Juanita Clark and William Wayson Marriage Records

I finally received a copy of the Mason County, Kentucky marriage license and register of marriage for my paternal grandparents, Juanita Ruth Clark and William Wesley Wayson.  Thanks, Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Bob!

As a bonus, I also found out the location of my grandmother's birth which had been a mystery to me and other members of my family for years!  We knew it was Indiana, but did not know the town.  It turns out that she was born in New Trenton, Franklin County which was one idea in my list of "Juanita's likely to be born locations".  Juanita's parents, Frank and Myrtle (Nower) Clark and son Richard were in the Kansas City, Missouri 1910 census which was taken early that year.  My grandmother was born that following September.  By 1920, the family was back in their native Kentucky.  In 1910, two of Frank's brothers were living in Franklin County, Indiana.  My theory was/is that their journey from Missouri to Kentucky began shortly after the census was taken and that Frank and Myrtle stopped in Franklin County where my grandmother just happened to be born.  I don't know why or for how long they were in Indiana, but now my theory makes sense.  Anyway, at least I have a birth location and maybe now I can find something that is actual proof.

Walking in Samuel Nower's Footsteps

My husband and I just returned from a great trip to San Francisco.  We enjoyed the food, the sights, and the relief from our 90+ degree South Carolina weather. San Francisco has so much to offer, however, one of the highlights of my trip was our visit to Fort Point which sits on the point where San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean meet, tucked below the steel girders of the Golden Gate Bridge.  I doubt that this little fort is one of the big attractions to most tourists, outside of history buffs, but it was at the top my list of "must sees" right up there with Fisherman's Wharf and Alcatraz long before we ever purchased plane tickets or booked the hotel room.  Why the big fascination with Fort Point?  Well, that little red brick building, built long before the famous bridge, is where my great, great grandfather, Samuel Jackson Nower, was stationed during his Civil War service! 

Samuel registered for the draft in 1863 as a miner living in St. Helena, Sonoma County, California.  He enlisted on November 15, 1864 and was stationed at Fort Point.  His stay there was just short of a year as he was mustered out on October 24, 1865.  During his time at the fort, he fell from a ladder, breaking his hip, while painting barrack walls which earned him a military pension later in his life. 

We decided to walk to Fort Point and the Golden Gate Bridge from our hotel on a beautiful blue skied, but windy, day.  The concierge seemed a little mystified as to why we would want to go there instead of the Golden Gate Park that she deemed a better place to spend time.  In her opinion, the art and science museums along with the outdoor band music which the park offered would be a much better choice, but I was not going to be persuaded.  We didn't fly all that way to hear music or see artwork so she showed us a route on our map that would take about an hour and a half to walk.  And a beautiful, but cold and windy, walk along the bay it was!  Worth every bit of time and strength against what seemed like hurricane force winds that it took!

Once we reached Fort Point, we were so excited to see that it was open to the public.  I had been told much earlier in the year that it wasn't always open so to see the park ranger standing next to the open gates, motioning for us to enter, was beyond all my expectations.  I had been prepared to be satisfied looking at the outside, snapping pictures of the walls and peering through a closed gate.

The fort is very small and I cannot describe the feeling I experienced knowing that I was walking on the same ground and seeing the same walls, rooms, and scenery that my great great grandfather walked on and saw almost 150 years ago!  I saw the area where he must have stood straight and tall while drilling with his fellow soldiers.  I stood in the rooms where the privates, of which he was one, slept.  I imagined him on a ladder painting the walls that still had remnants of what looked to be whitewash.  I looked into the larger room that served as his mess hall.  I felt the cold and strong wind which he must have felt as he looked upon San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean just as I did that beautiful Sunday afternoon.  At the end of our visit, I walked out of the gates of Fort Point understanding a bit of Samuel's life so much more than the documents and dates that make up my research of him allow.   I am so so thankful that I was able to experience this small part of San Francisco's charm and beauty.  Even if I hadn't walked on the Golden Gate, strolled along Fisherman's Wharf, eaten sour dough bread (more than once!) at Boudin Bakery, visited Alcatraz, or experienced any of the other wonderful things that San Francisco is known for, I would have returned to South Carolina a very happy person!

Fort Point and the Golden Gate Bridge

This is me standing in the private's quarters next to one of the beds that was used during the Civil War.  I could just imagine Samuel painting those walls!

The inside of the fort showing the three levels.  The private's quarters and mess hall were on the third floor.  The ground area was the place where the soldiers would gather to march and drill.

On the top level of the fort, the wind was so ferocious that it left me wondering did Samuel fall or did the wind blow him off his ladder!

the Pacific Ocean as seen from the top level 

The lighthouse is on the top level.  The girders of the Golden Gate Bridge are just above the fort.  Of course, Samuel never saw, or even imagined, those huge structures or the bridge itself!

Talented Tuesday - A Needle and Some Thread

With a needle and some thread, my grandmother could take scraps of fabric and create a quilt that would cover a bed with color and warmth.

With a needle and some thread, my great aunt could take an ordinary item made of fabric and turn it into something unique and personal.

The Clark girls were talented with a needle and some thread.  My grandmother, Juanita Clark Wayson made numerous quilts that she gave to her children and grandchildren.  Her sister, Irma Clark O'Dowd embroidered all types of things.  I have her pillowcases, dresser scarves, and baby blankets to which she added her personal touch.  Their sister, Evelyn, who tragically died in 1936 at the young age of twenty-one, was said to have been able to look at a dress or other article of clothing and recreate it using the fabric of her choice.  

I am thankful for these talented women for I inherited their love of a needle and some thread.  To create something beautiful using these two simple everyday items is a talent worth having!  

Family Resemblances

One reason I love looking at old pictures of family members is to see if there is any resemblance to living family members.  I like the idea that those genes just keep appearing to connect us to one another in a visual way.

Now, I don't know much more than the science behind genetics other than Gregor Mendel and his pea plants that I remember from high school biology, but in the genetic pool that we all come from, I know the possibility is there that an ancestor's nose, eyes, or hair color will find its way into one of my grandchildren.  In looking for these visual connections, I didn't have to look too far to find one such case that tells me that my father, my son, my grandson, and I all descend from my great-grandfather, Frank Clark.  That same gene is floating around in each of us.  I only wish I had a photograph of Frank's parents so I could tell if that gene came from the Clark's or from Frank's mother, Belle Stairs.  

Frank Clark

Me with my cousin Mike  - about 1959

                                

Timothy Koehler - 1984 - age 4

My dad, Bob Wayson,
 with my grandson, Liam, who is Timothy's son.

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.