Tenth Generation11428. William Elmer KNOWLES125 was born on 22 October 1859 in Battle Ground, Tippecanoe, Indiana.125 He died on 19 April 1940 at the age of 80 in Henry County, Illinois.125 He was buried on 22 April 1940 at Oakwood Cemetery in Geneseo Township, Henry, Illinois.125 William was a Railroad Express Messenger.125 He was a Methodist.125 William Elmer Knowles, the eldest son of Elias and Sarah Ellen Coleman Knowles, was apprenticed on August 6, 1872, at age 12, he would be 13 in October, to one William Gillmore, County of Effingham, a farmer. The terms stated that William Elmer Knowles was to "dwell, continue and serve from the date hereof until the said William Elmer Knowles shall have attained the age of twenty years, during all which time the said apprentice shall well and faithfully serve the said William Gillmore, keep his secrets, and obey his lawful commands. He shall not depart or absent himself from the service of his said master without his said master's leave. "And the said William Gillmore covenants and agrees to and with the said William Elmer Knowles that he will instruct him or cause him to be taught and instructed after the best way and manner he can in the said business of farming which he now follows, and that he will and shall find and allow to the said apprentice suitable meat, drink, washing, lodging, and apparel, and all other things necessary, fit and convenient for said apprentice, during the said term. And that he will cause the said William Elmer Knowles to be taught to read and write, and the ground rules of arithmetic, and that he will give unto the said William Elmer Knowles a new bible, and two net suits of clothes, suitable to his condition and at the expiration of his term of service a good horse, saddle and bridle. "And the said William Gillmore further covenants and agrees with the said apprentice and his said parents that if he the said William Elmer Knowles, shall well and faithfully serve as said apprentice, he will pay him for the second year of his term the sum of ten dollars, and for the third year the sum of thirty dollars, and for the last year the sum of sixty dollars when he shall have arrived at the age of twenty years. "In witness whereof, the said parties have hereunto set their hands and seals, the day and year first above written." The document is signed by William Elmer Knowles, Elias Knowles, Mrs. Sarah E. Knowles, Wm. Gillmore, in presence of Lavenia Gillmore. The document also states: "August the 22nd, 1872, approved in open court. Jonathan Hooks, County Judge." At age 14 or 15 William Elmer Knowles had still not received any compensation and he escaped from the Gillmore farm. He eventually found work on the railroad. When he was married at the age of 20, the marriage license states his occupation as engineer. Battle Ground, Indiana is a suburb of West Lafayette, Indiana. He was married one month after his mother's second marriage. Josiah Gibson was the minister that married both of them. The 1880 Census for Effingham, IL, ED 133, image 31 lists him (spelled Almer) with his new bride Alpharitta (spelled Allta) and working as in a mill. William was 35 when he married the second time. He was living in Clinton, IA and the time and gave he occupation as Express Messenger. Willaim is in the 1920 census for Iroquois County, Il; ED 78 (Gilman, IL), image 11. He was listed as living on Main Street. He didn't know the birthplace of his mother and father (MA) so all connection with Plymouth County, MA was lost with him. His Obit appeared in the Geneseo Republic Newspaper on April 29, 1940. It stated that he lived after his second marriage for a time in Clinton, IL, then Chicago, Gilman, and finally Geneseo, IL. It mentions grandsons Billy and Bobby (sons of George Elmer) and a half brother Charles B. Knowles (should be Beem, not Knowles) of Harlingen, TX. There was nothing about son George W. or daughter Nellie. George E.'s family was living in Hanna Township in Henry County. William Elmer KNOWLES and Alpharetta COLEBAUGH were married on 14 March 1880 in Effingham County, Illinois.125,3080 They125,3080 were divorced in August 1884 in Effingham, Effingham, Illinois.125 Alpharetta COLEBAUGH125, daughter of George C. COLEBAUGH and Mary A. LUNDRY, was born on 19 October 1864 in Mattoon, Coles, Illinois.125 She died on 31 October 1948 at the age of 84 in Fort Dodge, Webster, Iowa.125,2660 She was buried on 2 November 1948 at Carpenter Cemetery in Fort Dodge, Webster, Iowa.125 Name sometimes spelled Alpharitta and Alpha Retta. In 1930 she was living at 402 S. 7th St, Fort Dodge, Iowa She had been living with Clark H. Porter as his wife although not legally married to him. It is not known if she ever married him. He died in 1934 and is buried in Carpenter Cemetery in Fort Dodge, IA. The 1935 Fort Dodge City Directory lists Alpha and Harry living at 426 1st Ave North. The 1941 directory has them living at 22 1/2 South 6th, and the 1944 directory has them at 426 3rd Ave South. Alpharetta is buried in Carpenter Cemetery, next to Harry McCauley, her daughters Pearl Klinefelter and Nellie Mae Wolff, and Nellie's husband, William W. Wolff. Cecil Knowles said that he met her once when he was about 7 or 8. He remembers her as short, with long hair down to her knees, and dark complexed. William Elmer KNOWLES-44356 and Alpharetta COLEBAUGH-44355 had the following children:
William Elmer KNOWLES and Maud Alice PAYNE were married on 5 September 1894 in Henry County, Illinois.125 W.A. Waterman, M.G. Maud Alice PAYNE125 was born on 23 February 1874 in Cordova, Rock Island, Illinois.125,2410 She died on 25 October 1951 at the age of 77 in Geneseo, Henry, Illinois.125,2410 She was buried on 28 October 1951 in Oakwood, Vermilion, Illinois.125 According to state marriage records, Maud married William when she would have been 21 at her next birthday. Depending upon when her birthday was, she would have been born either in 1874 or 1875. William Elmer KNOWLES-44356 and Maud Alice PAYNE-44402 had the following children:
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