Tuesday, February 25, 2014

52 Ancestors - #7 Bertia Mae Duncan

The epitome of a loving, caring and brave frontier mother, Bertia Mae Duncan was the last child born to Matthew Madison Monroe Duncan and his wife, Rebecca Baxter Duncan.  She was the only child to be born in the Indian Territory that would become the state of Oklahoma.  Prior to her birth all of her siblings had been born in Tennessee. Sometime between the birth of her brother Nathan in 1873, in Tennessee and her birth on February 19, 1877, the family had moved to Lebanon, Indian Territory.  At the time of her birth, Lebanon was part of the Chickasaw Nation.  It is now part of Marshall County which was created when Oklahoma became a state.

In 1894, she married Alexander Campbell Martin in Mannsville, Indian Territory.  Mannsville would be included in Johnston County when Oklahoma became a state. Alex and Bertie would become the parents of 11 children.  Lovingly caring for her children and home made for full, busy days.  In addition to her other homemaking skills, she was an accomplished quilter and cook. She was known to have the talent of being able to recreate any dish she tasted without needing a recipe.

As a child of the plains, she discovered an aversion to mountains, which she discovered when she made a visit to her son and his wife in Utah. John and Babe were excited to share the beauty of their state with his parents; however, a drive to Park City proved to be rather terrifying for Bertie as she felt the mountains might topple on top of her.

During her lifetime, she personally witnessed the entry of Oklahoma into the Union as its 46th state in 1907; the devastation and tragedies associated with the Galveston Hurricane in 1900; the shift from horses for travel and farming to the automobile and tractors; the oil boom and its resulting oil fields; as well as two World Wars.
Martin Family about 1902
Front:  Walter, Bess, Verna
Back:  Alex, John, Bertie
Martin Family about 1926
Front:  Ethel, Bess, Alex, Ken, Bertie, John
Second Row:  Don and Vieva
Third Row:  Edith, Ora, Bill, Walt, and Verna

Saturday, February 8, 2014

52 Ancestors - #6 Alexander Campbell Martin

Now I move into the ancestors I never had the opportunity to know personally.  I appreciate the tools that provide information to gain an understanding of these folks without the privilege of a face-to-face relationship.  Technology is helping to create this understanding in a convenient and more economical way. Sharing also increases our appreciation for our ancestors as more stories and information come to light.  As you look at the blogs shared in this challenge (other participant posts as well as my own), please share your memories of the individuals spotlighted.

Alexander Campbell Martin
Alexander Campbell Martin was born August 27, 1874 to Edward Lovell and Leann Hill Martin.  At the time the family was living in Eagle Creek, Overton, Tennessee.  Eagle Creek, no longer a town, was located in middle Tennessee not far from the Kentucky border.  It was between two current Tennessee State Parks, Cordell Hull Birthplace State Park and Standing Stone State Park.  Dale Hollow Lake is to the north.

Alexander was the fifth child of Edward and Leann.  His older siblings were: Thomas Welcome, known as Welk; John Stokely, known as Stoke; Mary Catherine; and William C.  He was followed by:  Nancy Elizabeth, known as Nannie; Carlis Chilton; Cordelia; and, Belle.

Sometime between the time the 1880 census was taken in Tennessee and 1883, the Martin family moved to Texas in search of better opportunities. Leann passed away in Hardy, Montague, Texas in 1883.  Alexander was just nine years old and the baby, Belle, was just one.

By the 1890s, the family had relocated to the Indian Territory, what is now Oklahoma.  Here Alexander met his future wife, Bertia Mae Duncan.  They were married on December 23, 1894 in Mannsville.  Mannsville was located in the Chickasaw Nation Territory.  Alexander and Bertie made their home in Earl, a small town less than five miles from Mannsville. It would become part of Johnston County when Oklahoma was made a state.  Within the coming year, Alexander's sister, Nannie, would marry Bertia's brother Nathan.
The family of Alexander and Bertia would begin to grow with the birth of their first child, John Eldredge Martin in October 1895.  John would be followed by Bessie (Bess) in 1897 and Walter in 1899.

Alexander, John, Bertia
Walter, Bess, & Verna 1902 
In 1900 the family is found in Brazoria County, Texas seeking the opportunities offered by the booming Galveston economy.  This would come to a sad ending with the Galveston hurricane in September 1900.  The storm wiped out their worldly possessions and claimed the life of Bertia's father from injuries sustained during the storm.  The little family would return to Earl and Indian Territory to start over again.

Alexander and his family returned to Earl where he became a tenant farmer.  Tenant farming in Oklahoma was a bit different than other locations in the South.  The main difference being that most of the tenants were white.  Indian Territory was about the last frontier with good farm land.  However, Indian law prohibited white land ownership as well as prohibiting Indians the right to lease their land to outsiders, but this was worked around by employing whites to work their land.  Under this work around, a flood of white tenants came to the territory between 1870 and the 1890s.  By 1900 three-fourths of all tenant farmers in Oklahoma were white.  Between 1900 and 1910, this number had doubled.

The usual arrangement with tenant farmers in Oklahoma was to return one-third of the grain crop to the landlord in addition to one-fourth of the cotton crop produced.  The Tenant was responsible to provide most of the equipment, animals, and furnishings.  Alex would remain a tenant farmer until 1920 when he moved the family to Healdton, Oklahoma.

Alexander's family continued to grow with the birth of Verna in November 1901.  Seven more little
Front:  Ethel, Bess, Alex, Ken (on lap), Bertia, and John
Middle:  Don and Vieva
Back:  Edith, Ora, Will, Walt and Verna
ones would join the family:  Ora Mae, November 1903; William Alexander (Bill), July 1906; Edith Bertia (Edith), January 1910; Don Edward (Don), January 1912; Vieva Rebecca (Vieva), July 1914; Ethel Marita (Ethel), October 1917; and, Kenneth Paul (Ken), October 1922.

Oldest son, John, served in World War I, married a young girl from Salt Lake City, Edith Louise Backman, and would not return to Oklahoma to live.  Several of the children would marry and live in cities in Oklahoma and Texas.  Son Bill died in an oil field accident on May 21, 1931.  Bill was the first child to die.

According to the 1930 census, Alex worked in the oil fields as an engineer.  In 1932, the family moved to Durant, Oklahoma.

In he 1940 census, Alexander was the proprietor of a lunch stand in Durant.

Alex passed away on July 4, 1949 in Sherman, Texas.  He is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Ardmore, Oklahoma.




Tuesday, February 4, 2014

52 Ancestors - #5 Robert Henry McCune

Robert Henry McCune was the maternal grandfather that I knew and loved growing up.  My mother
Robert McCune with his sister, Marie
often comments how lucky she feels to have had two loving, caring fathers.  Having lost his father at an early age, I am sure he understood and related to his wife, Virginia and her two children, Boyd and Iris.

Robert was born on May 21, 1901 to Henry and Mary Jane Slaven McCune.  At the time the family lived in Galesburg, Illinois.  Galesburg is located in northwest central Illinois.  It was built around the foundation of Knox College.  The railroad played an important role in the growth of the city as well. The city has a claim to fame as the birthplace of Carl Sandberg.

During high school, I had an assignment to interview two people who lived during the 1920s.  The following are Robert's responses to the questions I asked.

Where did you live during the 1920s?  "I lived in Galesburg, Illinois, and Salt Lake City, during that period."

What was your mother's occupation?  "Since my father was deceased, my mother worked as a seamstress." (Notice the similarities in the childhood of Robert and his wife Virginia.)

What was your occupation?  "I lived with my older sister, Jane, in Salt Lake City for a while, and worked on the Bingham and Garfield railroad which is a part of Kennecott.  I worked for the CBQ railroad when I was in Illinois, and I worked for Independence Gas and Oil.  I made about $140 a month when I worked for the railroad."

On politicians:
  • Harding - "He was a front for corrupt politicians and they used him as a tool."
  • Coolidge - "He was riding the tide of popularity although he was more capable than Harding."
  • Hoover - "At that time it was not very good"
  • Al Smith - "He would have made a wonderful President.  He did a great job as governor of New York.  I voted for him when he ran for President."
On prohibition:
"Prohibition was a farce, it accomplished nothing.  I feel that a country cannot legislate a man to stop drinking, in fact, I think this caused many people to drink who would otherwise not touch the stuff.

The boarding house, in which I lived in downtown Salt Lake, was a speak-easy.  I helped make some bathtub gin.  We used pure grain alcohol." 

On beauty pageants:
"That was something!  I remember the girl that made my bed in the boarding house became Miss Utah, then Miss America, and then went to Rio to compete for Miss Universe."

On the Teapot Dome Scandal:
"I don't think you would have (heard) very much about Teapot Dome if Sinclair hadn't beaten Rockefellar to get the lease."

On the persecution of Negroes, Catholics, and Jews:
"This had no place here in America.  Everyone, regardless of creed or color, is entitled to his own religious beliefs.

Comparing the 20s to the 60s:
"We have the same short skirts.  There are more tensions today, and the pace is faster today."


Robert married Virginia Sparks Lunn on Valentine's Day 1938.  At that time he became a father to Virginia's son and daughter as well as a husband.  They lived in Virginia's home on McClelland Street.  He was a loving husband and father.

The family enjoyed the typical family life of the period working and playing together.  This pleasant time would be interrupted by the world turmoil of World War II.  Robert enlisted and was made a Navy recruiter.  At lease he was able to stay stateside.

After the war, Robert worked for Sinclair Oil.  Over the years his assignments took him to Kansas City, Cheyenne, and Denver.  He loved spending time with his children and grandchildren when they visited and shared the highlights of these destinations with them:  Frontier Days in Cheyenne with the colorful parade and rodeo; the Natural History Museum of Denver, the Capitol; The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs; and, rowing boats on the lake in the Denver City Park.

Traveling through his territory in Wyoming, his grandchildren learned that the first numbers on Wyoming license plates indicated the county where the car was registered:  19 meant Uinta, county seat Evanston; 1 meant Natrona, county seat Casper; 2 meant Laramie, county seat Cheyenne; 4 meant Sweetwater, county seat Green River.

Robert and Virginia would move back to Salt Lake in 1963.  His eyesight was failing due to cataracts.  He suffered a detached retina following surgery to remove the cataracts which led to his retirement. he took his grandchildren to Denver Bear baseball games each summer.

Grandpa was an avid baseball fan.  Every summer we made at least one trip to the see the Denver Bears play in their stadium.  He would have been so proud to have a major league team in his hometown.  He missed the Rockies by a few decades.

His other sports interests included boxing, wrestling, horse racing, football and dog racing.  We were fortunate to see the customs associated with horse racing on visits to Englewood.  I still watch the Triple Crown races each year in his honor.  The bugle calling the horses to the track and the color silks of the jockeys combined with the beauty and grace of the horses make racing a marvelous spectator sport.  I never could understand the science behind picking the winning horse and remember one time Grandpa's horse didn't finish the race.  He never bet on a gray horse again.

Robert passed away on March 2, 1973 at his home in Salt Lake City.
McCune Siblings
Bernard, Jerome, Robert
Jane and Marie

Jane, unknown, Marie, Robert,
and Mary Jane



Virginia and Robert in the Redwoods