Shaky Leaves : Harvey A. Huey (1866-1947)

Harvey A. Huey (1866-1947) was my paternal 2nd-great granduncle, the husband of Mary A. Metzner (1862-1925).  Ancestry.com was showing a hint for him that lead to the discovery of what happened to him after Mary's death, including a second family.

Prior to this hint, I only had Harvey and Mary's death dates and their place of burial : Mt. Zion Cemetery in Jay County, Indiana.  In the 1920 census, they were living in Davison Township, Genesee County, Michigan, where Harvey was a Free Will Baptist Preacher.

The hint was for the 1930 census of Waterford Township, Oakland County, Michigan, which had Harvey's surname enumerated as Hewey.  He was head of household, aged 63, born in Indiana, renting his home and his occupation was that of a Methodist minister.  Also in the household was a wife, Leona, aged 39, no occupation, born in Indiana and a son, Robert L., aged 12, born in Michigan.

1930 U.S. Census, Oakland County, Michigan, population schedule, Waterford Township, enumeration district (ED) 63-132, SD 14, sheet 23B, dwelling 562, family 686, ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 December 2015); National Archives, Washington, D.C..

The first thing that stood out, other than the change in denomination, was the inclusion of a son, Robert, who would have been born circa 1918 in Michigan.  Harvey and Mary had no children, and Robert would have been born when Mary was alive.  Did I even have the right family?  I had to do some further digging to verify that this was indeed the correct individual.

By the 1940 census, Harvey and Leona were in Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, Michigan, where Harvey was 73 years old working as a custodian for the University of Michigan.  Leona was aged 49 with no occupation.

1940 US census, Washtenaw County, Michigan, population schedule, Ward 1, Ann Arbor, enumeration district (ED) 81-2, SD 2, sheet 6A, household 420, dwelling 147, ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 December 2015); National Archives, Washington, D.C..

I searched both Ancestry.com and FamilySearch for a marriage record of Harvey Huey to a Leona sometime after 1925 and was unable to find a record.  

What about Mary (Metzner) Huey, my maternal 2nd-great grandaunt, whose death year I only had as 1925 and burial in Mt. Zion cemetery?  I did a search at SeekingMichigan.org and found her death date as January 2, 1925 in Vernon, Shiawassee County, Michigan.  The certificate lists her name as Mary Ann Huey, born March 4, 1863 in Indiana, the son of John Metzner and Katharine Young.  Her husband is listed as the Rev. H.A. Huey of Vernon, Michigan.  The cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage.  Burial was in Portland, Indiana.

Shiawassee County, Michigan, Death Records, , Mary Ann Huey, 2 January 1925; digital images, SeekingMichigan (www.seekingmichigan.org : accessed 2 December 2015); Michigan Department of Health.

The FindAGrave memorial page for Mary is pretty limited, only giving the year of birth and death and linking her to her husband, Harvey.  I will contact the admin of the page and give them the updated death data.

The FindAGrave page for Harvey had a little more detail, including the date of death for Harvey as November 28, 1947 in Washtenaw County, Michigan.  The site lists a wife Leona, and that Harvey's parents were Christopher Huey (1824-1894) and Clarissa Grattis Huey (1829-1895).

With the date and place in Michigan for Harvey's death, I went to SeekingMichigan to see what I could find on his death in 1947.  No full copy of the death certificate yet, but this individual was born in 1866 with a given name of Harvey A Huey, which lines up with what I know about my 2nd-great granduncle.

FamilySearch had additional information on the same death that tied Harvey who died in 1947 back to Portland, Jay County, Indiana:

So next I decided to turn back to the 1930 census record and trace the son, Robert, born circa 1918 in Michigan and find out where he came from.

In the 1920 census in Highland Park, Wayne County, Indiana, Robert was a 1 year and 8 month old son in the household of Max L. Huey, aged 26, born in Indiana,  an office clerk in an auto shop.  Also in the household was wife, Leona R. Huey, aged 27, born in Indiana, no occupation, and a brother-in-law, Leonard G. Maul, age 20, born in Michigan, a time clerk in an auto shop.  I believe we have here is Leona marrying two different men with the same surname, who are likely related because all were from Indiana.

1920 US Census, Wayne County, Michigan, population schedule, Highland Park, enumeration district (ED) ED 699, SD 145, sheet 11A, 71 Pasadena Avenue, family 258, ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 December 2015); National Archives, Washington, D.C..

Max Lyndon Huey, son of Charles and Frances (Hozlett) Huey, married December 15, 1915 in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan to Leona Rose Maul, daughter of George and Mary (Alwerten) Maul.  Max would have been born circa 1893 in Indiana and Leona circa 1891 in Indiana at the time of their marriage.  The differences in age matches the household found in the 1920 census.  Leona's surname was mis-indexed in the FamilySearch record, but when viewing it you can see that it was Maul.

"Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N3PJ-Y2L : accessed 3 December 2015), Max Lyndon Huey and Leona Rose Maud, 15 Dec 1915; citing Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, v 7 p 411 rn 125140, Department of Vital Records, Lansing; FHL microfilm 2,342,713.

Looking for further hints regarding Robert, I found a record of his marriage which gave me his middle name as Lee.   

Name:	Mr Robert Lee Huey
Gender:	Male
Race:	White
Birth Year:	abt 1918
Birth Place:	Michigan
Marriage Date:	28 Sep 1940
Marriage Place:	Pontiac, Oakland, Michigan, USA
License County:	Wayne
Age:	22
Residence Place:	Detroit, Michigan
Father:	Max
Mother:	Leona Maul
Spouse:	Dorothy Stewart
Spouse Gender:	Female
Spouse Race:	White
Spouse Age:	23
Spouse Birth Place:	Michigan
Spouse Residence Place:	Pontiac, Michigan
Spouse Father:	Lewis
Spouse Mother:	Anna Peterson
County File Number:	552603
State File Number:	233934
Film:	302
Film Title:	82 Wayne 233530-236769
Film Description:	Wayne (Dates TBD)

I also found a record for Robert in the 1940 census, before his marriage, in Detroit, Wayne County, Indiana, in the household of Max Huey.  Robert was listed as 21, single, born in Michigan.  The head of the household, Max, aged 48, born in Indiana and his wife, Wilma, aged 38, born in Michigan.  Both Max and his wife Wilma were social workers with the city welfare department and Robert was an adjuster with Commercial Credit company.

The World War II Draft Registration for Max shows his birthplace as Butler, Indiana (DeKalb County) on August 24, 1893.  His full name was Max Lyndon Huey, and he worked for the city of Detroit in the Department of Public Welfare, which matches the 1940 census record.

I also located a FindAGrave for Max L. Huey (1893-1989) whom I believe is this same Max - who was married to Wilma as a second wife.

Ancestry.com had the following death record in their Michigan Death collection which matches the other date details for Max Lyndon Huey.

Likely, Max and Leona were divorced before Harvey A. Huey married her, sometime between 1925 (wife's death) and 1930 (census) when I first find them together.

What happened to Leona after Harvey's death in 1947?  It would appear that she married for a third time to Marvin Macomber on September 28, 1949 in Dearborn, Wayne County, Michigan.

Additionally, I found the FindAGrave memorial for Leona R. Maul Macomber (1891-1969) in Howell, Livingston County, Michigan.

If you have any additional information on these families, I would love to hear from you.