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| My oldest brother, George Washington, went to Monroe, West Virginia to live with his uncle, Samuel Martin (Mother's brother) of whom he lived with until he was a grown young man and met his future wife. My father too went to Monroe, West Virginia to live shortly after mother's passing. He lived there until he met Mattie Ridgeway, whom he married in 1882. Then he came after we children however, we did not want to leave our grandparents by then. We had grown to love them very dearly and stayed six months. My grandparents came to visit daddy and his new wife or maybe it was we children instead so when they got ready to come home Lucy Ann was ready to come along and I did. I was only eight years old then, so I stayed with them until my Aunt Virginia got married then I went and lived with she and Uncle Elijah -- until I was married in 1896, September 15th. In 1883, my stepmother Mattie Ridgeway, gave birth to a little girl -- Lydia so this gave me a half-sister which I was very much pleased to learn about. However, in a short while or in the neighborhood of four or five years leaving dad a widower with another girl to care for. I was living with my grandparents -- Martins-- and never learned too much about my little sister Lydia. Father met his third wife and remarried so that Lydia would have a mother since she had no immediate or grandparents only foster ones. In 1890, another little girl came to my father's home. Her name was Ella, then a boy Ralph, a girl Nina, and a boy Alta (making ten children in all). However, we were all reared separate, three different families, we never did get to be as one big family with us. We just seemed to have so many trials and tribulations. His last four children were left orphans -- when Ella was about fourteen years of age and Alta around four. This mother passed away about a year or just a short time before daddy went, which was in 1908. These four younger children came and lived with we six older ones until they were old enough to go on their own. Ella married Norman (?) Raines and went to Kansas to make her home. Nina went to California and married and has since passed away. Ralph died of TB. when he was in his teens -- and we don't any of us know where, what, or how Alta has survived all these years. He just has sort of gone out of all our lives, we don't know where he is now and this is 1957. George, Samuel, Thomas, Leonard and Lydia have all passed by and the vail a good many years ago. Leonard and Sam haven't too recently passed away. Ella and I, so far as I know, are the only living ones at the writing of 5-8. Now this is a short sketch of my father's family. I shall try to write something of my own life. |
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