Birthdays from my family tree for the week of March 8.
March 8
Andrew Catron (father-in-law of Elias Lambert, my 3G uncle on my father's side), b. 1809 in Wythe County, Va.; d. Nov. 5, 1862 in Rural Retreat, Wythe County, Va.
Genevieve Lambert (my first cousin twice removed on my father's side), b. 1905 in Elliottville, Rowan County, Ky.; d. Nov. 25, 1978, in Dayton, Ohio.
Effie Mae "Ellen" Lambert (my first cousin twice removed on my father's side), b. 1909 in Morehead, Rowan County, Ky.; d. Sept. 1, 1997, in Pomery, Meigs County, Ohio. Effie, the daughter of Edd and Pearl Belle Lowe Lambert, shared a birthday with her sister, Genevive Lambert, who was four years her elder.
Stella Kidd Workman (my third cousin once removed on my father's side), b. 1919; details of death not available. Stella is the product of two Kidd lines. Her mother, Dora Kidd, is my paternal grandfather's sister. She married, John William Kidd, who I do not believe is a direct relative of my father's line of Kidds.
March 9
Harrison Burns McBrayer (my first cousin twice removed on my father's side), b. 1876 in Rowan County, Ky.; d. Aug. 28, 1899, in Elliottville, Rowan County, Ky.
Cecil Logan Kidd (my third cousin once removed on my father's side), b. 1929 in Rowan County, Ky.; d. Sept. 26, 1969, in Hamilton County, Ohio.
March 10
Sarah Wilson (my second cousin four times removed on my mother's side), b. 1844 in Madison County, Ohio; details about death unavailable. One of eight children — but only two daughters — of William Delano and Nancy Moore Wilson. Her father was a land baron of Madison County.
Nancy Jane Caudill (my 3G aunt on my mother's side), b. 1869 in Elliott County, Ky.; details of death not available. Daughter of the Rev. Henry C. Caudill and Elizabeth Jane Short Caudill.
Mildred L. Elam (my first cousin twice removed on my mother's side), b. 1923 in Kentucky; d. Dec. 15, 1987, in Dayton, Ohio.
March 11
Michael Wilson (my second cousin four times removed on my mother's side), b. 1837 in Brighton, Clark County, Ohio; d. Nov. 14, 1909, Springfield, Clark County, Ohio.
Joseph Slusher Jr. (second husband of Sarah Elizabeth Jennings Slusher Kidd, mother of my 3G uncle-in-law on my father's side), b. 1860 in Morgan County, Ky.; d. May 18, 1933.
My paternal grandmother, Lenore "Nona" Lambert, and my papaw, Elmer Kidd.
March 12
Reid Tolliver (great uncle of Elizabeth Kidd Tolliver, my first cousin twice removed on my father's side), b. 1845; d. Aug. 14, 1864.
Ann Lewis (my first cousin four times removed on my mother's side), b. 1870 in Morgan County, Ky.; details of death not available.
Lenore Lambert (my paternal grandmother), b. 1905 in Kentucky; d. September 1973, in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio. I was 4 when my grandmother died. I don't remember her well, but I remember her. Papaw used to like to show us grandchildren how a mule eats corn — which entailed scooping you up in his lap and squeezing your legs just above the knee. I'd squirm and squeal until Grandma came to save me. I also remember the house in Soldier, Ky., with a creek running through the front yard. It was a lot of fun to throw stones in the water. That's what I remember about visits there. That, and the sack of Brach's candy Grandma kept in the dresser just inside her bedroom door, which got hauled out and distributed when the grandkids arrived.
Clayton Ray (my wife's grand uncle on her father's side), b. 1911 in Kershaw County, SC; d. April 2, 1992.
March 13
Mary Wilson (my first cousin four times removed on my mother's side), b. 1850 in Morgan County, Ky.; d. March 20, 1915, in Montgomery County, Ky. One of 11 children of Abijiah Brooks Wilson and Catherine C. Wilson Wilson. Her mother, Theodocia was a distatn cousin of Robert E. Lee.
Michael Ray Wiliams (my first cousin once removed on my mother's side), b. 1947.
March 14
Michael Wilson Jr. (my first cousin three times removed on my mother's side), b. 1814 in Harrison Township, Clark County, Ohio; d. Feb. 10, 1879.
• Bunyan Spratt Wilson (my first cousin three times removed), b. 1878 in Jeffersonville, Montgomery, Ky.; d. Aug. 28, 1938, in Ashland, Boyd County, Ky. Wilson was the son of Jeremiah Wilson, one of the first doctors in Morehead, and the brother of Cora Wilson Stewart, who won world renown as a Progressive-era adult-literacy advocate. But Bunayan was a force in his own right. He was named for his father's medical partner, Bunyan Spratt, who died unexpectedly. Bunyan became an attorney and politician. He was educated in Rowan County public schools, attended Morehead State University (then Morehead Normal School) and in May 1900 graduated first in his class with an L.L.B. degree from the University of Louisville. Bunyan was the first mayor of Morehead, serving from 1901 to 1903. He also served as police court judge there from 1903 to 1910, and then was the Morehead city attorney from 1910 to 1912. He was elected a state legislator for Rowan and Bath counties from 1912 to 1914. Lured by the opportunities created by the steel industry boom there, Bunyan relocated his family to Ashland, Boyd Co., KY around 1916 where he became a prominent attorney. (In the accompanying photo, Wilson is depicted in the centennial edition of the Morehead News.)
Jessie Boone, center, is shown here with four generations of Rays — her son Claude Ray, his son Claude Ray Jr., and her great grandson, Tim Ray. Photo from Ancestry.com.
Jessie Elezbat Boone (my wife's great grandmother on her father's side), b. 1890 in Kershaw County, S.C.; d. Jan. 18, 1975, in Camden, Kershaw County, S.C. She had been abandoned by her parents; her mother was Lizzie Boone, whose first husband is unknown and whose second husband's last name was Moss. Jeessie was reared by her grandparents, John Boone and Frankie Boone, according to information on Ancestry.com. She married James Huey Ray in the Kershaw County jail, where her grandfather, a former Confederate war general, was the county jailer. They had 15 children, three of which died at birth.
Nannine Myrtle Moore (my 2G aunt-in-law on my mother's side), b. 1908 in Elliott County, Ky.; d. July 2, 1968, in Rowan County, Ky.
Ray Kidd (my great uncle), b. 1918 in Elliott County, Ky.; d. March 1, 2000, in Morehead, Rowan County, Ky. My grandfather's kid brother — 16 years Elmer's junior.
Leroy Clifton Hall (my second cousin twice removed on my mother's side), b. 1920 in Rowan County, Ky.; d. Aug. 22, 1969.
Orval Dean Carr (my third cousin twice removed on my mother's side), b. 1927 in White Lick, Morgan County, Ind.; d. June 13, 1927, in White Lick, Morgan County, Ind.
William Brett Dickerson (my second cousin on my mother's side), b. 1972.