Backtracking - Marion, Sadie and Lillie Stinnett

There are always a few lost trails in genealogy research. Some people live off the grid. Some die during times or in places where records were lost, destroyed by courthouse fires, or not even kept until after their lifespans. People change their names and identities. They use their middle names instead of their first names; sometimes just initials. They cross cultural and national boundaries. Sometimes just searching the possible permutations of name spellings becomes a daunting task in and of itself.

Every now and then I look back at my list of missing people. As more and more records become digitized I can often pick up the trail of a lost ancestor again. I've been lucky in the past month in finding a few people who had disappeared into the genealogical ether.

My first knowledge of Marion Stinnett came about when I was searching a genealogy site for Stinnetts in Marion County, Arkansas.  I found a marriage record for Marion Stinett and Sadia Dunkan dated January 6, 1897[1]. Both the bride and groom resided in Yellville where the marriage took place. Marion was 21 and his bride was 16 according to the record. Further perusal showed that Richard Stinett had signed the marriage bond. Here was a name I recognized; my great-grandmother had a brother named Richard.

This record sent me on a census search for Marion and Sadie. I found a mulatto Duncan (recorded as Dunkin) family in Yellville in the 1880 census but Sadie was not among them; she was born around 1883.  Marion was nowhere to be found. Sada Stennet later appears as the 17-year-old widowed granddaughter of Harrette Harris in the 1900 census in Harrison, Boone, Arkansas. There is also a 2-year-old Lilly Stennet in the household.[2] Then the trail runs cold. I know Marion died before 1900. Where are Sadie and Lily? I'll skip the details of my hours of searching for this family and simply show the highlights:

• 08 Feb 1898 Death of Marion Stinnett. Announcement appeared in the Feb 11, 1898 issue of The Mountain Echo (Yellville, AR). The article simply stated that Marion Stinnett (colored) who lived west of town died the previous Monday evening.
• 10 Dec 1908 Sadia Stinnett marries John Woodard in Kansas City, MO. The 1910 census shows a daughter Lilly in the household who is the right age for my Lilly. City directories later show Sadie and Lilly living together but John is not with them and no death or divorce record has been found yet.
• 10 Aug 1922 Marriage of Louis Alverez (born in Mexico) and Lillie Stinnett (born in Yellville, AR to Marion Stinnett and Sadie Duncan) in Keokuk, Iowa.
• 01 Jan 1925 Iowa State Census shows the Emmit Reese family living in Mason City, Iowa. He was born in Mexico. The parents of his wife Sadie are Press Dunkins and Sarah Roan (sp.) of Arkansas. Stepdaughter Lillie Stinett lives with them and her parents are recorded as Marion Stinett and Sadie Dunkins of Arkansas. Lillie is shown as single and six years younger.
• 1927 Iowa Cemetery Records lists Sadie Reese buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Mason City, Iowa.
• 1928 Mason City directory lists a Mrs. Lillie Alvarez with a restaurant at 518 6th SW. I'm not sure if this is my Lillie.
• 19 Aug 1929 The Mason City Globe-Gazette prints a legal notice about a real estate contract signed by Emmett and Sadie Reese in 1921 that was in default. Emmett Reese and Lillie Alvarez are named as the sole heirs of Sadie Reese. Emmett has apparently remarried because an Ina Reese is also mentioned in the notice.

This is as far as I've gotten on Marion's family but I'll look back at them in a few months. I'm hoping to find death certificates for Sadie and Lillie and a record of Sadie's marriage to Emmett.

UPDATE Feb 28, 2018

Mason City (Iowa) Globe, 20 Sep 1927

Sadie's obituary appears in the Mason City Globe, Sep 20, 1927. No survivors are named. I found her burial record at ancestry.com in the listings of Iowa Cemetery Records, 1662-1999. She is buried in Elmwood Saint Joseph Cemetery in Mason City.

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[1] Notice of the marriage also appeared in The Mountain Echo (Yellville, Arkansas)
5 Feb 1897, Fri Page 4 as Marion Stinnett (21) and Sadie Duncan (16).

[2] Year: 1900; Census Place: Harrison, Boone, Arkansas; Roll: T623_51; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 29.