Mystery Solved: Great Grandfather PHILLIP L HUBER born Oct 31, 1844 Ohio Was Same Person as LUTHER HUBER Who Died 1915 Nashville, Tennessee

I'm still sort of in shock.

Back in 2011,  I was contacted by a researcher who was fairly certain that my great grandfather, PHILLIP L HUBER born Oct 31, 1844 in Ohio, who married CAROLINE AMELIA "CRAMELIA" FRAZIER and disappeared in 1882 at a county fair in Iowa, was the same person as LUTHER HUBER who married IDA HALE in 1891 in Nashville, Tennessee.

At the time, I thought the idea was interesting, but was unconvinced because of a lack of really solid evidence connecting the two people.  The researcher based her supposition  on LUTHER HUBER's birthdate & location (Oct 31, Circleville, Pickaway Co Ohio) and his 1915 death certificate, which indicated LUTHER's mother as "KATE SHRIVER".  Unfortunately the handwriting on the certificate was unclear and could also be transcribed as "KATE SHRINER".  And my gg grandmother CATHERINE SHRIVER wife of ELIJAH HUBER, never was known as "KATE'.

Here is a link to my blogpost on the subject  Was LUTHER HUBER Who Died 1915 Nashville TN the Same Person as my Great Grandfather PHILLIP L HUBER who Disappeared 1882 Hardin Co Iowa?

Back in 2011, I suggested that the researcher have her client tested with 23andMe.  If the researcher was correct in her supposition, the client would share a significant amount of DNA with me at the 2nd or 3rd cousin level. She indicated that she would likely not be able to convince the client to test. And so the matter went to rest.

Fast forward to 2014.  I received a message yesterday from the same researcher that she had finally convinced the person in question to test, and that he was indeed a match to both me and my brother at the 2nd to 3rd cousin level! When I did the comparison, it was obvious that we were 2nd cousins, sharing 6-8 segments of DNA, 1.72% with me, and 2.11% with my brother.

This is truly exciting news, and I am deeply grateful to the researcher for continuing to pursue this theory. My family has been baffled by this mystery for years, with no clues as to what actually happened to PHILLIP L HUBER.  The general supposition was that he was kidnapped & likely murdered at the county fair (some relatives same Hardin Co, others Marshall Co Iowa).

While I am happy to learn that great grandfather PHILLIP wasn't murdered in 1882, I am also sad that he felt compelled to abandon his wife & children.  It must have been particularly difficult for my grandfather ALONZO COX HUBER.  According to family stories, ALONZO accompanied his father PHILLIP to the fair,  and was given some money & told to meet PHILLIP at a certain location & time.   ALONZO waited for him, but PHILLIP never showed up.  ALONZO, who was age 11 or 12 at the time, must have felt terribly confused,  and possibly guilty and ashamed.  How difficult it must have been for him to go home to his mother and tell her  that her husband had simply disappeared.

Apparently PHILLIP  resurfaced as LUTHER HUBER in Nashville, Tennessee in about 1885 (I will have to check on the researcher's sources for this date).  It is possible that "LUTHER" was  PHILLIP's middle name.

In 1891, LUTHER age 47 married IDA HALE age 15 in Nashville, Tennessee.  They remained married until his death in 1915, and had two daughters, ETTA HUBER and DAISY HUBER. The family can be found in the 1900 and 1910 census Nashville, Davidson Co Tennessee.

Both ETTA HUBER & DAISY HUBER married and moved to California.

For more information see my Rootsweb tree "Ancestors of Alonzo Cox Huber".  The same tree is also available on Ancestry.com

Have a great day!

Betty

© Betty Tartas  2014