This one has all identifying information clipped off of it. The obituary is for Charles Tilford AKINS.
Unfortunately, no year is given. Even more unfortunately, I have no idea how Charles is related to my known family members. I am guessing he is related, since my great-grandmother was born Cornelia Elizabeth AKINS. Also, the middle name of Tilford only turns up one other time in my records, and that is for my great-uncle Spencer Tilford MIX, who was a son of Cornelia.
I've searched through the census records on Ancestry.com but nothing jumps out at me as of yet, so for now, he remains a mystery.
One line from the obituary, that he was a member of "Auburn Aerie 96, F.O.E" does at least give me a little clue. That is the Fraternal Order of Eagles, which, according to its website, was organized in 14 Oct. 1907. Also, the obituary states he worked for the "Auburn IHC plant". The "IHC" stands for International Harvester Company. I found little on the internet about IHC in Auburn, but I did come across one mention of how hard it was on the town when the Auburn plant closed in 1948. If that's really the case, then that narrows down his death to be prior to 1948.
Obituary Text:
Charles T. Akikns
Auburn - Ill only a day, Charles Tilford Akins, 36, Cayuga RD 1, a worker at Auburn IHC plant, died Wednesday in Auburn City hospital. He was a member of Auburn Aerie 96, FOE. His wife, Mrs. Anna Guzalak Akins, four daughters, June Audrey, Mary, Betty and Shirley Akins and a son, Charles T. Akins, Jr., survive.
My mother also clipped obituaries from newspapers without noting the date or name of the newspaper. For the most part I've been able to easily figure out where the people belong and when the died, but it's frustrating to me not to be able to accurately name the newspaper and date as a source. It sounds like Charles T. must be related to your great-grandmother somehow. Could he be a brother or a cousin? Oh, the challenges!
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