MY ANCESTORS

---As mentioned earlier, I believe my ancestral mixture to consist of German, English and Scotch-Irish, a rather common blend, with perhaps an occasional dash of Native American thrown in for good measure.

---What follows is a synopsis of both my maternal and paternal ancestries. Full available data on entries is not included here but at any time, you may click on one of the "hotlinks" to find more specific details. There will be more information on some lines than others simply because more was available. Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed putting it all together.

---The two primary surnames as I trace back are Cates and Singletary. It has often been said that "I look like a Cates" so maybe that unique genetic mix I was speaking about earlier sometimes tends to favor a certain family group.

---CATES/SHELTON: The Cates lineage I have successfully traced started with Isaiah Cates, one of my 8 great-great grandfathers who married Nancy Shelton in 1841. Isaiah and Nancy had seven children named Margaret Ann (Margry), Sarah, George, Isaiah Jr., Joel, John Conley and Bette Elizabeth. John Conley was one of my 4 great grandfathers.

---KELLY/HOLMAN: Meanwhile, over in Indiana, David C. Kelly, another great-great grandfather, married a lady named Eleanor/Ellen Holman, both being born in the Hoosier State, and they had a daughter named Mary Elizabeth Kelly who married the above-mentioned John Conley Cates in 1878 in Texas. They had nine children named David Andrew (Dave), John Sanford (Sam), George William, Walter Calvin, Johanna (Josie), Martha Adaline, Mary Jane (Mamie), Nancy Alberta (Bertie) and Loyd Harold. Dave Cates, the eldest, was my maternal grandfather.

---SINGLETARY: I haven't uncovered much regarding my great-great grandfather Singletary. I'm actually not even sure of his first name although research points to James T. He was probably born in Georgia and married a lady named Elizabeth who was born in South Carolina. One of their children was named William Harrison Singletary, a great grandfather, who married Sarah Emily (Sallie) Looney in 1877 in Texas. They had ten children, only half of whom survived infancy, named Clarence Preston (Press), Robert Alexander (Alec), Herman Leroy, Ina Isola and Ernest Rayfield. Ina Singletary/Cates, the only surviving girl in the family, was my maternal grandmother.

---LOONEY/ELAM: "Sallie" Looney's mother was also named Sarah Emily. Sarah Emily Elam, one of my great-great grandmothers married William Russell Looney in 1839 in Tennessee and they had nine children named Isaac, William, Martha, Infant, Robert, Jonathan, Isola, George and the above-mentioned "Sallie," the baby of the family.

---All of the above brought together Dave Cates and Ina Singletary, my two maternal grandparents. David Andrew Cates married Ina Isola Singletary in 1902 in Oklahoma. Out of this union came seven children named Anna Rachel, Mary Emily, David Elmer, John Charles, Ina Doreen, David Andrew Jr. and Donald Brady. The only survivor of those siblings is Ina Doreen, my mother.

----Isaiah Cates/Nancy Shelton---John Conley Cates/Mary Elizabeth Kelly---David Andrew Cates/Ina Isola Singletary---Ina Doreen Cates/Ellis Leroy Masonhall---Dave Masonhall.

---David C. Kelly/Eleanor/Ellen Holman---Mary Elizabeth Kelly/John Conley Cates---David Andrew Cates/Ina Isola Singletary---Ina Doreen Cates/Ellis Leroy Masonhall---Dave Masonhall.

---James T./Elizabeth Singletary---William Harrison Singletary/Sarah Emily (Sallie) Looney---Ina Isola Singletary/David Andrew Cates---Ina Doreen Cates/Ellis Leroy Masonhall---Dave Masonhall.

---William Russell Looney/Sarah Emily Elam---Sarah Emily (Sallie) Looney/William Harrison Singletary---Ina Isola Singletary/David Andrew Cates---Ina Doreen Cates/Ellis Leroy Masonhall---Dave Masonhall.

---MESENHOLL/REUTERS/GRIEGER: Henry Mesenholl and his wife, Anna Margaretha Reuters, were the earliest known American ancestors in my Masonhall lineage. They came to America from Germany in the 1830's and settled in western Pennsylvania. Two sons, John William and John Peter and two daughters, Elizabeth and Eave Catherine, were the only known members of the family who accompanied their parents to the United States.

---William married Charlotte Grieger/Kruger of Beaver County, Pennsylvania in 1842 and they had three children named Anna Margaret, George Henry and Samuel. Peter married Johanna Wilhelmena Krueger and they had six children named Caroline, Henry G., Lewis, Elizabeth, Mary Ann and Margaret. Little is known of the descendants of the two daughters but research in that area is ongoing.

---MASONHALL/PECKHAM/HOCKENBERRY: My great grandfather George Henry Masonhall married Sarah Jane Peckham in Missouri in 1870 and they began their family of 12 children. Sarah Jane was the daughter of another set of my great-great grandparents, John C. Peckham and Isabella Hockenberry, who married in 1848 in Holmes County, Ohio and had children named Easton, James W., Mary Alice, Eliza, Emma Cook and Ella in addition to Sarah Jane. In the early 1870's, George and Sarah moved northward and to the west finally settling in Nebraska. Peter, Hannah and their family remained in Missouri and generations of cousins have grown up around Sedalia in Pettis County.

--- In 1895, George, "Jennie" and the kids packed up and moved south, settling in Kansas for a while before finally reaching their Oklahoma destination. In Oklahoma, Albert, the youngest of the 12 children and my paternal grandfather, met a lively young lady named Addie Doan and the rest, as they say, is history.

---DOANE/BECKETT: Addie was descended from a long line of Doan(e)s whose ancestry has been traced back centuries by members of the nationally-recognized Doane Family Association. Addie's grandparents, my great-great grandparents, were Richard Thomas Doane and Anna Eliza Beckett who married in 1858 in Kentucky and raised eight children named Jesse, John, William, Benjamin, Robert, Ruth, David and Lucy. Benjamin, Addie's father, married Rebecca Jane Sample.

---SAMPLE/FOLEY: Rebecca Jane Sample was the daughter of great-great grandparents David A. Sample and Nancy Foley who married in 1863 in Missouri. Her siblings included John, Martha, James, William, Katy and David. She married Benjamin Grant Doan in 1888 in Kansas and they had eleven children named Fred, Richard, Anna, Addie, Harry, Claude, Katie, Ray, Jessie, Pearl and Edith.

---MASONHALL/DOAN: Albert Masonhall and Addie Doan were married in 1915 in Fairview, Oklahoma and raised their family of two sons and one daughter on a farm near Eagle City in Blaine County, Oklahoma. One of their grandsons and a great granddaughter still live on that homeplace. Addie and Albert's surviving descendants now include one son, one daughter, three grandsons, two granddaughters, two great grandsons, four great granddaughters, two great-great grandsons and two great-great granddaughters. I am the eldest of their grandchildren.

---John William Masonhall/Charlotte Grieger---George Henry Masonhall/Sarah Jane Peckham---Albert Masonhall/Addie Doan---Ellis Leroy Masonhall/Ina Doreen Cates---Dave Masonhall.

---John C. Peckham/Isabella Hockenberry---Sarah Jane Peckham/George Henry Masonhall---Albert Masonhall/Addie Doan---Ellis Leroy Masonhall/Ina Doreen Cates---Dave Masonhall.

---Richard Thomas Doane/Anna Eliza Beckett---Benjamin Grant Doan/Rebecca Jane Sample---Addie Doan/Albert Masonhall---Ellis Leroy Masonhall/Ina Doreen Cates---Dave Masonhall.

---David A. Sample/Nancy Foley---Rebecca Jane Sample/Benjamin Grant Doan---Addie Doan/Albert Masonhall---Ellis Leroy Masonhall/Ina Doreen Cates---Dave Masonhall.