Matrilineal Monday - Lucinda McGonnigal

Lucinda McGonnigil is my third-great grandmother on my mother's side. She has the dubious distinction of having a last name that can be spelled a thousand ways, which has made research of her line a joy. She was born March 5, 1851 in Camden, Ray County, Missouri to Colonel Henderson McGonnigil and Mary Ellen Akers. She was the first of six children.

Colonel McGonigil is listed as a day laborer and a shop keeper. During the Civil War he was a bugler for the 6th Regiment Calvary Missouri State Militia. The family lived in Ray County, with a brief stint in Independence, Missouri in the 1860s. I have not been able to find any records for Colonel or Mary McGonnigil past 1870. I have not found them on the 1880 census, but their younger children were living with siblings so it can be assumed they had already passed.

\

Lucinda married James Madison Thomas on October 23, 1870. (Her sister Mary married her brother-in-law, Eli, in 1875). The couple had eight children, but I have only found seven.

James was a coal miner and Lucinda was a housewife. Lucinda and James had to deal with quite a lot of pain in their lifetime. They lost one child at a young age, another son Roller died at age 14 due to an accident, and their son Russell died at 29 from tuberculosis. But I know little else of Lucinda.

She lived in Camden, Missouri, other than that short stint in Independence, her whole life and died there of liver failure on January 26, 1912. She is buried in Camden Cemetery, Camden, Missouri.

Due outs for Lucinda:
1. Look for an obituary
2. Request a photo of her headstone through Findagrave.com
3. Try to determine what church the family attended and look for records there.

Other McGonnigil posts:
Surname Saturday - Megonnigil