Merlin Douglas Masten (I119)^[1]

1887 - 1962  (74 years)

• Name	Merlin Douglas Masten  [2]
  Birth	21 Dec 1887	Boque Chitto, Lincoln County, Mississippi, United States   [3, 4, 5, 6]
  Gender	Male
  US SSN	460-24-6404  [7]
  Occupation	Mining Engineer/Rancher  [8]
  Census	15 Jun 1900	Ward 4, Sabine Parish, Louisiana, United States   [9]
  Residence	Jun 1917	Teel, Grant County, New Mexico, United States   [3]
  Residence	Mar 1918	Teel, Grant County, New Mexico, United States   [10]
  Residence	Jan 1920	El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, United States   [8]
  1308 Montana Street
  Census	16 Jan 1920	Voting Precinct 24, El Paso City, El Paso County, Texas, United States   [8]
  Census	21 Apr 1930	Ward 25, St. Louis, Missouri, United States   [11]
  Residence	Apr 1935	Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas, United States   [12]
  Census	8 Apr 1940	Tulsa City, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, United States   [12]
  Residence	Apr 1942	San Diego, San Diego County, California, United States   [6]
  229 Ivy Street
  Death	5 Mar 1962	Bellingham, Whatcom County, Washington, United States   [7]
  Burial	12 Mar 1962	Woodlawn Cemetery, near Ferndale, Whatcom County, Washington, United States   [13]
  Person ID	I119	Lindell-Herndon Genealogy
  Last Modified	11 Feb 2019

  
  

  Father	Horace Greely Masten,   b. 12 Oct 1857, Loogootee, Martin County, Indiana, United States d. 10 Dec 1911, Neame, Vernon Parish, Louisiana, United States (Age 54 years)
  Mother	Alice Frances Stone,   b. 29 Jan 1865, Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, United States d. 10 Jun 1916, Oakdale, Allen Parish, Louisiana, United States (Age 51 years)
  Marriage Intention	20 Apr 1886	Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, United States   [14]
  Marriage	Aft 20 Apr 1886	_______, Hinds County, Mississippi, United States   [14]
  Notes	20 Apr 1886 is the date Horace Greely Masten and Alice Frances Stone declared their intent to marry and registered with with the Hinds County clerk. It *IS NOT* the date of their marriage. [14]
  Family ID	F592	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Lois Miranda Stiles,   b. 4 Mar 1885, Thrall, Williamson County, Texas, United States d. 19 May 1975, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, United States (Age 90 years)
  Marriage License	26 Dec 1911	Georgetown, Williamson County, Texas, United States   [15]
  Marriage	27 Dec 1911	_______, Williamson County, Texas, United States   [15]
  Divorce	Aft 17 Aug 1927	El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, United States   [16]
  Notes	17 Aug 1927 is the date that the divorce petition was recorded in the El Paso Herald. Presumably Lois Miranda (Stiles) Masten’s divorce from Merlin was granted sometime afterwards. [16] The marriage license contained in source [Williamson-1911] does not list the actual location where Merlin Douglas Masten and Lois Miranda Stiles were married. It does, however, list Lois’ middle name as “Marina” rather than “Miranda”. This fact has significant implications since almost all contemporary genealogical sources and accounts of family members agree that her middle name was Miranda. The name Miranda, though, is not yet supported by any vital records. An additional primary source is required to substantiate the family’s belief. [15]
  Children	1. Lois Masten,   b. Abt 1912, (unknown) d. Abt 1912, (unknown) (Age 0 years)   2. Juanita Frances Masten,   b. 4 Jan 1913, Mimbres, Grant County, New Mexico, United States d. 21 Jul 1994, San Diego, San Diego County, California, United States (Age 81 years)   3. Elizabeth Marina Masten,   b. 5 Feb 1915, Mimbres, Grant County, New Mexico, United States d. 20 Sep 1937, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, United States (Age 22 years)   4. Frank Douglas Masten,   b. 28 Apr 1921, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, United States d. 24 Nov 2002, Sun City, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States (Age 81 years)
  Photos		Masten Family Lois Miranda (Stiles) Masten and her children (L-R) Elizabeth, Frank, and Juanita - Photo courtesy of Lois Kay (Farnham) Denaut
  Family ID	F40	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	2 Aug 2016

  
  

  Family 2	Nellie M Hopkins,   b. Abt 1896, _______, _______, Kansas, United States d. ?, (unknown)
  Family ID	F2822	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	11 Feb 2019

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 21 Dec 1887 - Boque Chitto, Lincoln County, Mississippi, United States Marriage License - 26 Dec 1911 - Georgetown, Williamson County, Texas, United States Marriage - 27 Dec 1911 - _______, Williamson County, Texas, United States Residence - Jan 1920 - El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, United States Census - 16 Jan 1920 - Voting Precinct 24, El Paso City, El Paso County, Texas, United States Divorce - Aft 17 Aug 1927 - El Paso, El Paso County, Texas, United States Residence - Apr 1935 - Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas, United States Census - 8 Apr 1940 - Tulsa City, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, United States Residence - Apr 1942 - San Diego, San Diego County, California, United States Burial - 12 Mar 1962 - Woodlawn Cemetery, near Ferndale, Whatcom County, Washington, United States  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Photos

  Merlin Douglas Masten Bill's great-grandfather (paternal) Photo courtesy Cherie Tuma

  
  

• Notes

  Source [US-SSS-1917b] has Merlin Douglas Masten’s birthdate as 21 Dec 1887. [Whatcom-1962], Merlin’s death certificate, has his age correct but lists a birthdate off by exactly one decade, 21 Dec 1877. [US-1900-1e] and [Masten-1900] also support the date in 1887, listing Merlin as having been born in 1888. Only [US-SSA-1941a], Merlin’s original Social Security application, lists his birthdate as 21 Dec 1886. [3, 4, 7, 9, 17] In [US-SSS-1917b] and [US-SSA-1941a], Merlin Douglas Masten listed his birthplace as “Aversberg (Lauderdale County), Mississippi”. No such location exists in Lauderdale County or even in Mississippi more generally. However, Merlin’s half-brother, Matthew LeRoy Masten, recorded that many of Merlin’s younger siblings were born in “Orvisburg”, Pearl River County, Mississippi, and the family of Horace Greely Masten and Alice Frances (Stone) Masten were known to be living in Poplarville (close by Orvisburg) in the early 1890s. On the other hand, [Masten-1900] records Matthew traveling from New Orleans, Louisiana to Jackson, Mississippi with his father’s, “...new wife and baby” (Alice (Stone) Masten and Merlin) in1889. He also records that the family was only in Orvisburg/Poplarville from 1892 on, 5 years after Merlin’s birth. However, in the late 1880’s Horace Greely Masten was known to be working near Boque Chitto, Lincoln County, Mississippi south of Jackson, and Merlin lists Boque Chitto as his birthplace in [US-SSS-1942a1] and [US-SSA-1953a]. Given the timeline of Horace’s movements in Mississippi, it seems more likely that Merlin was born in Boque Chitto than in Orvisburg. [3, 4, 5, 6, 17] Merlin Douglas Masten had been a resident of Bellingham, Whatcom County, Washington for 10 years at the time of his death in 1962. [7, 13] Merlin Masten’s obituary has his name spelled “Mastin”. [13] There is no modern town called “Teel” in New Mexico. This probably refers to the area at the north end of the Mimbres Valley where there was a US Post Office. [3]

  
  

• Reference

  Herndon, William Robert. "Merlin Douglas Masten", Lindell-Herndon Genealogy. [Online]. Available: https://lindell-herndon.org/getperson.php?personID=I119&tree=LindellHerndon. [Accessed: 26-Apr-2024].