Sometime before she died in 1994, my mother-in-law, Jewel Moore Gresham (born in 1914), either wrote down or dictated some memories. This is the sixth and last part of those memories, from her post-high school years in the Marlow, Oklahoma, area, 1932-1936.
Here are links to the other parts:
Part one (Texas, 1914-1918) - Part two (near Bray, Oklahoma, 1919-1922) - Part three (near Marlow, Oklahoma, 1922-1926) - Part four (junior high school years, near Marlow, Oklahoma, 1926-1929) - Part five (high school years, near Marlow, Oklahoma, 1929-1932)
Jewel's nephew, James "Jim" Lynn Cook, 1936-2016.
Photo courtesy Alison Land.
[Franklin D.] Roosevelt was elected president, and in 1933, he started many programs for the people. One program, the W.P.A. [Works Progress Administration], was to help build roads. Papa1 got on this crew of men, who, with teams of horses and shovels, they built roads in and around Marlow. I can't remember how much was paid, but it did get some money into circulation.In December 1932, Mabel2 became ill with pneumonia. She had just finished her nurse's training, and was going to do private duty. The first patient was a sailor off a foreign ship, with the type of influenza that occurred in 1918. Her patient was dead in a week, and she became ill. In a week, she was dead. It was December 26, 1932.
Grave marker of Beulah Mabel Moore at the Marlow Cemetery, Marlow, Oklahoma.
Photo courtesy Alison Land.
But life goes on. This was the time that Mama3 started having health problems. It was menopause time, and all I knew was she was impossible to live with. She kept wanting to go back to Fort Worth4. Papa would take her down there, and after a while, he would go get her. Things would be all right for a while, but just for a while. That went on and on. She started reading her Bible -- and things got worse. She was always quarreling with someone. We went about our daily lives as usual, farming, and doing what we had to do to survive. I most surely would not want to live those years again!!In December 1934, Audie5 and Walter6 got married. They went to live with the Cooks7. Later, Mr. Cook had a two-room house moved on his farm, and they moved into it.
Thomas Gurth Moore (1902-1935) in the early 1930s
In January 1935, Gurth8 died in Austin, Texas. Mr. Cook loaned us his car, and Walter, Audie, Mama and Papa and I went to the funeral. Gurth and Katie9 had a small house on the edge of Austin. Tom was 19 months old, and Wesley was 3 months.
After the funeral, Papa and Mama told me to stay and help Katie. Gurth had a cow, and since Katie didn't know how to milk, she needed someone to milk the cow. I don't remember how long I stayed with her, but I finally went home on the bus. Later on in the year, Katie decided to come to our house and leave the kids with us and try to get work as a waitress in Oklahoma City. That didn't last very long, and by the end of summer, she took the kids and went back to Austin.Time goes on and we were always doing what had to be done to survive. In 1936, Audie became pregnant with Jim10. She had a terrible time, and finally had to be hospitalized. I guess by that time, the morning sickness stage was over, and she started eating, and recovered fast. They stayed with us while she was ill. Looking back, I believe the trouble was when she had the morning sickness, she just quit eating, and became so malnourished, she couldn't keep anything down. At that point in time, doctors didn't know a heck of a lot. Jim was born September 26, 1936.
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Jewel's written memories end at this point. Sometime after 1935 but before 1940, she moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, where her older sister Ivis Moore Mew (1905-2004) was living, now married, and still working as a nurse. Jewel met Francis Edward Gresham (1911-1990) in Corpus Christi, and they married there on October 26, 1940.
NOTES
1. Papa is Jewel's father, Tandy Clayton "Clayton" Moore, 1878-1964.
2. Mabel is Jewel's older sister, Beulah Mabel "Mabel" Moore, 1910-1932.
3. Mama is Jewel's mother, Nancy "Nannie" Flora Jones Moore, 1882-1969.
4. In this 1933-36 time period, Nannie still had siblings living in Fort Worth and nearby cities: Dorinda Isabell Jones Drosihn (1876-1956) in adjacent Denton County, Penelope Frances “Neppie” Jones Sullivan (1878-1950) in Fort Worth, Dorothy Allie Jones Davis Hamessley (1889-1969) in Dallas, and Walton Hixon Jones (1885-1954) in Paluxy in nearby Hood County (where I live!).
5. Audie is Jewel's older sister, Audie Ruth Moore Cook, 1911-1969.
6. Walter is Audie's husband, Walter Ernest Cook, 1911-1999.
7. Walter's parents were Ernest Ward Cook (1883-1955) and Margaret Josephine Davis Cook (1883-1967). The Cooks lived three miles north of Marlow (according to Ernest's World War II draft registration card), across the north Stephens County line, in Grady County, with a Rush Springs (the next town north of Marlow on Highway 81) address.
8. Gurth is Jewel's older (and only) brother, Thomas Gurth Moore,1902-1935.
9. Katie is Gurth's wife, Katherine "Katie" May Sprouse Moore-Mayhew (1908-2005). She married John Beldon Mayhew (1910-1982) on October 5, 1937, and her life got a little easier.
10. Jim is Jewel's nephew, James "Jim" Lynn Cook, 1936-2016, the little boy pictured at the beginning of this post.
Great, you have all those stories written down! At least they will not be forgotten as many, many others.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad, how many people died of pneumonia in the past.
Thanks for commenting, Aleksandra! I'm glad my mother-in-law wrote down or dictated these memories!
DeleteI enjoyed your series on Jewel's life in Oklahoma, It reminded me of stories my mother in law told me about her life growing up in Anadarko. she was also a jewel - Ruby Jewel Sturgell. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda, and thank you for the shout-out on your blog. It was fun finding images to go with Jewel's stories.
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