I thought some of you might be interested in seeing how we did genealogy before computers. This is a letter I wrote to Diana Pearson, who was researching the same family lines as I. There is also some good information in here that some of you might be interested in. There is a very poignant story about Laura Lee Kissinger that I will share in my next blog post. Any of you related to Grandma Ada Hall might be interested.
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Diana Pearson
July 30, 1992
Dear Diana,
It was so exciting to receive your package in the mail! I sure appreciate the response.
The photograph of nancy Kissinger is astounding! She and Laura could be twins. I wonder if the rest of the family shows such a resemblance to each other? Perhaps I can have my husband take a photo of it if you are interested. I'm afraid to send it for copying as it is my only photo of Laura Lee.
I'm also sending some photographs of pictures I have of Ada Kissinger Hall when she was a young woman, then at a later age. She was a very beautiful woman, and bears a striking likeness to your Aunt Sarah Soward and William Riley Soward. She aged gracefully, and I remember thinking her still beautiful the last time I saw her at age 96/97. She had such a sweet personality, never a bad word about anyone, and always willing to help. Her eyes smiled all the time, with a combination of innocence and mischievousness. I can't explain it. I lived with her daughter, my grandmother Mildred Inez Hall Cato, right next door for many, many years. I used to love to go to Grandma Hall's house. There was always something to do, whether it was building a clothesline tent or cutting paperdolls from the catalogs she saved for us kids. She would let us do things that our parents wouldn't sometimes. She'd let our "boyfriends" come over and talk to us, and serve them ice-water or lemonade when our parents didn't want us talking to boys. She let us wear make-up and use hairspray. Once, I remember her holding her sides and laughing because my cousin Janie and I got all "dolled up" and dressed up to go downtown, then left bare-footed. She thought that was so funny that we spent all that time putting on makeup but didn't wear our shoes. She was really a fun-loving person, and I loved her very much. She worried about me finding "a man." I was divorced with 3 children for about 10 years, and every time I'd visit her, one of the first questions she'd ask was, "Did you find yourself a man, yet?" I'd say, "No, grandma, I'm doing just fine without one!" and she just cackled!
I believe I told you the story of her birth in the last letter I wrote. Laura Lee Kissinger apparently had a rough life after Ada was born. She rarely spoke of the past, due to the scandal of Ada's birth. In speaking to various family members, they weren't "mean" to Laura and Ada. They just didn't discuss it. Mildred Hall Collins, of Ash Flat, Arkansas, is a cousin to my grandmother Mildred Inez Hall Cato. She has told me that her mother and grandmother always told the children that the baby (Ada) was Orlando Paden's (Laura's husband) child, and that he just took off with the boys and left her alone and pregnant (with Ada). Ada herself has told me the story of Thomas Soward, so I tend to believe that.
According to my grandmother, Laura Lee always lived with them. Apparently, she lived with HER parents until they died. When her mother died, she went to live with Ada and her husband, Ben Hall. She was described as a very sweet, loving person who was good to everyone. My grandmother Inez said Laura loved to tell witch stories to scare the kids!
In the 1920's, Luther Paden, one of the sons of Laura Lee and Orlando Paden, sent Ada a train ticket to California. There was a reunion of sorts, and eventually Luther, Arthur, and Ada became very close. However, the wives of these brothers were said to have been quite rude to Ada and her children, believing her to be illegitimate.
Do you have any information on the Thomas Soward story? If the Robert T. Soward in Campground Cemetery is Ada's father, he was 20 when she was born. Laura Lee was 29, and he died within a year of Ada's birth. I'm 9 years older than my husband, so I believe this is a possibility.
There is an uncanny likeness between Ada and Sarah Soward and William Riley Soward. The eyes are especially alike. Also, Odell is very similar in looks to my Uncle Ralph Hall.
Back to Laura, she was babysitting my mother and uncle when she took a fall and broke her hip. She then developed pneumonia and died. She was 75. She is buried in the cemetery in Armona, California.
I asked my grandmother Inez if she remembered much of Laura's mother. She did remember the old homestead, and the house she lived in. She said it had one big room with a huge fireplace and a sideroom they used for a kitchen. It was like a mountain cabin. She said she remembered going there when her grandmother Sarah Jane died. She said her body was laid out in a pine box casket set up on two chair baks. There were candles lit. My grandmother was very young, and very frightened.
I don't have any Roberts in my ancestry yet, but I do have a Margaret Ann KYLE. I wonder if she could be related to your Mary KYLE (#9 on Chart #8)? I've asked Mildred Collins, who has much of the Hall genealogy. Do you have the addresses of the Roberts cousins who are compiling genealogy for that line?
Well, Diana, I need to get going. I went off and left my pedigree/family group workbook at home, so I'll just be sending photos for now. I'm going camping this weekend. I'll copy and send the group sheets and pedigree on Monday. Sorry for the delay.
I hope you will continue to correspond. My husband and I are taking a genealogy trip in March. We will be traveling across Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, then back up to Idaho and Oregon. Perhaps we could stop by for a night and share stories.
Write soon.
Sincerely,
Deborah
(handwritten note at bottom)
Diana-
Do you have any information on the other brothers and sisters of Laura and Nancy? What became of them? Also, there is some confusion about Sally Cox and an "Elizabeeth" who was also married to Matthias. William and Rachel were Sally's children - then in the next census, he's married to an Elizabeth. Any info on this?
Thanks!
Bye
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