Lottie Lewis & Allen Hodson

Lottie Lewis was one of Birda's half-sisters.

She married Allen K Hodson* (of Ashley Precinct, UT) on 28 Dec 1898 in Ashley(Vernal?), UT

Thus, she became Lottie Lewis Hodson.

*The name is also commonly found spelled as "Hodgson".

Allen Hodson and Lottie Lewis
Photoshopped together by me
Found in the personal albums of Dallas Workman

 Marriage License:

SOURCE: familysearch.org
Film # 0481100

 Newspaper notice:

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1899, Jan 5, p.1

Newspaper notice transcribed:
"One of Millward's young lords carried off one of our young ladies starting last Wednesday on the voyage of life.  The benedict is Heber Carrol and the blushing bride, Miss Lottie Lewis.  We wish them a pleasant journey."

Newspaper correction: 

SOURCE: Vernal Express 1899, Jan 12, p.2

Newspaper correction transcribed:

"Ever since the Express came from press last week Heber Carroll has been endeavoring to coax his wife home, but as Al Hodson had the license and not Carroll, as reported by our Fourth ward correspondent, Heber found his task a hopeless one and concluded to console himself by spending the winter in the Uintah Stake Academy."

1900 Census:

SOURCE: familysearch.org

I include the 1900 census here as it gives interesting clues just a year or two after their marriage.  If the census was taken door-to-door, this implies that on one side of their newlywed nest was Lottie's married half-sister, Annie Carroll, and on the other side was the rest of the Carroll clan, namely Edmund and Ester Carroll- WHO ALSO happened to be the witnesses present who signed on Lottie and Allen's marriage license... interesting little tidbit, yes?

Allen unfortunately died just a few years later in 1904, so it's a miracle to have the little bits of information we do about their nuptials and where they lived during this early timeframe.

Asher's seldom-mentioned siblings

Asher's parents, Nelson Merkley Jr and Keturah Peterson Merkley, were the parents to a total of nine children, only six of whom lived to adulthood.  Family records indicate names and dates of these additional children who did not live much more than a week, but other than family recollection there are not many legal records acknowledging their existence.

The following are the names and dates as recorded in a family group sheet done by their surviving sibling, Mary Elizabeth Merkley Sanders, a copy of which was found in the personal albums of Doug Merkley (and scanned therefrom):

Milton Merkley (male)

BIRTH: 30 Apr 1893- Vernal, Uintah, Utah

DEATH: 9 May 1893- ASSUMED Vernal, Uintah, Utah

Sarah Merkley (female)

BIRTH: 30 Apr 1894- Vernal, Uintah, Utah

DEATH: 30 Apr 1894- ASSUMED Vernal, Uintah, Utah

Kate Merkley (female)

BIRTH: 27 Nov 1906- Vernal, Uintah, Utah

DEATH: 27 Nov 1906- ASSUMED Vernal, Uintah, Utah

BUT, there are some questions here.

This family record also shows Milton and Sarah as being born on the SAME EXACT DAY one year apart.  The odds of that are highly unlikely, so are they ballpark dates?  Typos?  Death certificates weren't too common in Utah until around 1904, so this leaves us with a bit of a mystery...

An additional family record found in the personal albums of Sarah Nielsen (a descendant of Helen Merkley Colton- another surviving sibling of those in question) had these dates recorded in a written history on the life of Keturah P Merkley:

"... After Helen, born to them was Milton, 30 Apr 1893.  He died on 9 May 1893, two weeks later.  The next year, 20 April 1894, was born Sarah.  She died 30 Apr 1894, ten days later... Kate was born 29 Nov 1907 and died 27 Nov 1909..."

See how the dates from both records don't quite match?  Some coincide, others seem a bit off.  Typos would be my guess, but it's enough to throw research off if you're drawing from only ONE source, instead of multiples to cross reference everything.

The only information we have for sure for any of these children is found in the following death certificate of "Stillborn Merkley", which corresponds close enough with the information provided for Kate Merkley.

"Stillborn Merkley" i.e. Kate Merkley death certificate:

SOURCE: familysearch.org

In a most helpful manner, it indicates that the following is the most legitimate information for Kate is as follows:

 Kate Merkley

BIRTH: 27 Nov 1907- Vernal, Uintah, Utah

DEATH: 27 Nov, 1907- Vernal, Uintah, Utah

Another helpful clue in at least acknowledging the existence of Milton and Sarah can be found in the 1900 U.S. Census that lists Nelson and Keturah's family in the Vernal area.  Upon close inspection, questionnaire column #11 indicates the number of the mother's children as "7" and in column #12 the number of children living is indicated as "5".  Thus before 1900, two additional children were present but did not live very long.  They're not indicated by NAME, but it's close enough to me to make an educated conclusion that these represent Milton and Sarah.

1900 Census:

SOURCE: familysearch.org

And following up with that, we have the 1910 U.S. census that follows the same pattern.  Column #10 indicates that the number of children born was 9, and Column #11 indicates that the number now living is 6.  They are all thus accounted for, at least in number.

1910 Census:

SOURCE: familysearch.org