Young men in the service of their country: Frank, Jack, Mike, Dave and Matt

CHAPTER 1:  AN EVERHART FAMILY SAGA

Written and Illustrated by Mike Everhart;   Copyright © 2000-2005

Page created 10/01/00 (Updated last: 03/16/2005)

Much of the research data for the early years of the history of this Everhart family in America was provided to me by Mary Weaver, of Spickard, Missouri, who is a great granddaughter of Sarah Everhart Shepherd and who worked on her family genealogy for a number of years. (I had never met Mary before she contacted me the first time and it was really spooky when she sent me a picture of my grandmother as a young woman, and one my g-great Aunt Sarah, both of which I had recently found in the family photo albums)  Mary died in early October, 1994, with her work unfinished.  From her research, however, she firmly believed that Jacob Everhart was a son of David and Sarah Everhart and a grandson of Frederick and Nellie Everhart.   Since 1994, little has changed and the connection of my branch of the Everhart family tree to the family of Frederick Everhart is still awaiting good, solid evidence.  I have been told by several genealogists that there is no connection, but for the time being I'm going to assume that there is and keep trying to find the links.  The information on the Frederick Everhart family is correct up to the point that I say that Jacob Everhart is the son of David and Sarah Everhart..... and my Everhart genealogy is correct after that point.  The linkage is questionable.  If you are searching for Everharts in your family tree, please be aware of this possible problem.  Also, if you have ANY knowledge of the family of Jacob and Anna Everhart of DeKalb County, Indiana (circa 1850 - 1860), please contact me.

(The genealogy of Frederick Everhart is available from several sources)

Frederick Everhart was born on February 7, 1753 in Pennsylvania and died in September, 1832, in Tuscawaras County, Ohio. He served as a Private in the Lancaster County Militia during the Revolutionary War and received depreciation pay or a pension (Pennsylvania Archives, 5th Series, Vol. 8, Page 108). Lancaster County and the City of Lancaster are west of Philadelphia and north of Baltimore. Actual tax records show that Frederick was assessed for the first time in Penns Township, Northumberland County, in 1776. The records also show that only four acres of land had been cleared. The Pennsylvania Archives - Third Series, Vol. XIX, shows that Frederick paid taxes on 100 acres of land and 1 horse in 1785 in Penn's Township.

Frederick married Nellie Lyst about 1777 and they were the parents of nine children. Ellander "Nellie" Lyst was born on February 9, 1757 and died September 13, 1831 in Tuscawaras County, Ohio. She was a daughter of Jacob and _______ Lyst. Frederick and Nellie's first child, John, was born on February 22, 1778, in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania and Catherine was born on June 16, 1780. David Everhart was born on December 16, 1782, in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania and Jacob was born May 10, 1784. Elizabeth was born May 24, 1786 and died on July 28, 1874. Barnett was born January 7, 1789. Frederick Jr. was born June 25, 1790, George was born August 21, 1792 and Peter was born October 2, 1794.

Their eldest son, John, married Mary Miller and they were the parents of five children (Catherine, David, Elizabeth, John Jr. and Phillip). He died in 1862 in Rumley Township, Harrison County, Ohio. Mary died in 1858 and is buried at Old Zion Cemetery, German Township. Their oldest son, David (1801-1840), married Rachel Hicks (1801-1858). The children of David and Mary were; John, Mary, Daniel, Catherine, Marie Anne, Levi, Sarah, Elizabeth, Amos, David, Rachel and Bethiah. They moved to Tuscawaras Co. in 1840 where David died when struck by lightning. Both are buried at the Salem-Evans Creek Church cemetery.

Barnett married Rachel Hofane (Hufacker?) first and then Nancy Foster. Their first child, George Washington Everhart married Anna Everhart, who was the daughter of Barnett's younger brother, Peter. Frederick Jr. married Elizabeth Borntraeger on January 30, 1811, in Jefferson County, Ohio and died July 28, 1874 in Scott County, IN.

George married Catherine Buntriger(?) on September 10, 1816, in Tuscawaras County, Ohio. Peter married Polly Fry (Frey) first, and then Jane Barr on March 24, 1825 in Tuscawaras County, Ohio, and died on February 13, 1853.

Elizabeth Everhart married George Tope on June 25, 1812, and Catherine Everhart may have married Josephus Hunt on August 3, 1815, or William Allen on February 2, 1817, in Jefferson County, Ohio.

Samuel Everhart, a son of Frederick Jr. and Elizabeth Everhart, and a grandson of Frederick and Nellie Everhart, was born in 1833 in Scott County, Indiana. It appears that several of the children of Frederick Sr. apparently moved to Scott County, Indiana in the early 1800s. Samuel married Nancy Jane Weaver on July 25, 1854, in Scott County. They moved to Illinois and farmed the NE 1/4 of Section 16, Bainbridge Township, Schuyler County (1872 Co. Atlas).

At the age of 30+, Samuel served in Co. D of the 115th Illinois Regiment during the Civil War. Three of their children were Amos, William (Bill) and Ellen. He died on March 27, 1895, about age 62, and is buried in the Gillette Cemetery in Schuyler County, IL. (Data from Charles Burnett, 10/93)

David Everhart married Sarah Enoch about 1802-3. Sarah was born on March 16, 1787 in Greene, Pennsylvania, and was the daughter of Henry Enoch III, and Sarah Teagarten. Some years later, David and Sarah moved their family to Coshocton County, Ohio. Sarah died in Adams, Coshocton County, Ohio on May 17, 1853.

In the history of Coshocton County, Ohio, it is recorded that David Everhart settled in the wilderness of the Southeast Quarter of Section 20 in 1828. He had come from Pennsylvania about 1820 or 1821, and had settled in the White Eyes Township before coming to Coshocton County and buying land from Philip Fensler. After his death, sometime between 1847 and 1849, the land was divided equally to his children. Most of the siblings later conveyed their shares to John Everhart.

David and Sarah were the parents of: Frederick E., born May 13, 1803, in Washington County, Pennsylvania. He died on May 22, 1868. John Everhart was born January 17, 1805 and died March 13, 1882. Henry Everhart was born on February 16, 1807 and died on May 7, 1882. Ellen was born 1809/10. Catherine was born in January 11, 1811 and died August 22, 1891, in Harrison County, Missouri. She was buried in the Mitchell Cemetery at Melbourne. Peter was born February 21, 1814, in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, and died on May 22, 1883. Mary Polly was born 1815/16. George was born 1821 and died in 1870. Jacob Everhart was born about 1823 in Ohio and died sometime after 1860. Sarah was born about 1825-29. The family belonged to the Salem-Evans Creek Lutheran Church of Tuscarawas County, Ohio.

Frederick E. married Elizabeth (Betsy) Mizer on February 13, 1825 in Ohio. They had a son, David, who married Sophia Gonter in 1862. David and Sophia had 7 children; Calvin, Mary, Elizabeth, Saloma, Walter, Maggie and Ellie (Hill's History of Coshocton, Page 676).

Henry Everhart had a son, Samuel, who married Florinda Hoobler in 1857. They had six children; Eliza, Isaac, Catherine, John A., Deliah, and one deceased (Hill's History of Coshocton).

John married Judith Ann Barrack on April 19, 1832, and Henry married Barbary Mizer on April 7, 1829, both in Ohio. Ellen married John Olinger on September 17, 1826. Catherine married Joseph Benjamin Corbin on February 25, 1830, and Mary Polly married Benjamin Corbin on April 24, 1834, both in Coshocton County, Ohio. Catherine, at age 59, is in the 1870 Missouri Census (Adair County), with sons George W.(20) and Levi C.(15). She is also in the 1880 Census of Harrison County, Missouri (Sugar Creek Township). Catherine died August 22, 1891 (age 80) and is buried in the Mitchell Cemetery, Harrison County, Missouri. Benjamin and Mary Corbin (ages 61 and 56) are in the 1870 Missouri Census (Adair County). There is a 17 year old Samuel Everhart living with them. Peter married Mary Gardner on April 16, 1835 in Ohio.

George married Elizabeth (Betsy) Miser on August 30, 1839 in Coshocton County, Ohio. She had been married to his older brother, Frederick E. Everhart (What happened to the marriage or to Frederick?). George (29) and Elizabeth (34) are in the 1850 DeKalb County, Indiana Census (Union Township, Page 250B). At that time, their children are: Benjamin (8), Simon (6), Amanda (5) and Solomon (2). George's occupation is listed as "Farmer". John Miser (23, Laborer) is living with them and the farm family of Michael (48) and Mary (42) Miser is living nearby.

From the appearance of two of their children in later (1862) photographs (tin types of Benjamin and Amanda), it is likely that George Everhart and/or Betsy Miser had a lot of Indian blood. Amanda is shown with dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin, and a single beaded braid behind her right ear.  Benjamin Everhart is shown in a Union Cavalry uniform, with dark hair and skin, and a pistol held across his chest. He enlisted December 5, 1861 and was serving in Company I, Seventh Cavalry Regiment, Missouri Volunteers. At some point he was captured by Confederate forces and then returned to the Union side under a Prisoner of War exchange. He died of pneumonia on June 27, 1863, in Irontown, Missouri, at the age of 20 while serving as a hospital orderly. His brother, Simon, also a private in Company I, picked up his effects and delivered them to his parents.

Elizabeth died between 1852 and 1858, and George then married Barbara ______ who was 21 years younger than he. They are recorded in the 1860 Missouri Census for Adair County, with children: Benjamin (19, the same age as Barbara!), Simon (17), Amanda (14), Soloman (12), Samuel (10), Lemnel (8) and Samantha, aged 2 months. They also show up as a family in the 1870 Census for Adair County, Missouri, with Martha (14), Samantha (11) and William (9). It is unknown whose child Martha was but it is probable that Samantha and William are Barbara's children by George Everhart.

David and Sarah Everhart's youngest child, Sarah, may have married Jacob Garrett in 1846, at the age of 21, in Tuscawaras County, Ohio.

THE MIDDLE YEARS: From Ohio to Indiana to Missouri and ????

Jacob Everhart married Anna about 1841. Anna was apparently born in Ohio about 1822 but her maiden name is unknown for certain. There is an interesting record in the Coshocton County (Ohio) Marriages of a Jacob M. Everhart marrying a Susanna Stall on May 30, 1839. This could be their marriage record but no other proof has yet been found.

Jacob and Anna were the parents of: Sarah C. (born January 25, 1843, Coshocton County, Ohio); John (born 1845, Ohio), Mary Polly (born July 20, 1847, Coshocton County, Ohio), Hilla or Hillia (born 1850), Calvin Luther (born April 6, 1854, in DeKalb County, Indiana), Evina or Evan (a son born 1857, Indiana), and David (born 1860, Indiana).

They may have had another child, Rachael, who was recorded as born to Jacob and Susanna Everhart and was a twin to the John Everhart. The two babies were baptized in the Salem Evans Creek Lutheran Church in November, 1845. Rachael's fate is unknown. Sarah and Mary Polly Everhart were also both baptized in the Salem Evans Creek Lutheran Church, Bucks Township, Tuscarawas Co., Ohio (Mary on September 18, 1847).

The family must have moved to Indiana shortly after Mary Polly was born. They appear on Page 207 of the 1850 Federal Census of Indiana (Town of Auburn, DeKalb County), and page 212 of the 1860 Federal Census of Richland Township, DeKalb County, Indiana.  Jacob Everhart's occupation is shown as 'blacksmith' in these records. Hillia was their first child born in Indiana. The George and Elizabeth Everhart family (see above) is living in Union Township in 1850 (The town of Auburn is also in Union Township) but had moved to Missouri by 1860 (see note above).  It seems likely that these Everhart families were connected in some manner.  Ten years later (1870), both portions of both Everhart families will show up in Missouri.

It is still uncertain if any of the Jacob Everhart family saw any service in the Civil War. Jacob was still young enough to have served and John would have been 18 years old in 1864. Ohio was the home state of both Jacob and John Everhart and is adjacent to DeKalb Co., Indiana. There were three "Johns" and three "Jacobs" listed as serving from Ohio during the Civil War. In the list of men serving from the State of Indiana, there are five "John Everharts", all of which were privates. Additional research is necessary in this area. No records of their service show up in the Civil War lists maintained for DeKalb County, Indiana.

The Everhart family left DeKalb County sometime after 1868 when Jacob sold his property in Richland Township to Lucy Ward, and before the 1870 Census.  At that time, Jacob and Anna (ages 47 and 48) would have had at least three children at home (Calvin, David and Ev; ages 17, 13, and 10).  It is likely that the family moved to north-central Missouri in 1868-69 because Sarah, Mary Polly and Hillia were married there (1869-71). Unfortunately, where and when Jacob and Anna died is still not known. A preliminary check of 1880 Federal Census in White Cloud Township in Nodaway County, Missouri, shows a Jacob Everhart living there. More work needs to be done on this discovery.

In the 1870 Census for DeKalb County, Benjamin and Anna Wise have a child, Andrew Everhart, age 4, who was born in Indiana. In the 1860 Census, the same family has a daughter, Mary, age 11, who is not present in 1870 and could have been the mother of Andrew. In the 1880 Census, Andrew is still living with the family, and there is an indication that his parents may have come came from Germany. It is unknown whether or not this Andrew Everhart was a relative.

Sarah Everhart married Ulric Z. Shepherd on September 29, 1869 in Adair County, Missouri. He had served in Company G, 43rd Missouri Infantry for ten months at the end of the Civil War as a drummer boy, having enlisted at the age of 14 after his father was killed by Confederate raiders. She was 7 or 8 years older than he was when they were married, and died 25 years before he did. She had been a school teacher and may have taught Ulric to read and write. Sarah and Ulric Shepherd had 11 children, four of which died under the age of 4, and one, Samuel, who died from an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 13. Samuel was her last child and was born when she was about 45 years old.

Sarah and Ulric's first child, Mary Anna Bell, was born in Adair County, Missouri, in 1870. Their next three children, Daniel Jacob, Hila Evalena and Emma Adalin, were born in St. Clair County, Missouri, in 1871, 1873 and 1874. The next two children, Clara Rachall and Charles Ulric, were born in Davis County, Missouri, in 1876 and 1877. The last five children were born in Harrison County; William Franklin (1879), Minnie Florence (1881), Katie Jane (1883), George Wesley (1885) and Samuel Henry (1887).  The family was recorded (sheet 20) in the 1880 Federal Census of Harrison County (Sugar Creek Township), Missouri.

The Shepherd family experienced considerable tragedy during the 1870s with the deaths of four young children. Daniel Jacob died on November 13, 1873, at the age of 2 years and 2 months. Clara Rachall died on September 6, 1876, at the age of 7 months. Charles Ulric died on September 17, 1878, at the age of 1 year and 1 month. Hila Evalena died on September 29, 1878, at the age of 3 years and six months. Another son, Samuel Henry, died on February 22, 1901 at the age of 13 years and 6 months when he apparently shot himself while playing with his father's pistol.

Sarah Shepherd died on December 24, 1905 at the age of 62 and is buried in the Mitchell Cemetery, Harrison County, Missouri. It was said that she died of a broken heart over the death of her youngest son, Samuel. Ulric Shepherd re-married on August 17, 1917, to Fanny Cochran Vance, the mother of his deceased son-in-law, Henry Vance. Ulric died on May 22, 1930 and is buried in the Mitchell Cemetery in Harrison County with his first wife, Sarah Everhart, and son, Samuel.

Henry Vance had married Emma Adalin Shepherd on August 12, 1892. Henry and Emma had eleven children, starting at the age of 18; George I., born 1892, Eva E., born 1895, Fannie M., born 1896 and Annie L., born 1898. Henry Vance, apparently unable to cope with his personal problems, killed himself in 1914 while hunting with his sons. Emma died on October 10, 1944 in Harrison County at the age of 70.

There is a John Everhart that shows up in the June 1, 1880 Census of St. Clair County (Tabor Township), Missouri (southeast of Kansas City). He was single and living with the Giddeon Smith family. His age is shown as 36 (our John would have been 35 at the time). The record indicates that he was born in Ohio and both of his parents were born in Ohio. Coincidentally, the record also lists his occupation as 'blacksmith', the same as Jacob Everhart. It would seem likely that the eldest son would have the same trade as the father. No other records pertaining to John Everhart have been found.

Mary Polly Everhart married Samuel Beverlin in St. Clair County on October 31, 1871. Their first child, Nellie, was born in Missouri (January 1, 1873). Omer was born in Illinois (February 2, 1875), Clair was born in Iowa (July 30, 1877) and the family returned to Illinois before 1880. Arch Beverlin was born there on July, 1880, just after the 1880 Census. Another son, Clyde, was born in Illinois on October 7, 1883, and a daughter, Lona, was born in Missouri on November 20, 1887. They eventually moved to Gilman City, Missouri where they raised their six children. Omer, who died at age 18 is the only one of their children who is buried in the family plot in the Cats Creek Cemetery.

In the 1880 Illinois Census, Samuel and Mary Polly Beverlin were enumerated in the town of Eliza, Mercer Co., Illinois. It is possible that Calvin Everhart was living with or near his sister, Mary, about this time and could have married a Carrie Beverlin. This could explain the close relationship between Calvin and his sister, Mary Polly Beverlin, and the Beverlin family in general. However, no records of this marriage or children have been found.

Mary Polly Beverlin is listed in the 1900 Census of Harrison County (Sugar Creek Township) at age 52, with her husband Samuel and son Clyde (16) and daughter Lona L. (12). She also shows up in the 1910 Census of Harrison County (Sugar Creek Township) at age 62 and Clyde, age 26, is still apparently living at home. Her husband, Samuel, is not listed in the Census but lived until 1933. According to Mary Weaver, Samuel and Mary Polly were divorced. Mary Polly Beverlin died on March 2, 1931. Their daughter, Lonna, age 22, is there, married to a Weithall and has son, Lee A., age 5. Their son, Arch, is also there, age 29, married to Emma J. Corbin, and has a son, Lonnie. Emma is the granddaughter of Catherine Everhart Corbin and the great grand-daughter of David and Sarah Everhart.

Hillia Everhart married James Maytell on February 18, 1870 in St.Clair County, Missouri. No other records have been found in regard to her.

Ev (E.V., Evin or Evan) Everhart married Bell Bosley on January 31, 1879 in Harrison County, Missouri. There were no known children from that marriage and it is unknown what happened to Bell Everhart. Ev Everhart married for a second time about 1895 to Mary Gillespie, a widow or divorcee with two teenage children. They moved from Missouri to Washington shortly after their wedding and settled in Pomeroy, a small logging town in the southeast corner of that state. Ev worked as a sawyer in a lumber mill.  Ev and Mary had two girls, Letha and Ruth, who were born in Washington State. Ev Everhart and his family showed up as late as 1920 in the Washington Federal Census as living in Pomeroy. Both of their daughters were still unmarried and living at home. There were no records of this Everhart family when the Pomeroy Historical Society was queried in 1994.

According to Hildred Greenall, the daughter of Arch and Emma Beverlin who helped locate Calvin Luther Everhart's grave in 1992, Calvin was married first to a Carrie Beverlin. The circumstances of this marriage are unknown and it is not known if there were children. In 1995, it was discovered that there was a Thomas and Mary Beverlin family in Mercer County, Illinois, not far from Rock Island, about the same time as Calvin was in Illinois. They had four daughters, one of which was named Carrie. She would have been born in the early 1870s, and would have been too young to have married Calvin.  Carrie, however, may have been a Beverlin family name, and it is too much of a coincidence to ignore.

Calvin Luther Everhart married Mary Corbett about 1881, probably some place in western Illinois, near the city of Rock Island, although records have not yet been located. Mary Corbett was born in 1862 in Ireland and was a daughter of Patrick Corbett. She immigrated to the U.S. about 1880. She had apparently been sponsored by her aunt, Mrs. Matthew (Winifred) Harney, of Joy, Illinois (Duncan Township, Mercer County) but may have been working as a house servant in Rock Island (1880 Census). Calvin and Mary Everhart had four children; Maude (June 16, 1882- August 14, 1936), Frank Allen Everhart (1885-1927), Herman John (1888-1943) and Grace Katherine (1893-1976).

There was some question about Frank Everhart's middle name. Most earlier family accounts said it was Aloyisius but it officially appears as Allen on his Death Certificate. The Death Certificate for Maude shows that she was born on June 16, 1882, even though her gravestone says 1883. She was born in Joy, Illinois and it seems likely that Frank was born there, too. Unfortunately, there are no records available to confirm this speculation.

Sometime shortly after the birth of Frank (May 31, 1885), Calvin Everhart moved his family to Trenton in Grundy County, Missouri, near to where his sisters, Sarah and Mary Polly were living with their families (Shepherds and Beverlins). Herman and Grace were supposedly born in Trenton, Missouri and that is the place of birth shown on Herman Everhart's Honorable Discharge papers from the U.S. Army.

The family is listed on page 2 of in the 1900 Federal Census of Harrison County, Missouri (Sugar Creek Township) and Calvin's occupation is shown as "Day Laborer". In this Census, all four of their children are listed as being born in Illinois, but other records show Herman and Grace to have been born in Missouri. The family moved to Oklahoma Territory later that year and settled in Pond Creek (Grant County), Oklahoma.

In a note from Winifred (Everhart) Seger in about 1976, she provided the following information:

In 1977, Maxine Everhart Lowry, daughter of Herman Everhart, recounted her father's and Aunt Grace's version of the move to Oklahoma:

Calvin became sick shortly after arriving in Oklahoma.  He then returned to Missouri where he died on June 29, 1901 at age 47. It is unknown if any of his immediate family were with him when he died.  After his death, his wife and children continued to live in Oklahoma. Calvin is buried in the Beverlin family plot in the Cats Creek Cemetery, Harrison County, Missouri. His sister, Mary Polly Beverlin (1847-1931), his brother-in-law, Samuel Beverlin (1851-1939) and their son, Omer (1875-1893), are also buried there.

Mary Corbett Everhart died of heart failure on November 26, 1923, at the age of 61, just nine months after the birth of her grandson, Jack M. Everhart. She was living with Grace and Jim Walker at the time and is buried in the Maple Grove Cemetery, Wichita, Kansas. Maxine Lowry remembered that the gravesite was given to her by one of the families that she worked for in Wichita. According to her obituary, she had been in poor health for more than a year before her death and may have had diabetes during the last years of her life.

Maude Everhart was born on June 16, 1882 in Joy, Illinois. She was living with her mother, brother and sister in Pond Creek, Oklahoma, when she married William Henry McKay about 1904. A daughter, Ida Fern, was born on October 11, 1906. They also had two sons; Harold Frank, born June 7, 1908 and Larkin Calvin, born September 5, 1916. In 1927, William and Maude (Everhart) McKay moved to Wichita, Kansas where William worked briefly for the Cuthbert Cut Stone Company. Initially, they lived with Jim and Grace Walker in their house on Walnut Avenue and then moved into a house on North Hadley in 1928. They returned to Oklahoma before 1930 where William ('Uncle Will' as I remember him) worked as the town Marshall for most of the rest of his life.  William McKay died in 1964.

Their daughter, Fern McKay, worked as a barber in the Allis Hotel in Wichita and stayed in Wichita after her parents moved back to Oklahoma. She later returned to Pond Creek where she married Howard Halcomb. She worked as a barber in Pond Creek and died on April 18, 1965. She is buried in the Pond Creek Cemetery.

Both Harold and Larkin McKay eventually moved to Virginia. Harold worked as an engineer for the U.S. government and married Violet May Wilson on May 27, 1944. They were the parents of four children; Harold Frank Jr., Patsy Jean, William Thomas and James Austin. Harold died on September 29, 1973. Larkin married Caroline Delores Stefaniga on September 3, 1944 and they were the parents of three daughters; Janice Ann, Marilyn and Joyce Carol.

Maude (Everhart) McKay died on August 14, 1936 in Enid, Oklahoma (Garfield County) at the age of 54, and is buried in the Pond Creek Cemetery. The cause of death was listed as "Pellagra", a disease caused by a vitamin deficiency. According to her death certificate, she had the disease for nine years, or about the time that they moved to Wichita.

Frank Everhart joined the Army in Pueblo, Colorado, on May 26, 1904, less than three years after his father's death, and served for exactly three years. It is unknown what he was doing in Pueblo but he listed it as his residence instead of Pond Creek. He lied about his age when he enlisted, stating that he was twenty-two when he was actually 18. He said his birth place was Rock Island County, Illinois.  His physical examination papers showed that he was 5 foot, six inches tall and weighed 125 pounds. His eyes were brown and his hair was dark brown. He listed no medical problems but had numerous permanent scars, including two on his face and a hairy birthmark on the back of his left thigh, above his knee.

According to his enlistment record, he had been working for a year and half in Pond Creek for "E.C. Simmons" prior to joining the Army, probably as a stableman. He was enlisted into the Infantry and Jack Everhart said that he served in the Philippines. This duty would have been probably been with the occupation forces after the Philippine Insurrection. Jack Everhart has a picture of him in uniform that has brass insignia attached, indicating D Company, 28th Infantry. In the picture, an unidentified Army Sergeant of Infantry is standing next to Private Frank Everhart, with his hand on Frank's shoulder.

His grave marker indicates that he was a Private in Company H of the 21st Infantry Division. That was probably his second assignment after returning to the United States and before he mustered out in 1907. For some unknown reason in his enlistment records, Frank Everhart listed both of his parents as being dead. He had listed is sister, Grace Everhart, as the person to notify in case of an emergency and may have been trying to keep his mother from worrying about him.

He was discharged May 26, 1907, from the Army at Fort Logan, Colorado, a small post located near Littleton, just to the south of Denver. Fort Logan was built on land purchased and given to the Army by the citizens of Denver. It was later referred to as "Fort Forgotten" due to lack of attention by the Army and, although it eventually grew to cover one and a half square miles, it never was a major military installation.

Frank was probably stationed at Fort Logan during the last part of his military service during a period when troop strength was about half what was authorized.

His whereabouts is uncertain between his May 26, 1907 discharge and the death of his first wife, Ruby E. Everhart on February 5, 1915. It is possible that he met her while in the Army and they were married when he was discharged. Frank and Ruby Everhart may have lived near Denver for a while but when she died, he was working for the Orient Shops in Wichita. They were living at 1205 S. Millwood in Wichita at the time. There were no known children from this marriage. On March 1, 1915, during the 1915 Kansas Census, he was sharing the same rental house with his mother and sister, Grace.

Ruby E. Dyer was born on December 24, 1889 in either Arkansas or Missouri. Records indicate that her father's name was John Dyer. The circumstances of her marriage to Frank Everhart are unknown. She was just 25 years old when she died from tuberculosis at their home. She was buried in an unmarked but recorded grave in the Maple Grove Cemetery in Wichita.  The location is listed in the cemetery records and gravesite was located on May 26, 1995.

Seven months following the death of his first wife, Frank married Mary Jane McKay on September 7, 1915 in Osborne, Kansas. He listed his home as Downs, Kansas and he may have been working there for the railroad at the time. On the Marriage Certificate, she lists her home as Logan, Kansas. Logan was her birthplace, but she was raised in Pond Creek, Oklahoma.  She may have gone back to Logan to live with relatives. A letter to her grandmother (Margaret Atteberry McKay) from about 1910 seems to indicate that Mary Jane was living and working someplace other than in Pond Creek.

She may have known Frank Everhart briefly before he joined the Army in 1902, or they may have been re-introduced after his discharge in 1907. Her brother, William McKay, was married to Frank's older sister, Maude Everhart.

Mary Jane McKay was the daughter and last child of James Neil McKay and Nancy Jane Atteberry. She had a brother, William Henry, and three older sisters, Maude Pearl, Minnie, and Nettie May. Maude (d. 1897) and Minnie (d. 1898) both died of tuberculosis.  Nancy Jane McKay died in 1920. The McKay family came to Oklahoma in 1893 from Logan County, Kansas where J. N. McKay had been a blacksmith.  He settled in Pond Creek and built the Central Hotel and a livery stable / blacksmith shop.  Later, J. N. McKay went into the dry goods business and operated a store on the main street of Pond Creek.

RECENT HISTORY: Kansas and Oklahoma, and then Kansas again.......

After Frank and Mary Jane were married, they are listed in the Wichita City Directory from 1917 through 1920. Their first child, Winifred Marie, was born on December 29, 1919 while they were living in a small house at 309 N. Hadley. They are listed (Winifred was 4 days old) in the 1920 Federal Census for Wichita, Kansas, taken January 3, 1920.

Frank Everhart was a boilermaker in Wichita and worked in the shops in the Orient Yards (second from the right in this picture) for the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient (KCM&O) Railroad, near Harry and Seneca in west Wichita. In 1920, Frank Everhart moved his family to Fairview, Oklahoma (Major County) where his son, Jack McKay Everhart was born on February 26, 1922.

Frank was 35 years old when Winifred was born and 37 when Jack was born. He received his railroad engineer's license on November 8, 1924 and operated a switch engine during the construction of the rail line between Clinton and Fairview. While there, the family lived in a tent and rail car quarters before moving into their home in Fairview. This picture shows Mary Jane Everhart with her daughter Winifred.

Frank Everhart had apparently been injured in a train wreck (1926?) near Fairview, Oklahoma and may have been still recovering when he died at home at the age of 42 in 1927. The cause of death was listed on the Death Certificate as "Neurasthenia" and "Angina pectoris". He was working for the Orient Railroad at the time. The funeral was conducted in the family home and his body was taken to Wichita, Kansas, for burial next to his mother in the Maple Grove Cemetery. According to his obituary, he was still a member of the Church of Christ in Wichita when he died.

At the request of her sister, Nettie (McKay) Barr, Mary Everhart moved back to Pond Creek with her children to take care of their father, J. N. McKay.  There she raised her children, Winifred and Jack,  and never re-married. After  J. N. McKay's death in April, 1937, she continued to live in the Central Hotel, the rooming house that her father had built when the family first arrived in Oklahoma, and worked as the City Librarian for several years. Mary Jane (McKay) Everhart died of colon cancer in 1975 and is buried in the town cemetery at Pond Creek, Oklahoma.

Frank Everhart's sister,  Grace Katherine Everhart graduated from Pond Creek High School about 1911 as part of a Senior Class of seven students. At her graduation, Grace delivered the Class History and Will. She moved to Wichita about 1915 and lived for a short time with her brother Frank, and his first wife, Ruby, where she was enumerated in the 1915 Kansas Census. In 1916, she worked for a furniture company on West Douglas, and then continued to work as a clerk in the furniture store until she married James Alexander Walker on November 15, 1919 after his discharge from the Army.  Jim Walker had served with the U.S. Army Engineers in France during World War I.  Grace's mother, Mary Corbett Everhart, also moved to Wichita about 1915, and was living with her daughter when she died in 1923 at the age of 62. Grace Walker died in California on February 6, 1976 and is buried near San Francisco.

Jim Walker worked for the KCM&O Railroad and was working for the AT&SF (Sante Fe) Railroad where he got his Engineer's license on August 27, 1929. He retired on June 1, 1953 after 27 years of service, and died on January 9, 1964 in California.

Frank's brother, Herman Everhart, is shown in the 1910 Oklahoma Census at age 21, and was working as a waiter in a restaurant while living in Pond Creek with his mother and sister, Grace. He later moved to Wichita and was inducted into the Army on May 30, 1918, at Wichita, Kansas, at the age of 29 and 7/12 years. He is described as having dark brown hair and eyes, a fair complexion, and was 5 feet, seven inches tall.

Herman Everhart's Army service number was 512478, his rank was Private and he served in "L" Company, 14th Infantry at Camp Grant, Illinois. Herman was Honorably discharged there on April 15, 1919 after less than a year of service. He returned to Wichita and married Una Pearl Spencer on September 11, 1920. They lived in Wichita while he worked for the KCM&O Railroad and Cuthbert Stone Company.

Their daughter, Maxine, was born on August 2, 1921 while they were living at 2016 W. Lincoln Avenue in Wichita, Kansas. Herman Walker died of a heart attack on December 24, 1943 and is buried near San Francisco, California. Maxine married Horace Lowry and lives in California.

Winifred Marie Everhart married Ralph Seger on December 11, 1938 and they had one child, a daughter, Mary Ann, who was born on April 28, 1940. Winifred enjoyed collecting antiques, and worked for several years in the Grant County Clerk's Office in Medford. She died on September 27, 1986, at the age of 66.

Ralph Seger was the son of Siler and Mabel Seger of Salt Fork, Oklahoma and had a brother named Oley. He was born on June 18, 1913 and worked as a barber in Pond Creek for most of his life. Ralph Seger died August 13, 1993, at the age of 80, and is buried with Winifred in the Pond Creek Cemetery.

Mary Ann Seger married Dale Campbell on April 4, 1958, and they had two children, Debra Kay (born November 5, 1959) and Dennis Leland (born August 8, 1965). Mary Ann died of cancer in 1989 at the age of 49 and is buried in a cemetery north of Enid, Oklahoma.

Jack McKay Everhart spent the first five years of his life in Fairview, Oklahoma. These pictures show him there as a child (sitting in a suitcase, riding a toy horse, and with his sister, Winifred and a friend). After moving to Pond Creek, he liked playing cowboy and learned to rope. He also apparently wasn't afraid of a fight and managed to get a picture taken while sporting a black eye.  He played football and baseball in High School and had time for a part time job that paid for his suit at graduation and his first car.

Jack McKay Everhart graduated from Pond Creek High School in 1941 and worked in Pond Creek while living at home with his mother.  He enlisted in the Marine Corps in Oklahoma City on December 28, 1941 and was sent to San Diego for basic training. He then went to Jacksonville, Florida, for training as an aircraft mechanic.  He served in the Marines until October 28, 1945. During his tour of duty, he served in the South Pacific Theater of Operations and spent time on the islands of Guadalcanal, Palmyra and Bougainville. His primary military duty was as an aircraft mechanic. He also met Charles Lindberg briefly at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal when Lindberg was there teaching the Marines how to get the maximum performance out of their aircraft.

After his return to the United States on November 21, 1944, he was re-assigned to the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, North Carolina as an instructor. Cherry Point is in the Croatan National Forest on the east coast of North Carolina and is 40 miles from the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. It was there that he met Corporal Betty Lou Qualheim.  Enlisted in 1943, Betty was a woman marine who was working as an aircraft mechanic. A month before his discharge, on September 28, 1945, MSG Jack Everhart and Corporal Betty Qualheim were married in New Bern, North Carolina.  Betty Everhart was  honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in November, 1945.

Betty Lou Qualheim was born on October 18, 1923 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and was the oldest of the six children of Albert Qualheim and Ruth Edwardson. After Betty graduated from High School in Hannibal, Wisconsin, she worked briefly for the Kimberly Clark Paper Company before joining the Marines in October, 1943.

After leaving the service, Jack and Betty Everhart lived in Pond Creek, Oklahoma, where their first child, Michael J. Everhart, was born on July 8, 1946. They lived briefly in Wisconsin, Oklahoma and California, before eventually settling in Wichita, Kansas to raised their five children. Their four other children were; David L. Everhart (born December 26, 1948, Wichita, KS.), Steven R. Everhart (born August 22, 1953, Enid, OK.), and the twins, Sherri Ruth and Jerry Mark Everhart (born October 15, 1958, Wichita, KS). Here is a 1964 photo of Betty Everhart and her children.

When Jack started work for the Boeing Company, the family moved to the Planeview area of Wichita, Kansas. After Jack was re-called to active duty with the Marines during the Korean War in May 1951, he moved his family back to Pond Creek, Oklahoma to be near his mother and sister. When he got family quarters at Camp Pendleton, Betty drove the family across the country from Oklahoma to Oceanside, California. They lived on base near Long Beach for several months until June, 1952, when Jack was discharged from the Marines. The family then moved back to Pond Creek, Oklahoma and Jack returned to work at Boeing.

The family moved back to Wichita again and lived in a duplex on Ross Parkway in the Planeview addition until the summer of 1955. Initially, Mike and Dave attended school at MacArthur Grade School in Planeview. They switched to the Derby Grade School when the family moved south of Wichita to land where Jack was building the family home. Sherri and Jerry were born on October 15, 1958 in Wichita. Jack worked for the Boeing Company (37 years) until his retirement in 1984.

Betty worked for the Wichita State University Bookstore briefly before going to work for the Derby High School as a Teaching Assistant where she later retired.  Jack and Betty Everhart were married for 49 years.  Betty died of cancer on October 15, 1994 at their home, and was buried on her 71st birthday in the Waco Cemetery, in rural Sedgwick County.  Jack McKay Everhart died in his home on February 17, 2000, 9 days before his 78th birthday, and is buried next to Betty. They are survived by four sons and a daughter, 9 grandchildren, and one great granddaughter.

THE PRESENT GENERATIONS: Kansas and Georgia (To be added)

The rest of the family:

Chapter 2: The Qualheims - The Norwegian Connection

Chapter 3: The McKays - The Scots and the Irish