Nobody Knows About Pierson McClure/Joseph Marion Miller

As I have wound my way through the maze that is genealogy, I thought nothing was more enraging than tracking an ancestor for decades and then having them disappear without a trace (like Nettie or Jennie Grace). However, it is even more frustrating when you overcome a significant roadblock only to then be stymied by another disappearance. This is the case with Pierson McClure, AKA Joseph Marion Miller.

Pierson/Joseph was the child of Nettie Pearson and Elmer McClure, and one of my previous posts covers the roller coaster that was Nettie's life. Elmer was Nettie's first husband, and as far as I have been able to track, Pierson/Joseph was her only child from any of her marriages. According to "Illinois Births and Christenings, 1824-1940," he entered this world on September 30, 1914, in Pulaski County, Illinois, as Pierson McClure. Before he can be recorded on the 1920 Federal Census, his mother marries twice more, so unless they connected later on in life, it is likely Pierson had no memories of his actual father. When Pierson was 1, his mother married Roy Hudson. By the time he was 4, she had married Walter Miller. So, it seemed to me I should find a 1920 census for Walter and Nettie Miller, and Pierson McClure should appear as the head of household's stepson. So much for that plan. After several attempts and enlisting the assistance of my co-blogger and cousin, I came up empty on a 1920 census.

The 1930 census places Walter and Nettie in Berrien County, Michigan, and with them is one child, Joseph Miller. He is listed as Walter Miller's son, and is about 16 years old. As such, he was too old to be Nettie and Walter's son, so my working theory was that he was Walter's son from an earlier marriage, and that Nettie's son, Pierson, must have perished in his youth. It was also possible that he had chosen to live with his father. At the time, I had no evidence to support either of these theories, but I also didn't have any better leads.

When I stumbled upon this WWII Draft Registration Card, I'm sure my mouth hung open for some time:

Mounds, Illinois? September 30, 1914? Mother...Nettie?? This was Pierson; there was no doubt! I found him in the 1940 census with his mother and her new husband, Mr. Johnson. But what was the name change all about? Had Walter insisted on a name change? Was Nettie hoping to present the three of them as a "normal" family? And then I found this in the Illinois, U.S., Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield Sacramental Records:

Line 11: Joseph Miller, son of Walter Miller and Nettie Pearson, born September 30, 1914, was baptized into the Catholic faith on May 17, 1923, in Mattoon, Illinois. The other side of the page states that Joseph was a "convert." Did converting also mean changing his name? Had Walter formally adopted him? Regardless of the answers to those questions, I felt like I had finally hit the jackpot in terms of tracking this phantom relative.

And then...the trail went cold. There were 3 identifying documents in 1940 - the census, the WWII draft card, and a passenger and crew list that corroborated that Joseph was a sailor. Beyond that, no service records, no marriage, no 1950 census, no date of death, just...nothing. I've tried both names to no avail. Pierson McClure or Joseph Marion Miller, I'm coming for you, whatever your name is.