Where There's a Will
When the writing prompt came up for this week (see title), I thought about the kind of will someone leaves when they die. (That might be interesting!) Then I thought about the determination of ancestors who have overcome incredible obstacles and kept going. (Always worth writing about!) And then I thought about my family's tendency to take a word that means one thing, and change it so that it means something totally different. Case in point: We can't seem to ever get through a movie that has the line, "Fire at will!" in a battle scene, because someone always asks, "Which one is Will?"
So, I decided to write about a Will in our family tree. Partly because it was a little different, and partly because he's actually one of the folks in the family tree I've gathered a fair amount of information about. In this particular case, I suppose the end of that writing prompt would be something along the lines of "Where there's a Will, there's (eventually) a great-Grandma."
James William "Will" Wallace was born on October 30, 1875, and was the second of four siblings. His parents were John Shelby/Shelvy Wallace and Elizabeth Fowler. The first three children were born in Alabama. Then, in between the census taken in June of 1880 and the next child's birth in June 1882, his father John moved the family to Grayson County, Texas. John & Elizabeth's fourth child, Harrison Kendrick, was born there on June 28th. His mother Elizabeth died just about a week later, when Will was just 6 years old. After Elizabeth's death, John moved the family back to Alabama, and remarried a little less than a year later. John and his new wife had five additional children together, bringing the family number to nine.We don't know too much about this period of Will's life, except that his father was renting a farm in Colbert County, Alabama when the 1900 census was recorded. By that time, however, Will was no longer living at home.
On January 5, 1896, Will married Miss Ida Dean Gooch, the daughter of Wiley Gooch and Margaret Boren. Ida had been born on April 26, 1876 and so was only about 6 months younger than Will. Where Will's ancestry had come to Alabama from South Carolina, Ida's Gooch ancestors had come from North Carolina.
Will and Ida started their family right away. Their daughter Nettie Blanche (my great-grandmother), was born born October 16, 1896. Her birth was followed by two more sisters; Cornelia, or "Nena", born on February 9, 1898, and Bessie, born on October 11, 1899.
The 1900 Census shows that they, like Will's father John, were renting a farm. Will and Ida's farm was in neighboring Lauderdale County, near the town of Florence. During this time, Will began dividing his time between working on the farm and working as a maintenance crew supervisor for the railroad. Will and Ida wanted a farm of their own, and they were going to do whatever they could to achieve that goal. Family stories say he worked for the railroad company for ten to fifteen years, saving the money to buy a farm.
While he worked for the railroad, the little family grew. Their first son, Virgil, was born on November 5, 1901. Virgil's birth was followed by three more daughters. Grace, born September 9, 1903, Willie Sue, born October 20, 1905, and Helen Odelle, born July 25, 1907. The photo with the work crew (above) is believed to have been taken about 1907. On March 23, 1909 another son, Clyde Meeks, was born. This was right about the same time that Will and Ida finally realized their goal. They bought a 40-acre farm on Sharp's Mill Road, just north of Cloverdale Road.
They settled into a "5-room dog-trot house" on the property. Some family members have wondered if the house may have previously been owned by some of Ida's Gooch relatives, since a photo of several of the Gooch men is said to have been taken on the porch of that house. Whether this was the case, or whether Ida's father (third from left, photo below) and her uncles were just visiting is something I have not researched at this point.
In their new home, Will and Ida had four more children: Clara Belle, born April 10, 1910, Guy Gene, born May 15, 1913, Joe Dein, born June 8, 1915, and Gladys Marie, born June 29, 1918. This gave them a total of eight daughters and four sons. The photo below shows the growing family in front of their home about 1913. In the original photo, Ida's silhouette can barely be made out in the window on the right side of the house. She was reportedly pregnant with Guy at the time the photo was taken, and didn't want to be in the picture because of that.
In 1918, Will dutifully registered for the draft. The registration form lists him as a 43-year old farmer, of medium height and medium build, with gray eyes and black hair.
Will spent his life farming. As with most farmers, some years were more successful than others. For the most part, though, his hard work on this farm seemed to pay off. He successfully raised his family of 12, and added to his farm's output each year by planting not only "regular" crops, but adding fruit trees and other things as well.
In 1927, Will was featured in a write up by W P Hofferbert in The Florence Herald, a local Florence newspaper. "Farmer Makes Success on Forty Acres by Sound Methods" the headline proclaims.
It describes how this farmer and father of twelve has been diversifying his crops and "with no special training" had been making a good living. While his cotton crop that year was said to be only "average", his fruits and vegetables were highly praised. Will had apparently established a county-wide reputation for himself with the fruits of his labor, which is what prompted the newspaper article. The peach orchard, about an acre in size, was described as having trees "so loaded that scores of props are necessary to keep the limbs from breaking under the burden of the fruit ... Six of these peaches brought home by the writer tipped the scales at 2-1/2 pounds." Besides the cotton, fruits and vegetables, the farm had "enough corn and hay ... to care for work stock, hogs for family use, two or three cows and corn for family use and to feed a flock of hens."
Life on the farm was busy. Will had a good reputation as a local farmer. Ida, besides raising her own family, served as a midwife in the community, delivering more than 50 children, including some of her own grandchildren. Life seemed to be going well.
Somewhere along the line though, things began to change. The family doesn't really know when, or why. Life seemed to go along in ordinary ways. The older children married, moved away from home, and began families of their own. The younger children grew and began helping on the farm. In August of 1932, things seemed to be going along just fine. Will was up early that Tuesday morning, like most farmers. Before 7 a.m., he sat down as usual at the table and had a cup of coffee. My Grandmother Loyce, who was 7 years old at the time, was staying with her grandparents for a few days and visiting with her younger aunts and uncles. Ida, Loyce, and 14-year old Gladys, if I remember the story correctly, were sitting on the porch. In my imagination, I can almost hear the early morning farm sounds interrupted by the sound of a single nearby gunshot.
Ida quickly called one of the boys to go look behind the kitchen door for Will's gun. It wasn't there. So, she told the girls to stay on the porch, and they went looking for the source of the unexpected sound they had heard. They found Will in the smokehouse. He had shot himself in the head with a "single barreled, 12-gauge shotgun". He was 56. The Florence Times paper for that day put the announcement of his death on the front page, a huge headline right under the lead "Lindbergh Ransom Money is Traced".
No one really knows why Will took his own life. He had said something for a few days to family members about "feeling bad", but he left no note for his stunned family. He died the morning of August 9, 1932. He is buried at Stoney Point Church of Christ Cemetery, near a number of the members of his extended family.
After his death, his wife Ida continued to live on the farm until about 1950. She died in 1959.
So, I decided to write about a Will in our family tree. Partly because it was a little different, and partly because he's actually one of the folks in the family tree I've gathered a fair amount of information about. In this particular case, I suppose the end of that writing prompt would be something along the lines of "Where there's a Will, there's (eventually) a great-Grandma."
James William "Will" Wallace was born on October 30, 1875, and was the second of four siblings. His parents were John Shelby/Shelvy Wallace and Elizabeth Fowler. The first three children were born in Alabama. Then, in between the census taken in June of 1880 and the next child's birth in June 1882, his father John moved the family to Grayson County, Texas. John & Elizabeth's fourth child, Harrison Kendrick, was born there on June 28th. His mother Elizabeth died just about a week later, when Will was just 6 years old. After Elizabeth's death, John moved the family back to Alabama, and remarried a little less than a year later. John and his new wife had five additional children together, bringing the family number to nine.We don't know too much about this period of Will's life, except that his father was renting a farm in Colbert County, Alabama when the 1900 census was recorded. By that time, however, Will was no longer living at home.
On January 5, 1896, Will married Miss Ida Dean Gooch, the daughter of Wiley Gooch and Margaret Boren. Ida had been born on April 26, 1876 and so was only about 6 months younger than Will. Where Will's ancestry had come to Alabama from South Carolina, Ida's Gooch ancestors had come from North Carolina.
Will and Ida started their family right away. Their daughter Nettie Blanche (my great-grandmother), was born born October 16, 1896. Her birth was followed by two more sisters; Cornelia, or "Nena", born on February 9, 1898, and Bessie, born on October 11, 1899.
The 1900 Census shows that they, like Will's father John, were renting a farm. Will and Ida's farm was in neighboring Lauderdale County, near the town of Florence. During this time, Will began dividing his time between working on the farm and working as a maintenance crew supervisor for the railroad. Will and Ida wanted a farm of their own, and they were going to do whatever they could to achieve that goal. Family stories say he worked for the railroad company for ten to fifteen years, saving the money to buy a farm.
While he worked for the railroad, the little family grew. Their first son, Virgil, was born on November 5, 1901. Virgil's birth was followed by three more daughters. Grace, born September 9, 1903, Willie Sue, born October 20, 1905, and Helen Odelle, born July 25, 1907. The photo with the work crew (above) is believed to have been taken about 1907. On March 23, 1909 another son, Clyde Meeks, was born. This was right about the same time that Will and Ida finally realized their goal. They bought a 40-acre farm on Sharp's Mill Road, just north of Cloverdale Road.
They settled into a "5-room dog-trot house" on the property. Some family members have wondered if the house may have previously been owned by some of Ida's Gooch relatives, since a photo of several of the Gooch men is said to have been taken on the porch of that house. Whether this was the case, or whether Ida's father (third from left, photo below) and her uncles were just visiting is something I have not researched at this point.
In their new home, Will and Ida had four more children: Clara Belle, born April 10, 1910, Guy Gene, born May 15, 1913, Joe Dein, born June 8, 1915, and Gladys Marie, born June 29, 1918. This gave them a total of eight daughters and four sons. The photo below shows the growing family in front of their home about 1913. In the original photo, Ida's silhouette can barely be made out in the window on the right side of the house. She was reportedly pregnant with Guy at the time the photo was taken, and didn't want to be in the picture because of that.
In 1918, Will dutifully registered for the draft. The registration form lists him as a 43-year old farmer, of medium height and medium build, with gray eyes and black hair.
Will spent his life farming. As with most farmers, some years were more successful than others. For the most part, though, his hard work on this farm seemed to pay off. He successfully raised his family of 12, and added to his farm's output each year by planting not only "regular" crops, but adding fruit trees and other things as well.
In 1927, Will was featured in a write up by W P Hofferbert in The Florence Herald, a local Florence newspaper. "Farmer Makes Success on Forty Acres by Sound Methods" the headline proclaims.
It describes how this farmer and father of twelve has been diversifying his crops and "with no special training" had been making a good living. While his cotton crop that year was said to be only "average", his fruits and vegetables were highly praised. Will had apparently established a county-wide reputation for himself with the fruits of his labor, which is what prompted the newspaper article. The peach orchard, about an acre in size, was described as having trees "so loaded that scores of props are necessary to keep the limbs from breaking under the burden of the fruit ... Six of these peaches brought home by the writer tipped the scales at 2-1/2 pounds." Besides the cotton, fruits and vegetables, the farm had "enough corn and hay ... to care for work stock, hogs for family use, two or three cows and corn for family use and to feed a flock of hens."
Life on the farm was busy. Will had a good reputation as a local farmer. Ida, besides raising her own family, served as a midwife in the community, delivering more than 50 children, including some of her own grandchildren. Life seemed to be going well.
Somewhere along the line though, things began to change. The family doesn't really know when, or why. Life seemed to go along in ordinary ways. The older children married, moved away from home, and began families of their own. The younger children grew and began helping on the farm. In August of 1932, things seemed to be going along just fine. Will was up early that Tuesday morning, like most farmers. Before 7 a.m., he sat down as usual at the table and had a cup of coffee. My Grandmother Loyce, who was 7 years old at the time, was staying with her grandparents for a few days and visiting with her younger aunts and uncles. Ida, Loyce, and 14-year old Gladys, if I remember the story correctly, were sitting on the porch. In my imagination, I can almost hear the early morning farm sounds interrupted by the sound of a single nearby gunshot.
Ida quickly called one of the boys to go look behind the kitchen door for Will's gun. It wasn't there. So, she told the girls to stay on the porch, and they went looking for the source of the unexpected sound they had heard. They found Will in the smokehouse. He had shot himself in the head with a "single barreled, 12-gauge shotgun". He was 56. The Florence Times paper for that day put the announcement of his death on the front page, a huge headline right under the lead "Lindbergh Ransom Money is Traced".
No one really knows why Will took his own life. He had said something for a few days to family members about "feeling bad", but he left no note for his stunned family. He died the morning of August 9, 1932. He is buried at Stoney Point Church of Christ Cemetery, near a number of the members of his extended family.
After his death, his wife Ida continued to live on the farm until about 1950. She died in 1959.
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