Birthdays from my family tree from the week of July 20:
July 20
Dudley Boone Wilson, (my 3G uncle on my mother's side), b. 1865 in the Narrows, Rowan County, Ky.; d. Dec. 31, 1906, in Montgomery County, Ky. Dudley was born to Isaiah Wilson and Sarah Jane Wilson Wilson. His given name was Isaiah — he appears in the 1870 census report as "Isah," age 4, and several other genealogical sources say he was born Isaiah Jr. At some point, he changed his name, however.
He was one of 14 children. His siblings included my 2G grandfather, Abijiah Wilson, who was something of a rough character, based on what little I know about him. But another of his siblings was Jeremiah Wilson — "Doc Jerry," as he was known to patients in Morehead, Ky., where he was one of just three doctors at the turn of the 20th century.
Dudley Boone Wilson did pretty well for himself, too. He was a builder of the bridge to Saul St. Marie bridge to Canada (long since replaced). He also had a hand in building Chicago drainage canal, tunnels in the east, railroad tunnels out east, and railroad beds out west.
Susanna Kidd Fultz, (my first cousin twice removed on my father's side), b. 1875 in Rowan County, Ky.; d. July 29, 1945, in Elliottville, Rowan County, Ky. Susanna was the daughter of John M. Kidd and Sarah Caudill Kidd and the niece of Edmund Kidd, my great-grandfather. She married George W. Fultz in 1892. Her death certificate records Anna Fultz — age 69 years, 11 months, 9 days — born July 20, 1885, in Kentucky, died June 29, 1945, in Elliottsville. She was widowed and lived at 1819 Baltimore St. in Middletown, Ohio. The cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage. Note that the reported birthdate does not match with the age at death. It was apparently a subtraction error. Her gravestone, a double with husband George W. Fultz 1870 - 1929, gives her dates as 1875 to 1945.
July 21
Morrel Worley Hall, (my first cousin three times removed on my mother's side), b. 1887 in Morehead, Rowan County, Ky.; d. Nov. 5, 1954, in Morehead, Rowan County, Ky. Morrel was one of nine children of William Thomas Hall and Sarah R. Riddle Hall. My 3G grandfather, George Martin Hall, was Morrel's grandfather.
Life heaped a lot on Lynne Frances Hefflefinger Lambert, and she passed far too young. She is buried in Glen Haven Memorial Gardens in New Carlisle, Ohio, near her husband, who died in a motorcycle accident five months earlier. This cemetery also contains the graves of my paternal grandparents and several other relatives.
Lynne Frances Hefflefinger Lambert, (wife of Harold J. Lambert, my first cousin once removed), b. 1946; d. Nov. 21, 1968, in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio. Lynne's husband was the son of my great uncle, Clyde Tracy Lambert -- Uncle Trace to my dad and subsequent generations. Trace was my paternal grandmother's brother.
Trace's son — Lynne's husband — died in a motorcycle accident in 1968, almost exactly one year before I was born. Lynne was pregnant when Harold was killed. She committed suicide five months later, leaving behind two children, Lynetta Kay, 4, and James Harold, 3 months. Lynne was just 23.
I don't recall ever hearing a lot of conversation about this when I was young — that's not the sort of thing adults would talk about in front of children — and I'm not sure what happened to Lynetta and James. Genealogy sometimes unlocks these stories of unfathomable saddness. Although they seem not quite real when you never knew the departed, they are close enough to you generationally, geographically and genealogically to make pangs of grief inescapable.
People I know and love went through this. These stories do much more than slake morbid curiosity. They tell me where strength comes from.
July 22
Paul Kidd, (my first cousin on my father's side), b. 1955 in Morgan County, Ky. Happy birthday, Paul. Hope you have a great day.
July 23
Catharine Anna Wilson, (my second cousin four times removed on my mother's side), b. 1840 in Ohio; d. March 25, 1872, in Ohio. Catharine is one of nine children of William Wilson and Elizabeth Watts Wilson. Her grandfather, William Wilson, died in the War of 1812. Her great uncle, Valentine Wilson, was a powerful landowner in Madison County, Ohio.
Lela Pearl Wallace, (my second cousin twice removed on my mother's side), b. 1915 in Kentucky; d. March 28, 2001, in Clearfield, Rowan County, Ky. Lela was the daughter of Alex Wallace and Fannie D. Gregory Wallace. I don't have much in the way of further information about her — for instance if and whom she married. Our common ancestor was the Rev. Henry C. Caudill (1828-1882), who was one of her paternal great-grandfathers and one of my maternal 3G grandfathers.
July 24
Dovie Marie Kidd, (my first cousin three times removed on my father's side), b. 1924 in Rowan County, Ky.; d. unknown. Dovie was the child of Hamilton Kidd and Rosa Martt Kidd and a great-granddaughter of Edmund Kidd, my 2G grandfather. (One of my great-grandfathers was Edmund's son and was named for him.)
July 25
Vesta Mae Pettit Hall, (wife of Oliver Hall, my 2G uncle on my mother's side), b. 1905 in Morehead, Rowan County, Ky.; d. Oct. 9, 1984, in Rowan County, Ky. Vesta married Oliver, the brother of one of my maternal great-grandmothers, Mahala Susan Hall Wilson. I suspect my grandfather, Oliver Wilson, was named for Vesta's husband, Mahala's brother, but I don't know that for certain.
Albert Kidd, (my great uncle on my father's side), b. 1907 in Morgan County, Ky.; d. March 1, 1969. I'm so sorry I didn't get to meet Uncle Albert — he passed away about three months before I was born and about seven months before I was adopted. He was the brother of my papaw, Elmer Kidd.
July 26
Lucinda Wilson Shubert, (my 3G aunt on my mother's side), b. 1859 in the Narrows, Rowan County, Ky.; d. 1874. I have recorded four Lucinda Wilsons in my family tree. This one was the sister of Abijiah Wilson, my 2G grandfather. Their parents were Isaiah Wilson (1812-1877) and Sarah Jane Wilson Wilson (1838-1913). Isaiah and Sarah Jane shared a last name and were sixth cousins. She was 26 years her husband's junor and barely 14 when they married.
Lucinda married Amos Shubert sometimes after 1874. They had at least three children, and one of them, Mary Pink Shubert, married her uncle, Isaac Wilson, one of Lucinda's 13 siblings. (Dudley Boone Wilson, who celebrated a birthday July 20, was another of her brothers.)
Sarah Lou Gregory, (my second cousin twice removed on my mother's side), b. 1900 in Rowan County, Ky.; d. Jan. 25, 1977, in Clearfield, Rowan County, Ky. Sarah was the daughter of John W. Gregory and Mary Ellen Blankenship Gregory. Sarah also was the granddaughter of the Rev. Henry C. Caudill and a first cousin once removed of Lela Pearl Wallace, who celebrated a birthday on July 23.
Lura M. Lambert, (my second cousin twice removed, my fifth cousin once removed on my father's side, and my third cousin once removed on my mother's side), b. 1926 in Morehead, Rowan County, Ky.; d. May 6, 2006, in Wilmington, Clinton County, Ohio. There are two instances of Leedy's marrying Lamberts in the 1870s. My paternal grandmother was a Lambert, which means I have a lot of double relatives in one branch of my paternal family tree. Lura's father was Alexander Lambert (1897-1986). Her mother was Malissa Jane Stidham Lambert (1900-1983). The Stidhams are related to me on my mother's side, making Lura a triple relative.
Steven Michael Walters, (my second cousin on my mother's side), b. 1968. Happy birthday, Steven. Hope you have a great day.