Bethlehem Baptist

I was able to photograph all of these wonderful documents from Bethlehem Baptist Church near Grubville, Mo. BUT, they were taking over my family blog.  Pictured below are cousins Rick and  Ada who had located the documents.  The pages were all in a box with some pages missing and disintegrated and some written in pencil so very hard to read.  But, we feel fortunate to have located documents from about 80 years of the church's history.

Granted, I was related to someone on all of the posts, but I've now created a whole new blog just for the Bethlehem Baptist Church.   I will still have some information here, but they will have information on one of my ancestors or their siblings.

Double click on this if you want to enlarge it.

p. 28
Nov. 1900 Sat before second Sunday in Nov. Church was in regular session after sermon by Pastor.  Door of church was opened for membership.  None rec'd.  L. H. Reiter appointed Clerk Protem.  Minutes of October read and approved on motion church agree to pay Pastor $75 for ensuing year.  L. H. Reiter and Anna McKay appointed to collector.  Church adjorned to meet on Sat. before second Sun in Dec.
N. M. Pierce, Mod; L. H. Reiter Clerk Protem.

L. H. Reiter was probably Louis H. Reiter, my great-grandmother's (Mary Reiter Long) brother and not her father who was also Louis (Lewis, Ludwig) Reiter.

Sometime between 1900 and 1920, Louis and his family relocated to Montana. For more information about his family, click here.

Macy's Children: Ruth and Wes

James Wesley Wicker (1898-1965) was the oldest of Macy's children and my grandfather. Ruth Agnes Hall Ezell (1908-1989) was always his baby sister (Georgia was born after he'd left home) whom he loved very much.
I had a special relationship with Ruth because she had a daughter, Kay, who was my age. So, I often went with my grandparents visiting Ruth and Everette in Memphis.
Ruth and Everette were married in 1926 but had been together since 1918 when their parents married. They were step siblings before marrying and having four lovely daughters: Merlene, Ann, Dorthy and Kay.
They were often referred to as "Ruth's girls".

Several years ago, my brother, husband, parents and I met with the surviving "girls", their daughters, husband and granddaughter at IHOP in Memphis.
Kay Ezell Walters, Dorthy Ezell Dent, Louise Wicker Long, Ann Ezell Crook (with my Dad LeRoy Long peaking over them)
But, as Georgia notes in this letter---Ruth was very special to all of us. Some might say she was the best of them all. She was friendly, loving, kind and a good Baptist. . . .excepting when her big brother Wes visited. Ruth's daughter Kay confided in me, "The only time Mother allowed beer in the house was when Uncle Wes came to visit."
I have done several blogs on Grandpa---he was my Mr. Wonderful.
We lived next door so I had plenty of opportunities to get to know my grandparents often choosing to stay with them for dinner rather than going home.
My mother once told me that the grandfather I adored was not the same man who was her father. Click here for Mother's memories.
It is amazing how a few years of maturity, a comfortable home can turn a stern father into a very loving grandfather.
The reason I started this series of blogs was to show other distant relatives how small the Williams family members were. But, with them always photographed with each other, it was hard to see. This photo is my grandfather James Wesley Wicker with my dad LeRoy Long and his father Roy Long

Macy's Children: Clara and Obie

Obie Palmer Hall (1906-1971) and Clara Belle Hall Stephens (1902-1982) pictured above were probably the most reserved of Macy Williams' children. Click here to see more photos of them as children.

(Obie and Georgia, his sister)

Obie was a Pentecostal preacher who came to St. Louis for revivals at least once a year. Although he and his brother Ray were both preachers about the best I can say about my grandfather (below) and Georgia (above) is that they attended church. They laughed that they were the "black sheep" in the family, but we all loved them despite their flaws.(Obie Hall with his brother Wes Wicker in St. Louis)

At Christmas, my sister and I recall Obie always giving us "books" of Lifesaver candies. Even today, I see them and think of Obie. He was so calm and warm---I loved when he visited and wanted to go to his revivals, but Mother never took me. My sister Jane remembers,"Uncle Obie was my favorite. He would write me letters all the time. He would send me a dollar or so for my birthday. He was such a small man. I love his smile. He always seemed happy"

(Obie with Mother, Louise Wicker Long)

Many years later Mother told me she wouldn't take me to Obie's revivals because she thought a revival would frighten me who was more accustomed to a serene Methodist worship experience. Obie lived in Rock Island or Moline, Illinois just up the Mississippi from St. Louis (at the border of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin). Although he and his wife Wanda Morgan Hall had 7 children, only three lived to maturity: Joseph Clenno Hall, Alice Hall Washburn and Titus Obie Hall.(L-R: Louise Wicker Long, James Wesley Wicker, Naomi Ruth Hall, me, Obie Palmer Hall)

Here is a photo of myself as a baby with Naomi who died at about 16 years old of kidney disease if I am not mistaken. Alice and I corresponded with genealogy for many years before her death. Titus, in his later years, was a frequent visitor at Mother and Dad's after his military retirement. But, I never met Joe.

Clara and Obie in late 1940's or early 1950's

The two eldest in the family: Clara and James Wesley Wicker, my grandfather.

Clara lived in Michigan, so we didn't see her often. I can recall only meeting her one time. She never talked much about her family and when I asked her for information, she said, "I never knew much about my family tree and I have forgotten all I ever knew. And I don't know why you. . .want to trace it, but you may find out a lot of things you had rather not know. Hope all are well and enjoying your life. God Bless you."
Her niece Alice wrote, "She told me when she was a little girl she could not walk.  It wasn't that she didn't know how to walk, she had a rare blood disease that would not allow her to stand on her feet without terrific pain.  She used to use a high back chair to rest a knee and hop the chair around the house. . .The family farmed a few years then moved to Detroit, Michigan.  They bought their home and Aunt Clara's backyard was fence to fence flowers.  She had roses of every hue.  Her bird bath was a whit porcelain bathtub sunk in the ground. . .Aunt Clara worked as a seamstress in a local laundry and dry cleaning business. .."

Clara had 4 sons (Fred P. Stephens, Charles H. Stephens, Jimmie F. Stephens, Billy Ray Stephens) and one daughter---Bertie Lee pictured above with her aunts Georgia and Vennie and below at Clara's 80th birthday party (Bingo)

Macy's Children: Georgia and Ray

Although Macy Williams Wicker Hall Ezell looks a little stout in this photo, her granddaughter Alice Hall Washburn told me she was probably pregnant with Ray. Her father Obie said his mother was not actually big.
Ray Ezell was Macy's youngest child born in 1919 when she was 39 years old. My mother (Macy's granddaughter) was born in 1920 so she was very close in age to her two youngest aunts and uncles.
Although I met Ray and Nelda at least once, their story was legendary in our family. Ray was one of Grandpa's two brothers who were preachers. My sister says she remembers them visiting and Mom requesting that Dad not have a beer while they were there with Dad responding, "I don't care if the Queen of England comes to visit, I'm having a beer." I believe Ray had another job (insurance?) but his love was preaching at a Baptist church (photo above was in front of their church) in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Nelda had previously been married to Grandpa's first cousin Peck Wicker by whom she had had two sons: Curtis and Woody.
Her third child (Ray's only child) was Michelle Rae Ezell pictured here with her husband Robert Weesner.The letter above is from Georgia about Ray, Nelda, Michelle and her children Joshua and Simon. (Double click to enlarge it) Georgia was a wonderful letter writer who seemed to keep in touch with most of her siblings and their families---at least those who were more Southern.
Ray, Michelle and their families were very precious to Georgia as evidence by the many times she visited with them and talked about them in her letters.
Everyone has an aunt (or great-aunt) who is bigger than life---that was Georgia. She was beautiful, vivacious, but as a child often "in trouble" with her mother. Because Georgia and Mother were very close in age, Georgia was a little resentful of how strict Macy was with her and not with Mother, Macy's granddaughter.
The first time I met Georgia she was visiting from Arizona and had the most gorgeous turquoise jewelry---I think that's why I love turquoise today over almost any precious gem. Later she lived in the Los Angeles area near Long Beach.
I think my love of cruises is from the stories I heard about her cruises. This Alaskan cruise (above) in the 1960's was aboard the Royal Viking Star (Neptune Lounge) where she met up with Jack Lemmon, a popular movie star, at the time. But, she had taken other cruises as a passenger of a freighter where she dined with the captain.
The photo above is Georgia with her first husband John Homer Vencil whom she married in 1941. She was married at least one other time to Emory John Endicott. Georgia always seemed happy to me and yet I know her life had it's downs. She was born the same year her father died. Mother thought Macy was pregnant with Georgia when their house caught on fire and Mr. Hall was killed in the fire. So, from the beginning, her life was difficult.
I love this family portrait of Georgia with her daughter Barbara, grandson (Keith whom she adored) and great grandson Justin Hill. I am not sure about Barbara's early years---I know she was raised by someone else---having been born to Georgia when she was a teenager. But as adults they were close with a typical Mother-Daughter relationship loving with the occasional disagreement.

Unknown Photos--SE Mo or Arkansas

I found these photos in a box at Mom's I do know 3 of these people: my aunt Billie Wicker Curran is the child on the left, my mother Louise Wicker Long is in the middle and their mother Vennie Watson Wicker is behind them standing sideways. I believe the boy next to Mom is J.H.Cates (John Henry Cates) with his mother Dolly Cates behind him. but I don't know who that little child is or the woman in the middle. Based on my mother's size, I'm guessing this photo was made in 1929.
I am not even sure if this photo is around Hornersville Missouri or if it is in Arkansas where my family lived. I do know the man with the cane is my grandfather James Wesley Wicker or "Wes". He had a lifetime of leg problems stemming from a bad leg break while riding horses. We may even have one of his canes that we got from Mom's house after she died.
Although this one is labeled on the back, I'm still not sure who Sam and Hene are. Could it be Sam Williams and J.H.Cates' father whose name was also John Henry?