I don't think this is correct info for Krista. (I can tell by Krista's screen name that her last name is Portell. I might be one of Krista's second or third cousin? My mom has a cousins named Portell.) I've been trying to untangle our family tree, too. It's a nightmare, but I might have finally figured it out.

Here's my theory: We're descended from John Partney dit Masson and his wife Margaret Politte. This other John Partney was the superintendent of the Jefferson County Poor Farm in the 1900 census.

When the family has tried to trace this tree, using Lytle Partney dit Masson as the common ancestor, it's led to confusion and roadblocks because nearly all of the early census records are wrong. Lytle Partney was the YOUNGER BROTHER of John W Partney. The census taker erroneously listed Lytle as the son of John W Masson and Etheline "Lynn" Lawson. (John W and Lynn were Lytle's brother and sister-in-law--not his father and mother.) Apparently, Lytle was being raised by his older brother, who was almost 25 years older than him. I have looked up the death certificates for both John W and Lytle on the MO Secretary of State's website. Their parents were John Partney and Margaret Politte. The cemetery records on MOGENWEB also confirm this.

The family tree also is crazy because they keep switching names, using either Partney or Masson interchangeably. For example, when Lytle married Ethel Jane Hansell he used the name Partney. In the early censuses he also switches names back and forth. It wasn't until after the 1930 census that the family name became fixed as Masson.

I'd appreciate it if Krista would contact me. Maybe we could collaborate and solve this mystery once and for all.