The Livingston Family

Prelude

For several years now, members of the family have been “pressuring” me to write a family history. With the passing of our sister Vivian on January 15, 2017, the need to write this history is more apparent. As we pass on, much would be lost. I will be the first to admit that I am not a genealogist and certainly no better than an amateur historian, I will do my best. There will certainly be errors and omissions, unintentional, but perhaps I will help those in the future to improve on this work.

Back in 1967, when Pixie and I were living in Davison Michigan. Grandpa Troy and Grandma Hazel drove up from Richmond Indiana. Up until this time, my knowledge of the family was limited to my brothers and sisters’, mother and father, grandparents, and some aunts and uncles and some cousins. When Grandpa Troy told me that his father was also a Ralph Livingston, and had served in the 8^th Iowa Cavalry during the Civil War this “blew my mind”. I also learned that his parents had lived in Iowa. This was the beginning of a lifelong interest. In the mid 70’s we were living in Bel Air Maryland. I frequently traveled to the Washington D.C. area so it became easy to spend time at the National Archives, where I was able to obtain a researcher’s pass. A great deal of information became available. My first interest of course was the Eighth Iowa Cavalry and genealogy was a bi-product.

Moving forward many years, around 2005, while “surfing” historical sites on the internet, I came upon the Army History Institute in Carlisle Pennsylvania. While looking through their photograph album, I came upon Ralph Livingston, 8^th Iowa Cavalry. Wow! I had never seen a picture of my great grandfather. Naturally I ordered it. When received it was a fantastic picture of my great grandfather and great grandmother probably taken in 1908 at their 50^th wedding anniversary. Also included was a letter from the submitter, Virginia Siebert in Orange Texas. I had to find out why she had a picture of my great grandparents, so, on line, I was able to obtain her phone number. This was the start of a wonderful friendship. We visited Virginia and her husband Jim in Texas in October of 2006. Virginia’s mother, Hazel Livingston, was our Grandpa Troy’s cousin. I discovered that in the early 1900’s the Eastern and Western Livingstons were in frequent communication which included visits. Virginia had photographs and post and Christmas cards. Jim and Virginia had traveled extensively for square dancing events, and in her travels Virginia was always working on family history. She had been able to track Grandpa Troy and Grandma Hazel to Muncie Indiana, but was stumped in going further. I Told Virginia, “Let me fill you in”. I gave her a whole bunch of Livingstons for her to include in her records.

We occasionally meet other Livingstons, and the question is, are we related? Virginia informed me that she had a cousin, Theodore Robert Livingston, who was the City Manager of University Park Texas. This interested me because I have and extensive background in local government, am a certified public planner, and had served in the Florida House of Representatives. Pixie and I visited Bob at his office in 2013 and it soon became obvious that it was like finding a long lost brother. Bob invited his wife Linda who joined the visit which lasted at least two hours. Since then we have visited them twice and they visited us in the Upper Peninsula in 2015.

Well it’s obvious that my family chronicle is not going to be the typical family tree. Nor will it be exactly chronological. But now I will return to the early family.

The early family

The earliest Livingston ancestor that I know of was Andrew Livingston, 1737 – 1786, born in Scotland. His wife was Elizabeth Groff, 1728 – 1790. They apparently first settled in Frederick County Maryland, then later in Earl, Lancaster County Pennsylvania in 1737. Later, we don’t know when, they moved to Hopewell in Bedford County Pennsylvania.

With the end of the French and Indian Wars around 1756, many immigrant families moved westward as land became available. Much of Pennsylvania was wilderness. This was not yet the United States of America. Several Colonies had claims on what was called the old North West. In this era, atrocities at the hands of the Indians were commonplace. The Eastern Counties of Pennsylvania developed “schools” of gunsmiths, who working out of primitive shops, developing the Pennsylvania – Kentucky long rifle.  For families moving westward, purchasing one of these advanced rifles was essential. I have a story of one in the hands of great grandpa Ralph, which I will relate later.

Then, after Andrew, came his son Samuel, 1766 -1842. Born in Maryland, he was the first of our Livingston’s born in America. He probably grew up in Lancaster, and then moved to Hopewell, Bedford County Pennsylvania with his parents, where he met and married Catherine Wyrick,  1781 -1839. We know that Samuel and Catherine had two sons, David, 1809 – 1867, and Paul Marshall (He apparently preferred to be called P.M.) 1822 – 1868. There may have been another son James, as he is mentioned later as Ralph’s uncle.

Again, we don’t know exactly when, but probably after Samuel’s death in in 1842, David and Paul Marshall 9P.M. moved to New Wilmington Pennsylvania in Mercer County. Although David was twelve years older, he and P.M. were apparently close. David married Hadassa and  P.M. married Jane (we don’t know their maiden names) in Mercier County. Although not in our direct lineage, David’s descendants  would represent the next closest “Livingstons”.

After the Black Hawk War (which wasn’t much of a war) Iowa was opened up for settlement. The prospect of rich soil and a new life led P.M. and David to move to Iowa. Most likely they traveled over land in wagons, going through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. There were no bridges over the Mississippi River. There were five ferry locations. They probably crossed the river at Dubuque. They were not alone. The ferry crossings had wagons backed up for miles with people waiting their turn to cross. The Livingston brothers settled near Andrew Iowa in Jackson County. They had several neighbors who had also made this long trek from Pennsylvania and several other families from Mercer County Pennsylvania followed thru the 1850’s. Disaster struck in 1851 with heavy rains and floods, followed by widespread cholera. We know that P.M.’s wife Jane passed away early in their residency. P.M. sent his daughter Elizabeth back to Pennsylvania, while Ralph stayed in Iowa.  P.M. re-married Mary Cowden about 1854 -55 and they had a son Theodore who was listed as 4 years old in the 1860 census.

The 1850’s was the last antebellum decade. The issue of slavery and the admission of free Negroes, not to mention prohibition, tore at the fabric of Iowa’s new growing population. With the collapse of the Whig party, our ancestors became some of the first republicans. In accordance with “The Great Compromise” Iowa became a “free” state in 1856 in spite of the considerable number of southerners who had also migrated to Iowa. Simultaneously Florida became a “slave” state.

Then came War

It is often assumed that the firing on Fort Sumter in 1861 started the Civil war. Actually, the split of the democrat party and its’ failed convention in Charleston not only enabled Lincoln to become president, but it divided the democrats in Iowa and several other border states. A prominent Iowa democrat, Joseph B Dorr, who was the political editor and part owner of the Dubuque Herold, became a captain in the 12^th Iowa Infantry. Dorr was from New England and had migrated to Iowa on foot. He was present with his regiment at the battle of Shiloh in April 1862, and was distinguished with his service at the “hornet’s nest” where wave after wave of Confederate infantry were held off until darkness, enabling reinforcements to be ferried across the Tennessee River through the night. Briefly captured, Dorr escaped and returned to Iowa where he was promoted to Colonel and given the task to recruit the Eighth Iowa Cavalry.

Ralph Livingston, now 18, was an accomplished horseman. It was only natural that he joined Dorr’s cavalry command. Another neighbor, Daniel Reed, also 18, joined also. Without getting into a detailed history of the Eighth Iowa Cavalry, which I intend to do later, an abbreviated account follows; Assembled in Davenport, the regiment was rushed to the front in only 30 days. Their first duty was guarding the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad around Waverly Tennessee. They became attached to the First Cavalry division, Army of the Cumberland in early 1864, under Brig. General Edward M. McCook. They were with the cavalry division that initiated the Atlanta Campaign in May 1864, starting from Cleveland Tennessee.

Working on the left flank of the Army they mounted a saber charge on the rear of Hood’s Division at Cassville Georgia, virtually ending Hood’s plan to ambush the Army of the Cumberland. With the advance toward Atlanta, Sherman devised a plan to send three cavalry divisions around Atlanta, both east and West, where they would eventually join forces and destroy the railroads. The orders were poorly understood, perhaps even disobeyed, with the result that McCook’s three regiments, the 8^th Iowa, 4^th Kentucky, and the 2^nd Wisconsin were the only cavalry that actually arrived South of Atlanta. They did destroy railroad tracks at Lovejoy, but with the absence of the other Union cavalry that was supposed to join them they retreated back toward The Chattahoochee River. At Newnan Georgia, they were met with a large Confederate army that was headed north to defend Atlanta. McCook ordered Col. Dorr to protect the retreat. The result was the surrender of 394 members of the 8^th Iowa Cavalry. The prisoners were taken to Andersonville. Daniel Reed, who had been wounded, died there. After the fall of Atlanta, the prisoners were transferred to Florence South Carolina. Ralph spent nine months in captivity. He was 5 ft. 11in. tall and weighed only 110 lbs. when finally arriving at Annapolis Maryland after being exchanged. After a brief recovery period at home back in Iowa, he rejoined the regiment in Macon Georgia in early May 1865. He was present in Macon when the captured Confederate President, Jefferson Davis was brought in to Macon. Shortly after, the regiment was mustered out and Ralph returned home. Tragedy struck on April 9^th, 1868. Coming home from church the horses spooked and ran away throwing all the occupants out of the carriage. P.M. was thrown violently upon a fence suffering severe spinal injury. Mary was un-hurt, but one of the two sons suffered a broken leg. P.M. passed away a few days later and was buried in the Andrew Cemetery. It strongly appears that he dictated his will from his death bed.

During the summer of 1868, Ralph began to notice a neighbor girl, Jerusha Alice Carnes. Her family was also of Pennsylvania extraction. He had obviously had known her for years. But now as she blossomed into a young woman of 20 years, he saw her in a new light. Courting her resulted in their being married in Maquoketa on September 17, 1868.

Life on the Prairie

While he certainly could have stayed in Iowa. With the new Homestead Act, veterans could apply for 160 acres in the Nebraska Territory. In 1869, Ralph and Alice left Iowa to take a homestead in the Elkhorn River Valley in Burnet (now Tilden) Nebraska. Noted for its’ excellent soil, this land drew many Civil War veterans. The 1870 census shows Ralph, Alice, and two cousins, James, 18 years old, and William Harrison, 29, and his wife Jane, 27, and their two children. Another addition is one year old Abraham, Ralph and Alice’s first born son. The 1870 census shows them all under one roof. It must have been a crowded home!  I believe that the younger cousin was actually Christopher as he is mentioned in other Madison County historical sources. The census records often have errors like this.

We can assume that their home on the Nebraska homestead was a “soddie” We have heard from family stories through the generations that it had a dirt floor. Another pioneer in later life described what a sod home was like:

"Along in April I set about building our 'little sod log shanty on the claim.' This was to be 16x20. I went over on the Cedar [Creek] to get my ridge poles, three of them. With the sod walls laid, the ridge poles well bedded, rafters on, brush and hay next, we were ready for the sod roof. This was of matched sod with joints well packed with clay. It was a dandy and never leaked a drop the first year. Then I shaved the walls smooth and put on a plaster of clay and ashes. We had a door in the east side with a half window in it, a half window in the south end and a full window in the west side, of 8x10 glass, dirt floor, but had two planks alongside the bed to stand on. This was a nice city bed and prized very highly by the owner. Every cent in cash that was put in this house was $10. Into this we moved in June 1872. No millionaire was ever happier than we were.”

The pioneering life of a Nebraska farmer was not an easy life. There were summer draughts and heat, brutal winter blizzards, grasshopper invasions, and a lack of a lot of conveniences that they had back in Iowa. Indians came through frequently, always hungry, Alice described them as filthy. They would bury meat and then dig it up later. The main source of meat for the table and jerking was obtained from hunting. Pronghorn antelope were plentiful. Ralph hunted them with the muzzle loading Pennsylvania rifle, as the only firearm that he kept from the War was an 1860 Colt Army revolver. The Pronghorn Antelope is a small hooved animal weighing about 100 pounds, very fleet afoot, with incredible eyesight. It’s not actually an antelope, but a unique species in North America. Ralph hunted them by lying prone, holding the rifle pointed in their direction. Then with white “flags” tied to his heels he would raise his feet up behind him and scissor them back and forth, waving the flags. The curious antelope would then come up within shooting range. This is actually a banned practice today. As the community began to mature, a school was established. In 1872, Alice became the first schoolteacher.

Back to Pennsylvania

For reasons unclear, but possibly related to the harsh farming conditions mentioned above, Ralph and Alice left the homestead in 1874 and returned to Pennsylvania. Why Pennsylvania? As far as we know, Ralph and Alice had not been to Mercer County Pennsylvania since they were small children. They traveled by wagon to Iowa, stayed for a while, then the decision was made to move by train to New Castle, Pennsylvania. Initially, Ralph farmed for Uncle James Livingston whose farm was about a mile south of New Wilmington. (James was obviously another son of Samuel, mentioned earlier, who did not migrate to Iowa.) Perhaps there wasn’t enough opportunity back in Andrew. Or perhaps, Uncle James needed help. Once back in Mercer County Pennsylvania, a daughter, Lulu Isabell was born in 1878. Second hand accounts claim that Alice said that Ralph was a poor farmer. In truth, Ralph was becoming more interested in becoming a businessman. In 1880 he left the farm and went into a butcher shop.

Technology was transforming agriculture in this era. A couple of decades earlier, in Iowa, virtually 90% of the population were farmers. While almost total self-sufficiency was still the rule back on the plains in Nebraska, in New Wilmington Pennsylvania specialty business were well developed, allowing people to shop and purchase food, clothing, and other necessities. In 1886, the third child, a son, Troy Ralph was born in New Wilmington. The next year they moved to Fredonia, in Mercer County where Ralph established a butcher shop and store. Troy grew up in this store and earned the nick name “butch” as he also knew how to cut meat. The store was located facing the town square, and is now a vacant lot.

Abraham and Lulu also moved with the family to Fredonia. Abe married a lady named Gertrude and they had a daughter, Irma who later married (Stowe?) but they did not have any children. Irma (some say Jenny) had a candy store, well remembered by our father, Ralph Hazen who said that he literally gagged on chocolate. Abe died young and is buried at Fredonia. Lulu married Frederick Harsh, an oil well “wildcatter”, and moved to Rouseville in nearby Vernango County, a site of intense oil producing. Our father Ralph Hazen remembered that they were wealthy and that Fred had a powerful car to be able to climb the hills to his oil wells.

In 1898, Ralph sold the store, and he, Alice, and Troy went on a two month trip back to Iowa where they also took a trip to Omaha for the Exposition. It was here that Grandpa Troy met his Iowa cousins, notably Hazel’ as they were the same age. Hazel (not to be confused with our Grandma Hazel) was the mother of Virginia Siebert, presently of Orange Texas. In the spring of ’01, Ralph re-purchased the store in Fredonia. Ralph and Alice celebrated their 50^th anniversary on September 17^th, 1908. The next year they moved to St. Cloud Florida, apparently purchasing a home there, and stayed until March 1911. Florida was experiencing its’ first land boom. Many Union veterans were attracted to this area. As Ralph’s health was failing they moved back to Fredonia in March 1911. In the summer of 1912 Ralph suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed on the left side. A year later they moved to Rouseville, where Fred and Lulu lived, likely because Ralph needed more care. Ralph died on October 30, 1919 and is buried in the Rynd Farm Cemetery north of Rouseville.

Troy and Hazel

As we get into our grandparents, who we knew well, the history is more vivid and filled with antidotes and memories from each of us grandchildren. Hopefully more of these memories will be recorded by each one of us as this family history is distributed. In the meantime, a great deal of Troy and Hazel’s lives occurred well before us, so I will attempt to lay the groundwork;

Our Grandpa Troy met Hazel Hazen at the Fredonia Institute, a small, but prominent Western Pennsylvania college in this era. The Hazens lived north of Greenville Pennsylvania close to a place known as Osgood Station. The Hazens came from a long ancestry going back to Nathaniel Hazen, a Revolutionary War veteran. Hazel’s parents were Charles and Myra; they are buried in the Stevenson Cemetery NE of Greenville. I believe that Myra was a Stevenson. Troy and Hazel were classmates at the Fredonia Institute, class of 1909. They were married in 1909 after Troy received his first job as a draftsman for the Bessemer Oil Engine Co. in Grove City, Pennsylvania. I believe his salary was $10 per week. He had briefly considered professional baseball, as he had played on several teams. Hazel taught school, perhaps both before and after marriage. She remembered one incident in which she stood up to an angry non-custodial father who was attempting to remove his children from the school. Just a small wisp of a gal, she made him back down. Having known our grandmother, I’m not the least bit surprised.

Our father Ralph Hazen, was born on March 30, 1911 in Grove City, Mercer County Pennsylvania. A daughter, Vivian Elizabeth, was born October 29, 1912, also in Grove City.

In 1913 or 1914, Troy took a job with Worthington Co. in Buffalo, NY. Where another son Troy Leslie was born. Troy remembered working on a magneto engine starter project designed by Deeds and Kettering ( later men of prominence with General Motors ). While in Buffalo, Troy contracted Typhoid Fever and lay comatose in the hospital with a high fever. Hazel was with him when his fever broke.

We don’t know when Troy and Hazel moved to Muncie, Indiana, but it was likely around 1918 to the early 1920’s. He went to work for the Muncie Oil Engine Company. Grandpa Troy by this time was a competent designer and engineer on the large stationary, single cylinder, two cycle diesel engines. They were used in the remote oil fields, actually burning the crude oil that they were pumping. As the 1920’s became the 1930’s electric motors replaced the diesel engines. By around 1925 Troy had become a principal (partner) in the Muncie Dry Wood Bending Co. They manufactured machines to bend wood without ‘raising the grain’. They both bent wood to spec and sold machines. Grandpa Troy told me of a trip to the Fisher Building in Detroit where they sold a second machine to General Motors. Automobile bodies in that era were primarily wooden. The company also did business with the furniture industry in Grand Rapids Michigan. Our father, Ralph, remembered working and bending wood there.

As wooden auto bodies became obsolete, Grandpa Troy moved to Richmond Indiana in 1929, initially by himself, as Ralph, Vivian, and Leslie were still in school in Muncie. He was employed by the National Automatic Tool Company (NATCO) as a draftsman until he retired in the early 50’s.They were all certainly living in Richmond by 1933. Both Ralph and Vivian enrolled at Earlham College. Ralph Left Earlham after a couple of years and moved to Chicago, where he graduated from the Chicago Institute of Art. This is where he learned the hand lettering craft. Vivian excelled at Earlham, a straight ‘A’ student. She graduated in 1933 and was the salutatorian of the class, just under David W. Dennis. Leslie worked in Richmond, as a grocer, Ralph worked for a sign painter named Wilke, and then after getting tired of not being paid, he established a sign company on Sailor Street (actually an alley) behind the Post Office on North ‘A’ street. Later he added auto body repair to the business. Hardly a block away, Grandma Hazel opened a beauty parlor on North ‘A’ Street.

Ralph married Jeanette Rebecca Minor (some sources say Rebecka) in April 1935. He borrowed $50 from his brother-in-law, Max Davids, for a honeymoon trip to the Kentucky Derby. A daughter, Alsie Vivian, was born on January 9, 1936 (regretfully she passed away on January 15, 2017). I, Ralph Lauren, was born on October 22, 1938.  Troy William was born March 22, 1943, Rebecka Ann was born July 22, 1944, John Charles was born May 31, 1946, and Mary Margaret was born August 16, 1952.

Ralph and Jean initially lived in a three apartment house at 335 South 8^th Street owned by Grandpa Troy and Grandma Hazel. Troy and Hazel lived in the front unit, Ralph and Jean lived in the back apartment. Actually, this is where I was born. Leslie and his new wife Phillis lived for a while in the apartment upstairs.

With a growing family, Ralph purchased a corner lot at S. ‘E’ St. and College Avenue in 1940. A two story, one and one half bathroom, three bedroom house was built by Delbert Thomas, who, when seeing the plans exclaimed “Wow! This is a $5000 house”. Thus we all grew up at 451 College Avenue. Thru the 40’s and into the early 50’s Ralph and Jean were very active socially. This was the era before television so young married couples made their own entertainment. There were a lot of house parties and a large circle of friends. Dad was active in the Cooperative Club in Richmond, a service club that may have been a for-runner of Kiwanis. He even served as president. Those were their happiest days. As I’ll mention later, Grandpa Lauren did not allow his family to celebrate Christmas. After her marriage, our mother Jean made up for it in a big way. She absolutely loved Christmas. I remember one occasion when we were driving all over town looking for a Christmas tree, and kept coming back to a tree that we kids loved. Reluctantly, our mother purchased it and was worried that dad would be upset because it was a very expensive four dollars. Upon one Christmas, Jean had scrimped and saved for a long time to purchase a nice Hamilton watch as a Christmas present for our dad. Just before Christmas dad found her in tears because she didn’t have quite enough money. He chipped in the extra dollars and wore that watch for the next forty years until it was worn out. We still have that watch – you bet!

Life is not always a smooth path. In June 1955 our mother Jean died from ovarian cancer. It had been detected with Mary Margaret’s birth in 1952. She suffered a series of radiation treatments at Indianapolis University Hospital in Indianapolis, treatments that kept her alive, gradually wasting away, for two years. Troy and Hazel helped with the bills, as this was overwhelming.

After our mother’s death, Mary Margaret went to live with Troy and Hazel. On College Avenue, it was I, Troy, and Becky. Vivian had married in 1954 and had her own home with a new child. I remember in late ‘55 or early ’56 Dad came to me and said that the family had to be split up. I was about 17 at the time and was aware of what was happening. Our father was under a lot of pressure from other family members. Grandpa Troy and Grandma Hazel loved Mary Margaret (who could blame them) and did not want to give her up. Understanding the dynamics of the situation, when Dad told me that we would be split up, I said “no way, we want to stay together”. I think this is just what dad needed, as he faced up to those applying the pressure, and that was the last we heard about splitting up the family.

The next two years were hard. We had a succession of housekeepers, some pretty bad. I did a lot of cooking. I’m glad that Troy, Becky, and John liked my sloppy joes and French fries. I was basically in charge, and to this day I still suffer from the “big brother” syndrome. Dad wasn’t around much. He was not handling being a widower very well. He dated several women, one in particular, Marie, I did not think very highly of. He brought her around me hoping I would ‘warm up’, but I just couldn’t do it. Maybe I wasn’t exactly polite. I never said anything to her. Actually, my total silence when she was with dad probably spoke volumes. Then she was gone. In 1957, Dad came to me and told me that he and Mary Wright were going to get married. I expressed my delight, which Dad probably sensed beforehand. Mary and John Wright were among our parent’s circle of friends. We knew them very well. They had a son Jack, about a year and a half older than I and a daughter Shirley, a little younger. After they were married our lives improved greatly. Mary brought Jack and Shirley to 451 College Avenue. They re-modeled the recreation room in the basement into a bachelor’s apartment with a separate entrance and a new bathroom. This was the lair for Jack and me until he got married and I went to college.

In 1960, Dad and Mary along with Sister Vivian and her husband Ronnie flew up to Manistique Michigan to visit her friend Pearl, whose husband owned rental cottages on Gooseneck Lake. Dad was a pilot at this time and had a part ownership in a Belanca, a rather fast low wing private plane. Seeing that lots were available on Gooseneck Lake, they purchased one. In 1964 they built a summer cottage, hexagonal in shape, with bedroom wings off to either side. It was named ‘Hexteria’ (obviously). They could not begin to foretell the tremendous impact this decision would have on the family as the years unfolded.

The Minors

Our other pair of grandparents was Lauren and Bertha Minor, mentioned several times above. Lauren was born in 1881 and Bertha in 1886, both in Wayne County Indiana. Lauren’s grandfather was Beverly L. Minor who I believe was born in the 1820’s and came from Westmorland County Virginia. His son George must have been born in the 1860’s and was Lauren’s father. Lauren grew up in the small borough of Chester, a few miles North of Richmond. Lauren only had a one room school education through the Eighth grade. Bertha’s father William A Sharp was born in Wayne County in 1856. He lived until 1960. Incredibly, as a young adult I got to know him rather well. William remembered going to Richmond’s train depot as a young boy when soldiers were departing for the Civil War. He also remembered Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. William worked at the International Harvester plant in Richmond. In 1956 during Richmond’s sesquicentennial Celebration, 100 year old William was the oldest citizen of Wayne County and rode in an open top convertible at the front of the parade. Bertha’s mother, Melissa, is something of a mystery today. William and Melissa were divorced in 1893 after she did something akin to ‘running away with the traveling salesman’. It may be that William was a hard man to live with. As a near transplant from Northern Ireland, he possessed all the “Orangemen” prejudices. When asked about his secret to living to 100 years, William is said to say “I don’t know, I’ve done everything but commit murder”. Bertha had two brothers, Ben and Charlie. Ben was a WWI veteran and we knew him, but Charlie was unknown to the family until he passed away in the 60’s, when Bertha asked our brother-in-law Ron Brock for a suit to bury him in. After William and Melissa’s divorce, Grandma Bertha went to live with her uncle Benjamin Sharp, who was born in Northern Ireland. The Sharps must have immigrated to America in the early 1850’s.

As an 18 year old youth, our maternal grandfather Lauren tried to join the Army during the Spanish American War, but was rejected because he was only five feet four inches tall. He worked in Richmond, which had become a center of manufacturing in the late 1800’s. I believe that he worked for an early automobile manufacturer in Richmond, and in 1898 he certainly did work for the F&N Lawn Mower Co. We don’t know how he met Bertha but they were married a few years after the turn of the century. Their first child, Alsie, was born in 1905. A son George was born around 1909 and died as an infant in 1910. He is buried in Earlham Cemetery next to great-grandparents George and Rebecca and two of Lauren’s brothers. Jeanette Rebecka, our mother, was born on December 16, 1910. They lived on Ridge Road in Richmond’s Fairview area.

Our father Ralph said that his father-in-law Lauren was an intelligent man, but with his lack of education he was easily swayed by extreme causes. Lauren was an avowed atheist and did not allow the family to celebrate Christmas. He was involved in some of the early union organizations, which in that era were Communist inspired. This activism caused him to lose several jobs. Wayne County is not proud of its KKK period in the 1920’s. Grandpa Lauren told me that he had attended KKK rallies but said that he never took their oath.

While painting a negative picture above, I need to point out some of Lauren’s good qualities, of which there were many. He was always a good provider, loyal to his family and by the time I knew him he had become much more moderate, and I could sense that he had regrets from his impertinent earlier activities. He loved to hunt small game and frequently took me along with him. Perhaps in a way I was the son that he never got to enjoy. I spent a lot of over nights at their house on NW 17^th Street after their move from Centerville. He worked twenty-five years as a machinist for the Knowles Tool Company, and was a self-taught clock smith. His drive to work took him past our house on College Avenue and he frequently stopped by, sometimes giving us a little present. He was always friendly and pleasant, with a smile on his face, and we enjoyed having him around. Lauren suffered from mini-strokes, which gradually reduced his activities. He died from a stroke in December 1954 and Grandma Bertha made sure that he had a Christian funeral. Bertha lived to be 94 and both she and Lauren are buried in the cemetery in Centerville Indiana, not far from her father William Sharp. In this burial plot, Bertha also buried her brother Ben, and had her mother Melissa’s remains also moved there.

The aunts and uncles

On the Livingston side there were two, Vivian and Leslie. As mentioned previously, Vivian graduated second in her class at Earlham College, just behind David W Dennis. Dennis went on to graduate degrees and prominence as a lawyer and congressman. Unfortunately, Vivian had no career what-so-ever. With her scholastic record she could easily have obtained scholarships for advanced education. It didn’t happen. Opportunity lost! She married Forest Bundy in the late 1930’s. Forest wasn’t even close to her in intellect and education. He worked for a greenhouse in Knightstown Indiana about 40 miles west of Richmond and that’s where they lived for the rest of their lives. Forest was domineering and a very hard man. At an early age I could sense that he did not like us very much. Their son Donald and I were about the same age. When I was around 10 years or so I went to Knightstown for a few days’ visit. This was my first experience with Forest. I was glad to get home. In 1955, after our mother passed away, grandparents Troy and Hazel took Troy, Becky, John, and I to a Thanksgiving dinner at their house in Knightstown. Grandpa warned me ahead of time that I had to ride herd on Troy and John to keep them quiet and well behaved, and they were. Actually, Forest put them in the basement. At the end of the afternoon, upon leaving, Forest said to grandpa, “Never bring Ralph’s kids to my house again, they just tear the place up”. That was the last time I was ever there. A second hand report handed down and probably true, was that Aunt Vivian told Grandma Hazel that “Ralph’s kids will never amount to anything”.

We did see Forest and Vivian on subsequent occasions, always in Richmond, and most of the time with grandparents Troy and Hazel. After the birth of our son Troy in 1964, they surprised us with a visit to us in Dayton, again with grandparents Troy and Hazel. After dad married Mary, and they lived in a new house in West Chester, (just north of Richmond, built in 1964) Forest and Vivian would stop by for family gatherings, but only briefly. Perhaps our step-mother Mary summed it up well when she called Forest a “pipsqueak”.

Aunt Vivian never had a daughter, yet she had a namesake niece only forty miles away. As our sister Vivian became an adult they could have become wonderful friends and companions. It should have happened, but it didn’t – another opportunity lost. Sister Vivian and I had discussed this missed relationship several times, as recent as in October 2016. We decided that, for the most part, Forest was the reason.

Thus it was that even though we knew our Aunt Vivian, there was never any meaningful relationship.

Leslie

I wish I knew more about dad’s younger brother Leslie, perhaps this will unfold later. As I remember, he and his wife Phillis always lived in Greenville Ohio, not far from Richmond Indiana. Phillis was from a prominent family in Palestine Ohio. They had a daughter Scharlene who was about nine months older than I. A son Jeff was around six years younger. Scharlene was like WOW. She was attractive, with an outgoing personality, a husky sexy voice, and a lot of athletic ability. She competed in diving sports and was a majorette par excellence. Leslie and Phillis were very proud of her. Poor Jeff had to grow up under this considerable shadow.

It was around the mid-50’s to perhaps the early 60’s that Les and Phillis built a cottage at Tri-Lakes, in Ohio. They spent the summers there and we visited them once, dad, Leslie, and I went fishing. I think this is where Scharlene did her diving. This was probably some of their happiest years. Leslie was a great University of Dayton basketball fan, not missing many games. Pixie and I moved to Kettering Ohio in 1962 and Leslie visited with us at our apartment. Actually, I think we may have attended a game with him. Later In the 60’s, Scharlene met Dick Sisson, a real estate developer. They became engaged over Leslie’s objections. Grandma Hazel warned him to accept this, or else lose his daughter. I think Leslie eventually ‘came around’ to his son-in-law. Of all my cousins, I was closest to Scharlene. We had even double dated on one occasion when we were in high school. In the late 60’s, when Pixie and I moved to Centerville Ohio, we lived in a home designed and built by Scharlene’s husband Dick. They lived very close by and we socialized often. Dick was making a lot of money and had an airplane. I flew with him once to the Upper Peninsula for a fishing trip. Another time the four of us flew to Cleveland for dinner.

Unfortunately, Leslie, a heavy smoker, came down with emphysema at the age of 38. It was a downhill slide until he passed away at age 55. Leslie had worked at Aeroprop Corporation in Dayton Ohio. Our dad said that Leslie was a metallurgist. He also worked at Avco Corporation in Richmond until his deteriorating health ended this occupation. It is indeed a tragedy that Leslie was stripped of his peak and productive years.

Jeff, considerably younger than I, was probably better known by my Brother John. We saw Jeff at a party held for Grandma Hazel sometime in the 70’s he was with his wife (Linda I believe). They had a daughter who still lives in Greenville Ohio. Jeff and his first wife divorced, and he re-married and moved to Florida. We lost track of him until about 1980 after Pixie and I moved to Fort Myers Florida.

Aunt Alsie

Alsie was my mother’s sister, born in Wayne County Indiana in 1905. Thus, she was 5 to 6 years older than our mother. Their early upbringing was in the Fairview area of Richmond. They most likely graduated from the old Morton High School with the famous coach Weeb Eubanks, who was a neighbor in Fairview. We don’t know much about their early employment but an old friend, John T. Hill, who was younger than Alsie or Jean remembered waiting at the bus stop to see them, as they were the best looking gals in town. Probably around 1930 Alsie married Max Davids. They had one daughter, Jean Ellen, our oldest cousin. Alsie and Max had a stormy marriage, divorcing and remarrying several times before the final divorce became permanent.

Alsie and our mother Jean were very close, despite their total difference in personalities. Alsie was stormy and outgoing, not at all afraid to speak her mind. She was actually a lot of fun and we enjoyed being around her. Unfortunately, she was not cut out to be a mother. Grandma Bertha was so appalled at the lack of care and attention that the infant Jean Ellen suffered with, that she and Lauren took Jean Ellen into their home and raised her from childhood. Around 1940 Alsie married Kenny Ashbrook, an insurance salesman. When war broke out Kenny joined the Army and Alsie and Kenny moved to Biloxi Mississippi where Kenny was an instructor at Keesler Field. They remained there through the war. Upon returning to Richmond, Kenny resumed working for the National Life Insurance Corporation. They briefly lived in Marion Indiana and then returned to Richmond. Alsie could not have been good for Kenny’s career. She was too outspoken at the many insurance conventions that they attended. Alsie never really liked her name, and when our mother named her first child Alsie Vivian, aunt Alsie insisted she be called Vivian.