I love it when a plan comes together

I'll admit it. I was in love with Face from the A-Team. How could you not love that face? Actually, I first loved him as Starbuck, but that's a story for another time. Despite my love Face, it is Hannibal's quote that best fits my most recent finding: I love it when a plan comes together.

Like most seriously passionate genealogists I tend to not put a lot of stock in written family histories that I come across. This is mostly because they are often unsourced and there is no way to tell the validity of the information. Several years ago I came across one such history written about my Creed family line. It was a fantastic find for me as I am one of the only descendants left of my link to the Creeds, so I have always felt a special bond with this family line. The issue I had with the Creeds is that Joseph M. Creed had eleven children and only eight survived to adulthood...all girls. It sure is hard to track female descendants.

Enter the family history stage left. Written by Armintia Creed Whitlock, the history tells the story of her parents, Joseph M. Creed (1841-1917) and Mary Reece (1846-1927), and their children. It talks about how Joseph and Mary met, discusses a myriad of moves across country and the dates/places of the births of each of their children. It is a wealth of information, but doesn't have any sources. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Armintia didn't know her own history. But without solid facts behind the stories I'm just not sure what is fact and what is faded memory.

Joseph and Mary Creed with their daughters. Back row (l-r) - Armintia, Jessie, Monnie, Mattie and Etta
Front row: Betty, Joseph, Gussie (standing), Mary, and Stella



Here is a portion of the history:

"Jessie was married to Burton Parker and later Henry Kellogg. Also Monnie was later married to Marshall Bausell and Gussie to Earl Kuhn. All the girls raised nice families except Etta who had no children and Mattie who married Dr Maxwell in later years had none. Only three of the girls are now living, January 1, 1966, Mrs. Jessie Kellogg, Mrs. Mattie Maxwell, and Mrs. Gussie Kuhn.

The father, Joe Creed, died at Maramec, Ok March , 1917. The mother, Mary E. Creed died in Colorado, March 1927. They are both buried in Pawnee Cemetery. Stella died in 1904, buried in El Reno, OK. Betty died 1934, buried in Pawnee, OK. Mintia died March 11, 1945, buried in Kaw City, OK. Monnie died December 1963 buried in Fort Worth, TX. Etta died January 17, 1964, buried in Brownsville, Texas."

Some of the Creed sisters and children taken prior to December 1963. Front row (seated) Lois Marsh, Jessie Creed Kellog, Gussie Creed Kuhn. Standing (left to right) Etta Creed Demieville, Bonnie Davis, Monnie Creed Bausell, Mattie Creed Maxwell, Flossie Emmons

I must say: pay dirt! Death dates and locations for all of the hard to trace females of the family. But is it accurate? When I first received the history it was hard to tell. I was not able to travel to Oklahoma and Texas to conduct searches, so I had to accept the information at face value. But the Internet is a glorious place and in the several years since I first received this history many new source documents have been posted online. To include early Oklahoma marriages and Texas death certificates. And I am proud to say that Armintia had it all correct. So often we read to not pay heed to printed history...I love how Armintia proves it all wrong. I love it when a plan comes together!