John F. More's Last Descendant

Kezzie More's "Richmond" ancestor was Cynthia (Richmond) More, daughter of Thomas & Laura (Backus) Richmond and wife of James More.

Did Kezzie (More) Turner have any children? I don't think so. Kezzie was born 5 October 1877 in Lapeer County, Michigan, to John F. & Marian (Gibson) More and was an only child. Her mother died 9 March 1883 in Lapeer County.

A Guardian's Deed was filed on behalf of Kezzie:

Kezziah More, by John More to Ward B. More

Lapeer Co., MI, Deeds

Liber "42" Page# 232
10 June 1886
Probate: 8 January 1886
J.F. More, Guardian

John F. More married 2nd (Eleanor) Lorancy Robbins who raised Kezzie. The Robbins family had pictures of Kezzie and one descendant was kind enough to send them to me. There were no pictures of Kezzie previously in my family's possession.

The John More family moved from Michigan to Georgia and lived in Haralson County, Georgia, in 1900. Also living in Haralson County at that time was her future husband.

John, Lorancy and Kezzie moved to Waycross, Ware Co., Georgia where they were living when the 1910 census was taken. A letter from Kezzie to Aunt Addie (my great-grandmother, Addie (More) Powers) as well as a couple of other family "artifacts" made it plain that the John More family moved to Georgia. By 1920 Kezzie's father and step-mother had died; she was still living in Waycross, Georgia, as a boarder with the Linville family.

Another letter, this one from A.O. Turner of Birmingham, Alabama, to "Aunt Addie" was most puzzling to me for quite some time. He -- and I assumed A.O. was a "he" because the letterhead stated that A.O. Turner sold machinery equipment -- was probably related to the More family because Addie More Powers was addressed as "Aunt." Did another More relative move to the Deep South? He had to be related to Kezzie, but how?

A trip to the Birmingham, Jefferson Co., Alabama, public library allowed me to look through the Birmingham City Directories for an A. Turner. It was at this point that I found that A.O. Turner was Alonzo Turner -- there was a directory entry for him with a wife named Kezzie.

Armed with a first name for Mr. Turner, I found the couple in the 1930 census [previous searches for such a populated area without an exact name at Ancestry.com didn't work for me - and when I first started looking the 1930 census hadn't been released to the public yet]:

1930 AL census, Jefferson Co., Birmingham:
Turner, Alonzo, head, 51, m 49, GA GA GA, commercial traveler
" , Kezzie E., wife, 51, m49, MI MI MI

The 1930 census indicated that Alonzo & Kezzie were age 49 when they were married and were age 51 in 1930. There were no children in the census listed for the couple.

Several years ago my Dad's cousin, M. Ruth (Brown) Callahan told me that she thought Kezzie had died in Mineral Wells, Texas [by 1920 it was known as the "South's greatest health resort"]. After the Texas death records went online, I found Kezzie's death record here; her name was given as Elizabeth (the 1930 census listed her as Kezzie E.) and she died of cancer 27 February 1933 in Mineral Wells, Palo Pinto, Texas. Her home address was listed as 303 N.W. 2nd, Birmingham, Alabama; her husband was A.O. Turner and her father was J.F. More.

Since she had no children as of age 51 and she died at age 54, it is more than likely that Kezzie More Turner, only child of John F. More, was his last and only descendant.