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Eldred Lorraine ("Jack") Umbaugh / Woodhurst was born at Green Island in Jackson Co., Iowa on August 31st 1903 to parents Franklin Umbaugh and his first wife Margaret Sophia (nee) Mangler.
After his parents' marriage was dissolved and his mother had remarried or partnered William Roy (1) Woodhurst, Eldred reportedly used the Woodhurst surname at times during his later life.
The US 1920 Census finds him at age "'17" living in the household of a farmer Newell R. Eddy in Erie township, Whiteside Co., Illinois and occupied as a "hired man" farm labourer.
On August 8th 1921 he married in Kingman, Mohave Co., Arizona to Ruth Ryneda (nee) Johnson. The marriage license and certificate state their birthplaces correctly but provide no other significant detail. Ruth was born in Neosho, Newton Co. in Missouri.
When their child Jack was born in 1922 Eldred and Ruth were living in Clinton, Iowa where he was occupied as a labourer.
Eldred and Ruth divorced on December 10th 1926 [Oklahoma Historical Society, Book 4-D, page 285 (2085-D), from original records at the Oklahoma County courthouse in Oklahoma City].
In 1935 Eldred was convicted in Clinton of the offence of possessing a "forged check" and was sentenced to a maximum of five years imprisonment (which seems a very harsh sentence). He is listed as "Jack Umbaugh" in the Iowa Consecutive Registers of Convicts where it is recorded that he was admitted to the Fort Madison Men's Penitentiary on March 20th 1935; he was released almost three years later on January 29th 1938.
His WW2 Draft Registration Card, issued in about 1941, gives his address as Forreston in Ogle Co., Illinois and his next of kin as his brother Wilbert of 220, 2nd Avenue N. in Clinton. His employer at that time was named as Lee Smith of Forreston.
In 1944 Eldred was in trouble again with the law, being convicted in Dubuque, Iowa of the offence of malicious injury of a vehicle. Sentenced to a maximum of one year, he was admitted again to Fort Madison on February 7th. As in his previous confinement he was recorded in the register as being "intemperate". He was released on November 6th 1944.
In 1945 he was listed in a Clinton city directory at the address 121, 4th Avenue S.
In 1946 he was working in the Dubuque area as a track labourer for the Chicago and North Western Railway Co. [CNWR Employment Records 1935-79].
A relative's or researcher's report stated of Eldred the following: "He worked initially as a clothes presser. His love of horses motivated him to move to Wyoming, living variously in Sheridan and in Casper, Natrona County, working as a range worker."
It may have been in Wyoming that he partnered or married Darlene whose maiden name is unknown. Her existence is revealed by this short obituary for him published after he died on December 15th 1960 [Casper Star-Tribune, December 16th 1960]:
Jack Umbaugh Dies After Brief Illness
Jack L. Umbaugh, 57, died Thursday evening at Natrona Memorial Hospital, following a short illness. Mr. Umbaugh was born Aug. 31, 1903. He was a range worker much of his life and came to Casper from Sheridan. He is survived by his wife, Darlene, at the family home in Sheridan, and a brother, Wilbert Umbaugh, Clinton, Iowa. Arrangements for funeral services have not been completed. The Horstman-Gay Mortuary is in charge.
He was buried on December 20th at the Highland Park Cemetery in Casper.
According to his birth certificate, this child was born on July 27th 1922 at the family home in Clinton, 118, N. 2nd Street. Both his parents were described as aged just "19". Nothing more is known about him.