• Gloria C. (8 Mar 1924-15 Apr2003) Last residence: NV SS# 544-16-5597
• Jeanine M. (13 May 1942-4 Apr 2003) Last residence: AZ SS# 470-46-5454
• ODell W. (Oct 30, 1931 - Apr 24, 2003) SS issued: AL SS# 422-74-1231

Please add my email address to the newsletter. Thanks.
24 Aug 2003
William A. Chenoweth (Birmingham, AL)

As always I was delighted to get the newsletter. I always print it just as a reference, if nothing more. Thanks a million for all your hard work.
24 Aug 2003
Barbara Loyall

Thank you for your enlightening newsletter. I have forwarded it to "male" Chenoweth, my brother, who says he's not interested in genealogy. He has the Harris book and has been to Cornwall. He is currently working on putting my father's industrial motion pictures that have just been located in DVD format. Thanks again.
24 Aug 2003
Jean Tuchino

Just read your email re: "Updating the Chenoweth Database" and realize that I may have a lot of data on subject lines that you don't. I just got a copy of the Rowan Family Records that have been kept in association with the annual reunion held in Mabie, WV at the Rowan Memorial Church since 1954. These data start in the 1930s and 1940s, continue to date and a large amount of it includes Chenoweth descendants (of the two Chenoweth sisters that married Rowans and lived in Mabie, WV). These records are hand written on more than 150 pages.
24 Aug 2003
Ken Rowan

Thank you for the newsletter. I continue to be interested in the family history. My grandfather, William, was a child of Gideon. It might be of interest to any of the descendents of Gideon to know that I have his civil war verification of service and discharge issued by the AG (Adjutant General) of the State of Illinois in the 1880s. It contains his service dates, unit, and the details of his discharge on disability. Any one who has an interest, if you send me your address I will have copies made and mail them to you. I would be interested in knowing how you are related as well.
24 Aug 2003
Bill Morrison

Thanks for the mailing, I have not finished reading it all, but copies it & will get it all read before long. Hope this finds you well & having a cooler summer than we are, it was 101 today & to be 103 tomorrow & school starts with no air conditioning in the class rooms. Good to get the Mailing.
24 Aug 2003
Mary McNeese

I don't know if you're the person to contact, but I seem to be missing out on some emails. I know that we (the Chenoweth's in the South Bend, IN area) would've liked to come to the reunion, but never received any information about it. I get emails from the site sporadically, but want to be sure I'm getting all of them. Hopefully we can make the reunion next year!
Can you please make sure that I start getting all of the updates?
25 Aug 2003
Lisa Blye (South Bend, IN)

(Current information on the Reunion is available at Bill Chinworth's site. This site is linked in several places from the database website. All cousins listed on the cousin list maintained by Jon Egge will receive notice of the Reunion announcement when available as long as their current Email address is valid. Mailed notices will also be sent to cousins who no longer have a valid Email but have furnished a street address with their original sign-in at the web. Site Emails are sent very sporadically and only as needed, usually to announce major updates or changes. Newsletters are sent quarterly. - Jon Egge, webmaster)

I'm Roxie Munro, a great-great grandchild of Lemuel Chenoweth, and the author/illustrator of 21 children's books. My husband, Bo Zaunders, and I are writing and illustrating a children's book called "Lemuel's Bridge," to be published by Abrams Books, New York�we hope it will be out in time for the Reunion in August 2004. The book focuses on the story, told by my grandmother, Esther Baird Chenweth (Daughter of Lemuel's seventh child, Zachery) about Lemuel walking across his miniature bridge model to win a contract to build covered bridges in what was then western Virginia. The book, in full color, will also cover his youth, his other accomplishments, the building and history of the bridge, and will give information on the Lemuel Chenoweth Museum in Beverly. Bo and I went to Beverly in July to research the book � we had a great visit with Randy Allan at the Museum, and visited the covered bridge at Philippi. (I've traveled to West Virginia since childhood and owned a cabin in Webster County for 15 years). "Lemuel's Bridge" will be available by late summer 2004 on amazon.com (go to BOOKS, then "Roxie Munro"), at Barnes & Noble, and other bookstores. I may be doing some book signing tours for it, possibly including the Museum in Beverly. After the book comes out, if a SASE is sent to me, I'll sign a personally autographed book plate for the person (or the book can be snet with a SASmailer for signing). My website is

A Patient in Nogales

One of the more intriguing stories in the Harris book is that of the friendship that was struck up between Sommerville Chenoweth and Dr. William Fitzwilliam Chenoweth of Nogales, AZ [page 451]. Most Chenoweths are always curious when they meet someone else of the family name as to what their relationship might be. The story of Somerville and William Fitzwilliam is typical in that respect. Both in themselves have interesting lives.

Sommerville was a patient of Dr. William Fitzwilliam and would see him on occasion when came up from Sonora, Mexico. Both had married women of Mexico. He and William wondered what their relationship was, but could never determine it. We now know that they were 3rd cousins. Sommerville's father Francis was a grandson of Elijah who had settled in Franklin Co., OH. William's father, Absolum Loraine Chenoweth, was a son of Arthur of Pike Co., OH, who was a brother to Elijah. Third cousins are not in living memory. They had come to Arizona by very different routes and times.

William Fitzwilliam was one of 3 children of Absolum Loraine and Emma S. Kelley. Their mother died when William was just 10 years old. Absolum remarried three years later to Alice F. Wilcox and had another 3 sons and a daughter. These sons died young. Absolum Loraine also was a doctor, had served in the Civil War, and died at age 53 in Ross Co., OH when William was 26. William Fitzwilliam, his brother, Harry Kelly, and sister, Mary Lillian, came to Arizona after their father died. Arizona was quite a change from Pike Co., OH. William and Harry married Mexican sisters, daughters of Vicente Escalante, the Mayor of Hermosillo.

I know that Dr. William Fitzwilliam had an interest in genealogy. It was William who put together the picture of Chenoweth doctors that was used in Cora Hiatt's book. Recently I was in contact with William Fitzwilliam Chenoweth, II, a grandson of the good doctor of Nogales. It turns out that this picture collection is far more extensive than the small portion that was arranged for the 1925 book. Another near contact with this family is Debbie Chatham. Debbie contacted me when I first was starting this whole mess. She had a wonderful genealogy helpfulness about her and did some checking on my Laprath Family at the Salt Lake center.

Debbie is a great granddaughter of Mary Lillian who married James Johnston Chatham in Nogales on January 18, 1891. Her family always referred to William Fitzwilliam as "Uncle Doc". Just this Spring we connected up again and traded material on William Fitzwilliam. He died in Santa Barbara while on vacation on August 20, 1941. There was some confusion over the death record as it lists him as William Frederick. On occasion, death certificates have errors. It is probably not the best of circumstances to seek accurate data. We concluded it was indeed Fitzwilliam. Harris has Fitzwilliams, but William's namesake grandson corrected that as well, dropping the "s". He also corrected the name of his father, Joseph William Chenoweth, the son William Fitzwilliam. (Harris had this name as William Fitsimmons, which is incorrect.)

WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM6 CHENOWETH (ABSOLUM LORAINE5, ABSOLUM4, ARTHUR3, THOMAS2, JOHN1) was born September 16, 1865 in Bainbridge, Ross Co., OH and died August 20, 1941 in Santa Barbara Co., CA. He married (1) JOSEPHINA ESCALANTE September 9, 1890 in Pima Co., AZ, daughter of VICENTE ESCALANTE. She was born bet. 1860-1874 and died in 1895 in Arizona. He married (2) SANRADA "LAURA" ESCALANTE in 1896, daughter of VICENTE ESCALANTE. She was born December 22, 1875 in Hermosillo, MEXICO, and died December 1968 in Arizona.

Children of William Fitzwilliam Chenoweth and Sanrada Escalante are:

• I. MARIA7 CHENOWETH, b. January 1897, MEXICO; m. ANDREW BETTWY; b. Bet. 1882-1902
• II. DELORES LOLITA7 CHENOWETH, b. November 1899, MEXICO; m. LEWIS A. PAGE; b. Bet. 1884-1904
• III. JOSEPH WILLIAM7 CHENOWETH, b. March 19, 1906, Santa Cruz Co., AZ; d. December 1980, Phoenix, Maricopa Co., AZ; m. RUTH ADELINE SODERGREN; b. August 29, 1909; d. December 25, 1985, Phoenix, Maricopa Co., AZ.

Sommerville, too, had lost his mother, but at an even younger age. He was 5 years old and the family was traveling from Iowa to Oregon. Her name was Maud S. "Hannah" Logan and it was 1849 near Fort Laramie, WY. Sommerville had a brother Heber, which leads me to suspect that there is some sort of Mormon connection to this. Frances went on to Oregon and remarried to a Elizabeth Ann Findley in Clackamas Co., OR the following year. In 1850 the family is in Clark Co., of the Oregon Territory. This is now where Vancouver, WA is. Neither Sommerville nor his brother are with Francis. Ten years later Francis is at Coupeville, on Whidbey Island, where I now share a summer home with my siblings. I can't imagine what it was like to winter on Whidbey Island in 1860. Folks go bonkers with just one winter nowadays. I can't count the number of people I know who wanted to move up to the island and didn't last the first winter. Of course, our early Chenoweths were made of sterner stuff.

But again Sommerville was not with the family. He finally shows up in 1864 at Corvalis, OR to enlist to fight the Civil War. One wonders where he had been for the last 15 years, for he has not been found yet in a Census. Heber was never heard of again. Sommerville never made to the War, but ended up fighting Indians instead. Apparently the life suited him as he re-enlisted and in 1870 is at Ft Wingate in New Mexico. This is the only US Census Sommerville was ever found in though he lived to be 81. Somewhere in the 1870s he headed south to Mexico. On June 3, 1888 in San Miguel, he married Matilde Acosta. He was 44 and she was 24. They had 11 children. When I read this, I wondered what happened to this family.

SOMERVILLE SAMUEL6 CHENOWETH (FRANCIS A.5, THOMAS C.4, ELIJAH3, THOMAS2, JOHN1) was born March 25, 1844 in Scott Co., IA and died October 14, 1925 in Carbo, Sonora, MEXICO. He married MATILDE ACOSTA June 3, 1888 in San Miguel, MEXICO. She was born Abt. 1864, and died March 3, 1934 in Sonora, MEXICO.

Children of SOMERVILLE SAMUEL CHENOWETH and MATILDE ACOSTA are:

• I. TERESA7 CHENOWETH ACOSTA, b. July 20, 1888, Sonora, MEXICO; d. Abt. 1955; m. RAMON BADILLA LOPEZ; b. Bet. 1873-1893
• II. ENRIQUE7 "HENRY" CHENOWETH ACOSTA, b. Augusta 5, 1889, Sonora, MEXICO; d. Bet. 1916-1918, Cananea, Sonora, Sonora, MEXICO
• III. HERMINIA7 CHENOWETH ACOSTA, b. May 20, 1891, Sonora, MEXICO; d. Abt 1965; m. FRANCISCO PRECIADO; b. Bet. 1876-1896; d. Abt. 1950.
• IV. ERNETINA7 CHENOWETH ACOSTA, b. March 27, 1892, Sonora, MEXICO.
• V. MANUEL7 CHENOWETH ACOSTA, b. June 29, 1894, Sonora, MEXICO; d. January 15, 1968, Yolo Co., CA; m. LOLA ROMERIZ; b. Abt. 1916
• VI. RICARDO7 CHENOWETH ACOSTA, b. January 1, 1896, Sonora, MEXICO; d. July 11, 1925, Butte Co., CA.
• VII. RAMON7 CHENOWETH ACOSTA, b. February 18, 1898, Sonora, MEXICO; d. 1972, Chihuahua, MEXICO; m. ELONOR NORIEGA; b. Aft. 1895, MEXICO; d. Abt. 1980, Illinois.
• VIII. ELISA7 CHENOWETH ACOSTA, b. July 27, 1899, Sonora, MEXICO
• IX. CARLOS7 CHENOWETH ACOSTA, b. December 4, 1900, Sonora, MEXICO; d. 1950, Hermosillo, Sonora, MEXICO; m. DELFINA VIDAL; b. Abt. 1915, Aconochi, Sonora, MEXICO; d. 1951, La Palma, Ures, Sonora, MEXICO.
• X. ALBERTO7 CHENOWETH ACOSTA, b. September 4, 1905, Sonora, MEXICO; d. 1969, Hermosillo, Sonora, MEXICO; m. MARIA DOLORES GRANILLO; b. 1904, Rayon, Sonora, MEXICO; d. 1984, Hermosillo, Sonora, MEXICO.
• XI. MARIA7 LOUISA CHENOWETH ACOSTA, b. July 9, 1907, San Miguel de Horcasitas, Sonora, MEXICO; d. June 30, 1980, Hermosillo, Sonora, MEXICO; m. TORIBIO ACOSTA; b. Bet. 1892-1912; d. MEXICO.

Remarkably in 1999, Alain Chenoweth Carrillo contacted me. Sommerville's family was thriving very well in Sonora, Mexico. Alain's English was limited and my Spanish non-existent from the 6th grade, so we struggled with the language barrier. Alain was a grandson of Samuel Chenoweth Granillo, who was a grandson of Sommerville. Two years later to the rescue came Daniel Fred Chenoweth, whose father, Mauel Rogelio Chenoweth Granillo, was a brother to Samuel. Daniel Fred has done yeoman's work restoring Sommerville's family to the family tree. We have even located some in California and Chicago. He, along with his uncle, Gilberto from Arizona, came to the reunion in Elkins in 2002. It was a treat to have these relatives from Sonora in the wooded hills of West Virginia, where cousins are often kissin'.

There are a couple of cases of the Chenoweth family that have gone to Canada as well, so when the Harris books says the Chenoweth Family in America, he means North America. There is a marvelous connection to all of this. I suppose Fred must some day visit with William Fitzwilliam, and celebrate this friendship between cousins of their respective great grandfather (Daniel Fred: Sommerville) and grandfather (William Fitzwilliam: William Fitzwilliam).

As Daniel Fred carefully explained to me, Mexican traditions use both the father's and mother's name. Fred's name is actually Daniel Fred Chenoweth Chenoweth as both his parents were Chenoweths. Fred was very much at home in Elkins, his parents being first cousins. It was a marriage of Manuel Rogelio Chenoweth Granillo and Herminia Chenoweth Vidal. The first last name is the father's line and the second the mother's line. What a boon to us genealogists if this practice had been part of English culture. The children use the father's name passed down from each parent, hence Daniel Fred Chenoweth Chenoweth. How much more Chenoweth can you get.

From a response to the last newsletter:
Daniel Fred 26 Aug 2003, great grandson of Somerville "Samuel" Chenoweth

"I was reading the newsletter, I think once I told you how names are formed here in Mexico and I believe also in Latin America and Spain. Most Mexicans have surname and middle name. In my case, before I was born, my parents watched TV series "Dennis the Menace" in Spanish translated to "Daniel el Travieso". So was in my dad's mind to name me Daniel despite traditions rule to name 1st son as the Father's name. My father is name is Manuel Rogelio Chenoweth Granillo. As you can imagine Manuel was in honor of the lost uncle Manuel (now we know he was in California.) [Note: Manuel is Daniel Fred's great uncle.]

OK, back to my name! My mom liked short and foreign names, maybe because of the movies or artist, she likes. 'Not usual and short names', she had several in mind Fred, Ivan, Wiston, Alfred, Lui. Finally she decided to name me only Fred. But I was born on July 21, and another tradition is to choose one from the calendar. Each day of year has one main saint name, and some others, well. In many calendars, July 21 is Daniel's Day (in others it is December 11), that became Daniel Fred.

The Social Security System has turned into a bonus source for genealogists. It is the only thing we have in the United States for vital statistics on a nationwide basis. Moreover the information available from it has improved from earlier data. Each year now some 50 to 60 Chenoweths die and are picked up in the system by various spellings. The spreadsheet we have developed has at present 1,839 names in it. We have identified or guessed at all but 280 of these. This means we think we know who 84% of these people are. Of the 1,559 so far identified, 1,328 have been identified as belonging to the family and another 181 identified as belonging to what we call "unknowns lines", which, we believe, belong to the family though the link is unknown. Only a total of 50 have been identified to what we call "other" lines. Of the 280 we have not identified, 187 of them are females, obviously stemming from complications in our society of identifying females and spouses in genealogy records.

Pete and I began this spreadsheet some 5 or 6 years ago from a 1993 SSA listing CD available from Broderbund. At the time I think we had some 1,100 listings. Now we obtain new listings from Online sources. In November 2000, we first posted the page of unidentified listings. This page has helped us identify many on the list and actually found many new cousins. In the August 2002 newsletter, we stated that there were 1,750 names on it, so you can see that some 83 names have been added in the intervening year and a couple of months. At that time we had about 400 unidentified names. So not only have we pared this to 285 but with the additional names added we have actually identified some 200 individuals. Several of these have come through responses to the listings we sent out with the first 3 or 4 newsletters.

The SSA listing tell us several things about the family. 87% of the names are spelled Chenoweth. Another 5% Chenowith and the remaining 8% a variety of other spellings. Half of these various spellings are specific branch lines from Tennessee (Chenowth, Chinowth and Chinouth), Baltimore (Chenworth) or Robert Chenoweth of Wabash Co., IN (Chinworth). We have not included any "Chy" spellings in our listings. Of the use "Chenowith" over half of these come from the Baltimore area, generally identified among the unknown lines. The figures also seem to confirm our contention that roughly 9 out of 10 Chenoweths in the United States belong to the colonial family of John and Mary.

Another aspect of the Social Security system is the ability of obtaining the actual application. It is one of the few genealogy documents that is actually filled out by the person himself, often giving the place of birth and names of parents. Unfortunately this is an expensive and cumbersome item to obtain, so we have tried to ID as many as possible without resorting to the actual application retrieval. Pete has however paid for dozens of these himself.

Recent listings have become more complete. First, unlike the earlier years, everyone who dies with a reported number is now listed. In earlier years only those who actually were receiving benefits were listed. Recent listings have included middle initials, which help with the identification. Dates of death have become more precise. Early listings often use a default date or an approximation. When reviewing dates a day of 1 or 15 is more often than not a default and not the real date.