The family of Adam Kemery

I thought that tracing the family of Adam Kemery would be a little easier than I found it to be.  One difficulty turned out to be that several of the children have been incorrectly identified in on line trees, and one is that some of the daughters, especially, seem to have slipped through cracks.  I hope further research will help locate some of the missing information, but still, there's a lot here that I hope will help someone.  Once again, I'm indebted to Dawna Morton's tree for the framework, and much of the information, in this post.  Sometimes, I have veered from her information, basing my decision on census data, analyzing other records, and recognizing that additional information may have come to light since that tree was worked on. 

Adam was born April 15, 1849 in Whitley County, Indiana, the son of Daniel and Susannah Essig Kemery.  He married Nancy Fannie (known as Fannie) Buchtel, the daughter of Benjamin and Barbara Burkholder Long Buchtel (later Kemery) and together they had at least seven children.

Feba/Pheba was apparently the first born daughter, in 1872.  She remained at home her entire life, and died in 1920, at the age of 47.  I don't know whether she stayed at home because of health issues, or out of a love for her parents, or simply because no other opportunities were available.  

Next born was Avelina, who is a little confusing.  Census records indicate she was born in 1875, and it appears that her name was actually Sarah Avelina, who married first Samuel Eber, the son of John and Martha Cole Eber.  They had one child, Earl, before the couple divorced in 1898.  Sarah next married Frank Walter in 1904, the son of John and Mary Shinbecker Walter.  I have not been able to locate any children for them.  Sarah Avelina died in 1961.

Cora is apparently the next born, She was 6 months old at the time of the 1880 census, so probably born in 1879.  She died in 1890.

Della (middle name Clyde-was that a thing for girl's names, then?) was born on Christmas Day in 1882.  She married William H Withers, son of William A and Barbara Cook Withers.   They have two daughters, Sue and Goldie.  Della died in 1969.

At last, there was a son born, Harvey in 1886.  He married Ada Bailey, the daughter of Sherman and Nancy Huffman Bailey.  I have not located any children for them. Harvey died in 1870. 

The last known child was Benjamin, born in 1887.  I am somewhat confused as to his marriage.  Various records seem to show his wife as Lily Shaw, Lillie Mae Fleck, and Mrs. Lillie Mae Shaffer.  Part of the problem is that this Benjamin is reported to be Benjamin B Kemery, and some of the records seem to pertain to Benjamin F Kemery, who may or may not be a different person.  If he is the Benjamin F found often in Ft Wayne newspapers, he has a very interesting story.  But since I am not sure it is the same person, I shall refrain from posting it.  This needs to be researched further, but as far as I can tell, there were no children born to this marriage.  Benjamin died in 1938.

Adam and Fannie had at least six children.  There may have been another Sarah, but if so, I am unable to locate her.  Some trees show a son Earl, but he was actually the son of the woman identified as Sarah Avelina, through her marriage to Samuel Eber.  (The census taker make a mistake and listed him as a son when he was in reality a grandson, living, along with his mother Sarah, in the Kemery household in 1900.) There may have been other children or other pregnancies, but they are not noted in any records I could find.  I suppose somewhat sadly, Adam and Fannie were grandparents to just three, a grandson and two granddaughters.  I would be delighted to learn that there were more.

Most of these children had an eighth grade education, and most stayed in Whitley County, Indiana.  There are at least 7 Kemery families listed in the 1950 census in Whitley County, and it's likely there are still families there who bear that name.  

This is the last post in the confusing Kemery family line, as Della is the one our family descends from.  We're "daughtered out".