Days 62 & 63: To Meramec State Park, MO

No flats, no detours, a strong tailwind and low rollers in the morning combined to make for a pleasant ride yesterday.  There were a few roller coaster hills later in the day, but even they were welcome, as they got me up out of the saddle in order to give my butt a break.

One of our leapfrog stops happened to be alongside the Katy Trail (a rail conversion trail), where Alea met a group of supported touring cyclists who were taking a snack break.  Needless to say, our van and camper drew a crowd, and to those folks, what we are doing REALLY made sense.  I arrived there just as the group's sag wagon was pulling out, but we had a fairly steady stream of other cycling visitors during the short time that we were there.

We  camped last night at Robertsville State Park ($19, power and showers, with water nearby).  We had a visitor - Jim Williams, who lives nearby in St. Louis.  We became acquainted through Ancestry.com while I was researching my Williams book.  We initially thought we might be related via my 4th ggf, Simon Williams, but that turned out not to be the case.  But we eventually discovered that we were related through a different 4th ggf, John Hunter, Junior, the first blacksmith of Owensville, Indiana.  So the topic of discussion was primarily about genealogy and strategies for chipping away at finding his Williams 4th ggf (a daunting task, as the time period is the late 1700s and early 1800s, though there were some possible avenues to research).  He was also very helpful in pointing out whether finding a campsite for this weekend might be difficult at certain state parks that we are hoping to stay at.

Alea had a short, but chilly, ride this morning.  It was in the upper 40s when we awoke and had warmed up to 52 degrees by 9 am.  But then the clouds came in, and it was still only 54 degrees at 1 pm.  But the sun did break through later in the day to warm things up a bit more.

We're in Route 66 country for a while.

We're camping at Meramec State Park ($23, power and showers).  It's a big campground, so there are lots of families here for the weekend, many of them arriving after dark.  We've been warned about the numbers of skunks that roam around the campground at night.  Needless to say, we are even more envious of Lana's 12-hour bladder!

Lana surveys the banks of the Meramec River for critters.

I had a chance to drive to nearby Crawford County, MO to do some family research.  I had found where Elizabeth (Van Anglen) McEveny had received patent to 40 acres of land there on 1 Nov 1859 (of course when I visited the recorder's office I wasn't certain of when that had occurred).  I found two McEveny deeds - one by Elizabeth McEveny, guardian of Samuel A. McEveny (her youngest son - this deed is direct proof of their relationship and that her husband had died by then), which was executed in 1857 (Crawford County, MO Deeds, Book E, page 549).  Another was by Samuel A. McEveny (of Keokuk, Iowa) after he had become of age, and was dated in 1858 (Book F, page 23). 

Elizabeth's second oldest daughter, Mary Ann, had married James R. Bowles and was living in Crawford County when the 1860 Census was taken, but Elizabeth is not found in that Census, nor was she in Keokuk.  And there were no records of Elizabeth selling her land after 1859.  So the big puzzle is what happened to that property when she died?  

I suspect the answer to the question may be in Keokuk, as her heirs would have all been entitled to a portion of that land, and it was possible back then to record the deed in the county of residence.  If so, I may find a deed in Monroe County, IL where her eldest daughter (and my 2nd ggm) was living at the time (though she may have moved to Jackson County, IL by the time the estate was settled).

So once again, more facts just lead to more questions.  But there was one interesting thing in the 1857 deed.  She sold the property to Garland Hemenway of Washington County, Missouri.  That happens to be where my 2nd ggm was born (as were several of her siblings) in 1826.  They had lived in Harmony Township, which abuts the eastern border of Crawford County, so Garland Hemenway (or Hemingway or similar variation) may have been a relative.  At least it certainly looks as though, after her husband's death, she returned to the area to be near her family.  So that is yet another possible clue to finding another piece of the puzzle...