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Category: Lisa’s Family

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All the Live-Long Day

This week I’ve been researching my paternal 2nd great-grandfather, Alford Allen HUBBARD. As I was looking through the records I have, his employment is what stood out to me. Before Alford ever even married, he was working on the railroad. I wrote a brief piece about this in a 2015 blog post I did. You can find that blog post at https://honeysuckle-farm.com/two-men-and-a-passel-of-huntin-dogs/. You’ll have to scroll down since I also talked about another grandpa in that post as well. Today’s blog post will include a little of the 2015 information plus some new information I found.

Before I get into it, though, I wanted to address his name. I realize that many of his records spell his name Alfred. However, my great-grandpa Mark always told my dad that the name was spelled Alford so that’s the spelling I’m using here and the one I use on all my records relating to Alford HUBBARD.

One more thing…just so you can get something of a mental picture of Alford in your head, here’s a description of him from his World War I draft card:

  • Brown hair
  • Blue eyes
  • Medium build
  • Medium height

As a bonus, this photo has Alford in it. I believe Alford is the man to the far right. His sister, Julia, is standing next to him. To the left of Julia is her husband, John PRUETT and on the far left is Nadine PRUETT. For a younger version of Alford, you can go to my previous blog post linked above and see the different image that I included in that post.

Alvah Pruett’s daughter Nadine, John and Julia Pruett and Uncle Alfred Hubbard, about 1940

This photo was first posted to Ancestry by user oriem_1.

Now that you’ve got a mental image of Alford, let’s look at him as an employee.

1900, Teamster for Cordz-Fisher Lumber Camp

In 1900, Alford HUBBARD was 21 years old, single, and had the world before him. His first recorded job is listed on the 1900 census record. It records him as living in the Cordz-Fisher Lumber Camp with the WOODS family. His job was documented as “Teamster (Ties)”. I found a video that talks about the teamsters and the work they did. The video is just under 25 minutes and the older footage was recorded by a now-defunct large tie company out of Missouri, the T. J. Moss Tie Company. The T. J. Moss Tie Company footage was taken in the 1920s. The Missouri Conservation Department took the original footage and compiled it into a video and posted it on their YouTube channel. Although the footage was taken a couple of decades after Alford worked as a Teamster, I thought it was interesting to see what the Teamsters did. If you aren’t interested in watching the whole video, the Teamster section starts at the 8:13 mark and goes to the 9:15 mark. If you don’t watch the whole video, I recommend at least watching the Teamster section and then fast forward to about the 10:05 mark and take a look at that sweet steam-powered Barnhart loader they were using to remove the ties from the river. Here’s the video:

The 1900 census was taken in June that year. In September of the same year, he turned 22 years old and on his birthday he married Laura BUTLER. I don’t know how long he worked at Cordz-Fisher lumber camp, but just four years after the 1900 census, the Cordz-Fisher Lumber and Mining Company shut down their mill in Birch Tree, Shannon County, Missouri, where Alford worked.1

I highly recommend you go to Shiloh Museum of Ozark History’s website to their online exhibit called, “Timber!”. If you don’t want to read it all, at least look at the images and then open the sections on ‘Rail Transport’ and ‘Ties, Staves, and Wagon Bows’. Toward the end of the section called ‘Ties, Staves, and Wagon Bows’, there are a few paragraphs that talk about the daily life of both men and women in a lumber camp. It was interesting to think what Alford’s life was like while living in Cordz-Fisher lumber camp with the WOODS family. You can find Shiloh Museum’s exhibit at https://shilohmuseum.org/project/timber/. I always love the work they do!

1910, Sawmill Laborer

In 1910, Alford was living in North Marion Township, Christian County, Missouri. He was renting a farm there where he, his wife, and their three children lived. He was working as a laborer in a sawmill. According to the Christian County Library’s website, there were only 2 sawmills operating in Christian County during that time period. One was the Hoover Mill (also known as the Ozark Mill) in Ozark, Missouri. The following is a picture of the mill around 1908.2

The other sawmill listed on Christian County Library’s website was McHaffie Mill in Bruner, Missouri. I did find one sawmill not listed on their website. It belonged to Marion WORKMAN and was located near Sparta, Missouri. It burned in November of 1910. Burning seemed to be a common demise for the mills in Missouri. WORKMAN’s sawmill was mentioned one time in the 24 November 1910 edition of the Christian County Republican newspaper on Newspapers.com.3 Both of the first two mills (Hoover/Ozark and McHaffie) were water-operated. The Hoover Mill was on the western edge of Christian County and part of the mill was situated in the adjoining county. The McHaffie Mill was all in Christian County.4 Because of where the HUBBARD family lived in North Marion Township (a township that no longer exists but was in the area of Sparta, Nixa, and Keltner) in Christian County, I find it more believable that Alford worked at the McHaffie Mill or the Workman Mill, provided the three mills listed above are my only choices. The Keltner, Missouri, area is close to the county line so it’s always possible that Alford could have worked in the county to the east of Christian County, but I doubt it.

1917-1918, We Interrupt This Life for a War

This is like a side note in Alford’s life. He listed himself as a farmer on his draft card so I don’t know if he wasn’t working for the railroad at this time or if there was some benefit to saying he was a farmer, or something else was going on. In any case, for this time period he was living in Seymour, Webster County, Missouri, and listed his occupation as ‘farmer’. To my knowledge, Alford was never drafted and never served in the military. The image of his draft registration card below came from Ancestry.com.5

1920, Post-War Tie Yard Inspector

At age 42, Alford was moving up in his work life. He was working in the position of Tie Inspector at a tie yard near Finley Township, Webster County, Missouri, where he lived. I believe he lived in what is now known as the city of Seymour, Missouri. He, his wife, and his five children lived on Summit Avenue. Unfortunately, his house number wasn’t recorded by the census taker. I’ve been unable to determine a specific tie yard where Alford was most likely to have worked. In order to determine what Alford did all day as a Tie Inspector, I looked at the Railway Tie Association’s website. This information seems to be current information but does give some idea of what Alford’s life was like in 1930.

The Railway Tie Association’s website linked a document produced by University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. You can find the PDF file at the link listed in the Resource section at the bottom of this post. The document states that, “…the rigor of the inspection is determined by the size of the tie yard, the number of available personnel, the kind of working relationship the tie buyer has with his suppliers, and the requirements of the treating plant.”6 The reason the treating plant matters is because once the ties were purchased they were sent out for treatment and drying before being used.

As a tie inspector, Alford was looking at the length and dimensions of each tie. He was looking to see if the heartwood of the tree was centered in the tie, if the tie was structurally sound enough to support the weight of of what was being hauled on the track, whether the tie was structurally sound enough to withstand and support the rail spikes, what type of wood the tie was made of and whether the wood could absorb the wood preservative that would prolong it’s use. Alford would also be looking at coloring of the wood that would indicate decay, signs of previous fire damage, insect damage, knots in the wood that would cause problems, bark seams, wood grain slope, manufacturing defects, and more. He was categorizing the ties as ‘grade’ or ‘industrial grade’. Industrial grade ties were not good enough to be used in building the railroads. Industrial grade ties had some sort of defect but weren’t bad enough to be completely culled from the group. These industrial grade ties were used in freight yards and in short line track systems. I recommend you look at the PDF. I was surprised at how much Alford was doing as a tie inspector. Some of the things he was looking for are things I never thought would matter in a rail tie. It was interesting to learn about what he did. One additional resource that I highly recommend is Shiloh Museum’s online exhibit ‘Working on the Railroad’. You can find it at https://shilohmuseum.org/project/working-on-the-railroad/. If you don’t do anything else, at least scroll down to the section called, “Who profited?” and look at the photograph on the right side of the screen. It’s an image of a tie yard. It was interesting to me to see what Alford’s work environment might have looked like during this period of his life.

1930, Tie Buyer

Now in his early 50’s, Alford had moved into the role of Tie Buyer. He was living in Southwest City, McDonald County, Missouri, with his wife and three of their children. No street address was given so there’s no way for me to know exactly where they lived. It’s notable, though, that the census shows they were not living on a farm.

In some areas of Missouri, tie buyers would scout around their areas for ties. They’d buy them from individuals (farmers who would make extra money by cutting rail ties once their crops were all in for the year), from merchants, or even from tie yards that had an overstock of ties and were willing to sell.7 I’m not sure how long Alford worked as a tie-buyer. A short blurb in the Seymour, Missouri, newspaper, Seymour Citizen, dated 21 August 1930 stated that tie-buyers had stopped operations in southern Missouri. The article commented about how the lack of tie-buying would hurt the area farmers. So I’m not sure if they stopped for the season, or were ending the operation in southern Missouri.8

1940, The Caretaker and His Wife

By 1940, Alford and his wife, Laura, were in their early 60’s. They were living with Alford’s elderly widowed cousin, Alice GANN, in Beaty Township, Delaware County, Oklahoma. This is the area east of Jay all the way to the state/county line where it meets Arkansas and Missouri state lines. It’s the same area I discussed in my last blog post about my paternal 2nd great-grandfather, Ervin Alonzo DRAKE.

The 1920 census lists Alford as the ‘caretaker’ and lists Laura as the ‘caretaker’s wife’. I’m not entirely sure of what the real relationship between Alford and Alice was, but I know that Alice married a GANN and GANNs intermarried with DRAKEs, also the HUBBARDs intermarried with DRAKEs and I’m certain they all knew each other. In any case, this is how it was listed in the census and I don’t currently have time to chase down the exact relationship of the two. I know that Alice married Nathan GANN. One of Nathan’s and Alice’s sons was Jesse Alvin GANN. Jesse married Pearl Belle DRAKE. Pearl was my great-grandaunt and the daughter of Ervin Alonzo “Poppy” and Mary Anne “Annie” (BAKER) DRAKE. I wrote about Poppy in my previous blog post. My parents once told me that everyone is related to everyone around here. This about sums it up! Whatever their true relationship was, Alford and Laura took care of Alice in her old age after she lost her husband. I love that this one act of caretaking is a hallmark of my ancestry. It seems like on both sides of my family, we all took care of each other.

In case you’re interested, I actually included Pearl Belle (DRAKE) GANN in a blog post back in 2016. You can read about it here if you’re interested. Her story is sandwiched in the middle of two other stories and is just a few paragraphs long right in the middle of the blog post.

1941, War Time Again

In 1941, at 63 years of age, Alford had to register for another draft. On this draft registration, he marked himself as self-employed. I don’t know if he was still caring for Alice GANN. I do know Alice was still alive in 1941 so it’s possible.

Alford listed his residence as being in Delaware County, Oklahoma, but his mailing address was in Southwest City, McDonald County, Missouri. This makes sense for the area in which he was living at the time. Alford died when my dad was very young but Dad remembers Alford living on top of the hill by the old rodeo grounds just before you drop down the hill into Southwest City. It’s the same property that my maternal grandparents lived on when I was little.

1950, The End of a Railroad Life

Alford was part of one last census in 1950. He was living in Beaty Township, Delaware County, Oklahoma, with his wife, Laura. In the ‘Occupation’ column there was a notation that said ‘old age assistance’ and then it was crossed out. Laura’s said the same thing and was also crossed out. They were living next door to the now-82-year-old Alice GANN.

Around 1947, Laura had what I believe was a stroke. From that point forward, she was unable to care for herself. I’m assuming Alford was taking care of her at this point since they were still living together and on their own. Just three years after Laura’s stroke, on 31 July 1950, Alford passed away. Laura lived another ten years after the stroke and, after Alford’s passing, she was cared for by her daughter, (my great-grandmother) Edith (HUBBARD) DRAKE.

Final Thoughts

Shiloh Museum of Ozark History has a nice piece on the timber industry right now and it includes a section on the railroad industry. I found it interesting and recommend you check it out. I love that my posts sometimes track with Shiloh Museum’s exhibits. The last time this happened, they curated my blog post as part of their exhibit. That was a highlight for me! You can find Shiloh Museum’s current work on the timber industry at https://shilohmuseum.org/project/timber/. Don’t forget to visit their online railroad exhibit as well. It’s linked at the beginning of this post.

As a side note, one thing I like about the 1940 census is that it lists the amount of education the person had. From this record, we know that Alford went to school through the 4th grade and then dropped out. That seems to be fairly normal in this area for this time period.

Follow-up tasks that I’ll be working on in the next few weeks include ordering official death certificates for Alford and Laura. I’m working with photocopies right now. I’m also going to try contact the Railroad Pension office and see if there are any railroad pension records for Alford. I’m not holding out much hope for that though, so don’t get too excited. Also, the 1950 census gives exact directions for how to get to each person’s house. I’ll be following those directions in the near future to see where Alford and Laura lived in 1950.

One last thought. I wanted to give you a better idea about where Alford and Laura and their families lived in the early years. I made this map to help show you.

On this Google map, Springfield, Missouri, is circled in the upper left corner of the map. Most of you will know where that is. The eastern-most circle in the lower right quadrant of the map is Ava, Missouri. This is where Alford and Laura were married. To the southwest is Little Beaver Creek. Alford and Laura both claimed this area as their residences when they applied for a marriage license. To the northwest of Little Beaver Creek is Keltner. Laura’s family was from this area. To the northeast of Keltner is Dogwood, Missouri. This was the area that Alford’s family was living. To the north of Dogwood is Seymour, Missouri, where Alford and Laura lived briefly. For those of you who don’t know, Southwest City, Missouri, where Alford and Laura lived in later years is about 2 hours southwest of Springfield. Beaty Township in Delaware County, Oklahoma is south and west of Southwest City. Some of these places no longer exist so this map may help some of you picture where everything is.

I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know the work that Alford HUBBARD did for a living. I hope you all have a good week at your own jobs.

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

Resources

  1. “Ozark NSR: A Homeland and Hinterland (Chapter 9).” National Parks Service. Accessed January 19, 2025. https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/ozar/hrs9.htm.
  2. Glenn, Wayne. The 1,093 original land owners of Christian County, Missouri, to 1870: Including four stories from the county’s history. Ozark, Missouri: Wayne Glenn, 2017.
  3. “Historical Newspapers from the 1700’s-2000s.” Newspapers.com. Accessed January 18, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/.
  4. Christian County, Missouri, Mines and Mills. Accessed January 18, 2025. https://sites.rootsweb.com/~moccl/Places/ccmmines_page3.htm.
  5. Ancestry® | Family Tree, Genealogy & Family History Records. Accessed January 18-19, 2025. https://www.ancestry.com/.
  6. Conners, Terry. “Producing and Inspecting Railroad Crossties.” Railway Tie Association, Basic Tie Info. Accessed January 19, 2025. https://www.rta.org/assets/docs/basictieinfo/for108 final revised 2012 acrobat 6 or later.pdf.
  7. Bradbury, John F. “Tie-Hackers, Tie-Rafting, and the Railroad Crosstie Industry At …” Old Stagecoach Stop Museum. Accessed January 19, 2025. https://www.oldstagecoachstop.org/webgeezer/Gazette05/tiehacking.pdf.
  8. “Historical Newspapers from the 1700’s-2000s.” Newspapers.com. Accessed January 18, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/.
  9. “Stamp of Character.” YouTube, Missouri Department of Conservation Channel. Accessed January 18, 2025. https://youtu.be/jNstKvUUVGE.
  10. “Timber!” Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, May 15, 2021. Accessed January 18-19, 2025. https://shilohmuseum.org/project/timber/.
  11. “Working on the Railroad.” Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, July 1, 2021. Accessed January 18-19, 2025. https://shilohmuseum.org/project/working-on-the-railroad/.
  12. Google maps. Accessed January 19, 2025. https://www.google.com/maps.
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Weekend Follow-up

I searched for Poppy Lonzo over the weekend but didn’t make anymore progress. I found some maps of Southwest City, McDonald County, Missouri online. I was unable to find Poppy’s name on either map and I didn’t see his butcher shop. I did find the slaughter house on the 1909 map. It was out by the cemetery. That’s the closest I could come to finding a butcher shop. So, unless some older members of the family remember where Poppy’s butcher shop was, the location may be lost forever. Here are the 1902 and 1909 maps I found.

This is the 1902 Sanborn map I found at Library of Congress website. There is a hog and cattle pen in the southeast corner by the Honey Creek Distillery. It would be a convenient location for a butcher shop. I don’t know if Poppy had a butcher shop as early as 1902, though.

Here’s a 1909 map of Southwest City from Historic Map Works website. This is within one year of when Poppy said he had a butcher shop. I still didn’t find Poppy or a butcher shop listed. This is the map where the slaughter house is in the northwest corner near the cemetery.

In the last week, I’ve ordered Poppy’s WPA records and I’ll be ordering his death certificate this week. I have a copy but not a certified copy so I’m sending off for that. I’ll share those records when they come. If you have information or stories about Poppy you’d like to share, I’d love to hear what you know. I’ve enjoyed my week of researching Poppy. Next week I’ll be researching his wife, Mary Anne BAKER.

Enjoy your week,

Lisa at Days of Our Lives blog

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I’m Not Through Yet

Sometimes I feel like I’ve researched an ancestor and discovered most all of the information that’s available about them. I’ve researched the records available to me, talked to people who may know more, written the stories, and figure I’m pretty much done. My paternal 2nd great grandfather, Ervin Alonzo “Poppy” DRAKE, is one such ancestor. I felt I knew all that was ever going to come out about him but then, he decided he wasn’t done with me yet. On a quiet day this week I decided to make another round of searches online. As I was looking through the information, I began noticing his variety of occupations over the years so we’ll start there.

If you want to catch up on previous stories about Poppy before you move on, you can see those here:

Farmer Lon

(Just for reference, Poppy went by a number of names including Poppy, Lon, E.N., and Ervin. For the most part, I’ll call him Poppy.) In Poppy’s younger years, he farmed. I wish non-population schedules existed for Missouri for the years I can find Poppy but they don’t so I can only guess at what he farmed. Hogs might be a good guess, as you can see from previous blog posts I did about him (linked above). Poppy’s occupation was farmer in 1900 and notes indicate he’s also on a farm schedule for that year but again, no farm schedule for 1900 is available at this point. We’ll get back to farming in a bit, but for now let’s look at his next occupation.

Constable Drake

In August of 1908, Poppy became a nominee for constable of Prairie Township, McDonald County, Missouri. Just as a reference for where Prairie Township is, Southwest City is located in Prairie Township. The notice below appeared in The Pineville Democrat on 14 August 1908:

In October of 1908, he was identified as the Republican nominee. He was running against Democrat S. P. TUCKER. I’m not sure if Poppy was elected or appointed. I do know that about a year later, in late August or early September of 1909, Constable M. P. MILLER resigned. The County Court met and decided to appoint Poppy as MILLER’s replacement. Poppy was notified and he accepted the appointment. All this happened between 7 September 1909 and 9 September 1909. On 11 September 1909 Poppy was sworn in and assumed his duties. The notice of his swearing-in appeared in The Pineville Democrat on 17 September 1909:

To confuse matters more, the public minutes of McDonald County, Missouri (published in the 7 May 1909 edition of The Pineville Herald) state that in May of 1909 Poppy was paid for services as a constable in McDonald County, Missouri. That date was prior to his being appointed and sworn in. So perhaps he won in 1908 and was already serving, but then why would he need to be appointed later? I’ll have to do more research to figure this one out.

Whatever the case, Poppy was involved with a big arrest in October of 1909 and got a write-up in the paper for it. He also received part of a reward that was offered for the capture of the escaped inmate he helped arrest. This article appeared in The Pineville Democrat on 1 October 1909:

After this article, I haven’t found any further definitive information about Poppy’s time as a constable. I do know he was paid some money in April and May of 1912 by McDonald County (or, it appears he was paid money) that was classified as “Criminal Costs”. Since it appears the money was paid to him (and not by him) it would seem he was doing some kind of work for McDonald County. Possibly he was serving warrants and things like that.

A couple of notes about Poppy’s life prior to his becoming a constable. Poppy helped local law enforcement recover some stolen property in the area in November of 1906. This article was found on Newspapers.com and is from the 30 November 1906 edition of The Pineville Herald. The Jess BAKER mentioned in the article was Poppy’s brother-in-law, I believe.

In April of 1908, Poppy was a Grand Jury witness.

This notice appeared in the 3 April 1908 edition of The Pineville Democrat and was found on Newspapers.com. My guess is possibly he was a witness in regard to the theft that he helped with in the article above this one. I can’t say for sure, though.

These events may have sparked his interest in being a constable. There’s no way to know. In any case, it seems he was known to local law enforcement and the court system in a good way and perhaps that played a part in the County feeling comfortable enough to appoint him as Constable. Remember this when you get to the 1930s section of this story.

In between the big arrest in 1909 and the criminal court payments in 1912, the 1910 census happened. The 1910 census didn’t list farmer or constable as Poppy’s occupation. Instead, Poppy was into something new.

Poppy the Butcher

In 1910, while Poppy was transitioning from being a constable to doing other work, Poppy lived on the East side of Main Street in Southwest City, McDonald County, Missouri. Unfortunately, the census taker didn’t record Poppy’s house number so I’m not sure where in that area he lived exactly. For reference, that’s the same side of Main Street that the police station is on today. It’s also the same side of the road as Nichols Brothers store which is now Dave’s Supermarket. According to the census, Poppy owned and operated a butcher shop in Southwest City in 1910. I haven’t found a single ad or newspaper article talking about Poppy’s butcher business. Had it not been recorded on the 1910 census, I would have ever known about this venture of his. I did notice that the 1910 census references a farm schedule entry for Poppy so I’m assuming that, in addition to his butcher shop, he was also still farming.

Laborer

By the 1920 census Poppy seems to have been rid of the law enforcement role and the butcher shop. The census states his occupation as ‘Laborer’ and he seems to be working for someone else. I haven’t found any information stating who he worked for or what type of work he did. He wouldn’t have been working for the WPA yet since the WPA wouldn’t exist until 1935. So, for the decade of 1920, I only know that he was a laborer.

Farmer and Laborer

By 1930, Poppy had returned to farming. Again, the accompanying farm schedule no longer exists as far as I know. Poppy’s farming either didn’t last much longer, or he took on a job in addition to farming. In January of 1931 Poppy (and other close DRAKE relatives) received payment from Delaware County, Oklahoma, for “road work”. He received two more payments in the spring of 1931 for “hauling gravel” for Delaware County. Payments for road work and hauling gravel continued through at least Autumn of 1932. In 1935, President Franklin D. ROOSEVELT opened up the WPA projects and one legal notice in a newspaper confirms that Poppy worked for the WPA. You’ll see the legal notice below. I’ll be sending a letter of this week requesting Poppy’s WPA records. I’ll share that information if/when it comes.

From Good to Bad

In the spring of 1936, Poppy was working for WPA on the roads when circumstances took a turn for the worse for him. In the 19 March 1936 edition of The Grove Sun, this legal notice appeared:

I asked my dad if he know about this incident and he said he didn’t. Just a side note, County Judge Winfred Fulton HAMPTON, was a fairly new county judge in Delaware County in 1936. I’ve been unable to find any information at all about Henry ALPERS. I can’t say exactly what happened with the assault and battery charges, but about three weeks later another legal notice appeared. This time, Poppy wasn’t included but his son (and my great-grandfather), Mark DRAKE, was still being charged. This notice appeared in The Grove Sun on 9 April 1936:

This time, only Mark was being charged and he entered a guilty plea. I never knew my great-grandpa to be a violent or ill-tempered person so I was a little surprised to find assault and battery charges being brought against either my great-grandpa or my 2nd great-grandpa. Unfortunately, no further articles or notices appeared so it will take a little more research to see if I can bring you any more of the story. I hope to make a trip to the courthouse next week to see if I can find more information.

Back to Work

In the 1940 census, Poppy’s occupation is listed as farmer. However, in September of 1943, Poppy received another payment for road work done for Delaware County. In 1950 (the final census record available for Poppy at this time) he is listed as a farmer but also listed as receiving an “Old Age Pension”. I know he wasn’t receiving a military pension because in the 1930 census he told the census taker he was not a military veteran. In the fall of 1952, Poppy received his last recorded payment for road work done for Delaware County, Oklahoma. If there were other payments, I haven’t found them yet. Poppy was 77 years old in 1952.

I asked my dad about Poppy working on Delaware County roads and about him working for the WPA. He said Poppy worked on the road from the Maysville (Arkansas) junction into Southwest City (Missouri) where the west side of the road is in Oklahoma and the east side of the road is in Arkansas and then in Missouri as you get closer to Southwest City. Dad said Poppy walked to work every single day. It would have been about 5-7 miles one way through the woods from where Poppy lived to the road he was helping to build. Dad did mention that Poppy owned a Model A or a Model T pickup at some point which dad remembers riding in. However, driving either the pickup or a wagon with horses would have been a problem as far as where Poppy would leave his transportation while he was working all day. That’s why Poppy walked to work.

At this point, from about 1930 to his death in 1964, Poppy lived in various locations within Beaty Township in Delaware County, Oklahoma. Beaty Township is bounded on the east side by the road that Poppy was building. I believe in the 1930s and 1940s he was living closer to Southwest City, Missouri, and to the road he was working on. Here’s a map I posted in a previous blog post (linked above) that shows where Beaty Township is located within Delaware County, Oklahoma. Beaty Township has a blue circle around it. The map comes from OKGenWeb. A larger version of this map is available in the blog post linked above entitled “Ervin Alonzo Drake, 1940”.

In 1950, Poppy lived on Whitewater Road between Jay and Grove in Delaware County, Oklahoma. The census taker recorded detailed notes about the locations she visited. Regarding the general area around Poppy’s residence she wrote,

One mile north of White Water School House / Then retrace back to school and go east on what is known as White Water Road.

On Poppy’s specific entry, she wrote,

2 3/4 mile on right.

I’m hoping to get over to that area soon and see if I can figure out approximately where Poppy lived. I was excited to get some specific information about the various places he lived. I believe it was later in the 1960s when Poppy lived near Poynor Baptist Church where the cave and spring were. That location has been mentioned in previous posts I wrote about Poppy.

Final Notes

If I haven’t told you before, a physical description of Poppy is given on his World War I draft card. Poppy had a medium build, was of medium height, had gray hair, and dark brown eyes. I’ve posted pictures of Poppy in some of the links at the beginning of this post if you’re interested in seeing his picture.

For further research, I’m hoping to find some time to take my dad out for a drive and have him show me some of the places he remembers Poppy living. I have some other follow-up that I’d like to do regarding Poppy’s life. As I said, I’ll be taking trips to the courthouse in Delaware County, writing for Poppy’s WPA records, ordering his social security records, and traveling to the Whitewater area. I also will be researching various people that were connected to him that I don’t know much about. For instance, an adopted sister named Perlie A. CALVIN, a cousin named Samuel BAKER who lived with Poppy in 1900, and Raymond HUBBARD who lived with Poppy in 1930.

I hope you’ve enjoyed learning a little more about Poppy. If you have more stories about Poppy, put them in comments or email me. I’d love to hear them!

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

Resources:

  • Oral interview with Roy Drake on 26 and 29 December 2024.
  • Newspapers.com articles were accessed on 26 December 2024.
  • Ancestry.com search was conducted on 26 December 2024.
  • ODCR, accessed on 30 December 2024. No records found about the WPA assault and battery charge.
  • 1936 Officers Roster, accessed on 30 December 2024.
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Question Everything

My summer goal this year is to learn all I can about my maternal 3rd great grandfather, Jefferson LATTY. Jefferson’s daughter was Druziller LATTY who married James BULLOCK. They had a daughter, Laura Ann. Laura is the mother of my grandmother.

UPDATE: I came across a document today that I had set aside at some point rather than filing it. (Note to self: always file your documents!) The document is Felix LATTA’s Eastern Cherokee application #10748 signed on 8 January 1909. In his affidavit, Felix names his family members including his brother Jefferson LATTA. He also explains in a letter that the surname was spelled both ways – LATTA and LATTY – and that in 1851, it was spelled LATTY. This is confirmed with actual records. He states in his testimony that his brother Jefferson died in 1893. Later in the affidavit, he states Jefferson died in 1889. His application has tied up several loose ends and I was glad to find it again. I’m going to leave the original blog post as I wrote it other than this update paragraph. I think it’s value is in showing the research process and how the conclusions a researcher makes can change as each new piece of information is found.

As I worked with the information I have about Jefferson and tried to make a timeline for his life, I began to question what I thought I knew about him. It started with his date of death. All the information on Ancestry and on Find a Grave says he died in 1892 and is buried in McDonald County, Missouri. Up until now, I never questioned this information even though I could never prove it either. I’ve been to the cemetery in McDonald County and there is no marked grave there for him. Even so, this isn’t uncommon and I didn’t question it.

When I started putting together a timeline of his life though, new possibilities began to form. I can only document his life from 1850 (when he was about 23 years old) until he was listed as AWOL on 14 December 1862 on his Confederate military service records. He was in Tennessee with his parents in 1850. He appears again in 1851 in Saline District, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory (now the areas of Delaware and Mayes Counties, Oklahoma) with his mother and someone I presume to be his sibling. By 1860, he’s married and living in McDonald County, Missouri. This location matches with witness testimony given in later applications for Dawes Roll numbers by other family members. The next records are his Civil War military records.

Looking at the documents, I realized I couldn’t place him anywhere at all after his Civil War service. There are no records for him anywhere I’ve looked. In 1870, his wife and daughters are living with another family in neighboring Benton County, Arkansas. By 1880, his wife has declared herself a widow and she’s living with their now-adult married daughter, Druziller. I began asking myself a lot of questions and looking at my research with a new perspective.

My First New Hypothesis

Initially, I thought perhaps he’d gone back home to visit his wife and children. I’ve been told many men did that. They’d take a “break” from the war, go home, and then return to the battlefield. In 1870, Irena had a young girl in her household who most researchers say was born in October of 1862. If the girl were Jefferson’s daughter, perhaps Jefferson snuck off after the battle of Prairie Grove to go see his newborn daughter. (I say ‘if’ because this family frequently took in each others’ children and raised them, and Jefferson had at least one child in his home that fit this scenario. Also, there are some discrepancies about her birthdate.)

Many online trees on Ancestry list 5 children as belonging to Jefferson and Irena. In the process of trying to determine which of the children actually belonged to Jefferson and Irena, I came to some conclusions. Here’s a breakdown of each child attributed to them and what I believe about each child.

James Monroe LATTY

I know that James did not belong to Jefferson, but rather to Jefferson’s sibling. I don’t know the backstory as to why Jefferson and Irena were raising James. He shows up in their household in 1860 at the age of 12. By 1870, he’s out on his own. This is a photo of James Monroe LATTY:

Sarah Ellen LATTY

I don’t know who Sarah’s parents were, but I don’t believe Jefferson and Irena were her parents. Some have claimed that the daughter who went by ‘Elen’ in the 1870 census was Sarah. I don’t believe this is true. Sarah is alleged to have been born in the same month and year as Druziller and I know for a fact Druziller is the biological daughter of Jefferson and Irena and she is not a twin. Druziller was born in McDonald County, Missouri which is exactly where Jefferson and Irena were in that time period. Sarah has both Georgia and Tennessee listed as a birthplace. Sarah isn’t listed on the 1860 census with Jefferson and Irena like Druziller is. All of this data indicates Sarah was born to a different family. As far as records go, I don’t have any record that ever lists Sarah as living with Jefferson and/or Irena.

Druziller Mahala LATTY

Druziller is the biological child of Jefferson and Irena. This is documented with vital records and backed up by census records. DNA research also backs up this relationship.

Lucinda Cynthia LATTY

To be honest, I don’t know why some list Lucinda as a daughter of Jefferson and Irena. There is never a child by this name in the census records with Jefferson or Irena. I have no documentation that shows her to be a daughter. This same child is also listed with the TYNER family. So is she a TYNER? Did she ever live with Jefferson and/or Irena? Did Irena have a child she couldn’t keep that she gave to the TYNER’s to raise? Did the TYNER’s give Lucinda to the LATTY’s for a time? I don’t know. The TYNER family was closely related to the LATTY family so it could have gone in any of these directions. For now, I don’t believe Jefferson and Irena had a daughter named Lucinda.

Martha Ellen LATTY

This is the child I believe is listed as ‘Elen’ and as Irena’s daughter in the 1870 census. She is the only one other than Druziller and James who shows up on a record with Jefferson and/or Irena.

Most people show Marth Ellen being born in October of 1862 even though the 1870 census indicates she was born in 1858 or 1859. If she were born in 1862, the timeline would have looked like this: Irena got pregnant in January of 1862, Jefferson enlisted in August of 1862 and his muster-in date was September of 1862. Elen was born in October of 1862. Jefferson fought in the Battle of Prairie Grove in December of 1862 and then disappeared from records and was counted AWOL by the military.

This is why my initial “new” hypothesis was that he snuck away after the Battle of Prairie Grove and went to see his newborn daughter.

My Current New Hypothesis

My new current hypothesis has become this: Jefferson LATTY died in, or shortly after, the Battle of Prairie Grove.

In December of 1862, Jefferson fought for the Confederacy at the Battle of Prairie Grove in Prairie Grove, Washington County, Arkansas. According to Wikipedia, this battle “secured the Union control of northwestern Arkansas”. (Wikipedia) The Confederacy lost a lot of men in this battle. Wikipedia says:

The Confederates had to leave many of their dead on the field, in piles and surrounded with makeshift barriers to keep feral pigs from eating the corpses. 

Wikipedia

So in the middle of winter, the surviving Confederate soldiers quickly piled up the bodies of their fellow soldiers – friends, and some of them family – and put a barrier around as many of them as they could before retreating to save their own lives. Sounds horrifying! Even worse, I’ve come to believe Jefferson was one of many left on that battlefield either dead or dying soon after the battle. Jefferson’s military records list him as AWOL from 14 December 1862 on.

By March of 1863, the Confederates were fighting the Union at the Battle of Pea Ridge but during that time period (March-April, 1863), Jefferson’s military records reveal that he was still AWOL and had not been seen since the Battle of Prairie Grove.

Considering that Jefferson never shows up in another record after that, I have to assume that he either died in the battle or shortly thereafter (within a week). IF he ever made it back home, I believe he died shortly after getting there – maybe even before he made it all the way home. The lack of records is so complete as to paint the picture that he didn’t survive the Civil War. Of course, my hypothesis could be proven wrong with the discovery of more military records or some other record that has yet to be found.

Future Research

This summer I’m planning to take research trips to the Cherokee National Research Center in Tahlequah, Oklahoma to delve into the Drennan Roll that Jefferson was on and to look for more LATTY records in witness testimonies given on tribal citizenship applications.

I’m planning to go to the courthouses in McDonald County, Missouri, and Benton and Washington Counties in Arkansas to look for records. Beyond that, I’d like to get to the Missouri State Archives to research the Missouri Confederate service records that are kept there. I also plan to call the Midwest Genealogy Center in Kansas City, Missouri, to see if they may have records I won’t find elsewhere.

Hopefully, by the time summer is over I will have solved some of the mysteries of Jefferson’s life. If I do, I’ll be sure to update you.

Until next time,

Lisa at Days of Our Lives blog

Ginger at Gingerman in Dallas.

Happy Birthday, Ginger!

A couple of years ago I wrote a post about our newest dog’s pedigree. Major Wheeler’s pedigree was fun to look at and I hadn’t really thought about animals having pedigrees. At the time, I thought Major was the only dog whose pedigree we knew. Writing that post got me thinking about our doxie Ginger’s pedigree. Ginger was such a beautiful dog. I fell in love with her as soon as I saw her. This month, she’ll be 13 years old so I know we don’t have much more time to spend with her and the curiosity about her pedigree has stuck with me ever since I wrote the post about Major.

I’d tried contacting Ginger’s breeder before but was never able to reach her. Two years ago, after I wrote Major’s post, I tried again. I heard back from her and she seemed willing to help but couldn’t do it that day. So that evening, I began researching the breeder to see if perhaps I could figure out which dogs she was breeding at the time Ginger was born. Of course, I wasn’t able to put anything together. I pulled Ginger’s paperwork out of the file cabinet to look at it and to my surprise, her parents were listed right on the paperwork! I was able to track most of Ginger’s mom’s line but not her dad. He was a total mystery. Then the next day, the breeder emailed me a copy of Ginger’s pedigree. Here are a few of Ginger’s ancestors.

Ginger’s Dad

Ginger’s dad was Judy Kay’s Sundance Kid V Jomardox. Sadly, two years later I still haven’t found a photo of him. Judy agreed to send me pictures of Sundance but I never received them. Sundance Kid’s Sire and Dam were Garlin’s Black Prince of Jomardox and Jomardox Sweet Lil Goldie Locks from a now-defunct kennel in Georgia. The nearest paternal ancestral photo I could find is for Ginger’s 3rd great-grandfather, Rose Farm’s Palomino:

It’s always fun to look at the ancestral dogs. Ginger is not a longhair and I wouldn’t have guessed she had a longhair in her ancestry. None of Palomino’s black comes through in Ginger either.

On Ginger’s paternal line, she has ancestors from Canada, Australia, Japan, Switzerland, and Germany, in addition to the U.S.. One line traces back as far as 1880! One of her oldest traceable ancestors is Dachs 16 – a black and tan.

This is Dachs 16. This is also the oldest known image of the dachshund breed according to Dach Pedigrees website. He was born 25 May 1886 – 125 years almost to the exact day before Ginger was born.

One of my favorites in Ginger’s paternal ancestry is her Japanese ancestor, Madam-Mona JP Luke:

I love the cream dachshunds and Ginger’s cream color was one of the first things that drew me to her.

Ginger’s Mom

Ginger’s mom was Judy Kay’s Shades of Ivory. She was called Ivory. Ivory‘s Sire and Dam were Judy Kay’s Jack Daniels and Judy Kay’s Spiced with Rum. Using the Wayback Machine, I was able to find pictures of Ivory on Judy’s website from around the time we got Ginger. This is Ginger’s mom throughout her youth:

Like Ginger, Ivory was beautiful. I’ve been able to find more photos of Ginger’s maternal line than of her paternal line.

Here is Ginger’s maternal grandma, Judy Kay’s Spiced with Rum:

This is the only picture I have of her and it was found on the breeder’s old website that was cached on the Wayback Machine. I’ve been unable to find a picture of Ginger’s maternal grandpa, Judy Kay’s Jack Daniels.

In the great-grandparent generation, I found quite a few pictures of Dachsiedowns Klasicharm – Ginger’s great grandfather – online two years ago when I started writing this post. I’m glad I saved them when I did because they’re not online now.

Klasicharm was an Australian dog. Like Ginger’s father’s line, her mother’s line also has dogs from different countries. In addition to the U.S., Ginger’s mother’s line includes Australia, New Zealand, England, Switzerland, and Germany. One of her maternal lines traces back to 1862. Her mother, like her father, has a line that descends from the dog named Dachs 16 (see above).

Happy Birthday to Ginger

On Ginger’s birth record, she’s recorded as Puppy #5. She was born on 16 May 2011. She was about 6 weeks old when we got her. This was her first day with us:

Ginger at Gingerman in Dallas.

Ginger fit inside my purse. We took her to The Gingerman bar in Dallas. She was a hit with both the waitress and the other customers. She tended toward a cream color when we got her but over the years she turned more red.

Ginger has done a lot of traveling over the years. Here she is on a beach in Galveston, Texas, with Bart.

And here she is with me in Tunnel Hill, Georgia, leaning against a tree that’s old enough to have seen our ancestors do battle there.

Ginger and I leaning against the Chinquapin Oak tree at Tunnel Hill, Georgia. The tree saw battle during the Civil War. It's possible my ancestor also leaned up against this same tree - it's that old!
Ginger and I leaning against the Chinquapin Oak tree at Tunnel Hill, Georgia. The tree saw battle during the Civil War. It’s possible my ancestor also leaned up against this same tree – it’s that old!

Ginger’s lived a good, long life and we love her so much. Happy birthday, Ginger!

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

Resources:

Dach Pedigrees

Pedigree Database

Dachshund History Online

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Salem Redux

This past weekend was the official anniversary of the start of the Salem Witch Trials. In honor of my family who were tried (and some executed) during the witch trials, I’m reposting links to my Salem blog posts. The first two links are my family and the third is Bart’s family.

My initial post with updates: https://honeysuckle-farm.com/certain-detestable-arts-called-witchcraft-sorceries/.

My second post about Salem: https://honeysuckle-farm.com/salem-revisited/.

In this post for Bart’s family, the witch trials were briefly mentioned https://honeysuckle-farm.com/tjerck-dewitt-part-1/.

Enjoy!

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

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The Honorable Judge Isaac C. Parker and Jeff Latta

I’m researching my maternal 3rd great grandfather, Jefferson LATTY. I’m trying to make a timeline for his life so I can figure out what happened to him during large chunks of his life where I can’t locate him. There are a number of reasons why someone might disappear for long periods of time. One of them might be a prison stint.

One of the missing periods of Jefferson LATTY’s life is 1870-1892. He supposedly died in 1892, although I’ve found no proof of this. In re-creating a timeline, I noticed that his wife and two of their daughters were living with another family in 1870. By 1880, his wife was living with an adult daughter and her family and she listed herself as a widow which contradicts his alleged 1892 death date. I did another search for him during that time period (as I’ve done many times before) and all I came up with was a Larceny indictment for a Jeff LATTIA in Fort Smith during Judge Isaac C. PARKER’s term. I decided to check those files again and do a deeper dive.

Sam Sixkiller, Policeman for Missouri & Pacific Railroad Company

On 5 March 1883 Sam SIXKILLER learned one of his trains had been robbed. What unfolded during his investigation exposed a long string of thefts from Missouri & Pacific Railroad Company and Sam would end up testifying in court in front of the hanging judge himself, the Honorable Judge Isaac C. PARKER.

Events Unfold

Addison BECK sent a telegram to Thomas BOLES, the US Marshall in Muskogee, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). He requested writs for, among others, Jeff LATTA for the reason of “breaking open cars & crating thirty five sacks flour hundred pounds lard with other goods”. We learn in the indictment that “other goods” included “two gallons of either…and one box of tobacco”. I thought perhaps the statement was trying to say that Jeff had stolen liquor but I wasn’t sure. Later in the file there was a witness statement from Sam SIXKILLER. He said in his statement that Jeff stole “a demijohn of ether”. (I’m still not completely clear on what a demijohn of ether is. Feel free to enlighten me if you know.) Sam was investigating and he stopped to talk with Jeff at Jeff’s home. While there, he found the flour, the demijohn, a box of canned lard, plus some other things including a surveyor’s compass. Sam interrogated Jeff about the theft and all the items in Jeff’s home.

Jeff Latta AKA Jeff Lattia – Hungry Boy

Sounds to me like Jeff was hungry. Flour, lard…I’m thinking biscuits. The liquor and tobacco were just bonuses…maybe. In any case, I’m not sure Sam even had to “break” Jeff. The way Sam’s statement read, Jeff pretty much admitted to the robbery plus other robberies and even named names. Jeff admitted to robbing the ether from the train. He said Silas JAMES brought the surveyor’s compass to his home. He said Alex ROBINSON brought the canned lard there but the lard was taken sometime before the flour was taken. The surveyor’s compass was taken on yet a different trip. Jeff admitted they’d been on the train robbing it multiple times. Jeff said Ed BOHANNAN was with him when he took the flour. Other people were involved on other occasions. Jeff was apparently the “wheelman” in the flour theft. It was his wagon onto which the men loaded the flour and transported it home. William FIELDS testified that when the men robbed the train, the evidence showed they had thrown out the bags of flour from the train car while it was still moving. They then loaded the bags of flour onto Jeff’s wagon and took the load back to Jeff’s house. FIELDS testified they were able to follow the wagon tracks from the site of the robbery right to Jeff LATTA’s house. According to fields, they found 2 demijohns of ether rather than 1.

Honorable Judge Isaac C. Parker Hands Down the Sentence

The following men were charged with Larceny:

  • Jeff LATTA, aka Jeff LATTIA, aka Jeff LATTY
  • One HAYS
  • Ed BOHANNAN
  • John ROBINSON
  • Frank WALKER
  • Silas JAMES
  • Bud FULSOM
  • One ROBINSON

John ROBINSON was discharged. I’m not sure what happened with the other men. Judge PARKER set Jeff’s bail at $1000. Jeff couldn’t make bail. Jeff pled guilty to the Larceny charge. Judge PARKER sentenced him to one year in prison to be served in Detroit, Michigan.

Afterward

I don’t know what happened to Jeff after his indictment but the story was interesting and since it happened on March 5th of 1883, I thought it would be appropriate to do a quick retelling 141 years later. I still don’t know where my Jefferson LATTY was at during this time. I only know that other researchers have connected the criminal files to my Jefferson’s nephew and not to my Jefferson. I’ve found no other information to confirm or refute this. I’m not editing this story before it goes out so I hope it’s readable. It’s after midnight which means it’s now March 5th. I hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy this story.

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

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The Pigs Won That Round, Part 2

This is part 2 of a set of posts. If you haven’t read Part 1, I recommend you click the link and read that post from yesterday. I wrote this set of blog posts at the end of Family History Writing Month (February). I’m in the middle of edits on a novel and I’m feeling creative. Today’s post was written because I wanted to see what this story would be like if it were in a novel. This story isn’t highly edited, in fact, it’s hardly edited at all so there will be errors. It is what it is. In regard to sources used for the story, I looked at the newspaper article from yesterday, my dad’s memory of the event, and I looked up the weather for 7 November 1960 (the date of the incident) on Extreme Weather Watch. I was limited in weather station choices for that date. I chose to use the weather for Tulsa, Oklahoma as it would have been similar enough. The weather for Tulsa on 7 November 1960 included a low of 30 and a high of 53 degrees and no precipitation.

In the event you didn’t read the post from yesterday, this is a retelling of a story about my 2nd great grandfather, Ervin “Poppy Lon” DRAKE. I’ve written about him before and those stories are linked in yesterday’s post. Since today’s post includes references to CJ DRAKE, the grandson of Poppy, I’ll include links to posts about CJ below.

One of the Tenderest Tough Women I Ever Knew

Charles Junior “C.J.” Drake, a Follow-Up

Case #13218, Carle Burleson, b/n/f/ vs. William J. Drake, et al: Update on the Death of C.J. Drake

Yesterday I posted a bonus picture of Poppy. Today I’m posting the record of his charter membership at Poynor Baptist Church in Delaware County, Oklahoma. Poppy loved going to Poynor Church.

Please remember the story below is BASED ON facts but I’ve filled in with pure imagination to make it more like a novel. Enjoy.

Poppy’s in Danger

It was a cold Monday morning on 7 November 1960. Poppy shivered, despite his denim coat and the layers of clothes he wore under his overalls. He grabbed 3 sticks of wood, bundled them in his arms, and headed back into the house to build up the fire that had waned overnight. His back hurt and his knees would barely lift him up the stairs this morning. Below freezing was no temperature for an old man. Poppy’s thoughts drifted to his recent birthday – number 85 for him. The family had thrown him a birthday party and he’d been happy to oblige. Some folk didn’t get to live as long as him. They’d buried his 18-year-old grandson five years prior, just before Christmas. That was a tough year. CJ was a good boy. Poppy said a prayer for CJ even though he knew prayers wouldn’t do the boy any good now he was gone and buried.

He shut the door with his foot, put the wood on the fire, and looked out the window. The weather was still good enough to be outside some days. It was on the cold side, but no snow or rain or ice yet. He poured himself a cup of coffee. As he was pouring, he sent a quick thank-you prayer for his great-grandson Roy who had hauled up fresh water from the spring just the day before. Fresh water made the best coffee and he was thankful for it! Poppy grabbed his coffee cup and went outside, despite the cold. His porch rocker was his favorite place on days with decent enough weather. His eyes were too poor to read his Bible but he could sit and converse with God while he rocked. He missed going to church at Poynor on Sundays but his health just wasn’t good enough for him to get out anymore. Poppy sipped on the coffee and it helped keep him warm while the world woke up. He loved a good morning like this. The smoke from fireplaces around the valley hung low in the trees and the smoky scent was comforting. Poppy dozed off for awhile.

When Poppy woke with a start, he wasn’t sure what had woken him. He looked around and saw nothing out of place. He tore off a piece of tobacco from the twist and put it in his mouth. When he looked up again there was a feral hog in the yard. He hollered at it. It stared back at him, unflinching. Poppy pondered what to do next. Finally he hauled his frame out of the rocker and stood. He straightened up as best he could and threw his arms out to make himself look bigger. He hollered and waved and ordered the feral boar to go away. It did not. Instead, it picked up an acorn off the ground and chewed on it slowly, pondering what he should do with Poppy. Flustered, Poppy had another go at the hog. Unflustered, the hog stared at him coolly. The boar wandered to a different spot and continued eating. “Well ain’t you a dandy,” mumbled Poppy. He stepped off the porch and got closer to the hog. He made himself big again and yelled louder. The hog was unaffected and wandered into the barnyard. “Now, you can’t go in there! You stop!” Poppy picked up the pace but couldn’t block the hog from the barnyard. The hog turned toward Poppy. Poppy made himself big and loud again. Before Poppy stopped yelling, the hog was on him. Its tusk gored Poppy’s leg and knocked him over. The hog gored him again and then bit him. Poppy’s breath was short and fast. His heart was racing, as were his thoughts. The hog stabbed him again and Poppy screamed. He felt the tusk pull out of his leg and it was followed by sharp teeth biting into his thigh. He instinctively rolled over to protect his thigh and the hog took a chunk of flesh out of Poppy’s back side. He started to grab his buttock but thought better of it, thinking it might behoove him to keep his fingers for another day or two. Poppy kicked at the hog but the boar kept coming at him. He rolled on his stomach again and his hand slammed against a rock. “A rock,” thought Poppy, “I need that.”

As the boar dug in for another bite of his leg, Poppy’s fingers were busy digging the rock out of the dirt. He rolled over using all his body weight to propel himself and swung the rock as he rolled. The rock hit the board square in the eye and it staggered. Poppy bashed its head again and it backed away. By then it was too far away to reach so Poppy threw the rock with all the strength he had left and smashed the boar in the forehead. The boar turned and ran into the woods. Poppy’s body shook, as much from cold as from the shock of the attack. He fell back to the ground and passed out.

The End

That’s all I’m writing for today. I hope you enjoyed the more creative version of the story. Just realize, it’s a fictionalized account and not what really happened – at least not that I know of. Have a great weekend!

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

Resources Used in Crafting the Fictional Version of this story:

“The Local Scene,” (Miami News-Record, Miami, Oklahoma), 9 Nov 1960, local news article; Newspapers, https://www.newspapers.com/ : accessed 26 Feb 2024, page 7, col 1.

Drake, Roy. Interview. By Lisa Williams, 26 Feb 2024.

Poynor Baptist Church Membership Roll book. Recorded in 1952. Privately held collection.

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The Pigs Won That Round, Part 1

Happy National Pig Day! When I saw that it’s National Pig Day it made me think of a story about my 2nd great grandpa Ervin “Poppy” Alonzo DRAKE. There are other posts about Poppy and you can find them at:

Ervin Alonzo Drake, 1940 (includes a photo of Poppy and his family);

Take It Easy (in the middle of the post, there’s a brief section about Poppy’s daughter Pearl and it does mention the hog attack in that post);

Poppy Makes a Comeback (includes a photo of Poppy and Annie).

In addition to the pictures in the posts above, here is a bonus picture of Poppy that I love:

As you can see, the photo is dated February, 1959. Back row from left to right: Ervin “Poppy Lon” DRAKE, Mark DRAKE, Eugene DRAKE. Bottom: Roy DRAKE.

Note to reader: I’m writing this story at the end of February – the end of Family History Writing Month. I’m in a creative mood and I wanted to write this brief story using the facts I found, but I also wanted to write the story as if it were in a novel. I wrote it both ways so I could decide which to publish. As it turns out, I want to publish both. So today you’ll get the facts – part 1. Tomorrow you’ll get the creative short story as part 2. I hope you enjoy both.

Dad’s Version

Dad was about 15 or 16 years old when Poppy was attacked by the hog, so he does remember when it happened. His version is below.

Dad said Poppy was old when this happened. Old enough that Poppy had stopped going to church because he didn’t feel up to it anymore. Dad recalled Poppy was in his mid-80’s when he was attacked by a feral boar. Poppy was sitting on his porch in the house he lived in down by the creek [Note: I believe this was his residence in the Poyner area over by Southwest City at the place that had a cave on it.] He had a barn and a sort-of-fenced barnyard. The hog came up in the back yard and Poppy tried yelling at it to make it leave but the hog wouldn’t leave. Poppy thought he could run the hog off so he got off the porch and the hog retreated into the barnyard. Poppy continued to advance on the hog and it attacked Poppy. It gored him with its tusks and bit him on the legs and buttocks. Dad said the hog tore chunks out of Poppy’s thigh. Poppy was in the hospital for a few days but didn’t want to stay there so they released him and he stayed with his nephew, John DRAKE, so John could make sure infection didn’t set in on Poppy’s legs and bottom. Poppy stayed with John for a few weeks after he was released from the hospital. Dad said Poppy was never the same after the feral hog attacked him. Poppy walked with a limp after that and his health went downhill fairly quickly. Dad said Poppy died a few years after that attack.

Dad had a lot of memories about Poppy. He recalled that Poppy had cancer both before and after the hog attack. Before the attack, Poppy had cancer removed from behind his ear – probably a skin cancer. Dad was about 10 or 11 years old when this cancer was removed. After the hog attack, Poppy had cancer again and it killed him. Dad recalled the attack being just one feral hog.

What the Newspaper Said

Now, let’s look at the newspaper’s version of this same story which is a little different.

9 November 1960, Miami Daily News-Record, Miami, Oklahoma.

Poppy would have been 85 years old when this happened. EIGHTY-FIVE! Let that sink in! Now, why on Earth would he try to separate two fighting male hogs at age 85?! I’m not sure why Poppy thought he could separate two fighting boars at his age (or even if that’s what really happened), but he paid a price for it. As Dad said, Poppy was never the same and his health began to decline after that.

My personal opinion about the newspaper article is that the author took liberties with the story. I can’t think of a single logical reason that, at 85 years old, Poppy would think it was a good idea to put himself in the middle of 2 boars fighting – whether tame or feral. He was smarter than that. Nonetheless, I’m grateful to the author for recording the story and, in all honesty, I can’t say what really happened because I wasn’t there.

After ‘The Great Boar Fight’

Three and a half years after ‘The Great Boar Fight’, Poppy passed away. Dad had a lot of fond memories of Poppy and loved him dearly. Some of Dad’s best childhood memories are of times he spent with Poppy. He mentioned that he wished all kids could have a chance to spend time with their great-grandpas and feel as loved as he felt.

I hope you get a chance to spend time with your grandparents or great-grandparents this week if you’re fortunate enough to still have them around. They are treasures! If you can’t visit them today, call them up and wish them a happy National Pig Day! Don’t forget, tomorrow is the more creative version of this story!

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

Resources

“The Local Scene,” (Miami News-Record, Miami, Oklahoma), 9 Nov 1960, local news article; Newspapers, https://www.newspapers.com/ : accessed 26 Feb 2024, page 7, col 1.

Drake, Roy. Interview. By Lisa Williams, 26 Feb 2024.

Drake generation family photo dated Feb 1959. Privately held photo.

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Report Card 2023

Each year I do a “report card” review of my goals for the year. In the report card posts, I review the old goals and make new ones. This year I think I’m going to claim the Butterfly Effect over all my projects. The concept of the Butterfly Effect is that when a butterfly flutters her wings, it creates a tiny change in the atmosphere. That tiny change carries the possibility of altering the path of, or maybe even preventing, a tornado. In other words, small changes can create large results. 2024 will, I hope, be a year that tiny changes will create big results.

2023 Goals in Review

Last year my plan was “simple and uncrowded”. 2023 was anything but “simple and uncrowded”. It was off the rails crazy! Probably the weirdest, craziest year we’ve had in a decade. We were blessed with a new grandchild, said our final goodbyes to way too many family members, welcomed a son-in-law to the family, had seemingly endless job problems, and I wrote 2 novels. Yes – two. You read that correctly! Rough drafts of books 2 and 3 of my children’s series have been completed. I attempted to edit book 1 on my own and found it was just too much with everything else that was going on so as a Christmas present to myself, I hired a book coach to help me edit book 1 so I can hopefully get it published in 2024. The books do have a genealogical component so, while you didn’t see a lot from me in the way of new genealogy blog posts, I was writing like crazy outside of the blog and using my family history that way.

The goals for 2023 were:

  • Self-education at the rate of one training per month with a different topic each quarter;
  • Organization of all the 36 years (!!!) of genealogical data I’ve collected;
  • Writing: 1 blog post per month plus editing/publishing book 1 and writing book 2
  • Focus Family: William & Hester (MITCHELL) DRAKE.

Goal 1: Self-Education

I didn’t actually keep track of all the trainings I did so I can’t say whether I met that goal or not but I did do a lot of self-education throughout the year. I’m going to go ahead and at least give myself a C/Average on that one.

Goal 2: Organization

F/Fail. Fail. Fail. Fail. I did not organize at all!

Goal 3: Writing

I’m giving myself an A/Above Average on this one. I just squeaked in at 12 (mostly) genealogy blog posts. Although my blog posts suffered, I was able to partially edit book 1 and write rough drafts of books 2 and 3. That’s an amazing amount of progress and the books do involve my family history so I’m counting them. I’d say I made exceptional progress on this goal. Hopefully in 2024, I can make progress on both the blog AND the books.

Goal 4: Focus Family

I am not sure I researched William and Hester (MITCHELL) DRAKE at all this year. If I did, I must not have found anything terribly exciting or I would have shared it with you and would likely remember what I found. I’m coming up blank on this one so either I did not work on this goal at all, or I made zero progress. So, I guess it’s an F/Fail on this one.

2024

So there you have it, 2023 in a nutshell. Here’s hoping that 2024 will be calmer (not likely since it’s an election year) and more productive in a variety of areas. My new goals are:

  • Self-education: I like this goal so I’m keeping it. I love learning new things.
  • Organization: Ever the hopeful person, I’m keeping this one too. This will be one of my tiny changes that, I hope, will create big results.
  • Writing: My goal this year will remain 12 blog posts plus I plan to edit and publish books 1 and 2 and (if I’m very lucky) book 3. I’ll also be writing a rough draft of book 4.
  • Focus Family: My focus this year will be split between two families, both of which appear in the books I’m writing. Family 1: Jefferson LATTY. Family 2: William RITER and his dad, Nicholas.) Since I will be researching both of these families for upcoming books in my children’s time travel series, I will be more likely to actually work on the families.

Wishing You a…

I’m wishing you all a calm and peaceful 2024. A year with no loss of family. A year with beautiful additions to your family. A year with much love, peace, and joy for you.

Peace & Love,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

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