194 people, numbered by ahnentafel: #1 is me, each person’s father is double their number, each mother is double plus one. Every entry carries its dates, relationship, evidence grade, story, evidence notes, and text descriptions of every photograph and evidence scan.
Ahnentafel #1 · the starting point of the chart · Documented — person and parent-link established
Alexander Timothy Bell was born in 1997 in Cincinnati. His birth certificate names both of his parents, and it is the record from which this family history begins — every number on this chart is counted outward from him. He is pictured here at twenty-eight.
Evidence
The starting point. Birth certificate naming both parents (redacted for privacy) [BELL-01 / SAR_31].
Photographs (described)
Alexander Timothy Bell at twenty-eight — The person this whole chart is measured from, photographed in his twenty-eighth year — the near end of a line of faces that reaches back to three children in a Paterson studio in 1903.Three generations in a spring yard, about 2000–01 — Robert Lee Bell Sr. with his son, his daughter-in-law and his two grandsons under a budding tree — the last known photograph of him, and the only one showing him with the family he had once left.
Evidence images (described)
Birth certificate of Alexander Timothy Bell, 1997 (redacted) — The record this whole family history is counted from. Everything but the name and the year has been blacked out, because he is living.
Robert Lee Bell Jr. (b. 1961, Birmingham)
Ahnentafel #2 · his father (1 generation back) · Documented — person and parent-link established
Robert Lee Bell Jr. was born in 1961 in Birmingham, Alabama, and married in 1992. His own memory of the family, carefully recorded, helped reconstruct the 1940 Bell household and preserved the name "Ms Blevon" — a thread that later research traced back several generations. The earliest photograph of him is from the weeks after his birth, in the arms of his grandmother Margaret.
Evidence
Father. Married 1992. Source of MEMORY-02, which reconstructed the whole 1940 Bell household from memory and named “Ms Blevon.”
Photographs (described)
Margaret Beatrice Eaken with her newborn grandson, 1961 — Margaret at fifty-three, in a white summer dress, holding Alec's father in the weeks after his birth in July 1961 — the earliest photograph of him and only the second of her.Robert Lee Bell Jr., school portrait, late 1970s — Alec's father as a teenager in Birmingham, about sixteen or seventeen.Robert Lee Bell Jr. at a pharmacy career fair, late 1980s — Alec's father in a dark suit at a recruiting booth, going over a student-loan brochure with a candidate — a press photograph from his working life.Three generations in a spring yard, about 2000–01 — Robert Lee Bell Sr. with his son, his daughter-in-law and his two grandsons under a budding tree — the last known photograph of him, and the only one showing him with the family he had once left.
Cynthia Katharine Tuttle (b. 1959, Evanston IL)
Ahnentafel #3 · his mother (1 generation back) · Documented — person and parent-link established
Cynthia Katharine Tuttle was born in 1959 in Evanston, Illinois, as shown on her birth certificate. Her family photo album and her own memory of her grandmother proved decisive in later research, resolving a long-standing question about the identity of her grandmother, Velma Roush.
Evidence
Mother. Birth certificate [FROST-02 / SAR_38]. Her photo album and her memory of her grandmother solved the Velma Roush wall that every archive had failed on.
Photographs (described)
Three generations in a spring yard, about 2000–01 — Robert Lee Bell Sr. with his son, his daughter-in-law and his two grandsons under a budding tree — the last known photograph of him, and the only one showing him with the family he had once left.
Evidence images (described)
Richard Clark Tuttle's obituary, 2015 — Richard Clark Tuttle's 2015 obituary names his late wife Judy and his daughter Cindy Bell, directly proving the link to the next generation of the family.Funeral home obituary for Richard Clark Tuttle — This funeral home version of Richard Clark Tuttle's 2015 obituary adds his birth and death dates and confirms his 56-year marriage to Judy Tuttle.Judith Frost Tuttle's obituary, 2013 — Judith Frost Tuttle's 2013 obituary names her husband Dick and daughter Cindy Bell, tying Judith firmly into the family two years before Richard's own death.Birth certificate of Cynthia Katharine Tuttle, 1959 (redacted) — The certificate that names her parents and anchors the Tuttle line. Everything but the name and the year has been blacked out, because she is living.Second page of Richard Clark Tuttle's obituary — This continuing page of the obituary lists Richard Clark Tuttle's grandchildren and his funeral arrangements in Cincinnati.Second page of the funeral home obituary — This continuing page lists Richard Clark Tuttle's children and grandchildren, including daughter Cindy and grandson Alec Bell.Second page of Judith Frost Tuttle's obituary — This continuing page lists Judith Frost Tuttle's grandchildren and her decades teaching at Indian Hill Schools.Third page of Richard Clark Tuttle's obituary — This closing page of the obituary finishes the notice for Richard Clark Tuttle, the family's last Terre Haute-born Tuttle.Third page with visitation and service details — This closing page gives the visitation and funeral service details for Richard Clark Tuttle at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Cincinnati.
Robert Lee Bell Sr. (1935 Atlanta – 2001 Chattanooga)
Ahnentafel #4 · his father’s father (2 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established
Robert Lee Bell Sr. was born in 1935 in Atlanta, Georgia — the 1940 census, read directly, corrected an old family belief that he was born in Alabama. He served nine years in the United States Air Force, from 4 February 1957 to 14 February 1966, reaching the rank of Airman 3rd Class and serving in Korea and Vietnam. He died in 2001 in Chattanooga and is buried in Chattanooga National Cemetery. Three photographs of him survive from his later years: beside a Tennessee lake in winter, out deep-sea fishing in a straw hat, and a plain portrait in a blue polo shirt. A last one, taken in a spring yard about 2000 or 2001, shows him standing with his son, his daughter-in-law and his two grandsons.
Evidence
Last known photograph, spring c.2000–01, with his son and grandsons [BELL-75]. Photographed in later life, c.1985–2000 [BELL-74]. Nine years US Air Force, 4 Feb 1957 – 14 Feb 1966, Airman 3rd Class, “Korea, Vietnam.” Buried Chattanooga National Cemetery, Sec. Ma, Site 36. Born in GEORGIA, not Alabama — read off the 1940 census image.
Outstanding: His 1935 Fulton County birth certificate is wanted for a different reason: it names his father’s birthplace. Optional: NPRC personnel file (SF-180).
Named in his mother’s January 1983 obituary as “Robert L. Bell of Mobile, Ala.” [BELL-106] — placing him alive in Mobile that month, and confirming him as her son from a source independent of family memory. His brothers and sister are named beside him: William E. Bell of Clarkston, Ga., John H. Bell of Warner Robins, Ga., and Mrs. Carolyn B. Miller of Birmingham.
Photographs (described)
Robert Lee Bell Sr. deep-sea fishing — Out on open water in a straw hat and sunglasses with two big-game rods bent behind him — the liveliest picture of him that survives.Robert Lee Bell Sr. beside a lake, 1990s — Standing on a boat ramp in the cold months beside a drawn-down reservoir, most likely one of the Tennessee lakes near Chattanooga where he spent his last years.Robert Lee Bell Sr., portrait in later life — A plain head-and-shoulders photograph of Alec's grandfather, white-haired and half-smiling, in the last decade or so of his life.Three generations in a spring yard, about 2000–01 — Robert Lee Bell Sr. with his son, his daughter-in-law and his two grandsons under a budding tree — the last known photograph of him, and the only one showing him with the family he had once left.
Evidence images (described)
Tennessee prison record for Robert Lee Bell Sr. — Robert Lee Bell Sr. was long remembered as having served time, and this Tennessee prison record confirms it, showing a ten-year sentence that ended two years before he died.1944 Birmingham News death notice naming the family and both grandmothers — A 1944 newspaper notice for sixteen-year-old Thomas J. Bell, killed in a Warrenville, Illinois car crash [BELL-101], names his parents John Henry and Beatrice Bell and both of his grandmothers.1944 death notice naming John Henry Bell, Beatrice, and both grandmothers — A close-up on the line from the same 1944 notice naming both grandmothers, Mrs. M. K. Norton and Mrs. Margaret Bloebaum, the detail that tied two generations together.
Willie Joyce Stephens (1942 – 1982, Jefferson Co. AL)
Ahnentafel #5 · his father’s mother (2 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established
Willie Joyce Stephens was born in 1942 and died in 1982 in Jefferson County, Alabama. She married Robert Lee Bell Sr. on 26 August 1960 in Fort Payne, and later remarried John Duncan Lammon in 1980. She is buried in Clarke County among her mother's Truett family — one reason she was hard to trace for years was that she did not die under the Bell name. Three photographs of her survive, all from her last two years: her wedding to John Duncan Lammon on 24 May 1980, married at home beneath a flowered brass arch; a restaurant above the water, his arm around her shoulders; and one of her alone in a panelled room hung with framed stamp collections. They are the only known pictures of her.
Evidence
Photographed on her wedding day, 24 May 1980 [STEPHENS-40], and twice more before her death [STEPHENS-39]. m. Robert Lee Bell Sr. 26 Aug 1960, Fort Payne; m.(2) John Duncan Lammon 1980. Buried Clarke Co., Alabama among her mother’s Truett people. Invisible for years because she did not die a Bell.
Outstanding: The Find a Grave index gives only the county — Oak Grove and New Prospect are the Truett grounds.
Photographs (described)
Willie Joyce Stephens on her wedding day, 24 May 1980 — Married at home under a flowered brass arch at Fort Payne, Alabama — the only photograph here whose date comes from a record rather than a guess, and taken two years before she died.Willie Joyce Stephens, about 1980–82 — Standing in a panelled room hung with framed stamp collections, in a tailored jacket, a few years before her death at forty.Willie Joyce Stephens with her second husband, about 1980–82 — Willie Joyce laughing beside John Duncan Lammon at a restaurant above the water, in the last two years of her life — the first photograph of her ever found.
Richard Clark Tuttle (1929 Terre Haute – 2015 Cincinnati)
Ahnentafel #6 · his mother’s father (2 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established
Richard Clark Tuttle, known all his life as Dick, was born in 1929 in Terre Haute, Indiana, and died in 2015 in Cincinnati. He served in the US Army, enlisting at Fort Lee, Virginia, on 3 August 1951 and training there as a supply-records specialist. A photograph kept in the family shows him in uniform in Germany, standing beside the sign for the Headquarters, Heilbronn Sub Post — the first evidence of where he was actually stationed. A senior yearbook placing him in the Evanston Township High School class of 1947 pushed the family's known move north back to about 1945, five years earlier than long assumed. The earliest photograph of him shows him at about nine, in a sweater and short trousers, standing beside his older brother Robert on a patch of spring grass in Terre Haute.
Evidence
Photographed c.1938–40 with his brother Robert Dale and three unidentified girls [TUTTLE-88]. US Army, Supply Records Specialist, Fort Lee, Virginia, 3 Aug 1951; stationed in occupied Germany at Heilbronn Sub Post — a family photograph shows him in uniform before the post headquarters sign [TUTTLE-85]. Evanston Township High School class of 1947 — a senior yearbook, which moved the family’s move north from 1950 back to about 1945.
Outstanding: Cook County marriage licence to Judith Frost (~1955–58) still unordered — and it would name Velma’s maiden name from a second direction.
Photographs (described)
Richard Clark Tuttle as a boy, with his brother Robert, about 1938–40 — Richard at about nine, in a sweater and short trousers, beside his older brother Robert Dale — the earliest photograph of him, and the only known one of his brother.Richard Clark Tuttle in uniform, Heilbronn, Germany — Richard Clark Tuttle stands in his Army uniform beside the Heilbronn Sub Post headquarters sign, the only evidence of where in Germany he served.
Evidence images (described)
Army supply-specialist certificate, Fort Lee, 1951 — Richard Tuttle — In August 1951, during the Korean War, Richard Clark Tuttle trained as an Army supply-records specialist at Fort Lee, Virginia, a service record no family paper had kept.1947 senior yearbook page, Evanston High — Richard Tuttle — Richard Clark Tuttle's own senior yearbook from Evanston Township High School in 1947 proves his family had moved north from Terre Haute years earlier than anyone realized.1977 obituary index — Helen Knott Tuttle, Wilmette Illinois — Helen Knott Tuttle's 1977 obituary from Wilmette, Illinois, naming her sons Robert and Richard and a sister in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who had never before been recorded.1950 census, Gifford Tuttle's household in Evanston — This 1950 census page places Gifford Herman Tuttle, his wife Helen, and son Richard Clark Tuttle together in Evanston, Illinois, just before Richard started his own family.Richard Clark Tuttle's obituary, 2015 — Richard Clark Tuttle's 2015 obituary names his late wife Judy and his daughter Cindy Bell, directly proving the link to the next generation of the family.Funeral home obituary for Richard Clark Tuttle — This funeral home version of Richard Clark Tuttle's 2015 obituary adds his birth and death dates and confirms his 56-year marriage to Judy Tuttle.Judith Frost Tuttle's obituary, 2013 — Judith Frost Tuttle's 2013 obituary names her husband Dick and daughter Cindy Bell, tying Judith firmly into the family two years before Richard's own death.Robert Dale Tuttle's obituary, 2007 — This obituary for Richard Clark Tuttle's brother names their parents Gifford and Helen Tuttle and lists Richard as his surviving brother, locking the generations together.1930 census, baby Richard Clark Tuttle — This 1930 census captures Gifford Tuttle's own new household in Terre Haute with infant son Richard Clark Tuttle, just nine months old, matching his July 1929 birth.1940 census, Richard Clark Tuttle at age ten — This 1940 census still finds the family in Terre Haute, with Gifford and Helen Tuttle raising ten-year-old Richard Clark Tuttle before their later move to Illinois.Family Bible births, second page — This second births page records Dennis Clark Tuttle's 1884 birth, his son Gifford Herman Tuttle's birth in 1903, and grandson Richard Clark Tuttle's birth in 1929.Second page of the 1950 Evanston census — This continuing census page fills out the household details for Gifford, Helen, and Richard Clark Tuttle in Evanston in 1950.Second page of Richard Clark Tuttle's obituary — This continuing page of the obituary lists Richard Clark Tuttle's grandchildren and his funeral arrangements in Cincinnati.Second page of the funeral home obituary — This continuing page lists Richard Clark Tuttle's children and grandchildren, including daughter Cindy and grandson Alec Bell.Second page of Judith Frost Tuttle's obituary — This continuing page lists Judith Frost Tuttle's grandchildren and her decades teaching at Indian Hill Schools.Second page of Robert Dale Tuttle's obituary — This continuing page lists Robert Dale Tuttle's children, the nephew and niece named again years later in Richard Clark Tuttle's own obituary.Second page of the 1930 census household — This continuing page lists Gifford and Helen Tuttle's household details alongside their infant son Richard in 1930.Second page of the 1940 census household — This continuing page lists further details of Gifford Tuttle's household in Terre Haute in 1940.Third page of Richard Clark Tuttle's obituary — This closing page of the obituary finishes the notice for Richard Clark Tuttle, the family's last Terre Haute-born Tuttle.Third page with visitation and service details — This closing page gives the visitation and funeral service details for Richard Clark Tuttle at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Cincinnati.Third page with Robert Dale Tuttle's service details — This closing page gives Robert Dale Tuttle's funeral details in North Muskegon, Michigan, where he settled after leaving Terre Haute.Third page of the 1930 Terre Haute census — This closing page completes the earliest census record of Richard Clark Tuttle as a baby in his parents' home.Third page of the 1940 Terre Haute census — This closing page completes the last census record showing the family still in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Ahnentafel #7 · his mother’s mother (2 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established
Judith Katharine Frost — Mimi to her grandchildren — was born in 1934 in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and died in 2013 in Cincinnati. A graduate of Northwestern University, she taught at the Indian Hill Schools and was also a portrait painter and a maker of dollhouse miniatures. A photograph of her as a small child survives from about 1936. Photographs survive of her as a small child about 1936, and at a college formal in the early 1950s.
Evidence
Known in the family as “Mimi.” College formal photograph, c.1952–56 [FROST-29]. Northwestern graduate, teacher at Indian Hill Schools, portrait painter and maker of dollhouse miniatures. Photographed as a child c.1936 [FROST-12].
Photographs (described)
Judith Katharine Frost as a young childJudith Katharine Frost at a college formal, about 1952–56 — Judith, known in the family as Mimi, at a dance during her Northwestern years, with a young man whose identity is not established.
Evidence images (described)
Richard Clark Tuttle's obituary, 2015 — Richard Clark Tuttle's 2015 obituary names his late wife Judy and his daughter Cindy Bell, directly proving the link to the next generation of the family.Funeral home obituary for Richard Clark Tuttle — This funeral home version of Richard Clark Tuttle's 2015 obituary adds his birth and death dates and confirms his 56-year marriage to Judy Tuttle.Judith Frost Tuttle's obituary, 2013 — Judith Frost Tuttle's 2013 obituary names her husband Dick and daughter Cindy Bell, tying Judith firmly into the family two years before Richard's own death.Second page of Richard Clark Tuttle's obituary — This continuing page of the obituary lists Richard Clark Tuttle's grandchildren and his funeral arrangements in Cincinnati.Second page of the funeral home obituary — This continuing page lists Richard Clark Tuttle's children and grandchildren, including daughter Cindy and grandson Alec Bell.Second page of Judith Frost Tuttle's obituary — This continuing page lists Judith Frost Tuttle's grandchildren and her decades teaching at Indian Hill Schools.Third page of Richard Clark Tuttle's obituary — This closing page of the obituary finishes the notice for Richard Clark Tuttle, the family's last Terre Haute-born Tuttle.Third page with visitation and service details — This closing page gives the visitation and funeral service details for Richard Clark Tuttle at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Cincinnati.
John Henry Bell (b. 1901/02 Alabama – d. 1944×1956)
Ahnentafel #8 · his father’s father’s father (3 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established
John Henry Bell was born on 4 August 1901 in Barbour County, Alabama — a date his family still remembered in 2009, and one he wrote down himself on a draft card in 1942. He was the eldest son of Thomas Jefferson Bell and Alice May Bradley, farmers near Louisville, and he appears in their household in 1910 and 1920 simply as “Henry.”
By 1925 he had left for Birmingham, and a Barbour County court recorded him there — “Henry Bell, Birmingham” — when his grandfather’s estate was divided seven ways among Tom’s children. Two years later, on Friday the thirteenth of May 1927, he married Margaret Beatrice Eaken. Both Birmingham papers thought a couple marrying on such a date was worth a humorous column. Their first son arrived six months later.
He drove a truck for a dry cleaner, then painted houses — in Birmingham, and in Atlanta through the middle thirties. There were six children. In June 1940 he was convicted in Jefferson County of desertion and non-support, and served four months of a twelve-month sentence; the prison ledger records him at 163 pounds, physical condition good, teeth bad.
He was released that October, and about a year later he left for good. On 23 February 1942 he registered for the draft in Cincinnati — five foot nine, 160 pounds, blue eyes, brown hair, a knot on his left leg near the hip — and gave, as the person who would always know his address, his mother in Dothan. It is the last document he is known to have signed.
After that he vanishes. His family moved north to Wheaton, Illinois, where his sixteen-year-old son was killed in a car crash in January 1944; the certificate names the father simply as “Henry Bell.” By the time his mother died in December 1956 her obituary listed six surviving children, and he was not among them. He lies in neither family cemetery. The likeliest trace of him is a Henry Bell, fifty-one, white, born in Alabama and recorded as “separated,” lodging in a home for the homeless outside Cincinnati in April 1950 — the only man of that description in the entire county.
Evidence
The 1940 conviction read in full [BELL-96]: sentenced 17 June 1940, twelve months, serial C 26,574, discharged 17 Oct 1940 by order of Judge Emmett Perry — a new fixed point placing him in Jefferson County that October. Weighed 163 lb; physical condition good, teeth bad. ⭐ And from the reverse of his draft card [BELL-107], a mark that could identify a body no name index will match: “knot on the left leg near the hip.” ⭐ His own 1930 census gives BOTH his parents as Alabama-born [BELL-100] — a test Thomas Jefferson Bell and Alice May Bradley pass, and one that could have failed. Documented 1901 to Jan 1944, then dark. The free online layer is now exhausted [BELL-86, BELL-87]; the live lead is a Henry Bell, 51, born Alabama, separated, lodging at the Mt. Airy home for the homeless in Cincinnati in April 1950 [BELL-85]. ⭐ Strengthened 12 Aug 2026 [BELL-99]: in the whole 1950 census of Hamilton County, Ohio he is the only white male Bell born in Alabama in that decade — one man out of 106 — and “separated” is exactly what a man who walked out in 1942 and never formalised it would say. Still unproven: the age is two years out, and the record gives no parents, no next of kin and no middle name. ⛔ Buried in neither of the two family cemeteries. Not at Forest Hill, Birmingham — his wife’s and infant daughter’s ground, all 91 Bell memorials checked, no Henry at all [BELL-102]. And not at Bethlehem. All 16 Bell memorials in the family cemetery are listed and no Henry is among them [BELL-84]. Death bracketed 24 Jan 1944 × 29 Dec 1956, well supported — TWO complete sibling enumerations omit him: his mother's obituary of 31 Dec 1956 names six surviving children [BELL-79], and his brother W. W. Bell's of 20 Oct 1960 names four sisters and a brother, singular [BELL-90]. ⚠ He had a 1940 desertion conviction and had left the state, so an estranged son could be omitted while living; strong evidence, not proof. ⭐ ADPH certificate #5206 — John H Bell, d. 27 Feb 1951, HOUSTON CO. (Dothan, his mother's town) — is the highest-value order in the project [BELL-80]. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ RE-GRADED ‘part’ → ‘ok’, 6 Aug 2026, AT ALEC’S CHALLENGE [AUDIT-01].The colour grades WHO THIS PERSON IS AND WHOSE CHILD THEY ARE — not whether every fact about them is known. Loose ends belong in Outstanding, below, and this node has some. They do not make the ancestor uncertain. ⚠ Name-collision warning [BELL-104]: Barbour County held a SECOND, unrelated John Henry Bell — b. ~1890, eldest son of B. C. Bell, a Eufaula butcher, named in full in a 1910 probate petition. Eliminated as ours on age by eleven years against five records, but any Barbour "John Henry Bell" must be checked against that family first. THE WALL. Solid to 1940: m. Beatrice Eakens 13 May 1927, Birmingham; dry cleaner 1928, truck driver 1930, house painter 1940; in Atlanta c.1933–36. Convicted of desertion and non-support in Jefferson County 17 June 1940 (Juv. & Dom. Rel. case 6552, Judge Emmett Perry); released 17 Oct 1940. ⭐ Registered for the draft at Cincinnati on 23 February 1942 — Local Board No. 19, 1206 Baymiller Street — giving his birthplace as Barbour County, Alabama and naming Mrs. M. K. Norton of 118 North St., Dothan as the person who would always know his address. He signed it himself. It is the last document he is known to have signed.
Outstanding: ⭐ His parents are now established [BELL-117]. His death is not — bracketed 24 Jan 1944 × 29 Dec 1956 by absence from two complete sibling enumerations, with the estrangement caveat. ⚠ And no instrument names him as Tom and Alice’s son in words: he predeceased every record that lists their children, so the identification is proved indirectly. Each of his six siblings has such a document; he alone has none. ⛔ Illinois is now cleared [BELL-105] — every John and Henry Bell death in the state 1944–1956 was listed from the Illinois State Archives database, and no John or Henry Bell died in DuPage County at any point between 1916 and 1972. Bounded: given names searched exactly, and the database carries no age before 1948. Birth is settled at ~1901–02 [BELL-115]. Sources: 1901 (family compilation), 1903 (1940 census), ~1901-02 (1920 census, as TJB’s son “Henry”) — and his 1927 marriage licence blank reads “21” — ⭐ which is the majority formula, not an age: the packet’s own affidavit says “he is OVER 21 years of age,” while the bride’s “18” is exact because her age mattered legally. Both Birmingham papers that week printed “John Henry Bell, 25.” [BELL-70, BELL-115]. No county and no father’s name on any of it. Disappearance better dated Oct 1940 – Feb 1942 than “around 1942.”
10 Aug 2026 [BELL-63/64/66]: m. Margaret Beatrice Eaken Friday 13 May 1927, Birmingham (the News ran a fearless-bridegroom feature; register Vol. 108 p. 276). Truck driver for a dry-cleaner, 1348 Huntsville Rd (1930); painter, 71 Ormond Ave SE, Atlanta (1936). Named his firstborn THOMAS J. for his father — the boy died at 16 on 22 Jan 1944 after a car crash at Warrenville, Illinois — ⭐ and his death certificate puts the whole family at Wheaton, DuPage County, Illinois, a state this project had never searched [BELL-101]. It also names the father plainly as "Henry Bell", the notice naming brothers John Henry Jr., Billy Jean, “Bobby” (8) and sister Carolyn, and grandmothers Mrs. M. K. Norton and Mrs. Margaret Bloebaum. Walked out ~1942; John Henry Jr. took his SSN at fourteen (Jan 1943); no record of the father after 1942 has ever been found.
⛔ Sweep K, 12 Aug 2026 [BELL-105]: the Illinois State Archives death database (1916–1972, statewide) was searched in full. No John Bell and no Henry Bell died in DuPage County — the family’s own county in Jan 1944 — at any point across those 56 years. The one strong candidate, a John H Bell dying at Aurora, Kane Co. on 13 Mar 1944 in the very city his son died in seven weeks earlier, is refuted: age 72, b. 1871 Pembroke KY, father George Bell, race “Col”. ⭐ His draft card’s unindexed identifying mark is now transcribed — “knot on the left leg near the hip” [BELL-107] — the kind of detail that can name a man in a coroner’s or poorhouse record when no index will.
Evidence images (described)
1940 Jefferson County convict ledger entry, John Henry Bell — A 1940 Alabama prison ledger records that John Henry Bell was convicted of deserting his family and failing to support them, the first document showing what actually happened to him.1940 conviction record for desertion and non-support — The court record itself, from 1940, naming John Henry Bell's crime as desertion and non-support, and giving the case number that helped researchers track down what became of him.1927 Jefferson County marriage index, Eaken and Bell — The 1927 Jefferson County marriage index recording John Henry Bell's wedding to Beatrice Eakens, naming the minister and the record book page that can still be found today.1944 Birmingham News death notice naming the family and both grandmothers — A 1944 newspaper notice for sixteen-year-old Thomas J. Bell, killed in a Warrenville, Illinois car crash [BELL-101], names his parents John Henry and Beatrice Bell and both of his grandmothers.WWII draft card, 1942 — John Henry Bell, born Barbour Co. — John Henry Bell's 1942 draft card records his birth in Barbour County, Alabama, and names his mother, Mrs. M. K. Norton of Dothan, as his emergency contact.1936 Atlanta city directory — John Henry and Beatrice Bell — The 1936 Atlanta city directory lists John Henry Bell as a house painter living with his wife Beatrice at 71 Ormond Avenue, pinning the family down between census years.1927 Birmingham newspaper — John Henry Bell's marriage license — A playful 1927 newspaper story about John Henry Bell and Beatrice Eakens marrying on Friday the thirteenth, unafraid of the date's bad luck.1927 Birmingham newspaper — John Henry Bell weds on Friday the 13th — The rival newspaper's version of the same story, John Henry Bell marrying Beatrice Eakens on Friday the thirteenth of May, 1927.1930 census, Birmingham — the John Henry Bell household — The full 1930 census page recording John Henry Bell's household in Birmingham, where his firstborn son had already been named Thomas J. after his grandfather.1930 census close-up — John Henry and Margaret Bell's household — A close-up of the 1930 census lines for John Henry Bell's household, his wife Margaret and children Thomas J., John H. Jr., and Caroline all listed by name.1920 census, Louisville AL — the Thomas J. Bell household — The 1920 census of Louisville, Alabama, catching Thomas J. Bell's family together, including eighteen-year-old Henry, the boy who grew up to be John Henry Bell.1920 census close-up — Thomas J. and Alice Bell's children, including Henry — A close-up of the same household, naming Thomas J. and Alice Bell's children one by one, Henry, Ray, William, Ethel, and baby Juanita.1944 death notice naming John Henry Bell, Beatrice, and both grandmothers — A close-up on the line from the same 1944 notice naming both grandmothers, Mrs. M. K. Norton and Mrs. Margaret Bloebaum, the detail that tied two generations together.1951 Cincinnati city directory — “John H (Eloise)” — The only John H. Bell listed in Cincinnati between 1942 and 1955, shown with a wife named Eloise. If this is him, he remarried — and a marriage record would finally name his parents. It is a lead, not yet an identification.His 1942 draft registration card, signed in his own hand — Registered at Cincinnati in February 1942, weeks after he walked out. He gives his birthplace as “Boubour County, Alabama” — a typist's rendering of Barbour — and names Mrs. M. K. Norton of Dothan as the person who would always know his address. It is the last document he signed.The reverse — how he looked, in February 1942 — White, five foot nine, 160 pounds, blue eyes, brown hair, light complexion — and one line nobody had ever transcribed: “knot on the left leg near the hip.” For a man who died away from home, a physical mark like that can identify a body no index ever will.1910 Barbour County probate — the other John Henry Bell — A warning, not a discovery. Barbour County held a second, unrelated family whose eldest son was also named John Henry Bell — born about 1890, son of a Eufaula butcher. He is eleven years too old to be ours, but any Barbour record with that name has to be checked against this family first.1944 Illinois death certificate of Thomas J. Bell, aged 16 — The coroner's certificate for John Henry and Beatrice's eldest son, killed in a car crash outside Chicago. It names his father simply as “Henry Bell,” and it revealed something nobody knew — the family had moved to Wheaton, Illinois.The parents' section, close up — “Father: Henry Bell. Mother: Beatrice Eakin.” The birthplace beside each says Birmingham — but Beatrice was born at Cuba, Sumter County, so the informant was guessing, and neither birthplace can be relied on.The search that narrowed 106 men down to one — Every Bell in Hamilton County, Ohio in 1950 who was male, white, and born in Alabama around the turn of the century. The answer is one man — the lodger at the poorhouse.1950 census — Henry Bell, 51, at the Cincinnati poorhouse — A white Alabama-born Bell of the right age, recorded as “separated” and lodging at a home for the homeless outside Cincinnati in April 1950. He is the only man in the entire county who could be John Henry Bell — but the record names no parents, so it remains a lead rather than an identification.
Margaret Beatrice Eaken (10 Jul 1908 Sumter Co. AL – 16 Jan 1983 Fulton Co. GA)
Ahnentafel #9 · his father’s father’s mother (3 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established
Margaret Beatrice Eaken was born on 10 July 1908 at Cuba, in Sumter County, Alabama — her mother's home county, where her father would later be buried. She was eighteen when she married John Henry Bell on Friday the thirteenth of May 1927, and their first son was born that November.
She had six children by him. He left about 1942, and by January 1944 she had taken the family north to Wheaton, Illinois, where her eldest son was killed in a car crash at sixteen. She remarried in 1948 — Claude B. Smith — and the 1950 census finds her at Lineville, Clay County, Alabama, with her four surviving Bell children in the household.
She spent her later years in Georgia, at Clarkston, and retired from Rich's department store in Atlanta. She died on 16 January 1983, aged seventy-four, and was brought back to Birmingham for burial at Forest Hill, where her infant daughter Marion had been buried half a century before. Her obituary ran in both cities and listed her husband, her four children, her mother and her two brothers. It did not mention her first husband.
For a long time the family believed she died in 1985 — but 1985 was the year her own mother died, and the two had quietly become confused.
Evidence
Photographed summer 1961 holding her infant grandson [BELL-78]. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ RE-GRADED ‘part’ → ‘ok’, 6 Aug 2026, AT ALEC’S CHALLENGE [AUDIT-01].The colour grades WHO THIS PERSON IS AND WHOSE CHILD THEY ARE — not whether every fact about them is known. Remarried Claude B. Smith in 1948; in the 1950 census at Lineville, Clay Co., Alabama with four Bell stepchildren. Middle initial B proven.
⭐ Her death date is settled at last [BELL-97]. Her Find a Grave memorial gives 16 January 1983, Fulton County, Georgia, agreeing exactly with the Alabama death index — and it gives her birthplace as Cuba, Sumter County, her mother’s home county, which is independent corroboration nobody could have reverse-engineered. The family’s “1985” is withdrawn: that was her mother’s death year (self-corrections #42–#43). She is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery, Birmingham, Section 19.
⭐ Her obituary was found in both cities [BELL-106] — the Atlanta Constitution of 19 January 1983 and the Birmingham News of the 18th. She was living at Clarkston, Georgia, and had retired as a saleswoman at Rich’s department store in Atlanta; she was a member of Vestavia Alliance Church. Her mother Maggie Bloebaum outlived her. ⛔ Neither notice names her first husband.
Outstanding: Her obituary is in the Atlanta papers of mid-January 1983 — not the Birmingham ones, where everyone has been looking. It would list her children, and may name her first husband.
⭐ Her obituary found in BOTH cities, 12 Aug 2026 [BELL-106] — Atlanta Constitution 19 Jan 1983 p.31 and Birmingham News 18 Jan 1983 p.27. A third, contemporaneous witness to the 16 Jan 1983 death (“died Sunday” — 16 Jan 1983 was a Sunday) and to burial at Forest Hill. It gives her a working life: a retired saleswoman at Rich’s department store in Atlanta, latterly of Clarkston, Georgia, a member of Vestavia Alliance Church. It names her four surviving children, and her mother as Mrs. Maggie Bloebaum — which identifies the informant on her son’s 1944 Illinois death certificate [BELL-101]. ⛔ It does not name John Henry Bell, in either version.
Photographs (described)
Portrait of Margaret Beatrice Eaken BellMargaret Beatrice Eaken Bell — hand-tinted studio portrait in a gilt filigree oval frame, about the 1950sMargaret Beatrice Eaken with her newborn grandson, 1961 — Margaret at fifty-three, in a white summer dress, holding Alec's father in the weeks after his birth in July 1961 — the earliest photograph of him and only the second of her.
Evidence images (described)
1927 Jefferson County marriage index, Eaken and Bell — The 1927 Jefferson County marriage index recording John Henry Bell's wedding to Beatrice Eakens, naming the minister and the record book page that can still be found today.1944 Birmingham News death notice naming the family and both grandmothers — A 1944 newspaper notice for sixteen-year-old Thomas J. Bell, killed in a Warrenville, Illinois car crash [BELL-101], names his parents John Henry and Beatrice Bell and both of his grandmothers.1936 Atlanta city directory — John Henry and Beatrice Bell — The 1936 Atlanta city directory lists John Henry Bell as a house painter living with his wife Beatrice at 71 Ormond Avenue, pinning the family down between census years.1927 Birmingham newspaper — John Henry Bell's marriage license — A playful 1927 newspaper story about John Henry Bell and Beatrice Eakens marrying on Friday the thirteenth, unafraid of the date's bad luck.1927 Birmingham newspaper — John Henry Bell weds on Friday the 13th — The rival newspaper's version of the same story, John Henry Bell marrying Beatrice Eakens on Friday the thirteenth of May, 1927.1930 census, Birmingham — the John Henry Bell household — The full 1930 census page recording John Henry Bell's household in Birmingham, where his firstborn son had already been named Thomas J. after his grandfather.1930 census close-up — John Henry and Margaret Bell's household — A close-up of the 1930 census lines for John Henry Bell's household, his wife Margaret and children Thomas J., John H. Jr., and Caroline all listed by name.1944 death notice naming John Henry Bell, Beatrice, and both grandmothers — A close-up on the line from the same 1944 notice naming both grandmothers, Mrs. M. K. Norton and Mrs. Margaret Bloebaum, the detail that tied two generations together.Margaret Beatrice's memorial and headstone, Forest Hill Cemetery — The memorial that finally settled her death date at 16 January 1983 in Atlanta, and gave her birthplace as Cuba, Alabama — her mother's home county, which is how we knew it was the right woman.Her obituary, Atlanta Constitution, 19 January 1983 — Found in the Atlanta papers rather than the Birmingham ones, because she had been living in Georgia and had retired from Rich's department store. It lists her four children and her mother — but it does not mention her first husband at all.1944 Illinois death certificate of Thomas J. Bell, aged 16 — The coroner's certificate for John Henry and Beatrice's eldest son, killed in a car crash outside Chicago. It names his father simply as “Henry Bell,” and it revealed something nobody knew — the family had moved to Wheaton, Illinois.The parents' section, close up — “Father: Henry Bell. Mother: Beatrice Eakin.” The birthplace beside each says Birmingham — but Beatrice was born at Cuba, Sumter County, so the informant was guessing, and neither birthplace can be relied on.
Jess Steve Willard Stephens (29 Apr 1917 – 18 Mar 1971)
Ahnentafel #10 · his father’s mother’s father (3 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established
Jess Steve Willard Stephens was born on 29 April 1917 and died on 18 March 1971 in Charleston, South Carolina, having worked as a mechanic. He was named for Jess Willard, heavyweight champion of the world just thirteen months before his birth, and went by both “Willard” and “J. W.” through his life. In 1920 his family lived at Election Precinct 6, York, in Sumter County — the very precinct where the Swain family had lived twenty years earlier.
Evidence
Mechanic; died at Charleston, South Carolina. Christened for Jess Willard, heavyweight champion of the world thirteen months earlier, and signed himself both “Willard” and “J. W.” — which is what made him hard to find. In 1920 at Election Precinct 6, York, Sumter Co., the same precinct as the Swains in 1900.
Grace Estelle Truett (14 Jan 1917 – 9 Nov 1992)
Ahnentafel #11 · his father’s mother’s mother (3 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established
Grace Estelle Truett was born on 14 January 1917 in Clarke County, Alabama, and by 1920 was living at Coffeeville. She married at least three times — to a Stephens in 1939, a Rivers in 1947, and later a Roberts — and appears in Social Security records under the name “Grace Tru Morgan,” suggesting a fourth marriage as well. She died on 9 November 1992 and is buried at Tuscaloosa Memorial Park.
Evidence
Born Clarke Co.; in 1920 at Coffeeville. Married at least three times — Stephens 1939, Rivers 1947, Roberts — and appears in Social Security records as “Grace Tru Morgan,” implying a fourth. Buried Tuscaloosa Memorial Park.
Gifford Herman Tuttle (7 Oct 1903 Indianapolis – Dec 1974)
Ahnentafel #12 · his mother’s father’s father (3 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established
Gifford Herman Tuttle was born on 7 October 1903 in Indianapolis and died in December 1974. He married Helen May Knott on 2 April 1923 in Rush County. The family lived in Terre Haute from 1910 to 1940 before moving to Evanston, Illinois, by about 1945. His own name almost certainly honors Gifford H. Spear, the stepfather who raised his father Dennis after Dennis's own father died young. A photograph survives of him with Helen in the early 1970s, the two of them hand in hand and wearing flowers, most likely at their fiftieth anniversary.
Evidence
Photographed with Helen c.1973, probably their golden wedding [TUTTLE-87]. m. Helen May Knott 2 Apr 1923, Rush Co. Terre Haute 1910–1940, Evanston by about 1945. Named almost certainly for Gifford H. Spear, his father’s stepfather — the man who raised Dennis after Richard B. Tuttle died.
Photographs (described)
Gifford and Helen Tuttle, about 1973 — Hand in hand before their own mantel, he with a boutonnière and she with a corsage — most likely their golden wedding, fifty years after they married in 1923.Their sons Richard and Robert, about 1938–40 — Richard at about nine, in a sweater and short trousers, beside his older brother Robert Dale — the earliest photograph of him, and the only known one of his brother.
Evidence images (described)
1950 census, Gifford Tuttle's household in Evanston — This 1950 census page places Gifford Herman Tuttle, his wife Helen, and son Richard Clark Tuttle together in Evanston, Illinois, just before Richard started his own family.Robert Dale Tuttle's obituary, 2007 — This obituary for Richard Clark Tuttle's brother names their parents Gifford and Helen Tuttle and lists Richard as his surviving brother, locking the generations together.1910 census, Dennis Tuttle's young family — This 1910 census shows Dennis Clark Tuttle heading his own Terre Haute household with wife Leona and six-year-old son Gifford, Alec's great-grandfather.1920 census, Gifford Tuttle as a teenager — This 1920 census finds Dennis Clark Tuttle's household still in Terre Haute, with son Gifford now sixteen and a few years from starting his own family.1930 census, baby Richard Clark Tuttle — This 1930 census captures Gifford Tuttle's own new household in Terre Haute with infant son Richard Clark Tuttle, just nine months old, matching his July 1929 birth.1940 census, Richard Clark Tuttle at age ten — This 1940 census still finds the family in Terre Haute, with Gifford and Helen Tuttle raising ten-year-old Richard Clark Tuttle before their later move to Illinois.Gifford and Helen's 1923 marriage application — Gifford Herman Tuttle and Helen May Knott's 1923 marriage application names both of their parents, tying two more generations of the family together.Family Bible births, second page — This second births page records Dennis Clark Tuttle's 1884 birth, his son Gifford Herman Tuttle's birth in 1903, and grandson Richard Clark Tuttle's birth in 1929.Family Bible marriages, second page — This marriage page records Dennis Clark Tuttle's 1902 wedding to Leona Marie Alexander and their son Gifford Herman Tuttle's 1923 wedding to Helen May Knott.Family Bible page recording deaths — The family Bible's deaths page records Richard B. Tuttle's 1884 death along with the later deaths of Gifford Herman, Dennis Clark, and Leona Marie Tuttle.Social Security record for Gifford Tuttle — This Social Security death index entry confirms Gifford Herman Tuttle's birth and death dates and his final home in Lake County, Illinois.Second page of the 1950 Evanston census — This continuing census page fills out the household details for Gifford, Helen, and Richard Clark Tuttle in Evanston in 1950.Second page of Robert Dale Tuttle's obituary — This continuing page lists Robert Dale Tuttle's children, the nephew and niece named again years later in Richard Clark Tuttle's own obituary.Second page of the 1910 census household — This continuing page lists the rest of Dennis and Leona Tuttle's household in Terre Haute in 1910.Second page of the 1920 census household — This continuing page fills out the 1920 household details for Dennis, Leona, and their son Gifford Tuttle.Second page of the 1930 census household — This continuing page lists Gifford and Helen Tuttle's household details alongside their infant son Richard in 1930.Second page of the 1940 census household — This continuing page lists further details of Gifford Tuttle's household in Terre Haute in 1940.Marriage application, continued, second page — This second page continues Gifford Herman Tuttle and Helen May Knott's 1923 marriage application from Rush County, Indiana.Third page with Robert Dale Tuttle's service details — This closing page gives Robert Dale Tuttle's funeral details in North Muskegon, Michigan, where he settled after leaving Terre Haute.Third page of the 1910 Terre Haute census — This closing page completes the 1910 record of the family that would remain in Terre Haute for another generation.Third page of the 1920 Terre Haute census — This closing page completes the 1920 record, the middle of three straight censuses documenting this Terre Haute household.Third page of the 1930 Terre Haute census — This closing page completes the earliest census record of Richard Clark Tuttle as a baby in his parents' home.Third page of the 1940 Terre Haute census — This closing page completes the last census record showing the family still in Terre Haute, Indiana.Marriage application, continued, third page — This third page completes Gifford Herman Tuttle and Helen May Knott's 1923 marriage application from Rush County, Indiana.
Helen May Knott (b. 12 Jun 1905, IN – d. 24 Apr 1977, Evanston, IL)
Ahnentafel #13 · his mother’s father’s mother (3 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established
Helen May Knott was born on 12 June 1905 in Indiana and died on 24 April 1977 at Evanston Hospital, Illinois, at the age of seventy-one. Her parents are named on her 1923 marriage application to Gifford Tuttle, and again decades later in her son Robert Dale's obituary. Her death notice named her surviving sons, Robert D. of Evanston and Richard C. of Cincinnati, and her sister Mildred Cooper of Cedar Rapids. Three photographs survive of her childhood in Terre Haute about 1911 to 1913: one on the lawn beside her big sister Mildred, seven years her elder, which their mother sent as a postcard inscribed “My too sweet dauters, Mildred and Helen”; and two of Helen with her friend Grace, both girls in wide straw hats. The friend was almost certainly Grace Estella Schomer, born six months after Helen in December 1905, the daughter of the man who ran Terre Haute's dancing school — a child performer the local paper once called “the miniature Pavlowa.” She lived to be ninety-seven. A hand-tinted studio portrait shows her in her late thirties, and another photograph catches her with Gifford in the early 1970s, near their fiftieth anniversary.
Evidence
Hand-tinted studio portrait c.1940–45 [KNOTT-24]; with Gifford c.1973 [TUTTLE-87]. Childhood photographs c.1911–13: with her sister Mildred, on a postcard inscribed and signed by their mother [KNOTT-22]; and twice with her friend Grace Shomer [KNOTT-21, KNOTT-23, KNOTT-26]. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ RE-GRADED ‘part’ → ‘ok’, 6 Aug 2026, AT ALEC’S CHALLENGE [AUDIT-01].The colour grades WHO THIS PERSON IS AND WHOSE CHILD THEY ARE — not whether every fact about them is known. Loose ends belong in Outstanding, below, and this node has some. They do not make the ancestor uncertain. Named with both parents on the 1923 marriage application, and again in her son Robert Dale’s 2007 obituary — doubly sourced. The Tuttles were lifelong members of St. Luke’s Episcopal, Evanston, where Robert Dale was interred.
Outstanding: Death not documented. Enquiry sent to St. Luke’s for her death and the Tuttle burials from ~1945. Awaiting reply.
⭐⭐ DEATH CLOSED (probable), 7 Aug 2026 [KNOTT-07]:Wilmette Life, 5 May 1977 — died 24 Apr 1977, Evanston Hospital, age 71; sons Robert D. (Evanston) and Richard C. (Cincinnati); sister Mildred Cooper of Cedar Rapids. Locks the SSDI candidate (b. 12 Jun 1905). Primary-page capture queued.
Photographs (described)
Helen May Knott, hand-tinted portrait, about 1940–45 — A hand-coloured studio portrait of Helen in her late thirties, the earliest good look at her face as an adult.Helen Knott and her friend Grace Schomer, about 1911–13 — Two small girls in pom-pom straw hats holding hands in a studio — Helen and Grace Estella Schomer, born six months apart, the daughter of the man who ran Terre Haute's dancing school.Helen May Knott as a girl, with a friend named Grace — Two little girls in white dresses, about 1910-1915; the family kept this as Helen with her friend Grace, and the census rules out her sister Mildred, who was seven years older.Helen Knott and her sister Mildred, about 1911–13 — Barefoot little Helen stands beside her big sister Mildred on the lawn, the seven years between them just as the census records it.Gifford and Helen Tuttle, about 1973 — Hand in hand before their own mantel, he with a boutonnière and she with a corsage — most likely their golden wedding, fifty years after they married in 1923.Their sons Richard and Robert, about 1938–40 — Richard at about nine, in a sweater and short trousers, beside his older brother Robert Dale — the earliest photograph of him, and the only known one of his brother.
Evidence images (described)
The back of the postcard, naming both girls — A later hand wrote “Helen Knott Tuttle and friend Grace Shomer,” which is how the friend's surname is known at all.The back of the postcard, written by their mother — Martha Knott wrote “My too sweet dauters, Mildred and Helen” and signed it “Mama” — the only known sample of her handwriting, naming both her girls.1977 obituary index — Helen Knott Tuttle, Wilmette Illinois — Helen Knott Tuttle's 1977 obituary from Wilmette, Illinois, naming her sons Robert and Richard and a sister in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who had never before been recorded.1950 census, Gifford Tuttle's household in Evanston — This 1950 census page places Gifford Herman Tuttle, his wife Helen, and son Richard Clark Tuttle together in Evanston, Illinois, just before Richard started his own family.Robert Dale Tuttle's obituary, 2007 — This obituary for Richard Clark Tuttle's brother names their parents Gifford and Helen Tuttle and lists Richard as his surviving brother, locking the generations together.1930 census, baby Richard Clark Tuttle — This 1930 census captures Gifford Tuttle's own new household in Terre Haute with infant son Richard Clark Tuttle, just nine months old, matching his July 1929 birth.1940 census, Richard Clark Tuttle at age ten — This 1940 census still finds the family in Terre Haute, with Gifford and Helen Tuttle raising ten-year-old Richard Clark Tuttle before their later move to Illinois.Gifford and Helen's 1923 marriage application — Gifford Herman Tuttle and Helen May Knott's 1923 marriage application names both of their parents, tying two more generations of the family together.Family Bible marriages, second page — This marriage page records Dennis Clark Tuttle's 1902 wedding to Leona Marie Alexander and their son Gifford Herman Tuttle's 1923 wedding to Helen May Knott.Second page of the 1950 Evanston census — This continuing census page fills out the household details for Gifford, Helen, and Richard Clark Tuttle in Evanston in 1950.Second page of Robert Dale Tuttle's obituary — This continuing page lists Robert Dale Tuttle's children, the nephew and niece named again years later in Richard Clark Tuttle's own obituary.Second page of the 1930 census household — This continuing page lists Gifford and Helen Tuttle's household details alongside their infant son Richard in 1930.Second page of the 1940 census household — This continuing page lists further details of Gifford Tuttle's household in Terre Haute in 1940.Marriage application, continued, second page — This second page continues Gifford Herman Tuttle and Helen May Knott's 1923 marriage application from Rush County, Indiana.Third page with Robert Dale Tuttle's service details — This closing page gives Robert Dale Tuttle's funeral details in North Muskegon, Michigan, where he settled after leaving Terre Haute.Third page of the 1930 Terre Haute census — This closing page completes the earliest census record of Richard Clark Tuttle as a baby in his parents' home.Third page of the 1940 Terre Haute census — This closing page completes the last census record showing the family still in Terre Haute, Indiana.Marriage application, continued, third page — This third page completes Gifford Herman Tuttle and Helen May Knott's 1923 marriage application from Rush County, Indiana.
Alan C. Frost (b. Feb 1903, Paterson NJ – unknown)
Ahnentafel #14 · his mother’s mother’s father (3 generations back) · Documented — person and parent-link established
Alan C. Frost was born in February 1903 in Paterson, New Jersey. He managed a dime store in Mansfield, Ohio, by 1940, and had moved to Marion, Indiana, by 1950. By October 1964 he was living at 316 West Dartmouth in Flint, Michigan — a chapter of his life discovered only through his wife Velma's cremation certificate. His own death has not yet been found. The earliest picture of him is a studio photograph taken about 1903 or 1904, when he was still an infant in a long white gown, seated between his older sister and brother — Katherine and Harry, each named for a parent.
Evidence
Photographed as an infant c.1903–04 with his siblings Katherine and Harry [FROST-30]. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ RE-GRADED ‘part’ → ‘ok’, 6 Aug 2026, AT ALEC’S CHALLENGE [AUDIT-01].The colour grades WHO THIS PERSON IS AND WHOSE CHILD THEY ARE — not whether every fact about them is known. Loose ends belong in Outstanding, below, and this node has some. They do not make the ancestor uncertain. 1940 census Mansfield OH (dime-store manager); 1950 Marion IN; and by Oct 1964 at 316 West Dartmouth, Flint, Michigan — a state nobody knew about, found on Velma’s cremation certificate.
Outstanding: Death unknown; a Michigan search returned nothing. Enquiry submitted to White Chapel Memorial, Troy MI, asking whether he is interred with Velma.
Photographs (described)
Family photograph including a young Alan FrostAlan Frost as a baby with his older sister and brother, about 1903–04 — Alan, barely old enough to sit up, between his sister and brother in a studio garden set — and the two older children were named for their parents, Katherine and Harry, which is why the caption reads as though the parents were in it.
Evidence images (described)
Pencil-annotated reverse of the Frost family photo — The back of an old family photograph, where someone once wrote the names Kat, Alan, Ralph, and Eleanor in pencil, so nobody looking at it later would forget who they were.
