The Shemwell Family

CONCLUSION: Due to the overwhelming supporting records, I feel that Jacob Warner (I23145) is the father of George Warner (I31571). I believe that George Warner (I31569) is NOT the biological father. Read on for the details. DETAILS: For the sake of simplicity, I will refer to George Warner (I31569) as George_1 and George Warner (I31571) as George_2. There is a possible issue with identifying the parents of George Warner (I31571). There are supporting documents that clearly shows that Rebecca Stout (I23147) is his mother. All but one of the documents point to his father being Jacob Warner. A single document suggests that George_1, Jacob's brother, might be the father of George_2. The 1860 Census records show George_2 living with Jacob and Rebecca. After Jacob died in 1867, his Probated Will clearly specifies George_2 is his son and entitled to some inheritance. Moreover, George_2 is identified as a minor with Jacob's brother, Jeremiah Warner (9KDJ-J8Z, being appointed as his Guardian for Probate proceedings. The 1870 Census shows that some of Jacob's children are living with relatives or on their own. Jacob's daughter, Deliah Warner (I23009), is living as a servant girl with George_1. Note that there is no record of George_2 being at the George_1 residence during that Census period. Subsequent to the 1870 Census, George_2 marries and has several children. He is shown in the 1880 Census (Bondville, Champaign, Illinois), 1900 Census (Condit, Champaign, Illinois), and 1910 Census (Calhoun, Calhoun, Iowa). He dies in 1916 and a tombstone photo is shown in Findagrave. Note that the tombstone is inscribed with "George Warner Jr". There is a single document obtained from the "Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947". There is only a transcribed version and not an image to review. This transcription states name of George_2 as "George Warner", identifies his death date as "April 2, 1916", shows that his death location was "Condit, Champaign, Illinois", and correctly states his birth place/date as "Pickaway, Ohio and Jan 12, 1851". Additionally, the document states his mother is Rebecca Stout. The major inconsistency is that the Illinois document lists the father as George Warner (aka George_1). Note that George_1 is also buried (1914) in the Riverside Cemetery as George_2. Note that George_1 tombstone inscription is "George Warner" with no "Sr" designator. It is key to note that both George_1 and George_2 probably lived in close proximity during the time of their deaths. Before the biological father can be 100% established, an actual Birth Certificate that was created in 1851 is needed. Right now, the Illinois reference document seems to have been created in 1916 which is 60 years after Rebecca died and 49 years after Jacob died. It is clear that Rebecca is George_2 mother. However, it seems that there are two options to consider who the biological father might be: Option #1 - George _1 or Option #2 - Jacob Warner. OPTION #1: Taking the Illinois document at face value, it suggests that George_1 had a child (George_2) with his sister-in-law, Rebecca, out of wedlock. There is no document showing that George_1 was ever married to Rebecca. Since George_2 was born in Jan 1851, he was conceived no earlier than early April 1850. At this time, Rebecca was 28 years old and George_1 would have been 16 years old. I question the likelihood of a 28 year old lady having a relationship with a 16 year old boy (her nephew) during that time period in history. However, if she did have that relationship, it seems odd that the child would be named George Jr and then be raised by the boy's uncle, Jacob. Also note, that aside from the Illinois document there are no records showing that George_1 was ever associated with George_2. He could have certainly had that opportunity to "take back" his son in time for the 1870 Census in which George_2's sister, Deliah, was living with George_1. Also, in George_1's Obituary ("The Champaign Chronical", Feb 3, 1914), it states that "...to them five children were born ...". Public records show these children to be Rosetta, Jonah Leander, Rose Ella, Nellie Dell, and Bertie Steen. Note that George_2 is not mentioned as being a child of George_1. OPTION #2: The pre-1916 supporting documents clearly show/suggest that George_2 is the son of Jacob. George_2 is shown in the 1860 Census and referenced in Jacob's Will. It is key to note that the Guardian assigned to George_2 is Jeremiah Warner (I31553) and not George_1. These supporting facts would suggest that Jacob is the father and George_1 is not. I think what happened is that Jacob did sire George_2 and raised him until Jacob's 1867 untimely death. At that time, George_2 was "on his own", drifted a while, married, established a family, died in 1916 Illinois, and was buried in the Riverside Cemetery as "George Warner Jr". I do not believe that he was the son of George_1 who was also buried in Riverside Cemetery as there is no evidence, either real or anecdotal, that supports the relationship. I think that in the mid 1910's George_1 and George_2 had a close uncle-nephew relationship and socialized. When George_2 died, I think the Illinois document was created with the author thinking that since both men were named George and socialized, that the younger one must have been a Junior. In 1916, close to 50 yrs had passed after Jacob died and perhaps no one (i.e., the document author or local family) remembered Jacob. PLAN: Until we can find an actual birth certificate for George_2, I will assume that Jacob and Rebecca are the parents of George_2. I will include this rationale as a Shared Note in the profiles for Jacob, Rebecca, George_1, and George_2. It at least opens up for the remote possibility that George_1 is the father of George_2 ... pending an actual Birth Certification being found to definitively answer the parental question.

The 1900 Census stated that George/Ellen had a total of 11 children with 7 of them still living. The living children are accounted for in the current family tree. I have been unable to find the other 4 children which were deceased by 1900. It is possible that the 4 children were buried at the Riverside Cemetery; but, there is no record of their burial.