There will always be some missing links in the family.  I am continually searching for lost pieces of the puzzle.  Below are some of the "pieces" I am interested in discovering. If you have this info, or come across it in your travels, then please let me know.


  • Interest 1 Roy Otis Knowles.  Where did he go?  Last known contact was a card he sent to Roy C Knowles for his 50th birthday (Dec 1963). The postmark was from Pennsylvania. The card was signed upside down, but the signature was easily identified.  Was the card placed in front of him by a nurse?   Someone must know something.  No hits from Social Security Death Register nor from "Find a Grave". The 1950 Census becomes available in April 2021.  Perhaps Roy Otis is listed  there! 

  • Interest 2  (FOUND) All of the following is true, but there is more to the story (new info in red). Ephraim H Knowles (father of Roy Otis Knowles and son of James Knowles)  decided to attend law school after his wife Sarah passed away as a result of child birth problems giving birth to their second son. He attended Illinois Wesleyan University (Law School) and graduated with high honors in May of 1891. Ephraim was, however, a bit of a ladies man and had promised to marry Ida Absher after he had graduated from law school.  Ida gave birth to a son, Beverly Knowles, in 1891 but Ephraim chose to marry Dora Solinger instead.  That created a bit of a scandal and Ida had him arrested for bastardry.  Ephraim tried to talk his way out of it but the judge was having nothing of it, so Ephraim settled for a $550 lump sum child support payment,  It was largely due to this scandal that Ephraim left town and went to Chariton, Iowa.  Even though his morals were questionable, he was an extremely bright young man and joined with another attorney in Chariton who backed him to become the county attorney.  He was nominated for a second term, but his ethical antics had once again caught up with him requiring him to leave town once again. So, he left for Chicago where he could go into private practice.  One problem... Ephraim had contracted Tuberculosis in Iowa and his health was starting to decline.  He left Chicago to go to Kansas City in 1906 seeking better health.  His health did not improve and by 1910, his doctors told him there was nothing more that could be done and he should go home to the family farm in Illinois to live out the remaining days of his life. Ephraim passed away on 10 Sep 1910 on his father's farm in Bellmont, Wabash county, Illinois with his wife Dora and one daughter by his side.  Ephraim was interred at the Bethel cemetery in Bellmont.  Meanwhile, his son Beverly, of whom we never knew, was a bright young man who took to teaching in the public schools of Decatur, Illinois, but like his father, he contracted Tuberculosis. Sadly, Beverly passed away in 1913 in Wabash County and is also interred at the Bethel Cemetery in Bellmont. Ephraim lived in Chicago in 1900, according to the US Census, and was an attorney. He lived in Chariton, Iowa (Lucas County) from 1894 to at least 1898. There he was county attorney.   Ephraim moved to Kansas City about 1906.  The 1907 City Directory lists him as E. Harry Knowles rather than Ephraim H. Knowles.  This is the first indication as to the "H" in his name and may be a clue to indexes that do not list Ephriam.  The 1911 City Directory lists his 2nd wife Dora as "Widow".   2nd wife Dora, passed away in 1923 as the result of a diabetic coma...she is interred at Elmwood Cemetary which is a massive 36,000 plot cemetery just East of downtown Kansas City. 

  • Interest 3 (NEW INFO)Ephraim Knowles married Sarah Crackle from Edwards County Illinois which lies just west of Mt Carmel.  I now have information on the Crackles for seven generations.  They origins of the family lie in Lincolnshire, England. While on an investigation hunt in Mt Carmel, I noticed an old calendar hanging on the back of the library research room door.  Several etchings were pictured around the calendar, one being a sketch of the Crackle residence (looks like a mansion).  Sarah died young in 1888 in Mt Carmel, Illinois (actually Bellmont, a tiny suburb just west of the city). She is in either an unmarked grave in the Bethel Cemetery in Bellmont, or one of the several very eroded limestone headstones that have become unreadable. What we had not known previously is that just passed away as a result of childbirth giving birth to her second son who did not survive birth.

I will soon be posting some quick fun facts descendant charts....such as descended from witches, pilgrims, Kings of Scotland, etc.
A miss is as good as a mile.... 
Close relations to Famous People.

George Joseph Alden, b. 27 Jan 1573 in Southhampton, Hampshire, England, d. 1620 in same place, married  Jane Fowlk, b. 1575 in Southhampton, Hampshire, England, d. 10 Mar 1664, Plymouth, MA.  They had 5 children: John, Elizabeth, Betty, Catherine, and Barbara.

John Alden and Priscilla Mullins of Mayflower fame
John Alden, b. 15 Sep 1599 in Harwich, Essex, England, d. 12 Sep 1687, married Priscilla Mullins.    We are NOT descended from him.

John's sister, Elizabeth Alden, b. abt 1591 in Bocking, Essex, England, d. 1641, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA, married Edmund Chandler, b. abt 1580 in Stoke Newington, London, England, d. May 1662, Duxbury, Plymouth, MA.  It is from Elizabeth Alden that we are descended - Twice.  

Their daughter, Lydia Chandler, married Richard Higgins

Their son, Benjamin Higgins, married Lydia Bangs

Their son, Samuel Higgins, married his second cousin, Hannah Cole (m. 4 Nov 1703)

Their daughter Ruth Chandler married Daniel Cole

Their son, Israel Cole, married Mary Paine (of Mayflower descent) (m. 24 Apr 1679)

Their daughter, Hannah Cole, married her second cousin, Samuel Higgins (m. 4 Nov 1703)

Their son, Israel Higgins, Sr, married Ruth Brown  (an interesting note: Ruth Brown is descended from another Knowles line - found throughout New England - see insert below) (m. 2 Nov 1727)  

Richard Knowles of Lancashire, England, married Ruth Bower.
Their daug. Mehitable Knowles married George Brown.
Their son, James Brown, married Ruth Snow (of Mayflower descent).
Their daughter, Ruth Brown, is listed above.

Their son, Israel Higgins, married Elizabeth Aiken (m. 15 Feb 1753)

Their son, George W Higgins, married Prentice Mapes (m. 27 Sep 1777)

Their daughter, Cynthia Lucy Higgins, married Levi Couch (m. 1804)

Their daughter, Elizabeth Couch, married Joshua Wood (m. 27 Sep 1836)

Their daughter, Sarah Wood, married Oliver B. Green  (m. 9 Apr 1867)

Their daughter, Alma Etta Green, married Clifton Lewis Canedy (m. 24 Dec 1890)

Their daughter, Sarah Leora Canedy, married Roy Otis Knowles (22 Feb 1913)

They had 4 children:  Roy (b. 8 Dec 1913), William (b. 8 Apr 1916), Rex (b. 10 Jan 1918), and Alma (b. 2 Oct 1920)

20 cousins sprouted from these 4.

Download this fun sheet


Related to Witches...Accused of Witchcraft at the infamous Salem Witch Trials

Joanna Blessing and William Towne were married 25 April 1620 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England.  They emigrated to North America and settled in Essex County, MA  (which includes Salem).  Joanna was accused of being a witch but exonerated.  They had 8 children: Rebecca, John, Susanna, Edmund, Jacob, and Mary were all born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England; Joseph and Sarah were born in Salem, Massachusetts..

Rebecca Towne married Francis Nurse.  Rebecca Nurse was accused of being a witch during the Salem Witch Trials and hanged on 19 July 1692.  She and others are the key characters in  the play "The Crucible". Her sister Mary married Isaac Etsey. Mary Etsey was hanged on 22 July 1692. Her sister Sarah married Edmund Bridges. Sarah Bridges was tried and convicted of being a witch but escaped the jail before being executed.

Rebecca's brother, Joseph Towne (b. 3 Sep 1639), married Phoebe Perkins in 1665 and it is from he that we are descended.

Their daughter, Joanna Towne (22 Jan 1668), married Thomas Nichols (m. 12 Dec 1694)

Their daughter, Elizabeth Nichols (b. Jun 1711), married William Stockwell (m. 4 Dec 1733)

Their son, Jonathan Stockwell (b.abt 1735), married Mary Sibley (of Mayflower descent) (m. 5 Dec 1758)

Their son, Jonathan Stockwell (b. 16 Apr 1768), married Polly Smith (m. 28 Aug 1788)

Their son, Willard Sibley Stockwell (b. 15 Dec 1789), married Nancy Jackson  (m. 25 Jan 1810)

Their daughter, Elizabeth Stockwell (b. 8 Mar 1820), married Aden Canedy (m. 25 May 1834)

Their son, Lewis Gilbert Canedy (b. 3 Apr 1837), married Catherine Wigton (m. 14 Sep 1858)

Their son, Clifton Lewis Canedy (b. 14 Mar 1869), married Alma Etta Green (m. 24 Dec 1890)

Their daughter, Sarah Leora Canedy (b. 21 Aug 1894), married Roy Otis Knowles (22 Feb 1913)

They had 4 children:  Roy (b. 8 Dec 1913), William (b. 8 Apr 1916), Rex (b. 10 Jan 1918), and Alma (b. 2 Oct 1920)

20 cousins sprouted from these 4.

Download this fun sheet


Several Mayflower links...
Stephen Hopkins and daughter Constance were Mayflower passengers.

Constance Hopkins married Nicholas Snow in Plymouth

Their daughter, Mary Snow, married Thomas Paine.
Their daughter Mary Paine, married Israel Cole as seen in the panel to the far left. Their son, Joseph Paine, married Patience Sparrow.

Their daughter, Mary Paine, married Joseph Sibley.

Their daughter, Mary Sibley, married Jonathan Stockwell, as seen in the 'Witches' panel

Their son, Joseph Snow, married Mary Higgins.

Their daughter, Ruth Snow, married James Brown.

Their daughter, Ruth Brown, married Israel Higgins as seen in the panel at the far left.