Small Town Life: Marriages

 

The more I research Mom's family, the more interested I become in her small-town life.

Around 1880, Mom's relatives migrated from Alabama (Miles) and Georgia (Dowdy) to Robertson County, Texas. They settled in Boone Prairie, a farming town about eight miles from the county seat of Franklin. 

Over the next several months I plan to dig deep into this little community. But this kind of research is painstakingly slow. The answer to one question leads to three more inquiries. 

So while I continue with this investigation, I thought I would share small-town family stories I have gleaned through my genealogy research.

Inter-Family Marriage

The two primary Genealogy worksheets I use are the Pedigree Chart (which shows direct line ancestors) and the Family Group Sheet (which includes the siblings of those ancestors). While this does create some overlap, it is not redundant information. Familial patterns emerge on Family Group Sheets that otherwise remain hidden.

After I completed and analyzed Mom's family relationships, I discovered several examples of inter-family marriages over the span of forty years. Of course, so many of these ancestors were strangers to me, and keeping track of the players proved quite difficult.

So, I created this graphic to show the connections. I color-coded the "four family names" for quick visual identification:

• MILES (Mom's father)
• FRENCH (Mom's paternal grandmother)
• DOWDY (Mom's mother)
• CRANE (Mom's maternal grandmother)

While I have no direct connection to the JACKSON family, they feature in several Miles/Dowdy relationships. 

The MARIS family drug store was a prominent merchant in the "big city" of Franklin. They provided the baby book my grandmother used to record Mom's first year. I found this unexpected family connection quite interesting.

A Chronological summary of the marriages looks like this:

1889: Edward JACKSON married Sarah E DOWDY

1896: Laura Jane MILES married John W DOWDY

1912: Robert C JACKSON (mother = Sarah E DOWDY) married Mary M MARIS 

1913: Archie R CRANE married Bertha Ann TOWLER (Emily Jane DOWDY married Joseph M Towler in 1866)

1917: Elenora JACKSON (mother = Sarah E DOWDY) married Edgar L MARIS 

1924: Andrew DUNCAN (Nancy DUNCAN = Floyd MILES grandmother) married  Charlie H JACKSON (grandmother = Emily Jane DOWDY)

1925: Floyc C MILES married Maida Lee DOWDY

1930: Ollie MILES married Jessie Pearl JACKSON (grandmother  = Emily Jane DOWDY) 

 Why do I care?

I am fascinated by small-town life. I grew up watching wholesome family programs like The Andy Griffith Show. While Mayberry had its shady characters (Otis Campbell) and unfortunate events (poor Barney), all conflict resolved peacefully in a neat little bow. Good always triumphed over Evil. Everyone cared for their neighbor. 

I also idolized The Waltons. While siblings had their inevitable squabbles and financial times were tough, the family gathered around the dinner table every evening and shared their day. They supported one another, encouraged one another, and treated everyone with kindness and respect. And they never went to bed angry. Goodnight, John Boy!

These close-knit societies not only modeled moral decency but also provided the social hub for adults and children alike. Extended families lived close enough to visit one another frequently. Family gatherings included numerous cousins, which I interpreted as built-in playmates. Something I desperately longed-for.

As I research Mom's family and discover these "lost" relatives, I feel a pang of jealousy. Mom lived my ideal life! 

The 1930 census reveals several first-cousins living within a few miles of her childhood home. At least eight of those cousins were within ten years of Mom's age. Mom lived with her paternal grandmother and her maternal grandparents lived only a few miles up the road. 

It seems to me Mom was surrounded by family for the first eight years of her life. I envision weekly Sunday suppers with aunts, uncles, and cousins. Laughter and love ever-present. I can't imagine the heartbreak she suffered when her father died in 1936. But at least extended family could help ease the pain.

Or could they? 

Less than one year later, Mom was sent away to live with her aunt in an unfamiliar community two hours away. There she remained for three years while her mother attended secretarial school in Houston. To the best of my knowledge, the only extended family she saw after 1936 was her maternal grandparents.  

I may never know why my grandmother left this small community. I may never understand why she severed familial ties.  Most of these people have long since passed, and I have no means of documenting first-hand stories.

However I can continue to rely on genealogy research to provide the facts, social history research to provide the context, and my creativity to imagine what life might have been like before Mom left town for good.