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Elizabeth,
My mother, Terry Mayhan-Burns Hooper, is Lyda's first cousin. Your father is my second cousin and you are my second cousin once removed. I may have met Robert but it would have been in the late 40's or early 50's.
I just happened to run upon your posting today while I was doing research on Lyda and Merl.
I understand that Lyda did a rather intensive genealogy study and had it published but I have yet to see a copy.
I have yet to find Merl in the 1920 or 1930 census (the only ones presently available that might show him). He and Lyda married in 1941 and I have that information. We need to find Merl on one of those censuses because it will tell where his parents were born. That could be either his real or adopted parents if he was adopted.
I found another Merlin Chamness in Emporia, KS, b. abt. 1894. He shows up on the Ellis Island web site as entering the country in 1894 at age 4mo. and as a US citizen and with his mother and father. He again appears at Ellis Island in 1909 with his mother. All are listed as US citizens.
The 1895 Lyons Co., KS (Emporia) also shows Merlin and his parents as US citizens.
I also found an obituary for our Merlin in the Olathe, Kansas newspaper. There is a Justin Chamness in Olathe. There are only three other Chamness's in KS according to AnyWho dot com. There are 23 Chamness families in Missouri.
Considering the closeness of both Olathe and Emporia it would be highly plausible that Merl came from Kansas.
The Chamness family in Emporia goes back several generations and I have not found when or what country they originated from.
Here is a guess as far as an adoption is concerned. It seems very strange that in 1894 one would travel internationally with a four month old child. That would lead me to think, if were thinking adoption, that Merlin would have been a relative of one of the parents. If it was the mother's family then the last name of the child would probably be her maiden name. However, if it was a child of a sister then the last name would be of the husband her sister married.
I will check with mother and see if she remembers anything about an adoption.
Let me hear from you.
Jim
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