All My Ancestors

I’m just back from family reunion. That meant a drive to the Texas panhandle, which I truly enjoyed. I forget how much I love the expansive sky and the seemingly limitless shades of green in the landscape. A turkey hen and her teen-aged brood crossed the road in front of me–she stood on the far edge of the pavement until they all scurried across. They went into a double row of trees that I suspect defined the boundaries of the old roadway–gratefully we have wider roads and wide shoulders these days.

Here’s one of the great things I found at the reunion. This is my great-grandfather, Charles Winfield Osborne. He died in 1926 so my dad, his grandson, never knew him. I’ve seen some other more informal pictures of him, in a group with his family of 10(!) children, but I think this one is great. I’m so grateful to have a copy.

And it doesn’t surprise me that he has on his hat for what is apparently a studio photo.

He was born in 1848 in Shelby County, near Memphis, Tennessee. In 1865, just after his father’s death, he moved with his mother and siblings to Grimes County, Texas. After he married Gertrude Susanna Mobley there in 1871, they proceeded to have 10 children, born in 5 different counties. In 1910, they were living in Lubbock County, Texas and by 1920, they’d moved a bit further north to Gray County, which was the site of the reunion.

This photo was taken, I’m estimating about 1911, so it was probably made in Lubbock County. (Don’t you love those sunglasses?) It includes all the surviving children, from the left, Inez, Wood, Walton, Fannie, Elizabeth, Thad, my grandfather, Eva, David, and Emmett. A 2-year-old son Raphael had died in 1877.

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This is Martha Jane’s aunt Mary, sister of her father John Washington Ball.

and here is another photo of her, which looks like it was taken about the same time.

I think she looks like her father’s daughter. And I also think these photos were taken around the same time. Mary died sometime between 1885 and 1890 at the age of 40 – 45. Her last child was born in 1885 and I don’t know if her death was related to childbirth.

Do you think she looks older here? I need lots more work in the styles and ways of earlier times as portrayed in photographs. I would have guessed she was at least 60 here, and I don’t know if it’s that her life was hard so she does look older or if the styles made women look older, or both.

Mary was likely born in Missouri, though I don’t know where. I believe her family went there from Clark County Indiana about 1842 and then was in Warren County Iowa by 1845. Some of the census records say she was born in Missouri, and I keep finding scraps of info about the “Dr. Ball family” who came to Warren County from Missouri. My initial searches of Wm. Green Ball’s land records did not indicate where he was in Missouri, but then again, when I was looking, I didn’t know he’d been there.

So that’s a lesson learned–I’ll have to go back now and look at those records again to see if there’s a hint of their location in Missouri. They might be in his Indiana records or they might be in the Iowa records–I just know that I’ve used land records before to track down the former residence of a person. Or to prove that the two men in separate counties are the same person. This happened with Dr. Ball himself–I did find records in Iowa of him having been in Montgomery County, Kansas. When these sorts of moves are in between census years and are stays of only 3-4 years, land records are one of the best ways to track them. Deeds will say something like, “Wm G. Ball of Benton County, Arkansas, formerly of this county. . .” in Montgomery County, or perhaps he’s sold the land after he left the county so it’s registered also in Benton County. You have to be a detective, and that’s the addictive part for me.

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The picture in the last post of my maternal great-grandfather reminded me that I also have these photos of my paternal grandfather, Thaddeus Morrison Osborne, aka T.M., aka Thad, aka Bud. He’s the one on the left in both pics. You can see that someone has written his initials at the bottom of one of the pictures, TMO.

Again, I would love to know the circumstances of these photos. My granddad was born in 1888 and I’d guess he’s about 20 in this picture. He wasn’t married until 1913 when he was 25, and somehow I don’t think this would have been made after he was married. So that would make the picture taken about 1908, give or take a couple of years. My great-grandfather, in the previous post, was born 1882 and married in 1904. So these pictures were taken in the same general timeframe. Perhaps I should send copies to one of the places that analyzes photos, but they make me think there were itinerate photographers who marketed themselves to young men working, perhaps away from home. It’s just a theory–if the photo guy at the place where I work wasn’t so crabby, I’d ask him. I just think they are interesting photos–both have two young men who are dressed for work.

In neither of the photos above do I know the identity of the fellows on the right. I suspect at least one of them is one of his Mobley cousins, but I have no way of verifying that. Grandad had 4 brothers, so one of them could be a brother, though I think if one of the family members was identifying him, as in the left photo, they would have identified the other person if he were a brother.

Family reunion is in a little less than a month, so maybe someone there can help identify the other person.

In any event, I’m glad to have these pictures.

Here’s the photo of my grandparents taken on their 50th wedding anniversary in December, 1963. He was wearing his ever-present khakis–still his work clothes.

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I guess they are amigos. I can’t think of another reason to have their picture taken together.

I don’t think they are brothers, though they do appear to have the same seamstress. And maybe they are brothers, though I don’t think they look alike.

On the reverse is written “Uncle John Unruh left.” If they were brothers, wouldn’t the name of the other person be given as well?

Do you think he’s the same person as the one in this photo?

The handwriting on the back of the first picture looks like my grandmother’s, which would make John Unruh her father-in-law, not uncle.

But maybe it’s not her handwriting. The only John Unruh I can find in my database that would fit this approximate time period is my great-grandfather John B. Unruh, the same man in the second photo.

What do you think? And how about those overalls?!

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This is a picture of my great-grandmother. She’s always been an enigma to me. I wish I’d known her. Or maybe I should say I have some questions I wish I could ask her now.

She was one of ten children who were the first generation Americans born to immigrants from Russia. They were part of the German Mennonites who left in 1874 when the agreements their ancestors had made with Catherine the Great were being threatened. They brought their hard red wheat and came to Canada and the Great Plains–my family came to McPherson County, Kansas and then, later, to Woods County, Oklahoma.

And I’ve thought a great deal about posting this story. But I think I have to do it. I mean absolutely no disrespect. I believe that my family has been damaged by the secrets it has kept, though I certainly understand the reasons for wanting to keep those secrets.

One of the early memorable experiences I had in my genealogical adventures was going to the library to look for her obituary. I knew she had killed herself and I wanted to see what her obituary said. No one in my family talked very much about this incident, or at least they didn’t talk very loud about it, all of which I eventually understood, but I was determined to see what I could find out.

I knew she’d died in 1933, and that my mother, who was born in 1932, was of very little help. So I pulled out the Beaver County newspaper microfilm to see what I could find. I started looking for an obit sometime after the 24th of May in 1933. I was shocked when I didn’t find an obituary but a news story on front page of the newspaper. Today that wouldn’t surprise me, but at that time, it was quite a shock. I had to get up a take a little walk down the hall and then come back before I could make the copy. Here’s what I found:

It explained a lot.

It explained why my grandparents always traded in Perryton, Texas rather than Beaver, Oklahoma. It explained why my grandad was so nervous when I started the search and talked about wanting to read the Beaver newspapers. (I’d also found their names listed among the delinquent tax lists–who knows if those were correct. It was the depression, they lived a long way from the county seat, they “traded” in Texas (see comment above), who knows? I know my grandad was a bit of a fanatic when it came to bill paying and I didn’t bring it up–I can’t imagine how much shame it would have brought him.)

Anyway, back to the news story. My grandmother had told me about the previous attempt. She said her mother-in-law drank carbolic acid. She said Doc Smith came out to their house and said Matilda wouldn’t live through the night. He left a signed death certificate with them and said the only thing he knew to do was to feed her raw egg whites or yolks, I can’t remember which now, so my grandmother and my great-grandfather did that. My grandmother said there were holes in the linoleum floor where she threw up from the eggs. I can’t imagine what the acid must have done to her mouth, throat, esophagus and stomach. But she lived.

The other thing my grandmother told me was that my great-grandfather and my grandfather took my great-grandmother “all over the country” trying to get her help. I believe they must have taken her to Mayo Clinic–I recently found a picture of my grandad that has “Elmer at Rochester” written on the back with a date that would match. Research note: I need to see if I can get records from there regarding her being there. I don’t know where else they may have taken her.

I suspect she suffered from depression. I usually blame the Germans from Russia for this family trait, but I don’t know. I do believe that she suffered from some sort of chemical imbalance that resulted in a type of mental illness. You read about people who lived through the Dust Bowl as sometimes having mental issues. Living in Beaver County certainly counts as the Dust Bowl–my grandmother talked about scooping off the window sills and hanging wet sheets and towels over the windows. But I also believe depression is genetic in our family. My grandad used to work like a maniac to get through harvest and then just go to bed for days on end. And I believe it was my grandad who found his mother after she’d shot herself. Again, something we just couldn’t talk about, though my gran and I came pretty close, God bless her.

We know now that women don’t typically use guns to kill themselves, so great- grandmother Tillie, as she was known, was very, very determined. This far after the fact I can’t separate that act from her disease–all I know is that I can see the effect of the lack of good mental health care. What might have happened if she’d had access to some good medication?

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This is my brothers and me at the house where our great Aunt Lorene (of bladder training fame) was working as caretaker for an elderly woman in Beaver County, Oklahoma, probably about 1964. Check out the wallpaper in the background.This picture re-appeared out of my grandmother’s things–it was probably one my mom had sent her and she had it enlarged and framed which is how I found it.

The gifts aligned in front brought back all sorts of memories. The basket of apples, the horse and the clock, which also helped me date the picture, reminded me of Mom and Aunt Lorene “decorating” the room for the boys that had been built on the back of the house we moved into when we moved back from South Dakota. The year I was in the 6th grade, and that Thad was in the 5th, and that Mike went to kindergarten, we lived in an apartment above our grandmother’s country store in Canning, South Dakota. When we decided not to buy land there and stay, we moved back to Perryton to the small house my folks had lived in right after they married and that I’d come home to after being born. It was two bedrooms, and now it was too small for we three, so a room and (I think) another bathroom had been built on the back for the boys.

This mean bedspreads and curtains had to be made, so Mom and Aunt Lorene sprang into action–I don’t know if Aunt Lorene already had the fabric–it’s possible, but it was red with insets of horses and apple trees–hence the things under the Christmas tree. It was certainly a different time–I’m not sure 8 and 12 year old boys would go for that now. (Maybe they didn’t then, but they certainly didn’t say so.)

It looks like Mike and Thad have also been the recipients of an ear of corn with a harmonica implanted. I think the transistor radio was Thad’s, though I’m pretty sure I coveted it. And the walkie talkie-was undoubtedly theirs as well. The game of Concentration was undoubtedly a family game–I remember playing it a lot–it took forever to set up, but it was fun. I really didn’t have much call to use a muff in that part of the county, but I liked having it as a fashion statement, along with those glasses, don’tchaknow? Don’t think I wore the hat much–it would have mussed that great hair. I think there’s also a photo album of some sort and a some sort of Christmas ornament. Mike’s truck is red–to match their room, no doubt.

I wish I could seee the boys’ boots better–those and the Levis and the buzz cuts were constants for them. I sort of remember getting that lavendar outfit–out of some sort of polyester, as I recall, which was great since it meant no ironing–”wash and wear” we called it. And I’m pretty sure there was an argument about the hemline.

Youngest brother Mike recently told my sons that he’s looking at me like that because I’d just hit him and he didn’t know why–hmmmmm. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have done that.

Here’s hoping for the generation of some great family memories for you and yours this holiday–and that someone’s taking pictures.

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This is a photo of my great grandmother and grandfather and 9 of their 10 children. Great grandfather George Charley Cooper and great grandmother Sarah (Sally) McLendon Duvall Cooper are seated in front. The tall man on the right end is my great-uncle George Merrimon Cooper, and the woman next to him is my grandmother Rachel Cooper Osborne.

I assume this picture was taken at their home outside of Lubbock, Texas. There is a rural school system south of Lubbock that is named for my great-grandfather–he was a member of the school board in that area, advocated consolidation of several small schools, and evidently served with distinction. I do know that education was very important to him–most of his daughters had college educations and he had been a teacher as well. Sally had been one of students.

When I started trying to date this picture, I noticed that there was a young man on the left side of the picture. I knew that there were only two brothers in this family and one of them had died young. I grew up knowing Uncle George, so the other young man must be the other brother known as John D. His middle name was Duvall and he was the youngest of the clan. I knew from talking to another member of this family, my great-aunt Marge (Margaret Cooper Crabtree) that John D. had died in 1931 when he developed peritonitis after an appendectomy. So this photo had to be before 1931.

Another member of the family, Nannie Rush, died early as well. She died in December 1929. Since there were 9 “children” in this picture, 7 daughters, I thought it was possible that Nannie Rush might not be there. But if she didn’t die until December, and even in Lubbock, the weather and lack of coats made me know this photo wasn’t taken in the winter. I thought that probably Nannie Rush was in the photo. And then I remembered that my dad was born in September 1929.

When I started looking harder at my grandmother, I decided she indeed appears pregnant with what can only be my dad. The one brother that was younger than him wasn’t born until 1935, 4 years after John D’s death. Grandmother Rachel is standing by her brother, George M., for whom my dad worked much of his life. These are the two of this group that I knew the best, though I was able to establish a very close relationship with Aunt Marge late in her life.

I’m pretty sure that somewhere I have an identification of all of these persons. I probably got the picture from Aunt Marge and she told me who was who. She was just older than John D., so she was probably just starting college at Texas Tech. John D. was in college when he died–he was studying to be a Presbyterian minister. He’s the only child enumerated at home on the 1930 census.

1930 Lubbock County, Texas Census for George C. Cooper Household

I wish I knew the occasion for this photo–in December of 1929, George C. and Sally would celebrate their 41st wedding anniversary. October 1929 would be George C.’s 70th birthday. But I believe this photo was taken prior to my dad’s birth in September. Perhaps it was Aunt Mary and Uncle Newt’s wedding–they were married 2 June 1929. George M. and Rachel would have traveled about 250 miles from their homes in Perryton. Oldest daughter Anna and her family lived in Amarillo. Aunt Bettie and Uncle Wes lived in Midland. Most of the rest of the family lived in Lubbock–I need to dig out the identification to see which daughter is missing.

I was glad to have enough information to date this photo–looks like summer from the dress and the trees. The family configuration and my grandmother’s pregnancy were all clues as to the date and place.

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