Researching Mike Roark

Researching Mike Roark

I’ve taken a recent detour in my genealogical research to investigate the Wild West Outlaw Mike Roark.

Originally, say about a year ago, I ran into his story on the Facebook group for Wild West History Association (WWHA). I wondered, idly, whether he might have been a relative of my Roark cousins in Oregon. They’re on the side of the family where there’s a lot of color–river rats and interstate auto thieves, according to my dad. It wouldn’t be a surprise if there were a connection.

As I looked, I discovered very little seemed to be known about Mike Roark. Books, articles, and online sources focus on his colorful career, but don’t root him in genealogical history. No birth, marriage, death.

The more I looked, the more interested I became. I emailed the Kansas State Historical Society looking for information. They put me on hold for almost year–public health crisis, short staffed. When I prompted them, they came up empty but with some suggestions for further research, including a citation to an article by Chris Penn in the WWHA Journal. That sounded promising. I checked online. Denver Public Library in their Western History Collection, but it’s been endlessly closed since COVID.

Finally, I posted a message in the WWHA group, asking for help. There, I found Chris Penn,

Short Version of Roark’s Outlaw Career

Mike Roark is best known for the Kinsley Train Robbery in 1878.

“[B]efore being sentenced, [Roark] was asked about his age and responded that he was ’41 years on the 27th of last April” [Utica Weekly Herald, 5 July 1887]”.  Chris Penn. “The Train Robber and the Elocutionist: ‘Big Mike’ Roark’s Last Train Robbery,” Wild West History Association Journal 3:4 (August 2010), p. 32, n. 72.

Chris Penn. “The Train Robber and the Elocutionist: ‘Big Mike’ Roark’s Last Train Robbery,” Wild West History Association Journal 3:4, pp. 20-32.

I was able to piece together the following. Michael Roark was born 27 April 1846 in Tennessee, according to his own testimony. He married Caroline “Carrie” Cotter on 27 May 1885 in Oswego Co, NY. He died (probably) 25 May 1925 in Orange Co, TX.

Revised April 26, 2024

Lawrence Howery

Lawrence Howery

I thought today I might take a few minutes to write about the life of Lawrence (Alloway) Howery. I often get messages from other genealogists who are confused by him and his story. With some luck, I’ll be able to say enough about him I can send this link to people who ask, and not have to type it all out again and again.

Lawrence Oscar Alloway was born January 8, 1921 in Madison, Nebraska. He was son of Ira Milton Alloway and Charlotte (Preuss) Alloway. He had four older siblings: Ralph (1913), Blanche (1914), Elisie (1915), and Harry (1916).

His mother, Charlotte, died a few months later, on April 13, 1921, of complications from childbirth. Lawrence and his siblings were sent to live with other local families. I haven’t been able to trace them all. I’ve found Ralph was raised by his father’s brother Ernest Alloway. Blanche and Harry were adopted by “a family in Humphrey, Nebraska.” I don’t have any information about Elsie.

Lawrence was adopted by his father’s sister, Bertha (Alloway) Howery and her husband Rev. Elmer Philip Howery. And that begins the subsequent confusion about Lawrence’s identity. It’s the reason the baby Lawrence Alloway eventually became Lawrence Howery.

Bertha and her husband had other children, who became Lawrence’s siblings: Margaret (1906), Dudley (1910), Kenneth (1916), Wilma (1918), and later Warren (1923). There had also been a baby Mary, born in 1912 and died in 1914. But I think it was really the death of their baby Charlotte that led to them adopting Lawrence. Charlotte was born April 17, 1921, just a few days after Lawrence’s mother died, and Charlotte herself only lived a short time. She died July 12, 1921.

There might have been less confusion, but Bertha’s husband Elmer died a year later, on November 22, 1922 in Fremont, Nebraska. Coupled with the birth of baby Warren the following January, Bertha must have had a difficult time. She married Evi Long in March 1924, and had another baby Carrol in December.

We don’t know when Bertha gave up Lawrence, but by 1930 he was living with Bertha’s sister-in-law, Eldora (Howery) Wright and her husband Sam Wright in Chico, California. Lawrence Wright appears on the 1930 census there, with no indication he was not their natural son (and no indication he had been Lawrence Howery before that). We know from family tradition Eldora and Sam Wright moved from Nebraska to Chico in the 1920s. My guess is baby Lawrence was already in their household and moved with them.

From there, Lawrence history is easy to trace if you know his different names. Growing up in California, Lawrence used the surname Wright, as we might expect from that time and place. According to articles in the local paper, he graduated from Central Grammar School June 1, 1935 under the name Lawrence Alloway Wright. He graduated from Chico High School in May 1939 using the same name.

However, he seems to have settled on the name Lawrence Howery when he enlisted in the army in 1939. Probably that was the name he could best support using legal records available to him. under the name Lawrence Howery. His enlistment papers say he was a resident of Butte County (that is, probably Chico) and (supposedly) had a year of college. He appears on the 1940 census at Honolulu, Hawaii also as Lawrence Howery, Private 1st Class. (He was still there in 1941, when he survived the attack on Pearl Harbor.) An article about him appeared in the local newspaper, Chico Record, published in 1943 calls him Lawrence Wright Howery, however on his wedding announcement in the same newspaper, he was listed as Lawrence (Howery) Wright. He was discharged in 1945, at the end of the war. Just before his discharge, he registered for the draft, also giving his name as Lawrence Howery.

I found some articles in the Chico newspaper. Lawrence Alloway Wright graduated from (Grammar school) Central, Jun 1, 1935. He went to school with my aunt, Lida Geraldine Wright. He graduated from Chico High School May, 1939 using the name Lawrence Alloway Wright. In 1943 on the marriage announcement, he used Lawrence (Howery) Wright. In 1946 article, about his schooling to become an Airline mech, for Western Airlines, I think he used Lawrence Howery. 

At some point, probably in conjunction with applying for Social Security, he got a delayed birth certificate, with his name as Lawrence Oscar Howery, son of Elmer Howery.

Notable Kin

Notable Kin

The person links below are to FamilySearch. Other links are to sites with additional information.

American Revolution

These men fought to liberate the thirteen original colonies from England between 1775 and 1783.

  1. Capt. Andrew Grant
  2. James Kenney

California Gold Rush

  • William Howe
  • Horse thief

Civil War

Clergy

  1. Rev. Elmer Phillip Howery (?-1921), Methodist minister

Colorado Gold Rush

Colorado Pioneers

  • Gillespie, Left Hand Canyon
  • Oard

Colorful Characters

  1. Frances Mariam “Mamie” (Bair) Tarter, Madam in Big Piney, Wyoming – mother-in-law of great grandfather
  2. Sarah Elizabeth (Luce) Hickman (1828-1909) – 3rd great aunt

Danites

The Danites were a group of Mormon vigilantes.

  • William Adams “Wild Bill” Hickman (1815-1883) – 3rd great uncle
  • Jason Reid Luce – 3rd great uncle
  • John Martin “Matt” Luce – 3rd great uncle
  • Wilford Woodruff Luce – 2nd great grandfather

Gateway Ancestors

Gateway ancestors are colonial immigrants to North America with proven lines to European royalty.

  1. Rose (Stoughton) Otis (1629-1677), descendant of Edward I – 8th great grandmother

Mayflower Passengers

Indian Massacres

Indian Wars

  1. Jason Luce – 2nd great uncle

Religious Leaders

Musicians

Politicians

  1. Leikny Øgrim (1953- ), Norwegian feminist
  2. Ruth Bernhardina (Øgrim) Bull (1911-2005), wife of Brynjulf Friis Bull (1906-1933), Mayor of Oslo – 2nd cousin 1x removed
  3. Tron Øgrim (1947-2007), one of the founders of the Norwegian Workers’ Communist Party – 3rd cousin

Royalty and Nobility

  1. Edward III, King of England

Salem Witch Trials

These are accusers and participants of the Salem Witch Trials, which occurred in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. Rampant paranoia ensued in the 1690s when young girls accused others of performing witchcraft. Many of the accused were hanged in one of the darkest periods of human history.

Salvation Army

Scottish Prisoners of War

These Scottish men were captured by the English and deported to the British colonies in North America. The Battles of Durham (1650) and Worcester (1651) were battles of the Scottish Covenanters against the English under Oliver Cromwell. Their descendants organized the Scottish Prisoners of War Society. The Battle of Culloden in 1746 ended the Jacobite resistance to the Hanoverian dynasty.

  • Peter Grant (c1632-1709/12), deported to Maine after the Battle of Dunbar in 1650
  • William Shaw (c1720-aft 1777), deported to Virginia in 1746 after the Battle of Culloden in 1746 – xth great grandfather
  • John Sinclair (c1634-bef 1700), deported to Maine after the Battle of Dunbar in 1651

South Pass Gold Rush

These people came to South Pass, Wyoming after the discovery of gold there in 1867. Bill Hickman was skirmishing with the U.S. Army near Ft. Bridger, but his diary shows he and a band of his boys were at South Pass.

Territorial Pioneers

These people lived in territories of the United States prior to statehood.

  1. Gillespie
  2. Denver Howes, Montana Howes

Town Founders

  • Col. Henry B. Gillespie (1847-1903), father of Aspen, Colorado – 1st cousin 4x removed
  • Jacob Howry, founder of Howrytown, Virginia

United Empire Loyalists

  • Walliser

Utah Pioneers

These people were Utah pioneers (before the coming of the railroad in 1869). See Mormon Pioneer Database for additional details.

  1. Malatiah Luce, arrived in 1848, pioneer of Salt Lake City – 4th great grandfather
  2. Mary Ann (Wheeler) Luce, arrived in 1848, pioneer of Salt Lake City – 3rd great grandmother
  3. Ruth (Grant) Luce (1775- ), arrived in 1848, pioneer of Salt Lake City and Ogden – 4th great grandmother
  4. Stephen Luce, arrived in 1848, pioneer of Salt Lake City – 3rd great grandmother
  5. James Pace
  6. Annie (Quarmby) Luce, arrived in 1847, pioneer of Salt Lake City – 2nd great grandmother
  7. Ira Samuel Sutton (1809-1894), pioneer of Green River

Utah War of 1858

These men served in the Nauvoo Militia, attempting to prevent the annexation of Deseret by the United States.

  • Stephen Luce – 3rd great grandfather

Wild West

  1. William Adams “Wild Bill” Hickman (1815-1883) – 3rd great uncle
  2. Sarah Elizabeth (Luce) Hickman (1828-1909) – 3rd great aunt
  3. Wilford Woodruff Luce
  4. Wilford Woodruff Luce, Jr.
  5. James Pace

Wyoming Pioneers

  1. Wilford Woodruff Luce, Jr. (1864-1948), rancher – great grandfather

Disproven and Doubtful Connections

  1. Josephine de Beauharnais, Empress of the French.
  2. Sven Duwall, Swedish baron. The Wåhlstrand family has a tradition they are descended from an illegitimate son.
  3. Tom Horn, gunslinger.
  4. John Howland, Mayflower passenger.
  5. Frans Ludvig Svanström (c1625-1678), Swedish noble.
  6. Sven (Rospigg) Eketrä (c1562-1626), Swedish noble. He was rumored to be an illegitimate son of Duke Magnus Vasa.
  7. Gustaf I Vasa, King of Sweden.

Other

  1. Jonny Edwards, according to FamilySearch, he is descended from Michel Haché (c1660-1737), of Acadia in French Canada. This Michel is supposed to be son of a “Sauvage Eskimaude (savage Eskimo).

This post is modeled after Chris Ferraiolo’s Notable Relations page at Wikitree

Originally published at Wikitree.com. This article is updated periodically to add new information and to revise links.

Rachel (Roberson) Horne

Rachel (Roberson) Horne

Rachel Roberson has consumed a lot of my genealogical research time. She is supposed to have been Indian, or perhaps part Indian. I’ve wanted to find some answers but now years of research have given me so much information it seems almost impossible to say anything helpful.

She was Rachel (Roberson) Horne (1847-1944), my grandmother’s grandmother. More exactly, my father’s mother’s father’s mother. Traditions in different branches of the family tell me she smoked a corncob pipe, and she taught beading and basket weaving to her daughters and granddaughters. Rachel’s sympathies were with the South during the Civil War (“She was one of the onriest Rebels there was”).

My genealogy correspondents seem to be aware William Horne’s wife was Indian, but none of them have had any further information except to attribute his nomadic life and extreme poverty to her influence.

The 1850 and 1860 censuses show Rachel as the daughter of Rufus and Elizabeth (Lomax) Roberson. She is said to have had a brother Thomas Skidmore Roberson, as well as an unnamed sister who married a Lakota man. That marriage is implied to have been the origin of the connection between our family and the family of Pete Catches.

There is a curious tradition that Rachel was sold by her parents. It’s not clear whether she is supposed to have been sold to the Robersons by her Indian parents, or she is supposed to have been sold by the Robersons to Wiliam Horne as a wife.

Rachel is shown on censuses as the only child of Rufus and Elizabeth Roberson. This might support the tradition she was adopted but DNA triangulation seems to show she was probably their biological daughter. Her descendants have autosomal matches with descendants of Rufus Roberson’s brothers Benjamin and Craig.

I’ve found no evidence of the brother or sister Rachel is said to have had, except a magazine clipping of a picture of a Lakota boy in traditional dress on which my father wrote, “This is the grandson of Rachel Horn’s sister.” The clipping seems to be from a 1960s or 70s magazine such as Life or Look. I’m relatively certain the boy pictured is Pete Catches, Jr.

Related

Were They Pawnee?

Were They Pawnee?

According to a tradition current among some of my cousins, my great great grandmother Rachel (Roberson) Horne (1847-1944) was Pawnee. I don’t think so. Nothing else points in that direction.

I asked my grandmother Evelyn (Horn) Miller one year at Powwow about our Indian ancestry. She said she had always assumed they were Pawnee. A few years later she told her daughter Fern she had lately changed her mind. She now believed they were Cherokee because they owned slaves, which is something the Cherokees did.

I think the idea Rachel was Pawnee was probably just an assumption based on geography. Rachel’s parents lived in Atchison County, Missouri, just across the Missouri River from the Nemaha Half Breed Reservation (established 1830, dissolved 1860), as well as from land ceded by the Pawnee in 1833. Rachel’s family settled in this area in 1839.

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