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Descendants of Thomas & Dorcas Patton May More photos of their descendants Album for
Harvey
George May [1825-1905]
We have only one photo from this family
and would like to hear
Neva Truesdale May (Grush), a daughter of Williiam Spencer May and granddaughter of Harvey George May, provided information on the May family in Harrisonville, MO to Tress May Francis when Tress was compiling records for her book, History of the May Family: 1776 - 1956. We also know details of the migration of the family from a newspaper article written in Harrisonville after the death of their fifth child, Dr. Harvey George May, Jr. in 1929. Neva lived in Kansas City, MO throughout her married life and had no children of her own. On the 1910 Census, two girls were listed as adopted daughters living with Walter and Neva in Kansas City. They were Cecilia Ewing and Dorothy May Ewing. The May middle name suggests that they probably were related.
** Some notes on this branch of the May family ** Harvey George May and an older sister, Sarah, married children of Spencer Adkins. The fathers, Spencer Adkins and Thomas May, reared their families on farms a few miles upstream from Pikeville and had known each other about forty years prior to the marriages of their children in 1839 (William Spencer Adkins to Sarah May) and 1844 ( Harvey George May to Louisa Adkins). After marriage, Harvey George May and Louisa lived for a few years on the May farm north of Prestonsburg, which had been purchased by their father from their uncle, Samuel May, in 1842. Two other May brothers, Samuel and William James also lived on the farm at the time. Louisa returned to Pike Co. to give birth to their first child in 1847. By 1848, Harvey George had moved his family first to Henton Hill in Fleming Co., KY. A Floyd Co. deed [Bk H:63] to his brother, Thomas P. May, tells us he and his family were living in Fleming Co. in May of 1860. Tress May Francis says that the family moved to Dover, Mason County, KY in the fall of 1864, but her other records say that their first two sons, Theodore and William, were born in Dover in 1848 and 1850. She also had 1868 as the year the family moved to Missouri, but her other records show that the year was 1865. An independent study of Census records should help verify some of these facts. In 1865 Harvey George moved his family to Harrisonville, Mo., arriving in the town on September 22nd. He soon established, and lived in, the May Hotel on the south side of the Public Square. He also engaged in the mercantile business, which is said to be one of the first of the town's new enterprises following the Civil War. From the hotel, the family moved to a house on West Wall Street, where they lived for twenty-nine years. From this location, they moved to a fine home which became known as the May Residence, located at the foot of West Wall Street. Harvey George May died in 1905 and his wife died in 1912. After the death of his youngest son, Dr. Harvey May, in 1929, the old home place was sold and the family estate, valued between $25,000 and $30,000, was divided among the heirs. Harvey George May became a charter member of Cass County Lodge No. 147 A.F.&A.M. on October 6, 1866. He also was referred to as a "zealous member of the M.E. Church South, and was faithful in his attendance at both church and lodge until the last few years of his life, when age and declining health kept him closely at home." He was said to have been "a true Mason, a faithful Christian, a generous neighbor, a kind and charitable friend, and a devoted husband and father." Apparently he suffered with his illness (not specifically named) which he bore without complaint and it is said that his greatest desire "was to meet his Master, whom he had served so long and faithfully." He and many of his family are now at rest in the Oakland Cemetery in Harrisonville, MO.
Louisa Adkins May continued to live with
her son Dr. Harvey G. May, Jr. until her death, September 15, 1912.
She is also buried in Oakland Cemetery.
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