The Proeger Family · Generation 4 — Kristin's great-grandparents and their siblings

Ruby Edna Cearley Piland

Wife of Merrill Zilman Piland Sr. · about 1903–1982

Ruby Edna Cearley Piland

Confirmed

Wife of Merrill Zilman Piland Sr. · about 1903–1982

Parents
Edmund A. Cearley
Married
Merrill Zilman Piland Sr.
Sources
8

Research status

Research status: CONFIRMED as the wife of Merrill Zilman Piland Sr.; her father, Edmund A. Cearley, is Confirmed; her year of birth and the day of her death are Probable. Four records read from the images name her: the Travis County marriage licence of 1921, for Merrill Z. Piland and Miss Ruby E. Cearley S1444; the 1930 census of Austin, where Ruby E., 27, is his wife and her father is in the house S1376; his 1942 draft card, which gives his contact as Mrs. Ruby Edna Piland S1378; and the Texas birth index entry for their son, which gives the mother as Rubye Edna Cearley S1513. These images were read on 4 to 6 October 2026 and were not opened again when this card was written.

Life in the order the records give it

Death1877
Confirmed Daughter of Edmund A. Cearley (1877–1954). In 1930 he was in her household at Austin, 52 and widowed, listed as Edmond A. Cearley, the father-in-law of the head, with two of her sisters S1376; the 1921 marriage licence gives her name as Miss Ruby E. Cearley S1444, and the census enters both her and Merrill as in their first marriage. Her mother is not in this record; the index of the 1910 census, not yet read from the image, lists her father’s wife as Georgia.
Census1929
In 1929 she and Merrill lived at 413 W. 37th, Austin S1429; in April 1940 at 4204 Sinclair Avenue, Austin, with their son S1377; and in 1950 on Barton Creek Road, Hays County S1430.
Military2026
History of this card. 11 Oct 2026
card written when she was added to the family tree, from the readings of the 1921 licence, the 1930 census, the 1942 draft card and the birth index (S1444, S1376, S1378, S1513). 12 Oct 2026 — her father, given until now as “probably Edmond A. Cearley” with no card, is linked to his own card and the link regraded from Probable to Confirmed on the 1930 census page and the marriage licence (S1376, S1444). 12 Oct 2026 — a day of death added as Probable, from the death index and the grave index (S1722); until now the card gave none and held the 1982 index entry as only Possible.

Family parents, marriages, children, siblings

Marriage1903
Wife of Merrill Zilman Piland Sr. (1903–1976). They married in Travis County, Texas, on 25 September 1921 S1444.
Children
Mother of Merrill Zilman Piland Jr., who is named only, because he may be living S1513.

Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it

Probable
Probable confirm or correct → She was born in Texas about 1903. The 1930 census, read from the image, gives her age as 27 and her birthplace as Texas S1376, and the 1940 census gives 37 S1377. What is weak or missing: these are census ages, not a birth record, and no record of her birth has been found. Know more, or think this is wrong? Use “Add to this record”.
Probable
Probable confirm or correct → Ruby Edna Cearley Piland died on 15 June 1982 in Travis County, Texas. The evidence is strong: the Texas Death Index lists a Ruby Piland who died in Travis County on that day, and the Find a Grave index has an entry under her maiden and married names together, with the same day of death and a grave at Driftwood, Hays County, the county where she lived in 1950 S1722. The maiden name sets her apart from another Ruby Piland of the same age, who lived in Parker County. That entry gives her birthday as 22 November 1902, against the “about 1903” of the census ages; the year above is left as it is until a birth record is read. What is weak or missing: both records are indexes; no death certificate, obituary or gravestone has been read, and the death index gives no age and no husband. Know more, or think this is wrong? Use “Add to this record”.

In the record Generation 4 — Kristin's great-grandparents and their siblings

Ruby Edna Cearley Piland · Sources

Citations

Sources cited on this card

8 of the record's sources are cited here. The numbering is the record's own; the full list, with where else each is cited, is at Sources.

  1. S13761930 census — Merrill Z. Piland household, Austin, Travis County, Texas, Ward 4, ED 227-12, sheet 5A, lines 40–44, 9 April 1930. Ancestry, “1930 United States Federal Census”, record 60723924. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 4 October 2026. Confirmed Piland, Merrill Z., head, owns a home worth $4,500, 26, first married at 18, born Texas, manager of a grocery; Ruby E., wife, 27, first married at 19, born Texas; Edmond A. Cearley, father-in-law, 52, widowed; Jennie L. Cearley, sister-in-law, 21, a stenographer; and a married sister-in-law, 29. ⚠ The index reads his middle initial as T; the image has a looped Z. The married sister-in-law’s surname is not clearly legible and is not given here. Also serves the card of Ruby Edna Cearley Piland. Also serves the card of Edmund A. Cearley, the father-in-law on line 42.
  2. S13771940 census — Merrill Z. Piland household, 4204 Sinclair Avenue, Austin, Travis County, Texas, ED 227-16, sheet 12A, lines 37–39, 11 April 1940. Ancestry, “1940 United States Federal Census”, record 157142754. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 4 October 2026. Confirmed Piland, Merrill Z., head, owns a home worth $4,500, 36, two years of high school, born Texas, in the same house in 1935, a tailor in cleaning and pressing, an employer, 46 weeks, $1,575; Ruby, wife, 37, the informant; and their son. ⚠ The son’s age is withheld here under the site’s privacy rule, because he may be living. Also serves the card of Ruby Edna Cearley Piland.
  3. S1378World War II draft registration card, 1942 — Merrill Zilman Piland, Austin, Travis County, Texas, serial T-1135. Ancestry, “U.S., WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940–1947”, record 21067873. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 4 October 2026. Confirmed Merrill Zilman Piland (signed M. Z. Piland), of 513 East 38½ Street, Austin; 38; born 5 September 1903 in DeWitt County, Texas; contact Mrs. Ruby Edna Piland; employer himself, Lumpkin-Piland Cleaners, 2815 San Jacinto, Austin. ⚠ Only the front of the card was read. Also serves the card of Ruby Edna Cearley Piland.
  4. S1429Austin city directory, 1929, p. 397 — Merrill Z. Piland. Ancestry, “U.S., City Directories, 1822–1995”, record 399111596. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 5 October 2026. Confirmed Piland Merrill Z (Ruby), clerk, Drive In Grocery & Market, home 413 W. 37th; the same column lists eleven other Pilands. ⚠ A directory entry gives no age or birthplace; the wife’s name Ruby and Austin match his card. Also serves the card of Ruby Edna Cearley Piland.
  5. S14301950 census — M. Z. Piland household, Hays County, Texas, ED 105-22, lines 15–17, Barton Creek Road. Ancestry, “1950 United States Federal Census”, record 188574716. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 5 October 2026. Confirmed M. Z. Piland, 46, salesman in his own air-cooling business; Ruby, 46; and a son, 15. ⚠ None beyond the usual census approximations. Also serves the card of Ruby Edna Cearley Piland.
  6. S1444Travis County, Texas, marriage licence and return, 1921 — M. Piland and Ruby E. Cearley. Ancestry, “Texas, U.S., Select County Marriage Records, 1837–1965”, record 40780631. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 6 October 2026. Confirmed M. Piland and Miss Ruby E. Cearley; licence issued 23 September 1921; married on 25 September 1921 by A. T. Coleman, pastor of Walnut Creek Baptist Church; recorded 28 September. ⚠ The licence number reads 735 or 736; the groom is named only as “M. Piland”, but the bride and the date fit his 1930 census (married at 18) and his wife Ruby Edna Cearley. Also serves the card of Ruby Edna Cearley Piland.
  7. S1513Texas birth index — Merrill Zilman Piland Jr. Ancestry, “Texas, U.S., Birth Index, 1903–1997”, record 152504486. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 4 October 2026. Confirmed Merrill Zilman Piland Jr.; father Merrill Zilman Piland, mother entered as Rubye Edna Cearley. (The son’s own date and place of birth are not given here, because he may be living.) ⚠ None for the parents: both are named in full. Also serves the card of Ruby Edna Cearley Piland.
  8. S1722Indexes — Ruby Piland, wife of Merrill Z. Piland, Austin and Hays County, Texas, 1930–1950; and two index entries for her death on 15 June 1982. FamilySearch: 1930 census index, Austin (HK11-HW2); 1940 census index, Austin (K43T-PQT); 1950 census index, Hays County (6XGB-DW33); Texas Death Index, 1903–2000 (VZF9-BNQ); Find a Grave index (QV2Z-7YLQ). Indexes read on 4 October 2026; no image read for this entry. Probable Census indexes: Ruby, wife of Merrill Z. Piland, born in Texas about 1903 or 1904. Texas Death Index: a Ruby Piland, Travis County, 15 Jun 1982. Find a Grave: an entry under her maiden and married names, born 22 Nov 1902, died 15 Jun 1982, grave at Driftwood, Hays County. ⚠ Index only: no image has been read. The death index entry gives no age and no husband; it is tied to her by the Find a Grave entry, which carries her maiden name and the same day. Her death certificate and obituary are unread, and the birthday in the grave index (1902) differs from the census ages (about 1903). Serves the card of Ruby Edna Cearley Piland.

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Compiled for the Proeger family

Living adults appear by name and relationship, with the year only: no full date of birth and no home town on any page that search engines index, and a living person’s own page is kept out of search engines. Minors appear by name only — no date of birth, no birth year, no age, no school, no place, no address, no other identifying detail. A minor may be named and may appear in a family photograph; nothing further about them is published. Where it is not established whether someone is an adult or a minor, the minor rule applies.

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