Dear Brenda Fleetwood (formerly bonnie342@aol.com) and other interested Delaware Fleetwood researchers, In 1999 Brenda Fleetwood posted a message to rootsweb stating that all DE Fleetwoods were related and that she had recently completed a book about them. I am descended from Delaware Fleetwoods. However, I have run into an interesting brick wall and am hopeful that Brenda's research (or that of some other DE Fleetwood researcher) will provide a ladder I can use to scale the wall! Below is what I know about my Fleetwoods and where I am stuck. My great grandmother was IDA MAY FLEETWOOD (b. Sept. 5, 1880, Milford, DE; d. May 29, 1943, Milford, Sussex Co., DE, bur. IOOF, Milford, Kent Co., DE). She married on Dec. 26, 1897, in Milford, DE, to GEORGE JOSEPH STILL (b. Sept. 22, 1873, as per family Bible and tombstone, 1872 as per calculation from death certificate, 1874 as per several census lists, DE; d. July 21, 1952, Milford, Sussex Co., DE; bur. IOOF, Milford, Kent Co., DE). They had two daughters: GERTRUDE MAY STILL, b. 1900; JENNIE MINERVA STILL, b. 1903. I remember two of Ida May's siblings: MINNIE FLEETWOOD (b. Apr. 17, 1884, Milford, DE; d. July 21, 1957, Milford, Sussex Co., DE; bur. IOOF, Milford, Kent Co., DE). She married HARRY LEE HILL (b. Aug. 14, 1882, DE; d. Mar. 7, 1855, Milford, Sussex Co., DE, bur. IOOF, Milford, Kent Co., DE.) They had two children: HARRY LEE HILL, Jr., b. 1909; MYRTLE MAY HILL, b. 1915. HARRY BENJAMIN FLEETWOOD known as "Mike" (b. May 23, 1891, Milford, DE; d. Jan. 17, 1968, Sussex Co., DE; bur. Blades Cemetery, Blades, Sussex Co., DE). He married on March 13, 1920, in Wilmington, New Castle Co., DE, ORA PAGE ELLIOTT (b. 1900, d. 1958, Sussex Co., DE; bur. Blades Cemetery, Blades, Sussex Co., DE). They had one child: KATHRYN FLEETWOOD, b. 1920. I have a newspaper clipping from my grandmother's family Bible that announces the wedding and notes that the groom was formerly of Milford. His second wife was named NETTIE as per his death certificate -- she was listed as living at the time of his death. Harry ("Mike") had four grandchildren. One of his granddaughters remembers her mother taking her to visit an uncle in the Holloway Terrace area of New Castle County, DE, just south of Wilmington (in or near Wilmington Manor?). Her mother told her he was her grandfather's half brother. However, she was quite small when the visit occurred in the 1950s and she does not remember her half-uncle's given name. This memory would lead us to conclude that there were at least two wives for Ida May, Minnie, and Mike's father. The family Bible of Ida May's granddaughter, GERTRUDE MARIE (CLARKE) CARTER, lists the following names as siblings of IDA MAY FLEETWOOD (no dates or locations): GEORGE, JAMES, WILLIAM, MARY E., HARRY ("MIKE), and MINNIE. We do not know if this list includes only the full siblings of Ida May or if it also includes half-siblings which probably exist. I have located the mother Ida May, Minnie, and Harry "Mike" in census records where she is listed as a widow (but may have been a divorcee not willing to admit it), and her grave in the IOOF Cemetery, Milford, Kent Co., DE. Their father is not buried with their mother. Their mother was SUSAN C. SCOTT (b. Feb. 11, between 1852 as per census, 1861 as per death certificate, or 1862 as per tombstone; d. Nov. 11, 1927, Milford, Sussex Co., DE; bur. Nov. 14, 1927, IOOF, Milford, Kent Co., DE). Buried with SUSAN C. FLEETWOOD is a person whose age would be right to be her daughter: ELIZABETH FLEETWOOD (b. 1889; d. 1911). It is possible that she is the child listed in the family Bible as MARY E. FLEETWOOD. Now for the really fun stuff and the source of the brick wall! I have the death certificates of IDA MAY, MINNIE, and HARRY "MIKE". Each lists a DIFFERENT first name for his or her father! The mother on all of them is listed as SUSAN C. SCOTT. Ida May's certificate based on information provided by her daughter Jennie lists Ida May's father's name as JEHEMARA FLEETWOOD. Minnie's certificate based on information provided by her daughter Myrtle lists his name as MORROW FLEETWOOD. Harry's certificate lists his father's name as WILLIAM FLEETWOOD based on information provided by his daughter Kathryn (if memory serves me correctly). And just to keep things interesting, Jennie's daughter's family Bible (the same Bible that listed the siblings of Ida May) lists his name as CURTIS FLEETWOOD. I do not find any DE census reports for Jehemara/Morrow/William/Curtis Fleetwood that seem to fit my multi-named g-g-grandfather (but it may still be there to be found). I did find two families listed in nearby Chapel District, Talbot Co., MD, in 1880 which MIGHT be their family. (1) The head of the household is listed as JER. FLEETWOOD, age 23 (b. 1856-7), b. DE. Could Jer. be the census taker's abbreviation for Jehemara? Or, did his granddaughter Jennie (or the doctor who completed the death certificate) err when she (he) supplied (wrote) the name on Ida May's death certificate? Should the name have been listed as Jeremiah? If so, then Jer. would certainly be an appropriate abbreviation. The wife for this family is listed as S.C. FLEETWOOD which would match the children's mother's maiden name as per the three death certificates noted above. She is listed as being 27 years old which would make her birth year 1852-53 and which would be very close to SUSAN C. (SCOTT) FLEETWOOD's calculated birth year from the 1920 census which lists her living with daughter MINNIE (FLEETWOOD) HILL and being 68 years old which would make her birth year 1851-52. The oldest child is listed as WILLIAM, age 7 (b. 1872-3), born in DE. The next child is listed as GEO. A., age 3 (b. 1876-7), born in DE. The third child is listed as "baby", age 11 mo. (b. 1879), born in MD. It also lists this child as paralyzed under disabled/can't work. Does the lack of a name and the notation of paralysis suggest that the child may actually have been dead at the time the census was taken -- or soon expected to be dead? Or could the census taker simply have forgotten to obtain the baby's name? (2) Another FLEETWOOD family is listed in the same area which seems to me to be less of a possibility of being my missing family, but it should certainly not be ignored! This family has the head listed as W.J. FLEETWOOD, age 26, b. DE. The wife is listed as S.C., age 23., b. DE. Listed with them is a daughter listed only with the initial L. She is listed as age 11, b. DE. However, unless the not-so-likely-but-still-possible event of W.J. and S.C. Fleetwood bearing a child at the ages of 15 and 12 took place, perhaps L. was only been 11 months old instead of 11 years old. Or, maybe she was adopted. Or, maybe she was erroneously listed as daughter. There are no other children listed for this child. Still, W.J. matches two of the names listed for the father of my known Fleetwood children (William & Jehamara) and S.C. matches the known name of their mother (Susan C.). So far, these are the only family units I have located in census lists in DE or in the part of MD on the Delmarva Penninsula that include names which could be my Fleetwoods based on information I have so far. Could one of these families have been in MD for a short time and moved back to DE -- specifically to Milford -- by Sept. 1880 when Ida May was purportedly born in Milford? Was Ida May the fourth child (if the first MD family above was hers) or could she have been the first child (if the second MD family above was hers). Brenda, do you have any information in your research that comes close to matching any of the information I have? (Especially you, N.C. Thomas who listed your Jeremiah as being in a second marriage and dying in New Castle Co., DE!) Do any of you other Fleetwood researchers recognize a possible match to information you have collected? Hoping to hear from ANYONE with new information!! (Aren't we all!) Karen Carter Minneapolis, MN Note: The following people posted Fleetwood family searches in DE on rootswebs. The addresses they used when they posted are no longer valid. If anyone knows their current addresses, I would very much appreciate getting the updated information. bonnie342@aol.com - This is not a known member. [Brenda Fleetwood] fbutler101@aol.com - This is not a known member. [Frank Butler] thefleet42@aol.com - This is not a known member. [James Fleetwood] jacque1444@aol.com - This is not a known member. [Jacqueline Fleetwood]