Will "My" Coy Franklin Hicks Please Stand Up?

Mary Inez Muir was my first cousin once removed, the eldest daughter of my grand uncle, Henry "Jack" Muir and his first wife, Mary Frances Canterbury. Mary Inez was born on 8 January 1922 in Raven, Virginia. According to her granddaughter, she was married as many as nine times. So far, I have found at least the surnames of eight husbands. 

On 26 January 1994 Mary Inez married Coy Franklin Hicks in Tazewell County, Virginia. For years I could not find any additional information about Coy beyond his name. Earlier this week, I tried searching for him again. I had more success than I bargained for and found three men named Coy Franklin Hicks!

Virginia marriage record for Mary Inez and Coy Franklin Hicks; 
courtesy of Ancestry.com

Coy Franklin Hicks

• Born: 17 June 1917 in Caretta, West Virginia, to Mitchell and Rebecca "Beckie" (Boothe) Hicks.
• Died: 23 May 1999 in Tazewell County, Virginia
• Married: 1) Kathleen Hopkins (died in 1988) in 1938 and 2) Mary Inez Muir in 1994; no known children

Coy Franklin Hicks

• Born: 21 December 1918 in Davidson County, North Carolina, to Marvin and Cora Louise (Klass) Hicks
• Died: 8 June 1971 in Thomasville, North Carolina
• Married: 1) Dorothy Mae Loveless in 1938; one known child

Coy Franklin Hicks

• Born: after 1940 to Coy Harrison and Elma H. (Ward) Hicks
• Married: 1) Carolyn Joy Harris and 2) Trudy (maiden name unknown); three known children by his first wife

I was able to discount the North Carolina Coy Franklin Hicks fairly quickly as he died before the 1994 marriage to Mary Inez Muir. However, I added him to my tree in order to have facts about him readily available so I could better analyze each record I was finding to determine to which Coy Franklin Hicks they related.

However, I had a "stray" marriage record that led to the third Coy Franklin Hicks. On that record he and wife, Carolyn Joy Harris, were the parents of the bride. Was this "my" Coy Franklin Hicks? Determining there was actually a third man with that name was confirmed by the obituaries of Elma (Ward) Hicks and Tina Joy (Hicks) Stewart. To find those obituaries, though, required more researching. That's how I end up with unrelated people in my family tree. And research notes with links to all the men named Cory Franklin Hicks so I, and others in the future, don't have to do the research again.

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Unraveling Henry's Children: Mary Inez Muir (1922-2002) 

McMullin Family: Where Did They Go? The Ohio Contingent

When my four times great uncle, Matthew McMullin, Jr.[1], died on 4 July 1828 he left a heck of a financial and administrative mess behind. In three convoluted lawsuits about land he may have owned at the time of his death, the names of his seven siblings, his widow and his nine children were named.

Matthew McMullin, Jr., married Mary "Polly" Wysong, daughter of Feidt "Fayette" Wysong, in Botetourt County on 18 August 1801. They lived in Bedford County[2], Virginia, after their marriage where Matthew's father settled after moving from York County, Pennsylvania, sometime after 1790. They had nine children:

• Fayette McMullin (1805-1880)
• Elizabeth (McMullin) Bowyer Briddy Denton (1807-1892)
• Margaret (McMullin) Baber (1810-before 1835)
• Mary Rebecca (McMullin) Wilcox (1811-1882)
• Christopher McMullin (?-?)
• Matthew McMullin, III (1815-likely after 1894)
• Susan (McMullin) Baber (1813-1871)
• Andrew Jackson McMullin (1817-1892)
• Minerva (McMullin) Miles Carmack (1821-after 1880)

Learning about these first cousins four times removed has taken me to the halls of Congress, learning about stagecoach driving, and pioneering with those who settled in Ohio. This is the story of those who migrated to Allen County, Ohio -- daughter Elizabeth McMullin and her first husband, Isaac Bowyer; Margaret and Susan McMullin and their husband James W. Baber; and Matthew McMullin, III, and his wife, Eliza Jett.

Isaac and Elizabeth (McMullin) Bowyer

Elizabeth McMullin married Isaac Bowyer on 16 November 1824 in Bedford County. They had one son, Madison, in 1826. Madison was profiled in an 1896 history of Allen County, Ohio, described his parent's life in Ohio:

"...and in 1829, with his family, loaded in a wagon and started for Sangamon county, Ill., but on arriving in Ross County, Ohio, he was obliged to lay up for the winter, and hearing flattering accounts of Allen county, in the following spring he came here, leaving his family in Ross county, and entered 163 acres of land in the vicinity of where Elida now stands in German township. In 1831 he moved his wife and child to their new home and erect a log cabin, where they encountered the many hardships and had the usual thrilling experiences of pioneers and frontiersmen. Mr. Bowyer bought a blacksmith's outfit, erected a rude log shop, bought a couple of cows of the Indians, and life began in dead earnest. He did all the blacksmithing for miles around and continued doing this work until 1835 when he turned his attention to farming, which occupation he continued in until the time of his death, which occurred in 1842. Politically, in early life he was a democrat but later a whig. He was a man of unswerving integrity, industrious, benevolent and kindhearted, and a true friend and good neighbor. His religious affiliations were with the Methodist Episcopal church and his home was the place of worship in his neighborhood for a long time. At his death Mr. Bowyer left an estate of 258 acres. Mrs. Bowyer married twice after the death of her first husband -- William Briddy first, and William Denton second. She died at the home of her son, Madison L., March 26, 1895, at the age of eighty-eight years."

Biographical Sketch of Madison L. Bowyer, son of Isaac
and Elizabeth (McMullin) Bowyer; courtesy of
Ancestry.com

It is possible Isaac and Elizabeth (McMullin) Bowyer were headed for Sangamon County because the widower of Elizabeth's aunt, Elizabeth (McMullin) Withrow settled there in 1825.

James W. and Susan (McMullin) Baber

James W. Baber married Margaret McMullin on 19 January 1828 in Bedford County. They had one daughter, Mary Elizabeth, before Margaret died some time before 1835. After Margaret died, James married Susan McMullin, who was Margaret's sister[3]. He and Susan had eleven children in Ohio. He was a co-executor of his brother-in-law, Isaac Bowyer's estate in 1843, which was probated in Allen County. When the 1870 census was enumerated, James estimated the value of his real estate at $3,000 and his personal property at $675. The farm was located in Amanda, Ohio.

Analysis of the 1870 Non-population Agricultural Schedule
for the farm of James W. Baber; created using Microsoft Excel

According to the Baber Family Tree, Susan (McMullin) Baber died on 20 May 1871 and James on 14 December 1878.  

Matthew and Eliza H. (Jett) McMullin, III

According to Bud Phillips, a local Bristol, Virginia, historian and author, Matthew, McMullin, Jr., started a wagon line and stagecoach service from Bedford County to Estillville (now Gate City) in Scott County. The route came through Big Lick (now Roanoke), Salem, Christiansburg, Ingle Ferry (now Radford), Fort Chiswell, Wytheville, Rural Oak (now Marion), Abingdon, Blountville, and Estillville. The coach had a contract to carry the mail once per week. Matthew McMullin, Jr.'s son, Fayette, began driving the stagecoach at the age of 17, about 1822. After Fayette married a young woman from Scott County in 1826, he settled there and I believe some of his siblings, including Matthew III, went to Scott County after their father's death in 1829.

Matthew III married Eliza H. Jett on 1 October 1838 in Scott County. Sometime between 1850 and 1856 Matthew III, Eliza and their six children removed to Logan, Ohio. Matthew served with the 81st Ohio Infantry from 19 September 1861 through 26 Sep 1864. He was mustered out at Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio. By 1870 he and his wife and younger children lived in Amanda, Ohio, near his brother-in-law, James Baber.

Analysis of the 1870 Non-Population Agricultural
Schedule for the farm of Matthew McMullin, III;
created using Microsoft Excel

By 1880 Matthew and his wife lived in Pettis County, Missouri, where his son Madison lived. Eliza (Jett) McMullin died in Warrensburg, Missouri, and was interred at Clopton Cemetery in Pettis County. Matthew III likely returned to Allen County, Ohio, after her death. When he died he was buried at the Allentown Cemetery in Allentown.

_______________
[1] McMullin was frequently spelled McMullen at the time.
[2] There are conflicting sources about in which county they lived and where their children were born. Many secondary sources indicate the children were born in Scott County, but my current theory is this is not correct for three reasons: a) most of Matthew, Jr.'s children married in Bedford, b) the court cases about his estate occurred in Bedford County, and 3) the disputed land was in Bedford County.
[3] Anonymous. A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and Van Wert Counties, Ohio, (Chicago, IL: A. W. Bowen & Co., 1896), pages 182-184, 208-209.

[4] The Baber Family Tree indicates she was the daughter of Steven McMullen and Ann Foster, but no source citation was provided.

Matthew McMullin, Sr. (<1765-c1816): Court Cases Tell the Tale

Joseph Leonard's Service in World War I: Just in Time for Meuse-Argonne

I "discovered" Joseph Leonard when I attended the dedication of Veterans Memorial Park in my new hometown of Cohoes, New York. In the park there was a memorial dedicated to Joseph and his service during the Philippine Insurrection for which he had been awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor.

Sgt. Joseph Leonard memorial in Veterans Memorial Park,
Cohoes, New York; personal collection

I wondered why Joseph Leonard had enlisted in 1897 using the name Joseph Melvin and wanted more details about his service. During my research journey, I learned Joseph led a very eventful life with several tragedies along the way. I also learned that he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps a second time and served in World War I.

On 19 April 1918 Joseph Leonard, at the age of 41, walked into a Marine Corps recruiting station in Cleveland, Ohio, and re-enlisted as a Private. He was given 5 days furlough and stationed to the Marine Barracks in Brooklyn, New York. In New York he was assigned to the 12th Co. until he was transferred to the Marine Detachment aboard the USS North Dakota (BB-29), a battleship, on 13 June. The dreadnought was based at the Brooklyn Naval Ship Yard and the York River in Virginia. She was tasked with training gunners and engine room personnel. The Marine Detachments aboard naval ships were responsible for the brig, defense of the ship and attack operations against the enemy ashore. Private Leonard would have participated in gunner training.

USS North Dakota (BB-29); courtesy of Wikipedia

On 17 August 1918 Private Leonard was transferred to Co. A in the 1st Separate Machine Gun Battalion at Quantico, Virginia. Sometime prior to 1 October the battalion was transferred to France where it was designated 1st Training Machine Gun Battalion as part of 1st Training Regiment. The regiment was stationed west of Tours in Chatillon-sur-Cher and Billy. On 16 October Private Leonard was transferred to USMC 5th Regiment as a replacement soldier. The regiment was near, Chalons-sur-Marne, south of Reims, and fighting in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. The 5th Regiment fought primarily as part of 4th (Marine) Brigade, 2nd (Army) Division.[1]

On 19 October the brigade of which 5th Regiment was a part was detached from 2nd Division and assigned to the French IX Corps to relieve its 73rd Division near Attigny, about 40 miles north of their position. About 5 miles from Attigny, the regiment received orders to return to 2nd Division. The plan was for the American Expeditionary Forces to force the Germans back across the Meuse river.

The remainder of Private Leonard's battle chronicle is told in A Brief History of 5th Marines, by the Historical Branch of the U.S. Marine Corps:

"From positions six miles southeast of Buzancy, the Marine brigade and 23rd Infantry (on the right) moved out in the attack early on 1 November. Throughout the day, resistance remained light, and each of the 5th's battalions had a hand in the successful advance. On 2 and 3 November, the 5th Regiment (minus the 2nd Battalion, attached to the 9th Infantry) was in support of 3rd Brigade. On 4 November, the 5th returned to the lines and sent out strong reconnaissance patrols to the Meuse. During the next four days, the regiment continued to move forward in the right of the division zone. Plans were made to cross the river on the night of 9-10 November, but were postponed because of the difficulty in obtaining bridge-building materials.

The 2nd Division had been ordered to cross the Meuse at two points, Mouzon on the left (north) and Letanne, five miles to the south. The 6th regiment, with the 3rd Battalion of the 5th attached, was to make the Mouzon crossing, while the remainder of the 5th Regiment, plus one battalion of the 89th Infantry Division was to accomplish the Letanne movement. At Mouzon, attempts to gain the opposite bank on 10 November failed when the enemy discovered the site and brought all available fire upon it. The thrust at Letanne, however, did not share the same fate.

Floating bridge at Letanne; courtesy U.S. Marine Corps Archives

Beginning at 2130 on 10 November, the 2nd Battalion started crossing the cold river. Despite heavy fire from German machine guns and artillery, treacherous footing on the board covered logs that served as floating bridges, and the uncertainty in the dark of night, the battalion crossed in one hour. Casualties and the scattering of units brought about by the difficulties in the crossing cut the battalion fighting strength to about 100 Marines by early morning. It reorganized, nevertheless, and moved out to the northwest, removing any enemy that remained. These efforts by the 2nd Battalion made the 1st Battalion's movement to the east bank less difficult. When both battalions were across, they joined forces in a sweep along the river towards Mouzon. At this time, word on the armistice reached the Marines.

Accounts of the reactions of Marines and Germans to the the news of the armistice differed. Some said that both sides celebrated, even together, while others stated that the friend and foe alike received the report joyfully, but in silence. Regardless of sentiments, the 5th still had much work ahead of it; realizing that the cessation of hostilities might be temporary only, the men began organizing the ground for defense. Then, on 14 November, after being relieved, the regiment moved south to Pouilly, on the Meuse opposite Letanne, to re-fit and re-equip for the last phase of its European operations.

The 2nd Division, of which the Marine Brigade [including 5th Regiment] was still a part, was one of six American divisions immediately ordered to move into Germany for occupation duty. The march to the Rhine began before sun-up on 17 November, and the 5th had the honor of providing the advance guard for the division. The first phase of the movement -- to the German border, approximately 60 miles away -- was made in six marching days and one rest day. The route to the border took the regiment southeast through Montmedy, France, across Belgium, and into Luxembourg to its eastern border with Germany. Here, the regiment participated in a defensive alignment of the division until crossing into Germany the first day of December...

...The 5th Regiment crossed the Rhine river at Remagen on 13 December and on the 16th moved to permanent winter quarters in the Wied River Valley just to the southeast [in Datzeroth]. Here the regiment began its mission of occupation. This duty involved not only a military preparedness to counter and defeat any riotous or warlike action of the German people, but also, a civil 'know-how' to supervise the local governments of the various towns in the regimental area.

8th Machine Gun Co., 5th Marine Regiment in Datzeroth, German; courtesy
of U.S. Militaria Forum

Training, of course, constituted the most important event in the day's activities. Schools, range firing, maneuvers, and reviews prevailed. To take advantage of duty-free time, Marines of the 5th took part in educational programs and availed themselves of the opportunities for leave in the larger French cities or for tours along the Rhine. Continuous emphasis was placed upon the physical readiness of the troops."

While stationed in Datzeroth, Germany, Private Leonard was promoted to Sergeant. On 24 March 1919 Sergeant Leonard was transferred by Special Order No. 79 to Marine Barracks, Washington, DC. From there he was transferred to Casual Co. 3912 in preparation of being discharged. He was discharged on 3 July and issued an honorable discharge button.

_______________
[1] During World War I 2nd (Army) Division was twice commanded by Marine Corps generals, the only time in military history Marine Corps officers commanded an Army division.

Joseph Leonard was born in 1876 Cohoes, New York, to James and Mary (Melvin) Leonard. He served in the USMC from 1897 through 1902 during the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in the Philippines. After being discharged, he migrated to Fergus County, Montana, and married Grace Cunningham in 1911. They had two children before her death from complications related to pregnancy. He homesteaded 160 acres near Stanford in present day Judith Basin County. At the time the area was called Coyote, which had a post office from 1909-1914 (thank you, Dave Wallenburn!).

After World War I Joseph returned to Montana where he worked as a copper miner and lived in a boarding house in Butte. His children were raised by their maternal grandparents. Joseph died at the California Veterans Home-Yountville in 1946 and was interred at Veterans Memorial Grove in the same town.

A Brief History of the 5th Marines, Marine Corps Historical Reference Series No. 36. Historical Branch, G-3 Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, (Washington, DC: U.S. Marine Corps, 1963), pages 10-12.

Social Security Applications and Claims Index

Last week Ancestry.com added an important new data collection to its subscriber-available repository -- the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007. The collection includes over 49 million records about people whose deaths have been reported to the Social Security Administration (SSA), had a social security number, and would have been over 110 years old if still living. Not every person listed in the U.S. Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014, is included in this new collection.

Why is it so important?

The Social Security Application and Claims Index provides additional details about a person not contained on the death index record such as:

• Applicant's full name
• Social Security Number (SSN)
• Date and place of birth
• Citizenship
• Sex
• Father's name
• Mother's name
• Race/ethnic description (optional)
• Names changes filed with SSA
• Life and death claims filed with SSA

Parents names are not included if the person died within the last 10 years and the social security number is not provided if the person died within the last 75 years.

I have found the database particularly helpful for identifying maiden names and marriages I didn't previously know about (name change filings). I used to submit a SSA Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) claim each time I was unable to find a maiden name through usual sources such as a parent living with a married daughter in a census, obituaries, etc. Each time I submitted a request, it cost $27.00.

This is what I would receive from SSA about a month later:

Application for Social Security Account Number for Mary Inez Muir
(1922-2002); personal collection

This gave me her place of birth, which I did not know at the time.

This is the same form for one of her father's partners:

Application for Social Security Account Number for Eppa (Swan) Childs
(1909-1975); personal collection

I learned Eppa "Eppie" (Swan) Childs' maiden name and the name of her parents, as well as the surname of her first husband. This was crucial information as a later partner's obituary listed her name as Eppie Sevan. From the obituary I didn't know if it was her maiden name, her name from a previous marriage or even if it was correct. And made no progress beyond the incorrect name listed in the obituary until I received this from from SSA.

Let's go back to Eppie's step-daughter, Mary Inez Muir. I contacted one of her granddaughters after finding her tree on Ancestry and she told me Mary Inez had been married nine times, but she didn't know who all the husbands were. She and I worked together to discover five of them. This is how Mary Inez's marriages looked in my tree after we ran out of places to search:

The five husbands and one "almost" husband of Mary Inez Muir. She and
George R. Brewster applied for a marriage license in West Virginia but
never married; from my family tree on Ancestry.com

This morning I searched for Mary Inez in the US, Social Security Applications and Claims Index:

Mary Inez Muir's record in the Social Security Applications and Claims
Index; image courtesy of Ancestry.com

If you read the Notes field, you will see that Mary Inez submitted several names changes to SSA. Two of the changes I didn't know about: 1) July 1966 changing her surname to STACY and 2) May 1967 changing her surname to CARLISLE. These two "new" marriages bring her known marriage count to seven. So the hunt continues for the two remaining marriages. When I started working on Mary Inez, I knew about two marriages -- her "almost" marriage and her last. Collaboration with her granddaughter and this new record set have been a wonderful addition to my research.

I hope you will have success using the U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index as well. But it can be a bit overwhelming to know who in your tree may be included in this collection. To develop a list of candidate ancestors, I ran a Documented Facts and Sources report from Family Tree Maker, and searched for everyone who had a U.S. Social Security Death Index record associated to them. I entered their birth date, name at birth, death date, name at death and social security number, if it was included, into a spreadsheet. Then I sorted the list by birth date and moved everyone who would be less than 110 years old if they still living to another worksheet as they should not be in the Social Security Applications and Claims database. (I have found several of these people in the database, however.)

Next, I opened the U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, using Search >> Card Catalog from the navigation menu on Ancestry.com and began searching. If I found a record for the correct person, I saved it to that person, then analyzed the record to see if it included any new information. If it did, I recorded that information on my tree and entered YES into my spreadsheet indicating I had successfully found the record. If I did not find it, I entered NO into my spreadsheet so I would not be repeating the same search at a future time.

I'll be working on this for weeks and a large portion of my Muir book will have to be extensively rewritten in light of all the new information I am finding.

Happy hunting!

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Unraveling Henry's Children: Mary Inez Muir (1922-2002)

Unraveling Henry's Children: Mary Inez Muir (1922-2002)

I've written about my grand uncle, Henry Muir before. He has been an enigma wrapped inside a riddle for a long time. Slowly, much more than I would like, a bit more becomes revealed...a record discovered, a connection made, a grandchild reaches out on this blog or my Facebook page asking questions or providing a snippet of new information.

Henry Muir was my paternal grandmother's oldest brother. He was born in 1903 and died in 1986. I think she would have liked to have loved him more but she really didn't know him very well. My grandmother and Henry went to live with their paternal grandmother, Margaret (Semple) Muir, after their mother died in 1909. Henry was 6 and Grandma was 3 years old.

Margaret (Semple) Muir died in 1920, leaving Henry and my grandmother to make their own way in the world. Henry must have gone to his father in West Virginia, and Grandma bounced around between some of her Muir aunts and uncles before going to War, West Virginia. I believe it was not far from where her father and his second family lived as one of her half-sisters was born in Tralee, West Virginia, that same year. But where exactly the family was, or Henry, my grandmother's brother, in 1920, I have no idea. They remain resolutely hidden in the 1920 census.

On 29 June 1921 Henry Muir and Mary Canterbury received a marriage license, permitting them to marry. They were married on 3 July in Walls Creek, West Virginia, deep in the heart of coal mining country in McDowell County. He was 18 years old and she was 16; neither had been married before.

Their only known child, Mary Inez Muir was born on 8 November 1922 in Buchanan County, Virginia. Her parents divorced before 1926 as her mother had married or was living with Lee Collins in Sandy River, West Virginia. They had two daughters of their own, born in 1926 and 1930.

Mary Inez Muir as a child on the left and her mother holding
an infant named Bill. The photograph was shared by Ancestry
member IndianaJanne. I have no idea how Bill fits into the
family tree.

Henry, meanwhile, migrated or fled (depending one which family story you believe) to Louisiana where he married to Armitar Alleman in 1930 and lived in East Baton Rouge. Henry worked as an electrician.

So Mary Inez, while not abandoned by her parents, was perhaps made to feel a bit less important than her half siblings, who happened to be the children of the spouse, who turned out not to be a lasting wife either as Armitar and Henry divorced sometime after 1944.

When Mary Inez was 16 years old she and George Bruster or Brewster applied for a marriage license in McDowell County, West Virginia. I don't think we can really appreciate what this area was like back then. In 1940, it was a boomtown. Now it is a depressed, has-been sort of place with a population of less than 2,500 -- a one-industry town when coal isn't politically in favor with the current crop of politicians because it is a dirty kind of energy.

Welch, West Virginia on a Sunday afternoon in 1946; photograph courtesy
of Wikipedia

I do not believe Mary Inez and George actually married, however, as the minister's return portion of the form was not completed. Mary went on to marry Miles Henry Blankenship and had four sons. When she left him, she split up her children, taking the two oldest, leaving one with her mother, and the youngest with her husband. That child was raised by his paternal grandparents and an aunt. In 1947 Mary Inez applied for the Social Security insurance program and did not list the names of her parents on the form. Did she remember them? She also used the Muir surname. Had she already left Miles Blankenship just a year after their youngest child was born?

I have recently been in contact with a granddaughter who loved her very much...and may I say thank goodness someone did. Her granddaughter credits Mary Inez with helping her survive the death of her older brother at the age of 21...something you must admit is in no way a normal event and must have been very tragic.

Her granddaughter believed, Mary Inez Muir married as many as nine times...and that's taught me a couple of other lessons: 1) If she was married that many times, I may not be the one that finds all the records; someone in the future will sort it out as more records become available. 2) The number of marriages a person may enter into is in no way a reflection of their innate character; it may just be a comfortable escape mechanism and 3) Perhaps a new husband is just plain fun for some period of time!

I admit I might be a tad jealous. I'm not sure I could have ever convinced nine men to propose during my life time! So my hat is off to Mary Inez. But especially for earning the love of her granddaughter. Hearing and being able to share her stories made me proud to be a family historian.

However, I believe at this time Mary Inez Muir was married five times:

1. Miles H. Blankenship, born 1914, married abt 1940; four children. Miles served in the U.S. Navy during World War II; never remarried; and died in 1983. 
2. Hubert C. Lemaster, divorced in 1971. I have no information on his birth or death dates or anything about him other than a divorce index record.
3. Eugene Guy Gribble, born 1914, married 1972, died 1993; served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army during World War II. At the time they married both said they had been married twice before.
4. Coy Franklin Hicks, married in 1994. I have no information on his birth or death dates or anything about him other than a marriage index record.
5. William Moore and Mary Inez were married in 1997; she died in 2002. Mary indicated she had been married four times previously.

I believe five marriages because of the marriage record to William T. Moore indicated four previous marriages. But a woman has been known to fib about her age, so it's possible there are another four marriages to chase. What do you think?

27 July 2015 Update: Thanks to the release of the US, Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, I have learned about two additional husbands:

• In July 1966, a name change form was submitted to the Social Security Administration (SSA) changing her name to Mary Inez Stacy
• In May 1967, a name change form was submitted to SSA changing her name to Mary Inez Carlisle

Name changes were also submitted for her marry Hubert Lemaster, Eugene Gribble, and Coy Hicks.

52 Ancestors #15: A Farmer's Wife

Ancestor Name: Alfaretta Pocahontis (BRADLEY) Ramey (1875-1931)

I just love saying some of the names in my family tree like that of my great great grandfather, Powhatan Perrow Jennings or that of the aunt of my by-marriage aunt, Alfaretta Pocahontis Bradley. It may even be hard to spell since her middle name is an unusual variation of the famous Indian wife of John Rolfe, a Jamestown settler.

Pocahontis, as she was called throughout her life, was born on 2 October 1875 in Scott county, Virginia. The county borders North Carolina in the extreme southwestern area of the state and is quite mountainous. Her father was a farmer and her older brothers worked on the family farm.

She married Samuel Patton Ramey on Christmas Day 1896. Samuel was also born and raised in Scott County and grew up near Fulkerson, a small unincorporated area of the county. He was described as tall and slender with blue eyes and light brown hair when he was in his mid 40s. The couple had two sons, William VanBuren and Lewis Clinton, in Virginia before moving west to Delaware, Ohio, where they rented a farm. This move occurred in 1899 or early 1900. The family likely took a train to central Ohio. Delaware township is about 35 miles north of Columbus. The township sits between the Scioto and Olentangy rivers.

The "Big Four" passenger train station in Delaware, Ohio, c1910;
photograph courtesy of the David P. Oroszi collection

By 1910 Samuel and Pocahontis owned their own farm and paid a mortgage.  They now had five living children, Virgie Maybelle, Theodore Leroy, Lila Grace, and Lillian Eliza had been born since 1900. Two children had died by 1910, Lewis Clinton, and Darline Elizabeth, a twin of Lillian Eliza.

Samuel also worked off the farm as a laborer for a Delaware Clay Co., a manufacturing concern managed by L. L. Dennison, who went to Washington that same year to plead for coal to run his plant so it could fulfill its priority war orders.

Paragraph from the Brick and Clay Record published in 1918

In 1920 the family still paid a mortgage on their farm land, which was described as being on Pershing Road. Samuel continued work as a laborer at the clay works and their oldest son, William, who was now 22, worked at a rubber company. Their daughter, Virgie, had completed her schooling but was not employed outside their home. Their younger children were still in school. Pocahantis had two more children, but only one, Dorothy, was still living.  She was 8 years old when the 1920 census was enumerated.

The Ohio Valley Clay Company, about 150 miles east of Delaware in
Steubenville, Ohio; image courtesy of Wikipedia

As one would expect, most of the older children had left home by 1930. Their, youngest daughter, Dorothy, was 18 and still attending school. Grace was also living at home and teaching in the Delaware county public schools. Lillian had married Clyde Mead and she and her husband were living with her parents. Samuel was still a laborer at the clay and tile factory.

Alfaretta Pocahontis (Bradley) Ramey died the next year on 6 October 1931. She was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Delaware. Her husband died in 1944 and was buried beside his wife of 35 years. Most of their children and spouses are buried in the same cemetery. Only Virgie Maybelle (Ramey) Fleenor is buried in a different location.

My relationship to Alfaretta Pocahontis (Bradley) Ramey

Pocahontis' niece, was my by-marriage aunt's mother. I often wonder how well they knew each other. About ten years after young Pocahontis and her husband moved to Delaware, Ohio, her niece, Lily Manson (Bradley) Bailey, and her husband moved away from the area to Michigan. Pocahontis stayed on the family farm and raised her children while her husband Samuel held a steady job. Her niece's husband became a missionary and moved the family to what was then British East Africa for nine years. How different their lives were!

The children of Samuel Patton and Alfretta Pocahontis (Bradley) Ramey:

• William VanBuren Ramey, born 25 October 1897, died 3 March 1971, married Geraldine Zenhender
• Lewis Clinton Ramey (or Clinton Lewis), born 3 November 1899, died 7 June 1900
• Virgie Maybelle Ramey, born 25 June 1901, died 3 May 1991, married Henry Clarence Fleenor
• Theodore Leroy Ramey, born 3 March 1903, died 10 August 1975, married Fawn Alberta Cavin
• Grace Lila Ramey, born 9 Oct 1904, died 1 May 1937, married Worley W. Dooley
• Darlene Elizabeth Ramey (twin), born 5 November 1907, died 21 November 1909
• Lillian Eliza Ramey (twin), born 5 November 1907, died 12 August 1995, married Clyde B. Mead
• Helen S Ramey, born 31 Oct 1910, died 14 November 1910
• Dorothy Blanche Ramey, born 21 November 1911, died 7 August 1988, married Raymond Coonfare Hagaman

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge optional theme How Do You Spell That? The perfect person to have written about this week would have been my husband's paternal grandmother and the dozen or so different variations I have of her maiden name, but I've already written that post. When the Pennsylvania birth records became available on Ancestry, I found yet another!

12 Feb 2016 Update: The story of Alfaretta Pocahontis (Bradley) Ramey has a sad ending. I recently found her death certificate and while she died of acute cardiac debilitation, it was brought on by the melancholia from which she had suffered since 1929. During this time she voluntarily starved herself.

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"Pocahontas Alias Metoaka and Her Descendants" and Its Author
Out of Africa series

Clem Bray's Orchestra

Clement Elliott Bray, Jr. was born on 27 Jul 1896 in Brooklyn, New York, to Clement Elliott and Benna Bray. His father was a newspaperman and his mother taught piano.

Based on a 25 February 1914 article in the Cumberland Evening Times, Clement was a classically trained musician, who performed along with his mother at the Second Annual Concert of the G Clef Club:

"The club was assisted by Miss Ernestine Wittig, Mrs. A. K. Rarig, Miss Beatrice Holmes, Mr. Clement E. Bray, Jr., Mrs. Clement E. Bray and a string quintette, composed of Dr. S. Lua Sykes, Mr. Clarence Spitnas, Mr. Russell Paupe, Mr. Lloyd Rawlings and Mr. Robert Colony. The work of this quintette was most excellent and was a most enjoyable part of the program." During Part I of the concert, Clement played two violin solos -- "Inconstancy" written by Chadwick and "The Elephant and Chimpanzee," an arrangement by Lyons.

"Inconstancy" was written in 1910 by George Whitefield Chadwick. It is in the first set of Four Choruses. In that chorus Chadwick set the text "Sigh no More Ladies" from Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing to music he composed.

Fascinating, isn't it? But I digress...

Clement married Della Virginia Jennings, my third cousin once removed on 21 May 1918 in Lynchburgh, Virginia. Her father had killed her mother and them himself in Toledo, Ohio, five years before. At the time of their marriage, Clement was an orchestra leader and his band played at several venues throughout the mid-Atlantic states. By 1920 Clem and Della were living in Easton, Maryland, on 19 Glenmore Avenue, not far from his parents. His occupation was listed as bookkeeper, which surprised me greatly. I have often wondered if Della wanted a less nomadic life, or if work had merely dried up for the time being.

On 23 March 1923, Clem was in Cumberland, Maryland, presenting Cliff Hosken's Orchestra at the Great Easter Festival and Bazaar at the State Armory.

As published in the Cumberland Evening Times

On 11 July 1924, Clem and his orchestra were in Garrett, Maryland, making their second appearance at the Old Trails Inn. They were fresh off B. F. Keith's vaudeville in New York City.

In 1925 Clem and Della were living at 324 South Water in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

On 22 November 1927 Clem was back in Cumberland, Maryland, directing an orchestra that performed at the Police and Fireman's Annual Dance. He was described as a well known orchestra leader.

In 1927 he and Della were living in Fairmont, West Virginia on 609 Jamison and Clem was the leader of the Fairmont Theatre orchestra.

On 22 December 1928, Clem and the Fairmont Theatre orchestra participated in the historic inaugural broadcast of WMMN radio station. According to the Fairmont Times, "Robin Hood of this city sent a wire from far Hot Springs, Arkansas, announcing unequaled receptivity and asking that Clem Bray and his Fairmont Theatre Orchestra play 'Hail West Virginia'."

But perhaps trouble was brewing already in 1929. The city directory listed Clem Bray as still living in Fairmont, West Virginia, but for the first time Della was not listed. And in 1931 Clem was living in Tampa, Florida, with a new wife named Inez R.

A little digging revealed that Inez R was in fact Ruhamer Inez Bosserman. She was the daughter of Walker Greenleaf and Helen (Burruss) Bosserman and was born in Fairmont, West Virginia. At the time she must have met Clem, she was married to Clarence R Kuner.

Article and photograph of Clem Bray
published in the Harrisburgh Telegraph

In 1934 Clem and Ruhamer were living in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he managed Club Lido and led their in-house orchestra. In 1935 they were living in Baltimore and in 1940, they were living in Washington, DC, with a daughter named Jo Clare Bray, who I believe but have not yet proved was actually the daughter of Clarence and Ruhamer Kuner.

A photograph that was published in the Harrisburg Telegraph; Ruhamer
is on the far left

In 1930 Clem and Ruhamer received a copyright for "Living in the World of Tomorrow." He also wrote "Ruhamer," which the Harrisburg Telegraph described as "distinctive."

I lost track of Clem in Ruhamer after 1940. And so I have yet another mystery on my hands. But I wonder if this is my Clem:

As published in the Upper Des Moines Algona

If so, he was performing, along with his Jolly Lumber Jacks at Iowa's Wonder Show Place in Cedar Lake, Iowa, on 25 May 1973!

I would so like to find the sheet music for his songs, but as yet have been unable to find them. Any suggestions?

Finding Della...Again (The Power of Offline Records)
Yet More Woe for Della (Your Family Tree, Autumn 2014)
Wordless Wednesday: I'm Published!
Finding Della (The Power of Social Media)
I'm Published
Murder-Suicide in Toledo

Finding Della...Again (The Power of Offline Records)

Earlier this week I blogged about finding my third cousin, once removed, Della Virginia (Jennings) Bray Borgard, after her father killed her mother and then himself in 1913. A reader of Your Family Tree magazine in the United Kingdom found a record of Della's marriage to Clement Elliott Bray, Jr. She contacted me through my public genealogy Facebook page.

Della's marriage record on Ancestry.com. The indexer has
certainly made a hash of Clement's first name

I sent my Jennings research collaborator, Ann, an email with the marriage information. We both started researching Della immediately. I quickly discovered a Della Bray, who died in Hancock County, Ohio, in 1931. From the index I could not definitely determine if it was our Della. That same year Clement and his second wife, Ruhamer Bray, were living in Tampa, Flordia, and, in 1940 Clement and Ruhamer Bray were living in Washington, DC. Clement worked as a composer. A 16-year-old daughter named Jo Clare was living with them. So the death date made sense as Clement could have remarried soon after Della's death. I was able to find Ruhamer's birth registration and a marriage registration for her first marriage on the West Virginia Division of Culture and History's website.

But Ann found a different Della, one who didn't die in 1931. Her record trail indicated Della had married Eugene Alexander Borgard, Jr., in the 1930s and they lived together with a daughter, Maxine Elliott Bray, in Pittsburgh. The blended family took several vacations to Bermuda together in the mid 1930s. Maxine married James Patrick Lennon and moved to Miami. They divorced in 1967 and Maxine moved to Colorado and died there in 1998. Della moved to Miami, likely following her daughter, and died in 1959.

Passenger list from Ancestry.com with Della, her daughter, and
second husband Eugene Borgard

Ann's information seemed more likely to be correct than the Della I had found. Maxine having the same middle name as Clement was one small clue. I also discovered several newspaper articles, using Newspapers.com and NewspaperArchive.com, which confirmed Clement Bray was a musician, composer and orchestra leader. He wrote and copyrighted several songs, including one entitled, "Ruhamer," which seemed to confirm the name of his second wife. That little bit of trivia didn't really help determine which Della Bray was the correct one, however.

So I ordered Della Bray's 1931 death certificate from the Ohio Historical society. It arrived a few weeks ago. When I first read the death certificate, I was crestfallen. The father and mother for this Della Bray were unknown. So I read more of the certificate. This Della Bray was almost 66 years old, which was too old to be our Della. She also was African-American, and her husband's name was Willis Bray, which ruled her out, confirming Ann had found the correct Della.

Death certificate for the Della Bray who died in Ohio
in 1931, confirming she was not our Della.

Twitter enabled me to connect with the editors of a British magazine and write the article that a reader found interesting enough to stop and look for Della. She contacted me on Facebook with information she found about Della's marriage. That's the power of using social media to aid your family history quest. However, there is still a place for offline records and old-fashioned research. Without it, we would have lost the trail of Della again and not known for sure which Della Bray was the correct one.

There are still a few marriage and divorce records to be ordered and I have not yet found the entire cast of characters in the 1930 census, but I made a lot of progress, thanks to a lovely Your Family Tree reader in the U.K.

Murder-Suicide in Toledo
Finding Della (The Power of Social Media) 
Tangled Roots and Trees on Facebook
@TweetTRnT on Twitter
Your Family Tree magazine

Finding Della (The Power of Social Media)

During Dad's research of the Jennings family, he worked occasionally with another family researcher who discovered that Dad's second cousin once removed, Samuel Lee Jennings (1863-1913), killed his wife and then himself. Samuel and his wife, Emma, had two children, Della, 14, and Clifford, 4. Della was the informant on her mother's death certificate, but that was the last trace of her I could find until a few months ago.

I blogged about the tragedy during the summer of 2013, and as I always do, tweeted a link to the post. One of the editors of the British magazine, Your Family Tree, asked if I would write an article for their magazine. The article appeared in the December 2013 edition and was entitled, "Skeleton in the Cupboard: Murdered by Her Husband."

My article about Samuel and Emma's murder-
suicide in Your Family Tree magazine

In late August of this year, someone posted on my Tangled Roots and Trees Facebook page. She said she lived in the U.K. and was re-reading the magazine prior to throwing it out. It struck her that Samuel and Emma's daughter had disappeared after the death of her parents. So she went looking for Della and found a marriage record!

We exchanged email addresses and she sent me the link to the record. Once I had that bit of information, the brick wall that was Della Virginia Jennings (1899-1959) came tumbling down!

Virginia Select Marriages, 1785-1940 on Ancestry.com

I knew from my one of my Jennings research collaborators that Della was born on 26 January 1899 in Columbus, Ohio. Her family moved to Toledo before her brother was born in 1909. Her father killed her mother and then himself in June 1913. Della and Clifford's Uncle Charles Jennings traveled to Toledo to see to shipping his brother's body back to Virginia and about the care of the children. Clifford was placed in the Baptist Orphanage in Salem, Virginia. I do not know what happened to Della until 1918.

She married Clement Elliott Bray, Jr., on 21 May 1918 in Lynchburg, Virginia. Clement was a professional musician, composer, and orchestra leader, specializing in popular dance music. During their marriage, they lived in Easton, Maryland; Martinsburg, West Virginia; and Fairmont, West Virgina.

As published in the Harrisburg Telegraph
on 15 September 1934

While they were living in Easton, they had a daughter, Maxine Elliott Bray, born on 23 January 1920. However, things went bad for Bray marriage sometime between 1927 and 1931. It likely went bad in Fairmont where Clement perhaps met a young married woman named Ruhamer Inez (Bosserman) Kuner as Ruhamer was born and married in Fairmont. Clement and Ruhamer were living together in Tampa, Florida. by 1931.

Through the power of social media -- blogging, tweeting, and posting on Facebook -- I was able to solve the mystery of what happened to Della immediately after the tragic death of her parents. What happened to Della after she and Clement Elliott Bray, Jr., were no longer together? Had I lost her again? Staying on Della's trail, however, required the use of different tools.

To be continued, so stay tuned!

Murder-Suicide in Toledo
Tangled Roots and Trees on Facebook
@TweetTRnT on Twitter
Your Family Tree magazine

I'm Published!

Yesterday, I received a copy of the December 2013 issue of Your Family Tree magazine. On page 98, is my first published genealogy article entitled, "Murdered by Her Husband."

It's about Samuel Lee Jennings, the first murderer I discovered in my family tree.  Someone at the magazine saw a tweet about this blog post and asked if I would write the article. Pete, my husband, read my draft and said it was boring. Oh well!

Thanks Your Family Tree magazine.

Family Values

I woke up on Friday the 13th and found a very intriguing message in my box on Ancestry.com. A woman wrote:

Look up William Rolfe Kelley born 10-02-1832 in Virginia and died on 5-23-1922. His father was Radford Kelley. I think one of those trees had his wife listed as well. No one knew who the three sisters he had were. I am part Scandinavian and had a DNA match with another mixed ethnicity member here. Pretty close. 4th cousins. One of my Scandinavian grandparents is a Jennings and I see that Martha Ann Kelley married a Pleasant Jefferson Jennings born in 1820. So this is so great!

This was, of course, extremely interesting since I had three DNA matches with a common ancestor and one was a descendant of Pleasant Jefferson Jennings.  Could this be ancestor number two? And even more fascinating, her Ancestry.com profile included a photograph. If she was the woman in the photograph, then she was a very attractive multi-racial woman. Now this was a story!

Pleasant and Martha Ann had four children in Virginia and one child in Ohio before moving to Walker County, Texas, before 1850. Pleasant was an overseer at the Hightower plantation.(1)

William Rolfe Kelley was the brother-in-law of Pleasant Jefferson Jennings. The Kelley family was also from Virginia. William Kelley, his parents, Radford and Susan, and his younger sisters, Mary and Rhoda, were traveling to California "Gold Rush" territory when tragedy struck. Radford, the Kelley patriarch, died. Pleasant Jefferson traveled to Ohio and brought his wife's family to Texas. William Rolfe Kelley got a job as an overseer at the Todd Robinson plantation.

William Rolfe Kelley

What's so interesting about William Rolfe Kelley you ask? He served with the Texas Cavalry in the Civil War. No documentation has yet been discovered that identifies a legal wife. Yet he had ten children by a former slave, Dinah Rush. All evidence, including his will indicates, theirs was a loving relationship and that he cared deeply about his children. Only federal and state laws of the time prevented William and Dinah from marrying.

William Rolfe Kelley's will. Photo courtesy of Keith Kelley

A great great grandson of William Rolfe Kelley has made bringing William and Dinah descendants together his life's mission.  Last year as a result of the hard work of several family members, the Texas Historical Commission erected a marker commemorating William and Dinah's life. The Houston Chronicle covered the historical marker dedication ceremony.

Texas Historical Commission marker. Photo courtesy of the Houston Chronicle

William "Bill" Rolfe Kelly and Dinah Rush raised a family in 19th century Texas despite state and federal laws which banned their union. Kelley was born in 1832 in Buckingham County, Virginia to Radford and Susan Kelley. Bill's oldest sister, Martha married Pleasant Jennings in 1839 and moved to this area (then in Polk County), where Pleasant became an overseer on the Hightower Plantation. Bill became the head of his family when his father died of an unknown illness. By 1851 he joined his sister and brother-in-law in Texas, accepting a job as an overseer on the Todd Robinson Plantation. Dinah Rush was born a slave in Alabama in 1848. Her owner and likely father, Otis Ruch, arrived in this area around 1852, according to an 1860 Census, he owned 17 slaves, including Dinah, who was described as mulatto (mixed African-American and Caucasian heritage).  

Bill Kelley served in the 25th Regiment of the Texas Cavalry, CSA, during the Civil War. In 1863, he was taken prisoner at Fort Hindman, Arkansas, and was later transferred to Fort Butler, Illinois. In 1867, he bought 154 acres of land; ultimately the Kelley farm would encompass nearly 700 acres and become known for its hogs, potatoes, yams and cotton. Bill Kelley and Dinah Rush had ten children: Eliza, Lawson, Mittie, Harley, Lois, Herndon, Susan, Will, Fanny, and John. Laws against interracial marriage prevented Dinah from marrying the father of her children or sharing their surname. In 1884 Dinah died shortly after deliverying her tenth child. Bill died in 1922 surrounded by his children and grandchildren. Today descendants include leaders in business, law, medicine, and education. The products of a loving union and enduring values.

I hope you'll visit the Kelley Family website; their story is truly a testament to strong family ties. Of course, I bought the book about the Kelley family and am eagerly awaiting the next book about the women of the Kelley family.  Saturday, I heard from William Rolfe's great great grandson, who is absolutely passionate about his family history. He provided me with the marriage license for Pleasant Jefferson and Martha Ann Christian (Kelley) Jennings and a page from a book about the history of Walker County. I love people who share information freely! And I'm proudly claiming kinship, albeit by marriage, with the Kelley family.

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(1) Pleasant and Martha Ann Jennings daughter, Emily Susan Jennings (1843-1918) married a Hightower, likely a relative of the owner of the Hightower plantation.  Their descendant was my first new DNA match.

Trip Around the World: Kenya to the U.S. (the Asian Route)

William Judkins Bailey took his family to British East Africa (Kenya) in 1920(1) so he could be a missionary there for the Church of God. Their oldest boy, George, returned to the United States in 1924. His next oldest sons -- Homer and Paul Orrin -- returned to Indiana in 1927. The rest of the family traveled through Asia in 1929, including their youngest daughter, my Aunt Joan, who was born in 1921 at the Kijabe Mission Station. Maxwell Bailey was 10 years old at the time the family returned home. This is his description of the trip from his journal, which he wrote several years later:

Nairobi, Kenya, to Troy, Ohio in 1929

We arrived in Torch, Ohio in late 1929. Six months for the journey and all the visits along the way probably is not to far off. A train ride of approximately 300 miles with many stops and layovers from Nairobi to Mombasa could take at least two days. The voyage on the S/S Alora from Mombasa to Bombay, with a stopover at Poorbundy, a day's sail northwest of Bombay, would have taken most or all of a week.  Often after one is safely on board a ship, there could be a couple days of additional loading of freight. A scheduled departure time just wasn't the way it was done.

In Bombay, we visited many places. The most memorable was the Tower of Silence. The Parsees of Bombay believe the human body is sinful and defiled. The earth must not be polluted by burial. Fire is pure and sacred. The body must not be cremated. Hence the tower. The tower is 14- or 16-feet tall and perhaps 40- to 50-feet in diameter with a small door on one side and no roof. Bodies of men are placed along the outer row, women in the middle row, and bodes of children are in the middle. A deep pit is in the center of the circle. Hundreds of vultures clean the bones and scream at each other as the glide through the sky and roost along the top of the tower. The Tower of Silence seemed like the noisiest place on Earth to me!

Tower of Silence in old Bombay

We traveled across India by train. At each stop, at least one man on the station platform walked by the open train windows announcing, Chi gerram, chi gerram -- coffee. He has a large urn and tin cups and for a price, coffee is available.

Monkeys are sacred. No one denies a monkey anything. They will enter the train by the open windows and leave via another window further down the car. En route he may have picked up ladies handbags or anything of value not closely guarded. His owner is a bit richer.

We arrived in Agra about 2:00 a.m. Daddy hired a rickshaw, or two-wheeled conveyance pulled by a man, to take us out to Taj Mahal. He bribed the guard and we finished our nights' sleep stretched out on the marble window sill on one side of the building. When the sun rose, we greeted it from the top of one of the minarets that stand guard at each corner of the main platform upon which the structure rests.

Taj Mahal in Agra

Calcutta is certainly one of the larger, if not the largest cities in India. There are people everywhere, turn as you may, people and more people. Everywhere in Calcutta one would see temples of worship. The show is continuous, hour after hour.

Temples of Calcutta. Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum

From Calcutta we made a side trip to Cuttack. This city had been a swamp at one time, inhabited by alligators or crocodiles. Dead babies, live girl babies, any unwanted babies were tossed in. Some imaginative group filled the swamp and on the fill ground built the Shelter. When we visited, there girls of all ages there, sitting on a long porch waiting with their rice bowls for a meal.

We boarded the S/S Takada for the trip to Singapore. Word was passed through the ship's passengers that pirates had attacked the ship ahead of us but we never saw any pirates.

From Singapore we traveled to Hong Kong. I don't believe it to this day, yet I saw it. A Chinaman had his children -- two little boys and a girl -- standing on a long, low bench. Their arms stretched out towards each other and head tilted back so far that teacups could be placed in each hand and forehead. Tea was poured in all the cups. By pure magic, it seemed to me, their feet, firmly on the bench. They leaned back further and further until they were horizontal. Then yet further back until the back of their heads were on the dock. Slowly, they moved back to a vertical position and never a drop of tea was spilled! Of course, coins showered to the dock from the ships' passengers.

We ascended Victoria Peak by cable car before traveling by train to Shanghai. We all learned to use chopsticks there. Father made sure of that. The walls of the houses were made of oiled paper over wooden frames. Since earthquakes are very common, a house built of light materials would do its occupants less damage than heavier ones.

Hong Kong Funicular

From Japan we boarded the S/S Paris Maru, a cargo ship bound for Seattle. I was in my element and all over that ship! One of the crew members had a small radio. I'd never seen one before. Pure magic!

S/S Paris Maru

In Seattle we stayed with my mother's sister's family for awhile before heading by railroad to Chicago. Then a relatively short train ride to Anderson, Indiana, where we attended a reception in the Anderson College and Training Seminary chapel. Another train ride and we were in Torch, Ohio, where my father's brother was the pastor of a local Methodist Church. We settled there on a farm.

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(1) To read about the Baily family's 1920 trip to Kenya, click here and here.