Believing Misinformation (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025 Week 15 Theme: "Big Mistake")

Born 22 February 1869 in Keokuk, Iowa, my great grandfather Charles Francis Edwards moved around a lot during his 72 year life.  We know that he lived in Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Washington, and Saskatchewan, Canada. Before his marriage license and certificate were obtained for his Great Falls, Montana, marriage to Mary Jane Wescott on 01 October 1896, records for his earlier life in Iowa and Kansas remained elusive.

The details that Charles divulged to his family about his early history included the following:

• His mother was named Rachel Hoover and she had been married 3 times: once to another Hoover, once to an Edwards and finally to a Payton.
• He had a half-brother named Sam Hoover and twin sisters named Minnie and Grace Edwards.
• The family were strict Quakers.
• His mother was a relative of President Herbert Hoover.
• He was orphaned young and raised by his sister Grace in Coffeyville, Kansas

My big mistake was taking Charles at his word.

I spent more than 10 years following up on these clues, searching rolls of microfilm for census records in both Iowa and Kansas, searching microfilm and microfiche Quaker records for logical locations for the family and researching the family history of President Herbert Hoover to see if I could find Charles and his mother Rachel. Online searches were conducted. Letters were written. Nothing. This was a true brick wall yielding few results no matter what was tried.

My research log indicates that in September of 1999 I ordered microfilms from Salt Lake City for the 1870 census for both Lee County and Keokuk County, Iowa. (Keokuk where Charles said he was born in 1869 is both a county of that name and a city in Lee County). Lee County had an Edwards family with the wife being Rachel, but the children were wrong ages and genders. Similar issues arose for any of the other Edwards found there. The first film received for Keokuk County was of very poor quality so I ordered the 2nd filming version. While waiting for the 2nd Keokuk County microfilm to arrive, my records indicate I spent considerable time learning about Quaker records and reviewing several microfilms and microfiche, none of which contained any evidence of Charles's family. During that time, I also followed up trying to find any connection to the President Herbert Hoover family, at one time following a Rachel up to the point where she was married and living her life in Oxford County, Ontario, Canada. Clearly she was not Charles's mother.

Finally, in January of 2000 the 2nd filming of the 1870 Keokuk County census arrived for me to review. The quality was far superior to the 1st filming. An Edwards family was found in Jackson Township, but not the right names for any of the family members. Steady Run Township had a Jesse and Nancy Edwards with children aged 4-18 but not any correct names. Then Van Buren Township, page 10 had the following Edwards family: 

1870 US Census for Van Buren, Keokuk County, Iowa

No husband but a woman with initials B.E., a son Sam L. age 14, a daughter M.M. age 11 and son Robt F. age 1. All the children were born in Iowa. This was the closest one and I put a question mark beside it in my notes. Mother's name not what Charles had said. Brother Sam correct. Sister M.M. when there were supposed to be twin sisters Minnie and Grace and the youngest was Robert F. rather than Charles F. This couldn't be right with all those discrepancies, could it?

When the 1880 US Census was available online in a searchable format, I was able to find a family grouping with distinct possibilities located in Howard, Elk County, Kansas:

1880 US Census for Kansas

We had been told that Charles's mother had married a Payton and here was a Payton family grouping with 3 Edwards stepchildren: Martha and Mary (not Minnie and Grace) both 14 and Charles 11, all born in Iowa. But the mother of the household was named "Barbary", not Rachel. Had Charles's mother Rachel died by now and had George Payton already remarried?

Notwithstanding Charles telling the family that his mother's name was Rachel, when Charles married Mary Jane Wescott in Montana, he gave her name as Martha Hoover, not Rachel. Neither of those names corresponded to the "B.E." in the questionable 1870 Iowa census nor the "Barbary" in the 1880 Kansas census.

Finally, in desperation, I joined the Iowa Genealogical Society as a way to post queries and try to benefit from local knowledge. Best move I could have made! By virtue of my membership there, I was contacted in 2009 by its webmaster, Alice Hoyt Veen, who indicated that she required one additional case study to complete her professional genealogist accreditation and asked if she could try to break down my brick wall. At no cost to me. Could she? I couldn't type "yes" and hit the "send" button fast enough!

Over the months, Alice provided me with tantalizing bits of information based on her painstaking research, slowly building up a case for having at last found a mother for Charles.  Her name was Barbara Hoover, not Rachel Hoover nor Martha Hoover. Those 2 census records that I had doubted were indeed for Charles and his family. 

A few of the details Charles had given for his family history were true: he did have a half-brother Sam and twin sisters (more likely half-sisters) Minnie (Mary) and Martha (Grace) and his mother had been married to the 3 husbands named. However, there is no evidence that his mother was related to President Herbert Hoover. No evidence has been found for any Quaker connections other than the fact that his mother lived near the Quaker meeting house in Independence, Kansas at the time of her death. He was not orphaned young and his sister Grace would not have been enough older than he was to be responsible for raising him.  All of the misinformation was cover-up for his illegitimacy. 

Although family tradition and lore can provide helpful clues, they can also misdirect and cause a huge waste of time and energy. Lesson learned.