Most Wanted

A gentleman named Adam Smith is researching Cleveland animal vets for a book on the zoo. He is seeking a photograph of Wilson A. Bisbee. If you have one, or know where we can find one, please contact us and we will forward it to him.

I would like to contact the children and grandchildren of Marjorie Wilson Short Bisbee. I have family pictures to share of Marjorie, Mary Marjorie and James and Angela Carroll. Marjorie and my father her half siblings. --Eileen Short Reuss.

One of the really addictive things about family history are its puzzles. Like, who is Arza Bisbee? There are two Arza Bisbees who left significant tracks, both born in Massachusetts. From the census we see that one Arza Bisbee migrated to Ray County Missouri where he raised a family and lived out his life. The other went to Placer County, California during the gold rush, stayed there and is buried in the old Auburn Cemetery.

Internet genealogies have our California Arza as the son of James B. and Polly Packard Bisbee of Chenango County, New York. This is clearly wrong. James B. Bisbee's Last Will and Testament (you can see a transcript on the Bisbee Family Connection Genealogy Website) identifies his son as Arza Bisbee of Ray County, Missouri. So who, then, were the parents of our California Arza?

The census shows that he was born in Massachusetts, but moved to Maine early in life. According to the LDS, the census and the Internet, he married three times and had children by his first two marriages:
m. (1) Hannah Snell, 12 Oct 1830, Fall River, Massachusetts
Children:
William Arza Bisbee (1832-1873)
Charles Lyman Bisbee (1835-1863)

m. (2) Clarissa Gould (or Wagg), 12 Jun 1836, Kittery, York, Maine
Children:
John Gould Bisbee (1837-1921)
Alfred W. Bisbee (1839-1913 )
Harriet Lydia Bisbee (1840- )
George Washington Bisbee (1843-1864)

m. (3) Mrs. Lydia Coombs Randall, 28 Dec 1870, Lewiston, Androscoggin, Maine.

In 1840 Arza and his family lived in Minot, Cumberland County, Maine. Clarissa must have died in the late 40's because Arza and Clarissa are nowhere to be found in the 1850 census, but all six of his children have been farmed out to other families or are otherwise on their own. Thirteen-year-old John Gould Bisbee and his sister Harriet are living with John and Louisa Gould in Danville, Cumberland County, Maine. Arza had probably already gone west to join the gold rush.

In the 1860 Census, Arza is living at Iowa Hill in Placer County California, as is his son John Gould Bisbee with his young wife and daughter. Arza was a wagon maker by trade. His son John worked as a miner (1860), an engineer (1870), Placer County Treasurer (1880), blacksmith (1900), and Placer County Coroner (1910).

We have a fairly good record of Arza's descendants, but are unable to connect them into our family tree. Perhaps we should just put him out there as a 'floating' line and hope somebody can connect him for us.

Starting back in the 1920s and running some thirty years, Bisbee's Comedians tent show toured the South 34 weeks a year, bringing stage plays and entertainment to hundreds of towns, large and small. It was based in Memphis, Tennessee and was managed by Jess C. Bisbee. Many famous actors, singers and comedians got their start with Bisbee's, but there is virtually no information about Jess Bisbee himself, or the actress, Mary Bisbee who was part of the entourage. If anyone has photographs or knows more about Jess and Mary and Bisbee's Comedians, we would like to hear from you.

Please consider extending your family lines on the BFC Website. Sign up for a fee account, and you can do it easily and directly right here. You can also email or mail us.

We really need your photos, your images of your ancestors and their gravestones. Next memorial day, when you are visiting family cemeteries, please take your digital cameras and send copies along to us for the website. With a free registered account you can upload them directly to us. If you prefer, you can attach them to emails, or send them directly via the US mail. If you have questions, please contact the site administrator.