Josie was born Josiah Ann Giles, 27 Jan 1846 to William Phillip Giles and Mary Ann Weir.  Josie and her 8 siblings were all born in Morgan Co., MO.  Her siblings were Elizabeth Jane 1831, Eliza Jane 1832, George W 1834, John 1836, James T 1838, Macolin (a girl) 1840, Virginia 1842, and Mary Ellen 1849.  (Note: some descendants have Josie’s birth as 1848, but census with her parents in 1850 also puts it at 1846.)     

While Josie’s mother lived to be 89 (in 1899), her father died in 1853 at the age of only 46.  After that the younger kids were scattered about to different families.  Two of the children had already passed away before their father died.  Macolin died at age 11 and Virginia at age 3.  Of the 9 children only 4 made it past the age of 30, and one of them died at 47. James only lived to the age of 17, so it is not a surprise Josie only made it to 20 years of age.  It makes one suspect a hereditary condition.  As I recall the death certificates online for a few of William’s grandchildren all had heart conditions as the cause of death.     

Of the 4 children who lived past 30, Elizabeth (Yost), John and Mary (Dempsey – Post) ended up in California.  Eliza (Evans) remained in Morgan County her entire life.  One brother, George, who made it to the age of 29 also stayed in Missouri.     

After her father died, when the kids were scattered about to different families, Josie and her younger sister Mary went to live with the Neal family.  That is how Josie came to be in Cooper County, where she later married Andrew J Dulin in 1898. There were other Dulin’s in the area of this cemetery which were probably relatives of Andrew. The newlyweds moved to Greene County where after only 7 months of marriage Josie died.    Andrew went on to marry Elizabeth Freeman a few years later and they moved to Texas where they remained the rest of their lives.

 Cynthia (Jeffries) Davison, March 2017