Valentine's day in Cincinnati, circa 1953

For the longest time, I thought I had the stereotypical sweet grandmother, the kind who gave her grandchildren unlimited sweets and never yelled, and was perfectly sweet and kind in every way. To be fair, I never heard Grandma Kathleen yell (even when she was upset!) and my siblings and I were always delighted by the amount of sweets and other treats we got while we were at her house. Grandma made visiting her home truly magical for us kids.

When we would talk about it with her as adults, she would say, "Well, you don't know; I'm not actually all sugar and spice!" We didn't believe her, even after she told us about devious plans that she'd come up with in the past--that never came to pass.

Until ONE day, we found out that she sent mean Valentine's to Granddad and his roommates!

Grandma was living at the YWCA in Cincinnati, and Granddad was attending the University of Cincinnati. They were living close enough that they could see each other. Granddad says that Grandma even came over at one point and cooked a meal for everyone to share.

Jerry (1951), Kathleen (1952)

Grandma had a brilliant idea. Months in advance, she prepared cards to send to Granddad and each of his roommates, and sent them home with her roommates during Christmastime. Why, you may ask? To throw them off the scent! Each of Grandma's roommates sent the card from her own hometown.

So when mean Valentine's cards started arriving for Granddad and his roommates from seemingly unrelated places in Ohio and Indiana, Granddad and his roommates were perplexed. 

When retelling the story, Granddad said, "The cards started out with something that looked nice and then got right nasty when you opened them up."

Granddad received this one "signed" by his cousin and roommate, Dave Grupenhoff:

Me thinketh

Thee stinketh

Another one that came in, also "signed" by the roommate of the recipient:

I would climb the highest mountain

I would swim the deepest sea

just to get 

away from thee.

I can imagine Granddad and his roommates' confusion, and Grandma struggling to keep a straight face while he tells her the riddle of the mean Valentine's cards. "How could this be happening?" Granddad and his roommates must have wondered out loud.

Granddad reminisced, "When the culprit finally confessed, we all could imagine she and her friends just sitting around and laughing at our confusion." 

He and Grandma both get a good laugh out of it now.

Grandma Izzy's Professional Career

Just the other day, I realized that I knew that Grandma Izzy taught school right before she married Granddad and that she was teaching school after her children were grown, but I didn't know about the years in between. I asked Mom and here's the gist of what she told me about Grandma's teaching years:

She was pregnant at least once while teaching, probably with Uncle Bob.

Mom doesn't remember Grandma working while the kids were small.

Grandma taught early morning seminary for church in their home when the kids were small, giving them breakfast before the seminary students came.

When Aunt Lois was 3 or 4 Grandma started working at a preschool, which she signed Aunt Lois up for. When Aunt Lois started kindergarten, Grandma started teaching kindergarten, and continued to teach it for many years.

After a while, Grandma needed a change, so she started teaching 4th grade. She taught that for a few years, and was so good at teaching the kids to read that she was asked to transfer to the middle school to help some 6th graders who'd never learned to read. She succeeded, and kept teaching at the middle school for many years after, transferring to 7th grade at one point.

Grandma also taught seminary for many, many years. As mentioned earlier, she taught seminary when her kids were younger. She taught again when Uncle Bob started 9th grade and continued until Aunt Lois was done with high school.

Mom said that Grandma taught for a total of something like 17 years. She finally retired a few months after Granddad retired.

1986-87 school portrait

Ellen Eve Rowe's furniture

I remember this lovely old chair from when I was a kid. It sat in our storage room, unused. There was a large hole in the cane work of the seat. These pictures were taken after Renee had it restored.

This picture shows the chair with what I believe is the original cane work:

And this couch has a similar design at the top. This couch came from England with Ellen Eve Rowe around 1850, so we are guessing that the chair may have come over at the same time. However, there is no way of knowing for sure.

Conversion

Recently, Grandma Izzy's personal history was transcribed. Shortly after that, I interviewed Granddad JC and asked him some of the same questions. Here's a set about their conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Grandma Izzy:

Describe your conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ:

In June of 1956, Bob (5 ½ mos) and I (24 yrs) traveled to Germany (Augsburg) to join JC who had been there since January 1956. Bob, who’d been born 29 Dec 1955, was not yet 6 months old. I was pretty nervous traveling by airplane to New York from Charlotte, N.C. and then on to Paris, France and on to Munich, Germany where JC would meet us.

I would then and I will now do anything, swallow all fear, overcome any obstacles to be with him.

During the 5 months we were saving the money to pay for this flight, JC had become acquainted with two excellent young men: Ronald Ercanbrack and “Sam” Leroy Bolinder who were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Their lives and healthy outlook plus their fun-loving spirits caused JC to want me to meet them.

Shortly after I met Ron & his beautiful blonde wife, Annette, and their friend Sam Bolinder, Sam gave me (and JC) a gift of the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price (3 books!) He told me since I had such a great (p.2) interest in the American Indians he wanted me to read the real history of the Am. Indians.

Now, since the childhood I had was in a home which boasted only one real book, the Holy Bible, I had a thing about books. If anyone ever gave me the gift of a book, I would read it.

JC was due to go out into “the field” for 10 days training in a few days, I determined I would get our apartment cleaned up, all my work done, and then I would just have to take care of Bob and read, read, read. I knew I could read this book in 10 days. It was only around 500 pages long. Sam said this was a true book – not fiction. He gave me a certain reference that would tell me how I could know for myself if the book were true.

JC went to the field, and I followed my plan. It took 3 days to get all my work done. For the next 7 days I was enthralled with this book. I took care of Bob, ate a bit when he ate, and read. I did not bathe; I slept in my clothes reading under the covers until I fell asleep (It was cold & there was no heat in my bedroom) (p.3)

JC arrived back and was appalled (mostly my body odor & scruffy appearance). I told him excitedly about the book. He said, as he pulled off my sweat shirt, “Honey a bath comes first!” But I’ve never forgotten kneeling on an icy hardwood floor in an equally icy bedroom with my breath visible in the air, putting Moroni’s promise to the test and feeling a warmth pour over me from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. It was like warm water yet it was inside me as well as out.

I knew the book to be true, and I have never been the same since. It took me until Nov. 27, 1958 to be baptized, but my conversion began as I have described it. My conversion continues day by day all these years later as I serve my beloved Savior Jesus Christ by loving, caring for and serving those around me.

I continue trying to overcome my faults and leave sin behind, but I am far, far from perfect and struggle to stay true & faithful. I’ve learned a lot about endurance and faith. I’ve gained more & more confidence in my Savior and in the strength that comes from being in a strong loyal family who loves the Lord.

Grandma and Bob before leaving Germany

What can you remember about the day you were baptized?

The Elder (Hovey) who had taught us the discussions had been transferred the week before, and Brother Clemmie Dabney, the Camden Branch Pres. was going to baptize us. The font was under a hinged part of the stage and was about the size of & looked like just like a concrete grave. It was late November and already cold out. Pres. Dabney had some kind of heating element warming the water. When he got ready to baptize us, I assumed “Ladies first” & headed for the font. Pres Dabney said, “No, Sis. Connell (p.68) in this church, it’s priesthood first.” JC went in and was baptized. Then it was my turn. I stepped into the water & it took my breath away it was so cold - like ice. Pres Dabney grinned and baptized me quickly. The feeling of warmth that flowed over and around me as he put me under & drew me out of the water filled me with joy and I quietly said “Hallelujah” (and in my heart and soul shouted Praise the Lord Jesus. My sins are forgiven and now I have a chance to serve Him in my life.) Elder Carlos Cardon confirmed me and gave me the gift of the Holy Ghost. This day changed my life. The feelings I had that day were a key to letting me know when the Spirit is with me: those feelings are: warmth spreading over me, joy, happiness, fulfillment, enlightenment, learning, heightened awareness, pure knowledge flowing into me (like that day, I knew that Jesus Christ lives, loves me, gave his life for me & was resurrected from the dead.), feelings of expanding my horizons, desires to serve, love for those around me, feelings of forgiveness for those around who have offended, lack of fear, feeling I can accomplish anything with God’s help.

Granddad JC:

"Well, we were in the army and we were in Germany and these friends of mine from Salt Lake--two of them, one was from Salt Lake, the other was from a little town just outside of Salt Lake. Anyway, they were in the G-2 section that I was in in the 11th airborne division. We used to go in the evenings we would go over to this one's house he was married, his wife came over and Izzy came over (to Germany). We would go over there maybe weekend evenings and we would play Monopoly. We would play it all night. and that was fun. They always won. 'Cause that's what they did. I guess they did a lot of that when they were kids. We didn't,  We played Monopoly and I was smokin'. Izzy was smoking then, too, at that time. They said when we left, they'd open up the window and they'd fan all the smoke out. They were really nice folks. She still lives in Salt Lake. His wife. He passed away--Ron did.

We joined the Church when we got back to Camden. I didn't want to join over there so we were baptized right here in Camden. Bishop baptized us--He baptize you? 'Yeah.' [from Grandma]--Both of us. Bishop Dabney."

R-L: Granddad, Grandma, Grace, Bob, and aunt Betty Joyce (nee Connell)'s family. The two kids are Barbara Ann and Tony.
This is probably in Camden around the time Grandma and Granddad joined the Church.

How did you know the Church was true? "It was just naturally true. I just--it was common sense, really, with the Church. Joseph Smith, and the vision that he had, and all."

So your friends just invited you to church? "Oh yeah. We went to church with them in the army. Our kids--the thing about it, Izzy loved it so because Bob was our baby. and he would walk around to everybody and they'd pick him up, play with him and put him back down. and he'd go around to somebody else'd pick him up, talk to him, and put him down."

And here's the sound clip!

JC's careers

Last time I visited SC, I asked Granddad JC about his different jobs and schooling. I learned some neat things and put others into place. This is what I learned:

After learning to work hard on the farm as a child, Granddad's first job was at a dry cleaner's. He helped clean the clothes and he also made deliveries.

Next, I can't remember if he enlisted first or attended school first, but Granddad attended Clemson University for 1 year. He studied mechanical engineering.

He was stationed in Italy when he found out that his mother's health was failing. He returned to South Carolina just in time to be with her before she passed away. While at home, he met and courted Izzy Thompson. They married about a year later. Granddad mentioned that this was probably the best decision he'd ever made in his life! After a short pause and a look at Grandma, he said it was probably Grandma's, too.

JC & Izzy

JC's next job was in Tampa, FL. He worked for a surveying company. Before marrying Grandma, he lived with his sister June. After they were married, Grandma found a job teaching at a local elementary school and they moved to an apartment of their own.

Later, Granddad re-enlisted and they moved around, living in several different places, including Virginia, Germany, and Puerto Rico, among others. Granddad also was stationed in Thailand for a while during the Vietnam war while Grandma and the kids stayed in South Carolina.

Grace, Bob, JC

Granddad retired from the military in the early 1970s. After retiring, he attended Columbia College (a women's college) on the GI bill. There were several other men there, but they were all veterans. It was something special about the GI bill; I don't remember exactly what. He majored in art education. He made several clay pots and painted various things for projects, including a portrait of my mom.

After graduating, Granddad taught art in Kershaw County schools for one school year. His most memorable experience was teaching in a room just below the gym at the elementary school in Bethune. Needless to say, it was hard to teach with all the noise of basketball and other sports going on just above him.

At the end of the school year, Granddad interviewed at Wateree Textiles, and got a job as a warehouse manager. He organized it and made it run like a well-oiled machine. The company liked his work so much that they had him organize another department.

JC, circa 1991

After retiring from that position, Granddad didn't work for money anymore, but he has worn out his life working for the Lord. He and Grandma have served more than 7 church missions, including a proselyting mission to Germany, several missions from home, and a family history mission in Salt Lake City at the Family History Library there.

J.O. Thompson: Carpenter

J O Thompson, Sr
February 1962

My father was a carpenter (class A-1, of which he was very proud). He taught all of his 3 living sons the trade on the job. He usually walked to work unless the job was too far away. Then someone he worked with would pick him up and take him for which he paid.

Mama always packed him a lunch as there was no such thing back then as “going out to lunch.” He carried a lard bucket in which she would put a couple of biscuits with fried fatback or ham or whatever we had, a mason jar full of beans, maybe a piece of leftover cornbread from supper and that was it.

He left before sunup and got back about dark in the winter. In the summer they went in early and got off earlier in the afternoon.

I don’t know the companies he worked for over the years, but the reason we came to SC was following the building trade.

I don’t know from whom he learned the carpenter trade, but he was the best. His son, John Lloyd Thompson, later became the owner of his own company, John L. Thompson Construction. His grandson, Wayne Thompson, son of James O. Thompson Jr. is now part owner of Thompson-White Construction Co.* which was originally Patriot Construction, owned solely by Doug White, my son-in-law. (Wayne was trained on-the-job by his dad J.O. Jr. who was trained by J.O. Sr.; all of J.O. Jr’s sons who lived around him learned the carpenter trade.

Foy Thompson, the youngest son who went to Auburn Univ. and became a coach and later a principal, knew enough about carpentry to build his first home in Camden and help on his 2nd home. So J.O. Thompson Sr. was a good teacher of his trade.

-Izzy Thompson Connell, J.O's 8th child. Pgs. 205-206 of personal history. Written circa 1996

(reverse side)
J.O. Thompson Sr
daddy
looking a lot like Foy does now @ 75 w/out the big glasses

*Editor's note: Wayne Thompson's business partner Doug White said that Wayne was a talented carpenter, more talented than himself.

Young Cliff, Jo, and boys

Jerry, Jo, and Jock (Roger)

Cliff White - sometimes called "June" for Junior

Another of Cliff "June" White

Jerry and Jock

Jock and Jerry

Jerry and Jock

Jerry

Pictures of Robert Jackson Connell's chimney!

Ever since Granddad told me that his grandfather Robert Jackson Connell and grandmother Matilda Bowers lived near the corner of Canada Drive and Rowe Street, I have been itching to walk through the woods around there and see what I could find. My recent stay in Camden offered me the golden opportunity!

My husband and my brother were kind enough to accompany me on the walk through the woods. We walked around for a while before finally finding some ruins of what I'm guessing was a chimney. I felt kind of silly for walking around so long because I think you might even be able to see some of the bricks from the road! (I'll have to go back to double check) The bricks and mortar were almost literally at the corner of the two roads. It was hard to get a good picture because of the dappled sunlight and shadow in the area; I'm hoping to come by at a time better for taking pictures so you all can get a better idea of what it looks like.

The bricks and mortar had fallen into a wide (about 7 or 8 feet) trench and blackberries and wild cherry trees were growing nearby. It was truly picturesque.

I asked Granddad about the trench and if it was man-made or not. He said no, it wasn't man-made and that it was where the water went when it rained; the trench was made completely by erosion. Hearing that reminded me of how all that land used to be cleared of trees and was all farm land, with corn, cotton, or oats growing as far as you could see. I imagine that wasn't as good for preventing erosion as trees and the leaves and pine straw that come from them. Granddad told me that the runoff trench was close to the house, but not right next to it. He also reminded me that all the wood that made up the house had been taken for firewood, so there wouldn't be much to see. He had forgotten about the chimney and told us to look for the old pump that was connected to a well there but was a short distance from the house (that's why we didn't find the old chimney right away). We couldn't locate the pump but we're thinking about going again sometime when the leaves have fallen off of the trees because it might be easier to spot it then.

Alvie and Lethia: a brother-sister pair

This one isn't really much of a mystery, but it was fun looking for and finding them. Check out the names as they were indexed; the indexers sure did struggle with these unusual (and old-fashioned) names!

Alvie Dunn

As far as I can tell, Alvie Burton Dunn was the youngest child of William Dunn and Margaret Gray Dunn. He was born June 5, 1878, never married, and passed away on April 18, 1946. He was a farmer, and lived with his sister Lethia Alafaire Dunn Primm for most of his adult life.

I'm sure that Lethia helped with the farm in addition to keeping up with the house and cooking meals.

Uncle Alvie Dunn, Oliver Lawing

Oliver Lawing married Essie Dunn, who was a niece to Alvie and Lethia. We also have a picture of her sister, Mayme Dunn. Essie and Mayme's father was Alvie and Lethia's brother William Leo Dunn.

Uncle Alvie Dunn

I think Alive liked horses.

From the records, it looks like Alvie and Lethia cared for their parents as William and Margaret advanced in age. Here's a sweet picture of Lethia with her mother Margaret and her cousin Floyd Todd's first wife, Carrie Asbury Todd.

Carrie Asbury Todd, Lethia Dunn Primm, Margaret Ann Gray Dunn. Taken about 1914.

Lethia was born on February 19, 1871, older than Alvie by seven years. She married R. Ernest Primm on May 18, 1893 and became a widow soon after. According to research done by cousin Rita, he died in an accident while working about a year after their marriage. Lethia never remarried. After a long life, she passed away on December 19, 1949 at the age of 78.

I like to think that Alvie and Lethia were somewhat like Matthew and Marilla in the Anne of Green Gables series: a brother and a sister who divided the work on the farm and supported each other. When Alvie registered for the WWI draft, he listed Lethia as his closest relative.

I found a lot of sources for these two; you may be interested in looking at some of them.

Source timeline:

1880 Census

1893 - Lethia Dunn's marriage to Ernest Prim

1900 Census

1910 Census

1917 - WWI Draft Registration

1920 Census

1930 Census

1940 Census

1946 - Alvie's death

Alvie's headstone

1949 - Lethia's death

Lethia's headstone

Margaret Ann Gray

Floyd Todd's first wife (Carrie Asbury Todd), Aunt Lethia Primm, Grandma Dunn (Margaret Ann Gray).
Picture taken about 1914.

 Parents: George Alexander Gray, Mary Wallace
Birth: May 20, 1838
Marriage: May 9, 1857 to William Charles Dunn. He was 30 and she would be 19 in just a few days. They had at least 8 children: Charles Millard, Delia Anita, Molly, Viola, Lethia Alafaire, William Leo, Lloyd L, and Alvie Burton (there may be more children; according to the 1910 census, Margaret bore 11 children, and according to the 1900 census, she bore 12. 7 were living at the time of both of the censuses.)
Death: February 5, 1916

Margaret Ann Gray was born in Tennessee in the year 1838. Steam-powered boats were gaining popularity, and one even crossed the Atlantic Ocean in record time in the year she was born. One thing that happened fairly close to home was that the Trail of Tears began that year in Georgia.

Margaret's family was originally from North Carolina, and had moved to Tennessee no more than two years before her birth, since her older sister Narcissa was born in North Carolina. The family stayed in Tennessee for only a few years; Margaret's sister Mary was born in Tennessee when Margaret was three years old, but by the time Margaret was six (1844), the family was back in good ol' Mecklenburg county where her next youngest sister Lydia was born. Fun fact: Margaret and Lydia married brothers! William was 17 years older than his brother James Franklin Dunn who married Lydia. William and Margaret were married about 14 years before J. F. and Lydia tied the knot. Both couples were married in Gaston County, NC.

Sometime in her childhood, Margaret probably attended school. The 1900 census states that she was able to read and write, so I assume that she learned at school. However, it is possible that one of her parents taught her to read and write.

When she was just shy of 19 years old, Margaret married William Charles Dunn. They lived in the same general area, so they had probably known each other--or at least each other's families--for some time. William was 11 years Margaret's senior. Their children came slowly at first, then more quickly. Charles, their first to survive childhood, was born in late 1859. It was eight years before their next child to survive childhood--my great-great grandma Delia--was born. The next six children came quickly, one every two or so years. The youngest (Alvie) was born when Margaret was 40.

I wonder if the other 3 or 4 children indicated by the 1900 and 1910 censuses came before Delia, but did not survive long enough to be recorded on a census? Because of the closeness in age of her younger children, I believe that Margaret must have had more pregnancies between Charles and Delia. She must have been devastated at the loss of her babies; she still remembered them to have them recorded--even as an impersonal number--when she was in her 60's (1900) and her 70's (1910).

Edward Dunn is listed with the family in the 1870 census. It's possible even that this Edward living with them was not even a Dunn; the census taker could have been lazy and listed all children in the household with the last name of Dunn. He certainly didn't double-check Margaret's place of birth! Anyway, I believe that he's related to Margaret and William. Older children and teenagers often lived with relatives at various times either to help the family they were living with, to be in a more advantageous situation, or even just to have an extended visit. I'm fairly certain that this Edward is not Margaret and William's child, as he was born before the couple were married.

In later life, Margaret and her husband William lived with their children Lethia and Alvie, as you can see in both the 1900 and 1910 censuses. I believe that Margaret was also close to the Todd family, since Floyd Todd's wife is pictured with her and Lethia in the first picture in this post and F. L. Todd reported her death. According to her death certificate, Margaret passed away at the age of 77 due to "natural debility." She passed away just three years after William, her husband of 56 years.

Another picture of Margaret Ann Gray. I think this picture must have gone through a fire to look like this.
We're lucky to have it!

1850 Census

1860 Census
Gaston County, NC

1870 Census

1880 Census

1900 Census

1910 Census

Death record (Paw Creek, Mecklenburg County, NC, 1916)

Grave marker
Note: I believe the year on the grave marker for Margaret's death (1927) is incorrect. The death record I found for "Canty A Dunn" lists the correct parents and the correct birth date and place for Margaret, as well as having F. L. Todd as the informant. We know that Margaret was close to the Todds, as we see in the 1914 picture we have of her with "Floyd Todd's first wife." Also, in 1900 and 1910, William and Margaret both lived with their son Alive and daughter Lethia. It made sense for their children who didn't have families of their own to take care of their parents. In the 1920 census, Alvie and Lethia still lived together, but Margaret was not listed with them.

Carrie Asbury, "Floyd Todd's first wife"

There she is, standing on the right* of two older women: tall, young, beautiful. Her outfit is obviously more stylish than the dresses the other women are wearing. It looks newer, too. "Who is this woman?" I asked myself. "What happened to her? Why is her name so hard to remember?"

I dug. I had to find the answer.

She wasn't listed in my family tree--Floyd Todd was Margaret (Gray) Dunn's grandson through her daughter Viola (Dunn) Todd, and only one wife was listed for him, a Susie C. Rawlings. She lived a long time, so I thought she must be a subsequent wife. I found two marriage records with a search for Floyd Todd, one for Carrie Asbury and one for Susan C Rawlings. Success! I found her, and I had a name.

Carrie and Floyd were married on August 25, 1914. Floyd was 22 and Carrie was only 17. I'm guessing this picture was taken in late 1914. Less than six months after her marriage to Floyd, Carrie was taken by appendicitis on February 8, 1915.

What a tragedy! She was so young. In the picture, she looks happy. She was so full of life. Carrie passed away almost one hundred years ago, but I can still taste the excitement she experienced from being a new bride and being out on her own.


Carrie and Floyd's marriage record
Carrie's death certificate

*She is on the left of the picture, but she was standing to the right of the two older women.

Ivey Kibben Connell

Ivey Kibben Connell was one of Granddad J.C.'s brothers who fought in WWII. He was the only one that didn't come back from the war. After he died, he was buried in Italy, "70 miles from Rome", and then his body was brought back a couple of years later so he could be buried in Camden, close to his family.

Ivey was awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star. The State (SC) newspaper said of him on April 27, 1944:

"With utter disregard for his personal safety he continued into the city ... which was still under intense enemy artillery and small arms fire and established an observation post and mortar position from which controlled fire was delivered. At this post he was killed by an enemy mortar shell which landed in his position. His courageous action contributed to the successful withdrawal of our forces and is a credit to the services."

I found several newspaper articles about his service as part of a website commemorating Clemson University alumni. My cousin Alyssa posted a link to the website, which she found because of another relative sharing it on Facebook. Thanks so much!

*Pictures are from an album on Facebook by Aunt Lois. Thanks to her, too!

Pictures of pictures - Wallace side

So, here are some pictures of pictures for you to look at! I didn't have a scanner handy, so I just whipped out my digital camera and took some pictures. Therefore, the quality isn't as great as it could be (yay reflections!), but I wanted to have copies of these pictures for myself and for anyone else who was interested to see them. We have some good looking people in our family!

Lucy Henize

Cecil Denver Wallace, Sr.

No flash caught on this one, but it's a bit blurrier : /

John Henry Henize, Mollie Elizabeth Chambers

Minnie May Winspear and Clifford White

James William Wallace

Julia Anna Peters, James W Wallace

Parents: Daniel Wallace, Eliza Kennedy
Birth: March 21, 1867
Marriages:

1. October 31, 1896 to Julia A. Jordan. Julia Jordan was about 20 and James was 29.
2. August 20, 1899 to Julia Anna Peters. James was 32 and Anna was 26. They had two children, Adrian Floyd and Cecil Denver.

Death: December 20, 1944. James was 77 years old.

James grew up and lived in and around Green, Brown, Ohio. That combination of township and county makes me laugh every time! I think there might have been some Whites that lived in Green, Brown, Ohio, too. Oh, so many colors.

ANYway. The 1870 and 1880 censuses show that James grew up with both sets of grandparents, and many of his aunts, uncles and cousins living right next door or down the road from him. Isn't that great? I'm guessing that they all helped each other with their farms and such. I wish I could post a picture of the census with everybody labeled according to how they're related to him (James), but I recently found out that it might not be allowed to post pictures of records from Family Search on the internet, so I'm waiting to hear back on if I have permission. If I don't, I'll be taking down all the record images that I've posted on the blog. The links will still be there, though.

James was the oldest of three boys. His father passed away when he was young, so James's mother had to raise her children on her own. I'm sure having all that family around made a big difference to her, but even with all of his uncles and family around, I wonder if James felt responsible to fill the role of his father in providing for his family, as he was the oldest son?

James was very close to his family on both his father's and his mother's sides. Most of his relatives that lived on land adjacent to his immediate family were Wallaces. I also found two 1880 censuses recording a James Wallace of the appropriate age. One was listed with Elizabeth Wallace (James's mother) and the other was listed with Z. H. Kennady -- or Zedick Hezekiah Kennedy -- Elizabeth's younger brother and James's uncle. On the census, it shows that James was working on the farm, so I think he must have gone to help his uncle out with some of the farm work when the census was taken.

I did find a marriage record for a Julia Jordan (NOT to be confused with Julia Anna Peters!) and a J. W. Wallace. A John Wallace was witness that James and Julia were old enough to marry without their parents' consent and that they weren't too closely related. I'm guessing that this John was James's younger brother. This marriage took place in Clermont County, Ohio, very close to where James grew up. I couldn't find any other records pertaining to Julia Jordan after she and James married, but I think someone has because there's a death date for her on Family Search.

I was unable to find a marriage record for James and Julia Anna Peters, but documents pertaining to their two children (a birth record for Cecil Denver and a marriage record for Adrian) list James Wallace and Julia Peters as their parents. Mabel Shell, Anna Peters's daughter from her first marriage, lived with them until she either married or was of age to move out. I wonder what James's relationship was like with her?

By the 1900 US Census, Mabel is 4 years old and James and Annie had been married for about a year. They were renting a house that didn't have a farm, but most of the people living near them lived on farms.

At the 1910 Census, James and Annie seem to have a really good life going for them. They own their own farm free of mortgage! Their children are growing and going to school--at this point, they have two boys (Adrian, 9, and Cecil, 1.5 years - here's his birth record from 1908) in addition to Annie's daughter Mabel. James seems to have steady work at the sawmill, which brings in a more reliable income than the farm would. Family is close again; James's brother Robert was living close enough to be recorded on the previous page of the census.

Not much seems to have changed by the 1920 Census except that Mabel has moved on, probably to marry and start her own family. I couldn't find a marriage record for her, so I'm not sure who she married or if she did marry. James's son Adrian got married two years after the census was taken, so Annie and James were left with only their youngest child at home, making Cecil essentially an only child for his teenage years.

Sometime before 1930, Annie and James sold their farm and moved into town. James started up a grocery store, and Annie worked there as a clerk. Unfortunately, it seems like that business didn't work out for them, because in 1940 James was working at the saw mill again.

Although he had moved several times, James lived in Brown County, Ohio his whole life. I'm sure he visited other places, though, especially Cincinnati. James passed away just five days before Christmas Day, 1944. World War II was still raging, although the tides had turned and it would end a few months later. James was 77 years old when he passed and was survived by his widow, Julia Anna Peters.

1870 Census:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M6KH-YS9

1880 Census:

1. with mother: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MZ1D-GZJ
2. with uncle: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M89W-DBB

Marriage to Julia Jordan:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XDKP-42R

1900 Census:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MMCC-1R8

1910 Census:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MLNF-1ST

1920 Census:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MDBS-5VX

1930 Census:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X4S4-YXF

1940 Census:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KWD1-6W5

Pictures of Wallace children

There are so many great pictures of Grandma Kathleen's family! Also, who knew that Grandma had blonde hair when she was little? Just like so many of us :)

Uncle Cecil with Kathleen. Isn't this the most amazing picture?

The following picture was labeled "Janet, Kathleen". I know that Kathleen is the littlest girl in the picture (from the picture above with Cecil), and I'm guessed that Janet is the one on the far right. However, on further inspection of other pictures taken on the same day, I found one that was labeled with Cecil and Janet. Janet is the other blonde little girl in the picture!

Georgiana, Janet, Kathleen (two in middle), Grace

This picture wan't labeled when Rachel scanned it, so we don't know who she is. Grandma says that this is probably Grandma Lucy when she was young, and that this young lady (below) was not from her generation--she would have recognized her otherwise.

Probably Grandma Lucy