My great grandaunt Mabel was the youngest child of George and Eliza Jane (Oliver) Channing. The story of Mabel's parents is both quaint and charming. Both were born in England. George was from the tiny community of Curry Mallet in Somerset, close to or in the area of England called Cornwall. Mabel's mother, Eliza Jane Oliver was the daughter of a Weslyan Reform Minister, John H. Oliver and his wife Sarah M. Haycox, all of them having been born in Cornwall, England. Eliza Jane was 13 or 14 when she met George. He travelled to America to make his fortune and made arrangements for Eliza Jane to follow him. They married in New York City almost immediately upon her arrival. Eliza Jane was only 15.
Mabel's birth family moved from New York to New Jersey, to Pennsylvania and then Colorado, where Edna and 3 of her siblings were born. Edna's father was a laborer and may have worked in the mines in Colorado.
When Mabel was only 6 years old, her father, George, died, leaving his younger wife to fend for herself with a small child still clinging to her skirts. In 1910, George, Jr. and Mabel are living with their mother. George is supporting the household as a gold miner, or at least that is what his occupation is reported. Mabel, who is 16, and her mother are not working at that time.
Family history tells us that Mabel was very dear to George, and he was a devoted big brother. In 1913, their mother died, and this is just about the same time that Mabel married Willis Eliot MIller, a man born in Missouri. George's World War I draft registration card indicates that his sister is his closest relative and is living in Mexico Twp., Audrain County, Missouri in 1918. The draft card arrives late, probably because George is in prison.
How George ended up in prison depends on whom you listen to. My grandmother, his niece, told me that they used to call him "crazy uncle George" because he was bipolar or something like that. She said that he found his brother-in-law beating his sister and killed the brother-in-law in an attempt to prevent him from killing Mabel.
Another story, and the one that was used in the trial, from what I've heard from another relative, is that George "found" the brother-in-law already dead. Most of the jury fell asleep during his trial, he had a TERRIBLE attorney, and he went to prison for 7 years. In 1920 he does appear in the Colorado penitentiary as an inmate. Thanks to a cousin of mine, I have a copy of his prison mugshot…prison stripes and all. Poor George. At MOST, he was only defending his sister, and may very well have saved her life, but he couldn't catch a break. In any case he should not have served any time, and it was an horrific time for the family.
Meanwhile, Mabel had a child from this first disastrous marriage. For some reason, the girl (Dorothy Channing Miller) was born in Florida, of all places, in 1915, and I have yet to find out why Mabel was in Florida. It's one of those details of a fascinating story that will some day, no doubt, come to light.
In 1923, Mabel married William Otto Ziege in Gilpin County, Colorado. They were together for many years. I have a record of them being divorced, but they share a tombstone in Central City Cemetery, so I am not sure of the status. I have no record of any children from this union, but Mabel's daughter from her first marriage was raised in their household and then went on to marry Goodrich Stevens Walton, also in Gilpin County. There were at least two children from that union.
I feel so sorry for Mabel, losing her father at a critically young age, a brutal first marriage right after the death of her mother, the loss of her beloved brother George to the penitentiary, and a second divorce, eventually. I often wonder why some people have sorrows and difficulties from the beginning of their life until the end, while others have more share of happiness. She is in my prayers, and I am glad she is in the arms of the Lord and this world cannot hurt her any more
Obituary copyright © 2010 Silver S. Parnell
Mabel's birth family moved from New York to New Jersey, to Pennsylvania and then Colorado, where Edna and 3 of her siblings were born. Edna's father was a laborer and may have worked in the mines in Colorado.
When Mabel was only 6 years old, her father, George, died, leaving his younger wife to fend for herself with a small child still clinging to her skirts. In 1910, George, Jr. and Mabel are living with their mother. George is supporting the household as a gold miner, or at least that is what his occupation is reported. Mabel, who is 16, and her mother are not working at that time.
Family history tells us that Mabel was very dear to George, and he was a devoted big brother. In 1913, their mother died, and this is just about the same time that Mabel married Willis Eliot MIller, a man born in Missouri. George's World War I draft registration card indicates that his sister is his closest relative and is living in Mexico Twp., Audrain County, Missouri in 1918. The draft card arrives late, probably because George is in prison.
How George ended up in prison depends on whom you listen to. My grandmother, his niece, told me that they used to call him "crazy uncle George" because he was bipolar or something like that. She said that he found his brother-in-law beating his sister and killed the brother-in-law in an attempt to prevent him from killing Mabel.
Another story, and the one that was used in the trial, from what I've heard from another relative, is that George "found" the brother-in-law already dead. Most of the jury fell asleep during his trial, he had a TERRIBLE attorney, and he went to prison for 7 years. In 1920 he does appear in the Colorado penitentiary as an inmate. Thanks to a cousin of mine, I have a copy of his prison mugshot…prison stripes and all. Poor George. At MOST, he was only defending his sister, and may very well have saved her life, but he couldn't catch a break. In any case he should not have served any time, and it was an horrific time for the family.
Meanwhile, Mabel had a child from this first disastrous marriage. For some reason, the girl (Dorothy Channing Miller) was born in Florida, of all places, in 1915, and I have yet to find out why Mabel was in Florida. It's one of those details of a fascinating story that will some day, no doubt, come to light.
In 1923, Mabel married William Otto Ziege in Gilpin County, Colorado. They were together for many years. I have a record of them being divorced, but they share a tombstone in Central City Cemetery, so I am not sure of the status. I have no record of any children from this union, but Mabel's daughter from her first marriage was raised in their household and then went on to marry Goodrich Stevens Walton, also in Gilpin County. There were at least two children from that union.
I feel so sorry for Mabel, losing her father at a critically young age, a brutal first marriage right after the death of her mother, the loss of her beloved brother George to the penitentiary, and a second divorce, eventually. I often wonder why some people have sorrows and difficulties from the beginning of their life until the end, while others have more share of happiness. She is in my prayers, and I am glad she is in the arms of the Lord and this world cannot hurt her any more
Obituary copyright © 2010 Silver S. Parnell
My great grandaunt Mabel was the youngest child of George and Eliza Jane (Oliver) Channing. The story of Mabel's parents is both quaint and charming. Both were born in England. George was from the tiny community of Curry Mallet in Somerset, close to or in the area of England called Cornwall. Mabel's mother, Eliza Jane Oliver was the daughter of a Weslyan Reform Minister, John H. Oliver and his wife Sarah M. Haycox, all of them having been born in Cornwall, England. Eliza Jane was 13 or 14 when she met George. He travelled to America to make his fortune and made arrangements for Eliza Jane to follow him. They married in New York City almost immediately upon her arrival. Eliza Jane was only 15.
Mabel's birth family moved from New York to New Jersey, to Pennsylvania and then Colorado, where Edna and 3 of her siblings were born. Edna's father was a laborer and may have worked in the mines in Colorado.
When Mabel was only 6 years old, her father, George, died, leaving his younger wife to fend for herself with a small child still clinging to her skirts. In 1910, George, Jr. and Mabel are living with their mother. George is supporting the household as a gold miner, or at least that is what his occupation is reported. Mabel, who is 16, and her mother are not working at that time.
Family history tells us that Mabel was very dear to George, and he was a devoted big brother. In 1913, their mother died, and this is just about the same time that Mabel married Willis Eliot MIller, a man born in Missouri. George's World War I draft registration card indicates that his sister is his closest relative and is living in Mexico Twp., Audrain County, Missouri in 1918. The draft card arrives late, probably because George is in prison.
How George ended up in prison depends on whom you listen to. My grandmother, his niece, told me that they used to call him "crazy uncle George" because he was bipolar or something like that. She said that he found his brother-in-law beating his sister and killed the brother-in-law in an attempt to prevent him from killing Mabel.
Another story, and the one that was used in the trial, from what I've heard from another relative, is that George "found" the brother-in-law already dead. Most of the jury fell asleep during his trial, he had a TERRIBLE attorney, and he went to prison for 7 years. In 1920 he does appear in the Colorado penitentiary as an inmate. Thanks to a cousin of mine, I have a copy of his prison mugshot…prison stripes and all. Poor George. At MOST, he was only defending his sister, and may very well have saved her life, but he couldn't catch a break. In any case he should not have served any time, and it was an horrific time for the family.
Meanwhile, Mabel had a child from this first disastrous marriage. For some reason, the girl (Dorothy Channing Miller) was born in Florida, of all places, in 1915, and I have yet to find out why Mabel was in Florida. It's one of those details of a fascinating story that will some day, no doubt, come to light.
In 1923, Mabel married William Otto Ziege in Gilpin County, Colorado. They were together for many years. I have a record of them being divorced, but they share a tombstone in Central City Cemetery, so I am not sure of the status. I have no record of any children from this union, but Mabel's daughter from her first marriage was raised in their household and then went on to marry Goodrich Stevens Walton, also in Gilpin County. There were at least two children from that union.
I feel so sorry for Mabel, losing her father at a critically young age, a brutal first marriage right after the death of her mother, the loss of her beloved brother George to the penitentiary, and a second divorce, eventually. I often wonder why some people have sorrows and difficulties from the beginning of their life until the end, while others have more share of happiness. She is in my prayers, and I am glad she is in the arms of the Lord and this world cannot hurt her any more
Obituary copyright © 2010 Silver S. Parnell
Mabel's birth family moved from New York to New Jersey, to Pennsylvania and then Colorado, where Edna and 3 of her siblings were born. Edna's father was a laborer and may have worked in the mines in Colorado.
When Mabel was only 6 years old, her father, George, died, leaving his younger wife to fend for herself with a small child still clinging to her skirts. In 1910, George, Jr. and Mabel are living with their mother. George is supporting the household as a gold miner, or at least that is what his occupation is reported. Mabel, who is 16, and her mother are not working at that time.
Family history tells us that Mabel was very dear to George, and he was a devoted big brother. In 1913, their mother died, and this is just about the same time that Mabel married Willis Eliot MIller, a man born in Missouri. George's World War I draft registration card indicates that his sister is his closest relative and is living in Mexico Twp., Audrain County, Missouri in 1918. The draft card arrives late, probably because George is in prison.
How George ended up in prison depends on whom you listen to. My grandmother, his niece, told me that they used to call him "crazy uncle George" because he was bipolar or something like that. She said that he found his brother-in-law beating his sister and killed the brother-in-law in an attempt to prevent him from killing Mabel.
Another story, and the one that was used in the trial, from what I've heard from another relative, is that George "found" the brother-in-law already dead. Most of the jury fell asleep during his trial, he had a TERRIBLE attorney, and he went to prison for 7 years. In 1920 he does appear in the Colorado penitentiary as an inmate. Thanks to a cousin of mine, I have a copy of his prison mugshot…prison stripes and all. Poor George. At MOST, he was only defending his sister, and may very well have saved her life, but he couldn't catch a break. In any case he should not have served any time, and it was an horrific time for the family.
Meanwhile, Mabel had a child from this first disastrous marriage. For some reason, the girl (Dorothy Channing Miller) was born in Florida, of all places, in 1915, and I have yet to find out why Mabel was in Florida. It's one of those details of a fascinating story that will some day, no doubt, come to light.
In 1923, Mabel married William Otto Ziege in Gilpin County, Colorado. They were together for many years. I have a record of them being divorced, but they share a tombstone in Central City Cemetery, so I am not sure of the status. I have no record of any children from this union, but Mabel's daughter from her first marriage was raised in their household and then went on to marry Goodrich Stevens Walton, also in Gilpin County. There were at least two children from that union.
I feel so sorry for Mabel, losing her father at a critically young age, a brutal first marriage right after the death of her mother, the loss of her beloved brother George to the penitentiary, and a second divorce, eventually. I often wonder why some people have sorrows and difficulties from the beginning of their life until the end, while others have more share of happiness. She is in my prayers, and I am glad she is in the arms of the Lord and this world cannot hurt her any more
Obituary copyright © 2010 Silver S. Parnell
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