I have just acquired the death certificate of Lillie L. Stainbrook, daughter of Alfred & Mary (Robinson) Stainbrook of Paw Paw, Lee County, IL.
At the time of Lillie's death on 21 Jan 1953, she resided in an apartment building on Drexel Blvd. in Chicago and was a bookkeeper for a meat packing company. She was born c1874-1879 in Paw Paw, and was unmarried. She is buried in Ellsworth Cemetery in Paw Paw, IL. Apparently no obituary was published for her in the Lee County newspapers or in the Chicago Tribune. Since a firned, Helen E. Mackay, was the informant on death certificate, I am assuming that Lillie's sister, Cora B. LEYSON, had died prior to 1953. Cora lived in Boston, Mass. up until 1941 (Waltham city directory), but I cannot locate her death record. Have had searches done at the Mass. Archives up to 1970.
I would be very appreciative of any suggestions on this brick wall. Thank you. Carol

Cora is listed in the 1941 Waltham City Directory, but isn't listed in the 1943 Waltham City Directory. That would seem to indicate she either moved/died. I'd suggest trying to get hold of city directory for 1942 to see if there is a reference to her. City directories sometimes include dates of death as well as where an individual had moved..perhaps someone at the Waltham City Library could do a lookup for you?

Do you know Cora's husband's name and when he died...if you can get hold of his death certificate that would tell you where he is buried - she may be buried there as well.

Do you have a copy of the 1943 Waltham City Directory? It may be that Cora Leyson (sister of Lillie Stainbrook) died 1941-1943 in Waltham, but I doubt it. I have had researchers check the Mass. Archives death indices, but Cora was not listed. Actually I did write to the Waltham Public Library on 23 July 2007, with a $15 donation for research, and the reply from Janice Zwicker, Archivist, was as follows:
"I researched your request for information on Cora B. LEYSON. Unfortunately, I didn't find any useful material for you. We don't have the sort of indices you mentioned. She doesn't appear in any Waltham City directories other than the 1941 and it doesn't give where she removed to or whether she died, as you know. The Annual Listing 1941 entry (enclosed) is not much help; actually, it gives her age as 63, a little far from the 71 I would have expected from your info. She does not appear in later (or earlier) ones. My only suggestions would be to contact Mass. Registry of Vital Records who cover records 1916 to present. Do you know of any other relatives who may have information? Have you tried posting a query on a message board such as Rootsweb? I appreciate your kind donation and feel a little guilty that I wasn't able to find more for you. Please let me know if there's anything else I can do for you."
Cora's husband, Burr Watkins Leyson, died in 5 Sep 1928, in Neihart, Cascade Co., Montana. He was cremated and I have not been able to find out if his cremains were buried or if they sat on Cora's mantle. There is no record that he is in the Neihart Cemetery. He was a mining engineer and owned the Queen of the Hills mine in Neihart. He and Cora traveled back and forth between Montana and Massachusetts. According to many newspaper articles about Burr W. Leyson, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. I also have his death record. I have been in touch with the funeral home who say his cremains were shipped to the W. H. George Company, in Great Falls, Montana on September 10, 1928, but W.H. George has no record of what happened to them after that, so I'm assuming that Cora took the cremains home with her or they got lost along the way. I have done extensive research on this couple. I have also tracked down the grandson of Burr Watkins Leyson Sr. and the grandson only remembers that Cora called his home in New York one time to talk to his father, Burr W. Leyson, Jr. (author), and she lived in Massachusetts. The grandson has lots of memorabilia, but had no interest in looking through it or in corresponding with me further which is unfortunate.
Since the time that I posted this original message, I have found the death record of Cora's sister, Lillie, and she died in Jan. 1953 in Chicago. The informant of Lillie's death record was a friend rather than her sister, Cora, so I assume Cora was deceased by then.
When it quits raining in Illinois, my husband and I are going to go to Lee County, IL, where Lillie is supposidly buried in the Ellsworth Cemetery. I did check with the Lee County Historical Society and the Paw Paw Public Library in Lee Co., but no obituary was found for Lillie even though I have her death record and gave them the exact death date. They have no record that Lillie was buried in the Ellsworth Cemetery in Paw Paw even though that is the information given on her death certificate. YIKES!

wild... Let me poke around some more... will share what i find..

Liz

Thank you so much! Carol

Like to back up from what I can find and then look for leads
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Ancestry tree files...Cora Stainbrook's husbands include..Ralph W Laubie (Cook Illinois); Arthur Putnam Ayling-daughter Grace Ellen Oliver (adopted) Ayling; Charles Albert Cartland; Burr Watkins Leyson

1900 Census - Plymouth MA -
--Arthur P Ayling, wife Cora and Grace Ayling (listed as daughter with in-law written above daughter - believe that to be a mistake. She was born Feb 1885, age 15, b MA, parents born England

1910 Census - Triadelphia, Ohio, WVa
--Arthur Ayling with daughter Grace Ayling
Arthur listed as widowed.

1941 City Directory - Waltham
Leyson Cora B broker r 536 Lexington

1943 City Directory - Waltham
no entry for Leyson
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MA Vital Records - NEHGS
OBrien Grace Ellen Watertown 1885 vol 359 page 269 Birth
--Feb 26 1885
--Grace Ellen O'Brien - daughter of James H and Jane Sarginson, father is pedler, both parents b England
Note: Only Feb 26 entry on the page...believe it was copied from original ledger and submitted to MA State - as it indicates date of record is January 1886...also missing from NEHGS index ...44 records on page for 1885 and only 43 are listed...

**1918 WWI Draft Reg Card
Burr Watkin Leyson
age 44, resides 55 Higland Ave, Winthrop Mass
DOB May 10 1874
occ is mining engineer
Nearest relative is Mrs Esther B Leyson, Silverston, Montana

**Montana Death Index, 1860-2007
Name: Burr Leyson
Age: 54
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1874
Gender: Male
Death Date: 5 Sep 1928
Death County: Cascade
Index Number: Cas 671
Source: Montana Office of Vital Statistics

Next Steps ...Think your best bet is city directory for 1942.. as well as checking for marriage record in 1941/1942

Good luck!

Thank you for your efforts. I do have everything that you sent except for the record from the NEHGS. The Ancestry information is probably what I submitted (kroe532)with all the marriages.
You suggested: "Next Steps ...Think your best bet is city directory for 1942.. as well as checking for marriage record in 1941/1942." In my last message I said that I had already written to the Waltham Public Library for city directory information and they said that Cora was only listed in 1941....no other years.
Why are you suggesting that I look for a marriage record in 1942?
I have the probate record (adoption) of Grace Ellen Oliver. According to the Petition for Adoption, her surname was not O'Brien, it was Oliver.
The petition reads as follows: To the Honorable The Judge of the Probate Court in and for the County of Plymouth -- Respectfully represents Arthur P. Ayling of Bridgewater in said County, and Cora B. Ayling his wife, that they are of the age of twenty-one years or upwards and are desirous of adopting Grace Oliver, a child of James A. Oliver of Bridgewater in the County of Plymouth, and Mary J. his wife, which said child was born in Watertown, Mass. on the 26th day of February, A.D. 1885; that they have no children of their own, that the said Grace Oliver has lived with them for some time and that they feel a sincere affection for her. They intend to give her a liberal education, and promote her welfare in every way. Wherefore they pray for leave to adopt said child, and that her name may be changed to that of Grace Oliver Ayling, Dated this twentieth day of January A.D. 1900. Signed: Arthur P. Ayling and Cora B. Ayling. The undersigned, being the parents of said child, hereby consent to the adoption as above prayed for. James A. Oliver and Mary J. Oliver. I, the child above named, being above the age of fourteen years, hereby consent to the adoption as above prayed for. Grace Ellen Oliver
What's interesting is that I had someone who works at the NEGHS library search for Grace Oliver's birth record, and it could not be found. Do you suppose the Petition for Adoption made an error in her surname? I do have a copy of that record. Thanks, Carol

HI Carol,

Lillie is correct that the birth of Grace Oliver has the surname as "O'Brien". But I believe the father's middle initial is and A. not H. by comparing the writing of the others on the page.

I found a birth record of James A. Oliver's son; James A. Oliver born at Bridgewater on 19 April 1890, Vol. 404, Page 436 with the mother's name Mary (Sarginson)the same maiden name as the record of birth for Grace Ellen O'Brien.

Susan

I'm getting confused....who is Lillie, whom you mentioned in your first sentence? Did you mean Liz, who answered my last message. Okay, see what you think of this.....how did we switch to Grace Oliver/O'Brien Ayling anyway? I'm happy to have you involved....maybe I'll get this family solved yet.
From the Forest Hills Cemetery Office in Boston, Mass., the following was sent to me:
"Grace is referred to in a letter on file as the daughter of Arthur P. Ayling. In another letter, she is referred to as Miss Grace Ayling. She died on May 19, 1912 at the age of 27 years, one month and seven days. Her residence in our files was listed as Woodlawn, Wheeling County, West Virginia. However, she died in Springfield, Prince George County, Maryland. She was cremated, and originally buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Taunton, Massachusetts. She was subsequently buried here on Sept. 7, 1928. I did find a copy of the death certificate in our records, which provided more information: that her occupation was listed as 'kept house for her father' and her birthplace was Boston, MA. In addition, that her mother's maiden name was listed as Fannie Sproat, of Taunton, MA. I double checked for you, and Fannie Sproat is not buried here at Forest Hills."
Now, to add more spice to the pot.....Arthur P. Ayling first married Fannie Sproat on 22 April 1885, and she died of a gastric ulcer. I'm assuming that Grace was born out of wedlock, and after Fannie died 1 Oct 1892 in Taunton, and Arthur remarried, to Cora, they adopted Grace. Where the Oliver or O'Brien names came from is a real mystery. I've done a lot of research on Grace because Arthur Ayling is my ancestor. I have since published my Ayling Family History.
However, Cora (Stainbrook) Laubie/Ayling/Cartland/Leyson has been my brick wall!!
The 1910 census listed Mattie (Martha Quinn), Arthur Ayling's third wife as a nurse. I wonder if she was treating Arthur's daughter, Grace, in the hospital in Maryland where Grace died in 1912, and Mattie met Arthur. Mattie and Arthur married in Washington, D.C. in 1913, and they lived in Charlottesville, Virginia where he died in 1928. They are also buried in the Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston, Mass. Grace's remains were moved from Taunton to Forest Hills when her father was buried there in 1928.
Enough for now....Carol

Sorry Carol, I wrote Lillie thinking I was replying to Irish719 - that's what I get for being tired. I was just doing look ups at the NEHGS and following the thread of the adopted daughter Grace. Yes, I am off the thread of Lillie L. Stainbrook.

Susan