Margaret H Newell

Margaret H (Newell) Dawson

Margaret was born on Monday, 25 March 1850, in Eddyville Wapello Co IA.  She was the daughter of Thomas Newell, formerly of Eddyville Wapello Co IA and Zipporah Ann (Coles) of McDonough Co IL.

She married John P Dawson on March 8, 1873 at Chariton Iowa.

Margaret H was the mother of nine children, Jesse Newell of IA, Alberta Adams, Esther of IA, Frederick E of IA, Jay of IA, Mary Emma of Chariton, Lucas Co, IA, Ben Austin of IA, Guy C, and Zipporah E Lewis.

Margaret H was preceded in death by one sister, Jessie Jane (Newell) Bell of Eddyville Wapello IA; four grandparents, Samuel Newell of IA, Lydia (Hunt) Coles of Chariton, Lucas Co, IA, Robert Coles of Chariton, Lucas Co, IA, and Nancy (Alexander) of Logan Co OH.

Margaret H died at the age of 54, on Thursday, 2 February 1905.

Ellen Jones

Ellen Jones, my great grandmother, was born in September, 1846, at County Donegal, Ireland. She emigrated from Ireland to Chicago IL.

She married William Cottay at Holy Family Church in Chicago, IL on August 18, 1872.  Witnesses were Patrick Melony (sp?) and Ellen Hopkins.

Ellen and William had four sons and three daughters  between 1873 and 1888.

One of her sons was my grandfather, George Cottay.

She died on January 29, 1903, in Chicago at the age of 56.[1]

Cause of death was “pneumonia”.

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[1] Undertaker’s Report of Death, file # 224

John P Dawson was born in 1850 in Grant County, Indiana.  He was the son of Elizabeth (Prickett) and Thomas Simpson Dawson.

He married Margaret H Newell on March 8, 1873 at Chariton, Iowa.

They had nine children, including my grandmother, Mary Emma.

John was a farmer and cemetery sexton and he was a member of the Chariton Volunteer Fire Department.

He served in the civil war along with his father, Thomas, and brother, Zadock.

Herman Frederick Wilkening was my paternal great grandfather.

Herman was born July of 1865 in Chicago, Illinois. He worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad as a car inspector.

He first married Marie (Minnie) Sedvert  O'Malley in 1893.  Minnie was a widow with four children, Charles, Matilda,  Anne, and Edward by her first husband, Mr. O'Malley.
Herman and Minnie had four more daughters, Wilamina Johanna, Pauline, Bertha and Elsie Amelia.

Herman's second wife was Bertha. They divorced.

Herman married Mary Cottay (Aunt Mayme) on April 28, 1917, Cook Co, IL.
(Mary Cottay was a sister of Herman's son-in-law, George Cottay)

They had one son, Henry (Harry).

Herman died on the 24th of May, 1950.

Sources
1-1900 US Federal Census
2-Cook County, Illinois Marriage Index, 1912-1942

Pauline Wilkening

Pauline (Pearl) Wilkening was born Friday, 4 October 1895 in Cook County Illinois. She was the daughter of Marie and Herman Frederick Wilkening.
She was one of six sisters and three brothers.

My memory of Grandma and her sisters is that they always had fun when they were together. They were always laughing.
Grandma liked to cook chicken. Every Sunday she cooked chicken for supper. Chicken and dumplings was my favorite...At one time she raised chickens. She did all the work to prepare the chickens for supper herself.
Grandma lived in that house out in the country with the chickens, she lived in an apartment in the city with her friend (can't remember her name but I can see her face clearly in my mind). She lived in the back of the ice cream parlor that Dad owned for a time.

She married five times. Her first marriage was to Grandpa George when she was 19 years old. Two husbands were named Jack, Jack Moser and Jack Murgach. Mr. Sanders and Edward Gale were the fourth and fifth.

She married George Joseph Cottay on April 15, 1914 in Chicago, Illinois and they had one son together, Robert George Cottay.
On 17 July, 1930 Pearl married Jack P Murgach in Cook County, IL. (Cook County, Illinois Marriage Index, 1930-1960).

She married Edward Gale in November 1957 in Hillsborough County, Florida.

She died October 28, 1979, in Tampa, Florida, at the age of 84.