Remembering
Cousin Kay
And perhaps solving a small mystery
Jean M. Hoffman, CG®
Kathryn “Kay” McShane Kunkel was
born 31 October 1902 in Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio, daughter of William
Wallace Kunkel and Effie McClintock.[1] Will was a railroad
engineer from Ohio and Effie was a homemaker from Harrison County in north
central Kentucky. Effie’s older brother, William Thomas McClintock, was my
grandfather, making Kay and my father first cousins.
The Kunkel
family moved after Kay was born from Bellefontaine to Lakewood, Cuyahoga
County, Ohio, where they eventually lived at 1420 Wagar Avenue. Will and Effie
lived there the rest of their lives. Kay went to school in Lakewood and at age
23 married Robert Coleman on 19 December 1925.[2]
Kay and Bob first lived in Lakewood where their son William Grant Coleman was born. In 1930 their home was at 1285 West Lake Avenue for which they paid $40 in monthly rent.[3] In my family their son was known as Billy Grant and my brother, a few years younger, remembered his envy from having to wear Billy Grant’s hand-me-downs due to my family’s lack of income in the Great Depression.
Still in
Lakewood, Kay and Bob rented at 1473 Wagar Avenue by 1935 through 1940. Bob was
a commercial salesman for a mill hardware manufacturer.[4] The Coleman family moved
to Cuyahoga Falls, Summit County, Oho. That is north of Akron where Bob worked
for Manufacturers Rubber & Supply Co. in 1942.[5] They moved to 1830 Falls
Avenue by 1950. Bob continued to be a salesman for a mill supply and Kathryn
spent 8 hours the previous week as a Gray Lady at a children's hospital.[6]
After their move to Cuyahoga Falls it was a fairly
long drive from our house. I only remember visiting once when I was a child.
Not only was Kay always a delight to see but she introduced me to her
collection of bells. It was so impressive to me as a child that I began my own
collection of bells. Mine haven’t been on display for a long time, but they
still hold fond memories and lovely sounds. Just a few of them are in the
photo.
About 1990
Kay and Bob moved back to Lakewood near their son. The Northwesterly Assisted
Living Facility was the location. By coincidence, we helped move my husband’s
aunt to the same facility in 1992. That was at the time Bob passed away. Since
we spent time with the aunt, I also got to see Kay occasionally. One time when
my father was in town I took him for a visit. Another time Kay and I had a nice
chat about the family history.
Kay told
me that her mother married at the age of 23 which was also the age at which Kay
and I each married. I asked how Effie, a woman living on a farm in Kentucky,
met and married a man from northern Ohio. Kay replied that they met at a
McShane wedding where her future husband was a groomsman. Since both of Effie’s
parents were McShane descendants, there were a lot of McShane relatives whose
wedding could have led to the connection. I thought it would be difficult to
ever know the details.
McShane Wedding
Recently I
found the likely wedding! The evidence is circumstantial but I think it is
highly likely to be the one. Effie and Will were married 6 November 1895 in
Harrison County, Kentucky,[7] so it had to be an earlier
wedding.
Frank R.
McShane (age 34), son of Edward McShane & Helen Gibson, married Hattie L
Wilson, daughter of N B Wilson & Mary Ellen Waits, on 8 March 1894 in
Harrison County, Kentucky.[8] That was more than a year
before Effie’s marriage. Frank R. McShane and Effie McClintock were first
cousins, once removed.[9] Effie was also a second
cousin of the bride on the Waits side.[10] At the time of his
marriage, Frank was a railroad engineer living in Bellefontaine, Ohio, as was
Will Kunkel when he married Effie.[11] Both families lived in
Bellefontaine in 1900.[12] Frank and wife Hattie
McShane lived at 1500 Wagar Ave. in Lakewood, Ohio, in 1910.[13] Frank purchased the
property in 1907.[14]
Will and Effie Kunkel first lived in Bellefontaine, Ohio, but in 1910 they
lived at 1471 Wagar Ave. in Lakewood, Ohio.[15] Will purchased their
final home at 1420 Wagar Ave. in 1917 from his father’s estate.[16]
Will
Kunkel and Frank McShane were both railroad engineers living in Bellefontaine.
Frank married over a year before Will and Effie in Harrison County, Kentucky,
where Effie lived. Both families lived in Bellefontaine in 1900 and on Wagar
Ave. in Lakewood, Ohio, by 1910. The connections strongly suggest Frank R.
McShane’s wedding as the meeting place of Effie McClintock and her future
husband.
[1] “Ohio, County Births,
1841-2003,” database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X6ZZ-M1M : viewed 29 November 2025), image
group number (IGN) 004016816, image 99 of 211, Logan County Birth Record 3: 89,
Catherine Kunkle, 1902.
[2] ”Ohio, County Marriages,
1789-2016,” database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2Q76-3MF : viewed 28 November 2025), (IGN) 004732998,
image 695 of 918, Cuyahoga County Marriage Record 143: 62, Robert B. Coleman
and Kathryn Kunkel, 1925.
[3] 1930 U.S. census, Cuyahoga County,
Ohio, population schedule, Lakewood, ED 636, sheet 6A, dwelling 117, family
131, Robert Coleman; imaged, “1930 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry
(https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/73184653:6224 : viewed 28 November 2025.
[4] 1940 U.S. census, Cuyahoga County,
Ohio, population schedule, Lakewood, ED 18-172, sheet 7B, family 151, Robert B
Coleman household; imaged, “1940 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry
(https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/30306823:2442 : viewed 28 November 2025).
[5] “U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men,
1940-1947,” Ancestry (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=2238 : viewed 28 November) > Ohio
> Clark-Cross > Coleman, Ken-Colley, Paul > image 447 of 2185,
Registration Card, Local Board #12, serial no. 230, Robert Bernard Coleman.
[6] 1950 U.S. census, Summit County,
Ohio, population schedule, Cuyahoga Falls, ED 77-73, sheet 11, family 130,
Robert B Coleman household; imaged, “1950 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry
(https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/208966134:62308 : viewed 28 November 2025).
[7] “Kentucky, Marriages,
1785-1979,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F49W-NVJ : viewed 22 November 2025), IGN
005592230, image 528 of 1215, Harrison County Marriage Record (Bond and
Certificate) Feb. 1895 - Sept. 1897, p. 162-63, Kunkel and McClintock, 1895.
[8] “Kentucky, Marriages,
1785-1979,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F49W-FW5 : viewed 22 November 2025), IGN
005592230, image 234 of 1215, Harrison County Marriage Record (Bond and
Certificate) Oct. 1892 - Feb. 1895, p. 350-51, McShane and Wilson, 1894.
[9] “Relationship Finder,” WikiTree
(https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:Relationship
: viewed 12 December 2025), McClintock-2087 (Effie) and McShane-270 (Frank).
[10]
“Relationship Finder,” WikiTree
(https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:Relationship
: viewed 12 December 2025), McClintock-2087 (Effie) and Wilson-38120 (Hattie).
[11] See notes 3 and 4.
[12] 1900 U.S. census, Logan County, Ohio, population schedule, Bellefontaine, ED 112, sheet 4, dwelling 81, family 83, W. W. Kunkel household; imaged, "1900 United States Federal Census," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/50786743:7602 : viewed 12 December 2025). And, 1900 U.S. census, Logan County, Ohio, population schedule, Bellefontaine, ED 112, sheet 5, dwelling 113, family 117, F. R. McShane; imaged, "1900 United States Federal Census," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/50786881:7602 : viewed 12 December 2025).
[13] 1910 U.S. census, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, population schedule, Lakewood, ED 37, sheet 8B, dwelling 184, family 189, Frank R. McShane; imaged, “1910 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/21340378:7884 : viewed 22 November 2025).
[14] Cuyahoga County, Ohio, deed book 1127: 421, C.C. and
Fannie C. Southern to Frank R. McShane, 17 Sept. 1907; “Official Records
Search,” Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office (https://cuyahoga.oh.publicsearch.us/ : viewed 22 November 2025).
[15] 1910 U.S. census, Cuyahoga County,
Ohio, population schedule, Lakewood, ED 37, sheet 11A, dwelling 241, family
259, William W Kunkel household; imaged, “1910 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry
(https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/21340458:7884 : viewed 22 November 2025).
[16] Cuyahoga County, Ohio, deed book 1932: 118, Charles R.
and Georgiana Kunkel and Frank L. and Ottilie Kunkel to William W. and Effie
Kunkel, 28 Dec. 1917; “Official Records Search,” Cuyahoga County Fiscal
Office (https://cuyahoga.oh.publicsearch.us/ : viewed 22 November 2025).
