Did Alma Ward exist? This is the question I have been asking myself for about a week. Now that I've asked the question, let me fill you in on the details.
Until recently, I believed Alma Ward to be my paternal 2nd great aunt, and the sister of my 2nd great grandmother Loretta Alma Ward.
When I started my research, this is what I knew about Alma. She was born about 1878, most likely in or near Montcalm County, Michigan to Francis M. Ward and Mary Elizabeth DeFord. On May 30th,1895 she married Robert F. Conaway in Forest Township, Missaukee County, Michigan.
After this, I lose track of her. To be honest, I didn't really look past her marriage. Until recently, Alma was not even on my research radar.
However, I have been focusing on Alma's mother Mary Elizabeth DeFord. While researching Mary, I began to dig deeper into the lives and her children. This is when I started to question whether Alma Ward really existed..... or .... whether Alma Ward was actually Loretta Alma Ward, my 2nd great grandmother.
Hopefully, I don't have you too confused at the moment... If so, hold tight, I am going to walk you through the reasons that I believe that Alma Ward and Loretta Alma Ward may be the same person.
The first thing I noticed is that Alma does not show up on the 1880 census with her parents, as I would expect.
On the census, we find the following people:
- Francis Ward - Age 47
- Elizabeth (Mary Elizabeth) Ward - Age 42
- John H. Ward - Age 19
- William Ward - Age 11
- Lewis (Lynes) Ward - Age 8
- Loretta Ward - Age 1
In the Neighboring Household, we find Mary (Ward) Mitchell, the oldest daughter of Francis and Mary, and her husband Henry
Logically, if Alma was born in 1878, she should show in the household in 1880 being between the age of 1 and 2. However, as most genealogists know, birth years are not always dependable... So, kept looking...
Because the next logical record would be the 1890 census and that is not available, I took another look the next available record I have for Alma, her marriage record to Robert F. Conaway.
As I referenced earlier, this record indicates that Alma Ward married Robert F. Conaway on May 1st, 1895 in Forest Township, Missaukee County, Michigan. Robert was 23 and living in Forest Township and Alma was 17 and living in West Branch, Ogemaw County, Michigan. Alma lists her parents as William Ward and Elizabeth D. Ford. They were married by the Justice of the Peace, N. Emmons Sabin. The witnesses are listed as Truman King and Elizabeth Lounsbury, both of Forest Township.
There are a few things that are interesting about this marriage record:
- The male witness is Truman King, who is the man that my 2nd great grandmother, Alma's sister would marry on January 9th, 1898.
- The female witness is Elizabeth Lounsbury, who is Alma's mother. Her last name is different because she married John Lounsbury on May 19th, 1886.
- Alma's father's name is recorded as William, which is interesting because all other records, with the exception of one, list the children's father, as Francis M. Ward. The document that was the exception is the marriage register for my 2nd great grandparents, Loretta Alma Ward and Truman Edward King. I have included images of the marriage record below for reference.
Conclusion
I searched for Alma and her husband Robert in the 1900 census and was unable to find them anywhere in Michigan.
What I did find, was that Robert F. Conaway moved to Alabama and remarried a woman named Alabama Levenia Sanks on January 2nd, 1898 in Sullivan, Escambia, Alabama. Robert and Alabama lived in the state of Alabama together until their deaths in the 1960s. This can be proven through several census records, city directories, marriage, and death records. I was also able to trace Robert's parents William and Sarah (Yoast) Conaway to Alabama during the same time period. This helped me to confirm that I was researching the right man.
I am also unable to find any additional records, including death records, for Alma, using either her maiden name Ward or married name Conaway.
The only thing that I can assume is that Alma and Robert were divorced sometime between June 1st, 1895 and January 1st, 1898. Although, I have not yet been able to locate proof of their divorce in state divorce records or local newspapers.
Although I will continue to look for proof that Alma Ward existed, I have come to the conclusion that Alma Ward and Loretta Alma Ward are not sisters, but instead, the same person.
The reason this conclusion is so interesting is that it shines a light on to a marriage that I never knew about. I will summarize the marriages of Loretta Alma Ward below:
- Marriage to Robert F. Conaway on May 39th, 1895 at the age of 16, in Forest Township, Missaukee County, Michigan, My assumption is that the marriage ended in divorce, but I have not yet been able to find proof of this.
- Marriage to Truman Edward King on January 9th, 1898, at the age of 18, in Forest Township, Missaukee County, Michigan, Loretta and Truman were married for nearly 40 years when Truman passed away in 1937.
- Marriage to Lawrence Clayton McKenzie on September 2nd, 1944, at the age of 65, in Strongs, Chippewa County, Michigan. Loretta and Lawrence had been married for just over 2 years at the time of her death in December of 1946.
