Arthur C. Towner ^{1 4}

   Another name for Arthur was William Arthur Tyndall.^{2 5}

  General Notes:

His surname mysteriously changes from Towner to Tyndall between 1900 and 1910 and he relocates from Iowa to North Carolina. The 1910 US Census shows his entire family with the new Tyndall surname.
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  Noted events in his life were:

• He appeared on the 1900 US Census in Sioux City, IA on 14 June 1900. ¹

1900 US Census
Sheet 24B, District 169, Family 503, Roll 467
Sioux City, Woodbury County, Iowa
1108 Seventh Street, house rented
Married 12 yrs
Arthur Towner..Head..Sep 1865..34..MI..Locomotive Firm

(Living with wife and 3 daughters.)
.

• He appeared on the 1910 US Census in Wilmington, NC on 24 April 1910. ²

1910 US Census
Sheet 7B, District 88, Family 120, Roll 1124
Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina
307 North 4th Street; Home rented
Married 21 years
William Tyndall..Head..42..MI..Locomotive Engineer

(Apparently using a new name and living with same wife and 3 daughters.)

NOTE - If his birth date was in Sep 1865, then his age should have been 44 instead of 42.
.

• He appeared on the 1920 US Census in Portsmouth, VA on 16 January 1920. ⁵

1920 US Census
Sheet 9B, District 188, Family 176, Roll 1905
Portsmouth, , Virginia
204 Piners(?) Avenue
William A. Tyndall..Boarder..54..MI..Engineer, Railroad..married

(William was living as a boarder while his wife as living separately in Richmond, Virginia.)
.

Arthur married Anna May Shanabrook, daughter of David Scott Shanabrook and Mary O'Keeffe, on 3 July 1888 in Mauston, WI.^{1 2 3} (Anna May Shanabrook was born on 10 July 1867 in Greencastle, PA,^{1 3 6 7 8 9} died on 23 January 1938 in Wheeling, WV ³ and was buried on 26 January 1938 in Riverview Cemetery, Richmond, , Virginia, United States ³.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• They appeared on the 1900 US Census in Sioux City, IA on 14 June 1900. ¹

1900 US Census
Sheet 24B, District 169, Family 503, Roll 467
Sioux City, Woodbury County, Iowa
1108 Seventh Street, house rented
Married 12 yrs
Arthur Towner..Head..Sep 1865..34..MI..Locomotive Firm
Anna Towner..Wife..Jul 1867.32..PA..4/3
Mabel Towner..Daughter..Jul 1892..7..IA..At School
Gatha Towner..Daughter..Feb 1895..5..IA
Florence Towner..Daughter..Oct 1897..2..WI
.

• They appeared on the 1910 US Census in Wilmington, NC on 24 April 1910. ²

1910 US Census
Sheet 7B, District 88, Family 120, Roll 1124
Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina
307 North 4th Street; Home rented
Married 21 years
William Tyndall..Head..42..MI..Locomotive Engineer
Mary Tyndall..Wife..36..PA..4/3
Mable Tyndall..Daughter..17..IA
Agath Tyndall..Daughter..15..IA
Florence Tyndall..Daughter..12..WI
.

• They resided in Cincinnati, OH in January 1919.
In her mother's obituary, Anna was listed as a surviving child:
- Mrs. Arthur Towner (Anna) living in Cincinnati

NOTE - What is interesting about this info from her mother's obituary is that it gives the previous surname of "Towner" for Anna and her husband, Arthur. According to the 1920 census which was taken about 12 months later, Anna, her husband, and all 3 of their daughters are using the Tyndall surname in North Carolina. Either the switch of surnames occured beween 1919 and 1920, or Anna's mother may not have known about it if it occured earlier than 1919.
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  Marriage Notes:

Groom's Name: Arthur C. Towner
Groom's Birthplace: Michigan
Bride's Name: Anna M. Shanabrook
Bride's Birthplace: Greencastle, Pa.
Marriage Date: 03 Jul 1888
Marriage Place: Mauston, Juneau, Wisconsin
Groom's Father's Name: Richard C. Towner
Groom's Mother's Name: Helen L. Turner
Bride's Father's Name: D. S. Shanabrook
Bride's Mother's Name: Mary Keefe
Groom's Race: White
Bride's Race: White
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M00352-5
System Origin: Wisconsin-EASy
Source Film Number: 1276049
Reference Number: 1164

Source Citation
"Wisconsin, Marriages, 1836-1930," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XRPW-ML6 : accessed 11 July 2012), Anna M. Shanabrook, 1888.
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There are several reasons that I believe Anna's first husband, Arthur C. Towner, and her second husband, William Arthur Tyndall, ARE THE SAME PERSON.

1. I can't find any record of a marriage involving William Arthur Tyndall. In fact, I can't find anything about William Arthur Tyndall other than when he appears in the census with the Towner family members.

2. Notice the use of the name "Arthur" in both names.

3. Notice that they were both born in Michigan.

4. Notice that their birth dates are very close if not the same.

5. Notice that in the 1910 US Census in North Carolina for William Tyndall, all 3 of Annie's daughters are listed as "Daughter" instead of "Step-daughter". Yet we know Arthur Towner was the real father as given in the 1900 census.

6. Notice that in the 1910 US Census in North Carolina, all 3 of the daughters suddenly have a Tyndall surname instead of Towner.

7. Adding a little more confusion to the fact is that "May and William Tyndall" were enumerated in North Carolina on 24 Apr 1910 yet Mary Shanabrook was enumerated just one day later on 25 Apr 1910 and was living with her divorced brother, William. She was listed as "widowed", was using her maiden name of Shanabrook, and was working as a bar room housekeeper in York, Pennsylvania.

This confusing fact may lead some to believe that Mary Tyndall in North Carolina could not have been Mary Shanabrook but her death certificate shows her complete maiden name, parents names, and husbands name as William Tyndall.

Obviously one or the other census reports was falsified to indicate her residence that at that time. I suspect that the falsified record was the one with her divorced brother in York, Pennsylvania who probably did not know that she had returned to her husband in North Carolina and had already been enumerated there just one day earlier.

8. Look at the occupation for Arthur Towner in the 1900 US Census in Sioux City, Iowa and compare it to the occupation for William Arthur Tyndall in 1910 in North Carolina.
1900 = Locomotive Firm
1910 = Locomotive Engineer

9. And finally, on the 1910 US Census, both William and May indicate that they each have been married only once and have been married for 21 years.

I don't know why Arthur Towner felt the need to relocate across the county and change the surname of his entire family. They seemed to be getting along just fine according to the 1900 US Census in Sioux City, Iowa but in 1910, Annie was back in York, Pennsylvania. She reappeared a few days later under the name May Tyndall in Wilmington, North Carolina. Her husband, under the new surname, was still involved in working in the railroad industry. The only thing that has changed has been the surname of all the family members.

Perhaps the marriage was "rocky" all along and a surname change didn't help. The family certainly gets the award for living in various areas that were the most miles apart. They started out in Wisconsin, moved to Iowa, then Anna moves to Pennsylvania while Arthur moved to North Carolina. Following that they both moved to North Carolina and then eventually to Virginia.

By 1920, the census shows them both living separately in Virginia with William living as a "boarder" in the house of a 43 year old widower.
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