The house shown was located in northwest Coleman County, Texas. My gg-grandfather (R. F. Mitchell) moved here from Louisiana in the early 1880's. His descendants continued living here until December 1959. The picture was painted by one of my father's sisters, Grace (Ray) Killingsworth.
52 Ancestors: #12 William Ray
This is the 12th installment of my
response to Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestor Challenge. For information
about the challenge, click the button.
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Ric
52
Ancestors: #11 James Buckley Sansom (1852-1935)
This is the 11th installment of my response to Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestor Challenge. For information about the challenge, click the button.
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For
52 Ancestors: #10
Sarah Catherine (Rice) Ray
Sarah Catherine (Rice) Ray
This is the 10th installment of my response to Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestor Challenge. For information about the challenge, click the button.
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One of my gg-grandmothers was Sarah Catherine Rice, the daughter of Jacob and Mary (Burkhart) Rice. She was born in Crawford County, Indiana on May 17, 1843. I don’t know what happened to her father, but her mother married Elias Newkirk on October 1, 1849, and Sarah acquired several step-siblings.
Sarah was listed as part of Elias Newkirk’s family in Crawford County in the 1850 and 1860 census records. On April 3, 1862, she married Elias’s nephew, Cornelius Newkirk Ray. Several of their children were born in Crawford County: Mary Ellen, James Jacob, Sally Jane, Julia Ann, and Idella. C. N. and Sarah were listed on the 1870 census of Crawford County.
The family moved to Illinois about 1875. Four more children were born in Illinois: Samuel Green, David Garrett, George Leonard, and Rosa E. Three of their children died in Illinois: Mary Ellen, Samuel, and Julia. They moved to Lamar County, Texas, about 1879. They are listed in the 1880 census of Lamar County, and three more children were born there: Isaac Willis, Lillie, and William. They moved again, to neighboring Delta County, about 1887. Their last child, Maudie Lee, was born there in 1888. The family is listed on the 1900 census of Delta County. Maudie Lee died in 1900.
Cornelius and Sarah made their last move in 1900. They settled in Silver Valley, Coleman County, Texas. Cornelius died there in February 1908 and she died in March 1925. They are buried in what is sometimes called the Ray Cemetery in Silver Valley.
I obtained the above information from census records and from a narrative supposedly dictated by her oldest son, James Jacob Ray, but it didn’t tell me anything about her personality. I asked my aunt, Vivian (Ray) Nail, what she could remember about Grandma Ray, who died when she was thirteen years old. She had several stories that she was willing to share.
One story she shared was about Grandma’s method of tending her children while she was helping with the field work. She tied a rope around Leonard’s wrist, looped the rope around the footboard of the bed, and tied it around Rosa’s wrist. The bedroom did not have a ceiling; boxes of dried fruit were placed on boards positioned across the rafters. Leonard told Rosa that if she would let him take all the slack out of the rope, he could climb up and get them some fruit. He climbed up and got some fruit, but he came down on the other side of the rafter, leaving him only enough slack in the rope to barely touch the bedstead with his toes and pulling Rosa’s wrist tight against the footboard. They remained in that position until Grandma came in from the field.
Vivian said that Grandma was just a good old hard-working woman. She thought it was a disgrace if she had to ask Granddad for money to run the house or the kitchen. She had fruit trees and a garden for vegetables. She raised hogs and had a milk cow; she also raised chickens and sold eggs.
After she finally quit working, she ordered some green twist tobacco and made herself a corncob pipe. According to Vivian, her grandsons made fun of her for smoking the tobacco that had not been cured.
52 Ancestors: #09 A Dismal December
This is the 9th installment of my response to Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestor Challenge. For information about the challenge, click the button.
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December 1987 was, without a doubt, the worst month of my life.
When I got home that night, my answering machine was blinking rapidly. I played the first message -- my older sister Pat telling me to call her before I called home. I called her immediately, feeling sure that she would tell me that Dad had died. [Back in May, when we discovered that cancer had spread to his brain and liver, the doctors had said he might have six months to live.] But the news wasn't about Dad. Instead, she told me that our oldest brother, who we called Butch, had had a fatal heart attack that morning. I called Mom to learn how she and Dad were taking the news and to tell them that I would be home about dark Friday night. After talking to Mom, I had to wait a while before I trusted my ability to talk without crying. I called the junior high principal at his home to tell him what had happened and that I would be out of school until at least Tuesday. He offered his condolences and told me to take as much time as I needed. Since I was too tired to start the trip that night, I packed my suitcase for the five-hundred mile trip and lay down to try to get some sleep. I left Rio Grande City a dawn Friday morning and reached Winters shortly before sundown. I went to the funeral home there in Winters, thinking that some of the family might be there. No one was there. When I went into the room to view the body, I received another shock: had I not known that the body in the casket was Butch, I would not have recognized him. recognized him right away. His features were much too full, and he had the look of one who had seen a horrifying specter. I stayed at the funeral home only a short while before continuing the trip to my parents' home at Ovalo, twenty-two miles away. When I got to the house at Ovalo, I signaled Mom to meet me in the kitchen; I had to prepare her to deal with the way Butch looked.Dad was too weak to go to the funeral home, so I stayed with him while the others went. Dub told my Marianne that she should have the casket closed and let people remember Butch the way he had looked. Marianne and Eric decided to close the casket. On Saturday, all of the family met at Mom's and Dad's house at Ovalo. Friends and relatives came by to visit during the day. The huge quantity of food which they brought made it unnecessary for us to spend our time cooking for the crowd. Butch was buried at Atoka Cemetery in northwest Coleman County on December 6 (my sister Mary Ellen's birthday.) In accordance with his wishes, there was no funeral. Everyone met at the cemetery for the graveside rites. I said my good-byes to most of the family at the cemetery and went to spend the night with Marianne. Eric had to return to college for final exams, and we didn't want Marianne to be alone on the night after Butch was buried. While we wrote cards to acknowledge flowers, food, etc., Marianne and I talked about what she should do since Butch was gone. I spent most of Monday driving back to Rio Grande City, arriving just as it was getting dark. I called Mom to let her know I had arrived safely and to find out how she and Dad were doing. She told me about the call she had received from her oldest sister. Nig had called to tell Mom that her that Pat and Gerald had come to get some [of his] money, that they were "bleeding her dry", and that no one had such troubles as she had. My temper went to a slow boil. Physically and emotionally exhausted, I decided that I would not be up to going to school on Tuesday. I called to arrange for a substitute, then fell across the bed and willed myself to relax. I returned to work on Wednesday, the ninth of December. From then until school dismissed for the Christmas holidays on Friday the eighteenth I was very busy with school, both classes and extracurricular activities connected with the holiday season. I called Mom morning and night to check on her and Dad. During the last week of school before the holidays, Dad was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. On the day that school dismissed for the holidays, I loaded my pickup for the trip north before going to work. As soon as I made my way through the line to sign out, I left school on the first leg of my trip to Ovalo. I drove as far as Carrizo Springs (about two hundred miles) before I became tired enough that I needed to stop for the night. After a late breakfast Saturday morning, I resumed my northward trek. By the time I reached Ovalo, it was too late to go to the hospital at Abilene. Mom and I talked until late that night. On Sunday morning Mom and I left early to spend the day with Dad at the hospital. We also spent Monday there. After Dad was released from the hospital Tuesday morning (the 22nd), Dub took him home while Mom and I stayed in town to buy groceries for Christmas cooking. We realized that we would not be able to get home in time to cook a meal so Dad could eat lunch at the proper time, so we stopped at Church's Chicken and bought chicken and rolls. When we got home, Dub unloaded most of the groceries while Mom made gravy to go with the chicken and I sliced tomatoes and made tea. Dad really seemed to enjoy his meal, although he had told Dub that we would probably bring him a soggy hamburger and he wasn't going to eat it. Dad was upset when we got home and he learned that we had not put up a Christmas tree. He insisted that Dub and I go to town and buy a tree. We bought the tree, then rearranged furniture and set it up for the limbs to spread overnight before decorating it the next day. Mom and I got up early Wednesday morning to make pies and cakes: six coconut cream pies, six chocolate pies, two pecan pies, a fruit cocktail cake, a coconut cake, and a chocolate cake with boiled icing. We barely finished and got the kitchen cleaned up in time to fix lunch. After lunch, Dub and I went to Abilene to buy Nig a washing machine to replace her old one that we could no longer repair. We checked several stores before we found what we wanted -- a machine with a minimum number of controls that she could get out of adjustment. The machine was not in stock, but we were told that it would be in by Saturday. Dad knew that he didn’t have much longer to live. Throughout the day he would doze off, then wake to ask if it was Christmas Eve yet. He wanted so badly for all the family to be there and open gifts together. When Mary phoned about four o’clock to see how Dad was doing, she said that she and Carl were on their way back to Fort Hancock after attending a funeral and would be at Ovalo the next day. Dad told her that he was doing all right. It was nearly dark when Dub and I finished decorating the tree. We took Dad into the living room so he could see the tree; he said that it was really pretty. He looked at the tree for about fifteen minutes before he tired and we took him back to his recliner. During this time I took pictures and Dub made a video of Dad looking at the tree. Dub was putting away the decorations that we didn’t use and I was vacuuming the front bedroom when we heard Mom screaming. We both ran into the room where Dad was. Dub immediately went to move the car to the door by Dad’s chair. Dad’s last words to Mom were, “I’m not going to make it this time, Sal.” Then his head fell back. Dub and I put Dad into the car and Dub rushed him to the hospital. After Dub left, I worked to get Mom to stop screaming, “He’s gone! He’s gone!” and to sit in her chair. Then I called Pauline, my aunt who lived in Ovalo, to come stay with Mom so I could go to the hospital to be with Dub and Dad. While I waited for Pauline to get there, I called Pat and Pete. When I told Pete that Dad had died, he said that he would go to be with Mom rather than go to the hospital to be with us. Because Pat lived in Abilene, she arrived at the hospital about the same time Dub did. We waited in the ER waiting room for about an hour before the finally told us that he had died and that we should give them directions for releasing the body. We went back to Ovalo, where Pat and I alternated the phoning of people who needed to be informed of Dad’s death. Mary and Carl had not returned to Fort Hancock, so we had someone from the sheriff’s office put a note on their door. Christmas Eve – not at all the day Dad wanted it to be. Cecil came in that afternoon to stay with us for several days. Mom and I decided to go ahead and cook the turkey that was already partially thawed, but not to bother with dressing or potato salad. Dub and Pete went to the funeral home at Coleman to make arrangements for the funeral. Christmas Day was devoid of cheer. Nig and Violet came over to join the rest of us for dinner. She kept wringing her hands and crying because Bill was in the old cold ground (he had died the previous year at Christmas time.) I bit back my anger at Nig because an argument would have upset Mom even more. To further complicate matters, the weather decided to become nasty – an ice storm that knocked out power lines and caused highways to be closed. Dad’s funeral was Saturday afternoon. Because the roads were so bad, Grace, Edd, and Cecil were the only ones of Dad’s siblings who were at his funeral. Vivian and her family got to Coleman in time to meet the funeral procession, so they turned around and joined it. Because it was painfully cold, Brother Caffey made the graveside rites very brief. On Monday morning of the week after Christmas, Dub and I went to Abilene to pick up Nig’s washing machine, then took it to her house and installed it. That afternoon, Mom, Dub, and I started the process of winding up Dad’s affairs. After initiating the paperwork necessary for Mom to draw Dad’s Social Security, we went to the different places where he had accounts and made arrangements to close them. The remainder of my holiday break was spent talking, going through Dad’s things, and rearranging things in the house. |
52 Ancestors: #08 Robert Gillison (1761-1862): Centenarian
This is the 8th installment of my response to Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestor Challenge. For information about the challenge, click the button.
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Robert Gillison, my fourth great-grandfather, was born in Tinwald Parish, Dumfries-shire, Scotland in March 1761. His parents were Andrew Gillison (a weaver) and Jean Burgess. He acquired employment with the Duke of Buccleuch at Mains, near Drumlanrig Castle. Census records indicate that he lived at Enoch Bank Cottage and was a farmer of four acres.
Robert married Janet McCririck in 1788; he and Janet had one son, Andrew, who became my third great-grandfather. Janet died in August, 1790, when Andrew was a year old. Robert's second marriage was to Margaret Waugh, with whom he had six children: Isabel Gillison, Janet Gillison, James Gillison, Thomas Gillison, Robert Gillison, and James Gillison. Robert was widowed a second time when Margaret died in December, 1841.
According to his obituary (published in DUMFRIES ANI GALLOWAY STANDARD AND ADVERTISER, December 10, 1862), he was almost totally deaf, although his vision had improved as a result of his advanced years. He evidently was very concerned with religious topics, especially the Psalms and the New Testament.
He died November 26, 1862, and was buried in the cemetery at Drumlanrig.
Robert married Janet McCririck in 1788; he and Janet had one son, Andrew, who became my third great-grandfather. Janet died in August, 1790, when Andrew was a year old. Robert's second marriage was to Margaret Waugh, with whom he had six children: Isabel Gillison, Janet Gillison, James Gillison, Thomas Gillison, Robert Gillison, and James Gillison. Robert was widowed a second time when Margaret died in December, 1841.
According to his obituary (published in DUMFRIES ANI GALLOWAY STANDARD AND ADVERTISER, December 10, 1862), he was almost totally deaf, although his vision had improved as a result of his advanced years. He evidently was very concerned with religious topics, especially the Psalms and the New Testament.
He died November 26, 1862, and was buried in the cemetery at Drumlanrig.
52 Ancestors: #07 Terry Larkin Ray (1941-1987)
This is the 7th installment of my response to Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestor Challenge. For information about the challenge, click the button.
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My oldest brother, "Butch," was born Terry Larkin Ray at Coleman, Texas, on September 24, 1941, only a few months before Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World War II. Among our cousins, he was the first to be born in a hospital.
Butch went through several phases while he was growing up. One phase was that of a singing cowboy, when his idol was Gene Autrey. Dad bought him a guitar and arranged for him to take guitar lessons. To Butch's disappointment, the lessons were for the steel guitar. Next came his Tarzan phase, when he tied ropes in the trees and used them to swing from one tree to the next.
Even as a youngster, he generally had some type of job to make spending money. He had paper routes for several years (while our family was living on North Jackson in Odessa.) He wanted a speed bike, so he opened a savings account and saved his money to buy one. About the time he had saved enough to buy the bike, Dad took his money and bought a cow. Butch was terribly angry about not getting his bike.
The summer he was fourteen years old, while working with Dad's crew on an oil rig, he mashed one of his fingers. He probably would have recovered from that without problems, but he had a severe allergic reaction to the tetanus serum that he was given after the injury. Despite this, he continued to work on the rig when he wasn't in school.
Butch went to McMurry College (at Abilene, Texas) one year and to Texas Tech (at Lubbock) one year before he went into the army in the fall of 1961. He did his basic training at Fort Carson, Colorado, and his military police training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was stationed at Oakland, California, for a while before being transferred to Germany. He was stationed at the 98th General Hospital at Neubrücke.
While stationed in Germany, he spent as much of his time as possible away from the base. He learned German and dated a German girl, whom he married in October, 1965. Their only child was born in February, 1967.
While stationed in Germany, he spent as much of his time as possible away from the base. He learned German and dated a German girl, whom he married in October, 1965. Their only child was born in February, 1967.
In the fall of 1966, Butch returned to McMurry College to complete his degree, graduating in August, 1968. He became an adjuster for State Farm Insurance. While working for State Farm, he transferred several times: from El Paso to Alvin, to Lubbock, to Midland, and to Houston. He decided to leave State Farm and become an independent adjuster. He bought a place southwest of Winters and worked on his "novel" when he wasn't working a storm.
On December 3, 1987, Butch had a heart attack while helping to fight a grass fire near his house. The doctor said that he died instantly. He was buried beside our grandparents in Atoka Cemetery in Coleman County.
On December 3, 1987, Butch had a heart attack while helping to fight a grass fire near his house. The doctor said that he died instantly. He was buried beside our grandparents in Atoka Cemetery in Coleman County.