Birthdays from my family tree for the week of Oct. 12:
Oct. 12
Matilda Wilson, (my first cousin three times removed on my mother's side), b. 1814 in Madison County, Ohio; d. March 21, 1890, in Madison County, Ohio. Matilda was one of six children of Valentine Wilson and the second of his three wives, Elanore Judy Wilson. Valentine was one of the wealthiest landowners of his region of Ohio. He married three times — his first two wives died — and had children by all of his wives. Lots of children.
In addition to five siblings, Matilda had 14 half brothers and sisters.
Leonard Clarence Williams, (my 2G uncle on my mother's side), b. 1894 in Rowan County, Ky.; d. Feb. 7, 1972, in Wayne, Mich. Leonard was the brother of my great-grandfather Andrew Jackson Williams. He was one of 10 children of William Washington Williams and Rebecca Caudill Williams. I don't know much about his life, except that, unlike many of his siblings, he apparently spent much of his adulthood away from the Kentucky county where he was born. He married Eunice Mabel Harris in 1914 in Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio, and died in Michigan.
Nell Emily Hall Hedrick, (my second cousin three times removed), b. 1906 in Rush Hill, Mo.; d. July 3, 1994, in Liberal, Seward County, Kan. Nell was one of four children of John Adrin Hall and Rhoda Virginia Maxell Hall.
Lincoln Brooks, (my half-uncle Ronnie Jackson Brooks' uncle on his father's side), b. 1910 in Claiborn County, Tenn.; d. Feb. 21, 2004, in South Charleston, Clark County, Ohio. Lincoln was the brother of Otis Brooks, my maternal grandmother's first husband and father of my half-uncle Ronnie Jackson Brooks. He was born in Tennessee, where most of the Brooks clan lived, then moved to Clark County, Ohio, with his siblings and parents William Tipton Brooks and Margaret Alice Estep Brooks. He spent most of the rest of his life in Clark County.
Thomas Edward Buskirk, (my stepson). Happy birthday, Tommy Boy. Love ya.
Oct. 13
Burl Wilson, (my great-grandfather on my mother's side), b. 1884 in Rowan County, Ky.; d. Aug. 15, 1967 in Ashland, Boyd County, Ky. Burl lived most of his life on a remote ridge in Rowan County, Ky., on property he purchased from his brother Lee, added on to through purchases and inheritence from his wife Mahala Susan Hall Wilson, and passed on to his only son, Oliver Wilson, my maternal grandfather. Burl was illiterate but hard-working. He worked as a brakeman on a logging company railroad line, worked in a clay mine and farmed his land. According to grandson Kenny Wilson, Burl ran a little moonshine from time to time and often sweetened it with honey — sugar was typically in short supply during the Depression and World War II. I think that sort of activity had ceased by the time Burl's grandchildren were living on the farm with him. Or at least he kept it well-hidden — my mother never told me any such stories about her papaw.
Arlie Caudill, (my second cousin three times removed on my mother's side), b. 1901 in Morehead, Rowan County, Ky.; d. Feb. 14, 1990, in Kentucky. Arlie was the son of Tilden Hendrix Caudill and Rebecca Ann Caudill Caudill. Tilden and Rebecca Ann were first cousins once removed — their fathers, John Maggard Caudill (1833-1895) and William B. Caudill (1858-1928), respectively, were cousins.
James Roland Brinson Sr., (my wife Deborah Renee Ray's first cousin once removed on her father's side), b. 1944.
Oct. 14
William Wilson, (my first cousin three times removed on my mother's side), b. 1812 in Bath Township, Greene County, Ohio; d. Dec. 4, 1881, in Ohio. William was one of at least two children of William and Catherine Heffley Wilson. The elder William was part of a large family that moved from Virginia to Kentucky to Ohio. His brother Valentine Wilson became a large, wealthy landowner. William Wilson died during the War of 1812, at Fairfield, Ohio, of "cold plague" or cerebro-spinal meningitis. The younger William was one of the three children he left behind, along with sisters Susannah and Elizabeth.
Edmund Kidd, (my great-grandfather on my father's side), b. 1871 in Blairs Mill, Morgan County, Ky.; d. Oct. 25, 1938, in Fayette County, Ky. Edmund was one of 22 children that his father, also named Edmund, had by two wives. Edmund the younger was the father of my grandfather, Elmer Kidd.
His death certificate records Edmund Kidd, age 67, birthdate blank, born in Kentucky. He died Oct. 24, 1938, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Lexington, Fayette Co., Ky., though he lived at the time in Minor, Ky. His occupation was listed as farmer. He was the husband of Lullie Kidd. The cause of death acute ineuritis due to urethral strictures.
Peter Thornsberry, (my first cousin twice removed on my father's side), b. 1885 in Kentucky; d. Dec. 31, 1977, in Rowan County, Ky. Peter was the son of Simpson Thornsberry and Amanda Kidd Thornsberry, who was the sister of Edmund Kidd, who also had an Oct. 14 birthday. Peter had nine siblings.
Jake Ison, (my ), b. 1987 in Montgomery County, Ky. Happy birthday, Jake. Hope you have a great day.
Oct. 15
Isaac Wilson, (my 5G uncle on my mother's side), b. 1791 in Fairfield, Greene County, Ohio; d. April 10, 1859, in Greene County, Ohio. Isaac was another of the brothers of Valentine Wilson. He was born after the family moved to Ohio and spend his life in Greene County. Another of his older brothers was Jeremiah Wilson, my 5G grandfather. Like Valentine, Jeremiah was born in Virginia and moved from that state, to Kentucky, then to Ohio. Jeremiah made one additional move — to Rowan County, Ky., where most of family was born and raised.
William Ernest Brinson Jr., (my wife Deborah Renee Ray's second cousin on her father's side), b. 1974. Happy birthday, William.
Oct. 16
Addie Lambert Hughes, (my first cousin twice removed on my father's side and my fourth cousin twice removed on my father's side), b. 1923 in Rowan County, Ky.; d. May 29, 1991, in Elyria, Loraine County, Ohio. Addie was the daughter of Edward Lambert and Pearl Belle Lowe Lambert, Edward's first wife. Edward was the brother of my great-grandfather Henry Lambert and uncle of my paternal grandmother, Lenore Lambert Kidd.
Addie married Charles Hughes in 1951. The couple lived in Lorain County, Ohio, where Addie passed away.
Dawn Rochelle Brooks, (my cousin on my mother's side). Happy birthday, Dawn. Hope you have a great day.
Oct. 17
Elizabeth Jane Short Caudill, (my 3G grandmother on my mother's side), b. 1830 in Wise County, Va.; d. March 22, 1910, in Rowan County, Ky. Elizabeth married the Rev. Henry C. Caudill in 1848 in Letcher County, where she moved after her birth in Wise County, Va. The Caudill family was prolific in Letcher County, but Henry, his brothers John Maggard, Jesse Abner, Abel and Samuel C. relocated in Rowan County, Ky., where to a man they became prominent citizens. Some of their siblings and other family members remained in Letcher. The Caudills married Williamses and Halls — surnames prominent in my family tree. My uncle-in-law, Leroy Caudill, was married to my Aunt Vada and hailed from a wing of the Caudills that stayed behind in Letcher County.
Elizabeth had a double sister-in-law, Margaret, who married her brother Daniel Pound "Shifty" Short (1835-1910). Margaret was Henry's sister.
William Monroe Wilson, (my first cousin three times removed on my mother's side), b. 1855 in Licking, Morgan County, Ky.; d. April 4, 1908. William was a grandson of Jeremiah Wilson and a grandnephew of Isaac Wilson, who celebrated a birthday Oct. 15.
Maude May Caudill, (my second cousin twice removed on my mother's side), b. 1898 in Morehead, Rowan County, Ky.; d. Nov. 7, 1973, in Rowan County, Ky. Maude was the sister of Arlie Caudill, who was just less than three years younger and celebrated a birthday Oct. 13.
Oct. 18
Elizabeth Wilson Heffley, (my 5G aunt on my mother's side), b. 1796 in Clark County, Ky.; d. March 4, 1856, in Madison County, Ohio. Elizabeth was a sister of Isaac Wilson, who was four years older than her, and of Valentine Wilson, who was nine years older. She married Charles Heffley — I do not know the date — and they had at least three children, all born after 1822.
Washington J. Wilson, (my first cousin three times removed on my mother's side), b. 1811 in Fairfield, Greene County, Ohio; d. April 26, 1885, in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio. Washington is yet another member of the Ohio Wilsons in my family tree. Jacob Wilson was his grandfather; Elizabeth (with whom he shared a birthday) his aunt; and Isaac and Valentine his uncles. Washington's parents were the son of Michael Wilson Sr. and Temperance Tshudi Wilson. He married Mary Ann Foreman and had at least 10 children.
Matilda Mildred Hall Zumwalt Elliott, (my first cousin four times removed on my mother's side), b. 1879 in Robertson County, Ky.; d. May 18, 1961, in Cynthiana, Harrison County, Ky. Matilda was the daughter of James Edmund Hall and Elizabeth Jane Coyle Hall, and the granddaughter of Isaac Jacob Hall Sr. And remember all of those Caudills from earlier in this post? She's related to them, too, through marriage.
Matilda was herself married twice. Her first husband, Francis Marion Zumwalt, died in 1904 at age 31. If Matilda, 24 at the time, had children with him, I have no record of it. Three years after Francis' death, she married William Henry Elliott, with whom she had at least four children.