Tombstone Tuesday - Adele Pollack Denby

Adele Pollack Denby my paternal Great Grandmother

Adele Pollack Denby was born in Green County Missouri on October 19, 1871. The 1880 US Census finds her living in Cass Township, Greene County, Missouri with her parent Joseph and Martha Elizabeth (Skeen) and her siblings Gabriel, Delinda, Calvin, and Marvin. Also living in the home was her Grandmother Delinda Skeen and a hired hand James Harper. Her baby sister Florence who was born two weeks before the census was not listed.

On June 23, 1897 at the age of 25 she married Claude Denby. Three years later they had their first child Esther Elizabeth and were still living in Cass Township. By the 1910 US Census they had two more girls Irma Marie and my grandmother Jo Helen and are living in Melrose, Curry, New Mexico where Claude's father TBS Denby was a US Commissioner. That accounts for the Denby Ave there which I discovered while researching for Grandma Jo's Tombstone Tuesday post.

By the 1920 US Census they were back in Cass where she remained for the rest of her life. Sometime between 1920 and 1930 they built their own house which still stands today. My Grandma Jo loved that house and said during the hot summers there was always a cool breeze running through it because of they thoughtful way it was built by her parents. Adele was also listed as the post mistress in Cass in 1930.

She died on October 12, 1948 at the age of 76 and is buried at the Cave Springs Memorial Church Cemetery with many, many family members but not her husband who is buried with his parents at the Greenfield Cemetery. There might be another story there...

Edited to add a map of where they are buried in different towns 25 miles apart. Click for map.

Tombstone Tuesday - Esther Elizabeth Denby Kelso

Esther Elizabeth Denby Kelso my paternal Great Aunt

Aunt Esther was born in Missouri on September 7, 1898. The 1900 US Census finds her living in Cass Township, Greene County, Missouri with her parents Claude and Adele (Pollack). Her younger sisters Irma Marie and Jo Helen were yet to be born. When she was 24 she married Arthur Howard Kelso while they were still living in Missouri. By 1930 they were living in Long Beach, California. Esther and Art never had any children of their own but she dearly loved her nephews and their children. She worked in the grocery industry in the deli department. The people who knew her when she was younger said she was a very outgoing social person. I don't remember her being anything but an old woman crippled by gout and arthritis with a slightly off color sense of humor which horrified my Grandma Jo. They lived together for many years after they were both widowed.

Aunt Esther had a secret that only her closest friends knew about... she kept a big bottle of Port under the sink and after dinner every night she would hit the bottle. It's interesting that my fondest memory of her is talking to things in the house as she was shuffling towards her bed. She would touch the faucet and say "Off", touch each stove knob and say "Off", check the door knobs and say "Locked", and then toddle off to her bedroom to call it a night. If I was there I would follow her, tuck her in and she would give me a big hug and tell me how much she love me. She was such a treasure.

Tombstone Tuesday - Dora Isabell Dawson McDaniel

Dora Isabell Dawson McDaniel my maternal great grandmother

Great Grandma McDaniel was born on August 20, 1889 in Texas. The 1900 US Census finds her living in Red River, Texas with her parents George William and Julia Francis (Morrison) and her siblings Rodolph, Gussie, Carrie, Fannie, and Vivan. I don't remember much about her, she was a sturdy woman and bigger than her husband Posey. I have a newspaper clipping from their Golden wedding anniversary part of it says "Mrs. McDaniel says the secret to a her happy marriage lies in the fact that she never takes part in an argument. She waits till her husband "cools off" and then states her case. "It works." she says  "We both do pretty well as we please." she adds."  An interesting thing for her to have said back in 1958.