Pannell Peter Genealogy

Greetings! At the end of Part 1, Stephen Lemont Pannell had died 24 Oct 1931, leaving his widow Eula to raise her two sons on her own, Bob, 13, and Ben, 8. Social Security hadn't been invented yet, so there were no survivor benefits in those days. I am not aware of any pensions Stephen may have earned through his government service with the Department of Justice.  The family had arrived in Santa Ana by 1929. [I am still looking for more records to establish better when they actually arrived.] Stephen passed the notoriously difficult California bar exam, and was admitted to the California Bar in December 1929 (license #11533), just two months after the stock market crash. It must have been hard for a new attorney to find work at this time. He is listed in city directories alternately as “attorney” and “salesman,” the latter for his brother-in-law’s Langley Oil. A bit more about Stephen before returning to Santa Ana. He graduated from the University of Kentucky (in Lexington—th...

Welcome back, family and friends! In the early 20th century, some Pannells and Langleys made their way from their birthplace in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, to Santa Ana, California. Roy Estell Langley (1886 – 1959) [granduncle; NextGen: great granduncle] seems to be the first to move to Southern California. Before we get to that, I will note that Roy first moved to Kansas City, MO. He lived at 4023 Charlotte and married Margaret Elizabeth Clarke, known as Bessie, on 21 Oct 1909. He was still in Kansas City when his father, Jeremiah Daniel Langley (1857 –1917) [great grandfather; NextGen: 2nd great grandfather] died there. More about his unfortunate death will follow later. He may have moved to Missouri to be with two of his sons after his wife died in 1912 ( Guy Morgan Langley, Roy and Eula's youngest brother,   is also living in Kansas City according to his 5 Jun 1917 Draft Registration for World War I). I t seems that Roy, who was apparently already involved with oil compa...

Welcome, family! I am beginning a genealogy blog to highlight some recent (and older) discoveries I have made about our ancestry, which I call Pannell/Peter Genealogy. It seems I have had more free time lately than usual.... This will be a forum to share and preserve these discoveries, and also to consolidate information about a specific ancestor/relative so it all makes more sense. One day I may put it into a family album like John Holt did for the Holt/Peter family. A few examples of things I have found recently, which I will d ea l with shortly in more detail: For William Dodd Pa nnell (1823 or 1824 –1872) [2nd great grandfather; NextGen: 3rd great grandfather], a well-known preacher, I have an entry from A History of Kentucky Baptists from 1769 to 1885. In his capacity as religious leader, the same individual presided over the wedding of a cousin Sarah Ann Dodd (Wilkins)  ( 1830–?)  [1st cousin 4x removed; NextGen: 1st cousin 5x removed]  to Monroe Lee Sheldon on 4 Ma...