MARDY'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY
(The following pages are transcriptions of documents which are in my possession concerning the life of my grandmother, Mary Alice Garrett Coates and her family. I want to pass this information along to her many grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc...
...As a child, I was very close to my grandmother and saw her almost every day. Our entire family and most of her grandchildren called her "Mardy", a name given to her by my sister, Karen Lee Coates Frey. Mardy lived with our family in Chickasha from about 1945-1951. Between 1951-1975, she lived in a small apartment less than a block from our house. Between 1975 and her death in 1982, she lived with my parents, Rugie and Jewell Coates for 3 or 4 years. Then with her daughter and son-in-law, Westlynne Beverly Coates Tankersley and Benjamin Arleen Tankersley until about 3 months before her death, when she was either in the hospital or in a nursing home in Chickasha, Oklahoma...
...Mardy was very active until (the last) few months before her death at the age of 101. Even in her 80's and 90's she read, taught Sunday School, did needlework and enjoyed scrabble and dominoes (double 9 or 12, double 6 was too easy!). As a child, I went to her apartment everyday after school to raid her always stocked "cookie jar"...
...I have a large scrapbook which contains many pictures of Mardy and several documents associated with her life and death: a marriage license dated June 1907, newspaper clippings, etc. I have very little information about her husband. Unfortunately, Mardy's marriage was not a happy one. After having five children, she and her husband were divorced. I never heard he speak badly of him, (however). She referred to him only as Mr. Coates and never spoke personally about him. I have a locket he had given to her. The story that she told me was about the locket was this: "When they became engaged, he asked her if she wanted a locket or an engagement ring. She told him that she wanted to think about it. Meanwhile, he was sure that she would decide on a locket so he purchased one and had it engraved. When she announced that she wanted an engagement ring, he became very angry and threw the locket into the burning fireplace. She was able to retrieve the locket undamaged. He then bought her a diamond engagement ring." The locket was given to me on my 16th >birthday...
...The enclosed picture was taken by "SHUCK, El Reno, Oklahoma". On the back of the original is written "Miss Mary Garrett", so I assume that it was made some time before her marriage in June, 1907. Also, enclosed are two life histories written by Mardy. Hopefully, I have not added too many typos.
(Copied from our parent's family Bible:)
March 17, 1966
Henry M. Garrett; Cass County, Indiana; April 13, 1840
Lizzie Mead Garrett; England; February 20, 1846
Children:
Charles W. Garrett; Miami County, Indiana; December 23, 1870
A. E. Garrett; Cass County, Indiana; September 3, 1872
Harry M. Garrett; Cass County, Indiana; May 18, 1874
Joseph J. Garrett; Cass County, Indiana; November 6, 1875
Nellie Mae Garrett; Cass County, Indiana; August 19, 1877
Essa Mae Garrett; Cass County, Indiana; July 23, 1879
Mary Alice Garrett; Miami County, Indiana; February 10, 1881
Wilber M. Garrett; Marshall County, Kansas; April 19, 1885
George D. Garrett; Marshall County, Kansas; May 9, 1887
Leoti Odessa Garrett - Anderson; Marshall County, Kansas; July, 28, 1890
(signed as this:)
Leoti O. Anderson (formerly Garrett)
I, Jerry E. Mustain, a Notary public in and for Comanche County, Oklahoma, certify that Leotie O. Anderson (formerly Garrett) signed the above instrument.
(Jerry E. Mustain)
Notary Public
My commission expires 1/13/67.
(The following is a newspaper clipping of the obituary notice of Mardy's father in 1927. You will notice that his funeral was one month after his wife died. They had been married for 59 years. The story that I always heard from Mardy was that when she died that he "lost all the will to live" and died the next month. I don't know if this is really true, but it makes a nice, romantic story. On the other hand, he was 87 years old and it may have just been his time to pass on. The G.A.R. Post mentioned in the article was the veterans of the "Grand Army of the Republic", the union army. Mardy's family was very much on the union side and looked on the Civil War as a moral war against slavery. Mardy has a small Bible which she told me he carried in the Civil War.
CIVIL WAR VETERAN DIES AT UNION CITY
Henry Marion Garrett, died Friday at his home in Union City, aged 87 years. Funeral services will be held at the M.E. Church in Union City, Sunday, April 17, at 2:30 p.m. Rev. J. W. Barker will officiate.(The following was in the hand writing of Mary Alice Garrett Coates. It was written in response to her son Rugie asking her to write down her family history. I it s believed that she was in her 80's or 90's when she wrote it. (A few explanations have been inserted in parentheses by her granddaughter.
FOR RUGIE:
I, Mary Coates, was born in Munia (Miami) County, Indiana in the year 1881 the 10th day of February the 7th child of Henry and Elizabeth Garrett in a family of ten children, six boys and four girls.
When I was one year old my folks decided to come west. We came to Wymore, Nebraska. My father files on a quarter section of land in Marshal (Marshall) County, Kansas. He built a sod house. We lived there until I was four years old or perhaps older. There he rented a place close by and moved into a frame house. I do not know how long we lived there.
We moved to a place not many miles from there near Oketo, Kansas. We lived on that place for five years. Father had done so well financially he decided to buy a farm near Pawnee City, Nebraska. He believed all men were honest, but had put all his money into a poor farm. Then we had to live on rented farms while in Nebraska and after we came to Oklahoma until he retired from farming.
Being the seventh child in a family of ten, six boys and four girls, we had many good times together. I was quite a tomboy, waded creeks and climbed trees. Attended country schools until I was sixteen or seventeen. Then went to Pawnee City Academy. It was a United Presbyterian College. I attended nearly two years when father decided to move to Oklahoma.
Brother Charley passed away in January 14, 1900. We came to Oklahoma the next year in March. Came by covered wagon all but Grandpa Mead, Mother, and Odessa (Mardy's younger sister), Aunt Emma and Maude. Uncle Jim Mead came with us in covered wagon.
We spent three Sundays on the road the first at Marysville, Kansas, with Uncle John Bickell and family. The second Sunday in about central part of Kansas in a Mennonite settlement. The third Sunday at Pond Creek, Oklahoma. We found lovely people all the way here.
Our forth Sunday at Union City at a livery yard where they rented horses and buggies. Lon Cooper was the yard keeper. We had many curious visitors our first Sunday in Union City. Three pretty girls staying at a livery yard (referring to herself and her sisters). Father, Joe, Wilber, George, and Uncle Jim were with us (Joe, Wilber, and George were Mardy's brothers). We got in sometime on Friday or Saturday and Sunday morning we found our way to Sunday school and Church.
There being no empty houses for rent we had to rent an empty store building about were the Kelly store is. We lived there until fall. Then moved on a farm southwest of Union (she is referring to Union City, which is near El Reno). I attended Normal School at El Reno and got a third grade certificate to teach. Got a school four miles southwest of Union. Drove to school or rode our pony. $30 per month (her pay of teaching).
There is where I met Jess Anderson (who later married her younger sister, Odessa). He was one of my pupils. The next year I taught one mile north and one west of Union. $40 per month. I decided I liked to clerk better than to teach. So I clerked in a drug store, kept books, did janitor work for $3.00 per week for two years, then got $5.00 for the next two years.
I decided I had clerked there long enough. I resigned and in about two weeks later started working for Mr. Kelley in General Merchandise Store at $1.50 a day, room and board. We worked from 8 am until 10 or 11 o'clock at night. I worked there until I married your father.
We were married in our home at 8 PM Monday evening. At 4 am on Tuesday we were to board a train for Chicago. We spent a few days in Chicago, the we went to Missoula, Montana. From there your father was sent to Beverly, Washington, forty miles down the Columbia River where Bates and Rogers were to build a railroad bridge across the Columbia River. We were there nearly two years. Westlyne was born there (Westlyne was my father's older sister ((and Charles, Mary and Jon's mother)) ). We then came back to Chicago.
Your father was to go up among the timber country of Wisconsin. He decided it was no place to take his family so he resigned and came to Union. At Union, you three boys and Grace Elizabeth were born (Grace Elizabeth died when she was about 1 or 2 years old). While at Union your father worked for M. P. Kelley. Then went back to work for Mr. Fox of Fox Construction Company or El Reno.
Next Rugie; Mardy's oldest son - the doctor.
Return to the Table of Content