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Question:He ran off with another woman in a time when that was definitely not a good thing, so he was stricken from the record and nothing is known about him.

Here's what I know. He had at least two sons. The first's name is unknown. The second was Delbert Lee Morse, born about a year after the older boy, in a homestead in central Kansas. They divorced a few months after the birth of Delbert.

The weasel's wife was from Illinois, though I don't know for certain if she was born there. They may have met in Illinois, Iowa or Kansas.

Son Delbert married a girl who was born in 1880, so likely Delbert was born sometime around that time or before then.

I've been searching many possibilities on Heritage Quest and haven't come up with anything.

Any suggestions?


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: He ran off with another woman in a time when that was definitely not a good thing, so he was stricken from the record and nothing is known about him.

Here's what I know. He had at least two sons. The first's name is unknown. The second was Delbert Lee Morse, born about a year after the older boy, in a homestead in central Kansas. They divorced a few months after the birth of Delbert.

The weasel's wife was from Illinois, though I don't know for certain if she was born there. They may have met in Illinois, Iowa or Kansas.

Son Delbert married a girl who was born in 1880, so likely Delbert was born sometime around that time or before then.

I've been searching many possibilities on Heritage Quest and haven't come up with anything.

Any suggestions?

Is it possible that Delbert's wife's name was Lelie (or something similar...bad handwriting)? Is it also possible that he died in California on Jan 5, 1962? If that's him, his mother's maiden name was Bowder and he was born on 25 Aug 1878. I'd suggest contacting Orange Co, California and getting a copy of his death certificate. Someone had all the information to complete the document. So Grandpa Weasel is probably listed because Grandma Weasel is there.

A little more searching and I found:
Lee Morse and
Mary E Bowder
Born: 1851 in Bloom, Cook, Illinois, USA
Died: 1883, Oregon
Married: 25 Apr 1876

Sons: Raymond and Delbert Lee Morse.

Any chance this is them? If so, we can check the Illinois Marriage Index through the Illinois Secretary of State's office online to see if there's a marriage license filed on them in Illinois.

I suspect that the solution is in the basics, especially "what is your documentation?" Here is what I mean.. I tried finding your Delbert in a later census record (1910, 1920). There are several men with this name, and off the bat, they don't match.
Your comment is "his wife was born in 1880" which suggests that he was older.. but that is not a known fact. He could be younger, which, out the door, prevents me from finding him with his parents in 1880. Since you didn't provide the name of this wife.. I can't use her as a search key, again..to find him in a census record.
Other later records would include his death certificate.. which may or may not have answers. For example.. it may include the exact location of his birth. With that.. the logical step is to search records there, for both parents, as well as divorce documents. Like many people, we don't like spending money for records, if we can find it for free. The downside? That record MAY have the solutions. The shortcuts may not work.
You can edit your question, if you do have some of these details. If you don't, then I strongly encourage you to 'back up' and locate any possible documentation, since it is frequently the hammer that breaks that brick wall.
by the way, welcome to yahoo answers, and hope you find some friends here.
edit- can you list who those children were, and where born? that will (again) place him where we know to look.

No matter how much your family didn't like him, they could not get his name removed from census records!

I would suggest you start with his sons. Look on census records.