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Category: Delaware County Oklahoma

2021 Report Card

The one thing I said correctly about 2021 was that I needed to keep it “simple and uncrowded”. I had no idea. Last school year was difficult with Covid and constant changes being made at work. Then there was the 2020 presidential election and so many other issues. It was a tiring year but I’d rather focus on the good. My best friend has been back here for a year now and I’ve enjoyed getting to spend time with her. Everyone is in good health and one of the highlights of my year was getting to take a whole-family weekend trip to Branson. We took both sets of our parents, our daughter & her fiancé, my daughter- & son-in-law and all my grandsons. We went to Branson, Missouri, and while there we got some family photos in period costume. So some of my new prized possessions are photos of all my family together and also some wonderful photos of my grandsons all together, the men all together, and the women all together. Making memories is one of my favorite things.

Looking Back

My goals for 2021 were:

  1. Continue unpacking and organizing and preserve pictures and documents.
  2. Commit to writing at least 12 blog posts.
  3. Ancestral focus: Nicholas REITER.

I wrote 31 blog posts some of which were private posts for specific individuals. I was doing well up until the end of April/beginning of May which is typical for me. Because school is ending, April and May become difficult for me to find time to write. Last year it was not only the craziness of the end of the school year but also I was a Junior class co-sponsor which meant assisting with prom as well as supervising concessions at basketball games to raise money for prom. I helped the art teacher by chaperoning a trip to an art museum in May. Then add in the fact that in April and May I geared up for and then opened my own small business…well, writing wasn’t exactly at the top of the list. I spent the first part of June getting ready for our annual Cousin Camp, and then afterwards I was building my business for the rest of the summer and didn’t stop doing events until after this current school year started in August. By September I was exhausted! So, all things considered, I’m happy with 31 posts.

I am not finished with organizing and preserving photos and documents and I made no progress on the REITER family. The REITER family has been very elusive. Things that weren’t on the list that I made progress on include learning how to better utilize my DNA results to further my genealogy; moving forward with writing a book including taking two writing courses to brush up on certain skills; and, reading several instructional books. (I highly recommend Lisa Cron’s Wired for Story. It’s an excellent book for fiction writers and even though I’m writing non-fiction, I still got a lot out of it.) I was also fortunate to take several genealogy research trips to Kansas and Kentucky plus several non-research genealogy road trips to Arkansas, Missouri, and Ohio. One of the highlights of my year was when my cousin, Chris BENNETT, gifted me the old church records from the church we grew up in. I was so excited to receive those and I treasure them. So, overall it was a good year. I made some exciting breakthroughs in December that I’m not ready to talk about but I hope to blog about them soon.

Looking Forward

With my business still being less than one year old and my book project in full swing, I think following 2021’s mantra of keeping plans “simple and uncrowded” is a good idea. So here is my simple and uncrowded plan for 2022:

  1. Finish organizing and preserving documents and photos. I have to do that with the lines that are going into my book anyway so I think this is a good strategy.
  2. Print records that are online-only so I have a paper backup in case something were to happen to my online access. Of course, these will then have to be organized/preserved but I think having a paper backup is important. The end goal will be to have a dual set of records – one digital and one paper.
  3. Continue writing blog posts and commit to at least 12. That’s only one per month. I hope to do more but with all that’s going on, I think I’ll stick with this number as a minimum.
  4. Have a complete first draft of my book by December, 2022.
  5. Ancestral focus: my SEELY line.

I hoped for fewer than 5 goals but this is what I settled on. We’ll see how it goes. I hope that your 2022 is blessed and that you meet all your goals plus do a few things you never thought you’d get to do.

Happy 2022!

Happy New Year,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

New Friends from Old Friends

It never ceases to amaze me how life is so circular in nature. Back in 2012 when I was first blogging, I wrote about my 4th great grandfather, Ervin Alonzo DRAKE (Poppy Lonzo’s grandpa). Ervin lived in a town in Indian Territory (now Delaware County, Oklahoma) called Echo. It took me decades to learn where Echo was. You can find that blog post here. If you go back and read it, you’ll see that Echo doesn’t exist anymore. It was a town that was sacrificed so Grand Lake could be created. In all these years, they are the only family I’ve come across in my research who lived there. I know there were other families there, but in the course of my research I’ve never found anyone else who had family that lived in Echo…until today! Today I spoke with Penny, a woman who works on the same job Bart is working on right now. Penny’s been reading my blog (thank you, Penny!) and she mentioned that she was having a little trouble researching her own family and that her family was from Delaware County, Oklahoma. It’s so crazy that Bart goes to a job in Colorado and meets someone who has ties to our little neck of the woods. So I had a brief conversation with Penny this morning. She dropped a name here and there (and I took notes – sorry Penny!!). Once I hung up I thought I would do a quick search to see who her family was. So today, you get to hear a tiny bit about Penny’s family.

Oh yes – Of Course I recognize that name!

One of the surnames Penny dropped was SIXKILLER. One of my favorite people was Terry SIXKILLER. I worked with him for quite a few years. He was intelligent, fair, generous, kind, level-headed and wise beyond his years. I always enjoyed talking to him and so appreciated all the wise advice and direction he gave me when I was just starting out in that job. We also had a neighbor named Taylor SIXKILLER. He and his wife were good people. The year our son passed away, all five families who live on our little dirt road lost a close family member. Taylor was one who passed away that year. Eventually his widow moved out and a couple of years later their house burned down. They were good neighbors.

But I digress. I’m not writing about Sixkiller’s today. Penny’s family member that caught my attention today is Charles Fred SAMUEL and his parents, James W. and Carrie (MORRIS) SAMUEL. As I was looking at Charles’ information I noticed a Dawes Census card on the family. I decided to pop it open and take a look. Here’s what I saw:

Dawes Census card for Charles F. SAMUEL. Image found on Ancestry.com.

You’ll notice that Charles was 1 year old in 1906 when the census was taken. His father is a non-citizen of Cherokee Nation and his mother’s roll number is 767. I noticed the information about the application and the corrected affidavit. Penny will want to seek those documents out as they may have valuable information on them. I highly recommend applying for your own roll number as well, Penny! What a valuable thing to have your ancestor’s roll number! I was about to close out the census card image when my eyes caught sight of the family’s residence. Her ancestors lived in Echo!!! The same little defunct town where my ancestors lived! I love it when our ancestors surprise us with a little nugget like this. Hopefully Penny already has this census card but if she didn’t have it before, she does now.

It’s possible that 115 years ago mine and Penny’s people knew each other. And now, all these decades later, Penny and I meet. I look forward to getting to know Penny better. I love it when my blog brings new people into my life. Thanks for reading and for getting in touch with me Penny, and if you’re ever in Northeast Oklahoma hit me up and I’ll take you around to see some of the places that were important to your people. I hope you really do start your own blog. I will look forward to reading your stories.

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Happy Birthday, Jeannie

Today my cousins are remembering their mom on her birthday, so I will join them. Their mom was Jeannie STROUT. She was born in 1949 to Bobby and Virginia (KUYKENDALL) STROUT (at least, I think Virginia was her mom). I haven’t been able to do enough research to confirm who Jeannie’s mom was yet. Jeannie had four children – 2 boys and 2 girls. One of her daughters, Kim, passed away in 2001 – a loss that devastated my cousins and, I’m sure, devastated Jeannie as well.

Jeannie and Poynor Baptist Church

As with most of the spouses of my paternal aunt and uncles, the spouses attended Poynor Baptist Church at some point. Jeannie was no exception. Her entry in the Membership Roll book shows she was saved on 20 September 1970. She was baptized 19 September 1972. Her entry is under her married name of DRAKE.

Poynor Baptist Church Membership Roll entry for Jeannie STROUT DRAKE.

At the time of this entry, her address was Rogers, Benton County, Arkansas.

Jeannie’s dad, Bobby, was a preacher so church and religion were not a new thing for Jeannie or her sister, Linda. Her dad pastored Guiding Light Tabernacle, an evangelical church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for years. Jeannie’s mom has been a bit of an enigma for me so I won’t go into her until I have solid information.

For now, I’m going to leave you with this simple sketch of Jeannie. I was too young to have any memories of her myself and haven’t had time to ask around for stories about her so sometime in the future I’ll get back to writing about Jeannie. In the meantime, hugs to my cousins as they remember their mom on her birthday.

Peace & Love,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives Genealogy blog

Reverend Montgomery of Poynor Baptist Church

Yesterday my dad asked me about some of the early pastors of Poynor Baptist Church so I began looking through the records. One of the early preachers was a Reverend MONTGOMERY. It took some time to search out who he really was. Here is the information I started with from the Poynor Baptist Church Membership Roll book and a handwritten letter found in the box given to me by my cousin Chris.

A handwritten ‘copy’ of a letter written by the Missionary Baptist Church of Poynor on 7 March 1954 offering Reverend MONTGOMERY a call to pastor the church. The church was 2 years old at this point.
Poynor Baptist Church Membership Roll book showing Rev. C. M. MONTGOMERY and wife Ethyle. This entry has their names crossed out because they moved to Seneca, Missouri. The entry shows a letter of recommendation was sent to their new church and that Reverend C. M. MONTGOMERY passed away after moving.
Index of the Poynor Baptist Church Membership Roll book dated 1964 showing C M and Ethyl MONTGOMERY and noting that the couple had moved, a letter of recommendation had been sent, and that C. M. had passed away.

As you can see, Ethel’s name was spelled two different ways. There are other issues with spelling that you’ll see in a minute. This is why it took some time to figure out who this couple was. As it turns out, C. M.’s name was actually Charles Nathan MONTGOMERY and he was called “Shug” according to his tombstone. Ethyle/Ethyl was actually Charles’ second wife, Julia Ethel TYGART CALLAHAN MONTGOMERY. Shug and Ethel had no children together but each of them had children from their previous marriages. Shug had two children that I’m aware of with his first wife Mary Jane “Mollie” YOCUM. The children were Ruth and Charles. Ethel had 4 children that I’m aware of with her first husband Benjamin Franklin CALLAHAN. The children were Clifford, Ben, Bob, and Marcella. Mollie YOCUM MONTGOMERY passed away in 1943 from a cerebral hemorrhage. Benjamin CALLAHAN passed away in 1918 in Kentucky. So Shug and Ethel were widower and widow when they met and married. Shug and Ethel married in 1945.

Mollie YOCUM MONTGOMERY’s death certificate.

Shug’s death certificate indicates he was a retired well-driller and minister.

Reverend Charles Nathan “Shug” MONTGOMERY’s death certificate.

I’ve asked around for memories of Shug MONTGOMERY and this is what I’ve learned. Shug had a medical condition – possibly Thrombosis – and he had to wear what sounds like compression socks. Shug drove an Edsel and when he drove he would accelerate up to about 50 or 55 miles per hour but then his leg would give out and he would decelerate so riding with Shug was an ongoing series of accelerations and decelerations but he was one of the few people in the area that owned an Edsel.

Shug Montgomery at Poynor Church

I was able to find a newspaper article about Shug’s work at Poynor. The following article is from the 21 Oct 1954 edition of the Neosho (Missouri) Daily News.

21 Oct 1956, Neosho (Missouri) Daily News article about Shug MONTGOMERY and Poynor Church.

Shug pastored at Poynor for several years I’m told and during that time he and my great grandpa Mark DRAKE had a disagreement over church issues. Rather than argue, Mark left the church and attended Oak Chapel Church for a few years. Shug’s overarching goal for Poynor church was to build a new church out by the highway for better visibility and ease of access. He was unable to accomplish this prior to leaving the church.

When Shug and Ethel left, they moved to Seneca, Missouri and Shug passed away 4 August 1964. Ethel lived to 80 years of age and passed away 19 April 1967 from Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Both Shug and Ethel are buried at Seneca Cemetery in Seneca, Newton County, Missouri.

Shug MONTGOMERY’s obituary.

Shug, in Retrospect

Shug seemed to be a good man determined to do big things for the Church. He only spent a few years at Poynor before moving on but he is a part of the church history and I’m glad I could bring you a little piece of his story. Perhaps I’ll find more documents pertaining to him as I go through the box of church records and I’ll be able to add to his story. For now, I’ll leave you with this brief introduction to one of the early pastors of Poynor church and a short note to say that I believe it’s possible the MONTGOMERY family has some connection to my dad’s BAKER family although I haven’t been able to figure it out yet. Hopefully that will be resolved in the future.

Peace and Love,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives Genealogy

Long, Hot Summer

It’s been a long summer trying to get my business off the ground. I’ve missed writing these blog posts. Aside from starting a business, there have been so many other changes in the last few months. From mid-August to present we’ve laid to rest two cousins – Robert EVANS and David WETZEL – and an uncle, Alvin BENNETT, Jr.. They will all be missed.

Alvin Bennett Jr., Vietnam veteran.

Family Is Everything

When I was a child, I saw almost all of my cousins almost every weekend of my childhood. These days, it seems we only see each other at funerals and weddings. Today was one of those days. Before leaving the graveside services for my uncle Junior, my cousin Chris told me he had a box for me. He gifted me a box of records from the church we grew up in. It’s been quite a trip down memory lane looking through old business meeting notes, membership rolls, etc. Over the coming weeks I hope to share some of those records with you. For tonight, I want to share the baptismal records for my parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and even a great-great grandparent.

Poynor Baptist Church

The Poynor Baptist Church Membership Roll book as it looks today.

This Poynor Baptist Membership Roll book was in the box Chris gave me. This book is as good as gold to me. It’s like a mini-family history for me. In this book, I found my own record of salvation and baptism (the dates aren’t there but I can tell you it was Autumn of 1976 for salvation and Summer of 1978 for baptism):

My salvation/baptism entry in the Poynor Baptisit Church Membership Roll book.

I also found both of my parents in the book:

My dad’s entry – he was baptized on June 13, 1954.
My mom’s entry – she was baptized on 16 February 1964.

I also found many of my ancestors in the book:

My paternal grandparents, great-grandparents, and even my great-great-grandfather!
Plus one more great-grandmother.

I love the story my dad tells about my great-great-grandfather, Poppy Lonzo. He remembers Poppy standing at the back of the Poynor Baptist Church with tears streaming down his face professing his belief in Christ and his regret that he waited so long to accept Christ as his savior. What a beautiful story! It brings tears to my eyes.

Losses, But Also Gains

In this summer of losses for my family, it was refreshing to see the eternal gains we’ve made. Refreshing to know that I will see my people again one day in a better place. Comforting to know that my people are already in that better place waiting for my arrival.

As we move into fall and winter, I’m wishing you more days of rejoicing than grief and I’m wishing you comfort in your days of loss.

Peace,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives Genealogy

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch- Changes

So many changes are coming! I’m opening up a shop! The new name of the website is now the name of my business – Honeysuckle Farm, LLC. The blog will remain and will keep the name Days of Our Lives. I named it that because my paternal grandmother and great grandmother (Audrey and Bess) were always watching soap operas when I was little and when I talk about my blog I always think of them. What can I say? I’m a sentimental person.

I’m attempting to point my Shopify shop here. I have no idea what I’m doing so bear with me! I’m figuring it out as fast as I can. I’m hoping that connecting the shop will help me centralize everything. We’ll see… I only have a free trial of Shopify so if it doesn’t work out I’ll have to figure out something else so changes may continue for a month or two while I get it together. For now, you can view my shop items on the Collections page. Once you arrive there, you can click on the titles under each picture to go to each collection although I will tell you that the only one with products listed right now is the Family History Collection. There are only a couple of items listed right now due to the amount of time it’s taking me to learn the new software and get the information online.

Thanks for your understanding and for sticking with me through these changes. I’ll get back to blogging soon. I forget how insanely busy the last few weeks of the school year are but we’re almost there – just two more weeks and then I can focus just on my shop and my blog (and Cousin Camp because YAY- 2021 Cousin Camp is coming at the end of June!!!).

While you’re waiting on me to pull myself together, here are a few pics of one of my absolute favorite places and a place I took the boys for their Cousin Camp field trip a couple of years ago. It was one of my favorite field trip days with the boys.

Saline Courthouse – the only original standing Cherokee courthouse in what was Indian Territory. There were 9 in Indian Territory and only this one remains.
Current hours of operation.
June 27, 2019 Us and the boys at Saline Courthouse for Cousin Camp Field Trip day.
June 27, 2019 Bart’s parents and the boys at Saline Courthouse for Cousin Camp Field Trip day.
June 27, 2019 My parents and the boys at Saline Courthouse for Cousin Camp Field Trip day. You can see the courthouse in the background. In 2019 they were still renovating it.
June 27, 2019 The boys being goofy at Saline Courthouse for Cousin Camp Field Trip day.

If you get a chance to visit Saline Courthouse, go! And while you’re in the area, try to find the Cherokee Nation Buffalo ranch and visit the Buffalo. Here’s a website to get you started. https://www.visitcherokeenation.com/attractions/saline-courthouse-museum. You can view inside the courthouse with that link but it doesn’t do justice to the location. Make time to go there!

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

The Single Most Favorite Double in the World

1979 Doublemint twins ad from YouTube.

This week the theme is ‘multiples’. This theme was almost too broad for me to decide what to write about! After some debate I narrowed it down to two topics. After looking at the 2021 weekly topics list I felt the other story would fit into an October theme and this particular story for this week didn’t really fit anywhere else. So, this week we’re talking about multiple births. I’m going to look into something I’ve always wondered: how many sets of twins did my direct-line ancestors have? I’ll be going back as far as my 2nd great grandparents. I chose that as a stopping point so this blog doesn’t get too lengthy. Out of the 8 pairs of my 2nd great grandparents, 3 of the couples had twins.

Dad’s Family: Double Your Sentiment

90’s Doublemint twins ad.

In the 21st century the statistical probability of having twins is about 3%, or 3 in 100. That is a higher probability than previous generations. In my family (in that 2nd-great-grandparent generation) mixed sets of twins were more popular (mixed meaning a boy-girl set of twins versus same-sex twins). Out of my dad’s great grandmothers, he had one who had twins. Eliza Emoline BELL WILLIAMS (and her husband, Samuel Morris WILLIAMS) had a set of twins in 1900- two boys named Lorenzo Dall and William Sherman WILLIAMS. Neither baby survived. I’m guessing the babies are probably buried in Oakland Cemetery in Success, Texas County, Missouri since the family lived in that area and other family members are buried in that cemetery but I can’t say for certain where the babies were buried. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this family today because I’ve written about them quite a bit. You can find previous posts at:

Mom’s Family: Double Good

Early iteration of the Doublemint twins ads.

My 2nd great grandmother, Sarah C. DAVIS REITER, and her husband Nicholas Wilhelm REITER had a set of twins in 1864. My mom thinks Sarah’s twins were mixed – one boy and one girl. She can’t remember their names but is going to try to find that information for me. I’ve not found their names anywhere but if mom locates that information I’ll be sure to let you know. The babies did not survive. I don’t know where they’re buried but I’m sure it’s in Illinois, in the area of Perry, Pike County, Illinois since that’s where the family lived. This is another family I’ve written about quite a bit so I won’t spend a lot of time on them today. You can read more about Sarah and her family at:

My 2nd great grandmother, Druziller Mahala LATTY BULLOCK (and her husband James Mathaniel BULLOCK), also had a set of twins born in 1892. For this grandma though, both twins survived – one girl named Alice May and one boy named Oscar Morris.

1982 Wrigley’s Doublemint gum twins ad.

Alice May and Oscar Morris BULLOCK were born 17 April 1892 in Benton County, Arkansas. They remained in Benton County, Arkansas until after they married. Alice married Martin Rotramel when she was 17 years old. Together, Alice and Martin and had 8 children – and no twins. Here is Alice in her later years with her dog, Major. I love this photo.

Alice BULLOCK ROTRAMEL and her dog, Major.

Alice lived to be 92 years old! The last 52 years or so of her life she lived in Delaware County, Oklahoma. Alice passed away on 1 December 1984 in Jay, Delaware County, Oklahoma. She’s buried in Hillcrest Cemetery beside her husband in Gravette, Benton County, Arkansas where her parents are buried.

Oscar Morris BULLOCK grew up with his family in Benton County, Arkansas. He served as a Private in the U.S. Army as evidence by the Army transport document below.

Army Passenger List.

I don’t fully understand that document. It looks like perhaps he was transported to a Veterinary Hospital. It would be interesting to know what he did in the Army. Oscar fought in World War I. I do know he arrived in New York in June of 1919 on his way to fight in France.

Army transport document.

According to military records, Oscar was serving with Veterinary Hospital #16 MR. as a Private V.C.. Oscar served in France in 1919. During that time, the final US deaths of the war happened and the Treaty of Versailles was drawn up. The treaty was signed the day after Oscar arrived back on US soil. Oscar shipped out from Marseille, France on the ship Taormina and arrived home at New York, USA on 27 June 1919.

Some researchers say that at age 27 Oscar married Stella BROWN. He lived in California at the time but the marriage certificate was in Arkansas. I haven’t done extensive research on this line so I can’t say what really happened. I know that in his obituary no children or wife were listed. Oscar passed away at 80 years of age. He died on 17 February 1973 in Fayetteville, Washington County, Arkansas. He was buried in the Fayetteville National Cemetery in Fayetteville, Washington County, Arkansas.

Doing the Numbers

So, let’s bring this all together. I looked at all my direct line ancestors from my parents up through all of my 2nd great grandparents. The only generation that included twins were my 2nd great grandparents’. Out of 8 sets of 2nd great grandparents, only 3 couples (2 on my mother’s side and 1 on my father’s side) had twins. The paternal set of twins passed away or were stillborn; their names were Lorenzo and William. One set of maternal twins also passed away or were stillborn and included one girl and one boy; I don’t know their names but they were given names. The final set of maternal twins (Alice and Oscar) lived to adulthood and at least one of them had their own offspring but did not have their own set of twins.

According to official statistics:

The gender chances of a fraternal twin pregnancy are; 25% chance that a mother will have two boys, 25% chance that a mother will have two girls, and 50% chance that a mother will have a boy and a girl. On the other hand, identical twins are always the same gender.

https://healthresearchfunding.org/24-interesting-fraternal-twins-gender-statistics/, accessed 28 Feb 2021.

So, according to Health Research Funding, Alice and Oscar were fraternal twins as were the DAVIS twins. Only the paternal twins- Lorenzo and William WILLIAMS- had a chance at being identical twins. I found that very interesting.

I was wondering about what my chances of having twins might have been in my childbearing years. Since 3 out of 8 couples in my 2nd great grandparents’ generation had twins, I felt like statistically I stood a better chance of having twins in my child bearing years. MedlinePlus.gov confirms it as does Washington State Twin Registry. Turns out, fraternal twins- especially if they occur on the mother’s side- are associated with an increased likelihood of twins being hereditary in families. I searched some more and I hit some good information:

A family history of identical twins does not necessarily make it more likely you’ll have multiples, although the offspring of male identical twins may be more likely to have their own identical twins. However, if you have fraternal twins (non-identical) in your family, your chances of conceiving twins rise. If there are fraternal twins on both the mother and father’s side, your odds for twins goes up even higher.

Lazarov S, Lazarov L, Lazarov N. Multiple pregnancy and birth: Twins, triplets and high-order multiples. Overview. Trakia J Sci. 2016;1:103-107. doi:10.15547/tjs.2016.01.015 

There are other factors that play a role as well. As it turns out, having children when you’re older increases your odds of having multiple births from one pregnancy. So I went back to my charts to check ages of the mothers. Eliza Emoline was 28 years old when she had Lorenzo and William. Sarah C. was 27 years old when she had her twins. Druziller Mahala was 34 years old when she had Alice and Oscar.

Final Thoughts

One last statistic about twins from Health Research Funding.

A woman named Mary Jonas, who died in 1899 had 15 sets of fraternal twins.

24 Interesting Fraternal Twins Gender Statistics – HRF (healthresearchfunding.org)

I found that tidbit interesting since two sets of the twins I talked about today were born during the 1890’s. I will spare you one last Doublemint commercial. Hopefully the song is now stuck in your head so I don’t have to suffer that fate alone now.

If you’d like to learn more about the BULLOCK family, you can find more of my posts at:

If you’re looking for more blogs to read later in the week, you can go to:

If you’re interested in joining me on this family history writing adventure, well…the more the merrier! You can join at Amy Johnson Crow’s website. There’s a Facebook page that goes along with the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. The only rules are the rules you make up for yourself on this writing adventure. Anything you get down in writing is more than you had before so get writing! Don’t miss out on Amy’s blog and podcast either. Both are very good.

Enjoy your week and make the most of it!

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives Genealogy blog

Speaking Words of Wisdom, Quarantine Style

It’s been a while since I blogged. You would think during Quarantine I could find the time to write but it seems there’s always something else to do. We are in our 10th week of quarantine. It’s both frustrating and desirable to be stuck at home. I get stir-crazy and think I want to go to town so I go grocery shopping and by the time I’m done all I want is to be at home without people. C’est la vie. (How do you like that, Mom? I used my French from college!) In any case, I’m here and I’m writing. As I opened up a blank post the words of a song came to mind and I’ve learned that when that happens, I should just incorporate them and go with it. I’m sure it will only take a couple of sections (if that) for you to figure out the song. I’m assuming it must have been a favorite of the person I’m about to write about.

“When I find myself in times of trouble Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, Let it be.”

This quarantine! It’s been at times comforting, at times worrisome and there has been so much time to think! When it gets worrisome I think about my ancestors who went through difficult times and wondered how they handled various situations. One recurring thought has been that at every moment of our lives each of us is prepared/preparing for the next moment. In other words, all my life has been in preparation for this moment of quarantine. Whatever happens, we’ll make it through. And I’ve said before, the movie Aladdin has some truth in it. When Jafar said something to the effect of “It’s amazing what you can live through”- he wasn’t joking.

The Beatles Remastered – Let It Be

“And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me, speaking words of wisdom, Let it be.”

The 10 weeks of quarantine have seemed like an emotional roller coaster. Something that’s been on my mind a lot are the people that I’ve lost- what I miss about them, what I’d like to talk to them about if I could see them again, and did I say ‘how much I miss them’? Yeah. Today I was doing some cleaning upstairs, clearing out some boxes that have mostly been in storage for a while. I came across a typed letter dated January 14, 1994. I read a line. It was clearly from family. I read a couple more lines and I thought, “Man, this really sounds like Aunt Carol but I don’t remember anything that she’s talking about.” Then the letter mentioned Uncle Junior and I knew it was indeed Aunt Carol. What a blast from the past!

Aunt Carolyn (Drake) Bennett a couple of years before she wrote the letter to me.

“And when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer, Let it be.”

Aunt Carol had been going through a tough time in 1994. I’d done something for her and she was writing to thank me- 3 pages worth. Isn’t that just like her? I had to laugh. No thank you card for me. Nope. I get a three page letter. I’m glad. It was an emotional trip down memory lane. She told me about some of the trouble they’d been having. She gave me news about my cousins. She talked about how much they missed us. (We’d moved to Idaho two years prior to this letter- almost two years exactly.) She talked about her work and asked when they might see us again. Rather than asking me to pray for her, she talked about how she had prayed for us. To write all this makes me realize how much I’ve missed her.

“For though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see. There will be an answer, Let it be.”

On the last page she told me my grandma (“Mam”- Audrey) said hello. She (and Mam) sent me kisses and hugs. That last page. I finally lost it on that last page. When my Aunt Carol spoke to me she called me by my first AND middle name. She was the only one who did that. The last time I saw her she was in the hospital. There is no doctor that will ever convince me she did not hear and understand my final words to her: “Aunt Carol, this is Lisa Anne. I love you.” She responded and no one can tell me otherwise.

“And when the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me. Shine until tomorrow, Let it be.”

Tonight is a waning crescent moon. There won’t be much light shining tonight but sometimes God gives us the precious gift of someone’s love that shines down on us. That’s the gift I got tonight. There are so many emotions and memories tied to Aunt Carol. She loved butterflies. I think of her every time I see one. She always led the worship service at the church I attended my entire childhood. She would sometimes get all my cousins and I up in front to sing a special.

My cousins and I one long-ago Easter Sunday at Poynor Baptist Church. Back row left to right: Rick Drake holding Jared Drake, Robert Drake, Chris Bennett, Me (Lisa Drake), Mechelle Drake. Front row left to right: Bradley Rooks, Allen Drake, Cortney Drake, Gina Drake.

We often sang In the Garden, a song I still love today.

In the Garden- Alan Jackson

My husband always wanted her to play I Shall Not Be Moved. That was his favorite. Our pastor at the time was Les Osburn. His granddaughter came to church with him often. She also liked that particular song as I recall.

I Shall Not Be Moved- Great Inspirational Songs hymnal
My very loved copy of the hymnal of my childhood.
I Shall Not Be Moved- Johnny Cash

Aunt Carol wore Avon perfume which, I’m assuming, she bought from my Mam (her mom). I believe the perfume was Sand & Pearls or maybe Pearls & Lace? She and Mam both wore it. I liked the perfume but if you got in a car with both of them to go to town the smell was overwhelming! I can laugh about it now but at the time, driving from Southwest City to Grove was excruciating sometimes!

“I wake up to the sound of music, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, Let it be.”

Tomorrow I’ll wake up, Lord willing, and it’ll be a new day and no matter who I’ve lost, I’ll carry on until the Lord decides my time is up. In the meantime, it’s such a treasure to find memories like this. They help keep me going. Maybe tomorrow I’ll write a letter to someone. I’d hate to think that years down the road we won’t have letters to look at anymore because all our writing is digital now. Some traditions need to be kept alive. If not now, when? If not me, who? Maybe tomorrow…

“Let it be, yeah, let it be. Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, oh let it be. There will be an answer. Let it be.”

I love you too, Aunt Carol and Mam. I love you, too.

Until next time – Let it be.

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Mourning

Today I’m mourning the loss of an incredible man. My life, my school, and my community are better for having known him.
Mr. Shackelford met his life goal on Sunday morning. He is now celebrating in Heaven with his Savior Jesus and loved ones he’s missed for years.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Shackelford. You ran a great race.
~ Lisa

Week 19- Orphans, A New Blog, and Podcasts

Welcome to week 19 of 2018 and week 2 of my short hiatus from blogging about my own personal family (and my husband’s).  Just this week and one more and I’ll get back to blogging about our families.  During my hiatus, I’m posting information that is not easily found elsewhere.  In case you’re just joining me I’ll let you know that I’m posting records of children who passed through the Jasper County Alms House (the “poor farm”) near Carthage, Jasper County, Missouri.  Today I’ll be posting about one family and I’ll also be recommending one blog I just found and a couple of podcasts I’m enjoying.
Let’s start with the blog.  I just finished watching the most recent season of Relative Race on BYUTV.  (If you don’t get BYUTV, contact your satellite or cable company.  It’s a family-oriented channel with lots of genealogy and family-friendly programming available.)  On episode 8 of Relative Race (Season 3, original air date 22 April 2018), there was a brief mention that Team Black (Johnathon and Rebecca HOYT) had met a relative who podcasts her family history and this relative (Dru MATTIMOE) interviewed Team Black for her podcast.  For a long time now, I’ve been thinking about creating a podcast that goes along with my blog so this bit of information caught my attention.  I did a little internet sleuthing and found Dru!  Before finding Dru though, I found her blog- Coffee and Headphones.   The first post I read was entitled, Relevé, Plié.  The link above will take you right to that post.  Before I could read even a word of her post I was immediately taken back to my childhood ballet and tap days.  Some of my friends and I were in dance classes when I was little.  Here is a photo of my friend, Genita (on the right), and I in our dance costumes for the tap portion of our dance classes.  This was right before a performance.  We were standing in her grandma’s yard right next door to my house on the “old highway” in Jay, Delaware County, Oklahoma.  Her grandma was my babysitter for several years when I was young.  I was probably about 8 or 9 years old in this photograph.

I happen to work at the same high school where Genita’s daughter attends now and I saw her within a day or so of reading Dru’s post and thinking about Genita and our dance days.  Maybe I’ll take a copy of this photo to her daughter one day before school’s out.
Yesterday I got to talk with Dru.  (I was trying to fix the lawnmower yesterday so I hope I didn’t look too wild and crazy for our video chat!)  I enjoyed our conversation and I’m looking forward to following her blog as well as her podcasting adventures.  So GO READ DRU’S BLOG!  I’m enjoying it and I think you will too, especially if you like a little ‘Hollywood’ to go with your history!  Speaking of podcasts, I’m in the car often so I listen to a lot of podcasts.  I was recently listening to an episode of Always Listening and the host, Joel SHARPTON, recommended Tyler Mahan COE’s podcast Cocaine and Rhinestones (which is both a podcast and a blog that follows along with the podcast).  Tyler podcasts the history of country music.  Now, I’m not the world’s biggest country music fan but something Joel said caught my interest so I flipped over to Cocaine and Rhinestones and I was hooked on the first episode (which for me, by the way, was Season 1, Episode 3, The Murder Ballad of Spade Cooley).  I’m about halfway through Season 1 right now.  Go take a listen.  Season 1 is all about the old names in country music- the ones my dad played in the cassette player of that dinky little Datsun pickup that my parents somehow managed to fit two adults and three children into back in the days when seatbelts were optional (and rarely used).  Sure wish I had a photo of that pickup truck.  Here’s a similar one found at CFI America:

Don’t make the mistake of looking at this pickup as anything close to a full-size pickup truck.  These things were TINY!!
Now for the orphans.  If you aren’t interested, you can cut out now.  It won’t hurt my feelings.  If you are interested, read on.

Above is the cover and description of the records for anyone interested.  Below is the first page of the transcription.  I’ll be skipping the second child (#2- Elija ROBINSON).  Just yesterday I made a breakthrough on Elija so I’m saving that for next week so I can research it a little more.  This week I’ll be discussing children Rhoda and Eva MALONE and their mom, Mary MALONE (#5-#7 on the list).

Here’s what I know about the MALONE sisters.  Mary MALONE came to the alms house with her two daughters- Rhoda and Eva- in February of 1883.  Mary was born in 1842 in Illinois.  She died (presumably at the alms house since it’s in their records) in August of 1886.  She came in with her daughter Rhoda who was born in 1863 in Illinois and her daughter Eva who was born in 1874 in Illinois.  I want to be clear here, I am presuming relationships based on the same last name and that they were all admitted to the alms house in February of 1883.  There is no disability listed with Mary’s name or the girls’ names.  Perhaps Mary was too sick to continue caring for herself or the girls anymore or perhaps she was too poor to do so and couldn’t find enough work.  I don’t know.  The above is literally all the information I had to go on.
So Mary would have been about 41 years old when she was admitted and 44 years old when she passed away.  Rhoda would have been about 20 years old and Eva about 9 years old upon admission to the alms house.  There is no discharge date for Rhoda or Eva.  Looking at all the MALONE families in the area at that time, I think the most likely family for these people was the family of John and Mary “Polly” (HENDRICKS) MALONE.  This family (at least the mother and children- I’m not sure about the father) moved from Adams County, Illinois sometime between 4 July 1870 and 15 June 1880 to Jasper County, Missouri.  In 1880, Mary (sometimes listed as Polly) had the following children: Rhoda (born about 1863 in Illinois), Adam (born about 1866 in Illinois), Hiram (born about about August of 1869 in Illinois), and Eva (born about 1874 in Illinois).  With this information, the gap in age from Rhoda to Eva makes a little more sense!  Mary was a widow in 1880.  She and her children were living in Preston, Jasper County, Missouri.  I can’t find Rhoda in 1900.  Eva is a servant in the Arnold household in Golden City, Barton County, Missouri.  Adam is living with Hiram and Hiram’s family in Richland, Barton County, Missouri.  Hiram, Adam, and Eva all married and had children.  Adam passed away in 1921 (of Paresis), Eva in 1943 (of Myocarditis), and Hiram in 1950 (of Pneumonia and infirmities of age).  I have contacted a member of this family and am exchanging information with her in an effort to figure out if this is the correct family and, if so, to link the family’s alms house years back into their historical record.  In case you’re wondering why I didn’t bring up the death record of Mary, there isn’t one that I can find.
If you’ve made it this far- thanks for reading.  Don’t forget to check out Dru’s blog, Coffee and Headphones.  Also check out Tyler’s podcast, Cocaine and Rhinestones (or, if you just aren’t interested in country, maybe check out Joel’s podcast, Always Listening, which introduces you to new podcasts).  You can also check out my sister-in-law’s blog at Down in the Root Cellar.
Take care of YOU this week!
Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

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