Category: Family Biographies/Histories

Computer Genealogy I have been thinking about how to respond to Jasia’s call for posts about writing the family history for the Carnival of Genealogy. In some ways, I do feel like I began a discussion of writing the family history in a recent post about blogging family history. However, I noticed that in that post, I mainly celebrated the fact that the Internet made it possible to access and share information so quickly and that I was enjoying other genealogy blogs.

Jasia asks genealogy bloggers whether they have tried to write the family history. I suppose I would argue that the purpose of this blog is just that. It isn’t linear, however, because I write about several families, and I basically post stories about people and events that interest me at the moment. Therefore, I don’t have a family history that starts out “The Huff family originated in Tennessee… blah, blah, blah.” Instead, I have a hodge podge of documents, letters, photographs, and accompanying stories.

It didn’t occur to me to use a blog to publish this sort of thing until April 2005, which was when this particular blog was born. When I started blogging about genealogy, I could find few other genealogy blogs. Now there are countless genealogy blogs. I think blogging is a great platform for publishing the family history because I can share it with a lot of people in a short period of time and it’s relatively inexpensive. In fact, there are many blogging sites that are free. I happen to own my own domain, but my fees are small. However, I think that sharing the family history this way — even in its non-linear fashion — has allowed me to make connections that would have been impossible otherwise.

When Jasia asked the question, it seemed clear to me that she meant publishing the family history in a book. Genealogy is something that’s fluid — it’s never done. I created a book with my genealogy software for my grandfather, but I imagine I have since discovered countless errors and learned many new things. His book is probably close to obsolete. With a blog, however, I can update and make changes easily, and the history can grow in an organic fashion. I think blogging is an exciting and powerful medium for sharing the family history. It allows me to quickly disseminate new information and expound on what I already knew. If readers want to, they can print and bind the posts I write so that they have a hard copy. I can also get immediate feedback about errors so that I can make corrections. As most genealogists know, once an error creeps its way in, sometimes it can take years to correct. One of the things I like about blogging the family history is that I am not pressured to make it complete. Instead, I can publish what and when I like, and others can read it instantly.

I think blogging also makes it easy to connect with distant relatives and others I might never meet. I have found reading about techniques others use and learning their family stories to be fascinating. My distant cousin Joe Bowling, whom I was only able to find in this age of computer genealogy, recently paraphrased Alex Haley in an e-mail that he sent me: when an older person dies it is just like a library burning. I have to say that the wealth of information I have learned about my family from others bears this out. I suppose that’s one reason why I feel the need to share what I learn here. Maybe others, like me, will find those stories interesting. But even if they didn’t, I would still write. I do this because I love learning about it, and I think I would still feel driven to share it if no one else but me read it.

August 21, 2006

Dana Huff

4 Comments

Herman Cunningham: World War I

Posted in Family Biographies/Histories, Genealogy and History, Letters, and Primary Sources: Letters, Documents, Diaries, Histories

Herman Cunningham, WWI My great-grandfather Herman Cunningham served in the Army during WWI. Thanks to Randy Seaver, I recently learned how to obtain his service records (for free!), but I also learned that there was a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missiouri in 1973 that destroyed the records of Army personnel discharged from November 1, 1912 to January 1, 1960. According to NARA’s website:

No duplicate copies of the records that were destroyed in the fire were maintained, nor was a microfilm copy ever produced. There were no indexes created prior to the fire. In addition, millions of documents had been lent to the Department of Veterans Affairs before the fire occurred. Therefore, a complete listing of the records that were lost is not available. Nevertheless, NPRC (MPR) uses many alternate sources in its efforts to reconstruct basic service information to respond to requests.

What this means is that I may be able to obtain some information about my great-grandfather’s service, but probably not much. However, considering I was never able to ask my great-grandfather, I know a good deal about his WWI experience — my grandfather has shared it with me.

My Dad was drafted in WWI and was sent to Camp McArthur near Waco, Tex. for training. He was sent to Camp Dix in New Jersey where he was then sent to Newport News, Virginia where he was shipped on a boat to St. Nazairre [St. Nazaire], France.

My grandfather’s cousin Mary Davis sent me this picture of my great-grandfather (on right) with John Roy McCravey of Floydada, Texas (left):

John Roy McCravey (Floydada, TX) and Herman Cunningham (Whitfield, TX)

I am not sure who John Roy McCravey is, but I speculate that perhaps they had their photo taken because they were from the same general area of Texas. At the time this photo was taken, Mary Davis noted that Herman Cunningham was from Whitfield, Swisher County, Texas. Floydada, where John Roy McCravey was from, is located in Floyd County. If any of his descendants happen by here, I would love to hear from you.

According to my grandfather,

Dad hadn’t been there [France] long when he contracted meningitis. At that time there was no cure for meningitis. They were sent to a church (French) for care until they died. As you mentioned, only Dad and another soldier (Negro) from Little Rock survived. When Dad left the hospital he was returned to a “replacement depot.” The war was over so it was merely awaiting a ship for home. Well, Dad came down with the mumps. He turned up his coat collar and wouldn’t go to the medics for fear they would put him in the hospital again — The ship took them back to Virginia and then by train — home.

I managed to find a copy of my great-grandfather’s WWI Draft Registration Card on Ancestry.com, but the quality is poor and it is difficult to read:

The Card had the following information:

Name: Herman Cunningham
Age: 22
Address: Clarendon, Texas
Date of Birth: Mch. 16, 1895
Natural born
Place of Birth: Denton Co., Texas
Occupation: Farmer
Employed by: Self
Where employed: Donley Co.
No dependents
Marital status: Single
Race: Caucasian
No prior military experience
Did not claim exemption from service
Medium height
Medium build
Blue eyes
Brown hair
Not bald
No loss of hand, foot, eye, both eyes or other disability
Precinct: 2
County: Donley
State: Texas
Dated: 6/5/1918

The information presented on this card would seem to indicate that Herman Cunningham was living not in Swisher County, but Donley County at the time of his induction. You can click here to see a map of Texas counties that will show you how close Swisher, Donley, and Floyd Counties are.

My grandfather related a funny story about my great-grandfather’s trip home:

The train had a lay-over in New Orleans so Dad was able to try fried oysters. He had heard his buddies talk about how much they wanted to eat oysters. The waiter asked how many oysters he wanted. Well, Dad didn’t have a clue what an oyster was so he said “a couple dozen.” That was two plates piled high. Poor Dad got very sick after eating them. To his dying day he never ate another oyster.

Years later, my great-uncle Alvin Cunningham (Herman’s son) would enter the Army and fight in WWII. Here is a picture of my great-grandfather Herman Cunningham in his WWI Army uniform, posing with his son Alvin in his WWII Army uniform:

Herman Cunningham and Alvin Cunningham, 1942?

I found Alvin’s WWII Army Enlistment Record at Ancestry.com:

Name: Alvin H. Cunningham
Birth year: 1921
Race: White, citizen
Nativity State or Country: Texas
State: Texas
County or City: Floyd
Enlistment Date: 10 Oct 1940
Enlistment State: Texas
Enlistment City: Fort Bliss El Paso
Branch: No branch assignment
Branch code: No branch assignment
Grade: Private
Grade code: Private
Term of enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Component: Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Source: Civil Life
Education: 2 years of high school
Civil occupation: Geographer
Marital status: Married
Height: 00
Weight: 060

Clearly the height and weight are mistranscribed or an original error, but I think the rest of it is correct. According to my grandfather:

I just read your comments on the web sites and wish to add to your data. Mostly trivia — Alvin didn’t go to France. He went to the Pacific theatre of operations. He was in the “Americal” division as an assistant machine gunner. When they were in combat on Negros Island a mortar shell landed near their gun emplacement and killed the gunner and an ammo carrier. Alvin being the assistant gunner took over as gunner. He was injured by the blast but could function. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart that day. When the war ended he went to the Tokyo area of Japan and served the 1st Cavalry Division in the motor pool as a mechanic. Alvin was a very quiet person and seldom discussed his war experiences.

While Alvin’s war record is somewhat unrelated to the post at hand, I will probably not have occasion to post it elsewhere. My mother told me that Alvin used to come and visit my grandfather (his brother) often. The two of them would sit in silence for most of the visit until Alvin would announce he’d better go. I think it is interesting that they felt so comfortable in their silence. Alvin died very young of a brain aneurysm, so I never had a chance to meet him, but based on my grandfather’s letters, I believe that he looked up to his older brother a great deal and that they were close.

If I am able to learn anything more about my great-grandfather’s service record, I will post it here.

Portions of this post quote a letter from my grandfather:

Cunningham, Udell. Letter to the author. July 2006.

August 19, 2006

Dana Huff

29 Comments

Letter From Udell Cunningham, July 2006 Part 3: Generals in the Family

Posted in Family Biographies/Histories, Letters, and Primary Sources: Letters, Documents, Diaries, Histories

Doris [my grandmother] has two relatives that reached the General ranks in the Air Force. She had a cousin in Ardmore named Jack Thurman. He was in the Seabees during WW2 and was a 2nd Class Petty Officer. He had two sons that went to West Point Military Academy. One of the boys reached Brigadier General. He was the commander of Zweibrucken AB Germany when Wayne [my uncle] was stationed there. The other one reached Major General. Wayne has a book written by a (now deceased) General that was the first commander of Space Command at Colorado Springs. Well, in his book he told how General Thurman was used as the pit bull of the Air Force. If the Air Force had a base commander that the gen. staff at the Pentagon wasn’t pleased with they sent Thurman to the base. He would go there and find enough to fire the commander. What a job. I knew old Jack, he was a butcher at a grocery store. He must really be proud of his sons to make flag rank (general or admiral).

Note: You can read more about Major General James D. Thurman, one of the men referenced in this section of my grandfather’s letter, at his Ft. Hood, Texas biography page. He is currently — I believe — Commander of the Multinational Division, Baghdad, commanding 29,000 troops from all nations allied with America and fighting in Iraq. He is not in the Air Force, but rather the Army. An informative article, Why I Serve: Maj. Gen. J.D. Thurman, helps unravel more details about Maj. Gen. Thurman’s background:

FORT HOOD, Texas, Aug. 26, 2004 — “I came from a very patriotic family,” explained Maj. Gen. J.D. Thurman on why he joined the Army.

“When I was just a little guy, I remember going to Memorial Day with my grandfather, a World War I vet, and the whole town would turn out,” recalled the commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division. “He didn’t talk much about being in war, and he didn’t ask for medals or recognition. He made me realize early in life that the liberties and freedom we enjoy are not free.”

In the northwest corner of Thurman’s office, a rubber chicken hangs on a polished wooden plaque. The message is simple: “There ain’t no free chicken in the world, you’ve got to work for stuff.”

He said the quote represents a lesson he learned from his grandfather during his upbringing in the rural Oklahoma town of Marietta, population 3,000.

Framed flags, certificates, awards and photographs cover the walls of his office; memorabilia from almost three decades of service to his country.

“There are memories and people attached to everything on these walls,” Thurman said recently. “They represent something positive to me, even the rubber chicken.

Thurman’s father and three uncles served in World War II and Korea. And Thurman still vividly remembers the day in 1966 when his older brother arrived home from college and told his parents he was leaving school to serve in Vietnam.

“There are values and a sense of duty and responsibility to this country that I was raised with,” he said.

“There are 10 divisions in the Army and I have the honor to command one. Being with soldiers and being out there making a difference in the world, that’s why I serve. The most precious thing we have are the sons and daughters of this country and I am proud to serve with them.”

(Tam Cummings is editor of the Fort Hood, Texas, Sentinel News.)

Elmer Theodore Thurman

Posted in Family Biographies/Histories, and Photographs

Elmer Theodore Thurman My great-grandfather, Elmer Theodore “Ted” Thurman, passed away on October 22, 2003 at the age of 93. He had been in poor health for some time, suffering from diabetes and Alzheimer’s. I have more memories of him than I do my Cunningham great-grandparents, but not quite so many memories as I have of Granny Thurman, who lived the longest during my lifetime (and in any case, was a personality to be reckoned with!).

Elmer Theodore Thurman was born on June 5, 1910 in Roby, Fisher County, Texas, to John Edward Thurman and Mary Shelby McDaniel Thurman. His father was born in Illinois in 1871. According to my great-grandmother, he was born in Chicago, but other family researchers believe it may have been Evansville. His mother, who was known by her middle name Shelby, was born in 1873 in Sulpher Springs, Hopkins County, Texas. It is said that John Edward Thurman was an only child, and his antecedents are unclear, but it is believed his father’s name was John Edward Thurmond. His mother is believed to have died in childbirth. At the age of 16, John Thurman took a train to Indian Territory (Oklahoma), debarking at Overbrook, north of Marietta. He worked for a doctor there for some time, then made his way to Sulpher Springs, Texas, where he met and married Mary Shelby McDaniel.

Mary Shelby McDaniel was the youngest child and only daughter of Shelby McDaniel (born 1833 in South Carolina) and Mary Bates (born September 24, 1842 in Arkansas). Her father was murdered before her birth. Her brothers were named David McDaniel (born 1860), John McDaniel (born 1867), and Greenberry McDaniel (born 1870).

John Edward Thurman and Mary Shelby McDaniel Thurman were the parents of fourteen children:

Albert James Thurman, born May 1, 1894, died July 15, 1959
Mary Alice Thurman, born December 16, 1895 (married Bill Pittman)
Dewey Thurman, born May 20, 1898. Dewey drowned between the ages of 4 and 6.
May Belle H. Thurman (called Mable), born June 4, 1900, died 1995 (married Elbert Foster)
Levina Thurman, born July 2, 1902 (married Gaddy Young)
Addie Pearl Thurman, born October 2, 1904 (married Chesney Colston)
Quinton Edward Thurman, born April 1, 1906
Annie B. Thurman, born May 8, 1908, died January 1, 1990 (married Preston Harris)
Elmer Theodore Thurman, born June 5, 1910, died October 22, 2003
Rawleigh W. Thurman, born 1914
Melvin Green Thurman, born September 5, 1915, died March 3, 1994
Woodrow Arthur Thurman, born December 5, 1917
Arthula Christine Thurman (called Artie), born June 21, 1920, died 2006
Edyth O. Thurman, born February 8, 1921, died 1921

All of the Thurman children listed above have passed away, but I do not have death dates for each of them yet. Artie was the last surviving sibling and passed away earlier this year.

Grandpa married Lucille Inez Willis on September 29, 1929 in Madill, Love County, Oklahoma. They had the following children: Doris LaNell Thurman Cunningham, Willis Floyd Thurman, Billy Loid Thurman, twins Winnie Sue Thurman Bolding and Minnie Lou “Penny” Thurman Paul, and Lynn Doyle Thurman. This is a picture of the Thurman family, taken between 1946 and 1948:

Thurman Family

From left to right, bottom row: Lynn Doyle, Doris, Ted, Lucille, Willis; top row: Winnie, Penny, and Billy.

When I was little, Granny and Grandpa Thurman lived in Amarillo, Texas, and I remember going to visit them. When I was a teenager, they lived in Indio, California (I lived in Anaheim), and we sometimes traveled out to the desert to visit with them and Aunt Penny Paul. Toward the end of his life, he lived in Carlsbad, Texas and died in nearby San Angelo, Texas.

I remember being a bit afraid of Grandpa when I was very small. He had some form of hand tremor. I am not sure if this condition was ever diagnosed, but it appears to be genetic, as both my grandmother and Aunt Penny also have it. It is not Parkinson’s Disease, but it is possible that it is a form of Parkinsonism. He had red hair, and even in his advanced age when I knew him, it was still easy to discern his whitening hair had been red. He also had blue eyes. My grandmother, mother, sister and I (as well as my daughters) all have very large blue or green eyes, and my mother believes this round-eyed trait may come from Grandpa Thurman.

Grandpa loved to reminisce with my grandfather Udell Cunningham, his son-in-law, about people and places in the past. As his Alzheimer’s progressed, he was unable to remember more recent events, but it seemed to me that he recalled events from 50 years ago with perfect clarity.

Grandpa loved politics and was a staunch Democrat. He loved to discuss politics with my grandfather, too. My mother has told me that she has never in her life heard Grandpa say a bad word about anyone. I believe this admirable trait may be common in the Thurman family, as my cousin, Chris Stofel, says the same thing about his grandfather, Melvin Green Thurman. Certainly, I always saw my great-grandfather as very kindly and mild. It’s difficult to imagine that he ever raised his voice or became angry.

Grandpa was immensely proud of my daughter, Sarah. She was his first great-great-grandchild. She was born in 1993, and he first saw her in 1994 when the family gathered for a celebration of Granny and Grandpa’s 65th wedding anniversary. I will always remember him talking with his brother, Woodrow one day during that visit. He pointed at Sarah playing on the carpet nearby and said to Woodrow, “You see that little girl right there?” Woodrow nodded. “That little girl is my GREAT-GREAT-granddaughter.” Woodrow responded, “Well, Ted, you’re getting old.” Grandpa added, “Not too many of them get to see their great-great-granddaughter.” Before he died, he had many more great-great-grandchildren, but his Alzheimer’s had set in and he did not really remember them the way he remembered Sarah, whom he met before the disease began to take its toll. In fact, he remembered who Sarah was long after he forgot who I was, which I think is a testament to how proud he was to have a great-great-grandchild.

Granny and Grandpa Thurman were married for 74 years before he died in 2003. The last time I saw him was at a family gathering in celebration of their 70th anniversary. His health was declining. I have only had intuition that I might not see a person again three times in my life, and each time (so far), this intuition has been correct. The last time I saw my great-grandfather, I had this strong feeling that I wouldn’t see him again. It was such a strong feeling that even though we were all trying to pack into the car and leave for home, I went back into the house and hugged him a second time. I think he was confused, and he no longer remembered who I was, but I have always been glad I did that. He passed away about four years later, but I did not have a chance to visit him again beforehand.

I think my great-grandfather had a very hard life. He worked hard all of his life until he became too ill. Despite this, I never sensed from him any resentment. He’s one of the few people I’ve ever known that I’ve never heard anyone say a negative thing about. He was a very kind, very good man.

August 18, 2006

Dana Huff

Letter From Udell Cunningham, July 2006 Part 2

Posted in Family Biographies/Histories, Letters, and Primary Sources: Letters, Documents, Diaries, Histories

Perhaps I should list the jobs I have had in my military career.

Ditch digger and pipe installation on Attu perhaps this makes me a pipe-fitter.
Rigger on Mobile crane — Philippine Islands . Since the Navy bestowed the rank of MoMM3C (Motor Machinist Mate Third Class) I was supposed to be a mechanic.
Mechanic at Motor pool on Hensley Field, (AF Reserve unit or sometimes called “week-end-Warrior.” This base was between Dallas and Fort Worth.
Photo lab at Vance AFB, Enid, Oklahoma.
Photo lab at Perrin AFB, Sherman, Texas.
Photo Instructor at Lowry AFB, Colo.
Technical Writer of Air Force Manuals and Training courses at Lowry AFB, Colo.
NCOIC of Photo Lab at Toul Rosiers AB France.
NCOIC of Manual Processing division at Schierstein, Germany. Also called IRCEP Intelligence Research Center — Exploitation Photo. We had a Machine secion for aerial reconnaissance film. I put in lots of time processing photos from spies behind the Iron Curtain. Yes, lots of Russian military were also US spies.
Technical Writer at Lowry — again!
Command Manager of all AF photo labs in Europe. 13 labs from Turkey, Spain, England, Germany, Italy, and Holland.
Retired from AF at Lowry AFB.

My job in USAFE was in Recce operations, Europe under a Col. Andrews and our next in command was Major General Creech. He was later a full General in charge of the AF in Germany otherwise called CINC USAFE.

August 15, 2006

Dana Huff

Letter from Udell Cunningham, July 2006 Part 1

Posted in Family Biographies/Histories, Letters, and Primary Sources: Letters, Documents, Diaries, Histories

In this continuation of writing about thing[s] I recall I may write about things previously written. Please remember that old men suffer from memory lapse. Also, I may even embellish tales previously written. These two faults were discussed recently on a T.V. program. Historians say that us old WW2 Vets do this a lot. We tend to remember a little but lie a lot and we tend to embellish stories every time we repeat them. These were discussed at length when the Smithsonian tried to put the Enola Gay B29 bomber on display with the placards saying that the U.S. did not need to drop the A-Bombs as Japan was ready to surrender. They implied that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed needlessly. The uproar from WW2 Vets made them change their stories. [See Wikipedia’s article on the Enola Gay for a discussion of this exhibit.] On the personal side of the issue I am thoroughly convinced that the A-bombs saved my life. I was in training at a base on Samar for being used as an underwater demolition job in Tokyo Bay during the second invasion of the Mainland of Japan. (The First was down on the very south island.) UDT men or commonly called Frogmen have a very short life. They were met by Jap frogmen who had spear guns — or from the demolition charger. When I was not needed to give my life during the planned invasion I was returned to “Seabee” duty. We — those in training — were placed on inter-island Ferry boats and taken to Cavite Naval Base in Manila Bay.

At Cavite we were placed on trucks and taken on the route to the big naval base at Subic Bay. Along the route the commander of the Convoy of truck[s] tried to “give” us to other units along the way. He couldn’t give all of us away and we wound up [as] surplus work slaves to existing unitls at Subic Navy Station. I was assigned to a work crew at the “lumber yard.” Actually I was called a rigger on a mobile crane used to lift lumber off trucks. Then the Filipino workers sorted and stacked the wood. The main job I did was play cards — to be interrupted when a truck of lumber arrived. Really rough duty.

August 2, 2006

Dana Huff

One Comment

Murder in the Family, Part 3

Posted in Family Biographies/Histories

John B. Jennings This post is the third of a three-part series.

John B. Jennings, pictured to the left, circa 1870, was murdered in the street in broad daylight on June 26, 1875 in Russellville, Franklin County, Alabama.

According to the Jennings family Bible in possession of Arthur Jennings, the Jennings family’s American antecedents were in Virginia and Georgia. The Jennings Bible mentions John B. Jennings had three brothers: Dick, Jim, and George; Jim and George were John’s half-brothers.

John B. Jennings married Lucinda Fannie Curry on May 7, 1865 in a wedding officiated by Rev. Joseph White of Molton, Alabama. They had five children: Alpha Jennings, born June 2, 1866; Daisie Z. Jennings, born September 29, 1867; Veto Curry Jennings, born September 17, 1869; Richard Otto Jennings, born October 14, 1871; and Worth Alston Jennings, born December 6, 1873.

Northern Alabama was especially tumultuous during Reconstruction. In Harper Lee’s novel, Scout Finch’s first grade teacher, Miss Caroline, introduces herself to the class:

Miss Caroline printed her name on the blackboard and said, “This says I am Miss Caroline Fisher. I am from North Alabama, from Winston County.” The class murmured apprehensively, should she prove to harbor her share of the peculiarities indigenous to that region… North Alabama was full of Liquor Interests, Big Mules, steel companies, Republicans, professors, and other persons of no background. (16)

Reconstruction was difficult in North Alabama. Removed from Alabama’s capital in Montgomery, North Alabamians often clashed politically with their Southern counterparts and had a close affinity with Tennessee (Jennings 2). Politics is said to be the reason why John B. Jennings was killed.

Prior to Jennings’ death, North Alabama suffered under an outbreak of violence including burglary, arson, and murder. According to Arthur Jennings, John B. Jennings drew the ire of a political candidate because of something Jennings said at a political rally. In an alternate version of the story, the grudge between Jennings and the candidate originated with an article that had appeared in the The North Alabamian newspaper during the summer political canvass. The candidate, George C. Almon, sought Jennings out, according to Arthur Jennings, so that he could “give him a whipping” (qtd. in Jennings 2). According to Arthur Jennings, things did not go quite as Almon planned, and he had to “take one instead.” Arthur Jennings believed that Almon told a clerk at a hotel across the street from John Jennings’ blacksmith shop that he saw a mad dog coming up the street. The clerk gave Almon the gun. He walked over to the door and shot John in his shop from across the street. John B. Jennings was struck by four large buckshot and died within a half hour.

Almon surrendered himself to the sheriff. His trial took place on June 28 and 29, 1875. He was acquitted of murder — it was determined he acted in self-defense. If Arthur Jennings’ version of the story is true, it is hard to believe that George C. Almon acted in self-defense, but I have a feeling that Arthur Jennings’ version is rather kinder to John B. Jennings by virtue of the fact that he was family. It may be a popular redneck joke, but there is a grain of truth to the notion that a valid Southern defense for murder has been “he needed killin’.”

An account of the murder was published in a Tuscumbia, Alabama newspaper. The writer, using the pen name Russel Villian, “found fault with both men[:] Jennings for insulting [Almon] and [Almon] for acting with [S]outhern chivalrous behavior” (Jennings 3). Russel Villian did not say what exactly it was that John B. Jennings said to George C. Almon, but it may be that it was bad enough that the jury apparently felt Jennings’ murder was justified; indeed, the reporter Russel Villian believed John was at least partly responsible for his own murder.

Almon prospered in Alabama government and politics. Five years after the murder, Almon was a practicing lawyer in Russellville (Jennings 3). He was appointed a probate judge, and in 1886, he was elected to the Alabama State Senate in the 12th district.

Fannie told her descendants that she feared her sons would seek revenge against Almon if she didn’t move them away from Alabama. She must have realized that striking out against a person with Almon’s clout would be at best a fruitless endeavor, and at worst, result in more deaths. Fannie moved the children to Honey Grove, Fannin County, Texas in 1880. Ten years later, the family moved to Swisher County in the Texas Panhandle.

Source:

Jennings, Jan. 2006. Descendants of John B. Jennings. (PDF version of document sent in e-mail to Dana Huff, 24 Jul. 2006).

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Warner Books, 1960.

Read “Murder in the Family, Part 1” and “Murder in the Family, Part 2.”

August 2, 2006

Dana Huff

3 Comments

Murder in the Family, Part 2

Posted in Family Biographies/Histories

This post is the second of a three-part series.

Mary Shelby McDaniel was my grandmother, Doris LaNell Thurman Cunningham’s grandmother. She was born in Sulpher Springs, Hopkins County, Texas, on September 1, 1873 to Mary Bates McDaniel; her father, Shelby, was murdered around Christmas in 1872.

Very little is known about Shelby McDaniel. His parentage is uncertain, but Gerald McDaniel, who descends from Mary Shelby’s older brother Greenberry McDaniel, connected Shelby to the Gwinnett County, Georgia McDaniels; however, the 1850 census does not reveal a Shelby in the household of the man Gerald McDaniel believed to be Shelby’s father, James McDaniel. It is possible that Shelby left home before the 1850 census was taken, as he would have been about 17. One possibility for Shelby McDaniel includes:

S.C. McDaniel (age 16) in the home of his mother Mary McDaniel (age 52), with brothers Robert W. (age 22), W.P. (age 21) and E.C. McDaniel (age 14) and sister C.A. McDaniel (age 18) in Chester County, South Carolina, in 1850.

Gerald McDaniel passed away some time ago, and his website is no longer accessible through conventional means; however, if you access it through this link, you should be able to read some of it. You can access his genealogy here; McDaniel information is available here. Could Gerald’s granfather, Greenberry McDaniel, have named his son Shelby Clifton McDaniel using his father’s full name? It makes the S.C. McDaniel candidate more interesting…

Shelby was already in Texas by 1860, as he appears on the 1860 Census for Lamar County, Texas, married to Mary with son David. Most of what I know about Shelby McDaniel comes from my second cousin once removed, Chris Stofel. According to Chris, who has Shelby McDaniel’s Civil War records, Shelby “mustered in the 9th Texas Field Battery, Texas Light Artillery (Lamar Artillery)” in January 1862 in Paris, Lamar County, Texas. He was described on the roll as “5’9″, dark complexion, brown eyes, dark hair, a mason, born in SC, body sound and in good health.” Chris added that Shelby was “present for a few months, then was listed as being sick in the General Hospital/St. John’s Hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas, from November 11, 1862. He spent several months there and on November 12, 1863, he was listed as having deserted and was dropped from the rolls.”

Chris Stofel says that Shelby was murdered around Christmas in 1872. “His body was found floating in a river or creek.” To this day, we are not sure why Shelby was murdered. Chris has heard three different versions of Shelby’s murder:

Shelby was robbed as he was returning home from working in Gainesville, Texas; he supposedly had a lot of money with him.
Shelby was murdered by the jealous husband of a woman he was having an affair with.
Shelby was pro-Unionist and was killed by unreconstructed Rebels.

Chris said that many older relatives describe Shelby as a “rounder,” so any of the three versions is possible. Merriam-Webster’s definition 2 of “rounder” is “a dissolute person : WASTREL.”

As far as descendants know, this murder has never been solved.

Source: Stofel, Christopher. Letter to Jerry Thurman. Unknown date.

Read “Murder in the Family, Part 1.”

August 1, 2006

Dana Huff

5 Comments

Murder in the Family, Part 1

Posted in Family Biographies/Histories

Three of my direct ancestors have been murdered under what can only be described as mysterious circumstances, at least to those generations that followed them.

When I received a copy of my grandfather’s obituary, I received a wealth of information I had never expected to receive. I had always known he was adopted, but I knew little about the circumstances, and I didn’t know the names of his natural parents. I learned from the obituary that he had been the natural son of Omar and Gertrude Gearhart and had eleven sisters and four brothers.

His living sisters included Eva Heier, whose name I recognized from annual Christmas cards, Margie Water, Jessie Riddle, Betty Ann Bailey, Ruth Anderson, Carol Babb, Dorcas Tobin, and Helen Marie West. I was able to quickly determine that the last five were his adoptive sisters, Elizabeth Ann Swier, Ruth Swier, Carol Mae Swier, Dorcas Pauline Swier, and Helen Marie Swier. That meant that his natural surviving sisters must have been Eva Heier, Margie Water, and Jessie Riddle. His only living brother was Frank Walker. As the Swier family had no sons aside from my grandfather, I knew Frank, too, must have been a natural brother.

My grandfather also had three sisters and three brothers who preceded him in death: Mary Smith, Ruth Kyker, Alice McReynolds, Junior Gearhart, John Gearhart, and Donald Cannon. All of these siblings were natural siblings.

I posted a message on a genealogy forum, asking for information, and I heard from Dara Rowe, the daughter of Frank Walker. As it turned out, Dara knew what had happened that caused the Gearhart family to be scattered to the winds: my great-grandfather had been murdered.

Omar Alfred Gearhart worked as a garage mechanic. He suffered a head injury in a shooting accident that altered his personality. According to Dara, he became an alcoholic. There was an intimation that he became abusive. These types of injuries have been known to cause personality changes in some people. The circumstances are unclear, but some time later, Omar Alfred Gearhart was murdered. Dara believed it to have been his business partner, but I have found no news stories that report Omar Alfred Gearhart’s murder, so I cannot be certain.

Omar Gearhart’s murder threw his family into chaos. His wife Gertrude was pregnant and unable to support her ten children. Once the baby was born, Gertrude tried to feed the three youngest children at her breast; the older children tried to find work where they could. The family was starving. Gertrude heard that the Washington State authorities planned to take custody of the children. Fearing they would be separated and grow up not knowing each other, she sought advice from her pastor, who brought her situation before the congregation of the church. Congregants adopted the children except for the older children and the baby. I cannot be certain which children were not adopted, but I know for sure that those adopted included Jessie Riddle, Donald Cannon, Frank Walker, and my grandfather, David Swier.

I do not know where Gertrude was in 1930 when the census was taken; I cannot find her. However, my father told me that she remarried and her last name was Lightle. I found her Social Security Death Index record and determined she died in Pasco, Franklin County, Washingon.

Stay tuned for “Murder in the Family, Part 2.”

July 31, 2006

Dana Huff

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Lucille Inez Willis Thurman

Posted in Family Biographies/Histories, and Photographs

My great-grandmother, Lucille Inez Willis Thurman, passed away on February 19, 2006. Because she was my longest-lived great-grandparent, I have more memories of her than any of my other great-grandparents.

Lucille Inez Willis was born on March 19, 1914 to Grover Cleveland Willis and Melvina Meeks Willis in Marietta, Love County, Oklahoma. Her father was born in Belgreen, Franklin County Alabama in 1886, and her mother was born in Oklahoma in 1887, when it was still Indian Territory. There is a possiblity that Melvina Meeks has Native American ancestry through her Graham family, but it is not certain. I am not sure when Grover Cleveland Willis left Alabama for Oklahoma, but he was certainly there by 1905 when he married Melvina Meeks. Grover Cleveland Willis and Melvina Meeks were the parents of Myrtle Willis Vinson, Joseph Clinton Willis, Clarence O. Willis, Addie Willis Watkins, Lucille Inez Willis Thurman, and twins Willard Olen Willis and Wilma Willis McFadden. This is a picture of Grover Cleveland Willis and Melvina Meeks Willis:

Grover Cleveland Willis and Melvina Meeks Willis

I’m not sure when the photo was taken, but I estimate it was some time in the 1940’s.

Granny married Elmer Theodore Thurman (Ted) in Madill, Marshall County, Oklahoma on September 29, 1929. They had the following children: Doris LaNell Thurman Cunningham, Willis Floyd Thurman, Billy Loid Thurman, twins Minnie Lou (Penny) Thurman Paul and Winnie Sue Thurman Bolding, and Lynn Doyle Thurman. This is a picture of the Thurman family, taken between 1946 and 1948:

Thurman Family

From left to right, bottom row: Lynn Doyle, Doris, Ted, Lucille, Willis; top row: Winnie, Penny, and Billy.

When I was little, Granny and Grandpa Thurman lived in Amarillo, Texas. For a while when I was a teenager, they lived in Indio, California. Toward the end of their lives, they lived in Carlsbad, Texas, next door to their daughter Winnie and son-in-law Arvel Bolding. I can’t recall exactly when, but I think they lived in Ardmore, Oklahoma for a time when I was a child. I remember visiting the Ardmore area when I was a child. We visited Granny’s sister Myrtle Vinson, who has us help her shell peas. I also remember visiting the Little Brownie Bakers, who make Girl Scout Cookies. They are located in Marietta, Oklahoma. I remember Granny taking us to this bakery, raving about their great cookies. She didn’t realize they were Girl Scout Cookies. I am not sure if Little Brownie Bakers still sells directly to the public.

When Granny lived in Indio, she had a chicken that used to come into the house. I think she fed it cat food or dog food.

One of the things I will always remember about Granny is that she had more refrigerator magnets than anyone else I knew. Her refrigerator was covered with them. Most of them looked like food. I remember one in particular looked like a chocolate chip cookie; that one was my favorite. She used to let me play with the magnets when I came to visit her. She always had Dr. Pepper in bottles in her fridge, and she never failed to ask, “Do you want a Dr. Pepper, Sugie?” whenever I came to visit.

Granny also used to put out hummingbird feeders; she always had a lot of hummingbirds to watch outside her window.

When Granny lived in Carlsbad, her home was on a dirt road out in the country. Arvel Bolding had some goats that used to crop the grass, and one of them was named Lucille for Granny. There were a lot of mesquite trees and prickly pear cacti around her home.

I vividly remember going to Granny and Grandpa Thurman’s 50th anniversary party in 1979. My mother’s cousins were all there. I was eating nuts from a tray, and my mother’s cousin Billy Thurman (son of Billy Loid Thurman) told me that I couldn’t have any more because I was eating too many. I was so surprised when my grandfather’s parents, Herman and Annie Jennings Cunningham came to the party. It didn’t occur to me that my grandparents’ parents knew each other.

I was not able to go to Granny and Grandpa Thurman’s 60th anniversary party, but my mother went. I did go to their 65th anniversary in 1994. My daughter Sarah was just a baby. We had a nice family reunion with some great mesquite barbecue, and I remember Grandpa Thurman was thrilled to have his first great-great grandchild in attendance.

I also went to their 70th wedding anniversary party. There were quite a few more great-great grandchildren in 1999! Granny’s obituary stated that she had 21 grandchildren, 50 great-grandchildren, and 20 great-great grandchildren.

Granny was very funny. She liked jokes and had a great sense of humor. Mom recalls that she like wrestling and used to go to matches. She read wrestling magazines when I was little.

Granny always seemed so spry to me. She was one of the toughest people I knew, and I know she hasn’t had an easy life. Grandpa Thurman died in 2003. After Grandpa died, Granny developed leukemia. She fought it for some time, but finally, she told her family that she was tired and ready to go see Ted.

Note: This post is Part 3 in a series on grandparents and other relatives I remember personally in my lifetime.