Jeanette P. Kessinger1,2,3

Family Chart
ID# 9030, (1875 - 1943)
MotherCatherine Christinna Kessinger4,5,6 (28 Nov 1858 - 1902)

Key Events:

Birth: 26 Jul 1875, Pearl, Illinois7,8,9
Marriage: Mr. Brown 2,10,11
Marriage: 7 Sep 1901, Lawton, Comanche Co., Oklahoma Territory, Robert Cobb Jr. (6 Jun 1866 - 9 Apr 1913)12,13
Marriage: 20 Nov 1909, Pittsfield, Pike Co., Illinois, William Addie Waggoner (7 Apr 1861 - 13 Dec 1926)14,15
Divorce: 1910, Pike Co., William Addie Waggoner (7 Apr 1861 - 13 Dec 1926)16,17,18
Marriage: Mr. Hutchens 19,20
Death: 14 Nov 1943, Kampsville, Calhoun Co., Illinois21
Burial: 17 Nov 1943, Hess (Old Pearl) Cemetery, Pearl Twp., Pike Co., Illinois22,23

Copyright Notice

Narrative:

     Jeanette P. Kessinger was born on 26 Jul 1875 in Pearl, Illinois.7,8,9
     She seems to have generally used the shortened version of given name Nettie, even in legal documents, for most of her life.2,24,25 In her later years she seems to have used the name Janet.26,27
     She appeared with her mother on the 1880 Federal Census of Pearl Twp., Pike Co., Illinois, in the household of Ransom A. Kessinger and Sarah J. Peacock, her mother's parents.28
     Nettie may have married Mr. Brown, father of her daughter Verna, before she married Robert Cobb, but the record is conflicting. In her application for her marriage to Cobb she used the surname Brown, but the honorific Miss, while in the application for her marriage to Waggoner she said her maiden surname was Brown, and that this would be her third marriage.2,10,11
     Nettie moved to Indian Territory by 1901 when her daughter was born. How or why ended up there is unknown.
     Nettie married next Robert Cobb Jr., son of Maj. Robert H. Cobb and Sarah Virginia Walker, on 7 Sep 1901 in Lawton, Comanche Co., Oklahoma Territory, with probate judge Warren H. Brown officiating.12,13
     After their marriage Nettie and Robert moved over 200 miles northeast to Claremore, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory. While living there, "on or about" 27 Oct 1906, Nettie left Robert, according to his divorce filing.29 She returned to Pike Co., Illinois, with her young daughter.
     She was named an heir in the will of Ransom A. Kessinger, her grandfather, dated 29 May 1907, in which she was left $100.30
     Nettie married next William Addie Waggoner, son of Jesse M. Waggoner and Harriet Adeline Foster and widower of her mother's older sister, on 20 Nov 1909 in Pittsfield, Pike Co., Illinois, with S. P. Rupert, Justice of the Peace, officiating.14,15
     Nettie and William appeared on the 1910 Federal Census of Pearl Twp., Pike Co., Illinois, enumerated 15 Apr 1910, reporting they rented their farm. His children by his prior marriage, Obird and Ocie, and her daughter by her prior marriage, Verna, were listed as living with them.31
     Nettie and William's marriage was apparently dissolved in 1910, as he remarried in Jan 1911. No record of a divorce is found in Pike Co., so either they divorced elsewhere, or perhaps their marriage was declared invalid since her prior marriage had apparently never been dissolved. She then took back the surname Cobb.16,17,18
     Robert filed for divorce from Jeanette on 27 Mar 1911 before the Wichita Co., Texas, district court, stating that he believed she was living in Pike Co. or Calhoun Co., Illinois, or St. Louis Co., Missouri. Unknown to him, she had already remarried.32,33 The case was called on 5 Dec 1911 but no order was passed.34 The case was again on the court's docket the following December, but was apparently not finalized then either, as the case was dismissed 3 Jun 1913 because of Robert's death.35,36
     Jeanette was listed as living in East St. Louis, Illinois, when her grandfather's estate was probated 11 Nov 1912.37 She received the $100 left to her by her grandfather 1 Jun 1914.38
     Nettie apparently married next a Mr. Hutchens. No record of the marriage, nor of him, has been found. In 1930 she was shown with surname Hutchens, as widowed, and she continued to use that surname thereafter.19,20
     Neither Nettie nor her daughter has been found in 1920. By 1930 both were living in Los Angeles, though not particularity close to each other. Nettie, now using the name Janet, appeared on the 1930 Federal Census of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California, at 125 S. Manhattan Place, enumerated 11 Apr 1930, in the household of Mabel Hayes, a vocal teacher, listed as a maid.39
     She returned to Illinois before 1935. She appeared on the 1940 Federal Census of Carlin, Calhoun Co., Illinois, enumerated 12 Apr 1940, in the household of Henry L. Webb, listed as his cousin. They reported they had lived in the same house in 1935.40
     Jeanette died on 14 Nov 1943 in Kampsville, Calhoun Co., Illinois, at age 68.21 She was buried on 17 Nov 1943 in Hess (Old Pearl) Cemetery, Pearl Twp., Pike Co., Illinois, sharing a headstone with her mother.22,23
     
Research Note, 24 Jan 2011:
The identity of Jeanette's father is unknown. The return for her third marriage shows Franklin Locke, her mother's first husband as her father. But he and her mother were not married until five years after Jeanette's birth. She is shown in the 1880 census with her mother's surname, Kessinger. It appears she was illegitimate, with no record found of actual father.41,42,28

Children:
     Child with Mr. Brown:

  • Verna Yuma Brown43 (10 May 1901 - 29 May 1981)

Children:
     Children with Robert Cobb Jr.:

Robert said in his divorce filing that there was no issue from his marriage to Nettie. But in the 1910 census she reported having had four children, with one living. That would appear to be Verna, who was living with her. Were the others by other fathers, or had she and Robert had children who had not survived?44,45

Children:
     There were no children with William Addie Waggoner

Children:
     There were no children with Mr. Hutchens

Citations

  1. [S3137] Ransom Kessinger household, 1880 U.S. Census, Pike Co., Illinois, shows name as Jeanette Kessinger.
  2. [S3171] Robert Cobb Jr. and Nettie P. Brown, Marriage Record, shows her name as Miss Nettie Brown.
  3. [S3148] William Waggoner and Jeanette Cobb, Marriage License, shows name as Mrs. Jeanette Cobb, maiden name Jeanette Brown, and father's surname as Locke.
  4. [S3137] Ransom Kessinger household, 1880 U.S. Census, Pike Co., Illinois, shows Christina as his daughter (single) and Jeanette as his granddaughter.
  5. [S3148] William Waggoner and Jeanette Cobb, Marriage License, application.
  6. [S3236] Kessinger, probate papers, 1914, Pike County Clerk/Recorder, will, article Ninth.
  7. [S3171] Robert Cobb Jr. and Nettie P. Brown, Marriage Record, shows age 34 at marriage 7 Sep 1901, town, as Pearl, and state.
  8. [S8647] Mrs. Nettie Hutchens, Coroner's Certificate of Death, shows date, town, as Belleview, and state.
  9. [S3116] Comanche County OKGenWeb Page, online, "1901 Comanche County Groom Index," shows age 24 when married 7 Sep 1901, town, as Pearl, and state.
  10. [S3148] William Waggoner and Jeanette Cobb, Marriage License, shows "maiden name, if a widow" as Jeanette Brown (apparently actually her name before her prior marriage), and that this was her third marriage.
  11. [S3120] William A. Waggoner household, 1910 U.S. Census, Pike Co., Illinois, shows Nettie as in her second marriage, and Verna as his stepdaughter, with surname Brown.
  12. [S3171] Robert Cobb Jr. and Nettie P. Brown, Marriage Record, shows date, town, county, territory and officiant.
  13. [S3119] Cobb v. Cobb, Wichita District Court, District Clerk, petition, shows they were married "on or about " 11 Sep 1901, county, and state, as Oklahoma, but Oklahoma did not become state until 1907.
  14. [S3148] William Waggoner and Jeanette Cobb, Marriage License, shows date, town, county, state, officiant, and that this was his second and her third marriage.
  15. [S3120] William A. Waggoner household, 1910 U.S. Census, Pike Co., Illinois, shows married one year, and second marriage for each; she seems to have been ignoring her marriage to Robert Cobb, and acknowledging only her first marriage, to Brown.
  16. [S3130] William E. Wagner and Mary E. Kessinger, marriage license, shows he remarried 18 Jan 1911.
  17. [S3182] Interview, Becky of Pike Co. Illinois Circuit Clerk's office, 10 Mar 2011, stated that she checked the record for 10 years before and after 1910 and found no record for Waggoner.
  18. [S3236] Kessinger, probate papers, 1914, Pike County Clerk/Recorder, Petition for Probate, dated 11 Nov 1912, shows her name as Nattie Cobb.
  19. [S3462] "Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947," FamilySearch.org, record for Nettie Hutchens, citing FHL #1983539 and ref no. DTH 46314.
  20. [S8643] Mabel Hayes household, 1930 U.S. Census, Los Angeles Co., California, shows with surname Hutchens, and widowed.
  21. [S8647] Mrs. Nettie Hutchens, Coroner's Certificate of Death.
  22. [S8647] Mrs. Nettie Hutchens, Coroner's Certificate of Death, shows date, cemetery, town, county, and state.
  23. [S3127] Genealogy Trails, online, Illinois, Pike Co., "Hess (Old Pearl) Cemetery." shows name with no dates. In email "Re: Your submission on Hess Cemetery on Genealogy Trails" 10 Mar 2011, the contributor, Rosemary Reeves states the record is from Pike Co. Historical Society cemetery books printed in 1976, which reads "Cobb, Nettie (d. Kate Kessinger) No Date."
  24. [S3120] William A. Waggoner household, 1910 U.S. Census, Pike Co., Illinois, shows name as Nettie P. Waggoner.
  25. [S3119] Cobb v. Cobb, Wichita District Court, District Clerk, petition, shows name prior to marriage as Nettie P. Brown.
  26. [S8643] Mabel Hayes household, 1930 U.S. Census, Los Angeles Co., California, shows name as Janet Hutchens.
  27. [S8644] Henry L. Webb household, 1940 U.S. Census, Calhoun Co., Illinois, shows name as Janet Hutchens.
  28. [S3137] Ransom Kessinger household, 1880 U.S. Census, Pike Co., Illinois.
  29. [S3119] Cobb v. Cobb, Wichita District Court, District Clerk, petition, shows they were living there when she left him, and date.
  30. [S3236] Kessinger, probate papers, 1914, Pike County Clerk/Recorder, will dated 29 May 1907.
  31. [S3120] William A. Waggoner household, 1910 U.S. Census, Pike Co., Illinois.
  32. [S3119] Cobb v. Cobb, Wichita District Court, District Clerk, docket record, shows filing date; petition.
  33. [S3120] William A. Waggoner household, 1910 U.S. Census, Pike Co., Illinois, shows her married to Waggoner, a year earlier.
  34. [S3114] "District Court Docket Called," Wichita Weekly Times, 8 Dec 1911, shows Robert Cobb Jr. vs Nettie P. Cobb, divorce, was called on Tuesday [5 Dec 1911] and no order passed.
  35. [S3113] "District Court Docket," Wichita Daily Times, 1 Dec 1912, shows docket no. 4064 Robert Cobb Jr. vs Nettie P. Cobb, divorce to be heard in the session opening the following day.
  36. [S3119] Cobb v. Cobb, Wichita District Court, District Clerk, docket record, shows notation of dismissal.
  37. [S3236] Kessinger, probate papers, 1914, Pike County Clerk/Recorder, Petition for Probate.
  38. [S3236] Kessinger, probate papers, 1914, Pike County Clerk/Recorder, record of final report, filed 13 Jun 1914.
  39. [S8643] Mabel Hayes household, 1930 U.S. Census, Los Angeles Co., California.
  40. [S8644] Henry L. Webb household, 1940 U.S. Census, Calhoun Co., Illinois.
  41. [S3148] William Waggoner and Jeanette Cobb, Marriage License.
  42. [S1195] Illinois State Archives, Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763–1900, online, record for Franklin Lock and Christianna E. Kessinger, citing license no. 1301, shows date as 18 Mar 1882.
  43. [S3120] William A. Waggoner household, 1910 U.S. Census, Pike Co., Illinois, shows Verna as William's stepdaughter, and Nettie as his wife.
  44. [S3119] Cobb v. Cobb, Wichita District Court, District Clerk, petition, shows "there is no issue from said marriage."
  45. [S3129] Addie Waggoner household, 1920 U.S. Census, Pike Co., Illinois, shows Nettie had 4 children, with one living.