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Research in Other Countries => United States of America => Topic started by: Erato on Thursday 03 April 14 19:59 BST (UK)
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Irma Lynette Newman was born 25 February 1901 in Poynette, Columbia County, Wisconsin, the daughter of William E. Newman and Carrie Jane Logan. She was a teacher in Dixon, Illinois and later in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she died in 1975. Irma never married but, according to my grandmother, she had an adopted daughter by the name of Phyllis Merwin.
I have never found any trace of Phyllis Merwin; perhaps my grandmother was mistaken about the surname. However, the Newman family grave in Milwaukee was recently put on line at 'Find A Grave' and, aside from Irma, her parents and her sister, the plot includes a person named Phyllis A. Troyer [1935-2009]. Possibly she is the missing Phyllis Merwin.
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0yr2/
There is a brief obituary of Phyllis A. Troyer online which alludes to her [unnamed] parents but mentions no husband or children. I can't find any other trace of Phyllis Troyer so I can't be sure that she is Phyllis Merwin, but she must have some connection to the Newman family since she wound up in their burial plot.
http://www.tributes.com/show/Phyllis-A.-Troyer-86340555
Any clues as to the identity of Phyllis Merwin or Phyllis A. Troyer would be much appreciated.
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Having looked through several hundred Phyllises, I think I've found her in 1940 - Phyllis A. Mervyn in Forest County, Wisconsin. She was the youngest daughter in a large family and, interestingly, the neighbor next door was named Donald Newman. If and how Donald might be connected to William E. Newman is unknown.
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Later Edit:
I'm afraid I jumped the gun. It appears that this is not the correct Phyllis. This one died in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2001.
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Hi Erato
P TROYER
2644 50th St, Milwaukee, 53219 & Ph (414) 545-2839
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/jsonline/obituary.aspx?n=phyllis-a-troyer&pid=129944418
She taught at one point at Tess Corners Elementary, Muskego, WI 53150
Cheers
AMBLY
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Thanks, Ambly. I had found that same [or similar] address at the US Public Records Index but that's all I've found after several hours of searching. I see that Muskego is a suburb of Milwaukee. I have written to the Milwaukee Public Library to see if they can come up with a more informative obituary.
I am convinced that Phyllis Troyer [in the cemetery] must be the adopted Phyllis. Probably it was some sort of informal adoption and it must have happened between 1940 and 1944. Phyllis was not with the Newmans in the 1940 census but in 1944 my grandmother was stranded in Lisbon and she used her time to write up some family history notes. She mentioned Phyllis Merwin as an adopted daughter of her niece, Irma Newman. If Phyllis Troyer was the adopted girl, she would have been about 5-10 years old at the time of the adoption. It seems unlikely to me that her name would have been changed if she was that old but maybe Phyllis was originally her middle name. How she went from Merwin to Troyer is a mystery since no husband is mentioned in the obituary.
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I see that her church's website still has the same pastor listed with an e-mail for him. Perhaps he remembers her?
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I see that her church's website still has the same pastor listed with an e-mail for him. Perhaps he remembers her?
Do you think it would be ok to ask a clergyman? I'm not a very close relative.