Chester Lee and Frances Jane Stiles

Several years ago I was the recipient of a box of letters and pictures that had belonged to my grandfather (my mother's father). The content of that box has sent me on a wonderful journey of finding out the history of his side of the family and also on my own father's side.

The two people posted in the pictures were the surviving children of John Alsop Stiles and Maryann Keyes (daughter of Luman Keyes and Nancy Dailey). Both Chester Lee and Frances were born in Mishawaka, Indiana in the early 1840's and had several other siblings who never lived to adulthood. They were orphaned in 1850, when their mother died in July and their father in November.

In my search I was able to find a probate file in South Bend, Indiana that contained, what looked like hundreds of little receipts and court documents giving details of what transpired in the years that followed Maryann and John's deaths.

My hope is to continue posting many more photos of these families and their decendents and that it will help others in their search for family.

























Chester Lee Stiles
born in Mishawaka, Indiana
Early 1860's





















Frances Jane Stiles
Mishawaka, Indiana
Early 1860's