Every once in a while I get a bee in my bonnet and I abandon everything and spend hours just trying to find a smidgen of Allison. Not in criminal records, yearbooks, church directories, directories, property deeds, journals and on and on. Then I wait a few months and I try it all over again. And I haven't found Allison anywhere so far -- other than his dads will and the federal censuses. It almost like he's 1) he's making a conscience effort to stay off the radar OR 2) someone is trying to erase him.
So recap: In 1887 with an excerpt from John Stout Drake's probate files, there is evidence that Allison's family turned over the family farm to him.
And we all know tht the 1890 Federal Census is G-O-N-E!
In 1896 my grandfather Don Dee Drake is born on 22 June in Springport, Jackson County, Michigan. If you're just looking at the paper evidence, there is a 10 year gap between Don Dee and his sister, Hattie Gavena. Just a thought. Back in those days, and in my family, we had a lot of kids. Six, eight, ten, right? So were Allison and Jane separated by unknown circumstances? Was Jane suffering from health issues? Miscarriages. Or could Allison have been away in the pokey? This line will have to wait for the next time I'm in Michigan. Or maybe I can find a researcher ...
The 1900 US United States Federal Census finds Allison and family still living in Springport. Lucia would have been about 16 years old, Hattie 14 years old and Don three. Alison is listed as a bar keeper in a saloon and there is no occupation listed for Jane. Jane and Allison have been married for 17 years. I don't think they were living high on the hog. They are surrounded by people with families, many of the men day laborers and store clerks.
In January of 1904, Royce Allison was born in Union City, Michigan. The family had moved again. Union City is the area where Allison's oldest daughter, Lucia, was living and farming with her husband Frank Converse. I know for a fact that Lucia was always taking in family members and other strays down on their luck.
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