Hi family, With the end of summer vacations, we all begin coming back into our homes to begin the "hibernation" into next year. It's a good time to take advantage of this returning together. We have many newbies and novices among us now ~ those new (or rather new) to genealogy, I mean. This being September and the traditional return of children to school, let's follow that focus and teach our own. Your challenge is to post a road-block problem you are having or once had with your research. Then, tell us how you solved or are currently resolving it. In this way, we'll teach our newbies and novices while at the same time, pass along research ideas to each other. What better a challenge for this month could there be? :) Colleen

Hi, Colleen. Thank you for asking. Reason Howell has been eagerly sought for many years. He was b.~1817 somewhere in Ohio (census records) without parents, apparently. He owned land in Shelby Co, Ohio prior to 1850 when he may have been listed as a family member of Daniel Howell (1850 Shelby census: Meason--but a Mason Howell also existed in Ohio!) along with wife Mary and son William. Reason and Mary moved to LaPorte County, Indiana in time for the 1860 census, where most of their children were born. By 1870 census, Mary was alone with the children in Newton Co., Ind. where both she and her daughter Mary married Heistand gentlemen, no indication of which Mary married which gentleman. William also married a Heistand lady. All 3 of these marriages took place in a matter of a few months in the early seventies. Reason, meanwhile, is missing from the census records, but a Reason Howell in Porter Co., Ind married a widow, Charlotte Decker Glaspey in 1872. Though we have located some of Charlotte's descendants, nothing more is known of them, but we think it! likely this is the same Reason Howell since the age would have been about right for Charlotte to marry him. Reason Howell was married 09 Aug 1846 Shelby Co, Oh to Mary Elizabeth Helmick, d/o Samuel I. Helmick and Anna Minnis. They had the following children (1860 LaPorte Co Ind and 1870-1880 Newton Co. Ind censuses): Anna Marier Howell b.~1847 m. David Dexter, l. Morocco, Newton, Ind. William Howell b 1854? Ohio, m. a Heistand? (Is he the one living in Newton Co? Other Howells there also!) Mary E. Howell b. 1857 m. a Heistand, had dau. Mary J. George Washington Howell m. Ella Manvers Rowen d/o James Biard Rowen and Mary Catherine DeCamp Nancy Genetta b. 1862, disappears after 1880 census John H. Howell, a grandson, b. 1862 Margarett Howell b. 1843 listed as dau in law, dead in 1870 (a little old, surely to have been William's wife, but if not his, then whose?) Since Mary Helmick was about 16 years older than Margarett, it is not likely Margarett was married to one of her children. A George Howell was married to a Margaret Carter 25 Sept 1840 in Allen Co, Ohio. Could these Margarets be the same person? Reason is rumored to have had sibs: George, John, Mary, and/or William. Is this true? Also, we have a mystery man. A George Howell m. Mary (Margaret?) Furness in Morocco, Ind in Oct 1866. We have been able to locate nothing of this couple either. Could he have been a brother of Reason? My cousins and I (they are descended from Anna Marier Howell Dexter, I am descended from George Washington Howell) would be grateful for any information. We have not been able to locate any other descendants of Reason Howell and Mary Helmick, to say nothing of Reason's antecedents. We would welcome any ideas, fellow searchers, or anything! In 30 years searching, we have only a complete list of the children, the marriage date, and the subsequent marriages, which were a real surprise! What happened to the other children? Did they get on? Do they have descendants? Does anyone know who Reason's parents were? We share what little we know, and a great deal that we don't! Thank you so much. I am Ruth of elmag@netamumail.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Colleen" <ladyaudris@earthlink.net> To: <HOWELL-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2003 12:00 PM Subject: [HOWELL] COLLEEN'S SEPTEMBER CHALLENGE > Hi family, > > With the end of summer vacations, we all begin coming back into our > homes to begin the "hibernation" into next year. It's a good time to > take advantage of this returning together. > > We have many newbies and novices among us now ~ those new (or rather > new) to genealogy, I mean. This being September and the traditional > return of children to school, let's follow that focus and teach our own. > > Your challenge is to post a road-block problem you are having or once > had with your research. Then, tell us how you solved or are currently > resolving it. > > In this way, we'll teach our newbies and novices while at the same time, > pass along research ideas to each other. > > What better a challenge for this month could there be? :) > > Colleen > > > > ==== HOWELL Mailing List ==== > Our homesite is the Howell Research Room located at > <http://howellresearch.com>. > >