GeneaBlogs

   It’s pretty much common knowledge that Easter is a Christian celebration of Christ’s rising, but this holiday also has pagan origins. Where did the colored eggs, cute little bunnies, baby chicks, leg of lamb dinners, and lilies come from? They are all symbols of rebirth and the lamb was a traditional religious sacrifice.

   Easter falls in the spring, the yearly time of renewal, when the earth renews itself after a long, cold winter. The word Easter comes to us from the Norsemen’s Eostur, Eastar, Ostara, and Ostar, and the pagan goddess Eostre, all of which involve the season of the growing sun and new birth. The Easter Bunny arose originally as a symbol of fertility, due to the rapid reproduction habits of the hare and rabbit.

   The ancient Egyptians, Persians, Phoenicians, and Hindus all believed the world began with an enormous egg, thus the egg as a symbol of new life has been around for eons. The particulars may vary, but most cultures around the world use the egg as a symbol of new life and rebirth. A notation in the household accounts of Edward I of England showed an expenditure of eighteen pence for 450 eggs to be gold-leafed and colored for Easter gifts. The first book to mention Easter eggs by name was written five hundred years ago. Yet, a North African tribe that had become Christian much earlier in time had a custom of coloring eggs at Easter. Long hard winters often meant little food, and a fresh egg for Easter was quite a prize. Later, Christians abstained from eating meat during the Lenten season prior to Easter. Easter was the first chance to enjoy eggs and meat after the long abstinence.

   Some European children go from house to house begging for Easter eggs, much like Halloween trick-or-treaters. Called pace-egging, it comes from the old word for Easter, Pasch. Many old cultures also attributed the egg with great healing powers. It is interesting to note that eggs play almost no part in the Easter celebrations of Mexico, South America, and Native American Indian cultures. Egg-rolling contests are a symbolic re-enactment of the rolling away of the stone from Christ’s tomb. The decoration of small leaf-barren branches as Easter egg trees has become a popular custom in the United States since the 1990s.

Happy Easter!

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William is one of the more colorful Strouds in our line. Although he was illiterate, William bought and sold a great deal of land in Virginia and North Carolina. He appears to have been somewhat of a land speculator and he didn’t remain in any one place for long. He was arrested twice, the first time in Virginia about the same time as his brother Joshua, and on similar charges, and for breaking out of jail the second time.

He was born about 1700 in Bristol Parish, Prince George County, Virgina. He lived on the south side of the Meherrin River, Surry County, Virginia between 1721-1723. He received a grant of 100 acres on the south side of Meherrin River in Surry (probably now Mecklenburg) County, Virginia, in 1721; he sold it in 1723. This was the first recorded of many land transactions that William would engage in. He was married to Margaret, maiden name unproven but often given as “Rose”.

In 1738 John Sr. died leaving half of his land on Sturgeon Run in Brunswick County, 196 acres, to William and the other half to John Jr. This was in St. Andrew’s Parish on the line between Dinwiddie and Brunswick County, Virginia.

By late summer of 1739 William purchased 1,000 acres on the south side of the Roanoke River, in Brunswick County, Virginia. He was sued for adultery by the church wardens of the parish, for trespass, assault, and also for debt. On 7 Aug 1740 it was reported that he was not in the county.

In 1741, as in Brunswick County, Virginia, Deed Book 2, page 107, there is a “Lease and Release”, from William Stroud, Sr., of Edgecombe Precinct, North Carolina, to John Shearman of Brunswick, for a 100 acre tract in Brunswick, bounded by Robert Ferington and Lewis Parham. It was signed, William X Stroud, and witnessed by Andrew Hampton, Susanna King and George King and recorded 1 October, 1741. On 27 Jun 1741 both William and his brother John Stroud Jr sold Drury Stith the 196 acres on Sturgeon Run where he was living at the time. Brunswick County Deed Book 2, page 125, 27 June, 1741, shows that William Stroud, “Planter, of the Parish of St. Andrew’s”, a mortgage held by Drury Stith, Gent., on 196 acres on both sides Sturgeon Run, where Stroud now lives, it being part of tract surveyed for John Stoud in 1729, and having been part of a larger tract containing 392 acres. William made his mark, thereby agreeing to pay off the mortgage, plus interest and expenses, by 27 June, 1742, or lose the property.

He then moved his family to Edgecombe Precinct (now Warren County), North Carolina. His brothers Joshua (who had been arrested for adultery about the same time William had and who had abandoned his wife) and John Jr and his family came with him. In 1742 he received a grant of several hundred acres on Cabin Branch of Smith’s Creek and several years later received another 500 acre grant for more Cabin Branch land. Over the next twenty years he proceeded to purchase more land here and to sell it to several others, including his son John, who continued to buy land along the creek.

15 March, 1742/3 he acquired 400 acres in Edgecombe, on Powell’s branch. Other locations were Cabin Branch, Smith’s Creek and Little Creek. During this period of time William Stroud, Jr. met his wife to be, Elizabeth Estridge, as William, Sr. sold to her father, Ephraim Estridge, 100 acres.

On 22 February, 1743, William Stroud, county not identified, sold to Ephraim Estridge, county not identified, for 4 pds 10 shill, 100 acres on Cabbin Branch, all houses, etc., “part of grant to ye sd Stroud, 15 Mar 1742″.

On 1 December, 1747, William Stroud, Jr. sold 100 acres on the east side of Powell’s Creek at Ephraim Estridge’s SW corner. On 5 March, 1754, William Stroud received a license in Granville County to keep and Ordinary at his dwelling.

At some point his first wife Margaret died, and he married Elizabeth. In 1755 he was imprisoned in Granville County, North Carolina but escaped aided by his wife Elizabeth, his son William Jr, his daughter-in-law Elizabeth, and others. William Jr. was later indicted for assisting in the escape. We are left to wonder the cause of his incarceration. Perhaps the “Crown” was displeased with William, as his family did not appear to be. There are records regarding his neighbors having covered the roadway with limbs and brush so as to deter agents of the King, but we will never know whether William was arrested for so honorable a cause. William and his family locate next in Orange County where, in 1756, he purchased 315 acres and immediately gave half to William Jr. and half to Peter. He then moved up to Lunenberg County, Virginia, by 1759, as Granville County Deed Book C notes that “William Stroud of Lunenberg County, Virginia”, sold 100 acres on Dodson’s Branch in Granville, to William Woodward.

The last known mention of William Stroud Sr. was on 1 Feb 1783 when he acknowledged in Lincoln County that John Stroud of that county was his eldest son by his first wife Margaret. At this time he would have been around 83.

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• ID: I649291648
• Name: Emma Frances POST
• Given Name: Emma Frances
• Surname: Post
• Sex: F
• Birth: 4 Jul 1848 in Kane, Green Co, IL
• Death: 1926 in Larned, Pawnee Co, KS

• Note: “Ancestors Robert Kitchell, Rev. Abraham Pierson, John Cory, Obadiah Bruen, Jean Genung, Edward Ball came to America over 300 years ago. Her grandfather Jacob Post, and a great grandfather Joseph Wood, were born in New Jersey and fought in the Revolutionary War. ”

Mrs. Leasure was born in Illinois and came out to Larned, Kansas, in 1873. She had the spirit and enterprise of the true pioneer and before her first marriage she took up a pre-emption, plowed the furrows for setting out a row of hedge, and built a shack. She was the first woman married in Pawnee County after its organization. She was married in 1873, at Larned to Capt. Daniel Bright. The license for her marriage was issued by Captain Bright himself, who was then serving as probate judge. Mrs. Leasure and Mrs. Tompkins, wife of the first newspaper man of Larned, made the first flag which was raised in the new county to celebrate the Fourth of July celebration in 1873. This flag was made of strips of red, white and blue torn from old clothing.

Transcribed from A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, written and compiled by William E. Connelley, Secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka. [Revised ed.] Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919, c1918. 5 v. (xlviii, 2530 p., [155] leaves of plates): ill., maps (some fold.), ports.; 27.

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* Henegar Roberts
* born: 11 Apr 1831
* died: 21 Nov 1919
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   HENEGAR ROBERTS, a prominent old resident of Polk Co., Missouir was born in Anderson County, Ten. Apri. 11, 1831 and is the son of Moses and Maria Roberts, who were Virginians. They both died in Illinois when their son Henegar was a small lad. The latter was then taken by and uncle, Stephen Porter, back to Tennessee. he only remained with him one year, and then made his home with his grandfather a short time. He continued to make his home with relations until twenty-two years of age, and then began depending on his own resources to obtain a livelihood and engaged in farming, which occupation he has followed in connection with stock-raising up to the present time. In 1856 he came to Polk County, and was engaged in tilling the soil on rented land until 1865, when he came to his present location, which is one of the most fertile and well-filled farms in the County. He is a member of the Agricultural Wheel, and is a staunch Republican in politics. He at all times supports the cause of education, religion, as well as all public enterprises of worth, and commands the respect and confidence of his neighbors and aquaintances. In 1855 he married to Miss Martha Rule, a daughter of Henry Rule. She was born in Knox County, Ten. November 17, 1838 and is the mother of 8 children. William H. – farmer and school teacher, Leroy – farmer and school teacher, Nancy J. – wife of Henry Rusk, Sarah Ann – wife of Columbus Williamson, Adaline – wife of Henry Vest, Joseph M., Orlie O., and Arthur J. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts are members of the Missionary Baptist Church.

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* Martha Rule
* born: 17 Nov 1838
* died: 26 Dec 1919
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Born: 27 May 1672 in Skelton, York, England
Married: Jane Worrilaw on 10 Oct 1696
Died: 1749 in West Town, Chester, Co., PA
Buried: Edgemont Township, Chester Co., PA

Daniel Hoopes fought in the war with Cromwell. In company with an unmarried brother he came to this country in the year 1683 on the Ship Providence. The brother, soon tiring of the pioneer life, returned to his home in England. Therefore, Daniel and family were the first of the name in America. Daniel Hoopes first settled farther north in this State [PA] but soon after procuring the right of 64 acres from William Penn in what is now Chester and Delaware Counties and in the township of Westtown, made that his home. It is related that some of the older children were born in a cave, which was the first home of the family and, in those primitive times, not an exceptional case. The line of Delaware county runs through the lower portion of the estate. On the main portion of the land there was built in 1723 what at that time was considered an elegant mansion. It contained about twelve rooms and has its secret closet, etc. This house has quite a history. The old homestead is still standing and looks as though it would for several years to come.

Of interest is the obituary of Joshua Hoopes, grandson of Daniel:
“Joshua Hoopes, aged 88 years and 7 months; the oldest of the name of Hoopes in the country. At Downingtown, on the evening of the 11th of same, granddaughter of the above; aged between 3 and 4 years. In Sadsbury, on the 25th of the same Francis W. Hoopes, grandson of the above Joshua; age near thirty years (not 40 as stated) He has left a widow and three small children.
As instances of longevity are occasionally noticed, the following may not be uninteresting. Daniel Hoopes, grandfather of the above named Joshua Hoopes, was married in 1696. The issue of that marriage was seventeen children; nine of whose ages averaged more than 84 years; and seven of the nine were living about 100 years after the union of their parents. The last of them died about 120 years after her parents marriage. The sum of the ages amounts to about 1036 years. If we add the ages of Daniel and his wife, we have about 1200 years. There are probably very few instances in modern times of the immediate issue of a single marriage enjoying 1036 years of life.
When a boy Daniel came into this country with his father Joshua Hoopes, in company with William Penn. Joshua took an active part in the Government; it also appears that Daniel was a member of the Legislature in the years 1708-9; since which the family seem not to have engaged much in public business. From Daniel are descended all the Hoopes of America.”

Daniel Hoopes’ signature on a land deed dated 5 Dec 1730. He transferred 200 acres to his son of the same name.

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* The pilgrims didn’t use forks; they ate with spoons, knives, and their fingers.

* They wiped their hands on large cloth napkins which they also used to pick up hot morsels of food.

* Salt would have been on the table at the harvest feast, and people would have sprinkled it on their food. Pepper, however, was something that they used for cooking but wasn’t available on the table.

* In the seventeenth century, a person’s social standing determined what he or she ate. The best food was placed next to the most important people. People didn’t tend to sample everything that was on the table (as we do today), they just ate what was closest to them.

* People weren’t served their meals individually. Foods were served onto the table and then people took the food from the table and ate it. All the servers had to do was move the food from the place where it was cooked onto the table.

* Pilgrims didn’t eat in courses as we do today. All of the different types of foods were placed on the table at the same time and people ate in any order they chose. Sometimes there were two courses, but each of them would contain both meat dishes, puddings, and sweets.

* In a pilgrim household, the adults sat down to eat and the children and servants waited on them.

* The foods that the colonists and Wampanoag Indians ate were very similar, but their eating patterns were different. While the colonists had set eating patterns – breakfast, dinner, and supper – the Wampanoags tended to eat when they were hungry and to have pots cooking throughout the day.

(Source: www.history.com)

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Audie Leon Murphy

   Audie Leon Murphy, son of poor Texas sharecroppers, rose to national fame as the most decorated U.S. combat soldier of World War II. Among his 33 awards and decorations was the Medal of Honor, the highest military award for bravery that can be given to any individual in the United States of America, for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.” He also received every decoration for valor that his country had to offer, some of them more than once, including five decorations by France and Belgium. Credited with killing over 240 of the enemy while wounding and capturing many others, he became a legend within the 3rd Infantry Division. Beginning his service as an Army Private, Audie quickly rose to the enlisted rank of Staff Sergeant, was given a “battle field” commission as 2nd Lieutenant, was wounded three times, fought in nine major campaigns across the European Theater, and survived the war.

   On 21 September, 1945, Audie was released from the Army as an active member and reassigned to inactive status. He later went to Hollywood and became a successful movie star. His 1949 autobiography To Hell And Back was a best seller. Murphy starred as himself in a film biography released by Universal-International in 1955 with the same title. The movie, To Hell and Back, held the record as Universal’s highest grossing picture until 1975 when it was finally surpassed by the movie Jaws.

   While on a business trip on Memorial Day weekend, May 28, 1971, he was killed at the age of 46. A private plane flying in fog and rain crashed into the side of a mountain near Roanoke, Virginia. Five others including the pilot were also killed. Although Audie owned and flew his own plane earlier in his Hollywood career, he was among the passengers that tragic day.

"Like the man, the headstone is too small."

   On June 7th, Audie Murphy was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery. His gravesite, near the Amphitheater in Section 46, is the second most visited gravesite, President Kennedy’s grave being the most visited. The headstones of Arlington’s Medal of Honor recipients are normally decorated in gold leaf, but Murphy had requested that his stone remain plain and inconspicuous, as would be the case with an ordinary soldier. An Oak Leaf Cluster signifies a subsequent award of the same decoration. First Lieutenant Audie Murphy was one of very few company-grade officers ever to be awarded the Legion of Merit. That decoration is usually awarded only to officers of the rank of lieutenant colonel and above. In 1996 the Texas Legislature officially designated his birthday, June 20th, as Audie Murphy Day.
   For further about Audie Murphy go to: www.audiemurphy.com.

   Audie Murphy went to school in Celeste, TX until the eighth grade, when he dropped out to help support his family (his father deserted them in 1936). He became very skilled with a rifle, hunting small game to help feed the family. One of his favorite hunting companions was neighbor Dial Henley. When he commented that Murphy never missed when he shot at game, Murphy replied, “Well, Dial, if I don’t hit what I shoot at, my family won’t eat today.” During the 1930s Murphy worked at a combination general store/garage and filling station in Greenville, Texas. At fifteen he was working in a radio repair shop when his mother died on May 23, 1941. Later that year, in agreement with his older sister Corrinne, Murphy was forced to place his three youngest siblings in an orphanage to ensure their care. He later reclaimed his siblings from the orphanage after the end of World War II.
   After the attack on Pearl harbor, 7 Dec. 1941, Murphy, then just 15 years old, tried to enlist in the military, but the services rejected him for being under age. In June 1942, shortly after his 16th birthday (sister Corrine adjusted his birth date so he appeared to be 18 and legally allowed to enlist), Murphy was accepted into the Army after being turned down by the Marines, paratroopers, and the Navy for being slight of build and too short.

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This account of the New Madrid Earthquake was recorded by George Heinrich Crist, residing at the time in Nelson County in north-central Kentucky, near the present location of Louisville. It was submitted to The Virtual Times by Floyd Creasey – 4th tier great-grandchild to author, now a Texas resident.

16 December 1811

“There was a great shaking of the earth this morning. Tables and chairs turned over and knocked around – all of us knocked out of bed. The roar I thught would leave us deaf if we lived. It was not a storm. when you could hear, all you cold hear was screams from people and animals. It was the worst thing that I have ever wittnesed. It was still dark and you could not see nothng. I thought the shaking and the loud roaring sound would never stop. You could not hold onto nothing neither man or woman was strong enough – the shaking would knock you lose like knocking hicror nuts out of a tree. I don’t know how we lived through it. None of us was killed – we was all banged up and some of us knocked out for awile and blood was every where. When it got day break you could see the damage done all around. We still had our home it was some damage. Some people that the home was not built to strong did not. We will have to hunt our animals. Every body is scared to death. we still do not know if anybody was killed. I made my mind to one thing. If this earth quake or what ever it was did not happen in the Territory of Indiana then me and my family is moving to Pigeon Roost as soon as I can get things together.

23 January 1812

“What are we gonna do? You cannot fight it cause you do not know how. It is not something that you can see. In a storm you can see the sky and it shows dark clouds and you know that you might get strong winds but this you can not see anything but a house that just lays in a pile on the ground – not scattered around and trees that just falls over with the roots still on it. The earth quake or what ever it is come again today. It was as bad or worse than the one in December. We lost our Amandy Jane in this one – a log fell on her. We will bury her upon the hill under a clump of trees where Besys Ma and Pa is buried. A lot of people thinks that the devil has come here. Some thinks that this is the beginning of the world coming to a end.

8 Febuary 1812

“If we do not get away from here the ground is going to eat us alive. We had another one of them earth quakes yesterdy and today the ground still shakes at times. We are all about to go crazy – from pain and fright. We can not do anything until we can find our animals or get some more. We have not found enough to pull he wagons.

20 March 1812

“I do not know if our minds have got bad or what. But everybody says it. I swear you can still feel the ground move and shake some. We still have not found enough animals to pull the wagons and you can not find any to buy or trade.

14 April 1813

“We lived to make it to Pigeon Roost. We did not lose any lives but we had aplenty troubles. As much as I love my place in Kentucy – I never want to go back. From December to April no man – woman or animal if they could talk would dare to believe what we lived through. From what people say it was not that bad here – They felt the ground move and shake but it did not destroy cabins and trees like it did in Kentucky. I guess that things was as bad here but at least they could see the enemy. on 3 September 1812 the Shawnees that William thought was friendly went crazy and them savages killed twenty four people….”

Map showing location of George Crist's cabin

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Amelia Mary Earhart

    This week our series, Through The Looking Glass, features one of my all time heroes: Amelia Earhart. The publicity about the new film Amelia, in theatres now, triggers childhood memories for me; back to my grade school years. You remember them, when we all had to pick a famous person and either read a biography about them and write a book report or research and write our own little mini-bio on them. I always chose Amelia Earhart. She was my hero, someone I wanted to emulate and was often an influence in those long ago young-girl dreams and aspirations. We all know about Earhart’s accomplishments, the dry facts and stats, so I will not dwell on those. Rather, I will focus more on Amelia the woman, that extraordinary person who did so much for women and whose effects are still felt today.

    Much has been written about Earhart, her daring and courage, her many accomplishments. Between 1930 and 1935 she set 7 women’s speed and distance records, set a world altitude record of 18,415 feet in 1931, completed the first solo transatlantic flight by a woman in 1935, and was the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, to name just a few. But what about Amelia the woman? Little is known about the personal Amelia and much of her remains an enigma to this day. In order to glimpse the woman that was Amelia, we have to start at the beginning…

    Amelia Mary Earhart was born to Samuel Edwin Earhart (1867- ) and Amelia “Amy” Otis (1869-1962) in Atchison, Kansas on 24 July 1897. Her father, whom she adored, was an alcoholic and, in later years, the family moved around a lot due to his inability to keep a job. Her mother was a patrician and Amelia’s upbringing was unconventional for the time; Amy Earhart did not believe in molding her daughters into “nice little girls”. Amelia wore trousers as a child and once said that she liked the freedom they gave her but she was always aware that “other girls didn’t wear them”.

    In 1915 Amy Earhart left her husband and took Amelia and her sister to Chicago. Amelia deplored the abysmal high schools in her district and shopped around for a high school that had a good science department. A revealing clue to Amelia’s high school experience can be found from the entry about her in the high school yearbook: “A.E., the girl in brown who walks alone.”

    In 1921 Amelia took her first airplane ride with Frank Hawks, who later became a famed air racer. It cost ten dollars and lasted 10 minutes but that 10 minutes was enough to trigger a passion for aviation that would last the rest of her life. After working and saving her money to take flying lessons, Amelia became the 16th woman to be issued a pilot’s license by the FAA on 15 May 1923.

    While Amelia was known to be competitive, and much written about her leaves the impression of a tough female wearing masculine clothing, her compassionate side often revealed itself. In 1929 while competing in the “Powder Puff Derby”, an air racing competition for women, she and fellow aviator and friend Ruth Nichols were tied for 1st place. While taking off for the last leg of the race, Nichols hit a tractor at the end of the field and flipped her plane. Instead of taking off, Amelia jumped out of her plane and ran to her friend, pulling her out and dragging her away from the wreckage. Only when she knew her friend was uninjured did Amelia get back into her plane and take off, finishing in 3rd place. After meeting and speaking with Earhart, first lady Lou Hoover said to a friend that Amelia was “poised, well bred, lovely to look at, intelligent, and sincere…” Another first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, admired Amelia and counted her as a friend. On one occasion Amelia invited the first lady to take a flight over the capital at night. Eleanor accepted and to mark the occasion, Amelia wore an evening gown while flying the plane. Indeed, the inner Amelia had a playful and whimsical side.

    In 1931 Amelia married publicist George Palmer Putnam (1887-1950), a man who with she had many common interests such as hiking, swimming, camping, riding, tennis and golf. A clue to the inner Amelia can be found in the devastating letter she wrote and had hand delivered to Putnam on their wedding day:

“Dear G.P., there are some things which should be writ before we are married, things we have talked over before most of them. You must know again my reluctance to marry, my feeling that I shatter thereby chances in work which means to — so much to me. I feel the move just now is foolish as anything I could do. I know there may be compensations, but I have no heart to look ahead. In our life together, I shall not hold you to any medieval code — of faithfulness to me, nor shall I consider myself bound to you similarly … Please let us not interfere with the other’s work or play, nor let the world see our private joys or disagreements. In this connection, I may have to keep some place where I can go to be myself now and then, for I cannot guarantee to endure all the confinements of even an attractive cage. I must extract a cruel promise, and that is you will let me go in a year if we find no happiness together” (1)

    She later wrote to a friend about the relationship she shared with her husband, “Ours is a reasonable and contented partnership; my husband with his solo jobs, and I with mine; but the system of dual control works satisfactorily and our work and our play is a great deal together.” Like an adventurous male, Amelia would keep her heart to herself.

    Earhart dedicated her life to proving that, like men, women could excel in their chosen professions and that they could have equal value. Earhart became involved with the implementation of the Ninety-Nines, an organization of female pilots advancing the cause of women in aviation and in 1930 she became the organization’s first president. When the Bendix Trophy Race banned women from the competition in 1935 she openly refused to fly screen actress Mary Pickford to Cleveland to open the race. In 1935, Amelia Earhart joined the faculty at Purdue University as a female career consultant and technical adviser to the Department of Aeronautics. On the “lighter” side, Earhart became involved in woman’s fashions. For years she had sewn her own clothes, and now she contributed her input to a new line of women’s fashion that had a sleek and purposeful, yet feminine, look.

    In 1937 Amelia began planning a world flight. While it would not be the first flight around the world, it would be the longest at 29,000 miles. On 1 June 1937 she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, took off from Miami to start the journey. They flew toward Central and South America, turning east for Africa. From there the plane crossed the Indian Ocean and finally touched down in Lae, New Guinea, on 29 June 1937. She and Noonan had completed 22,000 miles of the journey; the last 7000 would take place over the Pacific Ocean. After recuperating from dysentery, they took off from Lae on July 2, 1937 at 12:30 PM, heading east toward Howland Island. She and Noonan never made it. On 3 July 1937 at 8:43 AM the last official communication from Earhart was received. Despite one of the largest task forces ever launched by the US Navy, the search for Earhart was unsuccessful and no trace of her, Noonan, or the aircraft was ever found. On 5 January 1939, Amelia Earhart was declared legally dead by the Superior Court in Los Angeles.

    And so my hero flew into history, leaving behind an invaluable legacy for all women. In her passion for flying, she amassed a number of records but, beyond her accomplishments as a pilot, she also made a statement about the role and worth of women. Shy but charismatic, plucky but compassionate, Earhart opened doors and blazed a trail that remains a warm beacon for all women. I remember and honor Amelia Earhart, the girl in brown who walked alone, dreamed dreams and, despite knowing she was “different”, had the courage, determination, and perseverance to pursue them.

(1) Source: George Palmer Putnam. Soaring Wings: A Biography of Amelia Earhart. 1939. p. 76, 82.

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Alexa Sevilla Evans

    Alexa Sevilla Evans was born in Nantahala Township, Macon County, North Carolina on 19 April 1889 to a farmer and his wife who eventually had 16 children, 13 of which lived to adulthood. She grew up in the Deep South, in and around the Macon County area. By the time she was three she was picking cotton and working in the fields. She told of backbreaking work, the constant bending over, the heat and humidity. Of how heavy her long skirt and petticoat were, adding that she would lift them up and tuck them in at the waist so she could get a little breeze on her legs. When she grew into woman- hood many heard of Alexa Evans and how pretty she was with her long, black hair and beautiful blue eyes.

    When she was eighteen she met and married Michael Ghormley, always affectionately referred to by Lexie as “Mikey”. Neither Lexie nor Mike liked her given name so she changed it, and from then on was known as “Lexie Willie”. She and Mike had two children, a son, Jesse Bernard, and a daughter Loise; the daughter would die young of pneumonia, as would Mike. Lexie always spoke highly of her “Mikey” stating, “He was always good to me.” Sometime after the death of Loise and her beloved Mikey, about 1912, she and Bernard moved to Georgia where her parents had already relocated a few years before. She began to work in a mill and she spoke of taking homemade pickles and crackers for her lunch everyday; life was hard for a widow with a young son to support.

    About 1913 she met, probably at the mill she was working in, and married Ellis Garrett. They had two sons and a daughter and then, in 1921, the couple decided to move to Missouri, possibly because Ellis had family there, or maybe for better employment opportunities. For whatever reason, they packed up what belongings could be put on a covered farm wagon, and the kids, and set off for the long hard journey to Missouri. Rush, Lexie’s brother, accompanied them to help with the move, later returning to Georgia. Lexie walked most of the journey from Georgia to Missouri behind the wagon, carrying baby Lottie Mae and tending her three sons, Bernard, Sherman, and Coleman. Shortly after arriving in Missouri, Pauline was born in October of the same year so Lexie must have been pregnant when she walked those many miles. Ellis and Lexie would have three more daughters, Mary Belle, Willie, and Lucille.

    Life wasn’t easy for Lexie; Ellis was a drinker and abusive, especially to his stepson Bernard. He would hang around long enough to get her pregnant, grab what money he could, and then he would disappear for long periods of time. Lexie continued to work out in the fields of their farm, taking in extra work as she could, in order to support the family. Lottie Mae tells of her mother working long, hard hours and coming into the house every evening exhausted. One of the kids would always run and get a pan of warm water for her so she could soak her feet. Lottie Mae said there were many times her mother would have her get a pen and paper and Lexie would dictate letters to her while she soaked, many to her father and to her Aunt Bunie. The last child, Lucille, was born in 1929; soon after that Ellis left for the last time and never returned. Years ago Coleman and his wife, June Baker Garrett, were staying with Lexie and June spent many afternoons talking with her. June asked Lexie why, when Ellis had been so abusive, she had stayed with him. Lexie told her that she had left Ellis three times but that each time she left him, her family, most notably her father, made her go back to him. Most likely the thought of her father’s censure would have been more difficult and painful for her to face than Ellis’ abuse.

    After Ellis left for the last time, Lexie bought a cafe in Willard, Missouri and it became known as “Garrett’s Cafe.” Lexie worked long hours in the cafe, as did the children. The kids would get out of school and go to the cafe to help out; Lexie had indeed taught her children the meaning of “good work ethics”, which stayed with all of them throughout their lives. About 1944 or 1945, before WWII ended, Lexie sold the cafe and moved to Springfield. All of the family remember well the big, two story house on Robberson Street. By this time Lexie had many grandchildren, and as the years went by there would be great, as well as great-great-grandchildren and many family get-togethers in the house on Robberson Street.

    In Feb 1982, at the age of 92, Lexie broke her hip. While in the hospital she was told by the doctors that she could not return home until she could walk and that usually took about 6 months (medical science, of course, not being like it is today). Lexie walked out of the hospital in 27 days. Soon after, the house on Robberson Street was sold and she moved into a mobile home behind her daughter Pauline’s house. About six months after she left the hospital, Lexie suffered a stroke which paralyzed her left side and affected her speech. The next few years must have been torture for a woman who had always been so independent. But Lexie, as she had always done, met this challenge and coped with her disabilities with grace and dignity.

    Lexie Evans Ghormley Garrett passed away 3 Sep 1986, leaving behind a loving family and a legacy that will not be forgotten. During her lifetime, she saw 17 United States presidents take the Oath of Office, her country involved in 5 wars – not counting the “Cold War”, man’s first flight in an airplane and his first steps on the moon, the sinking of the Titanic and the Lusitania, the discovery of antibiotics, diseases such as polio and smallpox eradicated, and the introduction of AIDS. She was a strong woman with true, pioneering grit and an indomitable spirit.

~ written by granddaughter Debra Hayes Brodbeck ~

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