The Day My Grandparents saw a UFO

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 29  (July 18-24)

Prompt: Fun Fact

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 I've mentioned this before but it is one of the most fun things that I know about my paternal grandparents, Johnnie and Eva Golightley. 

 My Grandpa was a story teller. He loved nothing more than sharing  the fun things that had happened to him or other family members. I loved hearing the stories of how he and my Dad were truckers when my Dad was young.  Dad got his commercial driver's license when he was only 15 and then went with Grandpa when he was long haul trucking. Dad started driving a gravel truck before he was 15 but that is another story to tell.

 My new husband and I were visiting my Grandparents in Oklahoma when my Grandpa told us this story (among others) sitting around their kitchen table. 

Early in their marriage or perhaps it was while dating, my Grandparents were traveling between Wellington and Belle Plaine, Kansas, when they saw something very strange.  A farmer on a tractor was plowing a field, going up and down each row as they normally do. Directly over his head about thirty feet in the air was a round saucer looking object. It was going up and down the rows with the farmer who did not seem to be aware of the object.  My Grandparents pulled over to the side of the road and watched the farmer and the object as they moved up and down several rows. Then all of a sudden the object shot straight up into the air and disappeared. 

Grandma was standing at the kitchen sink, while we were all seated at the kitchen table. She was always the rock of the family, the one who could be counted on at all times. I looked at Grandma and raised my eyebrow in a quizzical manner. Even though she was standing behind Grandpa and he couldn't see her, she carefully nodded her head.  It is possible to think that Grandpa might exaggerate to tell a better story, but my Grandma wouldn't.  I know they saw something that day.

 

Identity of Eliza Flynn

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 26  (June 28- July 4)
Prompt: Identity
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I wrote about the Evans brothers who possibly were living with Eliza Flynn on the 1860 Adams County, MS census in my blog post of Aug 12, 2022.  Who was Eliza Flynn?

Eliza Flynn was born in Ireland in 1830 and was living in Adams County, Mississippi by 1860. The 1860 census doesn't asked for marriage status or relationship to others in the household, but it shows Eliza with 8 children from ages 6 months to 12 years old. She has no occupation listed nor any personal or real estate.  It looks like a blended family since there are two children named Mary and two children named John. That would indicate that Eliza had lost her spouse, and some of those children had lost both their parents.  Eliza was possibly caring for her brother or sister's children as well as her own.  Eliza had a great many stressors in her life. Since she was born in Ireland, it is likely that she did not have much if any family support near her. Besides taking care of 8 children alone, she was likely dealing with grief and a lack of money.

There is not another Eliza Flynn listed in the Adams County census for 1860, so it is likely the following information is about the same Eliza Flynn.

There was a resolution presented at the May 28th, 1867 Natchez City Council meeting, asking the city to provide $25.00 for the immediate needs of a certain lunatic, Eliza Flynn. It passed with the request that her friends take steps at the current probate session to have her placed in the state asylum.

On May 30th of 1867, there is a court hearing with a petition asking the court to declare Eliza Flynn insane. The testimonies of her neighbors state that she had not been able to govern herself since 1862.  The petition states that she is without any relatives.  There is no mention of any children in the documents, nor does it mention how the judge ruled. It is likely that neighbors or relatives have taken over the care of the children by this time.

The Natchez Democrat newspaper on June 6th, 1867 published a notice that Eliza Flynn had been placed on the Quitman to go to the insane asylum in Jackson. 

In 1870, Eliza Flynn was listed in the Insane Asylum in Jackson, Mississippi, however her age is listed as 52 born in Pennsylvania when it should have been closer to 40 and born in Ireland.  Was this a mistake or is this a different Eliza Flynn?  There is also a Bridget  Flynn listed in the asylum. Her age is 42 and born in Ireland. Was there a mistake made in the census records which switched Bridget and Eliza's information?

I have found no other information on Eliza Flynn. She is not in the asylum in 1880, nor apparent in the census anywhere else. I haven't found a death record, marriage record or burial record for her after 1870.

I haven't found any of the 8 children in the 1870 census, but they could be under the last name of the family they are living with or just not in the census at all.  The 1870 census in Mississippi is known for missing a large number of families that were living there. During the chaos of the reconstruction, there were many families who refused to have any dealings with the government or "carpet baggers". Most of the children's names are very common so it is almost impossible to search for them by their first names of John, James, Mary, or Sarah.  I have searched for Jerry and Henry but haven't found any person the right age with the right name in Mississippi. The search is also complicated by the large number of people who are only listed by their initials and last names in this census.

I am puzzled about Eliza's identity and her relationship with the 8 children in her household in 1860.  I have a hypothesis about the identity of some of the children in my August 12, 2022 blog post, if you are intrigued with this mystery. 

General Quitman Ship: Could this be the ship that Eliza was placed on?

From Mother to Daughter

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 20  (May 17 - 23)

Prompt: Textile

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 In years past our ancestors didn't have time for the creative activities that we do now. Their lives were taken up with more practical endeavors. They did manage to use their creativity in creating some of the practical items needed by their families. They sewed  the clothes their families wore, often copying patterns from New York or Paris if they were from the city or needed a party or church dress.  Clothes for daily wear were practical and sometimes they only had a few outfits depending on their circumstances. The cloth scraps were used to make beautiful quilts that often commemorated an event or family. 

My mother had a red velvet quilt with blue velvet pieces that was made from the scraps of material left from making her wedding dress and bride's maid dresses.  The quilt was used on my parents bed for many years. It kept my brothers warm when they slept on an enclosed porch and it was used for picnics and other occasions. Overtime it became faded and worn and was folded and put away.

My Great Grandmother, Sarah Violet Herndon Sample pieced a wedding ring quilt before 1932 .  My Grandmother, Gladys Mamie Sample McCarley, quilted it sometime in the 1970s. After my daughter was born in 1978, she gifted it to Katharine Meghan.  Gladys was her mother's first and only daughter, my mother, Gwonda Jane McCarley was her first daughter and I was my mother's first daughter. Katharine (Katy) is my first daughter.  This quilt has passed through 4 generations of daughters to the 5th generation daughter.

McCarley: Is there a right way to spell it?

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 15  (April 12-18)

Prompt: How do you spell that?

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 “Anyone who can only think of one way to spell a word obviously lacks imagination.”

― Mark Twain

 My Mother's maiden name was McCarley and I have found it spelled in so many ways that I learned very early in my research to look for every possible spelling.  I'll list some of the spellings at the end of the article but first I want to tell you about Charles M. McCarley.  Charles married Ann Matilda Hines in Maury County, Tennessee on April 4, 1835.  His marriage license has McCarley spelled 4 different ways in the one document.  That has to be a record.  It is spelled McCarley, McCarly, McCearly, and McCorely.  Okay, some of that may be the result of poor handwriting skills. The Western Weekly Review newspaper announced his marriage in the April 17, 1835 edition, as Mr. Charles McCarty married Miss Matilda Hines.

  In most of the records after his marriage, his last name is spelled McCurley.  That could be the result of leaving the A open at the top.  I thought, perhaps he just wrote the A in an unusual way that left that gap at the top so it looks like a U.

 Then one day in talking with another descendant, I heard another reason for this change in spelling.  According to this descendant who grew up in the area where he lived as an adult, Charles M. McCarley changed his name to McCurley. It seems that Charles was so mad at another relative that he decided to change his name so he wouldn't be associated with "that relative".  The story passed down through the family didn't include the name of "that relative".  His children didn't change their names as each of their lines are McCarleys.

 As you search for your ancestor, brainstorm any possible way that a name can be spelled because it is likely to be used that way at least once in the indexed records.

 Of course, it is easier to say that the James McCerley who was charged and found guilty of keeping a bawdy house in Maury County, TN in 1849  is not my relative because we don't spell our name that way.  Although it is possible that James McCerley is Charles M. McCarley/McCurley's brother.  Maybe he is the reason Charles changed the spelling of his name.   Charles brother, James, was born in 1811.

 McArley

McAuley

McCarley

McCarly

McCarty

McCauley

McCearly

McCearley (probably from having a fancy curl at the bottom of the C)

McClearly

McCorely

McCurly

McEarly

McEley

McElry

 McKirley

Check it Out

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 14  (April 8-14)

Prompt: Check It Out

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 April 8th was my Father's birthday and I couldn't help but think of him as I started thinking about this prompt.  He was certainly a product of the great depression. He saved an incredible eclectic collection of things that he might need in the future or had plans to use at some point.  He believed in saving for anything he wanted and rarely used credit cards for things he wanted as opposed to what was needed.

 When he passed away, he was saving to buy a new pickup.  For things that he wanted, not needed, he would hide away any extra dollars that he had or earned  at odd jobs after his retirement.  Mother knew of several of his hiding places, like his old 35 mm camera case.  Mostly she wasn't concerned about his hiding places as the money always turned up when he was ready to spend it or if they had a minor emergency use for it. 

 He had boxes and boxes of old bills and bank statements with tons of old checks under the bed and in the top of the closets.  A  few months after he passed away, Mother started shredding those checks and bills.  Luckily, she went through each envelope as she shredded them.  In the first box, she found several hundred dollars in fives, tens and twenties stuck in different envelopes. For the next year or two, anytime she ran out of cash, she would shred some more.  Then would say a quiet Thank You to Dad.  She knew that he was still taking care of her.

 It certainly paid off for Mother to check all of the paper files Dad had saved over the years.

Sisters Step Up

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 13  (Mar 29-April 4)

Prompt: Sisters

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 In 1923, Myrtle Olive "Ollie" (Parker) Lamb learned that her younger sister, Nellie Pearl (Parker) Taylor had passed away during the recurrence of the flu from 1918-1920. Nellie left behind her husband and three of her four children.  Maxine had died at 5 years of age the year before.

 Ollie stated in her account of her life's journey "Then lost our Dear Sister Nellie in July 1923 which left 3 Motherless children which God said to me as each time before, take the little babe. But, Oh, what a burden it seemed but I have always tried to obey the masters voice. Each of these little ones had as kind, patient, loving, self-sacrificing, and God fearing Mother as I ever saw. This sinful world was no place for them."

The 3 motherless children were Eloise Anita, age 9, Robert Linley, age 3, and Mary Marjorie, age less than 1.  Ollie and Leeland Lamb took Mary Taylor in and raised her as if she were their own child.   

Ollie and Nellie's sister, Kitty took Eloise for the next 3 years. When Eloise was about 12, she went to live with her Father's sister, Viola Spurgeon Johannsen for several years before she spent a year with James and Delphia Parker. She then joined her Father in Medicine Lodge, KS.

 Robert was raised by his Father's sister, Viola Taylor Spurgeon Johannsen.  For a few years, Eloise and Robert were together with their Aunt Viola.

The Spanish Flu claimed these 3 children's mother but her sisters and sister in law stepped in to take care of them and make sure they had the best possible start in life.

* The 1918 Influenza pandemic also known as the Spanish flu or the Great Influenza epidemic broke out in 1918 in Kansas and lasted through 1920 with cases in 1921 and a major reoccurance in early 1922.  It is generally accepted that there were between 25 and 50 million deaths. There are other estimates that go up to 100 million deaths world wide. If you had family members who died between 1918 and 1922 especially young adults, it is possible that they died from the flu. 

Myrtle Olive Parker Lamb's Life Journey...

 

 

 

Courting: A Love Story

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 8  (Feb 22-28)

Prompt: Courting

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My late cousin, Nancy (VanHoozer) Bradley, shared this with me after our Grandmother passed away.  It was hand written on a small notepad by Gladys Mamie (Sample) McCarley. I hope one of her daughters still have the original. I am just very happy that Nancy let me copy it. 

To give you some context and a timeframe.  My Grandmother got married in 1929 when she was 15 years old and my Grandfather was 25 years old. Loda Stout was my Grandfather's 1st cousin.

 To my Granddaughter, Nancy, who has asked for a love story. 

How well I remember the first time I met your Grandfather. It was at a dance at my Grandparents house. They had recently moved to a farm S.E. of Marlow. My Mother and Step Father and I went over for the dance on Sat. night. They left me to spend a week with my Step Grandparents who were the only Grandparents I ever knew. 

Any way I saw this guy dancing and thought, "I want to dance with him".  Later, I learned he had looked at me and said "There is my wife."  He did come and ask for a dance and of course I said yes. But just then they broke for a 5 or 10 minute intermission. When the music started again he came after his dance, but I didn't recognize him and told him I had this dance. My Aunt told me this was the one so I had to apologize and we danced & danced & danced mostly all the rest of the eve. 

Next day Loda Stout who lived 1/4 mile from Grandma's came and asked me if I would go with your Grandpa to the circus that night.  I told a little fib to my Grandparents in order to get permission. I told them I had been going with boys for some time and I had, really, in a group. Loda had not been going with boys either but because she would be with her cousin & I she was allowed to go.  So it was a blind date and double date. Your Grandpa made a date for Loda & she made a date for him. We went to the circus every night that week. Never did get your Grandpa on the Ferris Wheel. 

He started coming to Lawton to see me and of course I came to Marlow every excuse which was parties that turned into dances. 

We even gave a few "parties" ourselves after we were married and moved back to Marlow. Had to stop because a group of boys from Rush Springs started coming and getting drunk. The last one we gave all four of the McCarley boys almost got into a fight trying to get them to leave. 

I'm getting ahead. 

Grandpa for some reason (I think he was testing our relation) failed to come over for 3 or 4 months. Any way I thought I had lost him when one day a knock was heard on the door and I answered. I was so shocked & happy. I almost didn't ask him in. We just stood and looked at each other. 

After that he was over every weekend until he got a job on railroad at El Reno?, then when he couldn't come over he sent your Uncle Floyd. Floyd & I had some good times together. I thought, and still do, a lot of him. He has always been more like a big brother. As you know I was an only child and welcomed a big brother or sister but Viola never accepted me as her sister. Sister-in-law, yes. 

Your Grandpa never said "I love you". He never asked me to marry him. He did ask me to take a trip with him and I said not unless we were married. Somehow we just started planning our wedding. Never did take that trip. 

As I said your Grandpa never said, "I love you" in so many words but his actions said so beyond a shadow of a doubt. He literally gave his life that I and our children might have a good life. It wasn't his fault that I wasn't completely happy with the kind of life I had to live to be with him, the man I loved with all my heart. I'd do it all over again if given the chance. He would have given me the moon if he thought I needed it, but if I asked for it he would have laughed at me. 

I think your Grandpa was born to help others. It seems that when a tragedy occurred he was always there.  Once a bridge (RR) was falling and he ran in under it, held it up till 4 men could get out. and as he jumped back it fell.  He was there to pick up a man from under a load of sand that had been dumped on him from a dump truck. He was there to pick up the broken bodies of some kids who had a head on from playing chicken. If anyone in the neighborhood was sick or dying, he was there. 

After we married we lived in El Reno for a while. Then he was (bumped) that is, a man who had been with the railroad longer took his job. He had to go to Ft. Worth to (bump).  We lived in Ft. Worth the rest of that winter and he brought me back to his Mother to have my baby - Gwonda.  That was a lonesome time for me I spent a lot of time on the creek crying. .... After she was born I only had to look at her to see your Grandpa. But finally he took us home with him. Then he got bumped again. 

He got a job baking pies in Bowie, Texas. But he decided to come back to the farm he had leased at Marlow. I'll never forget that trip. We had a sport coupe. (I don't know the make). We put everything we owned in the car. I sat on top of quilts, holding Gwonda all the way from Bowie to Marlow. Was I ever glad to get there. 

Since your Great Grandpa had rented his farm & house and was living in your Grandpa's, we moved in with them until first of the year when they moved back into their own.