Anecdotes Of The Mccracken Cousins

Posted on December 21, 2023December 21, 2023 by FHadmin

Cousins can be almost anybody. I could probably write about the guy at the meat store and be able to research and find out that he is a Nth generation cousin. However, when I think about cousins I think first about my first cousins. So, when the topic of cousins came up I decided to go to my first cousins. Rather than write extensively about any one cousin (Who would I pick?), I chose to write brief stories and memories of my McCracken first cousins.

Steve, Mark, & Stan

Steve, Mark, and Stan stayed on the farm during the summer. This was a shock to my mom, who had never had to feed teenage boys who were also doing physical work. She said that she could never make enough food and that she learned that if she wanted something, she better set some aside or it would be all be gone before she got one bite. This was especially true with Steve and ice cream as he loved it and could eat large amounts of it at one sitting.

Although I was tiny at the time, I remember riding up on top of the cab of “the Minesweep,” Dad’s big old farm truck with Steve and (I think) Mark. If Mom saw me up there, I am sure she was beside herself.

Steve and Stan didn’t even go into town with Dad that often prompting their mom to ask, “Aren’t you ever going to bring my boys home?”

But, one of Dad’s favorite stories was about Mark putting a hay hook, hook-side up, on the tractor seat. Ouch! Mark laughed about that story. Dad, not so much!

Mark, Steve, & Myself when they were staying with us

Sky & Vance

When our Grandma McCracken died, Sky, Vance, Ann, and I were together when the usher was seating the family. As Sky approached the row to be seated, the usher informed him that there wouldn’t be room for both him and his wife in that row. Sky was not quite 17. We assume the usher thought I was the wife as I was following him.

I guess I was robbing the cradle as I was 4 years older and apparently married not only to my cousin, but also to someone under age. In the usher’s defense, I do believe Sky had a mustache.

Of course, as brothers, Sky and Vance were often together doing things. When we went to visit one time when they were young, we found them waiting on the front porch. When we drove in, Vance informed us that they weren’t sure it was us. They thought it might be some bums.

And, there was the time with the two of them, the garage, and some fire, but we won’t go into that one!

Lee

Lee was eight years older than me, but oddly during each of our college years we unknowingly became friends with the same person. I am not sure how Lee met the person, but he happened to be best friends with my roommate’s boyfriend. The two of us became friends and were the maid of honor and best man for our friends’ wedding.

I am not sure how Lee and I figured out that we knew the same person. But, my sister remembers meeting the person when Lee brought him home from college with him many years earlier.

Ava & Glenda

As a part of her job at a radio station, Ava accompanied a group of people to Kansas City to see the Royals play. Well, Dad happened to go with his bowling team to the same game.

Well, Ava, as she always did, came up and gave Dad a huge hug. Dad never explained to the guys who this very pretty, young woman was that gave him a hug.

To add to the confusion, one night Glenda stopped by the bowling alley. What did she do? She gave Dad a big hug. Dad loved to tell the stories about the nice looking young women giving him hugs – and he liked that the guys had no idea why he was attracting these women.

14 of the 18 cousins at a family reunion in 1994

Cindy

When we were young Cindy loved to play olden days. She romanticized the years gone by and wanted others to join her in her fantasy world.

However, she was not nearly as fond of playing school, which was my favorite activity. Of course, it might have had something to do with the fact that I actually expected my pupils to do school work.

Doug

I was in junior high school when Doug was a student teacher at the high school on the same campus. Everyone ate at the cafeteria in the junior high school building. Thus, Doug would walk over with the other teachers to have lunch. When he did, he would always say, “Hi!” if he saw me.

Well, he was a nice looking young man and all the junior high girls – especially the popular ones – couldn’t figure out why this student teacher who was good looking would be talking to me. Well, he was my cousin! But, like Dad, I didn’t tell them because they didn’t need to know.

Gilbert

Gilbert (a.k.a. Gib, Gil) was in the Air Force for many years. He also loved the Lord and after he retired he became a member of the Christian Motorcyclists Association and provided ministry in prisons.

Jo

Mom was very confused when she first met Jo. Dad had talked about Jo and Karla, but he had neglected to tell her that Jo was a girl.

When Jo graduated from high school, my sister and I, who were much younger, had photos taken of us modeling her graduation cap and gown.

Heather

Growing up, Heather always wanted to be more grown up that she was. She was always pretending to be older. I remember going with her (my older cousin drove if I recall correctly) to Wichita State University to see people she knew when she wasn’t anywhere close to college age.

I imagine that perspective has changed now.

Karla

From a young age, Karla was really good with horses. I think she inherited that skill from grandma, who loved horses, especially her horse Beauty.

We didn’t use horses to farm like the previous generation, but Karla and I both worked in the fields baling hay. Interestingly, we both remember how patient the other ones’ father was when working with us. I do imagine there was more patience when working with a niece than when working with a daughter.

Aunt Ruby with Doug, Glenda, Gib, Steve, Stan, and Jo

Dallas

When Mom and Dad got married, Dallas, who was always full of questions at that age, asked Mom, “Why did you move? Did your house get too dirty?”

Carol

Carol and I shared the same flute. I don’t recall how I came to know she had a flute or even how I came to be interested in playing. However, I remember going to her family’s house to get it when I was in junior high.

I used it in band and took lessons from the high school band instructor. By the time it was retired, the case was held together with tape and shoe strings tied around it.

Correction: Carol informs me that it was actually her sister Glenda’s flute. For about 50 years I have thought it belonged to Carol.

A Voice From The Past

Posted on December 12, 2023April 20, 2025 by FHadmin

If you would have told me earlier this year that by the end of the year I would have had the opportunity to hear the voice of a family member born during the Civil War almost 160 years ago, I would have chuckled and told you, “Not likely.” But, believe it or not, it happened!

Collecting Records

I had communicated and shared records with Rod’s Dad’s first cousin Dean Thomson for years. However, from time to time Dean mentions something that we haven’t heard before. So, we decided that we needed to go through all of Dean’s records to make sure that we had all of his records. So, this year we decided to go visit Dean and scan/photograph any records that we did not have or where a better copy could be useful. Well, we found that to be a bit cumbersome and decided that it would be much easier to simply scan/photograph everything he had on our shared family lines. Given the volume of information, it was clear that one trip would not be enough no matter how quickly we went through his many notebooks. So we scheduled another visit.

On the second visit, Dean mentioned a tape that was in a box on the table. He told us that it was old (recorded 60 years ago) and that he wasn’t sure it would even play. However, he said that we could take it home and see if we could get it to play. It was a tape of a brief interview with Judge Sharpless Klinefelter.

The Tape

After we got home, we hunted up an old cassette player. It worked. And, the tape played. Judge Sharpless Klinefelter, Rod’s great-great grandfather, began by saying, “I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1864.” Next year will be the 100th anniversary of his birth. Yet, here we were listening to his voice.

He was 98 years of age when he answered the questions about his ancestry, career, places he lived, his children, and more. His answers were brief and we had a 100 other questions that we would have loved to have asked him.

We already knew the answers to many of the questions, but it was so interesting to hear his account of his life in his own words. Just listening to his voice and realizing how much had changed between the time he was born and the time the recording was made was amazing. And, it has changed even more in the 60 years since he spoke those words.

Judge was born before slavery was abolished, although that occurred shortly after his birth. Additionally, women did not yet have the right to vote. He would go on to live through the flu epidemic, prohibition, the Great Depression, WWI, and WWII.

But this was also in the time prior to the invention of the automobile, the telephone, the refrigerator, indoor plumbing, electricity, and much more! He had lived long enough to see silent films, talkies as the early movies with sound were called, and television.

Clip of Interview

This is a clip of the interview with Judge Sharpless Klinefelter. It was originally recorded on cassette tape on January 27, 1963. Judge was 98 years of age.

The interviewer is Dean Thomson. The other voice heard on portions of the tape is Blanche Mabel (Klinefelter) Thomson.

Both Judge and Blanche would die the following year.

A Peek Into Judge’s Life

Based on His Interview with some added details

5-Generations: Judge Klinefelter; Blanche (Klinefelter) Thomson; Alexander Thomson; James Thomson; and James’ 3 children

His Name

Judge was named after his Uncle Judge Sharpless Klinefelter. Neither of them were ever a judge in the judicial sense. Still, he viewed the name more as a title than a name.

His Parents

Judge was born in 1864 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to parents Joseph Gazzan and Caroline (Stetler) Klinefelter. At the time of his birth, his father was serving in the Union Army where he was a POW and was injured. His parents would have no more children.

His Wives & Descendants

Judge married Emma Ackermann in 1886 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They had a daughter Blanche (who also speaks on the recording). Fifteen months after Blanche was born, Emma died giving birth to their son Daniel, who also died and is buried with Emma. Judge’s parents primarily raised Blanche.

Ten years after his first marriage, Judge married Lois Campbell. They had two daughters together: Carolyn Elmina, who married Elbert Shelton, and Hortense Lucile, who married Henry Dalson. Judge and Lois later divorced.

In 1920, Judge married Martha Edwards. They had no children. She died in 1936. Judge did not remarry.

Longevity

Judge mentioned that his great-grandmother [Elizabeth Mason (Stackhouse) Brooks] lived to be just a few months shy of 100 years. He must have inherited her longevity.

Famous Ancestor

Judge was aware that he descended from the man [William Hurrie] who rang what is now known as the Liberty Bell to signal that the Declaration of Independence had been signed and was going to be read at the State House in Philadelphia.

Politics

Judge remembered the politics of old. He mentioned the days when politicians would have parades. He said that his family had been Republican, but he said that he didn’t know if he was of any affiliation, but he did lean more toward the Republican side.

His Career

Judge was a carpenter. It was a skill that he learned from his father. He built or oversaw (foreman or building superintendent) the building of many homes and other buildings, including very tall buildings. His career took him all over the eastern half of the country where he built buildings as far north as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (and maybe further north), as far south as Florida, and as far west as Waco, Texas. He said that he basically went wherever buildings needed to be built.

Based on what he said and family stories, it is possible that the building he oversaw in Waco, Texas is the Alico Building, which is 22 stories high and was built in 1910-1911. That building withstood a direct hit of a tornado in 1953, while other buildings around it was destroyed. The building is still in use today and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Amicable Building (now Alico). Source: The University of Houston Digital Library – The University of Houston Digital Library: http://digital.lib.uh.edu (public domain)

Automobiles

Judge remembered the horse and buggy days very well as they were the predominant mode of transportation for over half of his life.

The surprising fact, however, is that Judge claims to have never owned a car or even driven a car. He would have only been in his forties when Ford produced the first Model T cars. I would love to have asked him, “Why he hadn’t owned or driven a car?” After all, it seemed like a car would have been very useful to him.

Retirement

In his retirement years, he kept busy doing smaller carpentry projects. One of these projects was to make children rocking chairs. He was active with projects until he was 99.

Judge’s 4th great-grandchild sitting in one of the rocking chairs that he made. Photo courtesy Emma Faulkner.

4 Generations of Cinnamon Rolls

Posted on December 7, 2023 by FHadmin

The very first time I made cinnamon rolls was for a McCracken family gathering when I was a teenager. Uncle Don loved them, but all Dad could say was, “Well, they are pretty good, but they aren’t like mom’s.” Despite the fact that I had no idea that I was supposed to be making them like Grandma’s, that batch of cinnamon rolls led to the quest to recreate Grandma McCracken’s cinnamon rolls.

The Quest

I was at a disadvantage when it came to recreating Grandma’s cinnamon rolls. She was quite elderly and unable to advise me and I had never eaten or even seen her cinnamon rolls. Dad, on the other hand, had eaten them for many years as Grandma had been the primary bread and cinnamon roll baker in the family. Ester and the other girls had taken over a lot of the cooking, but not the bread. This may have been a matter of practicality since bread making takes hours and the girls had school and other obligations while she was home most of the time.

Dad loved both her bread and cinnamon rolls. Hot out of the oven either could be a whole meal as far as he was concerned. Thus, Dad started advising me on how to change the cinnamon rolls to be more like his mom’s. He taught me some of the keys to Grandma’s cinnamon rolls. They should not be like Betty Crocker cinnamon rolls with only a thin layer of cinnamon, sugar, and butter between layers of the dough and then covered in a glaze or icing. Grandma’s were quite different. No rolling the dough. No glaze or icing. And lots more sugar, cinnamon, and butter.

I experimented getting the feedback of more of this, not quite right, needs to be . . . Time went on and I moved away, got married, and had kids. I continued to make cinnamon rolls from time to time, but due to distance I couldn’t get Dad’s feedback very often.

Then, Dad retired and had more time on his hands. So, he began experimenting with cinnamon rolls himself. He made one significant change. He used his sister O’Ella’s refrigerator rolls/bread dough recipe; whereas, I had been using my maternal grandmother’s dough recipe that she used for rolls and her pecan sticky buns. The two doughs were made using a different process and had very different textures. Bingo! The cinnamon rolls went up another notch!

Perfection

It is unclear whether Dad’s experimenting led to the exact replication of Grandma’s cinnamon rolls or not. However, what is clear is that they were a magnificent hit with everybody that tasted one. He began making them for his kids and grandkids, taking them to family gatherings, and giving them to people who did something for the family. No one turned them down. Matter of fact, they would volunteer to keep any leftovers.

Rehab

After Dad had a septuple bypass, he celebrated his 85^th birthday in inpatient rehab. When the staff learned that he was “famous” for making cinnamon rolls, they decided that making a batch would be a great exercise for occupational therapy. Well, as you can imagine, the smell of cinnamon rolls baking was quite a contrast to the sterile hospital smell. Staff came from all directions to investigate and within a few minutes, all the cinnamon rolls were gone. Dad later loved to recall the story, adding “And, I didn’t even get one!”

The Video

The summer before Dad’s surgery, my younger son had made a request for a video of him making cinnamon rolls. He was interested in learning to make “Gramps’’ Cinnamon Rolls, but he was also busy with college classes. Thus, he didn’t have time to come and learn in person. So, when visiting Dad, my husband and I got him to make a batch while the camera was rolling. I remember my husband asking Dad questions as he worked on the cinnamon rolls so that we got each and every detail of the process captured.

We gave our son the video to study so that he could learn Dad’s techniques. When a potluck event came up at his apartment complex, my son decided that he would make a batch of cinnamon rolls. He really wanted his roommates to be able to try them. However, one of his roommates could not eat any milk products, even lactose free items. Thus, no butter! My son researched and found a way to make them sans butter. And, they were delicious. Everyone loved them. I doubt anyone knew they contained no butter except the people he told.

Today’s Cinnamon Rolls

Today, I am the primary cinnamon roll baker as my son is busy with business ventures. Still, he makes them with me if he is in town. My recipe evolved over the years to use my Dad’s basic recipe with my own twists. My sugar and cinnamon mix uses both white and brown sugar; whereas, Dad used only white sugar. Not exactly Grandma’s cinnamon rolls, but good enough that he would willingly eat them without complaint.

Uncle Doc

Posted on November 29, 2023November 29, 2023 by FHadmin

Sometimes troublemakers aren’t really bad guys. Instead, they are people that push the limits a bit or just like to have some fun even if it makes others a bit uncomfortable at times. Uncle Doc was one of those people. He made a bit of trouble, didn’t really do any harm, and had a good time doing it.

His Name

Born Dewey Cortis McCracken, he became known as “Doc” while going to grammar school. Why you ask? Simply, he had a difficult time pronouncing the word “physician.” From the stories I heard, he pronounced it something like “fiz-i-can.” The kids teased him about mispronouncing it and somehow he obtained the name “Doc” from the situation. And, it stuck all his life.

Playing Cards

Grandma Nellie (Peelle) McCracken was not big on people playing cards. She was a bit old-school and religious. Thus, she thought that playing cards just might be the work of the Devil. And, she sure didn’t like hearing the kids fuss over any game. She was sure that no matter what, card playing would not bring good things.

Well, Uncle Doc, Grandpa Joe’s brother, thought nothing of playing cards. To him, it was just fun and he wanted to teach the youngest McCracken kids to play. Grandma tried to convince Grandpa to put a stop to it, but Grandpa said, “Oh, Nell, let them have fun!”

Grandpa succeeded in letting the activity continue. Thus, Uncle Doc taught the younger kids, even Dimple Darling (his name for Kay), to play cards. Worse yet, he taught them to play the game “Oh, Hell.” Mercy me! And, as if to punctuate the situation, he also taught them how to cheat!

The kids played cards so much that Dad never wanted to play when he was older. He said that he had his fill of card playing and that it wasn’t ever fun. Even though they learned to play, Grandma still expected them to be peaceful about it, which meant that he always had to let Kay and Don win. If he didn’t, they would go crying to their mom and he would get in trouble.

I don’t know how good any of the younger kids got at the game. After all, it is hard to perfect your game if you are always throwing the game or being the recipient of an easy win. However, Uncle Dewey, Uncle Doc’s namesake and one of Joe and Nellie’s oldest kids, became an excellent “Oh, Hell” player. He knew all the cards that remained in the deck and could win against the best. He was really good at playing cards in general and likely learned his card playing skills from Uncle Doc.

Likewise, Howard, another of the older kids, played cards. In a letter home to the family while he was serving in Italy in WWII, he mentioned playing cards. However, assured his mother that he was not gambling. So, it seems likely that Uncle Doc’s card playing was passed down to all of Joe and Nellie’s children.

His Reputation

While Aunt Ruthe was working at the Western Insurance Company in Ft. Scott, Uncle Doc and her arranged to meet for lunch one day. When some of her female co-workers learned the name of her lunch date, one of her co-workers quietly cautioned her about going to lunch with him.. The co-worker whispered, “You do know that he is a womanizer, don’t you?” Ruthe replied, “And, he is also my uncle!”

Letters Home

In a letter to Grandpa while Uncle Doc was serving at Camp Roberts in California during WWII, he added a note to Uncle Dewey to not allow his dad (Grandpa Joe) to censor his letters because he was left-handed and he didn’t understand right-handed English.” Not sure exactly what the difference is between right-handed and left-handed English. And, what was Dewey going to write that his dad was going to censor?

In another letter, Uncle Doc told “Old Maid” O’Ella that he was sorry that he couldn’t make it to a recent pie supper, as he couldn’t get a pass that night. However, he said that he could now get a pass so they should have the pie supper again so he could attend. Not exactly practical as I am not sure how he would have gone to Kansas from California just for the evening.

The Cliff Hanger

So goes the adventures of Uncle Doc . . . The question that remains is: Was he responsible for the “unexpected cousins” that showed up as DNA matches? He was in the right area at the right time, but he isn’t the only one on the suspect list. It is a question whose answer we may never know.

Seven Women Who Made Me

Posted on November 21, 2023November 21, 2023 by FHadmin

When I think of homebodies, I could write about many people, but what mostly comes to mind are all the women who were homemakers and focused on the roles of wife, mother, and homemaker. I chose to write mini-bios about my mother, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers – the seven women in my ancestral lines most closely tied to my DNA.

Elma (Pellett) McCracken

Years a Homemaker: 45

Children: 2

Extra children: Several of Dad’s nieces and nephews stayed with us, especially in the summer.

Cooking: Cherry pie, mashed strawberry shortcake, mac & cheese, round steak, glazed ham. And, she never could cook enough when the male teenage cousins were staying with the family.

Sewing: A button maybe. Anything more, not unless her life depended on it.

Special skill: She was amazing at collecting family history and history of people & places we knew. She would record a person’s entire family history back multiple generations on the back of photos. (This comes in really handy!)

Special Memory: She loved pretty things and cute things. And, each one was a treasure to her. Additionally, she could find a place for them no matter how crowded the cabinet was. After she passed, I kept seeing things and thinking I should tell her about the items because she would like them.

Famous phrase: “You aren’t getting into my bed with those dirty feet!”

Survived: Not having an indoor bathroom until her oldest was 6.

Grandma

Nellie (peelle) McCracken

Years a Homemaker: 66

Children: 11 (10 lived to adulthood)

Extra children: The Bailey kids when they traded places in the night with the McCracken kids. She put them to work. Dad said that they had extra people more often than not, but not necessarily kids.

Cooking: My favorite memory was the smell of her house when she made pork roast wrapped in bacon with potatoes and carrots. Dad always worked hard to replicate her cinnamon rolls.

Sewing: Preferred to sew over cook. When old enough, her daughter Ester did much of the cooking.

Special Memory: Playing her little electric organ – even back when she lived on Pine. (I got it when she was getting rid of things & I still have it).

Doctoring: While chopping wood on Easter 1945, she almost chopped her thumb completely off. She just stuck it back in place and grandpa took her to the doctor. The doc said that she did a good job and he wasn’t going to mess with it.

Famous phrase: “My head is made up!”

Survived: Losing a baby at one month of age and having a son MIA in WWII.

Grandma

Dessie May (Thomas) Pellett

Dessie (Thomas) Pellett and her daughter Ruby

Years a Homemaker: 66 + 4.5 (Caring for siblings and the house after her mom died)

Children: 5 (4 lived to adulthood)

Cooking: I remember most her pecan cinnamon roll sticky buns, hot rolls, doughnuts, and divinity. I watched and at times helped her cook. Her key role in the kitchen for Sunday dinner was deciding who got to cook each item.

Sewing: She made dresses and quilts, including dresses for my sister and me. Taught me to sew on a 1920 Singer treadle sewing machine. (I still have it.)

Special Memory: Taking care of her after she had cataract surgery. In those days, you had to have your eyes covered for two weeks after surgery and she couldn’t see anything. So, I was her eyes while my aunts worked. I was only 8.

Strange Rule: You could only eat in the living room if the Lawrence Welk Show was on.

Famous phrase: “What if the preacher comes?”

Survived: Losing her mother as a teenager, taking over running her parent’s household, her first child being stillborn, and raising her children mostly on her own as her husband spent much of his adult life in a VA hospital.

Great-Grandma

Rosa Isabella (ellis)

McCracken Apt

Years a Homemaker: 52

Children: 9

Grandchildren: 37 (34 grew to adulthood)

Cooking: I don’t know what she cooked, but Dad told me about red and white dishes (china) that she had. Cousin Ava told me a about a soup tureen that she said that her mom said had been “Grandma’s.” Ava thought it was her grandma’s (I.E. Nellie (Peelle) McCracken’s). Turns out it had belonged to Rosa and was part of the set Dad mentioned.

Daring Adventure: Rose went to Indian Territory by herself in a buggy to see family (likely her brother Sam who lived in Oklahoma). She never made it to her destination as she was forced to turn back by people in the area. I am not sure if they were Native Americans or people who were claiming land there.

1929 Thanksgiving Diary Entry: “Thanksgiven so many things to Thank our God for. we did not all get to Chester. Cynthia & her family and Ernest & Dewey was not thare. but thare was 31 thare. had a good time and a nice dinner. Will Ray & I went to the show to night at Grard.” (As written – Chester was her daughter Oella’s husband. Ernest, Dewey, and Ray were sons. Will was her second husband).

WWII: Had 2 sons and grandsons serving in the military.

Survived: Losing her husband when she was 49.

Great-Grandma

Matilda (Jury) Peelle

Years a Homemaker: 55

Children: 3

Grandchildren: 10

Moving Around: She was born in Ontario, Canada. Moved when she was very young to Kansas. Then to Missouri. Back to Kansas. To Michigan, and finally back to Kansas. After her return to Kansas, she lived in at least 6 homes around Hiattville, a house in Farlington, and another in Wichita. Thus, she set up house keeping quite a few times.

Cooking & Sewing: She likely began learning cooking and sewing with her paternal grandmother who lived with them and likely refined those skills by learning from her father’s sister Eleanor “Ellen” (Jury) Hartnett, whom she lived with after her grandmother died.

Religion: Very religious late in life. Became a member of the Seventh Day Adventists.

Survived: Growing up without her mother as she was only 2 1/2 when her mother died. Losing her husband when she was 46. He died only two days after her father died. She later lost a grandson in a very tragic car-bicycle accident.

Great-Grandma

Della (Conner) Pellett

Years a Homemaker: 15

Children: 4

Grandchildren: 13 (12 lived to adulthood)

Survived: Death of her daughter Nina, who died at age 6 of scarlet fever. Nina had recovered enough to return to school when she had a sudden relapse and died within a few days.

On her deathbed: She said that she had made preparations for death and that all was well with her soul.

Died: Died the same night as her sister-in-law (her husband’s brother’s wife). They died at their respective homes. She after a short illness and her sister-in-law after a long-term illness. The family held a double funeral. She was only 33 and her sister-in-law was 27.

Great-Grandma

Sarah Ellen “Sadie Ella”

(Ashby) Thomas

Years a Homemaker: 16

Children: 9 (6 lived to adulthood)

Grandchildren: 16 (14 lived to adulthood)

Cooking & Sewing: She died when Grandma Dessie Pellett was 15. It is assumed that Dessie learned to cook and sew from her mother as she could do both quite well.

Survived: The loss of two children at birth.

Died: She did not survive the loss of her 3rd child. The baby died at Mercy Hospital in Fort Scott She died two days later from complications of childbirth.