Lurdenia Lee (Hall) McDougal (1853 - 1933)

Born 24 Feb 1853 in Marion, Virginia

Ancestors

Wife of Simon Elliot McDougal — married 2 Mar 1871 (to 1878) in West Virginia, United States

Descendants

Died 4 Jun 1933 at age 80 in Arlington, Snohomish, Washington, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Margaret Summitt [send private message]

Biography

Daughter of Silas (Syleus) Hall and Lucinda M. Hawkins.

Wife of Simon McDougal (to about 1878).

Mother of John Walter McDougal and Laura Bird McDougal Marsh.

Simon McDougal was a carpenter and millwright. He built many of the houses in the Heizer Creek section of Putnam County, W. Va. In the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C., there is supposed to be on display a pair of forceps he made with an old horseshoe, forge, hammer and file. But one day when Lora Bird was about two years old, Simon told his wife Ardenia that he was going out to look for work. He never came back. After a while, Ardenia learned that he had committed bigamy, marrying 19-year-old Lucinda Bailey, by whom he was to have seven more children. Ardenia filed for divorce on the grounds of abandonment. In her unpublished autobiography, Lora (McDougal) Marsh expressed regret that her father never made an effort to see her or her brother after he left--but perhaps he was too embarrassed or the Hall family prevented it, unbeknownst to her. She had many half brothers and sisters she never met.

Among SImon's descendants by his second wife, the story got around that Ardenia had died, 26 Nov 1878, in Putnam County. This was five days after Simon's marriage to Lucinda. This bogus death date has been posted by different people to genealogy sites on the internet, and I must confess that I too was fooled, until I noted the problem and did some checking. Sure enough, Ardenia is listed with her two children in the 1880 Census for Ritchie County with her parents and four brothers. Moreover, a biography of her father in a 1910 History of Ritchie County states that Ardenia was then living in Pullman, W. Va. Hearing from one of Simon's descendants that Ardenia died in Arlington, I checked Weller's Funeral Home book (in the Stillaguamish Valley Genealogy Society Library), which gives her death date as 24 Jan 1933, and the Arlington Cemetery's sexton records show she was buried 27 Jan 1933. Ardenia died of heart failure. There was no obituary in the Arlington Times.^[1]

Census Records

1880 Census: Syelus Hall age 51 b WV; Lucinda Hall wife age 54 b WV; Wilbert Hall son age 20 b WV; Ishmael S Hall son age 18 b WV; Stewart L. Hall son age 16 b WV; Elza C Hall son age 13 b WV; Ardenia McDougal daughter age 27 b WV; Walter McDougal grandson age 7 b WV; Lora McDougal granddaughter age 4 b WV. ^[2]

In the 1900 Census M. C. McDougal was boarding with the C. L. Marsh family in Arlington, Snohomish Co., WA. 1900 Census, Arlington, Snohomish, WA. Series: T623 Roll: 1750 Page: 20 SD 285, ED 208 sheet 5 line 1, dwelling 97, family 106, 9 June 1900

• Marsh, C.L. Head W M Mar 1872 28 married 6 yrs b WV as were parents Printer
• Marsh, L. B. Wife W F Apr 1876 24 married 6 yrs mother of 4, 2 now living b. WV as were parents Printer
• Marsh, C. A. Daughter W F Apr 1895 5 single b. WA, parents b. WV
• Marsh, J. P. Son W M Mar 1899 1 single b. WA, parents b. WV
• McDougal, M. C. Mother in Law W F July 1853 47 Wd mother of 2, 2 now living b. WV, as were parents Nurse
• McDougal, J. W. Boarder W M Aug 1872 27 single b. WV, as were parents

^[3]

1910 Census: Syelus Hall age 81 b WV; Ardena McDougal dau age 57 divorced b WV. ^[4]

1920 Census: Jettie McDougal head age 35 b WV; Rufus McDougal age 12 b WV; Darrell McDougal son age 7 b WV; Dorothy M McDougal dau age 2 b WV; Ardena McDougal mother in law age 66 b WV. ^[5]

1930 Census: Calvin L Marsh head age 57 b WV; Lora B Marsh wife age 53 b WV; Frank H Marsh son age 18 b WA; Violet S Marsh dau age 16 b WA; Ardena R McDougal mother in law age 77 b WV. ^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ "Calvin Marsh, Founder of the Arlington Times," by Margaret Robe Summitt, "The Sounder," research journal of the Sno-Isle Genealogical Society, vol. 17 no 1 pages 44-45.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6TW-DGH : 15 July 2017), Ardenia Mc Dougal in household of Syelus Hall, Clay, Ritchie, West Virginia, United States; citing enumeration district ED 150, sheet 368C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1413; FHL microfilm 1,255,413.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMPR-9V6 : accessed 5 February 2019), M C Mcdougal in household of C T Marsh, Arlington, Mountain, and Trafton Precincts, Snohomish, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 208, sheet 5A, family 106, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,750.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPFR-ZPZ : accessed 5 February 2019), Ardena Mcdougal in household of Syelus Hall, Pullman, Ritchie, West Virginia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 78, sheet 3A, family 43, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1693; FHL microfilm 1,375,706.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN2C-DD7 : accessed 5 February 2019), Ardena Mcdougal in household of Jettie M Mcdougal, Union, Ritchie, West Virginia, United States; citing ED 129, sheet 2A, line 5, family 30, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1971; FHL microfilm 1,821,971.
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCQH-J1S : accessed 5 February 2019), Ardena R Mcdougel in household of Calvin L Marsh, Arlington, Snohomish, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 3, sheet 7B, line 68, family 177, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2519; FHL microfilm 2,342,253.

"Washington Death Certificates, 1907-1960," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N35F-TWR : 10 March 2018), Ardena Lee Mcdougal, 24 Jan 1933; citing Arlington, Snohomish, Washington, reference 33, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Olympia; FHL microfilm 2,023,064.

"Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVL7-ZZN8 : 13 December 2015), Ardena Lee McDougal, ; Burial, Arlington, Snohomish, Washington, United States of America, Arlington Municipal Cemetery; citing record ID 85680564, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/85680564