I'm starting a series of posts on items that are mentioned, either in documents from the past, or from living relatives I've interviewed, that have gone missing in the mists of time. So many of these quite often are last seen with a relative, who inevitably has no children. And where or where do these items go? Hopefully they are out there somewhere, in someone's attic, basement, or book shelf. Here we go....
My 2nd great grandmother, Lettie Lavancha Pangburn Mapes, had a journal or diary or something of some sort. My grandpa's 1st cousin Margaret Mapes Jellison, who researched the Mapes and allied families for years and collected all sorts of items (which unfortunately now reside in many places who knows where...because, guess what? she had no kids), made reference to the journal in her research.
Let's start from the beginning. Lettie was born 23 April 1848 in Geauga County, Ohio to Nathaniel Pangburn and Laney Dingman. They moved to Eaton County, Michigan by 1860 and in 1866 she married Lyman Henry Mapes, my 2nd great grandfather. He was fresh back from the Civil War, his first wife dying while he was away. They moved to Gratiot County, Michigan, by 1870 where Lyman's grandfather Charles Cohoon lived. Lyman and Lettie were successful in raising a large family and had plenty of property.
Margaret also says that Lettie taught Lyman how to read. And as to what was in the journal, all I know is that Lettie listed her brothers and sisters, by their casual names: Letty, Likie, Polly, and so forth. Margaret used it as one of her sources for the family, "Handwritting of grandma Lettie Lavancha Pangburn Mapes in journal last seen in possession by Ray J. Plowman who is now deceased."
Ray Plowman was married to Lyman's daughter, Carrie Mapes. And go figure, they had no kids. Where did the journal go? What else was in the journal? We may never know. Carrie died before Ray, who himself died in 1963. I have looked at Ray's probate to see where his estate went. His estate was divided between 9 nieces! I guess the ones that helped take care of him or he liked I suppose, since there were other nieces. Those nieces are:
Florence Tatish, of Canandaigua, New York
Lylyan Lake, of St. Johns, Michigan
Lucile Deihm, of Dewitt, Michigan
Ruth Kyes, of Long Beach, California
Dorothy Horman, of Alma, Michigan
Edna Richardson, of Alma, Michigan
Elizabeth Martin, of Alma, Michigan
Mable Eichorn, of Alma, Michigan
Dorotha Gee, of Alma, Michigan
Dorotha is a Mapes, my grandpa Mapes' sister. However the rest are Plowman relatives from Ray's siblings. I've checked with Dorotha's kids and they don't seem to recall anything, and neither do other descendants from the family from other siblings. So, if the journal exists, it may have went to someone on the list above from the Plowman family. Unless it was given to a Mapes family member before or after Ray died. There's a lot of those. There were 9 in Carrie's family and quite a few descendants.
In any case, if anyone out there has the journal of Lettie Pangburn Mapes, I'd love to hear from you. I just want to copy it. That would be a priceless treasure.
Here's to keeping fingers crossed.....
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