Francis Garner Moffett1

b. 25 December 1844, d. 1 August 1921
Francis Garner Moffett (cropped)
photo courtesy Misty Morse
FatherAbraham Gobble Moffett1 b. 4 Jun 1817, d. 13 Jun 1903
MotherSarah Ann Davis1 b. 22 Feb 1821 or 23 Feb 1821, d. 16 Sep 1855
Birth25 Dec 1844 Francis Garner Moffett was born on 25 Dec 1844 in Freedom Township, Carroll County, Illinois.1 
Moth-Death16 Sep 1855  When Francis was 10 years old his mother died; within a year his father remarried. 
Marriage9 Oct 1872 Francis married first Mary E. Rea, daughter of George Rea and Anna (?), on 9 Oct 1872 in Mt. Carroll, Carroll County, Illinois.2 
Widowed4 Aug 1874  Mary died less than two years later. 
Marriage17 Nov 1875 He married second Clara Louisa Heffelfinger, daughter of Lewis Heffelfinger and Mary Miles, on 17 Nov 1875 in Grundy Center, Grundy County, Iowa, with the Rev. A. Carpenter presiding.3 
Death1 Aug 1921 Francis died from a kidney cyst on Monday, August 1, 1921 in Berkeley, Alameda County, California, at age 76.4 
Burial7 Aug 1921 He was buried on 7 Aug 1921 in Grundy Center Cemetery, Grundy Center, Iowa, next to his two daughters who died as young children.5,6 

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Francis Garner Moffett was my great grandfather. He is the reason I started doing genealogy. For years he was nothing more than a faded shadow flickering at the edge of my father's childhood memories. How odd it seems that we didn't even know why Francis named his children Ethel Miles, Robert Hawk and Edna Davis. Now I understand; they were windows into the history of our family.

In the winter of 2008 I completed the National Genealogical Society Home Study Course. The final assignment was to write a properly cited biography of an ancestor. Here is my story of the life of Francis Garner Moffett
Moffett marker and Francis Moffett headstone
Francis spent his childhood in Carroll County, Illinois. See the Carroll County map (also accessible via the Misc. Locations link in the menu bar at the top of any page).

Family

Clara Louisa Heffelfinger b. 9 Jul 1850, d. 18 Sep 1936
Children
ChartsDescendants of William Moffett and Mary Gardner
Descendants of Mathew Ryburn and Jane Beattie
Last Edited10 Sep 2013

Citations

  1. [S301] Clan Moffat in America Project, "Abram Gobble Moffett-#1 Sarah Ann Davis; #2 Caroline Sterne Tidd family group sheet". This is a typed family group sheet with a notation by the Clan compilers that Francis Garner Moffett (son of Abram Moffett and Sarah Davis) "made this report."
  2. [S1260] Francis G. Moffett-Mary E. Rea marriage license. The license was issued on 9 Oct. 18722 by Robert Moffett Hawk, County Clerk, who was also Francis G. Moffett's cousin. Years later Francis and his second wife would name their only son Robert Hawk Moffett.
  3. [S1261] Grundy Co., Iowa Register of Marriages 1856-1881: entry 480. License issued Nov. 16th; marr Nov. 17th.
  4. [S1262] Francis Garner Moffett, Alameda County (California) death certificate no. 268522 (1921). Clara L. Moffett informant; address: 2026 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA.
  5. [S1263] Francis Garner Moffett tombstone, Lot 244, Space 1, Fairview Section, Grundy Center Cemetery, Grundy Center, Iowa, photographed by author in June 1997.
  6. [S1904] "F.G. Moffett's Services Held Here Last Sunday," obituary, Grundy Republican (Grundy Center, Iowa), 11 Aug. 1921.
  7. [S1258] Clara Louisa Moffett, Family Bible Records, "Births."