This month marks the thirty-third anniversary of my Aunt Edna Mae's death.  On September 5, 1977, she was shot and killed by her second husband, Dan Dodson in Benton, Arkansas.

Edna Mae Wayson was born November 3, 1941 in Dover, Kentucky.  She was the sixth child and second daughter of William and Juanita (Clark) Wayson.   She relocated to Benton, Arkansas with my grandmother and several of her siblings in the early 1960's.  It was there that she married her first husband, Tommy Raper.  They had three children, a boy and two girls.

It was during her second marriage that Edna Mae decided to pursue a career as a Licensed Practical Nurse.  Her career was short-lived.  Her life cut short.

May you rest in peace.  You are remembered, Aunt Edna.

The Mysterious Death of Miss Laura F. Judd

Laura Judd was the sister of Phoebe Judd Nower, my great great grandmother.  Laura was born in Mason County, Kentucky on the sixth day of September 1865.  She never married and remained close to her sisters all her life.  It has been said that Phoebe's daughter, Myrtle, loved visiting her Aunt Laura. 

Another sister, Joella Judd Coulter and her husband, John, had moved from Mason County to Missouri.  Around 1890, Laura must have decided to join them in the area.  According to Maysville, Kentucky newspapers during that time, Laura returned to Mason County often for visits with Phoebe.  One item in the June 3, 1895 Evening Bulletin stated that Laura was returning to Leavenworth, Kansas after visiting with Phoebe's family.  Her nephew, Ernest Nower, was accompanying her.  By 1900, she was living in Buchanan County, Missouri in the household of her sister and brother - in -law, Joella and John Coulter.  

It was in her sister's home that Laura met her mysterious death.  According to one newspaper source, Laura, during the night of July 4, 1909, accidentally drank carbolic acid which killed her.  Her body was taken to Dover, Kentucky for burial in the Locust Grove Cemetery.  On July 13, it was reported in the Daily Public Ledger that there was talk of the possibility of Laura being forced to drink the poison, however I could not find any other newspaper article mentioning this.  I imagine her friends and family could not understand her untimely death and were looking for an answer.   I think they had a difficult time believing her death at age forty-three.

Myrtle Nower Marries Frank Clark

Miss Myrtle Nower, only daughter of the late Mrs. Phoebe J. Nower of Dover and Frank Clark of Hebron, Ill., who has been visiting at Dover for some months, were married yesterday at Georgetown, Ohio.

3 October  1907                    
Daily Public Ledger        
Maysville, Kentucky

I found this marriage announcement on the Chronicling America web site.

The Nower Family

Last week I wrote what I know about Paul Nower and included a picture of him.  Over the weekend, my mother commented to my father and me that Paul really didn't resemble his sister, my great-grandmother, Myrtle, at all.  Looking back through all the entries of this blog, I realized that I have never posted the great photo I have of Paul's whole family.  The picture isn't dated and its actually a copy of the original, but looking at the dates of birth for each of the children, I am guessing that it was taken sometime in the 1890's.

The family posed for their picture in front of their home in Dover, Kentucky.  They were, what I suppose we would call, an upper middle class family in their small town.  During this time, Samuel was a constable in Dover.  His granddaughter, Frances, told me the story of how her mother, Ella Myrtle, was raised with affluence and even had a nanny who cared for her needs.  She said that Samuel was a banker, although, as of yet, I haven't found any evidence of that occupation for him.  I think the photograph is evidence of the Nower family's economic standing in Dover.  Everyone looks well dressed.  Samuel has a visible watch chain and the table looks like it is well made with, maybe, a marble top.

Beginning on the left in the front is Paul standing next to his father, Samuel Jackson Nower.  Mother, Phoebe Jane Judd, is seated beside her only daughter, Ella Myrtle.  Myrtle, as she was known, was born in Dover in 1884.  In the back, on the left, is Ernest William, who was born in Illinois in 1887.  Finally, there is Clarence Rigdon.  He was born in 1880.  A son, Samuel Judd, was born in 1888, but lived only five months.  

Paul Morse Nower

Born on the twenty-third of February 1890, Paul Morse Nower was the youngest son of Samuel Jackson and Phobe Jane (Judd) Nower.  The brother of my great-grandmother Myrtle Clark, Paul was my great-great-uncle.  If I had ever met him, I was too young to remember as he died in 1963 when I was just six years old.    

Paul was a Chesapeake and Ohio railroad man who worked as a conductor on a steam engine.  My father remembers his Great-Uncle Paul throwing candy to the children as his train passed through Dover, Kentucky, the caboose having a statue of a white bird on top.  

According to his niece, Francis Clark Johns, Paul was quite a character!  She remembers him as being very cheery and pompous, but very caring.  He once bought a Cadillac, even though he didn't drive, just to park it in the front yard so it would look good to the neighbors!

Paul grew up in Dover, Kentucky before moving, as a young man, to Covington in the same state.  He married a woman named Olive Copper, but the marriage was not long-lived.  On March 13, 1929, he married Nellie Grace Bess of Keyser, West Virginia.  His residence was still listed as Covington on the marriage license so it is unknown how the two met.  

Paul and Nell settled in Russell, Kentucky where he continued his work with the railroad.  On September 24, 1963, after an extended illness, Paul died in a Huntington, West Virginia hospital leaving Nell to mourn his passing.  Funeral services were conducted in Russell and his body was taken to the Greenbrier Burial Park in Hinton, West Virginia for burial.    

Charles Miller's Father

I would love it if all my ancestors had unique names that stood out in census lists or that a search engine could really sink its teeth into, but...I don't.  Case in particular - the Miller's.  Do you have any idea how many Millers there must be out there?

I knew about Charles Miller, my great-great grandfather from my father.  He remembered visiting with him so he was able to give me some approximate dates and the names of his children.  Then Charles's granddaughter, Elzeta Mitchell Pfeffer, gave me more exact dates to go on, but no one seemed to be able to recall Charles's parents.  They only knew that they had lived in West Virginia.  Well, West Virginia is a big place with many Miller possibilities so I put Charles back in my file drawer where he stayed for a long time!

I brought Charles's file out the other day.  Since I no longer work, I have decided that it would be a good thing if I tried to organize all my family files into binders.  The Miller file was one of the first to be organized probably because it is so thin and the "overwhelm-factor" was low.  I guess Charles was tired of being cooped up in the drawer because, boy, has he led me down a fast road of discovery!

Using the West Virginia Vital Records Project, which wasn't available the last time I researched this family,  I found Charles Wesley Miller's birth record listed in the Mason County records!  Right there on the line next to his birth date of 1 December 1867 were his parent's names, William A. Miller and Lizzie Miller.   You will not guess what else was on that line!  Almost as a reward for my patience, the person listed as reporting the birth was Wm. Miller, grandfather!  Father, mother, grandfather, all in one minute of reading!  Then to top things off, as I looked further on the page, I noticed the same parents listed again!  Sure enough, there was Charles's brother, Richard A. Miller who was born two years later on July 23, 1869.  That explained who the Richard Miller was who lived next door to Charles and his wife in Dover, Kentucky in 1920!

Needless to say, I have taken my new found knowledge and added many names to my family tree which  I'll give you the details of in future postings.  In the meantime, take a lesson from me, sometimes that brick wall just needs to be put in a dark file drawer to rest while the Internet resources take time to grow!

    

Samuel Nower Murder

Samuel J. Nower was only 22 years old when he was shot and killed in July 1836. Born in about 1814, Samuel was a son of Alexander Nower and Martha Morrison. At the time of his death, he was married to Sarah R. Judd, a daughter of Daniel Judd and Rachel Nower. The couple lived in Mason County, Kentucky.

In 1836, the Ohio River town of Dover, Kentucky had just been chartered. At that time, it was a bustling little town with boats stopping on their journey up the Ohio. On Saturday, July 9, Samuel, for reasons unknown, was in Dover. According to a newspaper article found in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Thomas Reeder shot Samuel. Reeder claimed it was in self-defense and was later acquitted of the crime.

Samuel did not die immediately as the newspaper article states that on Monday, July 11, he was still alive and that there was some hope for recovery. We now know that he did not live. Sarah was left a widow and her son, Samuel Jackson Nower, who was born in October of that year, never had a chance to know his father.

A Life Cut Short - Edna B. Miller Wayson

In a previous post, I introduced you to my great-grandmother, Edna Blanche Miller. Dying at only 22 years of age, her time on this Earth was short, yet I have a little glimpse into her life courtesy of a postcard she sent to her mother. The date is not on the card, yet the picture of her with her first son, William, gives a hint that it must have been written sometime during the latter part of 1914. William was born in March of that year and the way he is posed on his mother's lap is like that of a baby who has reached about six months of age.

While the picture of them is wonderful, it is the back of the card that is priceless. On it, Edna shares a bit of her daily life. The card has been trimmed around the edges, but using context clues, I can tell with some accuracy the few words that are missing. In her note, Edna writes (I have typed it as she wrote it.)

Dear Mam and all,
Will write you a few lines to let you know we are all well and hope you are
all the seam I hav bin caning beans and am going to get 3 hundred
cucumbers to day to make pickles they are only 20 cts a hundred I am
drying some beans to
Mr Wayson has gone up the river to (?find or look? This word is cut off) work he was layed off at the locks
They hav layed off some of the men come down soon all of you a X from William

I do not know where Edna was living at the time, but William was born in Mason County, Kentucky so I am thinking that was where the family was at the time of this postcard. There are also locks present just up the Ohio River from Mason County. Her parents were probably living in Putnam County, West Virginia. I found them there in the 1910 census. By 1920, they are listed in the census as living in Dover, Mason County, Kentucky. It was possibly Edna's death that brought them to Kentucky. They were responsible for much of William and his brother's upbringing after their mother's death.