Read From Cradle to Grave - Cora Bell Ozias Kuhn, Part I here.
Cora Bell Ozias Kuhn was my second great-grandmother on my paternal side. When we left off from her story it was 1894 and she was recently married to her second husband, James H. Martin. Cora picked up her sons and moved them with her new family to Nebraska for five years. By 1900 the family has moved again to Baldwin City, Kansas.
 |
| Martin and Kuhn family 1900 census |
The family lives here for the next twenty years. By 1910 all three sons have moved out and Mabel, her step-daughter, is the only child left at home.
 |
| Martin Family on 1910 census |
 |
| This photo was part of a collection of Kuhn family photos I borrowed from a cousin. The only note on the photo is its location. Based on the vehicle, I have to wonder if this is the home of Cora and James Martin. |
In 1920, the family is in the same location, but now there is a new child listed: Claude E. Gates. I have found no information regarding this individual, but I assume that he was adopted or that Cora and James were just providing a home for him.
 |
| Martin family on 1920 census |
Sometime between 1920 and 1925 things went a little off for Cora. In the 1925 Kansas census she is found in Holton, Johnson County, Kansas, but with a new husband: Lemuel B. Wolverton. With them lives a ward, William Felt.
 |
| Wolverton family on 1930 census |
I have found no information regarding this third marriage for Cora. I do know that James Martin was still alive, so she was not widowed. Another case of irreconcilable differences I assume. And this is where the records for Cora stop. I can not find her or Lemuel Wolverton on the 1940 census. She died February 1, 1953 at the home of her son, F. E. Kuhn, in Pleasant Hill, Missouri. According to her death certificate she had lived in Pleasant Hill for 10 years so she must have moved there sometime around 1943.
 |
| Cora is buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Pleasant Hill, Missouri |
Cora went through some trying times in her life. She moved countless times across four different states, dealt with the deaths of many loved ones and reared at least six children. There are no known photos of Cora, which I find odd since she lived into the 1950s. I won't give up hope that there is one somewhere. One thing I noticed about Cora is that throughout her life she used the initial "K." Regardless of who she was married to she maintained her attachment to her first husband, Frank Kuhn. It's possible that she did this for her children, but I like to think that she was maintaining a tie to her first love.
Missing items:
- Cora on the 1940 census.
- A photo of Cora (I'll reach out to cousins for this one).
No comments:
Post a Comment