52 Ancestors Weeks Challenge: Week 3; Lillie Langley Thole an Example for Everyone.

Lillie Lillian Langley Thole Birth 22 Feb 1924 in Pawnee, Oklahoma, USA Death 01 May 1963 in Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas, USA

I have written about my Aunt Lillie before,  about how she is my role model of what type of person I want to be like.  I had included some aspects of her life from her second daughter’s perspective. (This is the daughter that did the DNA with me, we match so close.) The reason for choosing her for this post is that I am blessed to have been reunited with her oldest daughter , Barbara, who agreed to share her perspective. 

Anyway I approach it, Lillie Lillian Langley Thole, was a remarkable woman of worth.  Proverbs 31: 10 – 31

Lillie had thick dark brown hair, laughing eyes, and had the hint of smile always at the edges of her mouth.  She was happy and had a wonderful sense of humor. We all hoped to be like her, she never held grudges or hurt others feelings.

Digitized picture of a sketch which was of
of the photo Elmer carried through WWII in his pocket.

Grandma Langley told me and Barbara, her daughter, affirmed that she had Bright's disease as a child. Bright’s disease is an archaic term. It would now be some level of acute or chronic kidney disease.   Barbara’s Aunt Thelma told her the doctors said she should never have children.  She had 5; 3 girls and 2 boys. 

I wonder if she may have had anemia because she told Barbara, she had to eat lots of liver as a child.

Lillie and Barbara's Aunt Thelma were best friends growing up.  Thelma and Elmer saw(dated) each other before Lillie and Elmer got together. Thelma married Elmer’s brother Timothy Thole.

Barbara remembered Lillie saying her mother made her wear long skirts and high stockings to school.  Grandma wouldn't let her wear modern clothes;  that all the girls had gym shorts but she had to wear knee length bloomers.  I am fairly sure this is from Grandma Langley’s upbringing in the Church of Christ in the 1800s.  

Lillie adored her dad; his death was life changing for her.  Barbara never remembered visiting grandma after that, until Grandma Langley  was taking care of her mother, our Great Grandma Gildon. Barbara adored her. 

Lillie and all her family were close.  This I actually found third party evidence of in old newspapers. 

Social notation in the Pawnee Chief, that Lillie's sister and parents went to visit
her and Elmer when he was home on furlough.

The sisters had a bond that was to be envied, until...Grandma Langley upset Aunt Lynn (something none of us little ones were never told about).  Aunt Lynn stormed in and slapped Aunt Dora at a family gathering.  I have written this story here. Barbara said her mother was beside herself. She gathered her children, up and left.  They did work it out but not until they were 60.   Lillie would let her children go visit her sisters in the summertime.  They loved their nieces and nephews, who had wonderful time learning about small town and farm life. 

Lillie was a great seamstress, who never used a pattern.  She would put a newspaper up to us, pencil it, cut it out and sew it up.  

Matching Dresses happened for holidays

Everyone was always in awe of what she could design and sew.  Barbara said during that time, every woman did needle work.  Barbara went on to say, “She crocheted and embroidered and her work was all over the house, doilies, runners, pillow cases, dish towels, all the good stuff those moms did.  She was a great cook, nothing gourmet, just good old country cooking.  She played games with us, Jacks, pick-up sticks; she would use spaghetti for the pickup sticks. She played hopscotch, and would participate for a minute in about anything we were doing.  

She worked as a waitress to help make ends meet.  She worked evenings, 2 pm -10 pm.  She rode the bus to work and dad brought her home.  One of them was with us almost all the time.  Mom was up, cooking breakfast, sent us to school, Dad was home by 5:30 with his lunch bucket to open and give us cookies out of it every day.  Then he was in charge of us.  He and I cooked the evening meal and Jerry and I took turns doing the dishes.  Mom wore a white uniform to work.  She was always spotless and smelled clean all the time.  I never knew her to wear perfume of any kind.  She would say "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" to all of us; hard to argue about taking a bath after hearing that.

Mom had week-ends off which left the family free to go to Fall River.  She loved to fish.  She loved the outdoors.  We had a one room cabin about the size of an over sized storage shed that had double bed bunk beds in it, that we all piled on.

 There was an apartment sized cook stove that mom cranked out her meals on and a little table and chairs.  She was always in good spirits and funny, teasing in nice ways, always positive ad uplifting.” This we have proof positive from both pictures and sibling stories.

 Barbara could never remember her mother hanging her head about anything.  “Dad was good to her.  He adored her. They were always hugging and kissing.  

We think this is was taken when they were married.

For the most part they agreed on how to raise kids.  Once in awhile, they would differ but nothing they couldn't work out.  If they ever argued, they never did it in front of us, nor did I ever hear them raise their voices against each other.  Anger was just not a part of our life.  If we did something wrong, we were disciplined and that was the end of it.  Mom had one thing she called her own.  That was her flower beds.  That was her quiet time.  The only time we were shut out of her life.  She would plant, preen, weed, and admire her off limits gardening.  As a result, none of us girls grow flowers or plants or anything of any kind.  Occasionally, I have tried it, but somewhere in me it's off limits and I can't enjoy it.  If she had known, she would have took us by the hand and taught us what she knew, but it was herself pretty preservation and I understand that.  Mom was pretty anti-social.  She was who she was and wasn't going to dress up, dress down, or do anything for other people's approval. She didn't visit with the neighbors.  She knew them all but was not interested in anything more than that.  Mom went barefoot all the time.  She was going in and out of the house hanging out clothes, and three of the neighbors were sitting in lawn chairs watching her.  One of them hollered and said "Hey Thole, we're going to take up a collection and buy you a pair of shoes"  Mom said "Don't bother, come on over and I'll give you all a pair of the damned things".”

Mom always said it like it was.  She never lied to us or anyone else.  She was sweet, the model wife; she never did anything without dad's approval, on the other hand, neither did dad.  She deeply believed in God and taught us right from wrong usually in moral ways.  Have absolutely no bad memories of my mother.  She was an angel not long for this earth.  We just didn't know.” ~ contributed by Barbara Thole Taylor

I am right there Barbara, I never had a negative moment in the presence of my Aunt Lillie, nor did I ever hear a negative word spoken of her from any of my Aunts, Uncles, or Grandmother. She was and is held in high esteem by those who remember her.

52 Ancestors Weeks Challenge: Week 6; The Story of Bessie Langley As Told By Her Granddaughter

When Bessie Della Langley was born on December 4, 1895, in Rayville, Missouri, her father, Benedict Langley, was 43 and her mother, Sarah Jane Hankins, was 39.

This story was related to me by Debra West-Mouze granddaughter of Bessie Della Langley Lane Bowen in 2003. The second generation of descendants in Oklahoma had lost contact with Bessie when she moved to California.  It was a great blessing when she found me on Rootsweb and began to correspond with me. I have lost contact with her, but hope to find her again. She said they have some pictures but we lost contact before she shared. The following is as she told the story to me along with excerpts from my paper trail research. This is long and I hope not too hard for you to read, as I chose to go with the story inserting genealogical proofs along the way.

Debra: My grandmother told me many stories about her life in Oklahoma and in California, most of them were short and many had lessons in them about life. The stories gave me just a glimpse of what her life was like raising 6 children during the 1920s to the 1940s.  They followed the fruit, living in their car, in tents, and in rented homes never having quite enough to buy a home. There were times they went to bed hungry.  I knew her as a private independent woman, with a strong belief in God and doing the right thing.  I never knew her to lie; she would not even lie about Santa Claus (much to my parents dismay), telling me at the age of 5 that there was no such thing!

I don’t know how old my grandmother was when her family moved from Missouri to Oklahoma, but she told me that she remembered the covered wagon trip and walking alongside the covered wagon with her siblings. [Here we can insert what we do know…]

In 1900, her father, Benedict, and mother, Sarah, were in Cloud Chief Twp., Washita County, Oklahoma with 5 of their children enumerated. Bessie would have been 5; she is not on the census. ( yes, I looked on the next page) . The note that Sarah had 5 children and 5 were living was added later, this was not in original pen. This was, however, what prompted me to tell Debra, I had been wondering if Bessie was a niece or something as I could not find her. Maybe it was dad giving the information and he forgot to add the little one, maybe the enumerator forgot to put her on the form. Who knows?  We do know that she was born in 1895 in Missouri and they are in Oklahoma in 1900.  My thoughts are they came to Oklahoma for the Land Rush in April 1899 and apparently did not obtain land as in 1900 he is renting.

1900 census Year: 1900; Census Place: Cloud Chief, Washita, Oklahoma;
Roll: 1342; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 0207; FHL microfilm: 1241342.

Walter's family said this picture was of the Family Homestead. Bessie looks to have been about 5 or 6 here. The tall man in front of the house is Jesse Brummett... That is another story.

Continuing with the narrative… In Oklahoma, Bessie married Julius Lane when she was 14 or 15 years old, it was an arranged marriage and had something to do with a land deal.

Again, we have a paper trail… Someone was telling a story on the license. The marriage happened at her Sister Annie Bright’s, the witnesses were her brother in laws and brother. She is listed as 18 on the license BUT her birth date puts her at 16, which would go with her story. 

"Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XVL1-75X : accessed 10 Feb 2014), Julious Lane and Bessie Langley, 1911

I am not sure about the land deal; Benedict did own a farm in 1920 according to the census. Maybe that is how she felt or maybe it was a deal.  (After hearing this story, I did ask and someone told me this did happen in Missouri… wouldn't you know it… cannot find the reference.)

When she was 17, she gave birth to twin boys, Willie, and Charlie. January 19, 1912. Willie was born small but fine and Charlie was born with cerebral palsy, my grandmother had a very hard time with the births and was in and out of consciousness for several days. [This portion of the story came from Debra’s mother because her grandmother would not talk about her first marriage, so Debra said the information was a little confused at times…]   Julius was very upset about the birth defect and after my grandmother recovered, he was quite mean to her blaming her for the defect. Walter, her brother came over and had a talk with Julius.  Shortly after, Julius left her and she returned to her family.  

Year: 1920; Census Place: Stonewall, Pontotoc, Oklahoma;
 Roll: T625_1480;Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 190; Image: 322

We are fortunate to have pictures of them with their grandmother, mother and aunts.

Left to right: Susie, Annie, Bessie, Emma with Nettie
In front: Sarah Hankins Langley with Charlie and Willie

Back to Debra’s narrative… A few years later my grandfather Lowery Bowen entered the picture. He was a field hand working for her father.  

"Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XVLP-T4L : accessed 10 Feb 2014), Lowery Bowen and Bessie Lane, 1920.
Bessie was 22, Lowery was 20 and had to have his mother's permission to marry. 

Lowery Bowen was kind and gentle, but somewhat lazy. Bessie could not get him up to go to work in the morning.  She complained to her family and , late one night a group of men in hoods on horseback came and drug him out of the house and threatened to ride him out of town on a rail if he did not get out to work like a man and care for his family.  After that night, Bessie never had to get him up; he was up and out before dawn. Bessie thought that one of the men was her brother Walter, but was never told for sure.

(Now that I know about the Anti Thief Association, and their documented membership, Bessie's story points to at least who one of the masked men was.)

Debra said Bessie also told her that the territory was very rough, that you never traveled on the road without a handgun for protection against highwaymen, and that she remembered several town hangings.  Her daughter, Debra’s mother, thought they lived with Bessie’s mother after Benedict died.  (Sarah was actually living with her daughter Emma, according to Sarah’s death certificate and Emily’s residence in 1930.) Bessie and Lowery did live in Pawnee County, Oklahoma,  just not in the same area.  They were in Liberty and she was in Burnhaw as was Emily.

Bessie and Lowery left Oklahoma in 1936; their destination was California.  My mother, Oma, says she remembers they were forced to leave because the land was barren, my grandfather and my grandmother’s brothers worked in the oil fields for a while, but Lowery decided to leave for California where they could find work.  (Oma was only 4 when they left. It would most likely be she was sharing parents conversation she had overheard.)

The paper trail puts Bessie and Lowery in Kern County, California in 1935. They  lived in Bakersfield, Kern County, California when they got there and worked in the cotton field. Charlie one of the twins caught pneumonia and died in 1938 and was buried in a potter’s field in an unmarked grave.

Apparently by 1940 Lowery had work as a WPA worker, as listed on the 1940 US Federal California Census.

Year: 1940; Census Place:  , Kern, California; Roll: T627_213; Page: 25B; Enumeration District: 15-47.

That is where Debra left off.

In 1943, Lowery and Bessie are found in Bakersfield, California in the city directory.  Lowery is a mill man.

In 1953, they are found in Modesto, California city directory.  Lowery is working for Max Foster.

On 18 Feb 1969 in Stanislaus, California, Lowery dies.  

Bessie lives until 24 October 1985 when she dies away at Turlock, Stanislaus, California.  

Bessie Della Langley Bowen
She is loved by her family. 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Ed Langley and Ethel Grote

Near last week's tombstone was my Aunt and Uncle.  Edwin R Langley was the brother of my father and Dora Langley... (she will be for next week).

My cousin and I had been talking about family history via email.  In our conversations were discussions about tombstones.  He decided he wanted to personalize his parent's tombstone with a picture.  He did some study on it and this was his final email on the subject.
"Dad purchased the cemetery lots and this stone about 5+ years before he died.  He put a lot of thought into the stone and was very proud of the fact he got it done.  I have always been amazed at the pictures on some of the older stones that are always very clear and never seem to fade even when facing the sun…..recently I found out that the reason for never fading is because they are ceramic (imagine that!!!!).   Recently I sent you a pic that I took from a portriat that was taken when mom and dad were in their mid-40's which they both liked.  I have decided to add a ceramic pic to the headstone  using the one I sent you…..I think they would approve."
I agreed. I think they would have been greatly pleased.

The picture he chose.

Ethel is the Daughter of  George and Hattie Grote

Obituary for Mary Lee Whitson Langley

My mother died in Hospice at her granddaughter Christina's home in Houston, Texas on March 21, 2018 with myself and her granddaughter Christina sitting by her side. It was a peaceful passing.
Her obit was penned by her granddaughter Aine.

Mary Lee Langley, a long time resident of Montgomery, Texas, peacefully passed away at the residence of her granddaughter Christina Whitworth of Humble, Texas. 

Mary was born on May 4, 1928 in Fay, Oklahoma along with her twin, Marley Heggan.  She was the thirteenth and last child of Harry and Matilda Whitson.  Mary married her husband Lester Langley in 1947 and had one child, Frances.  

When Frances went to school Mary got her teaching certificate and taught school for twenty-five years in Oklahoma City.  In 1979 Lester and Mary moved to Montgomery Texas to be near their only child and her twin sister.  Mary was hired as a teacher at Montgomery Elementary in Montgomery, Texas until she retired in 1993.  She was active in the Montgomery United Methodist Church.  She wrote weekly devotionals for the Montgomery County News and articles for The Courier and the Montgomery County News.

Mary loved art, hot air balloons, Macy's parades, bird watching, fishing, watching basketball, and football, along with Olympic figure skating and gymnastics.  Her favorite tradition was having the family over for Sunday lunch.  

She is survived by her daughter, Frances Ellsworth of Montgomery, Texas, and her six grandchildren:  Aine (Russell) Schulmire of Idaho, Christina (Douglas) Whitworth of Texas, Edward (Marian) Ellsworth of Oklahoma, Emily (Joel) Ellsworth, Sarah (James) Smith, and Sean Ellsworth.  She is also survived by thirty great-grandchildren, her beloved twin sister Marley Heggan and her sister-niece Jeannine Houchin, as well as many nieces and nephews.  She was well loved and will be missed.

The viewing will be on Monday March 26th 2018 at the Cashner Funeral Home at 801 Teas Road, Conroe, TX. at 11 am followed by a graveside service in the Garden Park Cemetery officiated by Reverend David Lindwall of the Montgomery United Methodist Church.

Her memorial will also be held on Monday March 26th 2018 
from 2:30-4:30 pm at the  

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on 

1516 Wilson Rd, Conroe, TX 77304

Call or text 936 229 8291 if you need directions.

Her Funeral Card... 

The front is her painting of the original Montgomery United Methodist Church in 2001 that she loved so very much.

B D Langley and the Anti Horse Thief Association

When you are laid up with fever and not feeling well, sometimes the only thing to amuse yourself with is absurd Google searches.  My ancestor known as B D Langley was dirt poor...Not a huge farm owner.  When I did the search I knew Find a Grave would come up, but I was not expecting The Anti Horse Thief Association Convention 1907.

When you look at B D Langley ( he did not like Benedict) he does not look like a member of a secret society.  (He is the one on the right)








He was, here he is as a member allowed to stay for the meeting.

His son Charles D. doesn't look like a secretive fellow either.








But he was, here he is on the roll also.

 The youngest daughter Bessie's second husband Lowery Bowen was kind and gentle, but somewhat lazy. Bessie could not work to work in the morning.  She complained to her family and , late one night a group of men in hoods on horse back came and drug him out of the house and threatened to ride him out of town on a rail if he did not get out to work like a man and care for his family.  After that night, Bessie never had to get him up; he was up and out before dawn. Bessie thought that one of the men was her brother Walter, but was never told for sure.
Now that I know about the Anti Thief Association, and their documented membership,  Bessie's story is crystal clear as to who at least one of the masked men was.  These guys did more that just recover horses.  If you want to read more about them click here to see the Oklahoma History site.  

This was in the opening comments of the convention:  "Our association is one of the best secret organizations in the United States. I do not know of any other equal to it in the scope of its real usefulness. While we are strictly non-political and non-partisan we do not
disclaim the moral influence that we have for good in the great coming new state."

My dad always said his grandfather was an Indian agent.  Never could find any evidence of that, but I think this may be what it was and was translated by the family into an Indian agent.  There were many from the Indian tribes associated with this Society.

I am so grateful to the Oklahoma University for digitalizing and publishing the manuscript.  If you have an Indian Territory ancestor you might want to check it out.  There is a eulogy of sorts for A.P. McKellog, a leader.  who had died that year.  Click here to view the PDF file.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Made Things Happen

This last week I was exploring the FamilySearch Learning Center area to see what was new.

I randomly choose a video to check it out.  It turned out to be Tom Kemp teaching.  (now I can't zero back on it.)  In the middle of the video he was talking about using Facebook as a research tool.  I listened as he talked about finding a family group on Facebook, on which he found pictures and information.  I considered this and decided it was time to set up our Langley Family -- Descendants of William Langley and Nancy Carrier group on Facebook to find those branches that have not yet been found.
I contacted a distant cousin and told him what I was up to. He thought it was a great idea and supported the idea.  I set it up and added pictures, links to blog posts, then invited some cousins and told Brian to invite his family. It was set up as an open group and once I had it formatted and set up I told the members it was their page to share, search, and grab pictures. 
I was wonderful to see it went from 2 to 41 members in two days.  Most are 3 and 4th generation that I am just now meeting. It is so fun to see the meet and greet and explanations going on in the chat. 

Now, I know you are thinking what does that have to do with the Hero.  About 1998, I was beginning to realize the importance of have proofs on information I had in our family history we were gathering.  I asked if we could go to Pawnee, Oklahoma and see if we could find my great grandmother's grave, and if we could maybe go to the court house.  He said maybe; he would have to see if he could take a couple of days off during the week.  It was approved, so we began our journey. We first went to my Aunt Lynn's to found out where the grave site was.  She mentioned she had heard from my cousin Janice in Kansas.  My heart went zing, I had not seen Janice since my one of my other aunts had died in 1973. I looked longingly at the Hero and said... could we call her and maybe see her?  That slow smile came over his face and he said sure, what is the number.  We called and it just so happened that she was off and so was her husband could we wait?  They could be down in an hour.  When they arrived, we began sharing what had happened in the last 27 years. (Yes, that is way too long) After about and hour, there was an 'ahem' , I looked at the Hero and he said we need to go to the court house if we are going to make it on time.  He looked at my cousin and her husband and said, 'Do you all want to come too?'  Yes.  We all piled into the car went to the court house, they actually had the death certificate for my gr gr grandmother Sarah Jane Hankins Langley.  We got two copies one for me and one for Janice.  We saw that the funeral home listed was just across the street, so we went there.  They gave us the burial plot and a map.  We then when out to the graveyard and found the grave site.  The Hero managed to help us, connect with each other, obtain a death certificate and grave site information as well as a visit to the grave yard all in 3 hours in one day. With the Hero's help this was the beginning of a special bond my cousin and I still share today.  We both remember that day well.  Many of those reconnecting on Facebook are nieces, siblings, and nephews of Janice.  I love the Hero so much for taking time out of his busy work life to help me find my family living and dead.  He was a family man.

Sentimental Sunday A Walk in Oklahoma

My aunt Della Langley Whitaker was a jewel.  When she was young, she always had on a hat.  She considered herself the trend setter for her younger siblings.  Interestingly enough, she never came to the family holiday dinners.  Of course her children were just a bit younger than my father.  I remember we would go to visit her, and later we lived in the same town.  I would walk over to her house after school and stay with her until my father got off work. 

Jesse Whitaker and Della Langley Whitaker

 Della, Lenorah Gildon Langley, Emma Self Gildon

with Della's daughter in law and new granddaughter.

My dad grew up playing with her sons and all his life he was very close to them.  Things I remember most about her was her Indian fried bread. If we came at any time of the day, she had her bowl of flour and would cook some bread with hot cocoa in the winter, iced tea in the summer.  She was ready to offer some of her special comfort food to the visitor.

 Della, granddaughter, Jesse

She was very family oriented, and would write letters to me while I was in college.  She knew all her grandchildren's birthdates, and would worry if she hadn't heard from someone in a while.  She never drove, my uncle always took her to where she wanted to go, then her sons took her after their dad's death. It was always fun to go and visit her and hear stories of her youth.  Although even she did not have the correct name of her dad's mother's maiden name.  I looked for years for the wrong last name until another relative found my grandmother's marriage license and the correct name was on it. There are some things like solitare, and Indian fried bread that just bring a warm fuzzy feeling to mind of open arms.

A Great Example of Never Give UP

Smile for the Camera has an event for "A Noble Life".

When I was 3 years old, my father was a starving farmer. My mother had pushed him to quit his job as a railroad superintendent, because she wanted him home more. After a year of trying his hand at farming it was quite evident that we would not survive. He heard of a job in Des Moines, Iowa as a Building Superintendent and decided that was a good alternative. He would go to Iowa, get stable and then send for us. He made friends with a local farmer, and one week end he went out to the farm with some other men to cut down a tree. It was in the winter. The equipment was an old two man chainsaw. It did not have a safety switch on it. They started sawing the large tree and soon it became evident the tree was not going to go where they wanted it to. They saw it start to topple in their direction and ran for cover not thinking to cut the saw off. My dad chose a smaller tree to get behind thinking it would shield him. He was not a professional logger. He saw the trunk slip, then with a loud thud as it cracked then it slid before beginning to fall. My dad said it was like a terrible disaster picture in slow motion. As the tree fell, its branches bent the tree my father was behind to catch him in the upper limbs. When it dropped, the tree he was behind acted as a sling shot, as its branches bounced back up slinging my father up into the air. When he realized what had happened to him, he looked down to see that he was headed straight for the running two man chain saw. It was going to cut him in half. Partly on self preservation and partly on instinct, he stretched his hand in front of him allowing the saw to amputate his finger so he could turn himself to save himself. It amputated his left leg at the mid thigh. The other men were in shock, so my father once again had to come to his own aid. He took off his belt and made a tourniquet and directed the other men to get the car and take him to the hospital. In a daze, they acted on his command. At the hospital, he assisted the doctor in cleaning the wound for surgery.

 After the long road of recovery in the hospital, he obtained a job in an artificial limb shop while going through therapy. He loved the work, and fashioned his own leg which he wore for 15 years. However, the job had its down side in that it depressed him to see those that would not try to walk with their artificial limbs. He decided to return to Oklahoma and work in a hotel washing dishes to put my mother through College to become a teacher. While working there, a local hardware shop had become interested in air conditioners. The man and my father were great friends and soon, my father was spending hours in the back of the shop learning how to repair the air conditioners. Earl, the shop owner, heard of a program the state had for disabled persons for becoming an Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineer. My father was accepted and once again washed dishes in a College cafeteria while he and my mother went to school. We were dirt poor.

I never knew it until I looked back. He earned his Engineering Certification in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration and was accepted as head of the department in Maintenance of the the College he had washed dishes for.

Unknown, Bobby Cotton, Lester Langley

Lester Langley by an air conditioner on the college campus.

 I grew up friends with professors, and the College was my playground, because he always had me stay with him at work until he got off. He taught me perseverance, stamina, faith, and a belief you can become what you want to if you just try.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories Christmas Cards

I loved Christmas Cards and sent large numbers out until the postage went out of sight. I still send a few to my close family members to keep in touch. Some of them send letters about the past year and some send a card with their name in it to say who they were.




 



I was lucky enough to have saved the Christmas Letter and Card from my dad's sisters the first Christmas that the Hero and I were married. Now that that all of my dad's sisters and brothers are now gone, it is nice to get out their letters occasionally to remember them.  Loved them greatly.

Dora Langley Grote

 

Lynn Langley Sneed

Ancestor Approved Award

I’m flattered and humbled to recieve the Ancestor Approved Award from Jo at Images Past.  I thank you, Jo!  Leslie Ann of Ancestors Live Here started the Award to show appreciation for the genealogy bloggers whose posts we enjoy.  The instructions are to specify ten things that I’ve learned about my ancestors that have surprised, humbled, or enlightened me, and then I should pass the award along to ten other Genealogy Bloggers that I feel are also deserving of it!
Let's get started.

Ten things that have surprised, humbled or enlightened me about my ancestors:

1. The Fredricksburg Land Records held a surprise for me. Barbara Kemp was living but the land was divided amongst the children without mention of her. If this had been the first record I had seen on this family, I could have thought she was dead.

2. This last year I was humbled to find I was able to remember so many Hero stories. 

3.  There isn't a category for delighted, but I was delighted to find that one of my Revolutionary War ancestors was dubbed "The Rambo of The American Revolution"

4.  I was surprised when I reviewed my dates and censuses to find my grandparents had a "Land Lottery" Romance.

5.  I was surprised to find my grgrand father Langley was a member of the secret organization "Anti Horse Thief Association". It was enlightening to discover more about the culture of the time.

6.  It was humbling to me to discover that the Hero's grgrandmother lost the majority of her family in 4 years all flu and TB related.  She was a strong person to lose her son, husband and brothers and father within 3 years.

7.  It is also humbling to me that you can think you have covered all there is to know about a person and still discover more.

8.  This last year in an of itself has been a time of enlightenment for me as I have attended ProGen discussions and read ProGenealogy. I have discovered my sourcing has been okay, but that is not good enough.

9.  I was surprised to find a new researcher on the Hero's grgrandparents.  Excited too.

10.  I have been humbled by the appearance of death certificates and birth certificates that have revealed cause of deaths and mother's maiden names.   I have to insert here that I am humbled by the many life hours that have been given to make these documents available on FamilySearch.org this year.


Now to pass it on to ten other bloggers.
Jen at Climbing My Family Tree
Debbie at DebsDelvings
Taneya at Taneya’s Genealogy Blog
Lulu  at Bits 'n Pieces
Genealogy Pisces at Blogging from the Branches 
Brandt at Brandt's Rants
Cynthia at ChicagoGenealogy 
Jenna  at Desperately Seeking Surnames
Every Man A Quotation
Foot Steps Past

A Legacy I Would Love to Create for Myself

My earliest memories of my Aunt Lillie are when she would come into the kitchen, of whichever of the Aunt's we were at for a holiday, with her huge turkey roaster and armloads of rolls, etc. When she arrived, there was always brightness and laughter.
Lillie Langley was the youngest of my father's family. She was full of life. She was born in 1923 and died in 1963 at the untimely age of 40 years. I loved her so. Some of her sister's blamed her early death on the fact that she had 5 children. NOT. What a legacy they have been to her. She loved everyone of them, in fact she was like a mother hen, and would snuggle in any that needed loving. She had 3 girls and 2 boys. All but one is still living. Her daughter made the comment, "Momma I do believe had heart trouble. It was just not diagnosed. She was having a horrible time with the hormonal changes.Which was at the time of her death too. She was going through menopause. I'll never forget it. They had done surgery on her and she just went right into it. I found out later that the doctor she was going to, had given her Librium of all drugs for the emotional ups and downs. Librium itself can cause heart attacks and other things. But I have to look at it this way. We felt very cheated when she died. I was 15 and you just have no idea as to what that did to all of us. I have come to believe in my heart though that We all have a time to be born and a time to die. and that for what ever reason, God took her home early in life. It was her time. and nothing was going to stop that from happening." We all can take a lesson in life from this. We miss someone, we wish we had them back, but realize it was just their time to return to Heavenly Father and find comfort in that knowledge.
My favorite memory was spending two weeks with her in the summer of my 12th year. My cousins taught me to swim in a crayfish pond and she taught me to love cooking. Every morning she had a wonderful smelling breakfast ready for us (a delicacy of biscuits and gravy, I still can not resist...it is a comfort food) . The biscuits were homemade, dipped in bacon grease, and baked. Not really healthy eating by today's standards, but mmm mmm good tasting. You could float into the kitchen on the smell. Her daughter told me:"This made me feel so good Frances, as I could actually smell those biscuits and gravy and could see her again. My momma had the habit of pouring bacon grease on her eggs before she ate them. She loved that. She always made homemade biscuits and would turn them in oil or bacon grease before baking them."

She had thick dark brown hair, laughing eyes, and friendly, loving lips that had the hint of smile always at the edges of her mouth. She was always full of smiles and had a wonderful sense of humor. I hoped to be like her, she never held grudges or hurt others feelings.
If I am successful in following her example, I hope that my legacy will be of kindness, hope, love, and laughter for my family too.

Post Christmas Whew... Finally Some DNA Responses.

This year was another hard one.  You would think after 5 years it would be easier at Christmas not having the Hero with me. I guess not, because I really wasn't motivated to put up the tree. On the other hand I had fun Christmas Eve putting the tree up and decorating it when my son came over.  I have to wonder how my grandmothers felt each year after the death of their spouses. Especially my mom's mom who still had 6 children to raise at home and had a need to make holidays as normal as possible.

                                                                                                                                         

Mattie Roberts Whitson 1930

Lenorah Gildon Langley 1958

There were a couple of unexpected Christmas presents.  Two responses to my DNA tests.  
One was from Gedmatch.com that still has me wondering.  "I notice on Gedmatch that your DNA matches my three kits (F#, F#, and F#) on Chromosome 14 between about 69 and 80.  The segment is of particular interest to me because the admixture tool Dodecad World9 shows that it contains Native American ethnicity."  I can not find the person on Gedmatch myself, nor any information about this statement.
This has been a hope of mine to prove Native American ancestry or disprove it. This is my William B and Mary Burleson Self line.  Mary's father is Moses Burleson and his mother's line Weatherford are supposed to of Native American ancestry.  Some debate going on here.  Then there is William B Self''s mother who is said to be of Native American Indian ancestry... No proofs found here, that I can see.  Wish a gene Fairy would come along with real source.  Sigh.
The second response was much clearer. A solid match for William Hatcher b 1680 in Virginia .
Both are on my dad's side.  Hmmm looks like DNA maybe heavier on the dad's side... or just no one doing my mom's side; time will tell.
Learning about the searches, and different areas of DNA research is a Big learning curve.
Let you know if anything comes forth.