The Death of Jessie Kephart McPherson

Jessie Cordelia (Kephart) McPherson was the daughter of my maternal great grandfather, John Arthur Kephart and his first wife, Mary H. Duncan. Jessie was born December 10, 1903 in Wellston, Lincoln County, Oklahoma. 

Jessie's mother died when Jessie was just over three years old. After that time, Jessie lived with her father, while her sister, Mary Alma went to live with their grandparents, Henry and Laura (Hendee) Duncan.

When Jessie was 21 years old, she married 27 year-old, Samuel Archie McPherson. They had two sons together: Warren McPherson (1925-2017) and Larry McPherson (1928-1928).

Jessie, Standing. Seated L to R: Laura (Hendee) Duncan and Henry A Duncan

Toddler is Jessie's son, Warren McPherson. Circa 1927.

Just shy of their fifth wedding anniversary, Jessie died under mysterious circumstances. Her death is our Monday Mystery for this week. The media account of the circumstances surrounding Jessie's death appeared in a Chandler, Oklahoma newspaper as follows.

Andrew Jackson Winders and His Parentage

My maternal 3rd great grandfather, Andrew Jackson Winders, is kind of a mystery. And he has inspired me to create a new blog feature: Monday Mysteries. There is a lot of misinformation and many factual errors about Andrew on Ancestry and Family Search. I focus a lot of my research on him simply because I hate the not knowing. And since there is so much misinformation, I'm hoping this post will serve as a helpful reference for future researchers of Andrew Jackson Winders. So, let me start with some simple facts about Andrew that I know to be true.