Cousin Bait : Mengle - Lambertson

Publishing a family history blog definitely works for 'cousin bait'.  Even the old posts are out their in the search engines and people will find you.  Recently, I was contacted by a cousin who saw what I had posted on the Mengle and Lambertson families, and it helped him solve a family mystery.

Friday night I had a great conversation with my distant cousin, Ed, about David L. Mengle and Ellen Lambertson.  Ellen was my maternal 3rd-great grandaunt, the younger sister of my Carey W. Lambertson, and the daughter of John Lambertson and Sarah A. Willson.  Ed is going to send me the details on how he descends, we are probably 3rd or 4th cousins.

As we discussed the Mengle and Lambertson families, Ed shared that he had been in touch with others of the Lambertson side, and promised to give them my information.  I don't have as much information on those that stayed in Ohio, as my ancestor came to Indiana in the 1880s and was child number nine of ten.

There is an air of mystery that needs to be sorted out as well.  Both of us have been led to believe that Ellen was married prior to her marriage to David L. Mengle.  The surname may be Sockey.  As of yet, I've located no record of the marriage in any of the indices on Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org.  Ellen married David L. Mengle on November 10, 1870 in Butler County, Ohio when she was 20 years old and David was 21.  In the 1870 census, Ellen was living with her sister and brother-in-law, Samuel and Mary Snively, in Wayne Township, Butler County, Ohio.   If she had been married previously, she would have been pretty young.

In the 1900 census, Ellen is listed as the mother of four children, with only two living.  Known children are George Mengle (c1872-1948), Osa Mengle (1873-1875) and Lionel C. Mengle (1881-1961).

Notice the age gap in the children?  That is one of the mysteries that Ed has been working on.  There is an interesting marriage record found at the FamilySearch.org database for a Luella Mengle to a John Runck that took place December 1, 1900 in Montgomery County, Ohio.  This record lists her parents as David L. Mengle and Anna Lehman, and states her birth as taking place in 1880 in West Carrollton, Ohio.  West Carrollton is just done the road from where the Mengle and Lambertson family was living.

Could it be that David and Ellen separated/divorced or that David had an illegitimate daughter with Anna Lehman?  Is this the right David L. Mengle?  Perhaps they split up and then got back together and had one more child, Lionel in 1881.  Who knows?  Interesting avenues to research but it will take some digging in the courthouse.

Interestingly, Ed's Mengle ancestors had been in Madison County, Indiana, where I'm from, though the name is spelled Mingle.  Several family members are buried at the Mendon Cemetery in Fall Creek Township, Madison County, Indiana.

I look forward to seeing what information Ed sends to me, and I'm ready to start digging into the Lambertson line over in Ohio a little bit more.