Ellice Smith Morgan Letter March 28, 1945

(Photo taken Nov. 1945) Double click on letters below or scroll down and read the transcription. The letter was to Grover and Eloise Morgan who were stationed on an army base in Louisiana.


Wed. Mar.28 -/45

Dearest gang,

I read the picture of my sugar boy looking a[t] his cake today. I was so glad to get it. Tis so good of him isn’t it? Well we may get to plant potatoes tomorrow or Friday. I hope so anyway.

The stone work is finished. I think Mason is coming up Saturday to work on it some. Put a top on it so we will have somewhere to store the finished lumber that we have to have for it. You know it has to be kept in the dry. Such as windows and doors and things like that there. Oh I guess we are gona have a real garage some of these days, don’t you honey. I don’t blame you for staying down there until things are settled, don’t let them put anything over on you.

Thanks for the candy, I’ve eaten quite a bit of it. Tis the only kind of candy I eat. Father brought me a box too. I’ll be getting real sweet first thing we know.

I am rather tired tonight, went to Bluefield on street car and that tires me out. I must dampen my clothes tonight & iron tomorrow. I am glad Eloise has her suit done [..] she wants to wear it for Easter. I’ll bet it is nicer than she could get ready made. She sews so nice.

Well, Father just called, he is OK. I ask[ed] him if Vic was all rite & he said she wasn’t still long enough for him to ask her. He said she was over at Porters yesturday [sic] & down at Cliffords tonite. She has been cooped up here with me so long, I guess she is glad to get out a bit.

I had a letter from Paul yesturday, he is fine as usual, he said. I just hope he stays that [way].
Well I better get busy on those clothes. Thanks Eloise for the nice letter & picture today. Lots of love to you and Eloise, and some extra for my boys.

Mother and Boys

"The Boys" above. Vic was H.B.Morgan's sister---Victoria Morgan Hatfield. The Porters were Mason's wife's parents. They had been close friends of the family when Mason and Libby were children. The building project was a garage and apartment being built on the farm.

"Sugar boy" AKA Grover Davis Morgan, Jr. at his 2nd birthday (Feb. 1945)

H.B.Morgan letter April 3, 1945

(Ellice Smith Morgan, Grover D. Morgan, Harry Byron Morgan)

We have copies of letters from H.B.Morgan to Grover who was stationed in Louisiana at the time. Rather than re-copy them, I thought everyone would enjoy seeing them in H.B.'s handwriting which is pretty easy to read. I'll add notes from time to time to explain. Harry and Davis are Grover's two sons---Harry Byron Morgan II and Grover Davis Morgan, Jr.
"Big Jno Lewis" was John L. Lewis, a labor organizer. Click here for more information. H.B. Morgan, being a mine supervisor, sat on the opposite side of the negotiating table from him. An article from Time Magazine archives tells a little more about John L. Lewis Day. Click here.
(If you want a closer look at these photos, double click on them. Then, use the back arrow to go back to this page)
The garage was being built with an apartment over it---later Grover and family would live in it after returning from the war.


Notice that bees is underlined? I recalled a photo of Dave with a bee sting. A little excursion into my photo archives turned this up. The inscription on the back says "Bee sting! 4/6/45 2yrs. 4 mo." I suspect the bee sting was a little earlier and the date wasn't quite accurate. Or, H.B. was a fortune teller!




Please let me know through the comments section below or E-mail if you want us to transcribe these letters.

Annie Reed's Obituary

(Double click on photo above or read my transcriptions below.)
March 24, 1944 (Name of newspaper not known)

Mrs. Annie Maupin Passed Away Last Friday

Mrs. Annie Maupin, nee Reed, age 78, died at the home of her son, Harry, on Friday afternoon. She had been in failing health for several years. Funeral services were held on Sunday, March 19 with interment in Woodlawn Cemetery.

Mrs. Maupin was born on February 22, 1866 at Valle Mines, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Reed [Farncombe]. Her family moved to De Soto when she was a child , and it was here that she was married to Henry W. Maupin on May 7, 1884. Mr. Maupin preceded her in death by 14 years, having died in July, 1930.

Annie Reed--Later

Above was Annie Reed Maupin's home in De Soto, Missouri on Boyd St. "Annie Reed" Maupin is a family legend. Anytime my dad (or daughters) couldn't stay home, but had to be out running around or shopping, my mother would say, "There goes Annie Reed." Annie was fortunate in her husband worked for the Missouri Pacific Railroad, allowing her to go to St. Louis to visit relatives or to go shopping even for just the day. The Jefferson County Democrat Feb. 27, 1913 reported,

"Mrs. Henry MAUPIN visited relatives at St. Louis last week."

My aunt Mary Long Wassmund recalls going to St. Louis with her grandmother to visit relatives. She had to wear a hat, gloves, sit up straight and properly drink tea. We aren't sure what relatives they visited, but I can recall mother saying that my grandmother (Annie's daughter) Vivian always liked going to church with us at Lafayette Park Methodist Church because there were relatives who attended that church and lived in the area.

After Annie's father died in 1891, her mother (Frances Glanville Reed) moved to the Lafayette Park area with her children who remained at home---they are listed in the 1900 census (929 Hickory). So, Annie could have been visiting some of them. Carol Keller wrote me "Annie was always a favorite aunt of my mother-in-law, Grace Frances Reed Keller". Everyone seemed to love Annie Reed---I've never heard anything negative about her. My mother said that when Dad (LeRoy Long) got his first car, he wanted to show his grandmother, Annie Reed, right away.
Annie the older woman in the center is pictured with her siblings. Carol Keller has identified Charles as the first man in the second row. Catharine McComb has identified her grandfather John as standing the second from the right. Annie's sisters were Allie (Haverstick) and May (Mayme Baum). My Aunt Mary said that William looked like her Uncle Albert so we think he is seated on the right.This photo was taken in 1920 probably after their mother's funeral. That leaves George Frederick Reed, James G. Reed and Walter W. Reed whom we haven't identified.

This photo is taken from a 1931 family reunion photo. I do have most of the people identified--most were Long's but some were Reed-Maupins also. In the second row, the first dark haired lady holding a baby is my grandmother Vivian Maupin Long. The little girl to her right is my aunt Mary Long Wassmund. Right behind her and to her left in Annie Reed Maupin (5th over in the third row). My father with the scowl of a 13 year old is seated the furthest right (at the feet of his Grandmother and Grandfather Long. (sort of 2nd row)

This is the other end of the same photo with names added. In the bottom row, are several of Annie Reed's grandchildren: Betty Maupin, Maxine Long, Martha McKay and Norma Long. Also, Annie's niece Ruth Reed and Ralph Reed (on the far right holding a chicken). Apparently Jim Reed (one of Annie's brothers) who lived in Michigan would send his kids to stay with Annie for a month or longer in the summer. He is pictured at the top with his name written in. My aunts (Norma and Mary) remember Ralph and Ruth fondly.

Annie Reed--early years

Annie Reed was born in Valle Mines, Mo (Jefferson County) on Feb. 22, 1866 to William Reed (Farncombe) and Frances Glanville. She was their second born child (after William, Jr) of 9. I have a distant cousin to thank for this precious photo of Annie. According to the records, she was 100% English---her father was born in England and her mother's parents (William Glanville and Frances Hancock) also emigrated from England. Another distant cousin says her name was Anna, but we only knew her by Annie Reed (even after she was married, the family called her "Annie Reed")

Eloise Morgan - "A Career in Books"

Written by Eloise Fry Morgan, May 1956, for "The Madeira Teacher, " a monthly published by Madeira Teachers Ass'n, Madeira Public Schools, Madeira, OH [a Cincinnati suburb]. She was working there as a librarian.

"A Career in Books" by Eloise Morgan

It is hard for me to say at just what point in my life something seemed to impel me toward the field of teaching. Suffice it to say that my chosen vocation turned out to be teaching, and I believe it was a natural instinct that pushed me further into my field of library work.

Always I have had a natural inclination for filing and for indexing various articles for my own personal benefit. I believe it was this realization plus my love for books that became the deciding factor and convinced me that I should be happy as a librarian.

After earning my teachers degree I was able to secure a scholarship in order to obtain the necessary education for a librarian position and my feeling for library work was greatly enhanced by the fact that already in my family there were two college librarians [her sister Irene and brother Alderson].

Aside from the forces which aided my choice of librarian as a profession I find that there is a deep satisfaction in helping to create the interest and urge to learn in students. I have often reflected about the amount of self-satisfaction that I have felt when a student returns a book that I have recommended, stating that he enjoyed it, or when another student finds the answer to his question in the reference source I have directed him to use.

It appears to me that compared to a teaching profession, which could readily dissolve itself into one subject matter and one line of books, the librarian, on the other hand, must continually be progressing and studying new material in all fields of education and entertainment.

I would certainly recommend the librarian profession for any student who is interested in research work or who has an inherent love for all books.

Eloise Fry Morgan was my husband's mother.

Flad Avenue,Then

My grandparents Vivian and Roy Milton Long lived on Flad Avenue in St. Louis. An earlier post showed what the neighborhood looks like now. Here is how it was in the 1940's. The above photo is an interior shot of my parents Louise Wicker Long and Le Roy Harold Long with me as a baby. This photo and the one that follows were taken in the front room which jutted out like a tower in the outside shots.

This photo was taken the same day as the earlier one---February 1946---it was to celebrate my dad's return from the Pacific after WWII. From left to right: Hampton Adams with son Stephen, LeRoy Long with daughter Jaclyn, Robert Delaney with son Bob. My cousins and I were all born within 10 weeks of each other.

Here is a photo of my grandparents Vivian and Roy with me and my cousin Bob---we were a little older in this photo---around 12 months. This is sitting on the porch on Flad.

This is my uncle Ronald Walter Long---poor kid was just 8 years older than my cousins and I. St. Margaret of Scotland is seen in the background---Ron is standing in front of a car (I'm not sure whose car) outside their place on Flad.

And, here is my aunt, Mary Edna Long sitting on the front porch in 1946. Mary was between 16 and 17 in this photo.

Ballard Smith and Annie Brown

Ballard Smith and Annie Brown were Ellice Smith Morgan's parents. Ballard and Annie ran a boarding house for miners in the coal fields of Kentucky (Jenkins?). He hired miners and they stayed in the boarding house. One miner asked,"What's the pay?" Ballard replied, "$2.40 and room and board." The miner replied,"Let's just make it $2.00, it is easier counted."

MEMORIES FROM GROVER D. MORGAN AND MASON MORGAN 1985 AFTER ELOISE MORGAN'S MEMORIAL SERVICE
They talked of their grandparents Annie and Ballard Smith whose sketches are above. They lived with the Morgans for a time---they were "hill people". He would apparently go on "binges'---take a horse to town, trade it on an underfed bag of bones and money for moonshine. Then he would come home reeling with a "quilting frame" as his daughter would call the horse---to be fattened up (at his son-in-law's expense) until it was time to trade again.

At 80 years old, Annie would lift her foot to the sink to wash it off although the only one's to see her barefoot were Ballard and the undertaker---she wore high top shoes. In addition to "spargrass" for asparagus, she called Kentucky "Kaintuck." Some of the Browns moved to Arkansas or Missouri for a time but moved back to "Kaintuck"

My husband's father was Grover Morgan, son of Ellice Smith Morgan, daughter of Ballard Smith and Annie Brown.

Flad Avenue

Here is where Vivian Maupin Long and Roy Long lived when I was a child. Obviously Ron and Mary and the others all lived there also. They lived upstairs and to the right. We all remember not being allowed on the balcony (which isn't there anymore) It was so exciting, climbing out the window and sitting out there (only when adults were there). There was a railing at the time and the roof wasn't slanted.
This 4-family flat was right across the street from St. Margaret of Scotland. I remember the Westminster chimes and the slow peal of the bells gonging off the hours. I wondered how anyone could sleep through that. (I now have clocks chiming through out the house and never hear them)
Out the kitchen window, I remember this beautiful tiled roof. I loved looking out that window at all of the lines and shading of the tile. The other thing I loved about that flat (that's what multiple-family dwellings with exterior entrances are called) was the sky-light. It lit that huge,dark entry hall with a greenish-gray glow. Finally, I thought the butler's pantry was neat and my sister has one just like it in her new Dallas home.
The houses on the next street (Flora) were very nice single family. The street is divided by a strip of park-like land. That street is still lovely, but Flad has more modest housing. Although the flat had a large dining room and living room, two of the bedrooms were very small. (Leah has one as small as one---she uses it as a closet, if that gives you any idea)


In St. Louis, every neighborhood had a "corner grocery". I believe this was the corner grocery, but I'll let my sister and cousins fill me in. This is at 39th and Flad. Note the newer homes next to it---not sure what was there in the 1940's.
Here's how Jane remembers it:
"I remember the cigar smoke and the ashtray that stood on the floor. I remember bubble lights on his Christmas tree. I remember the front "porch" which I always thought would cave in. I remember the church bells across the street. I remember the back bedroom and picture of Dad as a baby. I remember Ronnie's room being about as big as a closet, I think this was before he moved to the front bedroom. I remember Grandpa walking us to the donut shop. I remember playing in a tiny back yard with very little grass because of the shade trees. I remember the boys talking about scary movies they saw like Tarantula. I remember the dining room and all the adults eating there. "
Jane Robison

Vivian Maupin and Roy Long were the parents of our father LeRoy Long.

Grover Morgan Wins Welding Study Award - Fall 1942

[Newspaper Article, undated, w/ picture] Prenter Man, 24, Wins Welding Study Award

Grover D. Morgan, 25, a welder of Prenter, has been named recipient of a $150 award by the James A. Lincoln arc welding foundation, Cleveland, O., in its nation-wide $200,000 industrial study of arc welding.

Morgan, who has been employed by the Red Parrot Coal company three years, won the award for a paper he prepared describing the repair of car and locomotive tires and wheels by building them up to required standards using bits of junk steel instead of more expensive carbon rod. He reported a savings of $3.57 a wheel by his method.

His paper was declared to be an important unit in the Lincoln foundation study which covered every phase of industry and brought out the fact that $1,325,000.00 and 153,000,000 man-hours can be saved by adoption of arc welding over other methods.

Morgan, who attended Concord College, is married and has a year old son. Morgan said that in his opinion, welding rates second only to steel production in the utilization of scrap steel.

(Grover Morgan was my father)

Maplewood, MO

While visiting our daughter, Leah, who lives in Maplewood, MO, I took a walk around the neighborhood to photograph places with a "family" connection. ALL of these places were taken on one walk---Leah was totally unaware of the family connection when she bought her house there.

Around the corner from her is currently a hot night spot called Jive and Wail, managed by a friend of Rachel's. Upstairs was once the beauty school whe re my mother Louise Wicker Long attended in the 1950's.
Then, a block down Manchester Road is an auto dealership. My grandfather James Wesley Wicker once worked at an auto dealership at that location in the 1940's-1950's. It was probably a Buick or Pontiac dealership at that time, though. "Wes" was an auto mechanic---the only dealership name I can recall was Burns Buick--not sure if that was in South St. Louis or in Maplewood.

Leah lives on Maple Avenue. When Mother first came to St. Louis at 18, she lived in this house also on Maple Avenue which was divided during the 1930's and 1940' s for multiple families.



My mother and father also lived on Maple Avenue when they were first married. This apartment is just down the street from Leah's house. Mother said Dad, Le Roy Long, used to go out on those tiny little balconies to study for his exams for the boilermaker trade.Maplewood is becoming an "up and coming" neighborhood with many people converting those multiple family dwellings into single family homes again. Leah and Todd's home, pictured at the top, was a two family flat which they've converted into a single family home. For more information on the town, click here . I'm happy that Mother lived long enough to see what a lovely neighborhood it has become and to see her granddaughter return to her old neighborhood.

Old Stone House, near DeSoto MO

This is from an article that Fred Long wrote. Fred was my father's half-uncle (my great uncle).

"With some help (probably slave), the limestone slabs were quarried and dragged in by ox team, cut, chiseled into shape and place, all by hand. No bulldozers, high lifts, cranes, or buzzing electric tools went into this permanent work.

This is an eight-room, two story, 40' X40' building, with hall and full-sized basement. It was intended for a hotel because the stagecoach came down by Hillsboro, past the Tin House site, and over the same short road from what is Highway Y to this half-way spot between St. Louis and Potosi.

It might have been a paying investment had the stage continued, but the railroad through De Soto put an end to that kind of travel. Thus, two early businessmen lost. . .one because he did not invest [a previous story], the other because he did.

Of course this happened in pre-Civil War days. Grandfather and Grandmother Long (Milton) were living at the Stone House when the war came on.

Each place [his other grandparent's house---the white frame one down the road] was twice raided and the occupants terrorized and robbed of everything they had except for the clothing they wore.

No one at either the Wiley or Long homes was seriously injured but a man living in a cabin near the Stone House was killed because he refused to join the conflict. His name was Wall, and he was the grandfather of the late Frank Wall of De Soto

My father [Thomas H. Long] at this time was only 10 years of age, often in later life spoke of those dark days."

by Fred Long in Jefferson Republic Newspaper March 23, 1967

Welcome Family!

As I mentioned in my E-mail, this will be a place for us to share stories our families have told or stories we have to tell. I always loved the line that everyone attributed to Ellice Smith Morgan, Dave's grandmother pictured above with my husband Dave, "She never let the facts get in the way of a good story." Hopefully, you feel the same way and will share some of those stories, too.