John Ferguson and Elizabeth Agnes Ferguson Kay

Pictures Added
The next children in order would be John and Elizabeth.  I combined two children into one entry because John died very young.  John Ferguson was born April 11, 1860 and died April 19, 1864.  The cause of death was Measles in Morris.  Death certificates were not filed until 1877 in Grundy County, so no further information can be found about John.

Elizabeth Agnes Ferguson was born April 5, 1863 in Morris.  She first appears in the 1870 Census listed as Age 7.  She is also listed in the 1880 Census as "Lizzie" at age 17 and he occupation was "at home", apparently she did not attend school like her sister Jeanette who was 14 at the time.  She married Harry Kay on February 14th, 1884.  They both appear in the 1900 Census.  Harry listed as 44 years old and married for 16 years. Harry was born in England, as was his parents and came to this country in 1879.  His current occupation was listed as Saloon Keeper.  At the time, they had rented their home listed as 747 Liberty St.  Elizabeth was listed as 37 years old with no profession.  In their home also lived their two children, William F. Kay born Dec 28, 1884 in Morris and Robert LeRoy Kay born October 2, 1887 in Morris.  Both were attending school at the time.  Also living with them was Harry's brother John born in England August of 1876 and only 24 at the time.  He was single and came over in 1882.  He worked as a Day Laborer.  I am unable to locate Elizabeth and Harry in the 1910 Census.  It is well known that Harry and Elizabeth helped run the Kay House.   It appears that they were probably at the Kay House at this time and that is not in the census.  Harry died February 14, 1916.  In his probate it listed several pieces of property on prominent corners down liberty street.  All property and money went to Elizabeth.  Elizabeth also can't be located in the 1920 census.  She is not at the Kay House, however, because her son Robert had taken it over at this point with his wife, Florence and family.  Additionally, Isabel her sister, her brother and my great grandfather Thomas Ferguson and my grandfather Chester Ferguson ended up living there with them in 1920 (along with his siblings, Isabel and Thomas).  I suspect that she likely did live there, but was no listed in the census.   Again, she is missing from the 1930 census as well. Her son William died young in 1941 in Minneapolis.  Her son Robert died in 1930 at the age of only 43. Her son William also died young in 1941 in Minneapolis. Several postcards from Lizzie to Chester were recently found around that time indicating he had been ill for sometime and she had gone out to see him. 

She was a member of the WBA (Women's Business Assocation?)  She died July 20, 1944 in Morris, Illinois. Her address at her time of death was 404 E. Benton St.  She lived there here for years with Chester, but it is unknown for how long.  She was 81 years old when she died.  The cause of death was Hypostatic Pneumonia with an additional diagnosis of light paralysis for the past two years.   At the time of her death, only Jeanette was still living as well as three grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.  The services were held at Davis Funeral home and she was buried in Evergreen cemetery.  The pallbearers were Thomas, Chester Russell and Erwin Ferguson as well as Glen McNabb and Lincoln Kay.

Upon looking up the probate of Elizabeth, several interesting things were noted.  The probate itself was in the amount of $6455, a few thousand of which was cash.  Additionally, there were postal savings certificates, stocks and bonds. Because both of her sons and husband and died previously the money went to her grand children  Robert Kay Peterson, Dortothy Sparks, and June Kay.  The furnishings and personal items went to Chester.  However, Florence Kay (Robert's wife and helped run the Kay House) was given just $1.

Stone in Evergreen Cemetery

Elizabeth Kay in the middle of her two sisters.

Elizabeth Kay with presumably one of her three granddaughters.