Birthdays from my family tree from the week of July 13:

July 14

Noah Hall, (my first cousin three times removed on my mother's side) b. 1881 in Rowan County, Ky.; d. April 2, 1972, in Morehead, Rowan County, Ky. Noah's father, William Thomas Hall, was the brother of my 2G grandfather George Washington Hall. He was one of nine children of William and Sarah R. Riddle Hall.

Marian Elaine Moody Ray, (my mother-in-law). Love you, Elaine. Hope you have a great day.

Wayne Allen Harper, (my first cousin on my mother's side), b. 1970. Happy birthday, Wayne. Hope you have a great day.

July 15

Walter D. Caudill, (my first cousin three times removed on my mother's side and my second cousin three times removed on my mother's side), b. 1881 in Rowan County, Ky.; d. Sept. 11, 1883. Walter was one of 10 children of Samuel B. Caudill and Amanda Susan Hall. Samuel was a cousin of my 2G grandfather William Washington Williams. Amanda was the sister of my 2G grandfather George Washington Hall. The Williamses were part of my mother's maternal line and the Halls were part of her paternal line. That makes Walter and his siblings double relatives.

July 16

Elenora Irene Williams Dickerson, (my first cousin once removed on my mother's side), b. 1941. Happy birthday!

Charlotte Kidd, (my first cousin on my father's side), b. in Carter County, Ky. Happy birthday, Charlotte. Hope you have a great day.

Danny Keith Trent, (my first cousin once removed on my mother's side), b. 1961. Happy birthday, Danny. Hope you have a great day.

July 17

Laben Franklin McKinney, (husband of Emma A. Hall, my first cousin three times removed on my mother's side), b. 1895 in Cogswell, Rowan County, Ky.; d. Feb. 24, 1974, in Morehead, Rowan County, Ky. Laben was Emma's second husband. Her first husband was Ervin Davis Quesenberry, who also was a first cousin. He died in 1943 at age 43, and Emma remarried Laben Franklin. I do not have a marriage date for them. If they had children together, I can find no record of it. It's unlikely that they did, as Emma would have been 44 when her first husband died.

July 18

William Halley Stewart, (my second cousin twice removed on my mother's side), b. 1907 in Morehead, Rowan County, Ky.; d. June 7, 1908, in Morehead, Rowan County, Ky. William was the only child of Cora Wilson Stewart — a world renowned adult-literacy crusader of the Progressive era — and Alexander Thomas Stewart. William, whose middle name was the maiden name of Cora's mother, died a little more than a month before his first birthday. The baby died from what one news report described as "three fatal diseases."

Cora and Alexander had a tempestuous relationship — they were married twice, and the second ended after William went on a drunken rampage and nearly killed her. The grief and bitterness of William's death almost certainly contributed to the demise of his parents' marriage, as their first marriage ended at least in part because of Alexander's displeasure with Cora's political aspirations. (She twice ran successfully for Rowan County schools superintendent, becoming the first woman in Kentucky to hold such office.) William's death caused some to question if Cora had paid adequate attention to him, according to a biography of her by Willie Nelms, "Cora Wilson Stewart: Crusader Against Illiteracy."

Cora never had children again.