Edna Blanche Miller

Edna Blanche Miller was the daughter of Charles Wesley Miller and his wife, Mary Elzetta Cochran. Although her headstone states that she was born April 28, 1894, there has been no other record found of her birth. It is interesting to note that the 1900 Putnam County, West Virginia census has Edna's birth year as 1895. Not knowing how accurate the information is, census data can't be used as proof of an event, however, I would like to see a birth record or other reliable source before saying that I am certain her birth year is 1894.

No matter the birth year, it is known that Edna married Earnest (Ernest) Wayson. Edna's niece recalls the date as June 8, 1912. The location of the marriage is not known although West Virginia or Kentucky seem the most probable places. While Edna and her family have not been found in the 1910 census, Ernest was living in Cabell County, West Virginia at that time. Kentucky must also be considered because the Miller family did move to Mason County, Kentucky sometime between 1900 and 1920.

It is believed that Ernest and Edna were living in Mason County when their first son, William Wesley was born on March 23, 1914. Two years later, on January 16, 1916, their second son, Roy Lee was born.

Edna never lived to see Roy Lee 's first birthday. In December of 1916, she and Ernest were preparing to move. The weather was cold and Edna had been cleaning the house. She caught a cold which developed into pneumonia. She died on December 12 in Mason County. She was only twenty two years old. She is buried in Dover, Kentucky.

Ella Myrtle Nower

Described by her daughter as "little, but mighty", Ella Myrtle Nower was born May 7, 1884 into a very, for the time, affluent family. Her father, Samuel J., was a respected banker in Dover, a small town on the Ohio River in Mason County, Kentucky.

The third child and only daughter, Myrtle, as she was known, had four brothers. Earnest and Clarence were born in 1877 and 1880, respectively. Baby Samuel Judd, born February 28, 1888, lived for only four months. Myrtle's youngest brother, Paul, was born in 1890. Their mother, Phoebe Jane Judd Nower, hired a nanny to help in the raising of her young children.

In 1907, Myrtle married Frank Bernard Clark and soon started their family which would consist of six children, four girls and two boys. Her daughter, Frances, remembers her mother as a hardworking woman, "pumping water from a cistern or well, scrubbing clothes on a washboard, canning all our food, sewing clothes". While life was not as comfortable as her childhood had been, Myrtle was known to give parties where as many as seventy-five chickens were fried and served along with the commercial bought ice cream for dessert. Her younger children, Evelyn, Frances, and Irma, dressed alike for these occasions, would serve "goodies" to their guests. Other times would see Myrtle managing her family on very little. No matter the circumstances, however, her determination and strong will earned her the respect of her children and grandchildren.

Frank and Myrtle spent most of their married life in the towns of Dayton, Fort Thomas, Covington, and Dover in northern Kentucky. Toward the end of their lives, they lived on Second Street in Ripley, Ohio. It was at this residence that Myrtle became a widow on September 20, 1960. In June of the following year, with her health rapidly failing, Myrtle was moved to the Georgetown Nursing Home (Georgetown, Ohio) where she died of liver cancer on December 7, 1962. She is buried in Locust Grove Cemetery in Dover, Kentucky.

Frank Bernard Clark

On October 16, 1875, Frank Bernard Clark was born in Bradford, Kentucky. He was the firstborn of John Joseph and Belle (Stairs) Clark. By the time he was four years old, the family had moved to Grant's Lick, in Campbell County, Kentucky.

The 1890 census was destroyed by fire, and Frank cannot be positively identified in the 1900 census so there is some question as to where he was located during that time. It is known that he was in the military in the very late 1890's, but his particular place of service is unknown.

In 1907, he and Ella Myrtle Nower were married. Frank and Myrtle did not stay in Kentucky. Their first son, Richard Covell was born in Illinois on March 31, 1908. The 1910 census shows the family living in Kansas City, Missouri, although family members today believe that Juanita, the second child, was born in Indiana in September of that year.

At this time, it is unknown where the next two children, Ernest William (1913) and Evelyn Lucille (1915) were born. However, Frances Irene was born in Covington, Kentucky in 1918 and her sister, Irma Elizabeth, was born in 1920 in Fort Thomas, Kentucky.

Frank was a painter and carpenter, although it is known that he was once a marshal in the town of Augusta, Kentucky. During the early days of his marriage, the fingers of his right hand were cut off in a corn shredder late one night after a long day's work leaving him with only a thumb on that hand.

In their later years, Frank and Myrtle lived on Second Street in Ripley, Ohio. On September 18, 1960, Frank entered the Veteran's Hospital in Cincinnati. Six days later, he died there of heart failure. He was 84 years old. He is buried in Locust Grove Cemetery in Dover, Kentucky.