Frain Family Tree - Illinois Branch

Sarah Coonrod and Fredrick Darr

Sarah R. Coonrod is a great grandmother of the writer.

Sarah R. is found on the 1900 census married to Frederick Darr. Her birth date is shown as Nov. 1872. This date conflict may be due to rounding incorrectly in 1880 and/or 1900 since her age in 1900 is shown as 27.

A search of the Greene County, IL Marriage Index shows Fredrick Darr married to Sarah Coonrod logged in Book 2, Page 42 of Marriage Records.

The Marriage Record contains the following information:

Log #2491. Fred was a farmer from Bluffdale. He was going on 24 years old and was born in America. His father was Amos Darr and mother was Henrietta Adams. It was his first marriage. Sarah Coonrod resided in Bluffdale. She was going on 19 and was born in America. Her father is shown as Park Coonrod and her mother as Fannie Griswold. It was her first marriage. They were married in Carrollton on March 31, 1889. Witnesses were Dee Morrow and Robert H. Bowman. Certified by J. B. Nulton, Justice of the Peace. Marriage was registered on April 1889.

Note - it appears that either Sarah or Fred provided wrong information or the clerk logged it incorrectly. Sarah's age at next birthday is shown as 19. Other census information indicates she may have been 17 at the time. However, her death certificate shows her birth date as Nov. 19, 1870. Her father is shown as Park Coonrod rather than George D. P. Coonrod. Her mother is shown as Fannie Griswold rather than Fannie Grizzle. Further down the same page, log #2496, her sister Mary's marriage to Henry Rice is listed with a date of April 22, 1889. She shows her mother and father as Fannie Grizzle and G. D. P Coonrod.

On the 1900 census, Frederick Darr and his wife Sarah R. Darr lived in Carrollton, Illinois. They rented their home at 448 West First Street. He was born in Illinois in June, 1864. She was born in Illinois in Nov., 1872. His father was from Pennsylvania and his mother was born in Illinois. Her father and mother were both born in Illinois. This information appears to tie back to the George D.  P. Coonrod and Amos Darr families.

Frederick and Sarah were married in 1889. Fred was a Steam Engineer.

Their children were

Herbert R. born March, 1890,
Leslie E. born Oct., 1891, Bertha L. born Jan., 1894 and
Buelah G. (see Cook page) born March, 1899.

They must have had 1 child die since they were shown as having had 5 with only 4 living in 1900.

Sarah's Death Certificate shows the following information supplied by Blanche Hunt from East Alton, IL.

Sarah Rebecca Darr: White, Married, Female, Housewife

Husband: Fred Darr, still alive at age 78

Father: Park Coonrod, born in Rockbridge, IL

(He was born in Wayne Co .)

Mother: Fannie Grizzle, born in Rockbridge, IL - (census information shows her as born in Tenn)

Sarah born: Nov. 19,, 1870

Sarah died: July 3, 1943, 7:50AM, at 30 W. Beacon St., Woodriver, Madison Co., IL where she had lived for 2 years

Burial: Carter Cemetery, Carrollton, IL

Funeral Director: B.W. Mehl, Carrollton, IL

Fred Darr (Obituary)

CARROLLTON - Fred Darr, 87, life long resident of Carrollton, died Friday at 8 a.m. in Mather Nursing home Alton. He had been ill for the past year.

A son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Amos Darr, he was born June 10 1865, in Greene County. He was married in March 1889, to Miss Sarah Rebecca Coonrod, who preceded him in death, July 2, 1943, as did one son and two daughters.

He leaves three sons, George, Wood River; Herb, Alton; and Cleburn of Bethalto; six daughters; Mrs. Edward Moody, East Alton; Mrs. Arnold Groves and Mrs. Gordon McConnell, Wood River; Mrs Dana Sloan, Godfrey; Mrs. Elmer Nichols, Carrollton; Mrs. Arthur Biltoft, Clarks Fork, Idaho; 18 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; and three brothers, Robert of Kane; Charles and Alva of Carrollton.

Mr. Darr operated a threshing machine and sawmill before his retirement.

Funeral rites will be Sunday at 2 p.m. at Mehl funeral home, Carrollton, with interment in Carter's cemetery. The Rev. Walter P. Pruett of the Methodist Church will officiate.