Pearl (Walkington) Towne Miars (1898-1960) - First Wife of William J Miars

My great uncle, William "Bill" James Miars (1894-1968) has been somewhat of a mystery to me over the years.  He is the oldest of my grandfather's siblings but they are twenty one years apart. When the Miars family sold the homestead in Tazewell County around 1916-1917 and moved to Jubilee Township in Peoria County, Illinois he made the move even though he was a young adult and could go where he wanted.  He was well into his 40s before taking a wife but the details of that marriage were rather sketchy as I tried to piece together this part of his life.

I grew up hearing about his second wife, Julia (Toye) Miars.  Probably because their marriage took place a few months before I was born and likely met her before she died in 1966.  But what of his first wife?  All I really knew was that her name was "Pearl" and that they had lived in Omaha, Nebraska where Uncle Bill had been living.  Census records were not much help in learning more about their marriage and life together.  Only the 1940 enumeration records are available publically.  Uncle Bill is listed as living in his mother's home in Brimfield, Illinois in 1940. (1).  So when and why did he go to Omaha and how and when did meet and marry "Pearl"?

Finding marriage information for Bill and Pearl seemed to be the place to start.  When researching family history and genealogy we are taught to start with what you know and what you have.  I found a hand written history of my grandfather's family that was created by his sister, Mary (Miars) Best.  For "William James" it listed his first wife's name as "Pearl Walkington Towne." (2)  Now I have a full name!  It also listed their marriage location as St. Louis but no date.

Frank Miars Family History report in the handwriting of Mary (Miars) Best

My search of records online did not find any marriage records for this couple.  I did find city directories for them in Omaha in the 1940s and 1950 so that at least narrowed down my search for marriage information to the early to mid 1940s,  After more online searches I decided to search newspapers.  The Brimfield News is the hometown paper for the Miars family and Uncle Bill.  This paper is online and searchable now through the website of the Brimfield Public Library Historic Newspaper collection.(3)

A search of this website came up with this item in a section of the paper called "Everybody's Business." for the edition from Thursday, November 19, 1942.

Brimfield News, 19 Nov 1942 (4)

This articles indicates that Bill and Pearl were likely married in October or November 1942 and started their married life in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  But it is the last sentence of this article that caught my attention:  "Mrs Miars was formerly Pearl Towne a cousin of Mrs F O. Wight."  Who is "Mrs. F.O. Wight?"  Because this is mentioned in this newspaper I began to speculate that somehow Pearl, my uncle's wife, may have some connection to his hometown or local area.  But how?

The surname "Wight" is familiar to me from the Central Illinois area.  I did some searches for "F O Wight" in the Brimfield News, Find A Grave and other online sites but did not find anything helpful in figuring out this new mystery.  I decided to focus my research on Pearl herself now that I had a maiden name and the surname of a possible first marriage.  This effort turned up what I was looking for.  I found a her delayed birth certificate.  This certificate was created in 1953 so it is not really a primary source for the date and place of her birth.  The people listed on the certificate were not present (except for Pearl) at the time and place of her birth.  BUT....it not only lists the names of her parents but also their birth places. (5)

Delayed Birth Certificate of Pearl Amelia Walkington - Council Bluffs, Iowa (5)

Pearl (Walkington) Miars is the daughter of Frank and Mary (Murdock) Walkington who were both born in Princeville, Illinois.  Bingo!!  This couple were both born in Peoria County not far from Brimfield.  It appears that after they married they moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa where their daughter was born and raised.

But this is likely how Bill and Pearl came to know each other.  Pearl had relatives and friends of her parents living in Peoria County where Bill was living.  It does not seem to me that they were random strangers in Iowa and Nebraska that met and married.  It seems that they had a connection somehow through Pearl's parents.

Once they married as the newspaper article indicated they made their first home in Council Bluffs, Iowa but not long after it seems that they moved across the Missouri River to Omaha.  Bill was employed by the Union Pacific Railroad as a sheet metal worker.(6)  They  must have come back to visit his family and friends in Brimfield a few times during their marriage given the photos of them that Aunt Mary Best left as well as small articles in the Brimfield News about their visits.

Pearl passed away first in late October 1960 in Omaha, Nebraska. (7)

Obituary for Pearl Miars from the Brimfield News (7)

Uncle Bill continued to live and work in Omaha.  He remarried in 1962 to Julia Toye but he outlived her as well.  He passed away in 1968 after retiring and moving back to Brimfield.

I still need to find their exact wedding date and details of her death.  I'll also be interested to look them up in the 1950 census when it is released in 2022.  But the mystery of who "Pearl" is and her connection to Central Illinois has been solved.


Related Blog Posts -
Clara (Miars) Barker - 123rd Birthday
Mary (Miars) Best

Bibliography -
(1)1940 U.S. census, Peoria County, Illinois, population schedule, Brimfield, Enumeration District (ED) 72-3, sheet 8-A (penned), p. 32-A (stamped), line 24, household 175, William Miars; digital image, Ancestry (http://ancestry.com : accessed 1 Aug 2014), citing National Archives microfilm publication T627, roll T627_864.
(2) "Frank Miars Family," handwritten report by Mary (Miars) Best, ca. 1970s; from the Mary (Miars) Best collection, currently in the personal collection of the author.
(3) I am very grateful to the past librarians of the library who lovingly kept copies of this paper going back to the 1870s.  Then the library board had the foresight to have them microfilmed and ultimately digitized so they would be freely available for researchers today and the years to come!!
(4)“Everybody’s Business,” newspaper article regarding "Mr. and Mrs. William (Bill) Miars," Brimfield (Illinois) News, 19 Nov 1942, p. 4; digital image, Brimfield Public Library (http://brimfield.advantage-preservation.com : accessed 23 Jun 2019).
(5)"Iowa, Delayed Birth Records, 1856-1940,", database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Jun 2019), entry for Pearl Amelia Walkington, 10 Jun 1898, Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County; citing State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines.
(6)William J Miars pension file, SS no. XXX-XX-1567, claim no. A879563, 1968; Records of the Railroad Retirement Board, 1934-, National Archives Record Group 184, Atlanta, Georgia.
(7)“Funeral Services For Mrs. William Miars Are Held Oct. 27,” obituary, Brimfield (Illinois) News, 3 Nov 1960, p. 1; digital image, Brimfield Public Library (http://brimfield.advantage-preservation.com : accessed 25 Jun 2019).