Lucy was born in 1886 in Knox County, Missouri to George Conn and Anna Easter but seems to have grown up in the town of Kahoka in Clark County, Missouri. She was the fourth of six children, her siblings being Docia “Dossie” (1879), Cora (1881), John Isaac (1883), Robey George (1888), and Eunice (1893). In about 1906 Lucy married Pearl Franklin Webster. Pearl was also from Kahoka and had been friends with Lucy’s brother Roby. They had two children in Kahoka – Lloyd Russell Webster (1907) and Pearl Webster (1910). By the time the 1910 census was taken in April they had moved to Stites, St. Clair, Illinois where Pearl found employment as a steel worker, but it wasn’t long after this that he began playing baseball semi-professionally in the Negro League. He was found to have a talent for the sport and in a short time he began travelling across the central US and east coast. The long distance lead to the end of their marriage, although they never formally got a divorce.
Lucy began a new relationship with a horseman named William Jennings Haley in 1911 and they had a son, Theodore W. Haley on 27 Feb 1912 in Iowa (note it may have actually been 1913 or 1914) – probably in Keokuk. After this point Pearl seems to have been living exclusively in New York while continuing to travel with the league. In the summer of 1918 he was drafted into WW1 and sent to France where he quickly contracted influenza (this particularly strain commonly called the Spanish Flu) and died. After his death it was discovered that he had remarried, just days before his deployment, to Alice Mae Overton – a woman he had been living with in Harlem, New York for many years. This resulted in a case of who was entitled to his war insurance benefits. Although I’ve not found the outcome of this case, it appears to have been in Lucy’s favor. It should also be noted that Theodore was not listed as one of his children in the newspapers, despite his birth during their marriage. Now widowed, Lucy was free to remarry Mr. Haley, which they eventually did in 1925 in Keokuk, Iowa – they were 40 and 49 years old respectively according to the marriage certificate. However, it’s unclear how close or successful this marriage was. Not only did they not marry until 1925, but they were not living together in the 1920 or 1930 census. On Dec 23, 1930 there was some sort of family gathering at Lucy’s home, which appears to have been in Chicago by this time. A fight broke out between Lucy’s brother Robey and her eldest child, Lloyd Webster (age 25). Robey pulled a gun and fired at Lloyd just as Lucy stepped in front of the bullet. She was killed. The court case has not been found, but it appears that Robey was sent to Joliet Prison, as he is listed as living there in his mothers obituary published in 1933.
| Vitals & Events | |||||
| Event | Date | Place | Notes | ||
| Born | 2 Jul 1884 | Knox Co., Missouri | to George Conn (1854-1942) and Anna Easter (1856-1933) | ||
| Census | 1900 | Kahoka, Clark, Missouri | with parents and siblings | ||
| Marriage | c1906 | Kahoka, Clark, Missouri | to Pearl Franklin Webster (1889-1918) | ||
| Census | 1910 | Stites, Illinois | with husband and two sons | ||
| Census | 1920 | Keokuk, Iowa | with three children, listed as a widow | ||
| Marriage | 28 Mar 1925 | Keokuk, Iowa | to William Jennings Haley (b 1875) | ||
| Census | 1930 | Keokuk, Iowa | with children | ||
| Died | 21 Dec 1930 | Chicago, Illinois | shot by her brother Roby Conn to protect her son Lloyd | ||
| Immediate Family Members | |||||
| Relation | Name | Birth Date | Birth Place | Death Date | Death Place |
| Father | George Conn | 1854 | Missouri | 14 May 1942 | Keokuk, Iowa |
| Mother | Anna Easter | 25 Dec 1856 | Bowling Green, Missouri | 12 Jan 1933 | Keokuk, Iowa |
| – sister | Docia Conn | 30 Apr 1879 | Missouri | 10 Jan 1946 | Peoria Co., Illinois |
| – sister | Cora Conn | 16 Jun 1881 | Kahoka, Missouri | May 1946 | |
| – brother | John Isaac Conn | 24 Feb 1883 | Lewis Co., Missouri | 25 Jan 1960 | Kahoka, Missouri |
| – brother | Roby George Conn | 30 Nov 1888 | Kahoka, Missouri | 29 Aug 1988 | Chicago, Illinois |
| – sister | Eunice Conn | 12 Jun 1893 | Kahoka, Missouri | 5 Feb 2000 | Los Angeles Co., California |
| Husband | Pearl Franklin Webster | 1889 | South Carolina | Nov 1918 | France |
| – son | Lloyd Russell Webster | 8 Jan 1907 | Kahoka, Missouri | 29 Nov 1995 | Chicago, Illinois |
| – daughter | Pearl Webster | Mar 1910 | Missouri | ||
| Husband | William Jennings Haley | c1875 | Shelby Co., Tennessee | ||
| – son | Theodore W. Haley | 27 Feb 1912 | Iowa | 11 Feb 1944 | La Junta, Colorado |
| – son | James William Haley | 27 May 1922 | Iowa | 28 Feb 2002 | |
Documentation
Census Records:
- 1900 US Federal Census: Kahoka, Clark, Missouri – Lucy Conn, 14, with parents & siblings
- 1900 US Federal Census: Jackson, Lee, Iowa – William and Emma Haley
- 1910 US Federal Census: Stites, St Clair, Illinois – “Lucy Webster”, 24, with husband and two children
- 1920 US Federal Census: Keokuk, Lee, Iowa – “Lucy Webster”, 34, with two children
- 1930 US Federal Census: Keokuk, Lee, Iowa – “Lucy Haley”, 41, with parents & three children
Newspaper Articles
- Clark County Courier
- 1930, Dec 26: “Robey Conn Kills Sister”
- 1931, Jan 2: “Obituary – Mrs. Lucy Haley”
- 1933, Jan 20: “Obituary – Mrs. Anna Conn”
- 1942, May 22: “Obituary – Mr. George Conn”
- Daily Gate City:
- 1919, Aug 18: “War Insurance Case is Probed”
Vital Records:
- 1925 – Marriage Certificate: “William Jennings Hailey” & “Lucy Hailey” – Keokuk, Iowa
