conkey farm was in the same family for over 100 years and was designated a Michigan Centennial Farm by the Michigan Historical Commission. Though the last of the farm was sold shortly after Hal and Christine died, the family still owns a small area of land where the original house stood.

Hal was an inventor. Among his inventions are the sugar beet harvester, the beet lifter that pulled
behind the tractor, with a riding board for the holder; and a portable conveyor to move beans or grain from the threshing machine into the bins, long before conveyors became popular. Probably his most popular invention with his grandchildren and great grandchildren was the Happy-go-round.

Happy-go-round at the Conkey farm 1988

Hal became a painter later in life and many of his paintings are family treasures. He and Christine were also very active in local politics. Hal had a clear and active mind until shortly before he died when he developed Alzheimer's. He died peacefully 29 Nov 1996 at the Sunny Acres Nursing Home between Bad Axe and Elkton in Michigan.

Hal Conkey 1994

Willard Knowles Hopkins (1812 - 1878)

I am excited because my sister has started doing some genealogy too! It's so fun to share the excitement of research! Together we have been learning more about our Hopkins ancestors.

Willard Knowles Hopkins was born 19 Jun 1812 in Harwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts to Joshua Hopkins and Bridget Small. He is one of ten kids, eight of which I have names for so far. He had an older brother named John, and two baby brothers named Joshua and Samuel. The four sisters, Orpha, Juliana, Sarah Jane, and Mary Amanda. The other two children I don't know anything about yet. It is said there were 5 girls and 5 boys, so possibly the two unknown children died young, one boy and one girl? (Speculation.)

In 1817, Joshua & Bridget moved their small growing family to Tuckertown, New Jersey.

On 21 Mar 1836, in Burlington county, New Jersey, Willard married Lucy Ann Read. We believe she was born in New York but don't know much about her yet. (Marriage record found at LDS family history centery on microfiche by my sister!)

Approx 1838-1840, the family moved to Greenwich, Ohio. Joshua & Bridget and their clan, John & his wife Levica, and Willard & Lucy. According to stories from Mary Amanda, (Joshua's youngest), written down in 1973 from the memory of her granddaughter,

"Joshua Hopkins left New Jersey because he didn't want his sons to be sailors.  For he said a sailor's life was a dog's life. Grandmother remembers walking over the hills of Pa.  Joshua Hopkins intended to go farther west, but when he got to Ohio the man who was bringing his furniture through by ox team got drunk one night and left their funiture out in the rain.  so they went no farther west. "

Willard & Lucy had 2 daughters and possibly a third child. Mary Ann Hopkins was born 31 Jan 1840 in Greenwich, Ohio. Lucy Maria Hopkins was born in early 1842 in Greenwich, Ohio. 


Sadly, Lucy died 2 Mar 1842 in Greenwich, Ohio and is buried in Ninevah Cemetery. 

On 5 Dec 1843, in Greenwich, Ohio, Willard married Jane Ursula Easterly. Jane was from Gloversville, New York, born 21 Sep 1822. Together, they had eight children, William W, Albert J, Francis T, Elizabeth Jane, Julia E, Isadora A, Armon Bartine, and George Halstead.

Willard and Jane are in the 1850 census in Greenwich, Huron, Ohio. On the previous page are his brother John & family and his father Joshua & family.

In 1860, still in Greenwich, Ohio! Father Joshua still next door. (Note that Willard is listed as Wm K, and Joshua is listed as Josiah.) Brother John has moved to the nearby town of Ripley.

 In 1870, still in Greenwich, Huron, Ohio.

June 1878 newspaper clipping mentioning his death. (From the Rutherford B Hayes Presidential Library)

Willard Knowles Hopkins died 18 May 1878 in Greenwich, Huron, Ohio and is buried in the Ninevah Cemetery, with both his wives and many other relatives.


Online book about Huron county, Ohio history with Hopkins family history in it! (First link, Second link). 


Another book resource: Genealogies of Mayflower Families" pub. 1985 pg. 365


I have recently connected to several people working on the Hopkins family and seen some pictures of relatives, but don't have any with known photos of Willard yet. If you are related and able to identify people in photos or interested in sharing information, please contact me!

Susannah Chenoweth (1812 - 1862)

Susannah Chenoweth was born 20 Apr 1812 in Randolph County, Virginia. (It is West Virginia now.) She was the first daughter of her father Robert's second marriage to Edith "Eve" Skidmore. She had three older half sisters and was the oldest of 12 kids born to Edith.

She married at age 18 in Randolph county to John W Stalnaker, a distant cousin of her father's first wife. Susannah and John had 7 children, 4 girls and 3 boys. The oldest was born in Randolph county and then the family moved to Roane county, following an earlier move by her father and siblings.

They appear in the 1850 census in Wirt County, Virginia with all 7 children.

They appear in the 1860 census in Roane County, Virginia with just the youngest 3 children.

Susannah died about 3 weeks after her husband did in 1862 during the Civil War. Her youngest son was only 12. She died on 18 Apr 1862 in Reedy, Roane, Virginia.

Susannah's fifth child, George Milton Stalnaker, married Evaline Virginia Surface, read more here.

Read more about Susannah Stalnaker, sources for much of this information and some of her numerous descendants at The Chenoweth Site.

Chenoweth National Family Reunion

This weekend I am lucky to be able to attend the National Chenoweth Reunion. In honor of that, I will later post about one of the Chenoweth descendants I have researched. Tonight though we were lucky to get to listen to Tami Glatz lecture about Social Networking and Genealogy.  I learned a ton!

Robert Lee Shaw (1869 - 1929)

Robert Lee Shaw was born 12 November 1869 in Bradford county, Florida to Hezekiah Daniel Shaw & Mary Croft. (Source: Florida Death records at pilot.familysearch.org) He was the youngest surviving child that we have record of. (The 1900 census reports Mary as having 15 children, 5 living. I have names for 9: Eliza B, Elizabeth C, William Henry, Melvina Serrilda, Daniel F, Missouri, Leleigh, Leavy, & Robert Lee).

Robert appears in the 1870 census at age 8/12 in Bradford county, Florida. His parents are listed as H D Shaw & Mary. His siblings "Vina", Daniel & Missouri appear as well.

In the 1880 census, Robert is the only child living at home. He is 10 years old and his parents are 56 and 52.

Robert appears in the 1885 census with his parents as well. He is 15 and the only child at home.

On the 4th of May, 1890, Robert Lee Shaw & Mary Priscilla Sistrunk were married in Columbia County, Florida. Mary was the daughter of Stephen David Sistrunk and Sarah Catherine Cheshire.

In the 1900 census, Robert & Priscilla have been married 10 years and have 4 children, all living.They are in Lake Butler, Bradford, Florida.

In 1901 Robert's mother dies and then in 1902 his father dies as well.

In the 1910 census, Robert & Priscilla have all 6 children living with them in Pine Hill, Bradford, Florida. The record indicates that they only have had 6 children and all 6 are present. So nice of them!

In the 1920 census, Robert & Priscilla are living in Fort Meade, Polk, Florida. Only their youngest daughter remains at home.

Family story says that some time in his life, Robert had a crop dispute with another individual and was shot in the leg. He was crippled for the rest of his life and the bullet was still in him when he died.

Robert Lee Shaw died on the 27 Mar 1929 in Avon Park, Highlands, Florida.

David L Duff mention

A google search turned up David L Duff mentioned as a settler arriving in Anderson County, Kansas in the Spring of 1857. (Page 267 of The History of Anderson County from its first settlement to the Fourth of July 1876 by William A Johnson published in 1877 by Kaufmann & Iler.)

So the widows' pension said 1855, the book says 1857... somewhere in there they moved to Kansas and were there until about 1868. Still doesn't tell us why I can't find him in the 1870 census!

Leonard Lake Randall

Leonard Lake Randall was born 16 Nov 1814 in Rockingham, Windham Vermont to Martha Jerrolds & David Randall. His birthdate and parents names are given in his LDS patriarchal blessing. Leonard was an early Mormon pioneer and so you would think there was more information out there about him. But I have not found much out there and there are still many unanswered questions.

Leonard would be living with his parents as of the 1820 census. David Randall appears in Rockingham, Windham, Vermont. It is he, a sister, and his parents. From other sources I need to look into, I know he had several brothers and sisters who died young.

Based on the deaths of these siblings, sometime between 1822 and 1827, the family moved to Charlotte, Chatauqua, New York. They are locate in Charlotte, Chatauqua, New York in the 1830 census. Again, there is Leonard, one sister, and his parents. (Sadly the sister would die in a few years, though she did reach adulthood, Leonard is the only known child to have children himself.)

Leonard married Maria Louisa Warren on 28 Dec 1834 in New York. She was a New York native and daughter of Porter Warren & Lydia Howard.

They are living in Charlotte, Chatauqua, New York in 1840. They have 2 daughters and 1 son living with them, as well as a teenage boy and an older woman. Perhaps a mother or mother in law and brother/brother in law.

On 6 Aug 1841 Leonard and Maria are baptized into the LDS church and shortly thereafter the family moves to Nauvoo, Illinois. They receive LDS temple ordinances on 8 Jan 1846 in Nauvoo shortly before having to leave for Iowa. Leonard was probably instructed to stay in Lee, Iowa for a while to help other pioneers coming after them because they stay for several years in Iowa. Maria dies 22 Apr 1847 in Lee, Keokuk, Iowa and Leonard is a widow in the 1850 census.

Sometime after 1852, Leonard marries Mary Jane Brooks Williams, whose husband William Williams, dies in 1852 in Iowa. Mary Jane Brooks was a LDS emigrant from England. Some sources say Leonard married Mary Jane earlier than this, but I have found Mary Jane & William together in the 1850 census, so I disagree.

Leonard & Mary Jane have 3 sons, Leonard (1856), George (1859) and Joseph (1862).

Based on a small blurb in the Deseret News on July 27, 1859, we know that Leonard had land in the Great Salt Lake county that he needed to pick up a deed about. Link to blurb here. The blended family is living in Salt Lake, Utah in the 1860 census. 

There is a lovely biography of Harriet Banner here that includes a history of the settling of Upton, Utah. Leonard L Randall was the second settler in Upton and it talks about him. He also helped build the sawmill.

In 1870 for some reason, both Leonard L and his son Leonard W are listed as Levi Randall in Coalville, Summit, Utah.

In 1880, Leonard and Mary are empty-nesters in Upton, Summit, Utah. Their youngest two are not married yet, but living with an older half-sister's family as servants.

Mary Jane dies on 28 Aug 1893 and Leonard is a widow living by himself in the 1900 census (though next door to his youngest son Joseph). He dies 13 Jan 1901 and is buried in the Upton Cemetery in Upton, Summit, Utah.

Buried next to his wife Mary Jane.

View of Upton Cemetery in Utah

View of Randall Holler (Hollow) in Upton, UT.

Thank you to new found cousin Stephen for providing pictures of the grave, cemetery & hollow! If you have a picture of Leonard Lake Randall or his family, I'd love to see them! Hope you enjoyed reading what I have pieced together on Leonard Lake Randall. If you have more information to share, please do!

(Last Updated February 18, 2012)