Month: March 2026

Whiting Part 9 – The Maths Ain’t Mathin’ … ’til They Do.

If we disregard the A.B. matches in our equations, the probability tools available very clearly point to Clyde as James’ father:

DNA Painter WATO (What Are The Odds), 22 March 2026, dnapainter.com. Hypothesizing SFW male descendants as unknown father to P.Br. without including A.B. test results.

So, what is going on with A.B., and could that provide a different hypothesis?

A.B. is a documented Whiting-McCray descendant through their daughter Louvernia – Samuel Fletcher’s sister. Louvernia married Frank Davis, and their brother Robert Stuart married Frank’s sister Mary Jane, making the children of these couples double cousins to each other. Despite the genealogical stereotype of Appalachia, this is the only, even mildly out-of-the-ordinary relationship that is identified, by documentation, among the Whiting-McCray descendant testers.

Descendants within A.B.’s collateral lines were searched for potential matches, or any indication that there may be a different or additional relationship to be considered, but exhaustive tests across the various DNA platforms revealed no such matches that were within the cM ranges to be expected for the cousin relationship.1

“Whiting Expanded” Tree, BanyanDNA. Validation run 21 Mar 2026 with Chi-Square of 0.96, but Standard Deviations of 1.8 to 3.8 when comparing A.B. and descendants’ shared cM (🔴) to any other Whiting-McCray descendants.

Reviewing the shared centiMorgans, the time frame, and the proximity of A.B.’s family to the ancestors of the Samuel Fletcher Whiting-descendant testers, we hypothesized Samuel Fletcher Whiting as the ancestor of A.B. in place of the grandfather attributed by documentation.

Recall, if you will, that Samuel Fletcher’s wife Sarah had died in April 1895. The direct ascendant of A.B., where the issue might lay, was born in May 1896. One can speculate as to all sorts of reasons there would be a mis-attributed paternity event here (the lonely widower, the remarried widow who may be unhappy in her marriage, etc.), but unless a diary or journal escapes from the woodwork, any explanation is only conjecture.

However, regardless of reasons, the statistical results were striking; the “math begins mathing” if Samuel Fletcher Whiting is the ancestor of A.B., as well as carrying the genes expected in the documented relationship through Louvernia Whiting:

“Whiting Expanded” Tree, BanyanDNA. Validation run 21 Mar 2026 with Chi-Square of 1.00. The three standard deviations above 2.0 are limited to the A.B. line (🔴) when compared to only one of two lower generation matches. Either or both of the lower generation matches may be in a closer generation that cannot be confirmed at this time, or may have additional relationships currently undiscovered. Calculations at BanyanDNA are based on Press, William H., and John Hawkins. “Likelihood Models for Forensic Genealogy.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2010.02985 (2020). Of the 89 comparisons in the calculation result, three (3) are between 2.0-2.1 SDs; 32 are between 1.1-1.7 SDs; and, 54 are within 1.0 SD of the expected value.

But, DNA match results such as these, while compelling, cannot be relied upon solely to confirm relationships. There has been no chain-of-custody in the genealogical DNA testing process; are we certain the name associated with the test is the relative we (or they!) have assigned to them? The variance in shared centiMorgans means the relationship could be one of several possibilities; what other evidence confirms the tree placement of the test results? Are there potential other or additional relationships that could affect the results? Is the suspected relationship possible when considering such things as biological age or physical proximity?

1909 DeKalb land map

Remember this map, displayed to indicate the proximity of Lee or Clyde (blue star) to Demma Williams (somewhere near the purple underscored land holders)? That red star is where Malinda Ellyson Brannon Radabaugh resided, and Samuel Fletcher Whiting was near the blue star.

In 1895, Samuel Fletcher was a 44-year-old widow, while Malinda was his 28-year-old neighbor. Samuel Fletcher Whiting remarried in 1900 and fathered two more children: Robert McCray Whiting when he was 54, and Mary Gertrude Whiting at 56. Malinda had three daughters: 10-year-old Matella Brannon, and Ethel and Maude Radabaugh, six and three, respectively; and would go on to have two children, ten and eleven years later. Thus, biological capability and proximity are proven.

A review of each party’s personal history and physical evidence (documentation claims, notwithstanding) along with analysis of shared DNA among and between 74 descendants of Robert Whiting and Sarah McCray, provides, in my view, the following conclusions to our original mysteries:

  • K.I. is a second cousin, once-removed, to me and my siblings. Our MRCA (most recent common ancestor) is the Samuel Fletcher Whiting-Sarah Wade ancestral couple.
  • A.B. is a third cousin (historical method) as well as a half-first cousin, once-removed to me and my siblings. At the third cousin level, our MRCA is the Robert Whiting-Sarah McCray ancestral couple. Additionally, I propose the DNA evidence indicates that Samuel Fletcher Whiting is the MRCA at the half-first cousin, once removed level.
  • Adoptees C.B. and M.F. are also second cousins, once-removed, to me and my siblings. Our MRCA (most recent common ancestor) is the Samuel Fletcher Whiting-Sarah Wade ancestral couple. C.B. and M.F. are half first cousins to K.I. and their siblings with James R Whiting as their MRCA.
Navigation

Return to the first post in this series, here.

If you have questions, comments, or corrections, please get in touch with me!

Footnotes
  1. Blaine T. Bettinger, “The Shared cM Project Version 4.0 (March 2020),” The Genetic Genealogist (thegeneticgenealogist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Shared-cM-Project-Version-4.pdf), or https://dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4. ↩︎

Whiting Part 8 – Samuel and his sons

Our single, unknown match from the early days of test results (K.I.) has grown into another family full of testers matching me and my siblings: K.I.’s parent, their siblings, and several among the generation descendant to them. We are also able to include their genetic cousins C.B. and M.F. who, due to adoption, could not be assigned any particular place in my, or K.I.’s, tree.

As we fine-tuned our view and scope with the (delayed for this subscriber!) introduction of Ancestry Pro Tools Enhanced Shared Matches, all the Whiting-McCray shared matches above 60 cM, as well as some well-documented and identifiable below that limit, were charted:

The Whiting-Wade matches of P.Br., K.I., etc. (red ovals with yellow highlights) effectively narrowed the Whiting-McCray descendant involved to a descendant of Samuel Fletcher Whiting and his first wife, Sarah E Wade. The two Wade testers had verifiable trees, and this, as well as geographical location, made any other relationship extremely unlikely. That P.Br., et al. had such significant Wade matches and shared with our SFW-proven and known descendants indicated that Sarah E. Wade was also in their ancestor tree.

The lower matches to the elder generation testers (the two noted at level 3 from Whiting-McCray in the far left column), who are not Whiting-Wade descendants also pointed in the same direction in that there was no corresponding line to whom the difference could be attributed; they simply didn’t have that “chunk” to share with the Whiting-Davis or Davis-Whiting descendants.

Then, finally, an Everett French Whiting descendant – though without trees, recent log-in, or response to correspondence – but who could nevertheless be confidently assigned to their position in the tree with Pro Tools shared matches, statistically eliminated EFW as being involved in the paternity of James R Whiting. This descendant had modest cM sharing only with M.F. and C.B. and did not meet Pro Tools criteria to match at all with P.Br., when the hypothesized EFW relationship has a clear designated range of shared centiMorgans (cM).1

Samuel Fletcher’s sons

Samuel Fletcher Whiting and Sarah Wade had two sons survive to adulthood: Lee Roy, born in 1877; and, Clyde Boyd, born in 1889. Both resided in the DeKalb area in 1913 (conception window for James R. Whiting), and within a very short distance of Demma Williams.2

A 1909 Gilmer County mineral rights map of the Cedar Creek, DeKalb District area, including a portion entering into Center District. The red star indicates the location of the Radabaugh Farm; the blue star is the property of Lee R Whiting (including that transferred from Samuel Fletcher prior to his second marriage) and where Clyde B Whiting would have resided ca. 1913; and, the green star indicates the location of the Everett French Whiting family on property under the name of his mother-in-law. The dark long-dash line indicates the DeKalb-Center district boundary. The names underscored in purple are the immediate neighbors of the farm rented by Harvey H Williams and occupied by him and his family (including 19-year-old daughter Demma) on the 1910 census; the exact location of the Williams residence has not been determined. For scale, the route from the mouth of Cedar Creek at the Little Kanawha River to the Sarah M Curry property (green star) is approximately 2.6 miles along the creek bed.

Lee resided with his wife and their two children. His household also included his half-brother Robert, whom Lee cared for after the death of Samuel Fletcher and his second wife, Gertrude Fishback, in 1910 and 1916, respectively. Lee was running the farm, working the timber, and serving as administrator of Samuel Fletcher’s estate after his death in 1910, which was not completed until sometime after 1915.

Clyde had still resided with Samuel Fletcher and Gertrude in the 1910 census as a single 21-year-old. That household also included the two infant children of Samuel Fletcher and Gertrude: Robert (mentioned above) and Mary. It is presumed that after the death of Samuel in October 1910, Clyde resided with Lee for some time, on the Whiting farm, although he would soon be the age of majority (21).

Clyde is next located in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He attended parties described on the society pages of The Daily Telegram in 1914 and 1916; the latter party also lists as an attendee Esta Holt. On his WWI registration card, it is confirmed he was then residing with his elder sister, Jessie Rutherford, at 206 McDowell Street, and working at the glass company. He is listed as single, age 27, which would date the card to about 1916.

An aside: When Clyde’s mother, Sarah Elizabeth Wade, died in 1895, he and the younger children were young, and the elder siblings stepped up to assist in their care. The eldest daughter, Esta, remained in the Samuel Fletcher household along with her husband Bert, and their son. Then, when Samuel remarried in 1905, she took at least one of the younger sisters (Hallie) with her and she and Bert moved to their own home in Glenville. After Samuel died in 1910, and again after his second wife and mother to the two younger children – half siblings to the others, died in 1916, the siblings again gathered those they could care for: Clyde with his sister Jessie; Hallie and her family raised young half-sister Mary; and, Lee and his wife raised young half-brother Robert. (This was despite the will that Gertrude’s brother presented for probate, appointing him as guardian to the two children.) That baby brother Clyde was shortly off to war in the midst of all this upheaval was, no doubt, quite worrisome to the family, and thus these “trench art” mementos Clyde brought home from France have been held in the family for over 100 years:

After his return from the European front during World War I, Clyde is next found on a marriage license application of 9 Feb 1920 to fellow Gilmer County native, Esta May Holt, both of whom now reside in Harrison County. He is 30 years of age and she is 28.

Clyde and Esta, prior to the 1930 census, moved to Streator, Illinois, where a better glass company position was available for Clyde, and they remained there for the rest of their lives.

So, there is evidence that both Lee and Clyde were in the neighboring area to Demma in 1914, and both were, apparently, of biological capability of procreation at that time (Lee’s youngest child with his wife, Hattie, was born in 1911, and Clyde was young man of about 25.)

Clyde and Esta had only one daughter; that daughter had three children, at least one of whom is since deceased, and there is no documentary evidence of any further descendants nor any DNA testers that can be attributed to this union.

Among Lee’s descendants, however, there are several testers, and those shared match numbers were entered into WATO along with the additional Whiting-McCray cousins, including the Whiting-Davis double-cousin relationships, to determine the most likely paternity candidate. Frustratingly, the results indicated “No Possible Hypotheses.”

So, I separated the trees for validation into those documented as Lee’s descendants, the Whiting-Wade descendants, and the Whiting-Davis double-cousin descendants using BanyanDNA. The results indicated proper placement, until we brought in A.B.’s numbers. There had to be an additional or unknown relationship we were missing, so we set that aside for a bit and went back to James.

The Timeline

With no matches appearing to indicate a maternal line relationship, we rough-drafted a tree assuming James had relationships with both Barbara and Sally. Was that possible given the chronology of events? James had been, after all, documented as having been in Virginia in 1950, when the The Virginian-Pilot, and others, reported on his petition for writ. Further, the Suffolk News-Herald of 30 Sept 1962, reporting on a second attempt for writ, had summarized the earlier attempt with:

Court action was put off several times because Whiting was ill, and in August, 1950, it was dropped altogether when he was paroled.

Given our M.F./C.B. mother allegedly born in September 1951, in Richmond, Virginia, we gathered additional evidence in attempt to determine where James was in December 1950.

Record requests were submitted to the Archives and History Library of the State of West Virginia regarding the Moundsville residency of 1935 mentioned in James’ 1940 census record; and, to the Library of Virginia regarding his stint in the Virginia State Penitentiary and any dates of release. An independent researcher was also contracted to obtain the prison register regarding the James R. Whiting, No. 100114, Box 511, Columbus 16, Ohio, (the usual protocol for Ohio State Penitentiary inmate mail), who had written to the Federal court in Norfolk, as reported in the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch and the Portsmouth Star, Norfolk, Virginia, of 21 Sep 1960.3

The findings, in timeline form, can be summarized as follows:

  • 1914 – February 21 is the overwhelmingly decided birthdate for James R Whiting, although some records reflect he claimed to be five years younger, born in 1919. No official birth record has been located despite extensive search.
  • 1927 – His FBI transcript dated 19 Jul 1938 indicates James served 15 months in the West Virginia State Industrial School for truancy in about 1927. He is not located in the 1930 census of the facility.
  • 1931 – He was arrested in Grafton, Taylor County, West Virginia, on auto theft charges and sentenced to two years in the State penitentiary (Moundsville); inmate #20871; received at the penitiary on 16 Jul 1931 – age 17; marital status is listed as single.
  • 1932 – James was discharged on expiration of sentence on November 19. His discharge paper reports his next relative is Sarah Williams of Fairmont, West Virginia.
  • 1933 – In January, James was arrested in Marion County, West Virginia, on a charge of breaking and entering. His case went before the Grand Jury where he was indicted and subsequently confessed to breaking and entering. He received a term of five years; it is noted he would be eligible for parole consideration on 26 Nov 1933. He was received from the Marion County jail at the State Penitentiary, on March 24, and assigned inmate #23089. He is listed as age 19 and married. He was discharged on 24 Dec 1937 at the expiration of his sentence. His reported next relative is Sarah Williams, 206-10th Street, Fairmont, West Virginia. The intake form further describes his “Eyes Bad,” height as 5’7″, weight as 152, blue eyes, and a “[j]agged scar above and in right eyebrow. Oblique scar upper lip. Tattoo right forearm outer – name Ruth. Tattoo right forearm inner two daggers piercing heart. Tattoo left forearm out initials J W.” No marriage record has been located in West Virginia for James R Whiting, and there has been no further evidence uncovered as to the identity of “Ruth.”
  • 1938 – Arrest in Suffolk, Virginia, for robbery and two charges of attempted murder. He was sentenced to 40 years in the Virginia State Penitentiary.
  • 1950 – Newspaper accounts indicate James was released on parole in August 1950, although the Library of Virginia could not locate a release record during 1950.4
  • 1951 – September – Purported mother of M.F. and C.B. born in Richmond, Virginia, to Barbara Lee Kidd.5
  • 1953 – James R Whiting is arrested in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on June 6, 1953, on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon. “He was convicted June 9, 1953, and was fined $50 and $7 costs. A 30-day jail sentence listed in court records was probably suspended, according to the court clerk.” (Footnote 1, infra.)
  • 1955 – James Whiting, 36, of 1886 E 82nd Street, has been arrested in Cleveland, Ohio, for robbery, six counts, and awaits the grand jury. “Whiting has told police he was addicted to drinking paregoric.”6
  • 1956 – Mr & Mrs James Whiting are listed in birth announcements as parents of a newborn daughter, published Saturday, Feb. 11, 1956, in The Cleveland Press. The DNA match identified as P.Br. has a birthdate of 2 Feb 1956.
  • 1956 – On March 15 it is reported that upon being found guilty of the robbery charges (see above), and being sentenced to the Ohio State Penitentiary for 10 to 25 years, James R Whiting inquired of the court if he could return to Virginia, where he “still has 28 years to serve.”7 His request was declined, and he was received in the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus on 19 Mar 1956.
  • 1957 – The Cleveland Press reports that Sally [redacted] Whiting, 22, of 2326 E 22nd St has charged her brother James [redacted], 20, of the same residence, with injuring her 11-month-old child (putting the child’s date of birth in approximately February 1956).8
  • 1960-1962 – Whiting begins filing writs and petitions from the Ohio State Penitentiary, and according to the register, above, a Warrant to Detain was received from the Parole Board in Richmond, Virginia on 28 Mar 1956. James was paroled from the OSP on 6 September 1962. He was returned to Virginia on the parole violation and is, in the VSP register, marked as received the same date, maintaining Prisoner #39926.
Intake photograph of James R Whiting, prisoner number 39926, on his 1962 re-admission to the Virginia State Penitentiary.
  • 1963 – James Whiting was removed to the Nansemond County jail on his pending writ hearing. Initial (January) reports indicated the writ would not be issued, and Whiting would be returned to the penitentiary. Then, with aid of counsel Frank Watkins, the same judge, James C Godwin, ordered his release on Tuesday, May 28, 1963.
  • 1964 – James has returned to Cleveland, Ohio, where he and Sally make application for a marriage license in February.9
  • 1972 – A 15-year-old boy identified as a foster son of “James and Sally Whiting,” and having “three foster sisters and one foster brother,” drowned near Perkins Beach in Cleveland. His residential address was reported as 8393 Bellevue Ave., Cleveland.
  • 1974 – James and Sally are divorced on September 12. The decree lists the grounds as Gross Neglect/Extreme Cruelty with the divorce awarded to Sally. The marriage is described as having a 10-year duration, and four minor children are in the household. The 1974 Cleveland City Directory lists: Whiting James R (Sally A) h8303 Bellevue Av.10
  • 1980 – On December 8, James is arrested on five charges of uttering/forgery and one of receiving stolen property. On December 14, Sally dies at Cleveland Metro Health.
  • 1981 – James entered a plea on the 1980 charges in August 1981, was referred for probation, and the case was closed on December 29, 1981.
  • 1986 – James dies on April 5, reportedly in Weston, Lewis County, West Virginia. (SSDI provides that as last residence.) The ashes of James (and Sally) are interred at Riverside Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio, on May 3, 1986.11

In careful and exhaustive review of the criminal records and newspaper accounts in the area, there was no direct documentation located as to James R Whiting’s whereabouts in December 1950 (about nine months prior to the birth of Barbara Lee Kidd’s daughter in September 1951). Barbara Lee Kidd had already born two children she attributed to James Garland Purdy, prior to the 1951 birth (also registered with the surname Purdy).

Recall, however, that James Garland Purdy’s mother, Mildred Purdy, was in the business of offering furnished rooms for rent in Richmond12; in fact, in JGP’s arrest records, he alternates between addresses within the block of his mother’s work and Barbara Lee Kidd’s mother’s address. Both of these addresses were within walking distance of the old Virginia State Penitentiary. One can imagine that James R Whiting may have found a room on his own, or, through the prison grapevine, heard from James Garland Purdy about a nearby landlord that may be sympathetic to the recently incarcerated and have found a room in her properties in August 1950, whereupon he happened to meet Barbara Lee Kidd.

By 1952, James Garland Purdy has been released on his latest charges, and is listed as residing at his mother’s Grace Street address on another larceny charge. James Garland Purdy and Barbara marry in March of 1953 and have a child in November of that year, but Barbara sues for divorce in April 1954 which is finalized in September. Barbara heads west, and moves on to a new life, new long-term spouse (by all accounts), and more children. James Garland Purdy is sentenced to 30 years in 1956 as a habitual offender. He gains release, but is arrested again in 1966, after which, his trail goes cold until reports of his death in 2013.

In summary, review of the documentary evidence indicates that James R Whiting was in Richmond, Virginia, in 1950, and in Cleveland, Ohio, by 1955. A BanyanDNA tree visualizing the proposed hypotheses of James R Whiting descendants, with descendants in both the Richmond area and the Cleveland area between Barbara and Sally, indicates all the shared cMs were within 1.4 of the standard deviation for the relationship proposed. The tree was statistically probable and could not be disproven by other evidence.

“3c – James Whiting Descendants” BanyanDNA tree indicating a Chi-Square result of 1.0 and highest SD of 1.4, two at 1.2, and 38 below 1.0. This places P.Br. as James R Whiting’s daughter by Sally; C.B. and M.F. as the children of another daughter of James R Whiting through Barbara Kidd, and half-first cousins to P.B., S.F., and K.I. (who are full siblings). The next generation of testers also exhibit the expected shared centiMorgans to all of the testers as diagrammed. BanyanDNA JSON file for the project, generated 22 Mar 2026, held by the author and contains tree structure, match data, expected cM ranges and probabilities for tree placement for descendants of James R Whiting.
Navigation
Footnotes
  1. Blaine T. Bettinger, JD, PhD, “The Shared cM Project Version 4.0 (March 2020),” The Genetic Genealogist (thegeneticgenealogist.com/wp-content-uploads/2020/03/Shared-cM-Project-Version-4.pdf). ↩︎
  2. Year: 1910; Census Place: Center, Gilmer, West Virginia; Roll: T624_1680; Page: 17A; Enumeration District: 0037; FHL microfilm: 1375693 ↩︎
  3. Ledger-Star, September 21, 1960, Page 10. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/ledger-star-whiting-1960-federal-court-c/151475436/ : accessed March 21, 2026). ↩︎
  4. Correspondence with Library of Virginia Archives Reference Services dated 20 Feb 2026; copy in author’s collection. ↩︎
  5. Virginia Department of Health; Richmond, VA, USA; Virginia, Births, 1912-1923
    Source Information, for SFP born 21 Sep 1951; Richmond, Virginia; Certificate number 1951062692. Ancestry.com. Virginia, U.S., Birth Records, 1912-2015, Delayed Birth Records, 1721-1920 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. ↩︎
  6. The Plain Dealer, December 21, 1955, Page 6. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-plain-dealer-james-whiting-36-1886/160743393/ : accessed March 21, 2026). ↩︎
  7. The Cleveland Press, March 15, 1956, Page 67. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cleveland-press-serve-in-oh-before-v/170027500/ : accessed March 21, 2026). ↩︎
  8. The Cleveland Press, January 17, 1957, Page 1. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cleveland-press/189715175/ : accessed March 22, 2026). ↩︎
  9. The Cleveland Press, February 24, 1964, Page 40. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cleveland-press-whiting-scott-marria/189703118/ : accessed March 21, 2026). ↩︎
  10. Cleveland City Directory, 1974. Cleveland Directory Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland Public Library, Center for Local and Global History. Image credited to Cleveland Public Library Digital Gallery at https://cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16014coll29/id/61264 : accessed March 22, 2026; in possession of author. ↩︎
  11. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/172043428/sally_ann-whiting: accessed March 21, 2026), memorial page for Sally Ann Scott Whiting (20 Apr 1934–14 Dec 1980), Find a Grave Memorial ID 172043428, citing Riverside Cemetery, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA. ↩︎
  12.  Richmond, Virginia, City Directory, 1951. Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/12089965?pId=684922491 : accessed 23 Mar 2026.  ↩︎

Whiting Part 7 – The Pieces Coming Together

Ancestry Pro Tools Enhanced shared matches, along with Full Text Search at FamilySearch.org for documentary evidence/information, improved the data analysis on these matches to an astonishing degree – said as someone who started this genealogical journey back in the SASE1-by postal mail request age!

With these new tools, the K.I. family was easily “treed,” finding the DNA-conclusive spot for P.Br. (having earlier had a P.B. match; hence the Br.): P.Br. is K.I. and P.B. and S.F.’s parent!

During my correspondence with M.F. (and the name-hint on a great-grandmother), M.F. made no mention of C.B., with whom I’d corresponded ages earlier. But, it was revealed that they are, in fact, half-siblings; and, very close cousins to the P.B. family.

Ancestry ProTools® presentation with shared matches of matches, 2024, indicating suggested relationships between the author’s and P.B.’s highest matches.

M.F.’s Ancestry tree had also been updated to reflect who was asserted to be their parents. The ethnicity of the paternal side excluded a match with the Whitings; the maternal-maternal side reflected the previously-mentioned name in our correspondence, but genetic and documentary genealogy eliminated any common ancestor within the period that was reflected by the centiMorgans and proposed relationships.

Newly listed, however, was the name of the purported maternal grandfather.

James Garland Purdy

James Garland Purdy was born in 1929, in North Carolina, to Mildred Pencie White and John W Purdy, but census records indicate he and his mother had relocated to Richmond, Virginia, by the time of the 1940 census (having listed residence of 1935 in Roanoke, Virginia)2. Mildred Purdy neé White is listed as married, but John W Purdy remains in North Carolina with a son, daughter, and is enumerated with a different wife. Step-children are in the household, and it appears John and second wife Lula had a son, born about 1944, also named James per the 1950 census.

The 1950 census3 shows Mildred living at 1005 W Grace in Richmond, described as a widow; James Garland is not listed at her residence. A James G Purdy is found in the 1950 census, at least matching as to name and birth location: Purdy – James G, White male, age 31, married, born in North Carolina,4 is reported as an inmate in the Virginia State Penitentiary in Richmond. However, Mildred’s son James Garland, should be about 21 years old, so more research is needed.

A newspaper search indicates James Garland Purdy has had a series of run-ins with law enforcement by 1950: In 1948, 18-year-old James Garland Purdy…of 1000 block of West Grace St….was arrested on charges of hit-and-run and having possession of a stolen automobile.5 In May of 1948, he was sentenced two years in the penitentiary.6 In 1949, 22-year-old James Garland Purdy of the 2300 block of Grayland Avenue was sentenced to 30 days in jail on a reckless driving charge.7 By 1952, James Garland Purdy, 22, of the 1000 block of West Grace Street, received a 15-month sentence on five charges of stealing automobile tires. It appears from the preponderance of the evidence that this is the same James Garland Purdy in the Virginia State Penitentiary in April 1950 — at the same time James R Whiting should be listed in the census there.

A review of the genealogical documentary evidence and an extensive search through DNA matches to the SFW-descendant siblings (at Ancestry.com, FamilyTreeDNA.com, MyHeritage.com, 23andMe.com, as well as GEDmatch.com) located no possible common ancestors to Mildred Pencie White or John Purdy, so our attention turned back to the reported maternal grandmother, Barbara Lee Kidd (1932-2023).

Barbara Lee Kidd was the the third of four children and elder daughter of Doris Tremer and Walter B. Kidd. Barbara was born in June of 1932, and her father died in 1939. Doris is listed as an unemployed widow with her four young children in the 1940 census.8

In 1950, we find Doris and only her youngest child residing together (along with a boarder); they are living at 2327-A Grayland Avenue when they are enumerated on 14 April 1950. Barbara Kidd, about 18 years old at the time, is not enumerated on that date, nor at return visits to the apartments along Grayland Avenue through 19 April 1950, nor can she be located elsewhere in the federal census of 1950.

The person identified as M.B.’s mother (and Barbara’s daughter) in their tree was born in September 1951. Sadly, she had died in February 2023, and M.B.’s purported maternal grandmother, Barbara, died just a few weeks later.9 A review of the other children listed as siblings in the obituary was conducted; no other matches to the confirmed Whiting descendants was located.

Where were James Garland Purdy and James R Whiting in December 1950? And where could either, or both, be connected to the Whiting tree?

Navigation
Footnotes
  1. Self-addressed, stamped envelope. E.g., https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Make-a-SASE-with-Pictures/ — this SASE is not Secure Access Server Edge. ↩︎
  2. United States Federal Census. Year: 1940; Census Place: Richmond, Richmond City, Virginia; Roll: m-t0627-04325; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 118-176 ↩︎
  3. 1950 United States Federal Census. National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Richmond, Richmond, Virginia; Roll: 746; Page: 5; Enumeration District: 119-263 ↩︎
  4. 1950 United States Federal Census. National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Richmond, Richmond, Virginia; Roll: 874; Page: 21; Enumeration District: 119-129 ↩︎
  5. Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 19, 1948, Page 11. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/richmond-times-dispatch-purdy-on-hit-and/152122911/ : accessed March 19, 2026). ↩︎
  6. The News and Advance, May 16, 1948, Page 15. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-and-advance/152122971/ : accessed March 19, 2026). ↩︎
  7. The Richmond News Leader, August 4, 1949, Page 15. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-richmond-news-leader-grand-jury-to-r/190428393/ : accessed March 19, 2026). ↩︎
  8. 1940 United States Federal Census. Year: 1940; Census Place: Richmond, Richmond City, Virginia; Roll: m-t0627-04319; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 118-8 ↩︎
  9. Sullivan Funeral Homes; Publication Date: 2023; Publication Place: Hanover, Massachusetts, USA; URL: https://www.sullivanfuneralhomes.com/obituary/barbara-caswell : accessed March 19, 2026. ↩︎

Whiting Part 6 – Sally and the 1950s

As previously described, K.I. had traced their maternal/maternal lineage, and by match analysis available at GEDmatch, the leads provided appeared to be correct. Their reported grandmother is Sally. She is presumed to have had a relationship with “James R Whiting.”

Their tree indicated Sally was a resident of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, although she was born in Los Angeles, California, in about 1935. She was the eldest daughter and second of, ultimately, 12 children. A 1940 census search located just such a person and family description.1 Sally is listed as five years of age, born in California. The 1 Apr 1935 reported residence for the family is, “Same Place,” (Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio), as it is for every person over five enumerated on the sheet, not just the her family. Sally’s father is reported as working on a WPA park project as a laborer, and the family has six children at the time, with the eldest being seven years of age.

A California birth record was located describing:

NameSally Ann [redacted for privacy]
Birth Date20 Apr 1934
GenderFemale
Mother’s Maiden NameSw***** [redacted for privacy]
Birth CountyLos Angeles

In 1950, the family appears, again in Cuyahoga County, with 10 children in the household, but noticeably absent is Sally. The elder children otherwise appear as expected from the 1940 census: There are five with the ages reported as expected considering the 1940 census report, and five children have born in the interim.2 Where is 15-16 year-old Sally?

Eventually, Sally is located and identified (same given name, middle initial, and last name; presumed age; same location of birth3) as a resident of over one year at the Columbus State School. An exhaustive online search located no court proceedings referencing her admission, so it is presumed to have been a voluntary parental admission. It is noted that the 15-year-old has completed only the third grade, but is attending school at the facility.

Four years later, the Cleveland City Directory of 1954 discloses now 20-year-old “[redacted], Sally A” is a saleswoman at Kresge’s, residing at 2435 W 4th Street.4 Her parents, “[parents names redacted],” are at 2455 W 4th Street. In 1955, Sally A is a waitress at Seaway Leader Drug, residing at 1221 E 12th Street; there is no listing that can be confirmed with her parents’ names.

There are multiple copies of very few photos of Sally appearing in trees that can be connected to K.I. or their family. Sally appears to be a very attractive and vibrant young woman, possibly pregnant in one photo, but no years or other identifying information is provided regarding the photos.

Further documentary search locates a newspaper notice of a marriage application made by “James Whitting [sic], 44, 1968 E. 70, to Sally [redacted], 29, 6316 Edna, published by The Cleveland Press, on Monday, February 24, 1964. Also located was a listing in the Ohio Divorce Index5 supporting a marriage to James Whiting which had lasted 10 years, ending on 12 Sep 1974, and reporting there are four minor children in the household.

The 1974 Cleveland City Directory reports “[Whiting] James R (Sally A) h8303 Bellevue Av6, about a mile from the Edna Avenue address reported on the 1964 marriage license application account.

Indeed, four children of the household can be identified, with three found in the Ohio Birth Index, 1908-19647: a daughter born in early 1956; a daughter born in the spring of 1962; and, a son in late summer 1965. A third daughter, born in 1959, is surmised by other evidence, including social media. All the birth records located present the Whiting surname with Sally’s maiden name under “mother.”8

K.I.’s and others’ trees report that Sally died in Cuyahoga County, in 1980, at only 46 years of age and a corresponding death record was located9.

Meanwhile, in 1950s Richmond…

A line-by-line, page-by-page search of the Virginia State Penitentiary district of the 1950 census reveals no James Whiting among the 56 pages of names.10 The enumeration dates on the records are April 27-May 2, 1950.

A newspaper search of 1950 finds a report in the 19 Feb 1950 edition of The Virginian-Pilot that James R Whiting remains a prisoner in the State Penitentiary, and has filed suit regarding his 1938 conviction:

Whiting’s chief point, in a petition written in script, is the alleged failure of the court to advise him of his right to aid of counsel.11

April news reports indicate his writ hearing — in Suffolk County — had been delayed due to health issues of Whiting; and, on 27 April 1950 (same date census reporting at the Richmond prison was begun, infra), it is reported Whiting’s writ proceedings have been dropped, without noting whether Whiting was present for the hearing; only his appointed attorney is named as present in the article.12

Wondering if, perhaps, his health issues warranted a transfer from the penitentiary to a health care facility, an exhaustive search in Virginia at Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org did not reveal any 1950 Virginia census records indexed to James Whiting matching our James, nor across the nation. The only similar listing was none other than Robert Stuart’s son, James A Whiting, who is residing with his family, his father next door, and all in Maryland.

Newspaper accounts of James’ writ for habeas corpus proceedings support the supposition that he should be listed in the penitentiary census of April 1950:

  • “l’Anson Designated” in the habeas corpus case of James Whiting against W. Frank Smyth, Jr., superintendent of the State penitentiary. The Richmond News Leader, Richmond, Virginia, March 29, 1950, page 29 : accessed 25 Jan 2026.
  • “Writ Proceedings Killed for James S. Whiting” [sic] in which it is reported that Whiting’s attorney had informed him that the man had withdrawn his petition. Ledger-Star, Norfolk, Virginia, April 27, 1950, page 4 : accessed 25 Jan 2026.
  • “Imprisoned Illegally in 1938, Man Claims,” in the Suffolk News-Herald of Suffolk, Virginia, reports on September 30, 1962, that James’ petition for writ of habeas corpus was first filed in November 1949, “…and in August 1950, it was dropped altogether when he was paroled.”

However, with his potential and reported change of locations – the Penitentiary, the Suffolk County jail, and possible health admission – it is possible he missed being enumerated in the 1950 census altogether.

Navigation
Footnotes
  1. “United States, Census, 1940”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KW5P-GS7 : Sun Jan 12 02:44:44 UTC 2025), Entry for Thomas H Scott and Kathryn R Scott, 1940. ↩︎
  2. “United States, Census, 1950”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XBC-P9V6 : Mon Mar 17 18:04:47 UTC 2025), Entry for Thomas H Scott and Kathryne Scott, 1950. ↩︎
  3. National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Columbus, Franklin, Ohio; Roll: 5929; Enumeration District: 94-308 ↩︎
  4. Cleveland Directory Co. Cleveland City Directory 1954. JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.32624216. Accessed 25 Jan. 2026. ↩︎
  5. Ohio Department of Health; Columbus, Ohio; Ohio Divorce Index, 1962-1963, 1967-1971 and 1973-2007. via Ancestry.com https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2026/records/54523?tid=113452106&pid=320117163717&ssrc=pt : accessed 20 Jan 2026. ( ↩︎
  6. Cleveland Directory Co. Cleveland City Directory 1974. Cleveland (Ohio) : Cleveland Directory Co. JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.32624258. Accessed 25 Jan. 2026. ↩︎
  7. Ohio Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics; Columnbus, Ohio; Ohio Department of Health, Index to Annual Births. ↩︎
  8. Record links withheld due to privacy concerns on living people; in possession of author. ↩︎
  9. Ohio Department of Health; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio Deaths, 1908-1932, 1938-1944, and 1958-2007. ↩︎
  10. Enumeration District: 119-129; Description: Richmond city – That part (Tract W – 3 – part), comprising State Convict Road Force and Virginia Penitentiary (Males) in Block 27 ↩︎
  11. “Whiting Seek To Set Aside Early Penalty.” Norfolk-Virginian-Pilot, 29 Feb, 1950; Section six, Page one. Online archives. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-virginian-pilot-whiting-seeks-set-as/163341775/ : Accessed 20 Jan 2026. ↩︎
  12. Ledger-Star, April 27, 1950, Page 4. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/ledger-star-whiting-proceedings-withdraw/163342427/ : accessed January 20, 2026) ↩︎