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This family is so convoluted and intertwined, it's nearly impossible to keep everyone straight!
The Dunhams started with Lewis Dunham and Martha (unknown). Lewis was a Revolutionary War Veteran, and had four
children with Martha: Sarah, William, Elizabeth, and Nathaniel.
The Carnes (or Carrens) started with Thomas Carrens and Elizabeth Dunham. Elizabeth was the daughter of Lewis and
Martha. They had 8 children: Reason, Sarah, Joshua, Aerie, William, John, Dennis, and Thomas.
The Nelsons enter into the family with a Methodist clergyman named Burgess and his wife, Sarah Ridgley.
They had 5 children, most notably Elisha Nelson, who was born about 1780 in Maryland. Elisha is father of all the Nelsons
in my Family.
Other families show up in this genetic bottleneck, dropping in new DNA and new names. These families are the
Chaneys, the Ervins, and the Moores.
A group of cousins worked very hard for a number of years to accumulate all the data that is now a book, called
"Genealogy of the Pike County, Illinois Families of Dunham, Carnes, Nelson, Chaney, Ervin, Moore, and McCarty".
The cousins responsible for this book (one of which I own, and one is on file at the Pittsfield, Pike County, Illinois
Library) are Gloria Carnes, Connie Cave, Anna Mae Dean, June Dunham Dean, William Dunham, Shirley Graham, Kermit Klinefelter,
Marilyn Partee Stevens, and Lena Bridgeman Truster.
Mary Anne Carnes Nelson, wife of Charles H. Nelson and mother-in-law of my great-grandfather Harry Craven Farrand, was
born on March 21, 1869 in Maysville, Pike County, Illinois. Her parents were Richard Carnes and Guldy Moore Carnes.
She died at home at 6:15pm, on March 28, 1931.
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This is a picture
of Charles H. Nelson, father-in-law of my great-grandfather, Harry Craven Farrand, and husband of Mary Ann Carnes Nelson.
He was born on April 22, 1870 in Henderson County, Illinois, and died
May 1, 1965 in Pittsfield, Pike County, Illinois.
The are both buried in Pittsfield West Cemetery.
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| The Charles Dunham Family, about 1940 |
Stella Perle Dunham, Leta Marie Dunham, Charles Edward Dunham, Margarite Venard (Charles'
stepdaughter and niece), Lucy Wills Dunham, and Emmett Edward Dunham.
Charles' first wife, Mary Emma Wills, died on August 6, 1914. Charles then married
her sister, Estella Charlotte Wills Venard, who was a widow with a daughter, Margarite.
This explains how Charles could have a stepdaughter who was also his niece. This
also explains how my Grandmother had a stepsister who was a blood cousin!
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| Kissin' (and marryin') Cousins - Nelson Farrand and Leta Dunham |
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| Little Dickie Farrand, about 1941 |
Absolutely scandalous! Nelson and Leta eloped on their way to college in Normal,
Illinois. Prior to their marriage, they were 2nd & 3rd cousins, through the Dunhams and Nelsons. A close-knit
family tie wasn't enough to keep them together - they were divorced in Chicago in 1943. Leta retained custody of my
Dad, and 10 years later, married Paul Lawrence Jorgensen.
Nelson married Sonja Krusinski on November 11, 1944. It turned out to be the
love of his life, as they were married 53 years - "'til death do us part".
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