John J. Poill

Person

L5: Home

Overview:

J. J. Poill was very mysterious according to my mother Juanita Miller (1911—2006 ). My mother and her sister used to gossip that their Grandpa Poill must have a big secret he was hiding. In fact as teenagers in the 1920's they used to joke that he might be John Wilkes Booth hiding-out in Oregon. They weren't serious but it just shows how mysterious he was for them to makeup jokes. And he was mysterious. For example, he was never straight about his first name. He went by various combinations of John, Jonathan, Jack, Jackson and J. J. I think his many first names reflects an attempt to deceive. His name on his death certificate was Jackson Poill. He was known to his friends as Jack Poill or "Uncle Jack."

He was also deceitful about his age. He consistently misstated his age. Each intact Oregon census (1880, 1900, 1905 (military), 1910, 1920) has a different age for him. He was possibly embarrassed about the differences in the ages between himself and his wife, my G-Grandma Mila Ann Eaton Poill since they were married when he was around 36 and she was a mere 15 years old! He would minimize their relative ages In the early decades but after 1900 when the old pioneers of Oregon were being honored, his age drifted upwards ever improving his status as an old-timer.

The first appearance in the genealogical record of John J. Poill is Aug 29, 1872. In effect, John J. Poill makes a sudden appearance at that point.

Date & Link	Location	Subject	Source	Name Spelling
Aug 29, 1872	Lane Co, OR	Marriage #1 with Mila Ann Eaton	Lane Co, OR Marriages	J. J. Poill
Sept 11, 1877	Lane Co, OR	Death of child	Family Bible	N/A
June 1, 1880	Lane Co, OR	1880 Federal Census	Federal Census	A. J. Poill
Oct 30, 1891	Lane Co, OR	Divorce	Lane Co, OR Divorces	J. J. Poill
Mar 6, 1895	Lane Co, OR	Marriage #2 with Mila Ann Eaton	Lane Co, OR Marriages	J. J. Poil
June 1, 1900	Lane Co, OR	1900 Federal Census	Federal Census	John J. Poill
June 1, 1910	Lane Co, OR	1910 Federal Census	Federal Census	Jack Poill
June 1, 1920	Lane Co, OR	1920 Federal Census	Federal Census	Joniathon J.(sic) Poill
Jan 24, 1924	Lane Co, OR	Fred Lockley Article	Oregon Journal (newspaper)	Jack Poil
Feb 25, 1924	Lane Co, OR	Fred Lockley Article	Oregon Journal (newspaper)	Jack Poil
Dec 24, 1928	Lane Co, OR	Death Certificate (image - 105KB)	Lane Co, OR Deaths	Jackson Poill
Dec 28, 1928	Lane Co, OR	Obituary	Eugene Register Guard

John J. Poill
Elusive Ancestor Website

John J. Poill

Updated

1/7/2015

thorntongale@poill27.info