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Saturday, February 2, 2013

Albert Allen Wilkins & Mary Chase Wilkins

Obediah and Celia's second son was my great grandfather, Albert Allen Andrew Jackson "Bud" Wilkins born in 1852 in Mississippi.  In 1875 he married Mary Chase also born in Mississippi in 1852 the daughter of John Chase and Mary Trotter.  Albert died in 1906 in Grant, OK.  Mary died in 1928 in Hugo, OK where she had been living with her daughter Adeline Wilkins Schroeder.  My aunts Mary Edd and Jo Ella had dim memories of their paternal grandmother, Mary Chase.

This image and many more I will soon post were in the collection of Addie Wilkins Schroeder.  In late 2011 through Ancestry.com I was contacted by Kathleen Wilkins of Dallas TX.  Kathleen is a family researcher who is married to a another descendant of Obediah and Celia.  She provided me with the name and phone number of Joe Wilkins now living in New Orleans. After several phone calls and lengthy conversations with Joe we established our genealogical relationship.
Albert Allen "Bud" Wilkins
Mary Chase Wilkins

Since beginning this hobby I had been challenged with finding my Wilkins roots.  My mother and her three sisters were able to give me names and locations from their memories and a few pictures mainly from their childhood but very little about their grandparents.

They knew their father, Granville Cylvesta Wilkins had two brothers (Ellis and Jim) and one sister Addie.  They knew they lived in Hugo, OK in the 1940's.  They also knew that Ellis married an "indian woman" and they had two sons, their only first cousins, Lloyd and Lucian.  They knew that Lucian had been killed in World War II.  My aunt Mary Ed Wilkins Ryan, before her death in 1975 had sent me all the family photos she had.  I put my Wilkins research on the back burner and pursued the Grove line.

After speaking with Joe Wilkins we both realized that we had reconnected the descendants of Albert Allen and Mary Chase Wilkins.  He immediately knew of my grandfather, Granville.

Mary Chase Wilkins and her daughter Adeline Wilkins Schroeder
Joe grew up in Hugo, OK.  His paternal grandmother, Minnie Wood (Ellis' wife) was indeed part Choctaw and she had died at the age of 25 leaving their two sons (Lloyd and Lucian) in the care of their aunt Addie and uncle Frank.  Joe and his brother, Robert grew up viewing Addie and her husband Frank as "grandparents" since Addie and Frank were stand-in parents to their father Lloyd.
Lloyd Wilkins, Auntie Addie, Lucian Wilkins



Joe was the "gold mine" of Wilkins family lore, pictures, and data about my missing Wilkins ancestors. He too had an interest in family history and had documented all the details immediately filling in my Wilkins research.

I will soon post pictures and stories that Joe has shared with me.  Especially interesting are the story of Lucian Wilkins World War II bravery and the continuing mystery of Granville and Ellis' brother, Jim.

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