52 Ancestors - DISASTER: The Real McCoy

Whenever death certificates are available online, I grab them for anyone in my database. Most are rather mundane noting causes of death like pneumonia, senility, heart attack. But when the cause of death includes the word “HOMICIDE,” I need to know more. I need to keep looking. That’s what family historians do.

Such is the case with poor ol’ Sarah Ellen Cash Oldaker (1866-1938), granddaughter of Melinda Jollett (sister of my 3Xgreat-grandfather) and Thomas Marsh. Gunshot wound to the lungs and heart! At home! My first thought was maybe her husband did it, but Benjamin Oldaker had left Sarah Ellen a widow 6 years earlier.

from the death certificate of Sarah Ellen Cash Oldaker

The newspapers could not get enough of the murder story. And with good reason. Look at those headlines.

Charleston Daily Mail 4 Feb 1938

Charleston Daily Mail 5 Feb 1938

Charleston Daily Mail 6 Feb 1938

Beckley Raleigh Register 20 May 1938

The news surely shocked the citizens of Putnam County, West Virginia, in 1938.

The life of Sarah Ellen was cut short at the hands of her own grandson, Everett Lee “Bob” McCoy. There she was, doing that grandmotherly thing: fetching her grandson a glass of milk. And he shot her. In the back. Two of her grandchildren found her on the floor of the cellar.

So why did Bob do it?

 

from Harrisonburg Daily News Record 7 Feb 1938

For the money.

Quote from State Police Corporal Paul Vasser
from Kingsport Times 6 Feb 1938

Of course, Bob McCoy ran, but when he was caught, the police found only $18 on him. Like any good criminal, he denied doing the deed. Eventually, though, he confessed.

 

from Charleston Daily Mail 6 Feb 1938

The scene at the hearing was like something out of a movie. Three hundred people showed up prompting the magistrate to move the hearing to the mortuary. Then the crowd was disappointed that the hearing lasted only 3 minutes. However, the drama was not over. A plea of “guilty” allowed charges of complicity against his parents, brother, sister, and brother-in-law to be dropped. McCoy’s mother promptly fainted.

Bob McCoy was sentenced and sent to the county jail in Winfield where he was put on a suicide watch.

from Charleston Daily Mail 6 Feb 1938

from Charleston Gazette 21 May 1938

Even though McCoy had expressed remorse, he was not content to stay in jail. On a hot day he and 4 others made their escape. Two of the escapees were glad to be found – they were hungry and happy to return to jail. Not Bob McCoy. He kept running. Twelve hours later he was found hiding under some bushes.

From the county jail, Bob McCoy was transferred to Moundsville Penitentiary in Marshall County, West Virginia to serve a life sentence. In the 1940 census, he was listed among the roughly 1500 inmates there.

Bob McCoy caught a break in his disastrous life in 1953 when miraculously the angels of authority smiled on him and granted him parole.

But McCoy being Bob McCoy, he could not leave well enough alone.

He ran.

For two years, McCoy lived like a free man earning a living as a dishwasher at West Side Lunch in Charleston, West Virginia. He learned where the cash was kept. The temptation was too much.

On March 29, 1956, Bob McCoy broke into the restaurant through a greasy exhaust fan and took the money. He gave some to his younger brother John, some to a woman named Ruth Chittum, and some he hid for himself.

 

from Charleston Gazette 31 Mar 1956

A bean bag for a hiding place? Bob McCoy was nothing if not resourceful.

One person’s disaster is another’s opportunity to capitalize on it. Just days after the robbery, this ad appeared in the Charleston Gazette:

 

ad in the Charleston Gazette 2 Apr 1956

Bob McCoy made himself a career criminal, but he really wasn’t very good at it. He was caught in no time and charged. Ordinarily he would have gotten a sentence of 1-10 years for the robbery, but violating his parole made him ineligible for another. Therefore, he had to live out his life sentence for the murder of his grandmother.

He died in 1970 of a heart attack and is buried in his hometown of Buffalo, Putnam County, West Virginia. 

from Charleston Daily Mail
4 Feb 1938

Charleston Gazette
12 Dec 1970

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”

Wendy

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Cruising

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday photo featuring men in suits and hats lounging on deck chairs made me chuckle. Nobody cruises like that anymore. Do they?

Some time in the summer of 1953, my grandaunt Violetta Davis Ryan vacationed in Hawaii, probably wanting to check out the latest addition to the American family for herself. I do not know when she WENT, but I know when she RETURNED: 10 August 1953.

 

Passenger and crew list SS Lurline 10 Aug 1953

It might have been this very magazine ad that lured her there.

1953 ad

Anyone who went to Hawaii in the 1950s went on the SS Lurline. It was a first-class ocean liner, one of four in the Matson line that offered luxury cruises between the West Coast of the United States and Hawaii and Australia. A Hawaiian cruise took 4 ½ days from San Francisco to Honolulu. Most passengers spent 9 days in Hawaii before returning to California.

Since Violetta left no pictures of her fancy cruise vacation, I searched the internet for photos of the Lurline in the 1950s. I have never been on an ocean cruise, only river cruises. How different her cruise was from mine!

The Lurline was BIG, accommodating 715 passengers.

SS Lurline courtesy Wikimedia Commons

The  Amawaterways ships like the AmaKristina and AmaViola are long and low so they can go under all those old bridges on the Rhine and the Danube. They carry about 158 passengers.

AmaKristina - Photo in public domain

Staterooms on the Lurline look rather roomy.

Lurline stateroom 1950s

Not on my cruise. Upgrades for ROOMY rooms can run as high as $2000 or more PER PERSON. We did not plan to spend much time in the room. 

Our room on the AmaKristina
small but efficient and comfy

The lounge and Sundeck are much more fun while cruising.

Wendy and Barry with new friends met on the AmaKristina
Nancy and John, Patsy and Bill

A good shot of the lounge

The lounge on the Lurline was probably lovely for its time.

The lounge on the SS Lurline

The dining room on the Lurline reflected the ONE destination.

The Waikiki Dining Room on the SS Lurline 1950s
Image from Flickr

On the Amawaterways ships, seating in the dining room encourages passengers to socialize with others in comfort and style. Breakfast and lunch were served buffet style for the most part supplemented with wait service for those wanting to order something special – and there was ALWAYS something special reflecting the cuisine of the country we were traveling through. Dinner was full service – IMPECCABLE. 

Dining room on the AmaKristina
from Amawaterways.com

Lunch with new friends Gary and Terry
on the AmaKristina

Aww, now I’m feeling nostalgic and just want to plan a vacation.

Please join me as we cruise over to Sepia Saturday for more stories and old photos.

Wendy

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - PROSPERITY: Surviving the Great Depression

The Great Depression as presented in my high school American History class left me picturing the world in grey. I thought EVERYBODY stood in soup lines. I thought EVERYBODY was out of work. I thought the sun never shone.

About 1933 - My mother Mary Eleanor Davis at the home of her grandparents
Walter and Mary Frances Davis
Across the street is her house, built by her father and grandfather.
Visible between the bushes is the Davis Store, corner of Sixth St and Pennsylvania Ave

As a child my mother had clothes and shoes unlike one of her good friends who would arrive at school barefooted. Momma also took lessons in piano and tap. That sounds like a luxury to me.

What did the Davis family do differently that allowed them to be witnesses to the effects of the Depression rather than victims? Maybe it was because they were self-starters.

My great-grandfather Walter B. Davis (1867-1934) spent most of his adult years as a carpenter like his father. He operated a planing mill and also built numerous houses throughout the town of Shenandoah in Page County, Virginia.

 

Davis Store Shenandoah, VA 1920s

As early as 1920 he was the owner of Davis and Sons Groceries at the corner of Sixth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, just across the street from where he lived. At various times my grandfather Orvin and his brother Millard were the “Sons” in that business, managing things while Walter continued building houses.

My grandfather might have been an official manager or owner, but he did not actually work there. Orvin instead had a garage where he serviced and repaired cars. Running the store was my grandmother’s job.

 

My grandmother Lucille Davis behind the counter

I imagine that even when few were building houses, the townspeople of Shenandoah were still patronizing the grocery store. They could count on the Davis Store for staples like coffee, sugar, bread, peanut butter, soap, salt, matches, oatmeal, and potatoes. They could also buy thread, oil, chicken feed, and cigarettes.

 

Receipts from the Davis Store

Yet shopping for necessities was not easy for everyone. Among the memorabilia that my family preserved for over 90 years is a small stack of receipts paper-clipped together. The receipts came from a family who bought on credit and paid down a little here and there with cash. Sometimes the bill was paid by hauling goods.

The ring made from assorted diamonds left at the Davis Store

Some people left diamond rings at the store in exchange for goods. Sadly, the owners never came back for them. The rings were still in a drawer of my grandmother’s dresser when she died in 1990. My mother had a new ring made from the assorted stones.

Whenever I wear the ring, I can’t help wondering who gave up her wedding ring to feed her family.

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”

Wendy

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Clicquot Club

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

The bottles lined up on the tables in this week’s Sepia Saturday prompt reminded me how I misunderstood this photo of my mother and her friends:

High school sweethearts at the Palomar:  Tommy Watson and
Betsy Ward, Mary Eleanor Davis and Dickie Blanks
at the Spring Dance, Apr 23, 1945.

For years I thought the photo was taken during her college days and that she was drinking beer. However, when I took a closer look, I realized the bottles were nothing more than 7-Up.

I wish I could tell what THIS bottle is.

August 17-18, 1946  12:30 a.m. Ocean Club
George Savage, Margaret Wall, Mary Eleanor Davis,
Tuff Brown, Betsy Ward, Ralph Joynes

Maybe it is the same drink as these guys might have enjoyed during a camping trip with friends in 1919.

From Aunt Helen Killeen Parker
camping trip about 1919

Let me start by saying I have no idea what the joke was. The paper conversation bubble was glued on, probably by my grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker.

For this blog post, it is the case of bottles under the table that catches my eye. Clicquot Club? What is that?

Pronounced “Klee-Ko” (not “click kwat”), the company began in Massachusetts in the 1880s producing sparkling cider and ginger ale. Early producers of ginger ale sold solely to hotels, restaurants and clubs, but the Clicquot Beverage Company pioneered marketing ginger ale to families. Clicquot revolutionized the soda industry and soon became the largest manufacturer of ginger ale in the world.

The company was the first to put a metal cap on a bottle and the first to sell soft drinks in a can.

Part of the marketing plan besides advertising on billboards and in magazines was radio advertising. THIS IS FOR YOU, MR MIKE! The ginger ale company sponsored a banjo orchestra under the direction of Harry F. Reser called the Clicquot Club Eskimos, based on Clicquot’s most recognizable symbol: the Eskimo Boy.

The company itself went through several owners, eventually being absorbed by Canada Dry. Today the Clicquot Club wooden crate is a collectible. On Etsy and on Ebay the wooden boxes sell anywhere from $25 to $275.

image from Etsy

The various versions of bottles also have attracted collectors. Clicquot Club Eskimo dolls and figurines, sheet music and ads are also desirable finds.

Ebay has 2 vintage bottles of Clicquot Club ginger ale UNOPENED. I can’t offer you a taste of Cliquot Club, but here is a taste of the Clicquot Club Eskimos’ radio show.

Raise your glass or bottle to the many fine bloggers at Sepia Saturday.

Wendy

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - FAVORITE DISCOVERY: Marsh Mash

One of my favorite discoveries goes back to 2016 when I was participating in Amy Johnson Crow’s 31 Days to Better Genealogy Challenge. I was familiar with Linkpendium, but until she challenged us to try it out, I was skeptical that it would be of any use in my Jollett research. But I am nothing if not obedient.

Half-heartedly I entered a simple search: “Jollett” and “WORLDWIDE.” Most of the hits were census records and blogs that mentioned my blog. However, there was ONE hit that caught my eye: Kanawha County Family Tree Project. Kanawha? I didn’t know of any Jolletts in Kanawha, but there they were.

The family was that of Malinda Jollett and her husband Thomas Marsh. Malinda or Melindy was one of the sisters of my 3X great-grandfather Fielding Jollett. I had been unable to trace them after 1850 in Putnam County. The listing in Linkpendium made it clear why they had remained hidden from me for so long. The name Marsh had morphed into MASH, probably a reflection of the Southern soft-R. The family and other Virginians may have pronounced their name “Mahsh” rather than like something one does to a potato.

 

Buffalo Putnam Co WV
Home of many generations of the Mash and related families
photo courtesy West Virginia Culture Archives

The children in the listing on Linkpendium matched the names I had noted in the 1850 census. At last I knew for sure the family had not been wiped out by Indians as I had begun to think.

The other reason this discovery merits the label “favorite” is that I discovered I have never written about this family. Anymore it seems I have very little NEW information to share. Let me introduce the Marsh or er uh the Mash family:

Malinda/Melindy Jollett (c 1800 Orange Co VA - ) & Thomas Marsh (c 1796 VA - ) married 12 Mar 1822 Orange Co VA

1. James Marsh/Mash (1828 Orange Co VA – 11 Jul 1862 Baltimore MD) & Susan Johnson (c 1823 – 1901) married 7 Jan 1843 Mason Co VA

• Lucy Florence Johnson (22 Jan 1844 Mason Co WV – 11 Jul 1932 Kanawha Co WV) & Henry R. Perry (1838-1897) married 1863 Mason Co WV
• Cornelius Pleasant Johnson or Mash (14 May 1850 Putnam Co VA – a 1900 WV) & Caroline Hundley (c 1852 - ) married 1876 ; & Ella Luella Cook (1851-1913) married 1881 Kanawha Co WV

2. Julia Marsh/Mash (c 1830 VA - ) & John Steele (c 1830 - ) married 4 Jul 1852 Putnam Co VA

• Sarah F. Steel (15 Apr 1854 Putnam Co VA - )
• James T. Steel (15 Sep 1856 Putnam Co VA – 5 Jul 1860 Putnam Co VA)
• Mary Maglin Steel (25 Oct 1858 Putnam Co VA - )
• Abram Lewis Steel (23 May1862 Putnam Co VA – 27 Dec 1945 Putnam Co WV) & Virginia Bell Fowler (May 1867 Putnam Co WV – a 1910 ) married 12 Apr 1885 Putnam Co WV
• William H. Steel (1864 Putnam Co VA -16 Aug 1897 Putnam Co WV) & Miriam Oldaker (c 1868 Putnam Co WV - ) married 25 Dec 1889 Putnam Co WV
• Robert C. Steel (9 Sep 1866 Putnam Co WV – 18 Apr 1952 Putnam Co WV)
• Harry Steel (16 Jul 1871 Putnam Co WV - )

3. William Henry Mash (c 1831 VA –) & Minerva Steele (c 1832 - ) married 3 Jun 1851 Putnam Co VA

• Matilda Mash (8 Mar 1850 Putnam Co VA – 19 Sep 1931 Harrison Co WV) & James D. McMann (c 1832 England - ) married 31 May 1878 Mason Co WV ; married James Winters 14 Oct 1916 Harrison Co WV
• Ann Eliza Mash (c 1855 - )
• William H. Mash (10 Dec 1855 Putnam Co VA – 10 Apr 1927 Putnam Co WV) & Catherine E. Brofferd (Jun 1865 Putnam Co WV – 1906 Putnam Co WV) married 11 Oct 1885 Mason Co WV
• John G. Mash (c 1857 Putnam Co VA - ) & Elvira Hayes Legg (13 Mar 1851 – 13 May 1916 Putnam Co, WV) married 15 Feb 1897 Putnam Co WV
• Malinda E. Mash (c 1862 )
• Nettie E. Mash (c 1866 Putnam Co WV - ) & James A. LeMaster (c 1865 Mason Co WV - ) married 14 Jun 1886 Mason Co WV
• Victoria Jane Mash (20 Apr 1869 Putnam Co WV – 6 Sep 1938 Mason Co, WV) & George W. Holdren (c 1866 Kanawha Co, WV - ) married 25 Aug 1887 Mason Co, WV

4. Joseph Mash (c 1834 Rockingham Co VA - ) & Eliza Jane Steele (c 1829 Kanawha Co VA - ) married 20 Aug 1854 Putnam Co VA

• America Ann Mash (3 Jul 1855 Putnam Co VA – ) & James Madison Eads (c 1854 Greenbrier Co VA - ) married 23 Jun 1876 Putnam Co WV
• Minerva Jane Mash (18 Mar 1858 Putnam Co VA – 16 Sep 1936 Mason Co WV) & Jonathan Fielder (Aug 1852 Putnam Co VA – 9 Feb 1926 Mason Co WV) married 21 Jun 1874 Putnam Co WV
• James M. Mash (c 1865 Putnam Co VA – 19 Nov 1888 Mason Co, WV) & Harriet Emily Crump (1867 Mason Co WV - ) married 27 Jul 1884 Mason Co, WV
• Robert L Mash (29 Jul 1867 Putnam Co WV - )
• Elizabeth Ellen Mash (Feb 1870 Putnam Co WV – 7 Sep 1935 Mason Co WV) & William Franklin LeMaster (12 Sep 1865 Mason Co WV – 10 Sep 1948 Mason Co WV) married 19 Jun 1891 Mason Co WV

5. Mary J. Mash (c 1837 VA – )

6. John G. Mash (c 1839 Rockingham Co VA - a 1872) & Sarah Frances Dodson (c 1841 Mason Co VA - ) married 28 Sep 1859 Putnam Co VA

• Bennet Thomas Mash (26 Aug 1860 Mason Co VA - ) & Barbara Ellen Suttle (c 1859 Putnam Co VA - ) married 17 Mar 1881 Putnam Co WV ; & Margaret Ann Lark (c 1861 Putnam Co VA - ) married 24 Aug 1883

7. Benjamin F. Mash (c 1841 - )

8. Sarah Magdalene Mash (31 Dec 1844 VA – 5 Jul 1930 Putnam Co WV) & Marcellus Cash (c 1841 VA – 19 Dec 1932 Putnam Co WV) married 10 Nov 1861 Putnam Co WV

• Emily J. Cash (28 Jul 1861 Putnam Co VA - ) & Charles Oldaker (Mar 1876 Mason Co WV - ) married 29 Dec 1897 Putnam Co WV
• Sarah Ellen Cash (10 Aug 1866 Mason Co VA – 2 Feb 1938 Putnam Co WV) & Benjamin Thomas Oldaker (Jun 1867 WV – 9 Jan 1932 Putnam Co WV) married 1890 Putnam Co WV
• Virginia Cash (1867 Putnam Co WV – 13 Apr Mason Co WV)
• Lucy Ann Catherine Cash (1869 Mason Co WV - 13 Aug 1902 Mason Co WV) & William Alexander Craig (24 Aug 1864 WV – 6 May 1953 Putnam Co WV) married 18 Oct 1891 Putnam Co WV
• Mary Samantha Cash (Jan 1875 Mason Co WV – a 1910 Putnam Co WV) & Ulysses Grant Ray 7 (Mar 1869 Putnam Co WV – 21 Nov 1950 Kanawha Co WV) Married 5 Mar 1891 Putnam Co WV
• Charles W.  Cash (1876 Putnam Co WV – 15 Dec 1878 Mason Co WV)
• Henry T. Cash (June 1878 Mason Co WV – 31 Dec 1878 Mason Co WV)
• Theodore Cash (12 Apr 1878 Putnam Co WV - 1 Jul 1959 Putnam Co WV) & Miriam Steel OR Oldaker (14 Jul 1868 Putnam Co WV – 14 Sep 1943 Putnam Co WV) married 27 Dec 1898 Putnam Co WV
• Mariah Cash (Sep 1886 Putnam Co WV - ) & Henry Edward McGrew (c 1869 Putnam Co WV - ) married 11 Nov 1900 Putnam Co WV

In tracking just 3 generations, I have already found several things worth exploring and writing about: several Civil War soldiers and casualties, a murder (!), and some confusion about the intermarriages of Mash, Steel, and Oldaker.

Time to get my thinking cap on!

NOTE: Updated 4 May 2020 - removed Thomas Daniel Mash as a child of Thomas and Melinda

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”

Wendy

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors - SAME NAME: Mary Mary Mary

I’m running out of time to meet this week’s challenge, so I present to you my longest continuous list of women named Mary:

My sister Mary Jollette (still kicking it)

My mother Mary Eleanor Davis Slade (1929-2005)

My grandmother Mary Lucille Rucker Davis (or maybe Lucille Mary) (1904-1990)

My great-grandmother Mary Susan Eppard Rucker (1875-1958)

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”

Wendy

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Sepia Saturday: Photo Phakery?

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

The photo of people posing with a cardboard automobile in this week’s Sepia Saturday prompt afforded an opportunity to share this photo:

 

Mae and Clifton Holland in the backseat
Henry Holland in the front
photo courtesy Cliff Reeves

What can we glean from this photo? The steering wheel gives the illusion of a car, but there are no doors, no roof, no windows. The draping behind the couples looks much like a tent at a circus or fair suggesting this might have been a prop in a precursor to today’s photo booth. The baby in the backseat probably was not real. The black beady eyes and unnatural pose of the arms make it look more like a doll, maybe a prize for shooting plastic ducks or knocking down all the milk bottles.  

The photo was given to me by the grandson of the couple in the backseat: Mae and Clifton Holland. Mae (formally known as Mary Agnes) was sister to my paternal grandmother and sister to Helen Killeen Parker whose photos I have shared on this blog too many times to count.

The couple in the front seat was Clifton’s younger brother Henry Lee Holland and his unnamed wife, according to Mae’s grandson. She is wearing a wedding ring, so I must believe he is correct. However, there are some red flags that throw that conclusion into question.

A marriage record for Henry Holland dated 1942 claims he was SINGLE. The bride-to-be was divorcee Annie Sophie Wagner Whitley. However, the clothing in this photo seems to predate the styles of 1942, in particular the men’s stiff collars AND the lady’s wide-brimmed hat. Men’s collars of the 40s had become longer, more pointed. Ladies’ hats were much smaller.

Henry Holland and Annie divorced in 1946. He promptly married a widow, Mary Miller Mears. For the same observations about the clothing, it is doubtful the woman in the photo was wife #2 either.

I have no other photos of Henry, but thanks to my cousin, I have a photo of Clifton and Mae Holland with their children for comparison.

 

photo courtesy Cliff Reeves

Pictured are Clifton and Mae in the center, surrounded by their children John, Mary Evelyn "Ebbie," and Jean. John was born in 1917, Ebbie in 1920, and Jean in 1926. Without an exact date of the photo, I will guess that surely little Jean was no older than 6, dating this photo to about 1932. Mae does not look a bit older in the previous photo suggesting that picture was taken earlier than 1942.

At least two trees on Ancestry put Henry Lee Holland with a woman named Elizabeth Mae Bailey. Despite my hopes that there had been a wife previous to Annie Whitley, there is no record online. There is, however, a marriage record for Elizabeth Mae Bailey and one James Henry Holland. Eh – probably another case of sloppy genealogy linking similar names without verifying the facts first.

To be fair, there are not many facts available online for Henry Lee Holland. In the 1920 census, Henry was just a teenager working as a messenger boy for the telegraph company. After that, the only records are marriage, divorce, and death. Those indicate he served in the Navy and was a torpedoman when he died in 1950.

So is this Henry and Annie in the front seat? I cannot say for sure. But one thing is clear: those Holland men were good-looking.

Strike a pose with cars – real and fake – at Sepia Saturday.

Wendy

© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.