Monday, July 1, 2013

You don't know Jack!

Who was Jack Fox really?

According to my genealogy Jack Fox was born abt 1920 in Nebraska (not sure where that info came from but its perpetuated all over the internet) BUT his obituary, headstone, and wife say he was born in 1911. Perhaps you just got his date wrong you say? Well, ya, except there is a Clinton Edward Fox on the Census's that has Jacks birth year and no mention of Jack....So is Jack also "Clinton Edward Fox"? Why did he change his name and when?

While we may never know the why of it, I have found compelling evidence that "Jack" is indeed Clinton Edward. In the 1930 Census there is a Clinton E. married to Alice M. living exactly where Alice says they were during that and whose parents birthplaces, while not an exact match, are close enough given the wandering nature of Jacks father Charles Fox. In the 1940 Census we have a Jack and Alice Fox living in Oregon which leaves me to believe that Jack changed his name somewhere between Colorado and 1940 Oregon. The children listed in both census match as well.

I can imagine using a nickname or even a different name if you hate your given name but what would compel a person to so completely give up their given name that it isn't even on your headstone?









Book - "Towards the Setting Sun" : The Fox Family's Journey to Oregon in 1932

This is a book by my great aunt, Alice Smythe Fox as she recounts the family's journey to Oregon during the Great Depression in 1932.  There is a wealth of family information as well as historical insights in the book.

It is 124 pages long, is in a PDF format that is turned sideways, but hopefully you can rotate the image so that it is correctly orientated for your viewing pleasure once you download it.

The book is copyrighted 1987, however my great aunt, the author, has since passed away and I am making it available here for genealogical and historical purposes to our family.  If you believe there are any issues with the copyright and this means of sharing the book, please leave a comment and I will respond as I am able. 

Link to the book: HERE

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Fox Headstones

 Some of the Fox headstones I've found for our family tree shown here just to document that I've found them and provide the links to them. (This will be updated as I add more to it).

find a grave link here:


Find a Grave link here:
Find a Grave link here:

Elise Lorraine FOX Smyth

Find A grave link here:
Ida FOX Haight
Find A Grave link here
 Iva May FOX Brown
Hanna Bell FOX Wessling

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Wesslings on the Web

This is just a link I found to some Wessling genealogy on the web that I thought was worth linking to.  It includes a discussion forum and message board with some links to things that could be useful to our family or others to link to in the future.

http://genforum.genealogy.com/wessling/