The Ancestors and Cousins of Tracy Lynn DeVault

Edward Lester Bennett was born on 18 April 1893 in Illinois.¹ He and Grace Geneva Carroll were married on 16 August 1916 in Alton, Illinois.¹ He died on 8 October 1972, at age 79, in Mountain View, California.¹ He was buried in Medora Cemetery, Medora, Macoupin Co., Illinois.¹

Edward Lester Bennett had reference number 27201. Reb Edward Bennett wrote:

Edward Lester Bennett was born on April 18, 1893; one of twelve children bo Banjamin Franklin Bennett and Mary Elizabeth (Sheehy) Bennett. I don't know much about my grandfather's younger days. I was told that William Carroll once sent his daughter grace to sister Lydia's house in Glen Elder, Kansas because he disapproved of the budding romance between Grace and Edward. Letters written by Grace seem to substantiate this thesis. However, the attempt to separate the two was apparently doomed for the beginning as they were married on August 16, 1916 in Alton, Illinois.
Most ot Benjamin Franklin Bennett's sons, Edward included, played semi-pro baseball in Alton, Illinois. My father told me that his father practiced ptiching by throwing green apples at the heads of chickens on the farm. Those that were hit and died were disposed of by a quick throw of the body to the hogs. Edward was pitcher for the Alton Blues and had several no-hitters to his credit. He always told me that he finally quit because he had been "beaned" many times in his career. My father told me that Edward played with Guy Bush and "Jumbo" Elliot, both of whom went on to play for the Chicago Cubs.
My father remembers as a child his father and uncles going to Macoupin Creek to fish. He also remembers visits to Dick Bennett's farm where everyone went rabbit and squirrel hunting. After the hunt the pack of dogs would always be given the entrails and hides as a special treat. Aunt Marie (Moyer) Carroll was expecially fond of squirrel brains and according to my father used to crack their skulls like walnuts.
Edward Bennett moved from Alton to Detroit, Michigan around 1931. He and Grace purchased a two-story house on 12328 Ilene Avenue. Edward was a tool and die maker, first working for the war effort and later in the manufacture of dies for automobile parts with the Ring Tool and Die Company in Detroit. He reitred on April 12, 1961.
After the death of his wife, my grandfather moved to California and lived with my father. Grandfather was a man of strong opinion in many respects, but never critical of us children, although I'm sure we tried his patience. I can remember the enjoyment he had listening to the baseball games on the radio and visiting with the neighbors.
Unfortunately, I did not think to speak to him about the family history. When he died on October 8, 1972, my only link to the more distant past was gone forever. He was a kind, gentle and well-meaning man whose memory will be with me forever.

Citations

[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett

Family Explorer

Benjamin Franklin Bennett¹

M, #26910, b. 25 December 1864, d. 19 August 1944

Pedigree Link

Family: Mary Elizabeth Sheehy (b. 11 June 1866, d. 12 January 1956)

Son	Edward Lester Bennett+ (b. 18 April 1893, d. 8 October 1972)

BASIC FACTS

Benjamin Franklin Bennett was born on 25 December 1864 in Illinois.¹ He and Mary Elizabeth Sheehy were married on 22 December 1886 in Greene Co., Illinois.¹ He died on 19 August 1944, at age 79, in Alton, Madison Co., Illinois.¹ He was buried in Oakwood Upper Alton Cemetery, Alton, Madison Co., Illinois.¹

Benjamin Franklin Bennett had reference number 27202.

Citations

[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett

Family Explorer

Mary Elizabeth Sheehy¹

F, #26911, b. 11 June 1866, d. 12 January 1956

Pedigree Link

Family: Benjamin Franklin Bennett (b. 25 December 1864, d. 19 August 1944)

Son	Edward Lester Bennett+ (b. 18 April 1893, d. 8 October 1972)

BASIC FACTS

Mary Elizabeth Sheehy was born on 11 June 1866 in Jersey Co., Illinois.¹ She and Benjamin Franklin Bennett were married on 22 December 1886 in Greene Co., Illinois.¹ She died on 12 January 1956, at age 89, in Alton, Madison Co., Illinois.¹

Mary Elizabeth Sheehy had reference number 27203.

Citations

[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett

Family Explorer

Ralph Edward Bennett¹

M, #26912, b. 19 April 1918, d. 30 May 1985

Parents

Father	Edward Lester Bennett (b. 18 April 1893, d. 8 October 1972)
Mother	Grace Geneva Carroll (b. 14 June 1895, d. 26 April 1969)

Pedigree Link

Family: Dorothy Lucille Jannison (b. 27 March 1920, d. 28 December 1967)

Son	Reb Edward Bennett+ (b. 30 August 1943, d. 29 January 2009)
Son	Dexter George Bennett+

BASIC FACTS

Ralph Edward Bennett was born on 19 April 1918 in Alton, Illinois.¹ He and Dorothy Lucille Jannison were married on 26 April 1942 in Evanston, Illinois.¹ He and Geraldine Forgus were married on 21 August 1971 in California.¹ He died on 30 May 1985, at age 67, in Carcassonne, France.¹

Ralph Edward Bennett had reference number 27204. Reb Edward Bennett wrote:

Ralph Bennett, high school class of 1936, played football for the Alton Redbird Hilltoppers. The team was called the Hilltoppers because the football field was located on a hill above the high school. The Alton team was conference champions in 1933, 1934 and 1935. My father was fullback, number 86, on Alton's 1935 undefeated team in the Madison - St. Clair Conference. The Redbirds in 1935 scored 287 points in nine games to their opponents' 14 points. The newspapers of that time compared my father with Tom Henry, 1912 Alton team, considered by many as the greatest fullback at Alton High. Ralph Bennett was unanimously chosen for the 1935 Madison - St. Clair Conference all-star team at right halfback. My father went to the University of Illinois and played fullback, number 14, for the Fighting Illini. After graduating, he coached football for a brief time at Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon.
My father used to tell with great relish the story about the day the stove blew up. It seems that his mother wanted to warm a can of spinish for dinner. Without venting the can, she put it in the oven behind which dad's dob Bob used to sleep. The dog passed the oven on his way to bed when the spinach can exploded, blew off the oven door, which hit the dog. The dog promptly raced out of the house and stayed away for several days, leaving everyone else to clean up the mess.
Just before World War II, my father joined the Navy's flight training program. Perhaps this was inspired by his first plane ride, engineered by Mabel (Bennett) Todd, at a Medora Barbecue and Pisa Fish Fry around 1923. Apparently Mabel caught the devil from Grace Bennett for this escapade. During the War my father was a pilot on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Swanee, a converted oil transport ship. The ship saw action in the Pacific, including hits by Kamikaze pilots. After rotating back to the States, he was a test pilot for the Navy. Overall he logged more than 1000 hours in planes with designations as: TBM, TBF, F6S, F4Y, SB2C, SOC, SC, PBY and OS2U.
I can remember that our family lived in a maroon house at 6819 40th NE Avenue in Seattle, Washington. The house had a full basement and I can remember my brother and I sharing a bedroom with bunk beds. From Seattle I can remember the first vacations we took to Kalock Beach on the Olympic Peninsula. My father worked for Carnation Milk at the time.
From Seattle we moved to 60 miles north of Mount Vernon, Washington. This was about 1951 and my father worked for PicSweet Frozen Foods. He later took a job with Birdseye Frozen Foods and we moved to California. After Birdseye, my father joined Morton Frozen Foods, and worked for them until he retired.
My father and step-mother enjoyed traveling. They visited Australia, New Zealand, England and made several trips to China. On May 30, 1985, Ralph Edward Bennett unexpectedly died while on vacation in Carcassonne, France. He was and good man and will be missed by those who loved him so.

Citations

[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett

Family Explorer

Dorothy Lucille Jannison¹

F, #26913, b. 27 March 1920, d. 28 December 1967

Parents

Father	George A. Jannison
Mother	Louise Amelia Gulliksen

Pedigree Link

Family: Ralph Edward Bennett (b. 19 April 1918, d. 30 May 1985)

Son	Reb Edward Bennett+ (b. 30 August 1943, d. 29 January 2009)
Son	Dexter George Bennett+

BASIC FACTS

Dorothy Lucille Jannison was born on 27 March 1920 in Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois.¹ She and Ralph Edward Bennett were married on 26 April 1942 in Evanston, Illinois.¹ She died on 28 December 1967, at age 47, in Mountain View, Santa Clara Co., California.¹ She was buried in Alta Mesa Cemetery, Palo Alto, California.¹

Dorothy Lucille Jannison had reference number 27205.

Citations

[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett

Family Explorer

Geraldine Forgus¹

F, #26914, b. 17 February 1920

Parents

Father	Edmund Laurence Forgus
Mother	Harriet Hamilton Fitzgerald

Pedigree Link

BASIC FACTS

Geraldine Forgus was born on 17 February 1920 in Glenns Ferry, Idaho.¹ She and Ralph Edward Bennett were married on 21 August 1971 in California.¹

Geraldine Forgus had reference number 27206. Geraldine was first married to Kenneth Dunn.

Citations

[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett

Family Explorer

Edmund Laurence Forgus¹

M, #26915

Pedigree Link

Family: Harriet Hamilton Fitzgerald

Daughter

Geraldine Forgus (b. 17 February 1920)

BASIC FACTS

Edmund Laurence Forgus had reference number 27207.

Citations

[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett

Family Explorer

Harriet Hamilton Fitzgerald¹

F, #26916

Pedigree Link

Family: Edmund Laurence Forgus

Daughter

Geraldine Forgus (b. 17 February 1920)

BASIC FACTS

Harriet Hamilton Fitzgerald had reference number 27208.

Citations

[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett

Family Explorer

Kenneth Dunn¹

M, #26917

Pedigree Link

Citations

[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett

Family Explorer

Reb Edward Bennett¹

M, #26918, b. 30 August 1943, d. 29 January 2009

Parents

Father	Ralph Edward Bennett (b. 19 April 1918, d. 30 May 1985)
Mother	Dorothy Lucille Jannison (b. 27 March 1920, d. 28 December 1967)

Pedigree Link

Family: Kathryn Doreen "Kathy" Noel

Daughter	Robyn Dorothy Bennett
Son	Paul Noel Bennett

BASIC FACTS

Reb Edward Bennett was born on 30 August 1943 in Columbus, Ohio.¹ He and Kathryn Doreen "Kathy" Noel were married on 8 January 1968 in Los Alton, California.¹ He and Kathryn Doreen "Kathy" Noel were divorced on 20 October 1980 in Carson City, Nevada. He and Patricia Ann Robinson were married on 11 May 1984 in Reno, Nevada.¹ He died on 29 January 2009, at age 65, in Milwaukie, Clackamas Co., Oregon.²

Reb Edward Bennett had reference number 27210. His Social Security Number was 563-60-8467, issued: California, last residence: Portland, Clackamas Co., Oregon.² REB Edward Bennett wrote:

When Grandfather Bennett died, I soon was led to a large box containing numerous, unidentified photos, which had carefully been moved to Califoria when he came to live with us. These photos, and my father's brief anecdotes piqued my curiosity. I thereupon embarked on this adventure with the singular purpose of identifying who and what I am, as could be gleaned from the lives of those ancestors who had gone before.
Like any other great detective story, the trail was cold and the search fraught with false clues and incongruities. But, more to the point, the collection of data first began in the late 1970's and was intermittently prusued when new search directions evolved. The information contained here covers not only my primary ancestral lines but, also side branches, which hopefully will provide impetus for those who wish to do research on these lines. While all effort has been made to achieve accuracy, it would be truly remarkable if the compilation of so many names, dates and other details did not involve some errors.
The passing of our 19th century forefathers signaled the end of a period in which this country progressed as no country had ever progressed before. Grandfather Bennett witnessed the advent of the auto, airplane, and although he never believed it, space travel and a man walking on the moon. Mark well this transition, for no longer would men be able to wrest by energy and brain, from land or sea, a place for themselves and their families. It also was a time when women lived frugally, married, obeyed their husbands, and reared their children, all for the most part, in domestic harmony.
How I tingled with electricity when, after stumbling through a wood south of Palmyra, Illinois, I came upon the Range Family Cemetery, long abandoned and now overgrown with vines and trees. Still, the monumints and their chisled inscriptions preserved the names and memory of those long buried in that forgotten ground. And so it is likewise that with this genealogy I hope to preserve the identities of those travelers from another time. Although gone, they are not forgotten.

Reb E. Bennett
19655 Sun Circle
West Linn, OR 97068

January 1987

OBITUARY #1

Reb Edward Bennett died January 29, 2009, at age 65. Reb was born August 30, 1943, in Mt. Vernon, Washington, where he attended school and became an Eagle Scout before moving to California where he played football and was captain of the swimming team at Los Altos High School. Reb earned a B.S.
degree in geology at the University of Oregon. He served in the U.S. Army as a radio transmitter instructor at Fort Wainwright, Arkansas, and Fort Ord, California. After he earned an M.S. degree in geology at San Jose State University, Reb served as a professional geologist for the Bureau of Land Management for many years before he transferred to the U.S. Forest Service in which he served as Regional Mining Engineer for the Pacific Northwest Region from 1987 until he retired in 1998. Survivors
include his daughter Robyn, son Paul, and former wife Katherine Frederick.

OBITUARY #2

Bennett, Reb Edward 65 08/30/1943 01/29/2009 Reb passed away peacefully in the comfort of his Milwaukie home. He was born to Dorothy and Ralph Bennett, growing up in Mt. Vernon, Wash., where Reb became an Eagle Scout. Relocating to California, Reb was a football player and captain of the swim team at Los Altos High. He went to the University of Oregon, earning his bachelor's degree in geology. Reb became a U.S. Army radio transmission instructor at Ft. Wainwright, Ark., and Fort Ord, Calif. After completing his master's degree at San Jose State University, Reb was a professional geologist with the Bureau of Land Management for many years then transferred to the U.S. Forest Service, from which he retired. An avid gardener and fisherman, Reb loved his prized ducks. His love of history led him to become a noted bottle collector. He is survived by his daughter, Robyn; son, Paul, and daughter-in-law, Jessica; former wife, Kathryn Frederick (Roger); stepmother, Margaret; and stepsisters, Barbara Dunn and Patricia Leach (John). A celebration of Reb's life will be held at River View Cemetery in the Adams Chapel.

Note: I spoke with Reb on several occasions. He had original photographs of Peter Range (1821 - 1862) and his wife Martha Rose (Crouch) Range-Ross (1832 - 1879). He offered to make me copies of the photos but, because of health reasons, it never happened. I have placed a couple of calls to his son Paul, but, so far, have not heard back.

Citations

[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett
[S12398] Social Security Death Index, Source Medium: Book

Family Explorer

Dexter George Bennett¹

M, #26919

Parents

Father	Ralph Edward Bennett (b. 19 April 1918, d. 30 May 1985)
Mother	Dorothy Lucille Jannison (b. 27 March 1920, d. 28 December 1967)

Pedigree Link

Family: Karen Abigale Hartshorn

Daughter	Carrie Lawton Bennett
Son	Samuel Ralph Bennett

Citations

[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett

Family Explorer

Kathryn Doreen "Kathy" Noel¹

F, #26920

Parents

Father	Frank Alwyn Noel
Mother	Flora Ellen Bell

Pedigree Link

Family: Reb Edward Bennett (b. 30 August 1943, d. 29 January 2009)

Daughter	Robyn Dorothy Bennett
Son	Paul Noel Bennett

BASIC FACTS

Kathryn Doreen "Kathy" Noel and Reb Edward Bennett were married on 8 January 1968 in Los Alton, California.² She and Reb Edward Bennett were divorced on 20 October 1980 in Carson City, Nevada.

Citations

[S11606] Obituary - Reb Edward Bennett
[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett

Family Explorer

Frank Alwyn Noel¹

M, #26921

Pedigree Link

Family: Flora Ellen Bell

Daughter

Kathryn Doreen "Kathy" Noel+

Citations

[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett

Family Explorer

Flora Ellen Bell¹

F, #26922

Pedigree Link

Family: Frank Alwyn Noel

Daughter

Kathryn Doreen "Kathy" Noel+

Citations

[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett

Family Explorer

Paul Noel Bennett¹

M, #26923

Parents

Father	Reb Edward Bennett (b. 30 August 1943, d. 29 January 2009)
Mother	Kathryn Doreen "Kathy" Noel

Pedigree Link

Citations

[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett

Family Explorer

Robyn Dorothy Bennett¹

F, #26924

Parents

Father	Reb Edward Bennett (b. 30 August 1943, d. 29 January 2009)
Mother	Kathryn Doreen "Kathy" Noel

Pedigree Link

Citations

[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett

Family Explorer

Karen Abigale Hartshorn¹

F, #26925

Parents

Father	Carl Larabee Hartshorn
Mother	Virginia Lawton

Pedigree Link

Family: Dexter George Bennett

Daughter	Carrie Lawton Bennett
Son	Samuel Ralph Bennett

Citations

[S7048] Genealogy prepared by Reb Edward Bennett