James K. Polk McCants was born in May 1854, in Grayson Co. Texas, the son of Joshua McCants and Catherine J. King. [1] In later life he called himself James K. McCants, or James K. P. McCants; the only place the name Polk appears is on the 1860 census. [2] James was no doubt named for President James K. Polk (1845-49) who promised during his presidential campaign to annex Texas, then an independent state, to the United States, and promptly did so upon being elected. He would still have been a popular figure in the state of Texas in 1854. Joshua McCants was living in Denton County in 1850, and in Dallas County in 1860. [3]
James spent his childhood in Texas, and would have been a young adolescent when the family returned to Illinois after the Civil War. The 1870 census found them in their native Greene County and were farming in "Township 11, range 11." James, 14, was attending school. [4] In 1880 James was working as a farm laborer and residing with the family of farmer Major Dickerman in Township 11 (Greenfield and Athensville Precincts.) [5]
Within a few years, however, James' affairs turned in a new direction. On 12 June 1883 James, then 29, married Katherine D. Cummmings in Carrollton, the Greene County seat. [6] The nuptials occurred none too soon, as Katie, 25, was apparently 7 months pregnant, giving birth to their first child, Clyde, on 27 August 1883 in Illinois. [7] Katie was born in February 1858 in Illinois, [8] the daughter of James Cummings and Catherine Demick. [9] Before her marriage she too was working as hired help on a farm in Township 11 (Greenfield Precinct.) [10]
The young family soon moved to a farm in Cherokee, Crawford County, Kansas, where they appeared, with two young children, in the 1885 Kansas state census. [11] By 1895 they had resettled in nearby Columbus in Ross township, Cherokee County. [12] In 1900 they were still in Ross township, where they rented a farm. [13] They were still renting there in 1905. [14] By 1910 James owned his own farm, under mortgage, in Ross township; his son John, 23, helped him with the farm work. [15] By 1915 James had resettled in the town of Cherokee in Crawford County, just across the border from Cherokee County. There James owned a house with a mortgage. His occupation was listed as farmer. Most of the children had moved out, and of the boys, only 17-year-old Bruce was left to help his 60-year-old father with the farm work. [16] James had died by 1920, as Katie, now a widow, was living alone in Sheridan, back again in Crawford county, where she owned her own home, free of mortgage. Katie did sewing at home to support herself. A middle-aged maiden lady, Rose Sheppard, also from Illinois, rented from Katie, and also supported herself with sewing. Also renting from her was John Bellman, a young coal miner, and his wife Nealie. [17]
James K. Polk McCants and Katherine D. Cummings had the following children:
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| i. | Clyde Lyle McCants [18]was born in Illinois [19] on 27 August 1883. [20] Although his death certificate indicates that he was born in 1885 [21] , this is not possible, as the Kansas 1885 state census listed him as 2 years old on 1 March of that year, some six months before his alleged 1885 birthdate. [22] In about 1909, at the age of 26, he married Emma M., 23 years of age. She was born in Kentucky c. 1887. [23] By 1918 he was married to Emma M. and was working as a pipe fitter for the Du Pont Engineering Company in Jacksonville, Davidson Co. TN. He was slender man of medium height, with blue eyes and brown hair. [24] Clyde pursued a variety of careers in life, which took him around the United States. By 1920 he and Emma owned a truck farm, free and clear, in Okeelanta, Palm Beach Co. FL. [25] In 1930 they were out of the farming business, living in Hammond, Tangipahoa County, LA, where they rented rooms for $15 a month. Two other couples rented rooms in the same building. Clyde was employed as a calendar salesman. [26] In September 1941 he and Emma moved to Corpus Christi, Nueces Co. TX. Clyde was employed as an "electrician repair saleman." His work must have required considerable travel, as his Kansas obituary desribed him as a "traveling saleman." [27] He died of a heart attack at his home on 23 November 1942. [28] Clyde's footloose ways had left him with no place he could truly call his hometown, and so his body was transported to his boyhood home of Emporia, where he was buried with his family in Memorial Lawn Cemetery. [29] | ||
| + | ii. | Hallie M. McCants was born on 8 November 1885 [30] in Kansas. [31] In 1910 she was teaching in the public schools in Liberty, Barry Co. MO, while living at home with her parents. [32] On 21 December 1917 she married Marvin Neal Gann in Grant Co., IN. [33] Marvin was born on 22 February 1887 in Beach, MS. He was tall, of medium build, and had blue eyes and dark brown hair. In 1917 he was living in Canton, Madison Co. MS but his work as a salesman for the Chicago Portrait Company led him to travel all over Louisiana and Arkansas. This may explain why his World War I draft registration card was filed in Madison Co. MS but signed by the clerk of court in Jefferson Davis Parish in Louisiana. [34] Marvin was the son of George W. Gann, a farmer, and his wife Josie. [35] Marvin did end up serving in World War I in the 334th Machine Gun Battalion, and was discharged on 25 March 1919 in Little Rock, Pulaski Co. AR. [36] It is unclear how Hallie and Marvin met and then came to marry in Indiana. They might have met during one of his postings in the military. They could also have met earlier as a result of his extensive travels as a salesman. They continued to travel after their marriage. Son Freddie was born in Iowa c. 1921, and daughter Rosalie in Illinois c. 1924. In 1930 Marvin was still working as a portrait salesman, and the family had relocated to Cherokee, Crawford Co. KS, where Hallie had family. They owned their own home, valued at $700. [37] Things quickly deteriorated, however. Marvin gave up his job as a salesman and was working as a typist and book keeper in November 1931 when he was admitted to the U.S. National Home for Disabled Soldiers in Leavenworth, Leavenworth Co. KS. He was found to be suffering from psychosis with cerebral syphilis, and died within a few months on 31 March 1932 at the age of 45. He was buried in Leavenworth National Cemetery. Hallie was with her brother Orville in Emporia, Lyon Co. KS during this period. [38] She eventually moved back to Cherokee, however, where she died in October 1966. [39] She is buried in Cherokee Cemetery. [40] | |
| iii. | John Marshall McCants was born on 18 October 1888 in Cherokee Co., Kansas. [41] He was of medium height and build, with gray eyes and brown hair. [42] In 1910 he was working as a laborer on his father's farm in Liberty, Barry Co. MO. [43] By June 1917, however, he had moved up in the world, finding employment as an electrician on the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe Railroad. [44] Two years later, at the age of 28, he married 20-year-old Clara Ann Adams, born in Neosha Rapids, Lyon Co. KS on 7 August 1898. [45] Clara was the daughter of John Adams and his wife Anna, immigrants from Austria. [46] John and Clara married on 19 July 1919 in Wichita, Sedgwick Co. KS. [47] Despite the Wichita wedding, the couple settled in Emporia, where they rented rooms in 1920 and John was employed as an electrician at an electrical shop. [48] By 1930 they were doing well; John was working as an electrician for the railroad, and they owned their own home, worth $3,300, and a radio. They were not, however, blessed with children. [49] Tragedy came in 1939. Clara had suffered from a severe illness earlier that year, and remained in poor health. Early on the morning of 7 July, the despondent Clara left a note for John, sleeping soundly after a night shift at the Santa Fe railroad. She took the family car and drove it into the nearby Cottonwood river, where it was found later that morning. [50] Clara was buried in Memorial Lawn Cemetery. [51] John remarried the next year to Jean Hubble Peterson, a nurse and the widow of Perry F. Peterson, who died in 1935. Jean was born on 18 August 1896 in Junction City, Geary Co. KS to Elias Hubble and Henrietta Hunt. John and Jean were married in Emporia in 1940. John died in 1962. Jean died at the age of 91 on 23 February 1988 in McLouth, Jefferson Co. KS, where she had gone to live with her daughter from her first marriage. [52] | ||
| + | iv. | Orville James McCants was born on 18 August 1888 in KS. [53] | |
| + | v. | Allen Frederick McCants was born on 11 January 1890 in Cherokee Co. Kansas. He had brown eyes, black hair, and was of medium height. [54] By 1910 he had left home, as he does not appear with his siblings in his parents' home in Liberty, Barry Co. MO. [55] He married for the first time c. 1915, as the 1930 census indicates that he first married at the age of 25. [56] In 1917 he was living in Chicago, where he was employed as a traveling salesman by the Chicago Portrait Company. [57] She was probably the C. Vermer McCants boarding with him in the Jake Becker household in Urbana, Champaign Co. IL in 1920. Vermer was born in Mississippi c. 1889. Fred was still working as a salesman for the portrait company. [58] In 1930, he, now going by Allen, was back in Kansas, living in Cherokee, Crawford Co., where he rented rooms for $5 a month. Allen was working as a collector for a portrait company. (Allen might have returned to Kansas for family reasons, as his brother-in-law Marvin Gann was also involved in portrait sales and was based in Cherokee in 1930.) Allen's wife Verner had been replaced by Dola E., born c. 1901 in Texas. She may have been married before, as she indicated that she first married at age 18, which would have been c. 1919. In 1920 Allen was still married to Verner. [59] By 1942, Allen had relocated to Sherman, Grayson County, TX. It is possible that Dola had family there. [60] He had a portrait business there in 1946 when he died in nearby Denison on 18 September 1946 at the age of 56. He was buried in Memorial Park in Sherman. [61] | |
| vi. | Jesse K. McCants was born in Cherokee Co. KS [62] in August 1892. [63] In May 1909 he enlisted in the U.S. Army for 3 years at the Jefferson Barracks in Lemay, St. Louis Co. Missouri. He apparently lied about his age, as the age of 21 listed by the army does not correspondence to previous census records. His enlistment records gives his profession as farmer, and describes him in detail: blue eyes, light brown hair, and 5' 6" in height. He was enrolled in the 9th Infantry Regiment, Company K. [64] He was with the 9th Infantry in June 1910 when they were in the Phillipines helping to put down the Moro Rebellion. He was listed as a member of Company I, located at Camp Downes in Leyte. [65] Jesse was honorably discharged on 2 November 1912 at Fort Sills, OK, in good health. [66] He would seem to have re-enlisted, as in 1920 he was serving as a soldier U.S. Army again at Camp Jackson in Richland County, SC. [67] During his service he participated in World War I, as he indicated that he was a veteran of that war in the 1930 census, which found him still in the army, now promoted to sergeant, and living in a barracks at Fort Frances in Laramie County, WY. He remained single. [68] By 1942 Jesse had either died or lost touch with his family, as he was not mentioned as a survivor in the obituary for his brother Clyde. [69] | ||
| vii. | Myrtle E. McCants was born in Kansas [70] on 30 August 1893. She died on 14 February 1915, at the age of 21, and is buried in Cherokee Cemetery, in Cherokee, Crawford Co. [71] | ||
| viii. | Robert Bruce McCants was born in Kansas in September 1899. [72] He too, seems to have died young. He last appears with the family in the 1915 census in Cherokee, Crawford County, KS, [73] and is no longer residing with his mother, now a widow, in 1920. [74] |