Important Houses in LeRoy's Life

Reed Home, 12932 Hencher Rd. De Soto, Missouri

 

Several years ago, Dave and I drove to DeSoto, Missouri with a list of addresses of where my ancestor's lived.  I had addresses for both sides of Dad's family for my great grandparents and my great great grandparents.  First, I found the beautiful stone house of my great-great grandparents Reed a little outside of town.  Then we located their home in De Soto as well as the home of my great grandparents Maupin.  Click here for more photos in De Soto. (The Long side of the family were mostly farmers and didn't live in town)

When I went to the address for my grandparents and my dad in 1920, I couldn't find the house anywhere.  It was now the parking lot for the De Soto Public Library. 710 South Main.  Dad wasn't much of a reader, so this is a form of "poetic justice" that his home when he was a year old is the parking lot of a library.

One of the stories my father often talked about was surviving the 1927 tornado in St. Louis while he was in elementary school.  He would tell about walking home from Stix School (9 years old) in the utter destruction.  My aunt said their home was totally destroyed and they never owned another house but only rented. For more, click here.

Several years ago Dave had to go for some cognitive testing through Barnes at 4444 Forest Park Avenue.  There wasn't much of a waiting room, so I walked around the neighborhood. There were several beautiful old homes across Forest Park Avenue from where we were but our side of the street there were none---just new buildings, Barnes hospital and parking lots/garages.  Then, I realized where I was standing---in the path of the 1927 tornado---it was as clear as day when I knew what I was looking at.  There were old homes (dating before 1927) on either side of the path.  I walked several blocks in either direction and my hypothesis was correct.

So, I knew Dad had lived near there.  I called Mom and she said he lived on the corner of Forest Park and Newstead and thought a bus shelter was there.  There was no bus shelter, but another parking lot.

My brother and sister recently asked me some questions about Dad's railroad work experience which sent me to Ancestry.com to find some documents.  As usual, when I started out looking for one thing, I found another--Dad's World War II draft registration in 1940.  He and Mom were married September 1940, so I was surprised to see her name on it---they were newlyweds and living at 3626 Botanical Ave. near the Botanical Gardens.

So, I googled it and was so surprised at what a cute house it was even though they probably lived upstairs.

When I clicked through, that was 3634 Botanical, Mom and Dad's first home was. ... you guessed it, another parking lot. My sister Jane wrote me,"Empty space, filled with living spirit."  She nailed it!

Long Family Photos

Bill Long on the right brought some photos which he is sharing with his cousin David Long on the left.
Bill's father George was the chief of the Fire Department in De Soto. He is on the far left. Next to him are Bill Coxwell, Jerry Coxwell, Hoard Lucas, ??? Hobson, Paul Brunkhorst and Bob Hopson.
Bill thinks this is his father, George Long's 8th grade graduation. He thinks the other boy may be Johnny Long, George's younger brother.
This photo shows Jane Long Maness seated with Mary Reiter Long. The woman behind is probably Nora Long Couch. The man in the dark suit is Jeptha Long and the man obscured in the back is probably Thomas Long (Nora, Jane and Jeptha's brother, Mary's husband). The man with the white shirt is Fred Reiter, Mary's brother.
George Long with Bill (on a calf?) Roy Long (George's brother and my grandfather) with his daughters Mary and Maxine.
The Thomas Long and Mary Reiter family: L-R Johnny Long, Curtis Long, Cecile Long, Clarence Long, Katie Long*, Fred Long*, Lecy Long, Roy Long, Lawrence Long and George Long. Estes Long* is missing. Those with * are the children of Thomas's first wife Cenith Wiley.

Appendicitis and Harry Smith's Family

My father-in-law Grover told me several stories about his uncle, Harry Smith, pictured above with his sister Ellice Smith Morgan and his wife "Pawdy" Smith in 1961. Harry's family moved around with the Morgans a lot so Grover knew them pretty well. Harry was not with the coal mines, though, but was a meat cutter.

Harry and Pawdy had four children: Robert, Thelma, Gladys and Ruth. Only two lived to adulthood---Robert and Thelma. Gladys died of appendicitis before she was 21 years old. Grover didn't have too many details about that but he did for Harry and Pawdy's appendicitis.

Around 1922-1923, Harry had appendicitis when they lived in Landville, WV. He was packed in ice and taken to the hospital the next day. Although it's not in my notes, I seem to recall it was in a bathtub. I'm amazed that was done since that is what is done today with spinal injuries and is considered a break through.

His wife Pawdy also had appendicitis in the late 1920's. Apparently, they were living in Kimball, West Virginia (or nearby---I know Morgans lived in Big Four) at the time because she was operated on by a black surgeon in a black hospital which was over a store. I googled it and found this about the Kimball Colored Hospital. I don't think the timing was right that Dr. Roscoe Harrison would have been her surgeon, but it did verify Grover's story that there was "colored" hospital in Kimball.
One of the reasons I'm doing this blog is because all of the stories from our parents are written down on whatever was handy. This was on the back of an envelope which is nice because it's dated 04 August 1999 :-)

Clyde Manion

I've made it a goal to "meet" at least one descendant of each of William Graham's children (not counting Adeline who had no children.) Clyde Manion was my grandfather Roy's 3rd cousin, great-grandson of Susan Graham Manion. But, Clyde's uncle William Clinton Manion married one of Roy's aunts (Elizabeth Reiter), so they were sort of doubly related. (Yes, this sort of thing happened a lot in Jefferson County, MO)

Although this baseball card (valued at around $50) says he was born in St. Louis, that was just the closest big city. He was born in Big River Twp, Jefferson County, Missouri where William and Margaret Graham (his g-g grandparents) settled in the early 1800's. His family moved to Eaton, Colorado around 1901 where he grew up with his 9 siblings.

His full name was Clyde Jennings Manion, but his family called him "Rick". Oddly, he was known as "Pete" in baseball circles. No one knows why he had two different nick-names. According to Lynda, a cousin:

I just remember when he came home to Colorado he was just one of the gang. We called him Rick; who knows why, but he was called Pete on the teams. Our cousins in Detroit did not know he was called Rick by his family out here. Clyde's first wife was a beautiful woman, we understand. She was killed in a car accident on her way to meet him at one of his games.

After the death of his first wife, he re-married.  The following is from one of their grandchildren:

We all grew up calling her "Mommadoll."  Momadoll's name was Marion.  Clyde was referred to by us grand kids as "clyde-dee-dy-dee."  All of that was her idea.  Mommadoll died in 1994.  She met Clyde as a baseball player.  She fancied herself somewhat of a socialite and no doubt, thought ball players while stars and popular people, were shady people.  When Clyde finished his career in 1934 he wanted to move to coaching but, from what I have heard, she wanted him to have a more respectable job.  He became an insurance agent for the Equitable Life Insurance Co.

 
Clyde stayed in Detroit because she was there and he was well known there (help with insurance business) She was always well dressed and proper.

He began his professional career in 1920 with the Detroit Tigers where he played catcher. His last four years, though, were with the St. Louis Browns and Cincinnati Reds. But, he considered the Detroit Tigers his team. He lived and died in Detroit where he has a brick with his name on it at the stadium. Click here for his statistics.

Although those stats don't give his salary at the time, there is a web-site called "What If" that projects what his salary would have been if he were playing today (based on his stats).
Clyde Manion died in 1967 and is buried in Holy Sepulcher Cemetery. Click here for a photo of his tombstone and more information.

Louise's Christmas Memories

Several years ago, my daughter Rebecca gave my mother Louise Wicker a book to record her memories. After a year or two, Mom returned the book to Rebecca who typed the memories to share with all of us.
She said on another page:

I was always in pageants, plays at school. I had just started school (no, I was 7 years old) and was in a play. My mom had made us flannel sleepers (all kids). I came off stage and Molly [a family friend] told me my dad had been hurt and my mom had to leave.

My grandfather Wes Wicker had many leg injuries. One injury was from racing horses (when Mom was a baby), but in his later years he operated heavy road-building equipment and I believe one had turned over and crushed his leg.
Louise often mentions "Jessie" who was just a little older than Mom, but was a servant in the Matthews' home. My parents stayed friends with Jessie and her husband Albert Redman until the Redmans died. Mother loved the irony that Jessie who had been a servant married Albert Redman who became a wealthy rice farmer in Arkansas.
While I don't have any photos of Mom's Christmas trees, I do have photos of her grandchildren decorating a freshly cut cedar tree with popcorn and cranberries at her house.
They hand-made ornaments, decorated the tree with lights, but we always called it the "Christmas Tree for the birds" since they snacked on the decorations.
Other Christmas memories Mother shared:

One thing we had at Christmas night was fireworks, roman candles, sparklers. You see there was no such thing as all these lights.


Our [Christmas] celebration was always at home. Mother was a great cook and the highlight was always our dinner fruit salad. Lady Baltimore cake [recipe here] and Dad made eggnog for the adults that came by.

One Christmas, Billie wanted a Mickey Mouse watch. Of course, I thought I was too old. I got a standard. They were hid and I rooted until I found thembefore Christmas. To this day, I love Mickey Mouse watches (that I thought I was too old for)

[The best Christmas] was the year I got my first pair of roller skates and 2 pair plaid stockings (long that fit on supporters). It was a warm Christmas. By evening, both pair of stockings were gone but I had my skate key around my neck on a string.

No matter how little money there was as children (the Great Depression-no one had money) but dad would barter; they always made Christmas special--Molly, Pearl and Ann helped. So Billie and I were special. We never felt we didn't want what other kids had [actually, I think she means the opposite]

For more about Molly, Pearl and Ann (the Everette sisters), click here.

Maupin Siblings

Apparently I'm not the only one with boxes of mystery photos. A cousin in Texas sent me this photo asking if I thought these were Maupins. Together, we have concluded that these are the children of John Dabney Maupin and Jane Dickinson Maupin: Mattie Maupin Maupin and Henry Maupin (my great-grandfather) are seated in the front; on the porch are John D. Maupin, Oliver Maupin and Ira Maupin (not necessarily in that order, but we're pretty sure Ira is on the far right).

We believe this photo was taken in Teague, Texas in the 1920's (Mattie and Henry died in early 1930's). We don't know what the occasion was, but with all of them working for the railroad and having passes, it wasn't that hard for Henry (from De Soto, MO) and Ira (from Kansas City, MO) to hop on a train to visit their three siblings in the Waco/Teague area of Texas.

This is the third mystery photo cousins and I have cracked in one month! One is so bizarre, it deserves its own blog posting. (The third one is "Valle Girls?")

John D. Maupin Family

In the 1900 Census the following people were living in this house below near DeSoto, Missouri: Chrisopher Campbell (48), Mary Campbell (45), Lulu Campbell (23), George Campbell (22), Grace Campbell (16), Fred Campbell (14), Pearl Campbell (11), Neva Campbell (9), Dimple Campbell(6), Minnie Campbell Maupin (28), John D. Maupin (31), Lolo M. Maupin (9), Ollie R. (Campbell) Maupin (8), Irene F. Maupin (5), May Maupin (3), Alesia Booker (80)--a boarder.


This was the home of John Dabney and Minnie (Campbell) Maupin before they left De Soto, Mo. to move to Texas. Minnie's parents, Christopher C. Campbell and wife Mary (Hurst) Campbell were living with them in De Soto, Mo. and moved to Teague, Texas with them and are also buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Teague, Freestone County, Texas.

John D. Maupin (my great-grandfather's brother) was a foreman of the roundhouse at the railroad in Texas just like his brother Henry Maupin was in De Soto. Their occupations are listed as machinists. As mentioned in the earlier blog, John D. had a ranch when my grandparents and aunt visited them in 1930, but he also served on the bank board.

News Item from 1925 Fairfield Recorder showing J. D. Maupin as Vice-President of the First State Bank in Teague, Texas.
Here are the daughters and granddaughter of John D. and Minnie Maupin Mae Lillian Maupin (Cain), Irene Maupin (Allen), Lolo Maupin (Castleberry)Child is daughter of Lolo Maupin and Buck Castleberry, Bea Castleberry (Ham)
The Teague Chronicle September 7, 1950 (Thursday) J. D. Maupin Rites Held Here Today J. D. Maupin passed away early Wednesday morning in Mexia at the age of 81. Mr. Maupin will be remembered by the people of Teague as one of the old-timers, having moved here when the city was still in its infancy, and has seen Teague in it's good days and its less prosperous. Being of a congenial spirit, he numbered among his friends all who came to know him. He was always ready to contribute his time and efforts to the advancement of the city. Since early in life, he was an active member of the Presbyterian Church. He came to Teague in January of 1909 and was Superintendent of Motive Powers with the T. & B V Railroad, and served in this capacity until his retirement in June 1939, after 30 years of service. He was born in St. Katherin, Mo., January 1, 1869 and at the age of 20, he moved to De Soto, Mo. There he met and married Miss Minnie Campbell and to this union was born four children, namely: Mrs. R. C. Castleberry of Teague, Mrs. Lloyd Allen of Missouri, who survive him. A son Campbell Maupin and a daughter, Mrs. M. M. Cain, preceded him in death. Mrs. Maupin died in 1940. In August, 1945 he married Mrs. Virginia Means and has resided in Mexia since that time. Besides the above named children, he is survived by 8 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild. Funeral services were conducted from the Presbyterian Church Thursday afternoon at 3:30, Rev. William Casseday pastor officiating. Interment was made in Greenwood Cemetery. Thanks to a cousin in Texas for sharing this wonderful information.

Valle Girls?

I have made it my mission to identify the photos my sister had in one of Grandpa's cigar boxes. I thought I'd identified Lois Valle and Verna Valle, but when I met Lois she said via an e-mail from her daughter Jean, "The one with the darker hair may be Gladys Valle Cooper (mom's first cousin, daughter of Albert and Alice Valle) and the other one is maybe Edna Valle (daughter of Lawrence and Estelle Valle). Gladys was the first grandchild of Julius and Betty Valle and the only child of Uncle Albert. Edna was the second grandchild and the oldest child of Lawrence Valle. Gladys is deceased and Edna is still living with her younger sisters in California and is 97."
Here is why I thought this photo was Verna and Lois Valley. I was on a Jefferson County Genealogy Web-site (all of the children are identified at Brown School 1926)and took a look at this photo with fresh eyes. Several years after first seeing the photo, I know that I'm related in one way or another to most of these children. My dear friend/cousins (The Jeptha Longs) have many family members here and that's the context I first looked at it. I've recently been aware of the blonds in the family, looked at this photo at the blond children and noted that one of them was Verna Valle. I thought. . "Valle---Great-great grandmother's sister Caroline Tyrey married a Valle." I looked at the photo again (5 th girl on the right) and I was sure that was the girl on the right in the unknown photo.
This photo of Clyde Long is what had me thinking blond. I'd always been told the blonds in the family are from the Reiter side of the family. BUT, g-g grandmother Reiter was a Tyrey (Tyree). David Long (next to his brother) said everyone always said his brother looked just like Chester Tyrey which has me wondering if the photo I dearly want identified is of a Tyrey---especially with my latest discovery.
Looking at this little boy's face is like looking at my nephew and grandson Davis. Go to this blog for more Unknown Photos of the Reiters and Tyreys.

Reiter-Bruns Family

Eloisa Drennon Bruns with her daughters Cora, Emma and Rose, 1938 at the old Aquilla Drennon house.

Gwendolyn has sent me lots of wonderful photos. I have categorized them and will post them in groups. This group will have Reiter and Bruns photos with two Longs. These are all from northwestern Jefferson County, Missouri.


The photo below is identified above. It has the following family names: Kramme, Bruns, McCulloch, Hollandt, Blake, Weber, Torbitsky, Gascke, Meyer, Ultzen, Belew, Reiter, Eime, Schuchart, Pierce, Steele. It is "Reunion at Maple Grove School, Dittmer July 4, 1922."
The next photo is identified as a Cedar Grove School photo, September 24, 1928 (??)
It has these names: Meyer, Manion, Montgomery, Reiter, Williams, Harrison.
The photo below is my great-aunt Katie Long Bruns with her husband Harry Bruns. Katie (was my grandfather's half sister Cenith Catherine Long---her mother was a Wiley)

Gwendolyn sent this photo in with her unknown photos---it's Celecy Ellen Long Guinther (great Aunt Lecy whose mother was Mary Reiter---she had the same father as Katie---Thomas Henry Long)
Below is Fred (Francis Frederick) Reiter and his wife Rose Bruns. This is from the Baptist Church photo. The children are: Ina Reiter Pigg (face turned), Lula Reiter Sutter (in hat), Clara Reiter Kolley and Emmett Reiter in the lap.
Finally, here is Fred Reiter and Rose Bruns wedding photo--such a handsome couple.

Louise Wicker Long ID crisis--- Post 9-11

Every thing went fine with Mom's identification until 9-11. With the Homeland Security Act, a person needed more than just an affadavit from her mother and an inaccurate birth certificate. Mother started worrying about how she was going to re-new her driver's license which didn't match the name or birth date on her birth certificate. So, she decided to hire a lawyer to correct her birth certificate. She got new documents in addition to the ones she had had. She now had documents from cousins to add to her portfolio of proving who she was. Notice she had her name listed as "Louise Alice".

Her cousin Verna McCaleb was 93 and had had a similar problem (her mother was Mary Ann Williams b.Oct 1891 Tennessee, one of the James B Williams kids---so, I think Verna was really my grandfather's first cousin).Verna says "It took me almost a year getting mine corrected. . .what I hated most I had to go to court and pay a lawyer to prove I was living. Silly, but I had to do it. The Dr. and My Dad both must have been drunk. "
Undoubtedly they had the same doctor---there weren't that many in the bootheel of Missouri in the early 1900's. When I saw the name, I laughed. So, mine isn't the only family that has a long history of substance abuse. And, yes, that's the same Limbaugh family---probably a great uncle of Rush.
Mom thought she was finally going to have it all settled after 80 years of inaccuracy when. . . the lawyer died. You would have thought he did it to spite her. She fretted that she would not be able to re-new her driver's license---there were lots of stories of people being denied because the license information didn't match the birth certificates. As I was re-newing mine, I noticed that she could get a passport with the documents she had. So, we got her a passport which matched perfectly with her driver's license and she was able to re-new her driver's license. It was cheaper than hiring another lawyer (that she was afraid would die). I think by this time she had thought getting an accurate birth certificate was jinxed---maybe she was right, but we got around it.

Louise Wicker Long Identity Crisis 1970's

In the 1970's Mom needed to "get her Social Security in order". I think she needed a new card but also knew she would need a birth certificate to claim Social Security in the future. Mother had never had a birth certificate, but had carried this affidavit (above) all of these years.
So, Mother sent off for her birth certificate. Although she went by the name Louise, her name "at birth" was "Alice Louise". (See above)The state returned her money and said it wasn't on file. She tried again driving to Jefferson City, but still they couldn't find her birth certificate. Finally, she contacted her state representative (whom she'd known since the 1940's) to see if he could "pull some strings." He was able to locate her birth certificate, but it had two problems---first, there was no name other than "Baby Girl"; second the birthdate was wrong.
Mother found out she could correct one thing on her birth certificate, but to correct two things would require a lawyer. Even to correct her name, she needed to get certain documents.
First, she needed a certified copy of the census.
Then she needed school records---check
and check.
Finally, she needed an affidavit from a relative who was alive when she was born---her aunt Ruth Williams Ezell and her uncle James Ezell. They also told her that the reason she had no name was my grandparents were fighting over her name. Grandpa wanted to name her Catherine and Grandma would not have it----that was his old girlfriend's name. The only explanation Ruth could give on the birthdate being wrong, was that the doctor was a lazy drunk who had failed to register the birth. So, to save his butt, he made the date July 20.
So, she had her birth certificate corrected with the name---she didn't think the birthdate was that important. Actually, several members of the family preferred July 20 because July 1 was too soon in the month. But, for the rest of her life, individuals referred to her inaccurate birth certificate---if a birthday card was late, "Well, no one really knows when your birthday is anyway."
It's unfortunate that someone chose to put "Alice Louise" on her birth certificate---the documents she submitted clearly indicated she went by Louise, but I think Mom wanted it to match with Social Security so there would be "no problem." Guess again---the same situation happened again after 2001!