I have found a letter that connects Wise Cundiff lived in Boone Co. Mo in 1962 with my Cundiffs. I do not know where he belongs in my family tree. Who were his parents.
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Wise is my great-grandfather's brother, known to my dad as "Uncle Wise", full name John Wise Cundiff (*maybe* John Wiseman Cundiff). Oddly enough my great-grandfather's name is John William Cundiff, so there were two brothers both named John. My dad can remember visiting Wise on his farm in MO.
Unfortunately I've also reached a dead-end at John William and Wise's parents. I can tell you however that John William was born in Richmond, Virginia in April 1874 and died in Blair, Nebraska in March 1964. Recent contact with a cousin...a grandaughter of my grandfather Arthur Leslie Cundiff's sister Eda Lee (Harpst)...has informed me that Eda Lee used to insist that this line of the family originally came from Scotland, not England.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me, I have a little more info but it might be easier if you have specific questions.
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It was John William Cundiff's wife/Ettalee's mother Eunice Chandler that had the Scottish lineage. Her mother Catharine E. Craig's Scottish roots run deep and are well documented via family trees.
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Can you confirm that your great-grandfather's brother John William Cundiff's second wife was Olive Belle Meeker?
Olive was a granddaughter of Jemima Branson, of the Branson family I'm researching.
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The familysearch.org website has the record of John William Cundiff and Olive Belle Meeker's marriage, although I'm not sure 1908 is the correct year...it's not 100% clear what year John Cundiff's first wife Eunice died, I have evidence it was 1910. It lists Olive's parents as Benjamin Franklin Meeker and Mary Ellen Gray.
The 1920 Census also has John living with wife Olive, and two children, Chloe and Jesse. For reasons unknown, perhaps as a result of his parents' divorce, Jesse became David Virgil Weaver, you can find his record at the familysearch.org site (Jess aka David Virgil Weaver Cundiff), and his death certificate under David Virgil Weaver at the Missouri Digital Heritage website.
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"Wise" Cundiff was born George Wiseman Cundiff to George Thomas Cundiff and Matilda Ann Virginia Cundiff (maiden name Hutts) in Bachelor, Callaway, MO on 29 Nov 1883. He was the seventh of eight children, five of whom were born in Union Hall, Franklin County, VA before the family headed west. Wise lived most of his life in Boone County, MO as a dairy farmer. He died on 27 Mar 1970 in Columbia, Boone, MO. He married Minnie Bell Chandler in Englewood, Boone, Missouri on 30 Sep 1903. They had four daughters: Georgia B. (1904-?), Martha Pearl (1905-2001), Ola May (1907-1913), Trellis A. (1910-2007).
Children of George Thomas and Matilda Ann Cundiff: Mollie (1868 VA-1933 MO) Fannie (Frances)(1872 VA - ? MO) John William (1873 VA-1964 NE) Lula (1876 VA - ? MO) Mattie Jane (1879 VA-1956 MO) Myrtle (1881 MO- ? MO) George Wiseman (1883 MO-1970 MO) James Henry (1890 MO-1941 MO)
Cundiff men pedigree for Wise Cundiff: James b. 1611, England Richard b. 1638, England Richard b. 1669, Virginia Richard b. 1712, Virginia Elijah b. 1759, Virginia Isham b. 1779, Virginia Wilson b. 1803, Virginia George Thomas b. 1848 Virginia George Wiseman b. 1883 Missouri
I have photos of this family going back to George Thomas Cundiff, with many of Wise and his brother John William and several of their sisters. I also have documents all the way back to Richard Cundiff the immigrant. If anyone would be interested feel free to get in touch, or leave a reply here with contact info.
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Thanks. I'll continue this soon in email, but others might find this exchange useful so I'm keeping it here on the message board for a bit longer.
Wow. Thanks for the direct info. Without the tip, it would have been very difficult to figure out that Jesse D. Cundiff changed his name so radically.
Olive Belle Meeker technically was not Mary Ellen Gray's daughter, but a stepdaughter, but I can see why Mary's name would turn up as the mother, given that she helped raise Olive from the time she was two or three years old.
Jemima Branson was a daughter of Valentine Branson and Sarah Smith, a couple who finished their lives in Allen Township, Worth County, MO. (It was Gentry County when they first arrived.)
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Do you know if in fact Olive Meeker and John William Cundiff divorced? If so, do you know what happened to her? I don't have the name of any later spouse for her, and have not so far been able to find her in the 1930 census. I assumed John remarried because she had died, though I have no evidence of that.
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Hello dear cousins: My mothers maiden name was Cundiff. I started this thread a couple of years ago, by asking who was Wise Cundiff as I found a letter from an ancestors that stated they had visited with Wise Cundiff the week before. I was curious as to who Wise Cundiff was. I have pictures of William Henry Cundiff born in 1859 died 1943. It was good to see the ancestry of Wise Cundiff. I do not have much information on Wilson Cundiff, could someone tell me more about this man. Thanks alot for the information about our wonderful line of Cundiff's
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