Tag Archives: Juanita McCammon

Juanita (Gladys)

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Letter transcription:

Kentland Ind
Aug 24 – 1943

Dear Daddy –

Rec’d yours of Aug. 9 & 12 today. John went to Laf. with Walkers so he took his 2⁰⁰ from m.o. & with his birthday money had enough to buy an album of records he wanted. Walker were taking Jimmy to Van Buskirk so John “sneaked” in on their appointment and got an eye exam. Dr. V. is writing me a letter about the situation. Said John’s lenses were correct but something about the muscle – I’ll tell you what else he has to say after I get the letter. I had Alma call Dr. Cole and tell him about Mother throwing up and the bitter taste that came last. He sent a prescription for that and said to give Mother an enema every day. He seemed rather worried Alma said about the throwing up and the bitterness. He told me when I had David down last Fri. he would come up soon. I know he will as soon as he can. Dr. Matthews is gone, Pip is gone & Rumkorf is gone – all taking vacations. I shouldn’t criticize but looks like they would get together doesn’t it – on such things.

[page 2] I met the 4:25 a.m. train – Juanita came this morning – It goes thru Robinson (7 mi. from where she lives) into Chicago. I’ll have to confess, I didn’t know about it until she came on it but it goes at such an hour and not touching towns we are interested in, I suppose that was the reason I didn’t know about it before.

Clara Molter picked lima beans from her garden and we shelled enough to fill 16 pts. To put in the locker – she gave us half to put them in. Not bad – all I did was hull a little while, blanch and take then to the Locker. I stopped at Parttens to see Ruthie – and talk about beef. They are going to butcher in 3 weeks and we are to get a quarter. It will take 800 points – or 2 ½ months meat tickets (stamps) from all our books. That shouldn’t bother us because we haven’t yet used a full month’s supply of stamps. – Ruthie is able to sit up now but hasn’t walked yet. The last x-ray looked pretty good Mary said.

It is a proverbial hot Aug. day and night – There isn’t any breeze stirring and it’s hot everywhere except out in the yard. The heat is awfully hard on Mother.

David was so hot today – his hair was in ringlets all over his head. Mark said David said “Daddy” – not da-da once today.

Love – Mother

FOS1940s - Emma & Juanita

Emma Foster with her granddaughter Juanita, circa 1940s

©2014 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2014/12/30/juanita-gladys/

Eleventh Month (Gladys)

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1943-08-23 (GRY)Letter transcription:

MRS. R. S. YEGERLEHNER
KENTLAND
INDIANA
8-23-43

Dear Daddy – Today is David’s 11th month. He has 6 teeth, gets around as good as ever. Traces of cast almost gone. He got a few blisters around edge but they have healed. I was feeding him and he hit the cup & spilled milk. He knew he was a naughty boy – when we scold him he will try to cry but can’t quite make it. – John has been having headaches and I am sending him to Van Buskirk tomorrow. Alma W. is taking Jimmy down and has an appointment – said she would take John in with her. I haven’t been satisfied with his last two eye examinations and he keeps having head aches and is dizzy – Mother isn’t so good today – threw up her dinner and the last to come up was bile – (or bitter). I called Juanita and she is coming tomorrow. I haven’t heard any more from Glen – have been waiting for word. Jim is going to try and come home again on a 72 hr leave. Said he would get a plane to Indpls. and come in his car from there – will have the auto club get his car to Indpls. It is getting hot again. We have had some rather cool days. It rained early this a.m. and now it is hot and steaming. No letters today but had Aug. 10 & 11th Sat. so didn’t look for any today. David is in his pen making a fuss. He is a little spoiled from so much attention when he was in the cast.

Love Mother

YEG1943-08 #01

Gladys and David, August 1943

©2014 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2014/12/28/eleventh-month-gladys/

Teeth Like Yours (Gladys)

1 Reply

Letter transcription:

Kentland Ind
Aug 13 – 1943

Dear Daddy –

Another hot Aug. day but a cooling breeze – The upstairs is very comfortable. Just went up to see Mother. She says she hasn’t any pain or soreness in stomach or bowels – but one spot in the bowel is shore – not being a Dr. or knowing too much about the anatomy I would say it is her colin [colon] that is sore. She was a lot of gas but I think that is due to not eating enough solid food. Her diet is more on the liquid order. I feed her the canned foods I give David. At noon I thickened some bouillon and gave you some pudding. She drinks milk every meal. Mrs. Jarrel had a chance to come up yesterday & go back today so she is here. Spent the night and has had a nice visit with Mother. I think your Mother is coming next week. Jaunita is planning to come sometime. I have the idea to let J. stay here and run things a few days and let me get a little vacation – not that I am feeling sorry for myself or anything of the sort but I am beginning to get a little tired and feel I should get away for a change. Dr. Cole said he would take the cast off David’s

[page 2] leg next Sat. – a week from tomorrow – and that will be a relief to me as well as to D. He should be easier to handle then – He is getting a little spoiled as things are now. However he has been very good thru it all. Dr. Cole didn’t make it here yesterday so I suppose he will come Sun. He said either Thurs. or Sun.

Emmett Miller & Olene were at Statons last night – they were going to spend the night and today here but got a call from Emmett’s home to come immediately – his father wasn’t expected to live thru the night. I haven’t heard any further about his father. They think E. will soon be sent out. He is to go to Tenn. next. By leaving so unexpectedly I didn’t get to see them.

Buddy is here this afternoon playing with Mark. Mark had to go to the dentist this P.M. Had one pulled & some fillings. He said Dr. Limp said his teeth are like yours – he can stand to have drilling done – and was he proud to think he is like Daddy about having his teeth fixed. Speaking of teeth – I am going to try & get a good picture of D. now with all his 5 teeth shining – they make him look even cuter – and his hair lays in soft ringlets all over his head – you can imagine the ah’s & oh’s he gets about his hair. Mary Parttens said it was a shame to waste that beautiful hair on a boy but I

[page 3] disagreed with her. I said that was just part of being “David.” Then she said yes it did help to make him cute – She says he is the cutest baby she has ever seen. Listen to the proud mother run on & on.

The detassling camp is broken up – They had some bread left over & Arlene sent the neighbors each a loaf. Bobby delivered. Donnie will soon be big enough to do things. Just think this time next year they should have a baby 8 mo. old.

The breeze seems to have stopped and am I sticky – I had such a big washing today – have to get Mark’s clothes ready to go to camp Monday.

We are to have a black-out next week but think I had better skip lightly over the subject. Just don’t tell anyone I told you.

Mr. Zell has to go with the 4-H group next week – Virginia is going to camp too, Mrs. Zell, Betty & Martha Jane are going to her mother’s so with Mark gone, we should have a quiet time from Mon. till Thurs. When all the children in the neighborhood get together it gets noisy around here.

David has awakened from a nap and John is in talking to him. He should talk early if talking to him will help.

The papers have come this week but I will try to relay the news in the next letter.

Love Mother

Mark (January 1943)

Mark (January 1943)

©2014 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2014/12/06/teeth-like-yours-gladys/

Emily Hogue (Lawhead) Foster

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Today’s letter is very special. I believe it is the only letter I have in my collection by my great grandmother, Emma Foster. Chronologically, it falls right after my grandfather’s last letter. The two letters are postmarked the same day. Word is definitely getting around that my grandmother is heading to Norfolk. An added bonus (genealogically speaking) in the letter is that Emma ran into Uncle Wes and Aunt Jessie one night in Terre Haute. Uncle Wes is Silvester Schiele, my grandfather’s uncle. You may recall an earlier post I did on Silvester. His friends and family called him Wes for short. Wes and Jessie must have just come through Kentland on their way down to Clay City from Chicago.

My great grandmother’s story is one that I had to figure out mostly on my own. My grandmother gave me a little information to start with but the rest of the journey was all mine to uncover. Emma was a twin. Aunt Minerva, the one mentioned in the letter, was my great grandmother’s twin sister. One story that my grandmother did relay to me regarding her mother was the story of her naming. Emma Foster was born Emily Hogue Lawhead, daughter of James Henry Lawhead and his second wife, Margaret Allie Rea, on November 14, 1872. The twins were the second and third children of Margaret & James. Margaret was to have four more children, but none survived their infancy. Their oldest child was a boy, Jasper, who was born in 1869. When the twins were born, Margaret did not know what to name them. I suppose Margaret was out of the question as she already had an older step-daughter named Margaret. The story goes that Margaret named her daughters after the first two women who came to visit after the babies were born. I don’t know what Minerva’s middle name is so I haven’t been able to track down her namesake. There was a young woman named Emily Hogue who lived in the neighborhood so there does appear to be some validity to the story.

In 1894, when Emma was 22, she had a child out of wedlock. I have no idea who the father was. According to my Dad’s cousin Juanita, Emma talked about Jesse all the time but she didn’t know who he was. She assumed he was given away. On the 1900 census, Jesse was living with his grandparents, Emma’s parents. If he was given away, it wasn’t very far. Jesse lived with his grandparents and migrated with them to Arkansas. Jesse stayed in Arkansas after his grandmother died and his grandfather returned to Illinois. Another comment made by Juanita in one of her letters was that Emma had grandchildren but they were too far away. Jesse had three children: Alvin, Elwin and Francis. On his death certificate, Emma is named as his mother, but the line for his father is blank. Who knows what happened to this mysterious male in my great grandmother’s life? Was she raped? Did he run away? Why didn’t they marry? I have lots of questions and no solutions for solving this puzzle.

On February 29, 1896, Emma married James Edward “Ned” Foster in Hutsonville, Crawford, Illinois. I would love to say that he was a good man, and was able to accept Emma’s past. I don’t really have an answer to that. What I do know is that their marriage was a rocky one.  James was an alcoholic. Over the years, Emma threw him out several times. I assume in the beginning that things were good, but I really don’t know. Love works in mysterious ways, plus it might just have been all about the sex. James and Emma had at least five children. The ones who grew to adulthood were Lydia Allie, Glenn Edward, James Laughead, and my grandmother, Gladys Ruth. Evidence suggests that there was another child Forrest that died young. I have a photograph of a large family grouping. On the back it written: James, Emma, Lydia, Glenn & Forrest. Emma is holding Glenn and a baby on her lap in the picture while Lydia is sitting by her feet . Lydia was born in 1897 and Glenn in September  1900. There is a jump in births before James was born in February 1904. The 1900 census records that Emma is the mother of two living children; this would be Jesse and Lydia as Glenn wasn’t born until after the enumeration.  On the 1910 census, Emma is the mother of 6 children, 5 living.  The five would include: Lydia, Glenn, James, Gladys and Jesse.

I don’t know where or when baby Forrest died or where he is buried. The family moved back and forth between Crawford and Clark counties in Illinois and Terre Haute during these years. James was a laborer and he moved to where the work was. They were probably pretty poor and couldn’t afford a stone for Forrest’s grave. Both my grandmother and Uncle Jim were born in Terre Haute.  After that, I think the family pretty much stayed in Terre Haute. Sometime before 1920, Emma kicked James out for his drinking for good. On the 1920 census, James is not enumerated with the family. Emma’s profession was a pie baker for a Baking company.  Cousin Juanita also mentioned in one of her letters that Emma did this along with Aunt Cora. Cora Miller was one of James’ sisters. Apparently at one time, they all lived in the same building (but not on the 1920 census). A couple of the Terre Haute directories after 1920 record James and Emma living together but I think this might have been a smoke screen. Emma and James never divorced. Even on Emma’s death certificate, my grandmother reported that Emma was married.

Emma had a decent life but it was filled with hardship over the years. Any of these events would have broken a weaker person: an illegitimate child, an alcoholic husband, the death of a baby, being a single working mom, her beloved oldest daughter dying young, her grandson being killed in an accident. Her life could be measured by these tragedies but I would rather think of her as my grandmother’s mother, the woman who came to Kentland to help my grandmother while her husband was away at war, during the time after she had the baby (my father). I like to look at her pictures and her elusive smile. Yes, she does look old for her age in most of the pictures, but I look and I see a little part of me looking back at me, and it makes me proud to be her great granddaughter.

In school, Emma achieved a sixth grade education according to the 1940 census. While transcribing her letter I struggled between trying to make the letter readable and making an accurate transcription. If you want to see the actual letter, click on the pictures above.

This letter also mentions that Gladys’ mother-in-law, Lovina Yegerlehner, has not been feeling well lately and that Ruth has been home helping her mother while she was sick. Paired with yesterday’s letter from Roscoe which also mentions his mother not feeling well, that’s a nice bit of documentation from two corroborating sources.

Letter transcription:

6.8.42

Dear children + grandson

Receive your letter this morning. I had to go up to town yesterday afternoon + was walking along + seen a group of folks? standing in front of a restaurant first like that had their dinner, said to myself that look like uncle Wes + stop + look + sure among it was aunt Jessie, Mary Sheperman + some more I didn’t know so stoped + talked to them a litter whin? + they said that they stop at your house + seen you + the boy + that

(page 2) you was going to see Jake next week. Said that they would tell you that way seen me. I have had a letter from James + he never said anythins about seeing Jake yet James has got his insinmet[assignment] + will be there six month or a year he said I sure am glad that Ruth is at home with her mother this week it will help her as much as the medison[medicine]. I thought that I would get down there this week but it has been so hot here it seems to take all of the pep out of me your aunt Minerva is looking for me to come over there + stay

(page 3) a few day but can’t pick up the nerve to go. I am writing you some of her tales of woe. when I got up yesterday morning I felt like going back to bed + giving up the strnge[strength?] + say here lord take me I have a little more pep today. I don’t feel sick + can eat good but is seems like it don’t do my any good hade plenty to eat this is my tail of wo[e] I said to my self this sond like aunt Minera letter.

(page 4)I would like to hear John play at the resite[recital] hope that he comes out first it sure is hot today I hope that you do go + see Jake + get to see James it will cheer him up to see you if I had a place for the boys to sleep they could come + stay with me. I see so many dresses in the window up to down. I told Mrs. Welsere I was going to write + tell you about their that is the seersucker only haha will sign off

Mother love

©2012, copyrighted & written by Deborah Sweeney

Wednesday’s Child – Wesley Foster McCammon (1916-1927)

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Wesley was the son of Jesse and Lydia Allie (Foster) McCammon. He died when he fell off the back of a wagon and was trampled to death. His short life was also filled with tragedy. When he was almost three, his mother died. He spent the rest of his life moving back and forth between grandparents’ homes and his father’s house.  Jesse McCammon remarried in 1921, and quickly started a new family with his new wife.

My grandmother Gladys was Wesley’s aunt. Part of the time, Wesley lived with my grandmother, great uncle Jim and my great grandmother Emma in Terre Haute.  In one of the letters I exchanged with Wesley’s sister Juanita in the 1990s, she talked about how my great grandmother’s sister Minerva wanted to adopt the two of them after Allie died.  My great grandmother would not let her. Emma wanted her grandchildren close to her, not over in Illinois where Aunt Minerva lived. It made me wonder, if Minerva had adopted the children, would Wesley have lived? (FindAGrave)

Letter transcription:

Fri.

Dear Mother-

Guess you’ll miss a letter one day because I was on duty and didn’t get a chance to write until about 2300 and that would do no good because no mail leaves the base after that time.

When we are on duty we have to inspect the mess. That is we have to see that things are clean and then we get our own meals there. They serve us meals in a special officer’s mess. They have several colored persons who are in the navy but are training them to be mess boys. Last night at one of the tables across a guy was pouring some ice water to an officer and th a chunk of ice went out with the water and

(page 2) you should have seen the colored boy make a pass for it. The other colored mess boys get tickled and it was a little to break the stiff silence. They really have some service. Meet you at the door-take your cap, pull your chair back and then serve in courses with a finger bowl etc.

The X card won’t do any good because they are calling in all of those already issued and it is doubtful if the Drs. unless they have no other way will g be able to get a card. We had an officer notice to that affect a day or two ago.

So far as I can tell I’d still like you to come down and if you can get here one week from Sat. I’ll

(page 3)have duty on Fri nite before and will be off on Sat. Just like I am this P.M. You had better take a pulman from Cincinatta. And you have to get off the train at Newport News. Rather than Norfolk as I thought. At Cincinatta there are separate gates for pulman and coach passengers so be sure and inquire – they have a man stationed at every gate-And don’t burden yourself with many clothes because there aren’t any places to go without a car. You’ll understand when you get here. I think . Should I get you a room in a hotel or do you want to stay here I’d rather stay in a hotel. If not we would have no time to ourselves. It’s just like pulling teeth to get to

(page 4) our room now. Mrs. Evans has to talk. Has told me about the death of her husband several times etc. Think it over.

I’m going down town to get another shirt or two seems of as if laundry is very slow. And this one is smelling rather badly.

Got a letter from Mom today, said she was up and around some. Well, I’ll wait until this PM. mail maybe there will be something to answer.

I called Jim but couldn’t get him on the phone. So I wrote to him. But I’ve found a way by which I can call him now, going to try to get him to come to town Sat. nite if he can get off.

Just got your Tue letter. The one you started Tue + finished Wed. Guess I have all the questions covered. Will try to keep a letter coming each day.

Love Daddy

©2012, copyrighted & written by Deborah Sweeney