Clouds in My Coffee

Thomas and Elizabeth (Bending) Chizum

Josiah and Mary (Webster) Chizum

James and Frances (Thompson) Chizum

James Jenkins and Catherine (Bailey) Chizum

George Manson and Mabel Catherine (Holler) Chizum

Estel Lee and Erma Joyce (Kauffman) Chizum

Philip Lee Chizum and Donna Evalyn Mohney

Shaun Michael Mohney

George Manson Chizum was born in Clinton County, Indiana, son of James Jenkins and Catherine (Bailey) Chizum. (There is some question as to when he was born. At his marriage to Mable, he gives his birth as 15 Sep 1875. In 1917, he gave his birthdate as 15 September 1873 when registering for the draft. His death certificate states 15 Nov. 1868.) James' parents were James and Francis (Thompson) Chizum. Catherine's parents were Bazzle/Basil and Sarah Shockey.

On the 1870 Census of Colfax Post Office, Perry, Clinton County, Indiana, George is listed as 1 year old.

On the 1880 Census Perry Township, Clinton County, Indiana, George's age is given as 9. (George’s age on these censuses gives credence to the 1868 birth date.) At that time, the family consisted of Francis, William Bazzel, Elias Hinton, John Thomas, Elizabeth Jane, Joseph F., Sarah Ann, and Elijah. Another brother, James, was deceased.

On 19 April 1888, George's mother, Catherine, died. Less than a year later, on 2 December 1888, his father, James Jenkins Chizum married Emaline (Emma) Warfield Smith.

Sometime after this, probably about 1889, George left home, ending up in Texas. Some family histories state that he left at age 14, after his father remarried. But if he left after his father’s remarriage, he would have been about 18. (In later years, George told his son that there were too many people at home and he wasn't needed.) He became a fireman on the railroad for a few years. He was in a severe railroad wreck while in Texas and suffered a broken hip. He walked with a cane, and in his later years was in a wheelchair.

On 17 Feb 1895, George married Edna Yancey in Lociel, Benton County, Indiana. The couple had their first child, Walter, in 1895. Walter died 27 November 1895 and was buried in Mount Gilboa Cemetery, Benton County, Indiana. Before 1900, Edna and George divorced and she was living in California with her parents in 1900 when the census was taken, and with her 2nd husband on the 1910 census.

In the 1900 census, George was said to have been born about 1873 and was a boarder in Paw Paw, Wabash County, Indiana.

By the time the 1910 census was completed, George lived in Liberty, Fulton County, Indiana and was identified as born about 1871, a widower with a farm that was mortgaged, and living alone. Sometime before that, he had purchased a 40 acre farm, one and one-half miles south of Argos on Road 31, for $2,500.

Around this time, George met Mabel Catherine Holler, daughter of John George and Mary Ann (Swails) Holler. Their first daughter, Anna Mildred Chizum, was born 9 April 1911. George and Mabel Catherine were married on 1 October 1911 in Fulton County, Indiana.

Thursday, November 20. 1912, the Rochester Weekly Republican posted “The suit for divorce of Mabel Chizum vs Geo M. Chizum was tried today. A decision will probably be known tomorrow”.

On the same page, the Republican further reported “The divorce suit of of Mabel Chizum vx. George Chizum on the grounds of cruel and inhumane treatment, tried Friday, was dismissed for lack of evidence. What evidence was presented was of a vague and unsatisfactory nature.”

They must have reconciled their differences as on 11 February 1914, Wilbur William Chizum was born And shortly after on 17 August 1915, Howard Marion Chizum joined the family. In 1916, George and Mabel were recorded as living in Sugarloaf Township.

In 1917, George registered for the World War I draft. He was living at #5, Kewanna, Fulton County, Indiana, and was described as a tall, medium build, white male with brown hair and blue eyes, a US citizen, who had a farm and was married to Mabel. The registration card said that he had “weak limbs.”

On 4 September 1918, another son, Arthur Manson Chizum was born.

The family appeared on the 1920 Census of Liberty, Fulton County, Indiana.

On 25 April 1922, George gave information to complete his brother John Thomas Chizum's death certificate.

On 5 April 1922 , Clara Elizabeth Chizum was born, soon followed by Earl Dean on 30 November 1926 and Estel Leland Chizum on 6 March 1928.

On the 1930 and 1940 censuses, the family is living on the farm in Liberty Township, Fulton County, Indiana.

While George ran the farm, Mildred didn't just sit at home and raise their children. At some point, she became a correspondent for the News-Sentinel, the Rochester, Fulton County, newspaper.

On 7 August 1944, Mabel dies of a stroke in Fulton County, Indiana. Only 2 months earlier, she and George had moved to Argos in Marshall County, Indiana.

In 1950, George lived on Pierce Street, Union Township, St Joseph County, Indiana with the family of Warren and Sadie Bunch. He was listed as a lodger who was unable to work. Another lodger, Idear Forkner, age 89, was also unable to work.

On 20 April 1954, George died at the home of his son, Arthur, and was buried in Rochester, Indiana in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery with Mabel. (Death Certificate gives DOB as 15 Nov. 1868 and born in Boone County, Indiana.)