Ninth Generation

708. William Ervin COMSTOCK was born on 5 December 1887 in Missouri. He died on 1 December 1918 at the age of 30 in Missouri.

1909 City Directory, Joplin, MO
Comstock, Wm E, Huckster, resides north side 19th, 5th east to Connecticut

1910 Census. Duenweg Prec, Joplin Twp, Jasper Co, MO, Hh 478
William E. Comstock, 21 married 2 years, b. Kansas, House Carpenter
Mary, wife, 18, one child, b. MO
Waneta H., dau, b. MO

12 Sep 1918 World War I Draft Registration
William Ervin Comstock of Sagninaw, Newton Co MO was age 33, b. Dec 5th 1884. Mary Comstock was his nearest relative. He was tall with Brown eyes, black hair.

When was William born?
1900 Census - b. Dec 1887, age 12
1910 Census - age 21, b. 1889
1918 Draft Registration 5 Dec 1884
Grave Marker, born 1888
1918 Death Certificate b. 5 Dec 1890.

Missouri Death Certificate 47022.
William E. Comstock of Joplin, Jasper Co Mo, died 1 Dec 1918 of pneumonia following influenza. He was born 5 Dec 1890 and was 28 years, 11 months, and 26 days old. He was married, his wife's given name Mary (she died of the flu the next day). Occupation listed as miner. His father was E. E. Comstock, born Kansas; his mother Nannie Davis, born Missouri. E. E. Comstock of Joplin was the informant. He was buried Saganaw Cemetery.

His grave marker has the year of his birth as 1888

Joplin News Herald, Monday, 2 Dec 1918
Both Parents Die: Four Orphans Left
William E. Comstock, 28 years of age and his wife, Mary Comstock, 26 years of age, will be buried side by side at Saginaw cemetery tomorrow afternoon. Four little girls were made orphans this morning when their mother died less than twenty-four hours after their father had passed away.
The Comstocks lived on a small dairy farm one and one-half miles east of Main Street on Twentieth.
Mr. Comstock became delirious and left his bed yesterday morning, runing to the barn, where he fell dead. With the sick wife in the house the four children, the oldest of whom is serious ill, and the aged parents of Mrs. Comstock. Neither Mrs. Comstock's mother nor little daughter are expected to recover. Of the entire family, the aged father, 83 years old, was the only person able to attend, in a measure, to the wants of the others. A nurse was secured by neighbors yesterday afternoon, before the death of Mrs. Comstock.
The father and mother were both stricken with influenza some days ago, the father passing away at 7 o'clock Sunday morning and the mother at 2:30 o'clock this morning. A double funeral service will be held at the graveside in Saginaw cemetery at 2:30 o'clock tomorrow afternoon.
Mr. & Mrs. Comstock are survived by their four little daughters, the oldest of whom is under ten years of age. Mr. Comstock's parents, Mr. & Mrs. E. E. Comstock, and one brother, Mrs. Comstock's parents, Mr. & Mrs. George W. Wolff, three sisters, Maude, Jesse & Lois Wolff, of Joplin and one brother, Fred C. Wolff, of Washington....page cut off here.

Missouri Death Certificate 47021
Mary Comstock died 2 Dec 1918 of pneumonia following the flu. She was born 18 Mar 1892 and was 26 years, 8 months, and 14 days. She was the widow of William E. Comstock [by one day]. Her father was George G. Wolff, born Illinois; her mother Dora E. Wilson, also born Illinois. Mr. Wolff of Joplin was the informant. She was burined Saganaw Cemetery.

Missouri Death Certificate 46964
Jauneta Comstock died 21 Dec 1918 of pneumonia following the flu. She was born 14 Jul 1903 and was 10 years, 5 months old. Her father was Will Comstock, born Greenfield, MO; her mother was Mary Wolf. Nancy J. Comstock, her grandmother, was the informant. She was buried the next day, Saginaw, Mo.

There were three other daughters - Pauline, Margaret, and Mildred - that were raised by their Comstock grandparents. Mary Wolff Comstock's parents also died during the flu epidemic. G. G. Wolf died 9 Dec 1818; Dora Ellen Wolf had died on December 5th.

William Ervin COMSTOCK and Mary Rose WOLFF were married on 5 May 1908 in Neosho, Newton County, Missouri. Mary Rose WOLFF, daughter of George Gibson WOLFF and Adora Ellen WILSON, was born on 18 March 1892 in Seymour, Webster County, Missouri. She died on 2 December 1918 at the age of 26 in Joplin, Jasper County, Missouri.

Copy of Marriage License posted to Ancestry Tree. W. E. Comstock to Mary Wolff, both of Neosho, Newton Co, Missouri. He was under 21; she was under 18. E. E. Comstock, father of W. E. Comstock gave his consent. G. G. Wolfe, father of Mary Wolfe gave his consent. License dated 5 May 1908 and married the same day by W. A. Phipps, Probate Judge.

Missouri Death Certificate 47021
Mary Comstock died 2 Dec 1918 in Joplin, Jasper Co, MO of pneumonia from influenza. She was the widow of William E. Comstock (he had died the day before). Born 18 Mar 1892 in Missouri and 26 years old when she died. Her father was George G. Wolff, born Illinois; her mother Dora E. Wilson, b. Illinois. Mrs. G. G. Wolff was the informant. She was buried Dec 3rd, Saginaw Cemetery.

From FindAGrave Memorial# 23658163. She is buried Saginaw Cemetery, Newton Co, MO.

Mary Rose Wolf was born on March 18 1892 in Seymour, Webster County, Missouri to George Gibson Wolf and Adora Ellen Wilson Wolf, both of Illinois.
Mary was the sixth child of seven. Her siblings included:
Fred Clifford Wolf b Aug 11 1874 in Oregon
Lois Wolf (Johnson) b Aug 1 1877 in Monterey, Illinois
Alice Wolf (Augustine) b May 13 1880 in Sedgwick County, Kansas
Maude Wolf (Houser) b May 2 1883 i Monterey, Illinois
Jessie Mae Wolf (John) b Feb 2 1890 in Joplin, Missouri
Katherine Wolf b April 27 1896 in Rockbridge, Ozark County, Missouri and died June 13 1898 in Joplin,Mo
Mary married William Ervin Comstock and had 4 daughters:
Hellen Juanita Comstock July 14 1908-Dec 2 1918
Pauline Hope Comstock (Crowder) Dec 19 1910-Jan 4 1994
Mildred Elaine Comstock (Hampton) Jan 10 1914-Mar 24 1971
Margaret Rosa Comstock (Parks) Nov 25 1916-Feb 7 2003

Mary was one of 7 to die within one month from the flu of 1918. There were 5 to die in one day. Mary died at 2 O'clock in the afternoon of Dec 2, 1918. Her husband Will had died earlier the previous day. As Mary lay dying, she asked how her husband was doing and even though he was already gone, she was told that he was okay.
Mary and Will's 3 remaining daughters were sent to live with his parents, Elonzo and Nancy Jane (Davis) Comstock and because of the uncertainty of whether flu was still contagious after death, the 3 girls were not allowed to go to their funerals. They were allowed to stand at the open door to the church for their mother's funeral.
A story related to me by Jewel Parks, "Aunt Margie's" husband, was that Will Comstock had rubber wheels on his buggy, something only afforded by those with more money than the average person.
Also, Mary's parents were supposedly visiting from Washington State (where their son Fred Clifford Wolf lived and died) and while in Missouri they too caught the flu and died. Supposedly, George Gibson Wolf and his son owned a successful horse farm in Washington

William Ervin COMSTOCK and Mary Rose WOLFF had the following children:

957	i.	Helen Juanita COMSTOCK was born on 14 July 1909 in Joplin, Jasper County, Missouri. She died on 21 December 1918 at the age of 9 in Joplin, Jasper County, Missouri. Died in the flu epidemic along with her parents and is buried next to them. From the Joplin Globe, Juanita Comstock Dies As a Victim of Influenza She Soon Follows Her Parents Juanita Comstock, 9 years old, orphan daughter of Mr. & Mrs George (sic) Comstock, who died from influenza four weeks ago, died from influenza at 12 o'clock yesterday noon at the home of her grandparents, Mr. & Mrs. E. E. Comstock, who reside on a farm one-half mile south of the county line. Besides losing her parents from influenza, four other relatives, her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. G. G. Wolff, an uncle George Houser, a cousin Claude Houser, have died from influenza since the death of her parents. Her three younger sisters have recovered from the malady. Juanita Comstock was stricken with the disease during the illness of her parents and following their death, was removed with her sisters, who were also suffering from influenza, to the home of their grandparents. After two weeks of constant care the grandmother nursed the children back to health, but Juanita, suffered a relapse which resulted in her death. She will be buried at the side of her parents in Saginaw cemetery. Services will be held at the grave at 2:30 o'clock this afternoon. Joplin News Herald, Sunday, Dec 22, 1918 [part of this article is torn away] Seventh in Family Dies of Inflenza Juanita Comstock, 10 years of age, one of four little girls who were left orphans when both parents, Mr. & Mrs. William E. Comstock died on December 3, died at ___ this afternoon after an ___ of over a month of influenza. ____seventh death in the ___ occur in the month of December. The double funeral of Mr. on Mrs. Comstock on December 3 followed by the triple funeral of Mrs. Comstock's mother, Mrs. ____ Wolff, her brother-in-law ____ Houser and nephew Mark ___ all of whom died December 5. Her father George Wolff died on December 8. Following the death of their parents, the four little Comstock girls were taken to the home of their grandparents, Mr. & Mrs. E. E. Comstock one hlaf mile south of the ____ line. Funeral services will be held at graveside at Saginaw cemetery ___ o'clock this afternoon.
958	ii.	Pauline Hope COMSTOCK was born on 19 December 1910 in Joplin, Jasper County, Missouri. She died on 4 January 1994 at the age of 83 in Granby, Newton County, Missouri. She was buried in Seneca Cemetery, Ottawa County, Oklahoma. Her grave marker has her year of birth as 1911, but Pauline herself always claimed she was born in 1910. Find A Grave Memorial# 23463440 Pauline Hope Comstock was born on 20th street in Joplin, Jasper Co., Missouri to William Ervan Comstock and Mary Rose Wolf Comstock. She was the second of 4 daughters born. Her older sister was Hellen Juanita Comstock, known as Juanita and they were later joined by Mildred and Margaret "Margie." When Pauline was almost 8 years old several of her family members caught the flu. Her father died on December 1 with her mother following him the next day. Three days later on December 5th, her maternal grandmother died along with her mother's sister Maude's husband Walter Altrie Houser and her cousin Mark Altrie Houser. December 9th brought the death of her maternal grandfather. I'm sure that December 19th, Pauline's 8th birthday, wasn't very chearful at all, for her older sister Juanita by that time would have been in bed dying. On December 21, Juanita sucumbed to the flu that took so many of her family. Pauline, Mildred and Margie were living with their paternal grandparents by now which began their journey being raised by a very strict grandmother. What a lot of later generations didn't know, Nancy Jane Davis Comstock the grandmother of those 3 orphan girls, had lost a younger brother in October of 1918. So Grandma Comstock--Nancy Jane Davis Comstock--was grieving for not only her brother from 2 months ago, but her son and his wife along with a granddaughter. It certainly would be hard to deal with that much in such a short time. A nickname that was attached to Pauline that she hated, was "Potsy Cornstalk." Pauline would marry Omer Vernon Crowder of McDonald County Missouri on October 5 1928, an act that was not in the marital plans that Grandma Comstock had for her granddaughter. Grandma Comstock had wanted Pauline to marry some other guy, a guy that Pauline described to me as being "homely." Omer Crowder was from a very rough family and this made Grandma Comstock none too happy. Pauline and Omer were the parents of eight children: Joe Dean Crowder Norma Lee Crowder Capps Evert Don Crowder Blaine Dale Crowder Clifford Vernon Crowder Martha Jane Crowder Farley Benny Paul Crowder Garland Ervan Crowder My grandma Crowder never allowed the playing of cards in her home, so grandpa had to teach his kids and grandkids how to play cards out in the barn. They were very well suited for one another. After losing her husband in 1982, her 4 remaining children sold her house and bought a trailor to be placed on her oldest daughter's land next door to where she lived. Pauline lived there for over 10 years before dying on her daughter's birthday on January 4th 1994.
959	iii.	Mildred Elaine COMSTOCK was born on 10 January 1914 in Joplin, Jasper County, Missouri. She died on 24 March 1971 at the age of 57 in Blythe, Riverside County, California.. Mildred married Charlie Thomas Hampton and together they had 7 children: Billie Bob Hampton Betty June Hampton Jack Hampton Teddie Lee Hampton Margaret Elaine "Jean" Hampton Mildred Annette "Jane" Hampton Elaine Hampton
+960	iv.	Margaret Ruth COMSTOCK.