Profiles of the six plaintiffs in the estate of William C. ROARK, listed in the order in which they were named in the legal notices:
Nancy A. ROARK was born Nancy Anthaline SCARBROUGH in the state of Missouri on May 28, 1857. Her parents were James Mayberry and Mary Jane (SMITH) SCARBROUGH. Nancy’s mother, Mary Jane, was William C. SMITH’s oldest sibling, making Nancy his niece.
Nancy and her three siblings (Sarah “Sallie” A., Catherine, and James William) whose parents likely died in Texas in the late 1860’s, were residing in the home of William C. and Lucinda SMITH in Buffalo Township of Newton County, Missouri, when the 1870 census was taken, and she remained in that household until her marriage to Samuel James ROARK on December 10, 1876. She and Sam were married at the home of William and Lucinda.
Sam and Nancy made their home in Buffalo Township of McDonald County, Missouri, which was and is just across the county line from Buffalo Township of Newton County. They lived in fairly close proximity to William and Lucinda SMITH. Sam and Nancy’s first daughter was Lucinda Comfort ROARK (born February 4, 1879), whom they undoubtedly named for the mother figure in Nancy’s life, Lucinda SMITH, and Sam’s mother, Comfort (POE) ROARK.
Sam and Nancy ROARK had eleven children: James W. (1877-1879); Lucinda Comfort (1879-1935, married Fred Glassbrenner WILSON); John Henry (1881-1942, married Phoebe GRUNDEN); Robert Austin (1883-1953, married Sylvia BUZZARD); Samuel Lafayette (1886-1918, married Bertha BAILEY); Nancy Jane (1889-1953, married Daniel Alexander SREAVES); Lily B. (1890-1892); Martha Carol (1893-1978, married Peter Blow NUNN); Claude Smith (1896-1960, never married); Mary Melinda (1898-1964, married Ernest Charles TUCKER); and, Nathan Wilbert (1902-1950, married Virgie ELLIS).
Nancy A. ROARK would have likely been involved in taking care of her uncle, William C. SMITH, during his later years, and especially after his wife, Lucinda, passed away in 1909.
Nancy Anthaline (SCARBROUGH) ROARK passed away at her home in the Hart community of Buffalo Township, McDonald County, Missouri, on July 2, 1935. She is buried at the Swars Prairie Baptist Cemetery in rural Newton County, Missouri, next to her husband, Sam.
Samuel James and Nancy Anthaline (SCARBROUGH) ROARK were my great-grandparents.
Margaret L. SPARLIN was born Margaret Lusinda BURKHART in the state of Missouri on August 30, 1886. She was the daughter of John Elias BURKHART (born 1851) and Mary F. BOYD (February 20, 1863, TX - April 20, 1903). Margaret’s mother, Mary F. (BOYD) BURKHART had been the daughter of David Wilson and Elizabeth M. (SMITH) BOYD - and Elizabeth M. (SMITH) BOYD had been a younger sister to William C. SMITH.
Margaret L. (BURKHART) SPARLIN was William C. SMITH’s grandniece.
Two of Margaret’s brothers, John Wiley BURKHART and Ernest Lee (sometimes known as “Lee” or “Leo”) BURKHART were also plaintiffs in the lawsuit over the estate of William C. SMITH.
Margaret married Grover Jinks SPARLIN on February 14, 1906. Grover passed away on August 31, 1923, and is buried at the Seneca Cemetery in Seneca, Newton County, Missouri.
“Lusinda" BURKHART was listed as a twelve-year-old living with hre birth family on the 1900 census in Seneca, Newton County, Missouri. Other siblings in the family (all BURKHARTs) included: Arly (24), John W. (14), ”Lilie” (10), Mont R. (6), Lola (3), and Ernest L. (1).
By the time of the 1910 census “Lula SPARLIN” was married to “Grover J.” and had their first two children: Victor A. (3) and Mildred A. (2). The family was residing in Peoria, Ottawa County, Oklahoma. The 1920 census found “Grover J.” and “Margaret L.” SPARLIN living in Seneca, Newton County, Missouri, along with five children: Victor A. (13), Mildred A. (11), Wayne D. (5), Gordon C. (2), and Mabel A. (0).
Grover and Margaret SPARLIN had six children: Victor Ardean (1907-1998, married Lois Grace MANCHESTER); Mildred A. (1908-1983, married Hubert Fred GRAVELL): Wayne D. (1914-1988, married Lorene M. WILKES); Gordon C. (1917-1999, married Ruth Leah HOWELL); Mabel Aline (1919-1996, married Mr. PFAHLER); and, Mark Allen (or Allison) (1923-2006, married Nelle San Elma KALLIO).
After Grover died in August of 1923 in Missouri, Margaret relocated to California where she appeared on the 1930 census for Glendora, Los Angeles County, California, as “Margaret L. SPARLIN” and she was residing there with all six of her children.
Margaret was again listed as “Margaret L. SPARLIN” in the 1940 census which found her and two of her children, Gordon (age 22) and Mark A. (16) living in Monrovia, Los Angeles County, California.
Margaret Lusinda (BURKHART) SPARLIN passed away on November 9, 1968, in Wright County, Missouri, and she is buried at the Seneca Cemetery in Seneca, Newton County, Missouri.
K.M. NANCE was born Kerney Melvin NANCE in the state of Missouri on April 18, 1887. He was the son of Margaret “Maggie” BOYD (April 26, 1868 MO-November 20, 1919 Anderson, McDonald County, MO) and an unidentified male whose last name was probably NANCE. Maggie BOYD was unmarried at the time of Kerney’s birth. (Three sources at Ancestry.com list Kerney’s father as Thomas Phillip NANCE, born January 25, 1864 in Sherman, TX, and died Jan 27, 1888, in McDonald County, MO. Thomas was the son of Clement Henry and Catharine Isabelle McRAE NANCE.)
Margaret “Maggie” BOYD was the daughter of David Wilson and Elizabeth M. (SMITH) BOYD, and Elizabeth M., as mentioned in the preceding profile, had been a younger sister to William C. SMITH.
Kerney Melvin NANCE was a grandnephew to William C.SMITH.
Kerney appears to have lived in southwest Missouri his entire life, growing up in McDonald County, and later residing in Joplin, Jasper County. He was married at least five times, and fathered at least six children by his second wife - who was also likely his fourth wife.
Kerney Melvin NANCE married his first wife, Ellie COPE, on November 3, 1906, in Neosho, Newton County, Missouri, when he was nineteen-years-old. He married his second wife, and the mother of his six children, Georgia B. NARAMORE on October 8, 1913, in McDonald County, Missouri. Kerney’s name is listed on that wedding license as “Sonney” NANCE. Georgia B. NARAMORE (1894-1980) was the daughter of John Wesley and Ida Bell (BALL) NARAMORE.
The six children of Kerney Melvin and Georgia B. (NARRAMORE) NANCE were: Carmen Allen (1914-1998, married Carl Raymond CARDEN); Kenneth Donald (1915-2009, married Helen L. DUENSING); Quentin Odell (1920-1979, married Beulah Mae Unknown); Truman Keith (1921-1997, married Aarah Unknown); Glenn Dewey “Dude” (1923-1961, spouse unknown); and, Calvin Coolidge (1927-2017, spouse unknown).
Kerney and Georgia were still together when the census was taken in 1930, living with their six children on North Street in Anderson, McDonald County, Missouri. However, by 1935 Kerney appears to have been living on his own in Joplin Jasper County, Missouri, and working for the WPA. The fact that Kerney NANCE lived until 1962 and Georgia B. (NARRAMORE) NANCE lived until 1980 would indicate that their marriage ended in divorce because Kerney married again in 1938.
Kerney NANCE’s next wife was Jennie SCHOENLEY whom he married in Joplin on March 6, 1938. When the 1940 census was taken he was in a household in Joplin with Jennie and a woman who could have been her mother. That census listed the three household members as Kerney NANCE (age 53), Jennie NANCE (61), and Emma GRIMSLEY (81).
When Kerney NANCE registered for the draft for World War II in 1942, He listed his oldest son, Kenneth Donald NANCE, as his next of kin, and there was no further mention of Jennie being with Kerney in the public record.
Kerney married his next wife, Georgia B. HOWARD, who may or may not have been the same person as his second wife, on September 3, 1952, in Bentonville, Benton County, Arkansas. When his son, Glenn Dewey NANCE, registered for the World War II draft, he listed his next of kin as “J.B. HOWARD.”
Kerney Melvin NANCE passed away on November 27, 1962, in Joplin, Jasper County, Missouri, and the spouse listed on his death certificate was “Bessie P. NANCE,” who would have been at least his fifth wife. Family sources at Ancestry.com list Bessie as “Bessie Pauline ROBISON (1907-1979).
Lee BURKHART was born Ernest Lee (or “Leo”) BURKHART to John Elias and Mary F. (BOYD) BURKHART in Oklahoma Indian Territory on May 22, 1899. His mother, Mary F. (BOYD) BURKHART was the daughter of David Wilson and Elizabeth (SMITH) BOYD - and Elizabeth was a younger sister to William C. SMITH.
Lee BURKHART was a grandnephew to William C. SMITH.
Lee BURKHART first appeared on the US census for Seneca, Newton County, MIssouri, in 1900 as one-year-old “Ernest L. BURKHART,” the youngest of seven children in the household of John E. and Mary F. BURKHART. His mother, Mary, passed away in 1903, and in 1910 he was listed on the census for Seneca, Newton County, Missouri, as ten-year-old “Ernest L. BURKHART” in the home of Alford J. LANE (50) and Sarah S. LANE (51) where he was identified as a nephew. Also in that household was 47-year-old Arlena A. BURKHART who was listed as a sister-in-law to Alford, the head of the household - an indication that Sarah S. LANE might have also been a BURKHART - perhaps a sister to Lee’s father.
Lee BURKHART married Nellie C. EADS in Seneca, Newton County, Missouri, on June 26, 1918. He was listed on the marriage license as “Leo BURKHART.” Later that year he registered for the World War I draft as “Leo Earnest BURKHART.” A little over twenty years later when he registered for the World War II draft, he was still identifying as “Leo Earnest BURKHART," and in the interim he had signed up for Social Security as “Leo BURKHART."
Lee and Nellie had four children: Maxine Elizbeth (1919-1991, married William WALKENSHAW); Wanda Geraldine (1921-2003, married Unknown DeHART); Delpha Louella (1923-2011, married Robert BOOTH); and, Don Kenneth (1925-1965, married Margaret Ethel PLEMONS).
Lee (or "Leo") BURKHART died on October 23, 1972, and he is buried in the Seneca Cemetery in Seneca, Newton County, Missouri.
Pearl SELLERS was born Pearl B. BOYD in Missouri on November 8, 1883. She was the youngest child of David Wilson and Elizabeth M. (SMITH) BOYD. Pearl’s mother, Elizabeth, was a younger sister to William C. SMITH, making Pearl his niece.
Pearl’s mother passed away sometime after Pearl’s birth in 1883 and the time the 1900 census was taken when Pearl’s father, David Wilson BOYD, was listed as a widower. At the time of the 1900 US census, Pearl was sixteen-years-old and living in the household of her older sister Margaret “Maggie” (BOYD) MADDEN and Maggie’s husband, John P MADDEN. The only other minor in that household was Maggie’s thirteen-year-old son, Kerney NANCE.
Pearl married Martin Lafayette SELLERS on April 7, 1901, in Pineville, McDonald County, Missouri. She and Martin were living in Anderson, McDonald County, Missouri, and had two sons at the time of the 1910 census: Paul SELLERS (1905-1981, married Genevieve TEMPLE) and Gordon Boyd SELLERS (1908-1970, married Helen Ixniise VIRGIN).
When the 1920 census was taken, Martin and Pearl (BOYD) SELLERS and their two sons were living in a boarding house in St. Louis, Missouri. The 1930 census found the family, except for Paul, residing in Los Angeles, California. (Paul was also living in Los Angeles at the time, but he had married and established his own home.) Martin SELLERS passed away on November 24, 1939, in Los Angeles. Pearl was living on her own in Los Angeles when the census taker arrived in 1940.
Pearl B. (BOYD) SELLERS passed away in Los Angeles, California, on July 3, 1972.
John W. BURKHART was born John Wiley BURKHART around 1885 in Missouri to John Elias and Mary F. (BOYD) BURKHART. His mother, Mary, was the daughter of David Wilson and Elizabeth (SMITH) BOYD - and Elizabeth was a younger sister to William C. SMITH.
John W. BURKHART was a grandnephew to William C. SMITH.
John W. BURKHART was living with his birth family in 1900 when the census was taken. He was listed on that census as being fourteen-years-old. Also in the home besides his father (John E. BURKHART, 49) and his mother (Mary F., 37), were an older brother, Arly (24 - likely John E.’s son by an earlier marriage), and younger siblings Lusinda (12 - who became plaintiff Margaret L. SPARLIN), “Lilie” (10), Mont R. (6), Lola (3), and Ernest L. (1 - who became plaintiff Lee BURKHART).
John W. BURKHART married Roberta Bertha ROARK, the daughter of Joseph A. and Siotha Tennessee (WOOD) ROARK on February 12, 1906, in Newton County, Missouri. Roberta was also known as Rue, Berthe, and primarily as “Bertha” throughout her lifetime.
John and Bertha BURKHART had three children, three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Their children included Junior Ray BURKHART (1908-1999, married 1. Ruth R. HICKMAN, and 2. Jessie Lavona COCKERHAM); Joseph Glen BURKHART (1910-1981, never married); and, Edna Pearl BURKHART (1913-1983, married 1. Albert Leroy STELTS, and 2. Earl BOTTS).
John and Bertha BURKHART were living in Buffalo Township of Newton County, Missouri when the 1910 census was taken. He was listed at twenty-five and she was twenty-one. Also in the house was their son, Junior “B.,” and John’s younger siblings Lola M. (13) and Claud O. (8). (John’s mother had died in 1903, and the kids were placed with different families.)
John and Bertha were still in Buffalo Township of Newton County, Missouri, ten years later when the 1920 census was taken. By then John’s two younger siblings were no longer in the household, but he and Bertha’s three children were: Junior (11), Glen (9), and Edna (6).
The 1930 census found the entire family living in Flint, Genesee County, Michigan, where John was a machine operator in the automobile industry. That census listed him as forty-five, Bertha as 42, and Junior R. (22), Joseph G. (20), and Edna P. (17).
John Wiley BURKHART disappeared from the public record after the census of 1930. By 1940 Bertha was living with her daughter, Edna Pearl STELTS (26), and Edna’s husband Albert L STELTS (28), and their daughter, Pattie Rose STELTS (2) in Buffalo Township of Newton County, Missouri - and John W. was not in the household. Also, it appears that John Wiley BURKHART never registered for Social Security when it became a government program in 1935.
Bertha BURKHART passed away at the home of her daughter, Edna, in Anderson, Madison County, Indiana, in November of 1973. Her obituary described her as the widow of John W. BURKHART and said that she had lived with her daughter for twenty years.
(Next I will begin posting profiles of the forty-seven defendants in the court lawsuit over the estate of William C. SMITH, revealing ever more descendants of the SMITH siblings who were living in the South District of Smith County, Tennessee, in 1850..)
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