All My Ancestors

Today is the birth date of both of my grandmothers and my father-in-law.

As a kid, I always thought it was kind of neat that my grandmothers had the same birthday. They were not born the same year–Grandmother Osborne, my paternal grandmother, was born in 1894 near Cleburne, in Johnson County, Texas. Granny Unruh, my maternal grandmother, was born in 1906 in Oklahoma Territory in Beckham County, 1 year before Oklahoma became a state. January 19 is also the birth date of Robert E. Lee, and with a couple of grandfathers who were Confederate soldiers, her middle name was declared to be Lee in his honor. (Today was his 200th, and Gran always called him “Bobby Lee.”) Both of Grandmother Osborne’s grandfathers were Confederate soldiers as well. Her paternal grandfather and 3 of his brothers all died in the Civil War–it’s a heartbreaking story. I hoped to name a daughter Rachel after her but alas, 2 boys.

And, as it happens, the man who is my father-in-law, though I never got to meet him, was born the same day as my maternal grandmother–January 19, 1906. He was born in Texas on the same day Granny Unruh was born in Oklahoma Territory. My mother-in-law, who is now 90, used to refer to my grandparents as the “old folks.” His name was Thomas Jeptha, though he always went by T.J., and when he had to give a full name, he used Thomas Jefferson. Pick a name, any name. I think he was a bit of a character.

Guess it’s all relative.

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