Hi my name is Krista Massengale. I am not a Portell nor do I think I am directly related to the Portells. I am also a decendent of Lytle Partney he was my Great-Great-Grandfather. My Great-Grandfather was John Masson son of Lytle & Ethel Masson. My Grandfather is Robert Masson son of John & Ellen Masson. My Mother is Jackie Masson Daughter of Robert & Loretta Masson. You are right that Lytle was the son of John & Margaret Masson. John was older when Lytle was born. Also this John Partney Masson served in the Cival War & is buried in Richwoods on Private Property that is now owned by a company. you cannot access the graves anymore without contacting the company. I have been out there one time & we walked for hours trying to find the grave & could not. My Mom's cousin Billy knows where the grave is & has been to it several times. He has sent me pictures of the grave & headstone. I have done quite a bit of research on the Partney-Masson. However it has been a few years since Ive really done anything with it as life has gotten so busy. I will try to answer any questions that you have & hopefully between me & my mom we can go back through some of the info we have & pass on to you.
It has never been fully understood how the whole Partney-Masson names came about to go back & forth. I know that all of the Children of Lytle & Ethel started school under the Partney name, but all of them were married under the Masson name with the exception of Harvey, he mainly went by the Partney name. Some of his children went by the Partney name but some of them went by Masson. Other than him all of the children & their children eventually took & stayed with the Masson name.
You are more than welcome to contact us & we will try & provide you with what we know. It does all get very confusing. There are quite a few partneys & Massons in the Desota area Jefferson County that would have been cousins to Lytle Partney. I believe cousins, some would have been his siblings children & so forward. They are not direct desencdents of Lytle & Ethel. Who exactly is your Mom. My mom remembers all of her Aunts & Great Aunts & Uncles etc... She was raised in Minearl Point & then later Leadwood, which ofcourse is right there. She has been in close contact with all of that side of her family most of her life. So hopefully we can help you out.
Thanks & Look forward to hearing from you, Krista
krismass14@att.net or jackie2512@att.net