Dalton, William R

[pumpguy]

Searching for the parents of William Robert Dalton, Born in 29 Sept 1885 in Macks Creek, Missouri. Married Della Mae Stover in 1909 in Camden County, MO. Later moved to Rogers, Ark. William went to prison for train robbery in 1920, (I think) and got released in 1923. He joined the Army in 1918.
I’m completely stumped since All 1890 census records have been lost. I need help to find his parents, supposedly born in Kansas, and his mother born in Kentucky. I can’t seem to find any information to lead me in a direction to find this family. Any help would be appreciated. Wm is my wifes Grandfather.

[shellyesq]

Here are the places I would look:

1) marriage certificate (which may or may not list his parents' names)

2)  1900 census (if he was 15, he may still have been living with his parents)

3)  death certificate (if parents' names were known, they would probably be listed)

4)  obituary (may list parents or siblings, which could help lead to parents)

5)  if he lived long enough to get a Social Security number, his original Social Security application should list his parents based on his own information.  Ancestry.com has a database with some of these applications, or they can be ordered for a fee as explained here - https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2016/01/06/ordering-the-ss-5-redux/

[shellyesq]

Are you sure he joined the army?  I see his WWI draft registration card from September 1918, which all men of his age were required to fill out.  Since the war ended 2 months later, most men who registered at that time weren't actually drafted.

[pumpguy]

Not sure he was actually drafted. Only registered.

[shellyesq]

This seems like a possibility for William in the 1900 census - https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3CM-QN5  He's in the same town where he was with Della in 1910. 

[pumpguy]

I’m 90% sure this is not the same WR Dalton. I have family letters as to DOB and city he was born in. I have had this family in my data base for a while, and many things don’t fit.

[shellyesq]

On a family tree for the family from the 1900 census, someone has the same birth date you mentioned above given for a David Dalton who died young.  http://www.brendasbranches.com/getperson.php?personID=i1332&tree=tree1  I don't know if they got their information mixed up or perhaps William was a twin?

Sometimes dates on census records came from people who don't know the actual information or the census taker bungled it, so I wouldn't rule it out based on that.

Do you have any information on William after 1923?

[pumpguy]

I have seen that WHDalton's family and it don't match. When he got out of prison in 1923 he completely disappeared. He wrote a letter to his wife whom he divorced and gave up all perental responsibility. No one has heard from him since. Della remarried a couple of times.

[shellyesq]

In what way doesn't the other family match?  If I were you, I would try to contact the person who runs that family tree to see if they have any further information.

Do you have an actual marriage record for William and Della?  Have you tried to contact the county in Missouri to see if they have a birth record for the date you have?